3/5/25: Trump speech disaster, Americans heading for the exits

Summary

Podcast Summary: The David Pakman Show – "Trump Speech Disaster, Americans Heading for the Exits" (March 5, 2025)

The David Pakman Show delves deep into the latest developments surrounding former President Donald Trump's controversial first speech in his second term to a joint session of Congress. Hosted by David Pakman, the episode titled "Trump Speech Disaster, Americans Heading for the Exits" offers a comprehensive analysis of the speech's fallout, the ensuing economic turmoil, and the broader implications for American society and politics.

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1. A Humiliating State of the Union

David Pakman opens the discussion by recounting the disastrous reception of Donald Trump's speech to Congress. Described as "Kafkaesque" (00:07), the address was marred by laughter, interruptions, and disrespectful behavior from both Democrats and Republicans.

• Notable Incident: Congresswoman Melanie Stansberry displayed a sign reading "this is not normal," which was promptly ripped away by Republican Congressman Lance Gooden (00:07).

Pakman criticizes the content of the speech, labeling it as "all lies and unhinged attacks" rather than the potentially insightful commentary it could have been (00:07). The atmosphere was further disrupted when Democratic Congressman Al Green was ejected for heckling (00:07).

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2. Trump’s Claims of Success Amidst Chaos

Despite the chaotic environment, Trump boasted about the unprecedented success of his presidency's first month.

• Trump's Claim: "It has been stated by many that the first month of our presidency, it's our presidency, is the most successful in the history of our nation" (02:17).

Pakman counters by highlighting the lack of concrete evidence supporting Trump's assertions and points out his frustrations over the lack of applause from Democrats (02:31).

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3. Disastrous Economic Policies and Market Turmoil

A significant portion of the episode focuses on Trump's aggressive economic strategies, particularly his imposition of tariffs on Mexico, Canada, and China. Pakman explains how these tariffs have led to immediate negative impacts on the U.S. stock market and the broader economy.

• Impact on Stocks: The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted by 1,300 points over two days following the tariffs (48:48).

• Business Response: Companies like Target and Best Buy announced price hikes to offset increased costs, leading to diminished consumer purchasing power (48:48).

Pakman emphasizes that these economic disruptions are not isolated to wealthy investors but ripple through the entire economy, affecting everyday Americans through layoffs, higher prices, and reduced public services (04:30).

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4. Justin Trudeau’s Rebuke of Trump’s Trade Wars

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued a stern warning against Trump’s trade war, clarifying that the blame lies with the American government, not its people.

• Trudeau’s Statement: "Your government has chosen to launch a trade war that will first and foremost harm American families" (36:03).

Trudeau criticized the tariffs as economically damaging and unfitting, reinforcing the alliance between Canada and American citizens opposed to Trump's policies (38:28).

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5. Media and Political Reactions

Pakman examines the media's portrayal of the tariffs, highlighting the contrasting reactions between mainstream outlets and Fox News. He cites an interview where Fox News host Maria Bartiromo displayed frustration when confronted with the negative consequences of Trump's tariffs on local businesses.

• Fox News Coverage: Bartiromo's inability to address legitimate concerns from car dealerships underscored the network’s bias in supporting Trump despite tangible economic drawbacks (51:37).

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6. Americans Seeking Citizenship Abroad

A concerning trend discussed is the surge in Americans applying for foreign citizenship, motivated by dissatisfaction with Trump’s administration.

• Statistics: Applications for British and Irish citizenship increased by 40% and 46%, respectively (60:50).

Pakman warns that this "brain drain" undermines the American workforce and economy, as skilled professionals and innovators seek stability and opportunities abroad (54:10).

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7. Democratic Response and Advocacy

The episode also highlights the proactive stance of Democratic Congress members like Jasmine Crockett and Catherine Clark, who vocally oppose Trump's policies and advocate for the broader society's welfare.

• Crockett’s Advocacy: Emphasized that "women's issues are everybody's issues," reinforcing the inclusive nature of legislative concerns (45:06).

• Clark’s Critique: Pointed out the administration's neglect of critical sectors like cancer research and children's healthcare, highlighting the regressive policies under Trump’s regime (46:32).

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8. The Future Outlook

In concluding the episode, Pakman reflects on the potential long-term consequences of Trump's policies, including economic instability, loss of international standing, and internal societal division. He urges listeners to recognize the broader impacts beyond immediate political victories, emphasizing the need for collective action to safeguard democratic and economic integrity.

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Key Takeaways

• Economic Impact: Trump’s tariffs have led to significant stock market declines, increased consumer prices, and economic uncertainty affecting all Americans, not just investors.

• International Relations: Trudeau’s condemnation of Trump highlights strained U.S.-Canada relations and the broader international repercussions of unilateral economic policies.

• Domestic Discontent: Rising applications for foreign citizenship signal deep dissatisfaction with current administration policies and foreshadow potential talent loss.

• Media Bias: The alignment of certain media outlets with Trump’s agenda exacerbates misinformation and hinders constructive discourse.

• Legislative Pushback: Democratic lawmakers are actively countering Trump’s policies, advocating for inclusive and welfare-oriented governance.

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Conclusion

The episode paints a bleak picture of Trump’s tenure, underscoring a cascade of negative outcomes stemming from his confrontational and economically reckless policies. David Pakman emphasizes the urgent need for awareness and resistance against policies that undermine economic stability and democratic values. The show calls on listeners to stay informed, support progressive media, and actively engage in shaping a more equitable future.

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This summary encapsulates the critical discussions and insights from "Trump Speech Disaster, Americans Heading for the Exits." For the full depth of analysis and ongoing coverage, tuning into The David Pakman Show is highly recommended.

Transcript

[David Pakman]

At Donald Trump's first speech in the second term to a joint session of Congress, he was laughed at in a completely disastrous, humiliating and dare I say Kafka esque State of the Union address. This would be a speech that seems really cool if you are an ignorant moron. It could have been a really interesting set of ideas if it weren't all lies and unhinged attacks combined with Donald Trump being confused. It started in bizarre fashion as Congresswoman Melanie Stansberry held up a sign you can see behind Trump that says this is not normal. And then ultimately Congressman Lance Gooden, a Republican, rips the sign away from her and tosses it away. As you can see here, completely wacky, pathetic, weaponized stuff. Democratic Congressman Al Green was removed from heckling. Look at this.

[Donald Trump]

Members are directed to uphold and maintain decorum in the House and to cease any further disruptions. That's your warning. Members are engaging and willful and continuing breach of decorum. And the chair is prepared to direct the sergeant at arms to restore order to the joint session.

[David Pakman]

So ultimately they kicked, kicked them out. Democrats, Republicans, on different pages as to what point he was trying to make and whether he made it successfully, you can decide. Ultimately we moved on to the content and Donald Trump, hyperbolic as ever saying that. Some are saying this is the best first month of any presidency ever.

[Donald Trump]

In fact, it has been stated by many that the first month of our presidency, it's our presidency, is the most successful in the history of our nation.

[David Pakman]

It has been said by people, none of whom he will name tonight. Donald Trump whined and he criticized Democrats for not applauding his achievements.

[Donald Trump]

They never clap for me if such speech to Congress. And once again I look at the Democrats in front of me and I realize there is absolutely nothing I can say to make them happy or to make them stand or smile or applaud. Nothing I can do. I could find a cure to the most devastating disease, a disease that would wipe out entire nations or announce the answers to the greatest economy in history or the stoppage of crime to the lowest levels ever recorded. And these people sitting right here will not clap, will not stand, and certainly will not cheer for the.

[David Pakman]

Wow, they won't cheer for me. Why? Donald Trump also acted as if he was curing every disease when he announced that under his tenure the country will no longer be woke.

[Donald Trump]

We've ended the tyranny of so called diversity, equity and inclusion policies all across the entire federal government and indeed the private sector and our military and our country will be woke.

[David Pakman]

No Longer, no more woke. He's done away with it. What does that mean? He has no idea. I have no idea. At another point, Donald Trump took on the issue of record setting egg prices by blaming Biden. And you could hear audible groans in the chamber as Donald Trump discharged his constitutional duty.

[Donald Trump]

Joe Biden especially let the price of eggs get out of control. The egg price is out of control.

[David Pakman]

And of course, audible groans because it is Trump who made the egg the foremost figure of his campaign. It is Trump who promised eggs will come down on day one. And it is under Trump that eggs have never, ever, ever cost more. At another point, Trump started listing like a laundry list of things Elon found that they're cutting. And he talks about transgender mice. And the Crowd likes it.

[Donald Trump]

$8 million to promote LGBTQI plus in the African nation of Lesotho, which nobody has ever heard of. $60 million for indigenous peoples and Afro Colombian empowerment in Central America. $60 million. $8 million for making mice transgender.

[David Pakman]

The crowd like that one.

[Donald Trump]

This is real. 30.

[David Pakman]

Donald Trump also alluded to the supposed fraud in Social Security by very carefully calling it probable fraud. And the word probable is doing some.

[Donald Trump]

Heavy lifting here, identifying shocking levels of incompetence and probable fraud in the Social Security program for our seniors.

[David Pakman]

And that our seniors now remember that by calling it probable fraud. Another word would be something we've not proven to be fraud, something that does not meet the requirements of fraud. And don't forget that they haven't identified a single actual dollar of fraud. Also laughter in the chamber when Donald Trump talked up his Gold Card, wherein rich foreigners can buy citizenship for 5 million.

[Donald Trump]

With that goal in mind, we have developed in great detail what we are calling the Gold Card, which goes on sale very, very soon for $5 million. We will allow the most successful job creating people from all over the world to buy a path to US Citizenship. It's like the Green Card, but better and more sophisticated.

[David Pakman]

Right?

[Donald Trump]

And these people will have to pay tax in our country. They won't have to pay tax from where they came. The money that they've made. You wouldn't want to do that. But they have to pay tax, create jobs. They'll also be taking people out of colleges and paying for them so that we can keep them in our country instead of having them be being forced out, number one at the top school, as an example, being forced out in not being allowed to stay and create tremendous numbers of jobs and great success for a company.

[David Pakman]

Yeah, there you go. So, anyway, America officially for sale. Citizenship for sale. And by the way, Trump thinks he'll get 10 million people to sign up for that. Even the most successful such programs get a few thousand a year. Laughter broke out again. That's the theme. Trump's getting laughed at. Trump declared that the days of rule by unelected bureaucrats are over. Elon Musk was in the room. This irony was not lost on the audience.

[Donald Trump]

It's very simple. And the days of rule by unelected bureaucrats are over.

[David Pakman]

And of course, Republicans quickly standing to cover up the incredulous laughter. Trump did address the fact that the tariffs might make things a little not so good for some people and said there's going to be a little disturbance with the tariffs. Call it the understatement of the tariffs.

[Donald Trump]

Are about making America rich again and making America great again. And it's happening and it will happen rather quickly. There'll be a little disturbance, but we're okay with that.

[David Pakman]

We are okay with that. Did you hear that? Your price is going up. Trump is saying you're okay with it. He's decided for you that it's going to be fine. Not to be too hyperbolic. Trump also claimed that he is achieving the liberation of America. From what? I don't know.

[Donald Trump]

Joe Biden didn't just open our borders. He flew illegal aliens over them to overwhelm our schools, hospitals and communities throughout the country. Entire towns like Aurora, Colorado and Springfield, Ohio, buckled under the weight of the migrant occupation and corruption like nobody's ever seen before. Beautiful towns destroyed. Now, just as I promised in my inaugural address, we are achieving the great liberation of America.

[David Pakman]

A tad hyperbolic. A tad hyperbolic. At another point during the speech, Trump appeared to forget the name of Mexico, referring it, referring to it as the territory immediately to the south.

[Donald Trump]

The territory to the immediate south of our border is now dominated entirely by criminal cartels that murder, rape, torture and exercise total control. They have total control over a whole nation posing a grave threat to our national security. The cartels are waging war in America and it's time for America to wage war on the cartels.

[David Pakman]

He must have met the country that the Gulf of Mexico was named after before I changed the name, bringing out all of the greatest hits. He also accused teachers of secretly turning students transgender.

[Donald Trump]

My administration is also working to protect our children from toxic ideologies in our schools. A few years ago January, little John and her husband discovered that their daughter's school had secretly socially transitioned their 13 year old little girl. Teachers and administrators conspired to deceive January and her Husband, while encouraging her daughter to use a new name and pronouns. They, them, pronoun, actually, all without telling January, who is here tonight and is now a courageous advocate against this form of child.

[David Pakman]

I've got to tell you, I see Usha Vance here. Usha Vance does not seem happy about this story being highlighted.

[Donald Trump]

Abuse. January. Thank you. Thank you very much.

[David Pakman]

Yeah, not exactly a heroic story. Trump did levy a warning, a shot across the bow. Wokeness is in trouble. And we. We just feel so much better. We feel so much lighter.

[Donald Trump]

Wokeness is trouble. Wokeness is bad. It's gone. It's gone. And we feel so much better for it. Don't we? Don't we feel better?

[David Pakman]

Wokeness is out and bigotry is in. And we cheer for it. Trump alluded to starting two wars during this speech, first saying he will reclaim the Panama Canal security.

[Donald Trump]

My administration will be reclaiming the Panama Canal, and we've already started doing it.

[David Pakman]

And then, in addition to saying that the US Will be reclaiming the Panama Canal, Trump also said that one way or another, we're going to get Greenland, too.

[Donald Trump]

And I also have a message tonight for the incredible people of Greenland. We strongly support your right to determine your own future. And if you choose, we welcome you into the United States of America. We need Greenland for national security and even international security, and we're working with everybody involved to try and get it, but we need it, really for international world security. And I think we're going to get it. One way or the other, we're going to get it.

[David Pakman]

One way or the other, we are going to get it. Maybe the most overtly xenophobic moment of the speech was when Trump called Elizabeth Warren to her face. Pocahontas.

[Donald Trump]

Do you want to keep it going for another five years? Yeah. Yeah. You would say Pocahontas says yes.

[David Pakman]

Pocahontas says yes. And finally, finally, after an extraordinary long speech, extraordinarily long speech, nothing much extraordinary about it, Trump said that it was God who saved him that day in Butler. Of course, in saving him, God killed a guy just standing behind Trump. That guy's family was there at the speech, and they clapped for this. They clapped for this.

[Donald Trump]

I believe that my life was saved that day in Butler for a very good reason. I was saved by God to make America great again. I believe that.

[David Pakman]

And there you see, see the family of Corey Comparatore, who was killed that day, I guess because God said, I'm going to send the bullet close to Trump, but into Corey, Right? Oh, David, no. God works in mysterious ways. But then how does Trump know God decided on this? What a moment. What a moment. And sadly, I've got to prepare people. I've just got to be real with people in the audience. We see this as maybe the most disastrous State of the Union ever that I can remember covering. I mean, most ridiculous. But a lot of people saw this and they thought it was awesome. They love the way that this guy went after the left and really owned the libs. They love the way that he just said, I'm going to do the stuff I'm going to do and you're not going to stop me. I don't care the the consequences. They loved it. So we're really up against it. If anything, the speech cemented for me what we are up against and we'll continue talking about that on the program. Remember that we're almost at 3 million YouTube subscribers. Speaking of supporting progressive independent media. It costs nothing to subscribe on YouTube. We're trying to get the 3 million. An insane number. And also we have breached the top 50 news podcasts. Please remember, subscribe on Apple Podcasts. Subscribe on Spotify. It is free and it helps us. Let's take a very quick break. More after this. Do you ever have one of those nights where you just are really struggling to fall asleep? You're lying there, mind is racing. Next time, give Beam Dream Powder a try. It's quite simply delicious hot cocoa with melatonin. Melatonin is scientifically proven to help you fall asleep faster, stay asleep longer, without the side effects you can get with antihistamines or prescription drugs, including next day grogginess. 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The link is in the podcast notes the David Pakman show continues to depend on your support to do what we do Consider getting yourself a membership. Thank you by the way, to the hundred people who signed up for membership during yesterday's Trump speech. Livestream was great to see so many of you hear from folks we haven't heard of from a lot for a while. You can use the coupon code. It will end soon to save pretty significantly, I must admit, off of the cost of a membership. Of course we do an extra show every day for our members called the Bonus Show. So get yourself the full experience. Join pacman.com if you thought that Donald Trump's economic policies couldn't get any worse, think again. Because in just 48 hours, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, one of the more prominent indexes of the stock market, tanked 1300 points because Donald Trump decided yet again to light the economy on fire with his disastrous trade war. Now I am going to delve into more detail today as to why this does affect the average worker. There is the false notion that because shares of publicly traded stocks are disproportionately held by the wealthy and by corporations, which is true, that the stock market's comings and goings don't really matter to the average worker. I do not believe that that is true and I will explain why. But first let's talk about what is happening. Donald Trump slapped these tariffs 25% on Mexico, 25% on Canada, and increased to 20% on China. And of course those countries immediately hit the United States back with retaliatory tariffs and markets panicked. The Dow fell 1.55% on Tuesday. That added to the 650 point drop on Monday. The S and P has erased all of its post election gains. Consider that this beautiful fairy tale that we are told about how as soon as the markets knew Trump had won or as soon as Trump had been inaugurated, it's just all waterfalls and ginger snaps and butterflies. Maybe some people don't like butterflies. They go, it's really just kind of a bug. Okay, that's a different story. All of those gains are gone. Stocks across industries, automakers, banks, retail, everyone's getting brutalized. Major companies like Target, Best Buy are saying prices are going to go up for consumers. But we are told not to worry by Trump, there will be some short term pain. There will be. What was the word he used yesterday at the State of the Union is going to, it's going to be a little something, but it's all going to be worth it. Trump has decided it's going to be worth it for you to, as he says it, temporarily suffer. It's easy for the guy living off of taxpayer funded golf trips and flying around in a 747 on your dime to say it'll be some brief pain, but then it's all going to be good. And of course, underlying this is textbook Trump completely misunderstanding how trade works, crashing the economy and pretending it's part of some master plan wherein some of his suck up followers actually say this is part of some 40 chess. If there is 4D chess, it's creating an opportunity for his billionaire robber baron buddies to come in and swoop up assets real cheap and then make money off of them. But I'm going to get to that in a moment because that's a different story. Right now we're talking about the economic fallout, which is immediate. We have seen this deal ripped up with Elon Musk's Starlink by Canada. We've seen the Liquor Control Board of Ontario, the biggest alcohol buyer in the world, say we are no longer going to sell American products. Do you think that's good for the liquor and Spirit manufacturers of America who now are losing Ontario as a customer and are going to have to lay people off. The Canadian Prime Minister said that this trade war is very dumb. We're going to get to that a little bit later and look at some clips. And of course Justin Trudeau is completely correct. But it's not only about the tariffs because Donald Trump's entire economic approach is a disaster. The tax cuts for the rich, which blew up the deficit in Trump's first term, he wants to double down on. And he's doing all of it with this vague guise of look at all the savings that Doge found. Now, I think this is an important moment to mention an additional aspect to this. We've talked about how Doge hasn't found a single dollar, a single penny of actual fraud. So far, Doge has found many programs that Trump doesn't like. Doge has found programs that are antithetical to the beliefs of maga, things they don't want to pay for. But that is different than saying, we found fraud. They've also been caught with their hand in the cookie jar, exaggerating the savings. Some of the savings they say Doge found aren't actual savings. Some of the savings that Doge found were programs canceled under Joe Biden. Some of the savings that Doge found, they just multiplied the number by 100. And you have to really understand the motivation for doing this. If you can claim to have saved $500 billion now, you can justify a $500 billion tax cut for your rich friends and corporations by saying, we've already paid for it. Yes, we're doing a $500 billion tax cut, but it's costing you nothing because we found $500 billion in savings. But, of course, if you didn't really find $500 billion in savings, then you're just deficit spending with tax cuts for the rich, which is what Republicans do every damn time. Now, we're going to come back to that later in the show, maybe tomorrow, but understand the motivation for coming up with the biggest possible number for how much money they've supposedly saved. We then get to Donald Trump's attacks on the Fed, which create uncertainty. We see Trump's obsession with protectionism, which is spooking investors. And now you add the reckless trade war on top of it. It's hitting the stock market, it's hitting consumers. And the kicker is that Trump still says this is all a win. The response to Canada is explain to Trudeau, who he now calls Governor Trudeau. Explained to Governor Trudeau, if he puts on a retaliatory tariff, we will go up even more in our tariffs. A very bad idea, because Trump doesn't understand how any of this works. He's treating international trade like one of his failed casinos, except that the entire economy is on the line. The livelihoods of hundreds of millions of Americans are on the line. So for all of the MAGA voters and I spoke to some of them on a TikTok live the other day. For all of the MAGA voters that are still convinced Trump is some kind of economic mastermind, stable genius, how's your 401k looking after declining more than 3% in the last two days? Because Wall street is panicking and prices are going up. And this is only the beginning. Now let me speak, I want to speak directly to the people who believe the stock market stuff doesn't affect those who don't directly own stocks. Because I always hear, oh David, you're talking only to the wealthy people in the audience. We have such concentration of stock ownership in the United States that the only people affected by the stupid stock market are the people who own the shares. Wrong. Okay? When stock prices decline, companies panic and start cutting costs. Companies many of you work for. That means layoffs. That means hiring freezes. That means, that means lower wages. That means a moratorium on all raises. When the stock market declines, it starts to signal a weakening economy, leads to higher costs for goods and services. So do tariffs, by the way, companies raise prices to offset losses and tariffs like Trump's make imported stuff more expensive. So even if you don't own stocks, first of all, if you have a pension retirement plan for 1k 403b IRA that almost certainly owns stocks or your retirement is being affected, if the market crashes, your future retirement savings can shrink overnight, meaning now you have to work longer or retire with less or make sacrifices elsewhere, so you're still affected. You can also see a real estate downturn triggered by a stock market crash, makes it harder to sell homes, causes home values to drop. Where many Americans have the vast majority of their equity and net worth, market crashes often lead to higher interest rates at banks, which means that now it becomes more expensive to buy a car or a house or get a student loan and get an education or your credit card interest rate goes up. So all of these things make everyday life more costly. Even if you don't directly own stocks in a way that you are aware of. It also means education gets cut, public transportation can get cut, infrastructure spending is delayed, emergency services start to be diminished. These are things everybody relies on every day. So a weak market has a number of follow on effects, including reducing consumer spending. Small businesses suffer. They now are not doing as well, they may be doing layoffs. So that is all something that is critically important to understand. But I want to now address another aspect of this that was brought up yesterday during the livestream of Trump's speech, it's actually more evil than stupid. Oligarchs love a recession, especially if they know it's coming. And we seem to have known this was coming for a while based on what Trump promised, because all of a sudden, they can buy the cheap stocks and they can buy the cheap houses and. And then later they can sell and profit big. So let's talk about that next. At this point, any sensible person has to ask, is Donald Trump tanking the economy on purpose? Because every move he's making seems obviously as. It's as if it's going to create chaos, crash markets, and open the door for billionaires to swoop in and buy everything at a discount and justify privatizing stuff. So there is a reason Trump might be doing this on purpose. Now, I'm not married to this idea. It's conceivable that through a combination of not understanding what he's doing and wanting to appear tough, Trump is kind of blindly going into this seemingly obvious economy crashing set of policies. But there's another possibility here, which is we see The Dow dropped 1300 points in two days after Trump launched this reckless trade war. The tariffs on Mexico, Canada, China. We see stock prices tumbling, companies warning of higher costs. Wall street panicking. Just got a report minutes before I came into the studio today about hiring, slowing down. But the thing is, it may not be incompetence. This could be a deliberate opportunity for the ultra wealthy. Because when the stock market tanks and many people start panicking and selling their investments, I advise against it. Okay? It's actually an opportunity to just hold steady, keep buying at lower costs. The billionaires know it. They see the fire sale. They sit on cash, they wait for stocks and land and businesses, even public assets, to crash in value. And then they come in and they buy them really inexpensively. And the worse that Donald Trump makes the economy, the bigger the opportunity for his rich friends and the oligarchical robber barons. We have seen this before. Think back to 2008. Wall street wrecked the economy. Millions of people lost homes, but who benefited? You had the private equity firms, the hedge funds, buying up foreclosed properties, turning them into rental empires, jacking up rents. We've covered it before. And the same thing potentially could be playing out right now. Because if the stock market keeps falling, working class Americans lose their 401ks. The billionaires get to buy blue chip stocks at a discount and buy up foreclosed properties at a fraction of their market value. And it's not only about that, it's Also about the big P word. Which one am I talking about? Privatization. The right wing playbook has always been create a crisis, convince people that the system is failing, and then swoop in to offer a privatized alternative that benefits corporations. Look at Social Security. For years, Republicans have lied about Social Security being on the verge of collapse. What it really would be is if we change nothing in a bunch of years, it would only be able to afford to pay 80% of benefits. Something which we can fix with just some small tweaks. Why do they want to manufacture a crisis around Social Security? Because then they can justify gutting it and handing your retirement over to Wall Street. Take the post office. Trump and his cronies who sabotaged the UPS USPS during Trump's first term, slowed down mail delivery, said, look at how dysfunctional this whole thing is. And then they go, well, you know what? This might be better provided by private companies like UPS, FedEx and DHL. Let's privatize mail. It's the same old trick over and over again. And now Trump is doing it with the entire economy. He stokes the chaos with the tariffs, he spooks investors, he causes a downturn, and then he and his billionaire allies can claim, look, the economy struggling. Let's deregulate everything. Let's privatize public assets, let's let the free market handle it. And by the way, I'd be interested. They go, it is not a coincidence that Trump's biggest donors are the same billionaires who thrive when you've got an economic downTurn. It's Blackstone, Blackrock, Goldman Sachs, real estate tycoons, private equity firms waiting for assets to become dirt cheap in a deregulatory environment so they can buy them, consolidate wealth, and then sell them back, in some cases to the very people who lost them. So the question we are left to ask. I don't know the answer. Maybe it's a why not both? Is Trump wildly incompetent and irrational? Or is he deliberately creating the conditions for another billionaire feeding frenzy? Because every time Trump breaks something, his rich friends happen to be right there, ready to cash in on the backs of people who really don't have the money to lose. This applies to a lot of different things, including Trump's crypto scam. So maybe it's both. Maybe Trump is wildly incompetent, but also wildly selfish. Either way, this has billionaire robber barons written all over it. Let me know which you think it is. 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So try private Internet access risk free and get 83% off, which comes out to just 203amonth plus four extra months for free. Go to PIA vpn.com/david the link is in the podcast Notes Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued a brutal warning to Donald Trump, but made it clear that the problem is not the American people. The problem is Donald Trump's dumb trade war that he is launching. This was very interesting to see as a contrast to the completely deranged and outrageous speech that Donald Trump gave last night. Irrational and erratic in every way. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke yesterday and he very calmly and soberly and soberly and expertly distinguished between the American people who are of course continuing to be the allies of our Canadian friends to the north, and this policy of Trump that is just leaving complete, complete and total destruction economically in its wake. So here is Trudeau first saying to the American people, it is your government that has done this to you. We're not angry with you now, just.

[C]

Like I did a month ago, I want to speak first directly to the American people. Yes, we don't want this. We want to work with you as a friend and ally and we don't want to see you hurt either. But your government has chosen to do this to you, correct? As of this morning, markets are down and inflation is set to rise dramatically all across your country. Your government has chosen to put American jobs at risk at the thousands of workplaces that succeed because of materials from Canada or because of consumers in Canada, or both. They've chosen to raise costs for American consumers on everyday essential items like groceries and gas, on major purchases like cars and homes and everything in between. They've chosen to harm American national security, impeding access to the abundant critical minerals, energy, building materials and fertilizers that we have and that the United States needs to grow and prosper. They've chosen to launch a trade war that will first and foremost harm American families. They've chosen to sabotage their own agenda that was supposed to usher in a new golden age for the United States. And they've chosen to undermine the incredible work we've done together to tackle the scourge that is fentanyl.

[David Pakman]

Now, one of the things that Prime Minister Trudeau pointed out, which I don't know if it's literally true, but it certainly starts to couch this entire fiasco as potentially an act of aggression, is that Trudeau said that part of the trying to bring on the collapse of the Canadian economy is Trump's idea that then Canada will become an American state. Something that, although Trudeau didn't have to clarify it, he says it's not going to happen.

[C]

I think in terms of what he wants. I heard he talked about banking again this morning in a tweet, which doesn't make any sense because American banks, 16American banks currently active in Canada, holding about $113 billion worth of assets in this country. So the American banks are alive and well and prospering in Canada. It's an example of not really being able to see what it is that he wants, because even the excuse that he's giving for these Paris tariffs today of fentanyl is completely bogus, completely unjustified, completely false. So we actually have to fall back on the one thing he has said repeatedly, that what he wants is to see a total collapse of the Canadian economy. Because that'll make it easier to annex us, is the second half of his thought. Now, first of all, that's never going to happen. We will never be the 51st state. But, yeah, he can do damage to the Canadian economy, and he started this morning.

[David Pakman]

One of the things that's being referenced there is Donald Trump's post to Truth Social Truth Central, where Trump said, quote, canada doesn't allow American banks to do business in Canada, but their banks flood the American market. Oh, that seems fair to me, doesn't it? And of course, as Justin Trudeau points out, that is very much not true. What is true is that he has turned our allies against us, not us, not against us as individuals. I mean, Justin Trudeau is making it clear the problem is not with the American people, it's with what Trump is doing. And Trudeau also, I mean, really taking Trump to task on every aspect of this absurdity. Talking about the appeasement of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, a lying, murderous dictator, according to Trudeau words, Trump simply does not have the testicular fortitude to use.

[C]

At the same time, they're talking about working positively with Russia appeasing Vladimir Putin, a lying, murderous dictator. Make that make sense. Canadians are reasonable and we are polite, but we will not back down from a fight. Not when our country and the well being of everyone in it is at stake at the moment. The US Tariffs came into effect in the early hours of this morning and so did the Canadian response. Canada will be implementing 25% tariffs against $155 billion worth of American goods.

[David Pakman]

This is not good for anybody. I don't know how any Maga Potamian or even a Magadonian could see this and say, things are going to get better for me. Life will be better for my family thanks to this. Trudeau also focusing in on the claim that this is about fentanyl, or as Trump likes to call it, fentanyl, and saying, we know that that's not the case. It's very clear that that's not why this is. This is being done.

[C]

I think in what President Trump said yesterday that there is nothing Canada or Mexico can do to avoid these tariffs underlines very clearly what I think a lot of us have suspected for a long time, that these tariffs are not specifically about fentanyl, even though that is the legal justification he must use to actually move forward with these tariffs.

[David Pakman]

And finally, Trudeau warning Trump, speaking directly to Trump. How will Trump react to this? Not well.

[C]

Now, I want to speak directly to one specific American. Donald, in the over eight years you and I have worked together, we've done big things. We signed a historic deal that has created record jobs and growth in both of our countries. We've done big things together on the world stage, as Canada and the U.S. have done together for decades, for generations. And now we should be working together to ensure even greater prosperity for North Americans in a very uncertain and challenging world. Now, it's not in my habit to agree with the Wall Street Journal, but Donald, they point out that even though you're a very smart guy, this is a very dumb thing to do.

[David Pakman]

Is Trump a very smart guy?

[C]

We two friends fighting is exactly what our opponents around the world want to see.

[David Pakman]

And the problem there is that Trump doesn't agree that they are our opponents because Trump is praying at the altar of Putin. He's on his knees, supplicating and he simply doesn't agree that that's actually our opponent. How backwards things are. You hate to say it, but Canada seems to have the situation relatively well handled. Obviously, it's not good for them. The trade war isn't good for anybody. We've made that clear. But their response, it's not good for the United States. And people are slowly figuring that out. Democratic Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett had some choice words yesterday at a news conference in advance of Trump's non. State of the Union. State of the Union. I'm just going to play her comments and then we're going to hear from a couple other lawmakers here as well.

[Donald Trump]

I want to make clear that when we hear the stories of the economic impact, these are stories that are impacting all of us. It's not just women, unfortunately. We had an opportunity to have a woman lead this country, and I promise you, she would have led us to the promised land. But instead, we got somebody that seems like he wants to take us to hell and back again. But I'm trying to tell you all that we, the women of the dwc, will not stand for that.

[David Pakman]

The other aspect to this event that I found very interesting was that Crockett was able to, I think she's communicating quite effectively. Crockett was able to point to how so called women's issues, they're really everybody's issues. And this sort of gets to the phrase I'll often use, which is this is something that should concern anyone who is a woman or knows a woman or was born to a woman. And Congresswoman Crockett sort of taking the spirit of that and turning it into very effective political speech.

[Donald Trump]

You know, I know that there are going to be those that are going to say things like, oh, well, the damn women caucus got out there and they only talked about women's issues. I want to be clear about one thing, women's issues. They are all of our issues because the last time I checked, we all came from a woman.

[David Pakman]

And Jasmine Crockett, they're making a very similar point to one that I've made. And I think she's a very effective political communicator. Also during this event, Congresswoman Catherine Clark from Massachusetts really making a very important point, which is in advance of Trump bringing in a cancer patient kid to be a political pawn during his speech and all of this stuff. Remember, remember that they've stripped money from cancer research.

[Donald Trump]

So we are six weeks in to the Republican trifecta. They control the House, the Senate, the White house. They have the power to deliver for whoever they want to. And who have they chosen to fight for? The billionaire class? The ultra rich donors who funded their campaigns. Billionaires who have virtually unlimited resources but still want more. And where is this money coming from for tax cuts for the ultra wealthy? They're taking it from famous families, from women, from moms, from grandparents, from sick children. Elon Musk makes more in one day than nih, spends all year on childhood cancer research, more in one day. But that hasn't stopped him from stripping out and defunding that research or cutting children's health care.

[David Pakman]

We need to make a couple of critical points. Every time the economic stuff comes up, the Doge savings and all of. Every single time that this comes up, there's a few critical points that need to be made. I think I just lost the contact lens. I think it's gone. One, one of, one of those points is that the very things they claim to champion, they are defunding. The second point is that the fraud they claim to have found, none of it has been demonstrated to be actual fraud. And number three is that the justifications, the real justification for all of the savings they claim to champion is actually an excuse to be able to say now that we've saved X amount of money we can give X in a tax cut to the very wealthy and they have cover for it. Three critical points. Let me know what you think. Let me know what you think of the Democratic Women's Caucus and what they did yesterday. I think it was quite good. Sometimes these caucuses, they're not exactly functioning at warp speed, for lack of a better term. But especially with Congresswoman Crockett, I think they're doing good work. Let me know what you think. We'll take a very quick break and be right back. Many people in the audience know I speak multiple languages. I first learned Spanish when I was born in Argentina. Then I learned English. I learned some Hebrew in Hebrew school, I learned French in junior and high school. I am no stranger to the language learning process and one of the most useful tools I've ever used is the app called Babble. The way our sponsor, Babble teaches you languages truly works, and it works fast. Instead of a bunch of silly quizzes and games like a lot of the other apps, Babble is designed by real people for real conversations. All of Babble's tips and tools for learning a new language are approachable. They're rooted in real life situations and conversations. Babble's bite sized 10 minute lessons are just perfect for me, I can do it on the go. Do it during a lunch break. It really sticks fast. Babble was able to help me feel ready for my recent trip to France. I'm using Babble to brush up on Italian and German just for fun. Studies from Yale, Michigan State University and others prove Babel is better. One study found that using Babel for 15 hours is like a full semester of language at college. Here's a special limited time deal for my audience right now. Get up to 6 60% off your Babel subscription, but only for my audience at babel.com/pacman rules and restrictions may apply. Get up to 60% off at babel.com/pacMan spelled b a b b el.com/pacman rules and restrictions may apply. The link is in the podcast notes. Fox News host Maria Bartiromo threw a complete and total tantrum when they interviewed a car dealer who said, oh no, no, Trump's tariffs are going to be terrible for our industry. This is really good stuff. It's a couple of minutes long. It's worth setting up and really watching the whole thing. They've got, you know, reporter on the street at a car dealership talking to car dealer guy and the guy starts to explain, you know, if you add what these tariffs are going to add to the cost of these vehicles to the retail price of the vehicles. No one's going to buy these vehicles. It's just they're going to be too expensive. It's going to exceed their market value and their perceived utility. Maria Bartiromo doesn't like it. Stick with it. When they go back to her, they go, they don't have these cars in Europe and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. There's a reason why, okay, check this out. It is a complete and total meltdown from exactly who you would expect it to come from. Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge Ram.

[Donald Trump]

Yeah, impact dramatic and dramatic. I sold order for a customer, $80,000 truck. It's $100,000 now. So he's not going to buy the truck. It's going to sit on my lot at, you know, the higher interest rates we're paying right now for floor plan. And nobody's going to buy the truck because it just had a twenty thousand dollar price increase. Right.

[David Pakman]

Kelly Blue Book will put the number up. They say the average vehicle, vehicle will go up by about $3,000. Does it sound right to you?

[Donald Trump]

No, no. We don't have the broad stroke, we don't have the linear, the tight strokes. But to me it's a 25% in tariff. So that affects our parts that come from over these countries and a whole bunch of our cars.

[David Pakman]

And you've been basing your business model on free, free trade, basically. This is what the American Auto Automakers Policy Council says. Maria. In response to this, they say our American automakers invested billions in the US to meet the requirements of the current free trade agreement. They shouldn't have their competitiveness undermined by tariffs that will raise the cost of building vehicles in the US and stymie investment in the American workforce. While competitors from the outside of North America benefit the German. No tariff on the German cars.

[Donald Trump]

No, no.

[David Pakman]

They're Japanese.

[Donald Trump]

They're going to be okay. But, but think about it. We built our business around that. The OEMs built their business around that, and now it changes on a dime. And we can't build a $4 billion plant overnight in the United States. So I think building in the United States is great. I think enhancing the participation from the other countries on the other things. But we. This is pretty radical. I hear you.

[David Pakman]

So the diagnosis is pretty dire. Now. Let's go to Maria.

[Donald Trump]

There you go, Maria.

[David Pakman]

Where the rubber meets the road here.

[Donald Trump]

All right, great. Yeah. Pennsylvania. Exactly. Jeff, thank you. Thank you so much. Jeff Locke at the Dodge Ram plant. I mean, not plant. It's not a plant, Chris. They're selling cars. Thank you, dealership. But you know what? Let me, let me ask you this, okay? Yes. How many Dodge Rams do you see driving around Europe? Okay. How many Dodge Rams do you see driving around India? I mean, not many, I bet.

[David Pakman]

Why?

[Donald Trump]

Because they don't buy our cars. And that's what President Trump is trying to change. Maybe Dodge should start building them here.

[David Pakman]

The reason that you don't see Dodge Rams, okay, in Belgium and in Paris is because these stupid monster trucks don't fit on their roads because they don't subsidize gasoline the way we do. Meaning that what they pay for gas is closer to the real total cost of a gallon. Meaning it would be nuts to have a Dodge Ram monster truck. And it has nothing to do with what Maria Bartiromo wants you believe to believe that it is about. And tariffs are sure as hell not going to fix it. This is, you know, it. I've said this before. I don't know that Maria Bartiromo is this dumb because she was a really good financial reporter back in the CNBC days when I was in high school and I was starting to get a little bit involved in the stock market and understanding how of these things work. She did excellent interviews with CEOs, held them to account, reported from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. First woman to do so. All these different things. I struggle to believe she could be this dumb. And so that makes me think she's playing a character for Fox News. And to placate Trump, which is arguably in some way even worse, a record number of Americans are trying to flee Trump's America. We have been talking about this now, and our reporting will continue. In the final months of 2024, right after Trump won applications from the United States for British citizenship went up 40%, immigration lawyers are saying that what their clients are telling them is Trump's return is a major driver of Americans trying to secure an escape route. And this is not just about the UK. Ireland, as we've discussed, has also seen a 46% increase. And Americans applying for citizenship based on Irish ancestry. People are being motivated by Trump's presence to get their paperwork in order. And this is a big deal. Most people don't just wake up one day and go, I'd like to change my citizenship. This is a very big deal. It's expensive, it's bureaucratic, it takes a long time. It can be permanent. If thousands of Americans are doing it, if tens of thousands are doing it, it tells you something profound about the direction of things. And yet the MAGA crowd is going to pretend that this isn't happening. The same people who scream about immigrants coming here never stop to ask, why are so many more Americans all of a sudden trying to leave? The people most likely to have the option of moving abroad are educated professionals, skilled workers, high earning taxpayers. If America starts bleeding talent and innovation and economic productivity, you don't think that's going to become an even bigger economic problem? This is how brain drain happens. A country becomes politically less stable, economically uncertain, internationally embarrassing. And then people say, I'm going to try to leave the same doctors and engineers and scientists and entrepreneurs who are critical for this economy. They see the writing on the wall, and if they have the means and the wherewithal, they decide to leave. And the irony, of course, is that the same MAGA types who scream about people crossing the border are ignoring the fact that America's own citizens are looking for a way out. I've said before, to remain economically competitive in the model that the magas believe in, we need to be bringing in through immigration way more people than are actually coming in. They want to do less. And actually, we are seeing Americans starting to want to leave in record numbers. And Trump and his base love to pretend that he's some kind of economic genius. And meanwhile, some of the smartest and most productive people in the country are saying, where else can I go? The American economy is a dynamic economy and it thrives on innovation and human capital. If you start losing skilled workers, it means fewer businesses and a lower tax base and a declining sort of rank in global competitiveness. It's bad for the economy. And don't forget that when the wealthy and the educated leave, they take their investments with them, which is one of the things Trump champions as being great. Look at all the wealthy people that are going to come with their $5 million citizenship gold card and bring their investments. Well, it seems like that number is going to be quite small based on everything we know about the number of people that seek to do that. But what we are seeing right now in terms of applications for Americans going elsewhere skyrocketing. Fewer entrepreneurs, fewer professionals, fewer innovators and top earners. By Trump's own economic analysis, that means less economic growth and more financial instability. We're seeing it everywhere. The consulting firms that help people move abroad are seeing it. Everybody's seeing it. And on the Friday show, we're going to look at the next aspect of this. We have such a great bonus show for you today. We are going to talk about the latest harebrained suggestion for what to do about high ag prices from the Trump administration. Democrats appear serious about a shutdown. And speaker of the House MAGA Mike Johnson said to lawmakers, get out of the town halls. No more town halls after the onslaught of protests, which we will also talk about either tomorrow or Friday. Don't miss today's bonus show. Sign up at Join Pacman Dotcom. And I have to say a huge thank you. We for the first time ever, have broken up to number 26 on the Apple podcast, news and politics shows. A week ago we were in the hundreds in terms of our rank for the audio podcast. We got into the top hundred, the top 75. We broke 50 yesterday. And as of this morning, the 26th most listened to audio podcast in the news and politics category. You can help us keep pushing for free. We are now right behind Matt Walsh, that extremist radical detective. Oh, sorry. Subscribe and leave a review for the podcast on Apple Podcasts. Subscribe and leave a review review for the podcast on Spotify. This costs nothing and it is a phenomenal way to help independent media. Let's pass Matt Walsh and move on to the next. I'll see you on the bonus show. I'll be back here tomorrow.

[Donald Trump]

It.