Orban WARNING, Newsom BOOM, Trump MELTDOWN | Filtered Live

Ultimize. U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance traveled to Hungary this week and publicly signaled support for Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, a leader widely criticized across Europe for consolidating power, weakening democratic institutions, and steering his country in a more authoritarian direction. Hmm, wonder why Vance and Trump like this guy. That's the news. Now, Let's talk about the reality behind the photo op. Hungary's economy is not some shining example of success. So really odd that a so-called businessman president, as we allegedly have, seems to think this should be a role model. Hungary's GDP per capita is roughly $25,000 a year. Meanwhile, the poorest US state, Mississippi, is around $53,000 per person. Let me put that in simple terms. Mississippi is about twice as rich per person as Hungary. So when someone says we should be more like Hungary, what they're really saying is, I've looked at our economy and I think we should cut it in half. That's not a growth strategy. That's a clearance sale on your entire country. This is like going to a financial advisor who says my system works beautifully and say, great, What's your net worth? And he says, half of yours. At that point, you don't hire him. You slowly back away like he just offered you a timeshare in North Korea. And yet somehow, Orbán has become this idol for parts of the American conservative movement. Idolized. Celebrated. I've been at backyard barbecues here in South Florida where people openly said, we need to be more like Hungary and Viktor Orbán. They were serious. They treat him like he somehow cracked the code. What code? The code for turning a middle-income European country into the economic equivalent of a participation trophy. If this is the model, it's the only model where the before picture looks better than the after picture. It's like a weight loss commercial where the guy gains 50 pounds and says, trust the process. Now, let's talk about how Orbán actually runs the place. Critics across Europe say he's spent years consolidating control over the courts, the media, and major institutions. In other words, he's taken a democratic system and slowly turned it into something that feels edited, shall we say. It's like democracy with a filter. You still recognize it, but something's clearly been airbrushed out. Usually the opposition. It's the political version of a group project where one guy does all the talking, all the grading, and somehow also decides he's the teacher. And at the end, he gives himself an A and everyone else a reminder to be more supportive next time. And here's the part that should make every American do a double take. You've got leaders in the United States praising this model, praising it. It's like Democrats waking up tomorrow and saying, you know, you know who really nailed it? Fidel Castro. Let's sprinkle in some Venezuela while we're at it. People would lose their minds. There would be emergency panel discussions. There'd be documentaries. Netflix would already be casting it. But when it's Hungary, people say, no, no, this is different. This is strength. Strength? If your economy is weaker than Mississippi, That's not strength. That's a motivational poster with no follow-through. This is where communication becomes everything because Orbán is not selling results. He's selling a story: strong leader, traditional values, control. And the story's emotionally appealing to a lot of people. But here's the problem. A great story without great results is just marketing. It's like a gym selling you on a six-pack, and delivering a 6-pack of soda. And Orban has mastered that. He's created a brand that sounds powerful, even while the numbers tell a very different story. It's like a restaurant with incredible advertising, beautiful photos, 5-star reviews, and then you get there and realize the food is just microwave disappointment. Now, if you're a serious person, and I know you are, you don't evaluate success based on vibes. You evaluate it based on outcomes, income, opportunity, and growth. And by those measures, Hungary's not leading the world. It's not even leading the bottom half of the scoreboard, at least against the people that we like to compare ourselves with. So why are people praising it? Because narratives are powerful. Narratives are sticky. Narratives make people feel like they're a part of something bigger. But narratives can also blind you. They can make you ignore the numbers that are sitting right in front of your face. This is exactly what I teach in communication and personal development. If a message makes you feel instantly validated, instantly excited, instantly like you found the answer, pause, because that's the moment you're most vulnerable to being misled. Because the truth is, success leaves clues, and one of the biggest clues is simple. Are people in that system actually better off? Now, I spent a fair amount of time in Hungary. Great country, I like it. Fantastic for the restaurants, the pâtés, the, the streets in the capital. It's a great place to visit, but if you actually have to live there and make a living there, things are not getting better. And the people there feel like they have to watch everything they say. They feel like they have to live in the shadows quite often because are they earning more? No. Living better? No. Having more opportunity? No. Or are they just being told a better story about why things are the way they are? Let me give you the simplest personal development filter you can use. If someone is pitching you a system for success and they're producing worse results than what you already have, you don't adopt their system. You don't idolize them. You don't fly across the world to take notes. You say, I think I'll keep doing what's working already for me here. Because at the end of the day, this isn't complicated. You can admire values, you can admire culture, but when it comes to economic and political models, results matter. And if your model delivers half the income of the poorest part of the United States, maybe it's not the future. Maybe it's a warning label. And that's the real lesson here. Never confuse a powerful message with successful outcomes. Some messages are incredibly persuasive. They just happen to be completely wrong. And to be clear, the reason Vance and Trump like this guy is the guy is really successful at one thing: getting rid of opposition, closing down the media, and corruptly enriching himself. That's why they like this guy, and that's a pretty despicable thing for an American leader to admire. I'll be honest with you, most people don't have a learning problem. They have a consistent— Here's something I've learned after years of doing this. The people who actually improve don't necessarily hear better advice. Okay, we got some— They keep exposing themselves to the same useful ideas until it finally clicks. Most people don't do that. So, if you want to be in the small group that actually follows through, go to ultimize.com. That is ultimize.com and get the free course. There is one on communication, one on building better habits. Nothing fancy, just something you can keep coming back to if you are already there. You are doing the hard part. Just go to ultimize.com and build on it. Hi, welcome to Filtered. I'm your host, TJ Walker. Thanks so much for joining me today. Couple little technical glitches today, nothing too major, but happy to be here. We are live. It is Friday, April 10th, 2026, and a beautiful, glorious sunny day again, once again in Cali— in, uh, Florida. But this next story is about California. California's economy has officially surpassed Japan to become the fourth largest economy in the world, not in the U.S., but in the world. This is according to recent data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and confirmed by state officials. That's not a talking point. It's not spin. That's the scoreboard. Now think about that for one second. One U.S. state, just one, is now producing more economic output than the entire country of Japan. That's like one Apple Store outperforming the entire mall and then buying them all, and then all the other malls in a state. And yet, if you listen to a lot of national media commentary, especially from conservative voices, you'd think California is basically a failed experiment, a socialist disaster, a place where businesses go to die and entrepreneurs pack up and flee. Really? Because the numbers are telling a very different story. California has more billionaires than anywhere else on earth, more than entire countries, more than places that love to lecture about pro-business environments. Apparently, the best way to crush capitalism is to accidentally create more billionaires than anyone else. It's also home to the most valuable companies in the entire world. Apple, Nvidia, Google— these aren't just successful businesses. They're economic engines shaping the global economy and most people's entire retirement accounts. California isn't just participating in capitalism. It's basically running the group project. And let's talk about stock market value creation. If you own an index fund, if you have a retirement account, If you've benefited from the growth of tech stocks over the last 20 years, you've benefited from California. Whether you like it or not, California has been one of the biggest wealth-generating machines on the planet. So the idea that it's bad for business is interesting. It's like calling the NBA a bad place to play basketball because it's competitive. It's like saying Hollywood is bad for acting careers because a lot of people don't make it. No, it's not bad. It's just hard. And that's the distinction people miss because California is doing a lot of things extraordinarily well. It attracts talent. It fosters innovation. It creates ecosystems where ideas turn into companies and companies turn into global dominance. That doesn't happen by accident. That happens because something in that system is working. Now, to be fair, and this is important, California is not paradise for everyone. If you're not making well into six figures, it can feel brutally expensive because it is brutally expensive. Housing costs are high, cost of living is high. You can have a good job, do everything right, and still feel like you're one unexpected expense away from financial stress. It's the only place where you can make $100,000 a year and still feel like you should qualify for emotional support and financial support from the state. That's real. That matters. And anyone pretending that doesn't exist is just as biased as the people pretending the whole state is collapsing into some sort of hellhole. But here's where we need to be adults about this. Two things can be true at the same time. It can be incredibly hard for the middle class there in California. It can also be one of the most powerful economic engines in the world. That's not a contradiction. That's complexity. And complexity doesn't get ratings. Simple stories do. California's failing. That's simple. California is succeeding in some areas and struggling in others. That's accurate. But it doesn't fit on a bumper sticker, so people default to the simple vision. But if you're serious about understanding the world, if you're serious about success, you don't get to live in simple narratives. You have to look at outcomes. And the outcome here is undeniable. California's economy is larger than entire nations. It's generating massive wealth. It's home to the most influential companies in the world, and it continues to attract ambitious people who want to build something big. That doesn't mean it's perfect. Doesn't mean you personally should move there. It doesn't mean every policy is smart, but it does mean this. Anyone who claims California is just a failure is not analyzing reality. They're reacting to a story. And this is where the personal development lesson comes in. In your own life, You're going to hear narratives all the time. This path is bad. This place is broken. The system doesn't work. Before you believe it, do one simple thing. Look at the results. Look at the facts. Success does leave clues. And right now, whether you like the politics or not, California is leaving a lot of clues. The question is whether you're willing to see them or whether you'd rather just believe the story. Now, California does have a lot of assets that are frankly luck. There is the luck of geography. You've got a large coastline, makes it really easy for shipping and transportation and being a transportation hub. You have the combination of beautiful beaches and beautiful mountains. That's fantastic. You actually have a lot of oil. You have oil wells pumping in the middle of downtown LA. Those things California doesn't get credit for. That's just a part of geography. But where they do get credit is creating a world-class education system, public and private. Where they do get credit is having an open environment where people feel tolerated and respected. It's all well and good for someone like Peter Thiel to bash socialist policies and the left and Democrats as he does. But as a young gay man growing up, interesting to see he didn't want to start his career and a social life in his early 20s living in a place like Mississippi. Maybe California and the fact that it had a lot more open and progressive values especially towards gay lifestyles, especially 30 years ago when Peter Thiel was a young man. Maybe that's a reason why he was able to thrive there and not start his billionaire career in Mississippi. So let's please keep that in mind. My bigger point is I'm not ready to endorse Gavin Newsom, but if California's economy continued to shrink and continued to get smaller on the world stage, smaller compared to other states, and he just finished 8 years as governor. It would be totally fair to say this guy's an economic disaster. Ronald Reagan ran for president in part because he said at the time California had an economy bigger than all but 12 nations in the world, and the economy grew in the state of California during his presidency. And he used that as a reason for why he should be trusted to run the national economy, the 1980 election, and it was persuasive. What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. If Ronald Reagan was able to do that, and now we've seen proportionally even more dramatic growth in the California economy. Gavin Newsom should be able to do the same. Again, I'm not here endorsing Gavin Newsom for president, but I do bristle against this idea that, well, Gavin Newsom is automatically not to be considered as a presidential candidate because California is such a bizarre, crazy place. It is an outlier, but it's an outlier economically in an entirely good way. So that should be something seen in his favor. It's not a legitimate reason for eliminating him from consideration. Okay, so who am I? Who is this TJ character? Why are you listening to me or watching me? I spent 40 years coaching executives, people just like you, but also presidents of countries, prime ministers. Nobel Peace Prize winners on how to have better communication skills and personal development habits. And now you can get the same training, but here's the catch. There is no catch. You can get a free course today. All you have to do is go to ultimize.com. That's ultimize.com. And you can download your free online communication skills course or your free Good Habits Building course. Go ahead and do that right now, or at least right after the show. Okay, this next story is delicious. I want to read extensive excerpts from official communication from the President of the United States because this is something that is fascinating. For many reasons. The intramural fighting between conservatives and MAGA supporters now is absolutely going crazy, and I want to share with you the specifics, the— because the specifics are absolutely overwhelming, and I think in a good way, because it shows the potential end of the Trump presidency, because this is, I say, almost not to be believed. If you follow politics closely and what this guy has done for many years, it's kind of in keeping. Typically, Trump is bashing Democrats, centrists, liberals, progressives, the occasional Republican who strays. It's pretty rare, but we haven't seen anything like this. Well, lately he has been attacked by Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Candace Owens, Alex Jones, comedian Tim Dillon. They're all basically saying the same thing, which is, hey, we're crazy, but this guy is too crazy even for us. It's time for him to be impeached or removed or sent to an old folks home. That's not Democrats speaking. That's not MS Now speaking. That's not AOC. This is coming from the very people who all endorsed Trump in the last election and have been some of his biggest cheerleaders. Well, yesterday he fought back, and I want to share with you exactly what he said, because a lot of what Trump said is actually accurate. I'm going to agree with Trump today probably more so than I have in a long time. But I'm a straight shooter. If he says something accurate, I, as a sane, sensible centrist, will applaud him for that. He says, I know why Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Candace Owens, and Alex Jones have all been fighting me for years, especially by the fact that they think it's wonderful for Iran, the number one state sponsor of terror, to have a nuclear weapon. Well, that part is typical Trump, and that is not a lie. None of those people think it's great for Iran to have a nuclear weapon. It's because they all have one thing in common: low IQs. They're stupid people. They know it. Their families know it. And everyone else around knows it, too. So I have to give Donald Trump credit, at least partially. There is a partially correct answer. I do believe Alex Jones is somebody with a low IQ. I do think he's stupid. I do think his family knows it. And I do think most people know Alex Jones is stupid. Now, as far as Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Candace Owens, I don't actually think any of them have low IQ. I don't think they're geniuses, but I don't think they're actually stupid, even though I disagree with most of what they say. Trump continues— this is all posted on his official real Donald Trump signature on Truth Social, his own social media platform. He says, look at their past, look at their record. They don't have what it takes, and they never did. They've all been thrown off television, lost their shows, and aren't even invited on TV. Part of that is true because Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly did have shows on major TV networks and they were thrown off essentially. So that part is true. He says they aren't even invited on TV. Well, that's not true. They're all invited on TV all the time because nobody cares about them. That's not true. They all have millions of followers. They're nut jobs. Aha. Again, Donald Trump has stumbled onto the truth. When he says that Dr. Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Candace Owens, and Alex Jones are nut jobs, I do think that's at least partially correct. Troublemakers, he calls them, and will say anything necessary for some free and cheap publicity. Again, I think he's pretty accurate right there, but let's face it, that is the pot calling the kettle black. Now they think they can get some clicks because they have third-rate podcasts, That's technically not really true. They're all highly, highly rated podcasts and are quite lucrative. Now, Alex Jones has his own financial problems, but Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Tim Dillon, whom I don't believe he mentioned by name but is a part of this mix, all have very highly rated podcasts, lucrative, and they're making tons of cash. 'But nobody's talking about them.' Well, that's not true. Here you have the president of the United States talking about these pundits. So that is typical illogic of Trump. 'And their views are the opposite of MAGA.' Again, not really true. They— these were the definers of MAGA until very, very recently, or I wouldn't have won the presidential election in a landslide. Well, he didn't do that. That's a lie. MAGA agrees with me and just gave CNN a 100% approval rating of Trump. Not true. Not handing flailing fools— I like that alliteration— Trump. Not handing flailing fools like Tucker Carlson, who couldn't even finish college. I think that is correct. I would have to double-check that, but Tucker Carlson, by his own admission, was a horrible student, high school and college. Of course, Donald Trump is alleged by his own family members to have paid someone else to take his SAT to transfer into Penn. So again, a bit rich with Trump talking about someone else not being a very good student. He was a broken man when he got fired from Fox. I have no doubt that Tucker Carlson was disappointed when he was fired from Fox, and he's never been the same. Perhaps he should see a good psychiatrist. Well, I actually think Trump is on to something there. Tucker Carlson may need a good psychiatrist, or Megyn Kelly, who nastily asked me the now famous only Rosie O'Donnell question, or crazy. So it wasn't a nasty question to ask Trump during a presidential debate why he seems to be so nasty about women? That was a fair question. And back when Megyn Kelly was trying to be an honest journalist instead of just another right-wing hack. So he's bringing that up because it's a constant grievance. He always relives every old grievance again. What I'm excited about, anyone who thinks this man is a menace, not just to America, but to the entire world, and to the safety of humanity, this is good news because he's now fighting among his own supporters. That's typically when things end and end in an ugly way, perhaps the way it ended with Joseph Smith. You may want to look that one up. Okay, he continues. Now he's talking about Candace Owens, who legitimately is crazy. He says, crazy Candace Owens. Okay, Trump's on solid ground here because Candace Owens is crazy. He says, Candace Owens, who accuses the highly respected First Lady of France of being a man when she's not. Okay, Trump's on solid ground here. He's absolutely accurate with this statement. He continues and says, we'll hopefully win lots of money in the ongoing lawsuit. The First Lady of France is suing Candace Owens for slander, libel, defamation, whatever the technical term is. You know what I'm talking about. And I do hope she wins. So on this case, Trump and I are on the same side. I do hope that Candace Owens has to do something for the nonsense she's putting out there. And Trump says, according to me, the First Lady of France is far more beautiful than Candace. In fact, it's not even close. I'm not going to weigh in on that one. I'll let others be the judge there. He moves on. Or bankrupt Alex Jones. It is correct. Alex Jones was thrown into bankruptcy because of court findings against him for his lies and despicable activities. He says bankrupt Alex Jones, who says some of the dumbest things. Again, Trump is 100% correct here. He's 100% factual. Alex Jones does say some of the dumbest things, including I would argue his endorsement of Donald Trump in the 2024 election. He continues, and lost his entire fortune, as he should have, for his horrendous attacks on the families of the Sandy Hook shooting victims, ridiculously claiming it was a hoax. Again, Trump, correct, correct, correct, correct. He's absolutely correct that Alex Jones is crazy, says dumb things, lost his fortune, put into bankruptcy, did say horrible things about the families of Sandy Hook shooting victims, said it was all hoax. Clearly wasn't. So again, Trump is accurate here. He is paying attention. As much as he likes to pretend to be a stupid fool, you can tell he is following these things. Closely, and there are times when he's quite accurate when his attacks— these so-called pundits are losers, all caps, and they always will be. Okay, I can't speak to Alex Jones. His finances seem wildly complex, and unless you are his bankruptcy attorney, I don't think anyone really knows. But these other people I mean, Tucker Carlson and Megyn Kelly, Tim Dillon, they're making money hand over fist. They have their own media empires. Maybe they're not cashing in, making billions like Trump family members are, but they're clearly making tens of millions and amassing personal wealth way over $100 million if they're not already there yet. So it's not really true to say that they are losers and will always be losers. He then goes on to other hobbyhorses. Now, fake news CNN— it's not fake news. The failing New York Times— New York Times is more profitable, has wider reach than it's ever had in its history. And all the other radical left news organizations. Again, that's factually incorrect. Trump says, "If you ever criticize me, you're not objective, you're automatically a part of the left." Well, that's convenient, but nobody really believes that. Organizations are hailing them and giving them positive press for the first time in their life. Well, that's not true. All these people have had a lot of positive press in the past. They are getting a lot of attention because it's a I guess you'd say a dog bites dog story in this case. So it's an interesting, interesting story. They're not MAGA, they're losers. Well, again, these are people who consider themselves a part of MAGA. Their viewers, listeners were a part of MAGA. It is true they haven't influenced most of MAGA against Trump yet, but there are clear-cut divisions. They're just trying to latch on to MAGA. Okay, that part is true. Tucker Carlson denounced Donald Trump when he first ran for office, and when the court proceedings came out regarding the voting machine, you know, slander libel case against Fox, which they lost, it did come out that Tucker Carlson said he hated Donald Trump, essentially thought he was a dangerous demagogue, and then lo and behold comes in, endorses him and acts like his best friend for 2024. So I do think it's fair when Trump says they're just trying to latch on to MAGA because he does realize these people don't really like him or respect him. They just want to be a part of that audience flow. But that's true frankly, of Sean Hannity, of Glenn Beck, who in the past has been very, very anti-Donald Trump. But they all do want to suck up to that MAGA audience. So, yet President Trump shows that he is an astute follower of these people and their business decisions and how they think. As president, I could get them on my side anytime I want to, but when they call, I don't return their calls because I'm too busy on world and country affairs, and after a few times they go nasty, just like Marjorie Traitor Brown. But I no longer care about that stuff. I only care about doing right for our country. Well, a lot to unpack there with that nonsense. Clearly— well, a couple of things. Trump is known for being wildly accessible to journalists and other people. He answers his own cell phone. I mean, Sean Hannity allegedly talks to him, you know, multiple times a week. And Trump is the kind of guy you call up 11 o'clock at night and he'll just chat with you. Now, I have not called him, to be clear, but apparently he loves talking to media people, even ones who have criticized him in the past. So the idea he's too busy running the country, that, that is absolute nonsense, and the idea that he only cares about doing right for the country is an absurdity. He continues saying MAGA is about winning and strength in not allowing Iran to have nuclear weapons. Well, that's not what anyone in MAGA signed up for. He didn't run on the platform of vote for me and I will remove nuclear weapons in Iran. He said vote for me and I'm going to stay out of wars. So The MAGA message is 100% opposite of what he's doing now. MAGA is about making America great again, and these people have no idea how to do that. You know what? He does have a point there. I don't think any of these conservative commentators do have any idea how to make America great again. But then he says, but I do, because the United States is now the hottest country anywhere in the world, whatever that is supposed to mean. I'll leave that up to you. Let's tie this all up. This is fantastic news because this is the beginning of the end, I believe, for Trump having this cult-like base. Because every cult leader has to have deputy cult leaders who keep the masses organized. If you go to any big cult rally or something like a cult, something like an est. There's one leader up there, but breakout sessions, you've got other leaders herding people together and making sure they're all following the party line. Trump is losing those gatekeepers of the ideological movement, and that's why I think this could be the beginning of the end for the Trump regime. I'm TJ Walker. Have a great weekend. Would you like to be the sort of successful person who is dominating news, at least in your industry? Well, if so, it's time to up your skills. At ultimize.com, I've created online courses to help you do that. Now, here's the thing. No obligation. You can get a free course on communication skills, a free course on how to build better habits. All you have to do is go to ultimize.com. That's ultimize.com. No obligation. Go there now.