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If you think Sir Keir Starmer’s had a bad week…wait until you hear about Donald Trump. Simon Marks breaks it all down in American Week. 00:00 Donald Trump says he 'loves the inflation' 00:54 Year-on-year prices in the US rose by 4.2% - almost double the inflation rate that the president inherited from Joe Biden 01:38 Mike Johnson, Republican Representative, says prices coming down will 'be a fun thing to consider' 01:55 Will that 'fun thing' ever actually happen? 02:15 Trump says 'I don't think about American's financial situation' 02:49 Will Democrats be able to capitalise on Donald Trump's own words? 04:03 Trump's mounting disapproval ratings | What are the public saying? 05:13 Trump gets 'booed' at the NBA Finals 06:45 Iranians managed to bring down a US Apache attack helicopter, which Trump initially said 'wasn't a big deal' 07:32 Trump says an Iran peace deal is close 09:21 Has Donald Trump lost control over Iran? 10:04 Researchers removed from a diabetes conference after handing out articles that criticised the Trump administration Listen to the full show on the all-new LBC App: https://app.af.lbc.co.uk/btnc/thenewlbcapp #simonmarks #americanweek #donaldtrump #news #politics #republican #whitehouse #democrats #lbc LBC is the home of live debate around news and current affairs in the UK. Join in the conversation and listen at https://www.lbc.co.uk/ Sign up to LBC’s weekly newsletter here: https://l-bc.co/signup
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0:00
If you think Zakir Starmer's had a lousy week, wait till you hear about Donald Trump's
0:04
Imagine just for a second the consequences of any British prime minister or indeed any elected
0:10
leader pretty much anywhere reacting to some deeply unsettling news about inflation like this
0:18
You can serve Mr. President about the latest inflation number which came out this morning
0:22
Could that be a great... No, I love it. The numbers were great. You know what I really love
0:26
I love the inflation. The inflation will come down between now and November
0:31
When the war is over, it's coming down. I know you can. It's going to come down like a rock
0:36
Less than five months before crucial midterm elections that will seal the fate of his administration
0:41
the president claiming to love the inflation was definitely not on anyone's bingo card
0:47
on the morning that the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that in May
0:51
year-on-year prices in the U.S. rose by 4.2%. That's almost double the inflation rate that the president inherited from Joe Biden
1:00
And just to put it into perspective, petrol is 50 percent higher in price than it was the day before Donald Trump launched his war on Iran
1:10
Fruit and veg being increasingly hit by concerns over crucial fertilizer components that are no longer able to sail through the Strait of Hormuz
1:18
They're up 6.1 percent over the last year and still rising. The president later scrambled, giving an interview to the New York Post
1:28
insisting he had been quoted out of context. And on Capitol Hill, Mike Johnson, his loyal Speaker of the House of Representatives
1:36
was doing the same thing. The president is laser focused on the domestic economic situation
1:42
He is working to bring down prices. He is working to get the street or her moose reopened. What he was saying is it's going to be great to have that number and compare it to what comes next
1:50
when we get these situations resolved, that'll be a fun thing to consider
1:54
And it will indeed be a fun thing to consider if it ever actually happens
1:58
But on that claim about the president being laser-focused on the domestic economic situation
2:04
the problem with that is there's another golden and careless phrase that Donald Trump used one month ago today that is also still a fun thing to consider
2:14
To what extent are American financial institutions motivating you to make a deal
2:19
Not even a little bit. The only thing that matters when I'm talking about Iran, they can't have a nuclear weapon
2:26
I don't think about American financial situation. I don't think about anybody
2:31
I think about one thing. We cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon. That's all
2:36
And just a quick reminder, his own intelligence agencies agree there was no evidence that Iran had even restarted its nuclear program
2:45
They have testified to that on Capitol Hill under oath. Now all of this is manna from heaven for the Democrats We will be hearing the president self phrases on repeat in campaign ads on TV and online between now and Election Day
3:01
But the nagging question remains, can the Democrats properly capitalize upon it
3:07
Here's Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, the party's leader in the House of Representatives
3:12
given an absolute gift by the president and then almost not bothering to use it
3:17
Let me clarify the Democratic position on the economy. One, the affordability crisis is very real. It's not a hoax. Two, House Democrats care about the personal finances of the American people
3:34
Three, Democrats do not love the inflation. In fact, we're fighting hard to address the broken economy that Donald Trump has visited on the American people
3:50
I mean, it's not exactly towering rhetoric from the party that gave the country the speeches of John F. Kennedy and Barack Obama
3:56
And that's the bloke who could be the next Speaker of the House, two heartbeats away from the presidency
4:03
How is all of this playing with the public? I hear the president go, what the heck did I just hear? What the heck is going on
4:11
One of the most politically tone deaf statements I've ever heard. And you can see it in the numbers
4:16
With the numbers this week showing Trump's mounting disapproval ratings, CNN's very excitable chief data yst, Harry Enton
4:24
OK, so you see this historic number right here. You know, Trump being the first one ever to get minus 50
4:28
He's done it multiple times. No other president's done it. How about an 80 percent disapproval on gas prices
4:34
which, of course, is fueling this frustration with inflation? Take a look here
4:38
The only president with an 80 percent disapproval rating on gas prices of all time
4:43
is Trump in 2026. But while he goes and has a lie down, you don't actually need charts or statistics to prove just how unpopular the president has become since he made of his own free will his catastrophic decision to wage war on Iran
4:58
You can just watch what happened on Monday night when Donald Trump, rather bravely, it should be said, made the decision to travel to Madison Square Garden in New York City for an NBA final between the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs
5:16
Whose broad stripes? As Trump's image appeared on the big video screens
5:27
during the rendition of the national anthem, in the words of a White House poll report
5:32
written by Jeff Murdoch of the pro-Trump Washington Times, the president was thunderously booed
5:39
It was loud and long. Some of the guests in the president's suite
5:43
including his granddaughter seemed to be smirking Was it Trump Ceausescu moment like December 1989 when Romania dictator was for the first time jeered and heckled by crowds
5:56
who then forced him and his all-powerful wife from office? Perhaps not, but it is certainly redolent of the sense
6:03
that something has changed in the last few weeks and the old Teflon Don may no longer be untouchable
6:10
One example, there is now growing scepticism towards anything the president says about Iran
6:18
Sir, did you just say two or three days or two or three weeks? Two or three days
6:22
You'll be signing a peace agreement? No, no, we have a good chance of doing it
6:26
We should be able to do it in one hour, if you want to know the truth
6:30
What's the biggest sticking point right now? I don't think there are any sticking points. So that was on Monday night
6:35
shortly after he was booed relentlessly at the basketball game. Everything was going swimmingly
6:39
Now, I'm not going to waste your time with the litany of back and forth that has taken place all week
6:44
But as you know, the Iranians managed to bring down a U.S. Apache attack helicopter, which Trump initially said wasn't a big deal
6:52
But he then decided to launch two nights of significant retaliatory airstrikes against the regime
6:58
That involved 49 Tomahawk missiles being dropped on targets that U.S. Central Command said included Iranian air defense operations
7:08
which is curious because the observant among you will remember that as long ago as April
7:14
the president said Iran didn't have any air defense operations left. Anyway, one minute he was going in hot and heavy and even planning to seize Khag Island
7:23
a huge oil processing facility that will require ground troops if the Americans really want it
7:29
Then last night, he suddenly backed off again, telling quizzical reporters that a ceasefire extension deal was suddenly at hand
7:39
We just made a great settlement of the war with Iran, and we're going to be subject to finalization of documents
7:48
We should get done over the next few days. Probably have a signing maybe in Europe, and it's a great thing
7:57
He's made a great settlement of the war subject to the finalization of documents
8:02
He then went on to call it a concept of a deal
8:06
And so among reporters in the room who were already dreaming of packing their bags and heading to Europe for the signing ceremony next week, suddenly the blood was up
8:15
You said this was just a concept of that agreement. So is this just essentially setting the stage for deeper talks on nuclear
8:21
It's a very strong memorandum of understanding. That is a little conceptual, but it's something that's going to get done
8:27
and if it doesn't get done for any reason, which I can't imagine that not happening
8:31
they want to sign it as much as I do or more. I would say they want to sign it more, maybe
8:36
a lot more but it a very detailed memorandum of understanding Right but again it a memorandum of understanding that is still a little conceptual and subject to the finalisation of documents
8:49
The Iranians, by the way, again say any talk of a deal is speculative
8:53
and nothing is final. You know, CNN did the tot earlier this week
8:58
and before Monday night's promise that an agreement could be wrapped up within an hour
9:01
the president had publicly made 37 separate pledges pledges since the war began on February the 28th that it would all soon be over. We're now up to
9:12
over 40, which is one reason why Edward Luce, the chief US commentator for the Financial Times
9:18
told me on LBC this week that Donald Trump now risks becoming another Jimmy Carter
9:24
a president bedevilled and undone by the Iranians. The Iranian hostage crisis, which went on for 444 days, basically drained Carter of credibility on the global stage
9:39
And that gave Iran, the Ayatollahs, real leverage over him. Trump has given Iran immense leverage over the Strait of Hormuz, one that he had never used before, and has lost control of the situation
9:53
Israel, Iran, they're really dictating the pace. And that gives Trump, in this respect, a Jimmy Carter sort of, what I call, a scent of impotence
10:04
A scent of it, to be sure, but America remains a place where some pretty sinister things are still continuing to happen
10:11
We are at the American Diabetes Association Scientific Sessions. I'm with Dr. Stephen Kahn, Dr. Justin Ryder, and Dr. Aaron Kelly
10:18
And we're being threatened to be arrested. In the unlikely setting of New Orleans and the annual conference of the American Diabetes Association last week
10:27
police manhandled and removed five researchers from the building because they were handing out copies of an article in the association's medical journal
10:36
that criticized the Trump administration, accusing it of peddling conspiracy theories about care options available to diabetics
10:46
They physically grabbed us, forced us out of the conference center, and now are telling us we can no longer attend this meeting
10:54
They're taking our lanyard. So really, it's come to this in America. Censorship is real, and that's exactly why you wrote this, didn't you, Steve
11:01
Exactly. So here we go. America needs to stand up. Scientists, stand up. Physicians, stand up. It's time
11:08
All of this was taking place shortly before the Trump-appointed director of the National Institutes of Health was due to address the conference
11:15
He then suddenly dropped out and sent a senior advisor in his place
11:20
When the researchers tried to get back into the conference center, they were threatened with arrest
11:27
This and more is all taking place in the land of the free, the country that dares to lecture us about freedom of speech
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