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The MeidasTouch Podcast

Tuesday Afternoon Breaking News Updates with Ben - 5/12/26

12 May 2026

Transcription

Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.

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

0.993 - 23.755 Ben Meiselas

You're watching Ben on Breaking News. I'm Ben Mycelis, and this is your Breaking News. Before we went live, we learned that the Pentagon is considering a new mission, a new invasion of Iran. They're calling it Operation Sledgehammer. They believe that the ceasefire is likely going to collapse. I don't even think the ceasefire is even real right now.

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Chapter 2: What is the Pentagon's new mission regarding Iran?

24.095 - 50.575 Ben Meiselas

And when the war resumes, which I believe is likely going to take place, as soon as Donald Trump's trip to China, which is sure to be an absolute disaster. When that is done, then there will be Operation Sledgehammer, and then this will be yet another catastrophic invasion of Iran. NBC reports that the US military presence in the region is also now larger than even at the start of the war.

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50.555 - 75.605 Ben Meiselas

with an additional carrier strike group and re-armed assets. Now, this news of Operation Sledgehammer comes at a time where we got perhaps one of the most disastrous economic reports in recent history. We learned earlier today inflation surging. year over year to 3.8%, its highest level since May of 2023.

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76.688 - 89.413 Ben Meiselas

Donald Trump promised that he was going to bring inflation down, that he was going to bring energy prices down. Under former President Biden, was coming very close to hit that 2% Fed target.

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89.473 - 110.194 Ben Meiselas

Yes, inflation was high during the first half of former President Biden's term as he was dealing with the catastrophic mess that the arsonist Donald Trump left him when Donald Trump left the country in complete and utter shambles. But the American people forgot about that. They forgot about how Donald Trump said, like a miracle, COVID's gonna go away. It's never going to hit our shores.

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110.254 - 124.674 Ben Meiselas

But former President Biden handed Donald Trump an economy That was the envy of the world. And like Donald Trump's past failed businesses, what did Donald Trump do? He wrecked it. And now we got this inflation report, 3.8%.

124.714 - 137.532 Ben Meiselas

But when you dig in on this report also, the data is worse than that because inflation is exceeding wage growth right now, meaning any year over year wage growth, which is about a 3%.

Chapter 3: What is the significance of Trump's trip to China?

137.512 - 155.065 Ben Meiselas

3.6% that's eclipsed by the 3.8% inflation. So that's one of the reasons also Americans feel that, look, I can't afford anything at all because inflation is rising quicker than wage growth. Also, when you get into the specific, uh,

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155.045 - 176.994 Ben Meiselas

sectors, sectoral inflation, like when you look at energy inflation, when you look at food inflation, when you look at housing inflation, when you look at all these categories, the stuff that impacts the American people the most, that's where inflation is at its highest. So energy commodity inflation. up 29.2%.

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Chapter 4: What are the implications of Operation Sledgehammer?

180.118 - 216.807 Ben Meiselas

Gasoline inflation up 28.4%. Airfare up 20%. Energy inflation up 17.9%. Electricity inflation up 6.1%. Fruits and vegetable inflation 6.1%. Hospital services up 5.5%. Motor vehicle repairs 5.1%. Apparel inflation, 4.2%. And also cumulative inflation since 2020 is up about 29.2%. And so something that would have cost you $100 back in 2020 now costs you $129.

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Chapter 5: How does the U.S. military presence in the region compare historically?

217.128 - 246.046 Ben Meiselas

Extrapolate that, $1,000. What would that cost you? $100,000. What would that cost you? $10,000. What would that cost you today? It is unaffordable. But folks, you didn't need this report to tell you this because if we go out or even go online and say, whoa, or stay in our homes and go, holy crap, I know you may have the same reaction that I do when I get that energy bill.

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246.406 - 253.751 Ben Meiselas

When I get some of these bills, I go, that's... I go, that's got to be wrong. That's got to be incorrect.

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Chapter 6: What are the current tensions between the U.S. and Iran?

253.771 - 274.978 Ben Meiselas

How could that possibly be? No, that's what's going on. So we all knew this. But Donald Trump and MAGA, they want to flood the zone and say, we're in a golden age and everything is amazing and people are doing great. We've never been richer. We've never been wealthier. Their euphemism is the K-shaped economy. They call it K-shaped.

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274.958 - 300.05 Ben Meiselas

which basically means most Americans, if you draw a K and you have a horizontal line, 99% of Americans live in the recession, great recession, depression area, right? That's where most Americans are. And above the horizontal line in the K, the rich get richer and have never been richer and wealthier right now while everybody else is getting absolutely screwed.

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300.67 - 303.514 Ben Meiselas

And MAGA does it with a fricking smile.

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Chapter 7: How is the current inflation rate impacting Americans?

303.494 - 334.759 Ben Meiselas

Donald Trump out there, I don't care about how you feel. I don't care about what the American people think. You think I care one bit about how the war impacts America's financial condition? It's a direct quote from Donald Trump moments ago as he's heading out with his oligarch crew to head to China where America has never looked weaker. Donald Trump tried to go after China last year.

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335.08 - 353.18 Ben Meiselas

Remember when Donald Trump threatened to tariff China 140%? And China was like, you see, the thing about that, Donald, is we control the rare earths. That go into your semiconductors and your military equipment and the cell phones. We control all of it. So sure.

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Chapter 8: How does Donald Trump's economic policy affect inflation?

353.22 - 373.579 Ben Meiselas

You want to put your tariffs on? We will just shut off rare earths. And then Donald Trump's like, no, no, no. Xi Jinping, you're my king. Xi, Xi, you're my king. You're my friend. We're friend. Don't do that. Right. Some of the original tacos Trump always chickens out. We saw with China when Donald Trump thought, Ooh, we're going to be so strong. No.

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373.559 - 394.588 Ben Meiselas

You're going to China now looking like an utter fool. You're going to China looking so weak, so pathetic. You don't have any allies around the world. I did a report this morning how now the European countries in NATO, along with Canada and others, are thinking about reconstituting a NATO-like entity worldwide.

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394.568 - 417.635 Ben Meiselas

whether it's a European army with Canada and Australia and some other countries as well that has Article 5 guarantees because Donald Trump destroyed Article 5 and destroyed NATO. So you're heading to China with losing the war to Iran, and you did lose because you're a loser. How do you lose? Who controls the straight of her moves? Who got things? Who lost things?

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417.916 - 444.193 Ben Meiselas

That's usually how most people decide winners and losers. I know in your loser world, Donald, with your loser friends, you view losing as winning because you personally benefit while everybody around you gets absolutely screwed. But when I look at a scoreboard, when I'm watching my New York Knicks have a good playoff series, I look to see, are they getting more points than the other team?

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444.714 - 467.944 Ben Meiselas

Aha, then I guess you're winning. So before the war in Iran, what'd you say the objectives were? Regime change, get rid of Iran's conventional capabilities, the shield that protects their nuclear weapons, then get rid of the nuclear weapons. And then you are going to put your puppet to run Iran. And you said that was going to make Iran great again. That's what Donald Trump said. Well,

467.924 - 490.202 Ben Meiselas

The Iranian regime is still in power. You can say regime change, but it's a more entrenched Islamic republic. They control the Strait of Hormuz, something that didn't exist before the catastrophic war. They have all of their conventional shield, their Shahid drones, their FPV drones. If anything, they may have more. Russia and China, by the way,

490.182 - 516.598 Ben Meiselas

Why don't you ask Xi Jinping what he's doing with Iran? Why don't you check out what's going on in the Caspian Sea there, Donald? Because Iran is actually probably at a higher capacity of Shahid drones and FPV drones than when even the war started. And Iran still has the nuclear material. And Iran's out there saying, OK – We had no intention to enrich the uranium at a 90% level.

517.038 - 541.384 Ben Meiselas

That's nuclear grade. But now Iran's saying, why wouldn't we enrich to 90%? If this is how you're behaving when we've agreed to previous deals or every time we negotiate, you attack us. Yeah. One of Iran's spokespersons for the parliament says one of Iran's options in the event of another attack could be 90% enrichment. We will review it in the parliament. Why wouldn't they do it?

541.364 - 559.398 Ben Meiselas

Look at Kim Jong-un, you know, your friend who you wrote love letters to. Are you going to write love letters to Kim Jong-un, Donald, when you're in China? You know, you're close by. So you're going to say hi to Kim Jong-un because, you know, now what's so fascinating is the media doesn't talk about how Kim Jong-un has nuclear weapons. No one even talks about it.

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