Let's bring in a senator that sadly is not going to be there much longer, Senator Steve Daines, who decided not to run for re-election this year. Of Montana. And of course, Steve Daines is on the Foreign Relations Committee. He is a busy guy on energy as well as finance. Senator, welcome back.
Hey, Brian, always good to join you. All right, first off, there's so much information out there on the deal, some really disturbing stuff that doesn't look like Radcliffe, Rubio, and Hegset are read in on. And I'm sure you've seen that Axio story and the $325 billion that could be going, $24 billion unfrozen for Iran, and $300 billion from the Arab states. I hate that idea. Do you?
Okay.
Well Uh Brian, before I got involved in politics, I worked for Procter Gamble. It was one of the great American companies. I worked there for 13 years in management. And one of our principles when we were hiring was your past performance is a good indicator of future results. If I look at the past performance of the current regime in Iran post-1979, 47 years of history, it doesn't give me much confidence.
I can trust. The Iranians to deliver on an agreement.
So I start with that concern.
Now, I have not seen the details yet of all the agreements. I'll tell you, what I like at the moment, I'm seeing oil prices dropping to the upper 70s. Brian, we haven't seen oil prices. West Texas Intermediate, Brent, right now, we're at $77, $79. These are the lowest prices we've seen since March.
And so getting relief at the gas pump for the American people is surely a high priority. But I know for President Trump, it's going to be restoring peace and stability in the Middle East. I'll wait to see the details, but I just don't trust the current regime. The Iranian people, they're a different story. They would like to see a different regime as well.
Let's see what the details are in the deal when it finally emerges. Right.
So here's the President cut to. Does the deal involve any sanctions relief for Iran? When would that go in? No, it doesn't.
Well, they have to. It's really a behavioral thing. If they. Do what they're supposed to do, that starts taking effect. Right.
But when you say behavior, how much detail do you have in the MOU? And then after Friday gets released, they start talking for 63 days. And if Iran does what Iran does, you concern Senator Danes for your party, even though I know you're outgoing, that'll be right in August?
Well Look, I was chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee in the 24 cycle, worked very close with President Trump to get the majority back. Brian, there's many ways nothing more important right now than making sure we keep the Senate majority in 26, November, as well as keep the House majority. Without that, President Trump will not be able to deliver anything in his last two years. Think about this. If we lose the Senate this fall, if there's a Supreme Court opening, a circuit court judge opening, a federal district judge, all lifetime appointments, we will not be able to move forward with President Trump's nominees.
It's pretty chilling when you think about that, not to mention any future ambassadors nominated by the President, cabinet officials, deputy secretaries. You know, people equals policy and the inability to fill, for example, come back to the Supreme Court. This would be a major crisis for the country. And so this is why the U.S. Senate, as well as the House, matters so much in November.
So this is all part of what has to happen between now And November. Think about where, what, 100 days from early voting starting in some places in this country? This election is right around the corner, and this election could have profound consequences, not only for the next two years, but these are Senate seats that you hold for six years. It would affect whoever the next president is going to be starting in 29. I know, I hear you.
And the policies are better, but it's got to get the messaging out there. I guess in the generic ballot from the political people, it looks like Democrats have a five-point lead. It was much bigger in the midterms in 2018 for president in Trump's first term. You think five is a gap you can close? I do.
And I tell you, I'm objective, Brian. I'm an engineer by a degree. I'm a numbers guy. Elections are about numbers. But there's time to bring these undecided voters and some of these independents and soft Ds and soft R's back home to the right side.
This is going to be an election about looking at what used to be versus what is. We've got. To remind the voters of what the world was like two years ago, what the world was like with a wide open border here, certainly with the Mexico and the United States. We just have to come back and remind them what it was with Biden and Kamala Harris. Imagine if Kamala Harris and Tim Walls were president and vice president right now.
That'd scary everybody right back to the Republican side of the ticket. But this will be a very important election, and I'm confident we have time. But what will really help us certainly is get those oil prices down, get that gas price down, more than the three bucks, not the four buck range. That'll be an important part of the affordability message here coming into November. Cheers to America's 250th birthday.
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I hear you. Right now, they say, according to. Politico put out today: 140 days left. The President's got a 39 approval rating. The NBC had them at 42.
And 49 percent of voters in a survey said they prefer a Democratic Congress next year, the highest percentage since Trump began his second term, but the gap was much larger. Before 2018, as I mentioned.
So let's talk about the individual seats. Mike Rogers seems to be the best pickup chance over in Michigan, correct? Yeah, he is. He's a candidate that we were fully behind the 24 cycle. Remember, he lost by less than 20,000 votes in 24.
And Brian, when you look at what's going on in Michigan, and frankly, nationally, this is a referendum between common sense and crazy. The best argument we have, Brian, is the Democrats. They are absolutely moving so far to the left. And in most of our races, we've got common sense Republicans as our nominees, and Mike Rogers is an example of that. And in Michigan, for the Democrats, they've got crazy running on their side.
Well, you got socialists. Yeah, crazy. Of course, platinum is nuts. But you know, Brian, it's worth remembering. I remind my colleagues this.
Back in 2016, the Democrats were just a hair's breadth away from nominating Bernie Sanders instead of Hillary Clinton for their nominee. Bernie Sanders is a self-identified socialist. That's where the Democrat Party is, but they've gone a lot further left than where they were back in 2016. Senator, I've got to bring you to Ukraine. The President's met with Zelensky already today.
There's a buzz that Ukraine has really versed things in the battle. They've taken 180 square miles back. They just blew up a refinery deep into Russia, I think around Moscow. They've done this quite often, and they've engineered this themselves. Would you be in support of giving them the patriots they need or allowing them to have the license to build their own?
They need to have the ability to go on offense. And I remember this was a big fight we have with the Biden administration. When this war first broke out on Joe Biden's watch, and by the way, Brian, I'm convinced had President Trump been in office during that same period, Russians would not have invaded Ukraine. But here we are. But remember, we were pushing Joe Biden, saying, let the Ukrainians take the offense.
If they need long-range missiles, let them have it. Remember, they got scared by Putin's rattling the saber here about nuclear escalation. Baloney. The Ukrainians will not be able to win this war unless they can go on offense. They need the capabilities to do so.
So would you be for giving them the licenses to do what? I guess Iran gave Russia the license to build their own Shahed drones. Can we give them the license to build their own Patriots since we seem to be backed up? I would support giving the Ukrainians. The permissions they need to play on offense.
There's no way the Ukrainians will win this war by only playing defense. If you look at what happened just last night, the barrage of missiles that Putin launched on Kyiv, including striking that amazing church that is a UNESCO site, that got hit last night.
So Putin is not sparing anything. He's going on full offense. The Ukrainians should be allowed to equally go on offense against the Russians.
So, what you're saying, this is an important contrast. Putin aims for a monastery that's a thousand years old, and you have Zelensky aiming for a refinery just to stop the weapons, the weapons, the machine, the war machine that Russians have. They are aiming for apartment buildings. He's aiming for war sites. There's a huge difference.
There really is, Brian. I mean, Putin is an evil thug. We know that. And you've got a lot of the Ukrainians, which they will take the high road here in striking strategic assets of the Russians relating to the military complex. While Putin here, as you just articulated, Brian, is hitting civilian targets.
Innocent men and women dying in Ukraine each night. And just last night, I think there were at least five more people killed in Ukraine. Innocents there in Kyiv. Senator Steve Daines, thanks so much. Always great to talk to you.
Thanks, Prime.
