Robert Siegel

Hi, I'm Robert Siegel in conversation about politics with two very insightful political writers.

Joining me at the New York Times Washington Bureau are political writer and author E.J.

Dionne.

Great to be with you.

And joining us today is Mona Charon, policy editor at The Bulwark and host of The Mona Charon Show.

Thanks so much.

Thanks for joining us.

We're recording this on Wednesday, so it's possible that some of our discussion may be overtaken by events, but I think that our focus today will likely be unrevised very much for the near future.

We're focusing on relations under stress, under stress from the war in Iran.

Quite apart from what this war has done to Iran, it has also wrought changes in U.S.

relations abroad and even changes with our politics, too.

How do you think Trump is doing in handling this war, E.J.?

Mona?

We're now on to some relationships, starting with our relationship to NATO and our NATO allies.

Back in his first term, President Trump was often criticized for talking to the NATO allies in very transactional terms, not drawing upon some deep fraternal democratic spirit that we had in common.

Compared with the past couple of weeks, those were the good old days of the alliance.

E.J., is the NATO alliance on the rocks?

Mona?

I was forced to think, thinking about the state of the alliance, to think back on pretty big crises that NATO has weathered.

And it may be a more durable alliance than we'd think.