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Trump’s First 100 Days | The Crude Truth Ep. 130 – George P. Bush

Video Transcription edited for grammar. We disavow any errors unless they make us look better or smarter.

Rey “RT” Treviño III [00:00:00] President Trump just finished his first 100 days and he stated, and I quote, we’re just getting started. I bring back Texas-owned George P. Bush to talk about, critique, give good praise, bad praise on President Trump’s first 100 day, on this episode of The Crude Truth.

Narrator [00:00:19] In 1901, at Spindletop Hill near Beaumont, the future of Texas changed dramatically, as, like a fountain of fortune, thousands of barrels of oil burst from the earth towards the sky. Soon Detroit would be cranking out Model Ts by the millions, and America was on the move, thanks to the black gold being produced in Texas. Now more than a century later, the vehicles are different, but nothing else has truly changed. Sure, there may be many other alternative energy sources like wind and solar and electric. But let’s be honest, America depends on oil and entrepreneurs, and if the USA is truly going to be independent, it has to know the crude truth.

Narrator [00:01:02] This episode is brought to you by LFS Chemistry. We are committed to being good stewards of the environment. We are providing the tools so you can be too. Nape Expo, Where deals happen. Air Compressor Solutions. When everything is on the line, Air compressor solutions is the dependable choice to keep commercial business powered up. Sandstone Group, Exec Crue, Elevate your network, Elevate your knowledge. Texas Star Alliance, Pecos Country Operating, Fueling our future.

Rey “RT” Treviño III [00:01:37] Well, thank you again, and as always, thank you for tuning in for another episode of The Crude Truth. I’m excited that we got another Crude truth exclusive on our plate today. President Trump just finished his second, first 100 days in office, and what a whirlwind it has been. A lot of good in my opinion, a lot of bad in some others opinions, and there’s also the in-between. He has been doing stuff since before I feel like he was elected and some of the stuff that they’ve done hasn’t worked but a lot has but a lot also hasn’t so I bring back today a man that truly needs no introduction but you know we’re talking about a guy that has played college baseball somebody that has been the Texas Land Commissioner somebody that fights again for the oil and gas industry of this great state also fights for so many other people here at that amazing Michael’s Best Practice. Our guest today is the one, the only, George P. Bush. George, how are you, sir?

George P Bush [00:02:42] Good afternoon, thanks.

Rey “RT” Treviño III [00:02:44] Well, good afternoon and thank you for coming on. Thank you. How’s Austin treating you today?

George P Bush [00:02:50] Can’t complain, beautiful day. My oldest son’s baseball season just wrapped up and my younger has a big soccer tournament this weekend, so couldn’t be more excited to be just a good dad. I’ve got the kids by myself this week. My wife is traveling with some friends, and so it’s daddy time, dad-son time, which I always enjoy.

Rey “RT” Treviño III [00:03:11] Oh my gosh, so it’s a house full of bachelors in this week. Is that what’s going on?

George P Bush [00:03:16] It’s more like me being the prison officer. I’m keeping things in check and trying to break up the fights. But it’s been good. One of the blessings of being out of politics for a little bit.

Rey “RT” Treviño III [00:03:26] Right and I like how you said a little bit, but I won’t read into that right now I remember about this time of year We used to do the Alamo Classic in San Antonio was a real big soccer tournament in the spring that we would always Come down from here in the Dallas Fort Worth area and go down there and be thousands of kids playing soccer So it is that time of the year and I’m glad baseball season just ended for you. So hopefully Y’all will be working on stuff here in offseason right getting ready for next year

George P Bush [00:03:52] Absolutely, and of course, trying to join this movement of bringing a professional team to central Texas. I’m not sure our friends in San Antonio want to hear that, though there is a great minor league team in San Antonia, but I think Texas loves its baseball so much. I think we deserve a third professional franchise. I don’t know what you think, Ray, but. I think so, that would be fun. I think, we could justify three franchises here.

Rey “RT” Treviño III [00:04:18] Well, I don’t see why not. You’ve got the San Antonio missions. Is that correct? That’s correct. And then you’ve got the Corpus Christi hooks. They are. Is that the other one?

George P Bush [00:04:29] Affiliate, yep, the Stroze. And okay, and those are both Astro’s affiliates? I think the San Antonio missions are part of, I could be wrong, the Dodgers, or a team, not the Strozes and the Rangers.

Rey “RT” Treviño III [00:04:45] Well, what size A would this be?

George P Bush [00:04:47] I’m talking pro. I mean, I think, in our lifetime, we will see a third pro franchise. And hopefully here in Central Texas or in the Austin, San Antonio area. I think in the sports world, we should be thinking about that, thinking big.

Rey “RT” Treviño III [00:05:04] Oh my gosh, OK, I admit I know you said pro, but I was I was thinking of one of the one of the affiliates like the hooks are the missions. Oh my Gosh, that would be huge. And then of course, San Antonio is building that giant facility for the Spurs. I believe they they got approval on that downtown. But but to bring that team, isn’t there like professional tennis already didn’t Sheffield bring professional tennis or professional tennis in all?

George P Bush [00:05:27] Professional tennis in Austin, that is correct. We have a Major League Soccer team as well, Austin FC, which has done very well, which Sheffield has also been a part of and the family there. So a lot of exciting things happening in sports here in Central Texas.

Rey “RT” Treviño III [00:05:43] Oh my gosh, okay, we’re gonna have to talk about this. I’m excited to hear more. Yes, I think I know my dad and just like your dad and your grandfather, baseball was a way of life and I was gonna ask you if it looks like your boys will be playing at Rice one day because you were at Rice, right?

George P Bush [00:06:00] I did play at Rice. I walked on with Coach Wayne Graham. It was his first year as a coach there after he led the San Jacinto Community College to two national championships. And Jose Cruz, Lance Berkman, and a few other future major leaguers were on the team. But think back with the great memories about my time on the diamond there at Reckling Field. But now I try to be just an overall college baseball fan on ESPN Plus, watching all the Big 12 and SEC games Watching that with my sons is probably the best part of my day and my life, honestly.

Rey “RT” Treviño III [00:06:33] Oh, man. Well, you know, as you talk about being the best days of your life, and I understand that, and so I can’t thank you enough for me dragging you in to talk politics a little bit today. You know, President Trump did just finish his first 100 days. And about two weeks ago, you wrote a great, I believe op-ed, it’s a right term, for the Washington Examiner on how Doge was a great start. For this administration with restoring trust back actually into the government, which sometimes I think is an oxymoron, but it was such a great article on how you kind of tied the two together that it’s like, you know what? Let’s have you come on. Let’s talk about actually the transparency that Doge is doing and how we can do more and what you think Trump’s been doing good lately.

George P Bush [00:07:25] Absolutely. Yeah, I mean, Restore Trust was formed two years ago with a focus on the building behind me on state politics. But we decided at the beginning of the year to launch a federal PAC to support what President Trump is is doing. And the thesis of the article is very simple that there’s only so much that Elon Musk and Doge can do independently through regulatory action and executive orders, because ultimately you need acts of Congress to codify. The reform agenda of the Trump administration. And so the federal PAC will be supporting candidates not only here in Texas, but throughout the country that will not only be running for office again, so incumbents, but also new fresh faces of the Republican party that are gonna fight for championing a limited and a more effective federal government. Ray, when you look at kind of the future generation of our country and- how we’ve indebted ourselves in the order of over $30 trillion with that number continually expanding. The aims of Doge are really past times that we start this effort. Elon Musk has already identified $160 billion in this next annual budget. But that’s frankly a drop in the bucket. And we need to reform Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, which comprise a majority of our nation’s budget. And until then, can we? Really rein in the size and scope of government and making it more modern. Because in conclusion, Ray, we don’t have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem in Washington, D.C. And so that’s really the intent of Restore Trust Federal PAC. I’m hoping a lot of your viewers will check out the PAC and what we’re doing and the candidates that we’re going to support.

Rey “RT” Treviño III [00:09:11] You know, when you say that just now, I think a lot of people, and again, I know you said it before on our show, The Crude Truth, but first that you are supporting President Donald Trump and you like the things that he’s doing and his team. I know, you definitely know a lot of these individuals and last time you were on, I was, I definitely was like, you know what, if, because you had talked to Chris Wright and you had talk to Doug Burgum, It’s like If George isn’t heading to Washington, I would’ve lost that bet. I thought you were headed to Washington. Be it whether it was the Department of Interior or the Department Of Energy. Because I know that we need great Texas men like you there fighting the good fight. What are you seeing right now from an energy standpoint? Okay, prices have dropped, so we’re down $10 as far as the price of oil goes. And we got a few… Few CEOs, I feel like not the majors and not the small independents like like PECOS, but the mid size oil and gas company CEOs are coming out anonymously right now kind of saying, hey, prices are too low. You know, what are your thoughts on where the price is? And do you agree with how President Trump is actually trying to clean up the economy? I’m not going to say you agree, with maybe the tariffs or anything. But let’s talk about how he’s dealing with the economy. Do you agree with it as a whole and then dive into yes or no?

George P Bush [00:10:38] Well, there’s a lot to unpack there. And I appreciate the kind compliment about, you know, potentially serving in the administration. But, you now, I would just say that, and we joked about this, that Democrats are sometimes good for prices because they want to keep it in the ground. And we’ve actually seen the reverse of that with Trump’s ambition to increase American energy security and production, which I believe is a good policy at a high level. I think, however, when you look at the pricing, a lot of it is geopolitically driven, more so than in recent memory, largely because of the Russian-Ukraine situation. And with rumors of a potential peace settlement, we will see downward pressure, along with OPEC Plus openly stating that they want to curtail their production quota. So I think those two factors alone are going to apply a downward pressure to pricing of oil. And add the fact that Secretary Rubio just recently in an interview stated that they’re making a lot of progress with Iran and potential peace discussions there or some sort of brokered agreement on nuclear energy in Iran, hopefully for just civilian purposes. So again, all these factors are going to add a downward pressure, not to mention, Ray, I mean, American production now is over 13 million barrels a day. So we’re looking at all-time highs in terms of overall production. So, yes, I think from an industry perspective, there are concerns. As somebody who’s more involved in the law and regulation as it relates to the industry, my concern is just following through with a little bit more of the campaign promises of unshackling the red tape that applies to both offshore and onshore production, figuring out better ways, and Trump should be applauded for actions to the FERC that are now allowing LNG export terminals to be green-lighted so we can export Texas natural gas to international markets and making sure that we’re getting our products and working with our Western allies to structure long-term energy agreements for the world’s security because energy really is the fundamental basis for a lot of international security that people rely upon for their economies. There’s a lot that can be undertaken. I think Secretary Wright’s doing a great job, along with Secretary Burgum, in emphasizing that agenda and that program. So that’s my kind of answer to your question on energy. I would say secondly, on tariffs, tariffs are a tax. I think we have to recognize that I agree with the intent of what the Trump administration is seeking to accomplish, and that is emphasizing free but fair trade. With even some of our allies and some of the Western nations and making sure that we do have fair agreements. And I really love how we’re really driving the screws in on the Chinese really ignorance of WTO and the free trade agreements that we thought that they would abide by back in the 90s when a lot of these agreements were signed with them and when they entered into these international frameworks. And so we just need a reset. But I think we’re… Administration could have done a better job of is rolling this out and communicating not with Wall Street because they’re powerful and they have all the representatives necessary in D.C. And New York, but Main Street. Main Street needed to know that this is going to be a multi-year and a very painful process, whether that is the mom-and-pop oil and gas producer or just the retailer in Main Street USA that’s trying to sell their inventory of goods now are going to to pass on these consumers to their consumers. And to their clients, and it’s gonna result in a lower bottom line. So that’s the part of this that I think we’re trying to wrestle with, that the markets are trying to hustle with, that everyday small business owners that I talk to and that I represent are dealing with, and that this is gonna be a very painful coming few months. I think it would have been more transparent for the administration to relate that, but to say that the greater goal here is good. And that is to put the American worker first so that we can continue to be a beacon of freedom and hope.

Rey “RT” Treviño III [00:14:58] So we’re really focusing on, and I say we, but the Trump administration is really looking at America first in a positive way. And I had on a Dr. Ed Ireland, a professor at TCU and a doctorate in economics. And he said that China can’t really survive without the U.S. Economy. Like, no matter how bad our economy gets, the Chinese economy will not even survive without ours. So going back to what you said about, hey, these agreements were signed in the mid-90s and that they weren’t really policed, so to say, are held accountable. Other than these trade wars, how do you think we could keep China actually accountable knowing that maybe their economy isn’t as strong as they continue to say it is in China?

George P Bush [00:15:50] Well, for me, maybe because I’m a little bit close to this issue because our firm represents a lot of universities, and we hear a lot about intellectual property theft. I also hear about this issue from founders and entrepreneurs and startups here in Texas that are in the AI space. In fact, I was talking to a data center developer that had a new design for how they could cool their servers. And mysteriously, they had heard that the Chinese or some business in China had adopted the same exact design, almost a carbon copy. So I think if we were to structure an agreement with China, depending on how it all plays out, that intellectual property has to be at the forefront of that, because they’ve really cheat stalled their way to matching us pound for pound, technologically speaking, in so many different areas, not only in AI, but also in terms of defense and military technologies. I think that what gets lost in the U.S.-China relationship as well as rare earths. So that does tie a little bit into oil and gas and that a lot of the mining experience can be parlayed into reigniting mining not only in the state of Texas, but in our great country. In fact, when I was land commissioner, I recall that we were approached by a rancher farmer in West Texas that said that on his ranch alone, he had commercial quantities of lithium. Lithium is used in our phones and our EV batteries and so many different. Capabilities of our economy, but we’re not really mining a lot of that domestically. We’ve relied so much on China, in fact, as their response to our ratcheting up of trade tariffs that they’ve decided to really ratchet up the pressure in terms of our imports of rare earths. So we really need to have a new national security, long-term strategy in terms of how we mine these these rare earth that are national defense industries. And critical AI and data center industries are relying upon to make sure that we have that security necessary in the 21st century. So that’s how I’m thinking about the relationship with China. I’m honestly less concerned about some of the more consumer products. We need to focus more on the national security items that can make sure we’re in a better position.

Rey “RT” Treviño III [00:18:06] Wow, you know, when you really think of it from that, or when you, the way you explained that, that is true, that the national security is obviously what’s most important because if they are getting, unfortunately, these blueprints or ideas from the company, especially with so much technology is now coming out of Boston. And we never really talk about that. There’s so much new stuff. I mean, you mentioned Elon Musk earlier. Tesla’s there now in town. But if they can get that, What are they getting as far as national security goes? And so that really kind of wants to lead me to the next point about China and national security and tie in the great state of Texas. You know, they’re in session right there behind you in that building right now. You know we do session in Texas every two years and we continue to do our best to make sure that China isn’t buying property in Texas and not owning things. But also we do that because we want to secure our economics here in Texas And as I mentioned earlier, the price of oil is low, which a lot of people obviously know right now, but our economy is only continuing to thrive right now. We still are the seventh largest economy. Is that correct, George?

George P Bush [00:19:15] I thought it was eighth, but I’ll go with seven. I’ll with seven, I like it. I like it.

Rey “RT” Treviño III [00:19:18] Don’t quote me. No, no. We’ll get somebody to match.

George P Bush [00:19:23] But yeah, I mean, the Texas economy continues to thrive. We are experiencing downward pressure in terms of commodities, but the Dallas Federal Reserve just came out with a report and stating that despite uncertainties among business owners and capital expenditure outlays for 2025, that at the same time, this region of the country is still the highest performing. And mainly it’s because of our tax and our regulatory environment, the fact that we’re able to rein in spending. Ray, I don’t know how many rainy day funds we have now, but we’ve got a ton of them. We have the rainy day fund itself, which is almost at its statutory cap. We have a permanent school fund, which I used to manage, the permanent university fund. And if you go down the line in terms of the liquidity that’s available for Texas taxpayers compared to other states like Illinois, California, the big bad blue states, Texas is just so well positioned and continues to be a tailwind for businesses and entrepreneurs and even high net worths that move from all over the world to move here. But the China agenda has made its way into the legislative session, whether it’s ownership of real estate adjacent to military bases or critical minerals or oil and gas in the state of Texas. I happen to be involved with a bill that’s looking at information systems and IT systems that the state of texas maintains and making sure that they’re not sponsored by or have a connection to the CCP, because I think they will be our country’s super competitor for the rest of this century. So the state legislators throughout the country can do a lot. The federal government is doing what they can. But I think we need almost like a Manhattan Project, a Hoover Dam mentality in this country to reimagine how we’re going to confront the Chinese both economically, militarily speaking, geopolitically in a new way.

Rey “RT” Treviño III [00:21:20] George, that statement right there, I feel like just changed the whole dynamic of what we were planning to talk about. That’s a statement, sir, to say the Manhattan Project, that’s the nuclear, right? And the Hoover Dam was one of the greatest feats we ever did at that time here in America. So when you say those and you put that we need that form of effort against China, I would again my ears perked up and I’m not even you know, that’s smart, right? Good, disgraceous. Why is it that you feel that that’s the way I mean, you got books like The Hundred Year War, and things like that with China, you know there’s a book about that, I believe. But you know okay, what do you feel that we need to do to truly begin to do that? Like the Trumpers got the trade war going on right now with China. So what else could we start to do? Let’s say let’s put you know let’s future hat on you here and go, you’re in charge of the China relations in 10 years. What would you be doing to stop China from doing any of these things?

George P Bush [00:22:28] Well, I would, you know, and I hope actually a lot of this discussion is outside of the public eye, you know, in outside of a political realm, because I think when you’re thinking about national security, it should be led by the Defense Department, it should be lead by the Pentagon, but with private sector collaboration, working with private industry, working with states like Texas to mine for those critical elements, but also to collect those notes from the private industry to say where the Chinese are ripping us off the most, where they are stealing information. When you think about just this last year alone, Ray, with two major cyber attacks that one targeted President Trump and JD Vance’s personal cell phones. I don’t know if you remember that from last summer as the campaign was wrapping up, but there was a cyber attack on critical elements of both sides of the political aisle. To gain very vital information in addition to cyber attacks on our U.S. Cyber command, other elements of our national security intelligence apparatus that leaves one to be very concerned about what their true intentions are. I remember when I was land commissioner, there was a cyber attack on rural co-ops and water districts in Texas to shut down our infrastructure. There’s now suspicion and recent testimony in D.C. The Chinese are trying to do that from the critical infrastructure standpoint to literally shut down our our water, our power, our Internet capabilities just overnight. And so, you know, it’s that vigilant thinking that we need in a more collaborative way with the private sector to to execute it, make it happen outside of the realm of politics in two year or four year increments. I do think it needs to be led by the Pentagon. And I’m hopeful that we can kind of reposition our paradigm, our way of thinking on how we position ourselves against the Chinese over the long term. And also, you know, rethinking our relationships with Japan, South Korea, Australia, India, you know I’m pleased that there’s been some early trips with the vice president and his wife to India. That is a critical alliance that we need as a counterbalance to the Chinese efforts in Asia. So I remain optimistic. I still think we are. Head and shoulders the leader, but we’re going to need some friendships to help us make that happen in Asia.

Rey “RT” Treviño III [00:24:53] Well, I want to ask you a fun question. And since we got your leadership hat on, your governor of Texas right now, what is something that you would tell President Trump that, hey, we need to do better at? And what’s something that you want to bring to his attention that we could work on as a state with the federal government?

George P Bush [00:25:12] Well, I think Governor Abbott is doing a fantastic job and he’s actually already done this and this would be my top request just because I’ve been so involved in the issue over the past several years during the Biden administration. And that’s asking for an $8 billion reimbursement from President Trump and the federal government for the border expenditures that we as a state, every single taxpayer in our lovely state has had to underwrite for the close to the last decade largely because of the second term of Obama and. And the loan term of Joe Biden. So that would be request number one is, I think it’s a fairness issue. I think the federal government owes the state of Texas for the heroic effort of our state troopers, our border patrol officials, all the local and county law enforcement in South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley that have risked their lives to enforce federal immigration law or be supportive of that. But I would say, if I were in the chair and I was talking to President Trump, I would remind him that Mexico is the state’s largest trading partner, that we understand the relationship with Mexico very well. And we need to keep the, we understand that there are grave Mexican drug cartel questions, immigration questions that we need. And we’re thankful for the efforts in reducing the amount of. Human trafficking flows through our border, but there are longer-term issues with respect to trade and commerce that need to be separated from that discussion. And the tariff issue will affect the Texas economy because of that trade issue, because we rely so much on that Mexican trade. So that would be one issue. But I would thank him on a whole list of issues that he’s helped us. As a state, namely the water rights issue in the Rio Grande Valley, which is something we’ve been working on for I don’t know how long on behalf of the state of Texas and immigration being the top two, and just encouraging him to continue the great fight and remember the folks that helped him get elected.

Rey “RT” Treviño III [00:27:20] And, you know, as you continue to support him, and as the Restored Trust PAC only contends to grow, and it only contents to turn into a great thing, how can people get in contact with the Restore Trust PAC and be a supporter of, hey, getting that transparency and good boundary different? Hey, we need that trust with the government. How can people go to hold the Restore Trust PAC?

George P Bush [00:27:45] Well, people can get in touch with me on my social media channels or go to RestoreTrustPAC.com where they can learn more about our advisory board and the candidates that we’re gonna get behind. Like I said, we were really active here in Texas last session and had tremendous success. We were almost undefeated, Ray, except for one or two races. But as part of all those great wins down in South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley, we supported a lot of those candidates for House and. State Senate, this time around, we’ll be able to support congressional candidates that are offering themselves, not only here in Texas, but a pro-American agenda, pro-Trump agenda, throughout the rest of the country. So we want people to be active and supportive and stay posted on these issues and hold our members of Congress accountable, particularly when we still have the House, the Senate, and the White House. So let’s get her done, as they say.

Rey “RT” Treviño III [00:28:38] Yes, sir. Well, George sir. I cannot thank you as always for your time I wish you and your family a great summer as we’re getting ready to approach the summertime And I hope to see you soon and who knows maybe we’ll have to have you out during the summer break But as always sir, I cannot. Thank you enough as always that backdrop looks good on you solo, sir I’m gonna say that

George P Bush [00:29:02] As a private citizen, as a private citizen.

Rey “RT” Treviño III [00:29:04] As a private citizen, yes, sir. To all our listeners out there, the Restore Trust Pack, take a look. It’s common sense, and that’s what George and his team are bringing to politics. Thank you, as always, and we’ll see you again on another episode of The Crude Truth.

Narrator [00:29:20] Again, The Crude Truth would like to thank today’s sponsors, LFS Chemistry, Nape Expo, Air Compressor Solutions, Sandstone Group, Exec Crue, Texas Star Alliance, Pecos Country operating and Real News Communication Network

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