Ep. 2352 - OPERATION GREENLAND: Trump Takes Davos!

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1:00President Trump takes Davos. He backs off of those gigantic tariffs on the EU, but did he get a win on Greenland? That's the big question. We'll get to all of it first. Three years ago, we announced the most ambitious project in daily wire history, and then went to work. Writing an entire series, filming across two continents, building something so audacious, no conservative media company has ever attempted anything like it. Now, the weight is finally, finally over. The Pendragon Cycle Rise of the Merlin is here, and you can see it, episodes 1 and 2. Of the seven parts cinematic epic are streaming right now exclusively at Daily Wear Plus, take a look at the Pendragon Cycle Rise of the Merlin. I knew your father. I mean, I'm yet convinced that he was not of this world.

2:01Poor man, no of the great Taliesin. Who am I father? That the God should war for my soul. Princess Harris, savior of our people. I know what the bull got off of you. I was offered the same. And? There's a new part working the world. I've seen it. A god who sacrifices what he loves for us. We are each giving only one life, singer. I know. We're giving another. I learnt of Yazoo the Christ. And I have become his follower. He's waiting on our own, and I think you can give him one. Trust in Yazoo, he is the only hope for men like us. To Britain ever rest in the hands of the great life. Great life. Great darkness. Such things mattered to me then. What matters to you now, Mistress Ablaid? You, nephew.

3:03The sword of the High King. How many lives must you last before you accept the power? You were born to wield. So clean to the promises of a god who has abandoned you. I cannot take up that sword again. You know what you must do. Great life, forgive me. The time has come to be reborn. Alrighty, so President Trump did something pretty extraordinary in Davos. He gave a speech basically going to directly at our European allies, telling them that they needed to up their game in terms of defense, in terms of economics, in terms of their own national sovereignty. And then he prided deal away from Denmark with regard to Greenland. And we'll get into the details of that because this makes the markets sang win again. The markets were very concerned about the possibility that President Trump was going to hit all of Europe.

4:06But these gigantic tariffs based on a desire for sovereignty over all of Greenland. Give us Greenland or we will tariff all of you. That is no longer the case. A deal has been cut. What is that deal? Well, European allies will claim that President Trump really didn't get much in the deal. President Trump's supporters will claim that he got a lot in the deal. We'll go through the details that we know about at the moment. However, the really big story here is how the President of the United States is calling on Europe to stand up for itself. And this of course follows hard on a speech given by the vice president, JD Vance last year, in which he went to Europe and basically told them they need to reestablish their borders, they need to stop falling prey to mass migration, they need to allow their markets to actually function, and they need to move away from an economy based largely on Russian oil and heavily regulated industry that means that Europe has been stagnating for decades. So the president arrived in Davos who was a red carpet arrival. Here is what it looked like. That is a very, very long red carpet. That is indeed a very, very literal long red carpet.

5:09The president walked down as he arrived in Davos. And I will say the president was very funny. He spoke for quite a while yesterday. He began by saying that it was good to be here with many friends and also a few enemies. It's great to be back in beautiful Davos Switzerland and to address so many respected business leaders, so many friends, few enemies. Hey, he's always drum. That's the thing about President Trump. He never stops being drum. Well, President Trump started off his speech by saying people suggest that he is anti-European but of course he's of European descent. He's both Scottish and German. I am derived from Europe, Scotland and Germany. 100% Scotland, my mother, 100% German, my father. And we believe deeply in the bonds we share with Europe. As a civilization, I want to see it do great.

6:11That's why issues like energy trade, immigration and economic growth must be central concerns to anyone who wants to see a strong and united West. Now the president clocked Europe calling it unrecognizable, suggesting that they had moved away from the principles that once made Europe the leading center of civilization. The places where you come from can do much better by following what we're doing because certain places in Europe are not even recognizable, frankly, anymore. They're not recognizable. And we can argue about it with this no argument. Friends come back from different places. I don't want to insult anybody and say I don't recognize it. And that's not in a positive way, in a very negative way. And I love Europe and I want to see Europe go good. But it's not heading in the right direction. Now president said that his goal in saying all of this wasn't just to dunk on the Europeans, obviously, his goal was to revitalize what he called the precious culture shared

7:13by Americans and Europeans who was the president at the World Economic Forum. The explosion of prosperity and conclusion and progress that built the West did not come from our tax cuts. It ultimately came from our very special culture. This is the precious inheritance that America and Europe have in common. We share it. We share it, but we have to keep it strong. We have to become stronger, more successful, more prosperous than ever. We have to defend that culture and rediscover the spirit that lifted the West from the depths of the dark ages to the pinnacle of human achievement. The president also suggested, of course, that Europeans have failed themselves in pursuing a green energy-based economy that has been a complete fail. He is right about this. Germany's economy particularly has suffered because of its reliance on so-called green energy, which is to say less reliable, less effective forms of energy.

8:15Like, for example, windmills, the president is not a fan of the gigantic windmill farms and he made that very clear. There are windmills all over Europe. There are windmills all over the place. And they are losers. One thing I've noticed is that the more windmills a country has, the more money that country loses and the worse that country is doing. China makes almost all of the windmills. And yet I haven't been able to find any wind farms in China. Did you ever think of that? It's a good way of looking at it. China is very smart. They make them. They sell them for a fortune. They sell them to the stupid people that buy them. You know what? When the man's right, the man is right. Now, the president, of course, also made the case that under his tutelage, the United States has become significantly stronger. He talked about how if America booms the rest of the world also booms, this is a domestic pitch for his constituents. The USA is the economic engine on the planet.

9:17And when America booms the entire world booms. It's been the history. When it goes bad, it goes bad, the whole wheel. Your follow us down and you follow us up. And the president also talked about immigration in the United States, how he was ending illegal immigration in the United States and blowing drug boats out of the water and some of his domestic achievements as president of the United States. But equally importantly, we're cracking down on more than $19 billion in fraud that was stolen by Somalian bandits. Can you believe that Somalian? They tend to have to be higher IQ than we thought. I always say these are low IQ people. How did they go into Minnesota and steal all that money? And we have, you know, their pirates, they're good pirates, right? But we shoot them out of the water just like we shoot the drug boats out. They're not pirating too many boats slightly, do you notice? Man, the comedy routine here. The real message to the president was there to deliver, of course,

10:18that the Europeans ought to be both independent but also recognize that they are in fact reliant on the United States. And so in that vein, he went after Mark Carney, who's the prime minister of Canada. Of course, the reality is that Mark Carney would not be the prime minister of Canada if it had not been, I think, for the trade war declared on Canada by the United States, leading to the elevation of Carney and the polls in the late stages of an election against Pierre Paulier. Okay, Mark Carney gave a peculiar address that we discussed a couple of days ago on the program with regard to the United States in which he suggested that the era of American dominance was over. And Trump basically said, well, that's weird since if it weren't for us, your continent would be a little bit more at risk. We are your defense shield. We're building a golden dome that's going to just by its very nature, going to be defending Canada. Canada gets a lot of freebies from us. By the way, they should be grateful also, but then now that I watch your prime minister yesterday,

11:18he wasn't so grateful. They should be grateful to Canada. Canada lives because of the United States. Remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements. And well, the president also dumped out the favorite line of those of us on the right, which is that if it had not been for the United States involvement in Europe, but it would be speaking German and Japanese, it means it's slightly weird that he was saying this in Switzerland, where actually the predominant language is German, but the general point holds, obviously. And then after the war, which we won, we won it big without us. Right now, you'd all be speaking German and little Japanese, perhaps. After the war, we gave Greenland back to Denmark. How stupid were we to do that? Okay, so I mean, that history is not right. Denmark maintained control of Greenland even during the war. They signed a defense agreement that allowed the United States to essentially build up a military presence on Greenland.

12:21In any case, the president's main mission here, which was to tell the Europeans that they really need to up their game, that was a successful mission. And it seems as though a lot of people have gotten the message, as we'll see in just a moment. This episode is sponsored by PureTalk. If your credit card balance is stressing you out after that holiday spending, I have something that can save you money right now. You can cut your cell phone bill in half by switching to PureTalk's savor plan. Just 20 bucks a month from limited talk text and three gigs of high speed data, I'm PureTalk's super fast nationwide 5G network. And as a veteran led a company that cares about giving back to those who serve, if you're active or form a military or a first responder, you'll save an additional 20% every single month. The easiest way to free up cash flow is to reduce your monthly recurring bills. Start with cutting overpriced wireless and switching to my wireless company. I'm using PureTalk myself for years. Obviously, I take my business and personal phone calls pretty seriously. I want the best reception. I want the best price and a company that I trust. That's PureTalk. Head on over to PureTalk.com slash Shapiro. Make that switch today in as little as 10 minutes again. Talk, text, and data for just 20 bucks a month.

13:23That's PureTalk.com slash Shapiro. You'll save an additional 50% off your very first month of coverage. PureTalk is America's wireless company that's PureTalk.com. Slash Shapiro to get started. Also, I've been spending some time obviously traveling. My family is with me. We're having a great time together. All I care about in life really at the end is taking care of my family. And at the end of life, you do have to be worried about taking care of your family because when you go, so does your income. There's a weight that sits on you when you've got a family making sure they're taking care of any and need life insurance. It can feel overwhelming to even know where to start, which is where our sponsor policy genius comes in. It's an online insurance marketplace where you can compare quotes from top insurers side by side, completely free. No jumping around between websites, no endless phone calls. What really stands out is their team actually works for you. They're licensed agents who help you figure out what you actually need, not what some company wants to sell you. They walk through through coverage amounts prices, all of it. No guesswork, just straight answers. They handle the paperwork. They answer your questions. And honestly, they take that weight off your shoulders. You get cleared in what you need and you can move forward fast. It's the perfect time to lock this in and start 2026 with real peace of mind.

14:26Check out policy genius. They've got thousands of five star reviews from people who finally found the right policy for their needs. You'll thank yourself later with policy genius real users have gotten 20 year, two million other policies for just 53 bucks a month. Ease the weight of protecting wonderful life head on over to policygenius.com slash Shapiro to compare life insurance quotes from top companies and see how much you could save. That's policygenius.com slash Shapiro. And then there was all the hubbub about Greenland. So of course, the president had threatened European wide tariffs. I'm basically the entire continent over failure of Denmark to turn over Greenland to the United States. So we're turning over sovereignty to the United States. And of course, the United States had offered to pay Denmark for Greenland. The United States had attempted to sort of bribe the citizens of Greenland with $100,000 a piece in order to get them to sign on the dotted line and join the United States. None of that was working. The president at Davos said that he would not use force in an American attempt to take Greenland. We never asked for anything. And we never got anything.

15:26We probably won't get anything unless I decide to use excessive strength and force where we would be frankly unstoppable. But I won't do that. Okay. Now everyone's saying, oh, good. That's probably the biggest statement I made because people thought I would use force. I don't have to use force. I don't want to use force. I won't use force. All the United States is asking for is a place called Greenland where we already had it as a trustee. But respectfully, we turned it back to Denmark not long ago after we defeated the Germans, the Japanese, the Italians and others in World War II. We gave it back to them. We were a powerful force then, but we are much more powerful force now. After I rebuilt the military in my first term and continued to do so today. Well, the president went on to make the case for why the United States required ownership of Greenland. It wasn't enough just to have military bases there, which again under a current military agreements we absolutely have and can expand.

16:32And all we're asking for is to get Greenland, including right title and ownership because you need the ownership to defend it. We can't defend it or at least. Number one, legally, it's not defensible that way totally. And number two, psychologically, who the hell wants to defend a licensed agreement or a lease, which is a large piece of ice in the middle of the earth here. If there is a war, much of the action will take place on that piece of ice. Think of it. Okay, so the president went on to suggest that this is a small ask compared to what we have given Europe in the past. It's a very small ask compared to what we have given them for many, many decades. But the problem with NATO is that we'll be there for them 100%. But I'm not sure that they'd be there for us.

17:34We gave them the call. Gentlemen, we are being attacked. We're under attack by such and such a nation. I know them all very well. I'm not sure that they'd be there. I know we'd be there for them. The president then concluded by suggesting that people could say yes or they could say no, but we would certainly prefer yes. So we want a piece of ice for world protection. And they won't give it. We've never asked for anything else. And we could have kept that piece of land. And we didn't. So they have a choice. You can say yes. And we will be very appreciative. Or you can say no. And we will remember. Okay, so what are the actual contours of ADL? And the reason we're talking about ADL is because the president came out after his speech. And he said that ADL had been reached. A framework for ADL had been reached. He put out a statement saying based upon a very productive meeting that I have had with the Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rudy.

18:36We have formed the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland. And in fact, the entire Arctic region, the solution if consummated will be a great one for the United States of America and all NATO nations. Based upon the understanding, I will not be imposing the tariffs that were scheduled to go into effect on February 1st. Additional discussions are being had concerning the Golden Dome as it pertains to Greenland for their information was made available as discussion progresses. Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, special envoy Steve Whitkopf, and various others as needed will be responsible for the negotiations. They will report directly to me. So what exactly is the deal that belayed this tariff order from the president of the United States? Again, I'm glad that we are not doing a tariff war with the Europeans over at Greenland. That seemed to me a policy that was at the very best smashing a fly with a nuclear bomb. It was something that was driving the Europeans into the arms of the Chinese. It was causing the Europeans to reorient away from the United States on behalf of what would be at best a marginal military interest for the United States.

19:36So what exactly is the thing that we are getting? Well, in order to understand what it is that we are getting, you first have to understand the deal that we currently have with Denmark. There's a 1951 agreement relating to the defense of Greenland. It replaced a temporary wartime agreement from 1941. It was revised in 2004. The original 1951 text established that the United States could establish use and operate specific defense areas. In other words, it could build bases in Greenland. And within those particular areas, the United States had the rights to improve and generally to fit the area for military use. That meant that we could construct what we wanted in those areas, store supplies. We could put personnel on the ground in those areas. And that treaty was for an indefinite duration. So as long as NATO was still active, then the treaty remained in obligation. So today, presumably, there's an understanding under the 2004 bilateral agreement. It moved from bilateral U.S. Denmark to a trilateral one because Greenland is now involved in the negotiations because they have a level of self-government.

20:41Well, since 2004, the U.S. presence does require the continued consent of the people of Greenland. But the reality is that the people of Greenland have never objected to the United States having a military presence there. They don't want the Russians washing ashore any more than the United States does. And again, there's not a lot to be said about the expansion of U.S. military presence, presumably if the United States had asked, then Greenland or Denmark would have said, yes. And if they had said, no, that would have been a good predicate for the United States to really put the pressure on. But there was no such conflict initiating all of this. So what exactly is the deal? Well, according to the UK telegraph reporting yesterday evening, Conor Stringer, the Washington correspondent and Joe Barnes, the Brussels correspondent, the United States will control parts of Greenland by designating them as sovereign base areas under the terms they proposed to deal agreed in Davos. Per the draft framework, which mimics Britain's agreement with Cyprus, American bases would be considered U.S. territory in the Arctic region, according to the UK telegraph. That framework agreed between Donald Trump and Mercury, the NATO Secretary General and Wednesday evening, will ease Danish fears the U.S. is preparing to annex the semi-autonomous region entirely.

21:47The framework will allow the United States to perform military operations, intelligence, and training, while also facilitating some local development, including potentially mining for rare earth minerals without having to seek permission from Denmark. So that seems to be the only part of the framework that is a major change from the 1951 agreement. Now, you can make the case that granting sovereignty means we no longer have to worry about any sort of threat from Greenland's government or from the Danish government about what we do in those military areas. The reality is, practically speaking, that was not happening. Now, theoretically, we could get crossways with them, and so this is a better deal. This is the United States obtaining sovereignty over small portions of Greenland. It is not Greenland becoming the 51st state or turning into Trumpland. As far as the potential mining for rare earth minerals, which the president is very focused on, given our dependence on Chinese rare earth minerals. Unclear what extent that is going to materialize what that actually means at this point. According to one diplomatic source, the idea was to give Trump a deal. It was seen as a creative workaround to president Trump's demands for ownership of the entire island.

22:51So the president, again, does have his eyes on some rare earth minerals in Greenland. 80% of Greenland, by the way, is covered in ice. And it means that the United States presumably would not have to seek permits like planning permission, and it would make it somewhat easier for the United States to station Golden Dome there. So on that level, it's a victory for the president. Now, did we have to go about it this way? Did we have to scare the bejesus out of the Europeans in order to get them to do all of this? Or could we have simply gone to them and said, guys, we want to build some extra military bases in Greenland to fight off the predations of the Russians and Chinese? And also, we would like to make a deal with you on rare earth minerals. So it'll be interesting to see sort of what is found out over the coming days about how the negotiations actually went and what really does materialize here. Certainly, it doesn't mean the United States is about to take over all of Greenland. It is, however, a more advantageous situation than we had before with regard to Greenland. The question is, what is the knock-on effect? Is this going to mean that Europe sees the United States as a robust ally that just wanted a little bit more for its money?

23:59Or does it mean that Europe is going to completely reorient away from the United States seeing in President Trump's tactics as sort of opening to move toward Russia, to move toward China? While the president of the ECB, Christine Lagarde, suggested this is a major wake-up call and Europe may start to trend away from the United States. This is a wake-up call, a bigger one than we ever had. And I think that Europe is going to look at its strength, look at its weaknesses, do a big SWAT analysis and decide what we need to do to be strong by ourselves, to be more independent, to rely on the internal trade that we do with each other so that we can just not ignore, but at least be prepared another Plan B, just in case the normal relationship is not restored. Well, Mark Rudy, the head of NATO, taking a very different tack from Christine Lagarde, clinging to the Alliance with the Americans, recognizing that it's not going to be quite so easy for the Europeans to simply shift away from the United States. So you can be assured, absolutely, if ever U.S. will be under attack, your allies will be with you, absolutely does.

25:06Absolutely guaranteed, I really want to tell you that's because it's as important, it bains me if you think it is not, and on your leadership this Alliance is stronger than ever. Okay, so again, I think that's the right approach by Mark Rudy, but you can see why the Europeans are feeling a little bit pivish right now, and we'll have to see how they react to everything that's going on. Are we, again, entering a period of a multipolar world order, or is the president just flexing American muscles a little bit more than usual? In an attempt to get everybody back on the same pro-America pro-Western page that remains a bit of an open question. Well, the other subplots to Davos is that Gavin Newsom showed up, obviously I spoke with the California Governor last week on his program, not sure what he was doing in Davos, other than running for president there, he met up with, wait for it, Alex Soros. So here is the thing, if you are going to claim, as Gavin Newsom is, that he is not in favor of crony capitalism, that he is not in favor of broader government centralization. If he's going to try and hit the Republicans from the right in the 2028 election, hanging out with Alex Soros, who is, again, these sort of Frado Corleone of left wing politics, right, he is the dumb son of a smarger father, George Soros, who is a nefarious figure in his own right for spreading far left wing principles around the globe, including in the United States.

26:23And Alex Soros has been taking photos for a very long time with pretty much every major democratic politician and then stuffing money in their pockets. Well, apparently Gavin Newsom stopped by the WFMET with Alex Soros, and Alex Soros put out a statement, quote, Great catching up with the real star of the 2026 World Economic Forum at my friend Gavin Newsom. So glad he's here calling out world leaders for believing appeasement works when it comes to Trump. It doesn't. It only emboldens him to become more chaotic and destructive. World leaders could take a page out of Newsom's book. It's time to stand tall, stand firm and stand united before it's too late. See, the part of this that's a little bit bizarre is what is the thing that they are standing tall against to Trump in doing? What is the thing? If it comes to, okay, we don't want Trump to simply grab Greenland. I get it. But if the idea is that broad spectrum, your goal is to stand up to the United States. I'm not in favor of foreign countries generally standing up to the United States as a general broad rule. I think it's kind of bad. I think American interests ought to be pursued by pretty much every American, including, of course, Governor Newsom. And for that matter, Alex Soros.

27:25Well, things got a little messy for Gavin Newsom. Right after Trump's speech, he called the speech remarkably insignificant. Here was Gavin Newsom. What was your reaction to what he had to say about you? None. I think he said something very different last night. I didn't hear Newsom. I heard Newsom, Green scam. But let me come on. It was remarkably boring. It was remarkably insignificant. He was never going to be Greenland. It was never real. So that was always a fake. And so he says we should negotiate. Well, everybody here has been willing to negotiate for a year. So it had far and very significant. Absolutely nothing. Even by Trump's standards, I was rather curious. There was boring parts of it, but those were not even that consequential, including name-checking. People he likes, people he didn't like. So I just, honestly, it was just a little disappointing.

28:31Did it stand out to you that he said Iceland multiple times when he was talking about Greenland? And that every time a windmill turns across $1,000, a lot of stuff stands out. None of this is normalized. There's a normalization of deviancy of consciousness and comments and commentary. And no other, he's held to the curve. He's graded out of curve. And so I mean, really that that's that's the most so the most you can say is insignificant except the Europeans aren't taking it as insignificant. Newsom then went on to suggest that European leaders are very happy with him that he said that they shouldn't put on knee pads for the president. I will say that Gavin Newsom is very fond of this sort of knee pads joke. In fact, back in October of 2025, he launched a satirical merchandise campaign selling signature knee pads on his Patriot shop at website. He actually had a pair of those knee pads framed in the background of his podcast. Studio, you can spot them there. So this has been a long time running joke for Gavin Newsom. He says the leaders were very happy. He was the Newsom knee pads comments again, I guess.

29:34I heard a surprising number say glad you made those comments. The exact opposite of what you might expect. They needed to hear those comments and they know that people America have that point of view and perspective. And so I was very. Do you want to name names? Absolutely, but I'm not, but I would like to. And and I thought yesterday's comments by Prime Minister Karnie were effective, but problems comments. I was the EU presidents comments were effective and they helped shape, but the markets more so. So in his opinion, it was Mark Karnie making suggestions about the United States, the cause president Trump to back off of his sanctions threat against the EU, not a deal that was cut. He does admit that the markets had some impact on this, which undoubtedly is true when the markets died. The president doesn't like it very much, but you know, the Gavin Newsom suggesting that he is fond of it when Mark Karnie rips on the United States and simultaneously makes time with China is bizarre him suggesting that Emmanuel Macron is some sort of world leader in terms of morality.

30:38Well, the French have been making time with the Iranians for years is relatively insane. And I think you can disagree with a lot of what president Trump has been doing with regard to Greenland. I think the American people broadly speaking do I have, I've disagreed with the president's policy prescriptions in some areas with regard to grabbing Greenland. But that doesn't mean that I'm happy when Mark Karnie suggests that the post American order is going to be a positive place. And it's strange for an American to believe that a post American order is going to be a positive place or that European leaders ought to be ripping on the United States and moving away from the United States at speed. It's one thing for Gavin Newsom to make the case that the president is alienating our allies needlessly. It's another thing for him to say that those European allies are doing the right thing by ripping on the United States and moving toward China, which is what Mark Karnie has been doing. Well, the Treasury Secretary Scott Bessons then went after Gavin Newsom. By the way, all this really just does elevate Gavin Newsom. Let's be clear. Gavin Newsom is playing a very smart political game here just on a political raw level. What he is doing by going to Davos and earning the

31:38higher of the Trump administration and getting members of the Trump administration to attack him is elevating himself far above other democratic candidates who don't get mentioned nearly as often by members of the Trump administration. And again, the Trump administration is not in high order right now in terms of approval ratings. So this is smart politicking by Newsom as much as I disagree with his principles on a lot of things. The man is not stupid when it comes to playing the game. Well, here was Scott Besson dunking on him. Governor Newsom who strikes me as Patrick Bateman meets Sparkle Beach Ken. Maybe the only Californian who knows less about economics and calma Harris. He's here this week with his billionaire sugar daddy, Alex Soros. And the Davos is the perfect place for a man who, when everyone else is on lockdown, when he was having people arrested for going to church, he was having $1,000 a night meals at the French laundry. And I'm sure the California people won't forget that. And again, that is a pretty robust

32:38dunk from Scott Besson, but let's be clear, Scott Bessons is also not going to be the nominee in 2028, presumably. And so elevating Gavin Newsom as sort of the bet noir of the Trump administration. That's the game Newsom is playing. And so far just on a raw political level that is succeeding. Again, it's very clever what Newsom is doing. I talked about this last week. What Newsom is doing right now is he is posing as a political moderate while earning the higher of the Trump administration said he appears to be in with his own base. It is a very smart tactical move, even if I think again that Gavin Newsom seems to be willing to say pretty much anything to anybody depending on who he is talking to at the time. Well, all of this came to a head when Gavin Newsom was apparently informed at the 11th hour that his talk with fortune a USA House in Davos was canceled. According to Politico, he had been invited to speak on Wednesday and event sponsored by USA House, which for the first time was recognized by the US government as the country's official headquarters in Davos. But apparently, an organizer told his office they adopted not to include any US officials in the talk focused on CEOs and other business

33:38leaders. A Newsom administration official accused the USA House under the auspices of the US government of bowing to political pressure from the State Department. Now the organizer denied that they said the governor is still welcome in the venue. This is again Newsom pretending that he basically is co equal with Trump and they're punching at each other. That is the game that Gavin Newsom is playing. So good, so good, so good. New Markdowns up to 70% off are at Nordstrom Rack stores now. And that means so many new reasons to rack because I always find something amazing. There's so many good brands because there's always something new. Join the Nordy Club to unlock exclusive discounts, shop new arrivals first and more. Plus buy online and pick up at your favorite rack store for free. Great brands, great prices. That's why you rack. Spring is here and there's a whole new way to try at Starbucks that's made perfect for you. Choose your sweetness, dial it up or keep things light at a touch of pistachio, a hint of strawberry or vanilla or make it a spring classic with lavender because this season there's endless ways to try at Starbucks.

34:50Again, a broader international level. The president also had comments while he was in Davos about a wide variety of international situations. One of those, of course, is Iran. The latest statistics coming out of Iran from human rights groups suggest upward 14,000 dead. Again, those statistics are not a final tally. We are not sure at this point how many protesters were simply shot in the streets by the Iranian government. Iran is still in a full state of lockdown. The internet is not operative in Iran. They still have troops out on the streets every single day. They were very close to having the nuclear weapon. We hit them hard and it was a total obliteration. They may try again, but they're going to have to try from a different area because that area was obliterated. Incredible thing we did. And because we did that, we were able to make peace. If we didn't do that, I would say Jared and Steve, if we didn't do that, there was no chance of making peace.

35:50Because the countries I just named another country could have never signed off. They were afraid. They were afraid. We had a bully. The bully was Iran. The bully of the Middle East. They used to call it for years. They were the bully of the Middle East. They're not the bully of the Middle East anymore. Well, it's unclear what's going to happen from here on with regard to Iran. The foreign minister of Iran was granted an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal to promote his lies, suggesting that they are going to basically shoot anybody who now participates in what they are calling a resistance. According to the foreign minister, quote, the protests began peacefully and were recognized as legitimate by the Iranian government. They suddenly turned violent when foreign and domestic terrorist actors entered the scene. So blocking communication among organizers of the rioters and terrorists was an imperative. So again, the claim is going to be that it was what the CIA and Mossad that was responsible for all of this. According to the foreign minister, the people on the ground were targeting police and civilians alike officers were shot burned and even beheaded public buses, hospitals, ambulances, fire stations, health infrastructure, chain stores, even mosques were deliberately destroyed to maximize casualties and impede emergency response. The majority of those killed were police officers and ordinary civilians.

37:06Contrary to the lies being peddled abroad, all unarmed victims have been officially recognized as martyrs. This means every affected family will receive full support, including the same compensation and benefits as fallen police officers. The violence on our streets has subsided and normal life has returned nationwide. Well, that's weird since the internet is still shut down the Wall Street Journal editorial board put out a piece pointing out that actually none of this is true. That basically they printed this simply so that they could identify the lies being told by the Iranian regime. The president may be considering military options still. It would be very difficult. I think for the president to not consider some sort of major move against Iran considering he drew a red line. The mass murder of protesters Iran didn't just cross the red line. They jumped over it with both feet shooting protesters by perhaps the tens of thousands in the streets in Iran. According to the Wall Street Journal, President Trump is still pressing aids for what he terms a decisive military options. The discussions are happening while the U.S. sends an aircraft carrier and jet fighters to the Middle East. Those deployments may be the start of a broader buildup that would give President Trump the firepower to strike Iran should he choose to use them.

38:11So a revised suite of options are being created for the president, including some that would seek to push the regime out of power. How much can be done with air power is really the big question. The White House has to grapple with whether the administration is prepared to carry out a sustained military campaign that my last weeks or months should the protesters in Iran again take to the streets and appeal to President Trump for protection. However, suffice it to say that if the president really does not take significant action against the Iranian government in the aftermath of telling the protesters who stay out in the street and quote, help is on the way. That would not only be disastrous for the protesters in Iran. It would, in fact, be a signal to places like China that going after say Taiwan would not be reacted to by the United States with any sense of strength or alacrity. I very much doubt the president is going to do nothing in Iran. Iran, for its part, is trying to threaten the United States. Here is the Iranian armed forces spokesperson general, Shakarchi promising retaliation against the United States or its assets in the region should the United States strike.

39:13We do not pay attention to Trump's bluster. He knows that if any hand is raised to assault our leader, we will not only cut off that hand decisively and courageously and this is not just rhetoric, but we will set their world on fire. We will strip them of any security and leave no safe place for them. Now again, Iran made those same sorts of threats to Israel during the 12-day war and suffice it to say those threats did not really come true in large amounts. Because again, if the Iranian government wishes to take on the United States military in true fashion, that will not go well for them. According to the Wall Street Journal, editorial board, there is a strong case obviously for regime change in Iran that case for a regime change goes back decades. We will have to see whether that is effectuated. At the same time, the president is expected today in Davos to hold a signlined signing of his board of peace agreement.

40:13The board of peace was supposed to be part and parcel of the re-governance of Gaza. At a board of peace run by the president of the United States, that is expected to allow for the rebuilding of the Gaza Strip. The list of people who have been invited is bizarre to say the least. It includes not only some of the most robustly pro-chemos actors in the Middle East like Qatar and Turkey. It also apparently includes Russian president Vladimir Putin to join the new board of peace, which seems kind of strange. Vladimir Putin suggested that after the Ukraine war ends perhaps that will happen. So I guess he thinks that he's going to leverage the president into ending American support for Ukraine or forcing Ukraine into final concessions that Putin will join a board of peace that's basically meaningless in the Gaza Strip. Considering Russia's special relations with the Palestinian people, I think that we would contribute $1 billion to the board of peace from the frozen assets by the previous administration and the remaining funds from the funds frozen in the United States could be used to refill the territories that suffered.

41:27During hostilities, once we signed a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, we're discussing this with the representatives of the U.S. administration. Okay, well, what that amounts to, if you shorten that, is in a time to bribery, presumably. The idea would be that if the Ukraine war ends in the United States forces Ukraine to the table, that Russia will then get its unfrozen assets and it will take those assets and pour it into the Gaza Strip in some way. Again, having the Russians involved in the Gaza Strip is just reconstituting Hamas. That is all that will happen there. Russia, Turkey, Qatar, again, these are countries that were very much willing to facilitate funding for Hamas and turn that area into a terrorist hotbed. Again, President Trump for his part suggested that people being invited are people who will get the job done. I beg to differ when you look at that list. I mean, apparently, some of the people who have been invited and accepted, apparently, that would include not just us, but some of the people who have been invited and accepted, apparently.

42:53That would include not just Vladimir Putin, but also Lukashenko in Belarus. I'm not sure how those are some of the most effective people. Other people invited Brazil under Lula, which seems a strange to me, as well as the leadership in Pakistan in the Gaza Strip. Again, if you're going to posit an alternative to the UN, I'm all in. I love that idea. An alternative to the UN would be wonderful. The UN is, again, the worst place in international politics. But what you actually should pursue is a board of peace comprised of like-minded democracies that actually share Western values. I have very little desire for a board of peace that includes some of the worst actors on planet Earth. The president did have some hopeful words for the Gaza Strip. He suggested that Hamas has agreed to give up its weapons, and he said that if they do not, then there will be consequences. Hamas is still waiting for the consequences thus far. There are some little situations like Hamas, and Hamas has agreed to give up their weapons. Now, you know, they were born with a weapon in their hand, so it's not easy to do. When they were born, they were born with a rifle in their hand.

43:57It's not an easy thing for them, but that's what they agreed to. They've got to do it. And we're going to know Jared over the next two or three days, certainly over the next three weeks whether or not they're going to do it. If they don't do it, they'll be blown away very quickly. Okay, well, we'll see if that is the case because the question is, who's going to be doing me blowing away? Will the idea actually be given the ability to go and do full-scale operations in the Gaza Strip again? If in fact, Hamas does not disarm because Hamas has no intention of disarming. Many of the talks so far have included getting rid of things like rockets and rocket propelled grenades, but not getting rid of small arms, which of course is the way that you control the population in the Gaza Strip because you can shoot people with AK-47. Ever feel like your brain just won't click? On it, Alpha Brain is a daily supplement engineered to support memory, focus, and mental speed. Made with science-backed ingredients, on it, Alpha Brain helps you lock in, tune out distractions, and stay sharp. See what your brain can really do.

44:57Visit onit.com and shop Alpha Brain to unlock your next level. That's o-n-n-i-t dot com. Meanwhile, the President suggested while he was at Davos that both Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Zelensky are stupid if they don't get a deal done. Again, I'm just waiting on this particular deal. I'm just waiting for Vladimir Putin to show any flexibility whatsoever. We have yet to see any flexibility. One Iota from Vladimir Putin. So I believe they're at a point now. I'm going to meet with President Zelensky later today. I believe they're at a point now where they can come together and get a deal done. And if they don't, they're stupid. That goes for both of them. And I know they're not stupid. But if they don't get this done, they are stupid. So I don't want to insult anyone, but you've got to get this deal done. Too many people are dying. It's not worth it. I mean, again, it is not a matter of will when it comes to Ukraine. It's a matter of what people are willing to sacrifice and so far the answer from the Russians has been no. And all this ties into again, what is the broader American orientation toward the world?

46:02Is it America first or is it America alone? Is it a multipolar world order or is it an America led world order where we are more muscular in pursuit of our own interests and we expect more from our allies in helping us out with those interests. That remains the big question coming out of Davos. It was the big question going in. I'm not sure that the question has been fully answered at this point in time. Meanwhile, the Trump administration continues to progress on the executive level, putting forward excellent executive orders, moving forward on the regulatory level. Dr. Jay Badacharia, of course, is now the director of the National Institutes of Health and was previously tenure professor of the School of Medicine at Stanford University among other superlatives. Dr. Badacharia, thanks so much for joining the program. I really appreciate it. Thanks for having me on, Ben. Nice to see you again. So let's talk about what the administration just did with regard to fetal tissue research. Yeah, so human fetal tissue research is, I mean, obviously it's been quite a controversial topic for a long time. The NIH had a big debate in the early 2000s over this.

47:06The tissue itself is often derived from a boarded fetal tissue. So, you know, someone has an abortion and then some researcher goes and buys the tissue and then uses it for research projects. During Trump, Trump won the policy was that if so there's two parts of the NIH is intramural researchers that directly work for the NIH and there's extramural all the people that the NIH funds all in the universities. Trump won banned intramural use of a boarded fetal tissue human fetal tissue. This time we're going beyond that. We're saying not just intramural research, but all of the support for the NIH has had, especially during the Biden administration, for human fetal tissue research more broadly outside and universities, this derived from abortions is banned. Sorry, I just, there's one other couple of new losses is really important here. One is that if there's tissue from a miscarriage, not from a specifically from an abortion, that's okay.

48:13The reason that's important, there are some research uses, like for instance, understanding how fetal lungs develop, that's useful to know to have that. So there's some, we've been tracking this very carefully and the use of human fetal tissue and research has been declining pretty sharply. Even after the Biden administration sort of reversed the ban, the amount of money the NIH has spent on human fetal tissue during the Biden administration research has declined very sharply. And so what's happened is there's all these big advances where you can use alternate methods that you no longer need human fetal tissue. A lot of the angst and fights over this that happened over the early 2000, I think now that there's like better technology, it's really the point is that there's no scientific harm to this. We're still going to be able to do the science we need to make for human health, for advancing health of babies and all that. While at the same time getting rid of this sort of use of aborted human fetal tissue, which so many people, including me, find morally abhorrent.

49:18So let's talk about the scientific value here. So you say obviously, and so does the administration, that the use of aborted fetal tissue is now largely unnecessary, we have alternative methods for doing this. Obviously, opponents of the policy are suggesting that something terrible is happening scientifically, that research that would have gone, that would have been happening is no longer going to be done, that there will be medical gains that we have to forego because of all of this. What is the scientific case that that's false? Well, first, I'd ask them to look at the actual policy. Someone who's at a miscarriage and then wants to do a meaningful thing, and they donate the tissue from the miscarriage to science, that's still allowed. The only ban is on, you have an abortion specifically to have the determinate the baby, and then the tissue then gets sold. That's what's being banned, not all human fetal tissue.

50:19The other thing I point out is that if you look at the actual data on the use of NIH funds for this, during the Biden administration there was a sharp drop in spending on human fetal tissue research. And the reason is very simple is because of the advances in alternatives to the human fetal tissue. For instance, induced pluriproton stem cells, for many uses, you can produce tissues that are comparable or better without having the sort of moral problems. And if I make another sort of public health case about this, during the pandemic, there were vaccines, for instance, Johnson and Johnson vaccine. Not an mRNA brought vaccine, but another technology that was produced using human, basically embryonic stem cells. I heard from so many people during the pandemic that Catholics and others who had qualms about using this technology because they didn't want to be used gaining from what their moral system said was a illicit fruit of the poison tree.

51:30And I completely sympathize with this. In public health and in science, we should seek to produce knowledge and products that are widely available for everybody. If there are large numbers of people with moral systems that say, look, if you go down this line and do research with a boarded human fetal tissue, I'm not going to participate in it. I'm not going to participate in it. I'm not going to participate in the vaccine or whatever it is. I'm not going to use it. Well, what good was the research if a large part of the population, it feels ethically bound not to participate or use the products of that research? Well, let's talk to Jay about a chariot over at NIH. Obviously, he is deeply involved in every aspect of Trump administration policy, ensuring that the best of science is brought to bear. Despite the left wing media trying to claim that science is somehow on back burner in the administration. Dr. Brunchari ensures that is not the case. Dr. Brunchari really appreciate the time. Thank you, Ben. Nice to talk with you as always. Already, folks, the show is continuing for our members right now. We'll get to a Supreme Court story.

52:34And also, whether, in fact, the Beckham's are not amazing parents. I know it's a wide variety. It's a smorgasbord, if you will, of stories. Remember, in order to watch you have to be a member, if you're not a member, become a member, use Code Shapiro. I check out for two months free on all annual plans. Click that link in the description and join us. What was it like, my land, to be alone with God? Is that who you think I was alone with? Madden, I knew your father. I am yet convinced that he was not of this world. Oh, man, no of the great Taliesin. Who am I, father? Are the gods for my soul? Brunches Garrus, savior of our people. I know what the bull got off of you. I was offered the same. And? There is a new power at work in the world. I've seen it.

53:36A god who sacrifices what he loves for us. We are each giving only one life, singer. No, we're giving another. I learnt of Yazoo the Christ, and I have become his follower. He's waiting on a miracle, and I think you can give him one. Trust in Yazoo, he is the only hope for men like us. They to Britain never rest in the hands of the great life. Great life, great darkness. Such things mattered to me then. What matters to you now, mistress of lies? You, nephew. The sword of the High King. How many livers must be lost before you accept the power? You were born to wield. So clean to the promises of a god who has abandoned you. I cannot take up their sword again. You know what you must do.

54:37Great life, forgive me. The time has come to be reborn. You