1067: Secret Podcast: Trump Won’t Stop—Because He Can’t Look Weak

The Next Level

The Bulwark

Politics, News, News Commentary

4.8 • 3.2K Ratings

🗓️ 27 March 2026

⏱️ 36 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

JVL and Bill Kristol—filling in for Sarah—discuss escalating Iran conflict, the risky push toward a wider war, and why the real damage may outlast the fighting. They also get into the global fallout—from threats to the petrodollar system to the collapse of U.S. alliances—and what a rushed exit might look like.

Transcript

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0:29.9	Hello, everyone. This is JVL here with not Sarah. Sarah's on spring break, but here with Bill
0:36.2	Crystal. And Bill, it's good to have you back on The Secret Show. It's great to be with you. I hear all the clicks as people leave. They wanted to see Sarah, you know. No, no, no, no. The book hasn't been promoted enough. They wanted another half hour. Another half hour on the e-book. Let's mention the title again and the fact that we can pre-order it.
0:55.8	Now, it's fantastic that people have stepped up on that, and it's great.
0:58.6	And it's going to be great, really.
1:00.0	And it's a great book.
1:00.8	So you did a great job editing it, but not that Sarah needs, of course, a huge amount of editing.
1:04.7	I've got to be careful how I say that.
1:06.0	Sarah will be upset.
1:07.5	But no, no, it's been, it's a, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, you. You're, it's, you. You're, you. You're, you. You're. You. You. You. You. You. I'm proud of her for doing it.
1:11.3	Me too.
1:11.9	Me too.
1:12.9	Okay.
1:13.6	So let's just talk about Iran stuff to start.
1:17.8	The two Iran things I want to talk about are invasion possibility and the elevation of J.D. Vance to be our top negotiator,
1:31.7	which I think is pretty interesting and seems to have been very canny on Iran's part to demand that they wanted to deal with J.D. Vance.
1:37.9	That shows a level of sophisticated understanding of American politics, which surprises me.
1:41.8	So I don't know.
1:50.3	Do you want to talk about the possibility of ground troops first, or do you want to talk
1:51.1	about J.D.?
1:53.9	Let's do Vance first.
	...

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