Trump Digs Economic Hole Deeper...

0:00Nicky Glazer, this stunning tour. The thoughts of death I don't like to dwell on them for longer than like 10 or 15 hours a day, so... November 19th, Yamabah Theater No wonder women rushed to have kids were being trained for it since we were kids. They're like, here's a baby doll. Here's an easy-bait coffin! I got one of those, I stuck my head in it. I was like, I want out of this narrowness. Tickets on sale now at Yamabah Theater.com Don't miss Nicky Glazer, Yamabah Theater. Instagram teen accounts come with automatic protections that limit who can contact teens. The content they can see and the time they spend on the app. Learn more about teen accounts and Instagram's ongoing work to protect teens online at Instagram.com slash teen accounts. About a month ago Donald Trump and Treasury Secretary Besan declared Operation Economic Outcast against Iran that we are going to so isolate the Iranian regime that they will be crippled just you wait.

1:07In two weeks, there will no longer be an Iranian regime. They will beg us for a deal. They will say, you have tortured our civilians so much by not letting them use commercial flights and not getting food and medicine. That the people are saying, we need Donald Trump and Besan the people who are torturous. Same thing in Cuba. You torture the people enough and then the people will love you. That's the thesis from Donald Trump and Besan with economic outcasts. But it seems that the Trump regime makes themselves more and more economic outcast by the day. Take a look at what's happening in Canada for example, where Prime Minister Karney held a press conference in Alberta with their premier Danielle Smith about building a pipeline to get crude out through the west coast, take it directly to Asia and not send it to the refineries in the United States.

2:08Great work there, Trump regime. And the Trump regime says South Korea they gave us $54 billion for an LNG deal in Alaska. One problem, President Lee if South Korea said we never did that. I mean there I guess preliminary discussions, but we're not doing a deal there and this is Donald Trump this week the pipe pipe or a fraud. Frankly, it's him every week. And he's picking locations where mega Republicans are trailing behind in the election. So this week he held the press conference about Iowa. And Donald Trump has these friends in India who have an operational base in Minnesota state that Donald Trump attacks. And he has them say we're going to do a $20 billion facility in Iowa. One problem Iowa doesn't know about it. I mean the Iowa legislature never approved such a thing. They never did environmental studies or actually look at the permitting process or any of it at all.

3:11And I saw a bunch of local Iowa TV doing deep dives and like no this isn't happening. We don't know when this is going to be happening. And you know he just wants to put numbers on the board billion billion billion billion then Donald Trump takes his stick to Europe to shake them down. We're going to do an economic diesel ban in the United States unless Europe you do what I say in essence threatening a global depression because if the United States did a real diesel ban, diesel export ban rather, you know Europe relies on a lot of that diesel. It would also increase the prices here in the United States because it would be taking out a massive supply of diesel from the global market. But Donald Trump then was saying here's what we're going to do Europe and then Treasury Secretary Besson posted this and the audacity of the committee rights. Under President Trump's leadership, the United States is delivering on its commitment to help stabilize global energy markets.

4:15It's like the most lunatic statement in the world that you could say right now if you're the Trump regime like you're the ones who disrupted the global market. What are you talking about? Our European partners should accelerate delivery on their existing commitments and make additional supplies immediately available to address ongoing disruptions. Disruptions caused by you all and now they're our partners need to we're going to wag our finger at you Europe. This is actually your fault. I mean, do you see how despicable this behavior is? American farmers, truckers and businesses should not be left carrying the burden of a global diesel shortage. They're turning Europe into Dr. Fauci. You're the one who did this. Donald Trump was going to save our farmers in Europe. How dare you? America is doing its part. He says it's part to what? It's part to destroy the global oil market and the global diesel market. We look to our allies to match their commitments with action and look to be fair.

5:26Europe said, you know, because of this global dynamic that they're in the post-World War II architecture by the United States, Europe's like, all right, we'll do 100 million barrels under the IEA, the International Energy Agency, 50 million barrels of crude, 50 million barrels of diesel, well, front-loaded, in exchange the US has to guarantee no diesel export ban. So that was basically, you know, what was, you know, the, what was agreed upon basically. And at the end of the day, you know, take a look at what's happening in our Treasury bond markets. Take a look how the world is perceiving the United States as a partner in the long term. And you'll see it's stuff like this, these gimmicks, these shakedowns. It's actually, you know, a death by a thousand cuts, frankly, to the United States long term in my view. This is not projecting strength. And when you see statements like that as well, let me bring in Justin Wolffer's over here from flat-aposect economics.

6:33You know, I was a deal maker in my prior life. I didn't do deals like this. I'll be very clear, you know, but I was involved in high-profile litigations where there were deals being made, you know, and also especially to partners and, frankly, even to adversaries when there are deals being made. It's this level of trying to then intentionally embarrass and humiliate and, and these statements over here, they, they serve no interest other than, I guess, a propaganda for a small audience in the United States. And Donald Trump. And, you know, this is long-term damage being caused here. I want you to break this all down because I just think we're outcasting ourselves, Justin. I loved the fact that you put a thousand things on the table and say, now find the golden thread that connects these. And there was a way I thought about this because you and I did another video this weekend we're releasing ever listen to like a slip-not song or like one of those like real heavy metal. You got the guy who comes in and screams. And then you have the guy with the melodic voice who comes in and goes, oh, you're that guy. You're the melodic.

7:41I tell you what, Ben, here's his, here's something for you. If you scream like Thrash Metal, I will do a melodic bit right now. What are you reckon? I reckon that you'll just do all over the academic news. Hey, Kate, for my terrible shirt. You just chicken out. If you want, Ben, to sing next time, make sure to put it in the comments and I'll see what I can do for you. I didn't even force him to be melodic. I'm not melodic for crying out loud. Look, here's what I want to pick up on. Everything that's going on there, these so-called international deals, it's actually something's been going on for a long time and to reveal something about our political and media environment. So, for instance, Trump says, I've got a deal with South Korea. They're going to help us out. South Korea is like, who are you? Have we even met? I don't know what you're talking about. We've seen that play out over and over, particularly through the second Trump administration. And here's the deal. Basically, Trump understands the American media better than it does. He will actually get in the room with someone, or maybe he'll have someone send them an email.

8:45And they'll get to a point where they say, let's do a press conference. The press conference usually is Trump declaring victory so that he wins the day's news cycle. And the other side, basically being able to go home and say, I managed to tame Trump, it could have been so much worse. But what happened, and I want you to think back to the trade war of 2025, I know it's still going on, is they'd always announce it and then three days later you go looking for the paperwork. And the thing is, three days is longer than an American news cycle. And what would inevitably happen is there was nothing after the press conference. Do you remember we were told we were going to get 90 trade deals in 90 days? Well, the administration is very pleased and very puffed up about that. It actually got by my measure zero. Now, by their measure, they got a couple, for instance, the United Kingdom went to sign something, but it was an understanding that there was an understanding that maybe in the future they'd come to an understanding. And they got halfway through talking to the Europeans and learn something we all know that takes a lot of patience. The Europeans don't move quickly.

9:48And before you know it, the Supreme Court had ruled all the tariffs are legal and all the deals that Trump thought he had, none of them were signed. In fact, most of them never really actually existed at all. They were talks to have talks. I mean, it's like dating in middle school, frankly. And, but the thing is, I was struck time and time again. I would talk to American journalists and they'd say, well, what about this deal, the one with Europe, the one with Canada, the one with the UK, and we like, there is no deal. Just go to the White House website, see if you can find the text, go to the other country, see if you can find the text. This thing happened with South Korea has happened time and time and time again. It means the President has gone at a lot of headlines, presumably that's what he wants, but actually done nothing. That in turn speaks to this broader issue you're getting at, which is he's spending American capital, he's spending our goodwill, the trust that others have in us, the faith that they might have. And increasingly foreign leaders are learning either pretending to give him something and then go away and actually run a real country the right way.

10:51Or just dark and stay away from the whole darn game altogether because it's going to hurt you politically and it's not going to help you because he's not going to give you anything useful for your economy. And this I think comes back to so called Operation Economic Outcast, it's that same pattern once again. So Scott Basin swallows a test, I'll start on pill and announces that it's economic D day. Wow. I don't know about you mate, but I don't talk about D day. I'm talking about anything other than something really very, very serious that I mean and that involves tremendous willingness to sacrifice a real challenge. But what happened? Well, let me explain what Operation Economic Outcast did. It attempts to cut off the Iranian economy and the Iranian people from the rest of the world. It's based on an interesting, that's a generous term premise that if you starve a people, that they will revolt against their leaders rather than the folks who starve them. And it's actually even, you know, I think a little bit weird in that. So the law, the parts of it they can enforce is against people like you and me.

11:55If you've got family back in Iran and you would like to send them some cash so that they can eat so they can buy fuel so they can get medical care, that's now illegal. You might be off to jail. That's the attempt to isolate to be that great. But then actually think about the reality of the isolation since Operation Economic Outcast was announced. Maybe folks haven't been sending money to love ones in Iran. But the Iranian leadership has met with the leaders of Switzerland, Norway and the Netherlands and Lebanon and China and the Emirates and Russia and Iraq and Egypt and South Africa and Malaysia. And did I say India yet? Cutter? That's not isolation. Honestly, it sounds like a 21st birthday party. I didn't have that many people come to celebrate my birthday. So the only pain here is not actually against the folks we do want to hurt. It's regular folks in Iran and regular folks in America. So all of that talk has failed to isolate the Iranian regime in any important way. And no one has followed through to ask those hard questions that you invited us to ask Ben.

13:04And so this is what they're going to do. I mean, and you have Trump saying, you know what, if the Democrats who he says the Democrats, if they win, there's going to be a great depression. And the Federal Reserve Board, it's made up of all Democrats, even though I got Kevin Warschen there. And there's lots of Republican. It's going to be their fault also. And it's going to be the fault of, you know, we had to stop the nuclear weapon. And you know, if you go back to COVID, his whole claim, which is BS because things were going bad before that, but that was an accelerant end your in office, your job is to deal with catastrophe. And in his story, everything was going good. Then this thing happened. And then Dr. Fauci happened. And then I got ruined my whole plans. You know, and now he's, you know, the setup is everything was going great. We set up the banquet. And then this happened. I had to stop the nuclear weapons that I claim, I obliterated the prior year. And I'm the one who pulled out of the JCP away. And now it is, and he's got a bunch of different people.

14:13It's Zelensky's fault for striking Russian refineries. It's the fault of Democrats generally. It's the fault of Jerome Powell. It's the fault of, you know, and so it's just this blame game. And that's where I see he's heading into because he's not, you know, it's hard making hard decisions. But you got to make him sometimes. And this is where we keep on going. And, you know, just like he's, you know, frozen in the straight of Hormuz fake deal, fake deal, fake deal. That's what he does. Like that's his thing. Two weeks to the healthcare plan. Two weeks to this. Two weeks to that. And then the thing just spirals out of control. And then he waits. And then he's like, OK, who's my blame? Who's my blame? You, you're my blame. And then that's his, that's his stick. And he keeps going to give me the final word. But that's what alarms me. I think you're right to say none of this is particularly edifying and been it's kind of you to offer me the final word, but actually I want to come back to you on this because I don't know what to do. And I'm totally serious. And I would like your help on this.

15:16The point that you just made was every time he happens, he's mouthy lies. So then there's a question, should we spend time on the lies? And I just don't know the answer. If I want to understand the future of the American economy, I look at what he does, not what he says. But if you and I don't talk about what he says, are people believing the falsehoods? I just don't know. Well, I think there's a trillion dollar media apparatus, quite literally, that is invested in just being a stenographer and pumping whatever words he says no matter how outlandish it is. So I think it's incumbent to immediately even if it's exhausting, even if it's annoying, even if people say I don't want to hear what he says. I still think we're duty bound to say, this is it, this is a lie right away and then provide a way out and provide the truth and say, well, here is the accurate information.

16:18But then I think the third point is we can't be involved in the date we can, but we can't get lost in treating all of this like it's a game between the meds, first the Yankees or the Celtics, versus the Lakers are pick your favorite football or soccer team competing against each other that we're on team America. And we have to be going in a direction that benefits this country and we exist in a world where we have to be responsible global citizens. And so we have to make all of those connections. And so to me, that's how we have to report on them the way we did here, who are you and I just did it. And I think that's what's missing if it takes us 16 minutes and 12 seconds, that's what it takes. Sometimes you can't get it done in two minutes in 30 seconds. And if you get it done in five minutes greater, it takes 30 minutes, great. But I think that's what an audience is hungry for right now. Well, Ben, I'm just going to say I appreciate you. I thought that was the words of a wise man. I was genuine in saying I don't know the right answer.

17:20You've got a view. It's refute the lie first. There's an economist who I'm trying to understand the future of the economy. I don't need to listen to the words because the words are irrelevant. But I think you're right as a communicator. We need to be clear about what is true and what isn't true. And at one level, I want to thank you, Ben, but I think the real here is here are our audience. These are folks who are tuning in because they want the truth. And so might you and I have a real responsibility here. Yeah, that is. And that's what I think makes our platforms imbued with the community first lens is recognizing that it is that's why we do this. You know, is because we have these incredible communities who want the truth and want to be a part of this and we listen. And that's what's most important. So everybody subscribe to platypus economics that's Justin Wolfer's YouTube channel. And if you want Ben to sing next time, put it in the comments. Maybe give him a part that you're wanting to sing. He said, he said about pretty low death metal, I reckon death metal is not that hard to just yell a little bit.

18:25Ben, I'll try next time next time. Justin Wolfer's platypus economics subscribe to his YouTube channel. And he's also the chief economist here in May this thing. Just thanks. Thanks, man. Everybody hit subscribe. Before you go, our book WTF America is available for pre-order now. It's the story of how we got here and how we fight our way back to pre-order scan the QR code or click the link in the description. Let's do this. Nicky Glazer, this stunning tour. The thoughts of death I don't like to dwell on them for longer than like 10 or 15 hours a day. So November 19th, Yamavath Theater. No wonder women rushed to have kids were being trained for it since we were kids. They're like, here's a baby doll. Here's an easy bait, Govind. I got one of those. I stuck my head in it. I was like, I want out of this narrative.

19:27Tickets on sale now at Yamavath Theater.com. Don't miss Nicky Glazer. Yamavath Theater.