Tuesday Afternoon Breaking News Updates with Ben - 5/12/26

Summary

The MeidasTouch Podcast — May 12, 2026
Episode: Tuesday Afternoon Breaking News Updates with Ben
Host: Ben Meiselas (with Ron Filipkowski)

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Episode Overview

In this urgent breaking news update, Ben Meiselas and Ron Filipkowski dissect the latest dramatic developments in U.S. politics, foreign policy, and the economy. Anchored around new revelations about "Operation Sledgehammer"—a potential U.S. military invasion of Iran—the episode blends rapid-fire analysis of international crises, a scathing breakdown of the Trump administration’s economic and military failures, and pointed commentary on MAGA Republicans’ responses and media complicity. Through their hallmark blend of legal insight and direct, unvarnished commentary, the hosts critically examine how democracy and U.S. credibility are being threatened at home and abroad.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Breaking News: "Operation Sledgehammer" and the Iran Crisis

• Pentagon leaks reveal U.S. plans for a new invasion of Iran, code-named "Operation Sledgehammer," as a current ceasefire teeters.
  • “They believe that the ceasefire is likely going to collapse.” (Ben, 01:05)
• U.S. military buildup in the region now exceeds pre-war levels.
• Ben and Ron cast this as a catastrophic distraction, likening the operation’s naming conventions to movie sequels:
  • "It's like Rush Hour 2, man. We did Rush Hour 1, now we do Rush Hour 2. So we did Operation Midnight Hammer, and now we did Operation Sledgehammer." (Ben, 20:59)

2. Surging Inflation and Economic Realities

• The most recent report shows inflation rising to 3.8% year-over-year, the highest since 2023.
• Inflation is now outpacing wage growth (3.8% inflation vs. 3.6% wage growth), intensifying cost pressures for ordinary Americans.
  • “Inflation is exceeding wage growth right now, meaning any year over year wage growth, which is about a 3.6%, that…That’s eclipsed by the 3.8% inflation.” (Ben, 02:57)
• Exorbitant increases in sectoral inflation:
  • Energy commodities up 29.2%, Gasoline 28.4%, Airfare 20%, Hospital services 5.5%, etc. (03:59)
• Ben highlights the disconnect between MAGA rhetoric (“the golden age”) and the reality faced by most Americans, referencing the “K-shaped economy.”
  • “99% of Americans live in the recession, Great recession, depression area…Above the horizontal line in the K, the rich get richer and have never been richer…” (Ben, 05:16)

3. Trump’s Foreign Policy Failures: Iran, China, NATO, and North Korea

• Trump’s China trip anticipated as “an absolute disaster,” following failed tariff threats and lost U.S. leverage over rare earths.
  • "You’re going to China now looking like an utter fool…You don’t have any allies around the world." (Ben, 06:53)
• NATO is on the verge of reconstituting itself with European countries, Canada, and Australia due to the U.S. abandoning core Article 5 commitments.
• Iran remains emboldened despite U.S. aims:
  • Regime change unsuccessful; Iran’s capabilities likely enhanced.
  • “The Iranian regime is still in power…They control the Strait of Hormuz…they may have more drones than when even the war started.” (Ben, 07:37)
• Parallels with North Korea: Trump’s diplomacy is lampooned as naive and driven by personal flattery, referencing “love letters” with Kim Jong Un.
  • “…You let him flatter you. He built nuclear weapons and now no one even talks about it anymore.” (Ben, 12:55)

4. U.S. Standing in the World & Authoritarian Drift

• CIA and ex-analysts now see China as surpassing the U.S. militarily, and regard America’s deterrence in Asia as damaged beyond repair.
  • "China’s military has far surpassed the United States military…if China were to invade Taiwan…the psychological profile inside the CIA about Donald Trump is that Trump would immediately flee…” (Ben, 14:00)
• Increased sentiment that Taiwan may be forced into unification as U.S. influence recedes.
• Analysis of rising pro-China opposition within Taiwan, likened to MAGA-style populism in the West.

5. Republican Hypocrisy & Failures of Oversight

• Ben lampoons the right’s self-congratulatory terms like “China hawks” or “deficit hawks,” arguing they’re empty slogans.
  • “They’re not hawks. These are losers. These are loser, psychotic human beings…They’re not tough. They’re not hawks. They’re pushovers.” (Ben, 17:05)
• Massive, unaccounted war expenditures are scrutinized:
  • Cost of operations like Epic Fury and Project Freedom spiraling into the trillions with little Congressional oversight.
  • “You want $1.5 trillion for what? Golden domes…what is a golden dome?” (Ben, 18:16)
• Trump’s focus on vanity projects—e.g., reflecting pool upgrades, ballrooms—while devaluing American institutions.

6. Media Complicity and Propaganda

• Corporate media are criticized for normalizing Trump’s erratic and abusive behavior.
  • “The corporate news praises the guy, you know, like, oh, did you see? It’s a new tone. It’s a new tone. It’s not a new tone. He’s a fascist. He’s an authoritarian. He’s a damn loser.” (Ben, 24:37)
• The show highlights Trump’s truth social posts, QAnon references, and personal attacks as part of a broader distraction strategy.
  • “He’s posting memes of JB Pritzker to mock his weight…That’s how you’re using the power of the United States presidency.” (Ben, 27:32-28:00)

7. Congressional Reactions: Live Journalism from the MidasTouch D.C. Bureau

• The MeidasTouch D.C. Bureau calls out senators—Susan Collins, Loomis—on Trump’s admission that he doesn’t care about Americans’ financial conditions.
  • Direct quote played (Trump at 31:00):

    “Not even a little bit. The only thing that matters when I’m talking about Iran, they can’t have a nuclear weapon. I don’t think about America’s financial situation. I don’t think about anybody. I think about one thing: we cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon. That’s all.”

  • When pressed, Senator Collins repeatedly dodges and pleads ignorance.
    • “I would have to find out the context of it. I’m sorry.” (Collins, 38:11)

8. War Cost, Pentagon Testimony, and Congressional Hearings

• Senators grill military leadership over vague accounting of war costs and munitions depletion.
  • Senator Reed:

    “We have been trying to track down the expenditures…We did understand…$11.3 billion was spent…can you provide some details as to what consists of that $29 billion? Have we counted everything?” (46:50–47:38)

  • Pentagon officials dodge, failing to account for full expenditures or damage to installations.
  • On munitions: Only 30% of Iranian missile capacity reportedly destroyed, while U.S. resources are drastically depleted.

9. MAGA Blame-shifting and Double Standards

• Republicans, especially Jim Jordan, use imaginary scenarios ("Could you imagine how bad it would be if Kamala was in office?") to distract from real failures.
  • “What a stupid person you are, Jim Jordan.” (Ben, 53:47–53:51)
• Ben calls out the "Game Genie" mentality: one set of rules for Republicans, a harsh one for Democrats.

10. Dysfunction in Congressional Oversight and Law Enforcement

• Heated exchanges in congressional hearings, with officials dodging accountability and responding with personal barbs.
• An example:
  • “Unlike baseless reports, the only person that was slinging margaritas in El Salvador on the taxpayer dollar…was you.” (N, 57:41)
  • “These are really bad sick humans…This is not normal human being behavior that you see from these people.” (Ron, 56:30–56:39)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Inflation vs. Wage Growth:
  “Inflation is exceeding wage growth right now, meaning any year over year wage growth…That’s eclipsed by the 3.8% inflation.” (Ben, 02:57)
• On the "K-Shaped Economy":
  “99% of Americans live in the recession, Great recession, depression area…Above the horizontal line in the K, the rich get richer and have never been richer…” (Ben, 05:16)
• On Trump's Authoritarian Focus:
  “Not even a little bit. The only thing that matters when I’m talking about Iran, they can’t have a nuclear weapon. I don’t think about America’s financial situation. I don’t think about anybody.” (Donald Trump, quoted at 31:00)
• On Congressional Complicity:
  “MAGA Republicans in Congress are totally okay with Congress becoming the Russian Duma, a rubber stamp for a real sicko for Donald Trump, a real sick and vile human…” (Ron, 52:05)
• On Double Standards:
  “For those who remember who played Nintendo, you would put Game Genie on your cartridge. Then you could, like, get immunity and, like, you wouldn’t have to play by the rules of the game…Republicans operate by Game Genie rules.” (Ben, 54:44)
• Media Critique:
  “Corporate news praises the guy…It’s not a new tone. He’s a fascist. He’s an authoritarian. He’s a damn loser.” (Ben, 24:37)
• On Vanity and Distraction:
  “He’s posting memes of JB Pritzker to mock his weight…You’re a disgusting person. You’re obese and you’re attacking JB Pritzker.” (Ben, 27:32)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [01:05] – News on "Operation Sledgehammer" and Iran
• [02:57] – Inflation numbers breakdown
• [03:58] – Detailed inflation by sector
• [05:16] – Explaining the "K-shaped economy"
• [07:37] – Aftermath of Iran war and regime status
• [14:00] – China’s military dominance, CIA analysis
• [17:05] – Rant on "deficit hawks" and right-wing slogans
• [20:59] – Satire of operation naming (Rush Hour 2 analogy)
• [24:37] – Media normalization of Trump
• [31:00] – Trump on not caring about American financial conditions (audio played)
• [38:11] – Sen. Susan Collins dodges question about Trump’s statement
• [46:50–47:38] – Congressional grilling on missing war funds
• [53:47–53:51] – Ben on Jim Jordan’s “what if Kamala” dodge
• [54:44] – "Game Genie" metaphor for GOP’s double standards
• [56:30–56:39] – "Sick humans…not normal behavior" commentary

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Tone and Style

Ben and Ron’s tone is relentless, biting, and laced with trademark sarcasm and incredulity—delivering fierce critiques of Trump, the MAGA movement, and compliant media. Their style blends detailed policy and legal analysis with informality and humor, aiming to empower listeners to recognize propaganda and demand accountability. The dialogue is highly engaging, alternately angry and mocking, but always laser-focused on defending democratic norms and exposing what they frame as growing authoritarian threats.

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Final Takeaways

• The episode provides a searing rundown of the high-stakes crises facing the country: a likely catastrophic new war in Iran, the economic squeeze on ordinary Americans, the crumbling of U.S. security alliances, and a media and political class failing to stop the drift toward authoritarianism.
• The hosts urge listeners to stay vigilant, refuse normalization of lawlessness and corruption, and continue supporting independent, democracy-driven media like MeidasTouch.

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For further information, exclusive podcasts, and to support the network, listeners are encouraged to subscribe and join the MeidasTouch community.

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Transcript

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[Ben Meisellis]

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[Ben Meisellis]

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[Ron Filipkowski]

Switch upfront payment of $45 for 3 month 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 you're watching Ben on Breaking News. I'm Ben Meisellis and this is your breaking news.

[Ben Meisellis]

Before we went live, we learned that the Pentagon is considering a new mission, a new invasion of Iran. They're calling it Operation Sledgehammer. They believe that the ceasefire is likely going to collapse.

[Ron Filipkowski]

I don't even think the ceasefire is

[Ben Meisellis]

even real right now. And when the war resumes, which I

[Ron Filipkowski]

believe is likely going to take place

[Ben Meisellis]

as soon as Donald Trump's trip to

[Ron Filipkowski]

China, which is sure to be an

[Ben Meisellis]

absolute disaster, when that is done, then there will be Operation Sledgehammer and then this will be yet another catastrophic invasion of Iran. NBC reports that the US Military presence in the region is also now larger than even at the start of the war, with an additional carrier strike group and rearmed assets. Now this news of Operation Sledgehammer comes at a time where we got perhaps one of the most disastrous economic reports in recent history. We learned earlier today inflation surging year over year to 3.8%, its highest level since May of 2023. Donald Trump promised that he was going to bring inflation down, that he was going to bring energy prices down under former President Biden was coming very close to hit that 2% Fed target. Yes, inflation was high during the first half of former President Biden's term as he was dealing with the catastrophic mess that the arsonist Donald Trump left him. When Donald Trump left the country in complete and Utter shambles. But the American people forgot about that. They forgot about how Donald Trump said, like a miracle, Covid is going to go away. It's never going to hit our shores. But former President Biden handed Donald Trump an economy that was the envy of the world. And like Donald Trump's past, failed businesses. What did Donald Trump do? He wrecked it. And now we got this inflation report, 3.8%. But when you dig in on this report, also the data is worse than that because inflation is exceeding wage growth right now, meaning any year over year wage growth, which is about a 3.6%, that. That's eclipsed by the 3.8% inflation.

[Ron Filipkowski]

So that's one of the reasons also,

[Ben Meisellis]

Americans feel that, look, I can't afford anything at all because inflation is rising quicker than wage growth. Also, when you get into these specific sectors, sectoral inflation, like when you look at energy inflation, when you look at food inflation, when you look at housing inflation, when you look at all these categories, that the stuff that impacts the American people the most, that's where inflation is at its highest. So energy Commodity inflation, up 29.2%.

[Ron Filipkowski]

Okay.

[Ben Meisellis]

Gasoline inflation, up 28.4%. Airfare, up 20%. Energy inflation, up 17.9%. Electricity inflation, up 6.1%. Fruits and vegetable inflation, 6.1%. Hospital services, up 5.5%. Motor vehicle repairs, 5.1%. Apparel inflation, 4.2%. And also, cumulative inflation since 2020 is up about 29.2%. And so something that would have cost you $100 back in 2020 now cost you $129. Extrapolate that. $1,000. What would that cost you? $100,000. What would that cost YOU? $10,000.

[Ron Filipkowski]

What would that cost you today?

[Ben Meisellis]

It is unaffordable. But, folks, you didn't need this report to tell you this, because if we go out or even go online and say, whoa, or stay in our homes and go, holy crap, I know you, you may have the same reaction that I do. When I get that energy bill, when I get some of these bills, I go, that. That's. I go, that's got to be wrong. That's got to be incorrect. How could that possibly be?

[Ron Filipkowski]

No, that's what it.

[Ben Meisellis]

That's what's going on. So we all knew this, but Donald Trump and Maga, they want to flood the zone and say, we're in a golden age and everything is amazing and people are doing great. We've never been richer. We've never been wealthier. Right? Their euphemism is the K shaped economy. They call it K shaped, which basically means most Americans. If you draw a K and you have a horizontal line, 99% of Americans live in the recession, Great recession, depression area, right? That's where most Americans are. And above the horizontal line in the K, the rich get richer and have never been richer and wealthier. Right now, while everybody else is getting absolutely screwed and MAGA does it with a frickin smile. Donald Trump out there, things. I don't care about how you feel, I don't care about what the American people think. You think. I care one bit about how the war impacts America's financial condition. It's a direct quote from Donald Trump moments ago as he's heading out with his oligarch crew to, to head to China where America has never looked weaker. Donald Trump tried to go after China last year. Remember when Donald Trump threatened to tariff China 140% and China was like, you see the thing about that, Donald, is we control the rare earths that go into your semiconductors and your military equipment and the cell phones. We control all of it.

[Ron Filipkowski]

So sure, you want to put your

[Ben Meisellis]

tariffs on, we will just shut off rare earths. And then Donald Trump's like, no, no, no, Xi Jinping, you're my king. Xi Xi, you're my king. You're my friend or friend. Don't do that. Right? Some of the original tacos Trump always chickens out. We saw with China when Donald Trump thought, oh, we're going to be so strong. No, you're going to China now looking like an utter fool. You, you're going to China looking so weak, so pathetic. You don't have any allies around the world. I did a report this morning how now the European countries in NATO along with Canada and others are thinking about reconstituting a NATO like entity, whether it's a European army with Canada and Australia,

[Ron Filipkowski]

you know, and some other countries as

[Ben Meisellis]

well, that has Article 5 guarantees because Donald Trump, Donald Trump destroyed Article 5 and destroyed NATO. So you're heading to China with losing the war to Iran. And you did lose because you're a loser. How do you lose? Who controls the Strait of Hormuz? Who got things, who lost things? That's usually how most people decide winners and losers. I know in your loser world, Donald, with your loser friends, you view losing as winning because you personally benefit while everybody around you gets absolutely screwed. But when I look at a scoreboard, you know, when I'm watching my New York Knicks, you know, have a good, good playoff series, I Look to see are they getting more points than the other team. Aha. Then I guess you're winning. So, before the war in Iran, what'd you say the objectives were? Regime change. Get rid of Iran's conventional capabilities, the shield that protects their nuclear weapons, then get rid of the nuclear weapons. And. And then you are going to put your puppet to run Iran. And you said that was going to make Iran great again. That's what Donald Trump said. Well, the Iranian regime is still in power. You can say regime change, but it's a more entrenched Islamic Republic. They control the Strait of Hormuz, something that didn't exist before the catastrophic war. They have all of their conventional shield, their Shahid drones, their FPV drones. If anything, they may have more Russia and China. By the way, tell why don't you ask Xi Jinping what he's doing with Iran? Why don't you check out what's going on in the Caspian Sea there, Donald? Because Iran is actually probably at a higher capacity of Shahid drones and FPV drones than when even the war started. And Iran, Iran still has the nuclear material. And Iran's out there saying, okay, we had no intention to enrich the uranium at a 90% level. That's nuclear grade. But now Iran's saying, why wouldn't we enrich to 90%? If this is how you're behaving, when we've agreed to previous deals or every time we negotiate, you attack us. Yeah. One of Iran's spokespersons for the parliament says one of Iran's options in the event of another attack could be 90% enrichment. We will review it in the parliament. Why wouldn't they do it? Look at Kim Jong Un. You know your friend who you wrote love letters to? Are you going to write love letters to Kim Jong Un? Donald, when you're in China, you know you're close by. So you're going to say hi to Kim Jong Un. Because, you know now what's so fascinating is the media doesn't talk about how Kim Jong Un has nuclear weapons. No one even talks about it. I just remember when former President Obama was in office, every time Kim Jong Un would do just tests of cruise missiles or ballistic missiles. Remember? Front page, New York Times, front page, Washington Post. Front page on every news network. Obama's so weak. You're letting Kim Jong Un test Cruz and Ballistic. But what is he supposed to do? What you want him to do.

[ZipRecruiter / SelectQuote Advertiser]

Like.

[Ben Meisellis]

Like Obama stopped Kim Jong Un from getting nuclear weapons. And how did Obama do it? The way America exerted its power before. Hard power, soft power, developing relationships in the region, a pivot to Asia, which was a big priority of the Obama Biden administration. And Biden. Kamala helping relations with South Korea, with Japan, with India. Yeah, India, where Donald Trump threw that relationship under the bus to lift up Pakistan. And now we learn also that Pakistan may be helping Iran hide the Iranian planes and Iranian equipment in Pakistan while Donald Trump loves Pakistan. I wonder why, Donald. Zip. Because Pakistan said that you should get a Nobel Peace Prize, stopping the war between India and Pakistan, even though you didn't have anything to do with it at all. Did they flatter you? So now you support Pakistan so much that you're not even willing to, or that you were willing to just throw away America's relationship with India, where now India is far more stronger allied with Russia, which America had created a situation where India was very much more allied

[Ron Filipkowski]

with the United States.

[Ben Meisellis]

So talk to us about Donald, if that was the smart move. Also, Pakistan invested in Donald Trump's crypto fund, World Liberty Financial. Pakistan created a Pakistan crypto entity, and that crypto entity spent a lot of money on World Liberty Financial. I wonder if that's also why you say that they are great mediators. And look, I'm actually an. Anyone who's doing mediation and trying to avoid war.

[Ron Filipkowski]

You know, I think that Pakistan has handled it in terms of a mediation

[Ben Meisellis]

about as good as.

[Ron Filipkowski]

About as good as they, you know, they could. But, you know, just let's talk about it.

[Ben Meisellis]

Donald Trump being compromised and you've thrown

[Ron Filipkowski]

away your relationship with India there.

[Ben Meisellis]

And so, yeah, I mean, as.

[Ron Filipkowski]

As I see it, you know, you know, you. Let's go back to Kim Jong Un for a second.

[Ben Meisellis]

Allowed Kim Jong Un to get those nuclear weapons.

[Ron Filipkowski]

Who else let them get it?

[Ben Meisellis]

You sent him love letters.

[Ron Filipkowski]

You know, you let him flatter you.

[Ben Meisellis]

He built nuclear weapons and now no one even talks about it anymore. I mean, the fact that nobody is

[Ron Filipkowski]

out there or like corporate news doesn't blame Donald Trump for that. And that's just like.

[Ben Meisellis]

Yeah. Remember the whole decade where we talked about two decades where we would talk about Kim Jong Un and then Kim Jong Un's dad and all the threat of nuke. Yeah, we don't talk about that anymore. So if you're Iran and you're watching that experience, you're saying to yourself, okay, let's get nuclear grade. What are we doing here? Let's get nuclear grade. Let's use the ceasefire to try to

[Ron Filipkowski]

do, you know, to try to do that.

[Ben Meisellis]

That Seems to be our only option.

[Ron Filipkowski]

We can't deal with the United States in good faith.

[Ben Meisellis]

Look what Donald Trump does this like, look how he behaves. So you're going to China having lost the war in Iran, having been outmaneuvered by China on rare earths, you've demonstrated that your security umbrella or the US

[Ron Filipkowski]

Security umbrella no longer works in the Middle east and no longer works in Asia. I read it was, I think it was Max Boot at the Washington Post.

[Ben Meisellis]

I think he interviewed a former CIA analyst.

[Ron Filipkowski]

I think the guy's name was John Culver, his Last name was Culver, 35 year CIA analyst. He said at this point China's military has far surpassed the United States military

[Ben Meisellis]

and that the CIA right now views that if China were to invade Taiwan,

[Ron Filipkowski]

the psychological profile inside the CIA about

[Ben Meisellis]

Donald Trump is that Trump would immediately flee the area with our, with our

[Ron Filipkowski]

troops and our ships and Trump would not step in to help Taiwan. And so the CIA analysis though goes on to say from China's perspective, America's security umbrella now is, is so rapidly

[Ben Meisellis]

degrading that China feels though, why would we ever even need to invade Taiwan? Not going to take it off the table as an option, but why would

[Ron Filipkowski]

we need to invade Taiwan?

[Ben Meisellis]

Naturally what is just going to happen as the US Gets weaker and weaker

[Ron Filipkowski]

and Trump's pushing in that direction?

[Ben Meisellis]

Taiwan eventually is going to recognize this is China's thing.

[Ron Filipkowski]

This is how our CIA views it.

[Ben Meisellis]

China is eventual, China is, is going

[Ron Filipkowski]

to be growing so strong that Taiwan will eventually say we just got to make sure it's, it's one China and we do unification.

[Ben Meisellis]

There's already, if you're following what's going on in Taiwan, an opposition leader who

[Ron Filipkowski]

traveled to China last month was about

[Ben Meisellis]

a six day or seven day trip. And this opposition leader is gaining popularity in Taiwan.

[Ron Filipkowski]

You know, think Nigel Farage of Reform Party pushing Brexit.

[Ben Meisellis]

Think about Le Pen's party and the

[Ron Filipkowski]

successors to Le Pen in France. Think about, you know, these opposition parties, if you will.

[Ben Meisellis]

There's, you know, different kind of concepts.

[Ron Filipkowski]

I mean in terms of like MAGA versus a lot of these, these other are like MAGA nationalistic groups.

[Ben Meisellis]

But this opposition party in Taiwan is

[Ron Filipkowski]

supporting kind of this one China unification.

[Ben Meisellis]

And China's view, Xi Jinping's calculation is

[Ron Filipkowski]

just why would we do anything right now that would get in the way of the United States fall? The United States is a desperate and flailing hegemon. That's what the CIA analysis says.

[Ben Meisellis]

And China's like just let him Let him. Let him fail.

[Ron Filipkowski]

So Donald Trump's going to show up there.

[Ben Meisellis]

And already Donald Trump has made statements

[Ron Filipkowski]

in the Oval Office during some of these deranged pressers that he's had, where certain kind of key issues of, like,

[Ben Meisellis]

China locking up, you know, Taiwanese dissidents

[Ron Filipkowski]

and, you know, Donald Trump's. Donald Trump always sides with Xi Jinping on this stuff.

[Ben Meisellis]

So it's just interesting, right, the Republicans,

[Ron Filipkowski]

magazines, Tea Party predecessors, right?

[Ben Meisellis]

Didn't they always love to, like, lecture

[Ron Filipkowski]

us that they were China hawks?

[Ben Meisellis]

Right? They love to call themselves hawks. Hawks. Like a stupid word. Like, like, it's like, we're not liberal, we're hawks. We're China hawks. We're where. We're deficit hawks, we're debt hawks. Like, why do. First off. And by the way, corporate news, like, buys into that. Like, they give the right wing all these cool nicknames, like, they're hawks. What's hawk? You know, just because you call yourself a hawk, I don't even know what the hell that means. What, you're a hawk. And that. And that's supposed to be like, look, they're deficit hawk. They're debt hawks, They're China hawks. They're tough. They're tough. No, they're not. These are losers. These are loser, psychotic human beings are not tough. They're not hawks. They're pushovers. They're losers. They let Donald Trump push him around. They're bootlickers. They don't stand for anything. They're really just the lamest human beings. They're MAGA zombies. It's so bizarre and pitiful to watch these individuals behave. So.

[Ron Filipkowski]

I don't even know how to describe it. Just, Just so you know, whatever. Just letting Donald Trump run all over him, it's disgusting.

[Ben Meisellis]

But really, deficit hawks, debt hawks.

[Ron Filipkowski]

Deficit rising. Debt surging.

[Ben Meisellis]

$1.5 trillion, right?

[Ron Filipkowski]

You had Heg sit there today.

[Ben Meisellis]

1.5. We need $1.5 trillion. $1.5 trillion

[ZipRecruiter / SelectQuote Advertiser]

for.

[Ron Filipkowski]

For what?

[Ben Meisellis]

With $1 trillion, you couldn't control the

[Ron Filipkowski]

straight of Hormuz, so Now you want

[Ben Meisellis]

1.5 trillion for what? Golden domes, golden dome. What is it? What the hell? What is a golden dome? What are you even talking about? You know, none of what they say makes sense. They're all con artists. And as I said on the podcast, I do with Brett and Jordy, the Brother podcast, I said, everything in this Trump regime is like the reflecting pool. How are you going to solve the problem? Let's just paint it blue. Just paint everything blue. And then let's call it, you know, we'll call it, we fix the reflecting pool. That's not how you fix it. You don't know the issues. The issues in the reflecting pool is that because D.C. is a swamp, it attracts algae. And then the heat also creates cracks in the reflecting pool that causes water to leak. Millions of gallons leak each year. And because the reflecting pool is so big and it's so dang hot in Washington D.C. this creates a constant problem. Because it's outside and the size of it, it's really hard if you think about the physics and the science of it, to actually deal with this problem other than to throw a lot of money of it. And maybe the right thing to think about is should there be a reflecting pool there at all in the first place because of just the sheer science and physics behind the heat and the fact that it costs lots of money, you know, to continue to fix. But whatever, past presidents, you know, or they don't, they don't make their focus on the reflecting pool, but they have

[Ron Filipkowski]

their national park services deal with it.

[Ben Meisellis]

But Donald Trump is obsessed with the reflecting pool, obsessed with the ballroom, obsessed with the triumphal arches. And when it comes to the reflecting pool, he hires his pool guy, he says gives a no bid contract with a 4 to 5 million dollar profit margin on it so that they could turn the reflecting pool and code it like the way a pool is, like a pool bottom, to turn the reflecting pool into like a, like an actual pool. Which defeats the whole concept of what a reflecting pool is. It's supposed to be a little bit somber and reflecting, not this bright swimming pool. But it's ridiculous that you're building a swimming pool there and you're not going to address the fundamental issues of the algae and the cracks. And if anything, it's going to look far worse when you actually see what the reflecting pool looks like when it's so bright like that. And so just watch what's going to happen and you know, if this thing actually goes through, you're going to see the sludge. It's gonna, it's so easy to predict what's going to. But that's his thing for everything. When it comes, starting with the beginning of this episode, what do we do? Operation Epic Fury didn't work. So what do we do? Project Freedom. Project Freedom lasts less than 24 hours.

[Ron Filipkowski]

Even though like our media pretends, okay,

[Ben Meisellis]

then we did Project Freedom. We just gave a name to. What do you mean we did Project Freedom. It's a made up thing. Then what do we Do Project Freedom Plus.

[Ron Filipkowski]

That's what Lindsey Graham's talking about.

[Ben Meisellis]

We got to do Project Freedom Plus. And now, because last summer, we. We did Midnight Hammer. This is how Donald Trump thinks now. Think about it. My trip with Ji Jingping is now my. The last time we went and attacked Iran was basically a year ago. So why don't we. We could do the sequel. It's like the second movie, man. It's like Rush Hour 2, right? It's like Rush Hour 2, man. We did Rush Hour 1, now we do Rush Hour 2. So we did Operation Midnight Hammer, and now we did Operation Sledgehammer. High five. Yeah, that's going to do it. We're just going to call it a different name. We're going to call it Operation Sledgeham. Genius. What a great plan. I mean, what are we doing where this, like, he's turned this country into the stupidest Trump company imaginable. And, yes, the entire world is indeed laughing at the United States now, so. And by the way, as Donald Trump heads to China, he. He's got Brett Ratner, who was in the Epstein Files. Brett Ratner.

[Ron Filipkowski]

There was that photo of him. You know, that was. That was.

[Ben Meisellis]

That.

[Ron Filipkowski]

That was one of the photos that surfaced.

[Ben Meisellis]

Ratner directed the Melania documentary, which was an utter failure, which Trump and corporate news pretended was a success. Look, it was number one. I mean, you know, you guys spent $80 million on the advertising in the movie, and I think it made like, $10 million. So once again, losing money is not gaining money. But Melania did well. So for me, I mean, she. She made out well. What did Bezos pay her and Trump? Like, $40 million. I mean, and for Bezos, he's like,

[Ron Filipkowski]

okay, you know, we've got Amazon. You know, we've got all the Amazon

[Ben Meisellis]

Internet services and the cloud and all of these things that we do at Amazon.

[Ron Filipkowski]

And so, you know, if I just

[Ben Meisellis]

pay Melania $40 million, you know, maybe that'll help me with my stock price and the rich get richer. So I'll do that. You want to make Rush Hour 4. Okay, I'll just view making Rush Hour

[Ron Filipkowski]

4 as, you know, just, you know,

[Ben Meisellis]

R D into Amazon cloud services, and

[Ron Filipkowski]

I could justify it, you know, that way.

[Ben Meisellis]

Or I'll just treat it as a

[Ron Filipkowski]

loss and write it and write it off.

[Ben Meisellis]

Anyway, so Brett Ratner is part of the US Delegation to China. Trump wants Bezos and Ratner to. To make Rush Hour 4. Operation Midnight Hammer, Operation Sledgehammer. We're doing a rush hour 1, 2, 3. Now we got to do rush hour 4. I mean, can you think of someone who's so out? This is real. And again, this is beyond parody, you know, And I know sometimes when we talk about the ballrooms and we talk about the, you know, the arches and

[Ron Filipkowski]

the reflecting pools and the golf course

[Ben Meisellis]

takeover that was take over the public

[Ron Filipkowski]

golf courses and club Rose Garden, you

[Ben Meisellis]

know, and all of this stuff, you know, I know sometimes it sounds like parody and sometimes the tone that we use can take the form of mockery. And I think we have to know though, that these issues that Donald Trump is trying to flood the zone, they're part of a broader distraction plan to just make people so grossed out about politics, to have people so tuned out and turned off by all of this that they're authoritarianism can fester, that they can engage in their genocide and their catastrophic wars and their pillaging of America's wealth, transferring it to the oligarchs. And people are so tuned out that they're like just, enough, enough, enough, enough, enough.

[Ron Filipkowski]

And so, you know, if, if, if,

[Ben Meisellis]

if Donald Trump behaves semi normal for two hours, the corporate news praises the guy, you know, like, oh, did you see? It's a new tone. It's a new tone. It's not a new tone. He's a fascist. He's an authoritarian. He's a damn loser. He's been a loser his whole life. He's making America into a loser nation. He's destroyed our alliances. He's harmed America long term. Just call it out. It's very easy. He's a war criminal. Call it out. He's a sexual predator. He's been found civilly liable for sexual assault. He shouldn't be in a room with children. Call it out. Just call it out. It's not hard. Just say the words. Right? You know, I'm thinking last night, I'm thinking last night, you know, he's posting,

[Ron Filipkowski]

last night he posted 50 posts. Harry Sisson did a good job kind of documenting, you know, all of these posts that Donald Trump made.

[Ben Meisellis]

I, I did, I did a whole video on it this morning where I talked about all the, all the stuff

[Ron Filipkowski]

that he's been, you know, posting, you

[Ben Meisellis]

know, Obama guilty of treason. Obama and the CIA are spying on me. You know, QAnon post this. Q QAnon post that. Weird AI images about the war. Bing bang bong, we're gonna bing, bang bong, shoot. You know, just like weird AI images, you know, and Iran's just mocking, you know, it just looks so pathetic, you know, I this is one of the post lasers. Bing, bing, bong. Bye bye, bye bye fast boats. Bye bye fast boats. Bing, bing, gabang. I mean, really, we're in a really serious war. You committed war crimes. You slaughtered 168 little girls in Manob. You've engaged in other war crimes. You and Netanyahu are complicit in a genocide. You're right now complicit in another genocide in Lebanon as well. I mean, you're out there, you know. You know, you're out there engaged in all of this heinous conduct you got. You're covering up the Epstein files every single day, you know, and, you know, and it's just post after post after post like this. And the corporate news doesn't want to, you know, doesn't even want to deal with it. Yeah, I mean, he's posting this about JB Pritzker. Hey, Donald, you're obese. I hate to break it to you, you're an obese man, Donald. Like, you're, you're obese. You look physically ill. You, your hands are rotting. You look disgusting. You think you're like a handsome. You're a disgusting person. You're obese and you're attacking JB Pritzker. Lots of people in America, first off, struggle with obesity. You know, who makes fun of obese people? Like idiot children whose parents should discipline them. That's who makes fun of obese, obese people. Grown ups don't make fun of obese people. People struggle with. You struggle with obesity. You're probably more obese than J.B. pritzker right now. Like, like, let's be real about it. And you're posting memes of JB Pritzker to, to mock his weight. That's how you're using the power, the perch of the United States presidency. That's what pisses me off. It's such a dang honor to be the President of the United States. And that used to matter. And now even Iran doesn't want to meet with you. The President of Brazil doesn't want to be seen with you in a press conference because you're so embarrassing. No one. NATO doesn't want to hold meetings with where you're invited because you going there just ruins it for everybody. You destroy everything you touch. And, and no. And so bizarre to me that no one calls it out. And I was. I'll drop this interview I did with Governor Bashir in the next day or two. But before I went live, I did an interview with Governor Bashir. And I said Governor, you and I both know I said, I like you as a governor. You're a popular governor in a red state. You have a national identity. I said, governor, if you made one

[Ron Filipkowski]

post, just one that looked like any

[Ben Meisellis]

of these, you know your legislature would impeach you, you know, that you would probably feel I deserve to be impeached. I wouldn't want to interview you. I would tell, I would say Bashir needs to go if you did one of those. And when Trump does 50 of them a night, we just got. That's Trump, man. That's, that's just how he is. This is Trump being Trump, man. I mean, just think about what he did today as he was heading off for this disastrous trip in China. He was asked a question by a reporter. What extent are Americans financial situations motivating

[Ron Filipkowski]

you to make a deal?

[Ben Meisellis]

And Trump's response, Not even a little bit. I don't think about Americans financial situation done in any normal time. Where we once cared about vice president spelling the word potato wrong, this should be done. This should be disqualifying. It's done. I don't care about the American financial situation. I don't think about it one bit. But then it's Trump said, you know, Trump says things. Donald Trump. No, no, stop it. Stop it. Can I shake you all back to reality? Let me shake the Midas Touch Network should be, that's what we should call this, Shake you back to damn reality. The thing is, everybody watching this, the people out there actually are living in reality a lot. Most people are. If that wasn't the case, Midas Touch Network would not be successful. We wouldn't be the most watched digital network that's out there. And we wouldn't be beating Rogan in audio downloads and consistently being the number one YouTube podcast on all of YouTube if people didn't also by and large agree with this. And also when you look at the right wing podcasts that are doing well right now, whether it's the Candace Owens or the Tuckers or people like that who are on the list with me, who I still beat them by significant amounts, but they're out there now speaking to their audience also about how deranged Donald Trump is too, from slightly different angles than me. But so the people understand what's going on right now. But yet corporate news and everybody tries to act like this is normal. That's why my dogs are angry about you hear the dogs. Let me just show you what Donald Trump says. Let's just play that video, Jeremy, of the reporter saying what extent are Americans financial situations motivating you? Fair question, right?

[Ron Filipkowski]

Let's play it. When you're negotiating with Iran, Mr. President, to what extent are American financial situations motivating you to make a deal?

[Donald Trump (quoted)]

Not even a little bit. The only thing that matters when I'm talking about Iran, they can't have a nuclear weapon. I don't think about America's financial situation. I don't think about anybody. I think about one thing. We cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon. That's all.

[Ron Filipkowski]

And then here he is attacking the reporter. Let's just show the other one.

[Donald Trump (quoted)]

We have a ballroom that's under budget. It's going up right here. I've doubled the the size of it because we obviously need that. And we're right now on budget, under budget and ahead of schedule. I doubled the size of it, you dumb person. Double the size you are. You are not a smart person.

[Ben Meisellis]

And that's how he talks to female

[Ron Filipkowski]

reporters all the time.

[Ben Meisellis]

Calls him piggy.

[Ron Filipkowski]

You're a dumb person. That's how he treats female reporters. That's how he treats, you know, reporters in general, particularly female reporters. All right, let's take our first quick

[Ben Meisellis]

break of the show.

[Ron Filipkowski]

Reminder, subscribe to the Midas Touch YouTube channel.

[Ben Meisellis]

Do me a favor. If you are able to become a

[Ron Filipkowski]

member of our YouTube channel, click Join and then gift as many memberships as you can to others and have other people become members. Also, as you know, there's the exclusive podcast I do with Ron Philipkowski that's available to our members only.

[Ben Meisellis]

We'd love for you to have access

[Ron Filipkowski]

to that and then you have access to the emojis. And I know financial times are difficult

[Ben Meisellis]

right now, so if you have the ability to afford it gifted to others

[Ron Filipkowski]

who can't become members right now, and

[Ben Meisellis]

then they get to have access to

[Ron Filipkowski]

the members, just click join. You can gift them as many memberships as you want. All right, let's take a quick break.

[Ben Meisellis]

We'll be right back.

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[Ron Filipkowski]

Welcome back. Great ad reads. Thank you to our sponsors. They keep this show going. Support our sponsors. The discount codes are in the description below. So what do you think? MAGA Republican senators, Congress members, what do you think they're saying after Donald Trump very clearly said, I don't care about the financial situation of America, not one bit. I don't care. I don't care. Well, this is one of the things we've been building up at the Midas touch network, our D.C. bureau, because we want to make sure that in an age where corporate news has failed us, we rapidly go to the members, go to the senators and ask them these questions for you. Donald Trump just said this. What's your response? What's your response? Not wait, not delay, not play cover up for Donald Trump. So it's exactly what we did. We have Pablo Manriquez and Scott McFarland. They're there on the D.C. bureau. We'll also soon be announcing additional hires to our Washington D.C. bureau. We continue to expand your memberships. By the way, help that think you've seen the expansion of Midas Touch. If you're also wondering like, but what

[Ben Meisellis]

else do I get from my membership?

[Ron Filipkowski]

Well, I mean, I think the exclusive

[Ben Meisellis]

features is pretty good.

[Ron Filipkowski]

I think the emojis are pretty good. I think the special podcasts are pretty good. But also it's helped grow this network and it's put us in a position where we have a thriving D.C. bureau and we can do things like this. So we asked right away, Senator Susan Collins. Hey, Senator Collins, any comment on Trump saying he doesn't care about the financial condition of Americans? Let's see what she says. Let's play it.

[Senator Susan Collins]

Of Donald Trump's saying that he doesn't think about American, the American people's financial situation. He just said in the presser about

[Reporter]

an hour and a half ago.

[Ben Meisellis]

Well, I didn't see that. You haven't seen it yet, Senator.

[Director Patel]

Okay.

[Mint Mobile / SelectQuote / ZipRecruiter Advertiser]

Are you comfortable with the reports in

[Ron Filipkowski]

the New York Times regarding then Senator Marshall, what about you, MAGA Senator Marshall,

[Ben Meisellis]

what do you think?

[Senator Susan Collins]

Let's play it on what Trump just said it is presser.

[Ben Meisellis]

I don't know what he just said.

[Senator Susan Collins]

He said he doesn't think much about the finances of the American people.

[Ben Meisellis]

People. I, I would have to find out the context of it. I'm sorry.

[Senator Susan Collins]

Got it.

[Ron Filipkowski]

What about Senator Loomis? Senator Loomis, what do you, what do you think about. I saw you speaking with the TMZ cameras recently and they were asking you some interesting questions.

[Ben Meisellis]

But what about this? Pretty big deal. What do you think?

[Ron Filipkowski]

Here, play it.

[Director Patel]

C.

[Senator Susan Collins]

Real quick. What do you make of Donald Trump saying that he doesn't think about the finances or the financial situation of the American people?

[Ben Meisellis]

Did he say that? Yeah, I don't have a comment about that. Mostly because I think he actually does care. Don't. I think he don't listen to what he says or does. Just listen to the fantasy version that, that we've created for you. Oh, we know that he doesn't say these things. He doesn't care about the gold. He's focused every night. We all know that about him. No, that's, that's, that's wild and crazy and dangerous.

[Ron Filipkowski]

What we're just observing there.

[Ben Meisellis]

What do you mean you. I think he. What, what would lead you to believe

[Ron Filipkowski]

he does when literally every action he does hurts?

[Ben Meisellis]

I mean, and I know, look, when I show you this stuff, it certainly

[Ron Filipkowski]

has the ability to turn off people to politics in general.

[Ben Meisellis]

Right.

[Ron Filipkowski]

Like somebody who wants to watch this sometimes. I mean, I say this to someone who does this for a living because sometimes you're like, what? Come on. All right, whatever. Let me just do something else today.

[Ben Meisellis]

I don't want it. But.

[Ron Filipkowski]

No, but we have to, because this stuff, we have to watch this, we

[Ben Meisellis]

have to see it.

[Ron Filipkowski]

Because this stuff is impacting us. And what's more important than focusing on the things that are out there that are harming us? We know that these actions have consequences. And I would love to, instead of being in a Trump two week death spiral cycle, waking up to the drama, waking up to the chaos, waking up to the weirdness and the. And the wtf.

[Ben Meisellis]

I would so much rather go to

[Ron Filipkowski]

a world where there's just normalcy and stability and things were calmer and more

[Ben Meisellis]

boring, would be great. It would be great.

[Ron Filipkowski]

You know, there'd still be an opportunity to report on the news. You know, we would, we would certainly be able to talk about this policy versus that policy and show you congressional hearings and show you what's at stake. But I truly want to get out of this loop. But the importance, I think of The Midas Touch network is when I see corporate news just ignoring all of this stuff. Donald Trump is off to a trip

[Ben Meisellis]

in China where Donald Trump believes that he is in a very strong position

[Ron Filipkowski]

to negotiate regarding future relationships between the two major powers in the world.

[Ben Meisellis]

Donald Trump said that he feels very good about his friendship with Xi Jinping. Cue the clip of Donald Trump. Yeah, Gigi Ping and I are really good friends. It should be a good meeting. Well, that's what Donald Trump said. And let's take a look at what are. What's maga, Mike. What's Mike Johnson saying? Yeah, we've never been more stronger. We're in the golden age, and we look forward to a positive outcome. Well, there you have it, everybody. Donald Trump is heading to China. We will keep you more posted. In other news, a squirrel has been.

[Ron Filipkowski]

You know, it's like, you know, you watch the corporates. It's, it's, you know, it's like, which regime media is there?

[Ben Meisellis]

Fox State regime media.

[Ron Filipkowski]

Cbs State regime media. By the way, you saw CBS State regime media. You know, after Donald Trump went after 60 Minutes for making the. A cosmetic edit for Kamala Harris that just basically edit out some ums or ahs and didn't change the context of what she said at all. Trump sued cbs. Remember, that's one of the things that started all of this. Trump was too afraid to do a 60 Minutes interview, and Kamala did the 60 Minutes interview. But then Trump sued CBS and then had them do a ridiculous settlement. And then Trump took over the network, essentially. But you saw that CBS, I mean, whenever Trump was on 60 Minutes, it was heavily edited material, points at, like, critical moments edited out. And then Netanyahu was on critical moments, you know, edited out. And then apparently Barry Weiss didn't allow Leslie Stahl to do the interview of Netanyahu and gave it to Major Garrett. And Leslie Stahl was absolutely livid because, you know, she's the one who does, you know, good, good, tough interviews. Remember, Donald Trump was afraid of Leslie Stahl and walked out of that interview back in 2020, and then tried to show Leslie Stahl a binder of his health plan. It was all blank pages. And then she asked for a copy of it from Kaylee McEnany. Remember that? And it was all blank pages. I mean, just think about who does that.

[Ben Meisellis]

You gave.

[Ron Filipkowski]

Could you imagine if Biden gave them a fake binder that didn't have anything on? Like, we'd all be like, dude, impeach this guy immediately.

[Ben Meisellis]

Right?

[Ron Filipkowski]

I mean, it's Just this is wild to me. The, the double standards or the, you know, it's double standards is putting it lightly. So a few other things happened today. You know, you had, you had Hegseth and General Kane, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and others testifying on Capitol Hill. Here's a notable moment where Lindsey Graham was cross examining Dan Kane, chairman of the Joint Chiefs and Hegseth about the reports about Iranian airplanes and drones and other equipment being kept in Pakistan so that they would avoid being blown up in the war. And this was like, let's see, like how is our chairman of the Joint Chiefs and how is Hegseth answering this here? Let's play this clip.

[Senator Lindsey Graham]

Pakistan. Are you aware of reports that Pakistan are allowing their bases to be used to park Iranian aircraft? General King?

[General Kane]

Sir, I've, I've seen one report on that.

[Senator Lindsey Graham]

Well, is it accurate?

[General Kane]

Sir, I think based on the variety of classification, classification matters.

[Senator Lindsey Graham]

Let me just say, do you agree if it is accurate, that is sort of inconsistent with it being a peace mediator?

[General Kane]

Sir, I wouldn't want to comment on that. Based on the ongoing negotiations impact

[Senator Lindsey Graham]

Texas. If, if the mediator is allowing reconnaissance aircraft in Iran to be parked in Pakistani air bases, do you think that's consistent with being a fair mediator?

[Ben Meisellis]

I, again, I wouldn't want to get in the middle of these negotiations.

[Senator Lindsey Graham]

I want, well, I do. I want to get in the middle of these negotiations. I don't trust Pakistan as far as I can throw them. If they actually do have Iranian aircraft parked in Pakistan bases to protect Iranian military assets, that tells me we should be looking maybe for somebody else to mediate. No wonder this damn thing is going nowhere.

[Ron Filipkowski]

Wow, wow, wow. Well, let me show you Senator Reid's questioning which demonstrated that when the Trump regime is saying they've only spent $29 billion on the war so far, that's a made up number. Like they're not counting probably 90% of the expenses, nor are they even counting the consequential and incidental expenses like the fact that interest rates are not going to be reduced, the fact that our debt will continue to increase, the fact that, you know, this will have, this will now cause, you know, as a result of these failures, we have to increase our military budget. By now it's got to be $1.5 trillion. So the cost of this in my view is probably in the trillions. I mean look at the bond market right now, right? The cost of borrowing by the Treasury Department significantly higher. And so the interest that we have to pay off is Higher. And that's because this is a catastrophic war. The bond markets would stabilize. Interest rates could eventually go down as they were supposed to go down if we didn't do trade wars against the world in disastrous, catastrophic, you know, wars. Anyway, let's play this clip right here.

[Senator Reed]

Mr. Secretary, we have been trying to track down the expenditures in the Operation Epic Fury and Operation Freedom Now. And we've sent letters, and we've got very few responses. We've been sending letters since March 10. We did understand that was released that in the first six days, $11.3 billion was spent. And then recently we were told $25 billion was spent. Today, I think the number is $29 billion. Can you provide some details as to what consists of that $29 billion? Have we counted everything?

[Senator Susan Collins]

Yeah. Senator Reed. So I testified this morning to HAC D that between the Joint Staff and the Comptroller staff, our operational cost estimate is now $29 billion. A lot of that increase comes from having a refined estimate on repair replacement costs for equipment. Our munitions costs are fairly fixed. We think they're very accurate. And there's some O and M costs there as well. We're not making an estimate for MILCON at this time. We don't know what our future posture is going to be. We don't know how those bases would be reconstructed, and we don't know what percentage our allies and partners will pay for that reconstruction.

[Senator Reed]

So you do not consider installations that have been damaged in the conflict? Correct.

[Senator Susan Collins]

We just don't have a good estimate at this time.

[Senator Reed]

So it's not in the $29 billion?

[Senator Susan Collins]

That's correct.

[Senator Reed]

Expended weapons, are they totally included within the estimate?

[Senator Susan Collins]

Yes, to the best of my knowledge, we have a full count of the

[Senator Reed]

expended weapons and weapons transferred to other countries in the region. Are they counted in?

[Senator Susan Collins]

I would want to double check to make sure we have that accurately, please.

[Senator Reed]

I mean, you're coming up and asking for another significant supplemental, et cetera. And before we can, I think, reasonably appropriate additional money, we have to find out how the existing appropriated dollars have been spent. So that's critical.

[Ron Filipkowski]

Well, what about our munitions?

[Ben Meisellis]

Right.

[Ron Filipkowski]

We've seen reports that America expended around 70% of our munitions and that very little of Iran's munitions have been destroyed. We. America's lost 70% of our overall munitions, like in the world on this war. And Iran apparently still has most of its drones, missile capabilities, launchers. So. Care to. Basic question?

[Ben Meisellis]

Right.

[Ron Filipkowski]

Basic question. General Kane and Secretary Hegseth both declined to comment on reports that only 30% of Iran's missile capacity has been destroyed.

[Reporter]

Let's play it drone program. The president said just a week ago that Iran maybe had 18 to 19% of their missile capacity left. But there is public reporting suggesting that our intelligence agencies say that Iran still has 70% of their missile and, and drone capability, which would be a failure of our objectives. If that were to be true, what can you tell us about the number of missiles and drones that they have left? And do you dispute your. That intelligence estimate?

[General Kane]

Sir, I'm not going to comment with deep respect for the question. I'm not going to comment in this forum on what may or may not have been opined on by the ic, which would suggest a leak or a confirmation of any intel. So while I appreciate the question, I hope you'll also appreciate my not answering it.

[Reporter]

Well, then just give me what is the president said that 80% of.

[General Kane]

Yeah, I'm not going to comment on BDA on either way, sir.

[Reporter]

Well, then how do we, how do we or the American public assess the success of the mission? When you've stated publicly the purpose of the mission is to destroy their missile and drone capability, how do you exactly.

[Ron Filipkowski]

And here's the thing. Trump is out there saying lies. That's the point. The question is, Donald Trump says that we destroyed what Senator Murray said. Murphy said is 80%. But actually if you. I know Trump said that once, but mostly Trump says we obliterate it all. None of it exists.

[Ben Meisellis]

So here's the thing.

[Ron Filipkowski]

Trump has a forum for propaganda and lies without any accountability because our sycophantic media refuses to do its damn job. So then when you have the ability to ask under oath the people who should be providing answers, what about what Donald Trump said? Is that accurate? I can't answer that question for.

[Ben Meisellis]

Why not?

[Ron Filipkowski]

He's saying it publicly. There's no classified thing. Trump said it publicly. Is what he said publicly true?

[Ben Meisellis]

I can't.

[Ron Filipkowski]

I can't speak on that. That's authoritarianism right there. That's fascism right there.

[Ben Meisellis]

That right there, you should be held in contempt.

[Ron Filipkowski]

I don't care if you're the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs.

[Ben Meisellis]

You should be throwing that.

[Ron Filipkowski]

That's.

[Ben Meisellis]

You're not answering any question.

[Ron Filipkowski]

You're not doing. You know, you're in Congress and it's so pathetic to me, so pathetic that MAGA Republicans in Congress are totally okay with Congress becoming the Russian Duma, a rubber stamp for a real sicko for Donald Trump, a real sick and vile

[Ben Meisellis]

human that you Just rubber stamp what he's doing. The whole point of Congress is to

[Ron Filipkowski]

be a check and balance on the executive branch.

[Ben Meisellis]

So when you're a member of Congress, you're not supposed to be the cheerleader.

[Ron Filipkowski]

You're supposed to be someone who holds them accountable. That doesn't mean you should not support the legislation. You know, even if it's someone in your party and you agree with the legislation, certainly pushing through an agenda that you agree with. But they're giving you the. The executive branch is giving you the middle finger in an unprecedented way that they don't have to answer your questions. Now, the Democrats don't control the committee. Democrats don't control the Senate. Democrats don't control the House. Republicans control the House and the Senate. And under our rules, Republicans are the ones who have subpoena power. They're the ones who lead what type of legislation gets out of Congress for the president's signature. They're the one who controls the legislative agenda. And this is just what they do. I mean, yeah, I'm not sure if you saw my earlier coverage, but you got Jim Jordan. Jim Jordan says, you know, look, could you imagine how bad things would be if Kamala was in office? No, I can't imagine that because she's not in office.

[Ben Meisellis]

What a stupid argument.

[Ron Filipkowski]

What a.

[Ben Meisellis]

You know, as Donald Trump.

[Ron Filipkowski]

What a stupid person you are, Jim Jordan.

[Ben Meisellis]

What a stupid person you are. What a stupid thing to say.

[Ron Filipkowski]

Can I imagine what.

[Ben Meisellis]

Why would I imagine what it would

[Ron Filipkowski]

be like with Kamala? She's not in office. You don't need to create, you know,

[Ben Meisellis]

the Republicans, they want to create a fake Donald Trump avatar who doesn't say

[Ron Filipkowski]

the things he says he does. Then they want to create a fake alternative universe that we get angry at, a universe that doesn't exist. Can you get.

[Ben Meisellis]

Look, if.

[Ron Filipkowski]

If Kamala was doing this stuff, yeah,

[Ben Meisellis]

I'd call for her impeachment. Absolutely.

[Ron Filipkowski]

I don't care if she's a Democrat. If she was doing this stuff and

[Ben Meisellis]

talking about ballroom vision and you know, who would probably impeach her? The Democrats would lead the impeachment against her. I can guarantee. I can guarantee you that.

[Ron Filipkowski]

I mean, you had.

[Ben Meisellis]

You have Democrats who have thrown out

[Ron Filipkowski]

Democrats from the Senate for things that

[Ben Meisellis]

wouldn't even be a. A afterthought of an afterthought of an

[Ron Filipkowski]

afterthought for Republican behavior. Okay, so. So.

[Ben Meisellis]

So don't. Don't give me the both sides or whatever Republicans played by. For those Republicans, play it by a different set of rules for Those who are my age, you may remember Game Genie.

[Ron Filipkowski]

I remember Game Genie.

[Ben Meisellis]

For those who remember who played Nintendo,

[Ron Filipkowski]

you would put Game Genie on your cartridge. Then you could, like, get immunity and,

[Ben Meisellis]

like, you wouldn't have to play by

[Ron Filipkowski]

the rules of the game and you could, like, beat all of the boards, you know, Game Genie, it was called.

[Ben Meisellis]

Yeah. Like, Republicans operate by Game Genie rules.

[Ron Filipkowski]

Democrats have to be on expert level all of the time.

[Ben Meisellis]

Republicans get Game Genie. That's stupid. That's stupid. It shouldn't be that way. It should be. We all play by the same rules.

[Ron Filipkowski]

We're all judged by the same standards. You know, there's a report card. We.

[Ben Meisellis]

We whether you're A, B, C, D,

[Ron Filipkowski]

E, F, you know, pass, fail, however

[Ben Meisellis]

you want to do it.

[Ron Filipkowski]

And we assess credibly what's going on in our country. That's it.

[Ben Meisellis]

That's what you should do. So here's, here's. Here he is.

[Ron Filipkowski]

You got MAGA Republican Jim Jordan saying, could you imagine what Kamala would be like?

[Ben Meisellis]

Why?

[Ron Filipkowski]

Here, play this clip.

[MAGA Supporter / Jim Jordan]

President Trump makes decisions that are in the best interests of our country. He's going to do things that benefit the United States of America. And that. That is his focus. And thank goodness we have him on the world stage. Thank goodness he's our president doing these negotiations and frankly, not Kamala Harris, because, you know, Lord knows what she'd be up to if she was. If she was there. So I feel confident he's going to talk about all these issues and, you know, make. Make progress for things that, again, benefit the citizens of our great country.

[Ron Filipkowski]

You know, I say it a lot, but, like, I don't know how else to.

[Ben Meisellis]

These are sick humans.

[Ron Filipkowski]

Like, these are sick people.

[Ben Meisellis]

Like, these are really bad sick humans.

[Ron Filipkowski]

Like, their behavior, it's not normal. They don't behave like. This is not normal human being behavior that you see from these people.

[Ben Meisellis]

Right?

[Ron Filipkowski]

I mean, I'm watching that and I go, what are you talking about?

[Ben Meisellis]

What are you even talking about? What. What weird world do you live in?

[Ron Filipkowski]

And by the way, how dark must it be?

[Senator Reed]

This.

[Ben Meisellis]

Their. Their whole world view, their whole life,

[Ron Filipkowski]

being a pathetic bootlicker all day.

[Ben Meisellis]

Donald. Donald. Donald, Donald. Oh, Donald. What can I do for you, Donald? Could you.

[Ron Filipkowski]

I just can't even imagine that existence every damn day. So odd. All these people, all of them. I mean, you're. You see Cash Patel today.

[Ben Meisellis]

Watch, Watch. These are. We. It's like freaking dangerous, strange, weird human beings.

[Senator Susan Collins]

Like, what?

[Ben Meisellis]

Watch. Cash with his shirt button. His shirt buttoned. I mean, dude, Looks like he just walked out of a. Well.

[Ron Filipkowski]

Anyway, here, play the clip.

[N]

As do the men and women of the interagency and state and local law enforcement in the White House.

[Director Patel]

And so there have been no occasions when your security detail had difficulty waking or locating you, is that right?

[N]

Nope. It's a total farce. I don't even know where you get this stuff. But it doesn't make it credible because you say so.

[Director Patel]

I'm not saying it. Director Patel, I. It's been written and documented.

[N]

You are literally saying it.

[Director Patel]

No, I'm saying that these are reports, Director Patel.

[N]

Unlike. Unlike baseless reports. The only person that was slinging margaritas in El Salvador on the taxpayer dollar with a convicted gang banging rapist was you. You know the only person that ran up a director bar tab in Washington D.C. was you.

[Director Patel]

This in this room.

[N]

Allegations drinking on taxpayer dime during.

[Ben Meisellis]

Are you polygraphing you, Director Patel?

[Director Patel]

Come on. These are serious allegations that were made against you. They're allegations filed.

[N]

You drinking margaritas with a gang.

[Ben Meisellis]

Just supposed to show you running a

[N]

seven thousand dollar bar tab at the lobby bar has been filed by your own own office. Goes to show during the day that's you. This is the ultimate example of hypocrisy.

[Director Patel]

Chairman.

[N]

I will not be tarnished by baseless allegations. Let me ask fraudulent statements from the media.

[Director Patel]

The fact that you mentioned that indicates you don't know what you are talking about. Now here direct.

[N]

Only thing I know is you're the one drinking margaritas with fellow.

[Director Patel]

Actually, that's a false statement. And I'm asking you about your statements. I've answered them and I'm asking you about a particular report.

[Ben Meisellis]

And it's not a report.

[Director Patel]

So let me ask you this. Are you willing to take the. The test that it's. It's called the audit test that members of our active duty military and others take to determine whether they have a drinking problem.

[N]

I'll take any test you're willing to take.

[Director Patel]

I will take it.

[N]

Doc.

[Director Patel]

Director Patelli. I'll take it. You ready to take it?

[N]

Let's go.

[Director Patel]

Yes or no?

[N]

Let's go side by side.

[Director Patel]

I'll take it.

[Ron Filipkowski]

All right.

[Director Patel]

I think that.

[Ron Filipkowski]

And I'll tell you what they think that McMaga thinks that looks strong. Do you know how weak that looks? Do you know how embarrassing that makes the FBI look? The FBI agents know how embarrassing. Law enforcement knows how embarrassing that makes them. Them look to see that the hell. What the hell is that? Right? I mean what. What is that? And again, lying about a senator with AI margarita photos. What are you talking about, man? You know the guy sells cash, merch, k a dollar sign H deranged behavior. All of them. That's what we have today, folks. We'll keep you posted every step of the way. Become a member of our YouTube channel. Click join. You can gift memberships to as many people as you want if you're able to afford a membership. Gift some memberships to people. It grows the channel as well. And you get access to our bonus feature. So do that. Thank you everybody for watching. We appreciate you watching Ben on breaking news. We appreciate you hit subscribe. Help us get to 7 million subscribers and we'll see you next time. Time Shout out Midas Mighty.

[Ben Meisellis]

Have a good one.

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