'He's taking orders': Trump's ex-'trusted operative' says president has a boss

Someone who worked closely with Donald Trump and his associates is sounding the alarm about who the president is actually beholden to.

Lev Parnas, whose story of working with Trump on issues that led to the president's first impeachment is told in a documentary called From Russia with Lev, used to work closely with Trump and his aides. More recently, Parnas, a former "trusted operative," reported that Trump plans to "stonewall" Congress on crucial war issues.

On Thursday, Parnas wrote a piece called Trump’s War on Truth Explodes — Nuclear Lies, Media Attacks, FBI Abuse, in which he argues, "This week will go down in history — not just for what happened, but for how hard they’re trying to rewrite it."

"And today, it only unraveled more. As I’ve been telling you, what we’re watching isn’t just an international crisis. It’s a coordinated disinformation campaign, a national security threat, and a blatant assault on democracy, all unfolding in real time," he wrote.

He then noted that Pete Hegseth and Karoline Leavitt tried to "change the narrative" on the Iran strikes, saying that Trump's military attack "completely obliterated" the country's nuclear program.

"But it’s a lie. And they know it," the ex-insider said. "Instead of admitting what really happened, they’re now launching an FBI investigation — not into Trump’s actions, not into the strike that violated international norms — but into the truth-teller who exposed it. That’s right. The leaker who revealed that Iran’s nuclear infrastructure is still intact is now being targeted by federal agents."

Parnas added that the media is "chasing noise," before doubling down on his reports about Trump's plans to stonewall Congress.

"My sources now confirm that Trump’s team plans to stonewall Congress. In today’s Senate briefing, officials gave only selective, cherry-picked info. Even Lindsey Graham, one of Trump’s staunchest defenders, came out afterward and said it plainly: 'We still don’t know where the 900 pounds of uranium are,'" he wrote Thursday. "Let that sink in."

According to Parnas, this is all "about how dictators stay in power — by rewriting history."

"Trump started it with the 2020 election lie, saying it was stolen. He repeated it so much that tens of millions still believe it. Now he’s applying that same blueprint to foreign policy. He’s lying about the Iran strike. He’s lying about nuclear weapons. He’s even lying about our allies and enemies," Parnas wrote. "Meanwhile, Iran is canceling inspections. They’re cutting off access to international nuclear monitors. That means they can now develop a nuclear weapon without oversight — and Trump is letting it happen."

Going further, Parnas noted that Iranian oil will now go to China, and said Trump is taking orders from another foreign leader.

"Trump claims he’s tough on China. But he just handed them discounted oil on a silver platter and let Iran resume nuclear development," the ex-operative said. "And if that wasn’t enough, Russian diplomats are now in D.C. — not making deals, but delivering Putin’s demands. Trump isn’t running foreign policy. He’s taking orders."

Read the full post on Substack here.