Is the world safer today after Trump bombed Iran?

Another Totally Normal Week in Politics... Take the quiz!

Welcome back to The Red Letter, reporting to you from Hudson, New York where I am taking a much needed weekend getaway after weekends filled with a No Kings Protests, a military parade, strikes on Iran, etc., etc. I’m happy to be looking at green things and soon enough, not my laptop.

President Trump has been furious about the intelligence leak suggesting that his Iran mission may not have accomplished much. Everyone is on his target list — Congress, the press — for daring to question the efficacy of the attacks. But is the world any safer today than it was a week ago? Sally Lockwood in Dubai and I break it all down with former National Security Council spokesperson Brett Bruen, who attended the NATO Summit in The Hague. Sally depicts answering a terrifying middle of the night phone from Dubai – considered one of the safest countries in the world, but just a few hundred miles from Iran.

“I got a call saying airspace has been shut, we think Qatar may be getting attacked tonight,” Sally said, recalling rocking her toddler to sleep while talking to the SkyNews desk. “I said ‘No, that’s ridiculous Iran would not be mad enough to attack Qatar.’”

And then within hours another one of the safest countries in the world, Qatar, was on the other end of an attack from Iran.

The next day Trump announced a ceasefire but it was immediately violated by both Iran and Israel. Bruen explains why its’s unsustainable since there are no clear mechanisms to enforce it.

Check out the latest episode of State of the World on Youtube or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Another Totally Normal Week in Politics: The Quiz!

Last week the question you all were most likely to get wrong was not surprising at all. You clearly were not channeling your inner Laura Loomer when you thought Tucker Carlson was positioning himself to run against JD Vance for President in 2029. Loomer accused Tulsi Gabbard of clinging to her anti-interventionist stance on Iran to serve her grander ambitions. In fairness, I’m sure they are all up at night thinking about how Trump’s engagement in the Middle East will impact their electability.

Here’s Another Totally Normal Week in Politics quiz. It’s behind the paywall for supporters of The Red Letter. As always, good luck! Leave your score and comments below. Thanks to Abi Baker and Luke Radel for crafting it.