A (3:02)

with Prime Donald Trump's disastrous, unlawful and catastrophic war in Iran continues to get worse Matters continue to escalate in the Middle east while Donald Trump continues to lie and talk about fake negotiations that he claims he's having with Iran. Only for within minutes Iran to mock Donald Trump and the United States and say we're not having any negotiations and Iran also saying the fact that you're making up negotiations or even if you wanted to have negotiations when you previously were talking about regime change, doesn't that show that you are in the weaker position here that you keep on talking about this? Didn't you say we totally surrendered? So how could there be total obliteration and total surrender if you want to send your highest level officials to try to speak with us and we don't want to talk with you? That's literally what the Foreign Minister of Iran Iraqi has been saying. There's no negotiations and it's showing how desperate you are to negotiate with us. And it happened again moments ago right where Donald Trump posted on his social media platform as per Iranian government request. Please let this statement serve to represent that I am pausing the period of energy plant destruction by 10 days to Monday, April 6, 2026 at 8:00pm Eastern Time. Talks are ongoing and despite erroneous statements to the contrary by the fake news media and others, they are going very well. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Donald J. Trump so then you have G.B. gallobaoff, the head of Iran's Parliament basically posting memes back at Donald Trump and the White House of little children looking very confused at some of the deranged statements that Donald Trump and his regime are making. You have Iranian leaders telling media sites like drop site and others Donald Trump is not being truthful in his earlier posts on his social media platform announcing an additional five day pause on his threat to bomb Iranian energy infrastructure at the request of Iran, with one Iranian official stating Trump is not being truthful. We have not submitted any requests quest regarding potential US attacks, folks. Look what's taking place though in the region. Donald Trump and his regime have sent thousands of Marines on the USS Tripoli. Other ships are coming in from San Diego and elsewhere. The 86 Airborne Division is coming in from Fort Bragg. There are Special operations forces heading into the Middle east preparing for a ground Invasion of Carg Island. Previously, you had top Iranian officials saying, we are monitoring the movements of these American ships and soldiers. And then Iran was posting memes like, come closer. We've been waiting for this for two decades. Come closer, American soldiers. We are ready for you. And also posting memes with Donald Trump presenting or getting presents or gifts from the Iranian regime, because Trump's like, they gave me a gift. And like the Iranian cartoonist in the gifts are showing Iranian soldiers kicking Donald Trump in the face. Also, we know that Iran has stated through their local military outlets and their regime media that more than 1 million fighters in Iran have been preparing for a ground battle with the US this according to the Tasnim News Agency. And also you have Foreign Minister Aragchi taking to their regime media over there. And he said, no nation in history has stood for nearly a month against the greatest nuclear armed power on earth and stopped them from achieving a single goal. This is a point of pride for all humanity. This Foreign Minister Aragchi from Iran said there are no negotiations taking place. The fact that the US Is now even talking about negotiations is an admission of defeat. Didn't they say unconditional surrender? Didn't they say they don't care about these straight of Hormuz and it doesn't matter? So if this was all the case and we're obliterated, why are they mobilizing their highest officials to even negotiate if we're done, if we don't exist in the first place? This Iranian foreign minister says, for countries we have identified as friends, we're allowing them to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. China, Russia, India, Iraq and Pakistan. Meanwhile, Iraq's Shiite militias have been given permission by the Iraqi government to target US forces and to target US Interests in other Arab nations after US Airstrikes killed this Shiite militia that is attached and works with the Iraqi army. And so the war spreading there. In addition, Iran saying, there's no reason to allow our enemy to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. The enemy must learn a lesson, never to dare attack again. And the damages to the Iranian people must be compensated. International guarantees are not 100% guarantees. The intrinsic guarantee we have created ourselves means no one dares to go to war with the Iranian people anymore. No negotiations are taking place. And a ceasefire without guarantees is a vicious cycle that repeats the war. Many foreign ministers in the region have contacted us in Tehran, and Iran's stance has been principled and firm. This war clarifies many facts. And for Middle east nations, it clarifies that if you have American military bases in your countries, it makes you less safe and it makes you targets for wars such as this. In addition, you had another top military official in Iran, Mohsin Razi, senior military advisor to the new Ayatollah, saying as follows, if their air power, which is their main force, has not yielded results, what are they expecting from a ground operation? Are American soldiers really ready to die for Israel? I guess we'll see. Meanwhile, it's being reported that the US Interceptor stockpile has been depleted for a three to eight year period. We've also heard from Israeli generals who are saying that this is a red alert in terms of their ability to marshal much more munitions and weapons and soldiers. They're, they're running out right now, and so they're worried there. And I think Iran sees this. While Donald Trump continues to have these imaginary negotiations with himself. Let's bring in Brett and Jordi. I know an extensive intro there, but I think I had to set the foundation for really where we are right now in this very peculiar, unique, scary, disastrous, deranged moment in American history. Brett, let me toss it over to you.

D (10:19)

Great to be here with you, Ben. Great to be here with you, Jordy. Great to be here. Midas Mighty. Whether you're watching us live on YouTube or listening on the audio podcast, it's always great to be here, reporting the news, analyzing it and doing all of that. I'd add, in addition to the words you use, been a very precarious situation and a situation that's being made worse every, I'd say day, hour, minute, second by Donald Trump. And all of his statements just looks so weak, honestly, and so desperate. It's hard not to see the desperation with every single post that Donald Trump puts out there. He's trying to act like he has all of this leverage. He's trying to act like all these negotiations are going on. He's trying to act like Iran is giving him things. But the data don't lie, and the data shows that he does lie, and that's the issue that he keeps running into. And I just, I really don't know if he realizes that when he says all of these things and makes all of these threats, that it does not show him in a position of strength, but a position of weakness. And especially when you take, for example, that post that he made that Iran just a few minutes later said, yeah, that's a complete and total lie. When Trump said, as per Iranian government request, I mean, when he started it off like that, I was like, this, probably, probably BS right here. And why even put that lie forward if you know that they are going to refute it just moments later? Announcements like this as we, you know, as. As the trade deals, all this stuff, they're normally announced by both parties at the same time for a reason. You don't just have one side do it and then another side refute you. But here we are, and our troops are being put in harm's way right now. This is just such an absolute disgrace. There are millions of people being displaced throughout the Middle east due to these wars. So many innocent people getting killed. We have our troops Now, I believe, 13 bases now, military bases across the Middle east, uninhabitable right now due to Iranian attacks. These are things that the Trump administration, they're ignoring, they're pretending is not happening. And our troops now are forced to basically fight this war, many of them from, like, hotels and from remote areas. And that's now endangering the lives of additional innocent people because Iran's going, if your troops are staying in hotels, guess what? Those hotels are now targets because you're using them as military bases. So this situation continues to expand as Donald Trump tries to pretend like he has a handle on it. He does. Not at all. We are inching every minute right now towards what looks like Trump is leaning heavily towards a ground invasion of Carg Island. You have Iran saying that they are prepared, that they fortified the island. They have a million troops ready to go. This could be a very, very bad situation. I mean, taking a bad situation and making it even worse. But, you know, we'll dive into all the details first. I gotta pass it over to Jordy. Jordy, what's the latest?

E (13:18)

What's up, brothers? What's up, Midas Mighty? This is bad. Yeah, it's gonna continue to get worse. Donald Trump is being played like a fiddle here. He's the world's worst negotiator, and he may be the world's single worst communicator. American troops are dying. Like, that's all that it comes back to for me. American troops are dying because of the incompetency that we're see seeing from the Trump regime. It's absolutely appalling and pathetic, and it's disgraceful because it also seems like the Republican Party maga, Donald Trump, that they don't give a damn about the American troops. And that. That to me, I mean, it should infuriate everyone. It looks like this war is about to get escalated. Brett, to your point as well, and Again, there's no plan, there's no planning. He's not negotiating of how to make this better for everyone, how to make it better for you, for America. He is being played like an absolute fiddle. He is an incompetent buffoon. He couldn't be more of the person to be in charge of who's in charge right now, leading us into a disaster. It's like watching a train in slow motion that's about to, like, head on to another train, and you just want to be able to shake someone and, like, wake you up from this bad dream. But. But here we are, and we have a lot to get into today. Benji, where do you want to get started?

A (14:28)

You know, I was speaking with my wife this morning, and we were talking, and she said, well, you know, that's Easter weekend. And I said, wow, it's Easter already. How did I mean that? It's coming up in just a little bit. And then it reminded me as well about the founding of Midas Touch.

D (14:45)

Right.

A (14:46)

This past week, Midas Touch officially turned six or sixth anniversary here at the Midas Touch Network. And I think about starting this when me, Brett and Jordy were scared at home with all of Donald Trump's deranged press conferences during COVID lying to the American people, as he would continue to say, hey, it's gonna go away by Easter. Remember, his big first thing was by, you basically have no cases here. It's all going to be fine by Easter. It's all going to go away, and it's going to be magical because we can all celebrate this miracle on Easter. It was always about Easter, Easter, Easter. So when my wife mentioned Easter, I'm like, wow, first off, I can't believe we're already basically in April at this point, but he's doing the same thing, except this time, and excuse the crude analogy, because I'm not trying to make it perfectly analogous, but this other force, this time, last time with COVID Covid didn't totally talk. Covid didn't say, not true, Donald. We're going to spread. We're going to keep on getting worse. Donald, we're going to stop you. Like Covid could. We could see what was happening. We could see Donald Trump was lying, but Covid didn't really have a voice other than in the deaths. And it spread and what was happening. And we could observe it and say, whoa. What? Trump is saying, inject yourself with bleach and that things are looking great. Well, whoa, that's not happening. See, this time, Trump is manufactured by Doing this unlawful invasion with Netanyahu, a crisis of epic proportion, both in terms of humanity, individuals being killed, as well as economically. America is in a catastrophic economic condition right now, despite Donald Trump. This is an excursion, and everything's going to be good. That's his one. It's an excursion. It's an excursion. But this time the other side talks, right? The Iranians have a voice, and they're out there in a very organized and methodical way, planning their responses that we hear publicly. And they're saying things like, come closer, we're ready for war. We don't agree with that. They're making appearances on their own regime media. They're making appearances on American, British, Australian media. And they are communicating positions, they're demonstrating that not only do they have a leadership structure in place, but their leadership structure right now is a actually more extreme. They're doing memes and they're mocking Donald Trump on a daily basis, taking advantage of kind of the modern digital, digital age. And you are, you know, even when things that are like the straight of Hermuz, right, you have Iran's parliament proposing a plan that's under legal review by, like, their Department of Legal Studies or whatever. I mean, I was fascinated to read this about the. The legality of charging additional tolls through the Strait of Hormuz, because now Iran controls it with an iron fist that when ships that are from allied nations past Iran charges money the same way, say, in the Suez Canal. There are fees that are paid there, and there's deliberation over, you know, the, you know, the passage of legislation regarding these Strait of Removes, you know, and so they. They have a leadership structure that is actually far more extreme. They have a leadership structure where you have, like, their ambassadors to places like South Africa who are out there posting memes, mocking Donald Trump when Trump's like, me and the Ayatollah will control the Strait of Hormuz together. And they post like, a meme of, like, the main steering wheel in a car and then like a baby steering wheel saying, all right, we'll do this together, me and the Ayatollah. And like, they're mocking. They're mocking Donald Trump like that. And so we could observe what is happening. And then the same way in Covid, Donald Trump would just continue to make things worse and worse and worse and worse and worse. I mean, over here, you. We know that Russia is providing material support to Iran, providing drones, providing. Providing satellite imagery, providing resources to Iran. And Donald Trump's response to that is to remove sanctions Against Russia, to remove sanctions against Belarus. To hear my. One second, baby. I'll pass it to you, Brett.

E (19:23)

Right now.

A (19:24)

Pass it to you, Brett.

D (19:26)

I mean, she is riled up about

A (19:28)

all this to be involved in this episode, that's for sure. She wants to see the Midas mighty. She wants to see her dad.

E (19:38)

That's the energy we need. Well, I'll say this.

D (19:40)

I'll take Ben's analogy, and I'll, like, say that you could probably put the COVID calendar alongside Donald Trump's war in Iran, and it could match up, like, one to one in a very e eerie way. And so I'll take a quote, for example, that I just dug up. Quote from Mark. March 2020. Hey, what is it right now, March 2026. By the way, brothers, can't believe we've been doing this for six years. That's crazy. Everyone has been with us since then, and everyone who has just joined us. But Donald Trump said in March 2020, Let me know if you think this sounds familiar. We're prepared. We're doing a great job, great job with it. And it will go away. Just stay calm. It'll go away. It'll go away. Clearly did not go away. That reminds me, Donald Trump now just has new language to say the same things Donald Trump said. Don't be a panicker. Don't be a panic. Everything's gonna be fine. Don't be a panic. And we're winning. We're winning this thing. It's 15 cases. It's going down to zero. This thing's gonna be gone by Easter, just like Donald Trump said. But it looks like we're seeing, you know, with every passing day. I think you see Trump's frustration through all of this, and that's where you see the desperation coming out of these tweets and all of these, all the commentary and the scolding of the media. You're not covering it, right? Why won't you cover the wins? You're. You're. You're acting like we're losing this thing, that people are just covering the truth right now, man. Reminds me of when people say, when Trump complains, you know, 90% of the, you know, coverage about me is bad. Yeah, because you do mostly horrible things, basically, all. Everything that you do is horrible. So the reporting about that is going to reflect you, who are. Who is a putrid human being. Okay, well, we're seeing that now. And right now, there's no real end game for this. Donald Trump's back is against the wall. When someone's back is against the wall. They tried. If you're in a. If you're, if you're playing football, what do you do? If you are probably going to lose, you're all the way on the other teams. You know, you're all the way on your goal line. You have no other options. You got to throw a Hail Mary. And I think Donald Trump right now is preparing to throw a Hail Mary in this. I think it's why you see all of these troops gathering to invade Kharg Island. I think we're now seeing reports that the Pentagon thinks that if we just have one more fatal blow against the Iranians, they will surrender. They will surrender, and we will win this thing. But we've seen that that's not the case. That's not how you get rid of regimes. That's not how you do this. And it's not how you win the hearts and minds of the people either. Remember the people who took to the streets, the brave Iranians who took to the streets to try to fight for democracy, who called for Trump's help, Who? Trump said, get out there, protest. We got your back. And then they did, and then they got slaughtered, and Trump did nothing and then bombed a school of innocent people. All of this stuff just plays into the Iranian propaganda. It further entrenches people with the regime, and it does everything against the United States's interests in the region. So I worry, with Trump's back against the wall, that he is preparing this Hail Mary. He often does things like this on a Friday. I'm not going to make a prediction that it's definitely going to happen tomorrow or anything like that. But if past, you know, is prologue, I think that it's certainly possible that we see some sort of ground invasion this weekend. I don't know. But Trump keeps inventing these fake conversations with Iranian officials that we know through reporting are likely just made up, just total and complete fabrications. The Iranians keep denying it. Every time Trump looks weaker, our troops are put in harm's way. And I'll just make this very basic point. The United States does not send all of these individuals to the Middle East. All of this firepower to the Middle east, if they don't plan on using it.

E (23:31)

Exactly. I love when you and Ben do sports analogies. It's very on brand for the both of you to do sports analogies. I'm just saying. But it's a very apt analogy. And what it comes down for me, Brett and Ben, there's no steady hand on the Wheel here, right? Like, no one is overseeing this process in like a way that is giving me any sense of calmness as an individual here. Like, I'm worried about attacks domestically. I'm worried again for our troops. Right. Again, they're getting ready or preparing, it seems like, for this ground invasion. How many more U.S. troops are going to die? I thought we won. Isn't the communication from the White House that we won? And then it goes to show too, the two types of media that frankly exist at this current time period where, you know, Trump tweets out that truth social post, that true social post or whatever, talking about how these negotiations are going great, you know, they wanted me to put this out there. And Fox News is just gonna run with that like as if it's gospel. And likely a lot of media, corporate media is just gonna pick that up. A lot of nightly news will likely pick that up and run that like it's gospel, not seeing the, the clear pushback from the other side, saying, hey, this isn't true. And so it's more important than ever too. Especially, you know, talking about our six years here together as this community, that independent media continues to, you know, provide the receipts and the data, the information, the images here of what's actually going on, like what's factually going on. Don't be gaslit by anyone around you, especially corporate media, into believing any of this that we're witnessing is normal. It's just simply not. And even beyond that, for me it comes back to this. One simple issue is that US Troops are going to die apparently for a war that we've already won. What is the point of all this? Does anybody actually know? And that's where the outrage for me comes, Ben, right?

A (25:19)

If we've already won, like Donald Trump said, why are we even sending troops there? Why don't we control the Strait of Hormuz? Why hasn't Iran leader say we surrender? Why, you know, do the, does Iran keep on striking its neighbors? Right? You know, why does the US And Israel continue to strike in Iran and in Lebanon and killing a lot of innocent people as well? You know, it's not just that Donald Trump lies, but there is an entire lie narrative world that he creates, right? With layers and layers to the lie where he almost, not almost where he does create this fictional world that has people doing things that they aren't doing, reacting to things that they aren't reacting to, having second and third and fourth level consequences in this made up world. It's almost like he is like imagining like A Game of Thrones style world, right? And I'm not suggesting, like, it's Game of Thrones, but he's creating this fictional world with these different characters that exist in it where there's drama happening between the things and it's so divorced from the reality of what's actually happening in the world. And if you want to say, well, what's one of his kind of superpowers, and I don't mean this in a complimentary way, I mean this in a deranged, sociopathic, cult leader way, is that he tries to force people and many times succeed seeds in bending to this other reality that isn't the real world, that's a fiction. He bends reality to this fake thing where you then have people like Magamike Johnson and Senator Thune and all of these people around him, you know, who then behave in this world and play these roles where he, like, dresses them up and buys, you know, these floor and shine shoes for them that don't fit him and they walk around with shoes that he buys them and they. And they build gold statues. And then in this real world, you have our allies, our former allies, you have our enemies, like, existing in this world and they're not under this spell or this illusion, and they're looking at it like, dude, what the hell is, what are you doing? Like, this is like some weird, deranged cosplay world that you're in. Because in the real freaking world, Russia is working very closely with Iran to target American military bases with a great degree of success. The New York Times and others reports 13American military bases in the Middle east have essentially been evacuated. And American soldiers have now been sent to, as Brett mentioned, various hotels within the region where they've been evacuated. Our entire security umbrella in the Middle east has been destroyed and it barely gets a peep. I mean, the New York Times writes about it, but it's kind of in passing. It's a pretty big deal. That basically was what. All of our military bases in the Middle east have been abandoned because the Shahid drones and FPV drone strikes by Iran have been so successful. I mean, earlier today as well, while Donald Trump is making up this fictitious world that he's living in where he's speaking with Iran and the conversations are going good, but we've totally defeated him and all of this deranged stuff. Iran has designated the Four Seasons, the Sheraton hotels, the presidential palace in the Syrian capital, Damascus, and other areas as military targets, claiming the presence of American, Israeli and British experts inside of these locations, you've got statements from Aragchi, the foreign minister earlier today of Iran saying the wise stance of great religious authorities, the government and the Iraqi people must be commended in condemning the aggression of the American and Zionist entities. Your offering of condolences for the martyrdom of the leader of the revolution reflects the depth of strong ties between the two people and our hardship. You have Iran and Iraq coming stronger together as relationships. Right. By the way, you have Turkey basically supporting Iran and telling others in the Middle east, do not get involved. And Iran's President Possesski and thanking Erdogan of Turkey. You have Iraq, as I mentioned before, their government greenlighting Iraqi Shiite militias to attack the Americans. So the wars basically spread to Iraq with the Iraqi army. This isn't being reported a lot, attacking, you know, attacking Americans. And Donald Trump's out there pursuant to my conversation with Iran. And then Donald Trump like, treats NATO and Donald Trump's world. NATO's the bad guy, right? Donald Trump's post this morning. NATO nations have done absolutely nothing to help me with the lunatic nation now militarily decimated of Iran. The USA needs nothing from NATO. But never forget this very important point in time. Right. US has released its sanctions against Iranian oil. And then we said we're jiu jitsuing them. We released our sanctions against Belarusian authorities. We've released and removed our sanctions from Russia. Russia's now making billions of dollars a day. They're going to have hundreds of billions of dollars by the end of the year to help kill Americans, to help the Iranians.

E (30:49)

Right.

A (30:50)

That's what's going on. And it's like on this network, we have to talk about that. Yes. Are these bad stories, Are the stories that I'm reporting negative for Donald Trump? Of course, because he's doing negative things and it's negative for our country that this is happening. This isn't weakness masquerading as strength. This is weakness masquerading as deranged. I don't even know what this even is, is. And it's so obvious if you just take a step back and look at this, how America, the main beneficiary right now, Russia, China, Iran are the main beneficiaries of it. It's so crystal clear. In any event, we're going to talk more about this when we come back from our first break. But let me remind you, Scott McFarlane, big announcement this week, joining the Midas Touch network already in 48 hours, 114,000 subscribers. And you know, it's funny, a reporter called me today. Why do you think people like Scott want to join the Midas Touch network? I said because he could be Scott. He can report the way he reports. He has full editorial control, he has ownership of his IP and in a 48 hour period he has 114,000 subscribers on YouTube and is crushing it there. He's the number one substack right now in the rising substacks and Scott is able to do his enterprise journalism every day, break stories every day and the Midas mighty out there wants to consume this news. So it's the perfect growth and it's been a historic week from Midas Touch on our six year anniversary. So it's so great to have that announcement and we've got a lot more announcements coming. We have lots of growth and expansion happening at this network. Thanks to all of you. We're going to take our first quick break of the show. We will be right back. Back after you hear from our sponsors. Hit subscribe help us get to 7 million also and subscribe to Midas Touch on audio as well. We'll be right back.

E (32:49)

Ask any small business owner they'll tell you finances get messy quick. A bank account here, QuickBooks there. Tax and invoicing apps stacked on top. Before long, you're buried in expensive tools, behind on books and unsure where your business really stands. That's why there's Found. Found eliminates the clutter by giving you one platform that handles it all. Banking, bookkeeping, invoices and taxes. No more. Paying for multiple subscriptions and dealing with clunky, outdated apps. Found Identify the tasks that create the most hassle for small businesses. Things like categorizing expenses, preparing for taxes, managing invoicing, budgeting. And they built an app that does it all directly from your business checking account. They've automated things like tracking expenses, finding write offs and budgeting for tax types. You can even send invoices for free and pay your contractors. Everything, all from one app. Found makes it easy to regain control of your business finances so you can get back to doing what you love. Just think about the stress of juggling multiple apps, chasing receipts, or dreading tax season. Now imagine what it's like to have everything, banking, bookkeeping, invoicing and taxes handled in one place. Found understands the unique challenges facing small business owners and entrepreneurs. If tax season stresses you out as much as it stresses me out, you'll be thrilled to know that Found estimates your taxes and helps you set money aside. I've never felt more in control of my business finances. Take back control of your business today. Open a Found account for free@found.com that's f o u n d.com found is a financial technology company, not a business bank. Banking services are provided by lead bank member fdic. Join the hundreds of thousands who've already streamlined their finances with Found Warmer Weather Spring Travel oh Am I excited to tell you about Fair Harbor. This podcast is brought to you by Fair harbor, makers of the world's most comfortable swimwear. The same comfort that's earned thousands of five star reviews is built into their super soft clothes. Made to be worn hard and broken in by the life that you live, live. Fair harbor trunks are perfect for swimming, lounging or soaking up some sun. A variety of designs and styles make finding your favorite pair easy and Fair Harbor's super soft built in liner keeps you comfortable all day. You'll never have to go back to that mesh line trunks again, trust me. Beyond swim trunks, Fair harbor carries a full line of casual clothing that's ideal for travel. Their shorts, shirts and hoodies are lightweight, lightweight, comfortable and easy to pack. Perfect for flights, road trips and relaxing once you arrive. And if the rest of the family starts eyeing your gear, they've got kids styles too. Fair harbor started with one goal, protecting the places we all love to explore. They turn recycled plastic bottles into better, more comfortable fabrics and the kind of pieces you'll reach for over and over, season after season. I love how Fair harbor focuses on on both style and sustainability. Nothing like looking good and doing good all at the same time. My favorite Fair harbor product is their swim trunks. They are just so comfortable I can wear them anywhere. Head to FairHarborClothing.com and use the code MIDAS20 for 20% off your full price order now through March 31st. Once again, that's Fair Harbor H A

F (36:15)

R H R b o r clothing.com for 20% off.

E (36:20)

And make sure you use our promo code MIDAS20 so they know that we sent you. I'm just gonna say it. It might upset some people. I don't care. Fair harbor probably my favorite sponsor we have on the network. Their bathing suits are sick. Check it out. Shout out to all of our sponsors links in description of both the YouTube and the audio. Use the links, use the codes. If there's an exit service let them know we sent you. It really helps. Benji where to next big bro?

A (36:46)

I showed that post that Donald Trump made earlier this morning attacking NATO. There was a cabinet meeting where he spent the whole time attacking NATO and attacking Germany and attacking the UK earlier this morning also he posted, the Iranian negotiators are very different and strange. They are begging us to make a deal, which they should be doing since they have been militarily obliterated with zero chance of a comeback back. And yet they publicly state they are only looking at our proposal wrong. They better get serious soon before it's too late. Because once that happens, there's no turning back and it won't be pretty. Djt now, even if what Donald Trump was saying was true, why? Why word vomit that out, even if it was accurate, which I don't believe it is, why say that? How is that going to actually help negotiations or discussions, Republicans by behaving that way? Also, Donald Trump posted this morning, Chuck Schumer, a desperate crippled politician who has lost control of radical left Democrats, will make a deal now because he thinks that if he doesn't, Republicans will terminate the filibuster, something which they should do whether he makes a deal or not. Now, regardless of what you think about Schumer, Schumer did not make a deal. That did not happen. Democrats are not funded. The Department of Homeland Security provided that ICE and Border Patrol get any more money without certain controls that are put on them. My own view, what Democrats in the Senate are asking for is weak. I want to see ICE and Border Patrol be abolished. That's my position. If I was a senator, that would be my bright line. I wouldn't compromise from that. I'm not a senator. Nonetheless, I don't want to be. I don't want to be a senator or congressmember or a politician. I like what I'm doing here. I'm not going to run for office. But Democrats are like, okay, how about, can you take off the masks? Can you not show up at polling stations during elections? Can you identify yourself and can you use warrants, actual warrants, like the Constitution requires? That's the Democrat position, right? To fund ICE and Border Patrol, which I think we'd all be like. Like, if the Republicans did that deal or Trump did that deal, we'd probably like. That's pretty weak. That's.

D (39:05)

I want to be just abundantly clear here. And I have to interrupt you. It's. ICE is already funded, okay? ICE already has more money than it's ever had in its history. And by the way, ICE hasn't even been around that long. So the people who are like, how could we possibly abolish ice? It's not this institution that's been here since, like the beginning of America. It's. It's not. It's like a couple decades old. So spare me, okay? This is not even about that because ICE is all ready funded. But you know who did fold? It wasn't Chuck Schumer. It was Donald Trump. Because there's been so much pressure on this issue right here, this TSA issue. We've seen the long lines in the airports, we've seen all the chaos in the airports. We've seen seen Trump put these ICE agents in the airports and brothers and Midas money. Have you seen what some of these ICE agents look like that they put in the airports? Like, are they hiring some of these, like kids out of middle school? I don't know if you've seen some of these pictures of some of the ICE agents who they actually have in the airports. It's completely, completely, completely bizarre. But this issue has been bubbling up and it's been causing honestly a lot of people on both sides of the aisle right now a ton of headaches because even a lot of Republicans realize how bad this is. It's bad safety, it's bad for people's lives, people who are just trying to travel to their destination. It's bad for morale by people aren't getting paid. It's bad in so many ways. And it looks horrific for the Republican Party because they control all the levers of government. And people know, despite Donald Trump's lies, who is to blame for all of this? I mean, Ben, I know you said, you know, you prefer to have ICE abolished Me too. But those are very reasonable demands from the Democrats that everybody should be able to agree to. We don't have secret police in this country. We don't have masked Gestapo in this country. That's the bare frickin minimum that everybody should agree to. And the fact that they would not agree to that shows you how extreme that these people have become. But the truth is, you had actually a decent amount of Republicans who said, we're willing to put that aside and vote on these standalone TSA bills. Because the Democrats, their smart strategy was we're going to keep that aside. We're just going to keep putting on the floor bills to fund TSA on its own without going into the other stuff. And one time, two time, three times, four, five, six, seven, eight times, Republicans said, nope, we're not doing it. And the reason they said, nope, we're not doing it is because Donald Trump came out and Donald Trump said, don't you dare vote for that. Do not make a deal with the them. Don't you dare make a deal with them and it's a cult. So they all said, yes, sir. Yes, sir, Jordy. Just like at the meeting today where they just went to town of, Mr. President, you're the best. You're the greatest. That's how they govern. That's how they do everything. They don't care about the consequences. They don't care if it leads us into wars. They don't care if it leads us into chaos at airports that people die from plane crash. They don't care what happens. And so we've seen this play out out. The Republicans today were getting just so you know, I, I think they reached their breaking point here because they kept trying to make deals with the Democrats behind the scenes. They go to the White House. Trump would go, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. And so finally, Donald Trump announced on his truth Social platform that he was signing an executive order that would tell dhs, the Department of Homeland Security to pay tsa. And, and you know, there's this long screed that he wrote. I'm not going to read it, but he blames Chuck Schumer, the radical left. He blames, I don't know, illegal aliens and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But I think this is first off, it's a taco, right? Trump always chickens out. Trump surrendered here. He's the one who gave in. But I think it also shows you it's an admission that he could have been paying TSA all along. And so I think one of the great things about us having reporters on the ground now, now in D.C. the way that they could actually ask these questions, as we found out earlier today, that Donald Trump has the authority, the Department of Homeland Security has the authority to pay TA to pay tsa and that all of these lies that they needed to pass, anything right now, we're all bullshit. And so we, our reporters go in and actually ask the lawmakers that question, including Republican lawmakers. We heard that TSA could actually be paid right now if Donald Trump wants them to be paid. And so, for example, here is our Pablo Manriquez, our Washington correspondent who works for Migrant Insider. Here is Pablo Manriquez asking Thom Tillis, Republican senator about this very issue.

A (43:47)

Senator, is it true that TS, that secretary or interim secretary of DHS could be paying TSA right now? Rosa Deloro raised that point over House side. That's one question we have. I think there is latitude to make the argument that they could.

D (44:01)

Yeah. And that may have to be a

E (44:03)

device that we use.

A (44:04)

We can't get to an agreement Got it.

D (44:06)

I think there is enough latitude to make the argument that they could. And that may be a device we use if we can't reach an agreement. And they couldn't reach an agreement because Trump would not let them. But that ended up being the device that they were able to use. And it was due to relentless questioning of these lawmakers that they finally had to fold and say, oh, I guess, you know, once you admit that, you admit that you manufactured the whole crisis. Once Trump makes his post that says, I've decided to pay him, it shows, again, you've manufactured this entire crisis. And the fact that he's manufacturing crises here at home, domestically, while he has manufactured these crises that are now very real and growing abroad, shows that this guy is just all about crisis. He's all about destruction and pulling everybody into his web of just insanity.

E (44:55)

It's chaos for chaos sake. And for the life of me, I just can't wrap my head around it. I really cannot understand it. But it just comes back to this central, I guess, ethos to me, and that's the Republican Party, Donald Trump. They don't care about the American person. They really don't. They're quite literally using tsa. They use the American people. They use health care as. As political pawns. They use the American people as political pawns in this, like, weirdo, dystopian, chaotic game. That, again, I don't understand why. Because he's trying to make the Democrats somehow look bad, like this is their fault. And meanwhile, we've known for all of this time that this is just some. Some charade that, that he's trying to pull over. It makes no sense to me on such a human level why they don't want to help Americans.

A (45:43)

Ben, I will. If you're a nice person. Jordy. Yes. Like, if. If you're thinking about helping people and improving people's lives.

E (45:52)

Could you imagine how good this country really could be if we had politicians that actually gave a shit like, about its citizens?

A (45:59)

It's right.

E (45:59)

But when they.

A (46:00)

But when they try. You're a communist, Marxist, fascist. Oh, you're going to kill me.

E (46:04)

The far left group might as touch.

A (46:05)

The far left is hired. Scott McFarland. The FAR. The far left, they're crazy. It's like, okay, we're just trying to get people, people healthcare. We're just trying to make life better. And we're just trying to stop these endless wars in the Middle east and stop mass killing people abroad and focus on helping Americans access health care and afford homes and pay Rent and get jobs with dignity. But Jordy, let me give you the, the authoritarian mindset on chaos. It's not chaos for chaos sake. It's chaos for usurping power's sake. Because what happens in chaos, right? What happens to people in chaotic environments? They get scared, they get helpless. They need help. If you think about who are usually the best targets for con artists to go after, it's usually elderly people or people who are coming out of a natural disaster, right. Or something really traumatic has happened to them. And then people prey on those types of people. Why? Because they're vulnerable. They're looking for help and guidance. If someone promises things, they're more likely to let their guard down. So when you create chaotic environments, those are environments where people who are predators find that they're able to con people and subjugate people in a more easy way. And when you make people beg and when you make people believe that they're hopeless and that they should just be accepting of breadcrumbs, you could dole that out while you are distracting people from things like all of your right wing oligarchs, making huge amounts of money and pickpocketing these people and covering up the Epstein files and literally stealing from people. So, so that, Jordy, is the mindset behind creating chaotic environments. And Trump's entire life, when he's bankrupted things and destroyed things he personally has always made out well from those things, the people who get screwed were the people who trusted him. The contractors, the investors, everybody who put money in with him. Right. And so he's just doing that writ large right now with the United States of America. He is, I mean, like, you know, taking all of the benefits and his kids are doing drone companies and making money there. And then, you know, and so you have all of this happening while the American people are the ones who are getting screwed. So, so, so that's what's happening there. I mean, I mean, and look, if you want to know also that, that Trump comment about. We have a five day pause. Where's that coming from? As like the timing of it. We know he lies about everything. But, but the markets today, right? I mean, it's, it's all, it's all tied to the, this despite what Donald Trump tried to do to manipulate the markets on Sunday and Monday, which he did. Remember all that insider trading, $1.5 billion of insider trading that took place right before Donald Trump made the announcement of having a fake peace deal ironed out with Iran, which we all know was false. Right. The price of oil. People were shorting oil. They knew the price was going to go down within minutes. Before Trump made that announcement, hundreds of millions of dollars were made by insiders. Radio Right, and then what happened? Here we are, we're heading to Friday. It's the same pattern every week, right? We're heading to Friday. And right now the markets are going lower because they recognize that it was all a lot. Everything we predicted here was going to happen because it follows the same cycle and the same cycle of COVID Because it's Donald Trump's demented decision making tree,

D (49:50)

which was spooked today because the markets today had their worst day since the war began. And so, you know, after that happened, he's like, like, I got, I got to do something right now. Like so much of what's happening and it's sick because this is a war with lives on the line. But it feels like most of Donald Trump's decisions right now are being made by the markets, by how scared he is of the markets or what the yields are looking like. And I've actually seen there, there are analysts who put together essentially a taco chart that tracks the five year yields and tracks the stock market and tracks all these other metrics. And when they reach a certain point, point they've realized, that's when Donald Trump folds, that's when he tacos. And so we're seeing those same pressures right now go through the system. Today was one of those days. And so that's why I think we saw Donald Trump's comments extending this pause to try to hope that he could, you know, trick the markets tomorrow morning.

A (50:47)

But the markets are getting numb to it, which is a predictable result as well. Right? You can fool me once, you can fool me twice, you know, you could fool. Frankly, he fools the markets way more than actually gives me comfort because it's like, really like we're doing this again. But it's reflective of insiders making the money while regular folk are getting screwed and having to tap into their 401ks and you know, and go and Google, how do I avoid foreclosure right now? So regular people are the ones who are getting screwed by all of this. But again, yeah, you look at the markets, you know, taking Donald Trump does it, and then at one point people are like, like, you know what? Like, okay, this is just all bs. Like, unless we see something change because systemically, the oil ain't flowing out of the Strait of Hormuz, right? The helium ain't coming out of the Strait of Hormuz. The fertilizer ain't coming out of the Strait of Hormuz, the liquefied natural gas, right. You know, places like Taiwan and other places in Asia, like, they're, like, they're running out, they're going to have to ration Russian, you know, Australia. So I've seen, you know, videos out of Australia, you know, you know, real significant issues happening there, you know, just like we saw with COVID right? It starts in countries and it starts to spread, spread, spread. It's the same, it's the same pattern. And it, the situation's getting worse. And here's the thing. Trump and his regime can view Iran as. They don't have leaders, they don't know what they're doing. There is, it's out of control. It's not the truth.

E (52:15)

Truth.

A (52:16)

That's not the truth. So I have to tell you the truth here. They have a leadership structure, a very complex mosaic style leadership structure where they have in advance three to five to seven people who replace somebody when they get killed. You kill Ali, Laura and Johnny, as your national security advisor, they bring in someone more extreme. The parliament in Iran is functioning. The Ayatollah is communicating with other decision makers at provincial levels. They have communications that are taking place place. Those communications are happening and they see what Trump is doing and they're like, wow. Like, I think they're like, oh my God, we've got them. We frickin got em.

D (53:00)

How?

A (53:01)

They're surprised. I think, yes, they've been preparing for this moment, but they see Israel losing interceptor munitions at an alarming rate for Israel. They see, see us interceptor munitions, which everybody warned was going to be a problem decreasing. They've done a strategic shift as well, where they're like, you don't need to release hundreds and hundreds of ballistic missiles. All we need to release is a few a day here, a few a day there, a few a day there. Because it still creates the panic and the terror while we regroup, while Russia provides us with more shaheds, because Russia has its own shahed plans. They're bringing that in through the Caspian Sea Sea. That's why we're seeing Israel and Ukraine strike Russian ships in the Caspian Sea as well. Because Russia's bringing, and Trump's helping Russia build out its shaheds that are being used to target the US While America's, you know, evacuating its bases. And Iran's like, obviously, if we have these discussions publicly, they're just going to try to find us and kill us. Why would we trust Witkoff and Kushner, again, we know what happens there. Why would we give ceasefires like, we finally. We finally have the US where we want them. That's what they're thinking. If you don't think they're thinking that, you're mistaken. I'm telling. That's what they're thinking right now. We've got them. And so they don't want to overplay their hand, but their view also is we, in terms of our objectives, Trump's objectives, regime change, total obliteration, death from the sky. Whatever it was, the Ayatollah was going to be my buddy, whatever, whatever the craze, that's not happening. So now the question for Iran is what type of. If they're going to make a deal, they're going to keep the Strait of Hormuz, they're going to turn it into a toll. They're going to assert more control over, you know, over their neighbors. And they're just watching and they go, holy shit, the U.S. excuse me, the U.S. just threw everything they got at us. Us. And we're here and we're preparing. We're fine. I want to talk more about that when we come back. But that's the we can do. Here's the thing. That's the truth. That's the data. You may not like it, but as that now we can adapt to that data. We could try to figure it out, but the moment we live in, Donald Trump's, and no offense to Game of Thrones or Game of Thrones, because I don't want to ruin that for you, but if we're in this other bizarro world, we're like. We're like shooting darts at the wrong location when the board is here and Iran. And Iran and other nations are addressing this thing. And Trump's out there in his fictitious. So we're not actually. We're not thinking logically.

D (55:42)

And we got to address, like, the psychological aspects of it also, right? Like, this is quite literally existential for Iran. Like this. They, you know, Donald Trump, you know, he do a ground invasion, win all, you know, whatever those objectives may be, Iran, you know, theoretically does not exist anymore. This Iranian regime, it's over. For the United States, this is a war of choice, and this is a war of Donald Trump's choice. He pulled us in there. We had no reason to be there. We have no reason to be there right now. And so I think that also psychologically will play into this, you know, very much. And it's also created an existential crisis. For so many countries in the region over there right now. And so there are just all these other forces at play. You have Donald Trump just projecting weakness with every single post. You have him getting angrier and angrier and trying to now build up and amass these forces in order to target Iran and the regime and these key sources. But then you have other people who understand this is existential, and they say, okay, you do that. Well, we have the moves prepared. We. This is a game of chess. Donald Trump, you know, like Jordy has said before, Donald Trump doesn't play chess. He, like, eats the pieces and throws the board off, you know? You know, but they do that. You know, they're going to go and they're going to work with the Houthis and they're going to block the Red Sea, right? They're going to start doing other things that are going to have another impact. And so I don't think Trump is even thinking that far ahead, because Trump and all of his comments right now just seem woefully, woefully, woefully unprepared, prepared for what took place. I mean, for Trump to even admit, I think he said it today, today, again, to admit. Then they started attacking this country and that country and Saudi Arabia and Qatar and Bahrain, and we didn't know that was going to happen. What do you mean he didn't know that was going to happen? I knew that was going to happen. I'm not president of the United States. I'm not privy to that intelligence. But I read the reporting. I read what Iran was saying before you invaded. They said they were going to do that. What do you mean you didn't know they were going to do that? So it's quite honestly, quite, like, frightening that, that we have a guy now who entered this war and is not even thinking of what the basics are, and he just thinks that brute force and firepower can win this thing. But if you think that's the case, and I agree that the United States of America has the best weapons in the world, the most powerful military in the world, bar none, and those troops are incredibly skilled. But if you think that's all it takes to win a war, war overseas, let me exhibit A. I don't know. Vietnam. Should we go to Iraq? Should we go to Afghanistan? We could go to a long list of places where our leaders said the same thing. We got the best military, the best firepower, the best munitions. We could win this easily. It's going to be a piece of cake. We'll get in, we'll get out. Done saying the same thing now. Just a repeat of history.

A (58:36)

Strong people also don't go around saying, look how strong they are.

D (58:40)

Am.

A (58:40)

I'm so strong. Me so tough. Right? That's just not what strong people behave. You don't need to do that if you're actually strong. So it's actually a sign of a weakness, right? That's maybe how Donald Trump behaved as a real estate guy or whatever he was doing. You know, maybe that's how, you know, he would impress people when he was hanging. You know, that's how he would act when he was with whatever he'd do disgusting things he did in his past. But like, you know, that's not, you know, that's not how, you know how strong people, that's how weak and pathetic people frankly behave. We'll be right back after our last quick break of the show. A reminder hit subscribe here. Help us get to 7 million subscribers. Subscribe to Scott McFarland's YouTube channel as well at Scott McFarland News. Let's get that channel. 200,000 subscribers in the first week. Then we can do 200,000. I think it's going to be close. 200,000 subscribers in the first week. Let's do it, folks. Let's make that like a big Midas mighty to tell friends. Subscribe to Scott McFarland reports. All right. Let's take our last quick break of the show. We'll be right back.

F (59:42)

Magic Spoon is basically the grown up version of your favorite childhood cereals. It's that same fun taste, but none of the sugar bomb high protein, zero sugar cereal that still hits that nostalgic Saturday morning note. Like I said, Magic Spoon is nostalgic. It tastes like the classics you grew up with, but without the sugar.

E (60:00)

Sugar crash.

F (60:01)

Each serving packs 13 grams of protein, 5 grams net carbs and 0 grams of sugar. So it actually keeps you fueled any time of the day. Breakfast, late night, snack, post workout, whenever they've got a bunch of classic flavors like fruity frosted hot chocolate, cinnamon toast and more. That cinnamon toast, that, that one's my favorite. New flavors launching in January include classic marshmallow now that's reminiscent of a certain childhood favorite enjoyed by all. And s' mores, the ultimate campfire inspired cereal. Those both include real marshmallows and have 2 grams of sugar as opposed to 0 grams in the original cereal. But I'm cool to make that exception. Magic Spoon also has Magic Spoon treats. These Magic Spoon treats are crispy, airy, protein packed snack bars with 12 grams of protein. Great for tossing in your bag, keeping in the car or grabbing between meetings. Flavors include marshmallow, chocolate, peanut butter, dark chocolate and more. These feel like a treat but actually function like a protein bar so they scratch the sweet tooth itch without all the sugar. And last but certainly not least, there's magic spoon granola. 13 grams of protein, 0 added sugar. Perfect for yogurt, bowls or a quick handful. Snacking comes in dark chocolate, almond honey, almond, peanut butter and additional flavors. All of Magic Spoon's products are easy anytime breakfast snack, pre workout, post workout or midnight snack. Look for Magic Spoon on Amazon or at your nearest grocery store or get $5 off your next order at magicspoon.com midas that's magicspoon.com midas for $5 off

E (61:38)

True Self reliance starts with taking control of your own health Amra Colostrum is nature's original solution. Colostrum is packed with over 400 bioactive nutrients that fortify gut health and strengthen immune health to build resilience at the cellular level. Because when you invest in your health, you invest in your ability to show up, think clearly and stay in control no matter what life throws your way. Today's environment is filled with toxins, processed foods, modern stressors and immune disruptors. Nourish your microbiome and strengthen your barriers to support your immune health. Amara Colostrum is your secret to feeling strong, vibrant and confident. Again, not seeing results with your current routine. Colostrum is packed with 400 plus bioactive nutrients that work like a blueprint for your body, promoting your cell's natural renewal processes to support skin, hair, gut health, metabolism, immune health, lean muscle and whole body vitality. Strengthen your gut integrity and support healthy fat metabolism to empower your body with the blueprint to revitalize health health from the inside out. We've worked out a special offer for my audience. Receive 30% off your first subscription order. Go to Armra.com Midas or enter Midas to get 30% off your first subscription order. That's a R M R A.com Midas the Midas Touch podcast is brought to you by the Freedom From Religion Foundation. What we're seeing right now is a coordinated effort to replace democracy with Christian nationalism. That's not hyperbole, it's policy. Prayer in public schools, religious exemptions to civil rights laws, judges signaling that church state separation is optional. The Freedom From Religion foundation is fighting back in courtrooms, in legislatures and on the front lines of the Constitution. This isn't about attacking religion. It's about defending freedom for everyone. If you're tired of extremists hijacking faith to strip rights, well stand up up. Visit FFRF US Midas or text MIDUS to 511511 to learn more and join. Go to FFRFUS Midus or text me I D A S to 511511 and help protect a country that belongs to all of us. Go to FFRF US Midas or text MIDAS to 511511 today and help protect a country that belongs to all of us.

D (64:09)

Us.

E (64:09)

Remember to text MIDAS to 511-511-511 today. Message and Data rates may apply. Shout out to our sponsors links in description of both the YouTube and the audio. Use the links, use the codes. If there's an exit survey, let them know he sent you. I'm not gonna like get on your case about it, Ben, but I don't think that, I don't think that Game of Thrones analogy is fully formed there. I just. Talking about darts, there was, it was a little all over the place map.

A (64:35)

So my point is creating.

E (64:37)

I understood the point when you got there. Everyone did. But like referencing that it was going to be a Game of Thrones analogy and then.

D (64:43)

Or the Dothrakis in this.

E (64:45)

Yeah, they're direwolves.

D (64:47)

Who's House Lannister.

E (64:49)

That's not for the audio listeners. Ben is not even pretending to entertain.

D (64:53)

This conversation has muted his audience.

A (64:56)

Because I'm trying to, because I'm, I'm digging up the latest news, Jordy. Because that's what I do do, man. I report on the news. I occasionally give good analogies. I talked about the co. You know, Jordy, I'm focused, I'm not even focused on your insults, Jordy, because that would just distract me. I'm focused on reporting on the freaking news.

E (65:13)

Stay focused. Lock in.

A (65:15)

All right. Like this. Ready? Iran hasn't requested a pause on energy site strikes. Mediators say this is some of the latest that's out there from the Wall Street Journal. Despite today's announcement by Donald Trump, Iran has not requested a 10 day pause on strikes against its energy plan from the United States and is yet to deliver a final response to the Trump administration's 15 point plan to end the war. Peace talk, mediators tell the Wall Street Journal. So, you know, so Trump with his newfound friends in Pakistan are trying to reach out to Iranians, people like, like. And that's why Iran is saying if you think you've obliterated Us like, why? Why are you even trying to negotiate with us? And I would have to guess also the job of the mediator is made much more difficult when Donald Trump goes and makes statements like that that are untrue for the mediator to then try to go and convince Iran to even have a conversation with the meteor there in the first place. Because Iran's last experience with the mediator was one picked by the United States States, Oman's foreign minister, who after reaching basically a mediated resolution which would have resulted in more technical talks on the first week of March, because this was in the end of February, that mediator, the Oman foreign minister, went on cbs, went on TV and then said, we have a deal. Basically, we feel really good about this deal. Then Trump and Netanyahu hit Iran anyway way. So Iran already feels pretty uneasy about dealing with mediators and being a part. And then Donald Trump's like, Iran gave us a request and Iran is saying, the reason that you would even have a mediator say this publicly, just so you know, is sending a signal back to Trump, you're going to make this very difficult on us to be able to even have mediation and resolve this when you just go and you say this deranged stuff stuff. Because one of the things that Iran feels is that Trump is doing all of this in order to figure out who they should kill or to buy more time for the ground invasion. And whether that's the plan or not the plan, the last time Donald Trump had a negotiation, that's what he keeps on doing. So they're like, why? Why would we do this at all?

D (67:40)

Why?

A (67:41)

Why? Why would we even do this? So here's some of the latest news as well. And this is from Iran state regime media, Fars news agents see Iran is signaling, quote, special and unprecedented plans for the UAE in Bahrain. Iran's IRGC linked Fars news agency citing an informed military source, reports Tehran has prepared, quote, special and unprecedented measures against the UAE and Bahrain in the event of any ground attack on Iranian islands in the Persian Gulf. The warning follows US Threats of a ground operation and alleged support from Gulf states states including hosting bases and providing infrastructure and advanced technologies. Tehran said any response would be very damaging and instructive. And specifically, an infographic that's been circulating on Iranian media outlines the key energy infrastructure across uae, including power stations, nuclear facilities and solar hubs as potential targets in Dubai in Abu Dhabi. And the report claims that strikes on these sites could trigger widespread blackouts and disrupt desalination industry and data centers with cascading effects on UAE's economy and regional trade. And now, the last time Iran made this threat, though, right? Here's the thing, as I've always said, in negotiation, right, if you do an ultimatum and you make the threat, you have to follow through with your threat, right? When I was a litigator, right, if we did a mediation and you threatened to sue if a deadline was not met and you did not sue, the other side then viewed you as totally weak, as a paper tiger that you weren't. You had to file. That's why if you're going to set the deadline, you better meet the deadline and you better do it. Otherwise, the other side. I got it. They're clowns. They're clowns, right? When Iran threatened if you attacked our energy infrastructure in South Park, Pars will attack the North Energy facility run by Qatar Energy, which is connected to our South Pars field, we'll destroy that as well. And so you attack us, we'll attack you. An eye for an eye, or some case, you know, a head for an eye. And they said, we'll do it here. Here are the targets we'll hit. So the US and, and Netanyahu struck South Pars in Iran, then Iran made good on the threat. They knocked out this facility, or 20% of it, that does the liquefied natural gas. And now 20% of a facility that's responsible for 20% of LNG in the world has been destroyed for three to five years. So even if the war ends, that itself would have a supply shock on lng, which is needed across the world for lots of things. So you have that. But then when Donald Trump does 48 hours and then says, we had productive conversations with Iran and there wasn't conversations, Iran's like, God, a clown, or he's trying to trick us, or both, right? It's either weakness or a trick. Regardless, we can't have a serious discussion with that person because look at the tactics. Same thing today. Yes, Donald Trump's trying to manipulate our crashing markets. Iran knows he's trying to do that. They've been saying he's trying to jawbone the oil market. Market he's trying to manipulate. They write that they post these things. Iran knows they do, they're doing it. But also it's like, whether it's from weakness or tricking us, how could we trust you if this is the behavior? So that's why these mediators are out there saying that. Israel's Channel 14 reports that Iranian officials believe ongoing negotiations are an American intelligence ploy. In order to gather precise information about leadership locations in Iran and decision making settings centers. So the report adds that this concern has led Tehran to avoid any electronic communications and instead rely on field intermediaries to manage sensitive contacts. So you have that taking place. You also have Iran working. The United nations foreign minister Iraqi says blocking enemy vessels through Hormuz is Iran's legal right. Iran's foreign minister has is speaking with the UN Secretary General and saying that preventing the passage of vessels, missiles linked to adversaries is Iran's legal right. He said the current insecurity in the Strait of Hormuz is the result of lawlessness and aggression by US And Israel. So I mean, they're out there when they're like, there's no leadership, yet the leadership's out there speaking with the United nations right now. Iran's ambassador to the UN Sent letters to the Secretary General and Security Council protesting Gulf states allowing their territory and airspace to be used for US And Israel attacks, according to Iran's IRGC law. Far as news agency, and let me be very clear also, and then I'll pass it to you, Brett and Jordy, I am not naive that Fars and mayors and Tasnim are Iranian propaganda. I get that. Okay. And we have state regime media in the United States as well. I understand propaganda's use in war. Heck, the editor at large for the Wall Street Journal, not me, he, the editor at large for the Wall Street Journal says it is a pretty disconcerting turn of events where you are almost having to believe or you are believing the enemy or the opposite side's version of events in a war over your own propaganda. And that's a disturbing reality that we are existing with because as I said, everything that Donald Trump says is an utter lie. But how do we see through, through their propaganda and Trump's propaganda? We see through it by opening our eyes, listening, evaluating, understanding what's happening on the ground. And that's what we're trying to do here. What's the status of the Strait of Hormuz? Where are the soldiers moving? What's happening in the region? Right. You follow those facts. And when Trump says obliterated, it isn't also so tactics used for propaganda. Right. What Iran is trying to appeal to is saying the US Is this invading force and US And Netanyahu want to do to us what's happened in Gaza, what's happened in Beirut and southern Lebanon. That's what they're doing here. That's what they're trying to impose on us and we are calling on Arab nations to help join us and repel the invasion. The Epstein class, you know, you're dying for Israel, you're dying for Netanyahu. That's the messaging that's coming out of Iran. And then Donald Trump and Pete Hegset's messages. We're negotiating with bombs. We put the throttle hard, and then we loiter over the sky and we kill you. Death to death to all of you. I mean, it is, it is. Then these messages are clipped by Iran, and they're like, see, we told you. Listen to what they're saying. Listen to what they're saying. And so it's at the same time we hear that Trump is learning about the war through a highlight reel of two minutes that are being curated by his officials where he gets to see things getting blown up in Iran by the US And Israeli airplanes. And that's why Donald Trump thinks that we're winning, because he just gets two minutes of things getting blown up. Every day, Trump creates a highlight reel for Iran to show its people to say, you see what they're saying. We told you. We told you about this. And so even from a propaganda sense of things, the, the, the, the propaganda coming from the Trump regime is amateur and infantile and juvenile and ineffective and not working, even if you try to break down, down the potency of propaganda strategies and techniques. And so I get, I get it. War. You have to look, though, what's happening? Where are the troops? What's happening with the straight. Are rockets hitting neighbors? That's what we try to evaluate here on this network.

D (75:48)

You know, I think back to, you know, oddly, Republicans phrase from back in the day, Ronald Reagan, when he was dealing with the Soviet Union. Union. Trying to make agreements with the Soviet Union, he would often say, trust but verify. That was a big Reagan phrase. Trust but verify. I think we need to update that for the Trump era, because you can't trust the guy at all. So I, I don't know what the phrase is. I don't know if it. Just don't trust unless it's verified. Never trust, only verify. But you could have a really good track record at predicting what's actually going on on by basically never believing anything Donald Trump says. You know, there, there are rare circumstances where, like, oh, he's obviously telling the truth. Like, we bombed Iran, right? Like, you can't lie about that. Like, we're gonna find out very quickly, right, if you lied about that. But when it comes to this, into this kind of, like, more. I wouldn't Nuance isn't even the right word. But when it comes to all the, all these, all the other stuff around it, right, Donald Trump just lies and lies and lies and lies and lies. And so you gotta watch what he's doing, not what he's saying. You got to kind of comb through the reporting, see where the sourcing is coming from. Who said this? Oh, they got this from a Trump official. I might take that with, you know, with, with a grain of salt, rather than seeing, you know, what the actual movement of troops looks like right now or what a neutral mediator in the process says, you know, and so it requires a new level of media literature. I think that that has not been even required in the past. But I think if you don't trust and then verify, you're going to have a much better track record with this administration. Unfortunately, the markets don't take that approach too often, although, as Ben said, they're starting to because they're, they're getting numb to all this crap. They know that it's, you know, they're starting to figure out that it's all bs. Too many news publications don't. I've seen a lot of news channels just parrot what Trump says and as if it's the truth.

A (77:48)

Truth.

D (77:49)

But, you know, that's why we all need to remain vigilant and stay on top of the game.

E (77:53)

For me too, it's just like, also, as all of this is going down, like, as all of this chaos is happening around us, what's like, Trump doing and his cabinet, they're having these, like, televised cabinet tributes. I know we didn't really talk much about this. Ben, you did a great video on these cabinet tributes earlier. Like these Trump glaze sessions that he has with his cabinets, they're not about governance. It's just such a performative, like, display of, of total allegiance, a public humiliation ritual that would make the likes of Kim Jong Un blush. It's so embarrassing. And of course, I'm talking about Donald Trump's meeting today with his cabinet, when they all go around thanking him for being, I don't know, such a great leader, when the highest ranking officials in the government, these people who are responsible for the nuclear codes, the global economy and supposed to be the rule of law, spend their limited time competing to see who could deliver, like the most hyperbolic thank you to Donald Trump. Yeah, we've lost the plot for a country that's grappling with inflation, that we're looking at the skyrocketing gas prices and now this failing military operation that seems like, again, it's gonna get even more intense with countless US Soldiers dying and citizens dying, watching these supposed leaders that we have engaging in this performative ego stroking of Donald Trump. Trump, it's like the most humiliating thing that I can see and really, like, genuinely feel as someone who loves this country, as an American, and just shows you how deeply compromised like we are on the world stage. People are laughing at us. World leaders are laughing at us. To Ben's point, they know that they have us exactly where they want us. And Trump just. He can't do anything other than, let me just get my cabinet around me. Let me hear how great I'm being at every facet of being president of this country and especially the war. Tell me how great I'm doing Cabinet. And they just submit. They absolutely, totally submit. And again, it's because they have allegiance to one person and one person only, and that person being Donald Trump and not to this country. And that's what just pains me so hard because at its best, this country could be frigging amazing. It really, really could be if our leaders actually wanted to work for the American people and not just one person.

A (80:09)

You know, just. That's why I didn't want to show the Cabinet video. I just didn't want to hear his voice that much on this episode.

E (80:13)

Totally. I agree with you.

A (80:16)

I did a video on it already. I don't need to show it again. We all get what happened. It was ridiculous. It's horrible. He lies about everything. We get it. One more point I'll. I'll make. So David Sachs, the crypto and AI czar, has announced that his time as Trump's crypto and AI Czar has ended. So, bye. Bye.

D (80:35)

Heck of a job, David.

A (80:37)

Heck of a job.

E (80:39)

Can you read that?

A (80:40)

I mean, you know, just for our audio listeners, I'm just showing the bitcoin. In the past six months, Bitcoin's price has dropped 37.27%. So if you invested most of your assets in bitcoin, basically, like Great Depression numbers right there, right? Like, you've gotten wiped out. And I haven't even gone back further, further to which I could have, which is probably significantly worse. But, like, you know, you have people like this. Like, you pretend to be the smartest people in the room, and, oh, we're going to do this and that with crypto and AI, like, even with all of your scams and schemes and manipulations, like, you couldn't get it right. You know, when people like this, you know, they go and they do this crap. Then they get bailed out, you know, and then they go on and they continue to live wealthy and rich when they screw up big time. And meanwhile you have, have farmers who are getting screwed here. First it was Trump's trade war against the world and then it's the fact that there's no fertilizers being able to, you know, to, to get them. All the input costs are higher, markets are being closed to them, you know, manufacturing being shut down. We're in a jobs recession right now. People's health care is being ripped away. Americans who are making paychecks, which are far and few right now, are psychologically tortured, living paycheck to paycheck. And then you've got these people like that, you know, who just keep on destroying things. Then they get bailed out over and over and over again. And then they go on to the next scheme and the next scheme and they go on TV and they pretend to be smarter than all of all this way, here's how we do it, you know, and it's just enough of this crap. Enough of these people, seriously. Enough, enough, enough. You know, we, we need to reclaim agency and power to the people. And that's why, you know, when you see the results in the special elections in Florida, for example, House District 87, the Senate district, was it 13 or 14, I forget, but the Senate district there, that was like East Tampa. The House district was Mar a Lago. Two massive to two areas that previously were. The House district was plus 11 Trump. The Senate district was plus 7 Trump

D (82:50)

and it was 14. The very impressive.

A (82:51)

Yeah, I know my, I know my Senate districts and House districts in Florida,

D (82:56)

they'll be a quiz off the dome.

A (82:57)

Jordan, you may not like my Game of Thrones analysis, but I can tell you House districts, but in any event, you have those turning blue and we're talking about like plus 20, 25, 30 over performance for Democrats when it comes to Donald Trump's support amongst non college educated white male voters. Right. That's Donald Trump's crew. Non college educated white male voters. Right. The latest Fox poll has Donald trump net negative 4. And this time last year he was like plus 18. And then even in December he was still like plus 10 or so, I think. And so you've seen a dramatic drop in white non college educated male voters when it comes to Trump young voters in general. I think it was what, like net negative 19 or something like that? Or 20 when it comes to young voters. Latino voters have fled, you know, all across the board. I mean, Trump is the most unpopular ever in history. The most unpopular in history. And so I think we're seeing the American people reclaim power. And that brings me to my final message, which is no Kings protest. Be there. I'll be out there with all of you once again on no Kings. That's Saturday, March 28th. It's here again. Let's make this one the biggest yet. The biggest no Kings. I'm excited to be out there. I spoke earlier today with Ezra Levin from Indivisible, and we've always been working with Indivisible national local chapters to help distribute their kind of content and to help them get their voice out there.

D (84:38)

Now, on that note, I got to say this also. So not only are we streaming, streaming the no Kings protest right here on the Midas Touch YouTube channel this weekend. And keep a lookout for that link. It's. It's Saturday, of course, but for the specific timing, keep a lookout for that link. But guess who's gonna be performing at this no Kings rally that we are are going to be streaming? The Boss himself, Bruce Springsteen, on the Midas Touch YouTube channel. So this is going to be big, folks. And you know what I think is kind of funny? Like, remember last time, Mike Johnson, all the Republicans would come out and they would be like, oh, all the antifa terrorists, they're going to these no Kings rallies over the weekend and blah, blah, blah, blah. Like, I haven't heard, like a sentence, I haven't heard a word from these people about no Kings this time. I think they know that it had like a Streisand effect last time, and it made it even bigger and bigger and bigger. But to me, that shows me that they are scared of people power. They are scared of you. And I do think there is a light at the end of this very, very, very, very dark tunnel that we have been in. And I think those Florida results, Ben Jordi and Midas Mighty, you know, showed that. And I think it is indicative of more to come as we head into this midterm year and as we see people just fundamentally reject this MAGA bs. Like, this MAGA movement truly looks like it is on its last legs. Donald Trump's with independence right now. Now, some of those brutal numbers I have ever seen in my life, these are disastrous. And it's not just going to bring down Trump, but it's going to bring down everybody associated with him. And so they could continue to latch on and do what Jordy was talking about and continue to glaze Trump at every step of the way. You know they're going to face the consequences if they keep that route. I think they're going to face the consequences anyway at this point because they're so locked in.

A (86:32)

There you have it, everybody. Make sure you hit subscribe Help us get to 7 million subscribers. Also subscribe to Scott McFarland's YouTube channel and his substack. Let's grow those platforms and help Scott out. Let's see if we can get 250,000 subscribers really soon. Go to Scott McFarland News. Tell him Midas Touch says hello. Say Ben says hi Scott. So go check that out. Subscribe to our YouTube subscribe to Midas Touch on audio wherever you get your audio Podcast Podcast Search Midas Touch we are again grateful for you. Grateful for your support. We'll keep our relentless reporting at day in day out seven weeks in a row where YouTube's number one podcast. We're going to keep that up folks. Keep working hard. Thanks so much for watching and hit subscribe. We're grateful for you Jordy. Take it away.

E (87:22)

Shout out to the Midas My day

C (87:27)

Standing strong

D (87:31)

against the fascist we sing our soul.

E (87:42)

Want to stay plugged in? Become a subscriber to our substack@midasplus.com you'll get daily recaps from Ron Filipkowski, ad free episodes of our podcast and more exclusive content only available@midasplus.com

D (87:58)

USAA knows dynamic duos can save the day like superheroes

A (88:02)

and sidekicks or auto and home insurance. With usaa, you can bundle your auto and home and save up to 10%. Tap the banner to learn more and

D (88:09)

get a'@usaa.com bundle restrictions apply, security program

A (88:14)

on spreadsheets, new regulations piling up and audit dread. It's time for Vance Vanta automates security and compliance, brings evidence into one place

E (88:23)

and cuts audit prep by 82%.

A (88:25)

Less manual work, clearer visibility, faster deals, zero chaos. Call it compliance or call it compliance. Get it join the 15,000 companies using Vanta to prove trust. Go to vanta.com calm.