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.

Pulitzer Prize finalist and historian Megan Kate Nelson — author of the new book The Westerners: Mythmaking and Belonging on the American Frontier — joins the Chuck Toddcast for a fascinating conversation about how the story of the American West we all grew up with is largely a myth, and what the real history reveals about who actually built the country. Nelson explains that the dominant narrative was essentially invented by historian Frederick Jackson Turner in 1893, who argued the American creed was rooted in conquest and expansion — a framing that conveniently allowed white Americans to rally around westward expansion as a unifying project while papering over the uncomfortable realities of slavery and the brutal treatment of indigenous peoples. She walks through her seven central characters whose stories reclaim that history: Sacagawea (who wasn't actually famous until the 20th century), biracial fur trader Jim Beckwourth, Hispana saloon owner María Gertrudis Barceló (whose Santa Fe establishment inspired the modern Vegas casino), gold miner and newspaperman Ovando Hollister (who believed in human equality and later moved to Salt Lake City to agitate against the Mormons), Northern Cheyenne chief Little Wolf, Canadian immigrant rancher Ella Watson, and Chinese immigrant Polly Bemis. Nelson reveals the most surprising research findings — including how digitized old Colorado newspapers helped her discover stories that had been lost for generations — and discusses how Hollywood created and popularized the caricatures of the West that still dominate pop culture today.

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

41:45 Megan Kate Nelson joins the Chuck ToddCast

43:15 What got you interested in the topic for The Westerners?

45:30 People still have a very entrenched idea of what the west is

46:45 The portrayal of the west has been improved in pop culture

48:30 Frederick Jackson Turner created the “myth” of the west

50:00 Turner argued the American creed was based on conquest & expansion

51:45 Turner’s narrative became the standard telling of American history

52:45 Western expansion papered over uncomfortable 19th century history

53:30 White Americans could rally around the west & avoid slavery

54:45 How did you get your research on the subjects of The Westerners?

55:30 Sacagawea wasn’t famous until the 20th century

56:15 Lewis & Clark was a core piece of context for the book

57:30 Most unique source material you found that filled in gaps?

1:00:45 Old local newspapers from Colorado were digitized, allowing discovery

1:02:00 Hollywood created and popularized caricatures of the west

1:03:00 Fears and hopes for the new “Little House on the Prairie" reboot?

1:04:45 How much did Laura Ingalls Wilder book create their own mythology?

1:05:45 White settlers received a great deal of help from the federal government

1:06:45 Transcontinental railroad enables the explosion of the cattle industry

1:07:15 Military deployed to protect white settlers, annihilate the indigenous

1:08:30 Expansion wasn’t just an east-west story, it was also a north-south story

1:11:45 Vegas casinos inspired by Maria Barcelo’s Santa Fe saloon

1:14:15 The story of southern migration from Canada

1:16:15 Timeline of the book is most of the 19th century

1:17:00 Role of Chinese workers/immigrants in the story of the west

1:18:45 Chinese workers came on a false promise, were trapped in their labor

1:22:15 Impact of the Chinese Exclusion Act

1:23:45 The story of Ovando Hollister

1:25:45 Hollister believed in the equality of all people. Went from military to newspapers

1:27:30 Hollister moved to Salt Lake City & agitated against the Mormons

1:28:15 Stories of the Native Americans are finally being depicted better

1:29:00 The story of Little Wolf

1:30:45 Little Wolf was a great military strategist and leader for his people

1:33:45 Histories of the west were heavily shaded by original bias

1:34:45 Balancing objectivity with your personal bias when writing history

1:36:15 Connecting individual stories in history to larger movements & moments

1:37:15 How would improve school curriculum to honestly depict the west?

1:41:30 The west was fairly violent before law enforcement became normalized

1:42:30 Next project is the story of a Kiowa and Comanche raid on ranching town

1:45:00 Ask Chuck

1:45:15 What is being missed that will bite us in the future?

1:51:00 What’s the most “Veep” thing you’ve seen in DC?

1:54:30 Why haven’t Democrats tapped into talk radio like Republicans have?

2:00:00 Didn’t mention Washington state in one party drought Top 5 list?

2:03:30 If the war ends, can Republicans run on the economy in 2026?

2:06:30 Forcing ownership changes if sports teams underperform?