What the Hell Is Going On

Last month, New York City took to the polls for their mayoral primary and the Democratic party has decided that a socialist, communist, terrorist supporting, antisemite, is the best candidate for mayor of New York City. Zohran Mamdani is a radical left "intersectionality salad". Between his unironic quotation of Marx to raps about the Holy Land Five, we're left wondering what New Yorkers are thinking and how Mamdani came to these "beliefs". Is this really the path out of the wilderness for the Democratic party? Seth Mandel is the Senior editor of Commentary Magazine who frequently writes on Israel, antisemitism, and national politics. Previously, he has worked as executive editor of the Washington Examiner print edition between 2018 and 2023, and worked previously as an op-ed editor at the New York Post. Read the transcript here [https://www.aei.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Episode-326-Final-Transcript-2.docx]. Subscribe to our Substack here [https://whatthehellisgoingon.substack.com/].

President Trump has made it clear: whichever nation is the obstacle to peace in ending Russia’s war on Ukraine will face an opponent with the military aid and backing of the United States. Putin has no intention of giving up his objectives in Ukraine and Trump is over the bull. Reversing a Pentagon freeze of critical weapons shipments to Ukraine, Trump announced Monday night that more defensive weapons were on the way. In the wake of Russia’s largest combined drone and missile strike, having Patriot missile systems is paramount to Ukraine’s ability to defend themselves. So, what’s it going to take to bring Putin to the table? How can we sufficiently arm Ukraine on Russia’s dime? And when will this bloody war end? General Jack Keane is a retired 4-star general and the former Vice Chief of Staff of the US Army. He is also the Chairman of the Institute for the Study of War, a Fox News Senior Strategic Analyst, and a member of the Secretary of Defense Policy Board. General Keane has previously advised four Defense Secretaries and was a member of the 2018 and 2022 Congressional Commission on the National Defense Strategy. Read the transcript here [https://www.aei.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Episode-325-Final-Transcript-General-Jack-Keane.docx]. Subscribe to our Substack here [https://whatthehellisgoingon.substack.com/].

Notwithstanding regular headlines and firm conventional wisdom, the MAGA Movement is not and never has been an isolationist faction of the Republican Party. Neither the American people nor self-identified MAGA Republicans are fundamentally isolationist, and in fact score higher than non-MAGA Republicans on support for U.S. intervention abroad. The numbers don’t lie: this year’s Reagan Foundation Summer Poll [https://www.reaganfoundation.org/reagan-institute/centers/freedom-democracy/survey/2025-reagan-institute-summer-survey?srsltid=AfmBOopyslHdd6bhX5mRXyeK7nT-5ZjQfdBQVyGrnhY5Pr-Wne3ZXstI] found the MAGA coalition strongly support Trump’s decision to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities. Why are these results counterintuitive? And how has a tiny isolationist faction of self-appointed MAGA spokespeople drummed up so much noise? Roger Zakheim serves as the Washington Director of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute. Before joining, he was General Counsel and Deputy Staff Director of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee. In this role, Mr. Zakheim managed the passage of the annual National Defense Authorization Act, the defense policy bill which authorizes the Defense Department’s budget. Mr. Zakheim’s government experience also includes serving as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense where he supported the department’s policies and programs related to Iraq and Afghanistan coalition affairs. Read the transcript here [https://www.aei.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Episode-324-Final-Transcript-1-1.docx]

In the wake of a decisive US strike on Iran’s nuclear weapons facilities, many questions are being asked. Did Donald Trump make the right call? What about the intelligence? Is this the start of US military action in Iran or a one-off? And what are the implications for Gaza, the region, and Iran in the coming months? Kenneth M. Pollack, PhD., is Vice President for Policy at the Middle East Institute. Previously he was a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where he worked on Middle Eastern political-military affairs, focusing in particular on Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and the Gulf countries. Dr. Pollack has also worked on long-term issues related to Middle Eastern political and military affairs for the Joint Chiefs of Staff when he was a senior research professor at the Institute for National Security Studies at National Defense University. Read the transcript here [https://www.aei.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Episode-323-Final-Transcript.docx]. Subscribe to our Substack here [https://whatthehellisgoingon.substack.com/].

Five days in, Israel’s battle to destroy the Islamic Republic of Iran’s nuclear weapons infrastructure continues. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched the campaign in the wake of a decision by the IAEA Board to censure Iran a resolution declaring that Iran is in breach of its non-proliferation obligations, one day past a Donald Trump imposed deadline of 60 days for Iran to agree to relinquish its uranium enrichment capabilities. Iran has responded with indiscriminate attacks on civilian targets in Israel. Can Israel destroy Iran’s nuclear program? Is that possible without the United States? What role will the United States play? And can the Tehran regime survive? Haviv Gur is a veteran Israeli journalist who serves as Senior Analyst for The Times of Israel. He has covered Israel’s politics, foreign policy and relationship with the Jewish diaspora since 2005. He has reported from over 20 countries and is fluent in Hebrew and English. He served as director of communications for the Jewish Agency for Israel, the country’s largest NGO. He travels around the world educating people on Israel and reporting on timely events and developments in and about Israel as a premiere analyst. Read the transcript here. [https://www.aei.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Episode-322-Final-Transcript-Haviv-Rettig-Gur.docx] Subscribe to our Substack here [https://whatthehellisgoingon.substack.com/].