Trump Bulls**ts About Iran Negotiations & Throws ICE Into Airport Chaos Mix | Jake Sullivan

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Daily Show: Ears Edition

Episode: Trump Bulls**ts About Iran Negotiations & Throws ICE Into Airport Chaos Mix | Jake Sullivan
Date: March 24, 2026
Host: Jon Stewart
Guest: Jake Sullivan (Former National Security Advisor, Obama/Biden administrations)

Episode Overview

This episode of The Daily Show, hosted by Jon Stewart, dives into the chaotic state of American politics under Donald Trump, focusing on the administration’s contradictory Iran policy, escalating crises at U.S. airports, and the deployment of ICE agents to ease airport tensions. The centerpiece is an in-depth interview with Jake Sullivan, who offers firsthand insight into Iran negotiations and critiques of America’s foreign policy missteps.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Trump’s Handling of Iran (01:00–16:00)

• Stewart opens with a satirical monologue highlighting Trump’s apparent disconnect from the chaos affecting Americans: “The only thing giving me joy is looking forward to this season of The Bachelorette… while we're all freaking the F out.” (02:33)
• Trump threatens to “obliterate Iranian power plants” unless the Strait of Hormuz is reopened, then abruptly claims to postpone strikes due to “in-depth, detailed and constructive conversations” with Iran. Stewart questions the validity of these negotiations, suggesting Trump’s account is suspect and riddled with inconsistencies.
• Stewart skewers Trump’s reported 15-point agreement with Iran, which seems to repeat the phrase “No nuclear weapon” as multiple points, mocking the lack of substance:

  “There's no way you went to Iran and were like, all right, first point: no nuclear weapons. Point number two? Same. Point number three?” (11:38)

• Stewart reviews the administration’s contradictory statements about Iran’s nuclear capabilities, quipping about Trump’s “prodigious liar” status.

2. Satire on Airport Chaos & ICE Deployment (16:48–21:30)

• Coverage of unprecedented lines and dysfunction at airports, with Stewart lampooning the Trump administration's solution: deploying ICE agents to assist the TSA.

  “It makes perfect sense. It’s kind of like the way we calm our dogs during thunderstorms with a blanket of fireworks. You’re okay, Rusty. Oh no.” (17:51)

• Stewart notes ICE agents are unqualified for airport security tasks, lampooning the administration’s improvisational style:

  “ICE isn’t trained on X-rays. No surprise. They don’t really seem to be trained on anything actually.” (18:48)

• He satirizes Trump’s penchant for bizarre analogies and non-sequitur policy explanations, including an extended riff on the invention of paperclips and blue toilet water.

3. Segment with Jake Sullivan (23:16–41:15)

Sullivan on Past Iran Negotiations (23:41–26:07)

• Sullivan recalls clandestine U.S.-Iran negotiations, offering a humanizing anecdote about the anxiety of passing President Obama a contact number for President Rouhani:

  “Have I just connected the president to like a Canadian shock jock or some random other person?” (24:17)

• He addresses the opaque nature of current U.S.-Iran communications, noting that “there’s probably some kind of messages getting passed without real conversations happening, at least not yet.” (25:01)

Enforcement and Compliance: Iran Nuclear Deal (26:07–28:52)

• Sullivan clarifies that Iran was complying with the nuclear deal (JCPOA), with verification mechanisms in place, and even Israeli intelligence acknowledged compliance.
• He blames the Trump administration’s withdrawal from the JCPOA for setbacks, adding that failed U.S. negotiations arose partially from a lack of understanding about Iranian proposals in Geneva:

  “Our negotiators simply didn’t understand what they were being offered and they ignored it and decided to go ahead and strike.” (28:19)

The U.S.-Israel-Iran Triangle (29:43–32:28)

• Stewart critiques America’s double standards: condemning adversaries’ war crimes while downplaying those of allies like Israel. Sullivan describes the divergence between Israeli and U.S. objectives—Israel aims for regional chaos to weaken Iran, but the U.S. risks wider economic and humanitarian fallout.
• Sullivan says, “The administration… can’t answer that question because they don’t know why they’re there in the first place.” (32:20)

America’s Foreign Policy Flaws (33:29–41:15)

• Stewart and Sullivan discuss America’s confusion between control and influence, chronicling failures in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya.
• Sullivan: “We do need to turn the page on the forever wars… move forward to compete where competition matters in infrastructure and technology.” (34:16)
• Stewart: “The reputation of the United States is they’ll bomb the shit out of you from wherever. Maybe they’ll stay for a little while, maybe they won’t. They’ll tell you like with the Kurds, we’ll arm you and support you, and then we’ll abandon you.” (34:46)
• Sullivan: Trump acted on impulse, dismissing Pentagon caution partly due to “a high from the 12 Day War last year and the Maduro raid.” (39:16)
• Stewart draws a parallel between Trump’s compulsive confidence and drug-induced euphoria:

  “A cocaine person is just like, I’m the best. No, I can’t be stopped. That’s what we have.” (40:28)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Jon Stewart on Trump’s leadership style:
  “Does he run on our misery? Does that make him stronger?” (02:23)
• On the Iran Deal:
  “They were complying with the agreement. And then in 2018, President Trump pulled out of it, said, this is the worst deal in human history. If that’s true, that is quite remarkable because there’s been a lot of deals in human history.” — Jake Sullivan (27:26)
• On U.S.-Israel relations:
  “We have to offer the President grace… He needs grace. In fact, maybe let him live in a land of grace, Graceland, where he can live his life out asking the important questions, does Elvis get treated better than me?” — Jon Stewart (21:32)
• On ICE in airports:
  “ICE isn’t trained on X-rays. No surprise. They don’t really seem to be trained on anything actually.” — Jon Stewart (18:48)
• On U.S. foreign interventions:
  “We are a regime change machine all over the world and we’re so overly extended.” — Jon Stewart (38:21)
• On Trump’s attitude:
  “Do you really think he believes that he cracked the code and now he’s invincible? ... This is how a cocaine person acts.” — Jon Stewart (40:28)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Opening Monologue / Iran Crisis: 01:00–13:00
• Deconstruction of Trump’s “Negotiation”: 13:00–16:00
• Airport Chaos & ICE Satire: 16:48–21:30
• Jake Sullivan Interview Begins: 23:16
• Sullivan on Past Negotiations: 24:12–26:07
• Iran Nuclear Deal / Compliance: 26:07–28:52
• U.S.-Israel Foreign Policy Dilemma: 29:43–32:28
• Foreign Policy Flaws & Influence vs. Control: 33:29–35:43
• Reflections on Iraq, Libya, Syria: 35:35–36:59
• Trump’s War Mentality / Regime Change: 36:59–40:28
• Closing Thoughts & Podcast Promo: 41:15–41:52

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Tone & Style

Stewart’s tone is characteristically sardonic, blending biting satire with earnest inquiry. Jake Sullivan provides clear, measured analysis, occasionally matching Stewart’s humor with diplomatic candor.

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Closing

This episode satirizes Trump’s inconsistent Iran policy, the absurdity of ICE’s airport role, and the broader failures of America’s foreign policy, using Jake Sullivan’s learned perspective to ground Stewart’s trademark irreverence in sharp geopolitical analysis.
Recommended for listeners curious about U.S.-Iran policy, diplomatic skepticism, and a comedic take on current events.

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

From the most trusted journalists at Comedy Central. It's America's only source for news. This is the Daily show with your host, Jon Stewart. Hey, everybody. Welcome to the Daily Show. My name is Jon Stewart. Man, we've got a show for you tonight. I know that's it, but we've got a great show for you tonight. Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan is going to be here tonight. And like all people with a nuanced understanding of the complex geopolitics of the Middle east, he's not working in government anymore. He has a podcast. He's in the manosphere. But before we get to all that, ladies and gentlemen, I hope you had a pleasant weekend and got some rest because the dizzy and chaotic carnival ride that is Donald Trump's America continues to careen down Shit Show Hill. It's madness out there. TSA lines longer than your actual trip. Escalating threats in the Middle east, planes driving into trucks. The only thing giving me joy is looking forward to this season of the Bachelorette. I mean, they've got a strong Mormon woman. She seems lovely. I hope that she finds. Hold on a second. I'm getting a call. No. But luckily, in everything that is going wrong in our country, our intrepid leader is utterly unbothered. The world disintegrates around him, largely due to his actions, yet he still managed to spend the weekend golfing a couple of times and partying at Mar A Lago. I didn't know I was going to be here tonight. I am supposed to be prosecuting a war. You know, I really think that the less fun we're all having, the better he seems to be doing. Does he run on our misery? Does that make him stronger? Now, to be fair, that was the weekend Obviously, today is Monday, the only day of the work week. It's time to focus and get down to the sobering business of wrapping up this war. President Trump now arriving at Graceland for a bit of a detour. On his stop, Elvis had two 8th degree black belts in karate. One was in kento and that's what this. Was he really good or was it just.

[A]

Actually, he was really good. He started practicing.

[B]

Could I have taken him in a fight? Which Elvis are we talking about? 1950s Elvis. No. 1970s Elvis. Still? No. It's unbelievable how disconnected Donald Trump is from the chaos that he himself is causing the American people. But I'm glad you could have a nice time golfing and visiting Graceland while we're all freaking the F out. President Trump issues a deadline to open the Strait of Hormuz by Monday night

[A]

or he says he'll, quote, obliterate Iranian power plants. Iran isn't blinking, saying if power plants

[B]

are attacked, Iran will target the power plants of regional countries. This escalates every day with no end in sight.

[A]

The countdown ticks towards Monday night.

[B]

Oh, Monday. We've got plenty of time to wait. If I'm here, that must mean. But lo and behold, today Trump removed the sword of Donald Cleese that he himself had hung over our heads. The President just posting moments ago, he has now decided to, quote, postpone any and all military strikes on Iranian power plants. The President claiming the US has been negotiating with Iran over the weekend, calling them in depth, detailed and constructive conversations. Oh, well, I guess we're all going to be have a little less action and a little more conversation. That's right, boys. Two, three, four, A little less conversation. That's all we get. Due to budget constraints, unfortunately. But you know what, take a step back. You know, it's a good news story. It's a sigh of relief for everybody. It's progress and we've got to celebrate the wins, you know, in this world. It's like our friend Punch. You remember our friend Punch? Yeah, I agree. We brought Punch up previously. Well, good news. Does Punch the monkey have a girlfriend? Punch has been spotted canoodling with a female monkey. There they are hugging and kissing and affectionately playing with each other. Fantastic. It's really nice. Although, hey, listen, girl, straight talk, I know what you're thinking, but, girl, you can't fix him.

[A]

Just.

[B]

Punch, seriously, if you're watching, I am happy for you, but little advice, prenup. You're a famous guy now and you don't want to end up splitting your fortune in half. I guess that's not quite half. But back to escalating. Oh, God, do I really have to? But back to Iran. Escalating tensions in the Middle East. I must applaud the president for stepping back from the cliff of escalation and engaging Iran in productive talks. Iran has responded at state media saying there are no talks. Well, now we're in the uncomfortable position of who to believe. Normally, in this situation, I think we'd all be inclined to, in some measure, not trust the pronouncements coming from this theocratic and corrupt regime. Iran. Talking about Iran. For clarity, I just want to. It's not Iran. We'd be inclined not to trust Iran. So let's give our president the benefit of the doubt and just probe a little deeper. Sir, you say we're having talks with Iran. Who did you talk to? A top person. A top person or the top person? The article really makes a huge difference here. Like the guy or some guy, you know, it's a little tough. They've wiped out. We've wiped out everybody. So a lower level guy who's been elevated to a higher echelon bottom, who is now a top. Versatile. But not. Not. Stop it or I will rip your stuffed monkey in half. So you're talking to a guy, but not the top guy? Not the supreme leader? No, not the supreme Leader, but the people that seem to be running it Again. Running it or seem to be running it? It's a big difference. Hey, where's our car? Oh, I gave it to the guy who seems to be the valet. He had a jacket. He was standing by the curb. Seemed like a top guy. And he did take the car. What made you think he was the top guy when you had the talks with him? Mr. Witkoff and Mr. Kushner had them. So you didn't even talk to them? Your guys, who quite frankly, don't seem like top guys, talk to their seemingly somewhat top guy. Are Jared and Steve sure this is even a real person that they're talking to? Out of curiosity, did the top Iranian guy ever ask for their Social Security numbers or target gift cards? Is their top guy's name by any chance Ali Baba Booie? Because it's sounding like bullshit. Maybe if you walk us through the details, it'll feel more real. You said there's many points of agreement with Iran right now? Many.

[A]

What?

[B]

Can you give us a many? Like 15 points? 15 points? Like 15 or 15. God damn it. Why do we have to do this? What are we doing? Well. Well, looks like the Creatine is working. I only eat meats and ferments. Seriously, like 15 or 15. Just. Just keep going. What's the first point? Well, they're not gonna have a nuclear weapon. That's number one. That's number one. Two and three, it's. I want to believe this is real, but there's no way that your 15 point agreement, 1, 2, and 3 are no nuclear. First of all, that makes it a 13 point agreement. Just right off the bat. And there's no way you went to Iran and were like, all right, fish point, no nuclear weapons. And point number two? Same point number three. C. Point number two. That's what we're supposed to believe. They will never have a nuclear weapon. They've agreed to that. Look, Donald Trump is without a doubt one of the most prodigious liars this country has ever produced. He's our supreme misleader. But the chaos this very actual war is creating is making us question even his reality. Distorting powers. Step back into the Wayback Machine. All the way back. I don't know, June. When Israel and the United States first bombed Iran's nuclear program, we wiped out the nuclear capability of Iran. Obliterated it. It was obliterated like nobody's ever seen before. I would say it's set back permanently. That place is under rock. That place is demolished. They're never going to have nuclear. Never permanently obliterated. I'm sorry. Kaitlan Collins, you have a question?

[A]

You obliterated their nuclear sites last summer with your strikes.

[B]

Then how can you argue it was an imminent threat Now? Oh, we hit them so hard, we obliterated them. But. Obliterated them. But that doesn't mean with the right equipment, you can't dig down and go get it. Actually, I think it's exactly what it means. That's what. God damn it. It's so annoying. It's so unbelievably annoying. Here we go. To obliterate. To destroy completely. Leaving nothing behind. There's nothing in here about. Well, we completely obliterated it. Unless they have shovels, By the way, nuclear question to sign. Are they even opening the Strait of Hormuz? Isn't that what prompted your apocalyptic ultimatum in the first place? That'll be opened very soon. If this works.

[A]

How soon?

[B]

And who's in control of it?

[A]

Will Iran still be able to control

[B]

the flow of oil? Be jointly controlled by who? Maybe me. Maybe me and the Ayatollah. Whoever the Ayatollah is. Coming soon from Skydance, Paramount Brothers, Amazon, Comcast two bitter enemies put aside their differences and learn and learn that oil's fair in love and war will opening a straight open their hearts. Premieres on Paramount Minus Divided by and has already been canceled. Jesus. What the. Oh, maybe I'll run it with the Ayatollah. Like two bridge trolls. Whoever wants to take oil to sea must answer me these riddles. 3. I hate. Here's what I hate. I hate how these questions of great importance and consequence to our country he handles with such shitty glibness. Maybe I'll run it. Aren't I a little stinker? I bombed Iran. Can't you just eat me up with a spoon? Meanwhile, here in America, we don't even need a war to degrade our own infrastructure. Our airports are collapsing all by themselves. The Fox News alert. Chaos erupting at America's air airports.

[A]

This line in Atlanta showing people lined

[B]

up around midnight for flights leaving this morning.

[A]

I've been here almost 2 hours, 3

[B]

and 12 hours to get to that. We might not make it.

[A]

My flight is boarding right now.

[B]

Oh no. Way ahead of you, kid. Oh no. That should be the left's new don't tread on me flag. Oh no. American travelers are so stressed out. What incredibly uncontroversial American enforcement agency could we deploy to? Oh, you're way ahead of me. I believe the audience en masse just went oh no. What agency could we deploy to our airports? To ease passengers journey this morning, the Trump administration is now deploying ICE agents to help TSA officers. Oh no. We're sending in ICE agents to calm the situation. It makes perfect sense. It's kind of like the way we calm our dogs during thunderstorms with a blanket of fireworks. You're okay, Rusty. Oh no. Not to worry. Our incredibly competent government knows exactly how these ICE agents can help alleviate these incredibly long TSA lines. Right. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.

[A]

We have ICE agents who are trained and can provide assistance to agents.

[B]

They run those same type of security machines at the site Southern border. Oh great. Well, that'll be really helpful if it's true. Is it true? Guy in charge of ice? ICE isn't trained on X rays. And look at X rays. See if there's, you know, something dangerous in that luggage. No kidding. And we're not going to be doing that. ICE isn't trained on X rays. No surprise. They don't really seem to be trained on anything actually. And by the way, who the honestly, Who the even thought it was a good idea to send America's most hair trigger agency into America's most hair raising environment.

[A]

His idea was that open heist of the airport. That was mine.

[B]

What in God's name possessed you to do that? That was like the paperclip. You know the story of the paperclip. How many more years of this shit? Go ahead. 182 years ago, a man discovered the paperclip. It was so simple. And everybody that looked at it say, why didn't I think of that? Ice was my idea. Right now in Iran, they're going, are we talking to a top guy? Because I don't think, I don't think this is a top guy. Yeah, we were talking about negotiating nuclear and then he just went off on paper clips. Why did I bomb Iran? Well, do you know the story of 2000 flushes blue? Well, for centuries people shit in regular water and then one day a guy said, what if it was blue? And that's why I bombed Iran. It's so stupid. Meanwhile, the rest of us suffer under Donald Trump's attention deficit style of government by whimsical. And as America and really the world has to helplessly navigate the turbulence that Trump causes his administration. I shit you not. This weekend had a message for all those who are suffering. I think that given what has been done to President Trump and his family, it is impossible for either of us to understand what he has been through. We should all have a little empathy for what has been done to him and his family.

[A]

I think we have to offer the President grace.

[B]

He needs grace. In fact, maybe let him live in a land of grace, Graceland, where he can live his life out asking the important questions, does Elvis get treated better than me? He's dead, sir. When we come back, Jake Sullivan will be joining us in the studio. Don't tell.

[A]

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[B]

Welcome back to the Daily Show. My guest tonight, he served as national Security Advisor to President Biden. He now teaches at the Harvard Kennedy School and is co host of the Long Game podcast. Please welcome to the program. Jake Sullivan. Sir, how are. Thank you for joining us.

[A]

Thank you for having me.

[B]

You are actually, you are in an unusual position during this. You have spoken with the Iranians in your life. You have negotiated with them on nuclear issues. You were part of that, I guess they call it jcpoa, that agreement that Iran was in before. As you put yourself in the shoes of the people now, who do you think they're negotiating with? A guy. What a guy are they talking to?

[A]

So, Jon, you're absolutely right. I was part of the team that President Obama sent for secret negotiations with the Iranians for several months, paving the way for the Iran nuclear deal. One of the guys I actually negotiated with is the guy you see on TV all the time now, their foreign minister, Abbas Arakchee, one of the few Iranians that's still showing his face publicly. I actually have a good story about a guy versus the guy during those negotiations, President Obama wanted the opportunity to speak to the then president of Iran, President Rouhani. And in our secret negotiations, I had a contact with one of the Iranian officials and he gave me a cell phone number to give to the Situation Room for President Obama to be connected with President Rouhani. So I hand over the cell phone and I'm standing there in the Oval Office while the call is being connected. And I have a thought, have I just connected the president to like a Canadian shock jock or some random other person? Or is this actually the president of Iran? And I'm going back through my head, what's the chain of custody of this phone number? And in the end, the Iranians put out a statement saying, in fact, their president had spoken to our president. So it was all confirmed. And I was like, all good. But what if they had?

[B]

What if it was like, like a girl at a bar who's like, sure,

[A]

here's my number can you imagine this amazing moment? Second in the White House, right. President of the United States speaking to the President of Iran for the first time since 1979, a possibility of a real diplomatic breakthrough, right? And I'm standing there just sweating bullets like, oh my God, what have I done? Yes, turned out okay. But look, you know, it to me is a damn shame. And you said this in your opening, that it's really hard to know who to credit with their account. The Iranians say there is no communication. The President of the United States says there is. You'd want to believe the President of the United States over hardline clerics in Iran, but the reality is probably there's some kind of messages getting passed without real conversations happening, at least not yet.

[B]

In the times that you had dealt with the Iranians for the JCPOA and then again dealing with them during the Biden administration, how close did we come to physical escalating into war, into bombing? Four years of the Biden administration, we didn't get them back into the jcpoa. We didn't do any of those things. How untrustworthy regime are they? Do sanctions work? Like, it doesn't seem like there are any good solutions.

[A]

Well, first I would just say, you know, Reagan said to the Soviets, trust but verify, right? I always said when it came to the Iranians, don't trust and verify. And you had to do that all the way through. And when we got the Iran nuclear deal in the Obama administration, it had deep verification built into it. Inspectors on the ground over every inch of Iran's nuclear infrastructure to make sure they were complying.

[B]

Did they comply with that? Because the scuttlebutt from a couple of guys is that they didn't. And that's why. And we gave them billions of dollars that they used for Hamas and Hezbollah. Is that what happened in your mind?

[A]

They got sanctions relief as a result of the deal. But yes, John, they were complying with the deal. Even the Israeli military, even in Islam,

[B]

even in the nuclear facilities, you guys

[A]

said they were complying with the agreement. And then in 2018, President Trump pulled out of it, said, this is the worst deal in human history. If that's true, that is quite remarkable because there's been a lot of deals in human history.

[B]

This is actually the worst trade with Canada. So you have to temper it. Exactly. Yeah.

[A]

So he pulls out of the deal. And you're right. In the four years of the Biden administration, we got close at various points. We negotiated to get back in, but we couldn't get Back in. In part because the Iranians said, wait a second, we did a deal with Obama. Trump pulled out of it. How do we know that if you come in, you're not going to pull out of it again? Then Trump comes back. And when Trump comes back, there is actually an opportunity to do a deal because he's the guy who pulled out. And just a few days before we started bombing Iran, the Iranians put a proposal on the table in Geneva that went a long way towards resolving the nuclear issue. And my understanding is that our side, our negotiators, simply didn't understand what they were being offered and they ignored it and decided to go ahead and strike.

[B]

Our guys didn't understand. Was it in Farsi? What do you mean they didn't? Like they didn't understand the Iranians negotiations?

[A]

Well, if you listen to the way that our, the Trump administration officials who were involved in this spoke about what the Iranians were proposing, there is a mismatch between that and what the mediators, the Omani mediators said was actually on the table.

[B]

Right.

[A]

So I think.

[B]

So the Trump administration said that Iran was threatening them by suggesting that they had a lot of enriched uranium. And apparently the Omani said, no, they weren't threatening you. They were just telling you what they

[A]

had, telling you what they had, and also saying, prepared to down blend that uranium, which basically means render it so that it's no longer fit for purpose to be turned into a wet.

[B]

No, you cut it with baking soda. I've been around. I know, I know what you do with the enriched uranium.

[A]

So at the end of the day, and I thought the way you laid out your opening segment with the total obliteration was so powerful because you can strike Iran's nuclear program, right? But at the end of the day, they still have a stockpile of enriched uranium. They still have centrifuges lying around, various facilities we may not even know about.

[B]

Right.

[A]

And they still have scientists who know how to put all that together.

[B]

So this gets us to the interesting point about belligerent countries and about belligerent nations. And that is the difference between capability and ambition. And I think we're seeing that now with Netanyahu. By the way, when you were in office, how many times did you have to say to Netanyahu like, like, don't bomb that. Like, do they listen? You know, I was so struck. This is a tangent. He seems nuts. Like, it's the kind of thing I remember when Russia bombed Ukraine. And you guys came out with very powerful statements. These are War crimes. You're against that. And then Netanyahu bombs Gaza and kills thousands and thousands of civilians, and the US Is like, hey, guys, be cool. Like, it's so weird to me that we don't take. Why is that?

[A]

Well, there's a couple things. I mean, first, historically, the US has been harder on our enemies than we've been on our friends. And that's true across the board. But secondly, John, the devastation in Gaza, the killing of civilians, the harm, the suffering, the pain was something we tried to get up every day to end the war, and we didn't end it fast enough. But when we left office, we did have a ceasefire in place, and that's what we handed off to the.

[B]

But we don't. There's no conditions. We can say, like, you know, no bomby. Those are our bomb. We give them that. Those weapons, we can't dictate because I don't know the end game. Like, right now he's bombing Iran, but he's also still bombing in Gaza, and now he's decided to invade southern Lebanon or bomb that again. It gets to. So you can degrade capability, but all you're doing is creating more ambition. And how is that a recipe for a lasting peace?

[A]

Well, we had someone on our podcast a couple weeks ago named Danny Sintrenowicz, who is the Israeli Defense Force's intelligence lead for Iran, was that for 15 years. And what he basically said was, when it comes to Iran, what Israel would like to do under this particular government is just break Iran, cause chaos. Because as far as they're concerned, a broken Iran is less of a threat to Israel. Now, the United States of America cannot think about it that way, because a broken Iran means a broken global economy, because they continue to threaten the Straits of Hormuz, it means a potential refugee flow, like we saw after the war in Syria, into Europe. It means a lot else besides. So I do believe that when it comes to this war in Iran, there is a real divergence between Israel's ultimate aims and the United States ultimate aims. And part of the challenge we've seen is that when we ask, what is the administration doing, they can't answer that question because they don't know why they're there in the first place. They haven't been able to give us an answer as to what this is all about.

[B]

But look, I don't go along the route of. Because I know there's now all the theories, like, Israel is wagging the dog. I never bought that. I feel like they're a Convenient scapegoat for the United States to continue our imperialistic adventures in that part of the world. And I want to ask you, because it really does what strikes me as maybe, I don't want to say the fatal flaw in American foreign policy, and I want to ask you if you guys have wrestled with this is the difference between we talked about capability and ambition, but what about influence and control? I think America hasn't figured out the difference between to influence events and control it and our policies in the Middle East, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya have shown an inability to understand the repercussions of those actions, whereas China doesn't seem to fall into that trap. What do you think of that for us?

[A]

I basically agree with you. And when President Biden, I did not see that coming. Look, when President Biden was elected, one of the charges he gave all of us was end America's longest war in Afghanistan, right? And do not put the United States uniformed military men and women back into war in the Middle east or anywhere else if it can possibly be avoided. That was his charge. And we did end the war in Afghanistan. And it was painful and it was brutal and it was tragic. But when we left office, America was not at war for the first time in 25 years. And one of the reasons that President Biden gave for why he wanted to do that is because China was extremely happy to see the United States tied down in war in the Middle east while they went around the world with their largesse trying to win influence, as you said. And I think we do need to turn the page on the forever wars move forward to compete where competition matters in infrastructure and technology and economic development. But I would also say that in that post 911 period, John, we did a lot of good things too. Every administration did. If you look at the question of global health or people coming out of poverty or people gaining literacy all over the world, those indicators are all up. And that is because, in no small part because of the United States of America.

[B]

So in no way, though, over these last, if you were to look back on these last, let's say, 25 years, the reputation of the United States is not they'll come in and really help us take care of poverty. The reputation of the United States is they'll bomb the shit out of you from wherever. Maybe they'll stay for a little while, maybe they won't. They'll tell you like with the Kurds, we'll arm you and we'll support you and then we'll abandon you or we'll tell like where is our credibility on the world stage, given the just unbelievable cast that we've unleashed? I think we're generally responsible for the right populist swing in Europe, because if we hadn't done Libya and we hadn't done Iraq and all those different things, would they be flooded with refugees in those moments?

[A]

I think Libya certainly contributed to that. So did Syria.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Of course, the difference between Libya and Syria is in Libya, we did take military action. In Syria, we didn't. And in both cases, you ended up with.

[B]

Well, we did, though, in Syria, we just didn't talk about it. We were arming Al Nusra Front and all those other. They were being armed. I remember running into. This is so. It was so weird. I was in Amman, Jordan. We were doing a film, and it's all Emiratis in the hotel. It was the Hyatt that had been bombed previously, although they'd really patched that up. When I was standing my room, you could barely tell. And it's Ramadan and it's all Emiratis and it's. And there's this one table of, like, dudes who very clearly were, like, raised in Nebraska and had the crew cuts. So I go over to their table and I go, hey, man, what are you doing here? And the guy looks at me and he goes, we're not here. And I was just like. And then I just got cold. But we. We do do that, and we do interfere in all these places and somewhat cavalier nature. And then when it blows back on us, we're like, well, I guess we're just gonna. Just going to abandon that project. But it seems like we haven't changed the approach.

[A]

Well, what I find really interesting is that in his first term, President Trump said, basically, I don't want to get involved in these foreign.

[B]

Not doing anything. Yeah.

[A]

President Biden comes along, ends the war in Afghanistan. The United States is basically out of the business of directly US Forces in these countries fighting wars. President Trump runs in 2024 saying, I'm going to be the peace candidate. Gets awarded the FIFA Peace Prize a few weeks ago.

[B]

Very prestigious.

[A]

Very prestigious. And then turns around and says, no, no, I'm getting right back into this game. And the question is why? And I think a lot of it is that the appetite for him has grown with the eating. He did the bombing of the nuclear facility last year. Total obliteration, as he put. Yes, he does Maduro. He doesn't feel there are a lot of consequences. To your point about consequences and blowback, he doesn't feel that, at least not immediately, there are those of us like you who are warning at the time, there's going to be a bill to be paid for this down the road. He didn't see that. So then he thinks, I can go to war against Iran on a basis that could be up to and including regime change, and the Iranians aren't going to do anything in response. Therefore, I don't even need to prepare to protect the Strait of Hormuz. And that, I think, has been the fundamental flaw here, a belief that despite all the evidence we have from Iraq and Afghanistan, that when we get into these kinds of Middle Eastern wars, they do not work out well for us. And we need to turn the page on these.

[B]

Forget about Middle Eastern wars, South American wars, Central American wars. We are a regime change machine all over the world and we're so overly extended. When you were there, does each president have, is there like a little like Iran? Like, there's a library and I'm assuming it's done alphabetically. But so Iran and then obviously Iraq, probably thicker book, but they sit next to each other. And doesn't it say when you pull it out, the work of 30 years of analysts, here's what's gonna happen here. Here's what's gonna happen here. Don't they game this stuff out ad infinitum?

[A]

Ad infinitum.

[B]

So that's. And he knows that. The president must know that.

[A]

Well, what was interesting is there were a number of newspaper stories in the days leading up to this war because we could see it coming from weeks away as we built up for it,

[B]

right where it was.

[A]

Military officials, including the most senior military officials in the Pentagon, basically being quoted on background saying, we have misgivings about this because of the potential response we could see from Iran. But President Trump did not listen to that. And my supposition for why is because he was on a high from the 12 Day War last year and the Maduro raid. And he basically thought, I can do the Iran's weak, I can do this. They're not going to respond. They didn't respond last year, they're not going to respond this year. And it wouldn't just be the military, but the intelligence community would have told him, you start waiving the possibility of regime change in Iran, these guys are going to rightly consider that existential. And they're going to do whatever they can to respond. You know, I said earlier that the United States doesn't know why it's in this war. And I really Believe that because they've given nine different explanations. The administration, Iran knows why it's doing what it's doing.

[B]

Right.

[A]

It's trying to raise the cost on Donald Trump so that he ultimately stops bombing Iran.

[B]

Well, you see, immediately, as soon as gas prices go up to 379, he's like, we're done. We fixed it. Everything is good again.

[A]

So they have a coherent and clear strategy that they are pursuing here. And at the moment, we have the opposite.

[B]

You really think he believes that he cracked the code and now he's invincible? I swear to God, I knew people, cocaine did this to them. This is the same. This is how a cocaine person acts. A cocaine person is just like, I'm the best. No, I can't be stopped. That's what we have.

[A]

I. I couldn't put it better. Yes.

[B]

Well, thank you. Well, your podcast, they go over all this stuff. You got to check out his podcast, the Long Game with Jake Sullivan and John Finer. Jake Sullivan, thank you for joining us. We really appreciate it. Do. Do you think, like,

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[B]

Hey, that's our show for tonight. Before we go, we're going to check in with your host for the rest of the week, Mr. Josh Johnson. Josh, Welcome, welcome. What are you gonna be covering this week, John?

[A]

I'll be looking at the increasing number of Democrats who say they might not

[B]

support Chuck Schumer as leader,

[A]

but the

[B]

question is, who could replace him? Who could it be? Is that is. Is. Is that. Is that. Is that your. If I may. And by the way, it's brilliant. Beautiful. Let me just ask you a quick question. Is that your Schumer? Yeah, I got the schlump, I got the glasses. Yeah, but, Josh, you gotta really. It's not a schlump. It's just. You gotta really just feel the hollowness of his bones. You gotta really feel the just decrepitness. Okay. So, like.

[A]

Like this.

[B]

But you gotta. The key is you gotta breathe. Like, the air is being. Like the lung capacity is maybe 45%, 50%. Just say, okay. Okay. It's good. A little less oxygen, a little more phlegm. You gotta stop me before this guy gets racist. All right, listen, you have my back, I have yours. All right. All right. I. I will definitely give it. Give it your best. I don't think I'm getting this right.

[A]

You know what?

[B]

I. I give up. I. Hey, you gave up. Now, that's a good shumer. Josh Johnson, everybody. Here it is. Your moment is done. The real problem here is they have no plan for using these ICE agents. Trump says send them there, they send them there, some idea pops into his head and he announces it. And then the people working for him, they have to rush to try and implement what they know is an idiotic plan. Explore more shows from the Daily show podcast universe by searching the Daily Show. Wherever you get your podcasts, watch the Daily show weeknights at 1110 Central on Comedy Central and stream full episodes anytime on Paramount. Plus,

[A]

This has been a Comedy Central podcast.