David Frum

And the reason he's in trouble with this war, politically at home,

is what Trump is never able to do, speak to human nature at its best.

And you know what?

Human beings are complicated.

We have bad impulses and good impulses.

And sometimes people respond to things that are elevated, patriotic, decent, good, idealistic.

Trump can never sound those notes at all.

And he just, he's a terrible person.

He appeals to terrible people, and he appeals to even non-terrible people of terrible impulses.

He appeals to that.

He appeals to everything that is dark and ugly and vicious and predatory and mean and cruel and dismissive.

But sometimes you need to sound the higher tones, and that is a whole register.

When we're in that mood,

And that's the mood you need if you're going to lead a country through sacrifice.

And one of the reasons, he's promised Americans a cheap, easy, and now he hasn't promised them anything, but he sort of signaled this war that I'm leading the country to will be cheap and easy and over soon.

Just 10 days, I've got all these deals, we're gonna negotiate our way.

And if three months from now,

there are American Marines on Karg Island or on the shore trying to hold a beachfront in Iran and taking casualties.

I don't think Trump has any way to talk about that in any way that would be meaningful to anybody except the most conspiratorial part of the MAGA base who will rapidly turn to, you know, it's Israel's fault, it's Netanyahu's fault, it's the American Jews' fault.

It's always worth remembering.