Trump ‘Deal’ Exposed as Total Nightmare as Truth Exposed

Summary

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Legal AF by MeidasTouch

Episode: Trump ‘Deal’ Exposed as Total Nightmare as Truth Exposed

Date: September 16, 2025
Host: Michael Popok (MeidasTouch Network)
Main Contributors: Ben Meiselas, Karen Friedman Agnifilo (not present in this segment)

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Episode Overview

This episode offers an incisive, critical analysis of Donald Trump’s newly announced “deal” to facilitate the sale of TikTok to an American entity, likely involving Oracle’s Larry Ellison. Host Michael Popok breaks down the far-reaching implications of the deal, highlighting how Trump’s business interests and favoritism toward associates overshadow national security and the public interest. The discussion also situates the TikTok deal within broader questions of government involvement in the private sector, U.S.-China relations, and ongoing national security concerns.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The TikTok Sale: Who Benefits?

• Trump’s Role in the TikTok Deal

  • Trump’s team (specifically his trade representative Jamie Greer and Treasury Secretary Scott Besant) is orchestrating the forced sale of TikTok’s U.S. assets, which have 170 million users, to an American buyer—potentially Oracle’s Larry Ellison, a known Trump ally ([01:56]–[04:00]).
  • Popok underscores that the purported national security concern about Chinese data access is being used as leverage primarily to benefit Trump’s friends and associates through the forced sale.

• Government in Business: A Pattern

  • The U.S. government, under Trump, has recently taken stakes in various private enterprises—Japanese steel, Intel, rare earth mineral companies—raising questions about why taxpayer money is used to intervene in the private sector ([02:58]–[03:17]).

“He’s supposed to be doing the people's business. He's getting paid to be the President of the United States, not the deal maker in chief.”
—Michael Popok ([02:52])

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2. The “Art of the Deal” and National Security

• Leverage Misused:
  • The initial TikTok ban originated from Congress and the Biden administration as a national security move to curb Chinese surveillance through TikTok.
  • China responded by launching antitrust investigations into U.S. chip makers (notably, Nvidia), using this as negotiation leverage.
  • Trump’s response: allegedly “folding” on tariffs and brokering a sale that prioritizes Chinese “fair value” rather than American security ([04:00]–[07:07]).

“We gotta make sure the Chinese get enough money. Is that what you have to do? I thought we’re protecting America's national security.”
—Michael Popok ([06:03])

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3. Conflict of Interest & Corruption

• Ellison and Media Consolidation:

  • Larry Ellison is positioned to benefit most due to his wealth and close relationship with Trump. His son, Scott Ellison, recently acquired Paramount (which includes CBS News), bolstering their media influence ([09:19]).
  • Popok warns this kind of consolidation puts powerful media assets under the control of Trump-aligned interests.

• Winners and Losers

  • Despite the deal being painted as a win for American security, Popok argues the real winners are the Chinese Communist Party (who receive billions in U.S. currency and tariff relief) and Trump’s close circle ([11:03]–[11:29]).

“The Chinese, the Communist Party just beat Donald Trump in a capitalist game.”
—Michael Popok ([11:03])

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4. Broader Implications

• Undermining National Security:
  • Trump is accused of trading away significant national security leverage (like AI chip technology, as in the Nvidia deal) for superficial financial “wins”—often netting a government royalty of just 15%, a figure Popok calls “putting a price tag on national security” ([13:00]–[13:30]).

“You can put a price tag on that—15%. This is the Trump administration in action. This is where all those worlds collide: his corrupt foreign policy, his corrupt tariff policy, his corrupt national security policy... all coming to a head with his TikTok brokering.”
—Michael Popok ([13:12])

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5. Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On Trump’s Priorities:

  "Stop using our taxpayer dollars to go off on the folly of investing in business and competing with private capital, and then to add insult to injury, undermine our national security to boot."
  —Michael Popok ([07:25])

• On TikTok’s Future:

  "TikTok was going to survive regardless if the Chinese didn't find a willing trading partner in Donald Trump and got billions of dollars off of Trump through his friends to do it and didn't have to give up anything and got their tariffs reduced."
  —Michael Popok ([11:03])

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [01:56] – [04:00]: Breakdown of the TikTok deal, Trump’s connections, and implications for U.S.-China relations.
• [05:45]: Treasury Secretary Scott Besant’s announcement on the TikTok deal “framework.”
• [06:03] – [07:39]: Deeper analysis of the deal mechanics and the question: why is the U.S. government ‘in business’?
• [09:19]: Detailed speculation on Larry Ellison’s likely involvement and the broader media consolidation issue.
• [11:03] – [13:30]: Popok’s sharpest critiques: winners/losers, media influence, the true cost to national security, and Trump’s transactional approach to foreign policy.

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Takeaways

• The TikTok sale is argued to be less about national security and more about cronyism and self-dealing within Trump’s circle.
• By dropping tariffs and facilitating advantageous deals for allies like Ellison, Trump helps adversarial states (China) while undermining American security leverage.
• The episode underscores the dangers of government intrusion into the private sector, media consolidation among political allies, and transactional, self-serving foreign policy.
• Popok continually calls on listeners to follow the money and recognize patterns of corruption rather than accepting government justifications at face value.

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For further details, court filings, and ongoing legal analysis, listeners are encouraged to follow the Legal AF Substack and YouTube channel.

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Transcript

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[Michael Popak]

NMLS 696891 Donald Trump is benefiting the Chinese and the Chinese Communist Party at the expense of our national security. They cut a deal in principle today between Donald Trump's trade representative Jamie Greer, his Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant, and the Chinese Communist party to have TikTok and its 170 million users be sold off to an American buyer for the American entity, to an American buyer who's likely a friend of Donald Trump, like Larry Ellison who owns Oracle. And all this Donald Trump has done because his foreign policy, his economic policy is warped by his own avarice and greed and his desire to help his friends and family members. While he's President of the United States, he's not supposed to be brokering deals to help his friends from the Oval Office.

[Co-host or Guest]

He's supposed to be doing the people's business. He's getting paid to be the President.

[Michael Popak]

Of the United States, not the deal maker in chief. Why do we own under Donald Trump, in just the last several months, effectively own a controlling interest in a Japanese steel manufacturer operating as U.S. steel in the United States?

[Co-host or Guest]

Why do we own 15% of Intel.

[Michael Popak]

A computer chip manufacturer?

[Co-host or Guest]

Why do we own 15% of a.

[Michael Popak]

Rare earth mineral company? Why is the United States and the people's taxpayer dollars in business at all? Why are we bailing out private enterprise and having the United States compete with private capital in the business world? And now because we want to benefit. Larry Ellison, the likely ultimate buyer of TikTok, we're going to strike a deal where we get rid of the tariffs against China effectively. They've all been paused. And we make sure. This was a quote from Jamie Greer, the trade representative. We got to make sure the Chinese get fair value for TikTok. Oh, yeah, and by the way, that our national security is also protected. That's America first. I'm Michael Popak. You're on the Midas Dutch network and illegal af. Let's get to the apparent sale of TikTok. Now, remember, Congress got together in a bipartisan way under the Biden administration and blocked TikTok, banned it unless it sold itself out from under the Chinese government. I know people love TikTok, but you also have to love it and recognize that the Chinese Communist Party ultimately controlled TikTok and its algorithm and all of its information and personal data that you have provided him provided TikTok wittingly or unwittingly. And that was a national security risk that was recognized not only by a bipartisan Congress and, and a president at the time and Biden, but by the United States Supreme Court, who sided with the ban. Even though Donald Trump, after he got elected and before he became president, tried to lob in a brief, arguing that, well, things are gonna change when I'm the president, so don't rule in favor of the ban. Well, that didn't work. And Donald Trump only jumped on the. On the bandwagon to let TikTok be sold and to extend the time to sell it because his sons, Ban Barron and others, convinced them that TikTok helped get him elected. This time in the past, Donald Trump was very vocal that he saw the national security risk of a Chi, a foreign Chinese communist government operating effectively a surveillance platform through TikTok. But now that he can find a way to benefit friends and family, we got a new deal announced. And the thing that's most galling about it is I'll show you a clip from Scott Besant, the Treasury Secretary.

[Scott Besant]

We have a framework for a TikTok deal. The two leaders, President Trump and Party Chair Xi, will speak on Friday to complete the deal. But we do have a framework for a deal with TikTok.

[Michael Popak]

And the art of the deal, it was the ban that gave them the leverage and the Chinese to gain additional leverage in their negotiation because they needed some chips on their side, no pun intended, started a criminal investigation and an antitrust investigation against the US Chip manufacturer Nvidia. And if you didn't know it, Nvidia is the number one stock in the world that drives the US Stock market. Nvidia. Not Amazon, not Facebook, Right? Not Microsoft. Nvidia. And so they went after Nvidia and other chip manufacturers, including putting about 20 of them on a list. So they had that as leverage. So Donald Trump gave up and folded on the tariffs against China, cut the deal. And then, of course, according to Jamie Greer, the trade representative for the United States. We gotta make sure the Chinese get enough money. Is that what you have to do? I thought we're protecting America's national security. I thought that was the reason for the ban that gave you the leverage to cut the deal.

[Co-host or Guest]

But.

[Michael Popak]

But again, as, as I said at the top of the hot take, why.

[Co-host or Guest]

Are we in the business of business?

[Michael Popak]

As the United States government, as the.

[Co-host or Guest]

President of the United States.

[Michael Popak]

You're not the CEO, you're not the Chairman of the board of the United States. We're not your shareholders.

[Co-host or Guest]

We're American citizens. We're patriots. We're taxpayers.

[Michael Popak]

Stop using our taxpayer dollars to go off on the folly of investing in business and competing with private capital, and then to add insult to injury, undermine our national security to boot.

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First, she loves the flavor and we.

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[Michael Popak]

Course, Larry Ellison is going to end up on the winning side of this transaction. It hasn't been announced yet, but I'd be shocked if Ellison isn't the sole buyer or part of the buying group. First of all, he's got enough money to to put the tens of billions of dollars necessary into the Chinese government's pocket. Nothing like giving our enemy and our military enemy tens of billions of hard, hard earned US Dollars. So one, there's very few people that can stroke that check. Larry Ellison surpassed Elon Musk as the world's richest man hangs out with Donald Trump press conferences at the top of the term. You know he's all in. And if he's not all in, his son is all in. The netboat baby. Scott Ellison, who owns Skydance that just bought Paramount because Donald Trump allowed him to buy Paramount, which owns CBS News. So Donald Trump has effective control of CBS News in 60 Minutes through the Ellison family. I'd be shocked if it's not Larry Ellison to stroke that check or he's at least a part of the buying group because you got to come up with tens of billions of dollars to buy this platform and then make it work and make money off of it. But you should be as upset as I am that Donald Trump is while he has been been Paid and elected to do the people's business is just doing business. Trump family business, friends and family business, not the American people's business. This doesn't help the American people. That TikTok got sold ultimately and brokered by Donald Trump to Larry Ellison or somebody just like him. How does that help the American people? I know what people are saying.

[Co-host or Guest]

TikTok will survive.

[Michael Popak]

TikTok was going to survive regardless if the Chinese didn't find a willing trading partner in Donald Trump and got billions of dollars off of Trump through his friends to do it and didn't have to give up anything and got their, their tariffs reduced. Who's the winner in the transaction? Since we're calling it a transaction, the Chinese, the Communist Party just beat Donald Trump in a capitalist game.

[Co-host or Guest]

That's it.

[Michael Popak]

So that was going to get sold to the 170 million people that use TikTok and I think I'm on there when they chop up some of my videos. You know they don't.

[Co-host or Guest]

It would survive.

[Michael Popak]

There was going to be a non communist Chinese buyer. Oracle has been hosting the. That's why they're the natural fit. Larry Ellison's Oracle has been hosting in their cloud and on their server farms all of the data for US TikTok for quite some time since 2020. They're already there. Throw them the keys, give them the ownership, they'll strike a check for 10 or 20 billion dollars. Then they'll take TikTok public and get all the money back. And who will be there to support it? Other friends of Donald Trump follow the TikTok money. It always leads to corruption and corrupt warped policies of the Trump administration. And that's what we're reporting on right here. So what's going to happen next? We got a tentative deal. Then we're going to see Donald Trump pull the rug out from, well, not, not from under the Chinese but to get rid of the 50, 60% sanctions against China that's going to go. China's going to continue to wage war against our chip manufacturing that hasn't been solved and we're going to sell it to them and then Donald Trump's going to hand TikTok off to a friend or family member including Larry Ellison and TikTok will go off and survive and the Chinese will get lots of hard earned American currency to upgrade their military with. As Donald Trump also remember brokered the deal for Nvidia, the chip manufacturer to sell the top secret or high end artificial intelligence computer chips to the Chinese. As long as Donald Trump, the American people get a 15% royalty. I'm like, that's what our national security is worth. You can put a price tag on that 15%. This is the Trump administration in action. This is where all those worlds collide. Is corrupt foreign policy, his corrupt tariff policy, is corrupt national security policy. All coming to a head with his TikTok brokering. I'm Michael Popak. You're on legal AF and on the Midas Touch network. Come over to Legal a of the YouTube channel. We just crossed our 800,000 threshold subscriber threshold before our one year birthday which is this Wednesday on the 17th of September. And then help us continue to grow our legal AF substack where I post much of what gets filed in the courts. That is important that you need to know.

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