← The Briefing with Jen Psaki
The Briefing with Jen Psaki
Trump's old tricks fall flat from overuse in the face of hard realities
00:41:15
Jen Psaki reviews the myriad scandals, disgraces, and bad news stories that are plaguing Donald Trump and his administration, and the familiar playbook of gaslighting, distraction, and lies that Trump is deploying with decreasing effectiveness.
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Show Host / Political Commentator
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Show Host / Political Commentator
We know this about him very well. He loves to gaslight. I mean, given his behavior, he must also love elaborate cover ups. He's very into them, it seems. And we know this because every time there's a story in the news he doesn't like and doesn't want to talk about, he does some version of the following.
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LifeLock Advertiser / Political Commentator
1.
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Show Host / Political Commentator
When possible, he says he knows nothing about it. How often have we heard that? A lot. 2. He makes up a fake reason for why information can't be released can't possibly be released. Sometimes he used big government bureaucratic terms that don't make any sense. 3. He calls it fake news and implores people to stop paying attention to it. 4. He pretends the bad news is actually good news. That's one of my favorites. And if and when none of that really works, and often a lot of it doesn't work, he does everything in his power to cut off the public's access to new information about the very thing he's trying to cover up. And he's been doing this for a very long time. We've seen this pattern for a very long time. I mean, remember during his first administration when Trump refused to release his tax returns, he claimed he had nothing to hide and repeatedly promised to release them just, you know, at a later date. But then whenever anyone pressed him to actually make them public, he'd resist, first claiming his taxes were under audit, then fighting all the way up to the Supreme Court to try and block their release. None of that is really the behavior of someone who has nothing to hide, to state the obvious. And we're seeing a version of the same pattern play out over and over and over again. I mean, take his medical records. Trump claims that concerns about his declining health are just made up and that he's actually in excellent shape. I mean, according to his doctors, he has roughly the same height and weight of Patrick Mahomes and Chris Hemsworth. Yeah, those guys. Those guys you can just see on your screen right now. But at the same time, Trump was pretty cagey about his recent hospital visits and mri, claiming he didn't even know what part of his body the doctors were scanning, if that's even possible. And even the doctor's letter that the White House released about Trump's tests were pretty vague on the details. The thing is, Trump's elaborate efforts to obfuscate and conceal the truth often backfire because his effort to cover up is often so ham handed. It just makes it clear that there is something he is hiding that we really should know about. I mean, we would just watch that play out with the Epstein files. Despite the intense public interest in seeing them released, as well as his own promise to do so, Trump, Trump has refused to make the Epstein files public, repeatedly downplaying their importance while calling the issue a distraction and a hoax.
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Donald Trump (Impersonation or Quoted)
What I just don't want Epstein to do is detract from the great success of the Republican Party. They just keep bringing that up to deflect from the tremendous success of the Trump administration. And when you talk about the Epstein hoax, what happens is you're not talking about how well we've done. Nobody's going to talk about. Because they're going to talk about the Epstein. Whatever. I don't understand why the Jeffrey Epstein case would be of interest to anybody. It's pretty boring stuff.
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Show Host / Political Commentator
It's all pretty boring stuff. There you go. Just distracts from all of their success and winning. That's what it is. Now, given that Trump could have just released the files on his own at any time, all of his efforts to suppress them only generated more interest. And so the pressure eventually became so overwhelming that nearly every member of Congress voted to force the release of those files. Now, we are starting to see a similar dynamic play out with Trump's boat strikes in the Caribbean. I mean, for months, the Trump administration has been engaged in potentially illegal airstrikes on what they say are drug smuggling boats from Venezuela. And in just the past week, scrutiny of those strikes has intensified after it was revealed that the Pentagon fired a second strike to kill shipwreck survivors, which could constitute a war crime. And Trump started off responding to the scandal by using one of his favorite tactics. I Mentioned earlier, saying he doesn't really know anything about it, claiming it's someone else's problem, and of course, at the same time somehow acting like he's going to be transparent. I mean, here he was being asked about it just six days ago.
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You released video of that first boat.
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Reporter / Interviewer
Strike on September 2, but not the second video.
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Product Advertiser / Health & Wellness Promoter
Will you release video of that strike.
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Reporter / Interviewer
So that the American people can see for themselves what happens?
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Donald Trump (Impersonation or Quoted)
I don't know what they have, but whatever they have, we'd certainly release no problem.
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Show Host / Political Commentator
He doesn't know what they have, but he'd be willing to release whatever they have. No. No problem. Now, since Trump made those comments, the calls to release the video have only grown, and some Republicans have now joined the calls for releasing the video.
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Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear
I'd release it.
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Show Host / Political Commentator
I mean, I think the American people.
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Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear
Would like to see it. Do you think it would make sense for the administration to release this video? I'm okay with it being released. We got to get any videos that.
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Show Host / Political Commentator
Do not in any way compromise mission integrity down there.
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Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear
Just get the stuff out there.
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Show Host / Political Commentator
Now, in addition to those calls for release, some lawmakers are now planning to withhold a portion of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's travel budget until the video is released. Really going to the heart of it there. And now Trump has changed his tune.
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Commercial Announcer
Mr. President, you said you would have.
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Show Host / Political Commentator
No problem with releasing the full video.
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Commercial Announcer
Of that strike on September 2nd off the coast of Venezuela.
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Show Host / Political Commentator
Secretary Hegseth now says.
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You said that.
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Donald Trump (Impersonation or Quoted)
I didn't say that. This is ABC fake news.
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Show Host / Political Commentator
Okay, I didn't say that. You said that. It's fake news. We love that. That was one of the tactics, right? Calling it fake news. Now, can we just go back to exactly what Trump actually did say on tape less than a week ago?
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Donald Trump (Impersonation or Quoted)
I don't know what they have, but whatever they have, we'd certainly release no problem.
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Show Host / Political Commentator
As they say, there's a tape for that. There's always a tape for that. Now the entire administration is backtracking along with the President, saying they may not be able to release that video because it reveal military, quote, sources and methods. Now, keep in mind, they've already released a number of videos from the strikes, and there are members from both parties. You just heard a number of them. Right then I just played it. Who are quite familiar what information would reveal sources and methods. Yet they are still calling for the video to be released. Meaning that has been considered and they're okay with it. And they're very familiar with intel and the importance of protecting it. Point is, it's the same story over and over and over again. Trump finds himself mired in scandal, says there's nothing to see here, and then goes out of his way to make that true by hiding the evidence of his own competence or his corruption or his lawlessness, whatever it may be. But he's learning over and over again that clumsily withholding information from the American public is not going to save him. Especially when the thing Trump is trying to hide is right out in the open for everyone to see. Which brings me to Trump's biggest and most unsuccessful cover up to date, his effort to gaslight the American people about the economy. I mean, for about a month now, Trump has tried to insist against all evidence anywhere that the economy is doing great. And he's tried to address the problem of affordability by denying there is a problem.
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Product Advertiser / Health & Wellness Promoter
For those that are suffering with cost of living increases and saying they're.
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Show Host / Political Commentator
Living paycheck to paycheck.
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Donald Trump (Impersonation or Quoted)
Well, I'd be very upset with Biden because we don't have any of those problems. You think prices are coming down from this? Yeah, I think they're coming down, but I think they're down already. Prices are down under the Trump administration.
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Show Host / Political Commentator
Why are people saying they're anxious about the economy? Why are they saying that?
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Donald Trump (Impersonation or Quoted)
I don't know that they are saying. I think polls are fake. We have the greatest economy we've ever had.
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Show Host / Political Commentator
I mean, to be clear, most people don't think this economy is great. Prices are not down, and the latest data we have shows that inflation is exactly as high as it was when Donald Trump took office. But that hasn't stopped Trump from trying to sell this lie. I mean, just this week, Politico asked Trump to grade the US Economy, and here's what he said.
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Reporter / Interviewer
I do want to talk about the economy, sir, here at home. And I wonder what grade you would give a economy. A plus.
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Donald Trump (Impersonation or Quoted)
Yeah, A plus. Plus plus plus plus.
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Show Host / Political Commentator
Trump gave the economy, as you just heard him, an A plus. And then less than a second later, he added four more pluses for good measure. Not exactly his most convincing deflection there. I mean, if you're trying to make people forget about inflation, maybe the grade you give the economy shouldn't rapidly inflate from sentence to sentence. Say, just as an example, which might be why Donald Trump is also doing everything he can to keep the public in the dark about the real state of our economy. The administration has now canceled the release of multiple important reports on the state of the economy, blaming the government shutdown that ended nearly four weeks ago. But here's the thing. It's a lot easier to try to keep people in the dark about the Epstein files by blaming ongoing investigations, which they shouldn't be doing anyway, or to withhold video about potentially illegal military operations on the basis of protecting sources and methods, even though that's bs. But they can make that argument than it is to hide a struggling economy that people can see and feel and live and pay for every single day. And so tonight, Trump held a rally in Pennsylvania trying to convince people he's been great, the economy's going great, while also calling the word affordability a hoax and rambling about everything from windmills to Somalia. And when he wasn't completely off topic, Trump's message on the economy was, well, pitch perfect.
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Donald Trump (Impersonation or Quoted)
You can give up certain products, you can give up pencils.
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Because under the China policy, you know, every child can get 37 pencils. They only need one or two. You know, they don't need that many. But you always need, you always need steel. You don't need $37 for your daughter. Two or three is nice.
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Show Host / Political Commentator
Worried about affordability, Everyone just buy less stuff for your kids. The pencils, they're going to solve it all. There we are. I mean, you don't really have to wonder why the country continues to register its discontent with the leadership of Trump and his party, including on big issues like the Now. Today, voters in the city of Miami went to the polls to elect their next mayor. Miami voters have not elected a Democrat to be their mayor for nearly 30 years. That is until tonight, when just as Donald Trump was giving that speech and all over the place in Pennsylvania, Democrat Eileen Higgins was projected to win the race for Miami mayor over her Trump endorsed Republican opponent. See, voters have not been fooled by Trump's repeated attempts to gaslight them. And Democrats in cities and states across the country are taking up the mantle of affordability and winning elections even in unlikely places. Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, head of the Democratic Governors association, who is very popular in a state that Trump won by a lot a year ago, joins me here to discuss in just 90 seconds.
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Show Host / Political Commentator
As promised. Joining me now is Kentucky Governor and Chair of the Democratic Governors Association, Andy Beshear. Governor Beshear, you are a busy man. I hope you did not watch that hour and a half long speech, but you probably got the gist of it. But let me give you just a sense of some of the things he said. And for our audience too, who hopefully didn't watch an hour and a half long speech, he claimed he was bringing prices down, that wages are higher, that things are better now than a year ago and earlier today, and you may have seen this, he gave himself an A.
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On the economy. Now you are the perfect person to talk to about this because you've been the governor of Kentucky for the past six years. You've seen everything in terms of the impacts of economic policies. What do you make of all those claims?
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Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear
Well, I'd say that Donald Trump was engaged in great inflation, just like you just said, and that he deserves somewhere between a C minus and an F in this country. His tariff policy is causing prices to go up on everything. Soybean farmers have been hit so hard the President is now proposing a multibillion dollar bailout. The big ugly bill is set to devastate not just rural health care, but rural economies because the rural hospitals are the largest payrolls in each and every one of their communities. But I tell you what, if Donald Trump wants to say that affordability is A hoax. If he wants to say that the economy is perfect, I hope he goes to every battleground state, every major campaign that we've got a gubernatorial contest in next year, and he brings that big tariff board because people know it's not true. People know he's made life harder on them. And if he wants to get out there and be that out of touch with reality, I hope he'll do it.
- [15:18]
Show Host / Political Commentator
Yeah, there you go. Some advice for Donald Trump there. I mean, he also said in his speech, to your point on tariffs, that his favorite word is tariff, if you can believe it. He said that in his speech. And as you just noted, I mean, he. And then he also said that he just helped our farmers out because they're starting to do really well now, as you know and you've experienced in your state. I mean, in reality, farmers are suffering, as you just said, so much so that the Trump administration had to use $12 billion in taxpayer dollars to bail them out. Again, it reminds me a lot, but I to know you live this. What you think? It seems to me like the arsonists taking credit for trying to put out the fire here. I mean, they created this problem. But how do you see it? And how are the farmers in your state experiencing his policies?
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Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear
Well, Trump's favorite word isn't tariffs, it's Trump. And that's his problem. He cannot see beyond himself. To our struggling families all over the United States, this is somebody who promised that he'd make life a little bit easier, that he'd bring prices down and that families would win. But they are struggling now more than ever. The American dream seems out of reach, which is a threat to the prosperity of our country. That young couple can't buy their new home now when their parents might have. At that age, or maybe ever in the future, people can hardly afford their grocery bills, and they can't take their families on that same family vacation they grew up going on. People get that there is a real problem right now that Donald Trump just won't admit. Then I look at our farmers. You know, our soybean farmers are only in this situation because of one man, and that's Donald Trump. His tariffs on China set off a trade war where China said, fine, we're your biggest market for soybeans. We're going to go to Brazil and, oh, yeah, Argentina, where the United States is already sending billions of dollars. And the president was willing to do so during a shutdown when he would not fund SNAP benefits. He let our people starve, but push soybeans to Argentina and give them billions of dollars. And while I appreciate our farmers getting some help because they need it, the president's policies may have dried up that market forever. And if that's the case, we're in for a lot more pain. We used to believe that a president couldn't impact the economy that much. We were proven wrong because he is taking a sledgehammer not just to the economies of rural America, but all of America.
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Show Host / Political Commentator
Let me ask you, you just became the chair of the dga. We mentioned that in our intro. And you mentioned kind of politics, which is part of your responsibility, too, tonight. Trump also mentioned in his speech how White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, who he bizarrely called Susie Trump, I don't know, said that he needs to hit the campaign trail. Who knows? Can't explain it. But he said that Susie Wiles, Suzy Trump, whatever you want to call her, said he needs to hit the campaign trail for the 2026 midterms that he's going to be out there. I mean, we've kind of seen the impact of him out there. It doesn't seem to help candidates who are running competitive races. But what do you make of that strategy as somebody who is playing a big role in helping Democrats win back governor's mansions?
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Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear
We have 36 races next year and Democrats are going to win a lot of them. We are going to change the map and we're going to win in places that people aren't expecting. And if Donald Trump wants to hit the campaign trail, bring it on. Get out there with that tariff board. Talk about the big ugly bill and how it's going to devastate rural communities and eliminate rural health care. Get out. And call affordability a hoax. Come on. Because the American people know the truth. And on the other side, we've got great Democratic governors and great candidates for governor. And as Democratic governors, we have the receipts. We've actually created jobs. We've raised wages. I've expanded health care in Kentucky. We've got the largest workforce that we've ever had and the most jobs filled. And that's done under Democratic leadership because when we elect Democrats, we do something Republicans can't. We govern.
- [19:22]
Show Host / Political Commentator
Well, I wanted to turn to there's so much going on out there, as you know well, to the Trump administration's unlawful and deadly strikes. We've been talking about this quite a bit on the show against alleged drug boats, of course, much like the Epstein files, my view is that Trump is trying to lie and gaslight to the public. There's a lot of calls in Congress to release the video, to release the justification, the legal justification as someone who is potentially positioning himself for a presidential run sometime in the future. We'll see. What do you make of these deadly strikes and the administration's approach and frankly, lack of transparency?
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Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear
Well, we need transparency. And if the administration claims it's legal, then they shouldn't have any reason to release that legal justification. If you believe that the law allows you to conduct these strikes, why don't you show us why and how? And if a video you say would justify your actions, then release it. But this is the same thing that he does over and over. It's the denial, it's the refusal on transparency. It's his claims that he'll do something that he never, ever does. The Epstein files. At one point I thought he just had simply gone in with conspiracy theorists. But look at him now. He is doing everything he can to prevent them from being released. And what does that say to the American people? We say, huh, maybe something's there.
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Show Host / Political Commentator
Maybe something's there. That's what it always tells you when people don't want to release things. Governor Andy Beshear, thank you so much for joining me. I really appreciate it.
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Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear
Thank you.
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Show Host / Political Commentator
Okay, coming up, Pete Hegseth holds a classified briefing with lawmakers on Capitol Hill. As the White House cover up around those boat strikes seems to somehow get even more brazen. Congressman Chris Daluzio is a member of the Armed Services Committee. He was a part of that group of Democratic lawmakers who urged members of the military to defy illegal orders and he joins me here at the table next.
- [21:22]
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- [22:39]
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- [23:15]
Show Host / Political Commentator
Right now. Donald Trump is trying to put as much distance as he can between himself and his own Pentagon. That's very clear. I mean, specifically, he's trying to distance himself from those airstrikes on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean that killed two survivors of the initial attack. Remember just last week he said that he would have no problem. I just played this earlier, releasing the full vote video so the public could see for themselves. No problem. But when he was asked yesterday by the same reporter if he stood by his commitment to release the video, he claimed that he didn't say that. There you go. He also said whatever Hegseth wants to do is okay with me before berating the reporter who asked the question. And then in an interview with Politico released today, Trump once again did a big old punt.
- [23:59]
Donald Trump (Impersonation or Quoted)
Have you watched the video stopping I watched everything. Yeah, I watch everything. I see a lot of things.
- [24:06]
Reporter / Interviewer
And do you believe that that second strike was necessary?
- [24:10]
Donald Trump (Impersonation or Quoted)
Well, it looked like they were trying to turn back over the boat, but I don't get involved in that. That's up to them.
- [24:16]
Show Host / Political Commentator
I watch everything. I see a lot of things, but that's up to them. So Donald Trump, again, he's a lot of things, but he is currently the commander in chief of the US Military has watched the video but is opinion on whether the killing of the survivors was necessary and isn't really interested in releasing the video to the public, even though his administration has gleefully posted numerous videos announcing new strikes. Needless to say, none of this passes a smell test of any kind and now Democrats and Republicans, too, are applying more pressure on the administration to release the full unedited video. There is even a new provision in the annual Defense policy bill that if passed, would cut Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth travel budget until the unedited boat strike video is released. It would also require require the Pentagon to provide the actual orders behind each attack. But despite the mounting pressure from Congress, despite the threat to cut Hegseth's spending money, the Pentagon still isn't budging. Earlier today, Pete Hegseth, along with Trump's Secretary of State Marco Rubio, briefed top congressional leaders. And afterwards, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said that when he asked the Defense Secretary whether he would allow every member of Congress to view the video of the September boat attack, Hegseth's response was, we have to study it. Study what exactly? That's a mysterious answer. Joining me now is Pennsylvania Democratic Congressman Chris d'. Aluzio. He serves on the House Armed Services Committee. So, first of all, you're on the House Armed Services Committee. You have all of the clearances to see this video and many other videos that perhaps are even more classified. What do you make of the refusal to share the video with Congress?
- [25:52]
Congressman Chris Daluzio
It's baffling, as you say. I'm on the Armed Services Committee. We have a sacred oversight respons, constitutional oversight responsibility. And I hear the public commentary from guys like Adam Smith, who's the ranking member on the House Armed Services Committee, Jim Himes, the ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee. And they've said this is some really chilling, scary stuff that certainly we need to see in the Congress. And the American people, I would expect, need to see this as well. I know there's plenty of interest. And as I heard and saw you there, Donald Trump said the same thing until he said something different. It's about oversight for us. We've got to see this and get to the bottom of what happened. And the American people ought to see it, too.
- [26:30]
Show Host / Political Commentator
I mean, you haven't seen the video yet, but one of the things that I have noted and I obviously haven't seen it, is that a number of people who have seen it have called for it to be released to the public. People like Jim Himes, people like Lindsey Graham, who are quite familiar with sources and methods and the importance of protecting them, which is a sacred thing and an important thing that kind of tells me that that justification by Pete Hegseth and others in the administration is baloney or worse.
- [26:56]
Congressman Chris Daluzio
Yeah, it just, it speaks for itself that they don't want us in the committee to see it. And again, as you say, people who are serious national security members of Congress who have been doing these jobs for a long time in a bipartisan way, when they tell you something that other members of Congress, the public should see it, that we should listen to, that. This is about oversight. This is about us getting to the bottom of what happened. Remember, it's not just this strike. We're talking about questions of legality around all of these strikes. We have not had a congressional authorization for military force. There has not been a declar declaration of war. Congress has the power to do this Congress alone. And so there are lots of questions beyond just this strike. But certainly we should be seeing this video and the public ought to be seeing it as well.
- [27:38]
Show Host / Political Commentator
The other thing that there's a fight to get access to, understandably is this legal memo that's justifying the boat strikes. It is very standard for that to be provided today. A coalition of advocacy groups actually sued to release the memoir. Talk about why this is important and why the Reich Committee is having access to this information is an important part of the process no matter who's president.
- [28:04]
Congressman Chris Daluzio
Well, I think this. You're talking about the legal memo, the authorization this administration is using to conduct these strikes without congressional authorization.
- [28:11]
Show Host / Political Commentator
Right.
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Congressman Chris Daluzio
The public ought to see that.
- [28:12]
Show Host / Political Commentator
Yeah.
- [28:13]
Congressman Chris Daluzio
If you're the administration, you're going to make an argument that you don't have to go to Congress. Remember, Article one of our Constitution says the power to declare war authorized strikes like this rest with the Congress. If you're going to argue that we don't have to do this, you better go make the case to the American people. This administration has not done that at all. That memo remains sealed and away from public scrutiny. I think it tells you they're worried and they are keeping this from the public eye. I think that's dangerous stuff. Put it out there. Let's have a debate. Let's get back to this basic question. Who decides whether we send Americans to fight and whether we strike other countries? The American people through Congress, not a.
- [28:48]
Show Host / Political Commentator
President or there's like a phony memo. I mean, who knows? We won't know until we see it. I talked to Jeh Johnson about this last week who was the, the head legal counsel at the Department of Defense. And he was talking about how these debates about the legality is something that is often goes on for days, weeks, and that's typical. There's of course a growing which I think is encouraging in a difficult situation. A growing call by bipartisan members, Republicans, Democrats, but also Republicans, too, to release the memo, to get access to the legal justification, even taking away, threatening to take away funding for Pete Hexass travel. What do you hope happens if these strikes are deemed illegal? What kind of accountability do you think members of Congress could work together to achieve here what's possible?
- [29:34]
Congressman Chris Daluzio
I want members of Congress in both parties. Let me be clear. The Republicans have not really been willing to do this, to assert our power on behalf of the American people. It's not a partisan fight. It is about the American people getting to decide whether we are striking other countries, whether we're killing people at sea, whether we're threatening Venezuela and Mexico and others, as this president has done. And no president gets to decide that. And to me, this is about standing up for the American people. And look, I'm a veteran of the war in Iraq. My generation, we're in 20 years of forever war in the Middle East. I heard Donald Trump as a candidate talk a lot about never doing that again. And yet here we are. And so I think this is dangerous stuff. I think the American people have not voted to send Americans off to another war. We ought to be having this debate right out there. And I want Republicans to wake up and grow a spine and stand up for the American people here.
- [30:20]
Show Host / Political Commentator
Do more than calling for the release. It sounds like you and your colleagues, the last time I talked with you on the show, it was around the period of time when you and a number of your colleagues had released a video that essentially said that if you are in the military, you do not need to abide by, you cannot, you should not abide by unlawful orders. We have now, since then, seen Attorney General Pam Bondi's past comments. We've seen Secretary Hegseth's past comments. We've also seen what's been happening here as there's been more reporting about what happened in the Caribbean. What is your reaction to all of this? Do you feel vindicated? Do you feel justified? You should.
- [30:55]
Congressman Chris Daluzio
Well, look, of course. And I'm not surprised to then see there are all these clips of Pete Hegseth saying essentially the same thing and Pam Bondi arguing a legal brief because it's the law. It's a long standing constitutional principle in our country that our military follows lawful orders and you can never force our troops to follow illegal ones. And remember the president's response to us saying that was arrest them, hang them, kill them. Yeah, that's crazy. That ought to scare people. But he's not going to intimidate me. He's not going to intimidate my colleagues. We're going to do our job and uphold our oaths.
- [31:25]
Show Host / Political Commentator
It's really remarkable that it's not because it is not easy to live under that kind of threat. Congressman Gestaluzia, thank you so much for being here.
- [31:31]
Congressman Chris Daluzio
Thank you, Jen.
- [31:32]
Show Host / Political Commentator
All right, we have to sneak in a quick break, but this next story involves a massive media merger. Billionaire Trump allies, two former Trump advisors, and the president's own son in law. You really have to hear this one to believe it. I'm going to tell you all about it when we come back.
- [32:00]
So right now, the biggest news in Hollywood is also some of the biggest news here in D.C. on Friday, Netflix struck a $72 billion deal to buy Warner Brothers. And the deal would combine the nation's largest streaming service, Netflix, with the nation's third largest, HBO Max. And there's already a lawsuit over concerns that the anti competitive nature of the deal would hit consumers in their wallets, which would be a big deal. And now Paramount has launched its own hostile bid, offering $78 billion to buy all of Warner Bros. Discovery, including its basic cable assets like cnn. But as the Writers Guild made clear today, no matter who buys Warner Bros. This could be bad news for Hollywood and consumers. And here's what they said, quote, the problem is the acquisition and pending consolidation of two media giants, not who the buyer is. Now, all of this would be big news on any day in any year. These deals could mean thousands of people losing their jobs. They could mean fewer choices for consumers. And no matter how the deals shake out, it will have a huge impact on the future of American media. But the way these companies are competing with each other for this deal makes this story much bigger than just a media story and makes it a story about how business is being done under the Trump administration. You see, normally a president has to stay far, far away from any deals like this. But in the lead up to Netflix's bid to buy Warner Bros, take a guess as to where Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos has been. Bloomberg reports that last month he met with Trump at the White House for over an hour and among other things, discussed the auction of Warner Brothers. Now, on the Paramount side of things, Paramount's billionaire owner Larry Ellison is a longtime Trump supporter. And the Wall Street Journal reports that he called Trump right after the Netflix deal was announced to lobby him against it. And on Sunday, just days after Netflix struck its deal with Warner Bros, The New York Times reports that Ellison's son, the chairman of Paramount, David Ellison, was Spotted with Trump in the presidential box at the Kennedy Center. Just hours after that, Paramount announced their hostile bid to block Netflix and buy Warner Brothers themselves. And that bid had the added sweetener that Trump's son in law, Jared Kushner's private equity firm, is now on board as an investor in the deal. What is becoming more and more clear by the day is that the people leading the big corporate media conglomerates at the heart of this deal know it is not just Warner Brothers and its shareholders. They have to sway. It's Trump. They have to sway, too. And I don't mean the Trump administration. I don't mean regulators. I don't mean the career officials in the federal government who normally regulate monopolies or are a nation's airwaves. I mean the single human being named Donald Trump. As Semafor reported yesterday, a person close to the administration's deliberations on the matter said that the Paramount team seems to believe the worst possible tropes about corruption in the Trump administration and are leaning into all the stereotypes. There we go. In addition to sweetening their side of the deal by teaming up with Jared Kushner's private equity firm, both the Ellisons have also reportedly offered assurances to Trump that if they end up winning this bidding war and owning Warner Brothers Discovery, they would make sweeping changes to the cable news network cnn. Larry Ellison reportedly went as far as telling Trump that he would fire some of the CNN hosts Trump dislikes if the deal goes through. So both sides, both Paramount and Netflix, have reportedly tried to hire former Trump adviser Jason Miller as a lobbyist. And even Warner Brothers Discovery appears to know how this game will be played because the company has reportedly tapped former Trump adviser Chris Lacveda to make its case to the administration as to why either of those deals could be allowed, should be allowed to go through. And while Trump is trying to appear impartial here, trying, pretending, whatever you want to call it, saying yesterday that neither Netflix or Paramount's leadership were great friends of his, on Sunday, he said that he expects he will be involved in the ultimate decision. You don't say so. As major media conglomerates compete to try to win Trump's favor, which clearly is what's happening here. What else all of this mean for the future of American media and news, for the future of American news, for the future of American business writ large, and for you, the consumer. And just practically speaking, what the heck happens next here? It's been a lot just the last week, and I have just the person to ask. Ben Smith is The co founder and editor in chief of Semaphore. He's a media know it all of all things. And he joins me next.
- [36:31]
Okay, there's so much in this story. I just tried to outline a bunch of it. But one of the things that also stands out to me about, about the Paramount attempting a hostile bid for Warner Brothers Discovery, the parent company of CNN is of course the involvement of Trump connected individuals and how they seem to loom large over all of this. I mean, they even have Jared Kushner on board for their bid along with money from three Middle Eastern oil kingdoms who by the way, don't typically work together on deals. But it's also the latest of many efforts by the Trump administration and its allies to tip control of the media institutions in their favor. From Paramount's owners. Installing opinion journalist Bari Weiss, the founder of a Trump friendly website to now run CBS News to FCC chair Brendan Carr and right leaning broadcaster Sinclair and nexstar pushing Disney to take Jimmy Kimmel off the air for more than a week. To urging Republicans in Congress to vote to gut crucial funding for NPR and pbs, to extracting millions of dollars in settlements from media companies over unfavorable news coverage. It's clear Trump and his allies don't want the media to be a force that holds them to account. That's pretty clear. And they're going to a lot of lengths to pre that from happening. And now CNN by way of this fight for control of Warner Brothers Discovery could be their next target. Joining us now is Ben Smith, editor in chief of Semaphore. He's been covering the ins and outs of the Warner Brothers Discovery sales saga and media in general for decades. Is that fair to say?
- [37:52]
Ben Smith, Editor in Chief of Semafor
Hundreds of years?
- [37:53]
Show Host / Political Commentator
Forever. Okay, so we, with the help of our amazing producers, you know how this works, tried to outline the core of what's happening here in our last block. What did we miss? You've been covering this closely.
- [38:05]
Ben Smith, Editor in Chief of Semafor
I mean that was a valiant effort because this just like a incredibly complex, messy thing that has happened. I mean, I think one thing that is strange to keep in mind is that news represents a tiny part of what these companies do. When people at CBS will say, you know, it's 5% of our revenue, 80% of our headaches. David Ellison is a kid who inherited enormous amounts of money from his dad and wants to make movies and the price of acquiring, you know, the Harry Potter franchise and things like that, that is trying to placate the president who is, as you say, playing a very unusual central role in all these decisions. And so this promise to change coverage at cbs, which, you know, I'm not entirely clear that's happened, by the way, Trump is complaining, accurately, that CBS has been fairly tough on him. People at cbs, in fact, feel like they have to be tough on him to prove their independence. And then this alleged reported promise to.
- [39:00]
Throw everybody out at CNN and put in friendlier people. Those are, from the perspective of the companies, those are a small price to pay off in some weird, tiny subsidiary for the big prize, which is the movie business. And so that's, in a way, and what happened here and what's happened in US Media was this conglomeration of these big, big diversified companies owning lots of different things, including the news, which people like, honestly, Bernie Sanders have been warning about for a long time. And people like me have been laughing at that because it was not our experience that it ever mattered. And now you really do see the way in which the government can pressure these big conglomerates. And that's what's happening now.
- [39:39]
Show Host / Political Commentator
So talk to us about, because you've thought about this and I think again, a lot of us are trying to wrap our heads around this Paramount, if they win this bid, we'll see what happens. CNN would be a part of them, right? They already have cnn potentially. They already have cbs. What could the impact be? I, I talked about the reporting about firing CNN anchors. We'll see if something like that happens. But what could the impact be in terms of the combination of news resources and news sources for people out there who are watching right now and want to be able to have a diversity of news sources?
- [40:11]
Ben Smith, Editor in Chief of Semafor
I mean, it is very, very hard to predict. I mean, because the other thing that is happening is the news industry is in a huge crisis. CBS and cnn, I think if you're looking for brands that are particularly deep in that crisis, particularly, you know, unsure of what their identity is. Cnn, I don't want to lay, I feel like I'm saying something competitive on the air with a competitor. But they have really been struggling just to get people to watch them. And so, and I think sometimes when you talk to conservatives or to people on the left, they'll say, well, that's because, you know, they aren't right wing enough. But no one actually believes that, like their problem is that they are breaking news, cable network, if it is falling apart as the cable bundle falls apart and they're scrambling to try to figure something else out. And I just think the notion that somebody's going to come in and say, well, the way to Fix it is to make it right wing is, I mean they're doing that while it's sort of a ship that's already hit the iceberg. And the problem isn't the music that's being played on the deck. And so it's a very messy situation. It's very dangerous just for the survival of these companies.
- [41:10]
Show Host / Political Commentator
What do you, I mean, my ears perked up like what the heck? When I saw that Jared Kushner was, was somehow involved in this. Did you not think that was a weird thing?
- [41:20]
Ben Smith, Editor in Chief of Semafor
I mean, yeah, maybe I'm sort of, you know, we're all getting a little like punch drunk and used to this sort of thing. But yes, the president's son in law part of the bid obviously sends a signal I think both to Trump but also to these Gulf investors they're bringing in that this is the family business, this is an important project for the President. You guys should come along because as rich as Larry Ellison is, this is starting to, to get pretty expensive.
- [41:42]
Show Host / Political Commentator
Well, also these Middle Eastern countries would love to have influence over Western thought and Western media. And they don't actually have good free press records themselves.
- [41:52]
Ben Smith, Editor in Chief of Semafor
There's also that. Yeah. And in fact there was. The Emiratis had tried to buy the Telegraph in London. The British government had blocked it on the grounds they didn't want foreign ownership of media. Cnn obviously an incredible kind of prestige asset. Although you should note the foreign investors appear to have pledged they wouldn't have any control, they would just be putting in money. I don't know.
- [42:11]
Show Host / Political Commentator
We'll see. What do you make of, I mean, I worked for two presidents. You covered these presidents. Every president, it gets mad at the press. Right. That's not a new thing. But Trump's involvement and effort to control the press is next level. Feels very much next level. Is anything been surprising to you in terms of the steps this administration has taken this year as you reflect on where we are and where we were back in January?
- [42:36]
Ben Smith, Editor in Chief of Semafor
Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, the big shift for this administration is the kind of absolute, kind of unapologetic bluntness with which they're doing this. And it's not, and it is the media, but it's also other sectors of the economy. I mean, we have at some form of this package out about the architects of the new global economy. And a lot of it is Trump administration officials who are just elbows deep in the chip industry, in, you know, government taking stakes in tech companies and mining companies and in the media in a way that is very new.
- [43:02]
Show Host / Political Commentator
Ben Smith, thank you for being here. I'm glad you got stuck in Washington because then I could talk to you on set.
- [43:07]
Ben Smith, Editor in Chief of Semafor
Thank you for having me.
- [43:08]
Show Host / Political Commentator
Thank you for being here. All right, coming up, two of Donald Trump's cabinet members put on a display of, you could call it physical prowess, I don't know, as part of a new initiative to improve airport travel. And I'm going to try to make sense of that, I guess, after a break.
- [43:29]
Okay. We are about to enter another very busy holiday travel season. And luckily for all of you travelers out there, Donald Trump's guys are on the case, I promise you. And I'd like to say that the image of two of Donald Trump's cabinet members doing pull ups at an airport is bizarre. I mean, it does look kind of bizarre. Look at the airport background there, National Airport. But we are nearly 11 months into Trump's second term and the word bizarre, I mean, it's, I don't know, it's kind of lost all of its meaning, or at least some of its meaning. The backstory here, of course, is that Trump Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced a billion dollar grant program at national Airport in D.C. yesterday, accompanied by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Along with a social media influencer who thinks Americans don't eat enough meat, particularly organ meat, and whose favorite travel hack is to bring a bag of coconuts on the plane so he can drink the water. Who among us doesn't think of that? That's the thing. And that guy's idea for making airports family friendly is to install mini jets with basic equipment that people can use to keep their bodies moving while they wait for their planes. Which I guess on the surface sounds good. I guess. I mean, there's, you know, sometimes playgrounds for kids. Turn around, around and stuff. As long as, of course, someone makes sure the equipment is clean. Let's hope that's part of any winning grant proposal. It's also, though unclear how these pull up bars square with Secretary Duffy's other big initiative to of course, encourage travelers to dress more formally when they fly. And one more question. Where's the billion dollars for this family friendly program coming from? Well, according to the Transportation Department, it's from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs act, which if I'm not mistaken. Oh yeah, it's a Biden era program. Thanks, Joe Biden. And by the way, I will still be wearing sweatpants to the airport. Maybe that's going to help me with my pull up game. We'll see. 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 Blue sky, Instagram and TikTok holiday.
- [45:26]
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- [45:29]
Show Host / Political Commentator
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Show Host / Political Commentator
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