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July 30, 2025 5 mins

Today, Bill Whalen asks if US President Donald Trump is on the path to winning a Nobel Peace Prize. H.R. McMaster discusses the valuable US alliance with Australia with a former Australian national security adviser on Battlegrounds. And James O. Ellis Jr. and Steven Chu point out the glaring weakness in Taiwan’s energy security, making it vulnerable to a blockade by mainland forces.

Hoover Daily Report | July 30, 2025

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>> Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to The Hoover Daily Report,
Ideas Advancing Freedom It's Wednesday,July 30, 2025.
Today, Bill Whelan asks if U.S.
president Donald Trump is on the pathto winning a Nobel Peace Prize.
HR McMaster discusses the valuable USalliance with Australia with a former
Australian national securityadvisor on Battlegrounds.
And James O.

(00:20):
Ellis Jr. And Stephen Chu point outthe glaring weakness in Taiwan's energy
security, making it vulnerable toa blockade by mainland forces.

>> Speaker 2 (00:29):
Eyes on the Peace Prize, could Trump win it?
Writing in Defining Ideas, distinguishedPolicy Fellow Bill Whelan asks if
President Trump is on the precipice offoreign policy wins in Ukraine and Gaza.
That would put him square in the categoryof US Presidents deserving of
a Nobel Peace Prize.
With his new, shorter deadline for a dealwith Russian President Vladimir Putin and

(00:50):
mounting pressure on himto ease the emerging threat
of starvation in the Gaza Strip,Whelan argues Trump is not that far away
from achievements thatshould earn him the prize.
Add on top of this the dealto end hostilities between
the Democratic Republic of the Congo,Rwanda and
various other warringsubnational factions.
But as with all things involvingAmerica's 45th and 47th president,

(01:13):
Whelan says it's not that simple.
Trump has already defied long odds bygetting a second term in Washington,
Whelan writes, butit might be too much for
a handful of Scandinavians to elevatethe man from IG Noble to Nobel laureate.

>> Speaker 1 (01:27):
The strength of alliances, Australia's crucial role in a free and
open Indo Pacific, on the latest episodeof Battlegrounds, Senior Fellow H.R.
McMaster speaks with Justin Bassey,
director of the AustralianStrategic Policy Institute and
former National Security Advisor toPrime Minister Malcolm Turnbull,
about Australia's crucial rolein the Indo Pacific region.

(01:50):
Bassey and McMaster discuss how morerecent internal debates are playing out
within Australia regardingTrump administration policies,
how we can promote a positive agendato advance our mutual interests and
his views on the future of Aukus,the alliance between Australia, the US and
the UK to strengthen defense andpromote a free and open Indo Pacific.

>> Speaker 2 (02:11):
Taiwan's Energy Achilles Heel, writing in foreign affairs,
distinguished visiting fellowJames O Ellis Jr. and former energy
secretary Steven Chu argue thatTaiwan's pivot away from nuclear power,
underwhelming expansion of renewables andheavy reliance on natural gas mean it is
extremely vulnerable to a blockadeby the People's Republic of China.

(02:32):
Making matters worse,
the island nation cannot store more thana ten-day supply of gas on the island.
This reliance on energy imports couldeasily be exploited the especially by
China, which has its eyeson unifying with Taiwan.
Ellis and Chu write, the Chinese Navy andCoast Guard routinely rehearse
cutting off the island's ports,including from energy tankers.

(02:55):
They cite polling that indicatesthe Taiwanese people are waking up to this
fact but will likely needoutside help to reinvigorate and
diversify their domestic energygeneration capabilities.

>> Speaker 1 (03:06):
The International Economic System a Fork in the Road, continuing his
discussion with Maurice Obstfeld about thepath of the international economic system,
Senior Fellow Stephen J Davis takes thislatest episode of economics applied to
entertain what might happen nextto the global economic order.
As it approaches a potential fork inthe road, Obstfeld and Davis entertain

(03:27):
what new disruptions to global trade,the US relationship with China,
and the uncertain futureof global institutions like
the World Trade Organization will mean forthe future of the international order.
Obstfeld says the current USapproach lacks an underlying goal,
is a chaotic procedure, and is predicatedon the notion that all of the existing

(03:47):
US trading relationships were unfair.
The current approach is both costly anddifficult for business, but
a reversal on tariffs wouldease pressure on businesses.

>> Speaker 2 (03:57):
California High Speed Rail just lost 4 billion in federal funding,
here's why.
In a new article forCalifornia on your mind,
Senior Fellow Lee Ohanian chronicles allthe missteps and failures that have led to
the Federal railroad administrationwithdrawing $4 billion worth of
federal grants to the beleagueredCalifornia High Speed Rail project.
First authorized by voters in 2008,the project has already

(04:21):
spent more than $15 billion in funding andso far no track has been laid.
The scope of the project has narrowed and
now only consists of a linkbetween Merced and Bakersfield.
Quote, lacking full funding, confirmedtimelines, cost effective budgets, and
routes that are true tothe original 2008 vision,
the project has drifted over the last 17years into an expensive albatross that

(04:43):
realistically should not be continued.
Given the enormous importance ofalternative public investments that
are dearly needed, which include waterstorage and conveyance, repairing decaying
K12 schools, and upgrading the outdatedelectrical grid, Ohanian writes.

>> Speaker 1 (04:57):
Featured Hoover Publication strategica is an online journal that
analyzes ongoing issues of nationalsecurity in light of conflicts of
the past.
The efforts of the military historyworking group of historians, analysts and
military personnel focusing on militaryhistory and contemporary conflict.

>> Speaker 2 (05:15):
That's your Hoover Daily report for Wednesday, July 30, 2025.
Each weekday we bring you research,analysis and commentary focused on public
policy, national security, and the ideasshaping American society and government.
The Hoover Institution atStanford University is grounded in
constitutional principleswith a commitment to

(05:36):
sustaining the safeguards ofthe American way of life.
Thank you for listening, forlinks to all the articles and
interviews mentioned today,visit hoover.org/hdr.
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