Half of America is panicking over President Trump’s tariffs on Canada and Mexico and his handling of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. So, if you have friends or family members who are very skeptical of everything Trump is doing, Glenn breaks down how you can explain it. Are Trump’s moves just chaotic? Or are they a deliberate plan – provoke, pressure, prevail – that is similar to Ronald Reagan’s “Evil Empire” strategy?
Transcript
Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors
GLENN: Several top officials, including the highest ranking legal officer at act blue have reportedly jumped ship in recent weeks. While those who remain are allegedly stuck dealing with a culture of volatility and toxicity.
In a letter to Act Blue's board of directors, obtained by the New York Times, unions representing the workers, identified seven officials who recently quit, and stressed the alarming pattern of high-level exits.
Senior staff departures reportedly began on February 21st, 2 weeks after the organization reportedly provided Congressional investigators with an update regarding Act Blue's security, their fraud prevention measures, and related procedures.
Act Blue, we have known, is I believe, appears to be a money laundering system for the left. And there's a lot of money going through there.
I don't know if DOGE will find any connections to act blue. But I wouldn't be surprised. Why are all these people leaving?
Because they know this game is over. And that's why people are freaking out in Washington.
They are freaking out in Washington, because they know the game is over!
Now, there are those people that are in the government. That believe that they're doing the patriotic thing. Because they believe that they know better than you, the people who elect presidents, or the president himself.
You would not want this, if it was your guy in office. Right?
Why wouldn't you want it?
Why wouldn't you want a bunch of -- let's say Republicans, that are in the Deep State, that didn't give a flying crap what Joe Biden said, and wasn't executing his plan! Why wouldn't you like that? You wouldn't like that, because that's not what the people voted for! The people voted for the president. Not for these unelected bureaucrats, that are faceless, nameless, and have complete control, apparently over your country, and your life!
No!
You wouldn't like it.
And I talked to some people this weekend, that are very upset about Zelinsky, and how the president treated Zelinsky. You've got to watch the entire thing.
People who are watching the clip, to when the vice president steps in and says, hold on here.
That's where people start. That's not the beginning. There's 20 minutes prior to that. Where Donald Trump and J.D. Vance were trying to disarm Zelinsky.
Trying to get him to, hey. Hey. Hey. Not appropriate here. Stop!
But it took him 20 minutes before J.D. Vance snapped, and said with be just stop it.
So you have to inform yourself. And not just the clips.
I am -- I am a little uncomfortable by the way the tariffs are going, with Canada and Mexico.
Not so much Mexico. But definitely Canada.
Mexico is just a -- I'm sorry.
But it's just an absolute corrupt country.
And they have got to get control of those cartels. And we have to get control of those cartels as well.
And make sure we're not doing business with any of the cartels. Which I'm not convinced we're not.
But Canada is one of these countries.
Come on!
It's Canada. It's Canada. We've always liked Canada. Canada has always liked us. Okay?
There he is, a $1.2 trillion online with our trade relationship. Okay? And everybody said, oh, my gosh. This will have a ripple effect.
It will just cost everybody. And, you know what, it might. It might.
I don't know. It might.
On the surface, it is really tempting to see what everything that Donald Trump is doing, as chaos.
He's just swinging, at everybody.
And he's hitting our friends. And he's hitting our supposed friends.
And he's just taking out everybody.
But that's not really what's going on.
And I want you to understand this. So you can share this to your friends and your family, who maybe are freaking out.
We're pissing off Canada. I know.
I don't like it either!
I don't like it!
But it's not chaos. It's a strategy.
And you are dealing with the best negotiator, America has ever had in office.
Ever!
And this is the strategy, that people in America, elected Trump to execute.
Now, maybe your friend didn't. Or your family didn't.
Because they didn't vote for them. Okay. But the majority of people did, okay?
Electoral college, and the popular vote!
And the county swung by 20 points, to the red!
So this is a mandate. It is a movement. And it's not like ear presidents, that are like, you know, I'm -- I'm going to be just like you, when I get in. I'm going to fight for everything that you're saying you will fight for.
And I'm just like you.
Boy, that thing that I don't even address ever, but I love what you're saying there. But I have your back.
And then they go in, and don't have your back.
That's not what happened this time! First of all, people didn't vote for Donald Trump, like they voted for Joe Biden.
Joe Biden they voted for, because it wasn't Trump. Okay?
That's not what happened this time around. When you vote for somebody who is not the other guy, well, what is it you're getting?
In that case, you've got, I will make your boy a girl!
Nobody was for that. Nobody voted for that. Maybe extremists. But we didn't even know that was even coming our way, until what?
Six months, or eight months into the presidency.
And then all of a sudden, DEI.
ESG, all of this stuff was a big story? People didn't vote for that. They did vote for changing the direction of America. They were tired of corruption. They're tired of bureaucrats, telling them how to live their life. Where they didn't get to vote on it. They're tired of being screwed by other countries.
I just -- we just want a fair and balanced playing field.
I don't like tariffs.
I do like reciprocal tariffs.
You put a tax on our milk.
We'll put a tax on your milk.
You don't want a tax on your milk. Then don't put a tax. And we won't tax you either.
I like that!
But that's -- what we're playing now, is people just think, we're going to take out Canada.
I want you to think of this differently with your friends.
And maybe your friends won't like this example. But it's true!
When Ronald Reagan stood up, it was, I think it was in March of '83.
And he's just gotten in, and he's standing, I think it was at a breakfast or something. And he stood up and he said, and Russia, the Soviet Union, is an evil empire.
And everybody went, oh, my gosh. He just said an evil empire. I'm so scared.
And everybody, even people who liked him, were like, don't say that. They'll nuke us.
And he's like, no. We'll never beat them. We cannot do. Now, listen to this. We cannot continue to play the game, the same way, we've been playing it for 50 years. Because it's not getting us anywhere.
In fact, it might be hurting us.
We know, with all of our foreign policy, that we've done, getting us into endless wars. Spending all kinds of money. Racking up a debt of $35 trillion, not knowing what the truth is. Because the government is no longer transparent.
None of that works!
None of that works! And that's what Donald Trump was -- was saying. And that's what people voted for. A change!
I think that's what people actually voted for, when it came to Barack Obama.
Because all of this transparency. Everything was opaque under George W. Bush. We're like, wait. What are we doing there? Why is it -- I don't want necessarily these never-ending wars, and now I have got people checking my underpants at the airport. What are we doing? That's why they wanted change, transparency. They wanted change, but he never defined the change.
Donald Trump was very clear. Anybody, who didn't know that massive tariffs were come, they just weren't paying attention.
Okay. When Reagan did it, it wasn't just a slip of the tongue. It was deliberate. It was a public shot across the bough! He did it in public, because he wanted to change the world.
And while everybody else was going, oh, my gosh. And critics, Democrats, everybody.
He's going to -- it's going to be catastrophic! He's going to get us nuked by Friday.
All the squirrels will be dead. The squirrels are going to be -- what? Reagan wasn't playing for the applause. He was playing to win. His words were backed by a military build-up and unrelenting pressure, and it forced the Soviets to confront their own fragility. They couldn't do it! By 1989.
Remember, it was 1983 when he said "evil empire."
And we were -- we were at -- at equal terms, in the world. We were both world superpowers, that could annihilate the other one at the drop of a hat. That was 1983. Evil empire.
By 1989, the Berlin wall was rubble!
All because Reagan had the balls to say it, and then not blink! Now, we could have been vaporized.
Yes. But if you want to change the world, you're going to have to -- I have this saying, that somebody gave to me, a long time ago. And I live my life by it. Risk big, win big. Risk big, lose big. Just know the odds before you put your money on the table. That's why I don't like Vegas.
I know the odds resident in my favor.
Yes. I can risk big. But I probably will lose big. Because the odds are not in my favor. When it comes to Ronald Reagan's Soviet empire, he had a plan. And so the odds, he knew, were in our favor. The same thing with Donald Trump. We can't afford a trade war, but neither can they!
So let's all play nice with one another.
Shall we?
This is the same kind of leadership that Ronald Reagan had. They -- we elected Donald Trump to fight!
To take on a global trade system! To take on the deficit, and the spending.
We can't fire all these people. It's causing all kinds of chaos.
Wait. Are you okay?
Honestly, are you okay with a good portion of our money, raised in taxes. Going to pay for salaries and benefits the way it is?
We have 6 million plus employees! For what? For what? When you see how corrupt it is, why? Can't we return some of that power?
Well, you can't cut the Department of Education. Why not? He pledged he was going to. He told everybody on the campaign trail, he was going to. And then when he tries, everybody says, why? It doesn't work. Show me the evidence, that it works!
Well, you're just going to leave all of the poor children out to educationally starve. They're starving to death, right now.
They can't read!
When you don't teach children to read, they become slaves to whomever can read!
How is that compassion?
How is that good?
How is that something you want to preserve?
It all comes down to one thing. And this is what you're actually fighting, and I'll explain it to you in 60 seconds.
(music)
Deep in the quiet of a mother's womb, if you listen carefully, there is a voice. Not that one. It's -- it's a heartbeat. It's saying, there's life in here! I am made in the image of God. Just like you.
Our culture hasn't spent very long, you know, actually listening. We've been plugging our ears because we don't want to hear that voice.
Some people don't want to hear -- it's inconvenient. Expectant mother, especially the desperate, often choose to silence that voice. They don't even want to think about it because they're desperate.
Instead of looking at people and saying, you're a baby killer! Why don't we look at people and say, how can we help you hear that voice? That is exactly what this organization does, that will help you.
It will help these women hear that voice.
Because they offer free ultrasounds to expectant mother. The organization is Preborn.
At least half of the time, that's all it takes, to convince a woman, she's carrying a living human being. And she will change her mind.
However, the other big obstacle is, I can't. I don't have any support.
Will you do what the Preborn clinic -- because they care about the baby, and the mom. And they will help her for two years. After the baby is born.
Preborn.com/Beck. You're saving lives.
Hit #250. Key word baby. Make a donation of any size that you can. Maybe it's a monthly contribution. Preborn.com/Beck.
Every 28 bucks buys another ultrasound. Preborn.com/Beck. Sponsored by Preborn.
Ten-second station ID.
(music)
So let's just look at Canada and the tariffs here for a second. 270 percent tariffs on our dairy imports.
$40 billion for, you know, in goods surplus. That's not a quirk. You know, Donald Trump keeps saying this. And people don't realize this is true.
The EU was designed to be able to compete against the United States. Okay?
They are economic competitors. That doesn't mean they're enemies. The same thing with Canada. And when you're the rich person, believe me, look at how people look at rich people.
They haven't paid their fair share in taxes. That's the way they view us.
Okay? We pay more for our medical prescriptions here in America than they do overseas. Because we even view ourselves, politically, when the people in power actually have anything to say about it.
They are like, well, they're the richest country in the world, so we should pay more. No!
Should somebody defend us as well? That's what Donald Trump is. Here's what this boils down to.
It boils down to your friends are not paying attention.
Because they've already made their mind up, about Donald Trump.
They don't know who he is. Okay? Did you like it, when -- when you went over, and he was like, yeah. That little guy, missile boy. And he was saying that about Kim Jong-un who had his finger on a launch button. You're like, okay.
This isn't good. What happened?
What happened?
We won!
And he got American citizens, that were being held hostage, out of there.
All of a sudden, he's friends with him.
No. He was just calling him, you know, rocket man. Just like ten minutes ago.
This is what he does!
This is how he negotiates!
It's -- it's his playbook is provoke, pressure, prevail.
That's what it is!
So people are just afraid because it's a different approach.
And nobody likes to upset the -- it's like -- can have you ever -- I'm a horrible negotiator. I go in to a buy a car, I don't even go. I send a friend in, because I'm like, I can't negotiate. I always feel bad.
I'm like, I don't know. I don't want to screw you.
Horrible. Horrible. So I have a good friend, who goes in. Robert, my brother. He goes in, and he negotiates.
And he loves it. Okay? Because that's the game they play all day. And they know you don't like it!
And you're like, I don't want -- I just want everything to be fair and nice and happy. No.
When you're negotiating. You bring the biggest dog to the negotiating table, you can get!
Somebody that knows how to play their game, as well as they do, if not better.
And doesn't blink! That's how get a good deal. That's what Donald Trump is. And you're the person like me. In the car dealership, going. Well, but no.
He doesn't really mean that. I don't know. Maybe he's had a really bad day. But I -- Mr. Car salesman. I appreciate your family. I don't want your family to starve. They're not going to starve. This is the game they play! And nobody likes to play that game!
That's I couldn't hire someone like Donald Trump. To come in, and play that game.
Your job is to not freak out. Because if you freak out, the other side sees the whole family sitting there, squirming. And then they just look at you, like, really?
Can you believe this guy, who is negotiating on your behalf?
He's a monster.
And what happens? The family starts to squirm, and they blink!
Don't blink. You may not like the style, but this is what we voted for! Complete change!