The pro-Iran war hawks keep crowing about how U.S. military prowess is supposedly striking fear in Beijing and Moscow. But what’s really happening is that Trump is doing exactly what China and Russia hoped he’d do. Beijing has wanted the U.S. out of the Western Pacific and Putin, of course, wants NATO wrecked. Our major allies are scrambling to form new economic and military relationships, and America is likely to be very lonely in the world with only a few stooges to count as friends. This is what ending our role as a global superpower would look like. Plus, the U.S. is unable to win the war at a cost that is acceptable to Americans, Trump is taking a cue from Putin by bombing civilian infrastructure, and blaming NATO for not being willing to fight for the Strait of Hormuz is absurd when the world’s most powerful navy doesn't seem to want to do it either.

Bob Kagan joins Tim Miller for the holiday weekend pod.

show notes

• Bob's recent piece in The Atlantic
• Tim's bimbofied livestream
• "Foreign Policy" piece on South Korea that Bob referenced
• Follow "Bulwark Takes" for breaking news over the weekend
• Tim's playlist

Trump fired Pam Bondi, maybe the most destructive AG in the history of the United States, because she wasn't able to magically and lawlessly jail his political enemies. On Wednesday night, he told Americans that gas prices would naturally go down when he was finished with his war—much like the way he told the country in March 2020 that COVID would just go away. In reality, China may end up in control of the Strait of Hormuz and with freight passage paid with the Chinese Yuan. America and the world are paying for the incompetent (and petrified) advisers Trump has surrounded himself with. Plus, POTUS threatened war crimes on national television, the Iranian diaspora bet on the wrong horse, and who will be the next Barbie to get the ax?

Susan Glasser joins Tim Miller.

show notes:

• Susan's column on Trump's Wednesday address
• Susan on Trump breaking up with NATO

The war-induced global oil shock is already pushing consumers and businesses to new pain points because of higher fuel prices. Airlines are cutting back routes and ticket prices have started to spike. Expect road trips to be canceled, lifestyles to change, and more people to work from home. Trump is trying to deflect blame onto Iran and NATO, but the world will focus its rage on him and his war of choice. Plus, stagflation may be in the offing, tariffs made people poorer, both Kristi and her husband have unnatural ideas about what the body can do, and Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti is taking on one of the most corrupt inside-traders in Congress. 

Paige Cognetti and Josh Barro join Tim Miller.

show notes

• The Bulwark LIVE tonight after Trump’s address at 9 ET: YouTube or Substack
• Tim's livestream Thursday at 8 ET
• Josh's Substack
• Cognetti's campaign website 
• Josh's "Serious Trouble" pod 
• "Central Air" podcast 
• Scranton's "The Office" 5K on May 2 
  
  

Trump has served up so many rationales for why he had to do this war, but helping Iran project even more power in the region was surely not one of the reasons. And yet, here we are. Iran is in control of a good chunk of the global energy supply, and other countries are going to have to beg to get through the Strait of Hormuz. This is the moment for Democrats to show what a real opposition is—especially when warmonger Lindsey Graham runs off to play at Disney World. Plus, Trump's coalition is mid-crackup, Hegseth's self-pity and insecurity is pathetic, and of course, Tim and Jon react to the news of Kristi Noem's bimbofied husband. 

Jon Lovett joins Tim Miller.

show notes

• Jon's "Lovett or Leave It" pod
  
  
• The book Tim and Jon discussed, "People of the Lie"
  
  

Thousands of soldiers and Marines have arrived in the Middle East to potentially engage in combat on Iranian soil. Trump has done nothing to make the case for an invasion of Iran, even though he’s got plenty of time to wax rhapsodic about the patios and Corinthian columns on his ballroom project. The Republican congress may have abdicated its Constitutional obligations, but that doesn’t mean Democrats can’t raise hell: Cut your vacation short, demand a vote on the deployment of troops, and go on Fox and denounce Republicans for allowing one man to call the shots on this war—and also make a mess of our economy. Plus, the united opposition in the "No Kings" protests, the wisdom of Lincoln, and life lessons for poor Duke fans. Bill Kristol joins Tim Miller.

show notes

• Monday's "Morning Shots"
• Lincoln's letter about the Mexican-American war
• "Bulwark Takes" pod for breaking and developing news
• Tim's interview with Al Gore
• ProPublica on the nursing home owner with a Trump pardpon
• The Atlantic on how the AI boom wasn't built for this kind of crisis
• Tim's closing song today

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In addition to the global energy shock brought on by Trump's war, mortgage rates are surging, and labor costs and prices are rising. And Republicans don't seem to have a plan except to spend more, blame trans kids, and feed Trump's megalomania by allowing him to put his ugly signature on our currency. Plus, JD thinks Americans are stupid, the gap between Bibi's and Trump's objectives vis-à-vis Iran continues to widen, and where is Marco Rubio?

Michael Steele joins Tim Miller for the weekend pod.

show notes

• "The Weeknight" on MS Now 
• JVL's and Catherine's live show Friday on the state of the economy
• Find your local "No Kings" protest 
• Tim's playlist

For nearly 50 years, since the Ayatollah seized power in Iran and took Americans hostage, the U.S. has known that the regime could single-handedly shut down the Strait of Hormuz. Trump was reportedly warned of this threat, but the failed casino owner blew it off. And now Iran unilaterally controls 20% of the world’s oil supply and an even higher percentage of the fertilizer inventory. But the former vice president tells Tim that Trump’s judgment has been even worse on climate change. On the 20th anniversary of “An Inconvenient Truth,” Gore discusses how the rest of the global economy has ‘miraculously’ responded to the climate threat. He also gives high marks to Mamdani, explains Trump’s use of fear, shares details about his relationship with Clinton—and how his actions after the 2000 election inspired Mike Pence on Jan. 6.

Former Vice President Al Gore joins Tim Miller.

show notes

• Gore’s climate change training in Nashville in May
• More on Gore’s “Climate Reality Project”
• Tim’s ‘Bulwark Take’ with Ezra Levin on Saturday’s “No Kings” protests

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Trump's shamelessness has been his political superpower, but the regime in Tehran is seeing a desperate and panicked man doing the opposite of what he's said about Iran for the past decade. But his supporters are not likely to see the dangerous moment we are in unless or until they feel real economic pain personally. Plus, Markwayne Mullin is another shorty tough guy, the Dems don't understand our reality show politics, and how an alternate universe might look if Kamala were president and we weren't in a war.

Phil Gordon and Angie "Pumps" Sullivan join Tim Miller.

show notes:

• The "I've Had It" podcast
• "IHIP News" podcast
• Phil's book, "Losing the Long Game: The False Promise of Regime Change in the Middle East"
• Markwayne's booster box
• To get 6 bottles of wine for $39.99, head to NakedWines.com/THEBULWARK and use code THEBULWARK for both the code AND PASSWORD.

A war of choice may evolve into a war of necessity because the brains at the White House apparently did not anticipate that Iran—in response to the bombing campaign—would shut down the Strait of Hormuz, which the global economy depends on being open. It's also not a good look for the U.S. to be got by a power like Iran because China is watching. Plus, how the war is impacting the supply chain, the markets may be underpricing oil because traders keep banking on Trump to do his usual TACO, and Israel acting like an illiberal Middle Eastern regime is creating a disconnect with American Jews.

The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg and Bloomberg’s Joe Weisenthal join Tim Miller.

show notes

• Where to catch Tim's Tuesday livestream at 8:30pm ET 
  
  
• Jeffrey on Signalgate and Hegseth one year later 
  
  
• The Atlantic's McKay Coppins on America's sports betting boom
  
  
• Joe's "Odd Lots" podcast

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The man in charge is bluffing, blustering, and trying to manipulate the markets by claiming that the administration is in negotiations with Iran and was holding off on further military strikes. Israel's reaction was to drop more bombs on Iran, and the regime itself used Trump's own lines against him in its response. In any event, Iran has shown it can close the Strait of Hormuz, which is much more of a power move than the degradation of Tehran's missile capacity. With the war hitting Americans financially in their daily lives—and Trump now refusing a deal to fund TSA—the Dems have to hammer home that it's POTUS who has delivered higher gas prices and long lines at the airport. Plus, JD is in a job bind, the head of FEMA has a teleporting issue, and Trump showed utter depravity over the passing of Bob Mueller. Bill Kristol joins Tim Miller.

show notes

• Monday's "Morning Shots"
• "Bulwark on Sunday" with Bill and Catherine
• Tim's and Bill's 'Bulwark Take' on Trump's reaction to Mueller's death
• Yeats' poem, "To a Friend Whose Work Has Come to Nothing"
• The real "Baghdad Bob" 

The U.S. is at war with the leading state sponsor of terror, and Donald Trump appointed Markwayne Mullin—a man with no counter-terrorism experience—to help defend the homeland. At the same time, Hegseth is a meathead, and the shoe designer at the top of the FBI is preoccupied with visiting all the places on his bucket list. This is the moment for Democrats to argue that Trump has made the country very vulnerable. Plus, the administration apparently did not consider worst case scenarios vis-à-vis Iran, the Iraq War planners look like pros in comparison, Denmark was seriously preparing for an American invasion of Greenland, and is Israel's conduct contributing to the growing antisemitism problem?

David Frum joins Tim Miller for the weekend pod.

show notes

• David's podcast
  
  
• David encouraging Dems to get to the right of Trump on the war
  
  
• Tim's playlist