Trump’s Inner Circle & Use of Military Power | The War Cabinet (full documentary) | FRONTLINE (PBS)

A 90-minute documentary examining the key players behind President Trump’s expansive use of the U.S. military during his second term. This journalism is made possible by viewers like you. Donate to FRONTLINE now: https://bit.ly/47DFzCb And support your local PBS station here: https://www.pbs.org/donate When Donald Trump campaigned for his second term, he made a repeated promise: no new wars. Drawing on in-depth interviews with President Trump’s allies and associates, officials from his first administration, and his critics, as well as former diplomats, military experts and journalists, “The War Cabinet” traces how, after vowing to end wars, not start them, Trump assembled a team of loyalists, and together they pursued a much different course. That team includes Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, longtime aide Stephen Miller, Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Vice President JD Vance and outgoing Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. The documentary tells the story of how the cabinet, a group whose members had diverse life stories and worldviews, came together to support the president in his quest to demonstrate the United States’ military might on the international stage. The film traces how Trump has increasingly sought to cement his legacy and achieve U.S. policy objectives through military strength; how the administration has engaged militarily everywhere from Yemen, to the waters off Venezuela, to Iran; and the roles of key players in Trump’s second-term military decisions. With the Iran conflict now in its third month and threatening to define Trump’s second term, “The War Cabinet” is a must-watch documentary on how the president who promised peace has become a wartime president — and the ongoing ramifications. “The War Cabinet” is a FRONTLINE production with Kirk Documentary Group, Ltd. The director is Michael Kirk. The writers are Michael Kirk and Mike Wiser. The producers are Michael Kirk, Mike Wiser, Vanessa Fica, Elliott Choi and Philip Bennett. The reporters are Vanessa Fica and Brooke Nelson Alexander. The managing editor of FRONTLINE is Andrew Metz. The editor-in-chief and executive producer of FRONTLINE is Raney Aronson-Rath. Explore additional reporting on “The War Cabinet” on our website: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/documentary/the-war-cabinet/ #Documentary #DonaldTrump #Military #ForeignPolicy #War #IranWar Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/PBSfrontline Sign up for our newsletter: https://frontline.org/newsletter Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frontlinepbs​ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/frontline Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/frontlinepbs.bsky.social FRONTLINE is produced at GBH in Boston and airs nationwide on PBS. Funding for FRONTLINE is provided through the support of PBS viewers and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, with major support from Ford Foundation and The Fialkow Family Foundation. Additional support for FRONTLINE is provided by the Abrams Foundation, Park Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Heising-Simons Foundation, and the FRONTLINE Trust, with major support from Jon and Jo Ann Hagler on behalf of the Jon L. Hagler Foundation, and Corey David Sauer, and additional support from Koo and Patricia Yuen. Support for “The War Cabinet” is provided by the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation. CHAPTERS 00:00 - Prologue 01:04 - JD Vance’s Role in Trump’s War Cabinet 10:29 - Marco Rubio’s Path to Secretary of State 18:55 - Pete Hegseth’s Trajectory to Secretary of Defense 30:28 - Stephen Miller’s Rise to Power 36:11 - Susie Wiles’ Influence in the White House 44:43 - Outgoing National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard’s Views on Striking Iran 50:39 - Trump’s Foreign Policy Decisions & Actions in Latin America 1:12:02 - The Trump War Cabinet’s Deliberations on Attacking Iran 1:21:58 - Credits