# Project Freedom FAILS: what it reveals about US power in the Gulf

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-fourcast-1366209/project-freedom-fails-what-it-reveals-about-us-power-in-the-gulf
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-fourcast-1366209/project-freedom-fails-what-it-reveals-about-us-power-in-the-gulf.md
Podcast: [The Fourcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-fourcast-1366209)
Published: 2026-05-07T16:30:56+00:00
Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thefourcastc4news/episodes/Project-Freedom-FAILS-what-it-reveals-about-US-power-in-the-Gulf-e3j1qo4
Audio file: https://anchor.fm/s/1056b19ac/podcast/play/119646404/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-4-7%2F423693226-44100-2-9e1926578e7bc.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-fourcast-1366209/episodes/project-freedom-fails-what-it-reveals-about-us-power-in-the-gulf
Duration seconds: 2491

## Resource

As Gulf leaders look to Beijing for guarantees Washington no longer seems able to give, China is suddenly at the centre of diplomacy around the Strait of Hormuz. The UAE’s Mohammed bin Zayed and Iran’s foreign minister both arrived in Beijing within days of each other, seeking a way out of a blockade that has choked shipping routes, pushed tankers around the Cape of Good Hope, and rattled global markets. So where does this leave Donald Trump’s efforts to revive a deal that could reopen the Strait, and what does the collapse of Project Freedom reveal about America’s standing with its allies in the Gulf and Europe? In this episode of The Fourcast Indicators, Matt Frei and Mark Urban are joined by former Senior Director at the US National Security Council during Donald Trump’s first administration Fiona Hill to examine China’s growing leverage over Iran, the Gulf states’ deepening unease with Washington, and the diplomatic pressure building ahead of the delayed Trump-Xi summit.

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## Transcript

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