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Speaker 1: What's going on? Thank you so much for listening to

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this podcast. It is heard live every day from noon

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smartphone or tablet. And again, thank you so much for

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your support. Alrighty, so, who's ready for some tariff talk? Tariffs?

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Are you worried about the tariffs? Are you worried about

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this thing that's happening as of today and now the

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markets are not responding? Well, is this a problem? Is

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this going to be a problem? Sounds it seems like

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it's going to be a problem. Okay, So you've got

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Donald Trump that he had, you know, threatened these tariffs

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against Mexico, Canada and China. China. The tariff on China

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is an additional tariff that Trump had put on like

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four years ago, left on by Joe Biden after he

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ran a campaign savaging Trump for the tariff in the

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first place. But now that tariff has been increased okay,

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those tariffs have been increased, and so now you've got

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these three countries that are responding. And one of the

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data points I saw was that this is essentially going

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to mean roughly one thousand dollars per person, well a thousand.

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Everybody is basically almost one thousand dollars poorer because of it,

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just overnight, because of the increase in the prices of

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all of the things that now are going to have

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more tariffs on them, higher taxes. Basically it's gonna I mean,

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there's not going to be a a line item, like

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you're not going to be able to check out and see, oh, okay,

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here's the local tax and the state tax or whatever.

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It's just going to be basically built into the cost

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of the product that you are buying, because that's how

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tariffs basically work, right, They slap the tariff on it,

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and then that price increase just lives inside the price

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as it proceeds from you know, from the container ship

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through to the retail establishment or the online establishment if

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that's where you're getting it from. So China has now

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responded with its own tariffs against our products. This is

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what a trade war looks like in case people aren't aware.

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This is what a trade war. This is how they start.

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Tariffs get slapped on each other, and people's you know,

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wealth is reduced, people's purchasing power is reduced. I have

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said I am not a fan of tariffs. I think

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there should be you know, an equalization. I feel like,

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you know, free trade is that free trade doesn't mean

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you slap tariffs on our stuff so we can't sell

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into your country, but then you get to buy all

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of our stuff, you know, at cost. Like that's not

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free trade, right. Fair trade is free trade, that's you know,

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fair is fair. So if we're selling stuff into Canada

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and you want to tax you know, certain things going

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into Canada, that's fine. Like I feel like there should

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just be a universal like a flat tax, if you will,

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a flat tariff. Now there is an argument. The Founding

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fathers talked about this. They called them infant industries. So

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if you are trying to get an industry up and

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running in your country and you want to protect it

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from outside competition, you know, let's say you want to

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you know, have a you're making widgets, and it just

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so happens that the Canadians are really really good at

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making widgets, and they dominate the market in Charlotte in

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America for widgets, and you're trying to now compete with that.

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And the government believes that having a widget industry might

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be important, and so they would protect your infant industry

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with tariffs against the Canadian widgets. Right, So I understand

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that argument. I think you would have to take it

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on a case by case basis. But here in lies

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the problem is that these case by case analyzes for

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different products and services and sectors and industries has created

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all sorts of different numbers depending on what it is

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that you're selling. And what Trump has argued is that

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this trade imbalance that if we are, you know, we're

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running a trade deficit, that that's unfair. I don't think

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it is automatically unfair. Just means that we are buying

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more stuff than we are selling to another country. Now,

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maybe that's partly due to tariffs. That might be the case.

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I don't know if it's if that accounts for all

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of it, but I think Trump looks at a trade

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imbalance or a trade deficit as evidence of some unfair practice.

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And I don't know that to be true. I really don't.

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I don't and honestly, like, I don't think that's true.

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Now Trump has argued with Like I saw he was

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at some was it like the Wall Street Journal editorial

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page editor or something like that, and he was at

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some conference that the Wall Street Journal did. I want

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to say it was before the election, and they were

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talking about tariffs, and you know, Trump made the comment that, oh,

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you've been wrong about tariffs for thirty years or something.

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So this is obviously something that Trump, you know, has

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thought about for a long long time, and this is

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his philosophy when it comes to these tariffs. Now, a

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lot of people, myself and cclude believe that Trump was

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using the tariffs in order to extract concessions, better deals

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or or you know, help in you know, combating illegal immigration,

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combating the the fentanyl coming across the border, and so

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in that regard, then tariffs or the threat of tariffs

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can be used effectively. The problem is that if they

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don't do what you want, and you've threatened to do

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the tariffs, and then you have to put them in

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place lest you be seen as not following through on

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your threats. Now you've started the trade war, and it's

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easier to start these things than it is to end them. Usually.

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Now maybe you know, maybe that that will be different

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this time. I don't know. I cannot tell the future.

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Nobody can. So right now you've got you know, the

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market reacting because they're all trying to predict what's going

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to happen. You know, it's all speculative, and so these

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predictions are now driving the anti Trump media and their narratives,

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and you know, the Democrats are, you know, making these

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arguments that you know, Trump is has started a trade

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war and now we're all going to be poorer, and

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he's this is going to be the biggest tax increase

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because the number I saw was something like three hundred

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to three hundred and fifty billion dollars in essentially tax

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increases for these imported products, right, stuff that that we

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are normally buying and will now be more expensive. And

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so it's essentially a three hundred to three hundred and

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fifty billion dollar additional tax and when it comes, you know,

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and here's the problem I think that that Trump and

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the people who support what he's doing. Here's the problem

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that I think they're going to have is their defense

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of the tariffs seemed to be well, just don't buy

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out of seasoned fruit and vegetables. And I'm not sure

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that's a winning argument, you know, politically speaking, I don't

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think that's going to convince people who are like, you know,

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I'm used to buying you know, seven different kinds of

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fruits and vegetables, and now I can only access too

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once a year or twice a year. Now that's like,

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that's what like, that's the argument that's getting made is,

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you know, this is a tax on everybody, the largest

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tax increase overnight and in I think history maybe, But

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and then the response is basically suck it up, buttercup.

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And I'm not sure that's a winning argument. Now. The

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other side of this, see this is the problem with

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economics is that this is why Reagan said he wanted

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a one armed economist, because they always talk about on

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the one hand and then on the other hand, you know,

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So the other part of this is that when the

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cost of the imports becomes too great, it will then

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inspire production and manufacturing domestically to serve that demand. In

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other words, supply will be created in order to fulfill

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the demands of the local population. And this is particularly

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I think important when it comes to things that are

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national security related. Right, Like me personally, I don't think

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it's a great idea to not be able to manufacture

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steel because if we are reliant on countries, particularly those

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that don't like us very much, to send us all

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of those materials if we ever need to ramp up

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for a war footing thank you Zelenski. Oh, but we

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have a development on that front too. If we need

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to ramp up production for certain mission critical materials, we

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are unable to do so domestically, and I feel like

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that's a problem. Right, So this is like, this is

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why this whole issue, it's not a simple issue. And

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anybody that's telling you, whether it's the President or his detractors,

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if they're telling you that, like, oh, it's easy, we

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just do this and then you know, this easy thing happens,

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it's not that easy. It is not There is a

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lot of nuance in gray area here that well, for

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my entire adult life, I recall the left always telling

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me that that's how I should view things, and that

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the right was being, you know, too black and white

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on this stuff. But now it seems like everybody is

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into the false choices of you know, just black and White.

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He's either a putent lover or he gives Ukraine. You

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know troops like, No, there's there are way more, way

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more options available. Okay, So talking tariffs, what do you think?

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to Sean. Hello, Sean, Welcome to the show.

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Speaker 2: Pet.

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Speaker 3: How you doing? Bove?

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Speaker 2: I think Hayk talk to his new year. So i'mna

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wish you a happy new Year. I'm a good guy,

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all right.

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Speaker 1: Well, happy new Year to you too. Hope it's going

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well for you so far.

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Speaker 2: If I get up every day, I'm breathing everything. Just ware, brother.

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Speaker 3: I don't let anything stress me out.

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Speaker 2: But let's talk about dum tom So twenty sixteen. He

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got an office, said he had a bad deal. Bill

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Clinton did a bad deal. He gonna come in here

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and change it around, so he make a good deal.

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Now he said it's a bad deal. So I think

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that's on him. I mean he's a great as all

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his voters said, he's a great deal maker. I guess

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the deal that he did in twenty twenty wasn't great,

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so now he just start another deal.

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Speaker 1: So I mean, you're talking about the United States Mexico

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Canada Agreement, the us MCA that was like July of

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twenty twenty. I don't think so. First off, he has

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never said that the deal. No, he has never said

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that that deal was a bad deal because he did it,

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so he's not going to say that was a bad deal. Right,

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So what what they have talked about is the slapping

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of the tariffs on Canada and Mexico. He has tied

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to border enforcement and the fentanyl trade.

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Speaker 2: The trade, so we just putn't sitting on it. But

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the daility did in twenty twenty was great. But now

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we're going to do another turf tax on because of

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the fit trade.

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Speaker 1: Well that well, look you can believe you can believe this,

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you can believe what he's saying or not. I would

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guess that you don't believe it. But the he has

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not like there they haven't been connecting anything that was

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negotiated under the USMCA with this latest round of tariffs

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because they did there. I mean, they they did all

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sorts of stuff under the USMCA, they basically, you know,

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revive NAFTA, which look, for whatever you think about the USMCA,

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NAFTA was done like you said, under Bill Clinton, that

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was you know, thirty years ago, and so like all

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of those deals should be re examined. I feel like, right,

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I mean, that's just that just makes sense because industries

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get stronger and all that. So I have no problem

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with going back and reviewing a foreign trade deal to

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see if it still makes sense and maybe it needs

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to be adjusted. And when they were done with the USMCA,

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most all of the sides were happy with it. It

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seemed like everybody was on board and that was fine.

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But now this has been he has he has made

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the argument that our our borders are not secure and

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therefore they need to be helping us better than they are,

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and so he's using the tariffs in order to try

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to get them to do more. Now, whether that's whether

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that's the truth or not, I don't know, but that's

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what they've been saying.

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Speaker 2: Well, this is my point. This guy is small if

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he doesn't get his way, like it happened Friday. He

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didn't get his way, so he throws that off. Then

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he throws something else in the American people. He's throwing

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so much in American people. And the thing is people

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don't realize it. And you know, I feel for both sides,

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for everybody. What he's doing with the government, killing all

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the job for the government. Says, if you listen to

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some of them people they help, veterans, they helped when

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veterans call in, they listen to them. Veterans called in

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to help them out so they won't commit suicide anything.

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He's cutting a lot of stuff that really helped people

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who really needs to help.

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Speaker 3: So all these voters like.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, cut the government, cut the government. When people start

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committing issues about why they didn't have any kind of help,

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then you blame them dumb.

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Speaker 1: So Seun let me ask you, do you think that

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do you think that that any of the government should

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be cut based on what these doge guys are finding?

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Speaker 3: Well? What what what I've seen?

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Speaker 2: I mean, everybody has their point of view, but what

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I've seen is people who go to work every day

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they get evaluated. Some of them just got on and

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got to valuate all of us being good of course,

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and any job.

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Speaker 3: There's gonna be bad.

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Speaker 2: There's gonna be bad people there, so you of course, but.

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Speaker 1: Okay, so that's what I was asking. So like you

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understand like that there is a benefit to going into

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the federal government and seeing just like we talked about

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with the trade deal, right making revisions because something maybe

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somebody doesn't need to be in this position any longer.

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Maybe some of this money was being sent overseas to

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scam artists, and that should be something we identify, right, Like,

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so we're okay with the concept. So your your beef

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is with the way it's being carried out in a

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way that is uh that that is like firing some

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people that are doing work that you think is uh

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is valuable.

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Speaker 2: Is that it there's valuable, and and and then and

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then and their job is it's great. I mean you

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know why you find the guy up in and give

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you promise that. I mean, he's find anybody who does

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not agree with him, anybody who does not agree with

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with the with with y'all king, and with y'all king.

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If you does not agree with him, he's gonna fire you.

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That's not how they run the country.

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Speaker 1: Okay, so you're gonna have to give me some You're

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gonna have to give me some specific example of that.

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Speaker 2: I mean, okay, simple example. The guy in New York,

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the head guy in the federal government, the FBI up

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in New York. Hey, we want you to we want

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you to resign.

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Speaker 3: I mean, you know what you want to got to

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resign for?

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Speaker 2: If he had no if there's no issues.

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Speaker 1: No no, no, no, okay, well okay, so hang on

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right there. There there were there were issues.

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Speaker 2: Okay, the issues that didn't agree with with the king.

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Speaker 1: No no, no, no no. Like the big the thing

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that got him in the most trouble that got that

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forced them to, uh, you know, ask for his resignation

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was when they said, turn over all of the all

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of the Epstein uh information, and he apparently he apparently

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did not. And and the guy has made all sorts

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of politic he's also made Yeah, well, well now they've

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got it. So now they say, now they have gotten

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all of the thousands of pages that that were withheld

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from the Attorney General Pam Bondi when she initially asked

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for it. So like that's the and he had made

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all sorts of political statements and stuff. But here's the

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other thing, and Sean, I gotta let you go because

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I'm way late for the news. But the other thing

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is that that post is you work at the pleasure

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of the president, and so he can do that. He's

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he's the chief administrator in the executive branch for which

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you work, so he can do that if he doesn't

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like the job you're doing. All right, if you're listening

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to this show, you know I try to keep up

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with all sorts of current events, and I know you

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do too, And you've probably heard me say get your

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news from multiple sources. Why well, because it's how you

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detect media bias, which is why I've been so impressed

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00:18:56,119 --> 00:18:59,880
with ground News. It's an app and it's a website,

334
00:19:00,039 --> 00:19:02,680
and it combines news from around the world in one place,

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00:19:02,720 --> 00:19:06,039
so you can compare coverage and verify information. You can

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00:19:06,119 --> 00:19:10,799
check it out at check dot ground, dot news slash Pete.

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00:19:10,839 --> 00:19:13,480
I put the link in the podcast description too. I

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00:19:13,519 --> 00:19:16,079
started using ground News a few months ago and more

339
00:19:16,119 --> 00:19:18,720
recently chose to work with them as an affiliate because

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00:19:18,720 --> 00:19:22,039
it lets me see clearly how stories get covered and

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00:19:22,160 --> 00:19:25,279
by whom. The blind spot feature shows you which stories

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00:19:25,319 --> 00:19:28,359
get ignored by the left and the right. See for yourself.

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00:19:28,640 --> 00:19:33,119
Check dot Ground, dot News slash pete. Subscribe through that

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00:19:33,200 --> 00:19:36,119
link and you'll get fifteen percent off any subscription. I

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00:19:36,240 --> 00:19:39,559
use the Vantage plan to get unlimited access to every feature.

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00:19:39,759 --> 00:19:42,559
Your subscription then not only helps my podcast, but it

347
00:19:42,559 --> 00:19:45,720
also supports Ground News as they make the media landscape

348
00:19:45,759 --> 00:19:49,000
more transparent. Back to the phone lines, I will go,

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and here is Mike. Welcome to the show. Hello Mike, Hello.

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Speaker 3: Again and again, I am sorry. I was not able

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to hold on yesterday when we talked. Uh, you were saying,

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I'm a whole through the news, and as soon as

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you said that, then the morn through the appointment came

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through the door. I heard them coming through the door,

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so I wasn't able to do that. I tried to

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call back and say I'm sorry.

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Speaker 1: No, that's all right now. I understand from what I understand,

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people have lives outside of listening to this show. I

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have made my piece with that, so it's okay. It's

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totally fine.

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Speaker 3: They're not nearly as worthy though we best we can

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when we're away from the radio. You know, we do it.

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We do our best, you know, Uh, And there's always

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a podcast. There's always a time.

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Speaker 1: That's true. The peapod dot com listen.

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Speaker 3: To the podcast last night to see what I missed, and

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we came back on. We somehow got on. We were

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talking about the Vilensky meeting and the meeting prior to

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the meeting, but somehow we got onto the Russian hoax

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and not saying that it's any but a hoax. You

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00:20:50,599 --> 00:20:52,960
were saying, oh, no, it is a hoax. We kind

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of got sidetracked from that, and we can talk for

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more about that. But you also wanted to talk about tariffs,

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and there's also a new statement from which is also timely,

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and I will let you choose, sir.

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Speaker 1: Oh, I get to pick what the caller wants to

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00:21:05,599 --> 00:21:10,799
talk about. Oh, this is interesting. Yeah, well, so you

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mentioned Zelenski's and I mentioned also that there was an

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update on that story as well. I have the statement. Yeah,

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00:21:18,839 --> 00:21:20,799
it's pretty lengthy. Let me just I'll go to the

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last two paragraphs. He says, our meeting in Washington at

382
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the White House on Friday did not go the way

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00:21:28,039 --> 00:21:30,759
it was supposed to be. It is regrettable that it

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happened this way. It is time to make things right.

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We would like future cooperation and communication to be constructive.

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Regarding the agreement on Minerals and security, Ukraine is ready

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to sign it in at any time and in any

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convenient format. We see this agreement as a step toward

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greater security and solid security guarantees and I truly hope

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it will work effectively. So and just as a side note,

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I will I will say I started there was a

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program last week where I started off by saying, in

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Trump in the Trump era, I have found it best

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00:22:07,720 --> 00:22:11,720
to give it a minute, like because the immediate reaction

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from people who hate Donald Trump and from people who

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love Donald Trump is to immediately rush to their corners

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and start making the arguments that one would expect. And

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if you just wait a minute or two now obviously

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not like sixty seconds, but if we just give it

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a minute, we will see what the truth actually is

401
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and whether the play works. And it's so, what is

402
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do you think that this play worked with Zolenski.

403
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Speaker 3: I mean he's wanting to keep the volume. You can

404
00:22:47,359 --> 00:22:50,920
make a sports analogy. I guess the task valley going.

405
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He's going to hit it back over the net and

406
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see what happens. And to further that analogy. The old

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phrase is the ball is now and the presidence court

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President Trump, and we'll see how the response comes back.

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I think that will say a lot about which side

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he is on, or I should say, now which side

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we are on? Because you know, it certainly seems that

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American foreign policy and America's standing in the world has

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been turned on its head in the last six weeks

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and especially the last you know, several days, and we're

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now on the side of Russia.

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Speaker 1: No, that's all the town. No it's not by all accounts. No, see,

417
00:23:38,200 --> 00:23:39,839
this is what I but this is what I mean.

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You are viewing this through a particular lens, right, and

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so to you it looks like Trump is putin Trump's

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in the pocket of Putin or whatever. And I'm looking

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at this from a negotiation standpoint that whatever my feelings

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about Donald Trump are set aside, is this going to

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get the two parties to the table to negotiate some

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sort of a peace deal to stop the war. And

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in Yester or Friday when the meeting happened, it wasn't

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clear to me whether that would occur. And for a

427
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variety of reasons, right, because I don't know, like like

428
00:24:17,200 --> 00:24:21,079
I would advise Trump should take this win. He should say, yes,

429
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we are willing to do it, and we'll sign it.

430
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Just go And by the way, Zelensky doesn't need to

431
00:24:25,640 --> 00:24:27,839
he can just sign the thing. He doesn't have to

432
00:24:27,839 --> 00:24:29,599
come here again, he doesn't have to do anything. Just

433
00:24:29,680 --> 00:24:33,720
sign the deal. And then Trump needs to be magnanimous

434
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and he needs to just accept it that he wanted

435
00:24:36,319 --> 00:24:38,400
and he has done that. By the way, right, he

436
00:24:38,480 --> 00:24:42,000
welcomes people back in after they've crossed him. Look at

437
00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:46,759
Marco Rubio, Lindsey Graham, Right, So he heard somebody say

438
00:24:46,799 --> 00:24:49,480
he has the thinnest skin in politics and the thickest

439
00:24:49,519 --> 00:24:53,160
skin in politics at the same time. So he'll he'll

440
00:24:53,200 --> 00:24:56,319
welcome people back in. So if Zelensky signs the deal,

441
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then I think that's that's a good thing. That's a

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think that would be progress, right and so and so.

443
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So the question that I have for you then would be,

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are you willing to entertain the notion that maybe your

445
00:25:09,559 --> 00:25:14,200
read on this was incorrect, and maybe your read that,

446
00:25:14,759 --> 00:25:19,200
uh that his behavior is proof that he's in Putin's

447
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pocket or whatever, that that was incorrect.

448
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Speaker 3: I am willing to say I'm incorrect. Any old time

449
00:25:25,680 --> 00:25:27,160
and look at.

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Speaker 1: But on this right, but but on.

451
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Speaker 3: This my question though question no, no, no, hang on,

452
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hang on?

453
00:25:31,839 --> 00:25:34,640
Speaker 1: Are you are you willing to even entertain the idea

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that your your analysis that that Trump is in with Putin,

455
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that that was incorrect and that the deal that was

456
00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:48,400
on the table was specifically for the minerals and Zelensky

457
00:25:48,799 --> 00:25:52,039
could have signed it and this never should have happened.

458
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But now it's like, okay, well then well then there's

459
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no deal. Right, So it that that the blow up

460
00:25:58,119 --> 00:26:00,720
at the meeting was not proof of what you thought

461
00:26:00,720 --> 00:26:01,400
it was proof of.

462
00:26:02,319 --> 00:26:04,960
Speaker 3: That's a great question. And the way I have to

463
00:26:04,960 --> 00:26:08,160
answer that question is to make ask myself a question,

464
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which is what pressure the present putting on Vladimir Putin?

465
00:26:14,519 --> 00:26:18,400
Because I've seen zero that's not responsive. What else do

466
00:26:18,440 --> 00:26:19,400
you want? Bladimir?

467
00:26:19,440 --> 00:26:22,359
Speaker 1: I'm happy that's not responses you're just making You're just

468
00:26:22,359 --> 00:26:24,759
making up stuff, Mike, You're just making up stuff.

469
00:26:26,559 --> 00:26:28,200
Speaker 3: Can you tell me any pressure that he's put on?

470
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Speaker 1: But Mike, you are filling in gaps with some sort

471
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of preconceived idea of a conversation that you that happens

472
00:26:36,519 --> 00:26:39,359
to just wine up with what you already prior believe.

473
00:26:39,599 --> 00:26:42,880
So that's that it's not responsive. Are you willing to

474
00:26:43,039 --> 00:26:47,039
entertain the idea that that you're incorrect about this association?

475
00:26:47,160 --> 00:26:49,240
It doesn't seem like you are, because you're willing to

476
00:26:49,240 --> 00:26:51,200
fill the gaps in of your knowledge.

477
00:26:51,319 --> 00:26:53,799
Speaker 3: I'm certainly willing to entertain that notion.

478
00:26:53,960 --> 00:26:58,440
Speaker 1: Yes, more discussion, right, But then you said, but now

479
00:26:58,440 --> 00:27:00,640
you're wondering if he's having these convers that you have

480
00:27:00,720 --> 00:27:03,480
no proof of with Vladimir Putin asking him what should

481
00:27:03,519 --> 00:27:06,079
I do? And licking his boots like that, But there's

482
00:27:06,119 --> 00:27:06,720
no evidence of that.

483
00:27:06,920 --> 00:27:09,240
Speaker 3: Just discussion. Me, I go to a break. I don't

484
00:27:09,279 --> 00:27:14,720
want to hold us over. I'll stay over a few wants.

485
00:27:14,279 --> 00:27:16,640
Speaker 1: I mean, I'll put you on hold. Mike, all right,

486
00:27:16,839 --> 00:27:19,200
I'll put you on hold. I just asked the question.

487
00:27:19,240 --> 00:27:22,839
Are you open to the idea that you're incorrect, that

488
00:27:22,880 --> 00:27:27,279
your analysis was based on a prior bias? That's all

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508
00:28:30,960 --> 00:28:33,599
So before the break, we were talking with Mike, and

509
00:28:34,680 --> 00:28:37,599
I'll give you another I'll give you another shot at

510
00:28:37,599 --> 00:28:40,759
the question that I asked Mike, and maybe after you

511
00:28:40,839 --> 00:28:44,640
had you know, four minutes, five minutes to think about it,

512
00:28:44,079 --> 00:28:48,119
Is it possible that is it possible that you were

513
00:28:48,160 --> 00:28:52,079
wrong about whether or not Donald Trump is taking orders

514
00:28:52,079 --> 00:28:55,079
from Putin on this whole Ukraine deal. Considering what the

515
00:28:55,079 --> 00:28:57,519
President of Ukraine just came out and said.

516
00:28:58,400 --> 00:29:00,319
Speaker 3: I will answer it like I did the first time,

517
00:29:00,319 --> 00:29:03,440
which is absolutely I could be wrong, and I'm willing

518
00:29:03,440 --> 00:29:07,200
to entertain that based on the evidence that I'm seeing.

519
00:29:07,880 --> 00:29:09,680
Part of the evidence I'm seeing. This is what I

520
00:29:09,720 --> 00:29:17,680
was trying to explain, is Okay, Yes, he has gotten

521
00:29:18,480 --> 00:29:23,240
Zolensky to come and you know, hit the ball back,

522
00:29:23,640 --> 00:29:28,240
stay in the game and hit the ball across from that. Well,

523
00:29:28,319 --> 00:29:33,440
they'll put it now in the President Trump's court. Right,

524
00:29:33,880 --> 00:29:38,440
So we got that accomplished. But my question in terms of, like,

525
00:29:38,680 --> 00:29:42,079
so whether I'm wrong in terms of what Donald Trump's

526
00:29:42,160 --> 00:29:45,720
endgame is, you look at other evidence too, And I asked,

527
00:29:45,960 --> 00:29:47,920
I asked myself the question. This is what I said

528
00:29:47,960 --> 00:29:52,839
before the break, which is what evidence is it is

529
00:29:52,880 --> 00:29:56,960
there that he's putting on. I can't see any, but

530
00:29:57,039 --> 00:30:00,039
what I can see is a lot of things that

531
00:30:00,039 --> 00:30:05,839
putin loves in terms of trying to weaken the support

532
00:30:05,920 --> 00:30:11,359
for Ukraine. He's now announced he's stopping any additional funding

533
00:30:11,519 --> 00:30:16,000
for any defensive Ukraine, at least for right now. He's

534
00:30:16,039 --> 00:30:18,880
already turned, he's already he's doing exactly what Putin wants

535
00:30:18,920 --> 00:30:23,799
in terms of splitting up NATO and putting what used

536
00:30:23,799 --> 00:30:26,960
to be our allies, we're now on the other side.

537
00:30:27,000 --> 00:30:29,480
Speaker 1: We're now we're not on the other side. No, that's

538
00:30:29,519 --> 00:30:29,880
not true.

539
00:30:30,200 --> 00:30:32,440
Speaker 3: But well tell back to the Europeans.

540
00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:35,400
Speaker 1: They think, no, we're not on the other side. The

541
00:30:35,440 --> 00:30:38,680
Europeans say they're going to quote step up now and lead,

542
00:30:38,759 --> 00:30:41,279
which is what Donald Trump has been telling them for

543
00:30:41,319 --> 00:30:44,119
eight years, right. He has been saying that you guys

544
00:30:44,160 --> 00:30:47,799
need to spend more for defensive Europe, right, And we're

545
00:30:47,799 --> 00:30:50,000
not going to keep putting in more money and more

546
00:30:50,000 --> 00:30:52,880
troops than you guys are, and we're trying to end

547
00:30:52,920 --> 00:30:56,880
the war. And the and the Europeans they're actually funding

548
00:30:56,960 --> 00:31:00,599
both sides through their purchase of all of the oil

549
00:31:00,759 --> 00:31:05,680
from Russia. So like it seems like their incentives are

550
00:31:05,720 --> 00:31:09,640
aligned to keeping the war going. And so what Trump's

551
00:31:09,799 --> 00:31:13,559
moves have done is to force Ukraine's hand. Now, you

552
00:31:13,640 --> 00:31:18,440
said you're you're willing to entertain the a different opinion

553
00:31:18,799 --> 00:31:22,240
based on the evidence you're seeing, But you haven't seen

554
00:31:22,880 --> 00:31:29,160
you haven't seen any evidence of Trump saying I'm gonna

555
00:31:29,200 --> 00:31:32,519
do what Putin wants. You're inferring that because the Kremlin

556
00:31:33,200 --> 00:31:36,720
is saying, oh well, yeah, good on on Trump for

557
00:31:36,839 --> 00:31:39,559
you know, sticking it to the Ukrainians. But is there

558
00:31:39,839 --> 00:31:43,680
keep this now? Put think this through? Is it possible?

559
00:31:43,920 --> 00:31:49,319
Is it possible that it might yield better results for

560
00:31:49,480 --> 00:31:54,799
a negotiation to get the stronger power, which is the Russians,

561
00:31:55,160 --> 00:31:58,000
to get them to come to the table if you

562
00:31:58,119 --> 00:32:04,359
are not seen as an adversarial biased mediator, Right, wouldn't

563
00:32:04,359 --> 00:32:06,640
it be a bet? Isn't that a better tactic to

564
00:32:06,680 --> 00:32:08,799
try to get two people that hate each other to

565
00:32:08,880 --> 00:32:11,599
sit down and mediate If one of the parties thinks

566
00:32:11,599 --> 00:32:14,119
that you're on the other guy's team, they're not going

567
00:32:14,160 --> 00:32:16,880
to be interested in having you be the guy that

568
00:32:17,039 --> 00:32:18,920
mediates the disagreement.

569
00:32:18,400 --> 00:32:21,720
Speaker 3: Right, correct? Yeah?

570
00:32:21,839 --> 00:32:25,119
Speaker 1: Right? So is it possible that the reason he is

571
00:32:25,319 --> 00:32:28,319
he is refraining from saying all of the bad things

572
00:32:28,319 --> 00:32:32,440
about Russia is because he needs Russia to engage as well.

573
00:32:32,759 --> 00:32:35,599
We know the Ukrainians will engage. They want the war

574
00:32:35,680 --> 00:32:38,359
to end. Theoretically I will take them at their word

575
00:32:38,400 --> 00:32:41,920
for that. So he knows that we can do a

576
00:32:41,960 --> 00:32:44,359
deal with them on the minerals that keeps US, that

577
00:32:44,480 --> 00:32:48,839
keeps American economic interests in Ukraine. And it doesn't give

578
00:32:48,839 --> 00:32:52,319
them NATO membership. So if that's what has been the

579
00:32:52,319 --> 00:32:54,799
hold up in Russia thinks now that Trump is a

580
00:32:54,920 --> 00:33:00,400
more even handed, impartial mediator, then they come to the table.

581
00:33:01,680 --> 00:33:03,720
Doesn't that make sense from a strategy standpoint?

582
00:33:03,759 --> 00:33:07,400
Speaker 3: Obviously, see what you're saying. I that could be a possibility.

583
00:33:07,880 --> 00:33:11,000
I think it's a better possibility, Peepe, based on what

584
00:33:11,799 --> 00:33:15,240
I'm seeing and what has happened in the history here,

585
00:33:15,839 --> 00:33:24,039
that what Russia is aiming for is on their terms.

586
00:33:24,440 --> 00:33:27,119
Speaker 1: All right, Yeah, well that yeah, Mike, and yeah, and

587
00:33:27,160 --> 00:33:30,079
I gotta go. I agree they want peace on their terms.

588
00:33:30,119 --> 00:33:31,920
There's no doubt about that. That's why you have to

589
00:33:31,920 --> 00:33:34,559
have a negotiation. And maybe it doesn't work like that's

590
00:33:34,559 --> 00:33:36,400
the thing. Maybe it doesn't work at all. I am

591
00:33:36,400 --> 00:33:39,079
way late for news, though I appreciate the call. Thanks

592
00:33:39,079 --> 00:33:42,839
for making it all right, that'll do it for this episode.

593
00:33:42,880 --> 00:33:44,960
Thank you so much for listening. I could not do

594
00:33:44,960 --> 00:33:47,119
the show without your support and the support of the

595
00:33:47,160 --> 00:33:50,200
businesses that advertise on the podcast, So if you'd like,

596
00:33:50,359 --> 00:33:52,440
please support them too and tell them you heard it here.

597
00:33:52,599 --> 00:33:55,079
You can also become a patron at my Patreon page

598
00:33:55,240 --> 00:33:58,799
or go to dpeteclendershow dot com again, thank you so

599
00:33:58,880 --> 00:34:01,519
much for listening, and don't break anything while I'm gone.

600
00:34:05,640 --> 00:34:08,880
Speaker 3: HM,

