The Never-Trump Crowd Still Loves Middle East Wars
On this episode of The Time of Monsters, David Klion on neocons and the attack on Iran.
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The Never Trump Crowd Still Loves Mid-East Wars | The Time of Monsters with Jeet Heer
Over the last decade, centrist Democrats have diligent courted Never Trump Republicans, hoping that this cohort could help create a new consensus politics to oppose the MAGA coalition. From the start, this strategy seemed flawed: after all, this faction is very small and also carries a lot of baggage. In particular, neo-conservatives such as William Kristol and David Frum, now Never Trump stalwarts, were responsible for two of the biggest foreign policy disasters in American history, George W. Bush’s War on Terror and the invasion of Iraq.
Have this Never Trump conservatives learned from history? Alas, as my colleague David Klion points out in a recent column, many of them haven’t. Kristol and Frum are now cheerleading the attack on Iran (although to be fair their former ally Robert Kagan is more skeptical). I talked to David about the neocons and why they remain a pernicious force in American politics even if they vote against Trump.
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TEHRAN, IRAN – JUNE 25: An Iranian flag is draped from a building damaged during a recent attack by Israel near Milad Tower in Tehran, Iran, on June 25, 2025. The ceasefire that began on June 24 appears to be in effect between Iran and Israel. The two countries had exchanged missile fire daily for almost two weeks after Israel launched a preemptive strike on Iran’s nuclear program, military leadership, and other locations starting from June 13. (Photo by Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)
(Majid Saeedi / Getty Images)Over the last decade, centrist Democrats have diligently courted Never Trump Republicans, hoping that this cohort could help create a new consensus politics to oppose the MAGA coalition. From the start, this strategy seemed flawed: After all, this faction is very small and also carries a lot of baggage. In particular, neoconservatives such as William Kristol and David Frum, now Never Trump stalwarts, were responsible for two of the biggest foreign policy disasters in American history, George W. Bush’s Global War on Terror and the invasion of Iraq.
Have this Never Trump conservatives learned from history? Alas, as my colleague David Klion points out in a recent column, many of them haven’t. Kristol and Frum are now cheerleading the attack on Iran (although to be fair their former ally Robert Kagan is more skeptical). I talked to David about the neocons and why they remain a pernicious force in American politics even if they vote against Trump.
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The Nation Podcasts
Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.
Stopping the Iran War w/ Emma Ashford | The Time of Monsters with Jeet Heer
The US/Israel War against Iran is shaping out to be a much bigger mess than expected
even by critics. As it turns into a regional conflict that has embroiled more than a dozen
nations, are there any possible ways Donald Trump can be forced to pull back. I spoke
with international affairs scholar Emma Ashford of the Stimson Center about the war
and paths to peace.
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Even before February 28, the reasons for Donald Trump’s imploding approval rating were abundantly clear: untrammeled corruption and personal enrichment to the tune of billions of dollars during an affordability crisis, a foreign policy guided only by his own derelict sense of morality, and the deployment of a murderous campaign of occupation, detention, and deportation on American streets.
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