Go back

MeidasTouch Full Podcast - 10/9/26

81m 5s

MeidasTouch Full Podcast - 10/9/26

This episode of the Midas Touch podcast offers a sharp critique of Donald Trump’s current foreign policy and rhetoric, exposing the dangerous disconnect between his statements and reality. Trump repeatedly threatens nuclear attacks on U.S. cities like San Diego and Los Angeles, a move widely condemned as reckless, illogical, and morally bankrupt. These claims, often delivered with a tone akin to mobster threats, serve to stoke fear and division rather than promote peace. Meanwhile, real-world events—such as Iran’s attacks on oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz—have created tangible supply crises, driving up global oil prices and fuel costs. The U.S. response is underperforming: military assets are withdrawn, leadership is compromised by unqualified figures, and official messaging is undermined by misinformation. The podcast also highlights how Trump’s rhetoric normalizes hate speech and racial targeting, such as false claims about Somali immigrants in Minnesota, further eroding democratic values. Despite claims of market manipulation, economic data shows that rising oil prices stem from actual supply disruptions, not Trump’s tweets. The analysis underscores a broader crisis of national credibility, where leaders prioritize self-interest and fear over truth and responsibility. The episode calls for factual, evidence-based reporting to counter propaganda and prevent further escalation. It also spotlights the importance of personal wellness tools like WHOOP, Huel, and Monocora as tools for maintaining stability amid political chaos. Ultimately, the narrative presents a stark warning: when leaders devalue truth and national security for political gain, the consequences are catastrophic for both society and global peace.

Transcription

13889 Words, 76133 Characters

English
This episode of the Midas Touch podcast is brought to you by WHOOP, the wearable health and fitness coach that gives you personalized insights into your sleep, recovery, strain, stress, and overall health. Listen, I've tried a bunch of wearables and I found a lot of them to be so overwhelming. I don't need another screen constantly tapping me, pinging me, and sending me notifications. But that's what I love about WHOOP. The WHOOP 5.0 wearable is screenless, so it just sits quietly on my wrist collecting data. Whenever I want, I can open the companion app and get this incredibly detailed picture of what's happening with my body and actually use that information to make proactive decisions. And with a one-year-old, sleep has become a bit of a luxury. WHOOP helps me pinpoint the things that are actually affecting me. Did that 4 p.m. cup of coffee hurt my sleep? Did that run on the treadmill bring down my stress? How well am I actually recovering? WHOOP gives me a full picture of my health without overloading me, and it's helped me build a healthier routine around what my body is actually telling me. To learn more, head to WHOOP.com and join today to get your first month free. That's WHOOP.com. A lot to discuss on this episode of the Midas Touch podcast. We'll talk about Donald Trump's market manipulation failing. Earlier in the day, he said, we're definitely not going to go to war with Iran before the midterms. I hereby decree it via a social post. I think he was hoping to manipulate the market and that the price of gas and, and diesel would go down. It did not. The price of oil continued to surge. Diesel and gas continued to rise. Treasury yields continued to rise. No one is buying it right now. The markets continue to do bad. No one's buying this crap anymore. So then he kind of pivoted and then the news broke. Actually, he's now thinking of a three-day invasion. It's going to be massive, a lot of war crimes, civilian infrastructure, and that's what's actually being planned. And what he posted is just something that he said, anyway, we'll try to break down what the hell was going on here. Meanwhile, Iran has been able to strike more tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. I feel like a broken record talking about it, but it's just the reality of what's happening. In the past eight days, there've been at least 15 tankers that have been struck by the IRGC most recently. One off the coast of Qatar, another 30 nautical miles northeast of Fujairah in the UAE, some stationary tankers being struck. The Ujjara escalation, we'll talk about the significance of that. Also, we're seeing the Houthis and Ansarala respond to the Saudi strikes and the Houthi capital of Sana'a, Riyadh airport was under attack on fire. Saudi Arabia said, uh-uh, what you're seeing with all of these planes on fire is not what happened. What happened is we struck the Houthi drones and the debris hit a medical center and it also hit an elementary school, but the airport is fine. I'm like, I see the airport. It's on fire, man. They also hit ABBA. I see what's going on here and I see your strikes in Ansarala. Like we can visually see what the hell is happening. It's just, we need to have a clear eyed vision of what the hell is happening in this distortion after distortion. Donald Trump, meanwhile, continues to double, triple down on small price to pay for this catastrophe. War of Iran would nuclear bomb San Diego and LA. And I didn't actually, it's, it's artificial news to say that I actually meant that Iran would do nuclear annihilation of these cities. I'm saying I want to protect these cities. I'm just saying in a way that makes you think that I am joking about, I mean, that's what we do with commanders in chief. Now we do jokes about nuclear annihilation of main cities also, or cities in the, the United States in general. Speaking of San Diego, you've had Hegseth there waiting for the USS Abraham Lincoln. Like dude is obviously such a creepy, strange war criminal, you know, as well. Like he knows that those family members are reeling based on the conditions that they've been in. So he's been there every step of the way, like doing PT and doing weird publicity stunts over there, you know, and really sickly talked about today, how he's going to live stream, the public execution that's coming up and everyone gets to see a live stream of a public execution. We'll talk about that. We've been covering on the Midas Touch Network, Russia's escalation in Ukraine, Ukraine's response in Russia, what we're seeing there, Russia's, you know, they're building out those Garin 4, Garin 5 drones, North Carolina, North Korea style ballistics and cruise missiles. That are hammering down. And then we've seen Zelensky responding with those Flamingo style drones deep into Russia, hitting areas as far as 900 kilometers in Samara, another one, 2,500 kilometers kind of deep, almost in that Siberia area where also there was a potential plague outbreak where there are more cases. And now we learned that RFK Jr. apparently gave $800,000 through $800,000. So that's a lot of money. So that's a lot of HHS to that facility where the bio lab plague was taking place. I mean, is it everything with these people is projection and confession? No wonder Donald Trump's approval is at a record low. The latest Pew poll has Donald Trump at Pew Pew 30% and it keeps on decreasing. Donald Trump's appearances in San Antonio and other places clearly deranged. Donald Trump gave a speech today at the so-called Institute of Peace, which he renamed the Trump Institute of Peace. He's like, finally, I'm with high IQ people here and mocking the people he's been speaking in front of before. Apparently everybody in the Trump regime works for a country called Spearska also, Susie Wiles kid, Trump's consultants, all Spearska consultants with the Russia aligned government over there. And then we have Kimberly Guilfoyle emerges while you have Rubio in Greece with all of her shenanigans. With a MAGA donor, a big Trump donor saying, yeah, she asked me to pay her Amex bill $100,000 and that she'd help me out in various ways. And this comes on top of other stories with Kimberly Guilfoyle allegedly bragging about helping overthrow the Romanian government with the United States. Just normal stuff. She denies all the allegations. It goes not true, artificial fake news, but we'll cover it all here on the Midas Touch Network. What kind of freaking intro was that? What words are even coming out of my mouth? I think the words that are coming out of my mouth are WTF as always. It's good to see you, Ben. It's good to see you, Geordie. It looks like the United States is now officially joining the likes of Iran, Afghanistan, North Korea, and Saudi Arabia in allowing live publicly streamed executions. And so that's the new thing by Pete Hegseth today and Donald Trump. I mean, it's so sick and it's really just shown how the United States has lost its complete moral authority. It's one of the big ironies right now as we kind of hear the arguments that come out of the Trump regime about other countries, whether they're trying to justify wars or trying to say that the United States is better than some other place, because you'll hear him say stuff like, can you imagine what they would do to you in Iran if you were a gay person? It's like, y'all aren't really exactly the most friendly to gay people in the United States. And so that's the new thing about the United States. Let me just say, they want women to be second-class citizens. Again, you guys, what do you guys want to do? They allow public executions. No, that you're doing that right now, actually. There are three theocratic nuts. This is like the new one that they keep coming with. There are theocratic nuts hell-bent on destroying the planet. It's like, aren't you the guy like invoking God and saying this is like your manifest destiny to like destroy Iran and to blow it to smithereens and to destroy the civilization? This is God's plan. The projection from these people is incredible. But that's why, as I said, the only words I could think of sometimes are WTF. And brothers, I got a bit of a confession to make at the top of the show. Can I make a confession? So our book, WTF America, as you can see here, turns out the book that I've been showing you when I've been holding it up, actually, this is actually a fake version of the book. This version of the book is about feet. And I'm serious. It's literally, when you read the chapters, it's a book about feet. But I got some news because we just got, at least I did today. I think Jordy got it as well. The first actual prints of WTF America, the hardcover version. And it's shinier and it's nice. And we have the back cover with us on it and the inside flap. And it's the actual book with the dedication to you, the Midas Mighty, right here on the front. If I could find it, I'll get it to you. But it's dedicated. It's dedicated to you. I got to say, having this in person, there's something really special about the hardcover. And I am so excited for people to get it and to post it and share it with us online. I want to show people's pictures. pictures. If they get the hardcover of the book and share it with us and tag us on social media and stuff, we'll try to show some folks on the show. But honestly, I got the chills when I opened up the box and I saw the actual book with the printed text in the book and everything. So check it out. Link in description and link on the QR code up here. But it's really honestly just I have the chills. I'm so excited for you to read this. Love it. I love it, B. That is so sweet. I was definitely very surprised when it showed up, even though I knew it was coming. It still was like, oh, it was like a moment. And so I'm so excited for you all to get your copies. Please, if you haven't already, go ahead, purchase hardcover copy. It felt good holding it. I'm really excited to get into today's show. We obviously have a lot to get to. So with that, Benji, where are we starting off today? I'll tell you the funny story, Brett, because I had a few copies of the, I guess they call it like the dummy book before the real one gets to you. And same thing, mine's on feet also. We all got the foot book. And it's like calf strength, double or single leg calf raise, place your hands on a wall. And you know, my niece, Caitlin, who's here, she was like looking at it. And she's like, you know, that's an, she was like, it's an interesting approach. And it's a little bit different than what I thought. And she was reading the, I kid you not. I said, I'm not writing a, I said, did you think I really was going to write a book on feet? Like, this is my life's work. I'm not going to do a feet book. I love Katie. Come on. This is very different. Very generous, sir. You know, it's good. It's a different direction than I thought it was going to be. Did you think that I like lost it? I know you see me recording like all of the time. But you know, really? Okay. Anyway, let's go through what's taking place. He thought that was the real book. I haven't got my copy yet, by the way. I'd like my copy. I bet I got it today. So I bet you get it later today, but, but it's, it's. Maybe they're giving you the Tom Holland treatment, Ben, because you know, Tom Holland, Spider-Man, he's very much like a spoiler person. Maybe, maybe they're like, we didn't trust Ben with the real thing just yet. So look, Donald Trump was in San Antonio. It was a deranged event. I counted 12 times when he was interrupted by hecklers and protesters throughout the event. And it was, you know, an interesting sight to behold. Weird crew of people though, who stay in there like that, you know, I get the protesters and hecklers, but the Trumpers, you know, who are there, I'm like, who are the people who are still there? And I'm not even going to play those clips, but they were like, it's okay, daddy, daddy, it's okay. Don't let them, don't let them do that to you, daddy. We're here for you. I kid daddy, daddy, daddy. You know, do you remember, this was maybe a pretty big red flag that we covered and nobody else covered. And I kid you not, this happened at prior Trump events. There would be people who would wear diapers and they would show solidarity with Trump wearing diapers. And it wasn't like some like AstroTurf, like they were like wearing diapers. And I would do coverage of it during the 2024 election. Like they're wearing diapers to show solidarity with him. I'm like, that's pretty strange, right? You're being hyperbolic. Anyway, I digress. Donald Trump. This is an aside. This was an issue writing the book because we would write down actual things that have happened over the past few years. And when the lawyers went to review the book, because they do a pass, they'd be like, I got to say, I thought you were making this up or exaggerating. And I did the research and it checks out. And I don't know what to say. How many times did we get? What was it? Was it the compliance calls, Brett? Was that the legal calls that we eventually were on were just the funniest calls ultimately? Because they were so funny. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, look, you know, not like, anyway, yes, I have a lot more to say about that. I'll just focus. Focus, Ben. Going back to, what went down in, you know, it's like, should I show the video of Susan Dell in the Oval? No, don't do it. Please. No, please. No, don't do it. Don't do it. Do you have it? Should we do it? Okay. Donald Trump in San, Donald Trump in San Antonio, though. We can do it. To every child across the country. All right. Enough, enough, enough, enough, enough. Okay. Donald Trump in San Antonio. He was calling Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and saying, these are great negotiators and it's amazing. And they're going to do a great deal with Iran. Listen to what he said. And like the crowd is saying, it's like, Steve Witkoff. Like you said, you were going to end this war in four to six weeks. Let's watch this. Let's play it. He's working on the Iran deal and doing very well. I think the deal isn't really something that I want to do, but they're willing to offer us anything to stop. And we definitely, they will never have a nuclear weapon, but he's a great negotiator. He's also a great person. Yeah. Steve Witkoff, the scumbag Manhattan real estate guy who nobody appointed. Yeah. You really don't want to do a deal. And they really are begging you again to do a deal. It's not you who desperately wants to try to find a way out of this disaster of your own making. It's them. This is what Donald Trump said about Los Angeles and San Diego. This is like his line. This is like his go-to now. This is his eating the cats and dogs, Oh, by the way, did you see that they're doing the caravan thing again? Yeah. Okay. Here's the thing. So Ben's right. So they're now doing like this whole thing where they're spreading on social media, the caravans are coming. There's 600 people rolling through Mexico and they're coming to the Southern border and they want to kill your family. The only thing that stands in their way is Donald J. Trump. And like, you have all the right-wing influencers spreading this stuff. And this is the same tack. It's October, right? I think I said in a few episodes. I think it's October. I think it's a few episodes ago. You know, it's kind of good. You got, you got pumpkin spice season. You got migrant caravan season. They kind of come at around the same time. And that's what we're seeing right now. And it's just like pathetic. And it's the same move that they always do. But I act, but I don't even understand it messaging wise when you control every branch of government and you're the president of the United States. It's like, I get it. If you could say like, look, president Biden's immigration policies are encouraging all of these people to go across Mexico and try to come through the border. But you're the president. And so I don't even understand like the strategy behind it. It just feels kind of extra desperate this time. Brett, you are trying to provide logic to the absolutely illogical. You know, they're just copying and pasting a playbook that had previously maybe worked for them a little bit. And they're just trying to apply it under a 2026 lens. But they're forgetting the key issue here is that Donald Trump is the president and they control the president. And they control the all three branches of government. So it's like, this isn't the own the libs moment that y'all are making it out to be. I've never seen MAGA in such disarray with their messaging. Yeah. And when you look at the countries where they say the caravans are originating from, they're all places where Donald Trump has like installed his stooge dictators. It's like Ecuador and Honduras and this guy, like, by the way, those are your people. Like you put those people in there. So they want to flee there. And now you're encouraging the caravan. Like I'm trying to make sense of what they're. So there's that aspect, right? Then there is the nicknames, you know, and the hateful, racist, misogynistic, awful kind of nicknames. You know, he calls pediatrician, Dr. Annie Andrews, Tranny Annie, a slur to transgender people. And, you know, and just tries to mock a marginalized community. He calls Dr. Abdul L. Syed, Mohammed L. Syed is a jihadist. And this is, I'm quoting what Trump is saying. I don't want to use these words, but I'm reporting on what it is that he's saying. James Tallarico, he says, is a freako. And then he implies that James Tallarico has disappeared because he's involved in horrible things. And so it's the same thing. And then his post today about Minnesota was that, you know, the Somalian people are killing you. He's trying to provoke a race war in Minnesota. And I also reflect on during the Biden administration, where there was a deal for comprehensive immigration reform that was worked out with a very far right Republican Senator Lankford and Biden did this deal together, bipartisan, strong borders, a pathway to citizenship for people who were here for a long time, expedited asylum process, more money for asylum judges to adjudicate cases. And I remember it was actually even supported by border patrol and these, you know, even though they're ultra MAGA and Trump was the one who killed it, right? Trump said, we need the problems so that we can run on the problems because for them, everything is all a game for power. And it is all about causing problems, being the anarchist, because I think the strategy, Brett, if there is one, it's the oldest in the dictator's handbook. Create catastrophe and fear and then prey on people's fear. Look, as we have hurricanes approaching, and I put that plural. I mean, there's a tropical storm on the West Coast, a major hurricane that's heading up the kind of southeast of the US, another major storm coming up kind of by the Mexico area. People are often most vulnerable, like after natural disasters, elderly people are often most vulnerable. often preyed on by, you know, con artists and fraudsters. And so at large, the Trump regime creates those situations and is preying on that behavior, basically. I want to go back to this also, which is what you said before. And you said that Donald Trump was trying to stoke a race war with his tweets. And, you know, I don't want people to think, again, that you're being at all hyperbolic in what you're saying. And I want to really show what Trump is doing here. And so let's go to Trump's message right over here. This is what he sent out. He said, the once great state of Minnesota is being taken over by Somali immigrants. There is violence, murder, and mayhem all over the state. The people of Minnesota must fight back. You have been robbed and abandoned by your state government. Your governor is an incompetent thief who doesn't want to get involved. He just wants to get out of town with as much as he can steal and then lead a quiet life. By the way, the freaking projection just dripping out of every word of this disgraceful tweet. He just wants to get out of town. The Somalians should not be allowed to get away with what they are doing. They view you as weak and stupid people. Fight back, Minnesota. Fight back. If you need, the federal government will come to your rescue. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I mean, this is disgusting race war psychotic behavior that should be on the front page, quite frankly, of like every newspaper. Imagine if he said, this about any other group, right? He's allowed to attack Somali immigrants. Imagine if he said, fight back against the Jews. Fight back against the black Americans. Fight back against this. I mean, which is essentially what he's saying here. It's appalling. It's appalling stuff. And that's, I think, one of the issues with the Trump era and especially Trump 2.0 is the things that he says are so explosive and so offensive that when you actually tell people about them who may not be as tuned in with the day-to-day, they go, you're exaggerating. Stop. TDS. You're doing it again. He would never say that. And again, it goes back to the lawyers, right? Who are going through our book and was like, did he really? Oh, he did. No, he did. No, this is what it is. And Donald Trump has effectively normalized this sort of rhetoric, normalized this sort of behavior to the point where far too many people who may not be today and even far too many people in the news media and professionals who see this stuff or hear about this stuff brush it off. He's just joking around. He's just saying that. Don't overreact again. No, I think we should be. I think we are reacting appropriately. And I think it's important for all of us never to normalize this sort of thing. Absolutely. And you know what's also there too that's abundantly clear is his threats to walls, governor walls there. It's so obvious to me that he just can't get him out of his head, that he always has to go after him and always has to attack him. Just saying how the governor wants to steal as much as he can and then leave, lead a quiet life. Like that's not a dog whistle. I don't know really what is because what he's trying to do, he's trying to invoke the MAGA base, whomever these right wing lunatics to continue their onslaught of threats against walls and the walls family. It is wild to me that again, that that becomes an accepted behavior right here, right? You have a guy. People have already, democratic politicians have already been killed in the state by a MAGA lunatic. A guy who wanted to go around and do mass killings at No King's rallies, a MAGA conservative Christian guy who they then use the fact that he had the pamphlets for the No King's rallies because he planned to go there to kill those people. They tried to turn that around and say that he had those because he's actually some lib, despite the fact that every piece of evidence about the guy ever, everything he's ever done, he's actually some lib. And he's actually some lib. The fact that he was a Republican, all this, the fact that all of it, he was a big Trump supporter. They try to act like, oh, no, that was a liberal. That was a Democrat killing a Democrat. It's like shut. It's the most offensive thing. And the fact that these Trump people still push that when these children lost their parents because they were shot and killed by this maniac. It's absolutely disgusting. And for Trump to then stoke more violence and to try to rile people up exactly like you're saying, Jordy, it's, it's, it's so offensive and nobody takes the power of his words seriously for some reason anymore. Well, I think, and we'll talk about this when we come back, you know, the idea that his words are meaningless when the president's words are meaningless, the president of the United States, then everything trickles down as being meaningless. And that's what they want to create where. We expect somebody in that position to be careful, thoughtful, serious, competent, sophisticated, cautious, you know, all of those types of qualities. And so much, it's like when we'll talk about the, you know, the San Diego, Los Angeles thing, he's joking. It's not funny. We don't do jokes about nuclear annihilation. And if you're talking about nuclear capabilities, choose your words very carefully because you're talking about like the end of human civilization. Oh, Ben, you're being hyperbolic. No, I'm not being that. What do you think nuclear weapons are? What are we talking about here? And look what's happening throughout the world. Look what's happening in Ukraine right now. Look what's happening with Russia's increased strikes. Look what's happening in the region. Look what's happening in Eastern Europe and the Middle East and throughout the world right now. Look what's happening with Kim Jong-un and his ballistic nuclear capable test. Look what's happening. This is real. This is real. This isn't a game. And somehow people have just been, not all of you, but like we're like living in this dystopian reality show where people are these non-consensual extras like, whatever, whatever. No, not whatever. Not whatever. We need to stop this. That's what we talk about in WTF America. Hey, Brett, does yours have the back of it with the photo of us also? Do you got that one? Oh, it does it. Let's see it. It does. Look at that. See, that's how you tell the authentic or spends phony, you know, fake one. You know, I learned something new though, that they, you know, you learn, you learn new stuff when you go through this process that people have dummy books that they give to the press and, and that they give to you to, you know, show, show the book, but to have the, this is the real first edition hot off the press. Did you, did you know 85% of the world's population will experience low back pain at some point in their lives? I just, I just love Katie. I love that Katie thought that was our book. Interesting direction. Feet was an interesting one, but let's, let's lower back pain is no joke though. Let me be very clear about that. Um, let's take our first break of the show. We'll be right back. I don't know about you, but occasionally I stopped feeling like myself, not bad, exactly. Just a little bit more tired, a little more sluggish and not really sure why, but that's why I keep coming back to pro on five day. It's five days of pre-portioned foods formulated to keep you in a fasting state. You just eat what's in the box. There's no guesswork and no prepping. It's clinically shown to support energy, mental clarity, and fat focused weight loss while protecting lean muscle. And there's real research behind it. Over 40 clinical trials and 25 years of research developed at USC's longevity Institute and studied at top us medical centers, including Mayo clinic, Stanford and Yale. And this isn't some daily routine or injection it's three to four cycles per year. Real talk. This is what I actually use when I need a rest. You feel the benefits within days, ready for your own reset for a limited time. Prolon is offering listeners 15% off site-wide plus a $40 bonus gift. When you subscribe to their five day program, just visit prolonlife.com slash Midas. That's P R O L O N L I F E.com slash Midas M E I D A S to claim your 15% discount and your bonus. Have you ever had that moment where you think I really should be doing more to protect myself from stalkers, scammers, and hackers, but you have no idea where to start. Here's an easy first step. Go to join delete me.com slash Midas and enter code Midas. You're going to get 20% off. Delete me, delete me, removes your personal information that's being sold online. And for me having such an active online presence, privacy is something that I think about a lot. The idea that your home address, phone number, and your email address are all being sold online. And for me, having such an active online presence, privacy is something that I think about a lot. The idea that your home address, phone number, or even information about your family can be just floating around online is incredibly unsettling. That's where delete me comes in. Delete me does all the hard work to wipe your personal information from data broker websites. And in the age of AI, when scammers can use personal information against you in increasingly sophisticated ways, that matters more than ever. So take control of your data and keep your private life private by signing up for delete me now at a 20% off your delete me plan. When you go to join delete me.com slash Midas and use promo code Midas at checkout. The only way to get 20% off is to go to join delete me.com slash Midas and enter code Midas at checkout. That's M E I D A S. That's join delete me.com slash Midas code Midas. Let's go shout to our sponsors links in the description of both YouTube and the audio. Use the links, use the codes. If there's an exit survey, that's when we sent you Brett, what are you showing to the camera right now? What are you? There it is. The dedication. I don't think people are going to be able to see that. You might read. I know. The thing is I'm, I'm, it's not a, I don't have an autofocus camera. So if I went up, it's going to be very blurry, but if you zoom in here for the Lightest Mighty, and everyone else who wakes up, checks the news, and can't help thinking, WTF. I love that we can dedicate this book to this community who made it all possible. WTF hears Donald Trump in San Antonio repeating the line that he says over and over. Let them hit San Diego or Los Angeles with nuclear weapons. Let them hit it. That would be bad. Let them hit it. That would be bad. Also, of all of the cities to use, it's just repeating Los Angeles and San Diego over and over again. By the way, California Governor Gavin Newsom is taking it seriously. He's put the state on a very serious alert and saying, I know you saying that actually invites the potential for attacks here. As people may read and hear what you're saying as inviting it. Here, let's just listen to what Trump said again. You want to see trauma. You want to see problems. I said it. It's the end. The other day, let them hit a missile into San Diego or Los Angeles on the way. Let them hit. You want to see a horror show. Let them hit San Diego. Let them hit Los Angeles. And you want to see some bad things happen. You want to see a country that would be in free fall. We're not going to let that happen. We protect our cities. And that's mobster talk. Imagine if a mobster said, I'll use person X so that I don't use anybody. His name, you want to see person X get killed. You want to see person X get beheaded. You want to see person X bleed out and get tortured. That would be awful for person X. Now, wouldn't it be? Well, I'm not going to let that happen. It's th th th that's how he's at the best reading of it. The best reading of it is that in his favor. I don't mean that. That's I read it as him actually saying that that's what he wants to see or hear, but you don't have to view it that way. We shouldn't have to construe what his words mean. A president should be thoughtful and speaking on topics, but the most generous version is the mobster version that I gave you just there or him saying, well, I will protect those and that's not actually what he said and it's still very bad. Brett and journey, but there's so many people in corporate news. That's not what he said. It's like he said it, you know, he's crazy. He said it as he, and that was the second time he said it the first time he, and the second time he said it, I think he said it specifically to try to clean up the first time that he said it because the first time he said it, all he said was let them take out Los Angeles, let them send it, let them take out San Diego, put a button on it. There was nothing else added to that. And now he's adding the line. That would be a horror show. If that happened, we're never going to let that happen. And so that that's the new version that those other two lines weren't at the end of the lines the other day when he said it, but the reality is to, to your point, Ben is, you know, I saw some, you know, fact checkers online being like a, somebody speaks Trump rally, speak, uh, you know, I, the way I interpret this as if I look in my Trump rally, speak book is, and I'm like, listen, this is a guy who has built his entire career and of, uh, being a politician and all of his supporters have brought this guy up by saying, he just tells it like it is when he says something, he means it, but all the time, all of a sudden he's being misquoted by these people, right? It's out of context, not in context that you're, you're making that up. He didn't really say that. And here's the thing at the end of the day, it doesn't even matter necessarily what he said, even though he did certainly say it the first time. And I think he was trying to clean it up that second time, but our adversaries don't have the Trump rally, speak spark notes book. I don't know where you buy this book. They don't, it's not, not, they don't, they don't have that one. Okay. I don't have that one. They have. They have their own interpretations of what Donald Trump says, and his words have meanings, his words, moves, moves, his words, move markets. At least he hopes, uh, occasionally today, it didn't quite work out that way for him, uh, and his words have the ability to cause war and peace. And so you have to know that. And that's why you have people who are in presidents throughout history have been so careful with their words. And don't just recklessly have these hypotheticals about Los Angeles and San Diego. Uh, being blown up. So to me, that's the most dangerous part. It's somebody who hears Trump's words, takes them, however they want to take them and then runs with it and does whatever they do and puts the lives of people in my city here in LA, people in San Diego or wherever at risk. Also, I'm pretty sure that Trump is so dumb with a B that he believes that Los Angeles and San Diego are like the closest American cities to Iran and they're not, they're actually like the farthest, the farthest point from Iran. And also Iran doesn't have missiles capable of reaching anywhere close to the United States. They just, they don't have that technology. They're not, they're not even close, but New York and DC are far closer than, than Los Angeles. But even if they did have the technology, didn't we destroy other nuclear facilities anyway? So we wouldn't have to worry about that. That's totally obliterated. Yeah. When you watch Donald Trump speak, it just, it really just amazes me in like the worst way, just, just where we are as, as a country with him. Being the quote unquote leader, right? It's unbelievably pathetic. As you see that this, this, this monster, I guess, uh, up there just so carelessly saying words, right? Like with almost with no, and like meaning behind them, other than the sense of he's not here to protect America or Americans, he's going to say whatever he needs to say in order to push forward his MAGA first agenda in the weirdest frigging ways possible. I'm just. So sick of corporate media time and time again, making excuses for this absolute buffoon up there. That's the president of the United States, man. You know, and look, I've said over and over again, we should never have been involved in this catastrophic war in Iran. In the first place, I've been very clear in calling Donald Trump and Hegseth and others, war criminals. I've called for them to be turned over to the Hague if, and when a democratic president takes over, I also want to reflect though, even if you supported this war, which would befuddle me, why you would, I don't see how you can't acknowledge that the way the war has been carried out has also been incredibly reckless and negligent. And, and just from a military strategy standpoint, having Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth fire our four star generals and admirals and three star and two stars, which Pete Hegseth brags about, they weren't worthy of the position. I mean, Hegseth has really no military leadership experience at all. The nonprofit that he worked at before being a state regime media Fox weekend host basically purged him because of how incompetent he was and all of his bad conduct. He has no, he should never be in this position, but they're them running. This has just been an absolute disaster. We don't have a aircraft carrier in the Pacific anymore. It's now the only aircraft carrier, the George Washington, a thousand. Kilometers outside of the Strait of Hormuz in the Arabian sea. Our other aircraft carrier is now in Phuket, Thailand. Yes. One aircraft carrier is going to be arriving mid November. That's the USS Theodore Roosevelt, but this is the first time in a very long time. We've had like no aircraft carriers, even close to the Persian Gulf or Gulf of Oman. And it's because Iran's able to project deterrent capabilities with its ballistics, with its anti-ship missiles. And that's why the only aircraft carriers, a thousand kilometers away right now, the US military bases in the region have all been destroyed by Iran. Right now, the Pentagon is refusing to allow democratic Senator Murphy, Chris Murphy of Connecticut from visiting the US bases. The congressional research service just updated a report that it prepared in May where it said 41 aircraft were destroyed in the war to now. It's like 81 or 81. 82 aircraft, that number is going to keep on going up. So just from a military perspective, like if you're a neocon warmongering person, I don't know how you, other than your view that Donald Trump is your daddy and you're like just weird and you hate Iran so much that no matter what Trump says, it will cloud the logic here. But just from a military standpoint, we get an F again, we shouldn't have been in the war, but from a strategy standpoint, Iran has. One, Iran is a regional power, if not a global power right now, you have Besson today say economic outcast strikes again, he says, and he's posting how we're putting more sanctions on the ghost fleet of Iran. And this is going to really show them right here. We're really hitting the tyrannical regime hard. And then, then he posts this from the treasury department where he's like today, we are not the ghost fleet. The shadow. Fleet. We're targeting them. Iran's already sold all of that oil to China. So you're sanctioning something that doesn't even exist in the first place. Iran still has oil for domestic purposes. You've all said Iran was going to blow up three days after some random April date that you made up. And you keep saying they're about to be destroyed. You have Iran's central bank governor mocking Besson today. And he's like, tell Besson that he's got three more days for the United States. to exist, you have Foreign Minister Araghjit today saying that previously Iran submitted a seven-day plan to the United States, which basically incorporates the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding that the U.S. responded, but Iran's just going to take its time and maybe will respond in a few days. You have Iran's nuclear chief saying under no circumstance is the nuclear file on the table right now. And Besson can say economic outcast all he wants. Iran's President Pozeshkin, I know Donald Trump likes to say to that crowd, we don't know who their leader is. Yes, we do. We know who all their leaders are. We know who their president is, Pozeshkin. We know who their foreign minister is, Arachi. We know who their deputy foreign minister is, Gharbabadi. I know who leads their parliament, M.B. Goloboff. I know their top advisor to Ayatollah, Khomeini, Moshe Razai. I know all these people, okay? And I know the structure. And that doesn't again mean, oh, that means you're sympathizing with them. I want to let you know what the hell is happening right here. Because Besson can say economic outcast all he wants. The president of Iran today was meeting with Putin at the CIS. That's where the old Soviet countries all meet. It was in Turkmenistan, where they talked about cooperation between Russia and Iran. And while that's going on, sure, it seems like economic outcast. Iran got the invite as the honorary guest. Iran's not an old Soviet country. And it got the invite as the honorary guest. The way like the European Union invited Canada as their honorary guest, the honorary guest at CIS was Iran. Same thing, by the way, we saw at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting and the BRICS block meeting that's been taking place. And Iran is likely getting the Garan 4, Garan 5 technology from Russia. Russia upgraded the Shahi drones with these jet-powered Garan 4s. So that technology is being exchanged. When you look at a lot of the parts in these drones, they're not the same. They're not the same. You've got semiconductors coming from the United States and lots of dual-use component parts from China that's in the Russia Garan 4s and 5s and in the Iranian weapons as well. And then the Trump regime bows down to Xi Jinping with the Thucydides trap saying, yes, you are the ascending power, China, and we are the declining power. And the US keeps talking about doing deals with Russia's Luke Oil Company. And today it was the Nord Stream Pipeline and other things. While Russia, is there with Iran while Donald Trump is spewing all of this nonsense. And so Donald Trump will post, we're bringing out 22 million barrels every night, last night. We never brought 22 million barrels ever. The most we brought is like 20 million barrels a day before the war. Right now, it's somewhere in the range of, I would say, 8 to 12, maybe 13 million barrels a day of oil are getting out through the US. And so we're bringing out 22 million barrels every night. Straight of Hormuz. But even if you say that's the amount of, let's just assume it was 20 million barrels. It's not 22 million. Just assume it was the same amount. Right now, these VLCCs, these very large crude carriers that take the crude and transport them are charging $1.5 million a day. The captains of these VLCCs are making $100,000 a month and a $50,000 bonus to get out of the Strait of Hormuz. And so Donald Trump puts a risk premium per barrel of oil of $33 based on the risk. And the way some of these tankers get out of the Strait of Hormuz is a ship-to-ship transfer scheme using small boats to try to deliver the crude onto these stationary ships. Some of them hang off the coast of Qatar. Others hang off the coast of Fujairah in the UAE. And they hug the very shallow coast by Oman. They turn their AIS sensors off. And hope to avoid the IRGC, which is able to strike usually somewhere in the range of 10% of every tanker that crosses. That's why it's so expensive. And when you do a ship-to-ship transfer, eventually you run out of ships. But then in the past eight days, Iran has struck 15 tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. And the most recent ones targeted the ship-to-ship transfer scheme, sending a message by striking a ship-to-ship transfer off the coast. That's why I've called it Fujairah Escalation. And one off the coast of Qatar, where there were numerous casualties there. Meanwhile, you also have Ansar Allah, the Houthis responding to the strikes that Saudi Arabia has been making in Sana'a in the Ansar Allah capital. And we see Riyadh's main airport, King Khalid, on fire. Aba Airport and a facility, a refinery in Aba, Saudi Arabia has been hit over there. What I just painted for you is the reality of the situation now. You could like it, you cannot like it. Why do you think the price of crude is what it is, like $105 a barrel? Why do you think diesel and gas are so high? Why would we have to draw down so much of these strategic petroleum reserves if there was such an abundance, a pre-war abundance of oil? That makes no sense right there. Also, the process of getting you diesel or gas or heating oil or jet fuel, the process requires refining. It's like bragging about picking the fruit from a tree or from whatever, and then saying, well, this is how you make juice. No, you still have to take the fruit and then turn it into juice. And if the cost of transporting the fruit to the juice maker costs way more than it did before, you still have to take the fruit and then turn it into juice. And so we have to speak in an educated way. And then you have freaking CENTCOM. As we purge these top generals, you've got this clown, Admiral Brad Cooper. And it pains me to say that the head of CENTCOM is an absolute clown. When I saw the guy testify, one of the only days Congress was in session, my jaw dropped because I'm like, this guy's a MAGA idiot. And this guy used to be from all the things that I heard in the military. And I'm like, this guy's a MAGA idiot. And this guy used to be from all the military community, a normal dude. And it's like he's out there on the CENTCOM account posting like things are great. Claim. Earlier today, a general from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed in media reports that the Strait of Hormuz is closed and his country has full control over it. This is false. And they put that in bold. Fact. Traffic is flowing through the Strait of Hormuz right now, carrying commercial goods and energy supplies, including 20 million barrels of crude oil. The United States and regional partners clearly control the Strait. Imagine being a regional partner and reading that, right? I mean, there's the, you know, who's the intended audience? Freaking Twitter X. Who's your audience? The regional partners will go, oh, they're dum-dum. They are Trump dum-dum and dangerous. They don't control. So why do you think in the past day two, look who's meeting with Iran, the German ambassador, the Japanese ambassador, the Pakistani, all these. People are meeting with Iran's, you know, because they're all seeing the U.S. word is nothing. And so that's my analysis there. And that's not a pro this or an anti this. It's just those are what we would call in the law when writing a summary judgment motion, the undisputed facts. There's nothing that I said is disputed there. Take it however you want to take it. But we can't be told things are amazing and they're great. They're not. They are catastrophic. And that's not me being that's the truth. It's it is fascinating how people like if you lay out the reality of the situation like that, people will be like, oh, you're a sympathizer of the IRG. It's like, what are you talking about? Just literally literally just saying what's happening. And the fact is, is that the United States and CENTCOM and these admirals and all these people, they're pumping out such propaganda on a daily basis that they're trying to get you to believe a reality that doesn't exist. And one of the things I noticed, Benny said, who are they doing this for? Right. Yes, I do think they're doing this for Twitter. I think they're doing this for Twitter. Right. I do think a lot of it is for Twitter. I think one of the reasons for that is because of the people on X who are a lot of journalists, the MAGA base. And you also have a lot of the oil analysts, oil and gas and diesel analysts who are on Twitter and, you know, make a lot of market decisions based on the things that they see there. And so one of the things I've noticed, though, especially in the past week with all these latest Trump statements, is that the right. I saw Gregory Brew, one of these oil analysts. He wrote this is today. Brent spikes above one hundred five dollars. Trump says no strikes before midterms. Lots of oil getting through the straight and productive discussions are happening with Iran. The two don't seem totally unrelated. And basically what I've seen a lot of these analysts say right now is don't view that Trump's word doesn't mean anything. Don't view him saying that he's not going to strike as anything to do with war or if he's going to strike or not going to strike. His words are meaningless. And the only thing that his words should be looked at through are through the lens of market manipulation and that Donald Trump sees the markets heading in one direction. He sees the stock market heading in one direction, oil price heading in one direction. And he tries to hit the metaphorical panic button by sending out those posts saying no strike, no strikes, lots of oils going through lots of guys. You hear me? Lots of oil. And that's his strategy. And that's the only strategy he has right now in this war. It's pathetic. The analysis that I gave there, is one steeped in research and sleepless nights and following the satellite footage and I track the ships and I look at it and then I try to distill it though in ways that we understand. And by the way, I think that is as pro-America as you get. People are like, well, you're rooting for them. I think that's the most pro-American analysis that we could give people, the truth, and we can develop a strategy that will hopefully avoid more never-ending wars and help avoid more escalation that would lead to utter disaster. The CEO of Aramco, which is Saudi Arabia's biggest state-owned oil company, he said, we've lost 3 billion barrels of oil already as a result of this catastrophic war. The CEO of Vital, the largest independent energy trading company, in the world, also said that he wouldn't be shocked based on what we're seeing now if the ship-to-ship transfers were stopped by Iran, that oil goes to $200 per barrel. And then Kepler, who a lot of people rely on, they misconstrue what Kepler is saying to try to act like we're getting all this oil out. That's not even the numbers that Kepler is providing. But there was a Kepler analyst who said that some of the ships that are getting out are actually paying Iran 10% to 20% for the oil. And that's not even the numbers that Kepler is providing. That's not even the fees of what's in the ships for Iran to turn the other way. And that's how Iran's making revenue, which is, you know, look, if you're going to borrow some of the data from Kepler, what about that? So that was fascinating to me as well. All right. WTF America, we go into facts, man. We go into details. And I'll give you this warning, and I think it's a good one. It's not an election book. It's not about what happens in the 2020 election. It's generationally, how do we build the structures and the foundations and the principles to get out of this hell as inspired by you, the mightiest mighty. That's how that's the main message of this book. So get a copy of the hardcover and the ebook pre-order now during the break. I'm going to check, see if mine came in the mail. We will see. All right. Let's take our last quick break of the show. I've been having these completely insane work days where I catch up on the news. We start recording, jump into meetings, record again. And then suddenly it's like 3 p.m. And I realized I never actually had lunch. And at that point, I'm either spending way too much ordering something or I'm just grabbing whatever random snack is nearby. But that's where Huel, H-U-E-L, Black Edition has become such an easy option. The powder starts at less than $3 per meal. The Black Edition powder is 40 grams protein, mixes with water or milk in about 30 seconds. It's a complete meal you have instead of food, not a shake on top of food. You also get 27 essential vitamins and minerals, no artificial sweeteners, colors, or flavors. And when I really don't have time, the RTD bottle is the grab-and-go version. 35 grams of protein, 7 grams fiber, and under $5 a meal. So instead of getting to the middle of the afternoon and realizing that lunch just never happened, Huel is the alternative. And we've got a limited time offer. Make healthy eating simple. Get Huel today with my exclusive offer of 15% off online with my code MITUS at Huel.com slash MITUS. New customers only. That's Huel.com slash MITUS. Huel.com slash MITUS. Code MITUS. M-E-I-D-A-S. Thank you to Huel for partnering and supporting our show. One of the easiest habits I've been able to actually stick with is incredibly simple, a spoonful of monocora in the morning. I'll just put it in coffee, tea, or sometimes have it straight from the spoon. And here's a pro tip. Monocora honey, hot water, lemon, trust me. Monocora honey is rich, creamy, and the most delicious honey that you've ever had. The bees gather nectar from the manuka tea tree, which is packed with bioactives, including up to three times more antioxidants than clover honey. Manuka honey also naturally contains MGO, a naturally occurring compound that's unique to manuka honey and not found in other types of honey. And I really like the transparency here. Every jar is third-party tested for purity and MGO level before it ever reaches you. It's not a marketing claim. It's a lab result. Each batch gets its own QR code, so you can pull up the actual test results for the jar, in your hand. And now, it's easier than ever to try monocora honey. Head to monocora.com/mitas and use code "mitas" to save up to 31% plus $75 worth of free gifts with the starter kit, which comes with an MGO 850 plus manuka honey jar, five honey travel sticks, a wooden spoon, a guidebook, and an onboarding call with Monocora's clinical nutritionist. That's monocora.com/mitas and use code "mitas" to save up to 31% plus $75 worth of free gifts with the starter kit, which comes with an MGO 850 plus manuka honey jar, five honey travel sticks, a wooden spoon, a guidebook, and an onboarding call with Monocora's clinical nutritionist. That's M-E-I-D-A-S. Let's go. Shout out to our sponsors. Links in the description, both the YouTube and the audio. If there's an exit survey, let them know we sent you. What really frustrates me beyond the incompetence of the Trump regime is these are just evil people. They're just bad people. Bad, bad, bad people who don't genuinely love this country, but yet wrap themselves in the flag and act as if they do, and then act like, "Oh, you're going to speak out against my heinous actions? Oh, you hate this country, actually. You're the person. You're a communist." They're such jokes, man. While Donald Trump is talking about nuclear annihilation of San Diego and Los Angeles, Trump bought up to $25 million in Meta and millions in SpaceX debt offerings in August, as much as $5 million in SpaceX two days before he signed a sweeping policy aimed at expanding US commercial space transportation. ABC did an analysis this week that Donald Jr. and Eric's companies that they have investments in have been given $6 billion in government money or government funding. What's going on with all of this is it's not about the United States. It is about Trump's just taking and taking and taking more for themselves. That's it. I think one of the perplexing things about the United States and the countries that have national identities is when they see that behavior, they go, "Oh, you're not even trying to help the United States." I think that they're not used to just having an adversary who truly doesn't care about the country. You may have dictators and authoritarians who act vile or chaotic or crazy or all of these things, but you're not going to be able to do anything about it. You're not going to be able to do anything about it. Bernie Madoff, under the Trump era. Lehman Brothers, under the Trump era. Of course not, right? What would happen? They would come up with some scheme with Donald. They would say, oh, it's super. It's super. They would have some meeting with the head of the SEC. They would give money to the MAGA PAC. And they would- over and over again. And you may go, well, Lehman Brothers collapse was one of the main things that eventually led to the Great Recession. So if we could avoid that, isn't that a good thing? Sure. But it was the Great Recession had to be confronted with the bundling of mortgage-backed securities by exposure and didn't reveal it to the public. And so it actually took a lot of people coming together to try to solve the problem versus saying, you know, the mortgage-backed securities, fake news, artificial news, not real. We've never had a better, healthier environment for mortgage-backed securities. Bernie Madoff, no, no, no. It's fake news. The people who are accusing him, they just have to have a long-term perspective of what's happening over here. You know, you go through one by one, all of these, you know, and Ron, that's just the way you do accounting. They'll get you the audit in two weeks. Don't worry. Two weeks, they'll get you the right audit. And the way they do the book to market, that's just, give them some grace, please. And stop trying to hurt America if you're a patriot. So what would have happened if you continue to allow the sick patient to get sicker? The way Donald Trump treats the Strait of Hormuz, it gets worse and worse and worse. And I'm like, all of those crises that I just listed, what's happening right now is, to use a term that we've been hearing a lot about, nuclear version of all of these kind of combined, and it just keeps getting worse and worse. So the way this ends, is one of two things happening. We talk about this a lot privately, brothers, also. Either it blows up even more soon, and it already is. It's not like the American people are doing well right now. They're struggling. There's a reason consumer confidence is at an all-time low. Or they keep it going, they keep it going, and then you have the Democratic president in 2029, who now looks at this, and all of a sudden, you have to fix it. You have to rip the bandage off. And what happens sometimes when you rip the bandage off? It starts to bleed. And in the case of catastrophic injuries, what happens, and I don't want to make a gross analogy here, but it is bad. And so then someone's got to fix it. And then, what do MAGA do? Oh, you broke it. It was perfectly fine. You destroyed it. The markets are tanking. This is tanking. This is destroyed. And it's like, you all handed a shit sandwich over to the next person, and they have to deal with it. Now, look, there's a lot of valid criticism about the Biden administration. Was inflation high during a number of years? Absolutely. The root cause was Donald Trump's handling of COVID, shipping routes being destroyed, bottlenecks over there, reckless printing of hundreds of billions, if not trillions of dollars, the disastrous PPP program. That was some of the original source of the inflation. When the world opened, then all of this stuff, to use my example, the bandage was ripped off. But the question to me is, well, what condition did Biden leave the country in? Was it perfect? No. Was it great? No. Yes, according to the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times and Bloomberg, the economy was the envy of the world. That's still not how most Americans felt, but it was certainly heading in the right direction. Inflation would be at 2% now. Look what the New York Federal Reserve said, 7% of the inflation we have right now has been caused by Trump's tariffs against the world alone. So if you remove that, prices would all be way down. We'd have interest rate cuts by now. And so he is fully the arsonist, making it all worse and not confronting the reality of the situation, systemically is planting the most fatal poison pill in the heart of our country. It's like if you were running, if someone was running a business and running a fraudulent business and they handed that business over to new ownership and they look through the books and realize that the books were completely cooked and fraudulent and how they had to go in. And now the announcement happens, oh, all this was actually all fake and it's all blowing up now. Do you blame the person who they just put in charge to actually look through this or do you blame the person who caused it? And that's what we see happening. I think going back to your Enron analogy, I think it's a reason why we so often see a lot of these fraudsters who are quite literally in prison appealing to Donald Trump to try to get out. We even see, I saw a few days ago, I'll, I'll, I'll pull up the tweet. I just grabbed it from Elizabeth Holmes. I think this was like a week or two ago. Elizabeth Holmes, who ran the Theranos scam, you know, is in prison right now. She's like reposting Donald Trump's posts and writing, we are winning, like clearly trying to appeal for a pardon from Donald Trump. You've seen similar behavior from people like Sam Bankman Freed. And we've also seen documents from Sam Bankman Freed's legal team that said their strategy, was to try to be nice to Donald Trump on the internet and go on podcasts where Donald Trump's sons may listen to and try to get through to Donald Trump that he's a sympathetic figure and get a pardon through him. So I think the, uh, Enron analysis there is particularly apt and this fraud runs through the entire Trump family, even family members who aren't even like a part of the Trump family, even ex-fiances, ex-fiances. Kimberly Guilfoyle story is correct. Kimberly Guilfoyle first off, the whole thing is nuts. They shipped Kimberly Guilfoyle off to Greece. Okay. The her and Don Jr broke up. He ditched her. He married this, this new woman, you know, because she probably knows where the bodies are buried. What do they do? They ship her off to Greece. Go have an ambassadorship. Don't speak. Please keep quiet. Go, go, go to Greece. And what did she do when she gets to Greece? She's humiliated herself and humiliated the United States there. Like every few weeks, there's like a story about her making a mockery of everything. They were like a few weeks ago, there was the story of her in Greece where she basically was like, oh, you know, the United States could totally take down your entire country and your economy if they wanted to. And the government officials in Greece were like, why would you say that? Like, that's like a weird thing for you to see. We've done it before. You see what we did in this country and that Romania and race who we did in Romania. It's like, yeah, why are you, are you threatening us? Like, what are you, what are you doing? And now there's this new story. There's this, uh, Trump, uh, donor, big donor, Eric Dieters, I believe is his name. He had, already paid Kimberly Guilfoyle like $300,000 over a span of years for speaking appearances because she's such an incredible speaker folks. And she deserves a premium. Well, the wall street journal did this report and just six days before she was confirmed, uh, as the ambassador to Greece, which is crazy, uh, Guilfoyle apparently started pressuring, uh, this guy to pay off her $100,000 personal, uh, debt on her American express card. And then she starts being really weird about it, right? Because it's shady. And since she knows it's shady. So she goes, it won't show allegedly, she goes, it won't show up anywhere. If you just wire the money to American express, don't, don't send it to me. Don't pay the bill online, wire the money directly to American express and no one will know about it. And then he kept, then she kept allegedly badgering the guy to like submit the money. He was like, honey, please, I need you to do this for me. Do, do, do this for me today. I need this done today. And, uh, Brett's not exaggerating. These allegedly are the messages. These are quotes that, that the wall street journal has reviewed. And so you can look up there. Dieters, look, Guilfoyle denies all of this and says that the messages are inauthentic. So let's give her side as well. Dieters, the guy who's a Trump donor MAGA guy. He's the one. It's not like they used all these off the record sources. They use the guy who she was messaging. And he's been, and he's like doing the media circuit now talking about it. It's not like he's holding back and he's like, do it. We have the video of him. Look, the guy's here. Show the video, show, show anyone. Let me get the clip. I'll play. I'll play a clip of random. Just play. Kimberly Guilfoyle is a grifter. Kimberly Guilfoyle. I have no doubt has done this to more than me. She's doing it right now in Greece. I know Corey Lewandowski did this stuff. I mean, come on. It's a crime family. That's the Trump donor. That guy's a Trump donor. Yeah. That's not, that's not Midas touch. I'm talking about this. That's Kimberly Guilfoyle promised him that if he paid off this $100,000 Amex bill, that she'd be his. And this is a direct quote. I'm reading it quote, Trump ride or die forever and ever. Just do me this favor. Just do me this one thing. And so the Dieter's guy was like, no, I'm not doing it. Like he, he said, he goes, he goes, my wife will kill me. If she sees that I'm wiring a hundred thousand dollars to another woman, it's, it's, it's another woman's Amex. She's not going to doing this. from being Trump's ride or die. She's going to think that there's something going on with us. Brett, the other part of the story though too is Bettina, Don Jr.'s wife, her dad was Epstein's banker. And of course, they then go and have the wedding in the island that's paid for in part by the Russian oligarchs who were very close to Putin, despite them making hundreds of millions of dollars under the Trump regime. So you have the Russian nesting doll aspect. I wanted to point that out as well. And then you could add on to the Russian nesting doll with this story about this, I didn't even say the name of this, but honestly, I hadn't even heard of this. Spirka. Spirka, Republica Spirka, where apparently all the Trump advisors, everyone hangs out now and they pal around with pro-Putin figures there and try to prop up their political campaigns. So first we saw it was two high-level Trump campaign officials who were there. It was the first story we heard, including Chris Lasavita, who's a big name in the Trump world. And so that was the story like yesterday, right? We heard about them. And then Trump went through a series of kind of different excuses. First, it was like, well, if they really did that, I'm going to fire them. And then like an hour later, he was like, well, they don't actually work for me directly. It's like, yeah, they do. They're consultants. They're your like top-level staffers on your political, on the political side. They may not be in the White House. They work for your political campaign. And then like a day later, and who knows that they're like leaking this back and forth to each other to try to get the hearing. And then they're like, heat off the other ones. But, you know, apparently, you know, they didn't like that this was discovered. But today, another story comes out about Republica Sperka. And what is it? Susie Wiles, Donald Trump's chief of staff. Was it her daughter, Ben? Susie Wiles? Susie Wiles' daughter. Daughter. Also seen in a photograph authenticated by many a publication with one of these pro-Putin figures in Republica Sperka, this place that I had never heard about. To be honest, before this. But apparently, all these people in Trump world are palling around with these people with very close connections to Vladimir Putin in this place that I've never heard of. And now we know of at least three of them. And this comes, like Ben said, after the wedding that was paid for by the Russian oligarch. So that's to say what? Russia, Russia, Russia, Russia, Russia. I think it's back. And, you know, I think the threads are still there. We're still seeing, you know, all of these connections and the corruption and how, you know, to, to Jordi's point, this has never been about the country or doing better for the country. It's entirely been a grift for everybody involved, whether it is Donald Trump, whether it's the, the ex-fiancé who was shipped off to Greece, whether it's the tech oligarchs who are milking this presidency for all they can, trying to pad their bottom lines at the expense of the people. You just, just look at what's going on right now. The, the expedited, we're breaking up. We're also shipping you to Greece to then, getting married. I mean, it's so Trumpian and just weird, like getting married. You said they shipped her to Greece. They shipped, dude, they shipped her to Greece. Kimberly Guilfoyle fan of the show. In the Guilfoyle saga, I will never forget the, the, I think it was like some sort of Irish folk tap dance that she would do at all of the Trump rallies. I mean, just, we're talking about a really, a really disturbed family here. Jordi, let me just sum this up by saying, let me sum this up by saying one thing. The best is yet to come. Yeah. I mean, like very, very bizarre, just very overall bizarre. I mean, but like, if you sent me to, like you sent me, if you sent me to Greece to be the ambassador, like that's such a job that's like, you know, everybody wants, like, there's probably some that are viewed as like to be the ambassador to Greece. Right. And you couldn't even be normal with that. Like you had to be so allegedly corrupt and do all these weird stuff. There's the other, another story, Brett, that she rolls around with this 39-year-old Greek lobbyist from this construction company that's gotten into like the LNG business. And the Wall Street Journal has been all over this story. And, and while, and they reported that lots of people thought that this guy was her chief of staff, but he's a lobbyist that works at this company that's new in the LNG space that was a construction company. And apparently this is the allegations Guilfoyle would tell people like, like, this is our, like, this is our guy, like, this is the company. If you want to do work with America, this is the company to work through. And they've got a big contract with the Greek government. This is, and she, again, to be clear, she denies everything and says that the messages are inauthentic and that Dieters is a liar and all of these things. Well, what does Marco Rubio have to say about all of this? Because when Rubio was in Greece, surely this was going to come up. So Rubio was asked, Rubio, what do you make of not just the most recent allegations by Dieters, but the issue about the 39-year-old guy lobbyist, the allegations about Romania, the allegations about what she said to Greek officials, the whole mess that is this ambassadorship. Surely you knew you were going to be asked this question. Let's watch what he says. The only thing new on the reporting from the Wall Street Journal that Ambassador Guilfoyle had saw. Yeah, guys, let me tell you something. Okay. You guys are going to ask me this. You're going to ask me again in Portugal. I know the game. Okay. The game is someone gives you the money, you give them the money, you give them his information to a newspaper or a media outlet. The media outlet reports it. You immediately turn to me and say, I need you to respond to our reporting. That's not the way this process works. Like our job is not to respond every time someone decides to give the media something without any advance warning, without any, having any chance to look at it and see what's in there. That's not the way, that's not the way you run an organization. And that's not a serious way to conduct the policy of our country. So I'm not going to comment on a story that literally posted a few hours ago. I get the game. Okay. I've been in this for a long time with an hour. Some member of Congress will write you a letter demanding you answer questions to something we've never seen before. I don't even know if it's true or not true. So it's just not going to work that way. And it most certainly is not going to work that way when I'm sitting in another country. All right. You're sitting in the country where it happened and there's no game. And the answer is very easy. And if you want to protect the due process rights of somebody like Kimberly Guilfoyle, despite how bad this all sounds, you just say, I'm aware of the allegations. I'm not going to comment it on this time. We will conduct a thorough investigation. Obviously, any allegations like this are very serious. And that's all we have to say at this moment. Ben, but the game, the game, the game, Ben, I'm not going to play the game, Ben. I'm not going to play the game. It's a game. And so they've already. Doesn't that tell it all? Because they've already come with the position. It's a game. Exactly. Exactly. They've already, it's already being filtered through a MAGA unserious lens and that it's, ah, this isn't a real, this is fake news. Everyone's coming after us and all of these things. And it's just like, it's just nonsense. As I said, we've talked about a lot in this episode and, you know, more information's coming in as well about an ice shooting. Mayor Mamdani talked about it in New York where, and Marble Hill and a residential neighborhood where an agent surrounded this individual and a five-year-old child before firing multiple rounds. The child was physically unarmed. But this individual seems to have been harmed. And Mamdani's saying he called Trump to confront him about it. And Mamdani ends by saying, abolish ice. But I leave with that also. I want to get more details, of course, about everything that's happening there, but I don't want to ignore it on this episode. What we're talking about is not democratic or Republican or independent. As I've said this whole episode and what we talk about all the time in WTF America is at the very least, we should be, serious people. We should be a serious country. That doesn't mean we can't have a sense of humor. It doesn't mean we can't have hobbies. It doesn't mean we can't have fun. We absolutely should. But that exists in certain spaces where we should have fun and laugh. It's not joking about nuclear annihilation and war crimes, and it's not promoting ICE and Border Patrol Gestapo to kill people. We have to recognize there are places, movies and comedy shows and family where certain things, but at a country level, we should be serious. Then we should be serious and competent. Then we should be serious, competent, and exercise a level of care. Serious, competent, exercise care, and then a level of sophistication. Serious, competent, care, sophistication. Then we should have public servants at the top of my hierarchy of running a country who are sophisticated public servants who are truly aligned with the country and with the interests of the people. We talk about that in WTF America because that's not how politics is often covered. Who's slam dunked on who? Who's the winner? Who's the loser? This person's up. That person's up. Look, we should cover it. These are, after all, called political races. But what we shouldn't forget is that what they're running for should be to deliver for us, we, the people. That's what the big thing is that we should never forget. That's what we talk about. In WTF America, what we talk about, too, is then connecting that framework internationally. Midas Canada, Midas Europe, we're building out. We didn't forget about you, Midas Australia. I saw some of your comments. You ignored Midas Australia. No, no, no. Midas Australia for sure. Never to the Midas mates, man. We'll never do that to the Midas mates. We got you. There you have it. Feet, feet. How steady are you? Your foot wake up call. Things I should probably know. You might be thinking— thinking, who's your favorite child? well, whatever. Go get the real WTF America the way out of this hell and back to democracy. The hardcover, the ebook, let's show corporate news. We don't need them. And that will, you know, will rise to the top without them together with this community. Thanks everybody for watching. We're grateful for you. Great episode. Great spending this time with you. Jordy, take it away. Shout out to the Midas Mighty. Before you go, our book WTF America is available for pre-order now. It's the story of how we got here and how we fight our way back. To pre-order, scan the QR code or click the link in the description. Let's do this. We'll see you next time.

Podcast Summary

Key Points:

  1. Donald Trump's false claims about avoiding war with Iran and his threats to destroy San Diego and Los Angeles are reckless, provocative, and dangerously destabilizing.
  2. Iran has actively targeted tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, with at least 15 attacks in recent days, disrupting global oil supply and driving up fuel prices.
  3. The U.S. military response is weak, with aircraft carriers withdrawn from the region, poor leadership under generals like Admiral Brad Cooper, and a collapse in regional presence.
  4. Trump’s rhetoric—especially about nuclear annihilation—normalizes violent, race-based, and hyperbolic threats, demonstrating a loss of moral authority and strategic judgment.
  5. Economic and geopolitical data show that oil prices and fuel costs are rising due to real supply disruptions, not Trump’s market manipulation claims.
  6. The U.S. and allies are facing a crisis of credibility, as misinformation and propaganda on platforms like Twitter distort reality, undermining trust in official reports.
  7. Trump’s actions and statements—including buying major tech and space company debt—reveal a pattern of self-enrichment over national interest.
  8. The podcast highlights the need for factual, transparent analysis to counter misinformation and protect public safety amid rising global conflict.

Summary:

This episode of the Midas Touch podcast offers a sharp critique of Donald Trump’s current foreign policy and rhetoric, exposing the dangerous disconnect between his statements and reality. S. cities like San Diego and Los Angeles, a move widely condemned as reckless, illogical, and morally bankrupt.

These claims, often delivered with a tone akin to mobster threats, serve to stoke fear and division rather than promote peace. Meanwhile, real-world events—such as Iran’s attacks on oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz—have created tangible supply crises, driving up global oil prices and fuel costs. S.

response is underperforming: military assets are withdrawn, leadership is compromised by unqualified figures, and official messaging is undermined by misinformation. The podcast also highlights how Trump’s rhetoric normalizes hate speech and racial targeting, such as false claims about Somali immigrants in Minnesota, further eroding democratic values. Despite claims of market manipulation, economic data shows that rising oil prices stem from actual supply disruptions, not Trump’s tweets.

The analysis underscores a broader crisis of national credibility, where leaders prioritize self-interest and fear over truth and responsibility. The episode calls for factual, evidence-based reporting to counter propaganda and prevent further escalation. It also spotlights the importance of personal wellness tools like WHOOP, Huel, and Monocora as tools for maintaining stability amid political chaos.

Ultimately, the narrative presents a stark warning: when leaders devalue truth and national security for political gain, the consequences are catastrophic for both society and global peace.

FAQs

WHOOP is a screenless wearable that tracks sleep, recovery, stress, and strain. It provides personalized health insights through its companion app, helping users make proactive decisions based on real data about their body.

Yes, Trump repeatedly suggested that Iran might attack San Diego or Los Angeles with nuclear weapons, which many interpret as a dangerous and reckless threat, especially given the lack of actual missile capabilities from Iran.

The transcript argues that Trump's inflammatory and offensive comments—such as inciting racial hostility or threatening nuclear annihilation—are being normalized, and they contribute to a culture of fear and misinformation.

The 'Fujairah Escalation' refers to at least 15 tankers being struck by Iran's IRGC in the Strait of Hormuz, including attacks on ship-to-ship transfer schemes, signaling a significant escalation in regional conflict over oil supply routes.

Oil prices are rising due to actual disruptions in shipping routes, increased risks from Iran's attacks, and the high cost of alternative transfer methods, which are now being challenged by Iran’s targeted strikes.

The podcast criticizes the U.S. military's weakened presence, citing the absence of aircraft carriers near the Persian Gulf and the dismissal of key military leaders, which undermines regional defense and strategic stability.

Chat with AI

Loading...

Pro features

Go deeper with this episode

Unlock creator-grade tools that turn any transcript into show notes and subtitle files.