WTH Is Going On In The Negotiations With Iran? Elliott Abrams Explains What The Hell Is Going On podcast

45:48

The aftermath of Biden’s open border policies continues to haunt America as the consequences of mass illegal immigration continue to snowball. Changing attitudes towards, net positive, productive legal migration reflects the sentiment stirred up by the surge in illegal immigration we experienced the last four years. How does this affect workforce participation and address population decline? What role does the welfare state play? How are foreign adversaries using this mess as an opportunity to establish influence operations through universities, social media, and in foreign born communities? Has something changed about the nature of illegal migrants to America? And where is an immigration reform bill in Congress to address these issues permanently? Nicholas Eberstadt is the Henry Wendt Chair in Political Economy at the American Enterprise Institute where he researched demographics, economic development, and international security in the Korean peninsula and Asia. He is also a senior advisor to the National Bureau of Asian Research, a founding board member of the US Committee on Human Rights in North Korea, and has served as consultant or adviser to the US Government and international organizations. His most recent book is the Post-Pandemic Edition of Men Without Work (Templeton, 2022). His demographic work on immigration focuses on societies facing population decline and the crucial role of skilled immigrants, both of which he addresses in his Working Paper, “America’s Immigration Mess: An Illustrated Guide.” Read the transcript here. Subscribe to our Substack here .…

What the Hell Is Going On

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#WTH: Can Trump Really Build a Golden Dome to Protect America? J.D. Crouch Explains 45:04

7 days ago45:04

45:04

Donald Trump has promised Americans that in three years, with the help of Congress’ “Big Beautiful Bill” and a $25 billion-dollar downpayment, his dreams of a golden dome protecting the nation will become a reality. Inspired by Israel’s highly successful Iron Dome, Trump has selected General Guetlein of the Space Force to lead the missile defense shield project, signaling a focus on space that is bound to ratchet up the arms race in the skies. With our adversary’s missile capabilities growing by the day, can a ‘golden dome’ save us? What does it mean for deterrence? And how much time and money will it take? Dr. J.D. Crouch has had a distinguished diplomatic career as a leader in national security and missile defense. Dr. Crouch served in the administrations of presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W Bush and George W. Bush as Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy, principal advisor to the Secretary of Defense on policy for missile defense, and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy. As an advisor to the U.S. Delegation on Nuclear and Space Arms Talks with the former Soviet Union, Dr. Crouch is a foremost expert in missile defense and serves as a Senior Advisor to the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Read the transcript here. Subscribe to our Substack here .…

What the Hell Is Going On

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#WTH Is No One in the Music Industry Standing Up for Israeli Hostages? Five for Fighting’s John Ondrasik Explains 42:53

14 days ago42:53

42:53

John Ondrasik is standing up for Israeli hostages in the best way he knows how. Having written and performed songs with strong social messages over the last several decades, he is responding to the horrors of Hamas’ October 7th attacks by rewriting the words to his hit song “Superman (It’s Not Easy)”. Ondrasik’s revised lyrics turn pain into resilience, but why aren’t other artists speaking out? Ondrasik has sung about 9/11, about Afghanistan, about Ukraine, and about terror attacks in Israel. But he is almost alone in the music industry. Why are artists so afraid to do the right thing, and stand against terrorism? John Ondrasik is a Grammy-Award nominated singer-songwriter who has spent the last several decades writing deeply personal songs with strong social messages in six studio albums featured in over 350 films, TV shows, and advertisements under his hockey moniker, Five for Fighting. Most recently, John has been using his platform to advocate for Israel and denounce the holding of Israeli hostages and the Oct. 7th attacks by the terrorist group Hamas. He has recently updated the words of his song Superman to highlight Israeli hostage Alon Ohel, and the other hostages still held by Hamas. Read the transcript here . Subscribe to our Substack here . Listen to Superman here .…

What the Hell Is Going On

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WTH: Chinese Spies Have Infiltrated Stanford. The Stanford Review’s Elsa Johnson and Garret Molloy Explain 48:22

21 days ago48:22

48:22

China’s Ministry of State Security has infiltrated and is conducting espionage at all levels of Stanford University. By law, all Chinese nationals are required to report back to the Chinese Communist Party on their research and daily activities when asked. Sometimes this spying is voluntary and conducted by those who wish to see America fall behind in the global tech race. Other times, Chinese nationals are coerced into spying on their school, friends, and teachers through transnational repression. How can universities and Congress work together to prevent Chinese espionage? And how is the Chinese government buying influence in American universities and American society writ large? Elsa Johnson is the managing editor of the Stanford Review and a sophomore studying international relations and East Asian studies. Garret Molloy is a staff writer and the business manager of the Stanford Review. He is a sophomore studying Hayek, economic history, and libertarian thought. Read the transcript here . Subscribe to our Substack here . Read Elsa and Garret's reporting here .…

What the Hell Is Going On

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WTH: Does Every Deportation Require Due Process? Jonathan Turley Explains 58:05

28 days ago58:05

58:05

America’s immigration law and system are broken. President Biden allowed millions of people to enter the United States illegally. And now President Trump is using obscure laws to try to fast-track a massive deportation campaign. Expedited removal and deportations without court hearings are legal and supported by the vast majority of Americans. However, members of Congress have the power to clarify immigration laws and fix a system clogged up by an influx of asylum cases – if they choose to use it. How many deportation cases actually require a court hearing? And how can Trump work with Congress to further his immigration agenda? Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University. At GWU, he is also the Director of the Environmental Law Advocacy Center and Executive Director of the Project for Older Prisoners. Professor Turley has served as counsel in some of the most notable cases in the last two decades, including the representation of whistleblowers, military personnel, judges, and members of Congress, and has testified before Congress over 100 times. His latest book is The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage (Simon and Schuster, 2024). Read the transcript here . Subscribe to our Substack here .…

What the Hell Is Going On

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WTH Is Going On With Antisemitism at Harvard? The Free Press’s Maya Sulkin Explains 42:55

5 weeks ago42:55

42:55

Harvard has finally released its 311-page report on the antisemitism Jewish students face on one of America’s most elite college campuses. The stories of Jews being forced to conceal outward displays of their religion, being shut out of academic and extracurricular spaces alike, and facing systemic harassment are horrifying. However, the intensity of the antisemitism at Harvard is also unsurprising. And the manner in which this report was released indicates the university has no real intention of fixing the root causes of Jew hatred on its Cambridge campus. How did Harvard University go from being a quarter Jewish to becoming a bastion of antisemitism? And how does foreign funding perpetuate antisemitism at elite universities? Maya Sulkin is a reporter at The Free Press . Before that, Maya was chief of staff of the FP. She started at the FP as an intern in 2021 while a student at Columbia University. Read the transcript here . Subscribe to our Substack here . Read Maya's article in the Free Press here .…

What the Hell Is Going On

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WTH Are Young Gen Z Voters Turning Conservative? The Yale Youth Poll’s Milan Singh Explains 45:09

6 weeks ago45:09

45:09

Gen Z may not be the liberal base of support many on the left hoped they would be. Today, there is a growing split between voters under 30, with 22-29 year olds favoring Democrats by 6.4 points and 18-21 year olds favoring Republicans by almost 12 points. As America’s youngest voters are growing up in the age of COVID lockdowns, social media, and cancel culture, conservative and MAGA ideology is emerging as the new counter-culture, giving young men in particular an opportunity to escape the world around them. How will the youngest voter cohort change the bases of both parties? And how will young voters change as they grow older? Milan Singh is the founder and Director of the Yale Youth Poll. Originally from Cambridge, Massachusetts, he is a junior in Pierson majoring in Economics. He has previously worked as a researcher at Slow Boring; a data science fellow at Decision Desk HQ; and social policy intern at the Niskanen Center. This past summer, he worked as a consultant for Blueprint and WelcomePAC. Outside of the classroom, he is one of the Opinion Editors for the Yale Daily News . Read the transcript here . Subscribe to our Substack here .…

What the Hell Is Going On

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WTH is Happening With Ukraine’s Peace Talks? Frederick W. Kagan Explains 55:05

7 weeks ago55:05

55:05

As President Trump continues to try to end the war in Ukraine, Russia is playing for time. For as long as the U.S. continues to support Ukraine, Russia’s military effort will remain weak and unsustainable. But if Russia is able to stall in negotiations, and degrade American and Western support for Ukraine, they could very well emerge victorious. How should Ukrainian leadership respond to continued American attempts at war-ending negotiations? And what are the consequences if America withdraws its support for Ukraine? Frederick W. Kagan is the director of AEI’s Critical Threats Project and a former professor of military history at the US Military Academy at West Point. He is the author of the 2007 report Choosing Victory: A Plan for Success in Iraq , which is one of the intellectual architects of the successful “surge” strategy in Iraq, and the book Lessons for a Long War (AEI Press, 2010). His Critical Threats Project, alongside the Institute for the Study of War, releases regular updates on Iranian activity in the Middle East, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and transnational terrorism on the African continent. Read the transcript here . Subscribe to our Substack here .…

What the Hell Is Going On

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WTH is Going On in the Negotiations With Iran? Elliott Abrams Explains 53:40

8 weeks ago53:40

53:40

Following a surprise Oval Office announcement by President Trump during Bibi Netanyahu’s trip to Washington, the United States has once again restarted negotiations with Iran over its nuclear weapons program. Thanks to Israeli attacks on Iranian air defenses and its proxies, coupled with crippling U.S. sanctions, Iran has never been weaker and America has never had more leverage over the Islamic Republic. However, Iran’s nuclear program is also significantly larger and more advanced than it was in 2015 or throughout the first Trump administration. What should Trump demand in a new nuclear deal with Iran? And is the administration’s current approach a recipe for success, or are they being played by the Ayatollah? Elliott Abrams is a senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, the Chairman of the Tikvah Fund, and the Chairman of the Vandenberg Coalition. He previously served as deputy assistant to the president and deputy national security advisor in the administration of President George W. Bush, where he supervised U.S. policy in the Middle East for the White House, and as Special Representative for Iran and Venezuela in Donald Trump’s first administration. His most recent book is If You Will It: Rebuilding Jewish Peoplehood for the 21st Century (Wicked Son, 2024). Read the transcript here . Subscribe to our Substack here .…

What the Hell Is Going On

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WTH Extra! Does Trump Have a Tariff Strategy? Dany and Marc Discuss 32:51

9 weeks ago32:51

32:51

On this episode of WTH Extra! Dany and Marc discuss Dany’s article, #WTH The Tariff Tsunami . No one should be surprised by Trump’s tariff war. The real question is, what is the President trying to accomplish? Some in the administration argue that the tariffs create leverage to bring about a myriad of free trade agreements the U.S. would not be able to get otherwise. Others argue tariffs will bring back American manufacturing. And some presidential advisors just seem to love tariffs for the sake of tariffs. Is Trump pursuing a radical free trade agenda? Or are these tariffs going to be a permanent fixture throughout his tenure? Read the transcript here . Read Dany’s article in the WTH Substack here .…

What the Hell Is Going On

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WTH: Are Nationwide Injunctions the New Lawfare Against Trump? John Yoo Explains 1:00:43

10 weeks ago1:00:43

1:00:43

President Trump’s executive actions are being blocked left, right, and center by federal courts issuing nationwide injunctions – or orders for the government to halt a given policy that judges deem unlawful. However, the constitutionality of these national injunctions is up for debate. Should the Supreme Court decide that judicial policy pronouncements are indeed unconstitutional, what will that mean for Executive power? Could it mean that Congress will need to resume doing the work it has shirked for years? And what will it mean for the Trump agenda? John Yoo is the Emanuel Heller Professor of Law at the University of California at Berkeley, a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a Senior Research Fellow at the Civitas Institute, and a Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution and Stanford University. Yoo was a law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, the general council of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and the former head of the Office of Legal Counsel in the Justice Department. His most recent book is The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Supreme Court (Regnery, 2023) with Robert Delahunty. Read the transcript here . Subscribe to our Substack here .…

What the Hell Is Going On

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WTH? A European Supreme Allied Commander of NATO? Kori Schake Explains 56:38

11 weeks ago56:38

56:38

President Trump is reportedly considering abandoning America’s longstanding role commanding NATO forces as Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), changing the U.S. combatant command structure, and canceling modernization plans for U.S. Forces Japan. While it’s true that Europe needs to step up to the plate on its own defense needs, abandoning the SACEUR position would place U.S. troops under foreign command, give Washington less leverage over our allies, and weaken deterrence. How can Trump better advance his goal of boosting European defense spending? And where can the Defense Department make cuts that bolster deterrence? Kori Schake is a senior fellow and the director of foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute. Before joining AEI, Kori was the deputy director-general of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London; a professor at West Point, University of Maryland, and Johns Hopkins University; and worked in the State Department, National Security Council, and Department of Defense. She is the author of Safe Passage: The Transition from British to American Hegemony , and a contributing writer at the Atlantic, War on the Rocks, and Bloomberg. Her upcoming book is The State and the Soldier: The History of Civil Military Relations in America . Read the transcript here . Subscribe to our Substack here .…

What the Hell Is Going On

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WTH: Britain’s Net Zero Push is Economic Suicide. Robert Bryce Explains 52:40

12 weeks ago52:40

52:40

UK residents are currently paying some of the highest prices in the world for electricity. How did Brits go from being an energy superpower to showering in the gym because it’s too expensive to heat water at home? Perhaps because both Labour and Tory politicians are banning the production and use of cheap hydrocarbons in the pursuit of a “Net Zero future.” How is Net Zero irreparably damaging Britain’s economy? And what does the UK example mean for other states attempting to permanently phase out hydrocarbons? Robert Bryce is an author, speaker, and film producer. He has been writing about energy, power, politics, and innovation for more than three decades and is the author of six books on the subject. His most recent book is A Question of Power: Electricity and the Wealth of Nations (PublicAffairs, 2020). Bryce is also the executive producer of the documentary, Juice: How Electricity Explains the World , and the co-producer of the docuseries Juice: Power, Politics & The Grid . He frequently writes on his popular substack robertbryce.substack.com. Read the transcript here . Subscribe to our Substack here . Subscribe to Robert Bryce’s Substack here .…

What the Hell Is Going On

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WTH is Going On With Trump, Tariffs and the Economy? Michael Strain Explains 56:01

13 weeks ago56:01

56:01

The fundamentals of the economy are strong. So why is the Dow Jones down and fears of a recession up? Perhaps because President Trump is rocking the economic boat by threatening tariffs on historic trading partners, only to rescind them the same day; taking a chainsaw to government expenditures when he should be using a scalpel; and talking about structurally changing the U.S. economy. Will Trump’s disruptive approach to the international economy enrich Americans in the long run? Or are the tariffs, and the flip-flopping, going to backfire? Michael Strain is the director of Economic Policy Studies and the Arthur F. Burns Scholar in Political Economy at the American Enterprise Institute. He is also the Professor of Practice at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University, a research fellow with the IZA Institute of Labor Economics, a research affiliate with the Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and a member of the Aspen Economic Strategy Group. Dr. Strain also writes as a columnist for Project Syndicate. Read the transcript here . Subscribe to our Substack here .…

What the Hell Is Going On

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WTH Canada Would Be a Terrible 51st State. Colin Dueck Explains 56:48

14 weeks ago56:48