Background Briefing: September 17, 2026

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Will Trump Tear Down the Kennedy Center Because They Took His Name Off It?

We begin with the very real possibility that Trump plans to demolish the Kennedy Center because they took his name off it. We will discuss how Trump is aggressively pursuing vanity projects like the White House ballroom and the Arch that the National Parks Service says will contribute “to adverse effects to historic properties.” Joining us is Ben Terris, the Washington Correspondent for New York Magazine, who sat down with Trump in the Oval Office in August for an hour and a half as Trump raved about his architectural plans. He is the author of The Big Break: The Gamblers, Party Animals, and True Believers Trying to Win in Washington While America Loses Its Mind and his latest article at New York Magazine we discuss is “Ballroom Blitz: Trump’s obsessive bid for architectural immortality is barreling toward completion.”

As Trump’s Blockade Squeezes the Iranian People, Rumors of a US/Israel Plan to Deliver a Knockout Blow Either Before Israel’s Election or After the US Midterms

Then with Trump saying his war on Iran will end after the November elections 47 days away and then gas prices will fall to record low levels, we examine what strategy could bring that about, as his blockade squeezes the Iranian people and rumors swirl that the US and Israel plan on a knockout blow either before Israel’s elections or just after the US midterms. Joining us is Nicholas Heras, Interim Executive Director at the Middle East Policy Council and Senior Director for Strategy & Innovation at the New Lines Institute and the former Middle East Security Program Manager at the Institute for the Study of War. From 2016-2017, Nicholas served as the tenth 1LT Andrew J. Bacevich, Jr., USA Fellow at Center for New American Security and he has conducted an extensive study on Iran’s proxies in the Middle East for the National Defense University.

Having Lost the Narrows, With Diesel at $6+, Pentagon War Report Admits Worst Drubbing Since Vietnam

Then finally we speak with Juan Cole, professor of Modern Middle Eastern and South Asian History at the University of Michigan. He is also the author of the blog Informed Comment at JuanCole.com and the author of Engaging the Muslim World, Muhammad: Prophet of Peace Amid the Clash of Empires and most recently, Gaza Yet Stands. We discuss his latest articles at Informed Comment which include “Trump terrified of Impact on Midterms of $6 / gal. Diesel as his War Spirals out of Control” and “Have the US, Israel and Saudis lost the Battle of the Narrows?” and “Pentagon Iran War Report admits to Worst Drubbing since Vietnam.”