February 3, 2025 • 36 mins
Trump has marshalled in a new era of leadership and the bureaucracy is freaking out. Elon's cost-cutting goal is unlike anything we've ever seen. Trump's tariffs. Red state, Blue state. There is no incentive to move quickly on anything in the federal government. Buck's power issues in South Miami.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome in Clay Travis buck Sexton Show. Appreciate all of
you hanging out with us. Happy Monday. And it is
week three of the Trump administration and basically the legacy
media and all their cronies essentially unable to keep up
(00:21):
with anything that is going on on a day.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
To day basis.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
On Saturday, Trump said I'm going to put a twenty
five percent tariff on Mexican goods, twenty five percent on Canada,
ten percent on Canadian fuel. Within the last hour, essentially,
Mexico has folded in its standing up.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
To the Trump tariff threats.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
They have agreed to send ten thousand additional soldiers to
the border. They have agreed to work harder to interdict
the flow of fentanyl to the the United States, and
they have also been held to a new standard, which
is Trump is postponing the impact of the tariffs for
(01:11):
thirty days in the event that Mexico makes good on
its on its goals here, which are really the United
States goals Canada, I believe there is a three pm
deadline of sorts buck on exactly what may happen with Canada.
A lot of throat clearing and threats coming from America's
(01:34):
top hat to the north. But I would expect that
very quickly Canada will recognize that they need the United
States far more than the United States needs Canada. And
so what really is happening, Whether buck you look, we've
got a pattern now, Whether you look at Columbia and
its president refusing the return of illegal immigrant migrants, Trump
(01:59):
threatens retaliatory action Columbia buckles. Panama says, hey, we're not
doing anything wrong. Even though the Panama Canal is now
being managed by Hong Kong. We have Marco Rubio make
his initial visit there. Panama's president comes out to a
large extent, bends the knee. American power is back. We're
(02:23):
not going to apologize, We're going to use it. And
all of the people who are saying what Trump is
going to do is not going to work just look foolish.
As one after another. America's adversaries in many ways been
the knee to US diplomacy.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
It's amazing, Clay. I know you were sick this weekend
and Clay fought through it. Everybody and is here on Monday.
Clay were hysterical by the way that you guys. Apparently
if you play the flute enough shirtless, your fever goes away.
According to the memes, that was good to know. But Clay,
I just this weekend I was out of the shooting range.
(03:04):
It was a busy weekend here in South Florida. The
amount of amazing things Donald Trump is doing, it's tough
to keep up with what's going on, and you keep
seeing things. And my first reaction, my ex feed is
the best it's ever been. X is the best it
has ever been. Okay, so remember when everyone was like, oh,
Elon's going to destroy Twitter. No, actually, I think that
(03:25):
played a large role in getting the truth out about
all things Trump related for this election, which I believe
strongly helped Trump in the election. You know, it was
Trump's win, but I think there were some important pieces
that were in place for him to have the win.
And now when I open up my ex feed, it's,
you know, Trump threatens tariff with Mexico, Mexico caves. Trump
(03:47):
says Panama needs to change its Belton Road initiative with China.
I mean, this is again through people in the cabinet,
through Mark Arrubio, but it's his administration and Panama now
is saying, you know what, we're not going to renew
with China the special deal we have that's part of
their Belt and Road initiative, and we're going to change
things up to give you more preferential rights to the
Panama Canal, by the way, that's not over yet. And
(04:09):
then on top of it, you've got Elon Musk and
Doge shutting down USAID effectively. I'm not even sure what
this is so unprecedented that you would be seeing a
tweet that there's no longer a government, federal bureaucracy spending
the billions, the tens of billions that you have to
say to yourself, wait, is this really? Is this really
(04:31):
what's happening? And the FBI purge that happened Friday, well,
you know you were trying to hydrate and stay and
stay you know, as healthy as you could. I mean, Clay,
all these things together are remarkable. And Trump is just
getting started. It's week three.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
So what Elon basically has decided is and I saw
him just tweet this, But the number one thing you
have to first figure out is where does the money
come from that the United States distributes? And he basically
has gotten the keys to the government and reports our
buck that he has, I don't know five or six
(05:08):
mega brilliant kids, basically because they're supposedly like nineteen to
twenty four year old living in the office and just
looking at every possible expenditure to see whether or not
it's in any way warranted or it's our tax dollars
being distributed in an inefficient manner. And I know that
(05:31):
many people out there who run a business understand the
necessity of going over the accounts payable and looking at
what you're actually spending versus what you need. I don't
think our government's ever done this, and so it's a
form of shock treatment because whatever business you deal with,
(05:53):
if it's for profit, it's probably not mega efficiently run.
And many of you out there know what I'm talking about.
How many of you have been on the phone with
a healthcare provider and tried to figure out your healthcare
bill on an individual basis, and how extremely excruciatingly frustrating
that is. And that's a for profit business, and there's
(06:13):
still complete messes. Imagine what our federal government looks like,
where you have just layered trillions upon trillions and trillions
of dollars of expenditures and nobody ever really takes the
time to go through it and think about it as
a business would, In other words, is this an intelligent
(06:34):
way to spend money? And the people who are shrieking
the loudest right now have been fat hogs who have
been feeding at the trough of the United States government
for generations, and suddenly people are saying, wait a minute,
what is the taxpayer actually getting in exchange for all
this money we've been spending.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
I love this, but you see this and you go,
is this really? Is this really happening? Look? Trump, Trump
is blown away a new term two was going to
get off off and running really fast. Right. I think
we knew based on the team that he had and
just the sense of destiny and everything around Trumpet Clay,
we're in the third week here. The New York Times
(07:13):
headline Elon Musk's team now has access to Treasury's payment systems.
The Treasury Secretary Scott Bessen gave Musk's representatives at the
so called don't you love The New York Times hates
this so much? These so called I mean no, It's
called the Department of Government Efficiency, a powerful tool to
(07:35):
monitor and limit government spending. Clay Elon and his boys
have the checkbook now, Yeah, they can see exactly what's going.
I mean, you want to talk about a way to
freak out the swamp and the deep state. This is amazing.
And we haven't even gotten to the fact that senior
FBI officials involved in the January sixth persecutions are being
(07:57):
given their walking papers. Essentially, he's actually doing it.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
Yeah, and look, this is what he tweeted thirty minutes ago.
The only way to stop fraud and waste of taxpayer
money is to follow the payment flows and pause suspicious
transactions for review. Obviously, naturally this causes those who have
been aiding a betting and receiving fraudulent payments to be
very upset. Too bad. All he did was ask how
(08:24):
payments are made. One department does them, and he wants
to go look at it. And I think this is
indicative of and this is why many of you out
there would be incredibly frustrated to work in a government
and why I personally couldn't do it. We were talking
about this the other day. You really just do meetings,
(08:46):
and everybody is trying to do meetings that create the
least possible ripple effect.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
From their work.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
In other words, you don't want to really get noticed,
you don't really want to shake things up. The government
is big, your individual can't be that substantial. Is the
way that I think many government workers have come to think.
And when you have a guaranteed paycheck, I understand that
what Elon Musk, through Trump, who has empowered him, is
(09:14):
doing is saying, I want to do to the United
States government what businesses that have been run inefficiently for
generations have to do in order to survive in a
competitive market. I want to bring to bear business style
policies on the federal government. And the result so far
(09:36):
Elon seems optimistic Buck, that they're going to be able
to cut a trillion dollars in spending. Now, if they
can cut a trillion dollars in spending, then balancing the
budget suddenly becomes in play, even with an extension of
the tax cuts in the next couple of years, with
economic growth. And I think what Elon's is thirty six
(10:02):
trillion dollars basically in debt. Let me tell you why
that matters to every single one of you out there.
Interest rates aren't coming back down, Buck. The Fed has
cut interest rates and mortgage rates. For those of you
out there who are in the shopping market for a
home market, know what I'm talking about. Thirty year mortgage
right back around seven percent. The overall interest rate on
(10:24):
whatever you pay, whether it's credit card, whether it's cars,
Like I said, whether it's mortgage, it's not coming back down.
Why is that because I think that bond markets and
the interest markets in general have decided that the risk
on the United States at thirty six trillion dollars in
debt is substantial and the area the era of low
(10:46):
cost borrowing is gone. And the only way that can
change is if we get control of the American government
deficit and bring it back down to some form of rationality.
That's how true growth happens for everybody. And that seems
to be the goal that Elon Musk is pursuing, in
addition to trying to put people on Mars and try
(11:07):
to remake social media, and trying to make the most
deficient car ever created in the history of the world,
and also Go Rescue the Go rescue the astronauts from
space buck. Elon is on maybe the greatest run of
any inventor entrepreneur in world history. Can you think of
(11:30):
somebody else who's been more impactful.
Speaker 3 (11:32):
Here's I think you've hit on something that's really important,
that is defining this era that we're in right now,
the new Golden Era, however you want to phrase it.
You have the most I don't know, impactful, profound, transformative,
(11:53):
let's go transformative. You have the most transformative figure in
corporate America in our lifetime with Elon Musk, teamed up
with the most transformative political figure in our lifetime with
Donald Trump. This is something if you wrote the book,
(12:15):
people would if it were like a novel, people would say, no,
way that is happening right now. It's incredible.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
It's like the actual Avengers coming all to work in
the furtherance of America.
Speaker 3 (12:28):
And I mean if I told you two years ago, Clay,
that Elon Musk was going to get a team of
like computer ninjas and just guys who just want to
work one hundred and twenty hours a week to get
access to the Treasury Department's payment systems within week three
of Trump's second term, I mean that sounds insane, right, yes.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
And I think this is where Trump deserves credit too.
Trump recognizes the talent, the necessity and the sheer bad
ass ness of Elon Musk and his team to such
an extent that he has basically deputized them and said, hey,
go make the government great, go make it more efficient.
(13:08):
You have a skill set that very few people do,
and Elon's skill set is so rare that other supremely
talented people want to give to him and as a result,
give back to the country. And I Buck, I saw
I think you sent this tweet. And I've been admittedly
in bed, you know, fevers for the past couple of days,
(13:31):
such that I didn't even know when Luka Doncik got
traded for Sorry Dallas to the Lakers. I thought I
was like having a fever hallucination. I can't remember the
last time we have had any leadership in government where
every time I pick up my phone they do something
else brilliant and transcendent and transformative. And I just want
(13:56):
to say, America, hell yeah. This has to be resonating
with many out there in the same way that it
is with you. And I saw your tweet and me,
I just it's it's incredible. I don't know that we've
ever in my lifetime marshaled the sheer amount of intellectual
(14:16):
firepower that Trump has put to bear on trying to
fix a broken government in virtually every facet simultaneously. It's exhilarating,
it really is. But it's amazing.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
I mean, you know, people say, what a time to
be alive. It is absolutely the case when you think
about what is going on in America today. We're happy
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Speaker 4 (16:08):
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Speaker 2 (16:20):
Welcome back into Clay and Buck.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
A a fusillade, a salvo, an avalanche of Trump policy,
Trump executive orders, Trump decisions just flying for days. Here,
We've got so much to talk to you about the
tariffs thing, for example, that we started out discussing.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
Really really big.
Speaker 3 (16:42):
But I just note justin Trudeau, this is cut three.
He's saying that Canada is going to fight back against
the big mean Trump Man.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
Play three.
Speaker 5 (16:51):
Tonight, I am announcing Canada will be responding to the
US trade action with twenty five percent tariffs against one
hundred and fifty five billion dollars worth of American goods.
This will include immediate tariffs on thirty billion dollars worth
of goods as of Tuesday, followed by further tariffs on
(17:13):
one hundred and twenty five billion dollars worth of American
products in twenty one day's time, to allow Canadian companies
and supply chains to seek to find alternatives.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
Clay, if you have to choose your fighter, I think
everybody knows if you're you have two guys that are
gonna stare each other down across the negotiating table. I
take Trump over a Trudeau every day, and twice on Sunday.
I don't think there's any doubt at all. Also, Trudeau
is brought a fork to a knife fight or a
fork to a sword fight. He doesn't have much economic
(17:48):
power here and as people don't like him, and that
is a bad combination in addition to everything else.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
Look, this Sunday is the Super Bowl. I will be
down in New Order, Orleans and I cannot wait. I'll
be doing the show Thursday Friday from our New Orleans affiliate,
and I will be on the field on Sunday, not
in the game, but doing a television hit and it
(18:15):
should be a lot of fun.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
I can't wait.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
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hanging out here. Monday Edition Clay Travis Buck Sexton show
great enthusiasm everywhere on all fronts as things seemed to
(19:05):
be getting so much better. Mexico sending ten thousand troops
to the border.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
We don't even.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
Talk about it, but in two weeks Buck, basically the
border is shut down. Nobody at all, hardly is coming across.
For the first time in years, were actually reversing, although
it's a slow amount. We're sending more people out of
the country that came here illegally than allowing them in. Now,
(19:31):
it's a lot of work to be done because of
what Biden did and how disastrous his border policies were.
Speaker 2 (19:37):
But it's a.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
Testament to Trump that all it took was him coming
into office and issuing a bevy of executive orders and
the border effectively was shut down and all illegal crossings
were done.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
And we yeah, I.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
Was just gonna say, the the trade war.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
The Mexican standar off has well done.
Speaker 3 (20:02):
I mean it's there right is such that now Mexico
is sending military to their side of the border to
assist in our securing of the border. This is part
of the concession that Trump has has rested from the
Mexican government, So they're now saying okay, okay, well we'll
play ball. Let's not let's not get into a trade war.
(20:25):
This is it's so funny to me, Clay. You have
all these people, and a lot of them are kind
of academics, and they say, oh, tarriffs, tariffs are terrible,
Tariffs are attacks, tariff are all these things? Well, it
all depends on the context, right. First of all, China
has a lot of tariffs against us, and we did
nothing about it. And then Trump came into office and said, hey,
maybe we should do something about it, and now the
consensus is, yeah, we should actually have retaligatory economic measures
(20:48):
against China.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
Biden didn't do anything to the Trump tariffs. It's not
talked about very much, but he left them all completely
in place. Now and the new idea Trump is talking
about a ten percent stepped up tariff. But after all
of the conversations about how awful they were, Joe Biden
came into office and left them completely in place. And
(21:12):
you know what happened back nobody even talked about the
fact that he had done that, because in some way
it was a validation of Trump's economic policy. To even
acknowledge his refusal to change remember he changed a ton
by executive order the moment he came in. Didn't do
anything there.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
Well, one of the reasons you didn't hear much about
China under Biden, Well, you didn't hear much from Biden
about anything for reasons we all now know some of
us knew all along. Is because there was such a
continuation of the economic posture toward China. They didn't want
to admit that there had been essentially a Trump victory
on that. Let me just on the specifics here of Mexico.
(21:47):
By the way, this is from truth Social just now
the official bulletin board of the Trump blitzkrieg of awesomeness
that is going on here. Donald J. Trump, I just
spoke with President Audia Shinebaum of Mexico. It was a
very friendly conversation wherein she agreed to immediately supply ten
(22:07):
thousand Mexican soldiers on the border separating Mexico in the
United States. These soldiers will be specifically designated to stop
the flow of fentanyl and illegal migrants into our country.
We further agreed to immediately pause the anticipated tariffs for
a one month period, during which we will have negotiations
headed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Treasury
(22:28):
Scott Bessant and Commerce, Secretary of Lutnik, and high level
Mexican representatives. I look forward to participating these negotiations as
we achieve a deal between our countries. This is how
negotiation actually works. Negotiation is in, Hey, we're America, what
do you want? Can we send you a bigger check?
That has become the foreign policy bipartisan consensus until now.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
I think so many of these people have gotten used
to the idea that everybody has to be a complete
and total willow in the United States government that they
don't understand how actual negotiation works.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
And I've said this for a long time.
Speaker 1 (23:08):
Whatever you think about Trump, the guy is a master
of leverage. When he feels like he has a scentilla
of advantage, he will exploit it and exploit it and
exploit it until it turns into a larger advantage. And
most people in the United States government don't think like
this because they're worried about are they going to get
(23:29):
booed during the American National Anthem in Toronto?
Speaker 2 (23:34):
Right.
Speaker 1 (23:34):
I don't know how many of you saw this, and
at the hockey matches and everything else, Oh, what are
people going to think about me? Sometimes people have to
be unhappy with you in order for you to advocate
on the best possible level for your client. And Trump's
client is the United States. And many of you out
(23:55):
there have dealt with this. There are lots of lawyers
buck that I have met and I get the job
and I'm like, man, I hate this, sob right, what
an absolute shirk. And there are a lot of words
I can say, But you know what would happen Some
people might have said that about me. You know what
would happen if I had to hire a lawyer. I
want that guy on my side. Oh yeah, of course.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
And if you're if you're in the agent.
Speaker 3 (24:18):
Business, you need that lawyer on that wall.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
You Like, there are guys I've negotiated against and I've
been like, man, this, but I respect the tenacity and
the pugnaciousness and the uh and the absolute drive that
they will put their client's interest above all else.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
And that's what you need.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
And how many of you out there, look, we hire
him for a job, that's the entire purpose of the election.
How many of you out there, for the last twenty
some odd years have felt like, hey, we got a
rock solid guy who's gonna bust his ass to make
sure that he is advocating every day as hard for
(24:59):
you as he can. That's that's why I love the
Elon story, buck Elon. Some people say, oh, I don't
know what I think about having a billionaire with this
close of access. Well, how about just a selfless billionaire
whose only goal right now is to make sure that
we don't waste taxpayer money and that we don't need
(25:19):
to use it and run up debts. Like it's one
of the most selfless things. That's like old squad. I'm
probably gonna mispronounce it. Buck Remember the idea of no
bless obleeese like back in the day, like the remember actually.
Speaker 3 (25:31):
Stuck the landing there a couple of times.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
Yeah, no bless obleeche the idea that you have an
obligation as someone who is incredibly blessed to give back
to the larger society. Elon doesn't stand to gain to
me a massive amount by cutting a trillion dollars in
federal expenditures.
Speaker 3 (25:51):
He is a This is a dream team situation. And
let me also say and JD Vince and there were
some of you last summer, who were all book?
Speaker 5 (26:00):
Why do you like? JD?
Speaker 3 (26:01):
Vince? Why do you so?
Speaker 4 (26:02):
Uh?
Speaker 3 (26:03):
And I know you have a lot of you knew,
but some of you you've come around now. JD. Van's
fabulous communicator, excellent surrogate for all things Trump White House,
a great future for MAGA down the line. I mean,
but in terms of the dream team of Trump and
Elon working together immediately doing the things cy they're wasting
(26:23):
no time. Rubio, Secretary of State. Rubio has announced he
is now the acting director of USAID, the US Agency
for International Development. Musk and Trump are working to dismantle
the agency. This story broke during this segment right now.
Well you with you and me talking. I've even seen
some reports online that there are people who are trying
(26:45):
this is amazing, Clay quote. It is the apocalypse at USAID.
Speaker 6 (26:51):
That's amazing. I mean, this is not stuff you ever read.
Government agencies. They're here forever. They never get their budgets cut,
they never get told what to do. There are people
online saying that they're trying to block physically block those
employees from getting access to different parts of USAID like
they own it, like these government employees. It's their house
(27:13):
or something.
Speaker 1 (27:14):
Every single person out there who works in private business
that is not funded by the government. All of you
at some point have either been fired. I've been fired,
or you've had to worry that you might be fired.
The reason I started my own small businesses was because
I got fired and I was like, I never want
to have my family's fate controlled by somebody other than me.
(27:37):
And a lot of you out there who are entrepreneurs
have had similar experiences in your life. That's why you
started your small businesses that maybe have grown into big businesses.
No one in the government has ever had to deal
with this to your point, Bucket, no one has ever
had to sit and look over their shoulder and be like, oh, man,
if I don't finish this report today, then I might
have to worry about there being some sort of consequences.
Speaker 3 (27:58):
Can I give you a quick window into what this
is Like. I was in the CIA in two thousand
and eight when the financial crisis just you know, when
lemand Leman was allowed to collapse into nothing and the
stock market was you know, free fall and all these
all these things people were talking about, you know, a
credit cataclysm and all this stuff, right, and you know
(28:18):
what was like the CIA. Occasionally people at the water
cooler or in the We actually had a Starbucks and
a dunkin Donuts at Langley and people made a lot
of judgments about you based on the morning. Were you
a Starbucks guy or a dunkin Donuts guy? You were
a dunkin Donuts guy, I'm assuming right. Yes, it was
a red state blue state. It was a subtle red
(28:40):
state blue state internal thing like everyone that.
Speaker 1 (28:44):
But you know, dunkin Donuts is based in Massachusetts.
Speaker 3 (28:47):
They're actually but it's interesting by the Carlisle Group. It's
it's it's a you know, a huge private equity firm.
I think it's owned by the Carlot Group, but it's
owned by a huge private equity firm, I know. But
the perception was it was more like normal, you know,
working class and Starbucks was like the fancy place. Anyway,
anybody who visits Langley can see these things. I mean,
they have two in the cafeteria. They have a Starbucks.
(29:07):
I don't if they still do. They had a Starbucks
and a dunkin Donuts. And we used to call it
red state, blue state because I would see all the
like especially I would see all the like paramilitary guys
when they'd come through Langleyer headquarters, always in dunkin Donuts,
and then at Starbucks it was much more. They all
kind of look like David Hogg, who's now the vice
chair of the DNC, by the way, which is hilarious.
But I bring it up because the financial crisis was
(29:27):
happening and people were walking around the building like like
it had no effect on them whatsoever, because we were in
the government and we were fine and our checks will clear.
And you know, the only thing you heard a few
people grumble about was their four oh one k's went down,
you know, twenty percent or something, and they're like, well,
it'll come back. But that was it. There was no concern.
People were losing their houses and their jobs and then
(29:49):
all this stuff whatever, And it was at CIA. It
was business as usual. So I can tell you that's
what it's like in all federal government agencies and has
been for a very long time.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
And also, Buck there is no incentive to move quickly
on anything. I remember one of my buddies said, and
this is when they actually went into office, obviously, was like,
you know, I work with the federal government and I
was like, what's it like there? And he said, dude,
you should just come and look at our stairwell and
our elevators. At the minute it hits five pm. Oh yeah,
(30:23):
I mean he is, like, it is a stampede of
every single person has come there. You know, they've wiled
away the day and they hit He said, like, you
should just come and stand. And the idea that the
taxpayer is getting a good return on the money that
we are paying for all of this is crazy.
Speaker 2 (30:42):
Here's the other thing. I can't imagine.
Speaker 1 (30:45):
There have to be so many unfulfilled people in government
who actually do have talents that the economy would benefit
from if they applied them elsewhere. But they've gotten locked
in and they're like, hey, I'm making seventy five or
eighty or one hundred K. I've got retirement in sixteen years.
I don't want to rock the boat. Can you imagine
(31:05):
what a miserable way that is to live? I just
I can't imagine putting my labor into that.
Speaker 3 (31:12):
This is a quote at the direction of agency leadership.
The us AID headquarters at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington,
d C. Is closed to agency personnel today February third,
agency personnel normally assigned to work at USAID headquarters will
work remotely. This is from an internal email that cnnis
(31:33):
has published, you know, has published a text from thousands
of contractors and civil servants have lost access to email
and USAID systems. I mean, this is this is real.
Speaker 2 (31:43):
Now.
Speaker 3 (31:44):
There's kind of stuff that it's like if Trumpet said
on the campaign trail, it'll be like that would be amazing.
But I mean, come on, Clay, he's doing it. Do
you think there's very much Here's the other thing. Who
are the people that are gonna feel bad for the
government employees who have never had to face any sort
of consequences for their sinecure jobs. I just don't think
(32:06):
there's a I understand they have a lobby and they
will use the media, the legacy media, to try to
turn this into the equivalent of, you know, fascism and
hit Lary.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
It's really funny, by the way.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
Fascism is not employing as many people in the federal
like shrinking the size of the federal That's what they're
gonna argue, which is very funny in of itself. I
don't you may recall some example in history of someone
taking over the government by making it smaller. And it
actually is a very funny concept, but that's what they're
going to try to argue that Trump is a dictator.
Speaker 2 (32:39):
I love it. I love every aspect of this. Look.
Remember when cam quarters were the hot item back in
the eighties and nineties. True story.
Speaker 1 (32:46):
I remember my dad thought that he was going to
become a camcording genius, went in bought a cam quarterer.
Speaker 2 (32:52):
This is one hundred percent true.
Speaker 1 (32:54):
Came out, looked at the instruction, manual, got home, took
it back and got his mother. He was like, this
is too complicated for me. I'm just going to stick
to the camera so we don't have a ton of
VHS tapes in the Travis. There's one hundred percent story
like he got it. He looked at it, he was like,
oh man, I'm just going to go back to the
regular camera. Poor guy probably celebrating so in that big camquarterer.
(33:16):
But your mom or dad may have had the camquarder
running around. They looked like a local news reporter with
that thing up on the side of their head that
they were recording Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Year's Easter, all your
family's holidays. And they stacked up a lot of those
different tapes. What happened to them all? Do you know
where they are? Maybe they're in your relative's attic, maybe
(33:37):
they are somewhere in a garage. You know, those tapes
weren't made to last forever. You need to get them
and turn them digital now. And Legacy Box has a
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(33:58):
day basis. And right now they can preserve your family
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Speaker 4 (34:22):
Clay, Travis and Buck Sexton telling it like it is.
Find them on the free iHeartRadio app or wherever you
get your podcasts.
Speaker 2 (34:30):
Welcome back into Clay and Buck.
Speaker 3 (34:32):
Just a quick programming note, I have been informed by
the local authorities here that they may be shutting off
power in my grid. Again, Clay, So why is the
power constantly getting shut off in your grid?
Speaker 2 (34:45):
I mean you're not in Nicaragua, right, I mean like.
Speaker 3 (34:48):
I am in this lovely place, South Florida, which is
not as much as the weather is fantastic and I
love the people, is not known for its efficiency. The
rest of Florida very fish in South Florida, Miami.
Speaker 1 (35:02):
How much notice did you get that they would be
turning your power off in an hour? And like I've
basically got an hour of notice that they're like, yeah,
we might just show. And by the way, it's not
like it's not like your internet's like everything, like the refrigerator,
like everything's going to be off here this or I
don't know if I've ever told you this. When we
lived in the Caribbean, the power would just go I
lived in the US Virgin Islands. I practiced law there
(35:22):
for a couple of years. The power would just go out.
Buck We kept plastic ice cubes frozen in the refrigerator
because you don't have any air, right it's super hot.
You would just be sitting there stifling hot, and you
just go get the plastic ice cubes from the refrigerator
and like put them on your forehead. You had no
(35:43):
idea when the power is going to come off, no
idea when they were gonna come back on.
Speaker 3 (35:47):
And while I still have power, I've been making sure
I've got a supply a crackt coffee to keep me
company while the lights go out here. So at least
I'll throw some ice cubes while I can and do
a delicious cup of Crocket coffee. Go to Kracket Coffee
dot com. You can also see here I'm holding up.
We have new gear Crocket T shirt right there. It's
fantastic for our people on the live stream. Go check
(36:09):
that out. Crocketcffee dot com. Ten percent of the profit
some of the Towers Foundation, which we love. Also, you
can get a copy of Clay's American Playbook signed. About
a thousand of you have already done this, but you
got to become a subscriber. We want at least five
or six hundred more. Let's get to that five or
six hundred more number. Thank you all so much. Go
to Crockett Coffee dot com use code book. You get
(36:31):
a signed copy of the book, and you also get
all these cool offers on new gear and great stuff
because you think it's not just coffee, everybody. We got
a whole lot of stuff coming your way. Crockett is
for all of you, Like Davy Crockett celebrating American greatness.
We're gonna dive in clay to USAID and the FBI
and the deep State purge. If I'm still on the air,
coming up next,
Welcome in Clay Travis buck Sexton Show. Appreciate all of
you hanging out with us. Happy Monday. And it is
week three of the Trump administration and basically the legacy
media and all their cronies essentially unable to keep up
(00:21):
with anything that is going on on a day.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
To day basis.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
On Saturday, Trump said I'm going to put a twenty
five percent tariff on Mexican goods, twenty five percent on Canada,
ten percent on Canadian fuel. Within the last hour, essentially,
Mexico has folded in its standing up.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
To the Trump tariff threats.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
They have agreed to send ten thousand additional soldiers to
the border. They have agreed to work harder to interdict
the flow of fentanyl to the the United States, and
they have also been held to a new standard, which
is Trump is postponing the impact of the tariffs for
(01:11):
thirty days in the event that Mexico makes good on
its on its goals here, which are really the United
States goals Canada, I believe there is a three pm
deadline of sorts buck on exactly what may happen with Canada.
A lot of throat clearing and threats coming from America's
(01:34):
top hat to the north. But I would expect that
very quickly Canada will recognize that they need the United
States far more than the United States needs Canada. And
so what really is happening, Whether buck you look, we've
got a pattern now, Whether you look at Columbia and
its president refusing the return of illegal immigrant migrants, Trump
(01:59):
threatens retaliatory action Columbia buckles. Panama says, hey, we're not
doing anything wrong. Even though the Panama Canal is now
being managed by Hong Kong. We have Marco Rubio make
his initial visit there. Panama's president comes out to a
large extent, bends the knee. American power is back. We're
(02:23):
not going to apologize, We're going to use it. And
all of the people who are saying what Trump is
going to do is not going to work just look foolish.
As one after another. America's adversaries in many ways been
the knee to US diplomacy.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
It's amazing, Clay. I know you were sick this weekend
and Clay fought through it. Everybody and is here on Monday.
Clay were hysterical by the way that you guys. Apparently
if you play the flute enough shirtless, your fever goes away.
According to the memes, that was good to know. But Clay,
I just this weekend I was out of the shooting range.
(03:04):
It was a busy weekend here in South Florida. The
amount of amazing things Donald Trump is doing, it's tough
to keep up with what's going on, and you keep
seeing things. And my first reaction, my ex feed is
the best it's ever been. X is the best it
has ever been. Okay, so remember when everyone was like, oh,
Elon's going to destroy Twitter. No, actually, I think that
(03:25):
played a large role in getting the truth out about
all things Trump related for this election, which I believe
strongly helped Trump in the election. You know, it was
Trump's win, but I think there were some important pieces
that were in place for him to have the win.
And now when I open up my ex feed, it's,
you know, Trump threatens tariff with Mexico, Mexico caves. Trump
(03:47):
says Panama needs to change its Belton Road initiative with China.
I mean, this is again through people in the cabinet,
through Mark Arrubio, but it's his administration and Panama now
is saying, you know what, we're not going to renew
with China the special deal we have that's part of
their Belt and Road initiative, and we're going to change
things up to give you more preferential rights to the
Panama Canal, by the way, that's not over yet. And
(04:09):
then on top of it, you've got Elon Musk and
Doge shutting down USAID effectively. I'm not even sure what
this is so unprecedented that you would be seeing a
tweet that there's no longer a government, federal bureaucracy spending
the billions, the tens of billions that you have to
say to yourself, wait, is this really? Is this really
(04:31):
what's happening? And the FBI purge that happened Friday, well,
you know you were trying to hydrate and stay and
stay you know, as healthy as you could. I mean, Clay,
all these things together are remarkable. And Trump is just
getting started. It's week three.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
So what Elon basically has decided is and I saw
him just tweet this, But the number one thing you
have to first figure out is where does the money
come from that the United States distributes? And he basically
has gotten the keys to the government and reports our
buck that he has, I don't know five or six
(05:08):
mega brilliant kids, basically because they're supposedly like nineteen to
twenty four year old living in the office and just
looking at every possible expenditure to see whether or not
it's in any way warranted or it's our tax dollars
being distributed in an inefficient manner. And I know that
(05:31):
many people out there who run a business understand the
necessity of going over the accounts payable and looking at
what you're actually spending versus what you need. I don't
think our government's ever done this, and so it's a
form of shock treatment because whatever business you deal with,
(05:53):
if it's for profit, it's probably not mega efficiently run.
And many of you out there know what I'm talking about.
How many of you have been on the phone with
a healthcare provider and tried to figure out your healthcare
bill on an individual basis, and how extremely excruciatingly frustrating
that is. And that's a for profit business, and there's
(06:13):
still complete messes. Imagine what our federal government looks like,
where you have just layered trillions upon trillions and trillions
of dollars of expenditures and nobody ever really takes the
time to go through it and think about it as
a business would, In other words, is this an intelligent
(06:34):
way to spend money? And the people who are shrieking
the loudest right now have been fat hogs who have
been feeding at the trough of the United States government
for generations, and suddenly people are saying, wait a minute,
what is the taxpayer actually getting in exchange for all
this money we've been spending.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
I love this, but you see this and you go,
is this really? Is this really happening? Look? Trump, Trump
is blown away a new term two was going to
get off off and running really fast. Right. I think
we knew based on the team that he had and
just the sense of destiny and everything around Trumpet Clay,
we're in the third week here. The New York Times
(07:13):
headline Elon Musk's team now has access to Treasury's payment systems.
The Treasury Secretary Scott Bessen gave Musk's representatives at the
so called don't you love The New York Times hates
this so much? These so called I mean no, It's
called the Department of Government Efficiency, a powerful tool to
(07:35):
monitor and limit government spending. Clay Elon and his boys
have the checkbook now, Yeah, they can see exactly what's going.
I mean, you want to talk about a way to
freak out the swamp and the deep state. This is amazing.
And we haven't even gotten to the fact that senior
FBI officials involved in the January sixth persecutions are being
(07:57):
given their walking papers. Essentially, he's actually doing it.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
Yeah, and look, this is what he tweeted thirty minutes ago.
The only way to stop fraud and waste of taxpayer
money is to follow the payment flows and pause suspicious
transactions for review. Obviously, naturally this causes those who have
been aiding a betting and receiving fraudulent payments to be
very upset. Too bad. All he did was ask how
(08:24):
payments are made. One department does them, and he wants
to go look at it. And I think this is
indicative of and this is why many of you out
there would be incredibly frustrated to work in a government
and why I personally couldn't do it. We were talking
about this the other day. You really just do meetings,
(08:46):
and everybody is trying to do meetings that create the
least possible ripple effect.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
From their work.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
In other words, you don't want to really get noticed,
you don't really want to shake things up. The government
is big, your individual can't be that substantial. Is the
way that I think many government workers have come to think.
And when you have a guaranteed paycheck, I understand that
what Elon Musk, through Trump, who has empowered him, is
(09:14):
doing is saying, I want to do to the United
States government what businesses that have been run inefficiently for
generations have to do in order to survive in a
competitive market. I want to bring to bear business style
policies on the federal government. And the result so far
(09:36):
Elon seems optimistic Buck, that they're going to be able
to cut a trillion dollars in spending. Now, if they
can cut a trillion dollars in spending, then balancing the
budget suddenly becomes in play, even with an extension of
the tax cuts in the next couple of years, with
economic growth. And I think what Elon's is thirty six
(10:02):
trillion dollars basically in debt. Let me tell you why
that matters to every single one of you out there.
Interest rates aren't coming back down, Buck. The Fed has
cut interest rates and mortgage rates. For those of you
out there who are in the shopping market for a
home market, know what I'm talking about. Thirty year mortgage
right back around seven percent. The overall interest rate on
(10:24):
whatever you pay, whether it's credit card, whether it's cars,
Like I said, whether it's mortgage, it's not coming back down.
Why is that because I think that bond markets and
the interest markets in general have decided that the risk
on the United States at thirty six trillion dollars in
debt is substantial and the area the era of low
(10:46):
cost borrowing is gone. And the only way that can
change is if we get control of the American government
deficit and bring it back down to some form of rationality.
That's how true growth happens for everybody. And that seems
to be the goal that Elon Musk is pursuing, in
addition to trying to put people on Mars and try
(11:07):
to remake social media, and trying to make the most
deficient car ever created in the history of the world,
and also Go Rescue the Go rescue the astronauts from
space buck. Elon is on maybe the greatest run of
any inventor entrepreneur in world history. Can you think of
(11:30):
somebody else who's been more impactful.
Speaker 3 (11:32):
Here's I think you've hit on something that's really important,
that is defining this era that we're in right now,
the new Golden Era, however you want to phrase it.
You have the most I don't know, impactful, profound, transformative,
(11:53):
let's go transformative. You have the most transformative figure in
corporate America in our lifetime with Elon Musk, teamed up
with the most transformative political figure in our lifetime with
Donald Trump. This is something if you wrote the book,
(12:15):
people would if it were like a novel, people would say, no,
way that is happening right now. It's incredible.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
It's like the actual Avengers coming all to work in
the furtherance of America.
Speaker 3 (12:28):
And I mean if I told you two years ago, Clay,
that Elon Musk was going to get a team of
like computer ninjas and just guys who just want to
work one hundred and twenty hours a week to get
access to the Treasury Department's payment systems within week three
of Trump's second term, I mean that sounds insane, right, yes.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
And I think this is where Trump deserves credit too.
Trump recognizes the talent, the necessity and the sheer bad
ass ness of Elon Musk and his team to such
an extent that he has basically deputized them and said, hey,
go make the government great, go make it more efficient.
(13:08):
You have a skill set that very few people do,
and Elon's skill set is so rare that other supremely
talented people want to give to him and as a result,
give back to the country. And I Buck, I saw
I think you sent this tweet. And I've been admittedly
in bed, you know, fevers for the past couple of days,
(13:31):
such that I didn't even know when Luka Doncik got
traded for Sorry Dallas to the Lakers. I thought I
was like having a fever hallucination. I can't remember the
last time we have had any leadership in government where
every time I pick up my phone they do something
else brilliant and transcendent and transformative. And I just want
(13:56):
to say, America, hell yeah. This has to be resonating
with many out there in the same way that it
is with you. And I saw your tweet and me,
I just it's it's incredible. I don't know that we've
ever in my lifetime marshaled the sheer amount of intellectual
(14:16):
firepower that Trump has put to bear on trying to
fix a broken government in virtually every facet simultaneously. It's exhilarating,
it really is. But it's amazing.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
I mean, you know, people say, what a time to
be alive. It is absolutely the case when you think
about what is going on in America today. We're happy
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Speaker 4 (16:08):
You ain't imagining it. The world has gone insane. Reclaim
your sanity with Clay and Fun. Find them on the
free iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Welcome back into Clay and Buck.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
A a fusillade, a salvo, an avalanche of Trump policy,
Trump executive orders, Trump decisions just flying for days. Here,
We've got so much to talk to you about the
tariffs thing, for example, that we started out discussing.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
Really really big.
Speaker 3 (16:42):
But I just note justin Trudeau, this is cut three.
He's saying that Canada is going to fight back against
the big mean Trump Man.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
Play three.
Speaker 5 (16:51):
Tonight, I am announcing Canada will be responding to the
US trade action with twenty five percent tariffs against one
hundred and fifty five billion dollars worth of American goods.
This will include immediate tariffs on thirty billion dollars worth
of goods as of Tuesday, followed by further tariffs on
(17:13):
one hundred and twenty five billion dollars worth of American
products in twenty one day's time, to allow Canadian companies
and supply chains to seek to find alternatives.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
Clay, if you have to choose your fighter, I think
everybody knows if you're you have two guys that are
gonna stare each other down across the negotiating table. I
take Trump over a Trudeau every day, and twice on Sunday.
I don't think there's any doubt at all. Also, Trudeau
is brought a fork to a knife fight or a
fork to a sword fight. He doesn't have much economic
(17:48):
power here and as people don't like him, and that
is a bad combination in addition to everything else.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
Look, this Sunday is the Super Bowl. I will be
down in New Order, Orleans and I cannot wait. I'll
be doing the show Thursday Friday from our New Orleans affiliate,
and I will be on the field on Sunday, not
in the game, but doing a television hit and it
(18:15):
should be a lot of fun.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
I can't wait.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
And I am going to be signed up and giving
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hanging out here. Monday Edition Clay Travis Buck Sexton show
great enthusiasm everywhere on all fronts as things seemed to
(19:05):
be getting so much better. Mexico sending ten thousand troops
to the border.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
We don't even.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
Talk about it, but in two weeks Buck, basically the
border is shut down. Nobody at all, hardly is coming across.
For the first time in years, were actually reversing, although
it's a slow amount. We're sending more people out of
the country that came here illegally than allowing them in. Now,
(19:31):
it's a lot of work to be done because of
what Biden did and how disastrous his border policies were.
Speaker 2 (19:37):
But it's a.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
Testament to Trump that all it took was him coming
into office and issuing a bevy of executive orders and
the border effectively was shut down and all illegal crossings
were done.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
And we yeah, I.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
Was just gonna say, the the trade war.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
The Mexican standar off has well done.
Speaker 3 (20:02):
I mean it's there right is such that now Mexico
is sending military to their side of the border to
assist in our securing of the border. This is part
of the concession that Trump has has rested from the
Mexican government, So they're now saying okay, okay, well we'll
play ball. Let's not let's not get into a trade war.
(20:25):
This is it's so funny to me, Clay. You have
all these people, and a lot of them are kind
of academics, and they say, oh, tarriffs, tariffs are terrible,
Tariffs are attacks, tariff are all these things? Well, it
all depends on the context, right. First of all, China
has a lot of tariffs against us, and we did
nothing about it. And then Trump came into office and said, hey,
maybe we should do something about it, and now the
consensus is, yeah, we should actually have retaligatory economic measures
(20:48):
against China.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
Biden didn't do anything to the Trump tariffs. It's not
talked about very much, but he left them all completely
in place. Now and the new idea Trump is talking
about a ten percent stepped up tariff. But after all
of the conversations about how awful they were, Joe Biden
came into office and left them completely in place. And
(21:12):
you know what happened back nobody even talked about the
fact that he had done that, because in some way
it was a validation of Trump's economic policy. To even
acknowledge his refusal to change remember he changed a ton
by executive order the moment he came in. Didn't do
anything there.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
Well, one of the reasons you didn't hear much about
China under Biden, Well, you didn't hear much from Biden
about anything for reasons we all now know some of
us knew all along. Is because there was such a
continuation of the economic posture toward China. They didn't want
to admit that there had been essentially a Trump victory
on that. Let me just on the specifics here of Mexico.
(21:47):
By the way, this is from truth Social just now
the official bulletin board of the Trump blitzkrieg of awesomeness
that is going on here. Donald J. Trump, I just
spoke with President Audia Shinebaum of Mexico. It was a
very friendly conversation wherein she agreed to immediately supply ten
(22:07):
thousand Mexican soldiers on the border separating Mexico in the
United States. These soldiers will be specifically designated to stop
the flow of fentanyl and illegal migrants into our country.
We further agreed to immediately pause the anticipated tariffs for
a one month period, during which we will have negotiations
headed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Treasury
(22:28):
Scott Bessant and Commerce, Secretary of Lutnik, and high level
Mexican representatives. I look forward to participating these negotiations as
we achieve a deal between our countries. This is how
negotiation actually works. Negotiation is in, Hey, we're America, what
do you want? Can we send you a bigger check?
That has become the foreign policy bipartisan consensus until now.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
I think so many of these people have gotten used
to the idea that everybody has to be a complete
and total willow in the United States government that they
don't understand how actual negotiation works.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
And I've said this for a long time.
Speaker 1 (23:08):
Whatever you think about Trump, the guy is a master
of leverage. When he feels like he has a scentilla
of advantage, he will exploit it and exploit it and
exploit it until it turns into a larger advantage. And
most people in the United States government don't think like
this because they're worried about are they going to get
(23:29):
booed during the American National Anthem in Toronto?
Speaker 2 (23:34):
Right.
Speaker 1 (23:34):
I don't know how many of you saw this, and
at the hockey matches and everything else, Oh, what are
people going to think about me? Sometimes people have to
be unhappy with you in order for you to advocate
on the best possible level for your client. And Trump's
client is the United States. And many of you out
(23:55):
there have dealt with this. There are lots of lawyers
buck that I have met and I get the job
and I'm like, man, I hate this, sob right, what
an absolute shirk. And there are a lot of words
I can say, But you know what would happen Some
people might have said that about me. You know what
would happen if I had to hire a lawyer. I
want that guy on my side. Oh yeah, of course.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
And if you're if you're in the agent.
Speaker 3 (24:18):
Business, you need that lawyer on that wall.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
You Like, there are guys I've negotiated against and I've
been like, man, this, but I respect the tenacity and
the pugnaciousness and the uh and the absolute drive that
they will put their client's interest above all else.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
And that's what you need.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
And how many of you out there, look, we hire
him for a job, that's the entire purpose of the election.
How many of you out there, for the last twenty
some odd years have felt like, hey, we got a
rock solid guy who's gonna bust his ass to make
sure that he is advocating every day as hard for
(24:59):
you as he can. That's that's why I love the
Elon story, buck Elon. Some people say, oh, I don't
know what I think about having a billionaire with this
close of access. Well, how about just a selfless billionaire
whose only goal right now is to make sure that
we don't waste taxpayer money and that we don't need
(25:19):
to use it and run up debts. Like it's one
of the most selfless things. That's like old squad. I'm
probably gonna mispronounce it. Buck Remember the idea of no
bless obleeese like back in the day, like the remember actually.
Speaker 3 (25:31):
Stuck the landing there a couple of times.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
Yeah, no bless obleeche the idea that you have an
obligation as someone who is incredibly blessed to give back
to the larger society. Elon doesn't stand to gain to
me a massive amount by cutting a trillion dollars in
federal expenditures.
Speaker 3 (25:51):
He is a This is a dream team situation. And
let me also say and JD Vince and there were
some of you last summer, who were all book?
Speaker 5 (26:00):
Why do you like? JD?
Speaker 3 (26:01):
Vince? Why do you so?
Speaker 4 (26:02):
Uh?
Speaker 3 (26:03):
And I know you have a lot of you knew,
but some of you you've come around now. JD. Van's
fabulous communicator, excellent surrogate for all things Trump White House,
a great future for MAGA down the line. I mean,
but in terms of the dream team of Trump and
Elon working together immediately doing the things cy they're wasting
(26:23):
no time. Rubio, Secretary of State. Rubio has announced he
is now the acting director of USAID, the US Agency
for International Development. Musk and Trump are working to dismantle
the agency. This story broke during this segment right now.
Well you with you and me talking. I've even seen
some reports online that there are people who are trying
(26:45):
this is amazing, Clay quote. It is the apocalypse at USAID.
Speaker 6 (26:51):
That's amazing. I mean, this is not stuff you ever read.
Government agencies. They're here forever. They never get their budgets cut,
they never get told what to do. There are people
online saying that they're trying to block physically block those
employees from getting access to different parts of USAID like
they own it, like these government employees. It's their house
(27:13):
or something.
Speaker 1 (27:14):
Every single person out there who works in private business
that is not funded by the government. All of you
at some point have either been fired. I've been fired,
or you've had to worry that you might be fired.
The reason I started my own small businesses was because
I got fired and I was like, I never want
to have my family's fate controlled by somebody other than me.
(27:37):
And a lot of you out there who are entrepreneurs
have had similar experiences in your life. That's why you
started your small businesses that maybe have grown into big businesses.
No one in the government has ever had to deal
with this to your point, Bucket, no one has ever
had to sit and look over their shoulder and be like, oh, man,
if I don't finish this report today, then I might
have to worry about there being some sort of consequences.
Speaker 3 (27:58):
Can I give you a quick window into what this
is Like. I was in the CIA in two thousand
and eight when the financial crisis just you know, when
lemand Leman was allowed to collapse into nothing and the
stock market was you know, free fall and all these
all these things people were talking about, you know, a
credit cataclysm and all this stuff, right, and you know
(28:18):
what was like the CIA. Occasionally people at the water
cooler or in the We actually had a Starbucks and
a dunkin Donuts at Langley and people made a lot
of judgments about you based on the morning. Were you
a Starbucks guy or a dunkin Donuts guy? You were
a dunkin Donuts guy, I'm assuming right. Yes, it was
a red state blue state. It was a subtle red
(28:40):
state blue state internal thing like everyone that.
Speaker 1 (28:44):
But you know, dunkin Donuts is based in Massachusetts.
Speaker 3 (28:47):
They're actually but it's interesting by the Carlisle Group. It's
it's it's a you know, a huge private equity firm.
I think it's owned by the Carlot Group, but it's
owned by a huge private equity firm, I know. But
the perception was it was more like normal, you know,
working class and Starbucks was like the fancy place. Anyway,
anybody who visits Langley can see these things. I mean,
they have two in the cafeteria. They have a Starbucks.
(29:07):
I don't if they still do. They had a Starbucks
and a dunkin Donuts. And we used to call it
red state, blue state because I would see all the
like especially I would see all the like paramilitary guys
when they'd come through Langleyer headquarters, always in dunkin Donuts,
and then at Starbucks it was much more. They all
kind of look like David Hogg, who's now the vice
chair of the DNC, by the way, which is hilarious.
But I bring it up because the financial crisis was
(29:27):
happening and people were walking around the building like like
it had no effect on them whatsoever, because we were in
the government and we were fine and our checks will clear.
And you know, the only thing you heard a few
people grumble about was their four oh one k's went down,
you know, twenty percent or something, and they're like, well,
it'll come back. But that was it. There was no concern.
People were losing their houses and their jobs and then
(29:49):
all this stuff whatever, And it was at CIA. It
was business as usual. So I can tell you that's
what it's like in all federal government agencies and has
been for a very long time.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
And also, Buck there is no incentive to move quickly
on anything. I remember one of my buddies said, and
this is when they actually went into office, obviously, was like,
you know, I work with the federal government and I
was like, what's it like there? And he said, dude,
you should just come and look at our stairwell and
our elevators. At the minute it hits five pm. Oh yeah,
(30:23):
I mean he is, like, it is a stampede of
every single person has come there. You know, they've wiled
away the day and they hit He said, like, you
should just come and stand. And the idea that the
taxpayer is getting a good return on the money that
we are paying for all of this is crazy.
Speaker 2 (30:42):
Here's the other thing. I can't imagine.
Speaker 1 (30:45):
There have to be so many unfulfilled people in government
who actually do have talents that the economy would benefit
from if they applied them elsewhere. But they've gotten locked
in and they're like, hey, I'm making seventy five or
eighty or one hundred K. I've got retirement in sixteen years.
I don't want to rock the boat. Can you imagine
(31:05):
what a miserable way that is to live? I just
I can't imagine putting my labor into that.
Speaker 3 (31:12):
This is a quote at the direction of agency leadership.
The us AID headquarters at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington,
d C. Is closed to agency personnel today February third,
agency personnel normally assigned to work at USAID headquarters will
work remotely. This is from an internal email that cnnis
(31:33):
has published, you know, has published a text from thousands
of contractors and civil servants have lost access to email
and USAID systems. I mean, this is this is real.
Speaker 2 (31:43):
Now.
Speaker 3 (31:44):
There's kind of stuff that it's like if Trumpet said
on the campaign trail, it'll be like that would be amazing.
But I mean, come on, Clay, he's doing it. Do
you think there's very much Here's the other thing. Who
are the people that are gonna feel bad for the
government employees who have never had to face any sort
of consequences for their sinecure jobs. I just don't think
(32:06):
there's a I understand they have a lobby and they
will use the media, the legacy media, to try to
turn this into the equivalent of, you know, fascism and
hit Lary.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
It's really funny, by the way.
Speaker 1 (32:17):
Fascism is not employing as many people in the federal
like shrinking the size of the federal That's what they're
gonna argue, which is very funny in of itself. I
don't you may recall some example in history of someone
taking over the government by making it smaller. And it
actually is a very funny concept, but that's what they're
going to try to argue that Trump is a dictator.
Speaker 2 (32:39):
I love it. I love every aspect of this. Look.
Remember when cam quarters were the hot item back in
the eighties and nineties. True story.
Speaker 1 (32:46):
I remember my dad thought that he was going to
become a camcording genius, went in bought a cam quarterer.
Speaker 2 (32:52):
This is one hundred percent true.
Speaker 1 (32:54):
Came out, looked at the instruction, manual, got home, took
it back and got his mother. He was like, this
is too complicated for me. I'm just going to stick
to the camera so we don't have a ton of
VHS tapes in the Travis. There's one hundred percent story
like he got it. He looked at it, he was like,
oh man, I'm just going to go back to the
regular camera. Poor guy probably celebrating so in that big camquarterer.
(33:16):
But your mom or dad may have had the camquarder
running around. They looked like a local news reporter with
that thing up on the side of their head that
they were recording Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Year's Easter, all your
family's holidays. And they stacked up a lot of those
different tapes. What happened to them all? Do you know
where they are? Maybe they're in your relative's attic, maybe
(33:37):
they are somewhere in a garage. You know, those tapes
weren't made to last forever. You need to get them
and turn them digital now. And Legacy Box has a
larger collection of VCRs than anywhere in the country. In fact,
I need to go down. They're located in Chattanooga. I've said,
I'd like to go down and just tour their facility
and see what they're capable of on a day to
(33:58):
day basis. And right now they can preserve your family
memories forever with an incredible offer at legacybox dot com
slash Clay fifty percent off. When you preserve your past
with Legacy Box again, you send the originals, they send
them back to you have digital files included. Legacybox dot Com,
slash Clay one more Time, legacybox dot Com slash Clay.
Speaker 4 (34:22):
Clay, Travis and Buck Sexton telling it like it is.
Find them on the free iHeartRadio app or wherever you
get your podcasts.
Speaker 2 (34:30):
Welcome back into Clay and Buck.
Speaker 3 (34:32):
Just a quick programming note, I have been informed by
the local authorities here that they may be shutting off
power in my grid. Again, Clay, So why is the
power constantly getting shut off in your grid?
Speaker 2 (34:45):
I mean you're not in Nicaragua, right, I mean like.
Speaker 3 (34:48):
I am in this lovely place, South Florida, which is
not as much as the weather is fantastic and I
love the people, is not known for its efficiency. The
rest of Florida very fish in South Florida, Miami.
Speaker 1 (35:02):
How much notice did you get that they would be
turning your power off in an hour? And like I've
basically got an hour of notice that they're like, yeah,
we might just show. And by the way, it's not
like it's not like your internet's like everything, like the refrigerator,
like everything's going to be off here this or I
don't know if I've ever told you this. When we
lived in the Caribbean, the power would just go I
lived in the US Virgin Islands. I practiced law there
(35:22):
for a couple of years. The power would just go out.
Buck We kept plastic ice cubes frozen in the refrigerator
because you don't have any air, right it's super hot.
You would just be sitting there stifling hot, and you
just go get the plastic ice cubes from the refrigerator
and like put them on your forehead. You had no
(35:43):
idea when the power is going to come off, no
idea when they were gonna come back on.
Speaker 3 (35:47):
And while I still have power, I've been making sure
I've got a supply a crackt coffee to keep me
company while the lights go out here. So at least
I'll throw some ice cubes while I can and do
a delicious cup of Crocket coffee. Go to Kracket Coffee
dot com. You can also see here I'm holding up.
We have new gear Crocket T shirt right there. It's
fantastic for our people on the live stream. Go check
(36:09):
that out. Crocketcffee dot com. Ten percent of the profit
some of the Towers Foundation, which we love. Also, you
can get a copy of Clay's American Playbook signed. About
a thousand of you have already done this, but you
got to become a subscriber. We want at least five
or six hundred more. Let's get to that five or
six hundred more number. Thank you all so much. Go
to Crockett Coffee dot com use code book. You get
(36:31):
a signed copy of the book, and you also get
all these cool offers on new gear and great stuff
because you think it's not just coffee, everybody. We got
a whole lot of stuff coming your way. Crockett is
for all of you, Like Davy Crockett celebrating American greatness.
We're gonna dive in clay to USAID and the FBI
and the deep State purge. If I'm still on the air,
coming up next,
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