After a very promising start, at least with regard to Russia, President Trump appears to be heading down the Biden road to more confrontation and WWIII brinksmanship. On Israel he has shown himself to be anything but the peacemaker he promised to be, forcefully rejecting any Congressional efforts to slow down weapons transfers to an Israel that is using said weapons largely against civilian populations in Gaza. Have the neocons completely gotten their hooks into Trump?
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Hello everybody and thank you for tuning in to the Liberty Report.
With us today we have Daniel McAdams, our co-host.
Daniel, good to be with you today.
Good morning, Dr. Paul.
How are you this morning?
Doing fine.
We're going to talk about a little bit of a problem, a little bit of problem in trying to understand why people do things.
And I'm having trouble with this administration.
It seems like they do one thing and then maybe the opposite the next day.
But that's our job.
We're supposed to assess that.
But can you think if you're some very, very well, well investor, well-to-do investor, they have to figure it out because it makes a difference on what your interpretation is.
So we're trying to do that.
I was trying to name our foreign policy that we're following.
You know, there's like non-interventionists, there's socialism, there's interventionism and all this.
But I can't latch on to it because I don't see a consistency in the pattern of what is happening.
But we're going to do our best to try to understand it and find out what our president is up to.
And right now, we're looking at this and we're trying to see, because at the beginning, certainly his campaign, as are many campaigns, including George Bush, the offers and the promises about foreign policy, you know, we sort of, hey, that sounds pretty good.
But I don't know exactly where we are right now, although we do know that some positions have changed.
They've been altered.
And our job is try to figure out, for instance, understanding this tariff business.
There's ups and downs and backwards.
And are we really achieving as much as the media tells us?
So it goes on and on.
But the hitting today that we witnessed, and we tend to agree there's evidence for this, is that Trump's foreign policy has morphed into Biden's foreign policy.
If that is true, people should be cautious about being overly enthusiastic about where we're going on this, both for safety reasons as well as for spending reasons.
But it is more sophisticated.
There's more tricks in trade and how the administration uses the threat of trades and sanctions.
And one thing, though, Daniel, I think we have to give him credit for is I think that we have to give Trump credit for having, you know, convinced the people that there's something positive out there.
He still has a lot of support, even though there's evidence now, as we pointed out yesterday, and there's evidence that that might be shrinking a little bit, which is the bottom line.
But right now, we have some foreign policy things that we ought to discuss.
And Daniel, how do you come down on this about this being like Biden?
You know, that's a pretty strong accusation, I would think.
Yeah, and the one thing, Dr. Paul, is that we're different.
We're not people that intrinsically hate Donald Trump.
We're not obsessed with hating Donald Trump.
In fact, we want him to do well.
We were encouraged and enthusiastic.
So when we make criticism like this, we're not doing it from a position of we want to destroy his administration.
On the contrary, we're trying, I think, to save his administration.
We want him to do the things that he promised to do, the things that excited so many Americans, so many millions, especially young Americans.
And you're right, as we pointed out on the show yesterday, these same young Americans that were so excited about electing President Trump, they're now disappointed because, as you say, he's kind of morphing into Biden 2.0.
You talk about Russia.
He started out great.
He was talking to President Putin.
He was open to discussing the terms of ending the war with President Putin and, in a broader context, the terms of improving American-U.S. relations with Russia, which would be a huge thing.
But then what happened?
We've talked about it so many times, Dr. Paul.
He latched onto this Kellogg plan, which is a non-starter.
You know, the Kellogg plan told the Russians, okay, we know you guys are winning, but you got to stop fighting for a while while we kind of regroup the Ukrainians and rearm the Ukrainians, and then you'll go at it again.
Nobody's going to take that.
The Russians have already tried that with Minsk and it failed.
So they're not going to do it.
And instead of adapting, he kept listening.
And unfortunately, it looks, Dr. Paul, now like he's being latched onto by some of the worst neocons like Lindsey Graham, who are pushing him to be more confrontational with Russia.
And they're actually poisoning U.S.-Russia relations.
And the same is true on the Middle East.
Joe Biden just sort of snored away as Gaza turned into a hellhole.
He wouldn't lift a finger, nor would he stop one single bullet from going to Israel to kill Palestinian civilians.
And Trump now is going down that same path.
So on both of these main fronts, it looks like he's morphing into Trump 2.0.
And as you started out with your comment, Dr. Paul, the terror thing is all over the place.
It's like he wakes up one morning and it's 25%.
He gets grumpy afternoon and it goes up to 30%.
He's happy in the evening, so it goes down to 10%.
You can't function an economy that's based on the whims of one person in the course of a day.
Very good.
The effort, though, is very clear that they're not following a consistent pattern.
And that is, of course, what bothers us.
But it looks to me like in these negotiations where they stand that we now representing NATO and Ukraine is that we are, from our point of view, we're willing to give up some territorial concession, but not on NATO.
You know, we'll never say anything about back away.
And we do, we do own NATO.
That's quite a few, quite a distance from the beginning because we heard some pretty strong attacks on NATO.
We're going to make them pay and we're going to get out of the way and this sort of thing.
But they don't even want to talk it.
And I think that's a dangerous sign because NATO, NATO is the West.
And now that it's been adapted as our child and we finance it, I think this means that it is literally a A real serious situation, a conflict that could and may already be lined up on a war is NATO against Russia.
And that to me is a very serious thing, but I think it's more clear-cut today that Trump now has his position that don't mess around with NATO.
You know, we're not going to, you know, we're not going to back down on that.
We're not going to push it or anything else, but they will not concede to the Russians that we will stick to our promises of the past, where we're indicated that NATO and other organizations that we had any say about, we would not, you know, surround Russia actually committing a threat to Russia.
And if people see it that way, they usually are much more open to the idea, well, maybe Russia is on the defensive.
They're not the aggressor.
And I think that needs to be open for discussion.
But that really is the issue.
Who are the bad guys?
Yeah, you mentioned NATO, Dr. Paul.
And it sort of reminds me that this whole thing is sort of like a fake world where Trump says something and it's just not true.
You know, he said, you know, they announced a few weeks ago that NATO agreed to 5% expenditures on their military.
That's never going to happen.
They can't even get 2%.
It's just not going to happen.
Now, we talked about the EU deal, I think, earlier this week, where all the fanfare of this EU deal, the EU is going to invest $600 billion in the economy.
And then two days later, people say, well, that's not going to happen because Ursula Vunterlein has no authority to direct investment.
She's just a commissioner of a body, a non-elected body.
She can't tell European business people to invest $600 billion in the U.S. economy.
And there was an article, I don't have it in front of me, but earlier this morning, you probably read it saying it is a numerical impossibility for the Europeans to purchase $250 billion of LNG per year.
It can't happen in the world.
So that's all fake.
The Japan trade deal that Trump announced, the terms to which after a day or so, the Japanese said, this isn't what we signed at all.
In fact, we didn't sign anything.
This isn't going to happen that way.
And then you had the 100% secondary tariffs on China, on India, on Brazil, which now apparently, at least as of this morning, on my way into the studio, Dr. Paul, are going to be at something like 25%.
So everything that's announced with big fanfare one day later turns out to be fake.
And we've probably, I think we've all had friends like this, Dr. Paul, who talk a huge game.
They've done everything.
They've achieved everything.
But when you kind of scratch the surface, it's all bluster.
And that's a real danger, I think, because that's what it looks more and more like, not just to us, but to the rest of the world.
Well, maybe this is an example of bluster.
India and Russia, Trump says they're dead economies.
So they might be as healthy as they could be and this sort of thing.
But this could go out of his way and say they're dead economies.
And his answer is, and Trump says, I don't care.
You know, it's not like there was any effort to be polite or be diplomatic about it.
But the whole thing is, is this attitude may come back to haunt us as a nation because the U.S. economy is severely overextended and excessive debt that we're in.
Some of our problems are like cancer.
Yes, maybe the diagnosis hasn't been there, but there's something wrong going on.
And it's an empire's a threat.
Yes, we're going to do what we can to support NATO and make sure that NATO has a chance someday to maybe go into Ukraine.
But the empire, along with the dollar, is that threatened to take this attitude that we still own the world, even if we had the biggest clout, which we have had.
We've had it since World War II.
But now it's at a point, it seems like the more questionable our economy is and our liberties are, the more we are more braggadocious.
We're out there saying, oh, you don't think we're tough.
We are tough.
We're the toughest.
And there's a lot of people who like that because they know the enemy can be very tough too.
And they want a tough leader to stand up to it.
And I would say the tough leader stands up for liberty and argues the case of non-intervention and a policy that would really be worthwhile.
And that would be free trade and operation and getting along with other countries.
You know, in a way, it seems almost unbelievable.
I think, you know, maybe Nixon did us a favor.
Just think how many billions of dollars that has transpired with China.
And we haven't been killing each other since Korea War.
And here we go.
And we're looking for more problems.
But anyway, there's a method to do this.
It might be complex for some people, but what we ought to do for most people is look to the Constitution for our guidance.
And it doesn't tell us that we should be running the world and having an empire.
Absolutely.
And, you know, the real problem, Dr. Paul, is that Trump is taking his cues from the neocons.
As I started out by saying, I mean, here's something that Lindsey Graham put out on his social media a couple of days ago.
And there is one slightly strong word in there, but it's typical Lindsey, tough guy, Lindsey Graham.
He said, if India, China, and Brazil keep buying cheap Russian oil, we're going to tear the hell out of you and crush your economy.
I mean, how do you think the rest of the world reacts when you have a senator that's very close to the president plays golf with the president, say something like that?
It's just outrageous.
And then you see just yesterday, Trump sort of, thankfully, not using such strong language, but he also is very dismissive toward India and Russia.
He says, I don't care what India does with Russia.
They can take their dead economies down together for all I care.
We've done very little business with India.
Their tariffs are too high, among the highest in the world.
Likewise, Russia and the USA do almost no business together.
Let's keep it that way.
And tell Medvedev, the failed former president of Russia, who thinks he's still president, to watch his words.
He's entering very dangerous territory.
And now that last part, Dr. Paul, where he addresses Medvedev, who's now the chairman of the National Security Council of Russia, that's because Medvedev responded to Trump's new friend, good buddy, best buddy, Lindsey Graham.
Medvedev responded to Graham's very undiplomatic and very aggressive words saying, don't tell us what to do.
And so Trump is now taking the side of Lindsey Graham and destroying relations with Russia to the benefit of the neocons.
August 16th DC Conference00:04:53
So that's kind of what we're talking about now.
The neocons have their hooks in Trump.
Trump didn't have a strong ideology to start with.
And the neocons, as we know, because we've dealt with them for so long, they are relentless.
They will outlast anyone else.
And they seem like they're increasingly taking control of the U.S. presidency.
And it's to the detriment, not only of our foreign policy, but also of our global trade system.
But the interesting thing that happened, Dr. Paul, and we've been looking at a couple of articles, is that when Trump said, okay, you don't have 50 days, you have 10 days.
And I'm going to impose secondary sanctions on China, on India, on Brazil, and anyone who trades with Russia.
China and India said, we don't care.
It doesn't, it means nothing.
We don't care.
Do whatever you want.
China said, here's the Chinese foreign ministry.
They said, China will always ensure its energy supplies in ways that serve our national interests.
Tariff wars have no winners.
Coercion and pressuring will not achieve anything.
China will firmly defend its sovereignty, security, and development interests.
So essentially, they thumb their nose at it.
They don't care.
And the Indians said the same thing.
I think it was Jai Shankar, the Indian foreign minister, who said, What do you want us to do?
We get our energy from Russia.
Do you want us to shut down our entire economy as a favor to you?
I'm paraphrasing what he said.
But essentially, this bully pulpit that the U.S. used to have, the stick that they used to be able to shake at every country, well, that stick has gone limp and everyone has noticed it now.
So rather than looking like we have the strength to control what happens to the rest of the world, Dr. Paul, it actually makes the United States look incredibly weak.
You know, this little spat going between the two countries, Putin hasn't been silent, but we don't read every single day something he says.
Here, we read and hear and watch every five or 10 minutes the television on what Trump is saying.
Well, but that's okay because we live here.
But Putin did say something about this issue.
He says, We have developed immunity to sanction.
And if that is accurate, I mean, maybe he's not just bragging.
Maybe he's just sort of suggesting you ought to be careful because we do.
The one thing that is unknown and not easy for me to understand how it could happen, but there are a lot of people who believe that all this trading and activity and effort here can be messed up if somebody knocks out the internet.
You know, what's going to happen then?
If they even have these alternatives, that's going to hurt a lot of people.
So nobody knows, at least I don't know, and I've ever read that people know exactly where China is on these issues.
But if this keeps getting worse and we're more authoritarian than ever, they are going to strike back.
And if there's something electronically or internet-wise, they're going to use it.
And nobody knows what's going to come of that.
So I'm still strongly in favor more than ever before that free and open trade is the one thing that prevents isolationism.
And right now, all the economists are being isolated.
Ironically, Daniel, isn't it weird that we, the free market people, are called isolationists?
And yet, when you look at this, we're isolating in these various countries.
And yes, I think there's a false illusion right now about how wealthy we're doing and how powerful our economy is.
I think we're not quite that well off.
And we ought to be very careful on our boasting.
Absolutely.
Well, I'm going to close out, Dr. Paul, and I'm going to close out with a big announcement about our conference.
And this is really exciting.
One of the things, as you know, Dr. Paul, we try to do is we try to stir things up and mix things up a little bit, not do it the same way every time.
Well, something really, in my opinion, very interesting and exciting is going to happen at our August 16th conference in DC.
Now, I've been in touch.
I got a call from Judge Napolitano about a week or so ago, and he said, you know, I've got a great idea.
As you know, he said to me, my Judging Freedom show is growing by leaps and bounds.
I've got a lot of viewers.
And I noticed that you've invited some of the people that I do have on my show to speak at your conference.
Well, how about if I do a live stream broadcast from your stage of judging freedom in the middle of your conference?
And I said, that sounds like a pretty neat idea.
That sounds like a pretty fun idea.
And so that's what we're going to do.
We're going to have Judge Napolitano on stage doing a judging freedom show with Colonel Doug McGregor, with Max Blumenthal, with Professor Jeffrey Sachs, and with Anya Parrampil.
Judge Napolitano's Live Stream00:01:55
So it's going to be kind of a show within a show, which is something different.
And I think it's going to be really fun.
So you're going to want to get your tickets while they last because they're going fast.
And I will put a link in the show so that you can get them.
But if the link is not there, you can go to ronpaulinstitute.org, get those tickets, come see the show within the show, and also the rest of the great speakers on Saturday, August 16th.
Yes, and I want to close by briefly mentioning an item has a lot to do with what we're talking about, but not directly.
It's a statement of administrative policy.
And there's been introduction into the Senate, a bill, a joint resolution providing congressional disapproval of proposed sales to Israel.
And that actually worldwide and even in the United States is really a big issue.
And that's what's happening, you know, to the Palestinians and the shifting of support away from Israel for what's going on.
And I think that is a big thing.
But Trump, guess what?
The resolution would hurt all the sales, you know, to Israel, you know, to make this point.
But Trump comes strongly to oppose the one senator that spoke out.
He was disciplined by Trump for coming out and saying that he wants to do this.
Of course, it would be very easy for somebody of our beliefs to just oppose it because we'd oppose all that Mickey Mouse and around and all the profiteering by the military industrial complex taking this stuff and for various reasons.
But especially, that's the hottest issue in the world right now, I think, is Israel and the starvation in Gaza.
So anyway, that's not the best news at the end, but it's something that's realistic.
And we're going to continue our efforts to expose what we believe is very important.