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Trump's new strategy on Iran - Doing nothing · INSIGHT TODAY

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Jillian Tent and Jonathan Lemire back with us. So, John,
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: this is your reporting. Lay it out.
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  Speaker 2: Well, as you just said, Katie, what the president has
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  Speaker 2: tried so far hasn't worked.
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  Speaker 3: So this is a new tact, the idea of really
• 0:14
  Speaker 3: trying to.
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  Speaker 2: Focus on economic pressure, which means for the short term,
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  Speaker 2: not doing much of all, staying away from the frets,
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  Speaker 2: staying away from negotiation, because every time it seems like
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  Speaker 2: a deal is close, Tehran changes the terms. As I
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  Speaker 2: write the piece, the analogy is Lucy holding the football
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  Speaker 2: for Charlie Brown and then yanking it away, except in
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  Speaker 2: this case the football is the strait of Hormuz, and
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  Speaker 2: so therefore you know, the president, as I report in
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  Speaker 2: the piece, has been shown statistics in recent weeks that
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  Speaker 2: show that the economic sanctions that are in place and
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  Speaker 2: the naval blockade is really doing a number on Iran's economy.
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  Speaker 2: And then there are some thought here they will toughen
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  Speaker 2: substanctions in the weeks ahead and then kind of play
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  Speaker 2: a waiting game and the hope that that economic pressure
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  Speaker 2: will finally force Tehran to the table for for more
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  Speaker 2: serious negotiations.
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  Speaker 3: Well, there are a couple risks to this plan.
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  Speaker 2: First of all, as you say, it requires President Trump
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  Speaker 2: to be patient, not something he's exactly known for. He
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  Speaker 2: is extraordinarily impulsive and reactive. Aids acknowledged to me. All
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  Speaker 2: it takes is one errant, true social post and this
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  Speaker 2: whole thing goes out the window. But also Iran's economy
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  Speaker 2: has been surprisingly resilient.
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  Speaker 3: There's no doubt it's suffering. It's in a far, far worse.
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  Speaker 2: Place today than it was in February, but they're still
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  Speaker 2: hanging on. And also the elites in Tehran in power, frankly,
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  Speaker 2: don't seem all that concerned if your average citizen is suffering.
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  Speaker 2: So even this new tactic, aide acknowledged to me, there's
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  Speaker 2: no guarantee that will work, and even if it does,
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  Speaker 2: it might be too late to help Republicans these midterms.
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  Speaker 1: So Patients has been a long American strategy with Iran,
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  Speaker 1: just trying to wake out, weait out the economic damage
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  Speaker 1: that sanctions and embargoes, et cetera have done to the Iranians.
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  Speaker 1: Donald Trump didn't believe in it, didn't think it was working.
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  Speaker 1: That's why he went to war. Why would he think
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: that going back to that now is a good idea?
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  Speaker 4: Well, I think he's going back to that now because
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  Speaker 4: the other two options are very unappealing. I mean, he
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  Speaker 4: could concede defeat, and ironically, although President Trump keeps talking
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  Speaker 4: as if he's winning, most of the rest of the
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  Speaker 4: world think he's essentially losing to a large degree. Or
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  Speaker 4: he goes all in and takes in American troops and
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  Speaker 4: puts boots on the ground with all that political risk
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  Speaker 4: domestically ahead of the midterms. So trying to play for
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  Speaker 4: time is probably what he would regard as the least
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  Speaker 4: bad strategy right now, both of the midterms, but also
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  Speaker 4: in terms of what they hope to achieve and not
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  Speaker 4: do the other two options.
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  Speaker 1: As John just alluded to, I mean the Iranians have
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  Speaker 1: had patients. I mean the Runian leadership has patients. Is
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  Speaker 1: this a matter of who can sustain more pain?
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  Speaker 4: Absolutely? I mean I actually did my own PhD looking
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  Speaker 4: partly at the history of pure and Persian culture, and
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  Speaker 4: which is obviously very crowd has far far more history
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  Speaker 4: than far longer. It's astonishing that when President Trump talks
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  Speaker 4: about their civilization, appreciate the degree to which they are
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  Speaker 4: such an It's also culture which has always put a
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  Speaker 4: Hippi emphasis on sacrifice MARTYRGM and this concept of pain
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  Speaker 4: and the reality is that if it's a contest between
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  Speaker 4: American citizens' willingness to accept pain or Iranian winningness, I
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  Speaker 4: wouldn't put my money on the Iranian citizen voters right now.
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  Speaker 1: In terms of accepting pain. John, this strategy of patients,
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  Speaker 1: which who knows how long it's going to last. As
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  Speaker 1: you said, Donald Trump is not a patient person. Is
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  Speaker 1: it just a plea by his advisors to get them
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  Speaker 1: to stop talking about it, stop doing anything so that
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  Speaker 1: it recedes in the minds of American voters as we
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  Speaker 1: get closer to November. They just trying to wait it
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  Speaker 1: out until the midterms.
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  Speaker 3: That is part of the idea year here twenty two.
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  Speaker 2: Secretary Besson has been at the forefront of pushing the sanctions,
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  Speaker 2: but others in the political shop also are of that
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  Speaker 2: belief that yes, prices certainly are high, and if the
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  Speaker 2: status quo does continue for months, they may not get
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  Speaker 2: much better, but they also won't get worse. And if
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  Speaker 2: Trump isn't blustering about the war on true social and
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  Speaker 2: talking to reporters each and every day, maybe it would
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  Speaker 2: slip from the headlines right now, if there is indeed
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  Speaker 2: more or less a ceasefire that holds American lives aren't
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  Speaker 2: being lost. That allows Trump, who is very good at
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  Speaker 2: changing the national conversation, It allows him to talk about
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  Speaker 2: other things that perhaps would help Republicans in November. But
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  Speaker 2: as you're showing there on the screen, is approvering right now?
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  Speaker 2: Is that historic lows and Republicans can feel the winds
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  Speaker 2: in their faces. They know they do not have political
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  Speaker 2: political momentum right now heading into November. And I think
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  Speaker 2: that the analysis that this is simply the least bad
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  Speaker 2: of the options he currently has in front of him
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  Speaker 2: is probably spot on.
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  Speaker 3: The trick is how long will he stay with him?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah? How long is it going to last? Because yesterday
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  Speaker 1: and I wish you were here, John, We had a
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  Speaker 1: great conversation, but we could have used you. Donald Trump
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  Speaker 1: has this allergy to appearing weak. I mean, it's one
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  Speaker 1: of the most enduring and best lessons I learned about
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  Speaker 1: him very early on in twenty fifteen that if he
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  Speaker 1: feels like you've made him look weak or he looks weak,
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  Speaker 1: he really lashes out. He hates that. I wonder does
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  Speaker 1: this White House does he think he still looks strong
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  Speaker 1: on Iran in the American public size we put up
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  Speaker 1: those numbers, the numbers on approval for Iran are even worse.
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  Speaker 1: And if he feels like he's starting to look weak
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  Speaker 1: because the Iranians are sable, rattling, whatever, is that when
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  Speaker 1: he loses patience? Is that when he lashes out? Is
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  Speaker 1: that when we see another round of bombings? And this
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  Speaker 1: story very much back in the front of everyone's mind.
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  Speaker 2: It very well could be because Iran has shown remarkable
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  Speaker 2: skill at well owned needling him, taunting him, provoking him
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  Speaker 2: throughout this conflict. I mean, they've humiliated other American presidents.
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  Speaker 2: They seem to do it as sport. They're doing it
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  Speaker 2: now to Trump.
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  Speaker 4: Now.
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  Speaker 2: Trump will never, of course, admit publicly that he is
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  Speaker 2: anything other than incredibly strong on Iran. But we've reported
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  Speaker 2: and other places have as well, that behind the scenes,
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  Speaker 2: he's seeing he's so frustrated that he can't get this
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  Speaker 2: war over with. He's he's been bored and done with
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  Speaker 2: it for months. He can't get out of it, you know,
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  Speaker 2: a war of a bind of his own making. So yes,
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  Speaker 2: in that regard, he does feel sort of embarrassed by
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  Speaker 2: people by Iran. That's what people around him believe, and
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  Speaker 2: you know they're hoping that this strategy might just get him.
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  Speaker 3: To shift focus for a while.
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  Speaker 2: But yes, it would not be surprising in the slightest
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  Speaker 2: if Tehran were to provoke some sort of reaction from Trump,
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  Speaker 2: because to the conversation you guys were having there on set,
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  Speaker 2: Iran can be more patient than Trump can, in part
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  Speaker 2: because there are no elections in November in Tehran. They're
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  Speaker 2: only here in the United States.
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  Speaker 1: Does Europe see Donald Trump is as strong still? Are
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  Speaker 1: they still intimidated by him?
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  Speaker 4: Or there's been a really significant shift in the last
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  Speaker 4: few months. I've been through dinners and people just got
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  Speaker 4: set up even talking about what's happening in the midterms,
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  Speaker 4: because it's being like, oh, just Americans who know, just
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  Speaker 4: forget about it. We're just not going to focus on
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  Speaker 4: them anymore. So No, the answer the bit of irony
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  Speaker 4: all this, of course, is that President Trump has historically
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  Speaker 4: delighted in needling people and bullying them and finding out
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  Speaker 4: what their weak spots were and trying to play that.
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  Speaker 4: The Iranians are now giving him a dose of his
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  Speaker 4: own medicine, and whether it's through the brilliant social media strategies,
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  Speaker 4: where those lego cartoons which are up to anything that
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  Speaker 4: the Trump team has ever produced, or whether it's simply
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  Speaker 4: by having these constant attacks on ships, you know, throughout
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  Speaker 4: the Gulf region, they're just constantly needling, needling, poking, poking,
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  Speaker 4: And the fact we've had this whole great drama around
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  Speaker 4: the exit planes from Turkey again is part of the
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  Speaker 4: sign of the Uranians constantly needling and poking, and it
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  Speaker 4: will continue.
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  Speaker 1: I think that social media has shown us very clearly
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  Speaker 1: that the the power and soft power should not be
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  Speaker 1: underestimated the power of public opinion, the power of perception,
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  Speaker 1: and we are clearly losing that war right now on
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  Speaker 1: public opinion and perception when it comes to Donald Trump's actions,
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  Speaker 1: especially overseas. John, good to have you, thanks for joining us. Jillian,
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  Speaker 1: great to see you in person. Thank you for being
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  Speaker 1: here on set. Still ahead,