Printer? I Hardly Know Her!

**Jon Favreau** (0:20)
Welcome to Pod Save America, I'm Jon Favreau, I'm Jon Lovett, Tommy Vietor. On today's show, the Iran ceasefire officially expires just in time for Iran to potentially escalate the war. We'll talk about Trump's strategy of doing nothing, his decision to take out his frustration on South Korea, and his reaction to Jon Ossoff saying that all the president wants to do is, quote, travel with Natalie.
We'll also check in on the Senate map, specifically why Mary Peltola rejected Kamala Harris' endorsement and whether a stolen pen might help flip Texas. Then Tommy talks to Brian Poindexter, the union iron worker taking on Max Miller in Ohio. August 17th is Lovett's birthday and the day that the MOU of Versailles officially died.

**Tommy Vietor** (1:06)
Happy 50th, man.

**Jon Lovett** (1:07)
Boy. Yes.

**Tommy Vietor** (1:10)
It's a big one.

**Dan Pfeiffer** (1:11)
You don't look a day over 48

**Jon Lovett** (1:12)
Oh, nice. Thank you, guys. This light-hearted ribbing.
That's what friendship is all about here on my birthday.

**Jon Favreau** (1:22)
Now it's going to be in the history books.

**Jon Lovett** (1:23)
I ate a cupcake over the sink this morning before coming into work. Why did you do that? Because it's Monday.

**Dan Pfeiffer** (1:29)
It's your birthday. Why did you bring it in?

**Jon Lovett** (1:31)
What?
I put a candle in it. Okay.

**Jon Favreau** (1:34)
That's nice. Was Ari there at least singing as well or just you?

**Jon Lovett** (1:38)
No. My friends brought over cupcakes yesterday. I just ate a leftover one on the sink in a shameful way to celebrate the day.

**SPEAKER_5** (1:44)
That's all.

**Jon Favreau** (1:44)
Nothing wrong with that.

**Jon Lovett** (1:45)
Nothing wrong with that at all.

**Jon Favreau** (1:46)
Tasty. Well, happy birthday. Thank you.
So the MOU died, but it never really lived. The 60-day ceasefire agreement between the US and Iran wasn't much of a ceasefire. In fact, five Americans were killed during that time, and it led to zero diplomatic progress on opening the Strait of Hormuz or the fate of Iran's nuclear program. The Wall Street Journal has a big story about how intercepted communications show that Iran actually used the last two months to prepare for a bigger, longer war, including churning out more missiles and drones. Trump has used the period to pretend that the war wasn't happening. And on Monday, he said that he's not in a hurry to end it, that Iran should raise, quote, the white flag of surrender. And he told Fox News that he's considering, quote, bombing the shit out of Oman if they get in the way.
He expanded on all this during a press avail in the Oval on Monday.

**SPEAKER_5** (2:43)
Last week, you said that you would soon declare the Strait of Hormuz to be a territory of the United States. Could you elaborate?

**Dan Pfeiffer** (2:49)
Well, I just think it's a great idea. Yeah, I mean, we control it. We control it with the blockade. We have a blockade. We control it with the blockade. And I like the idea of declaring it a territory.
We have total control over the Strait. Now, they can be a nuisance. They could put a mine in the water. People don't like having mines hit their billion-dollar ships, you know, etc.

**SPEAKER_5** (3:10)
This morning, you said you would bomb the ass out of Oman if they got in the way of reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Would you say you're out of patience with Oman, a strategic partner?

**Dan Pfeiffer** (3:19)
I don't think they'd behave very well, but we'd handle them very easily, just like we do other things.

**Jon Favreau** (3:24)
Correct me if I'm wrong here. Didn't the MOU sort of set out that Oman was going to help mediate talks with Iran about opening the Strait?

**Tommy Vietor** (3:34)
I think Qatar was the mediator, but Oman is who he... The Iranians and Omanis have been negotiating a deal where they basically control the Strait of Hormuz and charge fees. So apparently that's why he's mad at them.

**Jon Favreau** (3:48)
Aren't we allies with them in some ways?

**Tommy Vietor** (3:51)
Yeah, we shouldn't be bombing them.

**Jon Favreau** (3:52)
That's what I was wondering.

**Tommy Vietor** (3:54)
Yeah, no, we don't want to bomb them.

**Jon Lovett** (3:55)
Yeah, Oman is like, we can't deal with these despotic, irrational, religious, authoritarian zealots, so we'll have to just deal with Iran instead.

**Jon Favreau** (4:09)
So I think most of us had forgotten that the MOU even existed. Seems like there's a pretty concerning gap between Iran's strategic thinking and what an Atlantic piece the other day called Trump's New Strategy of Nothing.