Trump's Trials - Trump administration tries to resolve three crises with Iran, Ukraine and Gaza

Episode Date: February 17, 2026

This week, the Trump administration seeks diplomatic deals on three fronts, as it tries to make a nuclear deal with Iran, end the Russia-Ukraine war and advance a ceasefire in Gaza.Then, NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to Kori Schake of the American Enterprise Institute about how the Trump administration's approach to Iran, Ukraine and Gaza aligns with national security.Support NPR and hear every episode of Trump's Terms sponsor-free with NPR+. Sign up at plus.npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

You're listening to Trump's terms. I'm Scott Detrick. Every episode, we bring you one story from NPR's recent coverage of the 47th president. With a focus on ways his administration is pushing the boundaries of presidential power. Here's the latest from NPR. I'm Steven Skiy. And I'm Lela Faudel. President Trump often boasts about his success in stopping global conflicts. Events this week will test his claims as the president and his envoys try to resolve

three separate crises. And PR's Greg Myrie joins us to break it all down. Good morning, Greg. Hi, Leila. Okay, so today's going to be a very busy day in Geneva, Switzerland. What should we be looking for? Yeah, Leila, we have a highly unusual diplomatic doubleheader set for Geneva today with Trump's envoys, Steve Whitkoff and Jared Kushner, taking the lead. Now, the first set of talks recently began today between the U.S. and Iran over that country's nuclear program. The impression we're getting Iran may make some concessions on nuclear issues, but it's rejecting the U.S. call for a much broader Iranian pullback on multiple fronts. No sign of an imminent agreement while President Trump keeps ramping up the U.S. military presence in the Middle East.

A second aircraft carrier is on the way, and Trump keeps threatening a military strike if there's no deal. The country of Oman is acting as the go-between, and the discussions may be somewhat limited because Whitkoff and Kushner have another job awaiting them later today. What's next on their agenda? Well, they're supposed to head from those talks with Iran to a Geneva hotel for negotiations between Russia and Ukraine on ending that war that's still grinding on next week marks four years since the full-scale Russian invasion. Now, the Trump administration has met many times with each side separately, and they have reached

the point where now the Russians and Ukrainians are at the same table talking to. each other, but there's no sense that a deal is close. Trump is still leaning much more heavily on Ukrainians to make concessions while Ukraine's president, Vladimir Zelensky, says the Russians aren't serious about peace. The Russians are still hammering Ukraine with airstrikes. There was another heavy round overnight. Now, these talks are supposed to continue on into Wednesday, and in the past, we've seen the Russians and Ukrainians reach some limited agreements on things like prisoner swaps, but no movement toward ending the war. Okay, so Tuesday and Wednesday, they'll try to solve Iran and Russia and Ukraine.

Tall order. What comes next? Well, it keeps going. President Trump is hosting his new International Board of Peace on Thursday here in Washington, and the focus will be on Gaza. Quick side note, the meeting is scheduled for what was the U.S. Institute of Peace. Trump shut it down last year and recently renamed it the Donald J. Trump U.S. Institute of Peace. couple key things to watch for. First, can the Israelis and Palestinians move to stage two of a ceasefire agreement that Trump brokered back in October? A big step would be sending an international stabilization force to Gaza. The second thing is whether this Board of Peace appears to have any real substance and can address conflicts in Gaza and beyond, or if this looks more like a presidential vanity project.

Right. And this ceasefire has had mixed results, still continued. attacks inside Gaza. What are all these high-profile negotiations telling us when it comes to Trump's approach to foreign policy in his second term? Well, first, it's very clear he wants to play a leading role in every foreign conflict that draws his interest. And this wasn't necessarily what we were expecting at the beginning of his second term. And second, he's been pursuing quick deals and has had some success like the Gaza ceasefire, but he hasn't reached lasting long-term solutions. So we shouldn't expect any full-fledged deals this week, but we may get a sense of how committed Trump is for the long, the long, hard slog of negotiations that will be needed. That's NPR's Greg Mirey. Thank you, Greg.

Sure thing, Leila. Cori Shaki has been listening with us. She's served on the National Security Council and at the State Department during the George W. Bush administration. She's now at the American Enterprise Institute, which is a conservative think tank here in Washington. Welcome to the program. Thank you. Okay, so this is unusual. Just looking at the negotiations today. complex negotiations, one set in the morning, one set in the afternoon, same couple of guys. What would it normally take for the U.S. government to mobilize its resources for something like this? Well, you would have an interagency process to vet policy ideas. You'd have extensive consultations with allies.

You would prepare the field with a lot of expertise and with high-level envoys who have been confirmed by the Senate into roles for which they are accountable, none of which is happening. Oh, I was going to say, how is that different from what you understand is happening as you view it from the outside? I think none of those things are happening. I mean, Secretary Rubio was at the Munich Security Conference over the weekend, and he didn't even mention Russia in his speech, and he didn't participate in the Ukraine meetings. So we have this very different administration that doesn't really believe in expertise, thinks a lot of the government is against them,

and you have a president who is very much into personal diplomacy. We heard Greg Miery say that he wants to play a leading role in major, major issues, and we should be frank. In this administration, one person's opinion matters. In fact, one person's most recent attitude matters. And so I would ask, is it better, in fact, to just have Whitkoff and Kushner,

a couple of guys he trusts, get in the room and try to get to a bottom. I'm lying. Well, it hasn't produced results so far. You know, the president seemed to think that he could solve the war of Russia's invasion in Ukraine in a single day, and it's been over a year. And the reason it's been over a year is because the things that the parties to the conflict want are incompatible. And the president doesn't appear to be putting any pressure on Russia to change their maximalist aims. the Russians want to be given territory they couldn't conquer, which is unlikely any Ukrainian government could agree to. And Ukraine wants security guarantees from the U.S.

that given the Trump administration's behavior, they can't offer with any credibility. This is very interesting. We talk about carrots and sticks. And I think you're correct that although the president has periodically made threats about Russia, he has mainly offered carrots to Russia. Talked about future business deals. When it comes to Iran, the other negotiation today, you've got the big stick out there. You've got the aircraft carriers and other warships mobilizing in the region.

Do you think that that is perhaps a more productive approach? Well, I think unlikely, because as with Venezuela, the president doesn't have a strategy to create positive change, nor is he committing the resources to achieve it. So in Iran, if the U.S. attacks to force a regime change or destroy all the ballistic missiles, it's likely to result in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps running the country, which is an objectively worse outcome, both for the U.S. and the 50,000 protesters. Iran has rounded up after President Trump claimed we'd protect them. I want to just define that term. Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps.

We're talking about this sort of alternate army in Iran that has. supposed to guard Iran's Islamic Revolution. So that would be a regime change without actually a change in regime, much as we did see in Venezuela. Is that what you mean? Yeah, except that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps is actually worse.

In Venezuela, we left the defense minister, the interior minister, and the complicit vice president in power. But in Iran, if we move against the government in all likelihood, something worse. You won't just get the status quo. You'll get something objectively worse in power. Are you saying that in both the case of Ukraine and Iran, the administration is walking up to the table with what they feel like they want without actually reviewing what they think they can realistically get?

Yes, they're not actually negotiating. They're not taking into account what is achievable and the compromise is necessary to make progress. nor are they coming with the full suite of American power. They are over-optimizing the use of military force and not engaging the things that are going to make the use of military force add up to strategic achievements. Corey Shockey is with the American Enterprise Institute. Thanks so much. It's a pleasure.

Before we wrap up a reminder, you can find more coverage of the Trump administration on the NPR Politics Podcast, where you can hear NPR's political reporters break down the day's biggest political news with new episodes every weekday afternoon. And thanks, as always, to our NPR Plus supporters who hear every episode of the show without sponsor messages.

You can learn more at plus.npr.org. I'm Scott Detrow. Thanks for listening to Trump's terms from NPR.