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

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

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  Speaker 1: Well, as the president has been barnstorming on his month-long
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  Speaker 1: campaign visits from city to city and state to state,
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  Speaker 1: John Decker has been with him part of the way.
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  Speaker 1: He is the WOR White House and Washington correspondent. He's
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  Speaker 1: also a host of a podcast you really should check
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  Speaker 1: out called The White House Breathing Room with John Decker.
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  Speaker 1: You can find that on the iHeartRadio app. So, John,
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  Speaker 1: give us a sense of what it's like to travel
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  Speaker 1: with the president as he barnstorms from area to area.
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  Speaker 1: What has the scene been? What have the crowds been like?
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  Speaker 1: And do you think this might make any difference in
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  Speaker 1: the midterms?
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  Speaker 2: Well, I travel with the president on Saturday. That was
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  Speaker 2: a trip to Dayton, Ohio, and the president was really
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  Speaker 2: well received. It was a high school gymnasium. It was
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  Speaker 2: completely full. There were a few dozen protesters outside the
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  Speaker 2: venue where this rally took place. The president, as you know,
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  Speaker 2: Larry and Curtis, is traveling to a lot of red states.
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  Speaker 2: In fact, I'm going to travel once again with the
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  Speaker 2: president this coming Saturday. I'm going to Tennessee with the president,
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  Speaker 2: and then we'll travel from there to Tuscaloosa for an
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  Speaker 2: Alabama-Georgia football game. So You get a sense the president
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  Speaker 2: is trying to essentially energize his base in the red states.
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  Speaker 2: He's playing defense, Larry. You know, he's not going to
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  Speaker 2: states in which there are really competitive races going on.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, you certainly could argue Nebraska, which is where
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  Speaker 2: he was yesterday, and Texas. Well, Texas has a very
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  Speaker 2: competitive race, but Alabama, Tennessee, they are not competitive at all.
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  Speaker 2: They're solid red states. Yeah.
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  Speaker 3: John Decker, if we can use a football analogy for
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  Speaker 3: the president, in 2016 when he first ran, he was
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  Speaker 3: all offense because he didn't have a record. He wasn't
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  Speaker 3: in elective office. Then he had to play defense in 2020.
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  Speaker 3: Then in 2024, he's on offense again because he's out
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  Speaker 3: of office. My sense is he doesn't do well when
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  Speaker 3: he has to play defense, when he has to defend
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  Speaker 3: his record. his issues, what he's done. And I see
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  Speaker 3: the Democrats, they're just going at him wherever he's gone
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  Speaker 3: in that Midwest, using his own words to counteract what
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  Speaker 3: he's saying.
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  Speaker 2: Well, it's not just a sense, Curtis. It's factual, because
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  Speaker 2: you saw what happened in 2018. That was the midterm
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  Speaker 2: election in the president's first term, and Republicans lost the
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  Speaker 2: House in that midterm election, and they lost the Senate.
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  Speaker 2: And obviously, Republicans don't want to repeat history. That's the
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  Speaker 2: reason for the president's barnstorming that's taking place all across
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  Speaker 2: these battleground states over the course of the next month
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  Speaker 2: or so. The president will be traveling to some of
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  Speaker 2: these states which do have competitive Senate races. Michigan is
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  Speaker 2: certainly on the agenda. That's a pickup opportunity for Republicans.
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  Speaker 2: He says he's not traveling to Maine. That's where Susan
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  Speaker 2: Collins is running for president. A sixth term in the U.S. Senate.
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  Speaker 2: I don't think she wants to campaign alongside the president
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  Speaker 2: because the president not popular there. He's lost Maine all
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  Speaker 2: three times he's run for president. So she's trying to
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  Speaker 2: win that seat re-election on her own. But the president,
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  Speaker 2: you know, is to your point, Curtis, playing defense. And
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  Speaker 2: we'll see if it works for him and if the
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  Speaker 2: Republicans can pick up a seat or two. Michigan is
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  Speaker 2: certainly one of those opportunities.
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  Speaker 1: There was some arguments made in a Supreme Court case
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  Speaker 1: yesterday that could have some real ramifications on the country,
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  Speaker 1: especially for the oil companies. And I guess at the
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  Speaker 1: crux of this, and you can explain it better than
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  Speaker 1: I can, but at the crux of this is, do
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  Speaker 1: you have the ability to sue oil companies over climate change?
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  Speaker 1: And that's going to the Supreme Court. There were some
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  Speaker 1: tough questions yesterday on both sides of the issue. So
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  Speaker 1: I have two questions for you first you can better
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  Speaker 1: explain that case than I can and then secondly also
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  Speaker 1: if by the questions you can see where the court
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  Speaker 1: is leaning.
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  Speaker 2: Well I think absolutely I think in this particular case
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  Speaker 2: I think you explained it very well Larry in terms
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  Speaker 2: of what's at stake in that Supreme Court oral argument
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  Speaker 2: in case that was argued before the nine justices yesterday
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  Speaker 2: what we heard from justices on both sides is they
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  Speaker 2: don't see any difference between this issue and the tobacco
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  Speaker 2: companies being sued, for instance. No difference at all. We
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  Speaker 2: actually heard a number of justices, liberal justices and conservative justices,
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  Speaker 2: expressing that point of view. So you get the sense
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  Speaker 2: when they're expressing that view out loud that the energy companies,
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  Speaker 2: the oil companies, are likely to lose at the U.S.
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  Speaker 2: Supreme Court. I did not sit in those oral arguments yesterday.
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  Speaker 2: I always get a better feel when I'm actually in
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  Speaker 2: the court. But that's what I've read some of the
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  Speaker 2: back and forth between the justices and the lawyers arguing
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  Speaker 2: for both sides, and you do get the sense that
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  Speaker 2: the oil companies should prepare for defeat at the U.S.
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  Speaker 2: Supreme Court. Wow.
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  Speaker 1: That's going to change everything.
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  Speaker 2: Well, it's going to cost them a lot of money, certainly.
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  Speaker 2: It'll open up the doors to a flood of lawsuits
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  Speaker 2: against the oil companies. That's why this is such an
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  Speaker 2: important case for them. We're talking about not just millions,
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  Speaker 2: but potentially billions of dollars that will be The damage
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  Speaker 2: is if the plaintiffs are successful in suing the oil companies.
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  Speaker 3: Generally, John, in the areas the president has gone, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa,
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  Speaker 3: a lot of cattle, cattle country and cattle ranch is
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  Speaker 3: generally a very Republican, very conservative and very pro-Trump. But
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  Speaker 3: he did something that has just rocked their world. Already,
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  Speaker 3: 30,000 pounds of the Trump-backed Argentina beef have been recalled.
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  Speaker 3: And his argument for helping Argentina is they're fighting for
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  Speaker 3: their life. They're dying. That's not America first, is it?
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  Speaker 2: You know, it's so funny that you say that, Curtis,
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  Speaker 2: because I essentially raise the same point to the deputies.
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  Speaker 2: Secretary of Agriculture last week when I interviewed him, I said,
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  Speaker 2: it doesn't sound like an America first policy. And this
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  Speaker 2: is someone who's worked for President Trump in both the
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  Speaker 2: first term and now in the second term. And it's
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  Speaker 2: difficult to argue that this is an America first strategy.
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  Speaker 2: They say it's short term in terms of the purchases
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  Speaker 2: of this foreign beef. And that's to try to lower
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  Speaker 2: beef prices here in the U.S., But I don't know
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  Speaker 2: if it's having the intended impact. Instead, it has angered
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  Speaker 2: many of the ranchers because of what the administration has
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  Speaker 2: done and what they will continue to do with these
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  Speaker 2: purchases of foreign beef.
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  Speaker 1: You know, we've learned so much more about the fly
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  Speaker 1: Dubai hijacker. We know that he was radicalized. It sounds
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  Speaker 1: like he wanted to hijack the plane and fly it
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  Speaker 1: into Israel. They're reporting it was going to fly it
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  Speaker 1: into Israel.
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  Speaker 2: But, I mean, we don't.
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  Speaker 1: Know that for certain, but now there is a lot
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  Speaker 1: of talk that there were Iranian ties. And some of
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  Speaker 1: the people with the administration have backed off of that
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  Speaker 1: and said it still has to be investigated. Do we
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  Speaker 1: know anything more?
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  Speaker 3: No.
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  Speaker 2: I've seen various reporting that this was essentially a lone wolf,
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  Speaker 2: someone who, as you point out, Larry, was radicalized. But
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  Speaker 2: there is nothing specifically tying this individual to direction coming
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  Speaker 2: from the Iranian government. or the IRGC. Now, the investigation
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  Speaker 2: is continuing. That individual, as you know, is still alive
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  Speaker 2: in custody. And so we'll see what is learned through
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  Speaker 2: the interrogation process. But we do know from what the
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  Speaker 2: administration says that that move to move all of those
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  Speaker 2: B-1 bombers out of the UK back to the US,
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  Speaker 2: that was because of a concern of a possible drone
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  Speaker 2: attack on that UK airbase directed by the IRGC. So Iran,
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  Speaker 2: according to the president, said this yesterday. The vice president
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  Speaker 2: confirmed it yesterday as well. Iran certainly taking its war
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  Speaker 2: beyond the Middle East, if indeed that proves to be true.
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  Speaker 3: John, I want to take you to Texas. And the
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  Speaker 3: president has put All of his collateral and the candidacy
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  Speaker 3: of Paxton, the attorney general there against Tallarico. Yeah. Not
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  Speaker 3: doing too well. They're pouring $ 7 million a day into
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  Speaker 3: Paxton's campaign. And every other day, it's almost like he's
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  Speaker 3: smacking the president. He was heard saying the midterm convention
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  Speaker 3: that Trump hosted in Texas hurt him and other Republicans.
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  Speaker 3: And now another tape has come out and he admits
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  Speaker 3: he has zero control of his campaign. What can they
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  Speaker 3: do to get this guy in line?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I've seen that. You know, the president, when he
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  Speaker 2: went down to Texas last week, didn't invite Ken Paxton
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  Speaker 2: up on the stage to say some remarks. I think
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  Speaker 2: it's gotten under the president's skin. I don't think the
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  Speaker 2: president is very pleased with the person that he endorsed,
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  Speaker 2: that he put the thumb on the scale to make
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  Speaker 2: him the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate. The president, however,
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  Speaker 2: is traveling back down to Texas this week. He's going
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  Speaker 2: to San Antonio, Texas. I believe that's going to be
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  Speaker 2: on Wednesday. tomorrow. And we'll see. I'm sure Ken Paxton
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  Speaker 2: will be there. We'll see if the president allows him
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  Speaker 2: to say some remarks during that campaign rally.
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  Speaker 1: I was saving this to the end because Natalie Harp
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  Speaker 1: now has become a national figure. I don't know if
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  Speaker 1: you saw, but Saturday Night Live is now has someone
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  Speaker 1: that is portraying Natalie Harp with the president and threatening
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  Speaker 1: all his enemies to stay away from him. Natalie Harp
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  Speaker 1: is the White House appointment secretary, but it sounds like
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  Speaker 1: she just runs social media, but she's always with the president.
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  Speaker 1: And that's, I think, why there is so much attention
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  Speaker 1: on her. nobody knows a lot about her they just
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  Speaker 1: see her a lot you must see her a lot
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  Speaker 1: up close have you talked to her what is what
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  Speaker 1: is their.
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  Speaker 2: Relationship I see her practically every day I travel with
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  Speaker 2: her to Ohio and On Saturday, I see her in
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  Speaker 2: the Oval Office. I say hello to her. I'm friendly
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  Speaker 2: with her, but I'm not friends with her, so I
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  Speaker 2: can't tell you all that much about her. I did
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  Speaker 2: notice out on the campaign trail in Ohio, among those
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  Speaker 2: protesters holding signs, there were signs that specifically referenced her.
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  Speaker 2: So it's not just a Saturday Night Live thing. This
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  Speaker 2: has reached middle America in terms of the focus that
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  Speaker 2: she's getting. in terms of her interactions with the president.
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  Speaker 2: So I can't add anything more to that. The president
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  Speaker 2: sees her as a trusted aide, and that's one of
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  Speaker 2: the reasons why she travels with the president on every
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  Speaker 2: trip the president takes, whether it's a domestic trip or
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  Speaker 2: a foreign trip.
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  Speaker 1: And is she always right with him?
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  Speaker 2: When you say right with him, she was traveling. So
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  Speaker 2: she was aboard Marine One yesterday on the flight out
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  Speaker 2: to Andrews Air Force Base, Joint Base Andrews. And she
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  Speaker 2: was on the trip down to Nebraska yesterday as well.
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  Speaker 2: And I would imagine she'll be with the president when
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  Speaker 2: he travels to Baltimore, Maryland today and the other trips
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  Speaker 2: that the president has on his schedule throughout the week.
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  Speaker 1: John Decker, WOR White House and Washington correspondent and host
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: of the podcast, The White House Briefing Room with John Decker.
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  Speaker 1: By the way, let me compliment you on that podcast.
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  Speaker 1: It is wonderful. It is really, really good. So I listen.
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  Speaker 1: I'm now an avid listener, and I think everybody else should, too.
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  Speaker 1: Check it out on the iHeartRadio app. John, thanks a lot.
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  Speaker 2: Thanks, Larry. Thanks, Curtis. Have a great day, and I'll
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  Speaker 2: talk to you real soon. Bye-bye.