Latest / Brian Thomas / Brian with John Jovanovic and Congressman Warren Davidson 7/9/2026

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Brian with John Jovanovic and Congressman Warren Davidson 7/9/2026 · Brian Thomas

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Speaker 1: I wasn't quite sure of the nature of the reason
0:02
Speaker 1: for your being here, but you are welcome to join
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Speaker 1: the Morning show. We can start by just a short
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Speaker 1: conversation about what the Export Import Bank in the United
0:09
Speaker 1: States does before we pivot over to what current issues are.
0:13
Speaker 2: Yeah, that'd be great. So the Export Import Bank was
0:16
Speaker 2: started by Franklin Roosevelt in nineteen thirty four to basically
0:20
Speaker 2: help US companies large and small be able to sell
0:23
Speaker 2: all around the world. And so everything we do translates
0:26
Speaker 2: to more jobs here in America. And thanks to President
0:29
Speaker 2: Trump's leadership, what we've been able to do is revitalize
0:32
Speaker 2: it to once again be a frontline economic tool for
0:35
Speaker 2: everyday American companies. And so Chairman Davidson and I have
0:38
Speaker 2: a great working relationship. And by the way, the eighth
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Speaker 2: Congressional District of Ohio is so lucky to have as
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Speaker 2: a champion a smart businessman who understands what to do
0:47
Speaker 2: with taxpayer dollars, how to make sure he's a good
0:50
Speaker 2: stoart of it, to make sure that it makes an impact.
0:52
Speaker 2: And so we worked very closely together on issues on
0:55
Speaker 2: reindustrializing America. And so I promised the months ago that
0:59
Speaker 2: I would pay him a visit, and so he and
1:01
Speaker 2: I were actually a g Aerospace yesterday, one of the
1:04
Speaker 2: most innovative companies in the history of the world, seeing
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Speaker 2: how they bring motors, engines, equipment that they design, manufacture
1:14
Speaker 2: right here in Ohio and they bring it all around
1:16
Speaker 2: the world. And action really helps those companies to be
1:18
Speaker 2: able to level the paying field against foreign competition.
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Speaker 1: Wonderful, John, I tell you. As you were speaking and
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Speaker 1: explaining the Export Import Bank, Congressman Davidson has joined the conversation.
1:26
Speaker 1: Good morning, Congressman Davidson just throwed a little off guard
1:29
Speaker 1: here as we started the program.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, good morning Brian, Good morning John, and chairman. It
1:35
Speaker 3: is nice to join you guys. We had a little
1:37
Speaker 3: technical difficulty there, so glad we're all synced up now.
1:41
Speaker 3: And you know, it's just great to have you know,
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Speaker 3: John and the Export Import Bank in town. And you know,
1:47
Speaker 3: people don't really know necessarily what XM is or does,
1:51
Speaker 3: but it's an important part of strengthening America's supply chain.
1:55
Speaker 3: And we were out together at ge celebrating some of
1:58
Speaker 3: the work that they're doing, and you look at the
2:00
Speaker 3: impact they have, not just for a big company like GE,
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Speaker 3: but down the supply chain of a company like GGE,
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Speaker 3: hundreds of suppliers right here, and then separate from that
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Speaker 3: just small businesses. We got a small business in Hamilton
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Speaker 3: that's used them to shift their product around the world
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Speaker 3: and make it right there in Hamilton, Ohio.
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Speaker 4: So great to have the chairman in town.
2:19
Speaker 1: Well, he before you came on, he was singing the
2:21
Speaker 1: praises of your district. And of course we always sing
2:25
Speaker 1: the praises of your district because the constituents elect you
2:29
Speaker 1: and do an outstanding and you do an outstanding job
2:31
Speaker 1: for them. You're also obviously very pro business and GE,
2:34
Speaker 1: as he described as a wonderful aerospace company. We are
2:37
Speaker 1: proud of having GE in our backyard here. But the
2:40
Speaker 1: idea of the Export Import Bank, it facilitates the export
2:46
Speaker 1: of US goods and services abroad. Is that is that
2:48
Speaker 1: accurate to a certain degree?
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Speaker 3: Yeah, And frankly, you know the import of things that
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Speaker 3: drive foreign direct investment in America and grow jobs here.
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Speaker 1: Now, I saw just yesterday. I hate to tie the
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Speaker 1: yesterday's statement from Donald Trump about cutting off business ties
3:06
Speaker 1: to Spain because he's angry with them for not opponing
3:08
Speaker 1: up for NATO military hardware. But is the export impact.
3:13
Speaker 1: Was it impacted it all by Donald Trump's tariff efforts
3:16
Speaker 1: early on and did that have some impact on the
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Speaker 1: export import banker? Did you guys have anything to say
3:22
Speaker 1: about that.
3:25
Speaker 2: You know, we've been incredible beneficiaries of the President's economic
3:30
Speaker 2: agenda because he's doing two things, Brian. Number One, he's
3:33
Speaker 2: reindustrializing America. So when he's rolled out a massive bread
3:38
Speaker 2: carpet for companies and countries from all around the world
3:41
Speaker 2: to want to build and manufacture and process and do
3:45
Speaker 2: things in America, and all that translates into more jobs
3:47
Speaker 2: here at home. And number two, he's really opened the
3:50
Speaker 2: opportunity for people to buy American and build their future
3:54
Speaker 2: and to really think about how do I partner with
3:56
Speaker 2: American companies, American technology providers to really do what I
4:00
Speaker 2: want to do best, which is again provide jobs and
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Speaker 2: provide economic security for my own country. And so Intimidated
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Speaker 2: is absolutely correct. It's not just the big companies that
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Speaker 2: benefit from our work. You know, for every g aero space,
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Speaker 2: they have seven hundred and seventy local suppliers, small and
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Speaker 2: medium sized companies, So on top of the eleven thousand
4:20
Speaker 2: people that they employ in Cincinnati, ten percent of whom
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Speaker 2: are veterans. By the way, you know, they help hundreds
4:27
Speaker 2: of other suppliers be able to reach markets all around
4:29
Speaker 2: the globe. And those are the exact type of jobs
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Speaker 2: that we need here in America. And that's the return
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Speaker 2: on your taxpayer dollar.
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Speaker 1: Well, and this sort of a if I can characterize
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Speaker 1: it as a renaissance of American manufacturing, I have to credit.
4:42
Speaker 1: And there are certain things you can say COVID nineteen
4:44
Speaker 1: was good about. We had a great awakening that, oh
4:47
Speaker 1: my god, because of COVID, we realize we don't really
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Speaker 1: make a lot of things here anymore. We don't have saline,
4:53
Speaker 1: we don't have mass, we don't have durable medical equipment.
4:56
Speaker 1: I mean, the list was seemingly endless, and it was like, well,
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Speaker 1: we better in our own and ourselves and be able
5:02
Speaker 1: to start making things, for example, like pharmaceuticals. You know,
5:05
Speaker 1: our own military relies on Chinese Communist Party country manufactured pharmaceuticals.
5:09
Speaker 1: That is really a profound threat to our United States military,
5:13
Speaker 1: but also the United States. We get into a major
5:15
Speaker 1: conflict with them, they're going to cut off our stuff
5:18
Speaker 1: and things. Do you give credit to COVID for that,
5:21
Speaker 1: or is there just is it the change of administration,
5:24
Speaker 1: because for years the whole concept was, well, we need
5:27
Speaker 1: to export manufacturing because it's a hell of a lot
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Speaker 1: cheaper and there's a hell of a lot less regulatory burden.
5:32
Speaker 1: In a variety of different countries around the world, we
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Speaker 1: can pay people two bucks an hour to make stuff.
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Speaker 1: It costs twenty five or thirty bucks an hour pay
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Speaker 1: here in the United States. What's changed?
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Speaker 2: Yeah, Brian, you're asking all the right questions, and i'd
5:45
Speaker 2: give credit to President Trump. He's been asking exactly those
5:48
Speaker 2: questions since twenty fifteen, since beforehand. And so what we're
5:52
Speaker 2: this is common sensed up and thanks to Chairman Davidson's
5:55
Speaker 2: leadership on Capitol Hill. What we're saying is, guys, what
5:58
Speaker 2: will it take for American companies to build more here
6:02
Speaker 2: to ensure that everyday Americans have what we need when
6:06
Speaker 2: we need it most. And it's not just the large
6:08
Speaker 2: companies that really need our help, it's the small, medium
6:11
Speaker 2: sized suppliers who need that supply chain security. So, whether
6:14
Speaker 2: it's an initiative like Project Vault, which we've done at XM,
6:17
Speaker 2: to actually create a strategic reserve for critical minerals for
6:20
Speaker 2: the first time in American history. That doesn't just benefit
6:23
Speaker 2: defense companies. It's really focused on everyday manufacturers, or whether
6:27
Speaker 2: it's our Make More in America initiative, which allows, you know,
6:30
Speaker 2: startups companies for the first time building in America, the
6:34
Speaker 2: opportunity to tap capital markets. And again, everything we're doing
6:37
Speaker 2: is saying, how do we crowd in the private sector.
6:40
Speaker 2: How do we get private capital to do not just
6:43
Speaker 2: the right thing for them mere term, but the thing
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Speaker 2: that's going to strengthen America in the long term, keep
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Speaker 2: us competitive, keep more well paying jobs. Here these are
6:51
Speaker 2: the exact questions that President Trump's been asking, Brian, that
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Speaker 2: you're asking this morning, and now we're providing the answers.
6:57
Speaker 1: Well, and I know you were talking try and you
7:00
Speaker 1: give a lot of credit to the smaller businesses. But
7:02
Speaker 1: I saw Toyota is now building a three point six
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Speaker 1: billion dollar plant in Texas, moving the manufacturing of I
7:08
Speaker 1: believe it was trucks from Mexico into Texas. At one
7:12
Speaker 1: point they thought it was wise to move to Mexico.
7:14
Speaker 1: How is it that we're able to bring Toyota back
7:17
Speaker 1: into the United States of America for these this two
7:19
Speaker 1: thousand jobs. Apparently this this plant's going to create.
7:23
Speaker 2: You're absolutely Ryan, these are good sorry shar with Timson.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, Brandon. You look at that. Companies respond just
7:32
Speaker 3: like people to incentives. And you know a lot of
7:35
Speaker 3: the approach that you know prior administrations had, well, go
7:39
Speaker 3: back to Ross Perot, right, he said there would be
7:41
Speaker 3: a giant.
7:42
Speaker 4: Sucking sound of jobs.
7:43
Speaker 3: And Okay, some people might have thought that isn't going
7:46
Speaker 3: to work, or if it does, somehow it's going to
7:47
Speaker 3: be good for us. But with the benefit of hindsight,
7:50
Speaker 3: you have to admit he was right. There was a
7:52
Speaker 3: big sucking sound, especially here in Ohio. And you know
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Speaker 3: Ohio's adapted and overcome. But now look at the difference
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Speaker 3: Leadershi is making with the president. A lot of companies
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Speaker 3: tried and look at the incentives of the Ships Act.
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Speaker 3: It hasn't worked the greatest with Intel to say we'll
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Speaker 3: build a factory here for you and you can keep
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Speaker 3: the profits.
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Speaker 4: Would you still do it? It's still not even on schedule.
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Speaker 3: What has turbocharged that is the president's leadership to put
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Speaker 3: tariffs and incentives to say, look, you can make stuff elsewhere,
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Speaker 3: but you're.
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Speaker 4: Not going to have a competitive advantage.
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Speaker 3: If you could make it in the United States and
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Speaker 3: you won't, then you're going to have a hard time.
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Speaker 3: And that's the leverage that he's applying to Mexico, to Spain,
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Speaker 3: to companies like Toyota, frankly, to companies like Intel, and
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Speaker 3: a lot of countries are smart to take the trade
8:37
Speaker 3: deals because when they do, they get zero tariffs. If
8:41
Speaker 3: you look at aviation and aerospace, the European Union was
8:43
Speaker 3: able to work out a deal. They have Airbus and
8:46
Speaker 3: Rolls Royce putting engines on planes. G makes a far
8:49
Speaker 3: better engine. They get three out of the four engines
8:52
Speaker 3: in the air today our ge engines, but Boeing and
8:56
Speaker 3: Airbusts are going head to head. Instead of having an
8:59
Speaker 3: arms race with tears, they went to zero. And that's
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Speaker 3: what Presidents Trump is offering to other countries. A lot
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Speaker 3: of the Asian countries are taking it. You look Japan, Korea, Taiwan,
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Speaker 3: and not only are they going with low tariffs and
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Speaker 3: fair trade, they're making big investments in the United States.
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Speaker 3: And you know, Toyota is doing the same smart thing
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Speaker 3: with their truck. And if you're gonna buy a truck,
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Speaker 3: Why wouldn't you want one made in America.
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Speaker 1: Well, that's certainly my feeling. Congressman Davidson, let's pause. We'll
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Speaker 1: bring back x M. John Jovanovic as well as Congressman
9:31
Speaker 1: Warren Davidson. I'm kind of curious to know. I'm presuming John,
9:34
Speaker 1: you talked to other businesses abroad and deal with foreign countries.
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Speaker 1: What else needs to be done here in the United
9:42
Speaker 1: States to make this environment even more appealing to investment
9:46
Speaker 1: and growth, because I suspect the regulatory hurdles and burdens
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Speaker 1: probably remain, and there may be something we can collectively
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Speaker 1: do about it more with mister Jovanovic and Congressman Davids indeed,
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Speaker 1: moving John your job and the Export Import Bank to
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Speaker 1: facilitate our companies reaching out and selling their products abroad
10:03
Speaker 1: and building bigger businesses here in the United States. Went
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Speaker 1: through a couple of illustrations of that. What are the
10:08
Speaker 1: major impediments we still have to deal with to get
10:11
Speaker 1: more people interested in investing and building manufacturing and business
10:15
Speaker 1: here in the United States. We've got to be facing
10:18
Speaker 1: challenges still because I don't think we've solved all the
10:20
Speaker 1: problems in the world. Because the regulatory burden that we've
10:22
Speaker 1: imposed on businesses generally here always seems to me to
10:25
Speaker 1: be far too onerous. But what do you think else
10:28
Speaker 1: needs to be done, mister Jovanovic and Congressman Davidson.
10:32
Speaker 2: Yeah, Brian, great question. You know you've identified a big
10:36
Speaker 2: one which we're trying to clear as much as we can,
10:38
Speaker 2: and thanks to President Trump's leadership, we try to fast
10:41
Speaker 2: track as much permitting and sort of clear a lot
10:43
Speaker 2: of the red tape so that business is interested in
10:46
Speaker 2: building more here it can do so quickly. Another big one, though,
10:49
Speaker 2: we've got to get out of our own way on energy.
10:52
Speaker 2: We are so blessed with natural resources across the board,
10:56
Speaker 2: and that's a massive differentiating factor. It brings down the cost,
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Speaker 2: It allows all sorts of other processes to take hold.
11:05
Speaker 2: It really allows people to not just innovate, but to
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Speaker 2: manufacture at scale and employee Americans all across the country.
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Speaker 2: Unleashing energy and our natural resources is a key point,
11:14
Speaker 2: and we've got to keep going.
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Speaker 1: You are a mind reader, sir, because I literally before
11:18
Speaker 1: you even started into that meant common about energy, I
11:20
Speaker 1: wrote energy down because I'm wondering if you look at
11:24
Speaker 1: a country like Germany, a massive manufacturing history. They did
11:27
Speaker 1: a wonderful job. They've pretty much supported the entire European
11:30
Speaker 1: Union with their manufacturing prowess, and their economic might just
11:34
Speaker 1: reduced to their knees because they chase their tail trying
11:37
Speaker 1: to eliminate carbon dioxide and building windmills and solar panels
11:40
Speaker 1: rather than a reliable source of energy. Is that a
11:43
Speaker 1: concern you hear from abroad about the United States, because
11:47
Speaker 1: we have a serious, not only concern, not only problem
11:50
Speaker 1: with that in States, you know, impeding the development of
11:53
Speaker 1: wonderful energy resource sources like for example, small small modular reactors,
11:57
Speaker 1: which I'm a huge fan of, but that we don't
12:00
Speaker 1: have the grid, the infrastructure to transmit the power. I mean,
12:05
Speaker 1: we're behind years and years on stand on top of that,
12:08
Speaker 1: and we have a lot of impediments to both the
12:11
Speaker 1: generation of power, whether it be by coal or natural
12:14
Speaker 1: gas or nuclear because of the regulatory environment, but also
12:17
Speaker 1: regulations regarding transmission lines with nobody wants around. Apparently that's
12:21
Speaker 1: a huge problem, but it's a long term challenge. Our
12:24
Speaker 1: business is generally concerned about that.
12:28
Speaker 2: Yeah, Brian, you bring up a good point, but I'll
12:30
Speaker 2: tell you what. As I travel around the world, supporting
12:33
Speaker 2: and promoting US companies and US businesses. What I hear
12:36
Speaker 2: from everybody as well. The way you're approaching energy now,
12:39
Speaker 2: thanks to President Trump's leadership, is a breadth of fresh air.
12:42
Speaker 2: It's common sense stuff. Yeah, we need to have all
12:45
Speaker 2: of the above approach, and we need to unlock it
12:48
Speaker 2: for businesses, for companies all across the country, and so Sure,
12:53
Speaker 2: do we have undue regulatory burdens. Absolutely, and unfortunately, I
12:56
Speaker 2: think it's going to be a state by state situation.
12:59
Speaker 2: Brian states like Ohio, my home state of Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,
13:03
Speaker 2: right by and large we've got it figured out, and
13:06
Speaker 2: states like Texas will continue to say, listen, we are
13:09
Speaker 2: blessed with natural resources, we have great people, we have
13:12
Speaker 2: world class research and innovation institutions. Come build here because
13:16
Speaker 2: we have all the ingredients that you need. Sure, we
13:19
Speaker 2: absolutely need to invest in the grid. We need to
13:21
Speaker 2: invest in more generation, more distribution, more transmission. But the
13:25
Speaker 2: bottom line is that we have the key ingredients here
13:28
Speaker 2: and that's where thanks to President Trump's leadership, we have
13:30
Speaker 2: to We've made it a same common sense conversation. Now
13:34
Speaker 2: we have to keep going and ensure that we can
13:36
Speaker 2: unlock it all right.
13:37
Speaker 1: One more cog in the successful building, luring, and managing
13:43
Speaker 1: and running businesses is the workforce. A lot of concerns
13:46
Speaker 1: about the workforce. A lot of people don't want to work.
13:48
Speaker 1: Our K through twelve education systems seems to be a
13:51
Speaker 1: total state of disarray. They're not teaching children. Do we
13:55
Speaker 1: have the workforce base, a competent, reliable workforce base to
13:59
Speaker 1: handle a growing manufacturing complex in this country?
14:06
Speaker 2: You know, we have it. And on top of that,
14:09
Speaker 2: we need to also think about how artificial intelligence can
14:12
Speaker 2: help supercharge our manufacturers and our workers. And so we
14:15
Speaker 2: spend a lot of time Brian talking about all these
14:17
Speaker 2: doomsday scenarios around artificial intelligence. The reality is in Commersman
14:21
Speaker 2: Davidson and I saw it yesterday. We didn't see fewer
14:24
Speaker 2: people at the Gero Space facility as a result of
14:28
Speaker 2: them using artificial intelligence. We saw people supercharged with AI
14:32
Speaker 2: being able to shorten the timeline for developing new equipment.
14:36
Speaker 2: It increase the amount of capacity they're able to manufacture.
14:39
Speaker 2: And so you know, again thanks to President Trump's same
14:42
Speaker 2: common sense conversation around this, we want more people in
14:46
Speaker 2: America equipped with AI, more people working and well paying
14:49
Speaker 2: jobs where we're actually creating manufacturing things here at home
14:53
Speaker 2: that we could sell all around the world.
14:56
Speaker 1: Well, it sounds all positive and all wonderful and all
14:58
Speaker 1: great for America, regardless of your political stripe. President Chairman
15:02
Speaker 1: of the Export Import Bank in the United States, John
15:05
Speaker 1: Javonvic and Congressman Warren Davidson. I can't thank you enough
15:08
Speaker 1: for your time this morning. Sorry for the bit of
15:09
Speaker 1: confusion as we started the segment, but a lot of
15:12
Speaker 1: information unpack and I appreciate all the new information that
15:15
Speaker 1: I learned from you both this morning. I would say,
15:17
Speaker 1: keep up the great work, and you always have an
15:18
Speaker 1: open spot here on the fifty five KC Morning Show
15:20
Speaker 1: to push along any additional reforms that we might need
15:24
Speaker 1: to make America even better. Gentlemen, Thank God for both
15:27
Speaker 1: of you, and keep up the great work.
15:30
Speaker 4: Thanks Brian Goad, bless you and all your listeners.
15:32
Speaker 1: It's always a pleasure, Congressman Davidson, and a pleasure to
15:34
Speaker 1: talk with you today. Mister Jovanovic,