Verdict with Ted Cruz - July 17, 2026


BONUS POD： Trump Swaps Shipping Fees for Gulf Investment Bonanza

Hosted by
Ted Cruz
Mentioned
Donald Trump Joe Getty Patriot Mobile Ben Ferguson Pete Hedseth
BONUS POD： Look OUT Freedom...Here comes The DSA and their ＂Plan＂ for America Lindsey Graham's American Legacy of Loyalty, Laughter and Leadership

Episode Stats


Length

17 minutes

Words per minute

158.3

Word count

2,723

Sentence count

177

Harmful content

Toxicity

4

sentences flagged

Hate speech

7

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

The Strait of Hormuz tolls may be gone, and inflation is on the rise. Plus, Congress must act on the Save America Act, and the Iran situation in the Persian Gulf is reaching new heights. Today's show is brought to you by The 47 Morning Update.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
Hosts, guests, and mentioned names generated with spaCy (en_core_web_sm), reconciled against Wikidata.
00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.
00:00:02.660 Guaranteed human.
00:00:04.180 Why should you listen to Armstrong and Getty On Demand?
00:00:07.840 We're not boring.
00:00:08.840 A lot of news is boring.
00:00:09.820 And tedious.
00:00:10.700 And depressing.
00:00:11.300 And makes you angry.
00:00:12.660 You don't want to live your life like that.
00:00:14.920 Hey, I'm Jack Armstrong.
00:00:16.000 He's Joe Getty.
00:00:16.640 We're Armstrong and Getty.
00:00:17.760 We try to bring you the truth.
00:00:18.900 And help you figure out this crazy modern world.
00:00:21.300 How about something about a comedic tone?
00:00:25.780 We have a winner.
00:00:27.300 Yes.
00:00:27.700 Listen to Armstrong and Getty On Demand on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
00:00:34.700 But most importantly, addressing this crisis of election security demands that Congress must pass the Save America Act.
00:00:44.700 How easy is that to do unless you want to cheat? 0.89
00:00:48.100 The only reason you wouldn't do it is you want to cheat because your policies are so bad and your candidates are so pathetic that you can't get away or can't get elected any other way.
00:00:59.940 This landmark bill requires that all voters must show photo, voter ID. 0.76
00:01:06.460 How simple is that?
00:01:08.000 You're listening to the 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson.
00:01:11.680 Good Friday morning.
00:01:12.540 Nice to have you with us on the 47 Morning Update.
00:01:14.980 And we've got two big stories for you.
00:01:17.160 First up, the president has a major update on the Strait of Hormuz, and it now means
00:01:22.540 that those tolls that were promised that were going to be paid, they may be disappearing
00:01:27.120 because of a new deal.
00:01:28.980 Also, the media and the economists, yeah, they got it wrong.
00:01:33.860 Inflation numbers are out, and it was a big drop.
00:01:37.380 In fact, the biggest drop in inflation in six years.
00:01:40.960 So where is it now, and how did the economists and everyone else get it wrong?
00:01:44.720 Could it be it's just because they hate Donald Trump?
00:01:47.400 We'll explain it to you.
00:01:48.900 Now, before we get to both those stories, I want to talk to you right now about how the stakes could not be any higher.
00:01:54.720 We finally have a president and administration fighting hard for America first.
00:01:59.360 But if conservatives like you and I lose focus now, the same people who created this mess are ready and waiting to resume their destruction, their progressive agenda.
00:02:08.420 And protecting this momentum takes more than votes.
00:02:11.740 It takes every American like you staying in the fight for our rights and freedoms.
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00:02:59.640 They literally contribute millions of dollars each year to organizations on the front lines fighting for our God-given rights.
00:03:07.160 And that is why I love Patriot Mobile.
00:03:10.120 So whether you've got a small business or a bunch of family lines or just your phone number, switch it today.
00:03:15.600 Join the movement.
00:03:16.760 Go to PatriotMobile.com slash Ben 47.
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00:03:37.760 It's the 47 Morning Update and it starts right now.
00:03:41.200 Story number one.
00:03:42.400 The Strait of Hormuz remains one of the most strategically important waterways on Earth.
00:03:47.560 That's why we're talking about it so much.
00:03:49.920 As I've said before, about one-fifth of the world's oil supply
00:03:53.900 normally passes through the shipping lane each and every day.
00:03:58.660 President Donald Trump has continued now to escalate pressure on Iran while also adjusting parts of his strategy.
00:04:06.920 And today, Trump said no country should be charging ships a fee to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, backing away from that earlier proposal for a U.S. imposed transit fee.
00:04:18.860 Now, I'm going to have more on that in a moment, but the military situation remains extremely tense.
00:04:25.360 The United States has continued intense strikes against the Iranian military targets
00:04:30.740 after accusing Tehran of violating previous understandings
00:04:35.420 and threatening shipping throughout the Persian Gulf.
00:04:38.580 Iranian forces have also responded with missile and drone attacks
00:04:42.260 targeting Gulf region facilities and maritime traffic,
00:04:46.580 keeping the entire region, well, on edge.
00:04:49.880 Now, one of the biggest concerns right now is still very much commercial shipping.
00:04:55.360 Major shipping companies are continuing to monitor the situation carefully.
00:04:59.960 And vessel traffic through the strait has slowed significantly.
00:05:03.740 Why? Because the insurers and the cargo companies and the tanker operators are now weighing the real growing risk from Iran.
00:05:11.120 Every reduction in shipping raises concerns about higher energy prices and potential supply disruptions if the conflict worsens.
00:05:20.880 Meanwhile, Iran's political leadership is also signaling that it intends to maintain, quote-unquote, their pressure.
00:05:28.600 According to new reports, lawmakers in Tehran are advancing legislation related to Iran's control over the Strait of Hormuz.
00:05:36.720 That is a move that analysts believe is intended to both strengthen Iran's negotiating position
00:05:42.120 and also demonstrate resolve domestically and send a clear message to the U.S. and the Middle East
00:05:48.140 that they're not done fighting now from washington the trump administration is continuing to argue
00:05:54.280 that freedom of navigation must be protected and that iran cannot be allowed to threaten
00:05:59.940 one of the world's most important maritime choke points now military analysts also say the united
00:06:05.860 states now faces two well simultaneous objectives number one protect international shipping and
00:06:12.940 And then number two, to prevent the conflict from expanding into a broader regional war
00:06:18.120 involving additional countries that Iran would love to bring into the mix.
00:06:23.400 Now, these goals are becoming increasingly difficult.
00:06:26.620 Why? Because Iran continues to act more and more erratic each and every day. 0.99
00:06:32.000 Now, the financial markets are also watching every development closely,
00:06:35.860 and this does have an impact on you and your family's budget.
00:06:39.080 Oil prices have climbed sharply amid the renewed fears of supply disruptions
00:06:43.940 And investors are trying to determine whether this becomes a prolonged confrontation
00:06:48.420 Or whether diplomacy can eventually reduce tensions
00:06:52.300 Even rumors surrounding the Strait of Hormuz can move global markets instantly
00:06:57.220 Because of its enormous importance to international energy
00:07:01.120 President Trump has also made it clear that he believes America's role in protecting international shipping
00:07:07.080 has come at significant cost to the United States of America.
00:07:11.420 And that's why he talked about having a proposed transit fee.
00:07:15.480 Well, let's talk about what has happened with that in the last 24 hours.
00:07:20.760 Now, President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday afternoon
00:07:23.660 that he has now decided to replace his proposed 20% reimbursement fee on cargo ships
00:07:29.480 transiting the Strait of Hormuz with trade and investment deals involving Gulf states
00:07:34.840 while maintaining a blockade on ships traveling to or from Iranian ports
00:07:39.800 or carrying Iranian cargo.
00:07:42.340 That would include their oil.
00:07:44.060 Quote, oil is flown like never before,
00:07:46.660 thanks to the awesome power of the United States military,
00:07:49.060 Trump said on True Social.
00:07:50.980 He credited the Secretary of War, Pete Hedseth,
00:07:53.400 the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and the U.S. Central Command
00:07:56.460 and American service members for the victory.
00:07:59.920 Trump said the Strait of Hormuz is open to all ships' traffic
00:08:04.080 except for Iran, blaming Tehran, saying they're lying, violent and malicious leadership
00:08:10.160 for placing the country in a path towards, quote, total destruction.
00:08:14.920 The president saying we will therefore have a full blockade,
00:08:18.100 but only on ships coming to and from Iranian ports or carrying anything that has to do with Iranian cargo.
00:08:26.640 The president announced then that he would replace that 20 percent fee that he proposed Monday
00:08:32.700 to reimburse the United States for protecting international shipping
00:08:36.000 through the waterway was something different, saying, quote,
00:08:39.940 based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership,
00:08:43.440 I have decided to replace the 20% United States reimbursement fee
00:08:47.520 with trade and investment deals that the various Gulf states
00:08:52.080 will be making into the United States of America.
00:08:55.120 The president also described the planned investment as massive
00:08:59.020 and said they would also be extraordinarily good for the Gulf states and their futures as well.
00:09:05.640 As everyone is aware, we have the largest dollar investment into the United States of any country in history,
00:09:12.020 but these new investments will make the number even larger,
00:09:15.160 and we will see factories, plants, and equipment pour into the United States at historic levels,
00:09:21.600 which will then create additional millions of high-paying American jobs.
00:09:26.160 The president said America is winning again, winning like never before.
00:09:31.140 The days of Iran killing hundreds of thousands of people, including 52,000 protesters, are over.
00:09:38.240 And most importantly, Iran will never have a nuclear weapon.
00:09:42.520 Now, Trump's announcement also came after U.S. forces carried out a five-hour mission
00:09:47.320 targeting Iranian coastal defense systems, missile and drone sites,
00:09:51.920 and maritime capabilities to further degrade Iran's ability to attack commercial shipping.
00:09:57.900 U.S. Central Command said the strikes hit military targets across Iran,
00:10:02.340 including many areas that were very close to where the shipping channel is.
00:10:07.320 Now, Trump had declared the ceasefire over and said the United States would take over the Strait of Hormuz
00:10:12.420 and become its guardian.
00:10:15.080 Trump first announced that 20% reimbursement on Monday,
00:10:18.800 declaring that the United States and the Strait of Hormuz would be open
00:10:23.220 and it will remain open with or without Iran.
00:10:27.140 And that is when he said the United States was reinstating that Iranian blockade
00:10:31.500 which would only stop Iran's ships or customers from entering or leaving
00:10:35.760 while all other countries would have fair and open use of the strait.
00:10:40.040 Trump said the United States would expect to be reimbursed for protecting international shipping
00:10:44.500 at that rate of 20% on all cargo ships.
00:10:47.880 Now the president has clearly changed that.
00:10:50.840 Now here's what's happened when it comes to the price of the pump.
00:10:53.860 Oil prices have risen 4% in early trading on Monday going into Tuesday.
00:10:58.940 Goldman Sachs came out and warned that the renewed escalation would increase short-term risk of higher prices by further disrupting Gulf exports.
00:11:08.480 And that is exactly why the president's made it clear that in America, we have to continue to drill baby drill.
00:11:14.140 One thing is for sure, the president is being very proactive right now, making sure that Iran doesn't hold the world hostage. 0.84
00:11:22.380 And also, the president says the U.S. will knock out Iran's power plants and bridges next week, unless the regime makes a deal. 0.67
00:11:31.420 Take a listen to what the president had to say in his own words.
00:11:35.260 Strikes were seen this week against Iran will expand.
00:11:38.960 Are you considering hitting energy targets or other locations inside of Iran?
00:11:42.920 And I'll save the energy targets for last, but ultimately we'll hit energy targets, yeah.
00:11:49.500 But we're going to hit them very hard tonight.
00:11:52.120 We're going to hit them very hard tomorrow night. 1.00
00:11:54.520 We're going to hit them very hard the night after. 0.96
00:11:56.760 And then next week it gets really bad for them because next week comes the power plants.
00:12:04.640 Next week comes the bridges.
00:12:06.380 We're going to knock out all their power plants.
00:12:08.500 We're going to knock out all their bridges unless they get to the table and negotiate. 1.00
00:12:12.320 Do you believe the Iranians are serious about making a deal? 1.00
00:12:15.480 I think they have no choice. 1.00
00:12:17.880 Why haven't they yet?
00:12:18.640 I think if I didn't do the way I'm doing, they would never make a deal.
00:12:23.240 So there's the president in his own words,
00:12:25.520 saying that next week the U.S. will knock out Iran's power plants and bridges
00:12:29.960 unless the regime makes a deal.
00:12:33.460 We'll obviously keep you updated on all of this.
00:12:36.720 Next, story number two.
00:12:37.980 all 67 economists got donald trump's inflation report wrong that's right america they want you
00:12:46.440 to believe the economy is terrible but real inflation it just dropped by 0.4 percent that
00:12:53.860 is the biggest drop in six years bloomberg surveyed 67 economists and 67 of those economists
00:13:01.860 like I said got it wrong now the latest consumer price index shows that inflation cooled much more
00:13:09.360 than the analysts had expected consumer prices falling 0.4 percent from the previous month
00:13:16.040 again that is the largest monthly decline since the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic now
00:13:22.860 while the annual inflation rate slowed also to 3.5 down from 4.2 in May economists had generally
00:13:30.220 expected inflation to well somewhat cool but not this much and certainly not this fast now the
00:13:37.800 financial markets they reacted quickly stocks moved higher treasury yields fell and investors
00:13:44.280 increased expectations that the federal reserve could leave interest rates unchanged in the near
00:13:49.840 term because inflation came in cooler than forecasted by all the quote-unquote experts
00:13:57.380 Now, much of the improvement came from lower energy costs.
00:14:00.520 Gasoline prices dropped sharply during June, contributing significantly to the overall decline in inflation.
00:14:06.980 And while lower fuel prices were the biggest driver, the report also showed that core inflation,
00:14:12.060 now that includes food and energy, was essentially flat for the month and slowed to 2.6% over the past year.
00:14:20.140 That's not just good news. That is great news for all Americans. 0.98
00:14:23.620 As for President Trump, this report is an opportunity for him to argue that the economy is moving in the right direction under his administration.
00:14:32.820 And throughout the year, he had maintained that inflation would come down while economic growth remained resilient.
00:14:39.200 And today's report supports the view that inflation eased more than many forecasters had anticipated.
00:14:46.640 You've got to ask yourself the question, is it because the media and the economists, they hate President Trump
00:14:52.500 and they want him to have a big loss in the midterm elections.
00:14:56.060 That's why they keep preaching doom and gloom,
00:14:58.840 even though, I'll say it again, this is the biggest inflation drop in six years.
00:15:04.660 Now, what this also means, and it's also very important for you to understand,
00:15:09.120 that this report represents meaningful progress
00:15:12.060 compared with the elevated inflation readings seen earlier this year.
00:15:16.420 When you have lower monthly inflation,
00:15:18.280 that can translate into less pressure on household budgets,
00:15:21.380 and it also reduces the need for additional interest rate increases if the trend continued.
00:15:27.240 The bottom line is this.
00:15:29.000 Today's inflation report came in much better than expected.
00:15:33.540 That's why the media is not going to be talking about it.
00:15:36.320 And if it was a bad report, it would have been leading the news on every channel.
00:15:40.920 But now they don't want you to know this.
00:15:43.840 Now the markets, they also welcome the news.
00:15:46.400 It also strengthened the argument that inflation pressures eased significantly during June could be a real sign of what's to come.
00:15:56.120 Now, whether this marks the beginning of a lasting trend, it's going to depend on the future reports.
00:16:01.300 It's going to depend on energy prices and broader economic conditions.
00:16:05.080 But one thing is for sure.
00:16:07.240 Today's data shows that we're undeniably stronger as a country than all the economists talking to Bloomberg had anticipated.
00:16:16.400 And the reason why is because President Donald Trump continues to push policies that put the American worker ahead of everyone else.
00:16:25.200 Thank you for listening to the 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson.
00:16:29.680 Please make sure you hit subscribe wherever you're listening to this podcast right now.
00:16:34.980 And for more in-depth news, also subscribe to the Ben Ferguson podcast, and we will see you back here tomorrow.
00:16:42.320 Why should you listen to Armstrong and Getty On Demand?
00:16:45.700 We're not boring.
00:16:46.800 A lot of news is boring.
00:16:47.780 And tedious.
00:16:48.660 And depressing.
00:16:49.240 And makes you angry.
00:16:50.620 You don't want to live your life like that.
00:16:52.900 Hey, I'm Jack Armstrong.
00:16:53.960 He's Joe Getty.
00:16:54.600 We're Armstrong and Getty.
00:16:55.720 We try to bring you the truth.
00:16:56.860 And help you figure out this crazy modern world.
00:16:59.260 How about something about a comedic tone?
00:17:03.760 We have a winner.
00:17:05.260 Yes.
00:17:06.280 Listen to Armstrong and Getty on demand on the iHeartRadio app,
00:17:09.300 Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.