The MeidasTouch Podcast - Ambassador Rahm Emanuel Discusses Trump’s Failing Trade War

Episode Date: October 12, 2025

MeidasTouch host Ben Meiselas reports on Donald Trump losing all leverage in the trade war against China and other Asian countries as they make him pay at the worst time for him and Meiselas interviews former US Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel about the geopolitical developments and its impact on the United States. Visit https://meidasplus.com for more! Remember to subscribe to ALL the MeidasTouch Network Podcasts: MeidasTouch: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/meidastouch-podcast Legal AF: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/legal-af MissTrial: https://meidasnews.com/tag/miss-trial The PoliticsGirl Podcast: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-politicsgirl-podcast The Influence Continuum: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-influence-continuum-with-dr-steven-hassan Mea Culpa with Michael Cohen: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/mea-culpa-with-michael-cohen The Weekend Show: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-weekend-show Burn the Boats: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/burn-the-boats Majority 54: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/majority-54 Political Beatdown: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/political-beatdown On Democracy with FP Wellman: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/on-democracy-with-fpwellman Uncovered: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/maga-uncovered Coalition of the Sane: https://meidasnews.com/tag/coalition-of-the-sane Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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every country in the world, especially for China. I'm not going to read the whole thing because he goes on and on and on, but then he basically says that we are going to think about a massive increase of tariffs on Chinese products coming into the United States. And there are many other countermeasures we're going to be taking. It's like he learns these things happening for the very first time, rolls out of bed and post them. It's very, very strange.

You had Treasury Secretary Scott Besant making his rounds. on Fox and other networks, basically saying, you know, don't worry, the Chinese will come back. The Chinese will come back. Just watch what Besson says. I'm not sure how this is negotiating from a position of strength. Let's play it. Negotiations, correct? Well, that and holding the American soybean farmers hostage, they politicize these soybean purchases,

and most of them have gone to Brazil. And we're not going to let that happen. And I believe that the Chinese will have to come back at the end of the season and by soybeans. But then earlier, Donald Trump seemed to be seeding all of the leverage regarding actually helping our farmers and having a coherent policy vis-a-vis China. I don't know, maybe cementing better relationships with South Korea and Japan. And he's been focused on the TikTok deal and all of his rich friends in the TikTok deal that he needs China to approve. So all of Trump's focus is now, I guess, making TikTok into Magatok. So Trump had said this earlier.

Here, play this clue. The United States has that value in its hand because we're the ones that have to approve it. I specifically get the right to approve it. The people that are investing it are among the greatest investors in the world, the biggest, the richest, and they'll do a great job. And we're doing it in conjunction with China. But we are getting, the United States is getting a tremendous fee plus. I call it a fee plus for just making the deal.

And I don't want to throw that out the window. I can say this, that you'll have a lot of very unhappy. youth. And I use TikTok very legitimately, very straight, just statements every day. I'd little statement, short statements. Sir, make it short, please. And TikTok, Jack, we call them. It was pretty good. He uses it very legitimately, just wants everybody know. Unlike truth social, where he sends direct messages in public to his attorney general demanding that he, that she, uh, criminally prosecute his political enemies. As I mentioned earlier, turmoil in Japan as the Comeato party ending its coalition with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party sending their markets down significantly on the day.

And it was on the news that it was possible that the Liberal Democratic Party's far right-wing, Takeashi was potentially going to be the prime minister. And now there's a total mess there. But to help make sense of all of this mess, there's nobody better to talk about the former ambassador to Japan, former chief of staff, former President Obama, for mayor of Chicago. I can't think of someone else who knows more about this region and connecting it to what's happening to the American economy than you, Rahm, Ambassador Emmanuel. Great to see it, Rahm, appreciate you being on here.

Let's make sense of Asia first, of what's going, if we can, with your experience and what you're seeing and observing and how concerning it is to you, and then let's talk about some domestic issues. Look, I mean, I guess you look at this, and I think basically Donald Trump's been caught by how he's treated both allies, our friends, and foes. China's basically found leverage. They've done critical minerals before. Go back to 2012 against Japan.

And they've applying pressure, and they're going to apply pressure. And they're doing it to soybean farmers in Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, etc. They're now buying Brazilian and Argentinian soybeans. Our farmers have lost that market and are out. huge amount of money and could be you're going to could see a lot of bankruptcies in the rural parts of the Midwest, uh, in that area. And China's basically, I know Donald Trump thinks he's the greatest, but is outperforming him, finding leverage points and squeezing. They gave away the TikTok and they know one thing. Donald Trump and it's well known in China. It's all over the media.

Is it really desirous not only for the meeting, but for a trade deal. And so they're going to find their leverage points. And all of a sudden, the president woke up and realize that he's behind me, he put America and most importantly himself in this negotiation behind the eight ball. And I don't fault China. I'm not for what they're doing, but they've decided basically, we're going to squeeze you and we're going to find leverage. Now, he says, I want to raise tariffs, et cetera. But he's already done that. China's higher than, I think, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Japan. And so he can continue to do that, but that tick for tack will not work for the economy in the United States. And so he's basically rather than project strength,

project weakness. Now, the second component of this is you talk to the political structure in Japan, you know, when we did export controls on semiconductors against China, the reason they were effective and had China on the back foot is Japan, Korea, Taiwan, the Dutch, all stood shoulder to shoulder with the United States. Today they're not ready to do that because they don't trust the United States. They've lost confidence in the steadiness of America's approach under Donald Trump. And that means the comprehensiveness, the completeness of an embargo or a set of sanctions can't happen. The other thing, besides a TikTok deal that China really didn't care as much as Trump did, President gave away on the NVIDIA trips to China for nothing.

for a meeting. And there was a lot of consternation inside his own kind of foreign policy establishment about, and Democrats, and I would add my voice to that, of how costly that giveaway was in the sense of the semiconductor advanced chip kind of competitiveness between the United States and China. I think about the delicacy with which you were chief of staff, how you would handle these meetings, the carefulness that would be brought to just the language that was used and every aspect of it was handled with the utmost meticulousness. Then I contrast that with how Donald Trump's been bringing in the president of South Korea and saying all of these things in front of him that seemed to be highly offensive, culturally, on many different levels that would have

certain reactions back in a not to mention rating the Georgia factory right around the same time the president took that visit of South Korea there, then making comments about Japan, not meeting with leaders, like he'd show up, have meeting scheduled, and then ditch the meetings, which would send messages back home and create the turmoil there. And so can you speak to, you know, like, what goes through your mind when Donald Trump's standing there with the world leader? And he's saying, you're giving me seven hundred and fifty billion dollars or five hundred and fifty billion let me just let me get to this one thing i know there will be no japanese government is going to sign over five hundred billion dollars to the united states and there's going to be no south korea government that's going to turn over four hundred

and forty billion so what goes to you know these leaders when they're sitting there what are they what's going on in front of us when you're seeing that take place look i don't know how to answer uh i mean they're sitting there and part of their calculation is how not to be on the wrong side of Donald Trump and get out of this meeting with some wins with least amount of embarrassment or danger in this area. But, you know, one of the things as ambassador we try to do is reverse the playbook on China. China tries to isolate a Japan, a career, or Philippines, or Australia where they used economic coercion by bringing everybody together through. India, Australia, Japan, the United States, in the Quad, the United States, Japan, Korea

in the Trilat, the same thing with the Philippines. We isolated the isolator, and China felt it, which is why they complained. I think the, and we haven't even touched, we talked about Japan and Korea, our mismanagement of India, a major, major counterweight against China, both on the manufacturing and technology side, but also on kind of the military side and keeping not just the Pacific, but the Indo part of the Indian Ocean part for China. The President of the United States has literally thrown away 40 years of meticulous, strategic planning and preparation and enhancing and warming the relationship through Democratic Republican administrations, even in his first minister. He threw it all away because Modi would not say that the president

deserves a Nobel peace by further ceasefire that he worked out, Modi believes, with the Pakistanis on their own. And the president out of ego and then out of money from Pakistan that was paying both his son and Wickoff done, this is a major strategic blunder that China has used to their advantage. And both, that's on the strategic level. And on the economic level, the United States is tariffing and putting tariffs on our allies without thinking through all the equities on defense spending, political alignment of our strategic interest vis-à-vis China, and then our economic integration, which is going to require friends and allies working together with the United States. I just, you know, I will say his chaotic process

worked in the final days here in Gaza because he took advantage of the leverage he had on Bibi Netanyahu and also organizing the Arab world to leverage Hamas finally. that chaotic process is now a detriment. That same tactic is a detriment in confronting China. You know, I think this is an admission by me that when I started this network, I focused so much on the horse race of domestic politics and not connecting it to these international events because they are interconnected. And by ignoring what's happening abroad, I was ignoring the root causes of what's happening to our farmers here.

Why are our businesses, you know, struggling to send to export things? Why are they struggling here? So I've made a bigger deal about talking about international and then talking about domestic, which I want to get into now, because we're really feeling it here in the United States. I mean, Trump's, in addition to all of the other, you know, nonsense and craziness and dangerous stuff that was on the campaign, affordability saying that things were going to get better on day one, I'll make things cheaper was one of the, you know, purported selling points. He said a bunch of crazy stuff as well.

But now he goes out and about and he claims he did it. Like he goes out and he, you know, he goes with the repetition. If I just say I did it, I did it. He goes, I solved inflation. Things are great. Everything's better. I'm the one who've done it. Isn't everybody living a golden age?

What's interesting at this moment, I want to get your take is it just doesn't feel like that's working as we're here, you know, approaching mid-onoff. October and people like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I'm not doing good. Health care is a real thing for me, not a fake thing for me. I'm suffering. I'm struggling. Stop saying things are good. They're not good. What do you make of that? Well, I mean, I just saw right beforehand a survey this on sentiment. The one thing Democrats and Republicans agree on is both are sour on the economy. It used to be there was a partisan split on the economy based on the presidential party affiliation that now is changed but everybody across the line not the same percentages but democrats

a majority of democrats and majority of republicans are negative of the common a b very important fact only 10% of the society that's making 250,000 or more is holding up 50% of consumer spent it's the most narrow piece of kind of an inverse pyramid And we haven't had that in decades at this higher level. And so for a lot of the country and a lot of the public, they are really, really struggling and close to, if not in a recession. And take subprime car loans are way behind schedule worse than 90 days, the highest it's been in over 20 years. All the indicators, and again, we don't have a lot of government data because of what's happening in the shutdown, are indicating that. in fact this is not a golden age people are struggling day in and day out and then you have

these 20% increases in utility rates 10% increase in health care costs only 12% of people under the age of 30 can afford to buy their first home so every measure of what kind of comes to the quality of life of American dream kind of the contract has crumbled and people now are are struggling and the American dreams turned more into a nightmare than a dream. And that's where we are. And the President of the United States can say whatever he wants is he's going to, in my own view, my assessment, he's going to commit the same kind of mistake that Joe Biden made, which is telling people things are great, look at all the data, and people in their day

in and day out lives don't see that and not only don't see that or struggling, and they're negative to his stewardship of the economy. One fact, going back to the other subject, on our imports, almost 50% of our imports are products that go into manufacturing here in the United States. Japan, by way of an example, is the largest investor in the United States. Half their investment goes into manufacturing. So when you start raising tariffs, you're raising tariffs on things that are actually helping the United States continue to be a manufacturing powerhouse or an economy. It's the wrong approach to a good end, which is how to rebuild manufacturing in the United States. Manufacturing employment is down under Donald Trump.

Construction and building is down under Donald Trump. It's not an economy that's doing anything about building for the United States. And that brings us to the government shutdown that we're in right now, which Trump controls all branches of government. I mean, he runs it with his, as he likes to brag with an iron fist, but right now he says, This one isn't me on this one, even though they're not even talking with Democrats, real right, yet alone even negotiating. Like, to me, I think with the American people see is like a fifth grade student who learns about the government, knows like you're at least supposed to talk to each other.

Trump's whole thing is, I don't need the other side when you do need the other side. And then he goes and does the whole thing where, you know, which was the election stuff, which is he goes, look, the immigrants are taking your health care. It's transgender people from Peru who are. doings they start with that then they you know marxists communists are out there i i can't even find a threat mag and mike johnson's the worst like his trump routine like he's trying to do a trump and he can't do it and he looks angry and weird when he's doing the whole when he's doing the whole stick so like and the american people aren't buying they're like no no no no like that's i actually

use a c a like i use that like i need that here's the thing that i keep repeating and it drives me crazy We are writing a $20 billion check to Argentina. No questions asked to bail out the president's friend, and 20 million Americans are losing their health care. Now, I don't know who thinks this is a good trade, but literally we just completed, under the Secretary of Treasury, $20 billion, no reforms, nothing from Argentina. and this will be their umpteenth bailout we're going to give them 20 billion dollars and their farmers

compete against our farmers for the chinese market they're going to get 20 billion and 20 million Americans are going to lose their health care support from the federal government now that is not a good trade i didn't i didn't realize that being on argentinia was a benefit in the trump administration and being an american is going to cost to your health care but that's exactly what the trump administration story. Now they're, have you ever heard of this, an exclusive air force base for Qatar in like Idaho? Like, did you hear this morning? They're doing the, the Qatari Emirati Air Force space. I mean, look, alliances, strategic, whatever, but we're, we're now like, we're now naming our Air Force bases for the Qataris. And I mean, what, what, with the straight, what? Let me just say

this. It's very hard to find the moment that an Emanuel is speechless. I'm speechless. They need to have an airport to land the new plane they just gave them. I'll give you one where I know you won't be speeches before we go. It's former mayor of Chicago. I don't know how to comment on this. It's just like you've got to be like who vetted this? Wait, you know, are we going to, I mean, so we got the Katari Air Force, are we going to do the crypto arena, White House, you know, wing, are we going to do?

I mean, you know, yes, we are. The new East Wing Ballroom is brought to you by Palantier, you know, whatever it is. I mean, that's where it's going. Before we go, your former mayor of Chicago, I'm sure you have a lot of thoughts about like a literal military invasion of your city and sending Texas National Guard troops into the city where you were the mayor. What's your views on all that? Look, this is what's broken about our politics.

I've opposed defunding the police. stupid idea, fail policy. I oppose sending in the National Guard that somehow they're going to know Englewood, Little Village, Back of the Yard, neighborhoods in the City of Chicago. Community policing is the answer. It's neither defund the police

or National Guard, 500 of them, in a city of 3 million. Community policing. Bro, it's crazy. On immigration, I think open borders was a mistake. And I also think declaring open warfare on American cities is a mistake. And I give you one example of this.

Last night on the way home, the airport, I stopped in my favorite Mexican restaurant, and a young woman there was near tears. Out of fear that coming from home to work, et cetera, and how if something happened to her, who would know, and how would they help her, we're bringing the idea of getting criminal elements out of the country, you had everybody at yes. The idea that you're going to pick up people

who are working, pick up people that are filing their papers and following the law at the courthouse, we are bringing a level of fear that is not only not correct, but doesn't solve the problem of immigration. It requires leadership. We're a nation of immigrants and a nation of laws. You break the laws. We have to deal with that and enforce it and do it in an appropriate way. And we're also a nation that throughout our history has welcomed immigrants to the country. I'm a product of that. My dad came here, my grandfather, and my mother's son. That's the country. Do you look at major companies in the United States as one example and also all types of other professions? And you have immigrants from every part. So to me, open borders was wrong,

and open warfare in America is wrong. And the American people know that, and that's why they've rejected Democrats from Republicans alike and independents rejected what the president's done. In the same way, defunding the police is crazy and calling out National Guard on American cities is crazy. It's about community policing. For the money you're spending,

sending the Texas National Guard up to Chicago, you can help the city of Chicago recruit permanently 500 police officers into the police department and help the city bring the type of public safety you need to Chicago or to Portland or to Boston. Second, if you really want to, you know, everybody knows this who deals with the issue of crime, a mayor, a police superintendent, three or four percent of the city commits an overwhelming amount of the violent crime.

Prosecute them. You have U.S. attorneys. You have U.S. attorney's office. Sort of. Sort of. But no, but my point is, look, as somebody worked on crime, The strategy is about more police on the street getting kids, guns, and gangs off the street. It's a comprehensive approach from beginning to end. Invest in community policing, invest in after-school programs for kids so they're not on the street, prosecute the hardened criminals, and work hard at getting both them and the guns and the drugs that they use off the street. And it requires coordination.

If the president said to the mayors, not just to the targeted cities, but the mayor, what do you need? How do we bring crime down? You would have a bill of goods, and they could partner. But, you know, I don't know if you know this, it was close to, I think it was $800 million cut in local assistance on public cities. So the President of the United States is now the author of defunding the police. Except his own personal police force, his high stages. And then there's $200 billion that goes to people roving around your city with assault weapons out their window and spraying chemical agents here. I make this other point, which is maybe because I'm a nerd, in a few months, the government must produce a national defense strategy.

It's a document. It says this about China. It says this about Russia. It says this about weapons of mass destruction. It will say, what are the threats? if there's a section about American cities as the enemy within and that now it will be the first time that's ever been done. On the other hand, if it doesn't say it, then what we know is what the president is doing

is not serious that the enemy within as the Secretary of Defense and the President of the United States and the commander of chief has said. So we're going to, the lie will be exposed. The idea that cities are the, you know, and I say this as a former. Basar, we used to organize military exercises with Australia, Japan, India, coordination of efforts. China took note. If you're thinking you're going to practice in American cities, are you bringing Australian, Japanese, European militaries here to practice with the United States on our cities? I think this whole thing is not only performative, it's dangerous.

and it's the president of the United States is setting up not only a precedent but also a kind of familiarized American people that the military will be within the daily threads of our lives and that is not who we are and he knows it and the good news is so do the American people so we lead with that with some hope and I think the American people are getting it increasingly although this is not the way I would have hoped we would have got our civics lessons through real world. Ambassador Emanuel, appreciate you. Thank you very much. Everybody hit subscribe. Let's get to 6 million subscribers. Thanks for watching. Be sure to add the Midas Touch podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcast for new updates

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