May 29, 2025

Trump’s Mixed Signals on Russia, RFK Jr.’s Vaccine Shift, and Macron’s Viral Slap

Show Notes
Transcript

President Trump is sending mixed signals on Russia, going from praising Vladimir Putin as a "nice gentleman" to accusing him of "playing with fire" amid stalled peace negotiations. Meanwhile, RFK Jr. stirs controversy by removing COVID vaccine recommendations for pregnant women and children, without informing the CDC. French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte create a viral moment with an awkward slap during their visit to Vietnam. It’s a day of political drama you won’t want to miss!

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Kalaroga Shark media from Washington, DC, where we ended the

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Ukraine War on day one. This is ballot, that's right,

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and Mexico paid for that wall. Let's hit this. President

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Trump is apparently having a rough week with his peace

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negotiation skills, and Vladimir Putin is not making it any easier.

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Trump posted on truth Social that Putin is playing with

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fire and suggested that if it weren't for him, lots

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of really bad things would have already happened to Russia,

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and I mean really bad. That's quite a shift from

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last week, when Trump was gushing about his good conversation

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with a nice gentleman named Vladimir Putin. Apparently Putin went

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from nice gentlemen to playing with fire faster than a

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relationship status update on Facebook. The whole situation is giving

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off serious mixed signals energy. Trump spent years talking about

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his close relationship with Putin, describing their trust and downplaying

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Russian aggression. Now he's frustrated that Putin won't come to

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the bargaining table after Trump demanded an immediate ceasefire. Shocking development.

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The guy who invaded another country isn't eager to negotiate.

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Trump famously promised to end the war in Ukraine within

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twenty four hours, though he later admitted he was being

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a little bit sarcastic. That's political speak for I made

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a ridiculous promise and now I'm stuck with it. It's

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the diplomatic equivalent of saying you'll clean your room in

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a minute and then never doing it. What's particularly entertaining

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is that Trump has been threatening sanctions against Russia, which

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is a complete reversal from his previous approach. This is

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the same guy who exempted Russia from tariffs that he

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imposed on most of the rest of the world. Now

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he's considering economic punishment because Putin won't play nice. That's

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like giving your friends special treatment and then getting mad

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when they don't return the favor. Secretary of State Marco

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Rubio warned that threatening sanctions might make Russia stop talking,

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which seems to miss the point that Russia isn't really

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talking anyway. That's like worrying that your silent treatment will

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make someone ignore you. Even more experts are pointing out

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that there's plenty of room to tighten sanctions on Russia.

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Edward Fishman, who helped design Russia sanctions during the Obama

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administration said, there's quite a bit of low hanging fruit

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when it comes to targeting Russian banks and companies. Apparently

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we've been going easy on them this whole time, which

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explains why Putin feels comfortable continuing his invasion. The State

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treasury departments have been drafting potential sanctions packages, but everything

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depends on Trump's personal preference. So basically the fate of

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Ukrainian military aid and Russian economic pressure comes down to

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whatever mood the President is in on any given day.

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That's reassuring foreign policy leadership right there. Former Ambassador William

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Taylor pointed out that Putin doesn't take Trump's frustrated statements

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seriously because there's been zero brow actual pushback. All these

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angry truth social posts have had about as much impact

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as shouting at your television during a football game. Putin

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is basically calling Trump's bluff, and so far it's working.

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The whole thing highlights Trump's negotiating strategy, which apparently involves

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being friendly first and then getting mad when that doesn't work.

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It's the international relations version of asking nicely for something

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and then threatening to tell mom when you don't get

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your way. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy

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Junior just announced that his agency is no longer recommending

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COVID vaccines for healthy pregnant women and healthy children. And yes,

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that's the same RFK Junior who once called the COVID

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vaccine the deadliest vaccine ever made. So this is either

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a major policy shift or Tuesday, Kennedy posted a fifty

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eight second video on social media, because apparently that's how

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we announce major public health decisions. Now. Gone are the

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days of press conferences and detailed explanations. Now we get

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health policy via TikTok length videos. What's next announcing cancer

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treatments through Instagram stories. The best part, cityc officials weren't

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even told about this decision beforehand. That's the government equivalent

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of your boss announcing your resignation without asking you first surprise,

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we've decided you don't recommend things anymore. Hope that's cool

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with you. Kennedy was flanked in the video by FDA

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Commissioner Marty Mackerie and NIH head Jay Bodicharia, who stood

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there nodding along. They looked like backup dancers in a

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very confusing music video about public health policy. Now this

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creates what experts are calling a legal gray area around

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insurance coverage. Translation, good luck figuring out if your insurance

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will pay for these vaccines now. Insurance companies love nothing

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more than a vague policy change that gives them an

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excuse to deny coverage. They're probably celebrating this announcement harder

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than Kennedy's anti vaccine supporters. The timing is particularly interesting

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since the CDC estimates that only thirteen percent of eligible

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children and fourteen percent of eligible pregnant women got the

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latest COVID vaccine anyway, So Kennedy is basically removing a

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recommendation that most people were already ignoring. That's like banning

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something that nobody was buying in the first place. And

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here's the kicker. When Kennedy was asked at a congressional

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hearing whether he'd vaccinate his own children against measles, he said,

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I don't think people should be taking medical advice from me.

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French President Emmanuel Macrone and his wife Brigitte just provided

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the Internet with its latest viral moment, and it wasn't

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exactly the diplomatic content you'd expect from a state visit

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to Vietnam. A two second video clip shows Bridget Macron

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appearing to slap or shove her husband in the face

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as they emerge from their presidential jet in Hanoi. Macrone

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recoiled with what can only be described as the universal

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expression of did that just happen, before quickly recovering to

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wave at the camera like nothing occurred. The Elisi Pallas's

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initial response was to claim the video was Ai generated,

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which is the twenty twenty five equivalent of my dog

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ate my homework. When that didn't work, they pivoted to

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calling it a moment of togetherness and suggested the couple

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was just joking around after their sixteen hour flight, because

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nothing says marital affection like a public face slap at

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an international airport. French officials blamed pro Russian accounts for

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spreading negative comments about the incident, which seems like a stretch.

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Pretty sure, you don't need foreign interference to recognize awkward

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body language when you see it. That's just basic human

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observation skills. The whole situation gets more uncomfortable when you

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remember that Brigitte met Emmanuel when he was fifteen and

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she was his forty year old drama teacher. She was

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married with three children at the time, one of whom

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was actually Emmanuel's classmate, so this relationship has been generating

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awkward conversation since before social media existed. Brigitte has described

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being in a relationship with such a young boy as crippling,

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which is an interesting word choice. She also admitted that

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turning seventy was particularly difficult, saying, obviously it's easier to

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be in the same age range. That's the understatement of

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the century right there. What makes this even more bizarre

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is that the Macrons don't exactly fly economy. Their presidential

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jet has a king sized bed, bathroom, dressing room, and

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Cordon Blue trained chefs. If you're going to have a

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marital spat, at least they're doing it in style. Paris

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sources describe Brigitte as organizing everything for the president, from

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his diary to his clothes, and say it's not unusual

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for her to scold him if he's doing something wrong.

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That's less first lady and more mom making sure you

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remembered your lunch money. Portions of today's show were made

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with the help of rfkai and Russian bots.