Jeffrey Sachs on the 3 Most Important Things Trump Has Done So Far and America’s Global Dominance

Ladies and gentlemen, I would like. to introduce someone. who I consider one of the smartest. people I know and whose. Understanding of the world is. matched only by his ability to. synthesize huge themes. and illustrate them with precise. detail. Someone who has traveled the. world for 40 years, a man. Who not only writes about the. leaders of the world, but knows them. personally. Professor Jeffrey Sachs.

Thanks. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much, Jeff. Thank you. So how long? I just you were telling. me backstage I didn't realize this. For those who enjoyed Prime Minister. or. I'm one of them. I was. Tell us when you first met. the prime minister. We met 46. years ago. 36 years ago. 36 years ago, 1989. It was just getting out of jail at. that point. Now, yeah, they were just opening.

up and this young guy was starting. a political party and he. gave me a call and we sat in. our my backyard in. Boston for a few hours. And I thought, okay, this guy is. going to be prime minister for most. of the next 36 years. It's been very, very impressive. then. So what a very impressive now. So you said that you saw in. him and it's not just about him, but. it's about what are the markers. of enduring leadership? What makes, you know, this. politician impressive?

While most of them are not. impressive? What did you see in him? What do you see in leaders like him. who have been successful? Well, this was 1989. I mean, it was. even before the Berlin Wall. fell. But Hungary had cut. the barbed wire, so people were. That was the beginning of the end in. 1989 of the Soviet. domination of Eastern Europe. And this young guy said, I'm going to make a political party. and I'm going to be a leader and I'm. going to make a new Hungary.

And what he showed. was vision, that, look, we're a great country. We've been held back for the last 45. years. I'm going to help lead the way. And it was a. feed us young Democrats, I think was the translation of it. And he just had the idea of. we're we're going to move forward. He was a kid and. we were all kids then. And you could see that. there was energy, vision,

foresight. And it proved right. Yeah. And they're toughness. So you heard his analysis, I think, of where we are. with the war in Ukraine, election. and Trump on the basis. in part of, you know, his promise. to to try to end this if he can. You saw the new secretary of defense. say, no, we're not going to support. Ukraine's entry into Naito. Where are we now? You know, yesterday was the most. important day for peace.

in maybe decades, actually. I this war in Ukraine. resulted from a. very bad idea. of the United States taken in 1994. It's a project. The project was. a project to expand Naito. forever anywhere. Just keep moving east, keep moving not only to. the first wave, which was.

the prime minister's country, Hungary, Czech Republic. and Slovakia, but then move. eastward closer to the. former Soviet Union into. the former Soviet Union. Surround Russia. in the Black Sea region, go all the way to a little. country in the South Caucasus, Georgia. I it was mind boggling. Clinton signed on to that in. 1994. It became what we call the Deep. State project, meaning it didn't.

really matter who the president was. Each president would come and. basically would be informed. NATO's moving eastward. You're part of that process. So Clinton started it in 1994. And as Prime Minister Irvine said, you mentioned briefly. in 1990, on February 9th, 1990, in. unequivocal clear. as can be terms the United States.

and said to President Mikhail. Gorbachev, Naito will not. move one inch eastward. And if you have any doubt about it, all the documents are now. online available. You can scrutinize everything. Hans-Dietrich Genscher, the US, the German foreign minister, said the same thing, same day. He's on tape actually explaining, No, no, I don't just mean within. Eastern Germany. I mean anywhere to the east. Clinton.

Being Clinton and. the US Deep State being. the US Deep State started this. project in 1994. They already had the idea, by the. way, in 1991. 92. As soon as the Soviet Union ended. Now we move. Now we move eastward. Now we control everything. Now we are the sole superpower. So this has gone on for 30. years, and. each president got into it.

under George Bush Jr. Seven more countries were added. Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Bulgaria and. Romania. 9 in 2004. Then in 2007, President Putin said. at the summit that's taking place. right now, the Munich Security. Summit said Stop. You told us no. expansion, not an eastward. expansion, even an inch, you said.

You've now done ten countries. Stop. Perfectly reasonable. Stop. I don't think our president, Donald. Trump, would much like to see. China and Russia building their. military bases up from Central. America. You know, this was how the Russians. saw this. Why are you coming. to our border? When you told us you. weren't going to move. And there was one other thing that. was very important in this, which is.

probably the most decisive thing. and almost not even. recognized in 2002, the US did something really, really, really destabilizing, and that is it unilaterally. left the Anti-Ballistic. Missile Treaty. That was a core. strategy to stop. a nuclear war between the. two superpowers, because what ABM.

had done for 30 years was to. say we each have. deterrence. You. If you strike. us, we can strike back. We'll limit our anti-ballistic. missiles so that both. sides maintain deterrence. In 2002, the. United States unilaterally, unprovoked, walked. out of ABM, said, no, no, we're not going to do it anymore. We're going to put anti-ballistic. missile systems into.

Russia's bordering territories. The Russians said, Are you kidding? The US said, What's your problem? We do what we want. So in 2007, Putin. said, Stop already. In 2008, George. Bush Junior doubled down, as Americans typically. do, and said, okay, now we're moving to Ukraine. and to Georgia. That was why this.

war occurred. But Ukraine had one more. sliver of. of life, and. that was that they elected a. president in 2010 that didn't. want to be part of Naito. And the public didn't want to be. part of Naito. Why? Because they knew this is very. dangerous. Why get into this. provocative situation? His name was Viktor Yanukovych. Americans don't like neutrality, but Yanukovich was trying to be.

neutral between the two sides, and the US played a. rather unfortunate. role on February 22nd, 2014 in a violent. overthrow of this. Person. And that's when the war. started. And it's been now ten years. And no president has. told the truth until. yesterday, by the way. Yesterday is a historic day. because the.

call took place between. President Putin and President. Trump. It was the first call. If we don't know if there had been a. short call beforehand between the. two of them, but there was no call. by Biden and Putin. with war going on for three years, no call. And now there was a call. and the readout from. the American side was excellent. What President Trump said.

in the call was, we respect. Russia. We hear Russia's concerns. We fought on the same side. in World War Two. Nice point, by the way. True. Russia lost. Soviet Union lost 27 million. people in World War Two. and was an ally of the United. States. The fact that wasn't. mentioned for years and years and. years by President. Biden and then the. defense secretary,

Haig said the new defense secretary. said yesterday the truth. for the first time that. Ukraine is not going to. join NATO. This is the basis for peace. This is absolutely. the basis for peace. And they couldn't tell the truth. for three decades. They could not admit. what any of us knew, because I've been around. this region for 36. years in detail.

I sat with Boris Yeltsin. I sat with Mikhail Gorbachev. But the Americans would not. tell the truth publicly. until yesterday that. this was so provocative. It was a game. They thought they'd win the game. I don't know how many people here. play or played in their childhood. The game of risk. The game of risk was a big game for. me. You wanted your piece on every. part of the world map.

That was the game when you took over. the whole world. World hegemony, we now call. it I. You won. They're playing that game. until this administration. So the two most important three. important things have happened in my. view, in this administration so far. First, our new secretary. of state, Marco Rubio, called. the fundamental truth. We are in a multipolar. world.

First time the sentence was. uttered, he told the truth. What does it mean? The American mindset for 30. years was we run the show. Marco Rubio said, Well, we don't run. the show. We live with other. powerful countries. Great start. Second and third. were the two events yesterday. So I'm feeling. about peace that. this is really something that. happened yesterday. If if they follow through,

we know what Washington is like. There is every. Crazy idea. Swarming still. a project of 30 years doesn't. go down necessarily in one. phone call or one statement. by the. secretary of defense. But it's pretty important. that it was said so publicly. and so visibly. And, of course, Europe is in a tizzy.

because Europe signed on to. the US project. All these politicians in Europe. are there where they are because. they were part of the US project. and now the US is reversing. its project. And you didn't tell us. and you didn't. What are we supposed. to do way out there? And so they're completely. befuddled. And I have to say, I told. them personally. many of these leaders. and I mean personally one by one. for years, you. are going to get trapped this.

way because this project. doesn't work. It doesn't make sense. It's a game for the Americans, but it's life and death for the. Russians. So it cannot be won. by the American side. It's impossible. And I tried to tell them. And nobody in Europe. Either had the clarity or. the guts to see it, except the. person that preceded me in this. seat, Prime Minister Orban, because he was completely.

clear about this from the first. day. Now others are starting. But even till today, the Europeans. can't get it because they're so. deeply invested in. something that makes no sense. They should have said Russia's big. It lives here, not near us. Let's cooperate. That's how you do it. Your online activity is being. watched. And not just certain. things. You search in your private. browser. Everything is being. watched. Shady big tech companies. are constantly hawking our. information because their profits.

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You're a Russian stooge or whatever, and was especially hilarious as he. explained. You know, he's the opposite of a. Russian stooge, of course, lifelong. His country was occupied by the. Russians. But you do see it. also in the United States. And it makes it kind of impossible. to have a rational conversation. about. I know you've been the butt. of the stew, not whining about it, but it's like. Yeah. Is there even a culture. in our foreign policy establishment. of having rational conversations. to the point where we can solve. problems like this? You know, we've talked about,

I think, an uncle of yours. who was one of my. favorite politicians of American. history, J. William Fulbright, and. he wrote a book in the 1960s. called The Arrogance of Power. And I was a kid. then, and I read that. book like it was the coolest thing. imaginable. This was the chairman of the US. Foreign Relations Committee saying, We're too arrogant to think clearly. That was amazing. He was an amazing person.

Now, I think. that's the fundamental problem. I'm not sure we're. properly over it. But I have to say that. in 1990, 91, we had. the chance for global peace. Really for global peace. That doomsday clock of the Atomic. Scientists, which I. like to refer to so much, which. measures how close or far away.

from nuclear war. was the farthest away. it was ever in its history because. the Cold War had ended. So I was there as a. as a young economist. who actually knew something about. economic stabilization. And I made proposals. And interestingly, just as. a footnote, I advised the Polish. government in 1989. I just long story, but suddenly as a kid, I happened to.

be there and I helped write their. plan. And I, I everything. I recommended. for Poland was immediately. accepted by the White House. That's a very odd thing. In fact, I went one day, I had an. idea of mobilizing. some finance to help Poland. stabilize. And I called the. Polish finance minister, said, Do. you mind if I try to raise $1. billion for you today? Which was a lot of money in those.

days. And he. said, I if you raise the billion. dollars, that would be great. So I called Bob Dole, our. Senate majority leader, whom I knew because of the Poland. work that I was doing. And he invited me immediately into. his office and he said, come back in an hour. So I came back in an hour. This was September. 1989. And who was sitting there? General Brant Scowcroft. Okay. He was the general who.

was our national security advisor. I was a kid. And so it was a little bit. interesting moment. And he Senator Dole said. to me, explain to General Scowcroft. your idea. So I handed him the. paper, and this is how you do. financial stabilization, and here's. how you stabilize the currency. And Scowcroft. Looked at it and said, Well, will. this work? And I said, General, this. will work. And Dole led me out of the. office and said, Call me back later. in the day. So at 5 p.m.

I called and Dole said, Did the White House call? You have tell your friends you have. the 1 billion. So I raised $2 billion that day. It was good. I don't know. No, it had nothing to. do with me because. it was the right idea. The policies were to stabilize. I did a good I did a good thing. I was a technically. equipped, sophisticated manager.

of a financial stabilization or not. manager, but advisor on the. financial stabilization. Okay. Then in 1991, I recommended. The same thing for. Gorbachev and for this. creaking, collapsing. Soviet Union. Gorbachev wanted to have elections. in all of the republics, and he. wanted to democratize and. stabilize. So, okay, I know something about that, Mr.

President. And so we met. in the Harvard Kennedy. School, and. there were one, two, three, four, five of us I. a little team. One of them was the chief. economic advisor of Gorbachev, Grigori Belinsky. One was the dean of the Kennedy. School. One became a very senior. diplomat. Bob Blackwill that I deal. with. One was a very senior. economist at MIT, Stanley.

Fischer. We wrote a plan for how. the Soviet Union could stabilize, and I did the chapter on the. financing, basically the same. thing that I said from Poland. Okay. It was completely rejected. within about 12 hours in Washington. Okay. I hated this. For the next 30 years, I have to. tell you, because we. just could not take yes for an. answer. A couple of months ago, someone sent.

me from the archives. the first time that I had ever seen. it. The National Security. Council minutes rejecting. the proposal. Fascinating to read. because that's your life before your. eyes watching this. I there was a guy. named Dick Darman who was a former. colleague of mine. The technical term. I don't I don't think I can say the. mixed company, actually. So I, I won't say what I would.

say about him. But it's an unpleasant English word. It's really nasty. Too nasty for polite company, he says in this thing. We should do the minimum. necessary so. that there is not a collapse, but nothing more. And I. quote Machiavelli and, you know, we're not interested and. we're not going to do this. And it's it's really.

watching stupid. people. Taking important stupid. decisions. Fools. By the way, they never called to say. Can we discuss stabilization? This guy knew nothing. They don't understand anything. They don't care. So what would they do when they. actually reached the conclusion at. the end of the meeting? We're going to do the minimum. possible. I mean, minimum, it's not our business to help. We're not going to do any of that. That's arrogance of power.

We don't have to do anything. Why were the United States. We don't have to do anything. They didn't even. look. The stakes for the world. were very high. You could have a 30 minute. phone call to understand. financial stabilization. You could say in history, when countries are destabilized this. way, here's how stability.

has worked. That was my specialty. That's what I knew when taught. at Harvard and knew knew. a lot about. But they're so arrogant. that it's not even to discuss. for a half an hour any. of this. And they didn't. And they took a terrible decision. And by the way, my point is not. that that led on to this and this. and this. No. They took terrible decisions for the. next 35 years. This could have been stopped at any.

moment. Not one thing led to the. next thing, No one stupid. decision than the next one. And the next one. Then the next one. You have to learn to behave. The way you behave in this world is. mutual respect. The way you behave this thinking. you're not going to be more secure. if they're completely destabilized. That's what you have to understand. And that is not so. hard to understand. We teach it to our kids.

At age four, we start teaching. that. And then suddenly, if. you want your passport to. Washington, you have to forget it at. age 40 or something. And that's how they behave. So that's my feeling about this, that it's just the. kind of arrogance. And you can see it in this writing, which I find fascinating, to go back. and watch this tragedy. unfold. 1997, another. wonderful moment if you.

want to just watch. Hubris and tragedy. Very good book. Good in that. It's insightful. Terrible book in that it's all. wrong. Vice V Brzezinski. And many of you have probably read. it called the Grand Chessboard. And he could have called it the game. of Risk. It would have been a little. bit more accurate, but it was. about how to make American dominance. in the world. And he has a chapter about.

expanding NATO's to Ukraine. Exactly. That he's and. he talks about Europe and Naito. expanding eastward. And the question that he asked. in 1997 is what. can the Russians do about it? Because they're weak. And he answers meticulously. He considers. Would Russia ever. ally with China? Impossible. He can that.

That'll never happen. That'll never happen. Could Russia ever ally. with Iran? No. Impossible. That will never happen. So you watch. Like we watch now. Chatty, thinking out loud. It's all there. It's all wrong. And it was all American policy for. the next 25 years. That's tragedy. We asked a question like a. kind of thematic fundamental. question. Show a great. empire, one of it. You know, empires tend to be.

arrogant. Just a feature of empires, that is. it, but an enduring. empire. So stability, its goal is stability. And because it understands exactly. what you said, I thought so nicely. It doesn't help you if your. neighbors are in chaos. It doesn't help you. It's against your own interests. So that's such an obvious insight. The Roman Empire was based on it. The British Empire was based on it. Ours is the only empire I'm. aware of that. has kind of intentionally. sowed chaos. And I don't understand where that.

thinking comes from. Leaving aside the moral questions, is it right or wrong? It doesn't work for you. So why have we done it? You know, the Roman Empire is always a great. story for us and I. Compare the Ukraine war to. the battle of the Teuton. bird forest, which is 89, and in 89, the Roman Empire reached. its limits. on the Rhine.

It never tried to conquer. the Germanic tribes. In nine A.D. they were defeated. under Augustus, and. there were sporadic border. things from then on, but. they never tried again. They had hundreds of years where. that just wasn't was. wasn't their business. It was very, very smart. Hadrian. In the first. second century A.D.

was the emperor at the. maximum extent of the Roman Empire, and he basically wanted stability. across the border. lines. And this was the. prudence of. the empire. It wasn't. Alexander was very. different three, 400. years earlier. He wanted to conquer the whole. world. There was no limit. Finally, his soldiers told him, If. you go any further, we're.

killing you. We've got to go home. Because they were already at the. beyond the Indus River. But the Romans said, no, we're. going to put some boundaries. We're going to keep the borders and. we're going to not. go beyond our means. or our needs. I hope what happened yesterday. was a good example. of that. What Trump. and Hegseth did yesterday.

If they follow through, if the deep. state doesn't undermine it, if it's. some crazy thing doesn't happen. Said we don't need. to be in Ukraine. with NATO. We don't need to be. It's for us, it's. nothing. And it doesn't mean that Russia's. now going to invade Western. Europe. That's crazy. This was a project going the other. direction. So it's basic prudence. And that's what.

a great power should show. Prudence. What are the chances that some you. said, unless the Deep State does. something, some crazy thing happens? I would note that for a good. part of the presidential campaign, the Deep state was telling the. candidate, Donald Trump that the. state of Iran is trying to kill you, which as far as I know, it was. totally untrue. But they were telling him that in. order to prepare him to attack Iran, which they're still trying to do so. We know that this kind. of deception is just a feature of. it. How hard will people invested.

in the Ukraine war. go? To what lengths will they go to. continue this? Do you think? First of all, the main job. of the U.S. president. of of a successful. U.S. president is. to put the foot on the brake. This is if you look in history, the good presidents know when. to stop. Eisenhower was such, Kennedy was such.

Reagan understood this. And all our recent presidents. did not up until now, basically. Well. Truman in Korea, George H.W. Bush. Wait. I mean, also true. Know that they fought too. many wars in. Yeah, but they. But they didn't. stop. No, but they stopped. But they made too much. Iraq, 2003. I mean, there were just too many, too many wars. So the question is,

can we learn. and can the president keep. the foot on the brake? If he does, he will have. an extremely successful. administration. He, I think, understands. that all of that yahoos. pleading and this has been. 30 years also this another project. to go for the US to go to war. with Iran is just the. worst idea imaginable. Would be a disaster.

And so I think President. Trump understands that. I think he understands that a. war with China would be. a complete disaster, which it would be. Though there's a lot of war party. around on that. The funny thing about our time right. now. Not funny. The the wonderful. thing about our time right. now is that we're. in the midst of the biggest. technological boom.

in the history of the world. So, so many good things. could happen in. the next 10 to 20 years. President Trump has used the. expression which I fully subscribe. to. A golden age. We could have it. A golden age is not war. A golden age is investing in. all this wonderful technology. so that we can have health. care that works. Education systems that work. Infrastructure that works.

It would be nice if the United. States even had one kilometer of. fast rail just saying. China just completed its 50,000. kilometer of fast rail. We we don't have one. I can't even take the train. reliably from. New York to or actually from. Washington to New York. Last time it took the Excel, it. broke down in the middle. And I had to change to a local. in New Jersey, which does. not happen between Shanghai.

and Beijing, by the way. Just saying. But you miss the countryside. I mean, that is part of it, though. There's not a lot of incentive. to stop in New Jersey and now. they're giving you one. There I was. I felt so privileged. Right. And there was the local right. on the neck. Exactly. Weight. Exactly. And you would have been in Passaic. otherwise. So. Exactly. You you count. your blessings. Right. So the whole point of market. capitalism is consumer. choice. You have a choice between products. and services.

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talk. It does feel I'm. glad that you are saying this. because it does feel like. we're not even a month into the. Trump administration. I don't think anybody agrees with. everything of anyone else's program. But clearly, this is. a massive departure from what we. had, much more than I thought. I feel like I watch pretty closely. I'm amazed by. the ambition of what they're doing. And it does feel like the only. way to stop this. Tulsi Gabbard just confirmed. yesterday is the director of.

That's a very big deal. It's unbelievable. It's a very big deal. Tulsi Gabbard joining the. president's daily brief. Tulsi Gabbard is in charge of a lot. of declassification efforts. Like the whole thing is unbelievable. The only way to stop this. is with a war. I mean, that's my kind of simple. reading of it. You agree with that? I think that is exactly. entirely the point. And if I. And we had news today, please, inshallah,

that the cease fire. will continue on Saturday because. more hostages will be released, more exchanges will take place, and there won't be a return, really, inshallah, if. it happens and. an outbreak of war is. stopped because it has. to be stopped. This will be such a blessing not. only for this region, but I have to. say, for our country to the United.

States. And so this is really. The key moment. And I think. Trump's instincts. are there and what. he says. We didn't even hear. Biden or other presidents say. President Trump said many times. about Ukraine. Too many people are dying. You didn't even hear those words. I mean, the idea that war. involved, by.

the way, maybe a million. Ukrainians dead or seriously. wounded, we're going to find out in. the next months because finally. we'll see what reality is now, what the propaganda is. But it's horrible what's. happened. So that instinct is. essential. And there are. several places where everything. could be derailed. This region is one of them. Ukraine is another. South China and East China Sea.

is is the third. And if. The president gets it. and has the. basic idea. We live together. in respect with other countries. The golden age will come. I think. And I'd love your view of. this. I think of all the amazing things. I've seen in the last three and a. half weeks. Maybe the most amazing. is the emergence of Steve Wycoff. So I just I will say I know. personally and liked enormously,

but he was a real estate guy, right? All of a sudden, Trump. appoints him an envoy sort. of over and above. massive, stable diplomats. We have professional diplomats. at the State Department to go. Do you know, affect a cease fire. here in this region and then send. him over to Russia And he wants a. meeting with Putin apparently for. several hours. And then all this stuff happens. You've been around diplomats your. entire life. You've functioned as a. diplomat. What do you think of that?

Look, he did the single. coolest thing since this. administration started, I. have to say, which was. Trump made this. cease fire. There's no question about it. I would never. I mean, he didn't make the cease. fire because. We don't know where Biden was. mentally anyway, but his team was completely. incompetent. Horrible. I'm sorry to say.

It's very terrible. A lot of the rest of us did notice. that. Yes, It wasn't completely. you know, it wasn't a completely. closely held secret, let's say. So. Trump said We got to have. a cease fire before my inauguration. And he said we'd cough. and we'd. cough. Said to Netanyahu, I'm coming to meet you tomorrow. And Netanyahu.

said, No, no, no, tomorrow. is a Saturday. I can't meet you. And Wycoff said, I'll be in your. office tomorrow at one. And I told him, I don't care. anything. I'm there. We're going to have a. discussion. And out of that meeting came. the cease fire. Now. The cease fire looks maybe. like it will hold this. weekend, believe me.

In Israel, they want war. everywhere for a lot of reasons. But the president's job, from my. point of view of American interest. and the world interest and this. region's interest, everybody's. interest. No more. war. Stop this now. So if we can keep that. track record, that. would be the heroic. success. But what does it tell you that Steve. Wycoff, who I will say again, I'm. biased because I really like him. He's got a great personality, super.

energetic, very straightforward, believable. But zero training in. any of this. Like not he's a real. estate guy and he pulls this. off. What does that tell you about our. professional diplomatic corps? I'll tell you one thing. It tells you I. Trump can make peace if he wants. to make peace. I mean, he needs. He needs a capable guy. that can go and read the riot act. and say, this is no joke and we're. going to have it. And that is basically.

what good diplomacy is. I. And. Again in the US system. Of course, we've got the Deep State. who tell presidents what to do. We've got lobbies, we've got all, all sorts of things. But a president's true. job is to. lead. And if you don't have a president. compos mentis like I think we. didn't have in the United States, you get war breaking.

out everywhere like we had. in the last two years. Or if you have a president that is. poorly directed or. poorly, you know, really. doesn't get it. And Clinton was an. inconsequential president, in my opinion, because. he was so easily swayed. He let's eat. He just made so many. lousy decisions. I George Bush junior, listened to. Cheney, who was really a.

nonstop warmonger and. so on. If a president gets the. idea, I want peace. because this war is. really destructive. of everything else I'm trying to. do. Then you can have peace. Actually, it's possible. No one is going to attack the United. States. So peace depends on us. No one is attacking us. China is not about to invade.

the United States. Russia is not going to attack the. United States. Mexico and Canada are not going to. attack the United States. Panama is not going to attack the. United States. Greenland's not going. to attack. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Whoa, whoa. I'm sorry to make. I don't want to go the whole list, but I'm just confident. about this. So if the president. wants peace, he'll. get it. If he gets peace, believe me, he'll get. all the other things that. he wants, like low inflation.

Being able to pass the budget that. he wants, getting his tax. policies that he wants. But if there's war, he. ain't going to get any of. it. That's the basic. point. And you know. what? I voted Democratic. in 9 in. 2020. I voted for Biden. And Biden. I've had a lot of experience.

with governments over the last. 45 years. So I watch them and I, I. think I understand a lot of of. them. And Biden in. the first days. said stupid things about foreign. policy. The world is divided between this. and this and blah, blah, blah. And you think, my God, what is. the guy's is doesn't. get it. And in fact. He. Didn't get it at all. And I told many.

Democratic leaders when they still. talk to me now, they don't talk to. me and I don't talk to them. You're going to lose. You're going to do something. completely, almost. impossible in American politics, which is you're going to lose on. the basis of foreign policy. because Americans don't vote on. foreign policy. And I said, you're foreign policy. is so bad, this. is going to bring you down. And in fact, the Democrats.

lost their heads. in this and they were so. intent on defeating. Trump that no matter what. Biden said, well, we have to back. him up 100% as. he led them off to war. and complicity in the war here. in the Ukraine, war and tensions. with China and all the rest. And they created. a milieu of. so much unhappiness in the United. States, anxiety, higher. inflation, big budget.

deficits that the public. said, no, we don't like this. This is. So they did. really the impossible. But they brought Liz Cheney over to. the coalition. Yeah, exactly. And then what's ironic is, you know, this wonderful person. who was I. confirmed yesterday for. the head of. the director of National. intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, who's really smart, by the.

way. Very honest, very meticulous. I know her extremely well. over many, many years. Totally up and up. So I'm delighted she's going. to be briefing the president each. day. I couldn't think of a better. person. All the Democrats voted against. her. This is crazy. She was their colleague for decades. She stood up for things that they. should be applauding her for. Every one of them voted against her.

She was the vice chairman of the DC. Exactly 78. years. Ago. Exactly. So I. guess the question is the. opposition you've alluded to the. Deep state, but there's also the out. in the open state. You know, the Congress, for example, the other party, the Democratic. Party, does trump success, not just in the election, winning. the popular vote, but in effecting. peace, which is actually popular. with people. Does that change their views.

on foreign policy? Like, does he bring people with. them or does he stand alone between. the two parties as he did in the. first time? Look, this is very early days. because we're just a little over. three weeks into this. But if yesterday. turns into policy, which. it could and the Ukraine. war ends soon, which it could, you're. going to see everybody changing. their views. I didn't support that. Peace is great.

The European leaders are going to be. saying the opposite of what they're. saying right now. Let's look in 100. politicians anyway. Three Think the rest line. up somewhere tactically. So, yes, they will change their. view. They'll complain about other things. That's their job. They're in the opposition. But this war. was a disastrous, stupid project. that went awry. Should have ended. Makes no sense.

And if Trump pulls it off as. he can, if he's resolute. now when clear minded and. Wycoff does his work. because he'll be the one to do it, it looks like, and he does. his work. Then this won't be talked about. or complained about. This will pass into. history is just another. one of those blunders. I mean, we don't talk about. the 2003 Iraq war, the 20 years waste in Afghanistan. or so many Libya, so.

many completely ridiculous projects. that America has been involved in. for no conceivable. reason other than these weird. game of risk ideas. We got to own that space on the. board. Turns out. The world and that gameboard are. rather different. But if Trump pulls. this off what he needs, I think and what we need to. understand is the American scene. It ain't great in general.

The budget deficit is enormous. The fragility. of society is is actually. Quite significant. There is lots. of depression, lots of violence, lots of problems. that haven't been addressed. for 30 years. Big, big budget deficit. Huge. Can't be solved. With all due respect to Ellen, it's not.

The budget deficit has very. little to do with the size of the. civil service. That's not where the budget deficit. comes from. That's not where the. spending comes from. Spending comes from 750. overseas military bases, from wars, from. massive outlays, of course, on pensions and. on health care, on interest. payments, on the debt and so forth. So. War derails. all of that. We're not with a.

buffer. We're not where the US dollar. is. King forever. It's almost the opposite, by the. way. Although it's not so clear. to people. But ten years from now, it's going to be completely. different international monetary. seen from the one. that we have now, because the. renminbi is kind of play a. completely different role. And the way that international. settlements will be done is. completely different. You can if you watch like I do, you see all of the stitching.

together of a new system taking. shape. So the U.S. does not have this. great room for maneuver. and it's all a game. And we can do this and we can do. that. The president needs to. be really. accurate right now, freely. accurate and understand. also not don't overplay. the hand. The world's not desperately. waiting to get into the US market, as I think he thinks. that these tariffs give all this.

leverage. No, the U.S. is not the big deal. that maybe some people imagine. right now. So we got to get our act together. and you can't get your act together. in war. That's that's the bottom. line. Professor Jeffrey Sachs, thank you. very much. Great to be with you, Steve. Thanks. Thank you. That's great. Thanks. So in September, we went across the. country, coast to coast, 17.

different cities on a nationwide. live tour. And it was amazing. We brought the entire staff with us. like we always do, because we all. worked together for so long and. enjoy traveling together. And one of our producers is a. documentary filmmaker. And so he decided to make a. documentary film about our trip. a full month across America. with some most interesting people. around, different people joining us. every single night on Gino. and Russell Brand and Bobby Kennedy. and J.D. Vance and Donald Trump, etc., etc.. We had the best time.

And the Fruit of that is a. documentary called On the Road, The. Tucker Carlson Live Tour, which. is available right now. on TCN on the road. Tucker Carlson Live Tour.