Podcast Summary: Verdict with Ted Cruz — BONUS POD: Trump Declares War on ‘Green New Scam’ plus Visa Freeze Targets High-Risk Countries

Date: December 4, 2025
Hosts: Sen. Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson
Duration: ~16 minutes (content)
Main Theme:
Analysis and commentary on two major policy moves from the Trump White House: a rollback of automobile emissions standards (framed as targeting the “Green New Scam”) and a sweeping freeze on immigration/asylum from nineteen high-risk countries following security concerns.

Episode Overview

In this bonus edition, Ben Ferguson hosts (Ted Cruz does not appear in the content segment, despite the show’s title) and walks listeners through two major stories out of the Trump White House. The episode focuses on:

• President Trump’s rollback of Biden-era emission standards and new initiatives aimed at lowering consumer costs, especially for automobiles.
• A sweeping freeze of immigration and asylum claims from nineteen “high-risk” countries, following a violent incident involving National Guardsmen in D.C., with a focus on national security and threats from unvetted migrants.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Trump’s “War on the Green New Scam” and Push for Affordability

[03:08–09:14]

• Affordability Moves:
  President Trump announced significant steps to “lower costs for American consumers,” especially regarding car affordability, by terminating Biden’s fuel efficiency and electric vehicle mandates.
  • Quote: “We’re officially terminating Joe Biden’s ridiculously burdensome, horrible, actually CAFE standards that imposed expensive restrictions and all sorts of problems, gave all sorts of problems to automakers.”
    — Donald Trump [04:40]
  • He claims these regulations inflated vehicle pricing by up to 25% and misrepresented consumer preferences for gasoline-powered cars.
  • “Today we’re taking one more step to kill the Green New Scam. As part of the greatest scam probably... the Green New Scam. And it’s a quest to end the gasoline powered car. This is what they wanted to do.”
    — Donald Trump [05:31]
  • Trump frames Biden’s policies as both unaffordable and un-American.
• Narrative on Grocery and Consumer Prices:
  • Discussion extends to general consumer costs (gas, groceries, basics).
  • Ben Ferguson: Emphasizes that Trump’s focus on affordability isn’t just rhetoric — it’s about “making sure the price of ground beef, energy, and basic goods and services go down.” [07:09]
• $2,000 Trump Tariff Checks:
  • Mention of possible direct payments (“tariff checks”) to Americans in the upcoming year, intended to offset inflation and rising prices.
    • Quote: “I think these $2,000 Trump tariff checks need to go out next year…maybe reduce some of the pain of the higher inflationary prices they’re seeing at the grocery store.”
      — Mark Meadows (quoted) [08:00]
  • Push for Trump’s broader theme: putting “Americans first,” cutting “waste, fraud, and abuse,” and reconsidering the national income tax.

2. Sweeping Visa Freeze After DC Attack

[09:14–16:29]

• Policy Announcement:

  • President Trump freezes asylum and multiple immigration processes for nationals from 19 “high-risk” countries, citing security concerns after an attack on National Guardsmen.
    • List includes: Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Cuba, Togo, Turkmenistan, Venezuela, among others (nine majority-Muslim nations).
  • The freeze targets all legal migration pathways for those from these countries, pending thorough security reviews and interviews.

• Justification and Critique of Previous Administration:

  • Trump administration contrasts their “no chances” approach to Biden’s which, Ferguson says, “legalized several million” migrants through “quasi-legal” pathways.
  • The freeze is described as broader than previously reported and is characterized as “unprecedented.”

• Targeted Interview and Vetting:

  • The mandate requires thorough national security and public safety review, including re-interviews, for all individuals from affected countries [14:00].
  • USCIS Statement (summarized by Ferguson):
    • “All aliens meeting these criteria undergo a thorough review process ... including a potential interview and if necessary, a re-interview to fully assess all national security and public safety threats.”

• Trump’s Remarks on Specific Nationalities:

  • Trump singles out Afghan and Somali migrants for scrutiny, claiming many arrived without proper vetting.
    • Quote: “We had a lot of them coming in on these planes... Many of these people are criminals. Many of these people are people that shouldn’t be here.”
      — Donald Trump [15:01]
  • On Somali migration in Minnesota:
    • Quote: “If you look at Somalia, they’re taking over Minnesota and they are. We got a lot of problems with the gangs, with all of the things taking place in Minnesota.”
      — Donald Trump [15:35]
  • Dismisses the possibility that “good” Afghans or Somalis would be happy about these policies, but pledges to protect American families first.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the “Green New Scam”:
  “Today we’re taking one more step to kill the green news scam. As part of the greatest scam probably... the green news scam. And it’s a quest to end the gasoline powered car.”
  — Donald Trump [05:31]

• On Direct Payments:
  “I think these $2,000 Trump tariff checks need to go out next year...maybe reduce some of the pain of the higher inflationary prices they’re seeing at the grocery store.”
  — Mark Meadows (quoted by Ben Ferguson) [08:00]

• Defensive of Vetting Freeze:
  “We will take no chances when the future of our nation is at stake.”
  — USCIS statement, quoted by Ben Ferguson [12:00]

• Blunt on Migration Policy:
  “If you look at Somalia, they’re taking over Minnesota... We have an incompetent governor. Dope. We have a dope governor...a lot of problems with the gangs.”
  — Donald Trump [15:35]

• On Unvetted Admissions:
  “Whoever the strongest people were physically, in a way, but whoever the strongest they got on the planes. There was no check in. They just swamped the planes. They took off. We had no idea who they were.”
  — Donald Trump [16:05]

Important Timestamps

• 02:38 – Trump on Somali immigrants & Ilhan Omar
• 03:08 – Ben Ferguson introduces cost-lowering initiatives
• 04:40 – Trump details automobile standard rollback
• 05:31 – “Green New Scam” rhetoric
• 08:00 – Mark Meadows on $2,000 checks
• 09:14 – Ben transitions to immigration crackdown
• 12:00 – USCIS memo outlined
• 15:01 – Trump on Afghan migrants, vetting failures
• 15:35 – Trump on Somali migration, Minnesota
• 16:17 – Ferguson sums up Trump’s pledge for safety

Tone and Delivery

The tone is combative, unapologetic, and closely aligned with Trump-era populism. Ben Ferguson provides breathless, supportive commentary echoing White House messaging. Trump’s own soundbites are direct, often inflammatory, and make pointed accusations (“greatest scam,” use of “dope” to refer to governor).

Conclusion

This episode encapsulates the current Trump administration’s focus on rolling back environmental regulations for the sake of consumer “affordability” and adds a hardline, security-first approach to immigration, using high-profile attacks as catalysts for stricter controls. The rhetoric is campaign-style, combative, and built around direct contrasts with Biden-era policies, with memorable verbal jabs from Trump and strong support from Ferguson throughout.

Listeners are left with the administration’s promise to ease economic pain with both regulatory changes and possible direct payments, while simultaneously tightening the nation’s borders in the name of security.