The Republican Identity Crisis Over the Iran War
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
We gave Times employees a preview of Crossplay from New York Times Games. And here's what they had to say. I can finally play with other people. I'm pretty competitive. It's fun to beat friends and coworkers. I have a J for 10 points. I'm guessing tanga is not a word. Let's see. Tanga is a word. Oh. As an English as a second language speaker, I like to learn new words. Crossplay, the first two-player word game from New York Times Games. Download it for free today. From The New York Times, I'm Natalie Kitroff. This is The Daily. From the moment President Trump barreled into American politics, one of his central messages that resonated most with voters was his promise to keep the country out of endless wars.
But now, as the war in Iran enters its fourth week, leading figures on the right are questioning whether Trump may have gotten the U.S. into exactly the sort of complex and costly conflict he railed against for so long. Today, we talk to my colleague Robert Draper about Trump's political evolution on the question of war and the identity crisis it's caused for the Republican Party. It's Monday, March 23rd OK, Robert, you cover the right and you functioned for us here at The Daily as our guide, really, to all the complexities of Trump and his party. And right now seems to be a moment of reckoning within that exact group over the war in Iran, specifically the justification for it and whether Trump is explicitly violating a pact that he made with his base of not starting another war.
So what is the level of tension that you're seeing right now inside the MAGA movement?
It's really a mess. You have people who are still steadfast in their support for what the administration is doing. There are an awful lot of people, however, and I'm talking not only about the right-wing influencer ecosystem, but also all the way down to voters who are saying, is this what we voted for? We thought no wars. We thought America first. What are we doing over there? What's this about $200 billion that Trump now wants from Congress to appropriate? Where was $200 billion when I wanted to buy a home? It has really, really become a problematic matter for the Trump administration.
What you're describing sounds like real anger, right?
Yes, anger and disbelief, an inability to square what is happening in Iran with what Trump said on the campaign trail and what Americans face as domestic challenges.
OK, let's talk about that. Let's go there. What's the origin of that disconnect, that disbelief?
So we should go back to what I believe was the fourth Republican presidential primary debate in November of 2015.
Look at Iraq. Look at the mess we have after spending two trillion dollars, thousands of lives, wounded warriors all over the place who I love. OK, all over.
What are the divisions among Republicans regarding the Iran war?
We have nothing.
And there, on that stage, Trump explicitly said that the Iraq War was no one's idea of a success, but instead was a tragic waste of American blood and treasure.
And we have to get smart. We can't continue to be the policemen of the world. We owe $19 trillion. We have a country that's going to hell.
And differentiated himself from other candidates who had basically repeated Republican orthodoxy about the Iraq War.
Donald is wrong on this. He is absolutely wrong on this. We're not going to be the world's policeman, but we sure as heck better be the world's leader. Can you just talk for a moment, Robert, about how remarkable it was to hear Trump say this? I mean, this was a break from the orthodoxy of the Republican Party for decades, right?
Yeah.
Yes. It was understood that thou shalt not speak ill of a Republican president, George W. Bush. And so for an office seeker, a Republican office seeker, to stand up and say that this war was just an unambiguous screw-up and you're never going to see me do this kind of thing was really singular and, I think, memorable to voters throughout the campaign.
Yeah, that was something Democrats were, of course, willing to say at that point, but not Republicans. Right.
No, that's right. So for Trump to do that really, I think, you know, opened Republican voters up to the notion that, you know, we don't have to embrace a militaristic viewpoint the way hawks on our side of the aisle are constantly urging us to, particularly when we have seen what it's done to a whole generation of Americans.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–3:30
2
What are the divisions among Republicans regarding the Iran war?
3:30–5:52
3
How is Trump justifying the war in Iran?
5:52–8:21
4
What is the level of tension within the MAGA movement about the war?
8:21–14:16
5
What disconnect exists between Trump's campaign promises and current actions?
14:16–20:05
6
How did Trump's views on military intervention evolve over time?
20:05–30:38
Speakers
4 identifiedMore from The Daily
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