Transcription
So, there's a lot going on right now, and I've got to keep you informed. Uh, this is the headline, then. Oil hits $100 for the first time since May while US stocks slide. So, basically, oil is spiking. We have tensions and fighting in the Middle East. And then you've got to check gas prices. Uh, $4.09 is the average at the moment. You guys can let me know what you're paying for gas, but, uh, that's what it is as of July 23rd, and it doesn't seem to be any end in sight.
Uh, we'll check in on what Ron is saying. This is from Calab. He says, "They wanted to punish Iran. Punished themselves with triple-digit oil instead." So, $100 oil, basically 10 out of 10 strategy. Clap, clap, clap. Uh, world US economy. Then you've got, uh, "Let's blockade Iran. Easy peasy." So, I guess we're putting our own stick into the bicycle tire. Then you fall down. Uh, oil $150, global recession. Gas seven bucks. Uh, the 10-year over 6%. The 30-year mortgage over 10%. Iran did this. Cry, cry, cry. Wow.
And so, basically, Iran is watching our economy, our news. They can see everything that's going on, and that's their messaging there. They're basically trolling Trump. Uh, this is then our gotcha. He says, "Comprised individuals in the US administration are burying their heads in the sand. Wow. They ignore the realities on the ground and seem focused only on 2028. The mindless aggression they advocate will only ensure that [inaudible] pays a heavier price for a deal he's trying to achieve." And again, that's messaging from Iran.
Uh, we've got this also from the New York Times today, and they were saying that Trump proposed some sort of ceasefire or something like that. This is just an hour ago. It says, "Iran rejected a ceasefire proposal from Trump." Okay. That was carried to Tehran by Iraqi prime minister, according to Iranian and Iraqi officials. So, I guess Trump is sending messages through Iraq to Iran. And it just says, "Iran on Thursday rejected a ceasefire proposal from Trump that was carried." The failed mediation effort came as Trump was threatening to escalate the war and target Iran's critical infrastructure. Yeah. So, there's that.
Um, then, uh, we are now, I guess, declaring war on the world with tariffs, taking action to shut down or to try to, to eliminate as much as possible forced labor. Why would we not just as a country say, "Okay, Jordan and Malaysia, you now have 200% tariffs until you pass laws that eliminate forced labor in your country?" Instead of what this path is, which is putting tariffs on countries that don't have laws against the importation of products from places like Malaysia or Jordan, because we have an existing law like that, Jake. And instead of saying, "If you don't eliminate forced labor, we just prohibit it." So, so if we find that a company or goods from Jordan are made with forced labor, we prohibit it. Uh, there are goods that come in from China where there's forced labor, we prohibit those goods. So, we already have that law. And that's the part of the point of this investigation is we're actually doing that in the United States. We're the leaders on this issue. But if I'm, if I'm shipping into a third country, um, you know, even a place like Australia, where maybe they don't have a robust law like this, you know, they might accept uh goods made with forced labor from, you know, China or Malaysia or wherever. Why are we tariffing, I guess, over 60 countries?
Uh, this is a headline. Then, "Trump sets new tariffs to punish use of 'forced labor,' replacing expiring import taxes." I guess you'd call it, uh, laundering or however you want to say it or washing, to where, you know what, if one company uses forced labor, according to the US, ships the, you know, whatever good or raw material to a third country, say Australia, and then it comes in, you know, to the US. Um, here's the thing I want to bring up though, is the US has forced labor also. You can easily Google this. Does the US prison system use forced labor? Answer: Yes. The United States prison system utilizes forced labor. Out of roughly 1.2 million people incarcerated in the United in the state and federal prisons. So that's the USA. 1.2 million people in prison. Nearly 800,000 are prison laborers. So there's that. And then our goods exported from the US have to compete with that. That's not fair to our workers. It's not fair to our unions. And that's why we've had Democrats and Republicans for many years call for enforcement action on this very issue.
>> But you don't actually think that the United States doesn't import products that were made with forced labor.
Of course we do. Well, uh, Customs and Border Protection has a very robust, um, division that is focused on this, um, where they will, they will investigate companies. They stop them. I mean, that is the law. So, we do that. Do, do things slip through? They probably do, but we have a very robust investigation. You can look back and you can look at articles from the past few years.
>> So, I'll let you guys be the judge if you trust Greer or not, and if you trust Trump people that we're going to put tariffs on all these countries. Uh, this is some response. This is coming in from Canada. Let's see what Carney has to say.
>> As everyone knows, on Monday, the US administration announced its intention to impose the latest in a series of unilateral, unwarranted trade actions. And we're clear, Canadian governments around this table will do whatever it takes to defend and support our families, our workers, and our businesses. Let's also be clear that we are in a stronger position than we were when this trade war started 18 months ago. We're in a stronger position because [clears throat] of the determination of Canadians themselves, and I will say this, because of the focus of the premiers around this table.
And what you can see happening here live is basically when Trump attacks countries, be it through trade, be it through military action, uh, it solidifies unity in said country because you're just like, "This foreign, you know, entity, this orange menace is attacking us." And you can see even see Carney's own language. He's, you know, drawing different people from around Canada together, saying, you know, "We're all working together to basically go against Trump," and we're showing that Canadians are, are, are strong. And you're finding this in, in multiple countries. Again, Trump is unifying people against him.
Uh, let's take a look at the polling data. What do Americans think about these tariffs?
>> Bizarre world. Okay, because the definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing over and over again and hope for a different result. And that has just simply put not been the case with President Trump. In terms of the, the train has left the station, and the American people have spoken. They hate, hate, hate these new tariffs. US on new tariffs on imported goods. You know, you go back to November of 2024. Look, 52% of Americans favored them right after Donald Trump's election. 48% opposed. But then we entered the real world in tariffs, and Americans saw the effects of them. What happened to the opposition? Two ter new tariffs up like a rocket. We're talking 63% of Americans now oppose the idea of new tariffs compared to just 37% who favor it. So the bottom line is this. The American people have seen what tariffs have done to the economy, and they simply put do not like it and have turned against the president of the United States. Who, as I said, it feels like bizarre world because from a political standpoint, it is absolutely insanity that he keeps trying to do something that the American people clearly very much do not like.
>> Bizarre world also because there is a red sun, but that's another.
>> Yeah, that's a whole thing. And the president's approval rating, how has it been, or how has it sort of mirrored the tariff situation?
>> Yeah, exactly right. I mean, the tariffs were what set Donald Trump off on a pathway to nowhere, on a pathway to a presidency that is a dead end. Take a look at this. Trump's negative net approval rating. Every single poll since March 29, 2025, that is over a year ago, in fact, days in a row. It's 482 days in which every single poll that meets CNN standards for publication, Donald Trump has had a negative net approval rating. Well, what happened right around March of 20.
>> Yeah. And I'm going to talk about the last time he did the tariffs. Basically, people don't like it. His polling data goes down. You can, you can see it right there. And this is where we're at. So, you know, you're doing a couple things here. A war that is deeply unpopular. Tariffs that are deeply unpopular. And I thought that was interesting in the beginning, right? Maybe some of the Trump's base, oh, well, tariffs sound really good. China's going to pay for it. And then they realize, no, wait, I'm paying for it. And then they realize, man, this is a, a scam. It should be obvious to anyone.
Uh, then you look at what Trump's tweeting out today. I guess we're going to try to steal some money here. That's what it sounds like to me from Trump, just a couple hours ago. "Please let this statement serve to represent until further notice that from this point forward, any and all damages done to ships, cargo, or anything related thereto will be paid by Iranian money that the United States has in its possession and controls. These damages may be, may be very substantial, but nevertheless, this is a fair and equitable thing to do." So, I guess we're going to try to get money there. So, there's that.
And then a couple hours ago, Sentcom is bombing again. Basically, US forces start another night of strikes on Iranian military targets. That is the 13th uh consecutive night, so nearly two weeks now. Governor Shapiro, this is out in Pennsylvania, is suing the Trump people. "I am suing Trump administration for holding millions of public safety dollars hostage." So, and and I, I can't even keep track of all this stuff, guys. I mean, this is just one of many stories, lawsuits flying around, Trump doing illegal activity, right? And then now we're going to have to talk about, okay, how's this war going to turn out?
Listen to this. This is a retired general here.
>> The fact is the president has a lot of options. He's always had the options for a, a gigantic strike. And I would simply hope that moving to the medics to probably launch duel in Germany is just a cautious, um, military move and not one that pre-predicts any future military operations with heavy numbers of ground troops, which would be the most vulnerable and the kind of numbers that would be wounded, uh, to need that 150 medics.
>> We're moving resources around. Uh, you can actually see some of the movement. They were putting this here. The full scale of the US air bridge to the Middle East has returned as the Iran war re-escalates. Seen here, dozens of, uh, USAF. So, United States Air Force transport flights hop from key bases in the Middle in Europe to the Middle East today. So, we're moving stuff around. You can, you literally can see it. And then, uh, they're talking about why are we moving so many medics? Are we expecting ground operations? A lot of, you know, injuries, casualties, these things.
Um, and then the Trump people, they don't want you to really know what's going on. I guess we're firing Intel. US intelligence agency quietly cut about 200 jobs since June 1st. So, there's that. And actually, let me give you a quote. This is coming in from Intel. They were saying basically morale is low. Someone from the inside says, "Neither Clayton nor Trump administration has articulated a vision of what the ODNI should look like or focus on, quote, other than it should be smaller." Okay. Um, it seems like DNI was just a fat target to punish the quote deep state. Morale is pretty terrible, as you would imagine. So that's how, um, people on the inside are feeling. And, and we need intel for any number of things, like if we're going to bomb something, are we actually hitting the targets? Is, is that vital? If we're not going to bomb something, like maybe there is no threat in these kind of things. But Trump, if you get rid of all your, you know, analysts and intel, then you can just make crap up. I think it should be obvious for anyone, like we're just, the, the wheels are falling off the bus, basically. We're firing the wheels off the bus.
I think that a combination of military pressure, diplomatic pressure, and economic pressure, uh, is the best chance, particularly if we have, uh, our allies in the UN helping us with this. But even if we have all three of those, uh, the fact remains is that the Iranians are fighting a resistance war. They're trying to outlast us, take as many, uh, bombs as we can throw at them, and, uh, certainly hope that we run out of patience. That's the way the resistance war has happened. Candidly, that's how we won the Revolutionary War. We just waited out the British, didn't win any major victories, uh, and, uh, simply >> uh, celebrated that day when they finally left. I mean, the war took 13 years between 1776 and 1789. Uh, and the Iranians are betting on the impatience of the United States. They're taking amazing blows. It's not the people of Iran that are doing this, but the regime.
So, isn't that wild? It feels like the general here is making the case that Iran could win using American strategy from the Revolutionary War. And if you play this out further, which I don't think he's intending to say it this way, but that's how it came out was like, like, okay, the British Empire is the same way the American, you know, empire/or menace is. And again, you know, a country like Iran just can, can play the long game the same way the American and Revolutionary War did. And that took 13 years. Um, I, I, I just don't see this ending up well.
This is the headline also today. "Justice Department agrees to withdraw subpoenas to New York Times reporters." So Trump was mad at the reporters that told everyone about his, uh, Qatari jet thing. This is what the judge said. It says, "US District Judge Arun Subramanian, who held a hearing Thursday on the Times' motion to quash subpoenas, said the news organization had raised 'profound First Amendment and free press issues.'" Quote, "Seems like you've got two options. Either we can quash the subpoenas, or we can, or you can withdraw the subpoenas." Wow. So, basically, then, uh, Trump's got no dice on there.
>> Yeah, exactly. That, that leads to inflationary pressures all around.
>> So, come back to the Suez Canal, Red Sea stuff.
>> Um, we've taken them out before. We can take them out again. How hard might that be? Uh, how rapidly might be? These are hypotheticals. I'm not trying to outguess SenCom or Mr. Trump. I'm just saying from past experience, Dan. Uh, you've dealt with this part of the world. What, you know, how long is it going to take to clean this up?
>> Well, I, I, I think the Houthi problem is a little less of a challenge, frankly, than the, the Iranian problem. They're a proxy of Iran. They're not as sophisticated as Iran.
>> So their capabilities are much less. However, uh, you know, we have to be mindful. A missile is a missile, and if it takes out a ship, people might die. So, we don't want to m, uh, minimize the risk here, but the Houthies are not nearly as challenging, if you will, as Iran.
>> But Dan, people say 7% the oil supply passing through was 7%. That is correct. I take it that's mostly Saudi oil, but whatever. And then the Strait of Hormuz, the Strait of Hormuz was about 20%. So, I got 27% off the oil market. Uh, that looked like it was coming way down because they were going, you know, 30, 40 ships a night, but that's now a trickle. So, I'm worried if we go back to 20, let's say 25%. I'm just worried that's a, you know, uh, out of 100 bill, 100 million barrels a day, um, 100 billion barrels a day, that what are you going to do about that? Where's that all going to come from? Even Fox News are trying to convince their their viewers, oh, the Houthi is not a problem. But then you start to do the math on this stuff. No, it's a problem. And then you look at the price of oil, right? Over $100 now. And you look at the price of gas at the pump. So that's where at. I do want you to know that you're not alone. You can see it in the polling data. You can see that people are not on board with this stuff. And the question right now is, how long will it take to remove Trump and his people and get us out of this war? This is just insane. So that's my thoughts on this. I'd like to hear yours, and I will catch you all on the next.