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Maga Mike Johnson
Uh, hello?
Jeff Bridges
Is this Pacific Source Health Plans?
Maga Mike Johnson
This is a health plan.
Jeff Bridges
I'm trying to reach Pacific Source. I know I'll get a person on the phone when I call them.
Maga Mike Johnson
What do you think I am?
Jeff Bridges
I mean, you sound like a person.
Maga Mike Johnson
That's what counts.
Jeff Bridges
Automated systems can do a lot, even sound a lot like people. What automated systems can't do is offer the quality our members rely. Empathy. When you call Pacific Source Health Plans, you'll talk to a person who cares. What did you say your name was?
Maga Mike Johnson
Nexa 9000.
Ron Filipkowski
Hmm.
Dana
Morning, Zoe. Got donuts.
Jeff Bridges
Jeff Bridges. Why are you still living above our garage?
Dana
Well, I dig the mattress and I want to be in a T mobile commercial like you. Teach me. So, Dana.
Jeff Bridges
Oh, no, I'm not really prepared. I couldn't possibly AT T Mobile get the new iPhone 17 Pro on them. It's designed to be the most powerful iPhone yet and has the ultimate pro camera system.
Dana
Wow, impressive. Let me try. T mobile is the best place to get iPhone 17 Pro because they've got the best network.
Ron Filipkowski
Nice.
Jeff Bridges
Je free.
Maga Mike Johnson
You heard them.
Ron Filipkowski
T Mobile is the best place to get the new iPhone 17 Pro on us with eligible traded in any condition.
Dana
So what are we having for lunch?
Jeff Bridges
Dude, my work here is done.
Ron Filipkowski
The 24 month credit is on experience beyond for well qualified customers plus tax and 35 device connection charge Credit send and balance due if you pay off earlier Cancel Finance agreement. IPhone 17 Pro 256 gigs $1099.99 and new line minimum 100 plus a month plan with auto pay plus taxes and fees required. Best mobile network in the US based on analysis by Oakland Speed Test Intelligence data 182025 Visit T mobile.com Donald Trump is in the Middle East. Today he gave a speech in front of Israel's nesset which is their parliament. During the speech, a demonstrator showed up to start to protest. Watch what went down here. Play this clip.
Dana
Somehow can relate to him. I've known him for many years and I've seen it over over and over again.
Maga Mike Johnson
Please this Knesset member.
Jeff Bridges
Please expel this Knesset.
Ron Filipkowski
Please.
Dana
Expel Knesset member Kasif out of the hall.
Jeff Bridges
Please expel him immediately.
Ron Filipkowski
Then Donald Trump met with Egypt's president and he spoke there. Egypt's leader Donald Trump praised him for Egypt being essentially a better place than governors in the United States and Egypt being better than the U.S. what a horrific thing to say overseas. Here, play this clip.
Dana
We're in a country where a friend of mine is a very powerful leader and my friend is right here, the President, also the general. You know, sometimes I call him. Usually I call him the General because he's both and he's good at both. And they've done a fantastic job. And they have very little crime, you know, because they don't play games. That's why they don't play games like we do in the United States with governors that have no idea what they're doing, but they don't have crime. I ask about crime, and they almost don't even know what I'm talking about. So it's a great tribute to this man. He's done a fantastic job in bringing this country together.
Ron Filipkowski
And while Donald Trump was in the Middle east, he was meeting with people like one of the leaders of the United Arab Emirates. You see here Donald Trump shaking his hand very bizarrely and then saying, this guy, he's got a lot of cash. It should be noted the United Arab Emirates gave Donald Trump's family business about $2 billion. And then Trump handed over secret semiconductor chip technology to the United Arab Emirates. Just watch this weird interact as Trump looks at one of the heads of the UAE delegation and says, they got a lot of cash. They got a lot of cash. Again, how bizarre you're. Play this clip. Then Donald Trump continued to praise Egypt, said Egypt is doing very well. They have no crime. I guess Egypt is the model for what Donald Trump wants to turn the United States into. Watch Donald Trump next to the leader of Egypt here. Play this clip.
Dana
There's a lot of respect, and I think you'll see some tremendous progress both in the Middle East. This country is doing very well. It has good leadership. It's about leadership. And it's really nice when you say, how is your prime situation? And they, like, don't even know what you're talking about. What do you mean?
Maga Mike Johnson
Crime?
Dana
We don't have crime. Because if he has crime, he puts it out very quickly. Some people think that's not nice, but I think it's great because people don't want to be mugged and smashed and they don't want to be stupid people. They have a place that is doing very well. We're very proud of them because we knew each other from the beginning. The first time I met, it was in a hotel, and I was going to meet him, and then Hillary Clinton was following me. Remember Hillary Clinton? And he liked me so much, he never even got to see Hillary. Saw for about two seconds, but he didn't really want to waste a lot of time. He knew what was going to happen. But that was the first time we met and we had a very good chemistry together. And it continues till today. So I want to thank.
Ron Filipkowski
While that was taking place, you had Donald Trump's cabinet members saying really false and horrible things about the no Kings protests, which are scheduled for October 18th. They are really terrified about these peaceful protests which will be the largest mass mobilization in the history of the United States. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant, for example, says that the no Kings protest means no paychecks. No Kings equals no paychecks. Just like just straight up dictator propaganda. No Kings, no paycheck. Here, play this clip.
Scott Bessant
If in fact they are waiting for this no Kings protest, you know, no Kings means no paychecks. No paychecks and no government. And Maria, I think the dirty secret here for why this has dragged on for so long is the Democratic friends in the mainstream media have been downplaying this shutdown. And this is getting serious. It's starting to affect the real economy. It's starting to affect people's lives.
Ron Filipkowski
Then, just so you see that this was the message being pushed. Again, I did a whole video on this this week. This is the message being pushed on Monday. You had the Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says, you know, Maria, he's on Fox. He goes, he's on state regime media. He goes, there's no Kings protests, Maria. It's really frustrating. It's all part of antifa. It's all part of an tifa. As our friend Matt Gert says, the administration's target isn't an tifa. It is dissent. Here, play this clip.
Sean Duffy
But again, the no Kings protest, Maria, really frustrating. I mean, this is part of an tifa. Paid protesters in the question who's funding it. But yeah, Democrats want to wait for a big rally of a no Kings protest when the bottom line is who's running the show in the Senate. Chuck Schumer's not running the show. The no Kings protestors or organizers are running the show. Is AOC threat in a primary against Chuck Schumer, Is she running the show? But you need a strong leader in the Senate to take control and make decisions. And Chuck Schumer's blown in the breeze. He has no power, no authority because he's given it up to his primary opponen, potentially an aoc, or to the no Kings protest organizers.
Maga Mike Johnson
And it's shameful and sexual.
Ron Filipkowski
Now, as millions of Americans are having their health care ripped away, as millions of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, unsure if they'll be able to pay Their rent, can't afford education, can't afford basic quality of standard of living at all. Right now, Treasury Secretary Sean Duffy. Sorry, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced a new initiative that they're very much focused on. We are going to have long term stays on the south pole of the moon to extract the fission power there. Okay, Sean? Okay, sure, sure, sure.
Maga Mike Johnson
Jan, play this clip, but explain the moon, why you believe you can and the United States can beat China back to the moon. You say you want to start a base on the moon.
Sean Duffy
Yep, we do. So, so first off, we go back. We're going to go back at the first part of next year, four astronauts going out to the moon and around it and coming back.
Ron Filipkowski
Right.
Sean Duffy
That's the first time in 54 years we will have done that. That's Artemis 2, Artemis 3. Little over a year, year and a half after that, we're going back to the moon and going to land at the south pole of the moon. You have ice. Ice is, is water, ice is oxygen, ice is life. So if we go to the south pole of the moon, we can set up a base. We want to put in fission power and we, we think we can have long term stays on, on the south pole of the moon.
Ron Filipkowski
While that was taking place, you had MAGA Mike Johnson this morning. And MAGA Mike was asked by reporters, you know, why do you keep having the Republican Congress members stay away from Washington D.C. and just go on vacation? Watch what Mag and Mike says. Let's play it this week.
Jeff Bridges
It will have been a month since the House has been out. Why are you keeping the House out if you have a lot of other work to do? Are you saying that you can't work on appropriations and other things while the government is shut down? And what do you say to Republicans in your own conference who say, who are critical of this strategy of keeping the House?
Maga Mike Johnson
I've heard, I've heard a criticism from, I think, three members on our conference call. And since our conference calls leak and they're always spun, that's the fact you can poll individual House Republicans. Maybe you should. And 98.7% of them will tell you that this is the right thing.
Scott Bessant
Why?
Maga Mike Johnson
It's. What you just said is the opposite of what I've said. We are working on appropriations. That work has been done in earnest. The next package of bills is being prepared. Appropriators are talking, not just Republicans and Democrats, but across the aisle on that. And we can move all that forward right now. The House Republicans, I don't know what the Democrats are doing, but the House Republicans have been very busy. They're doing some of their best work in the district helping their constituents navigate this crisis that's been created by Chuck Schumer and the Democrats. The Schumer shutdown causes real pain for real people, veterans, the elderly, people who rely upon these services, our rural hospitals that have been struggling. Our members are out helping them to access the rural hospital fund that we created and that the president signed in law on July 4th that no Democrats assisted on. Chuck Schumer wants to take those funds away. They're trying to make sure that the rural hospitals can access them because they know that this effort is underway. And so our members are doing very productive work. We're in constant communication with them and we are ready to come back and continue the work in our committees and everything on the House floor. We will return to legislative session as soon as the Democrats come to their senses and open the government. That is a necessity so that the work can continue and the people, the members of Congress, can do their jobs. And that's what we will do. That's our commitment. It always has been. This has to stop. We're on day 13. This should end tomorrow. The Democrats in the Senate's next opportunity to end this, to change this and vote yes and reopen the government will be tomorrow. And I pray that they will do the right thing and then we'll all get together and have our partisan disputes and discussions on all the issues that remain on the table for the end of the year. We're doing our work behind the scenes. We're preparing for that moment and we can't wait for it to happen. So the question is for the Democrats, when will Congress get going again? And I hope they answer it affirmatively. Thanks so much.
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Ron Filipkowski
Sure why this is an attack on the Democrats. You told your members, don't show up, up, don't talk to Democrats yet alone. Negotiate with Democrats, have no contact. Just a very Trumpian way of dealing with things and a very it's why we're here. As people's healthcare premiums are about to rise to levels that is just going to make it so people don't have healthcare at all. So a reporter asked the question that I've been saying right over and over again to Maga Mike, which is, so do you support repealing Obamacare? What's your health care plan? If you don't want to extend the Affordable Care act subsidies now and you said you're working on a plan, what is that plan? And watch this word salad by Maga Mike. To me, this is probably the most important clip about what's going on with the government shutdown because the Republicans have no plan. They just want to rip away people's healthcare. If they could come up with a plan that's better than Obamacare. By the way, I support personally me, I support universal health care. I think it should be free to every American. I think health care is a human right, that Americans should have Americans pay enough taxes as it is. It should be free. And I think you should tax really rich people more money to make sure we all afford healthcare. That's my view. Separately, there's Obamacare. Keep the prices a little bit lower with Affordable Care act subsidies. Still, the prices are not low. That's still a problem. But. But people have health care and you could subsidize it. So what's your plan? Come up with something. Watch what Maga Mike says. He's upset that John McCain saved the Affordable Care act in 2017. That's what he says here. Here, play this clip. President Obama, you've been very critical in recent days of Obamacare and some of your members have called for repealing it. Do you support repealing Obamacare and what's.
Maga Mike Johnson
Your health care plan? We worked on repealing and replacing Obamacare back in 2017. I still have PTSD from the experience. You remember that John McCain famously did the thumbs down and effectively by a one vote margin, the whole effort was defeated. It's a great frustration of mine and has always been at President Trump's. And we know that American healthcare needs dramatic reform. Let's just state it simply. Obamacare failed the American people. It was promised to be a great success to make health care more affordable. It's done exactly the opposite. And it has been pointed out by everyone that since Obamacare was created in 2010, premiums, the cost of health care have risen exponentially. It's skyrocketed to the point where it's no longer affordable for so many Americans and the access to care has been reduced and the quality of care in some regions of the country has been reduced. We have to reverse all of that and we have plans to do it. The Republican Party is the party that has the plans to fix it. Can we completely repeal and replace Obamacare? Many of us are skeptical about that now because the roots are so deep. It was really sinister the way, in my view, the way it was created. I believe Obamacare was created to implode upon itself, to collapse upon itself. I think the people who drafted that, the architects of it, knew that it would not be sustainable because their objective was ultimately a single payer system. They wanted full government control of health care. That's, that's a terrifying prospect for those of us who believe in low cost, high quality care. And so we have lots of ideas on how to fix it. But it is very, very complicated. It involves a big percentage of the US economy. Healthcare is entwined with somewhere, I think it's 15% of the US economy is the health care system. And you can't just rip it out at the roots and start over it. It's a very, very complicated series of measures and steps that you have to take to fix it. Now it takes a long time to build consensus in a legislative body to do those kinds of things. And we have lots of plans on the table. We have whole caucuses who work on this around the clock all the time. When I was the chair of the Republican Study Committee, which is the largest caucus of conservatives in Congress back in the 100 and see was that the 117th Congress, we, we drafted a book this thick. We worked on it for almost a year and we had a prescription for how to lower cost of care, make the quality higher and make accessibility greater. And so we have formulated all these ideas, but we've got to build a consensus to do that. And we were in the process of that.
Ron Filipkowski
And then a reporter asks Mag and Mike, you know, with these mass layoffs of government employees that Donald Trump is doing, he's not just furloughing federal employees, he's using the shutdown to fire federal employees. So now they're firing all of these people who are working at special education services. What's your response to the fact that that that's who you're firing first? Special Education Services. Here, play this clip.
Jeff Bridges
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We know the president moved forward with mass layoffs. So we are also learning there were significant cuts to staff at the special education services. Are you comfortable with those cuts?
Maga Mike Johnson
I haven't haven't seen the specifics of that and I don't know. I do know that each of the Cabinet secretaries were asked to be to assist OMB to determine what the most essential programs are and what the priorities are for the policies and all of that. And I've been so busy on all this, I've not had a chance to dig into the details of each division and how it's happened. I know that hhs, for example, has cut some programs, but they were effectively all agencies in a triage situation because remember, Chuck Schumer and the Democrats turned off the funding for all these things that everybody cares about. And so the, the executive branch, the Office of Management Budget, has to determine what are the most efficient and effective programs. It's, it's a difficult task. It's not one that they relish. They don't want to do it. Listen to the president's own words and Russ votes own words. And everybody who's involved, they want the government to be opened. They're begging Chuck Schumer and the Democrats, that's how to make all this stop. They want this to end immediately and they wanted it to end before it started.
Ron Filipkowski
Treasury Secretary Scott Besant continued to go on FOX this morning and he says, you know, the Chinese have turned our soybean farmers into pawns. Well, it's because you declared a trade war against them and you now have a failed trade war. Here, play this clip.
Scott Bessant
And look, yesterday was National Farmers Day. This administration wants to do something for farmers. China has chosen to decouple on the ag side, which just tells you the other thing that President Trump and everyone in the cabinet is working on is food security. But the Chinese have unfortunately turned our soybean farmers into pawns. They're trying to manipulate them. And our farmers overwhelmingly back President Trump. They know that he has their back and we can't implement the programs. We want to stabilize the farmers finances. We want to use the Farm Credit Bureau to give them the credit for next year's plannings. But they want to cater to the radical left, as I call them, the two guys from Brooklyn, the Schumers and Jefferies. They don't care about the farmers. All they care about are their jobs.
Ron Filipkowski
I read the other day just reprehensible behavior by Donald Trump here while he's in front of the Israeli nesset attacking former President Biden and former President Obama. It should be noted that Donald Trump had previously told Netanyahu president do not do any deals at all with Hamas. Do not do peace deals until the election is over. Trump was one of the people who meddled and said it would be a winning issue for me if there was not resolution. So do not help Biden in any way which potentially prolong the atrocities taking place in Gaza. But here's Donald Trump in front of the Israeli nested. Play this clip.
Dana
I would say November 5th was a time that we became really hot. But once you go back a couple of years, if I were in charge and the country is doing what they nobody was going to ask me to speak. Nobody asked Joe Biden to come up and speak. I guarantee you that. And if they did, he would have turned them down. I promise you. He didn't speak. He didn't speak and he didn't speak well. But all of the countries in the Middle east, it could have what we, what we're doing now, it could have happened a long time ago, but it was strangled and set back almost irretrievably by the administrations of, of Barack Obama and then Joe Biden. It was there was a hatred toward Israel. It was an absolute hatred.
Ron Filipkowski
And then finally you have Donald Trump shaking hands here with Vladimir Putin's buddy Viktor Orban. And you can see what great friends they are right here. And this is not something that is helpful in terms of peace in Ukraine, but let's play a little bit right here. Let's play it.
Maga Mike Johnson
I got this one.
Ron Filipkowski
There you have it, folks. That's what's going on this Monday morning. Keep you posted every step of the way. Hit subscribe. Let's get to 6 million. Thanks for watching. Want to stay plugged in?
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Episode Title: Trump Suffers Bad at Home During Monday Middle East Trip
Date: October 13, 2025
Hosts: Ben Meiselas, Brett Meiselas, Jordy Meiselas (MeidasTouch brothers)
Main Contributors (This Episode): Ron Filipkowski
Podcast Network: MeidasTouch Network
This episode centers on Donald Trump's polarizing Middle East trip, examining his public comments, diplomatic missteps, and the fallout back home. The hosts, blending sharp satire with serious analysis, explore the profound disconnect between Trump's overseas self-promotion and the domestic political chaos: a government shutdown, Republican attacks on healthcare, and a sustained assault on protest movements. The hosts also critique the Republican congressional strategy (or lack thereof), the administration’s communication during shutdown, and Trump’s foreign policy optics.
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This episode captures the surreal and troubling state of American politics amid Trump’s foreign self-aggrandizement and domestic gridlock. The hosts expose the administration's antidemocratic tendencies, evasions on healthcare, and manipulation of national crises for political gain—while simultaneously inviting the MeidasMighty community to stay vigilant and engaged.
For a full experience and the latest breaking developments, listeners are encouraged to follow MeidasTouch on YouTube or subscribe to their newsletter.