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Tariffs, tyrants and Trump in trouble | Simon Marks’ American Week on LBC
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May 31, 2025
Simon Marks' weekly recap looks at a big week of bad news for President Donald Trump as US courts block his 'Liberation Day' tariff plan. 0:22 | Trump is 'not happy' with Putin 1:56 | Tariff setbacks 04:53 | Courtroom defeats 07:37 | Scott Pelley: 'journalism is under attack' 09:25 | 'Taco Trades' - Trump gets called a 'chicken' Listen to the full show on Global Player: https://app.af.globalplayer.com/Br0x/LBCYouTubeListenLive #simonmarks #donaldtrump #LBC #uspolitics #tariffs LBC is the home of live debate around news and current affairs in the UK. Join in the conversation and listen at https://www.lbc.co.uk/ Sign up to LBC’s weekly newsletter here: https://l-bc.co/signup
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0:00
Some American weeks you've almost got to pity President Donald Trump
0:04
He appears to be finding the whole business of governing just way more complicated than he suspected
0:10
which is odd given that he's given this presidency thing a go before
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But this was the week when various chickens came home to roost
0:19
and one of them was of the Russian variety. I'm not happy with what Putin's doing
0:24
He's killing a lot of people, and I don't know what the hell happened to Putin. Now, who among us cannot empathize
0:38
I'm sure we've all had friendships that go off the boil. One minute, you're getting along fine with the fella
0:44
You've even had a two-hour phone date in which he's assured you that he really likes you
0:49
Next thing you know, he's put missiles on 355 drones, and he's launched the largest ever aerial bombardment of his next-door neighbour
0:57
talk about anti-social behavior, you almost want Robert Jenrick to chase Putin down with a video camera
1:04
I mean, who could have seen it coming? I'm very surprised. We'll see what we're going to do
1:08
What am I going to tell you? You're the fake news, aren't you? You're totally fake
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Any other questions? I don't like what Putin is doing, not even a little bit
1:17
He's killing people. And something happened to this guy, and I don't like it
1:22
He doesn't like it. Well, at least he's taking a stand. although he's now decided to give his old mucker in the Kremlin two more weeks to calm down
1:30
and engage in more talks about a 30-day ceasefire, during which the rest of us all know that Putin will continue to remain on brand
1:40
kicking the ball into the long grass, killing more innocent Ukrainians, and playing Donald Trump like a Stradivarius
1:47
The Russian leader was just the start of Trump's problems this week
1:51
the American judiciary was next in line to irk him. We're getting some breaking news regarding President Trump's sweeping tariff regime
2:00
tariff policies here. The Washington Post has it. Take a look at this. The Court of International Trade ruled today that President Trump exceeded his authority
2:09
in imposing tariffs on all imported goods. For months, Trump has argued that the world is ripping America off
2:15
defiant in his executive authority to impose these staggering tariffs. but now a federal panel says the president is overstepping his authority and that his tariffs are illegal
2:24
Those are the ones he declared back on April 2nd his so Liberation Day Fox ABC and MSNBC there with news that stunned the White House You remember Liberation Day the moment a new golden age began in America
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heralded by that Eurovision Song Contest-style event in the White House Rose Garden
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when the rest of the world was told to pay up. Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia
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Oh, look at Cambodia, 97%. We're going to bring it down to 49%
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They made a fortune with the United States of America. United Kingdom, 10%
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And we'll go 10%. So we'll do the same thing. Very big of him
3:04
Well, they're not laughing now. According to two separate courts, the president did not, in fact, have the power
3:10
at the stroke of his trademark felt-tipped pen, to upend the entire global trading system
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without asking Congress how they felt about it. Just to be clear, the courts are not saying
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that you cannot impose tariffs on your trading partners they are saying, Mr. President, you are not a dictator. You've got to work with Congress
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To which the White House says, The courts should have no role here. There is a troubling and dangerous trend of unelected judges
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inserting themselves into the presidential decision making process. America cannot function if President Trump or any other president for that matter has their sensitive diplomatic or
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trade negotiations railroaded by activist judges. Let's be clear about what White House press
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Secretary Caroline Levitt said there, America cannot function if the President of the United
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States is required to uphold the Constitution. It is the Constitution that allows judges and
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Congress, for that matter, a pretty substantial role in the functioning of America. But this is
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a White House absolutely determined to smash all of that. President Trump is in the process of
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rebalancing America's trading agreements with the entire world, bringing tens of billions of dollars
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in tariff revenues to our country, and finally ending the United States of America from being
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ripped off. These judges are threatening to undermine the credibility of the United States
4:33
on the world stage. It's astonishing stuff. And just in case anyone missed the subtlety of the
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White House position, the president was on hand to assist, posting a tough guy picture of himself
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on his social media account with the caption, he's on a mission from God and nothing can stop
4:51
what is coming. On a variety of issues though, the courts are certainly trying to stop him
4:57
He is facing scores of judicial defeats now not just on trade but on mass deportations with judges halting some of them on the shuttering of federal government agencies and some of the mass layoffs orchestrated by Elon Musk
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who this week finally beat a somewhat wounded retreat from Donald Trump's inner circle
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The courts have also halted another presidential gambit this week, the decision to ban Harvard
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University from recruiting foreign students like Alfie Williamson, a Dane studying at Harvard's
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world-renowned School of Government. He spoke to Ben Kentish on LBC last Sunday. I was warned by
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multiple people not to speak out, not to put my name out there. My family, my friends, my peers
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they all told me that I was taking great risk by voicing my opinion, which seems awfully ironic in
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a place like the United States, which was founded on the idea of freedom of speech. Indeed, smart lad
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lest you are still thinking about sending your kids to an American college, bear in mind
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that all US embassies and consulates have now been ordered to stop processing any new student visas
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and that if your son or daughter is lucky enough to get one and you then pony up, say, the $85,000
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you'll need just for one year of tuition at one of America's Ivy League institutions
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you could lose the money if the president and his brethren decide suddenly to chuck everybody out
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Take a listen again to White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt and ask yourself
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is this really the country where you want your kids to get an education
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Apprenticeships, electricians, plumbers, we need more of those in our country and less LGBTQ graduate majors from Harvard University
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And that's what this administration's position is. And you can forget all those Nobel Prizes as well
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especially the ones awarded to LGBTQ high achievers. It is stunning to watch the disdain that Trump insiders have
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for the very country in which they live. The Republican Party used to try and own national pride
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in America's storied achievements. Now they seem to find everything just grubby
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If I could find any examples of Democrat leaders standing up to Trump over the past week, I'd bring them to you
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But instead, take a listen to one of America's most respected and experienced journalists
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Scott Pelley, the former anchor of the CBS Evening News, now with 60 Minutes
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He presided last weekend over the graduation ceremony at Wake Forest University in North Carolina
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And I going to play this to you at length because he did not hold back But in this moment this moment this morning our sacred rule of law is under attack
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Journalism is under attack. Universities are under attack. Freedom of speech is under attack
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and insidious fear is reaching through our schools
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our businesses, our homes, and into our private thoughts. The fear to speak
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in America. Power can rewrite history with grotesque, false narratives
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They can make criminals heroes and heroes criminals. Power can change the definition
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of the words we use to describe reality. Diversity is now described as illegal
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Equity is to be shunned. Inclusion is a dirty word. This is an old playbook, my friends
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There's nothing new in this. He's courageous to have done that. In America today, it could be a career ender
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And speaking of bravery, we'll finish this week with a concept that Donald Trump recoils against
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The notion that he hasn't got the stones for the job fueled by a new moniker that Wall Street has embraced
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He was asked about it at the White House earlier this week. Wall Street ysts have coined a new term called the taco trade
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They're saying Trump always chickens out on the tariff threats, and that's why markets are higher this week
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What's your response to that? I kick out. Chicken out. Oh, isn't that a chicken out? I've never heard that
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You mean because I reduced China from 145% that I set down to 100 and then down to another number
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Don't ever say what you said. That's a nasty question. Hauntingly familiar, that. I'm sure it reminds me of something
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Nobody calls me chicken. Back to the future. At the end of this American week, I'm game for a trip in the DeLorean
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What say we fire up the flux capacitor
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