Mike Baker

It's Tuesday, the 2nd of June.

Welcome to the PDB Afternoon Bulletin.

I'm Mike Baker.

Your eyes and ears on the world stage.

All right, let's get briefed.

First up, President Trump reportedly intervened to stop an Israeli military strike on Beirut, exposing what may be the most public disagreement between Washington and Jerusalem since the war began.

Later in the show, new reports indicate that the Trump administration is reviewing whether to deploy U.S.

nuclear weapons to additional countries in Eastern Europe.

a move that could place America's nuclear deterrent closer to Russia's borders.

But first, today's afternoon spotlight.

After weeks of standing essentially shoulder to shoulder during the conflict with Iran, President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu are now finding themselves at odds over what comes next.

A tense series of phone calls between the two leaders reportedly led Israel to shelve plans for a major strike in Beirut, exposing what may be the most public disagreement between Washington and Jerusalem since the current phase of the conflict began.

The dispute centers on Lebanon, where Hezbollah has continued launching attacks on northern Israel despite months of Israeli military operations aimed at degrading the group's capabilities.

Facing mounting pressure from both the Israeli military and political opponents demanding a stronger response, Netanyahu signaled this week that Israel was prepared to escalate.

On Monday, Netanyahu warned that Israel would not tolerate a situation in which Hezbollah could attack Israeli cities while its leadership and infrastructure in Beirut remained untouched.

The Israeli military subsequently issued evacuation warnings for parts of Beirut's Dahya district, a known Hezbollah stronghold, fueling expectations, of course, that a significant strike was imminent.

And that's when President Trump decided to intervene.

After speaking with Netanyahu, Trump posted on social media that Israel would not attack Beirut and indicated that both sides would refrain from further escalation.

I'm not quite sure if Hezbollah agreed to that.

I doubt it.