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- [00:00]
Kiana
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Ben Meiselas
Start your free trial@shopify.com Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile.
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Ron Filipkowski
I don't know if you knew this, but anyone can get the same premium wireless for 15amonth plan that I've been enjoying. It's not just for celebrities. So do like I did and have one of your assistant's assistants switch you
- [01:13]
Ben Meiselas
to Mint Mobile today.
- [01:14]
Ron Filipkowski
I'm told it's super easy to do@mintmobile.com
- [01:17]
Kiana
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- [01:25]
Ben Meiselas
Then full price plan options available, taxes and fees, fees, extra fee, full terms@mint mobile.com welcome to Ben on Breaking news. I'm Ben Meiselas and this is your breaking news. A G7 from hell for Donald Trump. His worst nightmare cognitively physically declining before our eyes. The terms of this memorandum of understanding between the Trump regime and Iran have now leaked. Indeed, $300 billion will be going to Iran as part of an investment fund. I'll go through all of the terms that have now leaked. But Donald Trump, after doing that bizarre UFC event where Trump was sleeping on Sunday, while this UFC event was taking place and while you had the reflecting pool turning, I refer to it as Ninja Turtle green. I mean, the algae is worse than you could ever possibly fathom. And now I'll tell you what they're doing in this show to try to address it. Donald Trump traveled to France, where I think world leaders knew that he was cognitively and physically declining. I think the world knew he was, but they're seeing it firsthand. And I think it's deeply alarming that an individual like this is currently
- [02:52]
IndeCloud Spokesperson
doing
- [02:52]
Ben Meiselas
what he's doing in the United, I don't want to say leading. He's currently bringing the United States into an irreparable abyss from which it's going to be very hard to dig our way out of. And Trump and MAGA will spend all their time, you know, if a Democratic president, you know, wins in 2028, to, to blame them for the systemic destruction of, of the United States of America before our eyes. But let me, let me take you to France, where this G7 is being held. Here, Donald Trump starts wandering off in the wrong direction after a G7 photo, and world leaders have to step in to redirect him. Let's play this clip. Then you'll see Donald Trump grabbing Indian Pres. Indian Prime Minister Modi's wrist for support as he steps up a small stair during the G7 summit. Let's play it. We saw a similar moment where Donald Trump was losing his balance and he had to hold French President Emmanuel Macron's wife, Bridgette Macron, who Donald Trump has also attacked before, and very viciously. He attacked her before, but he had to hold her hand literally, to stay up. Did you all see this moment? Let's play it.
- [04:44]
Donald Trump
Thank you. Thank you.
- [04:50]
Ben Meiselas
Yeah. You see, French President Emmanuel Macron and Bridgette are like, where, where's he, where's he going? Where's, where's he going?
- [04:58]
Ron Filipkowski
Right there.
- [04:58]
Ben Meiselas
And then there was the handshake between Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron where it seemed that Trump lacked the strength to, to even do a handshake. Here, let's play this clip.
- [05:10]
Donald Trump
Maybe handshake, Mr. President,
- [05:18]
Ben Meiselas
Do it one more time there, Jeremy, because it looked like almost him lifting his arm caused a great deal of, of pain. It almost looked like. Here, let's play it one more time.
- [05:27]
Donald Trump
Maybe handshake. Mr.
- [05:35]
Ben Meiselas
Gasp when he did the handshake. So on state regime media, which calls itself Fox, they were applauding Donald Trump for even being able to walk. They go, after all he's been through in the past 24 hours, the guy can walk. How incredible is that? I mean, that's your standard right now for the President of the United States, that they can walk. Here's what they say on state regime media. Let's play it. They're talking about something. My main observation so far is that this is the first time I've seen a world leader photo where the other leader, not Donald Trump, gave a thumbs up and the president just kept his hands at his sides. The fact that he could even walk. Peter, given all he's been through in
- [06:16]
Donald Trump
the last 24 hours, I think really is quite remarkable. He's got to be beyond exhausted.
- [06:22]
Ben Meiselas
I don't even know what are you talking about. He went to a UFC fight. He created some deranged event at the White House. That's what he's. Oh my God. Can you. Let's get this guy a purple heart. He, he attended the UFC fight and then he had to get a, A memorandum of understanding done on his birthday. So it just had to happen. It had to happen on his B day. I had to do it. I had to do it. After all he's been through. Then he had to go on a Qatari gifted jet. He had to go on Air Force One and go to sleep in a luxurious bed. Oh my God. Gosh. I mean, like, do y' all realize what Americans go through on a day to day basis? Like as y' all ripped away health care from the American people, as people work multiple jobs and can barely afford their rent, or often can't afford their rent at all, as their houses are going into foreclosure, as they can't afford their gas, as they have to make decisions, am I going to be able to fill up my car this month or am I going to be able to buy myself or buy my kids a sandwich for dinner? Like that's going through things, throwing yourself some deranged circus bizarre event with idiots screaming Michelle Obama's a man at the White House and then going on to Air Force One and sleeping. It's just, it does. You're not going to gain sympathy from me as. That's like, wow, can you believe what he did? He's walking, everybody.
- [07:58]
Donald Trump
Yay.
- [08:00]
Ben Meiselas
I mean, you know, what is this like going like, is this like going to Sea World? I mean, and I'm not a fan of that, by the way, but is that what it is? Shamu clapped, everybody. I mean, is that, Was that where. Is that really where we are, right? Like, you know, this is the, this is the presidency. This. I mean, could you imagine, you know, if it was, you know, the CEO of Nvidia or Microsoft or Google or any Fortune 500 company set aside that any medium sized business, a principal at a school, the vice principal at a school, like, oh my God, did you see Mr. O'? Brien? He walked. Oh, he's been through so much. What are you talking about, dude? At a bare minimum, they should be able to exhibit signs of life. But then, I mean, Donald Trump, when he actually sat with Macron he was asked by a reporter. So, like, all right, this memorandum of understanding with Iran, when does that get released? Like, when do we, when do we see it? When do we, when do we get to see the, the words? Because usually when people do a deal, they don't hide it. When it's a trade deal or a public deal, and usually it's not a memorandum of understanding. Is it a non. What is this? A non binding MOU to do due diligence on a company? What is this? I mean, there's a deal. A deal should have binding terms. It should be made public. By the way, Donald Trump doesn't have the authority to enter the United States into an mou. Like, that's not even the way our system works. Like, him and JD Vance can't even do it. It requires Congress. I know that's a novel concept also for a lot of people, but Trump can't, he can't sign it. I mean, if there are things in this document, like sanctions relief, the sanctions were imposed by Congress, by Congress. So you need Congress to remove certain sanctions and things like that. You're just going to sign the document anyway. Here's what Donald Trump says when he's asked. So when will the text of the MoU be released? Let's play it. Mr. President, when will the text of the MoU be released?
- [10:19]
Donald Trump
I think pretty soon, I would say. I mean, I want it to be released because it's a very powerful document. It's not like the Obama document, which was just a terrible document. This is a very powerful document and I want it to be released. So probably pretty soon, I would say after. Sometime after Friday, because the strait opens. It's open now, but it opens completely. We'll have all the mines knocked out for the most part. We have a lot of lanes right now already. So I think, I think sometime. I think sometime in the very near future also.
- [10:58]
Ben Meiselas
What does it mean that there's a very powerful document? That's not even a real thing to say. It's a. The document has power. The document is a powerful document. I don't even know what that even means. It's. It's a deal. It's supposed to be a negotiated compromise. This is a, It's a powerful memorandum of understanding addendum. Okay, what does it even mean? And also, here's the thing. That's, that that also shows such weakness, too, constantly attacking Obama, especially on the world stage like that. It's setting aside that it's not a good look, like it just, it's the ultimate sign of weakness. You're not signaling strength when you have to constantly compare yourself to a former president who happens to be very, very popular still in the United States and internationally. Just if you even think about it in general, what world leaders are out there that name any world leader that really spends significant portions of time obsessing over the predecessor. And on the world stage, mind you, on the world stage, constantly attacking the predecessor by name over and over again. And then of course, when you dig into this memorandum of understanding, it is much weaker than former President Obama's non nuclear deal, which was called the jcpoa. Now, as I've said, it's tough to report on in the sense that I want there to be a deal. I'm not rooting for this deal to fall apart. I actually think when you go into a catastrophic unlawful war like Trump did and brought the United States into with Netanyahu, and you lose in the catastrophic and unlawful war and you break things and you destroy things, you fix what you break, you lose. So to me, the document is actually a rational document based on what took place. US and Israel lost, they went into the war unlawfully. And so the deal is reflective of a loss. That's just the reality of it. And so I'm not rooting that this document, I certainly don't want there to be war in the first place. I don't want the war to resume. So where I say the difficult and reported on it is on the one hand, I'm deeply critical of someone like Trump who brought us into this unlawful and catastrophic war in the first place and made all of these promises, regime change and we're getting the nuclear dust and we're doing all of these things and that we're going to be greeted as heroes in Iran and all of them are wrong. And so I think I need to point that out as a reporter dealing with objective facts. Frankly though, as an American, I don't want to be involved in never ending wars. So I want us to be out of there. I want the, I look at the deal and I go, those terms seem to be reflective of what happens when you lose it reached a compromise. My hope is that, you know, the Strait of Hormuz really can now be reopened like it was open before this catastrophic war. Like I, I want to root for the investment fund or whatever this is to work well, not because I'm rooting for Trump or rooting for it. I'm rooting for the American people. Like I, I genuinely, I, I know people are on the Brink. And people have already passed the brink and they're suffering and they can't afford anything right now. And everything's been exacerbated by this catastrophic war. But frankly, it was all beginning with Trump's disastrous policies like his tariffs against the world. And so, you know, when I talk about, you know, Trump surrendered, I'm not, I would want to be very vulnerable and open with you that I'm not rooting for the deal to fall apart. And so I'm actually rooting for us to get the hell out of there and to not be involved in these never ending wars and to not put more treasury and more American lives or anybody's lives on the line. You know, I just, I'm not sure this document is going to be able to accomplish that because it's not even a deal. Right? I mean, Obama's plan actually had teeth. And it had multilateral, by the way, far less money. And it had multilateral mechanisms for inspections. It had lots of details and lots of details regarding the details and buy in from the whole international community. And this, this, this doesn't have that. So I'm just, I'm not confident that this is an arrangement for anything other than Trump passing on the problem to a future president to deal with. And then Trump and MAGA and all of these, you know, MAGA Republican senators who are so tribal that they don't see the bigger picture or they can't see that they don't care about the bigger picture of how this stuff impacts America. They just go right into attack mode. Oh, my God, did you see inflation is surging and America's never been this weak. And all these other countries have formed alliances, frozen the America out. Oh, my God, this Democratic president has screwed it up. Oh, Donald Trump was holding it all. No, no, no. Trump screwed it all up like he did in his first term, like he did in his first term. And I brought this up before and I'll just bring it up again. One of the things about the JCPOA is that it also was intended as a template for North Korea. So when Obama did the jcpoa, it was the beginning to ensure a non nuclear North Korea. And when Obama thought he was going to be passing the baton on to Hillary Clinton and not Donald Trump, the JCPOA was going to be the North Korea template with the same actors involved multilaterally. And then Kim jong UN in 2018 saw Donald Trump pull out of the JCPOA and he said, got it. This guy's easy to play. Let me send him Love letters, let me pretend I like him. Let me do the flattery, let me buy time. I'll build up the nuclear arsenal while I send Trump love letters. And then we'll become a nuclear power and then no one can stop us. And that's what North Korea did also. So the JCPOA not only had disastrous impacts in terms of the US Creating conditions of further instability in the Middle east, but it also led to North Korea. I just think that's important. Going back to this disastrous G7 trip, you had Donald Trump also meeting with the Emir of Qatar, also the Emir of Abu Dhabi, who's the president right now of the uae. Just give you a little fact about the uae. They have a rotating presidency with different emirs of the different Emiratis. So, you know, you have Abu Dhabi guys, the president right now, NBZ is his name. But anyway, you had the Emir of Qatar here. And then Donald Trump said, you know, look, I've never believed in regime change at all to begin with. So, you know, I was never, I've never wanted regime change in Iran. So I'm not who's mentioning regime change here. Let's play this clip country.
- [18:33]
Donald Trump
So again, I don't believe the regime change. You know, I've watched regime changes for years. They never work. It has to just happen. I can tell you this is a country where the emir is so respected and the prime minister so respected by the people.
- [18:52]
Ben Meiselas
And that's the way it's also seemed like a veiled threat. Also like talking about regime change and then bringing up the Amir is respected by, respected by his people. But then also him saying, I've never been about regime change. I mean, he's literally the whole thing they were saying regime change. Like, you know, and a little bit later in the episode when we talk more about the reflecting pool, I just think the reflecting pool is a perfect metaphor for everything in the Trump regime. The reflecting pool and the COVID up of Trump's name being removed from the Kennedy Center. Right? You have the COVID up and you have painting something blue and Trump's fraud and cover ups. Eventually you get caught. Eventually all your bullshit runs out. And that's been Trump's entire life. It's why he's bankrupted so many companies and so many things. Because, you know, he has this, this way. And I don't know why, I don't know how, I don't know why people buy his bs. I don't understand how people, how not you, but how people fall into this over even when he keeps on screwing over people. I wish I could delve deeper into the human psyche. And what is it about it? Is it the allure of this, this lifestyle that people were told about the American dream that you think is there, but it's a facade and, and people believe that the proximity to it, you know, is. People just buy into the fraud. Do they think, not me, that I could be part of this little club? You know, are. Are people just easily fooled? That easily. Like, it's, it's, there's the. It's very hard for me to fully grasp it. It just makes no sense to me. I know sometimes you struggle, like, what is it that brings there. But eventually he ends up screwing the people. That's what happens. And we're seeing it play out. And, you know, Trump's. Now, what he's trying to sell is that he actually likes this Iranian regime, that they're great people and that we're dealing with really strong, really smart people. And again, I mean, I want to just simply highlight that this is what he's saying now, after everything he said before. I mean, how do you have any credibility when you say, I'm going to kill these people? They're crazy. And now you love them and they're strong and you want to be their friends and you want to invite him into the White House and you want to spray cologne on them. Here's what he says about the current Iranian leadership.
- [21:36]
J.D. Vance
Let's play
- [21:40]
Donald Trump
regime change, because you know better than anybody, the first group, they're all dead. The second group, they're dead. A part of the third group is gone. And we're dealing with people that I think are very rational people, and they were nice to deal with. They were strong people, smart people. I think actually they're smarter than the first and second group, but they're not radicalized and they're, you know, looking to help their country. So, again, I don't believe the regime change. You know, I've watched. It's crazy.
- [22:17]
Ben Meiselas
It's crazy stuff. And, and also, I just want everybody to know the truth, like MB Gala Boff was deeply embedded in Iran's military his entire life. He's Iran's parliament leader. He's the guy who will be shaking hands with JD Vance in Switzerland when this already electronically signed MOU becomes publicly signed. If we can get there to Friday, we'll see about that. But MB Gallaboff isn't a new guy. I mean, he's been their parliament leader for a long time, and he's been rising up the ranks One of the guys they killed, who was a more moderating figure, if you want to even say that, is a guy named Ali Laranjani, who was like their national security guy. He was replaced with a more hardliner Trump regime, and Netanyahu killed that guy. Foreign Minister Aragchi has been around for forever. He actually writes books on, ironically, negotiations. And in Iran, he's like one of the foremost international experts on the art of negotiation. Isn't that fascinating that Iran has a real person who actually is an art of the deal and the US has like an art of the fraud person? It's just, it's a fascinating dynamic because Iraqi, if you go to his background, he wrote. I mean, he's been writing these treatises and books and he teaches negotiation. He's a. Well, he's actually a well respected foreign diplomat and he's been a leader of Iran for, for a very long time. You know, the Ayatollah son is now in charge as the spiritual leader. The IRGC is still there. So it's just when Trump says these things, it's just, it's counterfactual. Now if you want to say that these people were rational before and that you find the current negotiating posture more rational, I don't know. I mean, just, I think we, the people can understand. Like, like, we're not stupid. We're not stupid. I mean, maybe some people are not. Not us. I mean, the, the people who were clapping when the UFC fighter said, michelle Obama's a man. I don't know how to ever get in touch with those. Like, I'm not fully sure how to ever interact with those people validly. And I'm not, and I'm not trying to be like a party pooper, right? I'm not trying to be like, let's not have fun or UFC sucks or. No, I mean, personally, I don't like ufc. I like football, or in the United States, we call it soccer. I'm a big Knick fan. I like boxing. I like running. I played sports in high school. And I just, I don't think personally, like, growing out to me ever meant like, attacking marginalized groups and like mocking and being racist and mocking transgender people or marginalized communities. That, to me, to me, you could like, like, if, if we want to be like dudes and bro out and do that, like, we, we. I, I'm not, I'm not trying to like, like, act like that, you know, you shouldn't do that or what. I just, just don't bully marginalized communities. Don't be racist assholes.
- [25:40]
J.D. Vance
Don't.
- [25:41]
Ben Meiselas
That's, that's not a, that's not funny. When you see stuff like that, call it out. I don't know, the way I was raised, you know, the bully wasn't the, you know, it's. The bully wasn't the cool person, you know, you needed to. When I was president of my high school, you know, I would stand up for people in my school. I wouldn't be, I wouldn't want to use my position, even when I was student government president of high school to like denigrate and bully people. That wasn't what leadership was. And it was very basic to me in high school. And so I think one of the consequences of this Trump and this kind of weird MAGA movement is that. But, you know, one of the projects that I've dedicated my life to, among others, is to try to push back on that. Sorry that.
- [26:25]
Donald Trump
I
- [26:27]
Ben Meiselas
digress right there. But I want us to be able to handle the facts. Like, you know, to me, Prime Minister Carney has been dealt a very difficult hand in Canada. He has to deal with America's war against Canada. And Canada for decades built a dependence on the United States. It wasn't Carney's fault, but it was a view that the United States and Canada were inseparable, you know, and we're close. And Trump changed that equation. Canada had a dependency on, on the US that dynamic change. Carney has to change it up. But Carney tells the people what the dynamics are. He sets a vision, he explains the problems and he says, you know, we could always be at the, we could always have our sovereignty attacked by the United States and we could always be dependent in a bad way. Or we can try to take control of our destiny and help unite the mid powers, Canada, European Union, others, and form a stronger alliance and stand up and be a major power. And he levels with the people, he talks to the people, you know, that way. And Trump just lies. And as we'll talk about in the second half of the show, Trump's approach is just paint it blue, just dress it up. Just say $30 trillion was brought in. When we didn't bring in $30 trillion. Right. Just say like a miracle, it's all going to go away. Just say regime change. Just say when. When. That's not when. That's not actually what's happening. Then. Trump also claims that Qatar and Iran share a land border and that you can walk from one to the other. Here's what he says.
- [28:16]
Donald Trump
Let's play it any money in Iran. Working with Qatar and the people of Qatar was really a pleasure. They were tough, they were strong. You know, they are the closest to Iran physically. So with other countries, I noticed they had to travel about 45 minutes to get there. With you, you could walk right across the border. So you were in a more dangerous position.
- [28:42]
Ben Meiselas
You can just. So everybody can see. Look at a map. Let's look at a map. Look where Iran is, look where Qatar is. Look where the Strait of Hormuz is. You see that if you wanted to walk from Iran to Qatar, you'd have to go through Iraq, Saudi Arabia, maybe Kuwait, maybe Bahrain, but you'd have to at least cross two or three borders to, to get there. Or, or you can cross the Persian Gulf. But like, we need a president who, who, who understands basic geography, right? Like, I don't think that's asking too much. I mean, if you accept a 747 jet from a country, from the person who's sitting right there, at the very least you can know maybe where the country's located on a map. And you know, call me old fashioned, but I remember the days where if you spelled potato wrong, right, Dan Quayle, that was the end of your political career. How do you not know how to spell? And, you know, maybe it's a tricky spelling, you know, maybe, you know, there are a lot of Americans who don't know where Qatar is on a map. I don't, you know, but I, okay, I don't begrudge you, I don't begrudge you, but I do, you know, I do want the President of the United States who's entering into memorandums of understanding to understand at the most basic level where the countries are located, Right? Remember that. Remember where in debates those were major issues also and major points of discussion. But here he is after saying that, attacking Obama. Here he is saying, Obama sold out Israel. Obama, Obama sold out Israel. Here, let's play this clip.
- [30:32]
Donald Trump
Barack Hussein Obama sold out Israel for Iran. He went to Iran. He sold him out. How anybody can vote for this guy or the party. The Democrats, I call them, because they're dumb. They're dumb people.
- [30:46]
Ben Meiselas
There's no internal consistency here as well, because let me see if we have, let me see if I have this clip right here. I'll show you after the break. But you know, you have, you have
- [31:01]
Ron Filipkowski
Donald Trump,
- [31:04]
Ben Meiselas
currently his approval in Israel went from plus 24 to net negative 24 basically overnight.
- [31:14]
Donald Trump
And
- [31:17]
Ben Meiselas
Donald Trump wouldn't show Israel the memorandum of understanding. And Donald Trump in this press Conference calls out Israel for their bombings in Beirut. Which, by the way, when Trump is saying those things, I agree with,
- [31:39]
Kiana
I
- [31:39]
Ben Meiselas
don't agree with all the other stuff he's saying, but when he was saying that Israel bombing, let me be very clear, Trump aided and abetted this in the first place. And I think when you listen to Trump's words, he then kind of says, and they weren't able to finish the job quickly. So to me, what Trump seemed more concerned about were the optics versus the genocide, and that he would have been okay if Israel took care of it quickly, meaning done the genocide quicker, as they have in Gaza, in Lebanon. But I, but I do, you know, when, when Trump's out there not showing the MOU to Israel, I am like, good, don't. Why, why would you show them? Why would you go into this catastrophic war with them? You know, in, in the first place? And when he, when he at least called out Beirut, I said, I, you should have been saying that a very, you should have been saying that a very long time ago. And I guess why, why I'm sharing this is that, you know, the coverage is, the coverage is complex because then Trump will do that. And then he seems over there, and this is where he's so discombobulated. And by the way, that was a term that Trump used when posting these weird AI images. Discombobulated, because I think his head is discombobulated. It's just an interesting word to say. But then he attacked Obama for standing up to Israel, or at least the criticism was that Obama sold Israel out. And then Trump seems to, though, be doing an Obama template, but attacking. So none of what he's saying kind of makes any sense at all. And going back to where we started with this episode, at a very bare minimum, we need someone in the leadership position who, who just, who could kind of comprehend what's happening, can kind of comprehend what's happening here. And Trump can. He really, he really, he's really deeply, deeply out of it. And so when we come back, I want to talk more about that. I want to share with you the memorandum of understanding that leaked where there is indeed $300 billion to Iran, all sanctions removed from Iran. From everybody, all removed from Iran. I want to talk about the reflecting pool. Jeremy, could we just show what it looks like? Do we have a photo of this reflecting pool?
- [34:16]
Ron Filipkowski
Just so everybody.
- [34:16]
Ben Meiselas
So this is what it looks like now. So the. Go back to the last one, then we'll show you this one. This is foam floating on the surface because Trump workers dump bottles of hydrogen peroxide in the Lincoln Memorial. That's what they were doing. They were dumping bottles of hydrogen peroxide. And again, when you don't understand basic science, this is what you, as Dr. Michael O' Brien says, y'.
- [34:46]
IndeCloud Spokesperson
All.
- [34:46]
Ben Meiselas
Not to be like a huge nerd about the reflecting pull at all, but you'll need a minimum about 8,000 liters of 12% hydrogen peroxide to reach the 50 parts per million concentration to kill algae. Is this what happens when you have zero scientists in your administration? I mean, they bring it like the pool guy, they're bringing like the pool guys in and the algae is just going to come back. The algae is just going to come back. Even if you do the hydrogen, you're just going to. The reflecting pool is now going to be a hydrogen peroxide pool. I mean, it's the stupidest. It's the stupidest. I can't even, I can't even fathom what's happening to this country right now. We'll take our first quick break of the show. Can y' all do me a favor? Can you subscribe to the Midas touch on audio wherever you get your audio podcast? It really helps us when you subscribe on audio. Subscribe now. We'll be right back after our first quick break of the show.
- [35:40]
Donald Trump
Thanks.
- [35:43]
Ron Filipkowski
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- [37:17]
IndeCloud Spokesperson
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- [38:46]
Ron Filipkowski
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- [40:32]
Ben Meiselas
Welcome back. Saw the following post which, which made me laugh. Greenland is now asking Donald Trump to invade, hoping to secure a deal similar to the one that Iran got. I mean, it's, it's, it's, I mean it's, it's kind of true. You want, you want to invade?
- [40:53]
Donald Trump
Let's do it.
- [40:53]
Ben Meiselas
Could we, could we, could we get the same deal also? That's kind of what Donald Trump looks like to the entire world right now, huh? Let's talk more about what went down at this press conference or this conference with the Emir of Qatar as well as with the Amir of Abu Dhabi and the President of the uae. Donald Trump was asked about. Let's see this one. Donald Trump says that his relationship with Iran was fully normalized. We now have a fully normalized relationship. Let's play it, get it done.
- [41:32]
Donald Trump
Iran wants to get it done. They have to get back to business. And the relationship is now normal, normalized. So I think it's going to go pretty quickly, could go faster.
- [41:46]
Ben Meiselas
He's also saying that right there with mbz, leader of The United Arab Emirates, who in Trump's first term got to sign on to the Abraham Accords. And the UAE was all in with Trump on trying to destroy Iran, do regime change in Iran and believe that the US Was going to do that. And now nbz, who's looking at Trump right there behind the scenes, was it last week, and this is where some of the writing was on the wall that there was going to be a deal with Iran. NBZ spoke directly with Foreign Minister Iraqi of Iran, and there was lots of reporting that the UAE was giving Iran billions of dollars. Now, the UAE denies that for what it's worth, but you can form opinions yourself if the UAE's released billions and billions of dollars, also reports that Qatar did as well. And I think that mbz, who you saw there, as well as the Emir of Qatar, Al Thani, they both just said, you know what, we just can't rely on the United States in this region. I mean, obviously the US Is still going to be a major power in the world just based on population and GDP and the markets and the post World War II legacy. But I don't think that going forward you're going to see any kind of similar view of these Middle east countries, perspectives on the United States. And by the way, at the end of the day, that may be a good thing, right? I mean, what way, you know, should we have air bases in all of these countries and in their territory? It may actually be a good thing. Why, why, why, why? Why do we need to be spending billions and trillions of dollars on a military industrial complex that, you know, while American people are suffering and, you know, now should we have gotten into an unlawful and catastrophic war in the first place to reach that conclusion? You know, do I have confidence that the structure and framework of this deal is going to be durable? I don't, because it's not even a deal. It's a memorandum of understanding and it's all over the place. And Trump doesn't even know where he is. He doesn't understand the complexities of. I truly doubt, and I talked about this on the podcast that I was doing with my brothers last night when we were live. I really don't think that Donald Trump's even read the agreement that he signed. I genuinely don't think that he's read the terms. Someone may have given him a summary of it, but I don't think he sat there with the terms and actually read it, thought about it, and truly knows what's in the deal. I think that's Deeply, deeply problematic. And you know, I, I, I, I hope though, and this is where I want to root for America, that, that, that we can stop these never ending wars. But with Trump, you know, where's his mind going to go next? Invade Cuba, right? That's, that's the next one, I'm sure, and we've already been talking about Cuba invasion, but I'm sure, you know, soon he'll be doing the Cuba invasion, you know, talk again and ramping up there and he'll do more blowing up of boats off the coast of Venezuela and in the Pacific also, and, and, and engaged in more war crimes there. He's can't, he can't help himself. And when you spend $1.5 trillion on a military budget, you know, it kind of becomes a self fulfilling prophecy that you're going to be engaged in wars because you're going to spend the trillions that, and when you create, when you go from the Department of the defense to the Department of War or the DoD to the Department of War, you're saying that you're a warmonger, right? Going back to Trump with NBC. You know, Donald Trump just says how rich he is. You're so rich. When you're rich, you get to talk a lot. This is what he says. Let's play it.
- [46:02]
Donald Trump
We love it. Thank you, my friend. See, when you're that rich, you can speak that low.
- [46:11]
Ben Meiselas
I don't even know what's funny about that. Like, I don't like who's laughing at these things. When you're that rich, you get to talk that long and then people laugh. Who are the people laughing? What's funny about. I just, I genuinely don't even get, it's like they, it's like they're speaking an entirely different, I don't want to say language. It's in a, it's like, it's this oligarch Furby speak. You know, they, Rich, you get to talk a lot. What is funny about any of this? We're dealing with issues of war and peace. We're dealing with issues of life and death. We're dealing with war crimes and genocide. We're dealing with the American people suffering here. What's the, what's the funny. And again, I believe I have a sense of humor. I find things, I find, I find things funny outside of, you know, when there's a, a place for, for humor and funny TV shows or movies or comedy series. But I also don't find it funny when comedians punch down like, I don't find it, I don't find it funny when you mock marginalized communities. It's not funny. That's just bullying. It says, that's not humor. To me, humor is punching up and mocking power structures. That's. To me, that's a humor that's. You want to be witty and controversial. You make fun of people in power, but making fun of people who are bullied and who, who suffer already. Why is that funny?
- [47:49]
J.D. Vance
J.D.
- [47:49]
Ben Meiselas
vance was on state regime media, and J.D. vance was, you know, so J.D. vance has basically been the guy put out there to try to sell this deal to the American people. We know behind the scenes that J.D. vance was the person pushing for the deal. And you had Rubio and HEGSETH and the CIA director, John Ratcliffe all against it. And, you know, J.D. vance is out there. But, but J.D. vance is also lying about the deal.
- [48:18]
J.D. Vance
J.D.
- [48:18]
Ben Meiselas
vance is saying, oh, no, that's not in the terms. That's not there. Just a bunch of propaganda. That's not. Okay, well, then release the terms. Just let us see what's in it. Then we won't have to speculate. But JD Vance is lying about what's in there because we know what's in there now. And, you know, I, I also, though, and this is where I hold the complex thoughts, I'm also glad that in the regime, in the Trump regime, that J.D. vance was the person who fought to get a deal doesn't mean I like J.D. vance. Let me be very clear. I think J.D. vance is complicit in war crimes, in other crimes. I mean, I think he's a horrible person. I think he's. He's changed personalities multiple times. I think that, you know, he's a fascist. I think he's a horrible person. But also, if he was helpful in getting this deal done, I'm glad that there was someone saying, we need to get, that we need to get the hell out. So I, I share, I share that with you. If you, maybe you don't want to hear me say that I don't like J.D. he's a liar, you know, and again, this is, this memorandum of understanding doesn't really create certainty, doesn't do anything. I think it's going to fall apart. I hope it doesn't, though. And so I'm glad that there's someone who was like, let's, let's get out of. Let's get out of there. But now JD Vance has become under attack by Hegseth and Ratcliffe and Rubio and Netanyahu and everybody and everybody like that. So here's what JD Van says. We don't commit to doing anything as part of the deal. We win either way. Okay, here. Play what he. Play what he says.
- [49:56]
J.D. Vance
But here's the option for Iran. If you learn the right lessons from this, and if you change the way that you react and respond to the United States, option one is we're going to change the way that we respond to you. We're going to have a better relationship. But if they choose option two, which is we're going to continue to try to pursue a nuclear weapon, and then nothing that we. We don't commit to doing anything as part of this deal. So the United States wins either way. What the President is trying to do is actually extend the hand of peace and say, if the Iranian people want greater prosperity, then their leadership has to step up and change their behavior. If they do, great. If they don't, the United States has already gotten a lot from what we need.
- [50:35]
Ben Meiselas
Okay, first off, his eyeliner just looks absolutely crazy. I mean, the eyeliner just is like. It's like next level. Like, the guy is just wearing a massive amount of eyeliner. I mean, I. I don't. I'm not judging it. Just, you know, just wearing them. It's just a huge amount of eyeliner. I mean, it looks like. I don't know, you know, most look anyway, he looks like he wears a lot of eyeliner. And what is. What does that even mean? We win either way? I don't know. What are you even talking about? We win either way. We win. We win. We didn't win. We lost the war. We lost the war. We should never have been in the war. And we lost. That's what happened. Okay? Tariffs are attacks on the American consumer. It's causing inflation.
- [51:23]
Donald Trump
Okay?
- [51:25]
Ben Meiselas
Like, let's just. Let's just understand fundamental truths. Because if, again, if you try to break it down for me, and I think this is how the American people feel on a lot of issues, you know, I think America understands we lost this war. Not everybody, but we did, obviously, when they said, here's what. What's going to happen? And those things didn't happen. But you have to understand, I don't immediately rush and go, the $300 billion is pathetic, and it's. It's a sellout, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I actually want there to be peace in the Middle East. That's the hard part about sometimes, you know, if you talk to me like an intelligent person and you explain to me and Showed me with charts and graphs and data that $300 billion isn't an arbitrary number and that there are lots of businesses who actually think this is a good idea and that somehow this will flow to the benefit of the United States and result in cheaper gas prices and will make things better and can maybe lead through, lead to diplomatic breakthroughs in other areas like Russia's invasion of Ukraine since Iran provides Shahid drones to Russia. And could there be a more comprehensive approach and you know, you know, is investing $300 billion of private capital, does that have a net positive effect? I, I don't, I don't know. Because you're not talking to me like a grown up or like a human. You're just. I win, you win. And it's not 300 billion. It's not 300 billion. All right, then it's clear to me that whatever you're doing is shady and is a lie and is bad. Because if it was good stand on business. If you did this deal, if your name Donald J. Trump is signed to this thing and your name JD Vance is signed to this thing, then just, it's gonna, we're gonna read it. Eventually. Eventually. The, to use the expression that I've been saying, eventually the algae surfaces, right? You can paint it blue for a little bit, but eventually the algae surfaces. And then if you want to try to pour, you know, hydrogen peroxide or whatever on it, that's not going to solve the problem. It's not going to solve the problem if that's what you're going to do.
- [53:55]
Donald Trump
Right.
- [53:55]
Ben Meiselas
It's a perfect metaphor for what's happening here. If you want to deal with the reflecting pool and you can explain to us the issue. Ladies and gentlemen, let's talk about the real issue here. Former President Obama in 2012 made a decision which I believe is the right decision to say, you know what, we shouldn't be using the same water supply for drinking water, which is a scarce supply for the reflecting pool to fill that massive pool. It's a waste of water where there are water shortages. It could seriously impact people living in D.C. and other places that get their source of water. So Obama made the decision, and I think a smart one, that we're going to bring in the water from the Potomac Basin that has algae in it. And so that became the water source. It was a darker paint on the bottom. It was, there was an algae issue that costed tens of millions of dollars to try to deal with. And Obama then struggled with the algae. I mean, it wasn't Let me be very clear. This was not one of the top 50,000 issues that Obama was focused on. I quite literally mean that when I say he struggled with it. It wasn't like he was posting about the reflecting pool or giving speeches about the reflecting pool or even talking about the reflecting.
- [55:17]
IndeCloud Spokesperson
Okay.
- [55:17]
Ben Meiselas
He had an Interior Secretary who handled certain things and there were certain people who focused on D.C. issues, but they tried to deal with it science based, responsibly, figure out a solution. There was never really a good solution. Why? Just basic science. Reflecting pool, shallow water, humid. DC's a swamp. Right Idea. When the reflecting pool was built, reflecting on Washington and Lincoln right there. I get it. History, Martin Luther King speech, civil rights movement, you know a lot there. But given the, given the way D.C. is, the weather and such, probably, maybe this was not the right move originally. That's a, that's a tough thing to say, but maybe you don't. Maybe we need to not do a reflecting pool. Maybe that's. But we should maybe, maybe bring it to the American people. What do you think about this? Let's talk about that. That's a democracy, right? What should we do with this? It's going to cost us potentially a billion dollars over the next 20 years to deal with the algae situation. Or we can close the reflecting pool, maybe make it like reflecting marble and maybe we deal with it or we spend a bit. What do we want? Right. Let me bring it to the chat. Let's do a democracy here. Right? What would you do if I told you the truth about the reflecting pool and explained to you the origins? First off, wouldn't you appreciate that? I was just being honest with you about what the issue was and we could vote and make a decision, what's best. That's messy. Some of you may be upset with the decisions that we make, but let's make the decision. What Trump did was paint it blue and say it was going to be great. And everybody was saying, but you're not dealing with the filtration, you're not dealing with the water source. The nano bubblers are not going to work the way you think it's going to work in order to get rid of the algae. Algae is microscopic. It's reproduction asexually, sexually, the way algae spreads. Just microscopic algae, it will always come back.
- [57:30]
J.D. Vance
So.
- [57:30]
Ben Meiselas
And painting it blue, if anything may make the situation worse, you may be creating a worse situation. Go over to the Iran deal, the algae comes back. You know, Donald Trump can say in 2018, I'm going to get out of this Obama deal and I'm going to do a deal so much better, right? Or he can say I'm going to pull out of the Obamacare or the Affordable Care act and I'm going to do a better deal. And that sounds nice. The Affordable Care act is messy. Premiums are still expensive, right? You have to rely on subsidies. It still is unpredictable sometimes. Sometimes you think, wow, I'm still not getting the best care. But we have to remember, where were we before Obamacare when 25, 30 million Americans were uninsured and insurance companies could discriminate on the basis of pre existing conditions. So the Affordable Care act was messy. I believe we should have universal health care. I want there to be universal health care right now. I do. I want the government to pay for it. I want it to be free. I think health care is a human right. Obama, I think wanted that. But in that time period the best he could get was the Affordable Care Act. The best Obama could do was the jcpoa, which was still a strong template and Donald Trump has run on painting it blue. I'll fix it. I'll do a better health care plan. And to Americans that sounds great. Okay, what do you mean let's do it. Let's get a better health care plan. I'll do a better jcpoh. Okay, that's great. Let's do a better deal. Trump, I will expose the predator cabal in the Epstein files. I'll release it. The American people. That's great. Let's release it. Let's expose the cabal. Let's, let's, let's do it. I can fix all of these at great. Fix it, fix it. But then you got to do it. And doing it doesn't mean Obama's down. Biden Auto pan up. No, you're the leader now. All right. Before we know it, we're going to be in 2027.
- [59:41]
Donald Trump
Okay?
- [59:43]
Ben Meiselas
We're going to be halfway through this God forsaken term and you did this deal, you signed it. If you didn't want to do it or memorandum, understand then don't do it. But you signed a document, your name is on the thing. So go and talk to us like grown ups about it and if you didn't like it, then don't do it. But stop with the nonsense and the baby behavior. No offense to babies. I'm telling you, you could convince me that $300 billion may make sense. I don't know, I'm not fully an expert. I don't know. 150 billion, 500 billion I certainly don't want taxpayer dollars from the American people that should be going to our health care to fund this. I absolutely don't want that. But explain it to me. Can this be helpful in stopping the genocide in Palestine? Can this be helpful in rebuilding a Lebanon? Can this be helpful in doing a two state solution? Could this be helpful in bringing stability to the region? I don't believe it's going to be because look how shady they are about it and look how Trump lies about everything. But stand. My whole point though is stand on business, stand on it and talk to us and explain it. And I'm not saying this in like a sexist way or whatever, but like for Trump because, you know, he's, he pretends to be a man, man up or person up or woman up or whatever, whatever the expression is, you know, but just, just let's go be a grown up, be an adult. You know, when, when the court tells you you've got to take your name down from the Kennedy center that you put up and vandalize, don't hide it behind drapes or by tarp. Come on, it's like a loser thing, man. Just take it down. Now everybody looks at this thing like, who the hell is this loser? Just take it down and grow up and, and, and, and let's just be adults. You know, I'm as, as I say, you know, lots of people like, oh, you know, you're anti Trump, you're anti Trump, you're anti Trump. I'm anti this thing that's in the Oval Office that is so negatively impacting the American people, I am anti that. You know, he wasn't obligated, he wasn't forced, as so many people aren't most people, to become a public servant, to serve the public, A servant, A public servant. But when you've used the position of public servant to cover up pedophile rings, to engage in catastrophic wars, to rip away people's health care, to send ICE and border patrol Gestapo to round people up, torture people and kill them, to be an instrument and an aider and a better of genocide. When you do all of these things, you've stepped into the arena to do those things. And, and I, I'm anti the pain that's being inflicted on the American people that finds its main source in this guy, you know, in this person who's, who's, who occupies and sadly the, the Oval Office right now. And as I've said before, we have to have to get out of these cycles where when the next person takes over that. We're so tribal that all of a sudden you have this tsunami of MAGA and right wing talking points to blame all of the shit that Donald Trump has handed over onto the next person. We have to be constructive, honestly, as Americans, not as political tribal animals like as Americans as human beings. Because this system is not a sustainable system right now. It is not. And we should look at models that are working and we don't have to embrace all aspects of it, but we should look at what Mamdani is doing in Manhattan right now. We should look at it. It doesn't mean we have to take every aspect of it, but we should look at what he's doing there and seeing what's working. We should look at models and we should have, once again, laboratories of democracy versus laboratories of autocracy. And too frequently that's what we're seeing. States have become laboratories of autocracy where the most vile and villainous ideas what get adopted is what gets adopted in D.C. to then inflict nationwide. And that found its home in Project 2025. So I'll leave you with this. Former Vice President Kamala Harris giving a speech today in Vienna and here's what she had to say on Iran. Let's watch former Vice President Kamala Harris.
- [64:48]
J.D. Vance
Let's play it.
- [64:49]
Kiana
Let's be clear about this. Thank you, Tim. Let's be clear about this. Whatever is being negotiated, this president is going to declare victory and will end up where we were after the JCPOA and call that a victory, the JCPOA
- [65:03]
Ben Meiselas
way that he withdrew from the Obama nuclear agreement. And one more clip of former Vice President Kamala Harris.
- [65:10]
J.D. Vance
Let's play it.
- [65:11]
Ben Meiselas
But to be clear, if you were president, you never start this war.
- [65:14]
Kiana
Absolutely not. Absolutely not. And. And
- [65:21]
Ben Meiselas
I'll leave you with that. Everybody hit subscribe. Help us get to 7 million subscribers. We're grateful for you. We appreciate you so much. Tell everyone you know about the Midas Touch network, about this show. This has been Ben on Breaking News. I'm Ben Meiselis. This is breaking News and subscribe to the Midas Touch on audio. We're making a big audio push right now, so just double check that you're subscribed. Even if you think I don't listen to it on you, just, just subscribe on audio. It helps us out a ton. Thanks for watching Shout out Midas Mighty.
- [65:51]
Ron Filipkowski
We appreciate you want to stay plugged in. Become a subscriber to our substack@midasplus.com you'll get daily recaps from Ron Filipkowski, add free episodes of our podcast and more exclusive content only available at midasplus. Com.