Latest / Curtis Sliwa & Larry Mendte In The Morning / Jon Decker, WOR White House correspondent Interview

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Jon Decker, WOR White House correspondent Interview · Curtis Sliwa & Larry Mendte In The Morning

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Well, just back from Alaska, let's go to John Decker,
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  Speaker 1: WOR White House and Washington correspondent and host of the podcast,
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: The White House Briefing Room with John Decker, which can
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: be found on the iHeartRadio app. John, I want to
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: talk to you about Katie Zachariah because I feel bad
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  Speaker 1: for the woman because you hear all these other press
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  Speaker 1: secretaries talk about how long they had to prepare and
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  Speaker 1: how difficult it is to prepare for your first time
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: out there. And she flew in and was sent out there,
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  Speaker 1: and she obviously wasn't prepared.
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  Speaker 2: Well, she wasn't. And, you know, to some people, it's
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  Speaker 2: easier than others. I think Caroline Leavitt made it look easy,
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  Speaker 2: but she had spent a full year out on the
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  Speaker 2: campaign trail taking questions from reporters. So that gave her
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  Speaker 2: great practice for when she assumed the role as White
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  Speaker 2: House press secretary. And similarly, you know, you go back
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  Speaker 2: to Jen Psaki. She was the spokesperson for the State Department.
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  Speaker 2: before serving as the White House press secretary. So she
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  Speaker 2: had also ample experience. So it was difficult for her.
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  Speaker 2: You know, I traveled with Katie when she still had
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  Speaker 2: the job two days last week when the president did
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  Speaker 2: that trip out to Alaska, stopped in Arizona and Montana.
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  Speaker 2: So I chatted with her quite a bit on that trip. And,
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  Speaker 2: you know, I could just tell she really wasn't prepared
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  Speaker 2: to take on all that that job entails.
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  Speaker 1: Well, some of the people, including Jean-Pierre and also including
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  Speaker 1: Jen Psaki, said that before they went out there, they
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  Speaker 1: got briefed for four hours. Zachariah said that didn't happen
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  Speaker 1: with her.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, that's right. You know, this was an unusual hire.
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  Speaker 2: I don't think it went through the proper vetting process.
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  Speaker 2: That's pretty clear. The president, you know, apparently just, you know,
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  Speaker 2: liked what he saw when she did cable news appearances
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  Speaker 2: on Fox News, on Newsmax even appearing on CNN from
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  Speaker 2: time to time. But I have to tell you, doing
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  Speaker 2: a five-minute hit on a cable network is not the
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  Speaker 2: same as taking 30 minutes worth of questions on every
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  Speaker 2: subject imaginable. Trade policy, economic policy, foreign policy, domestic policy, politics.
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  Speaker 2: It's not the same. It's not easy. And that is
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  Speaker 2: something that I think anyone should be aware of if
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  Speaker 2: they're being considered for that job.
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  Speaker 3: You know, You know the phrase, when the cat's away,
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  Speaker 3: the mice will play. You've heard that, haven't you?
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  Speaker 2: Of course I have, Curtis. Yes, of course.
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  Speaker 3: What the hell's going on in the White House? Susie Wiles,
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  Speaker 3: the chief of staff, who I thought was a stabilizing influence,
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  Speaker 3: they say now family members of hers are being investigated
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  Speaker 3: for illegal transactions overseas. Alina Haba is complaining to the
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  Speaker 3: president that Rick Grinnell ripped my husband off for $ 6
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  Speaker 3: million of a donation. There's a lot of drama going
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  Speaker 3: on in that White House. Can you sort of connect
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  Speaker 3: the dots with us? Because if the president's away and
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  Speaker 3: the vice president's away, who's running the show there?
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  Speaker 2: Well, it's a really good question, Curtis. And these stories
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  Speaker 2: that you're mentioning, they're all coming out. Look at the calendar.
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  Speaker 2: They're coming out less than two weeks to go before
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  Speaker 2: Election Day. And what that is, is a distraction. Katie Zachariah,
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  Speaker 2: a distraction. The stories that you mentioned involving various members
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  Speaker 2: or former members of the administration, a distraction. The president
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  Speaker 2: should just be solely focused on trying to keep the
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  Speaker 2: House and the Senate under Republican control. And yet he's
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  Speaker 2: dealing with these extraneous issues at the same time. Some
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  Speaker 2: of the administration's own doing, you know, the press secretary choice,
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  Speaker 2: that's the administration's own doing. But others, you know, I
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  Speaker 2: think that you have to question why these stories are
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  Speaker 2: coming out right now, less than two weeks to go
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  Speaker 2: until November the 3rd.
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  Speaker 1: Well, you know why those stories are coming out right now,
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  Speaker 1: two weeks to go before November 3rd. This happens almost
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  Speaker 1: every single election. I know that you might say to yourself, well,
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  Speaker 1: these are self-inflicted, but I'm sure that there's some digging
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  Speaker 1: for dirt that is going to happen now until it's
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  Speaker 1: all finished. You got an experience that most of us
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  Speaker 1: don't get. As a matter of fact, 90% of us
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  Speaker 1: don't get. you got to sit down with the president
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  Speaker 1: of the United States in Alaska. And I know it
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  Speaker 1: was about Alaskan issues, but can you tell us about
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  Speaker 1: the entire experience, what he was like with you, how
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  Speaker 1: the interview you felt went and how it ended?
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  Speaker 2: Well, I think it went very well. It was a
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  Speaker 2: good interview. You know, the president, his team knew that
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  Speaker 2: I was just solely focused on a race that could
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  Speaker 2: determine control of the U.S. Senate, the Alaska Senate race.
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  Speaker 2: I was out in Alaska just a few weeks ago
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  Speaker 2: covering that race. And, you know, for me, it made
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  Speaker 2: sense to do an interview with the president in Alaska
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  Speaker 2: while he was there just ahead of doing that campaign rally.
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  Speaker 2: So I made that pitch to the White House and
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  Speaker 2: they thought it was a good idea as well. So
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  Speaker 2: they gave me some time with the president before he
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  Speaker 2: hit the campaign stage for that campaign rally in Wasilla, Alaska.
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  Speaker 2: And the president felt it went well. I've spoken to
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  Speaker 2: a lot of their team and I hope to do
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  Speaker 2: more of those interviews soon. in which Larry and Curtis,
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  Speaker 2: I don't have to travel seven hours to do an
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  Speaker 2: interview with the president. I'll do it at the White House.
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  Speaker 3: John Decker, you're our expert on the reflection pool. Put
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  Speaker 3: that aside. What is this story about a public golf course,
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  Speaker 3: Trump knocking down trees, a federal judge intervening? I would
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  Speaker 3: think the president has enough to deal with of a
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  Speaker 3: serious nature that he isn't sort of causing chaos over
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  Speaker 3: a public golf course in D.C. What can you tell
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  Speaker 3: us about that?
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  Speaker 2: Well, it's about the East Potomac golf links. It's a
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  Speaker 2: public course, and the president has this idea of turning
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  Speaker 2: it into a championship caliber course. Well, there's a lawsuit
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  Speaker 2: to prevent the president from doing just that. That lawsuit
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  Speaker 2: is now tied up in litigation. The federal judge that
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: has been assigned this case has been angered by the
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  Speaker 2: fact that the administration, according to her, has essentially rebuffed
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  Speaker 2: and violated her direct orders in terms of not taking
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  Speaker 2: any measures that would be in the process of refurbishing
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  Speaker 2: that course until this litigation is complete. And so that's
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  Speaker 2: where we are right now. Just a few weekends ago,
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  Speaker 2: about 130 trees were removed as part of this renovation
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  Speaker 2: of this course, despite a judge's order. prohibiting the administration
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  Speaker 2: from doing that. So that's why it's in the news.
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  Speaker 2: There was a seven-hour hearing yesterday before that judge, and
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  Speaker 2: this litigation continues. It's still not resolved. And you're right.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, again, the president should be focused on the midterms,
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  Speaker 2: making certain that Republicans retain control of the House and
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  Speaker 2: the Senate. And yet he's putting out many social media
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  Speaker 2: posts regarding this particular issue, as opposed to talking about,
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  Speaker 2: you know, the race in Michigan, which they could possibly
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  Speaker 2: Flip that seat or, you know, these other races where
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  Speaker 2: they're essentially a coin toss in terms of who's going
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  Speaker 2: to win those races.
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  Speaker 1: So let's talk for a second about Ukraine and the
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  Speaker 1: president's relationship with Vladimir Zelensky, because it doesn't seem good
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  Speaker 1: at this time. Zelensky is complaining about Starlink, the administration
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  Speaker 1: saying they have no idea what he's talking about. Zelensky
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  Speaker 1: also upset with the diesel deal with Russia. And now yesterday,
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  Speaker 1: it seemed like Trump got upset with him and said, well,
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  Speaker 1: Zelensky just doesn't know what he's talking about. What is happening?
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  Speaker 1: What is going on? What's the truth and what isn't
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  Speaker 1: the truth?
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  Speaker 2: Do you know? Well, about a week and a half ago,
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  Speaker 2: the president had a phone conversation with President Putin on
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  Speaker 2: his birthday of all days. And I think that, you
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  Speaker 2: delved into issues which the president has been speaking about
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  Speaker 2: right now. The president clearly right now appears to have
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  Speaker 2: a better relationship with Vladimir Putin than he does with
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  Speaker 2: Vladimir Zelensky, and it's impacting his public policy concerning the
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  Speaker 2: war in Ukraine. The president has floated this idea potentially
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  Speaker 2: of meeting with President Xi and President Putin on the
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  Speaker 2: sidelines of the APEC summit next month in China to
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  Speaker 2: discuss the war in Ukraine to find a solution. But
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  Speaker 2: interestingly enough, Curtis and Larry, President Zelensky would not be
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  Speaker 2: invited to that meeting. How are you going to get
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  Speaker 2: peace unless you have that major player at the negotiating table?
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  Speaker 2: Europe is not invited to that meeting, the EU or NATO.
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  Speaker 2: So hard to see how you can bring about an
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  Speaker 2: end to that war, which, by the way, in February,
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  Speaker 2: five years, that's how long that war will be going on.
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  Speaker 2: And as things stand right now, you're right. Things are
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  Speaker 2: not in a good place in terms of the relationship
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  Speaker 2: between President Trump and President Zelensky.
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  Speaker 3: Also, John Decker, the president, South Carolina, Kansas, these are
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  Speaker 3: two states you wouldn't normally see him going to, you know,
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  Speaker 3: seven states in seven days. But I noticed that Lindsey
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  Speaker 3: Graham's sister that he elevated into the position and then
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  Speaker 3: she was the winner of the Republican primary. distanced herself
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  Speaker 3: from the president's decision not to impose what they call
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  Speaker 3: the Lindsey Graham sanctions on Russia. It has to be
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  Speaker 3: a bit uncomfortable. Here she is, she's saying, basically, you're wrong, Mr. President,
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  Speaker 3: and yet he's stumping in South Carolina.
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  Speaker 2: Well, yeah, and she's not the only person. I could
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  Speaker 2: go through a list of very high-profile Republicans who are
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  Speaker 2: in competitive races that have publicly distanced themselves from the
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  Speaker 2: president's approach to Russia and his approach to Vladimir Putin.
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  Speaker 2: Dan Sullivan from Alaska running for the Senate, he's distanced himself.
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  Speaker 2: Mike Rogers in Michigan running for the Senate, he's distanced himself.
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  Speaker 2: And the Republican nominee for the Senate in Iowa as well, Hinson,
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  Speaker 2: has distanced herself from the president. So this is an
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  Speaker 2: issue that's dividing the party. Typically, you wanted a united
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  Speaker 2: party going into the midterms. But this issue of Russia
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  Speaker 2: is has risen to the top because of the president's
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  Speaker 2: positions on Russia, his relationship with President Putin. And I
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  Speaker 2: think that if it's a big if, I don't know
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  Speaker 2: what's going to happen. I don't have a crystal ball.
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  Speaker 2: But if the Republicans lose control of the House and
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  Speaker 2: the Senate, this issue is going to rise to the
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  Speaker 2: top and you're going to see a lot of Republicans
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  Speaker 2: coming out publicly and maybe even taking hold of legislation,
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  Speaker 2: which essentially puts the president's foreign policy concerning Russia in check.
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  Speaker 2: Could this lead to impeachment of the president, his approach
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  Speaker 2: to Russia potentially? I think these are all unknown questions
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  Speaker 2: that we'll have to see what happens after the midterms.
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  Speaker 1: I'll add Susan Collins to your list. I hear every
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  Speaker 1: election that Susan Collins is going to lose every six
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: years and every year, every six years she wins. But
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  Speaker 1: she distanced herself from the president very early in the process. So, yeah,
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  Speaker 1: you're right. It's happening across the country. John Decker, WOR
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  Speaker 1: White House and Washington correspondent. host of the podcast, The
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: White House Briefing Room with John Decker. You can find
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: that on the iHeartRadio app, and it is worth a listen. John,
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  Speaker 1: thanks so much.
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: Thanks, Larry. Thanks, Curtis. Have a great day.
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: Bye-bye.