1 00:00:03,760 --> 00:00:06,640 Speaker 1: From the Australian. Here's what's on the front. I'm Claire Harvey. 2 00:00:06,720 --> 00:00:13,360 Speaker 1: It's Tuesday, March twenty four, twenty twenty six. Carl Sanderlan's 3 00:00:13,400 --> 00:00:17,200 Speaker 1: claims he was encouraged to display his dominant and abrasive 4 00:00:17,280 --> 00:00:21,439 Speaker 1: personality on air by his former employer ARN and he 5 00:00:21,480 --> 00:00:24,240 Speaker 1: wants a court to force them to pay his full 6 00:00:24,360 --> 00:00:31,080 Speaker 1: one hundred million dollar contract. Pauline Hanson says sweeping changes 7 00:00:31,120 --> 00:00:34,479 Speaker 1: to Australia's climate policy are on the cards as her 8 00:00:34,640 --> 00:00:39,440 Speaker 1: One Nation Party races towards fifty thousand members. Those stories 9 00:00:39,520 --> 00:00:42,880 Speaker 1: alive right now at the Australian dot com dot au. 10 00:00:46,400 --> 00:00:50,240 Speaker 1: What's Donald Trump's end game in Iran? What does victory 11 00:00:50,360 --> 00:00:53,720 Speaker 1: in this war look like for the US? And why 12 00:00:53,760 --> 00:00:56,640 Speaker 1: did Donald Trump think he could go it alone and 13 00:00:56,680 --> 00:01:01,320 Speaker 1: then change his mind? Our Washington co respondent Joe Kelly 14 00:01:01,480 --> 00:01:09,559 Speaker 1: is here in just a moment. This was Donald Trump 15 00:01:09,640 --> 00:01:13,240 Speaker 1: on the weekend, posting on his favorite platform, truth social 16 00:01:13,959 --> 00:01:17,080 Speaker 1: We used an AI voice to read his post. 17 00:01:17,920 --> 00:01:22,920 Speaker 2: If Iran doesn't fully open without threat the Strait of 18 00:01:22,920 --> 00:01:27,160 Speaker 2: Hormuz within forty eight hours from this exact point in time, 19 00:01:27,640 --> 00:01:30,760 Speaker 2: the United States of America will hit and obliterate their 20 00:01:30,880 --> 00:01:34,880 Speaker 2: various power plants, starting with the biggest one first. 21 00:01:36,080 --> 00:01:40,280 Speaker 1: By late Monday Australian time, Trump had changed his tune entirely, 22 00:01:40,840 --> 00:01:44,440 Speaker 1: saying he would delay any assault on Iranian power infrastructure 23 00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:47,840 Speaker 1: by at least five days, and that America was in 24 00:01:47,880 --> 00:01:51,640 Speaker 1: positive talks with the Iranian regime on the total cessation 25 00:01:51,720 --> 00:01:57,400 Speaker 1: of hostilities. Joe Kelly is the Australian's Washington DC correspondent. 26 00:01:59,080 --> 00:02:02,960 Speaker 3: He seems to be swing from one extreme to the other. 27 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:05,640 Speaker 3: There are all these contradictions in his position. You know, 28 00:02:06,040 --> 00:02:12,040 Speaker 3: Iran is militarily decimated, they're beaten. Yet he's called on 29 00:02:12,600 --> 00:02:15,160 Speaker 3: allies and partners of the United States to try and 30 00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:18,720 Speaker 3: help clear out the Strait of muz and not just 31 00:02:18,880 --> 00:02:21,880 Speaker 3: the United States allies and partners, he extended that offer 32 00:02:21,960 --> 00:02:25,560 Speaker 3: to China as well. So I think on Friday he 33 00:02:25,680 --> 00:02:28,320 Speaker 3: posted that the United States was very close to achieving 34 00:02:28,320 --> 00:02:31,440 Speaker 3: its military objectives, and then, of course the next day 35 00:02:31,840 --> 00:02:35,000 Speaker 3: we got the Truth Social Update where he was providing 36 00:02:35,280 --> 00:02:38,960 Speaker 3: a forty eight hour deadline, which is a massive escalation. 37 00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:43,280 Speaker 3: So we are seeing these massive shifts from the President, 38 00:02:43,680 --> 00:02:47,240 Speaker 3: and in my view that points to again a sense 39 00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:52,280 Speaker 3: of spontaneity, perhaps not a clearly thought out strategy. Now, 40 00:02:52,440 --> 00:02:55,359 Speaker 3: supporters of the United States president will say this is 41 00:02:55,400 --> 00:02:58,600 Speaker 3: all part of Donald Trump's game, where he likes to 42 00:02:58,840 --> 00:03:02,480 Speaker 3: maintain a sense of unpredictability. But I think there's also 43 00:03:02,680 --> 00:03:04,840 Speaker 3: a flip side to that, and the flip side is 44 00:03:04,919 --> 00:03:09,120 Speaker 3: it looks like chaos and a president who doesn't really 45 00:03:09,120 --> 00:03:12,880 Speaker 3: have a plan. I mean, the price of gasoline at 46 00:03:12,919 --> 00:03:15,359 Speaker 3: the pump has gone up about a dollar. It's hovering 47 00:03:15,400 --> 00:03:19,080 Speaker 3: about four dollars now, so that's a massive increase in 48 00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:23,000 Speaker 3: prices in just less than a month. So I think 49 00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:27,720 Speaker 3: Donald Trump is facing economic and political crisis point here, 50 00:03:28,160 --> 00:03:30,600 Speaker 3: and it's going to be fascinating to see what he 51 00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:31,480 Speaker 3: actually does. 52 00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:36,400 Speaker 1: Claire, I think one of the things we can be 53 00:03:36,440 --> 00:03:39,800 Speaker 1: sure that he doesn't want is a twenty year Afghan 54 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:43,040 Speaker 1: style mission to change a country. He doesn't want to 55 00:03:43,080 --> 00:03:45,320 Speaker 1: own Iran for the rest of his life. But he 56 00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:49,160 Speaker 1: does have an investment, a personal investment in the Middle 57 00:03:49,240 --> 00:03:52,320 Speaker 1: East working out. You know, he's on the Board of Peace, 58 00:03:52,360 --> 00:03:54,960 Speaker 1: his family is deeply involved. He wants to turn Gaza 59 00:03:55,000 --> 00:03:59,320 Speaker 1: into the new mar Lago. Apparently, so Donald Trump personally 60 00:03:59,400 --> 00:04:03,480 Speaker 1: and as president needs to win here bombing the power 61 00:04:03,480 --> 00:04:06,760 Speaker 1: stations in Iran, that would send around back to the 62 00:04:06,800 --> 00:04:10,720 Speaker 1: pre industrial era and make it kind of impossible for 63 00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:14,800 Speaker 1: there to be a functioning state there. How do you 64 00:04:15,200 --> 00:04:18,240 Speaker 1: think he steps his way through all that? I mean, 65 00:04:18,279 --> 00:04:20,200 Speaker 1: does that mean do you think that bombing the power 66 00:04:20,200 --> 00:04:22,200 Speaker 1: stations is actually an empty threat? 67 00:04:22,560 --> 00:04:25,920 Speaker 3: Donald Trump's playbook usually, and this is what makes him 68 00:04:25,960 --> 00:04:30,040 Speaker 3: so fascinating. I think as a politician is to engineer 69 00:04:30,600 --> 00:04:34,800 Speaker 3: a sense of crisis, or to embrace a sense of crisis, 70 00:04:35,040 --> 00:04:40,000 Speaker 3: to create opportunities for himself, to create leverage. But this 71 00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:43,640 Speaker 3: is in the middle of a very serious conflict in 72 00:04:43,680 --> 00:04:48,120 Speaker 3: the Middle East. So it may be an attempt to 73 00:04:48,200 --> 00:04:52,920 Speaker 3: engage with the regime to try and negotiate, And it 74 00:04:52,960 --> 00:04:55,080 Speaker 3: may be an attempt by the president, like he has 75 00:04:55,120 --> 00:04:59,760 Speaker 3: so many times, to try and find creative solutions by 76 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:05,240 Speaker 3: embracing this sense of confrontation and crisis. But I'm just 77 00:05:05,320 --> 00:05:08,720 Speaker 3: wondering this time around, Claire, whether the Iranians are going 78 00:05:08,760 --> 00:05:12,599 Speaker 3: to go for that. More broadly, I think, actually this 79 00:05:12,640 --> 00:05:15,080 Speaker 3: has been one of the strongest until now, I should say, 80 00:05:15,120 --> 00:05:19,360 Speaker 3: one of the strongest points of Donald Trump's second term 81 00:05:19,400 --> 00:05:22,400 Speaker 3: and first term in terms of his foreign policy. He's 82 00:05:22,520 --> 00:05:25,559 Speaker 3: cured the Abraham Accords, which was so critical in trying 83 00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:29,720 Speaker 3: to normalize relations between Israel and the Arab world. And 84 00:05:29,800 --> 00:05:34,040 Speaker 3: we also had the ceasefire that he oversaw between Israel 85 00:05:34,080 --> 00:05:38,080 Speaker 3: and Humas in his second term. So his record on 86 00:05:38,120 --> 00:05:42,159 Speaker 3: the Middle East is strong, and I think he knows 87 00:05:42,240 --> 00:05:46,520 Speaker 3: that his historical legacy is now on the line with 88 00:05:46,640 --> 00:05:50,159 Speaker 3: this conflict with Iran, and the stakes for him are huge. 89 00:05:50,320 --> 00:05:54,360 Speaker 3: This will certainly go on to define his legacy and 90 00:05:54,600 --> 00:05:56,160 Speaker 3: at least his second term. 91 00:05:56,080 --> 00:06:05,839 Speaker 1: For sure coming up. So is this even technically a war? 92 00:06:26,880 --> 00:06:30,159 Speaker 1: The United States has not actually declared war here, and 93 00:06:30,200 --> 00:06:33,360 Speaker 1: of course that's a power that rests with Congress. Donald Trump, 94 00:06:33,440 --> 00:06:36,560 Speaker 1: as president is commander in chief of the United States Military, 95 00:06:36,600 --> 00:06:39,720 Speaker 1: so he can really do whatever he wants, but Congress 96 00:06:39,839 --> 00:06:43,600 Speaker 1: does hold the purse strings. You're reporting, Joe that Pete 97 00:06:43,640 --> 00:06:46,880 Speaker 1: Hexth is talking about or there are reports that he 98 00:06:46,960 --> 00:06:50,880 Speaker 1: is going to request two hundred billion dollars from Congress 99 00:06:50,920 --> 00:06:53,520 Speaker 1: to fund this war, which is no doubt very expensive. 100 00:06:54,040 --> 00:06:56,640 Speaker 1: What does that mean? Are we're inching towards an actual 101 00:06:56,800 --> 00:06:59,720 Speaker 1: formal declaration of war here or Congress getting involved in 102 00:06:59,760 --> 00:07:00,000 Speaker 1: some way? 103 00:07:01,040 --> 00:07:03,599 Speaker 3: I think the problem with this request is that there's 104 00:07:03,640 --> 00:07:08,440 Speaker 3: no political consensus around this war. In Washington. This is 105 00:07:08,480 --> 00:07:12,680 Speaker 3: a highly partisan conflict where the Republicans and the Democrats 106 00:07:13,040 --> 00:07:16,680 Speaker 3: are divided on either side of this question. So in 107 00:07:16,800 --> 00:07:20,200 Speaker 3: terms of this being able to get through to be 108 00:07:20,280 --> 00:07:23,840 Speaker 3: approved by the Congress, I don't like the president's chances 109 00:07:23,880 --> 00:07:27,240 Speaker 3: of that at the moment. And Chuck Schumer, when he 110 00:07:27,320 --> 00:07:29,680 Speaker 3: was asked about this, said that the request for two 111 00:07:29,800 --> 00:07:33,240 Speaker 3: hundred billion dollars was preposterous. Now, to put it in context, 112 00:07:33,600 --> 00:07:36,320 Speaker 3: that's more money than the United States has provided in 113 00:07:36,440 --> 00:07:39,640 Speaker 3: assistance to Ukraine, which is a conflict that's been going 114 00:07:39,640 --> 00:07:42,240 Speaker 3: on for four years. So it's a lot of money. 115 00:07:42,640 --> 00:07:45,240 Speaker 3: And I think it also shows that the United States 116 00:07:45,320 --> 00:07:49,040 Speaker 3: is concerned about their munition stockpile. This was one of 117 00:07:49,080 --> 00:07:52,840 Speaker 3: the issues that was put on the agenda that people 118 00:07:52,920 --> 00:07:57,400 Speaker 3: had expressed concern about before this conflict began. The United 119 00:07:57,440 --> 00:08:00,000 Speaker 3: States wants to make sure that it has the capacity 120 00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:03,760 Speaker 3: city to be able to sustain this fight. And really 121 00:08:03,800 --> 00:08:07,360 Speaker 3: there is a clock on this conflict at the moment 122 00:08:07,400 --> 00:08:10,560 Speaker 3: from the United States perspective. So look, it's a lot 123 00:08:10,600 --> 00:08:13,720 Speaker 3: of money. It would amount to a de facto war 124 00:08:14,000 --> 00:08:17,680 Speaker 3: authorization vote in the Congress, and it goes to the 125 00:08:17,680 --> 00:08:20,760 Speaker 3: fact that there is no consensus around this, and again 126 00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:23,440 Speaker 3: it's an insight into how Donald Trump operates. He didn't 127 00:08:23,480 --> 00:08:26,560 Speaker 3: try to build a consensus and he didn't consult with 128 00:08:26,640 --> 00:08:29,960 Speaker 3: his allies either, Claire, which I think is one of 129 00:08:29,960 --> 00:08:33,280 Speaker 3: the fascinating things that has emerged. A couple of weeks 130 00:08:33,280 --> 00:08:37,080 Speaker 3: into the conflict, the United States President started asking for 131 00:08:37,160 --> 00:08:40,640 Speaker 3: help to unclog the strait of hermus but none of 132 00:08:40,679 --> 00:08:45,720 Speaker 3: the groundwork in that coalition building discussing this beforehand, was done. 133 00:08:45,760 --> 00:08:48,920 Speaker 3: And we saw that in again very bombastic Trump fashion 134 00:08:49,200 --> 00:08:52,160 Speaker 3: with Prime Minister Takaichi of Japan, where he said, we 135 00:08:52,200 --> 00:08:53,640 Speaker 3: wanted the element of surprise. 136 00:08:55,200 --> 00:09:00,720 Speaker 4: One question, why didn't you tell us eyes in Europe 137 00:09:00,760 --> 00:09:04,280 Speaker 4: and Asia like Japan about the war before? Are so 138 00:09:04,760 --> 00:09:07,560 Speaker 4: we are very confused about Japanese. 139 00:09:07,840 --> 00:09:10,400 Speaker 2: Well, one thing, you don't want to signal too much, 140 00:09:10,600 --> 00:09:12,880 Speaker 2: you know, when we go in, we went in very high, 141 00:09:13,600 --> 00:09:17,840 Speaker 2: and we didn't tell anybody about it because we wanted surprise. 142 00:09:17,960 --> 00:09:22,240 Speaker 2: Who knows better about surprise than Japan? Okay, why didn't 143 00:09:22,240 --> 00:09:28,559 Speaker 2: you tell me about Pearl Harbor? Okay? Right, He's askab me, 144 00:09:29,440 --> 00:09:30,680 Speaker 2: do you believe in surprise? 145 00:09:31,040 --> 00:09:31,880 Speaker 1: It was so awkward. 146 00:09:33,400 --> 00:09:38,240 Speaker 3: I think that the Japanese Prime Minister wished that question, 147 00:09:38,280 --> 00:09:41,040 Speaker 3: which was asked for the Japanese reporter, never came up. 148 00:09:41,080 --> 00:09:42,880 Speaker 3: That's for Sue and she the floor. 149 00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:45,280 Speaker 1: She wanted the floor to open up and swallow her hole, 150 00:09:45,320 --> 00:09:45,680 Speaker 1: didn't she. 151 00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:48,800 Speaker 3: I think that's what it looks like. But I think 152 00:09:48,840 --> 00:09:51,480 Speaker 3: that's perhaps one of the issues Donald Trump is facing 153 00:09:51,559 --> 00:09:54,640 Speaker 3: this conflict player he didn't build a political consensus around it. 154 00:09:55,160 --> 00:09:57,320 Speaker 3: And it also goes to this sense I think of 155 00:09:57,760 --> 00:10:02,880 Speaker 3: US unilateralism and the new Trump doctrine, the Dunroad doctrine, 156 00:10:03,120 --> 00:10:07,000 Speaker 3: America First foreign policy, it's no longer working the way 157 00:10:07,360 --> 00:10:11,959 Speaker 3: it typically has within the multilateral assistant to the same extent, 158 00:10:12,600 --> 00:10:16,840 Speaker 3: and Donald Trump wants to do things on his own increasingly, 159 00:10:16,880 --> 00:10:19,040 Speaker 3: and we saw this with Venezuela. I think it's quite 160 00:10:19,080 --> 00:10:23,880 Speaker 3: telling this conflict Operation Epic Fury came after Venezuela because 161 00:10:23,880 --> 00:10:27,640 Speaker 3: clearly Donald Trump was very confident and encouraged by the 162 00:10:27,679 --> 00:10:32,160 Speaker 3: performance of the US military in Venezuela in securing the 163 00:10:32,200 --> 00:10:36,600 Speaker 3: outcome of removing and extracting Nicholas Maduro there. So I 164 00:10:36,640 --> 00:10:40,480 Speaker 3: think in some ways we're seeing maybe the limitations of 165 00:10:40,520 --> 00:10:45,280 Speaker 3: this new go it alone American unilateralism, and it's causing 166 00:10:45,280 --> 00:10:49,319 Speaker 3: a bit of tension within the traditional United States Alliance network. 167 00:10:51,200 --> 00:10:55,079 Speaker 1: Joe Kelly is the Australian's Washington DC correspondent. Thanks so much, Joe, 168 00:10:55,400 --> 00:11:08,480 Speaker 1: Thanks Claire. Joe Kelly is the Australian's correspondent in Washington DC. 169 00:11:08,800 --> 00:11:11,040 Speaker 1: You can read all the latest on the situation in 170 00:11:11,120 --> 00:11:14,040 Speaker 1: the Middle East right now at the Australian dot com 171 00:11:14,080 --> 00:11:14,640 Speaker 1: dot au