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March 8, 2025 - Sean Hannity Show
31:45
Tariffs Can Work - March 7th, Hour 2
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Sean, if you want to be a part of the program, she is the youngest White House press secretary in the history of that position.
He's doing a phenomenal job how she deals with these lunatics.
And the state-run legacy media mob is an art form because she's doing such a great job.
We welcome back to the program.
Our friend Caroline Levitt is with us.
Caroline, how are you?
I'm doing great, Sean.
Happy Friday.
Thanks for having me.
And, you know, I just want to say to you, people talk so much about President Trump's energy, but you have a heck of a lot of energy.
You're on the radio for what, three hours a day?
And then you have the number one cable news program at night.
It's pretty impressive what you do, I have to say.
And now we do an audio podcast and a video podcast.
It's not like I have much time during my day.
I'm not going to lie.
But I don't get up at 4 a.m. like you do.
How does your day start?
What time do you get up in the morning?
My alarm goes off every morning at 5 a.m. sharp.
Oh, man.
That's about when I'm going to bed.
Okay.
Yeah, I don't stop until probably 11 p.m.
My phone is ding, ding, dinging off the hook all day and all night long.
And that's just what you get when you work for a man who makes news every second.
So I'm on the Trump sleep schedule and I'm on Trump, as we call it.
If you're on the Trump sleep schedule, I've known this man for 30 years.
We've been friends for 30 years.
And I can promise you, I've spoken to him every hour on the 24-hour clock.
And that I promise and that he will confirm.
And he would confirm it publicly because it's all true.
Yeah, it doesn't surprise me.
You got to keep your phone on high even when you sleep working for this man because you never know when he's going to call.
It's truly remarkable and very impressive.
And I feel like I can never complain because I'm like a third his age and I can't even keep up with him.
It's incredible.
But he keeps us all moving very quickly here at the White House.
You know what's funny about that?
I think back to Joe Biden being president.
And then I mean, we hardly should be self-evident.
I mean, the amount of energy that Donald Trump has on any one given day represents maybe five months in the presidency of Joe Biden.
And I remember early on when I was calling out his cognitive decline and getting smashed left and right for doing so and stating the obvious, it was funny.
People like Circle Back Jen Sakiwa, he has more energy than people, you know, our age.
We can barely keep up with him.
I'm like, you must be in really bad shape then if you can't keep up with that guy.
In this case, it just happens to be accurate.
And we're all watching this.
The hardest part of my job every day is to get out as much information as possible because information is coming out at the speed of light.
So if it's hard for me, I've got to imagine it's that much harder for you.
Yeah, it's amazing how much news President Trump makes on a daily basis.
And we just did a press conference in the Oval Office earlier today.
He made a ton of news, and that's what we do almost every day.
And when he doesn't want to do it, that's my turn to go out and go to the podium.
So there's breaking news every pretty much every hour out of this building.
But it's because he's doing so much, Sean.
I mean, the man is negotiating an end to the war in Russia and Ukraine.
He's negotiating an end to the situation in the Middle East.
He met with eight hostages this week who were recently released from Gaza.
He gave a record-breaking state of the union address.
You know, you look at everything that he's done this past week alone.
It's more than most administrations do in an entire month.
So it's incredibly impressive.
It's a lot to keep up with.
But as his staff, we're used to it.
You know, who isn't used to it is the press.
They are not used to the pace at which President Trump is working.
And they tell me that all the time.
They come in my office and they say, can you guys slow down?
Can you not do a press conference today?
We don't have enough room in our packages or on our shows to fill up all of this news.
But, you know, there's no slowing down in sight from President Trump.
Let me go to the State of the Union.
I want to get your take.
I thought it was one of the most disgraceful displays I've ever seen in my life.
And as a matter of history, I've been to State of the Union addresses.
I've covered them all of my career.
I was in the, you know, I was in the room when Barack Obama gave one, for example.
And when he came in the room, I stood up and I clapped.
I just sat there and they hold their bingo cards up.
And then, of course, Al Green acting like a lunatic who just experienced censure.
And I'm kind of stunned by it all, to be very honest with you.
And I just think it is so sad and pathetic and demeaning.
But I think that's the state of the Democratic Party today.
What was your take on it?
It was truly surprising that they did not stand for their fellow Americans, these everyday American heroes who have lived through such adversity and who have been uplifted and are living their American dream thanks to the policies of President Trump.
And you always expect the opposing party not to stand for policies or not to stand for the agenda, but to not stand for a 13-year-old boy who's fighting cancer or for the Democrats in there to be wearing pink allegedly in honor of women, but then you don't stand for two mothers whose children were brutally raped and slaughtered at the hands of illegal immigrants was appalling.
In that moment when President Trump named a wildlife refuge in Texas in honor of Jocelyn Nungre, you have to be a soulless, hateful-filled individual to not be moved to tears or at least show any sign of empathy for a mother who lost her beautiful 12-year-old child.
It's disgraceful that this is what the modern-day Democrat Party has become.
And I think it was a really clarifying moment, Sean, for Americans in this country who thought maybe the Democrats would have learned from the smackdown that President Trump gave them in the November 5th election.
Nope, they clearly didn't.
They are doubling down on their same far-left antics and on their Trump derangement syndrome.
I mean, these people truly hate President Trump so much that their hatred for him has overrided any common sense or human decency.
And it's really sad to see.
I think it is quite alarming, actually.
But, you know, we're going to continue moving forward at the White House.
The president will continue moving forward implementing policies that are grounded in common sense and that uplift all Americans regardless of their race or their religion or their gender or where they live in this country, Red State or Blue State, President Trump is looking out for you.
And the Democrat Party, the same cannot be said for them.
It was a week ago where everybody was flailing and they couldn't believe in the incident at the White House with Zelensky, who was being very disrespectful to the president.
And now we see a total capitulation.
Everything that the president had planned for the process of peace with Ukraine and Russia is now coming to fruition.
I said that night, and I've been saying it every night since, he'll be back.
He's back.
He sent the letter to the president.
He posted what he posted on X.
It seems to be back on track.
It looks like we'll have a rare earth minerals deal.
It looks like we'll have a ceasefire, and then the harm will be the negotiations.
And apparently, now the president's putting pressure on Vladimir Putin to do his part.
Yeah, he's putting pressure on both sides.
And he has been from the very beginning, Sean.
Let's be clear about that.
You know that, but the fake news media has lied like they always have, making false assertions about where President Trump stands with Russia and how he views Russia and how he views Putin.
The president believes dialogue is the best diplomacy.
And it's something that we had not seen for the past three years of this war.
And that's why this war was a stalemate.
It was, as many people call it, a meat grinder.
I hate to use that term because we're talking about human lives, but thousands of lives have been lost in this war that would have been really endless if not for President Trump.
And so now he is finally putting pressure on both sides of this war to call for a ceasefire and to come to the negotiating table to end it.
And President Zelensky, unfortunately, when he came to the Oval Office last week, did not have a realistic mindset.
I guess he still thinks it's three years ago when Joe Biden was in office, we were just writing blank checks and American taxpayers could continue funding this effort.
That's no longer the case.
You have a peacemaker in chief in the Oval Office now who wants to stop the endless funding of this war and wants to stop the endless killing of this war.
And that takes negotiating a deal.
And sometimes when you negotiate a good deal, both sides need to leave the table a little bit unhappy.
And so I think President Zelensky is open to President Trump's mindset now, recognizes that without the United States, there will be no end to this conflict in sight for his country.
And President Trump is doing this to save Ukraine for the Ukrainian people and for democracy as well.
And so Secretary Rubio and Mike Waltz are traveling to Saudi Arabia next week to restart and kickstart these negotiations with the Ukrainian delegation again.
And as the President has said, we need a ceasefire.
We need an economic partnership between the United States and Ukraine, which will be a great deterrent to Russian aggression, may I add.
It's also a great economic partnership for the Ukrainian people.
Those are two necessities put on the table by President Trump.
And we hope that President Zelensky and the Ukrainian people will agree to them so we can move forward with a true peace agreement that is lasting under this President, Donald Trump.
The other thing that is happening too, and the President was very clear in a truth post this week about Hamas and how the killing must stop and how the bodies must be returned and hostages must be returned.
And if not, there's going to be held to pay and that the weaponry that Israel will need to wipe them out will be given to them.
A pretty stern warning.
And I would just say that knowing Donald Trump as well as I think that I know him, when he says something like that, he means it, and that is real.
And I think that that's probably coming to a head sooner than later.
He does mean it.
And there's a maximum pressure campaign on Hamas right now.
And the president has lost his patience.
And he's been very clear about that.
And I'd like to add, Sean, that the president put that statement out moments after leaving a meeting with eight of the hostages from Gaza.
And I had the honor of being present for that meeting.
And it was one of the most moving things I've ever been a part of.
These people were in dark tunnels in Gaza just weeks ago.
And now they were standing in the Oval Office before the president, who they claim, this is not me as his spokesperson.
They told the president, if not for him, they would be dead.
They would not be alive or they would still be held hostage.
It was incredibly moving.
And the president heard these stories, the atrocities that were committed by Hamas against these individuals.
They are so lucky and blessed to be alive, standing to tell their stories.
And the president heard them.
He took them very seriously.
And then moments later, you had his truth go out, a very strong message to Hamas.
And so you have the president working directly.
You have Adam Bowler, his special envoy for hostage negotiations.
And then, of course, Steve Woodcoff, Secretary Rubio, Mike Waltz.
There couldn't be a better or more stronger team working on this effort on behalf of the president to end this conflict in the Middle East.
And the president, again, he sent a very strong message to Hamas.
And we hope that they will release all of the hostages, including those who have unfortunately tragically perished, because their families deserve to have those bodies back so they can have closure and peace in their lives.
And that's what the president is looking for.
All right, quick break.
We'll come back.
We'll continue more with the assistant to the president, White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt.
We'll get to your calls on the other side, 800-941-Sean, as we continue on this Friday.
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Now, we have spoken at length, and I understand the state-run legacy media mob that I have declared dead after this election, I understand they're never going to get it.
I understand they don't want to understand Donald Trump.
They don't want to know his thinking, his mindset.
They don't want to understand that he is negotiating constantly.
That's fine.
When Donald Trump talks about tariffs, he's really not wanting to put tariffs on people.
That's why he uses the term reciprocal tariffs.
As a result of the president's policies, we have seen massive movement in terms of now manufacturing moving back to this country.
Nissan had planned to build a plant in Mexico.
They're now building that plant in America.
The same with Honda.
They're going to build their new version of the Honda Civic in America, where they originally had planned to build a plant in Mexico.
The same thing with Apple.
Apple is now going to invest in the next four years $500 billion in a plant that they're building in Texas that will create tens and tens of thousands of jobs.
This is all good for the American people.
And for those displaced workers that were working in jobs that we now know they shouldn't have been working in in the first place, considering all the waste, fraud, abuse, corruption, and agenda-driven spending by Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and their administration on wokeism, DEIism, new Green Dealism, transgenderism.
Well, I mean, this is an insane amount of money, and these are going to be high-paying career jobs for Americans.
Is it hard to transition to a new job?
Yes, but these opportunities are going to be huge.
When the president opens up the energy sector, so we are on a path to becoming the most energy-dominant country on earth.
Is that going to help create high-paying career jobs for Americans?
Yes, it will.
That will be good for the American people as well.
So, all of these policies might take a little bit of time, but a lot of these government workers are getting payouts until October the 1st, enough time to transition to the next career move, which happens to most people in this day and age.
It's not like the old days where you work for one company your entire career and then you move on.
I have been fortunate, but most people that I know in my industry don't work for just one company, they move around quite a bit.
Now, we also have the semiconductor company out of Taiwan.
One of the things that has concerned me, especially in light of the territorial ambitions of China, is we are very dependent on Taiwan to get the chips that are so critical to our technology infrastructure.
Well, now they have committed to investing over $100 billion in the U.S. so that we will make these semiconductors right here in this country.
Here's the president talking about it.
Today, Taiwan Semiconductor is announcing that they will be investing at least $100 billion in new capital in the United States over the next short period of time to build state-of-the-art semiconductor manufacturing facilities.
I think mostly it's going to be in Arizona, which is what I understand, which is a great state.
I like it because I want it, but I want most of them, actually.
But I did.
We want it and we want it big.
The most powerful AI chips in the world will be made right here in America.
And it'll be a big percentage of the chips made by his company.
But as you know, they're based mostly in Taiwan.
And they're far and away the biggest.
There's nobody even close.
This $100 billion in new investment will go into building five cutting-edge fabrication facilities in the great state that we just discussed, Arizona, and will create thousands of jobs, many thousands of jobs, and high-paying jobs in total.
Today's announcement brings Taiwan semiconductor investments to about $165 billion.
They've started already.
I mean, that's a serious, significant amount of money.
It's always a pleasure to bring back our friend, Brian Kans.
He's the CEO of Burner.
And anyway, they have their manufacturing facility in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
And he's here to talk about the benefits of working under President Trump and his ability now to shore up production and manufacturing of his products.
And unlike others that have been critical as a person in the business world that has built a huge company now, Burner is now the choice of so many government agencies, police departments, private security firms.
And I'm urging all of you, if you don't have your burner, please get one because this is a very dark, dangerous, evil world, unfortunately.
I wish it wasn't, but it is.
Brian, great to have you back.
How are you?
Good, Sean.
It's great to be on your show again.
Okay.
So, you know, you made a decision, and I remember when you made this decision, because we've been friends a long time, that you were going to build out your manufacturing center here in America.
The initial costs were higher.
There were no incentives to do it except that you wanted this to be an American product, and it's paid off in massive dividends for you.
Tell us about it.
Well, you know, what most of your audience probably doesn't know is you were integral in that decision.
You know, if you think back to 2020, you were one of the early adopters of Burna.
You mentioned it on your show.
And at the time, we were manufacturing everything in South Africa.
Your mention drove 18,000 orders.
You know, we were, I think, producing 50 or 100 launchers a day.
And we had a tremendous, tremendous backlog.
And, you know, you called me up and said, Brian, I'm getting a lot of people that I told them to buy a Burna.
You put them on backlog.
And I said, Sean, you really overwhelmed us.
And if you remember, what you did is you got me the names of U.S. manufacturers of plastic injection molded parts, of machine parts.
And with your assistance, we actually moved that factory from South Africa to Fort Wayne, Indiana.
And we moved a significant portion of our supply chain because, you know, it was clear to us, number one, we wanted to be an American-made product.
But number two, this supply chain spread all over the world really carried a lot of risk.
And nothing brought that home like the pandemic.
You know, fast forward to four years later, you know, we're currently probably at 50% of our supply chain is U.S.-based.
But with President Trump and what he's doing, and I'll tell you, you know, a lot of people criticize him.
He is teaching a masterclass in how tariffs should be used.
You know, as the CEO of Burna, one of the largest and fastest growing non-lethal gun companies in America, I talk to a lot of other CEOs, CEOs of the big box stores and CEOs of a lot of manufacturers.
Everybody is moving their production here because the uncertainty that even the threat of tariffs creates says, you know what?
We need to have the supply chain in the U.S.
It is not just patriotic.
It's good business.
So we've announced, and I'll announce again on your show, we are going to be virtually 100% made in the USA by the end of this year.
And again, part of it is we want to because we're patriotic Americans.
But I think you've got to give credit to the president, what he's been doing with the threat of these tariffs.
And as you said, it's not just the tariff.
It's like when you use a gun to stop a crime or you use a burner to stop a crime, it is the threat of the tariff that is bringing production back to the United States.
I know for a fact the president doesn't want to put tariffs on other countries.
However, he is right that these other countries, the European Union in particular, Canada in particular, India in particular, and a lot of other, quote, allied nations, they have not embraced the concept of free and fair trade.
And America pays these tariffs, and they put all of these obstacles up for American companies to bring our products into their countries.
And what he's saying is that's not fair.
That's not free and fair trade.
And when I listen to the so-called experts, economists, the punditry class talk about, oh, I'm a free trader.
Well, if you're a free trader, why aren't you?
Why are you speaking out against the tariffs that are slapping on us and the tariffs that are hurting American manufacturers and American business?
And where's the outrage on what they have been doing and getting away with to us?
And all the president is doing is calling it out.
And as a result, my prediction, like, for example, with Mexico, the president, again, has lifted the tariff against Mexico and lifted some of it against Canada after he put it in place.
Because as soon as he mentions that it's going in place, they begin to make changes.
And it's the only thing that is an effective negotiating tactic against countries that have been very selfish and self-serving in this whole process.
Yeah, and it's providing multiple benefits.
So on the one hand, you're getting a lot of companies like Berna to be moving production into the United States.
But also, you know, although you haven't heard this on a lot of other media channels, you've been talking about it, the interdictions at the borders are down 95%.
So it is having an effect in stopping people coming across the southern border.
It's having an effect in reducing fentanyl production in Mexico.
And at the same time, it's having a very positive effect on business here in the United States.
All right, quick break.
Right back.
We'll continue more with our friend Brian Gans, CEO of Burner on the other side.
Then your calls coming up and much more on this Friday.
800-941-Sean is our number if you want to be a part of the program.
The final hour of the Sean Hannity Show is up next.
It's conservative solutions.
All right, we continue now with Brian Gans.
He is the CEO of our beloved sponsor.
I think everybody should have a burner, Burner.com.
How did you get 500 government agencies, police departments, and private security firms to adopt this technology?
I have never, when we first met, I told you I am not a fan in any way, shape, manner, or form.
I am not a fan of a stun gun.
Because at that point, it's a close quarters conflict.
At that point, you don't have the distance.
With Burner, I can hit a target 50, 60 feet away.
And in other words, if there's a known threat coming at you, that gives you an option that police don't have with a taser.
And I always thought it was one of the most ineffective weapons that our law enforcement was using.
As law enforcement learns about this technology, they're adopting it in droves.
I would expect probably within the next five years, every law enforcement agency is going to be looking at taking on Bernard, no?
Yeah, I think you're absolutely right.
We've seen a tremendous adoption of Berna by law enforcement, both here in the United States and also overseas.
We sold over 40,000 Bernas just in Argentina last year to law enforcement.
And there have been, you know, I think over 5,000 documented cases of the burner being used to apprehend a criminal, to stop carjacking, to prevent a mugging, to stop a home invasion, and all of them without a single life being lost or taken.
So I think this is what's resonating.
Every time law enforcement ends up having to take a life, and you talk about the taser, 50% of the time that doesn't work, which means they then have to resort to their lethal firearm.
When they take a life, that city is sued for a wrongful death action.
And there's, you know, a $7 million, $10 million judgment.
So it is really in the best interest of these law enforcement agencies to use less lethal force when they can and to resort to lethal force when they must.
Well said.
I urge everybody, please, please protect yourself and your family.
Look for the less lethal option first.
It is part of my everyday personal safety and security strategies.
And we're always honored to have you on the program.
Brian Gantz, thank you so much.
Appreciate you being with us and glad you're building out your facilities here in America.
That's great news for American jobs and the people in Indiana.
Thank you.
Thank you very much, Sean.
You take care.
800-941-Sean is on number.
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Quick break, right back.
We'll continue.
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You want smart political talk without the meltdowns?
We got you.
I'm Carol Markowicz, and I'm Mary Catherine Hamm.
We've been around the block in media and we're doing things differently.
Normally is about real conversations.
Thoughtful, try to be funny, grounded, and no panic.
We'll keep you informed and entertained without ruining your day.
Join us every Tuesday and Thursday, normally, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
I'm Ben Ferguson.
And I'm Ted Cruz.
Three times a week, we do our podcast, Verdict with Ted Cruz.
Nationwide, we have millions of listeners.
Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, we break down the news and bring you behind the scenes inside the White House, inside the Senate, inside the United States Supreme Court.
And we cover the stories that you're not getting anywhere else.
We arm you with the facts to be able to know and advocate for the truth with your friends and family.
So download Verdict with Ted Cruz Now, wherever you get your podcasts.
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