On March 23, after failing to broker an agreement between incumbent Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his rival Abdullah Abdullah, both of whom claim the presidency after a disputed election, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the State Department was slashing Afghanistan aid by $1 billion, threatening to cut another $1 billion in 2021. “This leadership failure poses a direct threat to U.S. national interests,” Pompeo said in his statement that day.

U.S. Begins Withdrawing Troops From Afghanistan. The United States began withdrawing troops from Afghanistan, the U.S. military said Tuesday. This takes a step forward on its peace deal with the Taliban while also praising Afghan president’s promise to start releasing Taliban prisoners after he had delayed for over a week.

Tax filings show that Mr. Grenell’s company was paid $103,750 in 2016 by a nonprofit group called the Magyar Foundation of North America, which was funded mostly by the far-right Hungarian government of Mr. Orban. The payments from the foundation, which were first reported by the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, also were not listed on Mr. Grenell’s disclosure form.