EPISODE · Mar 23, 2026 · 12 MIN
Trump's Bizarre Made-Up Iran Negotiations
from Mallen Baker: Faultlines · host Mallen Baker
President Donald Trump has form in claiming that he is in active negotiations with other leaders, or with countries, when the other parties deny any such thing is happening, and it turns out that they were right. So it's somewhat surreal to find him making exactly that sort of claim about the Iranian leadership, when there is precisely nothing you would expect could be achieved by doing so. Except that any excuse to delay an unviable deadline gives him more time to come up with more distractions. And any excuse will give the stock market a boost and oil markets a price drop - and that's enough for today's headlines. But it's hard to see how any of it turns into the off-ramp he's now obviously seeking. Let's discuss.
What this episode covers
President Donald Trump has form in claiming that he is in active negotiations with other leaders, or with countries, when the other parties deny any such thing is happening, and it turns out that they were right. So it's somewhat surreal to find him making exactly that sort of claim about the Iranian leadership, when there is precisely nothing you would expect could be achieved by doing so. Except that any excuse to delay an unviable deadline gives him more time to come up with more distractions. And any excuse will give the stock market a boost and oil markets a price drop - and that's enough for today's headlines. But it's hard to see how any of it turns into the off-ramp he's now obviously seeking. Let's discuss.
NOW PLAYING
Trump's Bizarre Made-Up Iran Negotiations
No transcript for this episode yet
Similar Episodes
Jun 20, 2026 ·19m
Jun 19, 2026 ·43m
Jun 16, 2026 ·49m
Jun 12, 2026 ·29m