Pod Save the World – Episode Summary

Episode: Has Trump Ended 7 Wars? (No)
Air Date: September 24, 2025
Hosts: Tommy Vietor and Ben Rhodes
Special Guest: Rob Malley (interview segment)

Main Theme / Purpose

This episode critically dissects Donald Trump’s recent foreign policy claims, particularly his assertion that he ended "seven wars." Tommy Vietor and Ben Rhodes provide in-depth fact-checking, analysis of Trump's UN General Assembly speech, and broader context for U.S. global engagement under the Trump administration’s second term. The episode also unpacks recent global developments: U.S. support for Argentina, Russian aggression in NATO airspace, changes to immigration and visa policies, U.S. military policy in Afghanistan, and shifting stances on North Korea. The show concludes with an extended interview with Rob Malley about the history and failures of the two-state solution in Israel-Palestine.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Grim Mood at UNGA Week

• Ben is reporting from New York during the annual UN General Assembly.
• Both hosts note a sense of futility and bleakness—traffic gridlock, lack of climate action, and geopolitical drift.
• Tommy: "There was a big report out about how basically every major country has completely broken its promises..."
  • [02:04]

2. Trump’s UN Speech: Fact-Checking the ‘Seven Wars’ Claim

• Trump claimed to have ended seven wars, but offered a mix of braggadocio, grievances, and falsehoods.
• Audio clip: Trump says, "I ended seven wars, dealt with the leaders of each and every one of these countries...All I got from the United Nations was an escalator that on the way up stopped right in the middle..."
  • [05:08]
• Tommy and Ben systematically debunk each "war" Trump claimed to have ended:
  • Israel-Iran: U.S. "ended" a conflict it participated in, with no long-term resolution.
  • Rwanda-DRC: No ceasefire or reduction in fighting; key rebel groups excluded from deal.
  • Thailand-Cambodia: Temporary ceasefire, ongoing violence; underlying issues unresolved.
  • India-Pakistan: No U.S.-brokered agreement; continued hostility.
  • Egypt-Ethiopia: Dispute over a dam, not a war, and unresolved.
  • Kosovo-Serbia: Economic agreement, not a peace deal or resolution of the core conflict.
  • Armenia-Azerbaijan: No peace deal; one-sided victory, underlying conflict ongoing.
• Ben: "The only war he ended is one that he started with Iran. And you don't get credit if you bomb a country and then stop bombing them."
  • [13:58]
• (Memorable quote) Ben: "This is an absurd degree of vanity and narcissism. And I think what's scary about it is I think he believes he ended seven wars."
  • [15:03]
• Both hosts express concern that repetition of these falsehoods makes them "real" to Trump's supporters and right-wing media ecosystem.

3. The U.S. Bailout of Argentina

• Trump endorsed Argentina's President Milei for re-election just after the U.S. promised a bank bailout.
• The aid followed Milei's passage of severe austerity measures, leading to social backlash and market instability.
• Tommy highlights hypocrisy: "America First now means giving Argentina a bank bailout?"
  • [15:34]
• Ben: "We're bailing out Argentina...because Javier Milei is like a buddy of Trump's...His whole foreign policy is based on basically supporting like minded right wing nationalist autocrats who kiss his ass."
  • [16:57]

4. Trump’s Afghanistan Gambit: Reoccupying Bagram Air Base

• Trump is considering reoccupying or even re-invading Afghanistan to reclaim the Bagram air base.
• The idea was prompted by a right-wing op-ed; Trump claims Bagram’s strategic proximity to China justifies it—though it’s 1,200 miles from Chinese nuclear sites.
• Trump threatened, "if Afghanistan doesn't give Bagram Air Base back...bad things are going to happen."
  • [23:59]
• Ben: "This is absolutely baffling and we should just say this is a horrible idea. Everything about this is crazy...There is not a political constituency in Afghanistan for this. There's not a political constituency in this country for this."
  • [23:59]

5. Attacks on Press Freedom and Pentagon Coverage

• The Pentagon recently announced that reporters would need pre-approval before publication, even for unclassified material.
• Tommy warns about the threat this poses to government accountability, referencing historic examples like the Pentagon Papers.
• Ben: "This is yet one more plank of free speech that is potentially being threatened...the only version we're going to get...are just going to be pure propaganda."
  • [28:50]

6. Russia’s Escalating NATO Airspace Violations

• Russian jets have repeatedly entered NATO airspace (Estonia, Denmark, Norway).
• Trump’s response: "Yes, I do," (to whether NATO countries should shoot down Russian planes), but wavers on whether the U.S. would back NATO militarily.
  • [31:59]
• Ben explains Putin’s likely motivations: humiliation of NATO, measuring responses, and exploiting U.S. unpredictability.

7. Immigration and Visa Program Overhauls

• Trump's administration imposes a $100,000 fee for new H1B visas (up from ~$10,000), raising panic in tech and changing the selection process to favor high-skill, high-income applicants.
• Tommy: "It’s likely to be really challenging and potentially damaging for startups..."
  • [35:50]
• Golden “oligarch” visas allow millionaires to buy U.S. residency or corporate sponsorship.
• Ben: "We used to be the place where the strivers came...This is not the H1B visa for the striver, this is for the oligarch..."
  • [37:55]

8. More Immigration: Ending TPS for Syrians & Targeting Palestinian Rights Activists

• DHS announces end of Temporary Protected Status for Syrians, arguing Syria is both safe enough for return, and a security threat—a contradiction Tommy and Ben call out as bigotry.
• The Trump administration presses for deportations of other nationalities, and has targeted Palestinian rights advocate Mahmoud Khalil for deportation as part of broader attacks on speech and activism.
• Ben: "The basis for just deporting someone based on speech should terrify people."
  • [49:17]

9. Updates on War on Drug Cartels

• U.S. strikes on “narco boats” in Venezuelan waters continue.
• Leaked info: DEA pushed for military strikes on Mexican soil—signaling potential further escalation.
• Ben: “The next step...is either going into Venezuela or going into Mexico. And either of those would be a massive escalation in violation of state sovereignty.”
  • [55:23]

10. North Korea & Nuclear Nonproliferation

• South Korea signals willingness to negotiate for a freeze (not denuclearization) with North Korea—a shift acknowledging the reality that Kim Jong Un won’t disarm.
• Ben: "We're normalizing the North Korean nuclear weapons program, [with] South Korea no longer relying on the United States."
  • [57:55]

11. Candace Owens Sued by France’s First Lady

• Far-right podcaster Candace Owens is sued for defamation by Brigitte Macron after spreading a conspiracy theory.
• Tommy: "The idea of a foreign head of state suing an American podcaster makes me uncomfortable on First Amendment grounds but there sure as hell seems to be some actual malice behind this one."
  • [62:06]

12. Nigel Farage and the Politics of Internet Fame

• British right-wing politician Nigel Farage is lampooned for reading internet memes on Cameo, rising in popularity among youth and “gamer” culture, raising concerns about political dignity.
• Ben: “There needs to be like a dignity line that you don’t get beyond, and Nigel Farage just goes so far beyond it.”
  • [65:20]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Climate Action:

  • "We're missing all our targets. Trump's bragging about it. It's just, it's bleak. So bleak." – Tommy [02:04]

• On Trump’s UN Speech:

  • "This is utterly embarrassing for the United States." – Ben [07:50]

• On Reoccupying Afghanistan:

  • "Every scenario I can think of here is bad." – Ben [26:42]

• On U.S. Bailout to Argentina:

  • "America first now means giving Argentina a bank bailout?" – Tommy [15:34]

• On Press Restrictions at the Pentagon:

  • "[This] attack on the First Amendment...would be damaging to literally every citizen of this country." – Tommy [27:15]

• On Russian Provocations:

  • "You don’t have this many coincidental incursions in NATO airspace...It’s a deliberate strategy by Russia." – Ben [32:23]

• On New H1B Visa Policy:

  • "We used to be the place where the strivers came. Like we wanted you to come here if you were scrappy." – Ben [37:55]

• On Deportation of Syrians:

  • "In one breath she’s trying to argue that Syria is now safe...but that Syrians in the US are all a threat..." – Tommy [41:55]

Extended Interview: Rob Malley on the Two-State Solution (Starts ~69:13)

Context:
Rob Malley, coauthor of Tomorrow is Yesterday: Life, Death and the Pursuit of Peace in Israel, Palestine, discusses the history and future of efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Highlights:

• Mythbusting Camp David:
  "[Clinton] says the Palestinians were offered everything. The Palestinians said no. And...they're to blame for the predicament that the Palestinians are in today. Which...is a strange response to [those] enraged by the genocide...First of all...the Palestinians were never offered 100%." – Rob [73:06]
• Problems with the “Peace Process”:
  "The peace process served as an instrument to perpetuate the status quo...It suited the Israelis as well...and the Palestinian leadership, because it got money to keep the non-representative Palestinian Authority afloat..." – Rob [78:41]
• Obama Years and the Illusion of Progress:
  "The President knew all this...but didn't feel he had the political ability to take his own reasoning to its logical conclusion, which would be to make Israel face the consequences of status quo and have to pay the consequences of the occupation." – Rob [82:28]
• On “Recognition” of a Palestinian State:
  "What are you going to do the day after, when...the genocide continues, land grabs and settler violence continues in the West Bank, nothing changes...? My fear is that it’s another case where people are going to be disillusioned, frustrated, because nothing’s going to change..." – Rob [84:05]
• On What’s Next:
  "Let’s not pretend the only solution is the ‘two-state solution’ which has not been a solution and which has perpetuated the status quo which led to October 7th...I would hope that Israelis and Palestinians will find some way to coexist. In fact, I believe they will at some point." – Rob [89:24–90:00]
• On Generational Change:
  "There’s a new generation of Americans...their vision, the role of the U.S. in the world, the hypocrisy, the double standards, the vacuous moralism...I take some solace, some hope from the fact that they will have lived a period that is going to go down, I think, as a real dark period in our foreign policy, and they may try something different and better." – Rob [91:00–93:35]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:27] – Main show open; UNGA and global gloom
• [05:08] – Trump’s “I ended seven wars” speech (audio & deconstruction)
• [12:32] – Tommy’s point-by-point fact-check of Trump’s “seven wars”
• [15:34] – U.S. bank bailout for Argentina
• [23:59] – Trump’s Afghanistan/Bagram base threats and analysis
• [28:50] – Pentagon press restrictions and risks to free speech
• [31:59] – Russia’s airspace incursions, NATO’s response
• [35:50] – H1B Visa changes and impact on tech and immigrants
• [41:55] – Ending TPS for Syrians, deportations, attacks on free speech/activists
• [54:30] – War on narco-boats, escalation towards Venezuela/Mexico
• [57:55] – North Korea’s nuclear program & South Korea’s policy shift
• [62:06] – Candace Owens sued by Macron family
• [65:20] – Nigel Farage’s Cameo/TikTok infamy and political consequences
• [69:13] – Interview: Rob Malley on Israeli-Palestinian peace process
• [71:19] – Camp David mythbusting (Clinton clip discussed)
• [84:05] – The limits and dangers of “recognizing” the Palestinian state
• [89:24] – The need for new ideas and generational change in policy

Final Thoughts & Tone

The tone is darkly sardonic, overwhelmed by the global retreat of U.S. leadership and integrity. Hosts balance deep policy insight with exasperation and humor, reminding listeners of the stakes of institutional decay and misinformation. The Rob Malley interview is unusually candid—critical of both Republican and Democratic failures regarding Middle East policy.

For listeners who missed the episode:

• Expect a meticulous dismantling of Trump’s foreign policy grandstanding.
• Receive essential context on ongoing crises, attacks on democratic norms, and why many “solutions” are just shams or distractions.
• The episode ends with some faint hope that the next generation may chart a more ethical U.S. foreign policy, learning from these dark times.

Further Resources:

• Listen to the Rob Malley segment for a deep dive on why “the two-state solution” is both a history lesson and cautionary tale.
• For quick updates, follow the timestamps to segments of particular interest.