I Paid For Those Sheets!

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand: Episode Summary – "I Paid For Those Sheets!"

Release Date: April 11, 2025

In the "I Paid For Those Sheets!" episode of the Armstrong & Getty On Demand podcast, hosts Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty delve deep into pressing geopolitical issues, primarily focusing on the intensifying trade war between the United States and China, and the escalating tensions surrounding Iran's nuclear ambitions. Interspersed with humor and personal anecdotes, the episode offers listeners a comprehensive analysis of current international relations and their potential ramifications.

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1. The Intensifying U.S.-China Trade War

The episode opens with a robust discussion on the escalating trade tensions between the U.S. and China. Recently, the U.S. imposed a staggering 145% tariff on Chinese goods entering the American market, while China retaliated with a 125% tariff on U.S. exports. This tit-for-tat escalation has sent shockwaves through global markets, notably causing the Dow Jones Industrial Average to tumble.

Key Points Discussed:

• Economic Impact: The significant tariffs have led to increased costs for consumers, as evidenced by the appearance of "tariff surcharge" lines on receipts from major retailers like Walmart and online platforms like Amazon.
• Political Repercussions: Marco Rubio praises President Trump's efforts, highlighting the necessity of "reordering the world in a proper way" to counteract China's long-standing economic maneivers.
• Media Perspectives: The hosts analyze varying media takes, from CNN's negative spin on the trade war's impact on the global economy to the Wall Street Journal's editorial board emphasizing the enduring damage despite a temporary pause in tariffs.

Notable Quotes:

Marco Rubio [05:01]:
"...reordering the world in a proper way. For 31 years, multiple administrations have allowed the Chinese to deindustrialize this country, take away jobs and factories...what you're doing now is a great service to our country."

Wall Street Journal Editorial Board [11:18]:
"The tariffs that continue, 10% on all other countries and 145% on China are the largest tax increase on the American people since 1982."

2. Potential Military Conflict with Iran Over Nuclear Weapons

Shifting focus to Middle Eastern geopolitics, the hosts engage in a detailed conversation about the looming threat of Iran acquiring nuclear weapons. President Trump has signaled a hardline stance, warning of unprecedented military action if Iran persists in its nuclear pursuits.

Insights from Military Expert Mike Lyons:

• Historical Context: Lyons draws parallels to past conflicts, such as Israel's strikes on Syria and Iraq to dismantle their nuclear capabilities, emphasizing the complexity and potential chaos of such military interventions.
• Strategic Challenges: He outlines the difficulties in completely neutralizing Iran's dispersed nuclear infrastructure, suggesting that military action might only set back their capabilities rather than eliminate them entirely.
• Geopolitical Consequences: The discussion touches on the broader implications of a U.S.-Iran conflict, including possible involvement from other nations like Russia and the destabilizing effect on the Middle East.

Notable Quotes:

Jack Armstrong [25:45]:
"We can't have North Korea, Iran, Russia, China grabbing citizens off the street and then getting back scumbag criminals in return. We gotta end that somehow."

Mike Lyons [26:40]:
"I believe that should at the end of two months here, you're not going to see any more progress. Iran has no intention of getting rid of their nuclear capability and it's going to force the hand of the master negotiator..."

3. U.S. Foreign Policy and Military Strategy

The episode delves into the broader implications of U.S. foreign policy and military strategy amidst these international tensions. The hosts and their guest discuss the balance between diplomatic negotiations and the threat of military action, highlighting the delicate equilibrium the U.S. must maintain to assert its stance without plunging into full-scale conflict.

Discussion Highlights:

• Deterrence vs. Diplomacy: The conversation underscores the importance of deterrence in preventing hostile actions, while also acknowledging the critical role of diplomatic efforts in resolving conflicts.
• Military Readiness: Lyons comments on the current state of U.S. military preparedness, particularly regarding naval capabilities in the Pacific, and the need for modernization to effectively counter emerging threats.
• Global Stability: The hosts ponder the potential for a broader conflict, including the risk of triggering a third World War should tensions with China or Iran escalate uncontrollably.

Notable Quotes:

Mike Lyons [32:20]:
"It's a war for the ages right now because it would have to be much bigger than any other kind of attack that Israel did before when they took out a nuclear capability of another country."

Jack Armstrong [37:46]:
"If China moves on Taiwan, we're probably just going to have to say, okay."

4. Interlude: Personal Anecdotes and Humor

Interspersed with the heavy geopolitical discourse, Jack Armstrong shares lighthearted personal stories from his childhood, including his obsessive attempts to set Guinness World Records. These anecdotes provide a relatable and humorous respite from the intense discussions on international politics.

Highlights:

• Guinness World Records Attempts: Jack recounts his youthful endeavors, such as trying to live in a cardboard box and balancing Jenga pieces in his mouth, illustrating his competitive spirit and penchant for humor.
• Daily Struggles: Humorous takes on mundane challenges, like spilling coffee on his sheets and the frustration with poorly designed travel mugs, add a personal touch to the episode.

5. Conclusion and Teasers for Future Episodes

As the episode wraps up, Armstrong and Getty tease upcoming discussions, including potential interviews with military experts like Mike Lyons and deeper dives into issues like military purges and foreign policy challenges. They encourage listeners to stay tuned for more insightful and engaging content.

Notable Closing Remarks:

Jack Armstrong [39:57]:
"Contemplating World War Three on Friday. Enough of that, enough of that. Got some great text on a variety of topics and some other fun stuff to get to stay here."

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Final Thoughts

"I Paid For Those Sheets!" offers a balanced mix of serious geopolitical analysis and engaging personal stories, making complex international issues accessible and relatable to listeners. Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty skillfully navigate through the nuances of the U.S.-China trade war and the precarious situation with Iran, providing valuable insights backed by expert opinions and firsthand commentary.

For those seeking a comprehensive understanding of current global tensions coupled with a dose of humor, this episode serves as a compelling listen.

Transcript

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[Jack Armstrong]

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[Donald Trump]

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[Jack Armstrong]

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[Colby Ekowitz]

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[Colby Ekowitz]

We've all done it. You see a headline but don't have time to read the whole story or there's so much news you're not sure what is worth your time. I'm Colby Ekowitz, co host of Post Reports, the weekday afternoon podcast from the Washington Post. Post Reports brings you what's relevant and revealing. Breaking stories, politics, wellness, culture. Each episode goes beyond a headline for the context you need. Find Post Reports now wherever you're listening. Broadcasting live from the Abraham Lincoln Radio Studio at the George Washington Broadcast Center.

[Jack Armstrong]

Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty. Armstrong and Getty. And now here's Armstrong and getting.

[Mike Lyons]

Any.

[Donald Trump]

Steps for China, sir?

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, we'll see what happens with China. We would love to be able to work a deal.

[Donald Trump]

They've really taken advantage of our country.

[Jack Armstrong]

For a long period of time.

[Donald Trump]

They've ripped us off beyond anybody.

[Jack Armstrong]

Nobody. How people stood for it sitting in my position is not even believable. And we're talking about many presidents not just a couple, but they did. And all we're doing is putting it back in shape. We're resetting the table. So that's from the Cabinet meeting that they had yesterday. We got some more audio from that coming up in just a second. But in case you're not hip to a couple of the developments that happened in the last 24 hours, the market was reacting and people were talking about tariffs on all Chinese goods being at 125%. I think, anyway, Trump pointed out later in the day, no, no, it's actually 145%. So I'm adding this to the other thing that I had like a month ago or whatever. So the tariff on all Chinese goods coming into the United States, the stuff on all the shelves in Walmart or the buy on Amazon, that's from China, 145% right now. And as soon as that news was clarified, the Dow tumbled quite a bit yesterday as everybody caught onto that. And then overnight, Sheriff China announced their raising their tariff on all U.S. goods coming into their country to 125%. So 145 coming to the U.S. 125 going into China. That is a full blown trade war between the two biggest economies that have ever existed on the planet. So that's that situation. Got some more commentary from a variety of people on that. How that's going to play out, I have no idea and neither does anybody else. I don't think Trump is betting his entire presidency on a good outcome. No doubt. Marco Rubio, pretty serious guy. He was asked about this yesterday in the cabinet meeting. This is what he said.

[Donald Trump]

Well, Mr. President, one of the most important things I believe you'll achieve in your presidency is, is reordering the world in a proper way. For 31 years, more than 31 years now, multiple administrations have allowed the Chines to deindustrialize this country, to take away jobs and factories and pillars of our national strength. And what you're doing now, I think is a great service to our country, but ultimately to the world. And I want to congratulate you and your team that's working on that because that has extraordinary geopolitical implications, as you see from all these other countries that are now coming here and wanting to join something, the next generation. It's just crazy to allow these. I mean, basically we lived in a world where country Chinese companies can do whatever they want in America, but our companies cannot do anything over there unless they allow it. And even then they steal our stuff and reverse engineer it.

[Jack Armstrong]

It.

[Donald Trump]

So just Reordering all that has dramatic implications on the peace and security of the world. So we thank you.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. China has been ripping off the entire world. And since we're the biggest economy, it affected us the most for a very, very long time. Acknowledging that, I'm all for, I think it's a good idea whether this total tariff thing is what's going to fix that. I don't have any idea. This story got a lot of attention yesterday. I feel like it's overblown. This is from ABC News.

[Colby Ekowitz]

Already consumers are feeling the effects. One shopper for athletic wear spotting something different on an invoice from a recent order. A new line that says tariff surcharge $16.62.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Okay, so one place, somewhere they put on the receipt tariff surcharge. I saw that on like eight different news sources yesterday. Okay. Is that sweeping the nation? Are lots of businesses doing that? Because I saw the same one over and over again. So come on, news, if that's the only one in the country, it means nothing. If, if you, if we all start seeing that on receipts, obviously it means a lot. But the Trump hating media loved that story. How about this? This is a person on CNN also with a negative spin on it. The global economy, from inflation numbers that we've got, it's slowing.

[Mike Lyons]

It's going to get worse.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's going to get much worse because everybody has to readjust their supply lines.

[Mike Lyons]

To accommodate this new reality.

[Jack Armstrong]

So that's that side of it. How about we hear the other side of it, people who think this is going to work. Maria Bartiromo on Hannity last night 54. Michael, President Trump is not going to back down on this because at this point we all know who the adversary slash enemy is. And the US Consumer is paramount here. China needs to sell of those products that they're producing for the world to the very powerful US Consumer. So if China wants to keep doubling.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Down, it is not going to be.

[Jack Armstrong]

Good for the Chinese economy. The economy there right now is a lot weaker than people know. And this huge tariff on its products.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Is not going to be good.

[Jack Armstrong]

Man, it's a heck of a thing for the world economy. The two biggest economies locked in a trade war in a situation where there are two men and two men only really that are, you know, playing a game of chicken and staring each other down. She and Trump, it's, you wouldn't think this many trillions of dollars could be on the line and in the hands of or in the minds of just two guys. It's really quite extraordinary. We like Victor David Hansen, historian and farmer, which he's very proud of. This is how he thinks it's going to play out if Donald Trump can cut a deal with one major player. And I think that Scott Besant can, preferably in Europe, because what he's basically saying, if it's reciprocal or no tariffs, zero tariffs, they're going to want to make a deal, just one or two major players. And I think all the rest will follow. And China's not going to like that. I don't claim to know anything about this sort of stuff. I do kind of get the geopolitics of it, though. And I could certainly believe that she thinks that united, because he doesn't. They don't. You know, communists don't believe in democracies, don't believe democracies work because authoritarianism is the way to go because then you can make all these important decisions that the populace is not smart enough to understand. So she thinks that there will be enough political pressure and enough negative news on this that Trump will back down. I think Trump is the rare, rarest of rare birds. We're talking about profiles and lack of courage with Kamala Harris, last hour with Lonnie. Jen, if you didn't hear that, get the podcast Armstrong and Getty on demand. But it is a profile encourage, perhaps some of you think misplaced, but it is a profile encourage to lay your entire presidency on the line for this. And I think Trump will stick with it and not blink in the way the President Xi thinks. And maybe at some point President Xi realizes, wow, this guy is crazy enough to take this clear to the wall. We got to do something. We got to, we got to call him up and make a deal. I hope that's what happens. Was there one more clip that I wanted to have? I thought I had one more. I don't know. I don't know. Maybe later. I didn't want to hit you with this. From the Wall Street Journal, one more time. This is from the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal. What investors know is that the trade war is far from over and damage persists even with the 90 day pause. The tariffs that continue, 10% on all other countries and 145% on China are the largest tax increase on the American people since 1982. They're bigger than Bill Clinton's 1993 tax increase and George H.W. bush's in 1990. Taxes, of course, are anti growth, says the Wall Street Journal. Trump believes that it is worth it. I'll play one more clip for you. This is Trump and the term he's using to describe this clip 40 if you would, Michael. Clip 40. This is Trump describing what this is. He's not denying that there's going to be this giant tax using my finger quotes on the American people. He's just saying it's part of the plan.

[Donald Trump]

Which clip was that?

[Jack Armstrong]

40. So we think we're in very good shape. We think we're doing very well. Again, there'll be a transition cost and transition problems, but in the end it's going to be, it's going to be a beautiful thing. We're doing again, what we should have done many years ago. We let it get out of control and we allowed some countries to get very big and very rich at our.

[Donald Trump]

Expense and not going to, can't let that happen.

[Jack Armstrong]

It's not a sustainable formula. Transition costs, which I guarantee will be mocked greatly by the left as these higher prices start to hit in the next days, weeks, months. I don't know how long that's going to take. You're going to hear that over and over again in a mocking way. The Biden administration tried to pretend that inflation wasn't real and wasn't happening. Trump's going with the yeah, this is going to happen and it's going to be painful, but it's a transition we have to go through to, to get where we want to be and get China to back down and we'll see if he's right or not. But so that's what we all get to look forward to in the spring and the summer. Maybe change your vacation plans or not. I don't know. Actually, there's some news out in the Wall Street Journal today that just came out in the last couple hours about consumer confidence. That is really not good. Maybe we'll get to that at a different time. Stay with us, Armstrong and Getty.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Every day our world gets a little more connected, but a little further apart. But then there are moments that remind us to be more human.

[Colby Ekowitz]

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[Jack Armstrong]

Hey, I was just in an accident.

[Colby Ekowitz]

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[Ryan Seacrest]

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[Colby Ekowitz]

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[Colby Ekowitz]

There's an efficient way to get caught up on a lot of news. It's called the seven from the Washington Post. It's a newsletter and podcast. Whether you're reading or hit play, you get seven stories you need to know and you can consume it all in just a few minutes. The 7 is out every weekday morning by 7:00am Eastern. I'm Hannah Jewell. I'm one of the writers and I host the show. Find the seven podcast wherever you're listening. The newsletter link is waiting for you in the show notes.

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[Donald Trump]

That's right. Trump's getting his physical tomorrow and while I'm sure his doctors will be very thorough, I wanted to ask him some questions myself. So if. If you don't mind. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you for talking to us about your health. First off, how much do you weigh?

[Jack Armstrong]

That's classified information.

[Donald Trump]

Understood. But how would you describe yourself?

[Jack Armstrong]

I'm a perfect physical specimen. And I'm very, very young.

[Donald Trump]

It says here you're getting a prostate exam. How's that going to go for you?

[Jack Armstrong]

You are going to hear the wailing and shrieking.

[Donald Trump]

Okay, that's enough. Now, forgive me for asking, but are.

[Jack Armstrong]

You getting up a lot at night to urinate? It goes drip, drip, drip.

[Donald Trump]

Okay.

[Jack Armstrong]

Just for our record, can you.

[Donald Trump]

Tell me the name of your doctor?

[Jack Armstrong]

Dr. Hannibal Lecter. Okay, very good.

[Donald Trump]

And who would you like to put as your emergency contact there? Your wife, Elon Musk. Okay.

[Jack Armstrong]

So that's always exciting every year. Well, it has been for the last couple of terms, because we have such ancient presidents. Wasn't really a big deal when it was Barack Obama or George H.W. bush. You looked at him and thought, okay, you're about 50, and you look to be in really good shape, so what do I care? You get in physical. But now that we got really, really old presidents, it's kind of interesting. I wonder how honest they'll be about his height and weight and blood pressure and everything. Of course, they weren't honest about Joe Biden's mental capacity at all. Some texts we got coming in. Oh, first I wanted to mention the. How about that ballerina we got back from Russia? That story is interesting. Maybe we'll talk more about that later. We. We traded a scumbag criminal Russian to Vladimir to get back this ballerina whose crime was she donated $54 to a Ukrainian cause. Yep. And Russia grabbed her for 12 years. Going to put her in a Russian prison for 12 years. And she's young. We. We got to put a stop to that. We can't have North Korea, Iran, Russia, China grabbing citizens off the street. And then they get back scumbag criminals in return. We gotta end that somehow. But different topic for a different time from the text line. I was talking a fair amount about corporate training, because I spent a couple hours doing that yesterday. Not a complaint about the company I work for. Every company does it. I realize they're forced to do it. It's not their choice. But we all know it's a complete waste of time, and I. It's one of the things I wish Doge could get rid of. It is unproductive. It's a waste of money. And we all know, and you know it. And then when you tell your boss you finished the training, he knows it's a waste of time. Or she and their boss knows it's a waste of time. Yet we all do it. We got texts from people in different areas of work. Oh, we talked about how they're. Why are they so long? And I said that maybe they have to be a certain length. Yes. Actually it's legislated that some mandatory training be at least a particular length, like two hours or whatever. No mention of mastery of the topic or what you learned, just the amount of time spent. Oh, for crying out loud. How government is that? It doesn't matter whether you actually learned anything or it's accomplishing anything. It's just got to be this length. An hour and 20 minutes to prove that you've. Yeah, because the government says so. I hate this sort of thing so much. We got this text, I just got to work an hour early to do harassment training for the third time every year, three times a year. Even though studies show it doesn't accomplish anything. If anything it leads to more sexual harassment. But it doesn't. I assume you all know this, but I'll say it for the 80 millionth time, it's to keep the lawyers at bay. If they give this sexual harassment training and you get you sexually harass somebody, you can't go to the company and say, I didn't know I wasn't supposed to slap her on the ass. And then you sue the company for a million dollars and a jury full of morons. And that's why we are always yes, serve on juries. Don't try to get out of jury duty because you don't want morons who say the company owes this guy millions of dollars because he claims he didn't know he wasn't supposed to slap her on the ass because he didn't get any training. That's why we're doing all this training to avoid those lawsuits. Very, very maddening. Different topic. I brought up how I spilled coffee all over my chest on the way to work like I often do because I can't drink out of most travel mugs. I just, they don't work for me. And I've gotten a bunch of texts from people who have had the same problem, who really like some of them. The Zorushi Zojirushi 16 ounce stainless steel mug. It's the best. The lid opens past 180 degrees so that your nose has space. Everybody had the same complaint as me. If the flip up lid is doesn't fold back far enough, your Nose gets in the way. So you have to tip the cup up so high to drink out of it. You're not looking at the roads. You can't drink it while you drive your car. I'm looking at this thing. Still. Still some head tipping required. Okay. Other people suggested the Stanley mug. That is very, very good. It's like 40 bucks. Or the Brumate. I'm not advertising any of these. The Brumate specifically because the lid flops all the way back so you can drink out of your coffee mug. So not.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Okay.

[Jack Armstrong]

This one looks like it might be a winner. Yeah. Yeah, there you go. I just want to point out I'm not the only person that has noticed that flaw in the design of the little thing that flips up. Look at. Look at this one. My nose right there. That's how far I can tip the thing. You can't drink coffee like that. No, you cannot. You gotta tip your head way back. That is a cash. Oh, it's a. Yeah, it's a catastrophe. This is tragic.

[Donald Trump]

Yeah, I recommend the yeti.

[Jack Armstrong]

You like that? Yeah, my wife has them. We use them all the time. They're not cheap. This is. You're drinking out of a 30 Starbucks mug that you don't like. That's true. And the yeti is $30. So we're gonna talk to Mike Lyons coming up a little bit. Been wanting to get him on for weeks. We could talk about the fact that we're gonna bomb the crap out of Iran soon. We could talk about, obviously, Israel or Ukraine. I don't know if I'll get to that. China getting jumpier all the time. How about Trump firing all these military people, a bunch of different generals in various positions, and the, you know, the NPR world calling it a purge. Is this something I should be worried about, or is he just putting people in place that agree with his philosophy more? I'm. I'm not particularly worried about it. One time we were quoting retired generals to Mike Lyons. I remember him saying, there's like a thousand retired generals out there. So just because there's a retired general, you don't have to give them some extra credit on what they have to say. But we'll talk to Mike Lyons coming up. If you missed a segment, get the podcast. Armstrong and Getty on Demand.

[Colby Ekowitz]

Armstrong and Getty.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Every day, our world gets a little more connected, but a little further apart. But then there are moments that remind us to be more human.

[Colby Ekowitz]

Thank you for calling Amica Insurance.

[Jack Armstrong]

Hey, I was just in an accident. Don't worry.

[Colby Ekowitz]

We'll get you taken care of.

[Ryan Seacrest]

At Amica, we understand that looking out for each other isn't new or groundbreaking. It's human. AM Empathy is our best policy.

[Colby Ekowitz]

There's an efficient way to get caught up on a lot of news. It's called the seven from the Washington Post. It's a newsletter and podcast. Whether you're reading or hit play, you get seven stories you need to know and you can consume it all in just a few minutes. The 7 is out every weekday morning by 7:00am Eastern. I'm Hannah Jewell, I'm one of the writers and I host the show. Find the seven podcast wherever you're listening. The newsletter link is waiting for you in the show notes.

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[Donald Trump]

An important meeting thanks to you is going to happen on Saturday for the first time in a long time. There'll be direct talks between Ambassador Woodcoff and a top level leader in Iran. We hope that will lead to peace. We've been very clear what Iran is never going to have as a nuclear weapon. And I think that's what led to this meeting. And we'll wait for him to come back from it and we're hopeful about that.

[Jack Armstrong]

I like Marco Rubio saying that Trump says it regularly. I do remember hearing various presidents say, for instance, North Korea would never get a nuclear weapon or other people would never get to do this or that. And then they do it anyway and we don't stop them. Don't, don't go to into Ukraine, for instance, don't go into Crimea. Joining us on the Armstrong and Getty Show, Mike Lyons, who is our go to whenever we're talking about this sort of stuff. Mike served with various military organizations in the U.S. and Europe throughout his career. He served in Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Awarded a Bronze Star. Also has a BS Degree from the United States Military Academy at West Point, MBA from Stern School of Business at New York University. You can find him on Twitter. If something big's going on Military I always check his Twitter account. M A J as in Major Mike Lines. Mike, welcome back to the Armstrong and Getty Show.

[Mike Lyons]

Hey Jack, thanks for having me back.

[Jack Armstrong]

Let's start with Iran. Trump said a week or so ago so they're having direct talks tomorrow. And Trump said a couple of weeks ago if ran doesn't give up their quest for a nuclear weapon, we would bomb them likes of which they've never seen. Do you think he means it and do you think we can do it and would we do it?

[Mike Lyons]

Yeah. I think of all the things on the president's plate right now when it comes to national security and foreign policy, this is number one. This issue with Iran, it's been kicked down the road. The cans gotten kicked down the road for the past 10 or 15 years now with the original JCPOA back that Obama signed and it's something that the president wants to take care of, he does set a deadline. He's got a two month deadline with regard to having this conversation. But I do believe that should at the end of two months here, I think the Iranians are going to try to find the ball. But at the end of two months, you're not going to see any more progress. I don't believe that Iran has any intention of getting rid of their nuclear capability and it's going to force the hand of the master negotiator here because it's likely that it's going to lead to A military conflict.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, to be charitable to Iran, they have been told this multiple times and nobody followed through. So, you know, I can see why they would think we can get away with it again.

[Mike Lyons]

Well, I think this time Israel is in a much better position and would feel that they could be involved, having literally taken out most of their air defense platforms. The destruction of the Iranian nuclear capability would be a very challenging military objective. And in fact, it likely couldn't be completed just from the military. It would take continuous strikes. It would take. It's dispersed, it's in different areas. And so that might not even accomplish the objectives. And what. All we might do is just set the Iranians back years or so with regard to doing this. I mean, the Israelis destroyed the Syrian nuclear capability, they destroyed the Iraqi nuclear capability back in the 80s, and they're not afraid to do it again. I think that's the wild card. I think that's hanging in Donald Trump's pocket here as he's talking to the Iranians, knowing that if they don't do a deal with him that he's going to unleash the Israelis on them. They won't stop until they know it's destroyed.

[Jack Armstrong]

Right. And I don't think if, if for some reason we had a. Maybe Kamala Harris would have been against doing anything. Probably Israel would have done it anyway. They don't have quite the capability we have, but they would, they would have had to try because what choice do they have? One of my favorite underreported stories is what you just mentioned. So we all remember when Iran launched that giant drone attack against Israel and watched that unfold on a, on a Saturday morning and everything like that. And then Israel would respond. How would Israel respond? Is or responded? And a lot of the reporting was when Israel responded that it was kind of a gesture. It wasn't really that big a deal. Iran, from books I've read, wanted to downplay the response, but in reality, what you just said, Israel took down so many of their air defense weapons that they're in the best position, we're in the best position we've ever been for a major attack on Iran. So what do you think that would look like?

[Mike Lyons]

Well, I mean, we've already taken out the air defense systems around where their nuclear capability is. They've got about 11 different sites that scattered around Iran. There's three basic components to make a nuclear bomb. You mine it, you have to fortify it, and then you weaponize it. And the Israelis have taken out the, the main air defense platforms. And all those sites. But what it would look like, it would start with that again, it would be reinforcing that. Any kind of air defense systems as the United States, anytime we attack, we go in with superior air defense capability. You could see naval fire. You could see Tomahawk cruise missiles. My favorite part of that. Go back to the movie Maverick. Remember in Maverick, when they fire the cruise missiles before they go in and they fire. The thing is, they know that those air defense systems, they don't take them out. I don't understand why they don't do that. Because they guarantee, if we know where there's air defense systems, we would take those out and then they would have bunker buster kind of bombs. Because we know that these systems that the Iranians have set up are well underground. They're designed to be survivable. And it would be the same thing. Again, as you saw in that movie. I mean, as life imitates art, the first kind of tap softens the ground, and the second tap would go deep and blow up the capability. So it would be a war for, you know, the ages right now at this point, because it would have to be much bigger than any other kind of attack that Israel did before when they took out a nuclear capability of another country.

[Jack Armstrong]

So would it be fair to say this would be the biggest thing since March 2003, when we unleashed shock and awe?

[Mike Lyons]

Yeah, I think so. I think it would. You know, you'd have pilots that would be at risk. The question is what allies would come to Iran's side. They don't really have any military capability. The Russians wouldn't be able to do anything. That's the issue people are concerned about is this escalation within the Middle East. The Saudis would be all in if we wanted to do this. Well, we grab allies from these other countries again. Again, Trump's given himself two months to set the situation of gaining allies on this side, seeing what the Iranians are going to do, you know, kind of winding up the war machine. And I think that it would have. It would be a very large shock and awe type of attack.

[Jack Armstrong]

That's.

[Mike Lyons]

That's a pretty. That's probably a pretty good analogy.

[Jack Armstrong]

So the history of warfare, as you know, is the countries thinking this is going to be over soon and we're going to win easily. And I mean, there are so many examples out there throughout history, it happens over and over again. I was just reading about the Six Day War, Israel and Egypt and the other countries, and how Egypt thought they were in a position to really dominate Israel, and they got wiped out in a matter of minutes. So spin out what could go wrong, like, what is a possible. This doesn't work out the way we thought it would, what could happen?

[Mike Lyons]

I think in most cases, those kind of conflicts are more on the ground. Look what Russia tried to do with Ukraine. They thought it was going to be over in three days. So you have a much deeper component with regard to what the battle is going on in this situation here. The Israelis could lose some planes. We could lose some planes. But the mission would be, you know, from a military perspective, is to destroy or set back the Iranian nuclear capability and it's accomplishable. And I think that's why it's on the table for Iran and Israel to go to war. There's countries in between this. Syria is in between. There's not going to be a ground war that'll take place there. What you'll see then is gray zone, or you'll see asymmetric warfare, perhaps. But now Iran's capability to do that has been destroyed. Hamas is destroyed, Hezbollah destroyed. You see the Houthis as, where, you know, banging on them down, you know, down in Yemen. So they're out of the picture. So Iran's at its weakest point as it is right now. So they're going to have to make an existential decision, because what it also implies is regime change. When we have this kind of launch and we launch this kind of attack into Iran, it really does mean regime change. That's where things go wrong. But the difference is we're not going to put people on the ground.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow. So you think that would just be a natural, goes along with this major attack, is that there would have to be regime change or it would happen.

[Mike Lyons]

I think that would be the undercurrent to it. I think similar to what happened in Go back to Desert Storm, after destroying most of the Iraqi military, we thought that there would be regime change in there. But Saddam Hussein ended up putting down any of those rebellions that took place. Perhaps Israel and the United States could get together, put people inside of Iran and try to do the same thing there. But I think regime change would be the real risk. That place inside of Iran, that would happen. And that could be good. That could be bad. We think it's good. Look, Iran is Persian. That's a highly intellectual country run by very bad people. For the past 40 years, we've talked about this. It's the number one foreign policy failure in my lifetime. In a Post World War II era, there's no other way to put it. Everything today is always because of the Iranian influence and trying to be the hegemonic power in the Middle east and their attacks on Israel and the like, and the fact that they're the number one state sponsor of terrorism.

[Jack Armstrong]

I want to move on that from that. Before I let you go, I've been following Senator Tom Cotton's got a book out called 7 things you can't say about China. And I've been listening to his podcast as he talks about that and he's really concerned, as everybody is, about China making their move on Taiwan. So one of the things he brought up the other day, and I wondered what your perspective was. It is what happens when the day comes when China's having one of those military exercises like they had recently, where they basically surround Taiwan. They've got all the ships in place, they got all these people, they got planes flying overhead and they all of a sudden announce or don't announce that this is real, this is not an exercise. You're ours now. Could we do anything about that?

[Mike Lyons]

Yeah. Similar to what the Egyptians and the Arab countries did to Israel back in the 60s and the 70s. They kept moving troops towards the border and forcing Israel to respond and have to alert their forces. And then finally they ended up coming. So I think that's how it will go when it goes down. I don't think there's anything we can do about it. Our deterrence right now also we're at a trade war with China. That's on the non military side. That's clear what's taking place there. And China has always had time on their side. And I think maybe that's their calculation now as they fight with President Trump over these tariffs. You have economists saying we should just go to 400%. The bottom line is if we're going to have a trade war with China, in for a penny, in for a pound, same thing on the military. We might as well try to what will eventually again become regime change there. Because time is always on their side. For a leader for life that takes place. So if they decide to do that here, I think that's a very real scenario. But it would mean US Forces attacking inside of China and then that could potentially mean Chinese forces attacking California City. Oh, my God. Yeah, it could get very bad very quickly. So I don't believe, I don't believe the United States would do anything at that point in time because of that risk. I think that they could possibly try to help the defense of it by firing missiles into China would be a bridge too far that would start the third World War in the Pacific.

[Jack Armstrong]

Wow. You are among many people that. That I've heard that, you know, I would describe as, you know, certainly not pacifists afraid to use power, who've said, if China moves on Taiwan, we're probably just going to have to say, okay.

[Mike Lyons]

Yeah, yeah, I don't see us again sacrificing a West coast city for it, because that's really what it. What it mean as they. The deterrence that the President has brought to the world now is, I think that it's caused countries to think twice. But if they miscalculate whether or not we can actually do something about it, you look at the military, their priority seems to be shipbuilding. Right now we have to redo our navy. We have to do a lot more things. So we're probably five to ten years behind that. We could actually then do something and feel that we could protect both the naval forces that we have in the Pacific, plus our western flank, which is again the state of California, and our west coast cities. And I don't think that we're there. And I think that's what's being briefed to the President, which is why if they decide to do it, it's, you know, just. It's just another indicator of how China actually really is, what their country's about.

[Jack Armstrong]

Mike Lines. You see him pop up on cable news or follow him on Twitter or whatever, something big happens. Always look for your insight. Thanks for your time today. I appreciate that.

[Mike Lyons]

Thanks, Jack. Thanks for having me.

[Jack Armstrong]

Man, when a guy starts throwing around, like in serious tones, then they would. Then they would attack California. Holy crap. All right, I'm sure we'll discuss that more later at another time. Anyway, I want to tell you about Price Picks and their involvement with the Masters tournament. That's where Joe is today. Joe is not here. He's at the Masters Golf Tournament. Very hard ticket to get. Price Picks is the best place to build a lineup featuring golfers competing in the Masters and to cash in on all your favorite Sports. With over 10 million members and billions of dollars in award winnings, Prize Picks has made daily fantasy sports accessible to all. And yes, the Masters involved. I'm all excited about the NBA playoffs, which start next week. You can download the Prize Picks app today, use the code ArmStrong and get $50 instantly when you play five bucks. That code's Armstrong on prize picks to get $50 instantly when you play 5. Win or lose, you'll get 50 bucks just for playing Prize picks. Run your game man. Oh wow. Contemplating World War three on Friday. Enough of that, enough of that. Got some great text on a variety of topics and some other fun stuff to get to stay here.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Armstrong and Getty Every day our world gets a little more connected, but a little further apart. But then there are moments that remind us to be more human.

[Colby Ekowitz]

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[Jack Armstrong]

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[Colby Ekowitz]

An efficient way to get caught up on a lot of news. It's called the seven from the Washington Post. It's a newsletter and podcast. Whether you're reading or hit play, you get seven stories you need to know and you can consume it all in just a few minutes. The 7 is out every weekday morning by 7am Eastern Eastern. I'm Hannah Jewell, I'm one of the writers and I host the show Find the seven Podcast wherever you're listening. The newsletter link is waiting for you in the show notes.

[Ryan Seacrest]

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[Jack Armstrong]

Future, especially when it comes to your finances.

[Ryan Seacrest]

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[Mike Lyons]

That's why it's gotta be a CFP.

[Jack Armstrong]

Find your CFP [e-mail] I kind of.

[Colby Ekowitz]

Have always known that I have a very tall mouth. As a little kid, I had seven siblings. And as kids do, we used to put stuff in our mouths all the time.

[Mike Lyons]

And it always confused me when people.

[Colby Ekowitz]

Are like, oh, light bulbs are.

[Mike Lyons]

You know, don't put them in your mouth.

[Colby Ekowitz]

They get stuck. But they never got stuck in my mouth. People look at that and they think something that really exists. I wonder if I can do that.

[Jack Armstrong]

That is a woman who set the Guinness record for having the largest mouth gap. She said I had a really tall mouth. I've never heard that term before, but I guess if you can open your mouth lengthwise a long way, they call that a tall mouth. Okay, fine. Right.

[Donald Trump]

Three inches is the record.

[Jack Armstrong]

Thank you for that, Michael.

[Donald Trump]

Wow. It means you can put a lot.

[Jack Armstrong]

Of stuff in there. That is fantastic. Every time we play a clip, I, of course, go to the Internet, which I need stop doing. And I Googled her, and I'm looking at a picture of her with five Jenga pieces stacked in her mouth. See? Five Jenga pieces. Five Jenga pieces. Worth mentioning that I've still never lost Jenga in my entire life. I've never lost one game of Jenga. I might be the world's best Jenga player. A couple of unimportant things to get to. Oh, here's one with her with a can of corn in her mouth.

[Donald Trump]

All right, stopping.

[Jack Armstrong]

I'm closing this tab forever. What do you. What? So, Gladys. I've told this story before, Gladys, but this is. This is something. When I was a kid, I was obsessed with getting into the Guinness Book of World Records. I mean, just obsessed. Okay. It was the only thing I cared about. About the Guinness Book of World Records used to be a bigger deal than it is now. Like a lot of books now everything's online. All the. Everything, all the time, Everywhere, all the time. Like that movie. Every year, I was so excited to.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Get the new Guinness World Record.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay, so even at your age. Yeah, because when the new one came out, man, we'd sit on the school bus and look through that, and it was just. Love that thing. And I wanted to get in it. So I tried all kinds of different things. Snatching coins off my elbow. Like, you put them on your elbow, and then you turn your hand and catch them before they hit the ground. I worked on that. I don't know how many hours. If I'd have put that many hours into playing the piano, I'd be at Carnegie Hall. But, no, I was trying to snatch quarters off my Elbow or one time was wearing roller skates non stop. I forget what the world record was, but I was going to try to do that. I'm sure that was a lot of fun in the house for your parents. It ended the first night. I made it all day long. But trying to sleep in bed with roller skates on, like, I can't do this. Well, part of it was my mom was worried about me tearing up the sheets with the roller skates on, so I had to have my feet hanging off the bed so I wouldn't tear up the sheets. She was that. She's the reason I'm not in the book. She wasn't as committed as me to a Guinness World Record. She wouldn't let me put my roller skates on the mattress.

[Ryan Seacrest]

What a lose.

[Jack Armstrong]

Mom, come on. Then I was gonna. There was some record about living in a cardboard box, which now it's like, you know, everybody in certain streets in LA or Portland could be setting the records, but it was living in a cardboard box. So I, I, I did, I did this probably like a day and a night and I had a slit in a cardboard box. And I remember my mom sliding through a plate of like eggs and French toast to me in the morning, like, you're in prison. Open the port. I can't believe she went along with this stuff so well.

[Mike Lyons]

Was.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, this might be a dumb question. Was the cardboard box in the house? Yeah, it was down in the basement. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I did a number of them. I don't. It was just I wanted to be like my son said the other day when we were driving home in the cyber truck. He said, you like people looking at you, don't you? And apparently I do have something in that because I want to be in the Guinness World Book of Records and then I end up doing this for a career. But there has to be a record you can break that we can get you in there. There has to be. I say you do this. Roller skates one again.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah.

[Jack Armstrong]

Your sheets now. No rules. These are my sheets. Damn it. If I tear him up with the roller skates, that's my problem. Probably need therapy all around that whole thing. That's funny. How much time we got, Michael? 10 seconds. So an hour?

[Donald Trump]

Four.

[Jack Armstrong]

If you haven't heard clips of the week, it's absolutely fantastic. I got a little story around that too. If you missed a segment, get the podcast. Armstrong and Getty on demand.

[Colby Ekowitz]

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[Colby Ekowitz]

We've all done it. You see a headline but don't have time to read the whole story. Or there's so much news you're not sure what is worth your time. I'm Colby Ekowitz, co host of Post Reports, the weekday afternoon podcast from the Washington Post. Post Reports brings you what's relevant and revealing. Breaking stories, politics, wellness, culture. Each episode goes beyond a headline for the context you need. Find Post Reports now wherever you're listening.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Deciding on what to listen to is hard. Using Xumo to stream music from iHeart 90s radio is easy. Or play Iheart country or hip hop beats your choice. All for free. Stream Easy with Zumo. Get live and on demand entertainment with no logins, no signups, no accounts, no hassle. This April, binge these classics the Whole Nine Yards, starring Bruce Willis and Matthew Perry adaptation with Nicolas Cage and Meryl Streep and the Fisher King with Robin Williams. All streaming free on Xumo play go to play.zumo.com now. Life is hard. Zumo is easy. Have you ever wiped with a piece of dry single ply toilet paper and wondered, is this as good as it gets? Well, it's not. It gets a lot better. Thanks to the wet extra large cleaning power of Dude Wipes, they comfortably clean up whatever TP leaves behind on your behind. It's time to stop being an A hole to your B hole and start experiencing the confident clean of Dude Wipes. Available at Amazon and at major retailers nationwide. Dude Wipes Best Clean Pants Down.