The Trish Regan Show - 🚨 EU BREAKUP? Italy’s Meloni Goes ROGUE — Meets Solo with Trump

Episode Date: April 18, 2025

The Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni meets with President Donald Trump at the White House sparking talk of a European Union break up. We have the details.Meanwhile, we knew President Trump was cleaning house… and now, he’s reportedly looking to ditch the Federal Reserve Chief, Jerome Powell! What will THAT mean for markets? We have a look. Remember to get my financial research newsletter and model portpolios at https://76portfolios.com.Meanwhile, George Clooney really knows how to make an A$$ of himself, don’t you think? CNN is rather good at it too.. .and the two of them just teamed up for a new interivew to talk about that now infamous op-ed that ‘took Biden out.’ (Yours truly suspects the CNN anchor had a small hand in it too!)More on those stories plus the latest on the Maryland deportation saga. Join me! LIVE!SUBSCRIBE TO MY CHANNEL: https://Youtube.com/TrishReganChannel Become a TEAM MEMBER to get special access and perks:▶️ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBlMo25WDUKJNQ7G8sAk4Zw/join🟢For independent views on the market - sign up for my financial newsletter The 76report at:▶️ https://76research.com with CODE: DOLLAR today. Today’s show is sponsored by: 🟢https://TrishLovesGold.com — American Hartford Gold — go to: ▶️ Https://TrishLovesGold.com or TEXT TRISH to 65532 to receive up to $15,000 in free silver with American Hartford Gold or go to https://TrishLovesGold.com. You can also use Trish's name when calling 1-844-495-1115. 🟢 Go to ▶️ https://balanceofnature.com and use CODE: TRISH for 35% off and FREE SHIPPING🟢 Go to ▶️ https://CozyEarth.com/trish with CODE: TRISH for a special discount Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Isn't that how it goes? The big operatic aria that Pavarotti was so famous for singing. It's Nesundorma from Turundo, right? Vincereo, Italia, is in the White House. We're going to talk all about Georgia Maloney, and whether or not there's a chance Italy might actually defect. Imagine that, you guys. We could have a whole total break with a euro.

Well, that would be kind of exciting. Plus, though, Jerome Powell has got himself in a little bit of a trouble. after some comments that he made just yesterday, I'll tell you, I would not blame the president for firing him at this point. You saw how he tanked the market? I mean, hey, he's better at that than Trump, shall we say. I'm teasing. Anyway, Jerome Powell, he's in the hot seat. Meanwhile, this Maryland situation, it's really, really, really blowing up. I mean, Americans are sitting there going, why are you on their side? Really and truly, why is it that you, for whatever reason, must feel that you got a side, with the guy from Maryland who, I believe, was with MS-13, whose wife, whose own wife, had filed a restraining order on him,

as opposed to the American citizens that are victimized by some of the people here illegally who have committed crimes. I'll tell you, no one said that better than the woman from Maryland, whose own daughter was murdered. here she is in the White House today. We're going back to Georgia, but I just had to show you this quick clip, and we're going to dig in.

She's a beautiful, where she's been through hell. She's been through hell, right? Oh, yes. Your daughter's looking that proud of you. You know that. Just keep it going. I know. Keep it going.

Stay with that one. It's like you said. We have a purpose. It's a purpose, this is? She's proud of you. I'll tell you. Pam Bondi found quite a bit out, quite a bit out about this guy that Van Holland is down there in El Salvador, pleading for it. Anyway, Italia, as I said, for the win. Take a look here.

Georgia Maloney arriving at the White House earlier today, and everybody's asking the question that I got on the screen, what if Italy just flies solo? What if they just do this thing on their because I'm not so sure they're going to have the rest of the EU with him. And Donald Trump wants one thing and one thing only, and that's a fair deal. A fair deal with Europe, here you know. We've had numerous talks very, very at the highest level, frankly, with other countries. Yeah, we're doing very well, and we're moving along on trade very well. The United States was ripped off and taken advantage of by every country in the world,

practically. I mean, they have to say practically, but just about everyone. that's not going to happen anymore, but we're going to make fair deals. We're going to make fair deals. You know, it's about time, right, because we haven't had that many. Now, this thing isn't perfect. Don't get me wrong, and you've heard me criticize it, and, you know, the tariffs and the trade deficits are getting kind of convoluted at times,

but his heart's in the right place, and he's trying to do the right thing, and he's like, hey, you know, the guys, like, if you're charging this much whenever we send something, but we're not charging anything, maybe we need to work out something better. Here's the good news. Georgia Maloney is all four. You might have to turn up the volume because the microphones were not right on her.

You can see this is a big press gathering and she's kind of put on the spot here but she says all the right things. I added the words on the screen. Do you believe that the United States is a reliable trade partner? She says, well, I'm here. I believe in the West Unity. He's like, you believe in me.

In the best middle way to grow together. That's why I'm here. She wants to go together. If I didn't think he's going to be reliable partner, I wouldn't be here. So what if there was not a trade deal? That's interesting. He's like, they want to make one.

I want to make one. We're going to make a trade deal. I fully expect it. It'll be a fair deal. Wow. Everybody's on my priority list. So I know it was kind of hard to hear because the sound wasn't all there. But basically, bottom line, George Maloney is like, okay, we'll work with you.

We'll work with you. And what is Donald Trump signaling back? I'm here to work with you. with you too. And interestingly, they sent Georgia, right? That was smart. Somebody over in Brussels was actually thinking for a change because she has a certain charm about her that I think probably plays well in the White House these days. And she gets along very well with Elon Musk. She is a conservative, you know, as far as the Europeans go. And so all of this plays into the situation. But what happens if we get to the 11th hour and here she is making a deal with him, but the rest of Europe

is not on board. And that's where, you know, one of the things that we heard communicated and we saw, let me show you right here, for example, in the Wall Street Journal, is that she's actually willing to kind of go solo on this. I'm quoting from the Wall Street Journal here where I say, Maloney and Washington is likely to signal that as far as Italy is concerned, some of that spending that could happen in the U.S. were Italian companies, including the defense conglomerate Leonardo and shipbuilder Finca Tieri, see, I'll a bit of Italian, already have manufacturing sites. Italy is also open to increasing its gas imports from the U.S.,

another issue that Trump has been pressing Europe on. So they're looking at increasing military spending in order to reduce their military dependence on the U.S. That's been going on right there. but she's probably signaling something that's slightly different, right, because she's trying to represent the defense companies there in Italy and the shipbuilding. So I think that this is very nuanced and very important. One other thing that the journal pointed out, and this is totally true, is that he says,

you know what, you cut your tariffs, Europe, that's not going to do it all. There's a lot more that goes into this because they got all those VAT taxes. Ooh, that's exciting, right? And then all they have the strict food safety regulations. I kind of like that. I can tell you, I eat really well when I'm in Europe. I don't know what the deal is, but they get really good food. And they've got value-added taxes on goods and services.

As I mentioned, the VAT taxes, issues on which the European companies are unlikely to compromise. So they want to keep their VAT taxes. They want to keep their food safety regulations. I mean, I can understand they like their food better than ours. I can't blame them for that one. And, you know, you don't mess with the Italians on the food front. Let me tell you. But what's interesting about all of this is that she's coming here,

and you've got Italian companies that are willing to do deals with the US of A, and Donald Trump likes her. I spent some time in Italy at the start of the new year, and I talked to a lot of people on the ground there, and overwhelmingly, I was in the northern part of Italy, which is way less conservative, you guys, right? It's like the north versus the south. The south tends to be very conservative.

The north is like more rah-rah, progressive stuff, and way more liberal. It's the finance center of the world, Milan, et cetera. So I'm in the outskirts of Milan. I was in Milan as well. And what did I hear over and over and over again from all the workers I talked to, all through Italy. By the way, super talented group of people, just enormously educated, enormously talented. And every single one of them kept on saying to me,

you know what? I like Trump. And this is just after he had been elected right before he came into office. And I heard it over and over and over again. And I'm talking about people in all walks of life. And I found that fascinating. really fascinating because I've spent a lot of time in Italy over the years. I studied there when I was a teenager because for some reason I was one of those trustworthy kids that my parents were like, yeah, sure, whatever, you're 15, go to Italy for the summer and learn Italian. I had a good time and I was a very, very good kid and never got into trouble amazingly. I don't think I would let my 15-year-old go to Europe alone for the summer. But anyway, I digress. Point being, I've known the

population, I've known the people, I understand the culture, and I've been back there many times since, including as recently as the top of this year. And I was fascinated to see this sort of shift. And I think part of it is because they're so sick of being the underling to say Germany. Germany's calling all the shots. You've got Brussels calling all the shots. You get the Germans saying this, that, and the other. And you get to Italy and there's these talented, proud people that now have to take orders from everyone else. Here's the point. problem and I've said it all along. I've said this and mark my words, if this happens, yours truly predicted it because I do not think you can have a conglomerant, an economic

block like the European Union when you have so many different cultures, you have so many different histories, you have so many different languages, for goodness sakes, let them have their own currencies. Then they're in charge of their own destiny. This is part of what this movement is all about making sure that we give the power back to the people and we take it away from the big wings. And so in Italy, they used to have their Lirae, and they could appreciate or depreciate the Lirae depending on how business was in Italy. But now they've got to sit there and wait for, effectively, the Germans to do it all. So she's got Ursula von, you know, what's her name, in the background, trying to dictate all of this. There was a fascinating article I read in the

telegraph this morning. And it was all about how they basically sent Georgia over there, but they're like, okay, do this, don't do that, do this, don't do that. And so they're trying to order her around from Brussels. I think she's too smart for it. I think she's going to outsmart every stinking one of these guys. And the reality is she's going to do what's best for Italy. She really will. Here's the article. Okay, Maloney warned not to undermine the EU in high-stakes meeting with Trump. Okay. So, here. You know, Ursula is getting in there saying, don't you dare. Well, I think Italy is darn proud to be in the position where they are.

Italy is like, you know what? We're actually kind of, you know, we get some clout. We're kind of like the bomb here. And it's all going to sort of be made or broken based on us. So that's pretty cool. I'm happy for Italy. I'm excited for Italy. I'm excited for a conservative movement because they also elected a conservative woman there in

Georgia Maloney. So there's good, good things to come ahead for this country. And I'm excited for them. I think they will get a deal. I'm confident they're going to get a deal. Trump wants a deal. She wants a deal. I don't know if the deal is going to be with the whole darn EU, but I think Italy is going to be just fine. And she's going to find a way to make Italy just fine. I'll tell you, speaking about Italy, the EU, currencies, trade blocks, et cetera, make sure, if you haven't already, you hear me, I have. I'm like a broken record, I know, but I just want you guys to do well. And it's a crazy time out there, and there's a lot of volatility, and there's ways to hedge it, and there's things in our portfolios that we like dividend plays.

For example, we have a portfolio that's dedicated to that, the basic income provider portfolio. We have a portfolio that is very heavy into gold and gold miners. Go check that out at 76 Research.com, 76 portfolios for the portfolios themselves, or you can get the basic research newsletter, code word dollar, it's just a dollar a month, because, you know, you better be able to afford that. We really get problems if you can't manage that one. But it goes to 9.95 after two months. You can cancel any time.

Hey, you don't even have to be out a dollar. How about that? You know who is going to be out a dollar or two pretty soon? One Jerome Powell. So this was big news today. Basically, Donald Trump saying, you're fired. Jerry, it's time to go. Joan Powell and Donald Trump have a very interesting,

contentious relationship. I know this because every time I've ever talked about economic policy with Donald Trump, somehow the Fed comes up, including in my interviews with him. We'd always make news there because he could not stand that Jerry wouldn't move on interest rates. And he loves low interest rates. What real estate developer does not love low interest rates? And there are some headwinds. I've talked about them that suggest we're going into some economic challenges ahead, and Donald Trump is probably perceiving those separate from the tariffs. Let's leave those alone because I think that Jerry Powell is actually conflating.

They've accused Donald Trump of conflating the tariffs and the deficits. And you get Jerome Powell out there conflating his sort of tariff situation and animosity, perhaps for Donald Trump with how the economy is actually doing. Because the real numbers, I'll tell you what, the real numbers actually point to way lower inflation. Last two reports have signaled that. You look at oil prices, for goodness sake, trading around. 61 bucks a barrel. We haven't seen that in ages, certainly not under Biden. And you have egg prices coming down. Everything is suggesting that we have really low inflation, and you're seeing

some evidence of some economic slowdown vis-a-vis some of the sort of real-time numbers. You heard me mention Vegas bookings the other day. Believe it or not, it's like one of the things it was sent out in Apollo, which is a great big deal hedge fund. Apollo group was looking at how bookings had started to tank in late March. That's a real-time indicator. Conference bookings for example, really starting to slow down. So all of this is real-time stuff. And Donald Trump is perceptive, right? Like he's got good instincts. He's noticing some of this stuff. And so, oh, forgive me, this is, you know, he just saw this morning, although he tweeted it before this came out, he saw this morning that probably the handwriting was on the wall, the EU, was about

to cut the ECB, was going to cut their interest rates. So that means what happens? That means the ECB is able to effectively depreciate their currency. When they depreciate their currency, it means that we can buy more stuff that like, you know, even if he puts a tariff on it, it doesn't matter as much because things are cheaper when they're priced in euros if they're depreciating their currency. And he's like, no, no, you can't do that. I want our stuff to be able to go overseas more cheaply. I have mixed feelings about it. You know that because I do like a strong dollar and I like strong dollar policy. But Donald Trump put this out today. He said the ECB is expected to cut rates for the seventh time. And sure enough, he was right. They cut it like, you know, I don't know,

an hour later. Sure enough, the ECB is like, yep, we're cutting. So this is seven time. And yet too late Jerome Powell of the Federal Reserve, who was always too late and too wrong, yesterday issued a report with another and yet typical complete mess. Oil prices are down. Groceries even eggs are down and the USA is getting rich off tariffs. Well, we'll see what gets implemented. Too late should have been lowered interest rates like the ECB long ago, but he should certainly lower them now. Powell's termination cannot come fast enough. Okay, so that's the big line. So people are interpreting this in different ways. Some people are like, oh, you know, see, he's not, he's not going to go AWOL. He's not going to fire him. We do have this sort of divide, if you would, between the Federal Reserve

and the executive branch. And so you don't have to worry because he's just saying the termination, which is eventually down the road can not come fast enough. I do think they're trying to light some pep in his step, if you would, because apparently they're already interviewing for his replacement. Kevin Warsh is said to be top of the list. This came up in the meeting today. And mind you, again, Donald Trump wants him to move, and he's not wrong to want him to move.

I'm always, you know that I'm on the side of making sure we have a strong dollar, and unless there's real evidence of inflation, or forgive me, unless there's real evidence of a slowdown, I wouldn't suggest that the Fed would move. In fact, I was kind of going crazy over the last few years because the Fed couldn't help itself. It just kept printing and printed and printed and I'm like, you guys are going to be dealing with massive inflation. And of course they were, right? Like 9.something percent because you had Biden out there doing his thing, Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi doing their thing. And then of course you had, you had Jerome. with the printing press going all day long and all day, all night all day. So that was a mistake,

but these guys always make the mistake. They never move on time. They never move when they should. They always do something late. And then they have to do too much. This is a great example I want to show you. So, you know, and this is by my friend Steve Moore. Steve Moore, really smart economist. He's advised Donald Trump. I've known him for years. I love Steve. And he says, this was interesting. Trump now has good reason to fire Powell for cause immediately. Take a look at the commodities index. Okay. So this is kind of a way to look at inflation right now. Commodities went way up when Biden was, as he calls it, adding $5 trillion in apoplectic times, $5 trillion to debt and inflation skyrocketed to 9.1 percent. Well, we all do,

remember that. I remember that very vividly. And where was Jerry then? Jerome was like, oh, no, it's just, what was their word for it, you guys? They had that nifty word. Some kind of inflation. Like, you know, it was basically, it was a fancy word for temporary, that it would all work itself out. And I'm sitting there going, are you high? Like, come on. This is ridiculous. You cannot print this much money and not have the after effect. Even Larry Summers was on my side on that one. And yet, they, you know, they did it anyway. And I was like, why is he doing this? And now I'm looking at it. And I'm like, why isn't he moving? Does he really hate Trump that much? Trump's the one that gave him the job. Gosh, darn it. Anyway, Donald Trump had a few things to say, I'm Mr. Jerry Powell

today just moments ago. Oh, he'll leave. If I ask him to, he'll be out of there. But I don't think he's, I don't think he's doing the job. He's too late, always too late, a little slow. and I'm not happy with him. I let him know it. And if I want him out, he'll be out of there real fast, believe me. Yeah, how about that? He's making it clear. He's still the one in charge.

He's going to be out of there real fast if he so decides. You know, part of this started because Powell went on stage yesterday in Chicago, at the Chicago Economic Club. And big thing about we're so independent at the Federal Reserve, we do what we want to do. And yeah, that's kind of how it's set up. But, you know, you can't be reckless. You can't just, like, create inflation.

And then when we actually are nearing possible recession, and, like, look, all the indicators suggest that. I looked at something again this morning on hedge fund managers and what they see happening. And nobody thinks this is going to end well. Like, everybody's like, oh, my gosh, for reasons aside from the tariffs. Like, the tariff sort of chaos and volatility is layered on to what was our. going on and that was already the perception of a slowdown in the U.S. economy. So why wouldn't you move for goodness sakes if you're Jerome Powell? Why wouldn't you unless it's personal? And I think that's it. He just doesn't want to do it because

Donald Trump wants him to do it. And that's the sticking point and that's what we here. This is his kind of F you to Donald Trump yesterday in Chicago. We are completely independent. Well Donald Trump doesn't really entirely think so. Here we go. Let me turn to Fed Independence. You've really reiterated that you intend to stay in office until the end of your term, and that certainly reassured many in financial markets. What are the levers the government or the legislature have to pressure the Fed, and should one worry about threats to the Fed's independence once you're gone?

So our independence is a matter of law. Congress has, in our statute, we're not removable except for cause. We serve very long terms, seemingly endless terms. So we're protected in the law. So, you know, Congress could change that law, but I don't think there's any danger of that. Fed independence has pretty broad support across both political parties and in both sides of the hill. So I think that's not a problem. There's a Supreme Court case. People will have read probably in today's journal at which the Supreme Court may decide whether independent agencies generally

whether they're authorizing laws can contain a provision that prevents the president from firing members of a commission other than for cause. And that's a case that people are talking about a lot. Okay, they're talking about it, but I'm going to go back to what my friend Steve said. There's good reason to fire Powell right now for cause. And the reason for this is because of some of the things that he said yesterday. And some of the things sort of suggested that the Fed is not going to. step in. They're just like not going to do anything. So if all HEDAWL breaks loose, well, guess what? The Fed's going to sit on the sidelines and they're going to make us like sit this one out.

Like we've never had to sit anything out before. The whole too big to fail thing. For goodness sakes, the Federal Reserve has always been there propping up too much. But just because it's Donald Trump, just because you don't like his tariffs plan, you're not going to move, Jerry? Come on. That's like really petty. Really, really, really petty. Now I get like Donald Trump, maybe he shouldn't be. going off about you to reporters. And he's always done that. So you just got to kind of get with the program, right, and recognize it's him. But for you to sort of fire back with, well, you're not going to move because you don't want to look like you're being influenced by him. It has nothing to do

with him and everything to do with the economic numbers. And if you guys would wake up and actually look at the real tea leaves in real time, maybe you'd get this right for a change. Yeah, I'm amazed at how sort of dense they are. I expect it from just. Janet Yellen for goodness sakes, but Jerry Powell, like, works in the real world, and you'd think you'd be looking at real-time numbers and talking to people. You know what, they're not. You know my friend Neil Grossman, maybe I've had him on the show a few times. Brilliant guy, like, super-duper, like, Ph.D. and everything, plus a constitutional law degree, and he's, you know, a mathematician and a scientist and physics person and all this kind of stuff. So, brilliant guy,

investor, and he said, you know, he used to go, and I'll leave this member of the Federal Reserve nameless because I don't know as I was entirely told this on record, but he would go in and he would meet with him every month just because this member of the Federal Reserve kind of wanted to hear a different viewpoint. Neil would go in and they'd have lunch or something, they'd hang out, and Neil kept telling him over and over and over again in summer of 2020, like this thing, forgive me, in the, that's a Freudian slip, in, in 08, Neil kept saying to him, summer of 08, we got a big problem, okay? This is right before the fall when Lehman Brothers went out. And this is not contained. And this member of the

Federal Reserve is like, no, no, no, we contain Bear Stearns. Like, no, it's all going to be fine. And Neil would bring in real-time indicators to him. And he's like, look at this, look at this, look at this. And the guy's like, no, no, no, it's all contained. Why? Because they're academic, wonky eggheads that don't have their heads in reality. So you've got Jerome Powell refusing to admit what's really going on. Well, guess what? Donald Trump's telling the truth, and inflation is down. So if your economy is suffering or stumbling at all and inflation is lower, why wouldn't you want to move? Oh, he'll leave. If I ask him to, he'll be out of there. But I don't think he's, I don't think he's doing the job. He's too late, always too late. It's slow, and I'm not happy with him.

I let him know it. And it may be happy. Here's the bite I wanted to show you on inflation, Donald Trump, saying, you know what? It's under control. Jerry, wake up. Mr. President, you were coming at these deals would be done. But you also said that you're a no rush. Americans are seeing prices rise. They're seeing it on their bills.

How long can they expect that pain to last? So they've already seen it get much better because if you were truthful, which you're not, you know, I know you very well. You have gasoline that hit. $1.98 yesterday in a couple of states. You have gasoline's way down. The price of oil has dropped substantially. The price of groceries are substantially down. The price of eggs, you know, when I came in, they hit me with eggs. I just got there. I was here for one week, and they started screaming. Eggs have gone through the roof. I said, I just got here. I was there for seven days, and I hear that eggs have gone through the roof before I got there. And they were screaming at me the press, the fake news like you, you're fake. And the fake news is screaming at me about eggs. I said, I've only been here.

This is my seventh day. And they were right. They went up 87%. And you couldn't get them. They said, you won't have eggs for Easter, which is coming up. Happy Easter, everybody. You won't have eggs for Easter. And we did an unbelievable job.

And now eggs are all over the place. And the price went down 92%. and our Commissioner of Agriculture, Brooke, has done a fantastic job. They really have done a fantastic job. So prices haven't gone up. The only thing that's gone up actually is interest rates because we have a Federal Reserve Chairman that is playing politics, somebody that I've never been very fond of, actually. But he's playing politics.

Interest rate should be down now. They should be coming down in Europe. As you know, they reduced him. I guess seven times. It looks like they're going to reduce them again and again and again, but our guy wants to play cute. Our guy wants to play cute until maybe, you know, he forces him out somewhere or another. Let me share with you what my friend Steve wrote this morning. Again, Steve is a very, very, very smart economist, intellectual capitalist,

who wants what's best for this country. He has served as an advisor to the president. he writes, Anyone remember when the Federal Reserve's board was supposed to be politically independent? Oh, well, never mind. Powell's rant yesterday. This was in Chicago, part of what I just showed you, against Donald Trump and tariffs, warning of, quote, higher inflation and lower growth, sent the Dow tumbling by more than 500 points.

This was arguably the most partisan tantrum by a Fed share in modern times, attacking a new president's policies so aggressively and adding to market turmoil when the Fed's job is to calm markets. Instead, he screamed fire in a crowded movie theater. We are not fans of many of Trump's tariff strategies, Steve writes, but the idea that inflation is raging out of control is counterfactual. In other words, that's fake news. That's not true. Inflation's coming down, and you're going to sit there and tell us commodity prices are sky high

when I'm looking at 61 bucks on a barrel of oil. Give me a break. So far, he writes, commodity prices are lower than they were when Donald Trump entered office and the latest inflation report showed consumer prices coming down. So when did we start playing politics? Oh, apparently when Donald Trump came in and you just didn't want to cut rates. And I get it. You don't want to do what he wants you to do. But he's looking around the world and he's looking at the headlines out of the ECB and they're cutting and they're cutting and they're cutting.

And guess what? It's going to make it harder for us. But maybe that's your goal, Jerry. Is that really it? I hope not. I certainly, you know, I get fired up about this stuff, guys, because this is my background and I care. I care so much. And I hope you care as well. We put out a piece today at 76 research all about this. I encourage you to go to 76 research. We've got a whole thing about investing and missed all this volatility because it's really volatile. And then you're going, you know, they're swinging at the Federal Reserve and the Fed chief is, you know, blowing up on stage in Chicago and saying all kinds of things. It's wild. It's wild. In the meantime, the Democrats come into the aid and rescue of the migrant in Maryland. And I'll tell you, the DOJs just came out

with some new intel that should have them rethinking all of it. Pam Bondi, coming. forward last night explaining, disclosing that this Garcia guy had actually had his wife in a state of terror and she had gone to the police because she was fearful for his life because he had physically assaulted and physically attacked her. And I just want to know why the Dems are like, oh, we got to save him. Like, what about actually saving the, I know the wife apparently thinks, you know, all things are hunky dory and you move on. families have their trouble. I mean, typically they don't have physical abuse as their trouble, for goodness sakes. Now should we want that. Pam Bondi disclosing this on Hannity's program just last

night. Let's watch. Tonight to President Trump. Well, I'm trying to understand that part. And I'm looking at the timeline. I'm looking what the courts have said about him. I'm looking about what ISIS said about him. I'm looking about at even though I, I'm having a hard time understanding why his wife is advocating for him to come back. Why is everybody saying he's a man from Maryland? What do you make of Senator Van Holland and, you know, this performative art that he's involved in in El Salvador and of which he was unsuccessful today? Well, America is safer because he is gone. Maryland is safer because

he is gone. And that woman that he is married to and that child he had with her, they are safer tonight because he is out of our country and sitting in El Salvador where he belongs. These people are there saying because we needed to do the government needed to do one extra step they're saying of paperwork. Here's why. Because initially he claimed there was a rival gang. So he's saying he's a gang member. There's a rival gang in El Salvador, which no longer exists, by the way, that could have heard him if he had gone back to El Salvador. So by there was no ending for him, none, where he would end up staying in this country. And President Buckele made it crystal clear that he is not returning him to our country.

Our only job legally was to facilitate it if, according to the Supreme Court, President Buckele wanted him to come back to our country. And he does not want him back. And we do not want him back in our country. We don't, Attorney General, Pam Bondi, thank you for setting the record straight as always we agree. I mean, but Van Hollen wants them back, right? The judge wants them back.

Apparently, you're not allowed to return someone who's here illegally and has been in custody and not allowed to leave custody, right? You're in prison and they won't let you on bail because they believe that you're a member of a really scary gang. And now we learn from Pam Bondi that there was some kind of restraining order from his wife. And the wife is like, oh, no, you know, we were just going through. a difficult time, we managed. I'm sorry, like, you're fearful for your physicality. Like,

I don't necessarily think this is a nice guy, but you know what? It doesn't even matter what I think. It doesn't matter if he's nice or not, okay? Let's start with the premise that he was believed to have ties to a known gang that is extremely violent. Let's start with that. That's why they wouldn't let him out on bail. Or how about we start with this? The fact that he was here illegally to begin with. Okay, that's kind of, you know, game over. It's, it's, that point. He's here illegally and yet Van Hollen, we can't get him out of El Salvador, for goodness sakes. He's out there outside the prison pleading for this guy from Maryland to come home. I'm here with Chris Newman, who is the attorney for the wife and mother of Kilmar Abrago Garcia.

And we just tried to go visit him in prison just to check on his conditions. Is he doing okay? nobody has any communication with him since he was illegally abducted from Maryland and sent to Seacott prison in El Salvador, which is a U.S. District Court judge said was a violation of all his due process rights. Today's purpose was just to see what his health condition is. And these soldiers were ordered to prevent us from going any... Okay. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Blah, blah. Blah, blah. Blah, blah. Blah, blah. You keep going, you keep going. You know what? I just got to say, you are bending over backwards, flying yourself down there to El Salvador. The media's all over this. They're making a martyr out of the guy,

you know, making him into something he's probably, again, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if he's the greatest guy in the world. They deported him back to his home country. And now his home country has an opportunity to either let him out of the prison or I'm told from one source, this is not double or triple confirmed, that it is believed that they have something on them there. So this is not like asylum. He wasn't looking for political asylum. Heck, you know, maybe at some point he could get it now. I don't know. It's getting kind of convoluted. But this is not an asylum case. You don't have, you don't have the right to say, I mean, I get it. Like El Salvador is a bad place. And goodness B. Kelly came in there and started cleaning it up.

Right? The murder rate has plummeted thanks to his. is law and order policies? I know nobody likes that, but, you know, on the left anyway, but that is the reality of it. So you are deported to your home country. You weren't here legally to begin with. And now your country is making the determination over your future. And I realize, yes, you want to kind of save everybody, but you can't. Why are you making such a martyr out of this guy when you can't do squat for, say, the poor Marilyn mom who lost her daughter to the hands of an illegal migrant. Not, I get it.

You know, before they say, oh, it's apples to oranges, whatever. It's not perfect, right? This is not a perfect analogy because everybody's an individual. However, the optics, they don't look good. All right, guys, I'm telling the Democrats right now, because you want to get your act together, don't you? For two years from now or four years from now, I'm telling you, this is not a winning story.

This, on the other hand, this will tug at your heartstrings. The poor Marilyn mother getting comforted by one dollar, Donald Trump there in the White House today, I mean, this poor woman, she's looking at Van Hollen saying, what the heck? Beautiful. She's a beautiful woman. She's been through hell. She's been through hell, right? Oh, yes. Your daughter's looking that proud of you. You know that.

Just keep it going. I know. Keep it going. Stay with that one. It's like you said. We have a purpose. It's a purpose, yes. She's proud of you.

I just, I got chills when I saw that. That was Patty Morton. Her daughter, Rachel, was killed violently. And it's a horrible story, and it's sad. And I just think that it's probably not the best optics to be out there fighting for the guy who was, dare I say, the wife beat her. I'm sorry, the whole thing's on file. Nobody wants to admit the truth around here, for goodness sakes.

but he's not like the stand-up guy that you all. I'm sorry. Again, I'll go back to the police report and the fear that she felt, okay, that the wife felt. Anyway, the Maryland mom, Patty Marin, was speaking to reporters today, and it's heartbreaking. We should see it. To have a senator from Maryland who didn't even acknowledge,

or barely acknowledged my daughter and the brutal death that she endured leaving her five children without a mother and now a grandbaby without a grandmother so that he can use

my taxpayer money to fly to El Salvador to bring back someone that's not even an American citizen. Why does that person have more right than I do

or my daughter or my grandchildren I don't I don't know it's not understandable and the truth is they don't have more than more rights

but the way the left has approached this entire ordeal you'd think that they did I'll tell you what you know what Americans are not buying this not one bit Americans are on the side of Trump and the deportations

and when you look at the MAGA voters have they been swayed no they have been emboldened everybody thought, okay, well, you know, the markets are in turmoil, and I'm trying to explain to them, you know what? I don't think the average person cares about that. Not yet anyway. Sure, if we get a recession, then you're going to have other challenges, for sure. But right now, they're looking at, okay, inflation is coming down, and Donald Trump is doing something about illegals that are potentially violent criminals in this country. Why you would stand against deporting illegals that are potentially violent criminals? I don't know.

But you know what? CNN is shocked by this. Mary Anton's having some fun here looking at the newest polls. Let's talk about Trump voters and how they feel. Do they regret their vote? I mean, this is the big question, right? I hear all these stories, all these articles, all the Trump voters, they regret what they did back in 2024. I'm here to tell you, uh-uh, very few of them regret what they did back in 2024. What are we talking about? Trump voters looking back in 2024, we got a new poll out.

The poll was conducted this month. What percentage would change their vote to a different candidate? We're talking just 2%, just 2%, that's not even a wide spot on the road. And then there's this additional 1% who say they would rather not vote. We're talking overall, under 5% might or would have changed their vote. Donald Trump voters back in 2024. And then you ask, okay, the same question of Kamala Harris voters, and it turns out the numbers are rather similar.

So if there was a repeat, if folks got to be able to redo their vote that they had back in 2024, would the result be any different? I doubt it would be. I doubt it would be or it would still be extremely close. The bottom line is for all this talk of Trump voters regretting their vote, in the numbers, it really just doesn't show up, John. So the stickiness with Trump voters and President Trump in this presidency, how does it compare it to his first president?

Yeah, okay. So, you know, I was interested in sort of a historical analogy here, sort of, does this look similar or different from back in 2017 looking at 2016? Well, in February of 2017, 4%, 4% of Trump voters say they'd shift their vote. That's actually slightly more than the 3% this time around. So, you know, you look back, you say, okay, there's these Trump voters who really regret their vote. Historically speaking, they really don't regret their vote. And if anything, the number this time around is actually smaller than it was the first time around.

And it's certainly smaller than the number we saw coming out of 2020, of course, after the events of January 6th. So the bottom line is this. If there's some idea out there that Trump voters are going around, man, I wish I had voted for Kamala Harris instead of Donald Trump. The numbers say that is a fanciful universe. It really, for the most part, does not exist. Nope, doesn't exist. No.

America's with them on this. I mean, all the polling shows it. This is what you call logic. Stephen Miller. Oh, gosh, he was really good. Was he not on Fox this week trying to explain it? Number one, DOJ said a federal court cannot compel the executive brands to engage in any mandated act of diplomacy or encouragement upon the sovereignty of another nation.

So your argument is that you don't have to bring him back home, but will you? So I want to correct, I hate to do it, Bill, but I've got to correct you on every single thing that you said because it was all wrong. First, we won the Supreme Court case. Clearly, 90, a district court judge said unconscionably that the president and his administration have to go into El Salvador and extradite one of their citizens, an El Salvadorian citizens. So that would be kidnapping. That we have to kidnap an El Salvadorian citizen against the will of his government and fly him back to America, which would be an unimaginable act and an invasion of El Salvador's sovereignty.

So he appealed to the Supreme Court and it said clearly no district court can compel the president to exercise his Article II foreign powers in any way whatsoever. DOJ called me after that Supreme Court ruling and they said, this is amazing. We won this case, 9-0. We are an excellent standing here. So this has been portrayed wrong for 72 hours in the media. They said the most a court could ever compel you to do would be to facilitate return, which would basically mean if El Salvador voluntarily sends him back, we wouldn't block him at the airport.

We would put him back into iced detention. And then he would be deported either back to El Salvador or somewhere else. The Supreme Court said that is the most the government can be expected to do. Because he's from El Salvador. So what are you supposed to do? Okay, whoops, you know, maybe you didn't mean to deport him. They've come out and said that, but they sent him back to his home country. Like, are they supposed to actually now infringe on the sovereignty of El Salvador?

El Salvador, by the way, totally telling Van Hollen go take a hike. Like, we'll deal with this on our own, thank you very much. Or talk to the Trump administration, but we're not about to release him to you, buddy, not happening. It's just amazing. Like the Democrats are so off on all of this. Like the optics have been so bad. You got Bondi announcing her case against Maine, right, because of the Title IX funding with people that are born as boys competing against people that are born as girls. Can you believe I have to say this? You know, even the UK is like, sorry, a woman's a woman. They just came out with the ruling yesterday saying, yep, the unanimous decision in this court is that in terms of woman and sex and the equality. Act of 2010 referring to a biological woman. It does refer to a biological woman. It's a biological sex. And yet, for some reason, they don't understand that up in Maine. The Democrats are just on

the wrong side of every single issue over and over and over again. This is what's happening. And I think back to, you know, this particular soundbite, I'm going to play you from Scott Jennings, who gets just beaten up, although he sure gives it back. Does he not on CNN every night? This is good. what? I think this whole revolution of common sense idea that Trump is pushing, this is the issue that maybe people associate with it the most, because if there ever was an 80-20 or a 90-10 issue in America, it's this one. I mean, President Trump had the young athlete at the state of the union the other night who'd been really injured in a volleyball game over it. I saw people posting video of that horrific injury, and I still saw liberals on social media laughing at this

person's misfortune. And so I think the Democratic Party has torn up about it. about it, but the American people aren't. Trump used it to political advantage, but then they expected him to do something about it, which he has done. If Democrats don't get on the right side of at least one 80, 20 issue in America, they're gonna lose again in 28.

You know, I've- They will. They will. And then they got people like George Clooney, not really helping their claws, George Clooney going on CNN and making a, you know-what, of himself all over again. Of course, the anchor that he's talking to

is certainly making a, you know what, of himself as well. Jake Tapper interviewing George Clooney. I mean, could it get any more cringe? Really? I mean, these are the guys that took him down. These are the guys that took Biden down. I was saying it at the time. Jake Tapper was a mouthpiece.

Kid you not. For whatever David Axelrod and others wanted him to do, there was a movement within the Obama camp. And so they had their guy on CNN and they had their Hollywood actor that they could get to write this op-ed to just tear. Biden down and Clooney's like oh it was my patriotic duty I had to do it here just just

watch him briefly you yourself did something that a lot of people would call brave when you wrote your op-ed well I don't know if it was brave it was it was a civic duty because I found that people on my side of the street you know I'm a Democrat was a Democrat in Kentucky so I get it When I saw people on my side of the street, I'm not telling the truth. I thought that was time to... Are people still mad at you for that? Some people, sure.

It's okay. You know, listen. Can I stop for a second? What the heck is a Democrat from Kentucky? Is that his way of saying, you know, don't forget. Don't forget. I mean, it was the Republicans, right? Who freed the slaves?

I'm just saying that was Lincoln's party. So when you say you're a Democrat from Kentucky, like, I don't know what the heck you're trying to communicate with that one, buddy. Woo! Some people, sure. It's okay. You know, listen, the idea of freedom of speech, you know, the specific idea of it is, you know, you can't demand freedom of speech and then say, but don't say bad things about me. Right. That's the deal. You have to take a stand if you believe in it, take a stand, stand for it, and then deal with the consequences. That's the rules. And so when people criticize me, they criticize me because of my stance against the war 20 years ago.

Some people picketed my movies and they put me on a deck of cards. And I, you know, and that's the, that's, I have to take that. That's fair. I'm okay with that. I'm okay with criticism for my, you know, for where I stand. And I defend their right to criticize me as much as I defend my right to criticize them. Yeah, whatever. You so don't.

We know you don't. Please. Like, nor does CNN. Remember when Jake Tapper was like, how dare you to Lara Trump? Because Lara Trump was in, in Jake's eyes, suggesting that Biden had a stutter and therefore was making fun of people with stutters. And she's like, no, no, no, no. Like, I've just seen that people decline at points in their life. And this strikes me as somebody who's declining. And he's like, how dare you? How dare you? I mean, these people are so

phony. And they're going to shove this nonsense down your throat again. I'll tell you, they lost anyway. Like, they were trying to save the day. They thought that Joe Biden was going to lose. they thought, okay, if we get rid of him and we bring in Kamlo, oh yeah, that'll work. That'll really work. I mean, like, I actually think that Joe Biden would have done better because you're really annoyed people in the Democrat Party by subbing them out like that. That was like part of the problem, right? Part of the big problem. Quick reminder that I'm so happy to have partnered this year with Herzog Foundation if you're interested in a Christian education. I highly recommend you check these guys out because you look at the clunies of the world and you look at the, you know, all these nut jobs out there out in Maine for going to say, If I lived in Maine, I think I'd really want to go to Herzog Foundation.com right now because

it is a foundation. It doesn't cost you anything. Go and look at it. They have so many ideas on how you can educate your children. If you have children, if you have grandchildren, if you have nieces and nephews, go look at that because it's all about a Christian education. And these days, with everything that's happening, boy, do we need it. I'll say Donald Trump's doing a lot, though. He's doing a lot. Things are progressing. We're moving in the right way. All of it is good news. But it's going to take time. So if you're interested in an education for your children that really puts an emphasis on values, Christian values, I encourage you guys to go check this out.

Again, I'm so proud of the partnership. I really am. It's a wonderful thing that I'm excited to be involved in and excited to share. We've got another big story that came in this week, drug prices, the executive order on drug prices by one. Donald Trump, you know, he promised he would get in there, did he not, and say, I'm going to lower drug prices. Well, he's off to the races. How many EOs have we had at this point? Here's the Bloomberg headline.

Trump signs order aimed at lowering prescription drug prices. Bloomberg writing that. You have Fox as well pointing out that all these soaring Medicare prescription drug prices are being targeted in Donald Trump's new executive order. So that's pretty good. And you've got, you know, they're right and the left kind of agreeing, okay, he's going after pricing. So that's important. Step in the right direction.

I read through the executive order, the entire thing, because, you know, this is what I do in my downtime guys. And I read through it because this is really important. And I think there's a lot in there. And some of it is terrific. And some of it is sort of, you know, a starting point. And I think the bottom line is, again, I say this, I mean this. Like, he wants to tackle this. And he wants to find ways to get drug prices lower.

So I come back to innovation, right? because innovation is everything in this economy. And we want innovation as far as the big pharma goes, because what does that mean? Lower prices, lower prices, lower prices. Well, you know who does not want any innovation? Some members of our political circle, and this came to my attention. I keep track of Letitia James.

You may know that if you watch the show, and Latisha James is facing all kinds of troubles, right? the mortgage allegations, et cetera. And there's this little number. So she sent out a letter here just this week in which it wasn't just her, actually, the Attorney General from New Hampshire, a few others, a whole bunch of them. Actually, they spanned both parties, interestingly enough, because apparently nobody there that has any authority really has any common sense.

And they're going after, they're going after PBMs, and they're going after any kind of innovation that they may be employing. In all seriousness, right? Because I don't know, they're in the dark ages or something. They really just don't like innovation, even though that is sort of what keeps our economy going. This particular section, let me see if I can pull it up for you. They actually specifically cite vertical integrations without getting too wonky. Like they're actually calling out vertical integration.

Vertical integration is what helps make, for example, a company leaner, better, more cost-effective. and they don't want cost-effective policies in place? No, right? Because I don't know. I don't know what's going on with these people, but none of them are very smart. I mean, I've learned that a long time ago. None of them are smart. They're trying to stifle competition. And when you say you're going to go after, oh, vertical integration, you think you sound smart because it's kind of a wonky term that nobody really understands, but I'm going to break it down and explain just exactly how stupid this is. Vertical integration, guess what, it wins the day. Every stinking time, you look at Tesla. Okay, I don't care if you like Tesla or you hate Tesla. You've got to admire what Elon has built as a company.

And what is he done? He's integrated all over the place, right? That's a company that has its own chips. It's got its own software batteries. It's got its own darn showrooms, right? They don't have to go through the whole dealership system. What does that do? It lowers the cost. Yes, it helps their margins, but it lowers the cost, making them more competitive because competition is actually a good thing. Leticia, hate to break it to you. All right, vertical integration wins a day every single time. I was looking at some research on this. 2003 battery costs at Tesla, kilowatt hour, $112 versus competitors that are paying between 137 and 160.

Guess what? They are in charge of their whole battery supply line. Isn't that what we're trying to do right now? We actually want to bring more production onshore so that we're in charge of the whole thing? They've got their own dealership. So they reduce costs there. They've got all that self-driving software that they're generating and making.

And guess what? that creates better margin for them and their ability to compete in offer lower prices. Amazon has been a great example of this. You think about the logistics service that they've put into place. Incredible. Incredible. Amazon basics is one of their sort of private labels that they have. And they've been able to reduce the cost thanks to all of these things.

They get all this better competition, which results in faster delivery, and it results in lower prices. So, McDonald's, you know, I, sorry, I, we're just talking about European food. And yes, I love it, but I also love my McDonald's French fries. And you know what? They get their own potato farms, okay, their own meat processing plants. They've got their own real estate, for goodness sakes. Guess what? It offers a better value.

Starbucks, same thing, their control in the whole supply chain out of Costa Rica for their coffee. This is what companies do, Letitia and co. This is what happens. And if you want to bring drug costs down, you're going to look at these people. and say where can they actually make a difference. So, you know, hopefully at some point somebody wakes up. I have my doubts. It's frustrating to be here on the sidelines, watching all the craziness, but nonetheless, I do it.

I do it for you, and I love every minute of it. Go to 76research.com. Use code word dollar. I will see you back here live on the show tomorrow.