12/9/24: Trump Floats Mexico/Canada As US States, Jon Stewart Explodes On Trump Billionaire Agenda, Jay Z Underage Accusations

Summary

Podcast Summary: Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar Episode: December 9, 2024
Hosts: Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti
Released On: December 9, 2024
Duration: Approximately 43 minutes

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1. Introduction and Overview

In this episode of Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar, the hosts delve into the latest political developments following the recent election, focusing primarily on former President Donald Trump's statements and the significant influence of billionaires in the incoming administration. The discussion spans Trump's controversial remarks on subsidizing Mexico and Canada as U.S. states, his stance on the Ukraine conflict, immigration policies, and the overarching impact of wealthy donors on governmental policies.

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2. Trump’s Suggestion: Mexico and Canada as U.S. States

Timestamp: [02:36] – [04:38]

Key Points:

• Donald Trump, in an interview with NBC News' Kristen Welker, proposed a provocative idea: if the U.S. continues to subsidize Mexico and Canada, these countries should become the 51st and 52nd states of the United States.
• He highlighted the substantial financial aid the U.S. provides to these nations, questioning the rationale behind such subsidies.

Notable Quote:

“If we're going to subsidize these two countries, they should just become the 51st and 52nd states.”
— Donald Trump [02:36]

Discussion: Krystal and Saagar dissect Trump's proposal, questioning its feasibility and underlying intent. They highlight the impracticality of such a move, especially considering the complexities of integrating sovereign nations into the U.S. political framework. The hosts also touch upon the exaggerated number of states in Mexico and Canada, emphasizing Trump's apparent lack of awareness regarding their administrative divisions.

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3. Trump's Perspective on the Ukraine Conflict and Ceasefire

Timestamp: [04:38] – [08:12]

Key Points:

• Trump expressed deep concern over the escalating violence in Ukraine, claiming unprecedented casualty levels.
• He advocated for an immediate ceasefire and negotiations to end the conflict, criticizing the current administration's handling of the situation.
• Trump’s comments suggest a desire to alter U.S. foreign policy upon assuming office, though the hosts express skepticism about the feasibility of his proposals.

Notable Quotes:

“There are people being killed in that war at levels that nobody's ever seen before... It’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen and it should have never been allowed to happen.”
— Donald Trump [04:38]

“There should be an immediate ceasefire and negotiations should begin. Too many lives are needlessly wasted, too many families destroyed.”
— Donald Trump [05:09]

Discussion: The hosts compare Trump’s statements with the reality of reported death tolls, noting significant discrepancies. They analyze the potential challenges Trump would face in implementing his proposed policies, especially considering the entrenched positions of NATO and the ongoing resistance from Russian leadership. Krystal references insights from experts like Jeremy on the broader geopolitical implications, underscoring the complexity of resolving such a long-standing conflict.

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4. Immigration Policies and the Push to End Birthright Citizenship

Timestamp: [10:10] – [15:59]

Key Points:

• Trump reiterated his tough stance on immigration, advocating for the deportation of undocumented immigrants, including parents of U.S.-born children.
• He expressed opposition to the separation of families at the border, emphasizing the necessity of enforcing immigration laws to prevent public backlash.
• A significant portion of the discussion focused on Trump’s intent to end birthright citizenship through executive orders, sparking debates about constitutional legality.

Notable Quotes:

“We have to have rules and regulations. You can always find something out... We have to do our job.”
— Donald Trump [11:34]

“I want to end birthright citizenship using an executive order. You certainly cannot do that.”
— Krystal Ball [14:00]

Discussion: Krystal and Saagar explore the legal challenges of altering birthright citizenship, referencing the 14th Amendment and potential judicial pushback. They discuss the logistical barriers to mass deportation, including limited resources within ICE and the political unfeasibility of allocating billions to enforcement. The conversation also touches on the influence of high-skilled immigration advocates within Trump's support base and the potential policy shifts to accommodate their interests.

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5. Influence of Billionaires in the Incoming Trump Administration

Timestamp: [16:12] – [25:36]

Key Points:

• The episode highlights the substantial financial contributions from billionaires like Elon Musk to Trump’s campaign, totaling over a quarter of a billion dollars.
• Krystal and Saagar express concerns over the increasing sway of wealthy donors in shaping government policies, suggesting a shift towards oligarchic control.
• They examine the appointments of industry magnates to key governmental positions, arguing that their interests may conflict with traditional Trumpism.

Notable Quotes:

“Elon gave a quarter of a billion dollars to this campaign. You could easily make the case that's the reason that he's headed back to the White House.”
— Sagar Anwar [20:37]

“Trump, desperate to avoid prison and not having ever been all that interested in ideology or governance to begin with, was happy to sell off different parts of his administration.”
— Krystal Ball [22:00]

Discussion: The hosts delve into the implications of billionaire influence, drawing parallels with past political eras where wealth dictated policy directions. They argue that the infusion of oligarchs into the Trump administration could lead to policies that favor the rich at the expense of the broader populace. Examples include potential cuts to social programs and increased deregulation to benefit big business interests. The conversation also touches on the ideological discrepancies between Trump's populist rhetoric and the libertarian-leaning agenda of his wealthy allies.

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6. Impact on Social Programs and Defense Spending

Timestamp: [25:36] – [31:19]

Key Points:

• Krystal and Saagar discuss the proposed cuts to major social programs like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, driven by the administration's austerity measures.
• They express concerns over the dismantling of essential services, highlighting the detrimental effects on vulnerable populations including veterans, low-income families, and seniors.
• The discussion extends to the anticipated defense budget cuts, examining the inconsistency between Trump's increased defense spending during his presidency and the proposed reductions under billionaire influence.

Notable Quotes:

“There are hundreds of billions of dollars to be saved and we know how to do it. We just have to have the stomach to actually take those challenges on.”
— Donald Trump [25:36]

“The billionaires have set their sights on the longtime conservative fantasy of cutting Social Security and Medicare, contra to Donald Trump’s campaign promises.”
— Krystal Ball [27:00]

Discussion: The hosts analyze the potential real-world impact of these proposed cuts, emphasizing the increased financial strain on already struggling Americans. They critique the administration's focus on reducing discretionary spending while neglecting the ethical and social implications of slashing fundamental welfare programs. Additionally, they explore the contradiction in Trump's approach to defense spending, questioning the true motivations behind the proposed budget adjustments and the role of military-industrial interests.

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7. Conclusion and Reflections

Timestamp: [31:19] – [43:39]

Key Points:

• The episode concludes with a critical examination of Trump’s alignment with billionaire interests, suggesting that this relationship could undermine his populist image.
• Krystal and Saagar express skepticism about the administration's ability to effectively manage and administer policies that simultaneously address economic austerity and social welfare needs.
• They call for listeners to remain vigilant and engaged with independent media sources to hold those in power accountable.

Notable Quotes:

“Trump has handed the keys over to the very globalist elites he once derided.”
— Sagar Anwar [31:19]

“We have to protect children... You seem to exploit people for personal gain.”
— Donald Trump [36:34]

Discussion: Krystal and Saagar wrap up the episode by emphasizing the importance of independent media in uncovering and challenging the disproportionate influence of wealth in politics. They advocate for greater transparency and accountability within the administration to ensure that policies serve the public interest rather than the agendas of a wealthy minority. The hosts encourage their audience to support independent news platforms to maintain a balanced and honest discourse in the political landscape.

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Key Takeaways:

• Trump’s Proposals: Controversial ideas regarding the status of Mexico and Canada as U.S. states and calls for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine reflect a possible shift in foreign policy priorities.
• Immigration Stance: Strong emphasis on deportation and altering birthright citizenship could lead to significant legal and societal challenges.
• Billionaire Influence: The substantial financial backing from billionaires like Elon Musk raises concerns about the direction of the incoming administration and its focus on austerity over social welfare.
• Social Program Cuts: Proposed reductions in essential services may disproportionately affect vulnerable populations, despite campaign promises to the contrary.
• Defense Spending: Inconsistent approaches to military funding hint at deeper ideological conflicts within the administration.

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Final Note: This episode of Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar provides a critical analysis of the interplay between political leadership and billionaire influence, urging listeners to scrutinize the underlying motives and potential consequences of policy decisions in the post-election period.

Transcript

[Savannah Guthrie]

All right, we're all set for the party. I've trimmed the tree, hung the mistletoe, and paired all those weird shaped knives and forks with the appropriate cheeses. And I plugged in the Partisan.

[Hoda Kotb]

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[Savannah Guthrie]

It's a home cocktail maker that makes over 60 premium cocktails, plus a whole lot of seasonal favorites too. I just got it for 50 off. So how about a Cosmopolitan or a Mistletoe margarita?

[Hoda Kotb]

I'm thirsty.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Watch. I just pop in a capsule, choose my strength and wow, it's beginning to.

[Sager Anwar]

Feel more seasonal in here already.

[Savannah Guthrie]

If your holiday party doesn't have a bartender, then you become the bartender. Unless you've got a Bartesian because Bartesian crafts every cocktail perfectly in as little as 30 seconds. And I just got it for $50 off.

[Sager Anwar]

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[Crystal Ball]

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[Hoda Kotb]

Service ported 90 plus days with device ineligible carrier and timely redemption required. Card has no cash access and expires in six months. Hi everyone.

[Sager Anwar]

It's Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Copy from the Today Show.

[Hoda Kotb]

Nobody does the holidays like today. From festive performances and great gift ideas to tips for the perfect holiday feast, join us every morning on NBC and make today your home for the holidays. Hey guys, Sager and Crystal here.

[Sager Anwar]

Independent media just played a truly massive role in this election and we are so excited about what that means for the future of this show.

[Hoda Kotb]

This is the only place where you can find honest perspectives from the left and the right that simply does not exist anywhere else.

[Sager Anwar]

So if that is something that's important, Please go to BreakingPoints.com, become a member today and you'll get access to our full shows unedited ad free and all put together for you every morning in your inbox.

[Hoda Kotb]

We need your help to build the future of independent news media and we hope to see you@breaking points.com let's go to Donald Trump. There was a big interview that he gave to NBC News Kristen Welker. The big top line was about trade with Canada and Mexico. He suggested perhaps if we're going to subsidize these two countries, they should just become the 51st in the 52nd states. Let's take a listen.

[Donald Trump]

You're subsidizing Canada to the tune of over $100 billion a year. We're subsidizing Mexico for almost $300 billion. We shouldn't be subsidizing. Why are we subsidizing these countries? If we're going to subsidize them, let them become a state. We're subsidizing Mexico, and we're subsidizing Canada, and we're subsidizing many countries all over the world. And all I want to do is I want to have a level, fast but fair playing field.

[Hoda Kotb]

Confirm some of the reporting that apparently he had told Justin Trudeau. He's like, look, if we're going to pay you this much, then you might as well become a state.

[Sager Anwar]

Listen, Sager, you add Mexico, Canada, and Puerto Rico, you got three new states. The Democrats actually have a shot at winning at the top level, but there's no chance.

[Hoda Kotb]

Think about it. Well, first of all, Mexico.

[Sager Anwar]

I'm not speaking, I'm just joking.

[Hoda Kotb]

How many states are in Mexico? I don't actually know. It's a lot.

[Sager Anwar]

And how many provinces in Canada?

[Hoda Kotb]

Oh, man, this is five. I'm going to guess five was what.

[Sager Anwar]

Came to my mind as well.

[Hoda Kotb]

So we've got Quebec, bc, Ontario, Nova Scotia. What's Calgary? Is that a province or is that a city?

[Sager Anwar]

Calgary is a city.

[Hoda Kotb]

Okay. That's something. All right. Sorry, sorry.

[Sager Anwar]

Canadians using our Canadian ignorance here.

[Hoda Kotb]

Hey, that's better than most Americans.

[Sager Anwar]

British Columbia. You said British Columbia.

[Hoda Kotb]

Yeah, I said B.C.

[Sager Anwar]

Isn'T New Brunswick. Isn't that its own New Brunswick?

[Hoda Kotb]

Oh, shit. Newfoundland. Is that its own one?

[Sager Anwar]

Yeah.

[Hoda Kotb]

And then the Northern Territories, but I don't know if that's a province or if it's like Indian territory or whatever. Yeah, or whatever. Sorry.

[Sager Anwar]

We did okay anyway.

[Hoda Kotb]

Yeah, we did pretty well, I would say. That's decent for an American political commentator. Mexico. Don't even get me started. Oh, the only reason I know Mexican states is because of drug cartels. It's like Tijuana, Sinaloa or, you know, Mazatlan or whatever. That's the only reason.

[Sager Anwar]

Indictment of our. Of our media. That. That's all we know.

[Hoda Kotb]

True. Yeah, good point. But anyways, that's what he's suggested in terms of some of the trade Were actually arguably the most important ones that he put forward.

[Sager Anwar]

31 states in Mexico.

[Hoda Kotb]

Oh, my God, it's crazy. I can barely name five, and they're only the ones like, around the United States. Shows my own ignorance. Let's get to Trump's comments on Ukraine. Arguably, this is the most important thing that came out of the interview. Let's take a listen.

[Donald Trump]

There are people being killed in that war at levels that nobody's ever seen before. You have to go back to the Second World War and even that, if you take a look at. And you know what it is, it's the soldiers, largely. The cities have been emptied out and demolished. The country has been demolished. If I won that election, which, you know how I feel about it, I won't get into it because we don't need to start that argument. I think it's an easy argument. It was really proven even more conclusively by the win that I had on this one. But.

[Hoda Kotb]

But you did, sir.

[Donald Trump]

Well, that's your opinion, but I disagree with it. Had I assumed kept control, number one, Israel wouldn't have happened. Number two, Ukraine would have never happened. It would have never happened. Ukraine, Russia. But the number of people that are being killed, soldiers, young, beautiful soldiers, hundreds of thousands of people are being killed. And, you know, it's very interesting. It's level, totally level. The battlefields, totally level. You know what's happening? The only thing that stops a bullet, you know what it is, is a body, a human body. And the people that are being killed, hundreds of thousands on both sides. Russia's lost probably 500,000. Ukraine's lost higher than they say, probably 400,000. You're talking about hundreds of thousands of bodies laying all over fields. It's the stupidest thing I've ever seen and it should have never been allowed to happen. Biden should have been able to stop it.

[Hoda Kotb]

So that was important because you couple it with a tweet that he act or a truth or whatever he put out on Truth Social, where he called for, quote, an immediate ceasefire. Also, let's take. Since Trump is now the President elect and he's probably getting intelligence numbers, just so you're aware, he said 400,000. Just yesterday, President Zelensky claimed that the total death toll in Ukraine was 43,000 Ukrainian soldiers who had been killed. So, yeah, literally add another zero on top of that number for what the reality is. But it does show that this is going to be very difficult because what did Jeremy say in our inter. If I'm Iran and I just watch this I'm accelerating my nuclear bomb. Absolutely right. For preservation of the regime. That's the number one lesson North Korea took away from Libya. If you're Russia and you're looking at this, you just had a prestige hit in terms of your ally going down. You're embroiled in this war. We already learned from a Russian oligarch that the current quote, unquote, peace proposal on the table, which would mean, or at least from Zelensky in terms of NATO membership in exchange for recognition of some territory lost even in that oligarch, was like, no, Putin would not take that. So they have a mess on their hands. Absolutely. In terms of the ceasefire and all of that. Another piece of news that came out of this interview, which is really important, is Trump said he has not spoken to Putin since he became the President Elect, but now he's spoken with Zelensky twice. They had a phone call and they got cozy in the Elysee Palace, I'm sure by design by President Macron, putting him front and center and brokering some meeting there with Zelensky. So there are a lot of open questions about which way this goes. Remember, Mike Waltz and Keith Kellogg have both floated two separate theories of how they would force Putin to the negotiating table, which involves escalating the war in Ukraine. So already we have. Look, it's easy to say, I'll have it done by the time I take office. Actually, getting there, it's just like the Middle East. It's going to be a tough road.

[Sager Anwar]

Well, that was my major takeaway from his comments. There is he still falls back on this. Well, it wouldn't have happened if I was there. And it's like, okay, that was fine for the campaign. You know, people kind of bought that and what you were selling. But now you're about to be in that office and we are where we are. So what now? And you're right, the most consistent indications we've gotten from his advisors are that his plan is basically this, like, escalate de escalate. I think you're right to read into the fact that he's always like, Zelensky meeting with Zelensky multiple times. And Russia maybe not in such a mood to negotiate, given the prestige blow that they just took. So, anyway, always interesting to hear what he has to say, but by and large, it's just like, we'll see what he does when he gets in there. Because he says all kinds of things all the time.

[Hoda Kotb]

Yeah, he says all kinds of things all the time. Can we put D4 please, on the screen, this is what I was referencing. He says, they have ridiculously lost 400,000 soldiers, many more civil. There should be an immediate ceasefire and negotiations should begin. Too many lives are needlessly wasted, too many families destroyed. I mean, look, I think the sentiment is great. It's like you said, though. It's like, well, were your advisors speaking for you? Were they speaking on behalf of themselves? What do you actually think? What are you going to push to happen? And this will. Something I talked a lot about on the Lex Friedman podcast was Trump Believed previously under John Bolton. He said on the Joe Rogan show, he was like, well, what I do is I hire these people who make me look more reasonable and who are scary. And it's like, okay, that's great. But while you're in the Oval Office dealing with tax reform, immigration or any of these other things, they have a full time job where they're running the administration and they are running and presenting options and making all of these decisions that have nothing to do with you. And if those people have an ideology that's different than you, you literally, by definition cannot spend all of your attention focused on this. You're lucky as the American president, if you get to spend 25% of your time on foreign policy. You're lucky if that happened.

[Sager Anwar]

He's very malleable. He's very easily flattered and manipulated. And I mean, that's not to take the blame off of his shoulders. That's just a reality that it matters a lot who he surrounds himself with. And I think at this point it's very likely that he would have to really pressure Zelensky into taking a deal that in no way is Zelensky going to want to take in order to get Russia to consider coming to the table with them. And so is he going to be willing to apply that pressure, because what indication we're getting is that instead what he wants to do is say, we're going to give Zelensky everything he wants. What was it Seb Gorko said? What Biden gave him is going to be peanuts compared to what he's going to promise to give him.

[Hoda Kotb]

Again, I have no idea if any of this is true or not. A lot of these guys are just bullshitting on their radio shows too, if we're all being honest. So it's like, okay, were they talking themselves? They talk for Trump at least. One good thing is that Trump hates when other people speak for him. So it's one of those where hopefully he'll put them in his place. But we'll see, man. It's a big question mark. And the potential for an absolute catastrophic mess remains on the table. Trump was also asked about immigration policy and deportation. Let's take a listen.

[Sager Anwar]

Four million families in America who have mixed immigration status.

[Hoda Kotb]

So I'm talking about parents who might.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Be here illegally, but the kids are here legally.

[Donald Trump]

Your borders, are you talking about separation?

[Sager Anwar]

Well, I mean, there are two aspects to this. Your border czar, Tom Homan, said they can be deported together.

[Hoda Kotb]

Correct?

[Sager Anwar]

Is that the plan?

[Donald Trump]

Well, that way you keep the. Well, I don't want to be breaking up families. So the only way you don't break up the family is you keep them together and you have to send them.

[Sager Anwar]

All back, even kids who are here legally.

[Donald Trump]

Well, well, what you gonna do if they want to stay with the father? Look, we have to have rules and regulations. You can always find something out. Like, you know, this doesn't work. That doesn't work. I'll tell you what's gonna be horrible. When we take a wonderful young woman who's with a criminal, and they show the woman. And she could stay by the law, but they show the woman being taken out or they want her out, and your cameras are focused on her as she's crying, as she's being taken out of our country. And then the public turns against us, but we have to do our job.

[Hoda Kotb]

So that definitely shows that they're still talking a lot about what, quote, unquote, mass deportation. And all of that will look like Tom Homan has talked about that before. But, I mean, I just keep coming back to the reality of it. Like, they barely have enough resources to even deport criminals. Like, you know, the idea that there is going to be, I mean, unless Congress gives, I don't know, 10, 20, 50 billion, you know, to ICE, which I don't see happening, especially with the current makeup of the Republican Senate. And you've got guys who are in swing districts or elsewhere who are gonna look out for it. So, anyway, we'll see. That's how they're talking. But this is, again, like a big question mark to me.

[Sager Anwar]

The comments to me were also very revealing because they really showed PR to that. He understood that the images that came out last time were incredibly damaging. I mean, even he said the public turns against you. And so he realizes the way that these images can be extremely potent and very difficult in spite of the rhetoric that he used on the campaign. The other thing. The other thing that was noteworthy to me in this interview is he got asked about birthright citizenship, which is in the Constitution. He says he wants to end birthright citizenship using an executive order. You certainly cannot do that. Now, there is some debate.

[Hoda Kotb]

I was gonna say. Let me give you the case.

[Sager Anwar]

There is some debate. Well, that you could pass legislation, because what is the language? It says, like, subject to the jurisdiction thereof. And so there are some people who say, like, well, you can legislate what exactly that means. That's a debate for the courts. Possible. But you can't do it through an executive order, as far as I know.

[Hoda Kotb]

Here's the debate. It says. Here's the section from the 14th Amendment. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States of the state wherein they reside. Naturalized citizens subject. Are citizens thereof. So the idea is that if you're here illegally and you have a child in the United States, that because you are an illegal immigrant and you're not here under legal jurisdiction, that that would not apply. So when they say end birthright citizenship, it's specifically about people who are not legally in the United States, which, look, objectively, that's crazy. If you're here illegally, you get to then just have a baby and your baby is a US Citizen. Crazy. I mean, sure. Should it apply to green cards or anybody else? Fine. That's totally fine. That's what the executive order would say. But it will be a huge constitutional question. I mean, there's no issue about it because as it's written, I mean, I could see it going multiple ways. Like, I think that Clarence Thomas, Alito, you know, maybe in a few other. But somebody like Justice Gorsuch or any of those other. They would easily side, I think.

[Sager Anwar]

But what I've seen, though, is not that is even from conservatives who support this, was not that you could do it through executive order. It was that, oh, we could pass legislation to define what it means to be subject to the jurisdiction thereof and change those parameters. Maybe. I don't know. That's what could go through the courts. But I think the idea that you're gonna do it through an executive order is fanciful.

[Hoda Kotb]

Well, you could try. Well, what I just said is you could try through executive order and you could try through judicial review and see what they say. So maybe they come back and they're like, well, you have to pass an act of Congress and then you do that. But look, do I think this is gonna happen? He said it last time, okay? He said it in the famous. Remember the Jonathan Swan interview where Swan is like, hands him the piece of paper they were talking about birthright citizenship in that interview. I've heard him say this since 2018. Will it happen? We'll see. In terms of the White House counsel and the lawyers and all of this and even their ability to competently get any of this done, like, you know, I really skeptical.

[Sager Anwar]

The other piece and this will help us transition to our monologue is it's true that, you know, many of the billionaires that surround him now, they're very interested in high skilled immigration in particular. Remember Trump said that thing about like.

[Hoda Kotb]

Staple the staple it all lib position.

[Sager Anwar]

And he has shifted his position on any number of things to please this group which who were very important in getting him elected. I'm about to talk about. Elon apparently gave a quarter of a billion dollars to this campaign. And given how close it was, you could easily make the case that's the reason that he's headed back to the White House. So he owes this group quite a lot.

[Hoda Kotb]

I would say that Elon and them, even David Sachs, who I love. But you know, let's be honest. David and the tech guys and all these other guys, they have a literal financial interest because a lot of their companies are started by, you know, 01 visa types or foreign students and all that. Look, it's great, but that's just reality. That's like 5% of the US immigration system.

[Sager Anwar]

I mean, Elon himself is from South Africa.

[Hoda Kotb]

Yeah, that's true. His whole backstory is crazy. It was Canadian, South Africa. People should go read about it. In terms of the immigration, I actually think that the major influence, a lot of the people you're gonna talk about are some of the lesser name billionaires and people who have ties like to the retail business or big agriculture. That is where illegal immigration is like the greatest subsidy of all time. I mean, our new ambassador to China is gonna be David Perdue, who was the CEO of Dollar General and the senator.

[Sager Anwar]

Amazing.

[Hoda Kotb]

From Georgia. Yeah, insane amazing. I mean, I guess the defense is he spent a lot of time in China and he knows them well.

[Sager Anwar]

So he spent a lot outsourcing jobs to China.

[Hoda Kotb]

No, he spent a lot of time brokering deals for cheap bullshit for two Dollar General. That's a whole other story. I mean, he had to get something, right? He ran as the stop the steal Canada in Georgia and got his ass kicked. So you have to get something when you show that level of loyalty. But I think that the pressure will come from retail and from Wall street on immigration way more than Silicon Valley. The Silicon Valley one is going to be more about the immigration reform through legislation. Yeah, but the actual beneficiaries of illegal immigration is Tysons Food, Big Agriculture.

[Sager Anwar]

You know, I mean, something like that.

[Hoda Kotb]

All these other companies, construction, law.

[Sager Anwar]

Half of the farmworkers in the country are undocumented. Like, it's extraordinarily crucial for, you know, that industry and also just for people to be able to get food at the grocery store and pay the prices they're used to paying, et cetera, et cetera.

[Savannah Guthrie]

All right, we're all set for the party. I've trimmed the tree, hung the mistletoe, and paired all those weird shaped knives and forks with the appropriate cheeses. And I plugged in the partisan.

[Hoda Kotb]

Partisan.

[Savannah Guthrie]

It's a home cocktail maker that makes over 60 premium cocktails, plus a whole lot of seasonal favorites, too. I just got it for 50 off. So how about a Cosmopolitan or a mistletoe margarita?

[Hoda Kotb]

I'm thirsty.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Watch. I just pop in a capsule, choose my strength and wow, it's beginning to.

[Sager Anwar]

Feel more seasonal in here already.

[Savannah Guthrie]

If your holiday party doesn't have a bartender, then you become the bartender. Unless you've got a Bartesian, because Bartesian crafts every cocktail perfectly in as little as 30 seconds. And I just got it for $50 off.

[Sager Anwar]

Tis the season to be jollier.

[Crystal Ball]

Add some holiday flavor to every celebration with the sleek, sophisticated home cocktail maker Bartija. Pick up your phone and shake it to get $50 off any cocktail maker. Yes, you heard me. Shake your phone and get $50 off. Don't delay.

[Donald Trump]

Hi everyone.

[Hoda Kotb]

It's Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb from the Today Show. We love this time of year.

[Sager Anwar]

There's so much to celebrate.

[Hoda Kotb]

That's right. Nobody does the holidays quite like today all season long. Join us for special performances with the brightest stars, plus festive recipes to whip.

[Sager Anwar]

Up the perfect holiday feast and great.

[Hoda Kotb]

Deals on the hottest toys and gifts.

[Sager Anwar]

For everyone on your list.

[Hoda Kotb]

So join us every morning on NBC to make today your home for the holidays.

[Crystal Ball]

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[Hoda Kotb]

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[Sager Anwar]

The last campaign finance reports are in and we now know exactly how much Elon Musk, the richest man on the planet, paid in order to elect his man and secure his own whole sweeping government mandate. According to federal filings, the grand total is more than a quarter of a billion dollars. Now just think about it. Miriam Adelson was able to buy the entire US foreign policy apparatus, apparently for a mere 100 million. So you can only imagine what Musk is getting for the virtually unlimited fortune he plunked down on Donald Trump's behalf. After all, given the closeness of the race, one must assume this level of investment likely secured Trump the White House. What's coming into focus as we learn more details is a sort of billionaire couple, because Elon is of course, just one of a rapidly expanding cabal of billionaires who have already been given plum gigs in the incoming Trump administration, earning slots that will allow them to directly plunder the federal government for their own benefit. In addition to these official roles that these plutocrats will occupy, they are also reportedly serving as headhunters for the incoming administration, helping to staff lower level jobs with their cronies and ideological allies so that the billionaire takeover is even more complete than it appears at surface level. Now. Billionaire influence, of course, nothing new in politics. Without a doubt though, this is the most overt transfer of government into the hands of oligarchs in our nation's history. It is my sense that Trump, desperate to avoid prison and not having ever been all that interested in ideology or governance to begin with, was happy to sell off different parts of his administration and is now sitting back to let this band of robber barons shape the government to suit their desires. Now, many of these unelected rulers, like the new AI and crypto czar David Sachs, they're Musk allies and friends who share similar ideological and self interested goals. Quite a number of these goals are directly at odds with the alleged commitments of Trumpism. So where Trump claims to be a China trade hawk, Elon's vast fortune is so tied up with that of the Chinese government that his new partner Vivek once roasted him for jumping like a circus monkey For Xi Jinping, where Trump courted union member support, Elon fired striking workers, something that Trump did cheer him for, and is currently fighting in court to end the body that governs worker organizing in its entirety. And crucially, whereas Trump's ascendance, the Republican Party has come from bucking austerity politics. Elon and his cadre are fans of anarcho capitalist leader Javier Millay and his shock doctrine approach. Now, if you're a billionaire, of course, what's not to love about Milei? He's slashing the social spending programs that make workers less desperate for whatever abusive, poorly paid gig to corporate titans that are willing to provide them. He's privatizing core government functions, creating more opportunities for oligarchs to siphon off of public funds. And he's slashed the regulations that constrain greedy boss losses from abusing workers and consumers and poisoning our air and our water. Crucially, Malays also rolled back tariffs to the explicit praise of Musk, once again, polar opposite of Trump's stated program goals. Now Trump's billionaire puppeteers seem to think they can smuggle this oligarchic agenda in through the Trojan horse of culture war. That strategy was on prominent display recently when one of the billionaires informally advising Trump investor Marc Andreessen took to Joe Rogan's podcast in order to make the case for eliminating an agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which has consistently stood up to business abuses of consumers. This agency, which has a comparatively small budget, mind you, has returned $21 billion to ordinary Americans in just more than a decade of existence. As we covered here with Matt Stoller, Andreessen hates the CFPB precisely because the work it does protecting consumers has been inconvenient for some of scammier business investment. But instead of making the kind of unpersuasive case that he and his allies should just be able to plunder unimpeded, he instead made up a lie to play to one of the right wing culture war issues du jour and claimed that the CFPB was debanking conservatives for ideological reasons. That's not even a power the CFPB has, and on the contrary, the agency's head has pushed back on ideological debanking. Nevertheless, Andreessen's lies were immediately picked up by the Doge crew. Vivek responded on X, the only right answer Shut it down. Musk concurred. Delete cfpb. If there was any pushback from the MAGA base, I certainly did not see it. But if Musk really wants to slash $2 trillion from the budget, or anything close to that, much more must be targeted than this agency, which even if deleted in its entirety, comprises a grand total of 0.031% of that $2 trillion goal. So it should be no surprise that the billionaires have set their sights on the longtime conservative fantasy of cutting Social Security and Medicare contra to Donald Trump campaign promises. Now on Twitter, Elon reshared a lengthy thread from libertarian Mike Lee making Paul Ryan style conservative arguments attacking the foundations of Social Security. Meanwhile, Vivek has argued that they could slash hundreds of millions of dollars from Medicaid, Social Security and Medicare through what he describes as, quote, basic program integrity measures. Republican members of Congress are rushing to back them up in this assault on our most popular successful programs.

[Donald Trump]

We got to bring the Democrats in and talk about Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare. There's hundreds of billions of dollars to be saved and we know how to do it. We just have to have the stomach to actually take those challenges on. But we can't just talk about our discretionary budget. That's less than 25% of our budget. We have to have some real hard discussions. Well, we talk about this all the time. It seems like we're constantly talking about where to cut and the fact that the fight over defense. Do you believe that the defense budget should be cut? I'm not a big fan of that. I think we could do things a lot better. But when you talk about what's happening in Taiwan, what's happening in the Middle east, what's happening with Israel, what's happening in Ukraine, this is an unstable place, an unstable time. We have to be very careful.

[Sager Anwar]

So not big on those defense cuts, but very open to the social programs cuts. What's more, in Elan and Vivek's quest to bring what they describe as a chainsaw to government spending cuts, the Doge dor are also threatening programs for specific funding authorizations have lapsed. That's an easy way perhaps, to cut spending without having to go through through those pesky duly elected representatives in Congress at all. Now, I know everyone's for cutting federal spending in the abstract. Sounds good, right? Trim the fat, all that stuff sounds good. But the reality can be quite harsh. Among the programs that could be slashed using Vivek's innovative approach are veterans healthcare, new drug development, opioid addiction treatment, housing assistance, and the Head Start preschool program that gives low income kids access to early childhood education. Trump's billionaires might not need these programs, but millions of Americans truly do depend on them. Now, there's one large and vastly unaccountable area of government that I would personally be happy to see slash, and that is the Pentagon. Now, Bernie Sanders and Ro Khanna both signaled they would like to work to help Musk with this project. If he's actually serious about it in an attempt to effectively call his bluff. But no one should delude themselves into believing that Elon Musk, who is himself one of the Pentagon's largest contractors, is earnestly interested in trimming the sales of the military. Pete Hexat, too. Trump's nominee for the Defense Department. He's been portrayed as some sort of a revolutionary intending to hack away at the Pentagon. In reality, he supported every war, including the Iraq war up until shockingly recently, he's articulated a desire to expand American militarism abroad and frequently couches his critiques of the Pentagon in culture war terms. What's more, Trump has reportedly picked another billionaire to serve as the Pentagon's number two, a guy by the name of Steven Feinberg. Now, Feinberg has made millions with large investments in defense contractors himself. In my experience, war profiteers don't tend to be inclined towards cutting back military spending or cutting back on endless wars. I suspect this crew will performatively cut some meaningless DEI program then call it a day. After all on cite it like two people, Thomas Massie and Rand Paul. Maybe there are a couple others. The Republican Party has no interest in cutting the defense budget. Trump himself increased it every single year while he was in office the last time. Jon Stewart made a similar point recently when he was speaking with Bernie Sanders about finding the balance between trying to work with Trump and his billionaires when they claim to want to do something good, but also not getting played.

[Hoda Kotb]

What Musk and Ramaswany are proposing, boy, is something I've wanted for years. I'm just not sure those are the guys that I wanted to do it because maybe I don't trust their. I feel like they're too focused on WOKE or retribution or something along those lines. And we'll go in there. Is it Democrats inability to reform those processes that has opened the opportunity for this more nihilistic approach?

[Kristen Welker]

Yeah, Democrats are in many cases not all defending a system which is broken and people perceive that it is broken. And Trump says it is broken now his remedies are going to make it even worse. And I think what I fear very much hasn't been discussed all that much. If I give you an example, the post office. The mandate of the post office is a very good mandate. It is to deliver mail to every house in America, no matter how rural it can be. It's a money loser, but it's the right thing to do. You can privatize the post office tomorrow, make it more efficient, and yet you will lose the beauty of what the post office is supposed to be. The challenge that we face is can you have a post office functioning in the year 2024 which is efficient, which serves the needs of its customers? I believe we can. I believe we can, and I'm fighting for that. What these other guys, I suspect, want to do is privatize, privatize, privatize, so they have even more power in the hands of the large corporate interests.

[Sager Anwar]

Look, I genuinely get the surface level appeal of Doge and even of stacking your administration with billionaires, given the American mythology that financial success is indicative of general superiority. The truth is, though, with very few exceptions, your interests and the interests of billionaires are diametrically opposed. They want to degrade government until it no longer has the power to impede their plunder, to slash the social safety net. Programs that can take the edges off of our vast inequality while fattening their own coffers with contracts and subsidies and guaranteeing a future filled with limitless automation and crypto scams that funnel even more to the already rich. Musk and some of his friends. They've told Americans to prepare themselves for economic hardship thanks to their austerity program, but somehow it's never them and their rich buddies who are asked to participate in that shared sacrifice. But yes, by all means, let's ask the low income 4 year olds and our nation's veterans and seniors to sacrifice so that Trump's billionaires can execute a brazen smash and grab on our future. Trump has handed the keys over to the very globalist elites he once derided. And Sagar, this really gets out there a lot of tension and if you.

[Hoda Kotb]

Want to hear my reaction to Krystal's monologue, become a premium subscriber [e-mail] alright.

[Savannah Guthrie]

We'Re all set for the party. I've trimmed the tree, hung the mistletoe, and paired all those weird shaped knives and forks with the appropriate cheeses. And I plugged in the Partisan.

[Hoda Kotb]

Partisan.

[Savannah Guthrie]

It's a home cocktail maker that makes over 60 premium cocktails, plus a whole lot of seasonal favorites too. I just got it for 50 off, so how about a clasma or a mistletoe margarita?

[Hoda Kotb]

I'm thirsty.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Watch. I just pop in a capsule, choose my strength and wow, it's beginning to.

[Sager Anwar]

Feel more seasonal in here already.

[Savannah Guthrie]

If your holiday party doesn't have a bartender, then you become the bartender. Unless you've got a Bartesian, because Bartesian crafts every cocktail perfectly in as little as 30 seconds. And I just got it for $50 off.

[Sager Anwar]

Tis the season to be jollier.

[Crystal Ball]

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[Hoda Kotb]

Hi everyone.

[Sager Anwar]

It's Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb from the TODAY Show. We love this time of year. There's so much to celebrate.

[Hoda Kotb]

That's right. Nobody does the holidays quite like today all season long. Join us for special performances with the brightest star.

[Sager Anwar]

Plus festive recipes to whip up the perfect holiday feast and great deals on.

[Hoda Kotb]

The hottest toys and gifts for everyone on your list.

[Savannah Guthrie]

So join us every morning on NBC.

[Hoda Kotb]

To make TODAY your home for the holidays.

[Crystal Ball]

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[Hoda Kotb]

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[Sager Anwar]

So we had one more story we wanted to add in here that broke yesterday evening. And this is what I talked about before. So Jay Z has been hit with a civil lawsuit alleging that he back in the early 2000s raped a 13 year old girl at a party. You can put this tear sheet up on the screen from NBC News. I'll just go ahead and say upfront he denies the charges, the allegations here. We'll read you the statement from his team here in just a second. In any case, this says the star rapper and entrepreneur's real name is Sean Carter, was accused in a lawsuit Sunday of raping a 13 year old girl in 2000, allegedly alongside Sean Diddy Combs. The accuser is anonymous, identified only as Jane Doe. She says the assault happened after she was driven to an MTV Video Music Awards after party. Basically what she alleges here is that she was trying to get into this after party. Someone saw her and was like, oh, I think that you're Diddy's type. Got her into this party again as she's at the age of 13. She arrives, she sees lots of drugs including cocaine and marijuana being consumed. She has a drink, she starts feeling woozy, feels like she needs to lay down. And next thing she knows, allegedly is being raped by Diddy and JC and another female was Also in the room, who has, as of yet, been unnamed. Again, this is a civil lawsuit. The statute of limitations has expired. Best to my knowledge, in New York for this woman. Which is relevant, too, when we give you Jay Z's response and put this up on the screen. I'll read this for you in its entirety. So this is from ROC Nation. My lawyer received a blackmail attempt called a demand letter from a lawyer named Tony Busby. What he had calculated was the nature of these allegations. The public scrutiny would make me want to settle. No, sir, it had the opposite effect. It made me want to expose you for the fraud you are in a very public fashion. So, no, I will not give you one red penny. These allegations are so heinous in nature, I implore you to file a criminal complaint. Again, statute of limitations has expired anyway, not a civil one. Whomever would commit such a crime against a minor should be locked away. Would you not agree? These alleged victims would deserve real justice if that were the case. This lawyer I've done a bit of research on seems to have a pattern of these types of theatrics. I have no idea how you have come to be such a deplorable human, Mr. Busby. But I promise you, I've seen your kind many times over. I'm more than prepared to deal with your type. You claim to be a Marine. Marines are known for their valor. You have neither honor nor dignity. My only heartbreak is for my family. And then he goes on to say, my heart and support goes out to true victims in the world who have to watch other life stories dressed in costume for profitability. Buy this ambulance chaser in a cheap suit. You have made a terrible error in judgment thinking all celebrities are the same. I'm not from your world. I'm a young man who made it out of the project of Brooklyn. We don't play these type of games. We have very strict codes and honor. We protect children. You seem to exploit people for personal gain. Only your network of conspiracy theorists. Fake physics. Fake physics. Okay, Will, believe the idiotic claims you have levied against me that if not for the seriousness surrounding harm to kids, would be laughable. I look forward to showing you just.

[Hoda Kotb]

How that's what it's gotta be. It was like psychics. It has to be fake psychics.

[Sager Anwar]

Yeah, okay, maybe. I don't know. Anyway, I look forward to showing you just how different I am. And I believe there is a follow up from the lawyer that I will pull up while you're reacting to this. Oh, I have the lawyer.

[Hoda Kotb]

Okay.

[Sager Anwar]

He says so. This is Tony Busby, who Jay Z was addressing there. He tweeted out regarding the Jay Z case and his efforts to silence my clients. Mr. Carter previously denied being the one who sued me in my firm. He filed his frivolous case under a pseudonym. What he fails to say in his recent statement is my firm sent his lawyer a demand letter on behalf of an alleged victim, and that victim never demanded a penny from him. Instead, she only sought a confidential mediation. Since I sent the letter on her behalf, Mr. Carter's not only sued me, but he has tried to bully and harass me in this plaintiff, his conduct has had the opposite impact. She is emboldened. I'm very proud of her resolve. As far as the allegations, then complaint filed, we will let the filing speak for itself and we'll litigate the facts in court, not in the media. So there you go. That's a whole back and forth.

[Hoda Kotb]

You know, look, I mean, I don't know anything about Jay Z. I'm not a big hip hop person who's been, you know, tracking all of these allegations. Now, I do find it kind of an insane thing because, look, like if we're talking about, like, this is somebody who's 13 years old, this is like a small child, right? I mean, this is like, this isn't something like mistaking somebody who's 17 for 18 years old. I would assume that there would be other instances and that stuff like this would have come out. I mean, in terms of other. The thing is about the deaddy thing is it's been around in the ether for like 35 years, right? Everybody knew that there was something going on that was sketchy. It would just took a while to catch up. For this to be true, I mean, you would have to believe this happened and what, it didn't happen again for years. Or nobody kept quiet, or everybody kept quiet around it. Definitely within the realm of possibility. It also, I guess in a civil sense, in terms of trying to prove it's true. That's gonna be very difficult, right? In terms of recalling something that happened some 24 years ago and being able to provide witnesses and find culpability. So anyway, my point is I have no idea any of this, but I will say, like, when you hang out with sketchy people and you hang out in sketchy environments, then you definitely leave yourself vulnerable to such accusations if that's the behavior that you guys are all indulging in and rapping about. I mean, look, not to get too. But it's like we had a Code and all this. It's like he had a code and you sold drugs. Like, come on, what you're checking. People saw somebody make a joke. Oh, he was checking IDs when he was selling drugs and making sure he wasn't selling to mothers. It's like, all right, spare me your code bullshit in terms of what that means.

[Sager Anwar]

So he's, you know, in his eyes, until proven guilt, like, you know, we'll see what comes out. And he deserves to be able to have his side of the story, et cetera, et cetera. I mean, he was close with Diddy, so. And so he was one of the big names that people have been. That's part of the. Why this is a big story is because a lot of the chatter centered around, is Jay Z going to be implicated in this? Because based on the allegations which have been denied by Diddy and his team, based on the allegations against him, this was a large criminal enterprise that Diddy was engaged in, filled with a whole lot of enablers. And at the very least, it is hard to imagine that Jay Z did not know quite a bit of what was going on and sort of, you know, criminal abusive behavior that was being engaged in because the allegations suggest that it was quite systematic. So that's why a lot of people were looking in his direction when the initial allegations against Diddy began to drop. I will also just note that when Jay Z met his wife, Beyonce, as other people are noting online, she was 16. Now, they started dating, she says, when they were. At times she said 18. At other times, she said 19. She was very young.

[Hoda Kotb]

How old was he?

[Sager Anwar]

And he was, I want to say, 30. That's creepy.

[Hoda Kotb]

Yeah.

[Sager Anwar]

So in any case, that's putting out there on the public record. Again, he denies all the allegations. And so we'll say, you know, we'll see where this goes. But just wanted to update you on that. Because he is such a giant name and because there has been a lot of speculation swirling around him, this is the first official allegation to drop against him. Now, we had seen this accuser come forward before with these details with regards to Diddy, but the other male celebrity in the room had been unnamed. So now we know the name she is giving is Jay Z. So we'll see.

[Hoda Kotb]

Crazy stuff, man.

[Sager Anwar]

Yeah.

[Hoda Kotb]

Really is. Yeah. Wow. I mean, even when reading it, I was shocked. I was like this. I mean, as he. He's taking it seriously and he's coming out and going after this lawyer. So, I mean, there are really only two options in terms of but I don't know how we're going to find the truth. That's part of what's other scary. But perhaps we also may learn, even if this is not true, we may learn a little bit more about his life, right? And Diddy and some of their own things that were going on in the past. Have you seen this clip of Ashton Kutcher going around on Hot Ones being unable to talk about ditty parties? I don't know if I've seen it. It's gone very viral. People should watch it. It's pretty interesting. Anyways, we'll keep everybody updated and we'll see you all tomorrow.

[Savannah Guthrie]

All right, we're all set for the party. I've trimmed the tree, hung the mistletoe, and paired all those weird shaped knives and forks with the appropriate cheeses. And I plugged in the Partisan Partisan. It's a home cocktail maker that makes over 60 premium cocktails, plus a whole lot of seasonal favorites too. I just got it for 50 off, so how about a Cosmopolitan or a Mistletoe margarita?

[Hoda Kotb]

I'm thirsty.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Watch. I just pop in a capsule, choose my strength and wow, it's beginning to.

[Sager Anwar]

Feel more seasonal in here already.

[Savannah Guthrie]

If your holiday party doesn't have a bartender, then you become the bartender. Unless you've got a Bartesian, because Bartesian crafts every cocktail perfectly in as little as 30 seconds. And I just got it for $50 off.

[Sager Anwar]

Tis the season to be jollier.

[Crystal Ball]

Add some holiday flavor to every celebration with the sleek, sophisticated home cocktail maker. Pick up your phone and shake it to get $50 off any cocktail maker. Yes, you heard me. Shake your phone and get $50 off. Don't delay.

[Savannah Guthrie]

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[Hoda Kotb]

Joy to be had in finding the perfect gifts for the ones You Love, and Saks.com's holiday gift guide can make it easy.

[Sager Anwar]

Whether it's surprising your hard to shop for sister with a Chloe bracelet bag or gifting your partner a memorable scent.

[Hoda Kotb]

From Gucci that matches their personality, Saks.com's.

[Sager Anwar]

Handpicked guide can help take the stress.

[Hoda Kotb]

Out of the holidays, like adding instant cheer to your home with bright decor or giving yourself some comfort by bundling up in a scarf coat from Tatem. Find gifts guaranteed to bring joy to everyone this [e-mail].