Trump has new plans for NATO.

0:00 Speaker 1 Sunday after Thanksgiving, December one, thirty days left for the year and only fifty days left before a new presidency. What is today? Tell us what is going on in the world. How is the world reacting? We have Admiral James Stavridis, and he was the Supreme Ally Commander of NATO for four years. One smart guy, one good friend.

0:29 He knows the pulse of the situation. Admiral Stevritis, give the American people an update. They deserve to know what’s going on.

0:39 Speaker 2 John, Let’s start with the pretty obvious impact of the coming Trump presidency around the world, and I’ll hit it in three key areas. When is the Middle East? Here, you see Iran pulling back, their concern, their nervous they ought to be team Trump. Will take a very aggressive stance toward Tehran. And by the way, the Iranian air

1:04 defenses were crushed by the Israelis in the most recent strikes, so Iran very vulnerable. What that means is that in the fight that Israel continues to have with Hezbollah to the north of Israel and Lebanon, you’re seeing Hezbollah willing to go to a cease fire. I think that’s a direct result of the presence of a new Trump administration

1:33 coming on. So number two, trade relationships around the world. Team Trump has threatened to impose some pretty big tariffs. John, I’ll let others discuss the economic impact of that. Many economists believe it’ll be very inflationary. What I’m worried about is the geopolitical impact. So if we proposed big terrorists, for example, on Mexico, Mexico will undoubtedly respond by putting

2:04 big tariffs on our goods. Same with the Europeans. Obviously, very much the case with China. So we need to be watching to see if Team Trump is using the discussion of these tariffs as a negotiating play. I think they are. If so, that would be smart, if we can maneuver without creating a massive trade war. So that’s

2:30 the second big thing. And then I think third and finally, in Ukraine, both sides know a negotiation is coming because Team Trump is going to force one. But that means both sides are angling to put themselves in the best possible military position going into that negotiation. That’s why you’re seeing Putin so aggressively bombing the Ukrainians. That’s why the

2:55 Ukrainians are holding onto a chunk of Russia they took a couple month months ago. Look for the fighting there to continue until after the inauguration. Hopefully President Trump himself will be able to impose his will on both Kiev and Moscow. That’s the best chance we have for a ceasefire this year.

3:17 Speaker 1 I know, I believe, I think it’s a negotiating tactic. But I guess the other the presidents of the other nations don’t really know, because Trump is a little bit unpredictable.

3:27 Speaker 2 Sometimes, yeah he is, And you know, sometimes our greatest strength can be our greatest weakness. It just depends how circumstances play out. But I agree that in many capitals around the world, leaders are holding their breath, just unsure of what’s coming. If that is used as a negotiating ploy, as a way to keep an opponent off balance, it

3:55 works out pretty well. When it’s used with our allies and partner and friends like the NATO Alliance, it can have consequences that are less good. We’ll have to see how it unfolds.

4:06 Speaker 1 Now, Admirble, the Chinese have been up to some pocus pocus tricks in the Far East. There’s a room around that the Chinese ship was in the Baltic Sea was cutting cables.

4:25 Speaker 2 Yeah, this is very concerning for three reasons. John. The basic storyline is a week or so ago, cables were cut between NATO allies between Sweden, Lithuania, Finland and others in the Baltic Sea. So all those nations obviously began investigating.

4:46 They find a Chinese merchant ship that went back and forth over the area, and it turns out they now have this ship in custody. There’s pretty strong evidence that the ship deliberately bagged its anchor, meaning deployed that anchor down to the bottom of the sea and then just kept driving along, meaning the anchor would then cut these

5:09 critical Internet cables between NATO allies. That ship’s in custody. Here’s what’s particularly worrisome. That ship has been known to operate extensively in Russian ports. So what you could construct here is the sense that Russia and China are colluding against NATO. And I think as I look at the big geopolitical landscape of the future in the next four years,

5:40 what worries me the most is the idea that China and Russia would draw closer and closer together cooperate militarily work against the United States. Let’s face it. As a package. Here you have Russia, this vast country with huge oil and gas natural resources, but not many people. China, on the other hand, many many people, but not the kind

6:08 of natural resources. So when they come and operate together, that is a particular concern for the United States, for the NATO Alliance, for all democratic and freedom loving nations everywhere.

6:23 Speaker 1 What do they call it in the James Bond movies Specta the Evil Empires of the World.

6:30 Speaker 2 Yeah, and you have to add to it Iran, North Korea, of Venezuela, Cuba, Syria. They’re a number of different bar scenes and star Wars kind of players in that grand coalition of mal actors and leading it Russia and China.

6:52 And this particular incident cutting internet cables is a knife pointed at the throat of international com immer security intelligence collection in the NATO Alliance.

7:04 Speaker 1 Absolutely anything else you want to talk about this Sunday morning, No.

7:09 Speaker 2 John, but I’d like to close with this. We just had an election. Now, we just had Thanksgiving Day. I think for all Americans, if you’re candidate, won don’t gloat about it. If you’re candidate lost. Don’t whine about it.

7:26 Let’s figure out a way to give thanks together as Americans and think about how we can approach the world today. Because all of these problems sean everything you and I just talked about, from Russia to China, to North Korea, to Iran, to the Middle East, to terrorism to cyber to cut gables, all that we can solve all those

7:47 problems if we can work together. Let’s give thanks for that.

7:52 Speaker 1 God bless America, God bless the world. We need God’s help. Thank you so much. I had most of Readi’s and I hope you had a great Thanksgiving weekend. God bless you and God bless America the same.

8:03 Speaker 2 Right back to you, John, Thanks for everything. Thank you.