With the AI race in full swing, America must face one of its biggest obstacles if we're going to beat adversaries like China: our current power grid, which hasn't been updated since FDR, is not sustainable. We need 99% power by 2027. We're at 3%. Of all energy usage, in the next three years, an additional 29 gigawatts will be needed by 2027, and 67 more gigawatts will be required by 2030. Glenn argues that this can only be done by building nuclear power plants. China is already ahead of us in power plant production, so we need to get the ball rolling: "This is something that Donald Trump could do. And it is time!
Transcript
Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors
GLENN: Tonight is an epic interview with the president at the White House. So don't -- don't miss it. I'm going to do that interview, later this afternoon. It will air 9:00 p.m. Eastern time. It will be unedited. And you will be able to see them.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's not like you're dealing with Joe Biden anymore.
No. Yeah. Because -- let's see what he says.
You know, I have a lot of things to talk about. Like one thing, that I would like to see, you know, that I don't -- I don't see anybody talking about.
You know, the president is changing the economy. He is changing -- he is getting away from this World War II nightmare.
That, you know, might have been right for 1948. But it's certainly not right for today. Where we were taking care of Europe. We were giving them all kinds of special breaks. We were paying for their defense. Yada, yada, yada.
Instead, now Americans take care of herself. And we all need to be self-sufficient. Well, you know, we're talking about AI a lot. But what people are not talking about is something that Eric Schmitt came to the White House -- sorry, to Capitol Hill and testified a couple of days ago, about the power usage. We have a significant problem with power. Now, I want you to understand.
Everyone will tell you, we cannot you lose the race for AI. Have you heard anyone say anything other than that? Stu.
STU: No. Anyone who talks about it. says, we can't just let China or someone else win it.
GLENN: It's 100 percent universal, we must, must win. Okay?
So where are we going to get all the power?
Here's what Eric said. Many people project demand for our industry go from 3 percent.
3 percent of total energy production. Right now.
We're at 3 percent.
For all of our server farms and everything else.
For Silicon Valley. Uses 3 percent.
He says, it's going to go from 3 percent to 99 percent!
Of all energy usage, in the next three years, an additional 29 gigawatts by 2027 and 67 more gigawatts by 2030.
He's now saying that we have to build hundreds of nuclear power plants.
He said, there were some plants. They will require, most plants will require one nuclear power plant, per server farm!
Some of them may require up to three nuclear power plants per server farm!
So this is really good in one way: Because we will have the electricity that we need. Assuming we start to build these things quickly. I mean, what's going to happen, Stu. It takes 25 years, to build a nuclear power plant. How is it we're expected at all to compete?
We have dismantled our coal-fired plants all over the country. We are still not digging up coal and -- and fuel, as much as we need to.
We need to be open and open on absolutely everything.
That's something that Eric Schmitt said yesterday too. Remember, this is the Silicon Valley guy. I'm sure he was green, green, green for a long time.
Now he's saying, we need absolutely every source of energy. Because we will need 99 percent by 2027.
2027.
What do you think -- what do you think your power price is going to be?
What do you think about rolling blackouts or brownouts?
We have got to be. And this would create so many jobs.
So many jobs. Good-paying jobs. Going out and building all these nuclear power plants.
STU: Is this an opportunity.
GLENN: But will we do it?
STU: For Trump and the Trump administration?
GLENN: Huge. Huge. Huge.
STU: Because it feels like talking about positives, going on offense, rather than being on defense. There's been a lot of defense talk lately.
GLENN: Yes. Yes.
STU: And going on offense and saying, hey, we can be the best place for your company to exist. Because we will be the only place on earth that has the power it needs.
GLENN: Yeah. Yeah.
The only other country is doing it is China. And they're building it like crazy. This is something that we have -- Donald Trump could surpass FDR in power generation.
Remember, most people in 1919, Woodrow Wilson, I think 1 percent of the population had a refrigerator. By 1930, I think that number was like 80 percent. Had refrigeration.
When -- when FDR came in, the only places that didn't have stuff. Was there was no electricity in these small little rural towns. So he went. And he started building power plants and dams.
And everything else, to generate all the power. And then started laying power lines. This is something that Donald Trump could do. And it is time!
I mean, our grid hasn't really been updated since FDR.
We're still using the same stuff. And, you know -- and a lot of it is just so outdated. And so bad.
Our grid is so incredibly unstable. And not built for what's coming next.
And I just don't know how he's going to get it done. But this is a big win for him. Big win for him.
You know how many jobs would be created if we introduced and said, we have to build them, in the next three years?
We would be enormous!
Enormous!
And exciting!
STU: Yeah. Yeah. Exciting. I mean, look, having a power is the basis of civilization. Like, this is not a -- it's not a small little thing.
It really is one of the foundational elements you need for a modern civilization.
And we sit here. And we talk about all the things that we can't do.
All of the natural resources that we have. We can't utilize.
All the things that we need to stop.
Right? We need to stop making gas-powered cars.
We need to stop getting our own coal and using it.
We need to stop building nuclear plants. This is a way of saying, no. We're on offense.
We're America. You know, the left is trying to right now. They're in the middle of a rebrand.
And one of their -- as we talked about last hour. They're still seemingly stuck in a lot of these crazy woke stuff that burns them the last time. Hopefully, they stick with them forever.
One of the proposals being proposed bit left. It's this idea of abundance. That's the name of the book that kind of lays these concepts out.
And it's an idea of trying to take away what the right has always had. Which is this idea of saying, hey. We're looking to grow.
We want better things. We want the Americans to have a better, more fruitful. More wealthy.
More -- you know, having more. And we'll decide what we want to do, when we have more.
And the left was always saying, hey. No. We need to restrict. We need to calm that down. You don't need all this. You don't need the bigger house. You don't need the bigger car. And that's not the fundamental, number one thing you should care about. But it was always there for us to say, hey. All these shelves are stocked. Everything you need is right there. You make the decisions on what you want. You make the decisions on prioritize on what you will spend your money on. And what you will spend your time on. And the left is trying to take that back now. You're seeing an opportunity because of a lot of people on the right, who are saying, no. Actually, maybe we shouldn't have those things available. Maybe you don't need them. And I'm nervous. If they decide to go down this road, there is a real vulnerability to the conservative movement, if the left takes that away from us. And they want to.
GLENN: State it again, more succinctly. Your concern again?
STU: My concern is, and this is a real thing being talked about on the left. In sort of their higher level academic circles. Is the approach to say -- to take away, I don't know. It was a -- I would say, pretty consistent with that Reagan optimism. Right? The shining city on the hill.
GLENN: We can do it. We can do it.
STU: We can do it. We can accomplish all these incredible things. Not through government. Through you.
You can do it. We'll have all these things. And you should expect from your country, an abundance, not a scarcity.
GLENN: I'm trying to figure out, where are you seeing that on the left?
STU: There's a major best-seller that just came out, called abundance.
And it was from the left. It was from two guys on the left. And I don't know that they will win.
But, you know, Ezra Klein, Derek Thompson. They're pretty well-known.
GLENN: That's really hard. That's really hard to sell. Barack Obama -- I know. Look at Barack Obama. He has how many houses? Three. Where he's building a seawall around one of his houses, where you can't build a seawall in Hawaii. But he's building a seawall around one of them. That's his part-time house. His other part-time house is in Nantucket, one foot above sea level. One. Count them. One foot above sea level.
STU: Right.
GLENN: And he has a third house someplace else. I think it's here in Washington.
And he's always talking about, hey. You know, there comes a time where enough is enough.
And you have too much.
When is that, Barack?
Because you're telling us, you shouldn't have an SUV.
You have three houses!
See, this whole abundance thing has never been aimed at them!
It's always been aimed at us.
They believe in abundance.
STU: Sure.
GLENN: For the right people. The right people get it.
And that is the biggest difference in abundance, is they've been saying that we all have to pinch back, but they don't actually mean it. At least the Republicans are like, yeah, I'm corrupt as hell and making all kinds of money on the side. But you can't do.
You know what I mean? It's just crazy.
STU: Yeah. No. I agree. I think, look, they've never actually believed any of these things. What was their approach. Forever, we heard the approach of, hey.
Your TVs are too big. Your cars. They're too -- they have too much of what you need.
The SUVs are too large.
Your homes are too large. You don't need the air-conditioning. You should turn it to 72 degrees.
Now, I can bet you at neither Martha's Vineyard or in Hawaii. Barack Obama never had his house set to some uncomfortable temperature he didn't like.
GLENN: Well, he might have.
Because he's right on the ocean. You can get that lovely ocean breeze that most of us don't get.
STU: That's true. That's true.
It was always something they tried to implement on the people. We get what we want.
But you need to sacrifice, for the greater good. And that's -- that's a thing that just doesn't connect exactly, with the American people.
Not because they're not charitable. Because they are. They want to do good things for other people.
They will come together, and do incredible -- accomplish incredible things which they have done.
But it was always this idea that you would be able -- it was part of the American deal, right?
We do these things. We work hard. Maybe we work harder. Maybe we work more hours.
Maybe we put up with more crap. The idea that we can shape our own future. The left is trying to take that messaging back.
Now, I'm with you. In that, I'm not confident, that viewpoint will not win out on the left. Because there's a bunch of insane people.
But it is a vulnerability on the right if we go down this road of trying to encourage the same type of scarcity talk that the left has been engaging in.
GLENN: Okay. Okay.
So let's -- let's take that. Next hour, I want to tell you a story that fits right in here, on what the leftists are doing in San Francisco.
Because it's very similar to what you're talking about.
This morning, when I read it. I thought, that will never work.
But maybe you're right. Maybe it will.
I don't know. But it's insane.
We'll talk about that and so much more. Coming up.
Don't forget, President Trump, an interview tonight at 9:00 with President Trump and I.
