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South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and his wife, Kim Hye Kyung, are pictured at Tokyo's Haneda airport on Aug. 24, 2025, before flying to Washington, D.C., USA.
What We’re Watching: South Korea’s Lee to meet Trump, Israel offers withdrawal for Hezbollah disarmament, Maryland man now headed to Uganda
Lee-Trump meeting to center on China
South Korean President Lee Jae-Myung visits Washington, D.C., with plenty on his agenda as he meets US President Donald Trump. Top of the list will be China. Unlike his predecessors, Lee wants to boost ties with Beijing – he even said Seoul should stay out of any China-Taiwan conflict. Meanwhile Trump wants South Korea to bolster its forces so that the American troops stationed there can focus on containing China rather than helping defend the locals from North Korea – this, unsurprisingly, worries Seoul. Trump’s post this morning about there being a “Purge or Revolution” in South Korea won’t help, either. Lee’s charm offensive has already begun, with the use of Trump’s (likely) favorite attire: a red hat.
Israel offers the carrot and the stick in bid for Hezbollah disarmament
Israel said it would cut back its forces in southern Lebanon if Beirut took steps to force the militant group Hezbollah to disarm. The announcement comes after the Lebanese cabinet approved plans earlier this month aimed at disarming the weakened, Iran-backed militant group. The flipside of Israel’s pledge appears to be some sort of continued military presence in southern Lebanon: IDF troops and Hezbollah were both supposed to exit the area two months after signing a ceasefire deal in November, but the Israelis stayed after the militant fighters remained active in the area. Whatever the approach, disarming Hezbollah will be easier said than done.
Kilmar Ábrego García to be deported to Uganda
The United States is set to deport Kilmar Ábrego García – a Salvadoran man who resides in Maryland – to Uganda. It comes after Uganda joined the growing ranks of African countries, including South Sudan and Eswatini, that have agreed to receive US deportees from other countries. The small nation of Eswatini faces a court challenge after accepting five deported men, sparking outrage over human rights violations and overcrowded prisons. As such arrangements expand, Africa risks becoming a receiving zone for migrants — and the unresolved legal issues that come along with such transfers.
President Trump takes on the Judiciary
From Supreme Court rulings on deportations and birthright citizenship to federal troop deployments in Los Angeles, the courts are becoming ground zero for challenges to executive authority. Emily Bazelon tells Ian Bremmer that the judiciary can’t save American democracy alone—and with Congress sidelined and the DOJ increasingly politicized, checks and balances are wearing thin. “The judges cannot save the country from an authoritarian president… by themselves."
GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, the award-winning weekly global affairs series, airs nationwide on US public television stations (check local listings).
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U.S. President Donald Trump meets with El Salvador President Nayib Bukele in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 14, 2025.
El Salvador's Bukele refuses to return wrongly-deported Maryland man, and offers to jail US citizens too
The United States deported the wrong man — but El Salvador still won’t send him back.
El Salvador's popular strongman president Nayib Bukele on Monday visited the White House, where he told journalists it was “preposterous” to ask him to return Kilmar Abrego García, a Maryland resident whom the US mistakenly deported to El Salvador’s notorious CECOT prison in March as part of a broader expulsion there of 200 immigrants suspected of gang connections.
Abrego García came to the US from El Salvador illegally more than a decade ago but had since been granted a form of asylum. The Trump Administration has admitted an “administrative error”, but rebuffed a Supreme Court order to “facilitate” Abrego García’s, arguing that the courts have no say over the president’s foreign policy choices.
Could Bukele jail American citizens too? Bukele on Monday upped the ante, offering to jail even naturalized U.S. citizens who are convicted of violent crimes — for a fee. Trump, who heaped praise on Bukele, said his administration was studying the idea, adding, “If it’s a homegrown criminal, I have no problem.”
Immigration experts maintain that sending US citizens to foreign jails is unconstitutional. But the Trump administration has shown a willingness to test the bounds of executive authority, especially on immigration. Expect another potential showdown between the White House and the courts soon.