Welcome back to Foreign Policy’s Situation Report, where we can finally report that Team SitRep has 100 percent canine representation. Rishi brought home a mini-goldendoodle named Luka, who joins John’s pup Indy and our editor Jenn’s Bootsie as valuable if chaotic members of the crew.

Alright, here’s what’s on tap for the day: Trump’s fight-filled week, a grim milestone in Sudan, and still more Latin America boat strikes.

Trump’s Awful Week

U.S. President Donald Trump’s political career has been typified by chaos and controversy. But even by Trump’s standards, the past week has been especially messy. Facing mounting pressure to end the war in Iran, the president’s behavior has become increasingly erratic as his administration struggles to find an off-ramp—and he’s alienating supporters at home and allies abroad in the process.

He’s been picking fights in virtually every direction in recent days, including with Pope Leo XIV, who has criticized U.S. military adventurism in Venezuela and the Iran war. Politically, Trump has far more to lose than gain by going after the pope, particularly with midterm elections on the horizon. Pope Leo is originally from Chicago and is quite popular among the roughly 53 million Catholics in the United States. But this has not stopped Trump from lobbing the kinds of attacks at the religious leader that he typically reserves for Democratic mayors and governors, such as accusing the pope of being “weak on crime.”

The president’s war of words with the pope, who leads the roughly 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide, has led to criticism across the globe and in the United States—including from some of the president’s supporters. Trump rejected a call from Bishop Robert Barron, who serves on the president’s Religious Liberty Commission, to apologize. The situation has placed U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance, who is a Catholic convert, in a particularly awkward position—though he’s chosen to side with Trump so far.

The president added to the backlash he’s facing among American Christians by posting an AI image depicting himself as Jesus Christ to Truth Social. Trump said the image (which he ultimately deleted) was meant to portray him as a doctor, but it appears that few people, if any, are buying that.

Meanwhile, top U.S. allies seem fed up with Trump for reasons ranging from his ceaseless criticism of NATO, which has ramped up as alliance members refuse to get directly involved in the Iran war, to his fight with the pope.

Trump is now in the midst of a falling out with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who is Catholic, for attacking Pope Leo. Meloni, a far-right leader seen as one of Trump’s ideological allies in Europe, said the president’s comments were “unacceptable.” Trump fired back, stating that Meloni is “the one who’s unacceptable” and criticizing her for not supporting the Iran war. In a sign of how Trump is uniting leaders across the political spectrum in Europe against him, Elly Schlein, leader of the main opposition party in Italy, came to Meloni’s defense, decrying Trump’s “serious lack of respect.”

The United Kingdom also appears to be rapidly losing patience with Trump. In one of the sharpest critiques yet from a British leader on the Iran war, British Finance Minister Rachel Reeves on Wednesday ripped into the Trump administration’s approach to the conflict. “I’m not convinced this conflict has made the world a safer place,” Reeves said. “It’s not been clear over the last six weeks what exactly the aim of this conflict is.”

Such rhetoric is indicative of how frayed the trans-Atlantic relationship has become under Trump, and raises further questions about the long-term damage Trump is potentially doing to America’s historic ties with Europe.

Trump is also now set to lose one of his closest political allies on the continent. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a far-right leader who has been in power for 16 consecutive years, was defeated in Hungary’s election on Sunday. Though Trump has downplayed the significance of Orban’s loss, it’s a major blow to the global far-right movement that they’re both a part of. Trump had endorsed Orban, and Vance recently visited Hungary in an attempt to boost support for the Hungarian leader ahead of the election.

Indeed, this may have been one of the worst weeks for Trump 2.0 to date. But instead of focusing his energy on digging himself out of the sizable hole he’s already in, Trump seems set on digging new ones.

Let’s Get Personnel

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s decision to force Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George to step down earlier this month is facing criticism—both implicit and explicit—from U.S. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle and even a senior member of the very military that Hegseth leads.

During a House Armed Services subcommittee hearing on Wednesday, Republican Rep. Austin Scott praised George and warned that his ouster would have a “chilling effect” on the military. The praise was echoed in another hearing on Thursday by U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, who described driving to George’s house and giving him a hug on hearing the news of his ouster.

“There is no person who has more respect for Gen. George and his 42 years of service, his Purple Heart, his wife Patty, their grandkids, their kids. I adore them, and he was an amazing, transformational leader,” Driscoll said. He did not directly criticize Hegseth, though, noting that “the civilian leadership, the design of our system is that they get to pick the leaders that they want, and we execute on those orders.”

Elsewhere Around Washington

Ukraine’s central bank chief, Andriy Pyshnyi, told a small group of reporters (including our colleague Sam Skove) on Monday that Ukraine’s experience financing its rapidly growing defense industry could offer lessons for other European countries that are desperately rearming after years of falling defense budgets. “Our experience of facilitating growth and restructuring the defense industry may be of use for the European Union,” Pyshnyi said, adding that defense lending was a top priority for the central bank, on par with energy and agriculture.

Despite ever-widening trans-Atlantic tensions, the Trump administration added a second European signatory to its Pax Silica critical minerals alliance with the addition of Finland on Thursday, bringing the total number of signatories to 12, our colleague Christina Lu reports. The Philippines also joined the alliance in a separate ceremony earlier in the day. You can read more on Pax Silica and its goals from Christina here.

On the Button 

What should be high on your radar, if it isn’t already.

Spotlight on Sudan. As the wars in the Middle East continue to dominate headlines, a conflict in Sudan that has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced millions of people entered its fourth year on Wednesday.

The civil war that broke out in the North African country on April 15, 2023, has expanded into what experts describe as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis and led the United Nations to declare “hallmarks of genocide.” At the same time, it has received a fraction of the world’s attention and coverage—leading to it frequently being referred to as the “forgotten war,” as FP columnist Nosmot Gbadamosi wrote in this week’s Africa Brief.

That’s a major concern for humanitarian organizations such as Mercy Corps, whose vice president of global policy and advocacy, Kate Phillips-Barrasso, spoke to SitRep last week before joining a delegation that visited Sudan this week.

“There’s nothing normal about what’s going on in Sudan,” Phillips-Barrasso said, expressing concern that the war fatigue from other long-running conflicts such as the ones in Ukraine and Gaza is even more acute in the case of Sudan because it never received as much attention in the first place.

She cited estimates that over 33 million people in Sudan are in need of humanitarian assistance, a number equivalent to nearly the entire population of California. And the war in Iran has exacerbated the situation by driving up the prices of basics such as gas, fertilizer, and food. “There’s just no margin there for things to get worse,” she added.

Lebanon cease-fire and potential Iran talks. Trump on Thursday announced that Israel and Lebanon had agreed to a 10-day cease-fire and that he would be inviting the leaders of both countries to Washington for talks. But much remains up in the air. Hezbollah, the Iran-aligned group that Israel is fighting, has not explicitly agreed to the truce. In a statement on Thursday, Hezbollah said that Israeli troops must not have freedom of movement in Lebanon under any cease-fire. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said troops would remain in southern Lebanon.

A cease-fire in Lebanon could provide significant momentum to the push for an end to the Iran war. After Trump announced a cease-fire with Iran on April 7, the U.S. and Israel said that Lebanon was not included—while Tehran insisted that it was. The disagreement has been among the biggest threats to the fragile cease-fire.

Talks between the United States and Iran in Islamabad last weekend ended without a deal, but the two sides have continued to communicate even amid a U.S. blockade on Iranian ports. The blockade appears to be working so far, but traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains at a virtual standstill. Iran has also threatened to block shipping in the Red Sea, Persian Gulf, and Gulf of Oman in response to the blockade.

No date has been set for further talks, though Trump on Thursday suggested they could take place this weekend. He also said that Iran has agreed to hand over its “nuclear dust,” a phrase he uses in reference to the country’s uranium, but there has not been official confirmation from Tehran on this.

Snapshot 

A firefighter works to extinguish a blaze at a recycling materials site following a Russian strike in Kyiv on April 16, one of many that killed over a dozen people in Russia’s largest attack on Ukraine in several months.Serhii Okunev/AFP via Getty Images

Hot Mic

SitRep sat down with Jonatan Vseviov, secretary-general of Estonia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in New York City on Monday to get his perspective on the state of the trans-Atlantic alliance amid ongoing tensions between Trump and NATO.

When asked whether the alliance will survive Trump, who has floated withdrawing the United States from NATO, Vseviov said: “It’s not a two-party alliance, it’s a 32-party alliance. But if it were a two-party alliance, then I would say it takes two to tango. What I can say is that we’re interested in continuing the tango.”

“All in all, we’re very happy with the fact that the democracies of North America and Europe are united not only on an ad hoc basis, but united in what has turned out to be the most successful military alliance in the history of the world,” he added.

Vseviov said he’s confident that the trans-Atlantic alliance will persist because it’s in the self-interest of the United States and Europe to maintain it. “The democracies of the world will recognize that we will either have to work together or face challenges alone. And it’s more cost-effective to stay together,” he said. 

Put on Your Radar

Monday, April 20: Trump administration launches a tool for businesses to claim refunds on tariffs that were struck down by the Supreme Court.

Tuesday, April 21: United Nations begins hosting interactive dialogues with candidates for U.N. secretary-general.

The European Union Foreign Affairs Council meets in Luxembourg.

Senate confirmation hearing for Kevin Warsh, Trump’s nominee for chair of the Federal Reserve.

Two-week cease-fire between the United States and Iran set to expire.

Wednesday, April 22: Trump cabinet officials including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Energy Secretary Chris Wright, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick testify in the Senate. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will testify in the House.

Saturday, April 25: Palestinian local elections are set to be held in Gaza and the West Bank.

By the Numbers

14—the number of ships that have been turned around in the Strait of Hormuz by Trump’s blockade of Iranian ports, according to U.S. Central Command, which said earlier this week that more than 10,000 U.S. troops are enforcing the blockade.

172—the number of people killed by U.S. strikes on alleged drug boats near Latin America, according to a tally by Airwars, with the latest known strike occurring on April 14.

FP’s Most Read This Week

• The Man Who Shaped Washington’s View of the Middle East by Dion Nissenbaum
• Where Do the Gulf States Go From Here? by Steven A. Cook
• Why Viktor Orban’s Fidesz Party Lost by Thomas Carothers

Quote of the Week

“I think it’s very, very important for the pope to be careful when he talks about matters of theology.”

—Vance at a Turning Point USA event on Tuesday.