Trump escalates attacks on NATO

The Playbook Podcast

POLITICO

Politics, Government, Daily News, News

3.9 • 699 Ratings

🗓️ 9 April 2026

⏱️ 13 minutes

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Summary

President Donald Trump’s fresh barrage of attacks on NATO is raising new questions about America’s commitment to the alliance. Meanwhile, confusion around the U.S.-Iran ceasefire continues to cloud the global picture. And Democrats weigh whether the moment presents a political opening. Playbook’s Jack Blanchard and Adam Wren break down the NATO fallout, the state of the ceasefire and what to watch next.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Health plans work every day to shield Americans from high and rising costs by negotiating lower prices from providers and drug makers and protecting consumers against unexpected medical bills. Learn more at costconnection.org.
0:19.1	Today on the Playbook podcast, how's NATO doing?
0:23.4	Donald Trumpstown's pretty mad after meeting its leader last night.
0:27.1	How's the ceasefire doing?
0:28.4	No one really seems to know.
0:29.7	And how are the Democrats doing?
0:31.3	Can the opposition party take advantage of this war and peace?
0:35.2	Hello, I'm Jack Blanchard.
0:36.9	And I'm Adam Wren, and it's Thursday, April 9th.
0:41.6	Adam, we are just 48 hours from this crucial moment on Saturday morning. But before we talk about
0:47.4	J.D. Vance going to negotiate, it's Liverpool v. Fulham on Saturday. And I know that's the
0:52.4	only thing you care about right now. Am I right? That's right. No, I'm a big Fulham supporter Saturday, and I know that's the only thing you care about right now. Am I right?
1:12.8	That's right. No, I'm a big Fulham supporter, and I'm excited for this matchup, and I'm not sure that it will do much for either of us here in the overall table. I probably shouldn't spend too much time talking about English football on this podcast, but Adam is one of the few people I have met over here in DC who cares nearly as much about it as I do.
1:11.0	So these rare opportunities when our teams come back. English football on this podcast, but Adam is one of the few people I have met over here in D.C.
1:14.9	who cares nearly as much about it as I do. So these rare opportunities when our teams come together is always special for us. But yeah, I'm kind of dreading it. Let's talk about politics.
1:21.1	Adam, the president met with Mark Ruch, the Secretary General of NATO last night, and these guys
1:26.1	are good buddies. They get on really well. They're normally
1:30.0	very warm, very happy meetings. They normally invite the press into the Oval Office when they get
1:35.5	together there and they smile and laugh and chew the fat before the cameras. And none of that
1:41.1	happened last night. This was more than two hours, closed doors, no media access whatsoever.
1:47.8	And 20 minutes, 30 minutes after it finishes, Donald Trump gets out on Truth Social and starts attacking NATO again.
1:55.3	This looks like it went pretty badly to me.
	...

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