June 10, 2025

Marines, Mayhem & Dr. Phil: Trump’s LA Showdown Gets Wild

Show Notes
Transcript

Marines in LA? Dr. Phil on ICE raids? Trump and Elon in a billionaire brawl that’s nuking Tesla’s stock? Oh, and gas stations now serve pizza better than your local pizzeria. In today’s episode, we break down the chaos: President Trump sends 700 Marines to Los Angeles, Gavin Newsom tells him to bring it on, and somehow Dr. Phil gets involved. Meanwhile, Elon Musk and Trump are in a full-on feud that has Vice President JD Vance nervously playing referee as Tesla’s value nosedives. And if that wasn’t wild enough, your local gas station is becoming a mall with surprisingly edible mozzarella sticks. Welcome to America 2025, where the fuel is drama, the cuisine is gas-station gourmet, and the politics are a reality show gone off the rails.

WEBVTT

1
00:00:03.120 --> 00:00:09.880
Calarogus shark media from Los Angeles, where we're sending in

2
00:00:09.919 --> 00:00:13.759
the Marines. This is ballot, that's right, and they may

3
00:00:13.880 --> 00:00:19.079
even be working with doctor Phil Let's hit this. President

4
00:00:19.120 --> 00:00:22.039
Trump has deployed seven hundred Marines to Los Angeles after

5
00:00:22.079 --> 00:00:24.920
immigration protests turned into what can only be described as

6
00:00:24.960 --> 00:00:29.039
the world's most expensive game of the floor is lava,

7
00:00:29.120 --> 00:00:32.039
except the lava is political theater and everyone's stepping in

8
00:00:32.079 --> 00:00:36.079
it now. California Governor Gavin Newsom is calling this deployment

9
00:00:36.200 --> 00:00:40.719
illegal and a blatant abuse of power. Newsom's practically daring

10
00:00:40.719 --> 00:00:43.600
Trump to arrest him, telling MSNBC he knows where to

11
00:00:43.640 --> 00:00:46.799
find me. Yeah, Gavin, he can probably just follow the

12
00:00:46.840 --> 00:00:49.759
sound of expensive wine being poured and perfectly quaffed hair

13
00:00:49.799 --> 00:00:53.280
being styled. The Marines are there to protect federal buildings,

14
00:00:53.359 --> 00:00:56.479
which means they can't actually arrest anyone. They're basically really

15
00:00:56.479 --> 00:01:01.560
buff security guards with better training. Meanwhile, Homeland Security Secretary

16
00:01:01.640 --> 00:01:05.200
Christy Nome called Los Angeles a city of criminals on

17
00:01:05.280 --> 00:01:09.640
Fox News. Now, I've been to LA and she's not wrong.

18
00:01:10.079 --> 00:01:13.680
Have you seen what they charge for parking? That's highway

19
00:01:13.799 --> 00:01:18.840
robbery right there. But here's my favorite part, Doctor Phil.

20
00:01:19.439 --> 00:01:22.799
Yes that Doctor Phil has been embedding with ice agents

21
00:01:22.840 --> 00:01:26.239
during these raids. Doctor Phil, the man who made a

22
00:01:26.280 --> 00:01:29.000
career out of telling people their problems aren't that complicated,

23
00:01:29.079 --> 00:01:31.879
is now riding along on immigration raids like he's in

24
00:01:31.920 --> 00:01:36.079
an episode of Cops. What's Next? Judge Judy presiding over

25
00:01:36.159 --> 00:01:40.400
deportation hearings, the Trump administration says they're happy to have

26
00:01:40.439 --> 00:01:44.120
this fight because it's politically popular, and they might be right.

27
00:01:44.560 --> 00:01:47.879
Fifty four percent of Americans support the deportation program according

28
00:01:47.920 --> 00:01:51.079
to a recent poll. Though to be fair, fifty four

29
00:01:51.120 --> 00:01:54.319
percent of Americans also think they could survive a zombie apocalypse,

30
00:01:54.599 --> 00:01:56.480
so maybe we shouldn't put too much stock in what

31
00:01:56.480 --> 00:02:00.359
people tell pollsters. This whole situation has turned into a

32
00:02:00.400 --> 00:02:03.680
made for TV political drama where everyone's trying to out

33
00:02:03.680 --> 00:02:07.640
tough each other. Trump's threatening to arrest governors, Governors are

34
00:02:07.719 --> 00:02:10.800
daring him to try, and Doctor Phil is somehow involved.

35
00:02:11.680 --> 00:02:14.000
At this point, I'm just waiting for Gordon Ramsey to

36
00:02:14.000 --> 00:02:16.560
show up and start yelling at everyone about how they're

37
00:02:16.560 --> 00:02:21.319
doing immigration enforcement all wrong. So we've got a billionaire

38
00:02:21.360 --> 00:02:24.919
cage match brewing between Elon Musk and Donald Trump and

39
00:02:25.080 --> 00:02:28.000
Vice President J. D. Vance is basically playing the role

40
00:02:28.039 --> 00:02:30.240
of the concerned friend trying to break up a bar

41
00:02:30.280 --> 00:02:33.879
fight between two drunk uncles. At Thanksgiving. Musk and Trump

42
00:02:33.919 --> 00:02:35.599
have been going at each other over what the White

43
00:02:35.639 --> 00:02:38.759
House calls the One Big Beautiful Bill, a name that

44
00:02:38.800 --> 00:02:41.120
sounds like it was focus grouped by people who think

45
00:02:41.159 --> 00:02:45.280
big lely is proper English. Vance, playing the diplomatic role,

46
00:02:45.479 --> 00:02:48.919
called any connection between Trump and Jeffrey Epstein bs while

47
00:02:48.919 --> 00:02:51.479
still holding out hope that Musk might come back into

48
00:02:51.520 --> 00:02:54.879
the fold. He said, maybe that's not possible now because

49
00:02:54.879 --> 00:02:58.680
he's gone so nuclear nuclear is right. This is like

50
00:02:58.759 --> 00:03:01.840
watching two toddlers over the last juice box, except these

51
00:03:01.879 --> 00:03:06.000
toddlers control space programs and social media platforms. The best part.

52
00:03:06.479 --> 00:03:10.159
Vance admits Elon's new to politics and suggests he might

53
00:03:10.199 --> 00:03:13.759
be shooting from the hip new to politics. The man

54
00:03:13.800 --> 00:03:16.599
bought Twitter for forty four billion dollars and turned it

55
00:03:16.599 --> 00:03:20.599
into his personal megaphone. That's not new to politics, that's

56
00:03:20.639 --> 00:03:24.000
politics on expert mode. Tesla's stock has dropped more than

57
00:03:24.039 --> 00:03:27.520
fourteen percent in five days, which means Musk's net worth

58
00:03:27.560 --> 00:03:30.919
is taking what Vance calls an eye watering hit. Nothing

59
00:03:30.960 --> 00:03:34.280
says I'm winning this argument, like watching your company's value

60
00:03:34.280 --> 00:03:37.840
creator in real time. Vance tried to smooth things over,

61
00:03:38.120 --> 00:03:41.000
saying he thinks Trump would be fine if Elon chilled

62
00:03:41.000 --> 00:03:44.319
out a little bit. Telling Elon Musk to chill out

63
00:03:44.360 --> 00:03:46.599
is like telling a hurricane to maybe tone down the

64
00:03:46.599 --> 00:03:50.039
wind speed. The man launched a car into space for fun,

65
00:03:50.520 --> 00:03:54.520
subtle isn't exactly his brand. The whole situation has Advance

66
00:03:54.599 --> 00:03:57.879
worried about the ramifications for the country, saying a blood

67
00:03:57.879 --> 00:04:00.719
feud between the world's wealthiest man and the world's most

68
00:04:00.719 --> 00:04:04.439
powerful man won't end well for anyone, and he's probably right.

69
00:04:05.240 --> 00:04:07.439
When your political drama sounds like the plot of a

70
00:04:07.479 --> 00:04:10.280
rejected Marvel movie, maybe it's time to step back and

71
00:04:10.319 --> 00:04:12.599
ask if this is really how we want to govern,

72
00:04:12.759 --> 00:04:22.639
or maybe we should send in the Marines. So gas

73
00:04:22.680 --> 00:04:26.399
stations are getting bigger, and I mean really bigger. We're

74
00:04:26.439 --> 00:04:29.839
talking about Bucky's locations that are seventy five thousand square feet.

75
00:04:30.600 --> 00:04:33.439
That's not a gas station. That's a small airport terminal

76
00:04:33.600 --> 00:04:38.000
that happens to sell beef jerky. The reason electric vehicles

77
00:04:38.720 --> 00:04:41.240
turns out when your car takes thirty minutes to charge

78
00:04:41.240 --> 00:04:44.000
instead of three minutes to fill up. People need something

79
00:04:44.040 --> 00:04:48.920
to do, so gas stations are transforming into shopping centers, restaurants,

80
00:04:48.920 --> 00:04:53.040
and apparently small cities. Kevin Hart from Upside not the

81
00:04:53.079 --> 00:04:56.680
comedian the Business Guy says retailers don't want you just

82
00:04:56.720 --> 00:05:00.000
sitting in your car during charging. They want you inside

83
00:05:00.279 --> 00:05:04.319
spending money on overpriced energy drinks and questionable hot dogs.

84
00:05:05.120 --> 00:05:08.079
Sheets has grown their average store size by over one

85
00:05:08.120 --> 00:05:12.079
thousand square feet in the past twenty years. Quick Trip

86
00:05:12.120 --> 00:05:15.480
stores are over seven thousand square feet with full kitchens

87
00:05:15.480 --> 00:05:19.519
and drive through lanes. These aren't gas stations anymore. They're

88
00:05:19.560 --> 00:05:22.759
suburban town squares that happen to have pumps out front.

89
00:05:23.560 --> 00:05:27.240
But here's where it gets interesting. Communities are fighting back

90
00:05:28.600 --> 00:05:31.079
when your gas station is bigger than most grocery stores.

91
00:05:31.360 --> 00:05:35.240
Maybe people have a point about the neighborhood character. Denver

92
00:05:35.319 --> 00:05:37.839
even passed an ordnance banning new gas stations within a

93
00:05:37.920 --> 00:05:40.680
quarter mile of existing ones, saying the land should be

94
00:05:40.720 --> 00:05:44.680
used for affordable housing instead. The food angle is where

95
00:05:44.680 --> 00:05:49.199
this gets really wild. Casey's is apparently the nation's fifth

96
00:05:49.279 --> 00:05:53.279
largest pizza chain a gas station. Sheets is known for

97
00:05:53.360 --> 00:05:57.120
mazzarella sticks, and mac and cheese bites. Huah Wah built

98
00:05:57.160 --> 00:06:01.399
its reputation on hogies. Bucki's customs make pilgrimages for the

99
00:06:01.519 --> 00:06:05.040
beef jerky. We've reached the point where people are road

100
00:06:05.040 --> 00:06:08.639
tripping to gas stations for the cuisine. Food sales at

101
00:06:08.680 --> 00:06:11.879
gas stations have more than doubled in twenty years, from

102
00:06:11.959 --> 00:06:14.439
thirteen percent of sales in two thousand and three to

103
00:06:14.519 --> 00:06:18.560
nearly twenty seven percent in twenty twenty three. That's not

104
00:06:18.639 --> 00:06:22.079
just selling more slim gyms. That's a complete business model transformation.

105
00:06:22.959 --> 00:06:26.439
Travis Sheet's, the CEO, admits they're preparing for a future

106
00:06:26.439 --> 00:06:29.839
when gas demand will decline. Smart move, because nothing says

107
00:06:29.839 --> 00:06:33.000
forward thinking like turning your gas station into a restaurant empire.

108
00:06:33.120 --> 00:06:37.040
Before everyone goes electric, the restaurant industry is taking notice.

109
00:06:37.040 --> 00:06:40.519
Two Craig done Away from Penn Station East Coast subs says,

110
00:06:40.560 --> 00:06:45.240
convenience stores are becoming direct competitors to traditional restaurants. When

111
00:06:45.240 --> 00:06:47.519
you're worried about losing business to a place that also

112
00:06:47.560 --> 00:06:51.000
sells motor oil, maybe it's time to reevaluate your sandwich game.

113
00:06:52.040 --> 00:06:55.879
So we've got gas stations becoming shopping malls, Electric cars

114
00:06:55.920 --> 00:07:01.079
forcing longer stops, and communities split between wanting economic development

115
00:07:01.360 --> 00:07:04.040
and not wanting their neighborhood turned into a twenty four

116
00:07:04.079 --> 00:07:08.160
to seven truck stop. The future of American retail apparently

117
00:07:08.160 --> 00:07:12.600
involves really really big gas stations serving surprisingly good food

118
00:07:12.759 --> 00:07:16.160
while your car charges. Portions of today's program were made

119
00:07:16.199 --> 00:07:20.560
with the help of AI, the USMC, and electric vehicles.