WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.170 --> 00:00:02.950 Look, Trump is beyond being embarrassed. He has no sense 2 00:00:02.990 --> 00:00:03.930 of shame. 3 00:00:03.930 --> 00:00:06.969 Or propriety or moral guidance or any of that stuff. 4 00:00:08.050 --> 00:00:12.769 It astounds me to watch Mark Carney be a better 5 00:00:12.830 --> 00:00:18.390 president than Donald Trump. Mark Carney has more dignity and gravitas. 6 00:00:18.629 --> 00:00:22.589 And as somebody said the other day, Mark Carney is 7 00:00:22.629 --> 00:00:24.410 the West Wing president people wanted. 8 00:00:32.200 --> 00:00:34.000 Hello and welcome to the Trump Report. 9 00:00:34.039 --> 00:00:34.799 I'm Maddie Hale. 10 00:00:34.840 --> 00:00:37.000 Lots to discuss today, guys. Of course, we've got these 11 00:00:37.039 --> 00:00:39.880 Iran updates. We've got this Trump versus Canada stuff. We've 12 00:00:39.920 --> 00:00:43.539 got some new information about Putin and his plans and 13 00:00:43.560 --> 00:00:44.840 the way he's been helping Iran. 14 00:00:44.869 --> 00:00:46.149 So we're going to get all into that. 15 00:00:46.189 --> 00:00:48.289 We're going to also talk about some polling and what 16 00:00:48.310 --> 00:00:50.329 it means for the Republican Party ahead of the midterm 17 00:00:50.710 --> 00:00:54.009 elections in November. So my guest today is co-founder of 18 00:00:54.030 --> 00:00:56.590 the Lincoln Project, Rick Wilson. Rick, so good to see 19 00:00:56.630 --> 00:00:57.130 you again. 20 00:00:57.409 --> 00:00:57.909 Likewise. 21 00:00:58.729 --> 00:01:00.250 I just said to you that the audience. 22 00:01:00.020 --> 00:01:02.310 Will be happy to see you back on their screens 23 00:01:02.350 --> 00:01:04.189 and get your take on everything happening because there's a 24 00:01:04.209 --> 00:01:06.230 lot that's been going on this week. We had a 25 00:01:06.290 --> 00:01:10.670 slower August. We're September 2 today. And, of course, everything's 26 00:01:10.689 --> 00:01:13.250 heating up. So I want to start with Iran with you. 27 00:01:13.329 --> 00:01:14.909 And I just want to give you the timeline of 28 00:01:14.930 --> 00:01:15.670 what's been happening. 29 00:01:15.730 --> 00:01:16.769 So the U.S. 30 00:01:16.790 --> 00:01:20.269 Strikes on Iran over alleged attempts to mine the Strait 31 00:01:20.290 --> 00:01:24.349 of Hormuz. Iran retaliates against the United States bases. The 32 00:01:24.370 --> 00:01:27.280 US launches a much larger wave of strikes. Trump warns 33 00:01:27.340 --> 00:01:31.219 Iran not to retaliate again, threatens even harder attacks. Iran 34 00:01:31.260 --> 00:01:34.359 defies him anyway, firing missiles and drones at these US 35 00:01:34.439 --> 00:01:37.400 targets across the region. Now the question is whether Trump 36 00:01:37.439 --> 00:01:40.299 follows through and escalates the war again. I mean, how 37 00:01:40.340 --> 00:01:41.890 do you see this playing out? 38 00:01:42.420 --> 00:01:45.010 Well, I mean, Maddy, we're seven months into this operation. 39 00:01:45.310 --> 00:01:47.790 We were told in the very beginning of it that 40 00:01:47.909 --> 00:01:51.790 Iran was obliterated, that their capacity to wage war was 41 00:01:51.829 --> 00:01:55.459 completely annihilated. that we had won, that the Iranian people 42 00:01:55.500 --> 00:01:59.689 were told to rise up, and that the war was over. 43 00:02:00.409 --> 00:02:02.129 And the war has been over every week since then. 44 00:02:02.849 --> 00:02:05.450 We are in a constant state right now where Donald 45 00:02:05.469 --> 00:02:09.810 Trump's spin is not coincident with the reality of what's 46 00:02:09.830 --> 00:02:12.909 happening in the Gulf. And Iran has continued to do 47 00:02:12.969 --> 00:02:16.330 enormous damage to American military forces and bases around the 48 00:02:16.349 --> 00:02:20.509 Middle East, which the administration has either covered up, lied about, 49 00:02:20.590 --> 00:02:24.409 or denied. We've seen that the Iranians are not deterred 50 00:02:24.710 --> 00:02:30.069 by continued American airstrikes. They have, in fact, consolidated their power. 51 00:02:30.110 --> 00:02:35.120 The theocratic wing, the mullahs, have consolidated their power in 52 00:02:35.159 --> 00:02:38.599 the period in which we've been attacking them. So peace 53 00:02:38.639 --> 00:02:40.800 in the Middle East is a distant dream right now. 54 00:02:41.780 --> 00:02:44.539 The Iranians control the Strait of Hormuz. Therefore, they control 55 00:02:44.580 --> 00:02:47.330 a lot of what happens to the world economy. The 56 00:02:47.349 --> 00:02:50.150 Strait is not open, despite what Trump keeps telling people. 57 00:02:51.189 --> 00:02:53.590 And we're in a moment right now where Russia and 58 00:02:53.629 --> 00:02:57.370 China have seen the weakness of the United States in 59 00:02:57.689 --> 00:03:01.030 this particular region of the world. And they're both helping 60 00:03:01.090 --> 00:03:07.680 Iran to, you know, improve their technology, improve their targeting 61 00:03:07.719 --> 00:03:13.020 against American forces. And, you know, the great science fiction 62 00:03:13.039 --> 00:03:14.919 writer William Gibson once said, the future is here, it's 63 00:03:14.939 --> 00:03:18.180 just not evenly distributed yet. That's the same principle of 64 00:03:18.979 --> 00:03:22.020 World War III right now. It's not evenly distributed yet, 65 00:03:22.080 --> 00:03:25.000 but in the Gulf, Iran is winning. 66 00:03:25.020 --> 00:03:27.949 We will get into how Russia's played a part in 67 00:03:27.969 --> 00:03:29.370 a minute, but I want to get your thoughts because 68 00:03:29.389 --> 00:03:31.889 you said Trump's been saying that the Strait of Hormuz 69 00:03:31.930 --> 00:03:35.569 is open. So just days after Trump declared that the 70 00:03:35.590 --> 00:03:38.110 Strait of Hormuz has been cleared of all of these 71 00:03:38.189 --> 00:03:43.139 Iranian mines, Iran allegedly tried to lay new ones, exactly 72 00:03:43.500 --> 00:03:45.020 what we feared would happen. 73 00:03:45.560 --> 00:03:47.520 So how can Trump now claim that the U.S. 74 00:03:47.539 --> 00:03:50.199 Has almost total control of the Strait while insisting he's 75 00:03:50.280 --> 00:03:52.819 not trying to force Iran back to the negotiating table 76 00:03:52.840 --> 00:03:55.610 when this is happening? I mean, they quite literally attacked 77 00:03:55.689 --> 00:03:58.270 Iran because they believed that they were trying to lay 78 00:03:58.310 --> 00:03:59.590 more mines in the Strait. 79 00:03:59.610 --> 00:04:04.229 I mean, Maddie, the problem we have now is, again, 80 00:04:04.270 --> 00:04:08.319 Donald Trump's, the reality he tries to create is not 81 00:04:08.360 --> 00:04:10.520 the reality of the world. 82 00:04:10.939 --> 00:04:12.419 And he can say all he. 83 00:04:12.379 --> 00:04:15.889 Wants that the Strait is open, but Sea mines are 84 00:04:15.909 --> 00:04:20.970 a very cheap Iranian weapon. They bought them from the 85 00:04:21.089 --> 00:04:25.629 Soviets back in the 80s and 90s for about $ 8 apiece. 86 00:04:25.649 --> 00:04:26.829 They have thousands of them. 87 00:04:27.329 --> 00:04:30.399 They're going to throw them into the Gulf either from 88 00:04:30.420 --> 00:04:33.600 the back of boats or from these mine-laying missile systems 89 00:04:33.639 --> 00:04:34.040 they have. 90 00:04:34.860 --> 00:04:38.009 None of this is a recipe for.... 91 00:04:40.850 --> 00:04:44.050 For, for insurance companies and shipping companies to say, Hey, 92 00:04:44.110 --> 00:04:47.149 I'm confident to take our valuable cargo through the street. 93 00:04:47.870 --> 00:04:50.850 So we've seen these, this enormous backlog still in this, 94 00:04:51.209 --> 00:04:53.889 you know, in the Gulf built up Iran controls. And 95 00:04:53.920 --> 00:04:57.240 unless you're paying Iran, their vig, their, their, their cut, 96 00:04:57.720 --> 00:05:00.019 they're not going to let a ship through unless it's 97 00:05:00.040 --> 00:05:01.860 for China, Iran's ally. 98 00:05:02.019 --> 00:05:03.279 They're not going to let a ship through. 99 00:05:03.920 --> 00:05:08.550 So, so we really don't have a real lever right now, uh, 100 00:05:08.990 --> 00:05:11.470 that it's going to stop them from using this asymmetric, 101 00:05:11.550 --> 00:05:14.430 low-cost warfare against the world economy. 102 00:05:15.009 --> 00:05:16.750 And, you know, the Strait was open before this war. 103 00:05:16.889 --> 00:05:17.730 It is not open now. 104 00:05:18.629 --> 00:05:21.899 Iran says that five civilians, including a four-year-old child, were 105 00:05:21.920 --> 00:05:25.040 killed in this U.S. strike after it hit a wedding venue. 106 00:05:25.139 --> 00:05:27.339 And Trump said that, he then said, you know, where 107 00:05:27.360 --> 00:05:30.420 are the Iranian people? When are they going to rise. 108 00:05:30.240 --> 00:05:33.759 Up and fight? But Civilian deaths from U.S. 109 00:05:33.839 --> 00:05:38.360 Strikes have the exact opposite effect, reigniting this anti-American sentiment 110 00:05:38.379 --> 00:05:42.379 and making Iranians more likely to rally against the U.S. 111 00:05:42.459 --> 00:05:45.139 Rather than rise up against their regime. Is that how 112 00:05:45.180 --> 00:05:45.649 you see it? 113 00:05:46.240 --> 00:05:46.879 It is, Maddie. 114 00:05:47.120 --> 00:05:50.680 And I will say this. I love Iran and Iranians. 115 00:05:51.519 --> 00:05:56.519 They are fascinating people. They're an educated people. And they 116 00:05:56.620 --> 00:06:00.449 really wanted something different. And it was slowly, demographically, the 117 00:06:00.470 --> 00:06:03.689 country was changing. And the grip that the mullahs had 118 00:06:03.829 --> 00:06:07.209 on the people after 47 years was slipping. Because for 119 00:06:07.209 --> 00:06:09.110 47 years they said, oh, the great Satan wants to 120 00:06:09.149 --> 00:06:11.910 destroy you, the great Satan wants to kill us all. Well, 121 00:06:12.350 --> 00:06:15.529 now the great Satan is actually bombing civilian targets in Iran, 122 00:06:16.069 --> 00:06:19.930 and it really has had an effect for the theocratic 123 00:06:20.149 --> 00:06:25.149 regime that runs Iran of solidifying their power. It has 124 00:06:25.509 --> 00:06:30.060 set back the possibility of a liberated Iran by a generation. 125 00:06:30.129 --> 00:06:30.500 In my view. 126 00:06:31.529 --> 00:06:33.980 Well, on that note, so you told me last time 127 00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:36.139 you were on the show that you believe the United 128 00:06:36.160 --> 00:06:40.120 States didn't have the military capabilities to properly protect these U.S. 129 00:06:40.160 --> 00:06:42.420 Bases in the region. We're now seeing, well. 130 00:06:42.439 --> 00:06:46.860 We have been seeing Iran continuously target these military bases, 131 00:06:46.899 --> 00:06:51.240 including yesterday. So how worried are you that U.S. military bases, 132 00:06:51.379 --> 00:06:54.329 resources and troops' lives are seriously at risk? 133 00:06:55.389 --> 00:06:58.949 Listen, I think it's an absolutely existential crisis for the 134 00:06:58.970 --> 00:07:03.199 American military. We have lost control of our key naval 135 00:07:03.240 --> 00:07:07.839 facility in Bahrain. We are pulling troops out of our 136 00:07:08.560 --> 00:07:14.079 key air facilities, especially Al Udeid in Qatar. We are 137 00:07:15.040 --> 00:07:19.750 no longer capable of mounting the anti-missile defenses that would 138 00:07:19.829 --> 00:07:22.670 protect these facilities. We have burned through all of our 139 00:07:22.750 --> 00:07:25.769 anti-missile weapons, and we're now using what they call point 140 00:07:25.829 --> 00:07:30.269 defense weapons, which means you have seconds, not minutes, to 141 00:07:30.310 --> 00:07:34.199 defend yourself, and the Iranians have gotten good at spoofing 142 00:07:34.220 --> 00:07:39.180 our systems. This is not– the military infrastructure we built 143 00:07:39.300 --> 00:07:43.079 over generations in the Gulf is being dismantled by inexpensive 144 00:07:43.120 --> 00:07:45.689 drone warfare on the part of the Iranians. And that 145 00:07:45.730 --> 00:07:49.970 drone warfare is, to go back again, in part enabled 146 00:07:49.990 --> 00:07:50.769 by Russia and China. 147 00:07:51.660 --> 00:07:54.939 Reuters reported today that Trump wants to keep the Iran 148 00:07:54.980 --> 00:07:58.829 war relatively quiet until the midterm elections are over because 149 00:07:59.350 --> 00:08:03.050 they fear this major, you know, fear major Republican losses 150 00:08:03.110 --> 00:08:07.810 with greater military action, potentially reconsidering, you know, causing Americans 151 00:08:07.850 --> 00:08:11.199 to reconsider their vote. But how politically cynical do you 152 00:08:11.240 --> 00:08:13.519 think it would be for the timing of the war 153 00:08:13.620 --> 00:08:15.980 if this is shaped by the midterms? 154 00:08:17.699 --> 00:08:22.750 I mean, it's undeniable that the midterms are in a 155 00:08:23.050 --> 00:08:27.269 meaningful way, being determined because America does not like this 156 00:08:27.329 --> 00:08:30.709 war at all. Republicans don't like it. Democrats don't like it. 157 00:08:30.800 --> 00:08:36.100 Independents particularly hate it. And it has been an economic 158 00:08:36.259 --> 00:08:38.259 and a foreign policy disaster for America. 159 00:08:39.159 --> 00:08:41.840 It is driving a lot of the anxiety and the anger. 160 00:08:42.759 --> 00:08:45.409 The Republican Party has a very large cohort that does 161 00:08:45.450 --> 00:08:51.840 not like forever wars and overseas interventions. The gas prices, 162 00:08:51.879 --> 00:08:56.970 the economic impact on fuel, on fertilizer, on sulfur, that 163 00:08:57.110 --> 00:08:59.690 all come out of the Gulf, has been an enormous 164 00:08:59.909 --> 00:09:01.129 hit on the American economy. 165 00:09:01.629 --> 00:09:03.149 It is shaping this election. 166 00:09:03.570 --> 00:09:06.330 And I frankly think even if he quieted down the war, 167 00:09:06.850 --> 00:09:08.590 that's not going to change the price of gas at 168 00:09:08.610 --> 00:09:11.669 the pump. It's not going to change the public perception 169 00:09:11.700 --> 00:09:15.100 that this war is a disaster, which is a correct perception, 170 00:09:15.120 --> 00:09:15.539 by the way. 171 00:09:16.100 --> 00:09:18.139 Well, what do you think will happen after the midterms, Rick? 172 00:09:19.100 --> 00:09:22.620 Well, look, right now we are looking at a, almost 173 00:09:22.799 --> 00:09:29.820 every model shows the Democrats will control the house of representatives. Increasingly, um, the, the, the, 174 00:09:29.960 --> 00:09:32.460 the polling models and the political models are showing that 175 00:09:32.480 --> 00:09:35.159 the Democrats have a very good shot at controlling the 176 00:09:35.230 --> 00:09:37.909 U S Senate. If they control the U S Senate 177 00:09:37.990 --> 00:09:40.750 and the house, this war is going to end. It 178 00:09:40.789 --> 00:09:44.299 will be, it will be, it will be shut down. Um, 179 00:09:44.659 --> 00:09:46.940 The Iranians were not close to a nuclear weapon. That 180 00:09:46.980 --> 00:09:50.419 is a sort of comforting lie the Trump administration told 181 00:09:50.480 --> 00:09:54.370 itself and the country. And we're going to see that 182 00:09:54.409 --> 00:09:56.929 we're going to have to withdraw from the Gulf. We're 183 00:09:56.950 --> 00:09:59.370 going to have to shut this thing down in the 184 00:09:59.409 --> 00:10:00.600 posture it is. We're going to have to come to 185 00:10:00.639 --> 00:10:03.700 a settlement with Iran. We didn't have to be here. 186 00:10:05.000 --> 00:10:09.470 Generations of American political leadership understood that this particular war 187 00:10:09.509 --> 00:10:11.490 would be a disaster for the world economy and the 188 00:10:11.529 --> 00:10:16.669 American economy. And the Democrats have to be ready to 189 00:10:18.039 --> 00:10:20.240 to force the president's hand on this with the War 190 00:10:20.279 --> 00:10:24.259 Powers Act. We've got to stop the sort of polite 191 00:10:24.320 --> 00:10:26.539 fiction that this is not a war that we started, 192 00:10:26.559 --> 00:10:27.639 a war of our choice. 193 00:10:28.279 --> 00:10:30.740 Let's get into Russia's involvement. 194 00:10:30.799 --> 00:10:35.500 So Trump has been pressuring Putin to abandon Iran, even 195 00:10:35.559 --> 00:10:38.980 sending his CIA director, John Ratcliffe, to Moscow last week. 196 00:10:39.320 --> 00:10:42.500 But the Financial Times is now revealing that Russia has 197 00:10:42.600 --> 00:10:45.990 secretly been helping Tehran develop these missiles capable of of 198 00:10:46.009 --> 00:10:50.750 threatening US warships since 2023. That cooperation has continued right 199 00:10:50.789 --> 00:10:53.580 up until this war. So there is no evidence that 200 00:10:53.669 --> 00:10:56.879 any of these have been operational, any of these Russian-assisted 201 00:10:57.820 --> 00:11:00.220 supersonic missiles have been deployed. 202 00:11:00.240 --> 00:11:01.500 We don't know if they've been used. 203 00:11:01.639 --> 00:11:05.039 But if Putin is providing Iran with intelligence, which you've 204 00:11:05.080 --> 00:11:07.960 said to me that you 100% believe that they are, 205 00:11:08.519 --> 00:11:12.139 and helping develop weapons that could be threatening US forces, 206 00:11:12.679 --> 00:11:16.259 Why isn't the Trump administration treating Russia as an adversary? 207 00:11:17.259 --> 00:11:22.860 Because Donald Trump has a mental defect about how he 208 00:11:22.919 --> 00:11:27.190 views Russia. He has a belief that Putin is his friend, 209 00:11:27.669 --> 00:11:30.809 that he loves him, that he admires him, and Trump 210 00:11:30.850 --> 00:11:33.990 reciprocates that. Now, Putin looks at Trump as a fool 211 00:11:34.090 --> 00:11:37.110 and a sucker. Putin is an old intelligence officer who 212 00:11:37.149 --> 00:11:40.409 has Trump in his brain as someone he can manipulate. 213 00:11:40.850 --> 00:11:43.649 Trump believes that Putin is his friend and that Russia 214 00:11:43.710 --> 00:11:46.450 is the future and that Russia, um, is this. 215 00:11:46.549 --> 00:11:48.529 Unconquerable power in the world. 216 00:11:49.240 --> 00:11:53.899 It is, it is a, a, a persistent mystery to 217 00:11:53.940 --> 00:11:57.940 many Americans why this is, but it shouldn't be. This 218 00:11:58.000 --> 00:12:01.330 is a guy, Trump is a guy who, who is 219 00:12:01.370 --> 00:12:04.889 the textbook case of easily manipulated and, and Putin has 220 00:12:05.029 --> 00:12:09.799 easily manipulated him for 10 years now. Um, Russia is 221 00:12:09.860 --> 00:12:12.590 at war with the West. They're at war with America. 222 00:12:12.639 --> 00:12:14.570 They're at war with Europe. They're at war with Britain. 223 00:12:15.509 --> 00:12:19.889 They are a terrorist state that is right now involved 224 00:12:20.070 --> 00:12:23.649 in targeting civilians in a war they chose in Ukraine. 225 00:12:24.429 --> 00:12:28.350 They are committing war crimes at scale. They are right 226 00:12:28.409 --> 00:12:32.019 now engaged in this hybrid war with Europe. We've seen 227 00:12:32.340 --> 00:12:36.000 growing numbers of sabotage and terrorist attacks across Europe generated 228 00:12:36.059 --> 00:12:41.379 by Russia, operated likely by the GRU, And Trump. 229 00:12:41.200 --> 00:12:43.330 Is the last guy in the room who doesn't understand this. 230 00:12:44.070 --> 00:12:47.330 He doesn't believe it and understand it, but we are 231 00:12:47.370 --> 00:12:51.309 at a point now in this country where the threat 232 00:12:51.330 --> 00:12:54.070 that Russia has posed to destabilize all of Europe and 233 00:12:54.100 --> 00:12:57.960 the Middle East is a tangible threat, and only Trump 234 00:12:58.059 --> 00:13:01.200 believes that Russia... Well, and his Deputy Secretary of Defense, 235 00:13:01.279 --> 00:13:04.840 Elbridge Colby, who they are both Putin fanboys of the 236 00:13:04.879 --> 00:13:08.769 highest order, and they... They don't see a threat where 237 00:13:08.830 --> 00:13:10.860 everyone else in the world sees the bombs going off. 238 00:13:11.840 --> 00:13:12.279 If U.S. 239 00:13:12.360 --> 00:13:17.820 Forces are or were ultimately killed by Russian-assisted Iranian missiles, 240 00:13:18.360 --> 00:13:20.500 how would the American people react. 241 00:13:20.179 --> 00:13:21.000 To that, do you think? 242 00:13:21.059 --> 00:13:23.330 Would they be furious that Trump had the power to 243 00:13:23.389 --> 00:13:28.750 squeeze Putin economically but didn't do more to bankrupt Russia 244 00:13:28.850 --> 00:13:30.789 while helping arm America's enemy? 245 00:13:30.809 --> 00:13:33.529 I mean, look, Donald Trump invited. 246 00:13:33.929 --> 00:13:37.220 Putin's treasury secretary to the G20 summit this week, to 247 00:13:37.240 --> 00:13:40.539 the horror, correctly, of everyone from Europe and the rest 248 00:13:40.559 --> 00:13:44.879 of the G20. Donald Trump does not care if Putin's 249 00:13:44.960 --> 00:13:50.039 weapons kill Americans. He doesn't care. He puts his relationship 250 00:13:50.080 --> 00:13:53.200 with Putin before the lives of the U.S. troops that 251 00:13:53.240 --> 00:13:54.879 are on the line in the Middle East and elsewhere. 252 00:13:55.259 --> 00:13:55.919 It's just a fact. 253 00:13:56.519 --> 00:14:00.100 So you really don't think that Donald Trump cares if U.S. 254 00:14:00.139 --> 00:14:01.590 troops are killed in this war? 255 00:14:01.970 --> 00:14:02.710 He does not care. 256 00:14:04.570 --> 00:14:07.649 If the Iranians kill them, he cares somewhat, but if 257 00:14:07.690 --> 00:14:10.649 the Russian weapons kill them, he does not care. He 258 00:14:11.029 --> 00:14:16.029 has a gigantic blind spot to Vladimir Putin's actions. 259 00:14:16.070 --> 00:14:17.029 He doesn't care. 260 00:14:17.710 --> 00:14:20.809 They believe that Vladimir Putin is their ally in the 261 00:14:20.850 --> 00:14:26.710 White House, and it is a horrific choice by Trump, 262 00:14:27.450 --> 00:14:29.509 and it is something that has put the country in danger, 263 00:14:29.529 --> 00:14:32.950 but You know, Putin is waging war on the West, 264 00:14:33.009 --> 00:14:35.190 including the United States, and Donald Trump will be the 265 00:14:35.269 --> 00:14:37.009 last person to see it and admit it. 266 00:14:37.669 --> 00:14:40.149 You know, when I have Sir Bill Browder on my show, 267 00:14:40.210 --> 00:14:44.210 he was on yesterday as well, he actively tries to 268 00:14:44.269 --> 00:14:48.750 wrap his head around why Trump has this fascination and, 269 00:14:49.090 --> 00:14:52.820 you know, blind spot for Vladimir Putin. And he, as 270 00:14:52.840 --> 00:14:55.159 you and I have discussed, he can't figure it out, 271 00:14:55.240 --> 00:14:58.980 but he thinks that there is something sinister under Putin 272 00:14:59.519 --> 00:15:02.200 under the wraps going on between the two, whether it be, 273 00:15:02.220 --> 00:15:05.299 you know, a pact for an eventual business deal and 274 00:15:05.399 --> 00:15:08.360 investment in Russia when that is necessary. 275 00:15:08.419 --> 00:15:10.659 But I mean, what are your thoughts on that, Rick? 276 00:15:10.700 --> 00:15:13.659 Do you think that, you know, under the cover of darkness, 277 00:15:13.700 --> 00:15:16.000 there is something going on between the two? 278 00:15:17.200 --> 00:15:20.620 In 1987, Donald Trump made his first trip to Moscow. 279 00:15:21.799 --> 00:15:26.519 And when he was in Moscow, something happened. I don't 280 00:15:26.570 --> 00:15:27.850 know what. No one knows what. 281 00:15:28.389 --> 00:15:30.470 But he came back and immediately put a letter in 282 00:15:30.509 --> 00:15:32.169 the New York– a paid ad in the New York 283 00:15:32.220 --> 00:15:36.860 Times that said we need to get out of NATO, that. 284 00:15:36.259 --> 00:15:41.659 We're paying too much. It was Russian Talking Points 101. 285 00:15:41.659 --> 00:15:45.110 At that moment, something had happened in Trump's brain. And 286 00:15:45.259 --> 00:15:48.350 whether it was compromise or whether it was just Trump's 287 00:15:48.769 --> 00:15:52.610 unsophisticated nature or whether it was the Russians just persuading 288 00:15:52.649 --> 00:15:54.909 him that he could do business in Russia and build 289 00:15:54.950 --> 00:15:59.690 a Trump Tower in Moscow– Whatever it was, whether it 290 00:15:59.710 --> 00:16:03.750 was venality or a compromise, Trump changed. 291 00:16:04.169 --> 00:16:06.070 And he has never abandoned that since 1987. 292 00:16:06.070 --> 00:16:11.159 If Trump was not a Russian asset, the old question is, 293 00:16:11.279 --> 00:16:12.000 how could you tell? 294 00:16:13.120 --> 00:16:14.759 If he's not a Russian asset, how could you tell? 295 00:16:15.399 --> 00:16:20.360 Because he's always made choices as a private citizen, as 296 00:16:20.419 --> 00:16:24.019 a businessman, as a candidate, and as a president to 297 00:16:24.090 --> 00:16:28.789 accept Russia on its terms, not on America's terms. And 298 00:16:28.840 --> 00:16:33.480 so I think that there will someday be a revelation 299 00:16:33.519 --> 00:16:36.960 about what happened. We will someday get a look inside 300 00:16:37.000 --> 00:16:39.149 Russia's archives, as we did after the Cold War with 301 00:16:39.169 --> 00:16:42.129 the Matryoshkin archive. We will someday get a look at 302 00:16:42.169 --> 00:16:44.509 this and understand it, but no one can really tell 303 00:16:44.549 --> 00:16:45.389 you what and. 304 00:16:45.370 --> 00:16:48.220 Why Trump's brain is shaped the way it is when 305 00:16:48.250 --> 00:16:48.879 it comes to Russia. 306 00:16:49.580 --> 00:16:54.240 So you believe there is something more sinister, deeper involved 307 00:16:54.279 --> 00:16:57.240 in the relationship between Trump and Putin. And one day, 308 00:16:57.259 --> 00:16:59.490 hopefully soon, we will find out. 309 00:16:59.990 --> 00:17:05.769 Whether it's financial or sexual or whatever it is, I 310 00:17:05.809 --> 00:17:08.539 don't know that answer. But I know that the pattern 311 00:17:08.680 --> 00:17:14.359 of his behavior is absolutely inexplicable. without something being underneath that. 312 00:17:14.559 --> 00:17:16.460 You know, in intelligence, they used to say there was 313 00:17:16.480 --> 00:17:21.599 an acronym called MICE, money, ideology, compromise, and ego. And 314 00:17:21.640 --> 00:17:25.119 those were the four ways you got somebody to work 315 00:17:25.140 --> 00:17:29.059 for a foreign power. Trump is vulnerable on all those axes. 316 00:17:29.460 --> 00:17:35.519 Money drives his behavior incredibly powerfully. Ideology, he believes in 317 00:17:35.539 --> 00:17:39.740 the strongman. He believes in the monarchy model, the dictator model, 318 00:17:39.759 --> 00:17:40.720 the autocrat model. 319 00:17:41.019 --> 00:17:43.579 Compromise, He's a degenerate. Ego. 320 00:17:43.839 --> 00:17:46.220 Obviously, his ego is not something that we can ignore. 321 00:17:46.660 --> 00:17:50.690 So he's vulnerable in all these ways. And something changed. 322 00:17:51.190 --> 00:17:55.089 Something broke him in 87, broke bad in 87 toward 323 00:17:55.549 --> 00:17:56.769 the Russian perspective. 324 00:17:57.369 --> 00:17:58.410 And he's never abandoned it. 325 00:17:58.930 --> 00:18:01.589 Let's move on to a different kind of relationship, Rick, 326 00:18:01.630 --> 00:18:03.589 which is, of course, Donald Trump and Mark Carney. 327 00:18:03.609 --> 00:18:05.990 So Mark Carney has had enough of Trump. 328 00:18:06.009 --> 00:18:09.589 He's told the Trump administration, stop doing your memes. 329 00:18:09.710 --> 00:18:10.730 Stop throwing shade. 330 00:18:11.210 --> 00:18:13.930 And stop trying to be tough after Trump launched, you know, 331 00:18:13.970 --> 00:18:16.740 more verbal attacks and spent the weekend posting these AI 332 00:18:17.099 --> 00:18:20.960 videos of Lake America, rebranding the Canadian geese to the duck. 333 00:18:21.039 --> 00:18:24.559 So Trump's administration seems to be doubling down on this, 334 00:18:24.599 --> 00:18:26.180 but I want to get your thoughts on this, Rick, 335 00:18:26.200 --> 00:18:28.720 you know, is this whole thing embarrassing for Trump, especially 336 00:18:28.740 --> 00:18:31.369 when the Canadian PM has to basically tell him to 337 00:18:31.470 --> 00:18:31.970 shut up? 338 00:18:32.970 --> 00:18:35.750 Look, Trump is beyond being embarrassed. He has no sense 339 00:18:35.789 --> 00:18:39.390 of shame or propriety or moral guidance or any of 340 00:18:39.410 --> 00:18:45.160 that stuff. It, astounds me to watch Mark Carney be 341 00:18:45.220 --> 00:18:49.740 a better president than Donald Trump. Mark Carney has more 342 00:18:49.819 --> 00:18:53.440 dignity and gravitas, and as somebody said the other day, 343 00:18:54.589 --> 00:18:58.410 Mark Carney is the West Wing president people wanted. He's 344 00:18:58.470 --> 00:19:01.529 the kind of guy who is the adult in the room, 345 00:19:01.990 --> 00:19:04.730 who is steady, who is calm, who is smart, who 346 00:19:04.750 --> 00:19:07.930 has an intellectual capacity to deal with complex leadership issues. 347 00:19:08.589 --> 00:19:12.400 Donald Trump is... Clownish in all these things, and he's 348 00:19:12.700 --> 00:19:15.920 trying to meme his way to victory over Canada. If 349 00:19:15.940 --> 00:19:20.029 you're losing negotiations with the nicest country on earth, you're losing. 350 00:19:20.890 --> 00:19:23.410 And Trump, he doesn't have the ability to understand how 351 00:19:23.549 --> 00:19:27.930 clownish and embarrassing he is. 68% of Americans oppose this 352 00:19:27.950 --> 00:19:33.619 whole Lake Ontario thing. 78% of Americans oppose the trade 353 00:19:33.660 --> 00:19:37.400 war with Canada. Carney has handled this perfectly, and he's 354 00:19:37.460 --> 00:19:38.309 called Trump out. 355 00:19:38.220 --> 00:19:40.670 For what he is. He's a child. He's juvenile. 356 00:19:41.390 --> 00:19:44.910 It's petty and foolish, and it doesn't accomplish any goal 357 00:19:44.950 --> 00:19:49.019 for America. america is not safer or richer or better 358 00:19:49.079 --> 00:19:51.619 in the world by going to war with our neighbor 359 00:19:51.680 --> 00:19:55.819 and closest ally it just isn't the case and americans 360 00:19:55.859 --> 00:19:59.349 get it it's also hurting trump politically maddie in a 361 00:19:59.380 --> 00:20:02.849 way that that he doesn't care about or understand um 362 00:20:03.490 --> 00:20:06.720 maine where we have a vital u.s senate race Michigan, 363 00:20:06.900 --> 00:20:08.140 where we have another vital U.S. 364 00:20:08.160 --> 00:20:11.190 Senate race. Alaska, where we have another vital U.S. Senate race. 365 00:20:11.730 --> 00:20:14.450 All of these states are involved every single day with 366 00:20:14.589 --> 00:20:18.190 massive trade and commerce with Canada. The voters in those 367 00:20:18.210 --> 00:20:20.829 states are being hurt by Trump's decision to put a 368 00:20:20.829 --> 00:20:22.410 50% tariff on the Canadians. 369 00:20:22.910 --> 00:20:27.809 It's madness. It's political malpractice. But of course, he's going 370 00:20:27.829 --> 00:20:28.299 to do it. 371 00:20:28.890 --> 00:20:30.970 And of course, the Republican Party is going to say, 372 00:20:31.009 --> 00:20:32.829 this is the most brilliant thing we've ever seen. 373 00:20:32.950 --> 00:20:34.430 Oh, thank you, dear leader. Do more. 374 00:20:35.109 --> 00:20:43.750 So it really has had a profoundly stupid effect on. 375 00:20:42.630 --> 00:20:45.750 Trump's own base by doing this. 376 00:20:46.309 --> 00:20:49.109 And I think we're going to end up with Mark 377 00:20:49.150 --> 00:20:52.299 Carney looking like a hero out of this because the 378 00:20:52.319 --> 00:20:55.940 tariffs are going to go away. Trump will either withdraw 379 00:20:55.960 --> 00:20:58.640 them on his own because of the economic calamity they cause, 380 00:20:59.220 --> 00:21:02.319 or Congress, when it's in the hands of the Democrats, 381 00:21:02.339 --> 00:21:05.339 will take back its tariff power that it has under 382 00:21:05.380 --> 00:21:08.660 the Constitution and that was only ceded to Trump by 383 00:21:08.740 --> 00:21:12.960 Mike Johnson and the Republican Party. Congress has absolute power 384 00:21:13.029 --> 00:21:17.789 over tariffs. They're in a position to say on day one, nope, 385 00:21:17.990 --> 00:21:20.650 we're done with this silliness. We're going back to where 386 00:21:20.990 --> 00:21:22.569 the world ought to be, which is we're going to 387 00:21:22.589 --> 00:21:25.559 be free and fair open trading partners with our neighbors 388 00:21:25.599 --> 00:21:29.279 and our friends. And it will frankly improve the economy 389 00:21:29.319 --> 00:21:32.619 of both countries. And Trump at that point will be 390 00:21:32.680 --> 00:21:34.259 holding the bag of his embarrassment. 391 00:21:34.799 --> 00:21:38.240 I thought the polling was quite interesting on the Canada rhetoric, 392 00:21:38.279 --> 00:21:40.279 as you mentioned, Rick. So, you know, just 20% of 393 00:21:40.579 --> 00:21:45.740 Americans support these tariffs on Canada, 57% oppose. And then 394 00:21:45.769 --> 00:21:50.170 I think less than 14% backs this Lake America rhetoric. 395 00:21:50.230 --> 00:21:52.809 But you said, you know, you mentioned how this kind 396 00:21:52.829 --> 00:21:56.369 of falls on Republicans. But CNN was reporting yesterday that 397 00:21:56.390 --> 00:22:01.460 several Republicans are not happy with With Trump's rhetoric towards Canada, 398 00:22:01.500 --> 00:22:03.859 and my guest Bill yesterday, he was saying his Republican 399 00:22:04.000 --> 00:22:05.990 contacts have voiced the same concerns. So I wanted to 400 00:22:06.009 --> 00:22:08.509 get your thoughts. I mean, you've obviously got your finger 401 00:22:08.549 --> 00:22:10.650