THE GLENN BECK PODCASTAugust 18, 2025

How Obama Weaponized His Deep State Against Hero Vets | The Glenn Beck Podcast | Ep 263

Over the past few months, classified document releases related to Russiagate, the deep state, and other scandals have shown us just how frightening the government can be. But as Gina Keating has proven, it is NOT invincible. Gina — an investigative journalist and lifelong liberal — was forced to question everything she knew when she discovered that the DOJ under Obama, at the urging of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, was wrongfully prosecuting four Blackwater contractors for allegedly staging a massacre at Nisour Square in Baghdad, Iraq. Gina joins Glenn Beck to tell the story of these men, as documented in her new book, “Raven 23: How the Department of Justice Betrayed American Heroes.” She and Glenn discuss why the government really prosecuted these men, how Wikileaks helped expose the truth, and how Pete Hegseth helped convince President Trump to pardon them. But perhaps just as concerning was the media’s response to this story. Gina describes how her fellow journalists wouldn’t touch the case on “moral” grounds and provides solutions to help get partisan politics out of journalism.

Is George Soros’ evil empire CRUMBLING?

George Soros has just turned 95 years old and Glenn has a birthday message for him! What a shame that after nearly a century of trying to destroy the West, Spooky Dude now gets to watch as his son brings his own empire to its knees…It couldn’t have happened to nicer people.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

STU: It's a big day.

I was unaware of this birthday. It's not in my calendar, for some reason.

GLENN: I know. I know. Why do you suppose that is?

STU: I don't know. Here's a guy who has really made an impact on our world.

GLENN: He really has.

And he's 95 years old.

STU: Wow.

GLENN: He's outlived almost all of the people that tried to stop him.

And to be honest most of the economies that he tried to collapse, so it's nice.

And so I just wanted to say, happy birthday George Soros. I mean, I know we've had our quibbles. You threatened my life once.

You know, I've called you spooky dude. You know, but let's put all that aside. You have toppled a few currencies, just for sport.

You -- you have funded enough political movements, all over the world, to keep small nations and coups for over a century now. And you have turned philanthropy, into a really terrifying word.

You're like, wait. The Soros foundation is behind this?

It's kind of neat. You take people's breath away, when we talk about philanthropy, which is nice.

Somehow or another, you have learned to blame everything from inflation and a collapsing society. To the people who are pointing out the involvement.

You know, your involvement in our ever collapsing world. Or if you can't pin it on them, it's the weather.

So you've got that. And, George, all of this time. All of the hard work. Here you are, at 95. And to see it all come apart at the very end. To see it all collapse. It's got to be hard. It's got to be hard.

But the good news is, most of it is coming because unlike you, I know people are good and smart, and even decent. And in the end, the good guys win.

Kind of like they did, in World War II.
Remember, you were -- I think you were a young teenager. And when you threw your lot in with the Nazis.

I know. I know. You didn't have a choice.

And I actually believed that. You didn't have a choice.

I probably would have done the same thing, if I were your age.

And I mean that honestly.

However, what's always puzzled me. Is if I would have made that choice.

I think I would have, I don't know. More than just a fleeting moment of reflection.

On that. You know, maybe -- you know, what always puzzled me. You have never once, in your own words. Looked back on that. And had a second of guilt or regret.

I mean, I think I have this right. You took and sold the goods of homes that were taken by the Nazis from the Jews. They took the Jews to the death camps. And you cleaned out the houses and sold the valuables. Which is weird, that you have no regrets or reflexes on that. Didn't even think about it. Never gave it a second. You know, that was weird. And I was shocked to hear you say that, when you were on 60 Minutes, and they asked I about that. Now, my follow-up question would have been, have you ever been diagnosed as a psychopath? But they didn't ask that question, and probably didn't have to. Because it became very clear that you indeed were a psychopath, when you spoke about how when you, quote, do these little experiments with countries and currencies that you collapse, you know that people are hurt. But you find it, and still quoting, I don't know.

Fun!

Wow. Wow.

(laughter)
That's a different kind of -- that's a different kind of fun there, that I've never really kind of understood at all. But, you know, George people say, the measure of a man. A mark of a man's life is the good that he leaves behind.

And in your case, that good is still looking for a GPS signal. Haven't found it. But I'm sure we will.

And it's sad now to think, now that you're 95. Again, happy birthday, George.

And I mean that sincerely.

Now at 95, to think that all of your wildly strangely young girlfriends, are now only clearly with you for the money. And they might be losing some interest. Because the way your son handling your money, that may be gone faster than your. Girlfriends. You know what I mean?

And I know, it causes you pain. To hear about this. And see your entire world collapsing at the end.

And many people might see this, and see your pain. And say, well. You know

GLENN: Yeah.

But it's kind of fun to watch that pain.

In George Soros. But not me. Not me. Now, I've called you spooky died. And if it wasn't for the spooky dude, good looks, you know, of your son Alex. I've wondered. And maybe you wondered this. Is he really your son? He's nothing like you. Sure, he's spooky and everything else. But what a dope this guy is. I mean, you were the guy known for breaking the Bank of England.

That's what they called you, the man who broke the Bank of England. Your son breaking another bank. But it seems to be yours, which is weird. Because when it comes to investing and making money.

Wow. What a disappointment in a son. Huh.

George? Wow.

What went wrong there.

Anyway, several countries have banned you. You know, or your organizations from even being in their country. Because you were so good at what you did.

You know, collapsing currencies in societies.

But when your son took control of Soros fund management. You know, they can't be thing you set your whole life building. It was an empire. A global empire.

In December 2021, one of the first things he did was invest 2 billion dollars to buy nearly 20 million shares of an electric vehicle company called Rivian.

And he bought the shares, somewhere between 70 and $100 per share.

In fact, he was so confident, in your money. That it was the largest one-off investments your fund had ever made.

And now, I -- I hate to point out, you know, a year later, those shares were selling for $18.

And it looks like you lost over a billion dollars. In fact, with the moves that he's been making. With your life's work.

Wow!

Hedge Follow. This is a website that tracks and ranks US hedge fund performances.

They currently give the Soros fund management. Your company. That you dedicated your life to.

A performance rating of one out of five stars.

Which makes it one of the least successful in the country. Wow.

And, you know, another reason why I wonder if he's your son.

Is, you've always prided yourself on being the man in the shadows. And anybody could ever point to.

You know what I mean?

But your son is so filled with pride.

Pride, something. Something follows pride. I can't remember that saying.

I should look that up. But, anyway, Happy Birthday, George.

This guy, your son.

He takes selfies with some of the -- well, frankly, some of the biggest losers in the political sphere right now. But, you know, the actual influence of your life's work seems to be diminishing rapidly.

In fact, on July 2023, Open Society foundation, you guys announced that you were laying off 40 percent of your staff worldwide. Wow! What happened there?

Was that Rivian? Oh, does that hurt when I say that? Was it Rivian?

You halted all new grants, and you completely changed your operating model. Mainly because I think you were kind of getting out of money, you know what I mean?

And the crowning glory. The crowning achievement of your open society network, under Alex, was the passage of the so-called inflation reduction act.

You know, I don't think the people know. You were really involved in that.

In fact, one of the guys who worked for open society.

I mean, you reopened a -- an Open Society Foundation firm there, in New York. So you could lobby. And became one of the biggest. Just for that. In fact, he was so involved.

He was actually honored with the gift of being on the floor, when that passed. Wow!

Wow!

Gosh, gosh.

Now that -- now that that's all falling apart too.

I mean, oh. Now, let me ask you: When you passed that, was that because of Rivian?

I hate to keep bringing that up.

But the reason why I say that: At the same time, your son was doing that, your son was spending at least $4 million on Stacey Abraham's failed gubernatorial campaign.

And you think to yourself. Who would be this tuned?

Certainly not George Soros' son. He's really, really smart. Why would he do that? Well, it could be, because at the time, Rivian was starting to build a gigafactory, right there in her state.

And he was asking the state for some subsidies, which gosh, then she didn't win. And all that money was flushed down the toilet.

But the good news is, Biden, at the very last minute, gave -- Donald Trump cut, was it? Oh, man. That's got to hurt. But at least, it did wonders for Rivian's share -- no. The stock.

It's now worth less than $12 a share. That kind of...

Anyway, at least you have the Soros DAs. The defund the police. No bail. Go soft on crime. That seems to be working on really -- well, not really.

More than a dozen of your DAs. That was your jewel.

That was the one thing that you were like, I have all the DAs. And we will collapse this country.

Yeah.

More than a dozen have been removed from office, by recalls and scandals and just people -- people like, I can't do another one of these. You know what I mean? And the spike of urban crime, ended up being one of the key factors in the defeat of the Democratic Party of 2024.

Which seems to go exactly everything that you were trying to do.

You know, the second election of Donald Trump. Crime, immigration. And the economy, were the big topics.

Which had to bother you. Because those were your big topics too.

And how it must have hurt, you know, when he won. And then what he did for energy. And cutting electric car subsidies. Oh, gosh. That one hurts again.

Closing the borders. Defunding all your little NGOs. Now going after your sanctuary cities. And this week, taking crime on, in DC. And even the liberals are saying, you know what, I don't really agree with Donald Trump.

But I think he's right on this one. Man, I would imagine the mental torture of a 95-year-old man who was just -- just trying to make it to the pudding in the afternoon. To see your world fall apart.

That torture must be relentless. But, I mean, if I'm going to be honest.

I kind of find it fun!

Oh, now see.

You see how -- you see how that feels, George?

When somebody doesn't recognize your pain.

You might be thinking what I would be thinking.

Glenn, are you a psychopath?

You don't see the pain of others?

No. I'm just doing a comedy monologue here, George.

You actually meant that.

So I want to just give you your perfect birthday present. And what do you get a guy who has everything.

You know, you have to find something that he doesn't have. That's why I wanted to get you a soul. But I thought, no. He's already lost the one he had, so I don't know if he really would appreciate it.

But the good news is, you have all of that worldly power and that wealth to keep you warm at night. Which is good.

Because you should get used to the warmth.

Because where you're headed, I -- I hear, is very, very hot, all the time, a little beyond warm.

I hear it's terrifyingly hot there. But, hey! This has been fun, hasn't it?

I don't know. I just kind of find it fun, to wish you a happy 95th birthday, George Soros.

WHAT THE NFL is going on with male cheerleaders?!

The Minnesota Vikings and 11 other NFL teams now have male cheerleaders…and not the kind you may be thinking of. Is this really what NFL fans want, or will this be the next Dylan Mulveney moment? Glenn, Stu, and Jason discuss…

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: So the Minnesota Viking. The Vikings!

That will have two male cheerleaders. Now, when I first heard this story, I said to my wife, wife, daughter. Because they brought this up to me. And I said, well, let's not be hasty. I said, there's loss of sports teams that have male cheerleaders, and I said to my wife and my daughter, who are both cheerleaders.

I said, didn't you have, you know -- when college -- they have the guys run out. And the cheerleaders. And they hold the girls up. And throw them and everything else.

And my wife went, that's not this.

And I haven't seen the footage yet. But here are the -- here are the two male Viking cheerleaders, cut 29.
(music)

STU: There they are.

GLENN: Dear God.
(music)

GLENN: Okay. All right. We can stop. We can stop. Please, no more. We can stop.

STU: Did you like it?

GLENN: Give me a Y. Give me an E. Give me an F. What does that spell? Yes! No.
(laughter)

STU: That came out of your mouth way too easily. That's been practiced in front of a mirror, I'll tell you that.
(laughter)

GLENN: Oh, my gosh. Yeah. No. I don't -- I don't think so.

So the Vikings season ticket holders are canceling their season tickets.

Now, what part of Minnesota didn't you understand, when you bought a ticket?

You're in Minnesota. Of course, it's going to happen in Minnesota.

But Vikings. The Vikings would have killed cheerleaders back then. Well, they didn't have cheerleaders. It's not like, they were on their ship. Give me an R! Give me a P, give me an E. What's that? Raid!

I mean, I don't think they had that.

STU: Unlikely. Unlikely.

Yeah. You don't see that in the historic accounts of their practices.

GLENN: No. No. No.

So the Vikings having male cheerleaders like that. Not exactly makes a lot of sense.

STU: It's not a surprise, right?

GLENN: For Minnesota. No.

STU: Yeah. I would say most NFL teams, you would not be stunned to see it.

Cowboys you would probably be stunned to see it.

GLENN: I would. I would.

STU: Most of the people in the team, are players. So they wouldn't necessarily need them as cheerleaders.

GLENN: Oh, my God. How dare you. Hang on just a second. Hang on just a second.

STU: I just know Stu was there.

GLENN: Do you think that the Eagles would put male cheerleaders like that on the field?

STU: Yeah. Probably. They probably do. They do have male cheerleaders.

GLENN: Wait. Wait. Wait.

Do you think male cheerleaders like that, would walk off the field of Philadelphia? The same way, they walked on to the field?

STU: Not in the area where the stadium is. No. No. Yes. It's -- it would be a little rough.

But the team. The Eagles team is pretty liberal. And the conservative. The cowboys, relatively speaking. Pretty conservative.

GLENN: Yeah. They're not going to --

STU: You would be very surprised to see that at the Cowboys. I mean, this one is pretty over the top though.

Right, it's -- it's --

GLENN: Yes.

STU: As -- I don't know. It's as far as I've seen.

GLENN: That's who it is.
STU: Oh, I remember him.
GLENN: Adam, the American, he's a guy who seemed a little effeminate to be in ISIS.

STU: He was in al-Qaeda, wasn't he?

GLENN: Oh, that's right. Al-Qaeda. That's right. Al-Qaeda.

GLENN: Send back your soldiers, your spies, your attaches, et cetera.

JASON: From where to where?

STU: After Afghanistan to Zanzibar.

GLENN: To Zanzibar.

STU: I'll never forget that.

GLENN: From Afghanistan, to Zanzibar. Or we're going to -- if you don't do it, we're going to give you such a slap.

STU: It was not. It was not necessarily the persona you'd expect to lead an al-Qaeda messaging department. But it was effective. By the way, we lost him.

We've lost Adam, the American, in 2015.

GLENN: Oh, what happened?

Oh, what happened?

STU: He passed away, Glenn. We didn't just like lose him in the mall. He actually died.

GLENN: Hello, where is everybody?

Al-Qaeda! Where are you?

STU: Right.

JASON: You know he was looking forward to his shot as a Minnesota Vikings cheerleader too. That's so sad.

GLENN: And you know al-Qaeda would have loved that.

They would be all in support. Look at. Look at. Because, again -- this is, again. This is, again, the same people in Minnesota, that are wrapping their arms around the Somali flag.

They're ready to put in an Islamist, socialist mayor in Minneapolis. And you're putting in the two transgender bender cheerleaders? That's not going to go well with your people in Somalia.

STU: You don't think?

GLENN: I mean, we're the haters. They're the ones who kill them.

I mean, it's nuts!

JASON: Yeah. Adam Gadahn, he was early to that boat.

GLENN: Yeah. He was.

JASON: He was the red, green, pink alliance way back before it was even a thing.

STU: That's true.

GLENN: Now, I'm not sure that he was pink.

JASON: He was prophetic, Glenn.

GLENN: Are you just judging him by his accent. By his speech patterns.

JASON: No. No.

GLENN: All right. Good. You shouldn't do that.

By the way, I saw a promo for, oh, was it on Netflix? For the Dallas Cowboy cheerleader thing. Or saw it in the news.

It was a clip on I think -- on Instagram, from one of the enterprise where they're talking to the girls.

This is -- this was a mistake.

This was a mistake. If you're doing a -- how the Tallahassee Cowboy cheerleaders. Become Dallas cowboy cheerleaders.

Nowhere in that pitch, should it say, and we talk to the girls!

STU: It would be kind of a weird show, if they didn't actually speak to the girls. It's like a reality show, right?

GLENN: Well, you know, I thought it was -- I thought it was really weird when they did talk to them.

STU: Hmm.

GLENN: Because what they said. They asked the questions, like, who was the president of the United States?

Now, this was taken before Donald Trump.

Who is the president of the United States?

You know what the answer was? O Biden. O Biden. O Biden.
JASON: No.

STU: That's a completely accurate answer. I totally back that answer.

That's exactly who it was. That's exactly Obama.

VOICE: That's a good point.

GLENN: How many yards are there on a football field? Answer: 50?
(laughter)

STU: Well, there are 50. There's just another 50, and then two end zones.

GLENN: It was. I mean, it was -- it was -- if I were dad or mom, and I saw this episode, I would be like, sweetheart, you're cute and everything.

And you can dance. But we need to have a talk with you, using what's -- what God gave you upstairs, beyond the shoulders. You know, a little higher than the shoulders.

We need you to work on that one, a little bit. A little bit. It was horrible.

STU: Yeah. I will say too, it seems like they -- for a long time, they were putting him on this reality show.

And they were dancing at all their losses.

And they were -- they were paying them like 11 uncertainties a month.

Now, I guess, they've upped the salaries of them.

They're the most famous cheerleaders in the world, right.

And they were not exactly bringing in the cash. I guess they're finally making some money. Which is good.

GLENN: Yeah. You know why?

You know what the excuse was?

You have the honor of being a Dallas cowboy cheerleader.

STU: Yeah.

GLENN: That actually is kind of like.

STU: Yeah.

GLENN: Hey.

STU: I mean, it is quite an honor, right?

GLENN: It's a real honor.

And you could probably -- you could probably marry some real, you know, dumb sexist money too.

You know, just --

STU: That's --

GLENN: I'm a Dallas Cowboy cheerleader.

And somebody is like, I've got lots of money. We're made for each other.

JASON: I don't think they have, you know, a TV show for the Philadelphia Eagles cheerleaders, do they? I'm pretty sure they don't. I mean, in Minnesota, they have men now, as cheerleaders. But in Philadelphia, they have cheerleaders that are female, that just look like men.

GLENN: No. Have you ever seen it's Always Sunny In Philadelphia?

You're watching that show. It's Danny DeVito.
(laughter)

STU: It's true.

And I will say, there is -- I don't think there's any trans, you know, cheerleaders on the Eagles. I will say, their players keep wearing all this new jewelry, though.

They keep getting all this jewelry every couples years, Jason. How many years since the Cowboys picked up some new jewelry?

JASON: We had our time, you person there.

How can you be -- I'll tell you what. Sitting in the heart of Dallas Cowboys, you know -- you know, the Mecca there. We had the Philadelphia Eagles fan too. It makes absolutely no sense.

STU: Oh. I totally. You don't understand, Jason.

My entire life, I've been an Eagles fan, and living in areas where they hate the Eagles.

GLENN: Which is -- wait. Wait. Hang on just a second.

Which is everywhere outside of Philadelphia.

STU: Basically, yes. Basically, utter -- just hatred for the Eagles. Every place I've been.

GLENN: Right.

STU: And that, you know, normally sucks.

I will say, the past few years have been absolutely glorious living in this city. Watching the Eagles win two Super Bowls, with the Cowboys, in whatever the hell they're doing, right now.

Has been utter pleasure from beginning to end.

It is the only time in my life, I've ever been able to enjoy it. So give me this one thing.

That's all.

GLENN: I will tell you, I have season tickets to the Cowboys. And every time we go, I am shocked at how many non-Cowboy fans are in stadiums.

It's like the cowboys are almost booed. It's almost like, wow.

There's a lot of people here that don't like the Cowboys.

JASON: Yeah. It's true. And A lot of these stadiums we're building now, are built for that really. They're huge. They're not really about the football anymore.

More like a kind of rock crowd.

GLENN: You know, we have -- we're up, you know. The nose extent bleed. But it's close.

But you're in the seats. And we're at the 50-yard line. And we're eye level with the big, huge TV. The giant TV.

And every time, we're there. We're just watching it on TV.

And at some point, I look at, you know, my son, like, we could have done this at home.

We could have done this at home.

Why are we not looking at the field?

STU: That's legitimately distracting.

JASON: It is. Yeah, no. I don't like going -- it's a pain in the butt to go into a lot of these sporting arenas anymore. It takes like an hour to get in. It takes two hours to get out.

They all have these big screens. You may as well sit at home.

GLENN: Yeah. I don't know why -- it would be so much better with the yellow line down. Where the first down is.

STU: Yeah. Why would they do that? That's so weird.

GLENN: I don't know why they don't do that. They do it on TV all the time.

All right. Back in just a minute.
(music)
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(OUT AT 10:49 AM)

GLENN: Welcome to the Glenn Beck Program. We're glad you're here.

Stu, Jason, he is our head researcher, just found something out.

STU: Right. Chief researcher.

GLENN: What did I say?

STU: You said head researcher. You mean chief researcher. Jason Buttrill, chief researcher for Glenn.

GLENN: Now I introduce him with glee.
Jason.

JASON: That's right, Glenn. Breaking news. There are actually 12 NFL teams, that are introducing male cheerleaders this year.

Dallas Cowboys are not one of them. Coming in at the power spot of number five, students, Philadelphia Eagles.

STU: They could be recruiting their cheerleaders from al-Qaeda. And I would still love them. I don't care what they do.
(laughter)

STU: Unlike the Cowboys, people don't go just for the cheerleaders in Philadelphia.

JASON: It's a good part of it, Stu. It's a good part of it.

GLENN: It keeps the American man. It's hard beating.

STU: I can't disagree with any of this talk, I have to say, I would like to. I would like to.

But, no. They are fantastic.

GLENN: They are fantastic.

STU: They do a great job.

GLENN: And they're all 100 percent USDA grade women.

JASON: That's right.
(laughter)

STU: I thought you were going to say natural. I was going to say, I don't know about that one.
GLENN: No. I'm not tuned. I know there's 100 yards on the football field.

The REAL reason for Trump’s Alaska meeting with Putin

The media is WRONG to believe President Trump’s meeting in Anchorage with Vladimir Putin is a gift to Russia, which wants to own Alaska. In fact, it’s the exact opposite, Glenn Beck believes. Glenn speaks with The Free Press columnist Matthew Continetti, who makes the case that Trump pressured Putin into having this face-to-face meeting, where he can use the full power of his negotiation skills. Plus, he explains why he believes this is just the first of many meetings as Trump tries to end the war in Ukraine…

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: All right. Matthew, welcome to the program.

How are you?

MATTHEW: I'm well, Glenn. Thank you for having me.

GLENN: You bet.

I think only contrary to whatever in the mainstream is saying. They're saying, oh, he's bringing him over to Alaska, and that's such a win for Putin. I don't think it's a win at all for Putin.

And it has taken him more than one day, because he had to change the dynamics of American policy.

And I think the policies of the world. And you point that out in your article.

You want to go a little deeper into that?

MATTHEW: Oh, sure. Absolutely. I think Trump is going to the summit today in Anchorage with a lot of leverage over Vladimir Putin. And you're right, the mainstream media is -- wants already to characterize this as a win for Putin because there's a meeting taking place at all.

But I think this fundamentally misunderstands President Trump.
President Trump wants to meet anybody.

He doesn't care. He's happy to talk to anybody.

The question is always, what will come out? And if you remember, he met with Kim Jong-un twice.

And in Hanoi, when Kim Jong-un just wouldn't give up concessions on his nuclear program. Trump walked away.

So that could easily happen this time.

But I think the overall dynamic changed in just the past few months.

The first step was, getting Ukraine on board.

A proposal for a 30-day cease-fire. On the ground. And in the air.

And as we know, you know, Zelinsky, the president of Ukraine was reluctant to even sign on top of my to that.

Before that Oval Office does stuff earlier this year.

He got on board. That meant Trump could then go and say to Europe. Let's get additional leverage, by agreeing to increasing our defense budgets.

And then, Trump agreed to this deal, where NATO will purchase weapons in the United States. We're not spending any money.

We're getting the money in Europe for these weapons.

And then Europe would hand the weapons to Ukraine.

That definitely got Putin's attention, as did our successful strike against Iran's nuclear program.

In -- in June. Remember, Iran is a Russian ally. Iran is supplying a lot of those drones that are raining down on the Ukrainian cities.

And we basically took Iran out.

I mean, Israel helped quite a bit, of course. In the 12-day war.

But so we've slowly ratcheted up the pressure on Putin.

Thanks to President Trump's policies.

Most recent one was this 50 percent tariff on India.

Now, you might say, well, what does that have to do with Ukraine and Russia?

Well, India is a huge purchaser of Russian energy.

So when Trump says, look, we will punish third parties, that are financing the Russian war effort, well, that's when Putin said, look, I would like to talk to you directly.

GLENN: Wow. You know, I've been trying to figure out the India angle.

Because India is a huge trade partner.

And we really want them on our side.

That makes a lot of sense.

So if they stop purchasing the Russian oil, then that trade barrier comes down?

MATTHEW: Absolutely. This is how President Trump uses tariffs.

Sure, he likes them for a variety of reasons.

They raise revenue for the government. They want to incentivize foreign investments to build factories in the United States.

But he -- he likes them in particular, because there are ways that he can use America's economic might to get results. In the foreign policy sphere.

And in this case, you're exactly right. The tariff is going on in India, because of the purchases of Russian oil.

And they said, we will reduce those purchases. Then the tariff would come off.

Let's not forget too, the energy sector is hurting in Russia. That's really Russia's main source of economic growth into government revenue.

And oil has declined from 19 percent from year over year, since Trump has taken office.

That's partly because of Trump's energy policy.

The drill, baby, drill policy.

That freed up that supply. And, of course, more supply means lower price. And that hurts Vladimir Putin as well.

GLENN: They have like, I think it's -- when it goes -- what is it?

Below $80 a barrel. They can't -- they have to start dipping into reserves. They can't -- they can't afford it.

MATTHEW: Yeah, and I think when it crosses 60. It goes over 60, then they really start to hurt.

GLENN: Right.

JASON: Hey, Matthew, Jason Buttrill here, Glenn's chief researcher. There's been a lot of, I guess, word from the Europeans. Ukrainians even the Russians, talking about territorial concessions. And, like, that's everybody's red line. Do you think with some of the setup discussions with Witkoff, with Putin earlier, do you think that there's any room for -- you know, for leeway here?

Do you think that possibly Trump might have an upper hand with that as well?

Will we see anything, when that's always the huge red line between the two?

MATTHEW: Right.

Well, I think the administration, and it may have gotten a little bit ahead of itself right after Witkoff's meeting. When you heard the president mention these land swaps. Very quickly, president Zelinsky said, whoa. I'm not ready for that.

And then the Europeans said, well, we also need to be part of that table as well.

Since then in the days leading up to today's summit. Trump has been very careful to lower expectations. He said that this is a feeling out meeting. Caroline Leavitt called it a listening session. Trump has said, look, if Putin is not ready for a cease-fire, then I'm going to leave.

And he also said, this is just the first meeting.

He's been very clear, the past couple of days. Any settlement that would probably include some type of territorial lines being drawn.

Would only happen between a meeting between Russia, the United States, and Ukraine.

And then as President Trump said the other day.

Maple take Europeans to the meeting as well.

So I think we heard that land swap talk, early on. In the days since, the president has had a much more realistic view on of what could be attainable in this first meeting with Vladimir Putin.

Remember, he hasn't met Putin in person, since 2018. He wants to get a direct sense of Putin's body language.

And psychology.

GLENN: Yeah. That's important for the president.

Because he -- I kind of studied some of the deals he's done in the last, I don't know.

15 years. On land. And, you know, Trump -- you know, as a company.

And there's a story about, when he was trying to sell the New York plaza.

And he met with the Japanese people.

And it was all arranged. All they had to do was just close the deal with him.

And he got into the room. And he spent maybe three or four minutes, talking and listening to them.

Within five minutes, he had changed the teal, and said, you know what, I'm building something oar on the East River.

Or the west side how. That I think you're really going to like. And he started. And everybody on his team, when they broke, they said, what are you doing? He said, they're not interested in the -- in the plaza.

He's like, I can tell right away. We're not going to be able to close that deal. I switched to this deal. So him face-to-face. There's something about him, when he's negotiating face-to-face.

He feels the room clearly. That even his closest advisers can't translate. And can't give him.

Would you agree with that?

MATTHEW: Oh, I agree, completely. I mean, he -- he makes very gut decisions, based on people's appearances.

Based on people's body language.

Are they fidgeting?

What sort of health are they in?

And these are things that are hard to assess over the phone. And even hard to assess, when you have an intelligence briefer there. Trump, of course, wants to see for himself.

That's why I think this meeting will be exploratory.

Remember too, Trump has had this string of diplomatic success. During his second term. Just last week. He presided over the bill. Between Armenia and Azerbaijan, this the White House.

That was part of it as well.

That's part of the world. The caucuses has always been considered part of the Russian sphere of influence. And here we have, two nations from that part of the world, not going to Moscow.

But going to the White House.

And shaking hands with President Trump. To arrange a deal. And that -- Putin there too, is saying, okay.

I'm losing my influence. Not just in Europe.

Where, of course, NATO has expanded, rather than contracted. Since the Ukraine, in Beijing.

But even in my own backyard.

We have these two nations: Armenia, Azerbaijan looking to Trump. Then, of course, we have the recent flare-up between Thailand and Cambodia that Trump is able to stop from escalating out of control.

Earlier in the year, India and Pakistan, the same thing.

These sorts of agreements that Trump has been able to marshal, preside over. Use our economic leverage, to obtain.

I think it's one reason he wants to have this meeting with Putin.

Because he's beginning to understand his method of bringing the two size to the table. And forging an agreement.

GLENN: We're talking to Matthew Continetti. He's with AEI. He's a senior fellow. And also columnist for the Free Press.

Matthew, I don't think anybody today, really gives him the credit that he deserves, as a master negotiator.

You know, he's -- he was known as that. You know, in business. But what he's done in the last seven months, to the world, and changing the dynamics in the world. To bring all these people together.

You know, he's never going to get a Nobel Peace Prize.

Somebody will nominate. Yeah. Let's watch that happen.

Do you think -- at some point, assuming all these things continue to hold. And he continues this trend.

I mean, he could be one of the greatest peacemakers in American history.

MATTHEW: Well, I think though, he's taking a real lesson from Theodore Roosevelt.

GLENN: Yes.

MATTHEW: Who --

GLENN: Who won the Nobel Prize 100 years after he died. Yeah.

MATTHEW: Exactly. And, you know, Teddy Roosevelt's foreign policy was gumbo diplomacy, right? No -- no regime change. And nation building. Gumbo diplomacy. You have a strong military, might have to do a raid every now and then.

Like we just did against the Iranian nuclear infrastructure, but also mediation.

Theodore Roosevelt wanted the United States to mediate between different powers, and get them to the table. And I see that working in Trump's foreign policy. As well.

You know, within let's not forget, even in his first term. He had the Abraham accords. Between Israel. And several Arab nations.

You're right, Glenn. He's a peacemaker.

I think, even though he won't get any credit from the liberal media now. The test of time will, I think, ensure his legacy. Because, you know, going back to the first term.

Abrahamic Accords. The Biden administration which followed him never really gave Trump any credit.

But they also didn't do anything to disturb the Abrahamic Accords. And also, wanted to try to expand, as Trump wants to do right now. So what I think he's doing is building a foundation, that will last.

And I also hope, he's -- he's teaching lessons, that future presidents, can take to heart.

America can use our economic power, in a way, to obtain peace agreements. To make sure that our position is maximized in different negotiations. We don't always have to resort to military force.

Even, as we keep it as an option in a case like the Iranian nuclear threat.

GLENN: Matthew, thank you for the insight.

Appreciate it.

Wait. Wait. Before you go. One more thing. Expecting anything to come out of this?

MATTHEW: I -- I have pretty low expectations, Glenn.

GLENN: Yeah.

MATTHEW: I think there's a chance we can get some sort of cease-fire.

But I wouldn't bet the ranch on it.

GLENN: Yeah. Thank you, Matt. We'll talk again.