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Hakeem Jeffries Announces He Will Not House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) has come out against a bid to cut off US military aid to Israel, while calling for a “major reset” of Washington’s relationship with the Jewish state. In a “Dear Colleague” letter to fellow Democrats on Tuesday, Jeffries said he would vote against an amendment led by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), and co-sponsored by Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), that would strip roughly $3.3 billion in annual military financing for Israel — while preserving $500 million for missile-defense programs such as Iron Dome — from the fiscal 2027 National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs Appropriations Act. The House could vote on the measure as early as this week. Aligning himself with the ranking Democrats on the Appropriations and Foreign Affairs committees, Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Gregory Meeks (D-NY), as well as the advocacy group J Street, Jeffries called the proposal too sweeping. “As written, it is overly broad in that it prohibits or would limit the use of funds for longstanding initiatives related to humanitarian aid, refugee resettlement, peace-building and US Embassy operations,” he wrote, adding that the “so-called Massie amendment” would restrict US efforts to confront Hamas, Hezbollah “and other terrorist organizations in the region who are sworn enemies of both the United States and Israel.” Citing deep divisions within the party over Israel, Jeffries said leadership would not pressure members to follow his lead. “There are good faith reasons that will result in Members voting in a variety of different ways with respect to the amendment,” he wrote, noting that the caucus was not whipping the vote. At the same time, Jeffries argued that US policy toward the region “must change,” tying his call for a “major reset” to criticism of what he termed the “far-right Netanyahu government.” He wrote that America’s commitment to “Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish and democratic state and homeland for the Jewish people must remain ironclad,” while urging strong US support for the creation of an independent Palestinian state. Israeli governments have long rejected the establishment of a Palestinian state along Israel’s borders, warning that it would pose an existential security threat and leave major population centers exposed to attack. Jeffries also said Gaza must undergo “complete reconstruction and modernization” and that “Hamas must be disarmed and removed from power.” Jeffries further signaled that the next US-Israel aid agreement should require Israel to cover more of its own defense costs. The current 10-year memorandum of understanding, signed under President Barack Obama in 2016, provides Israel about $3.8 billion annually — $3.3 billion in military financing and $500 million for missile defense — and expires in 2028. “Israel has an advanced economy and is capable of paying for its own sophisticated weapons, as the Prime Minister recently acknowledged,” Jeffries wrote, adding that any future arrangement should mirror US defense agreements with other Western allies and “strictly adhere to our human rights laws and values.” His stance placed him between the two poles of a party increasingly split over Israel. Hours after his letter circulated, the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX), sent a competing letter urging Democrats to back the Massie amendment, and progressives including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said they would vote to cut the aid. Support for Israel among Democratic voters has fallen sharply during the war in Gaza. An Associated Press-NORC poll conducted in June found that 52 percent of Democrats say Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians, while a Pew Research Center survey found that roughly 80 percent of Democrats hold a negative view of Israel. In April, a majority of Senate Democrats — 40 of the caucus’s 47 members — voted for at least one of two resolutions to block certain arms sales to Israel, though the measures failed. Supporters of continued assistance say it preserves Israel’s qualitative military edge and bolsters a key US partner against Iran-backed groups, while critics want aid conditioned on Israeli policy changes, particularly over the conduct of the war in Gaza. The upcoming vote is expected to underscore the widening gap between the party’s pro-Israel wing and its growing bloc of aid critics. for Amendment to Strip Israel Aid

March 16, 2026 3:56 pm

Trump Proclaims Isolationist Critics ‘Are Not MAGA’ While Defending Mark Levin From Vulgar Insult

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avatar by David Michael Swindle

US President Donald Trump speaks during a visit at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, US, Feb. 13, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz

An uncouth online argument between two of the most prominent American conservative commentators inspired an intervention on Sunday night from US President Donald Trump, who backed radio host Mark Levin during a heated exchange with podcaster Megyn Kelly.

Trump also defended his policy toward Iran in his Truth Social post, lambasting isolationist critics of his foreign policy as not being part of his so-called “Make America Great Again (MAGA)” movement.

“Mark Levin, a truly Great American Patriot, is somewhat under siege by other people with far less Intellect, Capability, and Love for our Country. Mark is Tough, Strong, and Brilliant, hence the nickname, ‘THE GREAT ONE,’ conceived by our MAGA friend, the wonderful Sean Hannity,” Trump wrote before effusively praising Levin as “a true Conservative, and Intellect” who was “far smarter than those who criticize him but, above all, he is a man of Great Wisdom.”

Trump warned that “those that speak ill of Mark will quickly fall by the wayside, as do the people whose ideas, policies, and footings are not sound.” He went on to proclaim, “THEY ARE NOT MAGA, I AM, and MAGA includes not allowing Iran, a Sick, Demented, and Violent Terrorist Regime, to have a Nuclear Weapon.”

Repeating his pledge to obliterate the Islamic regime in Iran, Trump vowed that “MAGA is about stopping them cold, and that is exactly what we are doing. GOD BLESS OUR GREAT MILITARY, WHICH I HAVE REBUILT SINCE THE BEGINNING OF MY FIRST TERM, TO ACHIEVE EVERLASTING PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

While not naming the specific individuals who had attacked Levin, online observers recognized the commander-in-chief had written in response to a provocative exchange between “the Great One” and Kelly which had devolved into grade-school-level taunting.

In recent months, Kelly has earned the ire of pro-Israel advocates due to her decision to align herself with the antisemitic positions and conspiracy theories promoted by fellow podcasters Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, and Nick Fuentes. During a discussion with Carlson in January, Kelly praised Fuentes — a man who has celebrated Adolf Hitler, promoted Joseph Stalin, supported Hamas, and urged his “Groyper” followers to rape women — as “very interesting and he’s very smart.” She said, “There is value to be derived from that guy’s messaging.”

Kelly, Owens, Carlson, and Fuentes have also been adamantly opposed to the US military campaign against Iran, claiming without evidence that Israel dragged Trump into the conflict.

On Sunday, Levin wrote on X: “Poor Megyn Kelly.  An emotionally unhinged, lewd, and petulant wreck.  She’s completely revealed and destroyed herself. She’s everything people say she is, but much worse.  Never an intelligent, thoughtful, or substantive comment. Utterly toxic.”

Kelly reposted Levin’s remarks before she struck below the belt. In a post that has since received 6.3 million views, Kelly wrote, “Micropenis Mark @marklevinshow thinks he has the monopoly on lewd. He tweets about me obsessively in the crudest, nastiest terms possible. Literally more than some stalkers I’ve had arrested. He doesn’t like it when women like me fight back. Bc of his micropenis.”

Levin then reshared Kelly’s jab at his manhood and responded with a Freudian implication, writing, “Busy Sunday morning for Megyn Kelly. She wakes up and has ‘micrope*is’ on her mind. Suffice to say, if it talks like a harlot, and posts like a harlot, it’s … well, you know the rest. Shalom!”

Early Monday morning, Kelly doubled down on her vulgarity and responded to Trump’s Truth Social post, suggesting that Levin had requested support.

“Micro penis @marklevinshow is such a SMALL MAN he had to go beg the president for a pat on the head (in the middle of a war!) to make himself feel better about … well, you know,” Kelly wrote. “This, after one mean tweet about him – following his 111 (!) nasty, non-stop, personal, misogynistic attacks on me. (Fox has an OBSESSED HARASSER on its hands.)”

Kelly added, “Just like all feckless, weakling bullies Micro can dish it out but he can’t take it. After just one post putting the so-called ‘great one’ in his place, he ran crying to Daddy.”

Rejecting the charge that he had solicited support in their flame war from the president, Levin wrote on X that “no, I did not speak to the president about releasing any statement. These reprobates have nothing but lies and conspiracies and hate.  And the more they talk and post, the more people have had enough of them.  They will eventually dry up and blow away, like those who’ve come before them.”

On Sunday night, Levin thanked Trump for his praise, writing, “I am beyond humbled by your words and graciousness in writing such a beautiful note and sharing it on Truth Social. I am honored that you took the time to write it. Your courage, strength, and moral clarity are truly unparalleled. And your leadership has made our country and the world much safer.”

Six hours after Kelly’s initial insult against Levin, her ally Owens took her own shot, writing in a long note on X that “no matter how many articles Bari Weiss publishes or how many monologues Mark Levin stammers through, the overwhelming majority of people in the world sense that Charlie Kirk was murdered for opposing this war and that Israel’s hands are not clean in the story.”

Owens further aligned herself with Carlson and Kelly, stating, “People like myself and like Tucker Carlson and Megyn Kelly (however ignorant we may or may not have been in our earlier assessments) once genuinely supported Israel and thought Zionism was a moral position.”

Continuing to advance her conspiracy theory of Israeli involvement in the murder of her friend Kirk, Owens wrote, “In their sheer arrogance, rather than meaningfully working to restore relationships, zionists continue to use tactics of slander, deception, law-fare and yes, murder to force their perspectives. They no longer seem capable of making a distinction between illusion and reality. They wrongly assumed that with enough money, they could purchase truth.”

On Monday, former US Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene backed Kelly in the feud, writing, “I wholeheartedly support Megyn Kelly telling the world that Mark Levin has a micropenis. It’s the most deserved insult and I don’t care if it’s vulgar. And Trump’s gigantic defense of Levin only enraged the base more. People are DONE. MAGA destroyed by micropenis Mark Levin.”

Greene had written her comment in response to Kelly defending her rhetoric to far-right influencer Mike Cernovich, who criticized the intra-right battle as a “total distraction to spend hours a week reacting to each other. It’s slave behavior.”

Kelly responded to Cernovich by justifying herself, writing, “Disagree. You can take the high road and ignore for a while but eventually after hundreds of tweets/attacks you punch the bully in the rhetorical face. And then he goes running to daddy about his Micropenis.”

While debates about Israel and the Iran war may engage online pugilists with audiences to entertain, polling shows that the vast majority of Republicans (85 percent) and self-identified “MAGA” supporters (91 percent) back Trump’s decision to bomb the Islamic regime in Iran.

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