The Shocking Comments Trump Made About Hakeem Jeffries And Voters.

Big picture, what were your takeaways from the president in that conversation? You know, I think the biggest takeaway, Willie, to me, and Jim just alluded to this, is that he thinks Republican voters are angry and doesn't quite get it. He said they're not angry at him, which I think is not, I think demonstrably not true based on his approval ratings. But they think they're angry at congressional Republicans who, of course, are up for re-election this fall. And I think that's an incredibly difficult dynamic for the president. And he conceded gas prices could very well go up if he hits Iran again. What we didn't talk about, because it just broke about 20 minutes ago, is that Lisa Murkowski, the Republican that he, one of the Republicans that he has been extraordinarily critical of, in our interview, he said she's going to vote against, rather, she's going to vote against Todd Bland for attorney general. He said she's terrible. And I asked him, point blank, I mean, his entire agenda, Willie, has been hamstrung by the several senators who he has either endorsed against or tried to defeat. And he has no remorse at all about that. And I thought that was a very interesting insight into his psyche. Yeah, Murkowski announcing about 15 minutes ago that she's going to be a no on the Blanch nomination, citing everything from his anti-abortion stances to the Epstein matter to the Trump immunity deal that makes Bill Cassidy a very important person today on Capitol Hill. Because if they lose him, then the Blanch nomination is lost, perhaps why we haven't seen that vote scheduled yet. But we'll see what the day brings. Jake, to pivot back to your interview with the president, you asked him about voter turnout for Republicans in the midterms, and I want to play what he told you. If I don't run, will those people go out and vote? And that's the one thing I can't, I'm going to ask him to. But I'm just watching guys like you and you're very talented people. The question is, will they vote? Because a lot of them are very angry at Republicans, to be honest with you. Why is that? I don't know. I mean, they're angry at Republicans, but they're not angry at me. They're not angry at me, but they are angry at Republicans. So he was never going to say, well, they're angry at me and Republicans, right? So that was never on the table. But I do think it's an interesting thing that he's talking to you about there. And I wonder if he connects the discontent with Republicans to other members of Congress, maybe not the folks that we're talking about, the Lisa Murkowski, the Susan Collins who have bucked him or been thorns in his side at various turns. But I wonder, and you tried repeatedly to get him to talk about Thune. You described the relationship in the newsletter this morning as complex. But when he's mad, he says so when he attaches names to it. And I was struck by the fact that he didn't do that with Thune necessarily. Yeah, I think he understands, Ali, that Thune holds the keys to his legislative fortunes, as you know. I think that Thune, if he slags him too much, I mean, Thune could really strike back and has so far. I mean, it's just a very interesting dynamic that all these people who he has spoken up against and he has been critical of hold the keys to his entire legislative agenda to the extent he cares. It's not entirely clear to me, because on an issue like Blanche, he could have Todd Blanche stay in as acting attorney general for as long as he wants. And Joe Biden did that with Lisa Sue during his administration and as labor secretary when she couldn't get confirmed. But he wants Blanche confirmed. On the first point, Ali, and I think you know this better than probably anybody. I mean, Republicans who vote for Trump in presidential elections who have are not guaranteed to come out and vote for Republicans for Congress. That is the story of this Republican Party going back to 2016. And I think that is one of the things that really is challenging for Trump. And he kind of says, listen, I could ask him to go vote. Doesn't mean they're going to. And for Republicans to hear that, I think, is a quite difficult thing. And I asked him, you know, if MAGA, Inc., which is the super PAC that has 400 million dollars in the bank, whether it's going to spend for congressional Republicans. Trump said, yes, but he said, I can spend it on anything I want, which is technically true within limits. He could spend it on other political matters and political travel and things like that. But Republicans are probably watching this. And they've heard all of this from the president before with a sense of fear, because if you can't count on that Trump coalition and combine that with the fact that a midterm is really tough for the party in power, it spells trouble. Jake, I thought your exchange with the president about minority leader Hakeem Jeffries was fascinating. This is a guy who has gone after in personal ways. He's called him a thug, a low IQ individual. He floated the idea that Jeffrey should be impeached. And now perhaps seeing what's coming in November and who might be the majority leader come January, it seems like he's dialed back a little bit. Let's look. You've had a meeting with Hakeem Jeffries a long time ago. You I don't think you've had many more conversations with him since then. Maybe you have. But what's your what's your read of him? I think he's a nice guy. I mean, I did. He was here. Yeah. We had a good meeting. I was. And, you know, look, he's harsh on you. He says, I mean, well, he's harsh because I'm harsh on him. You know, I'm sure he wouldn't be so harsh. I've said bad things about you do business with anything. Yeah, I think so. Look, the people watching me, I'm watching them as part of the world. You covered very well. You cover specifically Congress. You see a strange group of people. But I'd probably get along with them very well. I got you know, I had I met him essentially once. Yeah, I think I'd probably get along with him very well. I said he'd be majority leader. Of course, he'd be the speaker of the House come January. But a little flattery for Trump, almost of Hakeem Jeffries. Would you read into that? Well, my read, Willie, is that he's right. The Congress is a very strange group of people. But the fact is true. Exactly. So I think that the politics of the moment for Democrats is not going to allow Hakeem Jeffries to do a tremendous amount of business with Donald Trump. I think that much is clear. And I don't think, by the way, that Trump who he takes attack and that, you know, he's not going to do work with Democrats if they are investigating him, impeaching him or anything like that. And I think the main story of House Democrats take the majority over the next two years. The main one of the main stories is going to be investigations, subpoenas, all sorts of oversight into the Trump administration and the Trump administration's business dealings, members of the administration's business dealings. So, yes, he's trying to flatter him. And I think his inclination naturally is to have a good relationship with someone like Jeffries. But I think politics and reality gets in the way of that. The entire interview with President Trump is really fascinating. Available now on YouTube, co-founder of Punchbowl News, Jake Sherman. Jake, always great to have you with us. Thank you. Thanks.