← The Briefing with Jen Psaki
The Briefing with Jen Psaki
Trump, Hegseth put on embarrassing show before a distinguished military audience
00:40:45
Donald Trump's secretary of war, Pete Hegseth, summoned all of the U.S. military's top leadership to an extremely unusual meeting in Quantico, Virginia, only to subject them to weird, self-indulgent speeches from Hegseth and Trump. Lieutenant General Russel Honoré, U.S. Army (retired), talks with Jen Psaki about the bizarre event and Donald Trump's poor understanding of how the U.S. military works.
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- [00:05]
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- [01:02]
News Anchor / Host (Jen)
We all know, it's just past 9pm here in Washington. The Senate just adourned for the night and that means that three hours from now, the government will shut down. I just mentioned this to Chris. The Democratic leader in the House, Hakeem Jeffries, is here with us tonight to talk about it. So is Senator Cory Booker. We're going to talk with them. Part about how we got here. Also about what the impact of the shutdown is, which I'll tell you about a little bit as well. But also how does this end? Where do we go from here? Just to give you a sense of what is about to happen, which is a very important part of this, millions of seniors on Medicare who receive health care via telehealth will no longer be able to do that. Starting at midnight tonight, the FDA is warning that a shutdown will mean it won't be able to monitor the use of new ingredients in animal foods. And what that means is that we would not be able to ensure that meat, milk and eggs of livestock are safe for the public to eat. The FDA would not be able to. And at the faa, about a quarter of the staff will be furloughed, while the rest of the staff, including our nation's 13,000 air traffic controllers, will be forced to work without pay. But while Democrats in Congress have been actively trying to avert this shutdown, while Democrats have been sounding the alarm about just how much a needless government shutdown could hurt the American people, President Trump's focus seemed to be, well, a little bit elsewhere today. Today he held a bizarre, highly politicized Meeting of America's top military leaders who were all ordered from around the to basically come here to Washington, gather in one room to hear Trump say stuff like this.
- [02:36]
Donald Trump
I'm thrilled to be here this morning to address the senior leadership of what is once again known around the world as the Department of War. Like what I call the Gulf of America. The Gulf of America, because to me, it was always the Gulf of America. And, you know, we want war because we want to have no wars, but you have to be there, and, you know, sometimes you have to do it. I have settled so many wars. I love space wars because that was my creation. You know, when you create something, I love it. And the people we put in there were good. I got that right, actually. I love my signature. I really do. Everyone loves my signature. We won every swing state. We won the popular vote. I'm a very aesthetic person, and I don't like some of the ships you're doing aesthetically.
- [03:23]
News Anchor / Host (Jen)
Now, you would think that if he thought about calling all of the military leaders around the world to Quantico, Virginia, he could have at least written a comprehensive speech. It's not what he did. Now, in the midst of all of that nonsensical babble, some of which we just showed you, some of what Trump said today to our nation's military leaders was also incredibly alarming, including this.
- [03:45]
Donald Trump
While America is under invasion from within, we're under invasion from within. No different than a foreign enemy, but more difficult in many ways because they don't wear uniforms. At least when they're wearing a uniform, you can take them out. These people don't have uniforms, but we are under invasion from within. I told Pete we should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military. National Guard, but military.
- [04:16]
News Anchor / Host (Jen)
So today, in addition to griping about the aesthetics of our ships, he told our top military leaders that he wants to use our armed forces to go after people on American soil. And we're going to spend a lot of time talking about that tonight, in addition to the shutdown and what it all means. But while he continues to put the military in a completely untenable position, and that's an important thing to know. He failed to mention that starting tomorrow, huge swaths of men and women in the armed forces will also be forced to work without pay, because all active duty military personnel, including the National Guard members Trump has deployed to places like Washington, D.C. right here and Portland, Oregon, will be forced to work, but will not get paid until the shutdown is over. Hundreds of thousands of the military Civilian employees will be furloughed without pay. But again, that did not seem like much of a concern to Trump today. Look, Republicans control both the House and the Senate, and of course, the White House. They have a lot of power. And let's be honest, Republicans in the House and Senate are Trump's lapdogs at this point. Whatever he wants, they pretty much do, with a few exceptions. Which is why it is so concerning that not only does Trump not seem to care about the impact of a government shutdown on the American people, but doesn't even seem to know what the impact might be. I mean, yesterday, the Democratic leaders of the House and Senate, Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer, met with the president directly. And here was how Senator Schumer described. Described that meeting.
- [05:40]
Hakeem Jeffries
We laid out to the president some of the consequences of what's happening in health care, and by his face and.
- [05:47]
Niram Eisen
By the way he looked, I think.
- [05:48]
Hakeem Jeffries
He heard about them for the first time.
- [05:51]
News Anchor / Host (Jen)
Now, at the core of the fight over the shutdown right now is one wonky but deeply important issue, because it impacts millions of people. Health insurance subsidies. Back in 2021, the Biden administration passed a Covid relief bill that, among many other things, expanded access to health care plans under the Affordable Care act and provided credits to make health care premiums more affordable for tens of millions of Americans. Right now, about 22 million Americans rely on those subsidies, but they are set to disappear at the end of the year if Congress doesn't act now. That would mean insurance premiums for tens of millions of Americans could skyrocket for a lot of American families. That's not just painful, it's untenable. They can't afford it. And the Congressional Budget Office even estimates that without those subsidies, more than 4 million Americans would lose their insurance in the next decade. Democrats want those subsidies funded by the federal government. They want to prevent millions of Americans from being tossed off of their health care. That is the holdup. That is why Trump and Republicans are steering the government towards a shutdown, because they are unwilling to budge on that issue. And much like we saw during his speech to top military brass today, Trump seems to have completely lost the thread here. It's not just that he doesn't understand the issue. He doesn't even seem to know who he's negotiating with.
- [07:06]
Donald Trump
Chuck Schumer, who was here yesterday along with a very nice gentleman who I didn't really know, you know who you're talking about.
- [07:16]
News Anchor / Host (Jen)
His name is Hakeem Jeffries, Mr. President. He's very knowable. He's the Democratic leader of the House of Representatives and he joins me now. It's great to see you, Leader Jeffries. You've had quite a 48 hours, I will say we are less than three hours away from this shutdown. And I just want to start by asking you, I mean, you said today we're in this fight until we, I think a lot of people are happy to hear that. Tell us more about what that looks like. How does this end for people?
- [07:43]
Hakeem Jeffries
Well, we're here in the Capitol, and as Leader Schumer has said, as I've repeatedly said, as House Democrats continue to say, you know, we're ready, we're willing, we're able to sit down with anyone, anytime, any place, to arrive at a bipartisan spending agreement that actually meets the needs of the American people, avoids a shutdown and keeps the government open. But at the same period of time, what we also have made clear is that we're not going to support a partisan Republican spending bill that continues to gut the health care of the American people in the midst of a Republican health care crisis that is devastating to people all across the country. Republicans, as you pointed out, control the House, the Senate and the presidency. They have the ability to fund the government. But to the extent that, that they're interested in Democratic support, then of course we want to make sure, as part of a bipartisan process that we are looking out for the American people in rural America, in urban America, in small town America, in the heartland of America, and in black and brown communities all across America collectively, all of whom have been devastated in different ways by the ongoing Republican assault on health care.
- [09:00]
News Anchor / Host (Jen)
I just played a clip, and I think everybody watching knows you and Leader Schumer went to the White House yesterday. I played a clip of that. But I want to play something that Trump said today because I think it's important to show people how difficult this is. So let's just play that. We'll talk about it afterwards.
- [09:14]
Donald Trump
A lot of good can come down from shutdowns. We can get rid of a lot of things that we didn't want, and they'd be Democrat things.
- [09:21]
News Anchor / Host (Jen)
I mean, I suppose he sometimes says the quiet part out loud, but it seemed to he says there a lot of good things can come from shutdowns. What do you think he means by that and what are you preparing for him to do during this shutdown?
- [09:36]
Hakeem Jeffries
Well, it's such a shocking statement that he would make because he's the president of the United States of America and we shouldn't look at the consequences of a shutdown as impacting Democrats or impacting Republicans. It impacts Americans. Food safety, of course, will be impacted, airline and aviation safety impacted. That affects everyone. And millions of older Americans who have come to rely on telemedicine won't have the ability to access that level of medical care that impacts everyone. And this is on top of the consequences of the one big ugly bill which included the largest assault, the largest cut to Medicaid in American history. And in this bill, they stole food from the mouths of hungry children, families, seniors and veterans, Democrats and Republicans alike. And all of that was done so they could reward their billionaire donors with massive tax breaks. And they basically want to continue this scheme, but they want to do it with Democratic support. And that, of course, is a bridge way too far. That's not going to happen. So we're urging reasonable Republicans to come to the table. I'll be at the Capitol all night. Let's have a conversation about finding a common sense path forward to meet the needs of all Americans as opposed to continuing to devastate everyday Americans.
- [11:04]
News Anchor / Host (Jen)
So it seemed to, I mean, part of the challenge here for you, or you tell me, seems to be Trump is controlling a huge swath of the caucus, including the speaker of the House, who seems to do whatever he wants. You're saying, hey, Republicans, come meet with me. I'm happy to talk to you about a path forward. You said you want a bipartisan deal. Is Trump, do you go meet with him if he wants to meet again? Or what does it look like tomorrow? How do you move forward?
- [11:28]
Hakeem Jeffries
Well, in the White House meeting yesterday, I certainly made clear, and so did Leader Schumer, that we demanded the meeting with Donald Trump because at the end of the day, Republicans no longer function in the Congress as a separate and co equal branch of government. And the reality is, when Donald Trump says jump, the Republicans say, how high? And they've served as nothing more than a reckless rubber stamp for Donald Trump's extreme agenda throughout the year. So the reality is Donald Trump's going to shut the government down. Republicans are going to acquiesce to that, which is why House Republicans aren't even in town, if you can believe it. House Democrats are here on duty. Republicans remain on vacation. And so this is going to have to come down to eventually, the Trump administration recognizing that their own shutdown is going to be a consequence that will hurt them with the American people who are smart enough to know it's being caused by Donald Trump. And the Republicans come to the table. So we can work something out that also includes protecting the health care of the American people.
- [12:38]
News Anchor / Host (Jen)
Do you think Trump even wants the government to reopen?
- [12:43]
Hakeem Jeffries
Well, that remains to be seen. We'll certainly begin to find that out after midnight. We also know that since January 20th, Donald Trump has been waging war against the federal government, against hardworking federal employees and civil servants, and decimating parts of the government which impacts the ability to. To provide necessary services to everyday Americans. And that's been happening over the last several months pretty much from the beginning of his administration. Which is why I think many people have reasonably come to believe that from the very beginning of this process, Donald Trump and Republicans have been determined to try to shut the government down. But the American people are going to rise up and not tolerate it. This has happened in the past. We know that during the 14 day government shutdown that was caused by Republicans in October of 2013, eventually their will broke because the American people said enough. And when Donald Trump was in office in 2018 into 2019, that was the longest government shutdown in American history, 35 days. And eventually the Republicans engaged in an unconditional surrender because they could not sustain the pressure from the American people. It's my expectation that if we find ourselves in a shutdown, the same exact thing will happen again.
- [14:03]
News Anchor / Host (Jen)
We've been through. There's been. You've been through. I've been through a lot of shutdowns and negotiations. Often they're on the level, as my mother would say. This does not appear to be in part because Trump is continuing to post racist and bizarre AI videos. There was one of you and Leader Schumer last night. I'm not gonna play that. But just in the last hour, he posted another one, one of you today, you said, which is a pretty strong comeback. The next time you have something to say about me, don't cop out through a racist and fake AI video when I'm back in the Oval Office. Say it to my face. It's the pushing back that I think is very powerful in this moment. I get to ask, I mean, when you're back in the Oval Office, you may be. What are you going to say to his face about all this?
- [14:45]
Hakeem Jeffries
Well, I'm certainly going to make it clear that we need from the President of the United States an individual who actually is focused on doing his job as opposed to engaging in racist or bigoted stereotypes designed to try to distract or throw us off as Democrats from what we need to do on behalf of the American people. And it ain't going to happen. And we're not going to be intimidated by this guy or by the Republicans who currently are divorced from the reality of the situation that, as Democrats are, we don't work for Donald Trump. We don't work for Vice President Vance. We don't work for their billionaire donors. We work for the American people. That's why we've drawn this line in the sand. And our view will continue to be cancel the cuts, lower the costs, save health care.
- [15:31]
News Anchor / Host (Jen)
Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries. I'll just repeat before I let you go. This is about Republicans being unwilling to fund subsidies that help millions of people stay on health care. That is what the holdup is. I appreciate you joining me tonight. Thank you so much.
- [15:46]
Hakeem Jeffries
Thank you.
- [15:46]
News Anchor / Host (Jen)
Okay, coming up right now we have US Military in the streets of American cities, masked agents terrorizing communities, political prosecutions of the president's enemies, and now a government shutdown. I'm not trying to scare you. I'm just trying to tell you what's happening. And few people can make sense of a moment like this better than Senator Cory Booker. And he joins me here at the table in just 90 seconds.
- [16:15]
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- [16:41]
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- [17:13]
News Anchor / Host (Jen)
Not sure if you have the experience to start your dream job. Good news. These days, it's the skills that count. Udemy can help you get those in demand. Skills. Want to be an AI mastermind? Learn with us. Game developer. We've got you covered. AWS certified Cloud practitioner. We can help you prep. You'll learn from real world experts who love what they do so that you can love what you do. Go to udemy.com for the skills to get you started and get Set for your dream job. Okay, so as I just started the show saying the Senate has adjourned for the night, the government will shut down at midnight tonight. We're going to keep talking about that. And joining me now is a perfect person to talk with about that, Democratic Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey. So I started the show by explaining kind of how we got here, this unwillingness to fund these health care subsidies that millions of people rely on, insistence on tax cuts for highest income and what the impacts will be. But for people watching who are just tuning in, what should they understand about kind of how we arrived at this point?
- [18:22]
ExxonMobil Advertiser
So we've seen 10 months now of Donald Trump in office, and America has basically gotten sicker and poorer as he's broken his promises to bring down costs. He said he wouldn't touch people's health care, but that has been a lie. Millions and millions of Americans have lost their health care, lost their health insurance, are seeing their health insurance costs go up, and they're really suffering. More than that. People are already in pain in this economy, but prices from food to fuel has just gone up. And so here we have this moment where Donald Trump's in charge of the White House, as you said, the Senate and the House of Representatives. He needs to get seven votes, and he has to come to the Senate to do it. And so we're basically saying, if you want a bipartisan process, which is the only way to get this done, you're not going to bully this. We're not going to lay down for you like Senate Republicans and House Republicans. We're going to stand up for Americans who are really suffering. As I hear all over my state, north to south red counties to blue counties, people are really suffering and they're afraid of what's about to happen, which is many people are going to see their health care premiums go up from 20% to even doubling.
- [19:26]
News Anchor / Host (Jen)
It's a huge. And millions of people will be impacted. That's why we tried to explain it at the top of the show. It's not without risk, right? The government shutting down. I started the show by talking about some of the impacts immediately. There are also threats from people like OMB Director Russell Voe to fire thousands of people. Mass firings in the federal government. Do you think that he's actually going to do that? And if so, how do you think people should respond?
- [19:51]
ExxonMobil Advertiser
Well, remember, Donald Trump's administration so far 10 months has been about cruelty. It's been about corruption, and it's been about chaos. He's bringing all of that to the fore in this fight against what is the fight really for people's health care and for lower costs. I don't put anything by Donald Trump. He has shown us how cruel he is. And for people who are worried about what he will do. Remember, he's already fired tens of thousands of people from our Department of Education, from usaid, from the State Department. He doesn't need a government shutdown as a pretext. He's been doing this over and over again. This is what he does. And we have a choice to capitulate to that or to fight for Americans who are suffering and struggling with high health care costs, high food costs, high fuel costs, and more.
- [20:40]
News Anchor / Host (Jen)
Part of what's also happening right now, there's this absurd blame game. So many people are going to be impacted across the country, millions of people. If you go to the Department of Housing and Urban Development's website, for example, you see this, this kind of visual, the radical left, we're showing it on the screen right now, are going to shut down the government, inflict massive pain on the American people. That is a government website, right? I don't know if it's a Hatch act violation. I don't know. It seems like it should be a violation, but what do you even do about that? And how do you try to break through with the public who are relying on government services? And this is very confusing.
- [21:16]
ExxonMobil Advertiser
So again, I fundamentally have said this over and over again from 25 hours on the Senate floor to sit inside on the Capitol step, that this is a moral moment. It is actually not about left or right. It's about right or wrong. And what Donald Trump is doing right now is doing everything he can to divide our country at a horrific moment of political violence when a president should be calling us together to do something about it. He doubled down on the divide, on the division and on the hate. He brought our military generals together today, brought them together instead of giving a unifying theme. There are men and women from all different backgrounds who have committed themselves not only to defending our country, but to giving their life for our country. They swore an oath. Not to him, but to our Constitution. And instead of hitting those high principles and ideals that those men and women believe in so deeply, he used it as a political posturing moment to press on with his grievances and to threaten the American people. When he says there are enemies amongst us, who is he talking about? Well, I know he's called Democrats enemies. He's called us a threat. He has vilified us with the Most heinous of language. So understand that we have an American president speaking before the military, talking to them about your neighbor, about the people on your block, the people that belong to your pta. This is an American president turning all of his venom and every power lever he has against the American people. This is a dangerous time. Meanwhile, Americans are struggling. They can't afford their medication. They're struggling. They can't afford a visit to the doctor. They're putting off checkups and appointments that could catch diseases before they become serious. There are people sitting around kitchen tables right now who do not know how they're going to pay their rent or pay their mortgage or keep their children in school. He does not care about American people right now. He cares about himself, the puffery and all the arrogance that we see there and now. He doesn't want to work through a democratic process. He's forcing our country into a shutdown. And I'm going to tell you right now, I'm going to fight.
- [23:24]
News Anchor / Host (Jen)
What is that? I asked Leader Jeffries this question. What does that look like? What does the fight look like? I don't know that it is so hard because he's not on the line. So, yeah, so tell me what the fight looks like.
- [23:36]
ExxonMobil Advertiser
So I don't. I believe you can beat darkness with light. I believe in a democracy, the power of the people is greater than the people in power. I believe that it's not just up to United States senators to say, I'm not going to roll over. I'm not going to bend a knee. I'm going to stand up for fighting for health care and the like. But it's up to all of us to do that. I know we have a protest, another no King celebration. I know we have corporations that are beginning to find their backbone. Jimmy Kimmel back on the air is an example to that. We need more and more Americans to say, I'm not going to be afraid of you. I'm not going to capitulate to you. We see him using the Justice Department to weaponize against sitting House members and city congresspeople, and they're still fighting. We can fight. We should not tolerate masked people in unidentified vehicles taking people off the streets who have American children. We should not tolerate him calling enemies in cities and saying, I'm going to turn the military on you, threatening with that. We shouldn't tolerate him taking away health care from 20 million of our neighbors. This is the time. It's our moral moment. Will we stand up for each other? Will we stand up for the Sick. Will we stand up for the low income? Will we stand up for the military? Will we stand up for people who serve in our government? This is the time to stand up. Because I know Donald Trump will continue to reach and overreach and he will not stop until we stop them. And the way we do is to stand up and say something about it. And I hope if people want to stand with me, go to corybooker.com we have information there on how you can do it.
- [25:00]
News Anchor / Host (Jen)
Back in the spring Senate, enough senators voted with the Republicans to keep the government open. Right? And now enough senators did not. A couple did, but enough did not. How should people understand what's changed since then? Is it like enough is enough at this point or what has changed within the caucus?
- [25:18]
ExxonMobil Advertiser
Remember, they got a six month continuing resolution to make a commitment to actually pass a bipartisan budget. Appropriators on both sides of the aisle went to work. We passed three appropriation bills out of the Senate. But Donald Trump has now said, I'm not going to abide by a bipartisan process. He has, like a bully in the playground, told everything from Republican leaders to rank and file. We're doing this my way and the rest of the Polks in Congress. And frankly, the American people can go screw themselves. Well, the American people didn't make him dictator or king. They want us to work within a democratic process. And if you control the White House and two houses of Congress, you have an obligation and responsibility to sit down at the table and negotiate and know that not like a spoiled brat, you're not going to get everything that you want. And we're not going to just say, yes, sir, yes, sir, yes, sir. No. We were elected to do something. I was elected to fight for the people of the city of the state of New Jersey. And I'll tell you, in New Jersey, too many people are to going losing their health care. Too many people are seeing their prices going up. Too many people are seeing through his lies. And so it's my obligation not to give away my vote unless you come to the table and negotiate for it. And all we want as Democrats right now is to do something about the health care crisis that you created.
- [26:39]
News Anchor / Host (Jen)
I always appreciate, when I say what does the fight look like, you get excited about the question.
- [26:46]
ExxonMobil Advertiser
Look, I, I always say this, I said this back in my football. If you're going to step to me, I didn't ask for this. I'll do everything I can to de conflict. But if you're going to come for people on my team and my team is New Jersey. My team is America. If you're going to come for people on my team, come for their health care, come for their well being, you're going to have a fight with me. And that's what this is about.
- [27:04]
News Anchor / Host (Jen)
Senator Cory Booker, great to see you as always. Congratulations on your engagement.
- [27:07]
ExxonMobil Advertiser
Thank you very much for your kindness. Yes, thank you.
- [27:10]
News Anchor / Host (Jen)
All right, coming up, Donald Trump made a very mob like threat about mass firings today. I just referenced it. You're probably wondering what is being done about it. Well, there was a lawsuit against the administration that has already been filed by labor organizations. The lawyer behind that very important pushback that just came out today joins me next.
- [27:35]
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- [28:02]
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- [28:30]
News Anchor / Host (Jen)
Hi, I'm Angie Hicks, co founder of Angie and one thing I've learned is that you buy a house, but you make it a home. Because with every fix, update and renovation, it becomes a little more your own. So you need all your jobs done well. For nearly 30 years, Angie has helped millions of homeowners hire skilled pros for the projects that matter, from plumbing to electrical, roof repair to deck upgrades. So leave it to the pros who will get your jobs done well. Hire high quality pros@angie.com Today, Donald Trump treated reporters in the Oval Office to what can only be described as his best mob boss impression.
- [29:14]
Donald Trump
We can do things during the shutdown that are irreversible, that are bad for them and irreversible by them, like cutting vast numbers of people out, cutting things that they like, cutting programs that they like. And you know, all you all know Russell Vote. He's become very popular recently because he can trim the budget to a level that you couldn't do any other way.
- [29:37]
News Anchor / Host (Jen)
We can do things that are irreversible I have no idea who Russell Vote is popular with. Maybe just Trump and his family, who knows? But he said he can trim the budget even further. To be clear, as much as Trump has tried making this shutdown sound like some grand opportunity, what his threat actually means is that maybe even more Americans end up losing their health care coverage and maybe more Americans end up losing their jobs than would in any other shutdown under any previous administration. And while Trump might attempt to do all of those things, we learned today that it will not happen without a fight. Because today, two unions representing over 2 million federal workers filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration challenging those threats of mass firings in the event of a shutdown, which again will happen in roughly two and a half hours. Joining us now is Niram Eisen, who is the executive chair of Democracy Defenders Fund. He is representing the federal workers union in this lawsuit. He is a tireless defender of people's rights in this moment. I don't think he ever sleeps. So I'm grateful that you're here. So when I read the news about this lawsuit, the government had not shut down yet. There have been these threats from Russell Vogt and others about mass layoffs. It feels like there was a real urgency in these union workers, these unions acting right.
- [30:47]
Niram Eisen
But it seemed quick labor, our clients, the AFCI and AFSCME have been such fighters for government workers around the country. Jen. And when you hear Donald Trump invent federal law, as he did in that clip that you played, that firings are irreversible, no, federal law is the opposite. That we're supposed to use shutdowns for cutting. No, that's forbidden by the law. He actually signed one of those laws that protect federal workers if they're furloughed. They're supposed to get back pay. The division is supposed to be between essential ones who work through and the non essential ones who get paid when the shutdown is over, we cannot allow at the Democracy Defenders Fund, we can't allow Donald Trump to push around the working people of America. Frankly, it's the same thing as this health care that they're ripping away. Of course, the Democrats don't want to provide votes to tear health care away from millions of Americans. So we went to court with terrific partners, the Altschuler Berzon law firm in San Francisco representing those two unions, Democracy Forward us at Democracy Defender Funds, to say, hey, we are not going to put up with more law breaking. You know, the courts have stopped him over 200 times and this he's making it up. That's not allowed.
- [32:20]
News Anchor / Host (Jen)
It shouldn't be allowed. And I think one of the reasons I want to talk to you is this so interesting, cuz it's pushback like in advance of it happening, which I think is really powerful. But also because he's making up things, as you said, that don't actually happen. And you and I have been through government shutdowns before, working in the government. I want to play another part of this video from what Trump said today, which is not true, but we're going to play it and talk about it and just let's play it.
- [32:45]
Donald Trump
Well. The Democrats want to shut it down. So when you shut it down, you have to do layoffs. So we'd be laying off a lot of people that are going to be very affected. We have no choice. I have to do that for the, for the country.
- [32:57]
News Anchor / Host (Jen)
Layoffs is not a no choice thing. It is not what happens. You just kind of outlined this, but that seems to be part of what you're arguing here. Right?
- [33:06]
Niram Eisen
Exactly. And first of all, it's not the Democrats who are choosing to do this.
- [33:11]
News Anchor / Host (Jen)
That's true, John.
- [33:12]
Niram Eisen
Donald Trump is in, we call it a trifecta. You have one party that's in control of the White House, the House and the Senate. They have the option simply not to tear away health care from millions of Americans. Instead, they're choosing to do this. But Jen, what the lawsuit is about is they've gone further and actually the Trump administration has promulgated illegal guidance saying you can do reductions in force, you can do layoffs above and beyond what the law provides. They want to do extra, they want to hurt more. Hundreds of thousands, millions, tens of millions of Americans who are going to be affected by this. No, that's not what the law says. It's not what the Trump administration's own guidance. We quote that in this lawsuit, the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing. It's not not what Donald Trump is making up today in the Oval Office. It's the law. That's why 200 times, over 200 times federal courts have stopped him. At Democracy Defenders Fund alone, we have over 150 legal cases and matters pushing back on this administration. They're doing it again. We're not going to let them get away with bullying government workers. And thank goodness for these labor unions. They are fighting for their members.
- [34:37]
News Anchor / Host (Jen)
Normaizen. I don't know how much caffeine you drink, but grateful for all of the work you are doing. And so many legal eagles like you are doing to fight back in this moment. I know some of you watching are as well. Thanks for joining me tonight.
- [34:49]
Donald Trump
Thanks, Jen.
- [34:50]
News Anchor / Host (Jen)
Okay, Coming up, we're going to talk about the chilling message that Trump and his defense secretary delivered to the top brass of the military and what it means for the rest of us. We'll be right back. Today, Donald Trump and his weekend cable news host turned Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth addressed the hundreds of top military brass they had abruptly ordered to Virginia in a 45 minute partisan speech to the nation's top commanders. Hexseth lectured them on fitness and grooming. He railed about so called WOKE standards, and he declared that under his leadership, the department would end the, quote, war on warriors.
- [35:38]
ExxonMobil Advertiser
The military has been forced by foolish and reckless politicians to focus on the wrong things. In many ways, this speech is about fixing decades of decay, some of it obvious, some of it hidden. You might say we're ending the war on warriors. I heard someone wrote a book about that.
- [36:02]
News Anchor / Host (Jen)
The last part was a completely unctuous plug for himself there. Just in case you missed that. I'm sure you didn't because Hegseth, of course, did write a book in 2024 titled the War on Warriors, which you just plugged in the speech. And in that book, Hegseth argued at length that the United States military should ignore the Geneva Conventions and other elements of international law governing the conduct of war. He wrote, quote, we are just fighting with one hand behind our back and the enemy knows it. If our warriors are forced to follow rules arbitrarily and asked to sacrifice more lives so that international tribunals feel better about themselves, aren't we just better off winning our wars according to our own rules? Who cares what other countries think? It's really missing the point entirely now. The book followed years of HEGSETH Advocating for U.S. service members accused or convicted of committing atrocities and war crimes. In 2019, that advocacy helped lead to Trump issuing pardons or reversing punishments for three men, two of whom had been turned in by members of their own platoons. And today, Hegseth reiterated his extreme view that United States forces should prioritize intimidation and lethality over law.
- [37:11]
ExxonMobil Advertiser
We also don't fight with stupid rules of engagement. We untie the hands of our war fighters to intimidate, demoralize, hunt and kill the enemies of our country. A few months ago, I was at.
- [37:22]
News Anchor / Host (Jen)
The White House when President Trump announced.
- [37:24]
ExxonMobil Advertiser
His Liberation Day for America's trade policy. It was a landmark day. Well, today is another Liberation Day. The Liberation of America's warriors in name, in deed and in authorities. You kill people and break things for a living.
- [37:43]
News Anchor / Host (Jen)
You are not politically correct and don't.
- [37:45]
ExxonMobil Advertiser
Necessarily belong always in polite society.
- [37:51]
News Anchor / Host (Jen)
Now, part of what makes Hegseth's comments particularly chilling is that immediately after he stepped off the stage, up came Donald Trump, who equated his ongoing plans to deploy federal troops into American cities as part of a war from within.
- [38:06]
Donald Trump
It seems that the ones that are run by the radical left Democrats, what they've done to San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, they're very unsafe places and we're going to straighten them out one by one. And this is going to be a major part for some of the people in this room. That's a war too. It's a war from within.
- [38:27]
News Anchor / Host (Jen)
That is the President of the United States telling the country's top military leaders that he's expecting them to be part of what he calls a war from within. Right after his self described Secretary of War advocated to end these stupid rules of engagement, as he called them. What could possibly go wrong there? Retired Army Lt. Gen. Russell Honore joins me next to discuss that. President Trump is basically saying he wants to wage war on American cities and the fighters he envisions on his side, according to him, are the US Military.
- [39:10]
Donald Trump
I told Pete we should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military National Guard.
- [39:18]
News Anchor / Host (Jen)
But military joining us now is retired Lieutenant General Russell Honor, who served 37 years in the United States Army. General Honore, when you hear the president refer to a war from within where he named cities to send the military, military into refers to cities as training grounds, what, what goes through your mind?
- [39:39]
Retired Lieutenant General Russell Honore
It had a chilling effect when I heard him say it. I know he often repeat things like that in front of his mega base, but this was a chilling effect as a pronunciation of a new strategy to use the US Military to go into cities and fight mock wars. In practicing to go fight real wars against American citizens, I'm not quite sure the President has full understanding of the words he used. But I also know he was looking at a bunch of warriors who understand their rules under the constitution. In Title 10 of the U.S. code that described the actions of the armed forces.
- [40:27]
News Anchor / Host (Jen)
One of the things that was striking is that when he gathered all these people, he had people come from around the world for a 45 minute political speech, essentially. 4 stars, 3 stars, 2 stars, 1 stars to come to meet in Quantico. A meeting like this has little if any precedent. Tell me if I'm wrong here but what do you make of what you've heard out of it today?
- [40:51]
Retired Lieutenant General Russell Honore
Well, I think, to use the old Louisiana term, I'm not sure if the squeeze was worth the juice for the effort to bring these leaders from all around the world from the very important commands, fighting a campaign protecting NATO airspace, supporting the war in Ukraine, the war in Gaza. Two days before this event, three days before this event, we had Russian airplanes off the coast, we had a cyber attack in New York. And we're on the eve of a government shutdown. It appears the timing bad as well as the message didn't meet. The mission to bring them there to get a strategic change of mission. And some of the things that the Secretary said was using his personal book as a field manual on how we're going to fight the future and his favorite talking points from Saturday morning television. So the generals and sergeant majors responded to where you would expect him to respond in the formation. Unlike when the president speak to his base, there's a lot of clapping and yelling and hoo ha ha. None of that happened. And I think it had an impact on his delivery because he was looking for his jokes to land. Many times it sounded like he dated comedian on a Las Vegas stage who jokes just not landing. And he keep trying to land something to get a ha ha or a clap. And it didn't happen. You don't get this in the formation because what they had in that auditorium was a formation that stood up to attention when he walked in. So there's no clapping. And when he left, it brought him back to attention. And you don't clap when you're standing up. I think it kind of caught him off guard. And sometime when the secretary was talking, he sounded like the amateur musician starting to believe his magic, quoting his own book as a war fighting manual. This is most unusual. But I got confidence in those generals and those sergeant majors. They got to go back and they're going to execute Title 10 and U.S. code. Keep the troops focused, train them. And those who've got a little extra weight on them, they better get on some Ozempic, get it moving. Lose it or lose it.
- [43:11]
News Anchor / Host (Jen)
One of the things that Secretary Hadseth also talked about is rules of engagement. He almost, he called them kind of silly or unnecessary and. And he seemed to distort what they actually mean. Why are they important and what do they actually mean? Why are they important to have the rules of engagement that military leaders have had for so long?
- [43:31]
Retired Lieutenant General Russell Honore
Well, the war on terror, this long expanding war in Afghanistan and Iraq that we fought was fought in among the civilian population and it took extensive confirmation before targets were hit indiscriminately because you know what, when we didn't get it right, the world knew when we bombed somebody who we thought was a bomber. Even go looking at the Afghanistan withdrawal, we did a bad target and we hit a man and his family in a car delivering food for ngo because maybe we didn't follow the full rule of engagement. That's why we have rules of engagement is to ensure and verify and the responsible commander know once he get that order they are responsible for it. And the soldiers on the ground need to know. You just don't go shoot everybody in the village. And in the war on terror, that was a very important tool that was used to limit the casualties of non combatants.
- [44:35]
News Anchor / Host (Jen)
Lieutenant General Rosaronore, thank you so much. That does it for me today. You can catch the show Tuesday through Friday at 9pm Eastern on MSNBC. And don't forget to follow the show on Blue sky, Instagram and TikTok.
- [44:47]
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