Jim Sciutto on Trump and 'The Madman Theory'
The Lawfare Podcast
The Lawfare Institute
4.7 • 6.4K Ratings
🗓️ 10 August 2020
⏱️ 48 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
During the Vietnam War, Richard Nixon employed an unusual scare tactic in his efforts to reach a withdrawal—he led Vietnam to believe he was crazy enough to start a nuclear war, an approach he described as the madman theory. From his first days in office, President Trump has employed his own madman theory, from menacing North Korea with fire and fury to threatening withdrawal from NATO, leaving not just adversaries, but also U.S. allies and even his own advisors unsure of what he will do next. David Priess spoke with CNN's chief national security correspondent and anchor of CNN Newsroom, Jim Sciutto, who has analyzed Trump's foreign policy through this lens and written "The Madman Theory: Trump Takes On the World."
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/lawfare.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | The following podcast contains advertising to access an ad-free version of the LawFair |
| 0:07.2 | podcast become a material supporter of LawFair at patreon.com slash LawFair. |
| 0:14.7 | That's patreon.com slash LawFair. |
| 0:18.2 | Also, check out LawFair's other podcast offerings, rational security, chatter, LawFair |
| 0:25.6 | no bull and the aftermath. |
| 0:55.7 | zł |
| 1:03.2 | . |
| 1:26.0 | in this and that's a question that is really unanswered for so many of these conflicts |
| 1:30.4 | What's the end game for Iran ? |
| 1:31.9 | So you got us out of a deal you didn't like the deal |
| 1:35.1 | fine |
| 1:36.2 | but they're closer to Obama than they were |
| 1:39.2 | they're more not less aggressive in terms of military aggression |
| 1:43.3 | In the region |
| 1:44.8 | So what's the . What's the end game and by the way, do you expect them to sit down at a table and trust the deal you sign? |
| 1:50.7 | Right having broken the previous one. This is this is the unanswered question for so many of these places |
| 1:56.4 | Okay, it's fine to reset and be tough |
| 1:59.5 | Where does it take you? |
| 2:01.5 | I'm David Prius and this is the Law Fair podcast August 10th |
| 2:06.5 | 2020 |
| 2:08.5 | During the Vietnam War Richard Nixon employed an unusual scare tactic in his efforts to reach a withdrawal |
| 2:15.5 | He led Vietnam to believe he was crazy enough to start a nuclear war an approach he described as |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Lawfare Institute, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of The Lawfare Institute and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.

