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Ron Filipkowski
Donald Trump just abruptly canceled a press conference that was going to be held in Congress in order to promote an actual bipartisan piece of legislation referred to as the Road to Housing Act. Donald Trump posted the following message moments ago. Today's housing news conference and signing is hereby canceled until such time as we pass the desperately needed Save America act, which I consider to be a national emergency. Thank you for your attention to this matter, djt. So Donald Trump refused to do this press conference on a bipartisan basis with Republicans and Democrats inside of the Capitol building where there would be the signing of the 21st century road to Housing act, which was actually passed with massive bipartisan support. I'll talk about what's in that. Just even when the political parties come together, Donald Trump wants to make it divisive, make it about himself, make it about voter suppression, because he just wants to take away everybody's joy. Instead, what he wants to do is post about the reflecting pool. This is the hard rubber surface, no paint before the vandals pulled it apart. And then he posts more photos of what he claims to be the reflecting pool. You know, this bipartisan housing bill was co sponsored by Elizabeth Warren in the United States Senate on the Democratic side, and Tim Scott, Republican Senator from South Carolina. So when you have Scott and Warren coming together and then on the House you had maga, Republican Congress, Congressmember French Hill and Democratic Congresswoman Maxine Waters coming together. This bill passed in the Senate 85 to 5. It passed in the House 358 to 32. So it's veto proof. It's got massive support and it's gonna help the American people. And what does Donald Trump do? He makes posts like this. The Elizabeth Pocahontas Warren centric housing bill. You know folks, I'll keep on reading this in a moment. It doesn't have to be this way. This isn't me speaking as a Democrat or independent or speaking about Republicans or politics. It doesn't have to be this mean spirited and evil and divisive and hate filled. We can actually exist together as a country and do things like housing legislation that benefits the people and do it with grace and do it with dignity and not with the drama. I'm canceling it. I'm canceling it. I'm gonna call Elizabeth Warren Pocahontas and I'm gonna be a racist asshole. Come, come on. This is what Donald Trump posted. The Elizabeth Pocahontas Warren centric housing bill, which is of minor importance compared to lower interest rates. And even FISA pales in comparison to the passing of the Save America Act. That's his voter suppression act, which would also make women have to go back, find their birth certificates, present that when they vote, if they have a different last name as their maiden name. That is what Americans, both Democrats, Republicans and everyone else care about. Get the bad Republicans to approve it or better yet, terminate the filibuster. Everything else Republicans have ever dreamed of. The Democrats will do it in one hour. 100%. Republicans will feel very stupid if they don't do it first. I'll be watching with tears in my eyes djt. Then he goes. My real poll numbers are the highest they've ever been. Thank you DJT. In terms of what the 21st century road to Housing act does and why it was supported on a bipartisan basis. It merges elements from the Senate's Road to Housing act and the House. It increases housing supply, reduce cost regulation, modernizes programs, support affordability, addressing institutional investors. So like, let's just talk about some of the things that it does. Boosting supply and cutting red tape. Grants and incentives for local governments, tribes to reform zoning, adopt pre approved designs, limits on large institutional investors. And this is a big one. Restricting large investors, Generally those owning 350 plus single family homes from buying more single family homes. Aiming to prioritize families over private equity. Corporate landlords buying up the housing supply. I think we all want that. I mean I think it should be more aggressive, but that's at least a step in the right direction, and then has other reforms to rural housing, manufacturing, modular housing. When it comes to financing and homeownership, it has provisions for small dollar mortgages, community banking support, pathways to homeownership. And so it actually is a bipartisan piece of legislation. And then Donald Trump wanted to again turn a day which could have been about actually bringing the country together into this. We had Scott McFarland, the Midas Touch head of our Washington, D.C. bureau. He was there when this all went down. Here's what he describes just took place.
Midas Touch Washington Bureau Chief
Welcome to Statuary hall, where they have removed the presidential seal from the bill signing desk. They have removed the presidential seal from the podium where Trump was to sign a housing bill, a bipartisan housing bill today, one that members of his party really wanted to campaign on to say they're doing something about housing. Trump blew up the event blew up. The bill signing has not made clear if and when he's going to sign this bill, arguing that he wants them to pass the SAVE act first, the federal elections bill. Members of Congress have shown up to kind of do their own videos dunking on this. Yes, that's Maxwell Frost of Florida. Suha Subramiam of Virginia is here. This is an episode they're trying to amplify as a sign of dysfunction in the administration, dysfunction at the White House, with Trump putting his own personal interests ahead of the country's interests. We have a lot of empty seats. There will be no ceremony, but there is the grandeur of Statuary hall for you and me to enjoy.
Ron Filipkowski
You can see some photos of what the press conference looked like, where it was going to take place before Donald Trump canceled it. Elizabeth Warren, one of the co sponsors of this piece of legislation along with MAGA Republican Senator Scott, she was asked on cnbc, why do you think Donald Trump did this? And she's like, I'm not gonna get into the guy's head. Like, the guy's a psycho. Here, play this clip.
Shannon Maldonado
Senator, I'm curious why you think then
Ron Filipkowski
that the President canceled the signing at the 11th hour. And I asked that because the House voted on Tuesday, 358 to 32. So is Laura largely bipartisan here?
Shannon Maldonado
I'm just curious what you think actually changed.
Elizabeth Warren
Look, I'm sorry if you're asking me to get into Donald Trump's head and figure out what's going on there, you need somebody else. I just, I don't have any idea. This just doesn't make any sense other than whatever it is he wants to do. It's a complete indifference to the cost squeeze on American families and to genuine efforts to do something about it. You know, he could be over here trying to claim a victory lap and instead he's saying, no, no, he doesn't want anything to do with it. It's because he really doesn't care about American families and doesn't care about the fact that prices are up. And the promises he made to lower costs on day one have not only come to nothing. Prices are hard, prices are higher on groceries, prices are higher on health care. Prices are higher on, on virtually everything that Americans buy because of Donald Trump's policies.
Ron Filipkowski
You know, and while Donald Trump announced that he was canceling this press conference, you had the House lead co sponsor, MAGA Republican Congress member French Hill, saying how much Donald Trump supported it, although Donald Trump refused to be there to sign it and Trump was attacking it. This is what the Republican was doing. At the same time it was announced that Trump was canceling things. Let's play it off in New York or somewhere.
Tim Scott
It's a legitimate issue. And Tim Scott and I found a way to put that into law that in our view, meets the president's test, but absolutely will not reduce capital flowing into housing, which has been my top goal. Lower the cost of housing, make it more affordable, more accessible, encourage the banks to lend more that have been shut down since the global financial crisis in 2008. And this bill does that. And so I'm proud of the work that both chambers struggled through. For those of you who cover this every day, you know, the back and forth between the House and Senate, but it's a successful today. And I'm proud of the work of the House and Senate to get this, to get people to. Yes. And so I yield back.
Ron Filipkowski
And then you had Treasury Secretary Scott Besant doing the next hit on CNBC saying, I think we were a little too successful in Iran. Things went way too good, actually. Like, we were so good here. Play this clip again. You've been generous with your time. We appreciate it and making the effort.
Tim Scott
I like all that.
Ron Filipkowski
Can you leave the Secret Service? You need those guys, I guess.
Shannon Maldonado
What's that?
Ron Filipkowski
Can you leave the Secret Service guy? You need all these.
Superhuman/Monday.com Advertiser
I think we've been a little too
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successful with the Iranians.
Ron Filipkowski
We're in the middle of Times Square. I mean, every time you see training tapes, it's like filmed out here. So anyway, great to have you on. Appreciate it.
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Ron Filipkowski
You had MAGA Republican Congressmember Maga Mike Johnson, MAGA speaker of the House. He goes, I'm going to walk through the details with Donald Trump. We'll just go through it bit by bit at Aaron, Rupert says he talks about Don Donald Trump. MAGA Mike does as though he needs to like be explaining things to a toddler.
MAGA Republican Mike Johnson
Let's play this clip families critical to do great policy. The president, when we go through the details of the bill, he's going to understand that, that it's a good product and certainly something that fulfills his promises to bring down the cost. Interest rates is another big priority of his in all of ours. And I think the new Fed chair will do that. We get the economy humming again. We keep the straight of Hormuz open. We keep gas prices down to earth. This economy's gonna take off like a rocket, y'. All.
Ron Filipkowski
And then you had MAGA Republican Congress member Mauser. He went on state regime media, which calls itself Fox and he said, I know that everybody's a little bit worried about the economy right now and affordability. He's like, but we'll deal with affordability and then after the election we'll get Iran. Just you wait. That's when we'll do it, after the election and the midterms. That's what he and Brian Kilmeade say. Let's play this clip. And yes, the affordability question is there, but they realize it's over Iran and the president's winding that down. So the terrorist state of Iran is going to be in the history books in a matter of days. Well, yeah, if not after the election, I'm sure they're going to get it. Let's actually talk about what's happening while Donald Trump is creating this unnecessary and vile drama here in the United States. You have Marco Rubio, as I did a video on this earlier in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. As I said, he's doing a meeting with the uae, Bahrain and Kuwait. And I believe he's trying to sabotage the mou. He didn't want to be affiliated with it. He wasn't there in Switzerland during the technical discussions, even though that's quite literally the job description for the secretary of State. But notice when you have Rubio meeting with the leaders in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, look who's also there as well. You have Trump's son in law, Michael Boulos, Tiffany, Trump's husband there. So you have Jared Kushner who's apparently raising 5 billion more dollars in addition to the 5 billion he previously raised in the Middle East. And now you have Michael Boulos sitting next to in this meeting in UAE with the Sheikh Mbz, the country's leader. He's the president. And Boulos is no formal role in our government, but Trump's other son in law right there. Meanwhile, while you have the nepotism fest of Boulos and Kushner and whatever the hell Rubio is doing, Iran is making notable gains and strides. They're meeting in Azerbaijan. You have MB Golubov, their parliament leader and lead negotiator, basically going on a victory tour. He announced today during a meeting. The Islamabad memorandum of understanding became a declaration of America's defeat for us. A ceasefire, Golubov says in Lebanon has been as important as a ceasefire in Iran. And likewise, ending the war in Lebanon has been as important as ending the war in Iran for us. While he was saying that, you have Israel's Defense minister, Israel Katz, that's his name, Israel. Katz says even if there is an American demand, we will not withdraw from Lebanon. 200,000 residents will not return to their homes in Lebanon. That is our territory now. That is our security zone. Now is what Israel Defense Minister Israel Katz says Netanyahu held a press conference moments ago where he said, when I came to Trump, I told him we're going into Iran. I don't ask for permission. I inform him of our plans. They told us don't enter Syria. They said it wasn't wise. They said it wasn't justified. We went in with full force. Then he said the same about Lebanon as well and the same about Gaza. A broader narrative unfolding as well that I've been talking about now for months in those morning videos I do with world leaders. Remember where I was talking about a new multilateral organization amongst the Arab states forming, pushing out the US Security umbrella, that the US Power in the Middle east will fade now and there will be a broader cooperation with Iran. We're seeing that happen. So Qatar's Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Al Thani says that Gulf states and Iran GCC are negotiating a new regional security framework, one that relies less on washing and one that relies more on regional cooperation. For decades, as Aymin Jamil explains, Gulf security rested on the US Umbrella. But what we saw now with the US Failure in the catastrophic war in Iran, the Arab nations are now saying, why would we ever be allied with the UN we can't depend on a US Security umbrella. So the Gulf countries are moving toward a multipolar security order that will include Iran. So whether this becomes a lasting stability or temporary alignment remains to be seen. But the entire regional architecture is shifting US Out. Iran in, in terms of the Abraham Accords, which was kind of Israel, uae, Bahrain dictating terms in the region that weakening and now a new arrangement rising with Iran, you know, in command, in charge. I want to note as well, while you have those regional development, you have Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump continuing to cause irreparable harm to the United States military. I did a video on it this morning about General Christopher Donohue, a four star general, the last US soldier to leave Afghanistan in 2021 was basically forced to resign. Hegseth kicked him out. He was the US army commander in Europe and Africa. And I went through all of his accomplishments. But I mean, here was someone who was, you know, like literally one of the most decorated and accomplished generals that we had. Lots of people believed he should have been the chairman of the Joint Chiefs and certainly a future army chief of staff. But the other army chief of Staff Randy George was fired as well, or forced to resign by the Trump regime. I'll note this at the end as well, just to show you what the magas are now talking about as well. You have MAGA Republican Congress member Burchett talking about turning the reflecting pool into its own ecosystem. Let's play this clip. Any reaction to this reflecting pool controversy?
MAGA Republican Burchett
Yeah, it's. It's algae. It's science. It's just gonna happen. I don't. It'll be darker. Of course, you've got a filtration system. And then you're going to have to hit it with the chlorine or it's just bleach or whatever. I know they did peroxide. There's other methods, too. But I would, you know, honestly, I think it'd be cool if they just, just let it go and, and create an ecosystem, have fish in there and everything and just let it go. I think that'd be a really, that would be a cool way to go. But paintings are out. You can re. Plaster. You can do a lot of things.
Ron Filipkowski
And then you had J.D. vance being. Let's just say he showed a lot more affection to Erica Kirk than his wife. Did you see when he greeted his wife for some weird podcast they were doing, he, like, patted her leg. I mean, did you see this here? I'll play us out with J.D. vance right now. One of the strangest individuals around.
Shannon Maldonado
That's right. Today's special reader is my husband, Vice President of the United States, J.D. vance. Thanks for joining us today, honey. Of course.
Ron Filipkowski
Good to see you. There you have it, everybody. Let me know what you think. Hit subscribe. Let's get to 7 million subscribers. Let's go. Let's rally to 7 million. Let's try to hit it soon. Thanks for watching, everybody.
Midas Touch Washington Bureau Chief
Have a good one.
Ron Filipkowski
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.
Date: June 24, 2026
Hosts: Ron Filipkowski (subbing for the Meiselas brothers), with commentary from the MeidasTouch Washington Bureau Chief and guest audio from Senator Elizabeth Warren
Theme: A deep-dive into Donald Trump’s last-minute cancellation of a ceremonial signing for a major bipartisan housing bill — exposing ongoing dysfunction, partisanship, and broader geopolitical shifts.
This episode centers on Donald Trump’s abrupt cancellation of a much-anticipated bipartisan bill signing for the "21st Century Road to Housing Act." The hosts analyze what the legislation entailed, why its passage mattered, and how Trump’s actions reflect broader dysfunction within his administration. The hosts also pivot to real-time reactions from lawmakers, media figures, and explore consequences for U.S. domestic policy and global standing.
Context: A historic, broadly supported housing bill was set for a ceremonial signing at the US Capitol, symbolizing rare bipartisan unity. Trump canceled, demanding unrelated action on his "Save America Act."
Trump’s Official Statement (03:14):
“Today's housing news conference and signing is hereby canceled until such time as we pass the desperately needed Save America act, which I consider to be a national emergency.”
(Trump statement read aloud by Ron)
Host Analysis:
“They have removed the presidential seal from the bill signing desk... Trump blew up the event... arguing that he wants them to pass the SAVE act first.” (08:18)
Details (07:00):
Quote (Ron):
“I think we all want that. I mean I think it should be more aggressive, but that's at least a step in the right direction...” (07:42)
Trump derides the law as the “Elizabeth Pocahontas Warren centric housing bill," complains it's less important than his election-focused “Save America Act,” and calls for “bad Republicans” to get in line (04:32).
The Save America Act is described as a “voter suppression act” by the host, featuring requirements for women to produce birth certificates matching their maiden names, generating fears of disenfranchisement.
Quote (Ron):
“It doesn’t have to be this mean spirited and evil and divisive and hate filled. We can actually exist together as a country and do things like housing legislation that benefits the people and do it with grace and do it with dignity and not with the drama. I'm canceling it... I'm gonna call Elizabeth Warren Pocahontas and I'm gonna be a racist asshole. Come, come on.” (05:40)
Elizabeth Warren on CNBC (09:39-10:51):
“If you're asking me to get into Donald Trump's head... you need somebody else. This just doesn't make any sense other than whatever it is he wants to do. It's a complete indifference to the cost squeeze on American families and to genuine efforts to do something about it. You know, he could be over here trying to claim a victory lap and instead he's saying, no, no, he doesn't want anything to do with it. It's because he really doesn't care about American families.”
(Elizabeth Warren, 09:54–10:51)
French Hill (Republican lead in the House):
Despite Trump’s attack and absence, Hill tries to maintain the narrative of White House support:
“Lower the cost of housing, make it more affordable, more accessible, encourage the banks to lend more… And so I'm proud of the work that both chambers struggled through... but it's a successful today.” (11:15-11:57)
Speaker Mike Johnson:
“The president, when we go through the details of the bill, he's going to understand that, that it's a good product and certainly something that fulfills his promises to bring down the cost. Interest rates is another big priority of his in all of ours... This economy's gonna take off like a rocket, y'all.” (14:13-14:36)
Amidst domestic drama, Ron shifts to foreign policy, noting US strategic setbacks:
Quote (Ron):
“You have Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump continuing to cause irreparable harm to the United States military... Here was someone who was... literally one of the most decorated and accomplished generals that we had.” (18:59)
Reflecting Pool "Controversy":
GOP Rep. Burchett muses about turning the DC Reflecting Pool into an ecosystem:
“Honestly, I think it’d be cool if they just... create an ecosystem, have fish in there and everything and just let it go.” (21:03)
Comic Relief / Closing:
Ron highlights JD Vance’s odd demeanor on a podcast with his wife, underscores ongoing eccentricity in the political arena.
“Let’s just say he showed a lot more affection to Erica Kirk than his wife.” (21:41ff)
Ron on Trump’s Tactics:
"He makes posts like this. The Elizabeth Pocahontas Warren centric housing bill... He’s gonna be a racist asshole. Come, come on." (05:40)
Elizabeth Warren:
"It's because he really doesn't care about American families and doesn't care about the fact that prices are up... the promises he made to lower costs... have not only come to nothing. Prices are higher... because of Donald Trump's policies." (10:32)
Washington Bureau Chief:
“There will be no ceremony, but there is the grandeur of Statuary Hall for you and me to enjoy.” (09:00)
Rep. Burchett (Reflecting Pool):
“I think it'd be cool if they just, just let it go and, and create an ecosystem, have fish in there and everything and just let it go.” (21:03)
This episode showcases an incisive breakdown of a rare bipartisan win turned into a partisan spectacle, linking domestic political dysfunction to broader destabilizing impacts on America’s standing in the world. The hosts highlight both the substance of the housing bill and the damaging distraction of Trump’s tactics — all with the signature mix of analysis and biting humor fans expect.