Why Trump has a peace problem
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
ABC Listen, podcasts, radio, news, music and more. Hi, I'm Patricia Carvellis, the host of Politics Now. And throughout the week on the podcast, I'm joined by the brightest political minds at the ABC to wade through the political spin and bring you the analysis you need to know. We go beyond the headlines, digging into the key political stories of the day and making sure we have a little bit of fun along the way. I don't think it's an aberration. I don't think it's just rogue. I don't think it's just temporary. I think politics is being smashed and anyone who thinks... That it's just a passing thing is completely deluded.
Delulu, you
reckon? Delulu. It's called Politics Now and you can find it on ABC Listen.
Can Trump use his negotiating skills to end the wars in Iran and Ukraine?
Does Donald Trump really have the negotiating skills to end wars? He's rejected Iran's latest proposal to halt the fighting and reopen negotiations. And there's still no sign that Russia is ready to make a deal with Ukraine. Today, international relations expert Rajan Menon on whether Donald Trump can actually deliver peace in either conflict. I'm Sam Hawley on Gadigal land in Sydney. This is ABC News Daily.
Rajan, there are two wars that Donald Trump is trying to solve right now. One is in Ukraine, which he said he would end on day one of his presidency.
Before I even arrive at the Oval Office, I will have the disastrous war between Russia and Ukraine settled. And it will take me no longer than one day.
And, of course, the war in Iran, which was meant to be over within four to five weeks.
Right from the beginning, we projected four to five weeks, but we have capability to go far longer than that.
His negotiating skills aren't quite what he thought, are they?
Well, no, they certainly are not.
Why are Trump's threats failing to bring Iran to the negotiating table?
In the case of Iran, he has made threat after threat after threat after having... militarily, in a sense, lost the war. The Iranians seem in no rush to cut a deal. He keeps saying that they're begging for a deal.
Well, at the UN General Assembly last week, Donald Trump, he spent much of his speech justifying the war in Iran and threatening Iran with more bombing.
I have a big decision to make. Will a deal be made with Iran? that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before? Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic? Do I drive them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future greatness or generations?
What did you make of his speech there?
It was an extraordinary speech, even by Mr. Trump's standards. First of all, it was more like a campaign rally in the United States than a speech that ought to have been given to the World Assembly. He, for the second time, threatened to kind of annihilate it, right? There was a previous occasion in which he said, an entire civilization will end. It's an extraordinary thing when an American president goes before 100-plus countries, the representatives of those countries, in threats, in effect, to commit genocide. But that hasn't really moved the Iranians. I mean, I don't think they're rattled by this and they're holding on. Whether the economic sanctions will eventually cause them to buckle is anybody's guess.
But what we have now is a game of chicken, where two cars are racing toward each other, each hoping that the other will swerve and neither swerving.
They're waiting to see how I do in the midterm election. What they don't realize is that I'm not running. I did that already and won in a landslide. We won in a giant landslide.
What did Iran demand in its rejected peace proposal?
Yes, because Trump, as we know now, has rejected an offer from Iran for peace. Just tell me why he's done that and what was in it.
What the Iranians have asked for, going back to the April memorandum, is that the US blockade on its oil exports should be ended, that all frozen assets should be returned, and that there should be not just a ceasefire, but a peace that is kind of set in stone. On the nuclear question, I think they've indicated a willingness to negotiate. But I suspect that on that issue, the second attack on Iran—this was the second one that was launched by the U.S. and Israel—
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–0:59
2
Can Trump use his negotiating skills to end the wars in Iran and Ukraine?
0:59–2:24
3
Why are Trump's threats failing to bring Iran to the negotiating table?
2:24–4:29
4
What did Iran demand in its rejected peace proposal?
4:29–5:55
5
How could the US midterm elections affect Iran peace talks?
5:55–6:50
6
What is daily life like under Russian attacks in Ukraine?
6:50–8:50
7
Why do Ukraine and Russia distrust Trump's peace-brokering approach?
8:50–10:58
8
Can Trump realistically end the wars in Iran and Ukraine?
10:58–15:31