Chuck Todd unleashes a fierce indictment of Trump's Iran war, walking through a series of devastating prophetic quotes from Trump's own 2016 Republican rivals, now supporters — Lindsey Graham calling his foreign policy "gibberish," Marco Rubio warning that turning the nuclear codes over to an erratic individual "wouldn't end well," Ted Cruz suggesting Trump could "nuke Denmark," and Nikki Haley raising alarms about his "irresponsible behavior" — all of which now look less like campaign rhetoric and more like haunting predictions of exactly the moment America finds itself in. He argues that whether you're a hawk or a dove on Iran, Donald Trump has failed you: he's pissed away American prestige and trust around the world, the Strait of Hormuz is now effectively in Iranian hands, the United States doesn't even know who it's negotiating with given uncertainty about the Ayatollah's status, and Trump is so desperate to escape the war he started that he was bizarrely celebrating a "ceasefire and joint venture with Iran" — a phrase that captures just how thoroughly this is turning into a massive humiliation for the United States. 

He notes that Netanyahu spent years trying to drag America into a war with Iran and finally found his sucker in Trump, that no advisor had the guts to challenge him before the strikes began, and that Obama's old foreign policy doctrine of "don't do stupid shit" has been violated in spectacular fashion. He flags an absurd new development — Trumpworld is now threatening the Vatican because the Pope spoke against the war, a politically idiotic move given how many Catholics live in swing states — and reiterates that success in the conflict would require ground troops Trump refuses to commit, meaning the damage is done and markets will take a long time to recover. Todd argues that the United States has become an erratic and unreliable ally to every country in the world, that the only nation benefiting from Trump's presidency is Russia. He closes on a political note: Democrats massively overperformed again in recent elections, including a shocking blowout in Wisconsin, the war is accelerating the GOP's problems heading into the midterms, and Republicans who distance themselves from Trump now will be very glad they did by 2028 — because the current political climate is pointing toward a massive blue wave.

Finally, he answers listeners’ questions in the “Ask Chuck” segment. 

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Timeline:

(Timestamps may vary based on advertisements)

00:00 Chuck Todd’s introduction

00:30 Trump was celebrating the ceasefire & joint venture with Iran??

01:00 This is turning into a massive humiliation for the United States

02:00 Trump’s biggest GOP supporters sounded the alarm on him in 2016

02:45 We have pissed away American prestige and trust around the world

04:00 In May 2016, Lindsey Graham said Trump’s foreign policy is jibberish

05:15 March 2016, Rubio said Trump was the opposite of what America stands for

05:45 Rubio warned about turning over nuclear codes to an erratic individual

06:30 Rubio warned that electing Trump “wouldn’t end well”

07:30 If you’re a hawk or dove on Iran, Donald Trump has failed you*

08:00 In 2016, Ted Cruz warned that Trump could “nuke Denmark”

09:30 In 2016, Nikki Haley also warned about Trump’s “irresponsible behavior”

10:30 Netanyahu tried to drag U.S. into war for years, found a sucker in Trump

11:15 No Trump advisor had the guts to challenge Trump on Iran before war

11:45 Obama’s strategy was “Don’t do stupid shit” - This war is “stupid shit”

12:30 Trump is desperate to get out of war, willing to take any deal

15:00 The Strait is now in the hands of the Iranians

15:30 We don’t know the state of the Ayatollah…who are we negotiating with?

16:30 The Pope spoke against the war, now Trumpworld threatening the Vatican

17:15 There are a lot of Catholics in swing states, picking fight w/pope is idiotic

18:30 Success requires ground troops & Trump doesn’t want to do that

20:00 The damage has been done, it will take time for markets to recover

21:15 The U.S. has become an erratic and unreliable ally

22:15 Trump gravitates toward being sold the best possible outcome

24:00 The word of the United States used to mean something

25:00 Trump has made our relationship with every country worse

26:30 The mistake people make is thinking they can control Trump

27:30 The next president will have to fix or apologize for things Trump did

29:30 Only one country is benefitting from Trump’s presidency…Russia

30:45 Rubio’s quote “this won’t end well” will live in infamy

31:15 Democrats massively overperformed again in recent elections

32:00 Wisconsin election was a shocking blowout for the Democrats

32:30 War is accelerating GOP’s problems heading into midterms

33:15 Republicans that distance from Trump will be glad they did by 2028

34:45 Current political climate portends a massive blue wave

40:00 Ask Chuck

40:15 What is being missed that will bite us in the future?

46:00 What’s the most “Veep” thing you’ve seen in DC?

49:30 Why haven’t Democrats tapped into talk radio like Republicans have?

55:00 Didn’t mention Washington state in one party drought Top 5 list?

58:30 If the war ends, can Republicans run on the economy in 2026?

1:01:30 Forcing ownership changes if sports teams underperform?