00:00Big picture. You told our scarlet foo, Wilbur, the action in Iran is long overdue. You're not
00:05alone in that thinking. We've heard other people on Bloomberg say that. You also believe that this
00:09war is temporary in nature, even if we don't exactly know when it ends. What do you believe
00:13is the long-term impact of this war when it comes to geopolitics, when it comes to global markets?
00:20How do you think about it? I think this war will make less likely
00:27armed conflict elsewhere, because people have now seen that at least under President Trump,
00:35the U.S. is willing to use its enormous military wealth and strength to deal with threats.
00:45That was not at all clear under the Biden administration, nor under the Obama. So I
00:54think part of the reason so much trouble boiled up was that they viewed us as a paper tiger.
01:02But with what happened in Venezuela, what's happening now in Iran, and what's probably
01:08going to happen very quickly in Cuba, I think people have seen the sleeping dragon is no longer
01:16sleeping. Sleeping dragon is perfectly ready to put its fangs wherever they're needed. So I think
01:24the old saying holds true. The best way to avoid a war is if everybody knows you're fully prepared
01:33not only to pursue it, but to win it.
01:37You mentioned Venezuela. You mentioned Cuba. You mentioned Iran. At this point, Secretary,
01:43who else has been put on notice?
01:47Well, everybody has been put on notice. I think ultimately, China and Russia are on notice.
01:55Well, we haven't done much about invading the rush lines, probably won't initiate anything like that.
02:03We have provided support of one kind or another to Ukraine. And we certainly have been arming
02:13in Taiwan. And even more importantly, we've been moving a lot of the semiconductor technology
02:22from Taiwan to the United States. So we're becoming both less vulnerable in the event something happens
02:33on Taiwan, and yet also showing that we're very interested in it.
02:42You know, I find it interesting, Wilbur, that you went to Russia.
02:46And I just think, you know, and maybe you can give some insight into President Trump, because I think
02:50there are things that are said that seem to indicate a friendship, a camaraderie with a certain leader,
02:57be it President Putin. And yet it sounds like from what you said that Russia needs to be kind of
03:04on guard
03:04when it comes to the United States. Help us understand President Trump and who he sees as true allies
03:10and who he sees as foes.
03:12Well, in terms of Russia, my point is a very simple one. Russia has had a terrible struggle
03:20with Ukraine, a much smaller, much weaker country. And in fact, lately, the last report I've seen,
03:30the Ukrainians regain 125 square miles of territory that Russia had previously occupied there.
03:40So clearly, the Russian war, after all these years, all these vast numbers of deaths,
03:47all this destruction, both to Russia and Ukraine, they haven't really gotten as far as they thought.
03:55I think if Russia had had any idea that the Ukrainian war would go the way it had, I don't
04:03think they
04:04would have gone in. They thought it would be an easy cakewalk, and they were wrong. Now roll that forward.
04:11Well, is that the same with how you see that maybe the US approach on Iran? Forgive me for interrupting,
04:17but I think there was a thinking that this was going to be a lot easier. Do you agree?
04:21No, I don't think so. Okay. I think in fact, it has gone better than any expectation we could have
04:30had.
04:31Who would have thought that within the first couple of weeks, we would get total air superiority?
04:38Who would have thought we could have knocked out a hundred and some odd vessels, virtually the whole
04:45series of vessels that Iran has? Who would have thought we could have done as much damage to
04:54the missile site and to the nuclear facilities as we have? So I think the war has gone much more
05:04rapidly
05:04than we could have thought. And I think the most remarkable and fortunate part is that there have
05:12been so few American casualties in the war. Now, even one casualty is a horrible thing, and I would have
05:22felt a heck of a lot better without it. But when you consider everything, it's been very, very small.
05:29My big fear had been American soldiers coming home in body bags week after week after week. I think
05:38that would have caused a lot of unrest within our population. But the other big strategic message,
05:47we knocked out their air defense mechanism pretty quickly. Iran is essentially defenseless against our
05:56nuclear attack. And if you roll back to Venezuela, they knocked that out within a few minutes.
06:03And guess whose defense system that was? That was the Russian defense system. So you ask why would Russia
06:12give second thoughts? I think they would give second thoughts because they've just seen what it means to have
06:21the U.S. pushed too far. Right. We're speaking with Wilbur Ross, Chairman, President and CEO of Ross
06:27Acquisition Corp., also former U.S. Secretary of Commerce. Mr. Secretary, you mentioned the movement
06:33of chip production from Taiwan to the United States that's happening very slowly. And analysts don't know
06:38if it can ever happen completely. But you are known for your investments in industries that were once thought
06:43long gone, especially in the U.S. Steel plants, textile mills. The president certainly wants to bring
06:49back that type of manufacturing to the United States and build it up here. I'm curious on your
06:53view about how national security concerns are changing that globally, apart from semiconductors.
06:59How are you thinking about some of these other industries that the president is supporting?
07:06Well, he's supporting all technology. And I think that's the right direction to go.
07:13Because any future war is going to be fought in space and in cyber. So I think directionally,
07:23he could not be more correct than what he's doing. I also think that he is correct in fostering AI,
07:33because AI is what will produce more productivity and therefore more economic growth.
07:43Every big technological innovation has always had the longer-term effect of adding jobs, but it redefines them.
07:53So we need to be sure that our educational system can keep up with the needs for an increasingly
08:02technical economy. And as long as it does, I think we'll be there. Now, why is that important? The way
08:11we won World War II and the way I believe Reagan won the Cold War was the Russian military and
08:21the Russian civilian economy could not keep up with him. And therefore, at the end of the day,
08:29a very, very key component of defense strategy is economic power.
08:36Thank you very much.
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