The Daily Blast: Trump Hit by Damning Leaks on Iran Decision as Polls Turn Brutal Fast

Sarah comes. I'm not Sarah, I'm not.

This is the Daily Blast from the New Republic, produced and presented by the DSR network. I'm your host, Greg Sargent. Donald Trump's rationale for waging war on Iran is coming under withering scrutiny. A new report in the New York Times shows that his deliberations were even more chaotic and unsurious than we knew.

This comes as the first round of polling has been brutal for Trump, showing shockingly low public support for his war.

“This looks very different from how initial debates over war typically unfold. What explains it?”

Mark Jacob has a good piece on his substax, stopped the presses, that links together Trump's law-breaking on multiple fronts. We're going to talk about whether this already entrenched sense of Trump as a mad king is what's turning the public against his war. Mark, good to have you on. Thanks for having me. So the Times has a new ex-posset laying out how Trump decided to go to war and boy is a damning.

It shows that Trump lurched between saying he wants to reach a deal with Iran on nuclear weapons on one side and then saying he wants to overthrow its regime on the other. It all shows his case for war rested on lies about Iran as an imminent threat and Trump publicly misrepresented what his own top general told him. Joint Chiefs Chairman Dan Kane told Trump that a war risks significant American casualties, but Trump said Kane believed war with Iran would be quote unquote easily won. Mark, what do you make of all that?

“I think what we're seeing is 11 year olds with the most powerful military in the entire world.”

And just a pretty scary thing to see in action. And it also doesn't really look from the New York Times report, at least that Netanyahu just bulldozed Trump into this, that he said, well, we're going and you're going to get blamed for it anyway.

So come with us and do it together, which is I mean, that's not no way for the supposedly most powerful country in the world to behave and on the international stage.

Netanyahu is just in a position where he's going to get as much leverage over Trump and as much influence over Trump is possible and Trump being really kind of a child about foreign policy is just going to be easily swayed. Yeah, it looks like that's exactly what happened. Now as of now, four Americans have been killed and a number of others have been seriously injured. The Supreme Leader of Iran has also been killed, but Trump is now saying military action will escalate. We just had a new CNN poll finding 59% of Americans disapprove of Trump's action against Iran versus only 41% who approve 59% say they don't trust Trump to make good decisions here and 60% say he doesn't have a clear plan for handling Iran.

“Mark, you've been around for some time. Have you ever seen the public turn against the war right at the outset and quite this way?”

Oh, I was, when I was working at the Chicago Tribune on the nation world desk, I was editing stories out of the Iraq war every day and in that war, the Bush prepared the public for it. I mean, you know, obviously, prepare the public with lies, but nonetheless, there was this preparatory period in which he was bringing out evidence and false or true and was, and there was his drum beat and there's a reason for that. Obviously, we're seeing it now that when you prepare the American public, you have a discussion and you have consensus and I mean, he didn't go, this is kind of Greg the, the, one of the main points of my newsletter today was

The other is the war powers act that just says that if, if you are not defending yourself, if you're doing it in an offensive military action, you've got to go to Congress. And so Trump is clearly law breaking right now and being allowed to, which is really frightening and it's operating like a king. Yes, and I want to get into that aspect of your piece in a bit, I just would point out also that in relation to the run up to Iraq, that happened with George W. Bush after a major terrorist attack on the country.

And also, George W. Bush had only been an office for a very short time. The country wasn't really aware of all the very profound shortcomings that he would ultimately exhibit whereas with Trump, there's been no terror attack and there's also been, you know, a really long period in which the voters have become accustomed to Trump's terrible flaws.

“So I think all these things working together make this situation politically much worse for Trump than anything Bush faced.”

Well, and throw into that the fact that Trump for the whole last decade has been talking about how he doesn't want to get into wars of choice.

You know, how he do foreign wars or killinists and all this stuff, which was, I mean, I wasn't fooled and I'm sure a lot of other people weren't either because, you know, Trump never really does anything policy wise that helps the people at large. It's always an insider who benefit such as, in this case, defense contractors and et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, his donors, but so, but he was talking piece and you talk piece for, for 10 years, and then you do a just an optional war in which the, your people are even admitting that there's no immediate threat.

What are you going to, what are you going to get from the American people other than just shock and disgust?

Well, that is what we're getting. The new Reuters poll has even worse for Trump. It finds only 27% of Americans approve of Trump's tech on Iran and here's a key number 56% say Trump is too willing to use military force.

“I think this shows how badly damaged Trump's public image is already heading into this. What do you think?”

Yeah, well, it's certainly. I mean, he was already, you know, weighed out in the polls and there's actually no, not that much farther he can go considering that some people will support absolutely anything he does because, you know, the whole cult mentality, which we've been talking about for a long time. I mean, he's in, he is really has lost the country opinion wise and, and one of the things that scares me is that as that happens, he becomes more desperate and does more erratic and autocratic things.

Well, this war really is one of those things and I think this is going to be politically with us for a long time potentially.

Timespiece has more revelations that will continue giving, for instance, in a recent meeting with congressional leaders, Secretary of State Marker Rubio, made no mention of Trump's plans to pursue regime change and JD vents who's supposed to be anti interventionist actually argued internally for them to go big, which might have prodded Trump in that direction.

“You know, both Rubio and Vance are in the mix for 2028. I really wonder if this could end up being very problematic for them long term. How do you see this playing out?”

Well, I, I mean, I see that this who knows, well, you know, you can't predict wars. So I mean, it could, this could be over in a week, it could be not over by the time the midterms happen. There's just, there's no predicting. I mean, what he's done is unleashed a Middle East war. It's not just an attack between Israel, US and Iran, all the, these other countries are involved now and Lebanon is in it. And so he has sparked a wide war in the Middle East, and you don't like put the genie back in the bottle that fast. So I think it's, I think it's going to be very damaging. I think, yes, I think it hurts Rubio and Vance. I hope it hurts Rubio and Vance because they deserve to be hurt for, for having, you know, recklessly advise the president.

And I think you may find some Republican start saying, well, this is not a good idea. And, you know, I mean, they'll do it after the primaries, you know, Greg, I mean, that's the really sad thing is how cynical the Republican party is at this point in time to where they, they won't move away from Trump until he has no chance to primary them. And then as soon as the primaries are over, they'll probably move really strong to the center. I don't think they'll be very credible doing it, but they will attempt to.

And there's no better way to enjoy the DSR network than by becoming a member. Members enjoying ad-free listening experience access to our discord community exclusive content, early episode access, and more.

“Use code in DSR 26 for 25% off discount on sign up at the DSR network.com. That's code in DSR 26 at the DSR network.com/buy. Thank you, and enjoy the show.”

I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

that we bring for school and can't be used to it, but in the case of a crick-cass. The mining companies want to take part in the monon's name. They work hard to get the money and help them. I'm Sarah Wagner, not me. And I'm looking forward to my visit in Ihrer town.

I've lived Sarah live on 3rd March, in March, in March, in March, in March, in March. Sarah comes. I'm Sarah Wagner. Sarah comes and talks about what's on the table.

In the case of a crick-cass, the mining companies want to take part in the monon's name.

I'm Sarah Wagner, not me. And I'm looking forward to my visit in Ihrer town. I've lived Sarah live on 3rd March, in March, in March, in March, in March, in March, in March. Sarah comes. I'm Sarah Wagner, not me.

Sarah comes and talks about what's on the table. I'm looking forward to my visit in Ihrer town. I've lived Sarah live on 3rd March, in March, in March, in March, in March, in March.

“Yes, I think we should talk about the vulnerable house republicans who are up for reelection.”

There's a number of them, and they've already been trying to run away from Trump's tariffs

and put distance between themselves and Donald Trump on health care and on the expiring ACA subsidies and so forth. The big tell is going to be what those house republicans start saying about the war, presuming it's still going on in a couple months after the primaries are over. What are you thinking is going to happen there?

Well, I think that we'll have to see one would that there's a vote in Congress, whether that happens this week or any time. My suspicion is the republicans will try to block it anyway. They can't just because they don't want accountability, they just want everything to lay off on Trump.

“I mean, the Republican Party is really a bunch of cowards at this point.”

I mean, they want to make no decisions, they want to have no responsibility, they want to have no accountability. And we didn't really elect people to show up in Washington and sit on their hands, but that's what's happening. So I feel like, here's the scary thing.

The worst Trump does in public opinion, the more dangerous he is at this point. And you've already started seeing these moves toward, you know, fiddling with the elections and, you know, and one thing about the having a big war in the Middle East is you can get a situation where the federal government, Trump's government, declares that there's a bunch of terrorist threats.

So we have to really clamp down on security and therefore, well, declare an emergency. Therefore, even the insurrection act, and we will, we will federalize our elections. He's, you know, he's talking about that. And I'm just worried that the more unpopular he gets, the more likely that is to happen. Yeah, you're talking about domestically that Donald Trump is going to use any continuing

more to sort of maximize his powers at home, emergency powers at home. Right. And well, and also to say that they're, you're running in sleep for cells and then, I mean, all kinds of stuff, you know, they, they're really good at making up stuff. So it's, you know, if they don't have any credibility, but they sure talk a lot.

So the big through line with Trump connecting all these different things is that he feels zero need to explain himself to the public and just doesn't think he's bound by the law in any sense at all. This connects with what we're seeing in Minneapolis where his militias are murdering US citizens with no accountability and, you know, he's killing supposed drug runners who are civilians

in the Caribbean and much, much more. He's just bombing them and there again, it's completely illegal.

You get at this kind of through line well in your piece.

It seems to me like the public kind of gets that overall arc, the lawless arc.

“The CNN finding that 59% don't trust Trump to make good decisions underscores that I think.”

What do you think? Yeah. I think so. And I mean, the main theme of what I was writing was that Trump is behaving like a king with the power to decide life or death for people without asking anyone's permission or

explaining himself in any way, which is, you know, not the way that a president operates.

That's the way a king in ancient times operated.

And the kind of sad thing is that all of these his abuses aren't equally felt by the public. You know, I think that at this point in time, you know, the Iran, the war in Iran is still pretty distant to people. Now, once we start having identification of these Americans were killed and once, you know, all, you know, we had like three plain shot down accidently today. So there's going to be a big mess when you create a big war.

So that'll be more of attention for the American people. But I feel like in the, as far as killing the alleged drug traffickers in the Pacific and the Caribbean, he didn't present any evidence of that. Who knows whether those people are fishermen. He gets on making jokes about them being fishermen, which is crazy.

And even if they were drug traffickers, that's not a capital crime. You know, present evidence arrest people, take him and put him in jail if they're guilty. But this idea that the president of the United States can just decide we're going to whack those people. That's not the way this country operates. But Greg, my main point here is that what's happening with the war of choice that Trump has done in Iran

and what he's done with murdering people in boats in around Venezuela does never as much impact

in American public opinion is what ice and border patrol have been doing in this country. Because that's right at home. I mean, nobody thinks that the people of Minneapolis are, you know, deserve this. And, you know, and here we see every day if you're paying any attention, you're seeing that hit their creating a system of concentration camps around the country.

“So, and that, you know, what are you going to do with those after you've deported all the immigrants?”

So, you know, what are you going to have all that empty space? What are you going to do with it? So, I think that people are really scared about having an autocratic leader who has no regard for human life and is just plain, you know, abusive, illegal, corrupt and just, you know, kind of has no ability to show any empathy toward people.

You know, you saw that when he was, today, he was talking about the drapes and the ballroom, when he should have been talking about American deaths and deaths of other people. So, so this guy is, he's a disaster and but he's a disaster with a whole lot of power right now. And I think that is the American people are starting to wake up to that, I hope they are. Well, just to circle back to where we started, if you compare this situation with the run-up to the Iraq war

and the early days of the Iraq war, there's a basic difference here as well, which is not only is there no actual crisis in this particular case, like there's no rationale whatsoever, but voters to go back to your point about the illegal killings in the Caribbean, mattering less to voters than maybe the assassinations or executions of American citizens and Minneapolis to the American people have had many, many months of getting bombarded by this imagery of outright lawlessness,

outright, you know, lawless violence, extra legal violence being inflicted on Americans,

“they've been exposed to that fairly relentlessly and I really think that seems to be conditioning”

them to see what's going on abroad as something more alarming and more lawless than they otherwise might. Is that too optimistic? No, I think you're right, and another point related to that is that Homeland Security systematically lied about almost every clash it had with protesters or observers or with immigrants. I mean, I mean, I'm here in Chicago and we had the same thing before Minneapolis did where, you know, people were getting shot and by ice and they immediately lied about everything.

They just, I mean, the federal judge here in Chicago called them out for their lies. So it's not like my opinion, they were lying and now here we are, and at a time of war, when a lot of there's a lot of uncertainty and when, you know, your sons and daughters may be killed,

they're not going to get it from this bunch. And so I think that the lack, the credibility that they

have wasted in, you know, in manyapolis and Chicago in Los Angeles and Portland and everywhere else

“is coming home to Roost here. Yes, I think that's exactly right, and I think it's an important”

point in the run up to Iraq, I think, and in the early days of Iraq, people were shocked at the

official lying that was going on, especially when it emerged that there were no WMDs in Iraq.

In this case, the public has seen years and years of official lying from this bunch and a level of lying that is unprecedented in a public official in the United States and modern times. And so it

“looks to me like there's going to be a much harsher public judgment on this stuff up front.”

Where do you see it unfolding in the end? Well, one other point on that is that it's not just

that the American people feel like they're getting lied to, you know, which they did after the Iraq war, the invasion of Iraq. But they don't, they think that the Trump administration doesn't know what it's doing. They haven't even come up with a good lie. They even, I mean, they, you know, this whole war, we won't regime change. No, we don't want regime change. We want the people, people maybe want them to rise up, maybe not, or we want to knock down their defenses.

This thing about them, they're kind of admitting that Iran does not have, you know, that they don't have, you know, nuclear weapons. But they're saying now that they have while they're building up their defenses so that we can't attack their nuclear weapons if they ever build them. Well, what that means is that they're not allowed to have a defense. That means that that in no way, or even defensive military by Iran is unacceptable. In other words, unless we just

they surrender the whole country to the United States, it's not acceptable. So nobody thinks that makes any sense. And so what we've got here is a giant war developing. And we have an even worse explanation for it than we had in in 2003. It sure looks that way. And I'm really heartened to see

“that the public is turning against this right at the outset. And boy, do I hope it holds?”

Mark Jacob, awesome to talk to you folks. Check out Mark's sub-stack. It's called Stop the Process. Great to have you on, man. Thanks for having me on. Save. With visa steuja.