“Trump hints at seeking protection money”

Hello everyone, welcome to “News Pentathlon”. Today’s joint hosts are Tang Hao, Yu Ting, Qin Peng, Jin Shi, and myself. With our diverse perspectives colliding, we will guide you into the rich world of news. Don’t forget to subscribe and give likes to our independent channel.

Today’s focus: Party media special articles taken down! Third Plenum, did Tsai Xi’s performance flop? Top CCP officials all lying low, what are the four things they won’t do? On this point, Trump and Bai reached a consensus; Taiwan is thrilled! Trump offers “protection fees” at cabbage prices; anti-Trump to pro-Trump, Trump’s deputy remains steadfastly anti-Communist.

Trump narrowly escaped an assassination attempt, with his right ear bandaged, he appeared at the Republican National Convention and was officially nominated as the GOP’s 2024 presidential candidate. Trump promptly announced his running mate: 39-year-old Ohio Senator Vans as the vice-presidential candidate.

Upon this news, Vans’ popularity soared instantly. His memoir “Ballad of a Countryman” quickly climbed to the top of the Amazon bestseller list. Vans’ remarks in the media also drew attention. He stated that once Trump is elected, he will swiftly negotiate to end the Russia-Ukraine war, allowing the U.S. to focus on the real problem, which is the CCP. He also said that the CCP is the biggest threat the U.S. faces, and we haven’t been focusing on this issue.

Question 1: With Vans’ statement, will the top leadership of the CCP, currently convening the Third Plenum, feel even colder? If Trump and Vans are elected, what changes might occur in U.S.-China relations compared to the present situation?

Tang Hao: Both complement each other, it’s all good whoever wins.

Question 2: Have you noticed that the attention towards Vans in various sectors in the U.S. seems much higher compared to when Pence was nominated as the VP candidate back then? Why is that?

Yu Ting: When Vans was nominated, many people didn’t know who he was because he is a true political newcomer, not the traditional politician as we know.

Firstly, in terms of political experience, he’s only 39 years old, from the millennial generation. Although he was elected as a Senator in Ohio in 2022, he doesn’t have extensive political experience. Secondly, his background – traditional vice-presidential candidates usually have more profound political or legal backgrounds, but Vans came from poverty. His only claim to fame is his autobiography “Ballad of a Countryman,” which was even made into a movie. Thirdly, he was originally anti-Trump, even describing Trump as “America’s Hitler.” Thus, it’s surprising that Trump, setting aside past differences, is willing to choose someone who publicly criticized him as his running mate, which may catch some people off guard.

However, even though it was “unexpected,” it is also “logical”. 1. Vans’ life story embodies the American dream – from a poor family background, abandoned by his father, raised by his grandparents after his mother’s drug addiction, he joined the military, graduated from Yale Law School, worked in venture capital, and his wife is Asian. Some netizens jokingly say that he has obtained all the skills a white person can have. 2. As a millennial, he can attract many young voters. 3. Vans hails from the key swing state of Ohio, which benefits Trump’s campaign and can also help secure votes in the Rust Belt, including Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, etc. 4. Importantly, Vans’ political beliefs align with Trump’s, presenting himself as a conservative defending “traditional values.”

Question 3: Moreover, Vans is a typical anti-Communist and pro-Taiwan figure. He has repeatedly stated that if the CCP invades Taiwan, it would cause significant harm to the U.S., posing the biggest threat. However, Trump recently remarked in an interview that Taiwan has taken away chip business from the U.S., suggesting Taiwan should pay defense costs to the U.S. This statement was simplistically dubbed as “Trump demanding protection fees,” sparking controversy. How do you interpret this statement – does Trump really not want to protect Taiwan?

Question 4: Trump survived this ordeal, and even he himself said it was “a scenario that would be hard to imagine stopped by the divine”. We’re not here to praise Trump or anyone, but from Trump’s first term till now, it seems like there have been some miraculous occurrences related to him.

Yu Ting: This year, something very miraculous happened in March; there was a prediction about an assassination attempt on Trump in July, with detailed information. The prediction was made by a Christian pastor named Brandon Biggs, who foresaw a bullet piercing Trump’s right ear. After getting shot, Trump knelt down to pray to God, and soon after, he experienced spiritual rebirth, rising up stronger.

Furthermore, Biggs mentioned that God showed him Trump’s “legal persecution” would cease. We see the Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity has been issued, and recently, a Florida court dismissed the case of “mishandling confidential documents” by Trump, so Trump’s lawsuits have basically come to an end before the election. Biggs also predicted that Trump would be re-elected but the U.S. would face a huge economic crisis, far surpassing the “Great Depression” period. Biggs said he saw Trump weeping in prayer in the Oval Office, and eventually God would make everything return to goodness. Biggs said people would refer to this process as a “Judgment,” but God told him it was not a “Judgment” but a “Correction.”

However, in a more frightening prediction, in another video, Biggs foresaw a human catastrophe, predicting an even greater plague where around 350 million people worldwide would die. All hospitals would be overwhelmed, and the military would take control of all work, but there would be no solution for patients, only solace. This prediction is extremely chilling, and all we can do is pray it doesn’t come true.

Besides Biggs’ predictions, before Trump was first elected president, there was another premonition by Mark Taylor, a former firefighter. As he watched Trump being interviewed on TV, he suddenly heard the voice of “God” saying, “You are listening to the President speak.” Subsequently, God told Taylor many things, which Taylor documented in a diary. Until Trump was actually elected, Taylor decided to publish what God had told him. So, in 2017, Taylor released the book “Trump Prophecies,” and many of the other prophecies in the book were later corroborated, like the destruction of the terrorist organization “ISIS” and Trump appointing three Supreme Court justices.

However, on February 24, 2016, God told Taylor about “five Supreme Court justices”; does this mean that Trump might appoint two more in his second term? This also remained a suspense.

During Trump’s term, another miracle took place. In early September 2017, just before Category 5 Hurricane “Irma” was about to hit Florida, Trump led cabinet officials in fervent prayer for Florida residents at Camp David. The next day, the miracle happened as Irma suddenly “changed course” at the last moment, avoiding the densely populated Miami and veering towards less populated areas, weakening wind speeds. There are indeed many miraculous events occurring.

Yes, just like many campaign rallies in the U.S. end with the song “God Bless America,” many truly believe that God is watching over this land. With faith in God, from the public to politicians, they continually correct their mistakes and biases, allowing the country to thrive for over 200 years. However, on the other side of the Earth, the political landscape of the CCP is becoming increasingly opaque and extreme. Yu Ting will delve deeper into this later.

Amidst the Third Plenum of the CCP taking place this week, official Chinese economic data released doesn’t look optimistic. The economy continues to stagnate, with various indicators suggesting the CCP regime has entered the “trash time of history,” and people have no expectations for the Third Plenum discussions on economic issues in the CCP.

The CCP official channels appear relatively quiet compared to before, with state-owned media not heavily covering the news. Moreover, the carefully crafted special on “reformer Xi Jinping” released by Xinhua News Agency was swiftly taken down from the internet, which seemed very mysterious.

Question: How do you all see this? Why was the Xinhua News Agency special taken down? Was it due to low-level red high-level black tactics, or does it indicate the existence of “internal political struggles” triggering opposition within the party?

Tang Hao: It wasn’t me who took it down! Adjusted Deng Xiaoping’s line, overturned the CCP’s fate.

Many citizens express the hope that he could continue to speed up, ending the CCP’s dictatorship. Let’s wait and see together. That’s it for this issue of “News Pentathlon,” thank you for watching, and goodbye.