GARRETT HAAKE:
This Sunday, the price of peace. President Trump strikes a deal with Iran to quickly end the war
[BEGIN TAPE]
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
And it’s a memorandum of understanding. If it doesn’t get done in 60 days, it’s all right. We go back to bombing.
[END TAPE]
GARRETT HAAKE:
But, as Iran stands to gain access to billions in economic relief, did the president give away too much?
[BEGIN TAPE]
SEN. BILL CASSIDY:
Iran is left stronger.
SEN. TED CRUZ:
I think sending billions of dollars to Iran is a mistake.
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
If it works out, I’m going to take the credit, if it doesn’t work out, I’m blaming JD. You better be careful JD.
[END TAPE]
GARRETT HAAKE:
I’ll talk to Democratic Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey and former Trump Defense Secretary Mark Esper. Plus, Chicago hope. President Obama opens his presidential center as former presidents come together in a divided America.
[BEGIN TAPE]
FMR. PRES. BARACK OBAMA:
I hope this center will serve as an affirmation of just how special, how precious, our democracy truly is.
[END TAPE]
GARRETT HAAKE:
Joining me for insight and analysis are: Susan Glasser, staff writer for the New Yorker. Nia-Malika Henderson, political columnist for Bloomberg Opinion, former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, and Republican strategist Sara Fagen. Welcome to Sunday, it’s Meet the Press.
ANNOUNCER:
From NBC News in Washington, the longest-running show in television history, this is Meet the Press with Kristen Welker.
GARRETT HAAKE:
Good Sunday morning. I’m Garrett Haake, in for Kristen Welker as she recovers from a medical procedure. She’s doing well and plans to be back soon. This morning, a fragile peace appears to be holding between the U.S. and Iran, just days after President Trump signed a memorandum of understanding to end the conflict, re-open the Strait of Hormuz, and remove the U.S. blockade of Iran.
[BEGIN TAPE]
REPORTER:
Did you sign the deal?
REPORTER:
Did you sign the MOU?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
It’s signed, yeah. Just signed it in Versailles.
[END TAPE]
GARRETT HAAKE:
There are conflicting reports about whether the Strait is open or closed after Iran accused Israel of breaking the ceasefire agreement by continuing its strikes against southern Lebanon. Overnight, Vice President JD Vance arrived in Switzerland to continue talks with Iran. And for his part, President Trump says the lesson he’s learned from this war? There are no limits to his power:
[BEGIN TAPE]
MARC CAPUTO:
What have you learned about not just the exercise of power, but the limits on your power as a result of the conflict?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
There are no limits.
MARC CAPUTO:
No limits?
PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
No, none. I haven’t learned that lesson yet. I know there are, but you know, there are no limits. We defeated them totally militarily.
[END TAPE]
GARRETT HAAKE:
And joining me now is Democratic Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey. Senator Booker, welcome back to Meet The Press.
SEN. CORY BOOKER:
It’s good to see you here on national TV and not the halls of the Senate.
GARRETT HAAKE:
I think we can agree on that. Let’s start with Iran. You voted eight times to end this war. The memorandum of understanding ends the war. Do you support it?
SEN. CORY BOOKER:
Yeah, I’m proud to be leading the effort to stop Donald Trump from leading our country into further and further disaster. But the way he is trying to bring us out of this war not only speaks to the failures of the war in total, but it also speaks in a bipartisan way to how bad of a leader he is. When you have Democrats and Republicans, conservatives and progressives, all coming out talking about capitulation, surrender, catastrophe, you know how bad this deal is. Iran gets all of the benefits, literally billions and billions of dollars. And America continues to hurt and see the losses from the $100 billion we’ve spent in the war to every American citizen seeing their costs skyrocket. This has been a cataclysmic failure of his making.
GARRETT HAAKE:
But if you support the deal, but you also think it’s a capitulation, I guess I’m confused. What’s the alternative here –
SEN. CORY BOOKER:
No, no, no, no. Let’s be clear. I do not support this deal that he made which was an abject surrender. This is a guy who said he’s a great negotiator. But right now, Iran has billions and billions of dollars of benefits.
GARRETT HAAKE:
Yeah.
SEN. CORY BOOKER:
It’s almost as if American dollars, American resources are now going to be used to help rebuild Iran while we are continuing to carry the bill for it.
GARRETT HAAKE:
So what is the alternative then to ending the war?
SEN. CORY BOOKER:
Well, the alternative is not having a president that led us into this war, that surrendered all of our leverage, that is giving Iran everything they want, and achieving none of the specific goals that he said he wanted. We have a disaster for a commander in chief who’s leaving us with less and less good choices. What the world needs now is leadership. But from our Middle East allies to our NATO allies, I’m hearing over and over again, “Your president is a danger to the world.” And obviously we at home are paying the cost of that.
GARRETT HAAKE:
There has been some Democratic reaction to the president’s decision that was a little bit more positive. Democratic strategist James Carville said this this week. Listen.
[BEGIN TAPE]
JAMES CARVILLE:
We started a war and we surrendered. Let’s be very clear about that and let’s give Trump credit where credit is due. He did what Lyndon Johnson did not do in Vietnam, just get out. I think the best thing Biden ever did was just leave Afghanistan and I’ll give Trump credit. He saw this thing was going the wrong way and he just quit and got out. And sometimes you got to do that.
[END TAPE]
GARRETT HAAKE:
So there’s a lot to chew on there. But does President Trump deserve any credit for trying to end this war now rather than escalate it further?
SEN. CORY BOOKER:
That’s like giving somebody credit for literally an arsonist starting a fire and getting credit for running out of the burning building. This president has led this nation into a disaster. We have surrendered our power. We have capitulated to the enemy. And they now are mocking us. Look at everything that’s coming out of that country from their internal dialogue all the way to what they’re saying publicly. They know that they’ve won this. And they know Donald Trump is perhaps, on the world stage right now, the biggest loser with egg on his face. We need to curtail this chaotic, corrupt and cruel president. We need to have checks and balances on his power. I’m really sorry that Congressional Republicans, from the start of this war, has allowed him to do everything he wanted to do. And now they’re crying foul because they don’t like the results. Shame on Congress. It’s time we get a Congress that will stand up to this president.
GARRETT HAAKE:
We’ve certainly heard a lot more pushback from your Senate Republican colleagues to this deal than I think we’re used to hearing to actions the president takes. Do you think this could be a turning point in his relationship with his own party?
SEN. CORY BOOKER:
God, I hope so. Again, this is not left or right for me. It’s about stopping a president who has taken healthcare away from millions of Americans, who’s jacked up our prices, who’s caused considerable pain letting billionaires continue to be more — bigger in polluting and bigger in getting all of the tax breaks while we are — we as Americans as a whole are paying more and more and more. We need an America that stands up to this president. And I don’t care if it’s a Republican or a Democrat, Congress needs to start being strong. Now, I don’t expect that from the kind of leaders in the Republican Party in Congress. That’s why this midterm election is so vital. This midterm election is not about left or right. It’s about right or wrong. It’s about stopping a president that’s out of control and hurting Americans.
GARRETT HAAKE:
I want to talk about the midterms more in a second. But I have one more question for you about this peace deal. NBC News is reporting that U.S. intelligence officials are warning that Israel could take steps to undermine the emerging Iran agreement. Israel was a U.S. partner in the conflict. Do you see them as a reliable partner in the peace negotiations?
SEN. CORY BOOKER:
Look, look, between Israel and America, we have two criminal presidents, ours who’s been indicted over — excuse me, convicted over 30 times for criminal convictions, and theirs who’s embroiled in his own corruption, his own trials. These are two failed world leaders. And yes, we should be very worried about both of these leaders continuing to upend any kind of viable pathway to peace in the Middle East. These are both failed leaders that I cannot wait until they’re off the world stage.
GARRETT HAAKE:
Alright. Let’s talk a little bit about the Democratic Party. I know you and most Democrats would prefer to move on entirely from the 2024 election. But, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has reopened the debate about what went wrong weighing in on former President Joe Biden’s decision to run for reelection. Listen.
[BEGIN TAPE]
FMR. SEC. HILLARY CLINTON:
He made a terrible mistake. He made a terrible mistake for himself, his legacy and for the country. I believe if he had kept to that plan and said in, say, the late summer of ‘23 that he wasn’t going to run, that he was going to pass, you know, the torch to the next generation, we would have had a real contest. And very sadly I believe whoever emerged from that contest, whether it was the vice president or a governor or a senator or anybody else, would have beaten Donald Trump.
[END TAPE]
GARRETT HAAKE:
Do you agree with that assessment, Senator?
SEN. CORY BOOKER:
Look, this is what I believe in and this is what my unyielding focus will be until November because we have five months left. This week alone, I’m going to be in Texas for Talarico. I’m going to be in Ohio for Sherrod Brown. My urgency and my focus is not looking at the past. It’s doing everything I can in the present to secure a better future for America and that’s getting as many new leaders elected as possible, so we can take back the House and the Senate.
GARRETT HAAKE:
One of those opportunities to elect a new leader is in Maine where you have a competitive contest. Democrats just nominated Graham Platner despite past offensive comments about a tattoo associated — past offensive comments, he’s got this tattoo that’s associated with a Nazi symbol. He also said he didn’t understand its meaning. He’s covered it up. And he’s also faced allegations from former girlfriends of abusive behavior, which he denies. Do you think Graham Platner has the character to serve in the United States Senate?
SEN. CORY BOOKER:
Well, this is what campaigns are for. He certainly has a lot of issues and a lot of questions to answer and address. And I think the people in Maine are going to give a lot of examination to this going through — in this election. For me, I certainly hope we pick up a seat here. For me and people of the State of New Jersey, dear God, we need to get the Senate back so we can start checking this out-of-control president. And that’s why, again, I’m going to be doing everything I can all over my state of New Jersey and everywhere I can to help candidates across this country to get to that end which is Democrats regaining control of the House and the Senate so we check and balance a president that’s chaotic, cruel and corrupt.
GARRETT HAAKE:
And you mentioned Texas and Ohio, will you campaign in Maine?
SEN. CORY BOOKER:
I don’t have any plans to campaign there now.
GARRETT HAAKE:
All right, fair enough. I want to ask you about one of the issues that will surely come up in this midterm and probably come up again in 2028. And that’s the Supreme Court. After the court’s recent ruling limiting the Voting Rights Act, some Democrats including former Vice President Harris have issued calls to expand the court’s nine-seat bench. Listen.
[BEGIN TAPE]
FMR. VICE PRES. KAMALA HARRIS:
I absolutely believe that we should be exploring that. And the idea of 13, I agree, because there are 13 circuit courts, 13 justices.
[END TAPE]
GARRETT HAAKE:
You’re on the judiciary committee. Do you support the idea of expanding the Supreme Court to 13 justices?
SEN. CORY BOOKER:
So here is what I believe. And we in America now have normalized a level of corruption in all three branches of our government that cannot stand. It is a cancer that is corroding our body politic. All three branches of government need massive reforms. The Supreme Court, if municipal court people in New Jersey did what Supreme Court members do — are doing now, they would be led out in handcuffs. So my plan is very simple. Two things. One is stop Supreme Court members from accepting unlimited gifts from billionaires who have interest in matters before the court. And number two, put term limits on Supreme Court members to 18 years so we normalize a system that is actually fair, that says, “Every time we elect a president, they get two people on the Supreme Court.” We stop people hanging on well past their prime, and make sure that we have a court that operates with the kind of integrity and fairness that America deserves and should be a fundamental explanation from every citizen.
GARRETT HAAKE:
And your policies are clear. But I just want to be clear also. Would you rule out trying to expand the court?
SEN. CORY BOOKER:
I think the plan that I have it would actually solve the problems that people who want to expand the court are trying to achieve: give term limits of 18 year and put ethics laws on them. You would see quick changes to our court, many of whom have been on for more than 18 years, and you would actually have a court that serves the people and not the interests of the extraordinary billionaires that are showering members of those courts with everything from RVs to tuitions to gifts.
GARRETT HAAKE:
All right. Senator, before I let you go, it is Father’s Day. You’ve written about helping your father through his struggle with Parkinson’s Disease. How has that experience shaped what this day means to you?
SEN. CORY BOOKER:
I have said — I hurt every Father’s Day now, I miss my dad. It’s a hole that will never be filled. But his struggles with dementia and Parkinson’s broke me apart like the millions — tens of millions of Americans right now who are caring for a father or a mother who’s struggling with this disease. One thing about these things that shatter us is actually they open us up and give us more points of connection. We are a nation that does not do enough for people who are at home caring for others. We need a national movement that really supports families that are dealing with Alzheimer’s, dealing with dementia. We can do so much better as a nation. And it now is a personal, driving cause of my life for us to give more dignity to those people who are caregivers and to those people who are in their final years. And to all the dads out there, to all the men even who are not dads by biology, thank you for stepping up for our children. This nation needs strong men and strength is measured most by how we love and care for others.
GARRETT HAAKE:
And I’ll echo that. Senator Booker, thank you for sharing that story and thank you for joining us this morning.
SEN. CORY BOOKER:
Thank you for having me.
GARRETT HAAKE:
You bet. When we come back, former Trump Defense Secretary Mark Esper joins me next.
GARRETT HAAKE:
Welcome back. And joining me now is Mark Esper, former Defense Secretary during President Trump’s first term. Secretary Esper, welcome to Meet the Press.
FMR. SEC. MARK ESPER:
Morning, Garrett, good to be with you.
GARRETT HAAKE:
Thanks for being here. Let’s pick up right with this Memorandum of Understanding with Iran. Do you support this deal?
FMR. SEC. MARK ESPER:
Well, look, I like the fact that we’ve extended the ceasefire. I like the fact that the Strait is being opened up, that will provide economic relief to a lot of people. And I like the fact that we’re getting into nuclear talks. But that said, when I look at the MOU, there are many of the points that I have serious questions about and concerns about. So, you know, I think in many ways it’s a wait and see. My principal concern has been that- it appears that too many of the incentives in my view have been given up front instead of later in the deal when we’ve seen much more progress on the nuclear aspects of whatever potential agreement comes from this.
GARRETT HAAKE:
Do you think the administration is too trusting of the Iranians by structuring the deal in that way?
FMR. SEC. MARK ESPER:
Well, I don’t, I don’t believe so. You know, you look at many of the players on the team, they’re experienced in foreign policy for some time. I don’t think they trust the Iranians. Nobody trusts the Iranians. I think they put a deal on the table. I think as the Vice President said, “let’s give it a shot and see if it works,” and in that regard I’d say, “Yeah, there’s a lot more of this football game to play out.” We’re maybe only in the second or third quarter. We have to get through, you know, the opening negotiations today. Lebanon will continue to be a spoiler and threaten any talks. But at the end of the day I think this will ultimately be scored on two things: What is the deal we get with the Iranians with regard to the nuclear framework, the nuclear aspects of this deal, and secondly, does the Strait of Hormuz return to the status quo ante? And I think those are two major questions right now that sit before us. And in fact on the second item I’m concerned about language in the MOU that suggests that maybe after the 60 days, Iran would retain some type of ability to impose--
GARRETT HAAKE:
Yeah.
FMR. SEC. MARK ESPER:
--fees on shippers.
GARRETT HAAKE:
Well, I mean, let’s dig into that a little bit more because on the Strait this morning even, it’s not totally clear if the Strait is open or closed. If Iran can still open and shut the Strait at will or charge fees on it, does that mean this agreement is worthless?
FMR. SEC. MARK ESPER:
Well, I think it would suggest a clearly a strategic setback. We cannot allow the Iranians to control the Strait of Hormuz, much like we can’t allow others to control the Strait of Malacca, or the South China Sea, or the Suez Canal. I’m sorry, not the Suez Canal but the Bab-el-Mandeb. So we cannot allow that to happen, and that’s why I say this needs to play out. And, you know, there’s been some suggestions that there have been side agreements, or gentlemen’s agreements, we need to know what those are. But, I think we need to let this play out a little bit and see what actually happens with regard to the Strait after the 60 days.
GARRETT HAAKE:
Well, to that end on the kind of strategic picture here, Iran’s Deputy Speaker of Parliament has said, and this is a quote, “The Strait of Hormuz is Iran’s atomic bomb.” Do you worry that one of the legacies of this war will be effectively arming Iran with a more powerful weapon than they had before?
FMR. SEC. MARK ESPER:
Yeah, no, I certainly, I certainly am. Look, in many ways, I don’t want to suggest it is a nuclear weapon because we cannot allow them to get a nuclear weapon. But it has presented a nuclear tool, if you will, that they can threaten to use it. And it is a reusable tool, unlike a nuclear weapon, that they can shut down the global economy, that they can coerce the Arab Gulf States, even impose- even to threaten the United States with regard to our military action. So in that way they have discovered that they have a tool that they can use, and that they are willing to suffer the pain, and that maybe we are unwilling to suffer more pain than what they are.
GARRETT HAAKE:
Is that a strategic defeat for the US?
FMR. SEC. MARK ESPER:
I think a strategic setback would be if that is indeed the case, and secondly my other fear, my other concern, probably a reality, is that the Iranians have learned that they could survive the brunt of US and Israeli military attacks, despite how very successful they’ve been, the regime has been able to survive and withstand them. And that’s going to embolden them, embolden them going forward.
GARRETT HAAKE:
You mentioned Lebanon earlier, I think that’s one of the interesting parts of this. Israel was not included in the crafting of the Memorandum of Understanding. They continue to bomb Lebanon despite the ceasefire agreement that was signed last week. Do you think it was a mistake to exclude Israel from the negotiations that are happening now?
FMR. SEC. MARK ESPER:
Well, it’s hard to say. We don’t know to what degree they were consulted or not. I think it’s clear that we cannot, obviously, speak for what Israel’s position will be going forward. They clearly have a right to self defense. And the difference here between the United States and Israel is that Iran and Hezbollah present an existential threat to Israel. And so they have the right to defend themselves. The other factor here, of course, is that the political dynamics on both sides are very different. Whereas in the United States 60%-70% of Americans don’t support the conflict, 60%-70% of Israelis do support attacking Hezbollah, in fact it’s well over 70%. So you have different political dynamics at stake at a time when both leaders, President Trump and Bibi Netanyahu have important elections coming up in the fall.
GARRETT HAAKE:
Right. I mean, there’s a lot of different possibilities for different regimes to be in charge of all three of these countries going forward. I want to talk some more about some of the specifics in this deal. On paper it does reopen the Strait of Hormuz, it ends the US naval blockade, removes US troops from the proximity of Iran after the final deal, and we’ll see what that ultimately means, and it, and it, this is a quote, “will maintain the status quo of Iran’s nuclear program pending further negotiation.” So what did the U.S. get out of this war that it didn’t already have before it began?
FMR. SEC. MARK ESPER:
Well, that’s going to be the question, Garrett, at the end of the day as we assess this. Again, we’re in the middle or the beginning of the negotiations, the middle of this conflict, maybe. We’re going to have to assess when it’s all said and done what it looks like. But as I said earlier, when I look at the MOU, I see Iran getting a number of things, and what we get is one paragraph that speaks about the entering of the framework discussions for the nuclear, and it says one specific item with regard to enrichment that they would downblend their enriched uranium as a minimal process going forward. So I get concerned about the other parts: about stockpiles, the duration of the agreement, the allowance of inspectors into the country, permitting “snap” inspections. There are a lot of details that are going to have to be worked out in this 60 days of negotiations, which to me seems difficult to achieve within 60 days. So I’ve seen this really in two phases: the economic phase which is beginning now leading up to certainly before the elections, and then there’ll be a strategic phase where the talks will continue beyond the elections to resolve all the thorny issues, the details with regard to whatever nuclear agreement comes out of this.
GARRETT HAAKE:
On the economic phase, the Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee Roger Wicker, a Republican, said in a statement, quote, “The Iranian regime has not renounced its ultimate goal, ‘Death to America, death to Israel.’ The regime will invest every penny it receives to further that aim.” Do you agree with Senator Wicker that this deal could allow Iran to spend that $300 billion just spreading more terror and rearming?
FMR. SEC. MARK ESPER:
Well, of course, money is fungible, and we have agreed up front now that the MOU is implemented to unfreeze funds which should total around $100 billion. We’ve allowed the license-free sale, or the sanction-free, sale of oil. So the fungibility of money means that they can not only put that towards humanitarian stuff, but whatever they free up can go to rebuilding their military.
It can go to Hezbollah, in fact, and can go to their other proxies to support this conflict. And look, I talked about this conflict, I know we’ve been focused on the last, what, three, four, five months, but in my view this began on October 7th, 2023 when Hamas entered Israel and slaughtered, murdered, over 1200 Israelis. It was the next day that Hezbollah attacked Israel, and all of this was funneled, fueled, inspired, supported by Iran. So this conflict goes back more than four months, certainly back to October 2023, and in my view, knowing this history, since 1979, 47 years.
GARRETT HAAKE:
Yeah, and that’s the way the President frames it as well. Mr. Secretary, I want to read you something that you wrote in your book. You write, quote, “This is one of the mysteries of Donald Trump as Commander in Chief. Sometimes he would express concern about being drawn into a conflict, and he was always talking about getting out of the endless wars. In the same vein he would call off strikes we’d already agreed to. At other times, like now, he would complain we were not being tough enough and would want the most agreement options possible. His views on the use of force swung back and forth like a pendulum, even though a pendulum has some predictability. This President rarely gave us much at all.” You obviously saw President Trump as an unpredictable Commander in Chief. Do you think that has been an advantage for him or a disadvantage for him?
FMR. SEC. MARK ESPER:
Unpredictability can certainly be an advantage when you’re dealing with your adversaries, that’s true. And one thing I concluded as well, I wrote about, is that he was sincere with regard to not wanting to get involved into wars. So I question now whether advisors or others are recommending something different or recommended something different which launched this attack in late February. But he’s been true, as my experience with him was, to not getting involved in foreign wars. He just really despised conflicts, extended conflicts, and was much more keen on how do we, you know, improve other’s economies? How do we improve the United States economy? You know, how do we find a big deal that benefits everybody? That was more of his thrust and his push.
GARRETT HAAKE:
Well, with that being said then, do you think this war with Iran was a war of choice? Did he choose this war? Or was it a war of necessity?
FMR. SEC. MARK ESPER:
Well, I saw in the early days when the President first launched this in February, I saw a strategic opportunity. Clearly the administration saw that Iran was rebuilding its air defenses, rebuilding its missile and drone stockpiles, and doing other things that I think warranted, at least, you know, suggested, it would make sense to attack Iranian military facility sites and so on. I think the challenge was we kind of got over our skis with regard to the expectations of the conflict, talking about regime change.
GARRETT HAAKE:
Right.
FMR. SEC. MARK ESPER:
Talking about unconditional surrender, talking about picking the next Ayatollah, all those things I think set up in the minds of the Iranians at least that this was all or nothing, that this time around we were going to go after completely wiping out the regime. Their backs were put against the wall and, of course, when you face that situation, which for them meant, you know, their lives, their livelihoods, everything, that they were going to fight to the bitter end and pull out whatever plugs they needed to to stay alive. And in this case it meant threatening and blocking the Strait of Hormuz.
GARRETT HAAKE:
Which is exactly what we saw. You also wrote in your book that you were fired for not being loyal. The Chief of Staff at the time told you, quote, “The President’s not happy with you, he feels yeah haven’t supported him enough,” and added, “You aren’t sufficiently loyal.” Given what happened to you, do you think that those serving the President right now are putting their loyalty first to the President or to the Constitution?
FMR. SEC. MARK ESPER:
(DISTORTS) That’s a tough question. I’m sure (UNINTEL) what’s going on and answer those questions, but I have no insights on that.
GARRETT HAAKE:
Do you trust that the President is being given advice by people who think their loyalty is to the Constitution?
FMR. SEC. MARK ESPER:
I don’t see that the President is always getting good advice, and so I think that’s the question to ask. I think Republicans on Capitol Hill have asked that same question, “Is the President getting the best advice with regard to these strategic matters?”
GARRETT HAAKE:
All right, Secretary Esper, we have to leave it there. Thank you for coming on, and thank you for joining us on Meet the Press today.
FMR. SEC. MARK ESPER:
Thank you.
GARRETT HAAKE:
And when we come back, President Trump is facing criticism from both the right and the left over his new Iran deal. The panel is next.
GARRETT HAAKE:
Welcome back. The panel is here. Susan Glasser, staff writer for The New Yorker, Bloomberg Opinion columnist Nia-Malika Henderson, Republican strategist Sara Fagen, and Jeh Johnson, former Secretary of Homeland Security under President Obama. Welcome to you all. And Susan, I’ll start with you. You heard me talking about the war and its potential endings and alternatives with some of our guests. Was this ultimately the only way to end this war?
SUSAN GLASSER:
Well, look, Donald Trump started out the war a little bit more than 100 days ago saying that he was going to obliterate the Iranian nuclear program that had already been obliterated, according to him. He said he was going to change the regime, he said he was never going to end it except with unconditional surrender. What’s remarkable is that in Washington, across the Middle East, this week, the question is whether it was the United States itself that engaged with a form of unconditional surrender. The terms of this agreement, we can talk about them, essentially are very favorable to the Iranians. They come away with far more ability to control the strategic territory of the Strait of Hormuz. They come away from it with both Israel and America as partners in the Gulf being extremely concerned that they’ve empowered America’s enemy. And by the way, the United States has spent billions of dollars, tens of billions of dollars, on the conflict, in order to get us to a place that arguably is much worse than where we started.
GARRETT HAAKE:
Well and you heard Secretary Esper say we may only be in the second quarter of this, so there’s more still to come. Nia-Malika, this has now become JD Vance’s problem to solve. You heard the President as he was leaving the G7 earlier this week joking, maybe not joking–
NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON:
Right. Yeah.
GARRETT HAAKE:
– that he would blame Vance if ultimately this turns into a failure. How much of a political risk is this for JD Vance, and we’re 33 minutes into the program, this’ll be the first mention of Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State, who’s been nowhere near this deal.
NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON:
Yeah, strategically, I think, in some ways Marco Rubio has not bene anywhere near this deal. The President sounded like he was joking, this is something that he said in April as well.
GARRETT HAAKE:
Yeah.
NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON:
It’s also something that the Conservative chattering class has picked up too. If you watch Fox News a few folks on that network have talked about Vance giving bad advice to the President. I think the problem for Vance with this is that MAGA did not like the war, right, you have this fracturing. And then you have GOP hawks who also don’t like the settlement, the surrender, as some people are calling it. We’ll see where it lands. But here you have Vance who is trying to be the heir apparent to Donald Trump, now taking on the mantle of, I think, what might be Donald Trump’s biggest strategic blunder as President. I think it also underscores traits that JD Vance has as a politician that aren’t great, right? He is seen as a shape-shifter. He has, in fact, been one, changing his position to amass more power often. The other thing, I think, about JD Vance that folks pick up on is that there’s a kind of mansplaining quality to him--
GARRETT HAAKE:
Yeah.
NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON:
– when he talks about any number of things. I mean, he’s sort of mansplaining to the Pope, even, about faith, and here he is sort of mansplaining to Republicans and to the American public about why this deal has been a good thing so far. Again, we’ll see where that goes. But this has just not been a good, I think, position for him. His people will say, “Well, listen, if there is in fact a peace deal and he is the broker of the peace deal that’ll be good.” But it’s hard to see that. And I think it really exposes he isn’t a very experienced politician either.
GARRETT HAAKE:
Yeah.
NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON:
And so I think all those things are going to be exposed over the next many months.
GARRETT HAAKE:
High risk —
NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON:
Yeah.
GARRETT HAAKE:
– high reward. This brought up criticism from both sides of the aisle, Jeh, including from your former boss President Obama who does not weigh in on every day-to-day political story, but he did here. I’m going to play a little bit of what he told Craig Melvin about this deal. Let’s listen.
[BEGIN TAPE]
FMR. PRES. BARACK OBAMA:
We’ve now fought a war, spent billions, and billions of dollars, you know, put enormous strain on our military, a lot of people have died, and it feels like we’re back where we were before we started the war except maybe a little bit worse off.
[END TAPE]
GARRETT HAAKE:
Do you agree with that assessment?
JEH JOHNSON:
He’s right. Susan’s right. Any objective analysis of this 14 point deal has to lead one to conclude that we’re worse off than we were the day before this war started. We’re worse off than we were when the JCPOA was in place. The deal outlines that Iran reaffirms, use of the word “reaffirms,” its pledge not to procure or develop a nuclear weapon. They had pledged that before. The deal includes $300 billion in reconstruction funds for Iran, presumably from the Gulf States.
GARRETT HAAKE:
That’s right.
JEH JOHNSON:
The US agrees to take the sanctions off all Iranian funds, 13 service members died. Let’s not forget that there were over 100 school children who were killed on the first day of this war apparently by a US missile. And perhaps most significantly Iran has discovered this new muscle, the use of turning the Strait on and off with the flip of a switch.
GARRETT HAAKE:
Yeah.
JEH JOHNSON:
Which in my judgment has greater potency than any prospect that they might develop a nuclear weapon in the future. And it’s obvious to me that at some level President Trump realized that this war he got us into he needed to get us out of on any terms possible. He will certainly claim victory--
GARRETT HAAKE:
Yeah.
JEH JOHNSON:
— here, but you look at this thing objectively and you realize that this has cost us a lot more than it’s benefited us.
GARRETT HAAKE:
Yeah, and I think the President’s read on the political expediency of getting out now is certainly a big part of this. Sara, there’s been obviously significant, or what amounts to, significant Republican criticism of this deal too, including this from some Senate Republicans. Let’s listen.
[BEGIN TAPE]
SEN. BILL CASSIDY:
Iran’s left stronger.
SEN. JOHN CORNYN:
Everything I’ve heard about it causes me concern.
SEN. TED CRUZ:
I think unfortunately the president is receiving some really bad advice on this deal.
SEN. JOSH HAWLEY:
I wouldn’t want to give Iran any money.
[END TAPE]
GARRETT HAAKE:
Now that’s not going to go down in history as the most strident political criticism ever, but from Senate Republicans to this president it’s pretty strong. How far do you think Senate Republicans are willing to go to push back on this deal?
SARA FAGEN:
Well, I think a lot of it depends on what happens in the coming weeks as we get —
GARRETT HAAKE:
Yeah.
SARA FAGEN:
— into this negotiation. You know, if it turns out that Iran really does get rid of its enriched uranium, or it gets rid of missiles, and Israel’s not as much at threat as they have been to date, you know, perhaps the administration has the room to run with that this is going in a good place. However, we have been dealing with a regime that has lied to us for nearly 50 years. If the uranium remains in the country and has the prospect of becoming a nuclear weapon, if there are missiles, which there’s no mention in this agreement about.
GARRETT HAAKE:
No, and the fact that the president —
SARA FAGEN:
Yes.
GARRETT HAAKE:
– said on Wednesday —
SARA FAGEN:
Yes.
GARRETT HAAKE:
— he’s fine with them having ballistic missiles still.
SARA FAGEN:
Well, that puts our neighbors and allies at risk. And I think to Jeh’s point, and I think if the Strait of Hormuz becomes an economic weapon, which it had not been previously, and they have the right to charge passage or turn it on and off, that is strategically very problematic. And Republicans will continue to criticize if that is the case, and they should.
GARRETT HAAKE:
This all comes as we’re learning more about the decision-making process that got into this war in the first place. There’s this great new book from The New York Times, Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, that talks about the process to get here. And I want to read, Susan, I’ll read you an excerpt here. They write, “Several administration officials believed early on that Trump’s presidency would be over if they allowed themselves to be drawn into a conflict with Tehran. Were that to happen, at least one of those officials vowed to others that they would resign.” Susan, so how do we think this war has changed the Trump presidency? I don’t know that we’ve seen that resignation.
SUSAN GLASSER:
Yeah. Please don’t hold your breath.
GARRETT HAAKE:
Yeah.
SUSAN GLASSER:
Because I would be concerned about you.
GARRETT HAAKE:
Thank you for your concern.
SUSAN GLASSER:
You know, the bottom line is, you know, you play these clips of these Republican Senators, they’re concerned, they’re worried about it, they’re watching it. You know, we’re familiar enough with this dynamic 10 years in. You know, the Republicans are not going to, in a meaningful way, provide a check on Donald Trump. That’s the lesson in this —
GARRETT HAAKE:
Yeah.
SUSAN GLASSER:
— whether they’re serving inside his administration or on Capitol Hill. And I think it is really remarkable to hear this sort of, you know, “Oh, if only the Czar had, you know, better advice.” The bottom line is it’s Donald Trump’s sort of erratic and chaotic decision-making here that is increasingly at issue. And I think it’s one of the reasons that, you know, you’ve seen Trump’s numbers just absolutely crater, including from many Republicans, Republican-leaning independents. Right now, you know, it’s that political pressure he faces because people are looking at a now 80 year old president and wondering how is it possible that this man who claims that he has unchecked powers is going here. Just one final point —
GARRETT HAAKE:
Please.
SUSAN GLASSER:
— on the negotiations, you know, again, just as it’s unlikely that Republican Senators are going to en masse, you know, sort of draw a line here and say, “Absolutely you cannot pass with this deal,” it’s extremely unlikely and we should not be credulous to think that there’s going to be some miraculous settlement of the Iranian nuclear program. It took two years of intensive negotiations, remember, for Obama to get that JCPOA.
GARRETT HAAKE:
Right, I mean, we’re looking at, like, a two-page outline here. I mean, this is not a lengthy deal at the end of the day. Nia-Malika, to that point about the president saying he has basically unlimited or unchecked power, you heard it in the sound bite there at the top, what do you think this war has done to show what the limits or not of his power is? On the one hand he totally ran over Congress. On the other hand he’s watching his approval numbers plummet.
NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON:
Yeah. Listen, I mean, looking for a check is essentially what Democrats will run on, right, checking this president. I think his comments there, if you’re a Democrat, you should run that in a campaign ad because it speaks to what this president is lacking, right? There is no check, to Susan’s point, from Republicans. The courts have done some of that, and you’ve seen that happen over the last couple of weeks in many different scenarios, but he has greatly expanded his use of power, the way he uses it, in ways big and small. From compelling Coke to put cane sugar in their product, to obviously what he’s done at the Kennedy Center, some checks there as well, you saw Joyce Beatty make a move against him. But yes, I mean, I think we have seen a president has used his power in an expansive way, and in a huge and massive way, that we haven’t seen in our lifetimes.
GARRETT HAAKE:
He’s also willing to flaunt it in ways that we’re not used to seeing.
NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON:
Right.
GARRETT HAAKE:
Like the Qatari Air Force One plane that was unveiled this week. I think we have some pictures of the president checking it out. I mean, Jeh, is this an appropriate use of a couple hundred million dollars worth of taxpayer resources here?
JEH JOHNSON:
Well, in fact, the two 747s that the president uses as Air Force one are 35 years old, but —
GARRETT HAAKE:
Right. I don’t think there’s any debate that those needed to be--
JEH JOHNSON:
Correct.
GARRETT HAAKE:
— replaced.
JEH JOHNSON:
And there are new ones on the way. This very Trump-like 747 is supposed to be a bridge between now and when the new US government paid aircraft come off the line. But it, you know, this is a gift not to the US government, this is a gift to President Donald J. Trump, there’s no doubt about that. And in my judgment it violates the spirit, if not the letter, of the Emoluments Clause in the U.S. Constitution which says, “No U.S. government official should accept a gift from a foreign government.” You mentioned something earlier to Cory Booker about a turning point in Republican attitudes to all of this. I really do think with their objections to the weaponization fund, with the endorsement of Ken Paxton over John Cornyn who was very well-liked in the Senate, Republicans, and we’re seeing this now, are beginning to speak out, object, to a lot of, some of what President Trump’s doing right now.
GARRETT HAAKE:
And that’s a perfect set up, Sara, I want to get you to react to that. I mean, do you see any of this as a potential turning point? Any of this as a bridge too far?
SARA FAGEN:
Well I think the closer you get to elections, you know, when things look tough, the more likely you are to see members of Congress start to look around and be more critical of their incumbent president. We see that on both sides of the aisle.
GARRETT HAAKE:
Sure.
SARA FAGEN:
We experienced this in 2006 when we were in an also unpopular war, and Republicans were up in a tough situation, started to become much more critical of President Bush at the time. So it’s normal and so you would expect it. And this deal that is — has a lot to be determined gives them something, you know, certainly to talk about.
GARRETT HAAKE:
Well then stay tuned. And we have got more to talk about, our panel is all sticking around. But when we come back all the living former presidents gathered in Chicago for the opening of the Obama Presidential Center. We look back at Barack Obama before he reached the White House. Our Meet the Press Minute is next.
GARRETT HAAKE: Welcome back. This week the Obama Presidential Center opened to the public in Chicago, a lasting tribute to the nation’s 44th president. But long before the White House, Barack Obama was a little-known Illinois state senator who burst onto the national stage with his keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. Just months later, after winning his election to the U.S. Senate, Obama joined Meet the Press to talk about a theme that would come to define his political career, bridging divides and finding common ground.
[BEGIN TAPE]
SEN.-ELECT BARACK OBAMA:
I absolutely think that it’s possible for us to find common ground. You know, the president called me this week, he was extraordinarily gracious in congratulating me. We both agree that our wives are sharper than we are, which was nice. And my sense is that if we can disagree without being disagreeable. And if we’re not involved in the sort of slash and burn politics that I think has become the custom in Washington, but we seek out common ground on the enormous challenges that we face ahead, whether it’s the global economy that Karl Rove just mentioned, and how we make sure that the middle class is, in fact, sustainable in this global competition, or we’re talking about how we provide the education that our children need so that they can succeed, those are issues where we all share, I think, success. And one of the things I told the president was that we all have a stake in seeing him have a successful presidency. I don’t think that the Democrats succeed by rooting against the president in office. But we have to be honest where we disagree with him, and he’s got to make his case where he’s presenting issues that we’re skeptical about.
[END TAPE]
GARRETT HAAKE:
And when we come back, new signs Democrats may be gaining ground in the fight for control of Congress. More with the panel is next.
GARRETT HAAKE:
And welcome back. The panel is still here. We’re going to talk about the midterms. I can’t believe it, we’re only four and a half months away. I keep saying six months like we’re frozen in time.
SUSAN GLASSER:
Yep.
GARRETT HAAKE:
But it’s moving. And this week the Cook Political Report moved six Republican-held seats in Democrats’ favor. Nia, what’s the — do Democrats just have the inside track here? What’s your assessment?
NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON:
Yeah, I think they do. And I think they’ve had the inside track for a while, even given the redistricting, which does give the edge to Republicans. At this point, they’re about six points ahead on the generic ballot. That’s about where they were in 2018. 2018, it was a gain of 40 seats. They’re not going to get 40 this go-around. They obviously only need three. So I think the House, they’ll do well. The Senate is the open question, right? And you sort of see why given Cory Booker’s response, right, when he talks about whether or not he’s going to, he’s going to campaign for Platner in Maine.
GARRETT HAAKE:
Sounds like a no, you know?
NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON:
It sounds like a no. And so this, I think, is going to be a real weakness, because I think Democrats’ chances to the Senate certainly run through Maine. And Susan Collins, as Democrats have seen time and time again, is a real tough out. So that’s what I — you know, maybe 35% to 40% chance of taking the Senate. But I think for the House, much better chance.
GARRETT HAAKE:
So Sara, if Republicans are going to keep the House, how do they do it?
SARA FAGEN:
Well, I think structurally it’s just really, really difficult. I mean, you would need this Iran situation to get resolved quickly, and gas prices to plummet, and a bunch of other economic factors to change quickly. You know, the average midterm loss for an incumbent president is about 26 seats. And Democrats have their highest enthusiasm gap since 2006. There’s other parallels to that period of time. I remember them painfully well. I was sitting in the White House as political director. An unpopular war, a structurally sound economy, but maybe GDP weakening, unemployment strong, but consumer confidence weakening. I mean, you see these parallels. Housing market problem — problems. And it’s just structurally hard to see how it’s a great night for Republicans.
GARRETT HAAKE:
We have just a little bit of time left, but Jeh, I’d love to get you to reflect on the Obama Presidential Center. You know, speaking of 2006, what it was like to sort of relive those moments.
JEH JOHNSON:
I was with Barack Obama from November 2006, when he asked me to join his campaign, even before it started, to January 20, 2017, the end of his administration. I actually was a holdover that day, seven hours, 32 minutes, because I was the designated survivor. From where I sat in the Department of Defense and DHS, he degraded AQ’s ability to launch another large-scale attack on the homeland, began the destruction of ISIS, took out Bin Laden, the leader of AQ, took out Awlaki, the leader of AQAP. Repealed the dreaded “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law with Nancy Pelosi as leader in the House, and created DACA in 2012, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which to me is quintessential American values. DACA recipients today are in law school, some of the nation’s leading law firms. And elected a president of color, something I thought in 2008 I’d never see in my lifetime. He and his family served in the White House for eight years with honor, class, dignity, without a missed step, without any hint of scandal and represented a major step forward for our country.
GARRETT HAAKE:
Susan, can you in 30 seconds tell me what it was like to see those four former living presidents together?
SUSAN GLASSER:
Yeah, you know, nobody had to mention the name Donald Trump for it to be obvious that this was the contrast that we were seeing. And by the way, just personally, I am totally there for the Michelle Obama-George W. Bush –
GARRETT HAAKE:
It’s — it’s everyone’s favorite buddy comedy. The — I think you could sign them to Netflix and it would be a huge success. All right, panel, we’re going to leave it all there. Thank you so much for coming in on this Father’s Day weekend. Thank you for a great discussion. And before we go, I want to remind our viewers that Kristen will be sitting down with award-winning actress, producer, and mental health advocate Taraji P. Henson, for the first ever Meet the Moment Live event later this month in New York City. Right now we have a special offer for our viewers, if you use the promo code “MOMENT50” to get $50 off your ticket, while supplies last. You can scan that QR code you see there on the bottom of your screen, or head to MeetThePress.com for tickets and details. That’s all for today. Thank you for watching. Wishing all the dads out there, including my dad watching at home, a very happy Father’s Day. We’ll be back next week, because if it’s Sunday, it’s Meet the Press.
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