Is Trump's $1776 a bonus or a bribe?

The David Pakman Show

David Pakman

News, Politics

4.8 • 6.2K Ratings

🗓️ 19 December 2025

⏱️ 59 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

-- On the Show -- Donald Trump promotes $1,776 cash payments to service members while escalating explicit oil-driven rhetoric about Venezuela, raising concerns that patriotic rewards are being used to soften troops ahead of potential military action -- Donald Trump signs an executive order reclassifying cannabis to Schedule III, formally acknowledging medical use while stopping far short of federal legalization or criminal justice reform -- Reporting reveals Susie Wiles pushed Donald Trump into a nationally televised address meant to deflect from her Vanity Fair fallout, resulting in a rambling speech that damages both Trump and his administration -- Donald Trump appears disengaged and authoritarian as he dismisses congressional oversight and avoids accountability -- Fox News anchor John Roberts publicly dismantles Howard Lutnick's mathematically impossible defense of Donald Trump's exaggerated pricing claims -- Cardiologist Jonathan Reiner warns that Donald Trump's frantic speech cadence raises serious medical and leadership concerns for a sitting commander in chief -- Trump administration officials delay credit for economic outcomes by pushing promised gains into 2026 while deflecting questions about present-day performance -- The Friday Feedback segment -- On the Bonus Show: The Epstein files were supposed to be released today, the Brown University shooting suspect was found dead, MAGA infighting spills into the Turning Point USA conference, and much more… 🔊 Babbel language learning: Get up to 55% OFF at https://babbel.com/pakman 🛌 Helix Sleep mattresses: Get 20% OFF sitewide at https://helixsleep.com/pakman 🖼️ Aura Frames: Use code PAKMAN for $35 off Carver Mat frames at https://auraframes.com/pakman -- Become a Member: https://davidpakman.com/membership -- Subscribe to our (FREE) Substack newsletter: https://davidpakman.substack.com -- Get David's Books: https://davidpakman.com/echo -- TDPS Subreddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/thedavidpakmanshow -- David on Bluesky: https://davidpakman.com/bluesky -- David on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/davidpakmanshow (00:00) Start (01:27) Trump cash payments, oil war (08:37) Cannabis rescheduled, no reform (17:20) Susie Wiles media damage (22:06) Trump rejects oversight (28:19) Fox News math takedown (34:16) Trump speech raises health concerns (42:05) Economic gains pushed to 2026 (49:12) Friday Feedback Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Today, the presidency is somehow getting even darker, but also dumber at the same time.
0:06.3	We are going to start with Donald Trump's $1,776 cash payout to troops.
0:12.7	It's wrapped in patriotism and grievance and costume playing like the founding fathers,
0:20.3	but Trump is meanwhile ramping up this oil driven
0:23.3	war talk about Venezuela.
0:25.9	And there is a reason that people are getting a little nervous about the timing.
0:30.3	Then Trump actually does something on cannabis.
0:33.2	It's not legalization and it's not really reform.
0:36.3	But it is a move that Republicans swore would never
0:38.9	happen and now it blows a hole straight into their own talking points.
0:43.4	And then we also have Susie Wiles, the current chief of staff, starting to push Trump into
0:51.8	sabotage as it was her idea for Trump's deranged Wednesday night's speech this week.
0:58.1	We will also hear from a doctor about the medical state of play and then a Fox News host
1:05.3	of all people calls out Howard Lutnik for this ridiculous math of reducing the price of something 600%.
1:14.5	We'll also have your emails and comments and so much more.
1:19.1	What a day.
1:24.1	There's a term used in the military that a lot of civilians never hear, and it is called
1:32.7	surf and turf.
1:33.7	Now, it sometimes is about dinner.
1:36.3	Surf and turf, of course, the combination of steak and shrimp or steak and lobster, for example.
1:42.9	And sometimes surf and turf does refer to dinner in the
1:47.2	military. But there's another way in which the phrase surf and turf is used. And it is when
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