The Ben Shapiro Show - National Security Bombshell & The Case For Derek Chauvin Ep.3 | The Autopsy

00:00:00.000 Folks, tons of news today.

00:00:02.000 Obviously, a huge blow-up when pretty much all the members of the national security team of Team Trump end up in a signal chat with a journalist accidentally.

00:00:10.000 We'll get to that momentarily.

00:00:11.000 First, your reminder, episode three of The Case for Derek Chauvin is on today's episode, so make sure you stay tuned for that.

00:00:17.000 In the middle of the show, we'll also get to the economy and everything else.

00:00:21.000 Also... We've recently received several tips related to Derek Chauvin's case.

00:00:24.000 We're actively tracking down all of those leads.

00:00:26.000 Stay tuned.

00:00:27.000 We may have some breaking news on the Chauvin case very soon.

00:00:29.000 If you do have a tip, send it our way.

00:00:31.000 Include my name along with Derek Chauvin in the subject line and ensure it reaches my team immediately.

00:00:36.000 You'll find the submission link in this episode's description.

00:00:39.000 Okay, so big bombshell story yesterday dropped by Jeffrey Goldberg, the execrable editor of The Atlantic.

00:00:44.000 Jeffrey Goldberg is basically a stand-in for Barack Obama's foreign policy team.

00:00:48.000 And he breaks this story that he was accidentally included in a signal chat that basically included everybody who was a top member of Team Trump in the national security sphere, ranging from the Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to the National Security Advisor Mike Waltz to the Vice President of the United States J.D. Vance to Stephen Miller, a top advisor to President Trump.

00:01:07.000 All of them were on a signal chat, and they were talking about the upcoming military strike on the Houthis.

00:01:13.000 And somebody, it appears to have been Mike Waltz, accidentally included, Jeffrey Goldberg in this Signal chat.

00:01:21.000 Now, what exactly happened here?

00:01:22.000 The answer is almost certainly that he meant to include the U.S. Trade Representative, Jamie Singh Greer.

00:01:27.000 If you ever use Signal, Signal is an encrypted messaging service that is supposed to be basically uncrackable by outside sources.

00:01:34.000 And one of the things that happens when you use Signal chat, I'm on Signal, I have a bunch of Signal chats.

00:01:39.000 When you are on Signal, you can choose how your name appears in its sort of identity line.

00:01:44.000 You can either pick your full name or you can pick the initials.

00:01:47.000 My assumption is that Jamison Greer had JG as his initials on Signal and that Waltz or whomever else put together the chat, one of his aides, whoever did it, hit instead Jeffrey Goldberg of the Atlantic.

00:01:58.000 This does not mean, as per so many folks who do not like Mike Waltz, that he was regularly chatting with Jeffrey Goldberg.

00:02:04.000 It just means that Jeffrey Goldberg was in sort of a list of contacts that included Jamison Greer and both of them had the initials JG and he hit the wrong one.

00:02:12.000 Okay, so in any case, what ends up happening is that there is a very detailed discussion that's quite fascinating.

00:02:17.000 about the strike against the Houthis that happened March 15th.

00:02:23.000 Jeffrey Goldberg has a long piece in The Atlantic about this, and here's what he says.

00:02:27.000 This is the world found out shortly before 2 p.m. Eastern time on March 15th.

00:02:30.000 The United States was bombing Houthi targets across Yemen.

00:02:32.000 I, however, knew two hours before the first bombs exploded that the attack might be coming.

00:02:36.000 The reason I knew this is that Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of Defense, had texted me the war plan at 11 at 44 a.m.

00:02:41.000 The plan included precise information about weapons packages, targets, and timing.

00:02:45.000 This is going to require some explaining.

00:02:48.000 So he says the story technically begins shortly after the Hamas invasion of southern Israel in October of 2023.

00:02:54.000 The Houthis, an Iran-backed terrorist organization whose motto is God is great, death to America, death to Israel, curse on the Jews, victory to Islam, which as I've said before is a very wordy slogan. 0.70

00:03:05.000 They had launched attacks on Israel and international shipping created havoc for global trade.

00:03:10.000 Throughout 2024, the Biden administration was ineffective in countering those Houthi attacks.

00:03:14.000 The incoming administration promised a tougher response.

00:03:16.000 This is where Pete Hegseth and I come in.

00:03:18.000 On Tuesday, March 11th, writes Jeffrey Goldberg at The Atlantic, I received a connection request on Signal from a user identified as Michael Waltz.

00:03:24.000 First of all, a connection request means that Waltz was not actively in contact with Goldberg before.

00:03:29.000 Just for those who are not conversant in how Signal works.

00:03:31.000 If I want to connect with you on Signal, I have to make a connection request.

00:03:34.000 So the idea that they were regularly using Signal to chat with one another is not true.

00:03:38.000 Signal is an open-source encrypted messaging service popular with journalists and others who seek more privacy than other text messaging services are capable of delivering.

00:03:45.000 I assumed the Michael Walton question was President Donald Trump's national security advisor.

00:03:48.000 I did not assume, however, the request was from the actual Michael Waltz.

00:03:51.000 I've met him in the past, and though I didn't find it particularly strange that he might be reaching out to me, I did think it's somewhat unusual given the Trump administration's contentious relationship with journalists and Trump's periodic fixation on me specifically.

00:04:01.000 It immediately crossed my mind that someone could be masquerading his walls in order to somehow entrap me.

00:04:06.000 It is not at all uncommon these days for nefarious actors to try to induce journalists to share information that could be used against them.

00:04:11.000 This is Jeffrey Goldberg writing for The Atlantic.

00:04:13.000 I accepted the connection request, hoping this was the actual national security advisor, and that he wanted to chat about Ukraine or Iran or some other important matter.

00:04:19.000 Two days later, Thursday, 428 p.m., I received a notice I was to be included in a signal chat group.

00:04:24.000 It was called the Houthi PC Small Group.

00:04:27.000 A message to the group from Michael Walsh read as follows, quote, Team, establishing a principles group for coordination on Houthis, particularly for over the next 72 hours.

00:04:34.000 My deputy Alex Wong is pulling Thanks. So, as Goldberg points out, a principles committee generally refers to a group of senior-most national security officials, and that includes Secretaries of Defense, State, Treasury, the Director of the CIA.

00:05:02.000 He said he obviously was not meant to be on this group, certainly not on a commercial messaging app.

00:05:08.000 One minute later, a person identified only as MAR, which presumably is Marco Rubio, wrote Mike Needham for State, apparently designating the current counselor of the State Department as his representative.

00:05:16.000 At that same moment, a Signal user identified as J.D. Vance, wrote Andy Baker for VP.

00:05:21.000 One minute after that, Tulsi Gabbard wrote Joe Kent for DNI.

00:05:24.000 Nine minutes later, Scott B., apparently the Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, or someone spoofing his identity, wrote Dan Katz for Treasury.

00:05:30.000 And at 4.53 p.m., a user called Pete Hegseth wrote Dan Caldwell for DOD.

00:05:36.000 Brian McCormick for NSC.

00:05:39.000 And John Ratcliffe included the name of a CIA official, and Jeffrey Goldberg doesn't name that CIA official because that would be classified.

00:05:45.000 The principals had apparently assembled.

00:05:47.000 In all, 18 individuals were listed as members of the group, including various National Security Council officials, including Steve Witkoff, Susie Wiles, and Stephen Miller, presumably.

00:05:56.000 That was the end of the Thursday text chain.

00:05:58.000 After receiving the Walls text related to the Houthi PC Small Group, I consulted a number of colleagues, said Goldberg.

00:06:02.000 We discussed the possibility these texts were part of a disinformation campaign initiated by either a foreign intelligence service or, more likely, a media gadfly organization, the sort of group that attempts to place journalists in embarrassing positions and sometimes succeeds.

00:06:14.000 I had very strong doubts the text group was real because I couldn't believe the national security leadership of the United States would communicate on Signal about imminent war plans.

00:06:22.000 I also could not believe the national security advisor to the president would be so reckless as to include the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic in such discussions with senior U.S. officials up to and including the vice president.

00:06:31.000 The next day, says Jeffrey Goldberg, things got even stranger.

00:06:34.000 At 8.05 a.m., Friday, March 14th, Waltz texted the group, quote, You should have a statement of conclusions with taskings per the president's guidance this morning in your high-side inboxes.

00:06:43.000 Now, this is important because a high-side inbox, high-side means classified.

00:06:48.000 So, what he is saying is the stuff that we're talking about right here is not considered the sort of classified protected material that would be legally actionable if it were to disappear.

00:06:57.000 High-side is typically the sort of inbox that is used for that classified material.

00:07:02.000 It's important for legal reasons.

00:07:03.000 State and DOD said, Waltz, we developed suggested a notification list for regional allies and partners.

00:07:07.000 Joint staff is sending this AM a more specific sequence of events in the coming days.

00:07:11.000 We will work with DOD to ensure Chief of Staff, Office of the VP, and POTUS are briefed.

00:07:15.000 At this point, a fascinating policy discussion commenced.

00:07:18.000 The account labeled J.D. Vance responded at 816.

00:07:20.000 Team, I'm out for the day doing an economic event in Michigan, but I think we are making a mistake.

00:07:24.000 Vance was, in fact, in Michigan that day.

00:07:26.000 The Vance account went on, quote, 3% of U.S.

00:07:29.000 trade runs through the Suez.

00:07:30.000 40% of European trade does.

00:07:32.000 There is a real risk the public doesn't understand this or why it's necessary.

00:07:35.000 The strongest reason to do this, as POTUS said, is to send a message.

00:07:40.000 Then, Vance continued, I'm not sure the president is aware how inconsistent this is with his message on Europe right now.

00:07:45.000 There's a further risk.

00:07:46.000 We see a moderate to severe spike in oil prices.

00:07:48.000 I am willing to support the consensus of the team and keep these concerns to myself, but there is a strong argument for delaying this month, doing the messaging work on why this matters, seeing where the economy is, etc.

00:07:58.000 Then Joe Kent, who's Trump's nominee to run the National Counterterrorism Center, wrote, There's nothing time-sensitive driving the timeline.

00:08:03.000 We'll have the exact same options in a month.

00:08:06.000 Then John Ratcliffe replied and contained information that might actually be interpreted as related to actual and current intelligence operations.

00:08:14.000 So credit where's to you.

00:08:15.000 I think Jeffrey Goldberg is just awful in every possible way, but he did refrain from actually including the classified information or information he thought might be classified.

00:08:25.000 He refrained from putting that in the article itself.

00:08:27.000 At 8.27, a message from Pete Hegseth said, quote, VP, I understand your concerns and fully support you raising with the president.

00:08:33.000 Important considerations, most of which are tough to know how they play out.

00:08:36.000 Economy, Ukraine, peace, Gaza. 0.91

00:08:37.000 I think the messaging is going to be tough no matter what.

00:08:40.000 Nobody knows who the Houthis are, which is why we would need to stay focused on, one, Biden failed, and two, Iran funded.

00:08:45.000 Hegseth then continued, quote, waiting a few weeks or a month does not fundamentally change the calculus.

00:08:49.000 Two immediate risks on waiting.

00:08:51.000 One, this leaks and we look indecisive.

00:08:52.000 Two, Israel takes an action first, or Gaza's ceasefire falls apart, and we don't get to start this on our own terms.

00:08:57.000 We can manage both.

00:08:58.000 We're prepared to execute, and if I had a final go-or-no-go vote, I believe we should.

00:09:02.000 This is not about the Houthis.

00:09:03.000 I see it as two things.

00:09:04.000 One, restoring freedom of navigation, a core national interest, and two, reestablish deterrence, which Biden cratered.

00:09:09.000 But we can easily pause, and if we do, I will do all we can to enforce 100% OPSEC, that's Operation Security.

00:09:14.000 I welcome other thoughts.

00:09:16.000 A few minutes later...

00:09:17.000 Michael Waltz posted, quote, whether it's now or several weeks from now, it will have to be the United States that reopens these shipping lanes.

00:09:22.000 Per the president's request, we are working with DOD and state to determine how to compile the costs associated and levy them on the Europeans.

00:09:29.000 J.D. Vance then replied, quote, if you think we should do it, let's go.

00:09:32.000 I just hate bailing out Europe again.

00:09:35.000 The user identified as Hegseth responded three minutes later, VP, I fully share your loathing of European freeloading. 0.87

00:09:40.000 It's pathetic, but Mike is correct.

00:09:41.000 We are the only ones on the planet on our side of the ledger who can do this. 0.95

00:09:44.000 "Nobody else even close.

00:09:45.000 "Question is timing.

00:09:46.000 "I feel like now is as good a time as any given "President's directive to reopen shipping lanes.

00:09:50.000 "I think we should go, but POTUS still retains At this point, Stephen Miller joined the conversation, and he said, Pete Hegseth then replied,

00:10:15.000 Agree. Okay, so, Goldberg waited, and then, at 11.44 a.m., on Saturday, March 15th, Hegseth posted in Signal a team update, which contained, apparently, information about targets, weapons the U.S. would be deploying, and attack sequencing.

00:10:35.000 Vance then wrote, I will say a prayer for victory, and two other users subsequently added prayer emojis.

00:10:41.000 And Goldberg then waited around to see what happened.

00:10:43.000 And sure enough, at 155 Eastern Time, explosions were being heard in Sana'a, which is the capital city of Yemen.

00:10:51.000 And Michael Waltz then replied, saying, amazing job.

00:10:54.000 And John Ratcliffe wrote, a good start.

00:10:56.000 And then Waltz responded with three emojis, a fist, an American flag, and fire.

00:11:00.000 And then Secretary of State Rubio presumably wrote, good job, Pete and your team.

00:11:03.000 And Susie Wiles texted, kudos to all of them, most particularly those in theater and CENTCOM.

00:11:07.000 Really great.

00:11:08.000 God bless.

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00:13:14.000 So, again, the conversation itself is really fascinating.

00:13:19.000 So, there is...

00:13:23.000 There's a bunch of issues to talk about here.

00:13:27.000 Obviously, the biggest issue is the leak itself.

00:13:31.000 How did this happen?

00:13:32.000 And the answer is, you have all these officials, they're using Signal.

00:13:34.000 This is obviously a mistake.

00:13:35.000 It's obviously a mistake.

00:13:37.000 President Trump was asked about this yesterday.

00:13:38.000 He did not have any knowledge of what was going on.

00:13:40.000 He presumably didn't have any knowledge of what was going on.

00:13:42.000 Here he was yesterday.

00:13:44.000 I don't know anything about it.

00:13:46.000 I'm not a big fan of The Atlantic.

00:13:48.000 To me, it's a magazine that's going out of business.

00:13:50.000 I think it's not much of a magazine, but I know nothing about it.

00:13:53.000 You're saying that they had what?

00:13:55.000 They were using signal to coordinate on sensitive materials.

00:14:00.000 Having to do with what?

00:14:02.000 Having to do with what?

00:14:03.000 What were they talking about?

00:14:04.000 With the Houthis. 0.97

00:14:06.000 The Houthis? 0.57

00:14:06.000 You mean the attack on the Houthis? 0.57

00:14:08.000 Well, it couldn't have been very effective because the attack was very effective, I can tell you that.

00:14:13.000 I don't know anything about it.

00:14:14.000 You're telling me about it for the first time.

00:14:18.000 So, Trump denies knowledge, and of course he probably had no knowledge of this because it was literally everybody else in the administration who was on this particular chat.

00:14:26.000 The Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, was asked about this, and he tore into the Atlantic as well.

00:14:31.000 So, you're talking about a deceitful and highly discredited... 0.97

00:14:38.000 So-called journalist who's made a profession of peddling hoaxes time and time again to include the, I don't know, the hoaxes of Russia, Russia, Russia, or the fine people on both sides hoax, or suckers and losers hoax. 1.00

00:14:53.000 So this is the guy that peddles in garbage. 0.97

00:14:58.000 Okay, so, again, you know, Hegseth attacking the Atlantic. 0.98

00:15:02.000 I'm all on board with it.

00:15:03.000 I think the Atlantic's editor, particularly Jeffrey Goldberg specifically, is...

00:15:07.000 Not a good representative of the journalistic institution.

00:15:11.000 He was basically a stenographer for Barack Obama.

00:15:13.000 But it was confirmed that the Signal Chat was involving all these players, and it is real.

00:15:17.000 So that raises a couple of questions.

00:15:19.000 One is illegal.

00:15:20.000 So there are people today who are attempting to claim that this was somehow violative of criminal law, that this is a breach of official records acts because Signal Chats have an auto-delete function that you can activate.

00:15:33.000 As I mentioned when we went through the story, The use of terms, for example, in the piece, such as high side, suggests that there was an entire other thread that was going on inside the sort of classified government rooms that was preserved.

00:15:49.000 So there's that.

00:15:50.000 Two, the President of the United States has the signal ability to simply declassify whatever he wants.

00:15:56.000 So the idea that this is sort of a violation of law, I think, is overstated.

00:16:00.000 Is it a scandal?

00:16:02.000 Sure, it's a scandal when there's a screw-up this big.

00:16:05.000 If you accidentally include a journalist in a high-ranking discussion about precisely where you're bombing, that is a major problem, of course.

00:16:13.000 It is a breach of security.

00:16:15.000 I am not willing to hear that from people on the Democratic side of the aisle who are perfectly fine with the Hillary Clinton email stuff.

00:16:20.000 I'm not.

00:16:21.000 This is one of the lines that the left is taking about all of this today, which is, you guys, you fussed all about Hillary Clinton and her emails and keeping those on her own private server.

00:16:32.000 Number one, we should recognize that what Hillary Clinton did was very bad.

00:16:37.000 And this right here is also quite bad.

00:16:39.000 Inviting a journalist into a group chat, obviously, that involves high-ranking discussions of national security matters that are classified.

00:16:48.000 That is a giant boo-boo. 0.91

00:16:49.000 That is a huge boo-boo.

00:16:51.000 And again, as much as I despise Jeffrey Goldberg as a human being, I think that Jeffrey Goldberg actually did the responsible thing in not printing, for example, We're good to go.

00:16:52.000 And again, as much as I despise Jeffrey Goldberg as a human being, I think that Jeffrey Goldberg actually did the responsible thing in not printing, for example, operational details or blowing the operation beforehand, which he certainly could have done.

00:17:02.000 With all of that said, the reason that everyone is so casual about the use of classified material these days, the reason all this is happening is because of the original sin of James Comey not prosecuting Hillary Clinton over her emails.

00:17:14.000 That is the reality.

00:17:15.000 That set up an entire permission structure for people to mishandle classified materials, unless apparently you're a Republican.

00:17:21.000 That is the way this works.

00:17:22.000 If Hillary Clinton uses classified materials and she puts them on a private server, which...

00:17:28.000 James Comey of the FBI openly acknowledged was likely accessed by foreign sources and then there's no prosecution that attends?

00:17:37.000 Then how can that rule apply to anybody else?

00:17:39.000 This is why it was so ridiculous when they tried to go after Trump for the classified documents mishandling at Mar-a-Lago at the same exact time that Joe Biden had a bunch of classified documents in his garage.

00:17:49.000 This issue is largely played out in the sense that while something can be a giant screw-up, nobody takes it as a criminal.

00:17:56.000 Level screw-up at this point.

00:17:57.000 That was killed dead by the operation to let Hillary Clinton off the hook back in 2015-2016 for her email scandal.

00:18:06.000 And so when the left says, we've now heard the end of but her emails, the reality is but her emails was the inciting event for an entire string of mishandling of classified materials on both sides of the aisle.

00:18:19.000 Then there the Democrats are saying this could have cost lives.

00:18:21.000 It really could have cost lives.

00:18:22.000 So, I mean...

00:18:23.000 If it had not included Jeffrey Goldberg, sure, but that is also a hypothetical that did not happen in reality.

00:18:30.000 Again, a giant screw-up is not quite the same thing as an intentional move to endanger human life on the American side of the aisle.

00:18:40.000 Leon Panetta, former Secretary of Defense, was on CNN going off about all of this.

00:18:45.000 And again, this is exaggeration.

00:18:48.000 To have had somebody from the Atlantic on that chain.

00:18:52.000 Without question was a serious mistake.

00:18:56.000 And I hope the White House takes this seriously because the last thing you want to do when you're talking about war plans is to have a serious leak like this that could undermine the war plans but also jeopardize lives.

00:19:14.000 So I hope they take this seriously.

00:19:18.000 Now again.

00:19:19.000 I agree that it should be taken seriously.

00:19:21.000 The idea that this was like jeopardizing massive amounts of life because Jeffrey Goldberg was included, that's an exaggeration.

00:19:27.000 It's also worth noting that many of the same people who are very upset with this particular situation would have been perfectly happy if the war plans had been leaked by an insider at the Trump administration to the front page of the New York Times.

00:19:37.000 That sort of stuff happened all the time in the first Trump administration.

00:19:41.000 Democrats are going on offense.

00:19:44.000 Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Monday, this is one of the most stunning breaches of military intelligence I have read about in a very, very long time.

00:19:50.000 House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York called Hegseth, quote, the most unqualified person to ever lead the Pentagon in American history.

00:19:57.000 Now, do we think that any of this is going to pay off in a major way?

00:20:02.000 One of the things that is fascinating is not the Democratic attacks on Republicans, on Waltz, on Rubio, on Hegseth, on any of the rest of this.

00:20:12.000 The part that's really fascinating is the mobilization on one side of the Republican aisle against Waltz in particular.

00:20:19.000 Because there are really two issues that are of note with regard to this leak.

00:20:23.000 One is the leak itself, which obviously is deeply noteworthy.

00:20:26.000 And the administration should make sure obviously nothing like this ever happens again.

00:20:31.000 And then there is the second issue, which is what was actually said in the leak.

00:20:35.000 And one of the things that I'm noticing is that partisans of J.D. Vance are coming out saying that the real story here is the leak.

00:20:41.000 And partisans of Mike Waltz are coming out and saying that the real story here is what was said in the chat.

00:20:46.000 And the answer is both.

00:20:47.000 Both of these things are actual real stories and neither should be obscured.

00:20:51.000 Politico is reporting that Waltz could theoretically be on the chopping block, that President Trump is upset because he doesn't like bad headlines.

00:20:57.000 That, of course, makes sense.

00:20:59.000 The president has a right to be upset.

00:21:01.000 A senior administration official told Politico on Monday afternoon they're involved in multiple text threads with other administration staffers on what to do with Walls following that bombshell report.

00:21:09.000 One official said, quote, half of them saying he's never going to survive or he shouldn't survive.

00:21:13.000 It was reckless not to check who's on the thread.

00:21:15.000 It was reckless to be having that conversation on Signal.

00:21:17.000 You can't have recklessness as the national security advisor.

00:21:19.000 Now, let's be fair about this.

00:21:20.000 If you're saying it was reckless to include Jeffrey Goldberg, obviously true.

00:21:24.000 If the idea is that it was reckless to have the conversation on Signal, half of the conversations on planet Earth about national security are being had on Signal because it is encrypted.

00:21:32.000 That's why I downloaded Signal.

00:21:36.000 That's why when I have sensitive conversations, those happen on Signal.

00:21:39.000 And if you're talking about recklessness to be involved, now you have to fire the entire team because literally everyone on the team was on that Signal chat.

00:21:46.000 We'll get to the rest of this story momentarily.

00:21:48.000 First, the IRS is ramping up its enforcement efforts in 2025.

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00:23:52.000 One issue, obviously, is Walt and what are the consequences for the screw-up.

00:23:57.000 But the other issue, and this is the one that, again, I'm seeing a lot of misdirection by people who are fans of the vice president away from the thing that J.D. Vance actually was saying in the chat, which to me is another fascinating aspect of this, right?

00:24:09.000 You now have a window into the sort of open foreign policy debates that are happening inside the Trump administration.

00:24:15.000 So you have the president, and he says, listen, we are going to reopen freedom of trade and freedom of the seas.

00:24:20.000 We're going to strike the Houthis. 1.00

00:24:21.000 We're not going to be cowards like the Biden administration was about the Houthis. 1.00

00:24:24.000 And then a consequential discussion ensues in which part of the administration says that means we need to go punch them in the mouth. 0.98

00:24:30.000 And Vice President Vance takes the position we should not punch the Houthis in the mouth. 0.97

00:24:35.000 And then puts forward what is a pretty milquetoast delay tactic.

00:24:40.000 Because what Vance says in there is an open disagreement with President Trump.

00:24:44.000 An open disagreement with President Trump.

00:24:46.000 I am not sure the president is aware how inconsistent this is with his message on Europe right now.

00:24:52.000 Well, actually, it isn't.

00:24:54.000 Striking the Houthis is not inconsistent with messaging on Europe. 0.93

00:24:57.000 By the way, the argument that 3% of U.S. trades runs through the Suez, but 40% of European trade does, and thus it doesn't matter for the United States if trade moves through the Suez Canal, that's incredibly silly because trade is intertwined.

00:25:10.000 If you raise the price of goods massively in Europe, that is going to raise the price of goods in the United States because we trade with Europe.

00:25:15.000 That is a thing that we do.

00:25:17.000 So, to me, what that bespeaks is an entirely different geopolitical strategy that Vice President Vance is suggesting here than what the Trump administration as a whole has been promoting.

00:25:27.000 When you look past the actual leak issue to the actual content here, Walt, Hegseth, Miller are all reflecting the priorities of the President of the United States, and Vice President Vance...

00:25:39.000 Not so much.

00:25:40.000 When he says, well, this is really about cramming it down on the Europeans, why don't the Europeans do it? 0.99

00:25:44.000 He knows full well that the Europeans are not capable of taking on the Houthis. 0.98

00:25:47.000 He knows that full well.

00:25:48.000 And he also understands how global trade works.

00:25:51.000 What that really suggests is that the Vice President has a very different view of foreign policy, a view that he expressed pretty clearly before he was Vice President.

00:25:58.000 When he said he didn't care whether Russia took Ukraine, for example, that is certainly a view. 1.00

00:26:02.000 That is a view that's...

00:26:04.000 Bespeaks a foreign policy of spheres of influence, essentially.

00:26:07.000 That Russia should have its own sphere of influence in Eastern Europe, stretching all the way down into the Middle East.

00:26:12.000 That the United States should essentially remove itself from the world, which may or may not mean a broader sphere of influence for the Chinese. 0.56

00:26:22.000 Vice President Vance, again, he has a very different foreign policy than the Trump foreign policy.

00:26:26.000 That is just a reality.

00:26:27.000 And you can see it in these messages.

00:26:30.000 When he says there's a strong argument for delaying this month, doing the messaging work on why this matters, seeing where the economy is, etc.

00:26:36.000 The reality is the chance of a serious oil price spike from hitting the Houthis actually was incredibly low.

00:26:43.000 Because the Saudis don't like the Houthis either.

00:26:46.000 And what?

00:26:47.000 Is it going to shut down traffic in the Red Sea?

00:26:49.000 The traffic's already shut down in the Red Sea.

00:26:51.000 None of that makes any sense.

00:26:54.000 So I think that the Vice President, when he says that this is really just about bailing out Europe, it's bad to bail out Europe.

00:26:59.000 The United States has an interest in freedom of the seas.

00:27:02.000 Our shipping does go through the Suez Canal.

00:27:04.000 Global shipping goes through the Suez Canal.

00:27:06.000 We trade with all of the countries that have shipping going through the Suez Canal.

00:27:10.000 Beyond which, the United States does have an interest in backing our Saudi and Israeli allies in striking the Houthis, who have already been responsible, by the way, for the death of Americans. 0.85

00:27:18.000 So, you know, when the Vice President says the sort of stuff that openly conflicts with what the President of the United States is saying, that is another story.

00:27:26.000 So there are two sort of dueling narratives, and it'll be interesting to see how it shakes down.

00:27:31.000 As the Wall Street Journal points out, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz was a voice for U.S. leadership and for carrying out the President's policy.

00:27:37.000 Vice President J.D. Vance was a voice for U.S. retreat even when Mr. Trump directed otherwise.

00:27:41.000 And again, it'll be interesting that there are a lot of competing voices inside the Trump administration.

00:27:45.000 It'll be fascinating to see which voices end up taking the four and what President Trump actually does.

00:27:52.000 What should be the consequences for this sort of breach of security?

00:27:56.000 I think this all blows over within 48 hours, frankly.

00:27:58.000 I think that it's a serious mistake.

00:28:00.000 I think it's a problem.

00:28:02.000 I think, unfortunately, leaks happen all the time.

00:28:04.000 A kind of self-goal and own goal like this, where you create the leak, is obviously a massive problem.

00:28:10.000 I'm sure Mike Wallace will be called on the carpet by the President of the United States, as will other members of the administration, who apparently never checked to see who else was in chat before they started having these high-level discussions.

00:28:22.000 To me, the much more consequential matter...

00:28:25.000 It's not this.

00:28:25.000 The much more consequential matter is what does the foreign policy of the Trump administration look like and who gets to shape it?

00:28:30.000 Because that is an ongoing battle inside the Trump administration pretty much every day on every issue, ranging from what we do in Ukraine to what happens in the Middle East.

00:28:38.000 And that, to me, is a fascinating discussion that's going to continue on into the future no matter what happens with this particular issue.

00:28:44.000 Alrighty, now, as you know, we've been calling for the pardon of Derek Chauvin.

00:28:48.000 We have an ongoing series here, the case for Derek Chauvin.

00:28:51.000 It is time for part three of that case we're going to examine.

00:28:54.000 The Autopsy Report of George Floyd.

00:29:02.000 Unfortunately, we've had to edit out some important information because big tech won't let us say that sort of thing.

00:29:06.000 To listen to the full uncut show, go to dailywire.com slash subscribe.

00:29:11.000 Just last week, in an interview with David Weigel of Semaphore, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, while campaigning across state lines in Wisconsin for a Supreme Court candidate, decided to call those of us advocating for justice in the Derek Chauvin case racist.

00:29:23.000 Governor Walz's response is exactly what we've come to expect from the left.

00:29:26.000 When confronted with evidence, they simply yell racism and hope nobody notices the complete absence of substantive rebuttal.

00:29:32.000 The facts are clear and well-documented.

00:29:35.000 Let's address Walz's legal confusion.

00:29:37.000 This is the same governor who apparently doesn't realize Minnesota inmates like Chauvin typically serve just two-thirds of their sentences under his state's own laws, much like he was caught unaware that the state pension fund he oversees holds Tesla stock while he publicly celebrated the company's stock decline.

00:29:50.000 The irony of Tim Walz claiming that Chauvin's pardon would undermine faith in the system while simultaneously defending a prosecution marred by coerced medical testimony, politically motivated prosecutorial takeovers, his city and the entire country burning during deliberation, and careers threatened for those who dared question the predetermined narrative is apparently lost on him.

00:30:08.000 If we're serious about justice, we should care more about whether the conviction was based on actual evidence than mob rule.

00:30:13.000 But that would require intellectual honesty rather than just cheap political point scoring or willful ignorance.

00:30:18.000 Governor Walz should leave the serious discussions about justice to the adults in the room.

00:30:22.000 He should probably return to his true calling as an inflatable, waving tube band outside a Chevron gas station.

00:30:27.000 If you would like to discuss this issue further, he's always welcome on the show.

00:30:30.000 Now, on to the evidence.

00:30:32.000 In the aftermath of George Floyd's death, there were two separate autopsies conducted.

00:30:35.000 The official one, performed by Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office, conducted by Dr. Andrew Baker, and a second, hired autopsy, commissioned by the Floyd family, performed by Dr. Michael Bodden and Dr. Alicia Wilson.

00:30:46.000 These two autopsies reached notably different conclusions, and the distinctions between them are absolutely critical for understanding the miscarriage of justice in Chauvin's case.

00:30:54.000 Let's begin with the official autopsy performed by Hennepin County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Andrew Baker on May 26, 2020, the day after Floyd's death.

00:31:02.000 Baker had been the county's chief medical examiner since 2004.

00:31:05.000 He's a board-certified forensic pathologist.

00:31:07.000 His findings were released in a 20-page report on June 1, 2020.

00:31:11.000 The official autopsy listed the cause of death as cardiopulmonary arrest, complicating law enforcements of dual restraint and neck compression.

00:31:18.000 The manner of death was classified as homicide.

00:31:20.000 Now, this is really important.

00:31:22.000 In medical examiner terminology, homicide simply means death at the hands of another person.

00:31:26.000 It is not a legal determination of murder, which would include various additional elements depending on the degree.

00:31:32.000 But here's where things get really interesting.

00:31:34.000 The autopsy report explicitly states, this is a direct quote, no life-threatening injuries identified.

00:31:40.000 Let me repeat that.

00:31:42.000 No life-threatening injuries identified.

00:31:45.000 The report documented various minor injuries, including cutaneous injuries to the forehead, face, upper lips, shoulders, hands, elbows, and legs.

00:31:50.000 It noted mucosal injuries to the lips and patterned contusions of the wrists consistent with handcuffs.

00:31:55.000 But the report further clarifies that there were no facial, oral, mucosal, or conjunctival patachia, which are the small spots of bleeding in the eyes that would typically be present in a case of asphyxiation.

00:32:05.000 The report also found no injuries of anterior muscles of neck or laryngeal structures, meaning no damage to the throat, hyoid bone, trachea, or voice box.

00:32:14.000 Notably, the report did not find any damage to Floyd's neck or cervical spine.

00:32:17.000 Dr. Baker wrote that Floyd's neck was palpably stable and free of hemorrhage.

00:32:21.000 There was not even visible bruising on Floyd's neck.

00:32:23.000 In other words, despite the popular narrative that Chauvin choked Floyd's death, the actual autopsy found zero evidence of damage to Floyd's airway or throat structures.

00:32:31.000 This critical fact has been almost entirely ignored in public discussion of the case.

00:32:35.000 What the autopsy did find, however, was substantial evidence of severe pre-existing heart disease.

00:32:39.000 The report describes arteriosclerotic heart disease, multifocal, severe, and hypertensive heart disease with cardiomegaly, which means Floyd had an enlarged heart, riddled with plaque and blocked arteries.

00:32:50.000 The normal weight of a human heart varies based on factors like age, sex, and body size, but the typical average for men is between 280 and 340 grams.

00:32:58.000 Floyd's heart weighed 540 grams.

00:33:00.000 That is significantly above the normal range.

00:33:02.000 His coronary arteries were 90% blocked.

00:33:05.000 Two other arteries were 75% narrowed, an extremely dangerous condition that put him at high risk for sudden cardiac death.

00:33:11.000 Dr. Baker explained that when someone with heart disease is physically restrained, quote, those events are going to cause stress hormones to pour out into your body and ask your heart to beat faster.

00:33:19.000 Ask your body for more oxygen.

00:33:20.000 Floyd's enlarged heart needed more oxygen than a normal heart and was therefore limited in its ability to provide that oxygen under stress.

00:33:26.000 The most explosive part of the autopsy and the part that has been most aggressively downplayed by the media is the toxicology report.

00:33:32.000 The official autopsy found multiple drugs in Floyd's system at the time of his death.

00:33:36.000 At 11 nanograms per milliliter.

00:33:39.000 North at 5.6 nanograms per milliliter.

00:33:41.000 A form of that had already been partially metabolized by Floyd's system.

00:33:45.000 4-ANPP at 0.65 nanograms per milliliter.

00:33:48.000 Another related compound.

00:33:50.000 Methamphetamine at 19 nanograms per milliliter.

00:33:52.000 Various cannabis compounds like THC.

00:33:55.000 Let's focus on the levels for a moment.

00:33:57.000 11 nanograms per milliliter.

00:33:59.000 Dr. Baker disclosed on his witness statement for the trial that, quote, if Floyd were found dead at home alone and no other apparent causes, this could be acceptable to call an OD overdose.

00:34:08.000 Baker also noted that deaths have been certified as overdoses with levels as low as three nanograms per milliliter.

00:34:14.000 Floyd's level was nearly four times that amount.

00:34:17.000 Also central to the report is the shocking condition of George Floyd's swollen lungs, which weighed two to three times their normal weight due to fluid accumulation caused by the toxicity.

00:34:26.000 According to CDC guidelines, ... routinely triggers pulmonary edema, quote, significantly reducing respiratory function and leading to hypoxia.

00:34:33.000 Baker testified that Floyd's lungs contained serous fluid, which is consistent with drug-induced pulmonary failure, not physical trauma.

00:34:40.000 Floyd's potentially lethal level in his system, along with methamphetamine, created an extremely dangerous combination that can cause respiratory depression, cardiac arrhythmia, and sudden death.

00:34:49.000 In stark contrast to the official findings, the autopsy commissioned by the Floyd family reached very different conclusions.

00:34:54.000 This examination was performed by Dr. Michael Bodden, a former New York City chief medical examiner, and Dr. Alicia Wilson, a pathologist from the University of Michigan.

00:35:01.000 We should pause here to talk about Dr. Michael Bodden, the so-called celebrity pathologist who performed the independent autopsy for the Floyd family.

00:35:08.000 Bodden has made an entire career out of contradicting official autopsy findings in politically charged cases.

00:35:13.000 It's essentially his brand at this point.

00:35:14.000 Let's look at his track record.

00:35:17.000 He served as chairman of the House Select Committee on Assassination's Forensic Pathology Panel investigating JFK's assassination, where he contradicted key aspects of the original Warren Commission findings.

00:35:25.000 He was involved in reviewing evidence in the MLK Jr. assassination.

00:35:28.000 He testified for the defense in the O.J. Simpson trial, disagreeing with the prosecution's timeline.

00:35:33.000 In the Michael Brown case, he claimed shots were fired from further away than the official autopsy indicated.

00:35:38.000 And the cherry on top?

00:35:39.000 Dr. Michael Bodden was also hired by the Epstein family to conclude that Jeffrey Epstein did not die by suicide, but homicidal strangulation.

00:35:45.000 Bodden has literally been fired Twice from medical examiner positions.

00:35:48.000 One as chief medical examiner of New York City after complaints about sloppy record keeping, poor judgment, and lack of cooperation.

00:35:54.000 And then again from running Suffolk County's medical examiner's office.

00:35:57.000 New York Magazine skewered Baden for his disconnect between his fame, which he loved to discuss, and his accomplishments, which paled in comparison to his fame chasing.

00:36:05.000 Dr. Baden and Dr. Wilson determined that Floyd died from asphyxia due to neck and back compression.

00:36:09.000 They claimed that pressure on Floyd's neck impaired blood flow to the brain while weight on his back impeded his ability to breathe.

00:36:14.000 Most controversially, they stated that Floyd had no underlying medical problems that caused or contributed to his death.

00:36:20.000 They came to that conclusion without access to the toxicology reports, tissue samples, Floyd's medical records, or the body cam footage.

00:36:26.000 So when their findings completely contradicted the official autopsy, should we really be surprised?

00:36:31.000 Moreover, Dr. Biden's report ignores the heart disease documented in the official Hennepin County autopsy.

00:36:35.000 Dr. Biden went so far as to say, quote, I wish I had the same coronary arteries that Mr. Floyd had that we saw at the autopsy.

00:36:41.000 That is an astonishing claim.

00:36:43.000 Given that the official autopsy found Floyd's coronary arteries 90% blocked and two others 75% narrowed.

00:36:49.000 Excited delirium syndrome, recognized by the American College of Emergency Physicians in a 2009 report, is characterized by a combination of delirium, agitation, and hyperadrenergic autonomic dysfunction, also known as the flight or fight response, which typically occurs in the context of drug use or serious mental illness.

00:37:05.000 During Chauvin's trial, defense attorney Robert Paul questioned Dr. Baker extensively about his experience with excited delirium.

00:37:11.000 Baker acknowledged he had listed this condition as a cause of death on some death certificates during his career, but he didn't include it in his report on Floyd.

00:37:17.000 Floyd exhibited several signs consistent with excited delirium during his encounter with police.

00:37:21.000 Agitation, paranoia, strength that required multiple officers to restrain him, sweating, and statements indicating perceptual disturbances.

00:37:28.000 Combined with the known presence of methamphetamine and f*** in his system, these behaviors raised serious questions about whether excited delirium played a role in his death.

00:37:35.000 In the months following Floyd's death, one of the Minneapolis Police Department's grand gestures indicating their commitment to police reform included the removal of excited delirium from its training documents altogether.

00:37:44.000 The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that the term excited delirium was crossed out in Minneapolis Police Department training PowerPoint slides replaced with severe agitation with confusion and in parentheses, delirium, a clear political revision of a medical condition that had been recognized for decades.

00:37:59.000 Another finding from the autopsy that has received almost no attention is that Floyd tested positive for COVID-19.

00:38:04.000 A post-mortem nasal swab confirmed Floyd had COVID-19 at the time of his death.

00:38:07.000 Floyd had previously tested positive on April 3rd, 2020, approximately seven weeks before While the autopsy notes that this most likely reflects asymptomatic but persistent positivity from previous infection, the potential impact of COVID-19 on Floyd's cardiac and respiratory function, especially given severe underlying heart disease, can't be dismissed.

00:38:24.000 It's also important to note the Department of Justice had the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's official autopsy results reviewed by the Office of the Armed Forces Medical Examiner, who agreed with Dr.

00:38:33.000 Baker's official findings.

00:38:34.000 However, they added that the police's, quote, subdual and restraint had elements of positional and mechanical asphyxia.

00:38:39.000 This additional comment introduces yet another potential mechanism of death, positional asphyxia.

00:38:44.000 In other words, the position of the body prevents adequate breathing.

00:38:47.000 The concept of positional asphyxia is complex and controversial in forensic medicine.

00:38:50.000 It's typically diagnosed by excluding other causes of death, rather than by identifying specific physical findings.

00:38:56.000 In Floyd's case, given his severe heart disease, drug intoxication, and the stress of the encounter, attributing his death primarily to positional asphyxia requires making assumptions that are not supported by the physical evidence.

00:39:06.000 Let's go back to those findings, which deserve more detailed examination.

00:39:10.000 Is an extremely potent synthetic opioid, estimated to be 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine.

00:39:15.000 It is a central nervous system depressant that can cause respiratory depression, hypoxia, and death.

00:39:20.000 The concentration of in Floyd's blood was 11 nanograms per milliliter.

00:39:24.000 Related deaths have found that postmortem blood concentrations can rage widely.

00:39:28.000 Levels above 3 nanograms per milliliter are potentially lethal.

00:39:32.000 Dr. Baker's comment to federal investigators that Floyd's level could constitute an overdose, quote, if you are found dead at home alone and no other apparent causes, is extremely significant.

00:39:40.000 While Baker qualified this by saying, quote, I am not saying this killed him, the statement acknowledges that the concentration in Floyd's blood was, in isolation, potentially lethal.

00:39:48.000 The combination of with methamphetamine creates what's known as a speedball effect.

00:39:52.000 The stimulant, methamphetamine, masking some of the depressant effects of the opioid until the stimulant begins to wear off.

00:39:58.000 At that point, the respiratory depression from the opioid can suddenly become overwhelming.

00:40:02.000 This dangerous combination increases the risk of cardiac arrhythmia and sudden death.

00:40:06.000 Given all these medical factors, let's consider the legal standard that should have been applied in Chauvin's trial, proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

00:40:12.000 For a conviction on second-degree murder, the prosecution needed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Chauvin's actions were a malicious causal factor in Floyd's death.

00:40:19.000 As Coleman Hughes has pointed out in his analysis of this case, There were two different theories of what caused Floyd's death.

00:40:24.000 The positional asphyxia theory and the adrenaline surge theory.

00:40:27.000 As a juror, if you have two reasonable explanations for cause of death, one of which implicates the defendant and one of which does not, you are supposed to acquit.

00:40:33.000 It is impossible to discuss this case without acknowledging the enormous political pressure surrounding it.

00:40:39.000 The death of George Floyd sparked nationwide protests and riots.

00:40:42.000 Politicians, including President Biden and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Fry, made public statements suggesting Chauvin's guilt before the trial even began.

00:40:49.000 Dr. Baker testified that he and his staff received This intense pressure creates a context in which maintaining scientific objectivity can certainly become challenging.

00:41:00.000 I was recently sent an American Spectator article by Jack Cashel that reveals how former D.C. Chief Medical Examiner Roger Mitchell, a politically connected activist and former D.C. Deputy Mayor, influenced the medical findings in the Floyd case.

00:41:11.000 According to a memorandum of the Minnesota Attorney General's Office, in November 2020, Mitchell appears to have pressured Dr. Andrew Baker to alter his initial diagnosis.

00:41:19.000 A document so significant, it should have immediately resulted in a new trial for Chauvin and the release of the other officers.

00:41:25.000 The facts are straightforward.

00:41:26.000 Baker's initial autopsy was conducted May 26, 2020.

00:41:30.000 His subsequent draft autopsy report found, quote, no physical evidence suggesting that Mr. Floyd died of asphyxiation and no medical indications of asphyxia or strangulation.

00:41:39.000 In an unrelated Hennepin County deposition, Dr. Baker confided to Hennepin prosecutor Amy Sweezy, quote, What happens when the actual evidence doesn't match up with the public narrative that everyone's already decided on?

00:41:49.000 This is the kind of case that ends careers.

00:41:51.000 Then, Roger Mitchell enters the picture.

00:41:53.000 According to the memorandum, Mitchell called Baker twice, ultimately threatening to publish a Washington Post op-ed critical of Baker's findings, telling him, quote, You don't want to be the medical examiner who tells everyone they didn't see what they saw.

00:42:03.000 Mitchell concluded with a chilling ultimatum, quote, You don't want to be the smartest person in the room and be wrong.

00:42:08.000 By the time Floyd's official autopsy report was released less than a week later on June 1, 2020, Dr. Baker had now added neck compression to his diagnosis, effectively transforming four police officers into murderers with the stroke of a pen.

00:42:19.000 Worse yet, the Hennepin County prosecutors met with Dr. Baker to review his draft autopsy report without detectives or special agents present, violating protocol, and after being assigned to Chauvin's case by Governor Tim Walz one day prior, Minnesota AG Keith Ellison utilized the revised autopsy report to bring an additional second-degree murder charge against Chauvin.

00:42:37.000 All of these revelations, despite qualifying as Brady material, were buried at trial and were never properly disclosed to Chauvin's defense.

00:42:43.000 This is yet another reason why a presidential pardon and a new trial for Derek Chauvin is warranted on the state level.

00:42:48.000 Chauvin was convicted in an atmosphere of intense political pressure with limited ability to present the full medical context of Floyd's death.

00:42:54.000 The complex medical reality documented in the autopsy report was simplified and distorted to fit a predetermined narrative.

00:43:01.000 Justice requires we consider all the evidence, not just the parts that support a particular political agenda.

00:43:06.000 The detailed autopsy findings provide significant reasons to determine that Derek Chauvin did not receive a fair trial and his conviction for murder was not supported by the medical evidence beyond a reasonable doubt.

00:43:15.000 In our next episode, we'll examine the political and social context surrounding Chauvin's trial, including the $27 million settlement with Floyd's family announced during jury selection, the statements by public officials prejudging the case, and the threats of further unrest that created an atmosphere in which a fair trial was impossible.

00:43:31.000 Before we wrap up today's episode, let me remind you to visit PardonDerek.com and sign our petition asking President Trump to pardon Derek Chauvin for his federal convictions.

00:43:39.000 We'll also put up a website to donate to Derek Chauvin's legal defense fund in the description.

00:43:43.000 This is about ensuring that justice is applied fairly and consistently without being swayed by political pressure or mob mentality.

00:43:50.000 Okay, meanwhile, the economic news continues to be sort of mixed.

00:43:54.000 Apparently an elevated chance of recession, some of that is being driven by tariff fears.

00:43:59.000 President Trump continues to push forward with his tariff agenda, but there are some signs that maybe he's going to walk some of that back.

00:44:06.000 According to The Wall Street Journal, President Trump said he might soften reciprocal tariffs he plans to impose on U.S.

00:44:10.000 trading partners next month and that some nations might be completely exempt.

00:44:13.000 He said, quote, I may give a lot of countries breaks.

00:44:15.000 He said reciprocal tariffs could stop short of his pledge to equalize U.S.

00:44:18.000 duties with rates other nations charged.

00:44:20.000 He said, I'm embarrassed to charge them what they have charged us.

00:44:24.000 Markets then rallied on expectations that Trump is going to dial all of this back.

00:44:28.000 That came hours after President Trump said the United States would impose a 25% tariff on any country that buys oil or gas from Venezuela.

00:44:34.000 Now again, that is driven by his concerns over illegal immigration and by the fact that Venezuela is run by a communist dictator.

00:44:41.000 On Monday, the Treasury Department extended Chevron's license to operate in Venezuela through late May, however.

00:44:47.000 President Trump is describing his move as a secondary tariff on Venezuela over the flow of migrants to the United States, including Tren del Agua.

00:44:55.000 As I've said before, I have faith that President Trump has a good handle on the headlines and he doesn't want a recession.

00:45:01.000 And so that means that he might try a policy and if the policy does not work the way he wants it to, he may back off of the policy.

00:45:08.000 At the same time, President Trump is touting the benefits of tariffs.

00:45:11.000 Here he was yesterday saying that $4 trillion in investment is going to come back thanks to tariffs.

00:45:16.000 First of all, many companies are now moving into the United States.

00:45:20.000 They're coming back.

00:45:21.000 Some of them left us from many years ago, decades ago, and they're all...

00:45:26.000 Seems they're all coming back.

00:45:27.000 We have probably identified maybe $4 trillion worth of companies moving back or going to move back.

00:45:35.000 Many of them have announced it's going to be tremendous jobs, high-paying jobs, too.

00:45:42.000 So, again, if the basic idea here is that high-paying jobs will come back thanks to the tariffs...

00:45:48.000 The reason high-paying jobs are coming back to the United States is actually because of the deregulatory environment that is being pushed by the Trump administration.

00:45:54.000 Far bigger than the tariffs is the stuff that's happening under the hood.

00:45:57.000 The sort of deregulation that's happening at, for example, the Environmental Protection Agency.

00:46:01.000 Lee Zeldin, head of the EPA, he says the EPA has already canceled over $22 billion worth of contracts.

00:46:06.000 And listen, that's great.

00:46:07.000 Cutting the waste, fraud, and abuse is huge.

00:46:08.000 Cutting the regulatory infrastructure that prevents people from building and innovating is the biggest thing that the Trump administration is doing here with Secretary Zeldin.

00:46:17.000 EPA has now canceled over $22 billion worth of contracts.

00:46:22.000 $2 billion going to this NGO that Stacey Abrams was tied to.

00:46:27.000 They received only $100 in 2023.

00:46:31.000 And then the Biden administration gave them $2 billion.

00:46:34.000 The director of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund saw his former employer get $5 billion.

00:46:41.000 So $20 billion went to just eight NGOs, and they're all pass-throughs.

00:46:47.000 Okay, so again, the cuts are great.

00:46:50.000 It's the regulatory cuts that are going to make a really, really big difference here.

00:46:54.000 And you can see the beast is crying, right?

00:46:58.000 It's scared.

00:46:59.000 You can see the fear in its eyes, the sort of governmental overweening relationship with various public sector unions, for example.

00:47:06.000 Yesterday, the head of the National Education Association, President Becky Pringle, she was complaining that the Department of Education is going to be wildly downgraded, possibly dismantled by Congress.

00:47:17.000 Again, the bureaucracy, the bureaucratic state, the administrative state that has a corrupt relationship with all of these public sector unions and public sector employees, that is the great beast that does need to be brought down to size.

00:47:29.000 Here's the NEA president lamenting all of this.

00:47:32.000 And then, of course, we have seen them saying that they're going to actually dismantle it.

00:47:39.000 Now, we know that that is something that only Congress can do.

00:47:43.000 So we know that this administration is overstepping its authority.

00:47:48.000 And that is what our suit is about, that that authority rests in Congress.

00:47:57.000 Yeah, again, this sort of last gasp attempt to save themselves, I do not think that it is going to work.

00:48:03.000 And because of that regulatory infrastructure that is being undercut, because of the subsidization schemes the Biden administration signed into law that are now going to be undercut, all that makes for a much more sanguine business environment.

00:48:15.000 If you're wondering why the stock market continues to sort of hang around despite the tariffs, the answer is most business people have more faith that Trump is not going to do the dumb thing than they did under Joe Biden.

00:48:25.000 Certainly they would have.

00:48:29.000 Today, we're delighted to report that Hyundai is announcing a major $5.8 billion investment in American manufacturing.

00:48:41.000 In particular, Hyundai will be building a brand new steel plant in Louisiana, which will produce more than 2.7 million metric tons of steel a year, creating more than 1,400 jobs.

00:48:52.000 for American steelworkers, and then there'll be major expansion after that.

00:48:57.000 This will be Hyundai's first ever steel mill in the United States, one of the largest companies in the world.

00:49:02.000 Meanwhile, the President of the United States continues to charge forward on illegal immigration as well.

00:49:20.000 The unified message from the administration is having an effect because we have the lowest levels of illegal immigration that we have had in recorded American history.

00:49:27.000 Tom Homan, who again, straight from Central Casting Borders, he says, we're just going to keep doing these deportations.

00:49:34.000 We're going to keep arresting TDA members.

00:49:36.000 We're going to keep arresting MS-13 members.

00:49:37.000 We're going to keep arresting public safety threats to all this nation.

00:49:40.000 Now, when it comes to the Alien Enemies Act, you know, if we're going to remove them through that act, we're going to have to wait for litigation.

00:49:44.000 We'll simply detain them.

00:49:46.000 But we're going to take them off the streets.

00:49:47.000 And anybody can remove through Title VIII, we'll remove through Title VIII, which is the order of an immigration judge.

00:49:52.000 But we'll obey the court's order.

00:49:54.000 But I think DOJ, I think, eventually will win that order.

00:49:57.000 Then it's game on.

00:49:58.000 But until then, we're going to keep doing what we're doing, taking these public safety threats, especially TDA and MS-13 members off the street.

00:50:07.000 So, again, they're going to continue charging for it on all this.

00:50:10.000 Kristi Noem, the head of the Department of Homeland Security, she is openly saying, do not come here illegally.

00:50:15.000 If you're trying to get in, do not do it.

00:50:17.000 So we are in several other countries around the world with a message right now that's saying, if you are thinking about coming to America illegally and coming here, don't do it.

00:50:27.000 You are not welcome.

00:50:28.000 We have a legal process to becoming a United States citizen, and there are consequences if you come here illegally, and America has changed because we're putting Americans first.

00:50:40.000 All this is, in fact, having a massive impact.

00:50:43.000 The successes of the Trump administration continue to stack up.

00:50:47.000 Alrighty, guys.

00:50:48.000 Coming up, Democrats continue to root for the failure of Tesla.

00:50:51.000 We'll see how that works out for them.

00:50:54.000 First, your reminder, we have tons of great stuff that's still on today's show.

00:50:57.000 We're going to talk about that.

00:50:58.000 We're going to talk about Bernie Sanders and AOC.

00:51:01.000 We're going to take a couple questions in the mailbag.

00:51:03.000 To get all of that sort of stuff, you have to join Daily Wire+.

00:51:06.000 If you're not a member, become a member.

00:51:07.000 Use code Shapiro.

00:51:08.000 Check out for two months free on all annual plans.

The Ben Shapiro Show - March 25, 2025

National Security Bombshell & The Case For Derek Chauvin Ep.3 | The Autopsy

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