MeidasTouch Full Podcast - 4/11/25

Summary

The MeidasTouch Podcast – Episode Summary Episode Title: MeidasTouch Full Podcast - 4/11/25
Release Date: April 11, 2025
Hosts: Ben Meisellis, Brett Meisellis, and Jordy Meisellis

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1. Overview of the Current Political and Economic Climate

In this episode, the Meiselas brothers delve deep into the tumultuous state of American politics and the economy under the Trump administration. They vehemently criticize the administration's policies, attributing the current economic instability to deliberate actions aimed at undermining the United States.

Key Points:

• Administration Disarray: Ben describes the Trump administration as being in "complete disarray" and on the brink of collapse, emphasizing the dual threat of stupidity and danger emanating from its leadership.

  Ben Meisellis (04:18): "This is an administration that's in complete disarray...they are dangerously stupid people who are leading us."

2. Trump's Tariff Policies and Market Manipulation

The discussion centers on Trump's aggressive tariff strategies, particularly against China, and their detrimental effects on the U.S. and global economies. Brett highlights the inconsistencies and lack of transparency in these policies, suggesting potential market manipulation.

Key Points:

• Tariff Implementation: Brett critiques the fluctuating tariff rates, pointing out the initial promise to pause tariffs, which upon closer inspection, merely adjusted them slightly, causing economic havoc.

  Brett Meisellis (05:24): "Donald Trump...saying now would be a great time to buy...was there market manipulation yesterday? Was this a pump and dump?"

• Market Volatility: The brothers compare the recent market behaviors to past economic crises, indicating that such volatility is a harbinger of economic distress rather than prosperity.

  Ben Meisellis (09:25): "Volatility is not a good sign. Having the market go up thousands of points and then down thousands of points... is a sign of an absolutely horrific economy."

3. Oval Office Conduct and Propaganda

The episode features an analysis of Trump's conduct in the Oval Office, particularly his interactions with wealthy associates and his blatant bragging about stock market gains, which the hosts interpret as reprehensible and indicative of deeper corruption.

Key Points:

• Bragging About Wealth: Brett plays a clip where Trump boasts about the immense profits made by himself and associates, portraying it as "reprehensible conduct."

  Brett Meisellis (07:15): "Donald Trump...signed the DJT and you'll see today where the stock is not doing well... Remember when it was over 100 and now it's at $18.53."

• Cabinet Meetings: The brothers liken Trump's cabinet meetings to a "bad version of the Apprentice," criticizing the qualifications of the officials present and the superficial camaraderie on display.

  Brett Meisellis (07:30): "It was clear. A really bad version of the Apprentice... none of these people are qualified to be in this room."

4. Legal and Judicial Concerns

Ben and Brett express deep concerns about the administration's interference with the judicial system, particularly regarding due process and executive overreach.

Key Points:

• MS-13 Leader Case: They discuss the dismissal of charges against a purported MS-13 leader, suggesting that due process is being sidestepped in favor of deportations to El Salvador's detention camps.

  Ben Meisellis (12:02): "Donald Trump has been threatening to annex and invade Canada, Greenland, Panama... all things that we should be covering."

• Supreme Court Ruling on Abrego Garcia: Ben outlines the Supreme Court's unanimous decision to require the return of Abrego Garcia from El Salvador, highlighting the ongoing conflict between the judiciary and the Trump administration.

  Ben Meisellis (63:12): "The order properly requires the government to facilitate Abrego Garcia's release from custody in El Salvador..."

5. Congressional Actions and Investigations

The hosts examine the reactions within Congress, particularly the push by Democratic leaders to investigate potential stock market manipulation tied to Trump's actions.

Key Points:

• Leader Jeffries' Call for Investigation: Brett highlights Leader Jeffries' announcement for a thorough investigation into possible insider trading and stock manipulation connected to Trump's tariff announcements.

  Brett Meisellis (30:39): "Leader Jeffries is calling for an investigation into the insider trading... asking for transparency, particularly as it relates to stock purchase decisions."

• SAVE Act and Voter Suppression: They criticize the House Republicans' passing of the SAVE Act, framing it as a tactic for voter suppression under the guise of election security.

  Ben Meisellis (66:38): "They passed the SAVE Act... it's always a voter disenfranchisement scheme that is happening here."

6. Media and Public Perception

The brothers express frustration with the mainstream media's complicity in propagating the administration's narratives, arguing that media outlets are failing to hold the administration accountable.

Key Points:

• Media Complicity: Ben criticizes the corporate media for "buying into their crap," thereby amplifying Republican propaganda without scrutiny.

  Ben Meisellis (20:59): "You just take the floor and make it up... We're in a full-blown autocracy."

• Encouraging Listener Activism: They urge listeners to actively resist misinformation and support independent media outlets that strive to uncover the truth.

  Ben Meisellis (75:12): "Let's continue to speak out. Let's continue to fight. Fight back."

7. Supreme Court and Executive Branch Tensions

Ben revisits the Supreme Court's ruling regarding Abrego Garcia, emphasizing the importance of judicial independence and the risks posed by executive attempts to control federal institutions like the Federal Reserve.

Key Points:

• Supreme Court Independence: Ben underscores the unanimous ruling as a beacon of hope, advocating for the judiciary's role in checking executive power.

  Ben Meisellis (63:12): "The Supreme Court requiring this on a 9-0... clarity on remand."

• Federal Reserve Control Attempts: Highlighting Trump's ambition to exert authority over the Federal Reserve, the brothers warn of the catastrophic implications for economic stability.

  Ben Meisellis (37:03): "Donald Trump wants to control the Federal Reserve... that will be absolutely devastating."

8. Conclusion and Call to Action

In their closing remarks, the Meiselas brothers reflect on the parallels between historical authoritarianism and the current state of the U.S. They emphasize the urgency of speaking out against injustice and encourage listeners to support the pro-democracy movement.

Key Points:

• Holocaust Era Reflection: Ben draws a poignant parallel to the Holocaust, urging listeners to "speak out and be loud" to prevent authoritarianism from taking root.

  Ben Meisellis (73:26): "The lesson that I want you all to have is speak out and be loud and never be afraid to do so."

• Encouraging Media Support: They call on their audience to support independent media by leaving five-star reviews and sharing the podcast with others.

  Ben Meisellis (73:26): "Add the Midas Touch podcast... leave five-star reviews... let's continue to grow this unapologetically pro-democracy movement."

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Notable Quotes

• Ben Meisellis (04:18): "This is an administration that's in complete disarray...they are dangerously stupid people who are leading us."

• Brett Meisellis (05:24): "Was there market manipulation yesterday? Was this a pump and dump?"

• Brett Meisellis (07:30): "It was clear. A really bad version of the Apprentice... none of these people are qualified to be in this room."

• Ben Meisellis (09:25): "Volatility is not a good sign...is a sign of an absolutely horrific economy."

• Brett Meisellis (30:39): "Leader Jeffries is calling for an investigation into the insider trading..."

• Ben Meisellis (66:38): "They passed the SAVE Act... it's always a voter disenfranchisement scheme that is happening here."

• Ben Meisellis (73:26): "The lesson that I want you all to have is speak out and be loud and never be afraid to do so."

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Conclusion

This episode of The MeidasTouch Podcast provides a scathing critique of the Trump administration, highlighting issues of economic mismanagement, potential corruption, and threats to democratic institutions. The Meiselas brothers call upon their listeners to remain vigilant, support independent media, and actively resist the erosion of democratic principles.

Transcript

[Ben Meisellis]

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[Brett Meisellis]

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[Ben Meisellis]

Yeah, this is an administration that's in complete disarray, let's face it. This is an administration that's in collapse. But administrations in coll can do a whole lot of damage and that's what we are seeing here. And I don't want to diminish how dangerous this administration is, but they are also very stupid. And you could be two things at the same time. You could be stupid and dangerous. They are dangerously stupid people who are leading us, but they are leading us. It's this Dunning Kruger effect where they think they're these big geniuses. They think that this is the best that like they think that they are actually experts in all of these things and they press on with these ill advised plans. Whether it be tariffs, whether it be signal gate, whether it be all the various things, things that they are doing, it seems like each one more and more designed to cause as much destruction as possible to the United States. At least that is the end result of it. We're certainly going to get into it all. It's great to be here with you guys. Great to be here with the audience. For those watching live or for those listening on Apple podcasts and Spotify, thank you for tuning in to the Midas Touch podcast. Jordy, what's the latest from you? I'm excited to get into the show tonight.

[Brett Meisellis]

I guess.

[Ben Meisellis]

Why don't we just dive in today? Benji, where do you want to lead us off?

[Brett Meisellis]

Why don't I lead off in the Oval Office? This was on Wednesday, after Donald Trump said, you should buy, now would be a good time to buy. And after all of his regime members said no chance that they're ever going to pause the tariffs on the rest of the world, that they would never do that. They announced that they're pausing the tariffs on all of the countries other than China. They were going to increase the tariffs against China, which we now know to be, as, at least to this recording, 145 per. But then as you dug deeper into what the Trump regime was doing, it really still wasn't even what they said they were doing against the rest of the world, because other tariffs seemed to be in place. But it was still unclear to almost everybody, including the business community. Like, wait a minute. So you went from having Canada and Mexico not on your Liberation Day list? I put that in quotes. For audio listeners, it's annihilation day or liquidation day. But now you're doing what, 25% tariffs. What are you doing? You're tariffing the penguins. Are those on what's going on? I think when you do a blended tariff rate, even after this quote, unquote, pause, the tariffs overall are still around 25%, which is absolutely devastating and disastrous. And also considering China is one of the main trading partners, although we're competitive in trade with them, that, that being 145% is crippling anyway, so Donald Trump says, bye, bye, bye. On that basis, the market surges again like, like a meme coin, like a crypto rug pull. That's what the American market looked like all of a sudden. And then Donald Trump's in the Oval Office with billionaire friends bragging about how rich they became on that day. I mean, setting aside just the optics, this is just reprehensible conduct. Here's what it is. Let's play that clip he made.

[Ben Meisellis]

He made two and a half billion today, and he made 900 million.

[Brett Meisellis]

He's. To rich people, for those audio listeners, in case you couldn't hear, he's pointing to rich people in the Oval Office and he's like, he made 2.5 billion today, and this guy made 900 million today.

[Ben Meisellis]

One of them is literally Charles Schwab, like the Charles Schwab.

[Brett Meisellis]

That's.

[Ben Meisellis]

That's who he's pointed to, bragging about how much money Charles Schwab made in one day due to Donald Trump's pump scheme.

[Brett Meisellis]

So then you had this Cabinet meeting. As I was watching this cabinet meeting, I watched these things, so y'all don't have to. I was like, what does this look like? And it was clear. A really bad version of the Apprentice. That's actually what this thing looked like. It's like Donald Trump assembled like C list Hollywood people. Actually, the C list Hollywood people are more qualified than his actual Cabinet. And it was a bizarre, like, glazing fest. And we'll show you more of those clips a little bit where they're like, we become more than just a Cabinet, Donald, because of your leadership. We've become a family.

[Ben Meisellis]

We've.

[Brett Meisellis]

We love each other under your leadership. I'll show you some of those clips in a bit. The first one I want to show you, though, I want to get to the meat of it. Then I'll show you some of that fluff or whatever you call it. Donald Trump today bragging about the market yesterday while the market was tanking today. But he's saying it was great. It was one of the best days in the market ever. It's because of me. Look how great I am. Here's what he said. Let's play it. Prescription drug prices are even to down, doing very well. It's. It's been amazing. We had a big day yesterday. There'll always be transition difficulty, but we had a. In history, it was the biggest day in history. The markets so very, very happy with the way the country is running very happy with the way the country is running the biggest day industry. It should be noted that, that during the times of some of the biggest crashes, whether it was the Great Recession of 08, whether it was the COVID crashes during Trump's first administration, they were often followed by some days because it would drop so much. The volatility is such that the markets would also go up a lot. But they were not a good sign.

[Ben Meisellis]

Volatility is not a good sign. Having the market go up thousands of points and then down thousands of points, then down thousands more and then up a few. Not a sign of a healthy economy. And as you said, like, it's a little sign of Great Recessions, great Depressions. It's a sign of an absolutely horrific economy. You know what this reminds me of, Ben? Remember 2020 Covid, people were very concerned about the economy. And there was that moment where Donald Trump tried to do a scheme like this as well. He pumped the stock market, he had business leaders come to the White House and the stock market pumped like crazy that one day it was right before one of the worst crashes, when millions and millions of Americans lost their jobs. But Donald Trump, literally. And it felt like the version of this, felt like this today that we just witnessed. But Donald Trump printed out the stock market chart for that one day of that increase, and he signed it with his signature and he held it up for the press as some massive achievement. Ultimately, the markets collapsed, millions of people lost their jobs. Society has never recovered since then. But Donald Trump was bragging about those single day stock market gains the same way he was bragging about yesterday. And could we just pause for one second?

[Brett Meisellis]

These clips that we've shown are psychotic. Like, there's, there's no, like you can sugarcoat it. Let's.

[Ben Meisellis]

You ain't seen nothing yet.

[Brett Meisellis]

Charles Schwab in the Oval Office.

[Ben Meisellis]

And he was bragging about how many.

[Brett Meisellis]

Hundreds of millions of dollars he made. That's an insane clip. And then you go to.

[Ben Meisellis]

And then he's bragging about putting out his own fire. But here's the kicker.

[Brett Meisellis]

He didn't put out the, the fire. The fire's still raging. And then corporate media just glazes him and, and takes, you know, takes his words. And Donald Trump brags about how the stock market increased. So this, these clips are psychotic.

[Ben Meisellis]

I got to say, sorry if we have some Wall street folks who listen to the show, but you all got to get your shit together because this Wall street community, they fall for all this crap every single time. It's like Donald Trump, yes, he issued that pause, right? But he still kept 10% tariffs, unlike the entire world, still pretty bad, folks. That's still pretty bad. And then yesterday raised the tariffs to 125% on China. Then today said, no, it's actually 145%. That alone, even without everything El Calamitous, that alone is a complete disaster for the US Economy, for the global economy. And yesterday people just kind of bought into Donald Trump's be cool spin. And then today they were like, woke up to reality and we're like, oh, shit. Things are actually still really bad. It's just like, come on, people.

[Brett Meisellis]

One of my favorite parts about this show is that Jordy so busy running our marketing operation that I know he hasn't seen a lot of these clips until we're literally showing him on the show.

[Ben Meisellis]

Reaction from me on the show.

[Brett Meisellis]

So you get, you get real authentic reactions from, from Jordy and I get to do a gut check of maybe how the audience feels about it. Like if someone who hasn't seen these clips.

[Ben Meisellis]

Yeah, Jordy saying this for the first time.

[Brett Meisellis]

All right, Jordy, I'm gonna show you Jordy. Now, Donald Trump's Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins, at this cabinet meeting with Elon Musk by her side as well. And I'll show you a clip of what Elon Musk talks about also where he's like, and we're going to like, reduce, reduce spending by $125 billion. You said 2 trillion, idiot. You think we forget in FY 2026, it's going to be 125 billion in cuts. So you just wiped out like 12 trillion from the market. You claim you're going to recover 125 billion, you're going to lose trillions in collections of tax revenue. And then you have the Secretary of Agriculture, stupid Brooke Rollins. Let me play this clip, Jordy. Then I want to get your, I want to get Jordy's reaction to it.

[Ben Meisellis]

This is my favorite new character, by the way.

[Brett Meisellis]

Sir, first, we are, I would say, more than friends. We've all become family. And I think that what you have assembled in your vision is a turning point and an inflection point in American history. And so just being a part of that is the greatest honor. So thank you for that. And again, just the relationships here and the honor and respect we have for each other is a reflection of you and your leadership. So I just wanted to say that first. Oh, are we in a Krispy Kreme? Because what in the glaze was that? This is a cult. This is a cult. And you shouldn't feel bad saying it. You shouldn't feel bad saying, this is weird shit, man. None of this is normal. Jordy. The person sitting next to her was Sean Duffy, who's the Secretary of Transportation. He got famous and put into this MAGA orbit because he was on the Real World Road Rules Challenge. Though in this bizarro reality show, a worse version of the Apprentice, a far more dystopian version where we the people are all non consenting members or participants as extras of this American carnage. You got the Real World Road Rules Challenge, guy. On a day where there's not just a market crash, there was a devastating helicopter crash in the Hudson river in New York, killing six people. And two planes clipped each other at Reagan National Airport. I want to share with you the next clip where Donald Trump's asked, okay, well, I know you want to talk about the market from yesterday, but have you seen the market today? Like now? Are you watching what's happening to yet another meltdown in the bond markets? That people are viewing American treasury notes like they would normally view, like foreign, to use Donald Trump's term, Third world country notes. Here's what Donald Trump says. Let's play it. Mr. President, can you give us the.

[Ben Meisellis]

Reaction to today's stock market drop and.

[Brett Meisellis]

Also give us a sense of the next steps with China? Well, I haven't seen it because I've been here for two and a half hours. So I'll be saying it. I think Scott went out. Scott, do you want to have a statement on this? I just, I, I haven't seen it. So now here's what I want to do with our viewers and our listeners. So let's go through the timeline of Trump posting at 9:07am that now would be a great time to buy signed DJT, which is the stock symbol for his Trump media company, which then immediately got a bump thereafter. Then at 1pm Donald Trump announced that there would be a pause on the tariffs against the countries other than China. But when you actually delved into it, Brett, as you said, it's really not a pause. It basically takes a blended tariff rate against the world at 27% and moves it to 25%. Then Trump's thereafter talked about tariffing pharmaceuticals and other things, I guess deprive Americans of essential medical services. One of the things that you'll note, I'll give you what Donald Trump said publicly, but when you look at some of these kind of these trading, they're like stocks, they're funds, they're exchange based funds that basically are tied to the S and P or their exchange based funds tied to the Nasdaq. And they have these funny names like Spy, dollar sign Spy that's tied to the S and P. And like the relative portions of the size of the S and P are calculated in this, you know, trading fund. The SQQQ and A dollar sign QQQ and dollar sign TQQQ are exchange based funds that trade based on how the NASDAQ is doing. So right before the news that this was happening, all of a sudden you see the most erratic volume that's happening on these types of funds, basically indicating that people, some people knew something was about to happen. You could literally point with an arrow where some of these insiders knew, which usually when insider trading happens, you got to figure out a little bit more than that because they're usually a little more careful. And then as it relates to the DJT stock DJT call premiums explode right as Donald Trump makes that post and he signs it DJT and you'll see today where the Trump stock is. Where the stock is not doing well. By the way, the overall Trump media stock is just doing awful. Remember when it was over 100 and now it's at $18.53. Remember when it was trading at like a hundred dollars or, or more and it had a market cap of something crazy? Same thing with the, with the Trump meme coin. But now our market, the United States Stock Market, where everybody had full faith and credit in the United States treasury, looks like the Trump stock. It looks like the Trump meme. So there are a lot of people saying that it seems that the market was manipulated. You have Democratic Senator Schiff, Warren, others calling for investigations on the House led by leader Jeffrey saying, we need to investigate that. I'll show you that in a bit. But first let me show you what Trump said. This is why, this is what Trump said yesterday on why he instituted this kind of fake pause. And he said something about like, we got yippee. People got little yippee, little yippee. Here, play this clip here. Yeah. You started the morning saying be cool. A few hours later there was a pause put in on the terrace. Can you walk us through your thinking about why you decided to put a 90 day pause? Well, well, I thought that people were jumping a little bit out of line. They were getting yippee. You know, they were getting a little bit yippee, a little bit afraid, unlike these champions, because we have a big job to do. No other president would have done what I did. No other president. I know the president. They wouldn't have done it. And it had to be done. What was happening to us on trade, not only with, you know, if you look at it, not only with China, but China was by far the biggest abuser in history. And others also, also just surrounded by a bunch of like white dudes behind him. Do these champions right here, you see these champions.

[Ben Meisellis]

It's also embarrassing. And you know, it's, it was so quintessential Trump and Trump Organization and Trump administration. What we saw yesterday and today, because you know all the Trump propagandists, right? The Caroline Levitts, the Nutnik Nutlik.

[Brett Meisellis]

The people call him Nutlik. No, no, he's good. Y. Yeah, I, I call him nut lick on beat down all the time. Do you?

[Ben Meisellis]

Okay, maybe that's why it's, it is.

[Brett Meisellis]

Agreed upon that you can call Howard Lutnick Nutlik.

[Ben Meisellis]

Okay, got it. Okay, now that I know that's okay. So you got, you know, Levitt, you got nut lick, you Got, you know, all these propagandists around Donald Trump and they immediately had to spin this and we'll get into some of this soon. But they were like, it's the art of the deal. Everything's amazing. Wow, what a brilliant negotiator. And then they'd be like, so was this done because Donald Trump was concerned about people panicking over the markets or the bond markets? And they're like, no, absolutely not. Had nothing to do with this whatsoever. This was all part of Donald Trump's grand strategy. And y'all just didn't see it coming. And then Trump comes out and goes, yeah, people were, yippee. And people were scared. And the bond market, yeah, I was watching the bond market. And just steps on all their talking points that they came out with initially because they're just making it up as they go. This is like a North Korean regime right now in the United States of America. It's just so frightening.

[Brett Meisellis]

Brett, their talking points admit to the market manipulation. If you take their talking points, their view was, we, this was the plan all along. So the plan was we were going to crash the markets, we were going to implode the bond markets, we were going to create a situation where people had to tap into their 529 accounts for their kids college savings or their life savings, or we, we crippled retail investors. We, we caused $10 trillion to vanish from the market on purpose as part of a plan to get no concessions at all to allow China to assert itself and seem like a very rational actor and a very level headed actor. Across the world markets, we now see Europe and China negotiating for electric vehicles. Right? We see China and Australia talking, we see Europe and Canada. Everyone's.

[Ben Meisellis]

The wild thing is people are coming to the negotiating table. It's not with us. They're going to the negotiating table with China. And all these other countries are getting closer with one another because the United States is no longer a reliable trade partner. That was one thing that the world could always count on with us. And we had all of these free trade agreements with the world and now we violated all those agreements. Why would anybody ever trust us again as long as Trump is in?

[Brett Meisellis]

So Brad, if I'm making this case to the jury, right, in my former role as a litigator, my question is, so is this intentional malice? Is this gross recklessness and gross negligence? And as your thesis was at the beginning, it's actually both. It's like it could be all of the above. And that's what we're seeing. And it's not just on this issue. Don't forget, everybody. Don't let this distract you from signal gate. Right. No one talks about that anymore. We still talk about it here that they're having classified war communications on a signal app. Don't forget that they're disappearing migrants without due process to concentration camps in El Salvador and then putting in filings to federal courts. Oopsies, we made a mistake. But you have to reach out to naive Bukele, the leader of El Salvador. Don't forget that Donald Trump wants to steal the minerals from Zelensky. Don't forget what that Oval Office visit from Zelensky and Trump looked like where Trump shamed the United States for generations with Zelensky, a wartime hero in the Oval Office. Don't forget that Donald Trump's been threatening to annex and invade Canada, Greenland, Panama. Don't forget these things. That's they're all, they're all things that we should be covering and we can cover all of them at the same time here. The Trump regime wants to overwhelm me with all of this stuff. We're not overwhelmed. We're just getting started. We're just getting started. On this episode of the Midas Touch podcast, people always ask, what about the merch we want? Midas Touch merch. We've got maple bitest merch, 100% made in Canada. Elbows up store.midas touch.com you know, we made sure to make that 100 in Canada with a Canadian manufacturer. We wouldn't dare do it differently. Store.midas touch.com Shout out to the Maple Midas out there and store.midas touch.com for all the other merch. Also, Midasplus.com our substack that's on its way to 1 million subscribers. The fastest growing substack of all substacks right now. Midasplus.com check that out. Also patreon.com Midas Touch. Brett, Jordy and I next week will be holding a zoom meeting, a state of the Midas Touch address with our patron. So you can subscribe there. We'll be right back after our first quick break. Elbows up.

[Ben Meisellis]

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[Brett Meisellis]

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[Ben Meisellis]

Show is he got a bunch of new dads on the show. I mean, not me, but you guys. And sometimes you gotta be parents. I think that's cool.

[Brett Meisellis]

Yeah. Don't. Jordy's was not getting. Yippee. He was not getting tricky.

[Ben Meisellis]

Don't give me that hashtag free Jordy stuff. He's a. He's free.

[Brett Meisellis]

Jordy was not a panickin and Jordy did not feel. I know there's a lot of Jordy supporters that I was not teasing him by putting him on the spot and saying he doesn't watch the clips. I was just objective. Truth. Truth is golden. It's just the reality of it. He definitely does not watch most of these clips I play before I show them. All right, like this one right here. I do want to give a hat tip to leader Jeffries. You know, I know there was a lot of people who were saying, you know, I want to see him fight. Leader Jeffries, I think has been fighting a lot lately. Right. He challenged MAGA Mike to a debate on the House floor. MAGA Mike chickened out of it. I love the Leader Jeffries then saying to MAGA Mike because the MAGA Republican congress member re named Congressmember Stubby. Stubby. Stubby do. He rebuked MAGA Mike Johnson. He goes, I rebuke you in the name of Jesus. You're a liar. Still. When I think and voted for this horrific budget to cut taxes to the billionaires for $4.5 trillion and cut Medicaid by $880 billion. The budget's now progressing to the next step. After the House adopted a completely different budget outline than they had originally passed. They adopt the sentence which looks nothing like theirs. And so what they're going to do, because this is what they do with everything, is they, like, take it to the final day, then create a controversy, then, like, explode everything, like, we can't do it. Our budget has 1.5 trillion in cuts. The Senate budget has $4 billion in cuts. What are we gonna do? Oh, no. I guess the debt ceiling's approaching chaos, Panic, market crashes. Isn't that what they do about everything? But anyway, at least for now, they passed the Senate's version of the budget outline. And then Stubby said, I rebuke you to MAGA Mike Johnson in the name of Jesus. Then Leader Jeffrey's like, look, if we debate MAGA Mike, I'm not going to rebuke you in the name of Jesus.

[Ben Meisellis]

Well, these people are some weird.

[Brett Meisellis]

So Leader Jeffries is calling for an investigation into the insider trading. Let me show you what he announced earlier today. We need to get to the bottom of the possible stock manipulation that is unfolding before the American people, including what, if any, advanced knowledge did members of the House Republican Conference have of Trump's decision to pause the reckless tariffs that he put into place? There are several members of Congress who will be aggressively demanding answers and transparency, particularly as it relates to stock purchase decisions that may have occurred over the last few days. You saw from the graph that we showed you where you can actually visually see people buying before the announcement is made. In normal times, the securities and Exchange Commission would look at that, and it's fairly easy to trace who the. Where that trading activity is coming from. Well, of course, now the SEC being controlled by the Trump regime is like all agencies being absolutely gutted. So don't expect them to do anything. Don't expect the DOJ to do anything at all. They're too busy disappearing people without due process to concentration camps in El Salvador. But, Brett, what I said before is if you take the explanation of Trump regime propagandists like Caroline Levitt, they admit that this was their plan. So they admit the plan was market manipulation. Here's Caroline Levitt, the chief propagandist. This was yesterday when they. When she said, I just want you all to know we had always planned this. So, Caroline Levitt, you're admitting the plan was to crash the markets with bogus tariffs, make corporations believe that they had to all of a sudden adjust their businesses to say psych. Gotcha, Gotcha. Everybody here, play this clip.

[Ben Meisellis]

Excuse me, Excuse me, Raquel, If I could just add to what the secretary said. Many of you in the media clearly missed the art of the deal. You clearly failed to see what President Trump is doing here. You tried to say that the rest of the world would be moved closer to China, when in fact we've seen the opposite effect. The entire world is calling the United States of America, not China, because they need our markets, they need our consumers, and they need this president in the.

[Brett Meisellis]

Oval Office to talk to them.

[Ben Meisellis]

And that's exactly why more than 75 countries have called. Because the United States of America is the best place in the world to do business. And as the president has shown great courage, as the secretary has said, in choosing to retaliate against China even higher.

[Brett Meisellis]

Literally nothing she said, Brett, was true.

[Ben Meisellis]

Nothing she said is true. I mean, like I was saying before, this sounds like it comes straight from North Korean propaganda. Like, this is stuff that they do that we used to mock here as a country, and now it's here in the United States of America. I know that press secretaries have always taken some liberties with the truth, but this is just another level. This is just disgraceful, disgusting propaganda. And she literally did this meme that's going around right now. Like, it's almost like she saw the meme and imitated it. So it's. I'm putting it up right here. You have Trump saying, I'm adding tariffs. And then the MAGA people go, this will create jobs. And then Trump says, I'm removing tariffs. And then the Trump people go, that's the art of the deal. And then Trump says, I'm adding back tariffs. And people go, this will create jobs. And then he says, I'm removing the tariffs. And the Trumpers go, art of the deal. I want to say if you're being intellectually honest about this, right, like, if tariffs are your thing, if you firmly believe in your heart of hearts that tariffs are the thing that's going to make America rich, it's going to make us all wealthy, it's going to make us all have jobs, manufacturers, like, just like, just like the good. When I think the good old days, I think, bring us back to seven, stupid. So if in your heart of hearts you think that tariffs are the way to solve these problems, then why do you celebrate when Donald Trump pauses or removes any tariffs? Wouldn't that not be making us rich anymore? Isn't that canceling so called Liberation Day like, you're making a pitch that tariffs are the way to make this country successful and have long term stability. Yet then you say, oh, no, it's just a plan. It's just a negotiating tool. It can't be both. Both. So which is it? But it doesn't matter to these people because they are malleable and they just go with whatever the regime propaganda says. These are the people who for the past few years have been like, oh, you trust what the government says. You trust what the government says. And we had actual professionals running things. We knew the data can be trusted. What was that?

[Brett Meisellis]

Too boring?

[Ben Meisellis]

Too boring Right now these people are like, oh, the government's telling me that this is good. Okay, Government, yes. Government, yes. All of a sudden these people are like, love the government.

[Brett Meisellis]

Government.

[Ben Meisellis]

They love the federal government. It's their favorite thing ever. They love being lied to. They love regurgitating the lies. And it's just so pathetic. In order to be a Trump supporter right now, in order to support what is going on, you have to accept the fact that you're either a fool or that you're playing a manipulative game to try to trick other people, because there's no objective reasoning behind the things that Trump is doing, and no objective experts or data or anything would come to the conclusion that any of this at all is good for the United States economy or for the global economy. And there's one other thing I do want to flag, because like we said before, we want to make sure we're staying on top of all the conversations, despite all of the various kind of distractions and everything that Donald Trump is doing. It's hard to keep track of them all. But something that we need to watch right now is that Donald Trump has basically asked the Supreme Court to allow him to exert his authority over the Federal Reserve. And if Donald Trump is able to convince the record, the Supreme Court, to let him do this, he wants to ultimately fire somebody like the Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell, if he thought we had Mark. Market instability. Now, just wait till Donald Trump removes the independence of the Federal Reserve. And all of a sudden, we no longer have that backing. We no longer have that faith, that trust in our system that the entire global economy relies upon. That will be absolutely devastating if that's something that happens.

[Brett Meisellis]

Well, could you imagine Donald Trump determining interest rates? I mean, could you imagine what he would do? The type. And also one of the things that Doge is doing. So, yes, Trump wants control over the Federal Reserve. He wants to fire Jerome Powell. That's obvious, right? Then you have Elon Musk sending Doge into the fdic, which ensures deposits. Do you see what they're doing while disappearing human beings? One of the things we shouldn't forget as well is that during the Oval Office press conferences that Donald Trump had yesterday. I don't even need to show the clip because I think I could describe it accurately. Donald Trump signed an executive order saying that he was targeting Miles Taylor, who used to work in the Trump administration, and Chris Krebs, who worked as an intelligence officer in cybersecurity in the first Trump administration, that he's ordering the DOJ to attack them, to go after them, to criminally investigate them. And he said it is because they claim the 2020 election was a free and fair election. He goes, it was stolen because they are outspoken and saying it was a free and fair election. He's ordered, he says this, that he's ordered the Department of Justice to go after them. I saw somebody say this and it's accurate. We are all. Miles Taylor and Chris Krebs. They're just the first line, right? You know, the migrants who are being disappeared, they're first. But if Trump gets to exercise the authoritarian playbook that he wants to do, everybody, everybody comes next. Unless you're one of these people who are in the Cabinet saying, we're all loving family, we all love you, we all love you. Dear Leader, please, can I. Dear Leader, may I please have some breadcrumbs, sir, please? That, that is ultimately his vision. His vision is the vision of the authoritarian. That's what we are facing. So I wanted to make that point. Second point I wanted to make. It's like the line from the Gladiator. Are you not entertained? You not entertained?

[Ben Meisellis]

You sound just like him.

[Brett Meisellis]

Like Russell Crowe.

[Ben Meisellis]

Just like him.

[Brett Meisellis]

Entertained. Oh, my God.

[Ben Meisellis]

Russell crows on the pod. Damn.

[Brett Meisellis]

Is this what the media want? Is this what you all want? This is the. The entertainment. I want my entertainment to be on tv. To me, I don't want my politics to be entertainment. I want, call me old fashioned, I want boring when it comes to this stuff, right? I want to see a leader in the tradition of an American leader and leadership in general, which is to walk or talk soft and carry a big stick. You can back it up with power, but you don't need to. A real strength is not acting like a mania back. Donald Trump just waves his little tiny, pathetic stick and then when it comes down to it, he doesn't back it up because he ha. You know, when Donald Trump goes they don't have the cards. They don't have the cards. It's always a tell on himself using the card analogy. The tell is he never has the cards to play. And all of the world leaders, allies, enemies, adversaries, whoever, they know that Trump doesn't have the cards to play. They know he's weak. They know he's fold. They know that his intellectual capacity is minimal. It's it, it's a caveman brain of just power, power. I want power, power, power. They, and they know how easily he can be, he can be defeated. You can't even write these script. They would not be believable, these scripts. If it was on Veep, like, you know, or one of these shows. I mean, while all of this was going on, on, you had Jameson Greer, the main trade representative for the United States, the guy who's in charge of the tariffs. That's literally his job. Tariff guy, right? Trade Representative Jameson Greer, he's testifying two days in Congress, first in the Senate, then in the House of Representatives, and he's testifying under penalty of perjury. Day one in the Senate, then day day two for about half the day until Trump announced that we're never stopping these tariffs. We're never going to press pause. I'm involved in every conversation. Then using my example of this wouldn't be believable on Veep. He then gets a text message or he sees a Google alert that the tariffs are then paused. Or Trump makes the announcement, he's the guy in charge of that. So then he gets asked by the Democratic Congress members, like, like, dude, what the hell, man? Like, aren't you the guy, like, what happened? One of the best questioning came from Democratic Congressmember Steven Horsford. Watch this incredible moment. Let's play the clip. Mr. Trade Representative, are you aware that the tariffs have been paused?

[Ben Meisellis]

I am, yes.

[Brett Meisellis]

When, when, when were you made aware of that?

[Ben Meisellis]

I understood the decision was made a few minutes ago. And so sitting here under discussion.

[Brett Meisellis]

Sitting here under discussion. So did you know that the, that this was under discussion and why did you not include that as part of your opening remarks?

[Ben Meisellis]

So typically, what I don't do is divulge the contents of my discussions.

[Brett Meisellis]

What are the details of the pause?

[Ben Meisellis]

Well, my understanding is that because so many countries have decided not to retaliate, we're going to have about 90 days.

[Brett Meisellis]

No. Excuse me, you, you, we are. China increased their tariffs on the United States dates. Trump blinked. What's the blink? Sir, what do you know about this pause? What are the details of it?

[Ben Meisellis]

Well, the details as I understand it, is that China continues to retaliate. Other countries didn't retaliate. The President two or three days ago said we wanted to negotiate with those countries that asked for, that asked for meetings. That's what we're doing.

[Brett Meisellis]

What are the details? How long is the pass? How many days? How many weeks? Weeks.

[Ben Meisellis]

I understand it's 90 days. I haven't spoken to the President since I.

[Brett Meisellis]

So the trade Representative hasn't spoken to the President of the United States about a global reordering of trade.

[Ben Meisellis]

Yes, I have. And hearing with you so yet he.

[Brett Meisellis]

Announced it on a tweet. Wtf. Who's in charge? Who's in charge? Wtf? I agree. And then using my example of would you believe this if it was on. On, on Veep. But and this is real life, a dystopian reality show like the Apprentice where we are all non consenting extras having our lives destroyed by this. There was another hearing in the Senate where they were looking to confirm or Trump putting forward the Senate guy named Jared Isaacman to be the leader of NASA. Now we already know that Elon Musk's Space X has been awarded a $5.6 billion government contract. The FAA awarded Elon Musk money. The government also Blue origin, Jeff Bezos Co. Billions of dollars. And so one of the questions is, is, hey, Jared Isaacman, the head of NASA, did Elon Musk hand pick you? Were you in a room with Elon Musk when this deal went down to pick you? Because there are some serious conflicts of. Of interest here. Take a look at what Jared Isaacman said. He refused to say. It's just, it's a parody of a parody of a parody. Just watch this. Was Elon Musk in. Trump offered you the NASA position at Mar A Lago.

[Ben Meisellis]

Senator, I was interviewed by the President, United States.

[Brett Meisellis]

Was Elon Musk in the meeting when he offered you the job?

[Ben Meisellis]

Senator, my meeting was with the President.

[Brett Meisellis]

Of the United States. So Elon Musk was not in the meeting. So just.

[Ben Meisellis]

Senator, I was being interviewed and speaking with the President of the United States.

[Brett Meisellis]

You just say he was not in the meeting. Was he in the meeting or not in the meeting? I.

[Ben Meisellis]

Senator, I'm trying to be as transparent as I can. I was being interpreted. Interviewed by the President of the United States.

[Brett Meisellis]

It's not a difficult question. Was Elon Musk in the room when the President offered you the job?

[Ben Meisellis]

Senator, I was. Again, my meeting was with the President of the United States.

[Brett Meisellis]

I'm Assuming that you don't want to answer the question directly because Elon Musk was in the room. Unless you wanted to spell us that notion, Senator.

[Ben Meisellis]

Again, I was being interviewed by the President United.

[Brett Meisellis]

I want to get your reaction to that. We got to take our last quick break of the show. I want to remind everybody about our merch because I always get asked, these people see the merch out. Where can you get the Midas merch? Store.midas touch.com is where you can get the merch. A lot of the merch is selling out pretty quickly. So go to store.midas touch.com and for our Canadian viewers and listeners, get your Maple Midas gear. 100% made in Canada. You know we wouldn't do it any differently. 100% made in Canada, the maple Midas. You've now got your [e-mail] touch.com go to midas plus.com we're on our way to 1 million substack subscribers. That'll be cool when we hit that benchmark. Help us get there. Just go to substack midasplus.com hit subscribe patreon.com Midas Touch where next week me and my brothers will be holding a State of the Midas Touch event on a Zoom Chat. We're going to talk about all of that and when we get back, we got to talk about the Trump regime dismissing charges against an individual they claim is the leader of MS.13 and Caroline Levitt. Trump's propaganda says because we do it differently here, we do it differently. We also got to talk about Elon Musk announcing that the doge savings for 2026 will be $150 billion when he promised 2 trillion. We'll talk about that and more. Let's take our last quick break of the show.

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[Brett Meisellis]

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[Ben Meisellis]

By the way, Ben, you notice what Trump's been doing, too, throughout this process? He throws things out and sorry, you were in such a good flow, I hate. But Trump was. He always floats these things out that he knows, like, people on his base will like to see. And then he does the opposite, Right? So in this case, remember, there were all these stories. Trump got so many headlines a few weeks ago. Trump's gonna be the first, the first president to decrease the Department of Defense budget. And all of his supporters were like, heck, yeah, that's what we want. Yes, they're finally going after the defense budget. We've been asking for this for years. Audit the Pentagon, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Well, now those same people are like, yes, trillion dollar military budget, the first one we've ever had. They just go with the win. They just go with whatever Donald Trump is saying. But Trump throws those things out. He gets people to bite. He gets the news organizations to write these headlines on mainstream news news. Then he does the complete opposite. He did the same thing with taxes. I mean, a few weeks ago, Trump, you know, they often do it through, like, sources, right? Like, you know, I'm hearing that Doge is about to drop $5,000 checks for every American. So get ready, buckle up, get ready to get rich, folks. Then they put that out there. It's usually not through, like, any sort of official form. And then they're asked by it, and.

[Brett Meisellis]

They'Re like, oh, you know, yes, we're looking.

[Ben Meisellis]

You know, we'll see what happens. We'll see what happens. And they keep this con going. They did the same thing a few weeks ago where they said, trump considering actually raising taxes on the wealth wealthy. I saw a lot of headlines about that. Trump actually considering raising taxes on the wealthy. Well, we knew that was a scam as well. And now we see, like, with this GOP budget bill, we see this, this budget framework that has passed the House earlier. Now it's got to go into this reconciliation process. It's. That doesn't mean the budget is in effect, but it's like the biggest spending bill imaginable. And it calls for, like, massive spending. It costs something like over $5 trillion. It's like, four times bigger spending than Biden's bill under Covid. It's like four times bigger than Donald Trump's first tax cut bill to the wealthy. And this extends and makes those tax cuts permanent for the wealthy while taking, like, $880 million out of Medicaid. It's, like the most egregious spending bill imaginable. So I just don't ever want to hear this crap from these Republicans. And I need everybody here to always push back and push back on the media that accepts the anchoring that Donald Trump and the Republican Party put forth when they say things like, yeah, the party of fiscal responsibility. And I see, I even read an article about this bill. I forget which publication it's in, but one of the big ones, and they were like, the fiscal hawks in the House. Republicans presented this. I'm like, what, what does that mean, fiscal hawks? This is the most bloated, most expensive bill that strips away key programs that people rely upon and gives massive giveaways to wealthy people and increases the military budget. Tremendous. Like, fiscal hawks. Like, we just, we just accept whatever the Republicans say. We just accept whatever Donald Trump says. Donald Trump says that this is a pause. And everyone just goes, oh, yes, this is a pause on everything. It's not like it's time that we actually have to, like, take a beat and, like, actually use language appropriately here and not just repeat what you think the framing is by the Republican Party.

[Brett Meisellis]

Fiscal hawks. Remember the book the Animorphs, where people would turn into the different. Like, what. What the hell is a fiscal.

[Ben Meisellis]

Talking? What are we doing here?

[Brett Meisellis]

What are we talking? They're hawks. What are they? What. What do you. What does that even mean? These people are the most reckless spender writers. I mean, that. That there. That there is. So here's Elon Musk. The scene I set up is just. When you watch this, think about Apprentice, because this is what it looked like. Think about, you know, who. Who. Who was one. Like, Carrot Top was. Was Carrot Top on the show? I'm not sure that's a good person.

[Ben Meisellis]

I think. I think. I think he was.

[Brett Meisellis]

I gotta. I gotta look at my reference.

[Ben Meisellis]

No, I think he's cool.

[Brett Meisellis]

I think.

[Ben Meisellis]

I haven't looked at the Carrot Top in a little bit, but I think.

[Brett Meisellis]

Tom Arnold was on these references. I don't vet. I don't vet my references, so I'm gonna say Carrot Top. This is like, imagine Carrot Top in the Apprentice room. This is the scene, but it's actually Elon Musk and it's our life, and they're destroying it. Here, play this clip. Great job. Lovely live. Well, thanks to your fantastic leadership, this amazing cabinet, and the very, very talented Doge team, I'm excited to announce that we anticipate savings in FY26 from reduction of waste and fraud by $150 billion. And some of it is just absurd. Like, people getting unemployment insurance who haven't been born yet. I mean, I think anyone can appreciate whether. I mean, come on, that's just crazy. So, you know, some of these things people ask me, like, well, how are you going to find ways.

[Ben Meisellis]

And Ford in the federal.

[Brett Meisellis]

In the government? I'm like, well, actually, just go in any direction. That's how you find it. It's just. It's very common. It's, as the military would say, target rich environment. Okay. It's the least funny thing. He's lying about everything. And. But doesn't it remind you, like, when, like, Carrot Top, like, wasn't Carrot Tops thing, like, he would, like, bring out, like, objects and, like, turn them into funny objects and, like, characters. Look, look what I've got. I've made a hat. Okay. Okay. And it's like a target rich hat that I've made with my cup. It's a cup hat.

[Ben Meisellis]

Yeah. Now I feel. Now I feel like almost offending Carrot Top. Apologies to Carrot Top. Don't mean to compare it to Elon Musk, the most unfunny person on the planet. Elon wants to be liked so badly and wants to.

[Brett Meisellis]

I'm just trying to pick a random character on the Apprentice.

[Ben Meisellis]

I'm just saying, no offense to him. No offense. No, no, no harm. No harm. No offense. Foul. No harm. No foul.

[Brett Meisellis]

We still like you. I think so.

[Ben Meisellis]

I got, I gotta check, I gotta, gotta do some research.

[Brett Meisellis]

But. Do some research. So, but, but look, these are the people who are making horrific decisions and who are causing a, a lot of harm. You remember they rolled out on Fox almost like Apprentice style, right where they would have like their cosplay scene. And they were like, we've busted the biggest MS.13 leader of all of the East Coast. A bad, bad guy. We did it. Mission accomplished. Name is Henry Santos. We arrested him. And okay, I remember Fox did a big story. You all remember the story of this guy. But despite being called one of the top three Ms. 13 leaders by all the top Trump administration officials, they paraded him on Fox. The prosecutors are now moving to dismiss the charges against him. They're saying there that the charges need to be dismissed. So Fox felt like what, what we just did, we did the whole thing with you. We did the whole propaganda show with you. What, what are you doing? So the Fox host asked Caroline Levitt, so if this guy is the head of Ms. 13, like, why are you dismissing the charges? And she goes, we do it differently. We do it differently now. Here, play this clip.

[Ben Meisellis]

Try to get safer, some clarity on it, Caroline, because, you know, if indeed he is what we were told he is the east coast leader of Ms. 13, wouldn't it make sense to prosecute him for crimes related to that? I know he was held on a gun charge, but to make sure that any victims of MS.13 through his leadership, get their day in court here in the United States and then send him to an El Salvador in prison if he is deported and found guilty on those crimes. Well, again, this administration is doing things differently, Martha. And this president has made a directive to his agencies, particularly the Department of Homeland, Homeland Security, to remove foreign terrorists from America's homeland to protect American citizens. And we have an incredible diplomatic relationship with the president of El Salvador and his government who have been detaining these Ms. 13 ringleaders and violent gang members in their prisons. And American taxpayers don't have to foot the bill for that cost. And so again, the bottom line here said that the, that the alien act could be used to remove people, but they had to due process first. I'm only pressing on this because it was a huge story and we covered it. Obviously it would feel like that person could lead to a lot of other evidence. The DOJ would be pressing to see this in court so that other people could be exposed. And suddenly none of that's happening.

[Brett Meisellis]

Wouldn't you want to find out who the other gang Members are through the pro. Like, if you went to go through. If that was really what was happening. We've tried El Chapo here in the United States. In March, the Trump regime was boasting in press releases about extraditing to the United States, States from other countries into The United States, Mississippi, 13 people to be prosecuted in the United States. Because our system was always viewed as a system that was one of the strongest justice systems in the world, that we had the federal prison system to deal with that here. But now, I suppose what they want to say is there should be no process. Just listen to what we say. And we say gang member, we say leader of the gang, and on that basis, we're going to send the person to an El Salvador concentration camp. Just. Just show the evidence. I mean, our system is pretty. Our system is a pretty basic one. Although, yes, it has complexities, but it's. Just show us the evidence. If you are telling me, for example, that the gay hairdresser who fled Venezuela because of persecution, who was a hairstylist working here in the United States, who had a mom and dad tattoo, is actually the gang member, just show. Show it. You know, and if the person's a dangerous and violent gang member who's committed crimes, and there's a process for it. We had processes before Trump claimed that we're in a war with Venezuela falsely, you know, that there could be deportation proceedings. The person can be tried. Like, there. Like there's a. There's a process for it. If you are telling me, for example, that Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man who was shipped to the El Salvador concentration camp with no criminal past, no criminal record at all, who a Trump immigration judge in 2019 gave protected status to, is. Is a bad guy, and you have the evidence to support it, then put your evidence in. In a courtroom, and then we can see it and look at it, and it could be evaluated by a judge and a jury. Like that, like, that's our. Like that's our system. That's. That's the way the country works. Works. So if y'all are just trying to say that you don't like our country and you don't like our system, and you at least want to be honest about it and say, no, no, no, we. We want to run the United States like Russia, like an authoritarian regime. We don't like, actually the American system of law. We don't like the jury system. We don't like due process. We don't like the Constitution. We don't like these things. And then Just say it. I would think you're despicable, but I would at least think you're at least intellectually giving me a strand of. Okay, well, at least, you know, at least you're telling me how you feel. But Brett, in many ways what this MAGA Republican virus that's inflicted our country makes it all worse is. Then it's the gaslighting. No maga, Mike. No. We're not going after Medicaid. No, we're not. But it says that. It says you're going after Medicaid. That's literally what you're doing now. We're not going to do that. Then they do it and it's like, well, well, well, we didn't actually do it. You literally just took away people's Medicaid. We're not going to go after Social Security. Well, you just shut down 47 offices. Yeah, yeah, but efficiency, fraud. We're going to cut 2 trillion. You didn't cut 2 trillion. You're saying 125 billion. I don't even believe that number either. Well, you know what? It got complicated and it was in the interest and they go down these rabbit holes and it's. And it's honestly, it's anti American, it's anti our Constitution, it's anti our system, and it's causing systemic failure in our country. Yeah.

[Ben Meisellis]

And at the same time, they're doing all these moves that are just so anti Democratic and makes. I don't recognize our country anymore. I want to revise the statement that I made on the last episode of the Midas Touch podcast when I said we are in an authoritarian framework right now. And I want to go further with that because it's clear that we are in a full blown autocracy. I mean, when I was watching Donald Trump in the Oval Office yesterday. Or was it today? Every day blends together. Excuse me. When he was signing those directives about Miles Taylor and Chris Krebs using the power of the United States government and the Department of Justice and executive orders in order to target individual citizens. Citizens simply because they said that the election in 2020 was a free and fair election. That crosses the line completely into a full on autocratic government. When you have a government disappearing people because either they don't agree with your beliefs or they don't look like you. That is the mark of an autocratic government. And we are seeing this play out step by step by step. Whether it's Palestinian activists who the government wants to say they're pro Hamas and they need to get out of this country, whether it the Venezuelan migrants or the El Salvadoran migrants who are whisked off the street and sent to El Salvador in prison camps without any due process. That is what an autocratic government is. And it just so terrifies me to see that in the United States of America. Not to mention the sleight of hand that Republicans are doing in the halls of Congress as well, while all this chaos is playing out on TV with Donald Trump. I mean, you could see what they did with the SAVE act today. House Republicans passing this bill that's going to make it significantly harder for folks to vote, requiring certain forms of ID that people don't even have, like requiring married woman to have passports with their married name on it. And if they don't have that, they don't accept a driver's license for this sort of voter id. They only accept a birth certificate which doesn't have the woman's married name on it. They go through all these hoops and then they try to frame it, they try to anchor it. And the media always buys into their BS and their anchoring as, oh, Democrats are afraid of citizens voting, Democrats want to support gang members, and they go on and on and on, and that just gets regurgitated, that just gets repeated when it couldn't be further from the truth. In my lifetime, and I'm sure in the lifetimes of many of our viewers and listeners, when Democrats have been at the helm, the economy's done a whole lot better. The economy's been a whole lot more. The government's been run a lot more efficient. Things are fairer, things are freer, there's more election security, there's more election integrity, there's more integrity in our justice system, in all of our systems, in all of our institutions. Yet too often the corporate media accepts the framing of the Republican Party when they say, oh, yeah, we're fiscal hawks. Oh, this is for election security, this is for this and that. It's like, enough buying into their crap and let's actually focus on what is going on. And by the way, shame on the four Democrats who voted for the SAVE Act F as well, because it's always bs, it's always a voter disenfranchisement scheme that is happening here. And. And then they try to frame it in a certain way to try to pin something bad on the Democratic Party or on voters or, you know, just, you name it, but we got to stand up to it. And I know that's one thing we're going to do here at the Midas.

[Brett Meisellis]

Touch Network, the House of Representatives, in addition to the SAVE Act, Brett, also they passed a bill bill yesterday that would deprive judges of their ability to issue nationwide injunctions, which is precise, that has to be passed in the Senate. It'll probably be filibustered and not passed. But that's one of the things that the House is working on. Despite the fact that a Trump judge in the Northern District of Texas would issue all these injunctions to stop former President Biden's initiatives that actually would have helped people, extend prescription drugs to people, extend people's freedoms, help women's reproductive rights, helped on student loans, Trump judges issued injunctive relief blocking the things that actually would have helped the people. And meanwhile, a lot of the MAGA Republican Congress members who got PPP loans, they got their debt forgiven and all these Trumpers did as well. But Brett, you know, the Supreme Court ruling from earlier today was something that I think should give some hope. It was a unanimous ruling, of course, to to bring back Kilmar Abrego Garcia. The Supreme Court requiring this on a 9. 0 requiring the Trump administration to facilitate the return of Abrego Garcia. Let me close out by just reading for you what the order actually says. The decision unanimous, by the way. And it's as Kyle Cheney says it suggests that someone held overseas can still be given due process. Again goes the application is granted in part and denied in part subject to the direction of this order due to the administrative stay issued by the chief Justice. The deadline imposed by the district court is now passed when the district court ordered by April 7th Abrego Garcia return to the extent that the government's emergency application is effectively granted in part and the deadline in the challenged order is no longer effective. The rest of the district court's order remains in effect but requires clarification on remand. The order properly requires the government to facilitate Abrego Garcia's release from custody in El Salvador and to ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador. Let me read that one more time. The order properly meaning that there is jurisdiction for district courts to do this. The order properly requires the government to facilitate Abrego Garcia's release from custody in El Salvador and to ensure that his case is handles as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador. The intended scope of the term effectuate in the district court's order is, however, unclear and may exceed the district court's authority. The district court should clarify its directive with due regard for the deference owed to the executive branch in the conduct of foreign affairs. For its part, the government should be prepared to share what it can concerning the steps it has taken. Taken and the prospect of further steps. The order heretofore entered by the Chief justice is vacated. So return him, but effectuate, meaning you still have to find some compromise with the Trump regime to bring him back. So you can't. It's a little, there's some ambiguity in that order. But I think what they're saying is do you say bring him back in one day? You still have to at least they would say, understand what the process is to come up with a consent order to allow the executive branch the opportunity and time to get them and kind of bring him back. So to me, what this showdown now becomes is what I think we've been covering here on the network now in legal air for a long time, which is does the Trump regime now say no, no, we're not following this. We 9 oh though by the way, 9 to 0. Does the Trump regime say no, we're not listening to this. And then we've kind of now escalated to that step where they're disobeying the Supreme Court order. What I suspect is going to happen is that the Trump regime will view that language of effectuate, try to stall a little bit, and then it'll go back to the Supreme Court court fairly soon. That's my gut of what's going to happen. But we will see. But I think that's at least some positive news in, in a day of otherwise doom and gloom. And finally, what I think is positive news as well is the fact that I think the opposition and resistance grow stronger every single day. I mean, I think the fact that the Midas Touch Network continues to beat Fox News, put that in quotes on digital platforms every day day is a big win. The fact that the Midas Touch Network continues to beat Joe Rogan Now 3 times the monthly downloads as rogan3x Joe Rogan's monthly downloads this podcast right here. And to me that means we're reaching more people. More people are getting exposed to the truth, the data, the receipts we bring every day. And I thank you the Midas Mighty for sharing this. The maple Midas and Cannibals Canada where the number one podcast in Canada, most downloaded, most viewed podcast and YouTube in Canada, in Europe, in Australia, in New Zealand, in Africa, in South America, Central America and Mexico. Throughout the world, people are tuning into the Midas Touch Network. And this podcast. The word of mouth is so critical. So thank you for sharing it. Text messaging people, emailing people, telling people in your daily life, hey, have you heard about this Midas? That's been one of the best ways organically that this network has spread the way it has. Thanks to you. Remember store.midas touch.com get your Midas merch Maple Midas gears only made 100% in Canada. All 100 Canadian manufacturer. Store.midas touch.com also other gear as well at store.midas touch.com check it out. Midasplus.com that substack of ours led by Ron Filipkowski is headed getting to 1 million subscribers. Check that out. Subscribe on audio as well as YouTube. So our YouTube watchers go subscribe to the Midas Touch audio podcast and everybody leave five star reviews on the audio podcast. Those Rogan viewers or down or podcast followers, they like to write negative reviews about the Midas Touch. So they try to give us one stars. So if you can go there and give it 5 stars stars. If you think the show indeed deserves 5 stars, which we hope you think it does also. Patreon.com Midas Touch Next week we'll be holding our State of Midas Touch address on Patreon. Check that out as well. We'll talk about what we're doing with protest coverage and what we're doing with shadow hearings and we'll answer your questions. That's all I've got. Brett, any last things you want to say before we head out?

[Ben Meisellis]

Yeah, I want to quickly reflect on Holocaust era quote and I hate that we have to go there at this time. But I think it speaks to the current moment. I think you all know it. It's the, you know, first they came for the socialist. I did not speak out because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionist and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak for me. As we see Trump signing these executive orders from the Oval Office about people like Chris Krebs and Miles Taylor as we see the Trump administration disappearing people off the streets for various reasons and sending them to El Salvador Doran prison camps. As we watch this all, the lesson that I want you all to have is speak out and be loud and never be afraid to do so. We're never going to be afraid to do so here at the Midas Touch network and we will do this for as long as we can. We will expose the truth every single day and they will have to rip these microphones out of our hands in order to get us to stop. And even then we will not stop. So let's continue to speak out. Let's continue to fight. And I want to also we got a big audience right now. I want to emphasize how helpful it is when you add the Midas Touch podcast. Apple Podcasts and Spotify are the main platforms. It's also on all the other platforms. If you've already added the Midas Touch podcast, like Ben said before, go ahead and add a five star review. When you go to the podcast pages on those various platforms, you will see an area where you can hit five stars and you can also write a review that really helps to continue to get this show out. In addition to you sending the show to various friends and family members, let's continue to grow this unapologetically pro democracy movement. Let's continue to stay strong. Let's continue to fight. Fight back.

[Brett Meisellis]

Shout out to the Midas Mighty.

[Ben Meisellis]

See you soon.

[Brett Meisellis]

Can't get enough Midas? Check out the Midas plus substack for ad free articles, reports, podcasts, daily recaps from recommendations, Ron Filipkowski and more. Sign up for free [e-mail].