Loading summary
Transcript126 lines
- [00:02]
Miranda Devine
Hello, and welcome back to a new episode of the Pod Force One podcast. I'm Miranda Devine. This is the latest installment in our weekly series featuring the most powerful people in the world today. We're coming to you from Blair House, also known as the President's Guest house in Washington, D.C. our guest today is an author, a former TV personality and an academic. Now she has the best job in D.C. ambassador and chief of Protocol, Monica Crowley. Ambassador, thank you so much for having us here, and particularly in this absolutely beautiful building, Blair House. That's your new office. Tell us about where we're sitting.
- [00:48]
Monica Crowley
Well, first of all, thank you so much for having me, Miranda, and congratulations on this brilliant new show. Well deserved. So it's an absolute pleasure and joy to welcome you to Washington and to welcome you to the Blair House, which is an historic, historic complex of buildings. So it is a delight to come to work here every day. It was built in 1824, and it is the President's Guest House. So every head of state who visits and gets an invitation from the President stays in this magnificent building with incredible history, including Abraham Lincoln, who used one of the rooms as a regular study. And General Robert E. Lee was actually offered the commission of the Union army in one of these rooms and declined because he was from the south and ended up obviously becoming the General of Confederate forces. But every room has this extraordinary history, including Harry Truman, who actually ran his presidency from here for four years while the White House was being renovated.
- [01:50]
Miranda Devine
Oh, how interesting. It really is exquisite. All the rooms, the wallpaper, the furniture. It just must be such a pleasure for you to come to work every day.
- [01:59]
Monica Crowley
It's an absolute blessing and a joy.
- [02:02]
Miranda Devine
And, of course, congratulations on your amazing job. I think it's probably the best job in Washington, the best job in the administration, effectively. As Ambassador for Protocol for the United States, Assistant Secretary of State. You organize all the parties.
- [02:21]
Monica Crowley
Well, that's a bit of a misnomer. Let's go back. Because when the President nominated me for this position, of course, it was an honor and a blessing to accept. And everybody came to me, Miranda, and said, chief of Protocol is the best job in all of Washington, D.C. now I know why they said that and why they meant it, because it really is. Yes, of course, there is a social component to this position, but it's so much more than that. The Chief of Protocol and the Office of Chief of Protocol, including my incredible team of both career civil servants and political appointees on the protocol team, they all do an extraordinary job in helping to manage the President's, the vice presidents and the Secretary of State's diplomatic engagements. So what we do is create the optimal environment for the most robust, effective diplomacy for the President, vice President, and the Secretary.
- [03:21]
Miranda Devine
It's a massive job.
- [03:22]
Monica Crowley
It is a massive job, but it is extraordinary to see leaders come in. And in fact, I just recently was sworn in, confirmed by the Senate and sworn in. So my first leader meeting, Miranda, was the German Chancellor, Friedrich Mertz. And he came in, he was with.
- [03:40]
Miranda Devine
Donald Trump in the Oval Office. In the Oval Office, and he mentioned Blair House. I've never heard any leader mentioned. He said, thank you so much for your wonderful hospitality. And the President was very impressed and very happy that he said that. And I wonder if that's because of your hospitality.
- [03:58]
Monica Crowley
Well, thank you for that, Miranda, but I can't take full credit for those. There is a whole incredible team, both here at Blair House and in the Office of the Chief of Protocol that makes these visits absolute magic and makes them run incredibly smoothly so that the principals, the President, the vice President, the Secretary, can engage in the most effective diplomacy for America.
- [04:21]
Miranda Devine
So, for instance, when the German Chancellor came, were you here to greet him and show him to his room? How did that work?
- [04:28]
Monica Crowley
But most of the time, yes, when a world leader comes to the United States, I will go to Joint Base Andrews and greet them and bring them to Washington, to Blair House for their accommodations. They are always so blown away by Blair House. I mean, they just realize the specialness of this place and they're so grateful to be able to stay here. So this is the President's guest house. They'll stay. And then on the day of their meeting with the President of the United States, they simply proceed across the way, Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House, and they're greeted by the President outside the West Wing lobby. And then I escort them in. The world leader will sign the guest book. The President escorts them into the Oval Office, and I make sure that the foreign delegation is also escorted into the Oval Office. We bring in the press, they ask their questions, and President Trump will stay for an hour, an hour and a half, taking all questions from the American press and also the foreign press. And then they go and they have their working lunch in the Cabinet Room and tackle whatever issues are in front of them. And then, of course, I escort the world leader out to their demotorcade, and then they are back at Blair House and then off on their way, and I bid them farewell.
- [05:49]
Miranda Devine
Fantastic. And now you have, coming up in the next couple of years, some pretty enormous events that you are going to manage, I guess chief would be the 250th anniversary. Tell us about that and the other events.
- [06:04]
Monica Crowley
Yes, I'm very excited about all of this. So when President Trump announced my nomination as chief of Protocol of the United States, certainly chief protocol of the White House, and essentially Miranda, America's ambassador, which is a label that I wear with great pride and happiness and joy. He also gave me another enormous portfolio which is to be his administration's representative for major US hosted events. And you named the big three. I'm sure there will be others. But America 250 so next year we are going to celebrate America's 250th birthday, the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. And then we have the FIFA World cup up next year as well and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games which the President heroically brought to the United States. And as he probably tells you and as he tells the public, he got these events to come to the US in his first term.
- [06:59]
Unknown
Yes.
- [07:00]
Monica Crowley
And he figured well after 2020's reelection he wasn't going to be in office to see those events. And now he says, you know what, 2020 had to happen that way. It was providential because now he's back and he will Pres. Incredible events. So America 250 is the 1 that is upon us now. We are going to have a year long celebration of America including just had the Army 250 parade, July 4th this year is going to be a magnificent celebration on the National Mall to really kick off 12 months of celebration. And then next year of course is going to be just a monumental celebration of America culminating on July 4th.
- [07:45]
Miranda Devine
How good. And so can you tell us any of the sort of events that you're going to be staging to celebrate?
- [07:51]
Monica Crowley
Well, I don't want to get in front of the President on some of the big announcements, but we are thinking and planning of some major events. And of course the east coast is the central location of the American Revolution. So cities like Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Washington D.C. will be critical. But all 50 states in the union have their own 250 commissions. So when the audience can go to america250.org and all 50 states, states are listed listed there. So you can click on your state and find out the celebrations and events that are happening in your neck of the woods, you'd celebrate in whatever state you happen to reside. So nationally next year we are going to it's, it is going to be a massive celebration. What I can tell you is in the bicentennial in 1976, one of the fantastic events took place in New York which has, I believe the the deepest or one of the deepest harbor harbors in America. And there was a tall ship parade that went up the Hudson of tall ships from the United States, but also tall ships representing so many countries around the world. And for next year, yes, I can announce here for next year we're also doing the tall ships. It's called Sail Fourth. Get it? Sail Forth. And we have about 40 plus countries already committed to sending a tall ship for that parade. And of course, New York does the Macy's fireworks. So that's just one piece of it. And then in Philadelphia, which obviously is going to be Central to America, 250, we have planned a mock debate in Independence Hall. So from current members of Congress probably going to take part in that. A lot of these things are still in the planning stages, but I can guarantee you a massive birthday party for America. And you know what, Miranda, what a gift it is to have President Trump in office during this important milestone for America.
- [09:50]
Miranda Devine
Yes, it really is providential. And I mean, he's such a showman. And with you at his side, I can just imagine that it will be parties everywhere. People will be feeling good. It's a lot about the psychology of the country that allows it to grow. And I remember the Olympics in Australia, the mood was so positive before and after that that the economy got a little bit of a jump start.
- [10:16]
Monica Crowley
Yes. Oh, that's for sure. And the economic consequences of throwing this party and also next year, the World cup as well, that the benefits to the American economy, the American people, businesses of all sizes, is going to be extraordinary.
- [10:32]
Miranda Devine
But what about the Olympics in Los Angeles? You know, we're seeing that the riots and the problems that they have, you know, with the Gavin Newsom and Karen Bass. Are you concerned that there might be a problem with having it big, ready and safe?
- [10:50]
Monica Crowley
Well, there's California leadership, there's Los Angeles leadership, and then there is the International Olympic Committee as well as the U.S. olympic Committee. They're all involved in trying to get Los Angeles ready for these Olympic Games in 2028. And don't just, you know, it's not just about the riots, Miranda. Don't forget about the fires that devastated so much of Los Angeles at the end of last year. So there's a lot of work to be done. We're getting through the America's birthday and we're getting through the FIFA World cup, but the Olympic Games are coming down the pike very fast. So the planners are on top of it as far as I know. And we will stay on top of it too with regard to the administration to make sure that the Olympic Games, just like America's birthday and the World cup showcase America at its best. Not just American leadership and dynamism, but also the United States as a real centerpiece for our international events in the safest, most secure place in the world to host these kinds of things.
- [11:53]
Miranda Devine
And LA is beautiful and does have amazing weather, so it should be absolutely the perfect place for it.
- [11:58]
Monica Crowley
Absolutely.
- [12:01]
Unknown
This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever find yourself playing the budgeting game? Well, with the name your price tool from Progressive, you can find options that fit your budget and potentially lower lower your bills. Try it@progressive.com Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates Price and coverage match limited by state law. Not available in all states.
- [12:27]
Bill O'Reilly
Hey, Bill O'Reilly here, host of the no spin News corporate media programs. They're often lazy and dishonest. You know that the podcast world filled with misleading bomb throwers masking important issues that directly impact you. The no spin News is here to counteract that. We are a fact based, honest and unaffiliated broadcast. Our purpose is to inform you and give the best assessment of the situation, whether it's political or cultural. Please listen to the no spin News with me, Bill O'Reilly on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever podcasts are found. Remember, trust is earned.
- [13:18]
Miranda Devine
Now, your relationship with Donald Trump goes way back and tell us about how you first came to meet him and about the connection that you both have with President Nixon.
- [13:31]
Monica Crowley
Oh, well, thank you for asking. I feel very blessed to have worked for two American presidents. President Nixon during the last four years of his life, not born when he was elected president. A lot of people still look at me and they squint and they're like, you look good. I'm like, no, no, no, you misunderstand. I was not born when he was elected, but I did end up working with him during the last four years of his life, which was an extraordinary opportunity because I traveled around the world with President Nixon and I was so young. I was fresh out of college, 21, 22 years old.
- [14:03]
Miranda Devine
How did that happen?
- [14:05]
Monica Crowley
Thank you for asking because I love to share this story. It's such a Cinderella story. I was majoring in political science at Colgate University and I was majoring in poly science. So it was like the presidency and the Congress, all very interesting to me. But in the spring of my junior year, I Took a course called National Security, and it absolutely blew me away to the point where I got an A plus in the class. The only A plus. I just fell in love with the material. And I went to the professor to ask for advice about how to turn it into a career. And it turned out he was one of two conservative professors on campus, and I was pretty much the only conservative kid on the campus. So he became a mentor to me. And at the end of this course, I was getting ready to go home to New Jersey before my senior year, and I asked him for some advice. I said, I love national security, American foreign policy. How do I turn this into a career? And, Miranda, he got up and he walked over to his bookcase, and he took four books down, and he handed them to me, and he said, go home this summer and read these books, and when you come back in the fall, we'll talk about what you learned from them and then how to parlay your passion into a career. So two of the volumes were Kissinger's memoirs, which are over a thousand pages. And I was so tired after the school year, I said, I'll get to those in August. So the first book I chose to read was the slimmest one, and it was called 1999 Victory Without War, written by former President Richard Nixon. And when I say this book blew me away, Miranda, it blew me. I read it like it was a novel almost in one sitting. And I'm so excited about foreign policy. So President Nixon, after he resigned, he wrote his memoirs, and then starting in 1980, every two years, he'd write a new foreign policy book to reflect the change changing world. So this happened to be his latest foreign policy book at the time. So I read it. And he had so educated me with this book and illuminated so many things for me that I sat down and I wrote him a letter. This is kind of like the naivety of youth. Right here I am, like, 21, right in the former president and a very controversial president, But I just felt compelled to let that author know that he had really educated and inspired me. Yeah. So I wrote him a letter, and it dealt with the issues he raised in the book. And at the very end, Miranda, I had a single line where I said, well, Mr. President, I know how incredibly busy you are, but if you have a moment, I'd love to come visit with you, shake your hand, and pay my respects to you. Wow, Miranda. I never expected a response ever. But about a month later, I was getting ready to go back to Colgate for my senior year. And I went to my mother's mailbox, and I took out a handwritten response from Richard Nixon to me. How old has he been? He was 76, going on 77. He died at 81. So he was about 75, 76. And at first I thought it was my friends playing a prank on me. I didn't realize that it was authentic. And when I realized, I began to shake because there was something in me that said, this letter is going to change the trajectory of your entire life. So the beginning of my senior year, I set up an appointment. I went to go see him. It was extraordinary. I was a college kid with no money, no connections, no nothing.
- [17:39]
Miranda Devine
Where was he living?
- [17:40]
Monica Crowley
In northern New Jersey, right outside New York City. He gave me an hour and a half of his time. And again, extraordinary for a former president to give a college kid that much time. But we sat and we spoke, and he walked me around the world and told me what American policy was in every corner of the globe and what it should be. And then we talked a little bit about domestic policy and a little bit about domestic politics and political gossip. It was just extraordinary. This was 1989. I was going into my senior year. So we kept up a correspondence until I graduated the following May from Colgate. And that's when he offered me a job. So I ended up working with him as a foreign policy assistant for the last four years of his life.
- [18:27]
Miranda Devine
Life. And did he ever. Did you ever ask him what made you decide to reply to this college kid?
- [18:34]
Monica Crowley
You know, that is a really incisive question, Miranda. This is why you're so good at what you do. He had a very small staff. He had a chief of staff. He had another assistant. And then he had, like, a secretary. And remember when he was in Congress and then in the White House, he had Rosemary woods as his secretary. Well, in his later years, he had a secretary named Carmen. And she was a Puerto Rican girl from the Bronx who had only graduated high school. She was so fiercely loyal to him. He would say to me, carmen is the best I've ever had, apart from Rose Woods. She was so tough and loyal to him with street smarts. I mailed two copies of my letter to President Nixon. One to his publisher, care of his publisher, and one to care of his local post office in New Jersey. Never expected he either one would see the light of day. Do you know Carmen got all of his mail every day? And he used to get barrels of mail every day. She saw both copies of my letter, and it was Carmen who Said he needs to see this because she knew.
- [19:48]
Miranda Devine
He would like it.
- [19:49]
Monica Crowley
Yes, because it was coming from a young person who had admired him, and after everything he had been through, he.
- [19:56]
Miranda Devine
Really was terribly badly treated. I mean, you look back in hindsight now and you think, you know, these days, no one would resign, no president would resign. They'd stick it out and maybe survive.
- [20:09]
Monica Crowley
Yes. Like Bill Clinton after Monica Lewinsky, President Trump after everything he went through in his. They learned the lesson from President Nixon, and it meant so much to him to see a younger person, the future of America, admire him and respect him enough to write that kind of letter. So he wrote me a letter, and like I said, we met at the beginning of my junior year, excuse me, my senior year at Colgate. And then we kept up a correspondence until I graduated the following May of 1990. And that's when he offered me a job.
- [20:42]
Miranda Devine
And what was the job? You said you were traveling with him.
- [20:45]
Monica Crowley
All over the world? Yes, so much title was Foreign Policy assistant, but I really did so much more because he kept a very, very small staff. So I traveled around the world with him with all of the heads of state at the time, with who he met. So Yitzhak Rabin, who then was assassinated shortly after his meeting with President Nixon. Francois M. In France, Lensa in Poland, Havel in Prague, Boris Yeltsin in Russia. And I was with President Nixon on his last trip to China, which was extraordinary, Miranda, given that 20 years before, he had opened the door to China and changed the entire global calculus. But certainly US Sino, US Relations.
- [21:32]
Miranda Devine
And how did they treat him in China?
- [21:34]
Monica Crowley
Like a rock star.
- [21:35]
Miranda Devine
Right.
- [21:35]
Monica Crowley
Really? Rock star, Miranda. He used to do something very, very clever. They worshiped him in China because he had opened China to the rest of the world. Now, President Nixon was nothing if not adaptable to the changing world. So I think he would understand now that China is a complete adversary and an existential threat to the United States. But then the calculus was that the Soviet Union was growing in power in real terms in terms of their nuclear arsenal, their conventional weapons arsenal, and that the United States being so constrained at the time by the duties and responsibilities and drag of the Vietnam War, that President Nixon's latitude, his ability to maneuver foreign policy, was really restricted by Vietnam. It's what my PhD dissertation is all about. So I know this inside and out. But in order to buy time strategically for the United States, he decided to open the door to China, to use China as a strategic counterweight against growing Soviet power. And now President Trump is doing almost or wants to, I think, do a reverse Nixon and try to improve relations with Moscow to use Russia as a counterweight against growing Chinese power. But that's something that, that's coming.
- [23:00]
Miranda Devine
It makes a lot of sense.
- [23:01]
Monica Crowley
It makes so much sense because the.
- [23:02]
Miranda Devine
Worst is to have what happened recently under Biden is to have Russia and China and into each other aligned.
- [23:10]
Monica Crowley
Yes. And presidents of both parties for decades have exerted themselves to keep both countries apart. And that Biden, of course, drove them together, which is madness. But I traveled all around the world with him and in China because he was considered such a rock star. A couple of things he would, he and Henry Kissinger were really the only, only to who could talk turkey to the Chinese communist leadership, tell them the truth and have them sit there and take it with no pushback.
- [23:42]
Miranda Devine
And was he personally wounded? Did you see, you know, about the, the way he was driven out of office, this kind of dirty tricks against him and also just the complete traducing of his reputation ever since?
- [23:56]
Monica Crowley
Well, you know, almost right after he resigned, he had a very serious attack of phlebitis, which is blood clots in the legs, which almost killed him. He was hospitalized. Stress related. Yes, of course. And by the time I got to him, it was 20 years or so later. And I could see it in his physical frame where his shoulders were hunched over and you know, he wore his presidency with pride and he wore America with pride. But you could see that he carried it. I mean, we've had many presidents with no conscience whatsoever. Miranda. He did. He had one. And he spoke about it publicly before I got to him. But he did say to me, you know, I bear huge responsibility. The buck stopped with me in all of this. And he carried it. So he spent the next 20 years of his life to his death trying to make it up to the American people for letting them down. He, at the very end only started to get an inkling that it was the Deep State who got him. So in 1992, there was a book written by two Democrat investigative journalists called Silent Coup. And they started to unearth the Deep State plot to remove Richard Nixon. And it was only at the tail end of his life where he started to see some of the documents and evidence of about how he was set up. But he, you know, he wouldn't, do you believe he was, he wouldn't evade responsibility for his set of decisions. But what I will say, given all these years later and knowing what we know about this, it does look like because Nixon was a peacemaker, because he Wasn't willing to necessarily play ball. That there were some dark victory with that. Dark corners. Correct.
- [25:54]
Miranda Devine
Right.
- [25:54]
Monica Crowley
That. That there were some enemies that he created along the way that didn't necessarily want to see him succeed.
- [26:01]
Miranda Devine
No. And were opportunistic and found some error that he'd made and used it against him. And now what is the connection with Donald Trump? We know that. I'll tell you one quick little story. In the White House, there is a portrait of Nixon. And I don't think President Trump will mind my repeating this story, but he passes that every morning on his way to the Oval Office. And he, he has a little, I don't know if you call it shudder or a feeling of his mortality because he, it reminds him of what he needs to do to constantly keep friendly with the Congress. Because Nixon didn't do that. And so at his hour of need, he had no one there to protect him. They all turned their back on him. So President Trump, unusually, he is constantly on the phone and duchessing. Every member of Congress has an open door. They can come and do selfies, whatever. And late at night. And so I think that Nixon's mistake in that sense, and he was a man of his time, has galvanized President Trump to be much more self protective. Is that so? Tell me just about the relationship between President Trump and President Nixon.
- [27:23]
Monica Crowley
Well, thank you for sharing that. That means a lot to me because I'm so blessed to work with both presidents at different points in their career and their lives. And I always joke, man, do I know how to pick them or what? Only the most controversial presidents for me, but President Nixon really was America first before America first was kind of a galvanizing thing. Remember, he had Pat Buchanan, who was also America first later, like in 1992 when he ran for president, he was a speechwriter for President Nixon. So there's so many cyclical things that move through history here. They're similar in a lot of ways. And I will tell you that in the late 1980s, before my time with President Nixon, Mrs. Nixon saw Donald Trump on the Phil Donahue Show. And he said to, she said to President Nixon, he is incredibly impressive. And said, you know, he, he could be, he could have a political future if he wanted one. And at the time, of course, Donald Trump was massive in New York. Real estate guru and building New York skyline and a billionaire. President Nixon wrote him a note and said, Mrs. Nixon saw you on the Donahue Show. And I agree with her that you are incredibly impressive. And if you want a political future you will succeed and you will win.
- [28:47]
Miranda Devine
Amazing. And President Trump really took that to heart.
- [28:50]
Monica Crowley
He took it to heart, yes. He shows the letter proudly. What means a lot to me and what I think would mean so much to President Nixon is that the history, Miranda, is coming full circle as we know more about how certain forces in this town operate. Right. And the full vindication, I think, of President Nixon is coming to pass. And in fact, during my swearing in in the Oval Office, I invited President Nixon's grandson, Christopher Nixon Cox, who's a friend who I've known since he was 11 years old, to join me because I wanted President Nixon represented in the Oval Office.
- [29:29]
Miranda Devine
Wonderful.
- [29:30]
Monica Crowley
And President Trump greeted him and he said, you, grandfather was a great man. So my goal is to get that portrait that you just talked about of President Nixon into the Oval Office eventually, which would be full restoration of the great man of President Nixon. They're both similar. I mean, they're obviously different men, but they both have and had a seriousness of purpose of putting America first, seeing the world in a strategic way, seeing how all of the pieces of the puzzle work together. And both were visionaries, Miranda. And by that I mean, and we've only had a few visionaries as president over the course of America's history. But by visionary, I mean that they have a unique ability to see what the world and the country is going to look like 20, 30, 40 years down the road and then make American policy in the moment to anticipate that world. That was Richard Nixon, that is Donald Trump. And so there is a natural policy affinity and America first affinity, but also a natural personal one I think, as well.
- [30:46]
Miranda Devine
And also forging their own path, which that's inevitably put them in a collision course with the deep state, whatever we call the Blob. And both were attacked and President Trump has managed to, I guess, learn the lessons and rise above it and triumph in the most incredible way.
- [31:07]
Unknown
Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. With the price of just about everything going up, we thought we'd bring our prices down. So to help us, we brought in a reverse auctioneer, which is apparently a.
- [31:17]
Thing Mint Mobile Unlimited Premium wireless. Everybody get 30, 30. Better to get 30. Better get 20, 20, 20. Better get 20, 20. Every get 15, 15, 15, 15. Just 15 bucks a month.
- [31:26]
Monica Crowley
Sold.
- [31:26]
Unknown
Give it a try@mintmobile.com Switch.
- [31:29]
Monica Crowley
Upfront payment of $45 for 3 month plan equivalent to $15 per month required new customer offer for first 3 months only. Speed slow.
- [31:34]
Unknown
After 35 gigabytes of network's busy taxes and fees extra see mintmobile.com what is dadication?
- [31:38]
The thing that drives me every day as a dad is Dariana. We call them day date for sure. Every day he's hungry for something, whether it's attention, affection, knowledge. And there's this huge responsibility in making sure that when he's no longer under my wing that he's a good person. I want him to be able to sit back one day and go, we worked together. We did a good job.
- [31:59]
That's dedication. Find out more@fatherhood.gov brought to you by the U.S. department of Health and Human Services and the Ad Council.
- [32:08]
Miranda Devine
Your first knowledge of President Trump? I think he spotted you just like Nixon or Pat Nixon spotted him. Tell us about that.
- [32:18]
Monica Crowley
So I knew President Trump as Donald Trump a little bit, just in social circles in New York going to some of the same events. And President Trump, we have some mutual friends in New York and so on. So it wasn't like a deep friendship. But I knew him and he knew of me. And then of course, as you know, he's an avid consumer of television news. So I began on Fox News list literally day one in October of 1996, I was on the air when Fox News was literally just like a pull out chair and one camera and one camera operator and that was it. So he had been watching me over the years on television. And I'll never forget when he came down that escalator in June of 2015, okay, 10 years now, exactly 10 years when he came down that escalator and I heard him give that first speech. And of course there was so much controversy that the press created around it. First they disregarded him. They, they said he's never going to last. This is a vanity run or this is just for the Apprentice. This is for his brand. And when I heard him speak the truth, in layman's terms, not as a politician about the border, about the border. And he said they're not sending their best, remember he said sending murders and rapists. And I was watching it and I watched the, the fake outrage around it that day. There was something in me that said he's the one. He is the one that is not just going to save the gop, but he's the one that's going to save the country and frankly the West. It was almost like an internal.
- [34:04]
Miranda Devine
You're one of the few, really, Really.
- [34:07]
Monica Crowley
I was one of, if not the first, like non family supporter of President Trump because I just knew it was a vis reaction to what he said and how he said it. And how he positioned himself. And, you know, I said this to him in the Oval Office when I was sworn in, he did the most astonishingly powerful thing I have ever heard from any leader, ever. He looked at the forgotten men and women of America, and he said, I see you, I hear you, and I will be your champion. And I get emotional even now thinking about that, because for decades, he had talked about the forgotten men and women who were getting screwed over by the Uni Party on both sides, screwing them over for, you know, trade, globalization, you name it. And the people who actually make this country work were getting nothing. They were getting sold down the river, and nobody cared. And he kept talking about that for decades, hoping that somebody would rise up and say, yes, Donald Trump is right. I'm going to take this on. And nobody did. So in 2015, he said, you know what? I'll do it. He didn't need it, he didn't want it, but he felt a responsibility to them and to America to take that on. And that was a. I've always said that his appeal is not ideological. He's not like a traditional conservative or Republican. His appeal is attitudinal.
- [35:42]
Miranda Devine
Yes. Common sense.
- [35:43]
Monica Crowley
Common sense. Attitudinal. Right. Bring America back. Make America great again.
- [35:50]
Miranda Devine
Energetic. The epitome of the American dream.
- [35:53]
Monica Crowley
Correct. Yeah. Because he's lived it. So. And he knew that people who were struggling in middle America, their Rust Belt, the industrial belt that got sold down the river, they didn't have the American dream anymore. And he said, you know what? Since nobody else is going to do it, I will restore that dream name for them. That Miranda is the most powerful thing, because it's not a political appeal. It's an emotional one. And I said. When I heard him say that, I said, nobody's gonna lay a cliff on him. He is gonna make it all the way. And then it was on Fox News, I think, with Bill O'Reilly and then Don Imus, and they were all laughing like, oh, this is gonna end in three weeks. And. Yeah, and. And I. I remember saying something to the effect of, stop laughing. Do not underestimate him. He is going to pull the whole thing off. And I was. I was. You weren't. And did he see. He saw it. And to this day, he remembers that. And he'll say to me once in a while, like, you know, you're one of very, very few who has been with me since day one.
- [37:00]
Miranda Devine
It means a lot. Loyalty means everything to him. I've never known someone who puts so much stock in Loyalty. He'll talk to you if you weren't loyal. But he remembers who was really loyal.
- [37:11]
Monica Crowley
Yes, yes.
- [37:12]
Miranda Devine
And so then he invited you to come and work for him.
- [37:15]
Monica Crowley
Yes. And that was.
- [37:17]
Miranda Devine
That was a pinnacle, but it was also the beginning. You were probably one of the first victims of or targets of the left's cancellation culture, and they obviously saw you as a real threat.
- [37:32]
Monica Crowley
And in. In many ways, those of us who have been loyal to him from the beginning, that his enemies see us as extensions of him, and not one of.
- [37:41]
Miranda Devine
Them has escaped without being. Without scar tissue.
- [37:44]
Monica Crowley
Well, I. I wear it as a badge of honor because in many ways, I was like, patient zero. Yes. Of.
- [37:50]
Miranda Devine
Because he's got tissue in his ear.
- [37:53]
Monica Crowley
He is absolutely. No, he's. He's taken literal bullets for us and the forgotten men and women and for America. But, yeah, I wear it as badge of honor. In the first term, originally, I was going in with General Flynn to be the Strategic Communications Director for the National Security Council, given my background in national security. And what we didn't realize at the time was the Deep State was targeting General Flynn and wanted to remove him to get to President Trump. And so they attacked me first so that they could isolate General Flynn and leave him without anybody who could defend him. So they came at me first.
- [38:35]
Miranda Devine
You really were patient zero.
- [38:37]
Monica Crowley
Yeah, really was January of 2017 before President Trump was even inaugurated the first time. But I wore it as a badge of honor. I've restored my reputation after all of those smears. Years. And then I was invited to join the Treasury Department in May of 2019. So I ended up serving in the first Trump administration as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury. Fantastic experience.
- [39:01]
Miranda Devine
And you were also vindicated, though, because I think they came after your PhD thesis at Columbia.
- [39:07]
Monica Crowley
Yes.
- [39:08]
Miranda Devine
And Columbia did an investigation and found there was no.
- [39:11]
Monica Crowley
No research misconduct whatsoever. And the original report from cnn, what the reporters didn't say was that when they put up their report that I had allegedly done 48 examples of what they call plagiarism, that they had omitted dozens of my footnotes deliberately to make it look like I didn't cite my work. So it was a deliberate smear. Yes. That had nothing to do with me, but I did have to fight back, of course. Yes, of course. So it was all weaponized against me. But what I came to realize, Miranda, that those smears were not about me. It was about getting Flynn and then ultimately hurting President Trump.
- [39:52]
Miranda Devine
It must have been devastating for you, though, at that time, you were a high flyer. That was the dream Job.
- [39:57]
Monica Crowley
Exactly right. Yeah. And so to have that happen out of nowhere, because the attacks were coming at President Trump, but really not his team, except for Paul Manafort. There were. Were some indications, but never in my life did I think I would be in the crosshairs of the deep state. But it came right at me.
- [40:16]
Miranda Devine
What did you. How did you cope with that?
- [40:17]
Monica Crowley
My faith. Right, My faith, yes. And, of course, I have a lot of great support from my family and friends. And then I. I restored my reputation because I fought back and proceeded to. To restore, you know, what I had lost. But my faith in God really got me through prayer. And that source of. Of strength was tremendous during that time. And I will say what I believe. God doesn't restore you to where you were. He restores you greater and stronger and stronger and wiser. Absolutely.
- [40:49]
Miranda Devine
Yeah. And so then you worked with President Trump through his term.
- [40:55]
Monica Crowley
Yes, In. In the first term. Yeah, I was there for two years. Yeah. And what was extraordinary about that time, Miranda, is when I came in, the Trump economy was booming because of the Trump tax cuts, because of regulatory relief, because of unleashing our great energy sector, and because he was negotiating fairer trade deals. Right.
- [41:15]
Miranda Devine
He was set for a blistering win in 2020.
- [41:18]
Monica Crowley
Exactly. So when I came in in May of 2019, I said to my predecessor who was leaving Treasury, I said, oh, this is fantastic. And then I joked and I said, said, just don't stick me with a crappy economy. Ha ha.
- [41:31]
Miranda Devine
And then Covid hit Raj.
- [41:34]
Monica Crowley
So I was in office with the president presiding over an unprecedented shutdown of the US and global economies, which had never been seen before. We were flying without a net. The president, the secretary, nobody could call their predecessor and say, what did you do in the last pandemic, in the last global economic shutdown? There was. There's nobody to go for advice on how to handle any of this. So everything that President Trump did, Secretary Mnuchin did, our teams did, was completely unprecedented. Nobody had ever seen anything like that before. President Trump does not get enough credit for saving the US Economy and businesses of all sizes, from small businesses with the PPP program to industries like the airline industry. We had brutal bridge programs to get them through the most acute part of that crisis. He doesn't get nearly as much credit as he deserves for getting us through that.
- [42:32]
Miranda Devine
And, I mean, I guess the big spending happened with Biden when.
- [42:36]
Monica Crowley
Which.
- [42:36]
Miranda Devine
When it was really unnecessary, when the economy was bouncing back anyway.
- [42:40]
Monica Crowley
Yes.
- [42:40]
Miranda Devine
So it was a more limited. It was still too much government spending. And now, just let's talk about you and your upbringing and what made you into the person, the resilient, faithful person you are. You were an army brat?
- [42:56]
Monica Crowley
Yes. So I was born at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, which is a center for Army Intelligence, which makes like the Army 250 parade and the celebration of her military. So personally special to me. But, yeah, I was there, but just as a toddler, so I don't really recall being there.
- [43:13]
Miranda Devine
Was your dad a spy?
- [43:15]
Monica Crowley
No, he was not a spy. He was a lieutenant colonel in the army, late Vietnam era. But they kept him stateside to train officers who were going to Vietnam and so on. Now, maybe he was a spy and just didn't tell me. Miranda, that could not be. But then we moved to the East Coast. He left the military, and I grew up in New Jersey, went to public schools. I have a phenomenal mother as well as a great role model, and I have a sister who's two years down younger.
- [43:46]
Miranda Devine
And your mother was a teacher?
- [43:47]
Monica Crowley
Yes, she was a teacher most of her career, and then later in her life, she became a hospital administrator in New Jersey.
- [43:55]
Miranda Devine
So she changed careers and she was a solo mum for your childhood?
- [44:00]
Monica Crowley
Yeah, from the time I was about nine years old, she was a single mother and did a phenomenal job with my sister and me. And she used to say, I have to be both mother and father. So she would sit us down, like at age 12 and say, if you do drugs, I'll kill you. If you smoke, I'll kill you. If you drink before you're 21, I'll kill you. Sounds like President Trump.
- [44:21]
Miranda Devine
That's exactly what he said.
- [44:23]
Monica Crowley
Yeah, he said this.
- [44:24]
Miranda Devine
I said, what's the secret of parenting? Because he gets, you know, his kids are all great. Yeah, and he said exactly that.
- [44:29]
Monica Crowley
She said, do not get pregnant before you're married or I'll. I'll find the guy and kill him first, and then I'll kill you. And my sister. And I knew that she meant it. She was a tough disciplinarian, but she did it with love. And that's the way to keep your children on course.
- [44:46]
Miranda Devine
And your faith. Tell me a little bit, what religion are you?
- [44:51]
Monica Crowley
Yeah. So I was raised Catholic, and I am a pretty devout Christian, and my faith in God and Jesus as my personal savior has got me through a lot of tough times in my life. And it just brings me a sense of inner peace. You know, there's scripture that says peace that surpasses all understanding. I've internalized that now. And one of my Favorite scriptures comes from Isaiah where it says, it says, my way is not your way. My ways are not your ways. My ways are higher than your ways. And I often think when I'm caught up in, in the secular world, as we all are in the day to day worries and the day to day responsibilities, I'll refer back to that. My ways are not your ways. So when things happen that don't seem to make sense or that are uncomfortable or painful, it's horrible at the time and everybody experiences these, these things. But I try to go back to that particular piece of scripture and it does bring me that piece that surpasses all understanding. Like God knows what he's doing. Yes, God, he knows what he's doing. Yes. And when things happen in your life that don't seem to make sense or are encrypt, incredibly painful and hurtful and not fair. We've all had that. Later in life when you go back and look at the arc of your life, it does. From that perspective, it all starts to make sense. And even now I look back and I was with President Nixon for four years until he passed away. And he brought me into every meeting he had with every head of state, whether it was Yitzhak Rabin or Boris Yeltsin or Francois Mitterrand or Lech Valenca or the Chinese, Chinese communist leadership. And now the fact, here I am, where the President has made me his representative to the rest of the world, dealing directly with the heads of state with whom he is dealing. I'm telling you, it's a full circle moment, Miranda, and it's mind blowing, really. Yes.
- [46:54]
Miranda Devine
He would be, you know, imagine looking down, he probably was in this house himself presently, many times. Yes, yes. So he must be very proud of his protege. And how amazing the link with President Trump. I mean, maybe it was President Nixon's inspiration to Donald Trump that made him start thinking about a political career for himself.
- [47:15]
Monica Crowley
Maybe. Yeah, yeah, yeah. A full circle moment for President Trump for me too.
- [47:20]
Miranda Devine
Wonderful. Thank you so much, Ambassador Crowley.
- [47:22]
Monica Crowley
Oh, my pleasure.
- [47:23]
Miranda Devine
Very wonderful to be with you today.
- [47:25]
Monica Crowley
Thank you so much. Marin.
- [47:27]
Miranda Devine
Ambassador, thank you so much for joining us today on podforce One. Please hit the like and subscribe button so you can join us next week for another major interview from Washington.