David Frum

They'll do what they're told in order to keep their money.

And then they become less of a nuisance from a strategic point of view.

Does that make any sense?

And based on your interactions with upper elite Iranians, does any of that plan make any sense?

And their message to the Iranian regime seems to be completely incoherent, which is we want unconditional surrender.

We want you to negotiate a deal.

Yes, you can keep control of the Strait of Hormuz, which was just annexed.

No, you can't.

Do you think the messaging direct to the Iranians through whatever channel is going is any more clear than the message to the world that we're all hearing a contradictory version of every single day?

Today is Monday, March 30th, the day you and I are recording.

Yeah, or it may reflect a desire to manipulate energy markets.

Yeah, and the energy markets last week seemed to often buy it, and they seemed to respond positively when Trump said something.

And one of the things that seems significant today, Monday, March 30th, is Trump said something reassuring, and then energy markets ceased to buy it.

They don't believe it anymore.

Because as you reported in mid-March, it's amazing how much damage to oil production, to energy production on the southern side of the Gulf has not yet happened to Saudi Arabia, to Kuwait, to the Gulf state, to the other Gulf states, that Iran has not yet hit them as hard as it imaginably could.

Yeah.

This is the destruction of those surveillance planes that were parked out in the open air in a very arrogant way, it seemed.

Did you hear anyone talk when you were in the Gulf about, look, obviously these small rich states need a protector, but maybe China would be a more predictable and reliable protector than Trump's United States, which seems so erratic and confusing and prone to blundering into wars.

It doesn't know how to finish.

Yeah.