DC Roundup: Trump keeps winning!

Gutshot welcome you to Washington DC. Good morning. Welcome back to the guide short podcast. I'm Sam. Uh I know that uh uh we've been on hiatus hiatus for approximately uh 2 weeks or so. Um I'm just back from the United States for uh for that period. Uh with me uh is Shamshshire Gil from Malaysia business. Um he is standing in for uh my usual co-host uh Chuang who is now currently in New Delhi. So he'll be back on the 11th. So um Shamshshire has gladly come in to fill the role and um

Sham say something about yourself. Thanks Sam. Uh welcome back firstly to see you again. Uh hi I'm Sham. Uh I am the head of publication for Malaysian business. Uh it's great honor to be here. Thank you. Thank you so much for having

You're welcome. You're welcome. Um so I as I was mentioning actually I was uh I was actually uh I was in Dallas uh Texas uh for some business matters and uh did a few things uh outside of business in Dallas. Excuse me. Sorry. And after which uh I took a week break actually to go to Washington DC. It was my first time in Washington DC.

Did you run around the White House? Um let's put it this way. Uh the first day I was there, the first morning actually I was there um I didn't realize it but uh Zalinsky was in town. So they barricaded the whole uh the whole White House uh uh area. So you can't go in um the whole White House area. So, Zalinski and uh the the whole entourage of the European leaders

were there. Um so, you got you got Stmer, you've got Maloney, and you've got uh all these other guys uh from the European Union um that came to meet up with Trump. So, I just saw uh the coverage on the uh on TV, but uh since that was the case, we decided to actually walk to the National Mall. Um and uh just take the sites at the National Mall. um you know starting from the Lincoln Memorial and then walk through the whole National Mall towards the World War II uh memorial, the Korean uh memorial and then uh right up to the Washington Monument and whatnot. Yeah,

it was quite an experience. is actually um I've been all over uh the United States to be honest except for probably the flyover states

um which is the Midwest. Um and what struck me when I was in DC uh is actually the scale of the empire. Let me put it that way. Right. I mean, if you've been to Rome or you've been to uh Paris

Mhm. Uh and you've seen um the complex uh around the palace of Versailles. Yeah. And you've seen the glory of what is Rome. when you go to Washington DC, um not unlike probably any other uh cities, old cities such as Chicago, uh but you know, unlike the modern places like New York City, um there's a bunch of historical

uh buildings and monuments that are larger than life. Correct. Agreed. Yeah. Yeah. Um the Lincoln Memorial is actually pretty stunning for example, you know. So what it does, it actually put into context um the the wealth that is in place within that particular nation. Right.

True. And uh unlike uh Rome or Versailles or Paris where actually you are looking at past empires. Mhm. You are basically looking at a a nation that is that is still is pane a modern day empire.

Yes. Correct. Yeah. True. you know, so that was one of the things that struck me. Um, you know, interestingly enough. Um, also that was the week whereby I or the was it the week before where uh Trump actually announced the takeover of the DC metrop police uh under the federal uh regulation.

Right. So uh and he brought in the National Guards into Washington DC uh to c to curb uh criminal activities and and bring down crime. And here's the thing that was very interesting to me because we were staying at somewhere near I was about I think maybe 10 minutes of at most 15 minutes walk from the White House. Mhm.

Right. So, we're probably right in the middle of uh um uh the uh the tourist area. Okay. Right. And then we stayed which is not far from Georgetown where the Georgetown University is. So, all in all, you go to Georgetown and I was staying in Georgetown as well at the end of the week uh which is pretty high-end area and gentrified. I really didn't see any additional uh troops or police presence more than usual.

Oh, okay. Yeah. Except for the time when Zelinski came and they had to close the the the roads and uh Yeah. And you hear a lot of sirens coming in and whatnot. So I reckon that the whole the the whole exercise was very much into the outer areas where the inner cities are. And uh apparently from the news report the last

Mhm. week or so maybe past 11 12 days there has been uh zero murders in Washington DC. Wow. Since the takeover by the Trump administration.

Wow. So in essence you got an immediate impact on what he had done and I think that has never happened in the 35 years of u uh of Washington DC you know so I think this is the funny part you know shams going back to how uh I've looked at the situation is that Trump keep doing things That seems so logical for us, right? But somehow or rather the left and the Democrat uh keep pushing against anything that he does and puts themsel in a corner, right? Because they are always in opposition to anything Trump does.

Correct. Even even here locally. Yeah. Right. No matter what the government does here, our opposition will say that's wrong and push themselves in a corner. So it's understandable. Well, I think it's it's even more when actually you think about it, right? Where you think about a situation where it is almost clearcut. I would say that it is this is an 8020 or even 9010 uh issue, you know, and the Democrats are going against it. It just put them in a situation where come the next election, it will become an issue, you know, and an issue where there's no way the Democrats has got a winning a

winning argument. So, this has been going on and Trump seems to me it's like a genius at playing this game. He's unpredictable. He's unpredictable is one thing,

but he's picking the right issues that resonate with the voter base. Yes. Whether you are Democrat or Republican, you know, I and I mean just like immigration, right?

I mean, who would be against closing the borders? who would be against um what do you call deport deportation of illegal immigrants except for a minority in the left.

Agreed. you know, so this is this is where I think his chess game um is just uh is just putting it uh is just setting up traps. And at the same time, what I see with the mainstream media is they keep biting on um they keep biting on things that are irrelevant

on non-issues. Yeah. are non-issues because why they are completely focused on Trump is bad right they're completely focused on taking down uh Trump as a character and he will give them that bone you know

yeah he will give them that bone and that's the most stupid thing I've seen because he will play this character and they will pick up this bone and they will attack him on something that people the average voter doesn't care.

Yep. And they have already been through this for the last 8 years. Correct. You know, the fact that after all the uh the attacks on Trump and he still wins.

Yeah, that should at least tell you, hey guys, your strategy is not working. Nobody believes you in terms of bringing him down

in terms of playing all this. Correct. Where's your issue? Yeah. They're making they're building mountains out of an hills on non-issues, not just to seem relevant and just to go against him.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I I saw this morning uh I wonder whether it was CNN or that came out with this uh with this u uh with this uh issue that Trump apparently seems to be big on uh uh a title that was he that he said was given to him by the Europeans that he was something like the president of Europe. I'm like, I honestly have not heard him say that. But even if he had said that, who the hell cares?

Yeah. Nobody cares, right? Because why? By to by by this time, everybody knows that Trump will say whatever he wants to say, you know, that comes to his mind at any time.

Yep. But does that impact the life of the average American? It does not. Correct. You know, yeah. So this fixation has just going to go away, you know. So that's that's that's one thing as a opener uh for us about my trip. And uh it was very interesting trip actually. And here's the other thing I think Shamshshire you are going to talk you were talking to me about tariffs just now right

um I was looking at it and I was looking at the um obviously actually I was spending a lot of my time in a more gentrified area of DC uh and Dallas and the mood was very good you know

yeah I saw pictures yeah the mood was very good. I mean, the the I mean, I was going through Georgetown. Um, and uh the the the the shops were the restaurants were full. I mean, we went down to the warf. Uh, damn, the oysters were cheap. Okay,

I envy you. So, you know, we had a whole day of just having oysters by the wolf. And the thing is I mean so uh and if you look at the last um the last uh report uh on the CPI which is what 2.1 coming down from 2.7%. Uh GDP at 3% stock market at alltime high.

Yeah. What? So this whole gloom and doom about uh they're going to face recession. Yeah. Initially that was what the the opposition was playing at, right? All your tariffs are going to cause the stock market to crash. Yes. At first there was some chaos there because uncertainty

but I think it has stabilized. People are seeing where Trump is bringing everything the economy to what he's trying to do, what he's trying to accomplish. in terms of tariffs, what he's doing, I believe is fair.

Well, here here's the thing that I I think people um I I I've said this before in previous broadcast, right? The the the global market is not a free market. Let's get that very very clear. Okay? Anybody who tells you that the global market is a free market is either delusional or naive or absolutely lying to you. Okay, that's point number one. Let me put it again to you. The global marketplace is not a free market. Okay? Every other country in the whole damn world has got tariffs and non-tariff barriers for you to enter their market.

Agreed. Correct. All right. Yep. For a long time, we all know this. All right. But somehow or rather uh the orthodoxy, the mainstream has been selling the idea that the US has to be the free market for the world. Right. You're laughing already. Okay, that's like you saying, right? Uh, you know, uh, come to my supermarket. All right. And, uh, and sell anything you want.

Whilst when I go to your supermarket, I got to pay you. Yeah. Exactly. The hell's going on? You know and for the first time actually every president prior to Trump has been saying the same thing that they need to open the market in the other countries in Japan in China. Obama said that Clinton said that you know uh even Biden said that but they never did a thing.

Yep. Do you know why they never did a thing? It's because they all beholden to Wall Street. Okay, they all beholden to Wall Street where actually, all right, in spite of all the mainstream propaganda, all these other politicians are getting money from Wall Street M who actually offshore their production to all these countries that are benefiting from the free market of the US. So that allows them that margin, extra margin for them to actually compensate themsel in huge millions of dollars compared to the offshoring of all the manufacturing outside of the US. So then the US has

got no more fundamental manufacturing. Yeah, their people don't have any more manufacturing. And they tell you, hey, we are never going to get manufacturing back. It's just not viable. All right, let me put it this way. Let me say that again. It's Why? Number one, all right, you have automation. Okay. Number two, so you need higher skilled workers that are paid more to manage all the automation. All right? They don't want to invest into that when they can get their cheap labor in Vietnam, their cheap labor in China, their cheap labor in India and whatnot.

Correct? And then they make that extra 30% margin that goes into their P&L that then they, you know, have 50 times valuation on Wall Street and compensate their CEOs in hundreds of billion dollars.

Wow. Yeah. That's the name of the game. And then what do they do? They pump money into the super PACs and into all the lobbying groups that are funding all these Democrat politician and Republican politicians. That's why the establishment political system does not want Donald J. Trump because here comes a guy who doesn't need your money.

True, right? Can you imagine? He had Elon Musk backing him up and yet what did he do? He pulled out all the EV mandate that actually hurt Mask business.

Yes, he's the only one who will do that. Think about that. And yet people say he's the most corrupt guy there is. Well, ladies and gentlemen, some say the guy can't be bored.

Yep. Right. Well, there are things I don't agree, but that's we'll talk about that, but I wait for Chong to come back, you know, because he's more into this crypto thing, you know. I've got some points on crypto. I want to clarify with him, you know. But what do you think? I mean, you look at what's going on, right? The tariffs. They've got the can Canadian, the Canadian has folded. Hey, here's another win for the guide short podcast. Canada has folded, right? They have actually now uh roll back all their reciprocal tariff on America.

Oh, yeah. Okay. Last week. I missed that. Yeah. Guess what I said already in the last podcast. They cannot win. They need the American market. They need the American market, right? The American market represents 70 77% of their destination.

Correct. How are you going to swing it elsewhere? You're just killing your own your your own manufacturers. Yeah. Right. As a as far as the US is concerned, right? you you want to put okay I'll just put a reciprocal uh tariffs on you well I'll I'll handle it for a while you know because a people what people don't get is the GDP of the uh the American GDP per capita is about 80,000 um uh US dollar perom let's go by data okay US per capita GDP is 80 $80,000 per approximately 2024 figure.

Mhm. Okay. India GDP if I'm not mistaken is around 3,000 US per capita. Okay. China GDP is about 11,000 US per capita. Right. So I'm I'm I'm segueing into China and India. Okay. Now, America has put 50% tariffs on Indian uh products.

Yeah. So, there was a CNN um uh uh a CNN uh um uh what do you call headline that says that is Trump tariff pushing India and China? uh towards each other. Okay, let me give a reality check. The world is not that difficult to understand. Actually, global geopolitics, global commerce, actually pure commerce is not that difficult to understand. All right. True. our um our uh what do you call economists all right based on their models of theoretical economics.

Mhm. With all due respect don't know Okay. They sit in their ivory tower. They have two variables, three variables and then they make their conclusion and they tell it to the mainstream media and the mainstream media runs with it because it fits the narrative that they want to tell.

Yes. Okay. Let me give you the reality check. So um China export to America uh is approximately if I'm not mistaken $480 billion perom.

Yes. Right. Around that. Um India export to uh uh US is about I believe not even 100 billion perom I think it's around 80 billion perom I think at most

I'm not too sure myself yeah I got to check my number um uh but that's pane You got your hand? Yeah, I do. Yeah. Do a good quick Google check.

Hold on. Get my hand. All right. There you go. Let's do this. I remember I was double checking. Um, let's see. Uh 86.5 billion.

There you go. So it's about 86. And most of them are textiles, apparel, pharmaceuticals, gems, jewelry, and now smartphones. Right. Yeah. Now, let me put it this way. They're not going to sell the smartphones to China.

No. China produces more smartphones than anybody else coming out of their ears. Correct. Okay. They're not going to sell textiles to China. Textiles China produces more textiles for themselves and everybody else. Okay.

Correct. What are you going to sell to China that they need from India? Nothing. Okay. I'm thinking second. Okay. Second, what does China produce on behalf of the uh America now? More and more of the digital technology is coming out of China and moving elsewhere.

Yeah. Okay. So, that supply chain is changing. Then you've basically got to look at pharmaceuticals. That's another big export uh from uh the US to China. Sorry the uh from China to US. So export to China, China to US or machineries, appliances, you know, and all these appliances for example these are mechanical and electrical appliances. You can get it from Vietnam, you can get it from Malaysia, you can get it from Indonesia, right? So all of these are coming out from China. Yep. So now you want to sell those things to India. Do you know the India GDP is about as I mentioned $3,000 perom?

Who's going to buy it? See, there's a mismatch. There's always a mismatch. On top of that, the biggest mismatch is this. China is in a bubble. Okay. When you have the when you have the CCP working for decades on the metric of GDP, they are very good at production

because allocation of capital through a Marxis system that is a single party system. Yes. Control does not care about P&L.

Yep. They care about top line which is GDP which is revenue. They don't care about the PN. They don't care about the bottom line. Right. Because by the time you hit the bottom line the the the CCP official that is in charge has already moved away to his next uh promotion.

Yep. All right. because he's already performed well by increasing the GDP growth in this particular region. Yep. KPI met. Yep. Right. So this is the problem that uh China faces. Number one, the society is not a consumption society. They are a saving society and most of their savings actually end up in property.

Yes. And what has happened to the property? It's again another bubble that has actually burst in China. So if you've got a crisis of property, okay, of the bubble bursting in the property sector, that is where the savings of the Chinese people are. And then at the same time they have built up this manufacturing capacity that represent basically a third of the world's production. What does that mean? That means that it's not sustainable because nobody in the whole goddamn world can swallow all your production. And that's why they are running surplus with every other region in the whole world.

cuz they're producing so much. Yeah. And their only choice is actually to dump their products. Hence, that is why you have the EU putting anti-dumping tariffs on Chinese products. So if you look at it whatever Trump is doing visav China it may take some time because China has one leverage which is the rare earth metals.

Yes. Okay. But that is a short-term problem and the Trump administration is already addressing that part. So when you have this situation, China is not in a position to actually hold on for long.

True. Because they keep they need to keep dumping. Yeah. And if they cannot keep dumping it, which is what is happening right now, you're going to have unemployment unemployment shooting through the roof. That's when you get unrest. And that is the most difficult problem for a one party system to manage. All right? Cuz China, the CCP is only about 900 uh about 90 million people in the CCP party governing about 1.4 billion people based on their census data. I don't believe that census data. However, let me grant them 500 million population. Okay, that's not sustainable for you to manage.

Okay, so whilst you say ah why is Trump taking so long to negotiate China? Who cares? Because let me put it this way. I just got back from uh but as I said I just got back from the states. It was just a reminder whenever you walk into all the supermarkets okay and all the retail shops in America do you know that 70% that is on the retail shop and on the supermarket are actually useless. You don't need to buy those True, right? It is not a necessity for the people to buy 70% of the item in the supermarket racks in America. It is all luxury. It is all uh uh what what I call

disposable income purchases. It is actually junk. You could not believe if you walk through the aisle of junk foods, there are probably 10 aisles of junk foods. Yeah. or various brands. Why do you need that America? And if your poor people are buying those junk foods, you better stop them from buying those junk foods and start eating healthy. That's one of the biggest problem in America. Bloody obesity.

I mean, even in Malaysia, right? Yeah. Yeah. No, think about it. Right. Having said that, even in Malaysia, right? Okay. And we are one we I mean their their per capita GDP is eight times our GDP

per capita, right? So they can splurge over all this nonsense. We are only one uh we we are only 1/8 of what they earn and our people are idiotically spending on unhealthy foods, right? and all the junks, you know, everybody has got two or three cars.

Yeah. And our car prices are stupid. And our car prices are stupid compared to America. Right. Actually, if you look at it, right, dollar to dollar, living in America is cheap. Do you know why, guys? Living in America is cheap compared to even in Malaysia. Because the level of corruption in America is so much lower.

Correct. The level of corruption, the level of deregulation is so much lower. In Malaysia, our tariffs, our non-tariff barriers are absolutely none.

Yes, I can buy the same car in America for a third the price that I buy here in Malaysia, even with the exchange rate. Actually, uh, an American friend of mine came and then we went to the Porsche showroom,

right? And he was like, "Wow, you guys are rich to to be able you have to be rich to be able to afford a Porsche in Malaysia." Yeah. Because he said, "Comparing the prices."

Yeah. Right. Even after conversion, dollar for dollar, right? Yeah. Porsches in Malaysia are so much more expensive compared to Yeah. Even after you make the uh exchange rate conversion, it's ridiculous.

Right. Exactly. So he was like, I even you take dollar to dollar, right? I mean even I mean I was going on happy hour oysters, it's about $2. I hate you. Okay.

Yeah. Go to banga and see how much we pay for our oysters. I take one enough. Thank you. You know, I mean a good steak is what? $30, you know. But you see, the thing is, right, when you talk to Malaysians,

right, we like to compare, you know, Yeah. you you will pay $30 for a steak in the States, right? But if you take that and it's it's still cheaper, you know,

120 ringgit here, right? But then I I tell them that's a good steak. I can tell you. Yeah. But I tell them they earn in USD. Yeah. We earn in ring. But but think about it, right? A $30 is only 120 ringit, right? Try get a a 300 g steak in uh uh in a good restaurant in K.

You're looking at about 200 to 300. Exactly. Correct. Right. So anyway, going back to our our story, right? So going back to our story, you already can see,

right? As I said, the US as a global marketplace is the richest marketplace and the most uh uh consumerbased marketplace the world has. Let me put it this way. The adage of commerce, the customer is always right. You know, when you have that purchasing power, you bow to it. I I agree. I mean, I think last year I saw

on Facebook someone selling leaves, Malaysian leaves on Amazon for like $1 for that big leaf kind of thing, right? And I'm like, "Wow." You know, you can't sell leaves in Malaysia, but you're selling leaves in America and there's a market, you know. So, what you say is it's like so then that's why America consume everything from the rest of the world.

Yeah. You know, so when we do like that, right, when when people understand that part and actually what is happening with India is very simple. Okay. India is actually doing u uh the 50% tariffs on India is because of u uh the purchase of the uh Russian sanctioned oil.

Yes. Okay. Um and you know like it or not you may say it's unfair right because why are you not penalizing China? Why are you penalizing uh India? But then again let's put it this way as I said if you have the power you will play the power whichever you think can work first and in India's case at one point they were very insignificant in terms of their uh purchase of sanctioned oil

but right now it has gone down gone up within the last 3 years alone it has gone up to about a third of their uh purchase of Russian oil which means those are the money that is funding the Ukrainian war for the Russian. So in order for America to be able to bring the Russian to the negotiating table,

they have to cut it off. They have to cut off the cash flow. Right? So for India, the question they have to ask is very simple. You know, I always say this about this uh about this sanction oil, right? When there is a sanctioned oil that means there is a there's a delta between what is a marketplace uh what the market is and what you can you will pay for the sanctioned oil.

But if you buy the sanctioned oil cheap and you can sell it at the marketplace somebody is making that delta. Correct. Right. And in all uh uh what do you call in all situation in all our third world countries let me put it this way right the only people who are actually making money out of all these deltas are all the corrupt politicians and their cronies okay the normal folks are going to be paying

not the cheap uh oil okay but they're going to be paying what the market is going to ask for. Yes. Right. So for anybody who don't understand what's going on, wake up and smell the roses. All right.

Yeah. So you know, okay, it's nothing against the Indians. All right. It's about the powers that be and how you're going to control geopolitics and how you going to make the world a peaceful place. Right. So if you think if India thinks or China thinks they can sell to each other and go ahead you know dude you guys must get one thing about the Americans. All right these are not the Democrats that are running the place. Okay let me explain to you a bit about the Democrat mindset. The democrat mindset is about feelings. Okay. Their platform is ideology. Feelings does not give you business.

Yep. Feelings does not lift the uh welfare or the safety of your citizens. Yep. Okay. facts, data, pure business thinking is the one that is going to make the life of the citizens of any nation better. And that's what the Trump administration is doing. Okay? They have no qualms about doing the tariffs. Why? because that is going to deliver prosperity for uh for Americans by bringing in back jobs after you have deregulated after you have cut taxes. Okay, after you have allowed energy to come down, okay, what are we looking at now? We are

looking in excess of like what almost 2 trillion if not more in terms of actual real investment income. Yes. to the United States in just a period of less than 8 months.

That's the short-term effect, right? I mean, you're going to see this down the, you know, all this money coming in will definitely will probably be coming in what say you know in the next 12 months.

Yeah. When you will see the impact. Correct. Right. And what Americans won't see is what I mean the impact Trump's impact positive impacts shortterm you can see it but the big impacts will come after his term. Oh, it's definitely going to I would say that actually I will give it 2 years. 2 years within a period of 24 months all these investments, all this deregulation will actually have a tremendous impact on their uh economic uh well-being, right? And then the tariffs say what you want. Again, every time I see the mainstream media, they will put a negative spin on it. I am very simple

even if you do 10 to 15% tariff okay that is good enough and tariff to answer your question you asked me about yeah what what was the question you asked me just

what's the difference between tariffs and taxes because in this sense some people don't know what's the difference one they misconstrue it right thinking like uh the 25% no We're getting taxed 19% Malaysia is getting taxed 19% tariffs, right? Some people don't understand that. Say, "Oh, it's it won't affect us. It only affects Americans, right? So one, what's the difference between tariffs and taxes, right? So people can understand this and impact to say for example Malaysia, right? When we do the silicon chips, we send it to America, it gets a tariff, right?

Are Malaysians impacted after that? Well, it's it's actually very simple. Tariffs are taxes. Okay? Tariffs is also is a form of tax. Okay? It's basically import duty.

Okay? Right? Now um if you have no choice and you have to import it because you have no choice okay your seller your exporter is going to tell you uh import duty is 15%. Okay I'm going to pass that 15% to you take it or leave it. Okay, which means that the importer will pay for that 15% and then pass the 15% to the consumer that results in inflation on that particular product. Okay, so that's what the economist and the mainstream media is playing at. Okay, as if that is the standard situation.

Mhm. Okay. But imagine this. I'm now the rich guy. Okay. You want to sell me um this chair. Another guy want to sell me the same chair. Another guy want to sell me the same chair. Maybe not the same, maybe approximately the same. I've got five people trying to sell me chairs. And I tell them, in order for you to sell me the chess, you have to pay me 15%. First before it enters into um uh before I put it to my consumer.

Mhm. Okay. All right. You got to pay a tax of 15%. All right. to my government. Okay. You come and tell me, um, my price is $100 plus 15%. I say, hey, what do you say? Okay, never mind. What are you going to sell me? Oh, no, no, no. I I'll sell you uh $100 plus 5%. More. So, $105.

Yeah. As opposed to $15, right? Yeah, I already not buying from you. I'm already looking at this guy. Yeah, correct. Right. Another guy comes in and I say, I'll sell you 95.

You got the sale. Correct. Correct. Because all he wants to do is enter the market. Correct. So, what inflation are you talking about? True. It's a question of leverage. If you have the leverage, the exporter is screwed.

Correct. So how does it impact the exporter? That means his margin, he has to swallow that 15% into his margin. Yep. Right. And if he cannot swallow, he go bust. That's the impact on you as the exporter. So if Malaysia or Indonesia or Thailand or Vietnam who are basically selling almost the same thing to America cannot swallow that

19% tariffs that I have put. Okay. They're not going to be able to supply. However, I guarantee you they will swallow it.

They will swallow it. If not one, two. If not two, three. Why? Because they've got a fat margin. Number one. Number two, because not just that, they now their government has to think what have I overregulated?

What taxes have I put on my manufacturers that increase their cost? Yeah. that in order for me to allow my people to keep on being employed and not throw me out of office that I have to make their product cheaper so that they can overcome the tariffs that everybody is trying to compete against each other. So the question become then for the exporter nation

how do you make your product competitive? True. Yep. Right. Because for the ex for the importer, I got choice. And not just that, I don't need to buy this chair.

Yeah. Exactly. Right. So, okay, I don't buy this chair from you, I pay another uh $200 more. Let's say if I pay another $200 more. Frankly, I think the Americans can afford it. You think so? they can afford it.

I mean you you were in the states recently people were spending they can afford it. The problem is you know you've got actually if you look at I mean the Democrats keep talking about the poor people.

Mhm. Right. But the problem is this they keep giving welfare without educating them to actually become uh productive citizens. Right? But these guys are the these people are the ones that are basically buying the junk foods.

Yeah. The cheap items and whatnot. Yeah. And this is the other part of the Trump administration that I actually find it very admirable which is what Bobby Kennedy is doing. Right. Because you really need to change the whole uh the whole dietary habit of uh of the population. It is very unhealthy. Right? Why are you buying sodas, Americans? Why are you drinking sodas? Sugar are poison. All those potato chips are poison. Instead of buying that, why don't you just drink water?

But I think water is expensive there, right? No, it's not. You can buy You can drink tap water. I go to Australia, I drink tap water. In Australia, tap water is safe. The whole thing, it's only us in Malaysia that we bre we buy mineral water in bottles because we got so much money. I I tell you I tell you I was like I went I was uh I I I went to I was at my daughter's in in Australia, right?

And and they're drinking tap water, right? And I'm so uncomfortable because I'm so used to buying mineral water from 7Eleven. You know, it it is such a culture change for me. Right.

I know what you mean. Yeah. Why are you drinking soda, guys? Right. I guess because it's it's the water doesn't have taste. It's habit.

Yeah. Right. It's habit. And u and and and I dude, let me put it this way. I used to, you know, I lost 25 kilo in 8 months by stopping drinking and eating sugar, carbohydrates.

25 kilos. Yes. In 8 months. So your next episode. So for three for the last 3 years, I've practically stopped eating carbohydrates and sugars and sodas and all this. Wow. Yeah. And you're healthy. I've, you know, my blood pressure is a lot better than I feel like for I'm 45, you know. So why are people living an unhealthy life, living eating unhealthy food that are junk? And if those companies go bankrupt, so be it. Go and do something else.

I guess this is mainly the lower income. Well, is and I look at actually when you go to the higher income bracket, right? They're actually more health conscious because they have more knowledge.

More knowledge. And I guess I mean just just if if you've if you've gone through YouTube, right, you can see the difference between uh Japanese uh school children and what they eat at school and American school children and what they they given at school. Right. That alone should tell you a lot.

Yeah. Right. There are so many things that are that that could be corrected for such a rich country you know and uh I actually uh when I look at I mean I've been looking at this in the inner cities for example why are the inner city people having such nice cars

you know m I don't You can tell us. Yeah, you know, please tell us. All you all you people, please tell us why are they buying all this? Uh, you know, I when I went to school in Florida, uh, I bought me a Toyota that cost me $200. It lasted me for 4 years. Okay, I'm happy with it, right? I was on poverty. I live well. You know,

you were in the States, right? Do you go were you able to go grocery shopping? Um, actually, I didn't really go grocery shopping. I mostly go grocery shopping when I was in a when I'm in Australia. I I rarely go grocery shopping uh in the States unless I end up in a marketplace and just for fun. Yeah, I should have asked you to do that because then we can compare basket size, right?

Well, you know, I mean, the thing is, let's put it this way. My wife likes to go and buy uh pharmaceuticals um in um in in in

pharmacist warehouse in Australia. In No, in in the US. Oh, okay. Okay. Because uh their their pharmaceuticals are cheaper and more available. Yes. Okay.

Mhm. Uh that's one. Can you believe that? Can you believe that? That my wife goes and buy uh pharmacy stuff in America and in Australia

because it's much cheaper than Because it's much cheaper and much more available. Oh, okay. I I always had that that concept the preconception that you know insulin shots and whatnot were so much more expensive. Well, I mean there are certain things that are the prescribed things are much more expensive. Okay.

And the health system is much more expensive and that's got to do a lot with actually how the cooperatization of uh of the medical industry in America um and the commercialization of it. I mean that's that would be another topic.

Yeah. Right. But um in terms of in terms of pharmaceutical I think compared to us in terms of textile um in terms of quality goods right I would put it this way personally for me I actually do not shop in Malaysia.

Yeah. You're rich. No I'm not. No. The reason is very simple. If you want to have good quality stuff uh at good prices, Yeah.

go and buy in the States. Yeah. I actually shop for clothes and shoes in the States. My sister uh my sister's in Australia.

Uhhuh. So, uh Levis's will have their Oh, yeah. They're cheap. Yeah. Dirt cheap, right? Dirt cheap compared to here. Yeah. Yeah. I think if Americans come here and look at the prices we have, they go, "What the hell?" Right. And guess why? Tariffs. Okay, guys. And that's when you have no choice.

That's the gut shot. Yeah, that's the gutshot, guys. All right. So, I think I mean I mean and and not just that, you're looking at even I mean talking back to the tariffs, right? tariffs is already going to be looking at about 3 trillion to pay down on the debt that America has,

right? Which is a big thing that no other administration has done. And why is Trump not getting credit for all this? I don't get it. Immigration uh borders are closed. Immigration, illegal immigration is almost down to zero, right? People are self-epporting. Um, crime is down. Um, uh, uh, uh, uh, inflation is down. You know, what was the high inflation during the Biden era? 9%, guys. All right. Um, GDP is up. Stock market is up. Wages are up. Taxes has been made has been cut permanent. No taxes on tips. all sorts of uh and and all the and deregulation is coming. No subsidies on renewables,

you know, which are actually, you know, why are you subsidizing um uh uh the corporations? Are you nuts? And you talk about and the and the left talk about, oh, we want free market, go fly kite, right? So I I I really believe the more I look at it, I'm not I'm a policy wonk, okay? I'm a business guy. All right? I don't look at I I I mean, take whatever his personality is, right? To me, what Trump is doing from a policy standpoint is absolutely making America great again. Is that not what you want? is not what the world needs. You know, we can't we we can't have uh the Chinese Navy chasing the

Philippines out of their own territorial waters. We need America's seven fleet to protect the sovereignity of the Southeast Asian nations because we can't fight the the Chinese fleet.

Yep. Agreed. So all you guys who are so pro-China, wait till they come after your backyard, you know. Oh, they've been peaceful. Yeah. When did they ever own Tibet? you know. So anyway, I think um that um and and actually part of the reason I went off to uh US is to look at investment opportunities.

Mhm. you know, uh, in in the oil and gas sector. Uh, because I think, um, the the conditions for investment in America is actually uh is actually on the rise and the policies that are being taken is actually uh uh uh very pro uh investor and very pro uh business. So there you go. Are you not now understand why these investments are Hey, I remember when when people when the m the media and and and everybody else was saying uh there's no way Apple will be able to manufacture in the US. Guess what? It's happening now.

I do believe that some naysayers, right? I I just because they don't see it. They they don't see the full effect yet. It's too short a term 8 months for them to so they're still saying no no no no no. I think most of the thing is because uh more it's a political divide and ideology. Okay. um throughout my adult life uh especially for me who's educated in America uh being very in touch with the culture and always go back

um what I realized is actually uh the mainstream media uh is very much pro- left pro-democrat uh but over the years especially after Bush um the the the the dichotomy uh between um the left and the right has been very much more stark in a sense that it has got to the point where the the media and the Democrats are hand in hand um um uh deliberately uh working towards actually um uh demonizing whatever the Republican party does. Okay. Now, uh here's the

interesting part. um is that I used to be very I mean being I I call myself a liberal at least in a Malaysian context, right? I'm basically a liberal.

Yeah. Right. Um and actually even when I was in the US uh I think my favorite president even um even up to Obama, I actually thought uh I admire Clinton a lot. I thought Clinton was a brilliant president. I may not agree with some of his policies, but I thought his execution was uh brilliant. Uh what he achieved uh for a president um is and as a politician is remarkable, right? Um uh I was too young uh for the days of Reagan, right? Um I thought that the Bush administration the uh was uh very much controlled by the neocons and Dick Cheney. So to me when I look at the American

political landscape, what I saw was uh an establishment Republican party uh and an and what has morphed from the uh workingclass Democratic party. it has now become an establishment Democrat party that has taken over big business uh from the Republican. So actually the whole pendulum has swung as far as I look at it

because when Trump come into the scene he was basically the populist. Okay, it is very strange to think that actually a billionaire to be the populist candidate, right? In essence, he has more to a certain extent in common with Bernie Sanders.

Yeah. Than the Democrat party itself, right? Except for, you know, Bernie being a socialist and Trump being uh very much uh a workingclass entrepreneur type of mentality. uh but the corporate wall street is very much with uh the uh liberal democrats.

Yeah. So um that is why we see a shift in the voter registration and also uh voter support towards the Republican party under the MAGA banner of Trump. So the question now is how far up the truck does Maga continues

yes with the next guy in line. Yeah. Uh if you ask me I do think that JD Vans actually quite embody that uh that uh the MAGA

brand. Okay. Uh albeit probably a more uh a more softer version compared to Trump. you know. Well, I mean, sorry to cut you off.

Yeah, sure. Go ahead. No, no. If you were Trump, Yeah. you and you came up with the MAGA brand, you have to go hard, you know, you're setting foundations, right? The next person that comes out is said JD Vance, right? He's softer.

Well, if he if he ends up Yeah. he's softer, right? He just needs to build upon the foundation. Yeah. Yeah. I think that not only that I think the interesting part about this Trump administration is that they have had four years to plan. I have never seen an administration come in fully ready to do whatever. It was like clockwork and this group of cabinet

um I am very impressed. uh star among them I think is Basset and JD Vance. Uh I think uh I mean say what you want I mean people a lot of people don't like Hexath uh because he's so much in your face and he seems to be and he's not a general or what not. But the whole ethos or the whole point of bringing him in was actually to revamp the military to be a fighting force and that's exactly the leadership that the American military needs and the under secretaries are the one that are going to do the administrative part. U so Trump knows exactly what he's doing. His team with

his chief of staff which is Susie Wilds has been magnificent. Caroline Levit at the uh Pony uh as the press secretary has been stellar in my opinion, you know. So I think that the Democrats are in a bind. Not only are they in the wrong side of all the issues, they are in the 20% of all the issues. Okay? And I think if Trump pulls off these economic initiatives that all he's doing, not to mention, I do think at the end of the day, he's going to settle Ukraine and he's going to settle Gaza. It's difficult, but it's going to get settled one way or another. Let me put

it this way, one way or another, because it's very it's it's very simple. Ukraine cannot sustain without American involvement.

Yeah. Right. The Europeans I was laughing at uh uh at the chancellor from Germany, you know, practically lecturing Trump uh that you need a ceasefire. And Trump, to his credit, was very calm about it. Right. and he just reiterated it doesn't matter to him that all he needs is peace which is exactly what any businessman will tell you I don't really care whether you want to buy my test product but if you buy my product as a whole I win the war

right who gives a right the problem is actually if you really were to ask me about the Ukraine war it is not America's war. It's not. It is the neocons's war.

Yeah. It is the war of the deep state of the old man of the old administration of the CIA and the MI5 of UK and the European Union trying to bring down Putin

and Ukraine being the proxy of their fight. Right? So if you say, "Oh, you can't trust the American." Who gives a Because this is the new America and the new America is no longer the new con America.

Yep. It is a new day. Deal with it. Yeah. Getting things right now. Yeah. Right. And you know this whole thing of actually saying that there's going to be you going to have you cannot go to the Russians and say I want back all my territory. That ain't going to happen. Every war that we know of you lose territory.

Yeah. Okay. Be realistic. All right. War has consequences. Yep. And the same will go with Gaza, right? I've always said this. The Palestinians had got um their territory way before October 7th. All right. They had a GDP growth actually.

Oh, yes. Okay. All right. So, why the hell did you launch October 7th? very easy because Saudi Arabia and all the GCC countries were coming to be normalized with

Israel. Israel and Iran would not want does not want to see that happen. Yeah. Okay. So, you reap what you sow. If you don't know how to live in peace with your neighbor, okay, and say what you want, I'm going to repeat this Karma is a okay? Our people in Southeast Asia, in Malaysia, has got two boogeymen. The first is that we have a lot of ethno uh Chinese uh in our population and they have a sentimentality towards their motherland China.

Mhm. Hence when it becomes America versus China, they are blind to what China is all about. Okay. Okay. China does not even care about their own people, guys. All right.

Well, I don't know. You know, back to differ. Well, yeah, they don't. All they care about is actually very simple. All right. Is domination of their population. If you say something against the CCP, you disappear. Just ask Jack Mahar if you can do that to Jack Mahar. Imagine us fools on the streets.

Yeah. Okay. Why do you think uh uh what is happening in China today uh in terms of the societal control after Tanamin Square because the reform is lost. That's what happened with reforms. When you do reforms, there's going to be chaos. Right.

True. Very true. So it's very simple, right? So I think if they are going to do that within their border and they they will do that across their border, just go to Africa and ask the Africans what's happening down there in Africa right now. Uh with all the projects that the Chinese is doing, okay, it's new colonialism all over again. Sri Lanka even.

Yeah. But hey, you know, we are always just like the Malays, you know, and the Muslims, they cannot get past their religion. Okay? So they look at Palestine, they don't see where their own people is wrong. All they see is victimhood and how they the Muslims are oppressed. so-called by the proxy of America, which is Israel. But Israel is the only democracy over there. Challenge me if I'm wrong that Israel is not the democracy over there. Right. Actually, you're right. And not just that. Okay, let's ask ourself this question. In the whole I mean every time when I

talk to leftist liberals uh in the west they keep talking about white colonialism, western colonialism, they seem to forget that the longest colonialism in human history is actually carried out by the Muslim Empire. throughout history of uh the uh of Muslim society from the day it was born it was war. It was war of subjugation and that's how the empire uh uh uh uh

expanded expanded and we go to school in our religious classes and we were taught about all these wars and we Muslims are proud about it. Dude, wake up. Why are you proud about being colonizers of other people? You had no business to actually go and conquer Jerusalem. That's not your place. Why are you there? Why are your people then go to Constantinopole and conquered Constantinople that is today Istanbul?

I'll send you a video on this. It is. Yeah. Yeah. That happened in the I believe it was in the 1400s, right? And if not for the siege of Vienna in the 1600s, okay, where actually um the Ottoman Empire was uh the the the Ataturatuk I I sorry, I'm sorry. It's the um the Turks were defeated. Okay. The whole of Europe would have been colonized by the Muslim Empire. And all the slaves in Africa were actually traded by the Muslim Empire. Oh.

Oh yeah. The biggest slave traders in the world throughout history and the biggest slave owners in the world in in in history are the Muslims. And yet you stupid Western liberals keep talking about your colonialism as if that was the worst thing that happened in human history. Give me a break. Have some dose of reality. Okay. If the British did not conquer Malaysia, we would still be having slaves today. The British were the first nation on earth to actually abolish slavery.

We are not taught all this. America tried teaching all this in the in American history. That actually is the Arabs and the Muslims that took the blacks out of their hometowns and the blacks themselves were actually taking their own people as slaves and selling it to outside. Give me a break. So anyway, I have digressed have I?

Yes, very much. We turned left. Yeah, we've come back and all that. So you know when we look at it right the force of good at the end of the day are people who are free.

Yeah. Okay. Are people who can debate and not censored. If you want to know who is your oppressor ask yourself this question. Who you cannot criticize.

Yeah. Who censors you? Yeah. Correct. Okay. So, I think to end this whole conversation, right? Well, it's been a one-way conversation.

Yeah, I know. But it's it's uh imparting knowledge, you know. We we came to talk about your trip. Yeah, I I know. I know. I know. I I came to talk about the trip and uh and what uh what what I saw

and and how I I look at it. So, maybe um to to to wrap the bowl. Yeah. Right. It was a magnificent trip. Uh it was uh well Dallas was a bit hot. Let me put it this way.

Hotter than Oh, yeah. The the heat is different. Yeah. Because it's not humid, right? Yeah. And and actually when I went down I mean I I was lucky I was not down in Houston because they said it was even worse. Oh.

The last trip I was down in Texas. Uh I was in Houston, but it was in the winter. So that's not too bad. But you know, uh summer in Dallas is another thing altogether. But uh DC was uh was very nice. So we had a good time in DC. Um I hope to go back again. Um I think if I were to go back to DC, I would really like to be able to carry out interviews with certain people.

Yeah, I think we should try and work on that. Um, so in the meantime, I think, hey, thanks a lot for hanging out with me. Anytime. I want to leave this podcast on a good note on your trip to America.

Right. Right. So, what restaurant would you suggest to any Malaysian to visit when they go to Washington DC? Wow, that's a tough question, man. Because I'll tell you one thing, almost everything is good, right? Um, I was in Texas. I Let me go to Texas first, right? I was in Dallas. I was in this place called the Stockyard.

Uh, we were at this place called I think it's called Kettleman's. All right. Damn. The steak was absolutely gorgeous. Okay.

Americans do know their steaks. Oh yeah. I was in DC and uh we were at this place at the by the PTOMAC. Mhm. Uh called Rapohanok.

Uh and we just Yeah. We just gorge on oysters. Wow. Yeah. Uh in Georgetown you cannot go wrong. It's almost everything is good, right? Um Yeah. And I and and you know, I did what I wanted to do, which is uh I dropped by the stairs of the exhis uh favorite movie. Yeah. So, I I had to take a photo of that. Yeah. Um and uh I I tried to recreate the scene, but uh you know, it didn't I know I didn't want to break my neck. So anyway, I I would say DC has one of the DC food scene is is first class. We went to a jazz club actually.

Uh it's um which was pretty pretty dope. Uh it was uh I think it's called um Blues Alley. Yeah, Blues Alley Club. Yeah, it was we had a Yeah, that was pretty good. Yeah. So on that note, thank you so much.

Thank you. See you guys.