We Have A Deal

Summary

Podcast Summary: Part Of The Problem – “We Have A Deal”

Host: Dave Smith (with co-host Rob)
Date: June 16, 2026
Episode Focus: In this episode, Dave and Rob break down the sudden U.S.-Iran deal, the geopolitical chaos behind it, U.S. and Israeli dynamics, the reactions from the Israel lobby, and the implications for U.S. foreign policy, with their signature Libertarian, irreverent tone.

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Overview of Main Theme

This episode centers on the surprise announcement of a U.S.-Iran diplomatic deal—potentially ending the latest cycle of Middle Eastern conflict. Dave Smith, joined by Rob, analyzes what’s actually in the evolving agreement, critiques the U.S. government's shifting positions, and dissects the boiling split between MAGA pro-Trump loyalists and Israel-first hardliners. Throughout, Dave emphasizes the fecklessness and hypocrisy of U.S. foreign policy and the disorienting propaganda blitz from all sides.

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Major Discussion Points & Insights

1. The “Deal” – What Is Actually Agreed?

[04:10 - 07:35, 13:42 - 18:22]

• Confusion reigns over the specifics: Iran claims a $300 billion reconstruction commitment, $24B in frozen assets released (half up front), a lifted naval blockade, and U.S. withdrawal from areas around Iran in exchange for promising not to develop nuclear weapons.
• The U.S. is contradicting several major Iranian claims—denying significant up-front payouts and stressing future “verification” before cash or sanctions relief.
• Dave compares this fog to a Venn diagram: “What we kind of know, both sides at least seem to be agreeing that this is in the agreement. And then there's some key issues that are outside of it.” (Dave Smith, 07:35)
• Key point: Both hosts agree the U.S. has, in principle, abandoned almost all its war aims (such as zero uranium enrichment and regime change).

2. Trump’s Motive and Capitulation

[07:35 - 10:44, 22:25 - 23:39]

• Dave presents the “capitulation” thesis: Trump engaged in aggressive escalation, expecting to force Iranian surrender but, under pressure as the conflict spiraled, “just tried to threaten them to get them to capitulate... what we're getting here is essentially a total Trump capitulation.” (07:35)
• The only thing the U.S. can claim is reopening the Strait of Hormuz—a return to status quo before the war.

3. Domestic Politics: Trump Loyalists vs. Israel Lobby

[27:11 - 31:14, 41:38 - 46:08, 57:21 - 58:48]

• The MAGA coalition now splinters: die-hards must defend Trump’s “deal”—a reversal of years of anti-Iran, pro-Israel rhetoric.
• The Israel lobby (e.g., Mark Levin, Ben Shapiro) erupts, feeling betrayed, with Shapiro accusing Trump of handing Hezbollah and Iran a victory.
• Notable moment: “The Trump supporters are thrilled...they know that Donald Trump is bleeding over this war...But they have no option to turn on Trump, so they have to just celebrate everything he does. So this is the greatest war ever. This is total victory. That's what they're saying now.” (Dave Smith, 38:32)
• Dave wryly notes it’s an “interesting moment” as MAGA’s coalition is now just Trump superfans and the Israel Lobby, at odds.

4. Israeli Intransigence & Undermining

[17:45, 37:17 - 38:32, 46:08 - 48:23]

• Israel continues to attack Lebanon despite the memorandum forbidding it. Israeli officials (e.g., Ben Gvir) openly refuse to be bound by the deal, threatening potential sabotage.
• Dave predicts Israel will try to undermine the deal in the coming days: “Do we even get to Friday?...Does something kick off before then?” (Dave Smith, 37:20)

5. U.S. Foreign Policy Hypocrisy & Media Narratives

[32:51 - 34:20, 51:21 - 54:03, 58:48 - 61:07]

• The hosts lampoon U.S. “strength” rhetoric: “They equate shit blowing up with strength. Killing people is strength now, evidently.” (Dave Smith, 34:20)
• Ben Shapiro’s criticism is dissected—he frames any Israeli restraint as a “giant L,” using faulty analogies to justify perpetual escalation.
• Dave emphasizes how the debate becomes incoherent: “If Israel wants to defend itself, then leave us out of it. If Israel is under the belief that Iran is a bigger enemy...and we're telling you, hey, guys, don't mess this up, then, yeah, you got to follow our lead.” (Rob, 52:13)

6. The Political Fallout: MAGA Disarray & Israel-First Litmus

[56:36 - 58:48, 65:30 - 67:10]

• Dave and Rob question whether MAGA loyalists will rationalize this about-face, or finally acknowledge Trump’s failure.
• The Israel-First litmus: Dave criticizes American pundits (Jewish and non-Jewish) whose loyalty to Israel outpaces national interest: “It is a real problem, man...to have people that are just religiously loyal to that country over ours is just...insane.” (Dave Smith, 58:48)

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Quotes & Memorable Moments

On the Reality of the Deal:

“We’ve already walked away from every single war demand, all in an effort for what?...The one thing is the Strait of Hormuz is open. That was the status quo before the war.”
— Dave Smith [22:25]

On the Trump/MAGA Pivot:

“A week ago, Iran was the mortal enemy and he was saving our empire because… in the future, Iran was gonna have a nuclear war and they were gonna destroy our country. And now you're forced to accept, actually [Iran's] reasonable people and they can take part in the world economy. We just had to make a deal with them.”
— Rob [56:36]

On Israel’s Reaction:

“Israel's breaking up with us. We don't have to break up with them. Perfect.”
— Rob [37:17]

On U.S. ‘Strength’:

“They equate shit blowing up with strength. Killing people is strength now, evidently.”
— Dave Smith [34:20]

On the Israel Lobby Flip:

“The Israel-Firsters will turn on Donald Trump if he doesn't get regime change here. That's all this was ever about for them.”
— Dave Smith [43:01]

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Key Timestamps for Main Segments

| Timestamp | Content | |-------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:07 – 04:10 | Episode intro, UFC/White House event, initial patriotic feelings | | 04:10 – 07:35 | Timeline and details of the U.S.-Iran (Trump) deal | | 07:35 – 13:42 | The mechanics of the deal, confusion about terms, US/Iran disagreement | | 13:42 – 18:22 | Iran & US narratives diverge; $300B fund, military, and nuclear provisions | | 22:25 – 23:39 | Abandonment of original war aims, “capitulation” narrative | | 27:11 – 31:14 | Politics of the deal, MAGA/Israel lobby split | | 32:51 – 34:20 | Critique of Trump strength narrative, “begging vs. bombing” | | 37:17 – 38:32 | Israel’s threats to undermine the deal, attacks on Lebanon | | 41:38 – 46:08 | The real reason for Israel-Iran tension, Hezbollah, and U.S. posturing | | 48:33 – 54:03 | Ben Shapiro’s talking points; discussion of U.S./Israel dependency analogy | | 57:21 – 58:48 | Analysis of Israel-First identity, rise of antisemitism, MAGA loyalty | | 61:07 – 65:30 | J.D. Vance spins the deal, attempts to justify concessions | | 65:30 – End | Concluding thoughts: this is an historic defeat; prediction of coming days’ chaos as deal is finalized |

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Conclusion

Dave and Rob conclude that the U.S.-Iran deal, despite the spin, represents a historic foreign policy defeat for Trump's administration, exposing the incoherence at the center of American interventionism and the deep fracture between U.S. ideological factions. Israel is poised to undermine the deal, and domestic voices (MAGA and Israel lobby) are scrambling for narrative control. Despite the loss, Dave ultimately argues that ending the war—even now—is the least-worst option:

“Hopefully, we can get to this deal being signed. We can take this loss. It is a loss. But at least it'll be over. We'll see.”
— Dave Smith [71:08]

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For listeners seeking a comprehensive, irreverent, and highly critical Libertarian analysis of current U.S. foreign policy and the unraveling MAGA coalition, this episode offers both detail and biting commentary.

Transcript

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[Dave Smith]

What's up? What's up, everybody? Welcome to a brand new episode of Part of the Problem. This is a big one. We got. We had fights at the White House last night celebrating the 250th anniversary of America. And on that same day, I, I got a nice virus going through my house. The joys of having a young family leave.

[Rob]

Don't ruin Denver. Just, just leave for the week.

[Dave Smith]

Oh, yeah, no, I won't. Denver comes before anything, before God, family. But then, of course, Rob, we'll, we'll get into this. We have a. We have a deal. We have a deal. Well, we have a. We have a memoir. Okay, we don't have the memo, but we've been told there is a memo. It looks like this, this one might be legit. And there's a ton to break down. Real quick before we get into that. You did mention Rob. Denver, Colorado, coming up soon. This is like really up there with me and Rob's favorite stop of the year. Quite possibly our favorite weekend that we did last year together. So June 18th will be in Greenwood Village, Colorado, and then June 19th and 20th at the Comedy Works downtown in Denver. Really looking forward to that. Do you have some stuff before that, Rob, or after?

[Rob]

On Sunday, I'm doing. I'm back at the Denver Comedy Garage where I filmed my first comedy special. I'm going to be doing the FBI presentation. So even if you're coming out for the shows with me and Dave, I'm doing entirely different material. It's been Going great. Unbelievable weekend in Minnesota. Thank you, people. And then I got Raleigh, North Carolina, Hampstead and Myrtle Beach. Coming up next, port store dot com. All the dates.

[Dave Smith]

Hell yeah. Hell yeah. And of course, comic Dave Smith.com to come see both of us out in at the comedy works and. All right.

[Rob]

I do just want to say, because I watched all that UFC last night in all of its shenanigans and glory and conflicts of interest and whatnot, I enjoyed it. And the fact that Big Mike got a shout out makes me think the nation is actually healed.

[Dave Smith]

It wasn't it? It did make it worth the whole thing. Or that. Yeah, look, gotta say, they were great. Some really, really great fights. And, man, it is hard no matter where you are, it's hard to not get a little bit, I don't know, a little bit moved by the fact that, like, it was at the White House, it was the 250th year of America, and that the American was such an underdog and won. The main event was pretty cool. Just gotta say, pretty cool.

[Rob]

Every time they went to like the old war footage or you were watching the band, I just kind of felt like, guys, I love this country. Can we get rid of the socialism, foreign wars and censorship, and then we can go back to beefing over all the other small stuff. Can we just have, like, this country's fucking awesome. It's not right now, and you guys keep doing all this shitty stuff to it. But like this, you know, they keep pretend to celebrating freedom and you're like, yeah, we are awesome and freedom is awesome. Too bad you guys keep taking that from us.

[Dave Smith]

Yeah, it's a weird thing that even the people who celebrate it have to use our language in order to celebrate it. And you're like, listen, I do love America and I do love, of course, how could we not? And this is the country we're from. We've. We've all, relatively speaking, had great lives compared to most of human history, and pretty uniquely like me and you have, I don't know, we have a wonderful career that we love. We have good friends, we have good family, we have all this stuff. It's like, of course we want to just love this country and we get to say what we want and we get to speak out against our own government here, which is still pretty damn cool. And as you said, if we could just end the obviously idiotic wars, the central bank insanity, importing the entire world and like, censoring and spying on our own people, then, yeah, then we could all just be cool. That's really the central message here. All right, let's get into the latest on, on this deal because this is so interesting and it's, there's a lot going on. So, of course, yesterday it was announced. Well, I mean, it's, it's been announced that we had a deal several thousand times, as we had pointed out about two weeks ago, there was the first point where we had said we had a deal and the Iranians also said, yes, we're close to a deal, and then this all went down. So let's go just through the timeline kind of loosely. Essentially, what happened was there was a Donald Trump had asked once again, Israel not to attack Lebanon. Israel said they had no choice but to respond to, to a rocket attack that killed nobody and essentially did no damage. And they bombed Beirut a few times. Iran said there's a violation of the ceasefire and they announced that they're going to light up Israel and evidently started making some military movements. The US Intervened and a deal was struck. They both agreed that we're going to be signing on to this memorandum of understanding. This was first announced by Donald Trump yesterday, but then Pakistan came out and backed him up. Iran was quiet for a while. Iran has now come out and also acknowledged that they will be signing this thing. So the now there are reports that they've like electronically signed it. But evidently, from what I've read, there's going to be like an official signing on Friday. We're recording this on Monday. And so this leaves more than enough time for Israel to sabotage this. But we'll get into that in a second. Four days is more than they've ever needed, Rob. But so that's kind of how this went down. I want to get your thoughts on this, Rob. And there's a whole lot, there's so many different kind of like, avenues to cover. But I guess at the beginning, I would just say that there are, there's, as of right now, there are a few huge gaps between what the Iranians are claiming is in this deal and what the Americans are claiming is in this deal. But there are some things that seem to be agreed upon by both. So there's kind of almost, if you could think of like concentric circles. Is that, am I using that term?

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Right.

[Rob]

Right.

[Dave Smith]

Okay. Like a Venn diagram. Is that anyway. But if you could think of, you know, like, there are these areas that what we kind of know, both sides at least seem to be agreeing that we're, we're, this is all in the agreement. And then there's some Key issues that are outside of it. Either way, Rob, I will say this is what it appears to be to me. I'm curious to get your. Your thoughts on this, and we can go through why I feel this way. Essentially, this entire war has been Donald Trump spazzing out is essentially Donald Trump getting tricked into a stupid war by the Israelis thinking something that. No, it's actually hard to believe that he really thought the regime was going to collapse and the people would rise up. But he said it out loud. And so that's what he claimed, at least. And obviously that didn't come true. The whole thing turned out to be a goddamn disaster. Just a complete catastrophe. Just needless. Just death and economic destruction and turmoil and a real reshaking of the global, global order that we'll kind of figure out over time. And ever since then, he's basically just tried to threaten them to get them to capitulate so that they would sign some deal that. That he could spin as a. As a victory. And I think in the end, what we're getting here is essentially a total Trump capitulation. Now, I don't know exactly what level of that we're getting, but it seems to me, and we can go through all of this, but it does seem like that's essentially what happened, is that just from the timing of all of this, that essentially, you know, when they were saying the other day that 75% of the deal has been worked out, Iran was about to light Israel up one more time, and this thing was about escalate more, and the Americans came in and went, we'll just give you that last 25. Let's just get this thing done with. All right, guys, let's take a moment and thank our sponsor for today's show, which is my Patriot Supply. I love this company, and part of the reason I love them is because the world is getting crazier every day. And every time you look at the news, there's another crisis, a conflict, or some type of catastrophe. Well, we can't control what happens out there. We can complain about it, as I've demonstrated very thoroughly on this podcast. But what you can do is make sure that you and your loved ones are protected in the case of emergency. I've always been an advocate of preparedness, and there's nothing like knowing you have enough food to eat when the shelves are empty. And when it comes to my family's food security, I trust my Patriot Supply. They've helped millions of Americans get prepared, and they have over 90,000 five star reviews right now you can get their best selling three month emergency food kit supply for a hundred dollars off. This is the same stuff that I keep in my house. My Patriot supply almost never offers a deal like this. To get your emergency food Supply go to preparelikedave.com this food kit gives you 2,000 calories a day. It lasts up to 25 years and best of all, it's $100 off for a limited time. So again the website is preparelikedave.com get yours right now. That's preparelikedave.com all right, let's get back into the show. But anyway, we could get into more details around that. What are your thoughts broadly?

[Rob]

All right. Well firstly on your Venn diagram and the area of agreement, I guess the biggest area of agreement now is that IR be believed when they say we're not going to get a nuclear bomb. And I guess that we're now in agreement with Iran and no longer running with the Israeli propaganda that these people absolutely can't be trusted. They're the largest sponsors of state terrorism in the region. They destabilize the region and any resources going their way will only be used towards nuclear destruction because these people are absolutely crazy. So I guess we're now pivoting to the Iranian perspective of we can be responsible global actors. And so that is the point of agreement where this administration is driving me crazy. And I've said this joke before, but everything's an SAT question now where you got to figure out where we are. Cuz they won't just give you the information. It's not clear to me that there actually was a digital signing. I've heard that there was a digital signing but then I've also heard that the signing's taking place on Friday. I am really toying in my head because Donald, like, you know, at the beginning of this war I couldn't believe Donald Trump was willing to pretend, hey, the war is gonna be over tomorrow and then shamelessly have just to us it seems to me like there's no way they're lying to us on us being this far into a deal when there actually isn't a deal. But maybe Donald Trump is so stupid where he just wants to win one week of news for absolutely no reason, that he's ramping up the style of lie to sucker us in. But the biggest point of disagreement right now is the Iranians seem to believe that they're getting 12 of their 25 billion or $24 billion in seized money forked over up front. And the administration seems to be saying, I don't know where they got that from. That's absolutely not happening. Which still kind of brings us back because that's the single worst look for Donald Trump is that now he's got to give over money up front to potentially work out an Iranian deal later. I mean, Obama only gave him, I think it was like, 1.4 or $1.7 billion. Now you're giving them the entire load up front without even having a deal, and you want to pretend to me like that's better. So, I mean, it's still. I can't imagine that we've. That they're still selling it this hard and there's not a deal on the table other than that they're trying to pull the weasel move of, do you guys really want to walk away from this now? We'll get your money later. But it does seem to me like we're coming to the end and that I, Donald Trump, last week was his last attempt at some targeted strikes to see if he could change the variables. Just one more point. The part that I'm most lost at is I really thought the Israelis must have had some very good leverage on Donald Trump that he was unwilling to break up with them and stand up to them. I guess if he's now willing to do it, then there wasn't blackmail on the table because we're not seeing it. And so then, therefore, Donald Trump was just that dumb in his approach here that he was feeling high and mighty after taking out Venezuela and he felt, hey, I can get this one done too. And then just walked himself into a mess and just made a bigger mess of it as he went.

[Dave Smith]

Well, maybe, maybe. I mean, there's a lot that we still have to see how all of this plays out before we can. I'd at least be like, I have to see what happens here before I can kind of even wrap my head around, like, how he would finally come to a point that he's gonna reign Israel in. But let's just go over this a little bit here. So just to be clear, Iran put out, like, to Iranian media what the memorandum of understanding is. The US has not. The U. S. Has said that within 24 to 48 hours, it will let us know. So then to get to some of the specifics you mentioned, there are some areas where there's very clear discrepancies between Iran is saying this is in the deal and the US Is saying, no, it is not. But then again, there's areas where they all seem to be acknowledging no one's taking issue with. So let's ju just going through this a little bit. Number one, I guess I would start with the point this is not a proof, but it is something that you might just notice. You know, Trump is not putting it out and Iran is at least claiming to. Trump isn't even claiming. This is the thing we're going to sign. And presumably, Rob, if they're doing the signing on Friday, we will get to see it then. And so it just, it makes you wonder why exactly is Donald Trump not putting this out? Okay, just saying if it's a really, really wonderful deal where you got, you know, did so great, you would think you would want to put that out. You wouldn't think you would want to keep it secret until it's signed and too late. And I, I don't know. I mean, like, I'm open to other possibilities here, but that does seem to like, you know, raise some alarm bells also should be mentioned. We'll, we'll get to some of this later. But like the Israel lobby is flipping out about this right now. And so that's another thing that's worth keeping in mind. This is what Iran claims as of yesterday. The, the deal is okay. They claim there's the $300 billion reconstruction commitment. Now this is something that's been floating out there that always, at least to me, Rob, seemed like the, one of the most maximalist of demands of the Iranians. You know, like side of these negotiations from the very beginning. If you remember, Rob, the Iranians started out very maximalist, where it was like, America has to completely leave the region. America has to pay back all the war debt. The Strait of Hormuz is theirs with a fee forever. They started off way maximalist. Maybe they've read Art of the Deal, I don't know, but I thought this was one of the most maximalist ones. And they're claiming that this is in the deal, that this type of commitment is in the deal. And this is not one that the US is exactly denying. They're saying, no, no, no, not up front, but like maybe they would have access to this. So to get into that. So they say 300 billion in reconstruction commitments from the US and their allies. This is what the Iranians claim. 24 billion in released frozen funds, half before negotiations even start. That's the 12 you were talking about before, Rob. Complete naval blockade lifted within 30 days. US forces withdrawn from around Iran. Now that's fairly vague, but around Iran, I, to me doesn't imply the region the way they were saying before, so a little bit of a walk back there, but still, you know, they're getting all the troops out. Hormuz reopens under Iranian arrangements, meaning Iran keeps management of the strait. Again, this is being contested, this part by the Americans, but this is what the Iranians are saying is in there. Iran reiterates its commitment not to produce nuclear weapons, but that, that's it. That and then they have 60 days after to, to have nuclear negotiations. Now, there's a few things that should be mentioned in all of this.

[Natalie]

Okay?

[Dave Smith]

60 days to negotiate a nuclear deal is ridiculous and makes absolutely no sense. And people should, should kind of know that that's just something you should have in your mind. The JCPOA took, I believe, over two years to negotiate and they sent experts. Trump just sends like people who own casinos and shit. So it's not the idea that you're going to do what they did in two years, in two months. I mean, unless you're really just starting with the JCPOA or something like that. And then it's seems unlikely, but that maybe isn't the most important thing.

[Rob]

So.

[Dave Smith]

And correct me if you've read anything that contradicts this, Rob, but I've been reading a lot about this. So the US has really contradicted a few claims here that the Iranians are going to make. And this is kind of strange, right? This feels like a strange dynamic because presumably we're all going to find out in a few days and whoever's lying is going to kind of look like an here. So, like, presumably there wouldn't really be much of an incentive to lie. And the only one I can really think of is that Donald Trump thinks he's going to get a lot of heat for this and so he'd rather it not be known until it's done and, you know, not have everyone flip out until then to try to undermine it. But I don't know, maybe there's another possibility. But okay, the claims here that Iran is saying, yeah, they get 12 billion up front and they get a commitment to the 300 billion and a commitment to the other 12 billion of theirs, that's, that's unfrozen. Now, the US is saying that's not true, Nothing's happening up front. They're not getting their money until we verify that they do certain things which is unclear. Like what does that mean, verify that they open the straight or verify something about the nuclear negotiations where you only have 60 days for it. That's a big. That's A big discrepancy. However, Rob, there is a concession built in there, which is that essentially the US has admitted that, like, yes, we're open to doing that. Right. So the whole thing, like the whole, the whole posture, which of course, again, was one of the real starting points of this war of like, no, they get nothing, which was very, very clearly stated by Trump and Vance and, and Hegseth and all of them that no, Obama gave them. I mean, Donald Trump has been just cartoonishly demonizing Barack Obama for giving them money. And by that he meant unfreezing their assets. Okay, well, this is the same thing, plus this 300 billion dollar commitment, which is just kind of crazy. But just to be clear, the US has kind of already conceded that point, that. Oh, no, if we verify that they are doing what they're doing. Yes, at least some. At least the 24 billion. Maybe not the 300, but at least the 24 billion is something that, like, we'd be open to that. And then we'll play Rubio, I'm sorry, Vance or something, and welcoming them back into the broader economic community or something that did seem to indicate maybe that 300 billion. Hey, guys, let's take a moment and thank our sponsor for today's show, which is Sheath Underwear, the underwear of legends. And I am one of those legends. I love sheath underwear. I've worn nothing but sheath underwear for, I think, four years now. Most comfortable pair of boxer briefs you will ever put on your body. You will love them just like I do. It's the only underwear I ever wear. As I said, I'm in a pair right now. And they've been a longtime sponsor of the show. So support a sponsor of the show that you love and get yourself the best pair of boxer briefs you'll ever own. In the process, by going to sheath.com and using the promo code problem, that will get you 20% off your order. Sheath.com promo code problem for 20% off. All right, let's get back into the show. Okay, so that's a big one. The other one here is that the US has essentially acknowledged. Rob. Right. That we're not getting the nuclear dust on Friday. Right. We're not getting that even as part of the deal on Friday. But there has been this, I. This vague kind of notion that, yes, in the future they might dilute that down and we would verify that they had diluted that down. Right. Okay, but Rob, what now? Now, again, this is not clear. This hasn't been confirmed by the Iranians that they're going to do that. But just like with the money, Rob, what's the concession in there? Because it's a pretty big one. We're away from zero enriched uranium. We're not saying that anymore. We're not saying that they can't enrich uranium at all. We're back to going, could you maybe dilute down the 60% enrichment that you have?

[J.D. Vance]

Again?

[Dave Smith]

This is a major. Rob, you've been following this stuff. This is a major, major capitulation from the starting point, okay? The starting point was this is what the whole fucking war is about. This is what the 12 Day War and this was about. The pretext for war was that we demand zero percent enrichment and they won't agree to that. We've walked away from that. Forget about the more maximalist demands of Donald Trump. Total surrender, regime change. Oh, yeah, we've walked away from all of that, too. I'm just saying, Rob, if you actually look at this through what's being. Before we even get into, you know, what the claims that Iran's making are in the deal that, that the US Is denying, even though the US Is the one who won't show you the deal. We've already walked away from every single war demand, all in an effort for what? What's the one thing that we get out of this, Rob? The one thing is the Strait of Hormuz is open. That was the status quo before the war. We've fought the whole thing to get back to where we started. I don't know. What are you seeing here, Rob? Am I getting something wrong?

[Rob]

I haven't seen a word about whether or not Iran's gonna be able to enrich. So I think your read is likely right, that we're walking away from them not being allowed to enrich and just looking for them to downgrade their enriched uranium and get rid of the nuclear dust. But I guess what you're missing here is that if you piss off Iran enough and you start a war with them and you bomb the shit out of the country and, and you take out their ayatollah, then they can be trusted. But until you do that, you can't take them at their word. You just have to really piss them off and showcase the fact that they're the enemy. And once you do that, then when they tell you that they're not going to go ahead and make nuclear bombs, then you can believe them. But prior to the warfare, you can't believe them.

[Dave Smith]

I think you sent. Did you send that to the group chat, Rob? The hagseth I think you sent that the other day, right? He's saying there, Natalie, can you find that? It's, it's up from the other day from Rob sent was he that. But yeah, we'll get the words coming out of his mouth. I mean the, it, it is again, we can get, we'll get into the politics of all this in, in a few minutes here. But forgetting, I'm just saying, just trying to analyze what's really going on here. It does seem like, yeah, dude, Donald Trump just didn't want to go up the escalation ladder anymore. And this is, I got to say, listen, I don't know but I still maybe we'll speculate for a moment on this before we go to this clip on the claims that Iran is making that are in the deal. I, I don't know. I mean, I don't know. Are they. Look, obviously it looks shady that Trump isn't showing us the deal and they're making these claims are that are in it. But it also seems hard for me to believe is Trump really going to just unfreeze 12 billion off the jump before they've done anything at $300 billion, are they really going to put a fund together or make some type of commitment for something like that? That seems kind of hard to believe. But also it does kind of seem like maybe that would be the move that they'd make right? There is they go, look, we just got to get some type of deal. We got to get them to give us some language that will, you know what I mean, like something I can spin into a victory. And then, I don't know, maybe,

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

I

[Dave Smith]

don't know, we'll just bribe you to say some stuff. Say some stuff and then we'll give you all this money and you'll be in this position, better position or something like that. I think Donald Trump, is he above doing that and then just in a very crude way try, I'm sure it'll be worked out where it's like we're not unfreezing at our sock puppet is and we're not putting up money for the fund, but the countries who we aid are going to at our behest or something like that. But it'll be very easy to point out that like yeah, Iran got all of this money from the deal and that was the end result of it. So I, I mean, again, I don't know. But also it doesn't really, I guess my, my, my real point here is that none of it, it doesn't really matter it doesn't really matter to the bigger picture whether Trump's going to end up giving him a $300 billion fund or whether Trump's going to unfreeze 12 billion off the bat or any. The broader fundamentals of this war are all kind of revealed through this.

[Rob]

What I'm, you know, most. What I'm most fascinated by is you already see Mark Levin and Ben Shapiro going nuts, and they hate this deal. And for those people who are the Trump hardliners that were just believing Trump no matter what and were not the people that were anti Trump and then jumped on Trump because he suddenly became pro war and lied to everyone during the election process. But for the people who are just the Trump loyalists and believe Trump no matter what, I wonder how they're gonna accept this 180 from basically the Israel propaganda of Iran's an evil empire, a mortal enemy. We have to stop them now. I'm doing future generations a favor because they were going to go nuclear. I had. I know it's costly, but I have to take care of this now to a total 180 of, hey, Israel needs to behave itself and knock it off. And because I say so, Iran can now be trusted. I wonder if people are really going to be willing to accept that the JCPOA was the worst deal ever. These people cannot be trusted. We went to war with them, failed in terms of trying to show our US Military might, of getting them to capitulate and roll over and go, hey, you totally destroyed our Navy. You took out our leader. You guys win. What do you need from us? And that suddenly, now they can be trusted. I really wonder how the slim majority of loyalists who are not just pro war, who were just sticking through Donald Trump this entire time, are going to accept this, this. This reality. I just. I wonder how they're gonna put this together in their brains of. That made sense two weeks ago, and this makes sense now.

[Dave Smith]

Yeah. Especially if you are even vaguely familiar with the fact that there's a whole other side of this argument. You know what I mean? Like, if you're even vaguely familiar of the fact that you're like, well, you know, there's. There's a lot of people, like, in America now who are saying, like, Netanyahu is the bad guy, but I'm with Trump, Netanyahu's our friend, and the Ayatollah is the bad guy, and that's why we got to go fight this border. And then, like, halfway through Trump's, it's like, oh, no, actually, Netanyahu is kind of the bad guy. You're like, it's hard to just not on a simple level, go. So you're telling me those people were right about what they said? You're like, no, no, they were still wrong. But, yeah, it's. It's a complicated sale, that's for sure.

[Natalie]

It's.

[Dave Smith]

It's, you know, it's very interesting. Right. You know, the dynamic. Oh, I'm sorry. We should talk about this first before we move on, because this is the other element of the deal. And that's. It's. Natalie said the. The clip's not working for her. It's.

[Rob]

And I think she found it.

[Natalie]

Oh, okay.

[Dave Smith]

Here, let's go to that, and then we'll get to the other element of the deal. Let's go to. Yeah, Hegseth, are you keeping the force posture in place through the 60 days of negotiations and beyond?

[Pete Hegseth]

Oh, we'll make sure the military option is there. And that's the. That's the big difference between this and JCPOA and the way Obama did it. Obama, they begged Iran for a deal, and we bombed Iran and then put in a blockade and then ran ships through and then have restarted what necessary to ensure that they come to the table for a great deal. So our military posture will be whatever it needs to be to ensure they're compelled over this 60 days through the Memorandum of Understanding, that they live up to what they said they would do. The document says Iran will never have a nuclear weapon. Won't seek one, won't buy one, won't have one. Jason, There'll be negotiations to make that final, but they didn't have the threat of military force the way that we do that. Iran respects, in a very way, that their regime is more devastated, more devastating. Excuse me, more devastated than it's ever been in its 47 years. And that's why they're at the table. So the huge difference is we did this from a position of strength. President Trump led with military might that military might will stay as long as necessary. You know, if the blockade comes off, then you. You pull back and you allow shipping to flow, just like Iran needs to allow shipping to go through the straits. But we can snap that blockade back at any point, and they can't do anything about it. And Iran knows that. And that's why we have the leverage in these talks, and we hope they' go.

[Dave Smith]

Well, Rob, you know, he really is a big, dumb lunkhead. I mean, he's. Dude, I met Pete Hegseth. I had beers with Pete Heth years ago, and I remember having beers with him. It was after a show at Fox News. After the Kennedy show, we went over to the Irish pub next door, a group of us, and we were having beers. And I remember we were all talking. I remember thinking to myself, this guy's a big dumb lunkhead. And now he's the Secretary of Defense and he's still a big. Like he really is. Just, it's just such an embarrassment for the country, this guy is, who represents your, your War Department. So this is what he's got. You can't even point to what's better. You just go, obama begged the Iranians not to get nukes. We bombed the Iranians not to get nukes. Like, ooh, yours had explosions. Hey, begging is better. Begging is better than bombing. What do you. If you can't point to a difference in the conclusion, then you don't just win by saying, our method involved killing people. Oh, oh, wonderful, wonderful. So the families of the 200 girls who got slaughtered. Hey, Obama got here by begging. We got here by murdering your girls. Wonderful. Pete Hagseth, what a great accomplishment. Oh, we're, we're, you know, we got them to commit to not making a nuclear weapon. You go, they literally, the preamble to the JCPOA is them committing to not getting a nuclear weapon.

[Rob]

And go read it.

[Dave Smith]

Go read the first paragraph of the jcpoa. It is what he said. But what does he say, Rob? No, but we got here from a position of strength, blew up before we got them to say that. Nothing blew up before Obama got them to say that.

[Rob]

I dismiss this premise because I believe that the deterrent of the theoretical force is better than losing with force. When you show up with force and you show up that it's not successful, that's a lot less scarier. And that's not as. That's not a position of strength. And I think the proof is, at the end of the jcpoa, Iran was still under sanctions, was not just able to just be on the world stage and just selling its oil. And the new paradigm is going to be that there are normalized world power and probably the biggest power in the region, and that's the result of the failed strength that you guys tried to posture with. And so the idea that this is from a place of strength and that was from a place of weakness. I think Iran's going to walk away, seemingly, if the deal actually goes through, which still seems somewhat shaky, and that Donald Trump's lying and that there aren't Everything's not agreed to. And that you gotta restrain Israel, and we're not ready to do that. There's a lot of variables on the table, but if this goes through as is, you've got, theoretically, let's just say, money up front. None of the terms on the nuclear stockpiles actually worked out with Iran having the ability to go ahead and sell its oil. I mean, you're telling me that that's a better deal or that this was from a position of strength? This is bullshit.

[Dave Smith]

Yeah. Oh, 100%. This is such a weaker position than where we were in the jcpoa. No, the only thing. No, it's just Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump and guys like this, they. They equate shit blowing up with strength. Killing people is strength now, evidently. All right, guys, let's take a moment to thank our sponsor for today's show, which is Body Brain Coffee. And the Body Brain creamer is finally here. And this thing was specifically designed to stack perfectly with Body Brain coffee, which I drink every day. I have one cup of Body Brain coffee every day, if you guys haven't heard me talk about it. This is the brainchild of Louis J. Gomez, the great Louis J. Gomez, who pushed me to create this very show. Of course, hilarious comedian as well. It's a delicious cup of coffee that naturally boosts your testosterone. I've been drinking it for months now. I feel better than I've ever felt. And now they have the creamer designed to perfectly stack with Body Brain Coffee. This isn't the sugary grocery store creamer that's loaded with garbage. Essentially, it's packed with stuff that's good for you, and genuinely, it tastes great. So drink this. You're gonna feel better like I do. And if you're anything like me, I don't want to drink some weird health drink. I want real cup of coffee. So this worked perfectly for me, and I'm sure it will for a lot of you guys too. Go check them [e-mail] and make sure to use my promo code, Dave. 20 for 20 off. Again, this is Louis J. Gomez. This is the guy who is responsible for me being a comedian and a podcaster. So make sure we go blow this up together. Bodybraincoffee.com promo code, Dave. 20 for 20 off. All right, let's get back into the show. Okay? The point that we should have made before, and this, you had a good lead into it there, is that the other thing that all sides are. Are agreeing is in this memorandum of understanding, by the way, there is something. You know, isn't it interesting, Rob, that the term memo is so common, commonly used, but memorandum. I've said it more over the last two weeks than I've ever said my entire life. Like, you know what I mean? Like, we even have a sleep. Like a saying that. It's like, oh, I didn't get the memo. You know, like, that's like a joke you could make at a bar. Oh, we're. We're doing tequila. I didn't get the memo. You know, that you would never just be like, I haven't received the memorandum. You get kicked out of that bar, talking like that. All right, Anyway, so the other major thing that's in there, conceded by all sides, is that Lebanon's part of the ceasefire and Israel cannot continue attacking Lebanon. Of course, this creates, once again, the entire situation. We've been watched, by the way, Rob, they're bombing them right now. The Israel is. I read one report that there were explosions heard in Lebanon. I guess I haven't seen that confirmed yet. So we'll hold off on. On confirming that, but Israel has said they've made a bunch of public statements already from all types of different. I just saw Ben Gavir made one where he's like, yeah, we are not. We did not sign on to this. So we're not part of this. Which is true, Rob. Right. Like, they're not a part of the deal. So they. But cool.

[Rob]

So Israel's breaking up with us. We don't have to break up with them. Perfect.

[Natalie]

Right.

[Dave Smith]

So that, that of course, leads to the same question of, like, is Israel going to try to undermine this? Well, they've done that at every single other turn, so I think we'd have to just assume. Yes, but then the real question is, are they able to. Do we even get to Friday? Or does something kick off before then? And, you know, I. I don't know, but I suppose one of the other points I should make, because almost every time here, when you actually go through what is being floated out. Again, we haven't seen this, so we don't know for sure. But when you go through what's being floated out, it's almost like, okay, so they're arguing over this detail, but then you look at, like, what the implicit admission in all of that is, and what's the implicit admission in. In Libya being part of the ceasefire is that that whole, oh, you can't work with Hezbollah anymore. You can't fund your terrorist proxies. That ain't in this memorandum, Rob, that. So again, like on every single level, regime change. No people are going to take over the government. No. Zero enriched uranium. No.

[Natalie]

No.

[Dave Smith]

We get all the 60% enriched uranium. No. Medium and short range missiles. No funding of terror proxy groups. No. One thing we got opening the Strait of Hormuz. Now, your assignment, Rob, is to spin that into a win in here. I mean, I don't know, ma', am, tell me what I'm wrong. This is, this is without us getting into the argument of whether or not he's given them 12 billion up front, without even that. So now I got to say in, in terms of the politics of this, it's an interesting moment, as I've, as we've said before, Rob, where this has been a dynamic of this whole thing. You have these two groups. There are the people who just support Donald Trump, and then there's the Israel Lobby. And so of course, right now the, it's almost, in a way, this is. If you look at what's left in maga, that's essentially it. Those are the two groups all of us have left. So, you know, the, the Trump coalition no longer consists of Tucker Carlson and Joe Rogan and Theo Vaughn. You know, like, that's gone. But what's left now are the, the Mike Cernoviches, the, the Jack Posebiecs, the Trump supporters and the Israel Lobby. And so the Trump supporters are thrilled with this because first of all, whether they want to admit it to themselves or not, they know that Donald Trump is bleeding over this war. Right? They're aware. They, they see that they're getting ratioed every day when they try to stand up for them on social media or whatever. And then they also see what the Israel Lobby is doing here and how they're. But they have no option to turn on Trump, so they have to just celebrate everything he does. So this is the greatest war ever. This is total victory. That's what they're saying. Now, again, as I've mentioned before, throughout this war, this is a tough thing for me because I'm so disgusted by the way these people are behaving. And yet they're probably the most important people right now. I hate to say it, I hate to admit it, but like, I watch, I watch Mike Cernovich, somebody who I've liked and respected for years, I watch him posting on Twitter that this was a huge victory for Donald Trump. And I'm like, I don't want to lose respect for you like this dude. Like, how can I just watch you Just lying to your own people. Like, it's just so. My God. Like, what are you. Like, how much did he pay you for the night? Like, I'm sorry, this is just like, prostitute behavior. Some of the greatest strategic blunders in American history destroyed his presidency over just nothing. It's got. Just caused hundreds of billions of dollars to the global economy. Just. Just horrible. Every level of it. Just horrible. But, okay, that's what you gotta. You gotta have some people saying that, man. Trump's gotta hear at least a few people saying that. But now, okay, the dynamic is now the Israel lobby is completely turning on him and calling him out.

[Shannon Maldonado]

Out.

[Dave Smith]

Calling him out for. For what? What a failure this is. I mean, it's kind of unbelievable, dude, watching. I know you alluded to this earlier, Rob, but watching Mark Levin and Ben Shapiro and these types go from. Just. All of a sudden, they're the guys who were always for Donald Trump, and they're attacking anyone else who doesn't trust the plan or who doesn't trust Donald Trump. And you're watching them immediately pivot back. And so now there's this weird, like, battle between the two groups that I. That have just been driving me crazy the most. And I. Not exactly sure how to play it. I don't know what the writer was. I almost just want to retweet all of them. You know, like, I. I saw. I'm not. I didn't post on Twitter for the last couple days, but I saw, like, I saw Mike Cernovich tweet, you know, huge victory for Donald Trump, and I almost just want to retweet it. Yeah, man, totally. Get this deal signed because. Thank God. Let's sign it, whatever the deal is. Yes, let's sign it. Honestly, I don't even care. Are you giving them 12 billion or 24 billion? Whatever, give them what you got to give them. Let's get this nightmare over with. It's the best thing we could do. And. And then you see people like Mark Levin. Have you seen him? He's posting and he's like, I actually saw. Mark Levin actually had some tweets that were going viral. It's the first time I've ever seen it where he's going, hey, how come we can't see the memorandum if it's so great? Why don't we get to see it? And you're like, yeah, good point. Mark Levin.

[Natalie]

Yeah.

[Pete Hegseth]

You know, like, what. What can you.

[Dave Smith]

What can I say here? Do I even want to pick a fight with Mark Levin right now? You're like, yeah, dude, fair. Absolutely fair point. We should get to see that thing. But so just watch, man. I mean, look, dude, there's, there's two things, two predictions that I made that have aged very well. One of them, Rob, was that they're going to go from saying Tucker Carlson and, and the, the lesson here is that Tucker Carlson doesn't matter and that's why it doesn't matter. Donald Trump's not destroying his whole coalition. And then they're going to pivot to blaming the midterms on Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens and all them. They're already doing that. Levin went on a whole rant about that the other day. And then my other prediction is an obvious one was that all the Israel firsters will turn on Donald Trump if he doesn't get regime change here. That's all this was ever about for them. And, and look, as we've broken down for many, many years here, and I'm not going to go through the whole thing again, but you can find me breaking this all down on the Internet all over the place. But this was always about Israel taking Lebanon. That's the whole beef with Iran. That's why they have a beef with Iran, is because Iran is, is very, very close with Hezbollah, who is essentially the militia that runs southern Lebanon that kicked Israel's ass twice and drove him out of the country. They weren't able to take southern Lebanon because of Hezbollah and because Iran is arming and backing Hezbollah. That's their problem with the Iranians. So this was always for them. This was never about nuclear. They, they're not concerned about the nuclear program. That's just the pretense, that's just the thing that they know that Americans care about. Just like with Saddam Hussein. That's the thing they tell you is they can't tell you. You know, it was in that interview when they were responding to me, Rob, when Gnome had David, Worms are on. And it's a while he's talking about it before all the things with Iraq and all the things, blah, blah, and the weapons program and all this. And then eventually he just lets it out and he goes and look, Yasser Arafat was making a whole bunch of noise about a two state solution. And when you had Saddam Hussein there, it let the Arab nationalists know that Mr. Arab Nationalist is over here and has your back. Oh yeah, that's right. That's kind of the issue, isn't it? But Rob, that's pretty tough to sell to a soccer mom in Kansas now, isn't it? Hey, we got to go throw overthrow Saddam Hussein because, you know, like if Saddam Hussein's out there, then Yasser Arafat might get the feeling that maybe he should keep fighting because he might get a two state solution one day. How do you feel about that? Soccer mom from Kansas? No, not that good. How about he's making nukes and he's in with Al Qaeda? Oh, you're interested now, right? That's all this is. But anyway, I say this, I make this point because if you understand that, you recognize. Are they going to be okay with this deal now? Hey, look, Rob, you know, look, look, we got them to promise that they're not going to make nuclear weapons. Why is it that every time Iran makes a deal promising to not get nuclear weapons, every member of the Israel lobby hates that deal and tries to destroy it with everything they have.

[Natalie]

Have.

[Dave Smith]

Why would that be if their big concern was a nuclear Iran? Okay, well once you understand that that's not the concern and it's all about Lebanon, then you go, oh, so the deal is that they get, not only do they get to keep being friends with Hezbollah, but Hezbollah is protected by order of this deal. Now you're going to start to understand why the Israel lobby is going to flip over this and do everything they can to destroy it. So to your point, Rob, are you

[Rob]

saying that Donald Trump is making a deal that protects known terrorists in the United States government?

[Dave Smith]

No, I'm not. I would never make a claim like that, Rob. But I mean if you got evidence. All right guys, let's take a moment and thank our sponsor for today's show, which is Prolon by El Nutra. We've all set health goals in the past. Maybe you want to lose weight or exercise more or eat healthier, but without a plan, they often fade. Well, that's where Prolon comes in. It's five day fasting. Mimicking diet gives you a science backed structured approach to stay on track. Unlike quick cleanses or detox, it resets at the cellular level, delivering benefits that stick with you long after the five days. That's all it takes guys, is five days with Prolon. Now as I've told you before, Prolon is a plant based nutrition program. So it has soups and snacks and beverages, but they're designed to nourish the body while keeping it in a fasting state. So it triggers cellular rejuven renewal. So basically you get all of the benefits of fasting without actually having to give up food, which is a deal breaker for many of us, like me. So if you're ready for your own reset for a limited time, Prolon is offering part of the problem listeners 15 off site wide plus a $40 bonus gift. When you subscribe to their five day program, just visit prolonlife.com potp that's P-R-O L O N L I F E.com P O T P to claim your 15% disc and your bonus gift. Prolong life.com potp all right, let's get back into the show here. Let's, let's go to the, the Ben Shapiro clip because I thought this one is a good example of, of what I'm talking about. I believe I sent that one over. Right, Natalie.

[Rob]

And then I think we got to show a little bit of Vance selling this.

[Dave Smith]

We got to do, yes, we got to do a little bit of J.D. vance. Let's go, let's go to Ben Shapiro and then we'll go to JD Vance in some of his numerous appearances.

[Natalie]

Here's he's going to have to respond to terrorism across its border, as we'll see. If the United States is going to suddenly become an advocate for the idea that Israel can't defend itself, then this is a giant L for the United States and for our allies. Israel has the right to defend itself against threats, but the attack it was responding to is very small and meaningless. Nobody was hurt, injured or killed and should not disrupt this important process. I really don't think the president would see it that way if, say, Mexico had fired a bunch of drones into American soil and blown them up and no one got killed. I don't think it works that way. I'm pretty sure it doesn't work that way.

[Dave Smith]

Oh, is it right here? Just okay, so just already off the bat, okay, you see Ben Shapiro, this is the man who called Donald Trump the most courageous president in the history of the United States of America after he launched this war on behalf of Israel. Right. Same guy who will praise you like that. He will now turn around and go, if this, if the lesson of this is that Israel can't defend herself, then this is a huge L. That's how think about it like you go from being the most courageous president in American history to that same war being a huge L if you're not in service of Israel. Okay, now think about the level of dishonesty here. What Ben Shapiro does when he goes, Donald Trump asked Israel not to retaliate. Okay, but imagine Mexico just drone bombed America. Now, it didn't kill anyone, but do you think we wouldn't retaliate to that. Okay, let me just say another scenario, right? Let's say there was a hundred year war between us and Mexico and we had just killed so many people on both sides, just always at war forever. And we couldn't afford to fight the war ever by ourselves. So like our friends in Europe up, they, they were paying for the war because we were like, we really need this help. We're in this hundred year war with, with, with Mexico. And so many people had died on both sides. I mean we've killed probably about 20 times as many of their people as they've killed of us. But we've been going back and forth forever and ever and ever. And, and then Europe, the European countries who were financing us were like, look dude, like this is really unpopular here. We don't want to do this anymore. We've got a peace deal worked out. And then they sent over a missile and nobody got hurt or anything like that. And they went, please don't respond to this one because we're trying to get deal done. See, that would be really reasonable. Right, But Ben Shapiro doesn't give you that scenario. So instead he goes, but what if Mexico just launched a drone? As if. Because I'm just saying like, and, and look, it's not a hundred year war exactly or whatever, but you know, whatever. I'm just saying like maybe those scenarios aren't exactly the same, but if you object to that, then you object to scenarios that aren't exactly the same being used as examples.

[Natalie]

Right?

[Dave Smith]

But let me tell you a scenario that definitely ain't the same. It's not. Not the US and Mexico, two sovereign states that live next to each other that haven't fought a war in 175 years, you know what I mean, that are like just are cool with each other. And then one of them just launches an attack against the other one. That's a different scenario than being in the middle of a war that someone else foots the bill for. And then they ask you to not respond to an attack where nobody was hurt anyway. I don't know Rob, can you, what can you even say about the equivocate. They, you know the thing they always say about us, if you ever bring up any and any of Israel's crimes, they go moral equivalency. You're making a false equivalency. But what a false equivalency between this request by Donald Trump in the middle of a war he's conducting on your behalf to Mexico, just attacking us. Fucking fraud.

[Rob]

Yeah. If. If Israel wants to defend itself, then leave us out of it. And if Israel is under the belief that Iran is a bigger enemy and we're in the middle of putting together a ceasefire with the bigger threat, and we're telling you, hey, guys, don't mess this up, then, yeah, you got to follow our lead. If you want us to just walk away and leave you guys to yourself, to defend yourselves and for us to take back our resources, that you're not getting us involved in a mess, go ahead and defend yourself, because us and Ben Shapiro both know that Israel is unable to do so and will completely, completely stop all these military actions because they can't do it.

[Dave Smith]

This is all that's right, Rob. It's the most cliche thing in the world for, like, a teenager, like, on a sitcom, for, like, a teenage girl to go to her dad and go, hey, I'm 15. I can do what I want. And what does the dad say back to her? Well, as long as you live under this roof, you're gonna do. Right? Like, this is the most cliched thing ever that you would go, okay, you can just make this assertion of liberty, but that's actually just infantile if you don't also take responsibility. Right. Isn't that what the dad is saying essentially there? That it's like, well, yeah, okay, you can do whatever you want. Well, I can do whatever I want with my money and my food and my shelter.

[Natalie]

Right.

[Dave Smith]

It's like, you're still dependent, and so, no, you don't have this autonomy. And that is exactly the same thing here. It is every bit as infantile for. For Ben Shapiro and Mark Levin to sit here and say, hey, the US can't tell Israel what to do. Well, actually, Israel, if you want to live under this welfare, then you're going to live by the rules of this welfare. Absolutely. We can tell them that. Let's keep playing.

[Natalie]

You're basically free. We shouldn't. We shouldn't spoil this. You know, we shouldn't spoil this very important day just because you fired a rocket at my house and you happen to hit my front lawn and not kill anybody. He said, we are very close to a deal that will bring peace to the region, including to Lebanon. And all sides should stand down. All sides should stand down. One of these sides is acting defensively. One of them is a terrorist group responsible for the death of hundreds, if not thousands of Americans. He said, there should be no more attacks by Israel anywhere in Lebanon, but there should also be no more attacks by any other Party, including Hezbollah against Israel. This could be the beginning of a long and beautiful peace. Let's not blow it. Thank you for your attention to this matter. I'm sorry, these are not kids fighting here. You have a terrorist group that has expressed its desire to wipe Israel from the map. And you have an American ally flying sorties alongside American pilots, sharing technology and military largesse both ways. And the idea is that that state is supposed to, what, just go silent when it is attacked? And then Trump went to Axios, and again, this is just the kind of signaling that is not useful. It is not good. It does not help negotiations. It looks like weakness. And the Iranians can sense weakness. They can smell us. The president went to Barack Ravida Daxios, who used to be like the Obama cutout, and then he became J.D. vance's team's cutout over at Axios. And now the president is using Barack Ravid as his cutout. And the president went to Axios and he said that he was shocked when his advisors called him to brief about that Israeli strike in Beirut and he fumed at Netanyahu, Quote, it is so bad, I couldn't believe it. An hour before we're supposed to sign the deal. Trump acknowledged that Hezbollah attacked Israel first, but stressed it didn't cause any damage. Nobody had been killed. Why did Bibi have to do an effing attack? I was so pissed off. I let him know he has no effing judgment. I let him know that. And then he said the same thing to the Wall Street Journal. Bibi shouldn't have done that. I didn't like it at all. They fired a couple of small missiles and missed their mark by a lot. They have to fire back then. He'll fire back then. The whole thing never stops in the Middle East. So we are now back to what cycle of violence nonsense that suddenly there's no difference between Israel defending itself and Hezbollah firing missiles and rockets at Israelis in Israeli territory? Okay, this is the problem. If you keep sending the signal to a terror backing regime that chants death to America, that you want to deal with them so badly that you're going to tell our allies in the region to stand down, you are giving them an enormous amount of forward momentum, and that is a huge mistake.

[Dave Smith]

All right, there you go. Huge mistake. Weakness, man. That's all it takes.

[Rob]

Well, 24 hours ago, Donald Trump would have been saying this exact same thing. So I'm curious to see how the loyalists are gonna stand by him. And if they're willing to accept that this is no longer the narrative and that Iran can just be trusted. Because back to what I said, I think in week two of Donald Trump is. I need more than the Donald Trump said so standard, and people are still living by it. So a week ago, Iran was the mortal enemy and he was saving our empire because in the future, Iran was gonna have a nuclear war and they were gonna destroy our country. And now you're forced to accept, actually the reasonable people and they can take part in the world economy. We just had to make a deal with them. So I don't know how people are. Honestly, this is somewhat more honest than the people than Donald Trump or the people that are just gonna change gears with him.

[Dave Smith]

Yeah. Oh, look, I mean, first of all, on the Ben Shapiro stuff, and this really is like, it's. It's a great. I mean, there's just a million examples like this, but this is one more like just perfect one where you just recognize that there really is a problem here. And I gotta say, I think it is. I know there's a point we've made a million times over. Not that it's the most important point, but it really is. Like, this does really contribute to the rise of antisemitism or whatever you want to call it, because it's like, dude, you just. You have a guy, a Jewish guy, who's an American. You are an American. You were born here, you have citizenship here, you became famous here, you became rich here, you purport to love the country. And yet when it comes down to it, right? I mean, look, Rob, it's not just like, this is why I like Megyn Kelly using the term Israel Firster. This is why I always like John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt using the term the Israel Lobby. Because like, like Donald Trump, according to Ben Shapiro, is the most courageous president ever. But if he makes one decision that crosses Israel, weakness, failure. You know, these are the words we use to describe. It's like it is so clearly in service of this other country. Now, it is completely fair to point out that there's also lots of Christians who are Israel Firsters and atheists who are Israel Firsters and whatever. You know, they're.

[Rob]

But.

[Dave Smith]

But it is a real problem, man. Especially when you got two nations whose interests are so conflicting, or at least the interests of our nation with the interests of the powerful people in Israel are. Are in. In conflict. And to have people that are just religiously loyal to that country over hours is just. It's insane. And, you know, again, all of these guys, they're essentially like little boys with action figures. They're all just like, no, keep blowing up. Take Carg Island. Do whatever you have to do right now. By all military estimates, this will just result in catastrophe. And very clearly, none of them have skin in the game. Like, they're not going and fighting these wars. They're not. They're rich and they're fine, and they'll, you know. But, like, anyway, it's just, It's. It's crazy to watch that. And I will say, Rob, it's a very weird part of the dynamic. I'm just trying to be honest here because that's all I'm really able to do. I feel like that's the, the bond between me and the listeners or whatever is that I just got to tell the truth. But while there's this weird dynamic, in a way, isn't there something you respect more about Ben Shapiro? Thank you. The people who are just Trump cult followers. You get what I'm saying? Like, even though he's like, it's so evil, but at least he believes in something. There's something. There's something about just believing in something versus being a total phony that, like, again, like, the, the Trump supporters, if Donald Trump had announced escalation yesterday, would have supported him. And if he announces this deal, they'll support him. If he is giving them 12 billion up front, they'll support him. And if he isn't giving them 12 billion up front, they'll support. It's just like, you don't believe in anything, man. I. I don't know. Very weird. Okay, let's. Because we are running out of time here. Let's get to a couple of the JD Vans clips here. How many JD Vans clips did I send you? Because I think I sent a few. Let's see. Maybe just here, just play. Play the. I guess I just sent two. Right. Okay, so let's. Either order. Doesn't matter. Natalie, let's play one of them,

[Natalie]

walk

[Dave Smith]

through some of this. The Iranians are saying that they're going to have access to a $300 billion reconstruction fund. True or false?

[J.D. Vance]

Well, Ed, that's the sort of thing they could have access to, funded by the Gulf Coast Coalition, so long as they honor their end of the obligation. I think that one of the things you're going to see, Ed, and people have to be skeptical of this, is that the hardliners in the Iranian system will overemphasize the benefits that Iran gets while underemphasizing all the things that they have to concede and all the things they have to provide in order to get these benefits. So we absolutely are.

[Dave Smith]

Pause it real quick. I love Rob, that JD Vance just had to go around on all the shows and defend this thing and he's got to go in there and say things like, well, you know, listen, what the Iranians are going to try to do is overemphasize all the stuff they get and not mention any of the stuff that we get. And you're like, hey, Mr. Vice President, you know, it would really help clear that up. What, you know, what could really solve that problem would be if you told us like it. This is. It's such a bizarre thing to say. We've come to this deal. It's a great deal. There's a lot of misinformation about the deal and they be like, yeah, but I can't tell you. And also, Rob, you may have noticed there, he didn't shoot him a. No, he asked him that. He said they're claiming they're going to have access to $300 billion and JD Van sweater. That's the type of thing that could be available to them. So again, as we mentioned up top conceding that actually, yeah, this is something we're willing to talk about, not just talk about giving around money, but more money than they ever could have dreamed of from Obama and Biden combined.

[Rob]

Well, this is the kind of thing you see when you negotiate from a place of strength.

[Dave Smith]

Yeah, it's all the strength. This is what happens when you kill people first. You get these type of negotiations Here, let's keep playing.

[J.D. Vance]

He's investing in the reconstruction of Iran, but only if Iran ends their nuclear program, ends their enriched stockpile of material. And it was really open to an inspections and enforcement regime that gives the American people confidence they're never going to have a nuclear weapon. So I think the dance you're going to see, Ed, which is going to be interesting, is the Iranian media, especially the hardline media, they're going to talk a lot about what they get without talking about what they give. It's important for all of us to correct that record.

[Rob]

Like you could do right now.

[Dave Smith]

Yes, as you could correct, but are unwilling to. Okay, so again, there's the admission. Everything we were talking about up front. Yes, they could potentially have access to the 300 billion. His only objection was it's not like they just get that they have to do some stuff. And then number two, what are we talking about here? An inspections regime to inspect what, Rob? Oh, I guess enriched uranium Nuclear, their nuclear program. Okay. I mean, they're not, he's not saying they have to have no nuclear program and then we have to have inspectors to make sure you don't have a nuclear program, is saying we have to have inspectors to monitor what level you're enriching up to. It's given up on the 0% enriched uranium. Let's go to the other, the other clip of JD Vance here doing his best to spin this nonsense.

[J.D. Vance]

Well, we already signed the deal digitally yesterday and there's been no money released and that won't change. George, again, this is a performance. If we see the Iranians making, for example, taking action to eliminate their stockpile of enriched material, then yes, sanctions relief will follow. If we see the Iranians taking action to allow the kind of verification regime that we need to see to know that they're not going to build a nuclear weapon, yes, sanctions relief will follow. So this is really about walking down a pathway here where the Iranians will be welcomed into the world economy if they do the right thing. And George, we have to remember their economy is fundamentally destroyed. Their nuclear program is fundamentally destroyed. If they don't do the right things, if they don't allow the verification regime, they're never going to have the money to rebuild their nuclear program to begin with. So this is fundamentally a win win for the American people. What the President has said is he wants it to be a win for the Iranian people as well, but that requires some real trust building and some real positive conduct from the Iranian political system. We're going to see if that happens. If it does, they're absolutely going to find the President, United States and the entire team a willing partner to make their country more prosperous.

[Dave Smith]

All right, Rob, what do you think?

[Rob]

My initial thought is if those are all the fundamentals, then just walk away. If the fundamentals are their economy is destroyed and they fundamentally can't afford to get a nuclear warhead, so then job done. You don't need a deal in lease. Unless you're lying about that also.

[Natalie]

Yeah.

[Dave Smith]

All right, let's. A couple things I want to say before we got to wrap this up. Look, I guess let's just say so we're presumably going to find out if we do get to a signing of this memorandum of understanding on Friday, what exactly is in the deal. But let's just say for the sake of argument that every noise being made by J.D. vance and the Trump administration is truthful because they've got such a great track record of telling the truth through this whole Thing and the Iranians are overplaying their hand. I'm not exactly sure why. They're just trying to save face. It's going to be revealed on Friday that they didn't get any of this stuff up front. Okay, so they don't get the 12 billion up front. They don't get access to the 300 billion fund, the, the reconstruction fund up front. They have to like do certain things before they get any of that. Okay, but still what you're telling me is that there's no regime change. They're still supporting the same proxy groups. They're not immediately turning over the enriched uranium. They're not, you know what I'm saying, like any of the other war goals. It's not zero percent enriched uranium. It's not whatever the, the no talk of the missiles whatsoever. That's not just, not even in here,

[Shannon Maldonado]

there,

[Dave Smith]

even in the US Best case scenario. What you're telling me here, Rob, is that you achieved none of the war goals, none of the war goals have been achieved. And that essentially what we're back to is that we have a, we have 60 days, we have not nearly enough time, but we're going to start negotiating nuclear again. That, Rob, is what we had before for the two years before the jcpoa. That is what we had for the six years after the JCPOA is what we had before the 12 day war. It's what we had before this war. They're willing to negotiate their nuclear anyway. So even with the, the regime's best case scenario, this is, it is what it is. It's a humongous US military defeat. And I don't think, you know, for political reasons. I don't know if that's the most helpful thing to say out loud right now. But again, as I said before, I just don't know how to operate that way. I just got to tell the truth to you guys and then that's that. But I'm not sure if I should be like tweeting this out or try to get, but whatever, that's the facts. It's a huge loss, maybe the biggest loss in many ways in, in US military history. The other thing I did want to just mention is that, that I think so many of the, of this is like devils in the details of what follows in the next 60 days for one side to say Iran is following the agreement. Iran is not following the agreement. But I think the bottom line here, Rob, is that the reason why the Israel lobby is flipping out about this is that, and this is really, the biggest bright side of all of this is that, you know, you get to those 60 days, I think there's a good chance we're not going back to war.

[Shannon Maldonado]

War.

[Dave Smith]

I think that this is the, you know, that's going to be 60 days later. Is the Trump administration really going to restart this most unpopular of wars that they know what, what's going to happen if we restart it in 60 days? Let's say these talks fall apart and they're like, no, we're not giving you any access to that money. Or they're, they're hitting back at Israel because Israel's bombing Lebanon or whatever it is that falls apart. What are we going to do, Rob, go back in? So they close the straight again and we're right back to the same situation where we got to threaten them and we can't militarily open it. We got, you know, people.

[Rob]

Trump does love living in circles.

[Dave Smith]

Well, look, people can say, hey, There was the 12 Day War and then we came back again for this war. But the, there's a big difference there, man. We just did not. We got some black eyes in this one. You know, this just is not the same thing. And there's, I think it's going to be very, very hard for Trump to restart this thing after he stops it now. And I think the Israel lobby knows that. They know that this was their chance, this was their best chance, and I guess perhaps still is their best chance to get that regime toppled. And so it'll be interesting. My, I would say, I think over the next few days, these guys are going to really dial up the intensity. You know, Ben Shapiro and Mark Levin and all of them are going to really, really dial up the intensity, pushing Donald Trump into this, as you alluded to, Rob, they've got a lot of rope to work with because they can hang him by all his own words, you know, they can hang him by, as you pointed out, he was just saying the same thing 24 hours ago that Mark Levin saying. So they can use all of that. They can use, sir, you promised the Iranian people, you promised there'd be regime change. You did all this, you put your full nutsack out on the table, and they're going to remind him every day for the rest of this week about that. And then, of course, on the military front, Israel is going to be doing everything, everything they can to undermine this. So it's going to be an interesting few days and we'll see what we got. But hopefully we can get to this deal being signed. We can take this loss. It is a loss. But at least it'll be over. We'll see.

[Natalie]

All right.

[Dave Smith]

Porch tour.com come see Robbie the Fire Bernstein out on the road comicdavesmith.com to see us together as we trav. Always a fun time. All right, see you guys tomorrow. Peace.