This Week Unfiltered 04.10.25

Summary

Truth in the Barrel: This Week Unfiltered (04.10.25) – Detailed Summary

Release Date: April 11, 2025

Hosts:

• Amy McGrath: Military veteran, committed to country and the Constitution.
• Denver Riggleman: Former Air Force veteran, former congressman from Virginia, and successful AI business CEO.

Podcast Overview:
In this episode of Truth in the Barrel, Amy McGrath and Denver Riggleman delve into pressing issues affecting the United States, particularly focusing on the whiskey and bourbon industry, the economic repercussions of recent tariff policies, and alarming political maneuvers within the Trump administration. The discussion is enriched with their shared military backgrounds, political insights, and a passion for fine bourbon.

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1. Challenges Facing Buffalo Trace Distillery

Timestamp: [00:46] – [02:05]

The episode begins with Amy introducing the current struggles of Buffalo Trace Distillery, a prominent bourbon producer located near Frankfort, Kentucky. The distillery is grappling with severe flooding of the Kentucky River, which has led to extensive water damage, effectively rendering the facilities underwater. Compounding this natural disaster are the newly instituted tariffs under President Trump’s administration, which threaten the financial stability of the distillery.

Amy McGrath:
"Buffalo Trace is dealing with a double whammy right now. The Kentucky River has flooded to extreme levels... the entire distillery is basically underwater." ([01:15])

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2. Impact of Tariffs on the Whiskey and Bourbon Industry

Timestamp: [02:05] – [05:33]

Denver Riggleman elaborates on how tariffs are adversely affecting the whiskey and bourbon industry by disrupting supply chains and increasing costs for essential materials. He highlights that tariffs act as an indirect tax on every component involved in production, from corks to glass bottles, leading to inflated prices and reduced competitiveness in the global market.

Denver Riggleman:
"Tariffs are a tax on everything... when you're looking at bourbon, you're adding cost to every single part of your supply chain." ([03:10])

Amy underscores the significance of the spirits industry, emphasizing its role in creating over 30,000 jobs and contributing to a 400% export growth since 1997. However, she warns that tariffs could reverse this progress by introducing uncertainty and financial strain.

Amy McGrath:
"The bourbon spirits industry is over 30,000 jobs in America... these tariffs are really wreaking havoc and uncertainty." ([04:10])

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3. Trump’s Liberation Day and Economic Repercussions

Timestamp: [05:33] – [16:01]

The hosts discuss President Trump’s unexpected declaration of Liberation Day, which implemented new tariffs that were swiftly reversed within 90 days due to market shock and backlash. They critique the administration’s erratic policy-making, arguing that such actions create economic instability and erode trust both domestically and internationally.

Amy McGrath:
"Trump announced Liberation Day. It shocked the markets, created uncertainty among businesses and consumers." ([06:00])

Denver Riggleman:
"Lose $10 trillion in market cap... the press reports it as the biggest single day gain, which still needs to make up for declines over the past five days. It's insane." ([07:26])

Amy further criticizes the administration’s handling of tariffs, comparing it unfavorably to the Biden administration’s more strategic approaches like the CHIPS and Science Act and the Infrastructure Act.

Amy McGrath:
"Under the last administration, the Biden administration... these acts were actually moving us in the right direction in a targeted, strategic way." ([16:01])

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4. Effects of Tariffs on Farmers and Agricultural Equipment

Timestamp: [16:01] – [25:31]

The conversation shifts to the agricultural sector, where tariffs are causing significant distress. Amy explains how farmers face declining crop prices due to reduced exports and rising costs for seeds, fertilizers, and equipment. Denver provides personal anecdotes about increased expenses in agricultural equipment, illustrating the broader financial burdens on farmers.

Amy McGrath:
"These tariffs are really hurting farmers... their equipment prices, seed prices, fertilizer have all gone up." ([18:08])

Denver Riggleman:
"One tractor that I bought... all the implements we had to have... was over $100,000 for that one tractor." ([21:18])

They discuss the long-term implications, such as loss of market share to other countries like Brazil and Argentina, and the challenges of restoring these markets even if tariffs are lifted.

Amy McGrath:
"During the last tariff war... we lost a lot of the soybean share... we're not getting that market back." ([22:05])

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5. Trump Administration’s Retaliation Against Whistleblowers

Timestamp: [25:31] – [36:26]

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to addressing the Trump administration's actions against whistleblowers Chris Krebs and Miles Taylor. The hosts condemn the administration’s retaliatory measures, such as opening investigations and revoking security clearances, as authoritarian tactics aimed at silencing those who opposed unfounded claims of election fraud.

Amy McGrath:
"Donald Trump is going after them using the power of the federal government... that's just wrong." ([31:57])

Denver Riggleman:
"This administration is enriching themselves, destroying the rule of law, making autocratic decisions." ([30:10])

They laud the courage of Krebs and Taylor, acknowledging their integrity and the risks they face in standing up against the administration's overreach.

Amy McGrath:
"These two individuals had the courage to come forward because they love their country." ([35:18])

Denver Riggleman:
"Military people like us who served in good faith... need to help here." ([34:02])

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6. Potential Retreat of U.S. Troops from Europe

Timestamp: [36:26] – [41:00]

The final topic covers the alarming prospect of President Trump withdrawing U.S. troops from Europe. Amy and Denver express concern that such a move would embolden Vladimir Putin and weaken NATO alliances, undermining global stability established over the past 80 years.

Amy McGrath:
"A retreat from Europe is exactly what Vladimir Putin wants... it would be a big fat win for Vladimir Putin." ([39:17])

Denver Riggleman:
"Autocratic decision making on tariffs... pouring money into a failed economy because of Orban's beliefs and white nationalism." ([40:35])

They criticize the potential for reduced military presence to grant adversaries greater freedom and power, jeopardizing both national and international security.

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7. Closing Remarks and Tribute to Patriots

Timestamp: [41:00] – [36:26]

As the episode concludes, Amy and Denver raise a toast to Chris Krebs and Miles Taylor, honoring their patriotism and bravery in the face of governmental retaliation. They emphasize the importance of supporting integrity and courage within the government and the broader fight against authoritarianism.

Amy McGrath:
"We are behind you. You are amazing Americans. Thank you for what you've done." ([35:43])

Denver Riggleman:
"Here's to good people... people who are patriots, people who are willing to stand up against tyranny." ([35:43])

They invite listeners to subscribe and continue engaging with their insightful discussions, blending their love for bourbon with unwavering dedication to truth and patriotism.

Denver Riggleman:
"Combining that with bourbon. I don't know if you can beat this." ([42:17])

Amy McGrath:
"Come see us next week." ([42:17])

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Key Takeaways:

• Economic Instability: Tariffs introduced under the Trump administration are causing significant disruptions in the whiskey, bourbon, and agricultural industries, leading to increased costs and reduced competitiveness.

• Political Overreach: The administration’s retaliation against whistleblowers Chris Krebs and Miles Taylor exemplifies a dangerous overreach of federal power, undermining the rule of law and democratic principles.

• Global Security Concerns: Proposals to withdraw U.S. troops from Europe threaten to weaken NATO alliances and empower adversaries like Russia, destabilizing global security structures.

• Support for Integrity: The episode underscores the importance of supporting individuals with integrity who stand against authoritarianism and corrupt practices within the government.

Notable Quotes:

• Amy McGrath:
  "Tariffs are really wreaking havoc and uncertainty." ([04:10])

• Denver Riggleman:
  "We're going after the law firms who's going to actually defend these guys." ([34:02])

• Amy McGrath:
  "A retreat from Europe is exactly what Vladimir Putin wants." ([39:17])

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Conclusion:
In this episode of Truth in the Barrel, Amy McGrath and Denver Riggleman provide a compelling critique of current economic and political policies, highlighting the detrimental effects of misguided tariffs, the erosion of democratic integrity, and the perilous implications for global security. Their informed perspectives and passionate discussions aim to inform and engage listeners who are concerned about the direction of the United States.

For more in-depth conversations and spirited debates, visit www.TruthintheBarrel.com and subscribe on your preferred podcast platform.

Transcript

[A]

Foreign. Welcome to Truth in the Barrel Unfiltered. We have a lot to get through today. I'm Amy McGrath and I'm here with my co host, Denver Riggleman, former Air Force vet, a former congressman from Virginia, and very successful AI business CEO and founder of a multimillion dollar company. So just thought I would throw that out there. Wow. Happy to be with you. But we do have a ton to get through and like all of our episodes, we're gonna start talking about whiskey and bourbon a little bit. Why? Because it's fun and because we love it. That's why.

[B]

Well, truth in the barrel, right, Amy?

[A]

Truth in the barrel. That's what this is all about. And the first episode that we did, Denver, I brought out Buffalo Trace. Why? Because that distillery is right down the road from me. And normally for our episodes, we're gonna different whiskey or bourbon every episode, but for this one, we're going to bring in Buffalo Trace yet again. Why? Because they are dealing with the double whammy right now. The Kentucky river has flooded to extreme levels in Frankfort, right near where Buffalo Trace Distillery is. They're cresting at 48.2ft. And what does that mean? It means that the entire distillery is basically, basically underwater. So they're dealing with a lot of stuff right now. And they're also dealing with these tariffs that President Trump is instituting or enacting. And so that's why I'm drinking Buffalo Trace again, because they need some help right now. They do, and we love them. But Denver, tell us about these tariffs and how they affect the whiskey and bourbon industry.

[B]

It's a cascading effect of brutal. You know, when, when you're talking about tariffs, taxes, supply chain issues, because all that actually sort of is bundled up in one bad thing that happened to Buffalo Trace. Let's go through everything. They're going through, you know, floodwaters, they're losing whiskey. They have insurance, obviously, millions and millions of dollars of insurance. Let me just give you an idea. For me, on my distillery, my barrel house, we have about probably $5 million in insurance just in our barrel house. Now, not counting our distillery and all that kind of stuff, their insurance has to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars, right? And if you look at me, my Insurance costs are $24,000 per year just on my barrel house. Now, I want you to think about that people out there. That's just a small craft distillery. So first Buffalo Trace gets hit with a flood, they've probably lost product. The insurance is going to be you know, going through the insurance claim stack. But there's another thing that happened too, fema, right? As FEMA gets defunded, what happens with any help there? And then there's that other whammy you talked about, Amy, which are tariffs. Tariffs are a tax on everything, right, that you're actually utilizing if it's coming from other countries. So let me just give you an idea of this, Amy, and I think you'll really love this. When we were looking for glass, we first started our distillery, there was only one real glass company called OI that was an American owned company. All the other companies were actually sourcing glass from China, Mexico. I think we looked at one, I think in Portugal. So we're looking everywhere for glass. I think we even looked for glass in France. I mean, this is even cheaper than OI glass here in America. So what we found was, is that American glass was so much more expensive. So we actually got our glass out of Shanghai initially. Well, when Covid hit, they put on Covid surcharges, which were sort of applicable to tariffs, which actually upped our supply chain costs to a point that were ridiculous. The problem you have with tariffs, which is sort of shooting yourself in the face for maybe one of the biggest. Right? When you're looking at bourbon, you're looking at whiskeys, it's so beautiful. You're shooting yourself in the face by adding cost to every single part of your supply chain. And you're like, well, Denver, what would that be? Stupid things like corks.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

You're like, what if it's only 8 cents more per cork? If you're selling, right, say 500,000 cases a year and say one of your cases are six bottles, right? So you're looking at what, 3 million bottles? I'm just doing this, right? Do 3 million times 8 cents. And what if your glass also goes up 10%? What if your shipping cartons go up 10%? What happens?

[A]

You're basically just pricing yourself out.

[B]

Well, you have to pass the cost on too. So now you have sort of an artificial inflationary measure based on tariffs that sometimes are unilateral. So I guess, Amy, what I'm trying to say, and I didn't want to make this too long, is that when you talked about the double whammy, right, that's going on with Buffalo Trace in Kentucky, specifically where you're sitting right now, Right. It's also the defunding of female, the lack of monies for real support for infrastructure rebuild, Right. When you're talking about roads and Everything else that happens with Buffalo Trace, you're talking about their insurance loads, and now you're talking about tariff loads on top of that. This is how you destroy business is through bad policy and the cascading effective, stupid decisions.

[A]

Yeah, it's terrible. And let's be real, the bourbon spirits industry is over 30,000 jobs in America. It's huge. And since when I graduated college in 1997, the spirits industry, because of exports, has exploded like 400%. So they're booming. And that's great. That's great for everyone. It's great for the people overseas that are buying Kentucky bourbon, and it's great for the industry here. But these tariffs are just the potential for them is really wreaking havoc and uncertainty. So that's where we're gonna start today. Okay. Just a few days ago, Trump announced his Liberation Day. Okay. And let's just bring it back to where we are. Trump announced his Liberation Day. It shocked the markets, created uncertainty among businesses, created a ton of uncertainty among consumers and the American public. And so almost hours after they went into effect, truly hours after they went into effect, Trump reversed course and saying that some people got yippee, you know, and that's why he reversed course. He announced that he was pausing these tariffs Denver for 90 days. And although there are still 10% tariffs on everyone and 125% on China. So that's where we're at, you know, what happened to the stock market? And my question to you is, how stupid is this entire thing?

[B]

Now? That's a hell of a question, Amy. So first of all, we're on truth in the barrel. I do think Liberation Day created inebriation day for a lot of traders. I think that's the first thing. Right. I think the other thing, too, when you're looking at shooting yourself in the face, which is something this administration seems to be really good at, I find it amazing, right, Amy, that the day before, right. I think it was the day before they said there was no way there was going to be a 90 day pause. It was fake news that people were talking about a 90 day pause. Then he does it also. How many people got rich by buying the dip? And if people knew about the. Right, there's that. But the other thing is this, and this is what is incredible to me. Lose $10 trillion in market cap, Right? Gone. Right. Then the press, you know, once he lifts these tariffs. The press reports yesterday, Amy, they report, oh, my gosh, it's the biggest single day gain in history, which is still needs to make up 2,000 more points to make up for the declines and losses over the past five days. It's insane, Amy. I don't know if to a point that the press is stupid or they're culpable or they're only looking for access, but what they're doing is they're not reporting fairly on what's happening. It wasn't everybody around Trump that got yippee, whatever that means. Right. I think it was Trump himself who saw there was a bad policy or there was so much insider bullshit going on. Right. And there were so many things where people knew what was happening that people were able to buy the dip, people were able to short stocks, and then people were able to write cash in on the back end because he was bragging in the White House how two billionaires made a lot of money in the stock market that day. And I gotta tell you, I just wish there was another alternative media that told the truth. In fact. Oh, wait a minute. It's called Truth in the Barrel. Oh, I forgot. It's us, right? We're the ones doing this, Amy. But it's insane what happened.

[A]

There's so many things here. Trump is saying, all these countries are begging me to negotiate, so therefore, it's a big win. The Treasury Secretary told reporters that the tariff move was a, quote, successful negotiating strategy. And no one creates leverage for himself like President Trump. I mean, this is like, just shit all stupid. I mean, that's what this really is.

[B]

I love it when you curse, and I think you need to drink more.

[A]

It just doesn't. How are they. They're getting away with saying, this is a win. It's almost like setting your house on fire. Okay. And then doing the. Bringing the hose and putting out the fire after it's burned a little bit, damaging your. Then taking a hose and spraying water all over it. Okay. And then getting water damage from that and turning around and telling your neighbors, guess what? I'm a hero. That's what they're doing right now.

[B]

I don't think a lot of people know this about you, Amy. I hope that I know that, and I thank you for the amazing introduction. But that means I get to say something about you. I don't think people know is you're an amazing college athlete. Right. You played Division 1.

[A]

No, I don't know if I was.

[B]

Amazing, but I didn't play Division one athlete. Right?

[A]

Yeah, Four years.

[B]

Four years. And you played what sport?

[A]

Soccer, of course.

[B]

Okay. Played soccer. So let me ask you a question. If your team was 0 and 10 based on really bad decisions from the coaches. And you're already out of the play. You're out of any kind of postseason, any type of tournament play. But you win a game now you're one in ten.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Do you say, oh, my God, what a success you were this year? We're great.

[A]

We're great. Look at us.

[B]

Look at us. All those coaching decisions paid off. We're now 1 in 10. That's what happened in the White House.

[A]

And here's the thing, and I know we're all laughing, but I feel like we do have to talk about the reasoning behind this, because you get multiple different reasons from the Trump administration about why these tariffs were instituted. One was to bring back manufacturing jobs. Really? Like, if he really wanted the big. Why didn't he do this in his first term?

[B]

I don't know.

[A]

The other thing was to punish China, which apparently now is the reason, since we've instituted 125% tariffs on China. Now we're gonna punish China for bad trade practices. Look, I'm all for that. China's been doing bad trade practices for decades. But here's the thing. Why didn't he do this in his first term? This is a stupid move, right? He did it in his first term because he was surrounded by people who said, this is really dumb. And now he's surrounded by people who don't say that.

[B]

No, Because, I mean, listen, they're maniacally insane. I mean, I don't. I don't think Laura Loomer is going to have any, you know, insightful ideas about trade practices or Peter Navarro. Right. Who was in jail. But if you look at Besant, and I know that you love talking about this stuff, you look at somebody who changes a story every day and just keeps saying, trump's a genius. Right. And it's just ludicrous, Right. That we have something that failed. You said something, Amy, that was, you know, pretty insightful, where, you know, you're talking about, hey, he said that he was going to other countries, force other countries to come to the table. The reason he had to change his policies, because he didn't, because the EU was about to blast us. Everybody was about to blast us. And he knew that because we're not as big as we used to be. He doesn't understand the globalization effects that happen within our economy and the fact that that downstream could be absolutely devastating. Which was proven. And so he had to reverse course because he made really bad policy based on the crazies around him and his inability to think critically and. Or for him to enrich himself and his family and the people around him by ensuring that people knew when those tariff calls were gonna happen. And all of that, whether it's stupid or on purpose, hurt the American people and shows that we don't have a stable policy going forward.

[A]

Yeah, three things. One, this really hurts us long term because other countries do not trust us anymore. We used to be the leader economically that you could at least trust that we were gonna be stable. And that just throws this up in the air. But two, something that everybody should watch is when Donald Trump says, hey, we had 75 countries come and want to negotiate. Guess what? When they were asked for a list of those 75 countries, what do you think happened? Denver? They said, oh, we're not going to provide that list of those 75. I guess that's top secret information. Here's why they won't provide the list, because they don't have 75 countries that came begging, kissing his butt. And the third thing that I think everybody needs to watch is this, when we go forward here, because we're not out of the woods, we still have 10% tariffs on pretty much everybody, 125% on China, which is really going to hurt many, many industries. But Trump is thinking about exempting some companies from these tariffs. And that, to me, just reeks of corruption. It reeks of, this is not something in America that we should be doing.

[B]

Rewarding companies for being loyal to him. I mean, this is authoritarian type of activities. It's a bit fashy. Right. We're starting to start to hit that little bit of that fascist button. And the thing is, you know, now we have companies that are being exempted that treat him right. I mean, it gets to the point other companies are gonna have to sue. We're gonna have massive legal issues going on. And it's also gonna, again, it's gonna actually, it's going to, I think, diminish America in the eyes of the global world. That we're actually, we're a country where rule of law actually matters, especially in our economic institutions and policies. And if that happens, you know, I think a lot of people are going to be. I actually got a message this morning, Amy. They're like, denver, we see that you're going hard against. You know, looks like the corruption in the markets and the fact that people are buying the dips and what's going on there. Invest in Australia. We still have the rule of law. You know, I think before you know it, Djibouti is gonna have more rule of law in their markets than we are. Right. And I think that's really where we're going right now, is we're just looking at this bizarre, winners and losers, authoritarian way of doing business. And I think. I think people need to react to that, and we need to fight back.

[A]

Yeah. And the final thing I'll say on this before we move on is you hear this from a lot of people. Well, at least Trump's trying. He's trying to fix the problems, folks. No, he's not. I mean, even if you think he's trying, this approach is absolutely stupid. And under the last administration, the Biden administration, Biden didn't fix all the problems, but we had some acts that worked. The CHIPS and Science act, the Infrastructure Act. These acts were actually moving us in the right direction in a targeted, strategic way. Not this stupidity that is going on right now. I mean, would you agree with that, or do you think that the Biden plan was terrible?

[B]

No. I mean, I thought the Biden plan was doing what he could do coming out of COVID It was very difficult. Right. To find the stimulus. Right. Based on the COVID policies, really, that started with Trump. So Biden was doing. Is it perfect? Absolutely not. There's nothing perfect in an administration, but there's still the rule of law. And here's what I would suggest to people, Amy, that are listening. You might have really hated some of the things that Biden did or the administration did, or you thought that the CHIPS act was too far, the Infrastructure act was inflationary. There are things that you can say in stats, statistics, and numbers that might look that way. Okay, yeah, we can have policy differences, but if you're looking at an administration that's enriching themselves, destroying the rule of law, making autocratic decisions, ruling by fiat, and going after enemies, I think we're looking at something that is so dire that even if you didn't appreciate some of Biden's policies, at least you could appreciate we were still America. And I think when we see the difference in wealth when Trump goes into the presidency and when he leaves or whenever that happens, I think you're gonna see a massive increase in his wealth based on the fact that he's mining the American people. Right. At this point, he's mining the wealthy United States to line his own pockets. And I think we need to consider that.

[A]

Yeah, it's huge. And by the way, manufacturing construction soared to record levels under the last administration, but nobody talks about that. Let's move on to how these tariffs affect farmers. And this is really important to me, not only because it's here in Kentucky, but also, you know, I'm married into an amazing family with my husband, and his family deals in the agriculture equipment business. So I have learned so much, much more than I ever thought I would about agriculture equipment. And, you know, these tariffs are really hurting farmers. And they also get sort of a double, triple whammy right now because as their prices for their crops are going down and have gone down continually and will continue to go down under these tariffs, because a lot of what they do is exported, right? But also their equipment prices, their prices for seed, their prices for fertilizer have all gone up. And so they are really getting hurt right now, or have the potential to get hurt tremendously from these tariffs. And during the last administration, Trump bailed them out with a $28 billion bailout. And there's talk of doing that again. I mean, at what point do we, do we just say, this is crazy, what are we doing?

[B]

Well, I think me and you are, you know, Amy, we are things crazy. If we can get personal here when you have over 77 million people vote for this guy. They're not paying attention to the fact that his failed policies are creating massive debt and deficit loads on the American public as he's bailing out whole sections. Right. Of our economy based on awful policy. It's incredible to me. And you look at Republicans who say they're fiscally responsible. We've had everybody talk about what is our debt and deficit going to look like heading into 2026 after this crazy year. We're going through the approach now. And I know that because, Amy, I get phone calls and I have a company and I'm looking at the approach lines and where that money's going for AI and where that's money going for all DOD and government stuff and what's happening in the insurance markets and all the things that I got to pay attention to. Correct? And I think that when you're looking at farmers and the cascading effect of what's happening to them, they're getting hit, enzies and outies, they're getting hit with stuff coming in and they're getting tagged on stuff going out because of the reciprocal tariffs or the tariff retaliation that's coming from the countries that buy their goods and. Right. You have a cascading effect where when your equipment goes up. And Amy, you know this, right? Listen, I am such a small time player when it comes to equipment, but one tractor of mine okay, Amy, one tractor that I bought, right? An Avant 755. Right. The tractor with all the implements we had to have, from barrel tippers to forks as a forklift, right. To grapples. All the stuff that we had to have was over $100,000 for that one tractor. Yeah, 100,000 bucks. Now, think about a farmer that's buying a million dollar.

[A]

A lot of that equipment is much more expensive than that.

[B]

Oh, it's hugely more expensive in the millions, right? And we're like, oh, crap, we got to pay a payment on that. And our forklifts and our roofers, you know, when you're looking at them, their payment systems, then if you get hit hard, right now, you're paying more for equipment. Your monthly outlays go up. You're getting hit on your exports and your imports based on retaliatory tariffs. What do you do? Right? You have to start scaling back labor, scaling back production, or you're dumping crops into the system, losing money. It was funny. You sent me an article, Amy, and it was brilliant. You know, at the end, that Farber's like, well, maybe we'll have lower taxes because we're not making any money.

[A]

The only upside is it's a joke. But. But here's the thing.

[B]

The.

[A]

The bail. Even if the Trump administration bails out farmers again, and I actually think, you know, I don't know, I have mixed feeling about bailouts to begin with, but even if they do that again, farmers lose the market share when these things happen. So during the last tariff war, during the first administration, we lost a lot of the soybean share. A lot of the countries that bought soybeans from us went to Brazil, went to other countries, and guess what? We're not getting that market back. So we have corn, for example. A lot of our corn is shipped to Mexico. You go to Mexico, you get a lot of corn products, corn tortillas, all that stuff. And what's going to happen when we slap a bunch of tariffs on there? Mexico's going to turn to Brazil, to Argentina to get their corn, and they're not. Even if. Even if this Trump, this war goes away, you know, and Trump goes away in three or three and a half years or whatever, they won't necessarily get that market share back. That's. That's a real problem.

[B]

It is. And if you up the prices of my elote, we're fighting, you know, I love a piece of corn, cheese on it.

[A]

I know.

[B]

Don't take away my elote.

[A]

And just on the ag Equipment piece. Here's the thing that a lot of people don't know. You can say, well, we should make our own agriculture equipment. Don't we have John Deere here? Look, folks, John Deere, like every other like, like, you know, Ford. Guess what? There's no, nothing that is made 100% here in the United States. There's parts that come from all around the country, the world. And, you know, a lot of people get their agriculture equipment from Europe, from Canada and all of that stuff. You know, we've had free trade for decades. And again, it comes back to like, why are we even doing this? This is so dumb.

[B]

It is. Just because there's a manufacturing plant in North America, like for a John Deere or any of the other tractor factories or automobile factories, doesn't mean that all your parts are coming from the US it's ludicrous to think that. And you know, you think about a ford product, right? 30, there's certain vehicles, 30 to 40% of the, the actual products might come from Mexico and other, other countries that are in that vehicle. So again, it goes back. You have to have people that have nuance in their thinking when it comes to the economy, but they also have to realize, right, like Republicans of the past, is that the more free the trade, right, the better the offsets. And all these libertarians talk about Milton Friedman and Republicans, and he is the economist everybody should follow. Do you know what Milton Friedman said? He goes, it's ridiculous for a large country with the economic might that we have to do tit for tat on tariffs because we're so much more powerful and it's demeaning and we have to be the ones that lead in free trade. Obviously, there's countries that do bad things. We can target those tariffs and go after them specifically for unfair practices in the global space. That's fine, it's cool. But if you're not smart enough to realize who your target is, you're just hurting and shooting at everybody with this ready, fire, aim policy. That doesn't make any sense to anybody that has half a brain. And I think when you have morons in charge, you have moron outcomes. And I think that's where we're at right now.

[A]

I mean, look, farmers in rural America voted for Donald Trump by pretty large margins.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

So, I mean, I guess my question is, did they think this wasn't going to happen? Because Trump talked about it for a long time. We were all hoping he wouldn't do something stupid. But here we are.

[B]

As somebody that's literally in the agricultural business. Christine, my wife, she has to go through the prices on white corn and pumpernickel rye and soft red winter wheat and malt. We have to look at all this. And the fact is that looking at what farmers have to go through, looking at me at this micro level of what we had to do with supply chain disruptions and tariffs and Covid surcharges and everything that matters right now, farmers need to rise up and step up and look at what's actually happening. Because what we're seeing is that right now, the GOP isn't about people who work for a living. The GOP is about people who leverage for a living. And that is absolutely destructive to farmers and people that are actually producers.

[A]

Yeah, well.

[B]

Well, that's what you get with autocratic decision making. And there's something that happened, Amy, and I want to just transition to this because we've been talking about this sort of unilateral decision making is what happened to a couple of friends of mine yesterday and people that you know and Chris Krebs and Miles Taylor. Right. And I'd love to get your take on this. You know, I. Fortunately, I have a preemptive pardon based on January 6th. Now he wants to nullify that pardon. And my wife's like, you know, honey, do you need a go bag? Sort of joking. But the thing is, is that I know Miles and Chris, and I think an executive order asking for an investigation because they came out against this stolen election buffoonery and QAnon conspir thinking is, we got a nut bag demanding the FBI investigate two people because he's mad that his fantasy was busted. And it looks like some retaliatory measure on how he thought he was treated. I think we got to look at this. I don't have the words, Amy. I don't know if you have the words to encapsulate what happened yesterday, but I'd love to get your take on that.

[A]

Yeah. So I'd like to just sort of take everybody back because you mentioned this is personal to you and it is to me as well. I know Miles Taylor, and I think he is an amazing patriot and an amazing American. And I'm sure Chris Krebs is as well. But what these two individuals worked in the Trump administration. They were Trump appointees. Miles Taylor was the chief of Staff to the Secretary of Homeland Security. Chris Krebs was the leader of cisa. Now, that's the Cybersecurity Information Security Agency. I know it's a long acronym but what they do is they protect our elections from foreign interference. It's a very important agency, by the way, one that Trump is gutting right now. But what happened to Chris was that after the 2020 election, he was in charge of that agency, and he basically came out and said, there's no evidence of any kind of fraud in this election. And of course, Trump fired him him, and now he's trying to wreak retribution on him by basically opening and having the FBI open an investigation on him. And it's not only affecting Chris Krebs. And Miles Taylor, the president, in his executive order, basically said that I'm revoking the security clearances for everyone, for the entire company of Sentinel One, which is a cybersecurity company that Chris Krebs now works for and for everyone that works with him at. In that company. Like, how bad is that? That is like mob boss authoritarian stuff. You're not only going after the two individuals who you don't like because they told the truth about you, by the way. You're going after their companies that they work for and then everybody that works with them in those companies. I just think that is something we have never seen before in this country, and that is why it is so important that people understand the overreach of Donald Trump right now.

[B]

Yeah, it should be one of the most chilling things that has happened since this all began, since he was actually sworn in. So let's talk why he's really mad at Chris Krebs. So in the cybersecurity infrastructure, what is it? The cybersecurity infrastructure Infrastructure Security Agency in cisa. Chris Krebs set up an area or a way to debunk conspiracy theories that were coming out about the stolen election. Right. So when you're debunking that, who are you debunking? Well, you're debunking Rudy Giuliani, you're debunking Peter Navarro, some of the. It's always the same names, isn't it, Amy? Right. You're debunking some of the people that people don't know about, like Colonel Phil Waldron, who's the one who sent the briefings to Giuliani and Trump about the stolen election in the swing states. Or Seth Ketchel or the cyber ninjas. Right. Or Andy Biggs, all the congressional representatives from Arizona, Ginni Thomas, Clarence Thomas, Rick Perry, you know, and everyone around Trump. Right. But there are no sane people around Trump anymore. You know, now you have just a bunch of crazy. But back then, you had A few sane people that were pushing back, like Chris Krebs. But he also is a data expert. And when you look at Miles Taylor, Miles Taylor wrote the anonymous letter in the book. Right, Right. So about what was happening inside the agency and with the insanity of the Trump presidency. So this is literally just a retaliatory, autocratic measure to go after people that did their job and are truth tellers. And I think when we have a madman in charge, it's almost like Amy, like Joffrey from Game of Thrones is the president now. That's really what it's like. Right. That's where we're at.

[A]

He's going after people who were honest, who had integrity when so many others either were not honest or did not have or did not have the courage to come forward. These two individuals had the courage to come forward because they love their country. And Donald Trump is going after them. And he is using. It's not just him, Donald Trump going after him, folks. He is using the power of the federal government. Think about that. The power of the federal government he is using against his enemies, his personal and political enemies and companies. That's why this is such a big deal, because he's now expanding into the companies that they work for. And that's just. It's just wrong. And we need to all be outraged.

[B]

Wrong and outraged is the way to put it. But at what point, what is the BOA point? And that's what frightens me about other folks, not me and you here. But there is going to be a BOA point where people like the government's coming after us for real. Right. The very thing, the very conspiracy theories that the GOP has pushed in maga, that there's a deep state globalist weaponization of the federal government is exactly what they're doing. It's a Goebbels rift. They accuse people of exactly what they're going to do. And the accusations are so wild and so insecure, insane. But they're doing exactly what's so wild and so insane about their accusations. And that's the incredible thing about information warfare and information operations is that you have these individuals affecting this by accusing other people that. Which they're doing in real time.

[A]

Right.

[B]

And I think that's what's. And by. There's people like me and you that are sane. And by the way, I want to say, I don't think this is a freaking war between the left and the right anymore. I think the right is in a hold my beer moment. We can't Hardly identify it. You know, the left. There's some crazy people on the left, as we both know. However, it seems like most of the left is like, maybe there should be a rule of law, right? That would be cool.

[A]

We're not willing to throw that away yet, right?

[B]

Yeah, right. Cool. But there's a saying against insane on this. It's insane what Trump did. Everybody in the gop, every human being should say, that's nuts. He should be impeached, or the 25th Amendment should be invoked because he's sniffing glue or he's non compos mentis. Something's happening, right? And it's so insane, it's so nuts. It's hard for me and you to have the language to encapsulate, right. The mental bat shittery that this guy is going through to go after Chris and Miles and. But that's that autocratic decision making on tariffs. It's all the eos. It's going after the law firms who's going to actually defend these guys. Who's. Who's going to be. Who's going to be brave enough to do this? Amy, right? The law firm's bent over, right? They're Lima Deltas out there, right? They don't know what's going on. And, you know, they just want. Just. Just protect us. You freaking cowards. You pieces of. And that's where we're at right now, and that's how I'm feeling, is that I can go in and start a bar fight, right? I'm ready, right? I know there's seven of them and one of me, but maybe I'll get one in, right? Maybe I'll get, you know, but that's where I'm at because this is insane.

[A]

All right, well, I just want to take a moment here because Chris Krebs and Miles Taylor, they are patriotic Americans with courage, when so many Americans that were in the Trump administration the first time did not have courage. And I just want to take a drink for them and tell them, we are behind you. You are amazing Americans. Thank you for what you've done.

[B]

Cheers. You know what? It's. You're so right. Ah, you know, here's to every. Here's. Here's to good people. You know, there's. To, you know, people who are patriots, people are willing to stand up against tyranny. Right? And that. This is like. It's like we're having our own Whiskey Rebellion here. Amy.

[A]

It's true. And, you know, I. I even brought Miles Taylor's book. I don't know if Chris Krebs has written, but he wrote a book, Miles Taylor called Blowback. It's amazing. Really gives you insight into the Trump administration, the first one, and then what he dealt with coming forward. These people are, these guys have courage and we need to be behind them right now.

[B]

So, Amy, now that we've done our toast to the patriots of the United States, last topic, and I want to ask you about this. We had a general come out talking about his disagreement with the Trump team that the United States should be pulling troops out of Europe right now. You know, we're talking Germany, we're talking some of our allies that we've had for decades. And I know this is near and dear to our heart because of what we've done in our past. Right. Just, you know, people again, I'll keep reminding people we're Amy McGrath has 89 combat missions. So and I did a little bit too, too in the military. So, Amy, your thoughts, ma'am, on your thoughts, ma'am, on the insanity of the decision making of us pulling troops out of Europe at this time and what's going on?

[A]

Well, a retreat from Europe is exactly what Vladimir Putin wants. So to me, this is the orders from Vladimir Putin to Donald Trump to pull some troops out. Now, it hasn't happened yet, but there's talk of it and that's why we're talking about it today. Say people should know that we have troops all around the world, 160,000 troops stationed in various places all around the world. And by the way, that has provided world global stability for like the last 80 years. So not a bad thing. Okay. And 80,000 of those are in Europe. In fact, when Russia invaded Ukraine, President Biden put in 20,000 more troops into Europe. Why? To bolster NATO against potentially a Russian aggression into Eastern Europe. And so what Trump is now thinking about doing and his team wants to do is pulling 10,000, 20,000, who knows, those troops back out. And that would be a win. It would be a big fat win for Vladimir Putin because he would be given time in his pause in Ukraine to possibly ramp back up to modernize his forces and, you know, would just weaken our position in Europe. I don't understand it. And that's why the NATO commander, the European, we have many commands around the world. This guy is a four star general. His name is General Cavoli and he is the head of what we call European Command, which is also the head of NATO. And he is saying don't do this. We should be listening to him. That's my belief.

[B]

Yeah, I think so. But the fact he went against the Trump administration. Is he going to be fired? Probably. Number two, there was that other thing, right, Amy, is that not only removing troops from Europe, maybe transitioning some of them to a failed state with an autocratic and dictatorial nature that's in complete freefall based on some of the policies that Trump embraces. And that's Hungary and Viktor Orban. Right. So, you know, that's another win for Russia. Right, Right. Because it's, you know, Orban was even one of those guys, I think, you know, like Turkey, he wouldn't mind it. Of buying some S400, some Russian surface to air missile systems. And so I think what we have right now is if we're not purposefully pro Putin, we certainly are accidentally pro Putin. So either through stupidity or through malice. And sometimes stupidity and malice are the same things, because I've always said stupidity is terminal. We're to a point right now that stupidity and malice, or stupidity or malice, is creating real issues for us and our allies globally. And I think going to a Viktor Orban type of base, detachment there, or setting up a base there is just pouring money into a failed economy from us because of Orban's beliefs and white nationalism and anti immigration. So that's my take, ma'am.

[A]

Well, we'll see what happens. But a retreat from Europe, in my mind, and then the minds of many who study this stuff in national security would be tremendously bad for our country, bad for the world, and a victory for Vladimir Putin. But, you know, maybe he wants Denver, maybe he wants to bring the troops home so he can do his military parade down the streets of Washington, D.C. oh, my God.

[B]

That's a whole nother thing. I so glad you pushed that in there. I wasn't even thinking about that right now. Is that we got this goofball wanting to spend tens of millions of dollars to do a parade in his honor. And I promise you, I wouldn't be going to that parade. I think it's just ludicrous. And I think, again, it should signal to the world and to people that are sane that we have somebody who is non compos mentis and completely narcissistic and sociopathic in charge. And, and I'm just suggesting that. I don't know if that's a. I don't know if psychiatrists have come up with a complete. You know, it's a lot of big words, but yeah, but it really comes down to he's a nutball. And I think. I think military people like us who served in good faith, the United States of America, look at this for what it truly is. And I just hope that the sane rise up. And I think we can help here.

[A]

Amen.

[B]

Amen. So here we go. Another incredible show. Amy, I gotta tell you, I love doing Truth in the Barrel with you, and everybody needs to join us. And if you're not subscribing on YouTube or you're not downloading your pod of choice, you're missing the most dynamic and brilliant discussions ever made in podcast history on truth in the barrel. And combining that with bourbon. I don't know if you can beat this.

[A]

I don't know if it's ever been done in media history.

[B]

Media history. When you combine bourbon and truth, you get Truth in the barrel.

[A]

Come see us next week.

[B]

You better. Damn it. See you later and love seeing you, Amy.