WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.740 So imagine trying to project global strength 00:00:03.740 --> 00:00:06.580 when your military is literally running out of 00:00:06.580 --> 00:00:10.199 missiles. And your most fiercely loyal political 00:00:10.199 --> 00:00:11.939 allies are suddenly calling you a terrorist. 00:00:12.460 --> 00:00:15.519 The Vatican is actively icing you out. And your 00:00:15.519 --> 00:00:18.260 own household is broadcasting these cryptic, 00:00:18.500 --> 00:00:20.399 defiant messages to the world. Yeah, it sounds 00:00:20.399 --> 00:00:23.140 like absolute fiction. It sounds exactly like 00:00:23.140 --> 00:00:25.339 a hypothetical premise for a political thriller. 00:00:26.890 --> 00:00:29.570 That is the exact reality of the landscape we 00:00:29.570 --> 00:00:32.270 are waking up to today, because today is Friday, 00:00:32.729 --> 00:00:36.750 April 10th, 2026. Welcome to the deep dive. We 00:00:36.750 --> 00:00:39.509 are opening up a massive stack of recent reporting 00:00:39.509 --> 00:00:42.390 that shows an administration facing just an absolutely 00:00:42.390 --> 00:00:45.409 perfect storm. We're talking extreme simultaneous 00:00:45.409 --> 00:00:48.070 pressure coming from every conceivable angle. 00:00:48.649 --> 00:00:50.829 And before we really get into the weeds of this, 00:00:51.170 --> 00:00:53.310 I need to pause and set some very firm ground 00:00:53.310 --> 00:00:56.170 rules for you, the listener. because the sources 00:00:56.170 --> 00:00:58.649 we are unpacking today, they contain intense, 00:00:59.149 --> 00:01:01.409 highly charged political developments from across 00:01:01.409 --> 00:01:04.549 the entire spectrum. Exactly. There is polarizing 00:01:04.549 --> 00:01:07.769 rhetoric, there are serious accusations, and 00:01:07.769 --> 00:01:10.450 quite frankly, there is a lot of emotional volatility 00:01:10.450 --> 00:01:12.810 in these reports. So I want to make it explicitly 00:01:12.810 --> 00:01:16.650 clear right now. Our goal in this deep dive is 00:01:16.650 --> 00:01:19.540 absolutely not to take sides. No. Not at all. 00:01:19.819 --> 00:01:22.120 We are not here to endorse any of these viewpoints, 00:01:22.200 --> 00:01:24.159 and we are not here to validate the political 00:01:24.159 --> 00:01:26.500 rhetoric you're going to hear about. Our mission 00:01:26.500 --> 00:01:29.659 is strictly, impartially, to synthesize the facts 00:01:29.659 --> 00:01:32.019 exactly as they've been reported in the source 00:01:32.019 --> 00:01:34.780 material. We want to give you the broader picture 00:01:34.780 --> 00:01:37.280 of what is structurally happening without any 00:01:37.280 --> 00:01:40.260 partisan spin. Right. And the roadmap for this 00:01:40.260 --> 00:01:42.730 journey is dense. We are going to start with 00:01:42.730 --> 00:01:45.269 the stark physical reality of the military supply 00:01:45.269 --> 00:01:47.829 chain. Then we'll look at how the fallout from 00:01:47.829 --> 00:01:50.650 that global conflict is causing serious structural 00:01:50.650 --> 00:01:53.150 cracks in a famously loyal domestic political 00:01:53.150 --> 00:01:55.590 base. It's fascinating to see unfold. It really 00:01:55.590 --> 00:01:58.209 is. And from there, we'll examine a truly bizarre 00:01:58.209 --> 00:02:01.010 diplomatic showdown with the Vatican. And finally, 00:02:01.049 --> 00:02:02.969 we'll end on the home front, where the walls 00:02:02.969 --> 00:02:05.549 seem to be closing in both legally and personally 00:02:05.549 --> 00:02:08.150 for the administration's inner circle. It is 00:02:08.150 --> 00:02:11.840 a remarkable convergence of pressures. Because, 00:02:11.960 --> 00:02:14.360 I mean, you really cannot execute any kind of 00:02:14.360 --> 00:02:17.360 foreign or domestic policy without the basic 00:02:17.360 --> 00:02:19.560 hardware to enforce it. And the political capital 00:02:19.560 --> 00:02:21.800 to back it up. Exactly. OK, so let's start right 00:02:21.800 --> 00:02:24.159 there with the literal hardware. But it's easy 00:02:24.159 --> 00:02:25.979 to talk about foreign policy in the abstract, 00:02:26.099 --> 00:02:28.419 right? But right now, there is a very physical 00:02:28.419 --> 00:02:30.379 constraint happening. The literal arsenal is 00:02:30.379 --> 00:02:35.060 running on empty. So how bad is the depletion 00:02:35.060 --> 00:02:38.289 of the stockpile right now? It is severe. According 00:02:38.289 --> 00:02:40.370 to the latest Bloomberg reporting, the U .S. 00:02:40.550 --> 00:02:42.550 military is currently committing almost its entire 00:02:42.550 --> 00:02:46.469 stockpile of JSMER cruise missiles to the Iran 00:02:46.469 --> 00:02:48.590 War. Okay. For the listener, what exactly are 00:02:48.590 --> 00:02:51.409 those? So, they are highly advanced, stealthy 00:02:51.409 --> 00:02:53.430 standoff weapons designed to penetrate heavily 00:02:53.430 --> 00:02:56.310 defended airspace. And out of a pre -war stockpile 00:02:56.310 --> 00:02:58.310 of roughly 2 ,300 of these specific missiles, 00:02:58.629 --> 00:03:00.990 the data shows that only 425 are going to remain 00:03:00.990 --> 00:03:04.509 available. Wait, 425 out of 2 ,300? Yeah, only 00:03:04.509 --> 00:03:07.280 425 for use anywhere else in the world. That 00:03:07.280 --> 00:03:09.639 means we are burning through our most advanced 00:03:09.639 --> 00:03:13.120 munitions in one single theater. But I don't 00:03:13.120 --> 00:03:15.719 quite get how we burn through them so fast. Like, 00:03:15.719 --> 00:03:18.639 wars are expensive, sure. But what is the actual 00:03:18.639 --> 00:03:21.680 math on this burn rate? The sheer volume of munitions 00:03:21.680 --> 00:03:24.039 being expended is just staggering. If you look 00:03:24.039 --> 00:03:26.000 at the financial data from just the first 16 00:03:26.000 --> 00:03:28.979 days of the Iran War, coalition forces fired 00:03:28.979 --> 00:03:33.729 over 11 ,000 munitions. Wow. In 16 days. Yeah, 00:03:33.750 --> 00:03:36.370 that translates to a cost of roughly $26 billion 00:03:36.370 --> 00:03:39.069 in just over two weeks. That is unbelievable. 00:03:39.289 --> 00:03:41.090 And, you know, this isn't solely an American 00:03:41.090 --> 00:03:43.270 supply chain issue. It is severely draining our 00:03:43.270 --> 00:03:45.990 ally stockpiles as well. The data from JINSA 00:03:45.990 --> 00:03:48.949 estimates that the UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain have 00:03:48.949 --> 00:03:51.229 already used up more than 75 percent of their 00:03:51.229 --> 00:03:53.289 Patriot interceptors. More than 75 percent. So 00:03:53.289 --> 00:03:55.729 they're practically empty. Basically, yes. And 00:03:55.729 --> 00:03:58.009 Israel is now actively having to ration its high 00:03:58.009 --> 00:04:01.659 end Arrow 3 missiles. I mean, it's like maxing 00:04:01.659 --> 00:04:03.419 out all your credit cards in the first week of 00:04:03.419 --> 00:04:06.699 a year -long road trip. You might be moving fast 00:04:06.699 --> 00:04:09.099 right now, but you are completely exposed for 00:04:09.099 --> 00:04:11.400 the rest of the journey. If another crisis kicks 00:04:11.400 --> 00:04:14.259 off tomorrow, the funding and the physical assets 00:04:14.259 --> 00:04:16.860 just aren't there. What's fascinating here is 00:04:16.860 --> 00:04:19.459 the underlying timeline of defense manufacturing. 00:04:20.319 --> 00:04:22.699 Because you can't just flip a switch and print 00:04:22.699 --> 00:04:25.209 more of these systems overnight. Interceptors 00:04:25.209 --> 00:04:27.709 are highly complex pieces of technology. Right, 00:04:27.790 --> 00:04:30.350 they take a long time. Exactly. They take years, 00:04:30.350 --> 00:04:33.269 not months, to build. The geopolitical risk of 00:04:33.269 --> 00:04:36.449 a conflict like this was theoretically priced 00:04:36.449 --> 00:04:38.649 into the market, which is why defense stocks 00:04:38.649 --> 00:04:40.649 actually lagged the broader market initially. 00:04:40.709 --> 00:04:43.029 Oh, interesting. But the physical reality of 00:04:43.029 --> 00:04:46.009 rebuilding these depleted stockpiles means that 00:04:46.009 --> 00:04:48.170 governments around the world are fundamentally 00:04:48.170 --> 00:04:51.209 exposed right now. So I imagine the defense industry 00:04:51.209 --> 00:04:53.209 is scrambling to keep up, right? This has to 00:04:53.209 --> 00:04:55.930 be a massive multi -year tailwind for those companies. 00:04:56.149 --> 00:04:58.050 Oh, absolutely. The administration has asked 00:04:58.050 --> 00:05:01.490 Congress for $1 .5 trillion in military spending 00:05:01.490 --> 00:05:04.829 for fiscal year 2027. A trillion and a half dollars. 00:05:05.269 --> 00:05:08.050 Yes. And the Pentagon is asking for an immediate 00:05:08.050 --> 00:05:12.149 $200 billion supplement. If you look at a defense 00:05:12.149 --> 00:05:15.500 prime like Carmen... According to the Financial 00:05:15.500 --> 00:05:18.480 Times data, they now have nearly 50 % of their 00:05:18.480 --> 00:05:21.279 sales coming entirely from missile -related revenue. 00:05:22.079 --> 00:05:24.500 50%. Wow. Because every government realizes they 00:05:24.500 --> 00:05:27.040 cannot afford to stay exposed. But the problem 00:05:27.040 --> 00:05:29.420 isn't just finding the money. It's the physical 00:05:29.420 --> 00:05:32.379 capacity of the industrial base to actually deliver 00:05:32.379 --> 00:05:35.279 those complex layered shield components. Right. 00:05:35.379 --> 00:05:37.480 The factories can only work so fast. Exactly. 00:05:37.579 --> 00:05:40.019 You need... OEA batteries, which shoot down short 00:05:40.019 --> 00:05:42.240 and medium -range ballistic missiles. You need 00:05:42.240 --> 00:05:44.680 Patriot systems. You need sea -based Aegis systems. 00:05:45.040 --> 00:05:47.779 And the reality is the industrial base is functionally 00:05:47.779 --> 00:05:49.839 running at the capacity to produce them fast 00:05:49.839 --> 00:05:52.139 enough. OK. So the literal military stockpile 00:05:52.139 --> 00:05:55.139 is drained. But how does that physical drain 00:05:55.139 --> 00:05:57.720 translate to a political drain? Because a war 00:05:57.720 --> 00:06:00.939 this expensive, burning through $26 billion in 00:06:00.939 --> 00:06:03.540 16 days, that cannot be universally popular, 00:06:03.600 --> 00:06:06.019 even with the administration's own base. And 00:06:06.019 --> 00:06:09.319 that is exactly what the report This Iran war 00:06:09.319 --> 00:06:12.019 isn't just costing billions of dollars. It is 00:06:12.019 --> 00:06:14.879 costing the administration the support of its 00:06:14.879 --> 00:06:18.579 most fiercely loyal followers. The rhetoric surrounding 00:06:18.579 --> 00:06:21.339 this war... Specifically, some of the very casual 00:06:21.339 --> 00:06:23.860 calls for genocide against the Iranian people 00:06:23.860 --> 00:06:28.000 on social media has crossed a hard line for major 00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:30.319 figures in the Mejia movement and what is often 00:06:30.319 --> 00:06:32.279 called the Manosphere. OK, let's unpack this. 00:06:32.540 --> 00:06:34.459 Because, you know, are we overstating this a 00:06:34.459 --> 00:06:37.279 bit? Influencers and podcasters fight all the 00:06:37.279 --> 00:06:39.740 time for engagement and clicks. Is this really 00:06:39.740 --> 00:06:43.019 a massive shift or just a temporary family squabble 00:06:43.019 --> 00:06:45.360 playing out online? It is far more serious than 00:06:45.360 --> 00:06:47.769 a squabble. I mean, this is the exact information 00:06:47.769 --> 00:06:50.029 ecosystem that essentially built and sustained 00:06:50.029 --> 00:06:52.189 the modern populist movement for the past decade. 00:06:52.269 --> 00:06:53.829 Yeah, that's true. And the reaction over the 00:06:53.829 --> 00:06:55.870 last few weeks has been exceptionally severe. 00:06:56.329 --> 00:06:58.310 Take Tucker Carlson, for example. He released 00:06:58.310 --> 00:07:02.050 a skating 43 minute direct to camera video attacking 00:07:02.050 --> 00:07:04.470 the president. 43 minutes just going after him. 00:07:04.529 --> 00:07:07.170 Completely. He was furious about Trump tweeting 00:07:07.170 --> 00:07:10.290 the f word on Easter morning asking, quote, Who 00:07:10.290 --> 00:07:12.769 do you think you are? But he went much further 00:07:12.769 --> 00:07:14.709 than just criticizing the tone. What else did 00:07:14.709 --> 00:07:17.459 he say? Carlson actually urged U .S. military 00:07:17.459 --> 00:07:20.300 officers to refuse illegal orders to kill civilians, 00:07:20.980 --> 00:07:23.040 explicitly citing the Uniform Code of Military 00:07:23.040 --> 00:07:27.360 Justice or the UCMJ. Wait, he cited the UCMJ? 00:07:27.399 --> 00:07:30.519 He did. That is a massive escalation. Right. 00:07:30.620 --> 00:07:32.500 Reminding the military that they are legally 00:07:32.500 --> 00:07:35.240 required to disobey illegal orders from the commander 00:07:35.240 --> 00:07:37.879 in chief is not your standard media critique. 00:07:38.279 --> 00:07:41.259 That is bordering on calling for mutiny. Exactly. 00:07:41.439 --> 00:07:44.100 There's a profound shift in rhetoric. And, you 00:07:44.100 --> 00:07:46.220 know, it's not just Carlson. You have Alex Jones, 00:07:46.560 --> 00:07:48.720 who appeared visibly emotional on his broadcast, 00:07:48.800 --> 00:07:51.139 calling the president a dementia risk, who must 00:07:51.139 --> 00:07:53.420 be removed from office. Wow. You have Megyn Kelly, 00:07:53.740 --> 00:07:55.360 who went on her radio show. and said she is, 00:07:55.360 --> 00:07:59.000 quote, sick of this shush. She stated that casually 00:07:59.000 --> 00:08:01.180 threatening to wipe out an entire civilization 00:08:01.180 --> 00:08:04.160 in a social media post is completely irresponsible 00:08:04.160 --> 00:08:07.060 and disgusting. And then you have the podcasters, 00:08:07.240 --> 00:08:09.959 right? The Manosphere influencers who were absolutely 00:08:09.959 --> 00:08:12.100 crucial in getting out the vote in the last election. 00:08:12.360 --> 00:08:15.480 Yes. The exodus there is staggering. Joe Rogan 00:08:15.480 --> 00:08:18.420 is now calling the war insane. Rogan said that. 00:08:18.480 --> 00:08:22.139 Yep. Theo Vaughn, another major podcaster, tweeted 00:08:22.139 --> 00:08:24.560 that the U .S. and Israel are the actual terrorists 00:08:24.560 --> 00:08:27.579 in this scenario. Tim Dillon called Magier the 00:08:27.579 --> 00:08:30.319 greatest con in history. Good grief. You even 00:08:30.319 --> 00:08:33.320 have a prominent streamer like Sneco openly stating 00:08:33.320 --> 00:08:36.659 that he misses Joe Biden. That is wild. And how 00:08:36.659 --> 00:08:38.480 is the president reacting to this? Because usually 00:08:38.480 --> 00:08:40.879 his strategy is to ignore these things or brush 00:08:40.879 --> 00:08:44.470 them off as fake news. He posted a massive unhinged 00:08:44.470 --> 00:08:47.429 wall of text rant on social media, no paragraph 00:08:47.429 --> 00:08:49.850 breaks, entirely focused on attacking these former 00:08:49.850 --> 00:08:53.009 allies. He called them low IQ, stupid losers, 00:08:53.370 --> 00:08:55.750 trying to latch onto MAGA and mock them for having 00:08:55.750 --> 00:08:59.490 third rate podcasts. So what does this all mean 00:08:59.490 --> 00:09:01.509 for the administration politically? Because name 00:09:01.509 --> 00:09:03.190 calling online is one thing, but how does this 00:09:03.190 --> 00:09:06.110 hit the ballot box? The stakes here are existential 00:09:06.110 --> 00:09:08.970 for that political movement. The president is 00:09:08.970 --> 00:09:12.129 clearly furious that his former sheep are trying 00:09:12.129 --> 00:09:14.309 to shear him, as the reporting characterizes 00:09:14.309 --> 00:09:18.870 it. But the real structural danger isn't that 00:09:18.870 --> 00:09:21.029 they are fighting online. It's the underlying 00:09:21.029 --> 00:09:24.389 mechanism of how this voter base gets its information. 00:09:25.409 --> 00:09:27.629 Traditional politicians often misunderstand this. 00:09:27.879 --> 00:09:30.659 These podcasters aren't just entertainers. They 00:09:30.659 --> 00:09:33.340 are the primary news source and ideological compass 00:09:33.340 --> 00:09:36.399 for millions of highly engaged voters. The danger 00:09:36.399 --> 00:09:39.059 is what their listeners do in November. If these 00:09:39.059 --> 00:09:41.139 voters decide to jump ship to the blue team, 00:09:41.320 --> 00:09:43.120 or even if they just stay home because they are 00:09:43.120 --> 00:09:45.940 disillusioned by the war, that coalition collapses. 00:09:46.220 --> 00:09:48.240 It's the cost of war coming home to roost at 00:09:48.240 --> 00:09:50.919 the ballot box. But here's the thing. It's not 00:09:50.919 --> 00:09:53.639 just the new age populist podcasters that are 00:09:53.639 --> 00:09:56.019 revolting. What happens when an administration 00:09:56.019 --> 00:09:58.379 decides to pick a fight with one of the oldest, 00:09:58.419 --> 00:10:00.799 most traditional institutions on earth? It is 00:10:00.799 --> 00:10:03.820 a genuinely baffling diplomatic strategy. You 00:10:03.820 --> 00:10:05.879 know, you think of the famous Theodore Roosevelt 00:10:05.879 --> 00:10:08.200 approach to foreign policy. Speak softly and 00:10:08.200 --> 00:10:11.360 carry a big stick. Exactly. The sources we are 00:10:11.360 --> 00:10:13.679 looking at describe this administration's current 00:10:13.679 --> 00:10:17.200 approach as the exact opposite. Bluster loudly 00:10:17.200 --> 00:10:20.529 and carry a small stick. bluster loudly and carry 00:10:20.529 --> 00:10:23.850 a small stick. That is a brutal assessment. So 00:10:23.850 --> 00:10:26.809 what exactly sparked this showdown with the Vatican? 00:10:27.129 --> 00:10:29.610 Well, back in January, Team Trump actually summoned 00:10:29.610 --> 00:10:32.870 Cardinal Christophe Pierre to demand that the 00:10:32.870 --> 00:10:35.289 Catholic Church take their side regarding the 00:10:35.289 --> 00:10:37.809 war in Venezuela. OK. And according to the reporting, 00:10:38.230 --> 00:10:39.809 administration officials boasted that the U .S. 00:10:40.129 --> 00:10:42.629 military can do, quote, whatever it wants in 00:10:42.629 --> 00:10:45.110 the world. And then one of the officials actually 00:10:45.110 --> 00:10:48.110 brought up the Avignon Papacy as a threat. OK, 00:10:48.110 --> 00:10:50.850 for anyone who isn't a 14th century European 00:10:50.850 --> 00:10:53.309 history buff, the Avignon Papacy refers to a 00:10:53.309 --> 00:10:55.289 period where a succession of popes were essentially 00:10:55.289 --> 00:10:57.629 held hostage in France and forced to take their 00:10:57.629 --> 00:10:59.610 marching orders from the French crown. To bring 00:10:59.610 --> 00:11:02.149 that up to a Vatican ambassador in the 21st century, 00:11:02.210 --> 00:11:04.129 I mean, it's just absolute hubris. It's like 00:11:04.129 --> 00:11:07.250 a decade old tech startup trying to execute a 00:11:07.250 --> 00:11:10.649 hostile takeover of a legacy monopoly that literally 00:11:10.649 --> 00:11:13.509 prints its own currency. You do not try to bully 00:11:13.509 --> 00:11:15.789 an institution that has been operating for 2000 00:11:15.789 --> 00:11:18.730 years. And the church is clearly not intimidated. 00:11:19.370 --> 00:11:21.370 The fallout from that meeting has been swift 00:11:21.370 --> 00:11:24.490 and highly visible. Shortly after, the Vatican 00:11:24.490 --> 00:11:26.970 canceled a planned papal visit to the U .S. that 00:11:26.970 --> 00:11:29.830 was meant to coincide with the country's 250th 00:11:29.830 --> 00:11:32.370 anniversary celebrations. That's a huge snub. 00:11:32.570 --> 00:11:35.190 It gets worse. Even more pointedly, Pope Leo 00:11:35.190 --> 00:11:38.350 IV recently held a meeting with Obama insider 00:11:38.350 --> 00:11:41.639 David Axelrod. which is widely seen as a precursor 00:11:41.639 --> 00:11:43.399 to a meeting with the former Democratic president 00:11:43.399 --> 00:11:45.440 himself. I imagine the administration's poll 00:11:45.440 --> 00:11:47.399 numbers among Catholics are taking a massive 00:11:47.399 --> 00:11:49.700 hit because of this. They are cratering. The 00:11:49.700 --> 00:11:51.639 polling data shows Pope Leo has a net approval 00:11:51.639 --> 00:11:54.779 rating in the U .S. of plus 34. The president 00:11:54.779 --> 00:11:58.240 is hovering around negative 20. And the administration's 00:11:58.240 --> 00:12:00.240 support among Catholics was already bleeding 00:12:00.240 --> 00:12:03.360 out even before the Iran war started. White Catholic 00:12:03.360 --> 00:12:06.360 support dropped from the 60s down to 50%. Latino 00:12:06.360 --> 00:12:09.100 Catholic support plummeted from the low 30s down 00:12:09.100 --> 00:12:13.799 to just 23%. And why is that specific drop from 00:12:13.799 --> 00:12:17.409 the low 30s to 23 %? among Latino Catholics so 00:12:17.409 --> 00:12:21.029 critical. Because of the electoral map. Elections 00:12:21.029 --> 00:12:23.409 in key battleground states, particularly Texas 00:12:23.409 --> 00:12:26.149 and Florida, hinge heavily on the margins provided 00:12:26.149 --> 00:12:29.809 by Latino Catholic voters. Right. If the administration's 00:12:29.809 --> 00:12:31.929 bluster alienates this demographic to the point 00:12:31.929 --> 00:12:34.029 where they vote Democratic or simply stay home, 00:12:34.470 --> 00:12:37.350 the GOP faces an absolute disaster in the November 00:12:37.350 --> 00:12:40.110 elections. So just to recap the landscape so 00:12:40.110 --> 00:12:43.029 far for you, the listener, the literal military 00:12:43.029 --> 00:12:45.799 hardware is strained to the breaking point. The 00:12:45.799 --> 00:12:48.700 populist podcast base is in open revolt. The 00:12:48.700 --> 00:12:50.700 religious demographics are heavily alienated. 00:12:50.799 --> 00:12:53.179 The pressure is coming from everywhere. And now 00:12:53.179 --> 00:12:56.080 we transition to the final frontier of this perfect 00:12:56.080 --> 00:12:58.700 storm. The pressure is breaching the president's 00:12:58.700 --> 00:13:01.179 own household and his past actions are catching 00:13:01.179 --> 00:13:04.419 up with him in court. It's where the political 00:13:04.419 --> 00:13:07.259 strategy breaks down and becomes intensely personal. 00:13:07.639 --> 00:13:10.200 Let's talk about the Melania situation. Because 00:13:10.200 --> 00:13:12.679 out of nowhere, the First Lady called a press 00:13:12.679 --> 00:13:14.940 conference and gave a speech where she essentially 00:13:14.940 --> 00:13:17.779 channeled Margaret Thatcher. Yes. It was this 00:13:17.779 --> 00:13:21.440 fierce cutthroat denial of any ties to Jeffrey 00:13:21.440 --> 00:13:24.399 Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. She specifically 00:13:24.399 --> 00:13:27.080 released a relatively benign email addressed 00:13:27.080 --> 00:13:30.139 to G, emphasized that she didn't meet her husband 00:13:30.139 --> 00:13:32.519 through Epstein, but rather by chance at a party. 00:13:32.519 --> 00:13:36.179 in 1998, and then in a truly bizarre pivot, used 00:13:36.179 --> 00:13:39.460 the moment to plug her book titled Melania. It 00:13:39.460 --> 00:13:42.000 was a deeply unusual public appearance, both 00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:44.820 in its timing and its content. But the president's 00:13:44.820 --> 00:13:47.139 reaction to her speech was incredibly dark. What 00:13:47.139 --> 00:13:49.220 did he do? Instead of defending her directly, 00:13:49.279 --> 00:13:52.159 he posted a horrific video on social media of 00:13:52.159 --> 00:13:54.379 a Haitian immigrant murdering a woman with a 00:13:54.379 --> 00:13:56.039 hammer. Wait, hold on. Is it possible people 00:13:56.039 --> 00:13:58.259 are reading too much into this? Like posting 00:13:58.259 --> 00:14:00.580 a video about violent crime and border policies 00:14:00.580 --> 00:14:03.259 to blame Joe Biden? as a standard playbook for 00:14:03.259 --> 00:14:05.840 him? Are the sources absolutely convinced this 00:14:05.840 --> 00:14:08.179 was a veiled threat directed at his wife? It's 00:14:08.179 --> 00:14:10.419 the timing that makes the intelligence community 00:14:10.419 --> 00:14:13.539 and political analysts view it as a threat. OK. 00:14:13.620 --> 00:14:15.860 Because the White House initially claimed they 00:14:15.860 --> 00:14:17.960 had no idea she was going to give that speech. 00:14:18.639 --> 00:14:21.120 The president's post immediately followed her 00:14:21.120 --> 00:14:24.080 defiant independent press conference. Whether 00:14:24.080 --> 00:14:27.899 intentional or not, it projects extreme instability 00:14:27.899 --> 00:14:30.580 from the very core of the administration. Here's 00:14:30.580 --> 00:14:33.460 where it gets really interesting. What is driving 00:14:33.460 --> 00:14:36.240 Melania's timing here? That's the question. Right. 00:14:36.460 --> 00:14:39.360 Does she just decide to give this speech during 00:14:39.360 --> 00:14:41.620 a lull in the Iran war because she has terrible 00:14:41.620 --> 00:14:44.320 PR instincts? You know, the Streisand effect 00:14:44.320 --> 00:14:46.940 where trying to suppress or hide something only 00:14:46.940 --> 00:14:49.919 draws massive public attention to it. Or is she 00:14:49.919 --> 00:14:52.320 deliberately getting out ahead of a much larger, 00:14:52.419 --> 00:14:55.279 imminent bombshell? That ambiguity is exactly 00:14:55.279 --> 00:14:58.320 what makes the situation so volatile. And, you 00:14:58.320 --> 00:14:59.860 know, that internal instability is happening 00:14:59.860 --> 00:15:02.019 at the exact same time that the legal walls are 00:15:02.019 --> 00:15:04.740 closing in. Yeah, the civil suits. Exactly. While 00:15:04.740 --> 00:15:07.019 the family drama is playing out publicly, Judge 00:15:07.019 --> 00:15:09.539 Amit Meth had just issued a major ruling regarding 00:15:09.539 --> 00:15:12.159 the January 6th civil suits brought by Capitol 00:15:12.159 --> 00:15:15.399 Police and members of Congress. Right. The president's 00:15:15.399 --> 00:15:18.059 legal team filed a motion for summary judgment 00:15:18.059 --> 00:15:20.480 to get the whole thing thrown out before it could 00:15:20.480 --> 00:15:24.070 go to trial. Yes, and the judge denied it. Trump's 00:15:24.070 --> 00:15:26.330 legal team argued that his actions on January 00:15:26.330 --> 00:15:29.350 6, specifically the ellipse speech where he told 00:15:29.350 --> 00:15:32.330 the crowd to fight like hell, were official acts 00:15:32.330 --> 00:15:35.149 of the presidency and therefore he had absolute 00:15:35.149 --> 00:15:38.210 immunity from any civil liability. But Judge 00:15:38.210 --> 00:15:41.230 Mita made a critical distinction about what constitutes 00:15:41.230 --> 00:15:44.250 an official act, didn't he? He did. If we connect 00:15:44.250 --> 00:15:46.529 this to the bigger picture, it goes back to the 00:15:46.529 --> 00:15:48.649 Supreme Court's ruling on presidential immunity. 00:15:48.860 --> 00:15:51.620 Judge Mehta ruled that Trump's actions that day 00:15:51.620 --> 00:15:54.059 were done in his capacity as an office seeker, 00:15:54.399 --> 00:15:57.080 a candidate running for election, not as an office 00:15:57.080 --> 00:15:59.379 holder, executing the duties of the presidency. 00:15:59.700 --> 00:16:01.919 Meaning, just because you happen to be sitting 00:16:01.919 --> 00:16:03.639 in the Oval Office doesn't mean everything you 00:16:03.639 --> 00:16:06.039 do is an official presidential act. If you are 00:16:06.039 --> 00:16:07.679 acting as a candidate trying to win an election, 00:16:07.899 --> 00:16:10.139 you get no more legal protection than any other 00:16:10.139 --> 00:16:13.179 citizen running for office. Precisely. The judge 00:16:13.179 --> 00:16:16.240 completely rejected the claim of automatic immunity 00:16:16.240 --> 00:16:19.580 for candidate actions. Furthermore, the Department 00:16:19.580 --> 00:16:22.340 of Justice actually asked the court to let it 00:16:22.340 --> 00:16:24.620 substitute the U .S. government as the defendant 00:16:24.620 --> 00:16:27.539 in the case. Wait, why would the DOJ want to 00:16:27.539 --> 00:16:29.720 do that? Because if the U .S. government is the 00:16:29.720 --> 00:16:32.379 defendant, the American taxpayers would be on 00:16:32.379 --> 00:16:34.620 the hook for any financial damages awarded to 00:16:34.620 --> 00:16:37.299 the Capitol Police or Congress members, not Trump 00:16:37.299 --> 00:16:39.580 himself. But the judge said no to that, too. 00:16:39.679 --> 00:16:42.659 She did. Because the acts were deemed unofficial, 00:16:43.100 --> 00:16:46.279 personal acts of a candidate, the DOJ has no 00:16:46.279 --> 00:16:49.059 legal basis to step in and absorb the liability. 00:16:49.399 --> 00:16:52.539 The request was denied. Trump remains personally 00:16:52.539 --> 00:16:54.740 on the hook as the sole defendant. Which means 00:16:54.740 --> 00:16:56.700 personal financial ruin is on the table and this 00:16:56.700 --> 00:16:58.960 is actually going to trial. The delay tactics 00:16:58.960 --> 00:17:01.320 completely ran out and the timing of this, well, 00:17:01.500 --> 00:17:04.180 this civil trial over the events of January 6 00:17:04.180 --> 00:17:06.559 could easily be happening right as voters are 00:17:06.559 --> 00:17:08.440 heading to the polls. It is the culmination of 00:17:08.440 --> 00:17:10.619 all these systemic pressures. You have a massive 00:17:10.619 --> 00:17:12.799 civil trial regarding the attempt to overturn 00:17:12.799 --> 00:17:15.279 the last election happening simultaneously with 00:17:15.279 --> 00:17:17.220 the upcoming election. So let's bring this all 00:17:17.220 --> 00:17:19.670 together for you, the listener. We started this 00:17:19.670 --> 00:17:22.609 deep dive looking for a localized crisis. But 00:17:22.609 --> 00:17:24.990 what the sources have revealed is an administration 00:17:24.990 --> 00:17:30.579 caught in a flawless 360 degree storm. The physical 00:17:30.579 --> 00:17:33.279 mechanisms of their foreign policy are failing. 00:17:33.619 --> 00:17:35.680 They are running out of literal cruise missiles 00:17:35.680 --> 00:17:39.279 and scrambling to fund complex defense manufacturing. 00:17:40.059 --> 00:17:42.359 They are burning through years of hard -earned 00:17:42.359 --> 00:17:45.059 political goodwill, getting into screaming matches 00:17:45.059 --> 00:17:47.940 with the very podcasters who serve as the information 00:17:47.940 --> 00:17:50.680 ecosystem for their base. They are trying to 00:17:50.680 --> 00:17:53.119 bully the pope with historical threats, alienating 00:17:53.119 --> 00:17:55.200 crucial Catholic voters in states like Florida 00:17:55.200 --> 00:17:58.279 and Texas that they absolutely must win. And 00:17:58.279 --> 00:18:00.630 on top of all, that, they're facing a deeply 00:18:00.630 --> 00:18:03.309 unsettling marital standoff and a massive civil 00:18:03.309 --> 00:18:05.349 trial where the president is entirely stripped 00:18:05.349 --> 00:18:08.269 of his immunity. All of these seemingly isolated 00:18:08.269 --> 00:18:10.690 crises are hurtling toward a single point of 00:18:10.690 --> 00:18:12.650 impact, and that is the ballot box this November. 00:18:13.009 --> 00:18:15.869 And as you watch all of this unfold, this raises 00:18:15.869 --> 00:18:17.549 an important question that I want to leave you 00:18:17.549 --> 00:18:20.210 with, one that stems directly from our initial 00:18:20.210 --> 00:18:22.369 look at the military supply chain. OK, what is 00:18:22.369 --> 00:18:24.940 it? We know from the hard data. that the United 00:18:24.940 --> 00:18:27.740 States and its allies are functionally out -of 00:18:27.740 --> 00:18:30.819 -reserve interceptor missiles. The global stockpile 00:18:30.819 --> 00:18:33.940 is essentially empty. If a completely unforeseen 00:18:33.940 --> 00:18:36.519 third global conflict were to erupt tomorrow 00:18:36.519 --> 00:18:39.480 in another part of the world, a flashpoint no 00:18:39.480 --> 00:18:41.460 one is currently predicting does the U .S. even 00:18:41.460 --> 00:18:44.240 have the physical capacity to respond or has 00:18:44.240 --> 00:18:46.400 the global shield already been entirely spent? 00:18:46.919 --> 00:18:49.259 That is a chilling question and definitely something 00:18:49.259 --> 00:18:51.660 to keep in mind as we watch these headlines continue 00:18:51.660 --> 00:18:53.859 to develop and interact with each other. Thank 00:18:53.859 --> 00:18:55.539 you so much for joining us on this deep dive. 00:18:55.700 --> 00:18:57.759 We'll be back next time with another stack of 00:18:57.759 --> 00:18:59.539 sources to unpack. Take care everyone.