BLOGJanuary 25, 2018

Ben Shapiro: You Can Like Trump’s Policies While Admitting He’s ‘Character-Deficient’

Good Trump vs. Bad Trump?

On today’s show, Glenn asked Ben Shapiro how conservatives can navigate the minefield of supporting President Donald Trump in the good things he does while still acknowledging when he does wrong.

Ben Shapiro: ‘Nikki Haley at the UN Is Basically My Spirit Animal’

We shouldn’t feel compelled to make excuses for bad behavior, and Trump doesn’t need conservative leaders to compromise their principles to cover for him.

“If we’re not willing to call out bad when we see it even from people [when] we like what we’re getting from them, then we can’t have an honest conversation,” Shapiro said. “It turns into simply fan-boying or fan-girling.”

This article provided courtesy of TheBlaze.

GLENN: Last hour, we were talking to a professor from George Mason and he was talking about how bad education is. And I was talking a little about the brainwashing that is going on and the activization of at least 10 percent of our college students that just want to be liberal activists. And who is doing that on the other side?

Who is activating today's youth to be able to get them to defend the Constitution and conservative principles? The answer is sitting in my studio right now. Ben Shapiro. How are you doing, Ben?

BEN: Hey. Doing well. How are you?

GLENN: Good. I know you had a great time in Connecticut yesterday. One hundred security officers to protect your speech and zero protesters.

BEN: Yeah. That's how it always goes. And you always think, why do we need these security officers, and half the time there's a riot.

But it was nice. I mean, it was 500 students who showed up. They closed it to the general public, which was too bad. They should have allowed another 5, 600 people in, because they had another 700 reservations, is what I heard. But in any case, it was a really nice event. Everybody enjoyed it.

GLENN: Did you anybody on the left that has -- because I have -- people who are hard on the left, who say, I'm really concerned about what's happening on college campuses?

BEN: I think that's a growing concern for a lot of people on the left. And I think anybody who is an honest person on the left, has to look at the way that they're cracking down on free speech and think to themselves, this is a problem. And it could reverse itself and bite us. This is not a single-edged blade.

GLENN: Right.

BEN: It's a serious problem, that they're allowing the hecklers veto to prevail here. That somebody from the community will threaten something, and suddenly 100 officers are necessary. And we ban everyone from the general public. They've now done this at northwestern. They did this at UC Berkeley. They just ban people from coming in entirely from the outside community. Whereas, last week, Anita Hill spoke at UConn, and it was completely open to the public. They barely needed security. It was totally fine.

GLENN: All right. So you're going to join us today for a few minutes on the television show. We'll do some stuff for subscribers only on TheBlaze. We'll talk about the future of the conservative movement. And what our principles are and how we navigate from here.

But I want to talk to you about kind of the news of the day. Get your point of view on, do we have the audio of the secret society? Or do you have the latest memo or piece?

Two days ago -- was it two days ago or yesterday, Ron Johnson comes out, and he said, and we have -- we have a source that says there was a secret society. Meetings that were going on. And we know we have this text message. And something didn't feel right.

I want everything released because if that is happening, but I also said, I think it was yesterday, that kind of sounds a little like McCarthy saying, I've got the names of 250 people right in my pocket. If you don't have it, you're going to destroy everything.

And here's what we found out yesterday, about what that -- that memo -- or that text message actually said. Here's the clip. Go ahead.

But we're going to have to decide --

GLENN: Sorry. Sarah, not that one. Go ahead.

STU: The single message -- again, the single text message sent the day after Trump was elected was from senior FBI lawyer Lisa Page to Peter Strzok, the top counterintelligence officer at the FBI and a key figure in the bureau's past investigation into Trump and Clinton.

Here's the quote: Are you even going to give out your calendars, Page asked Strzok. Seems kind of depressing. Maybe it should just be the first meeting of the secret society.

GLENN: Ben, that's not a secret society.

BEN: No. No. The way all Republicans are talking it up yesterday was like, this is going to be the view from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, where he looks down and there's just a bunch of people chanting. Tearing the guy's heart out and setting it on fire.

GLENN: Big fire. Cutting him up.

BEN: And what it actually ends up being is just a bunch of nerds who sit around and have beer and talk about work. But I really -- this is my big problem, is no one is waiting for all the evidence to come out, before and their narrative conclusion is Donald Trump definitely concluded with Russia, and the FBI is in the midst of one of the greatest investigations of our time that is going to uncover the real source of Donald Trump's victory. And any questions that are asked about that are completely out of line.

And then on the right, you have this counter-narrative, that the FBI is thoroughly corrupt. It has been completely run through with people on the left who don't care about the truth and are simply out to get President Trump.

And my tendency is to think that there's a lot of in between there, and it's probably somewhere in the in between. Meaning, that there probably are people like Strzok and Page, who don't like Trump. We don't really know the impact that they've had on this particular investigation. One of the texts that people seem to be ignoring on the right is the text from Strzok to Page, saying, it's going nowhere.

STU: Right. There's no there there, right?

GLENN: No, they're actually -- yeah, the right is now starting to use that and say, look, even this guy said, there's no there there. Well, you can't have it both ways. You can't say he's an evil guy trying to take him down, oh, and he didn't want to join.

BEN: None of it makes any sense. And all of these propositions can be true. It can be true that the FBI was politicized by the Obama administration. Most clearly in the Hillary Clinton investigation. There's no question that the FBI was political in that investigation.

GLENN: Yes, correct.

BEN: It's also true there are bad apples in the FBI. It can also be true that the investigation right now is doing what it's supposed to do. It can also be true that that investigation has gone beyond its original bounds and is now moving into obstruction, which seems to me a lot more of a stretch.

Right. All these things can be true at once. But people are not waiting for all the evidence to come out, before they jump to whatever facts support the conclusion that they want. Either the FBI is thoroughly corrupt, or the FBI is thoroughly pristine.

STU: And to find the real conclusion here. Doesn't the theater hurt? This idea that everyone comes out and screams about how we know we have a security society. And we know Russia has colluded with Trump.

Doesn't that really hurt the search for the actual truth?

BEN: It does. And one of the biggest problems that I have here is that there is information that could easily be declassified and is not being declassified.

President Trump is the president of the United States. He is the chief executive. That means that he actually gets to declassify, for example, the FISA application on Carter Page. One of the big complaints from people on the right, I think quite -- quite -- quite possible this is true -- is that the FISA application on Carter Page was based on the Steele dossier, the Fusion GPS dossier that was funded by the Democrats and was essentially based on Russia disinformation.

Okay. If that's the case, then why not just release the application? Right? The FISA application, Trump can do that. He can do that right now.

And I've been told by people, well, he doesn't want to look like he's politicizing the investigation.

How does he not look like he's politicizing the investigation? I mean, the guy tweets about Jeff Sessions and Andrew McCabe and James Comey every five minutes.

All I want, you know, just as an American, all I want is more information and less conjecture. Because all I'm getting is conjecture and posturing. And now you've got -- the Democrats are putting out their memos. So now we have a memo fight. We have these secondhand memos that are not even based on the classified intel fighting with each other. It's all stupidity to me. I don't understand --

GLENN: Yeah. The classified memos -- even the people who are writing memos about them haven't seen the classified memos.

BEN: This is what the DOJ says. And if that's not true, then wouldn't you expect Devin Nunes to say, no, I have seen the classified material, and my memo was based on that classified material? But the DOJ emailed Devin Nunes, sent them a letter yesterday, and they said, listen, don't release that classified memo.

Because number one, a compromise to national security. But number two, you actually haven't seen the underlying classified materials you're talking about. So why are we reading a memo, not based on the classified materials that are actually at issue, especially when a lot of those classified materials could become declassified by the president?

All this says to me -- here's where I think this is going, based on the evidence that's on the table. Where I think this is going is I think Robert Mueller is going to try to establish a pattern of obstruction against President Trump. He's going to suggest that President Trump was trying to fire James Comey and go after his own DOJ and go after Andrew McCabe in order to stop an investigation into him. Because whether or not Trump is innocent, he thinks he's innocent. And, therefore, he was trying to, quote, unquote, obstruct the investigation. This is the problem with obstruction as a charge, there doesn't actually have to be an underlying crime in order for you to obstruct. Right? If you're obstructing an investigation, it doesn't matter whether there's actually underlying anything that went bad.

The problem is, I think we're going to get the worst-case scenario. Because I've become a pessimist, that we always get the worst-case scenario.

GLENN: Yes.

BEN: The worst-case scenario here is that, there is no actual legal obstruction. Right? Because the actual statutes and obstruction do not cover President Trump firing James Comey, or even saying to Andrew McCabe, who did you vote for? That doesn't -- obstruction is a legal charge.

As a lawyer, these charges in the US code do not apply to what President Trump has done. It doesn't matter.

The left seizes on Mueller's suggestion that there has been some sort of informal obstruction. And then they launch an impeachment push against President Trump. And then Republicans are forced into the position of having to defend some of the stupid and I think dismal things that Trump has done, from firing Comey, which I think was dumb, to demanding a loyalty oath. All these sorts of things that are not illegal, but are not smart.

And so we're sitting around, defending those. And then the Democrats are browbeating us and saying they need impeachment. It just -- it ends up being a battle over bad behavior, as opposed to a battle over criminality. And the left will charge that the right is fine with criminality. And the right will say that the right is trying to use the law in the wrong ways.

And, you know -- both will be half right, and both will be half wrong. And it will just be awful. It will be awful all the way around.

GLENN: That's good. Good. Good.

STU: That's optimism.

BEN: The good news is I honestly don't think the impeachment tribe will go anywhere. And I think people will survive.

Honestly, I don't think people care that much about this, other than the diehard political fanatics on the right who think Trump is absolutely innocent of everything and has never done anything wrong. And people on the left who think that Trump is absolutely guilty of everything and is going to be impeached. They're waiting for the deus ex machina to come in and just remove Trump from office, which is not happening.

GLENN: So I think we're in the same area. I talked about it a few weeks ago and said, I don't think anything is going to happen with the Trump information. But sadly, what I think is going to happen is we're going to miss the mark on Russia. This whole investigation --

BEN: Russia, we haven't mentioned that in 15 minutes.

GLENN: Russia. I know. This is not about -- look, I think Hillary Clinton was absolutely corrupt. And the FBI has mountains of evidence of lots of people in -- in our government in Washington, that were corrupt with Uranium One. Why haven't we seen any of that evidence? Now, whether she was personally corrupt, sure looks like it. But I don't know.

When it comes to Donald Trump, I don't like the meeting in Trump Tower, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. But I don't know if there's any crime there that's been committed.

I do know this, the FBI has known things about Russia. And they have not -- they have not followed through. Why? Is there someone that is saying, you know, kind of like, what's his name that went in and took the documents out of the library of Congress, or the --

STU: Sandy Berger.

GLENN: Yeah. The national archives. Both sides were kind of like, no, that's pretty okay. I'm pretty okay with that. Because both sides are dirty with Russia. We need to know, can we trust our Justice Department? Yes or no?

Can we trust them to do independent investigations? And the second thing is, how bad are things with Russia? How could is the influence and the bribery and the scandal with his Russia? And let the chips fall where they may. I don't think it's going to happen.

BEN: I agree with a lot of this. And I also don't think it's going to happen. I think everyone -- if you're on the side of what the FBI is doing right now, then you're going to stand up for the FBI no matter what.

If you don't like what the FBI is doing right now, then you're going to suggest they're a nefarious institution in the pay of the opposite side.

GLENN: How do either of these not accomplish the goals of Vladimir Putin, of destroying our republic?

BEN: Well, I mean, I think that Putin was very smart. He realized that all he had to do was drop a hint of conspiratorialism into American politics, and everybody would jump on it with both feet.

And he was right. It's worked. We're at each other's throat over essentially -- I'm not sure there's much there there. And I think that's particularly true. If you look in another area, where Russia was supposedly nefarious, I really don't think that Russian bots were manipulating people's information hold during the last election cycle. I think people are jumping on that because they find it politically useful. So Russia interfered in the election. But I think what they've done even more -- to more success even, is they've allowed that impression that they interfered in the last election cycle to now create the basis on which everything else moves.

So, for example, the release of the memo hashtag that was trending last week, suddenly Dianne Feinstein and Adam Schiff are suggesting the reason it's trending is because of Russian bots. And they're calling on Facebook and Twitter to actually crack down on these nonexistent Russian bots that were supposedly sending this trending. Daily Beast did a report yesterday, and they said it wasn't Russian bots. That was just a bunch of Republicans who were hashtagging -- the point that Dianne Feinstein and Schiff are doing is -- what they are doing is they want Facebook and Twitter to crack down on right-wing media outlets, claiming that's a way of cracking down on fake news. So they're using the Russia bot stuff and they're using the Russia stuff as a proxy of getting to a political goal they want to get to. I swear, every day, I wake up and I think -- I'm cynical enough about politics today. And then by that night, I'm thinking, my God, I need to be twice as cynical as I was this morning. Because it just doesn't work.

GLENN: Back with more Ben Shapiro here in a second. Markets are beginning to price for potential interest rate hike in March. If you missed the show last night. I did a chalkboard. And it was really interesting.

Because I know I did this chalkboard a couple of times when I was at Fox. One that was similar. And I said, look, this is what I'm looking for. This is where we're going to start to have trouble. If these things happen.

Well, now, these things have happened. If you missed the chalkboard last night, make sure you watch it on TheBlaze.com/TV. Become a subscriber. And please, watch the first ten minutes of last night's show, because you will be prepared for what I believe is coming. And it's all due to math and history.

GLENN: Talking to Ben Shapiro, who I think is the leader of the future movement of the conservative -- of conservative thought in America.

He is everywhere on college campuses and everywhere online, where it counts with the youth.

We were -- we're in a weird situation right now, to where we have a president who is, in many ways, giving us as conservatives, things that we haven't seen since maybe Reagan. Okay? We have a great Supreme Court justice. Israel, for the love of Pete. Reagan didn't even do that.

BEN: Yep.

GLENN: So we have some great things. And then we're also in this position of having a guy who we -- is real -- lives a despicable life, if those porn star things are true. Okay? And I tend to believe they're true.

So you look at this, and for some reason, we can't say, I -- bad Trump, good Trump. Don't like that Trump. Like that one.

BEN: Yes.

GLENN: You have to buy into all of it. And I think that's killing us.

BEN: I totally agree. I mean, during the last election cycle actually coined the good Trump, bad Trump framework. I actually had sticks with faces of Trump on them. And when he would do something good, I would hold up the happy Trump. When he would do something bad, I would hold up the sad Trump.

We had -- we actually had the jingle on my podcast. Good Trump, bad Trump. Which one will it be today?

And that is -- I think the biggest problem I have right now with the way American politics are going, it really is not about Trump. It's about us. Because if we're not willing to call out bad when we see it, even from people that we like what we're getting from them, then we can't have an honest conversation.

It turns into simply, fanboying or fangirling for a particular political figure. You see this on the left too. They can't call out -- they couldn't call out Obama when Obama was engaged in obvious corruption with the IRS, for example. While saying, we like Obamacare. But we don't like what he's doing with the IRS. You see this on the right now, with regard to Trump's character.

Look, Trump is character deficient. There's just no question that the man is -- you would not have him babysit your children. Right? You have a list of people. He's near the bottom of the list in terms of people he would be responsible for like my one and a half-year-old son.

GLENN: Yes. My 13-year-old son.

BEN: May be more dangerous for the 13-year-old actually. You don't know what will pop up on the pay-per-view.

GLENN: Let's not even talk about him. People I really respect and like. Tony Perkins. What the hell was this?

STU: Interesting phrasing of that question.

GLENN: Yeah.

BEN: Yeah, so do I.

I think, again, we have to learn to live with cognitive dissonance. You can like a lot of the things he's doing. And as an evangelical Christian, or as an Orthodox Jew, as I am, I think you can stand and say, listen, this guy is standing up for religious liberty, with the judges that he's appointing. He's standing up for Israel. He's standing up for -- he spoke at the March For Life. He's standing up for a lot of religious priorities that I really like. And all of that is wonderful, and all of that is good. Also, you shouldn't have sex with porn stars while you're married and your wife just gave birth.

GLENN: If you're a religious leader, I think you should leave it at, you shouldn't have sex with porn stars, unless it's your wife.

(laughter)

Then you should talk to her about not being a porn star.

BEN: But the fact that we feel compelled to make excuses for bad behavior is something that I think leads people who are in the middle, not even on the left, people in the middle to say, well, you're not being intellectually honest about your own side. And you lose your own moral credibility in that line.

I'm not worried about Trump losing his credibility. Trump is a big boy. He can protect himself. He's shown that he's fully capable of kicking back of kicking back against people who criticize him. He does it all the time. He doesn't need people playing defense for his personal failings. And, by the way, his personal failings don't damage him politically.

I mean, I have an entire theory of what damages Trump politically. And the answer basically is what we call the -- the -- the strong efficient markets theory. Right? That when it comes to the stock market, there's a theory. That you cannot beat the stock market because everything is already priced in. Right? You have analysts who are all day sitting there and looking at companies and determining what their value is.

So unless there's a new piece of information, it's not going to change the stock price of any given stock. So you can't beat the market. I think that that holds true, particularly for Trump, even to the extent that new information doesn't change what you feel about Trump.

If you think Trump is despicable, you're still going to think Trump is despicable. If you think he's wonderful, you're still going to think he's wonderful.

Which suggests to me, that when he does something bad, we don't to have stand around and defend him. Like this is going to destroy his political career. The man won an election after being caught on tape, talking about -- bragging about grabbing women by the genitals. I don't think he requires your defense at this point. I think he'll be just fine. But I'm not sure that you will be just fine. Right? It's really about you. It's about what you are willing to say is good or bad. And what your friends think about you, and what people think of as a person, based on what you are willing to condemn and what you are willing to accept.

GLENN: But you can accept the policies and despise the actions in personal life.

BEN: 100 percent.

GLENN: And it's perfectly okay. But people aren't willing to embrace that. Tonight, 5 o'clock, Ben Shapiro will be joining us on TheBlaze.com/TV.

RADIO

Why Trump SHOULD Dismantle USAID

President Trump has faced major backlash from the Left and media over his plan to shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), or at least merge parts of it with the State Department. But Glenn explains why Trump SHOULD either dismantle USAID entirely or let Secretary of State Marco Rubio clean house. This isn’t a “humanitarian aid” organization, Glenn explains. USAID is a CIA front and the reason why the rest of the world hates us. It has been used to influence regime change and force nations to embrace things like transgenderism and abortion. But if Elon Musk, DOGE, Trump, and Rubio succeed in reforming it or dismantling it, the America people are in for a good surprise!

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: All right. Let me tell you about what happened this weekend with DOGE.

This is something that was tucked beneath the political squabbles, and the Grammy night celebrity nonsense.

It is a story far more important than any of our daily distractions. And it makes me, oh, so very happy.

And you'll understand why, in a minute.

This story pulls the curtain back, on who really holds the reins of power in our country. I want to connect a few dots with you, here in the next 40 minutes, or so. We will talk about USAID.
We are going to talk about Elon Musk, Donald Trump, and DOGE.

The Department of Government Efficiency. DOGE and the Trump team are battling it out with USAID. Okay? We cannot let Elon Musk see our books! We are not giving him. Really?

You run an aid program. What's so top secret that you can't let him see it?

This is about control, control over the flow of information, over government secrecy.

And, yes, control over your tax dollars.

So here's the story in a nutshell. In case you didn't know, USAID, the US agency for the International Development, had its Director of Security, Jonathan Voorhees and his deputy, Brian McGill, placed on administrative leave.

Why? Because they refused to grant access to security systems, and systems containing sensitive personnel files, security clearance information, even classified materials, to employees of DOGE.

When Voorhees and McGill said, no, you're not allowed to see any of this. That's when the DOGE team threatened to call in the US marshals. The US marshals over a bureaucratic disagreement? No. Uh-uh.

Remember, this is about something much, much bigger. It's about who controls the machinery of the government, when it comes to foreign influence.

Covert operations. And the shadow games, our government is playing overseas.

So let's start with USAID.

On paper, it sounds great. Right?

The US agency for international development. They're the folks who help develop countries, build schools. And fight diseases.

And support democracy.

First of all, I don't want to be in that business, as a government.

But if you've been paying attention, history will tell you something else.

It's well-known that USAID has been much more than an aid operation.

Since its inception in 1961 -- by the way, can you tell me anything that happened, you know, with the government and overseas, things that was good that happened in the '50s and '60s. Maybe the Peace Corps. Maybe the Peace Corps. But I doubt it.

USAID say covert CIA operation. They do covert black ops, all around the world.

And their money just comes in, and it just -- no. This is aid. Black hole.

Now, this is not a conspiracy theory. This is historic fact. In the Cold War, USAID funded cultural organizations. And student groups.

And agricultural projects. Uh-huh.

They were covers for intelligence gathering. And they have been accused of everything from influencing elections in foreign countries, to helping overthrow governments that didn't align with our interests. Do you want any country doing that?

Don't we have a big problem with other countries influencing our elections? How dare they! Uh-huh.

Black ops. Do you remember the Colour Revolutions in Europe? Yeah. Yeah.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that every employee at USAID is a covert operative. Most, I'm sure, good, decent people trying to do their jobs.

But the agency has always had a dual identity, part humanitarian, part shadow extension of US foreign policy through the CIA.

And that's really the part that I think is interesting here.

Because every nation knows, that this is a CIA front.

Except, the American people. We don't -- we don't know that apparently.

No, no. We're good. You know, it has billions of dollars, in black covert money, flowing through it.

We just -- we just don't know it. Because those with oversight. Can't see the records. President team has just been denied access.

Wait a minute. Who works for who?

This is an aid thing. What do you have that is so very top secret.

So here comes DOGE. The department of government efficiency.

Sounds pretty harmless. Yeah. Like a bunch of accountants, trying to balance the budget. That's all we're trying to do.

But those who are running black ops, know that DOGE has two agendas. And the president has made it very clear.

Yes. Cut the waste. Downsize the government.

But it also has another very specific mission. Except, this isn't a black op.

Again, this mission is right out in the open. Where all missions should be.

They -- their mission is not only to cut the budget.

But to break up the entrenched bureaucracies, that have been running Washington like their own personal fiefdoms.

Trump's goal was to drain the swamp. And DOGE is supposed to be one of the tools that is headed by Elon Musk, to drain that swamp.

Now, I personally like it for a couple of reasons. Elon Musk is one of the world's greatest minds. I mean, when he goes into his own companies, he sits with every employee for about five minutes.

And just says, what are you working on, this week.

And if they don't have something that he feels is really moving the company forward, you're not necessary.

You're fired. Okay.

He has a knack for cutting waste, and making companies more efficient and also coming up with some really good products.

He's a disrupter.

He doesn't do things like everyone else. He doesn't think like everybody else.

That's his strength. He advertise erupts industries. He challenges the norms.

And he's been a very public mission to expose and challenge what he sees as government overreach.

Whether it's with Twitter for X. Or even the critiques of regular agencies. Now, he can come in and look at these things and go, wait a minute.

This doesn't seem to be exactly, you know, what you're supposed to be doing. This is different. This isn't about posting memes and calling out the woke mind virus.

This is about accessing the very heart of the government's covert machinery.

That's what's happening with USAID because it's not about aid programs.

It's all about data. It's all about networks.

It's all about the hidden influence, that the US experts, you know, flex all around the world.

Including perhaps inside the United States, against their own people.

But we don't know. And now for the first time in decades, somebody from the outside of traditional power structures are -- are saying, huh.

What is it that you guys do here?

And guess what? The machine doesn't like it.

The people who have been running that machine, also don't like it. I want you to remember who was in charge of USAID. Does anybody remember?

Anybody. Bueller. Anybody?

Samantha Power. Now, Samantha Power. She's the wife of Harvard professor. Obama adviser.

And author of the really super important book called Nudge.

How to get people to do what you want them to do, without them knowing. Nudge.

So the wife of that guy, who I'm sure has nothing to do with nudging or dig do go anything like that.

Even though she was with the Biden -- or the Obama administration, forever! She didn't know anything about that.

GLENN: This is why John Voorhees and Brian McGill push back.

That's why they're risking their careers to say, no. You can't come in here. Because they weren't just protecting the files!

They were protecting the status quo. They're protecting a system that has operated in the shadows for decades, with that to no accountability to the American people!

And here's where it gets even more fascinating. The employees at USAID and across the federal bureaucracy, aren't just fighting to protect sensitive information.

They are fighting to protect their power. He's getting in to the roots now.

He's opening up to -- you know how Donald Trump is kind of like a -- a human hand grenade. I've said this to his face. You know, I think you're kind of like a human hand grenade.

What do you mean? Well, you're the greatest human hand grenade I've ever seen, don't get me wrong. You just kind of throw yourself into things, and then a wall comes down.

And then as the dust is settling, everybody goes, wait a minute.

What's on the other side of that wall? That's what's happening.

Except, this time they're not just lobbing grenades in. They know where it is.

Over the years, we've created this massive administrative state. Which is a fourth branch of government that nobody votes for. Wholly unconstitutional.

No one really controls it. You noticed that the people on Capitol hill, they're afraid of the intelligence agencies.

Hmm. So who is really boss then?

They operate with a level of secrecy, that would make our Founding Fathers roll in their graves.

This many of us state has been the gatekeeper of information.

Deciding who gets to know what.

Both here, at home.

And abroad.

Does the president even know?

So when Trump and Musk come knocking, knocking, knocking, at the door.

Trying to peak behind the curtain. The reaction is swift and fierce.

Because if they succeed, they'll manage to pull USAID's operations. And put it right under direct control of the State Department. Or even worse, in the public eye! They'll be held accountable for things!

We can't have that. It will expose decades of covert actions.

Questionable alliances.

The dark side of US foreign policy.

That has been hidden under the guise of aid.

It's why the rest of the world hates us.

Think about some of the crazy things we've done in the name of foreign aid.

We funneled money to warlords in Afghanistan.

We gave money to the Taliban.

Money to Gaza to prop up Hamas.

We've run guns to the Syrian groups ISIS, propped up dictators in Latin America. Even funded opposition groups in countries, where we wanted regime change all under the banner of freedom and democracy.

Again, this is why everybody hates the American government.

Her people see our influence as good and benevolent.

And sometimes, I think we are.

Other times, America is anything but!

So in exchange for our tax dollars, we've asked countries to change their laws. To accept abortion, in places where the people are morally outraged. We promote transgenderism in their schools.

We -- we tell them, that this is the enlightened way to go.

Otherwise, they lose their aid.

We force them to open their markets to multi-national corporations that sometimes don't have their best interests at heart. And we conduct military operations on their soil. You will do it our way. And yet, you don't know anything about it.

Most Americans don't have any idea. Because it's all wrapped up in the nice shiny package of humanitarian assistance.

So here's what happens if DOGE succeeds.

What happens if Musk and Trump manage to pry open the lid to this operation?

Well, for once, the bureaucrats lose control of one of their many hiding places.

Intelligence community loses one of its more useful tools.

And the American people might finally get to see just how much of their hard-earned money has been used, not to build schools or feed the hungry, but to manipulate foreign government and maintain our empire of influence. And here's the kicker.

This isn't about just the past. It is about the future. Because if Musk and Trump can break through this wall, it sets a precedent. It says no part of the government is beyond scrutiny of our elected officials.

And that tariffs people who have been running the show.

So what do we take away?

One, pay attention.

Stories like these are not bureaucratic squabbles.

This is the battlefront.

This is the battle line, right there, that will decide who actually runs the country.

We will see more on this, and the intelligence agencies are not going to like it.

So one thing I would take away from this is don't take any news story at face value, for a while.

There are many hiding places. And those who receive and use dark money for black ops are going to fight back.

Second, ask questions.

Continue to ask questions.

Why does USAID have classified systems that other government officials can't access?

Why is there so much resistance in an aid organization to transparency.

And third, remember the people that are screaming the loudest about protecting democracy are often the ones most afraid of the people actually seeing how the sausage gets made. So this isn't about USAID, DOGE, or even Trump or Musk.

It's about whether you have the right to know what our government is doing with your money.

Stay curious, America.

We will get to the bottom of this. But we have to be willing to go through the tough times, remain determined, and vigilant.

RADIO

Adam Schiff Spews INSANE HYPOCRISY in Kash Patel Confirmation Hearing

Trump's pick for FBI Director, Kash Patel, recently sat down for his Senate confirmation hearing. And like many of Trump's picks, he faced a hostile room. But Glenn reviews some of the highlights, including how Kash said that "having been the victim of government overreach and a weaponized system of justice and law enforcement" makes him uniquely qualified for the job. Glenn and Stu also address Kash's comments on Trump's January 6th pardons and Sen. Adam Schiff's painful lecture about the word "we." Plus, Glenn reveals the "point I coldn't get past with any" of the Democrats from the hearing: "I can't take it! The Democrats don't understand what just happened!"

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: I only have really one thing to say today.

And that's because I threw out everything else, because it took me about two hours, to just gather my thoughts and jot them down.

Because I wanted to be searingly accurate.

STU: Hmm.

GLENN: So the rest of the show, we're just going to kind of wing. Because I wanted to make sure, when I give you my opinion on what's happening, it's actually very clear. What I believe.

So that's coming up in just a little while. The rest of this show. We have today -- yesterday, last night, for Blaze TV subscribers, one of my favorite podcasts, because this is something I've been interested in as a kid.

The shroud of Turin. We had the exact linen copy of the shroud of Turin, in the studio. Plus, one of the leading experts on it.

And if you don't know what the shroud of Turin is. First of all, it's -- it's not a Catholic artifact. That's what people have said in the past.

But now evangelicals and everybody else have started to say, wait a minute. Wait a minute. Wait a minute.

There is some new information on this.

This thing is the shroud of Christ, they believe. New data has been released, with something that is better than carbon dating. I can't remember what it's called. But it's better than carbon dating. And it looks at the fabric.

Dates it. It's 2,000 years old.

And what's more. There are spores and pollen. Et cetera, et cetera.

On and in the fabric.

That only are found in Jerusalem, in and around April, in the spring.

I mean, that's a pretty elaborate fraud! Plus, all of the bloodstains. The things that science has found about this, I think this is the shroud of Christ.

And you have to make up your own mind. But we're going to talk about that, later. And play some pieces of it. We have Jeremiah Johnston on, to talk about it on hour number three today.

You don't want to miss this.

People who say, it can't be done, it's not the shroud of Jesus. It's the greatest shroud of Jesus you've ever seen. I can't believe it. So, anyway, that's coming up.

So let's start with some -- hmm. Beautiful people in the Senate, shall we?

Let's start with Kash Patel first. Here's Kash Patel, testifying in front of Congress yesterday. Cut one.

VOICE: Senator, it may be one of the scenarios that most uniquely qualifies me to take command at the FBI.

Having been the victim of government overreach, and a weaponized system of justice. And law enforcement.

I know what it feels like to have the full weight of the United States government barreling down on you. And as the Biden inspector general determined, those activities at the FBI and DOJ are wholly improper, and not predicated on law and facts.

I will ensure if confirmed that no American subjected to that kind of torment, to that kind of cost, financially and personally. And most importantly, I will make sure that no American is subjected to death threats, like I was.

And subjected to moving their residents like I was.

Because of government overreach. Because of leaks of information about my personal status.

If confirmed as FBI director, Mr. Chairman, you have my commitment, that no one in this country will feel that pain.

GLENN: Wow!

Why is he on such a rant here? He's going to weaponize the government. Is this just all about payback? Oh, my gosh!

Did you hear what he just said he went through!

Yeah, it's not about payback. It's about justice.

Making sure that anyone that was involved in that kind of activity, with anyone, no longer works for the United States government.

And if they broke any laws, they go to jail. I don't know about you! I kind of -- I kind of like the idea of jail for some people.

You know what I mean?

Not everybody. But the guilty?

No matter if they're the poorest person in the world. Or it's George Soros.

I don't really care. You break the law. You go to jail. But he's on your side.

I don't care.

Go to jail.

That's what he's trying to restore. Now, let's go to cut two. He was called out on the January 6th pardons by Senator Durbin. Here it is.

VOICE: Was President Donald Trump wrong to give blanket clemency to the January 6th defendants?

VOICE: Thank you, Ranking Member. A couple of things on that. One, the power of the presidential pardon is just that. The president.

VOICE: Well, I can see he has the authority. I'm asking, was he wrong to do it for him?

VOICE: And as we discussed in our private meeting, Senator, I have always rejected any violence against any law enforcement. And I have including in that group, specifically addressed any violence against law enforcement on January 6th.

And I do not agree with the commutation of any sentence of any individual who committed violence against law enforcement.

VOICE: So do you think America is safer because these 1600 people have been give up an opportunity of coming out and serving their sentences and living in our communities again.

VOICE: Senator, I have not looked at all 1600 individual cases. I have always advocated for imprisoning those that cause harm to our law enforcement and civilian communities.

I also believe that America is not safer, because President Biden's commutation of a man who murdered two FBI agents, Agent Coler's and Williams' family deserve better than to have the man that at point-blank range, fired a shotgun into their heads and murdered them, released from prison. So it goes both ways.

GLENN: Okay. All right. I think you're pretty clear.

STU: I like that answer.

GLENN: I love that answer.

STU: So what do you take -- part of the -- trying to stir things up on the left.

Saying, he took a different position than Trump on that.

GLENN: Oh, my gosh.

You mean people are the different, they're not zombies.

STU: That's true. Though not common.

GLENN: The presidents. Presidential pardons are just that.

His pardons.

I'm not for releasing people who have ever, you know, harmed cops. I'm not for that. I don't think the president is for that.

STU: Well, he -- he did commute sentences of people who were the violent offenders in there.

GLENN: I would like to look at each individual case.

STU: But he did all of them.

So we don't to have look at each individual case.

GLENN: Well, here's my feeling on this.

STU: Uh-huh.

GLENN: I've already expressed this over and over again.

You cannot say that the system was corrupt for some and then just allow that corrupt system to sentence and put people away that might have been guilty. You can't do that! We never do that. If there was a corrupt prosecution, and a corrupt judge, or whatever.

And it's found out.

It's not only that person that is parted. And you throw the case out. And you can't try it again.

Sorry, it was corrupt. Then you're supposed to go on and see, when did this happen?

Did this team see anything else?

And if you look and see this as a pattern, you have to throw it all out.

It's not the president's fault. It is the prosecution's fault. It is the DOJ's fault.

STU: I think that's a defensible point.

He hasn't explicitly said this. Donald Trump's point, why he did all 1600. That's not Kash Patel's point. Kash Patel is saying, I can't agree with any of those commutations.

GLENN: He didn't say that. He said, I don't agree with --

STU: Any commutation of anyone.

GLENN: But that's a blanking statement. I don't really care anyway.

STU: I'm just curious. Because I think they're too slightly different points.

I would say, they're kind of representative of our two points here.

My point is more consistent with Kash Patel, I think on this. And yours is maybe more consistent with Trump. I don't think it's a big deal if they disagree, as you point out.

GLENN: No.

STU: It's interesting what the left was trying to do with that though.

They're trying to get that little wedge of separation.

They're trying to say, hey, to know, this guy doesn't agree with you.

Look, he doesn't need. Because the whole -- it's funny, they want to separate them. And say, hey, they don't agree.

At some point of time, of trying to make the point, the only reason he has this job, that he's a loyalist that is an automatron robot. Which is like, you don't get both of those things.

They'll try. You can't have both of them.

GLENN: They'll try. Yeah. Touchdown, either direction. You know? Which I think you would be for with the Eagles, so please don't get on your high horse.

Okay. So the thing that drives me nuts is -- and this is the point I couldn't get past with anyone of them.

Excuse me, Durbin. Hang on just a second. Wait. Wait. Wait.

You're worried about the safety of the American people, because people who, in your words, not mine. Rioted and tried to burn the republic down, you're worried about them. But all of the riots from BLM. Burning Minneapolis almost to the ground.

You didn't have a problem with that one? I can't take it. I can't take it.

And I don't think the American people -- I just -- they don't get -- the Durbins of the world. And the Democrats. Don't understand what just happened. America changed on Election Day. This isn't just, you know what, we're going to -- we're going to switch and go with another party.

That's not what happened!

People didn't vote for the Republicans. They voted for Donald Trump's agenda.

They voted for massive change. And they're playing the same game.

And I'm sorry, but it's not going to work, dude. It's just not going to work. And it will come and bite them in the ass like nobody's business.

Look, whenever you try to con people, it's going to come out. It's going to come out.

All of their illegalities. Everything that they tried to do, is any of that really hidden anymore?

Do you really think that Donald Trump's going to let these secrets lay secret?

Let's go to cut three.

VOICE: Trump recite the Pledge of Allegiance. Then we went to a studio and recorded it. Mastered it. And digitized it. And put it out as a song released exclusively on the war room.

We, we, we.

If you had nothing to do with it, Mr. Patel. Why did you tell Mr. Bannon and all his listeners, that you did.

VOICE: That's why it says, we, when it's highlighted.

VOICE: Yeah. And you're part of the we. When you say we, that includes you, Mr. Patel.

VOICE: Not every instance.

VOICE: Well, that's new!

So when you said we.

GLENN: Stop. Stop. Is it? Is it?

Maybe I identify as we!

Really? You mean these words have meaning?
Good God Almighty!

This is Adam Schiff, talking to Kash Patel about January 6th! Like he has any credibility at all.

STU: None. Zero.

It's the royal we, is it not, Glenn? The royal we.

GLENN: Well, it's whatever Kash Patel decides it is, quite honestly.

STU: That's right! You're not allowed to ask.

GLENN: That's new.

So when you said we, you didn't really mean you, is that your testimony?

VOICE: Not unless you have a new definition for the word we.

VOICE: Oh, okay. I always thought we included the person that announced the word.

GLENN: Stop! I always thought them/them refers to a group. But it doesn't.

STU: So true. I cannot even read news stories anymore. They say they, and I'm like, who are they talking about?

And they're talking about one person who says they're they. Like, that is not --

GLENN: Right. I wish Kash would have -- I mean, he's too -- he's too cool to do this.

He's too smart to do this, but I would have unleashed on Schiff.

Really? Because I thought, I'm sorry. They told me. Who is they?

Well, that's how I refer to myself. And I was talking to myself. You have a problem with them/they, sir.

STU: So true.

GLENN: You have a problem with we? I call myself we. What's the problem with that?

Now, it's not a logical answer.

But it's certainly worth shoving right down his throat.

STU: We come up with words. As a society. To describe things.

Right?

GLENN: Yes! You've done everything you can, to destroy the meaning of almost every word!

That's what's so -- we always talk about. Oh, well, it's not scientific.

It's not reality.

All that is true. But you're destroying the way we communicate with each other.

GLENN: When you say we, what do you mean by we?

STU: I mean they. Thank you.

GLENN: All right.

STU: But it's true. You destroy that. And you have nothing. You have nothing.

How can you listen to a show? You can't listen to a show. Because you can't understand what people are saying.

When you go to a court of law. This is what they try to do in court cases all the time.

That's not what the founders meant there.

That's what they always do. They're manipulating the language. You said this 100 times. Control the language. Control the argument. If you do control the language, you control that argument.

And we're starting to stop that.

GLENN: Yes. Yes.

So sorry, Adam Schiff. We don't like it.

Me don't like it, either.

IHEART FEED

Will Trump's Cabinet Expose the Obama CIA’s BIGGEST Secrets?

During her Senate confirmation hearing to become Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard mentioned an Obama-era CIA program called “Timber Sycamore.” The program gave weapons and training to Al Qaeda affiliated groups with the goal of toppling the Assad regime in Syria. But the American people and many soldiers fighting in the Middle East were kept in the dark. What other secrets are government bureaucrats still hiding from us? Is the CIA connected at all to the Benghazi tragedy? And would Tulsi Gabbard reveal the truth as DNI? Glenn and Stu discuss.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: FBI agents are starting to pack up their desks. As fear of FBI mass firings swirl. That's -- that's sad.

And good. I'm glad.

Benjamin Netanyahu just arrived in DC. He said that he's meeting with Trump. And they hope to redraw the lines in the Middle East.

That's an interesting thing. I think Donald Trump is absolutely headed that way. The USAID headquarters have been closed.

Thank you, Donald Trump, for that. And there was something else.

Oh. And Mexico just came out.

The Mexican president just talked to Donald Trump.

And that 25 percent tariff?

Well, that's on hold.

She said, I talked to Donald Trump, we had and a great conversation.

And he put that on hold.

And I'm sending 10,000 troops to the US/Mexico border right now.

So I've got that under -- and Justin Trudeau. God bless his soul.

He's going to talk at 3 o'clock this afternoon. Yeah. Who is a good Prime Minister?

What a joke. Now, let me tell you about -- I just told you about USAID. And how that is a CIA front.

And Donald Trump is going to do two things with DOGE. He's going to cut all the bad guys. Try to find them.

He may not find all of them. But he will find a lot of them

Oh, did I mention that the FBI people are clearing out their desks.

Getting ready for a firing.

Anyway, he will clean out a lot of the mess, and a lot of the black ops that are happening.

And he will also cut the budget.

So he has that going for him. Now, the left and the Deep State. They're a little freaked out.

If they could have shredders at their disposal, 24 hours a day. I don't think there would be a lick of paper left, in I forget these agencies.

Consider some of the questions that have been swept under the rug. All the way back to Obama.

Let's see. Consider the American lives that are lost, overseas.

Consider the foreign lives lost. Consider the regimes that have changed.

And the chaos that is spread all over the world, in our names, with our tax dollars.

Now, consider what Donald Trump's team has pledged to break and uncover.

So if you listen to some of the confirmation hearings in the Senate, you might hear a little sneak peak at what's to come.

Tulsi Gabbard over on Friday, revealed for many Americans, they don't know about it. It's a clandestine, Obama program, that sought regime change in the Middle East.

And unloaded over a decade of violence and chaos.

Listen to this.

VOICE: Senator, as someone who enlisted in the military, specifically because of al-Qaeda's terrorist attack on 9/11 and committing myself and my life to doing what I could to defeat these terrorists. It was shocking. And a betrayal to me. And every person who was killed on 9/11. Their families. And my brothers and sisters in uniform.

When as a member of Congress, I learned about President Obama's dual programs that he had begun. Really, to overthrow the regime of Syria.

And being willing to -- through the CIA's timber sick more program, that has now been made public. Of working with and arming and equipping al-Qaeda, in an effort to overthrow that regime, starting yet another regime change war in the Middle East. DOD train and equip program, again, begun under President Obama, has widely been known, looked at, and studied that ultimately resulted in half a billion dollars being used to train who they called "moderate rebels," but were actually fighters working with and aligned with al-Qaeda's affiliate on the ground in Syria.

GLENN: Hmm. That's weird.

Most Americans have never heard about Obama's Timber Sycamore. It's possibly the largest gun running and training operation our little spy agencies have ever pulled off.

How many people died in Syria, as a result of this? How many people died all over the Middle East?

How many terrorists received weapons and training from our government?

Al-Qaeda?

We know that many of those same terrorists now control the government of Syria, right now.

And the horror show is not over yet.

Why haven't we heard about this?

Why does every school kid know about Reagan and Iran-Contra, but not Obama and Timber Sycamore?

It is because it not only reveals terrorists receiving our training and weapons, that we supplied. But it also reveals American lives that have been lost.

We still don't know the full details on what happened in Benghazi.

Why is that?

Why is it that Hillary Clinton and Obama made sure of that?

That wasn't part of some gun-running operation to Syria, was it?

Is this part of the peace of the fallout from Obama's Timber Sycamore?

Why was the US ambassador even in Benghazi? Why was there a State Department annexed in such a dangerous place? And why was it so unguarded?

Why was there a secret CIA substation there? Why was it kept so low-key?

Why didn't the military respond? Why were they so quiet and ineffective? Were they trying to keep Obama and Clinton's little secret hidden?

And all at the cost of four American lives. Say their names. They like to say that. Say their names.

Ambassador Christopher Stevens. Sean Smith. Tyrone Woods. Glen Doherty.

They still deserve justice. We deserve answers. I just want you to know, what's happening in Washington, DC, right now, is because cutting the budget.

But it has a dual purpose. In everything they're doing. They're cutting the heart out of these secret ops. They are exposing what our government is doing. By moving USAID over to the State Department. USAID can't that have.

I mean, I don't think of the State Department as someplace that's clean and has a good agenda.

But apparently, that's being cleaned up as well.

What is it we are going to learn, over the next few months?

What is it we're going to see exposed?

It's quite amazing. It is quite amazing.

By the way, Sunday, yesterday, Musk wrote, that career Treasury officials are breaking the law every hour of every day by approving payments that are fraudulent or do not match the funding laws passed by Congress.

Oh, boy. What's this? Apparently, the Treasury Secretary, the new one, has allowed the department of government efficiency to gain access to the federal government's payment system.

Okay. Wait a minute. So USAID won't allow the DOGE officials any access to their aid programs? But the Treasury is like, yeah. Open up the books!

They discovered, among other things, that payment approval officers, at Treasury were structured to always approve payments, even to known fraudulent or terrorist groups!

They literally have never denied a payment in their entire career.

Not once!

So why do you have them.

And why would they be told that? My gosh, this house of cards is going to come crashing down.

They are in -- they're going to have serious issues.

RADIO

Trump's Tariffs EXPLAINED: Will Canada Cave Like Mexico?

Did Donald Trump start a trade war with Mexico and Canada, or is it all part of his negotiation strategy? Mexico has already agreed to help improve border security. But Canada has pushed back against Trump’s promise to slap 25% tariffs on many Canadian goods. Glenn explains what Justin Trudeau doesn’t seem to understand: This isn’t about “punishing” Canada. It’s about national security and getting the best deal for Americans.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: All right. Welcome to the program. Donald Trump just got off the phone with Justin Trudeau.

Apparently, they're going to talk again at 3:00 this afternoon.

But he's not -- he's not going -- he's not going light on Justin, which I'm very happy about. Canada, immure -- I'm sorry. When we're there too.
-- I don't want to feel like we're pointing out Canada going, you guys suck! We sucked too. We just woke up and changed leadership.

And we're -- we are going in a different direction. Because we've learned the same things you know. Okay? You know it!

This can't continue this way. Right?

STU: Yeah. The one. I have several issues with some of these policies.

One that I do, is really -- a little bothersome to me. Trudeau is so unpopular, in Canada. So on the way out.

Now there's this nationalist Canadian thing going on. Where they're --

GLENN: Wait a minute. Trudeau is becoming a nationalist?

STU: It's hilarious. He's now getting the benefits of the support, of people who are just rallying around him mindlessly.

Whether the policy is right or not. I just don't like good things happening to Justin Trudeau.

I don't know if that's part --

GLENN: That was an unforeseen consequence.

STU: We will see, obviously, with where this lands, much more important than not.

GLENN: Here's the thing. We have a president that is not actually trying to destroy us.

STU: Yeah. That's true.

Whether you like this policy or not, when it comes to tariffs. You know that the motivation behind it is to make the country better. And I don't know if it's always the motivation behind these policies, when we've seen previous presidents go after them.

Obviously, a lot of Democrats have gone after similar policies. I think a lot of times, their motivations have been much, much worse.

So at least we've got good motivations behind this.

I mean, I think Trump is looking at this and saying, he thinks this will work long-term. I think most clearly, you pointed this out, Glenn, with Panama. With Colombia. Most clearly, he believes they're going to back down from this eventually.

And give us concessions. And I think that's probably the most likely outcome.

GLENN: That seems to be what's happening with Panama.

STU: Yeah, definitely happened with Colombia.

It does seem to be, we are the big boys on the block. And Donald Trump is not only familiar with that fact, but also comfortable with it, unlike other presidents. He's comfortable with us being the big boys on the block.

He's comfortable with us being the world power. That's okay in his eyes. It's okay in my eyes. It's okay in your eyes.

GLENN: As long as you don't become a big bully. I mean, listen to what Justin Trudeau said.

Let's go to cut three, please.

VOICE: Now is also the time to choose Canada. There are many ways for you to do your part. It might mean checking the labels at the supermarket. And picking Canadian-made products. It might mean opting for Canadian rye over Kentucky bourbon, or foregoing Florida orange juice altogether. It might be changing your vacation plans to stay here in Canada and explore the many national and provincial parks, historical sites, these tourist destinations our great country has to offer.

STU: Useless job, yeah.

GLENN: I know he is. I know he is.

STU: He's using this to turn around his own political fortunes. Which is infuriating. He doesn't care about any of this other stuff. He's motivated by his own political interest here.

GLENN: Here's cut six.

VOICE: I think Canadians are a little perplexed as to why our closest friends and neighbors are choosing to target us, instead of so many other challenging parts of the world.

I don't think there's a lot of Americans who wake up in the morning saying, oh. Damn Canada! Oh, we should really go after Canada.

GLENN: You're right!

Why were you targeting us? Why -- why was your -- your number two in command that just quit, why was she targeting people here for, you know, giving to a freedom movement in Canada?

I mean, it's not like you've been our best friend, Justin.

STU: No, he's been horrible.

GLENN: Terrible. But Canadians are great. I love Canadians, and I love Canada. And Canada should love Canada.

STU: Sure.

GLENN: And you should be concerned about what the state of your country is in.

You know, look at your immigration problems. Look at what's happening to your country.

That's what started all of this.

Is the fentanyl coming across our borders. Both north and south.

And the illegals. Stop it. Stop it.

And the great way to stop it is to make sure you stop it at your borders.

From them coming into your country!

That's -- that's really what this is about.

STU: Right. And that's what's clear here.

You know, Trump always says tariffs are his favorite word.

You've talked to him privately about that.

GLENN: I disagree with him on that happen.

STU: A way, I don't think that's exactly what he means.

Tariffs are good, to the extent that they get something else done. Right?

They're not good in and of themselves.

They're just taxes in and of themselves.

They do raise prices on us. The calculation however is, will the pain, that is applied to both sides as Trump has outwardly stated. And it's important to be fair to him.

A lot of people are saying, he's not saying this.

He's saying, there will be pain.

Those are his word. There will be pain on us.

The calculation is, the pain on us, will be the pain less on them.

And they will give first. And then he will get what he wants, outside of the tariffs.

That's the calculation here.

I mean, it is a risky one at times. And, you know, these -- you can call it a trade war or not.

But the bottom line is, when we escalate them, then they escalate. It's -- you could say it's not a trade war. But it kind of is.

I mean, it's a trade competition, if you feel more comfortable with those terms.

But the bottom line is, we believe we're going to win it. That's what he's saying!

And he believes we will win it. And at the end of the day, we get concessions that improve the country. The proof is going to be in the pudding on that.

Will it work? As you pointed out, it has worked kind of with Panama, so far, it seems like.

It's worked kind of with Columbia. It's going to work with some of these countries, it will be more difficult with a country like China.

I think what we saw in his first term.

Was a renegotiation of NAFTA, which basically became the US embassy. Right?

GLENN: Which he still doesn't like. It was the best he could do.

STU: It was the best he could do at the time.

He's I guess not happy with it now.

Because, you know, you're not allowed to put new tariffs either one of these countries in that agreement, which he negotiated. But he wants something better. I mean, how can we be upset with a president who wants something better for the country?

It -- it's just a question as to whether it works or not. The guy -- the Dallas Mavericks traded Luka Doncic this weekend.

The DM came out and said, you'll have to judge me as to how it turns out. We will!

Right? Congratulations, we will!

GLENN: In fact, we kind of already have.

STU: Well, that one, we already have.

That's probably a bad example.

That's exactly what will happen. If this works, and you get something out of it.

People will probably be okay with it, even if it is short-term pain.

Generally speaking, though, the American people only have so much tolerance for that.

And Donald Trump has a finally tuned eye for that type of thing. And I'm sure he will walk that line carefully.

GLENN: He does. Oh, yes, he is.

Yes, he is. And like I said, he's not trying to destroy America. He's trying to save America. And I know that's a new concept, to the American people.

STU: Yeah.

GLENN: I'm sure it's new to Americans as well. Cut one.

Here's Donald Trump talking about tariffs on Europe.

DONALD: Well, you're asking me a question.

There's a period in here, am I going to oppose tariffs by the European Union? You want the truthful answer, or should I give you a political answer? Absolutely.

STU: He wants stuff, and this is how he gets stuff.

GLENN: Yeah. But what does he want?

STU: I mean, various things from various countries, right?

GLENN: Yeah. He wants. The big things, he wants an end to the World War II order.

Where we are protecting Mercedes Benz. Allowing Mercedes to come in here, and have all kinds of access to our market. And Ford can't.

We don't have that!

We don't have that in Germany.

Why? Because we wanted to make sure the German countries could recover. And all the car companies could recover.

You know, the world is just not a good place without all that citron.

So that's what that is all for.

That's why we did that. And it never changed.

And it's got to change. It's over.

It's got to change. The other thing that absolutely has to change. They have to pay their 5 percent. Into NATO.

You've got to pay it.

STU: That's -- everyone is in this agreement.

GLENN: Yeah.

STU: It exists with the terms of the agreement.

GLENN: Uh-huh.

STU: In place. Follow them.

That's not a difficult thing. We're doing a lot more than everyone else, anyway.

Even if we all pay 5 percent, we're the ones footing the bill. We're the ones basically running that organization.

The least you can do is get to whatever that percentage is.

GLENN: Yeah. And that's fine if you don't.

If you don't want to do that, that's fine.

Then the agreement doesn't exist, and we're not going to protect you all the time.

You know, Winston Churchill. He had to beg the United States to come in because the Americans don't want to be involved in everybody else's business. We don't!

Our government, our state department seems to want to.

The military industrial complex wants to. But the American people don't!

So we're totally fine with that, Europe.

We don't think that's a good idea for you. But, you know, in time, you will learn to defend yourself. And then you will probably get pissed off at the French and start bombing them.

And then we'll be in it all over again. Again, we don't recommend it.

But go ahead. We're not protecting.

What do you think Justin Trudeau will say, if we said, oh, well, you don't want to protect your borders.

Okay. All right.

You want a trade war. Okay.

Well, I think we're done helping your military.

I mean, that's -- we win at the end. Hopefully, we'll never get to that. We win at the end.

STU: They have to know that.

GLENN: Yes, they do. They do.

STU: They have to know that.

I'm not surprised they're retaliating, with the 25 percent tariffs of their own.

Obviously, there are a lot -- we do send a lot of products to Canada as well.

We are the second largest exporter in the world.

GLENN: But --

STU: So we do send products to a lot of these countries. And it will burn those companies. And it will hurt at times.

If these things even get into place. We're not even in place yet.

Would it be surprising at all, if there was a most of negotiating. No.

GLENN: Let me ask you. He was just on the phone with Justin Trudeau just a few minutes ago.

Hung up the phone. What's he doing at 3:00 this afternoon?

Getting back on the gonna Justin Trudeau. This is a negotiation.

GLENN: Yes. Exactly. You can't get too worked about it. Because you don't know where the story ends.

GLENN: We have no idea. We're not the ones negotiating.

Here's what we do know, our negotiator is trying to get the best deal for us.

And he's a businessman. He understands it. Unlike attorneys who run the rest of the world.

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