Trump boasts USA acts 'like pirates', as China challenges US sanctions on Iran episode artwork

EPISODE · May 4, 2026 · 21 MIN

Trump boasts USA acts 'like pirates', as China challenges US sanctions on Iran

from Geopolitical Economy Report · host Ben Norton

Donald Trump boasted that the US government acts "like pirates", seizing Iran's ships and oil. "It's a very profitable business", he said. Meanwhile, Beijing is openly resisting Washington's sanctions against Chinese companies for trading with Iran. China has ordered all domestic firms to ignore US sanctions. Ben Norton explains these geopolitical developments. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfB8xQEZolk Topics 0:00 (CLIP) Trump: "We're like pirates" 0:14 US blockade of Iran 1:11 (CLIP) Trump on US piracy 1:57 US seizure of Iranian ships 2:43 AI memes of Trump as pirate 3:01 Multiple acts of US piracy 4:09 Venezuela 5:06 (CLIP) Trump on stealing oil 5:30 Pirates of the Persian Gulf 6:31 US sanctions on China 8:42 Hengli plant in Dalian 9:23 China challenges US sanctions 10:49 Secondary sanctions threat 11:38 USA crossed China's red line 14:17 US sanctions 1/3rd of world 14:47 Map of US sanctions 15:00 Sanctions are very deadly 16:21 Blockade of Cuba 17:19 US empire's goal 17:59 New sanctions on Cuba 19:02 Chinese solar panels help Cuba 19:47 Blowback: US sanctions backfire 20:45 Outro

Donald Trump boasted that the US government acts "like pirates", seizing Iran's ships and oil. "It's a very profitable business", he said. Meanwhile, Beijing is openly resisting Washington's sanctions against Chinese companies for trading with Iran. China has ordered all domestic firms to ignore US sanctions. Ben Norton explains these geopolitical developments. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfB8xQEZolk Topics 0:00 (CLIP) Trump: "We're like pirates" 0:14 US blockade of Iran 1:11 (CLIP) Trump on US piracy 1:57 US seizure of Iranian ships 2:43 AI memes of Trump as pirate 3:01 Multiple acts of US piracy 4:09 Venezuela 5:06 (CLIP) Trump on stealing oil 5:30 Pirates of the Persian Gulf 6:31 US sanctions on China 8:42 Hengli plant in Dalian 9:23 China challenges US sanctions 10:49 Secondary sanctions threat 11:38 USA crossed China's red line 14:17 US sanctions 1/3rd of world 14:47 Map of US sanctions 15:00 Sanctions are very deadly 16:21 Blockade of Cuba 17:19 US empire's goal 17:59 New sanctions on Cuba 19:02 Chinese solar panels help Cuba 19:47 Blowback: US sanctions backfire 20:45 Outro

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Trump boasts USA acts 'like pirates', as China challenges US sanctions on Iran

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This episode was published on May 4, 2026.

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Donald Trump boasted that the US government acts "like pirates", seizing Iran's ships and oil. "It's a very profitable business", he said. Meanwhile, Beijing is openly resisting Washington's sanctions against Chinese companies for trading with Iran....

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