Thursday Afternoon Breaking News Updates with Ben - 4/2/26

2 Apr 2026 · 1 h 10 min · 24 chapters

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In short

Ben Mycelis hosts “Thursday Afternoon Breaking News Updates with Ben” (4/2/26), focusing on U.S.-Iran escalation and domestic political fallout. Topic: Ben claims the U.S. (under Trump) escalated the Iran war by bombing civilian infrastructure, highlighting Trump’s social-media post showing the B1 bridge on the Karaj Northern Bypass in Western Tehran collapsing.

Key claims

Ben calls bridge-blowing a per se war crime; says Iran’s foreign minister Aragchi correctly argues striking civilian structures won’t force surrender and that bridges/buildings will be rebuilt. Ben also claims U.S. objectives have shifted from regime change and nuclear/missile destruction to reopening the Strait of Hormuz, which Ben says Iran now controls long-term.

Notable examples

Ben cites Trump/Time comments about “blowing up” three big bridges; references Oman mediation and an alleged late-February nuclear deal; mentions rising oil/gas prices (gas $4.08; WTI/Brent up).

Guest backgrounds

no guests appear in the transcript. Ben also discusses Pam Bondi’s firing, daycare funding remarks, and Trump’s “ballroom” approval dispute, plus alleged propaganda via Axios reporter Barak Ravid.

Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.

Chapters

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Military Changes and Trump's War Crimes

0:46 to 1:20

Discussion on the firing of Army Chief of Staff and Trump's actions in Iran.

“As Donald Trump's disastrous and unlawful war, filled with war crimes, continues to escalate in Iran, Donald Trump is now blowing up bridges in Iran, what you're observing right there.”

Trump's War Crimes and Iranian Response

1:21 to 2:50

Analyzing Trump's claims of destroying bridges in Iran and Iran's foreign minister's statement.

“The biggest bridge in Iran comes tumbling down, never to be used again, much more to follow.”

Shifted Objectives in U.S.-Iran Policy

2:51 to 5:14

Exploring the change in U.S. objectives regarding Iran and the Strait of Hormuz.

“you know, what pains me is, you know, in a war between the United States and Iran, when I'm seeing the Iranian foreign minister say that.”

Trump's Erratic Behavior and Speech Analysis

5:15 to 7:20

Critique of Trump's recent speech and its implications on U.S.-Iran relations.

“And now the objective shifted apparently just to, can we reopen the Strait of Hormuz, that that's the objective.”

The Consequences of Trump's Sanctions Policy

7:21 to 10:50

Discussion on Trump's sanctions and their impact on Iran's military capabilities.

“I mean, again, it's just really weird behavior.”

Iran's Strategy and Trump's Missteps

10:51 to 14:08

Understanding Iran's tactics in response to U.S. actions and Trump's failures.

“I mean, the foreign minister of Iran, in response to the Stone Age comment made by Donald Trump, he writes, there's one striking difference between the present and the Stone Age.”

Iran's Strategic Control and Military Capabilities

14:08 to 15:10

Learn about Iran's control over the Strait of Hormuz and its implications for U.S. military interests.

“They now control the Strait of Hormuz where they can charge$2 to$3 per gallon of oil, two, three, four million dollar toll.”

Trump's Influence on War Propaganda

15:10 to 17:52

Explore how Trump's posts are used by Iranian media to frame narratives around military actions.

“So when Donald Trump posts, the biggest bridge in Iran comes tumbling down, never to be used again, much more to follow.”

Misunderstanding Oil Economics

17:52 to 20:55

Understand the complexities of oil markets and the misconceptions surrounding U.S. oil independence.

“Midas Touch Network in all of this reporting is to, I'm showing you what Trump is posting, right?”

War Crimes and Civilian Targets

20:55 to 23:28

Discuss the implications of targeting civilian infrastructure in warfare and Trump's rhetoric surrounding it.

“There's some areas in the way government functions that we took for granted that it required competent people and smart people and things where you didn't have to think about these things.”
Show all 24 chapters

The Complexity of Iranian Culture and Military Tactics

23:28 to 25:56

Gain insight into the historical and cultural factors influencing Iran's military strategies.

“It shows that you're flailing and your plan is to just blow up bridges.”

Trump's Polling and War Impact

25:56 to 28:00

Analyze how Trump's handling of war impacts his approval ratings and public perception.

“you've read Sun Tzu's Art of the War or whoever, you have to know your enemy or just understand the other side if you believe they're your enemy, but you have to understand the dynamics taking place there.”

Trump's Polling Decline Compared to Biden

28:00 to 29:00

Explore the implications of Trump’s declining approval ratings and their historical context.

“I mean, CNN poll, his approval is at like 35%, UMass, Amherst.”

The Consequences of Trump's Actions

29:00 to 31:00

Discuss the ongoing implications of Trump's decisions and their potential impact on the U.S. and global politics.

“about 10 things that are like the withdrawal from, that have a bad outcome, let's just say.”

International Response to Trump's Policies

31:00 to 33:40

Analyze how other countries are responding to Trump's foreign policy and NATO relations.

“the 25th Amendment to be invoked every single day, probably way more than that, every single damn day.”

Rhetoric of Power and War Crimes

33:40 to 36:20

Examine the dangerous rhetoric surrounding military actions and how it reflects on U.S. leadership.

“I mean, I think the superpower is its cruelty, but it is a bloviating fraud at this point, a fugazi.”

Calls for Seriousness in Leadership

36:20 to 38:40

Highlight the need for serious discourse in international politics and leadership accountability.

“Do we have the quote, Jeremy, from French President Emmanuel Macron?”

Trump's Daycare Remarks and Military Spending

43:37 to 48:22

Analysis of Trump's controversial comments on daycare funding and military budget priorities.

“Let's talk briefly about, I think, what deserves even more attention right now than it's getting.”

Proposed Budget Cuts and Tax Reforms

48:23 to 51:09

Discussion on potential budget cuts and tax reforms to fund social programs.

“Probably in the trillions, but who knows?”

Pam Bondi's Departure and Legal Challenges

51:10 to 55:40

Updates on Pam Bondi's firing and her upcoming legal challenges post-administration.

“I think it recognizes lots of dynamics and it puts the money back with the people.”

Investigating Subpoenas and Legal Challenges

56:01 to 57:20

Discussion on legal challenges related to subpoenas and the Epstein files.

“I reported how she tried to voluntarily show up on 24 hours notice in front of the House oversight committee.”

Complexities of Political Narratives

57:21 to 1:00:22

Exploration of the narrative complexities in political discussions and potential solutions.

“There was a last week, I did a video on this also before.”

Reflections on Biden's Legacy and Achievements

1:00:23 to 1:02:28

Reflecting on President Biden's legacy, achievements, and the challenges he faced.

“But Biden, Biden is not president anymore.”

The Importance of Values in Politics

1:02:29 to 1:04:46

Discussion on the importance of values like honesty and respect in politics.

“And politically, he couldn't survive that.”
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Transcript

Automatic transcript. May contain errors.

0:00From unsolved mysteries to unexplained phenomena, from comedy goal to relationship fails, Amazon Music's got the most ad-free top podcasts, included with Prime. Because the only thing that should interrupt your listening is, well, nothing. Download the Amazon Music app today.

0:23This has been on Breaking News. I'm Ben Mycelis, and this is your Breaking News. Moments before we went live, we learned that the Defense Secretary, Pete Hegsa, has fired Army Chief of Staff, General Randy George, forcing him into immediate retirement. That's the posture that they are framing this as. As Donald Trump's disastrous and unlawful war, filled with war crimes, continues to escalate in Iran, Donald Trump is now blowing up bridges in Iran, what you're observing right there. And for those on audio, what I'm showing on the screen right now, it's the B1 bridge on the Karaj Northern Bypass in Western Tehran, one of the biggest bridges that exists in Iran, the biggest bridge, as Donald Trump says.

1:19And Trump brags about his war crime. Donald Trump posted on social media. The biggest bridge in Iran comes tumbling down, never to be used again, much more to follow. It is time for Iran to make a deal before it is too late and there is nothing left. And there is nothing left of what still could become a great country, Donald J. Trump. And again, what he's saying in those posts, I mean, that's a war crime. Blowing up a bridge like this, civilian infrastructure, it is a per se war crime. And it really sickens me to see him posting on social media that he took down the biggest bridge and he's going to be attacking more bridges.

2:08And the response from Iran is as follows. You have their foreign minister, Aragchi. He posts, striking civilian structures, including unfinished bridges, will not compel Iranians to surrender. It only conveys the defeat and moral collapse of an enemy in disarray. Every bridge and building will be built back stronger. We will never recover. What will never recover is damage to America's standing. That's what will never recover. You know, and when I, you know, read something like that, when I see something like that, you know, what pains me is, you know, in a war between the United States and Iran, when I'm seeing the Iranian foreign minister say that.

3:00And I try to get everything, as you know, from watching this from multiple perspectives. I mean, what the Iranian foreign minister is saying there is like objectively correct.

3:11Ben Meiselas:Like it does not show strength that you're blowing up civilian bridges. That's a war crime that shows weakness, if anything. Donald Trump told Time magazine regarding Iran, why wouldn't they call? We just blew up their three big bridges last night. And he also said, this is what Trump says, they say Trump is not negotiating with Iran. I mean, it's sort of an easy negotiation. And again, just talking about himself, They say Trump is not negotiating. Oh, Trump is negotiating. No, you're not. No, you're not. I mean, you're engaged in these war crimes. It's pathetic. Donald Trump's chief of staff, Susie Wiles, expressing concern that Trump's aides are giving him a, quote, rose-colored view of how the war was being perceived domestically, telling Trump what he wanted to hear and urge them to be more forthright with the boss about the political and economic risks.

4:20Also the military risks. They're going on and pretending like we're winning this war and we're not.

4:27Ben Meiselas:We objectively are not because objectively, the objectives that were set out were regime change, making sure Iran's ballistic missile capabilities were completely destroyed, and then ensuring that Iran can't rebuild any nuclear weapons, which they never built in the first place, but to stop them from enriching uranium to build weapons-grade material for nuclear weapons, which back in June, the Trump regime claimed they had totally obliterated all of these facilities, and that Iran was not capable of rebuilding any of its nuclear facilities. Totally obliterated, read the headlines. So those were the objectives, right?

5:19Ben Meiselas:And now the objective shifted apparently just to, can we reopen the Strait of Hormuz, that that's the objective. And now Iran firmly controls the Strait of Hormuz. With Oman, remember, the Oman foreign minister was working as the mediator, handpicked by the United States, to try to negotiate a deal back in late February before the U.S. and Israel launched an invasion of Iran. Remember, end of February, the Oman foreign minister said, we reached a deal in principle, and Iran has agreed to a nuclear deal that was far stronger than even what Obama negotiated with far more oversight, and that this was a crowning achievement, the Oman foreign minister said.

6:11And the United States selected that Oman foreign minister. What the Oman foreign minister said is on Monday, that happened on a Friday, remember?

6:19Ben Meiselas:On Monday, we have to just go to the IAEA, the Atomic Energy Organization, for some technical details about how inspections would be done, but generally a deal was reached. And then that night, Trump and Netanyahu invaded Iran. Well, now Oman and Iran. Iran brought Oman in. They control the Strait of Hormuz. Iran says that the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed long term for both the U.S. and Israel. Same time, U.S. oil prices have officially marked their highest close since June of 2022. The nationwide average price of a gallon of gasoline has reached$4.08. We saw the WTI crude and Brent crude both increasing dramatically.

7:16What else is Donald Trump posting while all of this is taking place? photos of Davy Crockett, weird behavior. It goes, Davy Crockett, obviously a distant relative of Jasmine Crockett and a very high IQ frontiersman, would be proud of the legacy that began long ago and especially Jasmine's great success as a politician from the great state of Texas, Donald J. Trump. I mean, again, it's just really weird behavior. You know, also, I'll show some of the clips from Donald Trump's, and it was probably the worst national address in the history of the United States that took place. But one of Donald Trump's lines was, we're going to, what, blow up Iran back to the Stone Age, or we're going to send them back to the Stone Age.

8:09First off, I think I said this on my other Ben on Breaking News Live that I did on Tuesday. I said, Donald Trump sounds like the corny bad guy cartoon character in the shows I used to watch growing up.

8:25Ben Meiselas:Like if you gave me a script of the bad guy in a movie and I saw the things that Donald Trump said, I'd say, ah, that's so corny and so hyperbolic. Like real bad guys don't actually talk. I'm going to blow you back to the Stone Age. And again, making no distinction either between the Islamic Republic and the Revolutionary Guard Corps and the people of Iran. I mean, Donald Trump, Hegseth, and the Trump regime comments about decimating Iran. It's focused on the Iranian people, the whole country. And the Iranian people, of course, have a cultural heritage that dates back over a thousand years. And Iran has repeated that over and over and again, that we actually have a proud history.

9:22You think that we're afraid of a country that's been around for 250 years? We're not going to be broken. And Iran's, whether you want to say it's Iran's propaganda, their messaging is directed with a purpose. I want us to understand the tactics because in war, there's asymmetrical warfare that Iran is deploying right now with

9:44Ben Meiselas:its Shahi drones, FPV drones, and ballistic missiles, right? They have a strategy there. And they have a communication strategy that is systematic and is systemic and it is purposefully driven and it is planned, right? They have a plan. And Donald Trump seems every day to just be kind of winging this thing and saying deranged, contradictory things that's causing a lot of problems and is resulting in a catastrophic situation becoming even worse. And you can see why with Donald Trump's pathological defects, why he's bankrupted so many entities and why so many of his companies fail to the point of bankruptcy and utter destruction because he's like the the gambler in the casino who won't leave until they lose everything.

10:41Ben Meiselas:And he keeps doubling down, doubling down, doubling down on stupid, dumb, and evil. And it's having really bad results, really bad outcomes, right? I mean, the foreign minister of Iran, in response to the Stone Age comment made by Donald Trump, he writes, there's one striking difference between the present and the Stone Age. There was no oil or gas being pumped in the Middle East back then. And POTUS and Americans who put him in office, are POTUS and Americans who put him in office sure that they want to turn back the clock? Those are the messages that they're saying here. I mean, you know, it's interesting.

11:25I saw, I think it was Dana Perino, one of the Fox propagandists. she used to be I think the press secretary for George W. Bush remember she's the she's the lady who Donald Trump was sexually harassing in my opinion that's what it was you can call it whatever you think it is but when Donald Trump she was asking him serious questions and Donald Trump's like remember when we had lunch so long ago and again I'm just giving you my opinion you can disagree with that opinion if that's that or something else you know because she was asking a very serious questions. Like, you're so beautiful. You're so attractive.

11:59Ben Meiselas:You're a good looking lady. You never even changed. And can you remember when we had lunch back in the day? You're just as beautiful now as you were then. On TV, I mean, I think it was intended to embarrass her, in my opinion, giving opinion speech protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution. I'll just flag all of that for you right there. She was saying about Donald Trump's disastrous speech last night. She goes, you know, before it took place, I did a video on this too earlier. She goes, the problem is, is that because of the repression of the Iranian regime, the Islamic Republic, the people of Iran are not going to get to see that speech.

12:40They're not going to get to see Donald Trump's words because of the media blackouts and the control that Iran has over the

12:49Ben Meiselas:media ecosystem there. I mean, ironically, our media here in the United States is controlled mostly now by right-wing oligarchs. She's saying it from state regime propaganda media in the United States, which calls itself Fox News. But she's also just factually wrong. The leadership in Iran loves showing their people what Donald Trump's saying. Donald Trump is cutting the highlight reel of the greatest hits that they can show their people to rally support against the United States and keep people there motivated to never surrender and to fight back. I mean, Trump is literally giving them ammunition.

13:31I say literally because he is giving them ammunition. Think about it.

13:35Ben Meiselas:He's quite literally giving them ammunition. He's removed the oil sanctions from Iran, allowing them to make$14 billion, right? Trump and MAGA, they always attacked Obama, like, and they lied about it. They're like, you gave them$1.4 billion in cash packed on a plane. There was never cash packed on a plane, but whatever. I'll assume for the sake of argument you did. You just gave Iran in a short term, a$14 billion influx based on removing sanctions on their oil. They now control the Strait of Hormuz where they can charge$2 to$3 per gallon of oil, two, three, four million dollar toll. So they use that to literally buy ammunition.

14:22That's why I said you've literally given them ammunition. For they can build more drones, more ballistic missiles, more Shahids to attack the United States and their Arab nation neighbors who have American military interests in them. Donald Trump's removed the sanctions against Russian oil, Russian vessels. um trump's attacking nato right which also allows russia to continue to invade ukraine and fuel russia's war against ukraine while also allowing russia to manufacture military supplies shahid drones fpv drones to then give usually via the caspian sea to iran so you're giving them ammunition there you're also quite literally giving them ammunition in the form of these posts where they can repost them and tell their people, look what he's saying.

15:14Look what he's saying. So when Donald Trump posts, the biggest bridge in Iran comes tumbling down, never to be used again, much more to follow. The Iranian social media accounts say the following, Trump directly admits to targeting civilian positions, international organizations, governments? Hasn't the time come to act against this brutality? One of the things I note as well is that the Trump regime has been using this guy a lot, Barack Ravid, this Axios reporter, to try to funnel lots of the propaganda goes through Axios. And this guy, Barack Ravid, who's almost always wrong about everything, he's the guy who will be like, Donald Trump says ceasefires happening.

16:01Donald Trump says this is happening. Donald Trump says this is happening. You know, he kind of reminds me when I used to be a litigator and I would handle sports cases,

16:11Ben Meiselas:there were always those, the sports reporters who would like for each league, they would like, they'd be like the insider, right? There was like an NBA insider and the NFL insider, well, like Schechter and Sham and all these, I'm not making a one-to-one comparison, But, you know, like the team or the agent would call them, hey, post this, and they would post it, you know, whatever. And then they did some good reporting, too. So I'm not, I, in the sports realm, there's a lane for that, right? But when we're talking about matters of war and peace, life or death, anyone in the Trump White House calls this guy Barack Ravid and he publishes it.

16:52And then he uses the masthead of Axios as a way to be like, look, Axios is reporting

17:01Ben Meiselas:it, but it's the same guy. So Barack Ravid two hours ago wrote, a US official tells me the bridge was attacked because it was used by the Iranian armed forces to try to secretly move missiles and missile parts from Tehran to launch sites in Western Iran and for giving logistical support for Iranian military in Tehran, to which Murtaza Hussein goes. This is obviously a lie since it was not even operational yet. The U.S. president also said he bombed it because it was the biggest bridge in the country. Like Barack Ravid will write that, but then it's like Donald Trump posted it's the biggest bridge in Iran comes tumbling down.

17:39I'm going to come after your other bridges. So you see how like others in the Trump regime then tried to sanitize the war crimes that Donald Trump admits to through our propaganda media in the United States. And so what I've been trying to do here at the Midas Touch Network in all of this reporting is to, I'm showing you what Trump is posting, right?

18:02Ben Meiselas:And then I'm showing you what the Iranian foreign ministers, but then I'm looking to see what's actually happening in the region, right? So if we were dominating and decimating the war, we would control the Strait of Hormuz. Iran would not be successfully retaliating by hitting the Amazon facility in Bahrain or infrastructure in Qatar or infrastructure in the UAE, or they would not be able to continue to send missiles into Tel Aviv, right? If they were decimated, we wouldn't see those things happening. If they had no more leadership, we wouldn't see social media posts from their leadership. I mean, you can literally see the gatherings of their parliament, you know, meeting and deliberating on laws.

18:50Ben Meiselas:I mean, how much deliberation, you know, who the hell knows. But, you know, they passed the Strait of Hormuz law that gives Iran, that declares Iran has sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz. And by the way, what trump was saying in his speech last night we all heard his speech he said uh you know that's for france to deal with that's for other countries to deal with that's for everyone else to deal with um they can deal with the strait of her moves we're gonna leave we don't need we don't need oil we have so much gas we have so much gas here in the united states and it's like what do you And then Donald Trump also said, there's no inflation.

19:30Inflation's good. We're all good. And it's like, what do you mean we have so much gas here? What are you even talking about? And it also doesn't understand the different types of gas, like the difference between liquefied natural gas, crude oil, right? He has no clue of the distinctions. WTI versus Brent. And frankly, can I be totally honest with you? I don't want to know the difference. I want to know it now because I report on it. But once upon a time, I didn't have to know the difference between

20:08Ben Meiselas:Brent crude, WTI crude, liquefied natural gas, the components that are extracted to help make helium and fertilizers. You think I wanted a del... I have to because we all have to be very knowledgeable on these areas because of the lies and disinformation that's out there. So we have to apply... When I was a lawyer and I would jump into a... I'm still a lawyer, but when I was a litigator, I would have to become experts in areas that I'd... Very quickly, especially if there was a trial coming up, I'd often get hired to what we called parachuting into a trial. So we would parachute into a trial and I'd have to make compelling cases and explain it to jurors in ways they understand it very quickly and I'd have to become an expert in topics.

20:59There's some areas in the

21:02Ben Meiselas:way government functions that we took for granted that it required competent people and smart people and things where you didn't have to think about these things. Right now, I'm constantly studying the two-year, the 10-year, the 20 and 30-year treasury yields and whether they're going up and how that impacts mortgages. And I think it's helpful for me to explain all of these things as I do on these videos. But Donald Trump doesn't know any of these things. It's clear to me as I learned him, he does not know anything. We all know the most basic rudimentary understanding of international crude oil markets.

21:38If we didn't need the Strait of Hormuz, then why is it that oil prices are going up?

21:46Ben Meiselas:Why is it that the WTI crude is going up even higher than the Brent crude if we, the United States, are not impacted by what happens in the Strait of Hormuz? We clearly are impacted. That's why gas prices are going up. So if you think that the United States can exist by supplying itself with crude drilled in the United States, then you don't understand the way crude oil is drilled and processed and refined before it's turned into the gas at the pump. And instead, what we get here is state regime Fox propaganda. We allow it to be a Trump on today. And Lara Trump was split screen next to the bridges that I talked about being blown up.

22:45And she's like, this is so great. Other presidents never had the courage to do that. Other presidents didn't do this, Lara, because this is a war crime. You don't target civilian bridges. It's not what you do. The whole war is unlawful. But then you brag about targeting civilian bridges. And again, Trump's such a fraud in everything he does, in my opinion.

23:12Ben Meiselas:But he's able to convince certain people. And I think that ability is fading by the day. But he's able to convince certain people that this is smart and this is how billionaires behave and this is what rich people do and this is what strength is. It's always been the opposite. I mean, the Iranian foreign minister is right in saying that actually shows desperation. That shows weakness. It shows that you're flailing and your plan is to just blow up bridges. And just think about that. All that's going to do is force this war to continue on and on and on. I saw one person who's the main kind of oil analyst for Keplar, K-E-P-L-A-R, in the Middle East.

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24:00And what she was saying was, right now, the earliest that we can potentially even think about oil shipments returning to some pre-war, the earliest is at the end of May. And my own view is that's incredibly optimistic. And to me, it's just like COVID all over again, right? Remember COVID? If you track 2020, you all remember COVID, if we track 2020 with 2026, start times were right around the same,

24:34Ben Meiselas:right? February, February-ish, right? You think about what is it? Tom Hanks, the basketball player, right? Those early signs in February, March, it starts picking up, obviously. Donald Trump says like a miracle, it's all going away. We're going to bend the curve by Easter. We're heading into Easter weekend again. We're going to bend the curve by Easter. It's getting better. We've won. We've defeated it. No one said it could be done. You remember he said all of that stuff? It's the same stuff, but now the other side is speaking and they're saying. We're not going away. Here's our plan. In Iran, Donald Trump and Fox and right-wing propaganda, in a very racist way, I think, they framed or ethnocentric, whatever the right term is, they framed Iran as though these are just a bunch of lunatics in caves yelling like Allah Akbar over and over again, and they don't know what the hell is going on, and these are not smart people.

25:43You're very wrong about that.

25:47Ben Meiselas:But that's the stereotype that I think they try to convey to people. And if you've learned any basic military history or military tactics, whether you've read Sun Tzu's Art of the War or whoever, you have to know your enemy or just understand the other side if you believe they're your enemy, but you have to understand the dynamics taking place there. And when you understand the cultural subtleties, the dynamics of Iran, who the former Ayatollah was in terms of his meaning to the Shiite community, the idea of martyrdom within the Shiite population, the sophisticated engineering historically and presently of Iran, Tehran University, and even with a very repressive Islamic Republic regime, first-rate engineering capabilities.

26:50That's why Russia and Iran partnered when Russia needed help churning out drones and churning out missiles, the Shahids and FPVs in Russia's invasion of Iran, I mean, in Russia's invasion of Ukraine. And the Russia-Iranian relationship is so obvious right now. And Donald Trump, you know, either is so ignorant or just so woefully defective or just so utterly unlearned and evil, probably a combination of all of it, that he acts like, he's like, What was it the other day? What are they going to shoot us with? BB guns? BB guns?

27:34Ben Meiselas:No, no, no. That's a disqualifying statement. No, they're going to shoot the bases with the Shahi drones and FPV drones and ballistic missiles that they still have, not BB guns. What are you talking about with that? There are so many words that he uses that are so utterly disqualifying. I saw, I forget which reporter. We know Donald Trump's polling is record lows, right? I mean, CNN poll, his approval is at like 35%, UMass, Amherst. YouGov poll has him at what, 33%. His net negatives are like record highs, like way worse than even like Biden at Biden's worst. I mean, historically low. But I saw a reporter basically say, you know, it's interesting to watch the percentage drop of Trump and they try to compare it to Biden.

28:29Ben Meiselas:And they were like, well, after Biden removed the troops from the Afghan military base and soldiers, American soldiers were killed at that Afghan military base. It's like Donald Trump's war in Iran has done the same thing to Trump as Biden getting out of Afghanistan did to Biden's poll numbers. First First off, Trump's polling is worse than that. So just set that aside. But the broader point to make is that every day in this war, Donald Trump, to me, is doing about 10 things that are like the withdrawal from, that have a bad outcome, let's just say. I actually think, let me be clear, the withdrawal from Afghanistan was the right decision.

29:18Ben Meiselas:obviously a horrific terrorist attack took place. Donald Trump was actually the cause of the fact that the Taliban had their 5 ,000 prisoners released. Remember, that was a Donald Trump-Pompeo deal. I want to remind everybody about that as well, that the thing that they blamed Biden for was a Trump thing. And now granted, there was a terrorist attack that took place under the Biden administration. Biden always took accountability for what happened, even though Biden left and didn't get us into wars, yet alone never-ending wars in the middle. He removed it. All of that was Trump doing a deal with the Taliban.

30:04Remember, Trump invited, people sometimes are shocked when I remind them of this. Trump invited the Taliban to Camp David on 9-11 to have like a feast on 9-11.

30:22Ben Meiselas:He invited the Taliban leaders to hang out at Camp David. Just think about that right there, right? But the broader point I'm going to make, and maybe it's not a good comparison to Biden and Afghanistan, but the point is every day Trump does 10 things that are far worse. that are far worse. To me, every day, at a minimum, he does 10 things that are impeachable, that are criminal. Again, I'm just giving you my opinion protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution. You can share my opinions or disagree. 10 things that are impeachable, in my opinion, 10 things that are criminal and impeachable, and 10 things that would require the 25th Amendment to be invoked every single day, probably way more than that, every single damn day.

31:15Ben Meiselas:And we saw that yesterday. We're seeing it today. We're going to see it tomorrow. And he is incapable of thinking strategically, of developing plans. All he knows is, in my opinion, fraud and then cover up for the fraud and turning bad decisions into worse decisions, into catastrophic decisions, into bankruptcies. And I fear that that's exactly where the global economy in the United States is being pushed into. Now, I want to talk about, of course, how other countries are responding, whether it's France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, not even allowing the U.S. to use airspace or military bases. We heard Keir Starmer, prime minister of UK, give a speech addressed to the nation, addressed to the UK, saying we will not be dragged into this war or be bullied by Donald Trump.

32:14Right. Powerful speech he gave, I thought. um you know i think there are domestic things that he's struggling with on on international affairs i think he's been too cozy with trump publicly he's been great on ukraine i understand the special relationship between the uk and the u.s i get it as an american

32:33Ben Meiselas:i think he's been a little bit too um cozy with trump publicly although i understand And there's a lot intertwined that if that fully ruptures, what happens? So I'm sympathetic, at least, to understanding that. But he's been strong on Ukraine, you know, in my view. We saw Anthony Albanese in Australia address the nation. We're seeing a lot of countries, Austria no longer allowing U.S. to use airspace. lots of people are starting to assert themselves as trump attacks nato that's been a theme throughout donald trump's life always attack nato attack nato and now saying because nato didn't help um invade engage in an unlawful war that you know nato america should pull out from nato after the war um but trump's going to keep dragging this thing on and on and on he doesn't know how to get out he's lost all of his allies all of america's allies.

33:38I don't know if America is a superpower right now. I mean, I think the superpower is its cruelty, but it is a bloviating fraud at this point, a fugazi. Yes, it has these resources. Yes, we have the biggest military. Yes, we have these things. But in the hands of a maniac, What use is it in the hands of a maniac other than to inflict cruel and unusual war crimes and punishment on the rest of the world? I'll show that quick clip right here of Lara Trump that I was talking about just because I don't want to lose that train of thought. But this is what they're doing on propaganda media today. Let's just play it.

34:19Because you want to talk about what the United States of America can do? Take a look at this video. Take a look at all the videos he's posted of the bombs dropping, of the explosions, of us targeting something the size of basically a fingernail, our United States military. It is really impressive. It has so much more gravity to it when you see it like this. And I just think it's so impressive because, again, we have never seen something like this happen. We've never had a president like this willing to do this sort of thing. And hopefully it's all for the best, you know, for the entire world, the best for our people, the best for the rest of the world.

34:53And just to go back to what you guys were talking about with the allies, this president has talked about how disappointed he is with his with the NATO allies. He also talked last night about the fact that the people who rely on the Strait of Hormuz to get their oil need to step up. Now's the time they need it. We don't need it here in the United States of America. They're going to have to step up and do something about it. I thought his speech last night was really powerful. And I think that he sent a message then. He's sending a message now with this video as well. I mean, again, if you're Iran, if you're any country in the world and you watch that, the president's daughter-in-law is going on TV

35:37Ben Meiselas:to threaten NATO and to say that, look at the precision with which we bomb bridges. You know who bombs bridges? Terrorists bomb bridges. War criminals bomb bridges like that. Civilian bridges and then boast about it? That's what terrorists do. That's what war criminals do, bombing bridges like that that are used for civilian purposes in that way and then bragging and boasting about bombing the bridge. What are we doing? and we have Lara Trump out there attacking NATO, you better get your act. Who are you? Who are these people? Do we have the quote, Jeremy, from French President Emmanuel Macron?

36:33There were a few snapshots that I took today of just some of the things that he said. He goes, we must be serious. And when we are serious, we do not say the opposite of what we said the day before. Perhaps we should not speak every day. We should simply calm things down and build a lasting peace. What else did he say? Six months ago, we were told everything had been destroyed and settled. Clearly, that was not the case. Without international inspectors verifying materials, research, and hidden sites, simply not serious. And this is a common theme, not serious. He goes, opening the Strait of Hormuz by force, it's not the option we have chosen because it's unrealistic.

37:23A military operation to reopen it would take an infinite amount of time and expose forces to immense coastal and ballistic risks. From the beginning, we have said it must be reopened, but only in coordination with Iran. The world cannot live with a straight that can be opened or closed overnight. Let's be serious. That's one of the main messages since Midas Touch was created. Let's act like adults.

37:52Ben Meiselas:Let's act like grownups. I know lots of people are like, oh, you hate Trump. You're a far leftist. I'm like, let's just be grownups and adults. I was not a political person in the past. I was a litigator. I represented Democrats, Republicans. I went into trial, whatever. I was just a lawyer. My own personal views were always privately very progressive, always privately, you know, very, you know, aligned with helping marginalized communities and stopping bullies. That's where I was personally. Professionally, I wasn't like a politician person. I just wanted to help people. but I try to approach my work with a level of seriousness.

38:36And so when I see this behavior, it's clown stuff. It's clown stuff. And so when we come back, I want to talk about Pam Bondi's termination. We started off talking about the Trump regime firing the army chief of staff, the top army, one of the top army people, army chief of staff, Randy George. That's always a sign that the war is going well, right? This headline will get buried though in the bigger headline that Pam Bondi was fired. Pam Bondi's already out there taking pictures. I guess she's at football stadiums now. I don't know what the hell she is. We'll talk about that when we get back. Have you subscribed to Scott McFarland's YouTube channel yet?

39:12If you do, throw that blue emoji heart. If you subscribe to Scott McFarland's YouTube channel, also subscribe to our YouTube channel. Let's get to 7 million subscribers. A lot of your feedback was on my last episode,

39:27Ben Meiselas:You're like, Ben, you're too ranty. You're ranting too much on the show. Tone it down at some time. I just get angry sometimes when I see this stuff. So I took your feedback into consideration. I will share my emotions less. The last Tuesday one, I was just so angry about all the lies. So I was like, ah, I'll bring it back down to that voice. We have a lot more show. We'll be right back after our first and only quick break. When it comes to dog food, sometimes it feels like you have to choose. You either get something fresh and healthy or something that's easy to store and serve, but not both.

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43:29One last time, that's 60 % off your first order plus free shipping when you head to smalls.com slash Midas. Welcome back. Great ad reads. My brothers, they do great ad reads. Thank you to all of our sponsors. We're grateful for all of our sponsors. Let's talk briefly about, I think, what deserves even more attention right now than it's getting. so I don't want this video not to just fade off into a news cycle. It's Donald Trump in the White House saying that the federal government can't take care of daycare. We're too big of a country. We're fighting wars. We can't do Medicaid.

44:12Ben Meiselas:We can't do Medicare. We can't do daycare. All we can do is war. Now look, for those who haven't seen this, you probably have seen it by now, But you probably think when I give you that setup, come on, he couldn't have actually said those. How could he have actually, he actually said those words? I mean, like, do you remember back in the day when it would be kind of disqualifying when a politician couldn't spell potato? Like with Dan Quayle, remember it was over. The guy spelled potato the wrong way. When you've got Donald Trump from the White House as a war escalates in Iran, spirals, out of control.

44:53And Donald Trump says, we can't take care of daycare.

44:59Ben Meiselas:We're too big. Our money needs to go to the wars, to the war. Their whole thing was that they were, the whole thing they ran on was no more wars. We're going to make things affordable. That was the lie. That was the fraud. Here's what he said yesterday at the White House. Let's play it. Because the United States can't take care of daycare. That has to be up to a state. We can't take care of daycare. We're a big country. We have 50 states. We have all these other people. We're fighting wars. We can't take care of daycare. You got to let a state take care of daycare. And they should pay for it, too.

45:34They should pay. They have to raise their taxes. But they should pay for it. And we could lower our taxes a little bit to them to make up. But it's not possible for us to take care of daycare. Medicaid, Medicare, all these individual things, they can do it on a state basis. You can't do it on a federal. We have to take care of one thing, military protection.

45:56Ben Meiselas:We have one thing that we focus on, military protection. You know, one of the ironic things, if you want to use the word irony, is that one of the ways that the Trump regime, whether it's Rubio or Hegseth or others, have attacked Iran. We're like, can you imagine this? in Iran, they spend all of their money on weapons and the people don't get anything at all. All the money is taken away for weapons and war. Everything with this regime, with this Trump regime, is projection and confession. And we now know that Trump has proposed a 2027 budget where there will be$1.5 trillion in military spending.

46:40Ben Meiselas:Remember when they were talking about $1 trillion, and that was going to be a crazy number. Now they're at$1.5 trillion while cutting domestic programs to support it. And every time everyone's like, oh, we don't have enough money for the Obamacare subsidies. We don't have enough money for this. We don't have enough money. Yes, you do. You want me to do it really simple for you? You take that$1.5 trillion dollar military budget, and you bring it to, how about this number, everybody? $450 billion a year. You go from$1.5 trillion, let's go to$450 billion a year. In my opinion, probably still too high.

47:23It would still be leading the world by significant amounts. $450 billion, especially with modern day warfare, where it's basically drones, drone interceptors, a lot of that. We're seeing what's happening with conventional army forces against drone armies. Say$450 billion there. Look, voila, I've just saved us$550 billion, right? You know that$200 billion supplemental that they found? Okay, well, let's add that. I just found us basically close to$800 billion right there. What else? What else? Okay. Now we'll tax the rich a little bit more, just a little bit more. We don't have to go super high right away, but let's just tax the rich what?

48:14How about this? 2%, 1.5%. Let's start 1 % to 1.5 % more. How much money do you think I'd bring in with that? Probably in the trillions, but who knows? I don't have the number. I'm not going to pretend I know.

48:29Ben Meiselas:Let's just say for the sake of round numbers that I just found us another$500 billion by putting another 1.5 trillion. By the way, I believe in the idea of a wealth tax, but if you say, hey, Ben, that's complicated and well, how do we deal with unrealized capital gains and do we tax future stuff? Just tax income, actual income, 1%, 1.5 % more. Okay. I've just made us somewhere in the realm of 1.5 trillion to$2 trillion. I found you the money right there. I found you the money right there. Lots of money, lots of money to help lots of programs. Now, you can say, well, then Ben, so you're just going to give$2 trillion to the federal government Do you trust these bureaucrats with all of it?

49:26Ben Meiselas:And I would say, what if rather than doge firing everybody and engaging in this reckless whatever, what if you really though did look for efficiencies and we use technology to actually find ways to make government more efficient, not in the cruel and unusual ways that the Trump regime did it, but we try to figure it out. Okay, You know, does it make sense in 2026 to have this division over here and this department over here and this over there? Can they be consolidated? Oh, I found two. I abolished ICE and I abolished Border Patrol. I still think there needs. Let me be clear. Let me be clear. I still think there needs to be a strong border.

50:10Right.

50:11Ben Meiselas:I think there needs to be a strong border. I think that there's a role at the border for some people to deal with border. I think there should be a pathway to citizenship for people who pay taxes and who participate in our economy and are helpful. I agree criminals need to go and bad people need to go for sure, be prosecuted or go. I 100 % agree there. To me, ICE and Border Patrol aren't doing that function. So I would create something else. So maybe that other entity gets$50 billion or$100 billion. I don't know. I still found us close to$2 trillion. And I think with that money, we could fund healthcare for all.

50:54Ben Meiselas:I think we can build housing. And I think we could, yeah, I think, I mean, China spends$250 to$300 billion per year on their military. So we'd still be leading in my plan, we'd still be number one, America number one. And my plan, I think it's reasonable. I think it recognizes lots of dynamics and it puts the money back with the people. Problem solved. This isn't actually a complicated problem. It's just people creating the complications so that you get screwed. Anyway, that would be my... I'm not running for anything though. So use my playbook. Don't use my playbook, whatever. But that's what I would do.

51:40What else did Donald Trump say? Oh, his ballroom. He talked about his ballroom yesterday. It was big. I can't get my ballroom approved. Remember, Judge Leon, federal judge blocked them. I told you that the judge was going to block the ballroom. I was almost wrong though.

51:54Ben Meiselas:Remember when the judge denied the preliminary injunction twice and y 'all gave me a bunch of shit for that, huh? We're like, you were wrong. You told us the ballroom was going to be blocked. Your legal analysis, they didn't fully utilize the legal analysis in their preliminary injunction. So they actually filed an amended complaint, and that's what was granted. But here's Donald Trump whining about the ballroom. Here, play this clip. They call me king now. Do you believe it? No king. I'm such a king. I can't get a ballroom approved.

52:29Pretty amazing. I'm a king. If I was a king, we'd be doing a lot. more. I'm doing a lot, but I could be doing a lot more if I was a king. And then he attacks his own Supreme Court justices. He attacks them. And he goes, they're stupid. They're dumb. Here's what he says. Let's play it. Republicans, judges and justices, they always want to show that they're independent. I can, I don't care if Trump appointed me. I don't care if he doesn't make any difference to me. I'm voting against him because they want to show their independence. You know, stupid people. Okay. Those are the people he appointed.

53:10Stupid people, stupid deal, right? He says, he says that the United States, Mexico, Canada agreements, a stupid deal. You did it. You did

53:23Ben Meiselas:the USMCA. You did the trade deal with Japan. These are your deals that you've done in the past that you say are stupid. I mean, you know, again, just, just, just so screwed up. Attorney General Pam Bondi was fired. I did a whole hot take on it. So I don't think I need to totally repeat everything, but here's what she posted most recently. Um, spend today partnering, this is a post that she made moments ago that she spent today partnering with local sheriffs in the NFL hall of fame to promote the national child ID kit programming. She's acting like she didn't get fired. Here's what, I'm okay. Everything's all right.

54:01We think that Kash Patel is probably going to get fired soon as well. Democrats are making clear though with Pam Bondi, okay, just because you got fired though, doesn't mean we're not subpoenaing you still. You're going to show up at your deposition. And arguably, if she's not the attorney general anymore,

54:21Ben Meiselas:She certainly even has less excuses now to try to avoid showing up. I mean, she's a civilian. Civilian, civilian subpoena. You got to show up, Pam. You got to show up. April 14th. Yeah, Donald Trump posted that the acting attorney general will be Todd Blanche right now. We love Pam. She'll be transitioning to a much needed and important new job in the private sector. a Daily Mail reporter that Pam Bondi begged, begged Trump not to fire her during dramatic White House showdown as insiders reveal his final straw. And Daily Mail claims the final straw is that, I guess people were saying that Bondi tipped off Eric Swalwell about the FBI's efforts to release investigative documents regarding his relationship with Christine Fang.

55:19I don't know. To me, it seems like it was her botching the Epstein file cover-up. How'd you screw up that cover-up? By the way, at 5.30 a.m.

55:29Ben Meiselas:Pacific time, I did a video saying that she was going to get fired today. Granted, the New York Times reported it first, but we went all in on the reporting and saying. It definitely seems that given all of the information out there right now, how livid Donald Trump is that the House Democrats in the oversight committee just keep on pushing forward, pushing forward. Bondi was not able to wiggle out of the deposition from April 14th. Remember two weeks ago, I reported how she tried to voluntarily show up on 24 hours notice in front of the House oversight committee. And everybody was like, or the Democrats were like, we're not sitting here, so you can use this as an excuse to avoid a subpoena.

56:16Ben Meiselas:No, you're going to show up for your subpoena deposition. I'm sure Donald Trump's going to have to pardon her, an issue of pardon. It'll be interesting to see, honestly, if any states move to criminally prosecute her right now, if there's any state criminal prosecutions or state criminal investigations into her behavior. I mean, she's now a civilian. Donald Trump can't pardon her for state crimes. So I'd be interested to see if that happens. What else on that? Pablo Manrique says someone needs to find Jamie Raskin so he can say who's the washed up loser lawyer now. So Congress member Frost wrote, Pam Bondi still has to testify under oath in front of the House Oversight Committee regarding the Epstein files.

57:10This does not get her out of that bipartisan

57:13Ben Meiselas:lawful subpoena. We will see her soon. Watch. She'll try to get out of that. I'll show you this. There was a last week, I did a video on this also before. James Comer, right, who chairs the House Oversight Committee, even he was basically saying, well, nobody agrees the Justice Department did a good job on the Epstein files. Here's what he said. Let's play this clip of James Comer if we've got it. Well, I think the Justice Department has botched this. I don't think anyone in America, Republican or, you know, avid Trump supporter would defend the way that this has been rolled out. Having said that, it's very complicated because of all the lawsuits.

57:54Ben Meiselas:That's kind of what they go back to, right? Like, it's so complicated. Like, you can't understand this. And so everything's so complicated, so complicated. Like, let us figure it out for you, okay? Let Donald figure it out because it's so complicated. Don't you see that that's what they always do over and over again? So complicated, so complex. You wouldn't understand it. No, no, it's actually pretty easy. It's pretty easy, right? You want to give Americans universal health care and help people get housing and get people resources to make the entire country better, tax the rich a little bit more, remove$500 billion, or now if it's$1.5 trillion, remove$1 trillion from the military budget.

58:42So it's about$450 billion. Defund and abolish ICE,

58:47Ben Meiselas:that gives us another two. It's actually fairly easy. I just solved the problem. I just solved the problem like that. The complicated part is that lots of people will be like, oh my God, can you believe that men are playing women's sports? And oh my God, do you know of the sports and bathrooms and they're eating your cats and dogs? ah, they're coming to get you. Everyone's coming to get you. The complicated part is that they want to pit us against each other. So we don't realize how simple the solutions are simple. But these sociopaths, these sickos, right? These Epstein class, these pieces of trash, right?

59:37Ben Meiselas:These miserable people, these people who want to see us suffer because they're miserable, so they want to bring us into their miserable worlds. They try to pit us against each other when actually the solution is very simple. I solve the issue. Everyone gets healthcare. Everyone gets free education. We're still a safe country. We have a strong border. We could focus actually on the criminals, not the people here who are helping. We're nice to each other. It's actually fairly simple solutions to a lot of these issues. When it comes to the Epstein files, just release the files. And you're going to release it, release the files.

1:00:24But Biden, Biden is not president anymore. What

1:00:28Ben Meiselas:let me tell you, he didn't run on releasing the Epstein files. He ran on creating manufacturing jobs. He did that and then he got treated like shit, but he led to a manufacturing boom, solved all the chaos that Donald Trump created. But the American people didn't want him because he was slower, older, whatever, but did the things he said he was going to do. I mean, I remember when I interviewed Biden in the Roosevelt room, I said, what do you want your legacy to be? Remember, I was the last person who interviewed Biden. By the way, that was before Midas Touch was all that big. I mean, we were growing, but 2025, I think, was our watershed year, 2026.

1:01:12Ben Meiselas:We're obviously, and I'm so humbled and honored, thanks to your support, that it's like the number one show across. More people watch this than anything else, Fox, whatever. But back in 2024, Biden gave his last interview to us. And lots of people were like mocking that, that he gave it to us. But I think he saw what the future of media was going to look like. That's what he said. He said, I saw what the future of media, that's why I'm doing this. But in any event, what he told me is I said, well, what do you want people to remember you by? And he said, I want them to know that I kept my word.

1:01:53Ben Meiselas:that no matter what I said what I was going to do, I did those things. I got inflation under control. By the time I was leaving, it was heading to 2%. I created more manufacturing jobs and more jobs than any other president. That's what I said I was going to do. I got us out of wars. That's what I said I was going to do. I handled the chaos that was left by Donald Trump with all the disinformation about COVID. I got it under control. I stabilized things. And for four years, it was barrage after barrage after barrage of attacks, attacks, attacks, attacks, attacks, attacks, attacks. And politically, he couldn't survive that.

1:02:37He said, I kept my word. And I think that's a good place for us to end here with, which is simple values, keeping your word, being honest, treating each other with respect, right?

1:02:53Ben Meiselas:To me, this is why I've worked to create this network was because somewhere in the gamification of our dystopian politics, that stuff isn't talked about. And that's the most important stuff out there is being a good human being with the short time that we have here on earth, and being stewards of this valuable and precious time that we were granted on this planet to ensure that future generations are left with either something that they can live with comfort and stability or ideally something better. That's why we're here. And if we're not here for that, what are we here for? I mean, Donald Trump is 80 at this point.

1:03:46And his focus is on turning his presidential library in that he got gifted money from Miami Dade, got gifted land from Miami Dade college, which he basically stole, like DeSantis basically stole it. And Donald Trump's turning that into a hotel, a hotel that he can make money off of using the settlements that he extracted from media companies to have a tax-free hotel.

1:04:20We all have a very finite time on this earth.

1:04:27Ben Meiselas:What's the, you're so crazed about making money and that you want your legacy to be, you know, that you defrauded the presidential library system? What are we doing here? What are we doing here? We'll keep on fighting for you each and every day. We're going to stay in the fight. We're going to keep growing this network. and we're very grateful for all of your support as always and let's keep doing it remember the show I do with my brothers starts at 8 eastern 5 pacific check it out excited to be with my brothers tonight live and uh just thanks for continuing to watch and spread the message about the Midas Stitch have you subscribed to Scott McFarland's YouTube channel have you subscribed to Katie Fang's YouTube channel?

1:05:21Have you subscribed to the Legal AF YouTube channel? Have you subscribed to Aaron Parnas' YouTube channel? What about Tennessee Brando? What about Adam Mockler's channel? Have you subscribed to all of the Midas Touch YouTube channels? Would love for you to subscribe to all of them. We're building something special here with your help. We're grateful for you. Thanks so much. We'll see you next time on a much calmer and zen-like Ben on Breaking News, per your advice.

1:05:52Ben Meiselas:Shout out Midas Mighty. Thanks, everybody. Want to stay plugged in? Become a subscriber to our sub stack at MidasPlus.com. You'll get daily recaps from Ron Filipkowski, add free episodes of our podcast, and more exclusive content only available at MidasPlus.com.

1:06:16Thank you.

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