Ep. 2190 - The Biggest Danger To The Trump Administration

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Ben Shapiro Show Episode: Ep. 2190 - The Biggest Danger To The Trump Administration
Release Date: May 1, 2025
Host: Ben Shapiro
Platform: The Daily Wire

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Introduction

In Episode 2190 of The Ben Shapiro Show, Ben Shapiro delves into the paramount threat facing the Trump administration: an impending economic downturn exacerbated by the ongoing tariff war. Throughout the episode, Shapiro provides a comprehensive analysis of economic indicators, corporate responses, and the broader political ramifications that could undermine President Trump's agenda.

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1. Economic Downturn: The Primary Threat

Ben Shapiro opens the discussion by highlighting the recent US economic report indicating a contraction in GDP for the first quarter of 2025. He emphasizes that a significant economic downturn poses the greatest danger to the Trump administration's broader agenda.

• GDP Contraction:
  Shapiro notes that the US GDP fell at a seasonally and inflation-adjusted annualized rate of -0.3% in Q1 2025, marking the first contraction since Q1 2022. “Two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth is typically termed a recession,” Shapiro states ([02:15]).

• Impact of Tariff War:
  The primary driver of this contraction is the tariff war initiated by the Trump administration. Shapiro explains, “Net exports subtracted nearly 5 percentage points from headline GDP. This was the biggest quarterly drag from net exports on record dating back to 1947” ([03:30]).

• Consumer and Business Sentiment:
  Shapiro discusses how economic feelings, driven by consumer and business behaviors, eventually reflect in economic statistics. He asserts, “Sometimes people feel worse about the economy than it actually is... but all of those feelings tend to make themselves actually heard in the economic statistics eventually” ([04:10]).

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2. Corporate Responses and Policy Failures

Shapiro transitions to analyzing how major corporations are grappling with the repercussions of the tariff policies.

• General Motors (GM) Profit Decline:
  Referencing GM’s adjusted financial outlook, Shapiro points out, “GM has now reduced its profits by 6.6% in Q1... They are having a significant problem with the tariff war” ([06:00]). He criticizes the administration for inconsistent tariff policies, suggesting that “Peter Navarro needs to be fired” ([06:45]).

• Black and Decker’s Financial Struggles:
  Shapiro highlights Black and Decker raising prices and retooling their supply chains to mitigate tariff impacts, “President Trump's tariff war is expected to dent their full-year earnings per share by about 75 cents” ([07:30]).

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3. Political Ramifications: Impending Impeachment Threat

The economic downturn has significant political implications, particularly concerning the Republican Party's prospects in the upcoming House elections.

• Potential Loss of the House:
  Shapiro warns, “If the economy does continue to experience an economic downturn... Republicans will lose the House” ([12:50]).

• Impeachment Risks:
  Echoing Speaker Mike Johnson’s concerns, Shapiro articulates, “If Republicans lose the House of Representatives, they will impeach Donald Trump” ([13:10]).

• Trump's Defiance:
  In a noteworthy exchange, Trump asserts, “I'd be the real problem after losing the House. Oh, I'm sure on day one” ([13:20]).

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4. Trade Policies and the China Conundrum

Shapiro critically examines the Trump administration's trade policies, especially the strained relations with China.

• Stalled Trade Negotiations:
  Referencing Politico, Shapiro discusses the preliminary and unfinalized trade offers from over a dozen countries aiming to avoid imminent tariffs, “These are preliminary outlines... far from final offers” ([17:30]).

• China’s Economic Slowdown and Threats:
  The discussion shifts to China’s economic struggles due to the tariff war, with Shapiro ominously stating, “If China felt threatened enough... they would simply put a blockade around Taiwan” ([19:45]).

• De-Dollarization Concerns:
  Shapiro underscores the dangers of de-dollarization, explaining, “Higher borrowing costs and reduced financial flexibility... loss of geopolitical and economic leverage” ([04:50]).

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5. Internal Democratic Party Struggles

The episode sheds light on the internal turmoil within the Democratic Party, exacerbating their vulnerability.

• Leadership Challenges:
  Shapiro criticizes the Democratic leadership, particularly focusing on figures like David Hogg, describing him as “an insipid and ridiculous vice chair” ([18:20]).

• Kamala Harris’s Unpopularity:
  Highlighting recent polls, Shapiro reveals that in a hypothetical race, “Trump would win by one” against Vice President Kamala Harris ([21:00]).

• Democratic Strategy Flaws:
  He asserts, “The Democratic Party is not in a strong position... All the polls show that the American people do not like them” ([19:00]).

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6. Foreign Policy: Strengthening Alliances and Addressing Threats

Shapiro devotes a substantial portion to discussing the Trump administration's foreign policy, particularly regarding Israel and Ukraine.

• Alliance with Israel:
  In a segment featuring Ambassador Mike Huckabee, Shapiro emphasizes the deep spiritual and strategic ties between the US and Israel. Shapiro notes, “Israel is the only nation in the entire region... mirroring the experience of the birth, formation, and prosperity of the United States” ([40:32]).

• Gaza Strip Proposal:
  Shapiro praises Trump’s proposal to transform the Gaza Strip, advocating for rebuilding it akin to Singapore, contrasting it with Hamas’s mismanagement, “Hamas turned it into Haiti... not interested in building schools and mosques, but rockets and bombs” ([44:33]).

• Iranian Nuclear Program:
  Addressing the Iranian nuclear threat, Shapiro relays Trump’s stance, “If the Iranians don't give up their nuclear ambitions... I'll lead the effort. I won't be dragged into it” ([47:39]).

• West Bank Sovereignty:
  Discussing Judea and Samaria, Shapiro shares personal observations of economic initiatives like the SodaStream plant, highlighting their success before BDS-related pressures forced closures, “700 Palestinians lost the best job they ever had... went back to live in poverty” ([56:14]).

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7. Judicial and Legal Commentary

Towards the episode's conclusion, Shapiro touches upon a bizarre judicial decision involving the release of a suspect who attempted to firebomb a Tesla store. While not delved into deeply, this segment underscores Shapiro’s critique of perceived judicial leniency and media narratives.

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Conclusion

In this episode, Ben Shapiro presents a robust argument outlining how an economic downturn, primarily driven by the Trump administration's tariff policies, jeopardizes the administration's wider objectives. Through detailed analysis of economic data, corporate impacts, and political dynamics, Shapiro warns of significant consequences, including potential impeachment. Additionally, he lauds the administration's foreign policy strategies while critiquing internal Democratic weaknesses, painting a comprehensive picture of the current political and economic landscape.

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Notable Quotes

• Ben Shapiro on GDP Contraction:
  “Two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth is typically termed a recession.” ([02:15])

• Ben Shapiro on Tariffs Impact:
  “Net exports subtracted nearly 5 percentage points from headline GDP.” ([03:30])

• Ben Shapiro on Potential Impeachment:
  “If Republicans lose the House of Representatives, they will impeach Donald Trump.” ([13:10])

• Ben Shapiro on US-Israel Alliance:
  “Israel is the only nation in the entire region... mirroring the experience of the birth, formation, and prosperity of the United States.” ([40:32])

• Ben Shapiro on Iran Policy:
  “If the Iranians don't give up their nuclear ambitions... I'll lead the effort. I won't be dragged into it.” ([47:39])

• Ben Shapiro on Judea and Samaria:
  “700 Palestinians lost the best job they ever had... went back to live in poverty.” ([56:14])

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This comprehensive summary encapsulates the key discussions, insights, and conclusions presented by Ben Shapiro in Episode 2190. The episode offers a critical perspective on the Trump administration's economic and foreign policies, the vulnerabilities within the Democratic Party, and the overarching threat of a recession threatening political stability.

Transcript

[Ben Shapiro]

Well folks as always, tons of news. A fire hose of news. But you need a reliable source for your news. You need a conservative source for your news. The legacy media, they think that you are too dumb to see through their lies. They like to twist the narrative or manipulate the headlines or bury the truth. We don't do that at the Daily Wire. We are going to bring you the facts with no filter or no spin and then you get to get in on the conversation. Join the live chat during Our Daily Shows 100 uncensored ad free packed with fans who actually think for themselves. Get the news the way it should be. Honest, fearless, without an agenda. Your voice matters. Be a part of it. Join [e-mail] subscribe all right, so yesterday the US economic report came in. Q1 GDP is down. The biggest danger to the Trump administration and their agenda is very clearly an economic downturn by far. It's not particularly close. I've been saying this now for months. If there were to be an economic downturn under President Trump, the rest of the very important agenda items that he is pursuing, everything from illegal immigration to wiping DEI out of the federal government, everything from rebuilding the United States military to doge, all of it goes out the window if the economy falls. Because the way the American people think about politics is quite simple when it comes to presidents and the economy. If the economy is good, the president gets the credit. If the economy is bad, the president gets the blame. It is really that simple. Well, yesterday the GDP report came in and it showed negative GDP growth. Two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth is typically termed a recession, sort of technical terms. Now obviously Americans are feeling very skittish about the economy in general right now and feelings unfortunately don't care about your facts when it comes to the economy very often. Sometimes people feel worse about the economy than it actually is. Sometimes they feel better about the economy than it actually is. But all of those feelings tend to make themselves actually heard in the economic statistics eventually, because people are buying and selling and doing all of these things based on what they feel their own personal financial status is. According to the Wall street journal, the US economy contracted in the first three months of 2025 as businesses rushed to stock up on imports ahead of the Trump administration's tariffs and consumer spending slowed. The Commerce Department said U.S. gDP fell at a seasonally and inflation adjusted 0.3% annualized rate in the first quarter. That was the first contraction since the first quarter of 2022. Consumer spending did increase at 1.8%. That is the smallest increase since mid 2023. Spending by the federal government fell, but the main driver of the first quarter contraction was, wait for it, the tariff war. Of course. Of course. It turns out everyone has been on the edge of their seats. It's a roller coaster, this tariff war. At best, investors have pulled their money out. If in fact they are spending, they are attempting to beat the tariffs to the table. They're essentially buying things, stocking up on imports before the tariffs hit net exports, the difference between what the United States imports and Exports subtracted nearly 5 percentage points from headline GDP. This was the biggest quarterly drag from net exports on record dating back to 1947. So basically, imports actually radically increased because everybody was trying to get in under the wire before all the tariffs kicked in. Imports subtract from the Commerce Department's calculation of GDP because they represent the spending on foreign made goods and services. So does this mean the economy is. Is weak? It doesn't. The economy is not, in fact weak, weak. The economy, in the absence of the trade war, remains fairly robust at this point. Not like 5% GDP robust, but ready to grow. Deregulation and tax cuts without the trade war and you'd have a booming economy right now. Which is why I've been saying Peter Navarro needs to be fired. Just let Scott Besant run this ship, that's all. Just let it happen. Because of lack of faith in the American economy, de dollarization continues. This is foreign economies moving away from investment in the American dollar. According to Axios, the US dollar index in Trump's first 100 days fell 9.5% compared to a 2.1% drop in the first 100 days of his term. The value of the Greenback increased by 4.5% in George W. Bush's first 100 days when the country was headed into recession and rose slightly for both Obama and Biden. So as recession fears rise, investors are actually moving away from the dollar. There's just less need for it if the feeling is that trade is going to decline. Why exactly would you invest in American dollars if you can't use those American dollars to buy American goods, or if American companies are going to be hurt by their lack of export markets. So when we're talking about the value of the American dollar and what actually has happened under President Trump, de dollarization is a really dangerous thing to articulate that. I asked our friend sponsors over at Perplexity, what would the impact be on American economics of de dollarization and perplexity? Says de dollarization refers to the process of. By which Countries reduce their reliance on the US Dollar for international trade, financial transactions and as a reserve currency. And the key economic impacts include higher borrowing costs and reduced financial flexibility, depreciation of the dollar and inflationary pressures. US Financial assets like equities and bonds could underperform relative to global markets as international investors reallocate away from dollar denominated assets. If they're not using dollars, there's no reason for them to buy American products, for example, or American financial assets. A loss of geopolitical and economic leverage. Remember, President Trump likes using sanctions. Well, sanctions are only effective if you have something to actually take away from the bad guys. And there would be uncertain effects on economic growth, then effective US Economic growth is ambiguous. A weaker dollar could enhance export competitiveness, make it easier for us to quote, unquote, cheaply produce goods. But those benefits might be offset by reduced foreign investment. So again, all this is not a particularly great indicator. Now, President Trump continues to tout his tariff war in Michigan. He did that the other night. Here he was. But I'm thrilled to be back in this beautiful state. I love this state and a lot of auto jobs coming. Watch what's happening.

[Donald Trump]

The companies are coming in by the by the tens. You got to see what's happening. They all want to come back to.

[Ben Shapiro]

Michigan and build cars again. You know why? Because of our tax and tariff policy. Okay, well that's not exact exactly right. The reason that's not exactly right is because GM reported its actual financials yesterday. Apparently, GM has now reduced its profits 6.6% in Q1 and they adjusted their 2025 outlook as well. Their prior full year guidance had suggested pretty significant growth. Now they say that while U. S. Sales rose, they are having a significant problem with the tariff war. In fact, the chief financial officer Paul Jacobson told reporters on a call, GM will not comment on the cost incurred from tariffs. Why? Because they're afraid of ticking off President Trump. Presumably. President Trump has already blown holes in his tariffs by announcing that there would be some exceptions for American car companies. GM said in January it expected net profits in the range of $11.2 billion to $12.5 billion for full year 2025 and pre tax profits of 13.7 billion to 15.7 billion. But they're now revising all of those statistics significantly down based on the tariff war. So President Trump has been trying to adjust to that by essentially cutting holes in his own tariff regime. Meanwhile, Black and Decker again, this is an industrial company. Black and Decker is raising prices this year and retooling their entire supply chain in an attempt to blunt the impact of the global trade war. According to executives on Wednesday to the Wall Street Journal, they say that President Trump's tariff war is expected to dent their full year earnings per share by about 75 cents as it takes action to mitigate new costs. So this stuff is damaging. What's even more damaging is some of the rhetoric that is now surrounding this stuff. So President Trump put out a post yesterday in which he claimed that this is Joe Biden's stock market, not his own stock market. This brings a strong contrast to 2024 when the stock market started to increase. He said it was his stock market because the markets were expecting him to be President of the United States. Now, he's been president for four months and he is claiming that it is not his stock market. That is a dog that is not going to hunt. Just in terms of pr Quote, this is Biden's stock market, not Trump's. I didn't take over until January 20. Tariffs will soon start kicking in and our companies are starting to move into the US in record numbers. Our country will boom, but we have to get rid of the Biden overhang. This will take a while. It has nothing to do with tariffs, only that he left us with bad numbers. But when the boom begins, it will be like no other. Be patient. Well, markets yesterday upon this news were not particularly patient. They've not dropped precipitously again because of the hope that President Trump is going to, in the end, back off of this tariff war. But I will say that politically speaking, President Trump is not setting himself up for success when he says what he said yesterday. So yesterday, President Trump said, suggested that this is not a big deal, that if there are problems with these supply chains and things just don't arrive on the shelves, you know, no biggie. They made a trillion dollars with Biden. A trillion dollars. Even a trillion one with Biden selling us stuff. Much of a waiter need, you know, somebody said, oh, the shelves are going to be open. Well, maybe the children will have two.

[Donald Trump]

Dolls instead of $30.

[Ben Shapiro]

And maybe the $2 will cost a couple of bucks more than they would normally. Okay, that is not a dog that is going to hunt in any sort of future election for Republicans. Maybe they won't have $30 or kids. Maybe they will have two and maybe they'll cost more. No biggie. That is a let them eat cake approach to politics. It would be bad if a Democrat said it. It'd be bad if a Republican said it. The reality is that when Americans feel that their choices in the market are constrained, when they have to pay more for their kids toys, when they are told that is not a big deal, if their kid has to have fewer toys because of inflation, they are not going to feel the same way that President Trump just articulated that. That is, that is a tremendous commercial for Democrats. President Trump should be avoiding language like that. Obviously. We'll get to more on that in just a moment. First, Pure Talk, the cell phone company I use for business every day, is helping you save money on your cell phone bill. That's right, Peer Talk says I don't think so. It's $100 a month cell phone plans. That's just wasteful and irresponsible. Instead, they're offering America's most dependable 5G network at America's most sensible prices. Listen to this unlimited talk text 15 gigs of data plus mobile hotspot for just 35 bucks a month. The best part? Right now you'll get a free one year membership to Daily Wire plus access the entire library of Daily Wire plus movies and documentaries, enjoy uncensored ad free daily shows, chat with my producers during our livestream and as always, your free leftist tiers Tumblr. And with Pure Talk's US Customer service team, you can switch hassle free in as little as 10 minutes. You, you don't need Doge to cut the fat from your wireless bill. What you need is my friends over at Pure Talk. Go to PureTalk.com Shapiro Switch to [e-mail] Shapiro Get a year of Daily Wire plus for free with a qualifying plan. Pure Talk is wireless by Americans for Americans. Go check them out right now Pure [e-mail] Shapiro and again get that year of Daily Wire plus for free with qualifying plan. Also, Grand Canyon University is a private Christian university in beautiful Phoenix, Arizona and they believe that we're endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights. Life, liberty, pursuit of happiness. You know the American things. GCU believes in equal opportunity and that the American Dream starts with purpose. GCU equips you to serve others in ways that promote human flourishing and create a ripple effect of transformation for years to come. By honoring your career, calling you impact your family, your friends and your community. Change the world for good by putting others before yourself to glorify God. Whether your pursuit involves a bachelor's, master's, or doctoral degree, GCU's online on campus and hybrid learning environments are designed to help you achieve your unique academic, personal and professional goals with over 340 academic programs as of September 2024. GCU meets you where you are and provides a path to help you fulfill your dreams. The pursuit to serve others, that's yours. Let it flourish. Find your purpose at Grand Canyon University. Private, Christian, affordable. Visit gcu. Edu. Again, that's gcu. Edu. Go check them out today. Don't go to some university that's going to indoctrinate you in trash. Instead, head on over to gcu. Edu. President Trump, meanwhile, continues to bang on Jerome Powell, the Federal Reserve chairman. He told his supporters in Michigan on Tuesday, quote, I have a Fed person who is not really doing a good job. I want to be very nice and respectful to the Fed. So, you know, continuing to rip on the Fed, he's apparently not going to fire Jerome Powell, which would be a mistake to fire Jerome Powell, but he's going to continue to rip on Jerome Powell. What are the markets supposed to take away from that? Well, you know, as somebody who invests, I will say that my takeaway is that doesn't seem like he's going to swerve away from his tariff agenda anytime soon. If he is still hoping that Jerome Powell is going to save him from the consequences of his own tariff war by lowering those interest rates, that suggests that he's going to continue with the very measures that have gotten him into this situation in the first place. And all of this has serious political ramifications. It's not just fun and games. Not not only because it affects the American people, their pocketbooks, their kitchen table, but also because if the economy does continue to experience an economic downturn, if Americans continue to be very unhappy with the trajectory of the economy, by every poll, they are, Republicans will lose the House. And if Republicans lose the House, the investigations are coming. This is a point that Speaker Mike Johnson was making yesterday. He said, listen, if we lose the House of Representatives, they will impeach Donald Trump. Day one, the economy goes south, environment's.

[Donald Trump]

Bad, and you happen to lose the House. How quickly do Democrats impeach Donald Trump? Oh, I'm sure on day one. I mean, you know, they've already filed articles and they're talking about it as recently as this week. Is that part of your argument to, to, to voters that Trump's impeachment is.

[Ben Shapiro]

Is on the ballot in the midterm elections?

[Donald Trump]

Yeah, of course. I mean, it's a reality and it's madness.

[Ben Shapiro]

You know, they've already, we've already seen the movie.

[Donald Trump]

They tried it twice already based on absolutely nothing.

[Ben Shapiro]

So President Trump and team should keep that in mind if Republicans lose the House. Last two years of the Trump administration are basically done. Nothing gets done. And everybody sort of knows this at this point. So how does President Trump turn this thing around? The answer is actually quite simple. End the trade war. Recalibrate. Make a better policy toward China that actually does start boxing them in. Do all the things we've been talking about on the show for weeks now, deregulate and cut taxes. Those are the things. It's not hard. Many of those things are things the Trump administration is already doing. But the markets keep kind of hoping against hope that a bunch of trade deals are coming. And that is not in evidence at this point. According to Politico, White House officials have boasted that more than a dozen countries have put offers on the table to avoid the biting tariffs scheduled to kick in in just over two months. Assigned President Trump's risky trade gamut is paying off, but the documents other countries have submitted to the White House are far from final offers, according to a dozen foreign diplomats. And three officials grant an anonymity to discuss the sensitive conversations. They're preliminary outlines of what their governments are willing to discuss in trade talks. Some trade partners are balking at proposing even an outline of their terms before they get some more guidance from the United States on what President Trump even wants from the talks. One industry official said they're hesitant to negotiate against themselves. If countries are setting the parameters for what the negotiations are and not the administration with concrete asks, it's a little bit like they're setting themselves up. So what is coming down the line? Are these trade deals coming down the line because the tariffs are beginning to bite? Now there's another danger, too. China is experiencing an economic slowdown, as you would imagine. It turns out that cutting the Chinese off from the American markets, they do have an impact on China as well. And that would be a purely good thing if we actually had plans in place to contain the effects of that. So China's economy, according to the Journal, showed its first big signs of damage from the trade war as steep US Tariffs pummeled export orders and production at the country's factories. The sharp pullback shows that President Trump's eye watering tariffs on Chinese imports are starting to squeeze the engine room of China's economy, piling pressure on Beijing to boost its own stimulus efforts to shore up growth. Now China doesn't want to cut a deal with the United States because they feel that this is actually hurting the United States and President Trump worse than it is hurting them. That is despite the fact that it really is hurting China. But here's part of the problem. If China felt that it was hurting China badly enough, this tariff war, China does have a get out of jail free card. And that get out of jail free card is a blockade of Taiwan. If China really felt threatened enough that their economy was going to go under or the CCP was in real danger, they would simply put a blockade around Taiwan, possibly destroy tsmc, which is the manufacturer of the semiconductors that power the globe. And most of the secondary semiconductors are made in China. This is why it is not enough to have a good policy direction. You have to have a meticulous implementation of that policy. Now look, the good news, as always, for the Trump administration is that its enemies are absolutely incompetent and quite terrible at this. Like truly garbage at this. So the Democrats continue to futz around in search of a leader. It is funny to watch them kind of flail around like a fish out of water. James Carville, who, you know, was, was still sort of the voice of reason on the Democratic side for a while there, he's now caving to the Democratic National Committee. So David Hogg, the insipid and ridiculous vice chair of the dnc, he was made the vice chair after launching a failed pillow company, attending Harvard University with very, very low SAT scores because he had been a student at Parkland during the shooting. Well, now he's the vice chair and he's been saying he wants to primary a bunch of moderate Democrats in purple districts. And James Carville had criticized him. Well, now he's backing off. Quote, just called David Hogg. He reminded me of the story of after the Battle of Shiloh, Henry Halleck urged President Lincoln to fire Ulysses Grant. Lincoln said, I can fire him. This man fights. David Hogg fights. The DNC needs him. Ahahahahahaha. So you're telling me that David Hogg, this ridiculous broomstick of a human, is. Is Ulysses S. Grant to James Carville? He doesn't believe that at all. But the Democrats are trying to hold together the crazy wing. He and the somewhat less crazy wing. Well, speaking of the crazy wing, Kamala Harris made her grand reappearance yesterday. Just what Democrats need in a moment where President Trump is actually creating a series of targets for them to hit. They're trotting out the wildly unpopular Kamala Harris. By the way, brand new poll out today. I believe it's from Emerson, showing if there was another national election held today between Harris and Trump, who would win the answer was Trump by one. In any case, Kamala Harris is back out there speaking in San Francisco at the annual Galliford Emerge, a group that recruits and trains women to run for office. Did you miss Kamala? Did you miss her? The answer, of course, is no one has missed Kamala. We barely even recognized she existed while she was running for president, given the fact that she was essentially a random person who was thrust into the limelight because Joe Biden died in the middle of the campaign. Well, anyway, here was Kamala Harris. I know, I know. You missed the. The winding senses, the sentences that run like a free ranging river over the rocks of volubility. Here is Kamala Harris talking about the abandonment of American ideals. Instead of an administration working to advance America's highest ideals, we are witnessing the wholesale abandonment of those ideals. Wow. It's that sort of articulate, meticulous speech. That's why she's President of the United States today. Oh, wait, here she was slamming the Trump administration. It's an agenda, a narrow, self serving vision of America where they punish truth tellers, favor loyalists, cash in on their power and leave everyone to fend for themselves, all while abandoning allies and retreating from the world. You guys are going to need someone better than that somebody. What about Tim Walls? Remember they trotted him out as a possibility for 2028 after his awful run for Vice president. Well, yesterday he was talking about why he was nominated for Vice president by Kamala Harris at the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics. It didn't go great.

[Donald Trump]

I knew I was on the ticket, I would argue, because we did a lot of amazing progressive things in Minnesota that improved people's lives. But I also was on the ticket, quite honestly, you know, because I, I.

[Ben Shapiro]

Could code talk to white guys watching.

[Donald Trump]

Football, fixing their truck, doing that, that I could put them at ease. I was the permission structure to say, look, you can do this and vote for this.

[Ben Shapiro]

Well, I guess that the code talking didn't work. By the way, first hint that a candidate for the Democratic Party is not going to be able to talk to the bros. He uses terms like code talk. That would be. That would be the first indicator. Okay, so who else are the possibilities? Well, Democrats are positing that maybe Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan would be a possibility. The governor of Michigan, and she has been making some interesting moves. She's been appearing on stage with President Trump, trying to prop up his economic plans in the Midwest, particularly with regards to sort of factory jobs. Here she was appearing with President Trump and they hugged. Well, I hadn't planned to speak, but.

[Donald Trump]

I'm on behalf of all the military men and women who serve our country and serve so honorably on behalf of the state of Michigan. I am really damn happy we're here to celebrate this recapitalization at Selfridge. It's crucial for the Michigan economy. It's crucial for the men and women here, for our homeland security and our future. So thank you. I am so, so grateful that this announcement is made today. And I appreciate all the work.

[Ben Shapiro]

Thank you. So the fact that she is now essentially appearing repeatedly with President Trump, that's a smart move because it makes her appear moderate. Okay. Or the alternative is AOC Whitmer versus AOC is very likely to be the 2028 face down for the Democratic party. So AOC continues to play coy about 2028 even as she runs around the country with Bernie Sanders abandoning her district and speaking in front of tens of thousands of cheering socialists. Here she was yesterday. Are you thinking about running for president or Senate because of. Because of my Instagram post? No, the video, the campaign stuff style video. It's got everybody talking.

[Donald Trump]

I mean, listen, I'm. It's a video. And.

[Ben Shapiro]

And frankly, I think what people should be most concerned about is the fact that Republicans are trying to cut Medicaid right now and people's health care is in danger. And that's really what my central focus is. That's an avoidance of the question. That is not a no, you'll notice. So that is going to be the battle inside the Democratic Party. Again, the Democratic Party is not in strong position. All the polls show that the American people do not like them, which is why it is very, very important to take the football and run with it and not allow the economy to sink into recession. We'll get to more on this in a moment. First, there's something deeply satisfying about a good spring refresh and refreshing you're betting, might be the most rewarding change of all. Bolin Branches signature sheets crafted from the finest 100% organic cotton, offer a buttery, soft, breathable foundation. Pair them with Bolin branches, airy blankets, duvets and quilts for the perfect seasonal upgrade. Bolen branches 100% organic cotton sheets were pivotal in my sleep quality from the very first night, I could feel the difference. These aren't just any sheets. They really do have this incredible softness that puts you in instant relaxation mode. What really impressed me is how they get softer with every single wash. I didn't think that was possible, but after a few months, it felt even more luxurious than when I first got them. Believe me, I've tried other premium sheets before. Nothing comes close to the breathable comfort of bowl and branch. That's why we got rid of all of our other sheets in the Shapiro household. The best part? They have designs and colors for every mattress size and bedroom style so you can find the perfect fit this season. And for those of you who always sleep hot at night, like me, they have their percale hem sheets specially made with a cool and crisp weave so you'll never toss and turn over heat again. That's what we all need as we head into the summer months. Feel the difference an extraordinary night's sleep can make with bowl and Branch. Get 15% off plus free shipping on your first set of sheets at bowl and branch.com Ben that's bull and Branch B O L L A N D branch.com Ben to save 15% exclusions apply. See site for details. Also Made in America means something to our country's private equity investors when you invest $700 billion annually in American companies and the 13 million workers and families they support, you are investing in the success of Main street. Over the last eight years alone, America's private equity investors have contributed $5 trillion to the US economy. That is money powering growth in manufacturing, tech, energy and innovation, from strengthening supply chains to helping America lead in artificial intelligence. That kind of investment shapes our future. And it starts with private equity backing American ambition. Because investing in our people, our businesses and our communities isn't just good for the economy. It's it's good for the country. Learn more about how private equity keeps American small businesses growing and [e-mail] paid for by the American Investment Council. And meanwhile, some good news out of Ukraine, says Scott Besant, the Treasury Secretary. He announced yesterday that there would be a Ukraine minerals deal. You remember, this was supposed to be what what was going to happen when Vladimir Zelensky visited the United States back in February, and there was that pretty awful showdown between Zelensky and President Trump and The vice president, J.D. vance, he was supposed to sign some sort of rare earth minerals deal. And the sort of tacit promise of that deal was basically that if there was an economic relationship that was valuable to the United States and Ukraine, obviously the United States would have a stake in Ukraine not becoming Russian. Well, Secretary Bessant made that absolutely clear yesterday in announcing the deal.

[Donald Trump]

Here he was, thanks to President Trump's tireless efforts to secure a lasting peace. I am glad to announce the Signing of today's historic economic partnership agreement between the United States and Ukraine, establishing the United States Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund. This partnership allows the United States to invest alongside Ukraine to unlock Ukraine's growth assets, mobilize American talent, capital and governance standards that will improve Ukraine's investment climate and accelerate Ukraine's economic recovery. The Development Finance Corporation will participate and help to establish this fund in collaboration with the government of Ukraine. Today's agreement signals clearly to Russian leadership that the Trump administration is committed to a peace process centered on a free, sovereign and prosperous Ukraine over the long term.

[Ben Shapiro]

Okay, so that is the important part, is what he says there is that this is a sign that the United States would like Ukraine to retain its independence. Okay, if that's true, which I assume that it is, that will have to mean additional military support to Ukraine if Putin does not come to the table. Now, the goal, of course, is to get Putin to the table, and then the Europeans can sort of take over. But in the meantime, you can't let Ukraine collapse, or the rare earth minerals deal means pretty much nothing. So that is a welcome shift from the Trump administration and a good thing for Ukraine to have signed. Meanwhile, and the media continue to become themselves in a wide variety of ways. So the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia continues to be a major talking point for Democrats. He's a bad guy, Kilmar Abrego Garcia. We now have reports of a second protective order that his wife filed against him in 2020 in which she accused him of physical abuse, threatening her. And she said that she even had a recording where he said, even if he killed her, quote, nobody can do anything to him. So it sounds like just a fabulous person, just a really, really good, solid American, you know, a father, a Maryland father, as the media would put it. While President Trump was interviewed about this particular topic, and he point out, he pointed out to ABC's Terry Moran that he had Ms. 13 tattoos. Now, the reason this has become a hot story today is because there was in fact, a graphic that was put out by members of the Trump administration that showed that he had a series of tattoos on his knuckles.

[Donald Trump]

Okay?

[Ben Shapiro]

Those tattoos were a variety of symbols. Those symbols were interpreted by sources, judges, everybody else in the, in the Trump administration as Ms. 13 associated symbols. And so somebody basically took that fist and put above the knuckles, Ms. 13 on the knuckles. And President Trump points out that these are MS.13 tattoos. Terry Moran seems to think that President Trump thinks that the letters MISS and the numbers 1, 3 are actually printed on the knuckles and that's not what President Trump is saying. So they get into a weird fight over it. But even the man that you picked.

[Donald Trump]

Out, he's got a key, said he.

[Ben Shapiro]

Wasn'T a member of a gang. And then they looked, and on his.

[Donald Trump]

Knuckles, he had Ms. There's a dispute. Wait a minute, wait a minute.

[Ben Shapiro]

He had MS.13 on his knuckles. He had some tattoos that are interpreted that way, but let's move on. Wait a minute, Terry. He did not have the letter M. S1. It says Ms. 13. That was five Photoshopped. So let me. That was Photoshop, Terry. You can do that. Hey, they're giving you the big break of a lifetime.

[Donald Trump]

You know, you're doing the interview. I picked you because, frankly, I never heard of you.

[Ben Shapiro]

But that's okay. I picked you, Terry, but you're not being very nice. He had ms.13 tattoo. We'll agree to disagree. I want to move on to something else. Terry, do you want me to show you the picture? I saw the picture.

[Donald Trump]

Here we go. Here we go.

[Ben Shapiro]

Don't Photoshop it.

[Donald Trump]

Go look at his. His hand.

[Ben Shapiro]

He did have tattoos that can be interpreted that way. I'm not an expert on them.

[Donald Trump]

I want to turn to Ukraine. I want to get to Ukraine.

[Ben Shapiro]

No, no, no, no.

[Donald Trump]

He had Ms. As clear as you.

[Ben Shapiro]

Can be not interpreted.

[Donald Trump]

This is why people no longer believe. Well, the news.

[Ben Shapiro]

Because when he was photographed in El Salvador, in. In El Salvador, they aren't there, but let's just go. They aren't there when he's in, else.

[Donald Trump]

They'Re there now, right?

[Ben Shapiro]

No, they're in your picture, Terry. Ukraine, sir.

[Donald Trump]

He's got MS.13 on his knuckles.

[Ben Shapiro]

All right, okay, we'll take a look.

[Donald Trump]

It's. You do such a disservice.

[Ben Shapiro]

We'll take a look at that.

[Donald Trump]

Why don't you just say, yes, he does, and, you know, go on to something else.

[Ben Shapiro]

It's contested. Okay? So again, it seems to me that they're talking past one, other than the media is interpreting that as Trump saying over and over that the actual letters MS.13 are tattooed on his knuckles, regardless of whether that is true or not. And he does not, in fact, have the numbers and letters MS.13 on his knuckles. He has a bunch of other really ugly tattoos that are probably associated with MS.13 on his knuckles. The point is, defending the guy himself as though he is some sort of great shakes is a huge democratic mistake. Now, what is also a mistake for President Trump on this is to admit in interviews that he could theoretically get Abrego Garcia back. But he won't, because again, there's court orders in place that suggest that he is supposed to use best efforts to work with the Salvadoran government to allow this truly trash human being to get due process. And you can believe both things. You can believe that Kilman Rodrego Garcia appears to be an absolute trash human being, probably. Ms. 13. And also that he should go through whatever due processes do, and that doesn't mean a full trial. It does mean that he should go through whatever minor processes do, and then he gets expelled from the country. Again, here's President Trump.

[Donald Trump]

This is not an innocent, wonderful gentleman from Maryland.

[Ben Shapiro]

I'm not saying he's a good guy.

[Donald Trump]

It's about the rule of law.

[Ben Shapiro]

The order from the Supreme Court stands into our country illegally. You could get him back. There's a phone on this desk. I could.

[Donald Trump]

You could pick it up and all.

[Ben Shapiro]

The power of the presidency.

[Donald Trump]

You could call up the president of.

[Ben Shapiro]

El Salvador and say, send him back right now.

[Donald Trump]

And if he were the gentleman that you say he is, I would do that. But the court has ordered you to facilitate that. I'm not the one making this decision.

[Ben Shapiro]

We have lawyers who want to do this. The buck stops.

[Donald Trump]

Eyes off. No, no.

[Ben Shapiro]

Oh, no. So, I mean, that is going to be a problem in court. Again, like the economy. Even if you like some of the ideas, the implementation matters. I like the idea of deporting everybody who's like Kilmar, Abrego, Garcia, possible gang members, people with criminal records who beat their wives, like all those people, if they're not American citizens, should be pushed out of the country forthwith. Also, you should actually abide by due process. I don't know why that's really particularly controversial at this point in time. Experience extraordinary by creating the perfect foundation for your best sleep this season, drift effortlessly to sleep in bolin branches signature sheets crafted from the finest 100% organic cotton and offer a buttery, soft, breathable foundation. Pair them with bolen branches, airy blankets, duvets and quilts for the perfect summer upgrade so you never have to sleep hot again. What really impressed me is how they get even softer with every wash. I didn't think that was possible, but after a few months, they felt even more luxurious than when I first got them. And believe me, I've tried some other premium sheets before, but nothing comes close to the breathability and comfort of these. The best part is they're crafted by artisans and woven from the finest 100% organic cotton on earth, with designs and colors for every mattress size, bedroom style and so you can find the perfect fit for your home. Plus you can try Bolin brand sheets for an entire month risk free. You can wash style and feel the difference for yourself. And if you don't get the best night's sleep, you can send them back for a full refund. Feel the difference an extraordinary night's sleep can make With Boland branch, get 15% off plus free shipping on your first set of [e-mail] Daily Wire that's Boland Branch. B O L L a n d branch.com wire to save 15%. Exclusions do apply. C site for details. Meanwhile, in some pretty terrible news, David Horowitz died at the age of 86. I knew David really, really well. Obviously I used to work at the David Horowitz Freedom Center. Truth Revolt, which was sort of a precursor to Daily Wire, began at the David Horowitz Freedom center. But I knew David for more than a decade before that. Truly a formative person in the modern conservative movement, a person who spoke truth no matter the cost. David started off as a, as a radical communist. He wrote a book in 1998 titled Radical Son A Generational Odyssey that talked about how he was what he called a red diaper baby, that his parents were communists, and he started off as a, as a far leftist writing for Ramparts magazine. He turned to the right when his friend was killed by the Black Panthers, allegedly, and he moved to the right. Basically all of his old friends disowned him, decided that he was untouchable, and David turned into one of the most effective conservative activists of his generation. He used to call the David Horowitz Freedom Center a battle tank rather than a think tank. Pretty much everybody who's anybody in modern conservatism had some initial connection with David Horowitz. I remember I met Charlie Kirk, for example, at a David Horowitz Freedom center event. This is back when Charlie was maybe 18 or 19 years old and he was first getting started with TP USA. And that's true for a huge number of people who got their start in the conservative movement in the 90s and 2000s. Dale very much we missed. You should read his books. He's really an amazing writer, a terrific speaker, a strong voice. There are many videos of him online that are totally worth watching. Here is just one. Will you condemn Hamas here and now? I'm sorry, what? Would you condemn Hamas?

[Donald Trump]

Would I condemn Hamas as a terrorist, organ, genocide law?

[Ben Shapiro]

Are you asking me to put myself on a cross so you won't I actually have had this experience many times. You didn't read the pamphlet because the pamphlet is chapter and verse. The main connection is that the MSA is part of the Muslim Brotherhood network, as revealed in the documents. I don't think you understood what I meant by that. I meant, if I say something, I'm sure that I will be arrested for reasons of Homeland Security. So if you could please just answer my question. If you condemn Hamas, Homeland Security will.

[Donald Trump]

Arrest if I support Hamas.

[Ben Shapiro]

Because your question forces me to condemn Hamas. If I support Hamas, I look really bad. If you don't condemn Hamas, obviously you support it. Case closed. I have had this experience, I give you. I had this experience at UC Santa Barbara, where there were 50 members of the Muslim Students association sitting right in the rows there. And throughout my hour talk, I. I kept asking them, will you condemn Hezbollah and Hamas?

[Donald Trump]

And none of them would.

[Ben Shapiro]

And then when the question period came, the president of the Muslim Students association was the first person to ask questions. And I said, you know, before you.

[Donald Trump]

Start, will you condemn Hezbollah?

[Ben Shapiro]

And he said, well, that question is too complicated for a yes, no answer. So I said, okay, I'll put it to you this way. I'm a Jew. The head of Hezbollah has said that he hopes that we will gather in Israel so he doesn't have to hunt us down globally. For it or against it.

[Donald Trump]

For it. Thank you.

[Ben Shapiro]

Thank you for coming and showing everybody what's here. David was extremely clear in his approach to the world. He understood the morality of many of our foreign adversaries. He was an advocate for Americanism and American strength and security, and he will very much be missed. Okay. Meanwhile, we are actually over in Jerusalem because, no surprise, no secret, I'm a big supporter of Israel. Obviously, I'm a Zionist, I'm Jewish, and so I'm here for Yom Hatzmau, which is really Independence Day. I was invited to light a torch, actually, to lead off Yom Hatzmaud, Israeli Independence Day. And I thought it was an amazing opportunity to sit down with the brand new Trump administration Ambassador to the State of Israel, Mike Huckabee. We sat down. Yesterday was a fantastic conversation. Here's what it sounded like. Ambassador Huckabee, thank you so much for offering us the use of this office that we could actually film this.

[Donald Trump]

I didn't know you were going to tear it to pieces. But, no, honestly, I'm thrilled you're here. It's such a pleasure to have you at your embassy in Jerusalem, and it's a delight to welcome you here. Thanks for having me.

[Ben Shapiro]

So let's talk about your history with Israel, why you wanted to be ambassador to Israel in the first place.

[Donald Trump]

I came here for the first time 52 years ago. It was 1973, July. I was 17 years old, a month away from my 18th birthday. And the story is I grew up, I mean, literally, dirt poor little kid from southwest Arkansas. My soon to be roommate in college grew up rather wealthy and he wanted to take a senior trip. So he asked his dad, dad, can I take a trip? I want to go to the Middle East. His dad said, son, I'm not going to let you go over there by yourself. But his dad liked me, and he said, if you'll take Mike Huckabee with you, I'll pay his way too. That's how I got to come. So we came to the Middle east, we went to Jordan, to Syria, we went to Lebanon, we went to Cyprus, in Greece, we went to Turkey, and we came to Israel. And there were beautiful things to see, fascinating things to see. But, Ben, when I came to Israel, something connected. I can't even describe it. It wasn't the visual, it wasn't that of the five senses. It was deep within my soul. And I've tried to explain it. It's the only place on earth I've ever been where I felt at home in a place I'd never visited. It was a magnetic, spiritual connection. And I said, I gotta. I gotta go back. I started bringing groups here in 1981, and I've brought tens of thousands of Americans to come see Israel since that time. Been to this land probably a hundred times. I never asked the president to put me here. You know, I didn't lobby for it. There were people that he trusted who did encourage him to name me ambassador. And it's the only job in the entire administration that I would have said yes to. I didn't want to babysit some bloated bureaucracy in Washington. I didn't want to be ambassador somewhere else. But when he called, and you know the president very well, he doesn't ask you, he doesn't say, I'd like for you to think about, would you consider. He calls in his classic style and says, mike, Donald Trump, you're going to Israel, you're going to be the ambassador. And that was it. And so for me, it was an Isaiah moment right out of the Old Testament. Here am I, Lord, send me, and here am I. And I can't even begin to tell you how overwhelmed I am at the privilege of serving My president, and most importantly, my country, in this position, in one of the most difficult places on Earth, but also one of the most incredibly strategically valuable places on earth for the United States and its people.

[Ben Shapiro]

So let's talk about that for a moment. Obviously, support for Israel has become significantly more fraught in the United states, particularly since October 7th. The left obviously has moved very strongly against Israel. There are breaks in the right with regard to support for Israel. The implication has been made that only Jews are interested in supporting Israel. Obviously, you're not Jewish. We're both American. Obviously. But why should Americans, and particularly non Jewish Americans care about Israel?

[Donald Trump]

Well, if we divorce anything spiritual from it, Jewish, Christian, which obviously there is a deep spiritual connection that I have as a Christian that you have as a Jewish. Let's take that off the table. Here's why it matters. Israel is the only nation in the entire region, one of the few nations, if not the only real nation in the world that totally mirrors the experience of the birth, formation and the prosperity of the United States. Both nations coming out of people who escaped religious tyranny, economic tyranny, and in the case of the Jews, an outright holocaust. The Jewish people have a connection to this land that goes back 3,500 years. It doesn't go back to 1917 in the Balfour Declaration. It doesn't go to 1948 in Independence, or, you know, when people start trying to make it of, oh, it's a century old. No, no, no, no. It's 3,500 years that the Jewish people have been in this land. And it goes back to Abraham, who I say wrote the title deed and said, this is yours. Now, here's where I can't escape the biblical part. You either believe the scripture or you don't. And if you do, then you have to accept that when God gave the land, he gave it to a people and he gave it for a purpose, and he gave it as a place. And it was not nebulous and it was not ambiguous. It was very specific. So this little sliver of real estate that now is the most contested piece of property on earth has a history that goes back to a covenant that God made with the Jewish people. And I'm a person of the book. I still believe it. But now let me go back and take those things off the table. Let's just say there never was a history. There wasn't 3,500 years ago, Abraham, doesn't matter. Take that off. No nation on earth so reflects our culture and our civilization, which is a Western civilization. Based on a Judeo Christian understanding of the power, the right, and the responsibility of the individual. We're not collectivist. We really believe in Western civilization, religious or not, that the individual matters and that our liberty is personal liberty, that our responsibilities to preserve and protect and pass it on are individual responsibilities. No other nation quite fits that mold. Where the people elect their own government, they can speak out against their government. And I tell people in America all the time, if you think we have divided and contentious politics, you ain't seen nothing till you come here. These people know how to fight politically, and they do it almost like a blood sport. It's, you know. But that's democracy in action. It's what it looks like. When people have freedom. They can scream at their government officials, and they do. They can write nasty things about their government officials, and they do. That's something that we share in America, that we have that level of liberty. And it is something that a lot of Americans take for granted. But if they went to most places in the world, they would not have that level of. Of freedom to express themselves. Even that defies and challenges the government as long as they do it without violence and without threat.

[Ben Shapiro]

So there are a number of issues where the United States policy in the Middle east affects Israel, and Israel's policy obviously affects the interests of the United States. The most out of the box. One is President Trump's proposal with regard to the Gaza Strip, which I love. I think that it's fascinating because I think that it's the first reflection of actual reality. To me, you've entered the conversation in decades. The recognition that this strip of land which has been taken over by Hamas and whose people largely, unfortunately, support Hamas and support at least the destruction of the State of Israel. That is an intransigent problem. And President Trump has acknowledged that. And then he has suggested that basically there needs to be a transformation of the Gaza Strip. What do you make of President Trump's proposal? How practical is it? How does it get done?

[Donald Trump]

When President Trump sort of shocked the world and said, we'll just take over Gaza, we'll rebuild it, you know, my first thought was that Gaza should have and could have been Singapore. Instead, Hamas turned it into Haiti. Actually, it makes Haiti look good. They turned it into the hellhole they did because they were not interested in building schools and mosques and hospitals and things that really helped the people. They can claim they had those things, but where they put their resources were rockets, bombs, ammunition for one purpose. Not to defend themselves, but to murder Jews. Let's not mince that it wasn't because they thought Israel was gonna come and invade them. Heck, in 2005, Israel, with their own military, forcibly moved 10,000 Jews out of Gaza because Israel thought, if we give it up, you know, you have a Palestinian state over there, you have the whole thing. And if one has ever seen the video From Gush Katif2005, you can't see that without weeping, because these are Jews that have been rescued from the Holocaust, moved out of their homes, and now at the gunpoint of their own military, were moved out of their homes in Gaza because Israel made what, you know, looking at it from a distance. And I'm not saying this is Ambassador, I'm saying this is just a guy was a horrific mistake, but they thought it was a good idea because everyone in the world tells them, if you just give up some land, you're going to have peace. Here's what's happened. Every time they have given up land, they don't have peace, they just have less land. That's all they get out of it. And then they get more threats as people are closer to them who still have the stated intent to murder them. And that's what Gaza was all about. It was about murdering Jews. It wasn't about building a better life for Palestinian families. And that's the great tragedy of all of this, is that it could have and should have been avoided. But Hamas, not a government, it's not a standing army. It's a terrorist organization. And that's all they've ever been. That's what they've acted like, and we see the results of it.

[Ben Shapiro]

Meanwhile, one of the other issues that the Trump administration is taking on is the Iranian nuclear program. This, of course, has been a burgeoning threat against Israel and against the entire region, the Saudis, UAE and all the various other countries of the region for a couple of decades at this point. President Trump famously called President Obama's deal on this the worst deal in history. He called it that repeatedly. The jcpoa. There's a lot of negotiations that are currently happening between the special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and members of the Iranian government. Some of these negotiations happening in Qatar. Apparently there's now European involvement in these negotiations. There's been some sort of different messages coming out about what the goal of the negotiations is, whether it's total denuclearization of Iran, meaning no civilian nuclear program, no nothing, or whether there'll be enrichment allowed to a particular level. What should the United States end goal be in the negotiations so as to not essentially duplicate the Obama deal.

[Donald Trump]

Yeah. I think the President's words are far more important than mine for a host of reasons. Number one, he's the president. He was the only one elected last November, and I was not. And I'm his representative here, so I carry his message, not mine. The President has made it very clear that his message to the Iranians is, you're not going to have a nuclear program. You're not going to be able to have the capacity for a nuclear weapon. If there is any room for them to have some type of energy production, then there's a lot of what they've done and are doing that have nothing to do with that. That's got to be dismantled. That can't stay. You can't have it where they're still within a few weeks of being able to weaponize nuclear material. So the President, I believe, is acting in good faith, trying to give, as John Lennon would so wonderfully say in the song, give peace a chance. We'd all love to see that. We'd love to see the Iranians come to their senses and say, you know what? We don't need a nuclear weapon and we don't need enrichment. We don't need centrifuges. We don't need to get to 3.67 and beyond. That's not really our goal. If that happens and there's an aversion of war, wonderful. Everybody celebrates. The reality is, for 46 years, Iranians have said, Israel is the little Satan, the US Is the great Satan. We're going to destroy Israel and annihilate it, and then we're coming after the United States. They've been very explicit that Israel is the appetizer, but we're the entree. And when Americans act like, well, it doesn't have anything to do with us, how naive are you? Do you not remember 1979 when they took American hostages from the US embassy? Do you not remember that for 46 years they have continually vowed, not just said, someday we might get interested in. No, they have vowed, annihilate Israel and then come after the United States. So when someone's got a gun pointed at you, even if it's from a distance for that long a period of time, you're stupid not to pay attention to that. And so that's why when the President the other day on Air Force One, when he was going to Rome on the air, on Air Force One for the Pope's funeral, and a reporter asked him very leading question, are you going to let Israel drag US into a war. Classic President Trump. He said, nobody's going to drag us into anything. If the Iranians don't give up their nuclear ambitions for weapons, I'll lead the effort. I won't be dragged into it. And I thought that that was as clear a statement that anyone could make and that it came directly from the President, I think was reassuring not only to the people of Israel, but reassuring to the people of the world that this is a regime that can't have that kind of capacity any more than you would give car keys to a Lamborghini and a bottle of whiskey to a 16 year old boy.

[Ben Shapiro]

So one of the other issues that obviously comes up a lot and has been a hot issue since the creation of the state of the modern state of Israel has been the so called West Bank, Judea and Samaria. I say so called west bank because that is a new name for an area that is extremely old. It's the west bank of the Jordan river, but it was Judea and Samaria for several thousand years. So Judea and Samaria, obviously there are multiple million Palestinian Arabs who live in these areas. There are also hundreds of thousands of Jews who live in these areas. A Palestinian state is off the table so far as the Israelis are concerned because after October 7, which was effectively the death knell of Oslo, which again I believe was always a foolish move, the death knell of Oslo means a Palestinian state is not in the cards in the so called West Bank. What should the United States do regarding the sovereignty of Judea and Samaria?

[Donald Trump]

I believe what the President did in his first term is sort of a clear indicator. The first thing he did, he made it very clear that it's not illegal, it's not a violation of international law for Israelis to live in Israel. That was pretty important. Maybe it's not considered one of the bigger things that he did because people remember the embassy move, they remember recognizing Jerusalem as the indivisible and indigenous and permanent capital of the Jewish people, recognized the Golan Heights as sovereign territory. You know, he did a lot of things, more than any other president, in fact more than all the other presidents put together in one term. So the indication is that his policies haven't really changed what the timing looks like, how it all works out. It's really not the US's position. We don't make that decision, the Israelis do. And I think it's a matter of seeing how does it unfold in a way that provides a potential prosperity for Palestinian people. Here's what I don't think people understand. There have been many efforts to bring economic prosperity to people in Judea and Samaria. And by the way, I don't use the term west bank, and I just won't. I know that that's the nomenclature of the day, but I find it indescriptive for one thing. And it is not the ancient and I would say not the biblical terms for it. But even beyond that, it's not an accurate reflection of the land and its boundaries. But the attempts. A great example. Several years ago, I was in Judea and I visited the SodaStream plant that they had built. 1100 workers. 700 were Palestinian. 400 were Israeli. There were Jews, Muslims. There were men and women, Palestinian, Israeli, all working side by side in a place that was extraordinary because in this facility, these people were not looking at each other like enemies. They were neighbors and they worked together. Their families even socialized together, because they found out that these people aren't horrible people. Even though there were 700 Palestinians over only 400 Israelis, the Palestinians were getting the same wage the Israelis were. They weren't paid a different wage. This nonsense of apartheid and, you know, racism, I saw with my own eyes. And by the way, I was given permission to go talk to anybody in this. In the factory. Nobody would monitor the conversation. I could ask any questions I wanted, and I did. And I found that the Palestinians working there were ecstatic. They had four times the wage they'd ever earned, ever in their lives. They had paid benefits like health insurance and paid vacation and educational benefits for their children and even meals provided while they were at work. It was something like they'd never seen before. And then the brilliant BDS movement raised its ugly head and went after SodaStream. And the result of the pressure was that SodaStream had to close that plant, move it, I think, near Netanyahu, but in an undisputed area where even the UN can't say it's not Israel. And the result was all those 700 Palestinians lost the best job they ever had and all the benefits and went back to live in poverty. So who won that? Who benefited from that? Nobody. And it's that kind of thing that the world never understands and doesn't see. Israelis are constantly just vilified. It's like they're trying to make life miserable. Every Israeli I know personally, and I'm sure there are exceptions, but every Israeli I know is not interested in violence and they're not interested in making life miserable for Palestinians. But they've lost their patience with Palestinian Authority leadership that says that if you kill a Jew, we'll reward you with a lifetime pension. And if you die from it, your family will get a pension. We'll name a street or a park after you. That's pay for slay. And when you create a culture that from the time a child is 5, 6 years old that says your greatest goal in life is to kill Jews. I'm sorry, but that's a culture that doesn't have the right to exist next to the very people that you've been told one day you'll grow up and kill them.

[Ben Shapiro]

I think that's such an important point, especially because there's so many myths out there about places like, for example, Bethlehem. You've been to Bethlehem? I've never been to Bethlehem because if I were to drive into Bethlehem, I would almost certainly be murdered. But Bethlehem itself, I'm not standing next.

[Donald Trump]

To you when you go, okay, I'm just telling you that.

[Ben Shapiro]

Where are yarmulkes?

[Donald Trump]

I'm not very popular there. But you, you. You're gonna be in trouble.

[Ben Shapiro]

I mean, what people don't understand is. And if you've ever been here, obviously you know that there are giant red signs outside of Bethlehem that basically say that if you are an Israeli citizen and you make a wrong turn here, the Israeli government cannot be held responsible for your safety. There is no similar sign for Arabs who drive into from these areas, Israel. If you get past a roadblock and you go into Israel, you have a normal day, and then you go back home. And so maybe you can talk a little bit about how Bethlehem has changed in the 50 years you've been visiting it.

[Donald Trump]

When I first came here, Bethlehem was a wonderful, hospitable community. It was made up of about 80% of Arab Christians. They ran the best stores, and not just souvenir shops with trinkets, but with some of the finest artists that made everything from olive wood furniture, olive wood, art pieces for one's home. And it was just a delightful place to go in the 80s, and then especially in the 90s when the Muslims came in and radicalized the population. They burned out their own Arab neighbors and really, family members, if you will, closed down their shops, put them out of business. Many of them came to Jerusalem. Many of them just never had another place to be. They turned Bethlehem into a very different place where now it's 80% Muslim, and it's a very different place. And it's not the kind of place that you will feel as comfortable as once was. I'm not saying that everybody there is A radical, because that's not true. There are Christians there that love God. There are a lot of people that are not radicalized. But the leadership and the prevailing culture is dramatically different than it once was. You mentioned Oslo, and I'll give you a good example of why Americans don't get it. Under Oslo, everybody was supposed to have their holy sites protected, preserved and accessible. No matter whether we're Jew, Christian, Muslim. The Israelis have lived up to that. The Israelis. This is what most people have no idea. They are as protective of Muslim worship sites as they are Jewish worship sites. If you want to get in trouble with the Israeli government, be a Jew or a Christian and try to violate the sovereignty of the Dome of the Rock, the Al Aqsa Mosque, you can get hurt. And it won't be the Muslims doing it to you. It's going to be the Israeli forces that will say, you can't do this up here because we're going to respect their right to be here. I went to the tomb of Joseph, which is in Nablus. It is in sort of forbidden territory for most Jews and Christians, supposed to be accessible. After all, it is a holy place, certainly for Jews, but also for Christians. And we had to go at 2 o'clock in the morning. There's only one trip a month that goes in a dozen people, limited armored vehicles, military escort. We got into Nablus at two in the morning, people burning tires in the street, throwing Molotov cocktails at our vehicle. We only were allowed to be there to go and pray in the tomb of Joseph for like 30 minutes. And then we had to get out of there. And it was a stark reminder. This is how Jews, and in this case, Jews and Christian. I was the only Christian. Everybody else was Jewish. This is how they access the worship sites. But the next day, I could go to the Kotel and I could look up and see Muslims who were going to their place to pray. And the Israeli government was giving every protection to them in order to do that. That's the dual sort of application of law that Israelis live with every single day. And I would say that Christians live with every single day.

[Ben Shapiro]

Well, the Trump administration obviously is a big advocate for President Trump's election for many reasons. One of them is that he's the most pro Israel president in the history of the United States, by far. We're very grateful that you're the ambassador to Israel, doing an amazing job. Thank you so much for taking the time, Ben.

[Donald Trump]

It has been a real pleasure. Welcome home to Yerushalayim well, while Israel.

[Ben Shapiro]

Is celebrating Yat's mood, there are wildfires all around Jerusalem. I know because I'm in Jerusalem and basically everything was shut down last night because of these wildfires. I can see the smoke from the wildfires. We actually saw many of those fires even a few days ago when we were driving into Jerusalem. Israeli Arabs or Palestinian Arabs are suspected of setting many of those fires because there were very, very high winds over the past couple of days in order to thwart Yom Hatzamut festivities. Essentially, they were all shut down. The night of Israeli Independence Day required all the firefighters in the country to be activated. I mean, these are. These are huge wildfires burning all around Jerusalem. Obviously, people who love the land so much that they are literally willing to set it on fire. So, you know, those are the enemies that Israel faces even on its Independence Day. All righty, guys. Coming up in the most bizarre judicial story of the day, a judge has now ordered the release of a suspect who attempted to firebomb a Tesla store. You won't believe the reason why. Remember, in order to watch, you have to be a member. If you're not a member, become a member. Use code Shapiro. Check out for two months free on all annual plans. Click that link in the description and join us.