President Donald Trump refuted reports that Steve Witkoff, his Middle East envoy, will take over the Iran file, while also lauding Witkoff for his work helping negotiate the cease-fire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas. 

“No,” Trump said on Thursday after signing a series of executive orders, when asked by a reporter whether he would put Witkoff in charge of Iran strategy and speaking directly with the Iranians. “But he’s certainly somebody I would use. He’s done a fantastic job. He’s a great negotiator.”

After initially declining to criticize billionaire White House advisor Elon Musk for a gesture that some argued was a Nazi salute, two major U.S. Jewish groups are now condemning him for a series of Nazi jokes he made on social media.

Musk came under fire on Monday after he repeatedly performed a gesture resembling a Nazi salute at a Monday rally for the presidential inauguration. The Anti-Defamation League defended Musk, arguing that the gestures were not intentional and suggested he made an “awkward gesture.” The ADL faced criticism, predominantly from liberals,for defending Musk. The American Jewish Committee did not weigh in at all.

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is urging the Trump administration to “steer clear of Pentagon advisors who make their Obama and Biden predecessors look tough by comparison,” as Republicans grow increasingly concerned over recent high-ranking hires at the Department of Defense opposed to U.S. engagement in the Middle East — and the individual who hired them. 

In a rebuke of the viewpoints held by at least one recent Pentagon hire and the staffing process that resulted in their appointments, McConnell, the longtime former Senate Republican leader, told Jewish Insider he finds it “alarming” that such individuals had survived the vetting process given each of their well-documented records on Middle East policy. 

A senior House Republican national security voice is urging House and Senate leaders to prioritize passing legislation codifying maximum-pressure sanctions against the Iranian regime — rather than relying on executive orders alone — and heading off any attempt at a new nuclear deal with the regime.

The Trump administration implemented the maximum-pressure program during its first term. Though the Biden administration never formally repealed any of the sanctions, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle accused the Biden administration of failing to fully enforce them. House Republicans, particularly the members of the influential Republican Study Committee, repeatedly pushed legislation during President Joe Biden’s term to codify the sanctions, to ensure that neither Biden nor any future president could unilaterally lift them.

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres predicted on Wednesday that the Middle East would be “deeply reshaped” by the conflicts and emerging new governments across the region in the last year.

“We face widening geopolitical divisions, rising inequalities and assault on human rights, and we see a multiplication of conflicts, some of which are leading to the reshaping of different parts of the world, not least the Middle East,” Guterres said in his remarks at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Rep. Mikie Sherrill’s (D-NJ) gubernatorial campaign accepted an endorsement from Patricia Campos-Medina, a progressive organizer and former Senate candidate who has called to end U.S. aid to Israel and expressed support for anti-Israel campus protests.

Sherrill said in a post she was “absolutely thrilled” to receive the endorsement.

Several pro-Israel individuals affiliated with George Mason University are expressing concern with the university’s response after pro-terrorism materials were found in the home of two of its students and a third student was charged with plotting a mass causality attack. 

The worries persist even as local Jewish leaders are praising how the public university in Fairfax, Va., has handled these threats. 

Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, said on Wednesday that he welcomed the potential for “a dialogue” with Hamas and heaped praise on Qatar for helping facilitate the cease-fire deal between Israel and Gaza, despite facing scrutiny for previous ties to the Gulf nation. 

Asked by Fox News’ Dana Perino to respond to a top Hamas official telling The New York Times, “We are prepared for a dialogue with America in achieving understandings on everything,” Witkoff replied, “I think it’s good if it’s accurate.”