The Trump Report

NATO’s former Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe, General Sir Richard Shirreff, joins Maddie Hale to discuss Donald Trump’s “unhinged” Truth Social post on Easter Sunday, the US President sets a new headline for Iran to back down and what would happen if US troops refused Trump’s military orders to attack Iran’s infrastructure.

Professor Dan Plesch from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). Dan explains how the US military’s decades-long preparations for war with Iran appears to have been thrown off course by poor planning from the White House.Pulitzer Prize winning journalist David Cay Johnston spoke about conflicting reports from the US that the President has extended a pause on striking Iranian energy facilities and talks of deploying 10,000 troops to the region.Sir Bill Browder ,Head of the Global Magnitsky Justice Campaign and Russian finance expert, spoke to us on the Trump Report about Marco Rubio’s confusing comments over the United States objectives in Iran. Rubio failed to mention regime change or crippling Iran’s nuclear capabilities. Sir Bill Browder also spoke about Donald Trump’s continued pressure on the UK to help with the Strait of Hormuz crisis.

Dr H.A. Hellyer, senior fellow at the Royal United Services Institute and the Center for American Progress, joins Maddie Hale to discuss Donald Trump’s claims Iran wants a ceasefire, whether the US has “attained” the goal of stopping Iran from building a nuclear weapon and three world leaders hold national addresses on the same day. 

On this edition of The Trump Report, Fergus Macphee is joined by the former head of the British Army, Lord Richard Dannatt. They discuss Donald Trump's threat that he is seriously considering leaving NATO, his attacks on European allies and the response from UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer. They also look ahead to the President's address to the nation and what may lie ahead.

Former British Army Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon joins Maddie Hale to discuss the future of NATO, whether the US has achieved regime change in Iran and who will be left to open the Strait of Hormuz if the United States taps out of the war.

On this episode of The Trump Report, Fergus Macphee is joined by former US Army Officer, Lt Col Daniel Davis. They discuss where the US President can go next with the war in Iran, with reports of an invasion of Kharg Island, or even the long discussed special forces operation. Yet Daniel believes any of these options would lead to US casualties at great expense.

Retired Air Vice-Marshal Sean Bells joins Maddie Hale to discuss reports the United States is preparing troops for a ground invasion of Iran, what a high risk military mission to seize enriched uranium inside Iran would look like and former CIA counterterrorism officer Joe Kent says Trump won’t name Iranian contacts because they could be targeted, undermining negotiations.

Politico’s White House reporter Megan Messerly joins Maddie Hale to discuss whether high global oil prices will force western leaders to help the United States in the Strait of Hormuz.

On this episode of The Trump Report we unpick how war unfolds in a world where the US President launches major military escalations without an apparent day-after plan. Maddie Hale speaks to former Trump White House insider John Bolton, chemical weapons expert Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, retired Iranian diplomat Dr Mehrdad Khonsari and our regular guest Professor Scott Lucas.