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: On the line now, uh, white house correspondent, uh, John Decker. Wow.
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: John is international, national, regional, and obviously campaign, uh, news
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: galore coming out of the white house. Uh, yesterday when
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: you were questioning the president about this Ramaswamy ad, it's
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: running for governor in Ohio Republican.
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: He's behind his democratic opponent.
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: Um, What was the president's response since I saw the
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: vice president, J.D. Vance, in there supporting Ramaswamy, who used
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: her biological mother against her in an ad?
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  Speaker 3: Well, the president didn't distance himself from that ad or
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  Speaker 3: the running of that ad. I did not ask the
• 0:42
  Speaker 3: president a question on that. I actually asked the president
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  Speaker 3: a question about Steve Wyckoff and his calling Vladimir Putin
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  Speaker 3: a humanitarian. I asked that question to the president in
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  Speaker 3: the East Room yesterday. But as it relates to that
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  Speaker 3: Ramaswamy ad that's now running in Ohio.
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: It's certainly gotten a lot of attention. There's certainly a.
• 1:02
  Speaker 3: Lot of people who think it's going to backfire on Ramaswamy,
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  Speaker 3: who is already trailing in that race for governor in Ohio.
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  Speaker 2: I don't know.
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  Speaker 3: I mean, it strikes me that it's one of those
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  Speaker 3: types of ads in which you're really taking your chances
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  Speaker 3: and running an ad like that. And we'll see if
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  Speaker 3: it pans out for Ramaswamy.
• 1:23
  Speaker 4: Yeah, you did get to ask a question yesterday. As
• 1:25
  Speaker 4: a matter of fact, you got to ask in that
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  Speaker 4: press availability half the questions. That's amazing. That really is amazing. Well,
• 1:34
  Speaker 4: there was only two asked, but you got one of them.
• 1:37
  Speaker 4: That's what's important. And you did ask about what Steve
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  Speaker 4: Witkoff said, because he was able to negotiate the release
• 1:47
  Speaker 4: of an American prisoner in Russia, Stephen Hubbard, who is
• 1:51
  Speaker 4: a 74-year-old American. And when, after the release with the
• 1:57
  Speaker 4: press there, he said, he called him a humanitarian. And
• 2:01
  Speaker 4: I know that that got a lot of blowback. And
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  Speaker 4: so what did the president say?
• 2:07
  Speaker 3: Well, the president, I asked the president about that description
• 2:11
  Speaker 3: of Vladimir Putin. And I asked the president if he
• 2:14
  Speaker 3: agrees with that description of Vladimir Putin by Steve Wyckoff,
• 2:19
  Speaker 3: that Vladimir Putin is a humanitarian. And the president said,
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  Speaker 3: I don't want to say one way or the other.
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  Speaker 3: He said, you know, in this particular instance, the fact
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  Speaker 3: that he signed off on the release of this individual
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  Speaker 3: who otherwise would have spent the rest of his life
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  Speaker 3: in jail, you could make the argument that that's a
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  Speaker 3: humanitarian gesture. But I don't think the president necessarily wanted
• 2:45
  Speaker 3: to go down the road of calling Vladimir Putin himself
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  Speaker 3: a humanitarian. And as you point out, Larry, This has
• 2:52
  Speaker 3: gotten a lot of blowback from some in the president's
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  Speaker 3: own party who just, you know, are shocked by the
• 3:00
  Speaker 3: use of that word to describe Russian President Vladimir Putin.
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: I noticed last night when he was in South Carolina
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  Speaker 1: rallying the troops around Lindsey Graham's sister, who before his arrival.
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  Speaker 2: Completely distanced herself from that woman.
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: Because in his name, after he passed away, one of
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  Speaker 1: the few times, John, that we've seen a bipartisan effort
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: to support legislation which increased the sanctions against Putin and Russia.
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: How was she able to do that dance without offending
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: the president?
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  Speaker 3: Well, you know, I think the president is most concerned
• 3:38
  Speaker 3: about holding onto control of the Senate. And he realizes,
• 3:42
  Speaker 3: you know, for candidates, they have to say what they
• 3:44
  Speaker 3: need to say to get reelected. And so I think
• 3:48
  Speaker 3: we spoke about this earlier this week. You see candidates
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  Speaker 3: in other states, in Alaska, in Michigan, in Iowa, distancing
• 3:56
  Speaker 3: themselves from the president on the issue of his approach
• 3:59
  Speaker 3: to Russia and his approach to Russian President Putin. And
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: the president, I think, is fine with that distance. He
• 4:07
  Speaker 3: knows full well it really doesn't matter what they say.
• 4:09
  Speaker 3: He's the person who's in charge of America's foreign policy.
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  Speaker 3: And that's the job of the president. So You know,
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  Speaker 3: the criticism I think he can take, I think he's
• 4:19
  Speaker 3: most concerned about holding on to that Senate seat, in
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  Speaker 3: this case in South Carolina, that Lindsey Graham's sister Darlene
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  Speaker 3: Graham's trying to hold for the next six years.
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  Speaker 4: There seems to be a lot of people questioning as
• 4:31
  Speaker 4: to why he is on this tour with poor poll numbers. But, John,
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  Speaker 4: in midterm elections, he needs to get his vote out
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  Speaker 4: because with MAGA, he's still extremely popular.
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: Oh, he is. Absolutely. I see it when I travel
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: with the president. I saw it last week.
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  Speaker 3: I'm going to travel with the president once again on
• 4:51
  Speaker 3: Air Force One this coming Sunday to Michigan.
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  Speaker 2: And I see it at campaign rallies.
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  Speaker 3: There's still a lot of enthusiasm for President Trump within MAGA,
• 5:02
  Speaker 3: within the Republican base. That being said, I also see polls.
• 5:07
  Speaker 3: I'm seeing a snapshot of America. But I also see
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  Speaker 3: polls which indicate the president is unpopular today. You know,
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  Speaker 3: approval rating and in the low 30s. And it's a
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  Speaker 3: headwind that the Republicans are dealing with and trying to
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  Speaker 3: hold on to the House and the Senate. The president,
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  Speaker 3: you know, and I think it's the right approach. You know,
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  Speaker 3: it's just essentially energize your base. Get as many Republicans
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  Speaker 3: out as possible. If you have a turnout like it's
• 5:35
  Speaker 3: an election year. Maybe you will mitigate your losses. I
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  Speaker 3: think that's the thinking of the White House right now.
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: Now, in the past young decade, you have always been
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: our go-to guy about anything affecting D.C. The reflection pool,
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: the golf course recently.
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: And what I jokingly refer to as the golden arches.
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: Which Donald Trump deserves to have built in his honor
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: in Washington because he consumes more McDonald's than any other
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: celebrity figure in the world. More than Ronald McDonald did
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: or even the owners and operators of McDonald's. So they've
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: announced that November 5th they may be putting the shovels
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: into the dirt to build the arch that again is
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: controversial in honor to himself. Is this in fact moving
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  Speaker 1: forward right after the midterm elections?
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  Speaker 2: Oh, I would not be surprised.
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  Speaker 3: You know, that does occupy, I don't know how much time,
• 6:26
  Speaker 3: but some time of the president. You know, I mean,
• 6:29
  Speaker 3: like I'm in the Oval Office and I see on
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  Speaker 3: his desk plans for.
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  Speaker 2: That new golf course that he'd like to build in
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  Speaker 2: the nation's capital.
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  Speaker 3: I see even before the president took possession of this
• 6:42
  Speaker 3: new Air Force One, there was a model airplane of
• 6:45
  Speaker 3: that new Air Force One in the Oval Office. The
• 6:48
  Speaker 3: president's very much focused on that. He's very much focused
• 6:51
  Speaker 3: on his legacy, you know, with two years left in
• 6:53
  Speaker 3: his final term as president. So, yes, Curtis, I do
• 6:58
  Speaker 3: expect movement on that front that what he calls the
• 7:01
  Speaker 3: triumphal arch being built just on the D.C.-Virginia border. I
• 7:08
  Speaker 3: do expect it to go forward after the midterm elections
• 7:11
  Speaker 3: are complete.
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  Speaker 4: We've seen the federal government going after state election boards
• 7:18
  Speaker 4: and state voter polls records to see if there is
• 7:24
  Speaker 4: anybody illegal voting. And they've found some in Los Angeles
• 7:28
  Speaker 4: and in Pennsylvania, recently in New Jersey as well. And
• 7:33
  Speaker 4: now a coalition of Democrats is suing to prevent the
• 7:37
  Speaker 4: Trump administration for what they say imposing itself on state-run elections.
• 7:44
  Speaker 4: You're a constitutional attorney as well. That's an interesting constitutional question,
• 7:48
  Speaker 4: isn't it?
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  Speaker 2: Well, it is, you know, states-run elections.
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  Speaker 3: That being said, you know, if you have voters that
• 7:57
  Speaker 3: are on your rolls that should not be on your rolls,
• 8:00
  Speaker 3: I think it would be in the interest of any
• 8:02
  Speaker 3: state to kick them off. It shouldn't be something that
• 8:05
  Speaker 3: should be political issue at all. You know, I mean,
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  Speaker 3: we saw this in New Jersey. They were the first
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  Speaker 3: state to indicate that a significant number of voters should
• 8:15
  Speaker 3: not have legally been on the voter rolls. And now
• 8:18
  Speaker 3: we see other states following suit. This is not an
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  Speaker 3: issue that necessarily will be one that we'll experience in
• 8:27
  Speaker 3: this upcoming midterms, you know, now less than two weeks away.
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  Speaker 3: But in 2028, This will be a major issue, and
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  Speaker 3: an issue that certainly I think would be one that
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  Speaker 3: would potentially go all the way up to the U.S.
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  Speaker 3: Supreme Court to decide whether or not the federal government
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  Speaker 3: can insert itself into this issue that is generally seen
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  Speaker 3: as one in which states have the purview concerning who
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  Speaker 3: can and who cannot vote in a particular federal election.
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  Speaker 1: John Decker, finally, Iran once again is like, the low
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: end of our totem pole, apparently the president has given
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  Speaker 1: maybe two versions that there are plans to resume bombing
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: right after the midterm elections, maybe by ourself or in
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: tandem with Israel. What are they floating out there, the administration?
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  Speaker 2: Well, you know, look, the Pentagon always prepares for all kinds.
• 9:21
  Speaker 3: Of potential military operations.
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  Speaker 2: And that's certainly the case with Iran. And so, Yes,
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  Speaker 2: there are plans.
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  Speaker 3: I mean, you even see it just in terms of
• 9:33
  Speaker 3: the amount of military personnel that has been moved into
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  Speaker 3: the Persian Gulf. Within, I would say, probably a week's time,
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  Speaker 3: there will potentially be three aircraft carrier striker groups in
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  Speaker 3: the Middle East.
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  Speaker 2: That tells me.
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  Speaker 3: That they are preparing for the potential authorization of more
• 9:53
  Speaker 3: military operations being carried out against Iran. And the president,
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  Speaker 3: the people that speak on behalf of the president say
• 10:00
  Speaker 3: there will be no operations before the midterms. But I
• 10:04
  Speaker 3: think after the midterms is a different story entirely. And
• 10:07
  Speaker 3: we'll see what indeed the president, the commander in chief
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  Speaker 3: decides to do there.
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  Speaker 4: John Decker, WOR White House and Washington correspondent and host
• 10:15
  Speaker 4: of the podcast, The White House Briefing Room with John Decker,
• 10:18
  Speaker 4: which can be found on the iHeartRadio app. Look forward
• 10:21
  Speaker 4: to talking to you next week, especially after you've traveled
• 10:24
  Speaker 4: with the president. Thanks a lot, John. Thanks, Larry.
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: Thanks, Curtis. Have a great day and a great weekend.
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: Talk to you soon. Bye-bye.