Journalist Matthew Vadum appeared on QNews, an Egyptian TV channel that broadcasts in English, on July 11, 2026, to talk about tensions in the faltering U.S.-Iran ceasefire.
The anchor, Mark Somers, noted President Trump indicated the ceasefire is “over,” but military action is paused during talks. The question is whether diplomacy can work after the security agreement “collapsed.”
Vadum expresses doubt about meaningful negotiations right now. Recent hostilities make progress difficult, and any serious talks would likely need to restart from scratch. He noted that Iran “can’t be trusted” as it “always violates the terms of peace agreements,” making negotiations with the Islamic Republic largely “pointless.”
Vadum described Trump as “gung-ho” about potential strong action (“raining down hellfire”) but acknowledged his history of pivoting. He pushed back on the idea that Trump “always chickens out” (popularized by the online acronym TACO) citing the Ali Khamenei assassination as evidence to the contrary.
Vadum argued Iran hasn’t been “humbled” and pointed to their defiant funeral rallies (including banners threatening Trump). Blowing “the tar out of Iran” might be needed to force a real lesson. Diplomats may still try talks, but things need time to cool.
The interview was supposed to be longer, but we got preempted by live coverage of a speech by Trump.
Here is the video clip: