The Bulwark Podcast Susan Glasser: The President Is Crazy and Delusional
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Apr 2, 2026 
Susan Glasser, New Yorker staff writer and co-author of The Divider, offers sharp political analysis. She dissects a chaotic presidential Iran speech, critiques an incompetent team and risky foreign-policy moves, and warns about consequences for the Strait of Hormuz, global markets, and alliances. The conversation also touches on politicizing the DOJ, NATO strains, and surprising moments like a CIA operation and the Artemis launch.
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Speech Was Self-Serving Without A Plan
- Susan Glasser argues Trump's Iran speech was mainly self-aggrandizing and lacked coherent strategy.
- He recycled a “predecessors failed, I am right” Mad Libs script while offering no operational plan or clear objectives.
Loyalty Over Competence Risks Strategic Failure
- Glasser highlights the danger of loyalty-over-competence decision-making around Trump producing catastrophic policy outcomes.
- She ties that to dismantling the interagency national security process and advisers too fearful to contradict him.
Conflicting Objectives Reveal Dysfunction
- The administration released inconsistent objectives: State Department and White House lists didn't match.
- That 30-day inability to agree signals deep operational dysfunction that undermines war effectiveness.