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- [00:00]
Andrew Muller
You're listening to the Monocle Daily, first
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Chris Sabatini
broadcast on the 6th of March, 2026 on Monacle Radio.
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Andrew Muller
A week of war with Iran. To what effect and with what justification is the American rapprochement with Venezuela? The intended model and dispatches from two design capitals. I'm Andrew Muller. The Monocle Daily starts. Hello, and welcome to the Monocle Daily. Coming to you from our studios here at Midori House in London. I'm Andrew Muller. My guests Tara Kangalu, Chris Sabatini, Sophie Monaghan Combs and Grace Charlton will discuss the day's big stories. And we'll have our weekly wrap up of what we've learned. Stay tuned. All that and more coming up right here on the Monocle Daily. You're listening to the Monocle Daily. I'm Andrew Muller. We start in Iran. In the weeks since the United States and Israel began striking targets in Iran, America's justifications and victory conditions have warped and fluctuated to an extent that could very well lead the skeptical observer to suspect that nobody is entirely sure what they're doing. In the last couple of hours, US President Donald Trump has demanded Iran's, quote, unconditional surrender, though it is not clear whom he expects to surrender. What? Well, I'm joined first of all by Tara Kangalu, global affairs journalist and author of the Heartbeat of Iran. Tara, first of all, to Iran, obviously, the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed earlier this week. Do we understand who is directing events now?
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Tara Kangalu
Andrew, it's a pleasure to be with you. And no, we cannot have a clear understanding as to who is directing the show right now. But a few things I can tell you that we have some clarity on, and that is that the irgc, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards, they pretty much control the entire system. They are the most powerful apparatus in Iran. They have their hands in intelligence, the political sphere and also military. Right. So they are leading the show as we speak. But who would that next leader be? That's up in the air. I'm hearing from sources that in the next coming day, we will see the, the new leader of Iran emerge. There are still some candidates that we're talking about and I know you and I are going to discuss, but a whole lot of ambiguity as to this, the current state of affairs inside Iran. But also, as you said from the outside, we have no idea what President Trump has in mind. And I will add one more thing, that today, on Friday, Friday, President Trump also said that he was open to having a religious leader. Andrew, he said you know, it depends on who that person is. And, quote, I don't mind religious leaders. I deal with a lot of religious leaders and they are fantastic, end quote. So a lot at stake and a lot that is unclear.
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Andrew Muller
We have seen Iran, course, of course, lashing out across the region at nearly a dozen countries so far. Does that look to you like part of a previously agreed plan? Here is what we do if they do come for us, if the regime and if the regime is decapitated, which must have been a prospect they discussed.
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Tara Kangalu
I'm not sure if I can say it was a coordinated attack, but I will say one of the thinkings was perhaps in Iran that if we attack the Gulf countries, they might pressure the US And Israel to back off. But honestly, what we're seeing now is things are escalating. I know Qatar and Oman have long played mediator roles and they might be doing the same now. Now, my question is, how can they do that while they're being attacked? So a lot that is again, unclear when it comes to Iran's relation with the Gulf and also Gulf's relation when it comes to the United States and controlling what Trump does next.
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Andrew Muller
I mean, it is interesting that you say that because Iran's President, Masoud Pizashkian has said today that some countries have begun mediation efforts, which of course could mean anything at all. But at this point, does the Iranian regime, if we assume perhaps that President Possesskian does have some say in the decisions it's making, does it have any leverage it could bring to the table? Is there anything it could actually offer the US And Israel that might persuade them to call this off?
- [04:49]
Tara Kangalu
A few things. We should look at Iran in some ways, of course, after the Israeli and US Attacks have set the region on fire. Right. So the entire place is ablaze. Let's not forget what's happening in Lebanon, by the way. On top of that, you have Iraq, Turkey, who want nothing of this. They don't want to be part of this. And they're also being dragged in. I know you saw, I'm sure, the drone strikes to Azerbaijan that Iran is denying. So thinking might be that, you know what, we're drowning, let's drag everyone else down with us. And that's something that, again, in Iran, sources have been telling me. But the idea of countries that are being under attack playing negotiator role, that's something up for debate. Also, Mr. Pizeschkian, that you mentioned, I'm not sure how much power he has right now. Again, the irgc, that is an incredibly Complex multifaceted apparatus is controlling Iran. Iran right now, there are multiple figures that have ties to this apparatus that, by the way, play on different teams. They, you know, many of them. For them right now, it's a survival game. They want to stay in power. And so internally, there are a lot going on in Iran. So there's no one cohesive decision maker or person in charge. On top of that, Iran has been planning for this for many years. And as we've heard from the foreign minister, the IRGC is decentralized. They've done mosaic planning and that's how they are functioning right now in their retaliatory attacks against the United States and Israel and of course, you know, the Gulf region.
- [06:38]
Andrew Muller
Well, just finally then, and on that question of who might end up taking charge in Iran, we have also heard President Trump saying, although with all due recognition that it may just have been his whim of the day, that he wanted to be involved in the selection of the next supreme leader hopeful, probably not in weekly installments broadcast on network television, but you never can tell, but would in any imaginable circumstances, however unsympathetic they may be to the Islamic Republic. Ordinary Iranians accept a supreme leader who was obviously a creature of the United States.
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Tara Kangalu
When you speak with ordinary Iranians, Andrew, they want to move beyond the Islamic regime. The word that they often use is that we've been stuck between the lunacy of a repressive regime and also foreign powers that we, we can't decide. And I think again, when you talk to people on the ground right now who have zero idea on what's next, they're just waiting. They tell you we're waiting. But one thing they know is that if the regime stands as is, they're going to be more repressive than before. But they have absolutely zero clarity on what's next. And the last point I will add to that is we saw what happened, for instance, in Syria, and I think that's an interesting example right now. The person who's leading Syria is a, is a former Al Qaeda who had a 10 million dollar bounty over his head. He is in some ways repackaged and is dealing with the West. Is that what President Trump has in mind for Iran? Is he going to repackage a cleric and sell it to the world? Who knows? But the Iranian people, I think, are very well aware that foreign powers don't have their best interest at heart, all the while that they've been choked and repressed by the powers to be at home.
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Andrew Muller
Tara Kangalu global AFFAIRS journalist, author of the Heartbeat of Iran. Thank you for joining us. You're listening to THE Daily. This is the Monocle Daily with me, Andrew Muller. And by way of illustrating where Donald Trump might have thought, hoped we would be with Iran by now, to Venezuela, which just a couple of months after American forces stormed its capital and seized its president, has agreed to resume diplomatic relations with the United States. It does not seem to have agreed entirely on the way forward. While the US Statement talks brightly about a peaceful transition to a democratically elected government, the Venezuelan contribution to this heartwarming scenario prefers to focus on a new stage of dialogue based on mutual respect. Well, I'm joined with more by Dr. Christopher Sabatini, senior fellow for Latin America at Chatham House. Chris, first of all, are you, are you surprised to see this? Has Venezuela decided to let bygones be bygones rather quickly?
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Chris Sabatini
I don't think they have much of a choice right now. They saw the overwhelming power of the United States as Trump bragged about, not unexpectedly, to remove the then president Nicolas Maduro and his wife. And there's even rumors now that the Justice Department is compiling a dossier on a potential indictment against the now interim president, Delsey Rodriguez for money laundering. So they're basically leveraging everything they can to make sure this is a very compliant government. Now, Delsey's in a difficult position because she has a number of elements around her who are not as pro US or at least as pragmatic or as willing to change colors as she is. But I'm not surprised. Basically, the Trump administration wanted to engage in a smash and grab operation that shocked and awed the world. In fact, one could argue that's sort of the model that he's taking now to Iran, although it doesn't fit. I'm not even sure it fits in Venezuela. But right now he wants to keep Venezuela off his plate. He's happy to engage. And quite frankly, Delsey Rodriguez, the former vice president, now interim president, she's always been a friendly face to international investors. She has a history. She and her brother, who's president of the national assembly, their father was killed after having basically kidnapped a American businessman and was killed, they believe, by the CIA. So he's put all of that family history behind her now to basically embrace the inevitable that basically Donald Trump is her benefactor?
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Andrew Muller
I mean, do you perceive a degree of mutual willingness to ignore or look past those scenarios that their statements have set out? That is the United States talking about a peaceful transition to democracy and the incumbent regime in Venezuela I mean, I think you could say focusing its priorities elsewhere.
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Chris Sabatini
You're absolutely right. They're trying to focus on that sort of Venn diagram of shared interests. Right now, quite frankly, I think Delsey Rodriguez has more leverage over Donald Trump than many people believe. He does not want to see turmoil and chaos in Venezuela. He's bragged about his relationship with her, even referred to her, oddly enough, as the President elect of Venezuela. She's never been elected to any office, actually. So what we're looking at right now is a situation where they're trying to cooperate, they're trying to move this slowly along, but what this means is democracy. And the democratic opposition has been sidelined for the moment. And every time they try to raise the issue of elections, the White House privately, not always privately, but mostly privately, expresses their frustration. Let us do this at our own pace. This is not about the democratic opposition. It's about our relationship with Venezuela. It's about trying to get Venezuela back into the international system. And there are very dramatic steps that are being taken, including the diplomatic recognition of Venezuela. As we just saw, the reopening of the US Embassy in Venezuela. And now there's even talk of basically trying to find a pathway for Venezuela back into the multilateral lending system so that they can restore themselves in capital markets. So things are moving. It's not the way the democratic opposition in Venezuela wanted, but right now, it's Donald Trump's world, and basically the democratic opposition is living in it.
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Andrew Muller
Well, if there is not going to be democratic elections in Venezuela anytime soon, what are the practical upshots in the near future of this mutual, mutual re recognition? Secretary of Interior Doug Burgum, who has been spearheading this, also leads what is grandly known as Donald Trump's National Energy Dominance Council.
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Chris Sabatini
Yeah, well, first of all, Donald Trump made, I think, personally a diplomatic error in making this all about oil. It isn't all about oil. There are plenty of good reasons to, maybe not in the way he did, but to celebrate the removal of Nicolas Maduro. But, yes, democracy is not on the agenda right now. It's about basically trying to stand up the economy. The Venezuelan oil production had slipped from about 3 million barrels a day production to about less than 1 million before the smash and grab. So in that case, basically, he really wants to restore some level of economic control over the country. And what's curious is a lot of these ships and the oil that have been seized by the US Those receipts go to a Qatari bank that then the US Redistributes and audits the Venezuelan government, how those can be spent. So we're looking at kind of a very, if you will, 19th century protectorate type system that is in favor of the US and certainly not in favor over the long term of Venezuela's autonomy and its own sort of sovereignty. But it's working for Donald Trump and right now it's working for Delsey Rodriguez. And that honestly is okay with many Venezuelans. If you look at public opinion surveys, Venezuelans are feeling much more optimistic. The economy control had contracted by 3/4. Inflation was about to reach a tipping point of over 100,000%. I'm sorry, over 100%. It was on the brink of utter collapse. It had already collapsed. So now there is some lifeline, but democracies not now in the immediate future.
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Andrew Muller
Well, just finally then, Chris, and on that thought, because it is the thing that I suppose should be the thing that matters is what are the chances again in the near future of any of this improving matters for ordinary Venezuelans because as has been frequently pointed out, not least by exasperated ordinary Venezuelans, they should be one of the richest, most comfortable and secure countries on earth.
- [15:33]
Chris Sabatini
So the first thing is there have been improvements. There have been a series of releases of political prisoners. About 400 or so have been released. There are many more that are still unfortunately rotting away in Venezuela's inhumane jails. But there have been releases. There are actually protests that occur. The families of political prisoners are camping out outside the prisons. That's now allowed. That would have been quickly repressed, brutally repressed by the Maduro government. There are also advances in terms of injecting liquidity. There is about $100 million worth of oil that the Venezuelan government had been basically shipping out that now that money has been returned to Venezuela, it's injected some liquidity, it's calmed down fears of hyperinflation. There have been advances, but they're simply not sufficient. And even the much lauded hydrocarbons law that national assembly approved has many holes in it, giving vast discretion by the president or the Minister of Oil, which is the same person, Delsey Rodriguez, to determine contracts. And of course we saw with Secretary Burgum of Energy of the Interior that basically now there are going to be all these deals caught on, gold and mining and so on. It's going to be difficult to see these things trickle down over the long term to your average Venezuelan. But for now, the suffering has been so long. This is a welcome respite.
- [16:57]
Andrew Muller
Chris Sabatini at Chatham House, thank you for joining us. You're Listening to the Daily. This is the daily on Monocle Radio. The Madrid Design Festival concluding this weekend is a vast sprawling thing which consumes the city for a month. One part of it this year was the former Design Fair. That's in F O R M A as in that's the name of it. It's not a thing that was happening, although technically that does also apply. Dedicated anyway to collectible design. Among those attending was Monocle's Associate editor for culture, Sophie Monaghan Combs, who joins me in the studio now. I got a bit sidetracked there by the double meaning, Sophie, of the word former. But what, what actually was it all about?
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Sophie Monaghan Combs
So as you mentioned, former is Madrid's first design first. So it's quite a big deal for the design industry in the city and you know, for all of Spain. So the Design festival has been going for quite a few years. It's this month long event. There's lots of things happening all over the city, but it's more experiential. The Design Fair forma is really about buying things and the director described it as he wanted to make Spain's most beautiful design shop and have all of these things that you could buy and, you know, a way of being introduced to new Spanish designers. There were lots of very young designers and it had that real Iberian flavour. You know, there were some galleries for Mexico, some from Colombia, but mostly they were all from Spain, which was, was really lovely to see.
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Andrew Muller
When you talk about it being things for sale. I mean, design festivals, especially fairly upscale ones, are not usually known for being bargain basement style events. But did this cater to a what we'll call a variety of price ranges?
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Sophie Monaghan Combs
Well, not. Yeah, it depends where the ranges, you know, start and finish. But it's a very young design market, this collectible design market in Spain. So you're not going to see the sort of prices that you might at Pad London or Design Miami, Paris. But these designers are really at the top of their game. They've honed their craft. It's really beautiful things. So it depends how you think about value, I guess.
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Andrew Muller
Arco Madrid. We should also talk about Spanish International Art Fair.
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Sophie Monaghan Combs
Yes. So Arco is Spain's big art market fair for the art markets, very international. And the thing that makes Arco so important is because it creates this bridge between Latin America and Spain, but also the rest of Europe. And you know, I had a really interesting conversation with the guy that had curated the Latin American specific Latin American section of the fair and he said, look, you know, collectors in Spain Collectors in Europe, they're not going to go to Brazil, to Peru and Colombia looking for new artists, finding out about the kind of cool new galleries. And so this is how we bring them to them. And so, you know, it was really busy, it was very buzzy and it felt like a very positive event.
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Andrew Muller
Did it feel like, and I'm asking you this question because I suspect the answer is going to be yes, that like, Madrid is just one of those cities which is preternaturally good at doing this kind of thing.
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Sophie Monaghan Combs
I think Madrid is preternaturally good at a lot of things. You know, I love the city. I think it's, it's, it's just so vibrant. People are out and about all the time. There's a lot of real positive energy. And when you have, you know, Arco Madrid, you have Forma, you have the international, you have the Design Festival, you also, you know, have smaller contemporary art fairs which are kind of cooler, a little bit more niche. It's, there's so much happening and we also. I went and visited a few new design spaces and they were really interesting. A lot of them used sustainable materials. They'd kind of transformed old buildings, old spaces, using a lot of the materials that had been there before. So it feels like there's, you know, a lot going on and it's a real sort of exciting moment for the design and the art scene in Madrid.
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Andrew Muller
This is also a time of year as well, in which, weather wise, it is a pleasant moment to visit Madrid. Ish. I mean, I ask because the only time I've ever been to Madrid, stupidly, was off the back of a NATO summit a couple of years ago, which they insist on holding in the middle of summer. And that's not really an optimum time of year for idly sauntering around Madrid, trying to get used to it. Unless you wear a hat and eat a great deal of ice cream.
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Sophie Monaghan Combs
Yes, both of which are sort of, you know, quite enjoyable.
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Andrew Muller
Well, indeed, that is true. But I do want to ask about one of Madrid's obvious evergreens, which is the Prado. And I did manage to get into that on a day where the queues were not too obnoxious. I don't know how I was that lucky and it is astonishing. But there's one exhibition in particular you'd like to recommend.
- [21:48]
Sophie Monaghan Combs
Yes, this is the final weekend for this exhibition and I do really recommend it. If anyone is in the city this weekend, the Prado is my favourite museum, I think, in the world. I really love it. There. And this is a really fantastic exhibition of Juan Munoz, who was a Spanish sculptor, and he created these kind of interesting figures. And they're staged in these sort of rooms that you step into that have geometric print floors, and you kind of become part of the scenes as you walk around the figures that he created. And then another thing that I really like is that they've put some of his work, works, some of those figures kind of spread throughout the museum. So you might be looking at some of the Goyas or you might be, you know, in the El Greco section, and you might see a couple of them. So it's quite fun to sort of walk around and spot them. And one of the things that, you know, I love about the Prado, which I'm sure you will appreciate, is that they really do not like people using their phones.
- [22:44]
Andrew Muller
They do not.
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Sophie Monaghan Combs
So as soon as you take them out, as soon as you start taking a photo of something, someone will come over and tap you on the shoulder. And compared to the design fare, compared to Arco Madrid, I really appreciated how, you know, everyone was going round, and even if it wasn't by choice, they had to just look with their eyes rather than through a screen.
- [23:01]
Andrew Muller
Sophie Monaghan Coombs, thank you for joining us. You're listening to the Daily. You're listening to the Daily on Monacle Radio. It may well seem, and may well be that it is always Fashion Week somewhere, but even if that is the case, Paris Fashion Week is always going to matter more than most. And joining me now from Paris, and indeed Paris Fashion Week, is Monocle's associate editor for design and fashion, Grace Charlton. Grace, welcome to the Daily.
- [23:40]
Grace Charlton
Thank you, Andrew. Another week. Another Fashion Week, as you said.
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Andrew Muller
I know. Do you have to do that thing that bands on tour do of, like, writing down the name of the city they're in above the exit to the dressing room so they don't walk on stage and say, hello, Baltimore, when they're in Chicago.
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Grace Charlton
That's so clever. I might start doing that. Yeah, I'm getting my French and Italian confused sometimes.
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Andrew Muller
Yeah, well, that's a. That's obviously probably a worse mistake to make in Paris than in Milan, but how has it been so far? What have you seen that has excited you?
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Grace Charlton
I think it's been a really strong season. I went to Dior, which was super, super strong. The other day, it was Jonathan Anderson. He's a Northern Irish designer. It was his second womenswear collection. And I have to confess, the first one he did was just not for me, but the one I went to the other day was absolutely stunning. Today I've got two Japanese shows. I went to Issey Miyake a little bit earlier and as Yohji Yamamoto almost directly after this, after I hung up. And I think that's the real strength of Paris, is how international it is. You know, they've got these big Japanese brands showing alongside, you know, a Spanish house like Loewe and all the French houses.
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Andrew Muller
Obviously, for all that, it is a vast and international event. Whether by accident or design. Does any sort of unifying theme or trend appear to be descending?
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Grace Charlton
Well, yes and no. No, in the way that I can't actually pinpoint what the one trend is this season. But what I've noticed is that everyone is really leaning into their tribes and their niches, if that makes sense. Like at Chloe, which is being led by Jimena Kamali Since 2023, they had these models with, like, really hippie ish hair and like prairie dresses and very Janis Joplin, you know, round, reflective sunglasses. And then you go to a show like Rick Owens and that's a completely different thing. Like everyone's wearing all black leather and these huge platforms. So everyone's doing something very different, but they're. They're all doing it to maybe more of an extreme, in a way, to differentiate themselves.
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Andrew Muller
Is that possibly a reflection in any sense of the struggles the luxury market has had these last few years, that houses are starting to think, well, we know who our audience is and we know what they like?
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Grace Charlton
Yeah, definitely. And you get the sense that they're catering to the very important clients. The Vic's, for reference, this is only about 2% of the clients of a brand, but they represent around 40% of their revenue. Isn't that insane? 2% of people, 40% of revenue.
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Andrew Muller
That is quite spectacular. I'm assuming that Vic means very important client.
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Grace Charlton
Yes, that's exactly what I mean. Sometimes you see them at shows because they get invited to the shows as part of their, you know, I don't know, reward scheme, loyalty scheme. So it's always fun to see, like, who's actually buying these clothes because. Yeah, you're right. I mean, this is a really tricky time for the fashion industry and they need to sort of make sure that they're retaining loyalty and building their niche and their tribe and really, you know, building a whole world on the Runway. But also beyond, like with the marketing, the storytelling, providing experiences. Like Zhenya, for example, just did a ski trip in Italy after the Olympics. So it's not just about dresses and heels and clothes. It's a lot more than that.
- [27:21]
Andrew Muller
I mean, is this something that is becoming nigh universal? The big fancy houses feeling that we have to do more than just sell people clothes. We have to sell people an entire lifestyle vision?
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Grace Charlton
Yeah, totally. And it's all about aspiration in a way that fashion has always been, but it's feeling extra crucial at the moment to be offering that.
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Andrew Muller
And is it also maybe. And again, perhaps this relates to the struggles in the luxury sector of wanting people to feel like they're in a club now. And I guess if you have people feeling like in a club, they then feel like they have obligations to the club, I. E. To keep buying the club's stuff.
- [28:01]
Grace Charlton
I reckon it's really addictive. I wouldn't know. I'm not part of these clubs, I can't afford it. But I'm sure there is like an element of. Yeah, like sort of dopamine hit of being part of a club that is super exclusive and no one else can go to. I mean, I feel like I get a tiny version of it just being able to be in the room at a show and you know that sort of confirmation when you get a ticket and it comes through and it's like, yes, you're in, you can come. You, you know, this is your seating assignment. It's like, oh, I made it. I made it to the Chanel show, I made it to Dior. So I can only imagine what it feels like to have an entire wardrobe by these people.
- [28:36]
Andrew Muller
Well, just, just on that thought then, have you seen anything at any of these shows that may have tempted either you personally or you attempting to smuggle something onto the company credit card that made you want to sort of buy even further into this?
- [28:52]
Grace Charlton
You keep accusing me, Andrew, of wanting to buy these super expensive clothes on the company card again. If finance is listening, I would never, ever do that. But one show I did leave feeling, oh, okay, I wanna, I wanna wear. This was carven. It was just so chic, very beautiful. Like long floor length leather coats and like super interesting dresses. And it was just chic. I just wanna feel like if I owned that wardrobe, I would be a better person for it.
- [29:26]
Andrew Muller
Surely not. Grace Charlton in Paris, thank you for joining us. You're listening to the Daily. This is the Daily with me, Andrew Muller. And finally on today's show, our weekly reflection of what we've learned in the last seven days. In this last seven days, the hard way, more the new usual. We learned this week that a year and a bit or so is a long time in politics.
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Donald Trump
I will tell you. You're not going to have a war with me and you're not going to have a third world war with me, that I can tell you.
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Chris Sabatini
Our interest, I think very much is in not going to war with Iran. The foolishness with which we ricocheted around the world intervening think it was in our best interest when really we just overturned the table and created something worse.
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Andrew Muller
In almost every single scenario, we learned the same people who had quite recently assured anyone who asked that there was no even faintly imaginable way the United States would ever go to war with Iran specifically or embark on campaigns of regime change generally, as this was something only a total idiot would even suggest suggest had instead decided on mature reflection that actually it was an absolutely dandy idea. How hard can it be? What could possibly go wrong?
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Donald Trump
I guess the worst case would be we do this and then somebody takes over who's as bad as the previous person. Right? That could happen.
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Andrew Muller
And we learned that whatever it took operations would enjoy the complete and unwavering attention of the commander in chief.
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Donald Trump
Somebody said today, they said, oh, well, President wants to do it really quickly. After that he'll get bored. I don't get bored until.
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Andrew Muller
And we counted, literally 66 seconds later,
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Donald Trump
we're adding onto the building a little bit. We're improving the building. See that? Nice drape. I picked those drapes in my first term. I always like gold, but I think we can save a lot of money. I just saved. I just saved curtains.
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Andrew Muller
Operation Rolling Blinds. Is that anything? Come on. Like Operation Rolling Thunder. It's an extremely deft and learned allusion to the Vietnam War and a previous American air campaign which had effects other than those anticipated by its planners. Wasted on you people. Honestly, let us now have for the first time in the history of this, the weekly what we learned monologue on Monocle Radio. At least so far as we can recall, an authentic Kuwaiti military march. Actually, not bad. Got a bit of a swing to it.
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Donald Trump
4.
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Andrew Muller
We learned that at least one Kuwait Air Force F A18 pilot was furiously riffling through the rules, attending the designation of the title of fighter ace. That is, can you count three towards your requisite five aerial kills if the aircraft you shot down down were nominally on your side.
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Chris Sabatini
Now, the new video appears to show one of the three American fighter jets going down over Kuwait in what the US Military now calls a friendly fire incident during an Iranian attack.
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Andrew Muller
Would be a bold move in these circumstances to paint the silhouettes on your nose cone, what say you, General? Muttered agreement crew. Yeah. But. We learned that aside from the small matter of losing $300 million worth of air combat capability to one overly excitable Kuwaiti pilot, everything was going brilliantly.
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Donald Trump
This is very important and we're doing very well on the war front, to put it mildly. I would say. Somebody said on a scale of 10, where would you rate it? I said about a 15.
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Andrew Muller
And we learned something of the imperatives underpinning the American action in Iran, as we learned at the President's favorite timescale.
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Donald Trump
So we're building a lot of wall. We're building new sections. Starting in about two weeks, we're building some brand new sections, large sections. When am I going to put the extra $325 billion worth of tariffs? I will make that decision. I would say over the next two weeks. Whether it's next week or two weeks or three weeks doesn't make any difference. Whether it's now or in three, three weeks doesn't make any difference. We're very advanced in testing. Other countries are calling us to find out what are we doing. And by the way, within two weeks you'll see numbers and you'll see different forms of testing. If you didn't have our military equipment, this war would have been over in
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Andrew Muller
two weeks had very much been a factor.
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Donald Trump
If we didn't hit within two weeks, they would have had a nuclear weapon. If we didn't do the B2 attack,
- [34:14]
Andrew Muller
though, we for one humorous news monologue, could absolutely have sworn that circa last
- [34:19]
Donald Trump
June, Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated.
- [34:24]
Andrew Muller
So we learned that Iran had gone from complete and total obliteration to two weeks from launch in just nine months, which is actually not unimpressive. Unless, of course, and remote, though we can surely all agree this prospect is, Donald Trump of all people, has simply no idea what he is doing or saying. For we learned, or at least were reminded, reminded of the existential seriousness of the threat.
- [34:52]
Donald Trump
When crazy people have nuclear weapons, bad things happen.
- [34:55]
Andrew Muller
We'll be needing another bang on the awkward coughing and chairs scraping clip. But. We learned that even in the United States, hour of desperate need, it had been unable to count on the assistance of its most trusted ally, the United Kingdom, due to it being overrun with windmills.
- [35:21]
Donald Trump
They got windmills all over the place that are ruining the country, ruining the
- [35:24]
Andrew Muller
landscapes, ruining the beautiful fields and sharia
- [35:28]
Donald Trump
courts in the uk. You have a terrible mayor of London. Terrible. He's an incompetent guy. But you have Sharia courts adjudicating law.
- [35:38]
Andrew Muller
We did obviously seek a ruling on whether we were even allowed broadcast this observation from the local museum. But it turned out he was busy installing windmills. And that is all for this edition of the Monocle Daily. Thanks to our panelists today. Tara Kangalu, Chris Sabatini, Sophie Monaghan Combs and Grace Charlton. Today's show was produced by Chris Chermak and researched by Anneliese Maynard. Our sound engineer was Mariella Bevan. I'm Andrew Muller here in London. The Daily returns at the same time on Monday. Thanks for listening.