Up next in 10
Simon Marks is back and joins James O'Brien to break down recent weeks in US politics.
00:00 | Trump blocks press from the White House
5:52 | The 'nonsense' deal with Greenland
6:44 | The missing $13 million from Venezuela
7:28 | Trump's 'key problem'
9:33 | Ukraine gets the blame for fuel crisis
10:51 | Triumphal arch to be 'top military complex'
13:50 | The failure of US media
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#simonmarks #jamesobrien #trump #donaldtrump #whitehouse #press #media #iran #petrol #war #LBC
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0:00
Thank God you're back. I'm optimal
0:02
You are. Well, I'm optimal. Hand, rested and ready now. Yes. Where do you want to start? I mean, there is so much to go through. Why don't you choose
0:08
Well, I think we've got to start with the kicking out of CNN, MS Now and Politico
0:13
You kind of predicted this some time ago, didn't you? It's been a process
0:18
It is. And what we're seeing is only the next stage of the plan. I mean, let's be absolutely
0:25
clear. This is the amuse-bouche for what we're going to see further down the line. He wants a
0:31
White House press corps that is entirely made up of propagandists and loyalists to his cause
0:38
in exactly the same way as he wants a government made up entirely of loyalists and supporters for
0:45
his cause. And so he has taken action that totally breaches the First Amendment to the
0:51
American Constitution that says that no president or American government must do anything to abridge
0:56
freedom of the press by showing three of the country's major broadcast and news organizations
1:03
the door, denying them access to the White House, which is not his house, it is the people's house
1:12
and shutting them out. And when I say this is just the continuance of what he's done
1:18
I mean, there was all of this ludicrous, I thought, ysis over the weekend by people saying, oh, well, he waited until Caroline Levitt had left to do this
1:27
Or he decided to take this action while the White House chief of staff, Susie Wiles, was out of Washington, D.C
1:34
She would have stopped this. There's no indication that either of those women would have stopped this because it was on their watch that he banned the Associated Press from pool broadcast operations in the White House
1:48
Second term, no one's stopped him doing anything. No one's restrained him from doing anything
1:53
And the notion that these people would have provided some kind of restraining influence, I think is completely laughable
1:59
I think we have also to price in to this our response to what we hear from Donald Trump on a daily basis
2:09
It is so important to remember that when he appears in front of the cameras, on a continuing basis, a growing proportion of the questions that he is asked are being asked by not reporters, not journalists, but paid propagandists
2:29
And that includes many of the times when he is asked, I mean, not quite in these terms, but to all intents and purposes, Mr. President, would you like to take a pop at the UK's prime minister
2:40
Because invariably, those questions have been posed to him by propagandists in the room
2:45
And as we wait for Andy Burnham's first meeting with President Trump on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly later this week, I think it is very important always to ask yourself, well, he might have taken a popper Andy Burnham in front of the cameras
3:00
But under what circumstances, what was the question he was being asked
3:04
Under what circumstances was he essentially scaffolded to do that? I think we do have to calibrate our response to a lot of the things that he says
3:12
based on the fact that these questions are now being thrown at him not by respected members of the media
3:20
adhering to the old-style rules of the media road. They are being asked of him by entirely supportive, pliant propagandists
3:31
and that includes questions sometimes that he gets asked about the US-UK relationship
3:36
Interesting. And none of it's a coincidence. So, for people who don't know, MS Now, CNN
3:41
and Politico all denied access to the White House, as you say, joining AP. Can anybody
3:48
else do anything? Naively, people, maybe it's not naive, suggest that when this happens
3:54
everybody should down tools but then you leave the field completely clear for the propaganda Yeah I mean the White House Correspondents Association put out a ludicrous statement over the weekend saying that they stand in solidarity with the reporters who have been denied access
4:09
I mean, there is an argument for saying that they should have said we're going to stand up, pack up and leave and instruct our members to leave the complex until such time as Politico, MS Now and CNN are allowed back in
4:24
But look, I mean, I think it's a bit too late in the day for any of those expected expressions of solidarity that are muscular in form to amount to a row of beans
4:34
This is the same White House Correspondents Association that allowed him to address the dinner
4:40
I mean, after the first one got cancelled because of the attack on it, then the second one that was held just a few weeks ago
4:48
and he used it to launch ad hominem attacks against the freedom of the press again
4:52
This is not a man who believes in a free press. He hates it
4:57
And you've got to remember that where he is now politically is in such a terrible place
5:03
He knows, because we all know, that they're definitely the Republicans going to lose control of the House of Representatives in the midterm elections in November
5:12
That they are highly likely now also to lose control of the Senate
5:16
and therefore he wants to thin the herd even more in that White House briefing room
5:21
so that he is not facing deeply uncomfortable questions about the catastrophe of his own political leadership of the Republican Party
5:31
It's interesting that you mention he wants a press corps that he can completely control
5:36
He thought, and I know this isn't on our list actually, he thought he could create a judiciary that he could completely control
5:41
but even they now are scuppering some of his plans prompting him to actually say the quiet part out loud
5:47
He says, I don't recognise these guys that I appointed. They're not doing what I... I mean, ah
5:51
And then, speaking of things that deserve a little bit more ysis
5:55
the announcement with regard to Greenland, I notice it's not on your list because it's just nonsense
6:00
Greenland's relationship with NATO and the United States of America is effectively going to stay exactly as it was before
6:05
Exactly the same. But Donald Trump is claiming a massive victory. I mean, a great day for the United States of America
6:10
He says that vast arrays of military service members are going soon to be heading to Greenland
6:16
The Americans have always had the ability to do that under the agreements that were signed and sealed
6:22
more than 50 years ago. 1951, was it? 52, I think. Early 50s
6:29
Early 50s. The 50s. And the Danes know this. The Danes know
6:34
Yeah, but they're playing along. Of course, as you would. There you go. Have a biscuit. Absolutely, have a deal
6:38
The President of the United States of America. We'll all collude in his delusion. $13 billion of oil cash missing from Venezuela
6:45
Well, still $13 billion of oil cash missing from Venezuela and rising because with every day the Americans continue to access more Venezuelan oil
6:56
And the Trump administration completely stonewalling. members of congress stonewalling legal cases that are taking place to try and understand where all
7:09
this money has gone absolutely engaged in a policy of total non-cooperation in explaining
7:15
where this money has gone well that's just the start on the plus side that must i mean wherever
7:21
it's going the fact that they've got their hands on all of this oil means that oil prices and
7:25
Petrol prices in the States must be plummeting. Well, I mean, this is the key problem
7:30
that he's got going into the midterm elections. His own war of choice on Iran
7:36
that he did not need to start waging on February the 28th
7:41
has led him down a blind alley, a complete cul-de-sac. So this weekend, motor oil has started being rationed by Costco
7:52
one of the country's largest retailers. So you want to get some motor oil You can only buy one large can of it at a time from Costco and Walmart the other major big box company warning its customers that supplies are running short
8:08
It is impossible to expect that you can turn around the flood of votes heading in the directions of the Democratic Party at a time when you are saying to Americans, I'll give you $5,000 each if you vote Republican and you keep the House of Representatives and the Senate in the hands of the Republican Party
8:31
Oh, but by the way, at the same time, I'm afraid you can't buy more than one can of motor oil at Costco this weekend
8:36
Those two messages are just... No one believes the first message, by the way, anyway
8:40
because he's never going to get the support of Congress to give everybody $5,000 ahead for those votes
8:46
So he's... And this is why, James, he's going to be really dangerous moving forwards
8:52
If and when he loses control of one and possibly both houses of Congress
8:56
he's not going to be able to get anything done domestically. legislatively. So we're going to see more of this nonsense about demolishing the Kennedy Center
9:07
throwing members of the press out of the White House press corps. It's all going to be offence
9:13
winning Greenland, going after the Canadians. It's all going to be offensive in two ways. I mean
9:20
it's going to be offensive to many of us watching what's taking place, but it's going to be
9:26
attack, attack, attack, because he knows at home legislatively he's going to be completely stymied
9:31
I've seen some tentative attempts to blame the fuel, the oil, the petrol situation
9:36
the gasoline situation on Ukraine, but even the sycophants that are trying that
9:41
their heart's not really in it. You know, even the biggest mug in the United States of America isn't going to fall for the idea
9:47
that the actions of Ukraine against Russia have more to do with the flow of oil to the West
9:51
I mean, I'm sure you could make the argument that when Ukraine attacks a Russian oil facility
9:56
It's not good for the price of oil, but it pales into insignificance compared to the fact that the Strait of Hormuz remains closed to most traffic
10:07
And unless and until you can get that unblocked, nobody serious thinks that the price of oil is going to fall
10:12
And if Americans are paying, you know, over $4 a gallon at the pumps for petrol and $6 a gallon now at the pumps for diesel, that's not a winnable election
10:25
It's funny, I remember, I always remember, because I didn't quite get it at the time, but I do now, when Emily Maitlis went to the States in the run-ups of the last election and reported back on, it was all about the price at the pumps, and now look what's happened
10:37
So, again, the scale of the tragedy, actually, if you speak from a place of sympathy for the United States of America, is absolutely immense
10:46
And then we come, probably, within the realms of the grand delinquent nonsense that you've alluded to with the other issues
10:54
but of course always with Trump, possibly not, a victory arch replete with a sort of..
11:00
It's a bit like the Arc de Triomphe with guns poking at the sun. Yeah, bigger than the Arc de Triomphe, of course
11:04
and with more gold on it than the Arc de Triomphe, of course. And now, like the ballroom that isn't really a ballroom
11:11
remember that White House ballroom the president himself has conceded is just a shield that is covering a six-storey underground military bunker
11:21
he announced over the weekend that this arc to trump is going to contain ammunition storage
11:28
facilities which seems bizarre in the middle of washington dc although there are some in the
11:33
middle of new york city to be fair right but also a sniper's nest um these are the projects that he
11:40
is going to push forward uh past the midterm elections because it's the only authority and
11:46
power he's going to have to try and push these things forward uh court cases will try and halt
11:50
them. They may or may not succeed. I don't know what they're going to end up doing with the hole
11:54
in the ground that is the quote ballroom in the event that the courts absolutely completely derail that project This is where he going to go and the ballroom together with the arch and these military
12:06
facilities that he's building inside them just add to the notion that if you were someone
12:12
who was determined never to leave power, these are the kind of complexes you would be building
12:19
to defend yourself while you hold up in the residence at the White House
12:26
And whether that, by the way, applies to Donald Trump or to any successive president of the United States
12:32
it takes the country down, I think, you know, many people will argue a very, very alarming road
12:37
Well, yeah, I mean, and the people who wouldn't argue that probably need their heads examining
12:41
Or, of course, they're inside the pen, they're inside the cabal, whether as propagandists or as politicians
12:49
And the cabal surrounded, they circled the wagons this weekend on that first issue we talked about
12:54
the chucking out of CNN, Politico and MSNOW from the White House
12:59
lying and saying that Joe Biden denied the credentials of what they referred to as 400 independent reporters
13:09
when he came into office. That's simply not true. It's a blatant lie
13:13
It's not an exaggeration, an embellishment. It's absolute BS. And, again, in the first term, we saw some of this going on
13:21
because, if you remember, when we had people like Kayleigh McEnany and Sarah Huckabee Sanders behind the White House podium
13:29
they flooded the zone as best they could with propagandists. What we're seeing now puts that into the shade
13:36
I'm late for the news, so keep this one very brief. How many people, because I know that our conversations
13:40
when they go up on YouTube, enjoy extraordinary figures in the United States of America
13:44
Is the American media reporting this properly? I mean, does it actually call it out as clearly and as concisely as we do
13:52
I mean, even the New York Times this weekend had the most extraordinary explanation, headline for a story
14:00
saying that some Democrats, in their phraseology, some Democrats were faulting what the president had done
14:08
as an attack on the free press. Wow. I mean, I couldn't find a Democrat that wasn't faulting what he had done
14:13
and the notion that you have to add that to your headline. But it's a debate
14:17
Some people may think this is an attack on the free press. Blatant, blatant steamrollering of America's First Amendment
14:24
and the accessibility that the media is supposed to have to the people's house
14:30
because he doesn't want to be asked difficult questions. Ronald Reagan used to find other ways of doing it, remember
14:36
I mean, he would listen to questions being screamed at him over the rotor blades of the chopper
14:40
and he'd go, sorry, I can't hear you. But at least they were there screaming the questions. And is it because they are frightened of the consequences of doing their jobs
14:48
or is it because they have not yet still found the vocabulary to report upon this extraordinarily dishonest regime
14:58
I think there is tremendous hesitation in some quarters simply to tell it the way that it is
15:05
And, of course, in other quarters, the businesses that run many of these networks and publications
15:11
have been taken over by Trump loyalists, including CBS News, including the Washington Post in the form of Jeff Bezos
15:18
storied institutions for which there is now no way back. And this is how it has always worked throughout history
15:26
but it is still shocking to see it unfolding in the United States of America
15:30
Simon Marks, welcome back. It's not quite home, is it? But still, it's nice to see you
15:36
Here for a few more weeks, then going back for the midterm. We shall avail ourselves of your brilliance
15:40
as often as we can. And there it is. I mean, if you are watching this on YouTube
15:45
not live, then this is what's happening in the United States of America
15:49
I feel like we're in some sort of dystopia. You're having to tune into this
15:54
to find out what your own media isn't telling you about what your own president is doing
15:58
But we'll carry on. You can be sure of that
#news