Will Trump's Iran strikes hit him in the ballots?
3/4/202633 min
Why did Trump decide to strike Iran? Was it the US that started the war? Is it even a war? Listening to senior figures in the administration and in MAGA it's not entirely clear. The accounts are confused, contradictory, and seem to change by day.
What is clearer is that the American public don't support the action. Polling suggests only one in four Americans back the strikes - and a series of Trump influencers have reacted with fury to the move. This is another war from the President who pledged to end them. With the midterms critical for Trump's future, could this intervention become a massive own goal if gas prices rise and voters turn away from the GOP?
This week, Jon is joined by Michael D. Shear, the Pulitzer Prize winning New York Times correspondent.
And later - James Talarico electrifies Democrats in Texas, but is talk of turning the State blue premature? Or does Talarico represent a generational shift in the party?
The News Agents USA is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/
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First 90 secondsSpeaker 00:00
[global player jingle] This is a Global Player original podcast.
Marco Rubio· Soundbite0:05
The President made the very wise decision. He-- we knew that there was going to be an Israeli action. We knew that that would precipitate an attack against American forces.
Alex Jones· Soundbite0:13
We didn't start this war, but under President Trump, we are finishing it.
Markwayne Mullin· Soundbite0:18
No, I might have forced their hand. Uh, you see, we were having negotiations with these lunatics, and it was my opinion that they were gonna attack first. They were going to attack if we didn't do it, and I didn't want that to happen. So if anything, I might have forced Israel's hand.
Jon Sopel· Host0:36
It's like we're in a bizarre multiple-choice exam. Was it A, as Marco Rubio says, that the US was pushed into this by Israel? Was it B, as Pete Hegseth says, Iran, who fired first, and America simply responded? Or was it C, as Donald Trump says, America that pushed Israel into it? For an explanation of what is going on in Iran and why, it has been confusing in the extreme. And the more that administration leaders speak, the less clear it becomes. Welcome to the News Agents USA.
Speaker 01:16
[upbeat music] The News Agents USA with Emily Maitlis and John Sopel.
Jon Sopel· Host1:23
It's John, and the last I could see, Emily was feeding a kangaroo in Melbourne. She's