"You Can’t Have Sunlight Without the Sun": Does MAGA Survive Trump? | Victor Davis Hanson

**Guest** Victor Davis Hanson, Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution **Guest Bio** Victor Davis Hanson is a classicist, military historian and senior fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution, and a farmer who still lives in his family’s 150 year old home in California’s Central Valley. He has written dozens of books on ancient warfare and modern politics. His newest, The Counterrevolution: The Fall and Rise of Donald Trump and the MAGA Movement, is becoming a bestseller. **Show Summary** “You can’t have sunlight without the sun,” Victor Davis Hanson says, quoting a senior official on whether MAGA can outlast Donald Trump. Host Jon Slavet sits down with Hanson in his family home to discuss his new book, The Counterrevolution. They start with the midterms and why Republicans have failed to address affordability, then turn to the Iran war. Hanson argues it is not a forever war, citing 38 days of combat, 19 fatalities and a $40 billion cost, and he warns against negotiating with a regime he believes is near collapse. The conversation moves to the threat from within: Tucker Carlson, Thomas Massie and Marjorie Taylor Greene, the antisemitic fringe JD Vance must reject, and influence peddling around the White House. Drawing on Thucydides, Hanson explains how lawfare destroys the norms its users later need. He closes with the changes he says nobody talks about, from Latin America to NATO to military recruiting. **Chapters** 00:00 – Back at the Farm: A 150-Year-Old Home and The Counterrevolution 00:51 – Shaky Midterms: Prices, Affordability and Selling the Boom 03:40 – A Binary Choice: Democratic Socialists and a 50-50 House 07:00 – Is Iran Jacksonian? The War Seven Months In 08:37 – Cutting Off the Mothership: Hezbollah, the Houthis and Why Not to Negotiate Now 10:21 – “I Decide What’s America First”: Can MAGA Outlast Trump? 13:31 – Jilted Egos and the Groyper Problem: Why J.D. Vance Must Draw the Line 17:51 – Thucydides on Faction: Lawfare and Who Weaponized Justice 20:00 – The Critical 5 to 10%: Independents, Latin America and NATO 22:02 – The Undersold Wins: Military Recruiting and the Border **Connect with Victor Davis Hanson** - X: https://x.com/VDHanson - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/victor.d.hanson/?hl=en\\ - Official Website: https://victorhanson.com/ - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@victordavishanson7273 Enjoyed the episode? Subscribe to our podcast, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and join the conversation on Instagram and LinkedIn with the hashtag #stateofgoldpodcast **Connect with State of Gold** - X: https://x.com/realjonslavet - Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/company/stateofgold/about - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stateofgoldpodcast/?hl=en - Website: www.stateofgold.com