Yeah.

So what I'm, w- I'm, I'm, I'm trying to highlight is basically Trump is setting us back in terms of the allied and partner agenda to counterbalance China, and it's going to take a long time to rebuild that trust that has been, um, built up over decades.

And even with a Democratic president or a Re- a Republican president who is friendly, the, the trends are only moving one direction.

And yes, there's a lot that can be done amongst allies and partners, so Canada working with Europe, work with, with Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Korea, et cetera.

Yes, that's, that's positive, and that's in many ways what CPTPP, that trade agreement is.

Um, but still, the, the sort of protectionist, mercantilist, um, approach to international relations is increasing from this, and that means that we are, in my view, less efficiently counterbalancing China.

Mm.

And they are like the, the, it's ...

I started by asking him why it is the Trump administration, by and large, has treated Australia in a more friendly manner than they have other traditional US allies like Europe.

I think there is a big difference in the United States in views of alliances in Europe versus views of alliances in Asia.

The alliances in Europe were fundamental to pushing back against the Soviet Union during the Cold War, and the Russia of today is very different than the Russia of the Soviet Union.

And I think, similarly, the China of today is very different than China of the Cold War.

So, in many ways, the U.S. allies in Asia, including Korea, Japan, and Australia, are more integral to strategic competition than the US allies in Europe.

And if anything, there's sort of a bipartisan consensus in the United States.

Both Democrats and Republicans have been critical of European allies not doing enough.

Do you think either of those requests have a prospect of eventuating?

US Studies Center research director Jared Monshein says that age alone can't determine who is qualified for the job.

There's a lot of different ways to think about who is qualified for being in Congress and who is not.

And, um, there's been, uh, especially when it looked like Joe Biden was gonna go against Donald Trump a second time in 2024, a lot of consternation about there not being age limits.

But at the end of the day, um, there's an argument to be made that age limits is basically unconstitutional, um, and, and, and, and un- undemocratic, um, because, uh, it, it, it prevents people who are otherwise qualified to run for office.

With the rising popularity of younger politicians like Zohran Mamdani in New York and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Jared Mondschein says some younger candidates are breaking through.

I mean, you only have to look at the increasing political weight of, uh, folks like what they call AOC, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who is looking like she very well, if not may run for Senate, could run for president.

Um, or JD Vance, who is still, um, in his, uh, in the early part of his 40s to, to run, be the next president.

So I don't think that somehow th- there's any real limitation to young Americans gaining access to office.

He, he almost became something of a Trump whisperer, really informing Trump's views, particularly most recently with, uh, the US military's engagement in Iran.

Yeah, that's, that's exactly right.

And it was all the more shocking because he and John McCain, the late senator from Arizona who ran for president in 2008, John McCain also became a huge antagonist to Donald Trump and would refuse to basically bend the knee for Donald Trump.

Whereas Lindsey Graham, who could not have been closer with anyone than more than John McCain, famously took a very different turn on Donald Trump.

And everyone was asking themselves in DC, "What happened to Lindsey Graham?" And his response time and time again was saying, "You know, I just have to move with the times, and I can actually do a lot more in the tent than outside the tent." And everyone knew that off the record, Lindsey Graham hated Donald Trump, but he just really went out of his way to champion him publicly because he thought he could be more effective that way.

You know? And just, like, it was so painful for all of his friends to be like, "Come on, you do not need to do this in public forum." And he's like, "No, I 100% need to, otherwise I'm gonna lose out." Like, he was against Jan six.

He was against what happened on Jan six.

What do you think his personal attributes were?

So can US-Israeli relations sink any lower, or is this just these two political bruisers punching it out?

I think this is, uh, more the latter.

I think US-Israeli tensions, especially with Benjamin Netanyahu, are not exactly novel.

Um, you only have to look at the Biden and the Obama administrations to see how much Benjamin Netanyahu in particular has had fraught relations with US presidents, including even Donald Trump in the first term.

Let's not forget that when Prime Minister Netanyahu basically congratulated Joe Biden on his election victory in 2020, Donald Trump was very angry about that and, uh, really remained angry for, for some time afterwards, but only more recently got back into his good graces after visiting him in Mar-a-Lago.

But even then, let's not forget during the Obama administration when we had a Republican-controlled Congress and Benjamin Netanyahu, without really seeking any approval from the Obama administration, spoke to Congress, and it was seen as a very public rebuke of the Obama administration.

So I think US and Israeli ties have faced tension in the past, but on the whole, you have to look at sort of the structural dynamics at play, and it is basically one of the few democracies remaining in the region.

What is happening when it comes to support for Israel, not only with inside, um, MAGA land and, and the Republicans, but across the US more broadly?

So can US-Israeli relations sink any lower, or is this just these two political bruisers punching it out?

I think this is, uh, more the latter.

I think US-Israeli tensions, especially with Benjamin Netanyahu, are not exactly novel.

Um, you only have to look at the Biden and the Obama administrations to see how much Benjamin Netanyahu in particular has had fraught relations with US presidents, including even Donald Trump in the first term.

Let's not forget that when Prime Minister Netanyahu basically congratulated Joe Biden on his election victory in 2020, Donald Trump was very angry about that and, uh, really remained angry for, for some time afterwards, but only more recently got back into his good graces after visiting him in Mar-a-Lago.

But even then, let's not forget during the Obama administration when we had a Republican-controlled Congress and Benjamin Netanyahu, without really seeking any approval from the Obama administration, spoke to Congress, and it was seen as a very public rebuke of the Obama administration.

So I think US and Israeli ties have faced tension in the past, but on the whole, you have to look at sort of the structural dynamics at play, and it is basically one of the few democracies remaining in the region.

What is happening when it comes to support for Israel, not only with inside, um, MAGA land and, and the Republicans, but across the US more broadly?

It doesn't look good.

Well, y- we, we have to clarify, it wasn't just any Roaring Twenties theme, it was a Gatsby party, which if you know the book, my favorite American novel, The Great Gatsby, you know that's maybe not the sort of imagery you want to be going for.

But yeah, I think what's important to note, um, is that, uh, a lot of Americans really suffered, uh, from this, and they suffer from these shutdowns, and not just any Americans.

Ba-- a lot of times the poorest of Americans who are on the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, or SNAP, which is basically food stamps, uh, for poor Americans, they, uh, were-- it was unclear when they were going to be able to get those food stamps or, or get money to afford food.

Um, you had hundreds of thousands of federal employees as well as at least maybe a million or more, uh, contractors, um, who were furloughed or just going without paychecks altogether.

This did not poll well for Democrats and Republicans.

Now, with that said, Republicans seem to in polling, um, be polling worse than Democrats.

And i-if it does kind of all get ticked off through the House, does that mean everything comes back online pretty quickly?