Chuck’s Commentary - Trump Gets A “Deal” While Throwing Himself A Party

<p>Chuck Todd opens on the surreal split-screen of a president desperate to manufacture a legacy: in the same stretch of days, Trump announced a "deal" with Iran, and hosted a UFC fight on the White House lawn. He argues the Iran deal is barely a deal at all &mdash; it's an agreement to begin a <em>new</em> negotiation, the diplomatic equivalent of trying to salvage a tie from a war that was always an own goal. The stated goal was to dismantle Iran's nuclear program; instead Iran never capitulated, will see roughly $24 billion in assets unfrozen along with oil export relief, and is essentially being paid off by the United States to reopen the Strait of Hormuz it closed in the first place. Chuck&rsquo;s verdict is blunt: Iran didn't win the war outright, but it absolutely humiliated the United States, the deal looks far closer to an Iranian victory than an American one, it pointedly excludes Iran's proxies and effectively bails out Hezbollah, and it may actually <em>increase</em> Iran's incentive to pursue a nuclear weapon down the line &mdash; assuming the whole fragile arrangement doesn't simply fall apart by Friday. The biggest loser of the entire episode, Chuck argues, is Bibi Netanyahu, who alienated a generation of Democrats and thought he could manipulate Trump only to get burned, much as Trump assumed Iran would fold as easily as he believed Venezuela would. He gives Trump exactly one piece of credit &mdash; at least he knew when to fold, because the outcome could have been far worse &mdash; before pivoting to the deeper, sadder story underneath all of it: a president obsessed with celebrating himself and desperate for lasting recognition, who wants to define popular culture, slap his name on the federal government the way he does his golf courses, and who threw himself a grotesque UFC-fight birthday party on the White House lawn that's terrible politics.</p> <p>Finally, Chuck hops into the ToddCast Time Machine to revisit June 17th, 1994&hellip; when OJ Simpson was chased by police in his white Ford Broncos. He argues that news executives learned that sensationalized news coverage could create a large, reliable viewership&hellip; and this would change the news business forever. He also answers listeners&rsquo; questions in the &ldquo;Ask Chuck&rdquo; segment.</p> <p>Link in bio or go to https://getsoul.com &amp; enter code TODDCAST for 30% off your first order.</p> <p>Protect your family with life insurance from Ethos. Get up to $3 million in coverage in as little as 10 minutes at https://ethos.com/chuck. Application times may vary. Rates may vary.</p> <p>&nbsp;Refresh your wardrobe with Quince. Go to https://Quince.com/chuck for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns.&nbsp;</p> <p>Timeline:</p> <p>(Timestamps may vary based on advertisements)</p> <p>00:00 Chuck Todd&rsquo;s introduction</p> <p>03:30 Trump announces deal with Iran,&nbsp;</p> <p>04:00 Trump hosts UFC fight on White House lawn</p> <p>04:30 White House lashes out at the Weather Channel for storm forecast</p> <p>05:15 Trump is trying so hard to leave his mark on history*</p> <p>05:45 Deal is basically an agreement to begin a new negotiation</p> <p>07:15 The Iran war was an own goal by Trump, can he salvage a tie?</p> <p>08:00 Goal was to dismantle nuclear program, Iran hasn&rsquo;t capitulated</p> <p>08:45 Iran says that $24B in assets will be unfrozen &amp; oil export relief</p> <p>10:00 Trump is basically paying off Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz</p> <p>10:30 Iran didn&rsquo;t win the war, but they did humiliate the United States</p> <p>11:00 The deal didn&rsquo;t include proxies, and bails out Hezbollah</p> <p>12:00 Deal looks closer to an Iranian victory than an American one</p> <p>14:00 Iran will now be more incentivized to get a nuclear weapon</p> <p>16:15 There&rsquo;s a real chance this deal could fall apart by Friday</p> <p>17:30 The biggest loser from the war/deal is Bibi Netanyahu</p> <p>18:00 Bibi has alienated a generation of Democrats</p> <p>19:00 Bibi thought he could manipulate Trump &amp; it burned him</p> <p>21:15 Trump thought Iran would be easy like Venezuela</p> <p>22:00 At least Trump knew when to fold, outcome could be worse</p> <p>24:00 Trump is obsessed with celebrating himself</p> <p>24:30 Trump is desperate for lasting recognition</p> <p>26:30 Trump wants to define popular culture himself</p> <p>27:15 Like his golf courses, Trump wants to put his name on the government</p> <p>28:30 Workers hid scaffolding when taking Trump&rsquo;s name off Kennedy Center</p> <p>30:00 The UFC fight at the White House just feels gross</p> <p>30:30 The UFC fight is terrible politics, people don&rsquo;t like it</p> <p>31:30 Trump threw his own birthday because nobody else would</p> <p>36:45 ToddCast Time Machine - June 17th, 1994</p> <p>38:00 The OJ Bronco chase overshadowed the Knicks NBA Finals</p> <p>40:15 The news business learned people came back for OJ coverage</p> <p>41:15 OJ coverage became a format for the TV news business</p> <p>42:15 Newsrooms felt financial pressure and OJ delivered ratings</p> <p>42:45 The OJ chase got Super Bowl level TV ratings</p> <p>43:30 The courtroom TV kept audiences coming back</p> <p>44:30 The trial became like a daytime soap opera</p> <p>45:00 CNN&rsquo;s ratings exploded during the trial, made huge money</p> <p>46:00 Fox &amp; MSNBC launched after seeing CNN&rsquo;s revenue</p> <p>47:00 News viewership became a daily ritual for millions</p> <p>49:30 Media sensationalized other stories the way they did OJ</p> <p>51:15 Coverage began amplifying divisions &amp; nationalized them</p> <p>52:45 The trial led to the Kardashian&rsquo;s becoming a media empire</p> <p>53:45 Trial created the attention economy that Trump mastered</p> <p>57:45 Ask Chuck</p> <p>58:00 Why are votes counts released before the final tally?</p> <p>01:01:15 Rick Jackson buying a crazy amount of TV spots?</p> <p>01:06:00 Could war powers vote give Trump an offramp for Iran?</p> <p>01:08:15 Why do our older leaders keep holding on to power?</p> <p>01:14:00 Are there dividing lines in the college sports bill?</p><p>See <a href="https://omnystudio.com/listener">omnystudio.com/listener</a> for privacy information.</p>