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The Jim Acosta Show
Wajahat Ali on Trump's Jesus Post and National Security Reporter Alex Marquardt on Middle East Chaos
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- [00:00]
Jim Acosta
Foreign.
- [00:06]
Welcome, everybody, to the Jim Acosta show. It's another day that ends in Y and Donald Trump's mockery of religion. Today, Trump lied and said he was not comparing himself to Jesus when he posted a crazy meme on Truth Social that portrayed Trump as a Christ like figure. Trump is also fighting with Pope Leo. Let's discuss the fragile state of the President's mind with Wajahad Ali. He is the host of the Left Hook Watch. Great to see, as always.
- [00:32]
Wajahat Ali
You know what, I'm glad that we are here today to talk about this because we need some levity, some dark humor as Trump unleashes a blitzkrieg of blasphemy because his boy Orban lost. He's like, you know what? Let me pick a fight with the Pope. What could go wrong? Trump versus the Pope. And so far, Pope is winning. Pope.
- [00:52]
Jim Acosta
Pope is winning a lot. Absolutely. And I mean, we should put this truth social post up on screen because, I mean, there are nutty things that Trump has posted. I've covered them for a long time. There are nutty things that he, that he's posted over the years. This may be pretty close to the nuttiest. It is a truth social post that obviously portrays, for the folks out there at home who haven't seen, it portrays Donald Trump as a Christ like figure. He is hovering over somebody who looks a lot like Jeffrey Epstein. I don't know if you saw that watch.
- [01:22]
Wajahat Ali
Yeah, resurrecting Epsy.
- [01:25]
Jim Acosta
Is he. He's laying hands on Jeffrey Epstein and raising him from the dead. And, and I guess earlier today, Trump was asked, first of all, this ignited a firestorm for folks at home who have been covering this or watching this all day long. It started a whole firestorm. There were a lot of folks on the religious right, Christian conservatives who are going after Trump saying, how can you do this? And I guess he had to backpedal, which this does not happen. Very first of all, God and Jesus, if they were in charge of social media, they would not be taking down their own tweets. I feel like they would not. But Donald Trump had to take down his own social media post on this. And I watch your thoughts on all this as you've been watching this unfold.
- [02:05]
Wajahat Ali
So look, I'm going to say something where I'm not going to give Maga that much credit because this is nothing new. This man is a criminal vulgarian. This man has been held liable for raping women. This man is uncouth. This man parted with Epstein. This man, it's not the first time he's even mocked the Pope. Remember when Pope Francis died, there was an AI generating image of Trump as pope. So the question then becomes, well, why this time? What's different? And I think this is what happened last Sunday. Easter.
- [02:34]
Jim Acosta
There it is and all its glory.
- [02:35]
Wajahat Ali
Look, I married up. My wife's a doctor. Light has never emanated from my wife's hand as she has healed her patients. She's even gone to refugee camps. I asked her, I said, has height. Has light ever emanated from the Red Cross? She goes, no. And furthermore, if indeed he is a doctor or a member of the Red Cross, who is that winged horned demon beside him?
- [03:00]
Jim Acosta
Flying, I was gonna say. Is that like out of the Avengers or something? I was trying to figure out what that was. That was very disturbing.
- [03:07]
Wajahat Ali
They found, so they found that image in this book, and apparently that's, that's the, the demon baal, the, the pagan God ball. And then someone reworked that into that photo, and then there's someone praying to him. But I digress. The reason why I think it all came together is, if you all recall, last Sunday. And I realize we live in dog years now on Easter, one of the most important holy days where Christians believe Jesus was resurrected. It's a day of hope and renewal. This mother, Ephraim, still to this day never posted Happy Easter. He instead uses profane language, uses that holy day to threaten genocide against 90 million people in Iran. Converts to Islam to mock Islam, says praise be to Allah. All right, then fast forward yesterday, just yesterday, folks, because I know we live in friggin hellscape every day seems like a hundred years. Yesterday, on Orthodox Easter, he mocks Pope Leo in a huge long post, right? Yeah. He's angry at Pope Leo for not fighting crime because he thinks the Pope is Batman. Then he posts this image. Then as he's on the tarmac, he gets asked this. He attacks Pope Leo again. Terrible man. He doesn't. Hasn't enough for crime. He doesn't support me. And then we got reporting from last week that the Trump administration threatened the Pope and the Pope's representative Avignon papacy, remember that? And then on top of that, today with Doordash Grandma, he doubles down and he doubles down criticizing the Pope. But, but what he does, Jim, is he has a page from the Roy Cohn school. You never, ever apologize. He saw the polls, he saw the backlash. And I think the reason he didn't apologize, so he said, I thought it was the Red Cross fake media. The reason why he took it back. I think the reason why people are so pissed off, all this happened in a week. His poll numbers are down, the war is unpopular, people are pissed off, gas has gone up. This coming in as a blitzkrieg, I think finally was enough for to wake people up. That's why I think people are paying attention this time. Even though he's done it in the past.
- [05:13]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, And I think we have the sound bite because Trump was asked about this. He's standing outside the Oval Office. They had this cockamamie dog and pony show where this lady came over, she was like, she was supposed to be a door dash driver. I believe she was dropping off McDonald's at the White House. This was all a staged thing because Trump wanted to talk about no taxes on tips and, you know, his economic policy, which is up in flames. And the reporter started asking about this and he goes, oh, no, no, no. I wasn't trying to say I look like Jesus. He said, I was trying to look like a doctor with the Red Cross or so this made no sense. It sounded like the ramblings of somebody who'd been posting all night on True Social, which is apparently what he was doing. But if we have that sound bite, we should play it because it does kind of give us a window into. I mean, we're at the phase. Watch where he's just. The lying is not good anymore. It's bad lying. You know, there was a time where, you know, I used to describe him as the Tom Brady of lying because he was so proficient at it and he, you know, there were times when he was rather skilled at it, but now he, I think he's just given up and he's just bullshitting his way. Or we, and we, and we do have, we do have the one where I guess he asked, did you vote for me? And she doesn't really quite say it. Let's. I think we have that one. Let's play that.
- [06:26]
Donald Trump
So such an honor to meet you and I think you voted for me.
- [06:29]
Jim Acosta
Do you think maybe.
- [06:33]
Donald Trump
I heard you're a great supporter. We appreciate it.
- [06:35]
Jim Acosta
Thank you.
- [06:36]
Donald Trump
I'll put this over here and why don't we have a news conference with the president?
- [06:40]
Wajahat Ali
Want to do it?
- [06:41]
Jim Acosta
Sure.
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Donald Trump
You don't have to space take too much. I think they're looking about hormone straight and various other things. Do you have any questions?
- [06:51]
Jim Acosta
And then they proceeded to ask him about the, the Post. He's. Oh, no, no, I meant to say I was being a doc. I was a doctor there in that one. And no doctors don't lay their hands on people and bright lights come out like he's Jesus Christ.
- [07:04]
Wajahat Ali
It's. That's real. What just happened? I just want that. I just want people to sit with that for a second, Jim, Because I was watching it and I'm like, you know, watch. Don't move on. Don't move on. Sit with it. This is. Look at the mockery this man has made of the United States. Look at the mockery this man has made of the presidency. We used to be a respected country. America is mocked, ridiculed. It's weakened our allies. Don't trust us anymore because he threatens our allies with war. Denmark, Canada, right? He illegally engaged in this war with Iran. Our Sunni allies are like, we thought you'd protect us. The United States has threatened via Trump, Just do it. Open up the effing straight.
- [07:46]
Jim Acosta
Do it.
- [07:46]
Wajahat Ali
Do it. And Iran's like, no. And so when the world's largest, most powerful super power is unable to convince Iran to open up the strait, that makes us look weak. He literally bullied our allies. Our allies today were like, Nah. NATO's like, Nah. Canada, like, we're not going to come to you. We're going to do deals elsewhere. Canada just said that. The kind of boycott that Canadians have on America the past year and a half, tourism from Canada to America from land has gone down by 35. And then I'm like, there's. Why is Doordash Grandma trending? I thought to myself. So I clicked on Doordash Grandma. I'm like, literally, there's a woman with doordash Grandma. This guy gets McDonald's doordashed in a literal, theatrical, you know, display. Look at this.
- [08:34]
Jim Acosta
And then, yeah, doordash. Also doordash. Why are you participating in it now? This. Now this is. You know, people are having a little fun with this online. This is one that I grabbed off of the social media, and it portrays Donald Trump as Jesus at the Last Supper. And of course, at Donald Trump's last Supper, they're serving Big Macs and fries and a large Coke. But that did not. He did not actually post that. We found this on.
- [09:01]
Wajahat Ali
This is not. But, Jim, what I'm saying is we shouldn't normalize this. Like, this is not like. And this is him. Like, you know, you talk about jumping the shark or nuking the fridge. This is like the jump the shark moment. If, like, this should be for his. For his followers. You got Doordash Even Doordash Grandma. Even Doordash Grandma. Suppose Doordash Grandma did vote for him, even she realizes this dude ain't doing well and she. He gave her a layup. You voted for me, right?
- [09:26]
Jim Acosta
Sure.
- [09:27]
Maybe she, she did not sound convinced. And I think he has jumped. The Quarter pounder, I think is. Or the filet o fish, maybe. Maybe it's the filet o fish that he's jumped, if we're going to keep it in that, in that aquatic theme. But, you know, your point on the Strait of Hormuz is absolutely perfect. I mean, the New York Times reporting this today, the US Military began its blockade of Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz. I mean, that's how we're reporting it, because I think that's what we're telling people. The United States is telling people. Trump said that other countries would join the effort, but on Monday, according to New York Times, several European countries refused to be involved. And so this is, I mean, watch. This is basically how this whole saga has gone, where he pretends as though he's dictating the terms of everything that's going on. And, and literally nobody is listening to him. Our allies are not listening to him. The Iranians not listening to him. Nobody is listening to him. Even the doordash grandma is not listening to him.
- [10:24]
Wajahat Ali
I mean, that's, I mean, I think you're seeing it. Finally, the veneer is cracking. Finally the people are realizing the emperor has no clothes. And what it took for people to wake up, sadly, was not, you know, massed armed terrorists killing Americans and rounding up immigrants. It was the gas prices. Gas prices, the economy, the failed promise of no new wars, the failed promise to release the Epstein files. That kind of. It just, it escalates, right? Escalates little by little, you know, little by little, more and more and more until it comes to a point where you got this man standing next to doordash grandma literally telling us to reject the evidence of our eyes and ears, saying that, no, he wasn't magical maga Jesus. But he was like, I don't know, Red Cross. And people are like, bro, we bought a lot of your. But this is a bridge too far. And he's sundowning at 12pm and literally, like you said. I'm glad you mentioned that. People didn't realize he was posting up until 4:30am in the morning. This is 80 year old. There you go.
- [11:21]
Jim Acosta
Harry Sisson tweeted this, which was very helpful. 9:49pm AI Jesus. Photo. 9:50pm Trump Tower on moon. People forget. I mean, that was batshit crazy, too, that he put a Trump hotel on the moon, which is never gonna happen. There was a dumb meme at 10:10. A news clip. A news clip. I mean, this went out all night, announcing the Hormuz blockade. 12:43, 235 in the morning, 236 in the morning, 237 in the morning. He finally tweeted about Eric Swalwell. 237 again, 238. And then 410. So did he sleep between 238 and 4:10 watch? I don't know, but this is not good. This is supposed to be the President of the United States, and unlike Jesus, he does not have powers. There are no Christ like powers that he wields.
- [12:07]
Wajahat Ali
And he's supposed to sleep. He's 80. And then he gets up and does that press conference. So that means he didn't get that much sleep and that he's not a reader. And we know for a fact that he doesn't read his daily briefings. So is this the man that you want in charge who. And, oh, by the way, speaking about the failures, the failures keep adding up. So he's so pissed off because he's so used to bullying people. And he bullied Iran, and Iran's like, we're a proud country. We've gamed this out. We'll suffer, but we're going to make sure you suffer. He cannot get the Strait of Hormuz to open up. The allies realize we want no part of this war. Big loss there. Then you see Epstein files. People haven't forgotten. He thought, you know, firing Pam Bondi would be a distraction. That didn't work. The trade wars. People forget the trade wars. If this guy literally had done nothing, if Donald Trump literally, folks, for the past 14 months, played golf every day and did nothing as President, the United States would be better off. He did this stupid trade war, which made everything worse. And then on top of that, he sends J.D. vance, as one does, the Vice President of the United States of America to be the flav of Flav hype man of Viktor Orban. And even that wasn't enough, Jim. He lost that one. So then he goes, I got to take it out against somebody. Let's take it out against the Pope.
- [13:22]
Jim Acosta
It's so true. I mean, and I don't know if we have the sound of Trump going off on the Pope. I think we might have that, but we should play that, because this is.
- [13:29]
Why did you attack Pope Leo on Truth Social?
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Donald Trump
I don't think he's doing a very good job. He likes crime, I guess. He. He hit him. Us. Think of it, he's worried about fear. What about the fear when the ministers and the priests and the. All of those great people that were arrested during COVID And in many cases, they're outside, 10ft apart, and they were arrested. So we don't like it. We don't like a Pope that's going to say that it's okay to have a nuclear weapon. We don't want to Pope this in crime is okay in our cities. I don't like it. I'm not a big fan of Pope Leo. He's a very liberal person, and he's a man that doesn't believe in stopping crime. He's a man that doesn't think that we should be toying with a country that wants a nuclear weapon so they can.
- [14:24]
Jim Acosta
I mean, none of this is true. I mean, I don't think Pope Leo said any of these things. He's not soft on crime. In what way is a pope hard or soft on crime? I don't quite understand that. I guess it's an immigration thing that he's talking about their watch. But obviously the Pope does not want Iran to have nuclear weapons. I mean, he just, you know, Jesus turned water into wine. Trump turns truth into. I guess that's, you know, that's where we are.
- [14:52]
Wajahat Ali
And also, Pope was not elected. Pope is not a politician. The Pope was appointed. The Pope is not Batman. The Pope did not make a promise to fight crime in Gotham City. Like, what is. What is he talking about? And what's happening is because he's the American Pope, Donald Trump is pissed off that he cannot control Pope Leo, and specifically Pope Leo has come out against war, number one, and he's come out against ICE and the cruelty against immigrants. That is what has pissed off Donald Trump to the point where it was reported last week that the Pope's ambassador, when he met with the Trump administration, they literally threatened him. And the Pope, that was what the papacy got from, is that the Trump administration is literally threatening the Pope. So that's why he cut off communication with them. Said, nah, I'm good. And then yesterday, I don't know if you saw today, the Pope was interviewed about this. And he goes, I'm not afraid of Donald Trump. I have to say.
- [15:44]
Jim Acosta
That's right. The Pope said he's not afraid of the Trump administration. And the other thing that Trump is doing, and I guess this doesn't matter anymore. This used to be kind of a storyline and a narrative that the media would chase, is that Donald Trump is His own worst enemy when it comes to the news cycle. You have J.D. vance going to Hungary, and then Victor Orban is defeated. You have J.D. vance going to Islamabad. The peace talks don't work out, and obviously, you know, we're seeing these. These things continue to spiral in the Middle East. And then Trump hands, you know, the Democrats a gift and starts tweeting about. He starts tweeting about how he's Jesus. Meanwhile, Congressman Eric Swalwell of California had to step out of the race for governor of California because of a massive sex abuse scandal, that he's denying these allegations, but they were, they were. They were serious enough where he had to step out of the race for governor and watch. I mean, my thought on all of this is that, you know, at least the Democratic Party appears to have some semblance of a moral compass. I mean, Donald Trump has been credibly accused for many, many years of sexual abuse, and he's the President of the United States and was the Republican nominee for president three times in a row.
- [16:59]
Wajahat Ali
Yeah. See, this is the difference here, right? Where the Democrats, over two days, this came out. And the Democrats are like, peace out, Swalwell.
- [17:06]
Jim Acosta
Yeah.
- [17:07]
Wajahat Ali
And meanwhile, you have this hypocrisy of the Republican Party where Representative Andy Ogles massive Islamophobe. And Also, you know, January 6th is saying, you know, Swalwell been accused of rape and rapists should be hung. And I'm like, bro, you worship a guy who's been held liable for raping Eugene Carroll and who's mentioned in the Epstein files more than any other person. So this is where I think this is a test for also the Democratic Party. So far, they have succeeded in dropping their endorsements. Eric Swall, within two days, he's out. Folks who don't know politics, if you end your congressional campaign, there's a there there. If there wasn't a there there, he'd still be running. These allegations are serious. One of them is for against sexual assault, but he's still a member of the House. And I think people are done, Jim, especially with Epstein scandal, especially with P. Diddy, especially with Weinstein. You know, when people say, oh, people knew this about Swalwall, I didn't know. You didn't know. So if this is a culture, if this is a culture in politics, I think people want transparency. And the fact that Swalwell is still in office, I think Democrats have a win here where they put pressure on Swalwell to resign, and then they say, look at you guys. You guys are so corrupt. This Guy Gonzalez still in office, who cheated with his staffer and the staffer killed herself through self immolation. You worship Donald Trump. And honestly, even if the Republicans, I think are shameless, because they're going to be shameless, do you want a guy like Swalwell representing California?
- [18:37]
Jim Acosta
Like, no, no, of course not. Of course not. And I think to me, at this point, Eric Swalwell should resign from Congress. He should fade away from public life. I mean, these allegations appear to be serious enough where, you know, at the very least, he just should not be a member of Congress anymore. I mean, and let alone running for governor of California. And when Hakeem Jeffries comes out right away, Adam Schiff comes out right away, Nancy Pelosi comes out right away. We barely saw anything remotely close to that with Donald Trump. They stuck with him for Access Hollywood. You know, I mean, there, there might have been some Republican figures at that time who were saying he should go, but Trump hung in there and then won the presidency. And then he was the nominee of the party two more times. And so for, for the Republicans out there who are screaming about Eric Swallow, it's like, dude, have you, have you looked in a mirror? Has, has your party looked in a mirror over the last 10 years? It has not.
- [19:32]
Wajahat Ali
And it doesn't work. It doesn't work anymore. It doesn't work anymore because I think people are sick and tired of it. I think the Epstein files is what finally did it.
- [19:41]
Jim Acosta
That's right.
- [19:41]
Wajahat Ali
He promised them the release of the Epstein files. There are two big promises, right? Major cracks, of course, the economy. But the two major cracks in maga he promised the Epstein files, they realize it's a cover up. They realize their king and daddy is all over it. And then they promised no new wars. And now there's an unwinnable war. Rising gas prices, rising food prices. And then you add on top of that the blasphemy, and people are like, I'm done. And, and then Melania comes out. We haven't even talked about that. I know, I gotta run. But Melania comes out unprompted, while attention has gone away from the Epstein files.
- [20:15]
Jim Acosta
What the hell was that?
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Wajahat Ali
Textbook Streisand effect. And says, I have nothing to do with the Jeffrey Epstein in Glenn Maxwell. I'm not the victim. And you're like, bro, what are you talking about? You've just opened up a Pandora's box. I have questions he can't escape.
- [20:32]
Jim Acosta
And here we have, you know, and then there's Donald Trump appearing to resurrect or trying to resurrect Jeffrey Epstein in a batshit crazy truth social post over the weekend. You can't make this stuff. Of course, the person that he's trying to resurrect in that image looks exactly like Jeffrey Epstein. But watch. Great to see, as always. There he is right there. I mean, it doesn't look exactly like him, but I was thinking, like, the lady off the side kind of looks like Colleen Maxwell. I mean, the whole thing is like, did somebody punk Donald Trump and put this out there? And he's just like, well, I. I'll just repost it. I look like Jesus. And there's one of the Avengers above me. Black Panther's above me, so I'm just going to repost it, you know?
- [21:12]
Wajahat Ali
And they're like, I don't think that's Black Panther, bro. I think that's a parademon from hell. He's like, looks like Black Panther. Close enough.
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Jim Acosta
That's. That's who's coming to pick up Trump after he, you know, bids his farewell to life on earth. That deep.
- [21:26]
Wajahat Ali
And also, remember, Jim, when he was asked this twice, he said, I don't think I'm going to heaven. I don't know. You know, like, who says that? Like, Your base is 75 white evangelicals. I might not be going to that place. I don't know. And then also, Jim, it's been 10 years. Just dumbass. Just try, just lie and learn one verse from the Bible. He still hasn't. When they still ask him, what's your favorite verse? He goes, I don't know. I think the one that I wrote.
- [21:52]
Jim Acosta
Yeah. You think he'd sold enough Bibles by now that he would at least pick one up and perused it once or twice? But alas, no, that is not the case. Watch. Great conversation. Thanks so much. And, and, and we'll see you next time. But anytime you can. Come on, man, really enjoy it. Thank you.
- [22:09]
Wajahat Ali
Thank you, sir. Take care, everyone.
- [22:10]
Jim Acosta
All right. Good to see you. You know, Watch and I were having a little bit of a conversation there about what's taking place in the Middle east, and I want to bring back my friend and former colleague Alex Marquardt, veteran national security correspondent. We probably won't be as goofy as. As Watch and I were during that previous conversation.
- [22:31]
I just, just don't put me on the spot to do a Trump impersonation.
- [22:35]
I don't know.
- [22:36]
It wouldn't, Wouldn't measure up to the two of you.
- [22:38]
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, watching wages is pretty good. His is, his is quite good.
- [22:43]
That was, that was really impressive. When a good one is trotted out, you're like, okay, that's impressive. That, that was pretty good.
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I dabble from time to time, but I, you know, but Alex, good to see you, man. And, you know, I, I, I want to also talk about Victor Orban and what took place in Hungary over the weekend, because that was pretty fascinating, too. And there's been a lot of online conversation about this. Is the guy who is replacing Victor Orban, is he, you know, apparently he's center, right. Is he also Trumpy and, you know, sort of out of the CPAC MAGA universe? I don't get that sense, but we can talk about that. But I mean, you know, Trump insisting that the US Is now taking control of the Strait of Horror. Moose. How much of that is reality and how much of that is just war? Trump BS Well, I think it is
- [23:32]
reality, and we're really going to come to, we'll get a sense of that in the coming days. I think what's remarkable is, you know, last week, last few weeks, Trump's been issuing all these threats, including, you know, this genocidal notion that, that he's going to, that he's going to destroy the entire civilization unless they open up the Strait of Hormuz. And then here's Trump saying, actually, we're blocking the Strait of Hormuz. So it's, you know, it's a standoff and, you know, both sides are going to suffer. Trump would tell you, the administration would tell you, well, the US Is better insulated. That is true. The US Is a net exporter of, of energy. But at the same time, we're seeing gas prices go up all across the country. And of course, the rest of the world is suffering in a major way with the strait closed. That's not to say that the Iranians have the upper hand. I mean, they can cope for a while. And we've seen that this regime has a really high pain threshold because as we've said before, their bar for success is essentially survival. And by all indications, right now, they're going to survive at a great cost to themselves. But, but more importantly to, to Iranian society. So you have. I saw one survey today saying that Iran's going to lose on, on, on order of $435 million a day when it comes to their energy exports. They're going to quickly run out of place to put oil as they continue to pump it. At the same time, you have all these ships out at sea. I'M not sure if people realize this, but the Iranians have loaded up all these ships, sent them out to sea weeks ago, and so they can continue to sell that oil to China. 90% of their oil goes to China. So they can do that for a couple more months. So this is a standoff, and each side obviously thinking that the other side is going to blink. We have eight days before the end of the, this cease fire. That, of course, was set at two weeks. Trump's favorite time frame.
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Right, right. Two weeks. That is certainly one of his favorite delay tactics is just, oh, we'll do it in two weeks.
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Right.
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But the other thing, Alex, is, I mean, Trump was making a lot of wild assertions over the weekend, one of, one of which is that, well, the world can just come to the United States. They can just pull into the Gulf of America to the Donald Trump gas station and fill her up. That is obviously fantasy. That is not how the global energy market works. We saw, you know, as soon as these talks collapsed over in Pakistan, led by JD Vance and Jared Kushner and Steve Wyckoff, that, you know, and, and Trump threatening to blockade the straight himself, that the price of oil went up again. And so obviously, you know, folks can't just, you know, steer an aircraft carrier or an oil tanker into the Gulf of Mexico and start pumping oil out of the, out of the US but the other thing that Donald Trump keeps going back to, and maybe you could weigh in on this and it might be more in your wheelhouse, he talks about how the US has sunk the Iranian navy, that they've, you know, caused all this devastation to Iranian military capabilities and so on. That isn't that. That was not the reason why Donald Trump said he wanted to go to war against Iran. It was to change out the regime and to stop the Iranians from getting a nuclear weapon. Both of those things he hasn't accomplished.
- [26:53]
No, I mean, the debate continues over whether regime change actually was an initial goal. Of course, Trump said, from the get go, we will weaken the regime to the extent where you, the Iranian people can rise up and take it, essentially.
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Yeah.
- [27:09]
And then they started to water down their goals. They being, Pete Hegseth and others over the course of the next few weeks, where it was, were going to limit their ability or destroy their ability to project power, as they call it. That basically means attack others around the region and around the world, so decimate their ballistic missile capability. The US has done, and the Israelis, of course, have done a pretty good job there. Go after their navy. We saw Trump claim today that 158 ships have been sunk. The proxies, of course, are a major factor across the region. We have seen them being weakened in Iraq and Syria. The Houthis still a formidable force. Hezbollah we've seen still a formidable force. And we can talk about Lebanon if you like. But I think, Jim, what you're getting at in this whole Strait of Hormuz discussion is even if the Iranian Navy has been severely weakened, which we believe it has, they still have at least three different kinds of weaponry, if you will, that can go after ships going through the straight of hormones. They have these fast boats that are, these small, nimble speedboats that can pull up alongside and attack the vessels going through. They have drones and they have mines. And so it's, it's, you know, the, the capability is still very much there. And then just back to your earlier point, no, I'm not an energy trader and I won't pretend to know all the different ins and outs of the market, but it is important to note a couple different things. The US still imports different kinds of oil for, for different kinds of products that, that, that the US Needs. Even if the, if the US if the calculation were that simple, then wouldn't gas prices have stayed in the same place? We would just refine our, our own oil and keep gas where it is. No, I mean, we need the others. Then, of course, you know, as America first, as this administration may be, they are, you know, in some ways, I would hope, sensitive to, to the, to, to the pain in the rest of the world. And you've got the global south really starting to feel the pinch of the street, of the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz when it comes to fertilizer not being able to be exported. The lng, the natural gas that can't be exported, that is used for cooking. And so this is really going to, this is, of course, roiling the entire world when it comes to energy prices, the financial markets, and on and on. I guess the good news right now, Jim, is that even though the talks were not successful over the weekend that J.D. vance led, talks are ongoing. The war has not started back up.
- [29:48]
Yeah. And on the fertilizer front, I mean, I do think Donald Trump could corner the market on fertilizer. I mean, I do that on the fertilizer supply. Donald Trump, I mean, as a supplier of fertilizer himself, I kid Donald Trump certainly could corner that market. But, Alex, let's, let's, let's switch over to, well, let's pick up on what you just said about J.D. vance. Did you, I mean, did you really have any, did anybody have any real hope that JD Vance, Jared Kushner and Steve Wyckoff are going to pull this off in a weekend? I mean, I, I didn't understand why JD Vance was sent to Pakistan to lead these talks. This. Is this his stock and trade? I don't, I, I don't sense that it is. That peace talks are like his, his, you know, strong selling point there?
- [30:36]
Yeah, yeah, there's a sense out there. I don't think it's a bad thing and I certainly think it, think it telegraphs to the world that the Trump administration is taking this seriously. When you're sending the Vice President, United States, the second person in charge of the country, to these talks, it's worth noting that these are the highest level talks that the US has carried out with the Iranians since that regime took over 47 years ago. Obviously there have been, you know, the negotiations during the Obama administration, but here you have the Vice President sitting down with the Iranian speaker of Parliament and the Foreign Minister. There is a sense that the Iranians wanted Vance to be part of these conversations, not just to show how serious they were, but also because they believe that Vance is against the war in general and advance wants to run for President in 2028 and therefore he wants to end this war so that, you know, he can basically run as an, as an anti war candidate in 28. I would argue that he is a better person, negotiator to sit down at the table than the other two. I mean, you know, at least he was in the Senate. He negotiated with his colleagues, he was exposed to issues of national security as a senator, unlike the other two, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, who would tell you, we've done all kinds of negotiations at the, you know, at the business table when it comes to real estate. But of course, they are not familiar or steeped in the ways of, of diplomacy the way that you would expect. I mean, Abbas Aragchi, the Iranian Foreign minister, he was around, he's been around forever. I mean, he was part of the jcpo, JCPOA negotiations back during the Obama administration. And so I think one really relevant critique here is you don't have American experts sitting at the table negotiating these things. When you look at, first of all, the length of time that it took for the JCPOA to be negotiated and then the players that were involved there, you had experts who were so smart on the issues. You had scientists, you had Physicists. You had people who were, who had been in charge of the Iran portfolio for years from an intelligence perspective. And as far as we know, those people aren't there. Now, there's some reporting today that there's a hope from the Iranian side and the Pakistani side that the next, the conversations will continue, and hopefully they'll continue at a technical level. And what that means is the experts can actually talk to each other about what it would mean not just on the nuclear side of things, which is unbelievably complicated, but also on, in terms of, in terms of the straight of Hormuz and what it would take to open that back up. So I was not at all surprised that the talks didn't really result in something more concrete after just one weekend. I was a bit surprised that there wasn't more of a spin and more of a positive spin saying we accomplished things and we're going to, we're going to keep talking. I mean, Vance came out to the podium and said, we've been talking for 21 hours and we didn't get to where we needed to be. Now, thankfully, he didn't say, all right, we're going straight back to war. They are going to continue the conversation. But these are incredibly complex issues. And the last thing I'll say is, I mean, the two sides are still extremely far apart where both are. Well, the US Is going in with this real maximalist position, and I often wonder whether this is coming from the Israelis, that the Iranians cannot enrich uranium at all. 0 get all of the nuclear material out of the country. They can import it for their civilian purposes, but zero enrichment. And, you know, if, if the US Is going to stick to that line, which is exactly where Netanyahu and the Israelis would like the US to stay, then, then they're probably not going to get anywhere because the Iranians are, are for them, it is an issue of highest national importance, of, of dignity. And like I said, they're willing to put up with a lot of pain and.
- [34:43]
Well, and this has strengthened their hand. I mean, yeah, if anything, it's emboldened the Iranians. You know, maybe their military has been devastated to some extent. But the other issue, too is I, you know, I think some of this is the Israelis, no question about it. But the Saudis, they don't like the Iranians either. Correct. And Jared Kushner has been doing a lot of business with the Saudis. So I, I kind of wonder if the Iranians, to your point, liked having J.D. vance there and not Jared Kushner leading all of this, who's been doing a lot of business with other people in that region. A lot of billions of dollars worth of business.
- [35:19]
Yeah. I really do think that it, it adds a, a more serious veneer. And I really wonder to what extent J.D. vance is going to be involved in the conversations going forward. There was that fascinating New York Times piece going inside the Situation Room, and this was before the war was, was launched. And they, you know, going around the table and, and everyone was quite deferential to Trump saying, you'll, you'll make the right decision. Vance, it sounded like, according to Jonathan Swan and Maggie Haberman, he was the one who basically said, I'm, I'm, I'm not in favor of this war. He didn't stand up and say, Mr. President, you should absolutely not do it. But he, he, he made it known that, that he didn't want this war. And again, that's probably going to be a reason that the Iranians want him involved in. I still think that the, the Gulf Arab angle to all this is, is absolutely fascinating because they're the ones who are going to have to deal with all of this mess for years going forward. When Donald Trump gets bored and walks away, they're the ones who are going to have to deal with a, an aggressive, angry Iran that still has all kinds of capabilities, whether it's military or energy or, you know, geographic, through the Strait of Hormuz to make their lives extremely difficult. We saw the Qatari prime minister speaking with his, his Iranian counterpart today saying, you know, you can't use the Strait of Hormuz as, as a tool of economic leverage. Well, guess what? You know, I, I keep coming back to the fact that the Strait of Hormuz was open before this war started.
- [36:44]
That's right.
- [36:45]
And it is. Anybody with a map and, you know, 10 minutes of reading about Iran could have told you the first thing they're going to do is close the Strait of Hormuz. And somehow Donald Trump was convinced that they could overcome that or, or they could force it open. And, and, and, and now we're seeing that's that it's obviously far easier said than done.
- [37:06]
Yeah, no, and I know John Kerry was on, I think, with Jen Psaki the other night saying that like most American presidents over the last half century have been given this pitch by BB Netanyahu that, you know, it's time to take out Iran. They're on the verge of having nuclear weapons. And it was Donald Trump who, who bit, who, who, who bit On, Yeah,
- [37:28]
Hillary Clinton said the same thing. And I gotta tell you, Jim, I wrote a piece a year ago, just over a year ago, about the, and this was during Biden. Sorry, sorry, excuse me. Two years ago. Two years ago, during Biden, when Netanyahu was making the pitch to the Biden administration.
- [37:45]
Yes.
- [37:45]
And, and I spoke to a senior Biden administration official who said, you know, this is the pitch. They come to us every six months. This is something that they've been trying to do. And we're talking about an open ended war. You know, Hillary Clinton's point was she supported the 12 Day War last year, which was specifically aimed at taking out the nuclear facilities. But Netanyahu, she said, has been arguing for a much more open ended war. And we can't say it enough times. Israel and the US have different goals in this war. You laid out the, the three to four points. It's still not quite firm what it is on the American side. But the Israelis very much want to carry out regime change and they will, no question push the US to stay in this war no matter how much Trump wants to end it.
- [38:36]
And Alex, some quick thoughts on Viktor Orban conceding defeat. And I mean, this, this is a pretty, I think, big moment. You know, maybe a lot of Americans probably don't think about Hungary, but inside maga, they think about Hungary quite a bit. CPAC has had multiple conferences there propping up Orban as sort of like, this is the guy, this is the, the right way to run Europe. You know, very harsh when it comes to immigrants, very harsh when it comes to democratic freedoms. Sort of authoritarian light and, you know, cracking down on the press and so on. But Orban, when he lost, he conceded, he congratulated the opposition and apparently this, it says his defeat, this, according to the New York Times, his defeat paves the way for Peter Magyar. Forgive me if I have that wrong.
- [39:29]
Yeah.
- [39:29]
A former Orban loyalist and the leader of the main opposition party to take over as Hungary's prime minister once the newly elected parliament meets. And he's been described as center right. I know from talking to a lot of European politicians, when you talk about center right, it, it ain't like the center right here in the United States. They're, they're fairly progressive when it comes to center right coalitions in Europe. But your thoughts on all of this and where this might head from here?
- [39:53]
Yeah, I mean, he's no raging liberal, but it's a, it's a huge moment. I guess I kind of looked at it from a US perspective, because I'm in DC right now, and I just thought 0 for 2 when it comes to advance. I mean, he was over there last week doing that rally for Orban. He got Trump on speakerphone to talk to the crowd. And then this resounding defeat. And, you know, for those of us who have lived in the, in the Trumpian era here in the US the fact that you had this Trumpian figure conceding defeat that early on, I mean, it was pretty early in the evening, and calling his opponent to, to, to concede is, I mean, it's, it's refreshing, right? It's, it's.
- [40:29]
You didn't say it was rigged.
- [40:30]
Yeah, he didn't say it was rigged. And, and, you know, he's, he's presumably moving on with his life. And he said, basically, I'm paraphrasing here, that the, the voters didn't give us the benefit of, of another term. And so basically, we're moving on. I can tell you there's a huge sigh of relief across Europe. Hungary was the thorn in NATO side. In the EU side. Of course, the, the Europeans look at a lot of this through the frame of Ukraine. Orban's loss will unlock, I think, a lot of aid from Hungary and others to keep flowing to Zelensky and the Ukrainians. Orban had made this election about Zelensky in many ways more than about his direct opponent. I mean, it's astonishing to think that you had both Trump and Putin who were on the same side in this election. And when you look at the cast of, you know, you do have these maga Trumpian figures around the world, Orban, Milei and others who have, who have lined up behind Trump. And so this is a big blow for the Trump administration when it comes to their outreach in Europe. I mean, when Vance was there at the podium, he said, basically, let's send a message to Brussels and meaning the EU and NATO that, you know, we're not going to put up with it anymore or whatever he said. I mean, advance is really, and the Trump administration have really been trying to stir things up in Europe for a while and, and this is definitely gonna, gonna be a big blow. It's, it's, it's, it's, it's, you know, the eu, NATO folks, I mean, they're, they're very happy about this news. It was a, it was a fascinating election that, as you say, we're not used to watching Hungry as a Bellwether, but, but it was, it was the biggest news of the weekend. Of course, alongside the, the talks in Pakistan.
- [42:23]
Yeah. I mean, if you are the Europeans and, and particularly allies in NATO who are just, you know, rip pissed off at Donald Trump over what he has done, you know, threatening Greenland and threatening to pull out of NATO and what he's done in the Middle east and going off on NATO countries for not helping him get out of the jam that he's in, in the Strait of Hormuz and so on. And then they put all their eggs in Orban's basket. Send JD Vance there, as you said, put Donald Trump on the speakerphone and then Orban loses that election. I mean, I think the Europeans kind of like, you know, seeing egg on Trump's face. These, I mean, they don't kind of like it. They, they love it. They want to see more of it and they, they want to see him put in his place. And there is no really putting Donald Trump in his place. That's just never going to happen. But, you know, I would, I would have to think it's taken some wind out of his sails when it comes to, you know, thumbing his nose at the Europeans and at NATO allies.
- [43:22]
I just, I think they are, you know, on the one hand, they're relieved. On the other, they are so exasperated with what they're having to deal with over Iran. All of this talk of pulling out of NATO, all of this talk of, well, you didn't come to our aid. I mean, I hear that from pretty mainstream, you know, former American generals and, you know, American politicians as well as if there's this, as if Article 5 in the, in the NATO, in the NATO treaty actually applies in this situation. You know, the US Wasn't attacked. And so it's, you know, you're right that the, you know, the, many of the Europeans are going to be extremely relieved by this, but I think that they realize that they're still dealing with an extremely fickle and temperamental president who they still have to try to appease however they can. I mean, we saw Mark Ruta come here to Washington, D.C. the secretary general of NATO. Yeah. And just continue to prostrate himself before and grovel in front of, in front of Trump. And clearly he's made up his mind that if he's going to hold together this fragile alliance, that he's going to have to do everything he can to kiss Trump's ass and make sure that, that he doesn't go anywhere, because it does feel like many days, like it's hanging on by a thread.
- [44:45]
I agree with you and Mark Ruto I mean, the NATO Secretary General just, you know, acting like, you know, Trump's fluffer. And, you know, the other day he was asked at some forum about, you know, referring to Donald Trump as daddy, and he was trying to talk his way out of calling Donald Trump Daddy. Oh, I didn't mean it that way. I meant it in a different way. It's like, dude, you're the NATO Secretary General. That is an important job. And just own.
- [45:11]
What? Own. Own what you said.
- [45:12]
Own what you said. Or just say, hey, I don't feel that way. Where he tried. He, you know, he wanted to take Greenland. Obviously, we're taking a different approach with Donald Trump. I mean, I just, in that whole episode with Greenland, what the moral of the story from that was, when you stand up to Donald Trump, he backs down. And I just think that this Mark Richa guy just seems like the wrong guy to be in charge of NATO. But that's me. That's, that's my observation. But, Alex, great to see you, my man. Thank you so much.
- [45:36]
Thanks so much for having me, Jim.
- [45:38]
All right, Good to see you.
- [45:38]
That was fun.
- [45:39]
We'll do it again soon. Really appreciate it. And, you know, there might be another reason why the Europeans are a little suspicious of Donald Trump. Why? They think maybe he's just a little off kilter these days. They may be looking at his, his truth social feed. I will tell you, every time, having traveled to Europe a bunch during the Trump years, anytime he puts something batshit crazy on social media, they. They play it up over overseas. And one would think, yes, they're doing it again. When Donald Trump is posting images himself as Jesus, apparently healing somebody who looks very much like Jeffrey Epstein. It is going to, it is going to cause some, some waves overseas. But I do think that's kind of missing the point as to where we are today. And it goes back to something that I've been talking about on this show quite a bit lately. And I have, I've said this. I've, I've predicted this. And I'm not patting myself on the back at all because, you know, Lord knows I, I don't need any pats on the back. But I have said, and I'll say it again, and I think this is another example of that. Donald Trump will betray or embarrass every segment of the MAGA base before he leaves the scene. I mean, mark my words, he will do it. Every single segment of the MAGA base will be betrayed, will be embarrassed by Donald Trump before he leaves the scene. The Truth social post of Trump pretending that he's Jesus with what looks like the Avengers over. I'm not sure who that is over his shoulder. That is just the latest example. But, you know, for the folks on the far right, for the Christian conservatives out there who have embraced Donald Trump despite, you know, his being probably the most unchristian person I've ever personally witnessed covering politics, Donald Trump has made it pretty clear that he is not exactly a seminarian. He is not a student of theology. He is not a student of the Bible when it comes to, you know, the way he approaches things in life. There it was several years ago, I believe this was during his first run for the presidency when he was asked about his. His favorite parts of the Bible. He was asked this by Mark Halpern and John Heilman. I think we have that clip. We should play it because you mentioned the Bible.
- [48:03]
You've been talking about how it's your favorite book. And you said, I think last night. And I, like some people, are surprised that you say that. I'm wondering what one or two of your most favored Bible verses are.
- [48:13]
Donald Trump
I wouldn't want to get into it because to me, that's very personal. You know, when I talk about the Bible, it's very personal. So I don't want to get into verses I don't want to get into.
- [48:20]
Jim Acosta
There's no verse that means a lot to you that you think about or cite.
- [48:23]
Donald Trump
The Bible means a lot to me, but I don't want to get into specifics.
- [48:27]
Jim Acosta
Even to cite a verse.
- [48:28]
Donald Trump
No, I don't want to do that.
- [48:31]
Jim Acosta
Yeah, he can't really cite a part of the Bible that he likes because he doesn't know the Bible from a hole in the ground. I believe he goes on to say during that clip that his second favorite book is the Art of the Deal. Folks, you know, listen, Donald Trump told us who he is a long time ago. I talked about this on Friday. When he tells that story of the snake, he's telling you exactly who he is. And when I mentioned the fact that he's already thrown Megyn Kelly and Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens and Alex Jones under the bus, that was the manosphere, the podcast, bro, the podcasting wing of maga, the troll wing of Maga. He is starting to betray them. What we saw take place over the weekend where Donald Trump is posting images himself as Jesus. That is yet just another segment, ladies and gentlemen, of the MAGA base, the Christian conservative part of the MAGA base that Donald Trump will betray and embarrass And I mean, I just want to point out, I'm. Listen, I don't hold myself up as any scholar when it comes to religion and so on, but I do think I know the Ten Commandments. And the very first commandment is, I am the Lord thy God. Thou shall not have strange gods before me. Thou shall not have strange gods before me. Can we just show that truth Social post one last time? The one with the guy that looks like Jeffrey Epstein, the one with it looks like, I don't know if that's Black Panther or one of the avengers above. Donald Trump. That, my friends, is a strange God. And Donald Trump has been pulling this one for a very long time. You recall when there was the assassination attempt on Donald Trump, obviously a terrible thing. And it was said by many on the far right and it was said by many in the, in the Christian conservative base that it was the hand of God that saved Donald Trump. And I, I made the observation then, maybe I didn't do it publicly, but I'll make it now that, that yes, maybe he was saved, but not for the reason that you think. Not for the reason that you think. And perhaps he is still with us. Perhaps he is still embarrassing himself and embarrassing key moments and members of the MAGA base because he wants those segments of the MAGA base to see exactly who he is before he leaves the scene as President of the United States. He wants that Christian conservative segment of the base to see exactly who he is before he leaves the scene. This is somebody who for many years has done, I mean, almost everything humanly possible to be offensive to people of the faith, to be offensive to people of the Christian faith, to be offensive to people of any faith. Donald Trump has done this for many years. As Wajahat Ali was saying earlier on this program, he was mocking Muslims on Easter when he was talking about Praise be to Allah in that Easter post where he said, open up the straight, talking about the Strait of Hormuz. He routinely mocks people's faiths. His, his political operatives have from time to time mocked the Jewish faith. He, he, he does. This is who he is. And people need to understand that Donald Trump will continue to do this until he leaves the scene. And I, you know, I, I just wonder what it will take, what will it take for this part of the MAGA base to understand that Donald Trump is not one of you. I mean, he used to sell Trump Bibles for $60 that included, I think, the Bill of Rights in the Constitution. This is somebody who, who was never exhibited really? Any signs of somebody who is a good Christian? This is somebody who has covered up the Epstein files, who has been credibly accused of sexual abuse for many, many years. And I'm just, you know, we, we talk about Donald Trump posting an image of himself like Jesus. But what will it take? What will it take to finally convince you that he is not one of you? What will it take? My thanks to Wajahat Ali today for coming on the program. Always check him out at the left hook. He's on substack and he's on multiple times a day. I was asking Wajahat before we got going, how do you do it? He's on just about all day long on substack, so please check him out there. And always great to catch up with my old friend Alex Marquardt. Great national security reporter. Has his finger on what is happening around the world when it comes to the national security and global affairs scene. And my thanks to all of you for watching. I don't say it often enough. I'm going to say it right here. Make sure you support this program by subscribing if you're watching this on Substack. I always appreciate it when folks become paid subscribers. It pays for what we do, pays for improvements to the program, helps us bring guests onto the program every day. Anything that can be done to support this program is greatly appreciated. If you do it on YouTube, it is greatly, greatly appreciated there as well. But thanks to everybody for tuning in. Really appreciate it. Still reporting from Washington, I'm Jim Acosta. I'll see you next time.