Watch Truth Rising starting September 5th and find out how you can help
>> Ed Vitagliano: God is at work, and he's calling his people to rise in truth.
>> Fred Jackson: Truth Rising is a powerful new documentary from Focus on the Family and the Colson Center. See how ordinary Christians choose courage in.
>> Tim Wildmon: A culture that needs truth.
>> Fred Jackson: Watch Truth Rising starting September 5th and find out how you can be a part of the change and become an agent of restoration. Sign up@truthrising.com that's truthrising.com.
Tim Wildman hosts Today's Issues on American Family Radio on August 19
>> Ed Vitagliano: Welcome to today's issues, offering a Christian response to the issues of the day. here's your host, Tim Wildmon, president of the American Family Association.
>> Tim Wildmon: Hey, good morning, everybody, and welcome to Today's Issues. That's the name of this program, Today's Issues here on this on American Family Radio on this Tuesday, August 19, 2025. And in studio with me is Ed Vitagliano. Good morning, Brother Ed. Was that like Dracula or is that,
>> Ed Vitagliano: He's. He's my Putin invitation.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay, Russia. Russian. Okay, Russian. The Eastern European. You know that it's all throws me conglomerate. Think, I'll just use that word.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Dracula would be more like number six. Ah, ah, ah.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yes. That's why we have you, Ed, do your impersonations.
>> Ed Vitagliano: That's right.
>> Tim Wildmon: All right. Wesley Wildmon. Good morning, Wesley.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Good morning. And how do you say I'm frustrated in Russian?
>> Ed Vitagliano: I'm frustrated because I. Russian is very easy.
>> Wesley Wildmon: I'm dealing with the, new phone set up like most people do at times, and you have to convert. Yes.
>> Tim Wildmon: Your old phone to your new phone, the information. So you're doing that.
>> Ed Vitagliano: They're side by side and one's talking to the other, sending all the information.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Through the waves.
>> Tim Wildmon: This is new because I've always done this at the phone.
>> Wesley Wildmon: you know, your carrier, by the way, great job. I'm frustrated in Russian.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yes. I told you, Russian's not as hard as you might think.
>> Tim Wildmon: You're transferring one phone to your new phone. The information from your, like, your contacts and all that. And it's photo. All you have to do is put them side by side.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah, it takes a little bit. You know, it can vary between 15 minutes and a half.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Wait a second. How come m your stuff is showing up on my phone? This thing targeted.
>> Tim Wildmon: Right. All right. Fred Jackson. Good morning, Fred.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Fred Jackson: Join the conversation.
>> Tim Wildmon: let's see. Fred, Brother way Pritchard's traveling today, right? New Jersey. He's in New Jersey. He's a Jersey.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Why?
>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah, why. Why would you do that?
>> Jenna Ellis: Stop.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Go back. Turn around.
>> Tim Wildmon: Well, I think he got, one of those Word of life Camps. Right. I think.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Okay, in that case. Yeah, go ahead.
>> Tim Wildmon: I think. Well, Ray travels the country, teaching the. Teaching the Bible. I don't know what you guys do with your life. Ray has purpose and meaning.
>> Wesley Wildmon: We travel counties and play baseball.
>> Tim Wildmon: I know. Yeah. In the great scheme of things, where is that going to leave you?
>> Wesley Wildmon: That' right.
>> Tim Wildmon: All right, so, Ray's out, traveling about the country. Lot to talk about today. Thank you for joining us again, Tim. Ed Wesley, and now, Fred Jackson.
Fred Kaplan: President Trump met with European leaders to discuss NATO spending
Fred, what's. What's the lead story right now?
>> Fred Jackson: Well, the lead story, you know, there's that saying a, picture is worth a thousand words. And yesterday, at least Fox News gave live coverage to a lot of the meetings that President Trump had with the European leaders. And I say picture because there is one image that was taken of this President Trump sitting behind a desk, and he has these world leaders in a semicircle around him, like kind of a Godfather type thing. And he is, for that moment, the leader of the free world, I guess. But this was all a follow up to the meeting, the, Putin summit in Alaska on Friday. We are told that when that meeting was finished on Friday afternoon, President Trump got aboard Air Force One, and even before it took off, he was phoning all of these leaders, Germany, uk, France, Italy, Finland, several others, and saying, hey, I'd like you to be in Washington, D.C. on Monday morning. And they all agreed, and they showed up along with Volodymyr Zelensky, the head of the Ukrainian government. And they had a meeting yesterday as to how to move forward. And we are told, in the midst of meeting with these Western leaders and the leader of Ukraine, President Trump, a couple of times, I think, stepped out and called Vladimir Putin. This is where we are. This is what we're saying. and talked about the possibility of getting Zelensky and Putin together, to perhaps bring about a peace in this war. Anyway, this morning, President, Trump was on Fox and Friends. Lawrence, Jones, who is, one of the hosts there, asked the president how you arranged this meeting so fast. And, this is what he had to say. Cut number two.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, Mr. President, the whole world was watching yesterday as you got leaders from the European Union, NATO as well, from all over the world.
>> Tim Wildmon: How did you get them, to Washington, to the Oval Office so fast? Well, I think really they have respect for our country again. A year ago, they wouldn't have come. They wouldn't have even thought about it. Now we've become the hottest country anywhere in the world, everybody wants to be here. When I made the call, they came.
>> Ed Vitagliano: And they said, there's really never been anything like it. You know, you'd have one president or.
>> Tim Wildmon: One prime minister, but there's never been, you know, such a group.
>> Ed Vitagliano: And these really represent, the European.
>> Tim Wildmon: Nations, these people, and they're very good people, and they want to end the war, that horrible war with Ukraine and Russia. It's a horrible war.
>> Fred Jackson: And, the image is important. And, one of the military analysts that Fox, uses very often, retired General Jack Keane, says this summit, the images of this meeting yesterday in Washington, he says, no issue about this. This was directed also at Putin seeing this allied force come together. Cut number five.
>> Tim Wildmon: he already knows that he's internationally isolated by invading Ukraine. he already knows that there's sanctions imposed on him from the European nations and from the United States. He does have partners, and those partners are all authoritarian regimes that are up.
>> Ed Vitagliano: To, malfeasance themselves in China, Iran and North Korea.
>> Tim Wildmon: So certainly he got the message, you.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Know, that there is unity here, that there is a.
>> Tim Wildmon: There is a.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Not only they're coming together, but the way they come together and the way they talk to each other, you can feel the commitment and the resolve in moving towards peace.
>> Fred Jackson: Also in that room yesterday was NATO Secretary General Mark Root. He says Trump is the only person on earth who could have pulled off this deal. Cut number seven.
>> Tim Wildmon: I hope the Americans see this.
>> Ed Vitagliano: probably one of his biggest foreign.
>> Tim Wildmon: Foreign policy successes of his president, of his. Of Trump. 47, is that during the NATO summit, we committed collectively to this 5% spending.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Including 3.5% on the core defense spending.
>> Tim Wildmon: That's the same the US is spending.
>> Ed Vitagliano: He always said that he supported NATO's.
>> Tim Wildmon: But he also expected the Europeans to pay up, to spend more. He has been successful in doing this. So today the conversation was a conversation.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Among friends, among close allies who respect each other, who like each other, who.
>> Tim Wildmon: Know each other very well, discussing.
>> Ed Vitagliano: How we can bring this terrible war to an end.
>> Tim Wildmon: And this is a goal we all have in common. And without President Trump, this deadlock with.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Putin would not have been broken.
>> Tim Wildmon: He was the only one who could do this starting in February.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, I think that, part of the motivation on the part of these, leaders from certain select countries in Europe is that if you're going to, you get a strike while the iron's hot. And if something's going to. First of all, if something's going to be done, you. You got to Meet now, because this has been. President Trump is trying to get something done between Ukraine and Russia. But also, I think that knowing that, Zelensky was coming to meet with Donald Trump, these European leaders wanted to let Zelensky know that they were supportive of Ukraine. So, I mean, I don't think it's because our country is, you know, the greatest in the world or anything like that.
>> Tim Wildmon: What?
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yes. I don't think that was.
>> Tim Wildmon: Nobody's ever seen anything like it.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah, I don't think that was the reason why they came. These are very busy people. They're leading their own countries. I think they want to support Zelinsky, and they know that if. Well, listen, I'll just tell you something else, too. If something does get done, these folks want part of the credit. You know, they want to say, look, we showed up, too. It wasn't just, you know, Trump. I never put it past politicians to, pat themselves on the back. So I'm guessing there's some of that.
>> Tim Wildmon: You know, I did like something President Trump said, and I don't think we have the audio clip of this, but I was reading what he said. You know, sometimes. Sometimes President Trump, he. He, just says things plainly. Right. Right now. They're always the greatest and the best, and nobody's ever seen anything like it because we're used to that with him. Right.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: So you just take that with a grain of salt.
Wesley Morris: President Trump is trying to broker peace between Ukraine and Russia
But he did say this. He said, I am the president, and I'm trying to stop people from killing each other.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: He put it on the bottom shelf. We all can understand that. I will give President Trump, he deserves credit here because I guess you could say it is his responsibility as the leader of the free world to try to broker a peace in between Ukraine and Russia. The Ukrainians and the Russians both have been friends of America. I mean, we've had our differences, especially with Russia, over the decades. Yes. But, I mean, there's been some times of friendly relationships with the Russians. But, I'm just saying President Trump could say, you know, they say it's not my problem, and, I don't. So I'm not gonna. I'm not gonna spend a lot of time, energy, and effort trying to.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.
>> Tim Wildmon: Trying to resolve something that's not my problem. It's not our problem as the United States. He could take that approach is what I'm saying right now. He did vow, did President Trump, not to put American troops on the ground. He made that clear this morning.
>> Fred Jackson: Yes.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: and of course, we kind of knew that. He's never said we're going to send American troops, although he did say maybe we would supply some kind of air support for the Ukrainians. I doubt we'll do that either. but he's trying. He. President Trump, but Wesley is trying his best to end this war. It is. of course, we don't, you know, we don't live it, but the Ukrainian people in particular have been. Live in this. and the. And the Russians too, of course, they can't do anything about it. The Russians can't, because they. Right now. Because they're under dictatorship. basically, yeah.
>> Wesley Wildmon: I'm not sure if he. If Trump really loses much here either way, because at the end of the day, he has exhausted all that he can do, and he's still going in. And at the moment, just two weeks ago, we thought that. I was saying on radio two weeks ago, he needs to just drop it, move on. And I still feel like that in some ways, until you have a meeting like this and you're like, well, yeah, maybe he can pull it off again, you know, So I don't think he loses much. I do know, though, that this can't. He can't. He, meaning Trump, also can't do this.
>> Tim Wildmon: Forever, so keep trying to broker a peace deal.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah. While we also have our own issues at home, you know, being United States of America. So I don't know. I'm happy to. I think his motives are clear and I think his intention to write, and I think he's also not, doing it for free. You know, he's asking for stuff in exchange, too. So, while also keeping at the forefront of his point. And that is, like you said, plain speak. And that's to end and end an endless war, at least in the minds of us, the American people, like, this shouldn't have happened. like you mentioned that yesterday on the radio. I was listening.
>> Tim Wildmon: I was listening to this, sharing his heart.
>> Wesley Wildmon: It was either yesterday, it had been yesterday yesterday, but that essentially, if you want to go stay on that bottom shelf, you have a. A bad guy attacking another country. Now, again, we know Ukraine has its own issues, but they were living their lives before they were attacked.
>> Tim Wildmon: So, yeah, yeah, it's.
>> Wesley Wildmon: You're welcome for all that. Guys, I'm gonna go get.
>> Tim Wildmon: I'm gonna.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Popcorn real quick. I'll be back.
>> Tim Wildmon: It's quite an analysis, right?
>> Wesley Wildmon: Good radio voice. Welcome.
Fred Kaplan: Putin has rejected any idea of ending Ukraine war short of getting
>> Tim Wildmon: All right, so, we will see what happens, but it was a big, big meeting yesterday. A lot of European leaders there, as you say. Fred. and President Trump is trying to do his best to bring an end to this war. Vladimir Putin has basically, he's basically, How would you say? He's rejected any idea so far of ending the war short of getting what he wants. Absolutely. Which is, I don't know if he wants to. He would like to take over the whole Ukraine, but at least he, it looks like to me he's going to want a quarter of the Ukraine. I'm talking about geographically. So. But I don't know, I don't know. He may say no to that because that, he hasn't agreed to that yet. Doesn't sound like, to me, I don't.
>> Ed Vitagliano: I don't think he's going to give up the areas that they've taken. You know, they started this in 2014.
>> Tim Wildmon: Hm.
>> Ed Vitagliano: They, they took Crimea.
>> Fred Jackson: Yes.
>> Ed Vitagliano: And it seems clear to me that.
>> Tim Wildmon: They being the Russians.
>> Ed Vitagliano: The Russians. It seems clear to me that Putin has had his eye on certain, parts of Ukraine. They would, you know, give him, you know, a port right there on the, on the, you know, the Black Sea, you know, and that, rich, mineral rich area of Ukraine as well as part of the breadbasket of Ukraine where they produce so much wheat and they've lost a million in terms of deaths and casualties, injuries. He's not given that back.
>> Tim Wildmon: I don't think that appeared to me like Putin. now he did meet with President Trump. He didn't physically meet with President Trump, but, I don't, I don't think he much cares what America does if America is not going to use their military might against him.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah. That's why, obviously we're talking about Trump meeting in U.S. being the United States. What are other countries doing to try to end this war?
>> Tim Wildmon: Well, these, these, European countries, you know, they're trying to exert their influence as much as they can. but, you know, the sanctions that have been put against Russia, I mean, they've been in place for what, two, three years now. So.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, and some of the sanctions have been in place since he invaded Crimea.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. So they don't, they don't do anything. They don't, they don't, they don't stop him.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.
>> Tim Wildmon: It's intended to stop, Putin.
>> Ed Vitagliano: And the mindset of the Russians seems to be they will throw lives at a problem. This goes all the way back to Stalin. And people say that Putin is a Stalinist. He has that kind of mindset of Joseph Stalin, the Communist ruler, and they defended Moscow and Stalingrad, you know, in World War II. And really, we probably wouldn't have won World War II if Russia hadn't lost.
>> Tim Wildmon: Millions of lives coming in from the east.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Coming in from the east. Well. And defending against the, the Nazis. So I don't think Putin cares that they have a million casualties.
>> Tim Wildmon: No.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Because that's just the mindset of the Russians. Go, guess what? We've got more.
>> Tim Wildmon: Well, they've even got mercenaries coming over from North Korea. Yeah, North Korea. I don't even know if they're mercenaries. They're just fodder.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: I mean, I hate they're human beings, but, I mean, the North Koreans are sending soldiers in exchange for money that don't know how to fight. They just know how to march over to, the front lines against the Ukrainians. So the Ukrainians, Ukrainians have been having to fight against the Russian war machine.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: And Russian, Russians just keep throwing wave after wave of soldiers there.
>> Ed Vitagliano: It's been, listen, it's been a courageous stand on the part of Ukraine. Oh, yeah, I thought they would fold in a week or two weeks.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Ed Vitagliano: And here it is three and a half years later.
>> Tim Wildmon: all right, next story, next story.
Tim Ferriss: Trump and Zelensky had a verbal donnybrook yesterday
>> Fred Jackson: There's just one more aspect to this a lot of people are waiting to see the relationship between Trump and Zelensky yesterday, in the week of what happened in February, they had the verbal donnybrook on live television to the world. Well, it was kiss and makeup time yesterday. It was President Trump literally the arm around the shoulder of Zelensky.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Zelensky wore a suit.
>> Fred Jackson: Zelensky wore a suit.
>> Tim Wildmon: Is that what that was?
>> Fred Jackson: And Trump made a remark about that.
>> Ed Vitagliano: I think he had a T shirt under a suit or something.
>> Tim Wildmon: Black on black on black.
>> Ed Vitagliano: As an Italian, he liked it.
>> Tim Wildmon: Big Johnny Cash fan.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Fred Jackson: And Tim, you sent out a story on the most popular word coming out of Zelinsky's mouth yesterday was thank you, thank you, thank you.
>> Tim Wildmon: He was groveling pretty much. I mean, he was sucking up to Trump. Yeah. All right, Is that, is that plain speak right there?
>> Ed Vitagliano: I think, I think he, I think he was probably told, you can't. You can't go into someone else's house and act that way. You've got to be respectful.
>> Tim Wildmon: Oh, he was respectful. He was like, thank you, thank you, thank you, but thank you.
>> Ed Vitagliano: That was just atrocious behavior.
>> Fred Jackson: That was like you're sitting, watching this. This is live tv.
>> Tim Wildmon: February.
>> Fred Jackson: Yeah. In the Oval Office, and there's a verbal donnybrook broke up.
>> Ed Vitagliano: You remember J.D. vance?
>> Tim Wildmon: Listen.
>> Ed Vitagliano: On it. Oh, man.
>> Tim Wildmon: on a more serious note, if I can be that way for just a moment here.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: Zelinsky. How do you pronounce his first name?
>> Ed Vitagliano: Huh?
>> Tim Wildmon: Voloda Bear.
>> Wesley Wildmon: I just think we should avoid that.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay. Zelinsky. I will. That's why I asked Fred to do it. Okay. On a more serious note, and I'm not going to. I. I know a lot of people, especially in the. A lot of people who are conservatives, would say, so Zelensky and the Ukraine are corrupt. Okay. I'm not going to argue that point right now.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay. I'm just going to say this because I don't know all the ins and outs of that. Of that situation. I would just say this, if you're Zelinsky. Okay. He has been the leader of a country at war now for how long?
>> Ed Vitagliano: Three and a half. Right. February of 2022.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay. And I have to give the. On a human level, I have to give the guy admiration.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.
>> Tim Wildmon: For being able to hold up against and lead a country, basically. They don't have a lot of people in their army. They basically recruited the men of their country.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: To fight back against the Russian war machine. And they've been brutally attacked. I don't know. Can you be attacked any other way? But Russian. The Russians have been kidnapping their children.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: And taking them to Russia. You read this story?
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah. We talked about it yesterday.
>> Tim Wildmon: So I'm saying to you, when you're Zelinsky and you go meet with somebody like President Trump, you're inside, you're in tears, you're going. We are fighting, the very best we can with limited resources. And I'm begging you to help me in the name of freedom.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: In the name of saving. Saving my countrymen's and our children's lives from this assault by Russia. you see what I'm saying?
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: And so I just have admiration for him as a person. I know that some people say. I don't know. Do you know if he's corrupt or not?
>> Ed Vitagliano: I don't.
>> Tim Wildmon: Tell me what world leader isn't.
Todd Stearn: Trump has asked for weapons because they're running out
>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, no, I. I don't. I don't know. All, like you said, all the ins and outs of that there have been. Listen, the guy, people talk about him, they say, look, he's just a former actor and dancer and that kind of stuff. And I'd go, well, that makes it even more impressive.
>> Tim Wildmon: Well, so it's Drops a TV star.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Well.
>> Tim Wildmon: And a Businessman.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Ronald Reagan was a famous.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. So what do you say? What does that mean?
>> Ed Vitagliano: No, what I'm saying is, yeah, he, he wasn't a politician from age 18. So he, you know, he becomes elected perhaps because he was well known as someone who was on television. But the fact that he has done what he has done to try to rally for three years, people for you for over three and a half years, is, makes it only more impressive, like you're saying.
>> Tim Wildmon: And he does have his hand out. He does, he has had his hand out because he doesn't have the, he doesn't have the money or resources to keep fighting against, Russia, who has seemingly endless resources. So listen. Yeah, he's going to have his hand out.
>> Ed Vitagliano: We've been involved in military conflicts over the last 30 years where we have run out, almost run out of cruise missiles. These things are highly technical. they're very expensive. And you don't turn a Ford plant into a tank manufacturing plant like we did in World War II to crank out weapons. So yes, he's asked for weapons. He's asked because they are running out and you're not asking for troops. Right.
>> Tim Wildmon: He's always just asked for, we want.
>> Ed Vitagliano: To fight the war, please give us. Yeah, we're running out of ammunition. Yeah, in a simplistic way of putting it. So, no, listen, when I say Ukraine, and I have said this on the air, Ukraine is just going to have to accept the fact that they're going to lose the territory that Russia is sitting on because there's no way to get it back unless Europe and the United States want to go to war with a nuclear armed Russia.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah, but nobody wants, yeah, but I think it goes back to. Is Putin willing to stop too?
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. Say I want the whole country.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, at that point, if he, if.
>> Tim Wildmon: He, I don't know, just further.
>> Ed Vitagliano: I, I think, I think NATO would intervene. I, I really do. I, I, and I think that's part of why Putin has met.
>> Tim Wildmon: Trump's trying to prevent that.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yes, Trump's trying to think.
>> Tim Wildmon: So we're gonna take a short time out right here. How you like that? Ladies and gentlemen, for geopolitical.
>> Ed Vitagliano: That's deep analysis.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, that's right, right there, my friend. We'll be back momentarily. Stay with us.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Hello, Americans, I'm Todd Stearn. Stand by for news and commentary.
Nearly 3 million kids attended Southern Baptist Vacation Bible School this summer
Next vacation. Bible school may be old school, but it's still very popular among kids across the fruited plain. CBN News reports nearly 3 million kids attended VBS at Southern Baptist churches over the summer, some 70,000 making a personal decision to follow Christ Vacation Bible School, a week long affair hosted by churches featuring fun adventure themes for kids. Along with arts and crafts, singing, and lots of recreation. Many churches turn snack time into an art form. You know, when I was a kid, I got to double dip. I went to my family's Baptist church, vbs. Then I attended my grandparents VBS at the Methodist church. Now the Methodist had a lot better snacks. Almost switched denominations as a second grader because of that. The surge in VBS attendance could be a sign that more young families are now returning to the traditions of our faith. And the best part, kids actually want to get up early to go to VBS public school. And not so much. I'm Todd Stearns.
>> Tim Wildmon: This is Today's Issues.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Email your comments to commentsfr.net Past broadcasts of today's Issues are available for listening and viewing in the archive@afr.net now back to more of today's issues.
Jenna Ellis: America has a heavy responsibility to police the world
>> Tim Wildmon: You know, it is a fine line between, being the. When you're, when you're the most powerful country in the world, right. As the United States is, then, it is a heavy responsibility to know exactly where to exert your influence. and how much of the world do you want to police?
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: Because if the United States of America had not been, quote, the world's policeman in, in other, wars and other times of crisis, then we wouldn't have had a good result potentially.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, the fact of the matter is most military experts believe we would not have the kind of worldwide trade we have without the U.S. navy, being able to help keep those lanes safe. And to your point, if you see a conflict, whether it's in Rwanda or Nigeria or that, those kind of things, Somalia, and you go, well, we could stop that if we wanted to. We've got the military might to stop it. You would have endless wars.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yes.
>> Ed Vitagliano: And so America has to pick and choose where it's going to get involved.
>> Tim Wildmon: I think that's the phrase that applies here, is pick and choose.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: Because you also can't take the view of west, well, yes. Of Wesley being a complete isolationist.
>> Wesley Wildmon: I can be picked on. Go for.
>> Tim Wildmon: Right? No, I can handle it. You can't. You can't. Just listen, America, we're absent Iraq and Afghanistan. We're just weary of. Right, okay. weary of wars and sending our men and women around the world to be the world's policemen. So there's, I understand the argument against. There's been a Great pullback against that. And, that's been basically in the. In the Make America a great, movement.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah. And I'll just say one last thing, and then we'll let Wesley defend himself. We have Jenna here, but, if.
>> Fred Jackson: If.
>> Ed Vitagliano: I think what we learned in Afghanistan and Iraq is you can't use the military to change people's minds or their religion or the way or their worldview. You can't use a cruise missile to change the way someone views the world. And in places like Nigeria and Somalia, where you have these radical Islamic factions that murder people, you.
>> Tim Wildmon: You.
>> Ed Vitagliano: You kill them, and their kids grow up hating the west, too. So I think that is at least part of why the younger generations go, no, I don't spend 20 years in another country. I don't want to go, and I don't want to send my children to fight. when we leave, they believe the same thing and do the same thing. Like in Afghanistan with the Taliban.
>> Tim Wildmon: Just let me introduce Jenna, and then, Fred, you can comment.
>> Ed Vitagliano: And then we still got a little over here.
>> Tim Wildmon: Well, Wesley's in isolation. We're going to put him over there by himself in the corner. Okay. Jenna, Ellis is with us. Host of Jenna Ellis in the Morning. She joins us, wins. Tuesdays are Wednesdays, usually, here on American Family Radios, today's issues program. Jenna, good morning.
>> Jenna Ellis: Good morning.
Fred Moss: I think Trump is using an element that other presidents have not used
>> Tim Wildmon: All right, let Fred comment, and then, Jenna, you can jump in there, and then west, it can have his three words.
>> Fred Jackson: I do think Trump is using an element that other presidents have not used, and that is trade.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.
>> Fred Jackson: Like it or not, the world is connected by trade. I mean, the India Pakistan uprising there just a few months ago, he stopped that.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.
>> Fred Jackson: By threatening tariffs. And Trump, being a business guy, understands that, and he is using that. He is using that tool because aboard that Soviet plane that landed in Alaska last Friday were a bunch of Russian business people.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Fred Jackson: So this is all part of the game. He is using that like no other president could or did.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.
>> Tim Wildmon: Hey, Jenna. good morning to you.
>> Jenna Ellis: Good morning. Great to be with you guys. And sounds like an interesting conversation. So, you know, I'm just, coming in here, but. But to Ed's point earlier about, you can't conquer a person's mind, and I think that's a really important point, that you can't just go in with brute force and change someone's, you know, religion or their affiliation and expect them to assimilate. And the whole Western ideology of property rights, free markets, contracts, I mean, that's become the dominant framework for international business. And to Fred's point, with trade and all of this. But when we're trying to, quote, unquote, spread democracy, it has to be through advocating for a worldview. And that's why it takes a lot longer than just coming in and saying, okay, we've conquered and now we leave. If you're truly going to spread democracy, however we define that, if that's Western culture, you have to come in and actually stay in. I mean, that was, One of the biggest, impacts that, There was. What was the, The movie. I'm forgetting what it was, The. The senator who helped,
>> Tim Wildmon: Dumb and Dumber.
>> Jenna Ellis: M. That. That was. That was a good one. About. I think those. Both of those senators were probably, From. From Kentucky. Right. But no. So, But, But the one. The one senator who, you know, really helped, go in and, you know, reshape a lot of, The. The groundwork and everything in, You know, in some of these Middle Eastern countries. And this was back in the 80s, Charlie.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Something's war.
>> Jenna Ellis: Yes, yes, that's exactly what I'm talking about.
>> Ed Vitagliano: And it was a us. Was it a senator or. I think I'm gonna look that up, Congressman.
>> Jenna Ellis: But yeah, Yeah, so, So that. And it's a really interesting movie and Tom Hanks plays him. But basically what, What he was saying.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Charlie Wilson's war.
>> Jenna Ellis: Wilson. Charlie Wilson's War. great, great movie. And, and this. The whole story, though, where he's saying we're spending millions and millions of dollars to just go in and stop all of the bloodshed. But he said, but what we didn't do was spend the extra couple of million to build schools and actually stay there and, And. And help these people understand more than just going in and stopping the headlines. And that was his whole point. Through the entire spending of Congress and trying to spread democracy.
>> Wesley Wildmon: a couple of things on my position. And I'm willing to grow and learn and develop good. Unlike being isolated into the corner for three words. I'm just kidding. on all seriousness, I err on the side coming out of the Middle East. I, err on the side of letting each country be personally responsible for themselves and take care of themselves. And it's unfortunate, but wars happen and land is conquered in two ways. It's by purchase or by force. And it's unfortunate. Now, with that said, I'm not an isolationist to the point. Why you couldn't give me an example, in which I May not, have exceptions to where it's proper or right or just calls to partner with a country for the purpose of ending something. but I am 100%, 100% opposed to the long term nation building. I don't. I don't even think, in some cases, the way Jenna described. I don't even know if that. That didn't even work in the Middle east, you know.
>> Tim Wildmon: Well, look how long we were in. I don't know what Iraq looks like today exactly, but look how long we were in Afghanistan.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Moss does what it does. So I'm not. So I'm not saying I'm not opposed to having a start and an end, saying, okay, we're gonna go in, we're gonna do this militarily to stop this killing and then get out. There are times you could probably convince me that's a moral, just thing.
Dad: I like the way Trump's handling weapons
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. But.
>> Wesley Wildmon: But if you're gonna sit down and try to convince me that over this 20 years, if we spend this amount of money that we do this and we do that, that's irrelevant to me. I care more about what's going on in our country than what's going on in other parts of the world.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. Well, with Afghanistan, for example, you know, we were there. How long were we in? 20 years.
>> Fred Jackson: 20 years.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. we had some military presence there throughout the country, and we left and the Taliban took right back over, Right?
>> Wesley Wildmon: Yes.
>> Tim Wildmon: So, you know, you have to. What I'm saying is, I think where we're all agreeing, a president, whoever he may be, has to make a, value judgment on case by case, case by case, on how to exert American influence and, and either economically or militarily.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Last point for me on this is that I do like that when Trump does something to help out, even whether I disagree from a position wise, I like the fact that we get something out of it. Even if I don't like being involved in another war, at least we signed a deal to get minerals for it. You know, something for.
>> Ed Vitagliano: I like what. The way Trump's handling weapons. Go into Ukraine.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Yes.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Rather than us giving them the weapons. He's saying, look, Europeans, you're so invested in this. Once you buy, you buy them m. From us.
>> Wesley Wildmon: That's right. You can give them, that's at least something out of it.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. You need to squeeze people who are absolutely. Like Zelensky, for example. You need to tell him how you pay up or you die.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, okay.
>> Ed Vitagliano: So I. I understand that's. Well, you know what I I. We're taking away. We have Jenna on. No, no.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Hey, listen, in order to keep this, conversation for. From prolonging, I'll just concede with that, Dad. I agree with that.
>> Tim Wildmon: Right, right, right. You need to. You need to.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Okay, well, then now I'm gonna say, okay, the Europeans are the ones who want us involved, and they've got enough money to buy the weapons that Ukraine wants and the weapons Ukraine wants. Yeah. And so I'm. Listen, Europe's got plenty of money. There's no reason why we have to give them away. I'm just. Look, that you could interpret that as. You clearly did however you want as squeeze pay to play. I'm saying we squeezed Europe and Ukraine's getting the weapons no matter what.
Three people died when an illegal immigrant crashed on Florida's interstate
>> Tim Wildmon: All right. You're listening to today's issues on the American Family Radio Network. Tim, Wesley, Fred and Jenna. Jenna, wanted to talk about this story, you covered having to do with this truck, driver in Florida who was an illegal alien. talk about that. What happened.
>> Jenna Ellis: This is an utter tragedy, coming out of my home state. But really, ah, all eyes are turning to California because this is, an illegal that came into the U.S. and somehow obtained not just a driver's license, but a commercial driver's license. So CDL out of the state of California and then was driving on the Florida Turnpike, this was back on August the 12th, and went in one of those, police lanes like this wasn't. It was illegal. And tried to do a U turn basically in the middle of the freeway. And, it ended up causing a crash with a minivan. And three people lost their lives because of it. So he's been, arrested. And I had on yesterday morning, the Florida Attorney General, James Uthmeyer, who is saying that he's going to prosecute this to the fullest extent of the law. And this illegal will serve his time in the state of Florida and then be deported. But the conversation, the policy conversation out of this that has been raised, is how the impact of the sanctuary, cities, the lack of border control, the giving of illegals, driver's licenses and other privileges without citizenship, can really impact red states because, of the full faith and credit clause because of interstate commerce and all of this. And so the analysis now, from Governor DeSantis, who will actually join my show in the morning at 8:05 Eastern, so definitely tune in for that. The policy analysis is what can Florida do? What can other red states do to keep the policies of the Liberal states under control and not impacting, our conservative areas.
>> Tim Wildmon: Let me ask you this, Jenna, Why, by the way, there's. I saw the video of this accident and folks were talking. Was this on a, an interstate?
>> Jenna Ellis: Yeah. The Florida Turnpike.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay.
>> Jenna Ellis: Yeah, it's an interstate.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay. Well I was shocked that this driver that we're talking about here, he was doing a U turn with an 18 wheeler.
>> Jenna Ellis: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: On an interstate. And I thought, what an idiot.
>> Ed Vitagliano: And covered the whole interstate.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. Well that's why this, these people, this poor souls in this van go flying, down the interstate, the turnpike, wherever that is. Exactly. And they went under that truck, or they, they crashed into that truck. And we know, you know, it was 75 plus three, three people died. And I'm going like, I don't know where you, what, what, what truck driving school you would ever go to which would say it's okay to try to do a U turn.
>> Wesley Wildmon: It wouldn't matter if you're an illegal immigrant. You just.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yes. And the other part is here, what, why do these. Jenna, tell me the reasoning. Why, try to defend the defenses here? I guess. Why do these blue states want people here who are in the country illegally? Why don't they want to give them driver's licenses?
>> Jenna Ellis: Yeah, that was actually a question that I asked the AG yesterday, because my former home state of Colorado, I was actually working at ah, one of the district, attorney's offices when this whole debate happened in Colorado. And the policy rationale that some even Republicans at the time supported, because Colorado does give licenses to illegals, is that they're going to drive anyway, so we might as well give them driver's licenses because without a license you can't obtain insurance. And so if you get in an accident and you don't have insurance, and that's actually not protecting the person who you end up in a collision with. And so, and the AG's response to that rationale, I think is what I agree with and what is common sense is no, you don't enable them to help break the law. Just because they're going to do it anyway doesn't mean that we say, okay, we'll go ahead and actually have the state license. This. And to your point, I mean there was a quote from a, a gentleman in in ABC 12 news, his name is Grant Maxey, he's been driving commercial trucks for 30 years. And he said that the driver, in this case, his actions were not only illegal, but senseless. There's no Reason that he had to do this U turn where he did, especially in this giant truck that covered all, you know, all lanes of the freeway. He could have gone down to the next exit, went over the overpass and turned around. I mean there was no emergency. I mean it was utterly, even somebody like, I don't have a commercial driver's license, but even I would know that.
>> Wesley Wildmon: That's, that's right, yeah.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah. Because you can, an 18 wheeler can accelerate. I've seen people try to use that emergency turn to make a U turn. Well that's a little, it's still dangerous, but at least you can when you get on the interstate, you can accelerate and, and get up to speed fairly quickly. You can't do that in an 18 wheeler. If you're going to try to make that move, you are going to be going slow. We all know how slow it is, how 18 wheelers are slow till they can get up to speed. But I want to just toss this in too. the reason I think Democrats want to give driver's licenses to illegals is to make it easier for them to vote. That's what I think the reason is. Now they may cover it politically by saying what even Republicans have said. Well, they're going to drive illegally anyway, so we might as well give them driver's license so they can get insurance. I think Democrats want to let them go to the poll and vote by putting that driver's license down.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay.
Tim Goodman: Democrats say giving illegal immigrants driver's licenses makes sense
Somebody once said liberalism is a mental disorder. And this is a prime example. If you're going to take the logic such that it is that we're going to give people here who are here in our country illegally give them driver, issue them driver's license then. And you're going to say, well, they're going to drive anyway. Well then let's give teenagers beer. let's just have a place where teenagers can safely go get beer.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Jenna Ellis: Because many ideas, Tim, they're going to start having those. They're going to have, you know, sanctuary dry, you know, or.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. Because you could argue whether teenagers are going to drink anyway.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, the Democrat reasoning here is only makes sense. It doesn't really make sense, but it only makes sense if you can plan to continue to leave the border wide open. In my mind, if, you, if everyone was following and holding the border secure, then what you say is no, you don't give them driver's licenses. And the answer, well, they're going to drive anyway. Yeah. And when we catch them we deport them. But these Democratic states don't want to deport.
>> Tim Wildmon: I think the Democrats want to say, when we catch illegals, we take them to register to vote. That's the next stand. Fred, you wanted to add.
>> Fred Jackson: Jenna, quick question, legal question. Could the family of these dear people who died in this, could they sue the state of California?
>> Jenna Ellis: All right, that's a great question. And, I know that the AG is looking at ways to, not only hold the state of California accountable, but also the company that, that apparently put this guy behind the wheel. I mean, there's. There's got to be some accountability for some.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, he had a commercial. He had a commercial driver's license, not just a. Ah, you know, for an automobile.
>> Jenna Ellis: I mean. Right. So there. There are a lot of questions here. And my question to him as well was, you know, when. When you have this kind of, interstate, you're going from one state to the next. A lot of these commercial trucks, they're required at the port of entry to go and get weighed, and they can get a lot of fines and, and so forth if they're too heavy to drive on the roads and all that. Why not ask at that point in Florida for some kind of documentation in addition to a CDL of, you know, of citizenship or something else at the point of entry? I mean, that would probably, you know, go up to the Supreme Court and all of that. But, I mean, why not at least try to make some of these things, like protect the borders of your own state as well from other states that are allowing this.
>> Tim Wildmon: Listen, also, just on the broader picture, what, what. What Biden did by opening up the border for the last four years, of course, it cost the Democrats the election. One of the primary reasons. So they did play a political consequence. But to let 10 to 15 million people or more in just pour into the country, don't know who they are.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Where they're coming from, where the children wind up.
>> Tim Wildmon: No, you don't know any of that. And, it base, we all know what happened. Biden just said, y' all come and we'll let you in. And they did. They did. From around the world. This fella here was a Sikh. He had a head dress on, that, So I don't know what country he was from originally, you know, but he came over the southern border, I think. And. And so. But here's. Here's the problem. The ramifications of this were showing up now on an almost daily basis. We are hearing news stories are, coming out of crimes being committed by these people who poured into our country illegally. And it's almost, either you read about it in your local newspaper, you see it in your local news, or in this case, it makes national news. But these people who poured into our country, you know what I'm saying? Many of them, many of them are bad news. Go ahead.
>> Jenna Ellis: We're still, suffering the effects of that. And this is why one of the big reasons that a lot of conservatives supported the one big beautiful bill was the. Because it authorized a lot more funding for ICE and Tom Homan and border security because we need to have expeditious deportations. And yet the Democrats are still doubling down because, today, if anyone is listening, from California, there will actually be a rally with, Pastor Jack Hibbs, among others, in Sacramento at the state Capitol. They have a permit for all of that and everything. But the, Democrats are doubling down on all of this because of California's Assembly Bill 495. I don't know if you guys have heard about this, but it's known as the family Preparedness Plan. But really what it does is basically it's an expansion of authorizations for a caregiver that parents don't even have to be notified that someone can just come into a daycare, potentially a church, a school, and just give a signed affidavit that they are a caregiver of that child and can actually take custody of the child. And the pretext from the, Democrat assembly members in California that are trying to get this bill pushed through is to say, well, if the parents of this child are deported, then we want to make sure that there's kind of a succession of custody plan. But what it does is basically opens the floodgates for a lot of, child trafficking, among other things, because it reduces the safeguards around a, child custody. And so Pastor Jack Hibbs, in a message that he posted on Instagram last week, said, if this passes, I'm encouraging my, my whole church members to just leave California because your children aren't safe. I mean, this is the Democrats. Utter absurdity.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Ed Vitagliano: by the way, this guy, the truck driver, is originally from India. Harjinda Harjinder Singh there's from India.
>> Wesley Wildmon: We need to mention our articles up on this, our news stories up on this on afn.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yep.
>> Ed Vitagliano: American Family News.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.
Jenna Ellis: Ron DeSantis is term limited in Florida
All right, well, listen, Janet, thanks so much for, joining us here this morning. And so you got Governor Ron DeSantis as your guest tomorrow morning.
>> Jenna Ellis: Yes. So at 7:05 Central, 8:05 Eastern. So right off the top. And then on Thursday, our new lieutenant governor, Jay Collins will also join me, to talk about potentially the future of Florida. And, you know, Florida Blueprint makes America Florida. Ron DeSantis is term limited, so all eyes are on the governor's race there. And so, we're anticipating that the new lieutenant governor will jump into that race very shortly, so it's going to be interesting.
>> Tim Wildmon: Now, Governor DeSantis, as you say, he's, twice elected, but his term runs out. When does his term run out?
>> Jenna Ellis: so, January of 2027. So the election, is next November for governor, so. And of course, Congressman Byron Donalds has already announced, has been endorsed by Trump. But, now Lieutenant Governor Jay Collins, who was, in the state legislature, has been appointed, and governor, DeSantis has a lot of great things to say about him. So we'll see if Trump does that dual endorsement, which, you know, he's often done in significant Republican primaries. So it's going to be interesting in Florida.
>> Tim Wildmon: All right, thanks, Janet. Take care.
>> Jenna Ellis: Thanks, guys.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay, that's Jenna Ellis joining us right there.
>> Ed Vitagliano: That's gonna be great. I'm gonna listen in on the interview with Governor, DeSantis. Santis.
>> Tim Wildmon: So he's got, January. She said he'll be out January 27th. That's what she was saying.
>> Ed Vitagliano: The election's 26th, right? November.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. Yeah. It'd be interesting to see what the future holds for Governor Ron DeSantis, because, you know, he's still a relatively young guy.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Is there any other place or option or opportunity in Florida? Friend reserve?
>> Tim Wildmon: Well, he might. He can make. Run for Senate, I guess, maybe, if he wanted to.
>> Ed Vitagliano: He doesn't strike me as a senator, as a legislator. No, he's an executive.
>> Tim Wildmon: He was.
>> Ed Vitagliano: He.
>> Tim Wildmon: He was, he was in the House of Representatives.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yes.
>> Tim Wildmon: but my guess is the best case scenario for him would be cabinet, member. A cabinet member for, for J.D. vance administration, for example.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yep.
>> Tim Wildmon: or Marco Rubio. You know, he's been mentioned as a prime, candidate to be the, Republican nominee next time around. But J.D. vance, you would think would be the heir apparent, Right?
>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Oh, yeah.
>> Ed Vitagliano: If all goes, it'd be tough to beat him.
>> Tim Wildmon: But I would say Ron DeSantis, in a, J.D. vance administration, that would be a, good fit.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Yep.
>> Ed Vitagliano: He's only 46. DeSantis, Santis.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Ed Vitagliano: He's a young guy.
>> Tim Wildmon: all right. We'll be back momentarily with more of today's issue. Stay with us.
>> Jenna Ellis: The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.
