Verdict with Ted Cruz - BONUS POD： Sanctions Strike as Trump Targets Putin’s War Chest

00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.

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00:00:21.820 You're listening to the 47 Morning Update

00:00:24.400 with Ben Ferguson.

00:00:25.760 Good Thursday morning.

00:00:26.780 It's nice to have you with us

00:00:27.820 on the 47 Morning Update.

00:00:29.160 Ben Ferguson with you,

00:00:30.580 and I can tell you there is one major story.

00:00:33.460 Democrats lied to you yet again,

00:00:35.540 claiming that Donald Trump would never

00:00:37.680 stand up to Vladimir Putin

00:00:39.260 after their meeting in Alaska.

00:00:42.140 We now know that there are major Russian sanctions,

00:00:45.520 and the president is returning peace through strength,

00:00:49.320 showing Russia that it's time to get a deal now 0.83

00:00:52.300 or you're going to be hurt economically.

00:00:55.140 But first, I want to tell you about our friends

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00:02:47.140 It's the 47 Morning Update and it starts right now.

00:02:51.480 Story number one.

00:02:52.600 It is very clear that President Donald Trump

00:02:54.800 is a man who is on a mission

00:02:56.660 to have peace through strength

00:02:58.760 wherever he can and stop senseless wars.

00:03:01.740 We've seen the deal that he's done in the Middle East

00:03:04.200 and we now know that he's turned towards

00:03:06.220 what's happening in Russia and Ukraine.

00:03:09.600 Well, there has been some late developments

00:03:12.060 and the U.S. has announced new sanctions

00:03:14.740 that target Russia's two largest oil companies,

00:03:19.660 Rosneft and Luke Oil,

00:03:22.080 including many of their subsidiaries.

00:03:24.720 These sanctions mark the first time

00:03:27.220 in Trump's second term

00:03:28.660 that his administration has placed new sanctions

00:03:32.380 on Russia over the Ukraine war.

00:03:35.060 So much for Russian collusion

00:03:37.120 as the media lied to you about for years.

00:03:39.640 The U.S. Treasury,

00:03:41.900 through the Office of the Foreign Assets Control,

00:03:45.400 explicitly said the move is meant

00:03:47.360 to degrade Russia's ability 0.69

00:03:49.180 to fund its war machine

00:03:51.620 and hurt its economy.

00:03:53.560 Because if you know what's going on in Russia,

00:03:56.400 you know they're barely staying alive economically

00:03:59.280 because of the oil that they're selling.

00:04:02.480 Now, the announcement came shortly after

00:04:04.820 a planned meeting between Donald Trump

00:04:07.200 and Russian President Vladimir Putin

00:04:09.220 was canceled,

00:04:11.320 signaling escalating frustration

00:04:13.260 by the White House and Donald Trump.

00:04:16.400 He meant it when he said it was time for peace.

00:04:19.220 Now, here are the implications

00:04:20.620 and the likely effects

00:04:22.200 of what the president has just done.

00:04:24.660 The economic pressure on Russia is real

00:04:27.000 because Russia's war is costing them

00:04:29.840 a lot of money.

00:04:31.140 And by targeting Russia's biggest oil companies,

00:04:34.920 the U.S. is going after

00:04:36.060 one of the major revenue resources

00:04:38.200 that supports Russia's military

00:04:40.160 and also is propping up its economy,

00:04:43.120 which is teetering.

00:04:44.260 This could force Russia 0.97

00:04:45.720 to either lower the price of its oil,

00:04:48.420 thus reducing revenue,

00:04:49.620 or reduce production and exports.

00:04:52.660 Both of those options hurt its financial stability

00:04:56.600 and their ability to sustain a large-scale war

00:04:59.900 for a extended period of time.

00:05:03.120 Now, there's also pressure for diplomacy

00:05:05.360 and a ceasefire.

00:05:07.080 Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent

00:05:09.280 said the sanctions are meant to support

00:05:11.780 peace efforts, saying,

00:05:14.120 quote,

00:05:14.660 now is the time to stop the killing

00:05:16.700 and for an immediate ceasefire.

00:05:19.340 So the sanctions are being framed partly

00:05:21.860 as a lever for diplomacy,

00:05:23.540 not just punishment.

00:05:26.900 Russia has deep trade and energy links

00:05:29.440 with major buyers.

00:05:31.300 This includes India and China,

00:05:33.840 who is taking a significant amount of their oil.

00:05:36.600 That might not be fully impacted

00:05:39.180 by the U.S. sanctions alone.

00:05:41.640 Analysts say we'll have to wait and see.

00:05:44.260 But what we do know is the sanctions

00:05:46.100 depend heavily on enforcement

00:05:49.220 and also on U.S. allies joining

00:05:52.760 and coordinating in the sanction effort.

00:05:55.880 If other big buyers continue business,

00:05:58.200 the impact will be weaker

00:06:00.080 than we need it to be.

00:06:02.020 And there are possible global market

00:06:04.080 side effects as well.

00:06:05.940 Spikes in oil prices

00:06:07.180 if Russia's supply is constrained.

00:06:09.900 This is part of the reason

00:06:10.900 why the President said

00:06:11.780 we need to become energy independent.

00:06:14.080 Going back to drill baby drill.

00:06:16.580 The fact that this is the first new sanction

00:06:18.780 in Trump's second term

00:06:19.940 also suggests

00:06:21.020 there may have been internal

00:06:23.080 or strategic hesitations earlier on

00:06:25.880 to give a chance also

00:06:27.820 for there to be real conversations

00:06:29.580 that deal with peace.

00:06:31.780 It remains to be seen

00:06:32.880 if the pressure will persist

00:06:34.740 or if Donald Trump plans

00:06:36.880 on ratcheting up the pressure.

00:06:38.800 Which brings me to the announcement.

00:06:41.920 Senator Mullen,

00:06:42.740 on the new Russian sanctions,

00:06:44.280 speaking with Jake Tapper on CNN,

00:06:45.980 this is what he had to say

00:06:47.940 about the new move.

00:06:49.040 Do you think that there need

00:06:50.520 to be even harsher sanctions?

00:06:52.260 And the reason I ask

00:06:53.120 is because obviously

00:06:54.320 August 15th, I believe it was,

00:06:57.400 was the summit in Alaska

00:06:59.840 where President Trump

00:07:01.780 was hoping that Vladimir Putin

00:07:03.620 would agree to any sort of ceasefire.

00:07:06.240 And not only did he not get a ceasefire,

00:07:09.240 Putin, since the U.S. 0.95

00:07:11.260 literally rolled out the carpet for him

00:07:13.260 in the United States of America,

00:07:15.680 on American land,

00:07:16.920 Putin has upped the tenor of the war.

00:07:20.520 Some of the worst attacks on Ukraine

00:07:22.840 have happened since then.

00:07:24.420 And I'm wondering if President Trump,

00:07:26.580 you think,

00:07:27.120 needs to be even more aggressive.

00:07:29.220 Well, this is step one.

00:07:30.580 The president and Congress

00:07:32.000 has talked multiple times

00:07:33.400 what the next step might be.

00:07:35.300 We have been in briefings,

00:07:37.520 we've been in classified settings.

00:07:40.080 This is literally the first step

00:07:42.720 to put more pressure on Russia

00:07:45.500 if we need to.

00:07:46.960 I believe we probably will.

00:07:48.720 I don't think Putin is someone

00:07:50.280 that's going to pay attention

00:07:51.140 the first time his hand is slapped.

00:07:52.900 I think you're going to see this

00:07:54.040 get ratcheted up farther and farther

00:07:55.860 to the point to where either

00:07:57.020 we're going to bring them

00:07:57.860 to their knees economically,

00:08:00.260 or they're going to decide

00:08:01.400 that fighting in Ukraine

00:08:02.540 isn't worth it.

00:08:03.700 At the same time,

00:08:04.720 I wouldn't be surprised

00:08:05.560 if you start seeing us give

00:08:06.960 the accessibility to new weapons

00:08:10.640 for Europe to buy for Ukraine

00:08:12.180 to be able to fight against Russia

00:08:14.860 and their aggression in Ukraine.

00:08:17.100 As I said, Jake,

00:08:17.940 this is just the first step,

00:08:20.180 but this is the first step

00:08:21.460 of a lot of options

00:08:22.580 we have on the table.

00:08:24.320 It's very clear,

00:08:25.760 as you could hear there

00:08:26.480 from Senator Mullen,

00:08:27.540 that this is a new path forward.

00:08:29.920 We tried to have,

00:08:30.960 well, diplomacy work,

00:08:32.780 and obviously Vladimir Putin

00:08:34.160 is not working in that way.

00:08:35.560 So as he described it,

00:08:37.120 we can bring them

00:08:37.860 to their knees economically,

00:08:39.280 or they can decide

00:08:40.780 that fighting Ukraine

00:08:42.020 isn't worth it.

00:08:43.600 This is the first step

00:08:44.780 of a lot of options

00:08:46.140 we have on the table.

00:08:48.000 And there also seems

00:08:49.160 to be real unity

00:08:50.080 behind this idea.

00:08:51.540 As you know,

00:08:52.300 the senators are behind it,

00:08:54.040 but what is the House side saying?

00:08:55.900 Mike Johnson

00:08:56.600 on the Russian sanctions?

00:08:58.940 Here's what he had to say as well.

00:09:00.900 Now, thank you so much

00:09:01.780 for being here,

00:09:02.980 Speaker Johnson,

00:09:03.560 because you had said before

00:09:04.420 that you thought sanctions

00:09:05.420 on Russia were long overdue

00:09:07.480 in your words.

00:09:08.540 Do you think that these moves

00:09:09.700 tonight go far enough?

00:09:11.380 Well, it's a very important step.

00:09:12.980 We applaud the president.

00:09:14.100 He's returning peace

00:09:15.580 through strength,

00:09:16.220 and that's a common theme

00:09:17.760 now that we've seen

00:09:18.560 exhibited around the globe,

00:09:20.040 the strength of his personality.

00:09:21.380 You heard the U.N.

00:09:22.400 Secretary General,

00:09:23.180 who you caught earlier

00:09:24.240 this afternoon,

00:09:24.980 he said in his own words,

00:09:26.020 President Trump is the only figure

00:09:27.980 on the planet strong enough

00:09:30.080 to help bring an end

00:09:31.200 to that war,

00:09:31.860 and you have to compel Russia

00:09:33.760 to engage in the peace process.

00:09:35.920 They've shown they cannot

00:09:36.620 be trusted.

00:09:37.600 There's a big appetite

00:09:38.460 in Congress

00:09:39.120 to have sanctions like this,

00:09:40.700 and I think it's

00:09:41.080 a very important step.

00:09:42.680 Yet again,

00:09:43.900 you see unity

00:09:44.780 between Republicans

00:09:45.920 in the Senate,

00:09:46.840 Republicans in the House,

00:09:48.140 and the president

00:09:48.840 of the United States

00:09:49.700 of America,

00:09:50.540 which brings us back

00:09:51.960 to what Trump has now said

00:09:53.620 about these new sanctions.

00:09:55.000 Trump said of the sanctions,

00:09:56.940 quote,

00:09:57.320 it was time.

00:09:58.720 He described the sanction

00:09:59.780 on Russia's oil giants

00:10:01.420 as very big

00:10:02.540 and tremendous

00:10:03.660 during a meeting

00:10:04.640 with the NATO Secretary General.

00:10:06.920 He expressed

00:10:07.740 that the meeting

00:10:09.120 with Putin

00:10:09.680 was canceled

00:10:10.300 because

00:10:10.820 it didn't feel right

00:10:12.440 to me.

00:10:13.620 It didn't feel like

00:10:14.700 we were going to get

00:10:15.480 to the place

00:10:16.180 we have to get.

00:10:18.160 Earlier this year,

00:10:19.620 Trump threatened tariffs

00:10:20.980 and secondary sanctions

00:10:22.640 if Russia did not agree

00:10:24.340 to a cease fire.

00:10:26.180 For example,

00:10:26.800 he said he might impose

00:10:27.920 a 25 to 50 percent

00:10:29.500 tariff on oil

00:10:30.240 from Russia

00:10:31.840 on countries

00:10:33.040 buying Russian oil.

00:10:35.180 Trump also expressed

00:10:36.380 frustration

00:10:37.060 with Vladimir Putin

00:10:38.020 saying,

00:10:38.520 quote,

00:10:39.480 we get a lot

00:10:40.240 of bull blank

00:10:41.140 thrown at us

00:10:42.000 by Putin.

00:10:43.020 We won a deal,

00:10:44.340 but we weren't

00:10:45.080 seeing it.

00:10:46.420 The president

00:10:46.980 also has backing.

00:10:49.100 The majority 0.87

00:10:49.580 of Republicans

00:10:50.360 support additional

00:10:51.620 economic sanctions

00:10:52.700 on Russia.

00:10:54.320 For example,

00:10:55.300 a recent poll

00:10:56.060 shows 86 percent

00:10:58.080 of Republicans

00:10:59.600 back further sanctions

00:11:01.380 to force an end

00:11:02.640 to the war.

00:11:04.420 Now,

00:11:04.700 some Republicans,

00:11:05.900 including those

00:11:06.620 in the White House,

00:11:07.760 had also delayed

00:11:08.820 pushing for sanction

00:11:09.940 legislation

00:11:10.660 until a possible

00:11:11.760 Trump-Putin meeting,

00:11:13.600 indicating hesitation

00:11:14.860 that if they did

00:11:16.440 put the sanctions

00:11:17.200 on beforehand,

00:11:18.020 it could actually

00:11:18.700 hurt the talks.

00:11:19.960 But now the president

00:11:21.340 has made it clear

00:11:22.380 there's a shift

00:11:23.640 and it suggests

00:11:24.400 that Trump administration

00:11:25.500 is moving

00:11:26.500 or being pushed

00:11:28.640 by conservatives

00:11:29.620 for a tougher stance

00:11:31.460 on Russia

00:11:32.040 that perhaps

00:11:33.200 was not there

00:11:34.360 weeks ago.

00:11:35.800 It also signals

00:11:36.780 to Russia

00:11:37.540 and to buyers

00:11:39.200 of Russian energy

00:11:40.100 that the U.S.

00:11:41.520 is united

00:11:42.260 and willing

00:11:43.000 to escalate

00:11:43.840 economic tools,

00:11:45.420 not just diplomacy.

00:11:47.620 And for allies,

00:11:48.680 the U.S.

00:11:49.700 is implicitly

00:11:50.760 inviting coordination.

00:11:52.740 The Treasury statement

00:11:53.700 we encourage,

00:11:54.680 quote,

00:11:54.920 our allies

00:11:55.520 to join us,

00:11:57.460 signaling

00:11:57.780 that other countries

00:11:59.040 may want to do

00:11:59.740 the exact same thing

00:12:00.940 in their country

00:12:02.040 that America

00:12:02.820 is doing right now.

00:12:04.600 And finally,

00:12:05.360 for Ukraine,

00:12:06.600 it may increase leverage

00:12:07.880 by pressuring Russia,

00:12:09.380 but it does not

00:12:10.280 automatically guarantee

00:12:11.500 a ceasefire

00:12:12.460 or an end

00:12:13.160 to the war.

00:12:13.920 When you're dealing

00:12:14.780 with someone

00:12:15.160 like Vladimir Putin,

00:12:16.280 who doesn't even care

00:12:17.360 about his own people,

00:12:18.800 this could drag on.

00:12:20.640 But for the global energy

00:12:21.840 and trade flow,

00:12:23.400 targeting Russia's oil sector,

00:12:25.100 as President Trump

00:12:25.800 has decided to do,

00:12:27.040 can affect global markets

00:12:28.980 and hurt Russia significantly,

00:12:31.440 which is exactly why

00:12:33.280 the President

00:12:33.840 of the United States

00:12:34.340 of America

00:12:34.820 is leading in this way.

00:12:36.840 We also know

00:12:37.940 that the U.S.

00:12:38.760 will follow up

00:12:39.780 with more sanctions,

00:12:41.360 Russian banks,

00:12:42.580 on buyers

00:12:43.300 of Russian energy,

00:12:44.280 or shipping and transport

00:12:46.360 to deepen the pressure.

00:12:48.260 There's a very good chance

00:12:49.580 that is going to be needed.

00:12:51.400 And then,

00:12:52.300 what will happen

00:12:53.020 to Russian oil buyers

00:12:54.560 like China and India?

00:12:56.320 How will they respond?

00:12:57.940 What we do know now

00:12:59.000 is this is a new pathway

00:13:00.440 in negotiations

00:13:01.340 with President Trump

00:13:03.320 and Vladimir Putin.

00:13:05.180 And it's clear

00:13:06.120 that Donald Trump

00:13:07.260 isn't messing around.

00:13:08.700 Thank you for listening

00:13:09.800 to the 47 Morning Update

00:13:11.500 with Ben Ferguson.

00:13:12.740 Please make sure

00:13:14.080 you hit subscribe

00:13:15.000 wherever you're listening

00:13:16.460 to this podcast right now.

00:13:18.500 And for more in-depth news,

00:13:20.240 also subscribe

00:13:21.020 to the Ben Ferguson podcast,

00:13:22.940 and we will see you

00:13:23.880 back here tomorrow.

00:13:26.660 This is an iHeart Podcast.

00:13:29.540 Guaranteed Human.

Verdict with Ted Cruz - October 23, 2025

BONUS POD： Sanctions Strike as Trump Targets Putin’s War Chest

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