Ian Bremmer

So, my gosh, we are, what, 25, 26 days ahead?

into this war, it is, you guys are talking like it's over.

You guys are talking like it's over and the US is walking away with its tail between its legs.

We're at war with Iran.

Everyone basically understands that, even if not everyone, for political reasons, wants to say it out loud.

We're in war with Iran.

It's funny because you could say the same thing about Russia, and yet Trump clearly disagrees and has acted in ways that shows he disagrees for reasons that he thinks are aligned with America First.

And when Trump himself is telling the American people that this is going to be easy, it's going to be over, there's going to be no cost, don't worry about it, the president is driving the messaging of we don't need to be patient.

We don't need to because this war is going to be easy and it's going to be out.

We're going to be done.

And he failed.

Sure.

Well, first of all, very happy to join all of you.

I also think this is a very thoughtful group and people I generally like, which is always nice.

So it made it easier to say yes.

Don't know how much we're going to agree on here, but that's fine.

I think that the big news, as I see it over the last couple of days, has been Trump's unilateral escalation.

that he's going to blow up all of Iran's civil energy production capability, grid capability, if they don't open the strait.

And everyone understood that that was an utterly disastrous idea because the Iranians would likely be able to take out, for example, desalination plants that would cause mass panic and exodus in the Gulf and would be likely to do so.

The Iranians did not back down.