The MeidasTouch Podcast - Trump Gets Outmaneuvered by World Leaders Instantly

Episode Date: February 9, 2025

MeidasTouch host Ben Meiselas reports on how world leaders like Xi of China are outmaneuvering Trump as Trump humiliates America. Smalls: Head to https://Smalls.com/MEIDAS and use promo code MEIDAS at checkout for 50% 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

What's better than a well-marbled ribeye sizzling on the barbecue? A well-marbled ribeye sizzling on the barbecue that was carefully selected by an Instacart shopper and delivered to your door. A well-marbled ribeye you ordered without even leaving the kiddie pool. Whatever groceries your summer calls for, Instacart has you covered. Download the Instacart app and enjoy $0 delivery fees on your first three orders. Service fees, exclusions, and terms apply. Instacart. Grocer $0 delivery fees on your first three orders. Service fees, exclusions, and terms apply. Instacart, groceries that over-deliver. Discover the magic of Bad MGM Casino, where the excitement is always on deck. Pull up a seat and check out a wide variety of table games

with a live dealer. From roulette to blackjack, watch as a dealer hosts your table game and live chat with them throughout your experience to feel like you're actually at the casino. The excitement doesn't stop there. With over 3,000 games to choose from, including fan favorites like Cash Eruption, UFC Gold Blitz, and more. Make deposits instantly

to jump in on the fun and make same day withdrawals if you win. Download the BetMGM Ontario app today. You don't want to miss out. Visit BetMGM.com for terms and conditions. 19 plus to wager Ontario only. Please gamble responsibly. If you have questions or concerns about your gambling or someone close to you,

please contact Connex Ontario at 1-866-531-2600 to speak to an advisor free of charge. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. Donald Trump is getting easily outmaneuvered by China and its leader, Xi Jinping, even Republican members in the House of Representatives and in the Senate, whether they want to admit it or whether they're saying it privately. Donald Trump and Elon Musk gutting the main source of America's soft power, USAID, which Elon Musk and Donald Trump are seeking to destroy and just completely rip apart. The destruction of that, the main beneficiary is Xi Jinping and China. They are already getting calls from our former allies asking for help. The America's leaving.

We need your help. China's going to swoop in there and establish those relationships which were built over a long time by the United States. China was prepared for this. They're taking advantage of it. Foreign Affairs Magazine just wrote an article, Chinese leaders expect that the Trump administration policies will dismantle the foundation of U.S. global hegemony and create an opportunity for Beijing to expand its influence farther and faster, writes Yoon Sun right here.

Just so you can see how Donald Trump has basically forced everybody around him or they've done it willingly to compromise things that they've said before. Let me just show you, and CNN did a great job compiling this, Secretary of State Rubio, former Senator Marco Rubio, the importance that he said existed with USAID, which now Marco Rubio is contributing to destroying because Donald Trump and the co-president or the real president, Elon Musk, is telling him to do so. Just look about what a malleable, weak individual, I'm going to call him a man, malleable, weak individual, Marco Rubio. This is what his views were before about how important USAID is, how small it was on our overall budget, less than 1%. Watch this right here.

We give foreign aid. We do so because it furthers our national interest. That's why we give foreign aid. Now, obviously, there's a component to foreign aid that's humanitarian in scope, and that's important too. I promise you it's going to be a lot harder to recruit someone to anti-Americanism, anti-American terrorism, if the United States of America was the reason why they're even alive today. Anybody who tells you that we can slash foreign aid and that will bring us to balance is lying to you. Foreign aid is less than 1% of our budget. It's just not true. So that's what Marco Rubio said when he was in the Senate, much different than what you're hearing him say now as Secretary of State, which is destroy USAID, fire everybody. I mean, just horrific stuff we're hearing, right?

Like people who have been receiving medication from the U.S. being forced to basically die, not get their medication. People who have had stuff implanted to try to help them live, being forced to keep medical device. I mean, horrific, horrific stuff. This is current GOP Senator Wicker. Here he is again. He's saying right now we need to look into this. USAID is a pretty important thing here. So I'm not sure what fraud Elon Musk claims exists, but this was an important tool. This is a Republican senator saying this. It was an important tool to help American leadership abroad, which America is now compromising and saying America shouldn't be the leader in the world.

Play this clip. I have felt for a long time that USAID is our way to combat the Belt and Road Initiative, which is China's effort to really gain influence around the world, including Africa and South America and the Western Hemisphere. So we need an aid program to match the Chinese effort, but it needs to be done in a way that the policymakers of the United States have decided ought to be done. And so I'm eager to see an audit and see the sort of mismanagement that the Secretary of State has told us about today. And one of the things we're already hearing about as well is that China and Russia are already celebrating. Lots of other governments have reached out to them. Hey, America's abandoned

us. Want to be our ally? Let's play this clip right here. The pause is two weeks old. This is now the firing of the crew and the loss of the entire capacity for the United States. China and Russia are celebrating. Governments I know, I've spoken to ministers of health, they are calling them, asking China, can you backstop these programs that America is walking away from? Can you make sure our people don't die from malaria? Can you make sure that 20 million people with HIV who now, as of last week, stopped being able to get medication that is keeping them alive, that this can be solved? They've been trying for undermining the U.S. in this way for decades.

Now, I want to just, again, share this with you. USAID was created by John F. Kennedy to project America's soft power as a way to help the United States gain influence and win friends and to avoid wars by helping, by extending. Play this clip. The presence of the United States as a leading power in the free world is involved in your work directly. The people who are opposed to aid should realize that this is a very powerful source of strength for us. It permits us to exert influence for the maintenance of freedom. If we were not so heavily involved, our voice would not speak with such vigor. And as we do not want to send American troops to a great many areas where freedom may be under attack, we send you. And you working with the people in those countries to try to

work with them in developing the economic thrust of their country so that they can make a determination that they can solve their problems without resorting to totalitarian control and becoming part of the block. My cat is part of the family, plain and simple. So I want them to have the best food that money can buy. And I didn't realize that for years, the cat food that I was buying had questionable ingredients. This podcast is sponsored by Smalls. Now, if you're a listener of the show,

you know that my cat cannot live without Smalls. To get 50% off your first order plus free shipping, head to Smalls.com and use promo code Midas. Smalls cat food is protein-packed recipes made with preservative-free ingredients that you'd find in your fridge, and it's delivered right to your door. That's why Cats.com names Smalls their best overall cat food. My cat's favorite flavor is smooth fish, and my cats prefer Smalls way more than their previous cat food. I legitimately did a taste test, put two bowls side by side, and they immediately went to Smalls. Since making the switch to Smalls, my cat has had fewer hair balls, more balanced energy, a healthier weight, a softer and shinier fur coat, and a less stinky litter box that's big. Still not a believer in Smalls? Well, New York Magazine called Smalls

the best cat food, according to veterinarians. While BuzzFeed said, my cats went completely ballistic for this stuff. My cat's breath is much better and their fur is much softer ever since I switched to Smalls. Smalls also has a bunch of amazing treats and snacks that you can add to your order. And after switching to Smalls, 88% of cat owners reported overall health improvements. That's a big deal. Do you have a picky cat? Well, Smalls has a sampler so that your cat can try everything Smalls has to offer.

And the team at Smalls is so confident that your cat will love their product that you can try it risk-free. That means they will refund you if your cat won't eat their food. What are you waiting for? Give your cat the food they deserve. Head to Smalls.com and use promo code MIDAS, M-E-I-D-A-S, at checkout for 50% off your first order plus free shipping. That's the best offer that you'll find, but you have to use my code MIDAS for 50% off your first order. One last time, that's promo code MIDAS for 50% off your first order plus free shipping. And so the Belt and Road Initiative is basically China's version of USAID that they've been pursuing now for a significant time as China's been looking to expand its influence abroad. Like this article right here, China has begun to challenge the United States hegemony in Latin America. the chaos of the Trump presidency may present it a new opportunity. One of the things that we've been saying is China's been expanding the BRICS

block alliance of Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa. And by the way, one of the places that Donald Trump and Elon Musk are attacking now is South Africa. And they're saying that the white South African should be allowed to emigrate to the United States, but only the white South Africans in South Africa. It's part of Elon Musk's who was from South Africa. That's what their focus is on right now. But back in the G20 summit, right after Donald Trump was elected, one of the things I noticed and I started reporting on right away is how Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum, who

was not supposed to meet with Xi Jinping, and in my view would not have met with Xi Jinping if Vice President Kamala Harris or former Vice President Kamala Harris won the election. She met with Xi Jinping if Vice President Kamala Harris or former Vice President Kamala Harris won the election. She met with Xi Jinping. She was photographed with Xi Jinping. I have no doubt that in those private meetings as well, not the public ones, they discussed deals that they were going to strike together in the event of Trump doing the types of things that he was doing. Now, one of the things that Trump was doing as well as though he created these fake trade wars with Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Panama, where all of those countries outmaneuver Donald Trump, whether it was Mexico

offering less troops than were already at the border and Trump thinking that was a deal, whether it was Canada agreeing to the money that they've already spent at the border, so not agreeing to anything at all after Donald Trump threatened to annex them, whether it was Panama where Trump and Marco Rubio claimed there was a deal, but then the Panama Canal Authority said there's no deal, whether they threatened Colombia with tariffs, but Colombia basically did the same deal that they had with former President Biden, so it was no deal at all. So while Donald Trump's doing that, he did impose a 10% tariff on China. China then swiftly

retaliated with tariffs against the United States. On Friday, Trump temporarily allowed quote de minimis packages from China to come into the U.S. tariff-free. This is good news for anyone ordering from Taimu, Sheen, certain Amazon sellers. Packages valued at less than $800 are exempt from tariffs. But the executive order today, or Friday, says this is a pause until, quote, adequate systems are in place to collect the 10 percent tariffs. I remember earlier in the week the Trump administration banned packages from China. But then they said that then they reversed their own policy. It's very strange stuff right here. Secretary Howard Lutnick is going to have to figure out how to tariff 4 million de minimis

packages a day from China to the U.S., which Trump first was going to block, figure out how to fund a sovereign wealth fund, because that's one of the things that Donald Trump wanted, a sovereign wealth fund, figure out how to enact sweeping tariffs without taking the economy, ensure trust remains in U.S. economic data, decide what to do on the very popular CHIPS Act semiconductor funding, help renegotiate the USMCA, the United States, Mexico, Canada agreement, which Donald Trump negotiated and said, we got ripped off in the deal. The USMCA was Trump's deal, which he now says is a ripoff. Okay. David Axelrod says Xi Jinping probably can't believe his luck. This is a stunning US retreat in getting rid of USA that will now open some of the best

opportunities imaginable for China to gain stronger toeholds throughout the world. Kishore Mahubani, speaking with Foreign Policy, talks about how China is reacting to Trump in the first weeks and how it is looking to retaliate. And this is very fascinating here. Play this clip. China is watching Trump more closely than any other country is. And so far, I must say, Trump is delivering at least two goodies to China. Number one, he's clearly playing a short-term game, not a long-term game. And in the case of China, you see that China understands better than most countries in the world that a new world is emerging and I describe the new world as a 3M world, multi-civilizational, multi-polar, multilateral to deal with global challenges.

The Chinese are preparing for a world of 2050 rather than the world of 2025. They're in a sense running a marathon not a sprint. Trump is running the sprint. And at the same time, of course, he's alienating so many countries, especially France, so quickly. Frankly, the Chinese may say, why don't we have eight years of Trump? Because after eight years of Trump, you wonder what the world will look like in terms of its approaches towards the United States. But the final thought I'll mention is, of course, the Chinese are also prepared for a big blow from Trump. At some point, they know it's going to come. They've got to be ready for it.

They're holding their firepower. It's going to come, and then they'll retaliate. Now, one of the interesting things I found as I was reading this article from Foreign Affairs, which of course is the gold standard, I think, in writing about some of these foreign developments. So China's preparation of dealing with Trump was structured by China to mirror the success of how Biden focused on America's China strategy and how America was beating China. I just wanted you to think about that. China was so impressed with how Biden outmaneuvered China. China wanted to learn from Biden. Wow. America's economy was growing faster than China. China was supposed to catch up and America exceeded all expectations, fastest growing

GDP, and President Biden was doing things to reach out and strengthen American alliances abroad. So China's strategy is the Biden strategy towards China to continue to expand upon their Belt and Road initiative. I'll tell you who else is loving this. One of the Russian former leaders, Dmitry Medvedev, he's loving all of this as America's power is just completely deteriorating every day. I know, I guess for Fox, they find this like this like cosplay G.I. Joe Trump crap like, yeah, let's go. But, you know, America's both a laughingstock and just generally detested and despised now under Donald Trump abroad, almost universally hated. And again, here was Donald

Trump about a week ago or so. Here he is talking about he wants to put tariffs on Taiwan, our ally Taiwan. Who do you think that's going to help? Tariff Taiwan semiconductor industry. Play this clip. In particular, in the very near future, we're going to be placing tariffs on foreign production of computer chips, semiconductors, and pharmaceuticals to return production of these essential goods to the United States of America. They left us and they went to Taiwan, which is about 98% of the chip business, by the way. And we want them to- I mean, or you could do what former President Biden did, which was to bring the semiconductor

industry here, compete, make sure we strengthen all of our alliances abroad. But Donald Trump is just, you know, with a sledgehammer, destroying all of America's alliances. We're seeing this happen in real time. And China is the main beneficiary. You put this all together. On Friday, a court did temporarily block Donald Trump's attempt to fire pretty much everybody from USAID as a surgical injunction, if you will, a small injunction, until more data is presented. We'll keep you updated every step of the way. Hit subscribe and let's get to 4 million subscribers. Thanks for watching. Can't get enough Midas? Check out the Midas Plus sub stack for ad-free articles, reports, podcasts, daily recaps

from Ron Filipkowski and more. Sign up for free now at MidasPlus.com.