The David Pakman Show - 7/8/25: Trump played like a fiddle as troops descend on Los Angeles park

Episode Date: July 8, 2025

-- On the Show: -- David hosts a Substack Live with Brian Tyler Cohen -- Trump deploys militarized federal forces to MacArthur Park in Los Angeles in a chilling test run of authoritarian power projection -- Karoline Leavitt embarrassingly backpedals on the Epstein list, exposing a key MAGA lie and deepening Trump’s credibility crisis -- Trump’s team can’t explain what happened to the long-promised Epstein client list, casting doubt on years of MAGA conspiracy claims -- Trump’s press secretary spirals on live TV, failing to defend collapsing trade deals, flood response failures, and a phantom Epstein list -- Trump delays his tariff threat again, proving once more that his “tough” trade stance is all bluff and political cowardice -- Trump floods world leaders with unhinged tariff letters, creating global confusion and economic anxiety -- Trump rambles incoherently at a White House dinner, praising dictators, flip-flopping on trade, and exposing chaos behind his Ukraine and tariff policies -- Benjamin Netanyahu flatters Trump with a fake Nobel Prize nomination and Trump falls for it completely, clueless he’s being manipulated -- On the Bonus Show: Ted Cruz vacations again during Texas natural disaster, inhumane conditions reported at Alligator Alcatraz, IRS says churches can endorse candidates, and much more... ⚠️ Ground News: Get 40% OFF their unlimited access Vantage plan at https://ground.news/pakman 🧠 Try Brain.fm totally free for a month at https://brain.fm/pakman 💻 Sponsored by Aura: Try it free for 2 weeks! See if your data is safe at https://aura.com/pakman 🛡️ Incogni lets you control your personal data! Get 60% off their annual plan: http://incogni.com/pakman 💵 Sponsored by Ridge Wallet: Use code PAKMAN for 10% off at https://ridge.com/pakman  🥦 Lumen lets you master your metabolism. GET 15% OFF at https://lumen.me/pakman 🩳 SHEATH Underwear: Code PAKMAN for 20% OFF at https://sheathunderwear.com/pakman -- Become a Member: https://davidpakman.com/membership -- Subscribe to our (FREE) Substack newsletter: https://davidpakman.substack.com/ -- Get David's Books: https://davidpakman.com/echo -- TDPS Subreddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/thedavidpakmanshow -- David on Bluesky: https://davidpakman.com/bluesky -- David on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/davidpakmanshow

Welcome to the show. An authoritarian nightmare building in Los Angeles. Is it a preview of martial law is increasingly the question we know from looking at history, what it looks like when authoritarians start testing the limits. And one of the things that we are now seeing yesterday in MacArthur Park in Los Angeles, a neighborhood known as the Ellis Island of the West Coast, flooded with federal agents, some marching in line, some not some on foot, some on horse dressed in fatigues, masks and helmets backed by armored vehicles, overhead helicopters, kids playing soccer outside were rushed indoors.

Health care workers helping unhoused people had guns pointed at them and were told, get out of here. No explanation, no warning, just an overwhelming show of federal force dropping into a neighborhood and then gone. Mayor Karen Bass plainly said it looked like a city under siege, under an armed occupation. It looked the way cities look before a coup. Vince Longman posted the following video to Twitter. Guys, I'm on the ground right now by MacArthur Park, where you can see law enforcement and troops, airborne police right now. I mean, they are here.

They are moving in. This is happening right now. Here are the troops. During a Fox News interview, DHS Assistant Secretary McLaughlin, I believe it's Trisha McLaughlin, was asked, what about arresting the mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass? What about that? And McLaughlin says, we are keeping everything on the table. When you have scenes like you did out in L.A. today where you have the mayor, Karen Bass, interfering with official federal officer

proceedings trying to enforce the laws that are put on the books by members of duly elected members of Congress. Are you all hesitant to just go out and arrest her or has it has all of this behavior not reached that threshold yet? We're certainly keeping everything on the table, Charlie. But I want to ask Karen Bass, who is she protecting? Yeah, we are keeping everything on the table. So understand that this is how it starts. If you're a student of 20th century authoritarianism, you know that you don't necessarily need tanks

in the streets, although they have armored vehicles in the streets in Los Angeles. But you do an operation. You don't formally suspend rights, at least not right away. You really surround yourself in the legal gray area. The deployments you try to generate shrugs from the people in charge. Authoritarians don't typically kick the door down on they on day one. They test, they probe a little bit.

They see who pushes back. Is it Gavin Newsom? Is it Karen Bass? Is it Democrats in Congress? And the truth is that right now, Trump's not getting that much resistance. These were not secret police whisking away dissidents in the night, at least not for now. This was a heavily armed federal force descended on to into a predominantly Latino neighborhood.

They didn't coordinate with the city. They didn't coordinate with the state. They terrorized families, businesses and children. And the messaging here is very clear, because when the Department of Homeland Security was pressed for an explanation, their spokesperson said, oh, it's an ongoing operation. That's it. Translation is we don't have to tell you anything. We don't need your permission, or at least we don't care about it.

You'd better start getting used to this. So this is bigger than just an immigration stunt. This is one of the main goals of authoritarians. Create fear. Weeks ago, we had the deployment of 4000 National Guard troops, 700 Marines to Los Angeles. Now we have this sort of military imagery meant to make Trump look tough, meant to silence critics. It makes it so that immigrant families stay home.

Businesses suffer. Legal residents are afraid of just getting caught up in the chaos. So they start staying home. And people who have lived in this neighborhood for decades walk around wondering, is today the day that I get mistaken for someone else? Is today the day that I get mistaken for someone else is today, the day that I get disappeared into the system. And meanwhile, you see the loyalists, the Trisha McLaughlin's, the Caroline Levitt's, the Stephen Miller's.

You see them fantasizing on Fox News about arresting elected officials who push back. So it's authoritarianism with more cameras and social media. And everybody's watching to answer the most important question. How far can they push before someone stops them? So I don't believe that what happened yesterday in MacArthur Park has anything to do with border security. I mean, it plainly doesn't have anything to do with border security. It's about dominating.

It's about dominating. It's about intimidating. It's about how much force can Trump deploy before the public pushes back? If the pushback never comes, he'll go further. If the pushback does come, he might use that to justify even more militarization. So they're doing it in plain sight. Call this a sort of test. But next time it might not be a test anymore. Yesterday, reportedly, people were not getting arrested.

Maybe next time they will. And so we have to be ready for the real thing. Is this a test for martial law? I don't know. I don't have some grand vision of every detail of the plan. But history tells us that this doesn't go in a good direction if what you care about is due process, democracy and the rule of law. That's for sure.

Caroline Levitt, Donald Trump's White House press secretary, just dug his political grave with her totally failed attempt to walk back the Epstein client list disaster. We're going to dig into this today because it's becoming a very interesting political story. She was asked a very simple question yesterday. What happened to the Epstein client list? It used to be that everybody in the administration was saying the list, the list, the list. And now the FBI and DOJ are officially saying there is no list.

There is no list. Take a listen to this. And there is a lot to talk about. OK, so the FBI looks at the circumstances surrounding the debt of Jeffrey Jeffrey Epstein. According to the report, this systematic review revealed no incriminating client list. So what happened to the Epstein client list that the attorney general said she had on her desk? Well, I think if you go back and look at what the attorney general said in that interview, which was on your network on Fox News.

I have a quote. Go ahead. John Roberts said, DOJ may be releasing a list of Jeffrey Epstein's clients. Will that really happen? And she said, it's sitting on my desk right now to review. Yes, she was saying the entirety of all of the paperwork, all of the paper in relation to Jeffrey Epstein's crimes. That's what the attorney general was referring to. And I'll let her speak for that.

But again, when it comes to the FBI and the Department of Justice, they are more than committed to ensuring that bad people are put behind bars. So first attempt. This is a tale in obfuscation. First attempt is play off of a semantic or linguistic difference, which is, well, she just met all the paperwork about Epstein is on her desk. She didn't say there is a list in that paperwork.

It's just there is paperwork and it's all on her desk. It just turns out there wasn't really a list. So Doocy follows up and he says, well, but so she said that there was a list. What happened to the list? That's transparency. Oh, OK. So the FBI looks at the circumstances surrounding the death of Jeffrey Jeffrey Epstein, according to the report.

This systematic review revealed no incriminating client list. So what happened to the Epstein client list that the attorney general said? Sorry. And so this we saw this part already. Let's go back to his fall. Releasing the list of Jeffrey Epstein's clients. Will that really happen? And she said it's sitting on my desk right now to review.

Yes, she was saying the entirety of all of the paperwork, all of the paper in relation to Jeffrey Epstein's crimes. That's what the attorney general was referring to. And I'll let her speak for that. But again, when it comes to the FBI and the Department of Justice, they are more than committed to ensuring that bad people are put behind bars. They have an operation going on right now called summer heat, which has our murder rate trending in the lowest direction in United States history.

Their emphasis on violent crime and locking. All right. So you see step two, right? Step one is a semantic argument. She had paperwork, but she didn't have a list. Step two is talk about something completely different. Peter, why aren't you talking about summer summer heat or whatever? You know, whatever summer operation they have going.

This primarily seems like it's based around semantics. It appears that they have names, they have dates, they have logs of events, they have videos and they have pictures. But it's not structured literally as a list. And so that's what they are hiding behind. The problem, of course, is that there have been so many people. It's not just Pam Bondi who said that such a list exists. Cash Patel said the list exists.

Even Donald Trump didn't deny it. He just was going back and forth as to whether he wanted to release the list. And so this is now feeding breadcrumbs to MAGA's favorite conspiracy theorists, proof they claim they had that Trump was finally going to take down the elite pedophile cabal that they've been ranting about. But all of a sudden, the DOJ and the FBI say we have no list. We have no secret client directory. We have no sealed document that names all of the people that were involved.

We've got nothing, nothing. And so another reporter says to Caroline Levitt, well, now that there is no list, what do you say to the magas and the Magadonians and the Magga Petamians who want people held accountable? What do you say to them? And Caroline Levitt just goes, oh, we're locking up all sorts of people. Don't worry about accountability. Caroline, the DOJ and FBI have now concluded there was no Jeffrey Epstein client list.

What do you tell MAGA supporters who say they want anyone involved in Jeffrey Epstein's alleged crimes to be held accountable? This administration wants anyone who has ever committed a crime to be held accountable. And I would argue this administration has done more to lock up bad guys than certainly the previous administration. The Trump administration is committed to truth and to transparency. That's why the attorney general and the FBI director pledged at the president's direction to do an exhaustive review of.

All right. I don't even have to play the whole thing. She's not going to answer. OK, she's not going to answer the question. If you are a diehard MAGA believer and you've been promised for years, Trump is going to expose that he's going to get all the pedophiles once and for all. Then you have just been betrayed. They ran on this.

They use this to justify censorship and a total distrust in institutions you've been lied to about everything regarding Epstein. And then they go, we actually have no list and there was no foul play. He just died by suicide in his cell. It was all smoke and mirrors, all of the posturing. So Caroline Levitt isn't just failing to clean this up. She's making it worse because she's exposing the gap between what Mago was sold and what Trump is actually delivering. No list, no arrests, just another conspiracy theory collapsing under its own weight on live

television. Now, the real question, of course, is, is the explanation far simpler? Is the truth that the list exists? They know everybody that was involved, but Trump was involved. And that's why they now aren't releasing it. I'm not even asserting that that's the case. But by their own logic, you have to look at that possibility. Let's dig into the history of the list a little more here. We are now in a full panic mode for MAGA, where they on the one hand have to say, wait

a second, we were told that the Epstein list was going to be published. The documents would be out. The arrests would start. Trump was going to be published, the documents would be out, the arrests would start. Trump was going to do it. But on the other hand, now that the DOJ and the FBI have said there's no list, there's no nothing, they must have to contend at least with the possibility that it's Trump who doesn't want any of it coming out, that Pam Bondi had the list and Trump's on it. And Trump goes, do not release it. Just say there's no list.

They must account for that possibility. Remember that in September, Donald Trump said there's a lot of people who were involved with Jeffrey Epstein, not Trump. No, there's a moment where you had some hesitation about Epstein releasing some of the documents on Epstein. Why the hesitation? I don't think I had. I mean, I'm not involved.

I never went to his island. Fortunately, fortunately, understand that Trump's asked what about releasing the stuff and his immediate instinct is to go. I had nothing to do with that whole thing. That's not even what Lex was asking about. He was just saying, why not release it? We then go to Alina Habba Habba, who said we have flight logs, names and information that will come out. Sure sounds like they have a list, don't they? Epstein's case. It is incredibly disturbing. We have flight logs

We have information names that will come out. Is it gonna be shocking? I Don't see how it's not shocking that there were so many individuals that were hidden and Kept secret and not been held accountable. Let's talk about the reverse. I believe in accountability. So you have to now go through your process. Now, I won't say they're guilty

until they go through their time in court. But again, now it's time for accountability. We have seen for so many years, Pierce in this country, many investigations, subpoenas, testimonies in Congress, et cetera, et cetera. But there's a general frustration with accountability. We take it halfway.

We don't take it home. And I really believe that now with cash and Pam, there will be accountability. With cash and Pam, there's going to be accountability, except Pam is now going, there's no list and cash Patel is going, there's no list and everything is exactly as we were told. However, we also have previous video of cash Patel. Now the director of the FBI cash Patel previously said the FBI has Jeffrey Epstein's black book, black book, of course, being a list of the clients who has Jeffrey Epstein's black book, black book, FBI. But who that is that? I mean, that's under direct control of the director of the FBI, just like the manifesto

from the Nashville Nashville school shooting of the Catholic schools. Who there is cash Patel making that statement declaratively. And then here is Pam Bondi, the attorney general of the United States, saying the Epstein client list is sitting on my desk, not the paperwork is on my desk. The list of Jeffrey Epstein's clients, the DOJ may be releasing the list of Jeffrey Epstein's clients. Will that really happen? It's sitting on my desk right now to review.

That's been a directive by President Trump. I'm reviewing that. I'm reviewing JFK files, MLK files. That's all in the process of being reviewed because that was done at the directive of the president from all of these agencies. So, so have you seen anything there? You said, oh my gosh. Not yet.

Certainly didn't see Trump's name. So listen, why is there this incredible, uh, very loud cognitive dissonance here? Because on the one hand, you have to account for the change in we've got it and it's coming out to there's nothing. It's not just that we're we aren't hiding anything. There's just nothing to hide. And you have to account for the possibility that it is to protect Donald Trump. I'm not even asserting that I don't have evidence of that. We know Trump and Epstein were friends, but I don't have evidence that Trump was involved. Although there are certainly anecdotal stories that he was.

But if you are now in the position of having been one of the people expecting that Trump was going to be the guy sent by God, some even said to fish out all of the pedophiles. How are you not considering that maybe this is a cover up to protect Trump himself? They can't do it. Their brains won't let them do it. to protect Trump himself. exists at ground dot news slash Pacman, you'll discover what MAGA lawmakers quietly included a provision that could block federal judges from enforcing court orders unless a bond is posted. And if this passes, it could render Trump above the law.

This is a critical detail. It's largely unknown and it really exemplifies this flood the zone strategy of the Trump administration. Now, this is why ground news is essential. It really is the best way to uncover buried information by showing you not just the story, but its origins across the political spectrum. You can see bias ratings, credibility scores, coverage timelines and their browser extension for their a the and it delivers results. A peer-reviewed study showed that BrainFM's music boosts attention, especially for people with ADHD tendencies.

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Many other shows are doing it to support someone. That's the key thing. I'd be flattered if it were this show. But it's important that we've got to support the ecosystem. Donald Trump's press secretary, Caroline Levitt, had a full blown panic moment on live TV this week when reporters pressed her on the administration's latest trade disaster. Now, you might remember 90 trade deals in 90 days. That was the promise.

Those 90 days are up tomorrow. We now have a new thing. It's no longer 90 deals in 90 days. It's tailor made trade plans for each country. In other words, very few deals. Yesterday, that country's boomerang back to the April 2nd terror level starting August 1st. Why did the president decide to have those terrorists not take effect Wednesday as originally

scheduled? And I was also wondering if you could share. Obviously, we saw the letters the president sent out on Japan and South Korea. But if any other major U.S. trading partners are getting letters today. Sure, yes. I can confirm. In fact, I have those letters. If you could get me the folder with the letters in them, Liz, they're right in the previous

office. I have the signed letters that went out to both South Korea and Japan today. Wow. And there will be approximately 12 other countries that will receive notifications and letters directly from the president of the United States. And weeks ago, I stood at this podium and I told all of you that the president was going to create tailor made trade plans for each and every country on this planet. And that's what this administration continues to be focused on.

The president will also sign an executive order today, delaying the July 9th deadline to August 1st. So in other words, Trump is chickening out again. Now, we're going to dig into that further. We're going to dig into that further. But a really great question was asked. A reporter asked an obvious question. Trump imposed tariffs on April 2nd and then he paused them. So aren't countries once again going to say, pause them. So aren't countries once again going to say, ah, these letters, Trump paused it again because he realized how damaging it was to the United States.

And Caroline Levy goes, no, this time they're going to take the letters really seriously. This is on the trade letters, given the fact that the president put in into effect the tariffs on April 2nd and then put the pause in into place. Is the president at all concerned that these countries that are receiving the letters won't take them seriously because the deadline seems to have shifted already and may shift again? They will take the letter seriously because they have taken the president seriously and that's why the president's phone, I can tell you, rings off the hook from world leaders all the time who are begging him to

come to a deal. And this administration is working hard to ensure those deals are in the best interest of the American people. This time, they're going to take them really seriously. But seriously, what country is going to take Trump's economic threats in a serious manner when he keeps blinking. This administration talks tough.

They impose tariffs. They pause the tariffs. Now they're saying we're going to reinvent global trade one country at a time with these letters from Trump, which we'll look at the letters in a moment. This is not a strategy. And if you look at Twitter comments and other, you know, commentary, you'll see people say, no, no, this unpredictability is part of the negotiating strategy. But we'd have no evidence of that.

We have evidence that Trump is stalling because he knows this would be bad for the country. Trump knows what happened to farmers in his first term. Trump knows what happened to small businesses and manufacturing facilities in his first term from the tariffs. It was a disaster. Then Caroline Levitt goes off on a bizarre tangent, accusing Democrats of pushing depraved lies, anything she can do to take attention away from what's going on in the Oval Office, which is chaos, unfettered chaos.

Unfortunately, in the wake of this once in a generation natural disaster, we have seen many falsehoods pushed by Democrats such as Senator Chuck Schumer and some members of the media. Blaming President Trump for these floods is a depraved lie and it serves no purpose during this time of national mourning. Here are the facts. In the lead up to this tragic natural disaster, the National Weather Service did its job. Despite unprecedented rainfall, the National Weather Service did its job. Despite unprecedented rainfall, the National Weather Service executed timely and precise forecasts and warnings. On July 3rd, the National Weather Service office in Austin, San Antonio, Texas conducted forecast briefings for emergency

management in the morning and issued a flood watch in the early afternoon. Flash flood warnings were also issued on the night of July 3rd and in the early morning of July 4th, giving preliminary lead times of more than three hours before flash flooding conditions occurred. And the National Weather Service office in New Brunfels, which delivers forecasts for Austin, San Antonio and the surrounding areas had extra staff on duty

during the storms, despite claims of the contrary. So to any person who has deliberately lied about these facts surrounding this catastrophic event, you should be deeply ashamed at this time. The administration's focus will be giving on giving the victims in their communities the support they deserve during these recovery efforts in this tragic time. Those evil Democrats saying that the cuts and the indifference from municipal and state authorities and it all made the flooding situation worse. No, they are the depraved liars.

And what you can always count on, what you can always count on is that Trump always does the right thing, no matter what. Well, it seems as though Trump is chickening out again. And that's where I want to focus in on another tough sounding deadline. Another last minute retreat for Donald Trump. Press Secretary Caroline Levitt announced that Donald Trump is delaying the July 9th tariff deadline to August 1st. Supposedly this is to give foreign leaders more time to accept their new tariffs or to

cut a deal. Here is the announcement that Trump will be signing an executive order delaying the tariffs again. Translation. We don't really have deals. That's what I said yesterday. That country's boomerang back to the April 2nd tariff level starting August 1st. Why did the president decide to have those tariffs not take effect Wednesday as originally scheduled?

And I was also wondering if you could share. Obviously, we saw the letters the president sent out on Japan and South Korea. But if any other major U.S. trading partners are getting letters today. Sure. Yes, I can confirm. In fact, I have those letters. If you could get me the folder with the letters in them, Liz, they're right in the previous office. So this is the clip from before we're resetting and we're going to dig deeper into this. I have the signed letters that went out to both South Korea and Japan today. And there will be approximately 12 other countries that will receive notifications and letters directly from the President of the United States. And weeks ago, I stood at this podium and I told

all of you that the President was going to create tailor-made trade plans for each and every country on this planet. And that's what this administration continues to be focused on. The President will also sign an executive order today delaying the July 9th deadline to August 1st. OK, so listen, when you say I am pausing the tariffs until July 9th. And then the tariffs don't kick in on July 9th. That is a new delay. That is chickening out. There is no real reason. You know, they're pretending we need to give countries more time. They had 90 days and they didn't sense the urgency. They've been saying for 90 days that the phone is ringing off the hook.

And yet what we have as of this moment now, by this afternoon, maybe it's different. What we have to have as of this moment is a pretty crappy deal with Vietnam and a sort of framework with the UK that is certainly not a trade deal. What this exposes is there is really no plan here. It's an executive order kicking the can down the road and pretending that strength is actually indecision or that indecision is actually strength. I think better said, this is the second time in a matter of weeks that there have been threats of economic punishment.

And then they back off when the consequences to the United States become clear and the consequences are going to hit very hard. If the tariff plan went through tomorrow, as promised, American consumers would see a spike in prices. They would see cars get more expensive. Electronics get more expensive. Industrial goods get more expensive. We import billions of dollars in cars and semiconductors and heavy machinery from Japan

and South Korea just alone. A full tariff war with those countries means everything gets way more expensive. Your iPhone gets more expensive if you use one. I don't even know how they work. I'm an Android guy. The car in the driveway way more expensive. Your iPhone gets more expensive if you use one. I don't even know how they work. I'm an Android guy. The car in the driveway gets more expensive. And Trump knows that. Or he was convinced of that by his team.

So now, instead of taking a hit before potentially, you know, we start to get into midterm season here, he's moving the deadline again. You make a bold announcement, markets panic. You walk it back. Same damn playbook every single time. At some point, you would think that even his supporters will realize that this is not strength. This is actually cowardice and that Trump's unpredictability, which was touted as a feature, is actually a bug that's making nobody respect him. So Trump wants to pretend he's driving what's going on. Trump is reacting to what's going on.

It's not 40 chess. It's whack a mole. A problem comes up and Trump tries to whack it down or beat it off, for lack of a better term. And now we've got to look at these wacky letters that Donald Trump sent out. A frantic Donald Trump sent out demented tariff letters yesterday, causing global horror, not because countries are afraid of Trump being very tough, but because countries are realizing Trump has not a clue what is going on. Trump posting this morning on Truth Central as per letters sent to various countries yesterday,

plus letters sent today, tomorrow and for the next short period of time, tariffs will start being paid on August 1st. There has been no change to this date and there will be no change. In other words, all money will be due and payable starting August 1st. No extensions will be granted. Thank you for your attention to this matter. This is bullshit, quite frankly, but I'm going to explain how and why in a moment. As you scroll down Trump's Troth central account, we're not going to look at all of these because

it's you know, I don't want to turn your brain to mush. But every one of these letters is sort of similarly formatted. It includes percentages. This one is to the presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Trump says that starting August 1st, we will be charging 30 percent tariffs and that it includes other stipulations. And you just scroll down and it's just letter after letter. We'll pick another one.

This one is to Serbia. Serbia will get a 35 percent tariff. We'll scroll down a little more. This next one is to Tunisia. Tunisia will get a discounted tariff of only 25 percent. This is bonkers insanity. This is not how you do global trade. This is not how you do diplomacy.

Every single aspect of this is being framed and contextualized by the people around Trump as strength. The tariffs are on and then they're off. Oh, but that's Trump's negotiating. He's so good. He's making people, world leaders, unsure of what he's going to do, which scares them into submission. Where's the proof that they've been scared into submission?

We are eighty nine days into the 90 day period and there is one bona fide trade deal and one sort of loose pseudo framework. Where is the evidence that they're being scared into submission? Trump says there has been no delay and there will be no further delays, except we've already had three delays. And it wouldn't surprise me that there are more because Trump knows or has been told that if he actually does this, it would be a disaster. Just from the last two days of this nonsense, the Dow was down. I think it was 500 points yesterday and it's down another hundred points as I'm recording

today's show. We don't know where it will land. Trump sees the instability. So what is being framed as negotiating prowess is actually incoherence. What is being framed as strategy is actually flailing. And the part that triggers Trump the most is that the world leaders aren't bowing to him, that there weren't world leaders aren't calling and saying, sir, I'm sobbing. We'll do whatever you want. It's just not happening.

And so Trump is now trying to figure out in the same way that Putin needs a way to get out of Ukraine while saving face. Trump needs a way to off ramp from this disastrous idea while not looking like the loser that he is. I don't know that he's going to find it. But one of the things I do know is that egomaniacs are more willing to destroy stuff than to admit they made a mistake. And that certainly is Donald Trump.

We're going to have more coverage of this on today's bonus show. Make sure you're signed up at join Pacman dot com and on our sub stack. I will also be live with Jessica Craven tonight on sub stack. You can find it and watch it for free at sub stack dot David Pakman dot com. for for in these That's I n c o g n i dot com slash Pakman for 60 percent off. And one day I said enough. I need something slim and light and minimal. So I got a Ridge wallet and I've been using it and loving it for years now. Before they became a sponsor, I was already using a Ridge wallet. I love the design. It's narrow. It holds up to 12 cards plus my cash and Ridge wallets are made with premium materials, aluminum,

titanium, carbon fiber, more than 50 colors and styles with RFID blocking technology for extra peace of mind. in I'm David Pakman, save 10 percent with code. in Brian. Welcome everybody to the first of three sub stack lives in a row. This is a series that really should have some name, but it doesn't. Today I'm going to be talking with Brian Tyler Cohen. Man, where to start? Is it okay, Brian, if I start with the most obvious question? Yeah, go for it. What are we looking at at? What could it possibly be today? James Earl Ray Mark David Chapman Lee Harvey Oswald Brian Tyler Cohen, is it not a little risque to go with the three names? I knew this was coming I'm not gonna lie and say that I didn't know this was coming the real reason that I have that I do the three name thing is because I was initially out in Los Angeles

because I was acting. I was in the entertainment industry. And when you sign up on IMDB, which is the internet movie database, there were 16 other Brian Coens. And I was like, I can't be the 17th Brian Cohen and hope that anybody can find me on IMDB, so I got gotta just use my middle name and and now now you know I'm in an industry where people with three names are generally serial killers and so this is just how it goes you know oh man no but so well we got an answer to that but but in all seriousness

obviously that this bill is a big thing today and I don't even and because I've I've and because I'm a prolific serial killer also which we'll find out about in like the third you've gone from you know acting to politics to eventually to that my third act yeah exactly so you know with the bill things are moving so quickly you and I talking about the provisions of the bill it's almost like listen I don't know that that's the most interesting thing to focus on but but what might be really interesting is I'm sensing something palpably different right now in terms of the role that independent media like us is playing in telling people about what's happening with this bill.

And here's what I mean. As impactful as this bill is going to be, the cuts, the way it'll affect people's lives, all that stuff. A lot of people are just busy with their lives and they're not engaged in the way of like, let me call the funders of the members of the Senate that are borderline or let me tell my family about what's going on.

I getting the sense that with all of the progressive independent producers doing all the stuff that we're doing, including the people who are like first to TikTok and not beyond us, we seem to be breaking through into getting floods of phone calls to senators' offices, calls to funders, like something different seems to be happening.

I don't know if you agree. Yeah, and I think the biggest reason is because there feels like when we regularly get our news from legacy media, there isn't, first of all, they're not going to offer up calls to action because that's not what they do and that's not part of, these are not activists, these are just news people often to a fault focused on neutrality. But I think too, there is a sense with independent creators that we're in this as well. And so if we ask, for example,

hey, it's important to call your senator because the vote is happening right now, these are just your peers asking you to do something that they themselves are doing. I mean, when I ask people to call their Senate, I believe the switchboard is 202, is it 224-3121? I mean, it's because I called, you know what I mean? And so this is the first time in political media

where folks are actually getting news from other people who have a vested interest in actually seeing a virtuous process play out, which is to stop this bill that's going to cut Medicaid, that's going to cut food stamps, that's going to explode the deficit. And so that's the difference there is you're not going to watch CNN or MSNBC and they're going to say, hey, make sure to call your senators at the end of this segment. They're going to say, hey, first of all, they're not going to do that. And second of all, they're probably going to that. And second of all, they're probably gonna use some sanitized language, like feud erupts

as both sides discuss the virtues and merits of making sure that this bill gets passed or doesn't get passed. I think this is one of the interesting differences about what we do and what happens on some of the legacy networks. And you and I have talked about this before when we've seen people do the transition

from corporate to independent media, which is some people just want the sanitized thing, right? They want the chiron at the bottom that goes five minute debate as to whether climate change is real. Each side gets two and a half minutes with some anchor that you don't relate to in any way. Right. There are people that want to be watching more

activisty types. I don't know that I call myself an activist per se, but it's definitely activist media in the sense of the relationship is more direct. And we're saying, hey, we're in this with you. We're not giving you this on the one hand on the other hand thing. Now you might just disagree with our conclusions, which is fine. And then we debate them but I think that there is something different about this whole ecosystem and the connection where we have a shared goal here. Let's figure out how to work towards it.

Yeah and I mean that's lending itself to the point that I made before which is this sense that like this is these are regular people like like I Didn't get my start working in in in in on some network somewhere you didn't get your start working on some network somewhere and so we have a vested interest in in We're doing this because you want to see something good happen I mean I'm in this because like the things that fuel me are to make sure that we can combat climate change, right? To make sure that as many people have healthcare as possible. To make sure there are as few guns on the streets or that they are as difficult to procure

as possible and on and on. And so that's my driving force in doing this. It is not to make sure that somebody gets some sanitized version of breaking news or that I can keep both sides. Make sure that somebody gets some sanitized version of breaking news or that that you know That I can that I can keep both sides I don't care about both sides like I'm I'm in this tip I'm in this because I want to see some things I want to see aspects of the our agenda that I believe in get Past and so that's kind of my my North Star in all of this

I mean really really the reason that I do all of this is because like I've thought about this a lot. And, and, and the thing I think that drives me is like, we are here for but a fleeting moment. 75 years, 80 years, whatever it may be. I want to see people live with as much dignity and, and live with as much dignity as they possibly can in that short amount of time. And so whatever I can do to make that more viable, then that's going to be what drives every decision that I make. And so I don't know if you want to call it activist journalism or just some basic sense of humanity, but that's how I think about everything.

Sometimes it's important to be a little cagey and not to show all your cards in some places. But one thing that I've been really honest with my audience about is I have concern that this time around, as compared to Trump's first term, 2017 to 2021, that we are much more on the radar of this administration. I know for a fact that there are staffers in this White House that pay attention to what you and I are doing. And we've seen the encroachment upon the space we exist in as it grows.

How concerned are you, I guess, on a personal level the space we exist in as it grows. How concerned are you, I guess, on a personal level and for the movement, because it's also not just about any of us individuals, but about the movement and the billions of views in the aggregate that are being accumulated here, that as you get more successful, you also become more of a target. Yeah, so I think that there's another element to that.

And that is, as you become more successful, you become more of a target. But as you continue to grow, you actually become more and more difficult for them to be able to quash dissent from, to silence. And so I think that there is a vested interest in, once you've started, to make sure that you keep going all the way. Because it's going to be a hell of a lot more difficult to take away somebody's social media feed. The more subscribers, the more followers they have, the bigger their voice is. And so for somebody like me, I'm in it. So you might as well just go to the end zone with it, right?

In terms of personal risk, I have thought about this a lot and I thought about it mostly in the lead up to the election. And there was a lot of, you know, I spoke with my family a lot about it. There was, I was, I was really worried about it. And I think now that's just kind of, I think that's kind of subsided in deference to just using the platform that I'm lucky enough to have to make sure to reach as many people and inform them on what's going on while I can. Like, do I think that there is inherent risk in doing this from the administration?

Absolutely. And from the crazy people who are going to take up arms on behalf of this administration? Absolutely. And so there are things that I have to do that I won't talk about publicly because I think it's probably better just to keep what steps I take for my privacy and security to myself. But and the irony about that too is I can't really talk about it publicly. I mean you and I have spoken about it privately but I can't really talk about it publicly because the more you talk about it the more you kind of let people let the bad actors know that it impacts you and so there's this there's this weird disincentivization

where where yes it happens and and I kind of like even if something especially bad happened which luckily hasn't but if it did that would that that would show like if if somebody showed up at my house with a weapon or something like that like what happened in Minnesota if I spoke about this that would tell other people like hey this is something that get this is what works right and so you don't want to see copycat attacks or anything like that. And so it's this weird thing where, yes, it might happen and you feel a need to talk about it because it's reflective of all of the danger of the moment that we're living in. And it should be, I mean, it's so depraved and disgusting, but that's exactly the thing that you have to kind of keep to yourself or keep to your circle of people. And so, look, does it worry me? And does it worry my family?

Of course it does, but I think at this point, whether it's a blessing or a curse that we're in this job, we are in this job. And so you just gotta kind of, the way I think about it is just, I just gotta keep going because there's not that many of us who have Especially large platforms on social media and so if you have it then then use it to to its fullest extent

Yeah, I've had situations where after a particularly scary incident like when Don jr. Targeted me on Twitter for example Yeah, some people will say dude. You should just quit and the the thing that's tough is I explained to them Even if I were open to doing that, and even if I did it today, do you think the problem goes away if I quit today when there's 40,000 videos online of me talking about all this stuff? And so I think to your point, we're in it right now,

and I think it's a critical time to be in it and just to try to be as effective as possible. Yeah, and that's it. I mean, like, my whole goal, and we've spoken about this as well, is to build up independent progressive media as much as we can. Because I don't want, you know, there to only be a few large accounts on YouTube. I don't want there to only be a few large accounts on TikTok. We need to flood the zone.

And this way also, it does help us, because then all of the attention isn't trained on just a few people. I want there to be thousands and thousands of people. I want it to be decentralized. I want it to be very democratized. This way, there's not just a few large creators who get the attention and get the bad attention as well.

It really does feel like everybody. When you interviewed me about my book, I guess it's been over three months ago at this point. One of the things you asked me was sort of like my view as to whether I think Democrats kind of like get what happened in 24, is there a plan, is there some path to securing power again in order to pass bills? And I was sort of like shaky on it.

So three months have gone by. You and I in the last couple months have talked to a lot of governors, senators, members of the House of Representatives. I want to get your view on where you think the strategy is right now. I've been unvarnished with my audience, which is, you know, I sit down with whoever, Cory Booker, and then it was Amy Klobuchar, Andy Bashir. Individually, we're dealing with smart people who I believe have the best intentions and who really do want to pass bills that are going to be better for people. Cool. Is there a unified plan that actually explains how to defeat those in power right now?

President House Senate. I can't say that I feel that there is a unified plan that I could coherently go to people who are not paying attention go, no guys, listen, this is the time to get involved. Here's the unified plan. I'm not seeing it right now. I wonder whether you see it. No, I don't think I see a plan. I'm not seeing it right now. I'm quite I wonder whether you see it. No, I don't think I see a plan. I don't think I see an affirmative plan for the Democrats to go out in 26 and 28 and say here's why you should vote for us, other

than we are not. You know, look, there is there's clearly something in the anti-Trump, anti-republican thing. After all, Republicans have made an entire career in attacking Democrats, making Democrats into boogeymen. But I think right now, it very much feels like, and this isn't a knock on them specifically right now, because I think while Republicans are trying to pass a budget bill that's going to strip healthcare away from 14 million Americans and food assistance away to the tune of $300 billion and explode the deficit by $3 trillion.

I think that there is enough right here in this specific moment to be able to say, we have to stop this. Look what they're trying to do. Look how they're trying to strip your health care away. Look how they're trying to take away your critical lifelines. But I also don't see an affirmative plan moving forward. I don't have some like, Trump came out and he, I mean, he's good at selling his bullshit proposals.

He's not gonna, you know, like he claimed that he was gonna lower housing costs and food costs and rent costs and egg costs. Hasn't done any of that, but that doesn't matter. Hasn't done any of that, but that doesn't matter. Hasn't done any of that, but that doesn't matter because he's already empowered. But at least he has some affirmative plan, notwithstanding the fact that it was a complete bill of goods. I don't think the Democrats have that right now. We still have time until the midterms roll around, but it does feel like we are still an anti-Trump, anti-Republican party.

And again, that might be enough to get us through an election where there will be, I firmly believe that there's going to be a backlash to what Republicans are doing right now. Look, the last time they went after healthcare was in 2017, tried to strip away the ACA and Democrats won the House by the biggest margin in modern American history. So can we win on an anti-Trump, anti-Republican platform? Of course we can, but we can't just be the party that is the lesser of two evils. We can't just be the party that isn't going to be as depraved as Republicans. I think that we need an affirmative message.

You know, Bernie and AOC are garnering a ton of attention across the country because they're very clear about what they want. And it doesn't have to be a progressive thing. It can be, you know, whatever, from wherever you lie on the ideological spectrum, because I know that there are folks in this country who still align with Democrats who are more moderate. And I know that, of course, there are folks who are super progressive and want $30 minimum wage, whatever it may be.

But you need to present an affirmative vision that isn't just anti-Trump, anti-Republican if we want any hope of making sure that we don't only win elections when the other guys are absolutely abhorrent. Yeah, one of the things that worries me, and I'm curious to see your thoughts is, I worry that there is a wing of the movement,

our movement, for whom no one is left enough. And I'll give you two examples, which are your examples, Bernie and AOC, where I am now anecdotally seeing in the comments and hearing from people, AOC sold out, by which they mean she's become a little pragmatic in understanding of how you gain power. AOC sold out. Bernie has gone to the dark side when he said something relatively anodyne about Israel

or something like that. I worry that if Bernie and AOC are now too far set to the middle and they've sold out or whatever, I don't know that anyone would suffice and that scares me a little bit. Yeah, I think there has to be an understanding of what politics is and this idea that we're not in this to find our spiritual leader. We're not in this to find our spiritual leader, we're not in this to find our significant other, we are not looking for perfect. Our politicians are vehicles to get us the closest to where we want to be. And we inherently have to be able to reach out to people that are not just, that are not, that don't just satisfy the purity test that we've decided to impose

because it has to be inclusive, not exclusive. We lost the popular vote. We lost the electoral vote. And so our only job here is to be able to find people who are not already on board and bring them into the process. That's it. Like, that's what politics is. If you want perfect, go, you know, find a partner and that's where you'll find your perfection. Find a spiritual leader and that's where you'll find your perspective.

But that's not what politics is right now. Politics is finding people who are vehicles to get us into power so that we can do the most with what little time we have. We can't be imposing purity tests We can't be excluding people from the party who don't align perfectly with every single worldview that we have we have to be willing to to compromise because Look, I would rather have somebody in office that I agree with 60 to 75 percent of the time because the alternative to that is gonna be somebody that I agree with of the time because the alternative to that is going to be somebody that I agree with five to ten percent of the time and

And and and so it just has to be it just has to be a matter of common sense here And I do hope that there's some sense because I know that the infighting is going to occur once we get into a position where where the 2028 2028 primaries start to roll around. And we see the familiar infighting. And I just hope that people have a sense of what it is that we're doing here and what politics at its core is, because it's not about finding perfection.

And we can't let perfect be the enemy of good. It is about finding somebody who's going to beat the person on the Republican side so that we can get into Republican side so that we can get into power, so that we can use what limited time we have in power to combat climate change and expand access to healthcare and stop the proliferation of guns in our schools and make sure that women have access to reproductive care and whatever it may be. But that's really the name of the game here.

And I try to use what platforms I have at any moment that I have them to kind of drive that message home knowing full well that it may be in vain. But even if there's a few people every time I say it that understand, okay, I get that this politician may not be perfect, but that's not what we're in pursuit of here. This is about getting power and exercising that power to help as many people as possible. And the only way that we actually get into power is if we're willing to find people who have the best chance of beating the Republicans so that we can actually exercise it. One other thing I see in a lot of the comments from our audience is the people that didn't vote

and appealing to people that did not even feel as though the stakes were necessarily high enough or that their vote would play a role in making a difference and stayed home. And I think one of the interesting things there is one of the advantages with the MAGA approach is finding a scapegoat to blame is really effective fear bait campaigning is really effective at getting people off the sidelines. And if you think back to 2015, 2016, when Trump came down the golden escalator, as he

likes to say, and there were people who were really at that point, but they kind of knew who Trump was. And you see Trump go, hey, I know why you've been struggling. You're not making as much money as you want to make, or you're finding it difficult to afford housing or all these different things. The problem is, I'm simplifying, but it's immigrants from Mexico and China treating us unfairly on trade. And I'm going to deal with both of those things.

It really sucks when you're trying to build a movement around reality, nuance, and truth. But that stuff is really effective. I get people to go, I never knew that if I could just vote, I could get a guy like Trump to fix this stuff. And we don't really know how to deal with that yet, I don't think. Yeah, I think we have to be better at, I've seen a few instances where people will come forward and say, the reason that you can't afford to pay for groceries, the reason that you can't afford

to pay for rent, the reason that everything feels so out of reach for you is not because of immigrants. I think it's as simple as reminding people that we need an antidote to the Republican strategy, the demagoguery that we see from Trump. We need an antidote to that. All too often, Democrats are not willing to just come out and refute the argument that they bring forward, which is like, you're not doing well because there's an immigrant somewhere.

You're not doing well because there's a brown or a black person somewhere collecting unemployment or that's on Medicaid. As if these people who are like on food that you're not doing well because they are because they're benefiting from their crumb in in in the pie because they're benefiting from that crumb means that somehow you're worse off there is a scarcity mentality Republicans bring forward and I think that if we put forward the antidote to that which is you are not bad off because somebody is making seven dollars an hour somewhere you're not bad off because somebody else is able to receive food stamps or benefits from Medicaid. It's because our entire tax system is put in place to help one very small specific subset of the population,

and those folks are very often multimillionaires or billionaires. And so I think if we're better off at, if we get better at kind of understanding the antidote to the demagoguery being put forward by Republicans, hopefully we can stop that in our tracks. But I think a lot of what Trump did kind of caught everybody by surprise, left everybody flat-footed. And we haven't really figured out a way to wield boogeymen with the same potency or effectiveness as Republicans have. And they've been really good at it. And I think that hopefully this moment right now where we are just seeing kind of all of

that Republican depravity put into practice, where they're going after people. I mean, it's easy for them to say, like, oh, the reason that you're not getting what you need is because all of these people are taking from you. And then you see these people getting rounded up by ICE, by masked men, and they're just like working in a car wash somewhere or working or like picking our food or working on a construction site that will build our houses. And I think it puts on, I think it puts like a literally literally and figuratively, puts a face to a name and makes it more difficult for people across this country to think that these are the big scary bogeymen that are

making your life miserable, the people that are working in the fields, the people that are standing outside of Home Depot. And I think that we have to take advantage of that tide turning and show that, hey, maybe these aren't the big, scary bogeymen that Republicans have made them out to be. Maybe the big, scary bogeymen are the billionaires that actually benefit from the policies that all of that demagoguery is actually distracting us from. Brian, last thing I want to ask you about, kind of for my own edification in the last few minutes we have, I try to do all the things I can think of in order to be as effective as possible

So I do my videos and I do my podcast if there's a new platform where maybe we can reach people I get on the platform Some people wrote to me and said, you know, I have a lot of friends and family They just don't listen to stuff they read so I wrote a book and then we launched the sub stack where we have written content What about going to DC and interviewing people there the substack where we have written content. What about going to DC and interviewing people there and think, well, we did that last week. I'm trying to do everything within my reasonable reach as an independent producer.

Are there other sorts of engagements and things that we as independent producers can and potentially should be doing in order to increase our effectiveness to get more of those non-voters voting, et cetera. I think at this point now, and by the way, I should let everybody know that's in this Substack Live, that one of the inspiring forces to get me involved in independent media and in YouTube

was literally watching David. I mean, David has been part of my YouTube diet from day one. I watched him well before I had my own channel. And I still believe, and I call you every time after you do one of your interviews, especially with these right-wingers, that there is literally nobody better in independent media, legacy media,

that with these interviews than you. So you are, you know, I think having, I don't want to understate the impact that you've had because, you know, had I not watched you, I very likely would not be doing what I'm doing right now. So I know that it often feels like we have to do so much more because there is a sense, and I get it as well, of like,

I feel like this is not sufficient. But I think at this point, I mean, you're on all the platforms. You're on YouTube, you're on all the vertical platforms, we're doing Substack Live right now. I think now this moment is about kind of paving the way, and I guess this lends itself to the point that I was about kind of paving the way, and I guess this lends itself to the point that I was just making, paving the way for a lot

of other creators to get into this ecosystem. I know you and I have spoken about that at length, but I think we just need as many voices as possible because really the problem is not that we, that you or I don't have a big enough platform to be able to reach people. It's just that the full breadth of the left-wing media ecosystem cannot compare to what they have on the right.

And that if you're scrolling, eventually you're going to run out of left of center creators and you're going to start getting fed right-wing content just because of the pure number of people that are on there, all of the monetary incentivizations on the right to be able to do this kind of stuff, and the incubator programs that they have on the right as well. And so, you know, I think like, I don't want to understate like the impact that you continue to have just by doing what you're already doing because if you weren't there, I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing. And I know that a lot of, and I know doing and I know that a lot of and I know that and I hope that

a lot of people who are watching who have you know interest in doing content creation on the left or even you know even if it's just like a part-time thing picking up your phone and saying how how stuff can impact you do it I mean you know watching people like David is why I'm doing it I hope that folks who are watching this right now if you have any interest in getting out there and making your voice part of this broad swath of people that we have on the left, that if you have any interest in doing it, that you do. Because I think it can make a real difference.

But I think that's where our interest lies right now, is broadening the entire ecosystem because it's a numbers game at this point, so we need as many numbers as possible. That's a good note to end on, and I'll end with the advice that I always give whenever I have a conversation with people who want to get started. And they go, oh, what lights do I get and which camera do I need someone doing average? Record videos starting today. Just start doing the content. All of the other stuff will follow. just start doing the content. All of the other stuff will follow, just start doing the content.

That's the best possible advice I think that we can really give. And 100%. What else can you do? Yeah, 100%. I mean, I am a perfectionist. I'm the most anal person that you'll find. I would normally, when I was first making my content,

I was like, I can't do anything until I have the perfect script and the perfect background, the perfect camera, the perfect sound gear, the perfect lighting. And at the end of the day, people are forgiving on all of that stuff. Just say what you have to say, get out there. All of that stuff will come in time and you'll get to the point where you have a nice background, nice camera, nice lights, but that stuff does not matter. And in fact, some of the most viral videos that I have, especially on vertical platforms,

are me just standing in some nondescript place because I just had something I wanted to say and just said it. You've been listening to a conversation with Brian Tyler Cohen. If you're a subscriber to my sub stack, make sure to subscribe to Brian's. I would be flattered if Brian's followers

subscribed to my sub stack as well. Brian's so good to talk to you. I know you're a busy guy, so I'll let you go, but we'll keep the conversation going. Awesome, David, thank you so much for the time. Thank you everybody for tuning in and listening. I wanna introduce you to an amazing tool that has helped a huge number of people reach their health goals. for the time. Thank you everybody for, uh, for tuning in herbs to to And sticking less of that awkward adjusting. And if you're not using the pouches, the fabric alone is a game changer. Soft, stretchy, moisture wicking now available in cooling materials like bamboo and mesh.

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Go to sheath Underwear Dotcom slash Pacman. Use the code Pacman for 20 percent off. That's S.H.E.A. T.H. Underwear Dotcom slash Pacman. Use code Pacman for 20 percent off. The info is in the podcast notes. President Donald Trump suffered a complete and total meltdown

at a White House dinner last night. It involved Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. But we will get to that part in a moment. Donald Trump doing his version of Hillary Clinton's. I told them to cut it out for which she was roundly ostracized. Here is Trump saying, I'm disappointed that Putin's still doing violent stuff in the war. And I hate to see people killed, like, as an example, Ukraine and Russia. They're not Americans. They're being killed. They're not Israeli. They're being killed.

They're these are all Russians and all Ukrainians. And and but it's 5000 maybe 7000 last week 7500 last week mostly soldiers but people in towns and cities that are getting hit but mostly death is mostly soldiers now so they don't come from here but it's 7000 last week souls. And if I can stop that, you know, they have parents and have sisters and brothers and getting married and who knows that just people, but their souls and if I can stop a war, you know, because I have an ability to. So I'm disappointed, frankly, that President Putin hasn't stopped.

I'm not happy about it either. I really wish and thought that Vladimir Putin would just stop being so mean. Cut it out, Vlad. We don't want it anymore. Trump rambling and the look on Pete Hegseth's face says a lot when you watch this Trump talking about Saudi Arabia and Qatar and what he told Bibi backstage. Listen to this and watch Pete. But we're up to over 15 trillion dollars coming into our country. There's never been anything like it anywhere in the world. There's never been an adjustment like that anywhere in the world. We look, I told this story and I just told it to Bibi backstage.

I was talking to him and I said, you know, the king of Saudi Arabia, smart guy. And also we went to Qatar and we went to UAE. Really three strong leaders, smart guys. They all told me the same thing. And then that was reiterated at NATO just recently when we got back, when they agreed to spend a trillion dollars a year, by the way, which is about three times what they were spending. But they all said the same thing. We thought your country was dead. horrible term, right?

We thought the United States of America was dead. And now you're presiding over the hottest country anywhere in the world with the hottest country in the world. I think baby would admit even hotter than Israel, though. Israel was pretty hot about a week ago. I can tell you Israel's hot, a soaking wet, sweaty Trump talk talking about hot countries as Pete Hegseth looks on in hara in complete and total horror. Now, Donald Trump then does something pretty slick and he rarely does slick stuff, but

it's totally whack. Then I'm going to call it out. Trump goes, we're going to send some weapons to Ukraine. We've got to do it. Ukraine's got to be able to defend themselves. Fine. But this is aid that was already approved by Congress and Trump stalled it. The only thing Trump's doing is now after international pressure.

Hey, this stuff's already approved. Stop delaying it. Trump's going to allow it to be sent. He wants you to think he's doing something great. He's just stopping the obstruction. Are you planning to send more weapons to Ukraine? We're going to send some more weapons. We have to.

They have to be able to defend themselves. They're getting hit very hard now. They're getting hit very hard. We're going to have some more weapons. We have to. They have to be able to defend themselves. They're getting hit very hard now. They're getting hit very hard. We're going to have to send more weapons, your defensive weapons primarily. But they're getting hit very, very hard. So many people are dying in that mess. Trump wants you to think what a good thing he's doing. The people are dying and he's going to get them the aid.

Well, he slowed the aid down now. Now he's ending the stalling of it. Now on the tariff letters, Trump said something I couldn't even summarize because it's so unintelligible, not exactly the art of the deal. Because you're sending the letters to follow up on the edit you asked earlier, your county visas deals by saying here's the tariff rate we're going to charge. I'm saying here it is, congratulations, welcome to the United States, I hope you make a lot of money and you're going to pay us money.

They were ripping us, they were charging us tariffs at levels that nobody's ever seen before. We have some countries who are charging 200 percent tariffs and make it impossible to do business. And what the tariffs are doing is they're driving people in and companies in into the United States. That's why we're building all of the all of the work that you see happening in this country right now. And it's at a record level. All the fact really the art of the deal. You can just sense this guy knows how to negotiate. Huh? Trump asked directly what happened to 90 trade deals in 90 days. His answer leaves a little bit to be desired. What happened to 90 trade deals in 90 days? As we've spoken to everybody, we know every

week. It's all done. I told you, I told you we'll make some deals. But for the most part, we're going to send a letter. We're going to say welcome to the United States if you'd like to participate in the greatest, most successful country ever. I mean, we're doing better than ever. We have I don't think you're going to see these numbers. We've never had numbers like this. All right. I'm not going to insult you with the whole thing.

He just doesn't really address it substantively. And then finally, finally. Moving the trip, the tariff deadline from July 9 to August 1. August 1 is definitely firm, right? You're not going to move that again. And Trump goes, well, well, is the August 1 deadline firm now? Is that it? I would say no, I would say firm, but not 100 percent firm.

If they call up and they say would like to do something a different way, we're going to be open to that. But essentially, that's the way it is right now. It's essentially firm, but not 100 percent. His brain is jello. But this is nothing compared to how Benjamin Netanyahu played him during this same dinner. Donald Trump got played like a fiddle and he didn't even realize it during a joint appearance

at the White House yesterday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu handed Trump a piece of paper and he says with a straight face, I have nominated you for a Nobel Peace Prize. And Trump goes, wow, I didn't even know that. No skepticism, not a hint that Netanyahu might be buttering him up so that then Trump lets Netanyahu do whatever the hell he does. Just a naive, wide eyed ego boost for Donald Trump. Listen to this.

So I want to present to you, Mr. President, the letter I sent to the Nobel Prize Committee. It's nominating you for the Peace Prize, which is well deserved. And you should get it. Thank you very much. This I didn't know. Well, thank you very much. This I didn't know. Well, thank you very much. Coming from you in particular, this is very meaningful. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Thank you for everything you're doing. Thank you. Bibi is playing Trump like a fiddle and he doesn't even realize it. I mean, a peace prize for preemptively bombing another country in circumstances that you precipitated by getting out of the Iran deal during your first term. Now, here's the thing. OK, this is obviously strategic flattery. Benjamin Netanyahu has an interest in Trump being buttered up by him. Netanyahu wants Trump's political support as Netanyahu's government is facing international

backlash over their handling, primarily of the Gaza conflict, but others as well. And the way that Bibi manufacturers consent from the United States is feeding Trump. The one thing Trump is Trump has an unending appetite for flattery, a peace prize for bombing another country. And Benjamin Netanyahu, who I disagree with completely, I'm an opponent of Netanyahu. He's not stupid. And he knows he knows what he is doing here. And Trump is eating it up. This is what makes Trump so easy to manipulate. And this is why we worry about when he gets on the phone with Putin and he goes, Putin

said it very strongly. I believe them. They didn't hack. They're the victims here. Trump is so easy to manipulate. It's never about policy. It's never about strategy. It's never about strategy. It's about who praises him the loudest.

Do I think that Netanyahu genuinely believes Trump deserves a Nobel Peace Prize? No. But is Netanyahu willing to pretend he does in order to secure favorable treatment from Donald Trump? Of course, this is not about a real nomination. It's about keeping Trump wrapped around his finger and Trump sits there beaming like a kid getting a sticker. The rest of the world sees what's happening with which is that this is nothing but a pathetic

and performative stunt designed to flatter a guy who is so self obsessed. He doesn't even notice that he's being used. Unbelievable, pathetic stuff. We've got a great bonus show for you today. Ted Cruz on vacation again as Texas is struggling and having problems and seeing death from floods. We'll talk about an IRS declaration that churches can endorse candidates from the pulpit and not not lose nonprofit status. And alligator Alcatraz detainees are already alleging completely inhumane conditions.

What a shock. Who could have expected that? Get the bonus show by signing up at Join Pakman Dotcom. Get on my sub stack newsletter at sub stack dot David Pakman dot com. I'll be live with Jessica Craven tonight at quarter to seven Eastern quarter to four Pacific. Hope to see you there.