{"id":276035,"date":"2018-06-11T16:10:00","date_gmt":"2018-06-11T20:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/?p=276035"},"modified":"2018-06-12T16:15:47","modified_gmt":"2018-06-12T20:15:47","slug":"the-days-of-america-as-the-worlds-piggy-bank-are-over","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2018\/06\/11\/the-days-of-america-as-the-worlds-piggy-bank-are-over\/","title":{"rendered":"The Days of America as the World\u2019s Piggy Bank Are Over"},"content":{"rendered":"

RUSH: Reuters, folks, Reuters. Presidents, they\u2019re supposed to forget all the horrible things said about them in campaigns and hire these amazing people anyway. That is the operative, ongoing theory. Ah, Republicans are not supposed to, presidents are not supposed to pay attention to that stuff. Well, it\u2019s about time they did! It\u2019s like all these former Obamaites in the media going nuts over Trump supposedly disrespecting our trading partners at the G7. They\u2019ve got it all wrong.<\/p>\n

The days of the United States being the piggy bank for the world are over! Trump campaigned on this. This isn\u2019t anything new. This isn\u2019t anything people should be surprised about. Trump made a big deal out of trade imbalances and trade deals. And it\u2019s been obvious for the longest time that not only G7, G8, G20, United Nations, the rest of the world looks at the United States as a provider.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

And we have had administration after administration and political energy for I don\u2019t know how long that simply agreed with that premise for whatever silly reasoning. “Well, it\u2019s not fair, we\u2019re such a big economy. It\u2019s not fair, we\u2019re such a large superpower. So, yeah, we\u2019ll let other people have some of what we have.” Well, every time that happens it costs the American taxpayer.<\/p>\n

These are not poor countries that we are talking about, Canada, the United Kingdom, the rest of the G7. But the idea that the United States is a piggy bank and that it\u2019s open and that we have some sort of a duty to run trade deficits with people to lose money with them, where did that start? Well, as far as Trump\u2019s concerned, those days are over. And he campaigned on it. And it makes 100 percent total sense.<\/p>\n

If we could get to the end of these trade imbalances, we wouldn\u2019t need tariffs or taxes or any of these other punitive deals; we could have genuine, fair, and free trade. But, you know, where is it written the United States is supposed to take it on the chin in these deals? And what this is, I\u2019ll tell you, it\u2019s no more complicated than Donald Trump looking out for the average American citizen, whereas the Washington political class really hasn\u2019t and doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

They just expect you to follow along and go along \u2019cause there\u2019s nothing you can do to stop it anyway because all of this is way above your pay grade. “You can\u2019t possibly comprehend trade deals. You can\u2019t possibly understand the macro and microagreements and policies that we have with our trading partners. It\u2019s just beyond you to understand it. That\u2019s why we are here. We are your betters; we are your superiors.”<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

And for Trump it\u2019s not about that at all. It\u2019s not about class. It\u2019s not about elites. It\u2019s about America not being the joke of the world. It\u2019s about America not being Santa Claus to the rest of the world. It\u2019s about people paying their own way and carrying their own weight and so forth. And look at the reaction. When Donald Trump asserts a position, domestically, foreign policy-wise, when he asserts a position that is a testament to America\u2019s power and greatness and to fairness, look at the reaction. It is unhinged and it\u2019s deranged.<\/p>\n

And this is because it\u2019s just been this way for who knows how long. This is the way it\u2019s always been done. Trump got elected on the premise that the way it\u2019s always been done has not been good for America. And he\u2019s in the process of reversing this. And he is succeeding. And look at, as I say, unhinged reaction from people upset that economic circumstances for all Americans are improving.<\/p>\n

You would think that there would be robust happiness, that people would want to get behind this, \u2019cause we\u2019ve all believed all of our lives that that\u2019s what Washington was, looking out for us. Well, now we see that that\u2019s not necessarily been the case. We\u2019ve been the stooges. We\u2019ve been the ones expected to pay for all of this. They\u2019re not using their money to run these trade imbalances. And we\u2019re supposed to smile and say, “This is what being an American means.”<\/p>\n

BREAK TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n

RUSH: The trade business, let me see if I can get you right on something. As I have watched this, I\u2019ve watched Trump being interviewed by journalists who don\u2019t know what they\u2019re talking about. It\u2019s a fascinating thing. So many of these reporters now are under 30, like this babe that had the affair with the security director of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Anyway, they really don\u2019t know anything. But they think they do. They think they\u2019re experts on so much.<\/p>\n

And so a CNN reporter — we\u2019ve got the audio coming up at some point. I haven\u2019t had a chance to organize it. Forty sound bites. Just give me a chance to put it all together, which we will do. But Trump explains the whole situation on tariffs and trade imbalances perfectly over and over in very simple terms that you would think that even a CNN reporter might be able to understand. And yet they don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

And you know what? I have not seen anybody challenge him on the facts that he presents. They might run around and say he\u2019s using incorrect numbers, but they do not challenge him on the facts, just like they never challenge me on other conservatives on issues. They go after us personally for thing to try to discredit it, but they never take us on in the heart of issues. No one challenges Trump on the facts that he presents. They challenge him on his uncouth behavior, in their mind. They challenge him on his unfitness. They challenge him on all of these style things that they find abhorrent.<\/p>\n

\"\"And no one ever says, “Trump is right. American businesses, consumers have been getting screwed over the last 40 years.” Now, I know the history of this is post-World War II. The Marshall Plan and others of a smaller nature were designed to rebuild devastated areas of the world after World War II, including Europe. But it never ended. I mean, the Marshall Plan came to an end, but the theory behind it, that the U.S. needs to prop everybody up and keep propping everybody up and providing for their defense, it never ended.<\/p>\n

So they had these Trump-is-terrible temper tantrums that they think serve as actual debate. Now, here\u2019s the thing. Trade imbalances, the trade surplus or the trade deficit, trade deals, this is, for many people, an esoteric type of issue. They don\u2019t really know that much about it, except when it\u2019s explained in a very simple and noncomplex way, like Trump does. But it never approached an issue over which votes turned, or on which votes turned. I mean, it was a trade, trade deals, trade imbalance, pre-Trump. Presidents talked about them, candidates talked about them, but it was never the issue on which an election turned.<\/p>\n

But with Trump, the issue has been brought to the forefront. And a lot of people who at points in the past didn\u2019t understand it, didn\u2019t pay much attention to it, have had their eyes opened by all of this. And what people are beginning to realize is that we, the United States, have been literally propping up the entire world by bending over to every single country to give them this cushy deal on trade because we think we are obligated to.<\/p>\n

They were obliterated during wartime. They were devastated economically. Their geography was altered. We had a duty to help them rebuild because we were capable, we were big enough, we had the money, we had the economy, we had the growth, we had the productive population. And so it fell to us. And we accepted it as leaders of the free world. But like any other entitlement, after a while people stop appreciating it and start expecting it. And Canada, in many ways, depending on who their leaders are, like this Trudeau kid obviously expect it. Angela Merkel expects it. All the NATO people expect it. The days of appreciation are over.<\/p>\n

And Trump has come along and said, “Wait a minute. A thank-you would be nice. And maybe get rid of these tariffs that are hurting our people. There\u2019s no reason to run a trade imbalance where you benefit at our expense. Those days are over. It\u2019s not gonna happen anymore.” Makes perfect sense. People blow up. Can\u2019t deal with it. Trump is upsetting the world order or what have you.<\/p>\n

But what people are finally seeing is that these massive trade deals have been almost like a gigantic reparation program. Do you know the collective gross domestic product of the G7 countries is less — if you add them all up — less than our GDP? And that\u2019s all you really need to know about Trump\u2019s negotiating power. We have a stronger, bigger economy than all of theirs combined. And that, by the way, is one of the reasons why so many administrations and so many areas of government have been acquiescent to the idea that we owe them. Classic guilt.<\/p>\n

And guilt ends up being used to pay other people. We\u2019re guilted into believing by any number of people, countries that are less fortunate than we are, we have the responsibility to change that by giving things to them. Not by helping them grow on their own.<\/p>\n

\"\"So, yeah, we need the world, and we need trade, but we don\u2019t need to continue running massive trade deficits with the world just because we always have. This is America first. This is why Trump won. This is the point. This is what I mean by these people not realizing what happened in this election.<\/p>\n

You know, when I was out these past couple days, at lunch one day the various aspects of politics came up. And I forget what the exact question was, but I looked at whoever asked me this question, and it was a traditional, “So who do you think the Republican nominee\u2019s gonna be in 2020?” Who can possibly know? “Who do you think the Democrats are gonna run?” Well, I originally thought Bernie Sanders, but do you know what? The Democrat National Committee is getting ready to screw him again.<\/p>\n

Have you people heard about this? The Democrat National Committee is going to pass a regulation saying that nobody but official Democrats can seek their nomination. Well, Bernie\u2019s not a Democrat; he\u2019s an Independent. They\u2019re gonna whack the guy again. Now, some are claiming it\u2019s nothing more than superdelegate reform.<\/p>\n

But, anyway, in this conversation, I said you know what amazes me about the political class from a professional point of view? They still do not seem interested in learning how and why Donald Trump won. I guess it\u2019s because they\u2019re afraid to admit that there are things they don\u2019t know. Remember, these consultants are experts. They\u2019re the people that Jeb Bush gave a hundred million dollars to, and they got him three delegates. A hundred million dollars, and Jeb got three delegates.<\/p>\n

I said, “If I were one of these political professionals, I would know by now who it was that voted for Trump and why. I would want to try to find out how to get \u2019em, how to get \u2019em to turn away from Trump,” but there doesn\u2019t seem to be any interest in this at all, and that is arrogance and hubris. They don\u2019t want to know. All they want to do is overturn the election. All they want to do is overturn that result. They\u2019re not interested in learning.<\/p>\n

And what does it all mean? It means that when you get down to the nitty-gritty, they\u2019re not really interested in what voters want or prefer. The game, apparently, is to fool voters into thinking that candidate A with consultant B is going to provide them what they care about and be interested in it, but it\u2019s all just lip service. And the Democrats the same boat. They cannot, they simply cannot get over the fact that they lost. They\u2019re going nuts at the same time, rather than trying to figure out who voted for Trump, why they didn\u2019t vote for Hillary, why did they lose.<\/p>\n

If I were a political professional, that\u2019d be the first thing I would have wanted to know. But not these people. They exist in a stubborn refusal to acknowledge that they were the problem.<\/p>\n

BREAK TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n

RUSH: We\u2019re at the stage now, ladies and gentlemen, where the media has a fallback position. When Trump does well, when Trump defies them, when Trump succeeds, the fallback position is Trump is mentally ill, Trump is unstable, Trump may not be altogether. Trump may not be making sense out there.<\/p>\n

\"\"And one example of it is a CNBC correspondent John Harwood, former New York Times, Wall Street Journal, hates Trump. “CNBC Correspondent Muses on Trump\u2019s Mental Health<\/a>: ‘He did not look well to me.\u2019 A CNBC journalist on Saturday responded to President Trump\u2019s lengthy press conference in Canada by saying he was concerned about the president\u2019s mental health — the latest Trump-related health concern raised by media outlets.<\/p>\n

“John Harwood made the remarks on MSNBC. Trump used the press conference to take a hard stance on tariffs, warning allies not to retaliate against U.S. tariffs on aluminum and steel.<\/p>\n

“Harwood said, ‘I\u2019ll be honest as a citizen: I\u2019m concerned about the president\u2019s state of mind. He did not look well to me in that press conference. He was not speaking logically or rationally. It sounded as if he was making stuff up.'” “I am just worried.” This is a common refrain.<\/p>\n

So let\u2019s go to some audio sound bites here. We will start Saturday in Quebec at the end of the summit. Trump held a press conference. During the Q&A, a reporter said, “Mr. President, you said that this was a positive meeting. But from the outside, it seemed quite contentious. Did you get any indication from your interlocutors that they were gonna make any concessions to you? And I believe that you raised the idea of a tariff-free G7.”<\/p>\n

THE PRESIDENT: I did. Oh, I did. No tariffs, no barriers. That\u2019s the way it should be. Let\u2019s say Canada, the United States pays tremendous tariffs on dairy, as an example, 270%. Nobody knows that. So you go tariff free, you go barrier free, you go subsidy free. That\u2019s the way you learned at the Wharton School of Finance. It\u2019s gotta change. It\u2019s not a question of I hope it changes. It\u2019s gonna change a hundred percent. And tariffs are gonna come way down because people cannot continue to do that. We\u2019re like the piggy bank that everybody\u2019s robbing, and that ends.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Okay. There it. And that is the point. All these people having a conniption fit, that\u2019s why Trump was elected. The people that voted for him did so knowingly. It really is astounding. I keep telling myself these people have made no effort to understand Trump voters. And maybe that\u2019s true. I know they hold them in contempt, and I do think they probably haven\u2019t taken much time to learn why Trump voters voted for Trump. They just assumed that they were fooled, maybe it was something about Hillary, but it just can\u2019t be Trump \u2019cause Trump\u2019s stupid, Trump is an idiot. It\u2019s gotta be something else, some sort of a protest vote or what have you.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s seen as a one-off and something not serious. And so they don\u2019t have to dig deep and learn what\u2019s going on. But Trump was crystal clear about all of this during the campaign. And it was one of the reasons he was elected. Another reporter said, “Look, as you were headed into these talks, there was a sense that America\u2019s closest allies are frustrated with you and angry with you and that you were angry with them and that you were leaving here early to go meet more friendlier talks with Kim Jong-un in Singapore.”<\/p>\n

THE PRESIDENT: Who are you with? I\u2019m curious, sir.<\/p>\n

REPORTER: CNN.<\/p>\n

\"\"THE PRESIDENT: I figured. Fake news CNN. The worst. But, you know, I could tell by the cry — I have no idea you were CNN. After the question, I was just curious as to who you were with. You were with CNN. I would say that the level of relationship is a 10. We have a great relationship, Angela and Emanuel and Justin. The relationship that I\u2019ve had is great. So you can tell that to your fake friends at CNN.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Now, there\u2019s a couple pictures being bandied about that show Trump seated with the other G7 leaders standing at a table, and it looks like that they are leaning over Trump and berating him, and he\u2019s sitting there sheepishly with his arms folded in front of him, and it was misreported as these people berating Trump and refusing Trump and Sarah Huckabee Sanders tweeted: You people weren\u2019t there and we were, and what that photo is, that photo actually was taken during a negotiating session and these people were frustrated because Trump was not giving them what they want, and they couldn\u2019t believe it.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve always gotten America to do what they want America to do. And Trump is refusing to do it because in his view it\u2019s not in America\u2019s best interests. So he simply said “no” to them. And in diplomatic circles, you don\u2019t say “no,” period, and you don\u2019t do it the way Trump does. There\u2019s a second picture taken shortly after the first picture, the only one they\u2019re really showing. The second picture has everybody laughing and having a good time.<\/p>\n

The next question, “President Trump today said that he would cut off trade with countries, that if you retaliate on steel and tariffs as you plan to do on July 1st, that you\u2019re making a mistake, Mr. Trudeau. How seriously do you take that threat? Does that change your plans to go ahead with retaliatory tariffs?”<\/p>\n

TRUDEAU: It\u2019s kind of insulting. And I highlighted that it was not helping in our renegotiation of NAFTA and that it would be with regret but it would be with absolute certainty and firmness that we move forward with retaliatory measures on July 1st, applying equivalent tariffs to the ones that the Americans have unjustly applied to us. I have made it very clear to the president that it is not something that we relish doing, but it\u2019s something that we absolutely will do, because Canadians, we\u2019re polite, we\u2019re reasonable, but we also will not be pushed around.<\/p>\n

RUSH: See, their definition of being pushed around is being told “no,” after having been told yes, whatever you need, whatever you want, fine. Trump\u2019s telling \u2019em no, we\u2019re through running trade deficits with you. We\u2019re finished with you ending up raising prices and raising taxes, essentially, on the American workers and the American people. And they\u2019re just not used to being told “no.”<\/p>\n

Now, this press conference Trudeau did did not sit well with Larry Kudlow and Peter Navarro. Here is Kudlow on CNN\u2019s State of the Union yesterday. Jake Tapper said, “What did Trudeau say that was so offensive? I mean, Trump accused him of lying, so what do you expect Trudeau to do?”<\/p>\n