Does the Iran War Put America First?
3/5/202659 min
I don’t think a war with Iran is what Trump — or his voters — had in mind when he campaigned on “America first.” My guest this week is Curt Mills, the executive director of The American Conservative, a magazine that champions foreign policy restraint. Mills thinks the war with Iran is a major betrayal of the voters who put Trump in the White House and has the potential to shatter Trump’s domestic coalition.
- 01:27 - Tracking the Trump administration’s foreign policy shifts and dynamics
- 08:50 - The different strands of right-wing foreign policy
- 15:00 - Is the anti-war movement real?: Policy, polling and public opinion
- 27:49 - Israel, Saudi Arabia and the Middle East’s influence on U.S. foreign policy
- 40:17 - Why can’t Trump say no to Israel?
- 46:20 - How does the fallout in Iran impact Trump’s potential 2028 successors and insurgents?
(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsSpeaker 00:00
We gave Times employees a preview of Crossplay from New York Times Games, and here's what they had to say. I can finally play with other people.
Curt Mills· Guest0:08
I'm pretty competitive. It's fun to beat friends and coworkers.
Speaker 00:12
I have a J for ten points.
Ross Douthat· Host0:14
I'm guessing Tenga is not a word. Let's see. Tenga is a word. Oh.
Speaker 00:19
As an English as a second language speaker, I like to learn new words. New York Times game subscribers get full access to Crossplay, our first two-player word game. Subscribe now for a special offer on all of our games.
Ross Douthat· Host0:32
[upbeat music] From New York Times Opinion, I'm Ross Douthat, and this is Interesting Times.
Donald Trump· Soundbite0:41
Today, the United States military continues to carry out large-scale combat operations in Iran to eliminate the grave threats posed to America by this terrible terrorist regime.
Ross Douthat· Host1:09
So whatever happened to America First? It doesn't feel like a war with Iran was quite what Donald Trump campaigned on in two thousand and twenty-four.
Donald Trump· Soundbite1:18
We put America first. [crowd cheering] So we're gonna end these endless wars, endless wars, they never stop. You ever see these wars? They go on for fourteen years, twenty years.
Ross Douthat· Host1:28
And my guest this week thinks