October 6, 2025 • 36 mins
In Hour 3 of The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, Buck delivers a packed segment featuring two major stories: the ongoing government shutdown battle and his exclusive interview with the President of Taiwan on global security and economic resilience.
The hour begins with Speaker of the House Mike Johnson joining the program to break down the latest on what Buck calls the “Schumer Shutdown.”
Johnson explains that Republicans offered a clean continuing resolution to keep the government open, but Democrats blocked it to create a political fight over healthcare. He accuses Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of prioritizing his own political survival over the American people, citing fears of a primary challenge from the far left. Johnson details how Democrats are pushing to restore taxpayer-funded healthcare benefits for illegal immigrants, reversing GOP reforms that saved nearly $200 billion by ending Medicaid loopholes, emergency care expansions, and Obamacare subsidies for non-citizens. He warns that the shutdown is causing real pain for Americans, including halted nutrition programs and unpaid federal workers, while Democrats refuse to compromise.
The second half of the hour shifts to Buck’s exclusive interview with Taiwan’s President, offering rare insights into the escalating tensions with China. The president emphasizes that Taiwan is not part of the PRC and condemns Beijing’s aggressive military drills in the Taiwan Strait. He outlines Taiwan’s Four Pillars of Peace Action Plan, which includes boosting defense spending to 3.32% of GDP next year and 5% by 2030, strengthening economic resilience by reducing reliance on China, and deepening partnerships with the U.S. and other democracies to deter aggression.
The conversation highlights Taiwan’s critical role in the global semiconductor supply chain, with TSMC producing 90% of the world’s advanced chips, and its commitment to supporting America’s leadership in AI technology. The president also discusses social policies aimed at reversing declining birth rates through housing subsidies, fertility treatments, and tax cuts—drawing parallels to similar debates in the U.S.
Buck underscores why Americans should care: a Chinese invasion of Taiwan could cripple global trade, crash markets, and give Beijing dominance over chip manufacturing, impacting everything from smartphones to AI-driven defense systems. The hour closes with a strong message on the importance of U.S.-Taiwan cooperation to maintain peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific.
Make sure you never miss a second of the show by subscribing to the Clay Travis & Buck Sexton show podcast wherever you get your podcasts! ihr.fm/3InlkL8
For the latest updates from Clay & Buck, visit our website https://www.clayandbuck.com/
Connect with Clay Travis and Buck Sexton:
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Third hour of play and Buck kicks off right now.
(00:03):
At the bottom of the hour, We've got the President
of Taiwan interview talking about national security and the economic
impact of a possible Chinese invasion. We'll discuss that, but
in the meantime, Speaker of the House, Speaker Johnson is
with us now. Mister Speaker, appreciate you making the time
we can discuss some shutdown and other issues.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Buck. Great to be with you. I look forward to
that interview. That's timely stuff with Taiwan. We watch it
very closely, so I'm glad you got to go over
there and see it firsthand.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Yeah, please do listen in He had a I asked him,
I said, what's your message directly to President Trump? People
should know that we don't have an embassy there, we
don't have direct high level meetings with the government of Taiwan.
So getting the word around, I think is really important
because things are heating up with China. But in the meantime,
mister Speaker, just bring us up to the latest here
(00:56):
on are we calling it the Schumer shutdown? I am,
but what's the latest on this government shutdown? What's happening?
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Yeah, I wish there were more developments to report that
we're stuck at a stalemate. It is the Schumer Democrat shutdown.
And I did a little press conference this morning, just
trying to lay out, once again reiterating the simple truths.
I mean, the truth has been obscured by all these Democrats.
There are relentless efforts at spinning what everybody knows to
(01:23):
be true. I mean, look, this is a clean, continuing resolution,
and what we mean by that is there's no part
of the provisions and no tricks, no gimmicks. We're just
simply trying to keep the lights on because as we
were going through the appropriations process, we ran out of
clock because the end of the fiscal year of September
thirtieth and not the end of the calendar year at
December thirty one. So we needed more time. And Chuch
(01:45):
Schumer's always been a champion of the RS. He never
wanted to shut down the government because he knows how
dangerous it is. And I mean, but roll the tape.
I mean, he gave the most impassioned speeches on this
very subject in March of this year. This is like
six months ago. But something changed, and I'm trying to
point out to everybody. It is very simple. It comes
(02:06):
down to Chuck covering his own tail.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
All right, Well, so let's there's the politics of this
for Schumer, which because I want to talk about.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
The healthcare piece too.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
But your friend on the Republican side of the Senate,
Senator Cruz brought this up that there is some specific
political calculation here for Chuck Schumer. Can you just elucidate
elaborate on that a little bit.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
I'll elaborate as briefly as I can, because it's pretty simple. Look,
Chuck Schumer is a far left progressive politician. Everybody knows
that he's been in Congress for forty four years. Brother,
about most of our lives, right, he's been serving here.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
But it's actually longer than I've been alive, mister speaker.
Speaker 4 (02:46):
But yeah, hey, there you go, all right, Yeah, I
was gonna all right, all right, so I'm giving myself
a little credit here, but look, all of your life
he's been here, Okay, But he is yesterday's news.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
He's the last generation of leadership. He's seventy four years
old now, and he's no longer the cool kid. Here's
the problem. Chuck Schumer has plain and simple. The Marxists
are now running New York, that's his state, right, They're
about to elect Mom Damie, an open Marxist, to be
the mayor of America's largest city. Chuck Schumer is terrified
by that because he knows that he's going to get
(03:17):
a challenge from his left and his next Senate reelection
bit and that's problem. Could be AOC or somebody else,
but it's almost a guarantee at this point, and he's
almost guaranteed to lose. So he's got to show a
fight against Trump. They didn't have any fight to show
because again, we have a clean fee r to keep
the government open. So they concocted this faux issue. They're
(03:39):
trying to argue that this is suddenly a debate about healthcare.
Never was. This is about simple funding, a simple funding measure.
The healthcare debate is for the three months ahead of
us going into the end of the year. That's the calculation.
All this, all the pain inflicted upon the American people,
is to cover one guy's political future. And his name
is Chuck Schumer, and he happens to lead the Democrats
(04:00):
in the Senate.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
Now we've got that political piece of this can you
dive a little more into the healthcare for illegals debate
that has just been all over and I was on
the other side of the world and trying to follow
it from from Taiwan last week, but this has been
a major issue. Democrats seem to be taking multiple positions
(04:23):
at the same time on it. Oh, it never happens.
It only happens a little bit. It happens sometimes, but
it's a good thing. What is the truth about the
concerns that illegal immigrants legal aliens in this country are accessing,
even indirectly, federal dollars for healthcare?
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Thank you. There's a couple of very important facts that
are irrefutable, and I laid them out in my press
confe this morning. That's all on social media. But here's
the thing. Okay, the Democrats have been wanting to give
taxpayer funded benefits to illegals, and they actually did it.
We know that. Go back to rerund to twenty twenty,
to the presidential debate stage when everybody was trying to
(05:02):
get the Democrat nomination, and they asked all of them
in that debate, raise your hand if you would like
to give taxpayer funded benefits in healthcare to illegal aliens.
Every single Democrat candidate on the stage raised their hand,
including Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. So when they got elected,
they did that for four years. They used all the
forces of the government and they expanded all these programs
(05:22):
to illegals. We fixed it, Buck, We passed the one
big beautiful bill. Republicans got control and last November of
Congress and we pushed through the American the Working Family's
tax cuts. Okay, And in that bill, we reversed all
that nonsense. We took the health care benefits away from illegals.
It was never intended. Medicaid was never intended for non
(05:44):
US citizens, and we fixed it. So what Chuck Schumer did,
because remember they needed a political issue now it's a
fight over healthcare, they fouled this monstrosity of a counterproposal
just to keep the lights on, just keep the government open.
They are demanding now that we spend one point five
trily ten dollars of additional taxpayer funds on big liberal priorities.
(06:04):
Included in that is reversing the changes we made and
restoring text Fayer funded healthcare to illegal aliens. In fact,
it is a fact Go to the website, Speaker dot guv.
Pull it up for yourself. Don't take my works for it.
Go look at Chuck Chimber's document that he filed in
the Congressional record. We have highlighted their page fifty seven,
(06:25):
section twenty one forty one that does exactly what I
just said.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Now, can you just explain this we're speaking to Speaker
of the House Johnson here. How does that mechanism work,
as in, what is the process through which illegals are
accessing federal dollars for their healthcare? Or how is the
state playing budgetary games in this case, states like California
(06:52):
and New York in order to give illegal aliens healthcare
that is funded in some way by the federal government.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Well, there's a number of ways that's done, and it's
a great question. And there is an exhibit right there
on that website, Speaker dot gov that shows you this
in a simple chart. Okay, the Democrat continuing Resolution Chuck
Schumer's gambit here would spend nearly two hundred billion dollars
of American taxpayer funds on healthcare subsidies for illegal immigrants
(07:20):
and other non citizens. And what are we talking about
there's six specific ways they do it. We reverse them
all in the Working Families Tax Cut Act, the One
Big Beautiful Bill, and in quick summary, what they are
is we in our bill, we ended medicaid funding from
most non citizens. That's about six point two billion dollars
in savings. We ended the emergency care for illegal aliens
(07:43):
that had been expanded. Believe it or not, California, for example,
expanded Medicaid to cover able bodied illegal alien adults, and
in the process of all this, we call that the
California loophole. We ended that. They also were literally hospitals.
We're being reimbursed more for treating illegal aliens in an
(08:03):
emergency room than American citizens like wow, pregnant American single women.
I mean, it's just madness. Okay, we took all that out.
We reversed the fraud waste abuse in Medicaid, Medicare, Obamacare
funding for most non citizens these special rules they put in,
and Obamacare for immigrants. You add it all up, it's
one hundred and ninety two point eight billion dollars. Okay.
(08:26):
We reversed that in the Big Beautiful Bill, and Chef
Schimmer on phase fifty seven of his counterproposal c R
would reverse all of it. It's a fact. They can't
refute it. Not a single one of them have done
it on TV or radio anywhere. They cannot. As John
Adams said, facts are stubborn things.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
And yet here we are. What are we six days
into this shutdown? Seven to six days something like that?
Speaker 3 (08:50):
What is yours? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (08:52):
What is your sense, mister speaker for where this is going?
And also can you speak to mister speaker the possibility
of not just furloughs, but some trimmed federal jobs as
a result of this shutdown?
Speaker 3 (09:06):
Where does that? Where does that lie?
Speaker 2 (09:09):
Well, there's two good and important questions I think with
regard to when does this end? As soon as we
get a handful, we need five or six additional Democrats
in the Senate to come to their senses and stop
the madness. They've always voted for CRS in the past.
They need to recognize real Americans of being hurt here.
I reminded everybody in the press covers this morning, I said,
(09:30):
basic civics. You'll remember, we don't have enough Republican votes
to get out of this mess, because you need sixty
votes in the Senate. Our problem is we only have
fifty three Republicans there, so you've got to have Democrats
that get off of this plank that they've walked themselves
out on and do the right thing for the people.
So we'll see it goes probably at least another week.
They painted themselves into a corner. But with regard to
(09:50):
the real pain, brother.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
Mister speaker, hold on a sec did did you did
you move somewhere because our cell are we had a beautiful, beautiful,
crystal clear cell connection and then got a little bit
a little bit funky there for a second, so I
could get you to either step to the other side
of your office wherever you were, hopefully maybe the connection
will just clear up.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
Go for it.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Yeah, is that a little better?
Speaker 3 (10:10):
Yes it is? There we go crystal clear, keep going.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Okay, I think it's the Russians. They're securing our thing
from the capital here, so listen. So here's the deal.
We're in this situation and it's causing real pain to
real American people. You're talking about you know, women, infants,
and children that have their nutrition subsidies, the supplemental nutrition
being halted. Right now, You've got health services to veterans,
(10:33):
you got our troops and our border patrol agents and TSA.
They're all working to protect Americans with no pay right now.
I mean, it just goes on and on and on,
so real pain by real people. The question is how
long are the Senate Democrats going to allow this to
go on? And you know, among all those those pain points,
(10:53):
there's a lot of things involved. Now you talked about
the furlough of federal workers. Russ vote. Our good friend
runs the awesome man and budget in the Trump administration.
His job is to scale down the government because Chuck
Schumer decided to turn off the funding streams. He has
no choice in the matter. He takes no pleasure in it.
But he has to sit down and evaluate everything the
federal government does and triog it. Right, He's got to
(11:15):
determine what are the most essential services, policy personnel that
we carry on and which are less so. And anybody
who's in his position in any administration of these circumstances
has that responsibility. If falls to our friend Russ, we
pray that he uses wisdom and discernment, but you know
he has no choice in that.
Speaker 3 (11:35):
Mister speaker, appreciate you making the time for us, sir.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
You got it, bro, Take care.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
Man.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
He's Democrats. It's funny the more the truth gets out,
the worse their position looks, not just on this, pretty
much on everything, but on this it is absolutely the case.
We appreciate Speaker Johnson being with us there. Look, you
want to have the right tools at home to defend
yourself and protect your family. An umbrella or a baseball
bat by the door isn't gonna cut it in an emergency.
(12:03):
Our sponsor, Saber makes the most effective non lethal protection
tools you can have. You can go big with their
pepper spray projectile launchers and factors of pepper spray launcher.
Bundle up at saberradio dot com right now that I
would highly recommend s A B R E saberradio dot com. There.
They've got that pepper launcher. They've also got an innovative
(12:24):
two to one pepper light, which is both a flashlight
which you know you need for light, and pepper spray
through outdoors walking at night. It's a great tool to
have to keep yourself safe. This Saber is the company
we trust to provide our families with the best non
lethal protection tools. If Saber makes it, we've got to
clay uses them. I use them. Decide what you're most
comfortable relying on. Go to Saber radio dot com. You'll
(12:47):
save fifteen percent there, that's s A b R E
Radio dot com. Or call eight four four A two
four safe eight four four eight two four safe.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
Use you can count on and some laughs. Toolay, Travis
and Bucks.
Speaker 5 (13:05):
Find them on the free iHeartRadio app or wherever you
get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
Welcome back in to Clay and Buck. So that's a
great interview with the Speaker of the House just now
telling us everything that we need to know or kendo
about where the government shutdown stands. And it looks like
it's going to continue for some time. Eventually, Democrats, I
think are going to have to cave and that's a
good thing. But we shall see. But coming up here,
(13:32):
I wanted to tee this up for you. As you know,
I was out last week. I was in Taiwan, and
I am a big believer in going out to see
things for yourself and to learn about important things as
part of this job.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
Right, I don't just want to be a guy who.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
Is also locked away in a studio doing research all
day long.
Speaker 3 (13:51):
That's important. It's part of the job.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
But I have to get out there and see for
myself and have these conversations and learn about the most
important issues in the world. And I understand going to
the other side of the world may seem a little
bit like a digression from some of what we do here.
But here's what you need to know about the situation
with Taiwan right now, and this is after I've spent
(14:13):
a week with everybody in that country who's making decisions
at the top level. I had long the interview, of course,
with the president, which you're about to hear shortly, but
also a post interview debrief with the President of Taiwan
and his national security team, a long sit down with
the Vice president separately, the Vice President of taiwan National
(14:35):
Security Council, national Security Advisor. I went to a military
base to see exercises for their high mars artillery system,
which they're revving up everything. They have an all of
the above initiative to prepare all of Taiwanese society for
(14:56):
possible invasion. So this is about all of society resilience now. Now,
to be clear, Taiwan is a very happy, peaceful and
prosperous country that just wants that all to continue. They
have no ill intent toward any of their neighbors. They
want to just provide the best microchips in the world,
as well as a whole lot of other things, and
just want to live their lives and continue with the
(15:18):
status quo. Xijinping is a dictator and a scary one,
and they're building up an army and a navy that
can only really have one purpose, and that is for
an invasion of Taiwan to take it by force. And
they are making it more and more clear that that
is the point. Taiwan is preparing its defenses for what
(15:41):
could be a massive, amphibious invasion along with missile strikes.
It could shut down global trade in the area, crash
stock markets around the world, could trigger US intervention, Japanese intervention.
This could get really bad. Here's the good news. I
(16:01):
think it can all be prevented. And the way to
prevent it is to give Taiwan the tools it needs
to defend itself so that the so called porcupine strategy
of just you don't want to touch it. China doesn't
want to touch it, they don't want to deal with
it continues, and then everything that we've seen will be
(16:23):
status quo there and things can work out just fine.
But I think that for anybody who believes, well, it's
not our problem. They make ninety percent of the advanced chips.
Ninety percent of the advanced chips are made, and a
lot of it is made by TSMC, a company I
met with there as well. If that production is taken offline,
even for a matter of days, the whole global supply
(16:45):
chain is halted, and all of the things there are
chips in your car, in your phone, in your computers
in it, that all comes to a halt. In addition,
if China takes it, they will have as loot dominance
in chip manufacturing and an ability to cut us off
as they see fit. When ai is becoming the most
(17:08):
important technology in the world, including for drones, national security,
national defense matters. Simply put, we can't afford to not
care about what happens to our ally Taiwan, and that's
why I think the conversation with the President of Taiwan
is so important. We don't have direct, direct ambassadorial relationship
(17:30):
with them. The last senior government official to visit them
was Nancy Pelosi, so obviously that was a waste of time,
and that was years ago, So this really matters now.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
And I think one.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
Thing that took from the interview is the heat has
never been higher than it is right now. We can
stop this thing from being a hot war, but we
need to stand with our allies by selling them the
stuff they want to buy to defend themselves. That's all
I would ask that we consider all right. On the
days you need energy, you need Chalk. Look, I just
came back from the other side of the world. Jet
(18:04):
lag is hitting pretty hard. I'm flying to DC tomorrow.
I'm flying to Nashville on Thursday. It's a crazy week, friends,
but I've got Chalk, so I am good to go.
Chalk's Mail Vitality Stack is their most popular product. Like
all of Chalk's products, though it's all natural. You can
read the ingredients, you'll say, oh, I know what that is.
Go check them out on the website. But the male
(18:25):
Vitality Stack replenishes diminished the stospon levels of men that's
your body's natural source of energy. By it can increase
them by up to twenty percent in three months time,
according to studies. So Chalk also has a whole range
of I love their glutathion. By the way, I'm a
big believer in the glutathione. I take that daily, and
the Chalk Daily is just a great overall supplement for you.
Speaker 3 (18:44):
Go check it out.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
Chalk dot com, Choq dot com. Use my name buck
for a discount on any subscription for life. That's chalkcchoq
dot com. Use my name buck for a discount on
any subscription for life. All right, everybody has promised. Here
is my exclusive inner you with the President of Taiwan. Now,
just to be clear, he responded to me. We had
(19:06):
a translator. He responded to me in Chinese, and so
you have a voiceover for the translator and my original voice.
But this is a critical, critical series of issues that
we tackled and certainly affects the US. So here you
go from just a few days ago the President of Taiwan,
(19:27):
President Line. One of the things we've noticed, by the way,
that has already gotten some attention back in the States
is a sense of civic responsibility here. How respectful everyone
is here, how safe everyone feels on your streets.
Speaker 5 (19:43):
Is this not the case in a lot of American cities.
And it's inspiring to tell Americans about how the Taiwanese
people are respectful, law abiding, and the civic responsibility that
they have. Also wanted to ask you, how would you
describe the situation right now with your neighbor China. There's
(20:04):
obviously a lot of global concerns about a sense of
rhetoric heating up, a sense that there is a pathway
now that is becoming more imminent, that there could be
a crisis. How do you want to describe the situation
right now for specifically an American audience as to what's.
Speaker 3 (20:24):
Going on here.
Speaker 6 (20:26):
First of all, I'm very glad that you have seen
a lot of things during a stay in Taiwan and
that you are having a fruitful trip so far. I
also want to thank you for commending our civil society.
In the international community, Taiwan is often lauded its being
a place where the most beautiful scenery is actually it's people. Recently,
due to a typhoon, a barrier lake overflowed in Hualian,
(20:50):
causing a significant number of injuries and deaths. Streets and
houses recovered in mud. Taiwanese society immobilized to help people
affect it. We had a long holiday weekends This past
weekend On the first day, thirty thousand people traveled to
Hualian to offer assistance, and on both the second and
third days, another forty thousand went, meaning that over one
(21:13):
hundred thousand people of their own accord took their shovels
to help those affected. In our society, these people were
referred to as superheroes with shovels. So you can feel
that in Taiwan there's a lot of warmth. People are kind,
so our streets at nighttime or daytime are generally very safe.
(21:34):
Your question was about Taiwan's relations with China. I very
much hope that everyone in the world who pays attention
to Taiwan China issues can be clear about several things. First,
the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China
are not subordinated to each other. Taiwan is not a
part of the PRC. China does not have the rights
(21:56):
to invade Taiwan. Secondly, China has been hold military exercises
in the Taiwan Strait, undermining peace and stability in the region.
So it is China, not Taiwan that is disrupting the
cross straight status quo. The fact that the Taiwanese people
seek to protect their sovereignty and pursue a way of
(22:18):
life based on democracy, freedom and human rights should not
be seen as a provocation against China. Thirdly, even though
Taiwan is facing increasing threats from China, Taiwan has not
given up on seeking peace and mutual prosperity across the Strait.
We understand that peace is priceless and that there are
no winners in war. Peace and stability across the Taiwan
(22:43):
Strait are essential elements of global security and prosperity. Our
pursuit of peace is an ideal, not a fantasy. We
believe that to achieve peace, there must be strength. Since
taking office, I have implemented the Four Pillars of Peace
Action Plan. The first pillar is strengthening Taiwan's national defense.
(23:05):
Our defense spending as defined by NATO will reach three
point three two percent of GDP next year, and this
will increase to five percent of GDP by twenty thirty.
We are procuring arms from the United States and partners
across the international community. At the same time, we are
promoting indigenous defense capabilities. We will work with the international
(23:30):
community to co develop arms including R and D design
and manufacturing. This will allow the domestic defense industry to
grow and contribute to Taiwan's security. Drones, unmanned submarines, and
robotics are all areas that Taiwan will prioritize in the future.
(23:50):
The second pillar was enhancing our economic resilience. In twenty ten,
eighty three point eight percent of Taiwan's outbound investments went
to China, but last year this number was only seven percent.
The United States is now Taiwan's largest destination for outbound investments.
In other words, we are not putting all of our
(24:12):
eggs in the same basket. We hope that Taiwan's industries
will be rooted in Taiwan, deploy globally, and market across
the world. This will not only strengthen our economy, but
also make it more resilient, thereby safeguarding Taiwan's security. The
third pillar is standing together with the United States and
(24:32):
other free and democratic countries to bolster joints to Terrance.
This will allow us to prevent war by preparing for one.
And Fourthly, Taiwan is willing to engage in dialogue with
China based on parity and dignity. Through exchanges and cooperation,
we can achieve the goal of peace at mutual prosperity.
(24:54):
We hope that Taiwan will continue to enjoy the support
of President Trump. Is able to convince Xi Jinping to
permanently renounce the use of force against Taiwan, President Trump
will surely win the Nobel Peace Prize.
Speaker 5 (25:10):
If I could ask you, if you could speak directly
to President Trump about the situation of Taiwan right now,
the security situation. More specifically, what would you want him
to know about ways to bolster the US Taiwan relationship and.
Speaker 7 (25:29):
What would you view as goals that could be achieved
in this very important partnership.
Speaker 6 (25:34):
I would suggest that he take note of the fact
that Chi Jinping is not just holding ever larger military
exercises in the Taiwan Strait, but expanding China's military deployment
in the South and East China seas. China's military exercises
now extend across the Indo Pacific region, Its aircraft carriers
(25:55):
are moving beyond the First Island Chain and Second Island Chain,
and its Northern fleet even sailed around Japan for a week.
Chinese naval vessels also conducted live fire exercises in Australia's
Exclusive Economic Zone. The situation in the Indo Pacific region
is changing constantly and tensions are rising. So the issue
(26:20):
is not only a possible annexation of Taiwan. If it
is able to annex Taiwan, China will be in a
stronger position to compete with the United States and alter
the rules based international order. This would eventually also impact
US interests. So we hope that President Trump can continue
(26:41):
to maintain peace and stability in the Indo Pacific. Taiwan
is determined to ensure its national security. We will fulfill
our responsibility and work with free and democratic countries to
maintain regional peace and stability.
Speaker 5 (26:58):
What would you say, Because in America, given some difficult
lessons we have learned about foreign policy and foreign policy intervention,
there's a focus on partners who will carry their weight
for their own defense and have a willingness to fight.
If anyone in America, whether policy or voter citizen, has
(27:21):
a question about whether Taiwan is willing to defend its
own sovereignty, what would you say to that question?
Speaker 6 (27:27):
I would tell them that Taiwan is absolutely determined to
ensure its own national security, peace and stability across the
Taiwan Strait are indispensable elements in global security and prosperity.
So when Taiwan looks after its own national security, it
shows that Taiwan is committed to protecting regional peace and
(27:50):
stability as well. That is why, as I mentioned before,
we are continuing to increase our national defense budget. So
during former President Tying Winds term, the national defense budget
was increased from one point nine per cent of GDP
to two point five percent. Next year it will reach
(28:10):
three point three two percent, and we hope to increase
this to five percent by twenty thirty. This would be
five years earlier than NATO's olden goal. I also convened
a high level national security meeting in which we defined
the Chinese Communist Party regime as a foreign hostile force,
(28:30):
and I proposed seventeen strategies to address the five major
threats we faced from China. These will translate into more
than one hundred amendments to our national security laws, which
will be reviewed by the Legislative un during the current session.
This will put Taiwan on a stronger legal footing, bolster
(28:52):
its national defense, and allow people to contribute to their
power towards safeguarding our nation and protecting regional peace and stability.
I believe that people help those who help themselves, So
I very much agree with your idea that Taiwan and
other countries should meet their own responsibilities. And when we
(29:12):
show unity and work together, that is when deterrence is
at its strongest, and that is when we will be
able to safeguard peace and stability in the world.
Speaker 1 (29:24):
All right, So we're going to come back and do
more of this interview and touching on something I think
you'll find really interesting, family formation and how that is
something that Taiwan is focused on, along with, of course
artificial intelligence its role in the world of semiconductors, but
really important stuff coming up here in just a moment.
(29:45):
In the meantime, October is cybersecurity Awareness month. Every day
online hackers steal identities, drain bank accounts, and open fraudulent
accounts using stolen information Yours may be included. The best
way to protect yourself is by having a life LifeLock membership.
I've had mine for nearly a decade now. It's paid
for itself about a dozen times over. Easy to set
(30:06):
up and you've got a twenty four to seven ally
looking after your online identity. LifeLock scours hundreds of millions
of online transactions and account openings and looks for evidence
of foul play, and if your name is involved, they
notify you immediately. If you've got a problem, They're ready
to help. If your identity is stolen, a LifeLock US
based restoration specialist will help solve it and that is
guaranteed or your money back plus all LifeLock plant plus.
(30:29):
All LifeLock plans are backed by the million Dollar Protection Package,
meaning LifeLock will reimburse you to your plans limits if
you lose money due to identity theft. Stay smart, stay safe,
and stay protected with LifeLock. Get comprehensive identity protection with
a thirty day free trial at LifeLock dot com. Use
my name buck as your promo code. That's LifeLock dot
Com promo code buck for thirty days free terms apply.
(30:51):
All right, here's more of my interview with the President
of Taiwan, President lie On Well, the future of his country.
Speaker 3 (30:59):
Let's dive into.
Speaker 5 (31:00):
As part of our trip here, we were able to
spend some time with people from TSMC. Obviously, there's a
tremendous global and American specifically interest in artificial intelligence. It
was also very interesting to.
Speaker 7 (31:18):
Learn in detail about the incredible facility that TSMC has
built and is building out more in Arizona. I would
like to ask you to speak to the economic partnership,
specifically in advanced technology, microchip manufacturing, artificial intelligence, the relationship
(31:40):
between Taiwan and America going forward, and how you view
that to grow and bring prosperity for both countries.
Speaker 6 (31:48):
Taiwan, so we all know that Taiwan's technology industry has
performed well. This is the result of decades of cooperation
among Taiwan's industries, government, academia, and R and D, as
well as the support of the Taiwanese people. But I
must also note, with appropriate humility, that TSMC and the
Taiwanese semiconductor industry are still only one part of a
(32:11):
bigger ecosystem and do not represent the whole system. So
if you look at the entire semiconductor ecosystem, the United
States is strong in areas such as innovation, R and D,
and design, and it is also the biggest market. Japan
is strong in raw materials and related equipment, and the
Republic of Korea they have flash memory. Taiwans strength is
(32:35):
in waifer manufacturing, and the Netherlands makes the critical equipment
that is used to make semiconductors. But in the whole ecosystem,
you can see that around eighty percent of profits go
to the United States. So for semiconductors, I would say
the United States is still the leader in this ecosystem.
(32:55):
Looking ahead, as we face the AI era, every nation
in the semi doctor ecosystem will be extremely important and
the United States will continue to lead the world in this.
So Taiwan is very willing to work with the United
States to achieve this goal. We want to help the
United States reindustrialize and become a global AI hub. We
(33:18):
want the United States to continue to lead the world
in this new AI era, and we want to help
make America great again. So with regard to Taiwan's semiconductor industry,
we see it as an important responsibility in terms of
ensuring the world's future prosperity. That is why the Taiwan
government has been very supportive of TSMC's investments in the
(33:41):
United States and Japan, as well as Germany. In the future,
when the United States has reindustrialized and become a global
ai hub. I am sure that TSMC will continue to
play a crucial role.
Speaker 5 (33:55):
Over the course of meetings with various members of your government,
I learned something that was very interesting to me, and
it has to do with a problem we have also
started to look at in America of family formation. It's
very interesting, I think, to the American audience to hear
of countries that are trying to use policy to address
(34:18):
issues like encouraging marriage and even more encouraging children so
that a society can replenish, so there's resiliency and there's replenishment.
Could you please speak to some of the ways that
you are encouraging people to have more kids here, because
this is something that in America we're also considering the
(34:38):
Trump administration through tax policy, but also culturally, there's a
sense that we need to bring those numbers up. How
are you doing that here and how are those initiatives
going so far?
Speaker 6 (34:50):
Yeah, I am very glad that you look positively at
what we have been doing in Taiwan. Actually, Taiwan's policies
were made with reference to what the United States and
other countries have been doing concerning our strategies First, the
government is supporting families in jointly raising children from birth
to six years old by providing monthly subsidies. Tuition is
(35:14):
also free for both public and private high schools and
vocational schools. Young people who want to get married and
have children are given priority in applying for social housings.
If they want to buy a home, they can get
government funding to subsidize the interest on their mortgage, and
if they are renting, they can get a rent subsidy
(35:36):
from the government. For couples who are having problems conceiving,
the government subsidizes fertility treatment. Taiwan's government is currently investing
more in our society and cutting taxes by more than
ever before in our history. These initiatives will help our
young people feel confident that they can get married, have children,
(35:58):
and will be able to raise them. I notes that
President Trump is also cutting taxes. We want to reduce
the burden on households so that more people can start
a family. This will promote social stability and continual growth
for the country.
Speaker 5 (36:15):
Mister President, just want to say it's a beautiful country
with wonderful people who have been so welcoming to us,
and the alliance between our countries is to me and
to many others so important. Thank you for taking the time,
and we wish you and all of the taiwan Is
people well.
Speaker 6 (36:32):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (36:33):
We'll have more on this, of course, throughout the week.
We'll be talking about it. Send me your thoughts, your emails,
and I'll be back with you so tomorrow Shield tie
Third hour of play and Buck kicks off right now.
(00:03):
At the bottom of the hour, We've got the President
of Taiwan interview talking about national security and the economic
impact of a possible Chinese invasion. We'll discuss that, but
in the meantime, Speaker of the House, Speaker Johnson is
with us now. Mister Speaker, appreciate you making the time
we can discuss some shutdown and other issues.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Buck. Great to be with you. I look forward to
that interview. That's timely stuff with Taiwan. We watch it
very closely, so I'm glad you got to go over
there and see it firsthand.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Yeah, please do listen in He had a I asked him,
I said, what's your message directly to President Trump? People
should know that we don't have an embassy there, we
don't have direct high level meetings with the government of Taiwan.
So getting the word around, I think is really important
because things are heating up with China. But in the meantime,
mister Speaker, just bring us up to the latest here
(00:56):
on are we calling it the Schumer shutdown? I am,
but what's the latest on this government shutdown? What's happening?
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Yeah, I wish there were more developments to report that
we're stuck at a stalemate. It is the Schumer Democrat shutdown.
And I did a little press conference this morning, just
trying to lay out, once again reiterating the simple truths.
I mean, the truth has been obscured by all these Democrats.
There are relentless efforts at spinning what everybody knows to
(01:23):
be true. I mean, look, this is a clean, continuing resolution,
and what we mean by that is there's no part
of the provisions and no tricks, no gimmicks. We're just
simply trying to keep the lights on because as we
were going through the appropriations process, we ran out of
clock because the end of the fiscal year of September
thirtieth and not the end of the calendar year at
December thirty one. So we needed more time. And Chuch
(01:45):
Schumer's always been a champion of the RS. He never
wanted to shut down the government because he knows how
dangerous it is. And I mean, but roll the tape.
I mean, he gave the most impassioned speeches on this
very subject in March of this year. This is like
six months ago. But something changed, and I'm trying to
point out to everybody. It is very simple. It comes
(02:06):
down to Chuck covering his own tail.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
All right, Well, so let's there's the politics of this
for Schumer, which because I want to talk about.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
The healthcare piece too.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
But your friend on the Republican side of the Senate,
Senator Cruz brought this up that there is some specific
political calculation here for Chuck Schumer. Can you just elucidate
elaborate on that a little bit.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
I'll elaborate as briefly as I can, because it's pretty simple. Look,
Chuck Schumer is a far left progressive politician. Everybody knows
that he's been in Congress for forty four years. Brother,
about most of our lives, right, he's been serving here.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
But it's actually longer than I've been alive, mister speaker.
Speaker 4 (02:46):
But yeah, hey, there you go, all right, Yeah, I
was gonna all right, all right, so I'm giving myself
a little credit here, but look, all of your life
he's been here, Okay, But he is yesterday's news.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
He's the last generation of leadership. He's seventy four years
old now, and he's no longer the cool kid. Here's
the problem. Chuck Schumer has plain and simple. The Marxists
are now running New York, that's his state, right, They're
about to elect Mom Damie, an open Marxist, to be
the mayor of America's largest city. Chuck Schumer is terrified
by that because he knows that he's going to get
(03:17):
a challenge from his left and his next Senate reelection
bit and that's problem. Could be AOC or somebody else,
but it's almost a guarantee at this point, and he's
almost guaranteed to lose. So he's got to show a
fight against Trump. They didn't have any fight to show
because again, we have a clean fee r to keep
the government open. So they concocted this faux issue. They're
(03:39):
trying to argue that this is suddenly a debate about healthcare.
Never was. This is about simple funding, a simple funding measure.
The healthcare debate is for the three months ahead of
us going into the end of the year. That's the calculation.
All this, all the pain inflicted upon the American people,
is to cover one guy's political future. And his name
is Chuck Schumer, and he happens to lead the Democrats
(04:00):
in the Senate.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
Now we've got that political piece of this can you
dive a little more into the healthcare for illegals debate
that has just been all over and I was on
the other side of the world and trying to follow
it from from Taiwan last week, but this has been
a major issue. Democrats seem to be taking multiple positions
(04:23):
at the same time on it. Oh, it never happens.
It only happens a little bit. It happens sometimes, but
it's a good thing. What is the truth about the
concerns that illegal immigrants legal aliens in this country are accessing,
even indirectly, federal dollars for healthcare?
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Thank you. There's a couple of very important facts that
are irrefutable, and I laid them out in my press
confe this morning. That's all on social media. But here's
the thing. Okay, the Democrats have been wanting to give
taxpayer funded benefits to illegals, and they actually did it.
We know that. Go back to rerund to twenty twenty,
to the presidential debate stage when everybody was trying to
(05:02):
get the Democrat nomination, and they asked all of them
in that debate, raise your hand if you would like
to give taxpayer funded benefits in healthcare to illegal aliens.
Every single Democrat candidate on the stage raised their hand,
including Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. So when they got elected,
they did that for four years. They used all the
forces of the government and they expanded all these programs
(05:22):
to illegals. We fixed it, Buck, We passed the one
big beautiful bill. Republicans got control and last November of
Congress and we pushed through the American the Working Family's
tax cuts. Okay, And in that bill, we reversed all
that nonsense. We took the health care benefits away from illegals.
It was never intended. Medicaid was never intended for non
(05:44):
US citizens, and we fixed it. So what Chuck Schumer did,
because remember they needed a political issue now it's a
fight over healthcare, they fouled this monstrosity of a counterproposal
just to keep the lights on, just keep the government open.
They are demanding now that we spend one point five
trily ten dollars of additional taxpayer funds on big liberal priorities.
(06:04):
Included in that is reversing the changes we made and
restoring text Fayer funded healthcare to illegal aliens. In fact,
it is a fact Go to the website, Speaker dot guv.
Pull it up for yourself. Don't take my works for it.
Go look at Chuck Chimber's document that he filed in
the Congressional record. We have highlighted their page fifty seven,
(06:25):
section twenty one forty one that does exactly what I
just said.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Now, can you just explain this we're speaking to Speaker
of the House Johnson here. How does that mechanism work,
as in, what is the process through which illegals are
accessing federal dollars for their healthcare? Or how is the
state playing budgetary games in this case, states like California
(06:52):
and New York in order to give illegal aliens healthcare
that is funded in some way by the federal government.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Well, there's a number of ways that's done, and it's
a great question. And there is an exhibit right there
on that website, Speaker dot gov that shows you this
in a simple chart. Okay, the Democrat continuing Resolution Chuck
Schumer's gambit here would spend nearly two hundred billion dollars
of American taxpayer funds on healthcare subsidies for illegal immigrants
(07:20):
and other non citizens. And what are we talking about
there's six specific ways they do it. We reverse them
all in the Working Families Tax Cut Act, the One
Big Beautiful Bill, and in quick summary, what they are
is we in our bill, we ended medicaid funding from
most non citizens. That's about six point two billion dollars
in savings. We ended the emergency care for illegal aliens
(07:43):
that had been expanded. Believe it or not, California, for example,
expanded Medicaid to cover able bodied illegal alien adults, and
in the process of all this, we call that the
California loophole. We ended that. They also were literally hospitals.
We're being reimbursed more for treating illegal aliens in an
(08:03):
emergency room than American citizens like wow, pregnant American single women.
I mean, it's just madness. Okay, we took all that out.
We reversed the fraud waste abuse in Medicaid, Medicare, Obamacare
funding for most non citizens these special rules they put in,
and Obamacare for immigrants. You add it all up, it's
one hundred and ninety two point eight billion dollars. Okay.
(08:26):
We reversed that in the Big Beautiful Bill, and Chef
Schimmer on phase fifty seven of his counterproposal c R
would reverse all of it. It's a fact. They can't
refute it. Not a single one of them have done
it on TV or radio anywhere. They cannot. As John
Adams said, facts are stubborn things.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
And yet here we are. What are we six days
into this shutdown? Seven to six days something like that?
Speaker 3 (08:50):
What is yours? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (08:52):
What is your sense, mister speaker for where this is going?
And also can you speak to mister speaker the possibility
of not just furloughs, but some trimmed federal jobs as
a result of this shutdown?
Speaker 3 (09:06):
Where does that? Where does that lie?
Speaker 2 (09:09):
Well, there's two good and important questions I think with
regard to when does this end? As soon as we
get a handful, we need five or six additional Democrats
in the Senate to come to their senses and stop
the madness. They've always voted for CRS in the past.
They need to recognize real Americans of being hurt here.
I reminded everybody in the press covers this morning, I said,
(09:30):
basic civics. You'll remember, we don't have enough Republican votes
to get out of this mess, because you need sixty
votes in the Senate. Our problem is we only have
fifty three Republicans there, so you've got to have Democrats
that get off of this plank that they've walked themselves
out on and do the right thing for the people.
So we'll see it goes probably at least another week.
They painted themselves into a corner. But with regard to
(09:50):
the real pain, brother.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
Mister speaker, hold on a sec did did you did
you move somewhere because our cell are we had a beautiful, beautiful,
crystal clear cell connection and then got a little bit
a little bit funky there for a second, so I
could get you to either step to the other side
of your office wherever you were, hopefully maybe the connection
will just clear up.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
Go for it.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Yeah, is that a little better?
Speaker 3 (10:10):
Yes it is? There we go crystal clear, keep going.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Okay, I think it's the Russians. They're securing our thing
from the capital here, so listen. So here's the deal.
We're in this situation and it's causing real pain to
real American people. You're talking about you know, women, infants,
and children that have their nutrition subsidies, the supplemental nutrition
being halted. Right now, You've got health services to veterans,
(10:33):
you got our troops and our border patrol agents and TSA.
They're all working to protect Americans with no pay right now.
I mean, it just goes on and on and on,
so real pain by real people. The question is how
long are the Senate Democrats going to allow this to
go on? And you know, among all those those pain points,
(10:53):
there's a lot of things involved. Now you talked about
the furlough of federal workers. Russ vote. Our good friend
runs the awesome man and budget in the Trump administration.
His job is to scale down the government because Chuck
Schumer decided to turn off the funding streams. He has
no choice in the matter. He takes no pleasure in it.
But he has to sit down and evaluate everything the
federal government does and triog it. Right, He's got to
(11:15):
determine what are the most essential services, policy personnel that
we carry on and which are less so. And anybody
who's in his position in any administration of these circumstances
has that responsibility. If falls to our friend Russ, we
pray that he uses wisdom and discernment, but you know
he has no choice in that.
Speaker 3 (11:35):
Mister speaker, appreciate you making the time for us, sir.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
You got it, bro, Take care.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
Man.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
He's Democrats. It's funny the more the truth gets out,
the worse their position looks, not just on this, pretty
much on everything, but on this it is absolutely the case.
We appreciate Speaker Johnson being with us there. Look, you
want to have the right tools at home to defend
yourself and protect your family. An umbrella or a baseball
bat by the door isn't gonna cut it in an emergency.
(12:03):
Our sponsor, Saber makes the most effective non lethal protection
tools you can have. You can go big with their
pepper spray projectile launchers and factors of pepper spray launcher.
Bundle up at saberradio dot com right now that I
would highly recommend s A B R E saberradio dot com. There.
They've got that pepper launcher. They've also got an innovative
(12:24):
two to one pepper light, which is both a flashlight
which you know you need for light, and pepper spray
through outdoors walking at night. It's a great tool to
have to keep yourself safe. This Saber is the company
we trust to provide our families with the best non
lethal protection tools. If Saber makes it, we've got to
clay uses them. I use them. Decide what you're most
comfortable relying on. Go to Saber radio dot com. You'll
(12:47):
save fifteen percent there, that's s A b R E
Radio dot com. Or call eight four four A two
four safe eight four four eight two four safe.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
Use you can count on and some laughs. Toolay, Travis
and Bucks.
Speaker 5 (13:05):
Find them on the free iHeartRadio app or wherever you
get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
Welcome back in to Clay and Buck. So that's a
great interview with the Speaker of the House just now
telling us everything that we need to know or kendo
about where the government shutdown stands. And it looks like
it's going to continue for some time. Eventually, Democrats, I
think are going to have to cave and that's a
good thing. But we shall see. But coming up here,
(13:32):
I wanted to tee this up for you. As you know,
I was out last week. I was in Taiwan, and
I am a big believer in going out to see
things for yourself and to learn about important things as
part of this job.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
Right, I don't just want to be a guy who.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
Is also locked away in a studio doing research all
day long.
Speaker 3 (13:51):
That's important. It's part of the job.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
But I have to get out there and see for
myself and have these conversations and learn about the most
important issues in the world. And I understand going to
the other side of the world may seem a little
bit like a digression from some of what we do here.
But here's what you need to know about the situation
with Taiwan right now, and this is after I've spent
(14:13):
a week with everybody in that country who's making decisions
at the top level. I had long the interview, of course,
with the president, which you're about to hear shortly, but
also a post interview debrief with the President of Taiwan
and his national security team, a long sit down with
the Vice president separately, the Vice President of taiwan National
(14:35):
Security Council, national Security Advisor. I went to a military
base to see exercises for their high mars artillery system,
which they're revving up everything. They have an all of
the above initiative to prepare all of Taiwanese society for
(14:56):
possible invasion. So this is about all of society resilience now. Now,
to be clear, Taiwan is a very happy, peaceful and
prosperous country that just wants that all to continue. They
have no ill intent toward any of their neighbors. They
want to just provide the best microchips in the world,
as well as a whole lot of other things, and
just want to live their lives and continue with the
(15:18):
status quo. Xijinping is a dictator and a scary one,
and they're building up an army and a navy that
can only really have one purpose, and that is for
an invasion of Taiwan to take it by force. And
they are making it more and more clear that that
is the point. Taiwan is preparing its defenses for what
(15:41):
could be a massive, amphibious invasion along with missile strikes.
It could shut down global trade in the area, crash
stock markets around the world, could trigger US intervention, Japanese intervention.
This could get really bad. Here's the good news. I
(16:01):
think it can all be prevented. And the way to
prevent it is to give Taiwan the tools it needs
to defend itself so that the so called porcupine strategy
of just you don't want to touch it. China doesn't
want to touch it, they don't want to deal with
it continues, and then everything that we've seen will be
(16:23):
status quo there and things can work out just fine.
But I think that for anybody who believes, well, it's
not our problem. They make ninety percent of the advanced chips.
Ninety percent of the advanced chips are made, and a
lot of it is made by TSMC, a company I
met with there as well. If that production is taken offline,
even for a matter of days, the whole global supply
(16:45):
chain is halted, and all of the things there are
chips in your car, in your phone, in your computers
in it, that all comes to a halt. In addition,
if China takes it, they will have as loot dominance
in chip manufacturing and an ability to cut us off
as they see fit. When ai is becoming the most
(17:08):
important technology in the world, including for drones, national security,
national defense matters. Simply put, we can't afford to not
care about what happens to our ally Taiwan, and that's
why I think the conversation with the President of Taiwan
is so important. We don't have direct, direct ambassadorial relationship
(17:30):
with them. The last senior government official to visit them
was Nancy Pelosi, so obviously that was a waste of time,
and that was years ago, So this really matters now.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
And I think one.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
Thing that took from the interview is the heat has
never been higher than it is right now. We can
stop this thing from being a hot war, but we
need to stand with our allies by selling them the
stuff they want to buy to defend themselves. That's all
I would ask that we consider all right. On the
days you need energy, you need Chalk. Look, I just
came back from the other side of the world. Jet
(18:04):
lag is hitting pretty hard. I'm flying to DC tomorrow.
I'm flying to Nashville on Thursday. It's a crazy week, friends,
but I've got Chalk, so I am good to go.
Chalk's Mail Vitality Stack is their most popular product. Like
all of Chalk's products, though it's all natural. You can
read the ingredients, you'll say, oh, I know what that is.
Go check them out on the website. But the male
(18:25):
Vitality Stack replenishes diminished the stospon levels of men that's
your body's natural source of energy. By it can increase
them by up to twenty percent in three months time,
according to studies. So Chalk also has a whole range
of I love their glutathion. By the way, I'm a
big believer in the glutathione. I take that daily, and
the Chalk Daily is just a great overall supplement for you.
Speaker 3 (18:44):
Go check it out.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
Chalk dot com, Choq dot com. Use my name buck
for a discount on any subscription for life. That's chalkcchoq
dot com. Use my name buck for a discount on
any subscription for life. All right, everybody has promised. Here
is my exclusive inner you with the President of Taiwan. Now,
just to be clear, he responded to me. We had
(19:06):
a translator. He responded to me in Chinese, and so
you have a voiceover for the translator and my original voice.
But this is a critical, critical series of issues that
we tackled and certainly affects the US. So here you
go from just a few days ago the President of Taiwan,
(19:27):
President Line. One of the things we've noticed, by the way,
that has already gotten some attention back in the States
is a sense of civic responsibility here. How respectful everyone
is here, how safe everyone feels on your streets.
Speaker 5 (19:43):
Is this not the case in a lot of American cities.
And it's inspiring to tell Americans about how the Taiwanese
people are respectful, law abiding, and the civic responsibility that
they have. Also wanted to ask you, how would you
describe the situation right now with your neighbor China. There's
(20:04):
obviously a lot of global concerns about a sense of
rhetoric heating up, a sense that there is a pathway
now that is becoming more imminent, that there could be
a crisis. How do you want to describe the situation
right now for specifically an American audience as to what's.
Speaker 3 (20:24):
Going on here.
Speaker 6 (20:26):
First of all, I'm very glad that you have seen
a lot of things during a stay in Taiwan and
that you are having a fruitful trip so far. I
also want to thank you for commending our civil society.
In the international community, Taiwan is often lauded its being
a place where the most beautiful scenery is actually it's people. Recently,
due to a typhoon, a barrier lake overflowed in Hualian,
(20:50):
causing a significant number of injuries and deaths. Streets and
houses recovered in mud. Taiwanese society immobilized to help people
affect it. We had a long holiday weekends This past
weekend On the first day, thirty thousand people traveled to
Hualian to offer assistance, and on both the second and
third days, another forty thousand went, meaning that over one
(21:13):
hundred thousand people of their own accord took their shovels
to help those affected. In our society, these people were
referred to as superheroes with shovels. So you can feel
that in Taiwan there's a lot of warmth. People are kind,
so our streets at nighttime or daytime are generally very safe.
(21:34):
Your question was about Taiwan's relations with China. I very
much hope that everyone in the world who pays attention
to Taiwan China issues can be clear about several things. First,
the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China
are not subordinated to each other. Taiwan is not a
part of the PRC. China does not have the rights
(21:56):
to invade Taiwan. Secondly, China has been hold military exercises
in the Taiwan Strait, undermining peace and stability in the region.
So it is China, not Taiwan that is disrupting the
cross straight status quo. The fact that the Taiwanese people
seek to protect their sovereignty and pursue a way of
(22:18):
life based on democracy, freedom and human rights should not
be seen as a provocation against China. Thirdly, even though
Taiwan is facing increasing threats from China, Taiwan has not
given up on seeking peace and mutual prosperity across the Strait.
We understand that peace is priceless and that there are
no winners in war. Peace and stability across the Taiwan
(22:43):
Strait are essential elements of global security and prosperity. Our
pursuit of peace is an ideal, not a fantasy. We
believe that to achieve peace, there must be strength. Since
taking office, I have implemented the Four Pillars of Peace
Action Plan. The first pillar is strengthening Taiwan's national defense.
(23:05):
Our defense spending as defined by NATO will reach three
point three two percent of GDP next year, and this
will increase to five percent of GDP by twenty thirty.
We are procuring arms from the United States and partners
across the international community. At the same time, we are
promoting indigenous defense capabilities. We will work with the international
(23:30):
community to co develop arms including R and D design
and manufacturing. This will allow the domestic defense industry to
grow and contribute to Taiwan's security. Drones, unmanned submarines, and
robotics are all areas that Taiwan will prioritize in the future.
(23:50):
The second pillar was enhancing our economic resilience. In twenty ten,
eighty three point eight percent of Taiwan's outbound investments went
to China, but last year this number was only seven percent.
The United States is now Taiwan's largest destination for outbound investments.
In other words, we are not putting all of our
(24:12):
eggs in the same basket. We hope that Taiwan's industries
will be rooted in Taiwan, deploy globally, and market across
the world. This will not only strengthen our economy, but
also make it more resilient, thereby safeguarding Taiwan's security. The
third pillar is standing together with the United States and
(24:32):
other free and democratic countries to bolster joints to Terrance.
This will allow us to prevent war by preparing for one.
And Fourthly, Taiwan is willing to engage in dialogue with
China based on parity and dignity. Through exchanges and cooperation,
we can achieve the goal of peace at mutual prosperity.
(24:54):
We hope that Taiwan will continue to enjoy the support
of President Trump. Is able to convince Xi Jinping to
permanently renounce the use of force against Taiwan, President Trump
will surely win the Nobel Peace Prize.
Speaker 5 (25:10):
If I could ask you, if you could speak directly
to President Trump about the situation of Taiwan right now,
the security situation. More specifically, what would you want him
to know about ways to bolster the US Taiwan relationship and.
Speaker 7 (25:29):
What would you view as goals that could be achieved
in this very important partnership.
Speaker 6 (25:34):
I would suggest that he take note of the fact
that Chi Jinping is not just holding ever larger military
exercises in the Taiwan Strait, but expanding China's military deployment
in the South and East China seas. China's military exercises
now extend across the Indo Pacific region, Its aircraft carriers
(25:55):
are moving beyond the First Island Chain and Second Island Chain,
and its Northern fleet even sailed around Japan for a week.
Chinese naval vessels also conducted live fire exercises in Australia's
Exclusive Economic Zone. The situation in the Indo Pacific region
is changing constantly and tensions are rising. So the issue
(26:20):
is not only a possible annexation of Taiwan. If it
is able to annex Taiwan, China will be in a
stronger position to compete with the United States and alter
the rules based international order. This would eventually also impact
US interests. So we hope that President Trump can continue
(26:41):
to maintain peace and stability in the Indo Pacific. Taiwan
is determined to ensure its national security. We will fulfill
our responsibility and work with free and democratic countries to
maintain regional peace and stability.
Speaker 5 (26:58):
What would you say, Because in America, given some difficult
lessons we have learned about foreign policy and foreign policy intervention,
there's a focus on partners who will carry their weight
for their own defense and have a willingness to fight.
If anyone in America, whether policy or voter citizen, has
(27:21):
a question about whether Taiwan is willing to defend its
own sovereignty, what would you say to that question?
Speaker 6 (27:27):
I would tell them that Taiwan is absolutely determined to
ensure its own national security, peace and stability across the
Taiwan Strait are indispensable elements in global security and prosperity.
So when Taiwan looks after its own national security, it
shows that Taiwan is committed to protecting regional peace and
(27:50):
stability as well. That is why, as I mentioned before,
we are continuing to increase our national defense budget. So
during former President Tying Winds term, the national defense budget
was increased from one point nine per cent of GDP
to two point five percent. Next year it will reach
(28:10):
three point three two percent, and we hope to increase
this to five percent by twenty thirty. This would be
five years earlier than NATO's olden goal. I also convened
a high level national security meeting in which we defined
the Chinese Communist Party regime as a foreign hostile force,
(28:30):
and I proposed seventeen strategies to address the five major
threats we faced from China. These will translate into more
than one hundred amendments to our national security laws, which
will be reviewed by the Legislative un during the current session.
This will put Taiwan on a stronger legal footing, bolster
(28:52):
its national defense, and allow people to contribute to their
power towards safeguarding our nation and protecting regional peace and stability.
I believe that people help those who help themselves, So
I very much agree with your idea that Taiwan and
other countries should meet their own responsibilities. And when we
(29:12):
show unity and work together, that is when deterrence is
at its strongest, and that is when we will be
able to safeguard peace and stability in the world.
Speaker 1 (29:24):
All right, So we're going to come back and do
more of this interview and touching on something I think
you'll find really interesting, family formation and how that is
something that Taiwan is focused on, along with, of course
artificial intelligence its role in the world of semiconductors, but
really important stuff coming up here in just a moment.
(29:45):
In the meantime, October is cybersecurity Awareness month. Every day
online hackers steal identities, drain bank accounts, and open fraudulent
accounts using stolen information Yours may be included. The best
way to protect yourself is by having a life LifeLock membership.
I've had mine for nearly a decade now. It's paid
for itself about a dozen times over. Easy to set
(30:06):
up and you've got a twenty four to seven ally
looking after your online identity. LifeLock scours hundreds of millions
of online transactions and account openings and looks for evidence
of foul play, and if your name is involved, they
notify you immediately. If you've got a problem, They're ready
to help. If your identity is stolen, a LifeLock US
based restoration specialist will help solve it and that is
guaranteed or your money back plus all LifeLock plant plus.
(30:29):
All LifeLock plans are backed by the million Dollar Protection Package,
meaning LifeLock will reimburse you to your plans limits if
you lose money due to identity theft. Stay smart, stay safe,
and stay protected with LifeLock. Get comprehensive identity protection with
a thirty day free trial at LifeLock dot com. Use
my name buck as your promo code. That's LifeLock dot
Com promo code buck for thirty days free terms apply.
(30:51):
All right, here's more of my interview with the President
of Taiwan, President lie On Well, the future of his country.
Speaker 3 (30:59):
Let's dive into.
Speaker 5 (31:00):
As part of our trip here, we were able to
spend some time with people from TSMC. Obviously, there's a
tremendous global and American specifically interest in artificial intelligence. It
was also very interesting to.
Speaker 7 (31:18):
Learn in detail about the incredible facility that TSMC has
built and is building out more in Arizona. I would
like to ask you to speak to the economic partnership,
specifically in advanced technology, microchip manufacturing, artificial intelligence, the relationship
(31:40):
between Taiwan and America going forward, and how you view
that to grow and bring prosperity for both countries.
Speaker 6 (31:48):
Taiwan, so we all know that Taiwan's technology industry has
performed well. This is the result of decades of cooperation
among Taiwan's industries, government, academia, and R and D, as
well as the support of the Taiwanese people. But I
must also note, with appropriate humility, that TSMC and the
Taiwanese semiconductor industry are still only one part of a
(32:11):
bigger ecosystem and do not represent the whole system. So
if you look at the entire semiconductor ecosystem, the United
States is strong in areas such as innovation, R and D,
and design, and it is also the biggest market. Japan
is strong in raw materials and related equipment, and the
Republic of Korea they have flash memory. Taiwans strength is
(32:35):
in waifer manufacturing, and the Netherlands makes the critical equipment
that is used to make semiconductors. But in the whole ecosystem,
you can see that around eighty percent of profits go
to the United States. So for semiconductors, I would say
the United States is still the leader in this ecosystem.
(32:55):
Looking ahead, as we face the AI era, every nation
in the semi doctor ecosystem will be extremely important and
the United States will continue to lead the world in this.
So Taiwan is very willing to work with the United
States to achieve this goal. We want to help the
United States reindustrialize and become a global AI hub. We
(33:18):
want the United States to continue to lead the world
in this new AI era, and we want to help
make America great again. So with regard to Taiwan's semiconductor industry,
we see it as an important responsibility in terms of
ensuring the world's future prosperity. That is why the Taiwan
government has been very supportive of TSMC's investments in the
(33:41):
United States and Japan, as well as Germany. In the future,
when the United States has reindustrialized and become a global
ai hub. I am sure that TSMC will continue to
play a crucial role.
Speaker 5 (33:55):
Over the course of meetings with various members of your government,
I learned something that was very interesting to me, and
it has to do with a problem we have also
started to look at in America of family formation. It's
very interesting, I think, to the American audience to hear
of countries that are trying to use policy to address
(34:18):
issues like encouraging marriage and even more encouraging children so
that a society can replenish, so there's resiliency and there's replenishment.
Could you please speak to some of the ways that
you are encouraging people to have more kids here, because
this is something that in America we're also considering the
(34:38):
Trump administration through tax policy, but also culturally, there's a
sense that we need to bring those numbers up. How
are you doing that here and how are those initiatives
going so far?
Speaker 6 (34:50):
Yeah, I am very glad that you look positively at
what we have been doing in Taiwan. Actually, Taiwan's policies
were made with reference to what the United States and
other countries have been doing concerning our strategies First, the
government is supporting families in jointly raising children from birth
to six years old by providing monthly subsidies. Tuition is
(35:14):
also free for both public and private high schools and
vocational schools. Young people who want to get married and
have children are given priority in applying for social housings.
If they want to buy a home, they can get
government funding to subsidize the interest on their mortgage, and
if they are renting, they can get a rent subsidy
(35:36):
from the government. For couples who are having problems conceiving,
the government subsidizes fertility treatment. Taiwan's government is currently investing
more in our society and cutting taxes by more than
ever before in our history. These initiatives will help our
young people feel confident that they can get married, have children,
(35:58):
and will be able to raise them. I notes that
President Trump is also cutting taxes. We want to reduce
the burden on households so that more people can start
a family. This will promote social stability and continual growth
for the country.
Speaker 5 (36:15):
Mister President, just want to say it's a beautiful country
with wonderful people who have been so welcoming to us,
and the alliance between our countries is to me and
to many others so important. Thank you for taking the time,
and we wish you and all of the taiwan Is
people well.
Speaker 6 (36:32):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (36:33):
We'll have more on this, of course, throughout the week.
We'll be talking about it. Send me your thoughts, your emails,
and I'll be back with you so tomorrow Shield tie
The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show News
Hosts And Creators
Clay Travis
Buck Sexton
Show Links
WebsiteNewsletterPopular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.