Victor Davis Hanson: Iran Has Only One Negotiating Chip Left: Their Survival

The Daily Signal Podcast

The Daily Signal

News, Government, Politics, Daily News

4.6 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 23 June 2025

⏱️ 9 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On Saturday night, June 22, President Donald Trump’s Operation Midnight Hammer sent a message to Tehran, and the world, that can’t be ignored. Seven Missouri-based B-2 bombers dropped 14 bunker-busting bombs on Iran’s Fordow nuclear site, while U.S. Navy vessels launched a barrage of cruise missiles at other strategic nuclear infrastructure. Victor Davis Hanson explains what just happened—and what could come next—on today’s episode of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words.” “ [Iran] must know that people are angry. That over 50 years, nearly, they spent a trillion dollars subsidizing the Houthis, Hezbollah, Hamas, the Assad dynasty. And for what? It's all up in smoke. And then they probably lost another trillion dollars, over 50 years, through sanctions and oil embargoes. For what? It's up in smoke. “ Right now the ball is in the court of Iran. Trump has said to them, you can come back and negotiate. But, what would they negotiate over? Their one card was that we have the specter of a nuclear bomb. So, you better come to us and talk. They don't have that anymore. At least not for the foreseeable future. The only negotiable item is whether they survive or not.” (0:00) Trump's Bold Military Move in the Middle East (0:57) Historical Context of U.S. Actions in the Middle East (2:23) Details of the Recent Military Operation (4:34) Potential Repercussions and Future Speculations (5:55) Iran's Next Move and Global Reactions (6:39) Israel and U.S. Stature Post-Operation 👉 This episode is sponsored by the Pepperdine School of Public Policy. Learn more: https://go.pepperdine.edu/dailysignal 👉Don’t miss out on Victor’s latest videos by subscribing to The Daily Signal today. You’ll be notified every time a new piece of content drops: https://youtube.com/dailysignal?sub_confirmation=1 👉If you can’t get enough of Victor Davis Hanson from The Daily Signal, subscribe to his official YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/victordavishanson7273 👉He’s also the host of “The Victor Davis Hanson Show,” available wherever you prefer to watch or listen. Links to the show and exclusive content are available on his website: https://victorhanson.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I made you think you was dream.
0:02.0	My name is Caden Sinclair.
0:04.0	Some people call us American royalty.
0:06.0	We were liars.
0:07.0	A new series on Prime Video.
0:09.0	We were happy. We wanted for nothing.
0:12.0	Based on the best-selling novel.
0:15.0	Something terrible happened last summer,
0:17.0	and I have no memory of what or who hurt me.
0:20.0	No one in my family will tell me.
0:22.7	When you're left for dead, you want answers. We Will Liars. New series, watch now, only on Prime Video.
0:29.9	June 22nd, this past Saturday night, Donald Trump ordered B2 bombers equipped with these
0:36.1	bunker busters. Fourteen of them were dropped on the Fodor nuclear site.
0:40.3	Cruise missiles from submarines then hit the other two.
0:43.3	Usually when an American president does anything in the Middle East,
0:46.3	it doesn't work out well.
0:48.3	Jimmy Carter failed 1980 rescue attempt.
0:50.3	George W. Bush, after the insurgency and the surge, I don't think Barack Obama
0:56.2	even recovered from that misadventure in 2011. Joe Biden's disastrous flight from Kabul,
1:02.4	so it doesn't have a good pedigree. And what follows from any air campaign is not necessarily good.
1:08.2	What Trump did was not 1991 First Desert War where it's a preliminary
1:12.6	to a ground invasion. And the question is what happens now?
	...

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