The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 7.7 MAGA IMPLODES Over Trump Epstein List Scandal & 91 Dead in Texas Flash Floods That Hit Camp Mystic

Episode Date: July 7, 2025

NOTHING TO SEE HERE, CITIZEN! NO EVIDENCE AT ALL...NOPE! You’re 30 seconds away from being debt free with PDS Debt. Get your free assessment and find the best option for you at https://PDSDebt.com/defranco  Wear your feelings @ https://BeautifulBastard.com with new tees and tanks OR fill your home with our new premium canvas prints while you can! Subscribe for New shows every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday @ 6pm ET/3pm PT & watch more here: https://youtu.be/woAZ3egNMJM?si=tj6dl1PIu2OVbvvf&list=PLHcsGizlfLMWpSg7i0b9wnUyEZWI-25N3&index=1  – ✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩ – 00:00 - Trump & Musk Clash Over “America” Party, Epstein Files, and More  08:34 - TikTok Reportedly Creating U.S. Version of App Ahead of Planned Sale 11:01 - Sponsored by PDS Debt 12:02 - At Least 91 Dead and Dozens Missing in Texas Flooding 19:02 - Trump Pushes Tariffs Deadline, Threatens to Increase Rates for Many Countries -——————————   Produced by: Cory Ray Edited by: James Girardier, Maxwell Enright, Julie Goldberg, Christian Meeks, Matthew Henry Art Department: William Crespo Writing/Research: Philip DeFranco, Brian Espinoza, Lili Stenn, Maddie Crichton, Chris Tolve, Star Pralle, Jared Paolino  ———————————— For more Philip DeFranco: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-philip-defranco-show/id1278424954 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6ESemquRbz6f8XLVywdZ2V Twitter:   https://x.com/PhillyD Instagram:   https://instagram.com/PhillyDeFranco Newsletter: https://www.dailydip.co TikTok:   https://www.tiktok.com/@philipdefranco?lang=en ———————————— #DeFranco #JeffreyEpstein #ElonMusk ———————————— Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Muskverse Trump has officially gone nuclear with a third party being introduced, Epstein accusations flying, and MAGA eating itself over broken promises. Trump promised 90 trade deals in 90 days, but he's only got two so far, and his newest announcement has the stock market dropping. At least 91 are dead, many missing,

and more rains on the way in Texas, and the blame game has officially begun, as early reports show this could have been prevented. Then why TikTok, as you know, it might be disappearing in the United States soon. We're talking about all that and much more on today's brand new Philip DeFranco show. You daily dive into the news, starting with this.

We need to talk about this crazy news with Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Jeffrey Epstein, and the America party. And let's start with the least controversial, but still very controversial new third party. Because you had Musk polling his followers on whether they want one, and you had 1.2 million votes cast and 65% said yes. Leading Elon to reclaim by a factor of two to one,

you want a new political party and you shall have it. When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste and graph, we live in a one party system, not a democracy. Today, the America party is formed to give you back your freedom. Now as far as parties platform, the details are still foggy,

but you could probably expect a heavy emphasis on reducing the debt, deficit, and government spending. And then beyond that, you also had Elon saying that it'll include modernizing the military with AI and robotics, promoting tech, accelerating AI, reducing regulations across the board, but especially in energy, promoting free speech, promoting pro-natalism,

and pursuing centrist policies everywhere else. He's also gone on to say things like the second amendment is sacred when asked if the America party will embrace Bitcoin. He replied, fiat is hopeless, so yes. So technically speaking, you know, Elon has a road ahead of him to make this a real thing. But first of all, to register as a party

and get ballot access, he's gonna have to jump through a web of state and federal rules, including onerous petition signature requirements. So there you have Elon saying, not hard to be honest. Then he'll need to recruit candidates and build support, which some are skeptical that he can actually do because right now the party's constituency doesn't appear to be well-defined.

With Elon just saying that it'll represent the 80% in the middle. And then finally, and probably the biggest thing is that he'll have to overcome the institutional resistance to third parties that's just baked into America's political system. Because unlike parliamentary systems where small parties can start off

by grabbing just a few seats and building off of that, our system, it requires candidates to win outright majorities before taking power. Though there you did have Elon laying out a strategy on X explaining, the way we're going to crack the uniparty system is by using a variant of how Apomenandus shattered the myth of Spartan invincibility at Lukesrath.

Extremely concentrated force at a precise location on the battlefield. With him saying that one way to execute on this would be to laser focus on just two or three Senate seats and eight to 10 house districts. And adding, given the razor thin legislative margins, that would be enough to serve as the deciding vote on contentious laws ensuring that they serve

the true will of the people. But as many have noted, that is a strategy that could backfire. Because if a candidate for Elon's America party runs, but falls short of winning, they could act as a spoiler for the Republicans. And in fact, that was the prediction of his own AI, Grock, when somebody in his replies

asked it to respond with it saying, "'Creating an America party' is proposed by Musk amid his Trump feud could splinter the GOP vote and swing states. In 2026 midterms, it might tip close House Senate races toward Democrats by drawing disaffected conservatives. And adding for the 2028 presidential, a third party run could spoil electoral college outcomes

similar to Perot 92 favoring the non-Trump candidate if it pulls right leaning independence. Success hinges on ballot access and funding. But unsurprisingly, you have Elon disagreeing with that, writing, the America party could soak up a lot of the existing Dem base that feel politically homeless slash hate extremism. And then also reposting Scott Adams who wrote,

if you are an analogy thinker, you compare Musk's new America party to Ross Perot's third party run and conclude it is bad for Republicans. But that would only be the case if Musk someday backs an America party candidate for president and I don't see that in his plan. If Musk only backs individual senators

and representatives for his new party, as he has hinted, all he does is give Republicans a new way to get past politics to solutions the country wants and needs, such as deficit reduction. Though notably there, Elon himself noted that, although the focus for the next 12 months is on the house and Senate, backing a candidate for president is not out of the question.

Which you know is probably not something you want to hear if your name happens to be Donald Trump. And so unsurprisingly, you had the president unloading on truth social writing. I am saddened to watch Elon Musk go completely off the rails, essentially becoming a train wreck over the past five weeks. He even wants to start a third political party, despite the fact that they have never succeeded

in the United States. The system seems not designed for them. The one thing third parties are good for is the creation of complete and total disruption and chaos. And we have enough of that with the radical left Democrats who have lost their confidence in their minds. Republicans on the other hand are a smooth running machine that just passed the biggest bill of its kind

in the history of our country. It is a great bill, but unfortunately for Elon, it eliminates the ridiculous electrical vehicle mandate, which would have forced everyone to buy an electric car in a short period of time. I have campaigned on this for two years, and quite honestly, when Elon gave me his total and unquestioned endorsement,

I asked him whether or not he knew that I was going to terminate the EV mandate. In every speech I made and in every conversation I had, he said that he had no problems with that. I was very surprised. With Trump then going on to say that Elon asked him to appoint Jared Isaacman, who's a close friend of Elon as NASA administrator.

Though Trump eventually pulled the nomination claiming that he had learned that Isaacman previously donated to Democrats and added, I also thought it inappropriate that a very close friend of Elon who was in the space business run NASA when NASA is such a big part of Elon's corporate life. But there, according to New York Times reporting,

Trump was actually informed about the donations prior to nominating Isaac Man and only pulled the nomination after the feud with Musk. But then, as far as Elon, you had many supporters saying, no, the reason that Musk is doing all this, it's not because of the EV mandate, it's because of this big ugly bill. It's exploding the budget,

which was a huge reason that Elon got involved. And then as far as Musk himself, he shot back in another flurry of posts, though this time it was about something a little bit different, and that was Jeffrey Epstein. Right, and that because Axios just reported that a two page memo from the Justice Department concluded that there is no evidence

that Epstein kept a client list, blackmailed powerful elites, or was murdered in prison. Then releasing both raw and enhanced videos reporting to show that nobody entered Epstein's area of the prison the night of his death. And then the memo wrapping it all up enhanced videos reporting to show that nobody entered Epstein's area of the prison the night of his death. And then the memo wrapping it all up saying that no one else in the Epstein case will be charged

and no further disclosures are warranted. All of which is a massive sharp reversal for FBI director Cash Patel and deputy director Dan Bongino. Right, both of whom openly questioned the official narrative on Epstein as political pundits before taking office. So you know, a lot of people, they just have no idea why these men would suddenly change their tune.

Right, having no idea who might benefit from this being put to bed. A true mystery, some might call it. No, but of course, you know, the big elephant in the room is the accusation that Trump is somehow implicated in the case and that his White House is covering it up. Which, you know, is something

that many Democrats have long suspected. But then Elon Musk threw gasoline on that fire last month when he claimed that Trump's name was indeed in the Epstein file. Though he later deleted that post and expressed regret saying that he went too far. Now, apparently the gloves are back on because he's been going off with posts like,

"'What's the time? "'Oh look, it's no one has been arrested o'clock again.'" Then reposting another user statement that if the entire government is protecting pedophiles, it has officially become the government against the people. And then, sharing a meme parroting the Trump administration saying, "'We will release the Epstein list, we just need more time.

Then the Epstein list is on my desk. And then there is no Epstein list. With that, seemingly referring to past statements by White House officials. Some like Elena Ahobe. We have flight logs, we have information, names, that will come out. And others like AG Pam Bondi.

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. And then regarding Attorney General Pam Bondi, you had people pointing to that stunt she did a little while back where she gave 15 right-wing influencers binders labeled the Epstein files phase one. Which, you know, turned out to just contain nothing but already publicly available information.

And so this latest memo has left a lot of people in Maga world feeling completely betrayed. People posting stuff like, we were told to be patient that justice was coming. Pam Bondi should resign or be fired. She lied. This is not justice. And you had prominent Trump ally Laura Loomer writing,

who releases a statement about the Epstein files on the Sunday night of 4th of July weekend? Someone who doesn't want you paying attention. And as the right took shots at one another, you also had Democrats taking the opportunity to stoke divisions on the other side. For example, Representative Eric Swalwell posting, why is Trump hiding the Epstein files from you?

Any of you clowns who went to the White House earlier this year to play a part in Trump's circus want to wager a guess? And then adding, no one who has walked earth is more litigious than Donald Trump. If Trump is not in the files, he would have already sued Elon Musk for saying he is in the files.

The absence of Trump's legal actions speaks volumes. But then also, as this news has been coming out, you know, I was very interested to know what your thoughts were, and so I put a poll out there, and it found for what may be the first time ever, almost all of you were pretty much on the same page, with 96% of you responding that you do not believe

Trump's Department of Justice here, right? And only 4% saying you either believe it or aren't sure. Though that was in a post, so not necessarily representative of all of you. And so I'll pass the question off to you. What are your thoughts with everything that we're seeing in these latest updates? But then next up today, say goodbye to TikTok as you know,

that is the message that Americans are receiving right now because it's parent company, ByteDance is reportedly now working on a new US version of the app ahead of its expected sale. Because you know, the Trump administration, they've been kicking the TikTok can down the road since back in January, and its new divest or face a ban deadline is September 17th. And now what you're seeing is that reports are saying

that TikTok will launch this new U.S. version by September 5th. And if Americans wanna use the app for the long term, they're gonna have to download this new one, because the current version of TikTok is slated to stop working here by March. Or at least I'll say that's the schedule and timeline that they're working with now and that could change.

Now, apparently you have ByteDance referring to TikTok internally as M, so the US version of the app is currently dubbed M2. And notably, the news of this spin-off, it comes as Trump's been insisting that a deal for the US to acquire stateside operations of the app is pretty much done. With Trump telling reporters over the weekend

that we're going to start Monday or Tuesday talking to China. We think we probably have to get Monday or Tuesday talking to China. We think we probably have to get it approved by China. Not definitely, but probably. I think the deal is good for China and it's good for us. It's money, it's a lot of money. But as far as who is definitively buying it, that remains unclear right now.

Right, Trump, you know, he previously told Fox News that it's a group of very wealthy people, which yeah, it would have to be. TikTok's US operations were valued at $50 billion earlier this year. So a group of average joes, they wouldn't be scooping it up. And also, according to Bloomberg,

you have sources saying that Trump was potentially referring to a group of investors that include Oracle and Blackstone Inc. A group that also notably came very close to reaching an agreement earlier this year until China blocked it. And of course, all of this, it's coming after just the weird wild ride TikTok's been

on this past year. There was that weird limbo period because you had Biden signing the law last year and then the Supreme Court upholding it back in January, but then it wasn't being enforced because Trump delayed the deadline three times now. But also like when he issued that third extension just a few weeks ago,

you had reports noting that he's kind of working in this legal gray area. For example, the Associated Press explaining, it's not clear how many times Trump can or will keep extending the ban as the government continues to try to negotiate a deal for TikTok. But then also adding,

while there is no clear legal basis for the extension, so far there have been no legal challenges to fight them. With one analyst at eMarketer, Jeremy Goldman, even telling the AP that the whole thing is starting to feel less like a ticking clock and more like a looped ringtone. Saying this political groundhog day is starting to resemble the debt ceiling drama,

a recurring threat with no real resolution. Though that said, this new app, it may be just around the corner. And if that's true, the question becomes how many of the current. But that said, this new app, it may be just around the corner. And if that's true, the question becomes how many of the current user base will move to this new app rather than other apps? And then in addition to that, will there be a meaningful difference between the two apps?

Because the algorithm is the real bread and butter when it comes to TikTok. But for now, I have to wait to see how this plays out. And in the meantime, let me know, would you make the jump for the Americans watching out there? And then there's more we need to talk about, but first I gotta thank a sponsor.

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at pdsdebt.com slash DeFranco, or scan the QR code. It's pdsdebt.com slash DeFranco, pdsdebt.com slash DeFranco. This episode is brought to you by Dazon. For the first time ever, the 32 best soccer clubs from across the world are coming together to decide who the undisputed champions of the world are

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you've now got utter devastation in Texas with flash floods killing at least 91 people across the state and we've got to talk about what happened, why it happened and if any of it could have been prevented. And that is, you know, that death count, it may go up because on Sunday you had at least 41 people still unaccounted for across the state. But what we do know is that most of the dead

have come from Kerr County, where so far they've found the bodies of 75 people, including 28 children, with at least 27 of those killed being campers or counselors at a private Christian camp for girls. And as of recording, 11 campers and one counselor are still missing. Right in that camp, it's located in Kerr County,

right alongside the Guadalupe River, which is part of a bigger region of the state known as Texas Hill Country, west of San Antonio and Austin. That area is notably no stranger to flash flooding. In fact, it's one of the most flash flood prone regions in the country. In that, of course, because of the river,

as well as the terrain and especially the dry, hard packed earth that doesn't soak up much water. But also I have to say, you know, despite that what happened this week, it's like nothing that the region has seen in recent years. With the flooding starting Friday morning with a bad storm that dropped up to 12 inches in just a few hours,

roughly equivalent to three months worth for the area, making it a weather event that statistically speaking, and not accounting for climate change, that could be expected just once in a typical 500 year period. And with all that rain, the Guadalupe River, it rose 26 feet in just 45 minutes. With many of the survivors claiming afterward

that they received no emergency warnings and one telling the Associated Press that he woke up in darkness to electrical sockets popping and ankle deep water. But notably looking into it, there were several warnings though it seems that not everyone saw them or at least took them seriously, which has raised questions about the system.

And with that, we've seen local and state officials coming under scrutiny for their readiness and response, but also pointing the finger at the National Weather Service for under predicting the amount of rain. And then we also seen that Trump administration's recent cuts to the weather service becoming a topic of conversation, not to mention the whole climate change question.

And so with all of that, I'll start by going back with the National Weather Service actually issuing a flood watch notice at 1.18 PM on Thursday. So there they only predicted between five to seven inches of that, I'll start by going back with the National Weather Service actually issuing a flood watch notice at 1.18 PM on Thursday. So there they only predicted between five to seven inches of rain. But still they sent out additional warnings in the early hours on Friday, and they urged people to move to higher ground

and evacuate flood prone areas. And then at 4.03 in the morning, they issued a flash flood emergency and they urged people to seek higher ground now and saying this is an extremely dangerous and life-threatening situation. Right, and that is the highest level of flood warning available to the weather service,

meaning that it would have triggered the wireless emergency alert system, setting off cell phone alarms in the region. But very notably, you had some residents telling CBS News that they didn't receive phone warnings before the flood hit, or that they don't pay much attention to the weather warnings that they do receive. And then also beyond that, it was 4 a.m.

Most people were asleep, and many of those kids attending summer camp, as well as their counselors, might have been without their cell phones. But then being only around a half an hour later around 4.35 AM that the first reports of flash flooding actually started coming in from local officials including the Carragh County Sheriff's Office. And as evacuations and rescues got underway,

the National Weather Service issued additional flash flood warnings throughout the day on Friday and then Saturday after a second wave of heavy rain. And actually yesterday and today we've continued to see flooding alerts for parts of central Texas. And with all that, what you've seen as weather services officials and independent meteorologists defending their forecast

as timely and accurate as could be expected with the weather data that was available in real time. With for example, one meteorologist saying that predicting flash flooding and extreme rain is notoriously difficult and adding, the forecasting was good, the warnings were good. It's always about getting people to receive the message. It appears that it is one of the biggest contributors,

that last mile. And with that, while the Weather Service issued 22 warnings for Kerr County, according to a CBS News analysis, the county itself didn't send any out. And local officials so far have struggled to answer questions about why they didn't order any evacuations, especially for campers

in the area along the river. Also, things have come out, like the county opting not to upgrade their flood warning system eight years ago and they had considered putting in things like sirens and river gauges along with other communications tools. With them ultimately deciding that it was too costly and one commissioner at the time reportedly voting against a $50,000 engineering study

for the potential project and saying, I think this whole thing is a little extravagant for Kerr County with sirens and such. And beyond that we're seeing questions being asked about whether county officials had approved development along the riverbank that may have gone around rules that were issued by FEMA regulating where homes may be built and areas vulnerable to flooding.

And then also state lawmakers, they failed to pass a bill that would have established a statewide plan to improve Texas' disaster response, including better alert systems along with a grant program for counties to buy new emergency communication equipment and build new infrastructure like radio towers. And then finally, of course, we've seen people asking, can this be traced back to Donald Trump? Right there pointing to the fact that the administration

has laid off hundreds of employees at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. And we've talked about the cuts before you, the weather service, and saying it was preparing for degraded operations. You can add all the living former directors of the service writing a letter expressing concern over staffing levels and budget cuts. And specifically, they said that their worst nightmare would be understaffing, leading to a needless loss of life. But then the agency's scrambling to fill key roles

when it realized it had gone too far. Just last month, despite a government hiring freeze, the Weather Service announced a plan to hire 126 people as an effort to stabilize the department. Though notably, as of this week, those jobs hadn't been posted in the federal government's hiring port. So then with that, you had key roles reportedly vacant

at weather service offices, covering the areas where the flooding had happened. And so at the San Antonio office, for example, there were two key posts unfilled and both jobs involved working with local emergency managers to plan for floods, including when and how to warn local residents and help them evacuate.

Now with that, what I'll say is there were employees acting in those positions and a union rep said that they had enough meteorologists to respond to the event. But he then also admitted that he was concerned about the unfilled senior positions and lack of leadership moving forward. There you also had one prominent independent meteorologist who used to work for the National Oceanic

and Atmospheric Administration in, who has been critical of NWS staffing and budget cuts saying, obviously having both of these positions vacant for a prolonged time is not optimal and certainly could have had negative impacts at some level. But then also saying the actual warning services that NWS provided during the event were solid

and provided the level of warning and alerts that the public should expect to receive for an event such as this. And Trump for his part, he rejected the idea of even looking into whether cuts had left important positions unfilled. And he had a White House spokesperson saying that claims that cuts had anything to do with how bad the impact

of the floods have been were disgusting. Then in addition to that, you had Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem saying they're working to upgrade the technologies that have been neglected for far too long to make sure that families have as much advance notice as possible. Though there I'll say a notable thing

is that the Trump administration's 2026 budget proposal seeks to eliminate all of NOAA's weather and climate research labs, along with institutes jointly run with universities around the country. With that, you have CNN reporting that this would shut down research and development of new forecasting technologies.

With that, including computer modeling and severe weather warning scenarios, ultimately affecting the prediction of events, including flash floods. Right, and this is cuts have also gone after research on climate change, which is something that, of course, has been linked to what happened in Texas. Because while it is hard to say

that this specific situation is a direct result of climate change, meteorologists say that climate change will make extreme rainfall events worse and more frequent. With people like the director of the Texas Center for Extreme Weather at Texas A&M saying that the floods are exactly what the future is going to hold. And you had a UCLA climate scientist adding that, this kind of record shattering rain event

is precisely that which is increasing the fastest in a warming climate. But for now, as we wait to see what comes out of Texas, what happens with the numbers, obviously our thoughts and our well wishes to all those affected. It's all just a heartbreaking, shocking nightmare scenario. But then next up in the news today,

Trump's tariffs are back with a vengeance. Maybe, probably, who knows? But he does say that there will be no exceptions. Right, in this whole situation, it's been like a roller coaster ride, but like also the kind of ride where you're like, are we gonna go off the rails? So basically the only catchable you need

for this latest piece of news is that back in early April, you had Trump announcing that he was placing a 10% baseline tariff on nearly every country, including major US trading partners. And then in addition to that, he was imposing what he called reciprocal tariffs on certain countries with the additional duties ranging as high as 50%.

So then after the markets plummeted, you had Trump walking that back a bit and saying that he would pause tariff hikes on most countries and just keep everyone at the 10% baseline for 90 days. And during that time, you had Trump repeatedly promising that the US would make trade deals with other countries

and negotiate more favorable terms. He even claimed at one point that he would make 90 deals in 90 days. But according to reports, he's only made two deals in that time. One with the UK last month and one with Vietnam last week. And now, right, that initial 90 day pause, it's set to come to an end on Wednesday.

And so with hardly any trade deals actually on the books, there's been widespread confusion about what's gonna happen next and if the rates would take effect this week or on August 1st, as some administration officials had suggested. Right, and actually when asked about the approaching deadline over the holiday weekend,

we saw this interaction between reporters, Trump and commerce secretary Howard Lutnick. Tariff rates, do they change on July 9th or August 1st? They're gonna be tariffs, the tariffs are gonna be the tariffs. I think we'll have most countries done by July 9th, yeah. Either a letter or a deal. But they go into effect on August 1st. Tariffs go into effect August 1st,

but the president is setting the rates and the deals right now. And regarding the letters that he mentioned, administration officials have said that starting today, countries will start receiving letters informing them that the U.S. will impose higher tariffs starting on August 1st. With then also, Treasury Secretary Scott Besson

later clarifying that all countries that do not strike trade deals with the U.S. in that timeframe will see tariffs returned to the rates initially announced in early April before they were walked back. And that is incredibly significant because as you have places like Axios explaining, it's effectively a new deadline

for the biggest U.S. trading partners to negotiate an alternative to President Trump sweeping global tariffs, even as Besant insists nothing had changed. And Besant also told reporters that even with the new date in play, he expects that many countries are gonna work out deals before the original deadline saying,

we are close to several deals. As always, there's a lot of foot dragging on the other side. I would expect to see several big announcements over the next couple of days. And today as promised, you had Trump confirming on Truth Social that the so-called tariff letters would be going out this afternoon. With them also sharing another post yesterday

where he specifically targeted the group of countries that compose the BRICS block, which includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, hence the name BRICS, as well as other partner states. And yesterday you had that group of nations issuing a declaration condemning the US increase in tariffs and the strikes on Iran. And while they did not mention Trump by name,

the declaration raised serious concerns with the tariffs and argued that they were inconsistent with the WTO rules and threatened to reduce global trade, disrupt global supply chains, and introduce uncertainty. And then further claiming that the US strikes on Iran, they constitute a violation of international law in the charter of the United Nations while calling on the UN to investigate it.

A move that apparently made Trump so mad that he's now retaliating by imposing even deeper trade restrictions with him, writing in a post on Truth Social. Any country aligning themselves with the anti-American policies of BRICS will be charged an additional 10% tariff. There will be no exceptions to this policy.

And then beyond that, you had Trump sharing two very similar tariff letters that his administration sent to Japan and South Korea today informing both countries that they would be subject to blanket 25% tariffs on all goods starting on August 1st. Though noting that they will be separate from the additional sector-specific duties

imposed on certain trade categories, and adding that if the countries agree to trade policies that the Trump administration views as favorable, the US would perhaps consider an adjustment. Though then also both letters noted that the tariffs could be either decreased or increased depending on our relationship with your country. And then also if Japan or Korea put new tariffs on the US

in response, the administration says that it'll increase the baseline duties beyond 25%. And as I was recording this for you today, we saw Trump posting a steady stream of very similar letters that he has now sent to other countries, outlining tariff increases ranging from 25% to 40%, with the impacted countries, including Malaysia, Kazakhstan, and South Africa, among others.

But also, like, who knows what's gonna happen? The whole situation's very fluid. Trump's gone back and forth so many times, my fucking neck hurts. Maybe there'll be deals, maybe there'll be pauses, maybe it gets kicked down the road. In the past, Trump has reversed course on his tariffs after seeing how negatively they affect the market.

And at that point, we saw stocks tumbling today in reaction to Trump's various announcements, with the Dow falling around 500 points, and NASDAQ and the S&P 500 also seeing notable drops. You know, all of this, it's playing out as you have many economists warning that Trump's various tariffs, they're gonna bring very serious economic consequences.

Right, warning that US businesses are gonna be the ones to have to pay the cost of these tariffs upfront. And those increases, those prices inevitably get passed on to the consumers. But for now, we're left kind of waiting to see which way the wind's gonna blow here. But that is where your show is gonna end today. I wanna say thank you for watching,

thank you for subscribing, and I'll see you right back here to talk more news tomorrow, because of course I got a brand new show for you every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 6 p.m. Eastern 3 p.m. Pacific. Stay safe. Stay sane and I'll see you then