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The David Pakman Show

Nothing to see here, just chaos everywhere

18 Feb 2026

Transcription

Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?

0.031 - 8.98 David Pakman

Price hikes continue across the United States as the trade war is hitting the wallets of everyday Americans in a more serious manner.

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Chapter 2: What are the implications of tariff price hikes in the current economy?

9.501 - 35.233 David Pakman

And apparently we still have to be explaining how inflation works. We'll look at that. And then a stunning constitutional issue at Pete Hegseth's Pentagon, where government officials are organizing religious worship inside the military command structure, completely unconstitutional, mind you. We'll also look at the Republican Party openly admitting that the Constitution is sometimes inconvenient.

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35.293 - 46.373 David Pakman

These are the people who say they are the biggest defenders of the Constitution. Turns out sometimes doing what is constitutionally required is just a little bit annoying. And then we will have exhibit a.

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Chapter 3: How is religious worship being organized within the Pentagon?

46.353 - 84.878 David Pakman

J.D. Vance setting new records for awkward, unlikable and totally lacking all charisma in a major bombshell. Donald Trump's own strategist, Steve Bannon, privately believed that Trump should have been removed from office using the 25th Amendment. All of that. And Dr. Frank George will join me today. Price hikes continue across the economy. We were promised lower prices that requires deflation.

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Chapter 4: What did Buddy Carter say about constitutional rights?

85.439 - 107.334 David Pakman

We haven't gotten that. And now the Trump administration is panicking about the likely political fallout as we are just eight and a half months from the midterm elections. Now, before we even get into the story, I apparently still have to explain very basic things. Unless inflation is negative, prices are going up. That's how inflation works.

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Chapter 5: What awkward comments did JD Vance make about deportation?

108.056 - 133.639 David Pakman

Lower inflation doesn't mean prices go down. It means prices go up more slowly. Prices only fall when inflation is below zero, a negative number. I can't believe I still have to explain this, but that's where we are now. Let's look at what's happening. We have a report that several major companies are raising prices in twenty twenty six because of Donald Trump's trade war.

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133.999 - 144.771 David Pakman

This includes Levi's Jeans, McCormick Spices and 54 percent of small businesses say they plan to raise prices in the forthcoming months. Let's take a look at this report.

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144.92 - 155.839 CNN's Matt Egan

This morning, new word that several major companies say they will be raising prices this year largely thanks to President Trump's trade war. Price hikes reaching from your closet to the kitchen.

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Chapter 6: What does Dr. Frank George say about Donald Trump's mental health?

156.04 - 160.768 CNN's Matt Egan

CNN's Matt Egan joining us now with more reporting on this. And what are you hearing, Matt?

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160.748 - 182.462 Matt Egan

Well, yeah, some companies are jacking up their prices for a variety of reasons. Some of them are citing higher wages for their workers, higher health care costs, and of course, the president's historically high tariffs. And yeah, this is affecting everything from jeans made by Levi to spices from McCormick. Also, outerwear, jackets, and other clothing from Columbia Sportswear.

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182.822 - 203.085 Matt Egan

One example, so McCormick said that they're facing about a $50 million hit from higher U.S. tariffs, and they're taking what they're describing as, quote, surgical price hikes. Levi says that some of their men's jeans are going to go up by $5 per pair, women's jeans up by $10. Not just major corporations. Look at this. This is small businesses.

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203.125 - 224.312 Matt Egan

More than half of small business owners in a recent survey, 54%, That's the blue chunk here, say they plan to raise prices over the next few months. 42% say they're going to keep them the same. And just 3%, that little green slice, say they plan to cut prices. Now, some of this is kind of normal start of the year type moves that you see from companies as they look at their prices.

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224.612 - 226.214 Matt Egan

Some of it seems a bit more aggressive.

Chapter 7: What did Steve Bannon reveal about Trump's potential removal from office?

226.455 - 240.413 Matt Egan

The Wall Street Journal talked to a construction company in Cincinnati that said because of health care costs and steel tariffs, they plan to raise their prices by 10% to 15%. online prices are also going up rapidly. Speaker 1 I think you get it.

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240.554 - 251.769 David Pakman

Prices are going up, up, up. Now, I do want to announce the David Pakman show will not we will not be raising membership prices or sub stack premium prices in 2026.

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Chapter 8: How is Trump's handling of the Epstein issue affecting his political allies?

252.811 - 281.059 David Pakman

Mark my words, they will have to take my mouse from me Oh, over what's the cold, dead hands thing? They can rip my mouse and keyboard from my cold, dead hands before I will raise prices. That's my commitment. But listen, this is predictable. When Trump first suggested blanket tariffs years ago, economists and anyone with common sense said that's going to raise prices.

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281.139 - 306.339 David Pakman

It's not going to lower them, which is Trump's promise. And it is very simple economics. A tariff is a tax on an import. when the government raises the cost of bringing stuff into the country, the costs are passed along to consumers. Now, later today or maybe we won't get to it until tomorrow, I'm going to have a report about what percentage of the tariffs are being passed on to the consumer.

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306.8 - 328.226 David Pakman

I'll give you a hint. It's a double digit number that starts with a nine. But we'll we'll get back to that. But the point is, businesses aren't just going to absorb higher costs out of generosity. They're going to raise prices. That means consumers pay. This is why economists left, right and center warned for decades about this sort of use of tariffs.

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328.706 - 353.561 David Pakman

Trade barriers almost always mean higher prices at home. Now, you might do it in a way where you believe that the higher prices are justified or that they are working towards some bigger good. You might tariff Taiwanese semiconductors, which will raise the prices domestically in order to encourage that supply chain to move domestically. It takes six to eight years.

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353.902 - 372.925 David Pakman

There is intermediate pain, but you might say there's a national security reason. The blanket tariffs that we're seeing don't really make any sense. It's just causing inflationary pressure throughout the economy and then enters politics. The politics of it is that Trump built a large part of his political brand on. I will lower costs for you.

373.005 - 389.745 David Pakman

I will lower prices, groceries, energy, everyday expenses. Prices are high because of Biden. I will lower them. Tariffs do the opposite. And inflation is greater than zero, meaning prices are continuing to go up. Now, just eight and a half months from the midterms, the administration has a reality problem.

390.606 - 416.321 David Pakman

You can't promise cheaper goods while making goods more expensive and then saying vote for us so that we can do more. It's not going to work. The global supply chain is very much interconnected. American companies rely on foreign stuff, foreign manufacturing, foreign markets. If you disrupt the system. Those problems, those disruptions are going to come home.

416.862 - 438.565 David Pakman

Now, the Smoot-Hawley tariffs in the 1930s triggered retaliation. They reduced trade. They worsened economic conditions during the Great Depression. And the more recent implementations of tariffs have basically produced the same dynamic. Prices go up. Markets get unstable. Retaliation can happen from trading partners. The basic lesson here hasn't changed.

438.545 - 458.224 David Pakman

Trade wars are easy to start, difficult to control and very tough to win unless the tariffs are used in an extremely surgical, calculated, proactive manner. Now, as far as the politics of it, you can yell that the economy is great until you're blue in the face. You can say that prices are going down.

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