American Prosperity ~ A Realignment Globally and Domestically

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Katrina Szish: Now Presidential fellow at the Chapman Institute, Mark s Skounsen host of America right now, Tom Basile and Republican strategist and host of the GrassRoots TruthCast Podcast, Gene Valentino. Um, Gene, I’m gonna start with you. You’re new with us here on American Agenda. I know you’re, it’s a pleasure in town celebrating, uh, the Newsmax IPO with us.

So let’s get right into the topic of. The stock market and those tariffs. What do you make of President Trump’s tariff plan?

Gene Valentino: A blip on the screen is not the pattern. Donald Trump’s success will be measured [00:02:00] over the next three months, six months, maybe even less time. But this blip on the screen today is not a reflection.

The past doesn’t reflect the future either. Any commentary I just heard talking about how disruptive Donald Trump’s tariffs are. Is nonsense. America’s been disrupted for decades through a strategic plan to undermine the economy of this nation, which is now becoming domesticated again. And it’s a transition.

We’re going through, fasten your seatbelt, three to six more months and you’re gonna see some great prosperity.

Bob Brooks: I think what stood out to me yesterday is when he had that tom, that gentleman from Detroit on talking about, uh. The factories, they’re all empty now. It’s all gone. And he loved what President Trump is trying to do.

And then you saw the chart, all the tariffs that other countries levy on the United States and bringing it back to a level playing field.

Tom Basile: Yeah. Two of those numbers really stuck out to me. China, which is the average tariff on US goods, is 67%. India is over [00:03:00] 50%. Now. Put the populations, those two markets together.

That’s a quarter of the world’s population. Wow. Think about the economic disadvantage that has been levied against the United States. So this is, I’ve been calling this a realignment presidency and he’s, look, he’s doing that with foreign policy. He’s doing that with domestic spending and domestic policy.

This is a realignment of our economic policy globally. It’s going to take some time, uh, and, uh, but when they need to be able to explain this to people, um, uh, quickly and easily as to why this is about fairness for American workers and what the potential upsides are.

Katrina Szish: Yeah, very good point. Communication.

It, it’s all about that. And that, of course the administration has been doing that. Mark, I wanna get your thoughts. President Trump did say. Uh, all of this will really lead back to the American dream being attainable again or in so many words, do you see that happening?

Mark Skousen: No, absolutely not. And in fact, uh, I think the president [00:04:00] is delusional.

Uh, I think he’s making a major mistake. Look, I’m a professional economist and one of the things I teach at Chapman University, and I’ve taught at Columbia and other big schools is cost benefit analysis. You have to look, don’t just look at the benefits. Uh, that we’re achieving, uh, through these tenners, you have to look at the cost, the rise in the cost to consumers.

You’re not gonna see cheap clothing and toys and sports, and even, even automobiles are going to increase dramatically in price. So what is the cost? Well, in 2018, uh, president Trump imposed a 2020 5% tariff on steel. Uh, steel, uh, it created a thousand jobs in the United States, but it also lost 75,000 jobs.

Why? Because steel is an import and that raises the cost and causes trouble. You have to remember, the automobile industry has 30,000 different parts. You know how much comes from [00:05:00] outside the United States and imports? 40%. So even US cars are going to see a dramatic increase in price. You’re gonna see an increase in price in products that are in the grocery stores that come from Mexico and Canada.

Oil used to sell cheaply to the US oil price at a discount, and now the price is going higher. Gene, there’s a lot of problems with this and you can’t just look at the benefits. You have to look at the cost and on net basis. It’s a real negative.

Bob Brooks: Well, mark, I wanna point to two things. The CEO of Cleveland Cliffs, one of the biggest steel manufacturers in the United States, supports these tariffs wholeheartedly.

Also, president Trump handed the Biden administration a 1.4% inflation rate the last time around here, very low. I think he’s taking inflation into consideration. Gene, what do you think

Gene Valentino: about those comments? And that inflation rate was low, Bob, because we had a supply side, economic strategy. The supply side economic strategy in this [00:06:00] nation meant we bought locally first.

We were held hostage through this transition of outsourcing Ven, uh, to outside vendors outside the nation, which put us in the predicament We’re in. I wouldn’t be whining about a temporary two months or three months in transition. The government has a responsibility to look for the long-term gain and protection of this nation, and that’s what Donald Trump’s thinking about, not the blip on the stock market today or tomorrow.

Tom Basile: Well, and I just wanna

Gene Valentino: make, it’s not a blip.

Mark Skousen: We’re, we’re entering a bear market. Folks, this is a very serious problem. Can’t call it Mark the trauma.

Tom Basile: And Mark, and Mark makes, mark makes some, some, some interesting points. And again, this is a bold strategy that hasn’t really been tried really in our lifetimes.

Correct. Right, that’s right. So there, there are a variety of different, um, opinions on this. Yeah, sure. One, the stock market we have been talking about, this has been overvalued for over a year. And, uh, and two, you know, the, the most important, one of the most [00:07:00] important things that you wanna couple together with this is the tax cuts.

And this is where congress now comes in because everybody wants to talk about Donald Trump. Good point, Tom. This has gotta be also, Congress has gotta come in and they need to get the, the Trump tax cuts. They need to make those permanent from 2017. They need to extend the tax relief. You’ll see the economy and you’re gonna see the stock market bounce right back if, if you actually infuse that cash back into the, into market.

We

Mark Skousen: definitely need a tax cut, but this is a tax increase and it’s, it’s a cha, it’s a total transfer. It’s not a tax increase economy, it’s a away from global

Bob Brooks: and three trade. It’s, it’s not a tax increase. It is a tariff and companies have a choice to who pays the tax

Mark Skousen: in a tariff? Who pays the tax American?

Importers not necessary. Exporters. Importers pay the tax. Consumers pay the tax.

Gene Valentino: Well, that’s, it’s

Mark Skousen: a tax, that’s a theory.

Gene Valentino: Walmart just said, Walmart just said, mark to, um, China Imports. We’re buying your product, but no. We’re not picking [00:08:00] up the tariff increase and the we’ll see about that. Businesses have

Bob Brooks: the choice whether or not Easier said than die consumer we’re.

We are out of time. We’ll have to how it plays out.

Katrina Szish: Again, obviously a hot button issue. We’ll, we’ll see how it all plays out. All

Bob Brooks: gentlemen, we appreciate you all coming on. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Thank you.

Katrina Szish: And still ahead on American Agenda, a new federal investigation into President Biden and his possible use of, all right, and we turn now to TikTok, president Trump and the White House reportedly inching closer to announcing a new deal that would keep TikTok available in the United States.

The president holding a meeting yesterday to iron out the details of a possible deal. As one report says last minute bidders are now swooping in including Amazon, which has made an 11th hour offer. I think

Bob Brooks: it’s pretty valuable. The deadline for a deal is this Saturday, and if an agreement isn’t made by then.

The popular social media app, it could go dark again, or the president could once again extend the deadline. A lot of agains here. TikTok has come under enormous pressure as lawmakers from both [00:09:00] sides of the aisle feel. It’s a national security concern being owned by. The Chinese parent company Bite dance.

Katrina Szish: That’s right. And joining us now to weigh in Republican strategist, Gene Valentino, back with us, along with host of Wise guys, John Tobacco. Great to have you both here with us in studio. Uh, John, what do you think? I mean, uh, do you think a deal’s gonna come through? I know there’s some, some big companies out there who wanna a piece of TikTok.

Well,

John Tabacco: first of all, I hate TikTok, so I really don’t care. I wouldn’t mind. At all if they just got rid of the whole darn thing, to be honest with you, I second that, but there are a lot

Katrina Szish: of people out there who love it, people who make their money and their income off of it. So I, you know, it’s, it’s so kids these days.

I

John Tabacco: could tell you guys that about six months ago I got contacted by a PR firm here in the US and they were creating a narrative about how great. TikTok is for small businesses. So all these ads and things, that’s all manufactured by TikTok to make you feel bad for the small business person who uses TikTok, they could use [00:10:00] Instagram, they could use Facebook, they could use X.

Why does China get to get all our data? I’m scared about that, but what about an

Katrina Szish: American company taking it over? Sorry to interrupt. Yeah,

Gene Valentino: the bingo on TikTok. I mean, I’ve got a few businesses I own and tiktoks not part of any of it for a reason, and you know. But even per our last segment, government does what it can to protect the interest of the people, regardless of how it shows in the stock market in the next few days, few weeks, and I’m glad the government is, and I trust Donald Trump in this case, to hold the line and hold a hard line and making sure.

That our protections as a nation are come first regardless of the presence of, well,

Bob Brooks: Gene, that, that’s what this boils down to. You have a Chinese company, uh, access to all that data. Yeah. Mess messaging to young kids. You’re out. I mean, that, that is a concern here and that’s what they’re trying to address.

Gene Valentino: Yeah. And I think it’s appropriate that we a nip it in the bud. And if you’re, uh, walking around with your iPhone and your hand and coming through intersections, uh, or anywheres else in the [00:11:00] classroom. You’re probably not gonna be comfortable with this mandate from the government pushing a restriction of the use of an availability of TikTok in America.

Yeah, I’m with Johnny. I’m on board with it.

John Tabacco: I’m scared of that because, you know, I’m kind of like a libertarian. I. And we don’t want the government to force themself into Commerce Point, even if the product, good point is something that we don’t love. Um, at the same time, we don’t want another administrator to come along and say, well, we don’t like your American friends.

We’re gonna take over your company. Right? So, you know, there’s gotta be a bounce. I think Trump. Was going to like knee jerk it at first and he extended it a little. If somebody’s gotta own it, then hopefully it’s a great American company. Well, but I’d rather it be gone.

Katrina Szish: Well, yeah, but I mean, if, if Jean, if, if say whether you know, you like the app or not, I guess you guys do both.

Don’t, neither does Bob. But again, if we talk about the, the Chinese parent company, but if an American company, uh, takes it over then, then what do you think? Is that good for America? Not the social media part of it, but, but more of the, uh, the business part of it.

Gene Valentino: The [00:12:00] question will end up being an issue as to whether you believe the data is protected.

Yes. And our privacy is protected. We have an issue with it in the medical industry with hipaa. Mm-hmm. And, and medical information getting out. Can the government guarantee and, uh, make, uh, be certain that it’ll protect the data of the citizens if they can? You might get, you might have a sale.

Bob Brooks: John, we’re outta time.

Can you trust the Chinese company to say, Hey, we’re, we’re not gonna do anything weird? No. The

John Tabacco: answer,

Katrina Szish: no. I didn’t get the answer to that one. We need, we need go, we need

John Tabacco: either an American CEO that Trump has some access to. Um, but slippery slope, guys. You know, just like deporting people who haven’t committed crimes.

Um. We don’t want that to happen to us from another administration. Alright, so we gotta stay

Bob Brooks: clean here. We shall see what happens. Gene John, good to have you both on. Appreciate it. Thank you, Bob. Thank you. Okay, coming up, president Trump launching that global tariff blitz. He says it’ll protect American industry, but markets [00:13:00] kind of going down today taking a dive.

We’re gonna dive into it. There we go. Great Friday.

Katrina Szish: I like there. All right. Ahead. Some female athletes are taking a stand against biological men. Yeah, it’s still going on competing in women’s sports, but others aren’t taking a knee. I’ll explain exactly what I mean by that on the other views. Stay right there.

President Trump spoke with reporters just moments ago on his way to Florida for the weekend. Let’s listen in.

Donald Trump: Speaking tonight for charities and, uh, then we’ll be coming back here pretty quickly. But, uh, they’re having a big, uh, event. A lot of charitable causes are involved, so we look forward to that. It’s in Miami at DUR

Press: Market Today are way down the worst day in year because of the, so how’s it going?

Donald Trump: I think it’s going very well.

It was an operation. [00:14:00] Uh, like when a patient gets operated on, and, uh, it’s a big thing. I said this would exactly be the way it is. Uh, we have. Six or $7 trillion coming into our country. And, uh, we’ve never seen anything like it. Uh, the markets are gonna boom. The stocking is gonna boom, the country’s gonna boom, and the rest of the world wants to see is there any way they can make a deal.

Uh, they’ve taken away advantage of us for many, many years. For many years we’ve been at the wrong side of the ball. And I’ll tell you what, I think it’s gonna be unbelievable. The thing that people have to talk about. We’re up almost to $7 trillion of investment coming into our country. And, uh, you’ll see how it’s gonna turn out.

Our country’s gonna boom.

Bob Brooks: Okay. President Trump heading to Doral. That’s right. Nice big golf weekend down there. And, uh, also talking about tariffs all about it right now. Okay. Turning to this [00:15:00] one. Interim US attorney in Washington isn’t letting the Joe Biden Autopen scandal. Fade from the headlines. Ed Martin is now pursuing an investigation into whether Joe Biden used their device to sign pardons for his family members just before leaving for office.

Katrina Szish: The probe stems from the theory that President Biden may not have been mentally capable to consent to the pardons, something that officials from the Biden White House have pushed back on.

Bob Brooks: This theory was first reported and proposed by the Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project after releasing findings last month, which they say shows that Biden consistently used the same Autopen signature over the course of his presidency, including on pardons.

Katrina Szish: Well, the only outlier being this. Signature that appeared on Biden’s statement announcing he was dropping out of the 2024 presidential race. You can see the difference there.

Bob Brooks: Big difference. Alright, here with reaction, executive Director of the Oversight Project at the Heritage Foundation, Mike Howell, along with Republican strategist, Gene Valentino, back with us in studio.

Glad to have you, Mike. I’m gonna start [00:16:00] with you. Talk about this, how this investigation could even look, how you could go about proving this.

Mike Howell: Yeah. First, thanks for having me on. Second, it’s not a theory. The Biden administration and their, you know, surrogates have admitted they used the Autopen, uh, prolifically, several of his aides or the New York Post, saying that they did not know that the staffer who was Widing, the Autopen had actual, or just perceived authority.

So our investigation has determinative, uh. Pointed out there was two different types of auto pens at least, and it’s beyond dispute. The auto pen was used. The question now turns to whether Biden was one aware of it being used particularly in the final days. And then two, whether he even had the mental capacity to sign off and his own Department of Justice found he couldn’t stand trial.

Books are coming out, you know, now where staffers and and reporters are finally giving us the, the sort of details that Biden was, what he appeared to be to the rest of the country, completely out of it. And so, US Attorney Ed Martin, a bright and shining star for the Trump administration is absolutely correct to pursue accountability for the criminal conduct of the [00:17:00] crooks, who, when they received these fraudulent pardons, admitted their own guilt.

So they have a funky $3 bill. Pardon? Right now US attorney had Martin’s charging hard as he should be for law and order.

Katrina Szish: Gene, what do you make of this?

Gene Valentino: Well, they’re great opportunity to pick up a novelty for future, um, uh, uh, uh, value at a pawn shop. And that’s, I think, all you get out of it because these, uh, auto pen signatures will prove to be, and I’m not a lawyer, but, uh, guys, I, I must admit, um, when I was a candidate for Congress, uh, one of the concerns I had was I was going to go after anything or everything that Joe Biden did that he, uh, to question his cognition.

If he was not directly involved in these decision guys, there’s a, there’s a claim for any congressman or senator to bring up, uh, questioning the merits of any signature by, uh, by Joe Biden. I think that brings into, uh, a dispute, uh, some real, uh, issues that are much more substantive than the [00:18:00] things they’re pushing on Donald Trump and Elon Musk right now.

Bob Brooks: Absolutely. Mike. Expand upon that. I mean, you could be talking about other investigations digging into it and do a lot of stuff to Gene’s point.

Mike Howell: Absolutely. This opens the door to the question everyone around the world wants answered and has been asking who was actually the president of the last four years.

Everybody knows it’s not Biden. At one point over 75% of Americans said he did not have the mental capacity. It’s an open secret. So the next question is, so who was in charge? And so when you know US Attorney, ed Martin, or whoever else. Who test these pardons in courts in order to defend those pardons, these staff or these individuals are gonna have to, you know, go in there for questioning.

The staffers are gonna have to come in and answer questions, and guess what? They can’t hide behind executive privilege because President Biden waived executive privilege for Trump staffers over January 6th, so this Trump administration could do the same thing. It is an imminently solvable problem to figure out who the president is, and that’s what I hope happens.

Katrina Szish: You know, Gene, I understand the, the points of course that [00:19:00] Mike is making, that you’re making, but some people may say, you know, listen. Biden’s long gone. Trump’s back in the White House. Let’s just move on.

Gene Valentino: Yeah. If we, um, don’t remind ourselves of the past, we’re prone to repeat it. I think it’s important we learn from our mistakes and fix them once and for all.

That’s what Trump’s doing with these transformative decisions on the Stallone. Uh, uh, putting that aside, I think we need to go back and question every single thing that, uh, Joe Biden has done under his term. We need to know if he was cognizant and of, uh, sound mind when he made some of these administrative decisions.

A lot of people want that to be looked

Bob Brooks: into. That’s right. Yeah. If it’s something was nefarious there, which I’m not saying, you know, either way. That’s right. People want answers to it. That’s right.

Katrina Szish: America. Does want answers. All right. We’re gonna have to leave it there. Mike Howell and also Gene Valentino.

Thank you so much for being with us.

Bob Brooks: Thank you. Okay, folks, stick with us the second hour of American Agenda. It’s gonna [00:20:00]