This is the Cato Daily Podcast for Tuesday, May 8th, 2018. I'm Caleb Brown.

The United States has decided to violate the terms of the Iran nuclear deal.

In doing so, the President has gone against the advice of much of his cabinet, past and present,

and the advice of European allies.

So what's the better deal that the president promised on the campaign trail?

Kato's Emma Ashford says it probably doesn't exist.

So many people who deal with foreign policy or who were in the Trump administration thought that the Iran nuclear

deal, whatever its flaws, it was something that was worth staying in.

European leaders came to visit Donald Trump

and said essentially the same thing.

This is a deal worth staying in,

and there are some economic consequences for European countries if the

United States does withdraw and the apparently the US has withdrawn so how to

what what are the fundamental you know salient reasons why the president decided to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal

This does not appear to be a decision driven by policy imperatives or even particularly by facts.

If we look as you say at the history of even people that were in the administration.

They all argued against withdrawing from it.

I'd say the, you know, the sort of community of experts

that studies arms control nuclear proliferation

are almost overwhelmingly against the US violating or

pulling out of this deal. It's basically Donald Trump in a very small

selection of advisors and some right-wing media that seemed to be pushing this and in his statement

...