Democrats Reeling, Trump Dealing

Summary

Ruthless Podcast Episode Summary: "Democrats Reeling, Trump Dealing"

Release Date: July 31, 2025

Hosts: Josh Holmes, Comfortably Smug, Michael Duncan, and John Ashbrook

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Introduction and Episode Theme

The episode kicks off with host Josh Holmes setting the stage for the discussion: "Trump keeps dealing, Democrats keep reeling" [00:00]. The hosts emphasize the contrast between President Trump's active agenda implementation and the Democratic Party's perceived ineffectiveness and performative actions. This theme underscores the podcast's focus on dissecting current political dynamics from a conservative perspective.

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Democratic Strategies and Media Perception

Smug's Analysis of Democratic Tactics: Comfortably Smug delivers a biting critique of the Democrats, highlighting their reliance on emotional displays rather than substantive policy. He sarcastically applauds Senate Republicans and Leader John Thune for their accomplishments, including the "big beautiful bill" which he claims:

• Cuts taxes on tips and overtime
• Secures the border and finishes the wall
• Protects Medicaid for Americans, not illegals [00:26]

Quote: "America is back thanks to President Trump and Leader John Thune's working family tax cuts. We stopped the biggest tax hike in history, but that's only the beginning." — Smug [00:26]

Critique of Democratic Pop Culture Attempts: The hosts laugh over Democratic efforts to engage with pop culture, referencing Senator Ed Markey’s ill-fated TikTok video aimed at appearing "cool." The group mocks these attempts as out-of-touch and ineffective, suggesting that Democrats are left with nothing substantial in their "tool bag" except for crybaby theatrics.

Quote: "That's what's going on...when you're not talking about that, they're just trying to find a grip somewhere. Fellows, it's not going well." — Josh Holmes [04:20]

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Economic Successes Under Trump

Strong GDP Growth and Controlled Inflation: The hosts celebrate the robust economic indicators, noting a 3% GDP growth [11:05] and inflation dropping to 2% [12:07]. They contrast these figures with Democratic promises and media narratives that they argue have failed to deliver.

Quote: "Better than versus yeah, the expectation was 2.6. We got 3% growth right there." — Smug [11:47]

Dismissal of Dems’ Economic Critiques: The conversation dismisses Democratic criticisms as unfounded and highlights how the Democratic leadership, including Chuck Schumer, lacks authentic economic strategies, relying instead on repetitive and insincere rhetoric.

Quote: "They have to deal with what's actually happening to you versus what the opposition party is doing." — Josh Holmes [03:42]

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Trade Deals and International Relations

Trump’s Strategic Trade Negotiations: The hosts discuss President Trump's successful renegotiation of trade deals, particularly with the European Union, resulting in significant concessions and increased American energy exports. They highlight how Trump's firm stance and strategic branding ("Liberation Day") have led to favorable outcomes despite initial skepticism.

Quote: "Trump is winning trade battles." — Axios [31:36]

EU’s Positive Reception: Referencing the Financial Times, the podcast notes that the EU has acknowledged Trump's negotiation prowess, with headlines like:

• "Donald Trump reaps $50 billion tariff haul as world chickens out" [35:28]
• "EU was rolled over by the Trump juggernaut." [35:46]

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Infrastructure and Energy Policy

American Energy Boom: The episode underscores the importance of American oil and natural gas in revitalizing the economy and enhancing national security. The successful trade deals with the EU, leading to a $750 billion purchase of US energy by 2028, are highlighted as pivotal achievements.

Quote: "All these things are being interconnected. War, energy, and economy." — Josh Holmes [24:18]

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Cultural Shifts and Media Critique

Comparison of Past and Present Advertising: The hosts reminisce about effective advertising campaigns from the '80s and '90s, contrasting them with current attempts at inclusivity and diversity which they argue have backfired. They reference consumer backlash against overly progressive advertisements and mock recent inclusive campaigns as examples of misguided marketing strategies.

Quote: "They have just multilateral the woke people... free attention." — Smug [46:13]

Mockery of Contemporary PSAs: The discussion includes a humorous take on modern public service announcements, lamenting the lack of originality and effectiveness compared to past efforts.

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AI and Technological Advancement

Interview with Michael Kratzios, CTO of the United States: A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to an in-depth interview with Michael Kratzios, the Director of the Office of Science and Technology. Kratzios outlines the Trump administration's AI action plan, focusing on three pillars:

1. Innovation: Outperforming global competitors in AI technology.
2. Power and Energy: Ensuring sufficient electricity to support AI data centers.
3. Exporting AI: Promoting American AI technologies globally to ensure dominance and adherence to American values.

Quote: "We need to out innovate the competition, have America be the place where the next great technology developments happen in AI, and create a regulatory environment which allows that to actually happen." — Michael Kratzios [70:50]

Impact on Various Sectors: Kratzios emphasizes AI's role as an enabler across multiple industries—medicine, agriculture, finance, and education—highlighting its potential to drive significant advancements and benefit American society.

Quote: "It's going to unlock new drugs for Americans to solve diseases we never imagined." — Michael Kratzios [75:18]

Deregulation vs. Precautionary Principles: The interview contrasts the administration's deregulatory approach with the Biden administration's stringent regulations, arguing that the latter stifles innovation and competitiveness.

Quote: "Conservatives and Americans tend to think of it the other way. It's like, can we sit in a room and think of all the stuff we can do to make innovation thrive?" — Michael Kratzios [73:57]

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Audience Engagement and Interactive Segments

King of the Hill Game: Mid-episode, the hosts engage in a lighthearted "King of the Hill" game, where they critique and mock various Democratic figures and their statements. This segment injects humor and camaraderie among the hosts, reinforcing their editorial stance.

Listeners’ Favorite Ads Nostalgia: The hosts revisit listeners' suggestions for classic advertising campaigns, evoking nostalgia over past effective marketing strategies and critiquing recent attempts at progressive advertising.

Quote: "I'll never forget the anti-drug PSAs... 'This is your brain on drugs.'" — Grace W. [41:46]

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Closing Remarks and Call to Action

Recap of Economic and Political Successes: Josh Holmes reiterates the economic successes under Trump's administration and the strategic trade deals that have bolstered American energy exports and national security.

Quote: "Everything is working out... The economy, everything's going pretty well." — Josh Holmes [16:55]

Encouragement to Vote and Engage: The hosts urge listeners to participate in upcoming midterm elections, emphasizing the importance of maintaining Republican control to continue their policy agenda.

Final Call to Action: Listeners are encouraged to subscribe to the Ruthless Variety Program, engage with the content, and contribute questions for future White House interviews.

Quote: "Remember our question of the day? If you were going to interview anybody in the White House, what would you ask?" — Josh Holmes [39:37]

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• "America is back thanks to President Trump and Leader John Thune's working family tax cuts." — Smug [00:26]
• "You should listen to what the White House has to say because it's not as crazy as the media will filter out and tell you it is." — Josh Holmes [00:00]
• "Preserving American innovation is about out-innovating the competition." — Michael Kratzios [70:50]
• "Only Trump can do this." — Smug [17:44]
• "Don't question my integrity, don't question my motives. I'm standing for Jersey." — Grace [07:54]

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Concluding Thoughts

The episode "Democrats Reeling, Trump Dealing" presents a robust defense of President Trump's policies and achievements, juxtaposed against a critical view of Democratic strategies and ineffectiveness. By highlighting economic successes, strategic trade deals, and groundbreaking AI initiatives, the hosts aim to showcase the administration's impact on revitalizing the American economy and maintaining global leadership. The interview with Michael Kratzios provides an authoritative perspective on the future of AI and its intertwined role in national security and economic prosperity. Throughout the episode, the hosts blend serious policy discussion with sharp-witted humor, maintaining an engaging and informative narrative for listeners.

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Note: This summary is intended to provide an overview of the podcast episode's key discussions and viewpoints. For comprehensive insights and detailed conversations, listeners are encouraged to tune into the full "Ruthless Podcast" episode, "Democrats Reeling, Trump Dealing."

Transcript

[Josh Holmes]

I think the summation of the Democrats real well, Trump deals is like, you should listen to the White House. You should listen to what it is that they have to say about stuff because it's not as crazy as the media will filter out and tell you it is. Because ultimately you look 180 days from when they say it or a year from when they say it and it comes to fruition in a way that is pretty serious.

[Smug]

There's a lot to celebrate here when you've got a situation where, I mean, we already have seen how much of President Trump's agenda that he promised has been put into action, how much this administration continues to deliver. And then you compare it to the Dems who essentially just can only throw fits like that's all they have left and their tool bag is okay, so I'm gonna cry. America is back thanks to President Trump and Leader John Thune's working family tax cuts. We stopped the biggest tax hike in history, but that's only the beginning. The big beautiful bill also cuts taxes on tips and overtime, secures the border, finishes the wall and protects Medicaid for Americans, not illegals. Leader Thune and Senate Republicans got President Trump's conservative agenda done, providing real relief for every hard working American that's up early and home late. We're bringing manufacturing jobs back home and making America great again. Tell Leader John Thune and Senate Republicans thank you for for delivering President Trump's agenda. Learn more at1Nation America.org.

[Duncan]

Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please.

[Smug]

Keep the fate, hold the line and own the lids.

[Duncan]

It's time for our main event.

[Josh Holmes]

Good Thursday to you. Welcome back to the ruthless variety program. Personal congratulations to you, the listener for about what you're going to experience here for free. Tuesday we made international news with Lee Zelda. We have Michael Whatley basically saying what's going to happen in North Carolina. And we're going to follow on all week long with making international news in a very significant way. We got a great guest today. For those of you who are interested in AI, if you are scared of it, if you don't know what it is, if you're concerned about it, we got something for you. If you're an expert in this field and understand how important it is to the future of civilization in American dominance, we have something for you with Michael Kratzios. He's the AI guy over at the White House. He comes in and gives an extraordinary conversation.

[Smug]

Yeah, I mean this is first off, this is a tremendous get. It's not often that you're able to. To score an interview like this, and it provides, again, like, such great information for our listeners. This is someone who is on the forefront. He tells it yourself. I mean, the guy was the CTO of the United States. That's a pretty good title in Trump's 45 administration. This is such a huge get, and I think our aunts is gonna love.

[Josh Holmes]

It, no question about it. But the overall theme about what you're going to listen to here is Trump keeps dealing, Democrats keep reeling. And there is just. Look, there are a lot of weeks where there are things that are happening. It's legislative, it's all kinds of political stuff that you see in your newspaper and on your tv. And then there are some downtimes where you don't get enough of that and you just. It's sort of like all out in the country. And then there are moments like this where the contrast between what is actually happening to you versus what it is that an opposition party is doing are so stark.

[E]

Yep.

[Josh Holmes]

And so obvious that you gotta have some yucks. Like, you know, it's not every day that you're just like swinging hot bats. Yeah, but that's what's happening.

[Smug]

I mean, there's a. There's a lot to celebrate here when you've got a situation where, I mean, we already have seen how much of President Trump's agenda that he promised has been put into action, how much this administration continues to deliver. And then you compare it to the Dems, who essentially just can only throw fits, like that's all they have left. And their tool bag is okay, so.

[Josh Holmes]

I'm going to cry, but it's so cringy. It's so bad.

[Duncan]

And I think tool bag is the right term.

[Josh Holmes]

Tool bag might be the right term. So on the Trump side, obviously, there's a lot of economic discussion to have, whether they're trade deals, GDP numbers, all these things that are happening post the Big Beauty, which, you know, look, he told us last year what he intended to do. Here it is. Seems like it's working pretty well. But on the Democratic side, you know, when they're not complaining about Sydney Sweeney, by the way, we're going to weigh in back in on that situation because since we've done that explosion.

[Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

When they're not talking about that, they're just trying to find a grip somewhere. Fellows, it's not going well. Can we play the first clip? Clip four, please. This is Ed Mark.

[Duncan]

That's not his voice, but he wants that to be his voice.

[E]

Oh, no.

[Josh Holmes]

Dude, all right, so. So there's a thing that Democrats are trying to do, which is trying to make up for this entire neglect of pop culture because they're not cool, they're not funny, they're not anything. So you get like this 80 year old, like, career politician. If ever there was a career politician, it's Ed Markey. He's a senator from Massachusetts, and he throws up this TikTok video. This is what they're doing now. Like, we saw. What is it? Hank Johnson doing the. Trying to crib off of, you know, popular music. Try to sing his own songs like that.

[Duncan]

And then the videos of all these Democrats doing the weird dudes dances for TikTok. Trying to be cool. Yeah, this is right in that genre.

[Josh Holmes]

This is the latest iteration. I think it might be the worst. He's got. He's got. Can we just toss it back? You don't need to put the sound back on, but just. Just toss this. Like, this cat is, first of all, the older and whiter version of anything you've ever seen. I mean, and he's trying to pretend to be cool. He's is shaking hands with an attractive, what I assume is staffer.

[E]

Okay, so here's. Here's my thing on this. Like, I don't blame Ed Markey.

[Josh Holmes]

You don't?

[E]

No. I blame the Zoomer staffers.

[Smug]

I agree.

[E]

Who. Who look at Ed Markey and they're like, gosh, I work for a member who looks like a cadaver. We should do Tick Tock videos. That'd be cool. The kids would love that. Like, what the are you thinking?

[Josh Holmes]

But they can't honestly think it's going to work.

[E]

I think they think it is because I think their brains have been rotted by the Internet. Here's. Here's. This is a larger thought that I have, and that is my beef with Zoomer culture is everything is derivative of something they've seen on their phone. No one has an original idea, like, make somebody interesting. The guy's 80 years old.

[Josh Holmes]

He's got a story to tell.

[E]

It's elder abuse to do this to this poor man. He has no idea what this thing is. And he's got his fucking gams going. The guy looks like a corpse. It's disgusting.

[Josh Holmes]

It does look like they raided a place for mom and just pulled somebody out. And they were like, I think doing.

[E]

That to a guy who looks like that is elder abuse.

[Josh Holmes]

But anyway, that's what they're up to. And then you take the younger Democrat and you're like, oh, Maybe they're more culturally appropriate. Right. Maybe they'll understand at some point level what it is that we're all dealing with as Americans and whatnot. Like, what are they talking about? Because there's a lot of good news out there for Trump. Like maybe these guys have some resonance. They know where to take a pitch and not. Here's Cory booker in clip 5.

[E]

I see businesses taking late night talk show hosts off the air because they dare to insult a president. It's time for us to fight. It's time for us to draw lines. And when it comes to the safety of my state being denied these grants, that's why I'm standing here. Don't question my integrity, don't question my motives. I'm standing for Jersey. I am standing for my police officers. I'm standing for the Constitution and I'm standing for what's right.

[Duncan]

I am standing.

[E]

Dear God, if you want to come at me that way, you're going to have to take it up with me because there's too much on the line.

[Josh Holmes]

Right now in America. Such a badass.

[Smug]

And I think it should be brought up. That's an empty room.

[E]

There's nobody in there.

[Smug]

Like a lot of times when you see like senators trying to have a moment like this where they want you at home to think that, like, he's killing it. It's a meeting of the entire session of the Senate and all the senators are watching and they're like, my God, this is such a brave moment. He's in an empty room.

[E]

He's like looking at some staffer who's playing on their phone.

[Smug]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

And a freshman senator who has to sit behind the presidency. You know, like what you don't know about the United States Senate is the person who sits in the presiding chair is the lowest ranking member of the whole body. They're either 99th or 100.

[E]

Basically hazing in seniority.

[Josh Holmes]

And it is a hazing thing. Like they make people sit up there because they don't have any status in the body. So like the. I don't even know who it was, but the poor bastard has to sit there.

[E]

I do think it was Banks.

[Duncan]

I think it was Jim Banks.

[E]

It was Banks or Banks and sit there. He had to listen to that.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Duncan]

There were some great pictures of his reactions to this guy while he was making the speech. Like, you gotta be kidding.

[Josh Holmes]

It was actually signing constituent letters. Right. That's what Banks was like.

[Smug]

I should have stayed in the House where people are saying.

[E]

At least the.

[Josh Holmes]

Speeches were two minutes At a time, like, he'd sit there, and this is the way it works. So when you work on Capitol Hill, when you're a freshman senator and you just get there, you get the job of presiding officer, and there's literally nothing. It's a mindless task you don't need to do. If you need to say anything, somebody who's sitting right in front of you turns around and they're like, hey, say this. And you're like, I said this. And they're like, great. Moving on. So the whole job as a staffer is to try to get the things that they don't want to do. Like, literally the thing that they don't want to do, they have a captive audience. So they're like, you gotta read this shitty report. Because they'll rather read the shitty report than they would have to listen to something like this. So you got poor banks sitting there listening to Spartacus, and he's probably got, like, I don't know, 100 constituent letters that he's going to sign, and he's probably got a report that he's put off for three weeks. He's like, this is the most boring thing in the face of the planet. And then he's got this situation. It's like, oh, man, it's so good.

[E]

It's good. It's just good.

[Josh Holmes]

But that's what's going on. I mean, so you got all of that, on the other hand, new GDP.

[Duncan]

Numbers, fellas, better than expected.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, they said they couldn't do it. They said that the Trump economy would be a disaster. You know, President Trump talked a lot about what he would like to do with a big beauty and what he would like to do with trade deals and sort of realigning the American economy to the point where it was actually growing at a substantial. And not doing the inflation thing, which, recall, like the Biden crew, all they wanted to do is just flood cash into the economy. That's how they got any economic growth whatsoever. But they increased inflation by 15% while doing that, like, making lives demonstrably worse. They said he couldn't do it. So we have 3% growth that was just announced yesterday.

[Smug]

Better than versus yeah, the expectation was 2.6. We got 3% growth right there. Inflation's down even more than expected. Inflation comes in at 2% as opposed to 2.2.

[Josh Holmes]

We were told that this couldn't happen.

[E]

Yeah, I'm waiting for all those journalists to become egg experts again, because they love to talk about egg prices.

[Duncan]

No, the egg prices are down.

[E]

No.

[Duncan]

So they're not talking about it.

[E]

We won't hear anything about it.

[Smug]

That's the thing is like, egg prices have halved since President Trump came into office. And like, egg discussions are probably down 99% now.

[Josh Holmes]

They don't want to talk about it. But this is where the Democratic Party is. It's leaderless, it's rudderless. So what's the highest ranking Democrat have to say about an economy that he was wrong about, A president that he was wrong about, and his own members were doing TikTok videos and performative speeches? Let's get clip Schumer. Let's get chuck here in 5A.

[Duncan]

And while the Trump administration will try.

[E]

To wave rosy headlines about the Q2.

[Josh Holmes]

Number, today's GDP number is in fact a mirage.

[Smug]

Oh, okay.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, it's a mirage. You know, it's like those things you see in the desert, they look like a, like a cool pool of water. And it turns out it's a mirage. That's what it is.

[Duncan]

This is the lowest form of politician, to be honest with you. I remember back in the mid 2000s when month in and month out, I was working in the House and like you had, I'm sorry, everybody was captive to the monthly statement on jobs numbers and the monthly or the quarterly statement on gdp.

[Josh Holmes]

And if it was bad and you were out of power, you're like, oh, this is outrageous. And if it was good and you were out of power, you were like, I'm going to say nothing.

[Duncan]

And that's exactly what Schumer is doing right now. There's not an original thought. He's doing the same thing that politicians have done for decades. It's so bad, it is terrible. It's just nothing authentic about it.

[Josh Holmes]

No, people just see through it. This is the same guy in Chuck Schumer that for four long years during the Biden administration told us that inflation was transitory in that their version of the build back better plan. And like basically a Green New Deal was the secret to unlocking American economy and better lives. He stood on the Senate floor and he was like, this piece of legislation, it's not just a piece of legislation. This is the key that unlocks 50 years of American prosperity. Meanwhile, inflation, like, jumps 15% and the economy goes in the tank. Like, that's what that guy. That's the basis of his, you know, sort of responsibility of economic judgment.

[Duncan]

Which is crazy to me because when I migrated from the House to the Senate, I remember very early on in my days in the Senate and I came To Josh, who was my boss at the time, and this other guy who worked in the office, I was like, oh, it's the monthly economic report. Here's a statement. We should, we should comment on this. And both of them were like, this is the United States Senate. We do not just comment on economic reports just because everybody in the House does it.

[Josh Holmes]

I was like, noted because you look like an asshole. Evidence clip 5A with Schumer, right? I mean, that's basically what we just saw. That's why you don't do it, cuz you look like a complete asshole. You can't cheer against America. Which is basically where Chuck Schumer, Cory Booker, Ed Markey and all those like clowns find themselves clowns because things are working out, they're pretty good. When we come back, we're gonna tell you why they're working out. We've talked a lot about this on the program, but the Trump deals, oh man. We spent the entire month of April hearing from everybody under the sun about how he doesn't know what he's doing. Gonna throw the country into a recession we one that we can't possibly get out of. And then you let them play the cards. Over a course of 90 days, 120 days. Well, let's see where it rattled out to. Pretty good place for America right after this. Hard working Americans know when it's time to roll up our sleeves and get the job done. Now is the time to unleash our nation's energy, to create jobs, secure our future and make life better, more affordable and full of opportunity for all Americans. That's the power of America's oil and natural gas. Learn [e-mail] paid for by the American Petroleum Institute. Okay, so the economy, everything's going pretty well. And you know, it's pretty well when you've got a guy like Jim Cramer, CNBC guy, and like this dude's been wrong about basically everything. But even he is at the point where he's like, it's going well, like he's lost control of his faculties at some level and he's explaining these things. Let's go play clip six, please. Our biggest problem is we have so much growth that the Fed won't cut. What the fuck? Oh, Jesus. Oh my God. I'm so sorry.

[E]

I'm so sorry.

[Josh Holmes]

I take it right, everybody take it right.

[Michael Kratzios]

I take it right now.

[Josh Holmes]

That was pit.

[E]

It's. Nobody in New York says, yeah, no one in New York.

[Josh Holmes]

My favorite part about this is like, I take it right back as if that's like, oh, okay, FCC is cool with that thing as long as you apologize for it.

[E]

He did the takesy backsies. So like a full fl.

[Josh Holmes]

But what he's talking about basically is how everything is going okay. And he's wondering why the Fed's not cutting rates. Something that is entirely sympathetic with what the Trump administration is talking about. By the way, that whole thing that the, the President did at the Fed with Powell where he was like examining the additions that they were putting onto the Fed, has to be one of the greatest PR coups in the history of the world. The idea like this is this is a very state and important institution that is not to be judged by the outside world. He's got him in a hard hat examining spreadsheets, talking about always 30% over budget. It is only Trump can do this.

[E]

Only.

[Smug]

I want to go back to Kramer. If there is any way to somehow short the F bomb, like anything that comes out of Kramer's mouth, if you go the opposite direction, it's the easiest way to make money. I mean, like there's, there's an account on Twitter that all they do is tell you what Kramer has said is going to go up and then they short it and they show you the results of it and they even, I'm not kidding, they even outperform Nancy Pelosi.

[E]

Is this like an etf? Yes, it's an etf.

[Smug]

It's an etf.

[Josh Holmes]

It outperforms Nancy Pelosi.

[Smug]

Yes, it's the inverse Kramer. And it's like you're happy in a year to have your retirement account go up like 8 to 10%. I, I wanna say this thing is averaging being up like 80, 90%.

[Josh Holmes]

Are you kidding?

[Smug]

Not even kidding. It's called inverse Kramer. So if there's someone, I mean, anything he said, just do the exact opposite.

[Josh Holmes]

Maybe the Fed should increase rates.

[E]

That's the funniest thing is like, he.

[Smug]

Was just like, I don't know, he's.

[E]

Like, oh, what the fuck.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, I didn't mean I take it back. What a hilarious on air take. Yeah, I didn't mean I'll take it back a little bit like your scentsy broadcaster. Oh, yeah, Castellano's still left.

[E]

For those.

[Josh Holmes]

Of you who know what I'm talking about. Very funny.

[E]

It's a rough one. It's a rough one.

[Josh Holmes]

Ended one man's career, at least temporarily.

[E]

What did he say immediately after it?

[Duncan]

That's not me. I do not say that. And now the cancel culture is over. He's back in black, baby.

[Josh Holmes]

Wait, is he doing. Is he doing Reds games again?

[Duncan]

No, he's not doing Reds games, but he's doing a whole lot of sports. And the guy is back.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Duncan]

So, yeah, Castellano is still left. Cancel culture is over.

[Josh Holmes]

So good. All right. So as a jumping off point for all of this, you've seen a lot of these trade deals come across. You'll recall back in April, everybody was just freaking out, markets included. Everybody was wondering what the hell the president was doing. They came out with. What did they call the thing in April? It was like the big. The big.

[Smug]

The reciprocal tariffs.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, but they. But they had like this. This way of branding it.

[E]

Taco Trump always chickens.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, no. That's the way Schumer.

[E]

That was smug in all of his Wall street cuck friends don't believe in our president.

[Smug]

Can I actually spike the football on this?

[Josh Holmes]

Who don't believe in our president?

[E]

They don't.

[Smug]

Talking to a good friend of the program, Walt, yesterday. And we were both spiking the football because while all that talk was happening in April, him and I did the same thing as, you know, when you make your retirement plan contributions in April, right before the tax date, that's when I went heavy and bet on the US when everyone else doubted President Trump. And I could not be more thrilled.

[Josh Holmes]

You're a hero.

[Duncan]

So you're buying dinner tonight.

[Josh Holmes]

You're a hero.

[Smug]

I am.

[E]

You're acting like we didn't do that.

[Smug]

People like me who defend President Trump, unlike Duncan.

[E]

Okay.

[Josh Holmes]

It's so good. Well, what. The point is that there was a lot of doubters and even pretty smart people who were like, Liberation Days called.

[Smug]

That's it.

[Josh Holmes]

Liberation, Liberation Day. And, you know, then they use that as a jumping off point to set some deadlines for some people to try to get these negotiations going. Because obviously, if you're in the international world and you got like a free ride in the United States, you're not eager to renegotiate the free ride. Right, Right. So they set some deadlines and put some things in place, and everybody was like, ah, it's never going to work. And that's where the Trump always chickens out. Taco thing came from, you know? Cause people were like, oh, he's setting deadlines now. He's not just gonna enforce it. He's setting deadlines. And so he's chickening out. Well, we found out that that was not true. But more importantly, the international world found that out, and they came to the table pretty quickly. We've Seen a bunch of different trade deals. The one that everyone told me was nearly impossible was eu.

[E]

Yep.

[Josh Holmes]

They were like, I think the Japan thing is pretty easy. I think we deal with, like, India. I think we deal with South America. I think we. With, like, a whole bunch of different places. EU seems impossible, right? Because Trump was like, you know, I'm looking around the streets of Paris. There's not a single fort on the street. Open your markets to our stuff. Like, let's make sure that this is going. And they're like, no, we're not going to do any of that. And they had their backup. Like, the whole Brussels, EU crowd hates, like, Western, like us, basically.

[Smug]

They're like, we want to live in horrible countries full of crime with no air conditioning.

[Josh Holmes]

Right. So you know what happens? Trump goes over to golf at his golf course in Scotland, which looks wonderful, by the way. Turnberry, doesn't that look like a nice.

[Duncan]

Looks like heaven.

[Josh Holmes]

Really does. So he goes on over there. What happens? Well, they greet him like he runs the joint. Look at clip one. There's Trump. He's welcoming Starmer in the UK as though Stormer is visiting a Voron foreign country.

[Smug]

Welcome to my kingdom, my ancestral palace in Scotland.

[E]

My favorite part is the bagpipes playing.

[Josh Holmes]

And, you know, just knowing Trump a little bit, you know, that that was part of. He's like, make sure the bagpipes are there. We want to make sure that we've got somebody.

[Smug]

Dude, that is. That's such a great moment. That's such a great moment for Trump.

[Josh Holmes]

But, like, so Starmer is walking into his place in his country that he.

[E]

Runs Trump the Bruce as though.

[Josh Holmes]

He'S.

[E]

The leader of Scotland. He's a landed lord. He has fucking prima nocta.

[Josh Holmes]

Wow. Wow. Well, that's a lot.

[Smug]

This is an awesome episode.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, I mean, look, so what happened? What ensues from this is the EU will purchase $750 billion in US energy by 2028. Why is that important? Obviously, it's important for anybody that works in the energy sector. Obviously, it's important that when you understand the nexus between American energy and national security, you get it immediately. But also the whole discussion about Ukraine and Russia like this, the problem with that at the very beginning was that Russia was providing Germany its energy, and, like, they became reliant upon it. And so there was, like, not much they could do. There was no leverage from Europe in Russia because, like, either that or the lights go out. So, like, this component of what it is that they're talking about, not only provides for a huge boom to the American economy, energy workers, and national security. It also stabilizes the world in a lot of ways. And that we have had allies relying on us rather than somebody who, like, wishes all of them ill. And this is the thing we've been trying to talk about with foreign policy and Donald Trump is that it is so complex and it is so anti, sort of quote, unquote, establishment in that he's working all of these angles as they work towards one thing. The national security component is a component of the trade component.

[E]

Yeah, I love that you're mentioning that, because I think for far too long, America has viewed its place in the world as only an altruistic place. And so we viewed all of these things on one to one, like a foreign policy deal or an economic deal or that sort of thing. And I think what Donald Trump sees is that there's an interconnectivity to all of these things. Right. Especially when you're dealing with our allies in Europe. And we shouldn't be surprised a guy who wrote the book called the Art of the Deal is good at making fucking deals.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Duncan]

No, it's part of his great genius.

[E]

But he's using leverage points in different parts of America's portfolio to make the thing happen.

[Josh Holmes]

And you saw that when it came to NATO, right? Everybody said that eight years ago, when he started addressing NATO about paying their fair share, he was like, oh, he's disrupting the whole thing. He wants. He wants NATO to go away and all this. And then now, like, you've watched the NATO chief be like, this is the best partner we got. Got everybody to sort of ante up to it.

[E]

I just think there's so much. There is so much of our establishment when it comes to all this stuff, whether it's EU relations or all these sorts of things that, like, I think they basically profit off of doing nothing.

[Smug]

Yeah, dude.

[E]

I think, you know, and that, like, Donald Trump more than anything is. Is the. He's the inertia in change that makes everything else possible.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[E]

And there's so many people that make money off saying nothing's possible. And Donald Trump, I think, has totally disabused the American people of that notion that, like, oh, these things are too complicated. America can't do that thing. You know what I mean?

[Smug]

People keep saying, like, you can just do things.

[E]

You can just do things. If you have the fucking will to do it, you can do it.

[Josh Holmes]

And it turns out when you're holding the biggest bat, right, you should take a swing at It.

[E]

Maybe use it. Maybe use it, you know, and so.

[Josh Holmes]

They'Re gonna make $600 billion in the. An investment in the United States here. You will eliminate all tariffs on US Industrial goods exported to the eu. That seems like a pretty good deal, right? Tariffs on EU exports to the US are set at a maximum of 15%, down from 30 where he set them on Liberation Day or more on Liberation Day. Like, we're down to a point where they're like, okay, that's a deal I can live with. It's so significant that, like, even the mainstream press is talking about this thing.

[Duncan]

Yeah, he's not an unreasonable negotiator. He's a tough negotiator. He's able to get a deal that works very well for both sides. And this one, if you just look at the bullets, works extremely well for America and for peace and for freedom abroad.

[Josh Holmes]

So on this, like, tariff thing, because there's a lot of, like, free traders, I sympathize with this in some way of people being like, let's just not tariff anything, whatever. But I understand Trump's point of view in that it has to work for the United States first and foremost. Like, that's his job. Like, you can argue with whether or not it's appropriate from a Keynesian or a, you know, Austrian school of economics.

[Duncan]

But this is a very important point. What you're saying is the most important thing in America today.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, it's like, no, my job is to get the best deal for us.

[Duncan]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

And so they asked him about, well, leaving the tariffs, like, on the EU. Like, does that seem like a fair deal? CLIP 2 Mr. Trump, can you do.

[E]

Better than a 15% tariff rate for the EU?

[Josh Holmes]

Better meaning lower?

[E]

Yeah.

[Duncan]

It'S so great because he already came down from his number. He's not an unreasonable person, but he's looking out for America.

[E]

I just love that reporter, like, coming to him, like Oliver Twist, asking for more.

[Josh Holmes]

Good sir, more. Can you tell me how it is we could get a croissant for less than $30 more? He's like, no, no, no, we can't do it. So we come back, we're gonna walk you through how a little bit of the reluctant mainstream media is, like, acknowledging some of this stuff, which is. That's fascinating to see right after this.

[Duncan]

Only 58% of Americans today say they're proud to be American, the lowest number ever recorded. That's not just sad, it is very dangerous. Because if we forget what makes America special, we risk losing it. That's why Americans For Prosperity is launching the One Small Step campaign, a bold nationwide initiative to reconnect Americans with our founding principles that sparked unparalleled innovation and prosperity. It's not just a celebration, it's a call to action. Through the 250,000 Steps for Freedom challenge, AFP is partnering with the grassroots in all 50 states to take meaningful steps that defend freedom and advance opportunity. Call your representative, attend a local event, knock on a door, talk to your neighbors. Every single step counts. And every step moves us closer to a more perfect Union. Go to takeonesmallstep.com to learn more, then join the challenge at AFP. Volunteer.

[Josh Holmes]

So the amount of ink spilled by the mainstream media over Trump not knowing what he's talking about, all of this over the last 90 days has just been infinite. But now there are some signs. They're like, oh shit, we might have gotten this wrong. So Axios prints this story yesterday. Trump is winning trade battles. The war we'll see.

[Smug]

That's so fun.

[Josh Holmes]

That's as far as you're ever gonna get anybody to admit, right? I mean, they're like, well, maybe there's more battles that we don't know about that we can't. You know, you can't pronounce a winner one way. Cuz we'd love to figure out how to pronounce him a loser. But this first round for sure. Right. And so they're acknowledging this. And I'll just read the elite. President Trump is winning what he sought in pursuing a global trade war. A series of deals that are resulting so far in big concessions by major partners, new revenue for the federal government and minimal upset to the US Economy or markets. I don't need to read anything else in that piece. The lead says it all.

[Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

So if you couple that we talked about for three long months at the beginning of this administration on this show about how he had a vision for this that we could kind of see. And there was a bunch of people who were like doubting components of it, like, can you, with a two seat majority pass what he wanted to do with a big beauty? Can he actually effectuate trade deals, enforcing people to come to the table when they had no real incentive structure to actually renegotiate with the United States. Like, can he shut down illegal immigration? Which is like bleeding cities and localities dry in terms of revenue and everything else? Like, could he do all of that stuff? And we talked about it at great length seeing like, well, from our standpoint, what he's talking about could be done like it takes A serious execution at some level, but, like, it's possible. And we started talking through about where you could find yourself in August, or I think we said September or fall in terms of where the economy is at. We're not even through July.

[E]

Yeah.

[Duncan]

And I'll tell you, fellas, there's so much bullshit in the press that I often just sort of look past that and I think about what are people actually doing versus what are they writing about it? And all I can think about is at the very beginning of this tariff process with the President, there was so much hand wringing and all this is going to ruin the country is going to crater global markets. People in Washington were like, trying to figure out how to position themselves against it. But what are they talking about today? Josh Hawley is like, no, we need to figure out what we're going to do with the money that's coming in because of Trump's policies, and we need to give it to these people. And there are other politicians who are like, no, no, no, we need to pay down the debt. And so the contrast between where official Washington was in March and April and where official Washington is today in terms of trying to divide up the spoils of Trump's policies, I think is one of the most interesting turnabouts we've seen all year.

[E]

Okay, so I. Can I see official Washington. Can I raise you one?

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[E]

Let's talk about where Europe actually is on this. Because.

[Josh Holmes]

Because when they basically told us to go fuck ourselves at the beginning.

[Duncan]

Right.

[E]

This is what's fantastic about this whole thing. Because when I saw this deal come in with the EU and I saw the way that it was covered in the American press as a win for Donald Trump, I was like, I wonder how Europe. Good point is, is taking this information. Because if they're declaring it a win for Donald Trump in Axios.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, right.

[E]

You can only imagine what they're saying. Can't love it in London.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, right.

[E]

So I went to, like, you know, the paper of record for financial news in Europe? The Financial Times. The Financial Times, where like, you know, Smug and his cuck friends on Wall street like to read this thing.

[Josh Holmes]

Do they still print it in pink?

[E]

They do, they do. Can I read you some of it? Because it's. It is just delicious. I'm still reeling on the smug and his friend. Here's the headlight. Donald Trump reaps $50 billion tariff haul as world chickens out.

[Duncan]

Are you kidding?

[E]

Wall street headline, Fuck you. Here's another one.

[Josh Holmes]

Print that on the pink pages.

[E]

Here's another quote from the Financial Times. There is no hiding the fact the EU was rolled over by the Trump juggernaut. Said one ambassador Trump worked out exactly where our pain threshold is.

[Duncan]

Wow.

[E]

It's awesome.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean it's incredible. And they have to print it in pink. Yeah.

[Smug]

So one thing I think hopefully a lot more of people and economists to start with figure out is there's more to a country than GDP goes up.

[E]

I'm glad, I'm glad you're saying that. I take back the cuck thing.

[Smug]

I think there's a lot of like a significant.

[E]

Just like Kramer.

[Josh Holmes]

It's like Kramer.

[Smug]

There's like a significant mindset change that needs to. Because we have seen whether we're talking about when Republicans were in power or when Democrats were in power, the underpinnings of their economic thinking was essentially just like neoliberalism.

[Josh Holmes]

Growth, growth, growth.

[Smug]

GDP go up if you export all production within a country overseas. GDP go up if you import and have endless immigration, open borders and you cheapen labor. GDP number go up. And you see the results of that was horrible for the country, for a.

[Josh Holmes]

Nation hollowed out the entire center of the country.

[Smug]

It's hollowed out Rome.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Smug]

They did it before and it didn't end well for them. And Donald Trump is the first president who drew a line in the sand and said actually there's more to a country than GDP go up. A side note and semi related at the same time, I saw a statistic that roadside accidents in cities where ICE has had crackdowns in have by an average gone down by 10%.

[Josh Holmes]

Wow. Is that right?

[Smug]

And I say from personal experience of my mother has two times been hit by an illegal alien while driving. Right.

[Duncan]

I don't think I knew that.

[Smug]

This is a significant problem for the country and a result of it was economic crime. All these things that were hollowing out the country and all these problems are being solved. Just like Duncan said, you can just do things. You can do things so long. Whether it's the foreign policy establishment, whether it's the economic establishment, the political establishment was marching this country into just like doom. All in the name of GDP go up.

[E]

And if ice, ice, if you're listening, on the weekends I have to take my son to Sports Route 50 in Arlington. If you could just set up some checkpoints. It really helped my commute.

[Josh Holmes]

There's some bad driving.

[E]

I'm speaking for the people. I know there's a lot of people listening to this. There's a big in the Northern Virginia area who know exactly what I'm talking about 100%. It needs to be dealt with.

[Smug]

I would support that.

[Josh Holmes]

I feel like the right side of the road is a new thing there in a lot of different ways. Yeah, you know, like you gotta, you can do. What is that? The Seven Corners Corner situation.

[E]

Might as well be the Bermuda Triangle.

[Josh Holmes]

There's gotta be like a dozen accidents a weekend in that thing.

[E]

Dude, it's like a circus.

[Josh Holmes]

It is. It totally is. But I mean, look, you all have these things close to your house and you know what we're talking about. So listen, I think the summation of the Democrats real well Trump deals is like, you should listen to the White House. You should listen to what it is that they have to say about stuff, because it's not as crazy as the media will filter out and tell you it is. Because ultimately you look 180 days from when they say it or a year from when they say it and it comes to fruition in a way that is pretty serious. So that leads to our question of the day, which is if you could talk to the White House, you as a listener, if you could talk to the White House, your thoughts, your concerns, and you could get answers from anyone, the president, the vice president, whomever, about what it is that your concerns are, we may be in a position to do some of that here on the Ruthless Variety Program. What would you ask?

[Duncan]

Great question.

[E]

Because I think, like, I love this question.

[Josh Holmes]

It filters through the media where they ask all the wrong things and they're not asking what it is that you, the listener and the viewer of this variety program actually give a shit about. So why don't you just put that in there, give it to us and well, we may have such an opportunity at some point. Write it down. Great question. And when you like and subscribe to the Ruthless Variety Program, we read all of them. But you gotta like and you gotta subscribe. So Sydney Sweeney ignited a bit of a conversation nationwide. First of all, the most brilliant advertising campaign in history because it's just created everything you wanted. If you are American Eagle, right, the left freaks out, the right tries to defend. It's all free advertising. It's like a national conversation where you paid cents on the dollar for everybody who's been a part of it. But it ignited a larger conversation with us here on the Variety program about when advertising was actually ads that you wanted to buy the product that resonated with you at some level. And honestly, it was like an 80s and 90s thing. Like, that's the kind of maybe early aughts, but not much further than that before they started turning the page and like it's unrecognizable nonsense. We asked you, the listener, what are your favorites and what would you like to see to come back when you like and subscribe to the Ruthless Friday program. We read all of them. And when we read them back to you, we start with a voice.

[Duncan]

First one comes from Mark Johnson and Mark simply says Brooke Shields, Calvin Klein.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, oh, it's so it, dude. So so many people said that. This is basically that.

[Duncan]

Right?

[Josh Holmes]

The Sydney Sweeney thing.

[Duncan]

Trying to recapture that, that whole ethos.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, I mean that was a big. That was a big thing.

[Duncan]

It was. We got a lot of comments on that specific one.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, yeah, it's a good one. All right. Comment 2Dunks.

[E]

This is from Grace W. Grace writes, I'll never forget the anti drug PSAs. If you grew up in the 80s, there was at least one time when you got in trouble doing something your parents did and you looked at them and said, I learned it from watching you.

[Smug]

So good. That's so good.

[E]

Usually followed by you or your siblings cracking up in your parents exasperation. Also, can't forget the eggs frying in the pan with a voice saying, this is your brain on drugs. Any questions? Oh, love the program guys.

[Josh Holmes]

Those are classics. The PSAs. Those are really good.

[E]

Does anybody remember the actress who did the eggs in the frying pan thing? I. I remember short black hair.

[Smug]

I just remember the voice of a guy. This is your brain.

[E]

Well, it was a whole series.

[Josh Holmes]

This is your brain. This is your brain on drugs.

[E]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

And then they hit the frying pan with the frying. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was so good. All right. Comment three, Smugs.

[Smug]

Comment three is from Thomas Sierranowski and Thomas writes a bit 90s, but bring back Bud Light's Real Men of Genius.

[E]

Real men of genius.

[Duncan]

I love this.

[Smug]

Those are the best Bud Light used to know how to advertise.

[Duncan]

Well, they knew it's to you.

[E]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Think about the discrepancy. Yep.

[Smug]

The utter downfall of it between the.

[Josh Holmes]

Real men of genius and then putting the tranny on the thing a couple of years ago that got him in all the trouble.

[Smug]

I saw something in the news. I'm trying to remember what company. So the vice president lady who was responsible for Bud Light doing that.

[E]

Yeah, she's at another company.

[Smug]

She just. I'm trying to remember that.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, she just got hired somewhere.

[Smug]

Some company just announced her and I want to say it's Like a male.

[E]

Yeah, she got recycled. Like a Catholic priest who did a little touching.

[Josh Holmes]

Hold on. My children, as a good Catholic family, I'm going.

[E]

What? Did I. Oh, did I go too far? My apologies to the Catholic Church. I thought the kids were the victims.

[Smug]

I told you guys, this is gonna be a good episode.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, man.

[Duncan]

Bring in the heat.

[Josh Holmes]

That was a lot.

[E]

Oh, okay.

[Josh Holmes]

Can I.

[E]

Can I add one? And I didn't.

[Josh Holmes]

No, I don't know that you can.

[E]

No, I will.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay.

[E]

All right, all right. So I didn't mention. I want to prejudice the audience, but there was one I was hoping that would come up, and it didn't come up, and so I'm going to mention it now. My favorite of the genre of. Of advertising was the most gratuitous, and that was. Do you remember these Hardee's commercials when they rolled out, like, Full Pound Burger, and they had the supermodels just straight boots on cars just straight boots, and they're just eating it, and. And the ketchup is, like, dripping down on them.

[Josh Holmes]

I have good news, dude.

[Smug]

I have good news for you. They have brought it back.

[E]

Hell, yeah.

[Smug]

There's a. There's. I can't remember some. Some blonde, you know, model right now who. They have just brought that.

[E]

That brought that back.

[Josh Holmes]

Wait, they're like ketchup boobs.

[E]

That was peak.

[Smug]

They've brought it back.

[E]

That was peak.

[Josh Holmes]

That was actually. I mean, if you can run that on broadcast television.

[E]

We're back.

[Josh Holmes]

You're dealing with a healthy American society. Yeah, but that was something.

[Duncan]

It was something.

[Josh Holmes]

Does Hardy still exist?

[Smug]

It's Carl's junior Now, I think.

[E]

Well, it depends on where you are. It's regional. Regional thing, yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, is that right? Mm.

[E]

It's Carl's Jr. In some places. It's Hardee's in others.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, Hardee's.

[E]

Hardee. Hardee's Hardee.

[Josh Holmes]

Tuesday. I love it. All right, so because it's Thursday, we always play games on Thursday.

[E]

We do.

[Josh Holmes]

And I think. Oh, do you want to. Do you want to do a little bit more?

[Smug]

Of course I do. We cannot skip the Sydney Sweeney part.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, okay. So before we play a game, you just want to do a summation.

[Smug]

Yeah, just a quick little thing. Can we get real quick? Graphic 1. This is in the wake of us discussing it. This is from msnbc. They said that Sydney Sweeney's ad shows an unbridled cultural shift towards whiteness.

[Duncan]

Oh, my goodness.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, my God.

[E]

Yes.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, my God. That's just an incredible take.

[Smug]

So I've been thinking, seeing how this controversy has gone on for days. I now have kind of, like, a new take on this where I think, to a certain extent, American Eagle knew what they were doing.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, yeah.

[Smug]

In that they were trying to nudge. So, like, we saw a period of time over the past, like, 10 years where Hollywood and advertisers would try to, like, go after conservatives or like, I'm gonna own maga to try to, like, create a controversy because they thought that's free attention. And for the, you know, most part, that blew up in their face of, like. The best example recently is, like, you saw Snow White, where, like, the girl who plays Snow White was just an unhinged lunatic. Was like, I hope all Trump supporters never know peace. And that ended up just, like, wrecking them. And, like, the memo went out to studios that, like, shut up. Just say, see my movie and shut up. I think American Eagle now realizes that the tide has shifted. And they're like, I bet if we say these are some, like, good jeans and show a pretty girl, which has essentially been illegal for advertisers for a decade, they're like, I bet we can just, like, nudge the wokes enough to try and make this a thing. Like, there's. Duncan probably is familiar with the term online. When you're, like, trolling, there's a term called lolcows where you farm people for laughs. Right. Like, Steltre's probably my best lolcow where I can attack him, and I know he's gonna cry about it. And it's like, free content.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Smug]

I think advertisers are realizing these woke people who represent, like, 1% of the population, but 99% of the complaints are. Are the easiest way to get your ad, your message out there. Because if they would have had, let's say if you're a bikini company and you were to run an ad with Sydney Sweeney wearing a bikini, just a photo a day, tops. But the way that they did this, their ad is being aired for free on how many shows?

[E]

I like. I like this theory. Smug. Because it's basically the inverse of how these companies operated pretty prior, which was like, all right, well, you know, 10 complaints on Twitter, that equals a million upset consumers. And the reality, of course, was none of those people were buying your product in the first place. And so to invert that thing and make these people the joke, I would just love that.

[Josh Holmes]

Well, I've always found it fascinating in modern marketing. Up until now, it appears with American Eagle that these companies, like, never took note of demographics and who they're trying to sell the product to. Right. What they're doing is basically doing what the left has always done, which is shaming a certain segment into believing that the entire world looks like this. And you ought to just appreciate that because that's pop culture. That's new, that's fresh, that's fun. And you may not have anything to do with it, but that's what you should be into.

[E]

I think the whole problem is that, like, the reporter and the publicist for the company live in the same three zip codes in Brooklyn.

[Smug]

Yes.

[E]

And they are like, neighbors.

[Josh Holmes]

Right.

[E]

And, like, so, like, their entire idea of what culture is, is them talking to each other and determining.

[Josh Holmes]

It happens fairly frequently. And it happens. They. In politics. It's a Beltway phenomenon.

[E]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Right. Where everybody who lives in D.C. and operates in D.C. and goes to the D.C. cocktail parties has the same conversation. And you lose touch with your constitution constituency at some level because you're not, like, living in that state. You're not living in your district. And that's been the Beltway issue. But, like, it has happened with advertising, with media, with entertainment in general. I think you're right about that and that they all are just talking to each other so long. They're like, what do you mean climate change isn't the biggest threat to America? You're like, no, I don't know. The guy that's, like, stabbing my neighbor in the neck seems like a pretty. That seems like a more imminent threat. But. But you're right in that this has been. We've appropriated out to a small number of people.

[E]

Yep. What culture is.

[Josh Holmes]

What culture is. And, like, retaking that is really something to watch.

[Smug]

Huge. Huge.

[Josh Holmes]

It's incredible.

[Smug]

It's a wonderful thing.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, man. It's incredible. All right, so now we want to play a game.

[Smug]

Let's do it.

[Josh Holmes]

All right. We're going to play King of the Hill because it's our signature and feature game here on the program. I'm the judge, so I'm going to rule an iron fist.

[E]

And I'm the defending champion with Ron Filipowski.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay.

[E]

I really had a left field pick by me.

[Josh Holmes]

He's always, you know, his thing has always been he's got one week of super hot takes.

[E]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

And then he. We'll see if this is the week that he can home on for multiple championships.

[E]

I hope. I hope. And smug. You have the challenger. Right.

[Smug]

Jen Rubin.

[E]

Well, I mean.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, you brought brain worms.

[Smug]

Gotta do.

[E]

It just feels illegal, but I'll allow It.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay. All right.

[E]

And then you're our judge, right?

[Duncan]

I know. I'm bailiff.

[Josh Holmes]

I'm the judge. And I'm gonna be very. I'm gonna be very serious about this.

[E]

Okay? Let's go ringside.

[Duncan]

Ladies and gentlemen, your. Your attention, please. It's time for King of the Hill. In the red corner, fighting formally from the Washington Post, and returning queen of our tournament, Jennifer Bahrain. Worms Reuben. And now in the blue corner, fighting from who knows where, and current champion of the world, Ron Philippa. Philippa. How do you say his name anyway? Philipowski. Well done.

[E]

I almost thought Ashbrook was going to slip in. Returning champion on Jen Rubin there in the run up.

[Josh Holmes]

No.

[Smug]

If anyone knows what they're doing is the guy who. People were like, is this Michael Buffer.

[Duncan]

She's. She's more than a champion, old man. She's the queen. Queen.

[E]

She is.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay.

[E]

I just hope that doesn't prejudice our judge and jury.

[Smug]

No, he's the fairest judge we got.

[Josh Holmes]

Is not prejudice.

[E]

Good.

[Josh Holmes]

I will invite you to provide your first exhibit, please, Mr. Duncan.

[E]

With pleasure. Can I get exhibit number four, please? This is Ron Filipowski and he's.

[Josh Holmes]

What the.

[E]

He has created an AI image of Trump, I guess, given Ghislaine Maxwell a medal of honor.

[Duncan]

It's coming.

[E]

And he says it's coming. And there's Jeffrey Epstein. Sort of like. I think they've turned down the opacity to look like he's an angel in the background, which. I just love this for so many reasons. Number one, dude, I'm not winning.

[Smug]

I know. That's the most direct. Like, there's no coming. This is. I'm throwaway. Round, strategic throwaway. Can I. Can I just. Instead of reading wasting one of my takes, I'm taking a knee.

[E]

No, you have to.

[Smug]

I'm not losing to the fucking.

[Josh Holmes]

You gotta play one.

[E]

Are you kidding me? You gotta play one. You can throw.

[Josh Holmes]

You can pick your weakest, but you gotta play one. That's the game. Holy shit.

[Duncan]

That's insane.

[Josh Holmes]

That's very funny.

[Smug]

Exhibit 7 tossed out. Thank you. My argument has been that as soon as Dems get the house, they impeach him. I mean, that's not quite an argument. We know that's what happens if we lose the house. So remember to vote in the midterms, folks.

[E]

I love that Smug's not even trying.

[Josh Holmes]

That's his summation is.

[Smug]

Jen, learn how to use AI images.

[E]

Smug's like, you know what? Just kind of get out there and vote. He used his play as a call to action.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, my God, that's so good. Of course, the round goes to Philippa.

[E]

Yes.

[Duncan]

How do you say it anyway?

[Josh Holmes]

How do you say it anyway?

[Smug]

And now here's where I try to win. Two in the back.

[Josh Holmes]

Let's go.

[Smug]

Exhibit 11, please. So Jen is commenting on an image of J.D. vance saying that, like, the image says the caption, the tough task of selling Trump's big, beautiful bill falls to J.D. vance. And Jen's comment on that is, thank God, not someone likable or persuasive.

[Duncan]

Oh, man.

[Smug]

For those who don't know, on top of, like, the many other jobs that J.D. vance has, he's been basically, like, hanging out in the Senate, helping get bills across the finish line in the Senate. On top of, like, if you see public polling on him, he's one of the highest likability ratings among all elected officials.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. So the 60 million people who tuned in to watch him debate, like, seems.

[Smug]

Like he's, like, the most likable, relatable person we've probably had in public office in a significant amount of time.

[Josh Holmes]

That's pretty good. That's a pretty good take. All right, what do we got, Harun?

[E]

I got a couple options here.

[Josh Holmes]

Ron is feeling it.

[Smug]

Deranged ass photo, bro.

[E]

I'm still not over.

[Josh Holmes]

No, dude. The. The. The. The halo effect.

[E]

The halo effect. He worked so hard on it. He worked so hard.

[Josh Holmes]

Just amazing. Easy.

[E]

Can I get exhibit number three, please? Ron is, quote, tweeting a segment from Hannity talking about the scandal with Obama and Russiagate, and Ron, quote, tweets it and says, you really have to be a special kind of moron to regularly to be a regular Hannity viewer. This is a former Republican.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. What is. Can I ask for an additional exception from the bailiff, and maybe perhaps we can get some insight into what he is retweeting here. I know I see the image of Hannity in a guest, but I don't know exactly what context the rules are.

[E]

I can't tell you.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. But I'm asking the bailiff to allow you to tell you go for it.

[E]

Okay. What it is. Thank you, bailiff.

[Duncan]

You're quite welcome.

[E]

Hannity just makes the statement. One thing is crystal clear. Obama was a terrible president and he abused his power. I mean, this is a very obvious thing.

[Smug]

Fact.

[E]

This makes Watergate look like a jaywalking.

[Smug]

Violation, which also, the Supreme Court has ruled that Nixon did nothing wrong again.

[E]

Right.

[Josh Holmes]

I'm gonna go with the J.D. take smug winner of round two. Let's go to round three. Boo.

[Michael Kratzios]

Hiss.

[E]

Okay. No, no, I have to go first.

[Smug]

Oh, yeah, yes, yes, you do.

[E]

I'm the defending champion, even though you picked Jen Rubin. So that's basically cheating.

[Duncan]

She is the queen.

[E]

Hold on, I just. I just need a moment here.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, okay. Well, we've got all the time you need. It's not like it's a live broadcast or anything.

[E]

Can I get exhibit number five, please?

[Josh Holmes]

Okay.

[E]

Okay. So this is a quote tweet from a Politico article about an issue that this Venezuelan Little League team had with entering the country.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[E]

And Ron Filipowski quote, tweets it and says lots of Venezuelan Americans in South Florida voted for Trump. Here's the thing I love about this is you would think these never Trump Republicans or. Or Democrats, but I repeat myself, would be a little snake bitten off of their whole prediction that Puerto Rican Americans were going to, you know, abandon Donald Trump because of some joke at Madison Square Garden.

[Josh Holmes]

Yes.

[E]

And like Ron's from Florida, so like, he thinks he's fucking. I am an expert in people who are brown and vote Republican even though I'm not a Republican anymore. And he's going to say that Venezuelan Americans are going to abandon Donald Trump because of some fucking Little League, because.

[Josh Holmes]

A Little League team wasn't allowed into the country.

[E]

Like, I'm a single issue voter.

[Smug]

I think we need to check your hard drive.

[E]

South Porter bus. No, he's an expert. He's an expert on it. So I just love that.

[Josh Holmes]

Take check. Your hard drive is completely a great take.

[E]

Parody. Parody. We're laughing.

[Josh Holmes]

We're laughing. It's funny. Okay, so Smuggles, how do we counter that?

[Smug]

Exhibit 10, please. 10, Ruben. Based on nothing. The US is already losing billions in tourism while bracing itself for an underwhelming.

[E]

126 cheering against the fault fucking Olympics.

[Josh Holmes]

No, it's over.

[E]

Wait, do you know?

[Josh Holmes]

It's over. It's over.

[E]

I don't need to see anything more.

[Duncan]

Wow.

[Josh Holmes]

I don't need to see anything more. I can't imagine that there is anything in this planet that is worse from an American perspective than years out cheering against your own Olympics. Like your whole country, right, left and center comes together.

[E]

I never thought I would see Josh Holmes defend the World Cup.

[Josh Holmes]

No, no. You notice I didn't say that. I said the Olympics. I'm very clear about that.

[E]

Big fan of soccer.

[Josh Holmes]

Do not put my words in my mouth talking about the Olympics.

[Smug]

Fan of soccer.

[E]

Put it on the. Hey, put it on the Chiron. Huge fan of soccer. Josh holds.

[Josh Holmes]

It is a Euro sport that doesn't deserve to be played after 12 years old in this country. It just is.

[E]

Wolf, do it in post and that's.

[Josh Holmes]

And that's fine. But the Olympics, can you imagine the cheering against your country hosting the Olympics? Seriously, that is special stuff.

[E]

Egregious.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, that is really for that.

[Duncan]

That's why she's the queen.

[Josh Holmes]

Ruben's the queen. She wins.

[E]

I reluctantly agree.

[Josh Holmes]

That is so rough. That is such a hard take. I can't believe that. Oh, and a special one with this judge and cheers.

[Smug]

I got it up there either.

[E]

Yes. Yes. Huge soccer fan, Josh Holmes.

[Josh Holmes]

God damn it.

[E]

This is the best Chyron ever.

[Josh Holmes]

This is unbelievable. You get rid of that.

[Smug]

Everyone screenshot it forever. Put it out on screen.

[Josh Holmes]

Shot it.

[E]

Huge soccer fan.

[Josh Holmes]

What if I'm gonna pull spaghetti out of the Senate and have him sitting in your chair?

[E]

This is the best episode.

[Josh Holmes]

It's unbelievable. I can't believe that. Just the indignity.

[E]

That's the magic of television.

[Josh Holmes]

All right, we got a couple other things we got to get through, one of which is a total mystery. I'm gonna get to that in a minute. The first one, we have Disney adults. They've been a thing like all the way back. If you're an og, you listen to charges. We had shirts. Charges.

[E]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Still probably available. I don't know if they're available or not, but it was all about how Disney adults had basically taken over the park. You go down there, you try to have a good time, like a once in a lifetime experience for your children.

[Duncan]

Very expensive.

[Josh Holmes]

It's very expensive, but you sit in lines, you know, and you're behind like.

[Duncan]

A bunch of fats, basically, and they push you and your kids to the side.

[E]

You've had experience.

[Duncan]

Yeah. Oh, yeah. I, a gray. Two gray haired dudes pushed my kids to the side so they could get into the animal kingdom before we did.

[Smug]

Charges, charges, charges.

[Josh Holmes]

Jail for sure. So clip seven, please. Hey, everyone.

[Smug]

We're plus sized park hoppers.

[Josh Holmes]

And this is everything we ate in a day as plus size best friends.

[Smug]

At Disney's Magic Kingdom. Later on that day, Katie got the Aurora cone, but without a cone to make it gluten free from storybook treatment. And Ashley and I split the candied bacon skewer from Westward Park. This was the perfect combination of salty and sweet. And also, who doesn't want to snack on a stick? Before we left the park, we were.

[Josh Holmes]

Thirsty for ice cream. So Katie headed over to aloha aisle.

[Smug]

And Got the coconut, pineapple dole.

[E]

Thirsty for ice cream. Thirsty for ice cream.

[Duncan]

It's a dream.

[E]

Like, it's a water. I'm just so parched in this heat. I need an ice cream.

[Josh Holmes]

What is it about somebody that they're sitting around their home, wherever that may be, and they're like, I don't know, I'm £400. I like to eat the backside of.

[Smug]

A calf every morning.

[Josh Holmes]

Can I tell you, when I go.

[Smug]

To Disney, this is a prime example of where our country's been and where our country is headed. We were told for 10 years, oh, yes, you know, it's inclusive to have a 300 pound whatever with a beard and pregnant in Calvin Klein underwear. That's the ad that you saw the public, and this is what you get. Then you go to a park and you start seeing this as opposed to you put Sydney Sweeney in the ads. I think things are gonna start looking better.

[Josh Holmes]

Set the goal.

[Smug]

Yep.

[Josh Holmes]

Drive towards the goal.

[Smug]

That's it.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, this is still. What a disaster. What a disaster. I kind of imagine that those folks are like, dude, can you imagine if you're like, sitting around at Disney and you're like, you know, okay, so what's going on in social media today? And you see this thing pop up, you're like, God damn it.

[Duncan]

What's the account called again?

[E]

It's called Plus Sized Park Hoppers. How do I, how do I do this? With grace.

[Josh Holmes]

No, don't dumb. Did you look at the name of the show? Look at the name of our show.

[E]

Okay. All right, so I've seen a lot of their content, and every time I see it, I'm enraged. I almost believe that it's created as rage bait. And, you know, I feel bad for these women. They're like, do you think these are.

[Josh Holmes]

People that are, like, short selling Disney shares that they're like, basically trying to.

[E]

That would be so hilarious.

[Smug]

Doesn't.

[Josh Holmes]

It doesn't make it.

[Smug]

Former hedge funders who are just like, massively short Disney.

[Josh Holmes]

We go out and recruit massively, the fattest, most, most like, objectionable individuals.

[E]

So the people who run this account, they go to Disney constantly. Constantly. And, and, and, and there's a couple of parts of their content which is sort of recurring. One of them is like, where you can get your scooter. And, and the, and, and there. Actually there's. There's two more. The, the other ones that I.

[Josh Holmes]

Wait, hold on, hold on. Can I stop you on that?

[E]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

A scooter?

[E]

Yeah, like the hover rounds.

[Josh Holmes]

You Mean, like, because they can't walk the grounds.

[E]

Correct.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay. I just.

[Duncan]

So Dumbo is not just a ride. Dumbo is a Pierce.

[E]

It is. I guess you would think that might be a wake up call.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[E]

That like, you want to go to this park all the time. You love Disney so much. But I can't actually walk the thing. Yeah, you would think that'd be awake.

[Josh Holmes]

I come back every other weekend. But we haven't yet.

[E]

We don't have a society with shame anymore, so that's apparently not something we're allowed to discuss. Other things. They often review restaurants and one of their main qualifications for these restaurants are whether the seats, the chairs.

[Josh Holmes]

No.

[Smug]

Have arms.

[E]

No.

[Josh Holmes]

No. So they review the restaurant based upon.

[E]

Whether the seeds, whether they can fit.

[Josh Holmes]

In, whether they're wedgeable.

[E]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Into this.

[E]

Whether they can get their tank ass inside those and then eat ice cream as a drink. We just like, you know, that's the.

[Smug]

Thing is like, again, it goes right back to what I said of like for over a decade, you saw that in advertising and you're told this is like fat shaming. It's like, can we actually, like, look at what the reason is that we're having exploding diabetes Right. In this country.

[E]

Right. Right. All these medical positive.

[Michael Kratzios]

It is.

[E]

And these people fucking die from. From doing this. And everyone's gonna cheer along and be like, you go girl, drink that ice cream cause you're thirsty. Doesn't make any sense. It doesn't make any sense.

[Josh Holmes]

I want, I want Bobby Kennedy to show up.

[E]

Yes.

[Josh Holmes]

Now he'll be standing at the next time these fatsos come in.

[E]

Like, the comment section should be like, you have a problem.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[E]

Like, stop, please, please go to a doctor.

[Josh Holmes]

But like, I think the thing you're. I think you're right. I think it is rage bait at some level. But it's also like, I mean, getting.

[E]

The ice cream and being like, well, she wanted it to be gluten free. So she didn't get the cup. She didn't get the sugar cone.

[Josh Holmes]

A gluten free.

[E]

Like, do you know how many grams of sugar are in that ice cream without the cone?

[Duncan]

She does not.

[E]

I mean, she does. You don't get to be that huge and then wake up one day and be like, oh, boy, how did this happen?

[Duncan]

You know, you don't think she. She wants to know around the park. It's just she's not trying to get the steps.

[E]

It's sad.

[Josh Holmes]

What's it called? Plus size.

[E]

Plus size park hoppers. Yeah. They also did this whole bit where they like get into the test chair to see if they can fit on a ride. It's some of the most depressing shit you'll ever see.

[Josh Holmes]

Wait, hold on there. There are test chairs.

[E]

Test chairs that will be in full front of a ride for people. This.

[Josh Holmes]

Wait, so. So like what I'm accustomed to, when you bring kids to a park, they always have the height monitor to make sure that they can.

[E]

For people who are built like a.

[Josh Holmes]

Semi, but they're like, here's also a chair to see the few if you're like £7,000.

[E]

Yeah, it.

[Josh Holmes]

See far right. Can take it. Uhhuh.

[E]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Amazing. Well, Fats are taking a real beating on the Ruthless Friday program this week.

[Smug]

And that's the thing. It's. We're making America healthy.

[E]

It's coming from a place of love. Bingo. I don't want to be mean about it, but nothing else has worked with these people.

[Josh Holmes]

So he's just going to do what we're going to do.

[E]

Rfk. We have a crisis in this country.

[Duncan]

Yeah, please.

[Josh Holmes]

He's well aware. He's well aware. All right, so this next clip before we get to our interview, I have not seen. I cannot vet. I cannot give you any assurances about the content of what we're about to see. Wolf did this.

[E]

He wouldn't even tell us in the.

[Josh Holmes]

Production meeting, would not tell us what it is that he's going to show us.

[E]

So like, you know, we're coming in blind.

[Josh Holmes]

Clip eight, please. Oh, what. What is this?

[E]

It's. It's one of those wacky waving, inflatable arm flailing tube men. But he's backwards and he's doing a gesture over his. His crotch with his arm.

[Josh Holmes]

What has happened for our audio only listener is that there is, you know, like the big things that you see, the inflatable things that you see outside of a car dealership with the wavy arms and that kind of thing. That thing is laying on its back. It is collapsed in some level except for one arm. And that one arm is making somewhat of a lewd gesture. Here's my question to you fellas. Now, having reviewed this for the first time, do you go into that store? Feels like. Feels like they. They did their best from a marketing standpoint.

[Duncan]

It certainly gets your attention. You're wondering if that was.

[Josh Holmes]

What's your take on it?

[Smug]

I want to send the. What are they called? The plus size brigade.

[E]

Plus size park hops.

[Smug]

They can go tackle that one.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, give me one more look at that.

[E]

It's filled with air, not ice cream. I don't think they'd be interested.

[Josh Holmes]

Give me one more look at this thing. Like it's a collapsed thing, right?

[E]

Well, yeah, I'm told that the text.

[Josh Holmes]

Look at its face, by the way. Look at his mouth.

[E]

The text there in English on the store is more than 45 years serving the people of Cartagena.

[Smug]

Oh, if he's serving cartoony, he should be like, face forward, nose like.

[E]

Yeah.

[Smug]

To the table. Right.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, boy. All right. Well, thank you for that.

[E]

That was something. Thank you, Wolf.

[Josh Holmes]

That's really kind of you to put into our show. We weren't filthy enough and that's a good segue.

[Duncan]

Oh, man.

[Josh Holmes]

Poor guy. I mean, Michael Karatios did nothing to deserve.

[Duncan]

He did nothing.

[Josh Holmes]

You know, I mean, this is a serious guy. He does a serious job. He is, like, literally partially responsible for the entire future of this country.

[Smug]

Also a longtime listener of the show. On top of.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah, no, no. He's listening to us from day one.

[E]

Well, but then, you know what? Then he'd appreciate all of this.

[Smug]

There you go. That's a way to mitigate it.

[Josh Holmes]

I think that's probably right.

[E]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

So he probably understands that this is all part of. Part of the thing, part of what we do here anyway. We do a lot of different interviews. There are value statements of all of them. Them. You get to know people, you get to understand what makes them tick in terms of its import on something that I don't think is covered very well in AI like, this might be one of the more valuable interviews that you're ever going to hear on the Ruthless variety program, Michael Kios. Well, this is an interview that we've been looking forward to for a very long time, fellas. It's an area where I think general public a lot that's unknown. But for people who pay attention to what is America look like in the next 50 years, I can't imagine there's anything that's more important from that standpoint. And for that, Michael Kratzios, the director of Office of Science and Technology. But you're kind of like an AI guy.

[Michael Kratzios]

Yeah, this is my second stint in government. I was the CTO of the United States under Trump, 45, and came back for a second round to work on tech and science for the President.

[Josh Holmes]

CTO of the United States is a pretty good title.

[Smug]

Yeah, I feel like I got a.

[Michael Kratzios]

Bit of a downgrade in titles. I guess.

[Josh Holmes]

It's like, maybe we can just put that back on the top of the business Card. That's awesome. But listen, you guys have been doing a lot. You've got an AI action plan you've released. This has been a big week for you all.

[Michael Kratzios]

It has. Yeah. So on the, on the first day of the administration, the President repealed President Biden's, we would call, disastrous EO on artificial intelligence, and essentially gave us six months to write a new action plan. Directed me, the National Security Advisor, and our AI advisor, David Sacks, to work on this. Six months later, we, we released this. And that was with, we believe, a lot of fanfare. Last, last Wednesday, we had the President give a speech. The vice President spoke with five cabinet secretaries, and we really set the stage for what it means to win the air race. And it really, to our, in our mind, comes down to like three big things. Like, we have to out innovate the competition. We have to have America be the place where the next great technology developments happen in AI and we have to create a regulatory environment which allows that to actually happen.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, no question, no question about it.

[Michael Kratzios]

The second big pillar which everyone talks about is power and energy. And the President spoke about this during the campaign. We need enough electricity to power all these data centers that are going to be crucial for AI. And we did a bunch of deregulatory actions to allow these, these power plants to be built and these data centers to be built. And the third one is about exporting AI. We want the whole world to be running on the American AI stack. We have the best chips, we have the best algorithms, we have the best compute. We have to get that out into the world. So if you're any country, big or small, that wants to do AI, you should be powered by Made in America.

[Josh Holmes]

It's also open free values are American values. I mean, really important from that last standpoint that you talked.

[Michael Kratzios]

Oh, 100%. I think what people don't really think about is the main competitor in the air race that many of you may have heard of is a Chinese company called Deep Sea. And what people forget is that if you want to have your model sold or made public in China, it has to pass a test that it meets Xi Jinping thought. So there's really a test where they say, like, does it actually meet this communist ideology before you're allowed to sell it? I mean, it's insane.

[Smug]

And that's, to me, real quick to highlight a terrifying aspect about how real this race actually is, because it is a race, and it's basically between the United States and China. And like you described, Chinese AI is essentially a Communist AI, it has to adhere to communist ideology. And if that's the version that starts getting exported around the world, that's just a way for China to expand its borders and control more of the planet at the same time. You had the Biden administration, you'd mentioned that there's all this deregulation that you guys have put into place. They did essentially everything possible to disarm American AI, make it more difficult for American AI to thrive. What all have you discovered that they were up to in terms of trying to hinder AI development in the US and what all do you think they would have done if they'd gotten another shot at it in the second term?

[Michael Kratzios]

Yeah, I think the scariest part of it is that they essentially were taking a playbook out of Europe to try to run the policy here in the US So the Europeans tend to have this view where they follow something called a precautionary principle, where literally just, like, sounds right, they, like, sit around in a room together and they think about and dream up everything that could possibly go wrong and then try to create policy to make that bad thing that's hypothetical not happen.

[Josh Holmes]

It feels French.

[Michael Kratzios]

You know, I think, like, conservatives and Americans tend to think of it the other way. It's like, can we sit in a room and think of all the stuff we can do to make innovation thrive? Like, what barriers should we remove so that better stuff can happen in America, so that more people can use technology, our economy can grow, so now security can be stronger. But the Biden people are like, no, we have to think of everything could possibly go wrong with AI, and then you create a very long executive order to make that happen. And what essentially did was hamstring our AI industry. And they were absolutely paranoid that they would be regulated to death and they wouldn't be able to actually do all the things that we want them to do, as in exporting REI and allowing all of our companies to use it and create new jobs and all this great stuff. So ultimately, what happened is we had to. We had to turn. Turn the page on it. And I know you guys may know Mark Andreessen who works at Driessen Horowitz A16Z, and he recounts. I mean, if. If you believe him, he recounts a story when he went to the White House, and the White House essentially told him that, you know, during the Biden years, that they really want only two or three AI companies to exist.

[Josh Holmes]

You talked about this in Rogan, right?

[Michael Kratzios]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, it was, like, a terrifying moment.

[Michael Kratzios]

Yes. And that's what shook him and made him say, look, I gotta get, gotta get on the Trump train. Because it's like if we, if we let this happen, the government would be overseeing two or three companies that they would totally control. And that is the most anti free market thing you could ever imagine. And the reason why we're winning and we're ahead in AI is because we have this vibrant free market. We have the ability for all these people to compete small businesses and small AI companies to, to get up and started. So I'm excited about where we are and it was very important, Incredibly good.

[Josh Holmes]

Start and we do have our resident nerd here. We'll ask all the deep diving questions. That was incredibly great answer to what he was talking about. But I think for our audience who's not just as familiar with AI, right, I mean, people who have a limited understanding of the capabilities and why this is so important to America's future. If you can just spend a minute on that.

[Michael Kratzios]

Yeah, I think that, you know, my, the way I view it is that it's an enabling technology for so many other industries. It's not a standalone thing. It's something that's going to be used in medicine, it's going to be used in agriculture, it's going to be used in finance, it's going to be used in education. And the most important part of the plan, or one of the most important parts that I always stress is this idea of adoption. Because, you know, a lot of people fixate on this like this rat race where it's like, who's the top of the leaderboard? Like, is it open AI today? Is it like, is it Google? Is it like who's going to, who's at. Who's at the top? But the reality is, even if you have the best model in the world and no one is using it, it doesn't matter. So the key is we have to get American companies and the government to be using AI to be able to actually realize the core benefits. So to me, I think it's going to unlock new drugs for Americans to solve diseases we never imagined. It's going to be used in science to create new materials that will be able to let us go to places in space we never imagined. There's so many things that we can do, but we just have to get the adoption out there. And I think that's what the plan is able to do.

[Josh Holmes]

How is it distinct, indifferent from. I mean, I think the early models of AI are just a terrific aggregator of information that's already out There.

[Smug]

Yes.

[Josh Holmes]

Right. It's just a good summarization. It basically figures out the way we think about things, how we think about things, and then gives you just sort of, you know, the rules of the road on that. Like, tell me where this develops beyond that.

[Michael Kratzios]

Yeah, that's such a good point. I think what people don't realize is, although the current large language models are extraordinarily powerful and they've been trained on most of the public domain, the percentage of data that is in the public domain versus in the private is so much smaller. So if you think about the total amount of data that was chat GPT or GPT4, for example, the most powerful model that OpenAI has, it's probably maybe 1/10 to 1/20 like what one Fortune 500 company has in private data themselves.

[Josh Holmes]

Interesting.

[Michael Kratzios]

So the real power is going to become from taking these models and applying the data that you have in your own private company or in government. Government. And that's where the future kind of lies. If you're JP Morgan and you want to use it to, you know, drive financial services, the power of being able to take all the information you have at JP Morgan applied to AI, like that's where it's going to happen, you know, and we see it in the government itself, whether it's, you know, insane amount of, like, census data that we have, that could unlock lots of sort of research endeavors. We see it in health care. And there is an interesting work now that FDA is doing. So the commissioner there did a report, I think on Fox even yesterday, where he was showing this, like, big warehouse that had all this historical data for clinical trials. That's all in paper. If you can take all this historical clinical trial data and feed it into a model, then you can have a better understanding of what are the types of drugs that are going to be approved. Like, how can we make sure that we're actually spending all our money on trying to get drugs approved have a better chance? So I think the big unlock is like finding these private data sets that over time are going to be built into these models.

[Duncan]

So it is so big. There are so many different applications across the board. And obviously you guys rolled out the big action plan last week. I'm wondering if you could talk a little bit about the next steps. I mean, is there, is there congressional action that needs to happen? Obviously there's a lot of work that you guys are doing around the clock from an administrative standpoint, but if you could just share a little bit about what we should be watching for here. In the next couple of months.

[Michael Kratzios]

Yeah, in the first few weeks, a lot of emphasis is going to be on the third pillar, which is this export program. We really need to get the world running on the American AI stack. The Commerce Department is going to come out and do a request for proposals where we're going to try to bring together all private sector AI companies and tech companies together to create these packages that then we go out and sell to the world. I'm flying to Korea on Saturday where the APEC digital ministerial is, where I'll lead the U.S. delegation. And there is essentially just going to be a big, big, big sales shindig. We're gonna run around selling American wares.

[Josh Holmes]

You're gonna be like Tony Robbins.

[Michael Kratzios]

I would try my best because we do have the best technology. We just gotta get people comfortable with it. I mean, the story I always tell there is, you know, a big part of my time in 45, as the US CTO was running around the world trying to convince people not to buy Chinese telecom equipment. So you guys may know the company Huawei and how dangerous it was. So many countries around the world had put, you know, Huawei kit all over their country, and the US didn't have a good alternative. And we would essentially, like beg countries to rip and replace, but we didn't really have money to pay for the rip and replace. We didn't have an American alternative. But what's so unique about this moment is we do have an alternative. We have an American stack, which is better. It's better. And we got to get it out there because we know the Chinese are going to be running full steam ahead trying to sell Huawei and deep seek all around the world.

[Josh Holmes]

So it intersects in a lot of ways with foreign policy and the State Department and everything else. I mean, because you're dealing ultimately with an element of trust. Yeah, right. Which, thank God, President Trump has restored across the globe as a leader of a free world for the first time in four years. So you're building on that to basically say, this is the technology, but also we're with you.

[Michael Kratzios]

No, America's got your back and we have the best technology to come with it. And if you. Because at the end of the day, these. These countries, just like we're America first here, each of these countries have to understand, want to deliver the best results for their people.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Michael Kratzios]

And most leaders around the world are seeing AI and are thinking to themselves, how can my country realize the benefits of this technology? How can I get more of my citizens using AI building companies that are based on it. How do I get data centers built in my country so I can run my own software? You know, the US can help enable that. And I think that's where we need to meet customers, where they are, which of these other countries. And I think we're at a position where the administration is excited to be selling our chips and our models out there into the world and get them running on the best tech there is.

[Josh Holmes]

It's well said.

[Smug]

So in the action plan that you put forward, one of the things that caught my eye and I think was most critical is the expansion of opportunity for skilled labor like electricians and H Vac, which are going to be such a high demand job. I think there's a lot of anxiety that's been put out there, especially during the Biden administration that AI means think I everyone loses their jobs. Could you explain that part of it a bit more clearly?

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. Great.

[Michael Kratzios]

Yeah. So in the second pillar of the plan, it's all about infrastructure. And one part is, okay, let's clear the, all the permitting hurdles so that you can build your data centers faster and all that. But the second piece is all about the skilled labor you're going to need to build that. And the, the guy who's essentially building the big Stargate Data center for OpenAI and others down in Texas came to our office and we were chatting with him and we were like, you know, what's, what's the biggest challenge you're facing? And I thought he was going to, I don't know, say something about getting enough chips fast enough or something. His answer was like, I can't get enough electricians. I was like, how bad is the problem? And he was like, well, you know, I have to fly in people from about 40 different states to do electrical work in Texas. And that at the time that was the biggest project in the US but now it's not. There are other, bigger data center projects. So this is like a real acute problem. And the solution is having skilled Americans who are, who can do these extraordinarily high paying jobs. And, and a lot of the plan emphasizes how can Department of Labor start kickstart apprenticeship programs and other things to get these guys upskilled and up trained. So I think there's a huge opportunity in the, in the skilled trade craft for, for Americans many years ahead because we have a ton of infrastructure.

[Josh Holmes]

I love the nexus of that because we've long been huge critics of like this idea that just the liberal arts sort of degree in college is sort of the. I Mean, in our generation, at least, it was the thing that everybody wanted to get because that was a status symbol at some level. And, you know, when I became a chief staff in the Senate and I looked at population centers and how people were being served or underserved, it became very clear that, like trade schools and everything else were actually performing above capacity to try to churn out people who actually do things for a living. They don't just think big thoughts.

[Duncan]

Right. And now it's the electricians, the guys who were our age who grew up and went to technical school and became electricians. Those are the guys with lake houses. Those are the guys who are making bank.

[Michael Kratzios]

Sometimes we forget. And what I struggle with, at least. At least the way the government sort of prioritizes stuff sometimes, is 60% of Americans don't have college degrees. And we've created an entire sort of policy ecosystem in Washington that caters to a minority of Americans who have pursued overpriced degrees.

[Josh Holmes]

Totally.

[Michael Kratzios]

Right. Typically are not useful or anything they ultimately want to do. And it's like, we got to create correct.

[Smug]

That that's 100% right. It feels so backwards looking that you see the Democrats have been pushing like, no, we need student loan forgiveness. Instead of thinking about, no, what we need to do, just like you described 60% of Americans, why don't we make it easier for them to attend trade schools, expand opportunities for them where Americans are, instead of just like, okay, well, because the left is full of a bunch of PhDs who can't find jobs, forgive their loans and have taxpayers pay for.

[Josh Holmes]

It's my doctoral thesis on trans studies in Tanzania. Thank you so much for your. I really appreciate that. Maybe it'd be nice if you could do something. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, that's a huge component. Because I think, as Smug said, the fear of AI is like twofold. One, robots are taking over the planet. Right. And then the second is, at some level, jobs. And whether or not we're basically automating our way out of a labor force. And what you're saying is it's absolutely the opposite of that.

[Michael Kratzios]

So it's doing two, I think. One, we're creating a bunch of jobs that we need to build this AI sort of revolution that's happening for our eyes. The second piece, which, you know, I wasn't very aware of, but came into full focus in the event last Wednesday, was when the SBA administrator, Kelly Loeffler gave her talk and she started recounting all these different numbers around how important AI is becoming for small businesses in the U.S. yeah. If you're a small business, the biggest challenge you have is always hiring. It's how do you find quality people to build your business? And AI is providing this incredible leverage for a lot of small businesses that are always just strapped for resources to be able to build and grow. So to her, I think she sees it as a huge unlock for the small business community. As you guys know, employ more Americans than any other community. So I think there's. There's a lot to come there on, how beneficial will be.

[Josh Holmes]

That's incredible. Michael, can you give us a little idea of your background? Like, did you always, like, are you were always ahead of the curve on all this stuff?

[Michael Kratzios]

Well, I don't know. You were. You were speaking of liberal arts majors, and I got a little nervous there, so I was actually.

[E]

I mean, look, you're looking at three of them, right?

[Michael Kratzios]

You're looking at a fourth one. I was a. I was a politics major and decided I wanted to start my career in investment banking in the summer of 2008. So I had a very rude awakening about what it was like to be on Wall Street. But I always loved tech and was constantly drawn to it and ultimately went to work for Peter Thiel in San Francisco and worked for him for eight years there at his. At his hedge fund and venture fund. Got involved a bit with the campaign in 2016, joined the transition effort after we won and. And then joined on day one and spent all four years.

[Josh Holmes]

That's where you got that fat title.

[Michael Kratzios]

Yeah. Putting a little work for it. You know, it took two years until I got nominated for that, but got confirmed in 2019 for that role. And I was lucky enough also to spend some time as the undersecretary of Defense. So the number three role at the Pentagon, driving all the R and D there. So everything from hypersonics to 5G to, you know, directed energy.

[Josh Holmes]

Did you ever think you'd be involved in the political sphere?

[Michael Kratzios]

You know, I'd always loved politics. I'd actually. I'm from South Carolina, so I had. I interned for Lindsey Graham the summer after my freshman year.

[Josh Holmes]

Okay.

[Michael Kratzios]

And it was interesting. Summer. You guys probably know him better than I do. Interns pretty much just give capital tours. Aware of that, too, kind of hang out. And it was actually the summer of the John Roberts confirmation.

[Josh Holmes]

Oh, yeah. There you go. I know where I was.

[Michael Kratzios]

Yeah. And. And I think the center was part of the Gang of Eight stuff. So we're getting, like, all sorts of, like, mail.

[Josh Holmes]

Just hate mail.

[Michael Kratzios]

I Mean, I, I think there's a photo of me next to the stack of, of emails we got that was like the height of me. I don't know where that photo is, but it's a great one. And, and, but, but I left there, I was like, wait, I, I love this politics stuff, but I just, I want to come back when I can be more impactful because I was talking to a lot of like, first year people who were there. Nothing against any listeners.

[Josh Holmes]

No, no, I mean, I think that's.

[Duncan]

They want to hear that.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah.

[Smug]

I love how your experience was like, I never want to come back to the Senate again.

[Josh Holmes]

To be honest, my first one was exactly the same way. I was like, boy, this is terrible.

[Michael Kratzios]

It was interesting. But. And then I, you know, I thought I'd do it much later in life, but after the, the 16 election transition, it was coming as once in a lifetime opportunity opportunities. And at least at that time, I mean, the, in the first Trump campaign, there wasn't much emphasis on tech. If you look back then, I mean, it was, it was the same stuff, you know, it's been for a while, but it was a lot of, you know, immigration, trade, and no foreign wars.

[Josh Holmes]

We also had this full attack from the left that was like blaming tech for their own losses. And I mean, it devalued for a period of time, tech development totally.

[Michael Kratzios]

And I think at that time, I mean, no one in the tech community was supporting, supportive of the President.

[Josh Holmes]

Right.

[Michael Kratzios]

I mean, it was, it was Peter. And that was, that was kind of it. And, and I think to me, I saw it maybe as my, my contrarian Ben, like, Peter, it was like an opportunity more than a problem. Like, we had Greenfield on being able to sort of try to capture and manifest what the President's vision was for the country into a tech agenda. And what was so amazing about, about, I think 45 was. And I don't think he got enough credit for it. I mean, he signed the first executive order in the history of the country on artificial intelligence in February of 2019. So if you rewind to 2019, I wasn't on the front of every newspaper, it wasn't on every editorial. Like, people just weren't.

[Josh Holmes]

No. Smug would talk about it and be like, dude, not the nerd stuff this week.

[Michael Kratzios]

But the President knew, like, this was important. This was going to be sort of driving geopolitics in the future of the country. And he was pressing enough to sign the executive order and get the first national strategy ever out. And I think that kind of set the foundation for prioritizing recent development around AI, which ultimately led to, to the breakthroughs that OpenAI had and ultimately created ChatGPT. So I think a lot of the efforts in Trump 1 like, really set the tone for this technology leadership.

[Josh Holmes]

How fascinating is it to just sort of be able to have the conversations with the Andreessens and David Sachs and everyone else who've been pioneers in this industry and have built so many incredible things over the years, but like, you're now in a position where you're just sort of like, tell me what, where were we going? Like, what, what's your vision for how this works?

[Michael Kratzios]

I think we're lucky because the President has been able to pull together this incredible coalition of people who understand that he's a leader that can drive us into this next generation of leadership and technology and doesn't fear it. And doesn't fear it. And I think he takes it head on. I think. You know, I remember we did a bunch of work on nuclear energy about a month and a half ago, and he signed four really big executive orders to kind of unlock nuclear energy. And you had all those, these naysayers and the media was in there like, kind of like shouting all their questions after the signing and they're like, aren't you scared about, you know, all the, all the things that could go wrong with nuclear? Is it not safe? And he's like, no, we're going to do it safely. And it's like a trusted technology and he's able to sort of like push back immediately on all these like crazy leftist types that are like, scared of this tech. And he's like, no, there's obviously things that can go wrong or right with it, but we should manage it and we should allow the American people to like, reap the benefits of this new technology. And if you live in a state of fear, you know, you're gonna like the Europeans. And that's like, not where we want to be. We're not where we want to be.

[Josh Holmes]

There's not a lot of French models that are tipping the top of the iceberg.

[Duncan]

Listen, not that kind of model.

[Josh Holmes]

Right. We're not going to ask Michael to weigh in on any of that. Listen, I can't thank you enough for doing this. Stay in touch. Because you guys are up to so many amazing things that we try to keep our thumb on and we're very interested in it, but it is going to change the world. Yeah. One way or another. And if we're successful, we're gonna all do it. Together.

[Michael Kratzios]

Well, thank you for having me. I mean, we're doing stuff on supersonics, on drones, flying cars. So anytime you guys want to talk future tech, I'm game, dude.

[Josh Holmes]

Anytime you get something, you're like, dude, check this out. Send us a text and we'll come on over. Michael Kratzios, thank you so much for joining us.

[Michael Kratzios]

Thank you.

[Duncan]

Really appreciate it so much. I mean, the guy is obviously extremely sharp. He is extremely dialed in to what is happening tomorrow in this country and around the world. But he's also very personable.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. I mean, the guy gets it. And, like, so often in this area, what you get is a bunch of people who are like, I don't know. I mean, look, I'm just gonna be crass about it, like, pretty deeply on the spectrum where they don't have the ability to actually tell you from a human standpoint what this means for your life.

[E]

Right. Which is entirely the whole pitch that needs to happen. Bingo.

[Josh Holmes]

And this is a dude who just, like, innately understands that and lives that and can explain it in a real way, but also pursue policy goals that don't just throw over the middle class in the center of this country.

[E]

Well, it's like a core thing. It's what Smug was saying earlier is that so much of our politics was this sanitized version of GDP go up.

[Josh Holmes]

Yeah. Right.

[E]

And it's like the future, I believe, is going to have a big role for AI, but the American people need to know what's in it for them and how this do. How this helps the American people. And it goes back to what we were saying earlier about all the trade deals with Donald Trump where he doesn't see the world as one thing, but all the things. Right. And it's like, that's what I love about what the Trump administration has been doing on their AI initiatives is they're not just looking at AI as a technology. They're looking at AI as like, this race we must win against China. They're looking at it in the role the American worker is going to play. They're looking at it from the energy sector. All these things are interconnected.

[Josh Holmes]

So important. Right. You know, and, like, look, I love the all in guys. Like, we've been close with Sachs is fantastic. He's been on our program, and we talk with all those guys. But when you get. When you listen to them talk about it, it's unintentional because they don't mean it this way. But it comes off to your average viewer, unless you're A tech person. It comes off as like, what the hell do they care about? Like, my job? And again, it's unintentional because they do care. And Sachs in particular cares deeply about this because I know he's the one person that I do know in that. But like, you listen to a guy like Kratzios and he's like, no, no, that's like the guiding mission. Yep. That's like what we're trying to accomplish here in making sure that America is gonna lead the world because of our workers and, like, re industrializing America in a very different way than it's been over the last 40 years. I can't tell you how, like, great that conversation is.

[E]

And also reassuring. Yeah, right, right.

[Josh Holmes]

I mean, it just makes a big difference.

[E]

I mean, as guys who grew up in the Midwest and you look at what happened to the Midwest.

[Josh Holmes]

Yes.

[E]

You know, when everybody was prominent, promising us like, this NAFTA is going to be great for the United States of America. And then hollowed out the center of the country. And it's. What we know now is the Rust Belt. It's like, people don't want to see AI as the next thing that does that 100%.

[Josh Holmes]

That's the fear. And then the other fear is like the. You have no education about it. And I don't blame you for. Not, because nobody reads the trade pubs on this stuff, but you think it's like just magic sauce. Right. They're like, robots are taking over the world. But you listen to a guy like that and it's like, no, if we're gonna cure cancer, this is how we do it. And all of a sudden you contextualize all that with a standard of living, a innovation standpoint, a American values component, which I think is incredibly important. And you layer all of that over top and you're like, yeah, let's. Let's go for it. Let's do it. I love it. This guy's doing a hell of a job. Really, really appreciate Michael Kratzias for coming in and giving us that discussion, because I think it's a huge value to our audience. I know. It was to me. So I can only imagine for all of you listening that you thought the same thing. Listen, remember our question of the day? If you were going to interview anybody in the White House, what it is it? What would you ask? Because it turns out all these things, well, they kind of come true.

[Duncan]

Yeah.

[Josh Holmes]

Despite the filter of the mainstream media and getting you to ask questions that nobody cares about. They know. So if you're gonna ask a question, what would it be? Put it when you like and subscribe. We read all of them. I can guarantee you this when we have the next opportunity to talk to somebody who are at the White House, we're gonna pick one. Yeah, we're gonna pick one and you're gonna get it like and subscribe to the YouTube channel. Check out some merch while you're there if you don't mind. With that. Fellas, over two thirds of the way through, it's been a hell of a week. I think we did it.

[Smug]

I think so. Absolute banger of an episode. Gentlemen, again, thank you so much Michael Kratzios and thank you to our listeners. Remember, if you have not yet go to the YouTube hit the subscribe. It's more fun in video. So until next time, minions, keep the faith, hold the line and own the libs. We'll see you Friday. Stay ruthless.