← Human Events Daily with Jack Posobiec
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- [00:02]
Jack Sobic
Hey guys, it's Jack. I wanted to let you know that we're starting a new push for subscriptions here on Human Events Daily. So make sure that when you're listening to this podcast, you hit subscribe, you download it and you share it with five of your friends. Make sure they're all going and downloading as well because we need to get the signal out as much as possible. Look, we've done so much over the past couple of years since this show started and we're only going to do so much more. Let's get it
- [00:32]
Donald Trump
taking over temporary until we fight. Everybody wants that job. He's a very important job. Marty's a terrific guy, but he's going to go on and he's going to lead a good life. He was having, he was having some difficulties. You know, he's a great doctor and he was having some difficulty, but he's going to go on and he's going to do well. We have. Everybody wants that job.
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Reporter
You send the National Guard or ICE to voting locations in November, will you do that?
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Donald Trump
Well, you know what I say anything necessary to make sure we have honest elections. We have to have honest elections. So you're not.
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Reporter
A quick question, Mr. President. This month is considered to be the month of Africa. On May 25th we'll be celebrating Africa Day. Would you mind doing something special? A 10 minute interview to speak about your views on the Africa.
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Donald Trump
Ceasefire is on life support. Each president sea the process of bringing it back to life. But we'll see what happens. We're going to have a great meeting in China. He's a wonderful guy, he's a friend of mine and we're going to have a great meeting. We do a lot of business with China. We do very well with China and they do well with us. And the relationship is very good. We are going to have a great time. Do you think he's got what it takes to reach the Iranians? Whatever he can do to help the. Yeah, I think it's getting very close. The end of the war in Ukraine, I really think is getting very close.
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Reporter
When you're negotiating with Iran, Mr. President, to what extent are American financial situations motivating you to make a deal?
- [02:29]
Donald Trump
Not even a little bit. The only thing that matters when I'm talking about Iran, they can't have a nuclear weapon. I don't think about American financial situation. I don't think about anybody. I think about one thing. You cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon. That's all. That's the only thing. Mr. President, will China invest $1 trillion in U.S. normal or NATO? Dan, what is more broken, NATO or OPEC? Well, OPEC is having some difficulty right now because one those things, but that has nothing to do with me. NATO was very disappointing to me. NATO was not there when we wanted them. Was not. We don't need NATO. We don't need NATO. But if we did need them, they just weren't there. He could, I mean, it might be. I don't think we need any help with Iran, to be honest with you. They're defeated militarily and they'll either do the right thing or we'll finish the job. They're either going to do the right thing or we're just going to finish the job. That we're going to have a great relationship for many, many decades to come. My relationship with President is a fantastic one. We've always gotten along and we're doing very well with China and working with China has been very good. So we look forward to. As you know, President Xi will be coming here toward the end of the year, so that'll be exciting. I only wish we had the ballroom finished. The ballroom is right on budget and ahead of schedule, but I wish we had a finished. You also may want to do one other thing. You may want to go see the reflecting pool, because that's under construction and for the first time since 1922, it's going to work properly. You're on the gas stats in Congress. Got one of the great oil finds anywhere in the world, and you're not using it. You're not allowed to use it. And it's one of the best in the world, among the best oils in the world. Open up your oil in the North Sea and get tough on immigration.
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Reporter
Should he stay or go?
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Donald Trump
Europe is being very, very hurt by immigration. It's all over the place. Did he stay or. That's up to him. But I told him from day one, you're getting killed on energy. You're windmilling your country to death. Open up the north. We have one of the greatest sources of energy in the world. Open up the north.
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Reporter
Would you ask them to do that?
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Donald Trump
I think it's a great idea. Two questions.
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Xi Van Fleet
Has there been any understanding between you
- [05:39]
Donald Trump
and Putin that Russia should get entire Donbas? No. You have a standing invitation to travel to Russia. Do you think it might happen this year? I will do whatever is necessary. That war. I've settled eight wars. That war is getting closer, believe it or not, it's getting closer, and we think we're going to end up getting a settlement between Russia and Ukraine. Of your trip to China, I think more than anything else, there'll be a massive relationship with China, with the two superpowers. We're the strongest nation on earth in terms of military. China's considered second. Who knows? Who knows? But we are. There's nobody even to come close. And you see that. Whether it's Venezuela or whether it's Iran, Iran's military is decimated. I have a great relationship with President Xi and I think it's going to remain that way. But we have a lot of things to discuss. I wouldn't say Iran is one of them, to be honest with you, because we have Iran very much under control. We're either going to make a deal or they're going to be decimated. One way or the other, we win. We're going to be talking about, we're going to be talking with President Xi about a lot of different things. I would say more than anything else, we'll be trading.
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Reporter
Did you say earlier that the only thing that matters to you when it comes to Iran is a nuclear weapon? You're not considering the financial impact of this war on Americans.
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Donald Trump
The, the most important thing by far, including whether our stock market, which by the way is at an all time high, but including whether or not our stock market goes up or down a little bit, the most important thing by far is Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.
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Reporter
What about the prices right now, how they're feeling about every American?
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Donald Trump
Every American understands, and they just had a poll like 85%, which is surprising. It's only that they understand that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. If Iran has a nuclear weapon, the whole world would be in trouble because they happen to be crazy. They're not going to have a nuclear weapon. Now, if the stock market goes up or down a little bit, the American people understand when it's over, you're going to have a massive drop in the price of oil, which a lot of people thought would be higher. I mean, it was $100, $99 yesterday, which is low, which is relatively low. When this war is over, oil is going to drop. The stock market's going to go through the roof. And truly, I think we're in the golden age right now. You're going to see a golden age like we've never seen before the minute it's announced. And I'll be the one to announce it because I'm the one that makes that decision. I could leave right now and it would take them 25 years to rebuild their country. But I don't want to do that. I want to have it complete and total. Are you ready? As soon as this war is over, you're going to see numbers like you've never
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Reporter
stop.
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Xi Van Fleet
The pushes stop.
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Donald Trump
Doesn't mean I'm happy about it. I live with a lot of different the voters who are confused about the changing maps, the changing dates. Are the African Americans concerned that this is going to draw black members of Congress off the map? What do you say? Well, I think it's been a wonderful process. They've been the Democrats, or as I call the Democrats because they are dumb in so many ways. They've redistricted for years and now we took our shot and it looks like we're going to pick up a lot of seizures and that's a good thing. We want voters to have their choice. We want fair voting. We want fair elections. The Democrats have been cheating on elections for many years and all we're doing is winning.
- [10:11]
Jack Sobic
All right, folks, so there we just saw President Trump as he departs for Marine One. He's about to take off there from the South Lawn of the White House on his way en route to Air Force One. We're going to be getting you that live shot and that live feed as soon as we can with President Trump. They are departing for this historic summit in China. Xi Jinping, the Beijing boardroom, bringing with him these leaders of industry. Of course you remember us here Human Events Daily. The China files which we put together so many years ago. Want to remind everyone to go and get those. I'll post the link again. You can of course, search for it on our feed. Just look up China files. You'll be able to find the entire thing. Wanted to also bring on, of course the the I am remiss for not saying. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard today's edition of Human Events daily here live, May 12, 2026 Anno Domini. Want to bring in our first guest, she Van Fleet, the author of Made in America. She how are you?
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Xi Van Fleet
Okay. Thank you so much for having me.
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Jack Sobic
Tell us your thoughts as President Trump prepares to sit down with the another another member, someone who shares a similar surname, Xi Jinping in Beijing.
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Xi Van Fleet
No, it's a different My name is Katie name. His is a family name and, and a different characters. I know I hate to be associated with him but yes, of course. Similarly in English.
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Jack Sobic
Yes. Yeah. Please tell us how you how you see this trip and how you what you hope to see from the sit down.
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Xi Van Fleet
I first of all, I really wish A safe trip for our president. I am concerned. I'm really concerned about his safety and with all this cabinet members and important people with him. And I'm sure it will be okay. And I don't know what to expect out of it. But one thing I know that despite of what Trump said about Xi Jinping being his friend and whatever, he knows who he's dealing with, I have full confidence that Trump will get what he wanted or. And he would not just trust the ccp and he had experience with them. And also, I think it's very, very important that we're not just talking about ccp, we're also talking about communism. And I believe that Trump is our only president who understands the threat and danger of Chinese communism. And I think that we have to deal with it because it is now a major power. But I think he know what to expect. That means no trust. You can't trust them. They were signed anything and they were promised anything. But we know that they're not going to carry through.
- [13:19]
Jack Sobic
And that's exactly right, because we see what's going on. The CCP now is being put in a vice grip because they need the oil. They need the oil from Iran, they need the oil from Venezuela, but President Trump has cut that off from Venezuela. And then, of course, the Strait of Hormuz, the leverage position that China offers potentially there could be very, very huge for them. And they are going to have to offer some kind of concession to the United States in order to receive that. That's why President Trump has set up this situation. While he's going to sit down with Xi Jinping, people said, why don't you finish it before him? Because it puts them in a bad position to make a deal.
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Xi Van Fleet
I absolutely agree. And also I think that both of them on the stand, Xi Jinping on the stand, it's not about Iran and it's about China and everything Trump has done since his second term, it's about China. From tariff to Greenland to Panama, you know, it's all about China. He knows it. And now with the strict Hormuz not opening, who suffer? They. They. Absolutely. So they are in the position of weakness and we are in the position of strength.
- [14:37]
Jack Sobic
And that's where you're able to come in and say, look, we know you have some reserves, we know you have some help. But ultimately, their economy, because of the Chinese economy slowdown, because of the decoupling that President Trump is already working on in terms of tariffs, that has been a way to put the pressure further and further towards the Chinese Communist Party by saying, look, if you don't have that full employment and Xi Van Fleet, you know better than anyone what is the ability of the United States to decouple. What would that do to undercut the leverage and the influence of CCP in their own country?
- [15:14]
Xi Van Fleet
Yeah, we already see it. And this not being reported widely. China is in shambles. And the stories we hear from inside China is that economy is so bad and there's a lot of business closing. And the people I know who were complained that just few years ago, they complained there's no more bonuses. And today they'll complain they worried about their jobs. There are so many people losing their jobs. And young graduates from college have no jobs. And they. All they wanted is a job that pays 300, 3,000 yuan a month, which is like $600, and they can't even get that. And everything is just really in disarray. And I really think there's a lot of problem with still a lot of elite here. They refuse to see the reality. They still see China as strong. And I just heard an interview with this political science professor of Chicago University named Robert Pape, I think that's his last name. And he was just this yesterday, he said, China is 20 years ahead of us. And he gives you example that in China, they apply AI not just in the company, not just in the industry, but in the community and in the city. And he gave example that in here we will get a traffic ticket probably, you know, after a month or so. He said, in China, you're gonna get in two minutes. And I said, he's just so, so, so stupid. Stupid is the word. He had no idea. Not only they get the ticket in real time and the fine will be withdrawn from their bank account in the next two seconds. That's what the kind of total control that Communists, the Chinese Communist Party has on the Chinese people there is absolutely. You can't expect countries like that to prosper without the, the, the help of the American companies. And I think that finally, finally with Trump, we understand that they are our enemy. CCP is our enemy. It's not competitor, it's not partner, it's enemy.
- [17:50]
Jack Sobic
And the idea is that they'd want to come in and they could, by the way, help out on so many of these things. They could help out on Iran, they could help out on Russia, they could help out in so many places. But they don't actually view themselves as peacemakers because they are the ones behind so many of these things. Isn't that true?
- [18:10]
Xi Van Fleet
Their Enemy, the top enemy is United States. And it's not just today. It's not just yesterday. It is in the DNA of CCP. It's in the day that it was founded in 1921 by the Russians. That was their goal. Their goal was to defeat capitalism, Christianity, and United States. That is always there. When they are weak. They pretend that they're just like reformers. And as soon as Xi Jinping took over in 2012, he showed his teeth because he believed that now he's strong enough. And this is something I really, really want American people to understand. CCP view America always, always as their enemy.
- [19:06]
Jack Sobic
And I remember this from when I was there. I remember this from traveling there, from living there for two years, learning Mandarin, that they view America as. With. It's. It's interesting because they have respect for what America's position was in the world as the number one. But I can remember them saying, we view you as number one. Our goal is to take you down and to put us in your place.
- [19:34]
Xi Van Fleet
Exactly. And this is something, I think, of course, without the help of the mainstream media and people just don't know, people still view China as just a normal country. It is not. It is a communist country. It's not a capitalist country. And we don't have to argue. Look at that. Look at the size, this hammer and a sickle. And also the. The other thing, as long as you see Chairman Mao's portrait hanging on the Tiananmen Square tower, you know, it is a communist country, and we have to regard it that way. And today, not only CCP is our primary threat, Communism itself is our greatest threat. And Communism is not over there. It is here, here in America, here in our institutions and here in, you know, especially educational system. They absolutely controlled by the American Marxists, American Communists. So our enemy is both CCT and Communism.
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Jack Sobic
Tell us again about your book, because you're talking about the power of economic leverage. That's really the best way to fight back here.
- [20:51]
Xi Van Fleet
Yeah, it's more than that. But decoupling, I know it is difficult. It is very, very difficult. Difficult because we let them in. We let the CCP into this world water, and now they're destroying it. And so then what we have to fight back is really, really remake the. The world order. And that's exactly what Trump is doing, is re. Is. I call it great reset. You know, use their term. We have to reset the term. And so what Trump did Trump withdraw from the World Health Organization. And I think. I think we should withdraw from un. From all These organizations that have been captured by the ccp. So, and of course, tariff is one of the best weapons we have. So we have to understand their threat and act accordingly.
- [21:53]
Jack Sobic
Amen to that. All right, we know President Trump on his way there. Xi Van Fleet, thank you so much for joining us. Human Events Daily,
- [22:01]
Donald Trump
you know, they talk about influencers. These are influencers and they're friends of mine. Jack, Where's Jack? Jack, who's got a great job.
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Jack Sobic
Human Events Daily, Real America's Voice. We see. That's Marine One on the tarmac. Live shot. We'll have that up for you as President Trump departs on his way to China. And this is the Beijing boardroom meeting, what we've been telling you all about, this is the big one. This is about President Trump's strategic grand deal that he's being able to put together. I want to bring on now Richard Barris, the people's pundit here on Human Events. Rich, you've been looking at this entire situation. Walk us through the state of play geopolitically between China and Iran as President Trump is on his way to the tarmac
- [23:07]
Rich Barris
has to do. I heard his comments before, but, you know, in reality, Jack, we've been, we've been talking about this, you and I and your show since the beginning of this. He needs to talk to China about the situation in Iran, even get their help, try to elicit their help if he has to, because the best, most favorable thing for Donald Trump to do at this point is to wind this thing down as fast as he can, Jack. So, you know, it's just a reality of the situation that you're going to have to deal with China because obviously they back her on. Same thing eventually, Jack. Again, we can't have these enemies for to the north of the Gulf and enemies to the south of the Gulf kind of just squeezing our position there. We just can't have it. So you're going to have to deal with them. It's sad to say. And I gotta, I'd be remiss if I didn't say this, this has put Trump in and he's got an opportunity to reshape that world order that we've been talking about. But this is something he's going to have to deliver on now because now we're kind of in this position due to the war. So we have to do it. Got to engage.
- [24:03]
Jack Sobic
Yeah. And there's a, there's a few different, you know, there's a few different things. You know, I'm sort of just looking at my notes here, trying to determine, you know, what is it that the United States has to offer to China. And, you know, I've seen, I've seen the media and like specifically the Wall Street Journal, which I think you can see the stenography, you know, off talking about licenses on Chinese EVs and others. By the way, President Trump just now, you know, for folks who are on the audio side, he's now walking across the Tarma. He's flanked by Secret Service, by looks like Air Force, and he's on his way to Air Force One. It doesn't look like he's taking any questions at this point. So press motorcade on their way. He salutes and he's headed for the stairs. See, he's waving and yes, no questions. He's going right up the stairs. Got Secret Service flanking him and he is on his way. Got the big plane at the big plane for Air Force One. I do see a number of other members of the presidential. Those look like he has a few others of the presidential air wing out there. So it could be that other members of the senior staff are heading along as well. The White House might be sending multiple planes. There's a large delegation that's going to be heading over in addition to the business leaders. Go ahead, Rich.
- [25:21]
Rich Barris
Yeah, I was just going to say two things, actually. One is this is what I like to see from Donald Trump because this is where he shines, Jack, in the deal. Deal is, is, is what made him such a consequential president in his first term especially. But, you know, that, that's, you know, number one. Number two, again, it may not be my most favorite way to get here, but I think, you know, we've been talking about this for a long time. We do need to make changes in the global order. We have to wind down in the Gulf. We have to pivot to Asia. So if it takes, you know, being pushed into it like this and then good, I'll take that. I'll take it on a silver platter.
- [26:00]
Jack Sobic
This is where, you know, and we've talked about this, but unfortunately, but, but, Rich, unfortunately, what we've seen is we're, we're not pivoting to Asia. In fact, we're pivoting. What we've done is actually pivot so much of our military away from Asia back to the Middle East.
- [26:17]
Rich Barris
Yeah. And, but this is this, this is what I'm exactly what I mean, I'm kind of hoping that they're forced into a job because it doesn't look like Naturally, the Blob is going to let you know, this entire, this giant ship that we're on with foreign policy, it's not like they're going to let it change course in a second. This is going to be a huge correction. It would take a huge correction. But again, you said before, you know, what is it that they need? It's a misnomer that China's economy is doing great. It's not like they're hot on fire over there. We have economic things we can give them. And for those of us who were very reluctant to get into the Middle east and see this war kick off because of, you know, concerns like this, again, I'll take it any way I can get it, brother. Give it to them. Let's move forward.
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Jack Sobic
Yeah. And I would say, you know, I would obviously say short of, you know, short of, of course, you know, Taiwan recognition or something like that, but that's
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Senator Josh Hawley
not on the deal.
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Jack Sobic
On.
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Rich Barris
That's not on the table, right?
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Jack Sobic
Yes, it's not on the table, but, you know, some, some sort of economic package where, look, and this is the way that I've always seen it described is that. But, you know, the US And China are always going to have a relationship, and it's probably better for the world that we do, right? It's probably, in general, better for the world if we do rather than try to, you know, isolate and cut everyone off like we did with Russia. And what did that do? That just pushed Russia into a corner and it didn't end the Ukraine war. They prolonged it. It's it. And it continues today for, you know, what, four and a half years almost, now that it's been going. And so that was a complete failure. If you wanted to, quote, unquote, change Russia's behavior, you back them into the corner. That being said, when it comes to China, you have to recalibrate. I think you have to recalibrate. You have to reconstitute. You have to. To shake the relationship up there. But at the same time, say, look, we need this thing with Iran. We know that China came in with Syria in the past when there were chemical weapons concerns. China was someone who came in that was seen as a neutral party in a sense and was able to come in there. I think they could play the same role with, with Tehran. We would just have to make it worth their while.
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Rich Barris
Let me just clarify, too, by saying, piggybacking off of what you just said, what you just described was a giant balancing coalition that our policy in Eastern Europe and elsewhere led to balancing against us now, you know, so the Russia, China, even India, you know, kind of anti US or anti NATO balancing coalition cannot be allowed to form. But, but that, when I said give it to them, just to clarify, not the, you know, the factories on foreign soil, Jack, that is an absolute political catastrophe in the making. So don't do it.
- [28:58]
Jack Sobic
I see those things, as I'm going to tell you right now, I see the factories on foreign soil and the EV licenses. That is a wish list. That's wish casting from the U.S. chamber. I said that on War Room this morning. They're the ones trying to put that out there. That's what they want. That is not what President Trump is putting on the table.
- [29:15]
Rich Barris
Yeah, I mean, look, there's just, that's not going to fly with not only his base. I think that wouldn't fly beyond even his base. But again, I just, I can't, I cannot see him doing that. And, and look, there are these exemptions for the oil embargo which once upon a time in Trump's first administration he would slapped them with those and they hurt their revenue, Iran's revenue. He could use that. I mean, he has a number of tools at his disposal. It doesn't have to be something.
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Jack Sobic
The tools are there. Let's, let's, let's hold off on that and get back after the break. President Trump on his way to China. Air Force One now loaded. President Trump now. Air Force One loaded up on the tarmac, about to take off. Direct flight, Washington D.C. to Beijing. And here. America's 250th anniversary, folks. America is now hitting 250 years and we are in fact fighting for its soul right now. Culture, economy, who gets your dollar? That's the battle. Most wireless companies don't care what you stand for. They just want your cash. Patriot Mobile is different. For more than 12 years, they've stood with Americans like us backing the Christian conservative movement when everyone else stayed silent or worse. And here's the deal. You don't have to give up quality or service when you switch to Patriot Mobile. They deliver premium priority access on all three major U.S. networks. So you'll get the same coverage or better than you have today. Think switching is a hassle? It isn't. Keep your number, keep your phone or upgrade. Their 100%. US based customer support team can activate you in minutes. Still paying off a device, Patriot Mobile even offers a contract buyout. This is a defining year. We're in a fight for America's soul. We must work together to save Our country. Go to patriotmobile.com posto or call 9-72-patriot. Use promo code POSO for a free month of service. That's patriotmobile.com POSO or call 9-72-patron make the switch today. Rich Barrist. We're watching President Trump. He's on his way over. He's going to be sitting down with Chairman Xi. The fact that he's got these, you know, these heads of industry going along with them, all the tech giants are going, Elon Musk is going, Tim Cook, the heads of Meta, the head of, I believe the head of Google is going over as well. Just, just all the Silicon Valley companies. This really shows to me, and I've made this, this point on the program all week, that this is about continuing to find a way to rebalance and recalibrate our relationship. And there's no better way to highlight that than point out the fact that Silicon Valley does not do its manufacturing in the Silicon Valley anymore. They do it in China and they do it in Taiwan, largely, but they do it at the detriment of American workers. They do it with Chinese labor. So those are the guys and blackrock, Blackstone, et cetera, so many others. Those are the guys that President Trump knows that he needs to get in the room and say, look, you guys got to remember who your loyalty is to. You live here. You want this country to continue to protect you. It's time to fix the problem
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Xi Van Fleet
before
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Rich Barris
we think it's, you know, that that's just a big carrot. Let's see what happens. And, you know, they could also be a very big stick. Right? I mean, that's what happens when you put those, you know, that, that number of key figures in the same room. It's not just that there's Trump saying something. If you can get everybody on the same page, then it makes it, obviously, you have to take, if you're the Chinese, you have to take it more seriously. I mean, that's, it's a smart play. And I'm not even sure the last time we saw somebody do something like this.
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Donald Trump
Right.
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Rich Barris
Could you think back to the last time you saw a president take an industry delegation like this to another global power? And it's, you know, again, at this point, you know, we've put, we've, we've decided where the boundaries were and what was on the table and what wasn't. I say let him cook and let's see what he can do here. Because these changes, he's long known, I know that people might feel like he's you know, hit a couple of speed bumps with certain things as the war really takes your mind away from other priorities. But Trump has long seen what we have, what we have been talking about. He gets that. I mean, remember, this was the president in the first administration that wanted to do this, wanted to scale back away from NATO to the great, by the way, to the great number of bellyaches we heard from the neocon wing of the Republican Party. Right. It was insane to make a pivot more toward Asia and to wind down on NATO. Well, if there wasn't that kind of pushback in the first Trump administration, we might not even have a Ukrainian war right now. Now we may not have a Russo Ukrainian war. And he'd be able to be that much more focused on what needs to be done in the east, because that is where we should be focused. That's where we need to spend our resources. Outside of our own hemisphere, of course.
- [34:26]
Jack Sobic
And it really is. Look, people need to understand that when we face this, we've been, and I say it like a broken record. We did the China files here where we explained this. We've been paying for our own demise. It's the old Vladimir Lenin quote, right? That a capitalist will sell you the ropes, rope that you use, that will sell you the rope that you use to hang yourself. And that's exactly what we've been doing with the Chinese. We have been sending all of our jobs over there. We've been sending all of our work over there. And including that. All of what? The foreign direct investment. That's a huge piece of that for trying to find a way to redirect investment to the United States, trying to keep American capital in the United States. That's why the Midwest is like the Midwest. The south is the South. The entire Northeast is de. Industrialized. That's rich. And I. Come on, we talk about the Rust Belt all day, every day. This is why the Rust Belt is the Rust Belt. And Rich, you know as well as I do that when you go to those voters in Ohio, in Michigan, in Wisconsin, in my beloved Pennsylvania, you say the word China. That is a four letter word up there.
- [35:31]
Rich Barris
Yeah. And we're getting to the point. I was just going to go here. We're getting to the point where a very large, more than super majority of the country does want Donald Trump to be doing this. Right. Whether they see this as. They may not know all the details, but voters aren't d. All right. If they're looking at Donald Trump, you know, you know, getting on Air Force One and heading across the ocean like that to go speak to somebody and negotiate, that is going to be. That's. That's what they want. So, again, we're at, we're at a point now where it's more than a super majority who says, you know, negotiate and do what you got to do to end the war. And let's get back to other things. This, this is one of those other things that got Donald Trump elected the first time around and again, of course, the third time around. This is why he performs the way he does, because he does care about these issues. And voters in that part of the country are savvy enough because more than the average bear, because they have been impacted by it more than the average bear, this entire global order. So again, when I understand there may be some people who are worried about what goes on and what is he going to give him is are we going to end or especially the more hawkish side of the party, are we going to end the war on bad terms? This is what needs to be done. This is what voters want him to do. It's the president that they elected. This is the president they like. So let him get it done and get back to some of those original priorities that he had, which was, of course, reshaping the world order and confronting the east when we've ignored it at the behest of the Middle east for how many years to, like you said, our own detriment. This entire concept is what sells in the Rust Belt. So let him cook. Let him do his thing.
- [37:03]
Jack Sobic
Look, and, and I keep saying it, I keep saying it all day long, is if you really want to recalibrate the pivot to Asia, you build the Asian force. We were coming up on, on X the other day, we were coming up with some, you know, potential names for like an Asian naito. You let Japan remilitarize. What was the one, I think we had Poto at one point calling it, you know, yeah, I forgot to support the Pacific, you know, Pacific Ocean Treaty organizations like that. But you get the Philippines, obviously, you get the Philippines, you get India, you get Japan, you get South Korea, you get all of nation Australia, obviously you get all of these nations on board. And then you have the ability, because the United States is. Since World War II, the United States has been a Pacific power. This is what people need to understand from a naval perspective. We won World War II. The most strategic victory that we had was not Europe, by the way, it was the Pacific Ocean in control of the Pacific waterways, which, yes, we took from Japan. That has been America's economic engine since World War II. Now, unfortunately, what did we do with it? We handed it over to this deal with the Chinese communists after the 1990s and the world, the World Trade Organization, WTO ascension. We didn't need to do that. We never should have done that. But that's what was done because they saw all those waterways, all those roadways as totally wide open. And so it was, it was sold to the American people as, oh, you're going to get, get, you know, you're going to get a smaller house but a bigger tv. And people took the deal because big tv. Who doesn't want that?
- [38:46]
Rich Barris
Yeah, you know, it's funny. Post the World War or pre, the post World War II era, it's. If you look at the history of American expansion and even defensive posturing, but still it's always been to the West, Jack. Even though I would argue even before, you know, knowing that we needed to be a naval power in order to defeat the Japanese in World War II or any other. Honestly, the open door policy, you was obviously to lay the, the framework of the groundwork for Western expansion and, and beyond. Right. As an e. More of an obviously an economic empire. We're not a colonial empire. It's a little bit different. But that's always been the way it is. The post World War II era just got us hung up on Europe, which is, you know, there's a good, there's a good name for it. It's an appropriate name. Jack. The old world. Right. It very much is in many senses of that that, you know of that, that, that phrase. Right. It is the old world and we're behind the ball. We've been behind the ball on being able to pivot. And it's one thing out of the. I remember the Obama administration. It was actually one thing out of the Obama administration that I felt like I could get behind. Jack. And I know the button was stupid. You remember the reset button with Russia and all of that? Yeah, I remember when it was, you know, it was silly and we all
- [39:59]
Jack Sobic
made fun of but that. But Obama never actually believed in it because. Because he kept us in the Middle east the entire time. Rich Barris. That's all time we have. I could do this with you all day long, man. Where can people follow you?
- [40:10]
Rich Barris
The best place, Jack. Always on locals. People's Pundit locals.com But follow the gram at peoples pundit.
- [40:17]
Jack Sobic
Coming in. Holly on the gram with Rich Barris. We'll be right back. Senator Josh Hawley joins us next. Human Events Daily.
- [40:28]
Donald Trump
Foreign.
- [40:36]
Senator Josh Hawley
Appreciation Hour I can say confidently, I believe, I think Josh Shapiro would be the vice presidential nominee if it wasn't for Jack the Sobic and that that is I'm.
- [40:51]
Jack Sobic
Folks, Jack. Back live Human Events Daily. And we're very honored to have on once again. Senator Josh Hawley joins us. Senator, how are you?
- [40:59]
Xi Van Fleet
You?
- [41:00]
Senator Josh Hawley
I'm doing great. Thank you for having me.
- [41:03]
Jack Sobic
Well, Senator, I know you've got big legislation that you're going to be introducing today, but we did just see President Trump. He made his, he departed, he made his departure from Andrews there, Air Force One. He's loaded up. Talk to us just very quickly, what are your hopes? Because I know that you focus so much on Silicon Valley, China, these two relationships that have been been intrinsically paired, President Trump bringing so many Silicon Valley leaders here. What is your view and what we hope to get out of this summit?
- [41:33]
Senator Josh Hawley
Well, I hope that we, we get out protecting American industry, protecting American technology, most importantly, American jobs. Nobody, nobody in my lifetime has done what Donald J. Trump did to put the China issue on the agenda. He's basically the only guy who would talk about it going back to really back to the 90s. You know, he said admitting China to the WTO would be a huge mistake. He was right. It was, it was stupid. It's cost us tens of millions of jobs. Now they want to buy up a whole bunch of our industry. They want to buy up our farmland. And I hope we make clear to them we're not going to let that happen. You know, China shouldn't own any farmland in America, period. They shouldn't own real estate around our sensitive military bases, other areas that are sensitive from a national security perspective. And I credit the president again for taking a tough line on China. He's the only guy who's been working willing to do it. I hope he'll continue to do that at this summit. They need us a lot more than we need them. Let's just be honest about it. And it's a time, this is the time to drive a hard bargain, in my view.
- [42:28]
Jack Sobic
Well, that's exactly right, Senator. And I've been traveling to China and spent time there and was a Mandarin linguist in the Navy. And the idea that China would have its rise and have all of its power fueled without a customer base never really made any sense to me. We are the ones who actually have the leverage here, not them 100%.
- [42:50]
Senator Josh Hawley
And that's always been true, which is why it was catastrophically stupid for the Clinton administration and then the Bush 43 administration to welcome China into the trade system, to treat them as a developing nation. We have basically zero tariff access to our economy while they got to tariff up and protect their economy. You know, we funneled, we fueled, we funded their rise. And you think about it, it's insane. And the first person in my lifetime to point this out and be honest about it again was President Trump, who said that was stupid, decades of stupid policy. He started to reverse it in his first administration. He's continued down that path, and I hope that he'll continue to stand strong here. Why are we paying for their military? Why are we funding their AI companies? We shouldn't be funding a dime. We want our jobs back from them that they've stolen, stolen. And there's a lot we can do to continue to protect American jobs, American industry, American farmland. That ought to be our priority.
- [43:45]
Jack Sobic
Well, I couldn't agree more. This recalibration, and I really hope that that's what comes out of this summit. Obviously hope for, you know, some mediation perhaps, or leverage over Iran shut down that. Because this Iran situation that we're also looking at, I know that's been one of the big overhanging questions of the summit with Beijing is the price of fuel as it's bottled up out of the Strait of Hormuz, as those tankers still haven't just begun flowing the way that. The way they normally do that has risen or caused the price of gas to rise so much here at home. And a lot of people have looked at that and saying, okay, well, it's a bottleneck situation. What are we going to do? We need a deal. The deal hasn't come. Iranians recalcitrant, et cetera, et cetera. You, though, have perhaps a way to help Americans directly find relief while the geopolitics play out on the world stage.
- [44:41]
Senator Josh Hawley
Yeah, let's suspend the gas tax.
- [44:43]
Jack Sobic
Easy.
- [44:43]
Senator Josh Hawley
Federal gas tax is about 20 cents a gallon. Diesel, it's even a little bit higher. Let's suspend them both. I mean, let's just cut taxes right now. I thought that's what Republicans were good for. So let's do it. Let's cut taxes for the American people on gas and diesel. Let's do it immediately. The President endorsed this yesterday. He talked it up big in the Oval Office. I was delighted when he did. And I hope that Republicans will take his leadership on this. This is the right thing to do. We need to give the American people relief. You know, you just mentioned China and the Strait. I hope the President will Make this strait issue China's problem. They get most of their oil out of the strait, we don't. But the bottleneck in the strait is driving up prices for the American people. Let's give them a tax cut.
- [45:23]
Jack Sobic
So how does that work going forward? This is obviously different from, of course, you remember when, when Biden was draining our strategic petroleum reserves during the, you know, during the onset of the Ukraine war, when that was going on, which wasn't, by the way, wasn't even something that we were involved in, except that Biden wanted us to be in. Now that was something, though, that the President could do by himself. When it comes to suspending the gas tax. What's the procedure there?
- [45:49]
Senator Josh Hawley
Congress has to pass it. Congress has got to do it by statute. That's why I've introduced legislation that would do it immediately. It would take, suspend that tax for 90 days, and then it would give the President the authority to suspend it for another 90 days without having to come back to Congress if he deems that it's necessary for our economic well being and national security. So, you know, we're looking at half a year at least of cutting that tax. And, you know, that's real money. I mean, that's 20 cents right off the top in my state. That would make a huge difference. It's huge for farmers who are paying diesel, who are using diesel, they would take a little more than 20 off the top for them. And my view is, why not do it? Why not give the American people that relief? I also think it strengthens our hands, frankly, in negotiations with Iran. Iran is counting on the fact that the pain that we're paying at the pump, that we're feeling at the pump, the prices that we're paying will ultimately squeeze the President. Well, we can relieve some of that pressure. You know, Iran has the pressure here. We ought to keep up the pressure on them. Let's take the pressure off the American people.
- [46:48]
Jack Sobic
Well, it's certainly something. And by the way, last time I checked, not exactly a partisan issue, is it?
- [46:53]
Senator Josh Hawley
Well, it shouldn't be. I mean, this is gonna be a real test now. Cause the Democrats have been saying for the last two months, well, hey, let's cut the gas tax. Okay? President Trump comes out and says, yeah, let's do, let's do that. Okay, well, I'm gonna, let's see how many Democrats now are for it. I want to give them the opportunity to vote on this. They thought it's such a good idea. And by the way, Democrats have voted for this in the Past under Democrat presidencies. President. So let's have a vote. Let's just see who is actually for helping the American people and who just wants to score political points. But make no mistake, cutting that tax right now, huge help to every single American.
- [47:25]
Jack Sobic
So pass legislation. It gets done by statute. That of course means it's got to come up to a vote. Is this something? Walk us through. Just, you know, the Senate procedure on this because we had the SAVE act situation, Save America act and a lot of people saying, wait a minute, that didn't happen. That seem to run into all these procedural hurdles here. How do we get around that?
- [47:47]
Senator Josh Hawley
Well, this could go on the Senate floor tomorrow if the Majority leader wanted to put it on the floor. Here's how the Senate rules work. The majority leader, Senator Thune, controls the floor. It's one of the big privileges of being majority leader. It is a very powerful privilege. He controls the floor. He could put the gas tax cut on the floor today, tomorrow, whenever he wants. He could set it for a vote. You know, under the Senate rules it would need 60 votes. So you'd need to get all the reports. Republicans, seven Democrats. But that's what I say. Let's put these people on the record. I mean let's see who is for higher taxes on the American worker in a time of war. Let's find out. Let's just find out. I predict it would pass. It goes over to the House, pass that thing through. Jack, this whole thing could be done in a couple of days if there was the will to do it. There needs to be the will to do it because the American people need the relief we need to put the pressure back on Iran. This is a great way to do both things at one time.
- [48:35]
Donald Trump
Time.
- [48:36]
Jack Sobic
Well, I think it would be excellent, Senator. I couldn't agree more. We saw the President talking about that. I do have you for for one more minute. I, if you'd permit me. I did also see the President tweeting about another piece or posting true thing about another piece of legislation in the Senate. The Housing act, the Road to Housing Act. Wanted to ask your views on that. I know that the big push is try to get these big institutional buyers out of of the housing market. Make it more available for single payer. Do you think this is the right bill for it?
- [49:07]
Senator Josh Hawley
You know I'm all for anything we can do to get the big Wall street guys out of buying single family homes. This is happening in Missouri. It's happening everywhere. These Wall street banks and investment funds are coming in and they're buying up single family homes, taking them off the market, turning them into rental properties. That drives up the cost for folks who are trying to get their first house. We're talking about working people. This is the backbone of the Trump Republican coalition. Folks want to be able to buy their own homes, young men starting their families, they need to be able to get a home. To have these Wall street banks and investment companies, hedge funds coming in and buying them all up is ridiculous. It is ridiculous. We ought to say, listen, you want to go build homes on your own Wall street, go ahead, fine, you want to build condos, whatever, but you should not be able to come in and buy up single family homes and take that stock away from the American people, especially those first time home buyers. I'm for anything that can get that done. I would be honest with you. I go stronger than the bill that passed the Senate. I think that we could be even tougher and give more power back to first time home buyers, more power back to the people. That's my general posture, but I'll take whatever. I mean, you know, let's take the first step.
- [50:14]
Jack Sobic
Understood? Understood. Senator Josh Hawley, God bless you. Thank you for joining us again.
- [50:18]
Senator Josh Hawley
Hey, thank you.
- [50:20]
Jack Sobic
All right, ladies and gentlemen, as always, you have my permission to lay ashore.