Trump Keeps Promising Peace
6/11/202621 min
President Donald Trump has changed a lot about American foreign policy – and to many, America itself. But a lot of the issues facing this country were around long before he became president. Ben Rhodes’ new book, All We Say: The Battle for American Identity: A History in 15 Speeches, tells the story of this country through speeches by figures like Ben Franklin, Martin Luther King, and yes, Donald Trump. We spoke with Ben about what those speeches reveal about being American, and what Trump’s actions in Iran can tell us about his presidency and our country.
And in headlines, President Trump continues to whiplash in Iran talks, we have a new pick for the Director of National Intelligence, and Kash Patel prepares the FBI for the World Cup.
Show Notes:
- Check out Ben's book – https://tinyurl.com/pxpr6t8c
- Call Congress – 202-224-3121
- Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/y4y2e9jy
- What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcast
- Follow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/
- For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsBen Rhodes· Guest0:00
The line that jumps out to me that you may remember from that speech is when he said, referring to Butler, "I was saved by God to make America great again." A- and that is someone announcing to the country that he doesn't have to play by rules.
Jane Coaston· Host0:13
[Instrumental music] I'm Jane Coaston, and this is What Today?, a show wondering if we will ever see the limits of Republican subservience to President Donald Trump. Here's Texas Republican Representative Troy Nehls, for example.
Speaker 2· Soundbite0:34
Donald Trump is the best thing to happen to, in this country in 100 years. He was born, he was born a very special baby.
Jane Coaston· Host0:42
This is for a president who has an approval rating of 34%, according to USA Today. 34%. On today's show, we talk to Ben Rhodes about Iran, Trump, and Ben's new book on how famous speeches show us how America has progressed since its founding. Before we get into all that, here's what we're following today, Thursday, June 11th.
Speaker 2· Soundbite1:05
Will there be more bombing tonight? Yeah, there will be more bombing tonight. It'll be a, a, a bigger, a bigger, more powerful- President Trump called into Fox & Friends this morning and threatened more military action against Iran.
Jane Coaston· Host1:20
But by the afternoon, maybe after taking a little nap and cooling off, he came to his senses. In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote in part, quote, "I have,