Head Made Of Pudding

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand

Episode: Head Made Of Pudding

Date: August 18, 2025
Podcast: Armstrong & Getty On Demand (iHeartPodcasts)
Summary prepared for listeners who missed the episode.

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Episode Overview

This episode is dominated by the aftermath of the historic White House meeting involving world leaders (notably Trump, Zelensky, leaders of France, Germany, UK, Italy, the NATO secretary general, and more) focused on the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty dive into the dramatic developments, media fallout, and diplomatic implications, balancing skepticism, humor, and their distinct political perspectives. They also touch on related news and broader political culture, including media narratives, the effectiveness of diplomacy, and American “wokeness”.

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Major Discussion Points & Insights

1. The "Unprecedented" White House Meeting

• Overview:
  The show's opening focuses on the significance of the historic gathering in Washington D.C., comparing it to pivotal moments in world history.
• Jack Armstrong (01:23): “You know, there’s never been a meeting like this ever in the history of the world.”
• The hosts note the sheer scale and rarity of such a diplomatic summit, drawing historical comparisons (WWII, Gulf War) and emphasizing current geopolitical stakes.

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2. Trump, Putin & Ukraine: Aftermath and Controversy

Trump’s Stance Going In – and Out

• Emphasis on Trump’s “truth” social post blaming Zelensky for not ending the war and framing a possible surrender as an option:
  • Jack Armstrong (02:42):
    "President Zelensky of Ukraine can end the war with Russia immediately if he wants to, or he can continue to fight..."
• Joe Getty replies sardonically:
  • (03:14): “Surrender.”
• Discussion of the "bully" dynamic in international relations (Make Me, What Are You Gonna Do About It?), revisiting realpolitik perspectives offered by Marco Rubio:
  • Jack (03:22): “He was just Captain Realpolitik on every answer. … Putin’s not giving back the land. Nobody’s willing to push him out. Here’s where we are.”

Was the Pageantry for Putin a “Big Deal?”

• Jack (04:46): “What do you think of the pageantry and riding in the beast? Do you think that’s a big deal or not?”
• Joe adopts a pragmatic attitude, suggesting if pageantry was part of a clever strategy to coax Putin, it would be acceptable, but instead it appears as empty flattery and a PR coup for Putin:
  • Joe (06:56): “Except the opposite happened. Trump was forceful... then walked away with no peace deal, no ceasefire, and no consequences. And singing the praises of his good buddy Vladimir. I thought the whole thing was disgusting. Well, could there be plot twists down the road…?”

Was Trump’s “Red Carpet” for Putin Pointless or Strategic?

• Armstrong expresses visceral disgust over the presentation and tone of the meeting:
  • Jack (27:17): “I personally thought the red carpet thing, riding in the beast, smiling, waving thing was disgusting. I mean, like disgusting. The guy is bombing children.”
• Joe notes that the PR optics may be less important than actual outcomes, musing about the nature of negotiations but refusing to give a simple pass:
  • Joe (23:01): “Blah, blah, blah. It gave him a PR coup at home, but I don’t know how big a deal that is. He’s a dictator, for goodness sakes.”

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3. Media Narratives, Halperin’s List, and Political Reality

Summing Up Criticism and Counterpoints

• The hosts reference Mark Halperin’s newsletter analyzing the media’s overwhelmingly negative response to Trump’s summit with Putin.
• Jack (20:09): Reads Halperin’s list of realities (Putin’s leverage, need for European/Ukrainian buy-in, limited US appetite for more war, possible developments like UK troops on the ground, etc.)
• They note the limits of US/European pressure—no one is willing to fully commit militarily:
  • Joe (05:59): “No, nobody’s willing to go that far [put troops on the ground].”
• Halperin suggests the drama is not over, and that it’s irrational to judge the outcome based solely on early optics or the so-far lack of breakthrough:
  • Jack (22:12, paraphrasing Halperin): “If ending the war were easy, Joe Biden would have done it. This is hard stuff unlikely to happen in the first three-hour act of the drama.”

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4. Rubio, Diplomacy, and Negotiation Tactics

Marco Rubio’s Role and Realpolitik

• Audio clip of Rubio proposing that it’s now up to Zelensky, Europe, and hinting at upcoming meetings:
  • Rubio (12:45):
    “Now it’s really up to President Zelinsky to get it done. And I would also say the European nations, they have to get involved a little bit, but it’s up to President Zelensky…”
• Joe and Jack critique Rubio’s approach for being realistic but hard to accept morally.
• Later, Armstrong notes sometimes in big-stakes negotiations (business or foreign), you don’t have the cards and can’t win:
  • Jack (25:58): “Trump was probably sitting, standing there thinking, we don’t have the cards unless we’re willing to go to war for this and put boots on the ground... Who’s going to push him out of there?”

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5. Bigger Picture: Media, Narrative, and Public Perception

Contempt for Mainstream Media

• The hosts mock the performative outrage and lack of nuance in TV news coverage, highlighting the “madness” of snap judgements:
  • Jack (33:44): “Like somebody tweeted this at us. We have no information whatsoever to go off of. So why are you so disappointed?”
• Joe lampoons media for taking misleading photographs/actions out of context just to score points, referencing Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett:
  • Joe (38:19): “We were asked to take that seriously, even though practically every politician that’s ever waved to a crowd… could be caught like [giving a Nazi salute].”

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6. Other Noteworthy Segments & Lighter Moments

Quick News Roundup ("Katie’s Headlines" at 15:12):

• Trump discusses ending war “immediately,” mail-in ballots, and superficial topics before the summit.
• New York City crime crackdown before the meetings.
• Offbeat stories: Height-boosting surgeries for men seeking dates, Cambridge dictionary adding “skibidi,” claims of pregnancy robots, Babylon Bee mocking JB Pritzker.

Notable Quotes:

• Joe (32:22): “We’re gonna keep them off balance, right? It’s to surprise them. We’re gonna confuse them. We’re gonna anger them.”
• Jack (35:27): [After reading a convoluted Foucault quote:] “Whatever. Jackass. … You’d have to be a pudding-headed 18 year old to fall for this bull-ass… Head made of pudding.”

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Notable Quotes by Speaker & Timestamp

• Jack Armstrong (01:23): “You know, there’s never been a meeting like this ever in the history of the world.”
• Joe Getty (03:14): “Surrender.”
• Jack Armstrong (03:22): “He was just Captain Realpolitik on every answer.”
• Joe Getty (06:56): “Except the opposite happened. Trump was forceful… then walked away with no peace deal, no ceasefire, and no consequences.”
• Jack Armstrong (10:19): “As a friend of mine close to government said, I guess just actually unzipping their pants and measuring them would have been unseemly. So they went with the flying the planes overhead.”
• Marco Rubio (12:45): “Now it’s really up to President Zelinsky to get it done. And I would also say the European nations, they have to get involved a little bit, but it’s up to President Zelensky.”
• Sen. Chris Murphy (19:29): “That meeting was a disaster. It was an embarrassment for the United States. It was a failure. Putin got everything he wanted.”
• Jack Armstrong (27:17): “I personally thought the red carpet thing… was disgusting. I mean, like disgusting. The guy is bombing children.”
• Joe Getty (33:59): “Yeah, fair enough. Okay, here’s your freedom loving quote of the day…”

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Key Timestamps for Major Segments

• 00:39–02:41: Show kicks off, explains White House meeting context, historic comparisons
• 02:42–06:45: Trump’s “truth” posts, Rubio “realpolitik,” discussion of Ukraine war realities
• 06:46–10:45: Pageantry, red carpet debate, negotiation optics, “measuring contest” joke
• 11:28–12:41: Joe’s commentary on Trump’s domestic policies vs. foreign affairs
• 12:45–13:15: Marco Rubio clip: “It’s up to President Zelensky… European nations have to get involved…”
• 15:12–17:49: News headlines montage (“Katie’s Headlines”): war, mail-in ballots, NYC crime, offbeat stories
• 19:21–21:01: Chris Murphy’s criticism; reading from Halperin’s newsletter
• 22:03–26:26: Evaluating narratives: Realpolitik, UK involvement, future possibilities
• 27:17–29:43: Final debate on “optics" vs. substance, historic perspective, Kissinger quote
• 32:08–33:44: Mailbag; reflecting on negotiation tactics and personal anecdotes
• 33:44–36:50: More mail, media mockery, Foucault quote roast
• 39:03–39:48: Closing remarks, invitation to listen to the podcast on demand

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Tone & Style

Retaining the show’s hallmarks:

• Conversational, irreverent, but thoughtful: The hosts take complex geopolitics and filter them through skepticism, humor, and personal anecdote.
• Skeptical of both sides: Armstrong & Getty are critical of both Trump and the media, noting flaws in all narratives and urging caution in snap judgments.
• Wry and plain-spoken: Memorable lines like “head made of pudding” and “just give in to the invader” reflect their direct, colloquial style.

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Conclusion

This episode immerses listeners in the wild ride of post-summit analysis, challenging easy narratives and demanding viewers stay critical—of politicians, media, and even their own first impressions. Jack and Joe offer a variety of takes: from “this was disgusting” to “we lack information—let’s see what happens next,” reminding us that history is written over years, not hours.

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To catch up on more updates and lively discussion, search “Armstrong & Getty On Demand.”

Transcript

[Jack Armstrong]

This is an iHeart podcast.

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[Joe Getty]

Broadcasting live from the Abraham Lincoln radio.

[Jack Armstrong]

Studio at the George Washington Broadcast Center.

[Commercial Announcer]

Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty.

[Jack Armstrong]

Armstrong and Getty. And now here's Armstrong and Getty. Too many historic days. Live from Studio C. Si senor. A dimly lit room deep within the bow souls of the Armstrong and Getty communications compound. Hey y'. All. Kicking off a brand new week, at least for me. School starts so the real year, the real serious part of the year gets going today. Wolf. And today we're under the tutelage of our general manager.

[Joe Getty]

Today's hottest pop group, Zielinski in the Euros performing in Washington D.C. today.

[Jack Armstrong]

You know, there's never been a meeting like this ever in the history of the world. That's a claim.

[Joe Getty]

That's a claim and a half, sir. There's you to back that up.

[Jack Armstrong]

There's never even close to been this level of world leaders meet to at the Oval Office before. Now part of it is going back to World War II or whatever. The travel wasn't the same, but even like for the Gulf War or anything like that, they've never had a collection like you're gonna have at the White House today with the leaders of France and Germany and England and Italy and the NATO secretary generals and all that. And Zelensky and Trump and J.D. vance is going to be there. You don't have the cards.

[Joe Getty]

Oh no. It is an absolutely amazing show of diplomatic unity and and by necessity from the point of view of Zelinsky and the Euros, I believe they just can't believe how Putin friendly Trump emerged from the summit and are desperate to get his ear.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, I'll tell you what, I'm not as disgusted as I was Friday. On Friday I was disgusted. But I've been talked down sometimes by like hosts on CNN and MSNBC who had a much more charitable view of the way things turned out in many cases than I did.

[Joe Getty]

Interesting.

[Jack Armstrong]

But Trump truthed out just a couple of hours ago, in case you were asleep. President Zelensky of Ukraine can end the war with Russia immediately if he wants to, or he can continue to fight. Remember how it started? No getting back obama Given Crimea 12 years ago and no going into NATO by Ukraine. Some things never change. But so it sounds like we're going into this meeting today with at least Trump planning to present it as a. Look, you want to end it, you can end it today.

[Joe Getty]

Surrender.

[Jack Armstrong]

Just give in pretty. To pretty much everything Putin wants.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, give in to the invader. Great. That's fine advice.

[Jack Armstrong]

But Marco Rubio was on every talk show yesterday. I can't imagine a more exhausting day than he had because of course, he was hit from a confrontational point of view by every host he was on of every show, but he was just Captain Realpolitik on every answer. It was. Look, I'm not saying it's palatable. I'm not saying it's moral. I'm not saying. I'm not saying it's right. I'm just saying it is what it is. Putin's not giving back the land. Nobody's willing to push him out. Here's where we are. That was his thing all day yesterday.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. I'm anxious to hear more of his interviews. I caught just a little bit over the weekend. Marco. Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's what you've been saying for a long time. When people talk about it's unfair. When people talk about it's unfair that Russia took a chunk of land from a weaker neighbor and blah, blah, blah, and what's it say about the world and all that sort of stuff, which I agree with 100 but you've been saying for a long time you're not going to push him out. No. I mean, no, Ukraine can't. And apparently the world's not willing to help them, so.

[Joe Getty]

Well, Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's where we are.

[Joe Getty]

The time honored words of the bully carry great wisdom. Those words are what are you gonna do about it? Or if you're not willing to do enough about it, it will stand.

[Jack Armstrong]

Or an even briefer version, which my dad outlawed in our home. Well, actually didn't outlaw and I'm our home. When I was a kid, he, he made it clear that if somebody says this, you're asking for whatever happens.

[Joe Getty]

Well, any. Impose sanctions on your oil production too.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's right. Which I skirted by getting to sending oil to my younger brother. Clever bastard. The classic. I mean, this is the classic bully thing. Make me. Right, make me. So that's what Putin's saying. Everybody's, everybody's saying, but. But they took the land in China. What will it look like? And it's not fair. And not since world blah, blah, blah, make me. And nobody's willing to make him leave. I think that's where I got lost. Maybe on Friday. I, I didn't, I didn't like the pageantry. I didn't like the riding in the beast and smiling and waving. I didn't like any of that stuff. Cause might be the worst human being on planet Earth.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

And I just don't like treating him like he's a nice guy. But I maybe lost sight of the fact that nobody's willing to actually fight him and push him out. So let's deal with reality.

[Joe Getty]

I think there are a number of nations that might be willing to go further in the sort of half measures we've seen, more armaments for Ukraine, more financing, that sort of thing. But in terms of putting their own national security or prestige on the line, lending guys going in there and fighting by the Ukrainian sides. No, nobody's willing to go that far.

[Jack Armstrong]

So, you know, now on the, on the stopgap end of it, it looks like all these nations are willing to put their money where their mouth is. There's lots of talk in the last 24 hours of actual having, actually having European troops or NATO troops or guarantees or whatever. But as far as like going in there today and fighting to push Putin out, nobody has stepped up to the plate on that over three years.

[Joe Getty]

Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

What do you think? Since I made a strong ish statement, what do you think of the pageantry and riding in the beast? Do you think that's a big deal or not?

[Joe Getty]

I think if, if it served a purpose, if it was part of a clever strategy, I would be fine with it. In spite of the whole, you know, you've de. Isolated and isolated pariah and given him a platform and, and propaganda at home because, you know, he got heaps of propaganda at home. If it served a greater purpose, I would think, oh, that was clever. Lured him in with the, the pageantry and the flattery, then got him. Except the opposite happened. Trump was forceful, he was Captain Hard ass leading up to it. There's going to be a ceasefire, There will be severe consequences. Got to have a ceasefire to even talk about a bigger peace deal. Then walked away with no peace deal, no ceasefire and no consequences. And singing the praises of his good buddy Vladimir. I thought the whole thing was disgusting. Well, could, could there be plot twists down the road that make it seem like it was a better thought out strategy than it seems right now?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, sure. Well, okay. That's a heck of a thing to say. Like, if I'm going to take the other side, I've been on your side since the moment I watched this thing on Friday. But if I was going to take the other side, it would be. You're judging this based on the first two minutes of the movie. This is a stupid movie. Nobody's died, nobody's gotten married. Nothing has happened. It just started. And to make any judgments about it would be ridiculous. That's what Marco Rubio was saying yesterday.

[Joe Getty]

And I think the strategy of making bold pronouncements with definite limitations and then pretending like they didn't happen 24 hours later that they were never said, and I don't think that's a great way to lead, frankly. But, yeah, absolutely. Things could end up in a much better place than, than they are right now. It is interesting.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's interesting to me that everybody portrays it as Putin being the, you know, the flatterer and getting what he wants, but when Trump does flattery, it's weakness. I don't, you know, because, because Putin saying, you know, this war wouldn't ever have happened if it weren't for you, and all these different sorts of things, you know, sure. And talking about what a great guy Trump is and everything that seen as clever KGB strategy, flattery to get what he wants. But when Trump does the same thing, more or less rolling out the red carpet, treating him as equal and equal to try to get what he wants, it's seen as weakness. I'm not sure that's fair counterpoint.

[Joe Getty]

Putin is 100% not susceptible to that tribe. Yes.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'm very, I'm surprised that Trump thinks he is. I don't know that I agree with that presentation. I hated the red carpet. Shaking it. I like, I like the B2 bombers flying over. Oh, everybody loved that the second they shaked hands. Shook hands. I mean, how did they get the timing on that mean who is on the radio calling in? Okay, it looks like they're going to shake hands in 5, 4, 3. I mean, because the moment they, they, they stand there, it's just the, the most powerful jet in the history of the world flies right over their heads with deafening noise.

[Joe Getty]

Right, right. Well, and the KGB agent looked up, smiled, said, cool planes.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I, I agree with what you, you said. I don't think that has any effect on him. I don't think that makes him. Oh, my God. That's right. They've got the best plane in the world or anything.

[Joe Getty]

I know he got planes. I know how many planes. I know what planes.

[Jack Armstrong]

As a. As a friend of mine close to government said, I guess just actually unzipping their pants and measuring them would have been unseemly. So they went with the flying the planes overhead. Thank God. Yes, we are at home. Or blurring out the scene on CNN as it seems both men have unzipped their pants and now they're measuring their genitalia. And in what can only be seen as an unprecedented move.

[Joe Getty]

So just as another flavor. A little. A little salt in the cake. There's salt in a cake. It balances the sweet. They're sweet in, like, a rub you put on ribs. It's. It's. It's a balance. I just want to make this clear. I just read a long piece. I was thinking about bringing it to the show. It's a little dry, little longish. About this girl who's working in the Equal Opportunity Commission. Uh, she was a Trump appointee. First term, and soon they're gonna have a quorum, and she is enforcing civil rights law like it ought to be enforced. There's no racism. We don't allow racism in the country. There's no woke tei. White people are bad, you know, quotas crap. We're gonna enforce the.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's heroic.

[Joe Getty]

It might save the country, honest to God. And Trump is the engine behind it. He has brought the, you know, the greatest cleaning crew in the world to try to clean all the woke out of America, which I have said is the greatest threat against US Internal self hatred and Marxism. And Trump is leading the war against that. Love him for that. Love him for that. Often hate his foreign policy. I do not have Trump derangement syndrome. I have reality syndrome. Rs. It makes you unhappy all the time, but it's. It's kind of grounding.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, if you. If you're. If you're pro the way Trump has handled this, or not as bothered by it as I was on Friday, I. Like I said, I think I've been talked down somewhat. Mark Halperin's got a very interesting piece today in his newsletter about how there is Trump derangement syndrome out there and attacking how this was handled over the weekend, and we can bring that to you. We should start the show officially. Officially, I'm Jack Armstrong. He's Joe Getty on this. It is Monday, August 18th, first week of school for my kids, the year 2025 where Armstrong and getting we approve of this program.

[Joe Getty]

All right, let's begin then. Officially, according to FCC rules regs. Here we go at mark.

[Marco Rubio]

Now it's really up to President Zelinsky to get it done. And I would also say the European nations, they have to get involved a little bit, but it's up to President Zelensky. I think. We, we are. And if they'd like, I'll be at that next meeting. They're going to set up a meeting now between President Zelensky and President Putin. Myself, I guess, you know, I didn't even, I didn't ask you about it. Not that I want to be there, but I want to make sure it gets done and we, we have a pretty good chance of getting it done.

[Jack Armstrong]

The reporting is that the White House is hoping for a Putin, Zelensky, Trump meeting. The three of them this week. This week.

[Joe Getty]

Wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

Katie's headlines on the way.

[Joe Getty]

Next, Armstrong and Gettysburg.

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[Jack Armstrong]

Wow, that's gonna be some meeting at the White House today. Holy cow. I mean I think there's zero chance. There's not tremendous drama there.

[Joe Getty]

Oh yeah, guaranteed.

[Jack Armstrong]

Is this gonna be like it was last time around where the cameras are there and we're all watching uncomfortably as this plays out loud live? Or is this going to be behind.

[Joe Getty]

The scenes and got to believe that all the visitors are going to say no. Let's, let's, it's got to be close to the Horus.

[Jack Armstrong]

I hope so. I think that makes it better.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. 100. Yeah. Can you imagine all the important negotiations and deals and arguments you've had in your Life if there were cameras rolling plays terrible. All right, here's. Let's figure out who's reporting what. It's the lead story with Katie Green.

[Jack Armstrong]

Katie.

[News Reporter (Katie Green or similar)]

All right, you guys touched on this, but it is the biggest story. ABC News Trump says Zelensky can end Russia war, quote, almost immediately before the White House meeting.

[Jack Armstrong]

See, I'm trying to understand that narrative that Trump's got a game here, but has he ever said that sort of thing about Putin? Putin could end this war today if he stopped the fighting and pulled out. Has he ever said that?

[Joe Getty]

Not that I remember, no.

[News Reporter (Katie Green or similar)]

For the New York Times, Trump says he'll, quote, lead a movement to eliminate mail in ballots.

[Jack Armstrong]

I know he truth that in the middle of the night, I feel his energy level or the way his mind works or whatever. He's got one of the biggest meetings in world history coming up today and he's, you know, truth and about other topics that he's really into. In fact, he truth like a couple hours ago. Just see the new flags that I put outside the entrances. Don't it look great?

[Joe Getty]

Wow.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow.

[Joe Getty]

We'll never hear about the mail in ballot thing again.

[News Reporter (Katie Green or similar)]

From Fox News 68 DC suspects arrested in single night as White House Trumps touts Trump's push to clean up the capital city.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Cool.

[News Reporter (Katie Green or similar)]

From the Guardian. Being short is a curse. Men are paying thousands of dollars to get their legs broken and lengthened.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, yeah. Yep. Online dating, it's right there. You got to be five, 11 or more. Six foot or more. You're a little fella. You got to get your legs stretched. It's terrible that.

[Jack Armstrong]

So they, they actually, they actually have a height thing on. Like, you list your height. I heard that. And then you can filter out so you don't even get a shot. Is like a guy who's 5, 9. If it's somebody who wants somebody 5, 10 or taller, that's total.

[Joe Getty]

You get a lot of lying. And then there's height inflation. The women think, you know, I say six feet, I get a bunch of five, nine guys. I better say six, four. Pretty soon it's only going to be giants. Biblical giants. Who can get a date from the.

[News Reporter (Katie Green or similar)]

New York Post Cambridge Dictionary ripped for adding nonsense slang term skibidi to its database. Quote, english is no longer a language.

[Jack Armstrong]

If I've heard that word a thousand times in the last year, it probably ought to be in the dictionary.

[Joe Getty]

English is no longer a language. Is a little, little hand flappy, frantic there. Calm down, everybody.

[Jack Armstrong]

Give a toilet.

[News Reporter (Katie Green or similar)]

Skippity toilet. This one's also from the New York Post Pregnancy robots could give birth to human children in revolutionary breakthrough.

[Joe Getty]

Oh God, that's not happening.

[Jack Armstrong]

I hope it's not happening.

[News Reporter (Katie Green or similar)]

And finally, from the Babylon Bee, JB Pritzker joins police force in hopes of getting a sandwich thrown at him.

[Joe Getty]

Wow, that is just plain a body shaming. That's disgusting.

[Jack Armstrong]

Who had the greatest defense of Donald Trump's weekend? Mark Halpern in his newsletter. I think you'll find that pretty interesting among other things on the way. Stay with us.

[Joe Getty]

Armstrong and Gettysburg.

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[Senator Chris Murphy]

That meeting was a disaster. It was an embarrassment for the United States. It was a failure. Putin got everything he wanted. I mean first of all he wanted.

[Jack Armstrong]

That photo op, right?

[Senator Chris Murphy]

He wanted to be absolved of his war crimes in front of the world. He was invited to the United States. War criminals are not normally invited to the United States of America. He is intentionally murdering civilians. He's kidnapping children. And now he got to stand next to the President of the United States. United States legitimized in the view of the world.

[Jack Armstrong]

So Senator Chris Murphy, Democrat, just wanted to play a little bit of what the, you know, the other side was saying about this all weekend long. A lot of it was a disaster. And then you go through the numbers of ways it was a disaster. I was pretty unhappy with the result on Friday. I've been talked down by, you know, variety of pundits that I like over the weekend somewhat. But I want to read to you from Mark Halperin's newsletter today, which I thought was really interesting. First, he does a list of all the negative things various news outlets have said about the way things went on Friday. And then he says, here's the actual list and the way you ought to look at it. One, Putin shows no signs of losing the war, losing public opinion at home, or stopping on his own. He has leverage that Trump can't just talk him out of. Two, Trump is closely coordinating with Ukraine and Europe, whose leaders announced that they are joining Zelensky on D.C. on Monday. This was written the other day. Obviously, Trump can't make a unilateral deal without Europe and Ukraine on board, and he knows that. So any coming up with a deal while Europe and Zelensky aren't there, how is that ever going to happen?

[Joe Getty]

Oh, that was never going to happen. Right.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, that's. They got hammered on that all weekend. Every talk show you got, you accomplished nothing. You did not get a deal. Well, as Halpern's pointing out, how is he going to make a deal without Zelinsky there or the EU to say, yeah, we agree, and yeah, that's the.

[Joe Getty]

Mainstream media asking the wrong question or making the wrong accusation, as usual. But on you go, that's fine for Trump.

[Jack Armstrong]

Can't suddenly change public or congressional opinion to be in favor of unlimited American taxpayer funding, friend, lendless war. There's just not enough backing to go that direction, as a number of people want, a number of. Anyway, liberal media hosts want. Trump has now suggested the possibility of US Security guarantees for Ukraine. The British say they will put boots on the ground. These are very, very big developments from the we got nothing, Trump got everything camp. I would say possible British boots on the ground in Ukraine. That's not what Putin wants.

[Joe Getty]

Right? Yeah, I just. The whole thing's been so. I mean, I mean, one of my main objections to the way Trump approached it, then what happened was that the entire description of what needed to happen, what ought to happen, the strategy just evaporated in thin air. Nothing that was said before matters now, and so nothing that was said subsequently matters now either. I have no idea what to believe.

[Jack Armstrong]

You either agree with this one or not. Trump gave Putin a grand show in Alaska. That was meaningless pomp. And if making the Russia dictator feel like a big guy helps get a deal, it was the smartest and cheapest red carpet treatment ever, basically with no downside.

[Joe Getty]

He says it won't, but is there really a downside?

[Jack Armstrong]

I didn't like the look of it, but is it actually. You tried to flatter him. It didn't work. Is there a, is that a no harm, no foul or is that a giant deal that he got the red car treatment?

[Joe Getty]

Blah, blah, blah, blah. It gave him a PR coup at home, but I don't know how big a deal that is. He's a dictator, for goodness sakes.

[Jack Armstrong]

Exactly.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah. These, you know, it's funny. Well, go ahead. I'll let you.

[Jack Armstrong]

If ending the war were easy, Joe Biden would have done it. This is hard stuff unlikely to happen in the first three hour act of the drama. That gets.

[Joe Getty]

Again, I have to disagree. Joe Biden didn't even do the easy stuff.

[Jack Armstrong]

That gets to my. The movie just started. So Trump can in a flash bring back sanctions or military aid to Ukraine if Putin won't budge sufficiently for Europe and Kiev. But emphasizing such steps publicly now is not conducive to getting an agreement. The where are the sanctions you promised the where are the this and that. He could do that at 3 this afternoon. It's not off the table forever because it didn't happen on Friday.

[Joe Getty]

I think that's right. Has, did anybody put it direct? Did Hannity put it directly to Trump? Why is your stance now so different than it was going into the meeting?

[Jack Armstrong]

I haven't heard that put.

[Joe Getty]

Was there something brand new that you're told?

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, I think I have an answer to that, but let me finish this list. All right, one more. Sadly, no one can expect Putin to make a deal to stop without giving him stuff in exchange, including Ukrainian land that's getting to Marco Rubio's real politic all day long yesterday. You might not like it, it might not be moral, blah, blah, blah, but here's where we are. And Halperin wrote, I don't know if the fact that the news coverage and commentary is almost entirely informed by the by the first list is because of hatred for Trump or something else. But this is madness to look at the way the mainstream media is looking at it, according to Mark Halperns nonpartisan opinion on it. What was the thing you brought up? I said I had an answer to has anybody.

[Joe Getty]

Has Trump gotten a new piece of information or something like that? Because I suspect Halperin is working to preserve his access to Trump. Honestly, those are. Those are. He was responding to the media there, which is fair enough, but he's not responding to Trump. See, I'm judging it by Trump's own descriptions and only his descriptions and, and I can't figure out what the hell happened.

[Jack Armstrong]

I think based on things Rubio said and some of the reporting that's out there that they got in the room. And it became very clear very fast that Putin wasn't budging on a couple of things that Trump maybe foolishly thought he would budge on.

[Joe Getty]

Fair enough.

[Jack Armstrong]

You know, maybe you can knock Trump for going in there thinking there was ever a chance that Putin was going to give on some of these things. But I think he went in there thinking, at least, you know, we've got this to discuss. And Putin made it clear, no, this is not even. We're not even. We're not even. I'm not even going to talk about this.

[Joe Getty]

Right. I'll fight till the end of time before I let that happen, that sort of thing. Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

One thing, if I was going to give Trump any some benefit of the doubt on this was having him having done a lot of deals in his life is sometimes you realize, I mean, the whole, you don't have the cards. Trump was probably sitting, standing there thinking, we don't have the cards unless we're willing to go to war for this and put boots on the ground and actually fight. He says he's not giving up the land. Who's, who's going to push him out of there.

[Joe Getty]

Well, yeah, and honestly, the fact that nothing happened is not that significant because look how quickly the follow up meeting came. So now he's gonna meet with the Euros and Zelensky and try to figure out, all right, what are you willing to do? What are we all willing to do to push Putin off and then appraise whether it's adequate to the task or not? Again, I'm keeping an open mind because often the route to the best possible outcome is rocky and confusing and maybe people will say things and go back on them later, but that's the nature of things. Again, I don't have Trump derangement, syndro. I just, it was judging the thing on Trump's own terms and it was very, very different than he described.

[Jack Armstrong]

But here we go.

[Joe Getty]

Next step.

[Jack Armstrong]

I personally thought the red carpet thing, riding, riding in the beast, smiling, waving thing was disgusting. I mean, like disgusting. The guy is bombing children.

[Joe Getty]

What.

[Jack Armstrong]

What the hell are you doing? You know what? Yeah, I don't, I just don't get that.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, it's funny, that bothered me less than the, the little speech he gave afterward, the ad lib speech about how well they get along and, you know, how, what a good guy is and an important power rush is. It's like, what the hell? But again, maybe that's the sort of flattery that comes in the midst of negotiation. I don't know.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. And not to lean on this one newsletter too much, which I probably am. Mark halperin did top 10 Oval Office disasters in US history and Trump Zielinski was in there. But he also had a bunch of them that I'd never heard of. Churchill and Truman, Kennedy and Khrushchev. A bunch. And I think his point was these things happened that at the time everybody thought was the biggest deal in the world. But you've never even heard of them, have you? Because they ultimately didn't mean that much. The little blow up today. I think we'll have a lot more clarity by the end of the day. I did want to throw this in. Do I have time to throw this in? Yeah, I think here. I've said this before. I don't think I've ever explained properly. I'm a big Henry Kissinger fan and he was the giant of foreign diplomacy. Like my entire lifetime, up until his death a couple of years ago. Every president would call him up when they were in a sticky situation, whether it was Clinton and Obama or the Bushes or whoever they would call Henry Kissinger. He. He ran the foreign policy for the Nixon Admin. And he one time talked about the problem with the media and leaks and all that sort of stuff and how that gets in the way of diplomacy and why you've either gotta keep stuff secret or try to ignore this. And he said, these are relationships. And it's just like if you had a love relationship, but you had all the leaks and media commentary on the side disrupting it. How would two people ever come together in love? If you had, you know, you got a guy and a girl that are flirting with each other, she's kind of hoping he asked her out or whatever and he got somebody yelling. Do you realize he's not over his last girlfriend? Have you heard reports he's not over his last girlfriend. Have you heard reports that she had an abortion in high school? Is that true or not? You know, just stuff like that.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

They would never come together. It would be impossible. And that very same dynamic can happen with this stuff.

[Joe Getty]

I agree. Well said, Dr. Kissinger.

[Jack Armstrong]

And so that's why sometimes they don't. You don't. Rubio saying yesterday, you don't know everything that's going on behind the scenes. And I'm not going to comment on that. Right. In fact, we got a clip of that. I think it was a. He was on every show yesterday. I think it was a person on Face and Nation saying, but you haven't explained Anything that's been gotten, he said no. And I'm not going to explain anything that has happened yet because we're in the middle of negotiations.

[Joe Getty]

Right? Right. And fair enough. I don't reject that at all. And you should not reject this at all. Friends, a word from our friends at trust and will get security and a peace of mind. And peace. Not a peace of mind. Peace of mind by making an estate plan now, do not doom the people you care about to lengthy and expensive legal battles or the stinking government deciding what happens to your assets after you go get a secure estate plan now. It's very affordable.

[Jack Armstrong]

A friend of his said he's only interested in you for your. For the sex. Your response. That would make it very difficult is the point. So this is what you want to do. You want to get started on this today. You can do it. It's got all the encryption, if you're worried about that sort of stuff, to keep everything a secret. Live customer support through chat, phone, or email to make you be able to pull this off. And it's customized for your state laws and everything like that. Imagine the peace of mind you'll have once you get this going.

[Joe Getty]

And here's your headline. You can create and manage your custom estate plan starting at $199. Secure your assets, protect your loved ones with trust and will so affordable. And you get 20% off on your estate plan documents by visiting trustandwill.com Armstrong. That's trustandwill.com Armstrong.

[Jack Armstrong]

I was. I followed it all on Friday. I was disgusted by the end of the day. Like I said, I've been talked down from my disgust somewhat. We had an agent who was a New York guy who kind of reminds me of the way Trump deals. And we were often flustered, flummoxed, angry, like, trying to figure out what his bargaining situation was. It was just like. It was. It was. It was so opaque trying to figure.

[Joe Getty]

Out what was going on, what the strategy was.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right. Yeah. And I don't know.

[Joe Getty]

It turned out to be completely ineffective, and we fired him.

[Jack Armstrong]

I don't know if that was. It's that. But. But in terms of the tactic, I don't know if that's a New York thing or what.

[Joe Getty]

We're gonna keep them off balance, right? It's to surprise them. We're gonna confuse them. We're gonna anger them.

[Jack Armstrong]

And then get no results. That's what we're gonna write.

[Joe Getty]

All right. So good story, though.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay. We've got email, a mailbag coming up, and a bunch of other stuff. Stay here.

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[Jack Armstrong]

Like somebody tweeted this at us. We have no information whatsoever to go off of. So why are you so disappointed? I guess that was Mark Halpern's point. We have very little information at this point. We're going to get a lot more information today, there's no doubt.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, fair enough. Okay, here's your freedom loving quote of the day. You know what's funny is I decided to to chase down a quote from the infamous Michel Foucault, the French philosopher who brought us Critical theory.

[Jack Armstrong]

Boy, I did a deep dive on him the other day. Gay gentleman, died of aids. Super rich, grew up, hated his parents.

[Joe Getty]

Oh yeah, the typical revolutionary. Absolutely. This is the guy at the heart of. He is the fee is the George Washington of DEI and critical theory and radical gender theory and queer theory and the rest of it. And you know, I was gonna come up with some anti freedom loving quotes of the day from this joker because I want to let everybody, I want everybody know who he is and that he's at the heart of all this crap. But it's so incoherent.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's what everybody says is that his incoherent. His most famous books are impossible to read. Why, why are all the like the Marx's book and stuff. Why are they also impossible to read? And then people latch onto Mein Kampf's impossible to read.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, well, yeah, terrible. So. But I went with this one. Penal law was not created by the common people, nor by the peasantry, nor by the proletariat, but entirely by the bourgeoisie as important tactical weapon in this system of divisions which they wish to introduce.

[Jack Armstrong]

Whatever.

[Joe Getty]

Whatever. Jackass. Yeah, please don't steal from me. Yes, the. The bourgeoisie came up with that because simple villagers loved being stolen from. They loved seeing their women raped. They liked being murdered. It's a good point, Michelle. Thanks for that great philosophy. God, you'd have to be a pudding headed 18 year old to fall for this bull ass. Holy cow. More on that later. Pass the Tylenol head made of pudding. Mailbag. Oh, my gosh. We got a ton of really critical emails about Trump in Alaska from our beloved folks. Why didn't he get up and leave after 2 minutes? Rights. Sideshow Bob writes.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, Some of my favorite pundits like, he should have. Even if he sat down and had the meeting, he should have left immediately thereafter, not stood up there with Putin and let him ramble on with his boss.

[Joe Getty]

Yeah, we're gonna play some Marco for you next hour. But let's see. Phil writes, I was appalled at how pathetic Marco's excuses for the fiasco in Alaska came across. Thought his body language expressed conflict. Sounded completely different from his speaking style as a senator. I didn't take it sounded whiny and pathetic.

[Jack Armstrong]

You did.

[Joe Getty]

Foreign policy then and now. Walk softly and carry a big stick versus boast loudly and swing wildly, harming allies and emboldening adversaries. We'll have to see. That's very critical. Let's see. Rich says, was he waving a piece of paper declaring peace for our time?

[Jack Armstrong]

Briefly.

[Joe Getty]

It could be.

[Jack Armstrong]

Talk loudly and hope it works because you have no cards.

[Joe Getty]

It could be. And no stick. Well, no stick you're willing to use. Yeah. How about the tens of thousands of stolen Ukrainian children?

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

And then Marina from San Diego wants me to do my Russian accent with Putin making excuses. That sounds amusing. Maybe later. More importantly, Tom writes, gents and lady, I saw a cyber truck with a goat in a custom cage in the bed the other day. I thought, that has to be Jack Armstrong. First I thought, that has to be Joe Getty. Then I remembered people always get you guys mixed up. That's correct. It's Jack who has that truck. Even if it wasn't you, Jack, I get a huge kick out of seeing a goat in the bed of a cyber truck. Confirmed. Denied. Doesn't matter. Have a great week.

[Jack Armstrong]

I do own a cyber truck and have many goats. I'm a goat adjacent. Yes.

[Joe Getty]

And then a reminder of how moronic the media is. And we all need to take a moment to contemplate this. It's a headline about Jasmine Crockett, the mouthy, phony Houston Congress lady who gets into drawing matches with Marjorie Taylor Greene, et cetera, et cetera.

[Jack Armstrong]

And everyone knows it.

[Joe Getty]

It's a headline about a disagreement she has with the the Texas governor. But it's immaterial because the photo, she's talking to a crowd and waving to him and she's giving a freaking Nazi salute. I mean, it is in a still frame. I mean like a good stiff Heil Hitler salute.

[Jack Armstrong]

Nazi Germany.

[Joe Getty]

Do you remember when we were actually asked that seriously? When Elon Musk waved through a crowd and somebody took a pic and it's a can you imagine? We were asked to take that seriously, even though practically every politician that's ever waved to a crowd, you know, could be caught like that. So cannot have enough contempt for those people in the mainstream media.

[Jack Armstrong]

Interested in your thoughts on Friday where you are on that? We got a lot of other stuff to talk about too. If you missed a segment, get the podcast Armstrong and Getty on Demand.

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Armstrong.

[Joe Getty]

And Getty.

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[Jack Armstrong]

This is an I Heart podcast.