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--:-- John Bickley: Welcome to Morning Wire, I'm John Bickley, executive editor of the Daily Wire, and I'm here with Georgia Howe.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for waking up with us, John.
--:-- John Bickley: It's Friday, July 25th, and we've got a lot to cover today. President Trump makes another dramatic move, personally inspecting the Federal Reserve as he ramps up pressure on Jerome Powell.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That's right, John. And we're joined now by Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips to discuss Trump's battle with Jerome Powell and big trade deal announcements.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Thanks for having me on the show.
--:-- John Bickley: So, let's start with Trump's visit to the Fed. What happened there?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Well, John, the president has been furious with Jerome Powell for months now, accusing him of intentionally keeping interest rates high to try and damage the economy and damage Trump's political standing.
--:-- John Bickley: That's right. But the problem for Trump is that he can only fire Powell with cause. And policy disputes do not count.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Exactly. So, he's been looking into the renovation of the Federal Reserve headquarters, which Powell is overseeing. After a number of well-documented cost overruns, that price tag on the project is over $2.5 billion.
--:-- John Bickley: And President Trump thinks that is far too high, accusing Powell of mismanaging taxpayer dollars to build a, quote, palace for himself, and hinting that he may have committed fraud, which obviously would be a fireable offense.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: That's right. And now, as you mentioned, the president took the extraordinary step of visiting the Fed headquarters himself yesterday.
--:-- John Bickley: It is the first time a president has visited the building since 2006. But unlike that visit, which George W. Bush took as part of the swearing-in ceremony for Ben Bernanke, this one is all about putting pressure on Powell.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: For example, here's Trump directly telling the Fed chair that he wants interest rates lowered.
--:-- John Bickley: So, are there things the chairman can say to you today that would make you back off some of the earlier criticism?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Well, I'd love him to lower interest rates. Other than that, what can I tell you?
--:-- John Bickley: And later on, when Powell disputed the cost of this renovation, President Trump displayed a piece of paper with what he said was the price tag.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: It looks like it about billion It went up a little bit or a lot
--:-- John Bickley: So, the is now I not aware of that Yeah it just came out Yeah, and I haven't heard that from anybody.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: This came from us? Yes.
--:-- John Bickley: Now, to another major economic topic, tariff deals. With this deadline approaching very quickly, we're seeing some urgency from some other countries to work deals. What's the latest there?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So, remember, the White House has made clear that any country who has not agreed to a trade deal by August 1st will be hit with tariffs anywhere from 25 to 50 percent.
--:-- John Bickley: And a few countries seem to be taking Trump at his word, most notably Japan.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: After eight rounds of intense negotiations, Trump announced a massive deal that will lower the tariff on Japanese imports from 25 to 15 percent.
--:-- John Bickley: In exchange, Tokyo has agreed to open their markets to American cars and trucks.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: And perhaps even more importantly, Japan agreed to a $550 billion investment in the U.S. economy.
--:-- John Bickley: That'll include the purchase of 100 Boeing aircraft, billions of dollars in American rice, and billions more in deals with American defense contractors.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: I just signed the largest trade deal in history. I think maybe the largest deal in history with Japan.
--:-- John Bickley: A lot different from the deals in the past, I can tell you that.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick talked about just how unique this deal is and how Japan will actually be helping finance American growth.
--:-- John Bickley: The Japanese government says, I will finance and I will pay for, not finance. I will pay for.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: You want to build a nuclear facility? Build it. You want to build 10 nuclear facilities? You go build them.
--:-- John Bickley: You want to go build a pipeline? You go build it. And we'll split the lease payments, 90 for you, 10 for Japan.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Again, it's a blockbuster if there ever was one.
--:-- John Bickley: All right, so a major agreement with one of our biggest trading partners with some unique elements to it too. What other deals have we seen?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Right, so we mentioned earlier the deal between the U.S. and the Philippines.
--:-- John Bickley: And now there's also an agreement between the U.S. and Indonesia.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: As part of that deal, Indonesia has agreed to eliminate all tariffs on roughly 99% of American goods and end pre-shipment inspections on American farm goods, also other non-tariff barriers.
--:-- John Bickley: In exchange, the U.S. will lower its tariff on Indonesian imports from 32 to 19 percent.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: And then, according to numerous reports, President Trump is closing in on a final deal with the EU that will impose 15 percent tariffs on a variety of European imports.
--:-- John Bickley: All of that movement was more welcome news to investors as global stocks rallied throughout the week.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: The S&P 500 hit yet another record high. The Dow surged on Tuesday and Wednesday to near record highs.
--:-- John Bickley: Markets across Asia and Europe, especially Japan, jumped as well.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: All right, so global markets looking very healthy there.
--:-- John Bickley: Kevin, thanks so much for reporting.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Absolutely.
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--:-- John Bickley: That saying you are what you eat really hits home these days. Luckily, I've discovered Mosh Bars, which not only satisfy my hunger, but help me live more mindfully as well.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Mosh was created to create a conversation about brain health through food, education, and research.
--:-- John Bickley: They aren't just tasty. They're packed with brain-boosting ingredients like ashwagandha, lion's mane, collagen, and omega-3s.
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--:-- John Bickley: Plus, what we love most is that every Mosh Bar you enjoy helps fund critical gender-based brain health research to the women's Alzheimer's movement because two-thirds of Alzheimer's patients are, in fact, women.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: That's 20% off plus free shipping on either the Best Sellers Trial Pack or the Plant Based Trial Pack at M-O-S-H-L-I-F-E dot com slash MorningWire.
--:-- John Bickley: Thank you, Moss, for sponsoring this episode.
--:-- Georgia Howe: In that election in November of 2016, they worked with their partners in the media to promote this lie ultimately to undermine the legitimacy of President Trump and launching what would be a years-long coup against him and his administration.
--:-- John Bickley: That was director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard releasing more bombshell evidence that Obama and his intel chiefs crafted the Trump collusion narrative.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce is here to talk about what's in Gabbard's latest tranche of evidence.
--:-- Tim Pierce: So, a lot of accusations being leveled here. First, we have a coup from an outgoing president, and then from a declassified House intelligence report, we've learned that Russia may have actually helped Clinton.
--:-- John Bickley: So, what's going on here?
--:-- Tim Pierce: Yeah, it's not so much about what Russia did, but what it didn't do. According to this declassified report, Russia had obtained hacked DNC emails that incriminated Clinton showing potential criminal bribes.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Under Clinton's leadership, State Department officials took secret meetings with U.S. religious groups and offered taxpayer funds in exchange for support for the Clinton campaign.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Gabbard said there was also a patronage network inside the U.S. State Department to bribe employees into supporting Clinton.
--:-- John Bickley: And then there are emails that suggest Clinton was not well.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Here's Gabbard. There were high-level DNC emails that detailed evidence of Hillary's, quote, psycho-emotional problems, uncontrolled fits of anger, aggression, and cheerfulness, and that then-Secretary Clinton was allegedly on a daily regimen of heavy tranquilizers.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So the claim here is that Moscow had all this dirt on Clinton but never released it.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Gabbard said that Russia likely planned to use it against Clinton if she had won.
--:-- John Bickley: Now, as more of this information comes out, President Obama has been characterized as something of a ringleader here. What's the evidence for that?
--:-- Tim Pierce: It was quite a bit, actually. I spoke to Jerry Dunleavy, the chief investigative correspondent at Just the News, about this.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Here's what he said. Obama was deeply involved in the Russiagate scandal. He was aware of Clinton plan intelligence, showing Hillary was trying to link Trump to the Russian hacking of the DNC.
--:-- Tim Pierce: He personally directed the creation of the intelligence community assessment in December 2016, only after Trump had emerged victorious.
--:-- John Bickley: And he was involved in an Oval Office meeting in early January 2017, where he was made aware of some of the Crossfire Hurricane investigations efforts, including targeting Mike Flynn.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So Obama had his fingerprints on this for months before that January 2017 intelligence community assessment made the fake Trump-Russia collusion narrative official.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Now, President Trump hasn't been shy about leveling accusations. Is there a crime here?
--:-- John Bickley: The Justice Department has assembled a task force to figure that out.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Now, Gabbard has essentially accused Obama of treason.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Here's that. I'm not an attorney, but as I've said previously, when you look at the intent behind creating a fake manufactured intelligence document that directly contradicts multiple assessments that were created by the intelligence community, the expressed intent and what followed afterward can only be described as a years-long coup and a treasonous conspiracy against the American people, our republic, and an attempt to undermine President Trump's administration.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Treason is obviously a serious charge, but I should note that to some, it also seems more for effect than substance.
--:-- Georgia Howe: National Review's Andrew McCarthy, we've had him on the show before for his legal analysis, is skeptical about real criminality here, even if it is sordid and dirty and corrupt.
--:-- Tim Pierce: He writes in his latest column on the scandal, quote, political smears and appalling misjudgments are not violations of the criminal law absent some statutory federal offense.
--:-- John Bickley: If there were a criminal offense that fit, Gabbard and Trump would cite it rather than chanting treason.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, that is just one cautious legal analysis of the case.
--:-- Tim Pierce: There's also many on the right who think that there is real substance to these allegations.
--:-- John Bickley: And this is, of course, being looked at now by Attorney General Pam Bondi.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So we'll see what she comes up with.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Well, there was a recent poll that showed about 60% of Democrats still believe Trump was a Russian asset.
--:-- John Bickley: Tim, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Good to be on.
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--:-- John Bickley: Columbia University agreed to pay a million settlement to the government over accusations that it failed to stop anti on campus
--:-- Georgia Howe: The Trump administration is still trying to reach a deal with Harvard but in the meantime the two sides faced off in court this week
--:-- John Bickley: Daily Wire reporter Mareta Lordi is here with more.
--:-- Mareta Lordi: Hi, John. Yes, so Columbia University announced Wednesday that it has agreed to pay this massive settlement to the government more than $200 million to restore the federal funding the Trump administration froze over the anti-Semitism allegations against the Ivy League school.
--:-- John Bickley: Columbia will also pay an additional $21 million to the government to settle investigations by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
--:-- Mareta Lordi: The Trump administration called the settlement a seismic shift in its fight with left-leaning Ivy League schools.
--:-- John Bickley: Here's Education Secretary Linda McMahon on Columbia's settlement.
--:-- Linda McMahon: The fines were stiff. $200 million is a stiff fine, But clearly, we're going to see action at Columbia.
--:-- Mareta Lordi: And I'm really pleased that we were able to come to this agreement because I think the students there that are on campus now can feel safe.
--:-- John Bickley: Students and faculty know that they're going to be evaluated on merit.
--:-- Mareta Lordi: Hiring programs, you know, are being changed.
--:-- John Bickley: This agreement also encompasses not only Title VI, but Title IX and other incidents to make sure that there's fairness across campus for all students.
--:-- Mareta Lordi: And I think that this is a monumental victory for conservatives who've wanted to do things in these elite campuses for a long time.
--:-- John Bickley: Now, meanwhile, Harvard and Trump are locked in a hostile lawsuit over the same accusation that Harvard allowed rampant anti-Semitism on campus, correct?
--:-- Mareta Lordi: That's right. Harvard was back in court in Boston on Monday to fight the Trump administration, freezing over $2 billion in federal funding for the school.
--:-- John Bickley: Back in May, Trump said he didn't want to hurt Harvard, but that Columbia was behaving much better.
--:-- Mareta Lordi: You know, Columbia has been really, they were very, very bad what they've done. They're very anti-Semitic and lots of other things.
--:-- John Bickley: But they're working with us on finding a solution. And, you know, they're taking off that hot seat.
--:-- Mareta Lordi: Harvard wants to fight. They want to show how smart they are and they're getting their kicked.
--:-- John Bickley: Harvard argues Trump freezing the $2 billion in funds is a blatant and unrepentant violation of the school's First Amendment rights as well as the Civil Rights Act.
--:-- Mareta Lordi: While the Trump administration argues Harvard failed to protect students by allowing anti-Semitism on campus after the October 7th Hamas attacks on Israel.
--:-- John Bickley: On Monday, Harvard students and professors rallied outside the courthouse to oppose the Trump administration.
--:-- Mareta Lordi: The consequences of the recent attacks on Harvard extend well beyond our campus.
--:-- John Bickley: Now, things have really escalated clearly, but the Trump administration is still open to reaching an agreement with Harvard, correct?
--:-- Mareta Lordi: Yes. McMahon said that even with the lawsuit, talks are going on behind the scenes and she hopes they can reach a resolution outside of court.
--:-- John Bickley: And meanwhile, there are some signs Harvard is bending the knee to Trump despite the schools kicking and screaming.
--:-- Mareta Lordi: Harvard is reportedly considering opening a new conservative center amid the pressure from Trump.
--:-- John Bickley: And Harvard is also closing multiple diversity centers, including the Women's Center, the Race Relations Center, and the LGBTQ Center.
--:-- Mareta Lordi: All signs the school may be looking to end this fight before it gets any worse.
--:-- John Bickley: So some movement toward the middle from Harvard.
--:-- Mareta Lordi: And the Trump administration has taken other aggressive actions against Harvard as well, correct?
--:-- John Bickley: That's right. This week, the Trump administration opened a new investigation into Harvard's compliance with a government visa program for foreign students and professors.
--:-- Mareta Lordi: The administration also threatened Harvard's accreditation this month.
--:-- John Bickley: Losing accreditation would mean Harvard loses access to federal student aid, which typically leads to a university shutting down.
--:-- Mareta Lordi: Some scary prospects for Harvard.
--:-- John Bickley: We'll be tracking this fight to see if Harvard finally backs down.
--:-- Mareta Lordi: Marie, thanks for reporting.
--:-- John Bickley: Thanks, Mareta.
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--:-- John Bickley: Thanks for waking up with us. And if you're watching on YouTube, please like and subscribe.
--:-- Georgia Howe: We'll be back later this evening with more news you need to know.
--:-- John Bickley: Thanks for listening to Morning Wire.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And don't forget to check out our new merchandise at bit.ly/4lIubt3.
--:-- John Bickley: Thanks for tuning in.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And if you want to learn more about our privacy policy, you can check it out at dailywire.com/privacy.
--:-- John Bickley: Thanks for listening to Morning Wire.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And we'll see you tomorrow.
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