Danielle Kurtzleben
Appearances
It's Been a Minute
Why is Trump "Flooding the Zone?"
Conductor Robert Frahn says a good melody captures our attention.
It's Been a Minute
Why is Trump "Flooding the Zone?"
No, I think it is. I think I have a pretty consistent losing streak on your show, Brittany.
It's Been a Minute
Why is Trump "Flooding the Zone?"
How we experience time. That's on the TED Radio Hour from NPR.
It's Been a Minute
Why is Trump "Flooding the Zone?"
To me, the immediate effect from the standpoint of the media is creating a massive amount of confusion and sometimes decision paralysis, I think, in newsrooms about not just what to cover, but how much to cover it. Think about, for example, what Trump just said about the U.S. taking over Gaza.
It's Been a Minute
Why is Trump "Flooding the Zone?"
Or think about something that's maybe a little less of a volatile thing, like the idea for the U.S. to buy Greenland. Are those things seriously going to happen? It's hard to see how, but if he says something that big, you have to cover it to some degree. The big question is how much to cover it. That is very, very difficult.
It's Been a Minute
Why is Trump "Flooding the Zone?"
Yeah. I would add a bit about Democrats. I was listening in on a call from the group Indivisible earlier this week. And the kind of people who sign on to that call are highly informed, highly motivated Democratic or at the very least progressive voters. Mm hmm. And it is very clear that among the left right now, among liberals, progressives, there is that feeling of despondency.
It's Been a Minute
Why is Trump "Flooding the Zone?"
When, first of all, they don't see Democratic leadership having an effective strategy to counter this. And also, when Trump is doing unprecedented things that no one seems quite sure how to fight, for example, Elon Musk and the Treasury payment system, that very much, like both the quality and quantity of what he's doing, has very much left Democrats going, what? we feel paralyzed.
It's Been a Minute
Why is Trump "Flooding the Zone?"
We do know that, first of all, this administration has had a lot of windup for what they want to do. I mean, first of all, he was in office way back when, 2017 to 2021. There were things he tried to do back then that he couldn't. He was unsuccessful, that the court stopped, etc., And in that interim four years where he was not president, there was that thing called Project 2025.
It's Been a Minute
Why is Trump "Flooding the Zone?"
There were people at the Heritage Foundation and other conservative places mapping out, here's what we would like to do under a Trump or some other sort of conservative presidency project. Now, to my mind, how effective is this policy-wise? It depends on the thing that he's signed. Birthright citizenship? Yeah, that's going to get a lot of legal challenges.
It's Been a Minute
Why is Trump "Flooding the Zone?"
There is flat out a constitutional amendment saying birthright citizenship is a thing, right? So there's going to be fighting over that. What is going to be interesting is what does play out in the courts.
It's Been a Minute
Why is Trump "Flooding the Zone?"
One thing I really want to add to what Jonathan said is it's not just the number of the executive orders, it's how central they are. I was at Capital One Arena on the day of inauguration and there was a desk on that stage where he signed executive orders in front of a crowd of 20,000 screaming Trump fans.
It's Been a Minute
Why is Trump "Flooding the Zone?"
The first is the rescissions of 78 Biden-era EOs and presidential memoranda. Do you want to call it out? Do you want to say it? Do you want to say it?
It's Been a Minute
Why is Trump "Flooding the Zone?"
Sure. The first item that President Trump is signing is the rescission of 78 Biden-era executive actions, executive orders, presidential memoranda, and others.
It's Been a Minute
Why is Trump "Flooding the Zone?"
As Jonathan said, the point is to show them, look, I'm doing stuff. And he he has made that so central. Optics is everything with this guy. And that really just kind of puts an exclamation point on it.
It's Been a Minute
Why is Trump "Flooding the Zone?"
Personally, I realize there is an inclination among many people, especially those who oppose Trump, to tune out, to just kind of hunker down in a bubble and, you know, read fantasy novels. And I get it. I do. But it is part of being in a democracy to be an informed citizen.
It's Been a Minute
Why is Trump "Flooding the Zone?"
I do think, though, that there is at a certain point a cutoff between being usefully informed and getting addicted to outrage. And I think it's worth it for people to think about at what point are you learning about what's going on in the world so you can engage with the world? And at what point are you scrolling
It's Been a Minute
Why is Trump "Flooding the Zone?"
blue sky Twitter Facebook whatever and just getting real mad and almost enjoying that feeling I think that those are very different things so that is one thing I think about a lot
It's Been a Minute
Why is Trump "Flooding the Zone?"
We've hit our disco quota on this week's episode, Brittany.
It's Been a Minute
2025 Predictions: social media is OUT & food politics are IN
Bobby goes to Berghain regularly. Oh, right. I was going to say. He's on the list.
It's Been a Minute
2025 Predictions: social media is OUT & food politics are IN
I have been to a club in my life. I can count it on one hand the number of times. I'm not an informed opinion. I'm going to say sure. Who doesn't like dancing?
It's Been a Minute
2025 Predictions: social media is OUT & food politics are IN
I am 42. I know who I am, and I know who I'm not, and I'm not a club lady.
It's Been a Minute
2025 Predictions: social media is OUT & food politics are IN
I am 365 party. It's just I don't do it at the club.
It's Been a Minute
2025 Predictions: social media is OUT & food politics are IN
What our professional responsibility was to not answer because then we're not taking a side, for example, when our funding is up before Congress. I don't know. Well, I'll say this. Yes.
It's Been a Minute
2025 Predictions: social media is OUT & food politics are IN
That's true. All right. Everybody go donate. Yes.
It's Been a Minute
2025 Predictions: social media is OUT & food politics are IN
This is such a 180 for Trump. If you go back four and a half years, Trump was in, I don't know if you could say peak anti-China mode because he is constantly railing against China for any number of things. But very much kind of as a cousin to his anger at China over Trump. COVID and all of his spouting off against them about that, he also said, at that time, I want to ban TikTok.
It's Been a Minute
2025 Predictions: social media is OUT & food politics are IN
Fast forward to now, suddenly this year, specifically in around March of this year, Trump came out and said, you know what? I really like TikTok. I love TikTok. Let's keep it around. And as for the why of that, I mean, first of all, Trump's a star on TikTok now. He used it to pretty great effect during the campaign. At the very least, he got a lot of followers.
It's Been a Minute
2025 Predictions: social media is OUT & food politics are IN
He put up a lot of videos and also appeared with all of these influencers who have podcasts, but also great TikTok followings. And beyond that, his position on TikTok flipped right around the time that he met with a who is not only an investor in TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, but is also a really big Republican donor. So again, I want to be clear here.
It's Been a Minute
2025 Predictions: social media is OUT & food politics are IN
I am not saying that we can point to a cause and effect here, but that is certainly a relationship that has been pointed out.
It's Been a Minute
2025 Predictions: social media is OUT & food politics are IN
Ones that have fallen by the wayside, Threads, Mastodon.
It's Been a Minute
2025 Predictions: social media is OUT & food politics are IN
All of these places, yes, it's totally unsustainable, right? But a thing that seems to be creeping in is a great skepticism among people. towards many of these platforms, especially as people like Elon Musk take over Twitter. And then Blue Sky becomes kind of the anti-Elon slash question mark anti-Trump social platform. Meanwhile, Trump has his social platform.
It's Been a Minute
2025 Predictions: social media is OUT & food politics are IN
And so many of these platforms have become an identity or have become sort of markers of your identity and especially your political identity online. But I think that that constant... brain fuzz when you're on a social platform of, is this the right place to be? Who am I reaching? What does it say about me that I'm even on this one? I think that's just going to get harder.
It's Been a Minute
2025 Predictions: social media is OUT & food politics are IN
And I do wonder how long that can be sustainable.
It's Been a Minute
2025 Predictions: social media is OUT & food politics are IN
I mean, first of all, I couldn't agree more with you on all of that. And I mean, especially, I mean, if you're bringing in trad wives, you have to talk about gender, right? Because they, or at least I do because that's my jam. But seriously, I promise this isn't just a to a ham or everything looks like a nail thing. Because to me, in the realm of food, so many different things.
It's Been a Minute
2025 Predictions: social media is OUT & food politics are IN
Oh, you mean like in our personal lives? For you. Yeah, for you. Oh.
It's Been a Minute
2025 Predictions: social media is OUT & food politics are IN
kind of astounding gendered things come out. For example, did any of you guys run across the raw milkmaid dress? Oh, yes, I did. Oh, okay.
It's Been a Minute
2025 Predictions: social media is OUT & food politics are IN
Yeah. All right, Bobby, the raw milkmaid dress, very succinctly, was advertised by a magazine called Evie, which purports to be a kind of conservative magazine Conservative Cosmo for the current age. Is that about right? That's about right. Conservative women's magazine. Yeah. And for example, it has had the ballerina farm lady Hannah Nealman on the cover.
It's Been a Minute
2025 Predictions: social media is OUT & food politics are IN
But they were advertising this thing called the raw milkmaid dress.
It's Been a Minute
2025 Predictions: social media is OUT & food politics are IN
It's got a corset involved and it's very low cut. The models were uniformly bosomy. Yes. Yes.
It's Been a Minute
2025 Predictions: social media is OUT & food politics are IN
You know what? Going to the movies. Yes. That is my in. It really feels like an indulgence. I really want to start going, going to the movies more. Yeah.
It's Been a Minute
2025 Predictions: social media is OUT & food politics are IN
That's sort of the one end of the spectrum that's like, you know, dressing for traditional female standards for the heterosexual male gaze, all of that. And then at the other end of the spectrum, you have, you know, guys like if you are not aware of raw egg nationalists, go look this man up.
It's Been a Minute
2025 Predictions: social media is OUT & food politics are IN
The name says it all. Yeah. Like someone who talks about food and politics in a way that very much overlaps and brings in some conspiracy theories, but is very much about, you know, men being strong and having high testosterone and bodybuilding and all of that. And so these two sort of visions of manhood and womanhood go hand in hand, all of which is to say.
It's Been a Minute
2025 Predictions: social media is OUT & food politics are IN
I think the politicization of food and the genderification of food, if that is a word, I think is going to continue this year. And the one thing I would add to end my tirade here is that what I'm going to be watching for in food politics this year is how much the ends of the political horseshoe overlap. Right.
It's Been a Minute
2025 Predictions: social media is OUT & food politics are IN
Because for a long time there was this sort of stereotype, but rooted in a certain amount of truth, of far lefty granola types, hippies. Yeah. Moosewood, cookbook. Yes. Being anti-vaxxers and not trusting the system, man. You know, and then at the other end of the spectrum now you have. a lot of right-wing anti-vaxxers, maybe for different reasons.
It's Been a Minute
2025 Predictions: social media is OUT & food politics are IN
You know, a lot of that distrust built especially because of COVID. People like RFK at the end of that spectrum. But you can see how certain things that RFK Jr. believes are things that Some on the left would believe, for example, RFK is very skeptical slash inimical towards Monsanto. Well, there's a lot of anti-corporate, anti-Monsanto folks on the left as well. So if and when RFK Jr.
It's Been a Minute
2025 Predictions: social media is OUT & food politics are IN
is put before the Senate for confirmation for HHS, as Trump has nominated him for, I think we're really going to see possibly some really strange bedfellows in terms of who supports him, who doesn't support him, who backs him. certain ideas of his and who doesn't.
It's Been a Minute
2025 Predictions: social media is OUT & food politics are IN
Food is one area where I think that the politics could get so interesting. I hate the word interesting, but... I love it.
It's Been a Minute
2025 Predictions: social media is OUT & food politics are IN
But yeah, I mean, I think where we're really going to test the limits of partisanship or where there's a potential for it, right? Because more on the right than the left. But still, so much of people constructing their political identities... First of all, people's political identities are a huge part of their total identities right now.
It's Been a Minute
2025 Predictions: social media is OUT & food politics are IN
But so much of that is defining yourself in opposition, right? I am not like the libs. I am not like the mega people. I'm different, you know? Right, right, right. But there is increasing evidence about, you know, ultra highly processed foods. sort of new ideas about what is healthy and what isn't. And everybody wants to eat healthy, whether or not they end up doing it.
It's Been a Minute
2025 Predictions: social media is OUT & food politics are IN
I mean, Lord knows I don't always, but it is hard to imagine one side or the other saying, you know what, the other side likes to grow their own food and eat vegetables. I ain't going to do that. I don't see that happening. And so this does seem to be an area where neither side is going to create a little camp that is fully exclusive of the other side, you know?
NPR News Now
NPR News: 05-21-2025 6PM EDT
While the Oval Office meeting began cordially, it grew hostile when Trump repeated false claims of white genocide. At one point, Trump paused the meeting to show the room a four-and-a-half-minute video promoting the idea that white South African farmers are being targeted.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 05-21-2025 6PM EDT
South African President Ramaphosa pushed back against Trump's claims, also stressing that he wanted to quote, reset the relationship between the United States and South Africa. It wasn't the only topic that angered the president. Trump also repeatedly insulted a reporter from NBC when he asked the president about his administration's accepting a luxury airplane as a gift from Qatar.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 04-09-2025 8AM EDT
There were several days there where you'd have one administration official saying these tariffs are not negotiable, that they're going to stick around a while. And then you'd have another official saying Trump was open to negotiation. Yesterday, the White House seemed to have settled on the idea that, yes, these tariffs are negotiable.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 04-09-2025 8AM EDT
They've said that about 70 countries have reached out for some sort of talks.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 04-15-2025 2PM EDT
In a social media post, Trump wrote about how the government spent $28 billion to buoy farmers hurt by a trade war with China in his first term. He finished by declaring, Trump has imposed 145 percent tariffs on Chinese goods. In turn, China is tariffing U.S. goods at 125 percent. Both of those levels are much higher than during Trump's first term. That makes U.S.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 04-15-2025 2PM EDT
goods more expensive in China, hurting sales of ag exports, especially soybeans, by far the biggest agricultural export to China. U.S. soybean exports to China still have not recovered from Trump's first-term trade war. Danielle Kurtzleben, NPR News.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-04-2025 4PM EST
There's a pretty unusual dynamic hanging over this speech. This Congress, which is narrowly controlled by Republicans, they have been remarkably acquiescent. to Trump's norm-shattering moves. And that acquiescence has come even as Trump has consolidated wide-ranging governmental powers into the executive branch, including powers that Congress historically has had, things like imposing tariffs.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 05-04-2025 2AM EDT
He proposes cuts of more than 50 percent at the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Science Foundation. He also proposes cuts at the Internal Revenue Service, at the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA. I mean, really, if it's an agency that doesn't do immigration or defense, there's a good chance that Trump wants to cut it.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 05-04-2025 2AM EDT
He also proposes some cuts to education, although the administration did take care to specify that they don't propose cutting Head Start funding.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 04-19-2025 2PM EDT
Court documents say on April 8th, Border Patrol agents arrested 19-year-old Jose Hermosillo without proper immigration documents. His girlfriend's aunt, Grace Leyva, says he lost his ID and that his family provided officials with his birth certificate and social security card.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 04-19-2025 2PM EDT
A magistrate judge in Tucson dismissed his case on Thursday and he was released. For NPR News, I'm Danielle Camara in Tucson.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 05-10-2025 4AM EDT
Though it's unclear what Leavitt was referring to, Hayden had, for example, denounced pushes to ban books about sexual identity. Hayden was serving a 10-year term as Librarian of Congress that would have ended next year. She was the first woman and the first Black person to hold the post. This week, the president also fired top officials at FEMA and the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-01-2025 2AM EST
A White House spokesperson said that around 20 boxes were returned. Reporters traveling with the president on Friday saw the boxes in the back of a van pulled up to Air Force One as it was loading. The White House did not say, however, what exactly was in the boxes. The FBI investigation resulted in 37 felony counts against Trump related to allegedly mishandling documents.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-01-2025 2AM EST
Special Prosecutor Jack Smith requested the case be dismissed after November's election, saying the Justice Department cannot prosecute a sitting president. In a social media post, Trump said the boxes, quote, will someday be part of the Trump Presidential Library. Danielle Kurtzleben, NPR News, West Palm Beach, Florida.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 04-28-2025 1PM EDT
At a briefing, White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt addressed last week's Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation in Florida, Operation Tidal Wave. She said it resulted in the arrests of nearly 800 people in the U.S. illegally.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 04-28-2025 1PM EDT
Today, Trump is expected to sign two executive actions related to border security, including one that will target sanctuary cities, jurisdictions with laws that limit cooperation with immigration authorities. Danielle Kurtzleben, NPR News, the White House.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 04-14-2025 2PM EDT
Kilmar Abrego-Garcia, a Salvadoran citizen who had lived in Maryland for about 15 years, was deported to El Salvador despite being granted protections by an immigration judge. He is now in custody in Bukele's mega-prison known as SICOT. The Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration to facilitate his return. A reporter asked Bukele if he'd return Abrego-Garcia.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 04-14-2025 2PM EDT
The administration has acknowledged that Abrego Garcia was deported due to an administrative error. But now, Trump aide Stephen Miller is saying he was not mistakenly deported. Danielle Kurtzleben, NPR News, the White House.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 11-03-2024 8PM EST
As he has at other rallies, Trump continued to sow doubt about Pennsylvania's voting system.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 11-03-2024 8PM EST
Again, there is no evidence of this. Opponents of voter ID laws argue that they cause voter suppression, particularly in marginalized communities. Trump also suggested that he didn't have to leave the presidency after losing in 2020. Speaking of a rise in border crossings under Biden, Trump said, quote, I shouldn't have left. Danielle Kurtzleben, NPR News, Lidditz, Pennsylvania.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-02-2025 8PM EST
One order directs agencies to find ways to increase lumber production. Another directs the Secretary of Commerce to investigate possible lumber tariffs. The White House says the goal is to reduce the cost of building housing. Tariffs are taxes American businesses pay to import products from abroad. Trump has also threatened tariffs on an array of other goods and countries.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-02-2025 8PM EST
Canada accounts for around 40% of American lumber imports, by far the largest of any country. Trump has also threatened blanket 25 percent tariffs on Canada as well as Mexico, saying those could take effect as early as March 4th. Danielle Kurtzleben, NPR News, West Palm Beach, Florida.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 04-11-2025 4PM EDT
Presidents have a history of selectively releasing medical information. Last year, for example, Joe Biden's physicians did not give him a cognitive exam despite his being the oldest president ever. Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt said Trump's results are coming soon.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 04-11-2025 4PM EDT
It's a yearly physical that every president receives, and we will provide an update on that by the president's physician as soon as we possibly can. The president's current physician is Sean Barbabella, a Navy physician who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. After his physical, the president is scheduled to leave for his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida.
The NPR Politics Podcast
McConnell Announces His Retirement And Trump Signs Another Executive Order
Well, even if you don't know what an independent agency is, you probably have interacted with one in some way. Let's start with that basic fact. There is, for example, the FDIC, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation that insures your bank deposits in the U.S.,
The NPR Politics Podcast
McConnell Announces His Retirement And Trump Signs Another Executive Order
There's the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which issues those recalls on products you see when you see that some baby crib is determined not to be safe. That's the CPSC that puts that out. They underpin so many areas of American life. Now, what these all have in common, there's no set legal definition for them, but they were set up by Congress to be insulated in some way from the presidency.
The NPR Politics Podcast
McConnell Announces His Retirement And Trump Signs Another Executive Order
The leaders, for example, can't be fired for political reasons. A president can only fire one by law for doing something really wrong, like misconduct. They're often headed by boards or commissions of people with staggered terms. The idea there is that no president can totally change the leadership, him or herself. And they don't have to submit new regulations to the White House.
The NPR Politics Podcast
McConnell Announces His Retirement And Trump Signs Another Executive Order
When the DOD comes up with a new regulation, they have to submit it. These agencies don't. But this new executive order would change that part in particular.
The NPR Politics Podcast
McConnell Announces His Retirement And Trump Signs Another Executive Order
Well, in short, this order really rips out that insulation I talked about that these agencies have tended to have from the president. So let me make up a very simple hypothetical. The FCC, the Federal Communications Commission, has a new regulation about what words you can and can't say on television or the radio. They haven't had to run that by the White House so far. Well, now they would.
The NPR Politics Podcast
McConnell Announces His Retirement And Trump Signs Another Executive Order
But there are a couple other related things this order would do. It says each agency has to have a White House liaison. what they do has to be consistent with White House policy and that the Office of Management and Budget Director, a guy named Russell Vogt under Donald Trump, he has power over their apportionments, over their money, so he can adjust what they have and how they spend it.
The NPR Politics Podcast
McConnell Announces His Retirement And Trump Signs Another Executive Order
quote, to advance the president's policies and priorities. So this gives the president so much power with these agencies. I do want to add one important thing here, though. The Federal Reserve Board of Governors and the Federal Open Market Committee, both at the Fed, the central bank, they are exempted from this.
The NPR Politics Podcast
McConnell Announces His Retirement And Trump Signs Another Executive Order
The Fed's independence has long been seen as a fundamental part of the way that it stabilizes the economy.
The NPR Politics Podcast
McConnell Announces His Retirement And Trump Signs Another Executive Order
I mean, there is definitely the fact that Donald Trump in his first term very much sought to have as much presidential power as possible. So, I mean, the fact that he broadly wants to expand the power of the presidency, yeah, we kind of knew that. But this in particular... He never, on the campaign trail that I heard and I went to a lot of his events, said anything about independent agencies.
The NPR Politics Podcast
McConnell Announces His Retirement And Trump Signs Another Executive Order
But there's another move he has made this year, which is he has fired the heads of some of these agencies, commissioners at like the National Labor Relations Board, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. That is something that presidents just haven't done. Like I've said, the idea is a president shouldn't be able to fire those people for political purposes.
The NPR Politics Podcast
McConnell Announces His Retirement And Trump Signs Another Executive Order
That goes hand in hand with what he is doing here, claiming this power. And the idea of claiming power over these agencies and being able to fire those heads, that is in Project 2025, that conservative blueprint for government.
The NPR Politics Podcast
McConnell Announces His Retirement And Trump Signs Another Executive Order
And Russell Vogt, the head of OMB that I mentioned, who's in charge of all of this, after Donald Trump was elected, very much said, hey, independent agencies ain't going to be independent.
The NPR Politics Podcast
McConnell Announces His Retirement And Trump Signs Another Executive Order
I was asking a legal scholar as I was reporting on this, OK, let's say I am the head of the FCC, the Federal Communications Commission, and I don't want to do what Trump has told me to do in this order. Can I take this to court? Is that how this could reach the Supreme Court? And he said, well... He doesn't know of how that would work in terms of me being able to take that to court.
The NPR Politics Podcast
McConnell Announces His Retirement And Trump Signs Another Executive Order
But either way, under this president, this particular president, if I don't want to do what he tells me, he's going to fire me. Right. And he has already shown that he will fire the heads of these agencies. And at that point, I might sue and say that my termination was unlawful. The thing is, that has already happened.
The NPR Politics Podcast
McConnell Announces His Retirement And Trump Signs Another Executive Order
We've had a commissioner, for example, from the National Labor Relations Board who has who is suing and saying, you can't fire me, but you just did. when those cases, should they, and I want to stress should, make it to the Supreme Court, the Supreme Court will have the opportunity to clarify what they think about the independence of these agencies.
The NPR Politics Podcast
McConnell Announces His Retirement And Trump Signs Another Executive Order
But as Mara just said, this particular Supreme Court has proven itself very willing in the last few years to chip away at that independence via a whole range of rulings.
Up First from NPR
Trump's Tariff Talks, China's Tariff Response, SCOTUS Probationary Workers
Well, the White House's messaging on this has been confusing. There were several days there where you'd have one administration official saying these tariffs are not negotiable, that they're going to stick around a while. And then you'd have another official saying Trump was open to negotiation.
Up First from NPR
Trump's Tariff Talks, China's Tariff Response, SCOTUS Probationary Workers
But yesterday, the White House seemed to have settled on the idea that, yes, these tariffs are negotiable. They've said that about 70 countries have reached out for some sort of talks. And yesterday, Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt insisted that that these tariffs have always been open to negotiation.
Up First from NPR
Trump's Tariff Talks, China's Tariff Response, SCOTUS Probationary Workers
And that's a narrative that fits with an image Trump really likes to project, which is that he's a master dealmaker. But he did say yesterday it's a long list of countries and it could take some time to get through.
Up First from NPR
Trump's Tariff Talks, China's Tariff Response, SCOTUS Probationary Workers
Well, Trump has said he's spoken to leaders of multiple major trading partners, including Japan, South Korea and Vietnam. But one country that has not reached out, according to Trump, is China. Now, there's been some back and forth on retaliation with them. But as a result, the tariff on Chinese goods is now at least 104 percent.
Up First from NPR
Trump's Tariff Talks, China's Tariff Response, SCOTUS Probationary Workers
So that more than doubles the cost of a lot of consumer goods from them. And if China's retaliatory tariffs on U.S. products stays in place, that could very much hurt some U.S. businesses like farmers who send a lot of crops there.
Up First from NPR
Trump's Tariff Talks, China's Tariff Response, SCOTUS Probationary Workers
Well, not only that, there's been pushback from within his own team. Elon Musk has openly opposed these tariffs. He's the head of Tesla and SpaceX. And yesterday on social media, he lashed out at top trade advisor Peter Navarro in several really insulting posts. At one point, he called Navarro, quote, dumber than a sack of bricks.
Up First from NPR
Trump's Tariff Talks, China's Tariff Response, SCOTUS Probationary Workers
Now, on Capitol Hill, things are much more polite, but Republican anger is starting to show. U.S. Trade Representative Jameson Greer faced the Senate Finance Committee in a hearing yesterday. And several Republicans really pressed him on the tariffs. They asked, for example, when and how the tariffs might go away.
Up First from NPR
Trump's Tariff Talks, China's Tariff Response, SCOTUS Probationary Workers
Now, in addition, there have now been bipartisan bills introduced in both the House and the Senate seeking to restrict the president's tariff authority. Those bills, they're unlikely to pass, but they do have a little Republican support. And that represents some cracks in what's usually a very unified GOP.
Up First from NPR
Trump's Tariff Talks, China's Tariff Response, SCOTUS Probationary Workers
Thank you.
Up First from NPR
Trump's 'Liberation Day', Wisconsin Supreme Court Race, Mistaken Deportation
Well, we know Trump's going to lay them out at a big Rose Garden event at 4 p.m. Eastern, but his team has given few details on this. He and his advisers, in fact, were still working on the tariffs yesterday, which is itself notable. I mean, this is a potentially sweeping trade policy that has not been clearly communicated yet.
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Trump's 'Liberation Day', Wisconsin Supreme Court Race, Mistaken Deportation
But as for what he's announcing, these are what he's been calling reciprocal tariffs, which he has said could apply to many different items and all countries. And he's long described them as mirroring other countries' tariffs. So give us an example there. Sure. So this week, White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt showed reporters a graphic of all kinds of tariffs on U.S. goods.
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Trump's 'Liberation Day', Wisconsin Supreme Court Race, Mistaken Deportation
And one example was Mexico's 150 percent tariff on American alcohol. So a reciprocal tariff in this example could be the U.S. imposing a 150 percent tariff on Mexican alcohol. Now, again, I want to stress this is just a hypothetical I'm giving. But in this example, that would mean U.S. importers would pay a 150 percent tax to bring that alcohol into the country.
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Trump's 'Liberation Day', Wisconsin Supreme Court Race, Mistaken Deportation
And in most cases, we could expect American businesses to either eat that cost or pass it on to consumers. OK, so that sounds like it could get pretty expensive. Yeah, it could. And stock markets and consumers are taking Trump seriously on this. Consumer confidence and stock indexes have been plummeting as reciprocal tariff day has grown closer.
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Trump's 'Liberation Day', Wisconsin Supreme Court Race, Mistaken Deportation
And amid that, Trump seems to have softened on this idea of equal tariffs. Here he was talking to reporters this week.
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Trump's 'Liberation Day', Wisconsin Supreme Court Race, Mistaken Deportation
And yesterday, Levitt also said different countries have been lobbying the president's team. Trump has left the door open to exceptions, but he has also said he doesn't want many.
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Trump's 'Liberation Day', Wisconsin Supreme Court Race, Mistaken Deportation
Well, we have some broad ideas. One is that they'll lead to higher prices. The Yale Budget Lab did one hypothetical modeling of what these tariffs could look like, finding that in the short run, they'd cost the average household around $3,000 a year. And those costs, by the way, would hit lower income households harder than higher income.
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Trump's 'Liberation Day', Wisconsin Supreme Court Race, Mistaken Deportation
Well, the Trump administration says this is about fairness and also about creating manufacturing jobs. That's what Trump ran on. And a lot of his base is in blue collar jobs like manufacturing. And some manufacturers could be helped by the tariffs. I mean, if goods from other countries get more expensive, it would mean people in the U.S. would buy more goods made in the U.S. But some U.S.
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Trump's 'Liberation Day', Wisconsin Supreme Court Race, Mistaken Deportation
manufacturers will also pay more for materials, which could offset whatever benefits they might see from the tariffs. And there's one more economic risk, and that's that other countries see this and then they retaliate with their own tariffs. And farmers would be a likely target there. So there's a real risk here for Trump.
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Trump's 'Liberation Day', Wisconsin Supreme Court Race, Mistaken Deportation
He has acknowledged that these tariffs could cause short-term pain, and that means voters could easily in the future pin any weakness from the economy on him.
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Trump's 'Liberation Day', Wisconsin Supreme Court Race, Mistaken Deportation
Thank you.
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Jordan's King In Washington, New Tariffs, NYC Mayor's Corruption Charges
Well, American importers will now be paying a 25 percent tax on steel and aluminum, and that makes these tariffs a lot like some you might remember him imposing during his first term, except this time the aluminum rate is higher. It was 10 percent back then.
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Jordan's King In Washington, New Tariffs, NYC Mayor's Corruption Charges
In doing this, the administration has stressed they're trying to use these tariffs to stick it to China, which is the world's biggest steel exporter. Now, the U.S. doesn't actually get much steel or aluminum directly from China, but the White House argues that Chinese steel makes it into the U.S. by being sold through other countries.
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Jordan's King In Washington, New Tariffs, NYC Mayor's Corruption Charges
Well, the U.S. gets by far the most of its aluminum imports from Canada, according to data compiled by Reuters. And on steel, Canada is also first. And there are other allies on that list, like Mexico and South Korea. You might notice that in all those countries I mentioned, Canada and Mexico feature prominently.
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Jordan's King In Washington, New Tariffs, NYC Mayor's Corruption Charges
Trump had recently threatened tariffs on them and then paused them at the last minute. Well, with this new announcement, he's putting tariffs on those two countries anyway, just not on all of their goods. And that gets to one really important thing about these tariffs. There are no exceptions to these. And that's different from Trump's tariffs last time around.
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Jordan's King In Washington, New Tariffs, NYC Mayor's Corruption Charges
It's also different from how Biden treated tariffs. Both of them had carve outs on tariffs for some allies, but not now.
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Jordan's King In Washington, New Tariffs, NYC Mayor's Corruption Charges
Well, in the near term, this should be good for American steel and aluminum companies because tariffs raise the price of steel and aluminum and they protect against some foreign competition. And markets seemed to think so yesterday. Shares of Alcoa, an American aluminum company, and U.S. steel were both up. But that doesn't mean this is great for the rest of the economy.
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Jordan's King In Washington, New Tariffs, NYC Mayor's Corruption Charges
I talked to Gary Huffbauer, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. He told me that industries that use those metals, like aircraft and auto manufacturing, also bridge construction, those could lose jobs.
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Jordan's King In Washington, New Tariffs, NYC Mayor's Corruption Charges
He's saying there that not only would prices be higher for steel and aluminum, but other countries are likely to hit back and tariff American exports, which will hurt these companies.
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Jordan's King In Washington, New Tariffs, NYC Mayor's Corruption Charges
Well, it's unclear, but he's dribbled out a bit of information. He has said he'll be announcing what he calls reciprocal tariffs. The idea there seems to be that whatever tariff a foreign country has put on a U.S. good, he wants to impose it back in return. He also said yesterday that he'll be considering tariffs on cars, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors.
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Jordan's King In Washington, New Tariffs, NYC Mayor's Corruption Charges
But it was unclear whether those are separate from the reciprocal tariffs. And this is one constant feature of how Trump does tariff policy. There's often not an orderly rollout. We really just don't know what's coming until he says it. I'm PR's Danielle Kurtzleben.
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Final Campaign Push, Israel Cuts Ties With UNRWA
Well, as we just heard in that clip that you just played, Trump's been doing this thing lately where he's been getting kind of sentimental during his speech about all of this being over, all of this being the campaign, but especially his campaign rallies. He's done this a few times in recent weeks. He had a bit more to add in Grand Rapids late last night.
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Final Campaign Push, Israel Cuts Ties With UNRWA
Now, at these recent events, I will say he's been getting smaller crowds than he's gotten in the past. He didn't quite fill the Fiserv Forum in downtown Milwaukee Friday night. Yesterday at an arena in Redding, Pennsylvania, it was about half full. That's where I was. He also didn't fill his arena in Raleigh yesterday either. Now, You can read that a couple of ways.
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Final Campaign Push, Israel Cuts Ties With UNRWA
One is that enthusiasm is waning. Maybe that's true. But also, it's also possible that he's just been to these states a lot and his supporters just don't feel the need to see him for the fifth, sixth, seventh time.
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Final Campaign Push, Israel Cuts Ties With UNRWA
Well, he's still saying a lot of the same stuff. He's promising mass deportations. He's saying tariffs are a grand economic fix, though there are some real doubts about that. He also, though, the last couple of days has been spreading election disinformation preemptively.
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Final Campaign Push, Israel Cuts Ties With UNRWA
He's been spreading false stories about the Pennsylvania system while he's been in that state, which lays the groundwork for him and his supporters to deny the results if they so choose. Now, Beyond that, a couple other points about this final day of campaigning.
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Final Campaign Push, Israel Cuts Ties With UNRWA
At least one of his stops you can see is very intentionally chosen because Redding is two-thirds Latino and a lot of those Latinos are Puerto Rican specifically. So that is a way you can see him maybe extending an olive branch to Redding. And those voters who might have been offended by some recent comments. But to zoom out, if this is his last campaign, this is the end of an era.
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Final Campaign Push, Israel Cuts Ties With UNRWA
It's the end of the Trump rally. He has been this singular personality in politics. He has reshaped the Republican Party. And if he loses, they're really going to have to figure out its identity after Trump.
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Final Campaign Push, Israel Cuts Ties With UNRWA
Well, we know that more than 82 million people have cast ballots thus far. Now, there hasn't been as much mail voting as in 2020 during the pandemic. But the in-person early voting has been really big. I mean, we've seen those record numbers in states like Georgia and North Carolina.
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Final Campaign Push, Israel Cuts Ties With UNRWA
Now, one thing that's interesting, though, is that Republican messaging for their voters to turn out earlier has gotten through because in the past they had cast doubt on some of these methods. And those Republican voters are turning out. But it's hard to say if that means anything. It could just be that people who would have voted on Election Day are now voting earlier.
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Ukraine Funds Paused, Trump Addresses Congress, Tariffs Begin
Not a lot. We know broad strokes, but the White House hasn't given reporters the kind of preview information that they often do ahead of these speeches. Now, they have said the theme is the renewal of the American dream. And one thing you can definitely expect is to hear Trump talk about what he counts as his accomplishments.
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Ukraine Funds Paused, Trump Addresses Congress, Tariffs Begin
For example, the steps he's taken in the past six weeks to get rid of Joe Biden's policies and also just to do what Trump told his base he would do during the campaign. Now, a lot of those moves are aggressive, to put it mildly, and there are things that are being challenged in the courts.
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Ukraine Funds Paused, Trump Addresses Congress, Tariffs Begin
So moving immigrants to Guantanamo Bay, diminishing transgender people's rights, and not to mention bringing on an unelected billionaire, Elon Musk, to gut federal agencies.
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Ukraine Funds Paused, Trump Addresses Congress, Tariffs Begin
Yes, we do know he's going to ask Congress to spend more money on border security. We also expect him to ask for another top legislative priority, which is extending tax cuts passed in his first term. But one thing that I would add is there's a pretty unusual dynamic hanging over this speech. This Congress, which is narrowly controlled by Republicans, they have been remarkably acquiescent.
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Ukraine Funds Paused, Trump Addresses Congress, Tariffs Begin
to Trump's norm-shattering moves. And that acquiescence has come even as Trump has consolidated wide-ranging governmental powers into the executive branch, including powers that Congress historically has had, things like imposing tariffs.
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Ukraine Funds Paused, Trump Addresses Congress, Tariffs Begin
Well, he has said he will be talking about that proposal under which the U.S. would get some revenue from Ukraine's mineral resources. It's part of how Trump wants to broker a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia, that mineral deal. Now, a reporter asked Trump yesterday if the mineral deal is dead after that fight, and Trump seemed to leave the door open.
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Ukraine Funds Paused, Trump Addresses Congress, Tariffs Begin
Now, he has also said he's been talking to European leaders, and it does sound like we'll hear more about this tonight. Now, Democrats, for their part, their response to the speech will be from Michigan Senator Alyssa Slotkin, who worked at the CIA prior to holding office, and she's been attacking Trump on Ukraine a lot in recent weeks.
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Ukraine Funds Paused, Trump Addresses Congress, Tariffs Begin
Well, you'll see Democrats continuing to try to figure out how to respond to Trump, and this will be an opportunity to do that. They'll have guests like fired federal workers and Medicaid recipients, the latter presumably to highlight the possibility that Republicans cut that program.
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Ukraine Funds Paused, Trump Addresses Congress, Tariffs Begin
Now, President Trump, we don't know who his guests are yet, but Melania Trump will have a guest who was a victim of revenge porn, and that's part of the First Lady's push to combat that type of online abuse.
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Myanmar Quake, Who Pays Tariffs, E.O. Impacts On Arts
Sure. So let's use a concrete example. Let's say an American airplane manufacturer is importing aluminum from Canada. So that aluminum arrives at a U.S. port and there the manufacturer or a broker representing them pays that 25 percent tariff to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. So in other words, a company in America is handing that money over.
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Myanmar Quake, Who Pays Tariffs, E.O. Impacts On Arts
It's not the Canadian company selling the goods and it's certainly not Canada.
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Myanmar Quake, Who Pays Tariffs, E.O. Impacts On Arts
Right. And White House officials argue that foreign companies end up eating the cost of tariffs by lowering their prices. I recently asked Kevin Hassett, he's one of the president's top economic advisors, why that would be true. He told me that he expects foreign companies will lower their prices to compensate for the tariffs.
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Myanmar Quake, Who Pays Tariffs, E.O. Impacts On Arts
That would mean that the foreign companies' profits would go down, but prices wouldn't change for American importers or consumers.
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Myanmar Quake, Who Pays Tariffs, E.O. Impacts On Arts
No, at least not based on evidence from Trump's first term. I called an economist at Columbia University, David Weinstein, who studied Trump's first-term tariffs on China.
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Myanmar Quake, Who Pays Tariffs, E.O. Impacts On Arts
And other studies have also shown that American businesses and consumers largely paid Trump's first-term tariffs. Now, the White House has stood by its claims that foreign companies will eat the cost of these tariffs. But I've asked the White House for data backing that up, and I haven't received any.
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Myanmar Quake, Who Pays Tariffs, E.O. Impacts On Arts
Well, he's been asked about it at a press conference last month. A reporter asked him directly why he believes foreign governments are paying tariffs. Trump did not answer directly, but he argued the economy was fine in his first term when he imposed the tariffs.
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Myanmar Quake, Who Pays Tariffs, E.O. Impacts On Arts
And again, I've asked the White House for a more direct answer on this, and I haven't received a response.
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Myanmar Quake, Who Pays Tariffs, E.O. Impacts On Arts
Well, they certainly can. There's evidence showing that Chinese manufacturing declined after Trump's first term tariffs on them. And you can see Canada right now loudly protesting the tariffs Trump is putting in place on autos, on steel and aluminum and other goods. In fact, ads have popped up in multiple U.S.
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Myanmar Quake, Who Pays Tariffs, E.O. Impacts On Arts
states recently, ads funded by the Canadian government, telling Americans that tariffs are a tax. So Canada clearly doesn't like this policy. The White House, meanwhile, is arguing that Trump's tariffs are going to boost U.S. manufacturing, bringing factories back to the U.S. Now, it is not clear that that's going to work. But even if it did, the point here is that tariffs involve tradeoffs.
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Myanmar Quake, Who Pays Tariffs, E.O. Impacts On Arts
Higher prices are just one of the economic problems that tariffs can cause. And there are also non-economic tradeoffs, like worse relationships with foreign countries.
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Inauguration Day, Israel-Hamas Ceasefire, TikTok
Yeah, well, it's a full day of activities, and I'll mention just some of them. Following a service at St. John's Church, which is right next to the White House, the Bidens welcome the Trumps to the White House. And then midday, there's that official swearing-in ceremony. And again, like you said, it's in the Capitol because it's chilly outside today here in Washington.
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Inauguration Day, Israel-Hamas Ceasefire, TikTok
Many supporters, however, will be watching that live stream in Capitol One Arena downtown, again, because of the cold. Then after that, Trump has a ceremony midday that could involve signing executive orders. And then in the afternoon, the inaugural parade has also been moved to the arena, which is where last night's rally was also held.
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Inauguration Day, Israel-Hamas Ceasefire, TikTok
So all that time spent cheering in an arena, it's really going to maybe fittingly feel like a lot of time at a traditional Trump rally.
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Inauguration Day, Israel-Hamas Ceasefire, TikTok
Well, there is very much this pervasive feeling that the underdogs had won. That's definitely the story that a lot of speakers told, at least. It was celebratory, but also in very Trumpian fashion, there was a lot of focus on how the MAGA movement has a lot of enemies, as they said, and needs to keep fighting them.
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Inauguration Day, Israel-Hamas Ceasefire, TikTok
And supporters outside told me that this win just feels bigger right now than the win in 2016 because they think they have more of America behind them. This time, after all, Trump did win the popular vote, unlike in 2016. Now here is Cindy Pugh. I spoke with her as she stood in line. She came to D.C. from her home in the Minneapolis suburbs.
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Inauguration Day, Israel-Hamas Ceasefire, TikTok
Yeah quite a few. I mean there was billionaire SpaceX founder Elon Musk. He gave an impromptu speech. Political commentator Megyn Kelly really stood out. She gave this very harsh speech that insulted Democrats and their famous supporters. She insulted Vice President Kamala Harris herself. And besides all of that in his speech, Trump called out cabinet members he's picked.
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Inauguration Day, Israel-Hamas Ceasefire, TikTok
The crowd had big cheers, especially for Pete Hegseth, who is the defense nominee, who was questioned at his hearing recently about allegations of drinking in the job and sexual misconduct. Hegseth has denied all of those.
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Inauguration Day, Israel-Hamas Ceasefire, TikTok
Well, he's talked about doing a lot of executive orders. For example, he talked about carrying out mass deportations. And he also talked about pardoning people convicted of their actions during the January 6th riot four years ago.
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Trump and Musk Break Up, Tariffs Raise $70 billion, ICE Detention Conditions
Hey, good morning.
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Trump and Musk Break Up, Tariffs Raise $70 billion, ICE Detention Conditions
Ostensibly, yeah. I mean, the big, beautiful bill was at the start of all of this. That bill is the massive policy package Republicans are trying to pass right now. Musk had loudly criticized that bill for days because of the cost of the bill. At one point, Musk called the bill a disgusting abomination. And look, the bill is expensive.
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Trump and Musk Break Up, Tariffs Raise $70 billion, ICE Detention Conditions
The nonpartisan CBO has reported it would add $2.4 trillion to future deficits. But then all of that brings us to yesterday when Trump was asked about Musk's criticism of that bill. And Trump said that he thinks Musk, as CEO of Tesla, well, he's just angry that the bill would cut tax incentives for people buying electric cars.
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Trump and Musk Break Up, Tariffs Raise $70 billion, ICE Detention Conditions
And then Trump went further. He also said Musk just misses the power and attention that he had when he was in government.
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Trump and Musk Break Up, Tariffs Raise $70 billion, ICE Detention Conditions
You're right, it escalated. Well, Trump then threatened to end the government contracts that Musk's companies have. Musk, in turn, threatened to decommission a spacecraft that NASA uses. And then Musk got really aggressive. He posted that Trump hadn't released all the records around sex offender Jeffrey Epstein because, according to Musk, those files implicate Trump.
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Trump and Musk Break Up, Tariffs Raise $70 billion, ICE Detention Conditions
Now, I should say, Musk did not provide any evidence of that. And Musk also has in the past made accusations of sex crimes without evidence. Yep. I did talk to the White House. They had no immediate comment on any of that. But Musk had even more to say, including retweeting someone calling for Trump's impeachment. So, yeah, this is about as ugly of a falling out as there is.
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Trump and Musk Break Up, Tariffs Raise $70 billion, ICE Detention Conditions
All of that said, it is worth pointing out, Musk and Trump were never in complete lockstep. There was friction there while Musk was still a government employee.
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Trump and Musk Break Up, Tariffs Raise $70 billion, ICE Detention Conditions
Well, look, to some degree, the attention this is getting is, yeah, just social media rubbernecking. And definitely, if you watch Democrats and leftists online, the schadenfreude is high. But to zoom way out, whether or not this is consequential, it's remarkable because of the remarkable way that Trump elevated Musk.
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Trump and Musk Break Up, Tariffs Raise $70 billion, ICE Detention Conditions
Now, Trump brought in this businessman, gave him sweeping power, but it wasn't a one-way street. Musk spent more than a quarter of a billion dollars helping Trump get elected. So yesterday, Musk made it clear he thought he deserved more in return. He posted, without me, Trump would have lost the election. And he added, quote, such ingratitude.
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Trump and Musk Break Up, Tariffs Raise $70 billion, ICE Detention Conditions
Musk all but said that, yeah, my money should buy me power.
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Trump and Musk Break Up, Tariffs Raise $70 billion, ICE Detention Conditions
Thank you. Thank you.