Latest / DEEP INSIGHT / GOP congressman defends Trump's tariffs ahead of State of the Union

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GOP congressman defends Trump's tariffs ahead of State of the Union · DEEP INSIGHT

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  Speaker 1: And Republican Congressman Marlin Stutsman of Indiana's here for more
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  Speaker 1: on that. Congressman, thank you for coming on. So, President
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  Speaker 1: Trump is threatening military action against iron if they don't
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  Speaker 1: make a nuclear deal. He's also suggesting regime change maybe necessary.
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  Speaker 1: What are you hoping to hear from the President on
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  Speaker 1: that issue tonight.
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  Speaker 2: Well, Diane, great to be with you. You know, I'm
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  Speaker 2: hoping to hear that. You know, his strong rhetoric is
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  Speaker 2: moving the Iranian regime. But honestly, you know, I would
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  Speaker 2: prefer that we, you know, have a strategy that removes
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  Speaker 2: this regime and frees the Iranian people. They have been
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  Speaker 2: through so much, not only just in the past four months,
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  Speaker 2: but also over the past forty years, and so I
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  Speaker 2: think this is an opportunity for us to hopefully push
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  Speaker 2: this regime over the edge where they have to leave
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  Speaker 2: somehow find a way out and exit. You know, what
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  Speaker 2: has happened in the Middle East, there's definitely been you know,
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  Speaker 2: some new opportunities to free the people in that part
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  Speaker 2: of the world. And so my belief is that the
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  Speaker 2: American people and the press and the definitely have a
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  Speaker 2: strong hand in this case, and hopefully we can free
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  Speaker 2: or the Iranian people. Of course, topple this.
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  Speaker 1: Regime, the President imposed new tariffs under a different authority
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  Speaker 1: after the Supreme Court struck down most of his previous tariffs.
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  Speaker 1: Those new tariffs will expire in one hundred and fifty
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  Speaker 1: days unless Congress extends them. Would you support that?
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  Speaker 2: I would? I really think, you know, and I've been
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  Speaker 2: talking to constituents in Northeast Indiana. You know, would you
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  Speaker 2: rather have tariffs or would you rather have income tax
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  Speaker 2: I know that that's not the conversation, but I think
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  Speaker 2: it should be part of the long term conversation that
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  Speaker 2: you know, if we lowered income taxes in exchange for
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  Speaker 2: tariff policy. I think that's a really a smart conversation
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  Speaker 2: to have. And it also, you know, in the short
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  Speaker 2: term with the president, whether Republican or Democrat, I think
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  Speaker 2: the president has to have the ability to use tariffs
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  Speaker 2: as a tool for national security, for economic security, and
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  Speaker 2: tariff are trade agreements that need to be discussed or renewed.
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  Speaker 2: The President has shown the American people the world that
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  Speaker 2: he has used tariff policy very effectively to really enhance
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  Speaker 2: America's trade policy.
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  Speaker 1: Immigration is sure to be a big topic tonight that
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  Speaker 1: Trump administration exists, just being in the country without authorization
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  Speaker 1: is a crime and grounds for removal. And they've moved
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  Speaker 1: to end some legal pathways like temporary protective status for
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  Speaker 1: certain groups. You've pushed for a legal pathway for some
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  Speaker 1: undocumented immigrants to stay in the US. What conversations have
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  Speaker 1: you had with the White House on that?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, frequently, I've talked to the White House staff, you know.
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  Speaker 2: And again, I think that we can do both things here.
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  Speaker 2: We can, of course deport those who are here with
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  Speaker 2: criminal records that it came over the border over the
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  Speaker 2: last five years illegally, But at the same time, there
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  Speaker 2: are still a lot of people out there. I mean,
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  Speaker 2: look at the data kids especially, you know, they're the
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  Speaker 2: ones that they raised their hand, they went through the
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  Speaker 2: legal process. You know, many of them don't even know
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  Speaker 2: where their parents may be at. They don't know what
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  Speaker 2: the future holds for them or where they would even
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  Speaker 2: go back to. So there are people that are really
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  Speaker 2: caught in the system right now that would fall under
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  Speaker 2: the undocumented status. I understand that there are a lot
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  Speaker 2: of people here that have criminal records. I just saw
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  Speaker 2: this in my own district where a truck driver killed
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  Speaker 2: four men going to work who was in the driver
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  Speaker 2: was here illegally, and of course those are all going
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  Speaker 2: to be hard things to stop. But at the same time,
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  Speaker 2: if we would have had a system in place, I've
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  Speaker 2: always said we need a high wall and a wide gate.
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  Speaker 2: That way we know who's actually in the country. And
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  Speaker 2: the policy during the Biden administration just simply let anybody
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  Speaker 2: come across and somehow they were able to get a
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  Speaker 2: driver's license. And now four men in my district are
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  Speaker 2: dead today, and so that's something that we need to address.
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  Speaker 2: I believe we can do both things at once.
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  Speaker 1: And our latest poll shows fifty percent of Americans disapprove
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  Speaker 1: of how the president's handling immigration. Overall, his approval rating
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  Speaker 1: is at the lowest point since he left office in
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  Speaker 1: twenty twenty one. Are you concerned that could hurt Republicans
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  Speaker 1: in the midterms, Well.
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  Speaker 2: You know, midterms are always tough for the party that's
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  Speaker 2: in power. But I do believe that the Republicans, that
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  Speaker 2: we as Republicans have the right policy on taxes, on
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  Speaker 2: the economy, and on foreign policy and of course the border.
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  Speaker 2: We do need to do some work when it comes
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  Speaker 2: to the immigration policy because it is going to affect
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  Speaker 2: many of our districts that have agriculture construction. I've got
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  Speaker 2: a large RV industry that I share from my district
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  Speaker 2: in Northeast Indiana. There's a lot of hospitalities, another industry
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  Speaker 2: that's going to be affected. We need to do two
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  Speaker 2: things at once. We need to go after those who
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  Speaker 2: are here with criminal records, that have a criminal background
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  Speaker 2: or they've offended you know, Americans. Somehow, those need to
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  Speaker 2: be prosecuted. But those who've been here for twenty twenty
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  Speaker 2: five thirty years that don't have the legal documents that
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  Speaker 2: they need, we should be able to address that matter
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  Speaker 2: and make sure, you know, whether it's maybe a business
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  Speaker 2: sponsored or maybe even church sponsored, there's got to be
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  Speaker 2: a process that we can find a way to help
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  Speaker 2: those people be legal, not citizenship, not amnesty, but actually
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  Speaker 2: have a legal registration with the federal government that keeps them,
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  Speaker 2: you know, here in the country and working and maybe somehow,
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  Speaker 2: you know, just just eliminate this whole mass deportation strategy
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  Speaker 2: and really find a way to register people.
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  Speaker 1: All right, Republican Congressman Marlin Stutsman, we appreciate your time today.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you,