following the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolola Maduro. The urgent question dominating headlines from every corner of the world in this new era of bold intervention. Who's next? While no one has forecasted the unraveling of empires, the hypocrisy of global powers, and the coming chaos with more precision and fire than the legendary trend forecaster himself, the founder of the trends journal, the unfiltered voice who's nailed financial meltdowns, endless wars, and populist upheavalss years in advance. Gerald Chalente, welcome back to the show. H >> thank you and thank you for your kind words. I'm heartbroken to see what's going on. And um you know in the Bronx we used to have a saying, has its own sound. So let's go back to Trump's New Year's Eve speech. You know what he said? >> Peace. >> Yep. Peace on earth. My resolution. And what does he do a couple of days later? Boom. And you use the word capture. He didn't capture Maduro and his wife. He kidnapped them. And the word kidnap, by the way, has been banned by the BBC. To ensure clarity and consistency in our reporting, please follow these guidelines when describing the recent events in Venezuela. Avoid using kidnapped. What? What a bunch. They kidnapped a guy. Oh, and and then you pick up the mainstream media, the Wall Street Journal, first paragraph. The US might have decided it no longer wants to be the world's policeman, but the military operation that captured Venezuela's autocratic president. Hey, got journalism. You don't use the words to describe what happened. Authoritarian. Hey, how about here in America? Hey, I'm the president. I'll do what I want. All right. How about call him an authoritarian? You ready? Next story right below it. Diplomatic efforts gave way to military action. It goes on blah blah blah blah blah. The US oil company seeking to pump Venezuelan crude opting for diplomacy with the autocratic leader. Oh, autocrat. So now you get the people to hate the guy, right? That's what the prostitutes do. They're media that get paid to put out by their corporate pimps and government law masters. Yeah, let's keep going here. CIA reports favored Maduro loyalist. What do they say in Caracus? The mainstream near-term stability. If the autocrat lost power autocrat, they don't call him the president. Nobody. This is This is disgusting. It's one article after another. Yeah. Yeah. You ready? Trump de debates donor doctrine. The US had countless reasons for wanting regime change in Venezuela. Nicholas Maduro was a hardcore socialist dictator. And by the way, everybody, a little prostitute boy, a little guy with no that wrote that because Google up Trump's State of the Union address >> back 2019, 2020. We're not going to get Yeah, we're not going to get involved. >> No, his 2020. This is 2020 when he was 2019 when he was still president. He has a state of the union address and he's bringing in that little clown boy that everybody forgot, Juan Guyaido. This is the real president, he said, of Venezuela. And you know what he called Maduro? a socialist dictator that this guy exactly repeated. Had nothing to do with drugs back then. No, no, no. Not a word about it back then. People could Google it up and every little clown boy and girl in the United States Congress got up and gave that guy M uh Juan Guaido a standing ovation. Juan Guido. Who knows clown? Trump said that's the real president. Oh, back then it had nothing to do with narco terrorism and now it's all about oil. All about oil. And and it's again Trump Trump called himself the himself the most anti-war president in history. Oh, how many times you bombed Somalia? Well, I think it's 120 times since I got in there. Oh, you bombed Yemen, too. Yeah, I bombed Yemen. Yeah, but how I also bombed Iran. Very important. Bombed Iran. Bombed um Venezuela. When did he do it? On a Saturday early in the morning. Oh, the markets were closed. Huh? Saturday when the equity markets are closed. Bombs away over Iran and you got it. >> You will not want to miss this must attend event of 2026. Join us live on January 20th for an exclusive webinar featuring Titans Frank Gustra, Rick Rule, and yours truly pulling it all together with hard-hitting questions and real time insights. Questions delivered straight from you. We're going to dive into the explosive outlook for precious metals, critical resources, energy, and the massive opportunities unfolding right now in 2026. Seats are limited and going fast. This powerhouse discussion is one you do not want to miss. Save your spot today. Register right now at the link below or scan the QR code on your screen. Lock in your free seat before January 19th. We'll see you there with Gestra Rule and me live. I want to know then your assessment of Maduro and quoting the UN and Human Rights Watch that have alleged that under his administration millions of people died in extrajudicial killings and 7 million Venezuelans were forced to flee the country due to economic collapse. None of my business. >> Okay. None of my business. >> So your so your point is that I hear you loud and clear. I know you're a libertarian and you feel the US >> I'm a libertarian. I'm a nothing. No, I'm an American. And again, I launched a movement called Occupied Peace well over a decade ago. I read George Washington's farewell address. This is a real cat that fought, right? Became president, first one. Read his farewell address. Do not become involved in any of these foreign entanglements. This basically crap has been going on for thousands of years and we're not going to fix it. Don't love a nation. Don't hate a nation. You only secure our nation. >> Should there ever be an exception to that rule for you >> when they attack us? Yes. >> Okay. We get attacked. I'm a close combat guy. Had my own school for many years. You only attack the attacker. >> Let me bring this up. Stealing the oil. End the story. Forget who Maduro is. Read the crap coming out about Trump telling everybody how we're going to. It's our oil. Our oil. Our oil. Our oil. Oh, read the book Wars a Racket by Smemedley Butler, the most decorated Marine in history at the time back in the 1930s. Oh, back then it was United Fruit, huh? You think the United States would have invaded You think the United States would invaded Iraq, Libya, and Syria, and now Venezuela if their major export was broccoli? you for you it's only about it's all about oil or do is is that a distraction is there a bigger story? Is this all just a distraction? Gerald, when all else fails, they take you to war. Number one, you see the numbers coming out. The new job numbers are well below what they thought they were. Uh uh oh, Germany, the third largest economy in the world. Two years of recession. Oh, look at oil prices even before this Venezuela thing. You have OPEC plus pumping out more and more oil as demand is going down and down because they need more dough. When all else fails, they take it to war. Again, currency wars, trade wars, world wars. I've been saying this for a long time. And that's what we got going on. >> Gerald, >> this is >> Hey, wait a minute. >> Yeah, >> we want to have peace on earth all over. Oh, when did Trump say that? Oh, when he was running for office back in 2024 in September. You ready? We're not going to have peace through strength. We will not have to fight. Oh, that was in October 2024. I'm not going to start a war. I'm going to stop wars. October 20th, 2024. If I said these things and I was president and then I lied my way into office, where's the outrage? All right. Many are surprised by what happened in Venezuela. But if I can bring up this point and and it doesn't matter what side of the camp you're on, but let's at least agree that the concept of international law has never been upheld or respected by powerful nations. Here's a list which you've taught me about the 99 NATO bombing of Belgraite for 78 days conducted without UN Security Council. The recognition of Kosovo's independence which contradicted UN resolution stating it should remain part of Serbia. The 03 invasion of Iraq and the war in Afghanistan. The 2011 bombing of Libya again without UN authorization. These actions uh by the US and its allies created precedents that have legitimized similar moves by others. So should we truly be surpris I mean this this move should not come as a surprise. >> Oh no. >> The president has been right. >> No surprise at all. But he's a damn liar by his words. By his words. Again, not mine. His here. I want immediate peace. or that's after he got elected on January 20th. Again, it's his lies and there's no outrage. No outrage. And again, like you said, one after another, one more after another on on this lying crap and and just keeps on going. What if Putin went into Keith and grabbed Zalinsky and his wife and brought him to Moscow? OH MY GOD. OH MY GOD. What if What if China Hey, Taiwan's ours. We have to They have a dictatorship over there. We got to get it back. Oh my god. Oh my. Hey, but America. Hey, we could do it. All right. Okay, I want to know who you think falls next because true or false, do you agree with this statement? The US has long viewed regions like Latin America as its exclusive sphere of influence. Again, it's been going on. They stealing land. They they they rob things. Again, United Fruit. Read the book Wars of Racket. And and they're just going to keep doing it. >> Cuba, Colombia. Who's next? Yeah, I know. Oh, Greenland. You forgot about Greenland. All right. Canada. Yeah, Canada. I mean, this is this is insane. It's a freak show. And again, it's going on all over the world. You got that little clown boy over there, Mertz, over there in um in Germany. Oh, the Black Rockck guy. Yeah. The war in Ukraine could reach Germany. Russia continues this war of aggression building up. They're in a they're in a recession for two years. Their economy may grow 0.2% this year. They're borrowing a trillion dollars to build up their military. Oh, we're building up our infrastructure so we can hold the tanks. We only killed 27 million Russians in World War II. All right, that mers all of Europe building up their militaries. When all else fails, they take you to war. The global economy is going down. Here, let's just to make a little dick. How about gold prices? Hey, how about silver prices? Can't figure out why they're going up so high. Because of the geopolitical and socioeconomic uncertainty. One of your top trends for 2026, which has just came out. Yep. Gen Z revolution, Bulgaria. couple of weeks ago. Oh, they overthrew the government in Nepal, too, didn't they? Hey, what's going on in Tanzania? Been to Morocco. No, but how about Madagascar, Indonesia, France, one country after another, New York, New York? Hey, we're both You're in New York. I'm a New Yorker. And they brought a again tracking trends. Not what you like, what you want, what you wish for. It's what is >> the one that scares me. Mandami, a little nobody. Nobody ever heard of a cat. Nobody ever heard of him a year ago. 34 years old. The biggest city in America. How come? Gen Z Revolution. Gen Z and millennials with the biggest turnouts. They're busted. They got no future. They're broke. They don't own anything. Yeah. The facts. In America, 10% top 10% responsible for almost 50% of all retail sales last year. Not too long ago, firsttime home buyers in the United States, 28 years old. Now 40 years old. Gen Z revolution. The people are busted and the economies are going down. It's only Yeah. Not my data, the facts. The 10 billionaires in America, richest top 10 top billionaires got $700 billion richer last year. All right. While the middle class is shrinking. So again, these wars get the people's minds off the things that are going on. And by the way, a third of Americans support the United States attack in Venezuela. I'm looking at the your cover of the Trends Journal 2026. Everyone should get a copy of this and that's where you stay WW3 becomes official this year. Yep. Gerald, this is this isn't you know people say why is this person doing it? Why is that person why why you don't ask why somebody that's insane is insane? These are out of their mind freaks to be respectful in a tree near you. The little Katsson Mcronone. Look what they just did. Threw these people in jail for going on social media and saying that his wife was a guy. Look how they're locking up people in in the in the UK for protesting the Gaza genocide. The same thing in Germany. One country after another run by freaks. Run by freaks. Oh, I forgot the guy that before Stalmer in the in in the UK, Boris Johnson, the best cartoonist in the world could not come out with a clownier little freak than him. It's one country after another. If this thing is going down, that's one of the major reasons why gold and silver prices are spiking. >> And you are And that's your other one. Precious metals to shine on. So shine on. So you are still bullish gold and silver, right? >> Absolutely. Absolutely. And again, silver is used in, you know, from high-tech to heavy industry. And now with this AI revolution going on, but more and more silver going into it. So I got a gold ring. I don't want the ring anymore. You melt it down. You get the dough for it, right? the silver. Your your computer breaks, your cell phone breaks, you throw the damn thing out. Oh, there's silver in it. You don't have stockpiles of silver. You got stockpiles of gold. They're going to be using more and more and more and more and more and more silver. Especially as this AI thing keeps expanding. >> So, we're bullish on it for that reason as well. >> But I'm platinum. Yeah. >> Yep. And again, I've been at this 46 years. Never, never in my life have I seen the destruction of humanity in front of our eyes that's going on right now. The wars that are going on, the murders that are going on, the robbing us of our rights, freedom is a dirty word. Again, you were not allowed to use the word kidnapping. They kidnapped the guy. And what was the headline in in yesterday's Cartoon News Network, CNN? Oh, they hit their heads. Maduro and his wife. Their heads were hit. They hit their heads. They heads. Oh, by the way, nothing about what's going on now in the Middle East. No coverage at all in the in the media. Zero. >> Want to talk about your dire forecast for the US economy. Gerald, you say the US has five months left to get its act together? >> I'd say about that. And they're not going to again here. This is an article just we went on the the air. Let me see if I can find it here. Economist Mark Xandandy sees the Fed surprising with three rate cuts in first half of 2026. This is a mainstream cat man. This is like a mainstream character. Three. Oh. Oh great. Hey, the dollar had a great year last year, didn't it? Oh, was it the worst year in eight years or something? You know, the lower interest rates go, the deeper the dollar falls. The deeper the dollar falls, the higher gold prices go. This isn't rocket science. Gold is dollar-based. Silver's dollar-based. As other economies, other currencies go up, it's cheaper to buy it. This is going to spike spike prices. Go. Let's go back again. We only do the facts. Let's go back to 2018, December. The worst the worst Dow since the Great Depression. What did Trump do? He had just brought in that guy uh Jerome Powell short time before. Hey, Powell, come over here. I want you to lower interest rates. Okay, he lowered him in January. Now Powell's going out. He's putting a new cat in there. Trump is going to do everything he can to pump up the economy. Oh, no one's talking about the repo market. Oh, yeah. What did they pump in? A couple hundred billion dollars into the banks a couple of days ago. Nope. Don't talk about it. The repo markets. Oh, let's go back to 2019 when the repo market crisis was happening. Everybody forgot about it when the COVID war was launched. amendment happened in September, Janu September, October, November, December, January 2020. China launches the COVID war. World locks down. Everybody forgot about the repo crisis. A new repo crisis is emerging. Go to the uh they started reporting it finally. What's the office vacancy rate in um Chicago? Oh, only 28%. Around there. Um how about uh Louisville, Kentucky? Uh about 40%. >> Wow. >> How about um Seattle, Washington? Denver, Colorado, Portland, Oregon, all in the high 20s to 30s. Again, those are the numbers that I'm being reported. They're not my numbers. Okay. Repo, when they locked down everything in 2020, six years ago, leases are five, 10 year leases in these office buildings. And what was the news that came out yesterday? Oh, AT&T is leaving downtown Dallas. There's going to be an office building bust. They're not going to be renewing these leases. They're not going to be able to pay off the loans on these office buildings. And the banks don't have the money to cover the losses. Let's go back to 2023 ain't ancient history. signature First Republic and Silicon Conman Valley Bank went bust. Remember, bs were crashing. Gold prices spiking. That was three banks. They're going to do everything they can to prop up these markets. Everything. >> Yep. >> And the more they do it to prop it up, the deeper the value of the dollar falls and the higher gold prices go. And there's going to be a.com bust. That's our other forecast that we've been saying. China's going to lead the world in AI. Love it, hate it. Yeah. Again, only by the facts. I've said it before Slick Willie Clinton brought China into the World Trade Organization 25 years ago. 10% of Chinese 18-year-olds went to college. Today, nearly 70% in a country 1.4 billion versus 347 million in America. Oh, and they're going to college to get degrees and things that they could use like in high-tech and heavy industry and on and on and on. In America, I got a degree in transgender studies. All right. China and Beijing is dumping hundreds of billions of dollars into the AI world. So, there's going to be an AI bust. So you're going to have the office building bust, a.com bust, the markets are going to go bust, gold and silver prices are going to spike. But again, all and then they're going to ramp up more. Talk to me about the revival of the petro dollar debate. Side note for all, the term petrol dollar was coined in the mid70s when the US and Saudi agreed that global oil stills would be denominated in dollars, creating a new source of demand for the greenback and cementing US strategic, economic, and political power. What does this mean for the revival of the petrol dollar? Gerald, >> nothing. It's gone. The bricks control some 40% of the world's gross domestic product and much of the world has had it with America. They're disgusted with their geminy and what's going on. And again, let's go back. You know, these are the facts. Again, we report them each week in the trends journal. The mainstream media ignored rising gold prices >> until early October >> of last year. Totally ignored. >> Yeah. >> And then when they started talking about them, they say, "Oh, this is reminiscent of 1978 when gold prices began to spike." No, it isn't. Totally different story. Back then, the United States was number one. You're talking about the prom. America was number one. China, China back in 1978 had a gross domestic product. Remember this is a country back then probably about a hundred billion people of $150 billion. Today h around 20 trillion. There was America led the the game. And again, the reason gold prices declined was that Paul Vulkar drove up interest rates to what 18 20%. You know, that that's what killed the killed the uh the gold prices rising. They're not going to do that this time. Totally different trip. Do not compare it to 1978. But that's what they're doing. No comparison. >> They absolutely missed the narrative. And if I see one more headline of gold prices rallying because of incoming rate cuts completely missing the narrative of what's really taking place behind this rally. >> You got it. >> Uh Gerald, what are we going to do? >> What are we going to do? >> You know, again, I try to I put my money where my mouth is. Again, I launched Occupy Peace. Heartbroken. Yeah. Big rally. Roger Waters did a live broadcast here. Uh, you know, you know, Zoom. We had Judge Npalitano, Scott Ritter, Joe Lauria, Dennis Cassidic, others. You know, I'm doing everything I can for peace. Hey, it was Christmas time. Hey, where were all these religions? What do you forgot about the Prince of Peace? Oh, no. Where the Santa Claus is coming to town? I forgot. Hey, how did retail sales do? Where were all these religions about the Prince of Peace? We need peace on earth. these clown boys and girls over there in in the in in Europe building up their militaries, 5% of their GDP. You go to war with Russia, it's going to be end of life on Earth. They asked this cat by the name of Einstein, he knew a thing or two about the atomic bomb. They said, "What kind of weapons will be used to fight the third world war?" He said, "I don't know, but they'll be using sticks and stones to fight the fourth." One of my books, Trends 2000, international bestseller, they brought me to Virginia Military Institute in 2000 because I wrote about new millennium warfare. that all the tanks, the planes, the ships useless in the new millennium. There's going to be a whole different This is the beginning, by the way, of the of the high-tech the the the uh the the internet revolution. I said, there's going to be a whole different whole different realm of warfare. Nobody just talk about drones back then. There's going to be a whole different warfare. to be spending this money is only enriching the military-industrial complex. And if you don't believe me, once upon a time there was this cat by the name of uh Dwight D. Eisenhower, five-star president, supreme commander of the Allied forces, two-term president. Again, this is his statement. Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed. The world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron. All right. And before I forget, talking about the office building bust, you know, one of the one of the newspapers that I respect, they have a lot of good information and is the Financial Times. I hardly get anything from the New York Times, Wall Street Journal anymore that's trendworthy. And they had an article last week about the difference between Greenwich, Connecticut, where you know that is >> and all the rich people that live there. >> I saw it and and you saw it and Bridgeport, Connecticut. You saw that article. >> Yep. Yep. Yep. Now 30 miles away the woman the per they quoted a person in Bridgeport who's one of the top people there they said before the pandemic and again the world horror organization a health organization called it a pandemic on March 11 2020 January February March three months into the the co war when the grand total of 4,219 people died out of 8 billion so now everybody calls it a pandemic you look at the numbers it was not a pandemic but anyway way. They go on to say that before the pandemic there was no homelessness in Bridgeport and now the streets are filled. Going back to the office building bust. Homeless everywhere. Did not exist like this before. The businesses that are going out of business, it's a whole different world. The damage of that three-year lockdown has destroyed the lives and livelihoods of billions across the planet. Remember, they used to say, "It'll come back. It'll come back." It's not coming back. Everybody I know in the restaurant business, whole different game. Look at all of the businesses, all of the businesses involved in food and and and and liquor and and coffee going out of business. One after another, week after week, we have it in the trends journal. We have every week we put them in there. I thought of you. I read this article saying how AI is destroying like takeout business uh people because they're desperate I guess to get money back are and I'm I'm I'm not saying this to give ideas to people but they're using AI to morph the photos of the food they received to make it look spoiled or rotten or whatever to get their money back. >> Yep. So then they write to, you know, Uber or whoever's delivering Door Dash, whatever, and saying, "Oh, look how it arrived, and it's destroying businesses." >> Yep. I'm tell And by the way, AI, love it and hate it, it's the future. It's the future. As I said, they say in the King James Bible that the meek shall inherit the earth. They misspelled it. The geeks have inherited the earth. >> You always say that. And you know what else you always tell me? History may not repeat, but it rhymes. Yep. >> And that's happening right now. >> Gerald Chilente, can I say happy 2026? Let's hope. Let's hope for the best. That's all we can do. >> Well, no. We have to do something. People have to stand. >> No, you can't just hope. Hope is the most negative word in the metaphysical dictionary because it means wanting for something to happen without doing anything to make it happen. Once upon a time, >> let's change our perspective. Let's change our perspective. >> What? Prepare. >> Once upon a time, there was this cat by the name of Samuel Adams. It does not take a majority to prevail, but rather an iate tireless minority keen on setting brush fires of freedom in the minds of men. And that's my belief. >> Then we will have a great 2026, Gerald. >> All right. Okay. >> Okay. >> All right. Thank you so much for joining me. All the best >> and thank you all for watching. We'll see you very soon. Stay tuned.