This is the April 20, 2026, edition of “The Tea, Spilled by Morning Joe” newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered straight to your inbox Monday through Friday.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Trump has been raised up by God.”
—
White House Faith Office advisor Paula White claiming that opposition to President Trump is opposing the “hand of God”
JS: Before wars start, I always go back to the Weinberger-Powell Doctrine. After 241 Marines were killed in Beirut in 1983 — what Ronald Reagan called “the source of my greatest regret and greatest sorrow as President” — his secretary of defense, Caspar Weinberger, wrote down six conditions for going to war. This was, of course, only eight years after Vietnam.
Following the Gulf War, Gen. Colin Powell, then chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, expanded that list to the eight questions U.S. leaders should ask before going to war:
- Is a vital national security interest threatened?
- Do we have a clear, attainable objective?
- Have the risks and costs been fully and frankly analyzed?
- Have all other nonviolent policy means been fully exhausted?
- Is there a plausible exit strategy to avoid endless entanglement?
- Have the consequences of our actions been fully considered?
- Is the action supported by the American people?
- Do we have genuine, broad international support?
As for the decision to invade Iran, the questions raised here answer themselves. Good tactics and bad strategy has long been the slowest way to lose a war. The Trump administration may be proving right that military dictum again.
Q&A with David Ignatius
MB: David, give us your insight on the doctrine.
David Ignatius: That list should be written on a piece of paper and placed in the Resolute Desk for every future president. It’s not just a checklist — it’s what a president owes the country before asking it to go to war.
JS: And right now, only 1 in 3 Americans supports this war. Two out of three oppose it. David, a lot of people threw this framework aside after 9/11 — and we got Iraq, a 20-year entanglement in Afghanistan, and now Iran. Every stop sign, every lesson from Vietnam and Beirut — blown through.
DI: What we’ve seen in Iran is that a president has a fundamental obligation to explain the war and its goals to the country — not just in terms of potential American lives lost, but the sacrifices we ask of allies fighting alongside us. That’s why the founders gave Congress the power to declare war under Article 1. It’s not just about involving Congress as an institution — it’s about ensuring the people, represented by Congress, understand what the war is about and support it.
JS: So what does it look like when maybe one out of those eight boxes get checked?
DI: The absence of everything on that list explains [President Donald] Trump’s current dilemma. He’s leading a sharply unpopular war — two-thirds of the country disapproves. Those are not the conditions in which an American president can successfully lead a war.
His only real option becomes negotiating a way out. And the Iranians see that — that he needs an exit more than they do. For Iran, you don’t have to win this war, you just have to survive. And that’s what they’re doing. That’s why they have the leverage right now.
CHART OF THE DAY
Source: NBC News poll conducted among 32,433 U.S. adults, March 30-April 13, 2026, margin of error: +/-1.8%
ON THIS DATE
Happy 114th birthday, Fenway Park! On April 20, 1912, some 27,000 fans packed the stands as Boston Mayor John “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald — grandfather of a future president — threw out the first pitch at what would become the oldest active stadium in Major League Baseball. The Red Sox beat the New York Highlanders, later known as the Yankees, 7-6 in 11 innings. New York has been complaining about it ever since.
A CONVERSATION WITH TIMOTHY SNYDER
In a new Substack post, historian Timothy Snyder warns Americans to “catch ourselves now” as Donald Trump escalates his wartime rhetoric. The “On Tyranny” author joined “Morning Joe” today to discuss the risks of that kind of language — and what it will take to push back.
MB: When President Trump talks about wiping out a civilization, what does that tell you?
TS: It reveals he can imagine that kind of world — and if Americans don’t push back, we normalize it. Once those words are out there, any military action gets interpreted through that lens, potentially as something like genocide.
MB: And then he doesn’t follow through — what does that do to U.S. credibility?
TS: It’s damaging. He essentially threatens something catastrophic and then backs off the same day, which makes the U.S. look weak — like we bluff constantly and get called on it.
JL: Some aides say this “madman strategy” works, that it brought adversaries to the table. Did it?
TS: It didn’t actually move Iran. It was a bluff that got called. And more broadly, we’re not in the position of strength Americans assume. No amount of threats or targeting infrastructure will change that.
JL: How does this shift how the world sees the United States?
TS: We’re normalizing a world where countries try to wipe out other nations. That echoes what Russia has done in Ukraine — and instead of opposing it, we’re signaling that this kind of warfare is acceptable.
There’s a transnational network of right-wing oligarchs — from Moscow to Budapest to Washington — who often prioritize each other over their own citizens. The American right is more international than people realize, and figures like Viktor Orbán helped connect those networks.
Katty Kay: We’re seeing voters push back in places like Hungary. What made the difference there?
TS: When voters connect corruption at the top with a failing economy, that’s decisive. In Hungary, that realization led to a massive defeat for Orbán — and it shows these kinds of breakthroughs are possible.
MB: So what would it take for that to happen here?
TS: You can’t wait for the election. People have to speak out now, organize locally, and make the connection between corruption and their own economic pain. That’s how you create the conditions for a real political break. Without that, nothing changes.
This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity and flow.
VIRGINIA IS FOR GERRYMANDERERS
Virginia voters head to the polls Tuesday on a referendum that could quietly redraw the House’s balance of power. The measure would reshape the state’s 11 congressional districts in Democrats’ favor — potentially flipping four seats from the current 6-5 edge.
Republicans are calling the move naked partisan warfare. Democrats are framing it as survival. “We are not going to be victims to redistricting anymore,” Virginia Rep. Suhas Subramanyam told MS NOW, in a pointed reference to President Trump’s aggressive remapping push in red states like Texas.
Former President Barack Obama has blessed the effort — joining Democrats who argue that in an era of Republican-led redistricting, playing by the old rules is a losing strategy.
EXTRA HOT TEA
4 hours
— The amount of time Americans spend listening to audio every day
ONE MORE SHOT
Madonna performs with Sabrina Carpenter at the 2026 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California.
CATCH UP ON MORNING JOE
The post The Tea, Spilled by Morning Joe: ‘Good tactics and bad strategy is the slowest way to lose a war’ appeared first on MS NOW.
