- 1 day ago
Polls show Donald Trump's approval rating has dropped to 39 per cent, with 57 per cent of Americans disapproving of his performance as the Iran conflict continues.
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00:00Let's just tell you, after the speech, Donald Trump's approval ratings remain low.
00:05Daily average of various polls approved, disapproved.
00:09February 28, 41% approved, 56% disapproved.
00:15And as you can see, those numbers remain more or less the same.
00:20April 2, the latest polls, 39% approved, but a whopping 57% of Americans do not approve of Donald
00:28Trump.
00:28Those are the New York Times, from the New York Times.
00:31The fact at the moment is an overwhelming number of Americans do not approve of what Donald Trump is doing.
00:37But the big questions, is there a method to Donald Trump's unpredictability?
00:42Is Donald Trump losing support in the United States and across the world?
00:46Is America badly divided over Trump's war on Iran?
00:50Is Donald Trump serious about ending the war in two to three weeks?
00:54Or is he bluffing once again?
00:56Joining me now, special guest, Patrick Teros, is former U.S. ambassador to Qatar and someone who has been a
01:03strategic advisor to Gulf International Forum as well.
01:07Fred Fleets is vice chair and author of North Korea, Nuclear Brinkmanship and the Oval Office.
01:13He's a former NSC chief of staff and CIA analyst, someone who's worked closely with the Trump administration.
01:18And Alan Lichtman, political analyst and distinguished professor of history at the American University.
01:23Appreciate all three of you joining us.
01:26First, I want to turn to you, Fred Fleets, because you've worked with the Trump administration.
01:31Are you surprised by what Donald Trump is doing?
01:34Is there a method to his madness as we see it in this part of the world?
01:41Well, I was at the president's speech of the White House yesterday, and he was in great form.
01:46He was confidently stating how America has achieved just about all of its objectives in this war.
01:52It has devastated Iran's military capability, ability to make nuclear weapons, ability to make missiles.
01:59It has eroded Iran's ability to spread terrorism.
02:03There's a little more to do over the next two to three weeks.
02:06And Trump is keeping his commitment that this will not become an endless war.
02:10We're not going to have troops on the ground.
02:11He's going to resolve this shortly.
02:13But he's given the Iranian regime a choice.
02:16If we can end this regime without additional major air attacks and destroying infrastructure like the electricity grid, that's what
02:24we would like to do.
02:25But if Iran wants to keep fighting, keep endangering the oil trade, the president will act appropriately.
02:30So he's keeping his word to the American people.
02:33This is a huge win for the United States and is a conflict that will be over in a few
02:37weeks.
02:39Mr. Fleets, if I may just push you for a moment.
02:41If you recall, when the conflict started, it was suggested the timeline given was three to four weeks.
02:47Now the president talks of another couple of weeks.
02:50He even suggested America during World War II spent years fighting the war, World War I, taking us back in
02:57time.
02:58Why are the goalposts changing?
03:00If Donald Trump, as you're saying, is appearing so confident, believes that he's on the right track, why are his
03:06goalposts constantly changing?
03:09I don't think he's changed anything.
03:11If you're going to quibble over four weeks to six weeks, I mean, that's really not a significant difference.
03:17What he tried to say is that these other conflicts stretched out years.
03:23The U.S. military has made extraordinary gains in eliminating the threat from Iran in just 32 days.
03:30That's the main message, and the president plans to wrap this up in two to three weeks.
03:34Patrick Theros, respond to what you just heard.
03:37According to Mr. Freets, the president has made a strong message.
03:40He intends to wrap up the war in two to three weeks.
03:46I suspect he does, but he needs to wrap it up in a way that he can sell to his
03:52domestic audience.
03:53This speech was 100% designed to the domestic audience, to his base, and bears, once again, in my view,
04:06it shows off that there was no objective at the beginning of the war, and we will finish the war
04:13with no particular objective.
04:17He has made it clear that the world's economy, the Strait of Hormuz, whatever happens inside the Gulf to other
04:25countries,
04:26to the Gulf countries, is no longer any concern to the United States.
04:31He has bombed Iran, but let's be serious now.
04:38Lots of countries get bombed, and it doesn't take long for them to be up and fighting.
04:42In fact, if I read the news today, they managed to put six or seven missiles into Tel Aviv.
04:50They were intercepted above it, but these are long-range, large missiles,
04:55and you can't bomb a country that is a quarter of the size of the United States,
05:01very mountainous, and think that you are actually accomplishing much.
05:07No aerial campaign in history has ever secured the surrender of a country, and this one will not.
05:15So are you saying that Donald Trump was, a lot of what he said today was bluster,
05:21that this is catering, as you said, to his domestic audience,
05:25to try and ensure that his MAGA, Make America Great Again coalition stays intact?
05:31Yes, and it wasn't, I mean, it wasn't just bluster.
05:35It was a fairly clever approach to the American people, saying, I won this war.
05:42I just need a couple more weeks to do some more damage.
05:45We could have an intensive bombing campaign, and then we walk away.
05:50In the meantime, other countries are going to have to figure out what we do with the damage he has
05:56left behind.
05:57He also did not address the likelihood that Israel will continue bombing Iran,
06:07and the question is, will we continue to pay for Israel bombing Iran?
06:12These are unanswered questions, but they are not important to his base.
06:17Alan Lickman, you've been a critic, some would say, of Donald Trump and his style of politics.
06:23You're looking at the ratings that I put up.
06:26The majority of Americans seem very clear that the president,
06:29they don't seem to be supporting the war at the moment,
06:32and his approval ratings have declined significantly over these months.
06:37What's your sense?
06:39Is Donald Trump looking for an exit route,
06:42or is he simply keen to ensure some kind of a quick-fix victory
06:47that he can take to the people of America?
06:50Oh, I think he's absolutely trying to achieve a quick-fix victory.
06:55Remember, Donald Trump never loses, no matter the objectives situation.
07:01He is still claiming that he won in a landslide the 2020 election,
07:06that he lost overwhelmingly to Joe Biden,
07:09that was even validated by his own Justice Department.
07:13So no matter what happens, it's irrelevant.
07:16He is going to claim victory.
07:18And as he did in that speech, he is going to constantly lie to the American people,
07:26saying, for example,
07:28we are totally insulated from foreign oil.
07:32Absolutely false.
07:34We are our net importer of oil, even though we export some,
07:38and we are inevitably tied to the world oil market.
07:42That's why gas prices have gone up more than a buck
07:45ever since he started this misbegotten war.
07:49He claimed he inherited a dead economy.
07:51Well, in fact, by almost every measure,
07:54the economy was better under Biden than in Trump's first year.
07:58He claimed there was no inflation under his regime.
08:02But in fact, every single month,
08:05inflation was over the Fed's target of 2.0.
08:09He claims to have attracted $18 trillion in investment.
08:13His own White House lists only 10,
08:17and experts have said that number is way inflated.
08:21He claims because some leaders are dead,
08:25he's achieved regime change.
08:27There's not a shred of evidence for that.
08:32And he hasn't really explained what is the exit strategy.
08:38Yeah, you can declare victory,
08:40but what in the world does that mean?
08:43As your authority pointed out,
08:45never have you achieved victory just by bombing.
08:50In Vietnam, we dropped more ordinance on that little country
08:55than in the entire World War II.
08:59And guess what?
09:00We lost.
09:01But here's something no one has commented on
09:04that I think is the most striking element of the speech.
09:07The cruelty, the inhumanity of it.
09:11He seems to revel in the death and destruction
09:14that he's wrought on Iraq,
09:16including likely over 1,000 civilian deaths,
09:21including those 165 schoolgirls.
09:24He has revived the worst metaphor of the Vietnam War,
09:29attributed to Curtis LeMay,
09:31that we're going to bomb them into the Stone Age.
09:35Imagine the cruelty of that.
09:37He has threatened to wipe out their electric infrastructure,
09:42which will wreak death, destruction,
09:45and misery on innocent civilians in Iran.
09:50He seems to care nothing about that.
09:53He seems to care nothing about the pain
09:55inflicted on the American people
09:57from rising oil prices,
09:59which is going to reverberate
10:01all across the American economy.
10:04Cruelty.
10:05It's just appalling.
10:08You're saying it's cruelty.
10:10Those are very strong words.
10:11And Fred Fleets,
10:12you may want to respond to what you just heard.
10:14Donald Trump saying a country will be bombed
10:17into the Stone Ages.
10:18Is that, to your mind,
10:20acceptable language being used by a U.S. president?
10:24Because remember, the moment he said all that,
10:26the world has taken note.
10:28You will recall this morning,
10:30oil prices surged.
10:32There was a sense of visible panic
10:34that Donald Trump doesn't want to end the war.
10:37So he may be looking for a quick-fix victory,
10:39as you say, in two or three weeks.
10:42But the language he uses
10:43suggests he's ready to do whatever it takes,
10:46including bombing power plants,
10:48which frankly will constitute a war crime
10:51against international law.
10:54This is really an extraordinary bias program
10:57with all these anti-Trump graphics.
10:58And so you scrounge up a couple of Trump haters
11:01or a dime a dozen.
11:02Let me talk about what the Indian people need to hear.
11:05I think we all knew that we were not going to bomb
11:08the Iranian government out of office.
11:10I agree, you can't win a war from the air.
11:13But what President Trump has done
11:15is not regime change.
11:17It's regime weakening.
11:18To give the Iranian people an opportunity
11:21to take back their country
11:22by undermining the security apparatus,
11:25which killed 30,000 to 40,000 Iranians
11:28earlier this year,
11:29Iranians who are protesting for freedom.
11:31This is a state-sponsored terror
11:33that has sent terrorist assassination squads
11:36around the world,
11:37that has killed thousands of American soldiers
11:39in Iraq in various terrorist attacks.
11:42And I don't doubt that we could find links
11:44to terrorism in India that came from Iran.
11:46This is an evil terrorist regime.
11:49President Trump is doing something good
11:50for global security.
11:52We can complain about it,
11:53make all kinds of cheap shots.
11:54That's fine.
11:55This operation is going to be done in a few weeks.
11:58The world will be safer.
11:59I hope this Islamist regime is out.
12:01But if it is now,
12:02we're going to have an Iran
12:03that is much less dangerous,
12:05much less capable to commit terrorism
12:07and to undermine global security.
12:10Before I come to Mr. Lichman,
12:12I just want to understand, Mr. Fritz,
12:13you say that,
12:15do you believe the regime has changed?
12:18Because the fact is,
12:19there are those who say the regime has in fact...
12:21I didn't say that. No, I didn't say that.
12:22No, but then what was the goal?
12:24If the objective was
12:25to ensure that Iran
12:28gets a government that is seen
12:30not to export terror
12:31through the Hezbollahs,
12:32the Houthis, the Hamas,
12:33that hasn't happened yet.
12:35So, you know,
12:37is Donald...
12:37Which objective?
12:38Let me put a reality check
12:40and then you can dispute that there.
12:43The goal being no nuclear weapon for Iran.
12:46Status sites hit,
12:47but the nuclear material still exists.
12:50Goal, destroy missiles and drones.
12:52Status partly hit,
12:54but Iran still conducting strikes
12:55across the Gulf.
12:56Goal, annihilate the Iranian Navy.
12:59Status major damage,
13:01but not wiped out.
13:02Goal, end Iran-backed
13:03militia status.
13:05Hezbollah and Houthi is still active.
13:06Goal, trigger uprising,
13:08change regime.
13:09Status, no uprising,
13:10regime intact.
13:11So what is the precise objective
13:14that you believe,
13:15Mr. Fritz, has been achieved?
13:17And then I'll bring you in, Alan.
13:19You know, all these misleading graphics
13:21are hard to counter,
13:22but let me tell you
13:23two significant facts.
13:25Iran has stopped...
13:26Iran can no longer make nuclear weapons.
13:28There is some near-weapons-grade uranium
13:31deeply buried in Iran.
13:33I don't want American soldiers
13:34going in to recover that.
13:36Instead, what President Trump did
13:38is send in B-2 bombers
13:40to bomb the heck out of them
13:42so Iran cannot recover this
13:43enriched uranium,
13:44and we will monitor satellites.
13:46Iran is not going to be making
13:47a nuclear weapon
13:48in the foreseeable future.
13:50That is a big goal.
13:51Also, Iran's capability
13:53of making missiles
13:54has been wiped out.
13:55Its ability to basically create
13:57a missile shield
13:58to protect its production
14:00of nuclear weapons,
14:01that's been ended.
14:02Yes, Iran still has a missile arsenal,
14:04but it's dwindling.
14:05It can't make any more missiles.
14:07I think those are major wins.
14:10And look, regime change
14:12is not something that's been achieved,
14:14but regime weakening
14:15has been achieved.
14:16I think that's a significant achievement
14:18that's good for global security,
14:19and it's good for India.
14:21Alan Likman respond.
14:22Regime change has not been achieved.
14:24Regime weakening has,
14:26and according to Mr. Fritz,
14:28Iran's capability
14:29of producing a nuclear bomb
14:30has been significantly reduced,
14:32if not completely diminished.
14:35First of all, let me say,
14:37you know, I don't know
14:37who this gentleman is,
14:39but he's typical of the MAGA.
14:40Instead of answering
14:41a single point I made,
14:44he attacked me personally
14:45for being biased.
14:47Shame, shame on you.
14:49Secondly,
14:51no way have they destroyed
14:53Iran's ability
14:54to make a nuclear weapon.
14:56I remind you,
14:57way back in the Obama administration,
14:59they negotiated a deal
15:01that in effect stopped Iran
15:03from developing a nuclear weapon.
15:06Donald Trump's own administration
15:09validated that that accord
15:11was working.
15:12And just because Obama's name
15:15was on it,
15:16Trump abolished it.
15:17And then in his speech,
15:18he lied about it,
15:20you know,
15:21claiming we had emptied the banks
15:23and given them all this money
15:24when it was frozen assets.
15:26Secondly,
15:27we have greatly incentivized
15:30Iran to build a nuclear weapon,
15:32because the one thing
15:34that is absolutely certain
15:35is the U.S.
15:36does not invade,
15:38does not bomb
15:39nations with nuclear weapons.
15:41North Korea by a factor of 10
15:44is vastly more dangerous
15:47to the United States than Iran.
15:49They have nuclear weapons.
15:51They are developing missiles
15:52capable of reaching the U.S.
15:54But we don't go after North Korea
15:57because they have nuclear weapons.
15:59So we have enormously
16:00incentivized them to do it.
16:02They still have the enriched uranium.
16:04We're not going to stop them
16:06from doing it.
16:07Yes,
16:08we have temporarily,
16:09you know,
16:10undermined their missile capacity,
16:12but they will rebuild.
16:13They're an advanced country
16:14of 92 million people.
16:18You know,
16:18you say you're going to monitor it.
16:20Well,
16:20that's exactly
16:21the forever kind of war
16:23that you claimed
16:24we're avoiding here.
16:25And you said nothing
16:26about the ultimate cruelty
16:28of what Donald Trump
16:30and Pete Hegseth
16:31were doing
16:32and the implications
16:34for the American people,
16:36people around the world
16:37who are hurting,
16:38who are suffering
16:39because of what
16:40Donald Trump is doing.
16:42Okay.
16:43Patrick Theros,
16:44is there a,
16:44I'm seeing two very sharply
16:47divided opinions
16:48which perhaps reflect
16:50the division
16:50certainly in America,
16:51possibly in other parts
16:52of the world,
16:53but is there a middle ground
16:54at all given the fact
16:55that this,
16:56the manner in this war
16:58in which this war
16:59is being prosecuted
17:01many people
17:02are being pushed
17:03to almost take sides?
17:06Quite true.
17:08I,
17:08you know,
17:08I try to be occasionally
17:10as,
17:10I try to be
17:12as non-partisan
17:14as I can.
17:15We've missed
17:16several important points
17:18in the discussion
17:19that's going on.
17:20Assuming that Donald Trump
17:22stays on,
17:23on the course
17:24that he outlined
17:26in his speech,
17:27I'm going to bomb them
17:28for the next two
17:29or three weeks
17:30we're going to bomb
17:31them heavily
17:32so that they,
17:34we've destroyed
17:35their infrastructure,
17:37we've destroyed
17:37their ability
17:38to feed themselves,
17:39to build new factories,
17:41we've destroyed
17:41everything
17:42to destroy
17:44in Iran,
17:45which is pretty much
17:46bombing them
17:47back to the Stone Age
17:48mean,
17:49and then we're leaving
17:50and it's up
17:52to other countries
17:53to worry about.
17:55The first countries
17:56that I worry about
17:57are the Arab states
17:58on the other side
18:00of the Gulf.
18:00They are still
18:01going to be there
18:02after we leave.
18:03Iran is still
18:04going to be there
18:05after we leave.
18:06And let us not forget
18:09that Iran made it clear
18:11to the Gulf states
18:12and made it clear
18:13to the United States
18:14and to other countries
18:15that if we attempted
18:17to, say,
18:19the destruction
18:20of the regime
18:21and regime change,
18:24they didn't need
18:25nuclear weapons.
18:26Their asymmetric response
18:28was to attack
18:29the oil and gas facilities
18:31of the Gulf countries.
18:33And they haven't done
18:34a thorough job of it yet,
18:36but they're still trying.
18:37And we are running out
18:40of Patriot and FAD missiles
18:41in the process.
18:44There is another issue here.
18:45I personally believe
18:47Mr. Trump did achieve
18:49regime change,
18:51but he's gotten
18:52the regime
18:52that we should have
18:54been worried about
18:54from the beginning.
18:55The Mullahs were old.
18:58They were not
18:59terribly competent.
19:01They were very corrupt.
19:06And in the end,
19:08he has killed
19:09so many of the people
19:10who make up
19:11the theocratic regime
19:14that the country
19:15is now under the control
19:17of the IRGC.
19:19The Revolutionary Guards
19:20may not be very nice people.
19:22We've killed
19:23a number of them,
19:24but they are a disciplined,
19:26well-organized,
19:29capable entity
19:30that will probably run Iran,
19:33not less cruelly,
19:35but they will run Iran
19:36more efficiently.
19:39And I expect that Iran
19:41will come out
19:41from this more dangerous.
19:44I don't think the new,
19:46we've centered on the nuclear issue.
19:48I don't think
19:48that is the problem.
19:49The problem is
19:51that Iran
19:52will come out of this
19:54more dangerous.
19:55Israel will continue
19:56to attack Arabs
19:57and Iranians.
19:58And we are
20:00not free,
20:01we have not freed
20:03the Straits of Hormuz
20:05in any meaningful way.
20:07So the price of oil
20:08and gas will stay up.
20:10Can I just bring in
20:11all the points
20:12and put them together,
20:13Fred Fleets,
20:13to you,
20:14that now you've got
20:15Donald Trump
20:15telling the rest
20:16of the world
20:17to manage the state
20:18of Hormuz,
20:19which was open
20:20before the war began.
20:22The Iranians are using it
20:23as part of their
20:23asymmetrical political
20:25and economic warfare.
20:27And you've got
20:28European allies
20:29antagonized,
20:31Austria the latest country
20:32to deny airspace
20:33to the Americans.
20:34You've got a situation
20:36where the Gulf states
20:37suddenly find themselves
20:38being targeted
20:39by Iran.
20:41In a sense,
20:42how would you respond
20:43to the argument
20:44that what Donald Trump
20:45has done along
20:46with Benjamin Netanyahu
20:47in the last six weeks
20:48is five weeks
20:49has virtually ensured
20:50even more chaos
20:51across different parts
20:52of the world.
20:53How is that helping
20:54the world at all?
20:56Well,
20:57I have a new book
20:58coming out next week
20:59on April 7th,
21:00North Korea Nuclear
21:01Brinkmanship
21:01and the Oval Office.
21:03And I talk about
21:04how North Korea
21:05now has 50 nuclear weapons,
21:0850 of them.
21:09And I have these weapons
21:10because no U.S. president
21:12did anything
21:12to stop North Korea
21:14from getting them.
21:15Trump's doing
21:16what should have been done
21:17during the Clinton administration
21:18to stop this nuclear
21:20weapon program
21:21in a terrorist state
21:23that is threatened
21:23to wipe Israel
21:24off the mat.
21:25He's not going to
21:26bomb North Korea, sir.
21:27That other presidents
21:28didn't have the courage
21:28Why is he not bombing?
21:30Why would he not
21:30touch North Korea?
21:31No, no, no,
21:32please go ahead.
21:32Stop talking.
21:33No, no, please go ahead.
21:34Please go ahead.
21:34Why would he not
21:35touch North Korea?
21:36He's doing
21:36what other presidents
21:37didn't have the courage
21:38to do.
21:38I know it's a
21:39controversial step.
21:40I wish it could have been done
21:41with a U.N. mandate.
21:43I wish our allies
21:44had joined us.
21:45But Trump was faced
21:46with the reality
21:47when he entered office
21:48last year
21:49that Iran had
21:519 to 11 weapons worth
21:54of near-weapons-grade uranium
21:55and its missile program
21:56was rapidly advancing.
21:58He dealt with the reality
22:00at the beginning
22:00of this year
22:01that despite
22:02the 12-day war,
22:03Iran aggressively began
22:05resuming missile production
22:07and was going to begin
22:09and resuming
22:09its work
22:10on its nuclear program.
22:11Those are facts
22:12and there's facts
22:13a lot of people
22:13don't want to deal with.
22:14As Marco Rubio said,
22:16if the U.S. had waited
22:17until the end of 2026
22:19to attack,
22:19Iran would have
22:20a missile force.
22:21It would have been
22:22a missile shield.
22:23Iran would have been
22:24invulnerable
22:25to U.S. attacks.
22:26That's why this was taken.
22:28I don't dispute
22:28that there are aspects
22:30of it
22:30that are difficult
22:31for people to accept,
22:32but I think it was
22:33the best of many
22:34bad options
22:35to deal
22:36with a nuclear Iran.
22:39Okay, I want to bring in
22:40Alan Lickman
22:41at this point again.
22:42Alan, you've heard,
22:43Mr. Fritz,
22:44he's very clear.
22:45Trump has emerged,
22:46he believes,
22:47as a decisive leader
22:48in a way.
22:49He's doing things
22:49that other U.S. presidents
22:51would not dare
22:52have done.
22:54Thank goodness.
22:55What Obama did
22:57was without firing a shot,
23:00without killing
23:01a single person,
23:02without dropping
23:03a single bomb,
23:04through negotiation,
23:06Trump is supposed
23:06to be the great
23:07dealmaker.
23:08He hasn't made a deal,
23:09you know,
23:10in over five years.
23:11Obama did.
23:13It stopped
23:14their nuclear program,
23:16as I said,
23:17and you've never
23:17refuted it.
23:18His own administration,
23:20Donald Trump's
23:21own administration,
23:22said the international
23:23inspection
23:24was working.
23:26The deal
23:27was working.
23:28Who stopped it?
23:30Donald Trump.
23:31That's why
23:32we're now
23:33engaged,
23:34and you've never
23:35answered my points
23:36about the incredible
23:38cruelty
23:39of this war.
23:41That's why
23:42we're engaged
23:43in this war,
23:44because of what
23:44Donald Trump did.
23:46Alan,
23:47there will be
23:48those listening to you,
23:49there will be
23:49those who will be
23:50listening to you
23:51who will say,
23:51Iran is also,
23:52according to most,
23:54even independent sources,
23:55committed unimaginable
23:56cruelty on its own
23:57people.
23:58There have been
24:01violations,
24:02torture,
24:02that the regime
24:03in Iran has had
24:04on its own people.
24:05We saw the uprising
24:06in January.
24:07So, in a sense,
24:08there are no heroes
24:09out here.
24:10There are only villains.
24:11I agree with that.
24:12Let me respond to that.
24:14Of course.
24:15Iran's a terrible country.
24:16But as your expert
24:18pointed out,
24:19who knows the stuff,
24:21we haven't made
24:23the regime
24:23any less cruel.
24:25If anything,
24:25we've made the regime
24:27even more cruel
24:28by killing
24:29the old-line rulers
24:31and putting
24:32into place
24:33a more vicious,
24:35more competent,
24:36more effective
24:37leaders.
24:38You don't achieve
24:40making a country
24:42humane,
24:44democratic,
24:44by bombing
24:46the hell out of them,
24:47by threatening
24:48to send them
24:49into the Stone Age,
24:50by threatening
24:51a war crime,
24:52by going after
24:53their electric
24:54grid.
24:55None of those
24:56objectives
24:57have been achieved
24:58and can be achieved
25:00by what Donald Trump
25:01is doing.
25:02So, I'm going to ask
25:03each of you
25:04in 30 seconds,
25:04what is the end game?
25:06We are now on the
25:062nd of April.
25:0830 seconds each.
25:09I want to ask
25:10each of you,
25:10what do you now
25:11foresee happening
25:12over the month
25:14of April?
25:14Do you see
25:15Donald Trump
25:16ending this war
25:18in two to three weeks?
25:19Patrick Teros,
25:19you go first.
25:21Very simply,
25:22I see Donald Trump
25:23bombing and bombing
25:24and bombing
25:24and at some point
25:25he will declare
25:27I've accomplished
25:28my objectives,
25:29we're going to
25:30stop bombing
25:30and the Iranians
25:31better not do
25:32anything bad
25:33and leave
25:34the chaos
25:35behind him.
25:36Okay.
25:37You're saying
25:38he's going to
25:38leave the chaos
25:39behind him.
25:40Mr. Fritz,
25:41what do you see
25:41happening over the
25:42next two to three weeks
25:43realistically by the
25:44end of April?
25:46I want to first
25:47add that Obama's
25:48nuclear deal was a
25:49fraud that Iran
25:49was cheating on,
25:50but I don't have
25:51time to debate
25:51that right now.
25:52I think in three
25:53weeks we're going
25:54to see the U.S.
25:55significantly
25:55de-escalating
25:56operations.
25:57There will be a
25:58large naval force
25:59in the Arabian Sea
26:00that will keep an
26:01eye on things.
26:01We'll attack Iran
26:02again if it doesn't
26:03de-escalate.
26:04And I think pressure
26:05from European states,
26:07from Japan,
26:07and from China
26:08will convince Iran
26:09to de-escalate too.
26:11We'll move to a
26:11new phase of helping
26:13the Iranian people
26:13take back their
26:14country.
26:15Alan Littman,
26:16what do you see
26:16happening over the
26:17next three weeks?
26:18Real quick,
26:19this gentleman
26:20just gave the game
26:21away.
26:22will attack again
26:23the forever wars
26:25that Donald Trump
26:26promised he would
26:28never, ever
26:29involve us in.
26:30He admitted that's
26:32what this is all
26:33about, but I agree
26:34with your expert.
26:35I do think Donald
26:36Trump, after a
26:37particular point of
26:38time, will just
26:39declare victory.
26:40It doesn't matter
26:41whether he loses.
26:42He never loses.
26:43He always declares
26:44victory, like in the
26:462020 election.
26:48But who knows
26:49where this might go
26:50because he's so
26:51unpredictable?
26:53I'm going to leave
26:54it there.
26:55Wonderful to have
26:56lots of different
26:57voices there from
26:58the United States.
26:59Our aim is to get
27:00as much of diverse
27:02opinion on the show.
27:03I thank you all
27:04for joining me there
27:05from Washington.
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