Latest / DEEP INSIGHT / Trump campaigns in Ohio to half-packed arena as pushback to his Russian diesel deal grows

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Trump campaigns in Ohio to half-packed arena as pushback to his Russian diesel deal grows · DEEP INSIGHT

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  Speaker 1: President Trump, he was in Ohio last night for the
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  Speaker 1: second time in less than two weeks campaigning on behalf
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  Speaker 1: of Republican candidates. He held a rally in Youngstown, an
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  Speaker 1: area he won by 11 points back in 2024. The
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  Speaker 1: president praised the candidates who were there, including Republican Senator
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: John Husted, offering this observation about the former football player.
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  Speaker 2: But I'm standing over here and I don't do this
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  Speaker 2: with men very often. I started examining his body because
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  Speaker 2: I didn't know he was a great athlete. And I
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  Speaker 2: looked and I watched up and down. I looked at
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  Speaker 2: his ass and I looked at the whole. And then
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  Speaker 2: I looked at his hands.
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  Speaker 3: Look at his hands.
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  Speaker 2: He's got these like claws. And I got it. You
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  Speaker 2: are a great athlete. I didn't know that because he
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  Speaker 2: doesn't talk about that. Congratulations. Now they finally know that
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  Speaker 2: was very good.
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  Speaker 1: Yes, a message just three weeks till the midterms. He
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  Speaker 1: did also try to convince voters in the area, though,
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  Speaker 1: that he is still fighting for them, announcing a new
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  Speaker 1: Defense Department facility in Cleveland.
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  Speaker 3: To repair submarine components.
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  Speaker 1: He also promised that the Energy Department would make sure
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  Speaker 1: that a heat provider for Youngstown remained open. But the
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  Speaker 1: president's support last night wasn't as strong as it has
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  Speaker 1: been in the past, amid rising prices for food and fuel.
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  Speaker 1: As The Washington Post notes, The shift was on display
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  Speaker 1: at the rally where entire sections of the arena and
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  Speaker 1: upper level sat mostly empty through the night. The president
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  Speaker 1: has told his supporters to pretend he's on the ballot
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  Speaker 1: to drive up turnout in the midterms and says he
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  Speaker 1: will continue to be on the campaign trail until election day.
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  Speaker 2: Everyone here tonight is part of the greatest movement in
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  Speaker 2: the history of our country. It's the greatest movement ever.
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  Speaker 2: But as you can see here today, It's stronger than
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  Speaker 2: ever before. We are going around to do this. I'm
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  Speaker 2: doing a rally at night. In the last week, I'll
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  Speaker 2: probably be doing two or three a day. I don't
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  Speaker 2: know why the hell I'm doing it. I'm not running,
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  Speaker 2: but I am running. And you're going to promise me
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  Speaker 2: you're going to get out and vote. Does everybody promise
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  Speaker 2: they're going to vote in this?
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  Speaker 1: Now, the president's red state tour continues today with the
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  Speaker 1: rally up in Alaska, a sign of just how close
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  Speaker 1: the U.S.
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  Speaker 3: Senate race is there.
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  Speaker 1: As incumbent Republican Dan Sullivan tries to hold on to
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  Speaker 1: his seat, Alaska hasn't elected a Democrat to the Senate
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  Speaker 1: in nearly 20 years. Now, President Trump is insisting an
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  Speaker 1: energy ceasefire is in place between Russia and Ukraine. This
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  Speaker 1: despite Ukrainian President Zelensky saying Moscow has continued to to
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  Speaker 1: strike his country's energy sites and Russian officials, declining to
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  Speaker 1: say whether Russia had agreed to any sort of a ceasefire,
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  Speaker 1: saying only, quote, contacts are ongoing. Now, here's what Trump
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  Speaker 1: told reporters at the White House yesterday.
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  Speaker 4: You said Russia and Ukraine agreed to a ceasefire, but
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  Speaker 4: both sides say they have not agreed to that. Well,
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  Speaker 4: they agreed.
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  Speaker 2: You know why? Because I said you agreed.
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  Speaker 5: That's why.
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  Speaker 2: They agreed because I said they agreed. And that thing
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  Speaker 2: has to get settled.
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  Speaker 3: That war is a disaster.
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  Speaker 2: How do you comment to the fact that Russia violated
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  Speaker 2: the ceasefire tonight? Well, I'd have to look at it
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  Speaker 2: and see, because there's been violations on both sides.
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  Speaker 1: Because I said I agree, it doesn't seem to be
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  Speaker 1: moving much, especially as growing bipartisan backlash follows this. Following
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  Speaker 1: the agreement between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin
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  Speaker 1: to import Russian oil, Republican Senator Jerry Moran of Kansas
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  Speaker 1: yesterday posted on social media that the U.S., quote, should
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  Speaker 1: be tightening sanctions further, not undercutting them by allowing the
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  Speaker 1: import of Russian diesel. Republican Congressman Don Bacon of Nebraska, meanwhile,
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  Speaker 1: said Trump is, quote, weak on Putin. And Republican Congressman
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  Speaker 1: Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania said he would introduce bipartisan legislation
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  Speaker 1: to block all purchases of Russian oil. They join a
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  Speaker 1: growing chorus of criticism, including from four Republicans and three
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  Speaker 1: Democrats on the Foreign Relations Committee, who earlier called for
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  Speaker 1: the administration to to immediately reverse course. Let's bring in
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  Speaker 1: staff writer at The Atlantic covering national security and the
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  Speaker 1: Defense Department, Nancy Youssef.
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  Speaker 3: Nancy, thanks for joining us.
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  Speaker 1: What do you make of the president continuing to stand
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  Speaker 1: by Russia and, of course, calling for Zelensky to effectively
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  Speaker 1: end his presidency and the idea that he continues to
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  Speaker 1: place blame on this, quote, energy ceasefire not working on, quote,
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  Speaker 1: both sides?
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  Speaker 4: That's right. We're seeing the president try repeatedly to find
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  Speaker 4: some way to change the The fuel price problem that
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  Speaker 4: he's facing ahead of these midterm elections last week, he
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  Speaker 4: was considering conducting strikes on Iran before the midterm elections.
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  Speaker 4: And now he's put forth this deal. The problem is
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  Speaker 4: that under the best case scenario, this deal doesn't undo
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  Speaker 4: the damage to fuel prices that were caused by the
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  Speaker 4: war in Iran. And you're seeing, I think, the president
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  Speaker 4: try to reconcile that. And so this deal is an
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  Speaker 4: attempt to fix an immediate economic problem while causing real
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  Speaker 4: geopolitical problems for the United States and for the Trump administration,
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  Speaker 4: which had spent years defending Ukraine and saying that it
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  Speaker 4: was here to protect Ukraine. I think ultimately what you're
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  Speaker 4: seeing is a president who blames Zelensky for where the
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  Speaker 4: war is rather than Putin and believes that his personal
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  Speaker 4: relationship with Putin is stronger than it is with Zelensky.
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  Speaker 3: Can we kind of take a step back? We're three
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  Speaker 3: weeks from the midterms.
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  Speaker 1: And I think it's important because Zelensky and Trump had
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  Speaker 1: effectively had actually grown a closer relationship dating back to
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  Speaker 1: February 2025 and that Oval Office blow up. But now
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  Speaker 1: we see this here where he's calling for Zelensky for
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  Speaker 1: new presidential elections in Ukraine. He took Ukrainian officials and
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  Speaker 1: European officials aback by saying that the U.S. was going
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  Speaker 1: to begin or seeking to begin to import Russian fuel.
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  Speaker 1: But you add on top of that that the Houthi
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  Speaker 1: strikes in Saudi Arabia, and they're trying to shore up
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  Speaker 1: their missile defense systems in Saudi Arabia. Where does the
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  Speaker 1: president find himself in between a cat quagmire in Iran,
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  Speaker 1: but now ultimately longtime partners of the United States calling
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  Speaker 1: into question whether the president is committed to them over
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  Speaker 1: the next two years based off of these actions three
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  Speaker 1: weeks from the midterms?
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, that's right. I think we're at the sort of
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  Speaker 4: lowest point between Zelensky and Trump since that infamous meeting
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  Speaker 4: in the Oval Office. And I think ultimately reflects the
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  Speaker 4: president who holds Zelensky responsible for his inability to deliver
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  Speaker 4: on one of his campaign promises, which was to end
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  Speaker 4: the Russia-Ukraine war within the first 24 hours, because to
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  Speaker 4: do that would have required arguably Ukrainian capitulation, which Zelensky
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  Speaker 4: wasn't prepared to do. In terms of the broader challenge
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  Speaker 4: that the president faces, it is that there is no
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  Speaker 4: quick fix to these fuel prices, certainly in a matter
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  Speaker 4: of weeks. And what the Houthi attack shows is why
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  Speaker 4: that is so hard, because even if this deal were
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  Speaker 4: to go through under the best case scenario, it cannot
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  Speaker 4: undo the damage that is happening to the Saudi ability
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  Speaker 4: to produce because of these Houthi strikes. the limits that
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  Speaker 4: it creates in terms of the ability of oil and
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  Speaker 4: gas to travel because of these lost routes. And so
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  Speaker 4: what we're really seeing is a collision of these conflicts
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  Speaker 4: such that there is no one solution, I think, to
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  Speaker 4: fixing gas prices, certainly by the midterm elections. other than
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  Speaker 4: some sort of negotiated settlement. We saw the United States
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  Speaker 4: try to battle the Houthis last year and conduct a
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  Speaker 4: series of strikes over a weeks-long campaign. That didn't work.
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  Speaker 4: For all the president's frustration with the Houthis, he is
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  Speaker 4: not signaling, as of yet, military intervention. I guess the
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  Speaker 4: headline is that there is no quick fix from the
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  Speaker 4: rise in oil prices, and the markets are reflecting that. Yesterday,
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  Speaker 4: we saw prices hit $ 106 a barrel. They've only slightly
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  Speaker 4: gone down now, which says that of these two conflicts,
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  Speaker 4: the Houthi conflict and the Russia diesel deal, the markets
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  Speaker 4: are saying that this diesel deal is not outdoing their
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  Speaker 4: concerns about where the war starts. is going vis-a-vis the Houthis.
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  Speaker 1: And I think this is important because I want to
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  Speaker 1: open up this a little bit more. Saudi Arabia is
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  Speaker 1: investigating how the country's air defense system failed to intercept
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  Speaker 1: missile and drone attacks from the Iranian-backed Houthi militia over
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  Speaker 1: the weekend, including a Saturday strike at the country's international
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  Speaker 1: airport in the capital city of Riyadh. That strike killed
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  Speaker 1: at least 13 people and.
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  Speaker 3: Wounded more than 300.
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  Speaker 1: The The Associated Press reports that the initial probe showed
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  Speaker 1: that the Houthis first fired multiple drones to pave the
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  Speaker 1: way for a mix of crews and ballistic missiles to
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  Speaker 1: reach Riyadh's international airport. Officials say they will look into
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  Speaker 1: why Saudi Arabia's air defense systems did not give a
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  Speaker 1: warning earlier, even though Houthi projectiles had to fly more
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  Speaker 1: than 600 miles to reach the capital. The Houthis, meanwhile,
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  Speaker 1: they said Saudi Arabia launched multiple airstrikes overnight. inside Yemen
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  Speaker 1: where I think the part of this goes and to
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  Speaker 1: the extent that Donald Trump has any control over it
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  Speaker 1: is where do you see this going from here as
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  Speaker 1: the Saudis press the U.S.
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  Speaker 3: For greater involvement?
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  Speaker 1: How concerned are you about regional escalation and the extent
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  Speaker 1: to the U.S.
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  Speaker 3: And the expectations that they do.
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  Speaker 1: Get involved, understanding that this was an Iran war initiated
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  Speaker 1: by the United States?
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  Speaker 4: That is the concern that this turns into a regional conflict.
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  Speaker 4: I think you have to remember, we all have to
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  Speaker 4: remember that the Houthis, it's dangerous to underestimate them. I
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  Speaker 4: would argue they're one of the most powerful non-state actors
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  Speaker 4: in the world, and they are seeking regional influence in
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  Speaker 4: the Middle East. And so combating them is a formidable
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  Speaker 4: challenge and one that would require weeks, if not months,
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  Speaker 4: long campaigns, sustained international effort, which we haven't seen the
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  Speaker 4: momentum to do so yet because of what you raised,
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  Speaker 4: the fears of turning this into a wider international conflict.
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  Speaker 4: In terms of the Saudis and ability to defend themselves
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  Speaker 4: against those strikes, remember the Saudis have been defending themselves
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  Speaker 4: against strikes from Iran, from the Houthis over the past
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  Speaker 4: year and they are up against a very powerful force
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  Speaker 4: in the houthis this is not to to justify it
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  Speaker 4: but to say that they've been facing persistent strikes and
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  Speaker 4: this is um a force that is seeking to essentially
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  Speaker 4: conduct an air blockade against the Saudis. And so they've
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  Speaker 4: been quite aggressive in their campaign against the Saudis. What
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  Speaker 4: they are trying to do It's a signal that they
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  Speaker 4: are strong enough such that the international community must capitulate
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  Speaker 4: to their demands, which include domination over Yemen. We haven't
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  Speaker 4: seen the president signal that the U.S.
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  Speaker 3: Is ready to intervene.
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  Speaker 4: To do so would require a major increase in military
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  Speaker 4: presence at a time when the U.S. is considering strikes
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  Speaker 4: against Iran, if not now, after the midterms. and facing
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  Speaker 4: a significant munitions shortfall. So it's not even clear what
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  Speaker 4: the U.S. could do at this point that would really
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  Speaker 4: change the trajectory of where this war is going. Right now,
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  Speaker 4: the Houthis feel that they have the momentum.
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  Speaker 1: The trajectory of these campaigns is the question that we'll
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  Speaker 1: be continuing to have a conversation about.
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  Speaker 3: Nancy Youssef, staff writer at The Atlantic. Thanks for joining us.
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  Speaker 4: Thank you.
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  Speaker 3: We appreciate it.
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  Speaker 4: Thank you.
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  Speaker 3: Hey, it's Rachel.
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• 11:05
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  Speaker 3: Thanks.