Clip: Will Trump attack Iran in 2026?

Jeffrey Goldberg: In the couple of minutes we have left, let's turn to what could be next week's pre-occupation, Iran. Large number of American ships heading towards the Gulf, you have different signals coming out from the White House at various points. But the Israelis now, according to their reporting, are believing that Trump is getting ready to do a massive strike on Iran. Do you have any sense of that, Steve, and why he would do it now?

Stephen Hayes: Yes, I think certainly looking at the preparations you're describing leads one to conclude that that's -- that he at least wants that as a live option.

Look, I think, depending on who you talk to, if you talk to some military officials, they will tell you that we weren't in a position to have done this weeks ago, in part because of what we were doing in Venezuela, but we were otherwise committed.

And in order to do the kinds of things that he wants to do, and, remember, Donald Trump cares as much about anything as looking tough, looking -- going big, looking tough, showing strength, we will soon be in a position to do that.

Jeffrey Goldberg: Right. Idrees, help us understand something. Trump is more a man of impulses than ideologies. And a lot of people around him try to create ideologies out of these impulses. But do you think that actually his inclinations are of essentially a 19th century imperialist?

Idrees Kahloon: You know, that he wants territorial expansion, he wants tariffs. He looks a lot like a McKinley sort of president. But this is the opposite of what -- people have tried to come up with ideas, ideologies of what America first actually means. In the first administration, it was something that was a lot more isolationist. And what we see now is that, you know, people like J.D. Vance, were really steeped in the kind of ideology propelling Trumpism. You know, they said, we don't want forever wars. There's no reason to get entangled in these kinds of disputes. They're now having to defend the president as he does regime change in Venezuela, as he strikes Iran maybe for the second time. You know, it's tough for them. You know, it's very much -- it's like the Rubio foreign policy as opposed to a Vance one.

Jeffrey Goldberg: Right. Peter, ten seconds, if he had gotten the Nobel Peace Prize, would we be involved in all of this?

Peter Baker: He did give it to him, right? Maria Machado gave it to him.

Jeffrey Goldberg: He got it from the people who made it.

Peter Baker: Well, he made the point that was somehow enough for him to stop being concerned about peace. He said that himself. And so we take him at his word.

Jeffrey Goldberg: Well, we're going to have to leave it there, but not for the last time we'll be talking about this. I want to thank our guests for joining me and thank you at home for watching us.