American Thought Leaders

Andrew Hale is a senior trade policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation. In this episode, we discuss how Trump is using various trade tools to strengthen alliances and weaken adversaries.“I look upon what he’s trying to do as a negotiating tactic. He’s using tariffs as an instrument of statecraft, and also for economic coercion, to achieve matters that sometimes go well beyond trade policy,” Hale says.Hale says that tariffs should be used against America’s foreign adversaries, but not necessarily against its allies.“Among [those on] the protection side, there’s a knee jerk reaction saying a tariff is the panacea to all of our problems. And actually, a lot of these problems we created right here in Washington. And we can fix them right here in Washington, with dealing with some of the stupid and foolish regulations that we have,” he says. “What we cannot go back to is what we had during the Clinton years, what we had during the Bush years, the Obama years—which was this seamless trade with China, where we treat them as a market economy. They’re a non-market economy. They’re a foreign adversary.”Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

“We had a case of a little cell of Christian believers who were all converts from Islam, and they were meeting secretly. And they were infiltrated by a radical terrorist group called Al Shabaab, and they burnt down the house. They captured some of them, they took them onto the beach, and only two of them managed to survive, because they killed the rest of them.”Charmaine Hedding is the founder and president of the Shai Fund, a humanitarian organization that aids, protects, and even rescues persecuted minorities throughout the Middle East and Africa.“In 2014, I watched as the Islamic State swept over Syria and Iraq. And I watched as the Yazidi and the Christian women were taken as sex slaves and sold in the markets of Raqqa and in Turkey and across the Middle East. And I thought to myself, ‘Who’s going to do something about this?’” she says. “The greatest struggle in the Middle East and in Africa, at the moment, is this concept of freedom of religion and belief.”Hedding was born and raised in South Africa, where her father and grandfather were outspoken anti-apartheid activists. Because of their activism, they were eventually forced to flee to Jerusalem when Hedding was a child.“By the time I was 12, we were harassed by agents. And we had agents in the church. We were followed,” she says. “The question that I remember asking myself as a child after reading the stories of the Holocaust is: If I was a European, what would I have done? And would I have put myself at risk to save a Jewish family? And that’s what motivated me, that question.”Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

Stefan Rust, Founder and CEO of Truflation, shares his insights on America’s economic landscape. He discusses the staggering 26% inflation over four years, eroding purchasing power. Rust delves into the impact of DOGE’s cost-cutting on the economy and the potential risks of deflation. He highlights the difference between the Truflation Index and government statistics in measuring inflation. Furthermore, he examines consumer spending trends and the effects of tariffs on economic strategy, especially in U.S.-China relations.

In this conversation, John O’Sullivan, a former policy advisor to Margaret Thatcher and current president of the Danube Institute, discusses the critical role of a unified national identity in democracy. He argues that multiculturalism can lead to hostile identity politics, alienating communities. O’Sullivan also critiques post-nationalism as an unattainable goal for states, emphasizing the political shifts in urban America and the rise of populism. His insights reveal the challenges facing societies and the need for honest discourse in overcoming them.

Nicolas Chaillan, the former chief software officer for the U.S. Air Force and founder of Ask Sage, discusses the rise of the controversial Chinese AI app DeepSeek. He explores its potential as a wake-up call for U.S. tech and military sectors. The conversation dives into the complexities of AI training, national security risks, and the disparity in AI advancements between the U.S. and China. Chaillan emphasizes the importance of ethical standards in AI and highlights how AI is reshaping industries and workforce dynamics.

Edward Ring, Director of Water and Energy Policy at the California Policy Center, shares his insights on the recent California wildfires and their catastrophic impact. He discusses the origins of the fires and the complexities of rebuilding Los Angeles, emphasizing flawed environmental policies that hinder disaster management. The conversation highlights the need for streamlined permitting processes and critiques identity quotas in firefighting that compromise response quality. Ring advocates for a balanced approach to land management to enhance resilience against future disasters.

“They’re at war for the American mind. That’s why you have TikTok out there. That’s why you have DeepSeek. That’s why you have the China Daily. They’re out there trying to control information and your perception of reality,” says Rep. Abe Hamadeh (R-Ariz.), who was recently elected for his first term.His first bill seeks to ban the widespread distribution of the China Daily in the House of Representatives. China Daily is a registered foreign agent under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. In 2020, the newspaper was among many Chinese state media outlets designated as foreign missions in the United States.“It’s propaganda by a foreign government that’s trying to influence the highest echelons of the United States government. It’s unacceptable,” Hamadeh said.Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

Michael Pack, a documentary filmmaker and former head of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, dives into the world of state-funded media as a powerful tool for public diplomacy. He discusses the staggering impact of a $900 million budget and its reach across 70 languages. Pack advocates for promoting American values globally, particularly emphasizing how breaking down China's internet firewall could transform public discourse there. Additionally, he shares insights on the evolving media landscape, censorship, and the importance of balanced storytelling in documentaries.

Eric Berg, popularly known as Dr. Berg or “The Knowledge Doc,” is a nutritionist and chiropractor specializing in weight loss and alternative health care. He has published more than 6,000 videos and amassed 13 million followers on YouTube, and has trained more than 2,500 doctors and health care practitioners in how diet can impact your health.“When you reduce carbohydrates, it then forces your body to go after your own fat as fuel. So for weight loss, it’s great. And for other things, it’s good too,” says Dr. Berg.In this episode, we discuss Dr. Berg’s approach to health, why he advocates for a keto diet and intermittent fasting, and his thoughts on Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Health and Human Services secretary.“If we are going to make some changes, we have to, first of all, make people aware of these hidden ingredients and start to get them out of your diet,” he says. “They find these loopholes and they try to cheat the system. And it’s called ‘organic,’ but is it really organic?”Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

Suella Braverman is the former home secretary of the United Kingdom, and a conservative member of the British parliament. While she was in Washington for President Donald Trump’s inauguration, we sat down to talk about what’s been happening in the U.K., and what Trump’s election means to her and her constituents.“We need to learn a lot from the MAGA movement, from the success of the Republicans under Donald Trump, and really try and apply some of those lessons to U.K. politics right now, because we are mired in the depression, the recession, and the doom and gloom over socialism,” said Braverman.We discussed the grooming gangs scandal currently making headlines in Britain, in which predominantly migrant gangs of men have been sexually assaulting and abusing young girls for roughly two decades.“The Pakistani men who were involved in this abhorrent behavior were targeting white girls for a specific reason—that they have an outdated, unacceptable view of women. And the authorities failed to act because they were scared of the charge of racism,” said Braverman. “It’s one of the biggest national scandals in our history.”We also discussed issues related to anti-Semitism and free speech.“We’ve got this problem in the U.K. of hate marches, where extremism, antisemitism, and Islamism can be paraded on our streets, and the police won’t take any action. And it’s caused a real increase in antisemitism, and it’s made parts of our streets and our public realm no-go zones for Jewish people,” she said.“We have a crisis of free speech in the United Kingdom, and I use that word deliberately. We have a situation where the police have the powers to record your information and log your details, if you’ve said something that might be offensive to someone. It doesn’t matter about the objective nature of what you’ve said. If someone, somewhere, happens to be offended by what you have said, and it relates to a personal characteristic, race, gender, religion, or sex, then that’s it. The case is closed. You will be considered guilty of what we call a ‘noncrime hate incident.'”Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.