WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.399 --> 00:00:03.640 This week's episode of the Trip Cast is supported by 2 00:00:03.720 --> 00:00:11.919 former US Ambassador to Mexico Antonio Garza. Hello and welcome 3 00:00:11.919 --> 00:00:15.759 to this week's edition of the Trip Cast. I'm James Bargan. 4 00:00:15.880 --> 00:00:19.199 I'm here with Women's health reporter Eleanor Klibanoff and our 5 00:00:19.239 --> 00:00:23.160 fearless leader Matthew Watkins. Hello James, and being beamed in 6 00:00:23.160 --> 00:00:29.359 from Washington, d c our DC reporter politics guru Matthew Troy. Matthew, 7 00:00:29.359 --> 00:00:29.719 how are you. 8 00:00:31.079 --> 00:00:32.439 I'm doing great? Thanks for having me. 9 00:00:33.159 --> 00:00:34.880 Matthew, Joy and I have spent a lot of time 10 00:00:34.920 --> 00:00:37.359 together in the last seventy two hours. 11 00:00:37.399 --> 00:00:39.759 The Matthews. That's right. Well, we've got a lot to 12 00:00:39.840 --> 00:00:43.439 break down this week. This week's podcast is all about 13 00:00:43.479 --> 00:00:47.039 the second Trump administration, what that means for Texas, and 14 00:00:47.479 --> 00:00:50.520 trying to look ahead at what this new Trump administration 15 00:00:50.600 --> 00:00:53.159 is going to look like. But before we do that, guys, 16 00:00:53.520 --> 00:00:56.640 it's been a long week. A lot of DC stuff 17 00:00:56.640 --> 00:00:59.119 going on, a lot of speaker stuff going on here 18 00:00:59.520 --> 00:01:01.880 in the text Legislature. Let's just check in. How are 19 00:01:01.880 --> 00:01:03.600 we doing? How are we doing in twenty twenty five 20 00:01:03.799 --> 00:01:06.640 a third weekend? Are we keeping our resolutions? I mean, 21 00:01:06.799 --> 00:01:07.319 we are here. 22 00:01:08.000 --> 00:01:11.319 Note in a snow storm, I mean Austin has been 23 00:01:11.680 --> 00:01:14.680 just I mean a blizzard is upon us. There was 24 00:01:15.239 --> 00:01:18.719 almost a third of an inch not quite of snow 25 00:01:18.719 --> 00:01:22.519 on the ground. So I think I'm pretty cold and 26 00:01:22.719 --> 00:01:25.359 pretty excited. I'd love a good weather weirdness. So I'm 27 00:01:25.400 --> 00:01:25.840 doing great. 28 00:01:26.439 --> 00:01:29.280 Yeah, you know, as I think we mentioned in last 29 00:01:29.280 --> 00:01:32.680 week's podcast, I was up in DC for the inaugural 30 00:01:32.799 --> 00:01:36.480 ball and everything like that. My flight from Dallas to 31 00:01:36.519 --> 00:01:39.680 Austin got canceled yesterday, so I ended up having to 32 00:01:39.680 --> 00:01:42.239 rent a car and drive down I thirty five in 33 00:01:42.280 --> 00:01:45.760 the sleet and snow. So that was but I had 34 00:01:45.799 --> 00:01:47.719 to Yeah, it had nothing to do with my children. 35 00:01:48.239 --> 00:01:49.920 It was y'all that I wanted to see. 36 00:01:50.000 --> 00:01:52.920 Our trip cast listeners are your children exactly, They are 37 00:01:52.959 --> 00:01:53.480 your family. 38 00:01:53.599 --> 00:01:57.319 That is what matters. Matthew. How are things going in DC? 39 00:01:57.439 --> 00:01:57.680 Are you? 40 00:01:57.840 --> 00:02:00.359 Are you keeping your Niear's resolutions? 41 00:02:00.840 --> 00:02:00.959 Uh? 42 00:02:01.079 --> 00:02:02.760 You know, I'm trying my best and I'm going to 43 00:02:02.799 --> 00:02:06.599 the gym. I'm staying healthy. It's a little over twenty 44 00:02:06.640 --> 00:02:11.120 degrees here, so it's positively you know, tropical. But yeah, 45 00:02:11.280 --> 00:02:13.199 things are great. 46 00:02:13.360 --> 00:02:15.639 Very very very different perspective from us here. 47 00:02:15.680 --> 00:02:16.479 It's all relative. 48 00:02:17.840 --> 00:02:20.719 Okay, so let's get started. First. For the Matthews, and 49 00:02:20.759 --> 00:02:22.039 I don't know how we're going to do this since 50 00:02:22.039 --> 00:02:23.240 there's two Matthews here. 51 00:02:23.199 --> 00:02:24.439 Just calls Choli and Watkin. 52 00:02:24.759 --> 00:02:29.120 Okay. For the Matthews, you guys were both there in 53 00:02:29.240 --> 00:02:32.800 DC for the inauguration. Give us a breakdown. What was 54 00:02:32.840 --> 00:02:35.360 it like to be there in the city just overall 55 00:02:35.960 --> 00:02:38.639 and then also watching the events. What was the vibe. 56 00:02:38.680 --> 00:02:40.599 I'm sure you guys ran into a lot of Texas 57 00:02:40.639 --> 00:02:43.400 politicians who were there for this event. 58 00:02:45.039 --> 00:02:47.680 Yeah, you know, I will say one of the more 59 00:02:47.840 --> 00:02:51.159 surreal parts of the weekend was just being in a 60 00:02:51.360 --> 00:02:55.319 big city, a big city that's sort of traditionally viewed 61 00:02:55.360 --> 00:02:58.639 as one of those like liberal elite cities, and just 62 00:02:58.680 --> 00:03:03.120 to like look around and everyone is a Trump supporter. 63 00:03:03.360 --> 00:03:06.560 It was a little bit like backwards in that way, right. 64 00:03:06.639 --> 00:03:10.520 You normally don't associate, you know, inner Washington, d C. 65 00:03:10.759 --> 00:03:15.080 With With with like being Trump's base. But I think, 66 00:03:15.479 --> 00:03:17.719 you know, it was obviously a self selecting crowd, Like 67 00:03:17.759 --> 00:03:20.639 a lot of people who came specifically to see the inauguration, 68 00:03:20.759 --> 00:03:24.599 a lot of people I think disappointed to not actually 69 00:03:24.639 --> 00:03:28.240 get to witness the actual inauguration, and you know, there 70 00:03:29.120 --> 00:03:31.000 I think a lot of kind of chatter about people's 71 00:03:31.039 --> 00:03:34.520 you know, inauguration tickets turning into kind of fancy commemorative 72 00:03:34.560 --> 00:03:39.439 commemorative bookmarks and everything like that. But that being said, still, 73 00:03:39.520 --> 00:03:43.120 I think a lot of excitement, a lot of sort 74 00:03:43.120 --> 00:03:49.159 of you know, people feeling of a people people have 75 00:03:49.159 --> 00:03:52.360 a certain political persuasion, feeling a lot of sort of 76 00:03:53.639 --> 00:03:56.080 you know, relief to be kind of going back to 77 00:03:56.199 --> 00:03:59.280 a Republican administration, a Trump administration, and things like that. 78 00:04:00.400 --> 00:04:02.159 Matthew and I were a part of a sort of 79 00:04:02.439 --> 00:04:06.439 business leader's conference the day before the Texas inaugural ball. 80 00:04:07.360 --> 00:04:10.319 That was an interesting crowd too, because it's not necessarily 81 00:04:10.479 --> 00:04:17.800 your your typical you know, maga you know, red hat 82 00:04:17.839 --> 00:04:20.199 wearing group as much as you're the sort of more 83 00:04:20.240 --> 00:04:23.920 like business alignance support for him. And that was interesting 84 00:04:23.959 --> 00:04:25.519 because I think there was a lot of sort of 85 00:04:25.519 --> 00:04:28.240 cautious optimism. I think a lot of support for Trump, 86 00:04:28.319 --> 00:04:30.920 a lot of support for his policies, a lot of excitement, 87 00:04:31.199 --> 00:04:33.160 but also some questions And I think we could probably 88 00:04:33.199 --> 00:04:35.240 get into this a little bit later around things like 89 00:04:35.319 --> 00:04:38.120 tariff policy and what impact that's going to have on 90 00:04:38.160 --> 00:04:44.639 Texas businesses and things like that, so you know, Texas 91 00:04:44.680 --> 00:04:46.800 came out in full force. Though we all had our 92 00:04:47.040 --> 00:04:52.000 boots and bow ties on, and you know, both among 93 00:04:52.160 --> 00:04:55.000 just like regular people and politicians, a lot of sort 94 00:04:55.040 --> 00:04:57.199 of representation up there in DC this week. 95 00:04:57.800 --> 00:04:59.040 We get it. Matthew, you're important. 96 00:04:59.079 --> 00:05:02.480 You go to BOS the Business Leader's conference he was 97 00:05:02.519 --> 00:05:03.839 invited to as a business. 98 00:05:03.959 --> 00:05:07.439 My favorite moment, I want to say of the boost 99 00:05:07.439 --> 00:05:10.720 and bow Ties, as I spent pretty much the entire 100 00:05:10.759 --> 00:05:13.920 evening with Matthew and our events director matt Ewolt as well, 101 00:05:14.319 --> 00:05:16.759 was we were in a certain room and this will 102 00:05:16.759 --> 00:05:18.480 give you just a sense of like what that ball 103 00:05:18.600 --> 00:05:23.519 is like. And I look and I point, and I go, oh, 104 00:05:23.519 --> 00:05:26.199 there he is. And Matthew goes, oh, who are you 105 00:05:26.240 --> 00:05:30.600 putting to Brian Babin Us Congressman Brian Babon, And I 106 00:05:30.639 --> 00:05:33.079 was like, no, actually, right behind him, it's the rapper 107 00:05:33.160 --> 00:05:34.399 walka flocka flame. 108 00:05:34.600 --> 00:05:38.279 You know it's Now I'm interested. I gotta be honest. 109 00:05:39.279 --> 00:05:41.920 Now I'm jealous. I think we're. 110 00:05:41.759 --> 00:05:45.160 Both jamming out, so you know, you know, universal vibes 111 00:05:45.199 --> 00:05:46.360 all around. It's a great time. 112 00:05:46.600 --> 00:05:50.680 Yeah, Matthew, Matthew Joy, how are things for you. What 113 00:05:50.759 --> 00:05:52.240 was the inauguration like. 114 00:05:53.120 --> 00:05:55.040 Yeah, I mean, I think one of the most interesting 115 00:05:55.120 --> 00:05:58.480 kind of themes is that there's such such a different 116 00:05:58.519 --> 00:06:02.199 mood relative to twenty seven. Back then, you know, the 117 00:06:02.240 --> 00:06:05.279 Trump crowd was kind of thinking, did we seriously just 118 00:06:05.319 --> 00:06:07.519 win this thing? Oh my goodness, And you know, like 119 00:06:07.560 --> 00:06:11.360 a lot of them were traditional Republicans, were thinking, oh, 120 00:06:11.439 --> 00:06:13.040 I wonder what that's going to look like. This is 121 00:06:13.040 --> 00:06:15.000 not kind of the typical Republican playbook, and there's a 122 00:06:15.040 --> 00:06:18.920 bit of hesitancy this time, however, it was very much 123 00:06:19.040 --> 00:06:22.120 the idea of we are so back, baby. It was 124 00:06:22.680 --> 00:06:27.040 very jubulant. They were very confident in themselves, and people 125 00:06:27.079 --> 00:06:29.839 really kind of knew much more what to expect this time. 126 00:06:30.120 --> 00:06:33.079 I think the business community was a bit more enthusiastic 127 00:06:33.199 --> 00:06:37.319 now because they've seen what a Trump presidency is like, 128 00:06:37.360 --> 00:06:39.079 so it's no longer that kind of uncertainty that gave 129 00:06:39.120 --> 00:06:41.120 him pause us time, and they knew that a lot 130 00:06:41.120 --> 00:06:43.279 of his policies were very friendly to a lot of 131 00:06:43.279 --> 00:06:46.600 business interests, particularly businesses that are quite important for Texas, 132 00:06:46.600 --> 00:06:49.199 like the oil and gas sector, also agriculture as well. 133 00:06:49.560 --> 00:06:53.879 So you know, it was just like absolutely jubilance around 134 00:06:53.959 --> 00:06:57.439 the Republican you know, the big Republican ten Matthia, I. 135 00:06:57.439 --> 00:06:59.959 Didn't want to ask about that because, as maybe one 136 00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:03.560 talkins pointed out, it is seen as the swamp. It's 137 00:07:03.600 --> 00:07:06.959 seen as the liberal elite. And I wonder what sort 138 00:07:07.000 --> 00:07:10.480 of Democrats were feeling if you saw them walking around, 139 00:07:10.560 --> 00:07:11.879 or if you got to talk to any of them, 140 00:07:12.079 --> 00:07:14.079 because the New York Times had a great story about 141 00:07:14.199 --> 00:07:17.040 how the twenty seventeen resistance has turned into the twenty 142 00:07:17.079 --> 00:07:20.079 twenty five resignation, and in talking to a lot of 143 00:07:20.079 --> 00:07:22.680 Democrats it does sort of feel that way, or people 144 00:07:23.000 --> 00:07:26.800 who are not even Democrats but just to pose Trump's 145 00:07:27.879 --> 00:07:29.600 way of doing things and his view of the world. 146 00:07:29.600 --> 00:07:31.240 But I wonder if you could give us any insight 147 00:07:31.240 --> 00:07:33.759 into that since you are in DC and live there. 148 00:07:34.879 --> 00:07:37.160 Yeah, I mean, A important thing to note about twenty 149 00:07:37.160 --> 00:07:39.639 sixteen was that there was a large sense of indignation 150 00:07:39.720 --> 00:07:41.519 on the part of Democrats because they did win the 151 00:07:41.560 --> 00:07:44.439 popular vote, remember so, and already for a party that 152 00:07:44.519 --> 00:07:47.759 really doesn't, you know, have much affection for the electoral college. 153 00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:50.240 There was definitely this kind of sense of this was 154 00:07:50.279 --> 00:07:53.399 a fluke. We represent the way that America should be, 155 00:07:53.519 --> 00:07:58.399 and we will continue fighting, exhausting every single legal avenue, 156 00:07:58.480 --> 00:07:59.959 and you know, like we have the people with us. 157 00:08:00.399 --> 00:08:02.199 That was very much not the case this time. You know, 158 00:08:02.600 --> 00:08:06.279 the Democrats just straight up lost. You lost the popular revote, 159 00:08:06.279 --> 00:08:09.240 They lost in many swing states, and they're really feeling that. 160 00:08:09.319 --> 00:08:11.040 And so there's to us. They're kind of going through 161 00:08:11.120 --> 00:08:13.800 this soul searching of you know, what was wrong with 162 00:08:13.839 --> 00:08:16.199 our message? Do we stand for the things that the 163 00:08:16.240 --> 00:08:19.759 American people stand for. It was a much more kind 164 00:08:19.839 --> 00:08:25.319 of resigned and introspective kind of mood as opposed to this. 165 00:08:25.480 --> 00:08:28.040 You know, let's rally our arms and you know, sharpen 166 00:08:28.120 --> 00:08:30.720 the pitchforks and resists to the Trump administration as much 167 00:08:30.720 --> 00:08:31.639 as humanly possible. 168 00:08:32.279 --> 00:08:34.720 Yeah, there was there was a protest on the National 169 00:08:34.840 --> 00:08:39.600 Mall on Friday or Saturday that I didn't actually know 170 00:08:39.600 --> 00:08:42.000 about until I'd picked up a copy of the Washington Post. 171 00:08:42.039 --> 00:08:44.799 That it was I think, far far smaller than the 172 00:08:44.879 --> 00:08:48.639 kind of protests you saw eight years ago. The only 173 00:08:48.799 --> 00:08:53.279 Democrat I saw all weekend was Henry Quaar actually you 174 00:08:53.320 --> 00:08:56.120 know who is also you know, the probably the most 175 00:08:56.240 --> 00:09:00.240 moderate Democrat in the delegation. I think a lot of 176 00:09:00.279 --> 00:09:02.720 them sort of made the decision to get out of 177 00:09:02.720 --> 00:09:05.919 town for the weekend or at least keep a very 178 00:09:05.960 --> 00:09:10.840 low profile. But I completely agree. I think, you know, 179 00:09:11.480 --> 00:09:15.840 I think in some ways it feels a little bit more, 180 00:09:16.519 --> 00:09:18.759 it's less shocking, it feels a little bit normal for 181 00:09:18.840 --> 00:09:21.360 Democrats to have Trump as a president. I think there's 182 00:09:21.360 --> 00:09:24.840 also just a lot of soul searching about how they 183 00:09:24.879 --> 00:09:29.000 handled things last time, how the general more broad electorate 184 00:09:29.080 --> 00:09:32.840 reacted to it, and whether it's maybe smarter to not 185 00:09:33.120 --> 00:09:36.080 sort of freak out about every single thing that happens 186 00:09:36.120 --> 00:09:38.320 and sort of, you know, keep your powder dry for 187 00:09:38.399 --> 00:09:40.960 the fights that you really feel like are going to 188 00:09:40.960 --> 00:09:43.759 be meaningful for you and your constituents. 189 00:09:44.000 --> 00:09:45.679 And we've seen someone of that already with some of 190 00:09:45.720 --> 00:09:49.480 these immigration bills that are moving through Congress. I think 191 00:09:49.519 --> 00:09:52.720 we'll probably expect to see that a lot more and 192 00:09:52.919 --> 00:09:55.279 maybe picking their shots a little bit. But I do 193 00:09:55.360 --> 00:09:57.600 want to just get into it. Let's talk about what 194 00:09:57.639 --> 00:10:01.080 was said during the speech. Talked about immigration, remain in 195 00:10:01.120 --> 00:10:04.679 Mexico is back, although weirdly he's also ending asylum, so 196 00:10:04.919 --> 00:10:08.440 hard to reconcile how that works. Talked about energy, We're 197 00:10:08.440 --> 00:10:11.279 gonna drill baby, drill, and he also talked about the 198 00:10:11.279 --> 00:10:16.240 Gulf of Mexico, Mars and the Panama Canal eleanor from 199 00:10:16.279 --> 00:10:19.240 an outsider's perspective. Okay, what surprise you what stood out? 200 00:10:20.279 --> 00:10:22.960 I mean, I think it maybe this isn't necessarily a surprise, 201 00:10:23.080 --> 00:10:25.799 but I think, you know, it certainly stood out. I 202 00:10:25.799 --> 00:10:29.279 assumed all of us listening to, you know, the name 203 00:10:29.360 --> 00:10:34.879 recognition that President Trump gave our governor Greg Abbott, right, 204 00:10:34.919 --> 00:10:37.440 I mean, certainly a big boost to Texas to what 205 00:10:37.480 --> 00:10:40.600 Texas has been doing on immigration. It really felt like, 206 00:10:41.879 --> 00:10:45.480 you know, a validation for this for a lot of 207 00:10:45.480 --> 00:10:48.559 what Texas has been doing, which again not a shocker, 208 00:10:48.679 --> 00:10:51.399 but I'm sure felt good to Abbit and some other 209 00:10:51.440 --> 00:10:56.559 folks in the you know, sort of Texas Republican elite. 210 00:10:57.399 --> 00:10:59.639 Yeah, it was interesting. On the border stuff, it was 211 00:11:00.559 --> 00:11:02.919 big shout out to Abbot, as you mentioned, it was 212 00:11:03.919 --> 00:11:06.320 we're going to build wall fast, which is sort of 213 00:11:06.320 --> 00:11:09.279 what Abbot has already been doing. And we're going to 214 00:11:10.240 --> 00:11:12.559 or are we not? We're going to. We did declare 215 00:11:12.600 --> 00:11:14.840 in a national emergency on the border in order to 216 00:11:14.840 --> 00:11:19.120 send military which is sort of what Abbot did in 217 00:11:19.200 --> 00:11:21.879 Texas too. It was really sort of like an adoption 218 00:11:22.799 --> 00:11:25.399 from the national perspective of what Texas has been doing 219 00:11:25.399 --> 00:11:26.320 for the last four years. 220 00:11:26.600 --> 00:11:28.320 And this has always sort of been the thing, right like, 221 00:11:28.360 --> 00:11:32.120 when Democrats are in d C, Texas in many ways 222 00:11:32.120 --> 00:11:34.759 becomes like the government in exile for Republicans, right Like 223 00:11:34.799 --> 00:11:37.600 Texas is like trying stuff. Texas is leading, I mean, 224 00:11:37.639 --> 00:11:40.440 just as the largest red state, like trying things, trying 225 00:11:40.440 --> 00:11:42.440 things in the court, certainly trying things on the borders 226 00:11:42.440 --> 00:11:46.840 since we have a significant stretch of border. And it's 227 00:11:46.879 --> 00:11:50.399 like now the political power has shifted and d C 228 00:11:50.759 --> 00:11:53.080 is in back in the hands of Republicans, and we're 229 00:11:53.120 --> 00:11:55.399 sort of seeing those ideas that have been tested here 230 00:11:55.480 --> 00:11:56.080 go national. 231 00:11:56.679 --> 00:11:58.840 Matthew, what did you see? Did anything surprise you? I 232 00:11:58.879 --> 00:12:00.519 felt like most of it was stuff that he had 233 00:12:00.600 --> 00:12:03.039 already talked about on the campaign trip. 234 00:12:04.240 --> 00:12:07.240 Yeah, I mean, he was pretty he was remarkably he 235 00:12:07.279 --> 00:12:10.120 was also very on script during his speech, which you know, 236 00:12:10.519 --> 00:12:12.279 for folks who have watched a lot of his speeches 237 00:12:12.919 --> 00:12:16.240 realize that's a bit of a rarity sometimes. But what 238 00:12:16.279 --> 00:12:18.559 was kind of interesting I thought was, you know, the 239 00:12:18.600 --> 00:12:22.919 reactions afterwards. It was much more muted and much more 240 00:12:23.000 --> 00:12:24.600 kind of oh, this is just kind of just the 241 00:12:24.639 --> 00:12:28.279 norm now, even though some of his proposals are extremely 242 00:12:29.240 --> 00:12:33.240 divergent from the norms, everything from you know, renaming Denali 243 00:12:33.320 --> 00:12:37.639 to Matt McKinley to you know, right ending birthright citizenship, 244 00:12:37.679 --> 00:12:40.240 which is essentially just him challenging the Supreme Court to 245 00:12:40.240 --> 00:12:43.440 defy him. So and you know, we saw a lot 246 00:12:43.440 --> 00:12:45.039 of not only in the coverage, but also a lot 247 00:12:45.039 --> 00:12:48.240 of the response from some of the from the Democratic lawmakers. 248 00:12:48.639 --> 00:12:50.759 It was, it was it was a lot of exhaustion. 249 00:12:50.840 --> 00:12:53.639 You know, there's just not much more gas in the 250 00:12:53.639 --> 00:12:55.480 tank to kind of like, you know, repeat the same 251 00:12:55.480 --> 00:12:57.120 message they've been saying for the past eight years. 252 00:12:57.120 --> 00:12:57.320 Now. 253 00:12:58.639 --> 00:13:00.519 One of the things that I'm curious about the second 254 00:13:00.679 --> 00:13:04.720 Trump administration is sort of in the first one, there 255 00:13:04.759 --> 00:13:07.919 was these hopes from even some of his supporters that 256 00:13:08.000 --> 00:13:10.600 after he won the election he would become more quote 257 00:13:10.679 --> 00:13:14.279 unquote presidential. I don't think that anybody is holding their 258 00:13:14.279 --> 00:13:16.360 breath that that won't happen this time around, And in fact, 259 00:13:16.399 --> 00:13:18.159 we saw him hit the ground running. He's got an 260 00:13:18.200 --> 00:13:23.600 executive order on birthright citizenship, he's got he's pardoned a 261 00:13:23.600 --> 00:13:26.440 lot of the people who were either prosecuted or in 262 00:13:26.480 --> 00:13:29.159 the process of being prosecuted for the January sixth attacks 263 00:13:29.159 --> 00:13:32.759 on the Capitol. So I'm just sort of curious what 264 00:13:32.879 --> 00:13:36.279 kind of Trump do we think we'll see this time around? 265 00:13:36.279 --> 00:13:39.159 Because he talked a lot about these things like ending 266 00:13:39.159 --> 00:13:41.559 birthright citizenship, which are very important to his base, and 267 00:13:41.639 --> 00:13:43.879 sending the troops down to the southern border. But he's 268 00:13:43.879 --> 00:13:45.600 also talked about things like what we were just saying, 269 00:13:45.679 --> 00:13:50.240 renaming Mountain Olim McKinley the Gulf of Mexico. Stuff that 270 00:13:50.320 --> 00:13:52.879 just seems kind of so off the wall. What are 271 00:13:52.879 --> 00:13:54.919 we expecting to see in this Trump administration? Or should 272 00:13:54.960 --> 00:13:56.480 we expect to see everything? 273 00:13:58.039 --> 00:14:01.240 I think, you know, it's a common thing among liberals 274 00:14:01.320 --> 00:14:03.720 to sort of mock the media for being like Trump 275 00:14:03.799 --> 00:14:05.960 has changed, or you know, like the what's the like 276 00:14:06.080 --> 00:14:09.679 running joke like on this day he actually became president 277 00:14:10.120 --> 00:14:12.120 or whatever like that, And you know, like, I think 278 00:14:12.120 --> 00:14:14.360 there's some truth to that mocking, right, Like, I think 279 00:14:14.600 --> 00:14:19.000 to expect him to behave particularly differently from his first 280 00:14:19.120 --> 00:14:23.559 term is probably a fairly unreasonable expectation. The one thing 281 00:14:23.600 --> 00:14:28.159 that I wonder about is what has really changed is 282 00:14:28.200 --> 00:14:32.879 how people are reacting to him. Right. And that goes 283 00:14:32.879 --> 00:14:35.519 from like the business community, which was very reluctant to 284 00:14:35.600 --> 00:14:39.879 engage with him, very very reluctant to compliment him, very 285 00:14:39.919 --> 00:14:42.679 reluctant to like see like to act like they were 286 00:14:42.720 --> 00:14:47.679 working with him in the first year. That sometimes meant 287 00:14:47.759 --> 00:14:50.840 that they incurred his wrath and upset him. 288 00:14:51.399 --> 00:14:54.080 You've got people like Musk Suckerbird. 289 00:14:55.080 --> 00:14:57.440 Yeah, and they're all, you know, showing up at the inauguration. 290 00:14:57.480 --> 00:15:02.399 They're they're donating money to the inaugurate there saying very 291 00:15:02.480 --> 00:15:06.519 nice things to him. I mean, I thought the TikTok message. 292 00:15:06.559 --> 00:15:08.799 Did you see this when when TikTok shut down and 293 00:15:08.840 --> 00:15:11.600 they put on their little notice like we're grateful to 294 00:15:11.679 --> 00:15:13.879 President Trump for like saying he's going to work back 295 00:15:13.919 --> 00:15:15.320 and they credit him after that. 296 00:15:16.559 --> 00:15:19.960 But there are legitimate national security concerns around tiktoms. 297 00:15:19.639 --> 00:15:23.080 Yeah, right, and even but even just the way the 298 00:15:23.080 --> 00:15:25.759 Democrats are reacting of like I think what they would 299 00:15:25.799 --> 00:15:28.080 describe as like trying not to take the bait. And 300 00:15:28.679 --> 00:15:32.320 I mean it's clear that one thing that sometimes motivated 301 00:15:32.360 --> 00:15:35.879 Trump in his first term was sort of reacting to 302 00:15:36.000 --> 00:15:39.679 how people react to him. They would anger him or 303 00:15:39.720 --> 00:15:42.440 they would you know, he seems to relish a fight, 304 00:15:42.879 --> 00:15:46.720 and like, if that's if this strategy sticks for Democrats, 305 00:15:46.720 --> 00:15:49.840 if they can sort of try to keep the temperature down, 306 00:15:50.080 --> 00:15:52.759 if the business community, you know, other folks do that, 307 00:15:53.080 --> 00:15:57.840 will that just create a different dynamic for the presidency 308 00:15:57.879 --> 00:15:59.960 this year. That's That's one thing I'm curious to see. 309 00:16:00.120 --> 00:16:02.639 Another thing, another thing that I the really needs to 310 00:16:02.679 --> 00:16:05.360 be you know, mentioned, is just the difference in staffing 311 00:16:05.399 --> 00:16:07.799 that he has around him this time. I mean last time, 312 00:16:07.919 --> 00:16:11.200 he started with the very kind of die hard but 313 00:16:11.240 --> 00:16:16.000 not exactly experienced in government team, and so he filled 314 00:16:16.039 --> 00:16:18.039 in a lot of that experience, that you know, gap 315 00:16:18.080 --> 00:16:20.639 of experience by having people who weren't exactly you know, 316 00:16:21.159 --> 00:16:23.759 really really kind of committed to his cause, but had 317 00:16:23.759 --> 00:16:26.240 a lot of experience working in Republican politics, and that 318 00:16:26.679 --> 00:16:28.879 was a source of a lot of tension. This time, 319 00:16:28.919 --> 00:16:32.279 he has a much more professional team. Susie Wilds's chief 320 00:16:32.279 --> 00:16:34.919 of staff really kind of transformed his campaign into a 321 00:16:35.039 --> 00:16:39.320 very very you know, disciplined tight ship that was very effective, 322 00:16:39.679 --> 00:16:41.399 and you know, a lot of that kind of professionalism 323 00:16:41.440 --> 00:16:44.279 is going to be translated into the but filled or 324 00:16:44.440 --> 00:16:48.440 really really kind of ideologically committed to his to what 325 00:16:48.480 --> 00:16:49.240 he stands for. 326 00:16:51.039 --> 00:16:53.960 Okay, let's take a brief break to thank our sponsors 327 00:16:54.759 --> 00:16:57.720 Mexico more than just a neighbor. For timely cross border 328 00:16:57.720 --> 00:17:01.320 Insight turned to former US ambassador on Tonio Garza learn 329 00:17:01.399 --> 00:17:06.960 more at Tony Garza dot com. And we're back, of course. 330 00:17:07.000 --> 00:17:09.880 So one of the big things that we saw people 331 00:17:09.960 --> 00:17:14.200 vote on this election was the economy. During the campaign, 332 00:17:14.480 --> 00:17:17.480 Trump promised to fix the economy and reverse a lot 333 00:17:17.480 --> 00:17:20.440 of Biden policies. Since the election, he sort of walked 334 00:17:20.480 --> 00:17:23.240 back and said, you know, it's kind of hard to 335 00:17:23.400 --> 00:17:26.960 change grocery prices, something that many people could have told 336 00:17:27.000 --> 00:17:28.839 him before, but that he you know, he's got that 337 00:17:28.920 --> 00:17:33.079 bombast about him. So, and he's also talked about tariffs 338 00:17:33.079 --> 00:17:35.880 with Canada and Mexico and with other nations. I think 339 00:17:36.640 --> 00:17:39.599 some of the executive orders that he's planning are around 340 00:17:39.640 --> 00:17:44.359 tariffs to Canada and Mexico. Already, what is that going 341 00:17:44.440 --> 00:17:48.079 to do for our economy here in Texas, particularly with 342 00:17:48.240 --> 00:17:51.680 our relationship with Mexico, which is one of our top 343 00:17:51.799 --> 00:17:52.920 training partners. 344 00:17:53.519 --> 00:17:58.559 I think that this is an area where there's maybe 345 00:17:58.680 --> 00:18:02.480 not perfect alignment between our Republican leaders in the state 346 00:18:02.559 --> 00:18:05.319 and Republican leaders in the federal government. And I'll go 347 00:18:05.440 --> 00:18:08.039 back to this business conference that Matthew and I both 348 00:18:08.079 --> 00:18:10.839 attended and sat in on. There was a national security 349 00:18:10.880 --> 00:18:15.759 panel featuring multiple members current and former members of Congress 350 00:18:15.799 --> 00:18:21.720 who were Republicans sort of dancing around the issue, saying, 351 00:18:21.839 --> 00:18:25.039 you know, we're not sure that these Basically what Trump 352 00:18:25.079 --> 00:18:26.880 has said is that he's going to impose a twenty 353 00:18:26.920 --> 00:18:28.920 five percent across the board tariff on in the US 354 00:18:28.920 --> 00:18:31.880 and Mexico, I mean, sorry, on Canada and Mexico. And 355 00:18:32.559 --> 00:18:34.599 he said yesterday, I believe that he's going to put 356 00:18:34.640 --> 00:18:38.279 that into effect on February first, and you know this 357 00:18:38.599 --> 00:18:41.640 was before he said that on the inauguration. But folks saying, well, 358 00:18:41.839 --> 00:18:44.279 you know, he's a really strong negotiator, and like, what 359 00:18:44.319 --> 00:18:46.079 we really like to see here is that he's being 360 00:18:46.160 --> 00:18:49.000 tough with these countries and other international countries and the 361 00:18:49.000 --> 00:18:51.839 way that Biden wasn't. And that doesn't necessarily mean we're 362 00:18:51.839 --> 00:18:54.880 going to see twenty five percent tariffs. It's just, you know, 363 00:18:55.079 --> 00:18:58.359 this is the opening to a negotiating conversation. And I 364 00:18:58.400 --> 00:19:02.559 think that there was some you know, real concern or 365 00:19:02.599 --> 00:19:04.880 reluctance about like what the impact of that will be 366 00:19:05.039 --> 00:19:09.880 you know, Texas and Mexico are huge trading partners. You know, 367 00:19:10.359 --> 00:19:13.359 the biggest kind of international port in the country is 368 00:19:13.440 --> 00:19:16.640 Laredo now because of goods coming up through through Mexico, 369 00:19:16.720 --> 00:19:21.200 and it would be you know, it would be naive 370 00:19:21.240 --> 00:19:23.240 to say that that's not going to have an impact 371 00:19:23.279 --> 00:19:27.519 at all on jobs in Texas and also on prices 372 00:19:27.519 --> 00:19:30.759 for Texans and beyond if those things go into effect. 373 00:19:31.079 --> 00:19:36.039 I think it's interesting that he did not, you know, 374 00:19:36.480 --> 00:19:39.119 you went down that list of executive orders he signed, 375 00:19:39.160 --> 00:19:42.319 he did not sign an executive order on tariffs for 376 00:19:42.359 --> 00:19:46.160 Texas and Mexico. Yesterday he said he's going to in 377 00:19:46.200 --> 00:19:48.319 a month, which or I guess less than a month, 378 00:19:48.960 --> 00:19:51.519 which does seem to show that there might be a 379 00:19:51.559 --> 00:19:55.119 possibility of wiggle room. But I think you know, a 380 00:19:55.119 --> 00:19:57.920 lot of leaders in Texas, whether it's business leaders or 381 00:19:57.960 --> 00:20:02.440 even political leaders, are are maybe hoping that they can 382 00:20:02.559 --> 00:20:06.680 kind of bring these two countries to the negotiating table 383 00:20:06.799 --> 00:20:11.799 extracts some concessions, perhaps around border security. You know, they 384 00:20:12.279 --> 00:20:15.119 Trump has talked about this being related to the amount 385 00:20:15.119 --> 00:20:17.279 of fentanyl that's making its way across the border, the 386 00:20:17.279 --> 00:20:20.480 amount of undocumented immigrants who are making their way across 387 00:20:20.519 --> 00:20:23.559 these borders, and if they can come up with something 388 00:20:23.759 --> 00:20:25.559 that maybe those tariffs can be avoided. 389 00:20:26.160 --> 00:20:28.240 Yeah. I think one important point is you know that 390 00:20:28.920 --> 00:20:31.680 nod he made to Greg Abbott, and Greg Abbott is 391 00:20:31.720 --> 00:20:35.240 a big business guy. He is a super business friendly governor. 392 00:20:36.000 --> 00:20:38.880 And then I think some of our congressional Republicans would 393 00:20:38.920 --> 00:20:42.240 all you just think about people like Senator Cornyn. They 394 00:20:42.240 --> 00:20:46.799 don't want to damage that relationship between Texas and Mexico, 395 00:20:46.839 --> 00:20:48.960 which is very fruitful for both sides. So I want 396 00:20:49.000 --> 00:20:51.279 to kick it to Matthew, who I know covers the 397 00:20:51.359 --> 00:20:55.640 relationship between the congressional Republicans and the President and the 398 00:20:55.640 --> 00:20:58.799 White House. So what do you see there, Matthew. I mean, 399 00:20:58.880 --> 00:21:03.240 is there wiggle room for these Republicans to I don't know, 400 00:21:03.839 --> 00:21:07.000 get in President Trump's ear and say, hey, maybe let's 401 00:21:07.240 --> 00:21:09.799