Loading summary
Ron Filipkowski
Donald Trump is panicking and looking so desperate as Iran says it has no intention of showing up in Islamabad for further negotiations with the United States on coming up with any deal until the Trump regime agrees to the 10 point negotiating framework that it previously agreed to and to stop threatening Iran to move away from its non negotiable points, which Iran has said it will never move move away from. Now, the Trump regime has already started to send military and civilian aircraft into Pakistan in advance of potential talks with Iran. At the same time, Iran says they will not be sending any of their negotiators to show up unless and until the United States removes the blockade from the Persian Gulf and in less than until Donald Trump stops lying about Iran's negotiating position. Now Pakistan's Field Marshal Munir, who is the top official in Pakistan, has told Donald Trump, Iran really is not going to show up as long as you have this blockade and as long as you keep on threatening to destroy their civilization and to destroy all of their bridges and civilian infrastructure, there is no way to engage in a negotiation. Donald, while you continue to say that nonetheless, Donald Trump is already sending in his advance team for negotiations. I mean, it's a fairly desperate move that while Iran is saying they're not showing up and they're publicly saying they're not, they may show up, but they're posturing as though they won't show up. Donald Trump is rushing his team to show up in Islamabad to basically wait for Iran. You can see the plane right there flying in to the Nor Khan Air Base near Islamabad a short while ago. As noted, Pakistan's army chief Aseemunir told Donald TRUMP that the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports is blocking renewed U.S. iran talks. TRUMP said that he would consider it. But then Donald Trump went on social media moments ago and posted the following this morning, Israel never talked me into the war with Iran. The results of October 7th added to my lifelong opinion that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon. Did I watch and read the fake news, pundits and polls in total disbelief? 90% of what they say are lies and made up stories. The polls are rigged, much as the 2020 presidential election was rigged. Just like the results in Venezuela, which the media doesn't like talking about. The results in Iran will be amazing. And if Iran's new leaders, regime change, exclamation point, are smart, Iran can have a great and prosperous future. DJT so he's already toning down his rhetoric a little bit, but I mean he still is ranting and raving like a lunatic. And what Donald Trump's military generals are saying, it's Donald Trump. If you want to go in for a ground invasion, if you want to talk tough, we have the capabilities to do that. But we're going to incur massive casualties. Thousands, if not tens of thousands of American soldiers are going to die, but we can complete this mission. Is that what you want us to do? And then Donald Trump's like, no, I don't want us to do that. Okay, well what do you want us to do? Watch me go on social media and I'm going to post things in, in all caps and that'll show Iran. We're gonna threaten. Iran recognizes that Donald Trump isn't just a paper tiger. He is the most paper tiger that there is. He talks tough, he has this bluster and bravado. But if you followed him before, he always backs down when you confront him. And that's what Iran realizes. They see Donald Trump as terrified of markets crashing. They see Donald Trump as always chickening out in that taco meme. And that's why they continue to mock him over and again. I mean, they're posting these, you know, again, these AI memes of him drinking crude oil. They're posting their Lego videos. A new one just dropped. I'll just show you 10 seconds of it here, play this clip. Iran's posting pictures like this today to American. Your enemies aren't in Iran. They're in the Epstein files. Or posts like this from Iran. Iranian social media accounts. Battleships that were supposed to defeat an alien armada are wandering for cargo ships. Why so serious? Isn't that called piracy? This says the US Navy has trained its sights on Iranian or Iranian aligned cargo ships to interdict in Iran, saying, didn't you say you were going to force us to unconditional surrender and you were going to destroy us? And now you have the US Navy, the most powerful navy in, in mankind, in humankind, basically functioning as pirates going into cargo ships that are sending goods and material to China. And then Iran's social media account writes, with any equation moving from unconditional surrender to writing about a cargo ship, one of many is a loss, a big loss. And the main reason is being trapped inside a Zionist war machine. There's mocking Donald Trump free oil market for all they're posting. And it's social media post after social media post like this. We also then heard from Iran's foreign minister spokesperson who said the following. We have no plans for the next round of negotiations. At no stage of ongoing or previous negotiations has the issue of transferring Iran's enriched uranium stockpiles to the United States or any other country been raised. And fundamentally, this option is not on the agenda of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Islamic Republic of Iran does not recognize any deadlines or ultimatums and securing its national interests, safeguarding national interests will continue for as long as necessary. And in the event of any new adventurism by the United States or the Zionist regime, the armed forces will respond decisively with full capability. We see no signs that the US Is serious about advancing diplomacy. Iran's foreign minister spokesperson says multiple signs point to the exact opposite. The US Side constantly changes its demands, but we remain steadfast. Some issues are simply unacceptable and no amount of insistence on them will change our positions. And so you're hearing statements like that. So then Donald Trump calls up the various regime medias and propagandist medias and people who will just generally serve as his stenographer. So he calls up the New York Post cuz he's like, oh crap, the markets are tanking again. They realize that I did another market manipulation on Friday. Friday, duh. So he pulls the same stunt. He calls up reporters so they can print his words to filter it through their newspapers or their websites to make it seem, oh well, they're publishing it. So maybe they did diligence when they didn't. So Donald Trump's like, I have no problem going to Islamabad myself. Maybe I will go to Pakistan and I will do the negotiations. I assume at this point nobody's playing games. We're supposed to have talks. Then Donald Trump called up a reporter from the Hill, Julia Manchester, and she just publishes exactly what he says, word for word. Trump told me over the phone that he disagrees with Energy Secretary Chris Wright's assessment that gas prices may not drop until next year. No, I think he's wrong on that. Totally wrong. Trump said, okay, but don't use. Don't you see the scheme and the scam and the fraud that he post? Let me show you the words of his energy secretary yesterday, the person in charge of this, who said that they expect to have very high gas prices through 2027. Here's what he says. Let's play this clip right here.
Energy Expert
So when you were on the show March 8, I asked you when gas prices would go under $3 a gallon for regular unleaded. You said, quote, in the worst case, this is a week's, this is not a month's thing. That was six weeks ago. So we're still within the week's realm. But we're two weeks away from the month's thing. When do you think it's realistic for Americans to expect that gas will go back to under $3 a gallon? I don't know. That could happen later this year. That might not happen till next year, but prices have likely peaked and they'll start going down. Certainly with a resolution of this conflict, you'll see prices go down. Prices across the board on energy prices will go down, but it might not be under under $3 a gallon until 2027. Under $3 a gallon is pretty tremendous in an inflation adjusted terms. We had that in the Trump administration, but we hadn't seen that in inflation adjusted term for quite a long time. We'll get back there for sure.
Sponsor Voice
Who's leading the Dough Whether you're planting now or later, Fast Growing Trees has everything you need to make your dream yard a reality. Starting with the best quality and selection of plants delivered to your door. Fast Growing Trees is America's largest online nursery with over 1600 unique trees and plants. They've been delivering trees and plants since 2005 so they know how to do it right. They have all the plants that your yard needs like fruit trees, privacy trees, flowering trees, shrubs, and so much more. Fast Growing Trees makes it easy to get your dream yard order online and get your plants delivered directly to your door in just a few days without ever leaving home. Their live and thrive guarantee ensures your plants arrive happy and healthy, ready to thrive in your yard. All plants and trees are locally grown in the US and cared for by experts before they ship to you. So I ordered a lemon tree from Fast Growing Trees a few years ago at this point and it is still going strong. Every time I walk up to my door I get hit with the smell of fresh citrus. It's amazing being able to grow my own fruit right in my yard without hiring a landscaper or spending a fortune. Fast Growing Trees saved me easily like 90% of the cost of hiring a landscaper to do this for me. And I didn't have to give up an entire Saturday driving around to nurseries that may or may not have had what I wanted. No messy car, no wasted trips, no guessing. They delivered everything right to my door and it actually thrived. This season. They have the best deals for your yard, including up to half off tons of plants and other deals and listeners to our show get 20% off their purchase when using the code Midas at checkout. That's 20% off their purchase at fastgrowingtrees.com using the code Midas at checkout. Now is the perfect time to plant. Use Midas to save today. Offer is valid for a limited time. Terms and conditions may apply. Check out the link below or in the show. Notes and support.
Ron Filipkowski
Now, Donald Trump had some of his sycophants on state regime media this morning. MAGA Republican Congressmember Buddy Carter along with Maria Bartiroma were just spewing Trump propaganda talking points that bear no reality to what's really happening on the ground. Play this clip.
Maria Bartiroma
Yesterday the president told me that he is expecting the Iranians to sign this agreement tonight. And if they don't sign it, he said that the US Will blow up every single power plant and bridge and more in Iran. Your reaction in terms of where we stand?
Buddy Carter
Well, certainly you would think the Iranians would have learned a lesson by now. And that is when this president says something, he means it and he has proven that to them. And yet they still don't understand. Which I think is an indication, first of all that they just don't get it. Secondly, of the deep hatred that they have for America. And this is something that he's trying to address right here and I applaud him for doing that. We've got to end this reign of terror that has existed for 47 years. And you know, high gas prices, nobody likes that. But except for Democrats and John Ossoff, they like it. I remind you of June of 2022 when price of gas was five and six dollars a gallon. But we will see gas prices come down again. You saw last week when we had a temporary opening of the Strait of Hormuz that prices came down. The price of oil for Gap for per barrel was lower than $80. They'll come down again as soon as we can get this resolved.
Maria Bartiroma
So many things underway and going.
Ron Filipkowski
Then you had Democratic Congress member Ro Khanna go on Maria Bartirom show and fortunately he was pushing back. It was good to see Ro Khanna on that show.
Maria Bartiroma
Play this clip saying 1.7 billion he told Congress was frozen Iranian assets. Now there was a back channel to Tehran through Valerie Jarrett active for 2012-2024. This was after he left office. So, you know, it was almost like a shadow government. He also sent pellets of cash in a plane to Iran. Now why would you send money to Iran knowing that they are building a nuclear weapon and they are the leading sponsor of terrorism?
Ro Khanna
Barack Obama was a great statesman who left America much safer. I wouldn't put Donald Trump in the same paragraph. The reality is when President Obama left Because of the great efforts of people like Valerie Jarrett. We had 97% of the enriched uranium out. The reality is we didn't have 13American service members dead. The reality is we never had gas go up from $2.30 to $4. The reality is we did not give China more role in the region. Let me finish, Maria. I'll let you finish. We didn't give, we didn't give China more role in the region. We did not give the IRGC a more hardline regime in there. You know why? Because Obama actually did his homework. He actually tried to engage in statesmanship. He had gotten, he got China, Russia, the entire European allies on board with getting Iran on a path to not having a nuclear weapon. All, all Trump did is listen to Netanyahu. That's, that's his entire fault. Foreign policy. And you know what? I resent the fact that Israel is going to tell the United States what to do. The American president should call the shots in this country.
Maria Bartiroma
Well, the American president should call the shots in this country.
Ron Filipkowski
But you, by the way, while we're on the topic of the media, just want to give a hat tip to Jude Legum, because he pointed out something that I was noticing as well. Articles about Jared Kushner's diplomatic role with Iran that mentioned Kushner has received billions from the Saudi government. He looked at it from February 28 to April 19. The New York Times, 5 out of 58. The Washington Post, 1 of 43. Wall Street Journal, 0 of 40. Associated Press, 0 of 26. CNN Wire, 0 of 18. New York Post, 0 of 17. Chicago Tribune, 0 of 4. Louisiana Times, 0 of 4. In other words, and these articles that reference that Kushner is serving as like a chief negotiator and a diplomat in this area, even though he's not Senate confirmed and nobody wants him to be doing this, that he has all of these business entanglements to the tune of billions and billions of dollars. Glenn Greenwald says so. During Trump's second term, Jared Kushner became a billionaire. The net worth of Trump's three sons exponentially skyrocket as they're doing all of these deals with Middle east nations. And throughout the world, they're doing drone deals and crypto deals and all of these quid pro quos. And Don Jr. Has a club called the Executive Branch Club. I think you pay him $500,000 for great access to the Executive Branch club. Baron Trump is apparently worth $120 million. Much, if not most of this came from huge cash infusions. From Persian Gulf tyrannies. Glenn Wall, Glenn Greenwald says Hunter Biden, on the other hand, got $50,000 a month for Burisma to serve as a board member when he previously had a history after Yale Law School of being on multiple boards, including George W. Bush appointed him to be on boards. He was on Amtrak boards, and he was on boards for UN Food Aid boards, and he was a lawyer from Yale. And the reason he was on the Burisma board to begin with is because they wanted someone with pro American or pro Western allegiances on the board so it wouldn't be fully controlled by Russian interests. And he was paid $50,000 a month. Month. And that was viewed as the biggest scandal ever. Meanwhile, the Trumps are like, quite literally grifting billions in what, what are like direct quid pro quos. Marjorie Taylor Greene this morning mocking Donald Trump and his regime. She reposted this account, Della Dream. And she. And Marjorie Taylor Greene says, brilliant. Mocking Maga Maga. Talking to a normal person who voted for Trump. Here. Play this clip right here. Aren't you excited the Strait of Hormuz is open? Or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or, or. No, how could you not be excited? Or, or, or, or, or. Because that was open before the war
Buddy Carter
that Trump started for Netanyahu and now
Ron Filipkowski
a lot of people are dead and gas prices are really high. That's anti Semitic.
Buddy Carter
You're an anti Semite.
Ron Filipkowski
Or, or, or, or, or.
Ro Khanna
What the fuck?
Ron Filipkowski
And then you had Kevin Hassett, Donald Trump's national economic adviser, he went on and spewed a bunch of nonsense on CNBC this morning. Here's what he had to say. Play this clip right.
Kevin Hassett
Well, I think that what's been happening more than anything else is that President Trump has been communicating with the American people on, like, what the current state of things is. And he's been talking about how negotiations are moving forward. Well, he, he truthed over the weekend that their talks are resuming. Now. There are a lot of people chattering in Iran that aren't necessarily in power who are trying to perhaps undermine their own colleagues. But the fact is that the President Trump's truths, you go back, look one after another, have given a very clear guide to the journalists of the country and American people about the progress that we're making. At the beginning, the president said in four to six weeks, we expect this could be resolved. And I think we're getting pretty close, close to that.
Ron Filipkowski
And again, it's lie after lie after, like, oh, he's been so truthful he's what are you talking these people lie every moment of every day. And finally speaking of that, let's remember the post that Donald Trump made on March 6, 2026, a very long time ago. Remember when Donald Trump Posted the following March 6, 2026 There will be no deal with Iran except unconditional surrender. After that and the selection of a great and acceptable leaders, we and many of our wonderful and very brave allies and partners will work tirelessly to bring Iran back from the brink of destruction, making it economically bigger, better and stronger than ever before. Iran will have a great future. Make Iran great again. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Donald J. Trump and as our Editor in Chief Ron Philip Koski says, three of Trump's war objectives six weeks ago in addition to seizing uranium, unconditional surrender, selection of a new leader of Iran by US and allies US Helps build Iran Tell me what you think folks. Everybody hit subscribe. Let's get to 7 million subscribers and thanks for watching everybody want to stay plugged in?
Sponsor Voice
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@mymidasplus.com
Ron Filipkowski
Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. I don't know if you knew this, but anyone can get the same Premium Wireless for $15 a month plan that I've been enjoying. It's not just for celebrities. So do like I did and have one of your assistant's assistants switch you to Mint Mobile today. I'm told it's super easy to do@mintmobile.com Switch upfront payment of $45 for 3 month print plan equivalent to $15 per month Required intro rate first 3 months only, then full price plan options available, taxes and fees, extra default terms@mintmobile.com.
Date: April 20, 2026
Hosts: Ben, Brett, and Jordy Meiselas
Special Contributor: Ron Filipkowski
This episode delves deep into the escalating standoff between Donald Trump's administration and Iran, analyzing the diplomatic breakdown, media manipulation, energy market impacts, and the perception of U.S. leadership under Trump. The hosts—blending incisive legal and political analysis with their trademark humor—deconstruct the latest developments and media narratives around the ongoing Iran negotiations, while exposing the contradictions and desperation in Trump's approach.
Iran on U.S. Negotiation Tactics:
“The Islamic Republic of Iran does not recognize any deadlines or ultimatums...In the event of any new adventurism by the United States or the Zionist regime, the armed forces will respond decisively with full capability.” (Iran Foreign Ministry spox, 06:32)
Biting Satire on Right-Wing Talking Points:
“Aren’t you excited the Strait of Hormuz is open?...Because that was open before the war that Trump started for Netanyahu and now a lot of people are dead and gas prices are really high. That's antisemitic.” (Mocking clip, 16:44)
This episode offers an unflinching look at the Trump administration’s erratic Iran strategy, exposes systematic media failings, spotlights the Trump family’s foreign profiteering, and highlights both international mockery and the evolving American political discourse. The brothers’ dynamic—sharp, irreverent, and deeply informed—makes for a compelling, insightful listen amid this moment of geopolitical uncertainty.