Obama staffer Ben Rhodes on Iran negotiations and the battle for American identity

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🗓️ 27 May 2026

⏱️ 44 minutes

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Summary

Ben Rhodes was a speechwriter and Deputy National Security Advisor to President Obama. He spoke with Terry Gross about his experience negotiating with Iran during his time in the White House, and his read of the current conflict. His new book, ‘All We Say,’ is a collection of 15 speeches — from Ben Franklin to President Trump — about what it means to be American. He also reflects on collaborating with President Obama on one of his most impactful speeches, like the so-called "race speech."

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This is fresh air. I'm Terry Gross. One year and four months after Donald Trump began his first
0:06.4	term as president, he withdrew the U.S. from the nuclear agreement with Iran that was negotiated during
0:12.9	the Obama administration. Trump had repeatedly called it the worst deal ever. My guest,
0:19.4	Ben Rhodes, was part of the team involved with the Obama
0:22.0	administration negotiations. He was an Obama speechwriter and deputy national security advisor.
0:28.8	Through that deal, Iran agreed to have all its nuclear-grade uranium removed from the country,
0:34.9	but it was allowed to keep uranium enriched just enough to be used for
0:38.7	medical purposes. Now Trump has led us into war with Iran and has been trying, so far unsuccessfully,
0:46.4	to negotiate a deal that seems very similar to the one he withdrew from. Trump might be leading
0:52.3	us into more military action, this time in Cuba. The Obama
0:57.1	administration had negotiated an agreement with Cuba to begin normalizing relations and open the
1:03.3	doors to travel and trade between the two countries. Ben Rhodes was the lead negotiator with Cuba.
1:10.1	In Trump's first year in office, he said,
1:12.5	effective immediately, I am canceling the last administration's completely one-sided deal with Cuba.
1:19.5	Now President Trump is increasing the pressure campaign against Cuba. Ben Rhodes is now an opinion
1:25.8	writer for the New York Times, an analyst for MS Now, and co-host of the
1:30.7	podcast, Pod Save the World. His new book, All We Say is about the Battle for American Identity,
1:38.3	what it means to be American, and who gets to define it. The book collects 15 important speeches on the subject from Ben Franklin through Donald Trump.
1:49.2	Ben Rhodes, welcome to fresh air.
1:51.5	Terry, it's really great to be with you.
1:53.0	Great to have you on the show.
1:54.6	As we record this Tuesday morning, what's your understanding of what's been agreed to
	...

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