Bonus: Daily Review with Clay and Buck - Feb 19 2026
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Welcome, everybody, to the second hour of the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton show. And we are joined by Stephen Yates. He's a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a former White House national security official.
Are we going to strike Iran?
Our friend, Mr. Yates. Great to have you, sir. What's going on? Buck, great to join you. Thanks so much. So we want to ask you about whether we're going to war with Iran. It's a big question. And the reason we're asking is because, as we know, there's sort of a dual track situation playing out. On the one hand, there's negotiations, I think, in Geneva. Sounds right. over Iran's nuclear program that the administration is involved in. And then there's also a buildup, a substantial buildup of military assets, aerial assets, specifically F-35s, F-22s in the Mideast, prepared for what could be a sustained aerial campaign against Iran. What do you see happening here? How do you think this plays out?
Well, Buck, I think that the president and his team are doing far more than any of its predecessors to kind of increase the chances of a negotiated settlement of sorts. It's very, very difficult to see there being any security from the nuclear program. Under the current regime, that's why the president says that if the regime were to change, that might be better. He's not saying he's going to do it. But the armada that is there is doing two very substantial things. It is stopping the illegal support for the Iranian regime financially. That has been a big vulnerability in the past. And, of course, it has the ability to strike hard, and the president has proven a willingness to do that not very long ago.
So this should increase the chances of a negotiated settlement. But I have to say, bottom line, I don't see this regime in Iran negotiating a good faith in an appropriate amount of time. So I think the odds of a strike that would be an active war but not a total war, very high over the next two weeks.
Okay, so what is the goal of the strikes? Thanks for coming on, Steve. I mean, I think that is kind of where we dive into next because the understanding that we had, and I think it was the right decision on the first strike, was this is directly attributed to trying to eliminate Iran's nuclear arsenal, right, or their ability to develop a nuclear arsenal. Are we trying to replace the Ayatollah with this strike? Are we still going after nuclear weapons? I think this needs to be a huge part of the discussion in general is what is the strategic goal here? Do you have a sense for that? And how do you think the administration goes about making that choice?
Well, I completely agree that it's necessary. We've fought off the ghosts of Iraq in many, many different ways. But that idea of making it clear what the strategic objective is and what America's role is relative to other countries' role, very, very clear. I think that the targets that they would hit would look more military, so it would be nuclear, but also some of the ballistic missile and other capabilities to demonstrate that we can do this and there's nothing they can do about it and knock them back a little bit to maybe buy more time and see whether they sober up for real negotiations. There's I think this added layer of statements that were made about the atrocities that are committed by the regime, the human rights violations, and I have deep sympathy for that, but I don't think that is the proper use of the U.S.
military. I think that's... the area that has to be made much, much more clear. The strike had to be degrading the capabilities of the regime while they have maximum pressure to degrade the economic capabilities of the regime. And the rest of the world is going to have to step in and help handle some of the other elements of the political transformation, in my view.
Steve, yes, the ghosts of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars loom large in all these conversations.
What is the Dirty Dem Playbook controversy about?
And I think that's a good thing in terms of making sure that we don't get pulled into something. And I think Trump is very wary of getting pulled into something deeper and at much greater risk to us and to our people than we want to be.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–0:18
2
Are we going to strike Iran?
0:18–4:11
3
What is the Dirty Dem Playbook controversy about?
4:11–7:55
4
How is the Trans Trend impacting society?
7:55–13:53
5
What are the implications of President Trump's Black History Month event?
13:53–22:32
6
How is the housing market affected by mortgage rates?
22:32–25:34
7
What are the recent developments in transgender medical procedures?
25:34–28:57
8
How does Taylor Swift compare to cultural icons like the Beatles?
28:57–46:18
Speakers
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BONUS POD: DOJ Busts $10 Million California Daycare Fraud Scheme
MASSIVE Victory for Student-Athletes & Fans as 3/4 of the Senate Votes for the Protect College Sports Act
BONUS POD: The AI Cold War Has Begun—Can America Beat China without Beating America?