'A form of magical thinking:' Haberman and Swan on Trump's Iran war strategy - The Last Word - MS NOW

[Rhiannon12866]

The New York Times’ Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan join MS NOW’s Lawrence O’Donnell for their first television interview for their new book, “Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump.”

When one aide is quoted in their book as saying Trump’s plan for the U.S. to take over the Gaza Strip is “legitimately nutso,” Haberman says that despite that “this is a group of people who genuinely want to see” Trump succeed. - Aired on 06/22/2026.

[Karasu]

1. Conservatives are experts at that.

[Walleye]

2. It's the only kind of thinking they do. It's a religion thing I think.

[rampartd]

3. "legitimately nutso, but totally on brand."

i'd hate to call this "legitimate" in any way, but totally on brand.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

4. Iran cracked the code on Trump and is exploiting his 'rapidly decaying' cognition: expert

Iran has been playing trump and trump's mental issues.

Iran appears to have identified and systematically exploited President Donald Trump's rapidly decaying cognitive abilities.

— Raw Story (@rawstory.com) 2026-06-23T03:00:52Z

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-iran-2677077672

Iran appears to have identified and systematically exploited President Donald Trump's rapidly decaying cognitive abilities.

That's according to Atlantic staff writer and national security scholar Tom Nichols, who joined MS NOW's Nicolle Wallace on "Deadline: White House" on Monday. Wallace argued that Trump is operating inside an "artificial reality" constructed by aides who feed him selectively curated social media posts to shield him from negative information about the economy and the war. The arrangement, Wallace said, explains moments like Trump's repeated insistence that the country is "hot."

"I used to think he was lying. Now I think he's deluded," Wallace said, calling it a "threat to global stability."

Nichols agreed with the withering verdict.

"Delusion is the word I was going to use when you were asking about this, because he is self-deluded," Nichols echoed. "I have said many times on this show that I think his cognitive abilities are decaying rapidly."

Aides who once told Trump hard truths have stopped doing so, he said.....

Nichols argued that Iran had "figured something out" that Trump refuses to accept: that two months of high gas prices would damage him politically far more than depleting U.S. weapons stockpiles. That assessment tracks with earlier reports that Iranian negotiators were recruiting senior psychologists to tailor messages for what they described as Trump's "impaired mental state."