Former Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger appeared on Slate’s “What Next” to criticize President Donald Trump’s handling of Iran, warning that U.S. involvement could be defined by the president’s personal sense of when the conflict is “over,” and urging Congress to assert its role.
On March 19, 2026, Slate released an episode of its What Next podcast titled “Where Trump Went Wrong With Iran According to Adam Kinzinger (The Beginning),” according to the episode page.
The episode features Adam Kinzinger, a former Republican member of the U.S. House who represented Illinois’s 11th congressional district from 2011 to 2013 and Illinois’s 16th congressional district from 2013 to 2023. Kinzinger also served on the House select committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, and he has served in the Air Force and Air National Guard, reaching the rank of lieutenant colonel.
Slate’s episode page includes the tagline “Trump Says We Won. This Former Rep Says We’re Trapped.” During the conversation, Kinzinger questions the administration’s framing of progress in Iran and raises the prospect of an open-ended conflict shaped by Trump’s personal judgment.
The show is hosted by Mary Harris, Slate’s What Next host and managing editor. The episode credits list production staff including Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther. The page also lists several listening platforms—including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Pocket Casts, and RSS—and notes that Slate Plus subscribers can listen to Slate podcasts without ads.
Slate’s page includes an excerpt in which Kinzinger describes a scenario where, in his view, the conflict’s endpoint is unclear: “The war in Iran is either already over, or almost over, or going to continue until Trump feels it is over in his bones? If you’re Congress, what are you supposed to do with that?”
