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: Hey, Curtis, I don't know if you saw yesterday, but
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: they had an availability with Donald Trump, and there was
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: all the reporters that were there. And right there, smack
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: in the middle of the room, in just about every
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: TV shot, was John Decker.
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: Hmm.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: You can't tell me he doesn't position himself. It's a
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: great spot, by the way. I don't know how he
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: gets it, but he's right up front. Every time the
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: president answers, he almost has to look at John Decker
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: at one point because he's right there. He's right up front.
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: That was his laugh. John Decker, WOR White House and
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: Washington correspondent and host of the podcast, The White House
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: Briefing Room with John Decker, can be found on the
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app. Congratulations, John. That's... I would imagine that's a
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: tough spot to get.
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: Well, it is. Absolutely. But, you know, I've been doing
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: this for quite some time, so I know where to go.
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: I know where my spot is in the Oval Office,
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: where to go to get the best spot available to
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: ask the president some questions. And as you point out,
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: right in front of the Resolute Desk. in the Oval Office,
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: and I think that if you counted, I probably got
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: five or six questions yesterday to the president, which was
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: pretty good.
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it is amazing. I think the president right now
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: is doing everything possible to try to bring gas prices
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: down with the Straits of Hormuz, with the tens of
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: billions of barrels of oil coming out of Venezuela. But
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: I think one of the most important things, and this
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: is what I want to ask you about, is the
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: meeting he had with oil executives. How did that go?
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: Do we know what happened?
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: Well, we don't know everything that happened. That was a
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: meeting in which I was also scheduled to be in
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: the pool to go into the cabinet room. That's where
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: he was meeting with those oil and gas company executives.
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: But unfortunately, the White House decided to leave that meeting closed.
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: They did not open it up to the press. So
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: as a result, we have to rely on the readout
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: coming from the White House. and the limited information coming
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: from those oil and gas company executives who are meeting
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: with the president in terms of what was discussed at
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: that meeting. As you know, oil prices remain exceedingly high.
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: I think over $ 94 a barrel consistently this week. And
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: when oil prices are so high, when the wholesale price
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: is so high, there's a corresponding high price for gasoline,
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: and that's what we're seeing all across the country, in
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: New York State, all around the country. In some places, obviously,
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: it's much worse places like California, which also has on
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: top of those high gas prices, high taxes. So you're
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: looking at gas around $ 6 a gallon in California.
• 2:44
  Speaker 3: So now, John Decker, the Iranians, whoever is the shot callers,
• 2:50
  Speaker 3: their trump card is the Straits of Hormuz. Why does
• 2:54
  Speaker 3: the president, over this very serious matter in which he
• 2:58
  Speaker 3: does not have acceptance by the American public, he's down
• 3:02
  Speaker 3: in the polls on this issue, first last week say,
• 3:06
  Speaker 3: I'm going to declare it an American territory. And then
• 3:09
  Speaker 3: yesterday say, we're going to rename it Trump straight. Does
• 3:13
  Speaker 3: he not realize that that goes nowhere? Even with MAGA supporters,
• 3:17
  Speaker 3: they're shaking their heads like, yo, man, this is not
• 3:21
  Speaker 3: a joking matter. This is like, this is hurting us.
• 3:24
  Speaker 3: This is hurting the world. It's hurting Iran. What are
• 3:28
  Speaker 3: you joking around for?
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: Well, I can't get inside. The president said he was
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: indeed joking around. He was asked a question about that yesterday,
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: also in the Oval Office by a colleague of mine
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: from AFP. And he just pretty much said I was
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: just putting that out there in jest. But you're right.
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: This is a serious matter. It's a serious matter for
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: families that are dealing with this high price of gas prices.
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: You know, I remember a few weeks ago when I
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: was out in Alaska and talking to motorists out there,
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: they're dealing with really high gas prices because although they
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: have the largest amount of crude oil in the country,
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: they have to export it out to be refined and
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: then bring it back in on trucks to get to
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: the residents of Alaska. So it really hits home for them.
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: The fact is it hits their budget really hard. So
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: I don't know why the president would put that out there.
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: Of course, this comes a few days after the president
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: says and declared through an executive order that he's changing
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America. So maybe
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: it's just simply, Curtis, a follow-up on that.
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: Everything is going to change next week. The starting gun's
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: going to go off. That's when you're going to see
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: all of the ads for the midterm elections coming up.
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: And the president talked a lot about the midterms yesterday
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: and what he plans to do. Is he going to
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: spend any of his money on these midterms? Because he's
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: got a big war chest.
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: He's got a huge war chest through his super PAC, MAGA, Inc.,
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: over $ 400 million. And there are those people like Karl
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: Rove who are saying, don't wait. We can't afford to wait.
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: Republicans need to spend that money. They need to help
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: out their candidates. And he's urging the president to start
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: spending right now, even before we hit that magic Labor
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: Day holiday. So the president realizes that there's some pressure
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: on him and is super packed to spend that money.
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: And the president yesterday, in response to my question, confirmed
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: that he's going to head all the way out to
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: Alaska to help out U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan, who's running
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: for his third term. This is a state that President
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: Trump won all three times he ran for president. The
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: last time in 2024, he won it by 13 and
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: a half points. And yet, Dan Sullivan is having difficulty
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: in terms of gaining traction to win a third term
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: in the U.S. Senate. So that's the reason why the
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: president says he's going to head out to Alaska to
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: campaign for Dan Sullivan, to get his base energized, to
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: vote for him on November the 3rd.
• 6:02
  Speaker 3: Now, just imagine, John Decker, you're one of those 38
• 6:05
  Speaker 3: that are marginal.
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: You're on that line.
• 6:08
  Speaker 3: You're a little ahead. You're a little behind. And the
• 6:11
  Speaker 3: president said, I'm there for you those last 30 days.
• 6:14
  Speaker 3: It's going to be morning, noon and night. But you
• 6:16
  Speaker 3: first got to come to our first ever party convention
• 6:21
  Speaker 3: in Dallas, which is September 9th and September 10th, right
• 6:25
  Speaker 3: before 9-11. Some of the Republicans are saying they can't
• 6:31
  Speaker 3: make it. They're too busy campaigning. Now, you know this president.
• 6:34
  Speaker 3: If they don't pick up and come to this party convention,
• 6:38
  Speaker 3: which is going to be like a pep rally and
• 6:39
  Speaker 3: laying out the goals of this campaign, I have a
• 6:43
  Speaker 3: feeling the president ain't going to be there for them
• 6:46
  Speaker 3: in that final push.
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: Well, you're right. You know, you really have to make
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: a tough decision if you're in a very close race.
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: Do you head down to Dallas or do you stay
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: in your district and campaign there and try to, you know,
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: energize people? the people there, the constituents there to come
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: out and vote for you or to vote early or
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: to vote on November the 3rd. So that's a tough
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: decision they have to make. I've already made that decision.
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: I'm going to be down in Dallas next week for
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: that midterm convention, the first of its kind. So I'll
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: be speaking to you next week from Dallas, Texas, and
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: we'll see if indeed the president is effective in essentially
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: energizing his base, energizing the troops, and getting them to
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: vote for those Republican candidates in November.
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: Oh, they're all going to be there. There's over 400
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: million reasons why they should be there. They're not going
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: to see any of that money unless they go down.
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: So the one person that was left out, actually a
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: lot of people that were left out, when he talked
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: about the campaign and what he's going to do and
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: how he's going to barnstorm, maybe he said the last
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: 30 days I'll be on the road every day. He said,
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: except for the Republican governors, good luck. You're on your own.
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: How does Vivek Ramaswamy feel in Ohio?
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think he's in good shape, regardless of whether
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: the president campaigns for him. It is Ohio. That being said,
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: there's a Senate race in Ohio, and I would imagine
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: the president's going to travel to Ohio for that Senate race.
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: And I would not be surprised if Vivek Ramaswamy shows
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: up at that event with the president. So the Senate
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: race is one in which It really is a pickup
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: opportunity for Democrats. That's in Ohio. There are other pickup
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: opportunities for Democrats. I could go through the list really quickly.
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: It's North Carolina. It's Maine. It's Iowa. It's Alaska. It's Texas.
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: So those are the pickup opportunities for Democrats this election cycle.
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: And as it relates to the Republicans, they have some
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: pickup opportunities there.
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: As well.
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: So we'll see what happens. It's going to be a
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: really interesting work. Look at the, look at the date
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: on the calendar. It's September the 3rd. We're exactly two
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: months away from election day.
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: Let's just real quick. I would check those polls in Ohio.
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: Take another look. Yeah. You would think that they were
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: Swami Ramaswami was way ahead, but cook report just called
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: it a toss up.
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: Did it really? Yes. That's really interesting. Yeah. Thanks for
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: letting me know that. Sure. I'm not following the governor's
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: races like the president is. I'm following the Senate races.
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: So there you go.
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: You're on your own, pal.
• 9:23
  Speaker 3: I've got enough to do for Senate candidates and House candidates,
• 9:27
  Speaker 3: and you better be in Dallas if you expect to
• 9:30
  Speaker 3: see me. But we know the big meeting is at
• 9:33
  Speaker 3: the end of September at the White House, the return engagement.
• 9:37
  Speaker 3: President Donald Trump went to see President Xi in Beijing.
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 9:41
  Speaker 3: And then he invited him to come to the White
• 9:44
  Speaker 3: House in the end of September. You know, a lot
• 9:47
  Speaker 3: of focus on what the red Chinese can do to
• 9:50
  Speaker 3: help end this Iranian war. They seem to be quite
• 9:53
  Speaker 3: belligerent and defiant. What do you think is the president's
• 9:57
  Speaker 3: goal in that meeting where he.
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: Is the host?
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: Well, it's going to be really interesting, and it just
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: so happens September the 24th is when President Xi will
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: come to the White House. I'm in the pool that day,
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: so hopefully there'll be an opportunity to ask both presidents
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: questions in the Oval Office. I've been looking forward to
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: that for quite some time. And for the president, a
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: lot is on the agenda. Trade with China is always
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: on the agenda. That is such an important issue. And
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: then you hit upon those foreign policy challenges for the president.
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: And the number one foreign policy challenge right now for
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: the U.S. and for President Trump is the Iran conflict.
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: And the president would very much like to see China
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: essentially stop purchasing that Iranian oil. It props up their economy.
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: And I don't think you're going to get any buy-in
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: from the Chinese, given the statements that have been put
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: out by their foreign ministry just in the course of
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: the past two weeks.
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: John Decker, WOR White House and Washington correspondent and host
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: of the podcast, The White House Briefing Room with John Decker.
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: That can be found on the iHeartRadio app. Thanks a lot, John.
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: Talk to you next week.
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: Thanks, Larry. Thanks, Curtis. Talk to you then. Bye-bye.