Fast and Furious: 100 days of Trump

Summary

Fast and Furious: 100 Days of Trump

In the episode titled "Fast and Furious: 100 Days of Trump," Sky News' Yalda Hakim and NBC's Richard Engel dissect the tumultuous first 100 days of President Donald Trump's administration. Through a comprehensive analysis, they explore the rapid policy shifts, public reactions, and significant international developments that have defined Trump's early tenure.

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Introduction

The episode opens with Yalda Hakim and Richard Engel expressing their exhaustion and the overwhelming pace of Trump's initial days in office. Richard shares his hectic schedule, stating, “I haven't slept, I actually haven't. I haven’t slept at all,” [00:35] highlighting the relentless nature of covering world events under the new administration.

Overview of Trump's First 100 Days

Yalda Hakim sets the stage by framing Trump's first 100 days as "fast and furious," emphasizing the president's hyperactive approach to governance. She remarks, “Donald Trump has tried to, in a very hyperactive way, do everything,” [03:00] indicating a whirlwind of policy initiatives and executive actions aimed at transforming various aspects of American society and governance.

Domestic Impact and Public Reaction

Approval Ratings and Public Sentiment

Yalda delves into the shifting public opinion, noting a significant decline in Trump's approval ratings. She cites a recent CNN poll: “22% say they strongly approve of Trump's handling of the job, and 45% say they strongly disapprove,” [08:35]. This sharp decline is particularly pronounced among women and young people, with approval ratings among these groups dropping by seven points to 36%. Yalda observes, “This is not what the American people asked for,” [07:46] reflecting growing discontent with Trump's aggressive policies.

Potential for Social Unrest

Richard Engel draws parallels between the current political climate and historical moments of upheaval, such as the “summer of '68.” He predicts, “I think it's more and more likely that there's going to be some spark,” [11:32] suggesting that continued dissatisfaction could lead to significant social unrest. Yalda concurs, emphasizing the potential for a “summer of '25,” [36:07] where heightened tensions might erupt into widespread protests or other forms of public dissent.

Foreign Policy Initiatives

Handling of the Ukraine Conflict

Yalda and Richard critically assess Trump's management of the Ukraine war. Yalda recounts an interview with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who highlighted, “this is Vladimir Putin taking Donald Trump for a ride,” [13:08] expressing skepticism about Trump's ability to effectively navigate the conflict. Richard adds concern over Trump's inconsistent messaging on Ukraine, referencing blunt statements like, “Vladimir, stop attacking Ukraine,” [12:31] juxtaposed with a lack of substantial action to secure peace.

Potential Withdrawal from Negotiations

The discussion turns to Trump's threats to "walk away" from negotiations, which Yalda interprets as a double-edged sword. Richard warns, “That’s what Putin wanted from the beginning,” [17:40] suggesting that withdrawing could embolden adversaries and destabilize ongoing efforts to mediate the conflict. Both hosts express apprehension about the long-term implications of such a strategy, fearing it might undermine global stability.

India-Pakistan Tensions

Recent Escalations in Kashmir

Yalda highlights the recent terrorist attack in Kashmir, where “about 26 Indian tourists were killed,” [18:25] by the Resistance Force, an offshoot of Lashkar Tayba. This incident underscores the persistent volatility in the region, a flashpoint between India and Pakistan since the 1947 partition.

Pakistan's Admission of Past Support for Militants

In a groundbreaking revelation, Yalda shares insights from her interview with Pakistan's Defense Minister, who admitted, “we have been doing this dirty work for the United States for about three decades,” [23:20] acknowledging past support for militant groups. This admission marks a significant departure from Pakistan's longstanding denials and has profound implications for regional security.

Nuclear Implications and Future Outlook

The hosts discuss the grave risks posed by the escalating tensions between these two nuclear-armed nations. Yalda emphasizes, “this could get incredibly dangerous if this escalates,” [38:23] highlighting the potential for a catastrophic conflict. Richard speculates on the strategic ramifications, suggesting that Pakistan’s potential withdrawal from negotiations could be “enormously bad for Zelensky and very good for Putin,” [16:06], further complicating the geopolitical landscape.

Observations from Iran

Richard Engel’s On-the-Ground Reporting

Richard Engel recounts his experiences in Iran, observing a subtle yet significant shift in societal norms. He notes, “about 30% of the women I saw... were not wearing headscarves,” [28:08] indicating a quiet resistance against strict dress codes. This observation is juxtaposed with ongoing human rights abuses, including executions and the brutal treatment of dissenters.

Human Rights Concerns

Yalda underscores the severity of Iran’s human rights violations, citing reports of “938 people or more have been executed by this regime,” [33:39] a threefold increase since 2021. This stark reality is contrasted with minor signs of societal change, painting a complex picture of a nation grappling with internal strife and defiance against authoritarian rule.

Predictions and Future Outlook

Domestic Predictions

Richard predicts that the United States may experience heightened social unrest akin to the "summer of '68," stating, “I think we could have a summer of '68. We'll see,” [36:07] driven by mounting dissatisfaction with Trump's policies and leadership style.

Foreign Policy Forecasts

On the international front, Richard is optimistic about reaching a nuclear deal with Iran, describing it as “a transactional kind of deal,” [36:07] which could provide Trump with a significant diplomatic win. Additionally, he anticipates progress on Syria, suggesting that “Syria coming out of its sanctions box” is on the horizon, potentially stabilizing another volatile region.

Conclusion

Yalda Hakim and Richard Engel conclude the episode by reaffirming their commitment to providing in-depth analysis over the next 100 days of Trump's presidency. They emphasize the importance of understanding the global ramifications of Trump's aggressive policies and the potential for significant shifts both within the United States and internationally. Yalda notes, “We’re continuing to follow every twist and turn of this remarkable presidency,” [39:44] underscoring the ongoing relevance of their coverage.

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Notable Quotes:

• Richard Engel [00:35]: “I haven't slept. I actually haven't. I haven't slept at all.”

• Yalda Hakim [03:00]: "Donald Trump has tried to, in a very hyperactive way, do everything."

• Yalda Hakim [08:35]: “22% say they strongly approve of Trump's handling of the job, and 45% say they strongly disapprove.”

• Richard Engel [11:32]: “I think it's more and more likely that there's going to be some spark.”

• Yalda Hakim [13:08]: “This is Vladimir Putin taking Donald Trump for a ride.”

• Yalda Hakim [23:20]: “We have been doing this dirty work for the United States for about three decades.”

• Richard Engel [28:08]: “About 30% of the women I saw... were not wearing headscarves.”

• Yalda Hakim [33:39]: “938 people or more have been executed by this regime.”

• Richard Engel [36:07]: “I think we could have a summer of '68. We'll see.”

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This detailed summary encapsulates the key discussions, insights, and conclusions drawn by Yalda Hakim and Richard Engel, providing listeners with a comprehensive overview of the first 100 days of President Trump's administration and its multifaceted impact on both domestic and international arenas.

Transcript

[Yalda]

Hello, and welcome to the world. I'm Yalda and I'm currently in London.

[Richard Engel]

Hello, Yalda. I'm Richard Engel and I am in Doha at the moment in this fancy hotel room. And I just got in from Tehran after a fascinating trip. I haven't slept. I actually haven't. I haven't slept at all.

[Yalda]

You're at a security conference.

[Richard Engel]

I'm at a security conference. I'm in this fancy hotel wearing the.

[Yalda]

The, the clothes that you were wearing when you came off the plane from Thailand.

[Richard Engel]

I had to excuse myself because I literally got off the plane, lost my bag, so I just came here. I haven't slept, I don't know, 30 hours or something like that, but it was a great trip. I'm still, you know, fired up from it because it was so different. We have so much to talk about today. 100 days of President Trump. I can tell you it feels like a lot longer. We're going to try and unpack some of the key foreign policy developments as this political earthquake continues.

[Yalda]

Yeah, absolutely. Richard, I'm really curious to get your assessment of what you felt the last hundred days has been like. And I'll be also discussing an interview I did with Pakistan's Defense Minister following the attack in Kashmir and a possible war between two nuclear powers, India and Pakistan.

[Richard Engel]

And, Yalda, I want to tell you more about this trip that I had to Iran. We've got some feedback about it, and I want to tell you exactly what I saw and the mood in Iran right now, because it's just extraordinary.

[Yalda]

And of course, follow us wherever you get your podcasts on Apple or Spotify and send us your questions, thoughts. We really like getting them. Usual place, the worldky.uk so, Richard, as we were saying, it is now 100 days since Donald Trump was inaugurated, and who could forget? I mean, I was there during the inauguration, reporting live from Washington.

[Richard Engel]

Do you ever even hear about President Biden anymore? When was the last.

[Yalda]

Not at all. I mean, every name mentioned, you know, But I do think it's American tradition, isn't it, that, you know, the president steps down and there's a peaceful transfer of power and then he disappears into the night and you don't really.

[Richard Engel]

It didn't happen with the first administration under Trump.

[Yalda]

No. He didn't disappear into.

[Richard Engel]

Some of these guys don't go quietly in the night.

[Yalda]

No, but, but it is American tradition. Every now and then, though, Biden reappears, or at least Donald Trump makes. He makes reference to the Biden administration and what he calls the failings of that administration, why he needs to. To fix it. But the last 100 days, for me, if you asked me how I would sum it up, I would say it was fast and furious. Donald Trump has tried to, in a very hyperactive way, do everything. And, and, you know, when we got to the end of the Biden administration, I would say that America was moving to the right. You know, there was a lot of talk around wokeness and the frustration that people had that that particular administration was sort of talking a lot about what it meant to be woke. And that's where the focus was when actually most Americans were wor about grocery prices and they wanted change and they voted for a president who'd promised to make America affordable again and talked about the fact that he was going to bring down grocery prices, and he talked about inflation and, and what a problem that was. And he was going to bring about fundamental change. He talked about deportations and that he wasn't going to allow these illegal aliens and gang members to be operating freely in the United States, and he was going to deport millions of people. He talked about taking on the Ivy League schools, and I think all of things would have happened, and the American people were frankly voted for that. But he did it in such a hyperactive way. He did it in that kind of. And these are images that I think we both think about the Elon Musk with a chainsaw way where they slashed and burnt things down.

[Richard Engel]

Yeah. I don't know if Americans voted for having a chainsaw taken to their.

[Yalda]

That's what I mean. You know, he did it. He did it. They did it in such a hyperactive way that I think we're now seeing that with the approval ratings where in the United States, America, Americans are saying, we're not happy with the direction of the economy, we're not happy with the way that you are handling it. And frankly, his approval rating has plummeted. And Neil Ferguson, the historian, talked about that when he made predictions just a few weeks ago with us.

[Richard Engel]

So our, our piece of this puzzle has always been to look at the United States and look at, I guess, the United States now under Trump from the outside in. And I can tell you it's a bit of a mixed bag. People I talk to here in the Middle east, some of the Middle Eastern leaders like it. They're pretty optimistic. They like his style. And that might be shocking because more and more Americans, that I'm obviously American, and more and more friends, family, colleagues back in the states are increasingly alarmed, increasingly horrified Increasingly frightened. But in this part of the world anyway, there are certain leaders who think, okay, that frenetic style, that frenetic pace, maybe it's going to work. Maybe it's bold initiatives, maybe it's the kind of energy that we need. So it is a double edged sword. It is cutting and it is cutting everything that it touches. And I don't think we know exactly how it's going to, how, how it's going to slice when, when we're done. But a lot of people are getting cut to, to keep the, keep with the analogy. Just after the first hundred days, you remember in our previous conversations, I kept saying, and I kept getting going on and on, saying the Americans are sleeping here. You know, things are changing and they're not moving and they're not moving. And we got a little, we got a few viewers who wrote in and said that I was being too hard. You know, we're, we're, we're 50 of us are going out on the street corners every day and nobody's paying any attention. I think maybe that's starting to change. And there was a, there was a story in the, it was the New Yorker, it was a David Remnick piece. And he was saying that after 100 days, maybe Americans are starting to wake up and shake off this shock and slumber. Don't know. But I think if we're looking at this period, looking back, I think you could say America, President Trump got elected. He came in, he came in with this mandate. Whether it was exactly the band aid that he was given or he took it further. He went and he shocked America. And I think America for the last, and much of the world for the last hundred days has been in a state of paralysis. But maybe they're starting to move. Not sure where they're going to move, but I think they're starting to move.

[Yalda]

And the polls are now speaking to that. His approval rating has fallen at the lowest level of any president in 70 years or so. You know, especially for women and young people. So, you know, I often thought that the Biden administration didn't understand how to use power. You know, they talked about international law, but their way of deterrence was to de, escalate. And I feel like Trump and his administration don't understand America. And now we're seeing that reaction and response from Americans who are saying, this is not what we asked for.

[Richard Engel]

Or maybe they did understand America. Maybe, you know, the people like us, you know, we don't even live in the United States. You know, we're I cover. I am American, but we cover, you know, foreign affairs and how American foreign policy affects the world. And you cover international affairs, not just with an American perspective, and I don't either. But maybe he understands it better than we do. You know, he didn't.

[Yalda]

I don't know. He didn't win. He didn't win by a lot. He did get the popular vote, which he didn't the last time, but he.

[Richard Engel]

Won by a lot. The popular vote. He did. It was over in an hour. You know, I was there in the studio on election night. It was done quick. You want to break down the math and say no, but there are more people didn't, I guess the system, he gamed the system. He mobilized his electric machine, and it was a big victory.

[Yalda]

Is this what the American people want? That is the big question. You know, I mean, I'm just looking at these, you know, approval ratings here, and it says it's the lowest level, as I said, for any president in 70 years. A new CNN poll shows that 22% say they strongly approve of Trump's handling of the job, and 45% say they strongly disapprove. And again, notably, his approval rating from women, it's down seven points to 36%. And Hispanics down seven points. It felt to me, post with the lead up to election and post election night, that America was starting to move to the right. And yet this is probably, I'm not sure whether the Americans feel that, you know, sending troops, American troops to Gaza or trying to figure out the war in Ukraine or taking out troops from Syria or, you know, talking about taking troops out of Iraq or sort of.

[Richard Engel]

Meddling, erasing American black heroes from the Defense Department like Jackie Robinson.

[Yalda]

Exactly. Dismantling these sorts of institutions like Voice of America, for example, you know, is this what the American people voted for? Is this what they wanted? I suspect they voted to not pay so much money for their groceries and to have multiple jobs and for sure, manufacturing to be revived in America. But for this kind of trade war, which will ultimately, as Trump said, no pain, no gain. You know, this maximalist approach that he's taken to the trade wars, is this what the American people ultimately voted for? I mean, we'll have to wait and see. I think they're still, you know, we're only 100 days in and we'll have to look at, you know, the next hundred days and where he ends up getting us.

[Richard Engel]

Whether this is something that Americans want, the approval readings certainly suggest that they're shocked and they're afraid and they're not happy. They're not happy with the tariffs. They're not buying the no pain, no gain philosophy generally, according to the polls. But are they going to act? If this was Paris, they would be out on the streets already. Parisians, you know, they changed the age at which people can retire, you know, from, for, for a minuscule amount, and that they were burning down Paris practically. This. Americans so far haven't really taken any definitive action. But are they starting to. Will there be a spark? And I've covered enough conflicts that there's, there's, there's always a spark, and it's usually not what you're expecting. It's sometimes it's a small thing. It's the arrest of somebody or it's somebody that gets killed, or there's a, you know, Kent State happened in the United States. Are we going to have a summer of 68? This summer? Will 2025 be another 1968? I think it's possible. I think more and more with each day, with each week that's. That passes. I think it's more and more likely that there's going to be some spark. But I want to.

[Yalda]

Whether the American people just think, well, the, the midterms are around the corner. We'll wait till then. Certainly that's what the Democrats are doing at this point. They're saying, let, let this administration hang themselves.

[Richard Engel]

Yes. When I talk to people in the United States and I tell them that, and I think that I'm not in the, in the most dominant opinion on this. When I say, I think, I think this summer could be the summer 68, they say, no, no, no, Americans don't have it in them. They're not going to move. They're too afraid or they're too vested in the stock market or whatever. They're not going to do it. But that I, I think each, each month that passes, we get more close, close to that, to that tipping point.

[Yalda]

Let's talk about, you know, Ukraine, the war in Ukraine. And he, we've talked about this on the podcast before. He's famously said that I can end that conflict within 24 hours of coming into power. He's now 100 days in power and what have we seen? A flipping and a flopping, you know, writing things on truth Social like, stop, Vladimir, stop. Stop attacking Ukraine.

[Richard Engel]

I've got it right here. I'm not happy with the Russian strikes on Kyiv. Not necessary and very bad timing. Vladimir, stop. Exclamation point. 5,000 soldiers a week are dying. Let's get the peace deal done. All caps, exclamation point.

[Yalda]

And he has admitted that perhaps Putin is taking him for a ride, something that European so called allies and Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned him about when he went to the Oval Office. And that also is one of the iconic moments of the last hundred days, the big blow up. I met with Zelenskyy when he came to London 24 hours after that blow up and asked him how he felt. One of the things that he pointed.

[Richard Engel]

Out that was amazing. Remind me what happened in that meeting. So he had just been slapped around by President Trump and you got to talk to, what did he, was he still in a state of shock?

[Yalda]

He came to London 24 hours after that big blow up in the Oval Office that left, you know, was jaw dropping and quite shocking for the entire world. I mean, there wasn't anyone that I didn't speak to, both in the foreign policy community and just in life in general who didn't say. We saw that, we found it incredibly uncomfortable. It was the dressing down of, of this leader by the Trump administration. We expect these things to happen behind closed doors. I was just rereading journalist David Sanger's book that he published last year about the Biden administration. And one of the chapters focused on Zelensky's relationship with President Biden. And in it he talks about the blow ups behind closed closed doors, the often heated exchanges, the fact that Biden Zelensky was ungrateful. He, he described it specifically, and this was written in 2024, that President Biden found Volodymyr Zelensky ungrateful for all the support and help. So it feels very much like exactly the same thing. But what's the difference? Donald Trump, like the reality show that he likes to sort of run, he wanted it to be played out in front of the cameras. And that's what we saw saw take place.

[Richard Engel]

So then when Zelensky, when you, when you, when you had this, this amazing pull aside, but the timing was so amazing, what did he say?

[Yalda]

So one of the things he pointed out, Richard, was that this is Vladimir Putin taking Donald Trump for a ride. And if you fast forward to, you know, this past weekend where we saw those iconic images of zelensky sitting down two chairs with, @ the Pope's funeral with Donald Trump. I mean, quite extraordinary, wasn't it, you know, that, that, that actually these two men sat down and perhaps things are starting to move in the right direction for Ukraine. But you know, we've had so Many guests on this program that have tried to guess what Donald Trump is thinking at any given time. I think my assessment of what happened at the weekend was at least you didn't have those people who, pardon my language, you know, an Australian phrase, and I don't know if you have it in America.

[Richard Engel]

Is this gonna get us stirring? You know, There you go. Thanks again.

[Yalda]

Are those who shit stir. And Donald Trump is known to take the advice of the last person he spoke to. And it appears that those people were not there when he sat down, invited to the party. Zelensky. It was just, it was just the two of them sitting down, encouraged by the lights. Emmanuel Macron. And he was told, you know, just to give me a minute. Exactly. Avi, what's your assessment of it?

[Richard Engel]

I don't know. You know what, what worries me about this process is these consistent threats that Trump. We heard Rubio say it, oh, we're going to walk away, you know, if we're not showing progress, we got other things to do. We're busy, we don't have time. Okay. I think that's music to Putin's ears because he walks away from the talks. It's not that the U.S. is just some impartial mediator here. The U.S. is supplying Ukraine with weapons. The U.S. the Ukraine doesn't, can't keep fighting without U.S. support. We've seen that Europe is trying to rally and stuff. It hasn't really been able to materialize into anything significant. So when Trump says I'm going to walk away, is he talking about walking away from just the negotiations or does he mean I'm going to walk away from this war, which means I'm going to walk away from Ukraine too, and I'm going to focus on Middle east or Iran dealer. North Korea is getting phone calls now to focus on some lower hanging fruit and that could be enormously bad for Zelensky and very good for Putin because they walk away from the deal. That's what, that's what Putin wanted from the beginning. He wanted to invade Ukraine and not have the US Intervene at all. I think he was expecting that, that the US wouldn't really in the Europe wouldn't rally and that he would just walk over the country would be a done deal. So when, when Trump says, ah, I'm fed up of this, I'm going to walk away. See, I mean, turn the, turn off the tap to Ukraine too. I think Putin, you know, say, okay, I'll wait, I'll grind him, I'll bore him, I'll slow it down until he loses interest.

[Yalda]

What was it that the Taliban used to say? You've got the watches, we've got the time. You know, and, and, and, and, and I guess that's what Putin is thinking. You know, you've, you've got your watches, but we, this is our region, this is our territory, and we've got all the time in the world.

[Richard Engel]

Will wait out. You have a short attention span, and we'll keep waiting you out. What. Let's get into this thing about India, Pakistan. It was so big. I haven't heard Trump talk about it. It's gotten no attention, really. You, you, you talked about it a lot. I think it's enormously dangerous. Let's, let's tell, tell, tell people what, what happened there. There was a terrorist attack in Kashmir. Where is Kashmir? Who's controlling it? What happened? Why do we care? How did this escalate so quickly?

[Yalda]

Yeah, so I guess the roots of the conflict in Kashmir go back to partition between India and Pakistan in 1947. And this was, you know, Kashmir, a majority Muslim territory, one of the most heavily militarized areas and zones on the planet, has often been a flashpoint for both sides. Both India and Pakistan claim it to be their own, but as I said, huge Indian military presence, presence there for many, many years. And there was a sort of partially an uprising from within the people of Kashmir in the face of what they viewed as Indian military brutality. And then on the other hand, you had the Pakistani intelligence agencies funding, harboring, you know, training militant groups to go in and launch attacks on the Indian military. And this time round, just a week or so ago, about 26 Indian tourists were killed in Kashmir by a group as a little known group known as the Resistance Force, and it is an offshoot of the terrorist organization Lashkar Tayba. And the Pakistani military has been known for decades to back many of these terrorist organizations, including the, Including Lashkar Taiba. Including Lashkar Taiba. And, you know, we're talking training, giving them arms and weapons, using them as a proxy group alongside various others. Now, I had this extraordinary interview with the Pakistan defense minister because, of course, the reason why Richard, the world should be worried about this.

[Richard Engel]

That was a tough interview, by the way.

[Yalda]

Yeah, I would not have wanted to.

[Richard Engel]

Be on the other side of that.

[Yalda]

You saw that interview because, frankly, I mean, the reason why the world should be worried, while this is a flashpoint and things do flare up every now and then between the, the two countries, the last time was in 2019, and there was a series of Airstrikes that, that India launched on Pakistan. And Donald Trump, don't forget, was in power at the time and, and showed his support for, for the Modi government who launched the attacks at, you know, in 2019. But, but, but one of the things that is of concern, of course, is that these are two nuclear armed states, so if they are suddenly at war, it could get incredibly dangerous. But it was really fascinating to hear the Pakistan Defense Minister Khuada Asif. First of all, I was surprised that they were willing to do the, the interview he cancelled one day because their National Security Council was meeting and they would both, both the, both India and Pakistan were thinking about the series of measures they were going to take. So I went in and conducted this interview assuming that he would deny, which is something that we've always heard from the Pakistani side, especially from the civilian government, that they have no links to terrorist organizations, that they don't fund or harbor or, or, you know, give any kind of military training to these terrorist organizations.

[Richard Engel]

Don't know what you're talking about.

[Yalda]

Totally always I don't know what you're talking about. This is, you know, this is India saying this and we, we're clean.

[Richard Engel]

Anti Pakistan propaganda.

[Yalda]

Exactly. And so then I put this to him and I said to him, you know, in 2018, the Trump administration cut military aid to you because of your Pakistan's links to terrorist organizations. And they felt you were playing a double game, especially in Afghanistan. And he, because of course they were supporting the Afghan Taliban as well. And when I said you, you admit that you have trained these different terrorist organizations? He said, yes, yes, I do admit this. We don't do it anymore. But we used to. That was our policy.

[Richard Engel]

That was the weird part about it. So you were talking about this current volatile situation and he's like, no, no, no, we didn't do it. It's a false flag. The Indians did it to blame us. But sure, yes, we did this in the past. Yeah, we used to fund these areas. That was the, that was a moment that, that surprise you?

[Yalda]

I, I think a lot of people wrote to me, you know, to say the look on your face was one of like almost your jaw dropped. You were quite shocked that he'd made this admission because of course, for decades they, they've been questioned around this and they've just denied, denied, denied. And suddenly, you know, they're admitting it. But I just want to play you the clip, Richard, from the actual interview where we have this exchange. Have a listen. You do admit, sir, that Pakistan has had A long history of backing and supporting and training and funding these terrorist organizations.

[C]

Well, we have been doing this dirty work for United States for about three decades, you know, and west, including Britain.

[Yalda]

So that's your argument that, no, that.

[C]

Was a mistake take. And we suffered for that. And that is why you are saying this to, to, to, to me, if we had not joined the war against Soviet Union and later on the, the war after 9 11, this, Pakistan's track record, you know, was not, you know, unimpeachable track record.

[Richard Engel]

So what it's interesting. Yeah. With the pause and the pause, you're like, what? Oh, that's. That there are, you know, what do they say? Journalism is the first draft of history. It's nice when you get a first draft of history, when you get a senior official saying, yes, we did this. And I think it came out sort of inadvertently because you were talking about current events. He's like, listen, we're just being blamed because we funded these militant organizations in the past. And we did that at the behest of the CIA and the, and British intelligence, which is also true, by the way. The CIA was deeply involved in, in training groups, the Mujahideen, so that they could fight against the Soviet Union and bring down the Soviet Union. And then after they got, you know, ignored, they, these militant radicals were abandoned and turned on the west and turned on the United States. Hence 911 changed the world we're living in. But it's, it's, it's fun and it's interesting when you, you get to get it, I don't wanna say in black and white because we're not working with typewriters anymore, but when you, when you get it on, on the record.

[Yalda]

Yeah, I, I think it's exactly as you put it. You know, we've both covered the, the Afghan war for, for such a long time. And so to have that kind of.

[Richard Engel]

Is your family history, isn't that why your family had to leave because of this war?

[Yalda]

Well, they, they left during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. And, and as the Defense minister rightly said, you know, that admission, he, he, he's correct when he says that, you know, we did this dirty work because the CIA wanted us to back and fund and train on our soil and send over the border to fight the Soviets.

[Richard Engel]

Point. They're not doing it anymore. He was saying, we're not doing it anymore. So don't blame us for the past deeds which you asked us to do, by the way. So where does this go? Where's this going? You Think these are going to get Escalades? It's going. India is now threatening to cut off the water supply. Damn the rivers going into Pakistan. Pakistan is fully expecting some sort of military retaliation from India. As you mentioned, big countries, nuclear weapons. Obviously India is much more powerful. But Pakistan is no joke. It has, has a big army. And, and where do you think this is going?

[Yalda]

Absolutely. I mean, this is why. And actually, Donald Trump on Air Force One just a few days ago was asked about, you know, the escalating tensions, you know, he's having to deal with not just the war between Hamas and Israel and the devastation in Gaza. He's trying to get a peace deal out of Ukraine. We're going to talk about Iran in just a moment where we think that there might be some kind of nuclear deal, but can this administration also have in its entry a conflict that erupts between India and Pakistan, two nuclear armed states. And as you say, no joke. Let's take a quick break. Richard, come back and let's talk about your trip, trip to Iran. You've just come out and also we've had a lot of audience reaction to some of the things you said. So we're going to put that to you.

[Richard Engel]

You asked and we listened.

[Yalda]

The first 100 days of Trump 2.0 is almost over, but we're not done yet yet.

[Richard Engel]

So we're keeping the podcast going every weekday at 6am Join us to stay up to date with the latest twists and terms for interviews and analysis and.

[Yalda]

Stories from across the United States.

[Richard Engel]

You can listen to Sky News TRUMP 100 now, wherever you get your podcasts. Iran. Want to talk about Iran?

[Yalda]

Yeah.

[Richard Engel]

Let me talk a few of the logistics. I would leave my hotel with the team, with a crew and would just get in a taxi and go and do interviews on the street. And we, we, we weren't asking permission. We weren't followed by a minder. That is unusual in Iran. Women were for you.

[Yalda]

But is it, is that the case for. And this is what I want to get to, because we talked at length about all of this and, and it was extraordinary hearing your.

[Richard Engel]

It doesn't happen by accident that we got a visa. We were the only Western journalists in the country and just flagged down a cabin.

[Yalda]

I actually want to get to what you said about women in Iran because you said when we show, we saw and we showed the images, you know, the lack of headscarves that you saw, but the feedback we were getting from a lot of women in the diaspora, expats, Iranians living across the planet who were saying, listen, Richard is getting this treatment because he's an American journalist. But women in that country continue to be brutalized. There are still protests that are still taking place. There are still people being thrown inside prisons. There's the Noor plan that came into effect mid last year where women are being. Police are deployed and rounding women.

[Richard Engel]

There's a surveillance system being, being trialed in the City of Islam.

[Yalda]

Eleven people are on death row.

[Richard Engel]

I'm not here to sell things that everything is great in Iran and I'm not representing the Iranian revolutionary government. That's not. Well, that's not my job, not my responsibility, not my interest. But you can tell when you're on the streets that things are different. We get out of the hotel, we get into a cab. I don't care if they're following us or not. We're going where we want to go. We're stopping. We were doing this every day, stopping, taking out our camera, interviewing people we chose at random. When we took out our cameras and we started interviewing women who are not wearing the headscarf, they didn't care. They didn't wrap it up. They didn't hide from us. They were waving to the camera and smiling. And I would say about 30% of the women I saw women walking by police stations without covering their hair. And we asked them specifically about it and they said we're brave and we're doing it and we know there are risks. So, yeah, there are risks. Maybe this is temporary. Maybe the government's gonna smash down on this and clamp down hard and it just can't do it right now. And that might be coming, probably is coming, but it's not happening right now. Because I think, I want you to.

[Yalda]

I want you to give just to, in response to, you know, the, the high volume of people who have reacted to you saying this. I mean, they're saying over 900 people were executed in 2024 alone. Thousands of people are still.

[Richard Engel]

Yes.

[Yalda]

Lingering in one of the most brutal prisons in, in Iran, Evin prison, where writers, activists, journalists have been locked up for speaking up against the regime. Gross human rights violations by this regime. I just want you to give that. And, and I know what you're saying is what you saw, what you witnessed, and you've been to Iran before and you've seen a difference. And as you say, given a visa.

[Richard Engel]

Given access, are talking about a difference. So the, the diaspora community, by the way, the desperate community can also be, you know, really angry and, and, and, and I'm I, I don't want to be painted as someone who's some sort of Iran regime sympathizer, but you gotta go straight. You gotta. You gotta tell people what you see. That's my job, right? Whether you like it or you don't like it, this is what I saw. This is how we saw it. We were at. I went to the Iran Contemporary Art Museum, for example. Great. I saw some of these amazing works. You know, there's 4,600 works of modern art that were bought by the wife of the late Shah right before the revolution. And the revolutionary regime locked them in the basement, didn't like them, thought they were ugly, offensive, un Islamic, anti revolutionary. They're out on display. The museum was packed. And people in the museum, women were watching, looking at the exhibits, not wearing headscarves, many of them not being hassled. The descriptions of the artwork were straight. They were just talking about the art. There was a long video piece that I watched, and this one really stuck with me. You know the famous work Guernica, Right. It's probably the most anti. Most famous piece of anti war art ever created. I watched the. The video being played, which was in English and had Farsi subtitles. And I think maybe they'd just taken it straight from the Prado or someplace like that. So it played it straight. It talked about fascism, it talked about the Spanish Civil War, it talked about Picasso. And the explanation ended. How the painting returned to Spain after it had been in the United States and didn't say in the United States. The Great Satan. It played it straight. It was just talking about this history of this piece of art and how it returned to Spain after the end of fascism and the restoration of democracy. That was the happy ending for the description of Guernica at the Tehran Museum. It's a little thing, but they played it straight and they didn't necessarily have to. And is that, Is that massive change? Does that mean everything is great and all the women are out of their prison and off death row? Absolutely not. But you got to see what you see. And there are changes. And the women there recognize it. I spoke to women and we have the clips. We'll put them online. They were saying, we're doing this, and we're doing this because all these other women sacrificed, because all these women stood up and were clubbed and were beaten. The. We overwhelmed the regime and we're now embracing these little tiny bits of, of, of freedom, of resistance, freedom that they've gotten. They're worried that this is just a little window that that's, that's opening up and that as soon as the deal is done and that Iran gets money from the deal, that they're going to be in a better position to slam the door shut again. That could easily happen, but right now something is changing. Something is happening.

[Yalda]

But deal or no deal, I think what they wanted, and you know, audiences wanted us to point to was the human rights Organizations say that 938 people or more have been been executed by this regime. That's a threefold increase since 2021. So I guess, you know, I, I totally hear what you're saying. This is a regime that's operated in this way since 1979. You've made multiple trips there. You can see the small bits of changes that they didn't need to put on display for you.

[Richard Engel]

Look, they didn't put them on display. They what? They, they went around Tehran and told 30% of the entire population of 17 million to take off their head scarves while I happened to be there for 10 days. I mean that's, no, that didn't happen. But why is it happening right now? Is it because of. They've changed their will? There is a government there that is, is a, considered a moderate reformist government. Not the supreme leader, but the, the new current government. And also look what's happened. Their outer armor has been ripped off. Hezbollah is basically so badly beaten. I don't say it's gone, but it's really, it's really very weak. Hamas decimated. The fall of the Syrian regime, that was something they did not expect. And that outer armor kept Iran safe. The next arrow is not going to get stopped by the outer arrow anymore. It's going into their chest and they're nervous, so they don't have a lot of money. The people were rising up, the women were rising up and they, they lost their, their proxies around them and they're trying to make a deal, they want to make a deal. So maybe the women aren't the priority for now. But that's interesting. You gotta, you gotta like the same way your interview with the Pakistani, you notice things, you notice little things because they're important. So if this all goes back and it all backfires and everything maybe, you know, snaps back in repression, people will say, ah, Richard, you were wrong. You see, it was like this all along. Yeah, sure, probably, maybe, who knows? But right now this is happening, right? And that's important and it's happening right now. And it's not make believe. It really is happening right now.

[Yalda]

Well, thank you for, for clarifying because I think we were overwhelmed with, with responses from the audience.

[Richard Engel]

I love responses. I love angry responses. Good. People should be fired up. I want them to be fired up. If you're not fired up, what's the point?

[Yalda]

Yeah. Richard, your prediction for this week?

[Richard Engel]

Oh, well, I kind of gave a little bit of a prediction earlier that I think after 100 days of slumber or maybe Americans are starting to, to wake up and that we could have a, you know, summer of 68. We'll see. You know, summer people are home, it's hot time for generally those are the kind of times when you have agitation. So do we. Are we going to have a summer of, of, of 68 and summer of 25? I, it's looking increasingly possible. But the, the, the more short term prediction is I think we might have a deal in some sort of deal or a framework of a deal on Iran. I think Trump needs a win. I think Iran is a lower hanging fruit because it's a pretty easy deal. It's a transactional kind of deal. There's no territory involved. It's just sanctions relief for nuclear reduction. There already was a deal in place. So I think that they probably do get some sort of deal over the line. I'm hearing pretty, pretty optimistic things about a Syria deal, that Syria coming out of its sanctions box, people giving the new regime a chance. I think that's coming. So I would put those, I guess that would be three. You got three predictions, three for the price of one.

[Yalda]

Well, look, we were here for the first hundred days giving our analysis from different parts of the world every single week. And I think that's what we're going to continue to do over the course of the, the next 100 days. But for me, just following the sort of outrage off the back of that defense minister's interview and the terrorist attack that took place in Kashmir, I'm going to keep my eye very closely on India and Pakistan because while most of the world is focused on Ukraine, for example, and as you say, this Iran deal may be something that happens quite quickly. I think that we really need to keep an eye on this conflict because they're two nuclear armed countries and it could get incredibly, incredibly dangerous if this escalates and whether Donald Trump has the capacity or capability to try and de escalate the situation and put pressure on both sides to sort of come to the negotiating table and figure this out.

[Richard Engel]

Yalda, to be continued.

[Yalda]

Absolutely. Really good to talk to you. Thank you so much to our listeners for listening and see you next week.

[Richard Engel]

Thank you. And if you've got comments, send them. Angry comments, happy comments, whatever you want. And to be honest, the angry ones are a little more fun because it means people are engaged, they're listening. I don't want to hate mail, but a little bit of. A little spice, a little passion. Good. If you're not excited and passionate about the state of the world right now, with Trump in the White House taking a chainsaw effectively to the institutions of government, Indian, Pakistan with daggers drawn, the Middle east in flux. If this doesn't, you know, get you a little fired up, then, you know, listen to another podcast. The first 100 days might be over, but President Trump is showing no signs of slowing down. America will soon be greater than ever before. So we're continuing to follow every twist and turn of this remarkable presidency and.

[Yalda]

Trying to make sense of what it all means for the US and for the rest of the world.

[Richard Engel]

So join me, James Matthews, me, Malte Kalner, and me, mark stone for Sky News Trump 100, wherever you get your podcast.