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Sam Harris
Neuroscientist, philosopher, author and podcast host, Making Sense

Sam Harris on Trump's Iran Deal: A Fully Humiliating Capitulation

📅 Jun 25, 2026 Sam Harris 19 MIN 152736 VIEWS 19 SEGMENTS · 4 SPEAKERS
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Questions asked in this interview

2
  1. 1:21But before we play it, I just want to read a transcript of what you said in an episode back in May of 2025. Okay?
  2. 16:29you've been asking for a long time, what will it take for someone to regret their decision about Trump?
Host 0:00 ↗
Before we get to the Iran deal, and before you ruin the mood, we have to watch this hilarious clip that does a great job of summing things up over there. Let's play that clip.
Comedian 0:10 ↗
All right, I'm not sure why we're all still having trouble with this. Let's try it again from the top. This is a victory for the US because our goal from day one was for Iran to open the strait that didn't close until after we attacked, which was completely controlled by their military, that we had total dominance over, and it was a waterway that we could have taken over but instead asked for help that we didn't need. But we'll remember that our allies did not give us, all because of the negotiating power of a FIFA Peace Prize recipient's threat to annihilate a civilization in order to liberate them from a regime that changed, which was not our goal, but we will take credit for, from an old man who hates us to his younger son who hates us for those reasons and that we killed his father. And while it is not clear the status of Iran's nuclear capabilities that we obliterated last year, but were going to be a problem in two weeks, one thing is for sure: they now have more money and control of the strait than they had when they made the old deal that we ended because it was terrible. Now, I think that is enough about authoritarian problems.
Host 1:14 ↗
That's great.
Co-Panelist 1:15 ↗
I have never seen this guy before, but he's hilarious. That was fantastic.
Host 1:21 ↗
It was so well done. Okay, wait. One more thing before we get to your thoughts. I want to start this segment with a... I just want to get to a clip of you from June 1st of this year in conversation with our friend Hav Retiger, where you address any Jews who are single-issue voters for Israel who voted for Trump. But before we play it, I just want to read a transcript of what you said in an episode back in May of 2025. Okay? So if you follow that, you said in...
Sam Harris 1:47 ↗
May of last year. Okay.
Host 1:49 ↗
Last year, this is May of last year. You said he's not a reliable partner to Israel. He would sell Israel out for a hotel deal in Saudi Arabia. And then you went on to say, by the way, talking about Trump, if that wasn't clear, he's not a serious person. He doesn't actually understand anything. He has allegiances which are vulnerable to the next moment he feels personally slighted by somebody. Again, that was in May of 2025. And this clip is from June of this year, 2026. Let's play that clip.
Sam Harris 2:18 ↗
I believe I have a more realistic picture of who Trump is and how he's capable of betraying Israel. Right? So, any Jew who was a single-issue voter in America who thought, 'Okay, I'm going to take Trump because he's just going to be so good on Israel. He moved the embassy to Jerusalem. I mean, this guy is just all in for Israel.' I see him as a much more conflicted and superficial character than that. I mean, I don't think he understands the real issues of jihadism and Islamism. I think he's happy to glad-hand somebody who was a jihadist yesterday, like the current leader of Syria, just because he likes the cut of his jib and thinks he's telegenic. He'll cut some family... he'll figure out how to make a billion dollars by cutting some deal in Qatar and not care how much blood is on the hands of the people he's now in bed with. And I honestly think if the mullahs in Tehran had offered him, had bought a billion dollars' worth of his cryptocurrency, there might not have been a war in Iran, right? I just think he's that selfish and easily misled.
Host 3:32 ↗
Wow.

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Cite this transcript

APA, MLA, BibTeX
APA

Harris, S. (2026, June 25). Sam Harris on Trump's Iran Deal: A Fully Humiliating Capitulation [Interview transcript]. Sam Harris. CEOInterviews.AI. https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/3094993/

MLA

Sam Harris. "Sam Harris on Trump's Iran Deal: A Fully Humiliating Capitulation." Sam Harris, 25 Jun. 2026. Transcript, CEOInterviews.AI, https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/3094993/.

BibTeX
@misc{harris2026_3094993,
  author       = {Sam Harris},
  title        = {Sam Harris on Trump's Iran Deal: A Fully Humiliating Capitulation},
  howpublished = {Interview transcript, Sam Harris. CEOInterviews.AI},
  year         = {2026},
  month        = {jun},
  url          = {https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/3094993/},
  note         = {Speaker-attributed transcript with timestamps}
}