Lies and Liars - August 19, 2026

**Ana Kasparian** (0:12)
Welcome to TYT, I'm your host, Ana Kasparian. And we have a pretty big deal of a show ahead for you all.
Lots of stories to get to, the bond markets are going crazy. Yes, it has to do with the ongoing quagmire war against Iran. We're also gonna talk about the latest updates in the war against Iran and where Trump's head is at, which could change at any moment, obviously, because the guy has no idea what he's doing. I'll make that case in just a little bit. But in the bonus episode for our members, I will be interviewing Candace Owens today about both her debate with Andrew Wilson. But more importantly, some of the material that she has presented on her program, exclusive material that she got her hands on in this ongoing investigation that she's been doing. And while people just wanna brush her off as crazy Candace, these are usually people who don't ever engage with the material that she presents on her show. And I will confess that I've been a bit of a coward myself because I don't wanna deal with the heat that she's been getting. But I think I'm ready to deal with the heat because I think it's worth it. And I wanna show some of that material and more, again, in our bonus episode for our members, they will get all of that content first. And we will later post it for everybody on our various platforms. But members will get it first. And if you do wanna become a member, just go to tyt.com/join.
All right, well, without further ado, why don't we get started with some other news, including the latest in our war against Iran.

**SPEAKER_2** (1:51)
President Trump says there are no ongoing talks with Iran right now as tensions remain escalated across the region. Iran launching new attacks, reportedly firing two missiles at the UAE on Tuesday, millions forced to take shelter as a result. President Trump reiterating the Strait of Hormuz is still open and the US Naval Blockade is in effect.

**Ana Kasparian** (2:12)
Well, I mean, as usual, Trump is lying, okay? The disastrous quagmire war that we find ourselves suffering through, thanks to Israel, of course, continues to translate into the Strait of Hormuz remaining closed, it's not open. In fact, here's what's actually happening with the Strait.

**SPEAKER_3** (2:33)
Iran says the critical waterway will stay closed until the US meets certain conditions.

**SPEAKER_4** (2:41)
And let me make it clear, until America implements its commitment under the Memorandum of Understanding, including lifting the blockade on the release of frozen assets, lifting the oil sanctions, ending threats and military operations from all fronts, and other conditions that America has agreed to under the understanding, the Strait will not be reopened.

**Ana Kasparian** (3:06)
The Strait will not be reopened until the Trump administration agrees to the conditions set in the Memorandum of Understanding. Now, currently, Trump is pretending like he has chosen, he has made the decision to take a different approach in the war. Rather than reengage kinetically by striking Iran, Trump is holding out hope that Tehran will eventually cave to his economic pressure campaign. Now, I would argue that this approach is less about the administration making a strategic pivot and more about the fact that we've depleted our missiles and interceptors. Homeboys got no choice. Regardless, economic pressure through more sanctions is unlikely to work. Iran has been dealing with US imposed economic sanctions since the Iranian Revolution in 1979 And look, please, I'm just a dumb talk show host. Please don't take my word for it. As Political Reports, US ambassadors and other Middle East experts are skeptical that tightening the economic vice will force Iran to relinquish its desire to toll ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz and make the other concessions Trump is demanding to bring an end to the war.
Now, it would make more sense, in my opinion, to engage in diplomatic negotiations with Iran to get the Strait of Hormuz open again. But the ship seems to have sailed on that. Now, who would really trust the United States with Trump acting as erratically as he does? Former Middle East ambassador, James Jeffrey, who actually did serve in Trump's first term, even went on the record telling Politico that it's hard to believe there will be something decisive after 20 years of US sanctions and Iranian experience of going around them.
Even those close to Trump who are generally supportive of maintaining economic pressure on Iran are pretty wobbly in their defense of these sanctions. In fact, one former Trump administration official, who was granted anonymity by Politico, said the following. Quote, I think the economic pressure would need to hit them in new ways we haven't seen so far to change the mindset of the regime. Yeah, yeah, that's the ticket, more sanctions in different ways, yeah.