MeidasTouch Full Podcast - 9/29/26

24:43Jordy Meiselas:But once you're in office and you're running an ad saying you're going to get those warmongers out of office and you are the warmonger, it almost seems like a self-own. It almost feels like you just released an ad against yourself and now you're playing it on primetime TV. Look, also, it is unlawful to do that.

25:00Ben Meiselas:Okay. It is a crime. It is an impeachable offense to do that. Also, it would be very easy to just have some political action committee run that ad. Trump has the MAGA Inc or whatever the hell it is, or just have Elon Musk or somebody else run it, which again, we should take money out of politics. I don't agree with Citizens United. I think it's the worst decision ever. But in the current environment, if you wanted that to be run lawfully, you could easily do it. So then you go, well, then why would you do it this way? Because committing the crime is part of what they're trying to do. It's how they want to bludgeon the American people by saying, we just don't give a crap.

25:45Ben Meiselas:So we're just going to crime in blatant, plain view and try to grind. What are you going to do about it? What are you going to do about it? And frankly, I think we need to hear stronger messaging and a more united front from the Democratic Party about what you're going to do about it. Now, individually, I think that there have been some really impressive Democratic candidates this cycle at the Senate level and at the House level, and we cover a lot of their speeches. But there has to be a little bit more, in my opinion, of some unification, some united message, some themes taking place at a higher level here that calls this out every damn day.

26:26Ben Meiselas:And I'm not seeing a lot about that. I am seeing the people want to make sure that these crooks and criminals, these Trump bootlicking stooges are expelled and are held accountable. And so I think Democrats are going to have massive wins, But they should be very, very aware that going back to the status quo is not what the people are saying. And people are also saying, you've got to be much stronger than what we're seeing right now. Let's take our first break of the show. When we come back, we're going to talk more about what's going on throughout the world, what's going on here domestically. We'll talk about that FBI deputy director who suddenly resigned.

27:03Ben Meiselas:What a mess going on at the FBI right there. This regime hates law and order. They hate the FBI. They hate our country. They hate the people who are here. We'll talk about that and more. Let's take our first quick break of the show. Reminder, WTF America, the book that my brothers and I wrote, it comes out October 20th. Pre-order it right now. This is the hardcover. There's also an e-book. And yes, many people have asked, is there an audio? And Bren, Brett, and Jordy, are you all reading it? Yes, we read the audio. So you'll be able to hear us on the audio if you want to buy the audio book, but we've got the hardcover and the ebook as well.

27:40Ben Meiselas:Let's take our first break of the show.

27:44Jordy Meiselas:This episode of the Midas Touch podcast is brought to you by our friends at Wild Grain. I love Wild Grain. They deliver sourdough breads, seasonal pastries, and French butter from small independent bakeries right to your door. And everything bakes straight from frozen in 25 minutes or less with simple recognizable ingredients you could actually pronounce. so you can enjoy warm bakery-quality goods without worrying about them going stale. And you can customize your box with classic gluten-free vegan or protein options and skip or cancel anytime. So if you're looking for an easy way to enjoy bakery-quality food at home, I definitely recommend giving Wild Grain a try.

28:19Jordy Meiselas:The fan-favorite apple cider donuts, which are my favorite too, and other fall seasonal products are back for a limited time, so make sure you order before they sell out. Just visit wildgrain.com slash Midas to get$30 off your first box plus free croissants for life. Again, that's wildgrain.com slash Midas for$30 off your first box and free croissants for life, or use promo code Midas at checkout. That's M-E-I-D-A-S. I've never been a fan of having a whole cabinet full of supplements and trying to remember what to take, when to take it, and how much. That's why I like IM8. It's made my routine incredibly simple.

28:57Jordy Meiselas:I mix one drink, I'm done, and I can get on with my day. I am eight is the way to simplify your supplement routine once and for all. 16 supplements replaced 90 ingredients across nine major organ systems in one drink. I am eight daily ultimate essentials has 16 supplements in one drink for$2 and 61 cents a day. Co-founded by David Beckham and built by leading doctors and researchers, IM8 was designed by the world's best. 95 % of people who tried it for 12 weeks felt more energy. And that's from a clinical trial conducted by the San Francisco Research Institute. I've worked IM8 into my daily routine and it couldn't be easier and I use it myself.

29:37Jordy Meiselas:I think you should too. Go to im8health.com slash Midas right now or click the link in the description and use code Midas for a free welcome kit, five free travel sachets, plus 10 % off your order. That's code Midas at im8health.com slash Midas. Code Midas at im8health.com slash Midas. M-E-I-D-A-S. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

30:13Brett Meiselas:Let's go. Shout out to our sponsors. There's links in description of the YouTube and the audio. Use the links, use the codes. If there's an exit survey, let them know we sent you that. Wildgrain folks, they've been with us for a while now, and I hear a lot of positive reviews about Wildgrain. Definitely, definitely check them out. Iamate, also great. Benji, where's your next, big bro?

30:29Ben Meiselas:It still baffles me. While we're recording this live, to see people responding to Barak Ravid like it's some serious breaking news alert after the guy. I mean, I want to go back over the past nine months. I mean, since this catastrophic and unlawful war started, I mean, babies have been born. Babies have been conceived and born, while Barack Ravid has been telling us right around the corner, there's about to be a deal. And you'll see, there's about to be a victory, and a deal's about to happen, and don't you worry. And it just so happens to exist right around when markets are opening in close.

31:03Ben Meiselas:I mean, today it's like, U.S. officials tell me President Trump is willing to give Iran sanctions relief and release of frozen funds for concrete progress on nuclear. Trump offers Iran economic relief for concrete nuclear concessions. U.S. officials say, a senior American tells me President Trump is ready to grant Iran sanctions relief and release frozen funds in return for real progress on the nuclear issue. And like all these people are responding, oh, can you, what are you talking about? This guy's been saying all this stupid crap for nine months. I've never seen someone more wrong. And you know what?

31:37Ben Meiselas:The guy's so shameless. He just keeps on posting more and more and more and more stuff. Even Donald Trump attacked him today, which you're like, I don't know, is Trump attacking him because he's really attacking him? Or is this part of their plan to manipulate the market to seem that Trump and Vance and Rubio and Whitcoff are not the source of this? Axios just released a story that says Trump's going to release the sanctions. That's not true. That's fake news. Trump derangement syndrome. They're all deranged. This whole crew is deranged because this is not how you conduct yourself as adults. as grownups, right?

32:09Ben Meiselas:As I've said before, we need like a basic floor of like seriousness. Then we can get to competence. Then we can get to like sophisticated. And then we can basically start getting to areas where we can, I don't know, try to have people who become public servants who are able to dedicate their life based on life experience. We're not serious. We're a deeply dangerous, unserious nation right now that basically if there was a worldwide temporary restraining order against a predator nation, the world would want to take out a TRO against the United States right now. And that shouldn't shock you, although it shocks our conscious, but when you realize and know that Donald Trump is a sex predator, that Donald Trump is also, when it comes to financial stuff, when it comes to business records, he's been found civilly liable for fraud.

33:07Ben Meiselas:He's been found criminally liable for dozens of felonies regarding business record stuff. I mean, this is a bad guy who bankrupts things and we see why he's bankrupted these things. But you should also see what the tactic is, right? The tactic is, and the superpower or the evil villain power, if you will. And this is not a positive thing, just the fire hose of lies and the constant exhaustion and the predatorial tactics. Just think, if this is what's being thrown the way of Iran, think about when all this stuff is directed towards individuals or to private citizens, when they unleash that on you or whoever, because it's nonstop.

33:52Ben Meiselas:These are miserable human being scumbags who just relish in living in a death cult and just having horrific, horrible lives. I'm not trying to cite Tucker Carlson, but in a recent interview that he gave, I think it was with NPR, was it, where he said that when I went into the White House before Trump launched the catastrophic war, Tucker said, I was asking, why are you doing this and what's going on? And Trump's basically like, at the end of the day, we're all going to die anyway. So why does any of this even matter? It's that nihilism and death cultish behavior that actually is behind a lot of what we're seeing here because it bears no resemblance to common sense or to logic or to anything at all.

34:38Ben Meiselas:I mean, let's just talk about what Donald Trump was doing today. Today in the Oval Office, they announced major press conference. While they're manipulating the markets in oil and other things, the major press conference. It just so happens that a company that's based in Minnesota is potentially doing a framework of a deal where they may invest $15 billion in Iowa. Oh, interesting, Iowa, a state where Democrats are surging, where Republicans are falling behind, where people believe there will be a lot of Democratic pickup in the House and in the Senate race over there. Oh, so Ashley Hinson, the Republican Congresswoman who's running for the Senate seat, they show up.

35:24Ben Meiselas:And what do they try to convince the people of Iowa? $15 billion is coming and it's moving away. It's, you know, just think about the optics. $15 billion, it was in Minnesota, now it's being invested in Iowa, and here's where the money's going. It's just all freaking propaganda, everything about this regime, you know, it's like, really, we're supposed to believe this deal that remember when the regime started and they had like all of those top CEOs from AI talk about how they were uniting together, right? It was like open AI and this company and that company, and they all joined forces and they were going to put, well, it was like some ridiculous number, like a trillion dollars into infrastructure investment.

36:03Ben Meiselas:And like, it never happened and never even got to a planning phase. They just held the press conference.

36:10Jordy Meiselas:And then Zuckerberg was like, Mr. President, did I say a good number when you asked me, when the press asked how much I'm investing, was that a good number that I said out loud or should I have said a higher number or should I, oh, so it's all fake. It's all bullshit. Got it. Got it. I've never seen anybody use the office in this way for such an electoral purpose. And he's going to ramp stuff up like this as well as we get to the midterms. They're getting increasingly desperate as this thing really spirals out of their control. and they're going to be using every lever of power that they can at the White House and with government infrastructure.

36:43Jordy Meiselas:I mean, you're seeing it in the most literal sense with Donald Trump running those ads that Jordy was speaking about. But this is part of their election strategy right now, which is also so incredibly illegal and below the dignity of the office. Right. That's why Trump's also saying, I'm going to spend all of this money.

37:00Ben Meiselas:Yeah, not his money. He's going to spend our taxpayer money. That's what they're doing. You know, he's going to save that war chest or whatever you want to call it to$400 billion from milking grandma or milking grandma. I'm going to milking, milking, grandma and grandpa with those ads. Oh, you please, you know that I'm like really desperate and don't you know I love you? Please, can I have$5? And like you click on it and it's like all of a sudden like$5 ,000 like shows up, right? You owe$5 ,000, you know, do you want to double it? Right? It's all of those kind of tactics that we -

37:33Brett Meiselas:It's like, click cancel to double it. The instructions are always so confusing. You automatically get put on the recurring donations. It's like, what type of scam is it? Like, dude, I just want to survive. I'm not even asking to live. I just want to survive. And it's just the constant, man. He gets his hands in you and he just won't let go.

37:52Ben Meiselas:Do you have the video, Brett, where he was in the Oval Office today in that press conference about, you know, whatever, bajillions, gazillion dollars in Iowa. Well, God, I don't know. You're supposed to believe that. okay, Donald, you love the farmers. You love the people of Iowa. You destroyed their lives. You ripped away their healthcare. You crippled the people in that state. But he starts attacking Biden. Oh, you used to have sleepy Joe is what they would call him. By the way, maybe on one occasion in four years at a public event, did I see Joe Biden sleeping or looking sleepy. Now, they would catch him sleeping in the beach, or he would be sleeping when he was out of the White house.

38:32Ben Meiselas:But like in terms of like an oval office presser, like literally being there, I never really saw like Donald Trump every damn day. Let me show you Donald Trump today after attacking Biden, a sleepy Biden. Here, play this clip. Sleepy Joe Biden. Have you heard of him?

38:50Jordy Meiselas:A few moments later. Tomorrow in America is always well equipped and that everyday Americans have what they

38:56Ben Meiselas:need when they need it most. And this is what it's going to take to continue to deliver

39:00Brett Meiselas:the Brazil to build our steel in America because the input is coming from outside the country. So now we are unleashing the iron range in Minnesota, which is the greatest as, as the chairman said. Look, look, I don't even know what to say other than the fact that the same people who tell you that Donald Trump is this workhorse, he, he never sleeps, just so happened to also be the same people who purportedly had 20 minute conversations with Mitch McConnell when he was in the hospital. So again, endless gaslighting from this Republican Party.

39:33Jordy Meiselas:Scott Jennings said that he had a 20-minute conversation with Mitch McConnell about the intricacies of international affairs, the history of the U.S. Senate. How could you take anything these people say seriously ever? They are prolific liars.

39:51Brett Meiselas:It is all such a clown show. And just on a deeper level, when you look at Donald Trump, there sleeping. And then you also know that he goes on these like either Adderall laced, in my opinion, Twitter rants at 2, 3 AM in the morning to prove what a hard worker he is. All that shows me is he's falling deeper and deeper into his own personal insanity that he is just, he has these wake periods as I call them, where he's just up for these random, a lot of times. And we all know that's a clear cut sign of dementia. It just, it frankly is when you are falling asleep, when you should be up and up when you should be asleep, the issues present themselves that you have sort of lost your consciousness of where you are and what elements you are.

40:35Brett Meiselas:And that compounded with the fact when you hear the guy speak, and I'm just saying like, this isn't political. Like this is just, that's the president of the United States, Donald Trump. At this moment, he cannot string together three straight sentences. And I think I'm being generous. You compound that now with the fact that we have these endless videos of him falling asleep just in the Oval Office or at this work event or at this work event. I am left with no other conclusion to make than this person is not fit just purely off of his health alone for the Office of Presidency, Ben.

41:10Ben Meiselas:Yeah, it's not even close. And then when he was trying to answer questions at this press conference, like, has your team spoken to Iran today? Right. has you spoken to iran donald trump's like yeah with and the reporter's like with a mediator yeah anything you want to share about that i mean you're holding this press conference we're gonna win we're gonna win here if we've got this clip of him from the oval office let's play has your team still run today yeah they have for mediators yeah anything else you can share

41:48Jordy Meiselas:but uh a movement of your own talks we're gonna win as far as i'm concerned it's gonna be one way or the other it's gonna be it's gonna go pretty quickly you're gonna go one way or the other it's

41:59Ben Meiselas:gonna go pretty quickly what do you mean it's gonna go quickly as i've said people have conceived and had babies already during this period of time where this catastrophe essentially incredible where this catastrophic and it's never going to and what do you say brett it's almost Yeah. We're almost there.

42:19Brett Meiselas:Real quick, just going back to that clip too, I want the audio listeners to know they're in the same room. Like the reporter asking the question and Donald Trump, they are feet apart from each other. In that first question and answer, Donald Trump has like a two and a half second delay. Again, just the mental fitness or lack thereof is just so abundant to me. Where he's in the same room with the guy, it takes him 30 seconds to register the question, Brett.

42:41Jordy Meiselas:And to me, a lot of that also is like him figuring out what his lie is. like beyond even a mental thing. It's like, okay, well, what do I, do I have to lie here? Okay. Do we speak to him directly or through a mediator? What's the better answer to give right now? Because everything, quite literally everything the guy says is bullshit. And so, you know, when these folks leak to the media from his regime, I think sometimes he may actually be genuinely shocked to learn certain things that are going on because I'm not sure he's fully processing everything. And we've already learned, you know, this was a story that went under the radar.

43:13Jordy Meiselas:Ben covered it here on the Midas Touch Network. But like this Trump screaming at Axios and screaming at CNN and Politico and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, kicking CNN, Politico and MSNOW out of the Oval Office. One of the stories that he kicked him out over, the leaker of the story ended up being J.D. Vance. J.D. Vance was the leaker who gave Politico the information about the US and Iran negotiations at the time that Politico attributed to a senior White House official. And Donald Trump said that that was fake news and that it was treasonous that they would report something like that. And whoever said that committed treason.

43:55Jordy Meiselas:And it turned out that that was J.D. Vance, Oliver Darcy at Status. They do a great job. He broke the news that that source was in fact J.D. Vance. He was under no obligation to keep that source private because he was not the reporter in that story. But it goes to show you, you know, a lot of these stories are coming from people. And we have speculated for a long time here on the Midas Touch podcast that the main leakers, so to speak, the main sources of the Trump regime are J.D. Vance, Jared Kushner, and Steve Whitcoff. And sure enough, we find out that this one in particular was J.D. Vance. And I'm sure if we dug deeper and figured out all the other sources who constantly say there's a deal happening, there's a deal around the corner, this is happening, that's happening, that we would find out it's probably those same people every single time.

44:48Ben Meiselas:I want to take our last quick break of the show. When we come back, I want to talk about how Donald Trump was continuing to attack Canada throughout this press conference. And he said that because he's changed the name, which no one really recognizes except people like who he conjoles here, but from Lake Ontario to Lake America, he goes, Canada's struggling so much right now that they're about to give up and they're about to say sorry, and they're going to give up and Iran's going to give up also, and everybody's going to give up and they're all to say we're so sorry and then he also said canada is so much more difficult to deal with in china and then he said that the meeting with xi he ranks on a scale from one to ten he ranks a 12 he says it's a 12.

45:32Ben Meiselas:um show you that and then i want to talk about also what's going on in ukraine right now um i want to talk about what's going on internationally um we'll talk about this fbi resignation as well it was a big deal and i'll tell you why it was a bigger deal than perhaps is even being reported. A reminder, our book is called WTF America. It comes out October 20th officially, but you can pre-order it right now. There's an audio book and my brothers and I each read for the audio book. So you'll get to actually hear us. So that's a great option. Also the hardcover book and an ebook. So pre-order it now.

46:08Ben Meiselas:There's a lot of momentum around the pre-orders of WTF America. Let's keep it going. We dedicated to you, The Midas Mighty. To me, it's a book about generationally how we get out of this hell that's being created by the Trump regime and that's being created by this media environment that gamifies politics to the detriment of everybody. Let's take our last quick break of the show. We will be right back.

46:32Brett Meiselas:I have something crazy I have to say, so just hear me out. I don't mind scooping my cat's litter box anymore. Honestly, ever since I started feeding my cat Smalls, their poop has been healthier, smaller, and a lot less smelly. That's because Smalls is fresh, human-grade cat food that's made from high-quality meat, not cheap fillers. You see, meat is easy for my cats to digest, which means their bodies absorb more nutrients and healthier poops come out of their rear end. In contrast, the stuff I used to feed my cat was made with grains and artificial ingredients that were hard on my cat's body, and their nasty poops were proof of that.

47:08Brett Meiselas:And Smalls isn't just good for digestion. 88 % of cat parents say that after feeding their cats Smalls, their cats have a softer and shinier fur coat and just have all around more energy to play. Also, overall, they just seem healthier because it's really good for cats. If you want to invest in your cat's health, Smalls is giving you 60 % off your cat's first order plus free shipping and free treats for life when you go to smalls.com slash Midas. If your cat doesn't like it, Smalls will refund 100 % of your order. But trust me, your cat's going to love the taste of Smalls and you'll love that your house no longer smells like a litter box all the time.

47:51Brett Meiselas:That's 60 % off plus free shipping and free treats for life when you go to smalls.com slash Midas. Ever wake up sweaty, freezing, or just uncomfortable? The temperature in your bedroom can make or break your sleep. That's why I switched to Miracle Made Sheets. They're inspired by NASA technology and use silver-infused temperature-regulating fabric to help you sleep perfectly all night long. Here's the thing. Thanks to their antibacterial silver technology, Miracle Made Sheets stay cleaner and fresher up to three times longer than regular sheets. That means fewer odors, fewer wash cycles, and way less laundry.

48:26Brett Meiselas:All that hidden bacteria in regular sheets, it can clog your pores and cause breakouts. Miracle Made's antibacterial design helps you sleep cleaner and clearer night after night. And they feel just as good, if not better than sheets you'd find at a five-star hotel, but without that steep price tag. Smooth, breathable, and ridiculously comfortable. Miracle Made sheets are crafted with NASA-inspired silver-infused fabric that helps regulate your body temperature. Hot sleeper, cold sleeper, it doesn't matter. These sheets help keep you in the comfort zone all night long. Upgrade your sleep or give the gift a better rest.

49:01Brett Meiselas:Go to trymiracle.com slash Midas to try Miracle Made sheets today. You'll save over 40 % and when you use promo code Midas, you'll get an extra 20 % off plus a free three-piece towel set. They make an amazing gift and with a 30-day money-back guarantee, there's no risk. That's trymiracle.com slash Midas, code Midas at checkout. Thanks to Miracle Made for sponsoring this episode. Let's go. Shout out to our sponsors, y 'all. Links in the description of both YouTube and the audio. Use those links, use the codes. If there's that exit, so everybody let them know. We send you real quick, personal note.

49:36Brett Meiselas:I shaved, finally shaved my face. House is great. Family of four is crazy. Thank you for everyone who has been asking. Baby's doing great. Mom's doing great. It is, wow. It is very real. And finding the time of the day is challenging. So shout out again. What's going on over there? It's just a lot. Got a lot. Got a lot going on. But it's all good. We're loving it. Loving it. Absolutely. Benji. I know you were really interested in that one.

50:03Ben Meiselas:I'm very interested in it. I know you are. That's why I said I know you are. Of course. Let's talk about what Donald Trump said in the Oval Office. So how does this end with Canada? Donald. That's what he was asked. Let's show you what his response was.

50:16Jordy Meiselas:How does this end? How does this end, Mr. President? I think what's going to happen is over the next three or four weeks, they're going to come to us and they're going to say, we're going to get rid of all the tariffs. We're going to win everything. We even have Lake Ontario is now Lake America. And that's It's been done, by the way. It actually just got done. They told me it was just completed. But they're gonna come in and they're gonna say, sir, we are sorry. They've treated the United States very, very badly. I think a deal will be made, but it's gotta be a fair deal.

50:55Ben Meiselas:Three or four weeks, Canada's gonna come in and say, we're sorry, is what he says.

51:01Brett Meiselas:No, Ben, Ben, sir, sir, we're sorry, sir, sir.

51:04Ben Meiselas:Sir, we're sorry, sir, we're sorry. You know it's bad when it's done in two weeks. The Lake America, it just finished, whatever that means, that just happened in three or four weeks. Okay, well, what about Iran? What it was, we know I could play you a clip of Trump saying it, but let's just see what Besant's been saying. Besant, what's going to happen over there with Iran? How many more weeks is economic D-Day going to last? Here, let's play.

51:26Brett Meiselas:There's only 15 million more barrels of Iranian oil on the water that Iran will have nothing left to trade for anything. They will have nothing to trade for anything. Probably within the next two weeks, they are going to make their final deliveries of oil to China, and then they will have nothing. It is an empty set, and I believe that they are feeling the pressure.

51:54Ben Meiselas:Oh, yes, that's it. Do you remember that these clowns told us in April that in three days, Iran's pipes would blow up because the blockade was so successful that the Iranian pipes were filling up with all of this oil and that it would cause an explosion, spontaneous combustion. And that was three days away. They said that in April. Folks, these people are liars and losers and everything they say is absolute. Three weeks, four weeks, two weeks, two weeks, one week, one week, everything's weak, this weak, this is just lies. Meanwhile, the biggest benefactor of Iran, this is just an undisputed fact.

52:33Ben Meiselas:I mean, the biggest benefactors would be China and Russia. China just got literal red carpet treatment in the United States. Our service members, our courageous air force personnel and members of the army were forced to get down on their knees for Xi and roll out a red carpet and remove the dirt with their hands. We observed that take place. And Xi told the United States, of course, we're going to keep doing business with Iran. What are you talking about? We don't listen to your unilateral sanctions. And then the Trump regime invited Putin to the G20 in Doral, in Miami, in December, which they have not been invited to for a very long period of time.

53:20Ben Meiselas:And so the two main benefactors of Iran are actually being rewarded for it and who the Trump regime is really attacking. It's the Iranian civilians, just like it's the Cuban civilians and it's other nations that Donald Trump views as not being as powerful as China and Russia. But what all this could be doing, and we're seeing it happening, and it's why it's very important that we focus on all of these geopolitical events, is you see what chaos looks like internationally when any form of order breaks down also. So, I mean, I'll direct your attention to, for example, and this isn't getting enough attention.

54:03Ben Meiselas:So when things break out, I don't want you to be surprised. But pay attention to what's happening in Iraq. Obviously, majority Shiite population there, which has this brotherly relationship with Iran. Of course, going back a long time, you had the Iraq-Iran war over there. And you'd have to know the kind of the Iraqi dynamic where you had Saddam Hussein, a Sunni, who was basically running a majority Shiite nation. And then we could go over the whole history there. But in the Basra area of Iraq, where it's kind of the main oil area, what a lot of the kind of sheikhs and top leaders are saying is if you don't allow Iran to run civilian flights into Iraq, we're going to shut down all of the flights in Iraq.

54:49Ben Meiselas:We're seeing the Iraqi resistance allied with Iran say, we're giving you an ultimatum, Iraqi government, that you need to open up the airports to Iran. And at some point, we have to recognize about Iran is Iran's not going to surrender. Okay. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard, revolutionary. They're built on resistance and revolution. They're not just going to say, you know what? We're going to just give up right now. At some point, though, if they start to feel more and more economic pressure, which they're prepared for, they're going to escalate more. They have a national identity regardless of what you think one way or another.

55:31Ben Meiselas:There's a strong national and civilization-wide kind of identity, and the IRGC is entrenched. And they're not just, oh, we give up, Besson. Oh, Donald, we're sorry. We want to do a deal. And for separate and distinct reasons, and I'm not trying to lump together these countries, I'm just saying shifting gears for a moment. There's nothing about changing the name and faking the name change of Lake Ontario, which predates the existence of Canada to Lake America, that's going to make Canada say, you know what, we're going to give up our sovereignty to you, Donald Trump, and to the United States. We're going to tap out right now.

56:13Ben Meiselas:And so dominate us. No, that's not what's going to happen. And so you have this idea rooted in an Epstein class sexual predator mindset, predatorial mindset of not accepting consent and sicko domination. You know, as Donald Trump sees things in that way his whole life, he's sick. He's a sick, sick, sick human. And there are countries that have identities that are saying, no, we're not going to do it. Pay attention also to what's going on in Venezuela, where Maria Machado is trying to get back into Venezuela. We're starting to see protests take place there as her flight and her ability to get there has been inhibited.

57:01Ben Meiselas:And we've been seeing a lot of protests take place over there. The people aren't getting rich in Venezuela. Far from it. So pay close attention there. We've got the elections in Brazil, which we're paying close attention to as well, where Donald Trump, like he's been trying to do with all of these South American countries, is prop up his stooges. So Jair Bolsonaro's kid is running for office against President Lula in Brazil. And you see American social media companies apparently throttling or not allowing ads, you know, is one of the allegations that are made by Lula's party over there. And so you're seeing the international oligarchy try to flex there as well.

57:42Ben Meiselas:And so you have all of this taking place. The world is this massive cauldron. And now you pay attention to what's happening in Ukraine. And what Donald Trump has always been doing is tapping Zelensky along, allowing Putin to try to – Putin's been saying every year now, if you just give us one more year, we'll get Donetsk. If we'll do one more year, we'll get Donetsk, one more year. And so what happened on the battlefield, there was a stalemate between Russia and Ukraine on the battlefield. So Putin's adjusted tactics. And so Putin's developed all of these new drones led by the Garen IV, which is a drone.

58:24Ben Meiselas:The Garen V is more like a cruise missile drone hybrid. These are different than the ballistics. Zalinski doesn't have interceptors for ballistics, patriots and thads. The Trump regime ran out of them for the United States and wouldn't give it to Zalinski anyway, is not giving Zalinski the interceptor license. But Zalinski can't stop the ballistics. So lots of people were worried. He can't stop the ballistics and Russia stockpiling ballistics. That's a big problem heading into the winter. But the problem got worse because Russia developed these jet-powered drones. And you better believe if Russia has them, Iran has them as well.

59:03Ben Meiselas:And the parts, these dual component parts are coming from China and Iran, but mostly from China. And that's what are going into these Garen IV drones that go super fast. Zelensky's drone interceptors can shoot down the Garen IVs or the Garen V kind of hybrid cruise missiles. So a lot of the strikes we're seeing now are these new jet fuel drones. Zelensky used to have a 90 % interception rate on the drones. Now it's reduced to a 51%. And I think that's overstating it. So now as we head to the winter, Trump has tapped Zelensky along, not giving the interceptors. Zelensky's struggling to strike down the Garen Fours and the Garen Fives.

59:47Ben Meiselas:And now the tactics have shifted to be more civilian focused. And so now we see this catastrophe unfolding where every day in Kiev and Zepresia and Odessa and Kharkiv and all of these areas, these Garen 4s, Garen 5s are raining down and Russia's using a few crews and ballistics, but mostly Garen 4 and 5s and Russia's stockpiling as we head closer into the winter. Meanwhile, Zelensky striking deep in Russia, of course, hitting lots of infrastructure and lots of logistical facilities, which Russia says, look, the logistical facilities have civilians in it also. And so you have this escalation taking place as well.

1:00:32Ben Meiselas:And Zelensky says, well, it's dual use. It's also being used mainly to fuel the Russian war machine. That's why we're going after the Wild Berries facility. That's why we're going after the Ozan facilities, all these logistical centers. But you have this massive escalation taking place. I cover it every morning because it's like all out war. And the theater is now the civilian theater, the cities, because there's a stalemate on the battlefield. And I think it was, yeah, it was retired Admiral McRaven who described the battlefield. He said, think World War I trench warfare, but with drones and modern technology and autonomous AI.

1:01:14Ben Meiselas:So it's like trench warfare meets Terminator, but it's actually happening now. There was a stalemate on the front lines with that kind of drone warfare, because anytime either side would advance, the drones would swarm and just kill everybody. And we were seeing just crazy kill numbers on the front lines. But now that's also being brought into the cities itself. And Donald Trump's like, oh, they want to make a deal. They want to make a deal. Everyone's going to do a deal. Both sides, both sides, both sides, both sides. And I believe the plan all along was delay, delay, delay, delay, delay. Let Putin gather these weapons.

1:01:52Ben Meiselas:And here we are approaching the winter. Now, I also think, yes, in Europe, this hybrid warfare threat that we're hearing about as lots of European countries are saying, you know, Russia could be striking in Europe with this hybrid warfare. I think that's serious. I wouldn't discount it. But I think the broader issue that Europe is preparing for in these European countries is what do we do if the bombardment that could happen in the winter in Kiev, in Zepretia and Odessa and these areas plays out in what many people believe is a feasible scenario, an apocalyptic scenario with NATO's Article 4 and Article 5 basically being thrown out the window by the Trump regime?

1:02:38Ben Meiselas:what do we do next? And I think that's a major issue. So let me toss it to you, Brett and Jordy, because I think that's important.

1:02:44Jordy Meiselas:Well, what's something you learn about when you're learning about world wars, when you're learning about World War I, you learn about the powder keg, right? You remember learning about the powder keg in like social studies class or in history class, the powder keg of Europe, there are all these different spheres of influence. And there was this big powder keg and then the fuse, boom, assassination of Franz Ferdinand happens, World War II, it happens, and we're in this big, massive global conflict. I can't help but look at the world as we see it right now and see a powder keg forming, not just among spheres of influence in Europe, but spheres of influence all over the entire world.

1:03:21Jordy Meiselas:And now spots that were typically not hotspots and not kind of open to this sort of thing are now hotspots because Donald Trump has turned them into war zones. Donald Trump has ramped up a conflict with Canada. I mean, who the hell could have ever imagined that we'd be in conflict with Canada, in a trade war with Canada? It's like the stupidest thing ever. He's going after Greenland. We have chaos in the Middle East, which is a pretty common occurrence. But then you see what's happening in Ukraine. You see what's happening in Russia all throughout Europe. You see what's happening in South America.

1:03:55Jordy Meiselas:The entire world right now is on fire, and so much of it could be directly attributed to the actions of Donald Trump and his regime. I've never even, we could have never even really imagined it would get this bad, but it's kind of the only parallel that I could even draw at this point.

1:04:11Brett Meiselas:And for me too, it's why this whole notion that Donald Trump puts forward with his MAGA base of this America first mentality, America first, everybody, it really just means America all alone. So now combine all of what Ben and Brett just laid out so beautifully and, and, and horrifically, quite, quite honestly, um, with the fact that now Donald Trump has alienated us from our allies because of America first, question mark. The rationale and reason behind why he has so callously attacked countries that have stood with us for centuries, for years and years and years, for decades. It makes no sense to us other than the fact that Donald Trump, in his mind, feels it will be easy for him to maneuver in such a horrific way for this country, for America, if we're able to tell everyone, go away.

1:05:03Brett Meiselas:We don't want your help. We don't need your help. We don't like you. Go, go and start insulting their leaders and telling them to back off. And then Donald Trump, he's like, okay, we're on this island now. We're on this island. And I told my people, we're America first. Now we're all alone actually. And I can do whatever the heck we want. I think what he's not fully realizing though, is that all eyes are on every move he's making in a way that I don't think have always been under the light. I think the fact that independent media has grown in such a tremendous way over the course of the past 10 years, he's not used to a media landscape that's able to call him out for all his bullshit, quite frankly, in ways that maybe in Trump first term, Trump 2016, he was able to get away with.

1:05:48Brett Meiselas:And I think it's going to take a village in order to bring America sort of back on track here and continue to hold Donald Trump and the trump regime accountable as they continue to try and isolate us even further and further

1:06:00Jordy Meiselas:away from our allies you know i keep seeing all these folks on you know interviewed on some of the cnn's and the ms nows or whatever and they're the former trump voters right they go to florida they go a former trump voter what do you think about donald trump and they're like he screwed me over i'm not voting for this guy anymore it's like well okay a little little late for that uh but okay why so why do you not support him why do you say that you're not voting for republicans cycle? What did Donald Trump promise you that he didn't deliver on? And then they always usually say, good economy, no wars.

1:06:31Jordy Meiselas:Good economy, no wars. Fail, fail, right? Failed on all things. Now, you should have been able to see this, right? I mean, I think it was pretty obvious that that was a fraud perpetrated by Donald Trump, but you fell for it, right? But now knowing that and looking at what the Republicans are messaging to you, I hope all of these people see the fraud that is before them because people still have all these domestic concerns, right? The wars are still raging, but people still are suffering here at home. High prices, data centers in your backyards, and think about all the things that we have people like Donald Trump and the Republican Party pushing on all of us right now, and think about the interests who they are beholden to.

1:07:15Jordy Meiselas:Think Think about that dinner at the White House where you have Donald Trump and you have Jeff Bezos and you have Tim Cook and you have this CEO and that billionaire CEO and all of these people together. And you see what it actually looks like. The elites all there, the people who are running the show, the people who want to force all of this bullshit down your throat. And then you turn on the TV and you see what they are messaging at people who have legitimate concerns about the stuff that is being shoved down their throats. Like when Donald Trump says data centers amazing, put them everywhere.

1:07:50Jordy Meiselas:Doesn't matter how much power they use. You're going to be rich if these data centers are in your backyard. So allow them in your backyard. Don't worry about the noise. Don't worry about the effects on your water. And when these real concerns are brought up to these Republican politicians, they have to figure out a way to navigate it. And they could either say, I'm going to listen to people's concerns and I'm going to address those specific concerns, or I'm going to lie and I'm going to continue to try to perpetrate this fraud on the American people like Donald Trump did. But the fact is, it gets harder and harder and harder when you are in power and you're continuing to try to further this scam as you are the one flailing.

1:08:30Jordy Meiselas:And case in point, Mike Johnson, MAGA Mike Johnson, who is on TV, and he was asked about the data center issue, right? A lot of people have very legitimate concerns about the data center issue. So instead of saying, here's what we're doing to address it, here's what we want to do to make it safe. I completely get why people are afraid of what is going on here. What does MAGA Mike Johnson do? Oh, it's Chinese propaganda. That's all this is. It's CCP propaganda.

1:08:56Brett Meiselas:Well, the president, just like we, are laser focused on bringing down the cost of living. And we always have been, and we've been working on that ever since we got going. And in our innovative legislation, we've made some landmark strides in that. The reason that costs are too high right now is directly related to the Strait of Hamuz and the unresolved conflict in Iran. I do believe we're coming to a new phase of that soon. And when we do that, gas prices, as the president has said rightfully, will come down dramatically, and as will the cost of goods, because you've got the transport costs that are added to get those goods to the market.

1:09:27Brett Meiselas:So that is the big wild card. Once that happens, this economy is going to take off like a rocket. Remember, Scott Besson said in the end of 2025, he said 2025 is like setting the table in the economy. The feast and the banquet is going to be in 2026.

1:09:39Jordy Meiselas:That was a different clip, obviously, but that's also him lying and scamming about the economy, lying and scamming about what Trump did and what he didn't do. One of the things he also says in another clip, I don't have to play it.

1:09:50Ben Meiselas:Can I say one thing, though? The feast and the banquet is in 20, we're in 2026. Like it's almost over. The feast and the banquet was the CCP Xi Jinping state dinner feast and banquet at the White House. That was the feast and banquet. The American people didn't have no feast and banquet the last time I took. What year do you think we're in? We're in 2026. We're heading into October. So ain't no feast and banquet right now that's happening. I'll tell you that much.

1:10:17Brett Meiselas:Also, who talks in these terms? Like, we're just it's just weird. Like, you're just weird. Mike Johnson feast in the banquet.

1:10:23Jordy Meiselas:You know, I'll show the China clip. It's just so outrageous.

1:10:27Brett Meiselas:I mean, do you think that this with regards to China? I mean, I've had several tech executives and lawmakers, to be clear, say that the information against data centers, that pushback against data centers, that is coming from China. Yes. They believe that the Democrats are seizing on this, though. they're making this, they're messaging. They've been very clear. They're going to take this into the midterms. How do you, how do you fight that? This is what Democrats do every election cycle. They find something to, you know, glob onto and say that this is doom and gloom and everyone will die if we don't win.

1:10:57Brett Meiselas:Don't buy it. It is a Chinese psyop. I really believe that. It's not a conspiracy theory. I think they're pushing those ideas.

1:11:02Jordy Meiselas:People are truly concerned about this. It's not a fricking Chinese psyop. And the fact that these people are able to lie so easily just shows you how big of scam artists these people are. It is absolutely atrocious. And I still have not heard, brothers, have you heard, has anybody heard, like, what's the reason for all of this? I get it. If you ask anybody, if you were to say to Mike Johnson, we got to be China in the AI race. Why? What, what, what, what do we benefit if we beat China? Well, we got to be China. We got to be China. They just say the same, we got to be China. Beat China in what?

1:11:36Ben Meiselas:But it's a great point, though, because you could say in an oversimplified way, beat them in this race because there's more money at the end of the road. But the issue is less about the AI technology, which is actually important, but the rare earths that power the underlying technologies. China controls the supply chain of all of the rare earths. So the bigger issue right there is improving the AI models or having no regulation on safety is not so much. I mean, that's not one of the main national security. That's not one of the main areas of wealth. It's a national security issue. But what the broader issue is, is how are we competing with China on rare earths?

1:12:27Ben Meiselas:And you'll recall that when Trump did his Liberation Day, what did China do? They withheld rare earths and Donald Trump backed down right away. But let's also just assume for the sake of argument that somehow data centers are a China PSYOP, which they're not the craziest thing to say, but let's assume it's true. Okay. So Xi Jinping was there who you've accused of a massive PSYOP apparently to destroy the United States. So you threw a party for Mr. PSYOP and just celebrated with him and you don't raise it as an issue. So no, in many ways, if you believe it's a PSYOP, wouldn't it be worse that you then and we're colluding in the PSYOP to hurt the United States.

1:13:05Ben Meiselas:It's not -

1:13:06Jordy Meiselas:Can we get into like a fight with China? Like if we're gonna get into a race, like we're in the AI race and we gotta beat China, can we get into like a healthcare race? Like we're gonna have the best, we're gonna beat China in healthcare. Like I wanna see that race. I wanna see like the, we're gonna beat China. It's gonna, we're gonna beat China in infrastructure, right? We're gonna build a bridge and it's gonna be such a good bridge and we gotta beat China in that bridge, right? We gotta beat China, affordable housing. We gotta beat China. But no, we don't have to beat China in any of those things, but we have to beat China in data centers.

1:13:37Jordy Meiselas:Why is that the priority? And by the way, I'm not dismissing just AI in general. I also want to be clear about that. But why are we ignoring the actual problems with this thing? It's like watching a train coming at you at 100 miles an hour, and you're just like, oh, let it happen. Because if not, China's going to be -

1:13:54Ben Meiselas:Well, isn't that what they did with COVID? You can see it coming, but like a miracle, it's all going to go away. We only expect one to two cases. I mean, how do you elect the guy who promised you there would be one to two cases and then there were millions of people who died and then they pretend like millions of people didn't die? It was 1%. It's a lot of freaking people. What are you talking about? And he said it would go away by Easter.

1:14:19Brett Meiselas:And you said it would go away by Easter.

1:14:21Ben Meiselas:But it's the same pathology of bankruptcy and catastrophe that takes different forms because this is what he's done his whole life. And so I think it was Obama who said the presidency accentuates those qualities. Empathetic, good, it'll accentuate it. Evil, bad, paranoid, it'll accentuate it. And so the bankruptcies now on a nuclear scale, pun intended, of how things are moving because it's just compounding the fraud. If you just pulled back and said, you know what, that was an error. That was a mistake. Here's how we resolve this. If you gave sober humility thinking to a lot of these issues, you could probably resolve some of these things fairly quickly.

1:15:10Ben Meiselas:But he's incapable because he's actually a lunatic. And that's not me being hyperbolic. The guy is a psycho. He's truly a lunatic. He's awful in every respect. And so he compounds the problem and he surrounds himself with people who compounds the problem. And I'll just, I'll leave us with this because I've been saying it now for multiple segments. So I don't want to miss it, although I've covered it in other podcasts during the day, which is the FBI brought in this guy to basically babysit Kash Patel because Kash Patel is also just completely awful and unqualified. So this guy, Andrew Bailey, who's not a good dude.

1:15:45Ben Meiselas:He was the former Missouri attorney general. He spread a lot of these election lies in 2020. But people viewed him more as a grownup and at least as an operator who was smart, unlike Kash Patel, who had all of the bad qualities and was dumb. So they bring this guy in and it was too much for him. So he announces suddenly on Monday, family reasons, I'm leaving. And then behind the scenes, we're seeing all these things that are happening in the FBI. Okay. You have massive hacks, a group called like shiny hunters, which like hacked into all of the FBI files and got access to remote operations unit data and the Russian intelligence drug cartel, Chinese spy data.

1:16:29Ben Meiselas:and all this personnel info that they were able to acquire. So you had that data point. You had the FBI, their counterterrorism bureau, being tasked with looking into prank phone calls by threatening prank phone calls to Stephen Miller's wife. And Stephen Miller made the top counterterrorism officials look into it. They came back and were like, there's nothing we can really do here. I don't know what you want us to do. And then they got demoted. Stephen Miller demoted two career FBI agents from the counterterrorism who are very qualified career people because they came back and like, what do you want us to do with this prank harassing phone call with your wife?

1:17:10Ben Meiselas:Why? This isn't a counterterrorism issue. And so they get demoted. You have other stories about Patel. I don't like using the R word at all, but there was like a website that has the R word on it and it has Kash Patel's face on it. It's like I find R word. and Patel like made the FBI respond to it. And so people were like, you shouldn't, again, excuse my language. I want you to know what I'm saying. Retard Finder. And it's a photo of Kash Patel. And then like an FBI, some FBI leadership is like, you shouldn't be responding to the Retard Finder account that has your photo. It'll diminish the FBI.

1:17:51Ben Meiselas:And Patel's like, but it's big reach, man. We got to respond to it. So you have like that going on. And then Patel was at that Alina Habba wedding. Alina Habba married this Turkish billionaire in a$10 million wedding at the Waldorf Astoria in New York this weekend. She was like with this guy for a short period of time. And there was like double agents in the photo that the FBI kicked out from being an informant, like in this photo with Kash Patel. And it was like the FBI viewed this guy as a double agent when he was an informant. And Kash Patel's like smiling with photos. And the guy ended up becoming like an MMA manager and Kash Patel's in the photo.

1:18:32Ben Meiselas:I think the latest estimate was somewhere around 2 ,600 FBI agents have been fired or resigned or pushed out of the FBI, 2 ,600. That's not an exaggerated hyperbolic number. It's 2 ,600 and a lot of them leadership, top people who were purged because the Trump regime are criminals, because Trump's a criminal. You think he's going to like the FBI? Of course he isn't. He's a criminal. I mean, what do you think is going to happen here? And so we're seeing that play out. So I wanted to make sure I covered that. Look, I know we covered a lot on this episode. We could spend another hour and a half covering all of these topics, but I think this was well-rounded and comprehensive.

1:19:18Ben Meiselas:I'll remind everybody - Wait, we made it the whole episode.

1:19:20Brett Meiselas:I just realized you You guys are wearing, you guys are both wearing blue. What are they? Collar shirts.

1:19:25Jordy Meiselas:Baby blue collar shirts.

1:19:27Brett Meiselas:There you go. Missed the memo.

1:19:28Jordy Meiselas:And Jordy, you're like the, you're like, it's like a Jordy sandwich, right?

1:19:31Brett Meiselas:Yeah. You guys did not tell me we were doing that.

1:19:33Jordy Meiselas:That's good contrast. Get the book. WTF America pre-order today. And pre-orders really help genuinely. And if you pre-order, let us know in the comments right now. I love seeing it, you know, come down and I think I see important. And thank you so much. And really from the bottom of our hearts, it truly, it means the world to us. everybody who pre-orders the book. Pre-orders are super important for books, from what we're told, and it helps us figure out where we're going to go and sort of book tours and things like that. Hopefully a lot of fun things on the horizon in that regard. We got the hardcover, we got the ebook, we got the audio book, which all of us read different parts of the book for the audio book, spent hours and hours, days, days in fact, in the studio each.

1:20:15Jordy Meiselas:And really, just really, really proud of it. I think it's something that will stand the test of time. It's not an election book. It's a much broader book than that. And we're incredibly proud of it. Check it out. Link in the description. And there is a QR code if you are watching live. Remember to add the Midas Touch podcast anywhere you get podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, anywhere. Literally, you know where the podcast apps are. Go add the show. Leave a five-star review. Hey, thanks for being with us every day. Thanks for watching all events hits throughout the day. Thank you for everything.

1:20:46Jordy Meiselas:We are so grateful. Listen, good momentum right now. Stay in this fight. Don't let them get you down. Democracy is winning. I know it doesn't feel like that often, but we are plowing ahead. The very fact that you are here when they thought that you wouldn't be here shows that we are winning. So thank you for staying in this fight. Jordy, why don't you take us away?

1:21:06Brett Meiselas:Shout out to the Midas Mighty.

1:21:17Jordy Meiselas:Against the fascists, we sing our song. We will get it right when ever...

1:21:26Brett Meiselas: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.

1:21:46Well done.