Loading summary
Transcript11 lines
- [00:00]
Mackenzie
My name is Mackenzie, and I started a GoFundMe for the adoptive mother of a nonverbal autistic child. The mother had lost her job because she wasn't able to find adequate care for this autistic child. So she really needed some help with living expenses, paying some back bills. So I launched a GoFundMe to help support them during this crisis. And, and we raised about $10,000 within just a couple of months. I think that the surprising thing was by telling a clear story and just like, really being very clear about what we needed, we had some really generous donations from people who were really moved by the situation that this family was struggling with.
- [00:47]
GoFundMe/Shopify Advertiser
GoFundMe is the world's number one fundraising platform, trusted by over 200 million people. Start. Start your GoFundMe today at gofundme.com that's gofundme.com gofundme.com this podcast is supported by GoFundMe.
- [01:00]
1-800-Flowers Advertiser
Mother's Day has a way of sneaking up on you, but when it does, 1-800-FLowers makes it easy to send mom something beautiful, thoughtful, and worthy of everything she does. Right now with double blooms from 1-800-Flowers. Order one dozen roses and get another dozen for free. It's a bigger gesture with fresh, beautiful flowers arranged to make Mother's Day feel as special as she is. Make Mother's Day feel bigger with Double blooms at 1-800-FLowers.com podcast. That's 1-800-FLowers.COM podcast.
- [01:31]
Political Commentator/Host
Furious world leaders are blasting Donald Trump and they are not holding back. In the Middle east, former allies of the United States are saying that the military bases in their countries are a liability and they want to shut them down. Because what in the world is the United States even offering but getting them involved in wars? When you go to Australia, Canada, and Europe, they're out there calling Donald Trump out for causing a rupture in the global world order. We're hearing Canada, Europe discussing can Canada join the European Union? I mean, things that were never even thought possible are now being discussed, and 60% of Canadians support that idea. You know, in Qatar, you're hearing how they thought that their military bases giving Donald Trump private jets was going to help them, but it's done the exact opposite. I just want to break down for you, point by point of what's going on across the world. I think it's important that we have an international perspective of what's going on. A very significant UAE scholar by the name of Abdullah Abdullah is very close to the royal family there, says that the UAE no longer needs US Protection, calling American bases a burden, not a strategic asset, and suggesting that day should be closed. The United States standing in the region has been utterly obliterated. Let me read for you what Abdullah had to say. And then separately, the United Arab Emirates economic ministers and foreign ministers have been meeting with the United States and have been demanding protection in the form of currency swaps. And in the event that the United States is unwilling to help out the UAE in an emergency, they're saying, why don't we just use yuan, we'll just switch to Chinese currency at this point, because what the hell is the United States even doing? I'll get to that in a moment. But here's what Abdullah writes. This is what I told Reuters today. The UAE no longer needs America to defend it, as it has proven during the Iranian aggression that it is capable of defending itself with distinction. What the UAE needs is to acquire only the best and latest weapons America has. Therefore, it is time to think about closing the American bases as they are a burden and not a strategic asset. Now, separately, you have UAE's foreign minister and economic ministers essentially saying the following to the Trump regime. You started this war. If we run short of US Dollars as a result of it, either you will give us a US Dollar swap lines or we will be forced to start transacting oil and gas in Chinese currency and yuan and in other curr. Say goodbye to the petrodollar. They have also argued that it was Donald Trump's decision to attack Iran and entangled their country in a destructive conflict whose effects may not be over, some of the officials said. Emirati officials told the US Officials that if UAE runs short of dollars and may be forced to use Chinese yuan or other currencies for oil sales and other transactions, some of the officials said in that scenario is an implicit threat to the US Dollar, which reigns supreme among global currencies partially because of its near exclusive use in oil transactions. So when we see this photo of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant meeting with the UAE's Minister of State for Financial Affairs, Mohammed Bin Hadi Al Husseini to discuss, quote, the ongoing economic financial cooperation between the United States and the United Arab Emir, it's the UAE saying they're about to abandon the dollar and adopt the yuan as more of their go to currency if the US does not basically agree to bail them out. So I just want you all to remember, remember the currency swaps that were taking place with Argentina, $40 billion bailouts for Argentina. Donald Trump's America first, which is America alone means bail out everybody else while the American people suffer. You know, I also note the following and this was, I think a very significant article from the New York Times that came out yesterday. In Qatar, trapped between the US And Iran war forced a reckoning. The uncomfortable realization that Israel appears to have more influence over Mr. Trump's decision than Gulf leaders do has reverberated throughout Gulf royal courts, analysts say. There was a big conference as well that took place in Turkey with Gulf states in the past 48 hours or so. It was a multi day conference where the theme that we heard over and over again, the US Security umbrella no longer exists. The US has demonstrated how weak it is. The promises of these security guarantees was not delivered by the United States. There needs to be stronger Gulf cooper and at this point the Gulf states need to look elsewhere, not to say fully abandon the United States, but really start to look closer at China and other allies, Ukraine as well, signing 10 year deals with lots of Gulf states for security protection. In the absence of a US Security umbrella, even the best weapons, the most advanced in the history of mankind, humankind under the control of Don Donald Trump, a weak and pathetic individual, utterly collapses. Just let me just share this with you because I think it's very powerful, it says. To grasp the global collateral damage from the US Israeli war with Iran, consider the Persian Gulf nation of Qatar. A close U.S. ally and longtime mediator between Washington and Tehran, Qatar's government sought to avert the war. When that failed, Qatari officials warned of the dangers of a prolonged conflict. Resource rich Qatar nonetheless faced more than 700 Iranian missile and drone attacks, which have targeted Gulf countries that host American military bases. These attacks force Qatar to suspend natural gas production, which generates its vast wealth and normally accounts for a fifth of the global supply. It was one of a number of disruptions by the war that sent economic shockwaves around the world. As it takes stock, the Qatari government will be forced to swallow a bitter pill, analysts say. Neither its strong ties with the United States nor its cordial relationship with Iran have spared it from pain. The war has caused a state of, quote, strategic shock for Qatar and its Gulf neighbors, said Rashid Al Mohandi, the vice president of the center for International Policy Research, a think tank in Qatar. There was an assumption that such a big move in the region, like starting a war with Iran, would at least happen in consultation with the Gulf, he said. We thought we had a better working relationship with the United States, he said. At the same time, he added, of the level of Iranian aggression on our Capital and our cities and on our infrastructure has been just crazy. So while many Gulf Arab countries have historically had antagonistic relationships with Iran, Qatar along with Saudi Arabia and the UAE have invested considerable capital in building warmer ties in recent years. And then separately that they thought that by buying Donald Trump a Boeing 747 jet and engaging in all of these quid pro quos was going to help them. But it did not. Donald Trump did not even alert them when the war was going to take place. He and Netanyahu just went it alone.
- [09:46]
Medicare Advisor
Now look, this is super important. If you used Medicare.gov to get Medicare Advantage plan information, you may want to double check your plan. The provider directory had inaccurate information on it and it's possible you signed up for a plan that doesn't actually cover your existing doctors. Listen folks, it's easy to choose the wrong Medicare plan and unfortunately, Medicare mistakes can cost you thousands of dollars. That's why we partner with chapter when you need to choose a Medicare plan, call them. They're the only national advisor that compares and recommends every Medicare plan across Medicare Supplement, Medicare Advantage and Part D. And they've helped people save over $1,100 on health care costs. In fact, they've helped hundreds of you in the Midas Touch community save thousands and get better coverage. These guys won't push you to buy a plan you don't want to, and their support is completely free. So if you're on Medicare or will be soon, call them at 82 Medicare. They'll help you understand enrollment options and find ways to save on your health care. Again, call them at 82 Medicare.
- [11:01]
Political Commentator/Host
Now. Professor Morandi of Iran, who travels with Iran's negotiating team in connection with the very weak, if non existent, purported ceasefire. At this point, Professor Morandi issued the following warning on behalf of Iran to these Arab nations, to these Gulf states, leave the uae, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait immediately. Iran will retaliate, destroying everything. These regimes are guilty partners in the genocidal Epstein coalition and won't be forgiven. The rising temperature in the Persian Gulf will soon make them uninhabitable. And this follows Donald Trump announcing that the US Navy attacked and boarded an Iranian vessel in the Persian Gulf. This is as the Trump regime continues a naval blockade of the Persian Gulf. Trump's plan to open the Strait of Hormuz is to further close the Strait of Hormuz. And then Donald Trump is now, as you know from our other reporting, threatening to blow up bridges, electric grids and other civilian infrastructure in Iran if Iran does not agree to terms imposed on it by the Trump regime that the Trump regime was not able to achieve during the war. We all know that Donald Trump agreed to Iran's 10 point negotiating framework as a stipulation to the ceasefire beginning in the first place. And then when the first negotiation round took place in Islamabad, Pakistan, the Trump regime said, oh, we're not following the 10 point framework that Iran put forward that we previously agreed to. If you don't accept our terms, Iran, we're going to kill the negotiators and we're going to blow you up and send you back to the stone Age. To which Iran said, those threats don't scare us. You've tried to do that before in the war. The reason we're here having negotiations in the first place is because you set a arbitrary deadline where you said you would destroy the Iranian civilization. When the deadline arrived, you panicked Donald Trump because you weren't going to meet the deadline. So you begged Pakistan to facilitate a ceasefire with Iran by agreeing to their 10 point plan, only to renege on the framework. And now we're back in this situation where you just continue to keep on threatening Iran that you're going to blow them up and destroy him in negotiations, which is not really a way to negotiate at all. Now should also be noted that Ukrainian President Zelensky announcing the security guarantees that that Ukraine is now providing to these Middle east nations. Zelensky wrote the following yesterday, we have already reached 10 year agreements with three key Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar. We already have requests from 11 countries, the Middle east and the Gulf. Plus we're also gradually turning our attention to the caucuses within the drone deal. There will be at least 10 different agreements covering various categories. Categories of Ukrainian weapons exports, co production as planned, the construction of our production lines both in Ukraine and in other countries, new technologies that we are developing jointly with various countries in which they are investing. There is also an agreement on annual funding for a specific amount along with a fixed number of years. Second, the European track work has already begun with Germany, Italy, Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands. Of course, we have good relations with the United Kingdom and France. I am confident that all of this will also be implemented there. And that's from an interview that he gave recently that he just gave. While that's taking place, you have the Trump regime continuing to extend the removal of sanctions on Russian oil. Remember, the Trump regime said last week they were not going to extend the removal of sanctions from Russian oil. No way. They said they would do that, but now they did that why? Because Donald Trump, in my opinion, always sides with Putin. In my opinion, Trump is a Putin bootlicker. He's pathetic when it comes to Putin and so many other things, mostly everything. And that's what the Trump regime is doing right now. We're seeing as well European allies, allies in the Gulf states and others. I mean, they see what a pathetic negotiating team Witkoff and Kushner are and they see them just as proxies as Netanyahu also. And also these are two individuals that don't know anything about international diplomacy. Witkoff like a loser real estate guy. Kushner, Trump's son in law, loser guy who had to get bailed out by Qatar in his first real estate project with daddy's money. I mean, these are losers. These are loser, loser human beings. And they don't know about nuclear material. They're like cosplaying and they're bad at cosplaying. And so European allies engulf state allies, or former allies, I should say, fear. An inexperienced U.S. negotiating team is pushing for a swift, headline grabbing framework deal with Iran that could entrench rather than resolve deeper problems. Diplomats with past experience dealing with Tehran said they worry. Washington, eager to claim a diplomatic win for Donald Trump, could lock in a superficial agreement on Iran nuclear program and sanctions relief, then struggle through the months of years of technical complexity following the talks. The concern isn't that there won't be an agreement, said a senior European diplomat, one of eight who spoke with Reuters who have previously worked on the nuclear file or continue to do so. It's that there will be a bad initial agreement that creates endless downstream problems. But I would just, I think add to that. It'll just be these fake deals. Donald Trump will claim that there's agreements and there are all of these things. There won't be anything written down. There won't be terms. And like right now, the oil shock is massive. The Strait of Hormuz is closed. No ships are leaving through the Strait of Hormuz right now. And what that means is that the oil shock gets worse and worse and worse. And this food supply shock gets worse and worse and worse. This is a big problem. As Phil Stewart explains from Reuters, the world, world has lost already over $50 billion worth of crude oil that has not been produced since the Iran war began nearly 50 days ago. And the aftershock of the crisis will be felt for months and even years to come, according to analysts and Reuters calculations. It's a big, big, big problem. But you know what? The Trump regime's Focused on it's stuff like this. Syrian billionaires needed a favor in Washington. They invoke the Trump name. It's a Syrian billionaire family called the Kayats. And they wanted to get sanctions removed from Syria so they could build real estate projects. And as this New York Times article explains, they got the Trump regime to give him everything they wanted by promising Trump resorts in Syria and Trump golf courses in Syria. And they worked with a MAGA Republican Congress member by the name of Joe Wilson. Wilson. And it was the Congress member who proposed to the Kayats in South Carolina. He's like, hey, why don't you do a golf course for Donald Trump? I think that'll help get rid of some of the sanctions so you can build these projects and get these tens of billions of dollars in government contracts that Syria is now offering, by the way, which is being funded by the United States either directly or indirectly as well, in my opinion. And the Kayats are like, ha, ha ha, great idea with the Trump golf course in Syria, but we're going to do an entire Trump resort over there and then we'll get what we want. And that's what happened. That's the way the quid pro quo worked right there. I'll leave you with the with this from Finland's President Alexander Stube. Two through two points I want to bring up first, the idea of Canada joining the European Union. Here's what Stube had to say. Let's play it.
- [19:18]
Alexander Stubb
I think Canada, in terms of its hold composure, its value base, is so close to the European Union that the least we can do is to forge a really close strategic partnership. And what that then leads to in the end with the EU, which started as 6, ended up with 28, then after Brexit with 27, I don't know. I can envisage a much larger EU whether Canada is a part of it or not. It's up to Canada to decide.
- [19:50]
Political Commentator/Host
And then here he says, I don't think America is President Trump. I see a distinction between the United States and Trump. And he said, that's why my hope is that our relationship with the US Will be enduring even if Donald Trump is behaving this way. Let's play this clip.
- [20:06]
Alexander Stubb
I don't think that America is President Trump. I mean, President Trump is the president of America. But America has many different millions of Americans voted for him. That's part of democracy as well, and democratic elections. You don't always get what you want. But I want to live with the reality that I think the transatlantic partnership, the relationship between Europe and the US and of course Canada is super important. So I don't want to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
- [20:35]
Political Commentator/Host
Well, there you have it folks. A lot, a lot of info I know I'm giving you, but it's important. This is important stuff that we got to focus on. Everything that's happening Hit subscribe. Let's get to 7 million subscribers. We appreciate you so much for watching. Have a wonderful day. Thanks for watching. Be sure to add the Midas Touch podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcast for new updates every single day.
- [21:04]
GoFundMe/Shopify Advertiser
When it's time to scale your business, it's time for Shopify. Get everything you need to grow the way you want. Like all the way. Stack more sales with the best converting checkout on the planet. Track your cha chings from every channel right in one spot and turn real time reporting into big time opportunities. Take your business to a whole new level. Switch to Shopify. Start your free trial today.