Hillsdale Dialogues – The First Months of the Trump Administration

Podcast: Hillsdale Dialogues
Date: April 7, 2025
Host: Hugh Hewitt
Guest: Dr. Larry P. Arnn, President of Hillsdale College

Overview

In this episode, Hugh Hewitt and Dr. Larry P. Arnn pause their regular series on Winston Churchill to reflect on the first three months of the second Trump administration. They explore the rapid pace of change under President Trump, analyzing major policy moves—on the border, tariffs, foreign affairs, DEI, the administrative state, and the courts. Interweaving historical perspective and contemporary developments, they probe the constitutional implications and wider societal effects of Trump’s opening months.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Unprecedented Speed and Energy of the Trump Administration

• Dr. Arnn remarks on the administration’s energy:
  "Never saw so much energy and rapidity. I think the most important thing going on is the doge and all that that means....he can undertake to fire people. He can cut cost. They're supposed to work for him. He's been elected. Laws are supposed to be passed by the Congress, not by them." (02:06)
  • Trump leveraging a Supreme Court case: major regulatory actions need explicit congressional authorization.
• Hewitt draws parallel to football:
  "Trump is free with the ball right now because the Democrats are on their heel and the Republicans are working on getting the tax cuts passed." (03:08)
• The administration’s speed is a stark contrast to the previous term’s "impairment" under Biden.

2. Biden’s Health, Succession, and Media Accountability

• Discussion centers on revelations from the book "Fight”:
  • Biden’s cognitive impairment was covered up for partisan reasons, creating a scandal (03:53)
  • Pelosi’s decisive role in Biden’s removal: "Nancy the Knife, Nancy Pelosi is the one who gutted him." (04:25)
  • Arnn and Hewitt agree:
    "They ought to be tainted for life for concealing that from the country. Maybe they thought they were doing us good, but they weren't." (04:25)

3. Border Crisis and Policy Turnaround

• IG report from Department of Homeland Security:
  • 448,000 unaccompanied children crossed under Biden.
  • 31,000 missing, 48,000 skipped court dates, 223,000 no court dates yet (04:25).
• Dr. Arnn calls the situation “complete chaos, unrestricted,” and credits the Trump administration for rapid restoration of order:
  "The suddenness with which it was brought under control is itself astonishing. It's not, apparently, like that now. And it just took saying so." (05:53)
• The philosophical question: is open borders principle-driven (to undermine nation-states) or just incompetence?
• Hewitt references the Cloward-Piven theory but distinguishes it from the “great replacement” theory:
  "Immigrants tend to work hard...but it did overwhelm our system. It's bigger than the great migration of 1890–1920." (07:19)
• Arnn speculates:
  "There's this belief we have to revolutionize the country...One tool is the border should disappear...Elon Musk has said some of this happened for political purposes." (08:04)

4. Tariffs, U.S.-China Relations, and Economic Strategy

• Trump’s new tariffs create “market tumult”; interpreted as defensive measure in a new Cold War with China.
• Hewitt: "Letting China into the WTO was the biggest mistake we've ever made and we fell for it." (09:08)
• Arnn’s nuanced take:
  "Free trade is the correct default...but national boundaries matter a lot. You've got to make the stuff necessary to your national defense...our ability to do that is compromised now." (10:02)
  • Example: U.S. submarine production hampered by reliance on Chinese parts.
• The world is now “lining up to make deals” and can’t rely on the U.S. as “the rich relative" (13:19)
• Arnn:
  "I’m not an economist...I do understand that Donald Trump is not going to let the United States get played again…” (36:14)

5. Foreign Policy: Israel, Iran, Ukraine, and U.S. Strength

• Trump prioritizes a strong U.S.-Israeli alliance, clear stance against Iran:
  • More firepower in the Gulf than since the Reagan era (13:19)
  • "He said Israel would be our friend, there would be no daylight between us and Israel, and that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. He has moved to make sure that we are shoulder to shoulder with Israel." (13:19)
• Dr. Arnn:
  "The idea that we will stand against Israel when they're the ones who got attacked is just crazy. And we're not doing that anymore. And that's a good thing." (14:46)
• Discussion of weakness under Biden/Obama and how it fueled instability.
• Biden’s pressure on Israel may have emboldened Iran: "A display of weakness that encouraged resistance and may have brought Iran closer to a nuke." (15:24)
• Modern defense procurement should look to innovators like Palmer Luckey, not traditional cost-plus contracts (16:05)

• On Ukraine-Russia:
  • Trump not an appeaser, is tough with Putin.
  • "This would be hard to settle...it takes two to tango. And Russia is going to have to think it's in its interest to settle. That can't just be carrots. There's going to have to be stick. And Trump is talking about the stick part now." (27:03)
  • Hewitt brings in historic context from Solzhenitsyn (28:13)

6. DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion): Rollback and Return to Merit

• Major action credited: uprooting DEI across universities and law firms—"root and branch" (21:38)
• Dr. Arnn: "All this DEI stuff in any university that receives money from the public...that's illegal. And it's been illegal since...the 64 Civil Rights Act." (21:38)
  • Trump took it on “directly”; Supreme Court is backing the return to merit.
  • "The scamper away from it is pell mell. That's great to see." (21:38)

7. The Administrative State, Universal Injunctions, and the Supreme Court

• Universal (nationwide) injunctions are blocking presidential directives; courts must clarify limits (23:00)
• Dr. Arnn worried about judicial overreach:
  "If they say that the president can't fire people who are working on major questions not authorized by Congress, they'll be reversing themselves. But that would be like the Dred Scott decision." (23:33)
• On optimism toward the Supreme Court:
  "You're more optimistic about the court now than you were 10 years ago. Sure." (25:51)

8. American Interests: Trade, Geography, Strategic Position

• U.S. trade as a percentage of GDP is up (from 16% to 31% in 50 years), but still low globally (30:09)
• America’s geographic separation is both an advantage and a disadvantage in global affairs.
• Greenland, polar routes, and North Atlantic security discussed as vital (30:09)

9. Upcoming Legislative Challenges: Budget and Tax Cuts

• Trump’s economic program: hinges on reconciliation and budget passage.
• Arnn’s prediction: "I do [think they'll get it done]. The reason is, it concentrates the mind wonderfully when you're about to be hanged in two weeks.” (33:22)

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On the speed of change:
  "Never saw so much energy and rapidity…" – Dr. Arnn (02:06)
• On Biden’s health and its concealment:
  "People knew, everybody knew. They ought to be tainted for life for concealing that from the country." – Hewitt (04:25)
• On the border turnaround:
  "The suddenness with which it was brought under control is itself astonishing." – Arnn (05:53)
• On China and national defense:
  "We only make two [submarines] a year because China only gives us the parts for two. And so that's not good. Right. They have a bigger Navy than we have and they're growing faster." – Arnn (10:02)
• On American support for Israel:
  "The idea that we will stand against Israel when they're the ones who got attacked is just crazy. And we're not doing that anymore." – Arnn (14:46)
• On dismantling DEI:
  "The scamper away from it is pell mell. That's great to see." – Arnn (21:38)
• On judicial overreach and the administrative state:
  "If in a single case...the Supreme Court can establish for all time the law. The people are not their own rulers anymore." – Arnn, paraphrasing Lincoln (23:33)
• On Trump’s approach to Putin:
  "He's not an easy guy to push around...That can't just be carrots. There's going to have to be stick. And Trump is talking about the stick part now." – Arnn (27:03)
• On American power and peace with China:
  "The way not to have war with it is be strong enough that it's clearly not in their interest either." – Arnn (32:53)

Timestamps for Major Segments

• Opening and theme setup: 00:53–02:06
• Administrative state & Trump’s governing style: 02:06–03:08
• Biden health scandal: 03:08–04:25
• Border crisis statistics & analysis: 04:25–08:04
• Tariffs, China, and economic strategy: 09:08–11:08
• US-Israel-Iran policy: 13:19–16:05
• DEI rollback and legal/constitutional discussion: 21:38–23:33
• Universal injunctions & Supreme Court: 23:33–25:51
• Ukraine & Russia policy: 27:03–29:01
• America’s strategic geography: 30:09–31:58
• Congressional prognosis for budget/tax cut passage: 33:22–33:40
• Tariffs and economic adjustment: 36:14–38:40

Final Thoughts

This conversation provides a sweeping, granular look at what the Trump administration has attempted—and often achieved—in its first few months, from border enforcement and DEI dismantling to resetting global alliances and reasserting constitutional prerogatives. Dr. Arnn and Hugh Hewitt intersperse references to history, American founding principles, and the necessity of robust, accountable institutions, always with a focus on why these constitutional questions matter for the country’s direction now.