What Trump’s Address to the Nation Revealed

Editor’s Note: Panelists on Washington Week With The Atlantic joined to discuss growing opposition to President Trump’s attacks on Iran and what winning a war with unclear objectives could like.

Earlier this week, Donald Trump delivered his first national address since the war with Iran began more than a month ago. On Washington Week With The Atlantic, panelists joined to discuss the president’s remarks, and more.

“It’s always better for a president in a time of war to go to the public and explain what he’s trying to do, to explain the goals, to explain why it’s worth American treasure and lives,” Peter Baker, the chief White House correspondent at The New York Times said last night. But Trump’s address on Wednesday “did not feel like a speech a month into the war saying where we’re going to go from here, and I think it left a lot of people confused.”

Joining guest moderator Vivan Salama, a staff writer at The Atlantic, to discuss this, and more: Idrees Ali, a national-security correspondent at Reuters; Baker; Susan Glasser, a staff writer at The New Yorker; Michelle Price, a White House reporter at the Associated Press.

Watch the full episode here.