Trump Flees to Race Event as White House Collapses

23 Aug 2026 · 24 min · 10 chapters

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In short

The episode argues that Donald Trump is using a bizarre IndyCar race in Washington, D.C. as a distraction from economic damage, a worsening Iran conflict, and a Canada–U.S. trade fight. It claims the White House is in “utter chaos,” with resignations and political panic ahead of midterms. Guests/featured figures: Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy (defends tariffs, attacks Canada’s “single payer” system, says Canada can’t win a war); House Speaker Mike Johnson (says Republicans can win even if Iran war continues; proposes making IndyCar annual; claims “beer on the mall”); Tim Scott (responds to questions about whether tariffs crush families); Doug Burgum (claims D.C. residents want more races); Iran Foreign Minister Aragchi (calls sanctions “bullying” and repetitive plans); Canadian premiers Doug Ford (calls Trump untrustworthy; “punch the bully”) and David Eby (warns about becoming a U.S. colony).

Notable examples

Hormuz oil disruption driving fuel prices; Iran mocking “frozen” imports; claims of reduced right-wing coverage of Canada’s unified response.

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

Chapters

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Trump's Distraction at IndyCar Event

0:00 to 0:36

Explore how Trump's IndyCar event serves as a distraction from national issues.

“A very sickly Donald Trump just arrived at that very bizarre IndyCar racing event that he's throwing in Washington, D.C.”

Chaos in the White House

0:36 to 2:08

Discussion of the chaos in the White House and Trump's messaging to Canada.

“Let me show you incredible things happening with Trump's hair, as Aaron Rupar says.”

MAGA Responses and Rhetoric

2:08 to 4:13

Analysis of MAGA officials' rhetoric regarding Canada and Iran.

“Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to try to attack Canada.”

Capitol's Beer Sales and Mockery

4:13 to 5:28

Discussion on the implications of beer sales at the Capitol and how it's mocked internationally.

“But I believe our allied nations are going to assist in the next phase as we'll get this finished.”

Impact of Trump's Tariffs

5:28 to 8:00

Evaluating the consequences of Trump's tariffs on American families and businesses.

“Day drinking in D.C., what could go wrong?”

Media Coverage and Canadian Response

8:00 to 11:15

Investigating the lack of right-wing media coverage on Canada's unified response to Trump.

“Doug Burgum claims that the residents of D.C.”

Doug Ford's Trust Issues with Trump

14:05 to 15:26

Hear Premier Doug Ford's critical view on Trump's trustworthiness and approach.

“Let me just show you just so you can see for yourself what Premier Doug Ford of Ontario said.”

Canadian Politics and Trade Relations

15:26 to 16:44

Discussion on how Canadian leaders react to Trump's policies affecting trade.

“anything that we have here in Ontario, everything's on the table.”

Impact of Oil Prices on Americans

16:44 to 18:09

Explore the effects of rising oil and diesel prices on everyday Americans.

“They did it with their AIS switched off.”

Voter Sentiment in Ohio

18:09 to 19:35

Analyzing the shifting political landscape and voter dissatisfaction in Ohio.

“afford groceries, can't afford basic necessities, having their health care ripped away.”
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Transcript

Automatic transcript. May contain errors.

0:00Ben Meiselas:A very sickly Donald Trump just arrived at that very bizarre IndyCar racing event that he's throwing in Washington, D.C. for himself to try to distract from the economic catastrophe he has unleashed here in the United States, to distract from the never-ending war that the United States is losing each and every day even more against Iran, to try to distract that Canada is united in the trade war that Trump initiated, and Canada will be inflicting massive pain on the United States. So here's Donald Trump arriving this morning at the IndyCar event. Let me show you incredible things happening with Trump's hair, as Aaron Rupar says.

0:40Ben Meiselas:Play this clip.

0:51Ben Meiselas:We did have a sighting of Natalie Harp with Eric Trump this morning. You can see them together. play this clip.

1:12Ben Meiselas:And then you have Donald Trump's Qatari Air Force One doing a flyover as Donald Trump did a lap around the IndyCar track in Washington, D.C. as this is what they've turned the nation's capital into while the American people are just like, we can't afford our groceries. We can't afford fuel. We can't afford gas. We can't afford diesel. This is what you're doing on Sunday. Here, play this clip.

2:07Ben Meiselas:And then as the White House is in utter chaos, Donald Trump sent out his MAGA stooges like Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to try to attack Canada. Here, play this clip of what Duffy says. Play this clip. Worse. And the fact that we provide their security for them and they take advantage of us. I think President Trump was the first one to go, you know what? That's not the kind of relationship that friends should have. And so the president's calling them out. I think you're going to see Mark Carney come to the table very, very quickly because it's going to be devastating for his country. Well, nothing on the table as far as talks are concerned.

2:41A lot of finger pointing. So we'll keep tracking that. I want to get to you more from Transportation

2:44Ben Meiselas:Secretary Sean Duffy while at this IndyCar event. So freaking strange here. Play this clip. back and forth. We're great trading partners, right? But Canada gets the benefit of trading with the U.S. way more than the U.S. gets the benefit of trading with Canada. It's a country that doesn't have a military. It has a country that has a single payer health care system that's failing. They have record high youth in Asia rates. And so to think that they're going to go to war with Donald Trump and actually win that war with the U.S., I think it's foolish on their part. And we heard from MAGA Mike Johnson this morning, the MAGA Republican Speaker of the House, And he was asked by state regime media Fox.

3:22Ben Meiselas:So can Republicans hold control of the house? If the Iran war still going on, watch Maga Mike over here clearly terrified play this clip. Can Republicans go win and hold control of the house if the Iran war is still going on in November? Absolutely. It would be helpful to get that thing resolved in the next 73 days. But if it's not, we're still going to win. People know we took the head off the snake. We had to make sure the The largest state sponsor of terrorism does not have a nuclear weapon. That was an objective of every administration for the last 50 years. Donald Trump did it. And now we've got to resolve that.

3:56I think we're going to get into a new phase here very soon. But we still have oil being transported through the straighter Hormuz. We had 80 million barrels or something, I think, on Tuesday alone. So we're getting the job done step by step. You can't trust the Iranians on the other side of the negotiating table. That's the challenge. But I believe our allied nations are going to assist in the next phase as we'll get this finished.

4:17Ben Meiselas:But Maga Mike does have this pitch to the American people. You ready for this? If you vote Republicans, you'll get more IndyCar racing, everybody, that they can make this an annual event. Don't you want this to become an annual event? I kid you not. That's what Maga Mike said. Let's play this clip. I want to bring it back next year. I want to make it an annual event. So we'll see if we can. Is that a possibility? If we have any say in it, we'll be in the majority. I'll be pushing for that. All right. House Speaker Mike Johnson. Thank you very much for joining. And then Sean Duffy says, what's really amazing is that what Donald Trump's been able to achieve for the first time in Washington, D.C., is that they're going to let the people, the vendors sell beer on the Washington Mall, that you could drink beer in the Capitol.

4:59Ben Meiselas:How amazing. Donald Trump did it. That's what he promised, right, everybody? That was the big campaign promise, beer in Washington, D.C. I don't know what you're talking about. Just go to a restaurant and drink beer. Just go watch IndyCar somewhere else. What the heck is this? Here, play this clip. I think this is better. The view of the Capitol behind us, they can sell beer. By the way, this is the first time they're going to sell beer on the mall of the Capitol. Food, festive, car race. So I think this venue is probably better than the original thought anyway. Day drinking in D.C., what could go wrong?

5:31I know that Bud has said he felt a bit of divine intervention as he was walking these streets in the cold of January and trying to come up with this. There's a lot of logistical stuff.

5:39Ben Meiselas:I mean, they're totally mocking us in Iran right now. By the way, they're mocking the United States everywhere. You have Iran's parliament leader, M.B. Galabov, posting the following. Importing frozen meat to fix meat prices, okay, that might work. What's the plan for bonds? Import frozen yields, frozen homebuyers for housing, frozen paychecks for wages. A frozen foreign policy delivers a frozen economy. The only thing still moving, the Iran boomerang. Mocking Donald Trump for undercutting ranchers in the United States, bringing in foreign beef, frozen foreign beef and charging 25, I guess, in Donald Trump's own head, he's going to do this because he's not saying where the beef is coming from or who the deal is even with.

6:21Ben Meiselas:But we're going to bring in frozen beef and undercut our ranchers here by charging 25 % less. What the hell is Donald Trump even talking about, folks? And then you have more MAGA stooges this morning being trotted out by the Trump regime. You have Tim Scott. He was asked by Kristen Welker on Meet the Press. So, You know, Susan Collins, Republican senator for Maine, says that Donald Trump's Canada tariffs, it's going to be crushing on American families. Is she right? Watch his idiotic response play this clip. But I'm talking about costs, Senator. I'm talking about costs. And American families are also paying more in the wake of President Trump's taxes and tariffs.

6:59In fact, Senator Susan Collins of Maine said this. if the administration proceeds with these tariffs, they will increase costs for Maine families, as most businesses will have no choice but to pass on the tariffs to their customers through higher prices. Is she right, particularly given that we have seen that in the past, given the president's tariffs? Well, Kristen, you're talking about a really important issue of cost. Let's look back at the original sin of cost in America in the last eight years. It goes to Joe Biden, who took inflation up 21 % while he was president. Hold on, Senator. President Trump's been in office for two years.

7:41Let me finish. President Trump has brought inflation from a sky-high 21 % over the Biden years down to under 5 % and right now hovering near 4%. Wait, inflation was at 3 % when President Biden left office. It's at 3.4 % right now. And the average household has paid$1 ,000 more in 2025 due to the tariffs, Senator. Let's not forget. Let's not forget the truth. The truth tells a great story.

8:12Ben Meiselas:And then Doug Burgum, the bizarre, bootlicking, sycophantic interior secretary who framed a two-time Olympic canoeist, David Hearn, and said that he was the one who screwed up the reflecting pool when it was Trump and Burgum and all of them. Doug Burgum claims that the residents of D.C. are begging the Trump regime, please, please, please. You know what we want? We want more races. Can you do one next year? How weird and pathetic are these people here? Let's play this clip right here. Mike Johnson, the speaker was just here and he said that you guys might try to do this again next year. Do you have anything to announce?

8:47Well, nothing to announce yet, but let's just say this is the perfect time of year to do it. Congress is on recess from an economic development for our capital city, hotels, restaurants, the people of Washington, D.C., the greater capital region all love this idea. This is a really positive thing. And if you look at the smiles on the faces of the crowd, I haven't met anybody who said, please, everybody I've met is saying, please, please do this again next year.

9:12Ben Meiselas:Well, this is we're also hearing from Iran's foreign minister, Aragchi, this morning, who is again calling out the Trump regime for their tactics. This is what Iran's foreign minister, Araki says, crushing sanctions are all proposed under different titles. It's the same bullying that we've always seen in American policies. To use a term, it's like repeating a movie that they keep broadcasting. We know it by heart. We know how to deal and counter it. The fact that they went from military operations and saying, we will strike, we will do this and that, back to bringing back the same old plans shows that they are truly desperate.

9:46Ben Meiselas:And in front of the great nation of Iran. No solution comes to their mind. So they keep bringing back repetitive plans to the scene. They should know that there is no way but to talk with respect to the people of Iran and a solution based on justice and dignity. They must put all of these paths aside and return to the path that has been tested before. The Iranian nation responds to the language of dignity with respect. Well, how do the White House staffers respond to the language of Donald Trump? Well, as we've been reporting, it seems like every day now another top White House official has announced their resignation before the midterms.

10:23Ben Meiselas:Politico reports the writing is on the wall. Trump's staff departs ahead of possible turmoil. One top White House advisor says people are seeing the writing on the wall and thinking Republicans probably aren't going to have the House, might not have the Senate. Is it worth taking these hits? And how does that hurt my prospects when I go into the private sector? How does it hurt your private sector prospects? Y 'all are a bunch of war criminals who also covered up child sex trafficking rings. Accountability is coming for you. Just think about what they're saying. How are we going to do in the private sector?

10:53Ben Meiselas:I don't know. I'm hopeful that you will be subpoenaed and you will be brought to justice for your horrific atrocities and crimes against humanity. And I will do whatever is in my power at this network to make sure that transparency and accountability is brought. And we've got a lot of reporters here who are making that their top mission right now as well. With all of this, I think it's just so important that we have a healthy and accurate media diet. There's so much disinformation, so much propaganda out there. I mean, you have a trillion dollar media network of right wing oligarchs who are out there trying to poison the minds of the American people.

11:30Ben Meiselas:So I was just looking. I wanted to see the coverage. How is it being covered that Canada is united, that the premiers of the different provinces are working with Prime Minister Carney as one Canadian force to push back hard against the United States? Prime Minister Carney says, we are at war against the United States and we are going to win this war. So how is this being reported? Would it shock you that very little right-wing media in the United States is covering how Canada is fighting back and Canada's response? So you have the premier of Ontario, right-wing premier from the Conservative Party, Doug Ford, says Trump can't be trusted whatsoever with anything.

12:12Ben Meiselas:He's a bully who will take and take and take. You got to punch the bully. Did any right-wing media cover that in the United States? No, quite literally zero right-wing media covered that in the United States. It was covered entirely by left-wing in the media by the United States. And I can get that readout from the Blindspot from the Blindspot Ground news feature. Also, what about the left-wing NDP leader, David Eby, who is the premier of British Columbia? Let's take a look at how that was being reported, where he says, Americans revealed their true nature during the negotiations by Trump or the so-called negotiations, David Eby says.

12:56Ben Meiselas:Left-wing covered it, the center covered it, very little right-wing coverage. Like of all of the coverage, only 9 % of this came from right-wing sources. By the way, it's why I get a lot of this information from Ground News. I partner with Ground News to just be able to see, do I have any blind spots? They are the best tool for me to stay objective with my reporting. Ground News is an app and a website that pulls in thousands of articles from around the world and organizes them by story to show you how is the left covering this? How's the center? How's the right framing issues differently? It also tells you how's independent media covering this?

13:32Ben Meiselas:Is it being reported by a corporate media conglomerate? And so I was able to do the analysis that I just shared with you using Ground News to see that very little right wing sources were actually talking about Canada fighting back. I believe so much in Ground News. We're offering you 40 % off the same vantage plan that I use for my research. So just go click the the link in the description or go to ground.news slash MTN or scan the QR code up here. It's one of the biggest discounts they've ever offered. If you want to support this channel and get a clearer understanding of the world, try out Ground News.

14:08Ben Meiselas:Let me just show you just so you can see for yourself what Premier Doug Ford of Ontario said. Play this clip. President Trump, he can't be trusted. Simple as that. He changes the deal. He keeps moving the goalpost. You know, let me tell you about president trump president trump is a type of person that would steal your lunch money the first day he'd steal the toque off your head the second day and the third day he'd steal your running shoes he is not to be trusted whatsoever we need to stay united but folks more from premier doug ford right here let's play it in manufacturing sector and we never started this fight but i can assure you we're gonna win this fight we're gonna be united team canada we're gonna use every single tool we have here in Ontario and hopefully the rest of the premiers feel the same way.

14:57We have to use every tool in our toolbox to make sure as Donald Trump is trying to inflict pain on every Canadian that we inflict pain right back until he realizes that we're his number one customer in the world and yes they're our number one customer but we have to make sure that we look at every single asset that we have, no matter if it's a critical minerals or if it's a steel or if it's a nickel, anything that we have here in Ontario, everything's on the table.

15:31Ben Meiselas:And here is what David Eby, the Premier of British Columbia, had to say. Let's play this clip right here. Feedback to them and we will support that effort. There will be pain involved and we will work with the federal government in mitigating that as best we can. But it is nothing compared to what we would face in the long term becoming a colony of the U.S. Now, going back to what's the United States response? How are Trump cabinet members behaving right now with all of this going down? Well, you have, you know, again, Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy. And Sean Duffy is like, I just want to be really clear.

16:09Ben Meiselas:What we're seeing today in Washington, D.C., with this great IndyCar race, it would not be possible if it wasn't for our dear leader, if it wasn't for Donald Trump and the right wing oligarchs here play this clip. None of this would happen without Donald Trump. You need a president who's going to say, you know, Shannon, I want to celebrate this country's birthday. I trust the Penske's. I trust my cabinet. We're actually going to do it. And because the president leaned in, did the executive order and helped clear the decks for everyone to get the job done, the permits filed. That's why it's happening, because we have a president who loves sporting events like this.

16:44Well, and Interesting.

16:45Ben Meiselas:I mean, meanwhile, in the real world, I mean, you can see that in the Strait of Hormuz, only two oil tankers are confirmed to have transited the Strait of Hormuz via the Southern Corridor, the Oman Corridor on Friday night. They did it with their AIS switched off. And so you can track these tankers. And we know that there's not a lot of movement through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran controls the Strait of Hormuz. The Houthis have, by and large, control of the Red Sea, at least as it relates to the Saudi tankers. I mean, we're seeing oil prices hitting all-time high, diesel prices reaching all-time highs right now in the United States, precisely because oil's not getting out of the Strait of Hormuz, and that is impacting the price of oil right now, and that's impacting the price we pay at the pump.

17:34Ben Meiselas:The price of crude is heading towards$100 a barrel. It's in the 90s right now. The price of diesel heading to$200 a barrel. The crack spread for diesel is about$102 a barrel at this point. Record highs there. And we're seeing the price that you're paying at the pump, nationwide average here in the United States,$4.11, but it's probably more where you are. And that keeps going higher. The price of diesel,$5.57 nationwide, and that continues to go up here. Again, Americans are struggling, can't afford things right now, can't afford rent, can't afford groceries, can't afford basic necessities, having their health care ripped away.

18:13Ben Meiselas:And the Trump regime is like, you know, we're doing beer at the IndyCar race and the American people like, look, we can like IndyCar. That's fine. We could like UFC. That's fine. We like sports. Stop making these things into weird propaganda rituals and trying to distract the American people. The American people know what's taking place. And I'll direct your attention to this as well. This is from New York Times this morning. Angry Ohio voters could turn their state purple again. A governor's race, which we've been covering a lot, a Senate contest, and enough congressional seats can swing control of the House are all in play in Ohio, where voters of all stripes express a deep sense of powerlessness.

18:54Ben Meiselas:Across Ohio, a state that previously was a battleground state, but receded from that status. Now you'll see public forums packed, residents raging about data center projects. In grocery store aisles, shoppers lament to cashiers how little they can get for$50. In the soybean and cornfields, farmers express anxiety and pessimism. The basics of life and business have gotten punishingly expensive, and many have come to doubt that relief is coming anytime soon. Yeah. Donald Trump and his regime said we were going to fix these things, but they were the ones who created the problems to begin with. And they're making the problems worse.

19:35Ben Meiselas:And people are waking up and seeing that right now. Anyway, thanks for watching, everybody. We appreciate you for watching. Hit subscribe. Let's get to 7 million subscribers. Now get your copy of WTF America, the book I wrote with me and my brothers. Thank you all so much for watching. 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.

From the publisher

MeidasTouch host Ben Meiselas reports on Donald Trump fleeing to the bizarre Washington DC Freedom250 IndyCar event on Sunday as the White House is collapsing.

Go to https://Ground.News/MTN to cut through misinformation, critically analyze the news shaping our lives and hold the media accountable. Save 40% off unlimited access to Ground News with my link or scan the QR code on screen.

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