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Jan. 7, 2026 - The Charlie Kirk Show
50:10
Minnesota, Root of All Evil?
Transcriber: nvidia/parakeet-tdt-0.6b-v2, sat-12l-sm, and large-v3-turbo
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Sanctions and Venezuelan Oil 00:14:32
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All right, welcome to the Charlie Kirk Show.
It is January 7th.
Lots going on.
We are going to throw right here at the top to the press conference that Caroline Levitt is leading and the White House press briefing room.
It's the first one since the deposition of Maduro in Venezuela.
So we're actually getting a lot of information.
Let's go ahead and throw back to Caroline Levitt.
Maximum leverage over the interim authorities in Venezuela right now, and the president has made it very clear that this is a country within the United States, the Western Hemisphere, close by the United States, that is no longer going to be sending illegal drugs to the United States of America.
It's no longer going to be sending and trafficking illegal people in criminal cartels to kill American citizens as they have in the past.
And the president is fully deploying his Peace Through Strength foreign policy agenda.
So we're continuing to be in close coordination with the interim authorities and their decisions are going to continue to be dictated by the United States of America.
Just one follow-up when you talk about that leverage there.
Has the Venezuelan government fully committed to turning over its oil to the United States indefinitely and what happens if they do not?
Well as you saw the president announced last night, this was a deal.
This was a deal made by the president and his team with the Venezuelan interim authorities.
This will benefit both the American people and the Venezuelan people.
And Secretary Wright and the Department of Energy are working with the interim authorities and also with the private oil industry to execute on this historic energy deal that's not only good for the United States, but it's also going to revive the prosperity, the safety, the security of both the United States and Venezuela as well.
Following up on the oil part of this, 30 to 50 million barrels of oil, how exactly is that going to work?
Getting it out of Venezuela into the United States?
Yes.
That's exactly right.
So as you know, Ed, as the president announced last night, this was the sanctioned oil that was basically just sitting in barrels, sitting on ships because of the effective quarantine of the United States of America.
And the interim authorities have agreed to release that oil to the United States.
So it will be arriving here at home very soon.
The United States government has already begun marketing Venezuelan crude oil in the Globet marketplace for the benefit of the United States, engage the world's leading commodity marketers, key banks to execute and provide financial support for these crude oil and crude product sales.
All proceeds from the sale of Venezuelan crude oil and products will first settle in U.S.-controlled accounts at globally recognized banks to guarantee the legitimacy and integrity of the ultimate distribution of proceeds and those funds will be dispersed for the benefit of the American people and the Venezuelan people at the discretion of the United States government.
Sounds like it requires a lot of private sector engagement and agreement in the oil industry and the banking industry.
That's right.
There's a lot of private sector engagement that's happening right now.
As you know, Secretary Wright, our energy secretary who's heading up this big project, is in Florida today meeting with some of these oil executives.
And as we confirmed earlier, they will also be at the White House later this week.
So they are absolutely eager to invest.
They're eager about these opportunities.
And Secretary Wright is a very well-knowledgeable guy when it comes to oil and energy, and he's the perfect man for the job.
Another quarter of the world here, real quick, on the other hand.
Go ahead.
Go ahead.
So just to follow up on the oil, 30 to 50 million barrels is an initial trauma, if you will, and then what happens after that?
I won't get ahead of the plans that the president and his team are currently speaking with the interim authorities about, but rest assured, there is a long-term plan here.
Secretary Rubio and the entire team are working diligently on it, and this is just sort of the first action that you all are seeing.
Caroline, Ed.
Thanks, John.
So in order to get these oil companies to invest billions in Venezuela, how will the U.S. reassure that their workers will be safe in Venezuela?
Could there be troops involved?
At this point in time, as you know, there are no troops on the ground in Venezuela.
The president, of course, reserves the right to use the United States military if necessary.
It's not something he wants to do.
Diplomacy is always the first option, as you saw.
He tried that with Nicolas Maduro, but unfortunately, he was an illegitimate dictator and an unserious person.
And so President Trump authorized this law enforcement operation, and now Nicolas Maduro is sitting in a prison cell in New York.
So certainly the President is going to do what's in the best interests of the American people, and that includes workers from our energy and oil industry at the time.
With that meeting tomorrow, what is the message the president is going to give to the oil executives and what does it want to hear?
Well, the meeting is on Friday, and it's just a meeting to discuss, obviously, the immense opportunity that is before these oil companies right now.
Caroline.
Stephen.
Thank you, Caroline, and congratulations again.
Thank you.
The New Yorker had a story yesterday on the vice president, and it questioned his, quote, notable absence on Venezuela.
And the sub-headline asked, was the vice president's exclusion from the operation in Venezuela an expression of this anti-interventionist ideology or political calculation?
Would you be able to discuss the vice president's role in Venezuela policy?
I did see that report in the New Yorker, and quite frankly, I laughed out loud because it's very clear it's a fake report that's trying to sow distrust and division amongst the president and his team.
Let me just be very clear.
The vice president has been involved in all policy.
He is the right-hand man of the president on all policy matters, including Venezuela policy.
He was, of course, read-in and deeply involved in this operation from the very beginning.
And he was present on the night of the operation via secure communication at a different location as to not damage the operational secrecy of this mission that was so incredibly important to ensure that this mission could be carried out successfully without endangering our troops.
Caroline?
Sure.
The U.S. seized a tanker recently.
Russia specifically asked the United States not to seize that tanker.
Does this action risk a larger conflict with Russia?
I believe you're referring to the Bella 1 tanker that was seized this morning.
The Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security, in coordination with the Department of War, did announce that seizure this morning for violations of U.S. sanctions.
I've spoken about the enforcement of our sanctions policy at the podium prior to the new year.
And this administration is going to fully enforce the sanction policy of the United States.
The vessel this morning was seized in the North Atlantic pursuant to a warrant issued by a U.S. federal court after being tracked.
And this was a Venezuelan shadow fleet vessel that has transported sanctioned oil.
And the United States of America, under this president, is not going to tolerate that.
I would also just add the vessel had a judicial seizure order in the crew, so that means the crew is now subject to prosecution for any applicable violation of federal law, and they will be brought to the United States for such prosecution if necessary.
Kelly.
Caroline, happy new year to you.
Thank you.
I'd like to talk to you about a couple of things real quickly.
The first question about the Venezuelan people.
As you know, there's some 8 million Venezuelans here, some of them celebrating in the streets.
There are Venezuelans on the ground who are concerned about their safety.
What does the Trump administration understand that they will be secure throughout this transition?
I think the fact that this president actually followed through on the long-held promise of the United States of America, the bipartisan promise to take down the illegitimate Maduro regime, should give assurance to the Venezuelan people and also Venezuelan Americans who fled this communist regime for a better life here at home that this is a president who is serious about taking down illegitimate regimes and who is also serious about securing the security of the United States of America,
including the Venezuelan American people.
And I would just add that this is something that not just Republicans and President Trump have talked about for a very long time, but it is also something that Democrats have advocated for.
In 2020, Chuck Schumer said that at the time, President Trump had not brought an end to the Maduro regime.
The Maduro regime is more powerful today and more entrenched today than it was when the president began.
Now you hear Chuck Schumer out there saying this is reckless.
The American people and the Venezuelan people should be in fear.
But this is something that Chuck Schumer has long advocated for.
Senator Chris Van Holland, same thing, had said that the United States is going to use its leverage and influence to push for negotiations to transition to the truly elected leader.
This was under President Biden.
We know Maduro and his cronies don't want to go quietly into the night.
The U.S. needs to work to ratchet up the pressure.
Now, Senator Holland says it's an illegal act of war to get rid of Nicholas Maduro.
So the hypocrisy is really astounding here.
And thank you for giving me an opportunity to point it out, Caitlin.
I mean, sorry.
Go ahead.
Yes.
So there are reports that the administration is demanding that Venezuela cut ties with China, Russia, Iran, and Cuba.
Can you confirm?
I'm sorry.
Reports that the administration has essentially demanded that Venezuela cut ties with China, Russia, Iran, and Cuba.
Can you confirm that?
Well, those alleged demands were made in a classified briefing by Secretary Rubio, and I know that there's a lot of leaks coming out of these classified briefings, so I'm not going to confirm or deny or get into what the Secretary has said in classified settings to members of Congress.
But I think that the administration has made it quite clear to the interim authorities in Venezuela that this is the Western Hemisphere and American dominance is going to continue under this president.
Well, that's something that's currently being actively discussed by the President and his national security team.
And I would point out that the acquisition of Greenland by the United States is not a new idea.
This is something that presidents dating back to the 1800s have said is advantageous for America's national security.
The president has been very open and clear with all of you and with the world that he views it in the best interest of the United States to deter Russian and Chinese aggression in the Arctic region.
And so that's why his team is currently talking about what a potential purchase would look like.
Caroline, Caroline.
I know that past presidents and past leaders have often ruled things out.
They've often been very open about ruling things in and basically broadcasting their foreign policy strategy to the rest of the world, not just to our allies, but most egregiously to our adversaries.
That's not something this president does.
All options are always on the table for President Trump as he examines what's in the best interests of the United States.
But I will just say that the president's first option always has been diplomacy.
Again, look at Venezuela.
He tried ardently to strike a good deal with Nicolas Maduro, and he told him, I will use the United States military and you will not like it if you don't take such a deal.
And look at what happened.
With respect to Iran, the president said the same thing, right?
He tried to have serious interest in a deal with the Iranian regime with respect to their nuclear capabilities.
They were not interested, and so Operation Midnight Hammer happened, which was another remarkable military success under the leadership of this commander-in-chief.
So the president keeps his options open, but diplomacy is always the first.
Very quickly, just one additional follow-up on that.
Does the president recognize Denmark's ownership as part of the kingdom?
Because there have been some Republican senators questioning the claim that Denmark has to Greenland.
Is the President in that camp with them questioning the legality of I have not heard him question it personally, but you're welcome to ask him yourself next time you have the chance.
Sanctions are being lifted for Venezuela.
We've got to lift some sanctions to let the oil come in.
Can you talk about that just very briefly?
Yes, so the U.S. is selectively rolling back sanctions to enable the transport and the sale of Venezuelan crude and oil products to the global markets, yes.
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Diplomatic Leverage in Venezuela 00:07:27
Caroline, Annie.
Thank you.
There are some reports from Venezuela that the country's leaders are cracking down on the population, specifically suppressing public expression of support for Maduro's ouster.
Is that kind of behavior consistent with what the president wants to see, how the president wants to see the leaders take on the population?
It would not be consistent, and I'll let the president's national security team speak further on that.
I know they are well aware and tracking.
Kelly?
Two questions.
One on the seas vessels, the Bella the Sophia.
Can you tell us where they're headed, what happens to any existing cargo?
And you reference personnel potentially facing prosecution.
That's one thing I'd like to follow on.
And then on the Bella.
Yes, okay.
And on Annie's question, if I can also ask, does the administration believe that the interim regime should release all political dissidents and prisoners and return to taint Americans?
That's not a question that I've personally spoken about to the president with, so I will let him answer that question.
I don't want to make new policy at this podium today with respect to Venezuela.
With respect to the two ships that you mentioned, I spoke with you about the Bella 1.
There was another vessel this morning, the SOFIA, that in coordination with the Department of War, the Department of Homeland Security apprehended it.
This is a stateless, sanctioned, dark fleet motor tanker, and this occurred without incident.
This vessel was operating in international waters and conducting illicit activities in the Caribbean Sea.
The U.S. Coast Guard is escorting the SOFIA to the United States for final disposition.
To answer your question, Kelly, directly.
This was through Operation Southern Spear.
The Department of War is unwavering in its mission to crush illicit activity in the Western Hemisphere.
And as the President has repeatedly stated, we're going to defend our homeland and restore security and strength across the Americas.
Sasha.
Dasha.
Caroline, thank you and having a year.
Thanks, Duke.
You've repeatedly at the podium called the current leadership in Venezuela interim leadership.
There are Republicans and Democrats alike that say they want to see elections in Venezuela.
The president has said it's too soon to do that right now.
But is there a timeline for elections in Venezuela?
Is he committed to seeing that this year, for example?
You just said the president has answered that question.
So I will reiterate what the president has said a few times now to all of you, which is that it's too premature and too early to dictate a timetable for elections in Venezuela right now.
Caroline, you just talked to Jackie about diplomacy first, right?
The Danes have repeatedly said they are willing to collaborate on all of the concerns that the president has, whether it's more troops, mineral rights, intelligence sharing.
Why does the president feel he needs to own Greenland and not and put out the threat of military action when this could be done through diplomacy?
Well, who said diplomacy isn't taking place behind the scenes, Dasha?
I mean, the president is interested in diplomacy.
His national security team is as well.
And of course, he's always willing to pick up the phone for everybody and hear out their concerns.
But the president is the president of the United States of America, and he's always going to be very clear about what he views as being in our nation's best interest.
Reagan.
Thanks, Caroline.
I have a question for you on Venezuela, and then I'd love to ask you about Minnesota and Tim Walz.
Sure.
On Venezuela, I'm wondering, does the administration hope to start sending more Venezuelan migrants back home or have them self-deport if the situation in the country improves?
As far as I'm concerned, the policies of the Trump administration and the Department of Homeland Security have not changed.
All those illegally present in the country are subject to deportation.
And I would just like to add how we got here.
The president was very clear on the campaign to the American public, and it's one of the many reasons they resoundingly re-elected him back to this office, that he was not only going to crush foreign drug cartels, but that he was not going to stand by and watch as the illegitimate Venezuelan regime was sending illegal criminals and gang members and rapists and murderers to our country, which happened to the tune of thousands under the previous administration and president.
And so there could be nothing more America first than this operation that took place last week.
And I would just remind all of you in this room that there were innocent Americans like Jocelyn Nungare who lost their lives at the hands of dangerous Venezuelan criminals who were sent here by the Maduro regime.
And that has been the president's North Star and guiding principle throughout his entire policy since January 20th.
Does the administration believe that Tim Walz potentially dropped out of the governor's race because he could be under criminal investigation?
I don't know if there's a criminal investigation.
If there was, I wouldn't be able to comment on it from up here, to be honest with you.
But I think Tim Walz probably dropped out of the race because he realizes he no longer has the support of the people of his own state, which is a remarkable downfall considering he was the number two on the Democrat Party's ticket just about a year ago.
When it comes to Minnesota, the fraud that we have seen, the wide-scale of fraud, is really remarkable.
It's egregious.
I would encourage every single journalist in this room to go to Minnesota and to cover it yourselves.
As for the Trump administration, we have officials who have been on the ground almost every day.
Secretary Noam was there yesterday.
Secretary Besson will be traveling there later this week to talk about the fraud and to do a roundtable on this very topic.
And I would just like to leave you with an update.
To date, the Department of Justice has charged 98 total defendants in several Medicaid fraud and related case programs.
64 were convicted, and 85 of the 98 charged were of Somali descent.
The GOJ has also issued over 1,700 subpoenas, executed over 130 search warrants, and they have now added more attorneys to their office there to absorb the case flow.
DHS is on the ground going door to door, conducting large-scale criminal and HSI investigations.
They have also sent approximately 2,000 agents to Minneapolis to assist with law enforcement and immigration enforcement.
As I said, Secretary Noam was on the ground yesterday.
The Department of Health and Human Services has also begun requiring a justification and photo evidence for all child care-related payments nationwide, and they required Minnesota to conduct a full audit of all child care centers.
They also froze $185 million in funding to Minnesota.
And Dr. Oz, who was just here, also notified Governor Walls they're going to begin auditing Medicaid recipients and deferring payments on claims based on waste, fraud, and abuse.
The Department of Labor is also conducting a targeted review of Minnesota's unemployment program.
Department of Agriculture requiring Minnesota to conduct recertification for SNAP recipients.
And HUD has launched investigations into the public housing.
SBA has also suspended nearly 7,000 borrowers amid suspected fraudulent activity.
So with all of that, rest assured, this is an all-hands-on-deck effort from the entire administration to get to the bottom of this and ensure that the ripping off of taxpayers in the state of Minnesota, and it won't just be Minnesota, it'll be any state across this country where fraud has taken place.
And we are protecting law-abiding, tax-paying American citizens.
Phil.
Thank you, Caroline.
Foreign Policy and Domestic Issues 00:06:48
Just to follow up on Greenland, there are treaties already on the books that give the United States access to the island.
They can construct and maintain military bases there.
We can house personnel on the island.
The U.S. has control of landings, takeoffs, anchorages, etc.
So, I'm curious if you could just spell out for the American public what specifically would the U.S. gain by taking control of Greenland that the U.S. doesn't already have access to right now.
More control over the Arctic region and ensuring that China and Russia and our adversaries cannot continue their aggression in this very important and strategic region.
And there would be many other benefits as well that, again, the President and his national security team are currently talking about.
Jeff, I'll give you another one.
A broad understand that question on foreign policy.
Are you concerned about increasing tensions with Russia because of the tanker seizures?
And how does the U.S. action in Venezuela impact the ongoing relationship with China and the President's relationship with President Xi?
I think the President has very open, honest, and good relationships with both President Putin of Russia and also President Xi of China.
He has spoken with them numerous times, as you know, since coming to office about a year ago, and I believe those personal relationships are going to continue.
But as for the President and the United States, he's going to enforce our policy that's best for the United States of America.
And with respect to these ships, seizures, that means enforcing the embargo against all dark fleet vessels that are illegally transporting oil and only legitimate commerce, to answer your question much earlier, Rachel, determined by the United States, is going to be permitted.
And that's the policy of this administration, and he's not afraid to implement it.
One more standby.
Just one more standback.
I'm just going to ask the last one.
I remember asking the president at the very beginning of his term if he was committed to Article 5 in NATO, and he said yes.
Has his stance on NATO or his commitment to NATO changed?
Did you see his statement earlier today?
He said, we will always be there for NATO, even if they are not there for us.
And I think that answers your question directly.
Yes.
Just to follow up on what Jeffrey was saying there, will the President commit that if any NATO members are attacked, the United States would be there?
Again, the President addressed this directly himself this morning after seeing the coverage from all of you in this room on television, and he made it very clear.
We're always going to be there for NATO, even if they have not done right by the United States of America.
And they have not, they have finally increased their defense spending at the request of this president, but it was only because of this president that they did that.
Caroline, we'll take a couple more.
Michael, go ahead.
Thank you, Caroline.
Happy New Year, and congratulations.
Two questions tonight.
One on health care, one on Mexico.
On health care, the president says he wants Republicans to be flexible on the Hyde Amendment in order to pass health care legislation.
What is the White House's message to pro-life voters who say federal funding for abortion goes against their values?
Well, the president did not change the administration's policy.
It was President Trump who signed an executive order protecting the Hyatt Amendment.
It's the Trump administration that has taken multiple actions on various fronts to ensure that taxpayer dollars are not funding the practice of abortion.
What the President was saying yesterday was Republicans, and frankly Democrats too, need to show a little bit more flexibility so we can actually get something done with respect to the issue of health care.
Republicans have amazing ideas.
The president himself, as we spoke about earlier, has launched this most favored nation drug pricing initiative, has cut good deals with big pharma.
He wants to see Republicans and Democrats too, if they're willing, codify those executive orders into law so that these good deals can remain and these prices can continue to be lowered long after this president and this dealmaker in chief is gone.
The president's talked a lot about health savings accounts and giving more money back to the health care consumer rather than to these giant insurance companies.
And he's been very outspoken and tough on them too.
And I think you'll see more and hear more from him directly on that issue.
So he wants to see Congress get something done with respect to health care and that was the point that he was driving home yesterday.
So Caroline, President Trump says the drug cartels are running Mexico.
What action does he need to see Mexico's president, Claudia Scheinbaum, take to prove that she's in control of that country and control of those cartels?
And does the White House believe she's able to do that without U.S. intervention?
Look, I think the President was speaking very candidly and frankly about the reality on the ground in Mexico.
I want to talk to you about the seas tanker, the Bella.
There were reports before this that Russia had sent a submarine to escort it.
Was there any engagement with that submarine?
And then was the deconfliction line of Russia used ahead of 48 Act?
Again, this was a Venezuelan shadow fleet vessel that has transported sanctioned oil.
The vessel was deemed stateless after flying a false flag and it had a judicial seizure order and that's why the crew will be subject to prosecution.
Mary Caroline, the president talking for the weekend has suggested that we be open to an operation there.
Should the president of Colombia be expecting delta force anytime soon and then have another one through California?
That would be a very unwise question for me to answer, to weigh into.
What's your next question?
On California, can you share any more about the fraud investigation?
President Senator Wesley, who's being investigated and where is it starting.
Again, this is going to be an all-hands-on-deck government-wide effort.
The president has directed all agencies across the board to look at federal spending programs in not just Minnesota, but also in the state of California to identify fraud and to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law all those who have committed it.
Take one more.
Sure.
Thank you.
Carolyn, yesterday was the five-year anniversary of January 6th.
Democrats and mainstream media continue to push their big lie that it was an insurrection and that police officers died that day.
The reality is that four Trump supporters died on January 6th and two women were killed by January 6th police.
Everybody knows Ashley Babbitt was shot in cold blood by Capitol Police Officer Michael Byrd, but there was another woman, her name was Roseanne Boyland from Georgia, and she was pepperballed, gassed, and ultimately brutally beaten with a stick by January 6th police officer Lila Morris.
The Biden administration and mainstream media lied and told Americans Roseanne Boyland died of a drug overdose on Capitol Steps.
Her family is now asking for an investigation.
Is the administration aware of the circumstances of her death and will there be an investigation finally?
Well, for an investigation, I will have to defer you to either the FBI or the Department of Justice, and I'm sorry to have to do that.
Breaking News and Product Promo 00:02:05
But with respect to all of the facts that you just laid out, the White House relished the opportunity yesterday to actually create a new website to share the facts with the American public, but also all those in this room.
We knew the media would be covering January 6th quite a bit because they think it's something that the American people are still believing their lies on.
They think it's something that still helps their case against this president.
Obviously not, or else he wouldn't have been re-elected in an overwhelming fashion in November of last year.
And so I would encourage everyone to take a look at that website.
It's quite well done.
And thank you all very much.
It's great to be back with you.
Thank you.
Massive amount of breaking news there.
That was the first White House press briefing that Caroline has done since the Maduro, I guess you would call it attack, a seizure, deposition.
Also, we've got two tankers that have been basically apprehended, boarded by U.S. military.
A lot of questions about that.
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Without further ado, I'm very excited to bring in our next guest, Senator Rick Scott from the great state of Florida.
Federal Funding and Refi Offers 00:11:24
It's good to have you back, Senator.
How have you been?
I've been great.
Happy New Year, Andrew.
It's going to be a great year.
I've never been so ready to turn the calendar over to the next year, I will tell you.
2025 was an absolute doozy.
But there is so much breaking news here, Senator.
You know, there's Greenland.
There was a shooting that I want to actually inform our audience about involving an ICE officer in Minneapolis.
As you know, we've been surging ICE DHS personnel, over 2,000 on the streets of Minneapolis and St. Paul.
Massive, massive reaction from the federal government.
It appears that it was a ramming and a shooting.
This is breaking news, a ramming and a shooting.
So, a lot of times, these citizen activists, these volunteers on the left, they will follow around ICE vehicles, trying to alert the public.
And sometimes they ram them.
And sometimes they try and get in their way.
Sometimes they play fast and loose with their own vehicle.
It appears, initial indications, we're waiting for more information here that that's what this was.
But, Senator, let's start there.
There was a House Oversight Committee hearing on the Somali fraud and the complicity within local politicians there covering it up.
Maybe they were getting political kickbacks.
What's your take of it?
You have run the state of Florida.
You know these processes.
You know how the bureaucracies work.
What's your reaction?
Well, I'm not surprised.
Number one, when I became governor of Florida January 2011, I started going agency by agency.
Now, my background is I'm a business guy.
And in business, you don't waste your money, right?
And you solve your customers' needs.
They don't want to pay you a little extra money because you wasted money or did stupid things.
So what I watched, agency by agency, there would be, they wouldn't worry about fraud against the agency.
They wouldn't worry about improper payments.
Look as free money, the way is the way so many people looked at it.
So I went agency by agency and fixed it.
Then we got all this free federal money.
It's free, by the way.
The attitude that many governors have is if the federal government's paying for it, up, it's free.
Doesn't cost you anything.
Right.
And so I watched it like after a hurricane.
People would say, well, if we just got it, you know, we can go get all this free federal money.
So I watched unbelievable fraud attempts with regard to debris pickup after hurricanes.
But that's just the tip of the iceberg.
Every government program, and especially federal programs, the oversight is pathetic.
It's horrible.
We have studies.
We know that there's, you know, hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud.
We know there's tens of billions of dollars worth of improper payments and we don't get the money back.
Right.
And then we know we know people lie, cheat, and steal.
And we're just sitting there and people say, well, it's free.
Why do you worry so much about this?
Well, we should worry about it because $38.5 trillion worth of debt.
Your interest rates are too high because of that.
Inflation is caused by all this wasteful spending.
And it's unfair.
It's not fair to the hard-working kid that's out there or a family that's out there busting their butt every day and then somebody else doesn't want to work.
So they take advantage of a state government, a local government, a federal government.
It's wrong.
Yeah, I mean, it keeps getting worse.
The deeper this rabbit hole goes, Senator, it looks like, you know, Keith Ellison, there was a leaked tape released of him that he was basically, you know, said he was going to cover up for these Somalis if they kind of gave them political kickbacks and he was going to, they were going to run cover for them.
There's multiple questions here.
I'm going to play David Marcus from Fox News.
He had a great take on it.
I want to get your reaction to it because we had Senator Ron Johnson on the show yesterday.
I know a friend and colleague of yours in the Senate who said that these systems are designed to fail.
They're designed to be looted.
They're designed to have wealth extracted from working class Americans, from the white man, however you want to look at it, to be given to marginalized communities.
I thought David Marcus made an incredible point here at 245.
This is not standard Tammany Hall patronage and kickbacks, right?
We've always had that.
That was meant to keep people in power.
That was not meant to be a massive redistribution of wealth.
What we're seeing here is a massive redistribution of wealth.
When these blue states allocate billions of dollars for marginalized communities and then fail to put in place any safeguards to stop theft, that's Marxism by fraud.
That's taking money from corporations, from rich people, saying we're going to send it over here.
We're not going to pay any attention to what's happening to it.
That line sticks with me.
This is Marxism by fraud.
Is this intentional?
Is this in a blue state, in a blue setting?
Is this the outgrowth of a really sick ideology that is based on racial grievances, that's based on systemic oppression, that's based on CRT, all of these ideologies?
Is it intentionally lacking oversight?
Oh, absolutely.
I mean, think about it.
This is, look, most of the taxes are paid by hardworking middle-class Americans.
That's who's paying most of the taxes in this country, right?
And it's taken their money and giving it to somebody else.
And then the goal is the politicians that give all this away, oh, vote for them because they're giving you something for free because it's free.
Andrew, it doesn't cost anything.
So absolutely.
I mean, let me tell you a quick story.
I became governor of Florida.
I ran my whole campaign in 2010 on jobs.
I go to the agency that does employment right after I won.
I said, how's unemployment work?
They said, well, you have to, I said, she said, we're open six days a week because unemployed Floridians don't have enough time to apply during the week.
Really?
I said, if you get unemployment, you have to do anything.
They said, yeah, apply for it.
You have to apply for five jobs a week.
I said, you enforce that?
Well, no.
I said, if somebody was on unemployment and you found them have a job, would you accuse them of fraud and get the money back?
Well, no.
I said, what's your purpose here?
They said, our purpose is to get as many people on the program as we can, right?
Because we don't, you know, because we'll feel good.
Who cares?
It's free.
By the way, they explained to me that at the time, the federal government was paying the excess money.
So it's free.
It's federal money.
They don't care.
And they think that's just how they're going to get elected.
And look, I've been up here seven years.
They don't, you know, the people, they don't set up the programs to work.
They intentionally allow the fraud.
And then we have earmarks that waste money.
We have programs that have no accountability.
When I was governor of Florida, 4,000 lines of the budget, every line had a written purpose.
If you didn't meet your purpose, I vetoed your money.
We can't even, I mean, it's hard to even get a copy of the budget up here, let alone is there a purpose?
So we've got to get to the bottom of this.
This is unfair.
It's un-American.
It's infurious.
This has got to change.
Senator Scott, we have to get to the bottom of this, but it strikes me that the most immediate pressing thing, we're not going to get Minnesota to reform itself unless we can have a revolution in their state government.
But we've tried several times.
We're not going to get Wash.
Certainly we're not going to flip Washington.
We're not going to flip fraud in California anytime soon.
What's the step?
I guess, first of all, what could the administration do to have immediate accountability for this, not just in terms of arresting perpetrators, but I think a lot of people are asking, okay, we know the fraud is there.
Can we bring a stop to it in a quick way, even if that's something as simple as saying Minnesota doesn't get money anymore?
Yeah.
Well, they've cut off some of it.
So right now, one thing they should be doing, and they're focused on it, if you talk to Brooke Rollins, if you talk to Memba Naz, you talk to them, you know, they're going through program by program, and they're going to do everything they can.
That's number one.
Number two is we've got in Congress, we've got to pass measures to stop the fraud and make sure when we pass things, it doesn't allow the fraud to happen.
So what people like Ron Johnson and Mike Lee and Cynthia Lummis and I are doing, we keep coming up with ideas of how do you stop the waste.
Now, part of it is stop the earmarks.
Part of it is don't have programs that have no accountability.
That's part of it.
And then the other part is let's make sure that the executive branch has the ability to stop it.
And then we need to be doing investigations.
We need to do real investigations of each of these programs.
I've said for seven years that all this fraud with regard to debris pickup, and I can't get the Democrats to help me.
I'm on the right committee, but I have to have Democrat votes to get this done to fix the unbelievable fraud and debris pickup after hurricanes.
Jeez.
They don't want to do it.
Senator.
They don't care.
I'm just, I wonder if you're going to get maybe a John Fetterman in the Senate, if there's laws that need to be changed.
There's too little time here, and I actually have to ask you about Greenland.
I had no idea you spoke with representatives from Greenland as much as you did.
259.
Denmark is a great ally.
And I know every time I talk to them, I talk to their ambassador quite a bit.
They want to work with us.
So we'll see what happens there.
All right, Senator.
So you know these people.
I know exactly what's going to happen.
Yeah.
What is going to happen next?
When not left.
So I don't, you know, look, Denmark is a great ally.
I talked to their ambassador quite a bit.
Jesper's a good guy.
So I think Trump is trying to be strategic.
I don't believe we're going to be invading Greenland, but I do believe we're going to figure out how to work with Greenland to have more military assets on there so we can counteract what China and Russia is doing.
So something will happen there.
You never know exactly the process, the let's make a deal guy is going to do, but something will happen there to put us in a better position.
Yeah, I mean, we're going to have Pete Hegseth on in the second hour, Senator.
So we're going to ask him about Greenland.
So, and again, audience members, if you have questions, send them in.
Freedom at CharlieKirk.com.
They've sent in a lot.
They're just, they want, the Secretary of War is like, hey, any question, any question you want.
So it's fantastic.
Pete's done.
He's doing a great job.
Yeah, he's doing a phenomenal.
By the way, he was our most popular cabinet secretary, according to the Amfest drop poll.
So tells you something.
People love it.
Yeah.
I think Pete's doing a great job.
I just saw him.
We did a classified briefing on Venezuela just last hour.
Oh, well, shoot.
Now that you tell me that, I wish I could keep you for a couple more minutes.
Senator, thank you for joining.
We'll have you on again soon.
Thank you so much, sir.
Bye-bye.
See you guys.
See both of you.
Bye-bye.
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Blake, we got new information.
There is a tweet here from Trisha McLaughlin, who was just on the show, actually.
She said, today ICE officers in Minneapolis were conducting targeted operations, very targeted.
There's over 2,000 that have surged to that area following the Somali fraud ring, basically following Nick Shirley's expose.
When rioters began blocking ICE officers, and one of these violent rioters weaponized her vehicle, attempting to run over our law enforcement officers in attempt to kill them.
Certainly, or at least to block them.
But yeah, certainly those things can be fatal, and these people lose their minds and they do crazy things.
An act of domestic terrorism, says Trisha McLaughlin.
An ICE officer fearing for his life, the lives of his fellow law enforcement, and the safety of the public, fired defensive shots.
The alleged perpetrator was hit and is deceased.
The ICE officer who was hurt are expected to make full recoveries.
And I totally agree with this, by the way, what she says next.
This is the direct consequence of constant attacks and demonization of our officers by sanctuary politicians who fuel and encourage rampant assaults on our law enforcement.
These men and women who are simply enforcing the law on the books are facing a 1,300% increase in assaults against them and an 8,000% increase in death threats.
This is an evolving situation.
We will give public more information as soon as it becomes.
And that's the most important part because she says that we'll see.
There's reportedly video.
We'll see.
We'll get more context on what fully happened.
But the big picture is this: which is the reason ICE has to go around all acting like they're basically going to war is because they're treated as an enemy force by these left-wing cities, by these left-wing governments.
Their job would be a million times easier if they could pluck people out of jails.
Yes.
Like focus on that, get the criminals who are getting arrested.
That's happening all the time.
They have treated them like criminals.
They've encouraged violence against them and they've harassed them.
And so, regardless of how this incident went down, that is why it happened.
And that needs to be the focus.
Yeah.
The blood of this person is on Jacob Fry's hands.
It's on Governor Tim Walz' hands.
Period.
Totally well said.
1,000% agree.
I actually like it when we disagree on stuff a little bit because it makes for a live.
This is the wheels.
I just happen to completely agree with what you said.
You have to.
So no sob stories here.
Absolutely not.
I have seen video after video.
There was an instance that really sticks out in my mind where I saw a video of this guy ramming ICE officers in California.
They ram him back.
They stop him and arrest him.
He gets released.
He gets immediately.
He's an American citizen.
So he goes over straight to CNN about two hours later, cries victim on national television.
And this is what they do.
This is their cycle.
So you have these vigilantes.
They call themselves citizen activists or whatever.
And they're working on behalf of illegal immigrants.
Because why get off your couch to help American citizens?
They want to go help the marginalized, right?
So then they do this and they put lives on the line.
They put lives at risk of federal law enforcement.
And by the way, new today, ICE officers have surpassed their recruiting goals of 10,000, according to the one big beautiful bill.
They've hired 12,000.
There's 12,000 new ICE officers on the streets of the United States.
And I want to underscore Blake's point here about this, the way that it was done.
So you go back to Obama was called the deporter in chief.
Do you realize that 80% of those deportations were done the old-fashioned way?
What does that mean?
It means an illegal immigrant was arrested, apprehended on the streets of his or her invaded city.
They would go into jail.
The local officials would process that person.
There would be an ICE detainer.
They would hand that person over to ICE safely, securely.
There's no raids in the streets.
There's no DHS rammings.
There's no none of that stuff.
It's secure.
The person has handcuffs on.
They get put on a plane, processed, put back in their country of origin.
When sanctuary cities and states refuse to cooperate with federal law enforcement, this is the result.
They have to go into the streets, do raids.
They have to go knock on doors.
They have to endanger the public in order to do the public a good.
So this is completely Blake's point.
The blood is on the hand of Jacob Fry, who's, by the way, demanding that these ICE agents be removed from his city, which is not going to happen, by the way.
And you hear Tom Homan saying, we're going to double down.
We're coming for California.
We're coming for Illinois.
We're coming for New York next.
So look out.
More of this is coming as it should be.
And, you know, just say a prayer for our brave men and women of DHS and ICE as they are forced to not work in cooperation behind closed doors in safety, but instead have to go out on the streets and commit, you know, conduct raids on businesses and homes and that sort of thing, because this is completely on the head and on the hands of local officials.
It's absolutely infuriating.
Blake, we had a, it's kind of related, but there was a House oversight committee hearing, the first of its kind.
Some explosive allegations were made in this hearing by Republicans in the state of Minnesota that were saying they have tried to conduct oversight and to deal with the fraud in Minnesota.
We saw this went viral the other day that there's in 2018, their inspector general did a whole report or their staff did a whole thing.
It laid out exactly how fraud happens.
They say they have fake groups that come in or fake groups.
They have groups of like these daycares that come in and say, we're interested in stopping fraud, but they're really trying to deflect investigations away.
They had a whistleblower explain this to them.
They said, we think half of all of our daycare money may be going to fraud, if not more.
And then the inspector general just buries it.
Well, and get this, they are fabricating documents.
Play cut 262.
According to the nonpartisan legislative auditor, this is another case of mismanagement of taxpayer money.
But perhaps the most explosive revelation is that managers within DHS, the Department of Human Services, tried to cover their tracks by backdating and creating new documents.
Backdating?
So they're trying to cover their tracks.
Other testimony from this morning's hearing said that they were blacklisted, that it was career suicide to call out fraud.
The depth of the rot seems to know no end here.
It's truly stunning.
And I think we all knew this was going on.
We all knew that there was fraud.
We all knew that it was bloke, but it was so amorphous and abstract.
And now you're seeing in vivid technicolor exactly how it works.
And they get political kickbacks and they get promises for whole communities like the Somalis to vote in block for them for reelection.
For more on many of these stories and news you can trust, go to CharlieKirk.com.
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