00:00Sarah Smith. That is the meeting in Canada between President Zelensky and Prime Minister Carney. But
00:05we can continue now with the story about what Mr. Trump has been talking about now. And we can speak
00:12to Barry Donadio, Republican GOP delegate. Thank you very much, Barry, for joining us here on The
00:18Context. Now, you're not in Dallas, where that midterm convention is taking place. You chose
00:22not to travel. Why not? Thanks for having me on your show. I've been a delegate at the RNC
00:28in Milwaukee. There was really no need. There's no legislative actions going on there. This is a
00:34big, huge pep rally for the Republican Party and a successful one so far. President Trump and about
00:40160 speakers are there. And it's like a big, giant pep rally overall. Okay. So this offer of $5,000,
00:51is it an attempt to swing votes, to influence voting?
00:56One can only speculate. But I can say that President Trump, I believe what he's saying,
01:02simply because he's already done this with $1,000 for every American child that is going to
01:07be born. He's already delivered on that promise. That's very different, though, isn't it? That's
01:11very, very different to suggesting that if the Republicans win the midterm elections,
01:16every American adult will get $5,000. Well, I think he said that because if they don't win,
01:22he can't deliver that promise because he won't control the House or the Senate.
01:25If he does, I don't expect this to happen quickly. I believe he can do it based on the tariffs
01:31and
01:31the reorganization of some of the trade agreements and the profitability of the retrade agreement
01:37just with China alone could potentially pay for that promise in the trillion, the upper trillion
01:43there. And I agree that wouldn't happen quickly. I think it wouldn't be easy. But I think if
01:49anybody could pull that off, it would be President Trump. Yeah. And certainly bipartisan studies of
01:56the revenue from tariffs show that they are nowhere near the $1.3 million that this idea would require.
02:03And in a situation where U.S. national debt is at a record level, more than $40 trillion,
02:10do you think the president suggesting that $5,000 should go to every American if the Republicans win
02:17in the midterms is a good idea? I think only time would tell. But the idea of giving $5,000
02:24to each
02:25American, the government is hoping that the Americans would spend it in the economy, would stimulate the
02:31economy, would put it on steroids. President Bush did this years back with $600. So he did it through
02:39tax returns. But essentially, it's not a new idea. It's been done before.
02:44Is this all about getting us talking about something other than the war in Iran and tariffs,
02:50do you think? Is that a strategy from the president, this speech that he made and this offer that he
02:56made?
02:57Well, President Trump doesn't seem to be shy or bashful about speaking about the war in Iran.
03:02I think we all know what the war in Iran is. And when it comes to an end, I do
03:07believe President
03:08Trump, when he says price of gas will plummet, there'll be nothing in the way of gasoline flow.
03:15So once that regime collapses or disappears, I expect the gas to tumble. And I believe that to be
03:22true. But not necessarily right after the midterm elections, as the president suggested,
03:27surely. It's pretty hard to predict when he initially said it's going to be four or five weeks,
03:31and now we're months into this conflict. Right. Just like with any war, I would agree with you,
03:37who can determine when a war is going to be over? Maybe this war has dragged on a little bit
03:42longer
03:43than the Trump administration expected. However, they have already met their objectives. There's
03:50no Air Force, no Navy, the Iranian regime. They have no ability to create a nuclear weapon.
03:55But Iran and its proxies are still causing issues for the Americans, clearly. And we've been
04:01seeing reports that senior officials have briefed President Trump that this war could continue
04:06right to the end of his term. And it could very well do that. As in any war, it is
04:13unpredictable.
04:14But most Americans would agree with your stance that the war needs to come to an end. Most Americans
04:21want it to come to an end quickly, so the price of gas can come down, not only here in
04:25the United
04:25States, but in England. So this is what I'm hearing from most Americans in Washington, D.C.
04:32Okay. Barry Donadio, Republican delegate, thank you very much.
04:37Now, we can return to that clip that we were trying to bring you a moment ago.
04:40So the BBC's North America editor, Sarah...
