Trump’s gamble in Iran
Post Reports
The Washington Post
4.4 • 5.1K Ratings
🗓️ 23 June 2025
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Over the weekend, President Donald Trump ordered strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities. His proxies insisted this was a simple one-and-done mission. But on social media Trump raised the prospect of regime change in Tehran.
Today on “Post Reports,” we hear from White House reporter Natalie Allison about how Trump made this decision and the divisions it is causing among his MAGA base. Plus, military reporter Alex Horton explains the operation and the consequences we could feel for years to come.
Today’s show was produced by Laura Benshoff and Emma Talkoff. It was edited by Maggie Penman and mixed by Sam Bair. Thank you to Andy DeGrandpre.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | President Donald Trump said he needed more time. |
| 0:04.7 | For days, he had been weighing whether to join Israel's fight against Iran with a strike |
| 0:09.8 | on Iran's nuclear facilities. |
| 0:12.2 | On Thursday, he said he might need two weeks to make that decision. |
| 0:16.5 | But that was apparently a ruse. |
| 0:19.0 | Strike plans were already in motion. Two days later, on Saturday, |
| 0:24.5 | the United States bombed Iran. Here's Trump addressing the nation after that attack. |
| 0:29.6 | Iran, the bully of the Middle East must now make peace. If they do not, future attacks will be far |
| 0:36.0 | greater and a lot easier. |
| 0:39.9 | Trump says the goal was to keep Iran from building a nuclear weapon. |
| 0:44.2 | He warned Iran not to retaliate. |
| 0:47.2 | But today, we're already seeing Iran fire back, targeting at least one U.S. military base in the region. |
| 0:55.0 | This is a fluid situation. |
| 0:57.8 | But what happens next and how Trump responds |
| 1:00.4 | will determine whether the U.S. becomes mired |
| 1:03.2 | in another protracted conflict. |
| 1:07.0 | From the newsroom of the Washington Post, |
| 1:09.4 | this is Post Reports. |
| 1:11.4 | I'm Colby Echowitz. It's Monday, June 23rd. |
| 1:15.6 | Earlier today, I spoke with White House reporter Natalie Allison |
| 1:18.8 | and national security reporter Alex Horton |
| 1:21.5 | about how the U.S. strike in Iran was carried out |
... |
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