LIVE: TANKERS ATTACKED in RED SEA…Putin THREATENS UK!!! 8/18/2026

Welcome to Ben on breaking news. I'm Ben. Mecelis and this is your breaking news. Moments ago, we learned that the. Iranianbacked Houthies just struck a. tanker in the Bob El Mandab straight. It's believed to be a Saudi Arabian. tanker. Now, the Saudis have had to use. a different route other than the Red Sea. um since every time it uses the Red Sea. and it gets close to the Houthi. controlled areas in Yemen, western.

Yemen. And uh this one was uh very close. to Almoka in Yemen, an area where the. Houthis have been striking a lot lately. Um these tankers have been repeatedly. hit. I mean, we're talking about. multiple Saudi tankers. So Saudi Arabia. is trying to reroute some of the tankers. to basically avoid the Red Sea and do a. much longer route around Africa. Um but. anytime they send a tanker, the Houthis. remind them that the Houthyled blockade. in the Red Sea against Saudi Arabian.

tankers remains in place. Also, we. reported earlier how yet another tanker. in the straight of Hormuz was struck by. Iran on the Oman route. Sentcom. continues to tell these tankers, "Use. the Oman route. It's safe." Clearly, it. isn't. Uh Iran struck another tanker in. the straight of Hormuz. And then a few. days uh before that on August 15th we. reported here on the Midas touch network.

that another tanker was hit in the. straight of horror moves. No one else. was really reporting it in terms of. other major news network. It was being. discussed amongst the open- source. intelligence community which of course. we monitor very carefully. We monitor. the surveillance footage, the satellite. footage to try to give you everything. that's going on. And now finally today. the UK the UK MTO finally admitted that. there was another tanker hit on August. 15th. I've been noticing the UK MTO.

which used to do a very good job. reporting all the comingings and goings. of maritime related issues in the. straight of Hormuz and the Red Sea. really has now become a total tool of. sentcom. I I don't know uh specifically. how the change occurred, but it's been. drastic over the past I would say month. or so where the UK MTO is just very late. to report what's happening. Now these.

are very serious times obviously right. um Iran controls the straight of Hormuse. or the Houthis they basically have. functional control over the Red Sea. They can destroy all the other tankers. that they want in the Red Sea. They're. just right now focusing on Saudi Arabian. tankers given that Saudi Arabia backs. the uh government that's recognized by. the international community uh in Yemen. and that Saudi Arabia has attacked the. Sana air base and other bases. Um but.

functional control over the Red Sea and. the Babel Mandab Strait resides with the. Houthis. I mean these are just objective. facts. I mean the world is on fire right. now as well in a in a bad way. not good. fire, like very bad stuff is happening. Um, in the past uh 24 hours as well, Netanyahu strike hard in Syria in a new. airport that al-Shara, the president of. Syria, is spending a lot of time.

building. It's the Abu Al Duhir air. base. This was a major major uh. construction project by the new Syrian. government. Um again led by al-Shara. when he was in al-Qaeda. He was named Al. Galani. Um I've wa I've watched his. clips. I mean I watched his interviews. and I've showed you clips of Alshara. um. you know a very I mean obviously. interesting background given that he was.

in al-Qaeda and there was a $25 million. bounty over his head but. since he's taken over leadership I mean. he's had to do some kind of Trump. bootlicking to have sanctions removed. against Syria and he knows that Donald. Trump loves uh people like who were in. al-Qaeda and people who like beheaded. people and like Trump's a sicko who like. looks up to that stuff but if if you. followed Alshara's behavior. He's. focused a lot on Arab nation unity. He's.

focused a lot on despite the fact that. there was obviously direct conflict. between his al-Qaeda sect and Hezbollah. during the Syrian civil war um about. unity, about Arab unity. And we've been. reporting over the past few weeks Israel. really ramping up its anti-Syria. rhetoric and how people in the Netanyahu. regime were saying, "We're going to do. what we did to Gaza in Syria. Syria is.

Gaza on steroids." Is what we've been. hearing from the Netanyahu regime. More. videos of Netanyahu as he gears up for. election day in October there in Israel. photos of him in the Golan Heights, which he said, "This is ours. This is. ours. We're never giving it back. We're. never giving it back." And then we've. been hearing again it it's hard to say. increased rhetoric because genocidal. rhetoric is hard to increase. I mean, it's implicitly the worst thing. imaginable, but you're hearing from.

their national security adviser, Ben. Gavir. Um, you're hearing more from. Smutri and others. I mean, saying things. like we should basically be killing. every night we should go out and like. hunt the people in Gaza. I mean, and and. and every night there should be someone. who we you know, we should we should. just do more killings and they're not. even real people, you know, and uh these. are the statements that they're saying. on podcasts like in their podcast.

sphere. They're just going on and. they're saying these absolutely. genocidal and horrific things. And it's. incumbent on all of us, you know, to to. really call out this genocidal Netanyahu. um regime and speak with um and speak. with moral clarity. Um Donald Trump, meanwhile, uh is doing the opposite. Okay. Um before we went live, the US. announced it is imposing the harshest. sanctions imaginable on drum roll. please. Who do you think that the United.

States would place the harshest. sanctions on? Kim Jong-un, Putin, Netanyahu. Who should we who should we impose the. harshest of harshest? I mean, UAE for what they're doing in. Sudan. What what what should what what. should who should we do it to? Hm. The. president of the ICC. That's who. The. International Criminal Court President.

Tamokco Akani. from Japan. She is the IC president. Took over I believe in 2024 and the US. announced we are going after her and. we're going to destroy her life. This is. what Rubio posted. This is what Trump's. been talking about. They're putting. sanctions to destroy the life of the ICC. president so that Donald Trump can. protect Netanyahu. The sanctions freeze. any US assets that she holds and it cuts.

her off from the US financial system. simply because she is the president of. the international criminal courts. Folks, it's why our book is called WTF. America. Seriously, what the f? What the. f? This is again, but again, when you. have a criminal, a felon, a sexual. predator in office, when you have the.

worst person, you know, when you have a. regime of scumbags, this is their. behavior. And the postworld war II. global world order with a USled. global world order is done. It's gone. It's not pretty quickly. It's. not like, oh, it's gonna be gone. No, no, no, no, no. It's gone. China leads the world right.

now. Not a debate. I'm not going to. debate you who's the leader. It's China. 100%. Wang Yei of China announcing that he. will be meeting with the president of. South Korea in the coming weeks. What's. [snorts] also notable is that Xi Jinping. also saying that he's just gonna visit. Donald Trump for one day. Just one day. He wants In and Out. Thusidity's trap, baby. One day. Going to show up in the.

United States. And by the way, I did a whole video on. it this morning. If you read all of the. Chinese newspapers, they're like, "The. US is in disarray. They don't even know. how to even be able to host an event for. Xi Jinping. It's pathetic. He gonna he's. going to meet with Trump for less than a. day. By contrast, he spent September. 22nd through September 28 of 2015 with. former President Obama in 2015.

Okay? And so there's a difference of. power dynamic. Donald Trump bows to Xi. Jinping. Donald Trump bows to Xi Jinping. That's. the global world order right now. The US. has removed its final aircraft carrier. in the Pacific. Say goodbye to the. United States as the leader of the world. post World War II. It's done. It's over. Goodbye. Doesn't doesn't exist anymore.

The US took out the USS George. Washington. because it needs to replace the USS. Abraham Lincoln. Hat tip to the Midas. Touch Networks reporting on this. More. significantly, Aaron Parnas. Let's give. credit where credit is due. Aaron, of. course, is affiliated with the Midas. Touch Network. And it's an honor to have. people like Aaron and Katie Fangs and. Scott McFarland and Popox and all these. people who work at the Midas Touch.

Network. I am but a humble YouTuber. [laughter]. um being able to report on some of their. incredible enterprise reporting. Although this is what we wanted to build. that the mightest touch over a machine. that can get out the news like this. Anyway, I digress. The George Washington. is replacing the Abraham Lincoln because. obviously they can't even give basic. nutrition. to our troops aboard the USS Abraham. Lincoln. But don't forget about the.

ships that surround the Abraham Lincoln. We've been doing a lot of reporting on. that, too. You know, when you have an. aircraft carrier like that, it's. protected by destroyers and other ships. And so, the people on those other ships. are suffering as well. And the aircraft. carrier is bigger, has a little more. space than some of these smaller ships. Still big ships. Um, but there's a lot. of concerning information coming out of. those other ships as well. We're hearing. from family members. I hear you. I know.

you're watching. I hear from family. members. I want to bring attention to. it. Um, I think it's my obligation. I'm. duty bound and I support our troops. I c. I think being patriotic, being a patriotic American is not going. along with a war criminal regime led by. a sexual predator who is a loser. I don't want to see our troops being. treated this way. Our troops are feeling.

psychologically tortured by this idiot. scumbag in the Oval Office who I did a. deal. I did a deal. Oh, we own the. straight of Hormuz. We own it. It's. ours. It's ours. It's I'm going to make. it a territory. You know, sometimes. y'all, not you, not you watching this, but people are like, "Ben, you're being. hyperbolic." You know, he didn't say he. wants to make it a US territory. or he. just said, "We control it." I said,

"Just listen to what he's saying." I I. can predict five days ahead what the. guy's going to post. I don't know if. that's a good skill or an awful skill, and I don't know the long-term. psychological impact on me to be able to. have such a skill, but this is what I. was saying he was he was conveying. Sadly, I know Trump speak now because. I've studied it. And I study it not. because I have some view about this guy. that I don't like. I don't, you know, there's a lot of scumbag billionaires. out there that I probably disagree with.

Um, I probably maybe don't think that. what their behavior is is something that. I look up to, you know, but I don't. spend my time talking about them. This. idiot's out there doing 21,000 stock. trades and he's hiding in catering. containers with Natalie while the. American people suffer. I've heard some. people say. I don't know why even people who are. um supporters of Senator Rosa and that's.

very small group of people they're like. why is he saying these things about. Natalie there's so many other things to. focus on other than Natalie. I agree with you and Senator Oaf agrees. with you you have to listen to how he is. presenting the facts He's not just. saying, "Oh, Natalie, Natalie, Natalie.". You know, it's not just, "Oh, look, Donald Trump. It looks like he's wearing. a diaper." Hah. No. That that that's not.

that's not what the reporting is. Oh, look. He says all these stupid things. Look what he's No. It's He's doing these. things. He's looking this way. He's. behaving in this manner while the. American people are suffering. While the American people are having. their health care ripped away, while. we're in a neverending war, while. Treasury yields have hit 5.3% on the 30.

and closing in on what 4.7% or something. crazy on the 10 on the 10-year yield, while our strategic petroleum reserves, yeah, 4.736. I almost don't believe the. number when I say it out loud, it can't. be 4.7. It's 4.7. It was 3.995. before the war began. Our strategic. petroleum reserves have hit tank bottom. The highest gas prices ever. in history of the United States right.

now. The highest ever for this time in. August in history on a nationwide. average. So the issue isn't just, oh. look, it's Natalie. It's Natalie. By the. way, Senator Oaf didn't say that Donald. Trump was engaged in X, Y, and Z. He. just says he seems to enjoy spending his. time with Natalie while the while the. American people are suffering. He's out. there golfing and throwing weirdo. tournaments for himself and focused on. golden ballrooms and all this dumb.

while the American people are suffering. That's the point. That's what breaks. through. That's what connects because. it's not even a political message. It's. a humanity message. It is a good versus. evil message. And that's why these MAGAS. are so damn desperate for their. boogeyman heading into the midterms. because they've screwed everything up. They control all branches of government. and all the things that they are trying.

to fearmonger about. Oh, the communists, they're going to take over the methods. of production of companies. You. literally did that. What are you talking. about? Trump behaves more like a. communist authoritarian than anybody. since Stalin. That's not me being. hyperbolic. Just look at his freaking. damn behavior, please. You know, oh, Donald Trump's going to Oh, no. They're. going to make you They're going to take. away your healthcare. Trump's done that. He's taking away your healthcare. What. are you talking about? These are things. that are happening. So, we have to.

connect all of these things. Uh we have. to connect all of these things together. But you have again this global erosion. of US. moral, ethical, military, you name it, authority abroad and at home at the. whims of this crazy person who's out. there posting on social media these. deranged posts. I mean, how bizarre and. morbid. I mean, he's posted this morning. some weird photo of Lindsey Graham. I.

mean, even weirder than the new US. territory. By the way, when they go to. the new US territory, you know, this is. why basic education is important, too. There's no Qatar on this map. And also, if that area became a US territory, so. doesn't that make Iranians from Iran and. also whatever that circle is. incorporating as well, Oman and other. areas, doesn't that make them American. citizens now? So, they're going to vote. in the midterms or is is that we we take.

it to the logical conclusion. this is. now uh you know this is now an American. territory. I mean it's so stupid but. equally bizarre and morbid. He posts. these things of Lindsey Graham who died. a month ago whenever he died. Wararmonger Lindsey Graham um holding up. a Trump Wikipedia wearing a hat that. says make Iran great again. I don't what what is it? I don't want to. zoom in. What is that? Just is that a. bunch of Is that just a tub of mayo? I.

don't even know what the hell is in. that. Is it a plate of mayo right there? It probably explains a bunch of things. that there's just they just drink mayo. soup over there. Looks like he's drink. he's got a I'm not I'm not trying to be. morbid, but he's got a plate of mayo. soup. It looks like he's got a cup of. coffee and a diet soda. It looks like. while holding up Imagine like that being. your freaking legacy of life. like.

you're you're a United States senator, right? You know, you're a United States. senator and at the age of 71, right? Your life's freaking work is. holding up the Wikipedia of a sexual. predator while having mayo soup and some. deranged. uh quidd proquo maraago. bizarroville wearing a hat that says.

make Iron great again and then boop you. die. That's your life. That's your life, Lindsay. Boop. You do that and then. you're dead. That's what you want. I. mean, that's the purpose of living a. life. That's that's kind of crazy to me. And that's why I always tell us, I'm. like, pull back a moment. Like, like, why? Like, I know this sounds like. existential and like, man, don't get all. weird on us now, okay? I try not to get. weird on you now. Like, I wasn't weird. on you before. But sometimes we have to.

like ask ourselves like, what's the. point of government? What's the point of. like our life? Like, what are we trying. to do with our life? Like it's a weird. thing that this guy's life was spent. thinking about killing people and then. like um like the fish that cleans the. shark's teeth, you know, going around. with his little Trump Wikipedia wearing. stupid hats that say make Iran great. again while like see, you know, like. having these weird like smiling as he. slaughters little girls in elementary. schools in Manab. And by the way,

there's lots of other war crimes as. well. I know we focus on Manab as we. should. the slaughtering of the little. girls there. But the Trump regime. slaughtered 17, it's oftentimes it's. young girls. Do you see a pattern? Epstein files, manab, they slaughtered. 17 young girls with a new like. dispersing pellet weapon on the first. day of the war. 17 young girls in. volleyball practice as well were killed. by the Trump regime that as they tested.

a new pellet dispersion weapon where the. missile released these pellets that. spread all over the little girls playing. volleyball. Objective fact, Google it. La Mered is where it took place. And and by the way, you then wonder why. our service members, the Navy sailors, uh our courageous Marines are also. feeling psychologically tortured and. complicit in this sicko psychoso war. crimes. Like what are we doing? We we.

we're we're we're protecting. Benjamin Netanyahu. Like what are we. what are we doing? The hell are we. doing? And we're killing little girls to. protect Netanyahu as he commits genocide. and America gives their money to the. What are What are we doing? That's our. mission. That's why we're out here. We. didn't devote our time in the military. to this crap. What the hell? What? What? What the hell are we even What the hell. are we even doing right now? And And. you're not giving us food? You're not taking care of us? Join the.

Navy. They said you're not going to. you're not going to, you know, and then. state regime media went from support the. troops, which we do, to shut up and stop. whining and do what Netanyahu tells you. to do. That's where Fox is right now. with our troops. Shut up and do what. Netanyahu says. It's crazy. It's crazy. And it's happening right before our damn. eyes. So, the question is, what are we. going to do about it? Seriously, what. are we going to what are we going to do.

about it? Well, yes, there's a midterm. coming up. I don't view the midterms as. a political thing. I view it as an. accountability and a humanity thing. I. don't view this channel as a political. channel, frankly. Although lots of. people say, "Okay, you talk my I'm I'm. talking about leadership. I'm empathy, human life. I'm talking I'm talking. about calling out genocide. I'm talking. about supporting people. I'm talking. about supporting our troops. I'm talking. about uh running things efficiently. talking about keeping your word, doing.

real deals, sticking to your deals. We. got a lot to discuss. We got a lot to. discuss. Let's take a quick break. When. we come back, I want to talk about uh. apparently, you know, last minute talks. in Canada. Is Trump going to taco again. before he 50% tariffs Canada be on. hockey sticks and all of these things. because he's a freaking lunatic while. praising Kim Jong-un? What's going to. happen on the next episode of Donald? See, I I I say this sarcastically, but. what we should recognize is we don't.

have to be non-consensual extras in. sicko dystopian reality shows. We can. actually have government that fights for. us. That's the purpose of all of this. Reminder, WTF America, the book I wrote. with my brothers, it's out in stores. October. Pre-order it right now. Our. publisher says the most important thing. is pre-orders. And we want we got to. keep the momentum going with these. pre-orders. So, pre-order right now. All. right, we'll be right back.

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Welcome back to Ben on breaking news. I'm Ben, so this must be me on breaking. news. Good to see everybody. Shout out. to our sponsors. Uh I really recognize. myself. You know, I had those foggy. glasses on the other video. I looked a. little different over there, right? You. all might as mighty made me step up my. game. New glasses, new look. I listen to. I listen to the comments. Try to improve. the physical appearance thanks to your. comments. I read them. I read them. I I. take constructive criticism. Trust me, I.

get them. I get a lot of them. I get a. lot of them. All right. I want to talk. about um what Trump said a few weeks. back though where he previewed that he. was going to hit the IC president hard. You just think about the sicko thing to. spend your the the the power of the US. to attack the president of the IC by the. way who's Japanese. Not that you know, okay, Japanese or whatever, but but but.

the point being. the United States has tried to. help Japan's government, the Takayishi. government, with certain bailouts as. well. It is a source of national pride. for the people of Japan that the. president of the IC is someone who's. Japanese. and the US again while doing a failed. bailout of the Japanese yen because.

everything the Trump regime does is. incompetent. you know, we also then. leave Japan very vulnerable to. basically fend for itself at this point. Um, in terms of we removed the super. carrier, so the security umbrella by the. United States and South Asia is gone and. Asia is gone. Remember what was it two. weeks ago? The US rushed, we're going to. bail out the Japanese yen. And the US. did it in the most effed up way as well.

So rather than using our own currency to. help bail out the yen and do a swap with. our own currency or use our own money to. prop it up without telling the European. Union, the US dumped euros in order to. then prop up or swap with the Japanese. yen, which kind of screwed over the. European Union central bank. And it's.

not like the most massive thing, but. like central banks are supposed to talk. with each other. It's unprecedented that. and just the screwed up thing that the. US would just unload all of these euros. and then not even give a heads up like, hey, we're about to unload 10 billion. dollars in euros and do a swap with yen. and this may impact you. So, we want to. give you the heads up. Nope. Nope. And. what I believe was happening behind the.

scenes also was. market manipulation because let me tell. you what went down. Treasury Secretary. Bessence background was actually a. currency trader. That's how he made his. money swaps. And it's a very. uh niche area that involves arbitrageing. the deltas in these swaps and predicting. when certain currencies will fall or.

rise. And I won't bore you with the. details, but if you remember at Camp. David, and I'll show you a clip of Trump. in Camp David in a moment, Bessant wrote. on a napkin 5 to10 billion dollars for. the yen. Now, that was then published. to by the press who were like, "Look, he. did he do this on purpose? Is he leaking. information?" And so people who were not. in the know would have assumed that it.

was not going to be the euro that it. would be the dollar. And if you knew. that it was going to be a sale of the. euros to yen, which how would you know. that? It's never really happened before. that the US central bank, you know, or. that the Treasury Department or whatever. would be would be doing would be doing. that. You could have made a lot of money. arbitrageing that delta during that. trade. If you just saw what was on the. napkin, you might have assumed, "Oh, got.

it. This is going to be a different type. of bailout." Uh, in any event, it didn't. work or it worked for, and this is kind. of a lot of what Trump does, it works. for a few days, right? You can paint it. blue for a few days, but as we say in. WTF America, the algae always comes. back, right? The perfect metaphor for. all of this, by the way, is the.

reflecting pool. You could paint it. blue, you could pretend it's whatever. The algae will come back if you don't. address the systemic issues. The water. source from the PTOAC has algae in it. It is summer. It is a small shallow uh. body of water in this massive vast uh. huge body, but it's shallow. So, of. course, the algae is going to come back. if you don't address systemically what. the issue is. And you could try to. pretend that you're better than algae,

but you're not. You're not you're not better than the. science just because you say it isn't. going to happen. But then they'll blame. and they'll blame and they'll blame. The. algae always comes back, right? You. could try to manipulate the price of the. Japanese yen for a few days, a week, a. month, but guess what? The algae always. comes back. And now we see the collapse. of the yen again. So for about a 3-w.

weekek period, we propped up the yen, screwed over more relations with Europe, and now what's going to happen? The. Japanese central bank will probably have. to do what the US tried to avoid. They're probably going to they're the. biggest bond holder. of US treasuries. So they're going to. unload our bonds. And what's. [clears throat]. going to happen? the value of our bonds.

is going to decrease. The yields are. going to increase. The Treasury. Department's going to have to pay more. interest. In other words, because the. paper is weaker. So to incentivize. infusions of money, you have to raise. the yields. So the 30-year becomes 5.3%. uh the 10-year becomes 4.7. Okay? And. that will go higher and higher and.

higher. And that has a massive. detrimental impact on the functioning of. our economy as we now have to service. $1.3 trillion a year in debt from our. taxpayer dollars which increases the. deficit and prevents us from in theory. putting money in ways and make it work. for ways that help the American people. or forces us to borrow more and incur.

more debt and more debt. And when you. lose the trust of like this Ponzi scheme. debt and Trump's responsible for 30 to. 40% of it, it works where the dollar is. the reserve currency where the United. States is viewed as the undisputed. economic hegeimon in the world. That's. the Ponzi scheme keeps nobody questions. it when you're the main economic. hegeimon when nobody doubts it. When. you've got the petro dollar, the dollar. is the reserve currency. The US markets.

are viewed as the safest place to put. your money. The US private equity is. viewed as the safe. The US real estate. is viewed as the safest and most. When. that breaks and that shatters, it also. shatters the Ponzi scheme of the fact. that it's just the Treasury printing out. money and. um and it will and and it has a. generational impact. And it's having an. impact right now. It's having an impact.

right now. We're seeing the impact. happen right now before our eyes. It. impacts things like the mortgage rates. that you pay, right? It impacts these. things um that are happening right. before our eyes. I mean before our eyes. as well. We're seeing diesel crack and. that doesn't mean like diesel crack like. crack crack, but it's the the diesel. crack price, the spreads, if you will. um the deltas, right, between the costs. of diesel and and crude that's out.

there, what's going on in the refinery. versus what's going on um in the paper. markets, the manipulated paper markets. Although as diesel crack hits a record. $102 a barrel, the the the floor of the crack, if you. will, which is the crude part. I mean, we're seeing crude prices now that paper. crude is at like $91 a barrel and it's. going to keep on going higher and higher.

and higher and higher. I would not be. shocked if it hits $100 a barrel soon. Remember folks, the algae always comes. back. You can paint it blue. You can. manipulate the market. Oh, we're doing a. deal. We're so close to a deal. Iran's. begging for a deal. They want a deal. Deal. Deal. Deal. Deal. De deal. Like, you can keep on doing that, but. eventually you run out. Eventually your. words don't matter. And eventually. people say, you know what? I actually.

trust what they're saying in Iran more. than I trust what you're saying. And. that pains me as an American to say, really, I'm getting my news from Tasnim. I didn't even know what Tasnim was a. year ago. And I'm getting my news from. there. And I view it more reliably than. what I'm being told on State Regime. Media Fox. Now, I know it's going to be. tinged with propaganda. Let's be very. clear. We're not naive to wartime. propaganda. What? But I'm like, uh, I.

don't know. I what's happening in the. straight of Hormuz objectively from what. I'm seeing on satellite footage and what. I'm seeing in terms of our strategic. petroleum reserves, what we're seeing in. terms of tankers in and out. Sadly, tragically, I say it as an American. seems more consistent with what they're. saying freaking tasing. on state regime media which calls itself.

Vox. That's unfort that's like the I. don't want that. I don't want that to be. I don't want that to be the case. But. that's you know the algae always comes. back. And now we're seeing the things. that you may have said. and. you were saying strategic petroleum. reserves and you were warning about. these things and it never happened. So, are you just this are you just a. doomsdayer YouTuber who who just says.

all of these things and then they don't. happen and that's how you get clicks? Is. that what you're doing right here? No. The whole point of why we created this. YouTube channel and this network is that. there were an ecosystem of people who. were masquerading as experts who didn't. know They didn't know what they. were talking about. They weren't. experts. They weren't in the trenches. So, the idea was, let's actually bring. on the best experts and let's not waste. our time with split screens of people.

yelling at each other. Oh, you never said this about Natalie. Oh, this about Natalie, Natality, Natalie, Natalie. You know, reminds me. of Billy Madison. Like, conditioner is. better, shampoo is better, conditioner. Like, I don't need to have a debate over. what's better, shampoo or conditioner. Okay, both. Shampoo is better. um. because you need shampoo before we get. to the conditioner. So, it's not even a. debate, by the way. But setting that. aside, we just want the data. Show me. the chart, show me the graphs, analyze.

it in detail, leave me smarter than when. I came here. And then if you want to. give me your opinion, you give me a. little opinion. I'm okay with that. We. all are allowed to hold opinions. Um but. guide me there by telling me the facts. and showing me the science and showing. me the footage and the photos and the. videos and the clips. So Ben, when you. say that Donald Trump. is attacking the IC for Benjamin. Netanyahu, when you're saying that, that's a bold claim, Ben, you're going.

to you're going to go there, come loaded. with some facts, come loaded with some. evidence. So then I say, "Okay, well, here he was at Camp David saying it as I. would do when I was a litigator, when I. did trials, and when I was a lawyer. I. would say, "All right, pull up exhibit. A. Let's play from your deposition." Or. here, let's just play the clip. That's. why I say, "Let's play the clip." That's. from when I was a lawyer. Let's show the. exhibit. All right, ladies and gentlemen. of the jury. I'm showing you exhibit A.

right now. Here was Donald Trump at Camp. David. Here's what he said. Let's play. that clip, Jeremy. Of Donald Trump and Camp David and Paul. into the H. So, we've begun, we tried to. get them to reform and listen to us. They wouldn't do it. They're very. arrogant. We've now begun an effort to. really try to bring that court to heal. >> There's no information that they're. after me. It could happen. But just so you know, she's talking. about it. I'm saying. he's [clears throat] not trying to.

defend me. He is trying to defend BB and. various other people. But there are many. people that shouldn't be looked at that. way. But there is no indication that uh. I'm one of them at this moment. >> He said it. He said it. Those are th those are those. are his words. Eh. All right. Let's take. our last quick break of the show. When I. come back, I want to talk about that Oval Office. press conference that Donald Trump had. yesterday. But I want to talk about it.

from an angle that to me, whether you're. a Democrat, Republican, or independent, we should all look at it. And it's one. of the there's there's so many alarming. qualities about this malignant. narcissist, but there's something. particularly and I I've talked about I I. want to emphasize it again because to me. it tells the whole story of of of of the.

moral rot that exists. Moral rot. And. and and that's I I I try and not in a. waggy finger way. We're all human. We. all make mistakes. We all sin. We all. hopefully can apologize and take. accountability. And I don't mean sin in. a religious sense. You know, we all make. mistakes. We all heir. That's what makes. us human. But it's how we take. accountability, how we respond, how we. support each other, how we lift up.

people and not punch people down, how we. try to improve and become better people, and how we. carry ourselves for future generations. And when I'm watching in the Oval Office. and I'm seeing Trump's behavior. with a 16-year-old boy and a 10-year-old. boy and an 8-year-old little girl, it was one of the most horrific things I.

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were proof of that. And Smalls isn't. just good for digestion. 88% of cat. parents say that after feeding their. cats smalls, their cats have a softer. and shinier fur coat and just have. all-around more energy to play. Also, overall, they just seem healthier. because it's really good for cats. If. you want to invest in your cat's health, Smalls is giving you 60% off your cat's. first order, plus free shipping and free. treats for life when you go to.

smalls.com/midas. If your cat doesn't like it, Smalls will. refund 100% of your order. But trust me, your cat's going to love the taste of. Smalls. And you'll love that your house. no longer smells like a litter box all. the time. That's 60% off plus free. shipping and free treats for life when. you go to smalls.com/midas. Welcome back to Ben on breaking news. I'm Ben Mecelis. So, this is our. breaking news. As I noted uh before the.

break, I wanted to talk about that Oval. Office presser that Donald Trump had. yesterday. It's it's one of those things. that sometimes will just be chocked up. to it's Donald being Donald. This is who he is. It's a bad, you know, that that's just him. And that's the. biggest mistake in how we report on. these things. Every media entity.

needs to not only. call it out, but you need to also talk. about some of the most basic things that. are happening and in that not normalize. this. with the 16-year-old. courageous lifeguard. appears to be a white kid with blonde.

hair. and Trump's setting up a dynamic. He's setting up a dynamic that's very. intentionally scripted. There's a lot of. people who do courageous things and I. don't take anything away from the. courage of this 16-year-old. I think it. was I saw the video was absolutely. courageous. Um, but the dynamic is a. dynamic of a savior and then there's a. 8-year-old or 10-year-old kid, Nathaniel. Ray. Um, and this idea that the idea.

that this kid saved this kid and. despite Donald Trump covering up child. sex trafficking rings, I just want you. to understand the propaganda tactic. Um, he shields himself in the valor of a. white knight savior story and positions. himself.

as a lead character in a story of white. kid, blonde hair, right out of a Save by. the Bell type of script. Although Zach. Morris, I think, was half Asian. Um. but but but with that dynamic and a. young kid who you know appears to be. from a minority group and Trump casts. himself as kind of the actual person who.

blesses that this was a active savior in. the Oval Office, the site where they're. actively covering up child sex. trafficking rings. Okay. and he brings. on the has them dress up in you know. their uniforms. and he's signaling these are these are. signals. and if you criticize his behavior. he will turn it into victimhood but he.

will use the 16-year-old and the. 8-year-old and the scene as his shield. right and so when a reporter asks him. questions about, look, you just said. you're supporting Kim Jong-un and that. you don't want any testing in or you. don't want any testing. You don't want. testing, but you don't want any um. military exercises taking place. Well,

um, his response when he's asked a. question of like, we're giving up our. alliance with South Korea, just like. that, like in a via via social media. post. How we how dare you ask that question? Do you see I have these kids here with. their families and you're asking me. questions about what's happening in the. world? Don't you see what I'm trying to. do? Okay. No, I mean, we American. people, it's great. We we all recognize. the kid's heroic. Yes. There's a crazy.

situation. Yes. Great. Okay. You're the commanderin-chief, sadly. And. we have a lot of catastrophes happening. where nobody's coming to save tens of. millions of Americans who have their. health care ripped away, who can't pay. their rent right now, who can't afford. things. And so we want to ask you what. the f is going on. Okay? Oh, you're fake. news. You're fake news. You're fake.

news. So within this, he's cocooning. You get it? He's create he's he's he's a. weak weak thing and he creates this. cocoon for himself to hide. Quite. literally, the physical manifestation is. the bunker that he's creating in the. White House. His golden ballroom, which. he says is a shield, while the US is not. equipped to handle drones from foreign. entities. He wants himself to be. protected in a bunker. And he says.

golden ballroom is my shield so I can. hide. Weak, pathetic, cocooning. But he. does this in so many other ways. Yes, physical manifestation. him, Natalie. Hart, catering container, cocooning, literally hiding. But he does that with. these setups where he surrounds himself. with sports teams or surrounds himself. with this 16-year-old and this. 10-year-old and the 8-year-old girl. sister. So, you ask him questions and.

he's like, "Ah, don't you see I have kids here? Don't. you see?" Okay. No, you while you are. doing this press conference, you are. also saying we're no longer allied with. South Korea and Kim Jong-un is your. friend and is not engaged in hostile. activity when he just launched a. ballistic missile that nearly hit Japan. while he brags about his nuclear. capabilities while he's providing. weapons to Russia and tens of thousands.

of soldiers. So, no, you're the. president. We're going to ask you. questions, okay? It's not all state. regime media. So, in this cocoon that he creates, he. can't even behave normal. So, one of the. things he does is the 16-year-old. lifeguard, he basically says how good-looking he. is. And then he says his mom who's. standing behind him, Trump basically. tells the 16-year-old. without saying this specifically, like, "You got a hot mom" is basically what.

Trump says. And it's a very creepy thing. to watch that this is Donald Trump. Good. jeans. Your mom, I could tell you've got. good jeans together. And it's like, dude, what are you doing? Why Why are. you making this like a weird thing in. the Oval Office here? Let's watch this. clip first. >> That's the mom. So, you did a good job. It's good genetics. When you look at. him, you can see really good. >> when you see you did really good by.

producing him. Like the hell kind of. creepy ass thing is that to say? Then. the reporter asks him the question about. Senator Osaf's speech where Ov said, "You'd rather travel with your aid. Natalie and build ballrooms than do your. job." That's objectively true. It's why. Donald Trump's approval is at historic. lows. Let's play this clip. Mr. >> President, John said, "You'd rather. travel with your aid Natalie Harp and. build the ballroom than do your job as. president." What is your John Ala?

You mean uh Pee-Wee Herman Peewee Herman. lookalike? Uh no, I would much rather do. other things. It's a We're building a. great facility here. We're fixing a. White House that hasn't been taken care. of. You can look at this. This room was. a disgraceful situation, the Oval. Office, and it was it was uh let go. The. whole building, the White House was let. go. >> It literally looks like he's swimming in. piss in the Oval Office.

That yellow around him literally looks. like he's drowning in quicksand of. golden piss around him. Like like I mean. just the deranged fact that this Oval. Office looks the way it does. I mean you. know what was the uh what was the show I. watched growing up? Scrooge McDuck. Ducktals you know the scene is I don't. know if it's called Scrooge McDuck but. that's what I'm going to call him for. purposes of this segment. And he would.

and you know the beginning song where it. was like ducktails woohoo and he would. like swim in the gold and he'd have to. put the gold all over him. At least. that's how I remembered the opening. Maybe maybe I imagine that. But I'm. looking there. I'm like, "What are you. doing? This looks so freaking weird. What the f is happening? You're calling. the kid's mom hot. You're destroying our. alliances and our service members are. suffering. You're not feeding our troops. the most basic. you. We've run out of. weapons in the war. Went through.

trillions of dollars of weapons. Gone. Our service members don't have food to. put in their stomachs. Pretty basic stuff. There's feces all. over the floor. You hear about one of the ships that. were accompanied the USS George. Washington in the Pacific before the US. George Washington had to abandon the. Pacific. They didn't have working. toilets for nearly a week. So, everybody.

had to go to bathrooms in buckets that. filled up and the feces was everywhere. on a smaller ship. Covered up until. recently. Covered up until recently. And he wants to cocoon and hide and say, "Look, I got kids around. I got kids. around." So, let me show you the moment. where Trump scolds the reporter and. says, "Quiet. You're very disrespectful. in front of this young man." Let's play.

this clip. >> Quiet. Quiet. Quiet. You're very. disrespectful in front of this young. man. Okay. Don't you find her. disrespectful? He understands. Quiet. Who are you with? >> I'm with CNN. >> Fake news. You're fake news. You're. loud. You're a loud, boisterous person. You're fake news. Be quiet. Be quiet. Be. quiet. >> You're a fake reporter and you report.

fake news. Go ahead. >> At first, I didn't see the angle. and I thought he was talking to the. 16-year-old, which still would have been bad, the. 16-year-old boy. He was talking to the. eight-year-old. and he was telling the eight-year-old, "Don't you think that female reporter is. disrespectful?". He wanted the cosign. from an 8-year-old little boy or.

10-year-old little boy. Let me clary little boy. His. eight-year-old sister was sitting next. to him. Nathaniel's 10. His sister eight. was sitting right next to him. And then. Trump told her and Nathaniel, I'll show. you the Lincoln bedroom after this as. well, which is especially given the fact. that he is a sicko is something that's. also deeply concerning. But. he needed the cosign of a 10-year-old. boy to attack the female reporter, and.

he didn't do it. He he he that's. genuinely him. I can't think of anything. more disqualifying. as a Well, I can think of a lot of. things more disqualifying. I I it's up. there. of some of the most disqualifying things. in terms of character. Just do you think. any of you in the presence of a of a. 10year-old.

would use the 10-year-old to attack? You. you agree? Like just even think about. Thanksgiving or being at a restaurant or. whatever and you call upon as as a grown. ass man. We know that Donald Trump isn't. a grown ass woman or person, whatever. You call upon the 10year-old, that's a. that's a bad person, right? That's a bad. person. And you.

not hard to wonder how that loser that's. loser behavior loses everything. It's. loser behavior. Corrupt, yes. Criminal, yes. Deranged, yes. Behaves like an authoritarian, yes. But it's a loser. He's a loser. That's what lo That's how. losers behave. That's not how people who should be role.

models carry themselves. That's not how. we expect the bare minimum modiccom of. adult grownup behavior. and the idea. that our country. has. not all of it but the institutions. have bent.

to Trump's bent reality. and they've tried to force feed the rest. of us like that's normal, right? Like a. zombie movie where the zombies have all. been bitten or they've all drinking the. Kool-Aid perhaps quite literally and. then they want us to drink it and all of. us are like, "No, what are you talking. about? He's he's yelling at a. 10-year-old he's talking to 10-year-old. boy. He's yelling at the reporter. It. looks like the Oval Office is a sea of. piss. He's making up fake deals. like.

he's he's like a crazy human. I don't. want to drink I don't want to drink that. crap. Yeah. Yeah. But but but uh if you. don't drink it, the communists are going. to get you and and the socialists are. going to get you. They're going to take. away your healthcare. You're already. taking away our healthcare. He's already. taking over the methods of production. I. don't we don't what are you talking. about the communist the social I don't. even know. I don't even understand the. conversation. I don't even understand. the conversation that you're having. You. know, and then you have people who try. to like buy into that conversation who. who some people like we even like looked. up to like what are you you're believing.

this What are you talking about? They're just saying this to scare us. They're being dumb. We we healthc care. is a basic right. Just shut up. Stop. trying to scare us into communism and. socialism and this dumb Let's talk. about what's happening. Let's talk about. his treatment of our service members. Let's talk about the fact that he's lost. this catastrophic and unlawful war that. we shouldn't be. And let's talk about. the fact that Americans can't afford to. live in the United States right now, that the cost of living is prohibitive.

Let's talk about what actually is on the. minds of the American people. That. because of the diesel crack spreads. right now, because of the price of. diesel, our farmers are suffering. That. has a cascading impact for the rest of. the economy as well. Not just farmers, other people who rely on diesel for. their businesses right now. And it's not. just them. It's all of us who can't. afford the price of regular gas, not. just diesel. Let's focus on what's. actually happening right now. And I'm. sick and tired. sick and freaking tired.

of people falling into the trap of. trying to debate within the bent. reality, within the warped dystopian. nightmare of what Trump and state regime. media and these people who have clear. agendas to subjugate us all, to inflict. harm and to steal and to um create just. this social welfare for the oligarchs, for the billionaires while they screw. everybody over and try to divide us. It's so obvious and we have to recognize.

the ecosystem, the information ecosystem. that they've created and it's not enough. for us just to report on the news. It's. not enough for us to just report here's. what happened, here's what happened. What is critical is the generational. task that the Midas touch network has. embarked on with so many other. independent journalists and I hope we've. demonstrated a leadership in this. capacity which is to create not just a.

news network to create an ecosystem that. controls the narrative with the truth. and so that they everybody else has to. have dialogue and discussion within. reality, not bent, warped reality, within reality. And we can do that by. promoting and encouraging other. independent journalists. When you see. Katie Fang leading the way, subscribe to.

her podcast, by the way. You say, "Aha, that's what this is all about." When you. see Allison Gil on the Midas touch. network with her foyer requests with her. sourcing and on her own network, that's. the way. When you see Scott McFarland, that's the way. When you see the Midas. team on Capitol Hill reframe, reshape. the discussions of how we report on. what's happening in the capital. That's. the way when you see Aaron Parnas, when.

you see other Gen Z Midas touch network. host, when you see others here, whether. it's Jack or Adam or others, you know, leading, that's that's the way when you see on. Legal AF, Michael Popock and Karen. Freeman, Dena Dah, when you see Siri, she does some incredible pieces on. topics that aren't being covered on a. lot of political. shows and and that it's very important.

that we cover and she does a great job. covering it. You've got so I I could. keep going on and on and on. That's the. way create an ecosystem of the truth. and then build out other institutions. that start to talk about things that get. overlooked that shouldn't. moral. character, leadership, mentoring, empathy, democracy,

being there for each other, standing. firm when it comes to values and. principles. That's the message. That's the message. that I want to leave you with. It's the. message I talk about in WTF America. That's the challenge. It's not an. election book. It is a how we get out of. this hell book. And I gave you right. there a little bit of the road map of. how we do it. That's how we do it. So pre-order it right now. Keep watching.

the Midas Touch Network. Shout out to. all the great reporters at the Midas. Touch Network and all the other. independent journalists out there who we. help we've encouraged in small ways and. big ways to do this great work. We're. all in this together. The rising tide. lifts all ships. And when it comes to. the truth, that's a tidal wave of truth. that we need right now more than ever. All right, keep watching the videos. throughout the day. That's all I got for you on Ben on.

breaking news. Subscribe. Put in the. comments if you have. uh pre-ordered. WTF America. And it looks also like uh. Katie Fang is live right now. So when. this ends, go check out Katie Fang's. live as well. Thanks everybody for watching. This has. been Ben on breaking news. Shout out. Midas Mighty. We got this. Want to stay plugged in? Become a. subscriber to our Substack [music] at.

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