The MeidasTouch Podcast - Furious World Leaders Lock Out Trump from Closing Ceremony

Episode Date: November 24, 2025

MeidasTouch host Ben Meiselas reports on world leaders locking Trump and US representatives out of the G20 closing ceremony because of the United States refusal to participate in prior day’s events and world leaders and speakers starting mocking Trump and the United States for their behavior. Head to https://Smalls.com/MEIDAS and use promo code MEIDAS at checkout for 60% off your first order PLUS free shipping! 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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G-O-F-U-N-D-M-E.com. This is a commercial message brought to you by GoFundMe. What you saw right there are attendees of the G20 summit in South Africa celebrating a very successful summit, also celebrating the fact that South Africa and world leaders locked the United States out of the G20 closing ceremony. Now, normally, what takes place at the G20 closing ceremony is that the current president of the G20, the leader, in this case, who happens to be the president of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa would hand over the gavel to the next year leader of the G20, which is the United States. And that's been planned for some time. So that would have been Donald Trump. But Donald Trump did not show up to the G20. The United States essentially boycotted the G20.

The United States lied and claimed that there was a white genocide taking place in South Africa. So the very first time that the G20 was held in the African continent, the United States refused to show up and through a tantrum blaming a fake white genocide as the reason the United States refused to show up. One of the real reasons that Trump refused to show up is that he's scared of these types of forums because he looks so utterly pathetic. And he has such a distaste for multilateralism and these types of meetings support international cooperation. And so what was supposed to take place here is that you were going to have the president of South Africa who's leading right now the G20 Ramaphosa

hand over the gavel signifying unity and transition and stability to Donald Trump but Trump wasn't there so the U.S. wanted to send a junior attach a junior state department official someone not at

the leader of a state level and South Africa's like no you didn't show up we're not having anybody from the United States participate in the gavel ceremony if you want you can show up at basically the equivalent of the State Department in South Africa. They call Dirk their International Affairs Office.

Show up at a later time. There's not going to be cameras. We'll hand you over the paperwork, but you're not sending some junior person to take the gavel. And instead, you had Ramaphosa, the president of South Africa, hold the gavel and then give a hug to President Lula of Brazil, who hosted the G20 last year, or former President Biden attended. They embraced. There was no Trump, no United States. The U.S. was locked out, and you saw everybody basically celebrating and mocking Trump. And sadly, kind of mocking what Trump has turned the United States into.

Watch as the gavel was held up, not passed over like it should have been. And you'll see President Lula of Brazil. He himself had been under attack by Donald Trump embracing Ramaphosa. Here, play this clip. The governor of this G20 summit formally closes this summit and now moves on to the next president of the G20, which is the United States, where we shall see each other again next year. The summit is therefore closed. So let's talk about also what was going on while this was happening. In the absence of the United States, basically all these countries and these speakers were just straight up roasting Donald Trump.

They were roasting the United States and how Trump has weakened the United States on the international scene. So, for example, you had Columbia economics professor, Jeffrey, Sacks giving a speech at the University of South Africa, an event attended by a lot of these nations and their leaders, and watch him just mock Donald Trump, call out Donald Trump for the tantrum that he had here play this clip. Why isn't Donald Trump coming tomorrow? Because he has a four-year-old mentality, and he's having a tantrum. He's having a tantrum. What is the tantrum that the rest of the world says,

we don't want a king. As President Lula said, we don't need an emperor. He would come here as just one of 20 leaders or 21. He doesn't want that. He's having a tantrum. So this rebalancing is happening. He's having a particular tantrum, by the way, because the United States is in a deeply neurotic funk.

You know what the cause of that neurosis is? China. A wonderful, brilliant civilization. 4,000 years old plus it's been a unified state with brilliant statecraft for more than 2,000 years. Then in this speech, Sachs also accused Trump of sending the CIA to blow up an oil refinery in Venezuela that in the past 24 hours blew up. And Sack says, look, I can't prove it was the CIA, but seems likely what went down. Here play this clip. Today, a major refinery in Venezuela suddenly exploded.

That seems a lot like the CIA to me. I don't guarantee it. We don't have any more news. But last week, President Trump said he had assigned the CIA to operations inside Venezuela. And a week later, suddenly the biggest refinery blows up. So the United States can hardly go a week at a time without trying to kill somebody. But China actually goes centuries without attacking its neighbors. And then more from Jeffrey Sachs right here.

Here, let's play this clip. I always emphasize geography in thinking. about economics. So the geography is that at Pennsylvania Avenue, which is where the White House is, now there's a west wing and no east wing because he knocked it down a couple weeks ago, this idiot. Excuse me. Sorry, it's true. I'm just being technical. At 16th in Pennsylvania is the White House. 15th in Pennsylvania is the Treasury building. 17,000, in Pennsylvania is what's called the executive office of the president of the U.S. 18th in Pennsylvania is the World Bank, and 19th in Pennsylvania is the International Monetary Fund.

So it's only two blocks from the president's office to tell the IMF what to do. You don't even need to text it. It takes 30 seconds to walk across the street to say, veto that country's program. And that's still power. But it's power that is fading. It's fading in part because of the bricks. Because the bricks are saying, we don't need to be under the thumb of a U.S. empire.

That's what President Lula said when he was hosting the bricks this summer. And Trump put on a tariff on Brazil because he didn't like a court proceeding against the preceding president who had tried to make a coup. And so he put on a penalty tariff and did President Lula said, we don't need an emperor. And we're not going to succumb to this kind of pressure. So the bricks of which you are an esteemed member, the S in BRICS. Remember the 10 BRICS countries, Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, and now Egypt and Ethiopia, United Arab Emirates, Iran, and Indonesia. The 10 BRICs countries have 46% of the world population. Thank you.

and 41% of the world GDP. And they can look at the G7 and say, who are you? And that's what they're doing. So this is the new phase of geopolitics. Now, we're hearing from South Africa officials who were basically said, look, If at the end of the day, Trump wanted to show up, or if he sent somebody like Secretary of State Rubio, somebody at that level, okay, we'll pass the gavel, they could participate in the closing ceremony, but they boycotted the G20. They refused to show. So, no, we're not going to allow them to participate in the ceremony. I want you to watch right here how it's day two of the G20 summit in Johannesburg. And here it is the U.S. being locked out of the

closing ceremony play this clip. And now, it's a second and final day. There has to be a handover that must happen. And from what we've heard from the presidency, it's not going to happen if there's a junior official in the room. I'm not aware. If there's been any changes, are you able to update us what to expect? So every delegate coming here was registered.

There was pre-registration and registration closed. So those who are not in the room have not been, have not registered because they chose not to register. But secondly, we have indicated that when we're told, remember we are a country, things get planned. When we were told that we are not going to participate, we are not going to be there, nobody is going to be there. We had to make alternative arrangements.

And the arrangements of today is that we have a closing ceremony and we don't have a handover ceremony. The handover ceremony, as articulated by the Minister of International Relations, will take place in line with what the United States have communicated. The Ashaje will receive the handover from South Africa and an equivalent level official at Deco will then hand over to them. You can't have a president ending over to an official and they are not here. They didn't register to be here.

They didn't get accredited to be here because they didn't come on time to be here. And here's another clip right here of another government official saying, look, if they want to come to the Durko, the DIRCO, like the International Affairs Office, you could show up. You could knock United States, but you're not going to get some forum here in the gavel ceremony. You didn't show up. Too bad. So sad.

See you later. You don't get to send anybody here. play this clip we did not deny anyone access the united states is a member of them of the of the of the g20 and if they want to be represented they can still send anyone at the right level is the leader summit um the right level is head of state it's a special envoy appointed by the president of that country it could also be a minister and we've always been open so we have not denied anyone what we have said, because it's an official's level in terms of that issue, is that Derko accept the fact that the U.S. is going to be taking over this platform of the G20, and we welcome that they want

to take it over. They can come at our offices, and the right level officials will hand over the G20 to the American officials. So no access to the charge, do you know, they are allowed to participate, so it's up to them. But the issue of handover, the issue of hand over, the president of the Republic of South Africa will not be handing over to the charge of the affair from the US. We will be handing over to the US in the Derko offices or anywhere they may want us to arrange within the borders of the Republic of South Africa. Now, what's been interesting about this entire ceremony is how unified the rest of the world

leaders were at the G20, which essentially became the G-19 without Trump there. And all the world leaders were saying, without Trump, without the United States, there was less drama. They were able to focus on important things like multilateralism, climate change, dealing with rethinking international finance structures, which often keep lots of developing countries insignificant debt. And they're focused more on debt servicing than actually development. And you heard Professor Sachs reference the proximity of the international monetary. Fund in the World Bank to the White House right off of Pennsylvania Avenue there as well. Now that it's getting cold, My Cats have started their daily migration to lying on top of our heating vents, which for some reason makes them unusually hungry. Thankfully, we've got Smalls.

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and then they read this declaration. But this time, without Trump and without the U.S. there, the G-19, which is what it's become, they were able to do a declaration at the opening ceremony. So the opening ceremony, they all agreed,

here are the things we're focused on, multilateralism, international cooperation, growth, figuring out resiliency. And then you'll see over here, Ramaphosa delivering the opening ceremony statement by issuing the declaration right from the outset. That never happens. But the message was being sent to Trump and the Trump regime.

We don't need you here. Look how quick we could get things done without you. Here, play this clip. This G20 Leader Summit has a responsibility. not to allow the integrity and the credibility of the G20 to be weakened. In fact, from this summit, we should have a sense that the G20 has been strengthened. We thank all delegations that have worked together with us in good faith to produce a worthy G20 outcome document for this historic, leaders meeting. The G20 underscores the value of relevance of multilateralism. It recognizes

that the challenges that we face can only be resolved through cooperation, collaboration, and partnership. The adoption of the declaration from the summit sends an important signal to the world that multilateral Israelism can and does deliver. It sends a message of hope and solidarity across the world. It tells the world that as the leaders of the G20, we will keep fast to our solemn pledge to leave no person, no community, and no country behind. And by the way, you saw the world leaders, here are photos of them together, the family photo

of all the G20, or I should say the G19, look at them, they're all smiles. I mean, you've got, here's photos of Carney and Modi and Albanysi, and you see these other world leaders right there. They're happy, they're cooperative, they're working together, Sons, no United States being there. I want to highlight, though, as well, what the gavel ceremony was supposed to look like, just so you have a frame of reference. So when the gavel was handed over from Modi,

the leader of India, Prime Minister of India, to Lula, the president of Brazil, here's what that gavel ceremony looked like back in 2023. Play this clip. Gival. Soap I'm.

And if you want to see, what it looked like when we had a normal president who would give speeches at the G20, unlike Trump, who was so scared to show up. Here is what former President Biden's speech at the G20 was when India, when Modi was leading the G20 back in 2023. Here, play this clip. I want to thank you, Mr. Prime Minister.

One Earth, one family, one future. That's the focus of this G20 summit. In many ways, it's also the focus of this partnership that we're talking about today. Building sustainable, resilient infrastructure, making quality infrastructure investments, and creating a better future. A future of a greater that presents greater opportunity, dignity, and prosperity for everyone. Last year, we came together as one to commit to this vision. And this afternoon, I want to highlight the key ways which the United States and our partners are working to make this reality.

Now let me share with you this. This is President Lula's speech attacking Trump. This was Lula's speech from this G20. Let me be clear. And talking about how this attack on multilateralism, this attack on the G20, this attack on developing countries, this attack on addressing climate change is so deep. deeply problematic here, play this clip. We have embarked on a path that repeated the recipe of austerity as an end in itself, which deepened inequalities and expanded tensions of authority.

Now, protectionism and unilateralism re-emerge as a response to facts and fallacies in the face of the complexity of the current reality, and their effects exacerbate the problems we face. The very functioning of the G20 as a forum for dialogue and coordination is under threat. It is necessary to preserve the capacity of this forum to address the major issues of today. If we are not able to find the way within the G20, it will not be possible to do so in a world in conflict. The historic social and economic problems of Latin America and the Caribbean will not be solved through the threat of the use of force. Without attending to all developing countries, it will not be possible to restore global balance or ensure sustainable prosperity in the long term.

There is a negative flow of capital from the countries of the South. to the rich countries of the global north. The debt problem of the countries of the global south is ethically unacceptable and economically unsustainable. Almost half of the world population lives in countries that spend more on debt service than on health or education. We are now entering a new stage that will require a simultaneous effort on two fronts, accelerating actions to address climate change and preparing for a new climate reality. The G20 plays a central role in both. The group is responsible for 77% of global.

emissions, and it is from the G20 that a new economic model must emerge. The group is a key actor in developing a roadmap to move the world away from fossil fuels. Climate change is not simply an environmental policy issue. It is, above all, a challenge of economic planning. Priorities are inverted. It is inconceivable that we are unable to mobilize $1.3 trillion in climate financing, while twice that amount is consumed in military spending. And again, one of the things that we were seeing in Brazil obviously plays a big role in this

because they're the B in Bricks, Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, and Egypt and other countries have joined as well as other countries have joined pooling their economic power together and we've seen an acceleration of that is as the United States has pulled away from its role as a leader in the world. As you heard Professor Sachs is based on this neuroses, and this kind of odd, Trumpian-like behavior, other nations are asserting themselves in different ways. And people are looking for, I think, most importantly, now, reliability, reliable allies, reliable trading partners,

and people who don't use the multilateral trading system as a means of exploiting each other. So it's interesting, you know, to hear the prime minister of Singapore, very accomplished guy who also happens to be their finance minister, as well. Here's his speech right here, very powerful, and you'll see he talks about this developing new world order. Play in this clip. For decades, the rules-based multilateral system anchored by the WTO provided this stability. But the system is now under severe strain.

One reason is that the system has been optimized for efficiency in a different era, and it has not caught up with the realities of today's world. Realities. like digital trade, as well as the fact that interdependencies are increasingly being seen as vulnerabilities and are open to being weaponized or used as leverage in moments of dispute. Understandably, countries are taking actions to protect themselves and to prioritize resilience and security. Yet, if every nation goes its own way, the global system were unraveled even more quickly. And when that happens, everyone will be worse off, and the heaviest burden will fall on the developing nations. So we do need to reform and update the global system to ensure

it addresses the strategic realities of our time. First, we must recommit to the core foundations which remain relevant today, and that means upholding international law and the norms and practices that guide state behavior. That is critical to continued peace and stability in the world. Second, we must reform the current system, be it the WTO or other global institutions. We cannot be paralyzed by old ways of doing things. We all have to get behind the urgent reforms that are needed in the WTO so that it becomes more effective and outcome-oriented.

We should complement the WTO with flexible multilateral approaches, and that's why Singapore supports mini-laterals and plurrilaterals, which can serve as important pathfinders towards updating global rules. Third, we should build new partnerships. And as several colleagues have talked about just now, we are making progress with partnerships and dialogues between the CPTPP and ASEAN, as well as the CPTPP and the EU. In fact, two days ago, ministers came together and had a very productive trade and investment dialogue, covering issues like trade and investment facilitation, digital trade and supply chain resilience.

In the same regard, we should look at ways in which we can bring the free trade areas and free trade blocks in Africa closer with Southeast Asia and ASEAN. Recently, Singapore also joined with other countries like New Zealand, Switzerland and the UAE to launch a new framework called the Future of Investment and Trade Partnership, that brings together small and medium-sized economies to keep up the momentum of trade liberalization. All of these efforts can form the foundations of a more resilient and secure multilateral trading system.

To be clear, building a new global economic architecture will require significant effort and considerable political will. Multiple efforts are already underway, as I described just now. The G20 can and should play a key leadership role in coordinating these efforts. And Singapore stands ready to do our part and work with all members towards this objective.

Thank you, Chair. Thank you. Thank you, Prime Minister Wong. And always, Prime Minister Carney delivers a great speech. That's a given. And here, Prime Minister Carney leans in on the issue of resiliency, of multilateralism, of addressing climate change as a moral and economic and ethical imperative.

And it just as an American to see these world leaders who are so well spoken, who are professional, who behave this way. It's like, can we get back to that, please? Can we get one of those here in the United States of America? Here's Prime Minister Carney here play this clip. Thank you, Chair. I will try to follow the Australian example. Let me start. This session is on resilience, and I want to join others who pointed out in

the first session the fragility of armed conflict, condemning the Russia's illegal unjustified and barbaric invasion of Ukraine, the appalling conflict in Sudan and our support for all efforts that can lead to just and lasting peace. Now let me speak to climate change. It's been over a decade that we've realized that past is not prologue with respect to climate change. In other words, the tail risks of yesterday become the central scenarios of today. Tipping points are now being realized. I want to give an example. Two years ago, the forest fires in Canada alone made Canada the fourth largest emitter of carbon in the world. We have

the example of the Darwin cyclone. Last year, or this year, forest fire damage forests bigger than Sierra Leone to give orders of magnitude. So we need action on all levels, mitigation, adaptation, and resilience. International collaboration is crucial. I want to thank our host, South Africa, Mexico, and others who send firefighters to Canada to help fight the fires. Coordination through early warning systems, the wildfire satellite system that we're putting in place as part of the G7,

global public good, the work of the G20 and the disaster risk reduction. nature, nature-based solutions. We're working towards our 30-30 commitment under the Montreal-Kunming protocol. I want to support the tropical forest financing facility of Brazil's COP, as well as the broader effort and congratulate them on that. In terms of our own mitigation, I'll just frame it as follows.

We view addressing climate change as a moral duty, but also a commercial imperative. as Prime Minister Albanese just intimated. So our strategy on reducing emissions is a climate competitiveness strategy because it will make our businesses stronger. Well, I hope this gave you an interesting international perspective of what's going on because I think a lot of this doesn't get covered enough here in the United States and frankly elsewhere.

So devoting this amount of attention to the G20 and the speeches, I think is something very, very important to do. And you can go back and watch the video I made yesterday because I thought the leader of Finland gave an incredible speech as well. So go back and take a look there. Thanks for watching. Hit subscribe. Let's get to $6 million.

We so appreciate you so much. And subscribe right now. Hey, Midas, Mighty. It's Ben Bret and Jordy, and we just wanted to thank you for being the backbone of this movement. This year tested us more than ever. But together, we prove that pro-democracy voices don't just compete. We win. We took on the entire Maga Machine, won a Webby for podcasts of the year.

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