That you thought Trump was showing signs of mental decline. That's a pretty serious accusation. The reason Donald Trump is canceling these interviews is that when he starts to stumble, he starts to pivot. He cannot repeat consistently his position on key issues like the economy, [00:00:17] like crime or like immigration that are key issues to voters. And that's what you're seeing in his decline. We are used to seeing. Him have a discursive speaking style, but it has gotten more rambling, it has gotten more incoherent, and it's gotten longer. No, I'm just telling you basic. It's called the weave. [00:00:34] I think calling it the weave is PR to try to explain why he's talking this way. Is Donald Trump really suffering from mental decline? It appears that is the dominant narrative currently on the left side [00:00:50] of the political aisle, while conservative media is actually telling a completely different story. And I really do think that this is a perfect example of how it is that Americans, depending on how they identify politically, really do live in [00:01:06] two completely different realities. This also gives us an opportunity to look into Donald Trump's hour long interview just yesterday with Bloomberg's news editor in chief. His name is John Micklethwait, before the Chicago Economics Club. [00:01:24] Now, look, one can certainly make Trump appear as an ADHD addled boomer who makes little sense, who seems to be experiencing some cognitive decline. But it really depends on which portions of the hour long conversation you pick. [00:01:41] And so if you look at this compilation, he seems unhinged. He seems like he's suffering from mental decline. Take a look. Should Google be broken up? I just haven't gotten over something the Justice Department did yesterday. [00:01:57] Where Virginia cleaned up its voter rolls and got rid of thousands and thousands of bad votes. The question is about Google, President Trump. Yeah, look, Google's got a lot of power. They're very bad to me. If I can finish yeah I'll go longer if you want. [00:02:13] It helps because you got to be able to you move to the Federal Reserve. No. You got to be able to finish a thought because it's very important. You know, this is big stuff we're talking about. You can't go that quickly from the dollar. So let me just tell you. So I said no I'm just telling you basic. [00:02:28] It's called the weave. It's all these different things happen. Gavin Newsom, he's the governor of California. Newsom. He signed News.com, I call him. Yeah. - But do you do you think? - No, he corrected me. He corrected me. I said, that's the first time I've been corrected. There are CEOs out here. [00:02:44] If they said those sort of things about a rival CEO, they would be they'd be sacked. Do you think it's. - But they don't. - Have to survive like me. They don't have to go through what I have to go through. The Mercedes-Benz will start building in the United States, and they have a little bit. But you know what? They really are Assembly line in South Carolina, but they build everything [00:03:02] in Germany and then they assemble it here. They get away with murder because they say, oh yes, we're building cars. They don't build cars. They take them out of a box and they assemble them. We could have our child do it. So I watched the entirety of the interview, and in my opinion, those are [00:03:18] the highlights of Trump's worst moments. I don't think that he comes across as someone suffering from cognitive decline. I think he comes across as someone who is self-absorbed, obsessed with himself and his grievances, and he had an opportunity there to talk about an important potential policy. [00:03:38] When he was asked whether he believes it's a good idea to break up Google instead of answering the question, obviously he immediately pivoted to, you know, election related BS about how he's being wronged and how the election is rigged against him. And quite frankly, I am so sick of him airing his grievances day in and day out. [00:03:58] I get it, There are instances of people being unfair to him. There are also instances of people telling the truth about him and he doesn't like it. And so he gets upset about that. And so what could have actually been a great interview he managed [00:04:13] to destroy by again indulging in his own, his own personal grievances. But I don't really get a sense that he's suffering cognitive decline, certainly not in the way that Joe Biden has been suffering cognitive decline. [00:04:28] And that's the reason why he was replaced with Kamala Harris. Now you have the left side of the political aisle, you know, making this argument that, oh, Trump is old and he is old. He's four years younger than Biden, but that's still pretty up there in age. But you have the left, like making it seem as though, [00:04:44] you know, his cognitive function is almost synonymous with Biden's. I don't think that's true. Then you look at the right side of the political aisle and you get a completely different picture. And we all know that, you know, based on how algorithms work, based on the type [00:05:00] of media that gets recommended to people. That's really based on what they've been watching. Americans really live in two different bubbles, right? And so let's check in on the right. What did Sean Hannity have to say about Donald Trump's performance? Former President Donald Trump absolutely schooled Bloomberg's editor [00:05:19] in chief today during a live appearance at the Economic Club of Chicago. Despite things getting a little heated at times, Trump frankly masterfully navigated the situation, laid out what was a clear vision for American prosperity. [00:05:36] To say that Donald Trump schooled the individual interviewing him, I think is a bit much. However, to be fair, there were some moments in this conversation where I feel that Trump did well, namely on questions about the US economy and specifically on the issue of tariffs. [00:05:53] In fact, he actually surprised me at how disciplined he was at these portions of the interview, and it seems it's because of the fact that this is an issue he actually cares about. I mean, I don't think he really cares about possibly breaking up Google, which is why he immediately pivoted to something. [00:06:08] He does care about his grievances in this case, when it comes to tariffs. He really, really loves tariffs. I don't think he's fibbing about that at all. He pursued the tariffs against China during his administration. And so he did weigh in on that in a detailed way, even with pushback [00:06:27] from the Bloomberg News editor in chief. - So let's take a look at that portion. - Because I'm a believer in tariffs. I'm not sure that you are I don't think you are. But I congratulate you on your career. But to me, the most beautiful word in the dictionary is tariff. [00:06:45] And it's my favorite word. It needs a public relations firm. The higher the tariff, the more likely it is to have them come into the country. Via the tariff, the more you're going to put on the value of that those goods, the higher people are going to pay in shops. [00:07:03] Ready, the higher the tariff, the more likely it is that the company will come into the United States and build a factory in the United States, so it doesn't have to pay the tariff. If I have. - That will take many, many. - No. Oh, it will go quickly. So there's two ways of looking at a tariff. [00:07:19] You can do it as a money making instrument, or you can do it as something to get the companies. Now if you want the companies to come in, the tariff has to be a lot higher than 10%, because 10% is not enough. They're not going to do it for ten, but you make a 50% tariff, [00:07:35] they're going to come in. So if you notice his demeanor and the way he's answering the questions in these portions of the interview, make clear that, you know, he's just behaving differently, right? Like he cares about this issue. [00:07:51] He's able to message about where he stands on this issue. And, you know, we have talked about tariffs on this show before. I'm a little more open toward tariffs. To be quite frank. Jonke is not as open as I am on tariffs. I think that certain tariffs could actually be beneficial to the US economy. [00:08:10] But it's also very true that in the short term, tariffs could lead to inflation because the costs will be transferred over to the consumers. Now as Trump's theory on tariffs true. Well look the US has a population of 333 million people. [00:08:25] And that's a lot of consumers that companies are going to want to sell products to. If tariffs are too high, meaning if companies are exploiting cheap labor abroad and then as they are, you know, importing the products here in the United States, they're forced to pay [00:08:41] these super high tariffs. That could potentially, incentivize plants and factories to just produce the products here in the United States, especially if the US consumers are not willing to carry the cost of the increased tariffs. [00:08:57] Right. And so, even Brookings, which is actually a liberal organization, confessed that Donald Trump's tariffs in his term, the ones that he actually implemented, spurred both job creation in the United States and it also increased federal government revenue. [00:09:16] So let's take a look at this chart and I'll explain what we're looking at. So if you look at the final year represented in the chart that's 2019. Brookings states that Trump increased tariffs on solar panels, washing machines, steel and aluminum, as well as on a broad range of products from China. [00:09:33] Overall, in 2019, the US government brought in $79 billion in tariffs, which is twice the value from two years earlier. So if you listen to his answer, he talks about how tariffs can be thought of as generating revenue. So that's what happened here when it came to Trump's tariffs in his first term. [00:09:53] But there is a caveat right. Because keep in mind that the federal government collects the revenue from the higher tariffs and then the costs associated with tariffs, like, let's say, the company, you know, making products or manufacturing products abroad brings those products here in the United States pays high tariffs. [00:10:11] As a result of that, those companies are going to transfer those costs, usually to the consumers. But if the consumers are refusing to pay for the higher prices, companies are then going to look for ways to cut their costs so they can transfer lower prices to consumers and sell the products. [00:10:27] And so Trump's theory is that the higher tariffs will eventually persuade these companies to manufacture, in the United States, and that that would lead to more manufacturing jobs here in the US. Now, when it comes to spurring job creation, Brookings also had to concede [00:10:45] that Trump was correct in implementing tariffs on imported steel, because that did increase manufacturing jobs in the US, that specific tariff, they write. The tariffs on steel products appear to have helped create several thousand jobs [00:11:01] in the steel industry. Similarly, tariffs on washing machines are associated with approximately 1800 new jobs at whirlpool, Samsung and LG factories in the United States. In these specific industries, then, tariffs have [00:11:16] probably been good for workers. Now, the problem with Trump is his form of communication, because he really is all over the place. He goes off on tangents as he's in the middle of talking about something, or trying to make a concise statement about something related to the economy. [00:11:33] And honestly, when it came to the portion of the interview where he's talking about steel, that's kind of what happened. Let's take a look. I had a lot to do with steel. We were going to lose all our steel companies because China, as you remember, was dumping steel at levels that nobody's ever seen before. And I put a 50% tax on that and a tariff on that. [00:11:53] All dumped steel. And it was also bad steel. It was what they call dirty steel. It wasn't good steel, which is a bad thing for structural components of buildings and planes and things like that. They were dumping crap into our country and I put a 50% tariff. [00:12:09] I started at 25. I raised it to 50 because the 25 didn't quite do it. I raised it to 50 and that did it. They stopped dumping steel and I saved our steel mills. By having that. We saved it. We saved our steel. Now what was left? Because we've lost so much. [00:12:25] But there are certain companies you have to have. There are certain things you have to have steel. You have to have. If you go to war, you know there's a possibility you go to war. I kept us out of war. I was the only president in 82 years that kept you out of a war. Except I defeated ISIS, but I inherited that one. [00:12:42] There's no wars. And by the way, by the way. And I think it's very important we can go. You know, I call it the weave. You can call it. It's got you have the weave. As long as you end up in the right location at the end. No, no. Stop weaving, stop weaving. You were talking about steel, and he was about to make a point [00:13:01] about how it's important for the United States to manufacture steel products here on, on our soil because of national security concerns. That was the argument he was about to make. But before he even made that argument, his mind immediately wandered off [00:13:16] to I didn't start any new wars. I didn't start any new wars, even though I ripped up the Iran nuclear deal. You know, I moved the US embassy to Jerusalem, which could have at that moment led to a war between Israelis and Palestinians. [00:13:32] Obviously, the Iran nuclear deal being destroyed by Trump led to Iran being able to continue with a nuclear program. Like, now. I'm going off on a tangent, but my point is, he's not a good communicator because his mind wanders and it's almost [00:13:48] like this stream of consciousness that's Hindered by wanting to put out like a concise, clear message. And so I think that's what he's getting hit by in terms of his detractors, I don't [00:14:05] think it's a sign of cognitive decline. Obviously, you know, he's able to reference things that he did accomplish during his term in office. He sometimes gets very specific and detail oriented with it during the same interview. So I don't think it's cognitive decline. I just think he's a poor communicator. [00:14:23] But in regard to Trump's tariffs, Brookings also argues that many workers employed in factories used imported goods in their production processes, and when these imports increase in cost due to tariffs, it harms their production, often leading to job losses. [00:14:40] That actually is a legitimate concern of high tariffs. But we also need to be fair because jobs actually rose under Trump prior to the coronavirus pandemic, leading to shutdowns and job losses. Right? So the rise prior to the coronavirus pandemic, in terms of manufacturing jobs [00:14:59] was about 450,000 manufacturing jobs. So the way he implemented the tariffs in his term wasn't as disastrous as everyone predicted they would be. He's now throwing out some pretty crazy numbers in regard to the types of tariffs [00:15:16] that he would add on that do sound a bit much, but I just wanted to point out that portion of the conversation, because I think it was a good example of him showing that he's not necessarily suffering cognitive decline. It's just that he's a poor communicator. [00:15:32] Now, what did the Biden administration do once Biden was elected, inaugurated and able to lead the country? Did he do away with the tariffs? No. In fact, by the end of 2022, the Biden administration was blocking exports of advanced manufacturing equipment and semiconductors to Beijing [00:15:50] while revving up US manufacturing, Facturing, which, by the way, I gave Biden a lot of credit for. I thought that was a good move. You know, when it comes to the Chips act, developing and manufacturing the chips here in the United States is important and a good thing to do. [00:16:07] Foreign policy continues to write that in many ways. That was a continuation of the Trump policy of seeking to deny advanced chips to Chinese companies blocking Huawei technologies from cornering the global market for 5G telecommunications and wooing Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, [00:16:26] a global leader in the technology industry, to build semiconductor factories in the United States. And then finally, Biden won congressional approval to spend as much as $600 billion in the coming years to subsidize companies that build factories domestically [00:16:43] to make semiconductors, electric vehicles, electric batteries and other green technologies. I give you this information because Biden saw that Trump did something that was actually working, and he expanded on it. And Biden deserves credit for that. He absolutely does. Finally, Trump bragged about how he negotiated with Boeing [00:17:03] to significantly lower the price of remodeling two planes that were supposed to serve as the new Air Force One. So let's take a look at that portion of the interview. When I first sat down, a general came into my office and he said, sir, it's nice to meet you. [00:17:20] Would you please sign this? I said, what is it? It's a contract for a new Air Force One, which is actually two planes, not one two Boeing 747. And I said, how much is it? $5.7 billion. It's a hell of an expensive plane. But there's reasons for that. [00:17:35] And he said, nope, I'm not signing it. I met with the head of Boeing. Wait, Dennis. I said, Dennis, you've got to have a three. 5.7 is too much. 5.7 billion. He said the most I'll take off is $400 million. I said, well, that's not bad for one conversation. [00:17:51] So he Got it down. I said, nope, I'm not accepting. Then he took off two more. Then he took off. Anyway, two months went by. Three months went by. I thought we blew the deal and I was okay with me. I didn't care calls back said sir. 3,999,000,009.9999 [00:18:10] and $0.99. One penny above below $4 billion. So I said, you got yourself a deal. And when I heard that portion of the interview, I'm going to just be honest about my own biases. I didn't believe him. I'm like that. [00:18:26] He loves to brag about being a great deal maker. There's no way this happened. I'm not buying it at all. So I did fact check it and was pretty shocked to find Boeing's deal for Air Force One, which was cut by then CEO. He remembered the guy's name. Dennis Muilenburg requires the company, not the federal government, to eat [00:18:46] the cost of any overruns on the contract. Boeing reported a net loss of $1.2 billion for the first quarter of 2022, when a charge of 660 $660 million associated with delays and higher costs for Air Force, [00:19:01] for the Air Force One program. So not only did Trump cut the cost to the US taxpayer for remodeling these planes, he also cut a deal to ensure that if there are any delays, Boeing pays for those delays rather than the US taxpayer or the US government. [00:19:20] So he deserves credit there. But I give you that example, because what he just relayed to the public is not, in my opinion, an example of someone suffering from cognitive decline. So I just think media that's true. [00:19:35] Look, political figures obviously are going to try to find some narrative. They're going to orchestrate it in order to hurt him politically. But I think it's far more effective to hit Trump on things that are real. Okay. Donald Trump talking about, you know, retaliation [00:19:52] against his political opponents, what Donald Trump has done in regard to overturning Roe v Wade and the real world impacts that has had on real human beings across this country. Okay. The fact that he still today refuses to drop the fact that he did lose [00:20:13] the 2020 presidential election, and he did try to overturn the election, not simply with a Capitol riot, but with a fake electors plot. He is a target rich environment, and what the media is doing when they put out these false narratives is they end up losing trust among the public. [00:20:33] Gallup just put out their latest poll on media Trust in America, and it is literally at an all time low. The last time it hit a record was in 2016, when about 36% of Americans said that they trust the media. Now it's down to 32%, and that's a problem, because if you have [00:20:50] a voter base that doesn't trust the press, well, then that creates openings for nefarious actors to put out all sorts of disinformation misinformation. You can't have a well-functioning democracy if a the media isn't doing its [00:21:05] job in accurately informing the public about the candidates and what they're offering and what their downfalls are. And it's also going to lead to, you know, conspiracy theories and all sorts of nefarious so-called news sources being [00:21:23] more trusted by the public than sources that would actually do a better job because they have resources and the ability to do a better job in covering the news. And the other thing that drives me crazy is, and by the way, that's not just a comment on left wing media. That's a comment on media. [00:21:39] Overall, the right wing provides cover for his foibles. The left wing sometimes makes things up when they don't really need to. There's a lot of real world things that they can attack him on. And my biggest issue is, since you have these two sides and you have [00:21:55] this media bubble situation happening, you have an electorate that's totally split. Because everyone lives in a completely different reality. Everyone's getting different information. That's not necessarily accurate at all. [00:22:10] Now, I should also note, while Trump saved the federal government a little bit of money when it came to remodeling Air Force One, let's not forget that he increased this country's debt by 33%. Okay. [00:22:25] He increased the debt to the tune of $8.4 trillion. He borrowed $8.4 trillion during his administration. So $1,000,000,000,000 trillion, that's a lot of money. So for the deficit hawks, for those who are concerned about debt, [00:22:42] he wasn't really great when it came to lowering debt or doing anything about the deficit here in the US. But again, the fact that Trump remembered the minute details of a deal that he made with Boeing over Air Force One, to me provides an example that he's not suffering from [00:23:00] the same cognitive decline that Biden was, but he is suffering from all sorts of declines when it comes to quality of life for Americans as a result of his policies, some of his policies. And I think that is where Democrats should be focusing. [00:23:16] They're going to lose trust among the electorate if they make things up. And so, again, the cognitive decline thing, I think is a pretty weak argument. But I do think that if you want to focus on some of the terrible things he's done, there's a lot to choose from. So just be honest about it and report accurately about what he [00:23:34] did right and what he did wrong. It's that simple. If you enjoyed this video, that's because of our members. They make us independent. They make us strong, and they make us honest. 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