Have Dr Frank Luntz, welcome to the latest edition of America speaks right here on straight arrow news, this one is special.
Donald Trump is abroad for the first time in his administration, and I get a chance to ask each of you, the American people, and you clearly represent the entire country. What should the priority be? What should the focus be of our foreign policy right now in mid 2025 so I’m gonna ask each of you to give me one sentence, just one sentence, tell me what the priority should be, and why. Amy, I’m gonna start with you. The world hates us right now. Most of the world’s hates us right now. So I’d say strengthening our relationship with our allies.
Jay from Louisiana, which should be the number one priority, lower in Paris. Brett from New Mexico, what is the biggest focus on foreign policy, the US should have right now. I think what just came out recently with Israel and
Syria, that that that is a big deal because it gives a win to Syria and it gives a loss to Israel, who has been a long ally of ours. Ready from California, you’re up stopping proxy wars, namely, with Russia.
These are from Ohio, number one is China. Number two is Russia. Number three is the Middle East. Mike from Arizona, Ukraine, Russia. Number one because Russia’s encroachment, you know, you gotta stop him. Thomas from New Jersey, managing the growing threat of China.
Capri from Iowa, repairing the damage that Trump has done to our allies.
Santiago from Florida, peace. You threat through strengths.
So it’s interesting, and my first conclusion from you all is, I asked you for a region. Half of you didn’t give me one. I asked you for foreign policy. Half of you gave me something that was economically based or in terms of immigration, security based. So it’s interesting that you’re redefining foreign policy. Why is that?
Because nobody knows where it is at
the end of the day, and it also is. It’s what’s PERS. Maybe it’s what’s personal to you,
even though I’m asking for a global impact. Lisa, go ahead, Russia has more nukes than we do. China has three times more naval ships than we do. So you can worry about Saudi Arabia or Pakistan or Yemen, but the big the big deal is, is Russia and China,
somebody else,
allies? At this point we have, we have damaged the really our relationships with allies. We need our number one thing right now is to stray. Is to become the country we were after we left World War Two, the strongest, best country in the world, where other nations looked up to us right now, they’re all laughing at us. Patrick, you’re nodding your head. You agree with that? No, not at all. I mean, based on some of my international contacts, are our leadership is need, is very necessary,
and fair trade is something that we’re pushing forward, and I think it’s going to work across the board. In a matter of next 60 days, we’re going to see a lot of things happening on the trade angle and our leadership. And I think if we can put together some world peace, we are the leadership that’s going to make that happen. But no one likes us. That’s not true. But
do they respect us? There’s they surely do.
No. If I can just add, I think
basically disowned us. No, I think Donald Trump’s done a very great job at appointing senator or former senator, Marco Rubio to help lead the foreign policy. I believe that Rubio has taken on the whole American first agenda. And you know, whether you like it or hate it, whether you think people are hating us because of Trump, those are all really sensibly their opinions. If you’re looking at how things are working out for us, we’re in a better place than we were with just the former president a couple years. They’re not, really not a couple months on news there it’s on the news. You
I
clearly this is going to be very contentious, and clearly you all have very strong opinions about it, and I appreciate that, but I want to do now is to follow through each region and get your reaction to it. So first, let’s start with China.
What is the threat from China? What is the concern about China? Is it economic? Is it military? Is it cultural? There’s something else. Mark, I’m going to start with you, and then Adele,
I would say China’s really been screwing us over the past, I don’t know, 20 years in terms of economics. I mean, they’re they’re charging tariffs. We.
Buy their stuff. They don’t buy our stuff. And so I think the concern with China is is economic, and then it’s kind of progressed into military as well, because they’re developing the military on the stuff that we buy from them, and then using that money to actually build up their own economy and their own military. Adele Europe, I think it’s economic too. But do I think it’s, you know, this, you know, heightened sense of danger that Trump keeps saying, No. I mean, the reality is, a lot of the things we don’t make anymore, we just don’t make them. So we have to get them from somewhere else. I know he wants to, you know, increase, you know, the US economy and make all this stuff. The reality is that’s not gonna happen, you know. And it’s not only just with no it’s also with, like, the auto industry, okay, that we keep getting our parts from everywhere else. And I will say something, I would never buy an American car in like, a million years, just the way they’re made social security number to the Ford people at Ford and GM, they’re gonna be calling you next week. Lisa, call me and tell me their car is better than, you know, than my scion that’s been on the road for 20 years, and still, you know, working perfectly. Sorry, Lisa, is China a threat, or are we making too much out of this? China is absolutely a threat technology. They have 10,000 hackers working every hour of every day to get to our systems. And they also are here. In 2021 there was only 350
people coming across in 2023 it was 24,000
so they’re here. They’re not over there. They’re here. Capri, should we be this concerned about China?
I worry about China with economics because
they’re not giving in Trump’s. He’s caving in, and we’re not getting any shipments from them anymore. And that’s where we got lots of our stuff. They make there, and now they’re hurting us
at economically, because they don’t want to give us anything.
You know? I think it’s retaliatory. Julia, your reaction to China? Yeah, I think the danger in China is really they’re everywhere, right? And it’s really not knowing what they’re going to do. They’re playing chess at a very high level, and, you know, essentially through technology, and also through,
you know,
espionage, etc, I think they’re a real danger to us. Eddie, do you see China as a clear and present danger? It is a threat, and unfortunately, it’s complicated because now did make a good point, we can’t just reassure all these jobs and make all these things that we buy from China suddenly in the matter of a couple of weeks. It’s complicated, but China absolutely is a threat. Their piracy, and they do have Chinese spies everywhere. I mean, my gosh, they’re building military bases, you know, and next to or they’re buying farmland next to our military bases. Now, they’re definitely a threat. They’re not. There are quasi allies. We need to watch them. But it’s complicated, because no matter what, we still buy Chinese goods. And that’s not going to stop overnight, not by
Patrick, your evaluation of China big threat. They’re they’re going around the world, getting ports. They’re refurbishing these ports with for a deal that, if they don’t get paid back, they take it over. They’re strengthening themselves to put us behind the eight ball and rely on them solely. So I think it’s both economic and world power we’re fighting over with China, and it’s imperative that we use our power and strength to slow them down.
Another issue that’s in the news that you all prioritize is Russia, Ukraine,
and obviously there’s a conflict there that the US is addressing and doing so differently than the previous administration. I want to know how you describe that conflict and what you think the US should be doing. Mark from Texas, I’m going to start with you, and then Eddie from California. But I mean, my, my take on the whole Russia, Ukraine thing is that the Ukraine thing is just money laundering. I mean, we send money to Ukraine and then the people that voted for the money to Ukraine get the money back. So that’s money laundering right there. We shouldn’t be messing with Russia in the first place, because they’re nuclear armed, just like we are. So if we got money laundering going on in Ukraine, sending it back to our politicians, and we shouldn’t be basically poking the bear for a proxy war with Ukraine and Russia. So we should just stay out of it. I should say so. Let me just quickly who invaded, who in that conflict? Well, I mean, depending on who you listen to on the news, I mean,
what’s that? Who.
Invaded who it really doesn’t. We don’t know exactly. We don’t know how many of you agree with that statement, that we don’t know whether Russia invaded Ukraine. Who agrees? Who? Mark just said, raise your hands. Physically. Raise your hands.
I see only one hand going up and Adele, I’ll let you go to backup Mark, if you want to address, how do we not know that Russia invaded Ukraine? Yeah, I made a mistake. I believe that Russia invaded Ukraine, and because of the minerals that they have, you know, the things that they have they want. I mean, even Trump is going after that, you know,
and and Russia is never really going to give up Ukraine. He kind of even said he didn’t even feel that they existed as a state. He is never going to let them go. Eddie from California, should the US be involved at all in Ukraine, Russia? And if so, how? No, because, like to the guy who said, Oh, we should be fighting them. I’m a former United States Marine Corps officer. That guy can go pick up a weapon and go over there. They’re taking people. They want them. So you can go over there and pick up a weapon and go fight if you’re so hell bent on it. And even though Russia did invade, I mean, their Bio Labs. What would America do if there was 26 Bio Labs in Tijuana, Mexico? We would just like let them have at it. We wouldn’t invade so Santiago. What should the US do in this conflict between Ukraine and Russia? I believe Russia did invade Ukraine, but I also believe the United States should not be involved in helping either country. I think Ukraine needs to be able to defend for itself. I think that we need to use our allies, whether some people on this call believe that we have allies or not, to help bring peace through to through negotiations and talks. But we got to stop trying to be the world’s police, and we got to focus on our country. So I don’t think we need to be involved between Russia and Ukraine, and let’s be sincere about it. I don’t think Ukraine really wants to stop this war. They’re benefiting way too much out of this war for them to want it to stop. Mike from Arizona, your opinion about this conflict, yeah, I mean, I think we definitely should continue supporting Ukraine. I mean, the money laundering line is hilarious. 85% of the dollars spent on Ukraine are spent here building weapons that we send to them. So, you know, Putin says, you know, Ukraine first, and then, you know, he wants to reunify all the old Russian states, or Soviet states. I mean, we have to stop him at some point. So, you know, the money laundering thing is crazy. In my opinion, most of the money goes to US companies. So we have, we still, we hold a position in this, in this world where we need to protect democracies and Ukraine is as a democracy, we need to protect those guys truly hands on democracy. It’s not who told you that CNN and we sent billions to Ukraine, to US companies, the US companies in Ukraine. What are you talking about? You can send billions to Ukraine. We send we build weapons in the US. We send money to us, companies. You can
look up the stats from the government
Julia, no money. No money. Wasn’t Zelensky pocket. They were fine. Oh my gosh, no. I said 85%
excuse me, my I am being called on, so I’m going to move forward. I definitely do not think that America should have boots in the ground within that particular region.
You know, we, as America, right, should be there brokering peace when we can, but by no means should we be funding the war, and we should not have our people there.
It’s just not a good look for America. Thomas, you’re up. I
think the honest answer is, Ukraine is corrupt and Russia is evil. So we’re not exactly dealing with honest actors on both sides of the equation here. So I think we have to. I know we’re not talking about the particular individuals, but I know there’s a big meeting in Turkey on Thursday. So let’s see what kind of diplomacy actually occurs. Otherwise that might be the last vestige of hope for this conflict. Patrick, brokering peace is a great move. I mean, we’re not really going to be that involved with boots on the ground. I totally agree with most of the people here. I don’t think we should have boots on the ground. It’s not our war. But by the same token, we can’t let two nations just go at it where people, innocent people are dying. So right now, what we’re trying to do is broker a peace. And if you can’t try to broker a peace, then what good are you? I mean, that goes that would be like if two guys I knew were fighting. I want to try to make peace.
Peace. So I think what we’re doing is the right thing in that respect. I don’t think we should be pumping all our money into that war, and I think we should just try to make sure it works. And I don’t want, I really don’t want, I really wonder if either side really wants peace, because they had a chance on the last three months to do something, and they’ve been dragging their feet. You know, I don’t think we need to spend any money there, we need to spend America first money in America. Let some other neighboring countries deal with that, because it’s just not our spot.
When I asked you, what is the highest priority for us, foreign policy, a whole bunch of you said, Stay out of everywhere and just focus on America and and no matter where it is, it should not be a priority. Who believes in that? Raise your hands physically.
It’s a little oversimplified, but more or less Okay, Mark, I’m going to let you go, and then
where are you, Jay, so mark, Jay, and then we’re going to have this conversation. Why do you believe that there is no place worthy of the US prioritizing a foreign policy except to put America first, because we’re spread too thin. I mean, we need to start taking care of our own people. We have veterans dying on the street. Both my parents are navy. We have veterans dying on the street. I support the military myself, and we’re spread or spread way too thin to be spreading our resources, our especially our money, all over the globe, when we’re not even helping our own people. So that’s why I focus on America first. I support Donald Trump 100%
but the point is, we’re spread too thin, and we need to start following the money. And in terms of the money laundering, as I said in the previous comment, we just need to follow the money, because who votes for the money Congress, who gets the money? Watch their finances. Santiago and then Lisa,
you know,
I think it’s very simple. You know, we we see, sometimes in the news, our bridges being, you know, falling apart, our roads falling apart. I mean, the city I live in, we have a lot of infrastructure problems, flooding. Why am I going to sit here and try to rebuild somebody else’s nation when my own home, my own hometown, is kind of falling apart? We need to focus on our economy. Our foreign policy should be domestic policy. And if we’re really needed, then we step up. But I believe in the Ronald Reagan philosophy, peace through strength. You know you want to test us. You’ll get to know who we are. But if we don’t have to be involved in something, why get involved? Why do we have to
push our way into something that nobody’s asking us to get involved in, leads to it. And then Amy, I believe in smart goals. So if say, I’m sitting here in my house and my neighbor’s house is on fire, and it gets worse and worse and worse, I can say, well, that’s their problem, not mine. I’m going to stay here in my house, but eventually it’s going to blow into my house and I’m going to be affected. And at the same time, if they run over and they say, Can we borrow your hose? I’m not going to charge them or barter with them. That’s just the way I am. By the way, I love those analogies. It’s really cool. Amy, and then Renee, thank you. Lisa, good response. And Mike, you had the best response so far.
Where are they going to stop? Where is Russia once? Once they’ve invaded Ukraine, they’re going to keep going. Where are they going to stop? They’re going to go into further west, further west, further it’s going to get to us eventually.
And Renee have got to, we have got to arm Ukraine or it’s gonna be on our heads. These are crystal ball come after us next.
They were so powerful it would have annihilated them already and taken totally taken, total control. I mean, I don’t want to argue. I’m just telling
you. You’re gonna go
last where are they going? Nowhere. I think we charity does begin. They’re gonna go into our west. They’re not gonna go anywhere. They’re not going anywhere besides Zelinski taking out Zelensky. They want, they want to take back what they believe was their homeland. That’s the bottom line. Exactly. I mean, did your crystal ball tell you that they’re gonna go further west, and then you’re gonna call common sense does? I’ve been watching
Common sense tells me he’s going to continue to attempt to go. That’s not common sense. If you listen to intelligence people, that’s what Putin is saying.
So I’m Renee and I’m next
New
York.
And I think that Lisa had it on point. I believe that Ukraine does need help. I believe that America needs to take care of itself first. But I somewhat believe with the last lady, if you can keep taking and getting away.
With it. It’s like a thief. He’ll come back again and want more and more and more. And that’s just my personal opinion. Everybody here has their personal opinion, so I don’t want to be beat up on it, but I believe that if Putin can get away with what he’s doing, he’ll keep going. Why not? I bet only two people here know about the Ukraine coup in 2014
that old, ancient history of 11 years ago with the from the Crimea war. Now it’s interesting that Renee and I and Mike, all you guys that are jumping and beating this up and trying to it’s like
the guy over there getting my legs
on the school yard. But nonetheless, I mean, it’s funny, you’re complaining you’re the first one out here, attacking us because we’re quote, unquote, watching Fox News. I’m not attacking. I mean, I’m not, man, I’m not listening. That’s the first response you literally had when when we were speaking. I mean, I think all of us have a difference of an opinion. I listen. Do I agree with everything? You know, whoever does or do, I agree with all of our foreign policy? Absolutely not, and I’m sure none of us do. But you know, we can’t give it, and then when we’re taking it, start complaining. And you know, I agree with some of the points that some some people are saying, but let’s pretend my neighbor’s house is burning down. What am I going to do if my house is on fire too? I got to make sure that the fire in my house is put out before I start putting out other fires right now our country, our infrastructure is falling apart. Democrats used to be about infrastructure. I don’t know what they’re about anymore. I think that’s the point people are trying to make, is we need to concentrate on on on our own before we really concentrate on somebody else’s own. And you know, and that’s all good, but you know, the thing is, we can’t go back to those isolationist policies, you know, in the fourth because, you know, we can be not an isolationist policy. That’s what he wants to do, like everything is all about us. You know, this world is smaller now due to technology, it cannot be like that.
Should be always that way, period. And while it, it can be, I think we can coexist and also do other things for other people.
First, I mean, we homeless,
is probably agree with all of that. But no, we can’t ignore Russia while they keep taking and taking and taking. And we because you negotiate with them and try to make sure there’s a piece, but at the same time,
seems to be tariffs. I mean, tariffs has
nothing to do with Zelensky and
Donald Trump is in the Middle East as we tape this focus group, and he is setting up relationships with Saudi Arabia, with the UAE and with Qatar.
I want to know if this should be a priority of the US, and why or why not? I’ll take any responses here. Yeah, put up your hands. Yes, yes, Santiago and Joe and Julia. You guys go first in that order. Santiago, so I have no issue with us staying involved in in foreign policy, as long as it’s being done by the Secretary of the State. I think Trump should stay here. Let, let, let Rubio do what he what he’s meant to be doing, and and let him concentrate on our domestic issues. Okay, let’s focus on the Middle East. Now, Joe, you’re up and then Julia, yes, yes, he’s doing a great job. In fact, I just saw him a little earlier meeting with the Saudi prince. He’s getting a lot of investment, up to 1 trillion, and it’s
trying to get the people in the region to not fight no more and get along together
and be greater overall, instead of enemies, because the religious belief or culture or whatever. If Julia and then Thomas
definitely, from a foreign policy perspective, it definitely behooves America to align with some of the Arab countries. Number one because of Iran, they’re very close right now to,
if not already, having a nuclear weapon. And additionally, with all the tension in the Middle East, ie, Israel, et cetera, we definitely need to protect some of the relationships that we have and actually grow the ones that we need to in terms of having allies in the Middle East, Thomas, and then mark your reaction to the President’s efforts in the Gulf as we speak. Yeah. I mean, he has to engage with these these nations, and whether we like it or not, foreign policy is directly tied to economics. People don’t engage.
Foreign Policy because they like people, or because they’re friendly, because there’s an economic interest, and that’s why he’s engaged with these nations for investment the Abrams Accords, right? Getting other countries involved with that. It’s always tied to economics and self interest. Before we leave this topic, I need to know, should the US accept the gift of the plane from Qatar? Yes or no? Capri, I can see you’re against it. Adele, I can see you’re against it. Capri, why should we not accept it? Because it says in policy that government cannot accept gifts from foreign governments and for him to have it as a priority
fence, but he’s going to use an Air Force One and put a presidential library. It’s a gift. Hillary Clinton couldn’t even get a $425
necklace from a foreign country, but he’d get a $400 million plane. Well, it’s also going to cost us hundreds of millions of dollars to retrofit it, and then it’s going to his library, and then he’s going to use it, and then we have to go buy another Air Force, one plane. So from a cost saving standpoint, it’s not a $400 million gift. It’s going to cost, I’ve heard, $700 million to retrofit it, and then they’re gonna have to buy a new one, because it’s going to his library. Amy, should they accept it or reject it? No, no. Not only is it unconstitutional, but it’s going to cost the American taxpayer millions of dollars to have it retrofitted to Air Force One Eddie, except to reject that plane. Reject it because
whatever the limit is on foreign gifts, I bet that plane exceeds it, and this is America. We don’t need to take another plane. We have a company called Boeing that makes them here in Seattle, Mark from Texas, except to reject. We really don’t need it. So, I mean, Trump has his own plane from Force One, or whatever he wants to call and we already have Air Force One here. So it has nothing to do with foreign gifts, in my opinion. I just think, I just think we don’t need it. Renee, accept or reject.
I don’t know, even know why it’s even, um, offered to him. I think it’s a joke. And I I think that it makes him look I think it just makes him look like, yeah, I can get this. You see, they offer me this. And, you know, it’s, it’s so demeaning to see that it’s even a conversation with all that’s going on. You want to boast that you’re getting this it’s so demeaning. Okay, let’s vote.
Let’s do a vote. Everyone. Raise your hands, your physical hands. Who thinks that Trump should accept the plane? Raise your hands.
One.
No, we’re not the Queen of England. Lisa,
we only got one person who says, Yes, holy cow. Those of you who voted for Trump, I know a bunch you voted for him, but you’re still saying that he should not take the plane. Thomas, why should we not take the plane? It’s an unnecessary distraction. He actually has a lot of interesting things going on to the positive, and the plane just takes all the good stuff off the headlines. Patrick, why should they not take the plane? I got a mixed feeling, but I got to go along with Thomas. I think it’s and then it’s just unnecessary. Right now, I don’t think it’s not a necessity that we need. Brett, you voted for Trump, but you’re against him taking this plane. Tell me why. I don’t think the plane serves any purpose, and I think it’s against every ethical thing that the Constitution and the federal government works upon. Jay Why should trump not take the plane? Does he have like, 10 of them already? You know?
I mean, you know, like that. That goes back to, like, focusing on the United States and whatnot and all to take, like, I’m not going to take extra phone if I already got a good function on one. There’s only one of you in this group of 15, only one of you who says you should take the plane,
Joe, you’re going to speak for one person, you’re up, he should take the plane, and if it needs retrofitted, I’m sure he’s going to get private donors to pay for that. It’s going to be delivered before Boeing’s contract, like he renegotiated in his first term. And if you’re against gifts from foreign countries, let’s give the resolute desk and the statue Liberty, Liberty back and tell them to shove it. Okay. Okay, that’s an interesting way to put it. Julia, should they take the plane or reject it? No, I think definitely reject it, just in terms of optics. But, you know, I mean, this isn’t the first time that Trump has, you know, done something that the majority of Americans don’t like. And I think sometimes he does that to take, you know, away, or to take eyes, you know, off of something else. And then maybe, maybe in the end, it will be interesting to see if he actually really does take the plane or not down.
Take the plan to reject it,
reject it. And I’m gonna go a little further here. I think, you know, those people kind of know what Trump is. He likes this kind of stuff because I think they think he’s a fool. So of course, they’re gonna give him a plane. Of course, I wish somebody would give me a $400 million gift for being a fool. There we go. He, you know, they know he can. How can I say that they can stroke his ego? So let’s see what he agrees to while he’s there. You know, come on, come on.
We’re talking about a person that you know, quite frankly, doesn’t know all the countries and, you know, doesn’t know exactly what, whatever.
Okay, Santiago, what foreign policy concern keeps you awake at night, if anything,
the China America conflict,
economic technology. There’s just too many aspects of it. You know, they, they hold a lot of our bonds
on, on the on the technology aspect cyber security, same thing. It’s, it’s the US China situation, pretty which keeps you awake at night in terms of foreign policy, taking this out of world organizations like the World Health Organization that protects the world, you know, if we turn our back on that, and we turn it back on all the allies, we’re basically screwed. I worry about that all the time. Thomas, I still go back to China and the growing threat that they represent economically.
Patrick, artificial intelligence scares the hell out of me. We have to really get a control on that. It’s terrifying. It just impacted our, my company, last week in a big way. This is foreign policy. That’s foreign policy. We’ve gotta, we’ve gotta dictate worldwide, how that AI is managed. Because that’s, that’s that, to me, is my biggest fear on on a foreign policy, we can’t let people run ragged over us with that Renee um, I think our relationship with China, they’re very powerful. They’re getting more and more powerful, and it seems as though they’re making um demands, and I think we’re bending to those demands. Definitely. Joe
China,
all of our electronics are made there. They’re listening to us now as we speak. Likely, China.
Julia, yeah, China ditto,
because,
because, essentially, just the population that they have, they have their hands in everything over the world. It’s just definitely a scary situation. Mike, I’m still on Russia’s encroachment in Ukraine,
because that kid’s not going to stop there. Per Vladimir Putin, Lisa, I would say China as well, for all the points you’ve mentioned, cyber security bonds. But what really scares me is they make all of the antibiotics.
I don’t know why we don’t make our own, but for some reason, we’ve let them steady.
Besides the proxy wars, it would definitely be China with the tariffs, because the tariff is complicated. We tried that in like 3819 38 smooth Holly, and it didn’t work. And so it’s just very complicated. So that does actually, you know, quote, keep me up at night, because there’s no simple solution. So it’s interesting to me that foreign policy used to be the one area where Republicans and Democrats could find common ground. In fact, that was the one area that they would emphasize that Congress was expected to keep a bipartisan approach and to make sure that politics ended at the water’s edge. And clearly, from listening to you all, that is not the case anymore. And in fact, if I had not required you all to go back to your corners, we would have had a brawl on several of these issues. I appreciate the honesty. I appreciate the candor, particularly because you really do represent the United States of America and how they feel. But listen, we’re out of time for this segment, so on behalf of all the people at America, speaks right here on straight arrow news. I’m Dr Frank Luntz. I thank you for listening. Thank you all very much
