Trump Faces Mounting Economic Pressure as Iran Crisis Deepens

0:00Ben Meiselas:Donald Trump is getting more desperate as his day of reckoning approaches as midterms are right around the corner and Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans continue to crash and crash hard. Trump was unraveling after that bizarre meeting at the White House with the tech AI billionaires where Donald Trump said, we're no longer going to call them data centers anymore. We're going to call them SI centers and we're going to build them everywhere. And we're not going to do any regulation on AI. Instead, we're going to name it SI. And the companies represented by all the tech billionaires, they'll just self-regulate themselves.

0:39Ben Meiselas:That's what will do it. We see no threat to AI at all, Donald Trump said. Then he went to his social media platform and started posting weird things like this, like this guy's face that says, Iran has lost control of the straight. And Donald Trump kept on reposting that. Iran has no control. I mean, I don't think you need to keep on posting that over and over again if you're actually confident in your position. Then Donald Trump posts this guy, Mark Dubowitz, Admiral Cooper, and the remarkable men and women of the US military have won the Battle of Hormuz. The regime in Iran doesn't control the Strait.

1:19Ben Meiselas:Okay, if that's true, then the United States can bring their aircraft carriers right through the Strait of Hormuz and the Navy destroyers, no problem. Well, we can't do that. Why? Iran controls the Strait of Hormuz. And why is it that the 10, 20, 30-year Treasury note yields are at record highs? Why is it that all of these countries and companies are selling off American bonds at a rate never seen before in modern history? Why is it that the price of gas and diesel continues to surge and that the price at the refinery, which actually makes the diesel and gas and sells it, is continuing to go up while it's clear that the paper market of crude, WTI and Brent, is so obviously being manipulated by the Trump regime with Donald Trump's announcements and Axios and regime media, CBS and state regime media, Fox.

2:19Ben Meiselas:The American people know what the Trump regime is doing. It's fraud, it's lies, and it's that constant, constant, nonstop fraud that the Trump regime commits. And then they put out their bootlickers like MAGA Republican Senator McCormick. And here's what MAGA Republican and Senator McCormick has to say, play this clip. Listen, here's what's happened. We inherited, President Trump and the Republican majority, a terrible economy under Joe Biden. And we've made huge strides in making things more affordable for working families. As you said, they have more money in their pockets, 3 ,500 to$5 ,000 on average because of the Working Families Tax Cut Act.

3:04Ben Meiselas:Of course, you're gonna blame Biden. And what are they saying on state regime media Fox about gas prices. Here, play this clip. Yes, gas prices are high now, but on average, it was much worse under Joe Biden. Oh yes, that was Biden's fault too. Of course, Donald Trump doing much, but I mean, come on. I mean, it's just so utterly pathetic. Then you have MAGA Republican Congress member, Greg Murphy on the Republican pitch to voters. Here, play this clip. But I'm betting on the understanding of the American people that tough times need to be gone through to get to good times. We can't just always, like Democrats, always promise, promise, promise things that they never deliver.

3:46And honestly, in so many other policies, we end up as cleanup on aisle nine cleaning up their disaster stuff. So I'm hopeful that even though emotions run high and sometimes even emotions about the president himself run high, that people will step back and see what is best for the country as we move forward, not just, you know, screaming, rant and raving. And God forbid, if we lose the House, it's just impeachment, impeachment, impeachment, investigation. That's what people are going to see for two years. That's not how this nation needs to project its strength, especially during the Iran conflict moving forward.

4:19Ben Meiselas:Oh, got it. That's what we need to do. We got to struggle. We got to go through hard times. That's how we show we're truly patriotic. I mean, how utterly deranged do these MAGA sound right now? And then did you see this? The Trump regime hosted an event with Dr. Oz, who's in the regime. And then they had Russell Brand over there. Now, Russell Brand has been charged with rape and sexual assault. And he's out there with Trump regime officials joking and mocking about consent at an official Trump White House event. Did you see this? Here, play this clip. Russell Brand was backstage hugging the secretary of agriculture, but here he is.

5:05Yes. Took my heart to a whole new level. She initiated that contact, so I shall make clear, doctor. Actually, you initiated it. Thank you for joining us. Should I be the host?

5:16Ben Meiselas:And then you had J.D. Vance being trotted out there by Donald Trump. and J.D. Vance was talking about America.gov, the chatbot that was just announced yesterday by the Trump regime. And by the way, if you saw the video I did yesterday, you could ask the chatbot who won the 2020 election, Biden. Did Donald Trump release all of the Epstein files? Donald Trump prosecute anybody regarding the Epstein files? No. Who's responsible for all-time high diesel prices, the Trump, Donald Trump. So that chat bot's interesting. But in any event, JD Vance was asked about America.gov. And he said, when we first started talking about this, the one thing I said is don't let it be a cluster, F-U-C-K, like America.gov.

6:08Ben Meiselas:Just like cursing. And then he's like, oops, I meant healthcare.gov. Watch what JD Vance says here. Play this clip.

6:14JD Vance:That you can share, of course. Yeah. Yeah. Well, first of all, Joe, So congratulations to your new team again. You know, when Joe and I first started talking about this, the one thing I said is, don't let it be a clusterfuck like America.gov. Hopefully, oh, sorry, excuse me. Hopefully no kids in the back. Or excuse me, like healthcare.gov. And America.gov has got to be the good version of that.

6:37Ben Meiselas:And I think - And then JD Vance, again, he just keeps on like cursing during his appearances yesterday. and so he's there with RFK and JD Vance is like, if you're encouraging illegal aliens to sign up for social security, cut that shit out. No one's encouraging people who are undocumented from signing up for social, like, wait, I don't even know what you're talking about. This is what we're doing heading into the election. You're gonna scare people. Oh, it's the illegal aliens that are coming for you. They're coming for you while the Trump regime is going after little children. They're going after people who were here on temporary protected status, people who were indeed documented and who were going through asylum processes and temporary protected status, people who have been paying their taxes, families who work here.

7:26Ben Meiselas:That's who the Trump regime is going after. Meanwhile, Donald Trump's out there pardoning the narco drug traffickers at the highest level. And Donald Trump claims, oh, Maduro is a narco drug trafficker. But then you partner with the Delce Rodriguez regime, which is part of the Maduro regime, just so you can steal Venezuelan oil and steal their gold. And did you see this report we were talking about yesterday? New York Times did a good scoop on this. So the Trump regime has stolen the Venezuelan gold and they brought it into warehouses in the United States. But because the gold is affiliated still with actual narco traffickers, no one really wants to refine it or touch this gold.

8:10Ben Meiselas:And so it's just sitting there. But we just stole, the Trump regime stole the Delcy gold. And, you know, by the way, what happened? What happened, Donald? What would you say? There were 60 billion barrels of oil underneath Venezuela that were going to immediately fill up our strategic petroleum reserves, right? Yesterday, there was another drawdown of our strategic petroleum reserves. They're at, what, 283 million barrels. And the Trump regime announced yesterday another 40 million barrels are going to be released. Did you see that? So all this oil is going out of the straight-up her moves, yet you're going to be releasing another 40 million barrels and you're going to draw it below the lowest threshold mark, the 250 million barrel mark.

8:58Ben Meiselas:Anyway, I digress. Here's what J.D. Vann says about cut this shit out, he says. Here, play this clip.

9:04JD Vance:Because when people say that they care about Medicare, they're trying to protect Social Security, they're trying to protect Medicaid, give me a break. If you are encouraging illegal aliens to sign up from social security and steal social security benefits, you're not protecting social security. You're destroying it. So cut that shit out and be honest about your intentions. It's about giving benefits to illegal aliens. It's not about saving the program.

9:29Ben Meiselas:And then by all accounts, this latest distraction by Trump regime bootlickers in the United States Senate, where they called in special counsel Jack Smith yesterday. Did you see this? where they didn't let special counsel Jack Smith talk about anything regarding the Mar-a-Lago criminal case because they have a gag order. Again, Judge Eileen Cannon is gagging Jack Smith. And so the Senate won't let Jack Smith talk about Trump stealing classified records or anything about that case. But you saw, I mean, I did a whole video on it. You had Senator Schmidt accusing Jack Smith and meeting Fawnie Willis at an Atlanta Hawks game.

10:07Ben Meiselas:And then Jack Smith's like, I never attended such a game. And then Senator Schmidt just got all of his facts wrong that Jack Smith on February 3rd, 2024 was at an Iowa Hawkeyes game in Maryland watching Caitlin Clark, a college female basketball player play, not a men's NBA team. And so Senator Schmidt was trying to have this like Perry Mason moment where he was accusing Jack Smith, the perjury and Jack Smith's like, I have no clue what you're talking about. And it turned out that MAGA Republican Senator Schmidt was just a complete liar. He didn't know any of his facts. But then rather than just apologize like a grownup and be like, you know what?

10:48Ben Meiselas:I screwed up. I shouldn't have done that. I apologize for calling you a dirtbag, Jack Smith, and saying you perjured yourself. I got the facts wrong. I confused the Atlanta Hawks for the Iowa Hawkeyes. I shouldn't have done that, right? I mean, people can make mistakes, although it was a massive mistake, and it was clearly malicious. But Senator Schmidt's like, I never took Jack Smith for a Hawkeye fan. Never thought he would be a Caitlin Clark fan, but I stand by what I did. He's a dirtbag. And again, then you had all these like MAGA propagandists out there saying, Perry Mason moment. It's like, what are you talking about?

11:23Ben Meiselas:You're just liars. This shouldn't be a Democrat, Republican, independent thing. Y 'all are just a bunch of freaking liars. But then state regime media tried to act like everything was normal. So you had Sean Hannity bringing on Josh Howley and Josh Howley was like, you know, Jack Smith, sick man. He went through all of Melania Trump's underwear and all of her draws. Now, Jack Smith, first off, there was a valid search warrant at Mar-a-Lago, number one. Number two, Jack Smith was not even appointed when the search warrant was executed. He was appointed well after that. So just like they lie about every damn fact.

12:04Ben Meiselas:Here play this clip.

12:05JD Vance:He's trying to get his hands on everything related to Donald Trump. He read all of Trump's phones. He read all of Trump's documents. Let's not forget, he went through Melania Trump's personal drawers, clothing, items of very personal to her. I mean, this is ridiculous, just ridiculous. This guy was totally out of control and I hope he's held accountable for it. It seems to me, show me the man and I'll show, I'll tell you the crime. I'll show you the crime.

12:29Ben Meiselas:And then Sean Hannity's like, yeah, Jack Smith took a beat down. No, he didn't. He really did not. Objectively, he did not take a beat down. And also, he was not permitted to talk about the Mar-a-Lago case, which notice Josh Hawley talks about while on state regime media. But the Republicans and Judge Eileen Cannon, Trump's stooge judge, is blocking Jack Smith from addressing it. And Jack Smith's, I want to talk about the Mar-a-Lago case, but they prevent him from speaking. Then they whine about gag orders against them, which aren't happening. They're just, it's just so freaking phony. Here, play this clip.

13:07Oh, and Jack Smith, well, the disgraced federal prosecutor now infamous for his failed witch hunt against Donald Trump. He got grilled today on Capitol Hill. It was a beat down. Take a look. But you're unbiased. You have no personal feelings.

13:29You make me want to throw up in my mouth. And then some, as it turns out, Smith.

13:34Ben Meiselas:And then they bring on Kash Patel and Sean Hannity's like, you know, in less than two years, Kash, you got all 10 of the FBI's most wanted under Biden. They had four in four years. Well, you realize what Kash Patel is doing? He's changed. This is what they do. Everything they do is a fraud. So with the most wanted list, what the FBI is doing is right before they catch somebody, they put that person on the FBI most wanted list and then they catch them. But they rig the list based on who they're about to arrest. So they just make up people on the list right before they were saying, we got them. So they'll put someone on the list and like 33 minutes later, they arrest the person.

14:18Ben Meiselas:And so they make up basically a fake FBI most wanted list. everything they do, everything they do is a fraud. And meanwhile, you have Kash Patel partying at Alina Habba's wedding with a guy who the FBI viewed as a double agent, unreliable, confidential informant. And FN, Kash Patel's partying with dude. Here's what Kash Patel has to say. Play this clip over here. This FBI does, thanks to President Trump. In less than two years, you got all 10 of the FBI's most wanted in four years, Joe Biden, his FBI director, they had weaponized the agency. Look at that. They had four in four years, not 10. And you did it.

14:59I mean, honestly, I tip my hat to you and all the guys, rank and file FBI guys, we appreciate it. FBI Director Cash Patel. Thank you.

15:09Ben Meiselas:And lastly, I want to share with you this very powerful ad by Sherrod Brown, former senator of Ohio. He's running again against John Husted, a MAGA Republican extremist. Watch how powerful this is. Here, play this clip. Listen to this shit. People living in poverty are just not very, they're not very experienced at navigating the real world, right? I remember talking to one young lady who said, well, I don't really know how money works at a grocery store because she grew up and has lived all of her adult life using snap cards to buy groceries. And so you literally have to teach people how to budget.

15:51Fuck that. I'm Sherrod Brown and I approve this message.

15:55Ben Meiselas:There you have it, everybody. Let me know what you think. Hit subscribe. Let's get to 7 million subscribers. Get your copy of WTF America, the book I wrote with my brothers. It comes out October 20th. Pre-order it now. Thanks for watching. We appreciate you. Hey, if you want the full story, how democracy got here and how we take it back, pre-order our new book, WTF America, today. Just scan the QR code or click the link in the description. Let's do this.