Latest / Washington Post / 8.31.26

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8.31.26 · Washington Post

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  Speaker 1: Good morning, everybody, and welcome to the reading of the
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  Speaker 1: Washington Post for this Monday, August 31st. As a reminder,
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  Speaker 1: Radio Eye is a reading service intended for people who
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  Speaker 1: are blind or have other disabilities that make it difficult
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  Speaker 1: to read printed material. Your reader for today is Rod Brotherton.
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  Speaker 1: And looking at the headlines, Venezuela vowed not to hand
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  Speaker 1: over its oil, but now Trump aims to grab a windfall.
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  Speaker 1: as Nicolas Maduro's vice president in Venezuela, Delcy Rodriguez, once
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  Speaker 1: accused her political rival of planning to hand over the
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  Speaker 1: country's riches and its vast oil reserves to the United States.
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  Speaker 1: They are her owners, Rodriguez said, of 2024 of Maria
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  Speaker 1: Corina Machado, then the U.S.-backed opposition leader. Her master gives
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  Speaker 1: her orders to do what? So hand over the oil, gas, gold,
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  Speaker 1: hand over and trample on our historical dignity. But now
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  Speaker 1: Rodriguez is the country's interim leader, thanks to President Trump.
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  Speaker 1: And on Friday, Trump announced what he called the biggest
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  Speaker 1: oil deal in world history. A pact that would give
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  Speaker 1: the U.S. a long-term controlling stake in nearly a quarter
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  Speaker 1: of Venezuela's untapped oil reserves. The deal calls for the U.S.
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  Speaker 1: to enter in a joint venture with a private company,
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  Speaker 1: creating a new oil giant that the Trump administration said
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  Speaker 1: will hold a 100-year contract at the Venezuelan oil fields.
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  Speaker 1: It would become the second largest private oil company by
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  Speaker 1: reserves in the world after Saudi Aramco. The deal cements
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  Speaker 1: the United States' long-term dominance over Venezuela, which has become
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  Speaker 1: a neo-colony, since the U.S. military's capture of Maduro in January,
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  Speaker 1: when Trump vowed to run the country and exploit its
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  Speaker 1: oil wealth. The agreement now stands to lock in the
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  Speaker 1: United States as Venezuela's primary oil partner for generations. The
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  Speaker 1: agreement appeared to contradict much of what Venezuela's government had
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  Speaker 1: stood for since then President Hugo Chavez promised it as
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  Speaker 1: a socialist state. For Venezuelans, it also creates a sense
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  Speaker 1: of history repeating itself with a twist. A government long
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  Speaker 1: criticized for its opaque oil deals, widespread corruption, is now
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  Speaker 1: entering a murky long-term agreement with a new protector, the
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  Speaker 1: United States. Trump, in announcing the deal, said it will
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  Speaker 1: boost the country's oil reserves and oil supply and set
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  Speaker 1: Venezuela on a course toward tremendous success and great prosperity.
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  Speaker 1: Secretary of State Marco Rubio, posting on X, said the
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  Speaker 1: agreement will bring nearly $ 100 billion in private investment to Venezuela.
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  Speaker 1: The one thing I'm going to do with the Venezuelan
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  Speaker 1: oil is fill up our strategic national reserves, which, because
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  Speaker 1: of sleepy Joe Biden, has been virtually empty, Trump posted
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  Speaker 1: Sunday morning on Truth Social. The topping-out process will begin
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  Speaker 1: very shortly. This is a gift from Venezuela to the
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  Speaker 1: people of the United States. But few details have been
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  Speaker 1: disclosed about the agreement, leaving Venezuelans with more questions than answers.
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  Speaker 1: It remains unclear how much Venezuela will earn from the deal,
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  Speaker 1: how much it will cost U.S. taxpayers, given the need
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  Speaker 1: for expensive front-end investment, and how much will simply end
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  Speaker 1: up enriching the private company. and the controversial businessman Alejandro
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  Speaker 1: Betancourt at the center of it all. Rodriguez has defended
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  Speaker 1: the deal, saying in a statement that it will facilitate
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  Speaker 1: a significant flow of investment aimed at the recovery and
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  Speaker 1: reconstruction of our strategic infrastructure for the development of our
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  Speaker 1: hydrocarbon industry. In comments broadcast Saturday night, Rodriguez thanked Trump, Rubio,
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  Speaker 1: and the U.S. government for their effort to reach the agreement.
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  Speaker 1: But she added to the confusion over the deal by
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  Speaker 1: contradicting Trump and other U.S. officials on some of the details.
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  Speaker 1: She said the project was signed for a term of
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  Speaker 1: 25 years, not 100, with a production target of more
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  Speaker 1: than 1.5 million barrels a day. She estimated the country's
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  Speaker 1: revenue would reach $ 209 billion for the Venezuelan state, or
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  Speaker 1: $ 19 a barrel. She added, there is something that must
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  Speaker 1: be absolutely clear. Venezuela retains ownership of and sovereignty over
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  Speaker 1: its resources. While it uses capital, technology, and operating capacity
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  Speaker 1: to leverage the recovery of a strategic industry hit hard
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  Speaker 1: by sanctions. One key player who clearly stands to benefit
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  Speaker 1: is Betancourt. a Venezuelan businessman with extensive experience in the
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  Speaker 1: country's oil industry, who, over the past decade, has faced
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  Speaker 1: multiple investigations into alleged money laundering around the world, including
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  Speaker 1: in the United States. As part of the deal, the U.S.
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  Speaker 1: will partner with Bettencourt's company, North American Blue Energy Partners, NABP,
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  Speaker 1: Venezuela's second-largest private oil producer. As Bettencourt grew more important
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  Speaker 1: to the Trump administration, serving as a critical intermediary with
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  Speaker 1: Venezuela's oil industry and broker in early deals this year, U.S.
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  Speaker 1: officials lobbied to resolve a money laundering investigation against him
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  Speaker 1: in Switzerland. The Post reported last week that it cited
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  Speaker 1: two familiar people knowledgeable about the matter. The U.S. has
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  Speaker 1: also not acted on a Swiss arrest warrant against him.
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  Speaker 1: The people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to
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  Speaker 1: discuss the sensitive situation said instead he has been allowed
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  Speaker 1: to enter the country repeatedly for meetings with the Trump administration.
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  Speaker 1: People familiar with his travel said. Betancourt has not been
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  Speaker 1: charged and his attorney previously has denied he was involved
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  Speaker 1: in money laundering. Francisco Palmieri. the former U.S. Diplomatic Chief
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  Speaker 1: of Mission for Venezuela, who helped broker the easing of
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  Speaker 1: some oil sanctions ahead of the country's 2024 election, said
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  Speaker 1: the United States' willingness to work with Betancourt, someone loathed
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  Speaker 1: by almost all sectors in Venezuela, undermines the credibility of
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  Speaker 1: the deal. Beyond Betancourt's role, Palmieri said he worries the
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  Speaker 1: new agreement could create conditions for the interim Venezuelan government
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  Speaker 1: delay elections and remain in power to ensure the new
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  Speaker 1: arrangement is carried out. What is the quid pro quo,
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  Speaker 1: Palmieri asked? If it's just the U.S. continuing to exercise
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  Speaker 1: total control over the regime, it just means that the
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  Speaker 1: United States owns more and more of what happens in
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  Speaker 1: Venezuela over the next few years. Palmieri and other Venezuelan
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  Speaker 1: analysts and former Venezuelan officials said It acknowledged the need
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  Speaker 1: to open up the country's oil industry to private investment,
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  Speaker 1: including from the U.S., and to alleviate concerns from U.S.
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  Speaker 1: oil companies that in recent months have shown deep reluctance
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  Speaker 1: to take a chance on Venezuela. Mercado, the Venezuelan opposition
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  Speaker 1: leader and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, has not
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  Speaker 1: spoken publicly yet about the deal. David Smolenski, a spokesman
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  Speaker 1: for Mercado in Washington, said, said that her team has
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  Speaker 1: long favored privatizing and opening up Venezuela's oil industry, but
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  Speaker 1: that any such deal should be negotiated with a legitimate government,
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  Speaker 1: with a democratic government, with a system of a rule
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  Speaker 1: of law that creates guarantees for the long term. Smolenski
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  Speaker 1: criticized the lack of transparency around the deal and Bettencourt's
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  Speaker 1: involvement in brokering it. Francisco Rodrigo, a Venezuelan economist at
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  Speaker 1: the University of Denver, said very little is known about
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  Speaker 1: the agreement, which has been presented as a done deal.
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  Speaker 1: And that in itself is a problem, Rodriguez said, noting
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  Speaker 1: there does not appear to have been any public bidding
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  Speaker 1: process or an effort to go through the country's National
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  Speaker 1: Assembly to approve the plan. This is precisely the lack
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  Speaker 1: of transparency's type that the country got used to during Chavismo,
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  Speaker 1: instead of the ruling Socialist Party, and embodies everything that
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  Speaker 1: has been wrong about how these governments handled Venezuelan affairs.
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  Speaker 1: The deal also risks widening a chasm within the government's
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  Speaker 1: ruling Socialist Party, which has fractured since the capture of
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  Speaker 1: Maduro and the emergence of the U.S. as protector of
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  Speaker 1: a government that long viewed Washington as an imperial enemy.
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  Speaker 1: For some original supporters of Chavez, the deal amounts to
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  Speaker 1: a national humiliation and loss of sovereignty. The country needs information,
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  Speaker 1: said Juan Barreto, a former pro-Chavez political leader in Venezuela.
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  Speaker 1: Venezuela's oil workers, Barreto said, are learning of a contract
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  Speaker 1: that is being signed behind the people's backs. with no
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  Speaker 1: explanation and cloaked in a secrecy. It raises the suspicion
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  Speaker 1: that it does not serve the interest of the great majority,
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  Speaker 1: puts the national patrimony at risk. Rafael Ramirez, who ran
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  Speaker 1: the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA, and the oil minister
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  Speaker 1: for a decade under Chavez, before breaking with Maduro and
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  Speaker 1: fleeing into exile, called the agreement a historic act of surrender.
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  Speaker 1: Posting on X, Ramirez said the deal cedes control of
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  Speaker 1: territory and oil to a foreign power. He complained that
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  Speaker 1: Venezuelans had to find out from Trump that the deal
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  Speaker 1: had been reached. Ricardo Hussman, an economist at Harvard's Kennedy
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  Speaker 1: School of Government, who served as Venezuelan's planning minister in
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  Speaker 1: the early 1990s and later as chief economist of the
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  Speaker 1: Inter-American Development Bank, was among the most prominent voices criticizing
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  Speaker 1: the deal. Writing on X, he called it an unconstitutional
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  Speaker 1: bargain struck by an illegitimate interim government. Roxanne Vigil, a
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  Speaker 1: former Treasury Department and White House official who focused on Venezuela,
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  Speaker 1: said the first Trump administration had made a strong case,
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  Speaker 1: including through sanctions, for why the Maduro regime was one
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  Speaker 1: of the most corrupt regimes in the hemisphere and maybe
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  Speaker 1: even in the world. But now they're relying on those
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  Speaker 1: same people and behaviors to be able to reestablish this
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  Speaker 1: opaque system. We don't know a lot of how the
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  Speaker 1: money is being really managed, Vigil said. There is an assumption,
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  Speaker 1: she said, that the U.S. will not be as corrupt
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  Speaker 1: as Venezuela. The lack of transparency in the deals and
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  Speaker 1: how the funding is being managed raises key questions, said Vigil.
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  Speaker 1: Are we a better manager of Venezuela's money, a more
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  Speaker 1: trustworthy custodian, she asked, or are we really just partnering
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  Speaker 1: with the same people who destroyed Venezuela and now turning
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  Speaker 1: to health? I'm an oncologist, and every man should know
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  Speaker 1: this about prostate cancer. Question. Why doesn't my doctor automatically
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  Speaker 1: order a PSA test to screen for prostate cancer? Shouldn't
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  Speaker 1: all men be tested regularly? Well, the answer. With over 330,000
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  Speaker 1: new cases estimated for 2026, prostate cancer accounts for almost
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  Speaker 1: one-third of all invasive cancers in men. It is the
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  Speaker 1: fifth leading cause of male cancer-related deaths worldwide. Because prostate
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  Speaker 1: cancer is a slow-growing and symptoms may not occur for
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  Speaker 1: years after it develops, you might think that everyone who
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  Speaker 1: has a prostate, which is a walnut-sized gland that sits
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  Speaker 1: below the bladder, should get a blood test for prostate-specific antigen,
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  Speaker 1: or PSA, which can detect it. But not so fast.
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  Speaker 1: As I've written previously, a screening test is designed to
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  Speaker 1: identify cancer in an individual who does not yet have
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  Speaker 1: signs or symptoms before you or your doctor even suspect
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  Speaker 1: it's there. Ideal screening tests detect cancers in the early stages,
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  Speaker 1: but an intervention such as removing the tumor with surgery
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  Speaker 1: can prevent it from spreading and treat it in its entirety.
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  Speaker 1: One of the most common screening tests for prostate cancer
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  Speaker 1: involves measuring blood levels of PSA, which is a protein
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  Speaker 1: produced by the prostate. PSA normally decreases the viscosity of semen,
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  Speaker 1: and elevated PSA can be caused by cancer, and the
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  Speaker 1: higher the PSA, the more likely that cancer is present.
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  Speaker 1: Although non-cancer-related triggers, such as infections, can also drive PSA
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  Speaker 1: levels higher. Traditionally, a PSA level above 4 nanograms per
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  Speaker 1: milliliter has been considered abnormal and could result in a
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  Speaker 1: recommendation for a prostate biopsy, where a tissue sample is
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  Speaker 1: taken and tested for cancerous cells. However, interpreting PSA levels
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  Speaker 1: is tricky. For example, because PSA levels normally increase with age,
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  Speaker 1: Some doctors apply a higher cutoff, such as 5 nanograms
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  Speaker 1: per milliliter for older men, and a lower cutoff, such
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  Speaker 1: as 2.5 nanograms per milliliter for younger men. And, in fact,
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  Speaker 1: it is estimated that during the period of PSA screening
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  Speaker 1: in the United States from 1988 to 2016, over 300,000
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  Speaker 1: deaths were avoided. Yet, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force
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  Speaker 1: estimates does not provide a definitive recommendation that all men
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  Speaker 1: should undergo PSA screening. They only say that for men
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  Speaker 1: aged 55 to 69 years, the decision to get periodic
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  Speaker 1: PSA tests for prostate cancer should be an individual one,
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  Speaker 1: and that men should have an opportunity to discuss the
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  Speaker 1: potential benefits and harms of screening with their clinician and
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  Speaker 1: to incorporate their values and preferences in the decision. For
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  Speaker 1: men 70 and older, the USPSTF recommends against PSA screening entirely.
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  Speaker 1: Why not recommend PSA screening for prostate cancer for all
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  Speaker 1: adult men? Well, the answer is a bit complex. The
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  Speaker 1: PSA blood test has a high rate of false positives.
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  Speaker 1: An ideal screening test should accurately identify people who have cancer,
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  Speaker 1: and it should be highly sensitive and accurately identify people
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  Speaker 1: who don't have cancer, and it should also be highly specific.
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  Speaker 1: The PSA blood test sensitivity is over 90%, meaning that
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  Speaker 1: the test catches over 90 out of 100 actual prostate
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  Speaker 1: cancer cases. So, if your PSA blood test comes back normal,
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  Speaker 1: it is highly unlikely that you have prostate cancer. It specifically,
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  Speaker 1: on the other hand, is only 9 to 33%, meaning
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  Speaker 1: that most of the time men with an elevated, potentially
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  Speaker 1: worrisome PSA level in the blood do not have prostate cancer.
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  Speaker 1: In one cancer screening study, enrolling over 37,000 men, almost 5,000
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  Speaker 1: had an elevated PSA blood test that led to a
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  Speaker 1: prostate biopsy, a procedure to confirm a cancer diagnosis. More
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  Speaker 1: than two-thirds of these men, though, were found not to
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  Speaker 1: have prostate cancer, meaning they received a false positive test.
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  Speaker 1: How can this occur? A number of non-cancerous conditions, such
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  Speaker 1: as benign prostate hypertrophy, or BPH, commonly known as an
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  Speaker 1: enlarged prostate, which almost all men will develop if they
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  Speaker 1: live long enough, an infection, an inflammation, or trauma, can
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  Speaker 1: also elevate PSA levels. one study showing that over 60%
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  Speaker 1: of men with BPH had PSA levels above 4 nanograms
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  Speaker 1: per milliliter, levels that might lead to a biopsy. The
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  Speaker 1: European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer is the
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  Speaker 1: largest study ever conducted to assess the impact of PSA
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  Speaker 1: testing to screens for prostate cancer. Researchers randomized over 160,000
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  Speaker 1: men to PSA screening or to do no screening to
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  Speaker 1: see whether screening reduced the chances of dying of prostate cancer.
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  Speaker 1: After a median of 23 years of follow-up, death due
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  Speaker 1: to prostate cancer was found to be 13% lower in
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  Speaker 1: the screening group of men compared with men in the
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  Speaker 1: non-screening group. One death from prostate cancer was averted where
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  Speaker 1: every 456 men invited to undergo PSA screening. However, The
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  Speaker 1: study authors expressed concern over the harms associated with PSA-based screening,
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  Speaker 1: including unnecessary testing, biopsies, over-diagnosis or identifying cancer that would
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  Speaker 1: probably never progress enough to harm a man's health, and over-treatment.
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  Speaker 1: In another analysis, of 63 studies enrolled almost 2 million men,
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  Speaker 1: over-diagnosis was estimated to occur in 20 to 50 percent.
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  Speaker 1: PSA screen-detected cancers, leading to unnecessary biopsies and even to
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  Speaker 1: invasive treatments with significant side effects. For example, prostate cancer
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  Speaker 1: treatments can sometimes cause incontinence or erectile dysfunction or both,
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  Speaker 1: which can seriously harm the quality of life, especially if
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  Speaker 1: used to treat a slow-growing cancer that could be followed
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  Speaker 1: with watchful waiting instead. And not all prostate cancer is
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  Speaker 1: deadly or needs to be treated. A growing body of
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  Speaker 1: research suggests that many cases of what we consider low-grade
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  Speaker 1: prostate cancer, meaning that the tumors are small and slow-growing,
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  Speaker 1: may not ever progress to the point of causing a
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  Speaker 1: man any harm. Because of this, there is a long-term
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  Speaker 1: area of controversy among oncology experts over whether low-risk prostate
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  Speaker 1: cancer should be called cancer at all. Some argue that
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  Speaker 1: this leads to unnecessary treatment that doesn't extend a person's
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  Speaker 1: life more effectively than close monitoring of known as active surveillance.
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  Speaker 1: For example, in autopsy studies that included over 6,000 men
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  Speaker 1: who died of other causes, more than 20% of men
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  Speaker 1: aged 50 to 59 years and more than 33% of
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  Speaker 1: men aged 70 to 79 years were found to have
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  Speaker 1: prostate cancer but were unaware of it and had no
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  Speaker 1: symptoms during their lifetimes. Another study conducted in Britain of
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  Speaker 1: over 1,600 men diagnosed with prostate cancer found that mortality
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  Speaker 1: was low regardless of treatment choice. Studied participants were randomly
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  Speaker 1: assigned to undergo prostate removal, radiation therapy to treat the cancer,
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  Speaker 1: or no therapy at all, just active monitoring. And after
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  Speaker 1: 15 years of follow-up, 2.7% of men died of prostate cancer,
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  Speaker 1: and the mortality rates were similar between those who received
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  Speaker 1: treatment and those who underwent simple monitoring. Taking all of
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  Speaker 1: the most recent scientific data into consideration, the recommended subsequent
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: evaluation for an elevated PSA has changed. Traditionally, the next
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  Speaker 1: step was to undergo a prostate biopsy, but now many
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  Speaker 1: providers will first order repeat PSA testing to confirm the
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: level is high, followed by blood and urine tests to
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  Speaker 1: check for biomarkers that will help identify those most likely
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  Speaker 1: to benefit from treatment. The next step might be an
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  Speaker 1: MRI of the prostate to look for anything suspicious, such
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  Speaker 1: as a tumor, or monitoring the PSA level to determine
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  Speaker 1: how rapidly it's rising before doing any other testing. According
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  Speaker 1: to prostate cancer specialist Timothy Gilligan, executive medical director and
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  Speaker 1: chair of the Sutter Health Cancer Center in San Francisco,
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  Speaker 1: we've taken important steps to reduce over-diagnosis and over-treatment. Whereas
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  Speaker 1: in the past, an elevated PSA typically resulted in a
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  Speaker 1: reflex decision to get a biopsy or a finding of
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  Speaker 1: cancer led to treatment, we now have tools. that allow
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  Speaker 1: us to be more selective about who needs a biopsy and,
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  Speaker 1: if a biopsy shows cancer, who needs treatment. As the
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: USPSTF suggests, whether or not to undergo PSA screening really
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: has become a personal choice based on your own tolerance
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: of risk. And the next story, why America's interest payments
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: are suddenly spiking. Interest costs used to be a relatively
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: insignificant part of the deficit. They aren't anymore. And in
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  Speaker 1: the 2030s, they will rise to stupefying levels. The Congressional
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: Budget Office projections for interest rates are probably optimistic. They
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: assume that the average interest rate on federal debt will
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: stay around 4% for the next 30 years. If The
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: projections are off by just one percentage point. That's like
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: adding another military's worth of spending in the next decade,
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  Speaker 1: according to an estimate by Jessica Riedel of the Brookings Institution.
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  Speaker 1: For most of the 2010s, interest rates were near zero.
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  Speaker 1: Borrowing was almost free. The 2020s shows that was a
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: vacation from reality. Interest rates are positive, and borrowing has costs.
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: In 2031, the last 10-year bonds issued at near-zero interest
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: rates will roll over. Rolling over old bonds at higher
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: interest rates contributes to the debt. Because the government continues
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: to run deficits, old debt is never retired. The bonds
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: issued today to replace bonds from the 2010s come with
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: higher interest rates. That means the Treasury Department will need
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: to pay out more money. Replacing old bonds with new,
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: more expensive bonds is an increasing part of the Treasury's job.
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: In 2025, the deficit was about $ 2 trillion. That means
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: the Department issued $ 2 trillion in new debt. But in 2025,
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: the Treasury also issued $ 9 trillion in bonds to refinance
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: old debt rolling over. Doing this did not raise the
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: national debt for that year, but the higher interest rate
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: cost on the bonds that rolled over will increase the
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: debt in the future. The average maturity of outstanding federal
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: debt is less than six years. That means the government
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: is required to pay back or replace that borrowed money
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: with new loans in under six years. In other words,
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: The federal government didn't lock in the low interest rates
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: of the 2010s as many homeowners did by refinancing 30-year mortgages.
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: Though homeowners will be able to pay low rates on
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: their mortgages well into the 2040s, the government is already
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: feeling the pain of higher rates. There's no way to
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: cut costs for interest payments. The government has to pay
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: the amount it owes. or else the world's financial system
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: and broader economy will suffer. The government can play games
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: by printing more money to pay back bondholders, but that
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: causes inflation, which comes with its own problems. Politicians need
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: to take their obligations to bondholders seriously, because they won't
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: be able to do anything else if they don't. A
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: hugely indebted government can spend only at the pleasure of
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: its lenders. As interest costs crowd out spending on essential
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: stuff that government is supposed to do, voters will become
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: increasingly upset as they sense that their taxes aren't being
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: spent for their benefit. Debt can be sensible. When private
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: borrowers take on debt, they're mostly doing it to fund
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: an investment. They hope the investment will create a return
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: that exceeds the cost of borrowing. And then, when the
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: debt's paid back, a beneficial, productive asset remains. Some U.S.
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: government borrowing is like that, when funding infrastructure projects or education.
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: But the vast majority of federal borrowing funds is short-term consumption,
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: primarily for seniors, over long-term investment. The government's return on
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: such short-term spending is negligible. The money it must borrow
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: to fund those expenditures is money that cannot be borrowed
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: by private individuals or businesses to make productive investments. That
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: hurts economic growth, which hurts job growth, which hurts household
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: economies and incomes, which fuels political demand for more welfare
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: programs to help people who are struggling financially. which will
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: require even more debt, which borrowers won't be willing to
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: lend unless interest rates are higher. National debt spirals are ugly,
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: both economically and politically, as any Greek or Argentine knows firsthand.
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: If Americans feel alienated from the government right now, imagine
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: how they'll feel when half the income tax they pay
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: goes to cover interest payments on spending that happened years ago.
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: That's coming in 2036, based on current projections. Getting interest
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: costs under control by getting the deficit under control needs
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: to be a top national priority. The next story. Besant
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: unveils sweeping new Iran sanction, but delays the toughest blow.
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: Treasury Secretary Scott Besant on Monday unveiled a sweeping campaign
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: of financial sanctions and diplomatic pressure designed to sever Iran's
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: remaining links to the global economy, but he declined to
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: say which countries would be targeted or when new penalties
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: on Iran's trading partners would take effect. Dubbed Operation Economic Outcast,
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: the initiative is aimed at closing loopholes in the existing U.S.
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: financial dragnet around Iran, and Besant said, forcing an endgame
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: in the conflict that President Trump launched in February. Treasury
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: officials said they're adding five sectors of the Iranian economy
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: to their target list. Cryptocurrency. And regime insiders, also the
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: Revolutionary Guard Corps that uses it. Weapons-related technology. Gold used
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: to stabilize the plummeting Iranian currency. Iran's airlines. and shipping.
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: It carries weapons component and oil. They also announced sanctions
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: on 60 entities, individuals, and vessels that enable Iran to
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: produce nuclear or missile technology conducting cyber operations and to
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: sell oil. Bessette said Trump is contacting other world leaders
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: to demand that they support the United States in seeking
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: the economic asphyxiation of this regime. He would not identify
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: the leaders contacted or provide a deadline for action. Iran's
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: top trading partners include China, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey,
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: and Iraq. The United States expects action, Pesent told reporters
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: during a news conference at the Treasury Department in Washington.
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: We do not have infinite patience here. Ask why the U.S.
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: isn't imposing widespread sanctions right away, but since then the
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: administration wants to give countries an opportunity to remedy bad behavior.
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: Why would I want to blow up the global financial system,
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: but since then we believe that a warning shot and
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: a level set of expectations is appropriate. Some independent specialists
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: found Monday's announcement underwhelming, especially after days of increasingly bellicose
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: warnings from Trump and Besant about mounting an economic D-Day
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: against Iran and its commercial partners. In an opinion piece
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: published Sunday in the Financial Times, Besant wrote that the
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: United States had significantly dismantled Iran's military capabilities and weakened
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: its nuclear program, and on Monday would launch the single
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: greatest financial offensive ever marshaled against an adversary. But Bessette
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: left unresolved what many analysts see as a key issue,
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: whether the administration is prepared to take on China one
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: month before President Xi Jinping is due in Washington for
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: an official state visit. I think the big question, going
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: to be whether they're willing to do something that crosses
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: the red line of the China trade truce. And if not,
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: you know, this is ultimately not going to be successful,
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: said Matt Swinehart, a former Treasury official who served under
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: presidents of both parties and is now with Rock Creek
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: Global Advisors in Washington. The administration's plan to pressure foreign
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: leaders directly is likely to pay off, he said. But
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: genuine progress will come only if the U.S. penalizes privately
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: owned Chinese oil refineries known as teapots, large Chinese banks
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: that facilitate Beijing's purchases of Iranian oil, Swinehart said. Asked
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: whether Chinese banks would be among those hit with a
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: punishing financial measure, Vicente replied that no one is above
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: the reach of U.S. sanctions. Swinehart said Monday's announcement seemed
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: to be a sign that the administration had all but
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: exhausted its weapons for confronting Iran. It's only now that
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: I think the administration has realized it doesn't have a
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: lot of other options, he said. You do have to
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: wonder why they didn't do this before. Adam Smith, who
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: worked on Iran's sanctions in the Obama administration, said Besant's
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: strategy could be effective. Intense pressure on Iran's financial lifelines
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: ultimately produced the 2015 nuclear deal with the U.S. And
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: even some of what Besant said comes true, this is
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: a significant increase of pressure. If this goes on, plus
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: a physical blockade, it could actually have an impact, said Smith,
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: who is now a partner at Gibson Dunn, a global
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: law firm. The question is, how the other entities view
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: Bessent's warning shots, said Rachel Zimiba, an adjunct senior fellow
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: at the Center for New York American Security, a bipartisan
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: nonprofit focused on national security. It's not clear to me
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: what the rhetoric matches with the willingness to implement, she said.
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: There aren't a lot of good additional options on more
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: economic pressure on Iran and because all of them come
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: with an economic or geostrategic cost. But it was not
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: the first time the Trump administration has said that it
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: was dialing up the pressure on Iran. Trump has repeatedly
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: put sanctions on foreign companies involved in the oil trade
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: that represent Iran's principal source of revenue, even as his
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: military campaign against Tehran has flirted with stalemate. During Trump's
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: first term, The U.S. employed what he called a maximum
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: pressure sanctions campaign against the Islamic Republic. And for the
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: past year, long before the February's military attack, the administration
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: has carried out Operation Economic Fury in hopes of forcing
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: Iran to submit to American demands to give up its
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: nuclear weapons program. More broadly, some U.S. sanctions against Iran
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: date back to 1979. when the Islamic Republic took U.S.
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: diplomats hostage and held them for 444 days. Over the years,
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: sanctions have become almost a reflexive tool of American power,
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: a way to accomplish foreign policy goals that Washington is
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: unwilling or unable to attempt military force. But it carries
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: a mixed record of success. Among the 37 sanctioned programs
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: administered by the Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control, the
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: oldest targets Cuba. President Dwight D. Eisenhower first imposed financial
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: sanctions on the island's communist government in 1960. His successor,
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: President Kennedy, broadened them into a full-trade embargo. Though its
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: economy is a wreck, and its people lack routine access
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: to electricity and other essentials, Cuba today remains under communist rule.
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: In Tehran, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqir Khalibaf on Monday
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: dismissed Washington's threats as big talk and predicted that Iran's
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: trade partners would not comply with U.S. sanctions. Iran's trade
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: partners have also announced to us both through the media
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: and by sending messages, that they regard these statements as
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: utterly meaningless, Kalibov said in a Farsi language post on
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: his ex-account. Before Besant's news conference, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: Kazim Ghalibabadi also mocked the Treasury Secretary's claims that Iran's
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: military capability had been dismantled. You say 100% of military
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: factories destroyed and nuclear program buried, Yair Babadi wrote on
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: social media. Yet, for the very same Iran, the largest
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: financial offensive in history and the mobilization of all U.S.
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: agencies and authorities have become necessary. Is this a victory
• 37:24
  Speaker 1: or an admission of U.S. defeat? The war has reached
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: a near stalemate in recent weeks. even as the ceasefire
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: agreement expired last week. The hostilities have, for months, disrupted
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the key channel through
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: which around 20% of the world's oil moved before the war.
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: That disruption has pushed up oil and gas prices in
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: the lead-up to the midterm elections in early November, in
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: which Republicans are hoping to maintain control of the House
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: and Senate. Most Americans disapproved of the war, supposedly, polls show,
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: contributing to a record low approval rating for President Trump.
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: This weekend, Mohsen Rezaei, head of Iran's National Security Council,
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: vowed that not a single drop of oil will be
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: exported through the Persian Gulf if the U.S.-led economic war continues.
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: Iran will regard any country's participation in or support for
• 38:28
  Speaker 1: America's economic war against the Iranian people as an act
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: of war, he wrote on X. Iran's threats against ships
• 38:37
  Speaker 1: transiting the Strait of Hormuz have helped to maintain the
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: country's leverage. But Iran's currency hit a record low Monday,
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: and skyrocketing inflation has made life unaffordable for many Iranians.
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: The Iranian government may sound bullish on their capacity to
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: absorb the pain, but the pain is already there. It's
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: going to increase across the board, said Naysan Rafati, a
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: senior Iranian analyst for International Crisis Group, an independent organization
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: that works to prevent war. What is unclear is whether
• 39:17
  Speaker 1: that pain will lead to some sort of diplomatic breakthrough,
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: he said. Last week, he noted, after a call between
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan and Trump, the UAE
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: announced it would halt all trade ties with Iran, though
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: Iran's ties with UAE and neighboring countries date back generations.
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: The idea of a total financial blackout of Iran is
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: difficult to imagine, Rafati said. but it doesn't mean the U.S.
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: can't have a substantial impact. And the next story. Leaked
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: memo shows how U.S. aims to weaken global limits on
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: plastic production. The United States has doubled down on its
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: opposition to plastic production limits in global treaty talks, according
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: to a diplomatic memo reviewed by the Washington Post, pushing
• 40:13
  Speaker 1: to create a broad loophole to disregard the treaty on
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: national security grounds. A year after the Trump administration worked
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: with other major oil-producing nations to block strict plastic production limits,
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: leading to a failed UN conference in Geneva, environmentalists and
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: other observers argue that this same group is helping steer
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: negotiations toward a weaker agreement. Involving delegates from nearly 180 countries,
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: the talks have reached a critical point after four years.
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: Global plastic pollution has ballooned to more than 57 million
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: tons a year A coalition of dozens of countries, including
• 40:52
  Speaker 1: most members of the European Union and many from Africa
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: and Latin America, say this waste will become overwhelming unless
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: the world imposes meaningful restrictions soon. The leaked document, which
• 41:06
  Speaker 1: a foreign diplomat confirmed was circulated this summer to governments
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: involved in negotiations, calls for a pragmatic treaty. It includes
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: a provision allowing for countries to take any measures they
• 41:18
  Speaker 1: consider necessary national security. The memo, which emphasizes the need
• 41:24
  Speaker 1: for waste management and private sector investment, argues any agreement
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: must not undermine national security, critical infrastructure, or supply chains.
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: It warns restricting plastics and chemicals could limit access to
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: defense-related products such as weapons material and protective gear. The
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: overwhelming majority of plastics is made from chemicals derived from
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: petroleum or other fossil fuels. And the Trump administration is
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: pushed to expand oil and gas drilling and domestic production.
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: Negotiators under Trump have become far more vocal in opposing
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: binding limits on plastic production compared with a more conciliatory
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: tone under President Biden. The negotiation position also reflects a
• 42:10
  Speaker 1: broader administration strategy. citing national security concerns to promote fossil fuels,
• 42:16
  Speaker 1: such as when it declared a national emergency of energy
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: last year, blocked the development of wind farms, and exempted
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: oil and gas firms from the Endangered Species Act required
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: in the Gulf of Mexico. The State Department said in
• 42:32
  Speaker 1: an email that it generally does not comment on purported U.S.
• 42:37
  Speaker 1: diplomatic communications. The United States seeks to negotiate an agreement
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: that all countries can join and implement as an outcome
• 42:45
  Speaker 1: that will be most effective in reducing plastic pollution, the
• 42:48
  Speaker 1: department said. Adding the treaty should not interfere with military
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: readiness or critical national security applications. It said the administration
• 42:59
  Speaker 1: backed common-sense measures to reduce plastic pollution while rejecting proposals
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: that would damage the American economy, drive inflation, and restrict
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: consumer choice. Andreas Belland Ericsson, Norway's Minister of Climate and
• 43:16
  Speaker 1: the Environment, said the memo was in line with what
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: the U.S. has communicated during recent negotiations. We do not
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: share the view that restricting specific plastic items that contribute
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: to plastic pollution would pose a threat to economic growth,
• 43:33
  Speaker 1: Ericsson said, adding that in countries that have imposed limits
• 43:37
  Speaker 1: on plastic pollution, New and improved business solutions emerge. The
• 43:42
  Speaker 1: treaty must lead to real changes to tackle plastic pollution.
• 43:48
  Speaker 1: If not, there's no point in having it, Erickson added.
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: Mariga Akashawasha, executive director of Uganda's National Environmental Management Authority,
• 44:00
  Speaker 1: defended the U.S. rights to advance its views. International law
• 44:05
  Speaker 1: must reflect the needs and aspirations of negotiating countries, and
• 44:10
  Speaker 1: international law can only succeed based on national implementation, which
• 44:15
  Speaker 1: in turn is a reflection of national capabilities and circumstances.
• 44:21
  Speaker 1: The dispute comes after what experts describe as a sharp
• 44:25
  Speaker 1: shift in the US position under the Trump administration. Youngman,
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: a legal and policy specialist, advocacy group Environmental Investigation Agency,
• 44:37
  Speaker 1: said the U.S. under the Biden administration was open to
• 44:40
  Speaker 1: provisions reducing plastic production, even though it did not support
• 44:44
  Speaker 1: a global cap. But the U.S. has since vocally opposed
• 44:48
  Speaker 1: limits on production and sought to narrow the treaty's scope,
• 44:52
  Speaker 1: including through new language invoking national security. Alexandra Harrington, an
• 44:58
  Speaker 1: international legal expert, said the U.S. was not acting alone
• 45:03
  Speaker 1: and had come back in as a disruptor in the talks. Harrington,
• 45:09
  Speaker 1: also the chair of the International Union for Conservation of
• 45:12
  Speaker 1: Plastics Pollution Task Force, added the U.S. proposal went far
• 45:17
  Speaker 1: beyond the narrow military exemption sometimes found in environmental treaties
• 45:23
  Speaker 1: and appeared aimed more at shielding economic and petrochemical interests
• 45:28
  Speaker 1: than addressing a specific plastics-related defense risk. I think for
• 45:33
  Speaker 1: them the national security argument is convenient and it's useful,
• 45:37
  Speaker 1: she said. The memo was circulated in the months before
• 45:41
  Speaker 1: the treaty chair, Julio Corando, has published a new aid
• 45:46
  Speaker 1: to negotiations document earlier this month. The text intended to
• 45:52
  Speaker 1: steer governments toward a financial agreement and also has been
• 45:55
  Speaker 1: critical and criticized by environmental groups and some legal experts
• 46:00
  Speaker 1: for creating a system based on national pledges rather than
• 46:04
  Speaker 1: binding global controls. Cordano did not respond to her request
• 46:10
  Speaker 1: for comment. Harrington said the chair's new text was very
• 46:14
  Speaker 1: clearly bending toward the agenda of countries seeking a less
• 46:18
  Speaker 1: ambiguous treaty like the U.S. She pointed to the removal
• 46:23
  Speaker 1: of trade provisions that would have regulated this cross-border movement
• 46:27
  Speaker 1: of plastics from polymers and products sold abroad to plastic
• 46:30
  Speaker 1: waste shipped for disposal or recycling. Harrington said trade rules
• 46:36
  Speaker 1: are a standard feature of major pollution treaties. Stuart Harris,
• 46:41
  Speaker 1: managing director for global affairs of the American Chemistry Council,
• 46:45
  Speaker 1: said the administration's position is largely aligned with the plastic industries. Harris,
• 46:51
  Speaker 1: whose trade group represents plastic manufacturers, said hard limits on
• 46:55
  Speaker 1: plastic production will raise product costs for lower-income people globally
• 47:01
  Speaker 1: without significantly reducing plastic waste. Roughly 2.7 billion people globally
• 47:09
  Speaker 1: do not have access to proper collection for their plastic waste,
• 47:13
  Speaker 1: and addressing that and recycling would go further to reduce pollution,
• 47:18
  Speaker 1: he said. The ACC is lobbying for individual countries to
• 47:22
  Speaker 1: set their own action plans for tackling plastic pollution, such
• 47:26
  Speaker 1: as setting national rather than global targets, for how much
• 47:30
  Speaker 1: recycled content plastic should contain. Harris said the ACC has
• 47:36
  Speaker 1: not taken a position on the national security exemption, but
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: that such provisions were common in global environmental agreements. That
• 47:45
  Speaker 1: tells me that the United States is very serious about
• 47:48
  Speaker 1: negotiating an agreement it can join, he said, but they
• 47:52
  Speaker 1: wouldn't even be considering those details if it was not
• 47:55
  Speaker 1: serious about joining. even if negotiators reach a deal. The
• 48:01
  Speaker 1: United States would only join the treaty if the Senate
• 48:05
  Speaker 1: ratifies it by a two-thirds majority vote, a difficult bar
• 48:09
  Speaker 1: to be clear in an extremely polarized Congress. While formal
• 48:15
  Speaker 1: talks would resume next spring, informal negotiations resumed in late June,
• 48:21
  Speaker 1: nearly a year after governments failed to produce a final
• 48:24
  Speaker 1: agreement amid disputes over whether the treaty should include limits
• 48:28
  Speaker 1: on plastic production and binding restrictions on chemicals. Many countries
• 48:34
  Speaker 1: rejected the then-chair's draft as too weak to serve as
• 48:38
  Speaker 1: the basis for a new deal. Youngman said the new
• 48:42
  Speaker 1: document weakens last year's text further by removing proposed reporting
• 48:48
  Speaker 1: requirements on how much plastic countries produce and consume, and
• 48:52
  Speaker 1: by replacing stronger legal terms such as shall with weaker
• 48:57
  Speaker 1: language such as should. Even its most ambitious options, she said,
• 49:03
  Speaker 1: would fall short of the mandate to end plastic pollution.
• 49:09
  Speaker 1: We didn't think it was possible, she said, but we
• 49:11
  Speaker 1: kept on digging ourselves even lower. Heads of delegations were
• 49:16
  Speaker 1: due to meet in Bangkok at the end of September 2021,
• 49:20
  Speaker 1: where governments are expected to discuss bridging proposals, compromise language
• 49:26
  Speaker 1: intended to address the treaty's most contentious issues. And next,
• 49:32
  Speaker 1: Canada's Carney makes rare show of open defiance against the
• 49:37
  Speaker 1: President of the United States. Canada Prime Minister Mark Carney
• 49:43
  Speaker 1: has presented himself as the voice of the world's middle
• 49:46
  Speaker 1: powers against the bullying of President Trump. In an era
• 49:51
  Speaker 1: of great power rivalry, he told leaders in Davos, Switzerland
• 49:55
  Speaker 1: this year, defending national sovereignty would require the ability to
• 49:59
  Speaker 1: withstand pressure. Now Trump is putting the Carney Doctrine to
• 50:04
  Speaker 1: its biggest test yet. As trade negotiations between Washington and
• 50:09
  Speaker 1: Ottawa collapsed, The U.S. administration announced 50% tariffs on $ 20
• 50:15
  Speaker 1: billion worth of Canadian goods, which range from hockey sticks
• 50:20
  Speaker 1: to whiskey. Carney responded with a pledge to match the
• 50:24
  Speaker 1: levees dollar for dollar. You're at war when you're attacked
• 50:29
  Speaker 1: and we got attacked, he told Canadians on Saturday. We're
• 50:33
  Speaker 1: going to hit back. The leaders of other longtime U.S. partners,
• 50:38
  Speaker 1: including Britain and the European Union, have scrambled in the
• 50:43
  Speaker 1: face of Trump's tariff threats to cut deals. Instead, Carney
• 50:48
  Speaker 1: is now making a rare show of open defiance as
• 50:51
  Speaker 1: the president deals with multiple challenges, which is the rising
• 50:54
  Speaker 1: of consumer prices, stalemated war in Iran, and fast-approaching midterm
• 50:58
  Speaker 1: elections in which the Republicans are expected to take a drubbing.
• 51:04
  Speaker 1: Carney is signaling to Washington that the old assumption of
• 51:07
  Speaker 1: Canada as a country that will accommodate we will go
• 51:11
  Speaker 1: along to get along is no longer true, said Finn Hampson,
• 51:14
  Speaker 1: a professor of international affairs at Carleton University in Ottawa.
• 51:19
  Speaker 1: He said the Trump team mistook good manners for meekness.
• 51:23
  Speaker 1: You know, because Carney's very polite and professional, they thought
• 51:27
  Speaker 1: that he would be a pushover. In Carney's latest remarks,
• 51:31
  Speaker 1: the frustration of dealing with these guys was palpable, Hampson said.
• 51:37
  Speaker 1: Carney last week that his government was ending trade negotiations
• 51:41
  Speaker 1: with the Trump administration rather than accepting a mounting list
• 51:44
  Speaker 1: of concessions. He has urged other world leaders to join
• 51:48
  Speaker 1: him in a united front against U.S. economic coercion. They're
• 51:53
  Speaker 1: watching to see what happens next. Former Italian Prime Minister
• 51:59
  Speaker 1: Paolo Gentolini shared a video of Carney's address. Here is
• 52:04
  Speaker 1: a speech I would like to hear in your piece
• 52:06
  Speaker 1: of it. Now Carney will be expected to follow through.
• 52:11
  Speaker 1: The former central banker won a federal election last year
• 52:15
  Speaker 1: by casting himself as the best person to steer Canada
• 52:19
  Speaker 1: through a breakup with the United States. If this burgeoning
• 52:23
  Speaker 1: trade war drags on, he might find it tricky to
• 52:27
  Speaker 1: keep up the fight while also shielding Canadians from the impact.
• 52:32
  Speaker 1: Carney said Monday his government would return to talks only
• 52:35
  Speaker 1: when Americans agree go to the negotiating table first, with
• 52:39
  Speaker 1: the right attitude toward our industries and a true partnership.
• 52:43
  Speaker 1: The administration, he said, can't treat Canada as a subsidiary
• 52:47
  Speaker 1: of the United States. So far, Carney appears to have
• 52:51
  Speaker 1: the support of public opinion and provincial leaders. Canadians want
• 52:56
  Speaker 1: their prime minister to stand up to this thug, to
• 52:59
  Speaker 1: put it bluntly, so that he puts the prime minister
• 53:02
  Speaker 1: in a very strong position, Hampton said. When the pain hits,
• 53:06
  Speaker 1: People may begin to feel differently, but right now it's
• 53:10
  Speaker 1: Team Canada across the board. Candace Lang, president of the
• 53:15
  Speaker 1: Canadian Chamber of Commerce, said people are worried and frustrated, yes,
• 53:20
  Speaker 1: but they're also incredibly motivated. Canadians have spent more than
• 53:25
  Speaker 1: a year waking up to tariff threats, changing deadlines, and
• 53:29
  Speaker 1: uncertain about our relationship. We had spent decades counting on
• 53:33
  Speaker 1: like clockwork, she told the Washington Post. The government is
• 53:37
  Speaker 1: preparing to provide tariff relief, and chambers of commerce are
• 53:41
  Speaker 1: planning protective measures for businesses. Lange, the member of Carney's
• 53:46
  Speaker 1: Advisory Committee on U.S. Economic Relations, said, Businesses understand that
• 53:51
  Speaker 1: Canada has to respond to the escalation. At the same time,
• 53:55
  Speaker 1: she said, we should consistently ask whether it strengthened Canada's
• 53:59
  Speaker 1: hands without doing unnecessary damage to our economy. According to
• 54:04
  Speaker 1: the University of Calgary economist Trevor Tombay, the U.S. tariffs
• 54:09
  Speaker 1: could affect a relatively small share of Canadian exports to
• 54:13
  Speaker 1: the United States. Before the latest escalation, he estimated that
• 54:17
  Speaker 1: they would raise the average tariff on Canadian products to
• 54:20
  Speaker 1: the United States by about 2.5%. In the longer run, however,
• 54:25
  Speaker 1: Tombay calculates they could cost Canada nearly 90,000 jobs. Trump
• 54:33
  Speaker 1: warned Monday, He will slap higher tariffs on additional Canadian
• 54:37
  Speaker 1: products beginning in January, including vehicles. The delay and the
• 54:42
  Speaker 1: September 8th start for Canada's retaliatory levies leave time for
• 54:47
  Speaker 1: talks to resume. The collapse of the talks is also
• 54:51
  Speaker 1: highlighting the limits of Trump's aggressive trade policy. Each side
• 54:55
  Speaker 1: has blamed the other for the breakdown. Carney says the U.S.
• 55:00
  Speaker 1: made an offer he had to refuse. The administration introduced
• 55:04
  Speaker 1: last-minute provisions to limit Ottawa's freedom to make deals with
• 55:07
  Speaker 1: other countries, he said, an unacceptable surrender of Canadian sovereignty. U.S.
• 55:13
  Speaker 1: negotiators sought to curb the promotion of Canadian or French-language
• 55:17
  Speaker 1: content on platforms such as Netflix, he added, and mandatory
• 55:21
  Speaker 1: product labeling in French, which, with English, is one of
• 55:24
  Speaker 1: the country's two official languages. Carney is also responding to
• 55:29
  Speaker 1: Canadian frustrations with Trump's threats and insults, including repeated comments
• 55:33
  Speaker 1: about making Canada the 51st state. On Saturday, Christine Frechette,
• 55:41
  Speaker 1: the premier of French-speaking Quebec, renewed calls to buy Canadian goods.
• 55:46
  Speaker 1: Fans in Vancouver and Montreal booed the U.S. national anthem
• 55:50
  Speaker 1: before major soccer league games, Canadian media reported over the weekend.
• 55:56
  Speaker 1: Dan Kelly, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business,
• 56:00
  Speaker 1: warned the tit-for-tat levies would hit small firms hard, including
• 56:05
  Speaker 1: those selling machinery, food, and jewelry. Still, he called Carney's
• 56:11
  Speaker 1: retaliation an understandable response from our government. David Eby, the
• 56:18
  Speaker 1: premier of British Columbia, said accepting the U.S. demands would
• 56:22
  Speaker 1: reduce Canada to the economic equivalent of the 51st state.
• 56:27
  Speaker 1: Eby also said he hoped other nations would follow in saying, Enough.
• 56:32
  Speaker 1: Trump's trade wars and annexation threats have fueled efforts by
• 56:35
  Speaker 1: the U.S. partners around the world to curb the security
• 56:39
  Speaker 1: and economic dependence on Washington. But many officials, including Carney,
• 56:44
  Speaker 1: have conceded that decoupling is a long and costly process
• 56:48
  Speaker 1: and have attempted concessions or conciliation. As tensions escalated in
• 56:54
  Speaker 1: recent days, Carney acknowledged the risk of pushing back Canada
• 56:59
  Speaker 1: is retaliating reluctantly, he said, because we recognize that it
• 57:04
  Speaker 1: will raise costs and reduce choice for Canadians. Even so,
• 57:09
  Speaker 1: he said, it was in the country's best interest. Last spring,
• 57:16
  Speaker 1: I warned that America is trying to break us so
• 57:20
  Speaker 1: that they can own us, Carney said on Saturday. And
• 57:26
  Speaker 1: I promised that will never, ever happen. We are keeping
• 57:33
  Speaker 1: that promise. Leng of the Chamber of Commerce believes the
• 57:39
  Speaker 1: two nations will be back at the table eventually. In
• 57:43
  Speaker 1: the meantime, we need to get back to the work
• 57:47
  Speaker 1: we control, like diversifying trade and making our economy resilient,
• 57:54
  Speaker 1: she said. None of that. is dependent on what the
• 57:59
  Speaker 1: United States decides to do with tariffs. Tomorrow. And now
• 58:06
  Speaker 1: this concludes the reading of the Washington Post for today, Monday,
• 58:09
  Speaker 1: August 31st. Your reader for today has been Rod Brotherton.
• 58:14
  Speaker 1: If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions concerning the program, please,
• 58:19
  Speaker 1: please feel free to call us at 859-422-6390. And as always,
• 58:26
  Speaker 1: Thank you for listening. And now, please stay tuned for
• 58:30
  Speaker 1: continued programming right here on Radio Eye.