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- [00:01]
Grainger Announcer
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- [00:30]
Josh Hammer
Did Donald Trump just surrender to the Islamic Republic of Iran? Well, the answer might be a little more complicated and a little more premature than you are hearing otherwise. I'm Josh Hammer and this is the Josh Hammer Show. So it's a deal, it's an mou. What is it? We honestly don't even know exactly what it is, but we do have an announcement that a deal, or perhaps a deal to get a future deal, has been found. And this announcement actually came on Sunday afternoon from the leaders of the country of Pakistan. Pakistan, as you may recall, has curiously been the mediating country between the United States and Iran since the April 8 ceasefire went into place. So the foreign minister and the president of Pakistan releasing to the world that under their auspices that a deal has been reached between the United States and Iran. Pakistan is an ally of Iran. They are essentially a province of the of the Chinese Communist Party. China is a big supporter of Iran. There's a Pakistan far from a neutral country. Take that with a very, very large grain of salt. But President Trump did take to true social and all over social media on his 80th birthday, which happened on Sunday on flag Day, to announce that there has been an agreement with Iran. The short answer is that we do not know what is in this deal. Genuinely, truly, we actually really do not know what is in this deal. Now, the two sides are saying, to an extent, very different things. So for instance, you had Lindsey Graham and your mileage may vary with Lindsey Graham, not necessarily my favorite sender, but typically an anti Iran, pro Israel kind of guy if nothing else, I suppose. Right. So Lindsey Graham's putting on X, quote, I am somewhat concerned that Iran's view of the agreement seems different than what the American negotiated team is claiming. And he's right, because the Iran negotiating team is making this out to be the greatest deal since sliced bread. They're basically making it seem like their nuclear program stays, their ballistic missile program stays, their funding of all sorts of proxies, Houthis, Hamas, Hezbollah, Stays there, the strait is open there, their oil can be exported. The blockade is lifted. Hallelujah. Lots of pallets of cash coming in. They're making it seem like that this is the greatest thing ever. Now, is it classic irgc, Islamist Shiite supremacy propaganda? Sure, there's definitely some of that. Is there some element of truth to that? Possibly? Again, we just don't know. So the very first thing that we have to say about this emerging mou, this emerging Memorandum of Understanding, is that we actually really should see the text. We really, really, really ought to actually see this text. I don't understand, frankly, why we have not seen the text yet. I presume it'll come out at some point this week. So I'm not necessarily losing sleep over it. But if nothing else, it is wildly premature to start saying this is the greatest deal or the worst deal ever or frankly, more generally, just to have extremely strong opinions one way or before we actually see the text. Now, B Tech Seth was among those who was making the media rounds on Sunday. Hegseth has been a staunch, staunch advocate for Operation Epic Fury. He has been a staunch critic of Iran, staunchly pro Israel, pro Sunni Arab ally, moderate countries there. Hegseh was making the rounds there and he was challenged by Margaret Brennan, not exactly the world's most honest journalist. He was challenged by Margaret Brennan on CBS News Sunday talk show talking about how this may or may not be similar to Barack Obama's infamous JCPOA nuclear deal. Here was Pete Hexev on Sunday over
- [03:55]
Pete Hegseth
the 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.
- [04:07]
Rebecca Heinrichs
Jason Pua said that too.
- [04:09]
Pete Hegseth
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 and 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'll go well.
- [04:51]
Josh Hammer
So the naval blockade has been the single greatest point of leverage over the course of this entire two plus month quasi cease fire. The blockade prevents Iran from exporting oil. They have literally run out of room to store their barrels of oil. The wells are going untapped there. It has absolutely crushed the Iranian economy. Their inflation is off the charts there. So pulling that blockade is a really, really big deal. And part of this depends on the credibility of the Trump administration, administration at this point to be willing to get their hands dirty, to put the blockade back into place, to actually re engage when it comes to kinetic offensive facing bombing and all sorts of other activities. As for how our Israeli allies are viewing it, well, I don't think that they're viewing it very positively. So Amit Seagal is one of Israel's better and known conservative commentators. I actually interviewed him a couple weeks ago while I was over there helping to lead the trip that I was leading. He has a pretty scathing new blog post at his blog and says this. This begins with an immediate multi front ceasefire, including Lebanon and the lifting of the US naval blockade on Iranian ports in exchange for Iran opening the Strait of Hormuz. Iran is demanding an initial payment of $12 billion before the Strait is opened. So these pallets of cash that Barack Obama was infamous for sending over there over the course of his jcpoa. A significant ambiguity remains, continues Amit Seagal over the strait. While Trump claims the opening will be toll free, Iranian officials have previously indicated they may still impose fees or retain control, effectively securing a major Iranian war aim. The framework appears to diverge significantly from earlier US positions. Trump, who once insisted on the destruction of all Iranian nuclear facilities and zero uranium enrichment, now says that there will be something about lower enrichment. This is one of the many things we don't know the details of yet. Trump now saying that some sort of lower enriched, more civilian nuclear program can be okay. There's so it's definitely something of a goalpost shifting exercise, which is why Meat Seagal concludes, quote, the American position, in a word, is surrender. I am not fully there yet, but I am not unsympathetic to the viewpoint. I definitely want to find out where our guest though, Rebecca Heinrich, is on these matters. So without further ado, we are pleased to bring on our guest today. Who is Rebecca Heinrichs. The listeners viewers of this show will undoubtedly be familiar with Rebecca Heinrichs. She is a rock star at the Hudson Institute. You can follow her on X and at rlheinrichs a veritable expert on all things Iran and various other topics as well. So, Rebecca, this is the big focus, of course, of the show today is what is happening when it comes to the president and Iran. The deal, it's not really a deal, don't call it a deal. Is an mou. We don't even know if it's an mou. We haven't seen the text yet. My basic take on this, Rebecca, is that this is something of a PR coup. This all happened on President Trump's 80th birthday, the same day as this big UFC fight there in Washington. It seems to me to be more symbolic than substance. And I think it's a little premature to necessarily say this is the worst thing ever, but it definitely seems to me also premature to say this is the greatest thing ever. Is that basically your take as well, I'd surmise.
- [07:51]
Rebecca Heinrichs
I think it is. And this is what we do know. We do know that the administration seems to have settled on this plan to get the Strait of Hormuz opened first and then to essentially table the nuclear questions, the Islamist proxy questions for later. So they're going to handle the straight of Hormuz first. They're going to punt on those other things and then try to work those things out. You rightly called this not a deal, it's a memorandum of understanding. I would also say I take issue with the idea that it's an MOU, because we also don't know what the understanding is. We do not have a public MOU that we've all gotten to evaluate. We have the IRGC's propaganda information where they've been essentially flooding the zone and trying to set the narrative about what Iran has agreed to. Much of that stuff are things that the United States, our European allies, obviously our ally Israel, would completely and totally reject. So at this point, we don't know what both sides have agreed to at all.
- [08:56]
Josh Hammer
So I have a lot of friends and colleagues and people whose views on these topics I admire, who are being, I would say, full scale catastrophic. And they're basically saying that this is Barack Obama 2.0, this is the JCPOA 2.0, and I'm not going to dismiss that. I am not unsympathetic to folks who are taking a rather dim view of what is going on here, because this is essentially just a kicking the can down the road activity, I guess, Rebecca, the question is, from what I can tell, and again, there's no text public yet, the details will presumably come out at some point this week. But from what I can tell, the president is at least suggesting that if there is no resolution to the nuclear issue in the next 60 days or some other indeterminate number of days, then war will presume. Easier said than done. He's issued this threat many times over the past two months since the April 8 ceasefire. But is that your understanding and do you think that that is a credible threat at this point?
- [09:47]
Rebecca Heinrichs
Well, first of all, the reason that I've rejected this idea that any deal that the Trump administration negotiates could be like the Obama jcpoa. The reason I think that that's not a great analogy is comparing apples and oranges is because Epic Fury so dismantled the ballistic missile program, its ability to reconstitute that program, the weaponization work inside the nuclear program that was destroyed during Midnight Hammer. And of course, the Israelis did the world a great favor by taking out so many of the nuclear scientists that have the know how to the nuclear program. That doesn't mean that the Iranians still don't have the knowledge to reconstitute a nuclear weapons program, but the know how, the ability to actually do all of this, I mean, you've taken out the scientists who know that that is a big deal. And so even if you start now on negotiating a nuclear program, it is. We've already changed the baseline because of the great decision of the military activity. So that's the first part. The second thing, though, that I am worried about, some of our friends who do think that this is like jcpoa part 2, where I agree with them, is if you remove the economic and military leverage which is in place right now, in exchange for opening up the strait, you do remove the leverage that we have to get to a full dismantlement of the nuclear program. And that's what I am worried about. And there clearly is a faction inside the White House that is still pushing for that. I don't think that's necessarily where President Trump is at this point. So that's to be determined. But if you start rewarding the Iranians for opening the strait, start giving them economic relief, you do remove our leverage, our coercive ability to fully dismantle the nuclear program, which of course is what President Trump wants. He does not want to just punt this program to the next president. He wants to irreversibly set back the nuclear program while he's still in office. And I think he removes that ability to do that if he gives them economic relief. And one last point on this, Vice President J.D. vance, very concerningly to my mind this morning on TV did not reject the Iranian I thought it was Iranian propaganda that there's going to be this $300 billion fund with the Gulf states, with the Iranians to rebuild their economy, rebuild their program. He basically said, look, maybe they can have that if they meet certain criteria. That, to me would be a terrible mistake. As long as the IRGC is the one ruling that country, $300 billion is more than what the United States with the Israelis destroyed in the Iranian economy. So that, of course, I think would be a terribly foolish decision, folks.
- [12:27]
Josh Hammer
Much more to unpack when it comes to the emerging mou, emerging deal. We're going to go to a quick break and be right back with much more. Rebecca Heinrich joins after a short break. Stay with us, folks. We'll be right back.
- [12:37]
Grainger Announcer
Granger knows when you're a procurement manager for an office park, you're not managing one building, you're managing all of them. And to stay ahead, you need to see through walls and around corners, lights about to fail, filters ready to clog H Vac on its last leg. If you wait until something breaks, you're already behind. Count on Grainger for quality products, easy reordering and 24. 7 support. Call 1-800-Grainger click granger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done.
- [13:10]
Josh Hammer
Welcome back. And Rebecca Heimitz rejoined us. Rebecca, of course, is a fellow at the Hut Institute, an all around sage on all things missile defense and Iran and foreign policy in general. So, Rebecca, you mentioned before the break this concern that the vice president did not dismiss the possibility of lots of money going to potentially rebuild Iran. Again, this is one of the frequent lines that skeptics and critics have put forward, which is essentially that America potentially is going to be shipping over in JCPOA like fashion pallets of cash to essentially help Iran rebuild. In fact, our pal Lee Smith over at Tal magazine, Lee was a guest on the show just last week. He had a piece over the weekend using this exact phrase of pallets of cash. And I guess my reaction is we just don't know yet because there were just so many unknowns. This one. We haven't even seen the text of this possible agreement. But let's put it as follows, Raga. Let's say that there is some truth to this, that there is some truth to some sort of monetary transaction. In exchange for opening the straits, America pulls its naval blockade, which has been an amazingly powerful tool, by the way, that naval blockade there. Is there a world in which the nuclear issue actually does go away. And also the ballistic missile issue, you mentioned before the break that we've done serious damage to the ballistic missile missile program. I've seen some mixed reports on that. There are some estimates that upwards, potentially 60, 70% of the missile program remains there. So if this broad outline goes forward, cash for strait, et cetera, there, the nuclear ballistic missiles, where do we go from there on those issues?
- [14:39]
Rebecca Heinrichs
Okay, great. So first off, I mean my understanding as continually repeated by U.S. central Command, which I do think is authoritative on this, is that the United States with the Israelis did significantly destroy the missile program. I don't know the exact percentage, but it's north of 50% of their ballistic missile program and, and their ability to reconstitute that program. We also destroyed a significant degree of their steel, of the Iranian steel and plastic industry, which of course is needed for their defense industrial base. So I'm quite confident that we did some serious destruction to weaken the Iranians ability to reconstitute. However, I mean, I'm of the mind that there is no negotiated deal that the Iranians are going to comply with in good faith. So whatever the United States can get out of these people, it's going to be through coercive diplomacy. It's going to be the threat of military force and it's going to be while the economic squeeze is still in place. And then it's going to be sort, you know, a little bit of relief based on demonstrated behavior. That's the only way that we're going to do it. Now I think that the Iranians, though, however, the Iranians want to wear down the United States and get economic relief up front. And this is where I think we just simply can't relent on this. But I am concerned until we see the memorandum of underseeing the mou, there's gonna be some concern that the Iranians only agree to stop firing into the strait if there is some relief upfront. I have been assured by a senior White House official that the only relief we're talking about right now at all is removing parts of the blockade. And that would enable the Iranians to get some of their oil, of course, through the strait if we're lifting the blockade because the blockade is there to prevent the Iranians from moving oil, but that even that would only happen over time as the Iranians show that they're not going to fire on X number of ships that go through the strait. Now the United States has been able to quietly, under the, you know, under like darkness, basically because these ships have been turning off their transponders. President Trump revealed that we've gotten about 20 ships a night through the strait quietly without anybody knowing. Now there was a hundred ships going through the strait before Epic Fury, so we're not anywhere near pre war levels. But that's a lot of oil moving. And if we just continue to get that number to move up, you know, we might actually see some oil moving through the strait. But again, there cannot be an unfreezing of funds in Qatar, in uae, whatever these rumors are swirling around. I think that would be a grave mistake.
- [17:16]
Josh Hammer
Rebecca Heinrich is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. You can follow her on xrl. Heinrich Rebecca, I want to talk a little bit about the broader geopolitics of this, especially when it comes to America's relations vis a vis our various allies. So my basic take on the MoU, as we've already teased out here, is that we just don't really know a whole lot yet to necessarily have a firm opinion. There are reasons to be skeptical, but I think not. Reasons to be crying out in agony and pounding the sand from here to eternity. I am more concerned, I will candidly admit, when it comes to the seeming way in which the President and the White House has turned on our Israeli ally. It was not that long ago, frankly, during Epic Fury, that PETEX effort was having these weekly, bi weekly Pentagon morning pressers referring to the American Israeli joint operation as the greatest binational demonstration military force, at least since World War II. I mean, the storming the beach in Normandy. I'm exaggerating a little bit here, but they were using pretty hyperbolic and just effusive language at that time. And that is essentially a 180 degree shift from what has happened over the past week or two with Trump allegedly just unloading Netanyahu and trying to stop his freema movement there. All sorts of questions as to whether or not Israel will feel itself bound by this deal, especially when it comes to Hezbollah, the Iranian proxy up in Lebanon. Something that I know firsthand by the way. I was there a couple weeks ago. We actually ran to the bomb shelter at 2am overnight because of Hezbollah rockets there. So I saw that firsthand. Situation is not all too stable in the Israeli north. But let's zoom out. It's not just about the Middle east there, Rebecca. Are you concerned with how this reflects on how America treats our allies and when it comes to broader issues, not just Middle east, but China and beyond for that matter?
- [18:53]
Rebecca Heinrichs
Yes, and it's an important point and it sounds like while you were in a bomb shelter in Israel, I was in a bomb shelter in Ukraine. So just a few weeks ago, I was taking shelter from Russian Shahi drones being shot at Kyiv, which, of course, they got from the Iranians. The Iranians taught the Russians how to do drone warfare and showed them how to build a drone industry. That's from Iran because the Russians support Iran and vice versa. Yeah, I mean, look, One of the IRGC's goals is to break the U. S. Israel alliance. That is clearly one of the IRGC's goals. That would be a big win for Iran because it remains true that the people who are in the driver's seat in that country are those who are committed to the Islamic revolution, and they still want Iran to have hegemonic power and influence over the Middle east and beyond. And a way to do that is to. Is to weaken Israel. And you weaken Israel by weakening its great alliance with the world's largest, most powerful superpower, which is us, the United States of America. So I am concerned now, look, I know that Israel, just like any other American ally, is going to have sometimes different strategies for our shared ends. That is to be expected. You know, I've got great colleagues. We get. We all have the same goals, but then we're gonna have different strategies, different ideas about how to achieve them. It's the same for countries and allies. My recommendation has always been you keep that stuff private. You do not air that stuff publicly. Publicly. The United States should be standing shoulder to shoulder with the Israelis. And I think that that's true for some of our other very close allies in Europe as well right now, that even if we have disagreements, keep those quiet right now, because we are in a very serious, I believe, Cold war with an axis. It's China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran. And so you want to keep those disagreements privately. So I am concerned that there's been this daylight expressed publicly between the United States and Israel. My hope is that President Trump understands that the larger geopolitical implications of this are bad. The United States should reward our friends and allies who are doing exactly what is in the interest of the United States. And I think that is destroying our shared adversary. And, I mean, it was an incredible military success, what we did alongside the Israelis, in epic fury. And I don't want to lose sight of that.
- [21:10]
Josh Hammer
Rebecca, just about a minute and a half left or so here, but I want to leave with this, which is. Let's fast forward a little bit because there's a lot of guessing as to what's going to happen here over the next week, the next few months? Let's fast forward all the way to election Day. So this is a midterm election year. Let's go all the way to November 2026. The situation between the United States and Iran will look as follows. How do you fill in that blank?
- [21:32]
Rebecca Heinrichs
I'm quite confident the Iranians are going to act like themselves, which means I do think that the IRGC is there's still going to be terrorists. I think we're still going to have a problem with the IRGC shooting into the strait. I think the United States is going to be, I hope that we're going to have an international armada that is going to be helping us de mine and try to open the strait. And so there'll be more of our allies in this fight with us to wrest control of the strait, to make sure that the Iranians are not coercing us over the strait, they're not collecting tolls that it's free in international waters. But look, I believe that good policy, winning makes good politics. And so my hope is that President Trump's better instincts prevail here and we are in a much better place with a coalition of the willing, with allies to really kind of wrest control this international waterway. And moving again towards, I think it's going to be some military activity to further destroy what the Iranians still have inside their country so that we can, you know, get back to dismantling their nuclear program which still exists inside their country.
- [22:34]
Josh Hammer
In short, the Iranians are still the Iranians. But in short, also, we should not lose sight of the fact that this was a very, very successful military operation. The missile destruction, the destruction of Iranian navy, the air force, there a lot to be happy about. Even if this ends on somewhat of a more limp note, perhaps, than many of us had anticipated all along. So, folks, we're gonna have to leave it right there, unfortunately, but Rekh Heimers is a must follow. Follow her on X at Rlheimer. She's a senior fellow at the Huss Institute and we always appreciate her time here on the show. Rebecca, God bless you. Thanks for all you do and thanks for join, as always, my friend.
- [23:07]
Rebecca Heinrichs
Thanks, Josh.
- [23:08]
Josh Hammer
You bet. Folks, we're gonna go to another quick break. We'll be right back with much more on the other side.
- [23:14]
Grainger Announcer
Grainger knows when you're a procurement manager for an office park, you're not managing one building, you're managing all of them. And to stay ahead, you need to see through walls and around corners. Lights about to fail. Filters ready to clog H Vac on its last leg. If you wait until something breaks, you're already behind. Count on Grainger for quality products, easy reordering and 24. 7 support. Call 1-800-GRAINGER, click grainger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done.
- [23:46]
Josh Hammer
Welcome back. So again, our basic conclusion here when it comes to this kind of sort of deal, this kind of sort of memorandum of understanding is as follows. It seems to me that Donald Trump really just wanted a PR coup on his 80th birthday. Turning 80 is a big deal. That's why he had this amazing UFC fight. More on that in just a little, just a few minutes on Sunday evening. I'm actually not even a big UFC fan. In fact, I think it's kind of pagan, frankly, and neither here nor there. But regardless, he wanted a big celebration on his 80th birthday. It's flag Day. It's this, it's that there. He really, really, really, really wanted some sort of announcements. And beyond that announcement, we just don't know. I think back to Donald Rumsfeld back during the Bush administration when he was calling the shots at the Bush era Pentagon. Rumsfeld famously spoke about the fact that there are known unknowns and unknown unknowns and known knowns, et cetera. Well, this is a known unknown. We know the fact that we have not actually seen the text of the MoU yet. And to recap that is a big problem. If the administration wants to make sure the American people have buy in from this, if they want to satiate all of the Iran hawks, all of the folks who have a properly sober view of the Iranian Islamist threats in Congress, they actually want to get a deal, perhaps most importantly through the Senate, because that's the only way that this thing actually sticks. Let's go back for a minute here. Just a constitutional law 101 basis. The JCPOA, the Barack Obama nuclear deal was not submitted to the United States as a treaty. It wasn't because he didn't have the votes to do it. So it was signed only. It was signed only as an executive agreement between the Barack Obama administration and Iran. That's why Trump could just tear up the JCPOA so easily, which he did during his first term. If the JCPOA had gone through the Senate through the formal treaty ratification process, uh, you can't do that. So if you actually want to stick your foreign policy accomplishments to actually put it in the record, to make it part of binding U.S. law to make it much, much harder for succeeding administrations, for succeeding Congress is to actually undo that which you have done. You've gotta get something like this actually through the Senate as a treat. So the very first way to do that would be to start actually releasing the text and making the case again. I have not really seen a whole lot of that thus far. As far as the substantive end goals when it comes to Iran, call me crazy, but my stance on this has not shifted a millimeter since the conflict began. I have the exact same end goals that I've been saying on this show for months, end goals that I long thought and I still hope are the shared goals of this administration. On the one hand, a free and flowing strait of Hormuz with no Iranian tolls. By the way, a lot of folks said, oh Trump ruined the straits. It was free flowing prior to that. Well, not really. You heard from Rebecca that there were about 100 ships a day on average going through the strait prior to the war. And that's true. But a lot of those ships and all of them, some of them were subjected to all sorts of Iranian hegemony or Iranian piracy or Iranian tolls. So the first goal is a free and full material for moves. The second goal is an end to the Iranian regime's funding of their terror proxies throughout the Middle East. The regime right now through their state controlled media is saying guess what, the Americans caved. We could still do alike usa, we could still fund Houthis, still fund Hezbollah and don't dare the Israelis respond to Hezbollah if Hezbollah comes raining rockets down into Israel. Not like Netanyahu will actually listen to that, nor frankly should he. But regardless, that should be a second goal of any actual deal is the end of the regime's funding of all of its proxies throughout the region.
- [27:33]
Rebecca Heinrichs
3.
- [27:34]
Josh Hammer
You hear Rebecca and I gint this back and forth about the level of destruction thus far of Iran's ballistic missile program. Now I had heard some reports suggesting that upwards of 67% of Iran's ballistic missile program actually remains in place. Rebecca saying that? That's not what she's hearing. She's the expert. I am not. I will take her word for it there. Regardless, not all of that infrastructure has been obliterated there certainly something nearly close to the full obliteration of Iranian ballistic missiles to prevent Iran from hold not just the region hostage but also large swaths of Central and Eastern Europe. For goodness sake, that should be a sine qua non of any eventual deal that is signed as well, and above all, of course, is the nuclear issue. So the Trump administration, seemingly, seemingly again, we don't know, but seemingly is going to allow Iran to enrich at a lower level for, quote, unquote, civilian use. This is a ruse. It is an absolute ruse. The notion that Iran, which sits adjacent to one of the world's largest oil and natural gas fields, the notion that they need a civilian nuclear program to reduce energy prices for their deeply repressed domestic populace is patently insane. They absolutely, positively do not need that. It's a lie, it's a gambit. It is a negotiating tactic that Iran has had for many years now. But even if you're going to somehow blend down to quote, unquote, civilian use, some of that high enriched rain there are you better be able to enforce it because these people have not changed. The mullahs have not changed. They will still be chanting death to America and death to Israel today. They will still be chanting death to America and death to Israel tomorrow, probably next week and after that too. Because despite the fact that the President called for the Iranian people to take to the streets and reclaim their freedom back during the mass gunning down of the Iranian people back in January, that hasn't happened. Unfortunately. It we've really made no serious attempts actually, for better or for worse, to make it happen. The regime still remains there and they are who they are. I think back to that funny NFL clip from many, many years ago. There's hermed words, if memory serves. There they are who we thought they were. The NFL fans will get the reference there. Well, that's who Iran is. They are who we thought they were. That fundamentally has not changed. But as I mentioned, folks, Trump really seemed to want to get some sort of deal or at least some sort of announcement to a deal over the course of his weekend, over the course of his 80th birthday. And that was happening for a few reasons first. There's really a few reasons for that. One is that Trump is already now gone. So he was in D.C. for this big party for the UFC fights and this there he's already gone. He's actually now in France. Air Force One landed this morning over in Geneva, Switzerland. Then Marine One, the chopper took him on a short trip over from Geneva over to Evian, high up in the French Alps. Where is the meeting of the G7, the group of seven, where you have the United States, Canada, Japan and the four European countries of the uk, France, Italy and Germany. So Ukraine and Russia will definitely be a topic on the sidelines of the G7. Certainly this Iran deal or kind of sort of deal will be a major topic on the sidelines of the G7 as well. Notably, Donald Trump is entering the summit at something of a chilly point for his relations with the various other G7 leaders. The Prime Minister Carney in Canada, not exactly on the best of terms with Donald Trump. Emmanuel Macron in France, Keir Starmer in the uk, Friedrich Miers in Germany, even George Meloni in Italy. None of them really are on great terms with Trump. Interestingly, the one exception is the Iron lady of Japan, as she is being referred to, Sanae Takaichi, the young Margaret Thatcher esque conservative leader there. In Japan that will be Trump's best friend at the summit. So we'll see if Andy comes this. Maybe it'll be just a deepening of US Japanese ties. Anyway, Donald Trump really, really, really wanted this to happen before he jet off to Switzerland and France for the G7. The other thing as I mentioned, is that this was his birthday. He turned 80 on Sunday. It's Flag Day, my father's birthday. Same as Trump. I know it's Flag day every year, June 14, big celebration, kind of a mini version of July 4 in some ways one of the other unofficial starts to the summer. And Trump really wanted, which is why he had this big, big UFC fight, a huge, huge thing that happened on Sunday. I'm sure you've seen the clips there. And look, I'm not a UFC guy. This notion of barbaric being the crap out of other humans strikes me as a throwback to more Greco Roman pagan culture. From my perspective, the biblical worldview, the Jewish Christian worldview, anchored in Genesis 1:27 in the universal dignity of man, has a more uncomfortable relationship with ufc. Boxing, a little more complicated at least boxing can be an art, but at least ufc, which is somewhat more Roman gladiatorial, true fight until you beat the crap out of the person. Combat, not my cup of tea. But regardless, Trump likes it. Good for him. He's entitled his opinion there. A huge celebration. The left Wordsworth lefties tried to host this utterly pathetic counter programming and suffice to say, it didn't go well. Let's go ahead and take a look at that. All you fascists, bound to lose. You're bound to lose, you fascist.
- [32:44]
Rebecca Heinrichs
Bound to lose.
- [32:46]
Josh Hammer
Hey there all you fascists. Let me put you straight. When you come for the rest of us, we'll fight you at the gate and you will lose, you fascist. Boundaloo. Oh yeah, that's it. Bravo. That's the way to make fans. That's the way to win people over. Really. What are these people thinking? You know, you can love Donald Trump, you can hate him, but just trying to win people over, really, that Give me a break. Again, I don't even like ufc, but the theatrics of this, the pomp, the circumstance, the flyover, the patriotism. You take that on the one hand, as inspirational as it is, and you take this load of horse manure on the other hand, whatever the heck that was. Again, I don't even like usc, and I know which one I'm going with a thousand times out of a thousand. I think the American people probably agree. And yet again, folks, to take us back full circle, Graham Platner last week we talked about him a lot there. This is the saving grace for Republicans. No matter what happens with gas price, no matter what happened with inflation or this or that thing, it is the idiocy of the left, as exemplified by things like that clip, that will do them in yet again. I continue to feel this November, folks, one final break. We'll be right back. Closing thoughts on the other side
- [34:08]
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- [34:41]
Josh Hammer
Welcome back. So the left, predictably, as we began to mention before the break, has been melting down over the fact that Donald Trump decided to host this large UFC fight at the White House on Flag day for his 8th birthday as one of the beginnings of his America 250 style summer. There was this one hilarious take that I feel compelled to share at least a snippet of it with you from Slate. Slate is a website that's been around for a very long time. I was somewhat bemused to find out that Slate.com still exists. But still exists, it unfortunately does. The title of this utter screed from an author by the name of Laura Jadeed, who I've never heard of. The title of this piece is quote, it was Everyone's Sport. Then MAGA hijacked it. It doesn't have to be this way. And she basically says, let's get one thing clear from the jump. What's happening this weekend. Donald Trump throwing himself a birthday party under the guise of celebrating America is an obscenity. Thanks to Shrunk, we're marking our nation's 250th anniversary with literal bread and circuses, like some kind of temu rum. The cheesiest gladiatorial pit in history should not be killing all the grass on the White House lawn. It's the onion made flesh. The kind of absurdity that would cause any 2014 time traveler to instantly smell burnt toast. The biggest tragedy here is for our country, full stop. To which I just have to say, what exactly is the big deal? Like, really, what is the big deal?
- [36:08]
Rebecca Heinrichs
Why?
- [36:10]
Josh Hammer
What do you object to, exactly? He's the President of the United States. If this is how he wants to spend his birthday, why not?
- [36:17]
Rebecca Heinrichs
Really? Why not?
- [36:19]
Josh Hammer
I have never watched a single UFC fight. I watched, like, a clip or two. Not for me. I don't give a crap. Why the heck does slate.com give a crap? But it's not just this. We haven't even discussed here on the show. Donald Trump and The administration spent $14.2 million on a bit of a makeover for the White House reflecting pool. You know, the long deflecting pool that extends eastward from the Lincoln Memorial there on the National Mall. It's really one of the icons of Washington, D.C. and you actually can look at a before and after photo, and you will see just an incredible, incredible difference. So it was deeply infested with algae and all sorts of other pollutants there. It had a really brackish, dark hue. The National Reflecting Mall. And after it was over. So on June 7, just, just a little over a week ago, there it was, blue as the ocean, blue as the Caribbean, blue as any. Insert your preferred body of water. Now look, I have a few algae got him back in. In the weeks. I said, sure, that's. What are you gonna do? It's an outdoor pool. You can't literally control the whole thing, but it's looking pretty good nonetheless. People were freaking out. Oh, what a waste of money. The White House ballroom. Oh, what a waste of money. Donald Trump wants to build his own Arc de Triomphe. Have you ever been to Paris on the Champs Elysees? He wants to build this kind of triumphal arc similar to Napoleon.
- [37:46]
Rebecca Heinrichs
Oh, what a fascist.
- [37:50]
Josh Hammer
Can you people just learn to maybe just shut up and just save it? Not everything is worth melting down. Don't get me wrong. There are plenty of real issues confronting this country. Most recent inflation data did come in month, month over month. 4.2%. Not great. We will see if this kind of sort of deal, kind of sort of Iran MOU has any immediate short term effect when it comes to the price of oil. I'm not sure it will. I guess we'll see. There are all sorts of other issues as well. When it comes to affordability, when it comes to the cost of housing. I just bought my home for the first time there. It ain't cheap out there. Interest rates, the crisis in higher education. There's plenty of issues out there. But my humble suggestion to you people that are quick to just unload on Donald Trump for being a fascist, Nazi, Hitler, Stalinist, whatever, is to focus on that which actually matters and to save your outrage, you will be a happier person, frankly. You don't actually have to be so negative, so down the dumps all the time. And also, if you care about trying to be persuasive and actually trying to influence people and win them over in the court of public opinion. Some unsolicited advice. You probably shouldn't be taking it to an 11, proverbially speaking each and every time. You probably should actually be trying to come out swinging a little less voluble sometimes and then only take it to an 11 or beyond as need truly be. Otherwise you're going to lose credibility. That's just common sense. That is just the way it works. And, and the reality is that people struggle to do this. Why? Because TDS Chunk Train Syndrome is not a rational mentality. It is a mental malady, a mental illness, if you will. They can't control it. That's why they continue to lash out like this. But what the left gets wrong about America, increasingly, it seems there are a lot of good folks who are here visiting who actually get right about America. This is one of my favorite stories to happen really in recent memory. So I'm a big sports fan. As, as I think this audience knows. I'm not the world's biggest soccer fan per se. I, I don't hate soccer. I'm not one of these guys that says, ah, soccer, it's a communist sport and I watch it. Nah, I think that's a baloney take, to be honest with you. It's the world's most popular sport for some reason. It's not my favorite sport. But there's, there's something there. And the World cup is definitely a fun event, a prestigious event. And I try to tune in when I can. The U.S. men's National Team got off to a rip roaring start Friday evening out in Los Angeles, 4 to 1 victory over Paraguay. Marco Rubio was there to witness it in person. So an amazing start for the U.S. men's National Team. America has never made it to the semifinals of a World Cup. The furthest we've ever gone was the quarterfinals. What an achievement that would be if we could make a semis or beyond dare I hope for even beyond that. What an amazing achievement that would be here to do so on our home tour. But the World cup, because it's the World cup, it's the world's most popular sport, attracts tons and tons and tons of foreigners. And some folks have been going to Twitter to X and social media to talk about their experience in America. So there's one dude by the name of Freddie, his x handles Freddy LA7 has been having the freaking time of his of his life. So here's how X's AI summary Grok summarized it. Freddie started his six week US road trip around June 7th from Atlanta ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. He's shared unfiltered awe at southern sites like endless store aisles, bass pro shops with shooting ranges and a local radio station playing a song just for him on the way to Louisiana. By June 12, he reached New Orleans, watched Mexico's 20 opening win over South Africa at Buffalo Wild Wings, and heads next to Houston for Germany's June 14 match against Curacao. So he actually got to Houston and the city of Houston had a welcome phrase sign. They had a welcome phrase sign on the Louisiana border as well. He's become a cultural phenomenon. He's not the only one. There have been other folks who've been taking to their online blogs and substacks and going on X there and talking just in just wondrous terms about how even the quote unquote working class here, the lower class, they have pretty nice sized houses. Houses that would be mansions, frankly, by the standards of most of Western and Central Europe. He talks about the fact that even in our fast food chains, in places like Buffalo Wild Wings for instance, there, you get massive portions there. You are not going to go starving in America. Really, you're not. And he was A lot of these folks were going on about the pyramid in Memphis. If you've been Memphis, then you know what I'm talking about. And various other cultural icons. This other guy was talking about just the, the awe and the beauty of standing on the precipice of the Grand Canyon out in Arizona. You know, I Remember when I studied Chinese back in college and I don't remember much because I was pretty crappy at it, frankly, but the word for America is. I'm going to butcher this. It's megaw. And what that means is beautiful country. Ga is country may means beautiful. So the Chinese term for America is beautiful country. Why? Because America is a beautiful freaking country. Really, it actually is. If you look at the sheer diversity of topography of national parks, from the Grand Canyon to Yellowstone to Glacier to the Prairies to the Rocky Mountains to the Appalachians to the rivers and the streams and this and that, we have so much going on here, so many different cultures, too. Places like New Orleans, which is kind of a mini entity unto itself. There's nothing like New Orleans in the entire country. There's really nothing like New Orleans, frankly, in the world. So it's just a rebuke to the leftists, to the large deeds of slate, who are melting down over the UFC fight, who are melting down over Donald Trump's making the National Reflecting Pool on the Mall algae free. For now, at least. Yet again, America is a great country. Now, it's true that great countries should issue resounding defeats to our enemies like Iran, and not whimper to the finish line like we kind of sort of maybe are doing here. But there's so much to love about this country, folks. So much. This is America 250 summer, and we here on the Josh Hammer show will be celebrating it. We will do our best to do so every single day. I love this country and I know that you do, too. And with one final word, let me just say this. Go America. Let us get to the semifinals and beyond in this home World cup, folks. Have a great rest of your evening. Josh Hammer signing off. We will be right back. Tomorrow, as always,