Chapter 1: What recent events have escalated the crises under Trump's regime?
Welcome to the Midas Touch podcast. We have a lot to discuss. You had the opposition leader, Maria Corina Machado, visiting the White House today. The meeting took place in private, but she did confirm she gave Donald Trump the Nobel Peace Prize, the actual medal. You can't actually confer the prize itself.
Chapter 2: How did Maria Corina Machado's meeting with Trump unfold?
donald trump posted on social media it was my great honor to meet maria karina machado of venezuela she's a wonderful woman who has been through so much maria presented me with her nobel prize for the work i have done such a wonderful gesture of mutual respect thank you maria
And earlier in the day as well, you had the Trump regime confirm that Donald Trump still doesn't feel that Maria Karina Machado should be the leader of Venezuela, that she's weak, that the people there don't respect her. And while she gave him the Nobel Prize, which you're not actually allowed to confer, it's just such strangeness taking place in Washington, you see dangerousness taking place.
Compare that to what's going on in Mar-a-Lago. I mean, does it get more dystopian than this? At Mar-a-Lago, it's like eyes wide shut. It seems that eyes wide shut may have been about like Donald Trump and Epstein. I mean, they have these people wearing dog masks dancing, having this lavish ball.
They love ballrooms, apparently, like while the American people are suffering right now, living paycheck to paycheck, if they're lucky enough to get a paycheck and being psychologically tortured by that is health care is being ripped away. from the American people. That's what's going on at Mar-a-Lago. I don't know if that's a furry party or what in the world is even going on there.
I think there were some claims that it's a dog charity thing, but we know how Trump and his kids have handled dog charities before. Hasn't ended well, same way the other Trump charities haven't ended well. The American people are sick of this. Absolutely sick of this. You take a look at the latest real clear politics polling average.
Donald Trump dropped, what, like four plus points just over the past week. This is the full average of polls. I mean, most polls have him at 37 to 41% right now. If you aggregate them all, including the right-leaning ones, he's about a negative 12.3%. I think people just despise what this regime is doing.
Oh, by the way, since we're on the topic of talking about Venezuela, where do you all think that the oil money the purported oil money is going, that Donald Trump is extracting from Delcy Rodriguez, the authoritarian from Venezuela, who's now leading Venezuela. Where do you think it's going? The Treasury Department? For the taxpayers, American banks? Do you think that's where it's going? No.
The deal that Donald Trump struck with the authoritarian Delcy Rodriguez and hat tip to Semaphore and Shelby Talcott and Ben Smith for their great reporting here, the money is being moved to a bank account in Qatar.
Yes, Qatar that bought the 747 jet for Donald Trump, that Donald Trump and Jared Kushner are in business with, that invests in Kushner's fund, that Qatar, who bailed Kushner out of his real estate deals back during the first Trump administration, that's where the oil money's going, to Qatar in a bank account there. And meanwhile, you have all of these countries
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Chapter 3: What bizarre activities are happening at Mar-a-Lago?
In that intro, I didn't even talk about Iran. We'll talk about what's going on there, where apparently Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar, other countries where Trump has his bank accounts, they said, don't do that right now. Don't attack Iran.
donald trump said back on january 2nd he was going to go in guns a blazing if they killed one protester and now it seems they killed thousands and donald trump doesn't do anything at all there yeah everywhere you look well first off i want to say hi ben hi jordy hi midas mighty hi everybody out there if you're watching us live on youtube or if you're listening on the midas touch podcast audio feed it's it's great to be with you uh right now and we're just seeing such a reckless behavior and that doesn't even
quite get to it i saw somebody in the comments um during our live right i miss when politics were boring and i never worried about it i think that just about sums it up and it's also not just a matter of are we not talking about this topic or not talking about that topic there's action behind talking about the various topics there are resources that are required to actually do things for example i'll give my main point right here ukraine what ben brought up before
Not only are the public at large not talking about Ukraine as much right now, but the fact that all of these European countries right now have to worry about the United States as the aggressor and have to send their militaries to Denmark and Greenland to try to deter an American invasion or a Pearl Harbor-style attack
on Greenland as crazy as that is to say you know what that means that means there those are less people who are able to be focused on actually supporting Ukraine that means that the security apparatus of Europe has to be focused on American aggression rather than Russian aggression or they have to divide between the two because resources
are finite i find that incredibly disturbing we're in a very dark place as a country i mean i'm not going to sugarcoat it we're at a dark place domestic we're at a dark place abroad and every single day we see more and more and more from this clown show and the participants in this clown show who rather than stand up to these dictators and bullies bow down to them like we saw today with maria karina machado and i understand that she's in a very difficult position i get that i will never be in the position that she is
But what she did to me is unforgivable. And I might upset some people by saying this, but frankly, I think it is completely pathetic. And I think it is a slap in the face to Americans who are fighting for our freedom here. I think it's a slap in the face to other people who are trying to stand up to Donald Trump abroad. And the whole thing just completely, completely disgusts me.
We have a lot to speak about, so I'm going to pass it over to Jordi. But good to see everybody. Jordi, what's the latest?
ben brett those are some deep intros to start the show but i mean i get it like the news right now is as wild as it's ever been i guess um just want to take a deep breath here say hello midas mighty how are you guys thank you for joining us tonight really excited uh we are on our way to six million subscribers here on the midas touch youtube channel so please hit subscribe some folks think they're subscribed quickly realize they're not totally free to subscribe so hit that subscribe button let's get the six million i'm excited for tonight's show we have a lot to get into ben before i toss it over to you
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Chapter 4: What is the significance of the oil money from Venezuela?
But let's play this clip.
Maria, did you offer to President Trump your Nobel Peace Prize?
I presented the President of the United States the Nobel Peace Prize.
And I told him this, listen to this. 200 years ago, General Lafayette, You know what this reminds me?
She reminds me of like a Republican or a MAGA at this point, right? Like that's how the MAGA- It's like watching Ana Paulina Luna or something, right? Ana Paulina Luna or, yeah, exactly.
here's what the nobel peace center uh posted earlier the nobel peace prize medal it measures 6.6 centimeters in diameter weighs 196 grams and is struck in gold on its face a portrait of alfred nobel and on its reverse three naked men holding around each other's shoulders as a sign of brotherhood a design unchanged for 120 years but did you know
that some Nobel Peace Prize medals have been passed on after the award was given. A well-known case is Dmitry Muratov's medal, which was auctioned for over US dollars, 100 million US dollars, to support refugees from the war in Ukraine. And the medal displayed at the Nobel Peace Center is actually on loan and originally belonged to Christian Louis Lange, Norway's first Peace Prize laureate.
But one truth remains. As the Norwegian Nobel Committee states, once a Nobel Prize is announced, it cannot be revoked, shared, transferred to others. The decision is final and it stands for all time. A medal can change owners, but the title of a Nobel Peace Prize laureate cannot. So how do you think Donald Trump repaid Maria Machado today?
Well, you had Caroline Leavitt, Donald Trump's chief propagandist. She was holding a press conference earlier. And during this press conference, she was asked, what is Donald Trump and this regime? What do they think about Machado? Does she have the respect of the people or not? Listen to the response.
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Chapter 5: How are European nations responding to potential U.S. aggression?
Do you think year over year that you're only paying 2.7% more than you did last year? I sure as hell am not. I'll tell you, things are a lot more expensive this year, from health insurance, the things that I actually have that impact me. I can't speak about inflation as it relates to, I don't know, other products that I don't use.
But as it relates to electricity costs, as it relates to groceries, as it relates to things like that, they're significantly higher year over year than 2.7%. It's crazy. It's absolutely crazy.
And all Trump cares about here is retaining power, growing his power, expanding the power of the executive branch, and then using his power in order to extract whatever he can from everybody, be it the American public, be it Venezuela, be it Iran. It doesn't matter.
And he does it under the guise of America first, and it cannot be more opposite of America first, everything that Donald Trump is doing. And I think
It needs to be made abundantly clear that whether we're talking about Venezuela, or whether we're talking about Iran, or whether we're talking about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Donald Trump's goal in any of these situations, including here at home, but in all situations, is never how do I actually act as a servant of the people,
What am I going to do here to actually help people's lives to make their lives easier? His only goal is how do I get richer? And how do I bully these people who are in power in other countries into giving me exactly what I want? So Donald Trump gets rid of Maduro. He puts in, uh, Delcy Rodriguez. That is just fine with him because she knows that I'll be able to remain in power.
as long as i cut deals and give donald trump oil money which he could deposit in the secret qatar bank account rather than the u.s treasury and he could get rich and i'll be in power and i'll continue to oppress the people i'll continue to crack down on all dissent i don't give a about the venezuelan people that's the situation right there with iran the way that donald trump led the people of iran on
to me is one of the most despicable things. And I am seeing bipartisan condemnation of this from people who have considered themselves Republicans their entire lives and people who have considered themselves Democrats their entire lives.
Because when Donald Trump urges Iranians to keep protesting and says, and I quote, help is on the way, take to the streets, help is on the way, I will be there for you. And then those people hear his calls And they go to the streets and they protest because they are convinced that help is on the way. And the United States, the world's largest superpower, is going to have their back.
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Chapter 6: What role does the DOJ play in the current political landscape?
And should I, as an American, want to applaud that? And I think the answer lies in yourself. At that point, you should know, no, this isn't a good thing. This isn't patriotic. It is crazy to see what's going on right now. And I'm glad that we, the collective we, the Midas Mighty, this community is here to speak out against all the madness, quite frankly.
Let's take our first quick break of the show. A reminder, make sure you're subscribed to our YouTube channel. You may think you're subscribed, but you may not actually be subscribed. So subscribe, turn the notifications on. Also, subscribe to our substack at MidasPlus.com, M-E-I-D-A-S-P-L-U-S.com. And I'm sure you've seen the fact that we've opened up a Washington, D.C. bureau.
We've got Pablo Monriquez on the ground there who's joined Midas Touch.
who's asking the politicians the questions that you want answered we've been expanding our team expanding our staff expanding our resources that's thanks to you if you don't want to go to the substack and you just want to become a member of our youtube you can just click the join and you can gift memberships here as well and that helps us grow and expand and so that's something you can do as well let's take our first quick break of the show we will be right back
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Chapter 7: How is the U.S. handling the situation in Iran?
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I saw a few folks over break gifting people memberships, so now people can use the emojis in the chat, which is always fun when I get to see a Ben and Brett emoji pop up on my screen. Feel free to gift memberships on the YouTube chat. That's a cool way to grow the channel. Benji, where to next, big bro? Jordy, what you were saying before the break
I think should be reemphasized now that we're back from the break, which is just to ask ourselves sometimes, what's the role of government? What's the point of this? Why do we have a government? I know we don't ask these questions. Like when people cover politics, it's often, what did this person do? What did that person do? And then within like the parties,
This person's going to primary this person. This person said that. I got you. Or like you have those shows on corporate news where they all yell at each other.
I'm mad at you. You suck. You're awful. Okay.
Take a step back. Okay. What is the role of government? Do we want a government? that makes people's lives better, that uplifts, that empowers, that protects, that provides. Just think about, I don't care what your views are necessarily about Mamdani, although, I'm a big Mom Donnie fan. I like what he's doing, not because I like the personality of Mom Donnie. I like what he's doing.
I like what he's done in the first two weeks. I like that his focus has been on things like universal childcare. As a parent, that's a big deal. I know it makes my life easier and more affordable if there is childcare that the government can help support. That's a good, that's a win.
Healthcare, lunches, things like that versus invasions of cities or sending masked agents to terrorize communities. Not to go, we all want and we'd all be supportive. of federal agents working with law enforcement at a local level or on their own, going after the truly bad guys and bad gals. I'm all for that, especially if the people are very dangerous, the rapists, the murderers, absolutely.
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Chapter 8: What is the broader impact of Trump's actions on American society?
i voted for this this is the best yes keep it going and the second someone's like all right let me give like a few million dollars uh you know billion dollars let's get maybe child care health care you know let's make sure people uh afford their uh you know health care and that they don't die they're like what where's this money coming from This is social. Where's this money coming from?
How are you doing this? Maybe ask that with the trillions and trillions of dollars that are being spent on, uh, our, uh, military budget, Donald Trump wanted to expand it to $1.5 trillion. Uh, no, no problem with that. That doesn't concern you at all while he's militarizing our streets. That's perfectly okay with you.
And all the other money that Donald Trump is spending on all of this other garbage. to line his own pockets. And the second someone actually tries to do something that's actually for the people, like the bare minimum to help people provide childcare, make sure people get healthcare, all of a sudden these people act all holier than thou. I will take, I'm happy.
when my taxes go towards funding things that actually help people. And it disgusts me to see our tax money being spent in ways to inflict harm on the world and on the American people. And that's the difference in what's happening right now under this regime.
All of this money going to the federal government, and they are using it to inflict pain on the world, to terrorize the world, and to terrorize the American people here at home. Not to get into a whole tax conversation here, but I do want to just, I'm OK paying tax. Yes, pay taxes towards things that will help this country continue to grow and prosper.
What I cannot stand is, Brett, when these billionaires use these tax loopholes, people who are making like, hundreds of millions of dollars, billions of dollars per year, and then don't pay a damn dime while the American people are certainly paying? Because you know what? Uncle Sam's going to get his. He's going to get his from the regular folks who don't have the fancy smancy lawyers out there
to get into the tax loopholes and evade all of this stuff. And it drives me insane, right? That's why this whole conversation to around billionaires is like, look, if you're going to make your money, go make your money, man. You want two yachts? That's awesome. Do you really need 14? Do you? And if you want it, okay. I mean, to me, it's kind of fucked up, but fine. But pay your damn taxes.
Pay your taxes to this country, man, because nothing makes me angrier than that. Sorry. I'll bring attention to something that's getting no attention anywhere else. It deserves attention. It just shows you like, what are the MAGA Republicans focused on right now? I told you all of those things that the American people are really in need of, in need of.
But the hearing this week was on giving legal immunity to the artificial stone industry. That's what Republicans were holding hearings on. And the issue is artificial stone, when it is utilized in construction has been known to cause something called silicosis, which is a deadly lung disease.
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