UNBIASED Politics (5/5/25): NPR/PBS Funding Cuts, Trump's Pope Picture, Alcatraz Re-Opening, Tariffs on Films, Fact-Checking Trump's 'Meet the Press' Interview, SpaceX Gets Its Own City, and More.

Summary

Podcast Summary: UNBIASED Politics (May 5, 2025)

Hosted by Jordan Berman

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1. Introduction to the Episode

In the May 5, 2025 episode of UNBIASED Politics, host Jordan Berman delves into a range of pressing political and legal issues affecting the United States. The episode offers an impartial analysis of government actions, media funding cuts, high-profile legal cases, and significant legislative developments, providing listeners with clear and factual insights without any personal bias.

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2. Trump's Executive Order on NPR and PBS Funding Cuts

The episode opens with an in-depth discussion of former President Donald Trump's executive order aimed at cutting federal taxpayer funding for National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).

• Background & Rationale: Trump's order, titled "Ending taxpayer subsidization of biased media," directs the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) to cease direct funding to NPR and PBS, alleging that these entities do not present a "fair, accurate, or unbiased portrayal of current events to taxpaying citizens." Berman emphasizes that this move aligns with Trump's broader policy to eliminate government support for what he perceives as partisan media.

• Historical Context: Berman highlights that this is not the first instance of Republican-led funding cuts to the CPB. The order mirrors previous attempts, such as those by former President Nixon and the 2023 House Republican appropriations bill, to reduce or eliminate CPB funding.

• Impact on CPB and Local Stations: The CPB receives approximately $535 million annually from Congress, with over 70% allocated to local stations nationwide. Berman explains that cuts will disproportionately affect smaller, rural stations that lack large donor bases, potentially leading to significant budget shortfalls. For instance, Marfa Public Radio in West Texas could lose up to 33% of its budget due to these funding cuts.

• Legal Challenges: Both CPB and NPR/PBS officials have filed lawsuits against the executive order, arguing that it exceeds presidential authority and violates the principles of an independent public broadcasting system. Berman notes that the CPB's lawsuit contends that the order undermines the statutory mandate for impartiality and separation from federal control.

• Notable Quote:

  "The founders of America knew that an informed public is essential to a functioning democracy and that commitment to serve an informed public is the heart of NPR's mission." – President and CEO of NPR. (Timestamp: 09:45)

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3. Voice of America (VOA) Funding and Legal Battles

Following the discussion on NPR and PBS, Berman shifts focus to the turmoil surrounding Voice of America (VOA), an international broadcaster funded by Congress.

• Shutdown and Refiling: In March, President Trump signed an executive order to eliminate the US Agency for Global Media, effectively shutting down VOA operations and halting its funding. This move was justified by claims of "waste, fraud, and abuse" within the agency.

• Legal Proceedings: VOA has filed multiple lawsuits challenging the executive order's constitutionality. A federal judge initially ordered the reinstatement of VOA operations, but an appellate court later paused this ruling, siding with the administration and allowing the DOJ to instruct VOA employees to resume work.

• Public and Legal Reactions: Carrie Lake, Trump's senior advisor for the US Agency for Global Media, hailed the appellate court's decision as a victory, while critics argue it signals a shift from abolishing VOA to restructuring it. The outcome remains uncertain as litigation continues.

• Notable Quote:

  "This is a huge victory for President Trump and his Article 2 powers granted in the United States Constitution." – Carrie Lake, Senior Advisor. (Timestamp: 16:10)

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4. Supreme Court Cases Involving the Administration

Berman updates listeners on the Trump administration's requests to the Supreme Court to review two significant cases:

• Access to Social Security Administration Records for DOGE Members: The administration seeks to overturn a lower court's injunction that restricts members of the Democratic Organization for Government Ethics (DOGE) from accessing SSA records.

• Termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuelans: The administration aims to end TPS for Venezuelan citizens, a move contested by immigrants arguing it violates administrative procedures and exhibits racial bias.

Berman explains the potential implications of the Supreme Court's decisions, which will likely determine whether the administration can proceed with its directives while legal battles continue.

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5. Reopening Alcatraz for Serious Offenders

A noteworthy development discussed is Trump's statement about reopening Alcatraz as a federal prison for America's most violent offenders.

• Historical Significance: Alcatraz, a former maximum-security prison and now a National Historic Landmark operated by the National Park Service, poses significant logistical and financial challenges for reopening as a prison. Restoration and maintenance costs are estimated between $3 to $5 million, not accounting for daily operational expenses.

• Regulatory Hurdles: Reestablishing Alcatraz as a prison would require repealing its National Historic Landmark status, a process governed by strict criteria that currently do not favor such a change.

• Notable Quote:

  "I am directing the Bureau of Prisons... to reopen a substantially enlarged and rebuilt Alcatraz to house America's most ruthless and violent offenders." – President Trump. (Timestamp: 22:15)

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6. Imposition of Tariffs on Foreign-Made Films

Trump announced plans to impose a 100% tariff on foreign-made films, citing threats to the American film industry from international competitors offering incentives to filmmakers and studios.

• Rationale: The tariffs aim to protect Hollywood by making foreign films more expensive in the US market, thereby encouraging domestic production.

• Potential Challenges: Berman notes the complexities in implementing such tariffs on intellectual properties like movies, including valuation issues and classification of film imports. Additionally, reciprocal tariffs from other countries could adversely impact American films' international earnings.

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7. Fact-Checking Trump's 'Meet the Press' Interview

In the second major segment, Berman methodically fact-checks several of Trump's claims made during his recent interview on NBC's "Meet the Press."

• Border Crossings Down 99.9999%: Contrary to Trump's assertion, official data indicates a 95% decrease in border encounters. The exaggerated figure likely refers to the reduction in intentional releases from ICE custody, not overall illegal crossings.

• Gas Prices Below $2 a Gallon: Trump's statement pertains to wholesale RBOB gas prices, not retail pump prices. As of the time of the interview, no state had gas prices below $2.65 per gallon, with the national average at $3.16.

• 11,888 Murderers in ICE Supervision: While ICE oversees approximately 13,099 individuals convicted of homicide, these numbers span multiple administrations and do not necessarily indicate active roaming murderers.

• Mortgage Rates and Tax Cuts: Trump accurately notes a slight decrease in mortgage rates since January but maintains that rates remain above previous levels. Regarding tax cuts, Berman clarifies that Democrats aim to restore pre-2017 tax brackets rather than implementing a 68% tax increase, the figure Trump cited lacks verification.

• Notable Quotes:

  "I do not know where that number is coming from." – Jordan Berman on Trump's 68% tax increase claim. (Timestamp: 26:00)

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8. Other Significant Updates

• AI-Generated Image of Trump as the Pope: A digitally altered image of Trump dressed as the Pope was circulated on his Truth Social account. Berman explains that such images are creations of artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT or Grok, designed to generate any requested imagery based on prompts.

• SpaceX Incorporates Its Own City - Starbase: Residents in a South Texas neighborhood voted to incorporate their area as "Starbase," intended to be a city primarily for SpaceX employees. This move aims to provide SpaceX with greater autonomy and reduce bureaucratic constraints related to rocket launches and equipment movements.

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9. Quick Hitters

Berman provides brief updates on various topics, including NASA astronauts completing a spacewalk, legislative actions like the cancellation of the IGO Anti-Boycott Act vote, the implementation of Real ID requirements at airports, the commencement of Sean "Diddy" Combs' trial for multiple charges, and the Department of Homeland Security's new stipend for illegal aliens who self-deport via the CBP app.

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10. Critical Thinking Segment

The episode concludes with a critical thinking exercise focused on the role of publicly funded media in a democracy. Listeners are prompted to consider the benefits and drawbacks of government funding for media organizations, the balance between independent journalism and public support, and the mechanisms needed to maintain editorial independence.

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Conclusion

Jordan Berman's comprehensive analysis in this episode of UNBIASED Politics offers listeners a clear and fact-based understanding of significant political developments, legal battles, and policy changes. By meticulously fact-checking claims and elucidating complex issues, Berman ensures that the audience remains well-informed on matters that shape the nation's socio-political landscape.

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For more detailed insights and weekly updates, subscribe to Jordan Berman's newsletter, now available twice a week on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Transcript

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[Host]

Welcome back to Unbiased, your favorite source of unbiased news and legal analysis. Welcome back to Unbiased Politics. Today is Monday, May 5th. Let's talk about some news. Before we do, though, I do want to let you know that starting tomorrow, my newsletter will be going out twice a week, Tuesdays and Fridays. The newsletter is full of quick hitters covering the top stories in politics, pop culture, health and business news from the last few days. And I might be biased for once, but I think it's pretty great. It's not too dense and I created it like that on purpose because basically what I did is I, you know, it's full of quick hitters, but there's a bunch of hyperlinks so it can be more dense and more informative if you want it to be. You choose the level of of depth. I always have the link to subscribe in every episode description in the show notes, but there are actually a few ways you can do it. So you can either click the link in this episode description, which is the easiest way, or you can head over to substack.com or the substack app and just search Unbiased Society, which which is the name of the newsletter. First story of the day on Thursday Last week, Trump signed an executive order prohibiting federal taxpayer dollars from supporting NPR and pbs. Ending taxpayer subsidation of biased media is the name of the order, and it directs the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, or cpb, to cease direct funding to NPR and pbs, consistent with the administration's policy to ensure that federal funding does not support biased and partisan news coverage. The order also says that the CBP Board or CPB Board shall cancel existing direct funding to the maximum extent allowed by law and shall decline to provide future funding. So what I want to do is explain why this order was issued, what CPB is, how it operates, and then talk about how C B CPB works with NPR and PBS so that this makes sense for all of us. By the way, I can just tell now if I accidentally call CPB cbp, just let it go, okay? My brain is not fully functioning in that way today. So you know what I'm talking about. It is cpb according to the President's order Quote, neither entity, meaning NPR or pbs, presents a fair, accurate, or unbiased portrayal of current events to taxpayers. Or which viewpoints NPR and PBS promote. Does not matter. What does matter is that neither entity presents a fair, accurate, or unbiased portrayal of current events to taxpaying citizens. The CPB's governing statute reflects principles of impartiality. The CPB may not contribute to or otherwise support any political party. The CPB fails to abide by these principles to the extent that it subsidizes NPR and pbs. End quote. Note that Trump's executive order is not the first time Republicans have decreased or cut funding for cpb. It was heavily opposed by former President Nixon, who wanted to eliminate all congressional funding. And in 2023, House Republicans eliminated funding for CPB from their appropriations bill. So the cpb, which is a publicly funded nonprofit, was created to support public broadcasting. It was established in the 60s through the 1967 Public Broadcasting act, which was signed into law by former President Lyndon B. Johnson. It was meant to ensure telecommunications and news could be accessible to the public. And from the start, it collaborated with the National Education Television Network, which was later replaced by pbs. The CPB started helping to fund NPR shortly thereafter, in 1970, when, when the CPB helped to form NPR. The CPB gets most of its funding from Congress, okay? So currently it receives $535 million each year from Congress. A majority of these federal funds are used to provide grants to thousands of local stations nationwide to again ensure that news and telecommunications could be accessible to the public. To put a number on it, more than 70% of the CPB's annual appropriation from Congress goes to local stat. So Congress appropriates funds to CPB, and then CPB distributes those funds to more than 1500 local rural and urban public media stations in the form of community service grants. Those stations then use those grants to produce their own programming or to purchase programming from services like NPR and PBS that it then broadcasts to local audiences. I do also want to note that while Congress appropriates more than $530 million to CPB each year, the funding for public media actually comes from many sources. Stations and producers raise funds from viewers, listeners, and donors. And this revenue, this, this, you know, raising of revenue is actually critical for their operations. The money raised is oftentimes much more than what they receive in grants for from the cpb. I'll give you a couple of examples. So, a local station in Austin, Texas called KUT Radio, which is Austin's NPR station, its website says that the vast majority so 90% of the station's roughly $14 million budget comes from private donations from individuals and businesses. Six percent of its budget comes from the CPB. Other stations, though, rely more so on federal funding. So One PBS affiliate, KLRU, received just over $2 million in CBP funding, which is about 12% of the station's total budget. So what we can deduce from this information is that the cuts in funding would likely have the most impact on smaller rural public radio and TV stations. Those smaller stations tend to operate with significant operating expenses because they're the only station for a particular community, but also tend to not have the larger donor base that urban stations have, and therefore rely more on federal funding. One station, Marfa Public Radio, which broadcasts across West Texas, posted to its Instagram that federal cuts could cause the station to lose up to one third of its budget. So that's 33%. With that in mind, let's go back to what the order says. The order directs the CPB to stop all direct federal funding to PBS and npr. It also says that the CPB must revise eligibility criteria for grants by June 30, such that the language prohibits direct or indirect funding of NPR and pbs. And it directs the HHS secretary to determine whether pbs, NPR, or successor organizations are complying with fair hiring practices consistent with the the administration's emphasis on eliminating dei. So what that means is that the CPB cannot send funds to PBS and npr, which means PBS and NPR will not have funds to send to these local stations, which means those local stations will lose anywhere from 6 to 33% of their operating budget depending on the station. Right. Again, the smaller, more rural stations would be more affected because they don't have that large donor base and that the larger stations do, and they rely more on federal funding. The CPB has already filed a lawsuit against the administration, arguing that this order exceeds the authority of the executive branch, in part because the CPB is not a federal executive agency subject to the president's authority. The head of CPB argues that the founding intent of the CPB was to separate it from the control of federal departments. The president and CEO of NPR said NPR also plans to challenge the order using all means available. She argues that the order is unlawful and said in a statement that the founders of America, quote, knew that an informed public is essential to a functioning democracy and that commitment to serve an informed public is the heart of NPR's mission, end quote. The president and CEO of PBS similarly argues that the order is blatantly unlawful and said in a statement that the order, quote throws, threatens our ability to serve the American public with educational programming as we have for the past 50 plus years. She said PBS was also in the process of exploring all options to allow PBS to continue to serve the its member stations and Americans. The Trump administration, on the other hand, has said that the funding cuts are justified because, again, the CB CPB's governing statute reflects principles of impartiality, including that it cannot contribute or otherwise support support any political party, and that it's failing to abide by these principles to the extent that it subsidizes outlets like NPR and pbs. The executive order also states that no media outlet has a constitutional right to taxpayer subsidies and the government is entitled to determine which categories of activities to subsidize. So we'll see how these challenges shape up with time. The next update you'll likely hear about is a temporary injunction where a judge will either decide to allow funding for NPR and PBS while the litigation is pending, or continue to block funding for NPR and PBS while the litigation is pending. With that, let's move on to some more media Adjacent News over the weekend, Voice of America experienced a bit of whiplash. So as of Thursday, the DOJ was reportedly telling Voice of America employees to return to work after more than a month of prohibiting their work. But then on Saturday, an appellate court said, eh, wait a minute, not so fast. So let's talk about this first. What is voa? Voice of America Voice of America is an international multimedia broadcaster that produces programming in more than 40 languages so foreign audiences can be aware of American news and US Policies. It's funded by Congress. Its goal has always been to counter foreign propaganda. According to VOA, its audience totals around 354 million people internationally. Notably, VOA is prohibited from broadcasting to American audiences because of the Smith Munt act, which mandates VOA content be directed toward foreign audiences specifically. Also, VOA is one of the only sources of journalism able to reach people living under authoritarian regimes because of its statutory firewall. So this firewall was established through the US International Broadcasting act, and it prohibits government officials in other countries or other non journalistic personnel from interfering with newsroom decisions. In March, the President signed an executive order which eliminated the US Agency for Global Media. Now the US Agency for Global Media oversees voa. According to President Trump, this was done in an effort to reduce the elements of the federal bureaucracy that he has determined to be unnecessary. The order shut down VOA operations on March 15, and VOA staffers have said that they've been directed to stop working. The VOA's website also has not been updated since March 15. Carrie Lake, Trump's senior advisor for the U.S. agency for Global Media, said, quote, waste, fraud and abuse run rampant in this agency and American taxpayers shouldn't have to fund it, end quote. A White House official commenting on the executive order similarly said, quote, voice of America has been out of step with America for years. It serves as the it serves as the voice for radical America and has pushed a divisive propaganda for years now, end quote. Naturally, when this executive order was signed, VOA sued the administration, arguing that the order was unconstitutional. Six VOA journalists also sued arguing that their that the order violated their First Amendment free speech rights and demonstrated an overreach of of executive power by attempting to control funding, funding that is appropriated by Congress. Keep in mind, though, there are four different pending lawsuits right now over the same issue. So in one of those four cases, a court ruled last month that VOA employees have to be reinstated and full broadcasting operations must resume while the litigation is pending. In ruling that way, the judge found that the administration was likely in direct violation of numerous federal laws. The DOJ then appealed that ruling and despite its appeal at the end of last week, reports started surfacing which said that the DOJ was actually telling VOA employees that they could start returning to work as soon as this week, meaning today, Monday. That was until Saturday when the appeals court ruled on the DOJ's appeal. On Saturday, the D.C. appeals Court ruled 2 to 1 that the lower court's order has to be put on pause while the DOJ pursues an appeal in this case. So the appellate judges essentially found that courts have to defer to the executive branch on employment matters and that the lower court likely did not have the proper jurisdiction to order the VOA employees back to work in the first place. Note that this pause on the lower court's ruling is temporary until the appellate court actually hears the merits of this case and and renders a more final decision. Carrie Lake reacted to Saturday's decision saying, quote, this is a huge victory for President Trump and his Article 2 powers granted in the United States Constitution. It's also a victory for the U.S. agency for Global Media and VOA. She said. Now that we have a favorable ruling in the appeals court, we look forward to accomplishing the plan we've always had to bring voa into the 21st century. Now. Lake's comments prompted critics to point out that Lake has seemingly switched from voicing support for the full elimination of VOA to instead supporting its restructuring. So as with anything, time will tell. Let's take our first break here and I will be right back. You may have seen me in the press briefing room of the White House a few weeks ago and in a recent episode, I actually filled you in on the story of how I got invited. But what I did not tell you is how hectic that week was leading up to it. I just had so much to do. I had episodes to get out. I had to find an outfit, I had to go to the tailor. There was just so much I had to get done in the couple of days notice that I did have. And the reason I'm telling you this is because when I have these moments where I'm just, it's super chaotic. I have to be really efficient and I have to stay really calm. And we all have these chaotic moments and days, right? But there is a specific type of chaos that is unlike any other and that is the chaos that comes with order fulfillment for an e commerce business. That is a chaos that never ends. But that's why I want to tell you about Shipstation, because I actually used Shipstation when I had a cookie company. So it's a software that helps businesses manage their e commerce order fulfillment process. Between the discounted shipping rates of up to 90%, the easy to use dashboard, being able to print labels with the click of a button, the chaos that is shipping is just so much more enjoyable. So calm. The chaos of order fulfillment with the shipping software that delivers. Switch to ShipStation today. Go to ShipStation.com and use code unbiased to sign up for your free trial. That's shipstation.com code unbiased for a free trial. Listen, I don't know where you guys are amongst the 50 states, but I'm in Florida and it is getting hot. I first noticed the summer like heat probably three weeks ago now at this point. And since then I've been wearing the same thing. The same tank top, same shorts, same everything. So what did I do? I said okay, five summers with these clothes is enough. I am upgrading with Quint. You know, I love quint because you know I'm not one to spend a fortune on clothes and aside from the affordable prices, the clothes are just chic and easy and elevated. I love it. And I highly recommend looking into Quint for your summer essentials. I love their second skin square neck tank bodysuit and the ecoknit polo sweater tank is so chic. But they have all kinds of stuff. 100% European linen shorts, dresses, starting at $30. Swimwear, accessories, really everything you need quite Quint is priced 50 to 80% less than what you would find at similar brands because they actually work with top artisans and cut out the middleman, which means they can then pass those savings on to us. So it's luxury but without the luxury price tag. Treat your closet to a little summer glow up with quint. Go to quint.comunbiased for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. That's Q U I N C- dot com slash unbiased to get free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince.comunbiased welcome back. On Sunday morning, NBC aired the latest episode of Meet the Press, which featured an interview with the President. Last week I Fact checked Trump's 100 day interview with ABC News. So I want to fact check a few claims from the NBC interview as well. And there was actually one thing that I wanted to clarify from the last fact fact check that this interview offers a good opportunity to do. So at the end of the fact check, I will also point out some notable moments from the interview that are making headlines. And what I want to do is play the clips for you as you know, as they relate to those headlines so you have the full context. So Trump again said border crossings are down 99.9999%. This is something that we kind of talked about last week. Border encounters are down to 95%, not 99.9999%. That 99.999% figure may have been referencing and likely is referencing a recent press briefing held by Border Cullman in which Homan was comparing numbers under the Biden administration to the Trump administration. And one of those comparisons that he made, he said that in the first 100 days of 2024. So under the Biden administration, from January 20, 2024 to April 1, 2024, 184 illegal immigrants were released into the United States, meaning they were in ICE custody. They were released into the United States. Comparatively, in the first 100 days of Trump's administration, only nine have been released. Homan said that four of those nine were material witnesses in a criminal investigation and they were needed to testify. Four were released due to extreme medical conditions and one was a humanitarian issue. So keep in mind this number that you know equates to 99.9999% reduction is referencing intentional releases from ICE custody, not people who crossed the border and entered the United States illegally and got past Border Patrol. This nine figure specifically consists of people that DHS or ICE agreed to release into the United States after taking custody. So. So that's likely where that 99.999% figure is coming from. Border crossings generally, though, border Encounters are down 95%. Trump also restated the claim that gas is now below $2 a gallon in many cases. And this is the one that I wanted to provide a little bit of clarity on from the last fact check because he did say something similar in his interview with ABC News, and I didn't really provide the fact full context there. I said it wasn't true because consumer gas prices are not below 2% or not below $2 a gallon. But there's more information I have to give. So again, there are no states that have gas at the pumps for less than $2.65 a gallon. I said in the last episode the state with the cheapest gas is Mississippi. The national average is currently $3.16 per gallon, which is slightly elevated from January, which when the average price of gas was $3.12. The number that Trump is referring to when he says under $2 a gallon is the price of wholesale RBOB gas. RBOB is the base material for gas before additives. Now, wholesale RBOB gas ultimately affects the gas prices you and I pay at the pump. Right? But the claim that gas is now below $2 a gallon is misleading because it implies that some consumers are paying less than $2 a gallon at the pump. That is not the case. Perhaps as the wholesale RBOB price comes down in the coming months, we'll eventually see the price of gas at the pumps also come down, and maybe even to less than $2 a gallon. But we are not there yet. So when he says gas is below $2 a gallon, just so, he is referring to that wholesale RBOB price Trump claimed. We have murderers. 11,000, 888 murderers, many of them murdered more than one person. This is similar to a claim Trump made back in October when he said that there are 13,000 migrant murderers on the loose. These numbers come from an ICE report from September 2024 that showed a bunch, a whole compilation of people under ICE supervision, including those not in ICE custody, meaning not in ICE custody any longer. Sorry, I should have clarified that. The data that was provided to Congress by ICE included roughly 425,000 convicted criminals, of which 13,099 people were found guilty of homicide. However, it's important to note that the numbers provided in this report spanned decades, including during Trump's first administration. And we don't know how many of those people not in ICE custody are actually roaming freely versus, you know, having been detained by state or local law enforcement agencies at some point. So per ICE's report, it is true that ICE is aware of roughly 13,000 individuals who have come into this country who have been convicted of homicide or found guilty of homicide. But again, those numbers span decades, and we don't know how many of those individuals are still in the country, are here roaming free or have since been detained. Next one. Trump said mortgage rates are going down despite a stubborn Fed. This is true for the most part. Mortgage rates are overall lower since January. They are higher than they were a month ago. But since January, mortgage rates have fallen about 0.7%. And then finally, Trump spoke about tax cuts and said Republicans are trying to get the biggest tax cuts in history approved. And if it doesn't get approved, it's a 60% tax increase. That's what the Democrats want. They want a 68. Sorry, did I say 60? I meant 68. He said Democrats want a 68% tax increase. So what's happening right now is Congress is negotiating an extension to Trump's 2017 tax cuts and Jobs act, which will expire this year without a replacement bill. The Tax Cuts and Jobs act lowered taxes for pretty much every tax bracket except the 10% tax bracket stayed the same and the 35% tax bracket stayed the same. If the act expires, each tax bracket, except for that 10% and 35% bracket will see an increase anywhere from 1 to 4%. Basically, the tax brackets will go back to what they were pre2017. Now, I am not sure where that 68% number is coming from, aside from the fact that Democrats would like to raise taxes for high income earners and corporations. But I have not found anything that would verify that 68% number. I don't know where that number is coming from. Okay, let's finish this discussion this, this interview discussion with some notable moments from the interview so that I can provide the corresponding clips to some of the headlines that you might be seeing. That way you can have the full context. First one, Trump said he would be okay with a recession in the short term.

[Interviewer]

Is it okay in the short term to have a recession?

[Donald Trump]

Look, yes, everything's okay. What we are. I said this is a transition period. I think we're going to do fantastically. I think we're going to have an economy the likes of which we've never had before.

[Host]

Next one. Trump said he would not be removing Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

[Interviewer]

Do you rule out removing Fed Chair Jerome Powell?

[Donald Trump]

I'm not. You know, I get to change him very quickly anyway. You know, it's in a very short period of time.

[Interviewer]

In 2026, you're not going to remove. You don't have plans to remove him before 2026 when his time's up.

[Donald Trump]

That was a total. Why would I do that? I get to replace the person in another short period of time.

[Host]

Trump said moving Mike Waltz to UN Ambassador from national Security advisor was not a punishment.

[Interviewer]

This week. You reshuffled your national security team. You move National Security Advisor Mike Waltz to UN Ambassador. Just to remind our viewers, Waltz, of course, started that unsecure text chain where sensitive information was shared. Mr. President, was that move a punishment?

[Donald Trump]

No, I just think he'll do a nice job in the new position. Marco's doing an outstanding job. No, Marco won't keepmarco's very busy doing other things, so he's not going to keep it long term. We're going to put somebody else in. But I think Mike was, as you know, he's a fine guy and I think he'll do a very good job, knows the countries, knows leadership, and I think he'll do a very good job at the United Nations. And in the meantime, Marco's really doing something special and it's going to work out very well.

[Host]

Trump said Pete Hegseth was safe in his role as Defense Secretary.

[Interviewer]

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, obviously also on that unsecured text chain, he was sharing sensitive information. Are you looking for a new secretary of Defense?

[Donald Trump]

No. Not even a little bit? No. Pete's going to be great.

[Interviewer]

His job is safe right now.

[Donald Trump]

Doing a fantastic job against the Houthis, who like blowing ships up and watching them sink in the ocean. We're hitting him very hard. No, he's doing a very good job.

[Interviewer]

His job is safe right now.

[Donald Trump]

Totally safe.

[Interviewer]

Okay.

[Host]

Trump said he has the power to ask for Abrego Garcia back, but that the decision rests with the president of El Salvador.

[Interviewer]

Do you have the power to bring Abrego Garcia back as the Supreme Court?

[Donald Trump]

Well, I have the power to ask for him to come back if I'm instructed by the attorney general that it's legal to do so. But. But the decision as to whether or not he should come back will be the head of El Salvador. He's a very capable man.

[Host]

Trump said he doesn't know whether everyone deserves due process.

[Interviewer]

Your secretary of state says everyone who's here, citizens and noncitizens, deserve due process. Do you agree, Mr. President?

[Donald Trump]

I don't know. I'm not. I'm not a lawyer. I don't know.

[Interviewer]

Well, the Fifth Amendment says I don't know.

[Donald Trump]

It seems, it seems, it might say that. But if you're talking about that, then we'd have to have a million or 2 million or 3 million trials. We have thousands of people that are some murderers and some drug dealers and some of the worst people on earth, some of the worst, most dangerous people on earth. And I was elected to get them the hell out of here, and the courts are holding me from doing it.

[Interviewer]

But even given those numbers that you're talking about, don't you need to uphold the Constitution of the United States as president?

[Donald Trump]

I don't know. I have to respond by saying, again, I have brilliant lawyers that work for me, and they are going to obviously follow what the Supreme Court said. What you said is not what I heard the Supreme Court said. They have a different interpretation.

[Host]

Trump said you're always going to have dissent in a democracy, and it would be a strange place if you didn't have dissent.

[Interviewer]

Do you see dissent as an essential part of democracy?

[Donald Trump]

It's a part of democracy. It is. You're always going to have.

[Interviewer]

It's an important part of democracy.

[Donald Trump]

You're always going to have Chris, and you're always going to have dissent. There's nothing you're going to do about that. Am I going to get 100% unified? It would be a strange place, I can't even imagine it, where 100%. Look, you have people that are good people, they're very smart people, and they honestly believe we should have open borders and the entire world should be allowed to pour into our country? I think it's a 95. 5 issue, but they, they believe it. They're not even bad people. Some of them are bad. You have people that honestly believe that men should be allowed to play in women's sports. Some of these people, I really. Actually, I don't know any. I haven't been able to find any, but they exist. They say it's an 8020 issue. I don't believe that. I think it's a 97 to 3 issue.

[Interviewer]

Do you think people should have the right to criticize you without fear of reprisal?

[Donald Trump]

Absolutely. Yeah, I do that. I do.

[Interviewer]

And how do you square that?

[Donald Trump]

And I think that happens.

[Interviewer]

How do you square that with the fact that you have passed these executive orders asking the attorney general to look into some of the people who've criticized you, who've been harshest against you.

[Donald Trump]

I have been investigated more than any person in the history of the United States of America. These people are evil people, and I won. And I'll tell you what, all I want to happen is for the Department of Justice and the FBI. Pam is great, and Cash is great. I think they're two great people, but they're their own people. They want to do a fantastic job. And all I want to do and all I want to ask for is that they be allowed to do their job. I'm not telling them to do anything. And I believe I have the right to do it. I'm, in theory, the top law enforcement officer as the president. We went over this once before, and it turned out I was right. But I'm not looking to use that. We have two great people, and we have many, many incredible people under them. And I just want them to do their job and do it well.

[Host]

Trump said he will not pursue a third term.

[Interviewer]

The Trump Organization is selling hats that say Trump 2028.

[Donald Trump]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Are you seriously considering a third term, Mr. President, even though it's prohibited by the Constitution, or is this about staying politically vile?

[Donald Trump]

I will say this. So many people want me to do it. I have never had requests so strong as that. But it's something that, to the best of my knowledge, you're not allowed to do. I don't know if that's constitutional, that they're not allowing you to do it or anything else. But there are many people selling the 2028 hat. But this is not something I'm looking to do. I'm looking to have four great years and turn it over to somebody, ideally a great Republican, a great Republican, to carry it forward. But I think we're going to have four years, and I think four years is plenty of time to do something really spectacular.

[Host]

And finally, Trump said it's too early to decide on a successor for his, quote, unquote, MAGA movement, but that VP Vance as VP has an advantage.

[Interviewer]

I know that you are only 100 days in, but as we sit here today, who do you see as your successor, Mr. President?

[Donald Trump]

Well, it's far too early to say that, but, you know, I do have a vice president, and typically it would be. And J.D. is doing a fantastic job.

[Interviewer]

He would be at the top of the list.

[Donald Trump]

Could very well be. I don't want to get involved in that. I think he's a fantastic, brilliant guy. Marco is great. There's a lot of them that are great. I also see tremendous unity. But certainly you would say that somebody's the vp. If that person is outstanding, I guess that person would have an advantage. But I think the other people would all stay in unbelievably high positions. But, you know, it could be that he'd be challenged by somebody. We have a lot of good people in this clarity.

[Host]

Okay, so those are just some of the moments that I wanted to provide clarity on. Hopefully you feel like you have a bit more context now. This next story is one I would typically wait to include until rumor has it on Thursday. But a lot of you wanted to know more about this, so I figured I would talk about it today. Over the weekend, a picture was posted to the President's Truth Social account depicting him as the Pope. I think the most frequently asked questions I have received are one, did he really post this? And two, did he. Did he really dress up as the Pope? So yes, he did really post this picture, but no, he did not actually dress up as the Pope. This is an AI generated picture. I'm sure many of you have messed around with AI before. You know how it works. But for those that haven't, basically you can prompt AI, whether it's ChatGPT or Grok or another AI to create any picture for you. In this case, Trump's team likely told AI something like create an image depicting President Trump as the Pope. And then there you go. AI spits out the image. But yes, this picture was actually posted to to Trump's Truth Social account on Friday. We don't know if Trump himself posted it or if it was someone on his social media team, but it was posted. Let's take our second and final break here, and I will be right back. One misconception about investing that I really don't like is that you have to be rich to do it. My dad always taught me that you can invest with anything, but I didn't really take his advice seriously until I started to approach my 30s and I realized I should probably be better about planning for my future and investing the money that I did have. And that's why I love Acorns, which is a financial wellness app that makes it easy to invest and save without much in your pocket. You guys have heard me talk about Acorns before, and I'm so glad they're a sponsor of today's show because I love reminding you about them. April is Financial Literacy Month. That's right. They made a whole month reminding you to finally take control of your money. Good news is that you don't need 30 days. Acorns makes it easy to start saving and investing in your Future in just 35 minutes. You don't need to be an expert. Acorns will recommend a diversified portfolio that matches you and your money goals. And you don't need to be rich. Acorns lets you get started with the spare money you've got right now, even if all you have is fair change. Sign up now and join the over 14 million all time customers who have already saved and invested over $25 billion with Acorns. Head to acorns.comunbiased or download the Acorns app to get started. That's acorns.comunbiased or head to the Acorns app. Paid non client endorsement compensation provides incentive to positively promote Acorns tier 1 compensation provided investing involves risk. Acorns Advisors LLC and SEC registered investment advisor view important [e-mail] unbiased spring savings.

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[Host]

Welcome back. Some quick Supreme Court News the Trump Administration has asked the Supreme Court to review two cases. In one case, the Administration is asking the Justices to allow members of DOGE to access the records of the Social Security Administration. And in another case, the Administration is asking the Justices to end Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelan citizens in the United States. So starting with this TPS status case, we've talked about the TPS program before. But to quickly recap, the DHS can designate a country for Temporary Protected Status for reasons like ongoing conflict, environmental disasters, epidemic, or other extraordinary yet temporary conditions. When a country is designated for TPS status, individuals from that country can file for temporary status in the United States and receive a temporary US Visa with benefits like employment, travel authorization and protection from deportation. People can receive this TPS status for a maximum of 18 months. So in 2023, the Biden administration gave Venezuela Venezuela this designation. And then in January, shortly before Trump took office, the administration extended Venezuela's designation for another 18 months, which would allow individuals from Venezuela who already had this Temporary Protected status to re register and extend that status. There are currently about 350,000 Venezuelan immigrants with TPS. In February, though, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi NOEM revoked the 18 month extension and terminated the program. This meant that individuals that previously held TPS status would lose their government issued work permits and deportation protections. As of April 6th 7th of this year. In response, though, people sued, arguing that this termination violated administrative procedures and was influenced by racial bias. In March, a federal judge in San Francisco prohibited the administration from revoking TPS status status while this case moved forward on the basis that one, the plaintiffs were likely to eventually succeed in showing that this move by the DHS was unauthorized by law, arbitrary and capricious, and motivated by unconstitutional animus, and two, that terminating the initiative would inflict irreparable harm on hundreds of thousands of people whose lives, families and livelihoods would be severely disrupted. So the administration appeals that injunction, but the Court of Appeals sided with the immigrants. So now here we are at the Supreme Court. Keep in mind, because this case is still very much in the early ages and no court has yet rendered a final decision on the actual merits of the case. What we'll likely see from the Supreme Court is just a decision on what has to happen while the litigation is pending. Right? So the justices will likely either say, while this case plays out, the administration has to continue providing TPS status, or on the contrary, while this case plays out, the administration can start deporting Venezuelan citizens that previously had TPS status. So stay tuned for that decision. In the Doge case, similar situation. In March, a judge temporarily prohibited the SSA Social Security Administration from giving DOGE members access to SSA records. The administration appealed that ruling. The appellate court upheld it. So the administration has now taken it to the Supreme Court. If the justices side with the administration, that would mean that Doge can access SSA records while this litigation plays out. But if the justices uphold the injunction issued by the lower court, Doge members cannot access SSA records while the lawsuit plays out. Okay, now for some Alcatraz news. On Sunday, President Trump posted a statement on Truth Social about reopening Alcatraz for the most serious offenders. The post started with, quote, rebuild and open Alcatraz. He then went on to describe the presence of vicious, violent, and repeat criminal offenders in America and said in part, quote, I am directing the Bureau of Prisons, together with the Department of Justice, FBI, and Homeland Security, to reopen a substantially enlarged and rebuilt Alcatraz to house America's most ruthless and violent offenders. Now, he did say in that statement, a rebuilt Alcatraz. So I don't know if he's planning on building a new Alcatraz or using the same one and just updating it. But we'll talk about if he were to use the same one, if that's what he's talking about, what would have to happen Because Alcatraz is a historical landmark, but we'll get there in a minute. So Alcatraz is an island off the coast of San Francisco. It's a little over a mile from the mainland. It was originally used for military purposes starting in 1850, but then in 1933, it was transferred to the DOJ for use by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. It was a maximum security, minimum privilege prison for some of the most serious offenders. At the time of its opening, the Federal Bureau of Prisons said that they decided to open it to show the law abiding public that the federal government was serious about stopping the rampant crime of the 1920s and 1930s. Capacity of the prison was 336, but it never reached capacity. The average population was around 260 to 275. Roughly 30 years after after it opened, it closed. At this point, the prison's infrastructure was crumbling and the government found that the operations were far more cost costly than mainland based prisons, more than three times any other federal prison. Today, Alcatraz island is a popular tourist attraction. It's operated by the National Park Service, and it has been designated a National historic landmark since 1986. And yes, this means that there are preservation protections in place which could interfere with Trump's plans. The administration would likely have to go through a withdrawal process to make Alcatraz a prison again, which we'll talk about more in a minute. But on top of the potential withdrawal process, authorities have estimated that it could cost anywhere from 3 to 5 million dollars to restore and maintain the facility. And that's not including the daily operating costs, which the Federal Bureau of Prisons previously found to be too expensive. Now, when it comes to withdrawing a National Historic Landmark designation, there are four criteria that can justify it. One, the property has ceased to meet criteria for designation. The qualities for which it was originally designated have been lost or destroyed. Two, additional information forthcoming after the designation demonstrates that the property does not possess sufficient significance to be a National Historic Landmark. Three, a professional error was made in the designation process, or four, there was a prejudicial error in the designation process. It doesn't seem like any of those criteria really apply to Alcatraz, so who knows what will happen here. But that is something that I'm sure the administration is already looking into. Speaking of posts to Truth Social, the President says he will be imposing 100% tariffs on foreign made films. Trump's post reads in part, quote, the movie industry in America is dying at a, a very fast death. Other countries are offering all sorts of incentives to draw Our filmmakers and studios away from the United States, Hollywood and many other areas within the USA are being devastated. This is a concerted effort by other nations and therefore a national security threat. End quote. He further said he will be authorizing the Department of Commerce and the United States Trade Representative to immediately begin the process of instituting a 100% tariff on any and all movies coming into our country that are produced in foreign lands. Notably, the majority of movies shown in American theaters are produced in the United States. However, while much of the production process often takes place in the United States, like, you know, planning, script writing, casting, editing, et cetera, an increasing number of producers have started looking internationally for filming processes because of the lower costs abroad. Countries like the United Kingdom and Canada actually offer certain tax incentives which major film corporations like Netflix and Disney have taken advantage of. And this has in turn, slightly influenced production in the United states. In the LA area, for example, production last year was down 5.6% percent from 2023. I do want to highlight that it's not clear how a tariff like this would work, right? Because most items we see tariffs on are physical goods which move through ports, and therefore at the port is when the tariff is charged. Movies, on the other hand, are intellectual goods. So, you know, one, how do you value a movie? And two, how do you classify movie imports? Yeah, how do you classify movie imports? That. That still needs to be defined. And then also keep in mind, if these tariffs were to proceed, there's also the risk of reciprocal tariffs, which we've seen with some of the other tariffs being imposed this year. A lot of the big budget movies actually earn a lot of revenue overseas. So reciprocal tariffs would risk pretty hefty consequences to the American film industry. Moving on, just a heads up that the Department of Education did resume collections on defaulted loans today. Defaulted loan collections were put on pause in March 2020 because of the pandemic. And during the Biden administration, that pause was extended through the end of Biden's presidential term. So now that the Department has resumed collections, what does this mean? Well, people who have not made payments in at least nine months are considered to be in default because of that defaulted status. The government can start collecting on this debt through a process known as administrative wage garnishment. This is a collection tool that allows federal agencies to collect on delinquent government debts. Because these student loans are government loans. Government debts, the government can utilize administrative wage garnishment. This includes withholding federal and state payments. So things like tax returns and Social Security benefits. 100% of tax returns can be withheld, 15% of Social Security benefits can be withheld, and then the government can also order employers to withhold up to 15% of an employee's after tax income for purposes of paying off the debt. Currently There are about 5 million borrowers in default. Another 4 million are in late stage delinquency, which means they've gone at least 90 days without payment, but haven't yet reached that nine month mark. And then, as a final note, this collection process was standard procedure before the pandemic, meaning that administrative wage garnishment that was standard procedure before the pandemic. Pause. And finally, the last story of the day before we jump into quick hitters. Over the weekend, residents in a South Texas neighborhood voted overwhelmingly to incorporate their neighborhood into a small town for SpaceX called Starbase. Elon Musk had originally proposed the idea of an incorporated town four years ago in 2021. He said the town called Starbase would be made up Almost exclusively of SpaceX employees, people connected to the company as well as the company's headquarters. Now, one major potential reason that Musk wanted SpaceX to have its own city is because it would enable greater control of the area and ease some of the bureaucracy and restrictions. Right? Disney did a similar thing in florid Florida. Before starbases and corporations, SpaceX was having to get permission from Cameron county to close highways and state parks when it was doing rocket launches and even when it was moving certain equipment around the base. So if you combine that with the fact that SpaceX has already asked federal authorities to increase the number of South Texas launches from 5 to 25 each year, it makes sense why Musk would want a city solely solely for SpaceX. When it came time for an incorporation vote, 212 residents voted in the incorporation's favor. Only six voted against it. Only 143 votes were needed to pass, so it well surpassed that threshold. Starbase is located near the Mexico border and it covers about one and a half square miles. It's considered a Type C city, which means it can impose a property tax of up to 1.5% on its residents. According to the Texas incorporation process, a town can apply to become a Type C general law municipality if it has between 201 and 4,099 residents. Sorry, 4,999 residents. If the town has fewer than 2,000 residents, it must not occupy more than 2 square miles of surface area. And then if it has between 2001 residents and 4009, 999 residents, it must be smaller than 4 square miles. Following the incorporation vote, Starbase posted to its newly created X account and wrote that becoming a city will help it continue building the best community possible for the men and women, building the future of humanity's place in space. Now it's time for some quick hitters. Two NASA astronauts completed a spacewalk on Thursday. This is just the fifth spacewalk in NASA's history. It began around 8:40 40am Eastern Time on Thursday and lasted about six and a half hours. The two women were relocating a space station's communications antenna and installing a mounting bracket to prepare for an additional set of solar panels that will be put in place during a future spacewalk. The House of Representatives canceled a vote today on a bill called the IGO Anti Boycott Act. The bill would have amended the Exports Control Reform act of 2018 to include international governmental organizations in existing anti boycott laws. In other words, the bill would have criminalized Americans participating in boycotts of foreign countries if those boycotts are endorsed by international bodies like the UN or eu. The bill provides for civil penalties, criminal fines up to a million dollars, and prison time of up to 20 years for anyone who violates the law. Interestingly, the bill has both bipartisan support and bipartisan opposition, so supporters of the bill say it targets anti Semitic actions, including boycotts of Israel. Critics say the bill goes against the First Amendment and the right to boycott. So due to the backlash, the vote in the House was canceled today. Real ID Takes Effects at Airports on Wednesday if you are traveling through domestic airports starting Wednesday, you will need a real id. If you don't have a real id, you can also use a passport, a green card, a military ID or global entry. Now don't panic if you don't have any of these things, okay? You'll still be allowed to fly. It just might take a little longer going through security. TSA is saying to bring an extra form of ID with you to verify your identity if you have just a regular driver's license to show. And that'll just help save time. Jury selection for the trial of Sean Diddy Combs started today in New York City. Diddy will face trial for sex trafficking, racketeering, conspiracy and transporting to engage in prostitution. Combs most recently turned down a plea deal from prosecutors 10 days ago, though we don't know the details of that deal. Jury selection is expected to last a week, with opening statements scheduled to begin next week. And by the way, because this trial is a criminal trial, it will not be televised. And finally, the DHS announced a new $1,000 stipend, plus travel assistance to any illegal alien who uses the CBP home app to self deport. According to the DHS, the $1,000 stipend will be paid after their return to their home country has been confirmed through the app. And now it's time for critical thinking. As a reminder, this segment is not meant to be too complex. It is not meant to stump you. It is just an exercise for our brains in a world where we are constantly told how and what to think. So let's rewind to the first story of this episode, the cuts in funding for NPR and pbs. I want you to consider the role of publicly funded media in a democracy. So the first question is what are the potential benefits and drawbacks of having media organizations that receive government funding? Consider both the ideal scenario as well as potential pitfalls. The second question goes deeper. How should a society like ours balance the need for independent journalism with public funding? Is it possible to have truly independent reporting when government dollars are involved? And what safeguards or structures might help maintain editorial independence while still providing public support? That is what I have for you today. Don't forget New newsletter goes out tomorrow. So now as of tomorrow, it'll be twice a week, Tuesdays and Fridays. You can subscribe using the link in the show notes or find unbiased society on substack. Have a fantastic couple of days next couple of days and I will talk to you again on Thursday.

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