Mallen Baker: Faultlines

00:12:19

Trump Confronted With Stark Reality Of His Failure In...

Mallen Baker: Faultlines ·

2026/07/27

President Trump was in talks to discuss all his options in massively escalating the war against Iran over the weekend. It turns out, they were a lot more limited than he had imagined. Now, confronted as he has finally been, with the enfeeblement he has brought upon the US military, he must surely understand how few options he really has, and how bad all of them are. So suddenly diplomacy is back in vogue, and the US has to find a way to spin an obvious defeat into a victory. Let's discuss.

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00:24:01

Trump's Delusions About Iran Make The War Unwinnable...

Mallen Baker: Faultlines ·

2026/07/24

In this news round-up of the week on Friday July 24th 2026. President Trump is furious about the rapid leaks about all the mis-steps and u-turns he's making over the Iran war. But they are many, and serious, and reveal that his push for military escalation is based on a delusion. The Saudis are furious about Trump agreeing a nuclear deal with them and then AFTER it was publicly announced, tacked on a condition that they find impossible to stomach. South East Asian countries are furious about Trump

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00:07:30

Trump's Gaza Peace Plan Just Fell Apart

Mallen Baker: Faultlines ·

2026/07/23

President Trump's biggest triumph, according to some, was to get Israel and Hamas to agree to his Gaza peace deal. And then, to follow that up with the creation of the Board of Peace to oversee an astonishingly ambitious transformation of the territory from wartime disaster to thriving economic centre. Since then, it seems that the driving energy behind the plan has pretty much disappeared, leaving Gaza in as bad a position as ever before. Let's discuss.

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00:14:20

Trump Clueless About Missile Shortage As He Escalates...

Mallen Baker: Faultlines ·

2026/07/22

As Trump's attacks on Iran resume, and his rhetoric escalates, reports are emerging that officials in the Pentagon are just not telling the White House, and Pete Hegseth, the truth about how depleted the US arsenal actually has become. Why? Largely because Hegseth's purges of senior figures have trained everyone to understand that the bearers of bad news, or even just cold reality as it exists outside of Donald Trump's wishful thinking, generally get fired. So it could well be that this escalation

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00:13:20

The Real Reason Why Trump's Going After Canada Again

Mallen Baker: Faultlines ·

2026/07/20

Canada is having a wildfire problem - a huge wildfire problem right now. In the past, it has collaborated with its southern neighbour over such moments - a reciprocal arrangement that has had lots of activation in recent years. But this time it's different. This time President Trump is seeing the large amount of unpleasant smoke making its way across the border and afflicting US cities, and using that to renew his economic threats and to mutter once again about the '51st State'. Obviously, it's not

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00:21:13

Trump's Big Election Reveal Immediately Backfires |...

Mallen Baker: Faultlines ·

2026/07/17

In this news round-up of the week for Friday July 17th 2026. President Trump addresses the nation and declassifies documents to show just how vulnerable US elections are. The documents don't show what he says they do - but that won't matter for what comes next. The Iran war is back in full flow - analysts are detecting a new strategy in the US military operation, and Iran's factional infighting took an interesting turn. And manly man's man Pete Hegseth doesn't think men in the US military are quite

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00:13:01

Trump Panics And Instantly Caves On Tolls For Strait...

Mallen Baker: Faultlines ·

2026/07/14

President Donald Trump outraged much of the world yesterday when he announced his latest bold and audacious venture - a Strait of Hormuz protection racket. The US would promise to protect ships wanting to transit through the Strait, in the face of hostility by the Iranians, in return for a toll charged at a massive 20% of the value of the ship's cargo. The gulf states particularly were furious, and clearly made their displeasure known - with the result of one of the fastest u-turns ever. But also

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00:14:48

The Battle For The Strait Of Hormuz Will Decide The...

Mallen Baker: Faultlines ·

2026/07/13

The Strait of Hormuz is the focus point once again. Iran has declared it closed. President Donald Trump has declared it closed to Iranian shipping with the reinstatement of the US blockade. But, this time, the US will escort ships out - for an extremely large fee. Seems like a return to how it was before, but it's different. This is no longer a war of economic attrition, it is a fierce fight over who controls the Strait from now on. That is established as the question that will ultimately show who

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00:25:33

Trump Just Revealed His Plan To Leave Iran - It's As...

Mallen Baker: Faultlines ·

2026/07/10

In this news round-up of the week for Friday July 10th 2026. President Trump floats what is obviously going to become his way out of the Iran war - and it's as bad as you would think. Far-right political leader Marine Le Pen has her sentence for embezzling reduced, meaning she can now stand as a candidate for president next year - a post the polls suggest she will win, which would transform France on the world stage. And far-right political leader Nigel Farage calls a special by-election, resigning

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00:13:12

Why Trump's Iran Deal Is Falling Apart

Mallen Baker: Faultlines ·

2026/07/08

stir - but the real events of substance were coming once again from Iran, and from the Strait of Hormuz. The deal, the memorandum of understanding, is full-on disintegrating, amidst accusations on both sides of non-compliance by the other side. By the written document, it seems that Iran has the stronger case, although its way of dealing with that (attacking vessels going through the Strait of Hormuz) is not supported by anyone but themselves. Can Trump rescue this, given his lack of options? Let's

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00:13:00

NATO In Crisis: The Real Story Behind Trump's Bluster

Mallen Baker: Faultlines ·

2026/07/07

The much-awaited NATO summit in Turkey has begun, and Trump went in firing off all the usual threats, statements and attacks that generated ... the usual headlines. But behind the Trump show, there are real stories to be told about what this summit is about. And they mostly come out of the quiet places where Trump isn't, where other NATO members are coming to realise the opportunity that a US exit gives them to completely reimagine how they plan to fight a future war. Let's discuss.

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00:13:27

Trump Sabotages World Cup And Embarrasses America

Mallen Baker: Faultlines ·

2026/07/06

Trump had the perfect term to make a difference as US president - the year of the 250th anniversary of the United States, and the hosting of the World Cup tournament. Having underwhelmed on the first of those, he found a way to completely poison the US team's standing in the latter, to show himself up as a cheater to the entire world, which is watching the tournament closely, and to throw FIFA, and the game generally, into crisis. That's quite a lot for one phone call. Let's discuss.

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00:26:41

Trump Signals Big NATO Showdown | News Round-Up

Mallen Baker: Faultlines ·

2026/07/03

In this news round-up of the week for Friday July 3rd 2026. The Ukraine war is intensifying just days before a big NATO summit where Trump has made it clear he will be going in fiery mood, to punish those who dare to deny him. This comes days after his administration prevented Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado from heading back to her earthquake-stricken country, because it wouldn't be helpful for Trump's Venezuela strategy. As Americans across the world prepare to celebrate July

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00:12:28

How Trump Completely Botched America's Big 250th Party

Mallen Baker: Faultlines ·

2026/07/01

President Donald Trump had one job in relation to the 250th anniversary of the United States. Hold a great big party to celebrate the founding mythology of America, focus on the things that bring people together, and remind them why they value their nation's remarkable experiment. Obviously that was out of the question. But now we hear that he is furious that crowds for his first rally were so small - and he is determined that his actual July 4th very similar rally should be better. All this while

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00:14:43

MAGA Furious As Trump Suffers Huge Supreme Court Defeat

Mallen Baker: Faultlines ·

2026/06/30

We know that President Donald Trump really cared about the birthright citizenship issue - because he made an unprecedented in-court appearance at the Supreme Court when it was being heard, and talked about it often as being a top issue for his administration. But sadly for the power of wishful thinking, the blatant unconstitutionality of what he wanted won out, and the court handed him another huge defeat - his second after the tariffs case. The actual issue is nuanced, and most countries across the

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00:20:04

Trump Launches New Massive Tariff Threat On Europe |...

Mallen Baker: Faultlines ·

2026/06/26

In this news round-up of the week for Friday 26th June, 2026. President Trump is back on the tariff trail, as he announces that all countries that dare to implement digital services taxes will be hit by 100% tariffs. Europe has been hit by massive heat waves many degrees above what it would normally experience at this time of year. So of course that means everyone's arguing. Ukraine is hitting Russia hard, and in particular has provoked a state of emergency in Russian-occupied Crimea as it has

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00:18:49

All Trump's Allies Are Turning Against His Farce

Mallen Baker: Faultlines ·

2026/06/25

When Trump came into office, everyone in public life across the world apparently started to mimic the nonsense, to talk as though Trumpian fantasy was real, even desirable. A process that one commentator has labelled 'farce politik'. But increasingly NATO's Mark Rutte is looking isolated as the only person left who seems to believe in such a process. Europeans, Gulf States, and even Trump's own party (well, baby steps maybe) are discarding the fantasies and calling out the reality for what it is

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00:10:14

How Trump Nearly Sabotaged His Own Iran Deal

Mallen Baker: Faultlines ·

2026/06/22

For someone who really needs this deal to work, Trump seems to be going out of his way to sabotage it. It's a reflection of two things - one, he just can't help himself. Whether it's Giorgia Meloni, Prime Minister Keir Starmer, President Zelensky, or the Iranians, he needs to be insulting someone. But, more importantly, two - it's a reflection of the deeply flawed deal that is the best he could get - and his incentive to do whatever he can to appear to be in control, even when the evidence suggests

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00:25:46

Trump Allies Revolt Against His Iran Deal | News...

Mallen Baker: Faultlines ·

2026/06/19

In this news round-up of the week for Friday June 19th 2026. The backlash against Trump's ceasefire deal with Iran continues to intensify amongst the Republicans, and derision of the one-sidedness of it spreads worldwide. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is hearing the clock ticking loudly on his premiership as his chief rival, Andy Burnham, wins his by-election and enters Parliament next week. Ukraine hits Moscow hard, and it underlines once again how the tide is turning against Vladimir Putin

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00:09:07

Trump's First Major Step To Abandon NATO Announced

Mallen Baker: Faultlines ·

2026/06/18

Even as he was signing the Iran ceasefire deal, and talking more positively about Ukraine, Trump's first steps towards de facto walking away from NATO was being related to alliance defence ministers by Pete Hegseth. While berating the alliance for not spending enough, and not jumping to command on the Iran war, the US steps to reduce the forces committed to any action should Article 5 be invoked (i.e. Russia attacks NATO) were being confirmed. All in a tone of sneering superiority from the man who

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