WarRoom Battleground 1008: The Process That Lead Trump Into The White House; And Creating A Government For The Entrepreneur

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Bannon's War Room – Battleground 1008

Title: The Process That Led Trump Into The White House; And Creating A Government For The Entrepreneur
Date: May 12, 2026
Host: Stephen K. Bannon
Guest: Marty Davis (Founder & CEO, Cambria)

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Episode Overview

This episode takes a deep dive into two central themes: the inside story of Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign strategy (with a focus on pivotal moments and support networks in the Midwest), and the ongoing battle to create a government—and a regulatory/trade environment—that works for entrepreneurs, not against them. Guest Marty Davis, Minnesota entrepreneur and industry leader, discusses the unique challenges posed by current US trade policies, the failures of past administrations, and detailed recommendations for President Trump’s upcoming visit to Beijing amid high-stakes trade tensions.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The 2016 Trump Campaign: Midwest Energy and Entrepreneurial Support

• The Last-Minute Minnesota Rally

  • [02:10]–[07:33] Bannon recounts how, due to last-second opposition from Paul Ryan, the campaign had to improvise a final push in Minnesota, crediting Marty Davis for marshaling grassroots support and facilitating a massive airport hangar rally:

    “We call Marty and Marty goes, ‘Hey, I got a hangar... I don't know, five, maybe 10,000. We'll cram them all in.’ We show up... it's gotta be Marty, 30,000... all down this chain link fence as far as the eye can see.” – Bannon [04:28]

  • Davis credits Trump’s genuine popularity and the hunger for change with the turnout, reflecting on how Minnesota was energized by having a candidate “running, shutting down Cedar Avenue... walking their families across to come over.” [05:19]

• Campaign Strategy Anecdotes

  • Bannon shares behind-the-scenes moments, like pivoting speeches for local resonance:

    “I look at Miller. I go, thoughts? And he goes, ‘Somalians.’ Trump goes, ‘Got it.’ And as you remember, he gave a fire-breathing speech on Somalians.” – Bannon [09:10]

  • Trump reportedly regretted not focusing more resources in Minnesota, believing a few more visits could have flipped the state. [09:38]

2. Entrepreneurial Life vs. the Administrative State

• The Value of Real-World Experience

  • Davis contrasts Trump’s intuitive grasp of business with Bush-era policies:

    “Bush... was calling the same mantra as what Trump called years later. But Bush never worked and never did anything. Never worked in a business... George W. Bush probably did more damage to manufacturing entrepreneurs in America than any president in recent history, not even close to.” – Davis [10:50]

  • Trump, by comparison, understood details down to the dock crews at a marina; his experience bred empathy and effective policy for business owners. [11:30]

• Regulatory and Policy Barriers

  • Davis critiques both parties for building systems that favor large corporations over entrepreneurs:

    “It’s having the engagement with the public and private sector…so we get necessary regulation that is good... as opposed to overzealous, politically derived... the attitude that business is trying to skirt by something or take advantage... that's really what's missing.” – Davis [15:35]

  • Recent state mandates, like family leave in Minnesota (“foolish policy”), exemplify government overreach and a lack of private sector dialogue. [13:30–16:28]

3. Unfair Trade Practices, China, and Globalization

• How US Policy Enabled Foreign Manipulation
  • Bannon and Davis detail the bipartisan push (Clinton, Bush, Gingrich) for China's entry into the WTO with “most favored nation” status:

    “They set the stage to put [China] in the WTO. Bush went to the extreme length in 2001... gave them really sharp access, quick access and unfettered access to our markets without any checks.” – Davis [20:22]

  • Once inside, China manipulated state ownership requirements, currency, and debt—exploiting provisions meant to create fair competition. Enforcement was feeble:

    “They never ever regulated it ... They still increased state ownership throughout Bush's tenure and beyond.” – Davis [23:10]

  • The ‘safeguard’ provisions, meant to protect US manufacturing, were ignored—Bush routinely refused to implement ITC recommendations in favor of American companies. [20:22–26:56]
• Trade Remedies and Enforcement Loopholes
  • US importers, sometimes US-based but foreign-owned or controlled (especially from India/China), take advantage of weak anti-dumping enforcement and manipulate the system:

    “They purport that they're US Companies, but most of their technology and HR and all their administration is in those foreign countries... to come in and hijack American products and American consumers.” – Davis [42:11]

4. India and Global Supply Chain Gaming

• India’s Rapid Ascendancy
  • India’s manufacturing and labor conditions allow them to undercut American producers, especially in sectors like quartz (Cambria’s industry):

    “India... manipulated the currency, oppressed labor... sell slabs here for less than our raw material cost because of all the economic gaming.” – Davis [39:46]

  • Imports are facilitated by US trade loopholes, and companies set up US “fronts” while maintaining foreign operational bases. [41:55]
• Broader Immigration and Visas
  • Bannon rails against the H1B visa program as another vehicle for systematic gaming, suggesting a 10-year moratorium on all immigration due to exploitation. [42:11]

5. Policy Recommendations for 2026 and Beyond

• Aggressive Tariffs and Enforcement

  • Davis urges restoring the President’s power to impose reciprocal tariffs and closing regulatory loopholes exploited by foreign and quasi-foreign entities.

    “[Tariffs are] a trade enforcement tool. They took it away from the hand of the President and that was a key instrument... We have to get better work done by Commerce and... get more teeth in there.” – Davis [44:10]

  • Suggests that tariffs should be immediate and reciprocal—matching foreign protections like Canada’s 300% tariffs on US cheese and butter. [44:10–45:59]

• On China: No More Illusions About Engagement

  • Davis recommends a hard-line approach for Trump’s Beijing trip:

    “We don’t have to have a deal with China. They need us. We have funded their dysfunctional government for 30 years... We should double down... and we don’t have to get along with them on trade.” – Davis [46:36–49:59]

  • China has systematically shifted production to neighboring countries to circumvent tariffs; U.S. enforcement must adapt and “follow the money.” [46:36]
  • On rare earths: diversify supply by investing in Africa, as “the people in Africa love America.” [49:18]

• Supreme Court’s Ruling on Tariffs

  • Both agree that the recent ruling classifying tariffs as a “tax” is disastrous for US leverage:

    “It’s a terrible decision to call it tariff a tax. It’s a trade enforcement tool... other countries tariff us like Canada... Is that a tax? I mean, we're accepting the Canadian government to tax the United States.” – Davis [50:52]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Bannon on Bush and the Political Class:

  “Unity in the political class for the globalization movement... The political class came together. Newt Gingrich was pushing this as hard as the Clintons and Bush.” [19:22]

• Davis on the Difference between Trump and Bush:

  “He [Bush] didn't understand it, and he's more of a theorist. Trump meant it. He believed in the entrepreneur.” [11:38]

• Davis on Foreign-Owned US Importers:

  “They set up their employment bases often in the Pacific Rim... These importing companies employ thousands in those foreign countries... to navigate for those foreign companies a very sophisticated and comprehensive structure… to hijack American products and consumers.” [42:11]

• Davis on China’s WTO Manipulation:

  “They did it in a real cute way. They borrow money. They have one of the largest bad debt books in the world… The more of the infrastructure that’s owned by the state. One of the key parameters… was that state ownership has to go down. It went up, and they never ever regulated it.” [22:25]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Trump 2016 campaign & Minnesota rally:
  [02:10] – [09:38]
• Entrepreneurship under Trump vs. Bush:
  [10:36] – [13:30]
• Administrative State and Regulation:
  [13:30] – [16:28]
• China’s WTO Entry & Systemic Abuse:
  [19:22] – [26:56]
• India’s Manufacturing Edge & Visa Loopholes:
  [35:46] – [43:55]
• Policy Recommendations for Enforcement:
  [44:10] – [46:36]
• Advice for Trump’s Beijing Summit:
  [46:36] – [49:59]
• Tariffs, Supreme Court, and Final Words:
  [50:10] – [51:32]

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Takeaways

• The Trump 2016 victory relied on grassroots, last-minute organizing and the passionate energy of both local entrepreneurs and disaffected voters.
• America’s regulatory and trade frameworks, crafted by both parties, have systematically disadvantaged entrepreneurs and enabled foreign governments to abuse the system.
• Bush-era decisions on trade, especially regarding China, weakened US manufacturing. Both Bannon and Davis argue that Trump’s instincts are correct, but more aggressive enforcement is needed to truly protect US workers and businesses.
• Current challenges include loopholes exploited by India and China through both legitimate and deceptive means, especially in manufacturing supply chains.
• Davis advocates a return to robust, reciprocal tariffs and stronger trade enforcement, warning against “engagement for engagement’s sake” with hostile or manipulative regimes.
• The recent Supreme Court decision was heavily criticized as weakening America’s hand on trade.

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This episode offers an insider’s look at both American campaign trail improvisation and the hard realities of international trade in the MAGA era. Davis’s recommendations and Bannon’s framing provide a passionate, policy-dense primer for understanding the stakes of President Trump’s upcoming diplomatic and economic confrontations.

Transcript

[A]

This is the primal scream of a dying regime. Pray for our enemies because we're going medieval on these people. You're just not going to free shot all these networks lying about the people, the people have had a belly full of it. I know you don't like hearing that. I know you try to do everything in the world to stop that, but you're not going to stop it. It's going to happen.

[B]

And where do people like that go to share the big lie?

[A]

MAGA MEDIA I wish in my soul,

[B]

I wish that any of these people had a conscience.

[A]

Ask yourself, what is my task and what is my purpose? If that answer is to save my country, this country will be saved. War Room here's your host, Stephen K. Ban. Welcome to our six o' clock hour. You're in the war room. Our guest is Marty Davis. So as we get everybody prepped for this, this China trip, the one to Beijing, this state visit summit, which as you know, we're not completely crazy about here in the war room. But be it as it may, it's going to happen. We got Marty Davison, we're going to talk about trade, what's really going on, particularly from the entrepreneurs perspective. Marty. First off, Marty, I'm going to get to Cambria and your company and how you built it, you know, a native son of Minnesota. What is because I want, I'm going to tell the story about how I first met. How did you get to know Laura Ingram? And how did you get to be such a good friend with Laura Ingram?

[B]

Good morning, Steve. Good evening. I should say it's late in the afternoon. My apologies. It. Laura and I met, she came to Minnesota to speak on various things that, that we aligned on and I met her through her college classmate Doug Fulton at Dartmouth. And Doug's a great friend of mine and a great patriot and he, he made arrangements that Laura and I would meet. We did and we became fast friends.

[A]

That was 16 years ago, 14, 15 years ago. So in the closing days of the 2016 campaign in this is what a great supporter of the president and the MAGA movement Marty is. We're having a, we're supposed to go, we got this whole weekend plan elections on Tuesday. We're going to run through the tape all the way through late Monday night and even maybe somewhat Tuesday if we have to. And so we've got this whole thing planned that we end the day out west, we start in Colorado and we're going to go to a rodeo grounds at like 7 in the morning on Sunday morning. And Just go throughout the day. And the big pivot is we're going to pivot in Wisconsin, right? We're going to take a pivot in Wisconsin and come to other place, the Midwest and then to the south, and end up at Laura Ingram's place at like supposedly 8 o' clock at night. She's got, she's got some farmhouse Virginia she's rented for an occasion. And, and at the last second or on Friday, Paul Ryan tells us, oh, we can't go to Wisconsin, the polling's terrible. And I go, what do you talk about? We're right over the target. This is going to be every vote we have to go. And Paul Ryan just says, it's not happening. I'm canceling the event. I'm ensuring that any state official will not be on the stage with you because. And his excuse was, you know, I lost Wisconsin when I ran as, as Romney's running mate. If I lose Wisconsin again and I go all in on national election, I'm finished nationally. I didn't want to tell him he was finished nationally anyway, but he just said no. And I couldn't get Rice Priebus to talk him out of it. And so I'm sitting there going, God, we got to get a place where somehow I'm having a conversation with Laura Ingram. And she just says, hey, you got to talk to my buddy. Marty Davis is a good friend of the Marty Davis of Minnesota, who the President's been out to see before. And he says he'll take care of it. So we call, we call Marty and Marty goes, hey, I got a hangar. It's right off the tarmac of the airport. You just fly in, you roll to the hangar and I'll have it packed. And I said, well, how many, how many people can the hangar hold and how are we going to fill it? This is kind of a last second. He goes, we'll fill it, just trust me. I go, how many? He goes, I don't know, five, maybe 10,000. We'll cram them all in that we can get there. We show up and it's bitterly cold. We land and I'm looking around and the President's there, or at that time, candidate Trump and Stephen Miller and I with the, with the President. And we look and it's gotta be Marty, I don't know, 30,000. They are all down this chain link fence as far as the eye can see. The hangar is packed. As we can see, the doors open, the hangar's packed. And because we're just pulling the plane Up President, the candidate's getting off walking up a red carpet. He's gonna give a speech, you know, some remarks. This is a 20 or 30 minute deal. And then president, we get the Secret Service because they hate doing this. The Secret Service business basically takes him up and down the chain link. The president gets out, wants to shake some hands. Marty, how many people did you have that? I guess you did it on Facebook. We're sitting there going, how did this guy, this guy's a magician. How did he get these people on a moment's notice? This is packed. How did you pull that off?

[B]

Well, you know, we get, we get due credit to getting our state engaged in the national process. That was really the objective, too. And I would tell you, the candidate did it, Trump did it. I mean, people were calling us how to get in, how to get there, what time, details it took. It's. I wish, you know, there was credit, we take it. But it, it happened because of President Trump's popularity. And you saw that in Minnesota. He was very close in in 2016, so people were excited. People were running, shutting down Cedar Avenue, the big freeway right by that area, to get across and walking their families across to come over to the, to the hangar and see the president or at that time, the candidate for president, Donald J. Trump. And they came in droves. It spread like wildfire. And I really give the president the credit in your campaign that people were looking for a change and a movement, and I think that that drew it. We just got the word out that we were going to host the president or, excuse me again, candidate Trump at that time. Yeah. And people came in droves. And you're right, Steve, the fire marshal said, no more. They stopped us at the door, we filled up the room, and the fire marshal said, no more, no more, no more. And so we reluctantly had, like, fighting people that wanted to get in and were like, no, no more. It's not working. So they started lining up on the, on the picket there, the, like you say, the wire fences, galvanized fence up and down the sides of the hangar. And it was just, it became like, you know, maybe the beginning of the new style rally. I don't know, but it was like a rally. And President, or, excuse me, Candidate Trump got off the plane and he was aghast at the people and, but I remember he got really upset that the fire marshal, he had that tendency then to say, what the hell they, they, they're working against me. And he was upset with the fire marshal. He told me to make sure I took care of that situation. But the fire marshal was just trying to get people safe.

[A]

Yeah, this was running gun you had. But the fire I got, you know, I told the president, I think the fire marshal on this one was right. You couldn't have gotten another body?

[B]

No, no, they were jammed. The fire. Yeah.

[A]

Was. Don't worry, it's not the fire marshal. You couldn't get another human in there.

[B]

Yeah, believe me, that the fire marshal was. Yeah, he was great. In fact, he went plenty far with us. He was cooperative and everything. I think he loved it, loved the President. But mostly in Minnesota. We wanted our state to engage in the national scene. We were honored that at the end of the campaign the candidates were coming here and we would have let Clinton come there. We in 13 or 14, I accepted permission for Biden to come or no, it would have been 11 or 12. It was right after we bought the airline and it was 12 during the campaign against Romney, for Obama. And I had an event for Romney at my home and I still told the Biden campaign they could use our hangar because it was convenient to the tarmac. And we weren't a public company so we weren't as sensitive to either party. We were like, come to Minnesota, engage with the citizens. That was my attitude at the time. And Trump was very popular in Minnesota.

[A]

Two quick stories. I want to get onto the business and trade. Two quick stories. The president was sitting there because we had like 10 events, by the way. We did not get to Laura Ingram's until one in the morning on Monday and she still had it packed. It was insane because we were so delayed on this one. We roll up and the president turns and goes, okay. Because it says, what am I talking about? I look at Miller because we're trying to work the schedule and I'm so blown away. Look at Miller. I go, thoughts? And he goes, Stephen just goes, Somalians. Trump goes, got it. And as you remember, he gave a fire breathing speech on civilians. And I don't think it ever happened in Minnesota before. The last thing is on the election

[B]

night, he did, he did that, that, that. Davey did that.

[A]

He did hold it. And then on, on election day, you know, a couple 48 hours later, we're sitting there and you know, Michigan's falling, Wisconsin's falling, Pennsylvania, we've pierced the blue wall, we've done it. And all he's doing, he's turning me, goes, I told you if we had gone to Minnesota, because you had talked to him earlier, I guess the first time he says, if we had gone to Minnesota more times, I would have won it because it was under 1% and he was 100% correct. I said, I take that one. But let's worry, let's close Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. You're going to be president, United States. But he'll never forget Minnesota. That's when he wanted to. The reason he loved you, Marty, is that I think you remind him of all the he's an entrepreneur and entrepreneurs that really energize him. Talk to us. What's the difference in being an entrepreneur and particularly in a manufacturing business under Trump in America first and maga, than what you see in standard Republican administrations and in Democratic?

[B]

Well, it's a great question. And Bush said the same thing to me in 2004. We were starting our company then. And Bush, George W. Bush, I must clarify, was he came here, he came down by our factory and did a rally and I welcomed him and talked to him. And he's like, entrepreneurs. I love entrepreneurs. Keep going, keep fighting, you know, build your company. Little did I know that as we sit here today, Steve, George W. Bush probably did more damage to manufacturing entrepreneurs in America than any president. Recent history, not even close to. I mean, it's not even a question about it. And here was he was calling the same mantra as what Trump called years later. But Bush never worked and never did anything. Never worked in a business, never. Never even worked at a bait shop and did stuff that you had to employ people, be responsible for them. He was a governor of Texas. He really, any job he did was more in a governor role, kind of governor. I'm not very happy with Bush, but Trump meant it. He believed in the entrepreneur. And it started with somebody running a bait shop for him. I remember when he came to my house for event, he was especially excited about a marina that was near us, a Shorewood Yacht Club. And he saw the sailboats and he wanted to pull in and talk to the marina owner. When he came to our home, he saw the docks in the lake and he said, who puts the docks in and how many dock crews do they have and how many docs does the owner of the dock installation company put in? And so you talk to Trump and you find a real entrepreneur. And I think that the pillar of who Trump is and his background. That's why I say to people, I don't know why he knows trade, he just does. And that is why he's truly a builder of enterprise. He's dealt at every level with government and private sector and competition and supply chains both Domestically and from abroad. So he truly does understand it. And I think he respects people that are, you know, fighting the fight and trying to climb that hill and, and backs. Backs them with good policy. Where for Bush, it turned out to be a cliche. He didn't understand it, and he, he's more of a theorist. And let me take, let me take it in this. Yeah.

[A]

Let me take in this regard, the administrative state, something we've been trying to deconstruct, the administrative state, it's weighted against the entrepreneur and towards the big companies. Right. And really, regardless, like, Bush talks about it, but didn't do anything and quite frankly hurt us. But the Democrats the same way, talked about the administrative state. How is the system, both the regulatory system, the legal system, the capital markets, how is the system at this time weighed against the entrepreneur?

[B]

Well, I think it's. There isn't that kind of voice at the government level very often unless you get somebody like Trump who's truly. I was at church yesterday and talking to a fellow and he said, I said, he said he liked Trump, but I said, what do you like about him? Said he really cares about America and he really cares about workers and he really cares about, you know, business owners. And I think that's the point. That's why I think Trump is fighting the way he does for America first and so forth, is to get the citizen heard and get the business owner heard at the government level. And he said as much to me one time about getting the fair and equitable opportunity for private sector entrepreneurship and business owners to engage the public in a way that the public sector in a way that gets good government, good policy, and good structure. And it's difficult because you don't get hurt. We just put a family leave in Minnesota. We didn't. Governor Walts did. It was a foolish policy. Most companies already have that type of policy with their workers. And we care about our workers more than the government. I mean, they're our team members. So that's just nonsensical that they need that type of protection. There's certainly cases where they do, but they didn't work with the private sector at all to develop an approach to ensuring there was a safety net. If there is a condition where people didn't have proper care around their needed time off. And so you end up with a naive, you know, bureaucrat, government bureaucrat shtick that becomes very partisan rather than very practical and gets the intentionality to it that both the business owner and the employees would like to see in those matters. So that's the challenge for business. It's not. Regulation is necessary. I was in the airline business. It was good. They did a lot of good work. Regulatory in that area, it's having the engagement with the public and private sector. So we get necessary regulation that is good regulation for safety and quality and integrity and fair and equitable commerce as opposed to overzealous, politically derived and almost biased, mission based. You know, I'm going to get this or get that. I've got all the answers. And this is, you know, the attitude that business is trying to skirt by something or take advantage of employees or of their corporate neighborhoods that we all operate in. And that's really what's missing, I think, in the way the government has trade.

[A]

Let's take an example. You came on the show last week and got people very excited. You were the day, I think it was the morning of the day you were going to testify to the International Trade Committee, talk about your industry sector. You're kind of a fire breather in this and saying, hey, there's unfair practices that are allowing foreign companies to come into the United States and sometimes kind of hide who they are, but they're taking American jobs. They're really making money off Americans. That doesn't make sense because it's not free and fair competition. Walk us through this.

[B]

Yeah, I think that that's, it's a, it's a complex issue in some sense. In some, it's not. But like it, American importers, they're U.S. companies, they, they gaslight and stoke this old, you know, domestic manufacturers are trying to be protectionists or the unions are exploiting, you know, protectionist policies to gain, you know, economic favor to the union. And they stoke all these things that really are the argument of the, of the foreign Pacific Rim government in most cases trying to penetrate and hijack American prosperity through its prosperous consumer. And they orchestrate this belief that people are, that domestic manufacturers are trying to actually game their government and get protectionist, you know, policies in place. It's so far from the truth. And it's like Bush too. I hate to keep beating on him, but he's got this thing out where he says, I don't like the isms, protectionism, isolationism and nativism. And I thought if I ever see him say, you know, how about cronyism? He seemed to like that. I mean, that's how he existed and got into our leadership position with no experience. And we're not talking about isolationism or protection, protectionism. So he gaslights it. And I'm sure his daughters that I think of this is a wonderful talent. She sure seems like a great talent to me. But he's got a little ism there. She climbs the ladder of CNBC faster than all the other people that worked there how many years. So don't is the meat Bush we aren't interested in. And again she seems like a very talented lady. But you know that she's gotten the front desk pretty quick. You know cronyism. And so we don't want isolationism or protectionism. We want free and fair trade. And when foreign governments create and manipulate bypassing and gaming our free trade laws that we established to put them in the World Trade Organization to give them that gift. And George W. Bush did it. Which is why my Ireland in 2001 and then he didn't enforce any of their of the rules of the road that were established.

[A]

Hang on Tell I want to slow down because I argue that our entrepreneurs want free and fair trade. But we're in a global mercantilist system particularly by the Chinese Communist Party. Go back and give us the most favored nation in the World trade organization in 2001 when which was teed up by Clinton. It's not 100% Bush's fault. This folks you should understand. You want to talk about unity in the political class for the globalization movement. The political class came together. Newt Gingrich was pushing this as hard as the Clintons and Bush. But there were all types of provision. Just like when Reagan gave the amnesty back in the 80s. There were supposed to be all these provisions first then amnesty. What they got is amnesty and no provisions. Walk us through what was actually there to protect American families and the American consumer and the American citizen. When we allowed the Chinese Communist Party to come in and get most favored nation and into the WTO as an emerging nation. Sir.

[B]

So you're right. As I mentioned on the show the other night Clinton and Larry Summers drove it. I think Summers is a Goldman guy or whatever globalist but and they they set the stage to put him in the WTO. Bush went to the extreme length in 2001. He tries to blame Clinton but I know better. He put him in as on a permanent basis. I think it was December 27th of 2001 a date seems to ring a bell. And Gingrich and the Republicans in Congress went right along with it. It was a globalist Wall street approach to it. And it gave them really sharp access quick access and unfettered access to our markets without any checks. Now Bush and Clinton their vision May have been worthy that, hey, we can westernize China. If we engage with them, they'll go from their red uniforms and hats and stars to suit and ties. And they did go to the suit and ties, but they never changed their ideology. In fact, they doubled down on communism and government control. The parameters and the rules of that road. Prior to that, you review China's trade practices on an annual basis and we were able to, you know, keep it in check and protect the integrity of free and fair trade once you put them in that WTO on a permanent basis. There is a variety of rules that were put in place around rare earth minerals, for instance. That was one of them. In addition to that, state ownership is a big part of the driver. If the state owns the business, then they're going to have all kinds of advantages like no debt, no amortization, no finance costs of that nature and a whole bunch, a whole host of advantages with the state, including freight and everything else. The more of the infrastructure that's owned by the state. They did it in a real cute way. They borrow money. They have one of the largest bad debt books in the world. Everybody talks about. We borrow so much from them. Their bad debt book is, I believe at that time was the largest in the world. And I've read it multiple times since, so it still remains. They borrow their company's money, government money, low cost, and then they forgive the debt and take ownership and they partner with, you know, the local person at some level, an oppressive level, but the government takes ownership. One of the key parameters of the WTO requirement was that was a simple one. Like your state ownership has to go down by this much each year for you to be in the World Trade Organization trading with American prosperity. It went up and they never ever regulated it or dealt with it. In fact, they didn't even, weren't even smart enough to put the Trump says how dumb we are. He's right A lot of times, I mean like obviously our government individually, the people of our government are very smart people. But as a government we sure get dumb and kind of stupid at times. I think that's the point the President is making. We didn't even put in parameters to prevent that they could combine companies the way I read the reg, that they could combine companies and that they therefore they lowered their amount of state owned company. Even in the fact that they combined a bunch of companies and made three companies one to fiddle with that rule and that requirement, they still increased state ownership throughout Bush's tenure and beyond. So they didn't that's a simple one they didn't do. There's a host of other things they didn't do around currency manipulation, all kinds of stuff. And at the same time, and if you wonder why I'm so upset with Bush, at the same time Bush was negating safeguards that were awarded to American company. One of the key tools of the WTO entrance on a permanent basis was the American manufacturers. And the American side of the issue said, then you have to put in instruments that allow us like through tariffs to enforce this agreement of them being allowed to be inside the World Trade Organization on a permanent basis. And one of the key ones was the safeguard provision. And so American companies from 2001 to 2008, when Bush was running the show, they won safeguard cases before the itc just like the one we just won in our courts industry. We just won one in February where the ITC judged that we have not only been injured, it's been substantial and there needs to be a remedy. And now they've made remedy recommendations around tariffs and quotas. Well, when that happened under George W. Bush, he waived those safeguard awards against America, took a position against American companies. So the whole kind of realm of how Wall street influenced it, obviously with their globalization approach, and then bad management by our government allowed China really to come into the WTO and operate unfettered all these years. And the other thing they did but Trump doesn't get credit for. Trump told North Korea to go to hell with North Korea.

[A]

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[B]

War room.

[A]

Here's your host, Stephen K. Ban. Marty, the reason we're honored to have you on last week of course audience love you. We're gonna have you on much more in the future is that look, immigration is central. The ceiling of the borders, mass deportations, stopping the invasion, all that central to President Trump and the MAGA movement. But as President Trump says hey, I'm tariff man. He called Liberation Day was back in April about the tariffs when all the Supreme Court he's still upset over the weekend he lit up Gorsuch and Amy Comey Barrett again for their vote after he had select them on tariffs. I want to go back though and make sure that people understand what Bush did. You were just before the International Trade Commission. You would agree with me it's not easy to get a win at the International Trade Commission. You got to bring the heat, you got to bring the facts. These things take forever. You just had to win. But back on the Bush administration, American companies consistently, I think you said there were seven or eight of them had wins against the Chinese Communist Party. And what did he do? He didn't enforce the winds. He says no, he reversed what the International Trade Commission said.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, he overruled, you know, didn't impose a safeguard and didn't add to the safeguard. He, he, he felt, you know, he went against in some cases the American steel industry and others. I mean he just, he was all in for China and it was unfettered. And when, when U.S. companies went and used the remedies, the instruments that we were provided in the, in the WTO regulations, I mean it's an honor to be in the World Trade Organization trading with the most prosperous nation in the world and doing it in governments. This is what people have to understand. If they were all had democracy governments that even were closely related to ours, then the WTO doesn't have the teeth. But you don't need that kind of apparatus as much. You let the markets work. But when you're dealing with not foreign people, these are good people. In these other countries largely it's the same as the profile here in America in many cases, not in every country. But I've been to China many times and Japan many times. They're wonderful, hard working, you know, innovative people. But their governments are rogue and in many cases they're communist, they're under command or they're quasi fascist, meaning they control their. Everybody tries to make fascists a boogeyman. It means you control your economy, you allow private sector, but you control that private sector in a very, very heavy handed manner. And so to be in the World Trade Organization so that you can ask that, you know, attain if you will or introduce your products into our marketplace, you have to be, you know, following the rules of the WTO that were born to protect the free market in America from a rogue interventionist, you know, self serving predatory government like Vietnam or China or you know, secondary governments to them like Thailand and Malaysia. So this is all to make sure we, we have to recognize these are not, they're like Russia, I mean everybody hates on Russia, Vietnam and China are communists and they, so they're going to manipulate trade in any way. They already show by their government structure, they don't care that people are not first in their countries, the government's first. You Know, they, they don't. They're, they're human condition. You know, temperature gauge is a little different than a leader in American, in America. So their whole way they operate the rules of their road are very different. So if you let them get come in with their rules of engagement and penetrate the prosperity born of free and fair market rules of engagement and you do that unfettered, they're going to thrash your domestic marketplace. They're going to convert your marketplace from the free and fair market that it is.

[A]

We spent two years with Lighthizer trying to get there and we'll get to that in a second because that'll tee up the discussion for what President Trump, your recommendation that President Trump is saying sits down with Xi, but India, let's talk about in your industry alone, India. And as I go that the country, the number one topic outside for MAGA, outside the Islamic invasion of this country is this H1B visa fiasco where you have essentially all these Indians coming and taking the tech jobs from young people, but you're having to compete. I mean, Navarro tell you, and I'm a huge supporter of Modi, of Modi. I'd love nationalism. He's a nationalist, puts his country first. But Navarro will tell you, as hard as it is to get to the Chinese Communist Party to agree to anything and then enforce it, he said India is probably as bad. Talk to me about India, particularly in your industry.

[B]

Well, I think to the point I was making quickly and I'll finish it is so when you engage with our country in commerce, you have to meet the principles of free and fair market with competition. And if you don't, we, we have to be able to deal with you in an enforcement mechanism like tariffs and likewise where, and that's the China, the whole China syndrome over there as it relates to the whole the entire Pacific Rim. India is a party to it. And India operates national, like you say, as nationalists in a much different way. But they have the same kinds of government. They're not a command economy, but they operate very strong, strong armed in the way they manipulate the economics, their currency manipulation, their access to resources from communist platforms like the oil they get out of Russia, which is a big one now, but they've been doing that kind of thing for a long, long time. And they work with the Chinese on the technology, most of the manufacturing equipment to replicate and violate our, our technology and our patents and make products like ours much cheaper because of the false economics that exist in their, in their countries. That equipment to India came from China a Lot of it. And the know how and the technology in our space. And then they, you know, their labor's oppressed in many ways. You can go across the profile. I don't want to stereotype it, you know, 100%, but it's a very oppressed labor environment. And so was their mining industry, where they mine the quartz locally for almost nothing. They sell product into the United States. Now, 10 years, 10 years ago, 12 years ago, when we were building this marketplace, India didn't sell any quartz slabs into the United States. Just like so many years ago, they didn't sell any iPhones into the United States. Now they're the leader in iPhones. They'll take over. All the iPhones in the world will be over there in India, made there instead of the United States. Foxcom's moved over there, all that kind of thing. On a smaller scale, our company, our industry, still a big industry, $12 billion is doing the same thing. So they've got raw material there. They have the labor condition they put forth. They take technology from the rim. They oppress that labor, they manipulate the currency. They sell slabs here that 15 years ago they sold zero to the United States. They had no quartz factories. Our industry blossoms, it becomes. It explodes. Now today they are by far the largest maker of quartz slabs and they make about 100 million square feet a year. Cambria, our company, makes about 20 million square feet. So they'd have five Cambrias already built in India. And. And they sell the product into the United States for less than our raw material cost because of all the economic gaming that is done throughout their system. What do you mean they're going to employ their.

[A]

What do you mean, what do you mean by that?

[B]

Okay, as I. The things I just mentioned, currency manipulation, the oppression, the labor condition and the way they manage it, the safety and manufacturing systems. Well, there are some good ones over there and. And their pricing is different than the. Would you say the lower class of the quality that comes out of there and the cost structure that comes out of there, and then their raw material control and the way their government manages that labor on the mining side. So they get variety of economic conditions that provide them almost a false economic market as compared to a free and fair market in the United States where competition for profit, entrepreneurism and labor forces that can form and say, hey, I got to get paid here.

[A]

But our tr. But our trade laws are supposed to counter for that. How do they then get into this marketplace and undercut American producers?

[B]

Well, when you go into them on anti dumping and, and subsidy. They're pretty, they're pretty crafty. I mean, they're crafty. They're as crafty as anybody. They smile more. They're wonderful people. As, as a, their government is very, very crafty at obtaining all the manufacturing, as you said, nationalist for India. And so they keep their labor in a certain condition. They get raw materials into those plants very low. They get their energy very low as compared to the United States in ways that, you know, I mean, Russian oil is embargoed oil. It's coming to America through a quart slab. I mean, that's a fact. And, and so it's in that way that they manipulate every aspect to gain the advantage over the free enterprise of America. And they sell their products here. Why don't they sell the court slabs and other products in India? They do in some cases, but for the most part they are, they have targeted the American market. And you mentioned earlier about the India people that move here and all that. And I have no problem with that. I'm a believer in first generation immigration as long as it follows the rules of immigration.

[A]

Hang on, but hang on, but hang on. They gamed the system. I totally just, they gamed the entire. So the entire system is a scam. The H1B visa is a scam. All the immigration, we should have a 10 year moratorium on immigration because they've gained the system. It's a total con. Then they bring their families over here. It's got to be reversed.

[B]

I agree. My cover on that. My comment with that is they follow our immigration law. They don't. They don't. They violate and they, they, they, they are able to navigate it. They're doing the same thing in Canada. And I agree with you on that. But further than that, here's another thing that they do that's even worse. It's flipping back. They run American import companies here owned by American citizens who, some are Indian American citizens that are from India or from, you know, the Pacific Rim or from wherever, it doesn't matter. I mean they're, they moved here and, and they've become citizens and were born and raised here, many of them. But they set up their employment bases often in the Pacific Rim. So most of these trading companies, these importers, the large part of their GNA where ours is in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, or our competitors at Del Tyler in Dallas, Texas, or our friends at Godoni are in Atlanta, Georgia and they have their infrastructures here. These importing companies employ thousands and thousands of people in those foreign countries to set up the gaming and create the whole thing. So they purport that they're US Companies, but most of their technology and HR and all their administration is in those foreign countries where they navigate for those foreign companies a very sophisticated and comprehensive structure and apparatus to come in and hijack American products and American consumers and ultimately American manufacturers of products through that. So what that entire operation.

[A]

What is your recommendation? Because I want to pivot to China, where we got time. What is your recommendation on all this? On both the importers and these foreign companies that are not playing by the rules and have their governments kind of shielding them. What's your recommendation needs to be done?

[B]

I think the variety of tariff instruments that need to be employed. What the Supreme Court did to the President calling this a tax is nonsense. Then all the tariffs that Canada puts on us, 300% tariffs on cheese and butter, that's a tax on America. We're letting Canada tax America. Ask the Supreme Court about that. It's not a tax. It's a trade enforcement tool. They took it away from the hand of the President and that was a key instrument. There are a variety of other tariffs. As the President said this morning. It becomes more laborious to get them accomplished. He will, but it's a lot of work. So we have to tariff. We have to. I think the reciprocal tariff program was righteous and it should have been expanded upon. And we have to get better work done by Commerce and they're pretty well run. It's not Commerce's fault. We got to get more teeth in there so that the subsidy, anti dumping and subsidy matters are at hand. And then parameters around. You don't sell product, the products you make in your country and you dump them in the US you're paying a fee. Because we can't even deal with the anti dumping side of it when they don't even make markets in their own country for these products. And that's what they often do. And then they manipulate who the respondent is so they take the highest priced product in the market. And there's always some good producers in these marketplaces that have economics that are closer to the United States because they're trying to do it right and they're also trying to meet a higher end category. They use them as their respondents in the criteria for how to set the dumping and subsidy rates. We're working with the Commerce Department presently and it's been very productive to change that and they are working hard to do it.

[A]

But okay, I think we got to

[B]

get a couple very aggressive on that. Front, Steve.

[A]

Okay. I only got a couple minutes. The lighthizer deal was supposed to take care of all the, all the seven deadly sins that Navarro calls to the Chinese Communist Party. What had happened, they walked away from it, spit in our face, tore it up after two years. What would be your recommendation? The President is in route now. What would be your recommendation to President Trump that, you know, just give me a couple minutes of what he should, how he should comport himself with the Chinese Communist Party and Xi on matters of trade in his visit?

[B]

Well, I think the number one thing they did to the Trump success of Trump 1.0 is they reverse fracked their materials through the entire rim. All they did then is move the nuclei from China and moved it into Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, even India. And I remember the Trade Commission saying, well, China won't get along with all those countries. I said, you watch when Trump closes them down, they will. And they've set up shop in all those countries. So he's got to follow you, got to follow the money and follow the products, and they're moving through those areas. Chinese have ownership in Vietnam now, and they do all. They built 20 big factories like ours in Thailand. So I think the administration's got to find a way, and they're working on it, to follow the reverse fracking out of China. The other thing, and I hear Laura say it on TV a lot, Trump's got a. I think he wants to get along with Xi too much. I mean, what do we care? I don't think, you know, I think he's got to get along in the sense of having dialogue. I agree with him. But we don't have to have a deal with China. They need us. We have funded their dysfunctional government for 30 years. Go back to Tenement Square. There would have been more Tenement squares had it not been for what we did in the World trade organization in 2001 under the Clinton Bush Partnership, as you call it, and, you know, kind of ratified by the Gingrich Congress as well. So we funded that dysfunction and we shouldn't. We should double down on that and Trump 2.0, and we should hold their feet to the fire, and we don't have to get along with them on trade. They're wrong. And their government is dysfunctional, and it's not a good form of government for people. They want to deploy that government. That's their business. But they shouldn't be doing it on the backs of the American middle class worker whose job they are robbing. At the same time, they're selling the product they robbed from them back to that worker in the middle class of America. So I think the President's got to get tougher with them and we don't have to. You can get along with Xi and talk about a lot of things when it comes to trade. I don't think I'd get along very much with Xi. He's been gaming the Trump tariffs and the success of 1.0 in very, very aggressive, expansive and sophisticated ways since it happened. And they're still cheating and penetrating the US markets, violating the WTO and violating a lot of the trade requirements.

[A]

Do you believe I only got like 90 seconds. Do you believe they have leverage over us when it comes to rare earths, sir? Is that the leverage?

[B]

Well, you know, yeah, I suppose I don't. People know a lot more about that than me. Best and those type of people. But there's a lot of great rare earths in Africa. Get down to Africa. The African people, I was down there last year, they don't like China. They love America. There's other places in the world we must go and then we have to hold their feet to the fire. And the rare earth thing is over my above my head. I'm sure there's things the President knows and the administration that I don't understand. But I think we have to and the President has aggressively pursue other rare earths around the world. I think America should be investing in Africa a great deal. It's a wonderful country of resource and the people in Africa love America.

[A]

But if you you would tell the President right now we don't need a trade deal. These guys are gaming it. They're gaming the system. You can't trust them. It's tough to make it to enforce anything. They need us, we don't need them. Is that what I'm hearing?

[B]

That's exactly what I would tell them. And I hope the President doesn't weaken in that posture because of the mistake, the terrible mistake that the Supreme Court made on ipa.

[A]

Marty Davis, how do people get to Cambria? How do they find out more about you?

[B]

Cambriausa.com and just understand that Cambria wants to compete fairly and freely and earn our business every day. And so we're hopeful that we keep having a president like President Trump and his team that ensure that type of infrastructure for our businesses to compete in.

[A]

Last thing. The Supreme Court decision, you agree was absolutely abysmal.

[B]

Yeah, it's a terrible decision to call it tariff a tax. It's a trade enforcement tool. If you follow the history of the tariff. It's obvious what it is. And other, I argue the other countries tariff us like Canada. Everybody's worried about Canada. I love Canada. I own land in Canada. But their government, their people aren't even happy up there. They can't even get our cell services up there. They block us. And they're protectionists on every level. They tariff us 300% on dairy products and lumber is like 100% or whatever. And that's. Is that a tax? I mean, we're accepting the Canadian government to tax the United States. That's what they're saying.

[A]

Marty Davis, don't ever change. Amazing. Great entrepreneur and deep, deep knowledge of global trade. Thank you, sir. Appreciate you being on here for our primer for President Trump's trip to Beijing. Thank you, sir. Appreciate you. We're going to be doing wall to wall coverage of all of this. Of course, this is with artificial intelligence, rare earths, the war in Iran, trade, all of it on the table as President Trump with Marco Rubio, Secretary of State, National Security Advisor and and of course, Scott Besant. Heads to, heads to Beijing. Want to thank you very much. We'll see you back here at 10:00am Eastern Daylight Time tomorrow morning when you'll be in the war room. Want to thank our sponsor Birch Gold. Take your phone out and text Bannon B A N N O N at 989-898. You get a free with no obligation guide to investing in gold and precious metals in this turbulent age of Trump. Remember, gold has been a hedge for 3,000 years of mankind's history. Have Philip Patrick and the Birch Gold team tell you all about it. We'll see you tomorrow morning at 10. Okay, can we talk about what's really happening right now? New data shows financial stress is at an all time high. Millions of Americans are at a breaking point. Debt maxed out, no extra money, no room to breathe. And this isn't just lower income households anymore. Middle class families are hitting their limits too. This isn't about reckless spending. Everyday people are running out of options. So if debt has been weighing on you, you're not alone. And when it comes to debt, waiting usually makes it worse. Interest piles up. Minimum payments keep you stuck. You don't need another loan and you don't need bankruptcy. You need a strategy. That's why I like Done With Debt. They've built a smart personalized plan around you, their experience and knowing what it takes to get you the biggest reductions possible. Whether you owe $10,000 or much more. Done with debt has one clear goal. Lower what you owe so you keep more of your paycheck every month. It's very simple. Let's repeat that. Lower what you owe so you can keep more of your paycheck every month. Start with a free consultation. Just takes minutes. Share your situation, your tale of woe, and find out what's possible. You do not have to stay stuck. Go to donewithdebt.com that's donewithdebt.com and do it today.