OConnor's Quick Strike

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Hey, what is up, Patreots? This is O'Connor's Quick Strike, and I'm John O'Connor. Welcome, and I'm glad you're here. If you're new here, this is where we cut through the BS three times a week with stories the mainstream media either ignores or gets completely wrong. So, I've received a few messages recently saying that I talk too much in the intros. Most who know me likely wouldn't think that was possible. But, on your suggestion, since this podcast is for your enjoyment,

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At least for a few episodes, I'm going to see how it feels just jumping right into it. Let me know your thoughts on X at O'Connor's podcast. Today is Monday, October 26th, and we've got tariffs, trade deals, and breaking news out of the South China Sea. Let's get into it. Three. Let me tell you about what happened over the weekend that perfectly shows how you how Donald Trump operates. President Trump raised tariffs on Canada by an additional 10%. And the reason?

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Ontario's government thought they could play games by running a $75 million ad campaign in the United States featuring Ronald Reagan criticizing tariffs. Ontario premier Doug Ford decided to spend $75 million running ads across American television using audio from Reagan's 1987 radio address where he talked about the dangers of tariffs. They ran these spots on major networks.

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targeted Republican districts and bought prime airtime during the World Series. Here's where it gets interesting. The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation came out and said, Ontario misrepresented Reagan's speech. The clip was edited and taken completely out of context. When you actually listen to Reagan's full 1987 speech, he was addressing a very specific situation with Japan and semi-conductors.

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not making a blanket statement against all tariffs. So, takes this nuanced speech from nearly 40 years ago, chops it up, and weaponizes it to try to influence American policy. And they're not just trying to sway public opinion, they're trying to influence the Supreme Court, which is scheduled to hear a case about Trump's tariff authority next month. Trump's response, Thursday night on Truth Social, and I quote,

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The Ronald Reagan Foundation has just announced that Canada has fraudulently used an advertisement, which is fake, featuring Ronald Reagan speaking negatively about tariffs. Based on their egregious behavior, all trade negotiations with Canada are hereby terminated. All caps, trade talks terminated, done. But here's where it even gets better. Ford announces Friday that sure, he'll pull the ad.

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but not until it runs during the World Series weekend. So the ad airs Friday and Saturday night. And what does Trump do? He's boarding Air Force One Saturday, heading to Asia, and reporters ask him about the ad. He says, they could have pulled it tonight. That's dirty play. But I can play dirtier than they can, you know? Then Saturday, Trump posts, Canada was caught red-handed

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putting up a fraudulent advertisement on Ronald Reagan's speech on tariffs. Because of their serious misrepresentation of the facts and hostile act, I'm increasing the tariff on Canada by 10 % over and above what they are paying now. 10%. Just like that. Think about the math here. Ontario spent $75 million trying to influence American policy and sway the Supreme Court. But what did they get?

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higher tariffs, and terminated trade negotiations. That's gotta be the worst return on investment in advertising history. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is now in scramble mode. He's at the same summit as Trump in Malaysia, telling reporters they hope for constructive discussions. Well, Mark, maybe you should have thought about that before running attack ads during America's fall classic, the World Series.

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This is exactly how Trump operates. He doesn't play defense. You come at him, he hits back twice as hard. Ontario thought they were being clever, using Reagan's voice to undermine Trump's trade policy. What they learned is you don't play games with Donald Trump and expect to win it. Now let's talk about what Trump's accomplishing while the media focuses on everything except his actual wins.

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He's in Malaysia right now for the summit and he's already making deals that Biden's team spent four years failing to achieve. First, the big one, China. Trump and his negotiators have reached what Treasury Secretary Scott Besson calls a substantial framework for a trade deal with Chinese President Xi. They're meeting later this week in South Korea and according to Besson, they've made significant progress on some of the biggest sticking points in the US-China relationship.

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What's actually in this framework? They've reached preliminary consensus on rare earth exports. And let me tell you why that's massive. China controls about 80 % of the world's rare earth mineral production. These are materials we absolutely need for everything from smartphones to fighter jets to guided missiles. China has been using this monopoly as leverage. And just this month, they expanded export controls trying to squeeze us. Now,

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Seems like they're backing off. They've also made progress on fentanyl enforcement. Remember, Trump imposed a 20 % tariff specifically to pressure China to crack down on the flow of fentanyl precursor chemicals that are killing Americans. That's getting addressed in this framework. And they're working out the shipping levies mess. Trump imposed port service fees on Chinese vessels. China retaliated with levies on US flagged ships.

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Both sides are now finding resolution. Secretary Besson says that they're optimistic they can finalize this before the South Korea summit. If they get this done, it's going to be one of the most significant trade agreements in modern history. We're talking about resolving trade disputes that have been festering for decades. But that's not all Trump's accomplishing in Asia. He's also playing peacemaker in a territorial dispute that's been simmering for years.

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The Philippines and China have been at each other's throat over the South China Sea, specifically over the second Thomas Shoal where the Philippines have a grounded World War II-era ship that they've been using as a military outpost. China's been sending their Coast Guard to harass Philippine vessels trying to resupply that outpost. It's gotten physical. There have been collisions. Chinese vessels have used water cannons on Philippine boats. And every time it happens,

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There's a risk this escalates into actual military conflict that could drag the United States in. Because we have a mutual defense treaty with the Philippines. Trump got both sides to the table in Malaysia. And according to sources at the summit, they've reached a preliminary understanding. China will ease up on the harassment in exchange for the Philippines agreeing to certain navigation protocols. It's not a final deal, but it's progress.

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the kind of diplomatic breakthrough that Biden couldn't achieve in four years. Think about what Trump's doing here. He's simultaneously negotiating with China on trade, using economic pressure to get what we need while also facilitating peace between China and our treaty ally. That's the kind of sophisticated diplomacy that actually works. And here's the thing the media won't tell you. Trump's using tariffs exactly the way they are supposed to be used.

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as leverage to get better deals for American workers and American security. The tariffs aren't the end goal. They're the negotiating tool and it seems to be working. One. All right. Now I need to hit you with some breaking news that came out yesterday and frankly, it's deeply concerning. This is up to date at time of a recording, but since this is a quickly developing story, some new news may already be out there. So.

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Two US Navy aircraft from the USS Nimitz crashed in the South China Sea in two separate incidents just 30 minutes apart. Here's exactly what happened. At 2.45 p.m. local time yesterday, an MH-60R Seahawk helicopter from the USS Nimitz went down during routine operations. Search and rescue teams recovered all three crew members safely. Then,

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Just 30 minutes later at 3.15pm, an FAA-18F Super Hornet fighter jet also crashed into the South China Sea while flying from that same carrier. Both pilots ejected and were recovered safely. According to US Pacific Fleet, all five personnel are safe and in stable condition. Both incidents are under investigation, and the Navy says there is no indication of hostile engagement.

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But let me ask you something. Does it strike anyone else as extremely unusual that two different aircraft from the same carrier crash within half an hour during so-called routine operations? Because that's not normal. That raises serious concerns and questions that demand answers. Let me give you the critical context. The USS Nimitz is the oldest aircraft carrier in the United States Navy's active fleet.

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It was commissioned in 1975. We're talking about a 50-year-old carrier. It deployed in March for what will be its final operational deployment before decommissioning. So we have an aging warship that's been continuously at sea for seven months, operating in one of the most strategically important and contested bodies of water on the planet. And where exactly is it operating? The South China Sea.

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This is where China has been aggressively building artificial islands and militarizing them. This is where they claim sovereignty over waters that by international law don't belong to them. This is where tensions between the US and China are constantly at the risk of boiling over into actual conflict. So you've got an aging carrier on its final deployment operating in hostile waters where China is constantly testing us.

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and two aircraft go down within 30 minutes of each other. The Navy says routine operations and no indication of hostile engagement. I'll take them at their word for now, but this absolutely deserves intense scrutiny and transparent investigation. Because here's what we know. This is not an isolated incident. Earlier this year, two FAA-18 Super Hornets were lost in the Red Sea.

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We've had multiple high profile naval aviation incidents over the past couple years. And every time it's under investigation and then Americans never really get the full story. When you have two sophisticated aircraft from the same carrier going down on the same afternoon in contested waters, you have to start asking hard questions. Is this a maintenance issue with the carrier itself? Is this a broader readiness problem across the fleet?

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Are we properly maintaining aging carriers that should maybe already be out of service? And here's another angle almost nobody's talking about. These incidents are happening during the Schumer shutdown. Is the shutdown affecting naval operations? Is it impacting maintenance schedules, creating funding gaps that could compromise readiness? Because if we're not properly funding our military, if we're stretching our carriers and pilots too thin,

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If we're keeping aging equipment in service longer than we should, that's a massive national security problem. And you know what really bothers me? This happened yesterday. Two United States Navy aircraft went down in the South China Sea within 30 minutes of each other. And you're not going to see wall-to-wall coverage on CNN or MSNBC. You're not going to see Chuck Schumer or Nancy Pelosi holding emergency press conferences demanding answers. Why?

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because they actually don't care about military readiness. They care about spending hundreds of billions on green energy boondoggles. They care about spending endless money to Ukraine. But when it comes to ensuring our Navy has the ships, aircraft, maintenance, and support they desperately need, it's radio silence. Look, the investigations are ongoing. Maybe there's a perfectly reasonable explanation. Maybe it was a mechanical coincidence or

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Weather may be played a factor, but I'll tell you what concerns me most. We better hope to God that China wasn't involved, because if they are developing electronic warfare capability or directed energy weapons that can interfere with our aircraft, and two of our planes went down because of Chinese action, that's an act of war demanding immediate response. But even if it's not hostile action, even if...

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these turn out to be equipment failure or maintenance issues. We still need complete transparency. We have aircraft carriers operating in dangerous, contested waters all around the world. We have pilots and crew members putting their lives on the line every single day. And if there's a systematic problem, whether it's maintenance procedures, equipment reliability, or funding shortfalls, we need to identify it and fix it immediately. Not next month.

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Not after the next incident, right now. So I'm going to be following this story very closely, and I encourage every one of you to do the same. Don't just accept the routine operations explanation and move on. Demand real answers. Demand accountability from Navy leadership. Demand that Congress ensures our military has everything it needs. Two aircraft down in 30 minutes from the same carrier in the South China Sea suggests maybe

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Just maybe we're not doing enough, and that should deeply concern every single American who cares about our national security. Well, that's your quick strike for today. Trump is fighting back on trade and winning. He's making deals in Asia benefiting Americans. And we need answers about what happened in the South China Sea. This is what we do. Stories that matter, analysis the media won't provide, and a conservative perspective cutting through the noise.

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If you're new here, make sure to hit the like and subscribe. We're here Monday, Wednesday, Friday with stories that you need to know. Share this with someone who needs to hear it. And on X at O'Connor podcasts, I just put a couple of pictures of my fiance's and mine pumpkin carvans. Guess which one's mine? Merica. So this is John O'Connor and I'll see you Wednesday for another Quick Strike. Until then, stay informed, stay engaged, and don't let them tell you what to think.