Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
While much of the world has welcomed news of a fragile cease-fire in the Middle East, one group feels the White House pulled out too soon: Iran hawks. John Bolton argues that the administration should have used its military momentum to not only secure maritime trade but also to, once and for all, take out the Iranian regime. Anything else risks destroying U.S. credibility and security, he says.
Bolton served as national security advisor in the first Trump administration before falling out with the president. Bolton joined FP’s Ravi Agrawal, who has argued Trump is losing the war, for a debate.
Watch the interview on FP’s site: foreignpolicy.com/live/bolton-iran-trump-cease-fire
0:00 Intro
1:50 Trump was wrong to de-escalate
3:24 The case for regime change
10:56 Are the costs worth it?
13:27 Do the American people want this?
16:47 The JCPOA
19:10 The loss of U.S. soft power
21:23 Trump’s objectives aren’t clear
23:55 Trump doesn’t listen to expertise
26:42 The U.S. should have been prepared
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While much of the world has welcomed news of a fragile cease-fire in the Middle East, one group feels the White House pulled out too soon: Iran hawks. John Bolton argues that the administration should have used its military momentum to not only secure maritime trade but also to, once and for all, take out the Iranian regime. Anything else risks destroying U.S. credibility and security, he says.
Bolton served as national security advisor in the first Trump administration before falling out with the president. Bolton joined FP’s Ravi Agrawal, who has argued Trump is losing the war, for a debate.
Watch the interview on FP’s site: foreignpolicy.com/live/bolton-iran-trump-cease-fire
0:00 Intro
1:50 Trump was wrong to de-escalate
3:24 The case for regime change
10:56 Are the costs worth it?
13:27 Do the American people want this?
16:47 The JCPOA
19:10 The loss of U.S. soft power
21:23 Trump’s objectives aren’t clear
23:55 Trump doesn’t listen to expertise
26:42 The U.S. should have been prepared
On the go? Listen to FP Live as a podcast at link.chtbl.com/foreignpolicylivepodcast or wherever you get your podcasts.
FP Live is Foreign Policy's forum for live journalism that brings leading foreign-policy experts and thinkers together to analyze the world's biggest events. Visit foreignpolicy.com/live for the full conversation and more live journalism from Foreign Policy.
Subscribe to Foreign Policy's Youtube Channel: youtube.com/channel/UC1x_EgZtYkAzVavuONBrLZQ?sub_confirmation=1
Visit foreignpolicy.com to read the latest global news and analysis from FP.
Follow Foreign Policy:
X - twitter.com/ForeignPolicy
Instagram - instagram.com/foreignpolicymag
Facebook - facebook.com/foreign.policy.magazine
LinkedIn - linkedin.com/company/foreign-policy-magazine
TikTok - tiktok.com/@foreignpolicymagazine
