Terry Gross

My guest David Sanger can't answer those questions, but he can tell us how we got to this precipice and what the consequences might be for the U.S.

if the president does use military force.

Sanger is a White House and national security correspondent for The New York Times.

For years, his coverage has included Iran's nuclear program and U.S.

and Israeli attempts to sabotage it.

He's also the author of the book New Cold Wars.

Although I'm recording this introduction this morning, we recorded our interview yesterday morning.

We started with a clip of what President Trump said about Iran during his State of the Union address Tuesday.

David Sanger, welcome to Fresh Air.

So...

I'm sure you were waiting to hear more about Iran.

So first of all, were you surprised at how buried it was within the speech and how little he had to say about it, considering we might be on the brink of war with Iran?

And then tell us what you made of what he did say.

Of course, that doesn't mean you can believe them on it.

Let me play what Trump said on June 21st in 2025 after bombing three major nuclear facilities in Iran.

And Israel had attacked Iran in June in a war that lasted around 12 days.

And the Trump administration moved forward with bombing those three nuclear facilities.

So here's what Trump had to say June 21st.

military for their roles in the strike, Trump said this.

OK, so Trump seems to be contradicting himself because Steve Woodcock made it seem that Trump's negotiators on this, Woodcock made it seem like the bomb is imminent.