The US military buildup aimed at Iran is the largest in over 20 years, and the strangest thing about it might be how little noise it's making. You'd expect a deployment of this scale to dominate the conversation, but there's been almost no public debate about what the end game is, whether this is a pressure campaign, a prelude to strikes, or something that fizzles the way last year's strikes did without igniting anything larger. The silence around it is its own kind of signal.

Rob Breakenridge puts the week's central contradiction plainly: Trump sat in front of his Board of Peace, visibly disengaged at points, while the largest US military deployment in two decades was assembling nearby. He's made noise about deserving a Nobel Peace Prize. He also has warships in position. China has reportedly been feeding Iran intelligence while Trump works toward a Beijing visit in April and softer relations with Russia, which makes the posture toward Iran read differently depending on which part of the picture you're looking at.

Canada's week had its own strange geometry. A Conservative MP who explicitly said he wasn't crossing the floor crossed the floor months later to join the Liberals as a paid advisor. Rob also breaks down what Alberta's premier is likely to blame for a difficult budget, and it's a familiar playbook with a new target.

Topics: US military buildup Iran, Trump Middle East conflict 2026, floor crossing Canada, Alberta budget, China Iran intelligence

GUEST: Rob Breakenridge | robbreakenridge.ca

Originally aired on 2026-02-19