Beware, US Deploys Counter-Operation Against Anti-American Sentiment Worldwide
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, LONDON – The administration of US President Donald Trump appears increasingly disturbed by negative sentiment resulting from its one-sided war against the Islamic Republic of Iran. It is now directing embassies and consulates worldwide to counter what it claims is foreign ‘hostility’. This effort involves military psychological operations units.
The US is also beginning to recruit figures, influencers, community leaders, and academics in every country where its ambassadors are posted. Their task is to shape local public opinion to view the US as an unimpeachable nation. Elon Musk’s X platform is serving as the main arena for the campaign ‘against anti-American propaganda’.
The Guardian reported on Tuesday, 31 March 2026, that a telegram signed by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicates that staff must work with Pentagon psychological operations units for this effort. The telegram, signed on Monday (30/03), also outlines a comprehensive set of instructions on how embassy staff should counter the undermining of American interests abroad.
For context, the United States has been allied with Zionist Israel in attacking Iran since late February until now. The attacks, which have killed Iranian leaders, children, and civilians, have drawn condemnation from the global community against the US and Israel. A poll on X labels Israel as the most hated country in the world.
“These campaigns (anti-US) seek to shift blame onto the United States, sow division among allies, promote alternative worldviews that conflict with American interests, and even damage America’s economic interests and political freedoms,” states the document as quoted by The Guardian.
In the telegram, the US regards anti-US and anti-Israel sentiment as deliberate and not due to the illegal war it is waging against Iran. “By using digital platforms, state-controlled media, and influence operations, they pose a direct threat to US national security and incite hostility towards American interests.”
According to The Guardian, the US government has operated one of the world’s most sophisticated and productive state disinformation apparatuses for decades. This tool is primarily used to counter influence operations by Russia and China, which are claimed to continuously target American allies across Europe, Asia, and Latin America.
Returning to Rubio, the telegram instructs embassies and consulates to pursue five main objectives. First, counter hostile messages against the US, expand access to information, expose the behaviour of US enemies, amplify local voices supporting American interests, and promote what it calls ‘telling America’s story’.
Embassies are asked to recruit influential local figures, academics, and community leaders abroad to deliver counter-propaganda messages. This is an approach designed to make US-funded narratives feel more natural or organic, and as if not centrally directed.