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US Vice-President DJ Vance was speaking after President Donald Trump suggested talks with Iran could resume this week, after negotiations collapsed on Sunday. LBC's Washington Correspondent Simon Marks joins James O'Brien to discuss the latest on the Iran War. Listen to the full show on the all-new LBC App: https://app.af.lbc.co.uk/btnc/thenewlbcapp #simonmarks #jamesobrien #LBC #iran #iranwar #debate #news #opinion #trump #donaldtrump 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
I think we should probably start with Iran, James, because it has become apparent over the last few
0:05
hours that there is going to be another round of talks that is expected to take place in Islamabad
0:12
The president keeps saying that it could occur within the next couple of days. I mean, my
0:17
understanding from a colleague in Islamabad is that the Pakistani prime minister is actually
0:23
not in the city and won't be back until the weekend. So I think we are probably looking
0:29
at the weekend for talks to occur, Vice President J.D. Vance, and let this sink in for a moment
0:34
said last night that what President Trump is looking for is to strike a grand bargain
0:41
with the Iranian government. He's looking for a grand bargain with the brutal, murderous
0:49
some of his supporters say, Nazi-style government of Iran that back on March the 1st, hours after
0:57
the US and Israeli military action began, the president, of course, was insisting the Iranian
1:03
people should rise up and topple. Now is the moment for action, he said, an historic opportunity
1:09
for Iranians to take their own fate into their hands. All of that now appears to be over
1:16
And the president has spoken in an interview recorded yesterday afternoon, but broadcast
1:21
here this morning at breakfast time to Fox News. He was asked by reporter Maria Bartiromo
1:27
to explain to his own MAGA base, the America first audience that largely tunes in to Fox News
1:36
why on earth he had decided to engage in this military excursion
1:41
as he often likes to call it, to Iran. I had to divert because if I didn't do that
1:48
right now you would have Iran with a nuclear weapon and if they had a nuclear weapon, you would be calling everybody over there, sir
1:55
and you don't want to do that. Well, you keep saying was. Is this war over? I think it's close to over. I mean, I view it as very close to over
2:04
You know what? If I pulled up stakes right now, it would take them 20 years to rebuild that country
2:11
And we're not finished. We'll see what happens. I think they want to make a deal very badly
2:16
Is the president really indicating that from his perspective, this war may well already be over and insisting that he has accomplished something. I think there
2:24
are huge questions about that given that the Strait of Hormuz was open for business before the war
2:30
began and is now very much closed by order of President Trump and as a result of the enforcement
2:36
of the US Navy and on the detail of the negotiations that he's having with the Iranians
2:42
Remember that Donald Trump used to call and indeed still does call the old internationally backed Iran nuclear deal that from the American perspective was signed off on by former President Barack Obama
2:56
It was the worst deal in the world. It was the worst deal history had ever recorded
3:03
Well, he is now trying to persuade the Iranians to agree to a 20 year freeze on enrichment activity
3:11
They are currently offering him according to the reporting of the New York Times yesterday only a five freeze The Iran nuclear deal set in train a 15 freeze on Iran uranium enrichment activities
3:28
that Donald Trump excoriated, didn't want any of these so-called sunset clauses in the agreement
3:35
So now, not only are we looking for a grand bargain with the remaining regime leaders in Iran
3:41
But we are looking at one that could end up being very similar to the worst deal in the world that Barack Obama signed, the JCPOA
3:51
And frankly, he'd be lucky to get it. I mean, the closer to that deal that it is, the luckier he would be
3:56
I mean, it almost sounds, Simon Marks, as if you are suggesting that the regime hasn't been changed at all
4:01
Speaking of regimes, a bit of Saudi pressure on this latest blockade that is actually a blockade
4:06
It looked for a while as if it was a blockade that wasn't a blockade. But today, I think it's a blockade that looks like it might be a blockade
4:11
although it operates in tandem with the other blockade that they promised would be unblockaded
4:16
Oh, I've lost it. Carry on. Yeah, I mean, yesterday, as we know, there were some ships that were transiting
4:24
Iranian vessels that may have been spoofing their precise location in a bid to undercut the US naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz
4:33
How committed he is to this, I think, is very much in doubt
4:37
He is desperate again for an off-ramp, not least because his Saudi backers have called time on this naval blockade
4:46
The Saudis are terrified that the Iranians may seek reprisals via their Houthi proxies
4:51
and shut down vital routes in the Red Sea that the Saudis use to get their oil to world markets
4:59
So he's lost Saudi Arabia. As you know, he's now shredded his friendship with Georgia Maloney, the Italian prime minister
5:06
because she committed the cardinal sin of defending the reputation of Pope Leo
5:11
who has come under, over orthodox Easter weekend no less, has come under this extraordinary ongoing array of blunderbuss assaults
5:20
by the President of the United States. So no alliance any longer is safe
5:25
But the fact that he's lost Saudi backing for the naval blockade, I mean, they're calling time on it
5:31
They're saying knock it off. And essentially that is exactly what he is going to do
5:36
if he feels like he can get the deal, any kind of deal from Iran that he wants
5:41
But you make a really important point, James. Iran is in an extraordinarily powerful position still
5:48
because they can sense his desperation to get this thing wrapped up
5:53
Yes, and of course, just as always, since the very start, the way that he can withdraw
5:58
without the more credible claim of victory, although entirely bogus, is going to end up being the most important factor in the mix
6:05
You mentioned Georgia Maloney, Italy also pulling out of a defence agreement with Israel this week
6:10
So she seems to be swimming in a rather different direction from where she has. And indeed, Italy has been previously
6:15
But a quick word about Hungary, if you would, because we've covered on this programme the extraordinary extent of expenditure that Viktor Orban's regime was deploying to influence public discourse in this country
6:29
sponsoring journalists think tanks so think tanks offering very lucrative fellowships to people who were simply charged with getting very right talking points into the British media America has had its version this morning
6:45
Yes, absolutely, and this has been revealed by Peter Magyar, the incoming Prime Minister
6:50
of Hungary, but there is, I think, in a way no surprise to this. Hungary, under Viktor Orban
6:57
was prominently backing CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Conference, in many ways one of the most influential voices on the right and the far right in the United States
7:11
I mean, we kind of knew this because CPAC had held five separate meetings of its own in Hungary
7:17
significant events that brought the world's right to Budapest and other locations in Hungary
7:24
But the revelation of the extent of funding for CPAC again underscores what an enormous reverse Viktor Orban's loss is to Trump, to his movement and, of course, to Vice President J.D. Vance personally, who went to Hungary in the final days of the campaign, urged Hungarians to back Viktor Orban
7:48
we saw Donald Trump taking to his social media feed and quite literally trying to bribe the Hungarian electorate
7:57
in the hours leading up to the election, saying to Hungarian voters
8:01
if you put Orbán back in power, I am going to flood Hungary with money and business and deals
8:08
and help put the country on the path to prosperity. An open effort to bribe voters in Hungary
8:16
The likes of which we may well see in the United Kingdom in the UK's next election
8:24
Because remember, this is all part of Trump's official national security strategy to promote what he refers to as patriotic European parties
8:35
parties and unlike all past presidents in the modern era directly to intervene in other countries
8:42
election campaigns and endorse candidates and there's every possibility that we see that the
8:49
next time British voters are called on to go to the polls and we see Trump intervening on behalf of
8:56
his favorite candidates although as Georgia Maloney's sudden fall from grace within Trump's
9:03
in a circle has now shown, you know, anything can happen between now and..
9:10
It's a long road to Damascus. Well, and of course that endorsement is losing currency by the day at the minute
9:16
Even Nigel Farage has been claiming recently that he barely knows Donald Trump. He just sort of bumped into him once in a lift entirely by coincidence
9:21
and they've got no deep-rooted relationship or close friendship or anything of the sort
9:25
So watch that space particularly. I am asked, and I suspect you are probably even more than I am
9:32
whether or not he is, and forgive the demotic here, Simon, but I can't think of a more responsible word
9:37
He seems to be increasingly bonkers. Well, he is. I mean, I don't think that there's any way of avoiding recognising that
9:46
We see it here on a daily basis, and it has been open season in terms suddenly of the conversation about his mental health We seen the New York Times tiptoe up to it Last November they published an article about why he kept falling asleep and he
10:00
appeared to be so fatigued, although they didn't touch the issue of his mental cognition, except
10:06
reporting that Caroline Levitt, the press secretary, said it was impressive. Then a few days ago we saw
10:12
an op-ed piece in the New York Times saying that the world has to come to terms with the fact that
10:17
the trump administration is psychotic that america is now a psychotic state uh so that's an interesting
10:26
way of putting it right the administration is psychotic not necessarily its leader and then
10:31
yesterday the new york times chief white house correspondent finally got clearance to publish a
10:36
piece openly questioning whether the president has lost his marbles and one of the reasons why
10:42
James, I think we're seeing this story being slow walked here in Washington is because we are now in
10:50
a situation where bizarrely and reflective of the president's own lack of seriousness about the job
10:58
of governing, hundreds of reporters in this town now have his personal cell phone number. You can
11:07
reportedly, you can reportedly buy it on the black market if you want to
11:13
I don't know, I haven't found out. Make some calls, Simon. So hundreds of reporters
11:19
have his personal cell phone number. Ian Dale can ring him live on the site. So when you see these telephone
11:27
interviews with Trump that are cropping up all over the place all the time
11:31
it's because a reporter has managed to get his cell phone number and they're dialing that number
11:37
on repeat again and again and again in the hope that the president picks up and occasionally he
11:43
does but but the issue here is that reporters with his number and look i'll be honest i had a
11:49
conversation with a very good friend of mine another reporter here in town yesterday and we
11:54
were discussing you know neither of us has it should we be trying to get it how do we get it
11:59
but once you've got it and you start making those robo calls to him all the time in the hope that
12:05
he's going to pick up. I mean, there is a complicity there with the bonkers nature of
12:12
this government and this president. And as a result, I think, you know, if you're a journalist
12:18
and you've got his number and you talk to him every now and again and he picks up the phone and
12:23
you know, you get him to talk about whatever issue you particularly want him to talk about
12:26
whether it's Iran or taking another pop at Keir Starmer or whatever it happens to be
12:31
i mean and i think journalism schools will look at this in the future if they any longer exist
12:36
there will be questions about whether there isn't complicity there in a in a presidency
12:42
whose leader is evidently um unstable and uh quixotic and mercurial and why would you then
12:51
go and write a story about how unstable the president is because it may lead to circumstances
12:56
in which he's no longer president and then you'd lose your access you're having your cake and
13:00
eating it, I suppose. And of course, it's reporting what he says unfiltered that poses
13:04
the problem, because if you were to put it through the lens of proper ysis, then
13:08
that allegation or that exposure to the possibility of complicity would probably be reduced
13:13
Good Lord
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