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'If you haven't already realised Trump is a deranged, lying idiot, you never will' | James O'Brien
Jun 16, 2026
A peace deal has been reached between the US and Iran, both President Trump and the Prime Minister of Pakistan have confirmed. James O'Brien reacts to the latest out of the Middle East, arguing that Trump’s 'ridiculous war' has not achieved any of its aims and notes that Iran has come out 'better than it went into it'. The President wrote on Truth Social: "The Deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran is now complete. "I hereby fully authorise the toll free opening of the Strait of Hormuz, and, simultaneously herewith, authorise the immediate removal of the United States Naval blockade," he says. "Ships of the World, start your engines. Let the oil flow!" Listen to the full show on the all-new LBC App: https://app.af.lbc.co.uk/btnc/thenewlbcapp #jamesobrien #iran #donaldtrump #trump #uspolitics #middleeast #netanyahu #LBC LBC is the home of live debate around news and current affairs in the UK. Join in the conversation and listen at https://www.lbc.co.uk/ Sign up to LBC’s weekly newsletter here: https://l-bc.co/signup
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0:00
that another ceasefire is on the way or an extension to the current one
0:06
and that this one may signal an end to hostilities in Iran
0:12
hopefully also in Lebanon, although, as has become common, Benjamin Netanyahu responded to positive noises emerging from negotiations
0:21
between Iran and the United States of America by bombing, by attacking civilians in Beirut
0:29
launching a new round of attacks there. That's what happened last week, isn't it
0:34
when Trump was also criticising Netanyahu in conversations with reporters. Listen, it's the biggest story in the world
0:42
and it's also the weirdest, because I don't know how to talk about it anymore
0:47
I know, for example, that Donald Trump will claim a victory when he has not won anything
0:53
I know for example that Benjamin Netanyahu will probably not be bound by anything that Donald Trump tells him to do and will probably continue with his attacks upon Lebanon there being not a great deal left in Gaza for him to continue to attack there
1:09
I know that the deal, whatever it may be, will involve billions of dollars being released to Iran
1:16
and promises to cease any attempts to develop a nuclear weapon, which is exactly what Barack Obama secured and Donald Trump set fire to
1:26
I know that the Strait of Hormuz is going to continue to impact upon the global economy
1:32
most obviously, but by no means exclusively through oil prices for months
1:36
after the passages reopened. I know that it was only closed because of Trump and Netanyahu's attack
1:44
So they will be celebrating a return to roughly where we were three and a half months ago
1:51
before he started a war that was supposed to take merely a couple of weeks
1:57
It's almost four months, let's say four months ago. how do you acknowledge or recognize all of those moving parts it will be
2:09
at the very very best it will be what was in place four months ago with obviously thousands
2:21
of deaths having been um having occurred in the interim thousands of people having been killed
2:30
israeli strikes in lebanon believed to have killed more than 3 700 people including 240
2:35
children about a million people have been displaced we know that in iran 100 schoolgirls
2:42
were killed by the u.s strike on the very first day of the war all of these poor souls have perished
2:48
All of these people have died, American troops, Israeli troops. And the best case scenario is that things will return
2:57
will revert to exactly where they were four months ago, which was a status quo not as good, not as safe
3:04
not as beneficial to the world as the one that was secured by Barack Obama
3:09
during his administration. And that is why it defies ysis. The people in this country that cheerlead for Donald Trump
3:18
will just go quiet for a while. Dick Littlejohn in the Daily Mail
3:21
will probably start writing about old episodes of The Bill. No, sorry, he's already done that
3:26
He'll probably start writing about old episodes of Cracker Jack in this week's column
3:31
That would be great. Oh, those were the days. Cracker Jacks, Friday
3:34
hey pencil and pen or something A Cracker Jack pencil Because they can ever as with Brexit which we also be talking about this week these people are absolutely incapable of putting their hands up and saying I an idiot I got absolutely everything wrong I was probably in the case of Trump and Brexit
3:49
so completely seduced by the racism that I absolutely lost sight of the ball. So you're
3:55
not going to have anything to push against when it comes to ysis. You're not even going to be
3:59
able to do what I like doing on a daily basis and saying, let me show you why they're wrong
4:03
and then I run through it, not an opinion, just counting and at the end of that process you can say
4:09
oh God, yeah, they are wrong or you can say, I don't care that they're wrong, I still really love the racism
4:14
And you can't really rely upon the experts because although the experts and, you know
4:19
you can rely upon them for some elements of what is going on like what happens if the Strait of Hormuz is shut
4:25
Well, this happens and that happens. What happens if, well, that's pretty much it actually
4:31
What happens when the Strait of Hormuz reopens? Well, this happens and that happens, but it will not return to normal
4:38
Things won't improve, or at least the choke effect, the impact, will continue for months afterwards
4:47
I mean, Iranian state media are currently claiming that the deal will force Israel to withdraw from Lebanon
4:53
Does Donald Trump have the capability, the wherewithal, to tell Benjamin Netanyahu to withdraw completely from Lebanon
5:00
And if he doesn't, what happens next? You don't know any of these things
5:04
And it's about $25 billion, the expected release of Iranian assets, as well as sanctions relief
5:11
So Iran arguably comes out of it better than it went into it, while Donald Trump, well, not even arguably
5:17
Iran, despite the loss of human life, which the regime in Iran doesn't seem to care about particularly
5:23
I'm talking about the loss of Iranian life, they're going to be coming out of it better than they went into it
5:28
So how do you have a phone-in about this kind of thing? I don't think anymore..
5:34
I don't even think you listen anymore. But people who think Donald Trump is anything other than a deranged lying idiot
5:39
are worth talking to. That was one of the ideas I had
5:44
Have a conversation about what's changed. But people who have not yet realised that Donald Trump is a deranged lying idiot
5:52
are never going to realise that Donald Trump is a deranged lying idiot
5:56
I don't know how that works. I don't know why that is true, but I don't think that this ridiculous war
6:02
which has done none of the things he claimed it would do, it hasn't toppled the Iranian regime, it didn't last a few weeks
6:09
it's left Iran enjoying more leverage over the international economy than they ever had before, and he's bottled it again, effectively, presumably
6:17
because he doesn't want to go into the midterms with the war still raging. So anybody, which is why people like Dick Littlejohn in the Daily Mail
6:24
won't be able to talk about it or won't be able to mention it and will instead be writing about 25-year-old episodes of Cracker Jack for a few weeks
6:32
So how do you have a conversation about something that is so completely bonkers
6:37
So completely and utterly bonkers. And that's presuming it sticks, which there's no guarantee it will
6:44
How many times has he announced a ceasefire? Roughly the same amount of times that he's announced the obliteration of Iran's military capability
6:51
which is roughly the same amount of times that he's announced that he will do terrible things to them if they don't fall into line immediately
6:58
which is about the same amount of times that he's announced that he's not actually going to do terrible things to them
7:03
despite the fact that they haven't fallen into line immediately because he's changed his mind, because they're terrible people
7:09
It's a win, I think, for Iran in many ways, with that constant caveat that they've lost many people
7:17
Not as many as have been killed in Lebanon of course but again that doesn seem to be something that troubles either the White House or Benjamin Netanyahu or the Iranian regime unduly
7:28
In fact, the only thing upon which they could all seem to agree is that the civilian deaths don't matter
7:35
Don't matter. So what do you think has changed? What do you think has changed
7:45
a senior u.s official telling the uh news organization zetio that the plan is the same
7:52
as it was months ago when the white house kept leaking that the president was going to declare
7:57
victory um just say that we won it doesn't matter whether you did win or not you will just keep
8:03
saying donald trump won america won donald trump won if we said enough times it will come true
8:09
won't it and that that was i told you that weeks ago i said that was what was going to happen
8:13
It will end up worse than it was before. It will end up obviously and measurably worse than what was in place after Barack Obama negotiated the JCPOA
8:24
But he will march around like a pigeon playing chess, insisting that he won
8:30
Barack Obama has made it pretty clear that the likelihood of this deal being better than the one he negotiated is almost non-existent
8:39
resistant and of course also acknowledged that chaos had been unleashed on the global economy
8:44
characteristically diplomatic obama said it is doubtful that any agreement that arises is going
8:50
to be significantly different or a significant improvement from the deal that we had in the first
8:54
place and worked for for a long stretch of time before we the united states pulled out of it
9:00
a reference to trump tearing up obama's deal in his first term which in case you don't know this
9:06
left Iran free to enrich uranium. They started again to about 60%
9:11
which is close to weapons grade. So, what have you learned
9:22
Does that work? How much damage has this war done? And now we can make a list of targets
9:31
How much damage has this war done to Benjamin Netanyahu? I don't think it's done any damage to Donald Trump
9:40
I would love you to tell me that I'm wrong I would love you to tell me James I've listened to you for years
9:45
I thought you were talking absolute gibberish about Donald Trump but this engagement has made me realise
9:50
that you were completely right all along and I never should have listened to the other people I just don't think you exist
9:55
do you think that person exists? I could deal with the abuse of the disabled journalist
10:01
I was comfortable with the boasting about being a sex offender the felonies didn't really trouble me at all
10:06
inciting the insurrection and then pardoning the people responsible for it who were obeying for the blood of his own vice president
10:12
lying absolutely endlessly and egregiously about the result of the 2020 election
10:17
I just, all of that, I was fine with it all, James, but the war in Iran, oh, that's really turned my head
10:23
I've got to admit now that he was a wrong one all along and I can't believe I didn't see it sooner
10:27
That person doesn't exist, right? This is why it's such a weird thing to pick over or yse
10:33
The person who would think, oh, Trump's all right, I mean, what was Dick Littlejohn saying? I wish he was running Britain
10:39
I've never been more ashamed to be British than when we didn't join in with this ludicrous war
10:44
So you're fine with the abuse of the disabled people. You're fine with the self-confessed sex offending
10:48
You're fine with the court case where he sued a woman who accused him of rape and lost
10:52
Make of that what you will. You're fine with the lies about the election
10:56
You're fine with the pardoning of the people that committed the election. You fine with all the felonies You fine with the hideous bullying of the Gold Star dead military veterans family You can even begin to make a list But oh fine with all of that
11:10
Yep, still fine with that. I'd never been more ashamed to be British that we didn't go to war with this clown
11:15
And now today you wake up and you go, do you know what? I probably should have been a little bit slower
11:20
to offer him my full-throated support. Nigel Farage, we should do everything we can to support him
11:24
Cammy Badenow, we should do everything we can to support him. All gone quiet. All reversed
11:29
All changed. So you can't. What do you do? How do you have a conversation about this? Can I do that as a phone-in
11:35
How do you have a conversation about this? 0345 6060970. Is that asking me..
11:40
Is that me asking you to do my job? How do we have a conversation about this
11:46
It's by far the most important story in the world. If your mortgage has gone up
11:51
if you've signed a new mortgage deal that's at a higher rate than you were expecting six months ago
11:56
it's Donald Trump's fault. It's Benjamin Netanyahu's fault. It's their fault. That's why
12:01
It's gone up. If your food bill, your fuel bill, your cost of living, all of that
12:05
it's gone up more than you were expecting. It's their fault. They did it. They did this
12:10
Benjamin Netanyahu, because he was desperate to cling on to power, desperate to stay out of court and therefore jail
12:16
Donald Trump, because, dear, reasons. Someone told him it would be great
12:20
Someone sold it to him. If you listen to Marco Rubio, Benjamin Netanyahu persuaded him
12:24
it would be over by tea time, and you can do a lap of honour claiming that you've done a better job of bringing peace to the Middle East
12:29
than any other previous American president. Every single one of whom, Benjamin Netanyahu
12:33
had tried to persuade to attack Iran, but they all had the brains to tell him where to go
12:38
And to Donald Trump, who didn't have the brains to tell him where to go
12:43
I mean, what can you say with any certainty? The same thing you could say at the very beginning
12:50
Donald Trump will lose and he will claim victory. Or Donald Trump will end up in a situation that is worse
12:55
or at the very best, no better than the situation that the USA was in before with regard to Iran
13:01
and he'll claim a glorious victory. He'll claim a glorious, glorious victory
13:07
Israel has been hemorrhaging goodwill and public support right across the world
13:11
since pretty much the moment it became clear that the response to the October 7th atrocity
13:17
was going to involve incalculably more deaths than the October 7th atrocity involved
13:24
That's not an opinion, I'm afraid. That's counting, albeit that some people are still incapable of understanding how the human mind works when it watches death tolls rise
13:35
Has this damaged Israel any further than it had been damaged before? Has it seen a further hemorrhaging of goodwill and support to the entire country while the current regime remains in place
13:46
I don't know. And Iran. I mean, the Revolutionary Guard, a theocratic dictatorship, the worst kind of government
13:54
that anybody who believes in freedom or decency can want to live under
13:59
They come out of it emboldened. They lost the last Ayatollah, but have you met the new one
14:05
It's his son. So, what has changed? What have you learned
14:15
Where has the most damage been inflicted? And I don't mean death tolls
14:23
because that would be Lebanon, which didn't really have anything to do with this war in the first place
14:27
It's just that Benjamin Netanyahu saw an opportunity while attention was directed to Iran to wade in there
14:32
and try to do another Gaza. So what is the question? What is the conversation
14:40
What does it mean? What does it mean
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