The Briefing with Jen Psaki
Speak for Yourself: Trump Set to Address Congress, Gaslight America
Tue, 4 Mar 2025
Jen Psaki explains that while Trump will offer his own version of how the country is doing tomorrow in his address to a joint session of Congress, it's important to trust what you've been seeing with your own eyes. She is joined by Dan Pfeiffer and Ben Rhodes to preview what to expect from Trump's speech as he continues to cozy up to Russia and gut the federal government. Next, Jen is joined by Chrystia Freeland, who's in the running to be the next liberal leader and Prime Minister of Canada, to discuss her plans to push back against Trump's tariffs. Then, Jen is joined by Representative Ilhan Omar to discuss why she and other Democrats are bringing fired federal workers as their guests to tomorrow's joint session to highlight the devastating impact of Trump's mass firings. Later, Jen brings out the receipts to show how DOGE is actually creating more problems than it's solving. Finally, Jen is joined by Stephanie Ruhle to discuss Trump's plans to build a U.S. crypto reserve and how his allies stand to benefit from this. Check out our social pages below:https://twitter.com/InsideWithPsakihttps://www.instagram.com/InsideWithPsaki/https://www.tiktok.com/@insidewithpsakihttps://www.msnbc.com/jen-psakihttps://bsky.app/profile/insidewithpsaki.msnbc.com
Chapter 1: What should we expect from Trump's address to Congress?
OK, Donald Trump seems to be doing a lot of things right now that are making Vladimir Putin very happy. I mean, just in the last half hour, we learned that the Trump administration is pausing all military aid to Ukraine. And at the very same time, he's doing a lot of things that are making our closest allies very angry.
Just hours ago, Trump confirmed that tariffs on Canada and Mexico will go into effect at midnight tonight, just a few hours from now. And I'm going to talk to Chrystia Freeland, who could very well be the next prime minister of Canada, about all of that in just a minute.
And ahead of Trump's joint address to Congress tomorrow night, I'm also going to talk to Congresswoman Ilhan Omar about how Democrats are pushing back and how they will tomorrow. Well, the thought Donald Trump walking into the House chamber again may make you want to crawl into the fetal position, which I totally understand. That speech is actually where I want to start. And here's why.
Because tomorrow night, he's going to give you his version of events. And I want to give you mine. Now.
I could sit here and tell you all about the inner workings of how a big speech like this typically comes together in a White House, how the writing process typically works, how the preparation typically works, how the strategy typically works, what a president is thinking about in the days ahead, all of the things. I could talk about all of that.
But the thing is, in this moment, that would all be pretty useless. Because this is not a normal speech. It's not a normal presidency. It's not a normal reality. We are all living in to state the obvious. And I think it's important to remember all of that heading into tomorrow night. Because Trump is going to have a big platform.
And he's definitely going to try his hardest to convince you that his plan and his last six weeks in office have helped you somehow. Now, I mean, just this morning, Trump previewed his speech by saying, quote, tomorrow night will be big. I will tell it like it is. Let me translate that for you real quick.
When Trump says he'll tell it like it is, what he really means is that he's going to tell you what his own warped version of is, of what he wants you to believe. I mean, I obviously don't know what's in the speech. I can't entirely predict all the things he's going to talk about at all. But I think it's pretty safe to say that he's going to lie. He's going to exaggerate. He's going to sugarcoat.
He's going to say a lot of things that aren't true. As you're watching that and resisting the urge to throw something at the TV, if you do, just make sure it's a soft thing, just remember that you know what's true. No matter what he says tomorrow, you know what he's already done. You know what you've been seeing with your own eyes.
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Chapter 2: How are Trump's tariffs impacting Canada?
Chapter 3: What are the implications of Trump's military aid pause to Ukraine?
What's going to happen to your local VA? What's going to happen with the FAA that you rely on to get to where you're going safely? I think that's actually connected to this Russia thing. But like these have to be visceral values based messages that people can digest that you don't have to win a policy argument about. Trump is going to try to put this on his terms.
And we have to make this in the clearest, simple way about what is right and what is wrong, what is helping you and what is hurting you. And I think the evidence is overwhelmingly on the side of Donald Trump is hurting you. And again, just to Dan's point about corruption, you can bring Russia into that as well, by the way.
He was talking about selling citizenship to Russian oligarchs for a gold card or whatever he called it. You know, that's a part of the whole corruption thing, too.
If you're sitting if you're sitting at the party with North Korea and Russia and Belarus, you're maybe on the wrong side. I think it's a good way to people think about it. Dan Pfeiffer of Ben Rhodes. Thank you both so much. I always love talking to you both. And coming up, as Trump cozies up to Vladimir Putin, he's also antagonizing our closest allies and hurting American consumers in the process.
The markets tank today when Trump confirmed the tariffs on Mexico and Canada will go into effect at midnight tonight, just a couple hours from now. Krista Freeland could be the prime minister of Canada this time next week. And she joins me in just 60 seconds.
So I was just talking about those with Ben and Dan, but I'm sure you've noticed America's place in the world is kind of upside down right now. Donald Trump berated Ukraine's president in the Oval Office on Friday. Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev tweeted that he loved seeing, quote, the insolent pig finally get a proper slap done in the Oval Office.
And by the way, he was referring to President Zelensky, not Donald Trump. Putin's longtime spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, came out and said publicly that U.S. foreign policy now, quote, largely coincides with our vision. as in the Kremlin's vision. I don't know that I've ever said this before, but Dmitry Peskov is absolutely right.
I mean, just today, NBC News confirmed that the White House is pausing all military aid to Ukraine, and Reuters reported today that the Trump administration is also drawing up a plan to potentially give Russia sanctions relief. So, yeah, Donald Trump really is going all in on helping Russia. Well, simultaneously inflicting as much pain as he can on our closest allies.
Today, Trump confirmed that 25 percent tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada will go into effect at midnight tonight, just a couple hours from now. And as you know, that won't just hurt them. It will hurt you, the American consumer. And that fear was reflected in the market today, with the Dow closing down nearly 650 points. Thanks in part to this.
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Chapter 4: What is the significance of the reactions to Trump's policies?
And the reality is you guys need us. We are your largest market by far. The US sells more to Canada than to China, Japan, the UK and France combined. So we do have leverage. And as prime minister, I will use it. And not because I want to. I mean, the irony about this, the stupidity about this is right now we have a balanced and mutually beneficial relationship. There is a win-win here.
There is an exit ramp. But Americans need to know that if you hit Canada, we will hit back and we will be sure that our retaliation hurts.
I think Americans are very concerned right now about these tariffs that are about to go back and go into place and could impact their bottom line and their cost of goods. Let me ask you, as you just mentioned, Elon Musk, I think everybody in this country is learning a lot about his influence, which is unwieldy and over the top.
Just to say a few words, you mentioned 100 percent tariffs on Tesla's to hit Elon Musk. He owns a number of other companies. Obviously, there's Starlink. Would you ever consider canceling Canada's contracts with Starlink, for example?
Absolutely. And Canadian premiers have already said that they would do that. I think you made a really important point a minute ago, Jen, which is right now this is maybe abstract for Americans. But if these tariffs are put in place, it is going to hurt Americans. Anyone who has a 401k is gonna be hit because the stock market is already hurting.
Anyone who needs to fill their car up with gas is gonna be hit. You are gonna be putting tariffs, a tax, on the oil and gas and electricity that we sell you. Totally absurd. Your grocery prices are gonna go up because you know what you need to grow food in the United States? You need fertilizer. and 80% of it comes from Canada, and you're going to put a 25% tax on it?
I mean, the Wall Street Journal is right. This is dumb. This is utterly self-mutilating. And our retaliation is going to make it worse because we can't stand for these attacks on our economy. So really what I'm saying to you and to your viewers, Jen, is call the White House now. Say to the president, say to your congressman, say to your senators, say to your governors, this is self-mutilation.
This just doesn't make sense. There is no need to do this. But if you follow this path, it's going to hurt America.
It's not every day when you hear a candidate to be the leader of a neighboring country call for people to call the White House and their members of Congress. So that speaks to the significance of the moment. I wanted to turn to Ukraine because I think when I first met you, you were a very well-respected journalist. You covered, you spent a lot of time in Ukraine. You covered Russia.
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Chapter 5: How are Democrats responding to Trump's State of the Union?
Yeah, I believe we are entitled to be in the room. I think it is important for us to be unified in whatever decision that we make. we make. And it's important for some of us to be there in defiance of the lies that he is going to tell, but also make sure that we have guests, everyday Americans, who are truly being impacted by the disastrous second term, the Trump administration.
So your guest, and this is something I think people sometimes forget that members of Congress can do, is bring a guest with them as well. Your guest is a person who was a federal worker who was fired by the Doge team of interns, whomever they are. Tell us about him.
So my guest, my constituent, Chris, is a veteran, Air Force veteran. He was working as the deputy assistant director for the small business administration. He's also someone who we've been working really hard and feels the devastation of the refugee resettlement program because he has colleagues that have been left behind
after we withdraw from Afghanistan, who are now considered as traitors in their country and their lives are at risk if we do not provide the help that they provided to us.
One of the things that I just mentioned, the 80 percent statistic. And you were telling me before we came on air here that there are a huge number of federal workers in Minnesota.
Tell me how many and what are they doing there? In Minnesota, we have about 35,000 federal employees. These are the people when you visit your Social Security office. Those are the federal workers. When you go to renew your passport, those are federal employees. When you go to national parks, those are federal employees.
And I think oftentimes and why it is so important for us to bring some of these fired federal employees is that people think about the two million federal employees. It's a number to them. Many of them don't know what the actual important work and service that they provide to them that will impact their day-to-day lives.
When I think about Social Security, I think about the kind of long lines that already existed with our Social Security office in Minneapolis that already was understaffed. Now, when you lose more of those staff members, that means your checks might be delayed. And when we're thinking about seniors or people with disabilities, these are not people who have savings.
They are relying on that check to arrive on time so that they can pay their rent, they can pay their mortgage, they can pay for food and their essential needs. And when you think about, you know, you have a kid, you need your... So you need to get their social security card. If you lose your social security card, you're about to start a job. You need your social security card.
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Chapter 6: What are the consequences of Trump's actions on American consumers?
Chapter 7: How does Trump's approach compare to past administrations?
So my guest, my constituent, Chris, is a veteran, Air Force veteran. He was working as the deputy assistant director for the small business administration. He's also someone who we've been working really hard and feels the devastation of the refugee resettlement program because he has colleagues that have been left behind
after we withdraw from Afghanistan, who are now considered as traitors in their country and their lives are at risk if we do not provide the help that they provided to us.
One of the things that I just mentioned, the 80 percent statistic. And you were telling me before we came on air here that there are a huge number of federal workers in Minnesota.
Tell me how many and what are they doing there? In Minnesota, we have about 35,000 federal employees. These are the people when you visit your Social Security office. Those are the federal workers. When you go to renew your passport, those are federal employees. When you go to national parks, those are federal employees.
And I think oftentimes and why it is so important for us to bring some of these fired federal employees is that people think about the two million federal employees. It's a number to them. Many of them don't know what the actual important work and service that they provide to them that will impact their day-to-day lives.
When I think about Social Security, I think about the kind of long lines that already existed with our Social Security office in Minneapolis that already was understaffed. Now, when you lose more of those staff members, that means your checks might be delayed. And when we're thinking about seniors or people with disabilities, these are not people who have savings.
They are relying on that check to arrive on time so that they can pay their rent, they can pay their mortgage, they can pay for food and their essential needs. And when you think about, you know, you have a kid, you need your... So you need to get their social security card. If you lose your social security card, you're about to start a job. You need your social security card.
So if you go there and the doors are closed or it's only manned half of the day, you might not be able to get the services that you need. And that's going to have a real world impact. for our constituents and our neighbors.
And that's happening across the country. It's so important for people to understand the real impacts in communities. Let me ask you, you mentioned being there to show defiance. And I think a lot of people watching are happy to hear that, not surprised to hear that. What does that look like? I mean, there have been walkouts in the past. Is that still a possibility? What does defiance look like?
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Chapter 8: What strategies should Democrats adopt moving forward?
So, yeah, I mean, not really seeing how the Trump administration is making American government more efficient or saving you money for that matter. Right now, it sure seems like the exact opposite. The one and only Stephanie Ruhl is standing by and she joins me next.
OK, so just days after Elon Musk called Social Security a Ponzi scheme, Donald Trump announced a scheme of his own, I would say, one that would funnel your taxpayer dollars straight into the crypto market. Yesterday, Trump announced plans to create a U.S. crypto reserve. So what does that mean? I mean, there's a lot we don't know. But in short, Trump wants the U.S.
government to buy and hold a massive stockpile of cryptocurrencies, which are notoriously risky investments. That's what it sounds like. In other words, the plan could use your money to pump up the crypto market, boosting the fortunes of the people who spent millions to get Trump elected, as well as, guess what, the Trump family.
Their company, World Liberty Financial, bought millions in crypto, including Bitcoin and Ether, hours after his inauguration. And just last week, Eric Trump posted a tweet encouraging people to, quote, buy the dips in crypto. That's quite some timing. Joining me now is someone who understands this stuff better than me, better than almost anyone. It's one of the benefits of working here.
You get to ask Stephanie Ruhl questions. She's the host of The 11th Hour. She's also the senior business correspondent for NBC News. So, Stephanie, there's a lot we don't know here. But for people who are trying to consume what this means, let's just start with the basics. What do we know about how this U.S. crypto reserve could even work?
And is there any economic value of having one for the country?
Not for the American people. Listen, cryptocurrencies, and you don't have to be pro-crypto or against crypto, it's a highly speculative trading vehicle, investment. But nobody has proven yet why it's a viable currency that we need, right? You use cash, you use credit cards, it's all set. We don't need anything else.
So for Donald Trump, who once called cryptocurrencies a scam, to now say we may have this reserve in our government, you laid it out. Now, we don't definitively know if it would be taxpayer dollars, but most likely you would use taxpayer dollars, government money to build up this reserve. Now, that would be a perfect out for all of those crypto investors to then cash out of their positions. Why?
Because the U.S. government is buying it up or buying creating a safety net. If there was, let's say, a huge drop in the value of crypto, maybe those investors who lose their shirts could say, come in, will the government bail me out? And that's something you absolutely shouldn't have with a highly speculative vehicle like cryptocurrencies.
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