Trump Toasts Xi at Epic State Dinner Amid Looming Tensions Over Iran, Taiwan

Summary

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The Morning Meeting

Podcast: The Morning Meeting
Host: Mark Halperin with regulars Larry and Kevin
Episode: Trump Toasts Xi at Epic State Dinner Amid Looming Tensions Over Iran, Taiwan
Date: May 14, 2026

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Episode Overview

On this lively episode of The Morning Meeting, Mark Halperin is joined by his co-hosts Larry and Kevin for a forward-looking analysis of the day’s big stories in U.S. and global politics. The central focus is President Trump’s high-profile state visit to Beijing, culminating in a lavish state dinner with President Xi Jinping, set against the backdrop of critical U.S.-China tensions over Taiwan and Iran. The hosts dissect the optics, substance, and media coverage of the summit, scrutinize the evolving U.S.-China dynamic, and cover breaking international developments, domestic political maneuvers, and the 2026 electoral landscape. Throughout, the show maintains an engaging, conversational, and often humorous tone, embracing diverse viewpoints and audience participation.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Setting the Tone: “All Voices Under One Roof”

• Mark opens the episode with banter about high school mascots, quickly pivoting to describe the show’s unique promise: “This is not a platform only for moderate centrists and independents. Although we welcome them here. It’s a platform for everybody.” (02:20)
• Larry notes, “In most of those [network] morning meetings, someone who thinks like me with my political positions are not welcome to speak out.” (01:45)

The Trump-Xi State Dinner: Substance vs. Spectacle

[03:03–05:44]

• The primary news: a “big banquet” in Beijing with “an extraordinarily mouth-watering menu” (03:03).
  • Trump’s state dinner comments included, “There are more Chinese restaurants than the five top fast food chains combined.” Fact-checked live by the hosts (03:40).
• Both U.S. and Chinese “readouts” from the summit:
  • Chinese side: Taiwan is “the most important issue” (03:52).
  • U.S. side: Both parties “agree Iran shouldn’t have nukes and the strait should open,” but Mark says, “It’s as valuable as the writing on 10 fortune cookies. Doesn’t mean a damn thing as far as I’m concerned.” (04:00)
• Visual optics: Trump removed a booster pillow at the banquet, resulting in “Billy Barty” optics next to Xi—a point of comic critique.
  • Mark: “If I’m Donald Trump…and I’m looking at a highlight video of the summit, this looks ridiculous. He looks like he’s at the kids table.” (17:24–18:14)

Breaking: Tensions in the Strait & Iran

[04:00–05:44; 25:45–28:23; 29:16–31:42]

• Major incidents today:
  • A British ship boarded by Iranian pirates and a Japanese ship passing through the Strait of Hormuz—major international stories not widely reported on TV news (04:00).
• Iran-China dynamic:
  • Mark: “The Chinese are doing things like using the algorithms on TikTok to sow discord in the United States. They just need to let us beat each other senseless.” (18:48)
  • Larry: “China’s our enemy. China’s our enemy.” (20:09)
  • Kevin: “The president works through flattery…But flattery is not going to get you anywhere. He’s a cold blooded killer. Human rights violation on a massive scale.” (21:04)

Economic & Tech Notes: AI, Crypto, Markets

[09:48–11:49]

• Record spending from the crypto and AI industries in DC:
  • Kevin: “A fourth or so of registered lobbies in Washington now work on AI-specific issues.” (09:48)
  • Mark: “If you’re a lobbyist and you don’t have a contract with AI you need to have a board meeting and figure out what’s wrong with you.” (11:13)
• Markets:
  • Dow set to cross 50,000, Nvidia at $5.5 trillion, gas at $4.53 (12:42)

Domestic Politics: Vance, Rubio, Collins, and 2026

[05:44–08:34; 31:58–36:38; 37:57–40:13]

• Vice President Vance on a political trip to Maine; speculation over Senator Susan Collins’s absence (06:50)
• Congressional races and redistricting discussed:
  • “Democrats have to either run the table on the toss up races…or they have to put more seats in play where the state districts where Trump won by seven or more.” (32:23)
  • Larry: “The terrain has gotten so much better [for Republicans].” (33:07)
• Democratic candidate pipeline problem:
  • Kevin: “There is no endorsement that really carries any kind of weight with Democrats, especially, you know, an endorsement from Washington. Chuck Schumer can’t move the ball.” (34:30)
• The shifting “MAGAness” of Marco Rubio:
  • Mark: “Is Marco Rubio MAGA?” (37:57)
  • Larry: “If you support the Trump agenda, you’re MAGA.” (38:13)
  • Kevin: “MAGA is whatever Donald Trump says it is from day to day…But I think he’s full on MAGA but still has a foothold in the traditional Republican camp as well.” (38:40)

U.S.-China Readout & The “Results-Oriented President”

[15:23–24:57]

• Summit readouts highlight high-level, non-substantive agreements:
  • Mark: “This is a pablum of all. Pablum means nothing.” (16:53)
• Recurring theme: Trump’s affinity for personal flattery of adversaries.
  • Mark: “He’s saying what a great guy Xi is. At the same time, his own intelligence community is telling us Xi…doesn’t want to end the war in Iran. He’s loving this.” (20:00)
  • Larry: “[Trump] wants to get results. If that means saying I have a good relationship with this guy and that brings the results for the American people, he will do that.” (22:18)

Will China Open the Strait?

[25:45–28:23]

• Mark challenges spin: “If China wanted the strait open, they’d stop arming the Iranians and they’d say, cut the crap and open the strait.” (26:47)
• Larry: “What [the secretary] said was China benefits most from it being open…They may decide, yeah, we benefit from it, but we’re willing to let this play out a little further, longer without getting involved.” (27:50)

Ukraine & Russia

[29:16–31:18]

• Russian drone strikes on Kyiv, questions if Putin is losing or stalling for a deal.
  • Kevin: “I really don’t know if this is the last moves of a fanatical actor here or is this just a continued stalemate…” (29:54)

Listener Q&A — Israel, Democrats, and the Culture Wars

[47:41–53:31]

• Maddie (caller): Concerned about “Zionist derangement syndrome” in the Democratic party, rise of antisemitism, and party identity.
• Kevin: “That’s why I am so proud to be a Democrat, a JFK Democrat, still a Democrat, obviously, and a proud Zionist, too.” (49:04)
• Larry: “Demographically the Democrats…have made the demographic decision and political calculation that supporting Israel is no longer a political path forward for them.” (51:05)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On Trump’s Diplomacy:

“He’s saying what a great guy Xi is. At the same time, his own intelligence community is telling us…she doesn’t want to end the war in Iran. She’s loving this.”
— Mark (20:00)

On Leadership Style:

“This is a results-oriented president and a results-oriented administration. He wants to get results. If that means saying I have a good relationship with this guy and that brings the results for the American people, he will do that.”
— Larry (22:18)

On MAGA:

“MAGA is whatever Donald Trump says it is from day to day...but it really is in line with what the president says and does week to week.”
— Kevin (38:40)

On Political Climate:

“The terrain has gotten so much better [for Republicans].”
— Larry (33:07)

On Optics:

“He looks like he’s at the kids table.”
— Mark, on Trump’s state dinner chair (18:05)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 03:03 – Trump’s Beijing state dinner, Chinese food, summit coverage
• 03:52 – Chinese readout: Taiwan as top issue
• 04:00–05:44 – Tensions in the Strait, media coverage gap
• 09:48–11:49 – Crypto, AI, and lobbying power in DC
• 15:23–24:57 – Summit analysis, Trump-Xi relationship, intelligence leaks
• 25:45–28:23 – Will China open the Strait of Hormuz?
• 29:16–31:42 – Ukraine/Russia update and stakes
• 31:58–36:38 – Redistricting, swing districts, and Democrats’ candidate challenges
• 37:57–40:13 – Is Marco Rubio “MAGA”?
• 47:41–53:31 – Maddie’s question on antisemitism; Democratic coalition and Israel

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Final Notes — Tone, Flow, and Audience Takeaways

• Engagement: The episode makes deliberate room for both high-level policy and audience voices, blending deep dives on tactical geopolitics, campaign machinations, and light-hearted asides.
• Humor & Humanity: Regular banter—such as arguments over the best bagels in LA or reminiscences about high school mascots—balances out the heavier news discussions.
• Cross-Partisan Approach: Diverse, candid views are encouraged, frequently juxtaposing Larry’s conservative insights with Kevin’s Democratic perspective, grounded by Mark’s journalistic skepticism.
• Action: For listeners, this episode provides crucial context on U.S.-China relations, the calculus underlying Washington diplomacy, and the shifting sands of American electoral politics.

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[For a detailed daily news roundtable that pulls back the curtain on network newsrooms and power brokers, “The Morning Meeting” delivers substance, insight, and wit—even when the big stories hide beneath the headlines.]

Transcript

[Mark]

Do not all public high schools have fight songs, Larry?

[Larry]

No, no, no. The fact that you can still sing the fight song. Also, what. What does the mighty Walt Whitman fight song sound like?

[Mark]

I mean, fight, fight, fight on for Whitman. Vikings, give us a score. Black and white. Our hats off to you show.

[Larry]

Are they still the Vikings? Are you sure? That sounds. That sounds rather politically incorrect, rather aggressive. For Bethesda, not for Walt Whitman.

[Mark]

I think they're still the Vikings. Welcome, ladies and gentlemen. We. We've. We're on a long, winding road here, like we're Ronald Reagan going down the California coast. Larry's here, Kevin's here. I'm here.

[Larry]

Kevin, what was your school mascot in high school?

[Kevin]

We were the Northern Knights. Wow. Public high school. Just like Walt Whitman.

[Larry]

We were also public high school.

[Kevin]

All right, so we got three high school, public high school.

[Larry]

We were the Sea Kings. The Sea Kings of Corona del Mar.

[Mark]

One word or two?

[Larry]

Two words. Sea Kings, Sea Kings. Our school newspaper was the Trident. It's good stuff.

[Mark]

Thank you for being here, ladies and gentlemen.

[Kevin]

The more, you know, we need the little.

[Mark]

Exactly. This is the morning meeting. This is the morning meeting. This show has a conversation like no other. It's based on the network news divisions. Morning meeting. Sometimes. Some days, guys, we got to go back to our roots and explain. Every day at the big networks, news divisions have a morning meeting where they have reports from around the world of different bureaus. They talk about what's in the news. And then again, our surprise. Oh, Henry Twist here. Is after we do that, you get to participate. If you'd like to be in on the conversation and you're here on the platform, please raise your hand. If you're watching on X or YouTube, you cannot raise your hand. And you cannot really morally put smack in the chat. Just peace, love, and understanding. Yes, Larry.

[Larry]

Mark, I have been watching this show for going on a year and a half now, nearly a decade, and now I'm a participant. And I've been. I've always wanted the ability to interject at this moment. And now that I'm officially on the team, I'd like to say there is one difference. There's another difference about this morning meeting versus the morning meeting that the networks have number one. You're right. That people in the O. Henry Twist can participate. The other difference is in most of those morning meetings, someone who thinks like me with my political positions are not welcome to speak out.

[Mark]

True, true.

[Kevin]

We're trying to limit that, actually.

[Mark]

We say. We say all voices under one roof. This is not A platform only for moderate centrists and independence. Although we welcome them here. It's a, it's a, it's a platform for everybody. And, and you listen. And when you hear something you don't agree with, you say to yourself, well, so grateful to Kevin and Larry and Mark for providing this different point of view to hear an alternative point of view. Often a voice representing tens of millions of Americans.

[Kevin]

And we all often have questions from across the political spectrum.

[Larry]

Yeah, that's right.

[Kevin]

Anti maga strong. Larry, Kevin, whether you like, whether you

[Mark]

like Platner or, or Dan Scavino, you're welcome here. Those are the polls. Those are the polls.

[Kevin]

That's the poll.

[Maddie]

Yeah.

[Kevin]

Anyway, somewhere in between.

[Mark]

Please raise your hand if you want to get in. The President was at a big banquet with an extraordinarily mouth watering menu. A lot of Chinese food. You know the line from the Three Amigos where they say, do you guys have anything but Mexican food? That's what I was when I love Japanese food most of all. And some days I'll have it for lunch and then I'll say to my son, well, let's get it for dinner. And he'll say, but dad, we had Japanese for lunch. And I'd say, there's a country where every meal they have Japanese food, except

[Larry]

they just call it food.

[Mark]

Exactly. I call it heaven.

[Kevin]

Anyway, and in the present, and in the President's toast in that, that gala dinner, he said there are more Chinese restaurants than fast food restaurants in the United States.

[Mark]

Yes, he said there are more Chinese restaurants than, than like the five top fast food chains combined. He said, I'm going to somebody go fact check that. That might get a fact check that.

[Larry]

How many of them are spies for Xi Jinping though?

[Kevin]

That's the question.

[Mark]

Anyway, if you want news, if you want to know what news has come out of the summit so far, it's that the Chinese read out of the meeting, said the most important issue, the most important issue between the US and China is Taiwan. Some of us would beg to differ. And the President's readout, the US readout from a senior official said both parties agreed that Iran shouldn't have nukes and the straight should open. And if you think there's value in the Chinese saying that in the meeting, assuming that they did, it's as valuable as the writings on 10 fortune cookies. Doesn't mean a damn thing as far as I'm concerned. Anyway, we'll run through the daybook, we'll talk about all the news and stand by Here we go. In 3, 2, 1. Okay, the President is in Beijing again. It's a 12 hour time difference, so it's 9, 9 local time. The banquet's over. They're back at their hotels. They meet again tomorrow. They did their bilaterals. The business leaders were there again. We'll run through a little bit of what's happened, but not a ton of news. The big news, as best I can tell, is in the strait where a Japanese, at least one Japanese ship seems to have gone through up Arrow, but a British ship seems to have been boarded by Iranian pirates and is being led back to Iran again. It's crazy that these two things are being reported on X and by some news agencies, including Iranian news agencies. This seems like the biggest story in the world, these two things, and yet you watch cable news. As I have off and on for the last hour, they're not reporting any of this. So we'll see if we can sort through that. The vice president today. I have such respect for the vice president, his whole operation. But it's becoming like an episode of Veep where Marco Rubio's hanging out in. In China with the President and all his fancy pals and the vice president's just making jokes about being like Macaulay cock and home at home alone.

[Larry]

I'm sorry, we cannot come off of four years. We can't come off of four years of Kamala Harris and have you say that J.D. vance is like, beep. I mean, those four years were like right out of the script.

[Mark]

Anyway. The vice president is going to Maine today. He's doing some political event and another event related to fraud. Now, one of my hobbies is to laugh at statements when politicians say they can't be with the president or the vice president in their home state because they have a, quote, unquote scheduling conflict. They're washing their hair that day or they're on the other side of the state doing an event they can't cancel. In this case, there's no surprise that the Senate's in session. Susan Collins is not going to be with the vice president in Maine today. I doubt the vice president will go back to Maine very often between now and Election Day. They obviously scheduled it knowing that the Senate would be in. They know that Susan Collins has a, I'll say, a fetish maybe about not missing votes.

[Kevin]

So, Kevin, I think she still holds a record, right? Yeah, I think she's like Mitch up there or.

[Mark]

So, Kevin, can we assume that Susan Collins does not want to appear with the vice president and that's fine with the White House. Like, why schedule this on a day she can't go?

[Kevin]

That's a good question. He's up there campaigning with Paul LePage, who I think is going to be their nominee in that second Congressional district. That's the majority of the state. But you know, it's.

[Mark]

Larry, can we draw, can we draw any conclusion but that LePage wanted Vance and they asked the Collins people and they're like, we don't want to be with J.D. vance, so schedule it on a day when we can't go. What other conclusion could we draw?

[Larry]

You could, you could draw the same conclusion, but with a more charitable and grace filled perspective like this. J.D. vance is a very savvy politician. Republicans want to maintain the majority in the Senate and they know what Susan Collins has to do to win in Maine. We've seen it every six years. She does it right. And she needs to sometimes, she sometimes has to triangulate herself in a very blue state to be able to win. So she, she's going to do what she needs to win and keep the majority for the republic.

[Mark]

Larry, normally I ask both of you to answer, but you're barred from answering this one. Kevin, what do you think would Susan Collins would have said if he said Marco Rubio will come to Maine and you can do an event with him? She'd be there. She'd be there in a main minute, wouldn't she?

[Kevin]

I think she'd probably be there, yeah.

[Mark]

Yeah.

[Kevin]

And again they both, they both served with her in the Senate.

[Larry]

I'm barred.

[Mark]

Larry. Larry, are you saying that Susan Collins would turn down an appearance with America's most popular figure, Marco Rubio in this race?

[Larry]

How is she that popular? Is he that popular in Maine when you've got Graham Platner calling the Trump administration.

[Kevin]

Here's my question, here's my question back to you. Would she say no to a Scott Besson event about no tax on tips in Bangor?

[Mark]

Wonder about that. Wonder about. That is a good question. You know, I will say, I will say I keep reminding people there's not a single public opinion polls that show either Vance or Rubio actually popular with human beings. They're popular with the, they're popular with Republicans and not. The Republicans aren't human beings, but I mean, I mean broadly popular.

[Larry]

You mean civilians with the, with the.

[Mark]

Yeah, with civilians. And, and Rubio. Rubio's not. Rubio's poll numbers aren't that good. But, but man, the love fest continues. He's with the president on the trip as is Scott Bessant, who did an interview with Squawk Box this morning. Joe Kernan pre taped it right before the banquet. They was a little awkward for them because a very long interview they started to play it and then the toasts from she and Trump came and they had to cut away from the best in interview. Maybe good news for Besson, however, because his answers are filled with what I would, I would generously call 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 Pinocchios. Some of his answers. We'll play that for you in a moment. Todd, Blanche, Cash Patel are speaking to the National Sheriff's association meeting today. Lots going on on the Hill. Scott Turner, the HUD secretary speaking on a budget hearing. There's some more defense budget hearings going on. The Banking Committee in about an hour is looking at the crypto market bill. Lot of complexity in these crypto pieces of legislation where they're trying to make them bipartisan sometimes and sometimes they can't. And there's intra Republican disputes. It's a, it's a messy business. But the crypto industry thinks this time Lucy may not pull the football away. It may pass. We'll see.

[Kevin]

Hakeem Jeff, just on that too, the, the record spending that we saw last cycle and going to see this cycle in terms of the crypto industry getting involved, the AI industry report that know a fourth or so of, of lobby, you know, registered lobbies in Washington now work on AI specific issues. This is extraordinary in terms of the money flowing from these two industries that will likely push this bill over the, the finish line.

[Mark]

It is. And two things about that. It's a huge story as Kevin suggested. One is there's a fight within those industries about whether they should give money to Democrats. Some people say let's give to both Democrats and Republicans. There could be a Democrat majority. And some say no, no, no, the Democrats are horrible on our issues. Let's give just Republicans. And the other is this remarkable stat. It used to be 8% of DC lobbyists worked for AI. It's now up to a quarter of them. And I wonder about the other 75% because the crypto industry, the AI industry has so much money and even in Washington, because it's a cow town, 25 million seems like a lot of money. Oh, this lobbying firm make 25 million. It's nothing for they should hire every lob, they should hire every lobbyist, literally every lobbyist because if the lobbyist does one thing for them that benefits them, they'll make billions. They should hire every lobbyist what's wrong with the 75% of you? We have a lot of lobbyists. Watch the program. Meet me at camera three. If you're a lobbyist and you don't have a contract with AI you need to have a board meeting and figure out what's wrong with you. They're giving away money because they can pay millions for billions.

[Larry]

Larry, meet me at camera three. Because if you are a lobbyist that has a contract with AI we should discuss some really good value added content we can provide you to educate and inform.

[Mark]

Also true the community.

[Larry]

How are we defining AI though? Because I mean, if you are a lobbyist for the energy industry or for data center manufacturers and which require a lot of rezoning and regulations at the state level and federal level is, I mean, that's connected to AI.

[Mark]

I think it's just the actual AI companies.

[Kevin]

Yeah. That's astounding, the phrasing of the report. Yeah, it's incredible.

[Mark]

Hakeem, Jeffrey's caucus wide meeting at 11 this morning. The Senate votes is having a vote at noon to advance a resolution to withhold senators pay during a government shutdown. I bet Fetterman votes for that. And I think it got, I think

[Kevin]

it passed without objection. I think they, I, I think they did it on suspension of the, you

[Mark]

know, you think they already needed, they already did this.

[Kevin]

Yeah, I think so. Yeah.

[Mark]

All right, maybe I'm wrong. And the House is having another war powers resolution voted for today. The UN at 11. Mike Waltz is unveiling some major US contribution to global humanitarian aid and jobless claims out at 8:30. What did that show? Somebody tell me. I'm sure it's on my document here. What did we get?

[Kevin]

I think he came in as expected.

[Mark]

As expected. All right.

[Kevin]

Yeah.

[Mark]

Near expectations. Here it is. Stock futures. The Dow is going to cross 50,000. President Trump will like that. S P 17th record yesterday. Nvidia, first company ever to hit 5.5 trillion in market value. Oil down slightly. Gas is 453 a gallon is the average. All right, quick word from a sponsor and then we're going to plunge into China. Bigly cozy Earth is our sponsor this morning. 20 off everything on the site. Go to codezer.com, use the promo code. Morning. And once again, I'll tell you if you're looking for comfort style at an affordable price, I recommend the jogger sets and the clogs both. 20 [e-mail] you'll go to your closet and pretty much every time you see them, you'll Want to wear them? You'll say, what would be comfortable and stylish? What would I want to wear around the house? What do I want to wear to go run some errands? What do I want to wear to go over to Kevin's house for mahjong? And the answer will be the same every time. You want to wear the cozy Earth jogger set and the clogs. The jogger set, made viscous from bamboo, lightweight, breathable, stylish, comes in a bewildering number of colors. I think in all honesty, your biggest challenge will be to decide either which color to get or how many to get because the colors are Fantastic. Go to cozyeart.com for the fit, attention to detail, everything you need. These are clothes that are made to last and you'll love them. I recommend cozyearth.com promo code. Morning. 20% off. Comfort lives here.

[Matt Ebert]

I started with one shop. No college degree, no big investors. It was just a willingness to work. Over time, that one shop turned into a multibillion dollar business called Crash Champions. All the lessons I learned along the way came from the grind. And that's what my show Pod Crash is all about. We have real conversations with people who've built things the hard way. We talk to founders, athletes, and blue collar leaders who kept going when things got tough. You'll hear stories of grit, leadership, and growth, plus real world lessons you can take back to your team and your life tomorrow.

[Mark]

When you get momentum, you step on the gas.

[Oz Perlman]

That's how you get separation from everybody else.

[Mark]

I was at Harvard Law School as blah, blah, blah. I looked up, let me tell you something. There's kids in my neighborhood putting in Sheetrock that are smarter than you. AI is going to disrupt a lot of stuff. It is never going to disrupt physical blue collar trade skill.

[Kevin]

And the guy just looked at me and he said, it's bloody impossible. So I asked him this question. I said, it's impossible.

[Matt Ebert]

Unless that's podcast with me, Matt ebert, watch on YouTube and listen wherever you get your podcasts.

[Kevin]

All right, we talked about my secret mahjong club was not. That was private information team.

[Mark]

Sorry, not for public.

[Larry]

I take you more for Pinocle or cat.

[Mark]

Delete that. Delete that from the Internet version. So the, the Chinese readout of the bilateral before the banquet was again, the emphasis on Taiwan. The US Side hasn't said anything about what was said about Taiwan, but there's no news there from the US side. Just that the Chinese said it was, you know, the biggest deal in the Relationship. Here's the US Readout. This is from a. A senior administration official, number eight. I won't read the whole thing, but again, at least pays lip service the notion that the Chinese are on board. President Trump had a good meeting with President Xi. They discussed ways to enhance economic cooperation. There was a report about Nvidia selling chips to 10 Chinese companies, their second best chips, but that hasn't been confirmed and best seemed not to know about it. The US Is highlighting the need for progress to end on fentanyl. And then President Xi made clear China's opposition to the militarization of the Strait of Hormuz and any effort to charge a toll. He also expressed an interest in purchasing more American oil. And both countries said Iran should not have a nuclear weapon. Ladies and gentlemen, this is a pablum of all. Pablum means nothing. Here's my favorite moment of the summit so far. This is at the banquet and President Trump. There was a lot of live coverage on all the cable networks of the business leaders milling around, talking to the cabinet members and taking photos, etc kind of thing you see on cable TV and events like this. And then the two leaders came in and they were led to their table. And President Trump and President Xi got to their chairs and there was like a booster pillow on President's chump chair. And he decided, no, he didn't want the chair. So he said to the lady who was staffing him there, take the thing away. Play this, please. This is a number four. Now, what the president didn't think through how. How tall is Xi Jinping? You can kill the audio. How tall is she? He's like, looks like he's. Trump's right there, right? You see him standing by.

[Kevin]

Oi.

[Larry]

When they were standing next to each other at Tiananmen Square this morning, it looked like she was like an inch shorter.

[Mark]

Yeah. Okay, so here's, so here's the presence as this lady. Take that pillow away. She takes the pillow away. President Trump sits down and she sits down and. And I think she's got his own Yellow Pages because look, look, look at this. This looks like the President looks like Billy Barty here, right next to Xi. That's not the. That's not the imagery you want at a summit. So I kept waiting for Xi to be a good host and ditch his pillow or the president to call for his pillow back. Are you guys. Is it the perspective or do you guys agree with me? This looks ridiculous.

[Larry]

Well, she being in the foreground of the shot adds. Adds to the perspective issue.

[Mark]

Adds to it. But, I mean. But I mean, if I'm Donald Trump and I get home and I'm looking at a highlight video video of the summit. This looks ridiculous. He looks like he's at the kids table.

[Larry]

It takes a real man to say, I don't need no pillow on my.

[Mark]

Exactly. Anyway, they eventually get.

[Larry]

By the way, Mark, if these visuals are important to you, I might want to explain something about Pete Buttigieg and Josh Shapiro because they're going to look

[Kevin]

like they're all the same height.

[Mark]

Yeah, they're all. They're all under. They're all under six feet.

[Larry]

Diminutive.

[Mark]

Diminutive. I agree. We're in the television era, with one potential exception. We've always elected the taller man every time.

[Kevin]

But I thought he needs that LBJ chair from Air Force One that had that button that could just raise him up over the rest of the cabinet.

[Mark]

The president throughout has. Has talked about how great friends they are. What great friend? She is so honored to be your friend. So proud to be your friend. Such a nice guy. And here's a Washington Post story about the president's friends, the country he ruins. Number 10, please. This is a intelligence report. Remember we had a leak of another intelligence report on the eve of the summit saying that the Chinese were selling. Chinese companies were selling. Trying to sell weapons to Iran or give weapons to Iran. Here's a. Here's another intelligence report that mysteriously gets leaked to the Washington Post as the summit begins. China gains major edge on us amid Iran war. Intelligence report finds. And it says what we all know. The Chinese are doing things like using the algorithms on TikTok to so Discord in the United States. Like, they don't even need to beat us. They just need to let us beat each other senseless. Like we're a nation of itchies and scratches. And here's. Here's this.

[Kevin]

That's why the morning meeting is so important, because we.

[Mark]

Larry, reject all that. Larry, you respect the president, your supporter of the president, but he's a communist dupe here, Larry, isn't he?

[Larry]

Oh, stop it.

[Mark]

He's. He's saying what a great guy she is. At the same time, his own intelligence community is telling us she is. She doesn't want to end the war in Iran. She's loving this.

[Larry]

China's our enemy. China's our enemy.

[Mark]

But I got to stop you. There are enemy. Then the president saying the whole thing of the summit is honored to be your friend, Mark. Can he just say good to be here, Mark.

[Larry]

I Know, coming from a family of diplomats and, and coming from, and knowing, and having read your work and senior work for years, I know that you are aware of the important and complicated role that our leaders must take and the stances they have to take for the sake of diplomacy. In the same way that Churchill and Roosevelt acted like Stalin was their pal and friend when they needed to be diplomatic.

[Mark]

Uncle Joe, that's how I read this. Okay, but in all seriousness, I'm being slightly hyperbolic. No, I know you are. I'm saying I'm not going to be serious. Why does he have to say over and over great friends? Can't he just say it's an important relationship? Why does he have to say the guy's his great friend?

[Larry]

Because he talks like a regular human being instead of Kevin, like an omitron Kevin.

[Mark]

Can't the Democrats do what the, what the Republicans used to do to, to, to Barack Obama and say like he's cozying up to, he's cozying up to a murderous dictator. Can't the Democrats make hay of that?

[Kevin]

Well, again, the president works through flattery, right. In terms of how he tries to build these one and he's a strong believer in one on one relationships. I think the single most effective thing he could have done is as the plane is landing in Beijing is you release those $14 billion in arms sales to Taiwan when you know, Nancy Pelosi got a ton of grief, right. Especially from the Biden administration when she took a delegation to Taiwan at a very precarious time. And I think we Democrats got to return to that mentality where Flaherty is not going to get you anywhere. He's a cold blooded killer. Human rights violation on a massive scale that goes underreported. And again, I think the flattery president does that a lot with Putin, with others, he wants to build those one on one relationships. But I think to your point, he could have done that in a different way in terms of expressing some of these issues. And the fact that you see two incredibly divergent public statements in terms of what that private meeting sounded like is, is interesting too.

[Larry]

This is a results oriented president and a results oriented administration. He wants to get results. If that means saying I have a good relationship with this guy and that brings the results for the American people,

[Mark]

he will do that.

[Larry]

And unlike Barack Obama, he has a track record of standing by this nation and advancing our policies on a global scale. Instead of going to foreign countries and apologizing for our past behavior as Barack Obama did. Barack Obama deserved to get beaten up over his cozying up.

[Kevin]

Well, Larry, he's been, he's been flattering Putin, you know, for years.

[Larry]

He flatters Putin and then he brings iron fist on. Yes, he flatters Putin and then when they have a summit in Alaska, he has a fighter jet and a bomber fly over his head and make him cower in fear from it. We've seen this president operate and this is how he operates.

[Mark]

We're still expecting. There was a Reuters report, as I said, that said Nvidia has some big deal and the CEOs who are there, Musk and the others, Tim Apple, they all clearly think there's, there's something afoot. There's something afoot. Here's a poly market question. Will there be a tariff agreement by May 31? So in the next couple weeks. Number 18 please. Will there be a Polymark, a US China agreement? This is from our partners in Pie Market. 69% chance there'll be an agreement by May 31 on tariffs. I suspect based on everything we've seen, everything. Conversations I've had be some announcements about American access to the Chinese market. Scott Basson was asked by Squawk box, will there be a trillion dollar investment by the Chinese in the United States in industries where there's no security questions. And he seemed to blanch a little bit at the notion that there'd be a trillion. Worried about the expectations game because seems like it's not going to be a trillion. So there may be some announcements there on tariffs, on investment, on market access. That would be news. But nothing.

[Kevin]

And Mark, this has probably already been negotiated right ahead of time. Investment was obviously in the region ahead of time. So these are not, these are nice

[Mark]

things to roll out pre cooked and, and presumably again it's, it's nighttime in China. These will be announced tomorrow. We're still waiting to see if the President has a press conference before he goes. Go ahead.

[Kevin]

And the interesting thing on the Nvidia front too is the reporting and obviously that the CEO met Air Force One getting refueled, that it wasn't on the original leg of the flight. There is some credibility then that, you know, something large is happening with that particular company. And you just mentioned the valuation at 5.5 trillion.

[Larry]

My suspicion as, as it relates to the language and the poly market question, I don't know about agreement. I think that there will be a relaxing of tariffs pending the ongoing conversations that they'll then be finalized in D.C. with a bigger agreement this September.

[Mark]

Right. Okay.

[Kevin]

Which is what the. Now the invitation is for.

[Maddie]

Right.

[Kevin]

Xi Jinping to come.

[Mark]

President announced they're coming on September, that the Xi are going to come on September 24th again.

[Kevin]

When will the Chinese announce that they're going to that summit? The 20th, the 2023rd?

[Mark]

Yeah. And, and there's supposed to be two other times this year on the sidelines of, of international meetings as well. So that's four meetings. Scott Besson was asked a ton of questions about the summit and didn't, didn't give answers that were particularly revealing. He, he was also asked, will the Chinese help open the strait? As I said earlier, there's reports that there's activity going on in the street today, some good and some bad. And wouldn't it be surprising if all of a sudden the strait opened up? Here's Scott Bessant on squawk box with Joe Kernan. Will China help on the Strait? Number 16, please.

[Kevin]

Secret. Do you have a sense on whether

[Mark]

China will help with the strait in

[Kevin]

what China has communicated to us about the Strait of Hormuz? And I mean, that's obviously important to them as well. Do you think they're going to help?

[Unknown Guest/Hassan]

I think they're going to do it, do what they can. And no, the China has a much bigger interest in reopening the strait than the US Does. China gets about a third of its energy needs from the Gulf. So a reopening of the strait benefits China. Unfortunately, they've been buying. They were the largest consumer of Iranian oil. They were buying about 90% of it. Iranian oil represented about 10% of true energy that they, they took in. But the rest of the countries in the Gulf were also substantial contributors, whether it was Saudi, uae, Qatar.

[Larry]

All right.

[Mark]

And that. Larry, it's China. If China wanted the strait open, they'd stop arming the Iranians and they'd say, cut the crap and open the strait.

[Larry]

Okay, Mark, with all due respect, the secretary did not say China wants it open. What he said was China benefits most from it being open. That.

[Mark]

Well, that, that's not the perception of the Chinese, which is what matters. They don't believe that.

[Larry]

No, that's not what matters. The facts matter. Is it true that China benefits from opening the strait?

[Mark]

Not in their, their cost benefit analysis is they benefit not in their long term because the United States and for the short term, someday they want it open again, but no time soon there's, that's.

[Kevin]

Well, no.

[Mark]

Actions speak louder. Actions speak louder than words, Larry. If they wanted it open, the two leaders would have stood up and say, we're calling the ayatollah right now and telling him that China will sanction them, will break off all the partnership, stop giving them information to help them win the war.

[Kevin]

They're playing footsie with it. They had the foreign minister there just days before the president arrived there in Beijing. They could, coming out of that meeting,

[Mark]

we're doing this

[Larry]

to say that what he said was false is just incorrect. It is true that China benefits from having the straight open. They may decide, yeah, we benefit from it, but we're willing to let this play out a little further, longer without getting involved. Also, you don't know if President Trump has said, yeah, you know what, you guys stay out of it. We're going to handle this ourselves. I, I'm not going to speculate on based on what I don't know.

[Mark]

Well, Larry, to be clear, they get, they would get a benefit if the straight open, but their calculation is they get more benefits by, in the short term having it stay closed.

[Larry]

Perhaps.

[Mark]

Well, again, just look at what they're doing. They're helping Iran win the war.

[Larry]

Let me, I disagree with you. First of all, Iran is not winning the war in any way whatsoever. Number one, they're helping. Number two. But Mark, hold on. Do you think that if Xi Jinping picked up the phone, called whoever is in charge in Iran, they may not even have a better idea of who's in charge of Iran than we do, and said, yeah, that's it. Okay, open the strait. You think Iran will do that? Iran's a lunatic to China in the same way they're a lunatic to us.

[Mark]

I don't. But the Chinese are helping them, so they're less likely.

[Kevin]

But, but the president even mentioned his own words intercepting some gift or something like that from Beijing to Tehran that we can assume was some kind of weapons thing or some kind of, you know, economic support present out of his own words.

[Larry]

I think on the face of it, it is factual that when Secretary Bezos said China benefits from the strait being open on its face, factually, that is correct.

[Mark]

That is, they benefit in some ways. But they're. But the Chinese news what matters 22, please. Russia last two days has gained amongst its biggest attacks of the entire war with Ukraine, massive drone strikes. Here's the headline from the New York Times. Russia pummels Kyiv after Putin hints that war could end soon. A lot of commentary, Kevin, that says Putin's losing now, like, now it's finally true. Putin is losing. He knows he's losing. This is all a last guess thing and he's going to want to settle. Do you feel that this attack makes us is an indication that we're close to a settlement or is this put us all back in believing that Putin doesn't want to end the war?

[Kevin]

I really don't know what to make of this. And of course, thank God for the Ukrainian air force that were able to take down a lot of the incoming of these drone attacks, but I really don't. You know, obviously this falls just days after, you know, Ukraine agreed not to attack the victory day parade, you know, in Moscow that, you know, they had to get permission pretty much from the Ukrainians to host this event as those attacks are much more significant, much more successful farther into Russian territory. So I really don't know what to make honestly of this. Maybe it's a last ditch effort, maybe it's a face saving thing with his military comes in reports as Putin is more and more, you know, nervous about the situation in terms of his own personal safety, people around him and their safety, he's gone underground. So I really don't know if this is the last moves of a fanatical actor here or is this just a continued stalemate that they're going to continue to launch these attacks back and forth?

[Larry]

Larry, I don't disagree with Kevin. I think that continues to be the biggest question mark and the biggest challenge for a negotiated resolution. But, but again, I just want to reiterate militarily, Iran is not winning this war. They're trying to play out the diplomatic end of it and the negotiated settlement end of it. And it's not working right now because as long as this is a military campaign, we have the upper hand.

[Mark]

Okay, true.

[Kevin]

But I think, I think the one caveat to that, and maybe winning isn't the right word for this, I think any extension benefits Iran right now. Right. It's clear that they took 10 days to respond to our initial 14 point memorandum. So any kind of delay benefits Iran not winning, but also benefits Beijing as well.

[Mark]

Yeah, yeah. If the, if the president goes into the fall with these two conflicts going on, a lot of Republicans will be concerned. Redistricting, though, remains a bright spot for the Republicans. Olson, what's Olson's first name? Blanket on the guy's first name.

[Kevin]

Ted Olson.

[Mark]

No, the Washington Post columnist Henry Henry Olsen. Henry Olson has a column in the Washington Post today that talks about the effects of redistricting. And by the way, there are more redistricting efforts. And while some Southern states backed off attempts to get more Republican seats, and while there's yet another round of trying to convince Maryland to get another Democratic seat. Henry Olsen in his column number 24 has some pretty convincing math. We've talked about this. Based on all the redistricting changes that have occurred, Democrats have to either run the table on the toss up races to get the majority roughly or they have to put more seats in play where the state districts where Trump won by seven or more. This is the headline on the Henry Olsen combination. Number 24 please, from the Washington Post. And Larry's been making this point and others have who will win the House? The scales are shifting. Olson runs through the math. I recommend the comp to. I won't read it. But Larry, again, there's other factors. The environment's bad, etc, but, but do you, do you buy the Olson thesis? I think you do that this is people should not rule out that the math because the redistricting, the math makes it possible for the Republicans to keep the majority.

[Larry]

I do. I'm looking at it as a 5050 right now. And as I said, the climate is bad right now for Republicans. That is always this historically. But the terrain has gotten so much better. And as these candidates are selected, Speaker Mike Johnson just said it yesterday that the Democrats are nominating these candidates that he's very excited to run against and move the war chest in the efforts to run against them. As of now, that's, that's what I'm seeing too. And that's what people I know who are sort of involved with the political operation for Republicans are saying the Democrats can of the toss ups. If you're looking at 18 or 19, they can afford to lose maybe three of them. That's, that's a tall order. But if it's a wave election, then they'll do it.

[Mark]

Yeah. And Kevin, the other thing is, is Karl Rove's column today in the in The Journal, number 25 picks up on what, what James Blair, the White House political director said, which is there's, there's faces of the Democratic Party, AOC Platner, maybe the Democratic Senate, your Senate candidate in Michigan who win the nomination outside, who are just, who are just, they're too liberal to win in swing districts and swinging states. So how, what could the, what can the DNC do about this? Can they put forward more moderate people? Can they start putting their thumb on the scale in these primaries to try to keep them from being defined by extreme progressives? What, what can the Democrats do to keep Blair from succeeding in this ability to make this a referendum, not a referendum, but a choice election yeah, not

[Kevin]

much of anything, honestly. And we've seen what happens when Washington gets involved and tries to back a particular candidate in these races. And the grassroots just disagree. I think, you know, the Republicans, because of the president and his ability to corral his base of supporters. We saw it in Indiana on the redistricting fight. We don't have that singular actor on our side. Obviously, we're not in power in terms of the White House. But there is no endorsement that really carries any kind of weight with Democrats, especially, you know, an endorsement from Washington. Chuck Schumer can't move the ball. What he's been effective at is convincing folks to run and recruiting and lining up money behind those folks. But in terms of tipping the scale, there's nothing the DNC really can do, nor, you know, can, you know, even Barack Obama do. Right. And I think, you know, Obama's the only one out there that can really, you know, get involved in these races. We saw him with Mandami a few weeks ago in New York. You saw him with Talarico in Texas and Gina running for governor down there in Texas as a tacit kind of. This is the establishment lining up behind these folks. But there really isn't, to the core of your question, anything that we can do as a, you know, as a party establishment.

[Mark]

That's right.

[Larry]

Without a central national figure, the Republicans get to decide who that central national figure is. And the other thing that's hurting Democrats right now is is that the most powerful voices for your party and the most influential high profile voices come from New York City and San Francisco or the state of California writ large. And when you're trying to win in western Wisconsin, they can easily say, look at, look at what they did in New York. Look what they did in California. Why are you trying to let that person.

[Kevin]

Yeah, you know, I think that's, that's an easy attack. We've seen, you know, Nancy Pelosi ads for 20 plus years and stuff like that. In terms of San Francisco, they work to some degree. I don't know if that's necessarily the case anymore. Allah. You know, Abigail Spanberger and Mikey Sheryl and those folks out there that are trying to make a play for the center.

[Larry]

Yeah, but you're not. Your party is nominating Abigail Spanberger number one. And number two, if you do.

[Kevin]

Well, we did and we won, but just a year ago.

[Larry]

But no, what I'm saying is in these House races, you're not. And even if you do, we can now legitimately say she ran like this. But look how she's governing.

[Mark]

All right,

[Kevin]

the Nebraska Blue Dog.

[Mark]

Real quick.

[Kevin]

Yeah, we got the center left woman in that race and the more formidable general election candidate just on Tuesday.

[Mark]

Absolutely. Big, big, big win for Democrats there if they want to, if they want to take that seat. Well, big win. Two things I'm trying to give up, peanut M&MS. And daily commentary on Rubio vs. Vance, and I'm losing on both fronts. And the Eminem one's just my own personal weakness. But the, but the Vance Rubio thing is just fueled by what's in the news. Our friend Amy Parnes in the Hill has another column about how her root, Marco Mentum, is, is surging still. And, and Vance yesterday, you know, talked at length about the president's commentary. Was that yesterday or two days ago? Anyway, now he's going to, it was yesterday and now he's going to Maine. He's in the news. Rubio's on the trip. But most of all, look at this Poly Market, ladies and gentlemen. Look at this Poly Market. A question. Who will be the Republican nominee in 2028? Number 27, please. Marco Mentum continues the pace. You can see the Rubio number up. I think it's at its highest point, 25% chance, advance 36%. Ladies and gentlemen, if Marco Mentum continues a pace, those lines are going to cross. Now, the betting markets aren't everything. We did have a poll this week that showed Rubio more popular. Here's my question for you guys. Larry.

[Larry]

Yes.

[Mark]

Is Marco Rubio MAGA discussion? Yeah, he is. Yeah.

[Larry]

If MAGA means supporting the President's agenda and being loyal to what he's trying to accomplish in an American.

[Mark]

Is that what, is that what MAGA is? And you just support Donald Trump? Is that MAGA to you? I'm not challenging. I'm just trying to pin you down here. That's maga. If you support the Trump agenda, you're maga.

[Larry]

You support the Trump agenda. And, and, and from a politician's perspective, if you've actually become a part of the Cabinet and actually been loyal to him and, and executing and carrying out his, his agenda as Commander in Chief. Yeah, I, I mean, how could you say he's not.

[Mark]

All right, Kevin, Is Marco Rubio maga?

[Kevin]

Yeah, I mean, I, I agree to my, with my friend across the aisle, MAGA is whatever Donald Trump says it is from day to day. That's why, you know, Marjorie Taylor Greene was MAGA for a long time and now she's not because she is against the president and I think, you know, there's a. There's certain elements of a core ideology there, but really the basis of it is what the President says and does week to week. And that can shift sometimes in terms of making strange bedfellows and positioning and stuff like that. But it really is in line with what the president and I think that, you know, the Secretary of State has had an incredible transformation from that debate stage in 2016, even in his time in the Senate, calling out the President on a lot of things, talking about Taiwan, for example, talking about immigration reform, and now has sold so molded himself in the image of the president and is an effective surrogate for the president that we've seen that I think he's full on MAGA but still has a foothold in the traditional Republican camp as well.

[Mark]

I think you're both very thoughtfulness. I will tell you, in the last couple of days I've been besieged with messages from MAGA elites. I'll call them and everyday MAGA who say, no, he is not. It's an interesting, interesting thing how many. They're distrustful of him and he supported what we call amnesty. He supports neo. He's very neoconish. They think, well, those are two. The two issues.

[Larry]

They said they might want to take a look at JD Vance's earlier positions and statements.

[Mark]

Yeah, they might. Maybe they think neither of them is mega. Lastly, ladies and gentlemen. Great. Two great tragedies came out or really three great strategies tragedies came out of the White House Course association dinner cancellation. One was we learned that despite everybody celebrating the agents on hand, the planning for security for that dinner was a disaster and the country hasn't reconciled with that. There's no acknowledgment of how poorly the planning was. Number two, we didn't get to hear the president's speech in which I think he was going to frickish Z a lot of liberal media bias. That would have been quite entertaining. Lastly, Oz Perlman did not get to perform. Ladies and gentlemen, Oz Perlman. I saw him perform the night before, the day before the dinner. He's supposed to perform at the dinner. This is not. This is not David Copperfield making an elephant disappear. This is not David Blaine escaping from a bag of monkeys. Ladies and gentlemen, this man is either the devil or a wizard. And we didn't get to see it. And I'm going to show you. There's a thousand clips on social media. Here's the latest one. Ladies and gentlemen, I want you to watch this and then I want you to Put in the chat what Larry and Kevin will do, which is explain how he did it. My son's view used to be the people were in on it. It's just a total put up job. It's all arranged in advance. Now my son believes he's a wizard. You decide. Here's Oz Perlman.

[Kevin]

Oh my God.

[Larry]

Can I, can I put one in your court?

[Mark]

Yeah.

[Larry]

That you couldn't prepare for.

[Oz Perlman]

Yeah.

[Maddie]

I had a middle school crush on this girl, okay.

[Larry]

Years later she reaches out to me.

[Maddie]

Irl. We get to chatting.

[Mark]

She was like, oh yeah, I had

[Larry]

a crush on you back then too.

[Kevin]

And.

[Mark]

And I was like, what?

[Maddie]

What's the name of the person?

[Oz Perlman]

Of this girl?

[Kevin]

Of this girl?

[Oz Perlman]

You think it's utterly impossible for me to know this?

[Larry]

No way.

[Oz Perlman]

Let's double this up. Double trouble.

[Maddie]

Oh, shit.

[Oz Perlman]

I want you to think of someone that if I were to get this right.

[Mark]

Yeah.

[Oz Perlman]

You are going to call them or text them.

[Unknown Guest/Hassan]

Done.

[Oz Perlman]

I get this right, we fast forward a day from now. You're on the phone or you're texting the person you're thinking of. What are you going to do? Call or text this person?

[Mark]

Probably call.

[Oz Perlman]

You're going to call?

[Larry]

Yeah.

[Mark]

Yeah.

[Oz Perlman]

I think it's a guy.

[Mark]

Yeah.

[Oz Perlman]

The guy you call on the phone.

[Mark]

Yes.

[Oz Perlman]

You go, most insane thing I've ever seen.

[Larry]

Yes.

[Oz Perlman]

And he goes, is that right? And you go, yeah, Ian, I think that's right.

[Mark]

What the.

[Larry]

Oh my God, bro.

[Oz Perlman]

And then Ian says to you, how could he possibly know that? And you go, there's no way he could know that. And he goes. And you say this story, Hassan, you say, I reached over and we leaned into each other.

[Larry]

Yeah.

[Oz Perlman]

And right at that moment, Oz and I shook hands and he said, I went back to the seventh grade and looked right in the eyes.

[Kevin]

Oh my God.

[Mark]

All right. They bleep the, the woman's name, but he clearly guesses it and he leaves the room because he's just so freaked out by it now. Kevin. Some people I saw said, well, he did research beforehand. He had no idea that the topic was going to be brought up. So I say again, devil, wizard, or do you have some other theory, Kevin?

[Kevin]

No, I. Well, my third theory is he's a, you know, I guess, well, wizard is a male version of a witch.

[Maddie]

And.

[Kevin]

Yeah, there's no explanation. I've seen him in person a few times. He's done a bunch of stuff on Fox there. I. There's no understanding. Larry.

[Mark]

Larry, explain it to you. I'm freaking supernatural.

[Larry]

If, if the choice is magic or this has been scripted and it's a setup I'm going to lead towards scripted in this.

[Mark]

Yeah.

[Kevin]

There's too many people now. There's too many people.

[Larry]

They've been debunking this stuff for years.

[Mark]

Larry, Larry, Larry. At the lunch, I went to the lunch I went to the. The CEO of Clear

[Larry]

spit out the

[Mark]

four digit bank code of another guest there and she's not in on it. We have a mutual friend, he's talked about it. She's freaked out. She uttered the. Someone else's bank code and he said to her, how did you pick those numbers? She said it just. Those are the numbers that came into my head. I mean, she's not in on it.

[Kevin]

There's no.

[Mark]

If she's in on it. If she's in on it, she's lying to her friend.

[Larry]

I, I will, I will stand by my position here.

[Kevin]

We've got to get. We've got to get him on the

[Larry]

next episode Political analysis as well.

[Kevin]

Lori, my new goal is to make you want to.

[Mark]

Lori, the guy. Can you book the guy? Lori, get him on your way tonight and let him do it right here. He usually charges some ridiculous amount of money, but I mean, I, I can't, I can't sleep. I'm. I'm consumed. Because walking amongst us is Satan or an angel. No one else concerned about this?

[Larry]

No, because no one else. Century Harry Houdini was, was, Was hoodwinked by people who claimed that they were doing seances and talking to the dead. Same with.

[Kevin]

This is. This is different. This isn't licensed magic and smoke. This is.

[Mark]

Yeah, exactly. This is, this is devil spawn. Or, or, or he's, or he's a wizard. He's like Harry Potter. Larry, tell me how he does it.

[Larry]

Larry, it's not incumbent on me to tell you how he does it. I'm just telling you that it's all a setup.

[Kevin]

You're the boy who lived. Tell us.

[Mark]

All right, all right. Quick word from a sponsor and then to your questions, please raise your hand if you want in on the conversation. True work. 15 off this stuff. Hold on, hold on.

[Larry]

Mark, if you had those abilities, would you make TikTok videos with it? Or would you be a gajillionaire living on a private island because you can play the market.

[Mark]

He loves the game.

[Kevin]

He loves the game. He's making. He's also making a fortun.

[Mark]

Larry. He loves the game and he's. And I should say, I should say he's a charming guy. He's a lovely guy, Incredibly charming guy. He's just. He seems like a wonderful person, but so's the devil and so's Harry Potter. Yeah. All right, back to. Back to our sponsor, True Work Dot com. T R U R K. If we're doing work outside and you want to put on stuff that's comfortable and workable to work, work in, I recommend true work.com promo code two way for 20. 15% off everything on the site. If it's raining outside, if it's cold outside, whatever it is, if you've got to lift stuff, carry stuff, climb, whatever, you got to do this. This is workwear that's made to work with you. Advanced performance fabrics designed specifically for working outside. Bending, kneeling, climbing, water resistant to shed rain. Filled with pockets. 15,000 five star reviews. It's been around for a while. If you've never heard of it, now's the time to investigate and see if it's right for you. If you got work on the job or around your house, work doesn't stop just because the weather changes. Upgrade right now. Go to true work.comt r u r k.com promo code two way built. Like it matters, because it does. All right, ladies and gentlemen, time for your questions. Please raise your hand if you want in on the conversation. We're grateful to have.

[Kevin]

This is our favorite part, part of

[Mark]

our community, and we start with. Oops, what happened there? You know, I'm not that good at this job. I think we think we all know hit the wrong button. Let's see. Third time's a char. Maddie. Welcome in, Maddie.

[Larry]

Stu.

[Kevin]

Hey, Maddie, you got some great stuff in the background.

[Larry]

Oh, I like the lemons.

[Kevin]

And you got Churchill right there. I love that.

[Mark]

Tell everybody. Tell everybody what you're wearing, what's on the wall where you are, and then if there's still time, whatever question you have.

[Kevin]

Well.

[Maddie]

Well, you can't. This is my favorite right here. But, yeah, the Churchill. A little Steve McQueen, but I'm here in Los Angeles.

[Mark]

City of Angels. Yeah.

[Maddie]

Right off of Sunset Boulevard on the Entourage drive.

[Mark]

Sunset and what?

[Maddie]

Maddie Doheny Sunset in Fountain.

[Mark]

Sunset, Fountain.

[Larry]

Yeah.

[Maddie]

So right where the guitar center is pretty much.

[Mark]

Yeah. And you're not. You're. You're near my favorite in and out burger.

[Maddie]

Oh, yeah. The line's not too bad. If I got to tell you.

[Larry]

It's.

[Mark]

It's one of the reason. It's one reason why it's one of my favorites. Matty, what's on your mind for everybody?

[Maddie]

So, Lovelace, let's love. Listen to you guys. I think you guys tap into something that not too many people really understand. And from a listening perspective, when you guys talk about the, the parties of the Democrats and they're trying to win these little battles and, and everyone talks about TDS and Trump recently put out that prescription. But for me, as a former Democrat, I consider myself a JFK Democrat. It's ZDS that is the most troubling thing to me. Zionist derangement syndrome. And the Democrats, that seems to be the litmus test. And the Hill, they're willing to die on. And all the extremism seems to go back to that. And it seems that Trump's alliance with Bibi only hurts the Jews here at home, like myself. I went to Parky Synagogue. The Jews will not replace us in Charlottesville are screaming the same chance that I see in Queens with swastikas, Brooklyn. And I'm not seeing the same reaction. And that's what's troubling to me the most. And that's what's hard, to get an independent like me back to that party. And, and I'm hoping they're going to keep losing these battles, and I'm thinking they're going to eventually turn around with like a Westmore or Alyssa Slock and Kelly. And I'm just, I would love to hear the feedback from you guys on this.

[Mark]

Matty, you speak for tens of millions. Unfortunately, you don't speak for everybody because, because of the problems you raised. Real quick, Marco Rubio says US Policy in Taiwan has not changed. Kevin, thoughts on Matty's point of view?

[Kevin]

Maddie, you bring up so many important points in all this, and, you know, that's why I am so proud to be a Democrat, a JFK Democrat, still a Democrat, obviously, and a proud Zionist, too. And I think we need to give space for more and more people to be out there of that. That's why I'm a huge booster of Josh Shapiro. Governor Josh Shapiro. Go read his book, Where We Keep the Light. Right. A lot of political consultants would say to him, you know, don't, you know, don't talk about your Jewish faith. Don't, don't lean in on it. The book is informed by it. He lives and breathes it. Right. And I hope it's a pendulum that will swing back. I think you, you bring up the point of Trump and Bibi, and I think that's part of a lot of the concerns, I think, with a lot of Democrats just in terms of the, the United States through the lens of this relationship with Bibi and not with the people of Israel. We've got to go back to where it's a bipartisan issue where support of this country and its people and less tied to a specific individual in power in both countries. And I think that's, you know, when you saw Bibi go so hard, partisanship wise in the United States. I think that's part of the problem here as well with obviously getting the joint address, Obama not being particularly pleased with that, and then all in for Donald Trump. I think I support a strong labor return in Jerusalem as part of a way that we can rebuild some of the trust and kick out elements of my own party and your former party are so dangerous.

[Larry]

Larala, thank you, Markala. I think that Kevin, I think, is engaging in a little bit of wishful thinking here because the reality on the ground in his.

[Kevin]

I'm a Democrat. That's all I have is wishful thinking. You know, come on.

[Larry]

I think the reason that Netanyahu appeared to get more partisan was because the Obama administration's policies were incredibly hostile to the security of that nation and he had to get partisan for his own country's self interest.

[Kevin]

Okay.

[Larry]

That's just my opinion on it. And I think it's an informed opinion. I recognize also, I believe demographically the Democrats and many Democrats in many jurisdictions, including your city, Maddie, as well as New York and certainly in suburban Michigan, have made the Democrat the demographic decision and political calculation that supporting Israel is no longer a political path forward for them. And so I respect Josh Shapiro for speaking poetically about his personal faith, and that's very important. But speaking about his personal faith as a believing Jew versus support for the state of Israel are two very different things. And he doesn't speak out about that nearly as often because it is not viable in that party anymore. And I know that everyone will say that Republicans have that problem, too. We have a handful of influencers who say very disturbing and uncharitable things about the state of Israel, but they don't seem to be influencing many people on my side of the equation. When you pull Republicans and conservatives and Trump supporters, we're pretty much where we've been in terms of supporting that country when they deserve our support it. And most often than not, they deserve it.

[Mark]

Maddie, two quick questions for you. First of all, have you found a good bagel out there?

[Maddie]

I have Pops Bagels and there's also Yeasty Boys is a good bagel truck.

[Mark]

Both great names. Pops Bagels and Yeasty Boys. Where is, where, where are Those, those in your neighborhood.

[Maddie]

There's a few. There's eight trucks for yeasty boys. Check out their Instagram.

[Kevin]

They're all over.

[Maddie]

And there's pops. There's about three pops out here as well.

[Larry]

They're really.

[Mark]

And, and who are you voting for in the mayor's race?

[Maddie]

Matt Mahan. And I think you guys.

[Kevin]

That's a governor's race.

[Mark]

That's a governor's race.

[Larry]

Who you voting for?

[Mark]

The mayor.

[Maddie]

Mayor, sorry. Spencer Pratt. Not even close.

[Mark]

Yeah. Okay.

[Kevin]

I think we're going to see a lot of Matt Mayan supporters and Spencer on the same ballot. That's.

[Mark]

I agree.

[Kevin]

That's interesting.

[Maddie]

I think Mayan needs to get away a little bit of trying to win the Basera Hilton vote. I mean, I'm sorry, the Basera Star vote and go after more the Hilton. And I think that's where it's, it's at for him.

[Mark]

Yeah, that's a, that's a tough, a tough decision to make.

[Maddie]

I would love to see a Hilton Mahan. I think that would be a great debate.

[Mark]

I think those that be great, we may get it. We'll see. Maddie, thank you, man. Very grateful to you for being part of Two Way. Okay. Wickham and I had a previous exchange in which I virtually guaranteed he'd be called on. And I'm a man of my word. Except regarding Peanut M and M's. Wickham, welcome in. Tell folks who don't know where you are and what's on your mind for now.

[Wickham]

Mind is I've seen reporting in the last couple of days that other Gulf states, the uae, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, have been conducting military operations and even boots on the ground in the case of the UAE in Iran. And what I'm wondering is if you think that that might be a way to start to challenge the, that is to say other Gulf states coming into the, into the fight and whether that might also stir up something among the Iranian people.

[Larry]

Larry, I hope so. And I've seen those reports as well. And it certainly sort of, it, it undermines the narrative that America is alone there and that we're at odds with our allies and with Iran's neighbors who, who are in fact on our side and cooperating with us. So I hope that's the case. I think that is the missing element here is for the people of Iran to be able to start taking some villages and taking some towns and it reminds us all how important the Second Amendment is.

[Kevin]

Kevin W. Great, great points. And I think if you go Back to the the 78 revolution where the Ayatollah came to power, obviously you had massive demonstrations in Tehran which forced the Shah to leave, but also started regionally too. To your point, if there is a grassroots element to this in terms of actually taking out this current regime, maybe it needs to start in those rural provinces and build. And that's something certainly some of the Gulf allies of ours, especially the uae, who, you know, has been really forceful for us to stay the course. They're not end too early, not, you know, agree to a deal that isn't in their best interest. And our allies in the region certainly, and we think, you know, the only other real player here is Israel in terms of what they do in their end game. But do you make an excellent point in terms of some of those other Gulf allies in terms of what they want to see out of this? And let's not forget, it's. It's. The major conflict is between Saudi Arabia and Iran and has been for since 78.

[Mark]

Wickham. Thank you, Larry. Are you going to promote after I go, can you promote the game show Race to Win? Can you do that?

[Larry]

Absolutely, I will.

[Mark]

Okay.

[Larry]

Will you tell us the best bagel in New York? Are you an H H guy? I am an.

[Mark]

I am a pretty. Yeah, they're, they're hard to be. All right, ladies and gentlemen, I'm gonna head over to Sirius XM for the second hour of the morning meeting. I'll see you over there. You can call me there if you want to ask questions.

[Kevin]

What's the number? What's the number, Mark over there to call if you put me, you put me on the spot.

[Mark]

8334-4634-9683-3446. 496. Call me at the back half of the 10 o' clock hour if you'd like to get in the conversation later today. Of course, I'll see you on two way tonight. But the reason I want to say one more thing and then turn you over to Larry and Kevin and maybe they'll do some more community questions today on Next up, my report of monologues on the midterms. My latest reporting on the arguments of both sides. We talked about some of them before on the redistricting stuff, but. And some of the best ads we found, uh, for the midterms that tell a good story. So join me for that. But then my guest for the balance of the program will be Two men. Two men.

[Kevin]

Ladies and gentlemen, this is a big. This is a big.

[Mark]

You might think, you know, These two guys, you might think I know everything about them, but. But you don't. Larry and Kevin will be my guests. And, and, and they, for some of you, they just kind of emerged here out of nowhere, like Oz Perlman. We'll talk about news of the day, but we're going to do the backstories, complete with the family photos.

[Kevin]

This is your life. This is your life.

[Mark]

This is your life. You're going to learn. If you, if you want to know Kevin and Larry, this is your opportunity because we don't spend much time here talking about anything except my Eminem addiction.

[Kevin]

So please going to guess the first name of our first grade teachers.

[Mark]

Exactly. Exactly. Please join me on Next up. It'll drop later today on YouTube and, and as a podcast, but please join

[Larry]

me for that, guys.

[Mark]

I'm looking forward to it because in all honesty, I'm asking a bunch of stuff that I don't know the answers to. Like, how'd you do in trigonometry? Interesting things like that. It'll be more interesting.

[Kevin]

We were more verbal, guys.

[Mark]

Yeah.

[Larry]

Thank you both, Public school.

[Mark]

Thank you both, gentlemen. I look forward to seeing you in just a little bit. And I'll see some of you over at SiriusXM and then again at 5 o' clock for two way tonight. Thank you, guys. See you in a moment.

[Larry]

Go, Vi. We'll see you in a little bit, Kings. Absolutely.

[Kevin]

Go Northern Knights. I love all this. Yeah.

[Larry]

Northern Knights.

[Kevin]

We got to figure out, you know, a Viking, a Northern Knight and a Sea King.

[Maddie]

Yeah.

[Kevin]

You know, who wins into a bar. Yeah, right. You got the Trident. I think I had the sword. I don't know what the heck. Well, Viking has an ax, I guess

[Larry]

we had the tribe.

[Kevin]

Anyway.

[Larry]

Who were your high school rivals?

[Kevin]

It was like, like it was outside Princeton, New Jersey. So we had like chess rivals and tennis rivals. It wasn't, you know, I think we weren't a good. We weren't a strong football program, let me tell you.

[Larry]

Whitman's arrival, I think is Winston Churchill High School. Or, or maybe.

[Kevin]

Yeah.

[Mark]

Church.

[Kevin]

Well, they're on the church.

[Larry]

Chevy Chase High School.

[Kevin]

Yeah.

[Larry]

Or something like that.

[Kevin]

And they had. They used to have Woodrow Wilson. Not too far. And they changed the name on that one because that's right over the border.

[Mark]

Yeah.

[Larry]

Montgomery County. We had. Our rival was Newport Harbor High School. We both, both high schools were in Newport beach and we had the Battle of the Bay. We were on either side of the Newport Bay. So when we had our football game, it was the Bay Battle of the Bay.

[Kevin]

It's very Gatsby esque. Looking across the bay for the the single light.

[Larry]

I'm confused because Haley Voda's hand is up and yet we're supposed to not call on her until Fridays for her cultural.

[Kevin]

So she says yeah, we got to preview that but we've got a lot of stuff to preview. As Mark talked about in terms of

[Larry]

the next episode, Next up has already been properly promoed with special guests. Hard to get, impossible to book Kevin and Larry.

[Mark]

So.

[Kevin]

So make sure you can't wait for that. Yeah. The group chat is live of course at 4:00pm with Emma, Joe, Nina, Robbie and Steve talking about the day's hottest topics. I'm sure more on Iran as we get a better picture today with the straight and obviously more out of Beijing as they wrap up their second and final day today.

[Larry]

And most importantly and it's already 10,

[Kevin]

it's already 10pm over overseas there in Beijing.

[Larry]

So most important of course two Way tonight in fact. Yes. But most importantly, and this is what Mark obviously is very emphatic about, that I properly promo our brand new game show. So if I may in my best Wink Martindale Game show Host Voice two ways to admit it Game show race to win. Pitts competitors head to head in a fast paced battle to answer rapid fire trivia questions. Contestants rotate in and out at random until the clock runs out. The last player to answer correctly is crowned the winner. Thursday, May 14th 8pm you can be a part of this extravaganza. Sign up at two way TV Game shows. That's right. It's two way TV game shows.

[Kevin]

I think we should not tell Mark ahead of time that that's going to be the voice that you're going to use in the next up conversation.

[Mark]

Absolutely.

[Kevin]

I tell you so I got on for a little bit. I had to jump off playing the game yesterday. It is a lot of fun. And Joe, our CEO of two Way is great and host it and it is rapid fire. A lot of pressure. I was sweating bullets but it's a lot of fun. So encourage everyone. I'm going to try and get on tonight at 8pm we do need to

[Larry]

try to do that head to head. Don't we have something else? We were on Katie Pavlich's show last night. I think we had.

[Kevin]

I think we're going to do Leland tonight, don't we?

[Larry]

Yeah, we have something else tonight. So we have Leland, Leland Vitter. Tonight the three of us will appear on News Nation for political analysis. Extraordinary. And for everybody watching on my YouTube channel, Larry, my morning radio program from Salem Radio will begin right now. Commercial free. A condensed version of this morning's radio show. And then at noon, I'll be live as I always am. So thanks for tuning into that and thanks for watching today.

[Kevin]

And of course, oh, well, we, we got the official after show with Professor Kenny and friends. The chat is open. I'm going to try and join tomorrow's show. And of course that kicks off at 11. So you've got Mark right now on Sirius. You've got the official after show at 11 and then you got Larry at noon. So and if we learn anything with

[Larry]

us, just rem that. In fact, China does benefit the most from having the Strait of Hormuz open. Whether they act on that or not is another question.

[Kevin]

You can't just get in that little dig at the end.

[Larry]

You can come up with opinions. And I understand your opinions.

[Kevin]

Well, there are such things as alternative facts too here. Oh, Lawrence of Arabia.

[Larry]

So you know what you say, alternative facts. It reminds me of my favorite scene from Annie hall, which could be the most brilliant movie about relationships.

[Kevin]

And it stands the test of time ever written.

[Larry]

It's the split screen scene when both Woody Allen and Diane Keaton are talking to their therapists. And both therapists ask them, how often do you have sex? And Diane Keaton says, all the time, like two or three times a week. And Woody Allen says, hardly ever. Two or three times a week. They're both accurate.

[Mark]

They're both telling a perception.

[Kevin]

It's all perception.

[Larry]

All has to do with perception. Thank you very much, my friend. We'll see you next time and we'll see you tomorrow.