The Rest of the World Report | May 22, 2026 — Evening Edition
The View From Everywhere Else
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WHAT THE IRAN WAR COST TAIWAN
On Thursday, Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao sat before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense and confirmed what Taiwan had not been told. The United States has paused its $14 billion arms package to Taiwan — the one that includes advanced missile defense systems, interceptors, F-16 Block 70 fighters, Patriot systems, and MK-48 torpedoes — because it needs those munitions for the Iran war.
“Right now we’re doing a pause in order to make sure we have the munitions we need for Epic Fury,” Cao told the committee, referring to the US military campaign against Iran. “Which we have plenty. But we’re just making sure we have everything. But then the foreign military sales will continue when the administration deems necessary.” When Senator Mitch McConnell asked if the sales would ever resume, Cao replied: “That would be up to the secretary of war and the secretary of state, sir.” McConnell responded: “Well, that’s really distressing.”
Taiwan said it had not been informed. Taiwan’s Presidential Office spokesperson Karen Kuo told local media that Taipei had not received any notification of a change to the deal. This matters because Taiwan already has a $21.45 billion backlog of undelivered US military equipment — F-16s, Patriot interceptors, torpedoes, glide bombs — that the Pentagon has been unable to deliver due to production constraints and competing demands. Taiwanese Premier Cho Jung-tai said in late 2025 that Taiwan did not rule out legal action over the delays to its $8.2 billion F-16 fighter order alone. The pause announced Thursday is not limited to the $14 billion package. Acting Navy Secretary Cao confirmed the pause covers all foreign military sales as the US prioritizes its own munitions reserves for the Iran campaign.
William Yang, senior analyst for Northeast Asia at Crisis Group, said the pause will “exacerbate anxiety and scepticism about US support in Taiwan and make it difficult for the Taiwanese government to request additional defence budget for the foreseeable future.” The context is the Beijing summit of May 13-14, where Xi told Trump that Taiwan is “the most important issue in US-China relations” and warned of “clashes or conflict” if mishandled. Trump said on the plane home that he had made “no commitment either way” on Taiwan. His administration has now paused the arms sale, and Taiwan found out from a Senate hearing.
🌍 TRANSLATOR’S NOTE: Outside the US, the Taiwan arms pause is being read as one of the most significant strategic signals of the Iran war, not for what it does to Iran, but for what it reveals about the limits of US military capacity after 83 days of sustained operations. Taiwan’s defense community, the Japanese Defense Ministry, South Korea’s National Security Council, and Australia’s strategic analysts are all drawing the same inference: the US has consumed munitions at a rate that is constraining its commitments elsewhere. The Indo-Pacific security architecture that the Biden administration spent four years building assumes a US with sufficient military capacity to deter China across multiple theaters simultaneously. The Cao testimony suggests that assumption is under strain.
🇺🇸 WHAT AMERICAN READERS NEED TO KNOW: The Iran war is now directly degrading US commitments to Taiwan. The arms package, advanced missile systems Taiwan needs to deter Chinese military pressure, is paused because the US used those munitions fighting Iran. Taiwan found out from a Senate hearing. Senator McConnell called it “really distressing.” Trump told reporters in Beijing he had made “no commitment either way” on Taiwan’s defense. Two weeks later his administration confirmed it cannot currently deliver the weapons Taiwan needs. Xi told Trump that Taiwan’s fate determines whether the two countries have peace or conflict. The US answer, as of Thursday, is: we’ll get back to you when the Iran war is over.
Sources: Al Jazeera (Qatar, state-funded/editorially independent — Cao testimony confirmed, “Epic Fury” quote, McConnell exchange, Yang Crisis Group quote, confirmed this session); Newsweek / AP (wire — Taiwan not informed, Karen Kuo statement, Taiwanese Premier legal action threat, confirmed this session); The Defense News (defense specialist — $21.45 billion backlog, F-16/Patriot/MK-48 specific systems, CNO Caudle FY2026 warning, confirmed this session); Fox News / AP (wire — Cao “secretary of war” full exchange, confirmed this session); Outlook India / Reuters (wire — senior American officials, advanced interceptors described, confirmed this session)
THE COLLAPSE ON ICE FUNDING
On Thursday, Senate Republicans left Washington for the Memorial Day recess without passing the $72 billion ICE and Border Patrol funding bill that had been their signature legislative priority for the week. It collapsed not because of Democratic opposition, but because of their own.
Trump added new demands at the last minute that a critical mass of Republican senators refused to accept. The first was funding for a White House ballroom, a project that began as a private fundraising initiative after the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner and has since ballooned to approximately $1 billion in requested public funds. The ballroom provision failed to meet Senate reconciliation rules and was stripped from the bill. Trump then demanded inclusion of an “anti-weaponization” fund, a taxpayer-financed pool to compensate people who claim they were politically targeted by federal prosecution. That provision alarmed enough Republican senators that the votes were not there. Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters: “We have a lot of members who are concerned.” The Senate left.
The collapse came the same week that Trump endorsed a primary challenger against Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who lost, and the same week that Cassidy, freed of primary concerns, voted to advance a War Powers resolution for the first time. CNN called Thursday’s breakdown “the unavoidable clash between Trump’s self-serving and chaotic governance and Republicans’ political survivalism.” Senate Majority Leader Thune has acknowledged a rift between the White House and congressional Republicans. Democrats are polling ahead by double digits in midterm projections. Trump’s approval ratings are at record lows.
The immigration funding itself, the core $72 billion for ICE and Border Patrol, commands enough Republican support to pass. What it could not survive was the addition of a ballroom and a slush fund. The bill will return after the recess. Whether Trump’s demands return with it is the question the Senate is leaving town without answering.
🌍 TRANSLATOR’S NOTE: International coverage of the GOP collapse is framing it as a leading indicator of the 2026 midterm trajectory. The specific mechanism, Trump demanding a ballroom and a slush fund that his own senators refused, is being covered internationally as evidence that the break between Trump and Senate Republicans is no longer theoretical. It is happening over line items in a reconciliation bill.
🇺🇸 WHAT AMERICAN READERS NEED TO KNOW: Senate Republicans left Washington without passing their own immigration funding bill because Trump demanded a ballroom and a slush fund they wouldn’t accept. The core $72 billion for ICE and Border Patrol had the votes. The add-ons didn’t. Congress left town. The bill returns after Memorial Day. Whether Trump’s demands return with it is the question nobody answered before leaving.
Sources: NPR / Barbara Sprunt (US — $72 billion collapse, ballroom provision, anti-weaponization fund, Thune quote, confirmed this session); CNN (US — “unavoidable clash” framing, Thune rift acknowledgment, midterm polling double digits, confirmed this session)
THE PERSON FIRST, THE CRIME SECOND
On Friday, a federal judge dismissed all charges against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Salvadoran man whose mistaken deportation to El Salvador last year became the most visible symbol of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement campaign.
US District Judge Waverly Crenshaw, ruling from Nashville, found the prosecution “vindictive.” The government, Crenshaw wrote, would not have brought the human smuggling case had Abrego Garcia not challenged his deportation. At the top of his ruling, Crenshaw quoted former Attorney General Robert Jackson’s warning to prosecutors: “The danger of picking the person first and the crime second.” Then he applied it to what the Trump Justice Department had done. A “retaliatory taint,” Crenshaw found, had kicked off the renewed investigation the moment a federal court ordered the administration to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return from El Salvador.
The case had begun in 2019, when an immigration judge granted Abrego Garcia a withholding of removal — protection from deportation based on documented gang persecution risk in El Salvador. The order allowed him to live and work in the US under ICE supervision. In March 2025, the Trump administration deported him to El Salvador anyway, describing it as an “administrative error.” A federal court ordered him returned. The administration resisted for months, during which Judge Paula Xinis found that Trump lawyers had “affirmatively misled” the court. When Abrego Garcia was finally returned to the US in June 2025, the Justice Department charged him with human smuggling based on a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee, a stop at which he had not been charged, had been let go with a warning, and from which no prosecution had been initiated in the three intervening years. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the charges saying: “This is what American justice looks like.” Judge Crenshaw disagreed.
The Trump administration said Friday it will appeal. Abrego Garcia’s status in the US remains unresolved. The administration has said it intends to deport him regardless of the criminal case’s outcome.
🌍 TRANSLATOR’S NOTE: Al Jazeera covered the Abrego Garcia case from the original deportation through Friday’s dismissal as a continuous narrative about the US immigration system’s relationship to due process. In Latin American press, the case has been followed as a barometer of how the US treats Spanish-speaking immigrants who challenge their removal. The phrase “vindictive prosecution,” a federal judge’s formal legal finding against the sitting administration’s Justice Department, is being highlighted in international coverage as evidence of what independent federal judiciary review of immigration enforcement looks like when it is allowed to function. The administration’s stated intention to pursue deportation regardless of the ruling is receiving separate coverage as a question about whether the executive branch will observe judicial outcomes it disagrees with.
🇺🇸 WHAT AMERICAN READERS NEED TO KNOW: A federal judge found the Trump DOJ’s prosecution of a mistakenly deported man to be vindictive, designed to punish him for going to court. The charges were dismissed. The administration will appeal. The man’s status in the US is still contested. The case began with an acknowledged administrative error. It continued through months of administration resistance to a court order. It produced a criminal prosecution the judge called retaliatory. The administration’s response to the dismissal is to appeal and pursue deportation anyway.
Sources: CNBC / AP (wire — Crenshaw ruling, “vindictive” finding, Jackson quote, appeal announced, confirmed this session); NPR (US — Abrego Garcia case history, retaliatory taint finding, Bondi quote, confirmed this session); WHYY / AP (wire — Xinis “affirmatively misled” finding, withholding of removal history, confirmed this session); Al Jazeera (Qatar, state-funded/editorially independent — continuous case coverage, international framing, confirmed this session)
ALSO DEVELOPING — for the curious:
Gabbard resigns as DNI: Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard announced her resignation Friday, citing her husband Abraham Williams’ diagnosis with an extremely rare form of bone cancer. Her last day is June 30. Principal Deputy Director Aaron Lukas will serve as acting DNI. Axios confirmed Gabbard had narrowly survived being fired by Trump last month, after Roger Stone intervened. She was the fourth Cabinet departure of Trump’s second term, following the firings of Kristi Noem and Pam Bondi and the resignation of Lori Chavez-DeRemer. NBC and the Washington Post described her as having been seen as “ineffectual and irrelevant” in the Iran war deliberations. She departs with an unresolved feud between ODNI and the CIA still active, in the middle of a war.
Greenland: Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in Nuuk on Thursday as the United States opened a new, larger consulate in the city centre. Protesters carried Greenland’s national flag and signs reading “No means no,” “Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders,” and “We are not for sale.” Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen declined to attend the inauguration despite receiving an official invitation, telling local newspaper Sermitsiaq he had decided against joining the event.
San Diego mosque — the names and the funeral: More than 2,000 people gathered at SDSU Mission Valley River Park on Thursday for the Salat al-Janazah funeral prayer for Amin Abdullah, 51, Nadir Awad, 57, and Mansour Kaziha, 78, the three men killed at the Islamic Center of San Diego on Monday. All three are remembered as heroes who shielded more than 140 children inside the mosque. Mansour Kaziha had worked at the center for nearly forty years. Nadir Awad ran toward the gunfire from across the street. New details emerged Thursday: suspect Caleb Vazquez had come to police attention more than a year before the attack for idolizing Nazis and mass shooters and had previously been held on an involuntary psychiatric hold, raising questions about authorities’ inability to prevent the attack.
Adelanto hunger strike: At least 20 detainees at the Adelanto ICE detention complex in California’s high desert launched a hunger strike this week, citing inadequate medical care, overcrowding, and what they called “decreasing portions of food.” The facility holds more than 2,000 people and is owned by GEO Group, a private corporation. California DOJ inspectors found murky drinking water in the women’s housing unit and water coolers empty for hours. Four people have died at Adelanto between September 2025 and March 2026. The acting director of ICE is a former GEO Group executive.
NUMBERS AT PUBLICATION 🇮🇷 Iran: 3,636+ killed (HRANA floor estimate — FROZEN since April 7; no updated HRANA report this session; Iranian Health Ministry figure as of May 5: 3,468 — methodology differs) 🇱🇧 Lebanon: 3,072 killed since March 2, 700 killed since April 17 “ceasefire,” 9,362 wounded, 1.6 million displaced (Lebanon Health Ministry, as of May 20) 🇮🇶 Iraq: At least 118 killed (Iraqi health authorities — mostly PMF members) 🇮🇱 Israel: At least 19 soldiers killed in Lebanon, 26 killed across all fronts (Al Jazeera tracker, as of May 5) 🌍 Gulf states: At least 28 killed (Al Jazeera live tracker — figure stable, no update this session) 🇺🇸 US military: 15 KIA confirmed (IranWarLive tracker, as of May 12) 🛢️ Brent crude: $104.10/barrel (OilPrice.com, Friday evening, editor-confirmed) ⛽ US gas: $4.55/gallon national average (AAA, editor-confirmed)
Sourcing note: Iran casualties sourced to HRANA (US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency), a floor estimate. Iranian Health Ministry figure cited separately. Methodology differs; figures should not be treated as directly comparable.
WATCH LIST
🔴 Iran deal — weekend window. Rubio said “some good signs.” Pakistan’s army chief was in Tehran. Iran is reviewing the latest proposal. The uranium question has not moved. Watch for any statement from Pakistani mediators or Iranian Foreign Ministry before Monday.
🔴 Taiwan arms pause — congressional response. McConnell called it “really distressing.” Watch for whether Senate Armed Services Committee members request hearings and whether Taiwan formally protests through diplomatic channels.
🟡 Senate ICE funding — post-recess. The bill returns after Memorial Day. Watch for whether Trump drops the ballroom and slush fund demands or doubles down. The math hasn’t changed. The demands have to go or the votes aren’t there.
🟡 Abrego Garcia — appeal. The Trump administration confirmed it will appeal Judge Crenshaw’s dismissal. Watch for the Sixth Circuit’s response and whether the administration pursues new charges or a new deportation order.
“Whenever the people are well informed, they can be trusted with their own government.” — Thomas Jefferson, 1789