Latest / The Ben Ferguson Podcast / Harvard's Billion-Dollar Dilemma, Trump's Approval Unshaken on Signalgate & Vietnam's Panic over Tariffs

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Harvard's Billion-Dollar Dilemma, Trump's Approval Unshaken on Signalgate & Vietnam's Panic over Tariffs · The Ben Ferguson Podcast

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: There's an id investigation into the Secretary of Defensis use
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: of something the signal atom.
• 0:07
  Speaker 2: Oh, what is that? You bringing that up again? Don't
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: bring that up again, your editor's problem. That's such a
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: wasted story.
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: You're listening to the forty seven Morning Update with Ben Ferguson.
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: Good Saturday morning to you. Ben Ferguson with you, and
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: these are some of the stories that you may have
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: missed that we talked about this week on the forty
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: seven Morning Update. First up, the Trump administration announcing a
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: probe into Harvard's anti semitism and it could cost the
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: university billions of dollars in federal funds. Also, you may
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: remember the big thing signal Gate last week. Well, we've
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: got poll numbers that now show it was a big
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: flop for the Dems and the media trying to make
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: America turn on Donald Trump. His poll numbers holding strong.
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: And finally, other countries are in a panic right now
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: and are running to meet with Donald Trump and his administration. Yes,
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: over the tariffs that are clearly working. I'll give you
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: the list and what they're doing coming up in just
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: a moment, But first make sure if you're new to
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: the show, you hit that subscribe or auto download button
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: right now so you never miss an episode of the
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: forty seven Morning Update that starts right now.
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: Story number one.
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  Speaker 2: There are two basic questions that American taxpayers should be
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: asking when it comes to universities like Harvard. Number one,
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: why are your federal tax dollars going there? Especially when
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: Harvard University's endowment at the end of June of twenty
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: twenty four, their fiscal year was valued at fifty three
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: point two billion dollars. By the way, that represented a
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: two point five billion dollar increase from the previous fiscal year.
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: The second question is why is the government giving nine
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: billion in federal funds to a university that also has
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: antisemitic tendencies. Well, both of those questions are now being
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: answered by the Trump administration as they are probe being
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: Harvard for exactly that anti semitism and looking at the
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: real possibility of pulling the nine billion in federal funds.
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: The Trump administration announcing on Monday that they are looking
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: into Harvard over its chronic problem with anti semitism, placing
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: the nine billion in federal grants at risk at the
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: nation's most elite academic institution. Harvard's campus has become increasingly
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: hostile to Jews in recent years, as radical anti Israel
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  Speaker 2: activists have become well one to one basically with a
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: university and their mindset. Especially since the Hamaster attacks of
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: October the seventh, which dozens of student groups blamed on
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: Israel on campus, the university has struggled to respond. In fact,
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: the former Harvard president, Clotting Gay, could not even commit
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: to Congress that the university would take action if there
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: were calls for genocide of Jews on campus. She resigned
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: weeks later in disgrace. Three separate federal departments announced a
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: joint investigation on Monday of Harvard in a press statement
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: saying this today, the Department of Education, Health and Human Services,
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  Speaker 2: and the US General Services Administration announce a comprehensive review
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: of federal contracts and grants at Harvard University and its affiliates.
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: This review is part of the ongoing efforts of the
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: Joint Task Force to combat Anti Semitism. The task Force
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: will review more than two hundred and fifty five million
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: in contracts between Harvard University, its affiliates, and the federal government.
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: The review also includes more than eight point seven billion
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  Speaker 2: in multi year grant commitments to Harvard University and its
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: affiliates to ensure the university is in compliance with federal regulations,
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: including its civil rights responsibilities. Harvard has served as a
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  Speaker 2: symbol of the American dream for generations, the pinnacle aspiration
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  Speaker 2: for students all over the world to work hard and
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  Speaker 2: earn it mission to the storied institution. Harvard's failure to
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: protect students on campus from anti Semitic discrimination, all while
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: promoting divisive ideologies over free inquiry, has put its reputation
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: in serious jeopardy. Harvard can right these wrongs and restore
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: itself to a campus dedicated to academic excellence and truth
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: seeking where all students feel safe on its campus now.
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: The Trump administration took a similar approach in addressing anti
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: semitism on the campus of Columbia University, which quickly agreed
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: to make major policy changes, though it later seemed to
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: backtrack privately after the enaction of the Biden administration, which
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: was reluctant to confront its own radical base about anti
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: Jewish bigotry. Donald Trump clearly has no problem confronting anti
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: semitism on college campuses, clearly making sure that every Jewish
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  Speaker 2: student feel safe no matter what campus they're on in America.
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  Speaker 2: As for Harvard, if they keep up their anti Semitic ways,
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  Speaker 2: it's going to cost them billions of dollars.
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  Speaker 1: Next story number two.
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  Speaker 2: Over the last ten days, it's been very clear that
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: the Democrats wanted to hurt Donald Trump, and they saw
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: an opportunity. They went all in on something they dubbed
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: signal Gait, demanding that Donald Trump either fire or that
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  Speaker 2: leaders resign in his apparatus. Why because they were killing
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: terrorists and had a message app open called signal We're
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: inadvertently the Atlantic had one of their big dogs that
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: actually got on the message thread. Now, they went all
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: in hoping the American people will be shocked by this accident,
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  Speaker 2: and it clearly was a mistake. No one saying that
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  Speaker 2: it wasn't. But the reality is the American people are
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  Speaker 2: smaller than the radical left and the media attacks on
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: the Trump administration. How do we know this Well, CBS
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  Speaker 2: News poll is found that the presence approval rating is
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  Speaker 2: doing just fine at fifty percent. The poll, released on
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  Speaker 2: Sunday morning, surveyed more than two thousand and six hundred
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  Speaker 2: Americans from across the country on March to twenty seventh
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  Speaker 2: and the twenty eighth after Signal Gate exploded, and what
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  Speaker 2: do we find out? Well, the vast majority of respondents
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  Speaker 2: said that last week's signal incident, in which the National
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: Security Advisor Mike Waltz accidentally added the Atlantic editor in
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: chief Jeffrey Goldberg into an encrypted group chat where plans
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: to attack terrorists were discussed, was quote serious, but it
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  Speaker 2: did not affect Donald Trump's job approval. Translation, the American
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: people actually care more about the fact that Donald Trump
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: is killing terrorists who's on an encrypted chat conversation. So
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: the moral of the story is this, the Democrats are
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: going to keep trying to take down Donald Trump any
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  Speaker 2: way they can. But it also seems the American people
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  Speaker 2: are onto their game. They don't trust the media, and
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  Speaker 2: they sure as hell don't trust the Democratic Party.
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  Speaker 1: And here is story number three.
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  Speaker 2: If you watch the media today, they will tell you
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  Speaker 2: that the tariffs are a disaster, that Donald Trump should
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  Speaker 2: flinch and say sorry and immediately go back to the
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: old way of doing business. That is the story they
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  Speaker 2: want you to believe. But the reality is the tariffs
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  Speaker 2: are already working. One prime example is Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister,
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  Speaker 2: accompanied by a major entourage of Vietnamese business executives, announce
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  Speaker 2: an emergency trip to Washington, DC on Wednesday. Quietly, that
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  Speaker 2: is the same day that Donald Trump revealed his Liberation
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  Speaker 2: Day tariff schedule, which included a forty six percent duty
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  Speaker 2: on imports from Vietnam. The Vietnamese delegation, we're now being told,
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  Speaker 2: is scheduled to arrive on Sunday and remain in Washington,
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: d C. Until April fourteenth, when it will pay an
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: official visit to then Cuba. The Vietnamese Prime Minister will
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: be accompanied by executives from companies such as Vietnam Airlines,
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  Speaker 2: JSC and Venta Capitol Group. The delegation hopes to meet
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  Speaker 2: with Trump officials and beg basically for all of these
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  Speaker 2: tariffs to be brought back down. They are wanting to
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  Speaker 2: quote make a deal. The business community in Vietnam is panic,
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  Speaker 2: and they air panic that the government is not doing
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  Speaker 2: enough too cool the response from Donald Trump. The Prime
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  Speaker 2: Minister's visit, they claim will pave the way for real
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  Speaker 2: negotiations leading to a more balanced agreement easing the burden
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  Speaker 2: on businesses amid the current tough business landscape in Vietnam
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: that coming from the Saigon Times on Thursday. They also
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: reported that Vietnamese analysts and government officials expected about a
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  Speaker 2: ten percent terre from Trump. The rate of forty six
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  Speaker 2: percent that was revealed by Trump at the White House
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  Speaker 2: is when the panic set in. Why Vietnam is among
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: the world's most trade dependent nations, with exports equivalent to
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  Speaker 2: about ninety percent of economic output and counts the US
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  Speaker 2: as its most significant customer. Sales have surged since the
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: trade war that broke out during Trump's first term, when
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: businesses sought to relocate away from China and Vietnam became
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  Speaker 2: an alternative base for production aimed at American markets. American
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  Speaker 2: customers buy about a third of what Vietnam exports to
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  Speaker 2: the entire world, creating a massive trade surplus of more
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  Speaker 2: than one hundred and twenty three billion dollars. This appears
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  Speaker 2: to have factored into the tariff rate reveal by President
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  Speaker 2: Trump on Wednesday, and that is why Vietnam is well
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  Speaker 2: freaking out and running to America. Tried to quote, de
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  Speaker 2: escalate and come up with a fair deal for both countries.
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  Speaker 2: Moral of the story is this Vietnam would have never
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  Speaker 2: called this emergency meeting if it wasn't for Donald Trump
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  Speaker 2: and what he did the White House on the lip day.
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: Thank you for listening to the forty seven Morning Update
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: with Ben Ferguson. Please make sure you hit subscribe wherever
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: you're listening to this podcast right now and for more
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: in depth news, also subscribe to the Ben Ferguson podcast
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: and we will see you back here on Monday morning.