Up next in 10
Simon Marks is back with a jam-packed edition of American Week, in which we saw US debt rise to $40 trillion and all eyes turned to Trump's relationship with aide Natalie Harp.
0:08 | National debt reaches $40 trillion
3:46 | Social security is at 'risk of collapse'
4:31 | Questions swirl about Trump's top aide
8:20 | Melania makes a return to Washington
9:31 | USS Lincoln's conditions criticised
11:29 | A disastrous television debate
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0:00
I'm going to start this week with a bit of news that you may not have heard amid all the other noise
0:04
that has been grabbing the headlines from America over the last seven days
0:08
Because on Wednesday, the US Treasury disclosed that for the first time ever
0:13
the United States national debt reached $40 trillion. That's nearly £30 trillion
0:20
It's a staggering number suggesting successive American governments just keep on spending
0:25
and passing the problem down from one generation to the next. Even though the debt is too high
0:32
even though we inherited this debt bomb from the Biden administration, we actually do have a plan to get the economy growing faster than the debt
0:39
and that's the most important thing. Vice President J.D. Vance taking to right-leaning Newsmax TV
0:45
and telling largely Republican voters there's nothing to worry about. You heard him there blame Joe Biden's government
0:51
justifiably for an orgy of public expenditure that inflated the debt by more than $8 trillion
0:59
But what you didn't hear him say is that Donald Trump, the great believer in smaller government
1:05
has inflated the debt even more by $11.5 trillion. And he's only just getting started
1:11
The issue that we've had under the Biden administration and what we're still kind of dealing with
1:15
is that the debt was growing faster than American GDP. That's the problem
1:21
That's something that we're certainly fixing every single day in the Trump administration
1:25
But, you know, even though the media doesn't cover this, I'm glad you're asking this question
1:28
because Scott Bessent is very much on top of it. He knows it's a problem and he's got the president's empowerment to do something about it
1:35
Now, let's reflect briefly on the fact that it is staggering that the media doesn't cover this in America
1:41
given that most voters will be going to the polls in two and a half months time
1:45
without any idea of the financial peril with which the country is flirting
1:50
But let's also get to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. President Trump's Chancellor of the Exchequer
1:56
You heard the Vice President there say that Mr. Bessent is very much on top of the situation
2:02
So let's just do a quick verification of that. Here he is also appearing on Newsmax TV
2:09
And you tell me, does this fella sound to you like a bloke who is very much on top of the situation
2:15
In the working families tax cut, we had the immediate expensing for factories and the factory goods for equipment
2:25
And so that is a hit now to the deficit. But we are creating productive assets for future growth, which will be paying taxes all the way down the line
2:36
So I think of that more like pulling back a slingshot and creating a lot of potential energy that becomes kinetic
2:44
Yeah. Yeah, even the very supportive pro-Trump host of that programme knows a bill of goods when he's being sold one
2:52
And let's be clear, if the average American does want to find out about what's coming down the road
2:58
because Mr Bessent has no idea how to deal with the problem and his boss is only continuing to fuel it
3:05
voters can find the information out if they look for it 40 trillion is a huge number and we should all be alarmed by the level of debt that we have now as a nation But along with that is the path that we on
3:18
So it's not like we're reaching 40 trillion and we're going to head back down. We're reaching 40 trillion and accelerating
3:23
Michael Peterson, chairman and chief executive officer of the Peter Peterson Foundation
3:28
That's an outfit started by his late father to get the country to focus on the fiscal challenges that it faces
3:35
He says the national debt will hit $50 trillion in only six more years
3:41
And with the baby boomer generation retiring and living longer than its predecessors
3:46
the entire social security system, basically the state pension in America, is at risk of collapse
3:52
When social security was started, the retirement age was 65 and life expectancy was 63
3:59
So the system was not designed for decades of support. Now, it is great news that we're all living much longer
4:06
but it does put additional stress and obligations on the retirement system. So both parties have contributed to this challenge
4:12
We've had administration after administration, Congress after Congress, kicking the can down the road
4:17
So you might think that with all important midterm elections 72 days away
4:22
the country would be knee deep in a really voluble debate about how basically to stop America from going bankrupt
4:29
But that's hard work. So instead, we've spent the week talking about a woman called Natalie
4:35
There's something uniquely despicable about lying a nation into war. Treating citizens as fools and those who serve as pawns
4:53
Senator John Ossoff, Democrat from Georgia, campaigning for re-election and possibly soon even campaigning for the presidency
4:59
In a speech excoriating President Trump over the war on Iran, the senator took the nation to a place where Democrats had not publicly gone before
5:10
While he fruitlessly drains our munitions and oil reserves, the president sleeps through his meetings
5:19
He golfs and trades stocks. See, he doesn't want to do the job
5:24
He wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie on their apparently defenceless flying palace gifted by the Emir of Qatar
5:33
That mention of Natalie Harp, the president's 35-year-old blonde aide, who enjoys total access to him and left gushing personal notes for him
5:42
in what the Secret Service described as the president's private places, declared open season on an issue that up until now has simply been a hotbed of rumour and ss
5:53
among Washington's chattering classes. Known as the president's human printer, Ms Harp's main job is lugging computer gear all over the world
6:02
so that she can print up positive news stories about the president wherever he finds himself
6:07
On a plane, at Mar-a-Lago, during official meetings, even on the golf course
6:11
he always wants to know what people are writing about him. But she also does more than that
6:19
How many people are watching Can we tell how many Dan How many people are watching She talking about how great San Francisco was In a fly film commissioned by the Trump campaign in 2024
6:32
Harp takes dictation from the president and in real time edits and posts his words onto his blowtorch social media account
6:40
Ready? These prosecutions were all started by her and Biden against their political opponents
6:46
We give you power again. Me. Natalie Harp is now the subject of a feeding frenzy as a direct result of Senator Ossoff's
6:54
speech. It was immediately raised by a reporter at the White House
6:59
I'm sorry, John Ossoff said, if you'd rather travel with your aide, Natalie Harp, and build
7:03
the ballroom than do your job as president. What is your response, John Ossoff? You mean Pee-wee Herman? Pee-wee Herman lookalike? No, I would much rather do other things
7:15
We're building a great facility here. The president's supporters manned the barricades. They accused Senator Ossoff of sexism and reminded the public that only weeks ago, Democrats were still embracing a candidate for the Senate in Maine who had been accused by multiple women of sexual harassment and by one of rape
7:36
What we are learning from Democratic men right now is that if you're a conservative woman in politics, you are less than human
7:44
Republican commentator Scott Jennings gleefully riding to the president's rescue, and most people think openly auditioning to succeed Caroline Levitt
7:55
who is about to step down as White House press secretary. Oh, they like to bill themselves as the party of women
8:01
But is there anything uglier than the party of women? Explaining to a bunch of clapping seals at a rally
8:06
how female political staffers are really only good for one thing. Wink, wink
8:12
they talk about Ossoff like he's the next Bill Clinton. Sounds like he shares Clinton's views about women in the workplace
8:19
Maybe they're right. At the White House on Thursday, they circled the wagons
8:31
suddenly adding an event to the diary that saw the return to Washington
8:35
of a woman we haven't laid eyes on since the middle of July
8:39
Good afternoon. I heard you missed me. Here I am. Welcome to the White House
8:48
Or to be more accurate, welcome yourself to the White House, since you haven't been there for weeks
8:53
It's hard to say whether either side comes out ahead as this unedifying spectacle plays out
8:59
Democrats, of course, want to remind the public that President Trump was found liable by a civil court
9:06
for the sexual abuse of E. Jean Carroll, the writer who claimed she was raped by him
9:11
in a department store dressing room in the mid-1990s. But there's also no doubt that the president's opponents
9:17
may have done better to leave the Natalie Harp issue on the sidelines
9:22
rather than put it into play, not least because it's not as though there is a paucity
9:27
of really serious issues that could be discussed instead, including the fate of the USS Abraham Lincoln Mr President is there enough food on the USS Lincoln Yeah it is That was a CNN fake report
9:43
The Lincoln has been out there for a period of time, good period of time
9:49
but over the years we've had him out there much longer. That is flatly untrue
9:53
The 5,000 troops aboard the Lincoln, a nuclear-powered Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, have, thanks to the President's fruitless war on Iran
10:01
broken all records for the longest number of days at sea without putting into port
10:07
Normally, aircraft carriers put into port at least once every 45 days
10:11
The service members aboard the Lincoln have not seen land for around 275 days
10:17
40 of them in combat. And yes, not only is there evidence from sailors aboard
10:22
that the ship has been running low on rations, but family members intervened with the Pentagon
10:28
after several troops had to be restrained from jumping overboard as mental health aboard the vessel declined
10:36
They left their homes, their families, their lives. America's best. And this is how America is treating them
10:44
Half a cup of rice and two tortillas for a meal. Broken toilets
10:49
Moldy showers. More than 200 straight days at sea without a single port call
10:54
One sailor told his wife he hoped he wouldn't wake up tomorrow. That is not a video put out by the Democrats, but instead by the dissident Republican organisation
11:03
the Lincoln Project. Donald Trump at it again, demeaning members of the serving military
11:09
this time weeks before midterm elections. Polling shows Democrats can be increasingly confident
11:16
about taking control of the House of Representatives, and maybe, if they are really lucky
11:22
also winning the Senate. One Republican train wreck that may now be unstoppable is taking place
11:28
in South Carolina. You'll remember a few weeks ago that Senator Lindsey Graham, a slavish Trump
11:33
supporter, died suddenly of a heart attack. Now his sister Darlene is running for his old seat
11:41
And in a TV debate last week, things went very wrong. Are Taiwan and the South China
11:47
see national security issues for the United States? If so, why? I'm sorry, could you repeat the question
11:55
If are Taiwan and the South China Sea national security issues for the United States
12:00
and if so, why or how? I'm just going to be honest here. I'm not on national security. I'm not that informed
12:08
on national security, so... Groans in the hall among even Republicans who realise that a normally safe Senate seat may suddenly be at risk
12:20
Nationally, there's even more on the line as the midterm elections approach
12:24
A country that this week tiptoed one step closer to bankruptcy now faces the real possibility of not being able to meet its obligations
12:33
as its retirees in ever greater numbers demand access to their pensions and other benefits
12:39
A date with catastrophic destiny is on the cards, but very few candidates for office this November even want to talk about it
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