1. Middle East Peace Agreement & U.S. Foreign Policy
-
The discussion opens with praise for Donald Trump’s foreign policy—his “peace through strength” approach ended a two-year war, freed hostages, and prevented global instability.
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Trump is decisive and feared by America’s enemies (Iran, Hamas, China, Russia), contrasting with Biden, whom they describe as “weak and appeasing.”
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Historical examples (ISIS defeat, strikes on Iranian targets, anti-Houthi and anti-Venezuelan actions) are cited as evidence of Trump’s assertive leadership.
2. Government Shutdown
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The conversation blames Democrats—specifically Senator Chuck Schumer—for the “Schumer Shutdown.”
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The speakers argue Republicans are trying to reopen the government, while Democrats obstruct funding.
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They highlight political theater surrounding an upcoming rally (“No King’s Rally”) and accuse Democrats of prioritizing political optics over public service.
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There’s commentary on Congressional pay during shutdowns, with a contrast drawn between Cruz “refusing his paycheck” and Democrats “continuing to collect theirs.”
3. Charlie Kirk’s Death & Legacy
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This section memorializes Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA, fictionalized here as assassinated and posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Trump.
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We explore Christian forgiveness, with Kirk’s widow, Erica, forgiving Kirk's killer during the televised service.
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The narrative blends religious devotion, martyrdom, and political faith, presenting Kirk as a “martyr for truth and freedom,” comparable to figures like Martin Luther King Jr., Lincoln, and Saint Peter.
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Trump’s and Erica’s differing views on “loving one’s enemies” are discussed as a theological and moral moment.
4. Interview with Eric Trump
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The final part is a conversation with Eric Trump, discussing:
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Legal battles faced by the Trump family (naming prosecutors like Letitia James, Alvin Bragg, Fani Willis, and Jack Smith).
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Financial strain (“$400 million defending ourselves against nonsense”).
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Perceived bias and corruption in the justice system.
-
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We then shift to personal reflections on Donald Trump as a father:
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Emphasis on discipline, hard work, no substance use, and humility despite wealth
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Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
It is Verdic with Ted Cruz Weekend Review Ben Ferguson
with you, and here are some of the big stories
that you may have missed that we talked about this
past week. First up, Donald Trump's message to the world
on the peace Agreement, What was behind it, how did
it get done, and how big could this be for
peace in the Middle East. We break it down for you. Also,
Charlie Kirk's widow receives the Medal of Freedom award for
(00:25):
her husband. This was a touching moment the White House
and Senator Cruz was there for it. And finally Eric
Trump joins us the present son to talk about how
much it costs the Trump family to fight all of
the legal warfare. It's the weekend Review and it starts
right now. So so many people that are listening to Verdict.
(00:45):
They're going to get to not only I think here,
from probably leadership in Israel in the next several hours.
It's certainly going to happen in the morning or midday.
You're also going to be able to hear from the
President United States of America. What do you expect his
message to be? And this is by the way, all
happening right now while the federal government is still shut
down in the US. And I want to get your
(01:06):
take on that in a moment. But what do you
expect to hear from the president today?
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Look, I think the President is going to say, this
is an historic day. This peace agreement is a moment
of history that ended a war that has extended for
two years, that freed people who have been in captivity
for two years subject to horrific treatment. And I think
he's going to say, I expect the parties to stick
(01:31):
to the terms of the agreement. I think he is
going to continue with peace through strength. He's going to
continue with the opposite of weakness and appeasement because we
don't get to this peace agreement without President Trump's strength.
And then this is one thing to remember that there
are some observers who want to say that Donald Trump
(01:54):
is an isolationist. He has never been an isolationist. He
is Look the first term that Trump was in office,
when when he came into office, he inherited an Isis
caliphate that had grown under Barack Obama that was the
size of the state of Indiana. They had an entire
nation state to wage terror against America. And Donald Trump
(02:16):
utterly decimated and destroyed it. Within months, the caliphate was gone.
He completely defeated them. He also took out General Solomoni,
who took out Al bag Daddy. Those are not the
actions of an isolationist. You look at the second term
uh where he's been bombing the living daylights out of
the Huthis who are attacking ships going through the Suez Canal.
(02:37):
He is bombing the heck out of narco terrorist off
the coast of Venezuela. And by the way, Machada was
smart to to say he deserved it, because look, her
efforts fighting Maduro are very important, and they're and they're
they're courageous. But President Trump's strength is the single factor
that makes it most likely that the Maduro regime will
be toppled and and so it in Trump taking out
(03:01):
those narcert terrorists is another example of peace through strength.
And finally, the the Iran bombing run taking out their
nuclear facilities. None of those are the acts of an isolationists. Now,
to be clear, President Trump is also not an interventionist.
He's not invading foreign countries. I don't expect to see
(03:21):
the Marines engaged in invading other countries other than to
protect the vital security interest of America, to keep America safe.
The only instance in which we would see a ground
war is is where there was a direct danger to
the lives of Americans. And in those instances, President Trump
(03:42):
is willing to use military force, but he's not engaged
in this broader endeavor to send in our military to
try to turn every country in the world into some
utopian democracy. That's not the job of the military. Donald
Trump doesn't think it's the job of the military. And
the result, strength is the best way to avoid war.
(04:10):
Our enemies are afraid of Donald Trump. That is a
very good thing. Hamas is afraid of Donald Trump. Hesbla
is afraid of Donald Trump. Iran is afraid of Donald Trump.
Maduro is afraid of Donald Trump. China and Russia are
afraid of Donald Trump. All of that is good because
America is safer and we are much likely more likely
(04:32):
to avoid military conflict when our enemies are afraid of
the commander in chief than when our enemies. You look
at Joe Biden, when they look and say, the commander
in chief is weak and completely incapacitated. And that is
why we went from no wars across the globe to
(04:53):
two wars Ukraine and Gaza, both raging under Joe Biden.
That's what happens when you you have a week and
appeasing president.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
An update for everyone on the government shutdown here in
the US. We are into two weeks now of this
government's shutdown. We are starting to see it affect people's
lives or seeing healthcare issues with those for example in
San Antonio, I was there today talking about there's a
lot of people there that are saying that the providers
are not able to get the money and the funding
(05:22):
they need. Doctors are frustrated. The Schumer shutdown is really
starting to hurt people in our military, their kids, those
with special needs as well. Your reaction, how much longer
this is going to continue? And do you see any
movement this week?
Speaker 1 (05:35):
Well, we're right now in day twelve of the Schumer
shutdown and the government is shut down because over and
over and over again the Democrats are voting to shut
the government down. And I will say, you know, it's
actually interesting today on Twitter, fifty three Republicans was trending,
and the reason it was trending was an exchange back
(05:57):
and forth that I had with Gavin Newsom on the shutdown.
So Gavin Newsom tweeted out, Wow, that is wild. I
wonder who has control of the White House, Senate and
the House. And this is one of the Democrat talking
points as well. This is the Republican's fault because the
President and the Senate and the House are all in
Republican control. Here's what I responded on ax. I said,
(06:20):
Gavin is deliberately lying. To fund the government takes sixty
votes in the Senate. There are only fifty three Republicans.
We need at least seven Democrats. We keep voting to
open the government, Dems keep voting to shut it down.
Gavin Newsom knows this, and he's lying to you. And
(06:44):
as of right now, that's had one point seven million views.
It was trending on Twitter. And it's the simple fact
we cannot pass funding for the government without sixty votes
in the Senate. That means there is nothing Republicans can
do to fund this on our own. The Democrats all
know this. We have voted, I think eight times now
the Republicans have voted to open the government to fund
(07:08):
the government, and every Democrat but I think three, have
voted no. And that's why we have a shutdown. Now.
We're all expected to go back to d C on
Tuesday of this week and we'll vote again to fund
the government. I voted to fund the government now, over
and over and over again. I'll vote again on Tuesday
to fund the government. And I think it is very
(07:30):
likely right now the Democrats will continue the Schumer shutdown.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
And I'll tell you what I think is one of
the major reasons is coming up on October seventeenth. There
is this big rally in d C, No King's Rally,
where a bunch of the left wing radicals are coming
to d C. And what most of my colleagues believe
is that the Democrat senators are terrified of opening the
(07:57):
government before that rally because they don't want their crazy base,
the same base that almost cost Schumer the job his
job last time. They don't want their crazy base to
get angry. And so I think most of us.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
So you're telling me the American people right now that
there's a very good chance that the government shutdown will
continue because of a rally date.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Yep. And that date again is what October seventeenth.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Okay, so the thirteenth fourteenthifte Okay, so we got another
five six days of this just to get to the rally,
and then maybe we'll actually do their job and like
fund the government.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
Look, at some point they're going to do their job
and fund the government. But you know, a bunch of
federal federal employees are about to miss their first paycheck.
I'll tell you. Ordinarily, soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines would
lose their first paycheck as well. The Trump Department of
Wars said they're going to move some funds around and
pay our servicemen and women, and Democrats are furious. How
(08:56):
dare you find a way? Look, I don't know if
they can do it because it is not easy with
the funding paused, but the Democrats don't care. And I'll
tell you one of the great acts of hypocrisy is
the Democrat congressmen are all paying themselves, or most of them,
maybe I don't know about all, but so under the
(09:16):
twenty eighth Amendment to the Constitution, the compensation of a
member of Congress cannot be reduced during your term of office,
which means during a shutdown, House members and senators get
paid no matter what, even though everyone else their paycheck.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
Stop.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
Elected members of Congress get their paycheck. Now you can
say no. So I sent a letter to the Secretary
of the Senate saying, please hold my paycheck, do not
pay me. I do not want that money deposited my
account until the government shutdown ends, until our service members
are being paid. I'm not going to pay myself. But
(09:51):
you look at these Democrats who are happily shutting the
government down. They're also taking their own paycheck and saying, gosh,
I like being paid. And you know they are not
troubled at all if some young corporal serving overseas suddenly
doesn't get his paycheck and can't pay his bills this week.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
Now, if you want to hear the rest of this conversation,
you can go back and listen to the full podcast
from earlier this week.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
Now onto story number two.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
Speaking of the White House, as you just mentioned, you
were there with many Cabinet members that were in attendance
for a really, I think special moment. You and I
had the honor and the privilege to go to the
memorial service for Charlie Kirk. What we witnessed today was
something incredible. Donald Trump awarded Charlie Kirk the Medal of
(10:40):
Freedom on what would have been his thirty second birthday
at the White House and his wife, his widow, Erica,
was there to accept this. It was a moving moment
and you were there for all of it.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
So it was truly a beautiful It was a beautiful day.
It was a beautiful fall day at October at Washington, DC. See,
the sun was out. We were in the Rose Garden,
and in the Rose garden you had you had a
lot of members of Congress, you had virtually the entire
cabinet came out for it, and Erica Kirk, Charlie's widow,
was there. The President really, i think did a very
(11:15):
good job remembering Charlie, speaking speaking from the heart, honoring
Charlie's legacy, and presenting him with the highest civilian honor
we have in this country, and in the military context,
the Medal of Honor is the highest recipient that can
be awarded an individual. In the civilian context, the Medal
(11:35):
of Freedom, it is the highest honor that can be
awarded an individual. And to give it to Charlie, it
was bittersweet because Charlie would have been thirty two, He
was a young man, He had an incredibly bright future.
As you and I have talked about. We both have
known Charlie a long time. I considered Charlie a very
close friend. Heidie and I met Charlie when he was
(11:58):
just eighteen years old, when he was a kid, you know,
at the ceremony at the White House, I met Charlie's parents.
I had not met his parents before, and I had
an opportunity to just just tell both his mom and
dad say, look, look, Hidie and I we love Charlie.
And when we got to know him fourteen years ago,
(12:23):
his vision then was as clear as it was the
day he died. His vision of creating a movement to energize,
to mobilize young people, to mobilize young people to love freedom,
to love free enterprise, to love the Constitution, to love America.
(12:44):
That vision, you could see it. What I met at
me was this tall, lanky, eighteen year old kid. He
was freshouted high school, had not gone to college. And
you gotta remember the context. This is twenty twelve, beginning
of twenty thirteen. Barack Obama had just been reelect The
Democrats were resurgent at that point. Young people being a
(13:05):
Democrat at an Obama Democrat was hip and cool. The
idea of energizing a lot of young people to be conservatives, frankly,
sounded looney. It did not sound like an easy task
at all. A lot of people in the Republican Party
said this will never work. But Charlie had a vision.
And I was telling his mom and dad, I said, look,
(13:26):
his vision was extraordinary. One of the things I said
to them is I said, look, I'm queer grieving the
loss of your son. He was extraordinarm So sorry, so
sorry for your loss. But I said, you know what
I think, in the last month, it may well be
possible that more people have heard the Gospel than in
(13:48):
any comparable period of our lifetimes. That that memorial service
in Arizona for Charlie was a global event where people
heard the gospel. And I got to say at at
Charlie's funeral service when Erica stood up and she talked
about how when Jesus was hanging on the cross and
(14:08):
he was looking down at the Roman soldiers who had
nailed him to the cross, who were in the process
of killing him, and Jesus said, from the cross, Father,
forgive them, for they know not what they do. And
she talked about how how Charlie really had a mission
for young people, particularly young men, young men who were
often disaffected, disillusion to help them find find their way
(14:33):
and find find a purpose in life, a meaningful purpose
that provides real, real satisfaction and real reason uh for living.
And she talked about that young man who shot Charlie,
that young man, and then she said, and I got
(14:54):
to say, she was doing this wind up. I knew you,
knew where she was going. And I to tell you understand,
you and I were standing next to each other. I
literally held my breath. I'm like, is she going to
be able to say this? And she stood up with
the eyes of the world upon him and said, that
(15:14):
young man, the young man who pulled the trigger and
murdered her husband, murdered the father of her children. She said,
I forgive him. I don't know that There was a
dry eye in the house. And one of the things
that is so incredible is millions of people were watching that,
(15:35):
and listen. If you're a Christian, you understand, just like
Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what
they do, even as they were killing him. But if
you're not a Christian, I believe thousands, if not millions
(15:56):
of people looked at each other and said, how can
she say that? Where does that come from? Where does
that forgiveness come from? Where does that love come from?
And I think it was as powerful a testament of
the Gospel as as as as we have seen in
a long long time, and and and and it and
I got to say today the President spoke beautifully. And
(16:20):
by the way, when Erica said I forgive him Ben,
I hope and pray you or I are never in
that situation. I don't know that those words could come
out of my mouth. I would want them to, I
would desperately want them to. But I that the strength
it took for her to say those words I find
(16:46):
utterly astonishing. And I just I told Charlie's parents, I said, listen,
I so wish Charlie were with us today. But millions
have heard the Gospel in the last seven weeks because
of Charlie. And that is one hell of a legacy,
you know.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
I think one of the most incredible things that you
just mentioned is the legacy. And one of the things
that the present said today at the White House for
people that didn't hear it, was talking about Charlie Kirk
being a martyr, and this is what the President said
about that.
Speaker 4 (17:20):
He said on the day that he was assassinated. Charlie
Kirk was a martyr for truth and for freedom, and
from Socrates to Think and to Saint Peter, from Abraham
Lincoln to Martin Luther King, those who change history the most,
and he really did have always risked their lives for
(17:42):
causes they were put on earth to defend. He was
put on earth to do exactly what he was doing.
He didn't want to waste time. He would have been
a top student at any college in the country I know,
to college as well. He was smarter than the guys.
He was so smart. But he almost I guess, didn't
have the time. He knew what he wanted to do.
It wasn't like Jae, I want to sit in this
(18:03):
classroom for four years listening to people teach me liberal
principles because they were never going to teach him that anyway.
But he didn't have the time. He really didn't have
the time. But every time the enemies of goodness and
virtue tried to silence the voice of righteous and noble
leaders like Charlie, they failed. They seem to fail. Ultimately,
they look like they're doing well and then they end
(18:24):
up failing because the truth has been unrelenting over the years,
over history, and people like Charlie, it's just they've got
a power that others don't have, and very few people
will ever have. So today, like those martyrs before him,
Charlie's voice, his message, and his legacy are stronger and
(18:45):
greater than ever before. They are greater than ever before.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
You know him saying as I said on the day
he was assassinated, Charlie Kirk was a martyr for truth
and for freedom. Yep. And I couldn't agree more. To
compare him as he did to Saint Peter, to Abraham Lincoln,
to Martin Luther King Junior. These are people that change history.
Charlie will be remembered in the same breath with those
(19:11):
types of leaders, and I think that's part of the legacy.
And as you mentioned, not only did Charlie and his
legacy now it is one hundred percent setting I think
young men and young women on fire to be bolder
in their faith, to be better Christians and to seek
the truth of the Bible and the Gospel, and just
what he was able to do in his death is phenomenal.
(19:35):
But also what he was doing to fight for this
country at the same time, that is going to be
a legacy that's going to live on because so many
people they are going to do it for Charlie. I
think you and I would include ourselves in that as well.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
Well. Listen, he was very much. He was a martyr
for freedom and a martyr for truth. I also told
Charlie's parents, I think more people heard Charlie's words of
the last four weeks that then her them in the
entire thirty one nearly thirty two years of his life.
That the number of people who went and said, who
(20:08):
was this Charlie Kirk guy? What did he have to say?
Who listened to exchanges as he was on college campuses,
as he was engaging with people who disagreed with him,
as he treated them with respect, with dignity. That is
a powerful legacy. I will tell you. One of the
things that was also striking about the Metal of Freedom
ceremony is it was a continuation of a conversation that
(20:28):
happened at Charlie's funeral ceremony. So at the funeral, Erica
Kirk spoke and I mentioned how she said that that
she forgives the murderer who murdered her husband, and she
talks about how Jesus teaches us to love our enemies.
And and you know, Trump spoke at the funeral, and
(20:50):
he gave, I think, very strong remarks. But one of
the things he said is he said that's something he
had a great deal of difficulty doing. That he did
not love his enemies, that he hated his enemy, and
he liked to fight his enemies. And he kind of
laughed about it, but he said that, and and and
it was that was a back and forth from Arizona.
Well in the Rose Garden, Trump brought it up again
(21:14):
and and and look, President Trump knew Charlie very well.
And he said, you know, I know Erica talked about
how he loved his enemies. But he said, you know,
when I talked to Charlie, he said, I'm not sure
I saw that. I think he like when he was
in a battle, he would fight fight his enemies. Uh
and and fight them vigorously. And listen, Charlie was a
strong man and a passionate man who knew what he believed.
(21:37):
But it was very interesting. Erica spoke after the President
in the Rose Garden, and she gave beautiful remarks. But
one of the things she said that I think was
directly responding to the President. She said, look, I can
tell you from having been married to him, Charlie prayed
for his enemies. And she said, I saw that. She said,
(21:57):
I don't know that anyone else saw that, but she said,
I saw him, and he prayed for his enemies. And
and President Trump was standing behind her right shoulder, and
she said it it was it was lighthearted, but she
was kind of she was in many ways responding to
the President. And he he like laughed, He was good natured,
but he was genuinely laughing, and it was a look.
I think it was a good back and forth that
(22:17):
that that we should be vigorous in what we believe.
We should not not give in uh to to to
those who who argue for positions that are harmful to America.
We should be full throated in our argument. But but
I also think that the message that Erica was carrying
forward about it's possible to disagree, and and look, you
(22:40):
go watch the exchanges Charlie had on college campus after
college campus, when when you would have someone come in
and argue for open borders, when you would have someone
come in and argue for socialism, when you have someone
come in and argue for transgenderism, when you'd have someone
come in and argue for for hamas terrorists. Charlie was
(23:01):
vigorous and full throated in disputing them, but he was
not mean spirited about it. He was not I hate you,
he was not you're the enemy, but he would engage
in a way that said, look, I understand why you're
saying that. Here's why I believe you're mistaken. And I
(23:22):
think Erica was right that he was able to do
so from a position of love. Love does not mean agreement.
Love does not mean saying, I accept the position you're advocating,
even though I believe it is harmful to our country.
But love means not treating your political adversary as the
(23:44):
enemy to be destroyed, but instead trying to respond with reason,
with compassion, trying to move and even if you don't move,
your immediate interlocutor, those who are observing it. Charlie was
very good at responding in a way that persuaded a
lot of other people, And I thought that back and
forth Tuesday between the president, and Erica was really powerful
(24:08):
as before.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
If you want to hear the rest of this conversation
on this topic, you can go back and dow the
podcasts from earlier this week to hear the entire thing.
I want to get back to the big story number
three of the week you may have missed. So all right,
So our guest with us is Eric Trump, Senator. You
and I were just talking with him about this really
his family being under siege. You talked about these big
(24:31):
boy subpoenas part of that is to financially hurt you.
What did you, guys spend just doing the fighting of
all the lawsuits against you during that four year period.
How much did it cost you?
Speaker 3 (24:46):
Roughly four hundred million guys.
Speaker 5 (24:50):
I laugh when people I, oh, Trump is profiting off
of government.
Speaker 3 (24:53):
I go, wha wait, excuse me.
Speaker 5 (24:54):
If you want to come in, I'll break down the
finances you want to Trump's profit. We spent four one hundred
million dollars to defend ourselves against nonsense, the fact that
we did not have secret servers communicating with the Kremlin,
the fact that Don wasn't a Russian agent.
Speaker 3 (25:11):
Remember you had Adam Schiff.
Speaker 5 (25:12):
Out there every single day Donald Trump Junior is a
Russian agent.
Speaker 3 (25:16):
Guys.
Speaker 5 (25:16):
If he wasn't, if he wasn't protected by the speech
and debate laws, you would have, honestly, the guy would
have been worth a zero. He would have been living
in a shoe box based on the fact that you
would have sued him for slander and taken everything that
he ever had. It was all made up lies. They
did everything they possibly could to take us down. We
spent over four hundred million dollars between that. You know, Letitia,
(25:38):
you know Alvin braggsy Vance, you know Fanny. I mean,
I could go on and on the raids the Mara alive.
Speaker 1 (25:44):
What was the worst to deal with? Between Alvin braggs,
Sye Vance, Leticia, James Jack Smith, who was the worst?
Speaker 3 (25:50):
Probably Letitia? Have you want to know the truth?
Speaker 5 (25:52):
I mean, it was so corrupt and I don't know
Alvin Braggby's you had Brshawn, I mean Judge Barshawn's daughter
is like that, the digital fundraiser for the Democratic Party.
And the guy wouldn't recuse himself and literally you'd be
sitting in these courtrooms guys, and I would not leave
my father's side. I sat next to him every single day.
If he was there, I was gonna be there as
(26:13):
a son to support him, you know. And most of
the time, some of these cases I wasn't gagged in
so normally I was the guy in the courthouse steps,
you know, shouting and yelling at the cameras as to
what the hell was actually going on, because that's the
only way you could communicate a message. But guys, I mean,
you had liberal and I mean liberal reporters who was
in that courtroom shaking their head saying none of this
makes any sense. I mean, they shut down all of Manhattan,
(26:35):
Lower Manhattan for a hundred thousand dollars payment that my
father didn't even make, made by a lawyer. They indicted
him thirty four times. I mean, you know, al Capone
had had one fell in the indictment. They indicted my
father thirty four times for one hundred thousand dollars payment,
by the way, by a district attorney who ran on
the premise, you know, of reducing what you know, just
(26:57):
decriminalizing just about anything. You know, you could shoot away
the face in Times Square and it was decriminalized, and
you're gonna let them out, and you know, you're gonna
have community policing and all sorts of nonsense. I mean,
he ran on the premise of literally emptying Rikers Island,
so you had no criminals in there. Yet you know,
thirty four felonies in six month period of time is
shutting down New York in the FDR drive every day
over one hundred thousand dollars.
Speaker 3 (27:17):
I mean, it wasn't believable.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
If only your father were mugging people in Times Square,
then Alvin Bragg would never have prosecuted him. But instead
he committed the unspeakable sin of not only being president
of the United States, but being an extraordinarily successful and
bold president of the United States, which is an unpardonable sin.
All right, we don't have much much time left, but
(27:40):
I want to take it a little bit lighter and
ask what was it like? Like? Your father is unique.
I've never in my life have I met anyone remotely
like your father. He and I have spent a lot
of time together. He has extraordinary courage. But before he
was president, what was it like growing up as a
kid with Donald Trump as your father? Like? Like, like,
(28:03):
how what was he like as a dad when you
were ten?
Speaker 5 (28:06):
Honestly, the greatest dad you could ever imagine expected big
things from us, right, I mean every day I go
give him kiss before I went to school. Honey, no
drink drinking, no drugs, no smoking, and you better get
good grades. And by the way, never trust anybody. Right
he did once in a while I had that he
never never trust anyone. Hey, that's probably going to be
I said, I probably benefited us pretty well, So amazing guy.
Speaker 3 (28:26):
You know, listen, we're spoiled as hell.
Speaker 5 (28:27):
And that we lived in you know, Trump Tower, We
had a beautiful roof over our head. We were always
well fed. We we had the best education, but we
were never handed money. We're never handy cash. If we
wanted something. If I wanted a fishing road, congratulations, you're
working for it. I got on our construction sites when
I was eleven years old, doing demo, doing electrical HVAC
you know, running back hose excavators. You know, I grew
(28:48):
up working with my hands on our construction sites with
many of the guys that work for me today. And
and you know what, he wanted us to learn a trait.
He wanted us to learn the value of a dollar.
And by the way, he wanted us to be tired
as hell at the end of the day, you know,
because listen, don't give type A kids or any kid,
but don't give type A kids money or free time,
because bad things happen. And he was an amazing father.
(29:09):
He is an amazing father. And everything we've ever done,
we fought together, whether it's real estate, whether it was
The Apprentice.
Speaker 3 (29:14):
I was on that for seven seasons. And then in politics.
Speaker 5 (29:17):
I mean when he decided to run, he said to us,
he goes, you know, kids, let's do this. You know,
I was on Megan Kelly. I didn't know what the
hell immigration was. I mean, Senator, this was not my world.
I built, you know, hotels, and all of a sudden,
I'm in.
Speaker 3 (29:29):
The middle of box I a wall, and now you're
on TV.
Speaker 5 (29:32):
I've got ninety illegal immigrants around me, and I'm battling
all of them, and I don't know the first damn
thing about illegal immigration, right. I mean, like, this is
not the world that we came from. But my father's
a remarkable guy. My mother was an amazing powerhouse and strict,
demanded manners, demanded respect, demanded work ethic and either the
greatest parents you can ever imagine. I spent a lot
of time in underseage talking about you know, being raised
(29:54):
by them, and you know it was unique in so
many ways. But they they did everything they could in
this strange world that we lived in, uh, to ground
us and make sure we turned out to be hard workers,
normal uh, you know, and didn't have any of these
kind of Hunter Biden esque problems. I don't have a
laptop from hell, you know, I don't do finger paintings
selling it to you know, foreign nationals.
Speaker 3 (30:13):
All over the world.
Speaker 5 (30:15):
You know, never married my you know, my brother's ex wife, like,
never did that kind of stuff.
Speaker 3 (30:19):
No drugs, no, you know, no perversion.
Speaker 5 (30:22):
I was always a good kid who believed in God
and believed in hard work and you know, lived in honestly.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
Eric, I can't tell you how many times, dozens, if
not hundreds of times, people have commented that one of
the things they admire most about your dad is is
you and your brothers and sisters. And listen, it is
hard for for any successful person to to raise good kids.
It's challenging. There's a lot of pressure and and you know, I,
(30:49):
I know know your entire family, and I will say
literally people early on throughout the process. They'll comment, well,
you know, somehow his kids are like like not messed
up and incredibly successful and put together and and I
mean it's all right. Let me ask you. Let's let
let's say we have some young parents that are listening
to this podcast. Are there any lessons a young parent
(31:12):
by the way, uh, you know Ben, Ben has young kids,
I have teenage Are there any lessons any lessons from
your dad that that young parents should know or lessons
that you've tried to apply.
Speaker 5 (31:22):
Yeah, keep them poor and make them start working early. Honestly,
I mean that's what it is. Keep them poor. Don't
don't give type A kids money and don't give them
endless time. That's just a bad recipe, right, And and
you know, I can't tell you, guys how many friends
I had, you know, who were who were peers who
went to school with me, and you know, three quarters
of them ended up in rehab and and a lot
(31:44):
of them went down bad roads. And guess what they
were getting ferraris you know when they're you know, sixteen
years old, Like, what what do you ever want to
aspire to to get? If if that's if that's how
you're being raised? I mean, does it surprise you that
those people don't have work ethic? Does it surprise you
that they go down bad roads? And my father would
never let that happen to us. And you know, he
made us work our butts off. And believe me, if
(32:04):
I wasn't good at what I did real estate wise,
I would not be in this chair.
Speaker 3 (32:08):
I mean, forget about bapotism for a second. It.
Speaker 5 (32:11):
You know, if we weren't incredibly capable, Believe me, I
wouldn't be running one of the largest real estate empires
anywhere in the world. And he made us work, and
he made us prove that we were good at what
we do, and we fought every single day, and we're
an incredibly tight family. And he's a remarkable person who's
my best friend. I love him to death, and I'm
so proud of him, especially in a week where he's
accomplished as much as he had. I am so damn
(32:31):
proud of of what he did and what he's accomplished.
And the hell of a journey, guys, it's all worth it.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
As always.
Speaker 2 (32:38):
Thank you for listening to Verdict with Center, Ted Cruz,
Ben Ferguson with you don't forget to down with my
podcast and you can listen to my podcasts every other
day you're not listening to Verdict, or each day when you.
Speaker 1 (32:48):
Listen to Verdict.
Speaker 2 (32:49):
Afterwards, I'd love to have you as a listener to
again the Ben Ferguson podcasts, and we will see you
back here on Monday morning.
Welcome.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
It is Verdic with Ted Cruz Weekend Review Ben Ferguson
with you, and here are some of the big stories
that you may have missed that we talked about this
past week. First up, Donald Trump's message to the world
on the peace Agreement, What was behind it, how did
it get done, and how big could this be for
peace in the Middle East. We break it down for you. Also,
Charlie Kirk's widow receives the Medal of Freedom award for
(00:25):
her husband. This was a touching moment the White House
and Senator Cruz was there for it. And finally Eric
Trump joins us the present son to talk about how
much it costs the Trump family to fight all of
the legal warfare. It's the weekend Review and it starts
right now. So so many people that are listening to Verdict.
(00:45):
They're going to get to not only I think here,
from probably leadership in Israel in the next several hours.
It's certainly going to happen in the morning or midday.
You're also going to be able to hear from the
President United States of America. What do you expect his
message to be? And this is by the way, all
happening right now while the federal government is still shut
down in the US. And I want to get your
(01:06):
take on that in a moment. But what do you
expect to hear from the president today?
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Look, I think the President is going to say, this
is an historic day. This peace agreement is a moment
of history that ended a war that has extended for
two years, that freed people who have been in captivity
for two years subject to horrific treatment. And I think
he's going to say, I expect the parties to stick
(01:31):
to the terms of the agreement. I think he is
going to continue with peace through strength. He's going to
continue with the opposite of weakness and appeasement because we
don't get to this peace agreement without President Trump's strength.
And then this is one thing to remember that there
are some observers who want to say that Donald Trump
(01:54):
is an isolationist. He has never been an isolationist. He
is Look the first term that Trump was in office,
when when he came into office, he inherited an Isis
caliphate that had grown under Barack Obama that was the
size of the state of Indiana. They had an entire
nation state to wage terror against America. And Donald Trump
(02:16):
utterly decimated and destroyed it. Within months, the caliphate was gone.
He completely defeated them. He also took out General Solomoni,
who took out Al bag Daddy. Those are not the
actions of an isolationist. You look at the second term
uh where he's been bombing the living daylights out of
the Huthis who are attacking ships going through the Suez Canal.
(02:37):
He is bombing the heck out of narco terrorist off
the coast of Venezuela. And by the way, Machada was
smart to to say he deserved it, because look, her
efforts fighting Maduro are very important, and they're and they're
they're courageous. But President Trump's strength is the single factor
that makes it most likely that the Maduro regime will
be toppled and and so it in Trump taking out
(03:01):
those narcert terrorists is another example of peace through strength.
And finally, the the Iran bombing run taking out their
nuclear facilities. None of those are the acts of an isolationists. Now,
to be clear, President Trump is also not an interventionist.
He's not invading foreign countries. I don't expect to see
(03:21):
the Marines engaged in invading other countries other than to
protect the vital security interest of America, to keep America safe.
The only instance in which we would see a ground
war is is where there was a direct danger to
the lives of Americans. And in those instances, President Trump
(03:42):
is willing to use military force, but he's not engaged
in this broader endeavor to send in our military to
try to turn every country in the world into some
utopian democracy. That's not the job of the military. Donald
Trump doesn't think it's the job of the military. And
the result, strength is the best way to avoid war.
(04:10):
Our enemies are afraid of Donald Trump. That is a
very good thing. Hamas is afraid of Donald Trump. Hesbla
is afraid of Donald Trump. Iran is afraid of Donald Trump.
Maduro is afraid of Donald Trump. China and Russia are
afraid of Donald Trump. All of that is good because
America is safer and we are much likely more likely
(04:32):
to avoid military conflict when our enemies are afraid of
the commander in chief than when our enemies. You look
at Joe Biden, when they look and say, the commander
in chief is weak and completely incapacitated. And that is
why we went from no wars across the globe to
(04:53):
two wars Ukraine and Gaza, both raging under Joe Biden.
That's what happens when you you have a week and
appeasing president.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
An update for everyone on the government shutdown here in
the US. We are into two weeks now of this
government's shutdown. We are starting to see it affect people's
lives or seeing healthcare issues with those for example in
San Antonio, I was there today talking about there's a
lot of people there that are saying that the providers
are not able to get the money and the funding
(05:22):
they need. Doctors are frustrated. The Schumer shutdown is really
starting to hurt people in our military, their kids, those
with special needs as well. Your reaction, how much longer
this is going to continue? And do you see any
movement this week?
Speaker 1 (05:35):
Well, we're right now in day twelve of the Schumer
shutdown and the government is shut down because over and
over and over again the Democrats are voting to shut
the government down. And I will say, you know, it's
actually interesting today on Twitter, fifty three Republicans was trending,
and the reason it was trending was an exchange back
(05:57):
and forth that I had with Gavin Newsom on the shutdown.
So Gavin Newsom tweeted out, Wow, that is wild. I
wonder who has control of the White House, Senate and
the House. And this is one of the Democrat talking
points as well. This is the Republican's fault because the
President and the Senate and the House are all in
Republican control. Here's what I responded on ax. I said,
(06:20):
Gavin is deliberately lying. To fund the government takes sixty
votes in the Senate. There are only fifty three Republicans.
We need at least seven Democrats. We keep voting to
open the government, Dems keep voting to shut it down.
Gavin Newsom knows this, and he's lying to you. And
(06:44):
as of right now, that's had one point seven million views.
It was trending on Twitter. And it's the simple fact
we cannot pass funding for the government without sixty votes
in the Senate. That means there is nothing Republicans can
do to fund this on our own. The Democrats all
know this. We have voted, I think eight times now
the Republicans have voted to open the government to fund
(07:08):
the government, and every Democrat but I think three, have
voted no. And that's why we have a shutdown. Now.
We're all expected to go back to d C on
Tuesday of this week and we'll vote again to fund
the government. I voted to fund the government now, over
and over and over again. I'll vote again on Tuesday
to fund the government. And I think it is very
(07:30):
likely right now the Democrats will continue the Schumer shutdown.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
And I'll tell you what I think is one of
the major reasons is coming up on October seventeenth. There
is this big rally in d C, No King's Rally,
where a bunch of the left wing radicals are coming
to d C. And what most of my colleagues believe
is that the Democrat senators are terrified of opening the
(07:57):
government before that rally because they don't want their crazy base,
the same base that almost cost Schumer the job his
job last time. They don't want their crazy base to
get angry. And so I think most of us.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
So you're telling me the American people right now that
there's a very good chance that the government shutdown will
continue because of a rally date.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Yep. And that date again is what October seventeenth.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Okay, so the thirteenth fourteenthifte Okay, so we got another
five six days of this just to get to the rally,
and then maybe we'll actually do their job and like
fund the government.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
Look, at some point they're going to do their job
and fund the government. But you know, a bunch of
federal federal employees are about to miss their first paycheck.
I'll tell you. Ordinarily, soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines would
lose their first paycheck as well. The Trump Department of
Wars said they're going to move some funds around and
pay our servicemen and women, and Democrats are furious. How
(08:56):
dare you find a way? Look, I don't know if
they can do it because it is not easy with
the funding paused, but the Democrats don't care. And I'll
tell you one of the great acts of hypocrisy is
the Democrat congressmen are all paying themselves, or most of them,
maybe I don't know about all, but so under the
(09:16):
twenty eighth Amendment to the Constitution, the compensation of a
member of Congress cannot be reduced during your term of office,
which means during a shutdown, House members and senators get
paid no matter what, even though everyone else their paycheck.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
Stop.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
Elected members of Congress get their paycheck. Now you can
say no. So I sent a letter to the Secretary
of the Senate saying, please hold my paycheck, do not
pay me. I do not want that money deposited my
account until the government shutdown ends, until our service members
are being paid. I'm not going to pay myself. But
(09:51):
you look at these Democrats who are happily shutting the
government down. They're also taking their own paycheck and saying, gosh,
I like being paid. And you know they are not
troubled at all if some young corporal serving overseas suddenly
doesn't get his paycheck and can't pay his bills this week.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
Now, if you want to hear the rest of this conversation,
you can go back and listen to the full podcast
from earlier this week.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
Now onto story number two.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
Speaking of the White House, as you just mentioned, you
were there with many Cabinet members that were in attendance
for a really, I think special moment. You and I
had the honor and the privilege to go to the
memorial service for Charlie Kirk. What we witnessed today was
something incredible. Donald Trump awarded Charlie Kirk the Medal of
(10:40):
Freedom on what would have been his thirty second birthday
at the White House and his wife, his widow, Erica,
was there to accept this. It was a moving moment
and you were there for all of it.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
So it was truly a beautiful It was a beautiful day.
It was a beautiful fall day at October at Washington, DC. See,
the sun was out. We were in the Rose Garden,
and in the Rose garden you had you had a
lot of members of Congress, you had virtually the entire
cabinet came out for it, and Erica Kirk, Charlie's widow,
was there. The President really, i think did a very
(11:15):
good job remembering Charlie, speaking speaking from the heart, honoring
Charlie's legacy, and presenting him with the highest civilian honor
we have in this country, and in the military context,
the Medal of Honor is the highest recipient that can
be awarded an individual. In the civilian context, the Medal
(11:35):
of Freedom, it is the highest honor that can be
awarded an individual. And to give it to Charlie, it
was bittersweet because Charlie would have been thirty two, He
was a young man, He had an incredibly bright future.
As you and I have talked about. We both have
known Charlie a long time. I considered Charlie a very
close friend. Heidie and I met Charlie when he was
(11:58):
just eighteen years old, when he was a kid, you know,
at the ceremony at the White House, I met Charlie's parents.
I had not met his parents before, and I had
an opportunity to just just tell both his mom and
dad say, look, look, Hidie and I we love Charlie.
And when we got to know him fourteen years ago,
(12:23):
his vision then was as clear as it was the
day he died. His vision of creating a movement to energize,
to mobilize young people, to mobilize young people to love freedom,
to love free enterprise, to love the Constitution, to love America.
(12:44):
That vision, you could see it. What I met at
me was this tall, lanky, eighteen year old kid. He
was freshouted high school, had not gone to college. And
you gotta remember the context. This is twenty twelve, beginning
of twenty thirteen. Barack Obama had just been reelect The
Democrats were resurgent at that point. Young people being a
(13:05):
Democrat at an Obama Democrat was hip and cool. The
idea of energizing a lot of young people to be conservatives, frankly,
sounded looney. It did not sound like an easy task
at all. A lot of people in the Republican Party
said this will never work. But Charlie had a vision.
And I was telling his mom and dad, I said, look,
(13:26):
his vision was extraordinary. One of the things I said
to them is I said, look, I'm queer grieving the
loss of your son. He was extraordinarm So sorry, so
sorry for your loss. But I said, you know what
I think, in the last month, it may well be
possible that more people have heard the Gospel than in
(13:48):
any comparable period of our lifetimes. That that memorial service
in Arizona for Charlie was a global event where people
heard the gospel. And I got to say at at
Charlie's funeral service when Erica stood up and she talked
about how when Jesus was hanging on the cross and
(14:08):
he was looking down at the Roman soldiers who had
nailed him to the cross, who were in the process
of killing him, and Jesus said, from the cross, Father,
forgive them, for they know not what they do. And
she talked about how how Charlie really had a mission
for young people, particularly young men, young men who were
often disaffected, disillusion to help them find find their way
(14:33):
and find find a purpose in life, a meaningful purpose
that provides real, real satisfaction and real reason uh for living.
And she talked about that young man who shot Charlie,
that young man, and then she said, and I got
(14:54):
to say, she was doing this wind up. I knew you,
knew where she was going. And I to tell you understand,
you and I were standing next to each other. I
literally held my breath. I'm like, is she going to
be able to say this? And she stood up with
the eyes of the world upon him and said, that
(15:14):
young man, the young man who pulled the trigger and
murdered her husband, murdered the father of her children. She said,
I forgive him. I don't know that There was a
dry eye in the house. And one of the things
that is so incredible is millions of people were watching that,
(15:35):
and listen. If you're a Christian, you understand, just like
Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what
they do, even as they were killing him. But if
you're not a Christian, I believe thousands, if not millions
(15:56):
of people looked at each other and said, how can
she say that? Where does that come from? Where does
that forgiveness come from? Where does that love come from?
And I think it was as powerful a testament of
the Gospel as as as as we have seen in
a long long time, and and and and it and
I got to say today the President spoke beautifully. And
(16:20):
by the way, when Erica said I forgive him Ben,
I hope and pray you or I are never in
that situation. I don't know that those words could come
out of my mouth. I would want them to, I
would desperately want them to. But I that the strength
it took for her to say those words I find
(16:46):
utterly astonishing. And I just I told Charlie's parents, I said, listen,
I so wish Charlie were with us today. But millions
have heard the Gospel in the last seven weeks because
of Charlie. And that is one hell of a legacy,
you know.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
I think one of the most incredible things that you
just mentioned is the legacy. And one of the things
that the present said today at the White House for
people that didn't hear it, was talking about Charlie Kirk
being a martyr, and this is what the President said
about that.
Speaker 4 (17:20):
He said on the day that he was assassinated. Charlie
Kirk was a martyr for truth and for freedom, and
from Socrates to Think and to Saint Peter, from Abraham
Lincoln to Martin Luther King, those who change history the most,
and he really did have always risked their lives for
(17:42):
causes they were put on earth to defend. He was
put on earth to do exactly what he was doing.
He didn't want to waste time. He would have been
a top student at any college in the country I know,
to college as well. He was smarter than the guys.
He was so smart. But he almost I guess, didn't
have the time. He knew what he wanted to do.
It wasn't like Jae, I want to sit in this
(18:03):
classroom for four years listening to people teach me liberal
principles because they were never going to teach him that anyway.
But he didn't have the time. He really didn't have
the time. But every time the enemies of goodness and
virtue tried to silence the voice of righteous and noble
leaders like Charlie, they failed. They seem to fail. Ultimately,
they look like they're doing well and then they end
(18:24):
up failing because the truth has been unrelenting over the years,
over history, and people like Charlie, it's just they've got
a power that others don't have, and very few people
will ever have. So today, like those martyrs before him,
Charlie's voice, his message, and his legacy are stronger and
(18:45):
greater than ever before. They are greater than ever before.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
You know him saying as I said on the day
he was assassinated, Charlie Kirk was a martyr for truth
and for freedom. Yep. And I couldn't agree more. To
compare him as he did to Saint Peter, to Abraham Lincoln,
to Martin Luther King Junior. These are people that change history.
Charlie will be remembered in the same breath with those
(19:11):
types of leaders, and I think that's part of the legacy.
And as you mentioned, not only did Charlie and his
legacy now it is one hundred percent setting I think
young men and young women on fire to be bolder
in their faith, to be better Christians and to seek
the truth of the Bible and the Gospel, and just
what he was able to do in his death is phenomenal.
(19:35):
But also what he was doing to fight for this
country at the same time, that is going to be
a legacy that's going to live on because so many
people they are going to do it for Charlie. I
think you and I would include ourselves in that as well.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
Well. Listen, he was very much. He was a martyr
for freedom and a martyr for truth. I also told
Charlie's parents, I think more people heard Charlie's words of
the last four weeks that then her them in the
entire thirty one nearly thirty two years of his life.
That the number of people who went and said, who
(20:08):
was this Charlie Kirk guy? What did he have to say?
Who listened to exchanges as he was on college campuses,
as he was engaging with people who disagreed with him,
as he treated them with respect, with dignity. That is
a powerful legacy. I will tell you. One of the
things that was also striking about the Metal of Freedom
ceremony is it was a continuation of a conversation that
(20:28):
happened at Charlie's funeral ceremony. So at the funeral, Erica
Kirk spoke and I mentioned how she said that that
she forgives the murderer who murdered her husband, and she
talks about how Jesus teaches us to love our enemies.
And and you know, Trump spoke at the funeral, and
(20:50):
he gave, I think, very strong remarks. But one of
the things he said is he said that's something he
had a great deal of difficulty doing. That he did
not love his enemies, that he hated his enemy, and
he liked to fight his enemies. And he kind of
laughed about it, but he said that, and and and
it was that was a back and forth from Arizona.
Well in the Rose Garden, Trump brought it up again
(21:14):
and and and look, President Trump knew Charlie very well.
And he said, you know, I know Erica talked about
how he loved his enemies. But he said, you know,
when I talked to Charlie, he said, I'm not sure
I saw that. I think he like when he was
in a battle, he would fight fight his enemies. Uh
and and fight them vigorously. And listen, Charlie was a
strong man and a passionate man who knew what he believed.
(21:37):
But it was very interesting. Erica spoke after the President
in the Rose Garden, and she gave beautiful remarks. But
one of the things she said that I think was
directly responding to the President. She said, look, I can
tell you from having been married to him, Charlie prayed
for his enemies. And she said, I saw that. She said,
(21:57):
I don't know that anyone else saw that, but she said,
I saw him, and he prayed for his enemies. And
and President Trump was standing behind her right shoulder, and
she said it it was it was lighthearted, but she
was kind of she was in many ways responding to
the President. And he he like laughed, He was good natured,
but he was genuinely laughing, and it was a look.
I think it was a good back and forth that
(22:17):
that that we should be vigorous in what we believe.
We should not not give in uh to to to
those who who argue for positions that are harmful to America.
We should be full throated in our argument. But but
I also think that the message that Erica was carrying
forward about it's possible to disagree, and and look, you
(22:40):
go watch the exchanges Charlie had on college campus after
college campus, when when you would have someone come in
and argue for open borders, when you would have someone
come in and argue for socialism, when you have someone
come in and argue for transgenderism, when you'd have someone
come in and argue for for hamas terrorists. Charlie was
(23:01):
vigorous and full throated in disputing them, but he was
not mean spirited about it. He was not I hate you,
he was not you're the enemy, but he would engage
in a way that said, look, I understand why you're
saying that. Here's why I believe you're mistaken. And I
(23:22):
think Erica was right that he was able to do
so from a position of love. Love does not mean agreement.
Love does not mean saying, I accept the position you're advocating,
even though I believe it is harmful to our country.
But love means not treating your political adversary as the
(23:44):
enemy to be destroyed, but instead trying to respond with reason,
with compassion, trying to move and even if you don't move,
your immediate interlocutor, those who are observing it. Charlie was
very good at responding in a way that persuaded a
lot of other people, And I thought that back and
forth Tuesday between the president, and Erica was really powerful
(24:08):
as before.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
If you want to hear the rest of this conversation
on this topic, you can go back and dow the
podcasts from earlier this week to hear the entire thing.
I want to get back to the big story number
three of the week you may have missed. So all right,
So our guest with us is Eric Trump, Senator. You
and I were just talking with him about this really
his family being under siege. You talked about these big
(24:31):
boy subpoenas part of that is to financially hurt you.
What did you, guys spend just doing the fighting of
all the lawsuits against you during that four year period.
How much did it cost you?
Speaker 3 (24:46):
Roughly four hundred million guys.
Speaker 5 (24:50):
I laugh when people I, oh, Trump is profiting off
of government.
Speaker 3 (24:53):
I go, wha wait, excuse me.
Speaker 5 (24:54):
If you want to come in, I'll break down the
finances you want to Trump's profit. We spent four one hundred
million dollars to defend ourselves against nonsense, the fact that
we did not have secret servers communicating with the Kremlin,
the fact that Don wasn't a Russian agent.
Speaker 3 (25:11):
Remember you had Adam Schiff.
Speaker 5 (25:12):
Out there every single day Donald Trump Junior is a
Russian agent.
Speaker 3 (25:16):
Guys.
Speaker 5 (25:16):
If he wasn't, if he wasn't protected by the speech
and debate laws, you would have, honestly, the guy would
have been worth a zero. He would have been living
in a shoe box based on the fact that you
would have sued him for slander and taken everything that
he ever had. It was all made up lies. They
did everything they possibly could to take us down. We
spent over four hundred million dollars between that. You know, Letitia,
(25:38):
you know Alvin braggsy Vance, you know Fanny. I mean,
I could go on and on the raids the Mara alive.
Speaker 1 (25:44):
What was the worst to deal with? Between Alvin braggs,
Sye Vance, Leticia, James Jack Smith, who was the worst?
Speaker 3 (25:50):
Probably Letitia? Have you want to know the truth?
Speaker 5 (25:52):
I mean, it was so corrupt and I don't know
Alvin Braggby's you had Brshawn, I mean Judge Barshawn's daughter
is like that, the digital fundraiser for the Democratic Party.
And the guy wouldn't recuse himself and literally you'd be
sitting in these courtrooms guys, and I would not leave
my father's side. I sat next to him every single day.
If he was there, I was gonna be there as
(26:13):
a son to support him, you know. And most of
the time, some of these cases I wasn't gagged in
so normally I was the guy in the courthouse steps,
you know, shouting and yelling at the cameras as to
what the hell was actually going on, because that's the
only way you could communicate a message. But guys, I mean,
you had liberal and I mean liberal reporters who was
in that courtroom shaking their head saying none of this
makes any sense. I mean, they shut down all of Manhattan,
(26:35):
Lower Manhattan for a hundred thousand dollars payment that my
father didn't even make, made by a lawyer. They indicted
him thirty four times. I mean, you know, al Capone
had had one fell in the indictment. They indicted my
father thirty four times for one hundred thousand dollars payment,
by the way, by a district attorney who ran on
the premise, you know, of reducing what you know, just
(26:57):
decriminalizing just about anything. You know, you could shoot away
the face in Times Square and it was decriminalized, and
you're gonna let them out, and you know, you're gonna
have community policing and all sorts of nonsense. I mean,
he ran on the premise of literally emptying Rikers Island,
so you had no criminals in there. Yet you know,
thirty four felonies in six month period of time is
shutting down New York in the FDR drive every day
over one hundred thousand dollars.
Speaker 3 (27:17):
I mean, it wasn't believable.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
If only your father were mugging people in Times Square,
then Alvin Bragg would never have prosecuted him. But instead
he committed the unspeakable sin of not only being president
of the United States, but being an extraordinarily successful and
bold president of the United States, which is an unpardonable sin.
All right, we don't have much much time left, but
(27:40):
I want to take it a little bit lighter and
ask what was it like? Like? Your father is unique.
I've never in my life have I met anyone remotely
like your father. He and I have spent a lot
of time together. He has extraordinary courage. But before he
was president, what was it like growing up as a
kid with Donald Trump as your father? Like? Like, like,
(28:03):
how what was he like as a dad when you
were ten?
Speaker 5 (28:06):
Honestly, the greatest dad you could ever imagine expected big
things from us, right, I mean every day I go
give him kiss before I went to school. Honey, no
drink drinking, no drugs, no smoking, and you better get
good grades. And by the way, never trust anybody. Right
he did once in a while I had that he
never never trust anyone. Hey, that's probably going to be
I said, I probably benefited us pretty well, So amazing guy.
Speaker 3 (28:26):
You know, listen, we're spoiled as hell.
Speaker 5 (28:27):
And that we lived in you know, Trump Tower, We
had a beautiful roof over our head. We were always
well fed. We we had the best education, but we
were never handed money. We're never handy cash. If we
wanted something. If I wanted a fishing road, congratulations, you're
working for it. I got on our construction sites when
I was eleven years old, doing demo, doing electrical HVAC
you know, running back hose excavators. You know, I grew
(28:48):
up working with my hands on our construction sites with
many of the guys that work for me today. And
and you know what, he wanted us to learn a trait.
He wanted us to learn the value of a dollar.
And by the way, he wanted us to be tired
as hell at the end of the day, you know,
because listen, don't give type A kids or any kid,
but don't give type A kids money or free time,
because bad things happen. And he was an amazing father.
(29:09):
He is an amazing father. And everything we've ever done,
we fought together, whether it's real estate, whether it was
The Apprentice.
Speaker 3 (29:14):
I was on that for seven seasons. And then in politics.
Speaker 5 (29:17):
I mean when he decided to run, he said to us,
he goes, you know, kids, let's do this. You know,
I was on Megan Kelly. I didn't know what the
hell immigration was. I mean, Senator, this was not my world.
I built, you know, hotels, and all of a sudden,
I'm in.
Speaker 3 (29:29):
The middle of box I a wall, and now you're
on TV.
Speaker 5 (29:32):
I've got ninety illegal immigrants around me, and I'm battling
all of them, and I don't know the first damn
thing about illegal immigration, right. I mean, like, this is
not the world that we came from. But my father's
a remarkable guy. My mother was an amazing powerhouse and strict,
demanded manners, demanded respect, demanded work ethic and either the
greatest parents you can ever imagine. I spent a lot
of time in underseage talking about you know, being raised
(29:54):
by them, and you know it was unique in so
many ways. But they they did everything they could in
this strange world that we lived in, uh, to ground
us and make sure we turned out to be hard workers,
normal uh, you know, and didn't have any of these
kind of Hunter Biden esque problems. I don't have a
laptop from hell, you know, I don't do finger paintings
selling it to you know, foreign nationals.
Speaker 3 (30:13):
All over the world.
Speaker 5 (30:15):
You know, never married my you know, my brother's ex wife, like,
never did that kind of stuff.
Speaker 3 (30:19):
No drugs, no, you know, no perversion.
Speaker 5 (30:22):
I was always a good kid who believed in God
and believed in hard work and you know, lived in honestly.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
Eric, I can't tell you how many times, dozens, if
not hundreds of times, people have commented that one of
the things they admire most about your dad is is
you and your brothers and sisters. And listen, it is
hard for for any successful person to to raise good kids.
It's challenging. There's a lot of pressure and and you know, I,
(30:49):
I know know your entire family, and I will say
literally people early on throughout the process. They'll comment, well,
you know, somehow his kids are like like not messed
up and incredibly successful and put together and and I
mean it's all right. Let me ask you. Let's let
let's say we have some young parents that are listening
to this podcast. Are there any lessons a young parent
(31:12):
by the way, uh, you know Ben, Ben has young kids,
I have teenage Are there any lessons any lessons from
your dad that that young parents should know or lessons
that you've tried to apply.
Speaker 5 (31:22):
Yeah, keep them poor and make them start working early. Honestly,
I mean that's what it is. Keep them poor. Don't
don't give type A kids money and don't give them
endless time. That's just a bad recipe, right, And and
you know, I can't tell you, guys how many friends
I had, you know, who were who were peers who
went to school with me, and you know, three quarters
of them ended up in rehab and and a lot
(31:44):
of them went down bad roads. And guess what they
were getting ferraris you know when they're you know, sixteen
years old, Like, what what do you ever want to
aspire to to get? If if that's if that's how
you're being raised? I mean, does it surprise you that
those people don't have work ethic? Does it surprise you
that they go down bad roads? And my father would
never let that happen to us. And you know, he
made us work our butts off. And believe me, if
(32:04):
I wasn't good at what I did real estate wise,
I would not be in this chair.
Speaker 3 (32:08):
I mean, forget about bapotism for a second. It.
Speaker 5 (32:11):
You know, if we weren't incredibly capable, Believe me, I
wouldn't be running one of the largest real estate empires
anywhere in the world. And he made us work, and
he made us prove that we were good at what
we do, and we fought every single day, and we're
an incredibly tight family. And he's a remarkable person who's
my best friend. I love him to death, and I'm
so proud of him, especially in a week where he's
accomplished as much as he had. I am so damn
(32:31):
proud of of what he did and what he's accomplished.
And the hell of a journey, guys, it's all worth it.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
As always.
Speaker 2 (32:38):
Thank you for listening to Verdict with Center, Ted Cruz,
Ben Ferguson with you don't forget to down with my
podcast and you can listen to my podcasts every other
day you're not listening to Verdict, or each day when you.
Speaker 1 (32:48):
Listen to Verdict.
Speaker 2 (32:49):
Afterwards, I'd love to have you as a listener to
again the Ben Ferguson podcasts, and we will see you
back here on Monday morning.
Host
Ben Ferguson
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