Trump stumped: Trump squirms as media presses for answers on Iran

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Trump Stumped: Trump Squirms as Media Presses for Answers on Iran"

The Briefing with Jen Psaki
Date: March 25, 2026
Host: Jen Psaki (MS NOW)
Key Guests: Emily Gregory (newly elected Florida State Rep.), Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Barbara Starr (Pentagon Correspondent)

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Episode Overview

This episode centers on two seismic political stories:

• The historic Democratic flip of Florida’s 87th state House district—encompassing Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence—by newcomer Emily Gregory.
• The mounting chaos and confusion in the Trump administration’s handling of the Iran war, characterized by secretive negotiation claims, ambiguous press briefings, apparent insider trading, and intensifying restrictions on press and public information.

Jen Psaki explores how these stories connect to broader themes of political accountability, media scrutiny, and the consequences of erratic presidential leadership.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Florida’s 87th District Goes Blue

[00:46–07:29]

• Historic Flip:

  • Emily Gregory, a small business owner, defeats a Republican by flipping a seat Trump won by 11 points in 2024.
  • “The Associated Press projected that...Emily Gregory...is going to win this race and she will become Donald Trump’s next representative in the Florida State House.” (Jen Psaki, 00:57)
  • This marks the 29th legislative seat Democrats have flipped since Trump’s second term began (Republicans: zero).

• Gregory’s Reaction:

  • She expresses disbelief and pride in the achievement:
    • “I’m still, like, pretty shocked. We did it. We just did it.” (Emily Gregory, 03:15)
  • Stresses the importance of focusing on local needs (property insurance, healthcare, schools) rather than Trump-centric politics.

• Advice to Potential Candidates:

  • “I say back yourself. You know, it only takes you getting off the sidelines to make a difference...no one is coming to save us. We have to save ourselves.” (Emily Gregory, 04:30)
  • Encourages “normies” and diverse voices to seek office.

• Position on Redistricting:

  • Gregory opposes mid-decade, partisan redistricting:
    • “Any efforts to redistrict...are a direct call from the president to redistrict in favor of Republicans...the overwhelming majority of Floridians made that illegal in 2010...” (Emily Gregory, 05:43)

2. Trump’s Bizarre Iran Negotiations & Media Stonewalling

[07:32–14:06]

• Trump's Confusing Claims:

  • Trump boasts about receiving a "very big present" from Iran, supposedly worth a “tremendous amount of money,” but gives no details.
    • “They gave us a present...worth a tremendous amount of money. And I’m not going to tell you what that present is...” (Donald Trump, 08:10)
  • He plays coy with questions about control over the Strait of Hormuz, suggesting a joint U.S.-Iran control with himself and “whoever the next ayatollah” may be.
    • “Be jointly controlled by who? Maybe me. Me and the Ayatollah. Whoever the ayatollah is, whoever the next ayatollah.” (Donald Trump, 10:48)

• Administration’s Mixed Messages:

  • The White House offers no clarification on Trump’s remarks; press office “declined to answer any follow up questions.” (Jen Psaki, 09:36)
  • Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth says, “We negotiate with bombs,” even as reporting emerges about a 15-point U.S. peace proposal sent to Iran.
    • (Senator Ruben Gallego, parodying administration, 12:07)
  • Reporting indicates confusion even inside Trump’s orbit.

• Accountability Dodge:

  • Trump publicly pushes blame for war decisions onto advisers:
    • “This was all Pete’s idea. Pete wanted to go to war. Pete didn’t want it to be settled. If this war drags on...blame Pete.” (Jen Psaki, 14:06)

3. Allegations of Insider Trading & War Profiteering

[14:07–18:09]

• Suspicious Financial Activity:

  • A spike in oil futures trading occurred minutes before Trump’s public negotiation announcement; bets worth over $500 million were placed.
    • “Experts say it looks a whole lot like insider trading.” (Jen Psaki, 13:43)
  • Anonymous bettor(s) also made nearly $1 million on Polymarket by correctly predicting military action in Iran.

• Transparency Concerns:

  • Ongoing clampdown on war-related information; Pentagon imposes new restrictions on press, despite a court ruling them unconstitutional.
  • Congress (GOP) refuses public hearings on war conduct.
    • “Trump wants to keep journalists and the public...from getting access to consequential decisions about this war.” (Jen Psaki, 15:00)
  • Raises the question: Who is really benefitting from this chaos?

• Foreign Influence:

  • Trump’s war efforts reportedly influenced by Saudi Crown Prince and Israeli PM Netanyahu, the latter seeking vengeance for alleged assassination attempts on Trump.

4. Veterans and Military Families React: Town Hall with Sen. Gallego

[18:09–27:38; 20:04–27:38]

• Gallego’s Take on Escalation:

  • Criticizes Trump’s lack of strategy as more U.S. troops and Marines are sent to the Middle East.
    • “You are doing this because you didn’t plan for a victory, you didn’t plan for an exit...This president did not plan this out.” (Senator Ruben Gallego, 20:55)
  • Concern over drawing forces from other global commitments.

• Veterans’ Community Sentiment:

  • Many at the San Antonio town hall are veterans (including Latinos) and Trump voters now disillusioned by the Iran war and broken promises to avoid “stupid wars.”
    • “The most patriotic thing you could do for veterans is to not send us to stupid wars.” (Senator Ruben Gallego, 18:09)
  • Fear for the future: worries about sons and daughters fighting for unclear reasons.

• Personal Loss:

  • Gallego references the pain of losing friends in Iraq and insists, “It’s people like...all my friends, too many of them that died…But it’s bad leadership that ended up killing us.” (Senator Ruben Gallego, 24:26)

• Netanyahu’s Motivation:

  • Gallego asserts Trump’s personal grievance, not national interest, drove the decision to escalate in Iran.
    • “He doesn’t understand the idea of self-sacrifice...he is selfish. Those two combinations are the worst thing you could have in a president.” (Senator Ruben Gallego, 26:34)

5. ICE, Elections, and Voter Intimidation Discourse

[29:24–35:32]

• ICE at Airports & Polling Places:

  • Steve Bannon suggests using ICE presence at airports as a trial run for intimidation at polling stations in 2026, raising civil liberties alarms.
    • “We can use this as a test drive...to really perfect ICE’s involvement in the 2026 midterm election.” (Steve Bannon, 29:50)

• Gallego’s Critique:

  • Warns against weaponizing ICE to suppress voting, especially among Latinos.
    • “They’re racially profiling, especially Latinos all the time and making them prove their citizenship. Imagine if they're at polling places and they decide to start doing that. That’s going to cause chaos.” (Senator Ruben Gallego, 30:40)
  • Argues the administration is “throwing out anything they can” to maintain power as election losses mount.

• Trend of Democratic Success:

  • 29 Democratic seat flips since 2024, signaling not just energized progressive voters but Republican and independent cross-over.
    • “There are Republicans that consider themselves patriots, are realizing they need to put a check on these Republicans and on the White House, and they’re coming out and voting for Democrats.” (Senator Ruben Gallego, 32:52)

• Gridlocked Negotiations:

  • Ongoing standoff over TSA and DHS funding tied to Trump’s deportation and ICE policies—Gallego says the president pursues “chaos” rather than solutions.

6. Pentagon's Crackdown on Media Access

[35:38–44:40]

• Context:

  • The Trump Pentagon, led by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, imposes new journalist restrictions, defying a recent court ruling.

• Barbara Starr’s Historical Perspective:

  • Explains importance of full-time media presence in Pentagon “correspondence corridor.”
    • “This is the only...Ministry of Defense in the world that allows journalists in full time to see what they’re doing to report on this.” (Barbara Starr, 39:11)
  • Precedent across Democratic and Republican administrations upheld media as vital for transparency.
  • Recounts how investigative reporting often informed DoD leaders of problems (e.g., Walter Reed treatment, equipment needs).

• Current Dangers:

  • Criticizes Hegseth’s rationale for restricting reporters as unnecessary and harmful to democracy.
    • “Restricting the news media is not the way to [address security].” (Barbara Starr, 43:32)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Emily Gregory on Grassroots Action:
  “No one is coming to save us. We have to save ourselves.” (04:30)

• Trump’s “Mystery Prize” from Iran:
  “I'm not going to tell you what that present is, but it was a very significant prize.” (Donald Trump, 08:10)

• Gallego on Foolish Wars:
  “The most patriotic thing you could do for veterans is to not send us to stupid wars.” (Senator Ruben Gallego, 18:09)

• On Administration’s Confusion:
  “Trump claims his secret negotiations with secret Iranians are going so great that we’re winning extra double super secret expensive prizes.” (Jen Psaki, 12:30)

• On ICE & Voter Intimidation:
  “They’re racially profiling, especially Latinos all the time and making them prove their citizenship. Imagine if they're at polling places and they decide to start doing that.” (Gallego, 30:40)

• Barbara Starr on the Press:
  “A fundamental underpinning of American democracy is the First Amendment and the free press and how important it is to communicate what the troops are doing.” (Barbara Starr, 41:33)

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• 00:46–07:29: Democratic victory in FL-87th, Interview with Emily Gregory
• 07:32–14:06: Trump’s Iran negotiation claims and press briefing oddities
• 14:07–18:09: Insider trading suspicions & war profiteering; press access, public trust
• 20:04–27:38: Senator Ruben Gallego on war escalation, veterans town hall, and Trump’s motives
• 29:24–35:32: ICE, voter intimidation, Democratic momentum, and funding standoffs
• 35:38–44:40: Barbara Starr on Pentagon press restrictions, historical context

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Episode Tone & Takeaways

The episode’s tone is urgent, skeptical, and at times incredulous—mixing humor and alarm while scrutinizing Trump administration actions. Jen Psaki, with help from her guests, highlights the stakes for American democracy, transparency, and national security amid deepening White House confusion, media suppression, and civic activism.

For listeners:
You’ll come away with an inside look at the shifting political landscape, real-time veteran and public reaction to the war in Iran, and the relentless efforts to hold those in power accountable—both at the ballot box and in the press.

Transcript

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[Jen Psaki]

There is obviously a lot going on right now. A lot. I mean, it's day 25 of Donald Trump's war with Iran and it brought on some of the wildest, the weirdest, the most head spinning comments from the president to date. Both from him, I should say, and also not to forget, Pete Hegseth and Senator Ruben Gallego is gonna be here in studio to help us try and make sense of everything that happened, if that is even possible. But he is a good person to attempt to do that. But I just have to start tonight with that unbelievably delicious rebuke of Donald Trump in his literal backyard. I mean, yesterday was election day in Florida's 87th state House district, which includes, as I was just talking with Chris about Mar? A Lago. And just to give you a sense of how this district has voted in the past, because there was no way that this was gonna sail into a blue seat. A Republican candidate won there by 19 points in 2024, and Trump himself carried it by about 11 points in the presidential election. That was less than two years ago. And tonight a Democrat is projected to flip that seat. The Associated Press projected that a small business owner. I just shouted her out, but her name is Emily Gregory and she's going to win this race and she will become Donald Trump's next representative in the Florida State House. Now, Trump endorsed the Republican in this race. Trump himself voted in this election and voted by mail, which is extra hilarious given his relentless attacks on mail in voting. And also he was literally in Florida at the time. So the list of things that are amazing about this Democratic flip is kind of, it's kind of too long to go through right now. But here's the big picture. It appears that this Florida seat is going to be the 29th legislative seat that Democrats have flipped since Trump's second term began. Republicans, I should note, have flipped. Zero, nada, none. No seats since the 2024 election. And all of those seats, Democrats have flipped all 29 of them. Of all of them, this one sure does hit a little different, though, doesn't it? Joining me now, fresh off her unbelievable victory tonight, is Emily Gregory. Well, first of all, congratulations. I mean, I don't, I can repeat for viewers who are tuning into this enough. I mean, Trump won this district by 11 points in the last election. The Republican who formerly held the seat before he resigned, Mike Caruso, previously won it by 19 points. You've just flipped the seat tonight. How are you feeling, Jen?

[Emily Gregory]

It's a pretty wild night, right. When I started this nine months ago, I obviously thought it was possible. I think most people thought I was insane looking at the numbers. But, I mean, I still, I'm still, like, pretty shocked. We did it. We just did it.

[Jen Psaki]

What do you think about. There's so much to ask you about, but what do you think about the fact that Donald Trump is now one of your constituents?

[Emily Gregory]

I mean, I don't think all of that much about it. Right. He's one of 115,000 registered voters in District 87. My opponent made, you know, him forefront in his campaign, and I focused more on the voters in District 87. You know, what everybody needs, what all of us will do better with lower property insurance, with expanded healthcare, and with strong public schools.

[Jen Psaki]

So you answered part of my next question. But let me ask you, I mean, you said when you started, when you told friends, when you announced you were running, people thought you were insane. I'm sure a lot of your friends and family said, why are you doing this? How are you gonna win in this district? Have you seen how Republican this district is? But for people out there who are thinking about it or who are doubting it, how did you win? What would you tell them? Is your advice about how to kind of flip a district like this, Jen?

[Emily Gregory]

I love that question. And I say go for it. I say back yourself. You know, it only takes you getting off the sidelines to make a difference. And if you want the world to look different, then you have to go out and make it different. I think we've learned over the last several years that no one is coming to save us. We have to save ourselves. So I might have done some Crazy calculus to decide that this was a flip opportunity. But it was and we did it. So my math worked.

[Jen Psaki]

It feels like it's settling in for you and that is so understandable. You're about to be a member of the state legislature in Florida. I'm sure tomorrow morning you're gonna wake up and pinch yourself again, which is as you've deserved to do. Now, whoever wins, I mean, you are also gonna be voting on things. There are new congressional maps that are going to be part of the special session in April. You previously said that you would not support mid decade redistricting. Is that still the case? I should ask, and if so, how do you plan on fighting for efforts from the Republican majority in the Florida state House? Because you're about to be a part of the legislature. It's real now.

[Emily Gregory]

It's really happening. I know. Like you said, I think it will sink in tomorrow. I'm having a fairly out of body experience right now, but there's five representatives in the other room. So I'm going to huddle with them and figure out how we can fight this because, yes, any efforts to redistrict or a direct call from the president to redistrict in favor of Republicans before the midterms. And the vast majority, overwhelming majority of Floridians made that illegal in 2010 with the Fair District's amendment. So we know the voters don't want this. And I'm going to fight every day for Florida families and for District 87.

[Jen Psaki]

This wasn't the only race in Florida tonight. We were watching your race so closely because we'd been talking to you about coming on too. Do you have any sense of, kind of how other races are there other surprises that people should be looking out for out there? Other people whose friends told them this is crazy, don't run, who are going to surprise people?

[Emily Gregory]

I don't know about Florida. My phone got taken away like 90 minutes ago. But I will say anyone that's thinking about it, just do it. Just if we want different representation and you want people, normies, as I call them, to represent you and to be legislating on your behalf and set the direction for your state or your local government or whatever, whatever the case is, go do it. I think it's so important that we have different voices that are more representative of the average Floridian.

[Jen Psaki]

You won't know until you put yourself out there. Emily Gregory, thank you for letting us be a part of your out of body experience. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing you process this. Congratulations again. And we'll look forward to seeing what you do. Thanks again for joining us.

[Emily Gregory]

Thank you so much.

[Jen Psaki]

So, again, as I mentioned at the top of the show, there is so much to get to tonight, and I wanted to start tonight also after talking to Emily Greger, of course, by also talking about the fact that it is day 25 of Donald Trump's war of choice in Iran. And what a day it was on that front. Because today in the Oval Office, when the President of the United States was asked a very reasonable set of questions by reporters in the room about the status of negotiating with Iranians to bring an end to the war, something everybody should want, he decided it was the right moment to brag about an expensive gift.

[Donald Trump]

They did something yesterday that was amazing, actually. They gave us a present and the President arrived today and it was a very big present worth a tremendous amount of money. And I'm not going to tell you what that present is, but it was a very significant prize and they gave it to us and they said they were going to give it. So that meant one thing to me, would deal with the right people.

[Jen Psaki]

I'm sorry, what? What was that? So the Iranian regime gave Donald Trump a present. He does love presents. We know that. A secret prize worth, quote, a tremendous amount of money, and that gift makes the President of the United States suddenly feel like he's talking to the right people. I mean, these are people who give expensive gifts. How. But could they be bad? How could they be. I should also note, we don't know who he's talking to or what they're talking about or how those conversations are bringing an end to the war he started. And naturally, as they should, the press had some follow up questions. What about the street of Hormuz? Who's gonna be in control of that?

[Donald Trump]

That'll be opened very soon if this works.

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Nuclear related?

[Donald Trump]

No, it wasn't nuclear related. It was oil and gas related.

[Jen Psaki]

Was it related to the Strait of Hormuz and the flow of.

[Donald Trump]

Yeah, it was related to the flow and to the strait, yeah.

[Jen Psaki]

Was it bigger than a breadbox? Was it smaller than a breadbox? I mean, Trump just decided to play a guessing game with the press, dropping enigmatic clues about his Iranian Mystery Prize. So if you're thinking to yourself, the White House must have tried to clean up or explain those comments later in the day. I mean, believe me, that's a moment where you're hiding under your pillow, you're putting your jacket over your head, you're hoping nobody asks you about it. Of course, they're going to. Well, if you thought they were going to clean it up, you would be mistaken. The White House press office declined to answer any follow up questions when Politico tried to clarify what the heck the President was talking about. But they report Politico, that is that, quote, several people close to the White House said they were baffled by the President's remarks. No kidding. Of course they were baffled. And this was not even the only baffling thing Trump has said recently about these negotiations with the Iranian government. I mean, here he was just yesterday talking about efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. What about the Strait of Hormuz? Who's going to be in control of that?

[Donald Trump]

That'll be opened very soon. If this works.

[Jen Psaki]

How soon and who's in control of it? Will Iran still be able to control the flow of oil?

[Donald Trump]

Be jointly controlled by who? Maybe me.

[Senator Ruben Gallego]

Maybe me.

[Donald Trump]

Me and the Ayatollah. Whoever the ayatollah is, whoever the next ayatollah. Look, and it'll also be a form of a, a very serious form of a regime change. Now, in all fairness, everybody's been killed from the regime. They're really starting off there's automatically a regime change. But we're dealing with some people that I find to be very reasonable, very solid. The people within know who they are.

[Jen Psaki]

Okay, none of this is funny, but Donald Trump's lack of understanding of all things seems is a bit funny. I mean, he just two weeks ago was calling for Iran's unconditional surrender. Remember that? Now he's musing about overseeing the Strait of Hormuz in partnership with his new besties, the ayatollah, or a future ayatollah, according to him. That was what he said. And again, he's negotiating with somebody about all of this. He wouldn't say who exactly, but he says they're very reasonable. And then there's what Trump's own Secretary of Defense is saying about his role in these so called negotiations.

[Senator Ruben Gallego]

We see ourselves as part of this negotiation as well.

[Jen Psaki]

We negotiate with bombs. We negotiate with bombs. I mean, but that's what Pete Hexa said today in the Oval Office while standing right beside President Trump. You could see him, which is even crazier given that just a few hours later we got this reporting from the New York Times, which said, quote, the United States has sent Iran a 15 point plan to end the war in the Middle east. According to two officials briefed on the diplomacy, reflecting the Trump administration's eagerness to find an off ramp from the conflict. It was unclear how widely the plan had been shared among Iranian officials and whether Iran was likely to accept accept it as a basis for negotiations. Nor was it clear whether Israel, which has been bombing Iran together with the United States, was on board with the proposal, which seems like a pretty key factor here. So, just to recap, Trump claims his secret negotiations with secret Iranians are going so great that we're winning extra double super secret expensive prizes. Meanwhile, the Secretary of Defense is chest thumping about dropping more bombs on Iran on the same day Trump is sending Iran a 15 point plan which we don't have any of the details about. And nobody knows if the leaders of the country that dragged the United States into the mess have even seen it. There's that. That's my summary. All of this seems like a big freaking hot mess. And here's the thing. Donald Trump himself seems to realize it is a big freaking hot mess because in the most Trumpian move imaginable, the President is now trying to pass the buck for this war onto Pete Hegseth.

[Donald Trump]

I called Pete, I called General Kaine, I called a lot of our great people and Pete, I think you were the first one to speak up and you said, let's do it. I said Pete and General raising Cain. I think this thing's going to be settled very soon. Here they go. Oh, that's too bad. Pete didn't want it to be settled.

[Jen Psaki]

This was all Pete's idea. Pete wanted to go to war. Pete didn't want it to be settled. If this war drags on, if it's a big hot mess, blame Pete. Look, the chaos and confusion coming out of this White House is maddening. It's scary, it's horrible. And it's worth asking the question, though, who benefits from all of this? Who benefits from a president and his staff contradicting themselves over and over, whipsawing back and forth on major decisions that affect the fate of the entire world and so many people in this country. Who benefits from Trump's random statements about secret negotiations that are so hard to decipher because somebody is benefiting from all of this and it's not you. Trump first announced his supposed negotiations from Iran in a truth social post at 7:23am Eastern time yesterday morning. 7:23am Remember that time? But just 15 minutes before Trump's announcement, there was an unusual spike in oil futures trading. Traders placed bets worth more than half a billion dollars right before the price of oil plunged. Experts say it looks a whole lot like insider trading. In other words, it appears that one or more people likely knew that Trump was about to announce his so called negotiations with Iran and made a ton of money off that knowledge. And it's far from the only suspicious trading we've seen take place around this war. I mean, today, CNN reports that someone using the betting website Polymarket has made nearly a million dollars by placing remarkably accurate bets predicting US And Israeli military action in Iran. Now, to be clear, we don't know for sure that any of these transactions were illicit. We cannot say for sure that this is insider trading. But all of this is eye popping and certainly notable, especially when you consider who has access to this kind of information. I mean, for all their crowing about transparency, the Trump administration has been incredibly guarded about their decisions in this war. Just today, the Pentagon imposed new restrictions on journalists, even after a judge on Friday ruled that their previous limits on the Pentagon press corps were unconstitutional. And the New York Times reports today that Republicans in Congress are deferring to the Trump administration by refusing to hold any public hearings with Trump officials about the war. In other words, Trump wants to keep journalists and the public, you and me and your neighbors and everybody from getting access to consequential decisions about this war. But at the same time, nobody in this administration seems concerned about the possibility that some MAGA bro with a White House credential could make a million dollars betting on what's inside Trump's mystery prize box from Iran. And I'm sure people are betting on that. When Trump ran for president, he claimed, remember, he was standing up for everyday Americans by opposing new foreign wars. I didn't believe that. I doubt you did either. But now that he is president, he's launched a war that feels like it's almost exclusively about indulging his own whims, as well as the whims of other rich and powerful people in his orbit. Today, the New York Times reports that the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia has had multiple calls with Trump pushing him to continue his war with Iran. And at the same time, Reuters is now reporting that Trump's initial decision to strike Iran came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told him they could get revenge for Iran's failed attempts to assassinate Trump himself. All of this is maddening for every day, every American who will bear the cost of this war. And just imagine how it must feel to be one of the men and women in uniform who are being asked to risk their lives for this. One of the people who understands that sacrifice is Senator Reuben Gallego. Before joining Congress, Senator Gallego served in Iraq as part of a Marine battalion. He lost his best friend to combat operations during the war. And yesterday, Senator Gallego held a town hall with veterans in San Antonio, Texas, where he talked about Trump's war of choice in Iran with people who have actually served their country. Here's a little look of what of what that looked like

[Senator Ruben Gallego]

the most patriotic thing you could do, most patriotic thing you could do for veterans is to not send us to stupid wars.

[Jen Psaki]

Senator Ruben Gallego joins me here at the table. When we come back,

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[Jen Psaki]

As promised. Joining me now is Marine Corps veteran and Democratic Senator from Arizona, Ruben Gallego. Senator DIEGO, I want to talk to you about this town hall you did last night in Texas and the response you got because I think it's so interesting. But I just want to start with a couple of the news developments given your background and the committees you're on too. I mean, today we learn that Trump is planning on sending an additional 3,000 troops to the Middle East. And I think, as you know, well, as people watching know, it's on Top of the troops already there, as well as the 5,000 Marines that Trump is also sending to the region. I just mentioned this earlier, but. But you've spent time visiting with so many people who have family members who've served. You served yourself. What has been your reaction as you've seen this continue to escalate with the number of troops that are being sent to Iran to fight a war that nobody knows the purpose of?

[Senator Ruben Gallego]

Well, it tells you there's no plan. Why are you bringing men and women this late in the stage? You're pulling armaments from all over the world. You're pulling in our capabilities to actually stop missiles from South Korea, from Taiwan. And you have meu that's actually moving from the Marine Expression Unit. It's moving from the Indo Pacific to here. It's going to take to the Persian Gulf. It's going to take two weeks. You are doing this on this because you didn't plan for a victory, you didn't plan for an exit. You're actually hoping that all your initial actions were going to actually get you to a victory. That's a very dangerous situation. This president and the people around them, Marco Rubio, Pete Hexseth, are basically trying to stumble onto a victory and onto an exit plan. And when that happens, unfortunately, that means men and women die. That means that we start losing our national prestige when it comes to our alliances from around the world. And it actually gives an advantage to our enemies because they basically get to call the shots. This president did not plan this out. The basic, basic person has ever understood anything about the Persian Gulf region, about the Middle east, has always known, has always known that Iran was going to do exactly what they're doing right now. This is the first president that is so freaking stupid that he did not accept that that's exactly what's going to happen. I don't know who lied to him or he lied to himself, but he is screwing this up. We should never have been there in the first place, but even now that we're in it, he's still screwing it up.

[Jen Psaki]

We talk about this here a lot. You've been on the Armed Services Committee. I've obviously sat in on meetings where you map out all the things you just mentioned and people did map out all of the outcome that we've seen to. Your point.

[Senator Ruben Gallego]

Absolutely.

[Jen Psaki]

You were just last night at this town hall Vote Vets town hall in San Antonio, Texas. Texas is the state in the country with the most veterans per population of any state. More has been a more Republican state Though a more conservative state. Tell me about the population of people you saw there. What maybe surprised you about some of the conversations you had, if anything did.

[Senator Ruben Gallego]

Well, look, it was a very big crowd. I was happy to see that. And it was a crowd that you don't normally see was a lot of Latino veterans, a lot of family members of Latino, you know, either veterans and. Or people that are in the military that are worried what's happening both to the VA but also what's happening to war. Because there are a lot of Latino families that send their kids to the front lines of whatever service it is. And they were very worried about what's happening right now because they don't feel there's real leadership here. They also remember what happened during the Iraq Afghanistan war. Actually, two guys that I served with during Iraq, during the Iraq war actually showed up, and I got to catch up with them. But, you know, as I was talking to them on the rope line, we were just talking about, like, this is just deja vu again, right? And there are so many Latino families right now that are seeing what's happening in Iran. They're like, they're doing it again. They're going to sacrifice our kids for a war that has no plan, no ending. And we're going to end up paying more, both in terms of our blood, of our kids, of our family members, and then of our taxes. Because what's happening right now is they're going to fund this by cutting Medicaid, by cutting food stamps. At the end of the day, who's going to end up benefiting from all this? The rich oil companies, the people that are going to get the tax cuts that they got earlier in the year. But the people that are going to go fight are the kids and the sons and daughters that I saw at the San Antonio fair right now.

[Jen Psaki]

You can imagine it's feeling very real for people. Did you meet anybody who was like, I voted for Trump, and this is making me think again.

[Senator Ruben Gallego]

So this community of people that came out to meet with me, a lot of them were Trump supporters. A lot of them were Vietnam veterans, Iraq war veterans, Afghan veterans, Latinos that voted for Donald Trump in 2024. And they voted for him believing two things. Number one, they wanted security the border, and they believed that he was going to keep them out of these foreign wars. And the first thing they said was Venezuela. Venezuela was a problem. And number two, now what's happening in Iraq, in Iran, is scaring them. And this is what motivated them to come out. The fact that they were willing to come out, spend as much time as they did with us talking about their concerns, having their family members come up and talk about their concerns. What's going to happen to their kids overseas tells you that there is this understanding. They cannot trust this president. And if you look at what's actually happening now, if you see what he's doing, it's exactly what I saw during the Iraq war. They don't know how to get out of this. They had no real good reason how to get why we got into this. And right now, all they're hoping is there's somehow this solution just comes to them. But the problem is it's not Donald Trump that pays for it. It's not his kids because they're not serving overseas. It's people like a young Rebecca Gallego who is serving as a corporal. It's like all my friends, too many of them that died, who went to serve their country. But it's bad leadership that ended up killing us. And this president, Pete Hexseth and Marco Rubio are just as much the problem as it was back in 2003 and 2005.

[Jen Psaki]

It's different reasons that have dragged us in. But I know you've been vocal about some of the reasons that are just. I mean, specifically the role of Prime Minister Netanyahu and his efforts to convince presidents in the past.

[Senator Ruben Gallego]

In the past, yes.

[Jen Psaki]

To do something similar to what Donald Trump has done. I don't know if you saw this reporting from Reuters, you may have seen it about the conversation Netanyahu had with Trump trying to convince him to move forward, where, according to the reporting from Reuters, he pushed Trump to strike when he did, to avenge previous assassination attempts on Trump. Which really sticks out to me because that makes it about Trump personally.

[Senator Ruben Gallego]

Yes.

[Jen Psaki]

And not what is happening with the country. What do you make about that?

[Senator Ruben Gallego]

Well, how does this surprise you?

[Jen Psaki]

I don't think it does.

[Senator Ruben Gallego]

But, you know, and I actually said this yesterday, he doesn't understand the idea of self sacrifice. He doesn't understand the idea of putting himself, putting the country first and then himself second. And so will he actually put the American public in danger, our national security in danger to him to avenge something? Absolutely. And we just saw this, and we don't know what the full extension is going to be. We know that there's already six dead. We don't know how many injured. We know that's already costing us billions and billions of dollars, all because he got played and someone was able to play to his very small nature, his very small mind. The problem is this country is going to pay for it. We're going to pay for it. Because this president is an idiot. And we have to all be very clear about this, because I think there's going to be a lot of different reasons why they're going to come up. They're always trying to make him look like a genius at the end. But the reason we're here at this point is because there's two things. There are two problems with this president. Number one, he's an idiot. Number two, he's selfish. Those two combinations are the worst thing you could have in a president.

[Jen Psaki]

And when you're asking men and women to serve for a war you haven't explained to the country, you can't go anywhere. Don't go anywhere.

[Senator Ruben Gallego]

I will not.

[Jen Psaki]

You're attached to the chair, sort of. We have to take a quick break, but there's so much happening today. I want to talk to you more about what's happening with ice at airports and all of that.

[Senator Ruben Gallego]

Thank you. Clara. Yeah.

[Ron Reagan]

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[Jen Psaki]

We are back, as promised, with Democratic Senator Ruben Gallego of Arizona. Okay, so everybody who's traveling out there is dealing with airport lines. And certain people who are going at certain airports in the country are dealing also with ICE at the airports. And I just wanted to play something that Steve Bannon said about this because sometimes they say the quiet part out loud about what is all behind this. So let's play that. We'll talk about it on the other side.

[Senator Ruben Gallego]

One question. I want the mainstream media's head to blow up today. We can use what's happening with these ICE helping out, helping out at the airports. We can use this as a test drive, as a test case to get to really perfect ICE's involvement in the 2026 midterm election.

[Blueair Advertiser]

Sir?

[Senator Ruben Gallego]

Yeah, I think we should have ICE

[Blueair Advertiser]

agents at the polling places.

[Senator Ruben Gallego]

If you're an American citizen, you should be happy that ICE is there because you're not going to have illegal aliens

[Blueair Advertiser]

canceling out your boat.

[Senator Ruben Gallego]

They say no ICE agents can be at a polling station. What's the trouble with that? Jessica, what's the problem? If illegals aren't voting, why can't ICE agents be at a polling station?

[Jen Psaki]

I mean, again, you start to hear them circulate the same talking points over and over again. Do you think that's what this is about?

[Senator Ruben Gallego]

I actually don't think they know what this is about. They're literally just trying. Look, the President sent X agents to airport, but also to other airports because he saw somebody on Twitter that got picked up by Fox News. This guy is doing policy by the seat of his pants. Number two, why should be worried? Why should we be worried if ICE is going to the point place? Number one. Cuz they killed two Americans in two weeks in cold blood in front of our faces. We know that they're arresting American citizens all the time. They're racially profiling, especially Latinos all the time and making them prove their citizenship. Imagine if they're at polling places and they decide to start doing that. That's going to cause chaos. It's going to cause people to start deciding either not to vote or to try to. Just as important as they start mistrusting the government even more so and more so. But they're just throwing out anything right now because they understand that one problem that's happening right now is that they're losing this issue. The American public wants reform to ice. They don't want people. I'm sorry, they don't want federal law Enforcement be able to enter your house without a warrant. They don't want you to be able to be able to be pulled over because they think you're here in this country illegally. Because we know who they're going to target when they do that. We believe that you should act like all professional law enforcement and not wear a mask and actually show your identification. When someone asks you, why are you arresting me and who are you and what is your right to arrest me? That is why they're in this situation right now. They're just trying to cast anything they can to get out of it.

[Jen Psaki]

And I do expect that this is what they're planning in their minds, even if they don't know how it will work. I mean, one of the reasons they're obviously doing this or thinking about this or all of the things they're doing on voting is because things aren't going very well for them.

[Senator Ruben Gallego]

Not at all.

[Jen Psaki]

Democrats have flipped 29 state legislative seats. Republicans have flipped zero since 2024. One of the people who flipped the seat is Emily Gregory, who I believe, you know, you said you were texting her.

[Senator Ruben Gallego]

Yeah, we were texting her today. Just anticipation what was gonna happen.

[Jen Psaki]

And she flipped a seat that Trump won by 11 points. I mean, just less than two years ago. The Republican won by almost 20 points less than two years ago. What do you think that tells us? And the whole trend tells us.

[Senator Ruben Gallego]

Well, I think the argument people are saying is that the Democrats are really energized. You don't win districts like this without getting people to cross over and vote. And in Arizona, we want a state, unfortunately, that Donald Trump won. The reason we won is because there were Republicans and independents that were able to convince to also vote for us. Emily winning in where Mar A Lago, by the way, is, tells you, number one, she's a great candidate.

[Jen Psaki]

Trump's new representative.

[Senator Ruben Gallego]

New representative? Yeah. Number one, tells you that she's a great candidate. But number two, that she was able to convince Republicans and independents to cross over and say, you know what? This is not what I wanted. This is not what I expect in my government, and I want to support someone new. That's going to bring a new perspective, and you envision it, and that's happening everywhere. This is not about just Democrats being excited. There are Republicans that consider themselves patriots, are realizing they need to put a check on these Republicans and on the White House, and they're coming out and they're voting for Democrats they feel will do that.

[Jen Psaki]

It is, I think, energizing for people to watch. No question about a sex.

[Senator Ruben Gallego]

Of course, we're a bunch of nerds.

[Jen Psaki]

I know everybody watching is being a nerd is a good thing.

[Senator Ruben Gallego]

Yes. Nothing wrong with that.

[Jen Psaki]

Let me ask you before I let you go, because I think this is on the minds of a lot of people watching, too. I mean, Congress is still negotiating, unless you tell me otherwise, a deal negotiating ICE reforms and DHS funding. Earlier today, Trump said that it was unlikely he would agree to anything that the Democrats supported. It seems a little stalled because of that. Even though Democrats put forward a plan to fund tsa. What's the status of it? Where do you think it, what happens from here?

[Senator Ruben Gallego]

Look, I think it's been very clear that this president wants to just continue the chaos that's been starting in the streets of Minnesota, of Los Angeles. And now he's willing to bring more chaos even to our airports. You know, he introduces ICE agents, does not actually take a solution that was given to him by Republican leadership and by Democrats that would have basically gotten us out of all this situation. And let's also, let's remember in the last shutdown, this president was able to find money for so many things he wanted, for some reason, he could not even find money to move to actually pay these TSA agents because what he wants is us to rubber stamp, rubber stamp his efforts, his mass deportations, the racial profiling he's doing. And he wants the Democrats to be part and parcel of that without any restrictions, any restrictions on what's happening in our streets. We want sane law enforcement. That's what the American public wants. Not what Democrats want, The American public wants. And we can do that right now. And we could even, still keep negotiating while we pay the TSA agents and everyone else. But he wants it all. And that's not what the American public wants. And we're certainly not going to give in until we get what the American public wants.

[Jen Psaki]

Senator Ruben Gallego, we covered a lot.

[Senator Ruben Gallego]

We did.

[Jen Psaki]

Thank you very much for being here with me. I really appreciate it.

[Senator Ruben Gallego]

Thank you.

[Jen Psaki]

Okay, Coming up, what is Pete Hegseth so afraid of? I mean, seriously, why is Pete Hegseth so afraid of media scrutiny? He seems really freaked by it. He's even trying to, still, still trying to restrict press access even after a judge told him not to. I have the perfect person to ask all about that. What's happening? Legendary Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr is standing by and she joins us next. As I mentioned at the top of the show, on Friday, a federal judge ruled that the restrictions that Trump's Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth put on the Pentagon press corps last year the restrictions that effectively barred journalists from publishing information that hadn't been explicitly approved by the Pentagon and that bar journalists from physically entering the Pentagon without a Defense Department escort. On Friday, a federal judge ruled that those restrictions were unconstitutional. So yesterday, in a normal world, which we're not living in, should have been the day that they started to figure out how the real actual journalists were going to be allowed back at the Pentagon. It should have been the day they were given back their badges and left back in the building without any of those authoritarian feeling restrictions. But instead of doing that, yesterday, the Pentagon issued a whole new set of restrictions. The new restrictions force all journalists to be accompanied by a Defense Department escort whenever they are physically inside the Pentagon. And they effectively bar journalists from publishing information that hasn't been explicitly approved by the Pentagon. Now, if that sounds familiar to you, if you think I just told you the same thing twice, that's because it is almost exactly what the old restrictions were. You know, the restrictions that a federal judge just ruled were unconstitutional just a few days ago. The difference now is that the restrictions are worded differently. As the New York Times put it, puts it, instead of restricting how reporters could, quote, solicit information, the new restrictions replaced the word solicitation with, quote, intentional inducement of unauthorized disclosure. Both of which are incredible ways of saying asking questions. Now, it's one thing to defy court orders like this, but it is another thing altogether to admit you were doing it. Remember that the judge's ruling on Friday came as the result of a lawsuit filed by the New York Times about the original set of restrictions, which is why it is so amazing that Trump's former personal lawyer, Tim Parlatore, who is now, of course, one of Hegseth's advisors at the Pentagon, said this to the New York Times in an on the record interview. This is really. When asked about the new restrictions, Parlatori told the Times, quote, we used more words to say the same thing. You sure did tonight. That, quote has already made its way into a legal filing by the New York Times asking that same federal judge to intervene, to step in and compel the Pentagon to stop playing our around and just let their journalists back in the building. A very reasonable ask. Joining me now is former CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr. It's great to see you, Barbara. First, I want to just ask you about one of the genuinely, I guess, new rules. New rules, same as the old rules of the Pentagon's new set of restrictions. It would move reporters from the offices they have traditionally used into some sort of off campus annex. Now there are many other concerning parts of this, but you have spent more time in that building navigating it than almost anyone. Can you just help give us a sense of the geography here? Is that important? What should people understand about that?

[Blueair Advertiser]

I think it's very important. I think that basically what the Pentagon is talking about is moving reporters to a building out in the parking lot. Okay, they can do that, but it's not right and it's not what the judge called for. The judge called, as you pointed out, Jen, for restoration of what had been going on for decades. And that is that the Pentagon correspondents who are accredited to the building had offices and workspace in an area called the correspondence corridor. Why is this so important? It's not window dressing, it's not the convenience of having an office. This is something that I take to be very deep seated. Correspondents have been inside the Pentagon for decades. And that is for one very significant reason. It is because the US Military and Secretaries of defense have wanted them there. This is the only, shall we call it, Ministry of Defense in the world that allows journalists in full time to see what they're doing to report on this. And it's international journalists, people from multiple countries around the world who come there every day. People from all kinds of publications, not just the legacy old time media publications. New media is now accredited to the Pentagon. So it comes back to what you started off by saying. If he wants to end this decades long tradition that is so important of letting the world see what the US military is doing, why does he want to end it? What is he so afraid of? And, and it's hard to know the answer with him.

[Jen Psaki]

You know, it's so. One of the many reasons I love talking to you is you just have been there for so many important moments in that building and just covering wars as a journalist and events in the Pentagon as a journalist. You were CNN's lead Pentagon correspondent during the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria, during so many other moments. I don't even have time to list. How does the Pentagon's relationship with the press now compared to then? I wanted to talk to you about this because you were there for Democratic presidents, Republican presidents, all sorts of different secretaries of defense. We talked about the annex. What else really sticks out to you that people should understand who are watching?

[Blueair Advertiser]

You know, I started off really full time back in the days of Donald Rumsfeld I would say. And he was not overly fond of the Press. But he embraced the notion that they had to be there, and he thought they were performing a valuable service in informing the American public. And every secretary of defense since has also embraced that concept. They have all had their problems. They have reporters they don't like. They have stories they don't like. They have publications they don't like. Just like at the White House, no different. But they understand that in this country, a fundamental underpinning of American democracy is the First Amendment and the free press and how important it is to communicate what the troops are doing. I would share one anecdote which is under Bob Gates, who was a pretty tough customer and did not suffer fools gladly. I think every reporter who covered him can attest to that. Under Gates, he applauded the press corps because there were multiple cases of stories that emerged about things going on that he said he had no idea that the treatment of the wounded at Walter Reed, the need mine resistant vehicles in the war zone. These were stories that came out that were heavily reported by the news media. And Gates was very glad to see those stories. He did not take a negative attitude towards that. He didn't say that reporting the bad news was reporters trying to make the President look bad. I think one of really, truly the saddest things that will go down in history is Pete Hegseth criticizing the news media for reporting on those troops who were killed in action in Kuwait. It is so important for Americans to understand what their troops are called to do and how they may perish on the battlefield. Hegseth likes to talk about the fact he's a veteran, so you would think he would understand this, but right now he is determined. Hey, can I make one more quick point? They say that this is all because they have to have these restrictions, because they have to monitor reporters to make sure they are not a security risk. In the 30 years, I'll admit it here, 30 years that I was covering the Pentagon in the news media, like every other reporter, we all had to pass an FBI background check. I think the White House is probably the same way. They have plenty of tools to monitor any security problems they may come across. Restricting the news media is not the way to do that.

[Jen Psaki]

I always think about how John Kerry, when I was traveling with him, used to say it helps reporters, journalists understand the whole process. It helps their reporting when something happens, right? By giving access and bringing them along on the journey. Even if you don't love every story, that's not the point. Barbara Starr, thank you so much as always for joining us.

[Blueair Advertiser]

Thanks, Jen.

[Jen Psaki]

We've got take a very quick break. Lawrence has Senator Gary Peters standing by. He's, of course, a member of the Armed Services Committee and the ranking Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee, which means he is a great guest on a night like this. Don't go anywhere. We'll be right back. That does it for me tonight. You can catch the show Tuesday through Friday at 9pm Eastern on Ms. Now. And don't forget to follow the show on Bluesky, Instagram and TikTok.

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[Jen Psaki]

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Then switch to Huntington bank and let's get more from Money.

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[Emily Gregory]

Welcome.

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