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Matt Frei is joined by Republican and former Trump support Nora Lee Notzon to discuss the President's war in Iran. Nora Lee Notzon, who voted for Trump on his platform of 'no new wars', vehemently disagrees with the war in Iran and tells Matt that this 'feels like political suicide' for the President. Donald Trump has squashed suggestions he could use a nuclear weapon in Iran as he insisted the conflict in the Middle East would be over soon. Taking questions from reporters in the Oval Office, Trump again said that the conflict aims to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. The President said: "I think that there's nothing worse than a nuclear weapon that takes out one of your cities or two of your cities or three. "I think there's nothing worse than a nuclear weapon that's going to destroy the Middle East, including Israel. I think there's nothing worse than Europe being under attack by people that have missiles now that reach Europe." Listen to the full show on the all-new LBC App: https://app.af.lbc.co.uk/btnc/thenewlbcapp #mattfrei #republican #donaldtrump #trump #debate #whitehouse #iran #iranwar #netanyahu #israel #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
As someone who's a Republican, how, to start with a very basic question, how are you with this
0:05
particular war? As a Republican who voted for Trump on his platform of no new wars, putting
0:11
America first, I did not agree with this war. It was not self-defense. There was no imminent threat
0:21
You even had Joe Kent resign over the issue. You had Marco Rubio came out and said the imminent
0:26
threat was that Benjamin Netanyahu told the U.S. they were going to strike Iran. And as a result
0:32
Iran would strike the U.S. So you would think the real issue would be that President Trump
0:37
should have convinced Benjamin Netanyahu not to strike Iran. We know for 30 years
0:41
Benjamin Netanyahu has been saying Iran is two weeks away from having a nuclear bomb
0:45
They do not have a nuclear bomb. And Europe has been united in their criticism of this war
0:54
that it was a war of choice. The problems that have been created, the closure of the Strait of
0:58
Hormuz was created by President Trump. And so he broke it. He should fix it. And rightly so
1:06
they want to stay out. We've seen the prime minister of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, come out and say
1:10
that this, again, was a war of choice. It's an illegal war. And that NATO has to operate within
1:18
the framework of international law. So you're a Republican who is saying that Keir Starmer's
1:25
position, you know, to give limited access to British bases for defensive operations
1:30
is the right way to have gone about it, not to get more involved in this
1:34
I agree. I think that is the right thing, the right stance, because there was no attack by Iran
1:42
on against a NATO member. The only time Article 5 has been invoked was after 9-11. And as we know
1:51
after going in on the Iraq war, it was an illegal war. There were no weapons of mass destruction
1:58
And we all still feel the pain of that war with the mass immigration crisis, the creation of ISIS
2:07
It's created more problems. And what Trump has done feels like political suicide. He was advised
2:12
by General Kaine not to go in because they would close the Strait of Hormuz
2:17
But he believed that they would capitulate in Iran. Wrongly so
2:26
And now we're paying the price. We see the desperation in the administration
2:31
the way they're attacking NATO members, the way they're threatening them. If they were strong and winning this war
2:38
they wouldn't result to such measures. measures so we need to get a deal done it's going to take six years is what they're saying
2:46
to replenish the munitions in the u we can afford to have a drawn war we need the cease ceasefire to continue but we also need to strike a deal So as someone who voted for Trump how angry are you that through this war he has shown the Iranian regime
3:07
they had a strength that they perhaps didn't fully realize until the war happened, the strait
3:12
And he's shown the rest of the world, including your Chinese friends
3:16
what the limitations of American military power are? I think it's been disastrous
3:23
And I think Trump knows it as well, which is why we see this erratic behavior from him
3:29
you know, very much like a child throwing the toys out of the pram, because he knows it's an absolute mess
3:37
And the best thing that they can do is try to save face and, you know
3:41
tweet that, yes, you are winning. and, oh, it's going to be our terms and we're going to get our terms
3:47
but, you know, silently behind the scenes negotiate something. Like one of your previous guests was saying, we have to meet Iran halfway
3:55
What does Iran need? They need us to lift sanctions. They need to have some economic prosperity
4:00
The reason why you had protests in Iran is because you had massive inflation. If people can't feed themselves, can't take care of themselves
4:07
of course you're going to have problems. So there are economic levers that the U.S. has available
4:12
and you heard that Europe was speaking about it as well. Once there is progress and a commitment to a deal
4:21
that they are talking about lifting sanctions on Iran. And I think that's the way we have to start thinking right now
4:27
to get the Strait of Hormuz off the table so that Iran doesn't want to charge a toll
4:32
And I agree that would be a terrible precedent to set. But we have to think about a real solution
4:38
I mean, whenever America started a war of choice, arguably, since the Second World War, which was a different kind of choice, it's gone badly for them, whether it was Vietnam or whether it was Iraq
4:51
Right. And now Iran. Right. So could this be, to mix my historical metaphors, could this be not just another Vietnam, but America's Suez moment
5:01
The Suez moment for us in Britain in 1956 was when we realized, left out to dry by the Americans, the limitations of our imperial post-imperial power
5:13
Is this what is happening to you now? I think it would be great if there's somebody that could get Trump on side to change course
5:24
But we know Trump is very concerned about perception and his perception
5:29
And he doesn't like to be wrong. But you're seeing it within the military as well with Pete Hegseth
5:35
Massive dissent. Why do you think more than a dozen people, high-ranking officials have been fired
5:42
Because they don't agree. And this is only going to get worse What do you make of the fact that you have a Christian nationalist with some very questionable tattoos you know and a man in his confirmation hearing said more or less
5:55
don't worry about me, I can deal with my drink problem in charge of the world's mightiest military
6:02
I think it's very concerning. If you see two thirds of Americans don't approve of the war
6:07
three quarters of Americans don't approve of how the administration is even handling the war
6:14
Forget about not agreeing with it. Handling the war and handling the economy. Pete Hegseth
6:18
I don't believe garners a lot of respect. Right. That's putting it mildly. I think amongst
6:23
I mean, certainly the people I've spoken to in uniform, they're outraged by him. But none of
6:27
this should come as a surprise. I mean, why was this guy confirmed at all by the Senate
6:33
I agree. That's a very good question to ask. We know that Trump cares about looks, perception
6:42
He likes to put people in place that he thinks look good, that he thinks speak well
6:46
but I don't think Pete Hegseth particularly speaks very well. If you listen to the last things he said about
6:52
oh, the Europeans should be getting on a boat, you know, and stop their fancy meetings
6:56
Like, that's not a way to speak. We need diplomacy right now. But is America, you know, with a combination of either insufficient diplomacy from people who are, frankly, amateurs, like the duo that have just headed back to Islamabad, or Pete Hexer, you know, who shoots his mouth off, or indeed the president, you know, we discussed the madman theory early in the program, make of that what you will
7:18
Is America just, you know, with one thing after another, undermining its biggest asset, which was trust
7:26
I think you raise a very good point. I mean, trust is priceless. And once you lose it, it's hard to get it back. But we have to remember that the U.S. has survived a lot of crises throughout the years and we will come back
7:43
If anything, this is going to change leadership in the future and who Americans place their trust in going forward
7:52
But Americans for the whole, you know, do not support this and do not support the administration betraying their promise to the U.S
8:02
I mean, again, getting back to the campaign, the presidential campaign of 2024
8:07
These are all things that did come up. These are all things that Democrats warned us about and some Republicans that never Trumpers on the Republicans
8:17
So do you feel any regret that you cast your vote for a man who is now in your book, what you just told me, has done so much damage to America's power and image around the world
8:28
Well, to go back to your point, if you look at J.D. Vance as vice president, he was somebody as well staunchly against war
8:37
So there was no reason to believe that the administration would betray that promise I think what happened is Trump started to overplay his hand
8:50
Last summer, the attack in June, it was a huge success. I didn't agree with that
8:54
I didn't agree with that attack either. Venezuela, and like a gambler, you're winning at the table
9:02
He thinks he's going to go all out. He's going to look like a hero, change the regime
9:07
I think Benjamin Netanyahu played a big part in convincing him that they could do that together
9:15
You know, despite the fact that there were massive risks attached to it and he overplayed his hand
9:21
He's made a mistake and he needs to find a way out quickly
9:26
That's the best thing that he can do right now. Is there anyone around the cabinet table or in the White House who has the cojones
9:32
And I won't translate that. I know that. You know what that means, right? Who has those to tell him that he's gone wrong
9:42
That's a very good question. And I think most people are scared of Trump, including his chief of staff, Susie Wilds
9:50
who's been with him, you know, for quite a long time, knows him well. He trusts her
9:55
I think she's probably 100 percent for this war. Right. You know, and Trump's going around
10:01
if you read some of his recent tweets going around saying, oh, there'll be a nuclear holocaust for Europe
10:07
You're close to Iran. If we don't deal with this, it's going to be the end of..
10:11
He's trying to make people fearful. So now you have to have this cognitive dissonance
10:17
where you buy into the lie. So finally, you know, if you were advising our king
10:22
who's, you know, flying to Washington tomorrow, and we've been talking about this a lot this morning
10:27
Again, you talk to British politicians, they say he should trade carefully, the special relationship, yada, yada, yada
10:33
What would you advise our king to say that both saves our dignity
10:39
the dignity of the crown, and also tells a supposedly good friend where they've gone wrong
10:45
I think it's a very important moment for the king. And I think it's wonderful that there's this opportunity for him to be there
10:53
and smooth things out. I think he has to remind Trump of the strong relationship
10:58
We fought together in World War I. We fought together in World War II
11:03
He has to flatter him about positive things he's done. But he has to hark back to the days when Queen Elizabeth II addressed Congress in 91
11:13
And she talked about the fact that most people think there's strength at the end of the barrel
11:17
But in fact, it's through diplomacy that we have prosperity. And we have to hark back to the fundamentals of democracy
11:29
and he needs to do it in a way with elegance that I think he will accomplish
11:35
Whoever's writing his speech is taking notes right now
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