On Thursday’s Morning Joe, Joe Scarborough and Mike Brzezinski’s former MSNBC colleague Chris Matthews was on the show to discuss the military operations in Iran, as Mika read Matthews’ Substack article, “State of War,” which called Trump a ‘monarch’ because of his launch of strikes on Iran. The article also dismissed the veterans commemorated at the State of the Union, and suggested Trump had “passed out a monarch’s gifs.”
Matthews’ article first took issue with the honorary military medals presented by Trump to certain service members at the State of the Union and then derived into talk on the Iran strike process. Here’s how Mika read it:
The State of the Union in which Iran was barely mentioned served, nevertheless, as this war’s perfect predictor. He offered himself as this country’s king and not a constitutional one. He passed out a monarch’s gifts – Medals of Honor, Medals of Freedom, and other awards of the state as if they came from his honors list.
(…) Everything he did on Tuesday night, ceremonially, was a preview of what he did on Saturday. He took our country to war as if he were doing it as a king.
Joe Scarborough then asked Matthews his full opinion on the Iran strikes due to his participation in the Jimmy Carter administration, which faced the disaster of the Iran hostage crisis.
During Thursday’s Morning Joe, Chris Matthews, along with Joe and Mika, promoted the idea that Trump is a King, citing Iran and “monarch’s gifts” at the SOTU. pic.twitter.com/mw6pcPnF0r
— Nick (@nspin310) March 5, 2026
Matthews started the conversation with mention of the Texas Senate primaries, asking “who wants to be a senator today” before he headed into a tangent on Congress the Article I of the Constitution.
His tangent then connected back to Trump’s medal-giving, before he insinuated the only person that wanted war was radio host Mark Levin, and seemingly hinted that Trump did it on his request:
The president was giving out medals and acting like they were just sitting there to applaud him. They had no role in war making or decisions about war. Don’t Republicans think that Congress is Article I the constitution, that they have a role in making war? The only person I know pushing the war was Mark Levin on Friday night before we attacked. He was pushing for a big war. He wanted what he wanted and he got it.
But I never heard a big debate in the United States Congress about this war. And I think it’s incredible what we’ve gotten ourselves into. And it really comes back to the role of congress and the Article I of the constitution. I’ve been over in Vietnam teaching the American Revolution and “We the People.” Well, we the people didn’t start this war.
Unsurprisingly, Matthews ignored the clear worries of leaks from Congress regarding classified military information.
In his close, Matthew defended the Carter administration when it came to Iran, and said Americans used to stand for monarchies as he started give a historical lesson:
We put in a monarchy. What is that what America stands for, Monarchies? Yes, that’s what we did. So to talk about democratizing. I’m not even sure anybody’s talking about that yet. Are we going to democratize Iran after what we did in ‘52, sent them in the other direction? It’s a tough one.
All Chris Matthews had to do to find people who wanted the U.S. military action was speak to one of Iranian-Americans that have been seen in rallies across America in support of Trump’s actions, let alone the Iranian citizens who have bravely protested in their country, with many being killed in the process. They’re the ones who want to democratize Iran.
The transcript is below. Click “expand”:
MS NOW’s Morning Joe
March 5, 2026
7:09:10 AM
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: And Chris Matthews, your latest piece on Substack is entitled “State of War.” And in it you write this:
“The State of the Union in which Iran was barely mentioned served, nevertheless, as this war’s perfect predictor. He offered himself as this country’s king and not a constitutional one. He passed out a monarch’s gifts – Medals of Honor, Medals of Freedom, and other awards of the state as if they came from his honors list.
Trump spoke little, if at all, of the constitutional connection between the legislative branch and himself. Instead, he treated Republican senators and members of Congress as a studio audience, Democratic legislators simply as targets for personal abuse. Everything he did on Tuesday night, ceremonially, was a preview of what he did on Saturday. He took our country to war as if he were doing it as a king.”
And Joe, questions about predicate and planning certainly emerge because there was nothing mentioned there about immediate threat.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Well and I think the administration would probably say nothing mentioned there because they wanted the element of surprise. And of course, when Israel gave them the intel that Khamenei and the leaders were all meeting together again above ground, they certainly moved things up.
Chris, you’re a great person to talk to here for a couple of reasons. First of all, obviously you and many other people have great concerns about how we went to war. But secondly, you have a sense of history about Iran. You were in Jimmy Carter’s White House when the Iranians stormed our embassy. When the Iranians, you know, were burning flags and shouting, “death to America”, as they have for years.
When the Iranians in ‘82, you were out of the White House, but you were then a columnist when the Iranians killed 240 Marines in Beirut and through all the other attacks. I’m curious how you’re weighing all of this. Obviously, seeing the damage Iran has done to the world since 1979 and balancing that with your concerns about how this war was launched.
CHRIS MATTHEWS: Yeah. Well, I think we have a couple of stories today. We’ve got the war in Iraq – in Iran, which is a real war. Obviously, we just – Mika went over just the amount of activity going on in this war. It’s a war, a Department of War, appropriately named apparently right now.
But, you know, I keep thinking about the vote down in Texas and whether it’s Paxton or it’s Cornyn or it’s Talarico: who wants to be a senator today, to what effect? That the United States Senate and the US Congress sat in that chamber of the House the other night on the State of the Union night, and, my God, they had no role. They were like a studio audience with an applause sign on. That’s all they did.
The president was giving out medals and acting like they were just sitting there to applaud him. They had no role in war making or decisions about war. Don’t Republicans think that Congress is Article I in the constitution, that they have a role in making war? The only person I know pushing the war was Mark Levin on Friday night before we attacked. He was pushing for a big war. He wanted what he wanted and he got it.
But I never heard a big debate in the United States Congress about this war. And I think it’s incredible what we’ve gotten ourselves into. And it really comes back to the role of congress and the Article I of the constitution. I’ve been over in Vietnam teaching the American Revolution and “We the People.” Well, we the people didn’t start this war. Listen to the polling right now about this war. Trump’s getting about the same number on the war as he’s getting on himself, which is in the 30s. It’s not a popular war right now because the American people didn’t get into it. They weren’t even talked into it. So, it’s an extraordinary situation in terms of the Constitution, our constitution.
By the way, you asked about how this big fight with Iran began. Well, it didn’t begin in ‘79. I was there as a speechwriter to the president. I know how it felt, it was terrible.
But it didn’t begin in ‘79, it began in ‘52 when Kermit Roosevelt and the CIA went over there and knocked off their legitimately elected government with Mosaddegh and put in the Shah. We put in a monarchy. What is that what America stands for, Monarchies? Yes, that’s what we did. So to talk about democratizing. I’m not even sure anybody’s talking about that yet. Are we going to democratize Iran after what we did in ‘52, sent them in the other direction? It’s a tough one.
