Speaker 1: Now this is Australia Urbanize with Pat Panetta.
Speaker 2: Great to have that company. It's the Thursday morning edition
Speaker 2: of Australia every night. Pat Paneta in for Tony McManus.
Speaker 2: As we take your calls into the we small hours
Speaker 2: this morning on that number one double three six nine three.
Speaker 2: But firstly, before taking your calls, I said to the
Speaker 2: US now in Los Angeles, California. Jonathan Kurzley is nine
Speaker 2: Radio's US correspondent and he's live on the line now.
Speaker 2: Good day, John O.
Speaker 1: Hey, good morning to you ma, and good morning to
Speaker 1: all business.
Speaker 2: Thank you gee. Not much on is there. It's amazing
Speaker 2: what we're seeing and hearing with this conflict in the
Speaker 2: Middle East, and of course the focus is on well
Speaker 2: Donald Trump and what's happening there in the US, So
Speaker 2: give us the very latest, please.
Speaker 1: Absolutely well. Donald Trump has made his way to the
Speaker 1: NATO someone in the Netherlands of the Hague, where essentially
Speaker 1: he's been flanked by European leaders. He's been praised by
Speaker 1: Marco Rudder, who's nash of the NATO Secretary General as
Speaker 1: Daddy called him Daddy Trump for trying to solve the
Speaker 1: conflicts between Israel and Iran. He now says that he'll
Speaker 1: be managing to talk to a run next week over
Speaker 1: a nuclear deal. That is his hope, his belief. So
Speaker 1: let's see whether or not that.
Speaker 3: Does play out. Because the other concern for him has
Speaker 3: been US intelligence reports that have been suggesting that the
Speaker 3: damage to Iran's nucleus was not exactly as Donald Trump
Speaker 3: had said. He had said they'd been totally obliterated. The
Speaker 3: intelligence report said that they weren't destroyed, that Around's nuclear
Speaker 3: program was only set back a matter of months, not years.
Speaker 3: Donald Trump today disputing that, insisting its decades and that
Speaker 3: this is simply too early in the system to know
Speaker 3: exactly the full scale of this type of intelligence. So
Speaker 3: he obviously wants to see more. But in a matter
Speaker 3: of hours he will make his way back from NATO
Speaker 3: to Washington, DC and to the White House. He would
Speaker 3: think that this NATO someone would be successful.
Speaker 4: And it's been successful because essentially NATO and the NATO
Speaker 4: nations have done everything that he wants them to do,
Speaker 4: largely that is increased defense spending to five percent of
Speaker 4: their GDP.
Speaker 1: They've given a commitment in principle on that, and essentially
Speaker 1: he's had all of these nations and the NATO Secretary
Speaker 1: General bending the knee if you like to him. And
Speaker 1: clearly NATO has decided they need Donald Trump on board
Speaker 1: for the war between Ukraine and Russia, and the only
Speaker 1: way to have him on board in their eyes is
Speaker 1: to hit praise and lavish praise on him. So that
Speaker 1: is exactly what they have been doing over the course
Speaker 1: of the last day or so, and it seems, unsurprisingly
Speaker 1: that that is exactly what Donald Trump likes. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Well, this style of this straight talking, keeping people off balance,
Speaker 2: getting in there and you know, doing it the way,
Speaker 2: which is quite unique. As we know, looks like there's
Speaker 2: progress being made. I guess it has ebbed and flowed
Speaker 2: and their promise has been made. But in this case NATO, yep,
Speaker 2: everyone's changed their spending on defense, as you say, and
Speaker 2: the ceasefire sort of kicked back in after he was
Speaker 2: pretty strong with a few words there. So this style
Speaker 2: seems to be pushing things forward, John O.
Speaker 1: It's a brash style and it's a style that the
Speaker 1: world was not accustomed to from an American leader under
Speaker 1: his first term. That is why things were a little
Speaker 1: bit rocky first time around, because the world didn't know
Speaker 1: how to deal with him. They didn't know how to
Speaker 1: contend with an American president that was essentially capable of
Speaker 1: trashing allies and partnerships and playing, in Donald Trump's view,
Speaker 1: America first. So this time around, there are a lot
Speaker 1: of nations who seem to think they have worked him
Speaker 1: out and that the best way to deal with him
Speaker 1: is to just satisfy him, to appease him, because fear
Speaker 1: of not doing so means there could be punishment in store.
Speaker 1: And the problem with Donald Trump is that nations don't
Speaker 1: know exactly what the punishment could be. It could be
Speaker 1: cutting some sort of defense ties, it would most likely
Speaker 1: be centered around trade, but angering Donald Trump is something
Speaker 1: that nations just don't want to do. So yes, you
Speaker 1: are seeing an appeasement of the American president, an appeasement
Speaker 1: of the United States administration. And Donald Trump still has
Speaker 1: more than three and a half years to go on
Speaker 1: his second term.
Speaker 2: And just back to that point about the damaging around
Speaker 2: nuclear capabilities, As you say, those bunker bastards got down
Speaker 2: there and and blasted those areas, but we don't really
Speaker 2: know yet what it has achieved. Will that be fair
Speaker 2: to say we need to you said, the intelligence is
Speaker 2: coming through, but is it too early to tell exactly
Speaker 2: how far we have damaged their ability to make these bombs.
Speaker 1: Well, it depends on who you speak to. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's very clear that this assessment came out of the
Speaker 1: Defense Intelligence Agency is just an initial assessment. There are
Speaker 1: going to be plenty, plenty more that will come over
Speaker 1: the course of weeks and months. Israel had said it
Speaker 1: was too early before deciding to back in the President
Speaker 1: of the United States of America and saying, yes, there
Speaker 1: had been significant damage to Aram's nuclear sites, but the
Speaker 1: only way to really know is you have to get
Speaker 1: in underground. Because around nuclear facilities were underground, they were
Speaker 1: enrichment sites. And the concern from Israel is that Iran
Speaker 1: actually had secret facilities and they had been moving uranium
Speaker 1: around the country. The indication from this assessment is that yes,
Speaker 1: much of the four hundred and eight kilograms or so
Speaker 1: off uranium that Iran had was moved before the strikes.
Speaker 1: So the big question for the world now is where
Speaker 1: is that uranium? Because there is clearly still a concern
Speaker 1: among the US defense system a network that Iran poses
Speaker 1: a threat to America and Americans and they him continue
Speaker 1: to do that if they have access to that uranium.
Speaker 1: So the big question ahead now is where is that uranium,
Speaker 1: How are they going to find it, how are they
Speaker 1: going to access it? And if they can access it, well,
Speaker 1: then what comes next. But right now Donald Trump is
Speaker 1: trying to talk Iran back from building up its nuclear
Speaker 1: program again, and he finds himself in a very delicate position.
Speaker 1: Having claimed that he has essentially ended this war, this
Speaker 1: twelve day war, he now needs to try and find
Speaker 1: some sort of nuclear deal, some sort of way Iran
Speaker 1: to stop its enrichment program altogether.
Speaker 2: Australia Vernita on the Line nine radio's US correspondent Jonathan
Speaker 2: Kurzley live from the US as a journo, and you're
Speaker 2: obviously he follow politicians around and do lots of this.
Speaker 2: I'm impressed or I notice he's you know, he's not
Speaker 2: a young man, but he's moving quickly. He's on Air
Speaker 2: Force one, he's at NATO and he's there and you
Speaker 2: know they often say successful people in business in the
Speaker 2: private sector are fast movers. You know, they quicker than
Speaker 2: the competition and they make decisions quick. So he's bringing
Speaker 2: this mindset to the role of politics Is that just
Speaker 2: me thinking that, But is he enthusiastic? He's moving is fast,
Speaker 2: you know, for an older guy. He's got a bit
Speaker 2: of speed on him.
Speaker 1: He's moving. He's seventy nine, so you've got to remember.
Speaker 1: And I think people are looking at Joe Biden, who
Speaker 1: was eighty one essentially when he laughed as being somebody
Speaker 1: who was incredibly slow moving, shuffling, wearing trainers runners, because
Speaker 1: people are concerned about his walk and the possibility of
Speaker 1: him slipping or falling. Donald Trump is certainly slower than
Speaker 1: he was in twenty sixteen, there is no two ways
Speaker 1: about it. But of course he is eight years older,
Speaker 1: so you can expect that with that time passing, that
Speaker 1: age is going to creep up on him, and it has.
Speaker 1: He's certainly different to what he was in the first term,
Speaker 1: but he is carrying around plenty of gusto and his
Speaker 1: age are certainly keen to impress that he is showing
Speaker 1: energy on the world stage, that he is talking more
Speaker 1: than the last president did publicly, he's doing more things
Speaker 1: in front of the camera. But this is exactly the
Speaker 1: presidential style that Donald Trump likes. I mean, he's got
Speaker 1: a clean bill of health from his own doctors. He
Speaker 1: says he's feeling in good spirits. But this is the
Speaker 1: way he does the presidency. It is entertainment in his show.
Speaker 1: It is front of camera. It is a reality TV
Speaker 1: show if you like. He's got three and a half
Speaker 1: years left. He will be eighty two or so by
Speaker 1: the time his time is up. So you know, the
Speaker 1: key concern for him over the next three years, well,
Speaker 1: how does he keep himself? How did he maintain a
Speaker 1: healthy lifestyle balance? How does he have a healthy lifestyle
Speaker 1: balance under the pressures of the most high powered job
Speaker 1: in the world and at the same time being a
Speaker 1: rather large man himself. So he's obviously got himself to
Speaker 1: look after on that front. He's a good medical team
Speaker 1: around him. But you've also got to remember too, but
Speaker 1: he came into this with the overwhelming support of Americans.
Speaker 1: Americans who would know that he was going to be
Speaker 1: eighty two by the time he pulls up stumps for
Speaker 1: the presidency, So they wouldn't have known that he was
Speaker 1: going to be old in office and years old.
Speaker 2: You're right, I guess that that mandate from the American
Speaker 2: people would give you that enthusiasm to really get in
Speaker 2: there and do the job. John, it's always a pleasure.
Speaker 2: I'm feeling it for Tony Mack. I I love having
Speaker 2: on the program when I do the weekends and of
Speaker 2: course across the week. Thanks for a great report on
Speaker 2: the radio. We'll see you also on the Today Show.
Speaker 2: So you keep doing your great work and we'll talk
Speaker 2: to you next time in Australia overnight.
Speaker 1: Pat, always wonderful to talk to you and the listeners
Speaker 1: where you may be. A wonderful morning. Thank you.
Speaker 2: Jonathan Kurzley, the nine Radio NTV US correspondent live in
Speaker 2: Los Angeles, California. Your calls one double three six nine three,
Speaker 2: your thoughts and feelings on that and whatever's on your mind.
Speaker 2: Adam will chat to us next one double three, six
Speaker 2: nine three.