Michael Cohen discuss Trump's recession talk and journalist Tara Palmeri delves into her decision to join independent media.

Summary

The Jim Acosta Show: Michael Cohen on Trump's Economic Policies & Tara Palmeri’s Leap into Independent Media

Release Date: March 10, 2025
Host: Jim Acosta
Guests: Michael Cohen, Tara Palmeri

---

1. Introduction: The Great American Pushback

Jim Acosta opens the show by introducing the theme of the "Great American Pushback," highlighting the nation's resistance against perceived misinformation and fear. He welcomes Michael Cohen back for what he humorously labels "Michael Monday," emphasizing the growing support among listeners for Cohen's perspectives.

---

2. Economic Turmoil and Trump's Recession Remarks

Discussion Highlights:

• Stock Market Decline: Acosta notes a significant drop in the stock market, with the Dow falling by approximately 890 points (around 2% of the day).
• Tariffs and Recession Fears: The conversation centers around President Trump's recent tariffs and the ensuing economic uncertainty. Acosta references an NPR report detailing the market's reaction to Trump's inability to conclusively deny a recession during an interview with Maria Bartiromo.

Notable Quote:

• Jim Acosta [02:46]: "When he's asked by Maria Bartiromo over the weekend whether there's going to be a recession, he would the Trumpian Trump would say, of course we're not going to have a recession. There's no way we're going to have a recession. But he left the door open to it."

Michael Cohen’s Analysis:

• Cohen criticizes the administration's handling of economic policies, attributing the market downturn to both the former and current administrations. He labels Trump's statements as "bullshit" and accuses the administration of spreading "propaganda, misinformation, disinformation and malinformation."

Notable Quote:

• Michael Cohen [02:45]: "It's bullshit. It's propaganda. It's misinformation, disinformation and mal information."

---

3. GOP Budget Cuts and Government Shutdown Risks

Discussion Highlights:

• Budget Cuts: Cohen highlights severe budget cuts proposed by the GOP, including 80,000 cuts to the VA and millions from Social Security, IRS, and other government sectors.
• Potential Shutdown: Acosta raises concerns about a possible government shutdown due to Republican-controlled Congress's inability to pass a stopgap spending bill, with Trump hinting at the likelihood of a shutdown.

Notable Quotes:

• Jim Acosta [05:02]: "He announces, I'm going to do these big tariffs right before the speech, before the joint session of Congress, the market freaks out."
• Michael Cohen [12:45]: "Why is it that we even need to increase the budget if he's doing such a great job? Shouldn't we be decreasing the budget?"

Michael Cohen’s Critique:

• Cohen argues that the proposed cuts will not significantly impact the national deficit but will severely harm vulnerable populations, including veterans and low-income families. He condemns the administration for neglecting the real consequences of these cuts.

---

4. The Influence of Elon Musk and Internal GOP Conflicts

Discussion Highlights:

• Elon Musk’s Role: The conversation delves into Elon Musk's involvement in the Trump administration, particularly his oversight of the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge). Cohen criticizes Musk's influence, suggesting it exacerbates governmental chaos.
• Internal GOP Struggles: Acosta mentions reports from the New York Times about tensions between Trump’s advisors and Elon Musk, specifically highlighting conflicts with Senator Marco Rubio over budget cuts.

Notable Quotes:

• Jim Acosta [13:55]: "The White House is saying Donald Trump is thrilled with what Elon Musk is doing."
• Michael Cohen [15:35]: "He just doesn't know how to get away from it. And that's going to be the problem when this country..."

Cohen’s Perspective:

• He vehemently opposes Musk’s management style within the administration, attributing failures and inefficiencies to Musk's leadership. Cohen fears that Musk's involvement is detrimental to Trump's agenda and the overall functionality of the government.

---

5. Tara Palmeri’s Transition to Independent Media

Introduction of Tara Palmeri: Jim Acosta welcomes Tara Palmeri, an independent journalist transitioning from Puck to her own media venture. Palmeri shares her motivations for going independent, emphasizing the desire for authentic voice and broader reach beyond traditional media outlets.

Key Points:

• Changing Media Landscape: Palmeri observes the shift in how audiences consume news, with a move towards platforms like Substack, YouTube, and social media.
• Commitment to Investigative Reporting: She expresses enthusiasm for continuing in-depth reporting and political analysis without the constraints of previous organizational tones.

Notable Quotes:

• Tara Palmeri [34:36]: "I really didn't want to have somebody else. I just wasn't. I just didn't want to speak in somebody else's voice."
• Jim Acosta [54:22]: "Follow Tara Palmeri, subscribe to her Substack. We'll get that going."

---

6. Trump's Foreign Policy and International Relations

Discussion Highlights:

• Strained Alliances: Acosta and Palmeri discuss Trump's confrontational stance towards allies, particularly Canada and France, criticizing his administration's handling of international relations.
• Impact on Global Reputation: Palmeri cites a French senator's condemnation of Trump's efforts to destabilize democracy, highlighting the global backlash against his policies.

Notable Quotes:

• Tara Palmeri [49:20]: "I think he has picked a few targets that are rich, that are not popular right now. Federal government, not very popular. It's a rich target. A lot. It is like it's an easy target."
• Jim Acosta [33:51]: "The Canadians are our friends. I don't know if you guys saw this, this French politician,... gave a clear-eyed assessment of Donald Trump's alarming efforts to destroy democracy both in America and abroad."

---

7. The Path Forward: Grassroots Engagement and Democratic Strategy

Discussion Highlights:

• Grassroots Mobilization: Both Acosta and Cohen advocate for the Democratic Party to return to grassroots organizing, engaging directly with communities to address their concerns and rebuild trust.
• Addressing Voter Concerns: They emphasize the importance of understanding and responding to the economic and social issues affecting everyday Americans, rather than relying solely on financial contributions.

Notable Quotes:

• Michael Cohen [26:30]: "It's not that they're lost. It's not that we're lost. What it is, is we're powerless."
• Jim Acosta [29:43]: "Nobody's doing that. I want to hear your thoughts. Please put them in a chat."

---

8. Conclusion: Empowering the Pushback

Jim Acosta wraps up the episode by reiterating the concept of the "Great American Pushback," encouraging listeners to actively engage in their communities and push back against what they perceive as governmental overreach and misinformation. He highlights the importance of maintaining alliances and standing firm against policies that undermine democracy and economic stability.

Final Notable Quote:

• Jim Acosta [32:19]: "The Great American Pushback... Push back for what you think is right. Push back against the lies. Push back against the brutality of what Trump and Musk are dishing out."

---

Key Takeaways:

• Economic Concerns: Trump's tariff policies and potential recession fears are causing significant market instability.
• Government Cutting Back: Proposed GOP budget cuts threaten vital services, particularly for veterans and low-income populations.
• Elon Musk’s Influence: Musk's role in the administration is seen as a source of internal conflict and inefficiency.
• Media Evolution: Journalists like Tara Palmeri are moving towards independent platforms to maintain authentic reporting.
• International Relations: Trump's confrontational approach is straining alliances and harming the U.S.'s global standing.
• Democratic Strategy: Emphasis on grassroots mobilization and addressing the real concerns of American citizens to counteract Republican policies.

---

This episode of "The Jim Acosta Show" delves deep into the current political and economic landscape, offering critical insights from Michael Cohen and showcasing the evolving media strategies of journalists like Tara Palmeri. The discussion underscores the urgent need for democratic resilience and proactive community engagement in the face of governmental challenges.

Transcript

[Jim Acosta]

All right. Welcome to the Jim Acosta show, home of the Great American Pushback. I'm going to talk about that a little bit later on in the show. Maybe I'll talk to Michael about it. I wrote about it over the weekend on Substack. Thanks, everybody, for reading it. But people are pushing back against a lot of what is happening in this country right now, and rightly so. And a lot of love being shown for Michael Cohen right now. It's, it's Michael Monday. Let's just get that out of the way right now. It is Michael Monday. That means Michael, Michael Cohen is here with us today. Great to have you back, Michael.

[Michael Cohen]

But Michael, it's always good to see you, my friend.

[Jim Acosta]

It's always good to see you. But, you know, it's also a manic Monday. It's a manic Monday because of what's happening on Wall street right now. And the last that I just checked a few moments ago, the Dow is down some 400 points. You've got some major, excuse me, 900 points. You've got some major stocks out there like Tesla down like 15% right now. And stocks fell today. This is a NPR Stocks fell again today as investors grew increasingly fearful about the tariffs and a potential recession. Wall street was already coming off a volatile negative week, NPR says, digesting the potential impact of new U.S. tariffs. And over the weekend, Michael, as you know all too well, the R word is the word no president wants to hear. Fox's Maria Bartiromo asked Trump whether he expects a recession during his first year in office. The president, this, according to npr, could not say. He said this, quote, I hate to predict things like that. Trump said there is a period of transition because of what we're doing is very big. We're bringing wealth back to America. That's a big thing. There are always periods of it takes a little time. Michael, what do you think of all this? Because I was a little shocked that, you know, when Trump was asked by Maria Bartiromo over the weekend whether there's going to be a recession, he would the Trump, the Trumpian Trump would, would say, of course we're not going to have a recession. There's no way we're going to have a recession. But he left the door open to it. And on top of the tariffs and all the other economic uncertainty, the markets are reacting down 890 points. I'm seeing right now about 2% down for the day.

[Michael Cohen]

Jim, let me put it to you this way. I watched that Maria Bartiroma in Interview and the Beauty for Trump as it relates to Fox News is there is zero pushback. She's no Jim Acosta. Let me put it to you that way. She's far from a Jim Acosta. Zero pushback. What he did turn around and say any potential recession and why the market is falling is a direct result of the former administration in. It's Joe Biden's fault.

[Jim Acosta]

Well, yeah.

[Michael Cohen]

All right. This is something that again, that they intend to do. They intend to whitewash the truth. I talk about it in my substack, right. When I talk about not just the Maria Bartiroma interview with Donald Trump, but the one that she also did with Representative Nicole Malliotakis of New York.

[Jim Acosta]

I saw your post about that series.

[Michael Cohen]

Of talking points memos every single day. If you are going to be a surrogate for the president, these are the terms that you must use. These, these are the statements that you should be using. And this is the message, the theme that President Trump is advancing. Everybody use these specifics. And that's what they're doing. It's why, regardless of who it is that is in front of the camera, if there is an R right after their name, Republican, you know exactly what they're going to be saying. And now the topic is this is all Biden's fault. Well, this is that he inherited a shit economy from the former administration. In fact, since Trump took office, we're down like $8.5 trillion in market value.

[Jim Acosta]

Well, but here's the thing. I mean, he can't blame Joe Biden for this. He's the president. He's in charge. He's the one who started this tariff business Last week. He announces, I'm going to do these big tariffs right before the speech, before the joint session of Congress, the market freaks out. The next day, he says he's going to turn off the tariffs on Canada and Mexico and their products coming in for a month. And that economic uncertainty kind of got this party started. On top of that, you know, during that speech before the joint session of Congress, Trump is trashing Biden's chips program that sent the tech stocks into a bit of a tailspin. There's a lot of economic uncertainty there. And when the president of the United States goes on a Sunday talk show and yes, it's Maria Bartiromo, and yes, she's in the tank. And yes, what she does is ridiculous. And he doesn't rule out having a recession. That again, adds a uncertainty to the markets. And so he's going to own this. And so this is baloney that he thinks he's going to be able to worm his way out of this and blame this on Joe Biden.

[Michael Cohen]

Let's call it what it really is. It's bullshit. It's propaganda. It's misinformation, disinformation and mal information. We as Democrats have to stop, you know, whitewashing what it truly is. All right, at the end of the day, we all know that, that when Biden left, the economy was roaring along, the stock market was at its all time high. We are now seven weeks into this new administration and all things have gone south. You're talking about federal cuts. You're talking about 80,000 cuts just to the VA alone. You're talking about millions that they want to cut from government. They want to cut Social Security, want to cut the irs, they want to cut, cut, cut, but they don't. They refuse to express to the American people the facts that even if you cut all these jobs, it's not going to make a slight indent that's right into the deficit that we have and the chance that Elon Musk will be actually able to cut over $2 trillion from our budget without touching Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security. You go tell grandma that she can't pay for her insulin. You go tell grandma that she has to move in with one of her kids simply because she doesn't have money to pay for the rent or.

[Jim Acosta]

That's right.

[Michael Cohen]

Or food. All right, now you go ahead. And these are the same people who voted for Trump. That's what I heard in my substack. I call it Buyers Remorse.

[Jim Acosta]

Yep. And Michael, I wrote about this about a week ago where I, you know, I basically said, hey, nobody voted for this. Donald Trump won the election in part because people wanted him to get inflation under control. Now he has people from his administration like the Treasury Secretary saying, well, maybe we won't be able to get inflation under control. And here's one reason why tariffs are not a two way street. Ladies and gentlemen, here's the New York Times. The Canadian province of Ontario put in place retaliatory tariffs on energy it exports to Michigan, Minnesota and New York while Trump's trade war with China intensified.

[Michael Cohen]

Isn't it, isn't it Ottawa?

[Jim Acosta]

Well, this is, this is according to the New York Times. Yeah, exactly. And Beijing, China is putting tariffs on American farm products. And that is the thing that Trump just cannot get through his thick skull. You, the tariffs are not a one way street. You can't throw your weight around and say, I'm going to do tariffs on products coming in from this country and that country and not expect things in response. And, Michael, as you know, over the weekend, the Canadians selected essentially their new prime minister, Mark Carney, this central banker turned centrist politician. He gave some comments yesterday as he was giving his acceptance speech, and he, you know, said, we will not be part of America in any way, shape or form. This is from npr. We didn't ask for this fight, but Canadians are always ready when someone else drops the gloves. So the Americans, they should make no mistake in trade, as in hockey. Canada will win. And so, you know, I mean, it's hard to piss off the Canadians, but he's pissed off the Canadians.

[Michael Cohen]

I mean, for God's sakes, you have my family live in Toronto.

[Jim Acosta]

I know, I know. Yeah.

[Michael Cohen]

You know, and it's like, I call up my cousins, they're like, well, do you want. I'm like, well, yeah, don't hold me accountable for this craziness. They're not joking. When we heard Prime Minister Ford of Ottawa turn around and say, if the United States does what Trump is saying, he goes, I'll. He goes, I will kill the fucking switch to energy that is running from Ottawa to the United States, which goes as far past the state of New York that one of the reasons that we buy our energy from them, it's cheaper than it would cost us to produce it ourselves. Why attack somebody who we've had such close, good relations with? Why? Simply because you think that you can. Simply because he and Putin and Xi Jinping, they're all in expansionist mode. We're not supposed to be in expansionist mode right now. Right now, our territory is our territory.

[Jim Acosta]

Right.

[Michael Cohen]

You're not seeing, other than Putin going out there trying to reestablish the former ussr. This is insane. This is authoritarian ideology. This is not a democratic republic. This is not what our president is supposed to be thinking about.

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah, well, he's picked a fight with one of our strongest allies, and the Canadians just aren't going to put up with this crap. And, Michael, on top of everything, I do want to talk about the GP GOP budget cuts that are coming in a moment. You touched on that. But there's also the possibility on top of everything else, that we're talking right now of a government shutdown. Lawmakers seeking to avoid a government shutdown. At the end of the week, Trump is urging the Congress, the Republican led Congress to pass a stopgap spending bill, but it's unclear whether there will be sufficient votes in the House this week. And when he was asked about it over the weekend, he said a shutdown quote, could happen. And so, Michael, I mean, I'm wondering if you can help me out a little bit, because you understand how Trump works. He almost is talking the country into a recession. He's almost talking the country into this economic crisis that seems to be looming right now. The stock market keeps going down, down, down. He won't rule out a recession, and he's not ruling out a shutdown at the end of the week while he's launching a trade war. I mean, does he want the whole world to blow up at once? What the hell's going on here?

[Michael Cohen]

Do you think he has potentially this. The worst advisors around him?

[Jim Acosta]

That might be it.

[Michael Cohen]

I. Sometimes, I. Sometimes when I'm watching the news, I say, I wish I could just pick up the phone and call him like I had done in 2017 with the. With the Muslim ban, or as he called it, the immigration ban. And I said, what are you doing? Yeah, stop. Number one, it's not you. Two, it's bad for the country. Three, you're never going to recover from it. The same here. If, in fact. If, in fact, that the government gets shut down. Remember, we haven't had a shutdown since, what, 2018. And it cost the U.S. taxpayer, it cost the U.S. government that shut down over $11 billion. Think about that. All right? 11 billion. He's talking about all the money, the fraud, the waste, the abuse that Elon and Doge has found. Like the 5 million for the transgender mice surgery.

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah.

[Michael Cohen]

Again, he's listening to stupid people. It's not transgender mice. It was transgenic mice.

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah.

[Michael Cohen]

Which are mice that are used for experiments that benefit humanity, that help cure diseases and so on. I mean, he made it into a transgender issue. Right. These are the people that are surrounding him. And my biggest fear is that he's so knee deep into their stupidity right now, he doesn't even know how to get away from it. And that's going to be the problem when this country, and I suspect that we will have you know that they will not pass another budget increase. By the way, in all fairness, Jim, I want to throw a quick question to you. Allegedly, Elon's doing such a great job. Such a great job. Elon's doing a great job, right? Yeah, he's doing such a great job. Why is it that we even need to increase the budget if he's doing such a great job? Shouldn't we be decreasing the budget?

[Jim Acosta]

Right.

[Michael Cohen]

I'm just so confused.

[Jim Acosta]

Let me Tell you. So I wrote about this a little bit over the weekend because there was this story in the New York Times about this rift about this back and forth between Marco Rubio and Elon Musk, which we should talk about because you've been on some of these meetings before when these advisors and aides and so on go back and forth at one another, they like to fight over the Dear Leader sometimes to show which one loves him the most. But, you know, the Washington Post or no, the New York Times wrote a story about Steve Bannon and Elon Musk going out one another. And Steve Bannon has been raising these questions about whether or not Elon Musk is good for the Trump movement and so on. And Caroline Levitt, the White House press secretary, gave a statement to the New York Times, and it says this. Trump is thrilled with Doge's historic work under Elon Musk, and he will continue to cut the waste, fraud and abuse in our federal government on behalf of the American people. So there you have it right there, ladies and gentlemen. The White House is saying Donald Trump is thrilled with what Elon Musk is doing. So if they come out in a week from now, two weeks from now, and there's some big falling out, they have put it out there that they.

[Michael Cohen]

Are thrilled with what he's doing on the Jim Costa. Michael Monday, you heard it. It's bullshit. Let me go.

[Jim Acosta]

Thrilled with, thrilled with firing. Thrilled with firing veterans, Thrilled with firing people at the Social Security Administration. Thrilled with firing all of the people at almost all of the people at usaid. Marco Rubio said today he's gotten rid of just about everything but 18% of USAID. I mean, it's staggering what they've done there. This is also adding to the economic anxiety. And the White House press secretary is saying that Donald Trump is thrilled with.

[Michael Cohen]

Doge because there's nothing else that he can say. Everything with Trump is appearance. He cannot allow the American people to think that there's chaos in the White House, despite the fact that each and every one of us, almost 5,000, let's get to past 5,000 people with us. Every one of us sees for ourselves what is going on. Every single one of us listens to the news at some point during the day, and we hear the chaos that's gone. We see it. We hear it. And what are they telling? What is Caroline Levitt saying? Do not trust your lying eyes. Ignore your lying ears. I'm going to tell you what's really going on there. Let me be very clear. I know Steve Bannon very, very well. Steve Bannon is 100% correct. In fact, I was contemplating on calling him on his cell, going on his. Going on his podcast, on his radio show to talk about this. Elon Musk will ultimately fail and he will fail Donald Trump in this mission, this Project 2025 mission.

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah.

[Michael Cohen]

That is so detrimental to so many different people. You know, Jim, when you start hurting veterans, when you start hurting children with cancer, there is no positive, there's no thumbs up that you can get that, that the American people will not find abhorrent, even those who are the most ardent MAGA supporters.

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah, no, you're absolutely right. And I mean, the thing that, that I don't get in all. I mean, first of all, the fact that you and I are agreeing with Steve Bannon, I mean, you know, write this, write this date down, because this doesn't happen very often. But Steve Bannon has. Has his finger on some, and I hate to say it, but he has his finger on something, is that the people in the Trump movement, the people in MAGA world, they, first of all, I have to think they're slightly uncomfortable with the fact that elon Musk gave $290 million to the effort to help elect Donald Trump. I think, first of all, just about any American has to find that to be absolutely outrageous. What the hell is going on in this country when the richest man in the world can buy American democracy? I'm sorry, it's deeply disturbing. We shouldn't allow it in this country. People say, oh, Citizens United, the Supreme Court, you can put whatever amount of money, you can dump it all in there, whatever you want to do. But I think it just makes anybody uncomfortable, no matter where you are on the political spectrum. And then on top of that, it seems because of that price that he paid, he's been given basically carte blanche to do whatever he wants across the federal government, so long as that, you know, Donald Trump and the rest of MAGA can continue to suck off the, the political donating teat of Elon Musk. And to me, you know, they're paying a price for it right now. They're paying a huge political price right now. You see people getting laid off left and right.

[Michael Cohen]

I never correct you. They are not suffering. We collectively, as America are suffering.

[Jim Acosta]

Well, that's true.

[Michael Cohen]

In fact, the people who are suffering the most are the poorest Americans amongst us. Frank, these Billionaires don't give two shits if a carton of eggs is $12 or $1200. They have so much money that they can spend it in a hundred lifetimes. They're not thinking about Grandma, Grandpa. They're not thinking about even their own constituents who can't afford rent, who can't afford gasoline, the groceries up 20%. They don't care about them. This is all about getting Donald Trump reelected. And here's the thing, too. I'm glad you opened up this door for me as a segue.

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah.

[Michael Cohen]

We in the DNC have a new leader. His name is Ken Martin. The question that now needs to be posed to Ken Martin. Are you going to follow some old antiquated playbook that the Democrats have been using year after year, election after election for the last 50 plus years, or are you going to start getting innovative? Are you going to start speaking to people who know how to defeat somebody like Donald Trump, like this MAGA movement? Because if he doesn't, if they, like, they put out a post today, a DNC post. It was one of the most embarrassing posts I, I've ever seen. Please, we need your help. You know we're desperate. Send us $15. Let me be clear. There's, let's say, 100 million registered Democrats in the United States. If each and every one of them sent in their $15, you'd have $1.5 billion. That's not how you're going to win. You're not going to win it with money. Why? Because Elon Musk, who made $246 billion since Donald Trump became President elect, he could stroke a check equal to 100 million and not think twice about it. Money doesn't mean anything to him when you're worth 400/plus billion dollars and people have to get that through their head. Big shit. One of his rockets blew up. Okay, fine. It was 25, 50 billion. He doesn't give a shit. It, yeah, he just doesn't care.

[Jim Acosta]

He doesn't care. No, it's true.

[Michael Cohen]

He has the ability to stroke a check without caring equal to that of every other Democrat in the United States combined.

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah, well, and, and, and you know, the Democrats need to wake up in the way that they talk to people right now because, you know, you have to, you have to meet people where they are, where they live and what they're going through right now. You mentioned, you know, what, what Elon Musk has been doing. I mean, I wrote about this over the weekend. Picked up on something that was in a Reuters story. They went out to Parkersburg, West Virginia not too long ago and spoke with residents there whose jobs were cut at the Treasury Department's Bureau of Fiscal Services, an office in Parkersburg, West Virginia. And they talked to this one lady who said, nobody that I've talked to understood the devastation that having this administration in office would do to our lives. And she went on to say she would not have supported Trump if she knew then what she knows now. And there are lots of Trump supporters who are now in this boat. And, you know, I'm curious what you think, Michael, because I've heard a lot of people on social media, a lot of people say, well, I told you so. And, well, I, you know, screw these people. They're getting what they voted for, and so on. I don't think that's the right approach. I think the right approach is we're all Americans. We're all on the same team. Donald Trump, he wrote a wave of bullshit into the White House. He totally misled people as to what he was going to do. He got elected in part because he said he was going to get inflation under control. And what he is doing is he appears to be on the path to delivering a recession to people in this country. And this is when we need to start looking out for one another.

[Michael Cohen]

Yep. Look, you're 100% correct. In fact, as I was saying earlier, I wrote an article in my substack article, Buyer's Remorse. That's what's going on. Whether you're from Venezuela and you voted for Trump, and they're saying, my God, I now wearing an ankle monitor simply because ICE came, kicked down our door and wants to deport us. Then you have a whole slew of other individuals who are saying, including Veterans for Trump, 80,000 employees being cut. And that's just the first wave of cuts. Now they're not going to get the medical attention they need. What is it? It's like 21 or 22 veterans a day are taking their lives. And you're going to cut 80,000 from support. IRS is gone. All the. How about the veterans that were working in D.C. right?

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah.

[Michael Cohen]

After, you know, after doing their service, the ultimate service. To protect our Constitution.

[Jim Acosta]

That's right.

[Michael Cohen]

Protect our Democratic.

[Jim Acosta]

And not just in D.C. but a lot of different offices around the country. Yeah.

[Michael Cohen]

And now they're firing these people. They're not going to be able to get the medical attention or the, the, the physical attention that they need in order to put themselves right, either physically or mentally. This is despicable. Again, like NIH going after programs that are examining children and cancer. I mean, for God's sake, this is just the beginning. Remember, When I also warned everybody about Trump and the First Amendment when I wrote about it in my book Revenge How Donald Trump truly. Bill Barr weaponized the Department of Justice against. He's doing it again right now, we're seeing, with these illegal protests that he deems illegal. If you are a foreign student, you're arrested and deported. If you're an American student, you are arrested and expelled. I, Michael Cohen, the one and only so far to date political prisoner held by my own country, held here in the United States because I refused to waive my First Amendment constitutional right. I warned everybody. What they did to me. What Trump and Bill Barr and that administration did to me was basically a litmus test on how far that they're going to need to change what they did to me so that they can make it into a reality.

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah, well, it pisses me off that, that, Michael, you went to prison and. Yeah, twice. And Trump got convicted for the. In the Alvin Bragg case. Okay, that's fine. You know, that's not gonna go anywhere. He's not gonna go to jail as a result of that. But he escapes any accountability in the classified documents case. He escapes any accountability in the January 6th case. I just saw somebody chime in saying.

[Michael Cohen]

Whose voice is that?

[Jim Acosta]

It is a disgrace.

[Michael Cohen]

Well, I fault is that.

[Jim Acosta]

That's the Attorney General Merrick Garland's fault.

[Michael Cohen]

There's no question, 100% Joe Biden and Merrick Garland's fault.

[Jim Acosta]

That's. You're absolutely right about it.

[Michael Cohen]

Joe Biden biggest mistake in his entire administration was making Merrick Garland Attorney General. Not that Merrick Garland isn't brilliant. He should have been a Supreme Court judge. He was an ineffective and horrible Attorney General. Bill Barr was a horrible human being. But he did what Trump wanted. He.

[Jim Acosta]

He did Trump's bidding.

[Michael Cohen]

People like myself, this all falls on him. Had they moved quicker, Trump could not have delayed himself out of those specific cases.

[Jim Acosta]

That's right. And those are the ones that were obviously much more serious for him in terms of the potential for conviction and jail time. And, you know, Michael, I do want to ask you, though, a little bit about the issue you brought up earlier, which is the GOP budget cuts that are coming down the pike. I mean, one of the things that people need to keep their eyes on is the way Medicaid is going to get cut. Healthcare for the poor is going to get cut. And as part of Medicaid cuts, people don't realize this Medicaid helps keep rural hospitals in business. So, again, I saw this in the Washington Post over the weekend, the Washington Post reporting, multiple states are saying that their rural hospitals may go under as a result of these Medicaid cuts are going to be necessary, according to the Republicans, to pay and extend Donald Trump's tax cuts. Again, Michael, we're talking about real people getting hurt because of this extreme agenda. And I'm just. What's your view on what the Democrats should do about this? You and I were talking about this a little bit earlier. It almost seems as though Steve Bannon has his finger on it a little bit in terms of what the Democrats should do. And what I'm seeing from the Democratic Party is they just seem to be lost. There's no direction. There's no leadership. They don't know where to go.

[Michael Cohen]

Jim. No, no.

[Jim Acosta]

What is it?

[Michael Cohen]

It's not that they're lost. It's not that we're lost. What it is, is we're powerless. All right, the Republican Party, Trump's party, they control the House, they control the Senate, they control the Supreme Court, and. And they control the White House.

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah.

[Michael Cohen]

So what are Democrats to do? Let me be very clear.

[Jim Acosta]

That's true.

[Michael Cohen]

Let me be very clear what somebody like Ken Martin needs to do. Either he does it kind of like the way I'm dictating, or get the fuck out. Because at the end of the day, if he doesn't do it this way, we will lose in 2026. Forget about these. Forget about these pathetic, pathetic posts in order to raise money. The DNC head is not supposed to be. They had all the money for raising money.

[Jim Acosta]

They had all the money in the world in the last election with Kamala Harris had a billion dollars. I mean, they had money.

[Michael Cohen]

Elon Musk could have easily tripled it, not thought twice about it. What we need to do is get back to grassroots. I need to go to those communities, the ones that you're talking about with the local hospitals. I need to go to those communities.

[Jim Acosta]

Yes.

[Michael Cohen]

Other Democrats like you, Jim Acosta, let's go to them. And you need to have a town hall. This would never have happened had you voted. But we can't talk about, like, the way Trump talks about it would never have happened, you know, if I was president and so on.

[Jim Acosta]

No, Michael, you think you and I could have a town hall and pack a high school gymnasium? You think we could do that?

[Michael Cohen]

You think we could pack Madison Square Garden?

[Jim Acosta]

I think we could. I think we could get some people in some butts and some seats. I mean, look at what Bernie Sanders is doing right now. I mean, Bernie Sanders is getting lots of people showing up at these town halls. I mean, he's not in any kind of jeopardy, and people are just absolutely pissed.

[Michael Cohen]

Yeah, let me. Let me just finish the point I was making.

[Jim Acosta]

Go ahead.

[Michael Cohen]

We go into these local communities because there's name recognition. Everybody loves Jim Acosta. All right?

[Jim Acosta]

Everybody loves Michael Cohen.

[Michael Cohen]

Now, I'm not so sure about everybody, but just some people.

[Jim Acosta]

Not everybody loves me.

[Michael Cohen]

Right, everybody loves you, except for Trump. Let me put it this way. So we go in and we sit down and we talk to these people in their community, and we say, we will not abandon you. This is not a political promise. This is an American promise. This isn't a Democratic issue.

[Jim Acosta]

That's right.

[Michael Cohen]

Isn't a Republican issue. This is an independent issue. This is an American issue. You, you, you are the people who help to keep the rest of the community healthy and, you know, and protected, including our veterans, including our police officers, including our civil servants, including just our neighbors.

[Jim Acosta]

And I don't want it to be just Democrats. I don't want it to be just Democrats. I want Trump supporters who are pissed off and. And hopping mad right now. They need to show up and talk about what they are going through. I want to hear about what they are going through. And I don't want to say, ha, ha, I told you so or f around and find out. I don't want to say those things. I want to know what you're going through. I want to understand what's happening. Nobody's doing that.

[Michael Cohen]

Because when Jim Acosta and Michael Cohen find out what you are going through, it gives us a. Yeah. It gives us a chart on what needs to be done to correct it. Right. There's always a solution. All right? Trump is creating problems. Let me rephrase that. His administration is creating. Elon Musk is creating problems. If Democrats want to secure 2026, the only way to do that.

[Jim Acosta]

Right.

[Michael Cohen]

You have to go into the communities grassroots reorganization. You. We need to hold hands with these people and say, it's okay that you voted for Trump.

[Jim Acosta]

It's right.

[Michael Cohen]

You got.

[Jim Acosta]

That's right.

[Michael Cohen]

With 77 million other people.

[Jim Acosta]

Yep.

[Michael Cohen]

We need to find out what's going on here so that we could push for a better agenda come 2026. But we need you.

[Jim Acosta]

That's right. And I'm so glad you and I got to this point in the conversation. You and I always seem to do this, Mike. We get to the nut of the issue, and I want to bring it back to what we were saying at the Top of the program, which is Donald Trump gets asked, are we going to go into a recession? He's. I don't know. Maybe. Maybe we're going to go into a recession. It'll be the best recession. You know, I don't know. Whatever he said, the man should be saying, I will do everything in my power every day, every week, every month to stop any kind of recession from happening in this country. No matter what it takes, I will do that. I don't want the country to slide it. He didn't say that. When he's asked about, you know, the tariffs and whether the prices are going to, prices are going to increase and so on. You know, listen, if they're, if your economic policy is causing prices to go up, reverse course, man. If it's going to cause Wall street to tank, reverse course, man. He's just hell bent on doing this.

[Michael Cohen]

It's not on Trump. It's not his fault. These are his surrogates. It's not his fault. He didn't do it. But you know what you can do, Jim Acosta, right? You can put chickens in your backyard, build a chicken coop. That way you don't have to worry about the price of eggs. Really, Michael, What a unique. What a.

[Jim Acosta]

We'll put our money in our mattress while we're at it, you know, or bury it in the backyard. What is this, the Grapes of Wrath? You know? You know, what's Trump doing here? I just don't get. He's in office for six weeks and we're already talking about a recession. What the hell is going on? I think this town hall thing is the, is a perfect idea. We ought to go do it, and.

[Michael Cohen]

I think you and I should do it.

[Jim Acosta]

We'll do it. We'll put it on substack. We'll just do it. Let's just do it.

[Michael Cohen]

100%.

[Jim Acosta]

All right, Michael, great to see you as always.

[Michael Cohen]

As always, Jim.

[Jim Acosta]

All right, take care.

[Michael Cohen]

Thank you, everybody. Follow me on Substack.

[Jim Acosta]

Don't forget to follow Michael on Substack. He's not only doing live podcasts, he's also writing great pieces that are very vintage. Michael Cohen. Michael, Good to see Michael Monday, everybody.

[Michael Cohen]

You got it, Jim.

[Jim Acosta]

All right, thanks again. Oh, wait, and Michael, you know, Michael right there, I think, you know, he and I, sometimes we're, we're listening one another. Sometimes we're talking to one another, sometimes we're yelling at one another. But it's, it's all from a good place and it's all about getting to. I Think a really good understanding as to what's going on in this country right now. And I hope you got a little information there too. My next guest, I think I just saw her join the chat there in the bottom. I'm going to bring in Tara Paul Mary. Tara Paul Mary is also an independent journalist like myself. She just left Puck and is starting her own independent media venture. And I think you're going to want to hear from Terry. She's a terrific reporter, been doing a lot of reporting in Washington for some time, knows Trump World very well, has a lot of sources in Trump World. And I want to welcome Tara Paul Mary into the program. It looks like she is coming. There she is right there. She's sideways. Now she's vertical. Tara, I can't tell you how many people have done exactly what you did just there. Yeah, that's the beauty of what we're doing here at Substack. It's raw, it's unfiltered. Totally. We just go with it. Good to see you.

[Tara Palmeri]

Good to see you, Jim. Thanks for having me. I love it. I can constantly watch you, which is amazing. And I'm really proud of what you've built and in such a short period of time. I mean you so much bravery and, and actually it's something that has motivated me to want to take the leap to we should be, you know, you know what it's like to work in an organization where yeah, even in the most subtle ways you're following, you know, the direction of the leadership and or the people around you are and it stifles your voice and your true authenticity and you know what, what you believe and know. And it's really, it' a special thing to be able to do this and that we have these platforms so totally.

[Jim Acosta]

Well and you can let loose here, which is what I like about it. Maybe, you know, with Michael Cohen on I let a little too loose. But you know, but these conversations are great because I do think the long form format, you eventually get to kind of the heart of the matter. And I know that you do that quite a bit with your reporting. And you were just saying, you know, what I built here. I just want to say first of all, what we have built here, I mean it's incredible. I got all of these folks who tune in on a daily basis, they chime in in the chat and so on. And I think that's one of the things you're going to love about it too when you do these lives, Tara, is you get your followers, your listeners, your viewers chiming in and saying what they want to say. And I want to talk about your independent media venture and congratulations on that. But just to jump off of what Michael and I were talking about right now, what are your thoughts on where this new, you know, where Trump 2.0 is right now? He's out there giving interviews over the weekend, not ruling out a recession. He's, you know, sort of blowing off the idea that prices may go up because of his tariff policy. And you know, it's kind of strange. I mean, one would think the Donald Trump I would, you know, used to cover, I can't imagine him saying, oh, well, maybe there might be a recession. It's just very strange. Do you, I mean, what are your thoughts? What are you picking up on?

[Tara Palmeri]

It is really strange. And really from the beginning, he and Elon Musk have said it will be painful. I mean, he said it at the State of the Union like they're very, they've been very candid. At the same time, he's saying, oh, I'm going to make the government all this money with these tariffs. But like he does, it seems like he's forgotten the mandate which has been to address the economic concerns. I mean, there were three things that Americans wanted. They wanted to lower inflation, they wanted to stop migration and God, I can't even remember the third one at this point. But they just felt like those were the top of mind, the top of mind issues and they wanted stability and foreign, you know, across, across the world.

[Jim Acosta]

And I think the third thing might have been the revenge and retribution, which is something he is doing. I mean, of all the promises he's keeping right now, he is keeping that promise to seek revenge and retribution.

[Tara Palmeri]

But anyway, voters voted for him for revenge. I don't think voters cared about his personal hang ups or issues, at least not the voters that gave him the election, the ones who tipped it off. I think that they thought he'll get in office, he'll do what he did before, he'll let Hillary off. He'll actually spend time, you know, trying to deliver. The interesting part about this, Jim, is that Donald Trump's not running for reelection. And maybe that's why we're seeing that. Is this more about helping his buddies and his friends? You know what I mean?

[Jim Acosta]

Interesting. Yes.

[Tara Palmeri]

You know, it's hard to say. And you know, I know Donald Trump Jr. Denied a piece of media that he's interested in running again, but from all the people that I know for a very long time, I've been covering and following them there's everyone that has known the Trumps for a long time has known that this is a family franchise. It always has been. And politics is the new business for him.

[Jim Acosta]

And they see themselves as kind of an American monarchy.

[Tara Palmeri]

Exactly. And I see J.D. vance as a stand holder, frankly, because what president will, you know, really take the mantle and be, you know, the true standard bearer for the party, especially when Donald Trump is the president and you're the one who is sort of having to, you know, smooth things out all the time. And I just think. I think that you're going to see Donald Trump Jr emerge later on in the game.

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah, I tend to agree with you. And I. I think that for him to deny that he has any thought about this or any interest in this whatsoever, the thoughts never crossed his mind. Come on, give me a break. You and I have both covered the Trump family for some time. What do you think is going on between Donald Trump and Elon Musk? What are you picking up on in your reporting? Because, you know, at the speech a week ago, he said, oh, you know, Elon Musk is in charge of Doge. He's heading up Doge. And then within the next couple of days, he's telling his Cabinet secretaries, oh, no, you're the ones who are in charge of firing, Not. Not Elon Musk. And there's this rift, this fight between Musk and Marco Rubio that gets leaked to the New York Times. Some of this says to me that maybe, think maybe Elon Musk's rocket flew a little too close to the sun. What's your sense of it?

[Tara Palmeri]

I think that, yes, I agree with you Cabinet. Once they were confirmed in the Cabinet, I was starting to hear from Cabinet members, people close to them, that they were unhappy with the Doge cuts and the fact that people had to respond an email and CC their bosses on, you know, who would be fired because a, it's a security risk if you are in the national security space. Cash Patel picked up the phone and called Donald Trump and said, I don't want, you know, my agents ccing their managers and saying what they've been working on. Last week, imagine if that gets hacked. Okay? Which is exactly what China is trying to do all the time.

[Michael Cohen]

Right.

[Tara Palmeri]

I heard this from my State Department sources as well. You had State Department also saying, do not follow this protocol. You had Tulsi Gabbard, the Director of National Intelligence. You had basically all the Cabinet secretaries telling their staff, do not respond to this email. The only person who really rolled was RFK Jr, you know, but even. But the HHS administrator said, listen, be very broad. If you're working on some sort of vaccine or, you know, virus, you know, prevention or whatever, just keep it very broad. Scientific research that is protected. But they all saw that, you know, he hindered their work. These people care, you know, whatever you think of them, loyalists, etc. When you walk into a department, you need people that work there to be loyal to you and work for you. And Cash Patel himself knew that. He needs the agents in the field. Those are the people that are going to be his support team. And without them, you know, he's toast. And so this was, this was a real issue. And, and it was, it was interesting to see Catchpelt. And then you heard, you know, it wasn't just Marco Rubio standing up to Trump. And frankly, I think Marco Rubio has. There's a word for what he's been going through, but we can talk about that later. He has.

[Jim Acosta]

Well, yeah, I mean, Rubio. I mean, Rubio, he really, you know, tossed aside a lot. I mean, I'm just be diplomatic a little bit, since he's a top diplomat. Tossed aside a lot of his closely held principles and beliefs to fit into MAGA world, into Trump world, and he appears to be paying the price. I mean, you know, today he put out this, this tweet saying that he's slashed the workforce over at usaid. But that came after this fight emerged in the New York Times saying that, you know, that Elon Musk was berating Marco Rubio for not doing enough cuts. And then Marco Rubio puts this out there. It makes me think, well, maybe Elon Musk is still kind of in charge. But, you know, I've been doing this segment on my show. I've been calling it what the Musk, and I bring it up from time to time, but, I mean, Elon Musk is. And again, he's the richest guy in the world, so I don't have any sympathy for him. But he is, I mean, he is taking it on the chin a bit. I mean, Tesla's shares were down more than 13% for the day and afternoon trading. It's down 50% from a mid December peak right after the election. And then there were these outages, apparently earlier today on X that left the platform unavailable to thousands of views users. This is according to the Associated Press.

[Tara Palmeri]

It's happened to me. I saw it. I couldn't.

[Jim Acosta]

Oh, is that right?

[Tara Palmeri]

You saw it too, everyone.

[Jim Acosta]

So things aren't. I mean, he had a rocket blow up the other day.

[Michael Cohen]

Yeah.

[Tara Palmeri]

You know, the one other thing that, the other thing I thought that was really interesting was that Sean Duffy, who is the FAA administrator, the Federal Aviation Administration, you may have talked about this on your show, but he, too, stood up to Musk and he said, interesting. You want us to fire air traffic controllers? And he said, which air traffic controllers did you fire? This is what Elon Musk said back to Duffy, and Duffy said, we didn't fire them. We stopped you from firing them. They're acting like it's like a Tasmanian devil. He's moving so quickly and so rapidly. They're breaking things and then trying to put them back together. They're firing people and then having to bring them back. The government is understaffed when it comes to air traffic controllers. Like, that is just one place you don't touch. And Duffy actually said in this meeting, according to the New York Times, my, my, I am dealing with so many crashes. The guy is underwater. I mean, and imagine being Marco Rubio. Again, not to go back to this, but you got Steve Witkoff, by the way, all over your turf. Dealing with Ukraine.

[Jim Acosta]

True.

[Tara Palmeri]

Dealing with Israel. He basically split the role of Secretary of State with Trump's bestie, another unelected, you know, friend of his, billionaire, who, who actually doesn't need to recuse himself for many of his. His business holdings. He was, he was actually bailed out of a hotel by Qatar just a few years ago. His Park Lane Hotel in New York, QATAR and the UAE bought his hotel for $100 million. And he. And he's handling our Middle east negotiations. So, yeah, these are all the things that are going on. And I think my sense is I'm going to make a wild prediction. Marco Rubio is going to be a Rex Tillerson.

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah, I tend to agree with you. I think of all the cabinet members, Marco. Marco Rubio survives, you know, the least in all of this, and he may get a Rex Tillerson type X while, you know, on the toilet.

[Tara Palmeri]

And.

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah, I was gonna say in the john, you know, it's. It's not a very glamorous life in Trump world sometimes, especially when you get fired by the guy. But, you know, the question that I have is, you know, it's, it's, it's damn peculiar. I guess it's not that peculiar that there's this much chaos and this much turmoil. Turmoil with Donald Trump coming back into the White House. I expected this to some extent, but the way that he seems to be saying, okay, Elon Musk, do whatever you want, even if it is detrimental to his political prospects. I mean, the last thing people might say, oh, well, Trump's not gonna run again. Well, we don't know about that. And the other thing is, yeah, we don't. I think he might toy with that idea quite a bit. But the other thing we don't know is what's gonna happen during the midterms. The last thing that Donald Trump wants is for the Democrats to take over the House and the Senate. People might say there's no way they're going to get the Senate, but you just don't know what's going to happen in the next year or two. And, you know, this is he. He is, you know, flailing a bit more than I thought he would, politically speaking.

[Tara Palmeri]

Yeah, no, I agree with you. And I think that Elon Musk was a heat shield for the first few months from Trump. Right. You see Elon Musk's poll numbers just diving, and he went from being popular, cool rocket man to, I think he's in the 30s right now. TRUMP has been. Okay, he's been in the 40s. But when does it start rubbing off on Trump? When does it look like he is mismanaging the government by leaving, you know, the sledgehammer to Elon Musk? When does it start affecting their people? You know, when does it start affecting veterans? When does it start affecting park rangers? You know, I was in. I was actually in Vegas a few weeks ago. Random, I know, but I was watching the news. Fox 5 local news, which you would think would be a bit more conservative. All over the news. Parks are in disarray, Parks are closed, this and that. People go to Vegas for the parks.

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah, I'm glad you, I'm glad you brought that up because. And then Trump, people know this, and you and I know this because we, we've covered a lot of campaigns. Yeah, Local news is a very powerful thing. These local stations and all these important TV markets and so on. When you get in all of these various TV markets around the country, and I worked in local news myself many years ago, you know, they are just going hog wild every day covering these various federal agencies and departments of the federal government that are having huge cutbacks and layoffs. And just about every local station in the country, every local newspaper in the country is covering this stuff, and people are consuming this information in all of these very important battleground states. And I have to think that that is part of the reason why you're seeing Trump's poll numbers suffer as well.

[Tara Palmeri]

Pretty buoyant though I will say, considering he has been that, considering the AG crisis, considering, like, considering what? I mean, I think it's, I think people have like a two feelings about Trump. They like the cuts. They really do. They like the action. They have had years of having a president who was not there, like he was just not present. And Trump is acting in the job of president, even if it is just signing executive orders with big Sharpies and throwing them into crowds. WWE fight. He's there. You're watching him. He looks like he's in charge and he looks like he's in power. So it leaves people hopeful. But I also think they're concerned about the mismanagement. So, like, what, what's the issue? It's months.

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah.

[Tara Palmeri]

So when is the bromance end?

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah, that is the question. And I do think, because, you know, I was talking to Ron Brownstein about this earlier today. He and I were having a conversation and he was saying, you know, Jim, I didn't realize that Trump was such a guy who was into, you know, cutting, you know, the fat in the federal government or race. Fraud and abuse never really was. And to me, you know, the thought that occurred to me was this is not really about cutting. We waste fraud and abuse. Some of it may be about rewarding his rich buddies and his powerful friends and so on. To me, it's about making people afraid. It's about having people running scared in all of these federal agencies. And I think there's a part of Donald Trump that is enjoying that part of the Elon Musk show right now. You know, for all the talk of Donald Trump being a reality TV show, it's almost like he has his own little Elon Musk, Musk reality TV show going on right now. And it fits back into his ideas of seeking retribution and going after the so called deep state and so on. I think he just likes the idea of spreading fear and panic and chaos because it puts him in the position of being the guy that everybody has to go up to and beg and please don't cut this and please don't cut that and save this part of this agency and that part of that agency. And I just think he likes my experience covering him and being around him is he loves the Dear Leader treatment. And this exacerbates the Dear Leader treatment. This creates more opportunities for the Dear Leader treatment. It's sort of like the tariffs. He likes the idea that these world leaders are calling him and saying, please don't do these tariffs here. Please don't do these Tariffs there because he gets the dear leader treatment. I don't. What are your, what do you think?

[Tara Palmeri]

I have a different view of it. I do think he likes the chaos and he likes to watch people fight and I'm sure he enjoyed the cabinet meeting where, you know, Marco and Elon had it out and everyone's spying for his love and attention. But I think he has picked a few targets that are rich, that are not popular right now. Federal government, not very popular. Not a lot of people who know people who work in government in general. It's a, it's a rich target. A lot. It is like it's an easy target.

[Jim Acosta]

Yeah.

[Tara Palmeri]

I think a lot of people don't realize how much government does for them in their day to day lives. They don't realize how much they're supported by Medicare, Medicaid. Maybe it doesn't say it directly, the check. Maybe it says it's like Ohio cares rather than Medicare. I think people hate government handouts or the idea of them. And so I think they don't like.

[Jim Acosta]

Government until they need it. You know, it's like these Medicaid cuts I was talking about with Michael Cohen earlier is that, you know, rural hospitals are going to suffer as a result of these Medicaid cuts. And a Trump supporter who lives in Kentucky or Kansas or whatever might rely on the, one of these rural hospitals and they just don't realize that Medicaid funding helps keep those hospitals alive. And some of it's on us to report on this stuff.

[Tara Palmeri]

I mean I see it in my own family. Like my father's very maga, but he also is accepting Social Security checks right now. You know what I mean? I don't know exactly what his medical care is, but he actually worked in the government at one point. But there's just this feeling Congress is so unpopular, attack Congress every morning. He's I know this, you know this from when we covered the White House. Like they woke up in the morning, he woke up in the morning, he thought how can I set the agenda? How can I own the libs today? How can I drive them crazy and off agenda? And that is what he did.

[Jim Acosta]

And so I, I think that's part of it too. I think that's part of the DOGE thing too. It's a way to drive people crazy. It's a way to own the libs, cut the do gooders over at the USAID without any thought as to the great work that so many of them do around the world. And Tara, I do want to ask you. Because you have jumped into the deep end of the independent media pool, sort of like I did about a month or so ago. And why'd you decide to do it? Tell us a little bit about what you're doing right now.

[Tara Palmeri]

Well, thanks for asking. So, you know, I just started to realize as I. I had a podcast, I still have it with the ringer, and it's an election podcast. And I just started to realize that most of the people that I loved and cared about were getting their news on their phones online, and they were not watching TV anymore, and they were getting it on Tick Tock, they were getting it on substack. They were signed up to. To, you know, they were on Instagram, they were on YouTube. And I came home and I saw my. My boomer dad just scrolling through YouTube, going from one to the next. My. My cousin.

[Jim Acosta]

My dad does the same thing.

[Tara Palmeri]

Yeah, yeah. My. My cousin's reading house inhabit, like, you know, on. On substack. So it's like I just started to realize, like, people aren't going to the place that I'm in right now. And I also found through the podcast that I was developing my own voice, and I really didn't want to have somebody else. Like, I just. I just wasn't. I didn't want to speak in somebody else's voice. And even though I loved writing for Puck and it helped me develop my voice, there was a certain tone to the publication. You know, the. Indeed. And the, of course is. And it's for a very elite leadership behind a very, like, hard paywall. And I wanted to go broader. I. I wanted to kind of focus on different things and really just develop me and who I am and my. And my voice and. And it just. It just feels like the right time right now. And seeing people like you trailblazers, I'm just like, you know what? If you don't do it now, someone's gonna push you out the door. And I'd rather go out on my.

[Jim Acosta]

Daniel Boone in the coonskin hat, you know, looking out to the horizon and saying, yes, we must go.

[Tara Palmeri]

But it just didn't seem exciting to me anywhere else. The people that I was excited to see were the ones who were trailblazing. And I was like, you know what? That's for me right now. And honestly, when I joined Puck, it felt like a trailblazing thing, and it still is, but it just. At this point in my life, this is a better fit for me. And I'm really excited because I'm going to continue doing investigative reporting. I'm going to continue to, you know, bring all my scoops and, and a little bit of political gossip because we need to have some mischief and fun, too.

[Jim Acosta]

Absolutely.

[Tara Palmeri]

I hope you'll tune in and I'll, you know, I hope to keep doing lives with people like you, and if I get any score scoops or anything like that that you want to dig into, I'd be happy to, to talk and all of that. So.

[Jim Acosta]

Absolutely. Anytime you get a scoop, just hit me up and we'll get you on. But it's so great to talk to you. It's so great to see you smiling and doing well and happy. It is kind of liberating. Right? You do this and you're like, you're like, oh. And then you're like, oh, this is great. I love this. I'm having a great time.

[Tara Palmeri]

I'm having a great time right now. Now I have to figure out how to pay the bills, but that's okay. We'll figure out, figure that out when the time.

[Jim Acosta]

Well, follow Tara Palmeri, subscribe to her substack. We'll get that going. And, but in the meantime, and let me know if you have any thoughts or questions or anything. And I'm happy to lend a, lend a hand as, as best as I can. But great to talk to you, Tara. Good to see you and best of luck with the, with the podcast and all of the independent media things that you're doing. Let's, let's keep doing this. Let's keep the conversation going.

[Tara Palmeri]

Yeah. Thank you so much for having me.

[Jim Acosta]

All right, see you later. Take care. Bye. That was Terra Palmeri, my old campaign trail buddy. The. You know, one of the great things about this show, and I've talked about it before, is I get to interview so many of my friends and, and Tara is one of those folks that I've, I've just become very good friends with over the years, seeing her out on the campaign trail at various events over at the White House and so on. And she is, she is a really terrific person. So if you get a chance, subscribe to her stuff, follow to her, follow her stuff. I do want to end the show finally by talking about a post that I put out there. I put a text post out there yesterday about the Great American Pushback. And this goes back to what Michael Cohen and I were talking about a little while ago. I think we're in the midst of the great American pushback. I think people are seeing what's happening, and I think some of this has been fueled by what's taking place in the last 24 hours. The President of the United States cannot say whether or not we're going to go into a recession again. I asked the question, who in the hell voted for this? And so it's called the Great American Pushback. I'm going to be talking about this. I'm going to be highlighting when you guys show up at town halls and make your voices heard, whether it be at the Republican town halls or the Democratic town halls, when you go on social media or when you talk to the local news about what's been happening in your neck of the woods. Perhaps there might be the possibility that you were working in a federal job and you were laid off anyway. Any of those ways that you're trying to push back? I was just at a rally on Friday down on the National Mall. A lot of the government scientists in Washington who have been laid off at places like the NIH and Noah and so on, I wrote about this. Dr. Francis Collins, who was the head of NIH, he was out there playing his guitar, wrote about all this in my substack. All of this is part of the great American pushback. And people might not like calling it the resistance or whatever. Fine, don't call it that. Call it the pushback. Push back for what you think is right. Push back against the lies. Push back against the brutality of, of what Trump and Musk are dishing out. Push back against hate. Push back against fear. The Great American pushback, or gap, as I called it over the weekend. Mind the gap. And the other thing I want to push back on is this notion that we're just going to piss off our friends and allies. I want to go back to what the Canadian, the new Canadian Prime Minister, Mark Carney, what he said over the weekend talking about the United States. We didn't ask for this fight, but Canadians are always ready when someone else drops the gloves. A hockey reference there. So the Americans, they should make no mistake and trade as in hockey. Canada will win. What are we doing pissing off the Canadians? They are our friends. I don't know if you guys saw this, this French politician by the name of Claude Mallory. If I've said his name incorrectly or imprecisely, please forgive me. A senator from France, he gave an eight minute address to his colleagues in the French Senate last week. And as the Huffington Post reported, it was a clear eyed assessment of Donald Trump's alarming efforts to destroy democracy both in America and abroad. Aided by Elon Musk, whom the senator refers to as a, quote, ketamine fueled jester. If you have not seen this speech, go out and look at it. But this French senator said, quote, never in history has a president of the United States catapulted or, excuse me, capitulated. Never. Never in history has a president of the United States capitulated to the enemy, said the center, reflecting on Trump's baffling subservience to Russian President Vladimir. Excuse me, Vladimir Putin. Sorry, it's Monday. And the senator goes on to say, never has anyone supported an aggressor against an ally. And he's absolutely right. And so as part of my contribution to the great American pushback, I want to push back against this idea that we can just turn our back on our friends, that we can just alienate our allies, alienate our friends around the world. To me, that is something to push back on. I know there are lots of other things we should p. Push back on. I want to hear your thoughts. So please put them in a chat. You know, when you watch this recording, if there's an opportunity to chat about it, put it in there. Would love to hear more about it. I've been talking too long. It's been an hour. So it's time to wrap up this edition of the Jim Acosta show on this Monday, this Michael Monday. Michael got me talking earlier today and thinking about this idea of whether he and I should do a town hall. Should we go and do a town hall? I don't. Maybe we should go out there in the, out there in the heartland and talk to some folks. Maybe we will do that. It's not a bad idea. But in the meantime, still reporting. I'm Jim Acosta. Thanks for tuning in. Great to talk to you guys on, on a Monday, a manic Monday. Make it a good evening and I'll see you tomorrow. Take care, everybody. Have a good day. Bye.