Economist, lawyer, finance expert and author James Rickards sat down for a recent interview with stand-up comedians Konstantin Kisin and Francis Foster on their Youtube show “Triggernometry,” where he discussed the genius of President Donald Trump before taking a deep dive into communist China.
The segment lasted more than six minutes and largely focused on two different topics: 1.) Why Rickards thinks Trump is a “difficult-to-understand genius,” and 2.) Why China has been allowed to lie, cheat and steal its way into being the second largest economy in the world. As an aside, Rickards has previously said Trump is ‘ready to lower the boom” on China.
We’ll have Part II of the interview Thursday morning here on Money and Markets, so be sure and check back.
Part I: The Genius of Trump
Rickards predicted Trump would win the 2016 election and he says he’ll win again in 2020, simply because Democrats haven’t learned anything and are still attacking him via identity politics.
Rickards: “Trump is a difficult-to-understand genius. I look at the fact that he won in 2016 and of course we’re coming into the 2020 election — and I predicted a Trump victory in 2016 so I’m in the business of predictive analytics, and I have Trump as a strong favorite to win again,” Rickards said. “But of the factors I look at, I look at his opponents, the media, the Democrats, the progressives and I say, ‘Did they learn anything? Did they learn anything in 2016 so they can do something different today and perhaps beat him?’
“And so far the answer is, ‘No, they haven’t learned a thing.'”
Kisin: “They’ve doubled down on all the crazy cultural stuff that got them in trouble in 2016.”
Rickards: “That’s exactly right, they’ve doubled down. That’s a good way to put it. No sign at all that they’ve learned anything,” Rickards responded. “I describe Trump’s relationship with the media as the media are a herd of puppies and Trump’s the master with a red rubber ball. And he throws the ball and all the puppies chase the ball. And one of them fetches it and brings it back, and he throws the ball over there and they do the same thing.
“Meanwhile, he’s doing serious stuff.”
So what exactly is the red ball? (Only Rickards’ quotes are used the rest of the way).
“Stormy Daniels, impeachment, collusion, Russia-gate. These things are distractions; no substance to any of them and the media keeps chasing them,” Rickards explained. “Meanwhile, what is Trump actually doing? The largest tax cut in history, he is remaking the federal judiciary, appointing judges at an unprecedented rate, taking control of the courts and it’s from a list produced by the Federalist Society, who are very staunch, reliable conservatives and they pick them in their early 40s because it’s a lifetime appointment. So they’ll be on the bench 40 years from now.
“The Trump judiciary is going to run the United States long after I’m gone … maybe four decades or so in the future.”
Rickards then said Trump also “owns the Fed.”
“Trump came in and there were two vacancies on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve. Why were there two vacancies? Well, (Barack) Obama was so sure that Hillary (Clinton) was going to win that he didn’t bother with the appointments,” Rickards said. “He said, ‘Well, I’ll give them to Hillary. She’ll appoint some strong hands.’
“So Trump got two seats right off the bat, then there were a couple of resignations so it went up to four seats and there’s been one more since then, plus promoting Jay Powell from where he already was a governor before Trump, to chairman. So Lael Brainard is going to end up as the only non-Trump appointee on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve — she’s gotta feel like a hostage when she goes in the room.
Meanwhile, the mainstream press keeps chasing the rubber ball, Rickards said.
“So Trump owns the Federal Reserve, he’s taking control of the judiciary, he’s burning the code of federal regulations, literally burning it down so you can actually have some freedom, and the largest tax cut in history, and he’s confronting China,” he said. “So the press is chasing the rubber ball, and he’s doing big stuff that’s going to be real historic stuff.”
Be sure and check back Thursday morning when we’ll have Part II of Rickards’ interview on “Triggernometry,” where he did a fantastic job of explaining how China was able to rise to its place as the world’s second largest economy by breaking all of the rules — and he calls out the politicians who let it happen.
Editor’s note: Is Rickards right on why he thinks Trump won the 2016 election and will win again in 2020 — because Democrats are still focused on identity politics? Share your thoughts below.