Louder with Crowder — Dave Smith: Discussing Trump, Israel, & America First

Date: October 28, 2025
Host: Steven Crowder
Guest: Dave Smith (Comedian, Host of “Part of the Problem”)

Episode Overview

This episode features comedian and commentator Dave Smith, a figure in libertarian politics, for a long-awaited, candid debate with Steven Crowder on the subjects of Trump’s foreign policy, specifically regarding Iran and Israel, America’s ongoing foreign aid commitments, and the philosophical and practical boundaries of the America First movement. The episode features sharp disagreements, especially around the issue of Trump’s wartime decisions and impeachment, but also notes areas of agreement—such as distrust toward establishment neocons and support for scaling back U.S. foreign interventions.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Table: Areas of Agreement and Disagreement

• Crowder opens by emphasizing that, despite public perception, he and Smith agree more than they disagree: stopping all foreign aid, skepticism toward neocons and lobbying groups, mutual pro-life stances, and the need for borders.
• Crowder: "I actually agree with him on a whole lot more than I disagree... Stop all [foreign aid], let the chips fall where they may." [29:00–30:30]
• Crowder is puzzled and critical of Smith’s widely debated call to impeach Trump over U.S. military strikes on Iran, setting the stage for a fiery and nuanced exchange.
• Smith clarifies he has no loyalty to politicians as a libertarian and maintains his stance that Trump’s actions constituted a war of aggression for a foreign power, warranting impeachment.
• Smith: “Donald Trump launched a war of choice, a war of aggression, on behalf of a foreign country while we were in the middle of negotiations... I am not— I believe that America should only fight wars when America is threatened.” [30:52–33:00]

2. Libertarianism and Borders

• Crowder presses Smith to clarify whether he is a libertarian of the “open borders” school.
• Smith: Early in his libertarian journey, he leaned toward open borders, but was convinced by scholars like Rothbard and Hans Hermann Hoppe that government property shouldn’t be public to the world—borders are compatible with libertarianism.
• Smith: “It doesn't follow from libertarian principles that government property ought to be available to the entire world…” [33:39–34:46]
• Both agree: borders are a necessary reality, even from a principled libertarian perspective.

3. Debating Trump’s Foreign Policy: Impeachment, Iran, and Israel

Trump’s Iran Strike and the Impeachment Debate

• Crowder argues that supporting Trump’s impeachment, given his comparatively anti-war record, makes little real-world sense: “You’d lame duck the most effective president of our lifetime... and you’d end up with four years of a Biden or a Gavin Newsom.” [35:57–36:31]
• Smith insists: Any president who launches a war of aggression, especially without Congressional authorization, violates the Constitution.
• Smith: “The Constitution is very clear. You need Congress to declare a war. Every single war since World War II has been illegal.” [50:58–51:12]
• Crowder presses repeatedly on the practical fallout: Wouldn’t such a stance essentially throw the country into the hands of the left? Smith responds that principle must come first, even absent a real congressional pathway for impeachment, and that it was necessary to send a message to Trump and future leaders.
• Crowder accuses Smith of moving the goalposts when dismissing Trump’s diplomatic achievements (ceasefires, Abraham Accords) as not “wars he ended.” [47:10–48:24]

Notable Quote

• Smith: “Every president in my lifetime has been a war criminal. That’s right.” [45:35]

4. Foreign Aid and America’s Role Abroad

• Both hosts agree on the waste and distortion of U.S. foreign aid: aid to Israel and its neighbors, and the moral hazard it creates.
• Smith argues U.S. aid props up Israel and its neighbors, causing them to take risks they wouldn’t otherwise take; withdrawing that support, he says, would increase regional caution and reduce U.S. entanglement.
• Smith: “If we weren’t doing that, I don’t think we ever would have even attacked Iran. I don’t even think we would be talking about Iran now.” [56:56–57:42]
• Crowder insists that if the U.S. stopped bridging between Israel and its adversaries, the result would be more, not less, violence—“I think you’d see a much worse genocide.”

5. Iran, the JCPOA, and Nuclear Proliferation

• Smith is critical of Trump dumping the JCPOA nuclear deal, contending that Obama’s efforts—though flawed—contained Iran’s enrichment, and that Trump’s exit led Iran to approach weapons-grade uranium levels.
• Smith: “The obvious alternative would have been to keep negotiating.” [42:20–43:06]
• Crowder responds that Iran never honored agreements, and decisive lines were necessary.
• Smith argues against military intervention as a general principle, citing that the U.S. never attacked the USSR or China when they developed nukes, emphasizing that war is only justified as a last absolute resort.

6. Entitlement/Welfare State and American Culture

• Before Smith arrives, Crowder and the crew riff on the U.S. welfare system, government shutdowns, and social attitudes about SNAP/EBT.
• There’s a recurring comedic theme about online memes and searches like “Is we getting food stamps,” which both lampoon and critique how segments of the public relate to entitlement programs.
• The consensus is that the safety net system lacks both effective limitations (work requirements, time limits) and shaming incentives for independence.

7. Punching Right vs. Punching Left

• Smith accuses Crowder of focusing his attacks on the rising non-interventionist right, rather than established neocons or the left.
• Crowder responds that his criticism of establishment figures like Ben Shapiro is well-documented and he mostly goes after the left “[my attacking the left is about probably 20, 50 to 1, even on this very issue].” [82:15–82:29]

Notable Moments & Quotes

• On impeachment:
  “If you're calling for the impeachment, and it could be facetious, the execution of Donald Trump, that seems pretty extreme.” —Crowder [36:43]

  • “I think every president in my lifetime has been a war criminal. That's right.” —Smith [45:35]

• On libertarianism and borders:
  “...I got convinced by their argument that it's not in fact the correct libertarian position. Like it doesn't follow from libertarian principles that government property ought to be available to the entire world.” —Smith [34:30]

• On foreign aid:
  “The whole game is that America is involved already. We are propping them up. And if we weren't doing that, I don't think we ever would have even attacked Iran.” —Smith [57:42]

• On Trump’s diplomatic record:
  “Do none of these count?” —Crowder, listing various negotiations, ceasefires, and diplomatic efforts [48:24–49:31]

• On intra-right criticism:
  “There's a plausibility to that... but there's also a problem in not attacking your side and not criticizing it when they're going down the wrong path...” —Smith [77:25]

• On Kamala Harris:
  “I think we all agree that Kamala Harris would be an embarrassing drunken bitch leading this country, and it probably wouldn't...” —Crowder [76:30]

Selected Timestamps for Important Segments

• 28:33–30:30 — Intro to the interview, laying out areas of agreement and real-world stakes for “impeach Trump” issue
• 33:39–34:46 — Smith explains his journey away from “open borders” libertarianism
• 36:23–38:12 — Impeachment, mechanisms, and real-world consequences
• 42:20–43:06 — Smith: “The alternative was obviously to keep negotiating…”
• 50:58–51:33 — Smith: “A war of aggression. An illegal war. The Constitution is very clear…”
• 57:42–59:18 — Smith: U.S. entanglement in the Middle East and what a withdrawal of all aid would mean
• 63:05–63:47 — Smith: “I don’t think… it’s ever appropriate to launch a war because a country developed nuclear weapons.”
• 77:25–78:42 — Smith: The risks of not criticizing “your own side”

Episode Tone and Language

• The discussion blends heated argument, mutual respect, sarcasm, and sharp humor, true to both hosts’ public personas.
• Crowder is brash, often cutting in with quips, challenges, and comedic asides; Smith is fast-talking, wonky, and insistent on first principles, but quick with jokes and self-deprecation.
• Both men emphasize the need for strong civil debate, bristling at bad-faith mischaracterization and strawman attacks.

Final Thoughts & Where to Find the Guest

• They reach no resolution on the fundamental disagreement about impeachment or the best approach to Iran, but articulate clear philosophical boundaries.
• Dave Smith’s podcast: “Part of the Problem”
• Upcoming shows: ComicDaveSmith.com

[For further discussion and behind-the-scenes banter, join Louder with Crowder’s premium feed or follow Dave Smith’s work via his podcast and social media.]