HHH Show 070926 - Hour 4

Jim Rome takes on sports. I will always have a complicated relationship with this game. But people evolve. So do sports. Do not make me regret this. Do not make me devolve. Back to that guy that so many clones wish that I still was. And do not embarrass the entire country. Now, I can go back. I can get there fast. Lose tonight. And you got a real problem. Do not blow it. The Jim Rome Show podcast. You've been warned. Follow and listen on your favorite platform. We made it to the 6 o'clock hour greetings and salutations. Welcome to this brand new afternoon. This afternoon has never been lived before. It's a blank canvas. If you will it, so it can be your masterpiece. Here's how you do the afternoon. Think of three things for which you're grateful. And then do the afternoon with all the joy, wonder, enthusiasm, and gratitude you can muster. Hashtag TYG, turn it up. All right. So back to Starbucks for just a second. They are, they've already made these decisions. By the way, David, if you're still listening, they've already made these decisions. Were there any economic incentives? So Starbucks has one of their headquarters. It's not their global headquarters. But they are building a southeastern headquarters in Nashville. Were there economic incentives? Yes. Yes. The state of Tennessee approved a $30 million state incentive. They call it their fast-track economic development grant. It's something they do for businesses that they believe are going to have a significant impact. They wanted Starbucks to do their hub in downtown Nashville. These fast track grants are available to businesses that are expanding in Tennessee, and they can be used for retrofitting buildings, construction. all of that kind of stuff. They offer these grants to businesses that they think are going to have a significant economic impact that would be greater than the incentive being offered. So Starbucks is saying we're going to drop $100 million. We're going to hire 2,000 people. And they were offered. or they are poised to receive this fast-track economic development grant. So the city of Nashville has also been trying to attract Starbucks. They may offer incentives, but they wanted Starbucks here. They wanted the 2,000 jobs.

And there is an economic incentive. The only difference with that story, though, as it relates to this gubernatorial election, is that it's already been made. The deal is done. So I believe we do offer incentives. Like I said, we will incentivize companies in the form of tax increment financing tips. or we will offer to help with infrastructure. And I'm finding out today, and thank you for your question, that we have these fast-track economic development grants. And those come from the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development. So those grants are available. And I know Stuart McWhorter, and I serve on a commission for Governor Lisa. I guess I could just. I could reach out to them and ask them, you know, the deets, the real deeds. But, yeah, that's what's going on. So just as a, you know, just as a thought for that particular story. But I didn't know about that. And so how do, you know, like how do you, if you ask me how I felt. About incentives. You know, when it comes to economic development, I don't have a problem with incentives, especially if the investment that is being made is far greater than the incentive. Or if we're price matching. So let's say, for instance, we're doing economic development in the state, and we're trying to create more jobs, and I'm governor of the state of Tennessee, and I'm trying to get more jobs in our state. I've got a company like Starbucks, and they are shopping. They want to do something in the southeast. And Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville, those are three of the biggies, right? Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville. Who am I leaving out here in the southeast that's really? Miami, if you consider that southeast, Miami is really competitive. And then if you include them in the bundle, Houston and Dallas, they're really competitive. But just right in our immediate area, Charlotte, Nashville, Atlanta. Let's imagine all of these places and spaces are competing, and Starbucks is being entertained by all of them. And each one of them is saying, well, we have this incentive. We have this incentive. We have this incentive. And as they are shopping, building this headquarters, If everybody else is putting at least X amount of incentives on the table, the question is, do you want to compete? Do you want to play against them? Do you want to do NIL? Which is different than a Starbucks coming to an individual politician and saying, we're going to put some money in your pocket personally.

You know what I'm saying? So I can't say that I have a problem with incentives. Mathematically, it has to work like this. The long-term investment has to be far greater than the incentive. I'd say that. Wouldn't you say that? Would most people say that? I'd say that. That's what I would say. That's what I would say with that. What a day. Coming up, if you didn't get a chance to hear my interview, the Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, was in Knoxville today. And we had an exclusive in studio interview with him. We talked about a wide range of things, but he was here to dedicate a bridge that has been named after President Trump. I did not know this until Secretary Scott Bessent said this. President Trump's sister-in-law lives in East Tennessee. I did not know that. I did not know that. So, in any rate. 6.30, you'll get to hear my interview with Scott Bessent. Then we did an interview with Marsha Blackburn. One of the things I wanted to ask both of the candidates, I'm going to ask Monty Fritz that he's a Republican also that's running for governor of the state of Tennessee. He'll be in studio tomorrow at 315. I've been asking what are the top three things in Tennessee. Because I don't want to pick my governor based on how they line up with Washington, D.C. or whomever the president is at the time. That's of no interest to me personally. I'm very interested in the state of Tennessee. That's my interest. How do we make this even better? What are you going to do? What do you think the top issues are? Tomorrow I'm going to dive a little bit into this Tassar report. Because over the last couple of days, the TASA report is the comprehensive report on the infrastructure needs of the state of Tennessee. And it spans 24 through 2029. It's a five-year look. And I've been doing a deep dive into that plan. Boy, do we need some work. We got a lot to do. I was talking to John Rose. Jim Rome takes on sports. Part of what makes this show, the show within the show. The biggest topic on the show always seems to be the show itself. This is a way to give you clones, a way to interact with one another. Yes, we will be going through the chat. Yes, it'll be a part of the program. The only thing that could ruin the show are the old school clones spitting up the same bull crap that they always have. The jungle is out taking names and ready to dominate. Let's get it. Show podcast. Follow and listen on your favorite platform. Chris, I didn't know what to say. I said, he finished saying what he said. I said, spicy. I didn't know what to. He was, he was, he, he was, I told him, I said, sir. At church that little old lady used to say, bless your heart after she finished cussing you out. You know not to be running up and down these hallways. I'm going to tell your mother.

Bless your heart. Next week, I'm telling you it's about to get so crazy. Oh, governing is one thing, but running for office. Oh, man, you got to have a stomach. You got to have a stomach. You've got to have a stomach. You've got to have a stomach for that stuff. Yes, Lord. Oh, let me get Steve in here. Steve, welcome to the AAA Radio Experience, 620. But you might as well just go ahead and run for office. You're already having to explain politicians' actions and policies and all that stuff. You may as well go ahead and do it, brother. But an observation, because Mr. Scott Bessent brought up Western North Carolina and East Tennessee. I do see differences, but an observation on my part is that... Nashville is the new cultural hub of the east. And I see that. You know, you have Waterburger. Now you've got Starbucks, and those are both cultural things. And here in North Carolina down. the aeronautics aerospace industry has taken off and i and i do see a difference in the people that are moving here as well hey you know you know something you'll you'll be interested in this since you live over in north carolina uh secretary Scott Bessent said today and then he told me afterwards that the g20 summit is coming up he's having a separate kind of financial summit with the four with the financial ministers of all of the G20 countries, and they're doing it at a Grove Park Inn. Oh, okay, here in Asheville, okay. And something I didn't know, I did my homework on Mr. Scott Bessent, something I didn't know is his uncle was John Genrette. He was. He was. He has a very interesting and colorful history, but he's multi-generations deep in South Carolina lore. I'm all about the growth, regardless of political parties. Just don't tax people to death. I'm not in Tennessee, so I can't speak, but Mr. Rose's comments brought concern to me for Tennessee residents and people, although I understand his concerns. But there it is. All right, Steve, thanks for the call. Yes, sir. Interesting day. Interesting day.

I miss candidate debates. I really do. I miss the debates. A lot of people are choosing not to debate anymore. I miss it. In the many, many years that I have done what I've done, one of the things that I got to participate a lot in was debates. And I moderated several gubernatorial debates across the state. I did a big one with gubernatorial candidates in Nashville once. I did a big one in Memphis once. Of course, I've done many here. And Senate debates, gubernatorial debate, I used to really enjoy seeing people handle themselves. I miss it. I miss seeing debates. I miss seeing debates. I miss that. I think candidates ought to do that. I don't know if it changes anything. You know, people try to get their zingers off and that kind of stuff. But there's something about seeing people under pressure and seeing people in a position where they don't have absolute control of the moment. And when you see how people handle pressure, it does say a lot. It does. It tells you something. You know, when you think about the miracle on the Hudson and what was his name, Captain Sully, was it Sully, that he was that calm under pressure. is what made him a hero was that, hey, okay, the pressure's on. We're going to figure this out. We're going to work it out. We're going to try to save as many lives as we can. When you see that, you go, hmm. Or if you're watching athletes. Peyton Manning, fourth quarter, down by whatever, you just knew he was a steady hand. He was going to. And, of course, my guy, Tom Brady, fourth quarter, you're down by 21, and you got eight minutes, and you still believe, okay, he's not going to freak out. He can handle the pressure. There's something about seeing people under pressure over time that makes you go, hmm, okay, okay. So I hope at some point candidates get back to debating. I hope at some point people get back to voting. I got to make a decision, folks. People have been telling me about House of Dragon. And I am hesitating starting a new series. And then people are saying, but you also need to watch Game of Thrones. And I think there are eight seasons of Game of Thrones. And I have only watched maybe one episode. And should I start Game of Thrones? And should I then jump into House of Dragon? Do I need to go on over there and see what's going on? See what the whole thing is.

Brilliant storytelling. Brilliant storytelling. I just don't know if I need to. I'm waiting for the new season of land, man. That's my jam. I've been watching your friends and neighbors. What else was I watching? I got to finish up Spider-Man noir. Don't watch a lot, but I'm trying to figure out. It's telling me today, though, they're like, bro, you need to get on that Game of Thrones, man, especially as you're writing an original story and you want to see some story. Ah, that's why. Because I need to see story. So I've got to rewatch the 20 greatest movies of all time this year. I have a list from a course that I took. I have to re-watch all of the Pixar movies. So there's a new toy story out, and I may see that in the theater. But I got some watching to do, just to see stories well told. And I think that's why this person was saying to me that I just need to. I need to go on over there to Game of Thrones and just see. Can you believe it, though? It is July the 9th. Can you believe football season is right around the corner? And I'm starting to get geeked up. I didn't realize how much I missed it. Football season is going to be here. And I am, I'm ready. I am ready. I am not taking seriously as a football fan, but that's fine. I learn how to shut my mouth and just enjoy it. Just shut your mouth and just enjoy it. But this could be a really interesting season. This could be Patrick Mahomes. Will Patrick be back this year, Chris? Is he healthy now? Is he going to, did they name Shadoras QB1? I haven't kept up with it, so I honestly have no clue. I don't know what's happening. I haven't looked at a whole lot of sports. Haven't watched first take. Haven't seen first take since the playoffs and basketball because I couldn't. Take listening to Stephen A talking about orange and blue skies. So I just, I haven't seen first taking like two months probably. I saw Jalen Brunson interview the head coach of the Knicks. Mike, what's his name? You saw Jalen Brunson interviewing? Yes. He was interviewing his head coach. And he said, how have you changed? How did you get different? And Chris, he said the most interesting thing. He said he had to learn how to communicate better. He said it's less about X and O's and it's about how you communicate with different players so that they can be their best. That's dope. Dig it. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent next on the Triple H Radio Experience.

Scrolling with Haley. I'm Haley Karanilla. I scroll with the homies here in the live chat because there's a lot to scroll through on X, on Instagram, on TikTok. Cutting through the clutter, one hot take at a time. Love seeing you all in the chat before the show. I tried to jump in just a few minutes before to say hello. I love the chat interaction. Thank you for helping. But I do it to get all of the videos and all of the content that you won't find anywhere else. Scrolling with Haley. Just search that up and I will be there. Follow and listen on your favorite platform. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, thank you for being on the broadcast today. Good. Good to be with you. Good to be in Knoxville. I'm so honored to have you here. Pre-politics, I was, I wouldn't say stalker, but I would say this. If I saw an interview with you. on many of the financial platforms. I was always interested in you talking about economics, the economy. And then I was surprised when you became Treasury Secretary. I think your story coming out of South Carolina resonated with me. And it's an honor to have you in the studio. It's great, great to be here. And I always tell people, I'm from Little River, South Carolina, which is now the gateway to Myrtle Beach. The only thing I knew about the stock market back then was something bad had happened in 1929. And now to lead the Treasury for President Trump is an incredible experience to be able to serve the American people. I think yours is a great American story, though. If people have interest in knowing your backstory, what you've been able to do with your life is pretty incredible. So thank you for being here today. Let's dive right in and talk about why you're in East Tennessee. So I was just down. Dedicating a bridge is going to be named after President Trump on I-40. And we had a beautiful ceremony there with Marsha Blackburn, Congressman Tim Burchett, and several state officials. President's sister-in-law was able to join us. She lives in the area. And his sister flew up from Florida. Wow. So that was a momentous occasion. And I know that's a really big thing. Lots of stuff going on in the world right now. Let's start with maybe let's talk about the Trump bonds because a lot of people have been talking about that as a gateway into ensuring the future has an opportunity to benefit from the growth of America. Why don't we start there? Yeah, I think these Trump accounts are the most important government benefit for young people since the GI Bill. So. 38% of American families have no exposure to our great equity market. They don't have a piece of the action with our great companies, our management, our innovation, and our capital markets, which is really one of the great strengths of the U.S. other than our people. And the idea of this is to give every family a piece of the action to make, eventually have everyone a shareholder.

So these accounts, you can go to Trump accounts.gov or IRS form 4547 and sign your children up. If your child is born during President Trump's term, U.S. Treasury will see the account with $1,000. But everyone... With children under age 18 should open the accounts. Families can contribute $5,000 tax-free. Many employers are taking up the mantle. This is going to become an important, I think, employee benefit where employers can kick in or match tax-free for the children. These will compound. They're going into a low-cost index fund. Until the children are 18, at age 18, they could take it out for education, start a business for a down payment on a home, or they can roll it into a more traditional IRA and keep it going until age 60. Are they taxable as regular income on withdrawal? They would be taxable. On withdrawal, but you can roll it into the IRA. And hold it out. And then it would not be taxable at retirement. Exactly. Okay. Let's talk about where we are in the economy right now. You had a very interesting plan. I think it was called 333. 3% economic growth, a 3% reduction in deficits, 3 million barrels of oil, new barrels of oil a day. When we're looking at where the economy is right now, I guess we start with growth, a soft jobs report this time, but... And we've got continued conflict with Iran that's affecting oil prices. Where are we in terms of how we're tracking for growth this year? Let's start there. Well, I think the jobs report was only soft relative to expectations, having been on Wall Street for 35 or 40 years. The mob on Wall Street tends to do student body left, student body right. So having missed the jobs report in February, March, April. being much too low, then they went much too high this time. We've averaged 100,000 jobs a month for the past four months. As you said, I had my 333 plan, so it's 3% economic growth. We have averaged 2.7% since the president came in, and that includes the shutdown by the Democrats in the fourth quarter. Last year, it also includes the downtrend based on the conflict in Iran. But as we've seen, we're going to get to the other side of this conflict. Energy prices are going to come back down. The job market has remained resilient up until April when we got the energy price spike.

American workers had seen real wage gains every month. They're given some of that back due to the energy spike, but we've seen a substantial decrease in energy prices. And importantly, what we are not seeing is the energy inflation move into core inflation, you know, something more endemic and systemic. Can we talk a little bit about where we're positioned financially in terms of a debt and deficit? The Pentagon needs more money. I saw a headline the other day that the Pentagon has had to draw down a lot of its stock and that it needs more money, which could mean higher deficits instead of lower deficits. How is that tracking? And what are your thoughts about that? So what's really important is the deficit to GDP number. So can we grow our way out of this deficit problem, which we're doing? So if we could have two and a half, three and a half percent growth or average three, which we did under President Trump's first term, then we could grow our way out of this. debt problem. And in 2024, the deficit to GDP that we inherited from the Biden administration was the highest that had ever been when we weren't at war, weren't in a recession, about 6.7, 6.8% for calendar 2025. We brought it down to about 5.5, 5.6.6.6.6.6. something with the three in front of it by the end of the president's term. And we may have a little pause here in the deficit, the overall reduction. That would be for two reasons, as you said, to build up our military. And then on the other side, with the working family's tax cut, also known as the one big beautiful bill, we put in full expensing for... companies, whether big or small capital expenditures, any CAPEX you do can be automatically expense. Factories can be 100% expensed, and farm structures could be 100% expense. So that may make the deficit stay flat to slightly up. But what we're doing there is we're increasing the capital stock of America. So we're increasing productive assets that will... make the tax base more robust further out and will create more jobs. You think the oil issue in terms of the reserves we're having to draw on oil production? it will self-correct as we find a solution to the situation in Iran? I do. Even this weekend, Bloomberg, which a month ago was talking about $200 oil, and this is going to happen this past weekend before the hostilities ratcheted up again, came out and said there's an oil glut. So I think once the hostilities do quiet down, and I think they will, I think we will be lower.

substantially lower than where we were on February 28th when the hostility started. Let's talk about jobs for just a moment and AI. There's a huge CAPEX expansion around AI. Data centers, trillions of dollars flowing into AI. The other side of that, though, is that they are predicting that you're going to see a lot of people out of work because they will be replaced by the AI. I'm hearing it's... They don't know what's going to happen, actually. Where are you on AI? AI investment. I don't know that I've heard you talk a lot about AI. Sure. So a couple of things. One, the U.S. like where the energy superpower now, the U.S. produces more energy, both crude and net gas, than... Russia and Saudi Arabia combined. And we are also the AI superpower. And we got to keep our lead on that because I also manage the economic relationship with the U.S. and China. And I can tell you, if China got ahead of us, AI is a powerful weapon. It can be a weapon for good as the U.S. wants to do it. If the Chinese had a substantial lead, I think it would be for less good. And AI. I think everyone should have an open mind. I've had a saying throughout my career, drive some people crazy. When they asked me a question, I say, no data, no opinion. So thus far, what we're seeing in the data is that AI is not causing a job loss. As a matter of fact, companies that have... they incorporated AI into their business plan are actually the companies that are hiring the most. So I had one of the large credit card companies in the other day. I'm not going to name them, but you might be able to figure it out. And I said, how's AI affecting your business? And they said, well, We need less people in customer service and collections, but we're moving them all over to our travel service. So there may be a reallocation, but thus far, what we are seeing is that AI is enhancing not hurting jobs. I think I heard Jamie Diamond say something like that about their investment is that they've been able to move people out of crunching data into more customer service. So that's really interesting. How have you found this life, this world being Treasury Secretary? You were deep into Wall Street and the financial markets, and now you're in government. What's that like for you? It's fantastic in terms of being able to serve the American people. In the dedication ceremony at the bridge today, many of you may think the best part about being Treasury Secretary is getting the 152 on a...

152 a.m., a phone call from the president who wants to chat for an hour. Scott, did I wake you up? No, sir. I'm always awake at 152 a.m. But really the best part is both when American people, American families, I see them in D.C. I talk to him on the street, in the Capitol building around the White House, and then coming out and seeing what our policies are doing to help the American people. So being able to... In the old days, when I was in my private business, it was you had a theory, you invested, and then you saw in your P&L, whether you were right or wrong. Now we are applying what we think are great policies for the American people, whether it's tax, trade, regulatory energy, and then coming out and meeting the people it affects. And the mystery or the spy writer, John LaCarray, you know, Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy said a desk is a dangerous place from which to view the world. And I think that that happens to a lot of people in D.C. you get isolated. So I love to come out and travel. On balance, how have tariffs worked or not worked? Well, we're seeing substantial reshoring. We just saw Toyota announced that they are going to put, what I believe is the largest Toyota plant. And I know Toyota is well known to folks here in Tennessee. And I also said in my speech today that... Toyota got to know America through Tennessee, and it's been so successful. They are now moving a plant from Mexico up to San Antonio, Texas. I think it may be the biggest one in the Toyota company. So we are seeing that. We are seeing our trade deficits drop. And we're seeing our exports up. Because what we are really starting to see is that other countries had taken advantage. So there is the job side. There is the export side. And then importantly, we are reordering our tariff policy. And we think that we can take in substantial revenues. The way to think about it is that... About $300 billion is 1% of GDP. And I think we could take in about 1% a year in tariff revenues, which back to the 333 and lowering the deficit can go a long way toward lowering the deficit. Opportunities, bright spots on the horizon versus what keeps you up at night that makes you go. We need to pay careful attention to this. So on the horizon, I think we're now the one year anniversary of the tax bill, and I think things are really starting to cook in terms of factories being built. Everyone always asks me.

especially when I have my Democratic hearings. Well, you know, you said there's going to be a manufacturing revival. Why haven't we seen it? Well, what we're seeing is a construction revival. So we've seen a lot of new construction jobs. My hometown of Charleston, South Carolina, has Boeing's second largest plant. And they are doing a 50% expansion. And that is construction jobs. This is going to turn into three years later, a thousand. factory, great paying factory jobs building the Dreamliners. So that is really going well. One of the things that I pushed harder on being from a small town is small and community banks. I say Wall Street's done well. Now it's Main Street's turn. The Wall Street Journal called me an Kay Ivey League populist. And I said, well, you know, it's because you're called the Wall Street Journal, not the Main Street Journal. And I think that we are doing a good job of tailoring bank regulations so that small and community banks can now compete. Again, we had the saying too big to fail, but the regulations had made the banks too small to succeed. So we were trying to tailor that regulation because the regulators. I convened the regulators in something called the Financial Stability Oversight Council, and we've seen about $3 trillion of available credit be created in a safe, sound, and smart manner. On the other side, I worry a lot about what's going on overseas. The rest of the world is having anemic growth. Thus far, the U.S. has managed to accelerate away. We are hosting the G20, the 20 largest industrial countries that the U.S. is the host this year. I will be having the finance ministers in Asheville, North Carolina, not far away from here, in August. And we are going to put forth the idea that the biggest risk of financial stability, that it's not... the things people usually talk about, whether there's a problem in the banking system or commodity problem, we think the biggest risk is not enough growth. So what can we do? We've taken a lot of measures here in the U.S., which is why I think we're pulling ahead, and how can we get the other countries to grow to get out from under this mound of debt, which... started accumulating during the great financial crisis and then kind of doubled up during the COVID crisis. So we're really pushing for growth. But I think a lack of growth in the rest of the world is what keeps me up at night. Thank you for this time. I know our time is short. One quick question. Kevin Warsh is now in at the Fed. Indications are rates are going to stay where they are. May inch up a little bit. The president has been really concerned about rates. How are you feeling about the right regime right now? The president said, Kevin Warsh is swearing in as Fed chair, and he said it subsequently that he wants Chair Kevin Warsh to do what he thinks is right. I've known Chair Kevin Warsh for almost two decades, and I am confident that he will strike the right balance between growth and inflation. And it's a new day at the Fed. He is kind of going back to first principles.

Why do we do things a certain way? And he's going to be a great public servant. It's his second time at the Fed. He was at the Fed. He was the youngest governor in history. Came aboard in 2006, then went back to a career in academia and on Wall Street. And I tell you, it's very exciting. I have breakfast with the Fed chair every Thursday morning. I had 41 breakfast with Jerome Powell. And I'm enjoying. It's kind of a new day with Kevin Warsh. I think the American people are going to be very pleased. Mr. Secretary, thank you for taking time to stop by and talk to us today. Great to see you. Scrolling with Haley, join Haley Caronea as she scrolls through the biggest headlines. If you haven't watched this show before, we do blind reactions. I have not seen these videos, so I am seeing them for the first time with all of you. We're going to implement the tinfoil hat time segments and all the stuff you know and love. And I'm going to finish the show and answer some of your questions. Someone asked me, what made you get into podcasting, and I was producing podcasts for other people. And I was like, I could do this for myself. And here I am. Scrolling with Haley, follow and listen on your favorite platform.