The Duran Podcast - Trump calls Putin, topic IRAN WAR

Episode Date: March 10, 2026

Trump calls Putin, topic IRAN WAR

All right, Alexander, let's talk about the situation in Iran. And a good place to start is with the Trump-Putin phone call. Now you've gone through many Putin transcripts, phone call, conversations and transcripts and readouts over the many years. What is your take on this latest readout from Ushakov? And not a very long statement from Ushikov, but he does give us some interesting information if you understand how to read through these transcripts, and I don't think there's anyone better to understand

what's being said in these transcripts than you are. So Trump calls Putin and Russia, Ushikov, they made it a point to stress that fact. And they say they talked about Iran and Ukraine and various other issues, but basically Iran and Ukraine. My sense is that this was more about Iran than Ukraine. and anyway your thoughts. Well, thank you for what you said about my analytical abilities about

Putin's calls, but I've gone through them many, many times, hundreds of, hundreds of, probably thousands, mine. And of course, I've also always gone through the various calls that Putin and Trump have had, both in his first, Trump's first term, and over the course of this term as well. And I'm going to say a few quick things about this, but let me first. Let me first. first say what I think is the single most important thing. Trump called Putin in order to get Putin's help to bring the war to an end. Trump is now looking for an off ramp. That is my overall take on this call. Now, the Russians have given us this briefing from Usakov, who is Putin's foreign policy aid. And the very interesting thing, the thing that immediately struck me

is that firstly, they announced that it was Trump who called Putin. Unusual for the Russians to do that, but they're emphasizing that it was Trump who initiated the call. They made a point that we have made in previous programs that Putin and Trump have not spoken to, each other for a long time. In fact, and this is important, the last time they spoke, was on the day when Putin's residence at Valdai was attacked by Ukrainian drones, CIA Ukrainian drones, after Trump asked Putin to remain where he was, potentially, if Putin was at Valdei, setting him up for the attack. So since then, Trump has, Putin has not spoken to Trump. My own sense, by the way, is that Trump has been trying to speak to Putin for

some time over various things Trump likes to talk to Putin. Putin has up to now avoided Trump's cause. That's more of a guess because we don't fully know, but this is the first time since December that they have spoken, since the Valdai attack. And the Russians are reminding us of this. And then see what the Russians say about the tone of the discussion. They say that it was businesslike, frank, and constructive. There's no words about it being sincere. There's no words about him being warm, there's no hint that it was friendly. Altogether, it looks as if this was a rather contentious call. When the Russians referred to a conversation as Frank, it looks as if the call was contentious and that hard words were exchanged. And that's what this suggests.

business-like and Frank suggests a call in which Putin gave Trump a piece of his mind. In other words, said to Trump what it was. I mean, what Putin thought, what his feelings about the whole situation were. And this is the first call since Trump's inauguration, since the start of Trump's second term, where the main topic of discussion was not Ukraine. I mean, they did talk about Ukraine, but if you actually read Ushikov's, as you say, rather brief statement, briefing, it's almost as if they came to Ukraine after they got through the main point of discussion. And that main point of discussion was Iran, the conflict relating to Iran. Now, the Russians have made absolutely clear what they think about the US-Israeli attack on Iran.

They've described it as aggression, a straightforward aggression. They have said that they are not neutrals in this conflict, that they are on Iran's site. We've had Lavrov scolding Arab foreign representatives in Moscow who came to Moscow trying to get Russia's help to find a way to end the conflict. You're saying you're putting all the blame on Iran, but it wasn't Iran that initiated this. It was Iran that was attacked. The Russians have made it absolutely clear that they think it was absolutely cynical and immoral. These were Putin's words to assassinate Hamé, the supreme leader of Iran, in the way that was done. And the Russians have also made it very clear that the launching of an attack on Iran in the middle of negotiations, both over the course of this war and over the course of the war that took place,

in June was completely and utterly and completely wrong. Now, Putin will have said all of those things to Trump over the course of this call, which explains why the call was frank and business-like, why it was contentious. Now, having said that, having got through all of that, we need to look again at the briefing, and it's clear that they discussed ways to end the war. And again, Putin was bringing forward, apparently, his ideas for ending the war. And if we've been looking and observing Putin's moves, Putin's various discussions with various people, with all of the parties involved, he's spoken to Netanyahu, but he's spoken to all the major Arab leaders, he's spoken to MBS, to the leaders of the Arab countries. He's had, I think, two, uh,

discussions with Pezischan, one by phone, one via telegram, by the way. The Russians have increasingly been talking about a cessation of hostilities, not a ceasefire, and a return to the diplomatic process around Iran. So they want an end to the fighting. They obviously want, you know, reopening of the Straits of Hormuz, will come to all of that in a moment. to see all of that happen. They want the Arab states to be able to function again, but they want absolute cast-iron guarantees this time that this thing will never happen again, that there will be no further American and Israeli attacks on Iran. And that can only

must involve some kind of security guarantees for Iran. that will stick and also acceptance of the various proposals that have been floating around for over a year on how to handle Iran's nuclear enrichment program. So these are the kind of ideas that Putin will have been floating to Trump. The key thing, and it's the point that you made right at the start of this program, it was Trump who initiated that call. Trump knows two things. He knows, first of all, Putin thinks about this whole business, because the Russians have set it up at great length. He also knows something else, which is that at this particular point in time, it is the Russians and only the Russians who have leverage over the Iranians.

It is the Russians who are providing Iran with diplomatic and political support. it is the Russians who are undoubtedly providing Iran with economic assistance. And as many reports say, it is the Russians almost certainly who are providing Iran with intelligence, the kind of information, the kind of satellite and other data, which has enabled Iran to conduct its missile and drone offense. across the Middle East, striking American bases so effectively. So Trump knows that Putin has leverage. So Trump called Putin ultimately to persuade Putin to use his leverage to find a way to end the war.

So Trump might not have liked some of the proposals that Putin put to him. He will certainly not have liked the criticisms that Putin would have made. But the fact that he called Putin at all is the strongest possible sign at this time that Trump is looking for an exit ramp to this war. And as we're going to discuss in a moment, there is now a cascade of information that suggests this, and there are compelling reasons why Trump would want it. Yeah, we'll get to that in one second. Why go to Putin and not to Xi?

Why Russia and not China? Because everything that you listed out is also with China as well. Is it because Putin has a better relationship with the Gulf countries and with China? Trump, is it because that Trump feels more comfortable speaking with Putin? I mean, can you make that assertion? I don't know. I mean, why would he go to Putin and not to Xi Jinping to seek this off ramp? I'm going to suggest a very, very simple reason. Trump got himself involved in a trade conflict with China last year. There were, as we remember, There were the tariffs.

There was a moment when China was basically stopping exports or reducing exports of rare earths. We had that humiliating meeting that Trump had with Xi Jinping in South Korea. I think it was in November of last year. I think the very last thing that Trump wants to do, especially on the eve of another trip that he wants to make to China. at the end of this month is to go to Xi Jinping and repeat the humiliation of South Korea all over again by asking Xi Jinping for favors just before he's due himself to go to Beijing. So he goes to Putin instead, and I think that's the reason. Yeah.

What does it tell you that the readout was so short? What does that signal? Well, it probably signals because bear it mind that the call itself was long. Yeah, it lasted an hour. It lasted an hour. But the readout was very, very short. By Ushakov's standards, it was extremely short. It suggests to me, firstly, a contentious call, rather heated words.

I suspect part of the conversation was indeed heated. And again, the Russians probably won't want to communicate that too far. But I also suspect that there were actual discussions, detailed discussions, about possible ideas that the Russians might have for off-rams, which, unsurprisingly, at this time, the Russians do not want to discuss in open briefings. There is possibly something else, and we're going to come to this in the moment, because Trump is now talking about effectively lifting sanctions on Russian oil in order to stabilize global energy markets.

I wonder whether part of the reason for the sudden talk about easing sanctions on Russian oil is that it was also Trump's sweetener, his bribe, if you like, to Putin, to try to get Putin to be helpful on the situation over Iran. They probably, I mean, I'm sure they did discuss this at some length. the whole sanctions issue. Both the Russians and the Americans know that a discussion about sanctions and lifting sanctions on Russian oil. And it is going to be extremely controversial, to put it mildly, in Europe, in the United States. It could be that Trump asked Putin to keep this part of the call as confidential as Boston.

Of course, in the US, everything, nothing is confidential for any length of time. But the Russians would have probably wanted to go along with that. And lastly, and I think this is the other thing. I think the reason Ushikov wanted to keep the briefing short, why the Russians kept the briefing short, is because they still want to signal the fact that the Russians are not pleased with Donald Trump. Yeah. Well, Trump is now saying that the war is, almost complete.

Yes. Right? He's saying it was a short-term excursion. That's a direct quote actually. His whole conflict was a short-term excursion, an incredible statement from the U.S. President. They didn't get their regime change. Hamé was replaced with Hamine.

The GCC countries are getting hammered, we're getting hammered, are getting hammered. Bahrain's oil is shut down. Qatar's gas is shut down. Saudi Arabia's storage is almost full. The oil price searched to over 110, 115, somewhere around there, maybe even 120 yesterday. And Trump's approval rating, the approval of this war, and his overall rating is tanking on all of this. And so Trump comes out with the... statements. He has a call with Putin. He comes out with these statements saying the war is short-term.

The war is complete. We're way ahead of schedule. He throws out the slogans, which are, they have been decimated. They have no army. They have no navy. We've sunk all the, all the boats. These are slogans. This is typical Trump marketing and slogans, just like the whole obliterated thing, right? Easy, digestible to understand for his, for his MAGA base. But the Wall Street Journal is reporting that there are now people around Trump in his White House who are now telling him openly that he needs a way out of this. It did not go the way they were anticipating. Where are we then with all of this? I mean, could this be, do you think, so my question is, do you think this is he really wants an off-ramp?

or is there a possibility that this war continues because the forces that want him to continue this war are going to push back on the forces that are telling him, get out? And could this be some sort of trickery, some sort of a game that Trump is playing just to bring down the all prices, to calm the markets,

and then to once again catch Iran, Russia, China, whatever, catch them off guard so that he can continue this conflict because my understanding is that the military assets are still moving towards the region. Like, for example, the aircraft carrier group, the Bush, aircraft carrier group. I mean, how are you seeing this unfolding? You see, this is, I mean, every one of the last points that you made, that can we really be sure that Trump is seeking an off ramp, whether this is a, into more duplicity and deception, of which we've had a catastrophic amount, all of that is true.

And can I just say the Iranians themselves are saying as much, they're saying that after what has happened twice, in June of last year and now, they cannot trust Trump anymore. How can they negotiate with this man, given the way in which he has tricked them and the way the way in which he has attacked them, and that negotiations, the deals of this kind, are simply impossible. But I nonetheless do think that Trump most probably is seeking a offer. I say that, his rhetoric changes all the time. This morning, he's again talking about devastating Iran. if they don't open, or rather if they blockade the Straits of Hormuz, most people will have noticed that the Straits of Hormuz have been blockaded for days.

But, you know, he's now saying, if the Iranians do that, you know, he'll rain, you know, fire and death upon them, as if he hasn't already been doing it. He, again, is telling the ships in the Persian Gulf, you know, show some courage, why aren't you sailing through the straits of Cornwall moves, all of those things. So we get contradictory rhetoric from him. But I think he knows perfectly well that if all prices go above $100 a barrel and stay there. He knows perfectly well, that is the end of his presidency, not just in terms of losing the midterms, which frankly, I think is now avert your certainty. But finding himself in a position where whatever residual political support he still has in the United States collapses, and he becomes perhaps the most unpopular president.

So I think he at some level he understands that. And I think he also has to face, he must be, he has to face the fact that the original plan, the expectation that, After the killing of Harmony, regime change would follow. All that he was told about it by all of these people. We can guess who they are, Netanyahu, Mike Balls, all those sort of people. The various people that he listens to in social media and on Fox. He must now understand that it isn't going to happen, at least not in that way, that the government in Iran appears to have consolidated. The IRGC continues to function.

Missile strikes continue to take place. American servicemen are being killed. We've had several of them being killed. Of course, the speculation that the casualties are much higher. I don't know. I'm not going to speculate. Certainly not about a topic like that. But he must sense that this thing isn't going to plan. He must be alarmed about what is happening in global energy markets. He must be alarmed about the financial and economic health of the United States, even if he's not worried about the financial and economic health of the rest of the world. And I think that probably even he by now can sense that he was sold a false story about Iran and that this risk. becoming a debacle. So purely because of Trump's own personal political survival instincts,

I think he probably is looking for an off-ramp. And these reports in the Wall Street Journal are probably true. And by the way, there are reports in Israel that in Israel itself, they're now starting to worry about Trump's long-term position. So, you know, I think these are probably true. The problem is not whether or not Trump wants an off-ramp now. It is whether having got that off-ramp and achieved that cessation of hostilities so that things in the Persian Gulf and the Straits of Hormuz return to normal. The problem is whether you start listening again to all the same people who led him

into this disaster all over again and whether in six months' time we're going to find ourselves repeating this whole thing. And this is obviously the Iranian concern and that's going to make any attempt to try to negotiate a compromise here extremely difficult. Now, the Russians are good at this. They're going to be speaking to Iranians, but they're also going to be speaking to the Arab states. The Arab states have been shocked over this matter. This did not go at all according to the way they were promised. They will not want to repeat this experiment again. Next time, their opposition to an attack on Iran is going to be for real and much more solid, or so I expect. So there is that factor and the Russians can work that. But with Trump, one can never be absolutely sure that in six

months' time, we're not going to see the same thing all over again. I would bet that in six months' time or a year's time, we probably are going to see the same thing all over again. Best case scenario is that they're just going to wait, the Warhawks just going to wait out Trump's presidency. And then in 2020, with the new president, they'll, they'll, they'll, they'll come back to Iran. They never stop. There is no reverse gear. Exactly. But you're right, the GCC countries, they were promised a weekend regime change. Yes. That is what they were promised. Exactly. Just like the Europeans were promised a regime change in Russia with 15,000 sanctions. They were promised a regime change in a weekend, and they did not get that. They got a very

big shock. And you see a lot of GCC countries, a lot of leaders in these countries now openly saying that they're not going to attack Iran. They have no interest in getting into a war with Iran. And you see letters being published online, being published on X and on various other platforms, which are saying, why are we in this war? What are we doing here? Why is the United States dragging us into this thing? I mean, you see these letters. These are published by, by, by, very high level. I don't want to say government officials, but people that have some sort of relationship to the government, for example, billionaires and very wealthy oligarchs in the region who are publishing these letters, no doubt at the request of government officials. And they're

questioning, how did we end up in this conflict, in this war? We don't want anything to do with this. So you are seeing now that the GCC countries openly push back against Trump. what you anticipated my next question. What does Iran do? Do they, well, I guess maybe you can explain before you answer what does Iran do. Maybe you can also give us some ideas. What do you think Putin's going to propose? Yes.

Because that'll take us to what Iran might accept or not accept. I think the two go together. Yeah. And this is where I think Iran always. also needs to be very tough-minded and hard-headed and realistic about its own position. Because, yes, it's absorbed this blow up to now, and it's shown that it can defend itself and that it is resilient and that it can strike American bases across the Middle East, and it can hit Israel, and that it has powerful ballistic missiles and all of those sort of things.

but it has also suffered enormous damage. I mean, people are saying that up to 1,000 people have been killed. There's been the horror of the schoolchildren who were killed. They've lost the Supreme Leader. They've lost many of their military people. Their Navy has been destroyed. All right. It was never the most important part of their military.

But realistically, they should be looking not just for and end to this particular conflict, they should be asking themselves, how do we make sure that an attack like this does not take place in the future, given that we cannot trust Donald Trump, but we should also be asking ourselves whether really the kind of long war that the Iranians have been talking about is ultimately in Iran's interest. I mean, a war like this against a power like the United States does have the potential to devastate Iran, and it might in the end provoke an internal crisis in Iran.

I think the Iranians need to take and take the off-rout. Whatever off-rap the Russians are going to provide, the Iranians need to take it. They need to agree the cessation of hostilities, even though they don't trust Don Ruffer. Trump. But then they need to do over the year or two years, it'll be longer this time. It won't be six months like it was after the June war. They need to accept finally that help from the Russians and the Chinese that they have been offered. They need to integrate, to accept that the sanctions are not going to be lifted soon. They need to integrate their economies with the brakes. They need to accept the Chinese anti-ship missiles, the Russian air defense missiles.

They need to accept the military help that the Chinese and the Russians have been offering. Because that is the way that Iran can achieve long-term security. Of course, it has the other option, which is to pursue the nuclear route. I think that would be a long-term disaster for the whole region and potentially for Iran itself. I think this is a false solution to Iran's problems, though a superior one to the policy they have been following over the last few years, which is to rely on their own capabilities to enrich uranium up to 60, percent levels, but then to fall short of acquiring a nuclear bomb. But I think that going further and obtaining a nuclear weapons capability will create many problems for the future and will seriously

destabilize the entire region, which is not in Iran's interests. Saudi Arabia will acquire nuclear weapons. Turkey will inquire nuclear weapons. Is that really what Iran wants to see? I think what it needs to do is to modernize its air force, modernize its air defense capabilities, sort out the problems with its economy, which help from the bricks can do, and to focus on that. And that, I think, is what Putin is going to tell them. But doesn't that take a lot of time that could take five years to almost a decade to get all of that sorted out, would Russia or China be able to provide some sort of military deterrence to protect Iran,

say for the next year or two or three until they get all the other things, the air defense, the Air Force, until they get all of that sorted out? Because the argument that many people will say is that, well, Iran doesn't have five years or ten years because they're going to back at Iran. And if they don't have a nuclear weapon, they're not going to have a sufficient deterrent. For example, is Russia in a military alliance with Iran? Is China in a military alliance with Iran? Is that something that Russia and China would do? Yes. Is there something more that Russia or China can provide to Iran that is not nuclear, but will be deterrent enough? for example, some sort of a missile system or something along those lines that will deter

the United States in a year or two from attacking Iran because the cost would be too high. I'm just kind of throwing stuff out there because the argument is going to be made. Okay, what you're saying, Alexander is true. Yes. Iran needs to integrate more with bricks, militarily, economically, but that's going to take many, many years. And what about the case that in a year or two, Trump says, okay, now we're going to go out Iran again, when Iran has not gotten these military capabilities all sorted out? Yes. Or the economic help sorted out.

Right. The first thing to say is that economic help can be provided fairly quickly. Now, here the priority is to stabilize the Iranian currency, which, by the way, is still, I mean, it's still incredibly volatile. If you can get price stability in Iran, and many of the problems with Iran's domestic inflation problems appear to be connected to the instability of the currency. But this can be done very, very quickly. China can, as we've seen, they've said it, they're prepared to do it. They can help to support the Iranian currency.

They can also provide consumer goods. They can do all kinds of things. This can be potentially turned around quite fast. Iran's economy is not so big that a certain infusion, say, $5 billion of financial assistance would not be noticed. We're not talking about a economy of hundreds of billions of dollars. It just put $5 billion into Iran today, and you will get an economic stabilization. That I have absolutely no doubt at all.

It can be done fast. It can be done quickly. It will stabilize the domestic situation. And that will in itself make Iran look less vulnerable. Now, you're absolutely correct. Iran itself developing its military integrated. Russian Chinese weapon systems

is a project of at least five years but what they can do is they can accept that which they were offered before. The Russians have said that when there was the negotiations over the strategic partnership agreement

with Iran, which was signed and ratified early last year, the Russians proposed a security agreement with Iran. They referred to Iran as an ally. I mean, people dispute this. I've seen an article say that Iran is not a military ally of Russia, but the Russians themselves call Iran an ally. It's the Iranians who, as I'm not, I'm We've discussed in many programs, have been reluctant to accept that. I think the Iranians need to reconsider this.

They need to move forward with the security provisions, the security treaty that the Russians have been offering, which I'm sure the Chinese would backstop. And I think that in itself would be a powerful deterrent against a further attack on Iran. A lot needs to be done by Iran. Now, I accept that this would be difficult for the Iranians, for the Iranian leadership. Iran has prized its independence, its ability to maintain its freedom of action. It's got deep suspicions, deep, long-standing historic suspicions of Russia. It's which I've discussed an enormous length in many programs, and those suspicions are not unfounded. It's also, and it's important to remember this, the Iranian

revolution of 1979 was a revolution against foreign tutelage, against Iran's subordination to an alliance system, in that case an alliance system, but led by the United States and Britain. And that makes the Iranian leadership deeply suspicious of entering into similar alliance arrangements with other states. But Iran is facing this implacable hostility from the United States, which will continue, and from Israel, which will continue. It is in its exorcibility. It is in his existential danger for Iran, they need to start accepting offers of help from those who have repeatedly shown that they're willing to be Iran's friends. Okay, final question. We go to the Trump side of things. How does Trump, if he is sincere, and he really does want to, want to get an off-ramp

to this debacle, how does he do it? How does he sell it? How does he sell? what price is he going to pay for this? He made an interesting statement as he was speaking to reporters, Alexei. I don't know if you caught on to this, but one of the reporters asked, and I'll just read you, actually, what they asked him. Are there any points of disagreement

between yourself and J.D. Vance about Iran? Trump answered, I don't think so, no. He was philosophically a little bit different than me. He was maybe less enthusiastic about going, but he was quite enthusiastic. Okay, he was less enthusiastic about going, but he was quite enthusiastic. Trump says,

so, I mean, clearly an admission from Trump that there were people in his administration, including the vice president, who were not on board with this. It's an admission from Trump. I think you're getting a hint, a taste as to how they're thinking about packaging this.

Yes. The Navy has been obliterated. The army has been obliterated. The leadership has been destroyed. Yes. Right? They're saying this. I mean, I still see leadership giving interviews.

Laranjani, Pesachian. They have a new supreme leaders. So obviously the leadership has not been destroyed, but okay. That's what Trump will say, and many people will believe it. He says the military has been destroyed. The Navy, yes. The rest of the military, no, because the military obviously continues to fight. We see it every day that they continue to fight.

So they have not been destroyed. But once again, this is Trump marketing that we're seeing in action. How does he get out of this? How does he package this? Does he throw people under the bus? He also made another interesting statement during that press conference. He said that he was convinced that Iran was going to strike. by Whitkoff, by Jared, and I think he also said Marco, which was an interesting statement.

They convinced me that I had to act. Your thoughts. Right. Well, I think the first thing to say, and just about Trump marketing, before anybody starts writing to us, laughter is all over about it. You know, how Trump's, all of Trump's claims are obviously true. Iran's Navy is indeed at the bottom of the sea, which it's. mostly is, by the way. But, you know, it was Trump who obliterated its military,

it obliterated its political leadership. Please remember that he said after the June War that Iran's nuclear stop and its nuclear enrichment program had been obliterated, except, of course, that turned out to be not true. if it helps Trump to get out of this, well, perhaps we shouldn't be too critical, but we shouldn't believe any of this nonsense when it comes. I mean, it's absolute nonsense.

In other words, humor him. Humor him. Right. Humor him. Just go with it. But the reality is to say that this has been a debacle is an understatement. First of all, it's a debacle in which people have been killed, lots of people, including innocent people, school children, and of course American servicemen

who should not have been killed because of this folly. But politically, I mean, obviously, it's a debacle as well. And whatever Trump says from this point on, he said too many things at the beginning of this conflict about, you know, wanting regime change and all of that, which is clearly what he was signaling, that I don't think he can ever fully repair the damage. But you're right, he is a politician. He has certain qualities. He's utterly shameless for one thing in saying one thing one day and contradicting himself completely the next. He's the sort of person who will come along and say, well, it was never really my intention to completely pulverize Iran and destroy this wonderful country and all of that. But I, I, I,

I've achieved all of the actual real objectives that I set himself. There will be some people who will either believe him or who will choose or pretend that they believe him or who want to believe him. And he does have that ability to sell things like this and to move forward. So, yes, I think he will try. I think there is going to be an awful lot of damage, an awful lot of damage, an awful. lot of political damage. I think it's all but impossible to see that the situation with the midterms can be turned round. But in a way, if you take a step back, having the Democrats

win Congress used intelligently could be a political advantage if you're objective. If you're objective is to win the presidency again in 2028, because then you could start to blame the obstructions in Congress for all your problems. You could talk about all these wonderful plans that you had, and you could start to say, it's the Democrats who are being the problem. If things start to go wrong economically, then you can again say that it's the Democrats who are at fault, and if the Democrats start impeachment proceedings which fail, which if the War ends, they probably will. Then you could start to, again, push against the Democrats.

What he would need to do, however, in order for that kind of strategy to be successful is to start to do some of the things that you've just said, he needs to take a step back from day-to-day decisions. He needs to start pushing his vice president, J.D. Vance, forward. And this isn't us being more supportive of J.D. Vance. It's more a case of J.D. Vance, not having been involved in this disaster, not in the same way that Trump himself is. Pushing forward J.D. Vance. Getting rid of some of these people who have given him this terrible advice, perhaps Wittgoff and Kushner, who should never.

have been given so much. You've been making that point, video after video, and it's so true. No one ever questions him. Who are these people? Who are these people? I mean, okay, it's a son-in-law and his and his best friend, business partner and Wickhoff, whatever he is, but in the scheme of an administration, you keep on saying, who are these people? Not because you're saying it, but because other countries are asking that question. Who are these people? Yes. You need a proper, You need a proper secretary of state. Marker Ruby is a clever man, but he's clearly not on board with the kind of policies that we would, that might succeed in 2028.

I think he needs a different secretary of state, by the way, definitely. And, well, it's going to be very, very tough, very, very difficult. an awful lot of damage has been done, but he's still president. He still has the resources of the presidency. The Democrats are still, in my opinion, unpopular. They still look very disorganized. They didn't do what they needed to do in this situation, which is to come out strongly and oppose the attack on Iran.

I mean, they never really got themselves effectively organized there. So he still has some cards to play if he plays them wisely. And he needs to get out of Project Ukraine. We've been saying this for a long time. He absolutely does need to leave those oil sanctions on Russia. He does need to have stabilization in the international oil markets. he needs to stop lying about India, pretending that the Indians have agreed to stop buying Russian oil, pretending that he gave them a license to buy Russian oil, when he never did, and the Indian foreign ministry

has finally reacted strongly against that and saying that India does not need his permission to buy oil from Russia or from anybody else. He needs, in other words, to start thinking more about protecting his long-term reputation and legacy. And that means taking a step back and letting his vice president take a step forward. Whether he's able to do that, whether Donald Trump is the kind of person who can do that, that I have obviously enormous doubts about. But if you wanted me to give him advice, that's the advice I would give him. if the people around him would allow him to do that.

Well, that's the other question, of course. Does he need to fire, HECSeth? Yes, absolutely. Given what happened with the children, which he has been very much embarrassed by humiliated and rightly so. That was a, we're talking about a massive scandal, debacle. Yes. Incredible tragedy, a horrific tragedy.

My theory on this, Alexander, is that the Iranians had that photo of the Tom. They had the video of the Tomahawk and they sat on it and waited for Trump to make a statement blaming the Iranians, which he did. And the minute he made that statement, they released that video. And the New York Times and CNN and Dropside News, they authenticated it. They said, this is real. It is a Tomahawk. And Trump yesterday at the presser was asked about the Tomahawk issue. And once again, he completely made a fool of himself. He said, well, other countries have tomahawks and this. I mean, it was it was despicable.

But someone has to be held accountable for this. If he's going to survive his presidency. Absolutely. You've got to look at the Secretary of Defense. I'm glad you reminded me about Hexseth, because Hexeth must go. I mean, his entire performance throughout this whole horrible affair has been ghastly. I mean, his rhetoric has been unbelievable.

His advice to Trump has been, I suspect, entirely wrong and about the attack on the school. He bears responsibility. He is the defense secretary. And I think the other thing that we need to remember is that apparently there are internal investigations going on about this. within the United States, probably within the Pentagon itself. And it's very, very likely that they're going to admit

that it was the United States that was responsible. And when that happens, when that becomes public, I don't think HECS will be able to survive the scandal. I think better for Trump if we get that cessation of hostilities. better for Trump if he sacks Heg-Seth right away

he can say that it was all about the school if he wishes that's reason enough of course there's even more pressing reasons where there's more reason not more pressing reasons

there are more reasons for sacking Heg-Seth as well but clearly this man is not is not adequate to be U.S. Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense. Many people said this. Department of War.

Department of War. I think he should change the name back, by the way. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Many people have been saying this right from the first moment, and clearly he should be told to go. There is one other person that Trump needs to stop this into, and that is Netanyahu.

And Netanyahu has happened. and exercised far too much influence over this presidency and over this president. And again, Trump really needs to stop listening to Netanyahu and for all of the very many reasons we have discussed in many programs. My own view about Netanyahu is that the entire political line he has been following over the last three years has been a complete disaster. some would say for much longer as well, and I wouldn't disagree. Yeah, okay.

We'll end the video there, Alexander. Unfortunately, a lot of good analysis and good advice, I believe, given in this video. Whether any of it would be followed by the people who will make the decisions as an entirely different matter. Maybe the off-ramp for a short succession of hostilities, maybe that. And I only say that because you have one. adult handling that in all of this, which is Putin. Exactly. Exactly.

Exactly. Yes. All right. We'll end the video there. Theduran.com. We are on X-Rumble and Telegram. Go to the Duran shop, pick up some merch. There's a link in the description box down below.

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