What A Day - Why Trump Abandoned America First

Episode Date: March 13, 2026

The war with Iran has already killed more than a thousand Iranians, including 175 people killed at an elementary school on February 28th. Remember America First? That swath of the MAGA movement that purportedly wanted to stay out of foreign entanglements and wars to focus on problems that Americans were facing right here at home? Today, the same GOP that called Kamala Harris a warmonger is giving the war with Iran two thumbs up. And while some notable anti-war figures on the right have been speaking out against the conflict, Trump and the Republican Party are full speed ahead despite struggling to justify their actions. Tommy Vietor, co-host of Crooked Media’s Pod Save the World and former spokesperson for the National Security Council in the Obama administration, joins to discuss the American First presidency that isn't.And in headlines, the Senate passes a housing bill with overwhelming bipartisan support but House GOP members are unlikely to get on board, Department of Homeland Security funding talks continue to stall, and the White House is keeping busy posting tasteless memes about the war.Show Notes: Check out Pod Save The World – https://tinyurl.com/4n6y99mu Call Congress – 202-224-3121 Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/y4y2e9jy What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcast Follow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/ For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

It's Friday, March 13th. Ooh. I'm Jane Koston, and this is What Today? The show that doesn't like where President Donald Trump, speaking at a women's history month event at the White House, is going with this. I want to thank everyone for being here today. It's very exciting. It's always excited to be with you. We love women.

Women are the whole deal. Ugh. What whole deal? Whose deal? Trump's deal? I don't like his deal. Mm-mm. On today's show, the Senate passes a housing bill

with overwhelming bipartisan support, but good luck getting the House GOPM board. And as Trump's costly war of choice, with Iran drags on, the White House is keeping busy, posting tasteless memes. But let's start with America first. Remember America first? That swath of the MAGA movement

that purportedly wanted to stay out of foreign entanglements and wars to focus on problems that Americans were facing right here at home? Sure, that didn't exactly work. at during President Trump's first German office, like when he bombed Syria in 2017 and assassinated an Iranian general in 2020. But in 2024, then vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance argued that Trump 2.0 would be different. Here he is at a campaign event in Michigan that August. Donald Trump and I believe that America ought to be tough and America ought to have a strong foreign

policy. But when people like Kamala Harris send our sons and daughters our young people to fight in stupid wars. It is the young generation that carries the burden of that. We're going to stop sending our young people to far away lands. We are not the policemen of the world. We need to use our young people here at home. Aw, memories. The Trump-Vance campaign continually emphasized that it was the pro-peace ticket, fundamentally different from Vice President Kamala Harris, who would apparently lead us into endless wars. As Trump's current Homeland Security Advisor, Stephen Miller tweeted in November 24. Quote,

To anyone still gullible enough to fall for scummy media hoaxes, Trump said war-mongering neocons loves sending your kids to die for wars they would never fight themselves. Liz Cheney is Kamala's top advisor. Liz wants to invade the whole Middle East. Kamala equals World War III. Trump equals peace.

It's just one of many things about Stephen Miller that hasn't aged well. Well, it's 2026, and we're currently at war with Iran, alongside Israel. The war is broadly unpopular with most Americans, for the same GOP that called Kamala Harris a warmonger is giving the conflict two thumbs up. And while some notable anti-war figures on the right have been speaking out against the conflict, Trump and the Republican Party are full speed ahead doing whatever it is we're doing in Iran.

So for more on the America First Presidency that absolutely isn't, I spoke with Tommy Vitor, co-host of Crooked Media's Pod Save the World. He worked for the National Security Council and the Obama administration. Tommy, welcome back to what did I. Hello, my friend. Good to see you. Good to see you as well. We've been talking a lot. about how President Trump ran his campaign partially on America first and no new foreign wars, and they were the pro-peace ticket. But just over a quarter into his term, he has captured the leader of Venezuela in the middle of the night and dragged the U.S. into a war with Iran with no end date or clear objectives.

What's happening? What's going on? Look, I genuinely thought Trump would be opposed to a regime change war in Iran because he would think it would be bad politics. I kind of think what happened is that the Midnight Hammer Operation, the bombing of Iran last June, went fine. The Venezuela operation went really well as well in terms of like the near term kind of elite opinion in D.C. And now he's got people like Lindsey Graham in his year and Bibi Njahou saying, if you take out the Ayatollahs and then you take out the Cuban government, you will be the world's greatest president. As Linda Graham says, you'll be Reagan plus plus plus plus plus plus. And it's all about his ego and wanting to, you know, do. stuff. Just for the audience, Midnight Hammer, it was the so-called 12-day war, the bombing of Iranian

nuclear facilities that I seem to recall obliterated those facilities, but now we need to re-obliterate them. Yes. Apparently, we totally obliterated Iran's nuclear program, except that we didn't, and now we're bombing them again. And I think the thing folks listening should realize is, I think that we will almost certainly end up seeing either a U.S. or Israeli commando operation on the ground in Iran to capture those materials because as long as that enriched uranium is there, the nuclear threat that stems from it also exists. Right. Now, we know where Lindsay Graham stands. He's the happiest man in Washington right now. This has been the greatest two weeks of his entire life. Did you watch Megan Kelly go after him for 20 minutes on her show? I did. And we're going to talk about like the mega media

split on this because that's been personally entertaining to me. I know you love it. I love it too. It's so good. But here's my question. There is an argument to be made. that this is just neoconservatism 2.0. This is George W. Bush. Do you think that this is actually where the Republican establishment feels most comfortable? That this actually brings them back even more on board with Trump than they were before. Yeah, it's funny. It's like neocon foreign policy without all the fluffy talk about human rights and freedom and democracy. It's just like old school resource grabs, hawkish militarism. And the saddest part of all, is that John Bolton, Trump's former national security advisor, got to work for him in the first term.

And then they had a little falling out, a little bit of a breakup. Now Trump is prosecuting him, and Bolton is living out his foreign policy fantasies by just invading everywhere. So I agree with you. Like, I do think the kind of like establishment neocon wing in Washington is absolutely thrilled that where things have ended up. Yeah. And it's always been interesting to me that people position Trump as being an anti-war president. And I'm like, no, no, no.

he likes wars that we win. He hates losing wars. The problem with the Iraq war was not that hundreds of thousands of people died and we gained nothing and basically destroyed a country and also destroyed Afghanistan for no reason. The problem is that we did not, quote, unquote, win. That was the issue with Vietnam. That's the issue I think Trump has with a lot of conflicts. The United States has been involved in since the early 1960s. It's not that it was bad that we did it.

it's that he thinks we just should have won. Yeah, and it kind of makes sense when you know Trump. Like, he's an optics guy. He doesn't like a bad look. He doesn't like us looking bad or looking weak. So, yes, and the neocons, like they think that international institutions are bad and lame and that we should ignore them. They think we always need a bigger military.

We should use it more often. And that we have every right to shape events no matter where they are. It could be, you know, CIA fermenting coups in Latin America. It could be invading Iraq, whatever it is. They're for it. So, neoconservoir. are happy, which fantastic. Finally, they get a win.

Fantastic. It's 2003. All over again. I'm in high school. Life is terrible. But MAGA is Trump's base. And I think it's interesting because there's been a lot of reporting, I'm sure people have seen, about like, you know, MAGA is going to be disappointed or MAGA is split. I don't think so because I think Trump understands that MAGA is him. They like what he likes. This is essentially, it's like a fan relationship or Stan relationship, almost. But that is not the entirety of the people who voted for him in 2024. Right. Or that the GOP is relying on votes in 26 and 2028. What or who is Trump risking with the war in Iran? First of all, I just, I fundamentally agree with like the overarching premise, which is like MAGA is for what Trump is for

by and large. And a lot of voters, frankly, like don't think that deeply about these issues because they don't have time to. They're doing other stuff. Right. That said, there is a vocal slice of the Republican Party and of MAGA that believed Trump when he said he would never do a regime change wars in the Middle East. People like Tucker Carlson, people like Nick Fuentes. J.D. Vance used to be in this camp. Wonder what happened to him. So there's like the far right kind of isolationist wing of the Republican Party of the MAGA world. There's also the newer voters that came in through, let's say, Joe Rogan's podcast. There are veterans shows like the Sean Ryan show. Sean Ryan was in the Special Forces, like has seen personally the cost of war. That's why he's.

He opposes this sort of interventionism. But there are other voters who are just young and feel like the economy is not working for them, the government doesn't do this stuff they want, and all of a sudden we're paying tens of millions of dollars to drop bombs on Iran again instead of spending it on health care. Like, they don't get that. That pisses them off. That is not America first, as Trump would say. Right.

I have seen numerous people who said, like, this isn't what we voted for. Saga and Jetty, a conservative commentator and co-host of the podcast Breaking Points, tweeted on February 28th of the war was, quote, the most profound campaign betrayal in modern U.S. history. Now, I think that there's been this story that's not necessarily true, but there's kind of a story that, like, it doesn't really matter what Trump does because nothing bad ever happens to him. He's the cat that always lands on his feet.

Everything always works out. But, you know, actions do have consequences. So what happens now that there are a swath of people who were sold a bill of goods in 2024 and have seen that Trump doesn't. care about them at all. What happens now? I mean, I think in the near term, what happens is gas prices are going to go up and they're going to stay up for a really long time. And that is another, like, enormous betrayal of what Donald Trump ran on. Like, his number one thing was, like, Joe Biden is bad at handling inflation. Your costs are up. The price of eggs are up.

I'm going to make them go down. And now the price of everything for everyone is going to go up. And the price of fertilizer is going to go up. Like, one third of the fertilizer in the world goes or the straight-oh-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-hruhruh. And I think Trump thinks he can bend the world and bend reality to his will. He thinks if he says it enough, it becomes so. But when every day you see that gases, that 3.48 a gallon instead of 248, you can't spin that. They're going to be pissed. And I think they're going to slowly slip away from it.

To that point, the Trump administration is now choosing to just rebrand whatever America first means. Last week, Deputy White House Chief of Staff and Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller, that's too many titles for him. He told Fox News as Sean Hannity, quote, America first means America will be the greatest, most unquestioned, unmatched power in the world. What? Yeah, no. When I was preparing for Potty of the World this week, I was going back and watching some old interviews, and I found one where Trump, in 2018, was saying that people are sick and tired of America being the world's policeman. And then you look at all the things we're doing right now.

Like, we just started launching military operations in Ecuador, along with Ecuadorian special forces to go after drug cartels. We are bombing boats in the Caribbean. We did a regime change overnight in Venezuela. Now we're at war in Iran. Like, it's the opposite of what Trump ran on. Like, that is not what America first was. America first was focusing on things at home, making people's lives better at home, not bombing everyone around the world. I think that Trump really likes bombing people around the world and does not care about any of this.

to me, this is an administration that thinks they will simply be obeyed by their voters. They will say what America first means and their voters will say, great. Are they right? With a big chunk of those voters, they might be right. But like elections in America are won and lost by five point swings. You know, it's like if you lose 20% of Joe Rogan's audience, that's a big chunk of people. And that will really hurt you in the midterms. And that will hurt J.D. Vance if he runs in 2028.

And also I think this could open up like a actually isolationist MAGA lane in the 28 Republican primary because all of a sudden J.D. Vance is reportedly not only told Trump that he's for the Iran operation, but to go bigger. Yeah. People who are not super online might not know this, but J.D. Vance hasn't like tweeted or anything since this began, which normally he's like tweeting at complete randos because he's bored because being vice president is boring. But he's been real quiet. This man will write like an op-ed-length tweet attacking the intern at the Center for American Progress, and he hasn't said a goddamn word about the regime change war in Iran that he helped start. Tommy, thank you for joining me as always. Thank you for having me. That was my conversation with Tommy Vitor, co-host of Crooked Media's POD Save the World. It's Friday, and you're still listening to a podcast about news.

You're probably the coolest person in your friend group. Don't worry. There's more news incoming. But if you like the show, even on a Friday, please subscribe, leave a five-star review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, watch us on YouTube, and share with your friends. We'll be back after some ads. This episode is brought to you by IQ Bar, our exclusive snack hydration and coffee sponsor. IQ Bar Protein bars, IQ Mix, Hydration Mixes, and IQ Joe Mushroom Coffee's, are the delicious, low-sugar, brain and body fuel you need to win your day. All IQ bar products are clean label certified

and entirely free from gluten, dairy, soy, GMOs, and artificial ingredients. All IQ bar products are packed with clean, delicious ingredients that keep you physically and mentally fit, like magnesium, lions mane, and more. There are plenty of flavor combinations to choose from across all IQ bar products, from mint chocolate chip protein bars to blueberry, pomegranate hydration mixes, to vanilla spice coffee, and even limited addition in seasonal flavors, too. With over 20,000 five-star reviews and counting, more people than ever are fueling their busy lifestyles with IQ bars, brain and body-boasting bars, hydration mixes, and mushroom coffees. Their ultimate sampler pack includes all three. has become a part of my daily routines, especially before or after a big workout. And right now,

IQ Bar is offering our special podcast listeners 20% off all IQ Bar products, including the ultimate sampler pack, plus free shipping. To get your 20% off, text Wad to 64,000, text Wad to 64,000. That's Wad to 64,000. Message and data rates may apply. See terms for details. What a day is brought to you by bookshop.org. Where you shop for books matters. When you purchase from bookshop.org, supporting more than 2,500 local independent bookstores across the country. Independent bookstores do more than sell books. They take care of and pour back into their communities, creating safe spaces that foster culture, curiosity, and a love of reading.

Whether you're searching for an incisive history that helps you make sense of this moment, a novel that sweeps you away, or the perfect gift for a loved one, bookshop.org has you covered. Use code Wad to get 10% off your next order at bookshop.org. Here's what else we're following today. House Republicans should immediately take up this bill and pass it. If they do not, they will have to explain to families across this country in November why they refuse to lower the cost of housing.

Massachusetts Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren spoke on the Senate floor Thursday after pulling off a rare feat, passing bipartisan legislation. There was so much going on in D.C. this week. And thankfully, what a day is Matt Bird is in D.C., reporting. on the biggest stories in politics. Hey, Matt. Hey, Jane. What's up?

Just hanging out in the midst of the chaos. So, Matt, a bipartisan housing bill passed the Senate on Thursday. The votes were 89 to 10. It was co-sponsored by Senator Warren and South Carolina Republican Senator Tim Scott. It's funny because I don't know about you, Matt, but like the idea of bipartisan legislation has gotten to the point of like, they can do that. That's legal? I mean, I don't think that I can remember a time during this administration that we've seen such bipartisanship,

but I think that it goes to speak to how big of an issue housing is in the United States. I mean, the goal of this bill is to boost housing supply, cut regulations, and expand how federal aid can be used to build affordable homes in rentals. But as we've seen over and over again in the past two years, this is going to the house, and there's going to be problems. GOP lawmakers are annoyed that they were not involved in some of these discussions

and they want to add a bunch of small things that could take up a lot of time to get this bill through. Speaking of the Senate, though, Senate Democrats blocked a bill passed by House Republicans that would fund

the Department of Homeland Security. Pennsylvania Democratic Senator John Federman voted with Republicans on this, which checks out. Yeah. Democrats tried over and over in the past few weeks

to get Republicans to fund, you know, TSA, FEMA Coast Guard, and other things that are under DHS via narrower bills. But the GOP is not cool with that. They just want the full budget pass. Lawmakers have just said Democrats need to fund ICE if they want to get the rest of those bills passed. And so far, no one is budging and there's been no progress. I think it's the fourth time in four weeks that the full DHS budget has been voted down, which just goes to show how stalled negotiations were.

Washington State Democratic Senator Patty Murray told the AP this week, quote, I'm willing to talk to people, but I'm not willing to sit in a room, have coffee, give away a few things, and have Stephen Miller override whatever we all agree to. I mean, I also wouldn't want Stephen Miller to override anything I agreed to, or I don't want him to do anything at all. I've really been very strong on that anti-Steven Miller stance. And apparently they're having coffee with Stephen Miller, too, so we're not to be. there. Oh, that sounds awful. In other news, the deadly war in Iran continues. It's costing

billions of dollars, $11.3 billion of the first six days. But the White House is posting memes because they are insanely online. Matt, what have you been seeing? You're right. There have been a lot of really just bizarre videos coming out of the White House, mostly posted to the White House Twitter page or YouTube. People who are listening might recall the White House using Call of Duty footage combined with drone strike footage that drew significant backlash from the public. Another few over the past week have included Kylo Wren from Star Wars and even SpongeBob Squarepants calling in a drone strike. I thought that the latest video was about a bowling montage that, again, included drone strikes. But as I was writing for Thursday's newsletter about this, the White House posted a video that featured wee characters.

you might remember the video game console from about a decade ago. These Mies, is they're known, were playing Wii sports. They were playing tennis, playing basketball, playing golf. And any time that they hit a ball, it triggered drone strike footage. And it's just a bizarre thing to see come out of a White House. I asked White House press official, Anna Kelly, about this. And she told me, quote, the White House will continue showcasing the many examples of Iran's ballistic missiles,

production facilities, and dreams of owning a nuclear weapon being destroyed. It's funny because they aren't showcasing any of that. You just see stuff blowing up and then you see like meme footage or in one video posted on Wednesday, the White House used NFL footage of players, including retired Baltimore Ravens defender Ray Lewis, like those kind of like, he got lit up kind of hits and then controlled. contrasted that with like war footage. And that got a ton of pushback from other former NFL players, as you can imagine. Former NFL safety, Ryan Clark said, quote, there are families here in our country whose loved ones have decided to give their life to fight for our rights and our freedoms,

who don't see war as a sport. War doesn't deserve a highlight film for Tropic Thunder to be a part of it. War is not a comedy. He referenced Tropic Thunder because that movie was spliced in too, because of course it was. I keep saying this, but it's been interesting to me, and I'm curious if you think about this, Matt, like, there's been no effort to manufacture consent for this war at all. Like there's been no like, here's why we need to go do this. Here's the thing we're going to go do. And here's why we're going to do it.

And here's why it's worth it for people to die in this conflict. Instead, we're getting meme videos on a platform most people don't use. Exactly. It's one thing that when you watch those videos, you notice, is that you're not really seeing that much. You're seeing these grainy, unclassified, supposedly, videos of war. but it's like a truck in the middle of nowhere. There's rarely people involved.

It's just a random scene that you can't even make out. It doesn't look like Iran missile facilities as far as I've seen. It's just totally random and seems to be like a total play at their hyper online base. I think that this entire presidency has been a play at their hyper online base. But Matt, as always, thank you so much for hanging out. Thanks for having me. And that's the news. That's all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review.

Congratulate Wad listener, Wendekker, for winning his primary in North Carolina last week and tell your friends to listen. And if you're under reading, and not just about how Wynn was inspired to run for office through Crooked and Vote Save America's candidate recruitment program. And now he has a shot to flip one of the most competitive state house seats in North Carolina. Like me, what today is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at Crooked.com slash subscribe. I'm Jane Koston and Wynn. Thank you for listening. Have a great workout this morning.

What Today is a production of Crooked Media. It's recorded and mixed by Desmond Taylor. Our associate producer is Emily Four. Our producer is Caitlin Plummer. Our video editor is Joseph Dutra. Our video producer is Johanna Case. We had a production help today from Greg Walters, Matt Berg, Sean Ali, and Ethan Oberman.

Our senior producer is Erica Morrison and our senior vice president of News and Politics is Adrian Hill. Our theme music is by Kyle Murdoch and Jordan Cantor. We'd help today from the Associated Press. Our production staff is proudly unionized with the Writers Guild of America East.