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- [00:00]
Clay Travis
This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.
- [00:04]
Buck Sexton
Not everybody can be good at fantasy football and at Better. We understand that. That's why we're giving away a free $10 just for signing up. Download the Better App. Pick more or less on player stats, watch the games and win some cash. It's that simple. Better Picks is available in 33 states, including Texas, California and Georgia. Download the Better App today. That's better. B E T R and get a free $10. No deposit necessary. Must be 21 or older. In a jurisdiction where Better Picks operates, terms and conditions apply. Better Picks Sports just got better.
- [00:35]
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- [01:06]
Buck Sexton
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- [01:17]
Clay Travis
So here's the idea.
- [01:18]
Buck Sexton
You get it now, you call it an early present for next year.
- [01:21]
Clay Travis
What do you have to lose?
- [01:22]
Buck Sexton
Give it a try@mintmobile.com Switch limited time.
- [01:26]
Clay Travis
50% off regular price for new customers. Upfront payment required $45 for 3 months, $90 for a 6 month or $180 for 12 month plan taxes and fees. Extra speeds may slow after 50 gigabytes per month when network is busy. See terms@tj maxx feel more you than ever without compromise because we never make you choose the quality you want, the styles you crave and the prices you love. It's all at TJ Maxx so you can focus on just being you. With so many finds arriving daily, that means so many ways to show your unique style. Shop in store and online@tjmax.com and Max, what makes you you. Welcome everybody to the first 2026 edition of the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. And we have so many big things to talk about. First of all, we miss you all. We hope you had a fantastic holiday. It has been great here in the Sexton household and Oakley and his family had a wonderful time. Hope you had a great holiday. Christmas, New Year, Hanukkah, all the above. And we are Racked and stacked for a big show today and what I think is going to be the best year ever of the Clay Travis and Buck Saxon show. I just have that feeling and things are looking pretty fantastic, I might add for the Trump administration. What a way to ring in the new year by bringing the thug of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro to justice. This is a big story. We're going to get into the details today. Maduro is currently being transferred into, into court and there's court proceedings underway. So this is, this is huge. The short version is that the most daring special operations raid since the bin Laden raid occurred in over the weekend and this has now put Maduro into American custody. We will give you the details of this operation. We will analyze this. The tactical success and the strategic implications are incredible and amazing. Work here reportedly by Delta Force. That's, that's the unit that is getting the credit for this in the media which they're tier one just like SEAL Team six. Incredible elite operators, but a whole all of the above approach from different units here involved in this. We'll get into this. Some other big stories, I might add. Tim Walls is not going to run for reelection in Minnesota, which comes on the heels of the massive, massive viral clay expose of the scale, this multibillion dollar, who knows how many billions of overwhelmingly Somali immigrant fraud in Minnesota, which is a big deal. And we'll discuss that. We've also got the biggest one year drop in the national homicide rate perhaps ever in 2025, which is something we should talk about with the Trump administration. So we got a bunch of big stories to deal with. Oh, and Mamdani in New York, Kami Mamdani, we might hold him tomorrow but he's saying some wild things. I'm very concerned for my beloved Big Apple Clay. Let's though, let's dive into this to take us into this moment here. Trump saying after they seize Maduro, not a single US casualty in this raid involving helicopters, fixed wing aircraft, armada off the coast, intelligence operatives, I mean just everything working seamlessly, perfectly together. And Trump is saying we're in charge. This is cut to play it. The next question is who's in charge.
- [05:16]
Buck Sexton
Of Venezuela right now.
- [05:17]
Clay Travis
Have you spoken to the newly sworn in president there, Rodriguez, and what are your thoughts on the entire situation when you said the US would run Venezuela? We're dealing with the people, we're dealing with the people that just got sworn in. And don't ask me who's in charge because I'll give you an answer and it'll be Very controversial. What does that mean? It means we're in charge, Clay. I think everybody knows Trump is calling the shots. Trump is in charge. Huge change in Venezuela and this isn't just about Latin America, this is about the Western Hemisphere. There are big global implications. Russia, China, this is, this is huge.
- [05:57]
Buck Sexton
I think, I think we can do the whole show today on the Venezuela impact on the Delta Force badasses. I think before we even get into the implications, I would imagine that a lot of people are like me and just blown away by the incredible organization and just incredible combat dexterity that was put to, brought to bear in this particular raid. Think about this. We went into Venezuela in the middle of the night and they knew we were coming. I was in the Caribbean for much of the holiday and you would hear constantly planes buzzing. There was just constant discussion about where is the aircraft carrier, where are the American military forces. So it wasn't as if we suddenly went in and there was no pre existing idea that we might be going in. They said that they initially had it scheduled what, four days before and had to change it because of weather. Zero casualties. Now there may have been a couple of people who were wounded, so, but no mortal woundings, no loss of life, no loss of material.
- [07:18]
Clay Travis
Well, no American casualties, about 80 Venezuelans I think. Civilians, military, that's what they're saying. Taken out. Certainly you wouldn't have wanted to be on Maduro's mostly Cuban personal security detail going up against Delta operators who had been training for months on a, on a mock up of exactly the building that they had to go into. You got no chance against those guys.
- [07:45]
Buck Sexton
I thought it was, and I saw you tweet. I think about this more impressive even than when we went and got Osama bin Laden in terms of the moving parts and the requirements involved. You know, the challenge with bin Laden was nobody knew where he was. But the number of people that actually had to go into Pakistan right about, about, if I remember correctly, in order to be able to get him was relatively small. And the number of people involved in that raid was too. This was basically what, 10, 20, 30x in terms of the complexity of the moving parts going into a, one of the most populated cities in the, in the world, candidly Caracas, and just to take out Maduro and do it all without a significant impact to the American forces at all. And to send the message buck to Iran, to Cuba, to frankly probably Russia, any of these bad actors out there of what we are capable of doing is in terms of organizational capacity and just lethality. I, I woke up to it like most people had just said, holy crap, what an unbelievable stroke. And there are lots of implications coming from it. But purely from. You were involved in the CIA purely from the organizational capacities of this is what, is there even an analogy of, of, of an excellent and successful raid like this that you could make that's anywhere near the complexity and success level. I can't even think of one.
- [09:20]
Clay Travis
No, this, this is, this is something that brought together elements that have never really been used in quite this way before. I mean, let's, let's step back. You compare. The only thing that's comparable in our recent memory would be the bin Laden raid and the, the issues that you deal with here. You know, the bin Laden raid, yes, the Pakistani military response was a concern, but bin Laden, now Abbottabad was near a Pakistani military base. But Bin Laden did not have a battalion of Pakistani military around him in charge of his security all day. Bin Laden could not call upon the direction of air, of surface to air missile sites. And I mean Maduro did have control of the national military of Venezuela. Yeah, so, so that's, this is a whole level of risk and complexity beyond what you would see in that, in that situation. And, and here's, here's the breakdown that we get. They made Vera Caracas, essentially whole areas of it.
- [10:25]
Buck Sexton
They blacked it out.
- [10:25]
Clay Travis
So that's a cyber capability. They had mapped out Maduro's day to day movements to the point where it was reported. They even knew what pets and what outfits he liked to put on day to day. I mean that's how close to Maduro they were. So the intelligence gathering success component of this was also tremendous. And that, that brings to bear everything human intelligence, you know, sources, individuals, but also what they can pull out of the sky, electronic signals intelligence. So the intelligence gathering was flawless. The operational security was obviously very high on this one. They knew that we were coming for him at some point. Trump had made that pretty clear. But exactly when matters a lot because he can't just hide in a closet forever, right? So he's got to be able to move around. He was on the largest military base, Maduro was on the largest military base in Caracas. And we managed to take out, so we bring down their power grid. We managed to take out their surface to air missile and radar installation so we could fly rotary wings that would require fixed wing. We probably did, you know, F35s or something. And then we bring in rotary, so modified helicopters and the 1/60 Special Opera Special Aviation Unit was, you Know the night stalkers, famed night stalkers. They were involved in this too. So they come in with the rotary aircraft to deploy troops. Our Delta Force, who take out without a single casualty. All of the guys assigned to that least that were exchanging gunfire with them do. Assigned to protect Maduro. We load him and his wife into the hilos and get out of the country without a casualty. Clay, this. This can go wrong. This is the thing. And right. This can go wrong a thousand different ways. And yet they didn't. They didn't have a single stumble here.
- [12:15]
Buck Sexton
Even Buck. It could go wrong with things that aren't brought to bear by Venezuela. Right. You could have a helicopter that just has issues. You could have any number of. Of errors that don't even have to do with oppositional forces. To have it be this flawless is I. I mean, I think it's extraordinary. Now, one of the things that now is brought to bear is what is the goal now? So Maduro is going to be. He's pled not guilty to drug and weapons charges. Not a surprise in a Manhattan federal court that has just happened in the last few minutes. Um, there are not cameras obviously inside of that courtroom, but everybody is reporting that he has been arraigned and pled not guilty. Uh, I would imagine that his wife will also plead not guilty. Um, we have. Maybe somebody can go back and grab it. Cause we have a transcript. I know I said, hey, we should go in, we should take Maduro out. Because there was reaction from some of you when I said a couple of months ago that this was coming. And I thought it was a good move. Now the complexity is going to be how do you start to put in place a situation such that you don't end up with Maduro or something worse? People are asking, obviously, you served there. Is this an example of the Iraq situation? I think the countries are very dissimilar, and I don't think that there is the same concerns there. But those are some of the questions that are arising as we figure out how exactly does this play out going forward.
- [13:53]
Clay Travis
Maduro was an illegitimate ruler, ruler who ruined his country. So this is a different thing right now. You could say Saddam Hussein was, and he certainly was a brutal dictator and did a lot, a lot of terrible things. But there were a lot of people who looked to him as stability. There were a lot of, I mean, Iraqis, if you were a Sunni Iraqi. And this is why I don't want to get too deep into this. You're a Sunni Iraqi who had been calling the shots. The Sunnis had been, and then the Shia, who are actually the majority of the country, all of a sudden are going to come into power. You get a lot of concerns about where that's going. And those concerns were well founded, as we saw from the civil war that effectively broke out during the US Occupation. In this case, Maduro is a scumbag narco trafficker. And we're saying, and very clearly, and there's been a lot of conversations going on for a while. Can I just also point out, the Biden administration said that Maduro was a narco trafficker.
- [14:47]
Buck Sexton
$45 million on him for anybody who could help him get arrested.
- [14:52]
Clay Travis
They put a $25 million bounty on his head. But what's so clear here is this disparity, this, this difference between Democrat and Republican. Democrats will say the things they have to say to seem, Nash, to seem like they are serious on national security. Republicans, or at least Trump will actually do the thing. Yes, they will do the thing. Right. Democrats will say they want to secure the border. They don't. But they will say that Trump will actually do it. Democrats will put a $25 million bounty on Maduro's head. Trump will actually go and get him. Get his head, so to speak. This is, this is so clear for everybody to see. And once again, the opponents of Trump on this one, I want more. Bring more of this. We need more aoc, more mamdani, more international law. What international law says that you can operate a narco state, you can destroy the country. Eight million people fled Venezuela. You can flood our country with drugs.
- [15:48]
Buck Sexton
We.
- [15:49]
Clay Travis
There's no immunity to flood America with drugs. There's no immunity for some scumbag to do this. What are they even talking about?
- [15:56]
Buck Sexton
Well, also, they had ready to go, as unfortunately they always do, immediate protests over Maduro being arrested. And the protests, of course, are paid for and the protesters are paid to show up. I mean, it's totally a stage, managed production. But contrasting that with people that have connection to Venezuela, either refugees who have fled Venezuela or people in Venezuela itself overwhelmingly supporting the decision that was made. In fact, where you are right now in Miami is what do we say? 800,000 Venezuelans live in the United States. I remember having this conversation before we left for, for Christmas. And the number one place that is the largest population is around Doral, which is where Trump has the golf course. It's probably the highest population.
- [16:48]
Clay Travis
That's right. So the more. There are more Venezuelan refugees within 20 minute drive of where I'm currently sitting than anywhere else. In the country. And Clay, this tells you a lot. Miami Herald headline from the last 24 hours. Miami Herald, very left wing paper. To be clear. After Maduro's capture, Venezuelans in South Florida dream of going home. Yeah, they know. They know that their country was ruined by this guy and they know that Venezuela is actually a great country with a lot going for it, a lot of resources. We'll talk more about this. It was until Maduro really Chavez and then Maduro came along. More on this coming up. A new year can be an impetus for setting new financial goals, like making sure your savings are secure and diversified. Will this be the year you finally own gold? With Birch Gold Group's help, I've purchased gold from Birch Gold and you're going to like working with them a whole lot. They've got a great educational approach and they understand the macroeconomics that keep pushing the price of gold and silver higher. It's one of the reasons why they believe every American should own physical gold until January 30th. If you're a first time gold buyer, Birch Gold is offering a rebate of up to $10,000 on qualifying purchases. To claim eligibility and start the process, just text my name. Buck to 989898 Birch Gold can help you roll existing IRA or 401k into an IRA in gold and you're still eligible for a rebate of up to $10,000. Make this month your first time buying gold and take advantage of a rebate up to $10,000 when you buy by January 30th. One more time, text My Name Buck to 989898 Text Buck to 9898 98. Claim your eligibility today. You ain't imagining it. The world has gone insane.
- [18:31]
Buck Sexton
Reclaim your sanity with Clay and Buck. Find them on the free iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [18:40]
Clay Travis
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- [19:00]
Buck Sexton
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- [19:02]
Clay Travis
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- [19:09]
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- [20:41]
Clay Travis
New year means new financial goals like making sure your savings are secure and diversified. Will this be the year you finally talk to someone from Birch Gold Group like I have? Honestly, they're great people. They're very helpful. I've purchased gold from Birch Gold. I appreciate their educational approach and their understanding of macroeconomics. There are forces pushing the dollar lower and gold higher, which is why they believe every American should own some physical gold until January 30th? If you're a first time gold buyer, Birch Gold is offering a rebate of up to $10,000 on qualifying purchases. To claim eligibility and start the process, just text my name. Buck to 9898 98. Birch Gold can help you roll an existing IRA or 401K into an IRA in gold and you're still eligible for a rebate of up to $10,000. Make right now your first time to buy gold. Take advantage of this rebate, but you got to do it by January 30th. Text My Name Buck to 989898 Claim your eligibility today. Birch Gold Group welcome back in Clay.
- [21:43]
Buck Sexton
Travis Buck Sexton show. Let me just play this. Chuck Schumer was angry at Trump for being too lenient back in 2020. Here's cut 17 flashback. How about the hypocrisy?
- [21:58]
Clay Travis
He brags about all these things he wants to do or is doing, but his actions belie his words. Maybe the best metaphor was his claim to bring democracy to Venezuela. There was a big policy there. It flopped. If the policy was working, Juan Guaido wouldn't be in the balcony here, he'd be in Venezuela. He'd be sitting in the President's palace or at least waging a fight to win. He's here and the President brags about his Venezuela policy. Give us a break. He hasn't brought an end to the Maduro regime. The Maduro regime is more powerful today and more entrenched today than it was when the President began. He should just say sorry or else he should man the post himself. You know what I'm saying? I mean, this guy's got nothing.
- [22:51]
Buck Sexton
I do think this is the continued impact of Elon on Twitter and we'll talk about this some With Tim Walls deciding he's not going to run, it's harder for legacy media to protect their favored people and their favored arguments because the hypocrisy is just so staggering. Look, hopefully the holidays gave you an opportunity to get some energy back. Maybe though, you're coming out of the holidays and you're even more tired than you were before the holidays started. Ed, maybe you're deciding 2026 to work out better, have a little bit more energy. Testosterone is what makes the difference for men. Chalk's mill Vitality stack will formulated with natural ingredients can get you 20% increase increase in testosterone in just three months time. There's also a chalk female Vitality stack focuses on healthy hormone balance that gives you more energy too. Chalk is spelled with a Q as in C H O Q. Check it out. Texas based company. They want everybody out there to be as productive as possible. And right now you get a free 99 bag of chalk lit powder with your first delivery. Get hooked up today. Go to chalk.com use my name clay for big discount on subscription for life. That's chalk.com my name C L A.
- [24:07]
Clay Travis
Y Commie solidarity is unfortunately alive and well my friends. Welcome back to Clay and Buck. So you have Maduro and let me just say Maduro is actually a fantastic exemplar of a communist because he says things that make people who don't know better believe that he cares about the collective they're going to share the wealth, everyone's going to have more. And then he just proceeds to ruin everything. Act like a complete thug, terrorize people, use extreme violence to stay in power and be incredibly rich himself. That's actually what communists are. To be clear, when communists get what they want, it is Maduro. Just look at Mao, look at China, look at any place where there has been a communist system. Same thing in Cuba. The Communists will talk about more wealth for all the people, but they actually just further impoverish or begin the impoverishment, depending. I mean, Venezuela was not a poor country before the commies took over. Venezuela was doing really well going into the 21st century, and then they went socialist. And as we all know, that's a nightmare. But we got a commie in New York as well, Clay, and he's very upset. He's very upset about what's going on here in Venezuela. I have Venezuelans, metaphorically and maybe literally, because they are a people known to enjoy dancing, dancing in the streets here in Miami. In there. There's video circulating of Venezuelan. Venezuelans who are here who fled. And many of them were true asylum seekers or true refugees in the sense that their assets were seized. Maduro or Chavez was going to torture them and their families and take all their stuff. Like, that's actual refugee stuff, not just, I want to be in America like. Like the Somali stuff we're seeing in Minnesota so I can loot the system and steal from the nice people that took me in. Clay, they're all thrilled. They're crying about the prospect of what the future of their country is. Meanwhile, Mamdani, the newly installed. Yes, he was elected, much to my tremendous chagrin, the newly installed commie mayor of New York, Mamdani, is saying this play 15. I called the President and spoke with him directly to register my opposition to this act and to make clear that it was an opposition based on being opposed to a pursuit of regime change, to the violation of federal international law, and a desire to see that be consistent each and every day.
- [26:43]
Buck Sexton
And what was his response to you in that conversation?
- [26:49]
Clay Travis
I registered my opposition. I made it clear, and we left it at that. Oh, he called Trump to register his opposition. What, is he getting a letter from the student council? You know, is he going to go tell the school proctor on Trump? Like, what does he think he's doing here?
- [27:05]
Buck Sexton
Clay Mamdani is the face of the Democrat Party now. This is what I said, and I feel so bad for our WR listeners. I love you guys, but we have to let you sink into communism in order for the rest of the country to, to flourish. And I really do believe AOC and mom Donnie, as the face of the Democrat Party in the midterms is going to be very beneficial for the Republicans overall. And it's going to be a bigger issue in 2028 too. Now Gavin Newsom is going to try to argue. Hey, guys. Actually, I'm the face of the Democrat Party and we're going to see that battle. Kamala Harris is going to run, much to Buck's chagrin. I think he's going to lose a, he's going to lose a, a bet on that. But I will see.
- [27:58]
Clay Travis
Stop with, stop with your salsa of celebration over there, buddy.
- [28:02]
Buck Sexton
She's, she's running. But look, I think in general, what you said is so important. Did you see the graphic of the comparison between Poland and Venezuela over the last 30 or 40 years? I think it was. For people who have not seen that graphic, maybe we can can share that from the Clay and Buck Twitter feed. But Poland was a much smaller country, a much less successful country than Venezuela. Venezuela, as we have talked about on this program, was probably Buck, the most successful Latin American country in like 1995, right before the rise of Hugo Chavez.
- [28:46]
Clay Travis
It was the third wealthiest country in the Western Hemisphere. It was the United States, Canada, which, let's be honest, America junior and then Venezuela. Yeah, that's. So that's what it was.
- [28:56]
Buck Sexton
And this is why so many people out there who are listening to us right now all over the country, who are Venezuelan, this is why they were so die hard in their opposition to socialism, because they lived it. They saw a country that was thriving, that has unbelievable natural riches through oil and gas and was having, as you said, the third greatest GNP in all of the Western Hemisphere. And then Chavez came into power and starting in the late 90s, the wheels came off this economy and they still have. They stole all of the American assets, all of the oil companies out there. And all Trump is saying is we're going to make this country function efficiently again. That's basically the plan. It's just to have success.
- [29:45]
Clay Travis
It's a number of things. You don't get to operate, you know, with impunity. A narco state that is sending cocaine into the United States, into Europe, by the way, in large numbers as well. You don't get to just do that because you say, well, I run this other little tin pot dictatorship. You know, this is the mess around and find out foreign policy of Trump. And it's a Brilliant thing. On the oil production note, just to give everyone a sense of this, they were doing 3 million, 3 million barrels per day. OK. Produced in Venezuela right around 2000, like 98, 99, 2000. So right around the end of the 20th century, 3 million barrels per day. And then it went down to. In. I'm trying to. Covid's not really a fair.
- [30:40]
Buck Sexton
I think they're doing a million now is the numbers that I.
- [30:43]
Clay Travis
A million. I was going to say it's, it's, it's a million. And what got down to half a million during COVID but a million a day.
- [30:48]
Buck Sexton
Yeah.
- [30:49]
Clay Travis
So their, their production capacity has been annihilated by the idiots in charge who said they were going to make the poor people wealthier, they were going to give people more stuff. The single most important financial asset of this country has been so grossly mismanaged that you could, you should want to throw all the idiots in charge in prison just because of that. And then, Clay, you add on to this Trenda Aragua is a Venezuelan prison gang that the narco terrorist regime of Maduro was working with to one export the drugs. And of course, Maduro then is taking a cut, right? And on top of that, they were doing this. They were terrorizing political opposition. They were, they were Maduro's street thugs. I mean, his actual thugs from prison became street thugs of the regime who were being enriched by the international cartel operation that Maduro was presiding over, which is why Biden had a $25 million bounty on like, there's no debate about any of this.
- [31:54]
Buck Sexton
Not only did they have the $25 million bounty buck, they made it in January of this year. In January of this year, they made that bounty $25 million. And I think Trump took it to 50 million because there's that funny aside when they had the press conference availability where Trump said to Marco Rubio, Secretary of State, hey, make sure nobody's able to claim that because it went to $50 million in the event that he were able to be captured. But this is why when Kamala shared her, shared her take of oh, this is completely unacceptable, then there's an immediate response. And again, I come back to this is partly what creating a free marketplace for Twitter has done. It allows everybody out there to say, wait a minute, just in January, you guys, I mean, I think we can grab the audio of Karine Jean Pierre talking about it from the White House press conference availability there. It's a press secret. They made it $25 million just in January. It's one of the final things they did well.
- [32:56]
Clay Travis
But again, this, this is where you see the Democrats just hope that everybody in America forgets what they have said about. We played that Chuck Schumer. Chuck Schumer's like, we, you know, you're not doing enough. And Venezuela's so strong claim you're going.
- [33:10]
Buck Sexton
To do stuff and you're not willing to do it.
- [33:13]
Clay Travis
They, they can't attack this on the merits of the mission, meaning the tactical success because you know, you know. And look, Seal Team 6 got a lot of love. Rightly deserved a lot of love after the bin Laden raid. It's Delta's time in the sun right now. Delta's now getting a lot of credit for being also the absolute best of the best tier one operators, you know, the, the best elite special operations infantry force that you could ever, ever hope for, ever trained. So fantastic for them. So they can't attack them on the tactical. But then Clay on the strategic side of this, and this is what I think in part upsets people like Mamdani. It's not the international law thing. It's that this also hurts the whole axis of America and Trump opposition globally. This is bad for China, this is bad for Russia, very bad for Cuba. It's even bad for Iran. Right? These are all places that lose because Maduro is no longer a stooge for them. Selling them oil in violation or just giving it to them. The case of Cuba in violation of US Sanctions. This also shows them, like I said, the mess around and find out foreign policy of Trump, which Iran learned the hard way with its nuke reactors and now Maduro has learned this. This sends a huge message to China on the Taiwan issue. I would add that as well. I heard from the president of Taiwan himself face to face. He told me after what Trump did in Iran, the, the Taiwanese were like, you know what? This guy's not messing around. And I don't think China and they know the Taiwanese knew that the Chinese were paying very close attention and going, oh, things are different now. And I think that's a big lesson here. But for the Mamdani commies of the world, it's wait a second, the workers of the world unite stuff. It's not looking good for them.
- [35:10]
Buck Sexton
I just again, as we start off 2026, I don't think 2025 could have gone any better. You know, 4.3% GDP at the last GDP that we got, 2.7% interest rate, sorry, inflation, interest rates have come down substantially.75 basis point. Cut your mortgages are much more affordable right now as we start 2025 than they were at the end of the Biden era and we haven't even hardly talked about it. You mentioned it, Buck, but the biggest decline on record in murders, I'm looking right now at the Washington Post. You know, they said, oh, Trump calling out the National Guard is going to have no impact. Murders went down 32% in Washington, D.C. in 2025. 32% down to about 125 murders in Washington, D.C. that's unprecedented. So there's so much positive momentum out there. By the way, we should open up phones 800-282-2882. I bet we got some special forces guys out there that would like to react to what they have seen from the Venezuela raid. We're going to have our buddy David Rutherford, who is one of our guest hosts in the third hour to talk.
- [36:26]
Clay Travis
About former seal so knows combat SEAL knows something about special operations.
- [36:31]
Buck Sexton
No doubt we'll talk about all that and just excited to be back as we are rolling here in 2026 and excited that Prize Picks is now available in all 50 states, including California, Texas, Florida and Georgia. Download the Prize Picks app today. Use my name Clay as the code. Get $50 instantly in lineups when you play. Five dollars. That's code clay on price picks. 50 bucks in lineups when you play. $5. Win or lose, you get 50 bucks just for playing. I'm going to give you a pick. With the NFL playoffs now set going into wild card weekend. Also, we got a big game going on in the college football playoffs. A lot of fun from everybody out there who was enjoying football again. All 50 states. You can play everywhere now. Prizepix.com Code Clay Go check it out. Prizepix.com code Clay Clay Travis and Buck Sexton telling it like it is. Find them on the free iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. Want to score when your favorite player does well, you can't unless you download Better Picks who is giving away a free $10 download the better app, pick more or less on player stats, watch the games and win some cash. It's that simple. Must be 21 or older. In a jurisdiction where Better Picks operates, terms and conditions apply. Better Picks Sports just got better.
- [37:48]
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- [39:20]
Clay Travis
New year means new financial goals like making sure your savings are secure and diversified. Will this be the year you finally talk to someone from Birch Gold Group like I have? Honestly, they're great people. They're very helpful. I've purchased gold from Birch Gold. I appreciate their educational approach and their understanding of macroeconomics. There are forces pushing the dollar lower and gold higher, which is why they believe every American should own some physical gold until January 30th. If you're a first time gold buyer, Birch Gold is offering a rebate of up to $10,000 on qualifying purchases. To claim eligibility and start the process, just text my name. Buck to 989898 Birch Gold can help you roll an existing IRA or 401K into an IRA in gold and you're still eligible for a rebate of up to $10,000. Make right now your first time to buy gold. Take advantage of this rebate, but you got to do it by January 30th. Text My Name Buck to 989898 Claim your eligibility today.
- [40:19]
Buck Sexton
Birch Gold Group Clay Travis Bucks Exton Show Appreciate all of you as we are rolling through into 2026. Excited to be back with all of you. We hope that you had fantastic Christmas and New Year's with all of your family and that you had a spectacular time. And certainly there is a ton going on out there. What do you think about Cuba, Buck? Because basically the only reason there is any Cuban economy at all is, has been that Venezuela has helped prop them up by giving them some of that oil that is far more affordable than it otherwise would be. And now with the, the barricade that's basically put up without the oil being able to get there, essentially Marco Rubio and Donald Trump in that press conference on, on right after the, I guess, was it Sunday, Saturday, I guess right after the, the raid said Cuba's going to collapse too. And I've long thought and wondered what the rationale has been all the way back my whole life. But certainly for those of you who remember the Cuban Missile crisis and everything we lived through there, why in the world have we allowed 90 minutes south of the Florida Keys for Cuba to effectively be a failed communist state? Why have we allowed that to happen?
- [41:51]
Clay Travis
Next time you come down to Miami, I'm going to have you just walk around the streets down here in Little Havana and just say what you said. Because all the, all the Cuban Americans who, who have defined really Miami in many ways for decades, they ask exactly that question, which is what, what the heck is going on? And they have no love for the regime there. And if anything, they really wish that their home country, or rather their, their, in many cases their ancestors home country could be a free and prosperous place. There's no reason for it not to be. They look, they've been essentially trading security forces, as in, because remember, the KGB trained the Cuban intelligence services back in the old Cold War era, which is why the Cuban intelligence services were very aggressive and actually pretty competent at regime repression, at regime, you know, stability, repression, all of that, because they learned from the best, as in the worst. They learned from the KGB themselves. They were providing the security for Maduro. So we just wasted a bunch of, or rather Delta Force just wasted a bunch of Cuban guys standing around with machine guns to protect Maduro and they, in exchange, the Venezuelan regime was giving Cuba oil.
- [43:11]
Buck Sexton
Yeah.
- [43:11]
Clay Travis
And this is what it needs to be able to function. But think about what goes in the generators, like how do they have power? I mean, it's an island to begin with and they don't have the natural resources to do this on their own. So without that, they're going to be under, under enormous pressure. And I think also, you know, people think of, oh, Cuba. And I'm, I'm not trying to get crazy here. Everybody but they think of the Bay of Pigs and the disaster. I mean, I've got a dear friend down here in Miami who was at.
- [43:34]
Buck Sexton
The Bay of Pigs, who was fighting.
- [43:35]
Clay Travis
At the Bay of Pigs. They think about that, they think about the debacle, the disaster. This could have been a debacle of disaster to Clay in Venezuela. And it was not. It was the opposite. So I think that puts Cuba on notice.
- [43:47]
Buck Sexton
Oh, I think Cuba. Look, if you have ever been on a cruise ship, Cuba would become, almost immediately you snap your fingers, it would become an unbelievable economic growth engine. I mean Cuba was Las Vegas before Las Vegas existed. I mean you used to be able to hop on a speedboat and be in Havana for, for dinner.
- [44:12]
Clay Travis
It could be one of the, one of the premier tourist destinations in the Caribbean and really for beaches in the world, honestly could be an incredible place.
- [44:20]
Buck Sexton
I mean if you have ever been on a cruise ship, you will go close enough to see the spires, the buildings of Havana from the cruise ship. I mean it is a no brainer that that country should be an American allied source of, of economic ingenuity. And I know there's a lot of people out there listening right now. The Don Road doctrine. We'll talk about it when we come back. What does it actually mean and what is the impact packed? Thanks for hanging with us in 2026.
- [44:51]
Clay Travis
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Buck Sexton
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- [45:13]
Clay Travis
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- [45:20]
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- [45:51]
Clay Travis
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