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Morning Joe
Morning Joe 5/27/25
00:45:02
At least 27 hurt as van hits pedestrians at parade celebrating soccer win in Liverpool, England
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- [00:01]
Mika Brzezinski
The president has always had a very odd conception of Vladimir Putin. I think he's thought that he and Putin could be kind of friends and partners and could make deals together and so on. I don't think Putin has changed. I don't know what the president's talking about. This is the way Putin has always been. He's always been a particularly brutal dictator.
- [00:20]
Joe Scarborough
Willing to take whatever measures he thought.
- [00:22]
Mika Brzezinski
Necessary to advance his interests, whatever he thought he could get away with. He thought he could get away with invading Ukraine. He thought he could conquer Ukraine in a matter of days.
- [00:30]
Joe Scarborough
He failed to do.
- [00:32]
Mika Brzezinski
And he has been spending his own people's blood and treasure for as long as he's needed to after that.
- [00:39]
Joe Scarborough
And now he seems more intent than ever.
- [00:40]
Mika Brzezinski
He's the same old Vladimir Putin. So I hope the president has had a, you know, had a real moment of truth about him and will proceed accordingly.
- [00:51]
Willie Geist
Fox News chief political analyst Brit Hume weighing in on President Trump's social media post where he said the Russian president had gone crazy. We'll go through the response from the Kremlin and how the escalating rhetoric could impact peace talks with Ukraine. Plus, we'll get a live report from Tel Aviv for the latest on a reported cease fire proposal from President Trump's Middle east envoy. Also ahead, we're going to dig into the latest developments with President Trump's trade wars as the markets are reacting to his delay of another big tariff. Meanwhile, the president spent part of Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery honoring fallen service members, but he also mixed in some campaign style comments. And we'll have an update on the escape of several inmates from a jail in New Orleans, a story we've been following for over a week. Good morning and welcome to Morning Joe. It is Tuesday, May 27th. Along with Willie and me, we have the co host of our fourth hour contributing writer at the Atlantic, Jonathan Lemire, president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations, Richard Haass is with us in columnist associate editor for the Washington Post, David Ignatius and Willie. We'll get to our panel on the Russia, Ukraine developments in just a moment with the Wall Street Journal editorial board calling upon Republican senators to do something to counter Putin. But first, that tragedy in Liverpool yesterday.
- [02:24]
Mika Brzezinski
Yeah. At least 27 people this morning hospitalized, including four children after a minivan crashed through a group of pedestrians at a soccer parade. At least one adult and one child suffered serious injuries. At the time, thousands of people had lined the streets to celebrate Liverpool's Premier League title win. Video shows the minivan traveling at a High speed and plowing through the crowd before it came to a stop. The driver was arrested at the scene. He's described as a 53 year old British man. Authorities say the crash is not being investigated. It's terrorism related and no one else is being sought in connection with what police are calling an isolated incident. Let's bring in NBC News foreign correspondent Raf Sanchez live from the scene of the incident, Liverpool. Raf, what's the latest there?
- [03:12]
Raf Sanchez
Well, Willie, as you can see, a major police investigation is now underway. Trying to understand how this joyful championship parade turned really into a scene of horror. I just want to explain the geography. Here we are at the bottom of Water Street. This is one of the main drags in central Liverpool. And less than 24 hours ago you had tens of thousands of soccer fans on both sides of the street. They were cheering some of the sport's biggest stars, fresh off their champ win in the English Premier League, coming down. And then that dark minivan came careening into the crowd. So just to explain, that minivan is still parked on the street. It is on the other side of that large police vehicle which is obscuring the view. And detectives are continuing to carry out forensic investigations. As you said, the driver of that minivan is under arrest. Police are saying he is a 53 year old white British man. And viewers may be wondering why are the police mentioning his race? And our best guess as to that, Willie, is that last year there were major riots in this country sparked by misinformation on social media after a violent attack. People on social media accusing falsely a migrant of carrying out that attack. So we believe that is the reason police are mentioning race in this case. Now, as you said, nearly 50 people were injured when that man came slamming into the crowd. Four of them were children. Those kids, Willie, was actually trapped underneath the van. Firefighters had to lift the van, pull that child out to safety. One child is seriously injured, but miraculously no one has been killed in this incident, at least so far. A number of people are still in hospital. Police are saying they are not treating this as an act of terrorism. They are saying they believe this is an isolated incident and they aren't looking for anyone else. But they have so far not laid out their understanding of what the motivations are here. They haven't brought any charges yet against the person in custody or anyone else. So we may understand a little bit more if and when those charges are brought. But we are hearing just a wave of condolence and solidarity coming from across the world of sport, including from Lebron James, who's actually a part owner of Liverpool Football Club. And I can tell you guys, the anthem of that soccer, soccer team is you will never walk alone. It is a song that you hear chanted at Anfield by the fans here. That's the major soccer stadium. And there is a real feeling in this city today that people are not walking alone, that they are supporting each other to get through this tragedy.
- [06:03]
Mika Brzezinski
Raf, just to go back to a point you made earlier, the police have determined this is not an act of terrorism. So they do know something about what happened. Do they talk at all about what this may have been? Was it a medical incident? Was the person drunk? Idea of what took place yesterday.
- [06:23]
Raf Sanchez
So, Willie, there are very strict laws here in the UK about what authorities can say once somebody has been arrested. That is with the goal of not biasing a future jury trial. I can tell you our team at NBC News has verified a number of videos taken before the minivan crashed into the crowd. And it does appear to show some kind of confrontation between the driver of that vehicle and a number of soccer fans. You can see people banging on the sides of the car. One person tries to open the door of that car. So we simply do not know what the motivation is. But it appears that the driver was in control but in a high stress situation in the minutes before he plowed into the crowd. We just at this point do not know what the motivation was and we don't really understand whether or not or to what degree this was intentional.
- [07:18]
Mika Brzezinski
More than 50 people injured, a couple of them very seriously. NBC's Raf Sanchez live in Liverpool, England. Raf, thanks so much, Mika.
- [07:26]
Willie Geist
All right, now. Russia continued to launch missiles and drones throughout Ukraine yesterday, marking the third day in a row of intense bombardment targeting civilian areas. Ukraine's military reported another round of more than 350 drones and missiles launched throughout the country. In the past week, Ukraine says Russia has launched north of 13, 1,300 drones and almost 100 missiles. At least 30 civilians have been killed and more than 150 people have been injured. And amid Russia's intensifying attacks on Ukraine, the Kremlin is pushing back at President Trump's recent criticism of Vladimir Putin, suggesting Trump is suffering from, quote, emotional overload. That comes after Trump on Sunday said Putin had gone, quote, absolutely crazy. Speaking to reporters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov thanked President Trump for starting the negotiation process to end the war, while also suggesting the president was emotional over the issue. Peskov then went on to claim Russia's intense bombing campaign over the past three days was retaliatory in nature. Vladimir Putin met yesterday with Turkey's foreign minister at the Kremlin. It's the same Turkish official who mediated the talks in Istanbul earlier this month between Russian and Ukrainian officials. Meanwhile, Germany's new chancellor said his country and Western allies, including the U.K. france and United States, are no longer imposing range restrictions on any weapons supplied to Ukraine. Let's stop right there and talk about what that means, the range restrictions, and how that will impact the fight. David, and then your analysis on this Putin Trump situation in terms of name calling and other things.
- [09:27]
Joe Scarborough
So, Mika, Chancellor Merz's announcement that the range limits will be removed is significant in terms of the damage that these missiles can do to Russian cities as far away as Moscow. The German Taurus missile is reportedly able to reach 300 miles, which would allow it to hit Moscow. The British Storm Shadow has got a range of 155 miles. The ATACMS missiles that the US supplies can go 190 miles. But there have been limits on how much of that range can be used. And the Russians have simply moved their key airfields and supply depots back out of range. So this is a significant step to put targets that would be valuable to Russia within range of weapons that Ukraine either has or is getting in large quantities, like the German Taurus more generally. Nika, this moment right now is crunch time for Donald Trump on Ukraine and on Russia. Vladimir Putin in effect, has disrespected him directly. I made a survey of all the statements that Trump has made since January, threatening sanctions, warning Putin, telling Putin if he didn't come to the table, there'd be trouble. And he is. Putin has ignored every one of them. He's refused the compromise proposals that Trump has suggested. He's refused a ceasefire. So now Trump really is in the situation where he's going to have to exert some real pressure on Putin to get these negotiations back on track or visibly give up as the Russians fire their, their, their ballistic missiles and drones on Kyiv, which would be, you know, very, very unattractive, I want to say, humiliating situation for Trump.
- [11:27]
Mika Brzezinski
So, Richard, this is Vladimir Putin knowing what he has in Donald Trump, that Donald Trump hasn't put any real pressure on him, that he can kind of act with impunity as he's begun to do now with these drone strikes and missiles shot at civilians inside of Ukraine. A fascinating dynamic here, President Trump and President Putin, where you have Donald Trump saying, I don't know what the hell happened to Putin. I've known this guy a long time. To which everyone in the foreign policy community says, this is exactly who Vladimir Putin is and always has been. The response from the Kremlin is that Donald Trump is just being emotional. They've used that word a couple of times now. What's going on here?
- [12:05]
Richard Haass
Donald Trump is not the first American leader to exaggerate the importance of his personal chemistry with a Soviet or Russian leader. FDR did it with Stalin, George W. Bush did it with Putin, Putin and so forth. So he's in a long line of American leaders who have gotten this wrong and somehow think that personal chemistry or personal relationships are really critical. They're never critical. And Trump should have learned that not just with Putin, but with, say, the leader of North Korea or with China. There's a limit to what personal things do in diplomacy. What this shows is we're being played. Putin's uninterested in a ceasefire. He wants to continue prosecuting the war for the simple reason that he thinks he's winning, even though what he's gaining is marginal. The real question, by the way, is how we respond to it. The option out there in the Senate is secondary sanctions. Problem with those is, historically we've tried them before, and you end up having a massive friction between the United States, in this case would be India, Turkey and other countries, China, rather than with Russia. They tend not to work as decisively as people want. The real question, and this administration is not talking about it, unwilling to do it, is to help Ukraine and to basically give Ukraine the arms it needs, not to liberate every square inch of territory just to defend itself, to send the message to Putin that more war isn't going to do the answer. One other thing that was really interesting, the report by the new chancellor of Germany talking about taking off range restrictions. The assumption in the Trump administration is that if we end arming Ukraine, that'll weaken Ukraine and they'll somehow this will bring the war maybe more to a close. Actually, just the opposite. We are going to to lose any leverage or influence. So what you're actually going to see is something of an escalation of target selection. And the war, the scale or scope of the battlefield is actually going to widen rather than shrink if the United States distance itself from Ukraine.
- [14:02]
David Ignatius
And right now, the United States is still sharing intel. It's not stopping sending assistance there, but there's no more money coming, new money coming. As I first reported a couple of weeks ago that Trump has a package of sanctions in front of him and he's Kind of, I'm told by aide, sort of vacillating back and forth. Whether or not he wants to apply them to this point, he has not. David Ignatius, we know there's also this bipartisan bill with 80 co sponsors, 80 plus co sponsors at this point. Lindsey Graham, obviously a close Trump ally, though not afraid to break with him occasionally on foreign policy issues, is the one who introduced it, Senator Blumenthal. Others quickly hopped on board. Do you have any sense there for people that you talk to on the Hill, others that there's going to be enough pressure here to push this through for the House but also for President Trump to finally get there, some sort of punishment for Putin? Because as we have well chronicled, yes, once in a while Trump offers harsh words for Putin in Moscow, but there's never ever been any follow through.
- [15:01]
Joe Scarborough
So it's hard for me to imagine Republicans in the Senate pushing these sanctions over the strong opposition of Trump. I think it's going to go differently. I think Trump, Lindsey Graham's going to go to Trump and say, Mr. President, you're being disrespected. This is humiliating. You need to take action and Trump will encourage this process. There was reporting last night from the Wall Street Journal that elements of the Trump administration, Trump White House were nearing that point of open, openly supporting sanctions themselves. I do think this war is about to get, as Richard was suggesting, a lot dirtier. The attacks on cities by Russia have been brutal. But there are attacks on cities now increasingly by Ukraine. Ukraine has drones that are able to penetrate, get to Moscow and its environs. They also have the capability to wage on the ground a dirty war of sabotage, of assassination. I've met with leaders of Ukrainian military intelligence. They are very, very tough. And they have networks inside Russia as Russia has networks inside Ukraine that can do a lot of damage. So as bad as this war has been, it could tip into a much nastier phase of dirty war unless Trump decides this is the moment we got to back them up. I would just note since the overwhelming attacks of early Monday morning, the attacks that I monitor on, on my systems have fallen off as if the Russians are having second thoughts. Maybe we ought to slow down and do some talking.
- [16:44]
Willie Geist
So you mentioned the Wall Street Journal. The Wall Street Journal editorial board has a new piece on that angle entitled Time for a GOP Senate Revolt on Sanctions Against Putin. It reads in part, Mr. Trump may be the only person in the world still surprised by how Mr. Putin is behaving. The Russian is the same man he's been for Two decades bent on reconstituting as much of the old Soviet empire as he can get away with. Ukraine is his obsession. He's not going to modify his ambitions merely because Mr. Trump alternates between begging for peace and scolding outbursts on social media. Senator Lindsey Graham has 82 co sponsors on a bill that would hit countries that buy Russian oil and gas with tariff sanctions combined with the promise of more arms to Ukraine when the current supply runs out. These sanctions might change Mr. Putin's calculations about the price of war. But GOP senators can act or not, Mr. Trump or not. Whether or not Mr. Trump approves, they can vote on the sanctions bill and force the president to face the hard reality of Mr. Putin's ambitions that Mr. Trump would rather avoid. We'll be following that and we'll move now to the Middle east, where the Trump administration is denying reports that Hamas has agreed to a ceasefire proposal from the U.S. according to Reuters. A Palestinian official close to the group claimed the new proposal includes a 70 day truce, the release of 10 hostages, and a partial withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip. An Israeli official, however, dismissed the proposal, calling it unacceptable. US Special envoy Steve Witkoff also called the Reuters report nonsense. He told NBC News, quote, israel is in a conversation and will agree to a temporary ceasefire and hostage deal that would see half of the living and half of the deceased hostages returned. And that leads to a substantive negotiation to finding a path to a permanent ceasefire. This comes as President Trump is calling for an end to the war in Gaza. He made the comment on Sunday, adding to the pressure Israel is already facing from other partners like Britain, Germany and France with Hamas on the, on Gaza, we want to see if we can stop that. And Israel, we've been talking to them and we want to see if we can stop that, that whole situation as quickly as possible. Joining us now, NBC News international correspondent Matt Bradley live in Tel Aviv. Boy, Trump needs a win in one of these wars. Matt, what more do we know?
- [19:41]
Raf Sanchez
I mean, this is a man who said that when he came to office that he would end the Ukraine conflict on day one. He had that initial victory we saw right before he took office when there was was the longest period of sustained ceasefire in the Gaza Strip that lasted for about two months until the Israelis broke it on March 18th. That was essentially the Joe Biden plan that was agreed to just before he came office. But boy, did he take credit for that. But now it looks as though the war in Gaza is raging on a level that we haven't seen even during the height of the fighting last year. And it looks as though peace is just as much as far away as ever. Now, Steve Witkoff, who has a lot on his plate, as you've seen, he's just ricocheting between Eastern Europe and here in the Middle East. He seems to be doing his level best to try to resolve these conflicts. But as you just saw yesterday, we had a bit of whiplash ourselves here in our bureau talking about, you know, what was likely to come out of these negotiations. You heard that Reuters report saying that Hamas had, had agreed to some kind of terms for a cease fire. And then our own Garrett Hake in Washington, he spoke with Steve Witkoff and as you said, Witkoff poured cold water on all of those proposals and said there is no such thing as a Witkoff proposal, which is reportedly what Reuters said that Hamas had agreed to. And he said that the Reuters report was nonsense. And it sounds as though, Mika, we're back to square one when it comes to all of this. But we did hear from Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel. He also seemed to say that there was something significant in the works and then he backed off of that. Willie.
- [21:18]
Mika Brzezinski
NBC's Matt Bradley Live from Tel Aviv. Matt, thanks so much. So, Richard Haass, we've been here before, talk of a ceasefire. Something is imminent. We're on the doorstep. We've heard criticism from Germany's Chancellor of Prime Minister Netanyahu saying it's unconscionable what he's doing in Gaza right now. So, so should we believe any of this this time? Is there a ceasefire on the horizon?
- [21:38]
Richard Haass
Look, what's being talked about is actually a boil down. It's a reduced version of the deal that Israel and Hamas had agreed to several months ago. There was a phase two, supposed to be full Israeli withdrawal, full hostage return. Now you're talking about limited hostage returns for limited withdrawal. You know, I don't know. Impossible to know whether it's going to happen. What's more interesting to me is what's going on. Basically the 2 million people of Gaza are increasingly being forced into a sliver of the territory, probably about a quarter of the territory. So what was already the most crowded population in the world has gotten that much more crowded. You have real questions about the aid deliveries going into Gaza. You also have leading Israeli figures, including a former prime minister, saying we, the Israelis, must face up to the fact, this is Ehud Olmert, that we are committing war crimes and our use of force in the denial of humanitarian supplies. You have another previous prime minister, Ehd Barak, basically saying, look, let's just end this war. A majority of Israelis now want the war to end. You're never going to completely eliminate Hamas. You physically cannot. Let's get the hostages out. So you have this situation on the ground, these reported negotiations, but what you also have is a massive debate in Israel that's re emerging, emerging about the strategy. And the prime Minister is increasingly, he's got the votes in the Knesset, but he's increasingly isolated in Israeli politics.
- [23:02]
David Ignatius
Yeah, and these images daily basis, just horrible scenes out of Gaza. The humanitarian Crisis, you're right. 11 weeks of no aid through it all, now only a trickle. The Israeli bombardments have ratcheted up in recent days. We're seeing these reports of women and children killed in many ways gruesome fashion. And David Ignatius. It does seem that Netanyahu is more and more isolated, terms of public sentiment, but he's still, as Richard said, got enough political capital here to push forward and in some ways seems to be enacting what Donald Trump had proposed months ago, which was pushing out the Palestinians entirely from Gaza, taking control and then trying to rebuild in some fashion. A lot of skepticism there as to what that would look like. A lot of opposition, of course, from other Gulf neighbors. So what should read here about that piece of it? Because at the same time, Netanyahu and Trump, their relationship has really grown frosty in recent weeks, once close allies. But it's gotten cold enough that Trump skipped Israel on his recent trip to the region.
- [24:03]
Joe Scarborough
Jonathan? I think part of the tragedy is that Prime Minister Netanyahu really doesn't have a clear strategy even now for ending the war. He keeps using ever more military force to achieve smaller and smaller gains. There's talk that he hopes to compel the remaining leadership in Hamas and Gaza to leave, to flee Gaza for exile somewhere else. But it is a situation in which Israel really is running out of options. It doesn't want to occupy Gaza itself. It doesn't want Hamas ever to take it over again. It just just doesn't have a clear picture. Even on relatively simple issues like distribution of food and humanitarian aid, Israelis have not been able to come up with an alternative to the traditional UN system that has consensus support, has a strong leadership group. So I think Netanyahu's isolation now, even from President Donald Trump, is grows by the day. He keeps thinking that more force will answer this, more military actions in Gaza, but that does not seem to be the case. Quite the opposite.
- [25:22]
Willie Geist
All right. The Washington Post's David Ignatius, thank you very much for being on this morning. We'll be reading your piece which is online now. And still ahead on MORNING joe, against the backdrop of growing tensions with President Trump, Canada has welcomed Britain's King China Charles to the country. We'll talk about the significance of that visit. Plus, we'll take a look at what President Trump had to say at Arlington National Cemetery yesterday as he boasted about his second term successes and launched partisan attacks. MORNING JOE is back in a moment. All right. At 28 past the hour. Time now for a look at some of the other stories making headlines this morning. King Charles is in Canada this morning, but not for a typical royal visit. Instead, this trip is seen as a show of support for the nation's sovereignty as President Trump continues to call for for Canada to become the 51st US state. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney invited the king, who is Canada's head of state, to deliver a speech later today outlining his government's agenda for the new parliament. It is rare for a monarch to deliver a so called speech from the throne in Canada. King Charles mother Queen Elizabeth did so only twice in her 70 year reign. The last time was in 1977. We'll be watching that. Three more of the 10 inmates who escaped from a New Orleans jail have been captured. But two escapees remain at large and officials described them as extremely dangerous and said they could be anywhere. The inmates fled from the jail earlier this month through a hole behind a cell, sink and toilet. Several people, including a maintenance worker at the jail, have been accused of assisting in their escape. And really sad news this morning, former Democratic congressman from New York, Charles Rangel has died at the age of 94. The outspoken lawmaker spent nearly five decades on Capitol Hill and was a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus. Born in Harlem and he was the first elected in 1970 and earned the nickname of the lion of Lenox Avenue, referring to one of Harlem's primary corridors. He was the first African American to chair the Ways it Means Committee, but stepped down amid an ethics investigation in 2010. Rangel retired from Congress in 2017. And coming up, we'll dig into the new reporting on some of the guests who attended President Trump's dinner party for the top buyers of his crypto coin and the potential conflicts of interest that this raises. MORNING JOE will be right back. 35 past the hour. Live look at the White House. Cloudy day in Washington. So President Trump held a private dinner last week for more than 200 investors who bought into his meme coin raising ethics Concerns about buying access to the president. NBC News has learned the guests paid between $55,037.7 million for the Trump coin, making the average cost of a seat at the dinner over $1 million. Joining us now, New York Times investigative reporter David Fernthold and CNBC reporter Mackenzie Segalos. Both have been covering Trump's meme coin dinner extensively. Mackenz, I'll start with you. What's the latest that you know what's going on?
- [29:39]
David Farenthal
Well, what we're looking at now is stablecoin legislation and Congress hitting a standstill as a direct result of this dinner. And part of the concern comes from the list of attendees. You've got the number one token holder, Justin Sun, a Chinese born crypto mogul who owns $97 million worth of two Trump related tokens. He won this contest and he is one of a long list of names that are related to foreign capital. You've got a lot of blockchain analytics firms dissecting who made this top leaderboard, 220 guests at that dinner. If you look at the top 25 token holders who had a special VIP reception with the President, all but six of them are tied to foreign exchanges that aren't open to American users. And that's part of where the concern is and why you're seeing a lot of Senate Democrats now pull back on the genius act.
- [30:29]
Mika Brzezinski
So David, you've got a great piece in the New York Times about this dinner. Who was there, why they were there. Justin sun, who was just invoked there under investigation by the sec. Lamar Odom, former NBA player, was among the invited guests there. A 25 year old named Nicholas Pinto was there. He was dropped off by his father in a Lamborghini. His takeaway from the night. Pinto, quote, the food sucks, wasn't given any drinks other than water or Trump's wine. My glass was only filled once. He said Trump didn't even talk to most of the guests. So if you can just take a step back, paint for our viewers a picture of what was going on that night and what exactly this Trump coin even is.
- [31:12]
MacKenzie Seagallos
It is a strange concept. What the coin is. Basically you think it sounds like bitcoin or something like that could be used as currency. But this is not meant to be used as currency. It's basically just something fun to speculate in. And the problem was that people weren't that interested in speculating in it until the Trump folks announced this dinner where if you paid a certain amount, you invested a certain amount, you got to go come to A dinner with President Trump. It seems like there were sort of two different experiences at this dinner, talking to the people that were there, the lower tier folks, the folks that weren't VIPs, they basically got to go to a dinner at Trump's golf club. They didn't get to meet him. He showed up, made a little speech that was partly about the golf club, and then left without having dinner. So for them, they were like either they were disappointed either with the food or the lack of access to the president, or if they had a good time, it was just because they got to meet each other, wasn't because of their access to Mr. Trump. There's a different experience for the VIPs, the top 25 holders of this coin. And again, buying this coin means money goes to President Trump. They got to meet the President, they got a VIP reception with him, and they got a tour of the White House the next day. So they had very different experiences. And those folks came away happier, I would say.
- [32:20]
David Ignatius
Yeah. And certainly the tour of the White House has for many raised the ethical concerns here. That is the People's House. And it's part Mackenzie of this scheme for Donald Trump and his family to enrich themselves. So talk to us a little bit more, if you will, if there's any estimate as just how much Trump, his family, Trump. Org is profiting off of this and what sort of, if any, like watchdog or investigation could be launched by, by, by dumb, by Democrats or, or lawsuits by good government groups. Walk us through it.
- [32:52]
David Farenthal
So the Trump family is now tied to three different crypto tokens. You've got the meme coin that we're talking about that's related to that contest dinner where Trump related entities take 80% of profits. And separately, you've got two other tokens through World Liberty Financial crypto crypto bank that the family was talking about on the campaign trail. They've sold $550 million worth of tokens. 75% of profits go to the family there. On paper, they've got $1.1 billion in World Liberties Token. And then that third token is a US dollar peg stablecoin called USD1. You just had an Emirati fund, MGX invest $2 billion into that token. And so some of these profits are just on page paper at this point. They're not a liquid stake that you can immediately sell with that meme coin. In particular, even though the founders of it hold a certain cash, there is a lockup window. But in the interim, a lot of the trading activity that we've seen tied to this exuberance over a contest dinner or any sort of announcement that the president makes are trading fees that are earned for insiders. So we've seen seen north of $320 million just in trading fees on that Trump meme token so far. And going to your second point, there concerns and whether there might be inquiries. Yes, we've heard Democrats on both from the Senate and the House looking to open probes. Representative Maxine Waters has been talking about this. But separately, you've got a block of Senate Democrats who are now saying that they want to add an amendment to the Genius Act Act, a bill designed to regulate stablecoins that would bar the president and other senior officials from either directly or indirectly profiting from stablecoin ventures while in office, which is a direct shot at that dollar peg stablecoin that the Trump family just launched.
- [34:40]
Mika Brzezinski
So, David, this is a direct access, is it not, for people who can afford it, to the president of the United states, whether you're Mr. Sun who's trying to get an SEC investigation dropped on him, whether you're a foreign government who wants to have influence over President Trump, or I guess if you're a former NBA player trying to launch his own coin. This is a way to get to this president, is it not?
- [35:02]
MacKenzie Seagallos
It is. And that's both physical. This is the easiest access we can see because they had to come to the Trump golf course in person. We got to see them when they signed in. We can't really measure the way that other folks who are buying into these currencies are getting access to the president. President behind closed doors. One of the things that the White House has said is, oh, this, the president is doing this on his private time. This is outside his work duties. But what we know from the law and experience is that the president is never off. He's never not the president. He's always the president. And so there's no such thing as a presidential side hustle. In this case. When he spoke to these folks at his golf club, he was speaking from the presidential lectern. And certainly folks see this as a way to access the president. They said that explicitly buying these coins, getting into these businesses is a way to get the president's ear. It's a way to influence him. And I think we're just seeing a little bit of it because this thinner actually happened in person. The rest is a lot harder to see.
- [35:56]
Willie Geist
New York Times investigative reporter David Farenthal and CNBC's MacKenzie Seagallos, thank you both very much for being on this morning. We'll turn to tariffs now. Stock futures are on the rise this morning on the heels of President Trump announcing he will delay tariffs on the European Union until July 9. A top EU trade official posted on social media yesterday that he'd had good calls with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick over and US Trade Representative Jameson Greer adding that the EU remains fully committed to constructive and focused efforts toward a trade deal. That news comes just one day after President Trump spoke with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and agreed to delay the tariffs by but it's worth noting that top analysts warn the threat of tariff escalation between the US and the EU isn't over yet. Meanwhile, a 90 day agreement between the US and China has brought tariffs down to 30%. And the deal is creating a sense of urgency. At many Chinese factories, distributors are being rushed by their American customers to find space on container ships and send out backlogged orders before the pause ends in August. Joining us now is CNBC's Beijing bureau chief, Eunice Yun. Eunice, what more can you tell us? Well, Mika, despite the tariff relief, Chinese manufacturers have been telling me that they are still dealing with a high degree of uncertainty. I'm at a factory in the port city of Ningbo. A hundred percent of its products have been selling in the US On Amazon and other retailers. The company says that it's feeling relieved about the US China tariff truce, but it's hardly business as usual. Like many other Chinese factories, this maker of outdoor gear and other items has been holding inventory for its US Customers who stopped shipments when President Trump hit China with 145% tariffs in April. Boxes are piled up next to production lines, which the company says is not normal practice. These boxes have been here since January. They were supposed to ship out in April. For now, most of this factory's clients are trying to rush backlogged orders to the United states during this 90 day pause in the trade war. But some may face delays because of a lack of space on container ships. Since so many suppliers here are doing the same thing. The factory says that it's responsible for all the the costs until its products reach that port. Everything else beyond that, it says, is paid for by US Importers as well as other American companies, including the tariffs for its future. In April, this factory started shipping to new customers outside of the United States. This area used to be packed with boat awnings that would go to the United States, but all of those headed to Europe. Unlike the American version, these European ones, which will be used on lakes rather than the ocean. Don't have a protective coating for salt water. Redesigns by a Chinese factory unsure of what comes next. The tariff issues have become so sensitive in China, Willie, that that company that we visited did not want to be dinged in our report and the factory managers said that they didn't want to to be interviewed on camera.
- [39:31]
Mika Brzezinski
Fascinating look at this. CNBC's Beijing bureau chief, Eunice Yun. Thanks so much, Eunice. Appreciate it. So, Richard, let's talk about these tariffs. Big news out of Geneva a couple of weeks ago. Was that okay, we're going to stand down in these tariffs? Everything is fine. The United States and China, we're seeing the real world impact of tariffs. We saw it in that report. There's a report in the New York Times today about what Japan is doing to sort of of insulate its economy, spending a lot of money to bracing for all the impact of these tariffs which soon will be felt here in the United States.
- [40:03]
Richard Haass
Look, what tariffs do is distort business. And what you're seeing are all the reactions to it. This is not normal business creating barriers, stockpiling things and so forth. It also creates all sorts of uncertainty.
- [40:16]
Willie Geist
Right.
- [40:16]
Richard Haass
You know, when 90 days ends, what then? What's going to be the US China tariff? What's going to be be the US and EU we see how markets whipsaw. Late last week, the futures showed we're going down because of this new round of US EU tariffs that the president suggested. Now the market, the futures are going up because the threat was lifted. So it just created a business environment, Willie, where people are essentially increasingly immobilized. In order to do business, you need a degree of predictability and certainty. You've got to have some sense of how things will price, whether things will be available available down the road. And what we're doing is removing the necessary predictability and certainty from the market. And we're simply seeing businesses pull back or increasingly ask themselves how do we do this and work around the United States?
- [41:03]
Willie Geist
All right. Still ahead on Morning Joe. You know, I got the World cup and I got the Olympics.
- [41:11]
Mika Brzezinski
The 250 years was not mine.
- [41:13]
Willie Geist
I'd like to take that. But I got the Olympics, I got the World cup when I was president and I said, boy, it's too bad I won't be president then.
- [41:21]
Mika Brzezinski
And look what happened.
- [41:22]
Willie Geist
I turned out we're going to have a great time. We're going to have a great celebration. But most important of all is the 250th anniversary that blows everything away, including the World cup and including the Olympics as far as I'm concerned. So not exactly what you would expect for a Memorial Day speech at Arlington National Cemetery. But that wasn't the only rally style comment from President Trump yesterday. So we'll have more from his address coming up at Morning Joe.
- [42:02]
Richard Haass
SGA against Gobert.
- [42:04]
David Ignatius
Shot clock at seven drives.
- [42:05]
MacKenzie Seagallos
Pulled back, drives again, seven stops.
- [42:08]
Joe Scarborough
Falls down, gets it to Williams three pointer.
- [42:10]
Willie Geist
It's gone.
- [42:11]
David Ignatius
Jayla Williams with a big bucket.
- [42:15]
Mika Brzezinski
Shay Gildrich Alexander passes the ball through the defender's legs as he slips to the ground, setting up a Thunder three pointer late in the fourth quarter. The freshly named MVP led with 40 points against the Minnesota Timberwolves last night as the Thunder bounced back from a 42 point loss. In game three, Jalen Williams turned in the best offensive performance of his playoff career with 34 points. The Thunder beat the T Wolves 128, 126 for a 31 series lead. UK OKC now can close out the Western Conference finals at home tomorrow in game five tonight in Indianapolis. Richard, the New York Knicks try to get even against the Pacers in game four of the Eastern Conference semifinal after that stunning comeback. Richard, it's been a playoff series, I guess, full of stunning comebacks and playoffs all the way back to the Boston series for the Knicks of comebacks, letting the other team come back from time to time. How are you feeling going into tonight?
- [43:15]
Richard Haass
Feeling good. Feeling good. Look, you're right. Game three was the mirror image of game one. Unbelievable. 20 point. We should do a poll. How many people around the table went to sleep and gave up on the nets? That's good. We hung in there tonight night. Look, the New York Knicks coach has discovered he has a bench. He has more than the five starters. So I'm feeling good. And I thought the Nick effort the other night, the defensive effort was unbelievable.
- [43:39]
Mika Brzezinski
I think when we were texting the other night, I said Tibbs, 95 games into the season, discovered his bench and put some guys in there.
- [43:46]
David Ignatius
Literally had no idea who some of these people were.
- [43:47]
Raf Sanchez
Truly, who are these guys?
- [43:49]
Richard Haass
It's good. Ask them to turn around, take uniforms.
- [43:53]
David Ignatius
This is going to be a trenchant bit of sports analysis here. Game four in a 2:1 series, pretty important.
- [43:58]
Mika Brzezinski
Must win. It is.
- [43:59]
David Ignatius
I think for the Knicks it is. That's a hard thing to say, like a road game. But we have found these playoffs, not only are comebacks the thing, home court advantage doesn't matter, home court disadvantage. And I, I think that, like, if I think the Knicks.
- [44:10]
Willie Geist
Yeah.
- [44:11]
David Ignatius
Tonight's a toss up game they win tonight that you have to feel good about getting next, you know, two, two. You have momentum. Losing tonight doesn't end things. But losing having to win three in a row against this Pacers team would be very challenging. But yeah, I mean look, give the Knicks credit. A lot of fight the other night. They came back, they could have mailed it in. They didn't.
- [44:30]
Joe Scarborough
It should be, should be good, should.
- [44:32]
David Ignatius
Be a good scene tonight. And we as quickly on the other series, you know that's a clutch performance at the end. The Timberwolves hammered the Thunder in game three. Felt like they were about to come back into the series. And the MVP SGA did just enough last night with some help commanding three one lead.
- [44:47]
Mika Brzezinski
Yeah, he's incredible. I think the world is waking up to SGA now the mvp. You can never turn, turn off the TV when the Knicks are playing. You never know what's going to happen one way or the other. But it's going to be exciting at the end for sure. Richard Haas, thanks so much. Good luck tonight to our Knicks. Coming up we'll.