Hour 1 - Why Iran Matters Here

Summary

---

Podcast Summary: The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show – "Hour 1: Why Iran Matters Here"

Date: July 14, 2026
Hosts: Clay Travis & Buck Sexton
Theme:
An in-depth and real-time discussion of the Iran crisis’s impact on oil, global politics, and U.S. domestic affairs—including the latest moves from President Trump regarding the Strait of Hormuz, the evolving situation in Iraq, inflation updates, and reflection on Senator Lindsey Graham's recent passing. The tone is energetic, humorous, and candid, with both hosts balancing policy analysis and relatable personal anecdotes.

---

1. Opening and Scene Setting (01:05–02:55)

• The hosts open live from a sweltering NYC, briefly joking about the city’s heat and their morning routines.
• Buck teases coverage of breaking Iran news, the Trump-Iraq meeting, travel frustrations, and “a lot of feeling of repetition” around Middle East news.
• Quick acknowledgment: Senator Marsha Blackburn will join later; Supreme Court and law enforcement topics on deck.

---

2. Travel Frustrations as a Metaphor for Systemic Decline (02:55–07:45)

• Tarmac Delay Rant (04:15) [Buck]:

  “To hold you captive on the tarmac for up to three hours after you’ve landed is cruel and unusual punishment and it’s completely unacceptable. And American airlines should be ashamed.” (04:15)

• Complexity & Declining Quality in Daily Life [Clay]:
  • Showers and lighting in hotels now overly complex; everyday products seem “worse and more complicated.”
  • Quote:

    “There are certain elements, I think, of life… where the average quality of product is declining and the complexity is increasing. That is a bad combination.” (06:40)

• Both connect these frustrations to broader government regulation and inefficiency, especially in travel and healthcare.

---

3. Iran, the Strait of Hormuz, and Oil Politics (07:45–13:59)

a. Trump’s Latest on the Strait of Hormuz (09:46) [Buck]:

• Reads and paraphrases President Trump’s Truth Social post:
  • U.S. military ensuring oil flow; Strait open except to Iranian ships.
  • Imposing a full blockade on Iranian ports and cargo.
  • Scrapping a proposed 20% tax on Middle East shipping in favor of increased investment from regional allies (Saudi Arabia, UAE, etc.).
• Quote:

  “Strait of Hormuz is open to all ship traffic except for Iran… Will therefore have a full blockade but only on ships coming to and from Iranian ports or carrying anything having to do with Iranian cargo.” (09:47)

b. Oil Prices, Economic Outlook & Political Strategy [Clay]:

• Current oil prices stable (“$79 a barrel”), gas at $3.85/gal.
• Inflation at 2.6%, lower than expected.
• Urges Trump to “resolve things with Iran” quickly to keep energy prices low before midterm elections.
• Long-term, new oil pipelines will bypass the Strait of Hormuz, reducing Iran's leverage.
• Quote:

  “Iran trying to say, hey, we can control the Strait of Hormuz? Is a little bit of Iranian leadership cutting their own throat economically here.” (12:44)

---

4. Iraq’s New Direction and U.S. Policy Shifts (16:20–18:51)

a. Trump on Iraq's Progress (16:20) [Trump]:

• U.S. military presence in Iraq no longer needed; oil companies now partnering with Iraq.
• Iran's destabilization reduced their influence in Iraq.
• Quote:

  “We don’t think we need the military there anymore... Iran has been very much destabilized. And really their military power is just a tiny fraction of what it was just four months ago.” (16:20)

b. Shifting Costs and Middle East Investment [Trump]:

• U.S. securing the Strait for the world “is unfair… we’re not in somehow compensated.”
• Middle East partners will invest in the U.S. instead of paying direct fees.
• Quote:

  “They’re going to be making massive investments into the United States. And I like that much better.” (18:37)

---

5. Personal Commentary, Economic Context, and Media Critique (19:25–26:39)

• Iraq as a Forgotten Story:

  • Buck: Despite years of focus, Iraq is now “not a story.”
  • Middle East can’t be ignored: Oil, prices, geopolitics affect everyday Americans.

• Inflation Data (21:12) [Buck]:

  • “Largest inflation decline in over six years… core inflation way, way down from the Biden years at 2.6%.” (21:12)
  • Clay expands: Fallen from 9.1% in 2022 to 2.6% now—a “big success,” but prices remain elevated due to cumulative effects.

• Memorable Sidebar: “Microwave culture” in news:

  “Anything that’s more than 36 hours old is super old news. Anything that’s 12 hours old… in a Trump era is super old news.” (25:45)

---

6. The Iran Challenge: Blockades, Regrets, and Realities (30:10–33:00)

a. Was Lifting the Blockade a Mistake? (31:13) [Trump]:

• Trump says he has “no regrets”—tried for a deal, Iran rejected, “they shot first.”
• Recalls U.S. suffering at hands of Iran-backed terrorism.
• Quote:

  “They shot first. And that was a big mistake… We have been knocking the hell out of them. They’re very difficult people. 47 years we put up with it…” (31:13)

b. Analytical Take [Buck]:

• “Iran is the big challenge in the Middle East. Trump is taking that on… not a perfect straight line… taking a bit more maneuvering.”

c. Internal Iranian Divisions [Clay]:

• “Multiple competing interests inside of Iran… radical elements want this peace agreement to not work.”

---

7. Addressing Lindsey Graham’s Sudden Passing (36:46–38:06)

• Trump Responds to Conspiracies (36:46):

  • Details Graham’s cause of death as a ruptured aorta, explains it is hard to detect, strongly denies “evil” or conspiracy.
  • Quote:

    “So I don’t see a lot of evil there… I don’t think the FBI—I think the FBI is wasting their time if they’re doing that.” (37:45)

• Host Reflection (Buck):

  • “People get old. It does happen. It’s very sad… I don’t think the IRGC has a special laser gun that can make people have heart attacks…”

---

8. Notable Quotes & Moments

• Buck on Iran policy:

  “We’re going to be having this conversation… in two weeks, in two months. It’s cycled back up.” (10:35)

• Clay on oil pathways:

  “By the end of 2028… only 8% of oil and gas would go through the Strait [of Hormuz]. What real impact does Iran have?” (13:31)

• Trump on the global stakes:

  “It’s not fair that we’re protecting this strait for the entire world… for China and everyone. I don’t mind protecting it for China. I don’t mind protecting it for anybody. But it’s unfair that we’re not in somehow compensated.” (17:52)

---

9. Timestamps for Key Segments

• 01:05 – Show open, NYC check-in
• 04:15 – Airline tarmac rant, travel woes
• 09:46 – Trump's update on Strait of Hormuz, Iran policy
• 12:44 – Long-term oil infrastructure shifts minimize Iran's leverage
• 16:20 – Trump’s remarks on Iraq’s recovery and US role
• 18:37 – Middle East investment in exchange for US security role
• 21:12 – Inflation data: historic decline discussed
• 25:45 – Commentary on modern media “microwave culture”
• 31:13 – Trump defends his approach to Iran blockade
• 36:46 – Trump on Lindsey Graham’s cause of death (conspiracy addressed)

---

10. Conclusion

The episode delivers a thoughtful, fast-paced survey of U.S. foreign and domestic policy as shaped by the Iran crisis, economic headlines, and changing geopolitical dynamics. Clay and Buck provide both granular news (“in real time”) and big-picture context, blending facts, analysis, and characteristic humor. The show relays real White House developments and incorporates breaking reactions from President Trump, all weighed heavily with an eye on immediate political consequences and the looming midterms.

For listeners, it's a lively, informed unpacking of why the Strait of Hormuz—and Iran—still matter deeply to everyday Americans, through the lenses of economics, energy, and national security.

Transcript

[Buck Sexton]

This is an iHeart podcast, Guaranteed Human.

[Clay Travis]

All new drinks are now at McDonald's with refreshers like the Strawberry Watermelon Refresher and the Mango Pineapple Refresher with Popping Boba to crafted sodas like the Sprite Berry Blast with berry flavors and cold foam. Who knew ice cold drinks could be so fire six? All new drinks are here now at McDonald's. Refreshers contain caffeine. The Joel Osteen Daily Podcast. God's plans for you are for good. Be inspired.

[President Donald Trump]

Get ready.

[Clay Travis]

God is about to exceed your expectations. Joel Osteen Daily Podcast.

[President Donald Trump]

You are coming out of that dry

[Clay Travis]

place into more than enough daily encouragement right when you need it. There are opportunities in your future bigger

[President Donald Trump]

than you can imagine.

[Clay Travis]

Listen to the Joel Osteen Daily podcast on the iHeartRadio Apple, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your favorite podcasts.

[Buck Sexton]

Welcome everybody to the Tuesday edition of the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. I'm here in NYC in studio with the one and only Clay Travis. So we are excited to talk to you about all the news of the day. We managed to walk the streets of a very, very hot New York City. Kami Mamdani doing his thing here. We did not get arrested though, but that was nice. We did not get thrown in the gulag.

[Clay Travis]

So far, so far it's early, we're okay.

[Buck Sexton]

But walking around here, we're getting a sense of what's going on in the city. We have some updates for you on a whole bunch of things. Obviously the Strait of Hormuz Iran situation. We're gonna bring you to the latest on that. It is a an ongoing story that's going to have a lot of feeling of repetition, a lot of wash, rinse, repeat going on because that is the situation. Trump right now is in the Oval Office as we speak to you meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Al Zaydi and he is talking about a whole range of things, mostly obviously Iraq related. And we'll bring you the highlights of that conversation here as they are coming out. As I said in real time, that discussion is underway. Iraq is not doing great, but not doing terribly. I think there's some, some glimmers of optimism. Clay. Turns out it's doing, I think it's doing better at this stage than a lot of people would think based upon how bad things were for the many years, not just of our full scale military operations there, but then of course, the rise of ISIS and everything else. It's got the fifth largest oil reserves in the world, you know, if they could just get some of the wackos to stop chopping people's heads off and blowing up suicide vests. Like, could be a nice place.

[Clay Travis]

No doubt.

[Buck Sexton]

You know, it could be a nice place. They just. They don't have to do anything too crazy. They just have to stop that from happening. Uh, and then just some other. Oh, we have. Senator Marsha Blackburn will be with us of Tennessee, of course. And basically a lot of things we're gonna be hitting on more on people upset about ice because they hate law and order and in Western civilization and all these things. That's a discussion. We will certainly get into some Supreme Court stuff, play a lot of things. But we are both staying in hotels right now. And just very briefly, I will tell you my gripe was in the getting to the hotel. We're going to have the Department of Transportation, Sean Duffy on tomorrow. I believe we had one of those tarmac delays when I came into New York with Kerry Clay. Not based on weather, not based on a mechanical issue, just improper staffing when we land. So they lacked the staff to get us off the plane. So we had to sit on the plane that has landed that is 100ft from the gate for two hours because they don't have people working at the airport to get us off the plane. And I understand there are people that are. One of the weirdest things that I see are the people who are like, stop complaining. You know, drive if you want to fly. It's like, you know, they had to pass a rule so they wouldn't keep people in the tarmac for like seven hours at a time.

[Clay Travis]

Yes.

[Buck Sexton]

And everybody was. It's now a three hour rule. But I think there should be a specific after landing rule because it's one thing if you're waiting for the ability to take off and you can always touch back and get off the plane. Right. They. They don't have to wait three hours. They can do that every hour. I've been on planes where they've done that. To hold you captive on the tarmac for up to three hours after you've landed is cruel and unusual punishment and it's completely unacceptable. And American airlines should ashamed. But this is happening more and more and I want to talk to the Department of Transportation head about why this is getting worse and how they're going to fix it.

[Clay Travis]

I think it kind of builds and I know many people out there are going to sign off on this. A lot of things are not getting better. So positive. I really do legitimately believe that self Driving cars are going to revolutionize the way we travel in vehicles. Airline travel is getting worse. The delays are getting more substantial, the number of people backed up at airports and much less significantly, other things were perfect and are now getting worse. I'll give you an example. This morning you're going, yes, this morning I decide I'm, you know, it's 180 degrees in New York City today. So I was thinking, hey, I'll go out for a walk in the morning, I'll check things out. And I come back and I can't figure out how to turn my shower on. I don't know how many of you have been in this situation for basically my entire life. The shower was perfected.

[Buck Sexton]

You've been squared away on the shower.

[Clay Travis]

I feel very confident that I could turn a shower on. I've talked about the fact that lighting has also declined. It used to be you flip a switch, it comes on, it's easy to find the light switch, and it works flawlessly. I have stumbled around in the dark in apartments, in hotel rooms, in homes where I've stayed, friends, family homes, trying to turn a light on. You can't turn lights on anymore. And by the way, when you do turn them on, the bulb is. You can't even read. Like, I'm one of the last people who evidently sits around and reads newspapers. I got three of them right now. Like, sometimes I have to take the lampshade off and basically hold it next to the newspaper. You can't turn out, figure out how to turn lights on showers. Why do we need to design new shower implements? There are certain elements, I think, of life that we are all dealing with, where the average quality of product is declining and the complexity is increasing. That is a bad combination. And I think airline travel is like that. It feels to me like airline travel. And all of you out there know, and people say, well, drive. Okay, so some places you can't drive, right? If you need to be on the west coast and you're on the east coast, unless you have a whole week to be able to travel across the country, there is one way to get there. For work, you're in Miami. To get to New York City, are you going to spend. What is that, a 20 hour drive?

[Buck Sexton]

This is like my other gripe about the improper use of technology because it ties into this. And you notice it's where there's heavy regulation and people who say, don't try to regulate the airlines more, for example, it's one of the most heavy, heavily regulated spaces already that Exists in America. Airlines also have been bailed out by the taxpayer twice in the 21st century.

[Clay Travis]

And also, by the way, a judge just basically shut down Spirit Airlines. Yes, right. I mean, like, they, the government getting involved has actually made things.

[Buck Sexton]

So I just think it's funny. These are the same. These are the people, they're like weekend libertarians who are like, just let there. Just let the market decide. The market's deciding, like, 10% of what's going on with airlines. Okay, already. So maybe not allowing people to fester in a hot tube on the tarmac for hours and hours on end because they don't want to pay for the full staffing to get people off the planes. Maybe that's a rule that, like, we could live with added to the million other rules that are already in existence. But beyond that, health care, for example, we were supposed to do this thing, Clay, where we filled out one time all of your health care information, and then it would be everywhere you go. I end up filling it out again. Every time you go to any doctor, anytime there's any health issue that you have to address, you end up filling out. And now they make you do it on an iPad. I don't want to do it on an iPad. The iPad never works properly. Like, these are the things that should be making it easier or better. But fundamentally, health care has also gotten more expensive. You're noticing a trend, right? What gets more expensive and worse things where the government actually makes a huge portion of the decisions and it is not, in fact, market based. But then when you try to make it better, people, like, put the market. Well, it's not really operating as a market right now. Okay. We're going to bring you the latest so we can talk more about that. And I appreciate that Secretary Duffy says he'll join tomorrow to talk about it because I really am. I really am curious. I mean, I'm starting to. I'm starting to turn into, like, I mean, could I, could I bike 300 miles? Like, what are my options here? Like, what else could I do? But beyond that, the Trump administration right now dealing with the situation in hormones. Clay, let me give the latest on this just so we can kind of set the table on it a bit, because a lot of these conversations are sounding like previous conversations about where things stand. And this is now, I guess, a game of chicken with the Iranian regime. I had a feeling this was going to happen. Here is what Trump has said on Truth Social as of this morning, actually, just like right before we came on air, oil is Flowing like never before. Thanks to the awesome power of the United States military.

[Clay Travis]

By far.

[Buck Sexton]

The Strait of Hormuz is open to all ship traffic except for Iran. And that is because of their lying, violent, malicious leadership, which is taking them down the path to total destruction. Will therefore have a full blockade, but only on ships coming to and from Iranian ports or carrying anything having to do with Iranian cargo. Based on productive conversations with Middle east leadership, I've decided to replace the 20% tax basically on those ships. I'm now paraphrasing because I actually cut off the end of the sentence, but the point here is he's saying, clay, we're going to get a lot of Middle east investment to make up for the 20% we were going to take on the Iranian ships to pay for the blockade. That is the new element of this. How are you feeling about. Let's just get into it. Just keeping these oil prices low going into the midterms, given that this is, this is just going to be. We're going to be having this conversation. I think in two weeks, in two

[Clay Travis]

months, it's cycled back up. So the price of oil and gas, as I'm talking to all of you right now is 79, doll. That's still within realm of where we were when everything started in February, which was $68 and change before we went into Iran. Prices should still be coming down. I saw where the average cost of a gallon of gas is 385. Positive news that came out a little bit earlier this morning. Inflation running at a 2.6% annual basis, which was much better than expectations as gas prices came back down in May. Overall core inflation, which strips out energy costs, also came down to 2.6%. I'm optimistic about where we are economically as we speak right now. Now, my advice to the President would be get things resolved sooner rather than later in the short term with Iran and bring down gas prices for the midterms.

[President Donald Trump]

And.

[Clay Travis]

And then if you feel like you need to do other attacks, if you feel like you need to reach out in a substantial way to impact what is going on in Iran, do that after the midterm voting in November. I am increasingly optimistic about many of these different races in the battleground states. I think that Democrats are overreaching. They're putting socialists in, including New York, where we are today, where they just had three socialists wipe out much of the Democrat contingent here in the New York City area. We certainly saw out in Colorado the same kind of thing happened. So the reality is I, I think Iran is going to remain an irritant, but I'm not sure that they can do anything that is substantial. Here's something positive, Buck. And again, this is thinking a little bit longer range. I was reading this morning getting ready for the show. Goldman Sachs, this is according to Axios, has said there are seven pipeline and infrastructure projects currently under construction planned or deemed feasible that would allow oil to bypass the Strait entirely by the end of 28. So this is a couple of years away. 60% of all the oil and gas that moves through the Strait of Hormuz is not going to be moving through the Strait of Hormuz based on this. And by the end of next year, 45% of this could go away. Why is this significant? Iran trying to say, hey, we can control the Strait of Hormuz? Is a little bit of Iranian leadership cutting their own throat economically here? Because a lot of people are going to say if there are risks associated with carrying oil and gas through the Strait of Hormuz, let's just invest in alternative pathways. Right now around 20% of the oil and gas moves through the Strait of Hormuz. By the end of 2028, according to this report, it would be 8% then. What real impact does Iran have on being able to control oil and gas prices? Not much of anything. So I do think the longer range process here is Iran having less and less ability to control the overall price of oil and gas, which delegitimizes even more that government. That's a very good positive direction. Longer term, short term, A lot of fluctuation.

[Buck Sexton]

A lot of fluctuation. That's a good, a good way to put it. Hopefully not so much in the markets that people get so ticked off that there is a real impact in the midterms against the Republicans. We will talk about that though. We will see where all of this is going. July is National Grilling Month. Oh, that makes sense. We need to get you set up with the best steaks, burgers and chicken for that grilling experience. You know Clay, once I get back to Miami, good news is my Good Ranchers box is there waiting for me.

[Clay Travis]

It's awesome.

[Buck Sexton]

I'm very excited. Good Ranchers partners with local farmers and ranchers to deliver 100% American grown meat straight to your door. That means pasture raised, no antibiotics, no added hormones. It's the kind of quality you can feel good about serving to the people around your table. Go to goodranchers.com choose your plan like the cowboy or the cattleman. Maybe you want to get the Family feast bundle. They got so many different options. Good Ranchers meat, chicken and pork. Fill out your freezer and your fridge. This month they're celebrating all 50 states with $50 off your first order. I am a meat guy, a protein guy. I love good rancher stuff. Goodranchers.com is where you go. Use my name Buck as your promo code at checkout. Get $50 off anything on their site. Remember that code Buck for 50 off. Good ranchers.com promo code Buck American meat delivered Good ranchers.com looking for normal in

[Clay Travis]

a world of crazy? Clay and Buck have your back. The Joel Osteen Daily Pod. God's plans for you are for good. Be inspired.

[President Donald Trump]

Get ready.

[Clay Travis]

God is about to exceed your expectations. Joel Osteen Daily Podcast.

[President Donald Trump]

You are coming out of that dry

[Clay Travis]

place into more than enough daily encouragement right when you need it. There are opportunities in your future bigger

[President Donald Trump]

than you can imagine.

[Clay Travis]

Listen to the Joel Osteen Daily podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your free favorite podcasts. Welcome back in Clay and Buck rolling through the Tuesday edition of the program. We are both in New York City. President Trump talking to the media right now. We have a couple of cuts as he is meeting with the prime minister of Iraq in the Oval Office. Let's start here with cut 31. Buck, you were discussing what the impact of Iraq's ability to potentially be producing more oil and gas. This is Trump talking about that cut 31.

[President Donald Trump]

Well, we don't think we need the military there anymore. It's a very big operation. And what we do have is the oil companies are all going in now and they're doing partnerships with Iraq and they're getting along very well. The relationship is a whole big relationship where we don't need the military. We're there to help them. We're there to protect them if need be, but we don't think that's going to be necessary. And their primary I consider an opponent. They might have considered a friend, but I consider that an opponent was Iran was a big burden on Iraq because they were the bully of the Middle east, as you know. And we were just talking about that. But they're not going to have that problem anymore because Iran has been very much destabilized. And really their military power is just a tiny fraction of what it was just four months ago.

[Clay Travis]

Okay. And then, Buck, we also have President Trump, you mentioned the Strait of Hormuz. Trump said will charge 20%. I was just walking through that. The alternative pathways are moving Rapidly in the Middle east, where the Strait of Hormuz is in the months and years ahead, going to matter less and less. But he's talking about what a arrangement on the Strait of Hormuz look like. He initially said a 20% fee. Now he's talking about massive investments coming from Middle east nations in exchange for the US Guarding the Strait of Hormuz. Here he is talking after multiple conversations with leaders in the Middle east cut 30.

[President Donald Trump]

You have Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait, you know, primarily. And then others, they. I spoke to all of them and they would love to invest more money in the United States at record amounts. And that would be very acceptable. And this way there's no fee. I don't like the concept of a fee, but at the same time, it's not fair that we're protecting this strait for the entire world, for China and everyone. I don't mind protecting it for China. I don't mind protecting it for anybody. But it's unfair that we're not in somehow compensated. And we've been doing this for many years. It's bothered me 25 years ago, it bothered me during my first term. I was doing things like you have to invest in the United States and. But by doing it that way, there's no fee. They're investing and they're getting a return on their money and it's good. But they're going to be making massive investments into the United States. And I like that much better.

[Clay Travis]

Buck. I think the real kind of takeaway here is Iran's leverage seems to be diminishing. And we'll talk about this as we continue to go forward and we should also talk about. We come back maybe a bit. The United States has been providing secret help to a lot of different ships to be able to come through near the Strait of Hormuz on the Oman side. And it appears that we are continuing to allow and provide that support to continue. But President Trump speaking, and we will continue to monitor.

[Buck Sexton]

We will bring you more of that as it happens. He's still with the Iraqi PM right now in the Oval Office. These are the dog days of summer here in New York City. The temp is gonna be at like 96 degrees, so the weather can be a little bit draining. I like the sunshine, but it can be a bit hot. You need that energy, though, my friends, where chalk comes in. Oh, look at this. I have chalk lit powder right here. I've got Chad mode too, which I absolutely love the Chad mode. That's the blue stuff that you Guys see me drinking sometimes on the air. It's fantastic to get you fired up and get you energized for your day. But for somebody out there who wants a holistic, a top to bottom, especially for the guys energy improvement try the male vitality stack has been proven to restore 20% of your body's testosterone levels over time. Chad mode Chalk Daily so many great products. Top quality supplements from chalk.com go to chalk.com when you subscribe for a monthly delivery you'll get a free $99 bag of chalk lit powder which is this stuff which is amazing and delicious. 99 bag of chocolate powder. Use code BUCK go to choq chalk.com promo code BUCK this is our June release of the consumer price index. Expecting a headline number to be negative, negative 1/10 of a percent. This is four times more negative -4/10 of a percent. That would be the biggest negative drop that we've seen since 4:20 since basically Covid timing which really affected of course all of the inflation data points. So that goes back basically six year low. And if we look at the year over year, Core 2.6, 210 less than expectations, 310 less than the rearview mirror, 2.6 equals March 2.5 brings you to

[President Donald Trump]

February of this year. Okay.

[Buck Sexton]

Largest inflation decline in, in over six years. Guys. That's the, that's the headline on this one. I mean that's core inflation way, way down with Biden. Four years ago, the inflation number there was 9.1%. Core inflation coming in at 2.6%. So inflation is down. That is a good thing. And you know Trump, I just saw him say in one of our breaks there sitting in the Oval Office with the Iraqi prime minister that yeah, he inherited the worst inflation in 40 years, which is true. But note that we are not quite two years into his term or have not completed two years and inflation is. Are we. We are in the second year. Sorry, we're in the second year. That's what I meant. I'm forgetting where I am. We're two years in and. Well, he hasn't finished. Right. I mean, I guess that would be the start of the third year. And inflation has been tamed is the point. That's the good thing. I'm still writing 25 on checks. Sometimes I've got to, I've got to get with what year this is. But taking us back for, for a moment here as well, Clay, to some of the other things that Trump was just saying in the Oval Office because I mentioned this before, he was really Diving into it. That Iraq not a story. If you ask most people, even people who are paying close attention to the news, we don't hear about Iraq anymore. I think part of it is just people. We heard so much about it for so long and all the blood and treasure and everything spilled in that country that there's just a desire to block it out entirely. But thing about the Middle east is even if you don't care about the Middle east, in some ways it cares about you. Comes to our oil and gas and the prices of these things. Here's Trump talking about the situation. This cut 31 Mike situation in Iraq, play it well.

[President Donald Trump]

We don't think we need the military there anymore. It's a very big operation. And what we do have is the oil companies are all going in now and they're doing partnerships with Iraq and they're.

[Clay Travis]

I think we played this one a second ago.

[Buck Sexton]

Sorry, sorry. This one play the.

[Clay Travis]

We did not play cut 29.

[Buck Sexton]

That's what I meant, 29. Thank you.

[President Donald Trump]

Thank you very much. We've had already a good meeting. We're going to decide to do a little lunch. It wasn't scheduled, but we are going to do it on the fly because we have a tremendous chemistry together. The prime minister of Iraq has been amazing. He won an election that a lot of people didn't anticipate. I mean, it was very important to me to have somebody get in there that can do the job and do it well. And we have a fantastic champion, a new champion. And he won the election very soundly, very conclusively and he wasn't favored. But by the time they got to know him, he ended up winning and he's going to be there for a long time. So I just want to say it's a great honor to have the prime minister of Iraq with us.

[Buck Sexton]

Clay, some call him the Trump of the Middle East. This is really interesting. Ali Al Zaydi is a business guy, no prior political stuff. He's a businessman in Iraq who ran and against the odds and the coalitions and all the, you know, entrenched political interests was able to run the gamut. And, and he's the guy now. He is pushing reforms. He's got an anti corruption campaign and seems to have a great rapport with Trump. This is at least what the reporting is on this. You might be saying, okay, well how much do we care about Iraq? Iraq has the fifth largest oil reserves in the world. I think as a country, I think it's number five of proven reserves and it's really important for dealing with Iran. One of the problems we've had in recent, well, for a long time now is the amount of Iranian influence in Iraq. The Shia militias that they back there, they talk about these popular mobilization groups that are basically just, you know, the Armed Popular Mobilization Forces, pmf, they're like these armed street militias that the Iranians use to rattle the cage in Iraq whenever they want. But that can go both ways a bit because the Iraqi relationship with Iran is a place where we can exert some influence too. So I just noting that this is a, this is a surprising moment to a lot of people, I think, where Trump is having the Iraqi PM and they're having a really warm sit down and talk and there's some optimism about the future of that country not under ISIS control, not on the grip of some horrific insurgency. And it's good because if we had a big mess in Iraq on our hands, given what we're dealing with in Iran, that would make things far more complicated.

[Clay Travis]

No doubt. I also think you were playing that cut when we came back CNBC on inflation at 2.6%. One of the many things that we live in in today's day and age is everything is very microwave culture. What happened in the last 24 hours? You know this. We're live on YouTube every single day. We want you to go subscribe at YouTube. But what the data reflects is in a show where we talk about current events, anything that's more than 36 hours old is super old news. Anything that's 12 hours old to a large extent in a Trump era is super old news. I think this is important. Four years ago when we were doing this program, at this point in time, inflation buck was basically 9.1%, which is crazy.

[Buck Sexton]

Highest in 40 years.

[Clay Travis]

Highest in 40 years. Inflation right now is 2.6%. So the degree to which inflation has been conquered and look, the Target rate is 2% and it has fluctuated. I think it got down as low, correct me if I'm wrong, team to 2.4% I think is as low as it has been in the Trump era. But getting inflation from 9.1%, which was a disaster under Biden because they spent way too much money as we came out of COVID cash was too free. Getting it back down to 2.6% is a big success. Would we like to have it at 2%? Yes. But I think that number, if you're out there and you're saying, okay, what was the impact, Clay, how does that impact me? 2.6% makes it less likely that they're going to raise rates. That means your credit card debt is not going to increase. That means your car loan is not going to increase. That means that your overall mortgage is not going to increase. All of these things are incredibly important to getting growth rolling again. And I think President Trump talked about that. This is cut 32 just in the last few minutes. Trump talked about those inflation numbers that came out this cut this morning. Again, cut 32.

[President Donald Trump]

Inflation's down. We inherited the worst inflation in the history of our country. They say 48 years. It was the worst in the history of our country. From Biden. Sleepy Joe. He might have been sleepy, but, boy, he could create inflation like nobody. And I inherited that and I got blamed for it. And it's not my fault. We are, we are putting it to sleep. And we've done a great job. Scott and Howard and Marco and even Pete because he's watching his dollars, right? But they've done a fantastic job. We've all done a fantastic job. So we had the worst inflation in history and the history of our country. I mean, we had months where it was 9 and 10%. And now we have a report just came out. It was just released. Thank you for bringing it up. But the report was incredible. Inflation is way down. That means prices are coming way down. And we're doing a great job.

[Clay Travis]

Look, I mean, again, compared to four years ago, inflation numbers are much better. Can they get better? Yes, but the fact that they came in lower than expectation is a very good sign. Now every time we say this, people say, well, things are still too expensive. I get it. And a huge part of this is inflation doesn't ever go away. Right. So it's baked in when it went to 9%. This is why inflation is particularly crushing to so many people. When inflation goes to 9.1%, nearly 10%, that's baked in forever. Your hamburger, or as I like to say, because we like to eat a Chick Fil A. Your Chick Fil A sandwich is never going to go back to the price that it was in 2018. It's not. And that's a function of the disastrous economic policies that came out of COVID that Biden accelerated. And Buck, remember, Biden wanted to spend way more. If he had actually gotten his way, inflation would have gone to 12, 13, 14%.

[Buck Sexton]

That was actually one of his biggest complaints early on was that Republicans were obstructing the, the Biden big spending agenda. And remember who was the West Virginia?

[Clay Travis]

Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema. Were the only reason that we didn't get the 5 trillion spin that he wanted, which would have taken inflation into

[Buck Sexton]

double digits, would have been crazy. So this all matters a lot coming up here because if people want prices to go back to pre Covid, that's really not just, that's just not going to happen. But price is correlated. I mean, price is rising, is very closely correlated with inflation. And so taming inflation is something that's very positive for Trump going into the midterms. And I think that is why he's taking a moment here to, to have a bit of a bow on this. So that is a good thing. By the way, they're also pushing Trump here. The press, not a surprise about how. Ok, so you've lifted the block. Just taking a step back here. You had a blockade, you lifted the blockade. You're talking, you put the blockade back. Now you're talking. Now you're talking. Now the blockade is back. Is this going according to plan? Did they prepare for all of this? This is cut 34. Trump was asked if he has any regrets about any of the situation with

[Clay Travis]

Strait of Hormuz, given how the Iranians have been behaving. Do you have any regrets about lifting

[President Donald Trump]

the naval blockade or giving the sanctions with waivers? No, I gave them a chance. I wanted to give them a chance at making a deal. You know, we had a deal two days ago, it was done, and then all of a sudden they couldn't do it. They didn't like something about the deal. They couldn't do it. And they shot first. And that was a big mistake that they shot first because we have been knocking the hell out of them. They're very difficult people. 47 years we put up with it. The SS Cole, you go back all the way. Thousands of people, thousands of Americans were killed, a lot of soldiers were killed.

[Buck Sexton]

Clay Trump here, I think, is seeing the big picture while also trying to keep in his sights the midterms coming up. Right. On the one hand, it's trying to stabilize a situation in the Middle east that has bedeviled previous administrations going back for decades and prevent them from the nuclear breakout, but also prevent them from continuing to cause endless. If you look at most of the national security challenges, certainly of the last five years in the Middle east, the Iranian fingerprints are not just on them. I mean, it is Iran's hand that is pushing so much of this, because you could say, well, look at Hamas. You know, Hamas historically certainly has a lot of ties to Iran, and Hezbollah is very much an Iranian Proxy army operating in Lebanon. So Iran is the big challenge in the Middle East. Trump is taking that on. It's not a perfect straight line. It is taking a bit more maneuvering, which I did anticipate here, wasn't going to be just we shut off the Iranian oil and then they're going to do everything we want. But I feel like Trump would still do this if he, even if he went back in time. I think he's, he's devoted to this.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah, look, I mean, this is kind of a trust but verify and he found out that he couldn't trust Iran. I think he's super frustrated over the way it went. But he gave them an opportunity to step off the crazy train and they weren't able to do it. And I will say, I think this kind of goes to the challenge that is out there, which is there are multiple competing interests inside of Iran. And so I think there are radical elements that want this peace agreement to not work. And they are working against some of what other members of the Iranian leadership says publicly. And, and we don't really know who has the ability to move anything in Iran. And it may well be that nobody does. Look, I want to tell you, everybody likes a deal. Team at Rapid Radios know that too. That's why they put together a great deal on their modern day walkie talkies. This is the first time you can get two or more Rapid radios free when you make a purchase using their bundling plan. Rapid Radios operate like walkie talkies nationwide range, allowing you to connect across the country. They keep you in communication with family, friends, coworkers when cell phone service is out or you're in a dead zone. And they're great to have on hand in case of an emergency. Compact, easy to hold in the palm of your hand. Operate on battery power can last up to five days. Super durable, 100% private, 256 bit encryption. You don't sign a contract. No monthly fees. A reasonable annual renewal fee. Go to rapid radios.com bundle. When you buy two radios, you get one completely free. Need even more, you buy four, you get two free. Every bundle includes a full year of service and free shipping. Visit rapidradios.com bundle that's rapidradios.com bundle. Laugh, learn, hang with the guys right there.

[Buck Sexton]

When you need a most, Clay and Buck, just preset them on the Iheart app.

[Clay Travis]

Welcome back in Clay and Buck. We're talking about the fact that inflation is starting to come back down. If you are out there right now and you got high credit card balances high interest debt perfect 10 mortgage new mortgage company coming on the program perfect 10 trust me on this perfect 10 mortgage perfect 10 like Nadia K back in the day why perfect 1010 minutes to complete an application. 10 days to close. You can take advantage of the equity you've already built, pay off all that high interest debt, roll it into one simpler monthly payment. Smart way to take back control of your money. 10 minutes close in 10 days perfect 10 mortgage just like Nadia Comanic back in the day got the first ever perfect 10 perfect10 mortgage.com perfect10 mortgage DBA Network funding LP&MLS 2297 equal housing lender all borrowers must qualify Advertisement Not a promise to make a loan sign perfect10mortgage.com Go put it in your phone. Get hooked up today. Save yourself some money. Perfect10 Mortgage.com Buck we're going to talk about Amy Coney Barrett in a moment. You and I, unfortunately, and certainly a lot of people are dealing with what happened with Charlie Kirk. There's a lot of danger out there in the world right now and there's also a lot of conspiracy theories. And you were out yesterday. A lot of people are questioning what happened. Senator Lindsey Graham, rest in peace. His sister has now been elevated. She's going to be sworn in, will immediately take over to fulfill his term. They're going to have a quick primary in South Carolina. Trump was asked, I want you guys to hear from Trump himself. Is there anything suspicious about Lindsey Graham's death? He wanted to address that directly. He just did it in the Oval Office. Cut 33 from President Trump.

[President Donald Trump]

He had a problem. His father had a very similar problem. As you know, it's very unique. At first I heard it was clogged arteries because he did have clogged arteries. He had a problem with, with that. He was I wish he took better care of himself. What happened is actually something that's very hard to detect. It was not related to the any blockage. It was a totally different thing. And, and this is something that that is very almost undetectable. You can detect it by if you have a very bad back, that's a sign. It's a bad sign. So if anybody has a bad back, it's a pretty rough thing to think about. But the fact that's one of the primary signs and he would tell me he had a bad back but little did anyone realize it was for that. So and when that bursts, which it did, it bursts. There's not much. So I don't see a lot of evil there. I don't I know there's all sorts of conspiracy theories going along and I don't think the FBI I think the FBI is wasting their time if they're doing that.

[Clay Travis]

Okay. So Buck, you were out yesterday but I said that we were texting and I was initially suspicious because he just come back from Ukraine. Russia obviously and Iran are not fans of Lindsey Graham and the policies for which he has advocated but it sounds like this is just a ruptured aorta. He had a heart attack.

[Buck Sexton]

It does happen. People get old. It's very sad. It's you know it's we I know you gave a bit of an in memoriam for Lindsey Graham yesterday. We'll talk more to Senator Blackburn about that later. But yeah, it's a heart attack. I think that's pretty clear at this point. I don't think the if the IRGC has a special laser gun that can make people have heart attacks, we got big problems. Everybody.