3/10/25: Recession prep starts as corporate media ignores Bernie

Summary

The David Pakman Show: Episode Summary – March 10, 2025

Title: Recession Prep Starts as Corporate Media Ignores Bernie
Host: David Pakman
Release Date: March 10, 2025

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Bernie Sanders' Resounding Midwest Rallies

Timestamp: [00:07] – [03:10]

David Pakman opens the episode by highlighting Bernie Sanders' significant success in the Midwest, where he is drawing larger crowds than his political adversaries. Despite these impressive turnout numbers, corporate media outlets are notably absent in their coverage.

"Bernie Sanders is out there packing arenas in the Midwest. He's drawing larger crowds than Trump did… corporate media can't be bothered to cover it because why would they want to acknowledge that there's a Democrat actually doing what we've been saying Democrats need to do."
— David Pakman [00:07]

Pakman emphasizes that Sanders is effectively reaching out to working-class communities, discussing critical issues like wages, healthcare, and corporate greed. He contrasts this with the corporate media's preference for more sensationalist and divisive narratives, which do not promote substantial progressive messages.

Cenk Uygur on Elon Musk's Influence in Politics

Timestamp: [03:10] – [04:55]

Cenk Uygur joins the discussion to critique Elon Musk's interference in political processes, specifically targeting a Supreme Court election in Wisconsin.

"I want you to think about what that means. If this guy can intervene in a Supreme Court election in one state, you tell me what mayor's race, what governor's race, what senate race he cannot buy."
— Cenk Uygur [03:10]

Uygur underscores the dangers of allowing billionaires like Musk to wield disproportionate influence over democratic institutions, advocating for a reevaluation of the corrupt campaign finance system.

Activism vs. Corporate Media's Narrative Control

Timestamp: [04:55] – [18:35]

David Pakman delves deeper into the theme of activism, contrasting online engagement with real-world action. He lauds Bernie Sanders for mobilizing mass rallies that challenge the entrenched corporate media narratives.

"Bernie is doing it. And what we are seeing right now is that the second a Democrat actually challenges the billionaires who fund the networks, you get a blackout."
— David Pakman [04:55]

Pakman argues that corporate media prefers a passive working class that consumes content rather than engages in activism. He criticizes the media’s reluctance to cover progressive movements that threaten the status quo, labeling them as less "interesting" compared to narratives that perpetuate division and scapegoating.

Trump’s Policies Fueling Economic Downturn

Timestamp: [18:35] – [24:30]

Pakman transitions to analyzing the economic impact of Donald Trump's policies during his second term. He attributes the current economic strain to Trump's tariffs, corporate tax cuts, and mass layoffs within federal agencies.

"Trump and Elon Musk have decided that that's good for you and that you're just going to do it. Higher prices, layoffs, inflation, a recession, yet another day of triple-digit stock market declines."
— David Pakman [04:55]

He highlights that Trump's aggressive economic maneuvers are disproportionately benefiting the wealthy while imposing hardships on the average American, leading to reduced consumer spending and broader economic contraction.

Maria Bartiromo's Interview with Trump: Admission of Economic Strain

Timestamp: [24:30] – [44:53]

The episode features an in-depth discussion of Maria Bartiromo’s interview with Donald Trump, where Trump ambiguously addresses the potential for a recession under his administration. Pakman critiques Trump's evasive answers and his tendency to shift blame onto previous administrations.

Key Exchanges:

• Maria Bartiromo: "A Fox News host is now admitting recession is coming under Donald Trump, but it will be the fault of Joe Biden."
  — David Pakman [00:07 - Reference to Interview Segments]

• Trump on Recession:

  "I hate to predict things like that. There is a period of transition because what we're doing is very big… I think it should be great for us. I mean, I think it should be great."
  — Donald Trump [25:27]

Pakman dissects Trump's reluctance to directly acknowledge the economic downturn, interpreting his statements as an implicit admission that his policies are contributing to the recession.

"Trump knows he cannot say, of course we're not going to have a recession, Maria. Of course we're not going to have a recession. Not under my watch."
— David Pakman [25:52]

Furthermore, Trump’s interactions with Maria Bartiromo reveal a pattern of deflection and obfuscation, particularly when addressing critical economic questions or policy inconsistencies.

Analyzing Trump’s Economic Narrative and Accountability

Timestamp: [44:53] – [54:08]

In the latter part of the episode, Pakman urges listeners to hold Trump accountable for his economic promises. He scrutinizes Trump's shifting stance on defense spending and his failure to deliver on campaign pledges to reduce costs.

"You were supposed to believe that your suffering is for the good of the country while they sit in their private jets and Air Force One watching from above."
— David Pakman [00:07]

Pakman emphasizes the importance of evaluating presidents based on their actual policy outcomes rather than partisan narratives. He calls for a realistic assessment of Trump's impact on the economy, urging listeners to recognize the tangible consequences of his administration's actions.

Conclusion: The Urgency of Economic Accountability

David Pakman concludes the episode by reiterating the necessity of accountability in leadership, especially concerning economic policies that directly affect the working class. He encourages proactive engagement and activism as essential tools for combating corporate media bias and fostering genuine political change.

"Economic realities don't care about partisan narratives. They just are what they are."
— David Pakman [Final Segment]

Pakman’s comprehensive analysis underscores the critical intersection of media influence, political activism, and economic policy, providing listeners with a nuanced understanding of the current political and economic landscape.

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Notable Quotes:

1. "Bernie Sanders is out there packing arenas in the Midwest. He's drawing larger crowds than Trump did… corporate media can't be bothered to cover it because why would they want to acknowledge that there's a Democrat actually doing what we've been saying Democrats need to do."
   — David Pakman [00:07]

2. "I want you to think about what that means. If this guy can intervene in a Supreme Court election in one state, you tell me what mayor's race, what governor's race, what senate race he cannot buy."
   — Cenk Uygur [03:10]

3. "Donald Trump and his billionaire pals are invested in maintaining and expanding the military just as much as any other Republican."
   — David Pakman [Various Segments]

4. "Economic realities don't care about partisan narratives. They just are what they are."
   — David Pakman [Final Segment]

This detailed summary encapsulates the key discussions and insights from the episode, providing a coherent and informative overview for those who haven't listened to the full podcast.

Transcript

[David Pakman]

Welcome to the show. Hope you had a good weekend. Bernie Sanders certainly did. Bernie is selling out venues all over the Midwest with monster rallies and corporate media will not cover it. Bernie Sanders is out there packing arenas in the Midwest. He's drawing larger crowds than Trump did. He's actually talking to workers. And corporate media can't be bothered to cover it because why would they want to acknowledge that there's a Democrat actually doing what we've been saying Democrats need to do. Go to working class communities, speak to the average worker and make a real economic case. Check out some of these headlines. Bernie Sanders draws 10,000 supporters to Warren. That's Warren, Michigan for a fight oligarchy rally. Oligarchy. Bernie Sanders draws capacity crowd in Kenosha. About 3500 people attend senators rally at University of Wisconsin Parkside. Look at this crowd in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Bernie leading massive rallies in Warren, Michigan on Saturday. The night before he was in Kenosha, filling that venue with more people than Donald Trump. That's the same Kenosha where Trump went to exploit racial tensions back in 2020. But Bernie was there talking about wages and health care and corporate greed. Bernie not whining and dining socialites at Mar a Lago and giving them well done steaks that look disgusting. He's making an actual case to working people about why they're getting screwed. Who is screwing them? Both people and systems and how to fix it. And this is not an interesting narrative to corporate media. I mean, just sit back for a moment and think, how would corporate media cover such an event? There is no convenient scapegoat. There's no weaponization of grievance politics in the way that Trump does it, which plays much better for corporate media. Corporate media does not want to acknowledge that the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, and I'm talking about the reasonable progressive wings, not the fringe stuff that the right likes to focus on, just working class progressivism. People who are concerned primarily with going to their job and providing a reasonable standard of living to their families. That is drawing massive crowds and it's energizing real voters. And corporate media has nothing for it. Let's take a look at just a little bit of this Bernie rally in Wisconsin over the weekend.

[Cenk Uygur]

That and Musk is so arrogant that he is even intervening in a Supreme Court election right here in the state of Wisconsin against a candidate who has the very, very extreme idea that maybe women should be able to control their own bodies, not the government. Now, you know, now whatever your view may be on this Supreme Court election, I think what everybody, no matter what your position should be, should make it clear to the wealthiest person on earth that he cannot buy an election here in Wisconsin.

[David Pakman]

Well, he's trying to.

[Cenk Uygur]

And I want you to think about what that means. If this guy can intervene in a Supreme Court election in one state, you tell me what mayor's race, what governor's race, what senate race he cannot buy. So we have got to deal with this corrupt campaign finance system.

[David Pakman]

Listen, you've got to hand it to him. One of the things I've been talking about for years, one of the things I write about in the chapter in my book about activism that really works, includes mass rallies at urban centers and getting people out in the real world beyond just watching YouTube videos, signing petitions and all of that stuff. Stuff, which is fine and to the extent that that gets people involved, that's great. But the next step to real action is going out in the world and doing something and Bernie is doing it. And what we are seeing right now is that the second a Democrat actually challenges the billionaires who fund the networks, you get a blackout. And the reality is corporate media doesn't want a working class populist message taking center stage. They want the working class sitting at home and watching tv. And you know, to some degree, people write to me, they go, you know, David, you sometimes almost seem like you're advocating people not watch your show and do other types of activism. Watching the show is not activism. I've made it clear many times the point of this show, watching the show by itself is not activism. My hope is, is that a portion of the people who watch the show or listen to the show will say, I have a grasp of what some of the problems are. I understand, I'm hopefully getting an understanding of how power works and I am going to go out there and do something in the real world. And that's what Bernie is doing. That's what Bernie is advocating. That's what I talk about in the book. And if you are corporate media, you realize that if people take the Bernie message and say, I'm going to get out of my house and I'm going to go organize and activate, number one, you're not going to have as much time to sit there and watch 24 hour news. But more importantly, you are going to reject the corporatist structure that is implicit from corporate media. It's not interesting to legacy media. So if you're wondering why they won't cover Bernie's packed rallies, it's because they know what it would mean. For that to become the prevailing political narrative. They know that this is a threat threat and they really don't want the rest of the country to notice. We'll continue covering Bernie's rallies and he's doing great stuff. You are going to suffer. And Trump and Elon Musk have decided that that's good for you and that you're just going to do it. Higher prices, layoffs, inflation, a recession, yet another day of triple digit stock market declines. Don't worry. If you're concerned, don't worry. These uber rich men have decided you must endure the pain for the greater good. Now, the greater good, of course, is their wealth and their power and their political ambitions and their priorities. Let's talk about what's happening. We are barely into Donald Trump's second term, and to say that the cracks are showing is an understatement. Trump's new wave of tariffs have started to send costs soaring. Everything from cars to food to construction materials are getting more expensive. All because Trump wants to wage economic war against China, Canada, Mexico, Denmark. Right. I mean, we'll see how far this goes. But you were the one who is paying for it. Federal agencies are slashing jobs. This is part of Donald Trump's effort to gut the so called deep state. The problem is that those layoffs ripple through the economy, meaning fewer people have money to go and buy stuff. Meaning businesses that have nothing to do with the government have fewer customers and have to start laying people off. And economic contraction. But GDP Q1, now expected to decline 2.8%. Meanwhile, Trump wants to slash corporate taxes again, which would explode the deficit. And they love to pretend it'll trickle down to workers. It never does, never has. And this is where Elon Musk comes in. Worth over $200 billion at this point. He has also decided that the economy must suffer and you are going to suffer. And. And he is on board. He's been cheerleading Trump's tariffs, despite the fact that they will make everything more expensive. He's pushing the laying off of people all over the government through Doge. He has pushed that there will be some necessary economic pain because in this world, recessions are a market correction and it is time to correct. For Elon, that means scooping up companies on the cheap, negotiating nepotistic government contracts. But for you, it means job losses and it means higher prices. But he's decided it's worth it. He's decided what you are going to suffer through. And Trump and Musk have been selling this disaster as necessary. It's a reset it's patriotism. We'll hear some examples of this later in the show. You were supposed to believe that your suffering is for the good of the country while they sit in their private jets and Air Force One watching from above. Now, things were fine under Biden. The economy wasn't perfect. There was still poverty. This is a country of 340 million people with issues to solve. But every major economic indicator was fine. The stock market did well, unemployment was low, job creation was high, Wage growth exceeded inflation. But now things are getting worse under Trump and they're getting worse quickly. And they want you to believe simultaneously this is for your own good. And if we can't convince you of that, it's Biden's fault, this is great for you. But if you don't like it, blame Biden. I hate to break it to you, especially if you're a Trump supporter who thinks this is some, you know, there's a pot of gold at the end of this rainbow. There is no long term gain for you. These policies don't make America stronger. They, they make billionaires richer and they make us geopolitically weaker and more humiliated. The economy doesn't correct itself in your favor. The economy corrects itself in their favor. And if you dare complain, you will be told by Trump and Elon and JP Mandel and whoever, you've got to tough it out because Trump's doing some really great stuff here. We just have no evidence of how great it is. This is the billionaire class deciding you will pay the price for their vision of America. They won't suffer the consequences. And let me tie this briefly into the deep state. You all know that I am not a believer in the deep state conspiracy theories in the sense that there isn't a shadowy cabal of people who are really the ones in charge. You know, when Vivek Ramaswamy was on this show, I said, vivek, who? Who are the people? I was like an owl. Who? Who? And he struggled, visibly struggling. And he goes, you know, David, it's, it's people like Susan Rice. So what's more likely, what's more plausible, that there's a secret cabal we know nothing about and the only person whose name we can come up with that's in charge is Susan Rice? Or is the so called deep state actually a superficial state right in front of our eyes? It's the people who are obviously in charge. It's the billionaires on Trump's cabinet. It's Trump, it's Elon, it's the Peter Thiel's and the hedge funds. And you don't need the deep state conspiracy theory because it's the billionaire class deciding that you're going to pay so that they can execute their vision. No conspiracy theory needed. They're telling us there will be some short term pain. Not for them because they've got billions, but for you. Will the Magaz come to recognize this? I don't know. I don't know. We are potentially a day or two away from reaching 3 million YouTube subscribers. Help us get there. Flattering. Flattering to see these numbers and remember that there are just a few days left to get signed copies of my book, the Echo Machine. The book will be out in two weeks and a day, I guess. Wait, no. 1112, 1125, 14. Yeah, two weeks in a day. And there's I think about a couple hundred signed copies left, except exclusively at Brookline Booksmith. Go to David pakman.com/booksmith. Remember, you can order on Barnes and Noble Amazon. Any format counts. We'll take a quick break and be right back. Millions of Americans grind or clench teeth at night and most don't even know it. If you have jaw pain, headaches, there's a great chance you are one of them. Teeth grinding is often caused by stress and it'll erode your teeth and enamel. And it can lead to some expensive dentist bills. The solution can be a mouth guard. Dentist made mouth guards can cost hundreds of dollars. That's where our sponsor Remy Helps Remy makes dental grade professional quality mouth guards with no painful price tag. Up to 80% less expensive than what you'd pay at the dentist. And you don't have to go to the dentist for one. Remy's process is simple. They send you an at home impression kit to mold your teeth. You send it back, their dental team will make a custom fit guard. Remy's guards are so comfortable, most customers forget that they are wearing them. I often use a mouth guard when I sleep. It's been a game changer. No more pain during the day. I'm saving my teeth. And with a 45 night satisfaction guarantee, you can try it risk free. Go to shopremi.com pacman Use the code PACMAN to save up to 50%. That's shop r e m I.com pacman Use code PACMAN for up to 50% off. The link is in the podcast notes. Winter is the perfect time to cozy up at home with some freshly baked treats like flaky pastries, hearty breads, comforting pastas. And you can do it without any effort. Our sponsor, Wild Grain is the first bake from frozen subscription box for artisanal breads, pastries and pastas. Wild Grain simply takes the hassle out of baking everything bakes from frozen in 25 minutes or less. No mess or cleanup. Your family will be amazed thinking you've become a master bread baker all of a sudden. My favorite is the croissants. You throw them in the oven 25 minutes. Wow. If you're ready to bring all your favorite breads, pastas and pastries right to your doorstep, check out Wild Grain. You can build your box of artisanal pastries, breads and everything right now. And for a limited time, Wild Grain will give my audience $30 off your first box plus free croissants in every box when you go to wild grain.com/pacman to start your subscription. Free croissants in every box and $30 off your first box. Go to wildgrain.com/pacman the link is in the podcast Notes the David Pakman show is an audience supported program. Thank you to all of our members who have signed up@join pacman.com as we continue to see corporate media totally disregard the Bernie rallies and this movement for economic justice because it's just not interesting to them. Remember that if you have a cable subscription, you are funding those very channels that are failing to deliver what we need right now. An alternative is you can directly support shows that you like. Maybe it's this one. You can go to join pacman.com and grab yourself a membership. A Fox News host is now admitting recession is coming under Donald Trump, but it will be the fault of Joe Biden. That's right. Joe Biden, president for four years, was terrible for the economy, even though we could find no economic indicator that proved that. But now, months after Biden is out of office, the truly destructive subterfuge of his economic policies will finally come to light and hurt the economy. Now, it's not Trump's tariffs. It's not Trump cutting government programs and laying off thousands of federal workers and generally behaving like an unpredictable toddler. Got it. It's Biden's policies, which had no negative impact for four years. They are now coming to light. Here is Maria Bartiromo on Fox News over the weekend saying, you know, I said this thing on Twitter about how it would be Biden's recession and it would be Biden's recession and now they're coming after me.

[Maria Bartiromo]

That's by the way, that's why I said earlier it would be Biden's recession. And I know the haters out there will slam me later. The other day they went nuts on me on Twitter. I mean X, I said, well, how come I don't see any Dodge Rams or Dodge pickup trucks in Europe? And they went nuts on it. But it's true. I see all the Mercedes and the Audis and the home Mercedes on yards here in America. I don't see any of the American made cars there.

[David Pakman]

That's it.

[Maria Bartiromo]

That's the point I was making, Steve.

[David Pakman]

Well, yeah, and the reason why is look at the quality of the average German car and look at the quality of the app. What, what do you think is a better car? A little Audi A1 or. I don't even want to disparage. Fill in the blanks, folks. Okay, now on the issue of it would be Biden's recession, let's really unpack. We're all packed up. We've got to unpack it because it's a fascinating example of how political narratives will often clash with economic reality and how the transition of power between presidents is often totally misrepresented in partizan discourse. So let's start by just establishing the timeline. Joe Biden left office almost two months ago. During Biden's presidency, by most measurable economic indicators. The economy was strong, unemployment was low. You could go, well, it was low for unemployment was low. And we've measured it the same way for 55 years. Job growth was consistent, GDP growth was steady. And now, two months into Donald Trump's presidency, the economy is showing signs of strain. We see volatile stock markets. As I record this once again, after numerous days of stock market declines, the dow is down 500 points. The NASDAQ is down 600 points. If it closed right now, I believe this would be the worst day for the NASDAQ in I don't know how long. Consumer confidence is dipping. Consumer spending dropped by the biggest margin from January to February, and we are now talking about a possible recession. So how does Maria Bartiromo connect the dots? She says that the recession we are now facing is the result of Biden's policies, which miraculously are only now starting to take effect. Now, I want to be objective here. I don't. I make no effort to hide that I am on the political left, but I also want to be as objective as I can when it comes to these economic indicators. My opinion is it's better for abortion to be legal. It is a fact that we don't want to over blame or under blame presidents who can't and don't control everything. There are global business cycles, ups and downs. Presidents, however, can bend the curve, so to speak. And what has Trump been doing since he got back in the White House? Well, let's see. Massive new tariffs, which will make everything more expensive, which lead to retaliatory tariffs, which will make everything more expensive. Cutting government programs, meaning fewer jobs and reduced economic stability. The layoffs of federal workers, which directly reduce consumer spending, pushes for deregulation, which will set the stage for even further economic instability. And if Biden's policies were so disastrous, why didn't they cause a recession during his presidency? Why did the economy thrive under his administration, only to suddenly collapse two months after he left office? The answer is simple. Because the current economic downturn has way more to do with what Trump is doing than what Biden did two months ago, 12 months ago, 24, 36, or 48 months ago. Sometimes the simplest explanation is the right one. When the economy is doing well, partizans are quick to credit their side. When it's doing poorly, they're even quicker to blame the other side. This is a pattern we've seen time and time again. During Trump's first term, Republicans were quick to credit him for the strong economy he inherited from Obama, even though the effects of Obama's policies were in play. Now we're seeing the inverse. Biden is being blamed for an economic downturn that is occurring under Trump's watch. And it's not just intellectually dishonest, the way this is being handled. It's a deliberate attempt to rewrite history and shift the blame. Now, here's the truth. Presidents do not have absolute control over the economy. They can influence it, certainly. But the idea that Biden's policies are somehow responsible for a recession on a delay months after he left office is absurd. If anything, the current economic challenges are related to specific policies. This is not just we blame Trump because he's president. We have to ask ourselves the question, what changed? I'm going to give you an example. The day after Biden took office, In January of 2021, immediately every border crossing by an undocumented immigrant was blamed on Biden. Biden had not yet done anything. And so we have to zoom out and say, country of 340 million, almost no matter what your policies are, some people are going across the border illegally. Maybe it's not about Trump or Biden policies. Maybe it's that this is just a thing that happens in the United States to some degree, no matter what the policies are on the other hand now there's a whole list of things that Trump is doing that are different. The trade war, laying off federal workers, belligerent statements about what he's going to do next. So we aren't just generically saying Trump's president so it's his fault. We are saying he has bent the curve by changing policy. So if there is a recession, it's not Biden's recession. You know who else they're going to try to blame if they can?

[Donald Trump]

Obama.

[David Pakman]

Yeah, it's not Obama's recession. It would be a Trump session, the result of the policies and actions of the current administration. We've got to hold them accountable. Because if there's one thing we should have learned by now, it's that economic realities don't care about partizan narratives. They just are what they are. Donald Trump is now acknowledging, yes, a recession might be coming. Now he's hemming and hawing about the causes, but he is not denying that that may be the case. Donald Trump was interviewed over the weekend by Fox News brownnoser Maria Bartiromo, and she asked him, are you expecting a recession this year? And here's what he said.

[Maria Bartiromo]

Because there are rising worries about a slowdown. You've got the Atlanta Federal Reserve saying we're going to have a contraction in the first quarter. Look, I know that you inherited a mess and you've been here. Are you expecting a recession this year?

[Donald Trump]

I hate to predict things like that. There is a period of transition because what we're doing is very big. We're bringing wealth back to America. That's a big thing. And there are always periods of it takes a little time. It takes a little time, but a little dime. I think it should be great for us. I mean, I think it should be great.

[David Pakman]

I hate to predict things like that. Trump predicted a Biden recession, a complete and total stock market collapse, the likes of the Great Depression of 1929. Hundreds of times when running against Biden in 2020 and when running against Harris in 2024, hundreds of times he predicted the the economy will be in the toilet, the stock market will crash, your 401ks will be wiped out. He now says, I don't like to make predictions like that, but it will be a period of transition. The critical thing here is that Trump knows he cannot say, of course we're not going to have a recession, Maria. Of course we're not going to have a recession. Not under my watch. In other words, yes, I am expecting a recession this year. But the critical part, even if he doesn't call it a recession, is that Trump is linking his actions to whatever happens. Now Trump is saying, we're going to do things and it will be great and we're going to do things and there will be a period of transition. Whatever you call it, whatever he calls it, he is admitting that, that what happens will be a result of what he does. Thanks to me, things will happen. Well, then let's hold him accountable for those things. He also added in another moment there could be disruption. This is another code for you're going to get screwed. He's decided you were going to sacrifice by any longer.

[Donald Trump]

Yeah, because there was nobody to call him. I used to call President Xi. I said, you got to do me a favor. You got to, you know, live up to that agreement. And he was great. He did.

[Maria Bartiromo]

Before you came into the Oval Office the first time, you were a very successful businessman, very successful real estate executive.

[David Pakman]

Yes. Says who?

[Maria Bartiromo]

And a lot of people said, oh, this is the business President. This is it. He's watching the stock market. He knows all about, you know, he doesn't want the market to go down. And now we've got tariffs and the market has been going down.

[Donald Trump]

Well, not much. I mean, in all fairness, you said.

[Maria Bartiromo]

Look, we're going to have a disruption.

[David Pakman]

Not much. It's simply given back all gains since the November election and then some and is now turned negative.

[Maria Bartiromo]

But we're okay with that. Is that what you meant? The stock market going down was the disruption. What other options were you alluding to?

[Donald Trump]

Look, what I have to do is build a strong country. You can't really watch the stock market. If you look at China, they have a hundred year perspective. We have.

[David Pakman]

So Trump now, as the stock market is inconvenient, says you can't watch it. When he was president, every all time high was a daily press conference and a tweet and a public statement and a topic of conversation at the press briefings. But now, you know, I'm not watching the stock market.

[Donald Trump]

Maria Porter. We go by quarters.

[Maria Bartiromo]

That's true.

[Donald Trump]

And you can't go by that. You have to do what's right, what we're doing.

[David Pakman]

All right. I hope you all see where this is going. I hope he is bracing for a recession he seems to predict is coming and is trying to figure out a way to say we have a longer term view. Trump also said he will be weaponizing the DOJ against many law firms that he says have dishonest people working out.

[Maria Bartiromo]

I just saw you sign executive orders for, for law firms. One of the law firms was Perkins Cooey or. Yeah, that was the law firm that had the Steele dossier.

[Donald Trump]

Yeah, they had the Steele dossier. They had a lot of other things. And we have a lot of law firms that we're going to be going after because they were very dishonest people. They were very, very dishonest. I could go point after point after point.

[David Pakman]

Dishonesty, Alleged dishonesty. A justification to the President of the United States to sic the Department of Justice on a law firm. That's not chilling. I don't know what is. And finally, Trump asked by Maria, this five million dollar gold card thing where you can buy citizenship, isn't it possible that China will take advantage of it? And Trump says yes.

[Maria Bartiromo]

How do you know the Chinese are not going to take advantage of it and exploit it? Didn't they. They do that with student visas?

[Donald Trump]

They may, they may. But they don't have to do that. They can do it in other ways.

[David Pakman]

They may indeed. They may indeed. Trump's latest harebrained scheme. 5 million bucks for citizenship. We're in trouble, folks. We're in deep, serious trouble here.

[Unknown]

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[David Pakman]

Hot or cold water.

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[David Pakman]

Notes Donald Trump's brain turned to mush while sitting at his desk in the Oval Office saying they rigged the election and I became president. Who is the they and what on earth is is this guy talking about?

[Donald Trump]

It was so sad because I said, can you imagine? I'm not going to be president. And that's too bad. And then what happened is they rigged the election and I became president. So that was a good thing. That was a good thing. That was quite a. Quite an achievement for both of us. I'll be president during the World cup and during the Olympics, which we were.

[David Pakman]

It was this immediately led to a lot of people saying he's admitting that he rigged the election in his favor. What they are claiming Trump meant here is that Democrats rigged the election against Trump and despite that rigging, he still was able to win. It wasn't Trump who did the rigging. Trump was the victim of the rigging and he still won. Your mileage may vary with that explanation. Donald Trump was asked a question about the reports of clashes between Elon Musk and Marco Rubio. Well documented Clashes at this point in time. And Trump's answer to tell the reporter, you're not supposed to be asking that question. What?

[Donald Trump]

Since you last spoke about it yesterday, some details have come out about your captain meeting with Elon Musk and some clashes eventually. Secretary Rubio and Secretary no clash. I was there. You're just a troublemaker and you're not supposed to be asking that question because we're talking about the World Cup. Elon gets along great with Marco and they're both doing a fantastic job. There is no clash. Mr. President, who are you?

[David Pakman]

Who are you with the classic. And that's a classic authoritarian intimidator question. Who are you with? NBC.

[Donald Trump]

I wonder who has more authority. Any other questions about the World Cup?

[David Pakman]

The question who has more authority? Who has a higher level of authority? Elon Musk or Cabinet secretaries is actually a perfect question. I don't know who the reporter is there from NBC, which Trump didn't like. It's an excellent question because it really has to go to. Can an unelected billionaire that you brought in not subject to oversight, not subject to Senate confirmation? Does that person supersede in terms of authority, the cabinet members who have gone through a period of discovery and questioning and answering questions and a vote and Senate confirmation? Who is actually in charge here? And Trump doesn't like the question. You're not supposed to ask that question. He, he says Trump was asked an economic question. Again, these questions are so basic. Do you worry that laying off so many government workers is going to hurt the economy? Because all these people will be out of jobs, they won't have money with which to buy things. Trump says what are you.

[Donald Trump]

That the large scale federal government layoffs will weaken the labor market. How concerned are you about large scale fentanyl? What?

[David Pakman]

Oh, that is rich. Are you concerned that the large scale federal government layoffs will weaken the label labor market? Trump goes the fentanyl. What? The fentanyl. What?

[Donald Trump]

The large scale federal government layoffs will weaken the labor market. How concerned are you about large scale fentanyl? What? Federal government layoffs will impact the labor market, will weaken the labor market? No, I think the labor market is going to be fantastic, but it's, it's.

[David Pakman]

All going to be great. Now, I didn't, I don't, I don't know what you're talking about, but it's all just going to be really good. Just mush. It's mayonnaise up there in the brain. Trump was asked about Ben Shapiro's push to pardon Derek Chauvin he's the police officer convicted for murdering George Floyd. And Trump just goes, haven't heard about it. Your allies are calling on you to pardon Derek Chauvin. Are you considering pardoning Derek Chauvin?

[Donald Trump]

No, I haven't even heard about it.

[David Pakman]

Nope, he hasn't heard about it. Hey, that's actually, it's a direct answer. And good. It's actually good that that hasn't made its way to Trump, if that's true. And then finally, are any of you surprised to hear Trump say that it's become tough to deal with Ukraine and maybe they'll just finalize a deal only with Russia? There's an idea.

[Donald Trump]

If I may, President Putin is bombing Ukraine. Yeah. Do you still believe him when. When he tells you that he wants peace? You know, I believe him. I believe him. I think we're doing very well with Russia, but right now they're bombing the hell out of Ukraine. And Ukraine, I'm, I'm finding it more difficult, frankly, to deal with Ukraine.

[David Pakman]

We know.

[Donald Trump]

And they don't have the cards. They don't have the cards. As you know, we're meeting in Saudi Arabia on sometime next week early, and we're talking. I find that in terms of getting a final settlement, it may be easier dealing with Russia, which is surprising because they have.

[David Pakman]

You know, I'm actually thinking of maybe just making a deal only with the aggressive invading force. What a surprise. He would rather only deal with Vladimir Putin. What a sad and tragic state of affairs we find ourselves in. Donald Trump was also disoriented on Air Force One, where he attempted to answer some relatively simple questions, and he was unable and unwilling to. A reporter asked Trump, do you believe Putin is disrespecting you by continuing to bomb Ukraine? And Trump goes with his. Who are you with? He doesn't like these questions, folks.

[Donald Trump]

This week, disrespecting you by attacking Ukraine when you're trying to. Putin disrespecting you by attacking Ukraine. What did he do? Well, he's attacking Ukraine. Is he disrespecting me? Who. Who are you with?

[David Pakman]

I'm Michael Burnbaugh from Washington.

[Donald Trump]

You've lost a lot of credibility. Go ahead. What else?

[David Pakman]

It's a. It's actually a really good question. You claim to be in control here as the big boy of negotiations around global conflict, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and you claim that both sides, Putin and Zelensky, respect you, and they're going to listen to you. And we're getting close to a cease fire and to Peace, thanks to your strong negotiation. And in the meantime, Putin goes and just keeps bombing Ukraine. Isn't that a sign of disrespect? Isn't that a sign that Putin doesn't take you seriously as an arbiter and he'll do whatever the hell he wants? Who are you with? Oh, the Washington Post. You've lost a lot of credibility. A lot of credibility. Trump was asked about recent plane crashes, and this isn't about blaming Trump. It's just about. As usual, Trump's responses to everything are completely incoherent.

[Donald Trump]

Department is being gutted. He's been, you know, dealing with these crashes ever since he was sworn in. Does he have a legitimate concern? Well, that has nothing to do with the department. That was a small plane. And that would have happened whether you had a big department or a small department. As you understand, it's just there. And they have space like this. You know, they have times when things happen a little bit more often than normal, and then it goes back and you go many years without having a problem. I'll tell you, I think the Southwest pilot did a fantastic job last week when he lifted that plane off the air, because if he put the brakes on, that wouldn't have been good.

[David Pakman]

That's it, folks. I mean, you know, there are times where things happen a little bit more often, and then you have years without a problem. This guy has the nuclear codes. Another sign that Trump doesn't even really know why, what his policies are that are in force. A reporter asked Trump, would you consider lifting the intelligence pause on Ukraine? Intelligence sharing with Ukraine, we were told, was paused. And Trump goes, we just about have lifted it.

[Donald Trump]

Would you consider lifting the intel pause on Ukraine? What does Ukraine. Well, we just about have. I mean, we really just about have, and we want to do anything we can to get Ukraine trained to be serious about getting something done.

[David Pakman]

So a couple possibilities here. Because we weren't told that this intel sharing pause was lifted, it's possible they lied about stopping the sharing of intelligence with Ukraine and they never did it. And now Trump's going, well, we've just about stopped that pause. It's also possible that they are not really stopping the pause and Trump's lying. It's possible they did pause and are now unpausing, and nobody thought to report that. Even though it's extraordinarily relevant in terms of geopolitics and foreign policy, it's anyone's guess. Quite literally, anything could be going on. Trump was asked about lots of people, you, me, and others who look at our retirement accounts, we look at our stock market accounts and we just see that every day is horrible. And Trump goes, oh, don't worry, the tariffs are going to help.

[Donald Trump]

What else?

[David Pakman]

Retirement accounts fall in recent day. You're getting very nervous about these terror.

[Donald Trump]

Oh, I think the tariffs are going to be the greatest thing we've ever done as a country. It's going to make our country rich again. We have many companies, as you know.

[David Pakman]

The tariffs will make us rich. That doesn't make sense.

[Donald Trump]

Companies are opening up plants now. We've had four or five announced already. But many more are coming. And we're basically going to take back the money, a lot of the money that we've given away over many decades. We've lost our jobs, we've lost our factories. We've lost 90,000 factories since the beginning of NAFTA. It's not that long ago. 90,000 factories. Think of that. And we're going to get them back. And they're coming back and they're coming back in.

[David Pakman]

Yeah. So listen, not really an answer. What about all the people whose stocks are crashing and their retirement accounts are crashing? He goes, oh, the tariffs are going to be awesome. Now remember, he has decided that you will sacrifice for his tariffs. That's a decision he made for you. Do you agree with that decision? I certainly don't. And then finally, you worried about a recession. He goes, the tariffs, they're going to make everybody rich.

[Donald Trump]

Where are we? Are we just. We're just about ready to land.

[Maria Bartiromo]

Are you worried about a recession?

[David Pakman]

Maria Martiromo asked you, and you kind of hesitated.

[Donald Trump]

Hesitated. I'll tell you what. Of course you hesitate. Who knows? All I know is this. We're going to take in hundreds of billions of dollars in tariffs and we're going to become so rich you're not going to know where to spend all that money.

[David Pakman]

You're going to. Thanks to my tariffs. You will have coins and bills just popping out of your ears. You won't know what to buy. Quite a prediction. Quite a prediction from a guy who in 3540 days has been as destabilizing to the American economy as any president I can recall in such a short period of time. So do you believe him? To the magazine in my audience. Do you believe the tariffs are going to make you so rich you'll have so much money you don't know where to spend it? I want to hear from you. Info@david pakman.com. let me know. Did you know that countless commercial databases and people search sites are storing your personal information. Anyone from an employer to a former partner can use these platforms to get details about your online presence, your home address, phone number, email, license plate, family members, financial information, even political views. Europe has laws that offer some protection, but in the US the data is widely accessible. Even the FBI will buy this information from companies to spy on people without a search warrant. Our sponsor Incogni provides a solution. It takes just seconds to sign up and Incogni will send removal requests to all of the major data brokers, legally compelling them to get rid of your data. Incogni keeps you informed throughout the process. You'll get real time updates who has complied, which ones are still pending. They'll handle follow ups, they'll handle appeals on your behalf and this will save you hundreds of hours. Very few people have the time or resources to do this on their own. This service can also reduce the number of spam calls and emails you get, since many solicitors and scammers get your information from these very same sources. Go to incogni.com pacman and use the code PACMAN for 60% off. That's incogni.com/pacman for a huge 60% discount. The link is in the podcast Notes the David Pakman Show's finances have gotten hacked before. I've talked about it on the show. The hacker stole a bunch of money. It was not a good feeling. I worry a lot less now that I use Aura, our sponsor. Aura gives me peace of mind by providing some critical layers of security. They continuously monitor the dark web and let me know if information's been exposed. Logins, Social Security numbers, etc. They tell me quickly if anybody tries to use that information to access credit or bank accounts and or also gives me up to $5 million in identity theft insurance should the worst case scenario happen and or also helps me stay safe from getting hacked in the first place with their award winning anti malware software which I can use on all of my devices and Aura has parental controls for kids devices to restrict apps or manage screen time, set focus time. A lot of these things all packaged together in a super easy to use format. Try aura free for two weeks at aura.com/pacman. It only takes a few seconds using the free trial to see if your usernames and passwords are already on the dark web. That's a you are a.com/pacman to try Aura free for two weeks. The link is in the podcast notes Donald Trump's presidency is six weeks old and we've already gone from I will bring egg prices down on day one to shut up about egg prices. The man who spent his campaign railing against the cost of groceries, but who told his followers he would immediately lower prices, is now spending his weekend golfing and reposting an article telling Americans stop complaining about how expensive food still is. Untruth social. Over the weekend, Donald Trump reposted an article in the Daily Caller by Charlie Kirk called Shut up about egg prices. Trump is saving consumers millions. Consider the evolution of Trump on just this one issue. Campaign TRUMP From 2023 to 2024, I will immediately bring prices down. Starting on day one, we're going to bring grocery prices down. We will bring egg prices down. Everything's going to be cheaper. He then became President Elect Trump. And so From November of 24 until Inauguration Day it was now that I have been elected, I am going to bring the prices way down. We then had newly sworn in Trump in January of 2025 who started to hedge, who started to go, well, it can be hard to bring prices down. Egg prices are high because of Biden and because of bird flu. But we're working on it. But it's going to take some time. Ultimately. As recently as a few days ago, Trump retreated to prices are high. It's Biden's fault. They're very difficult to bring down. Really reshaping expectations around this promise. And now Trump is reposting an article that says shut up about the ag prices. He did a speedrun transition from savior of the grocery aisle to stop whining and deal with it. I want you to consider just for a moment, if Joe Biden had reposted an article saying shut up about egg prices, what would the reaction have been from the right wing machine? The outrage machine would have set Twitter on fire. Troth Central would have been ablaze in posts. Fox News would be running 247 emergency coverage and every single right wing influencer would be foaming at the mouth about how Democrats hate the working class. But when Trump does it, it's silence. Even though he said he would be the champion of the working class, even though he made specific promises which we knew he couldn't keep, that he would bring prices down on day one. And the bottom line here for everybody who keeps emailing me saying, David, how could you possibly expect Trump to fix this stuff so quickly? I only am suggesting that we hold Trump to his own promises. Trump ran on a promise to fix inflation immediately. He's been president six weeks. He's done not only nothing to Fix it. He is openly telling Americans, stop complaining. It is time to hold him accountable. I'm going to be going live on TikTok, maybe today, maybe tomorrow. And I am going to welcome Trump supporters to explain to me why it is that we shouldn't hold Trump accountable to his own promises. Or maybe some Trump supporters will join me and they'll be ready with the. Maybe they will bring either the testicular fortitude or ovarian fortitude to say, you know what, he is failing on this issue. We will see. I'll be live on Tik Tok either today or tomorrow. And we'll talk to some people. Remember when we were told even by some on the left, our friend Cenk Uygur was one of these people, Trump will cut defense spending. Elon will cut defense spending. It's going to be awesome. They're going to cut defense spending. Why wouldn't we work with them on that? To which I said to Jenk and others, beautiful, I want to cut defense spending. I don't believe they will do it, but if they do, I will say, congratulations, sir. May I have another? Well, Donald Trump has now told a Fox News host he's not going to cut the Fed. He, he was like to cut the fence spending. What are you talking. No, of course not. Foiled again. Trump says, I never said cut. We're just not cutting defense spending. Here is the mango menace.

[Maria Bartiromo]

You said you wanted to do the Golden Dome. You've got a lot of ideas for America. But then earlier you said you wanted to cut a trillion dollars in defense spending.

[Donald Trump]

Right?

[Maria Bartiromo]

You did not. So I was like, which is it? Are you cutting defense spending or are you.

[Donald Trump]

I never said defense. Okay.

[Maria Bartiromo]

Because I think you were talking about denucleari and that's where the cutting of spending came in.

[Donald Trump]

I never said cut. No, it's not. In these days. I'd love to cut defense spending, but not now because you have China, you have Russia, you have a lot of problems out there.

[Unknown]

No, in fact, what I, what I.

[Donald Trump]

Have said is we spend a lot of money on nuclear missiles, nuclear weapons. The level of destruction is beyond anything you can even imagine. Just bad that everybody has to spend all this.

[David Pakman]

Yeah, it's bad. So there it is. I mean, listen, do is can, can we consider this topic closed? And I'm going to be on with Jenk soon to talk about my book. And I hope that we talk about this for my friends on the left who optimistically thought Trump, Musk and Doge would cut defense spending. Are you ready to admit that he won't, since he says it in clear language here. If you still have this lingering fantasy that Trump, Elon Musk, or Doge are going to scale back the military budget, it's time to snap out of it. Okay, we've seen what they're cutting. Why is it that I never fell for it? Because we saw the first term. Now, I know Jenkins, others said it's different this time. They seem different. It's all different. It's a new thing. We can't hold them to what they did before. All right, maybe. But it turns out that we can. And if you look at what Doge is cutting, meaningless drop in the bucket DEI programs lying about what they're cutting, multiplying the amount that they're cutting by 3, claiming they're not cutting anything health related, while the math tells us that of course they must be. So we have to be honest. Trump has never been about reducing military spending. Under his presidency, defense spending skyrocketed. Skyrocketed. And he would brag about how the cupboards were bare when Barack Obama turned over the presidency to him. We didn't. The generals came to me. They, this is when Trump liked the generals. Now they're just woke. But when Trump liked the generals, he was like, the generals came to me and they said, sir, we don't have any bullets. The cupboards are bare. And I refilled the cupboards. And his brand, as pathetic as it is, is all about projecting strength. Why would a guy who wants to be seen as a big boy, strong alpha, why would he turn into a budget hawk on defense spending? And despite this, there's this bizarre subset of people on the left who believe Trump might be an ally in shrinking the military industrial complex. Maybe it's because he would occasionally ramble about endless wars, or he lied about being against the Iraq war when he actually told Howard Stern. Yeah, I'd probably have done it. Maybe it's because of Elon Musk, who's more of an erratic anarcho libertarian techno libertarian, who has maybe convinced some people that he's against big government. What's bigger than American defense spending? Maybe that's why you fell for it. But the reality is that Donald Trump and his billionaire pals are invested in maintaining and expanding the military just as much as any other Republican. Would Peter Thiel maybe be up for cutting defense spending? Maybe. I don't know. But if you fell for this, listen, it's like with the Tulsi people. To some of us it was transparent. Others fell for it. The important thing is realizing you fell for it, realizing they're not going to cut a damn thing from defense spending. And what they really want to cut is what they always want to cut, welfare programs, demand side stimulus, anything that seems to have diversity on it. That's the stuff they want to cut. And of course, if they can get away with cutting benefits and cutting mandatory spending, even better. I don't know that they will get away with it in any large numbers, but they might. It seems that they're certainly going to try. We have a phenomenal bonus show for you today. Thanks to Trump, the Liberal Party in Canada stays in power. And the next prime minister will be Mark Carney. What do we know about Mark Carney? We will discuss it. The Black Lives Matter mural in Washington, D.C. is going to be erased because they want it gone. I have a couple stories about it which I will tell you. And what about bitcoin as part of a strategic reserve for the United States, despite Trump's promises about it. Bitcoin crashing 20%. Have I sold mine? No, I have not. But I will tell you kind of what my thought process is on that. On today's bonus show, get instant access by signing up@join pacman.com Remember that this is our primary source of funding, memberships and the bonus show. Sign up@join pacman.com you can use the coupon code. It will end soon. An optimistic rallying cry. It will end soon. I'll see you then. And I'll be back with a new show tomorrow. Ruth Ben Guy will join us tomorrow. Looking forward to that.