Tim Miller (2:48)

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Unknown Speaker (2:49)

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Tim Miller (3:00)

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Unknown Speaker (3:01)

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Unknown Speaker (3:05)

Tim so let's bring you into this. If we go back into the Wayback Machine and we remember a time where this was something that we wouldn't expect to see, you know, from a sitting president, how would people have def responded to something like this? And what in particular concerns you most about this dinner? Because in listening to you talk about it, it sounds like this has really gotten under your skin.

Tim Miller (3:27)

Well, it has, because it's absolutely outrageous. And just really quick on history, we have a sense for how people would have reacted. Spiro Agnew was vice president of the United States under Richard Nixon and got a deal where he received money from private interest that had interest in his home state of Maryland. I believe it was about $20,000, maybe about $100,000 in modern currency. And he was forced to resign. He was run out of the White House. Trump is taking in tens of millions, more, maybe hundred million. We don't exactly know exactly how much that he's taking in on the fees on this coin, on his ownership of the coin. He's already sold some of it, as we've seen. If you talk to crypto experts to kind of monitor his wallet, you can see that he's sold some of the coins to enrich himself. And, and their spin that this is not, you know, a way to influence him is belied by the people that have bought the coins. I mean, you mentioned Justin sun, this Chinese national who put in about 50 million into the bitcoin, or not in the bitcoin, excuse me, into the Trump coin. And, and he was being investigated by the US and now he's not anymore. So that was a pretty clear deal for him. You have this group called Freight Tech was a, it's a trucking company and they bought a bunch of Trump coin. And the CEO of the company said on the record that they're doing it because it, quote, provides a unique opportunity to champion free and fair trade across the US Mexico border in the interest of our customers with the president. So at least the people buying the coins think that they're getting something out of it. So this is a bribe under any other word. You know, we'll see how it actually shakes out with anything. But at least it is an attempted bribe. And we've had people like foreign Chinese nationals like Justin sun who have already gotten paid huge dividends out of this investment into this worthless coin. It is a scandal without precedent in American history. And the fact that we just kind of move on day to day because there's so much going on, I guess it's just the nature of the Trump administration, but I do think, because it's important to call it out and just speak specifically about what's happening because it is confusing for people. A lot of people don't really understand what's happening with these alternative coins.

Unknown Speaker (5:44)

Tim Miller, it's uncomfortable to watch that scene in the Oval Office. It is also pre gold gilded mantle being set up. So it does mark some time between the ambush of President Zelensky and the ambush yesterday of the president of South Africa. It is clear that humiliating world leaders is a tactic that Trump is comfortable turning to, not an accidental emotional outburst. That, too, feels like a mile marker in our descent on the world stage.

Tim Miller (6:18)

For sure. And look, if you're an ally of this country, you know, throughout, you know, all of the Post World War II era could feel like you could come to the White House and get candid feedback behind the scenes, behind the cameras as you negotiate and talk about issues potentially between the two countries. But there's never a fear that the cameras would turn on and that you would get browbeaten by somebody who wants to puff himself up and seem tough for his imaginary reality show. And so obviously, that is something that leaders throughout the world are going to have to start to think about when they think about how to deal with this person. And particularly with regards to Ukraine and the South Africa scene was just so ridiculous and appalling yesterday. And obviously so much of what he said wasn't true. But in the Ukraine situation, we really are in a life or death moment right now. And every signal since that White House meeting has been that they're ready to just wash their hands of this. I mean, Judy Vance at a press conference the other day where basically said, look, if Putin doesn't want to come to the table, then we're just going to have to, you know, let Putin and Zelensky figure it out without us. I mean, that's an invitation to Putin to not come to the table. He's basically saying, look, if you stall, we're about right. We're about sick of this. We're about tired of this. So, you know, that is either actively trying to send a positive message to Putin because you're on his side, or passively allowing him to get what he wants.