Welcome back to Foreign Policy’s Situation Report, where Rishi is back in the hot seat just in time for the start of the World Cup.
On that note, here’s what’s on tap for the day: Trump’s Iran-World Cup-UFC whiplash, new sanctions on Russia and Iran, and the Taiwan opposition leader’s visit to Washington.
U.S. President Donald Trump this week conducted fresh strikes on Iran and threatened to restart his full-scale war in the Middle East before abruptly backing down on Thursday. But if you looked at the White House right now, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the president might not be laser-focused on foreign affairs.
The U.S. capital is preparing for an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) match on the White House’s South Lawn this Sunday, which is Trump’s 80th birthday. A massive arena containing the fight cage now towers over the president’s residence, and most of the surrounding streets are closed to vehicular traffic going into the weekend. Motorcycle stuntman Travis Pastrana will be doing a backflip on his dirt bike at the White House on Saturday as an amuse-bouche.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup, which the United States is co-hosting with Mexico and Canada, also begins today, with participation by soccer teams from 47 countries and fans and officials from many more. Over the next month, matches will take place in 11 metro areas across the United States alone (compared to just three in Mexico and two in Canada).
Trump is juggling those two major events while simultaneously trying to end his war against Iran, which is now in its 15th week. It would be a lot for any president to deal with, let alone one with a notoriously short attention span.
Iran whiplash, again. The U.S. president spent Thursday morning telegraphing a massive escalation against Iran after a weekslong cease-fire was undone by the (possibly accidental) downing of a U.S. military helicopter. “The United States will be hitting Iran (Whose Navy, Air Force, Radar, Anti Aircraft, and all other forms of Defense, together with most of its offensive capability, are GONE!), VERY HARD TONIGHT,” he posted on Truth Social, also threatening to seize Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil refining hub, “at some point in the not too distant future.”
U.S. forces struck several Iranian targets on Tuesday and Wednesday in retaliation for the downed helicopter, and U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reiterated the threat of further violence during a visit to U.S. Central Command on Wednesday. “If we need to negotiate with bombs, we’ll negotiate with bombs,” he said.
But in a Truth Social post on Thursday afternoon, Trump announced that he was canceling the planned strikes. The conditions of a deal to end the war “have been brought to the highest level of Iranian leadership and approved,” he wrote. “Discussions and final points have been, in both concept and great detail, approved by all parties involved, including the United States, Israel, Saudi Arabia, [United Arab Emirates], Qatar, Turkey, Pakistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt, and others,” he continued, adding that the time and place of signing would be “announced shortly.”
This is not the first time that Trump has backed down from a dramatic escalatory threat or claimed to be close to a deal, of course. “Iran has not reached a final conclusion about the agreement,” according to a statement from the Iranian Foreign Ministry that was cited by Iranian news agency Tasnim. As for Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu put out a statement saying that his country “is not a party to the memorandum of understanding.”
World Cup woes. On top of trying to restart and/or end a war and manage the logistical and security challenges of hosting a mixed martial arts event on the White House lawn, the Trump administration is also navigating the start of one of the world’s biggest quadrennial sporting events.
One of the big questions hanging over the World Cup was how the tournament’s inherently global nature would collide with Trump’s prohibitive immigration agenda, and we’re starting to find out. Somali referee Omar Artan, who was set to be the first from his country to officiate at a World Cup, was turned away at Miami International Airport and sent back to Somalia despite previously having received a valid U.S. visa. Two members of the Iraqi soccer team were also detained in Chicago and official team photographer Talal Salah was denied entry, while player Aymen Hussein was allowed to enter after a reported seven hours of questioning.
The White House did not immediately respond to SitRep’s request for comment on the cases.
Also playing in this World Cup is the Iranian team, many of whose support staff have also been denied visas to the United States. The players and coaches received last-minute approval to participate and will play their three group-stage games in Los Angeles and Seattle. However, they have been barred from staying on U.S. soil—leading to the awkward situation of having to fly across the border for each game from their new base in Tijuana, Mexico.
John has an excellent essay on the Trump and FIFA-shaped clouds hanging over this World Cup, which you can read here, and you can follow FP’s broader coverage of the tournament’s geopolitics here.
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A gold soccer trophy sits on a black cylindrical stand on a glass floor high above a city. Through the transparent glass, a sweeping aerial view reveals a dense skyline of skyscrapers, including a prominent spire-topped tower, stretching toward a body of water under a partly cloudy sky. A gold soccer trophy sits on a black cylindrical stand on a glass floor high above a city. Through the transparent glass, a sweeping aerial view reveals a dense skyline of skyscrapers, including a prominent spire-topped tower, stretching toward a body of water under a partly cloudy sky. FIFA’s Versailles Moment
Soccer is egalitarian. The 2026 FIFA World Cup is anything but.
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A person in skeleton face paint and black body paint celebrates with raised arms. They wear an elaborate headpiece featuring large green, white, and red ribbons, a red rose decoration, and two soccer balls styled into the hairdo with vibrant green braided extensions. In their right hand, they lift a gold trophy against a blurred outdoor background. A person in skeleton face paint and black body paint celebrates with raised arms. They wear an elaborate headpiece featuring large green, white, and red ribbons, a red rose decoration, and two soccer balls styled into the hairdo with vibrant green braided extensions. In their right hand, they lift a gold trophy against a blurred outdoor background. Mexico Could Be the World Cup’s Biggest Winner
As the United States closes itself off from the world, its co-host is doing the opposite.
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Pieces of missiles and drones are on displayed. Pieces of missiles and drones are on displayed. Iran Is Now More Dangerous Than Ever
After three months of war, Tehran feels it has little left to lose.
British Defense Secretary John Healey resigned on Thursday over disagreements with Prime Minister Keir Starmer regarding the country’s defense budget. “You have been unable, and the Treasury has been unwilling, to commit the resources that the nation needs to defend the country at this time of rising threats,” Healey wrote in his resignation letter. Starmer’s office subsequently announced that Dan Jarvis, a former military officer and member of Parliament from Starmer’s Labour Party, would replace Healy as defense secretary.
Also on Thursday, shortly after posting that he was canceling the Iran strikes, Trump announced that he is nominating Jay Clayton to be the next director of national intelligence (DNI). Clayton is the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and the former chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The announcement comes as Trump has faced significant congressional pushback to his tapping of Bill Pulte, the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and a Trump loyalist, to be the acting DNI.
What should be high on your radar, if it isn’t already.
Brussels vs. Moscow. The European Union is taking aim at Russia’s war economy, proposing a fresh package of sanctions designed to target Moscow’s energy revenues (which have been boosted by the Iran war). FP’s Keith Johnson broke down the significance of this move in a must-read piece this week.
The U.S. Treasury Department also imposed sanctions of its own on Wednesday against nine individuals and entities accused of supporting Iran’s weapons procurement. The sanctioned entities include people and companies in China and Hong Kong, the department said in a statement.
Taiwan’s opposition leader visits Washington. Cheng Li-wun, the chair of Taiwan’s main opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), is in Washington this week courting Trumpworld just weeks after her controversial meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Cheng reportedly met with Republican Sen. Steve Daines, Republican Reps. John Rose and Chuck Fleischmann, and Democratic Rep. Thomas Suozzi.
Cheng has been in the United States for several days already, attending an event at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution last Thursday and speaking at the Asia Society in New York on Monday. She also hosted a community event in New York, where she made a remark about the influence of the “Jewish community” in the United States that several observers labeled as antisemitic.
The KMT chair told the Financial Times in a Tuesday interview that Xi had shown “tremendous goodwill” during their meeting, but she urged the United States and China not to treat Taiwan as a “pawn.”
Somali referee Omar Artan waves to supporters as he is welcomed after returning to Mogadishu, Somalia, on June 10.Hassan Ali Elmi/AFP via Getty Images
Monday, June 15: The G-7 summit is set to begin in Évian-les-Bains, France.
Tuesday, June 16: The European Parliament is poised to vote on an EU-U.S. trade agreement.
“Maybe sometimes it’s good as well to just, you know chill, relax.”
—FIFA President Gianni Infantino, speaking about the criticism that the United States and FIFA have faced over Artan being denied entry to the country and prevented from officiating at the World Cup.
Just days before Haiti’s opening match in its first World Cup appearance in over half a century, FIFA has forced the country to change its jerseys after the initial design was deemed too political. The jersey featured an illustration commemorating the 1803 Battle of Vertières, in which Haitians defeated French colonial forces and secured their independence to become the world’s first free Black republic in 1804. Though a spokesperson for the Haitian team told The Athletic that FIFA misinterpreted the image “depicting Vertières and some independence heroes raising the Haitian flag,” it complied and asked the manufacturer to alter the jersey.
