David Frum’s Unified Thesis of Trump’s Failings

About this episode

Harry Litman and David Frum discuss the personal failings of Donald Trump and their impact on his presidency and the U.S. war with Iran.

The U.S. war with Iran is not—despite promises from the White House—over. Nonetheless, premier national commentator David Frum is ready to declare a loser: Donald Trump. Together Harry and David piece through the interlocking personal failings of the president that foretold a winnable war against a far weaker enemy would become a debacle. And the two tackle how those traits shape Trump’s more successful pursuits: self-enrichment, going around the Constitution, and Mar-a-Lago-ifying the nation’s capital. Mentioned in this episode: David's columns: https://www.theatlantic.com/author/david-frum/ David's piece "Why Trump Lost": https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/2026/05/why-trump-lost-iran/687291/ David's podcast: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDamP-pfOskNgMNI1eg0pajQfRu-q3NUO Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People in this episode

Host: Harry Litman

Guest: David Frum

Topics covered

• Trump's failings
• U.S. war with Iran
• national commentary
• self-enrichment
• Constitution
• politics

Keywords

• Trump
• David Frum
• Iran
• politics
• failings
• self-enrichment
• Constitution
• Mar-a-Lago

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Atlantic

Books & works: Why Trump Lost

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