Verdict with Ted Cruz - August 19, 2025


BONUS POD： Trump’s Art of the Deal WH Diplomacy Blitz


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00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.
00:00:02.500 Guaranteed human.
00:00:04.760 A three-party meeting, maybe as soon as we can.
00:00:09.440 And I have a feeling you and President Putin are going to work something out.
00:00:12.880 Ultimately, this is a decision that can only be made by President Zelensky
00:00:17.260 and by the people of Ukraine working also together in agreement with President Putin.
00:00:23.020 You're listening to the 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson.
00:00:26.820 Good Tuesday morning.
00:00:27.880 It's a very important episode of the 47 Morning Update
00:00:30.980 and it deals with the major meeting at the White House.
00:00:33.520 But we break it down to three different aspects.
00:00:35.900 First up, the media lied to you about Donald Trump claiming he was played by Vladimir Putin
00:00:42.320 and that he would not be able to get as close to peace between Ukraine and Russia.
00:00:46.780 Well, now we know just how much they hate Donald Trump.
00:00:49.720 And they don't care who's dying as long as he, they can say, is a failure.
00:00:53.640 The second part of the story is the security guarantees to get a peace deal.
00:00:59.560 Zelensky now saying he feels much more comfortable with moving forward
00:01:03.500 because of the security guarantees from the U.S. and Western allies.
00:01:08.360 So what exactly does that mean?
00:01:09.840 I'll explain it to you.
00:01:11.500 And finally, Zelensky in his own words,
00:01:14.660 are we actually closer to a peace agreement?
00:01:17.120 Well, I want you to hear what Zelensky had to say.
00:01:20.540 And it is very different than the last meeting that Zelensky had with Trump in the Oval Office.
00:01:25.380 And there's a very good chance we could be weeks away from a real peace agreement.
00:01:30.300 It's the 47 Morning Update and it starts right now.
00:01:34.220 The media lied to you.
00:01:36.460 They said that Donald Trump was played by Vladimir Putin.
00:01:39.520 They said there was no way that President Trump could ever get any closer to a peace deal.
00:01:44.340 They said that the president was just doing this for the cameras
00:01:47.740 and that world leaders wouldn't show up.
00:01:50.240 Well, the media lied to you about all of that and the Democratic Party.
00:01:54.140 So what actually happened at the White House?
00:01:56.680 It was historic.
00:01:58.160 This meeting marked a significant improvement in tone
00:02:01.740 compared to their previous February encounter.
00:02:04.920 It was much more cordial, collaborative, and upbeat.
00:02:08.360 Zelensky even put it this way,
00:02:10.160 saying he had a very good conversation with President Trump.
00:02:13.920 We also now know about what the framework could look like
00:02:17.640 and what America's involvement will be with a peace deal.
00:02:20.840 Trump expressed support for strong NATO-style security guarantees for Ukraine,
00:02:26.860 a major diplomatic step forward.
00:02:29.480 He also indicated the U.S. could back a European-led force
00:02:33.440 to help uphold any future peace agreement.
00:02:36.620 Zelensky also welcomed, quote,
00:02:38.720 this strong signal as he described it.
00:02:41.500 Now, momentum towards peace and the talks also, we're now being told,
00:02:45.480 included Vladimir Putin.
00:02:47.380 That brings us to the biggest part of this story.
00:02:50.840 President Trump confirmed reports that he did, in fact,
00:02:54.220 call the Russian President Putin during his meeting with European leaders
00:02:58.040 and said that a, quote,
00:02:59.600 sit down between Putin and Ukrainian President Zelensky
00:03:02.780 to end the war is being arranged as we speak.
00:03:06.180 Now, it was a day full of major peace talks with leaders in the United Kingdom,
00:03:10.720 the European Union, NATO, Ukraine,
00:03:12.980 and President Trump felt like it was going so well.
00:03:16.660 He personally broke off to call Moscow
00:03:19.040 to arrange bilateral meetings between Putin and Zelensky
00:03:22.760 and ultimately to set up a three-way meeting
00:03:25.480 in which he will act as a mediator for a final peace agreement.
00:03:29.420 Yes, the media is telling you this is somehow a failure.
00:03:32.860 Donald Trump also went on True Social, saying this,
00:03:36.680 quote,
00:03:36.900 at the conclusion of the meetings,
00:03:38.640 I called President Putin and began the arrangements for a meeting
00:03:41.520 at a location to be determined
00:03:43.280 between President Putin, President Zelensky,
00:03:45.660 and after that meeting takes place,
00:03:48.000 we will have another meeting.
00:03:50.000 It will be the two presidents plus myself.
00:03:52.460 The president went on to say again,
00:03:54.180 this was a very good early step
00:03:56.000 for a war that has been going on for almost four years.
00:03:59.180 Vice President J.D. Vance,
00:04:01.180 Secretary of State Marco Rubio,
00:04:02.860 and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff
00:04:04.940 are coordinating with Russia and Ukraine.
00:04:07.900 So if you look at what actually happened,
00:04:10.500 Trump is pledging to not only arrange a direct meeting
00:04:12.880 between Zelensky and Putin
00:04:14.160 that the prior administration couldn't have dreamed of,
00:04:17.220 but then following it up
00:04:18.800 with a summit for the three countries to get in the room.
00:04:22.380 We also know there was broad diplomatic support
00:04:25.380 and European unity on everything that was discussed.
00:04:28.860 The European leaders, including Macron,
00:04:32.140 Starmer, and many others,
00:04:34.160 participated actively signaling collective support for Ukraine
00:04:38.300 and endorsement of the meeting's direction.
00:04:41.860 Zelensky brought a heartfelt letter
00:04:43.880 from First Lady Melania Trump.
00:04:46.080 Zelensky also brought a heartfelt letter
00:04:48.760 for First Lady Melania Trump.
00:04:50.880 Why?
00:04:51.280 It was in response to her previous note to Vladimir Putin
00:04:54.860 calling for peace to protect children.
00:04:58.260 This exchange also underscores the human side of diplomacy.
00:05:02.620 Now, you look at all of this,
00:05:04.880 and the takeaway is pretty clear.
00:05:06.880 The President of the United States of America
00:05:08.460 got the people that needed to be in the room
00:05:11.220 in the room,
00:05:12.460 something that no one else had been able to do
00:05:14.460 for the last three years.
00:05:16.020 That's also exactly what European leaders
00:05:18.940 had to say about it as well.
00:05:20.620 And that includes President Trump.
00:05:22.980 Here's what he had to say to the world,
00:05:24.780 and also to Zelensky.
00:05:26.340 We're going to try and get a three-party meeting,
00:05:30.440 maybe as soon as we can.
00:05:32.180 And I have a feeling you and President Putin
00:05:34.260 are going to work something out.
00:05:35.800 Ultimately, this is a decision
00:05:37.260 that can only be made by President Zelensky
00:05:40.200 and by the people of Ukraine
00:05:42.160 working also together in agreement with President Putin.
00:05:46.180 It's only agreement that can come together
00:05:48.100 with the men that he's now speaking with,
00:05:50.960 communicating with,
00:05:51.880 and working towards a peace agreement.
00:05:54.200 And if you think the rest of the world
00:05:55.720 doesn't respect Donald Trump,
00:05:57.560 that's what the media would want you to believe,
00:05:59.560 well, the world leaders were basically
00:06:01.760 calling out the media.
00:06:03.720 And here's what the Italian Prime Minister
00:06:05.600 had to say about the entire meeting.
00:06:07.860 Listen carefully.
00:06:09.320 Well, thank you very much, Donald,
00:06:11.180 Mr. President, for hosting us today
00:06:12.880 in this important meeting.
00:06:14.060 And I think it is an important day,
00:06:17.900 a new phase after three years and a half
00:06:20.600 that we didn't see any kind of sign
00:06:23.440 from the Russian side
00:06:25.260 that there was a willing for dialogue.
00:06:27.660 So something is changing.
00:06:29.720 Something has changed thanks to you.
00:06:32.300 Thanks also to the stalling in the battlefield,
00:06:35.800 which was achieved with the bravery of Ukrainians
00:06:39.520 and with the unity that we all provided to Ukraine.
00:06:44.020 And the reason why I mention it
00:06:45.580 is that we also have to remind
00:06:47.540 that if we want to reach peace
00:06:49.960 and if we want to guarantee justice,
00:06:53.700 we have to do it united.
00:06:55.600 So that's why it's a very good day,
00:06:58.560 the one we are in.
00:07:01.520 You can obviously count on Italy
00:07:03.540 as it was from the beginning.
00:07:05.100 We are on the side of Ukraine
00:07:06.240 and we do absolutely support your efforts
00:07:10.560 towards peace.
00:07:12.220 We will talk about many important topics.
00:07:17.140 The first one is security guarantees,
00:07:20.000 how to be sure that it won't happen again,
00:07:23.440 which is the precondition of every kind of peace.
00:07:26.480 I'm happy that we will discuss about that.
00:07:28.660 I'm happy that we will begin from a proposal,
00:07:30.980 which is the, let's say, Article 5 model,
00:07:35.180 which was Italian at the beginning.
00:07:38.360 So we are always ready to bring our proposals
00:07:41.760 for peace, for dialogue.
00:07:43.880 It's something we have to build together
00:07:46.320 to guarantee peace
00:07:48.580 and to defend the security of our nation.
00:07:50.320 So thank you, Mr. President, for hosting us.
00:07:53.120 Thank you very much.
00:07:54.240 You listen to the Italian Prime Minister.
00:07:56.380 For three years,
00:07:57.320 we haven't seen any willingness from Russia for dialogue.
00:08:00.260 Something has changed thanks to you.
00:08:02.560 So remember, when the media tries to spin this
00:08:05.240 as some sort of crazy failure,
00:08:07.220 this is what world leaders are actually saying.
00:08:09.660 Next, story number two.
00:08:11.140 One of the major things
00:08:12.560 that will allow for a peace agreement to happen
00:08:14.880 when it comes to Ukraine's perspective
00:08:17.100 is the emergence of a NATO-style security guarantee.
00:08:21.120 President Trump floated the idea
00:08:22.560 of extending NATO-style protections to Ukraine,
00:08:25.840 though he stopped short
00:08:26.800 of providing concrete details yet.
00:08:28.980 His special envoy, Steve Witkoff,
00:08:31.420 mentioned that guarantees could mirror Article 5,
00:08:34.780 though specifics remain unidentified.
00:08:37.440 This could involve U.S. military presence
00:08:39.420 or economic deterrence against Russia,
00:08:41.780 with European nations acting as the, quote,
00:08:44.540 first line of defense.
00:08:47.000 This is why we are getting closer
00:08:48.720 to a peace agreement.
00:08:50.220 And the U.S. also signaled
00:08:51.700 an increased role in guaranteed coordination.
00:08:55.080 Zelensky emphasized that the U.S.
00:08:56.840 would not just offer verbal support,
00:08:59.160 but would be actively involved in coordinating
00:09:01.600 and participating in security guarantees for Ukraine,
00:09:04.660 a development Ukraine regards as, quote,
00:09:06.600 a major step towards peace.
00:09:09.060 Now, the president also had this to say at the meeting.
00:09:12.540 The Alaska summit reinforced my belief
00:09:14.740 that while difficult, peace is within reach,
00:09:17.240 and I believe that in a very significant step,
00:09:19.980 President Putin agreed that Russia
00:09:21.640 would accept security guarantees for Ukraine,
00:09:24.480 and this is one of the key points
00:09:26.560 that we need to consider,
00:09:27.800 and we're going to be considering that at the table also,
00:09:30.820 like who will do what, essentially.
00:09:33.040 I'm optimistic that collectively we can reach an agreement
00:09:36.500 that would deter any future aggression against Ukraine,
00:09:39.640 and I actually think there won't be.
00:09:41.240 I think that's even overrated, largely overrated,
00:09:45.040 but we're going to find out.
00:09:46.100 And I think that the European nations
00:09:48.640 are going to take a lot of the burden.
00:09:50.500 We're going to help them,
00:09:51.320 and we're going to make it very secure.
00:09:53.920 We also need to discuss the possible exchanges of territory,
00:09:57.700 taking into consideration the current line of contact.
00:10:01.540 That means the war zone,
00:10:03.480 the war lines that are pretty obvious,
00:10:07.460 very sad, actually, to look at them,
00:10:09.280 and negotiating positions.
00:10:11.020 President Putin, also,
00:10:13.720 you have the president of Ukraine,
00:10:15.900 who you just met a little while ago,
00:10:18.420 and we're going to try and get a three-party meeting,
00:10:22.800 maybe as soon as we can.
00:10:24.560 And I have a feeling you and President Putin
00:10:26.640 are going to work something out.
00:10:28.160 Ultimately, this is a decision that can only be made
00:10:30.800 by President Zelenskyy and by the people of Ukraine
00:10:34.500 working also together in agreement with President Putin.
00:10:38.300 And I just think that's very good things
00:10:40.860 are going to come of it.
00:10:41.800 So I hope we have a good meeting,
00:10:43.060 and if we can have a good meeting,
00:10:44.380 I'll set up a meeting with President Putin.
00:10:46.280 And if you'd like, I'll go to that meeting.
00:10:49.660 And not that I want to do that,
00:10:51.520 but I will do that because we want to save
00:10:53.680 a lot of people from dying.
00:10:55.580 A lot of people are dying, and we've got to save them.
00:10:57.660 It's clear the president wants to save lives,
00:10:59.980 but we also now know that this summit
00:11:01.700 saw a strong sense of Western unity.
00:11:04.760 Leaders like Macron, Mertz, and many others
00:11:07.520 advocated for durable security measures
00:11:10.560 that would protect Ukraine without rewarding aggression.
00:11:14.380 France emphasized that these guarantees should be safeguards.
00:11:18.720 Safeguards at the, quote,
00:11:20.020 whole of the European continent.
00:11:22.720 They obviously are concerned about
00:11:24.480 Vladimir Putin and aggression as well.
00:11:27.100 And that's exactly why this meeting
00:11:29.080 was so vitally important for national security
00:11:31.720 around the world.
00:11:33.220 And thanks to Donald Trump, we're that much closer.
00:11:35.520 And here is story number three.
00:11:37.020 Ultimately, the President of the United States of America,
00:11:39.380 Donald Trump, knows one thing.
00:11:41.000 This peace deal is not going to be done
00:11:43.480 without Vladimir Putin agreeing to it,
00:11:45.620 and also Zelensky agreeing to it.
00:11:48.040 So the question is,
00:11:49.600 coming out of this meeting at the White House,
00:11:51.860 the one-on-one with Zelensky,
00:11:53.460 and then the meeting with all of the world leaders,
00:11:56.060 what was Zelensky's mindset?
00:11:58.700 Does he want peace?
00:12:00.760 Or does he want this three-plus-year war to continue?
00:12:04.000 I want you to listen to Zelensky
00:12:05.720 in his own words at the White House.
00:12:08.000 This was at the very end of the day,
00:12:10.280 after the meetings had taken place,
00:12:12.440 and here is what he said to close it all out.
00:12:15.120 Thank you so much.
00:12:16.040 I can't speak without microphone.
00:12:19.620 Thank you so much.
00:12:20.560 I think that we had a very good conversation
00:12:22.720 with President Trump.
00:12:23.520 Very good.
00:12:24.060 And it really was the best one.
00:12:27.320 Or, sorry, maybe the best one will be in the future.
00:12:30.660 But it was really good.
00:12:32.100 And we spoke about very sensitive points.
00:12:35.000 The first one is security guarantees.
00:12:37.800 And we are very happy with President
00:12:39.300 that all the leaders are here.
00:12:42.260 And security in Ukraine depends on the United States
00:12:45.360 and on you and on those leaders who are with us.
00:12:49.280 In our hearts, they have been online before yesterday.
00:12:53.280 And so a lot of countries on the side of Ukraine,
00:12:57.440 our people, and all of us want to finish this war,
00:13:00.280 stop suppression, stop this war.
00:13:02.380 We spoke about it and we will speak more about security guarantees.
00:13:06.220 This is very important that the United States
00:13:08.220 gives such strong signal and is ready for security guarantees.
00:13:13.960 The second point, or maybe the first,
00:13:16.220 humanitarian direction,
00:13:17.900 very important to exchange all the prisoners.
00:13:20.060 And I think that the President will help.
00:13:22.140 And I was very thankful to your wife again,
00:13:25.400 Mr. President, for the letter about our abducted children.
00:13:29.840 And I hope that really it can be a historic role for the people
00:13:35.600 to bring kids back to the families and be happy.
00:13:40.860 And get the people back, yeah?
00:13:42.080 Yes, this is so, so important.
00:13:44.420 And I'm happy that we discussed it,
00:13:46.560 this track with President Trump.
00:13:48.100 And I hope that we will find decisions.
00:13:50.820 And then what is very important that all the sensitive things,
00:13:57.360 territorial, et cetera,
00:13:58.840 we will discuss on the level of leaders during trilateral meeting.
00:14:03.860 And President Trump will try to organize such meeting.
00:14:08.660 And he said that he will come or not come.
00:14:13.160 Ukraine will be happy if you participate.
00:14:15.420 If you both want to be there, I will be there.
00:14:17.880 Yeah, thank you.
00:14:19.060 And I think this is very important.
00:14:21.500 Yeah, so security guarantees bringing kids back.
00:14:25.600 And all our people, not only warriors,
00:14:28.200 first of all, warriors,
00:14:29.440 and all the civilians, journalists,
00:14:31.280 a lot of people in prison.
00:14:32.800 And so we need them back.
00:14:36.020 And guarantees which will work for the years.
00:14:38.960 We spoke about it.
00:14:40.200 And I showed the President a lot of details
00:14:43.680 on the battlefield, on the map.
00:14:46.240 Thank you so much.
00:14:47.280 Thank you for the map, by the way.
00:14:48.720 It was great.
00:14:50.380 I'm thinking how to take it back.
00:14:52.980 We'll get you.
00:14:53.940 No, no, no.
00:14:54.320 I think that we had constructive, specific meeting.
00:14:58.940 And I'm very thankful to all the leaders who are here.
00:15:02.800 And you help a lot.
00:15:04.720 And so we're happy that we have such big unity today.
00:15:10.080 Thank you, Mr. President.
00:15:10.900 Thank you very much, Mr. President.
00:15:13.000 I think you'll see that President Putin
00:15:14.720 really would like to do something else.
00:15:16.320 I think when we set that up, when we do,
00:15:20.060 I think it's going to be when, not if.
00:15:21.940 I think you're going to see some really positive moves.
00:15:26.160 There's a couple takeaways from what you just heard.
00:15:28.280 Number one, the media.
00:15:29.840 They hate that President Trump is bringing these two countries
00:15:33.600 closer to a peace agreement.
00:15:35.600 They hate that they cannot continue to lie to you,
00:15:38.340 claiming that Vladimir Putin played Donald Trump.
00:15:41.300 They hate the fact that Donald Trump is respected
00:15:44.880 by all of these world leaders who are saying to him,
00:15:47.680 thank you, and we've never been closer in the last three years.
00:15:51.200 And they would rather Donald Trump be a failure,
00:15:53.760 the Democratic Party and the media,
00:15:55.800 then stop the killing of so many people in Ukraine and in Russia.
00:16:01.560 Let that sink in.
00:16:03.140 That is what President Trump is up against,
00:16:05.320 and that's what many conservatives are up against every single day
00:16:08.500 by the people in our media and the Democratic Party in America right now.
00:16:13.360 Thank you for listening to the 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson.
00:16:17.560 Please make sure you hit subscribe wherever you're listening to this podcast right now.
00:16:22.900 And for more in-depth news, also subscribe to the Ben Ferguson Podcast,
00:16:27.360 and we will see you back here tomorrow.
00:16:30.140 This is an iHeart Podcast.
00:16:32.980 Guaranteed Human.
00:16:33.740 Guaranteed Human.
00:16:54.980 Guaranteed Human.
00:16:59.240 Guaranteed Human.