David Cohn
Appearances
Morning Wire
Federal Workers Reinstated & Trump Tower Swarmed | Afternoon Update | 3.13.25
White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt confirmed the visit set for April 28th.
Morning Wire
Federal Workers Reinstated & Trump Tower Swarmed | Afternoon Update | 3.13.25
This marks a shift from 2018 when the Eagles were disinvited after some players opted out over Trump's criticism of anthem protests. And they weren't the only ones. Several dozen major sports teams won championships during President Trump's first administration. Many celebrated at the White House. Many did not. Of those teams that didn't, not all did so in defiance. Some had scheduling conflicts.
Morning Wire
Federal Workers Reinstated & Trump Tower Swarmed | Afternoon Update | 3.13.25
Some were not invited to begin with for various reasons. This time, many players on the Eagles, including lineman Lane Johnson, say they are honored to go.
Morning Wire
Rethinking Gaza: Trump's Bold Middle East Strategy | 2.9.25
And then I think there's a desire to move forward with normalization with Saudi Arabia or Indonesia or others. But understanding that you got to sort of quiet this area down and have a strategy that to de-radicalize the Palestinian population. So, you know, that's a lot to say from body language, but, you know, again, I've been in the room a lot.
Morning Wire
Rethinking Gaza: Trump's Bold Middle East Strategy | 2.9.25
And that's sort of what I took from watching it and, of course, obviously hearing the comments of both leaders.
Morning Wire
Rethinking Gaza: Trump's Bold Middle East Strategy | 2.9.25
Well, look, I think he is looking at a 50 plus year problem that only seems to get worse.
Morning Wire
Rethinking Gaza: Trump's Bold Middle East Strategy | 2.9.25
and he's overlaying on that the amount of money wasted in gaza and the enormous economic potential of gaza which you know frankly only a guy who's in business who understands what it means to have 25 miles of sunset facing beachfront in this tiny area right so he's looking at both he's looking at the incredible violence and waste and human misery then he's looking at what this could be and i think he's just saying you know what
Morning Wire
Rethinking Gaza: Trump's Bold Middle East Strategy | 2.9.25
These kind of small steps, they're just not working. And I'll tell you, look, when I was working on this, you know, we always had one gating issue when it came to Gaza, which is how are we going to get Hamas out? Like, who's going to rule Gaza who won't threaten not just the people of Gaza, but Israel as well? I mean, who's out there? Hamas didn't just take over Gaza.
Morning Wire
Rethinking Gaza: Trump's Bold Middle East Strategy | 2.9.25
They were elected, you know, and they have a lot of support there. And they're just a brutal, cruel, ruthless, Nazi-like regime. And we just couldn't envision what it would look like in a sort of ground-up, organic restructuring, if you will. Now, what's different now, because in those days, you know, not easy to talk about moving two million people out of their territories.
Morning Wire
Rethinking Gaza: Trump's Bold Middle East Strategy | 2.9.25
That's hard to do, even though, from my perspective, direct conversations with lots of people who come from Gaza. Many people would love to leave. I mean, there are people who will get on the media and say, you know, we're going to fight to stay here, but there aren't a lot of people who really feel that way.
Morning Wire
Rethinking Gaza: Trump's Bold Middle East Strategy | 2.9.25
But notwithstanding that, you know, moving people against their will is much more challenging than today, when today they can't stay. Whatever the legal issues may be, whatever the moral issues may be, they can't stay. There's no place for them to stay. There's not a building there which wouldn't be condemned by any zoning board in the United States. They're all going to fall down.
Morning Wire
Rethinking Gaza: Trump's Bold Middle East Strategy | 2.9.25
And they can't stay there. And so they all want to leave. I mean, much more so than before, even. And so I just think that once you reach the conclusion that the people who are living there now have to leave for their own safety, for their own health, they have to leave. Then it opens up a much wider focus on what could be. And so Trump says, OK, if they're leaving anyway.
Morning Wire
Rethinking Gaza: Trump's Bold Middle East Strategy | 2.9.25
Okay, why not now take this extraordinarily valuable property in the hands of decent people, make it what it could be, maybe use the newly created American sovereign wealth fund to finance some of it. There'll be plenty of money that would come in to do that. And then let's create a permanent monument to the failure of radical Islamism, because that's what this will become.
Morning Wire
Rethinking Gaza: Trump's Bold Middle East Strategy | 2.9.25
Well, I think that's a function of American leverage and President Trump's persuasiveness. But look, starting with Egypt and Jordan, these are countries whose very existence is very much dependent upon America, and to some extent, Israel. Like in Jordan's case, a huge amount of Financial aid comes from America. A huge amount of intelligence cooperation comes from America and Israel.
Morning Wire
Rethinking Gaza: Trump's Bold Middle East Strategy | 2.9.25
The Israeli-Jordanian border is the largest of Israel's borders. And Israel works closely with the Jordanians behind the scenes to make sure that that border remains relatively quiet. So there's a lot of leverage there. And I think the difference with Jordan is that there may not be as much space but there's certainly leverage there.
Morning Wire
Rethinking Gaza: Trump's Bold Middle East Strategy | 2.9.25
Now, in the case of Egypt, the same is also true about financial aid and intelligence cooperation. And there's also Sinai. I mean, the Sinai Peninsula, which Israel returned to Egypt in 1979, is a vast, vast, vast space that can easily be, I would say, ring-fenced if you're worrying about terrorists coming out. I mean, there's a lot that can be done there.
Morning Wire
Rethinking Gaza: Trump's Bold Middle East Strategy | 2.9.25
Sinai has basically been neglected by Egypt since Israel handed it back. So, I think there's opportunities there. And then again, you know, there's 20 Muslim countries, you know, 25 Muslim countries. I mean, there's a lot of countries that can take 20,000, 30,000. And, you know, so I do think it's doable. It'll take some time. There's easy access out of Gaza.
Morning Wire
Rethinking Gaza: Trump's Bold Middle East Strategy | 2.9.25
You know, it's not like it's landlocked. So you don't need to bring in these, you know, C-130s To fly people out, you know, in terms of Northern Africa, you got the whole Mediterranean Sea and it's right on the Mediterranean. You can send people right off a dock on a ship, which carries a lot more people than an airplane. So I think it's logistically possible.
Morning Wire
Rethinking Gaza: Trump's Bold Middle East Strategy | 2.9.25
So before we were ever talking about October 7th, you know, when I was the U.S. ambassador to Israel and I had as part of my marching orders to deal with the Palestinian populations as well in the West Bank and Gaza, I got a pretty good sense from people living in Gaza how desperate they were to get out. It's a terrible place to live.
Morning Wire
Rethinking Gaza: Trump's Bold Middle East Strategy | 2.9.25
I mean, it's under the most repressive radical Islamic regime, Sharia law regime, that people want to get out. And there's a lot of educated people in Gaza because, you know, oddly enough, there's so little to do there. There's actually a lot of people reading books. And so it's not completely an uneducated place and they want to get out and they want to move on with their lives.
Morning Wire
Rethinking Gaza: Trump's Bold Middle East Strategy | 2.9.25
So I would have said easily north of 50%. when Gaza was standing, when you had a place to live where you could cook yourself breakfast in the morning and, you know, walk on the streets.
Morning Wire
Rethinking Gaza: Trump's Bold Middle East Strategy | 2.9.25
Today, post-October 7th, after both the devastation that's been resulting from the war and the, I think, the hopelessness that the people have, that they'll ever have leadership that can bring them a better future, I think the number... is well north of 90% in terms of the non-Hamas terrorist sympathizers who would want to leave.
Morning Wire
Rethinking Gaza: Trump's Bold Middle East Strategy | 2.9.25
I would say we're talking about probably a million and a half people at least who would gladly get on a boat and go someplace else.
Morning Wire
Rethinking Gaza: Trump's Bold Middle East Strategy | 2.9.25
Well, it's always a fear, and it's a question of where they go and what their lives look like. They've learned, unfortunately, a very painful lesson, which is that radical Islamism leads to misery. They've experienced that firsthand. Maybe before October 7th, they thought there was a way to be both a radical terrorist and perhaps have a roof over your head and food on your table.
Morning Wire
Rethinking Gaza: Trump's Bold Middle East Strategy | 2.9.25
But I think they understand these things can't live side by side. They've learned that lesson. And it was a painful way to learn it, but there was no other way. You can't unring the bell of October 7th. You can't unsee what you've seen. And what people have seen the whole world over is just how vicious and cruel these radical Islamists are and how they need to be eradicated.
Morning Wire
Rethinking Gaza: Trump's Bold Middle East Strategy | 2.9.25
I don't know. I don't know. I mean, the actual, you know, who's holding title? I mean, if I were guessing, and this is just a guess, I would guess that the ownership of
Morning Wire
Rethinking Gaza: Trump's Bold Middle East Strategy | 2.9.25
Of the economics of the rebuilt Gaza, meaning if the United States comes in with partners and builds hotels or condos or shopping malls, the things that prosperous societies have, I would think the economics of that will belong to whoever puts up the capital. I assume that's mostly going to be America, probably with some partners.
Morning Wire
Rethinking Gaza: Trump's Bold Middle East Strategy | 2.9.25
In terms of which nation will have sovereignty over it, I would assume it'll be Israel, because I think Israel's the only one that can actually just... It's a country. It's an existing country with the kind of infrastructure and means by which to protect and defend that area, and frankly, to engage in some of the building. I'm sure Israel will probably want to invest some capital in this as well.
Morning Wire
Rethinking Gaza: Trump's Bold Middle East Strategy | 2.9.25
Well, the first thing is, you know, because I know them well and I've been in the room many times when they've spoken, I have a pretty good feel for the body language. And so as I'm watching, and I wasn't part of this particular gathering, but as I'm watching, I'm seeing between both of them, you can tell there's like fundamental agreement. This is not just for public consumption. It's real.
Morning Wire
Rethinking Gaza: Trump's Bold Middle East Strategy | 2.9.25
But I think what the president said is this will be owned by America. And I assume what he's talking about is not the sovereign ownership necessarily, but I'm talking about more of the, you know, owning the projects and owning the economics.
Morning Wire
Rethinking Gaza: Trump's Bold Middle East Strategy | 2.9.25
My pleasure. It was a good conversation. Thanks for doing it.
Morning Wire
Rethinking Gaza: Trump's Bold Middle East Strategy | 2.9.25
There's fundamental agreement. I think on a few things. Number one, I think both Netanyahu and Trump agree that Hamas has to go. There's just nothing left to talk about regarding the future of that region with Hamas remaining in power. I think there's also fundamental recognition that Iran can't get a nuclear weapon.
Morning Wire
Wall Street’s Rollercoaster Ride & Trump’s Title IX Task Force | Afternoon Update | 4.7.25
The Florida Gators will take on the Houston Cougars tonight for the NCAA Men's Basketball National Championship. Florida advanced in the Final Four by defeating Auburn 79-73, while Houston came from behind in an upset win over the Duke Blue Devils. The Cougars erased a 14-point deficit in the final eight minutes to win 70-67.
Morning Wire
Wall Street’s Rollercoaster Ride & Trump’s Title IX Task Force | Afternoon Update | 4.7.25
To Major League Baseball, the Los Angeles Dodgers met with President Trump at the White House today to celebrate their World Series championship over the New York Yankees last October. The president singled out several players, including Shohei Ohtani, for becoming the first major leaguer to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a single season.
Morning Wire
Le Pen Barred from Election & Wyoming’s Strict Voter ID Law | Afternoon Update | 3.31.25
After an exhilarating weekend of Sweet 16 and Elite 8 matchups, the final four is set for the 2025 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. Auburn will face Florida Saturday, April 5th at 6.09 Eastern Time, and Duke will take on Houston at 8.49 Eastern.
Morning Wire
Le Pen Barred from Election & Wyoming’s Strict Voter ID Law | Afternoon Update | 3.31.25
All four number one seeds reach the final weekend for only the second time ever, the previous season being 2008 when Kansas, Memphis, North Carolina, and UCLA all advanced. The two winners from Saturday will play for the national championship on Monday, April 7th in San Antonio, Texas.
Morning Wire
USAID Cuts & Superbowl Preview | Afternoon Update | 2.7.25
The Kansas City Chiefs will take on the Philadelphia Eagles this Sunday in Super Bowl 59. This is a rematch of Super Bowl 57 in which the Chiefs won 38-35. Chiefs head coach Andy Reid is once again facing off against his former team. He served as the coach in Philadelphia from 1999-2012.
Morning Wire
USAID Cuts & Superbowl Preview | Afternoon Update | 2.7.25
He and quarterback Patrick Mahomes are attempting to lead Kansas City to its third consecutive Super Bowl victory, which has never been achieved in NFL history, and its fourth in six years. The Eagles, who went 14-3 during the regular season, feature running back Saquon Barkley. Barkley became the ninth back in NFL history to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a single season.
Morning Wire
USAID Cuts & Superbowl Preview | Afternoon Update | 2.7.25
The Chiefs are currently favored by a point and a half.
Morning Wire
Vance Visits Greenland & Tesla Vandal Arrested | Afternoon Update | 3.28.25
Major League Baseball is underway. Teams that began the season with victories include the Yankees, Dodgers, Red Sox, and White Sox. The Baltimore Orioles also won, defeating the Blue Jays 12-2, thanks in part to outfielder Tyler O'Neal's three-run home run in the third inning. O'Neal's homer extended his Major League record of homering for a sixth straight opening day.
Morning Wire
Vance Visits Greenland & Tesla Vandal Arrested | Afternoon Update | 3.28.25
The NCAA Basketball Tournament has entered its second weekend with Sweet 16 action. Duke, Alabama, Florida, and Texas Tech all won last night, while tonight's matchups include Michigan State versus Ole Miss, Auburn versus Michigan, Tennessee versus Kentucky, and Houston versus Purdue.
Morning Wire
Education Department Exposed & NIL Guidance Changes | Afternoon Update | 2.14.25
This decision from the Trump administration reverses a Biden-era guidance that required equal distribution of name, image, and likeness funds between male and female athletes. This move comes a week after President Trump's executive order banning transgender athletes from women's sports.
Morning Wire
Education Department Exposed & NIL Guidance Changes | Afternoon Update | 2.14.25
Critics argue the decision undermines gender equity, while supporters say NIL deals are market-driven and should in fact be separate from Title IX. Still, experts expect legal challenges as female athletes and advocacy groups push back against the policy shift.
Morning Wire
Trade War Escalates & Coal's Comeback | Afternoon Update | 4.11.25
The 2025 Masters open play Thursday at Augusta National. 95 of the world's best golfers are chasing the season's first major title. World No. 1 and defending champion Scotty Scheffler looks to add a third green jacket while Roy McIlroy enters with momentum...
Morning Wire
Trade War Escalates & Coal's Comeback | Afternoon Update | 4.11.25
and hopes to finally complete the career grand slam tiger woods will sit this one out but the field remains stacked with elite names including bryson d chambeau and rising star ludwig a berg fans can catch wall-to-wall coverage all weekend including live streaming