Chuck Schumer And Senate Dems Hammer Trump Over $1.776 Billion Fund

[0:02] Okay, I want to thank Senators Klobuchar and Merkley for being here with me. So political payouts, [0:10] personal perks, and vanity projects, and now a get-out-of-jail-free card for Trump and all his family on tax matters. [0:19] That's what the GOP under Trump's leadership stands for right now. [0:24] We've learned that Trump's fun Trump's funneling nearly two billion dollars in taxpayer dollars into a slush fund [0:32] for his friends, his far-right loyalists, and January 6th insurrectionists. [0:39] He made a deal with himself. First, unbelievably, he sues the government for 10 billion dollars. [0:45] Then he says with his other hand, I am the government, I'll settle for 1.7 billion, [0:51] and the money goes to all kinds of assorted characters who don't deserve it. [0:57] Probably Trump himself. Trump could care less that the Americans are struggling to put food on the table. [1:04] and pay higher prices at the pump. He cares only about enriching himself. [1:11] And as I said, his corruption knows no end. His new slush fund contains a provision [1:19] that there should be no prosecution or investigation of Trump or his family members on any tax matter. [1:28] A get-out-of-jail-free card that he negotiated with himself. [1:34] What kind of America is this? What kind of man is this? [1:37] Where are the Republicans on this kind of stuff? [1:43] Well, let me tell you, they sure as hell aren't standing up to the taxpayers, [1:47] standing up for the taxpayers, or standing up to Donald Trump. [1:51] While working families are getting crushed by the cost of rent and groceries and gas and health care, [1:57] ballroom Republicans are working through the night to salvage their plan to force taxpayers to foot the bill [2:06] for Trump's gilded palace. How out of touch can they be? Senate Democrats fought back. [2:14] We derailed their first attempt to grant Trump his billion-dollar ballroom wish. [2:19] Right now, we're waiting to see ballroom Republicans' next move. [2:23] But let me be clear. I don't care if the Republicans ask for a billion dollars, a million dollars, or a single dollar. [2:30] Every penny of taxpayer money for Donald Trump's vanity project is a penny too many. [2:37] Senate Democrats will continue to fight tooth and nail to ensure not a dime of taxpayer funds go to it. [2:44] And as we fight this billion-dollar ballroom, we're not standing down on stopping the tens of billions of dollars more [2:51] that Republicans want to pour into Trump's secret police force and violent ICE raids. [2:57] In the birdbath and on the floor, we'll force Republicans again and again to show what they are fighting for. [3:05] They are fighting not for hardworking Americans. They're fighting for their billionaire boss's palace. [3:13] On the War Powers vote, later this afternoon, Democrats will force another choice on Republicans. [3:20] For the eighth time, Democrats are going to force a vote on our War Powers resolution to withdraw troops from hostilities with Iran. [3:30] Trump just said this morning, quote, [3:32] We may have to give them another hit, talking about Iran. [3:36] Yesterday, he went from threatening to blow Iran into oblivion to a few hours later saying a peace deal was imminent. [3:44] How can we stand this kind of liar as president? He just flips. Truth matters nothing to him, nothing. [3:51] Is it Groundhog Day? That's what it seems like with Trump when it comes to Iran. [3:57] Senate Republicans need to be honest with themselves. [4:01] Trump is no closer to ending this war and all the while Americans are struggling under skyrocketing costs and our troops remain in harm's way. [4:10] Last week, we got one more Republican to join with us. [4:14] Republicans, it's time to break the cycle, support our War Powers resolution. [4:19] No president, no president should be able to drag this country into war alone and what seems to be on almost a whim. [4:28] Senator Klobuchar. [4:29] Thank you. I'm going to start with I know what is on everyone's mind and that is it. [4:35] Yes, Minnesota was awarded the NFL draft for 2028. [4:39] So they went purple, as did I. We're pretty excited about this after everything our state's been through in the last year. [4:48] Other issues. [4:49] Right now, families are getting stuck with skyrocketing costs. [4:53] Electricity bills are through the roof. [4:56] Housing is up. Prices are so high. [4:59] For the first time in years, they've wiped out the wage growth Americans have earned. [5:05] Gas in Minnesota tends to be a little under the national average. [5:09] But right now, it is over 440 a gallon. [5:12] Diesel is up over 550. [5:15] Farmers are already hit by tariffs and now they've got the cost of fertilizer with 50% of urea going through the Straits of Hormuz, 30% of ammonia. [5:25] And anyone in the checkout line, you don't need all these numbers, could tell you what's happening. [5:31] They know beef prices are up 14.8%. [5:35] Vegetables are up 11.5%. [5:38] Coffee is up 18.5%. [5:42] And so while Trump wants to pay for his ballroom and throw that in to a bill where he could be helping people with health care or paying for local police officers, we now find out they've also started a slush fund. [5:56] And as Chuck noted, have decided that he, all of his companies, his family, their subsidiaries are immune from any tax examinations or prosecutions. [6:09] So he is looking out to protect his corporate interests and his family while Americans are left with a Memorial Day picnic that they can hardly afford. [6:20] The American people are fed up. [6:23] New York Times poll out yesterday found the administration's approval on the cost of living is at 28%. [6:29] Literally, these polling organizations do not have the lines on their graphs to go that low. [6:35] A majority of Americans oppose the additional funds for ICE and Border Patrol. [6:40] Yeah, they want order at the border. [6:42] But they are not in favor of creating an agency in ICE that is now bigger than the Marines or bigger than the FBI. [6:49] But instead of focusing on bringing down costs or helping the American people, our colleagues, unfortunately, on the other side of the aisle are talking about ballrooms and debating about that and more money for ICE. [7:03] The $70 billion in that bill, the additional funds, what would that do? [7:08] You could hire 200,000, 200,000 local police officers, extend the health care premium tax credits for two years, just as we've learned that one out of five Americans have dropped their coverage under the Affordable Care Act. [7:24] It would provide seniors with dental, hearing, and vision for a year, building 700,000 more homes. [7:31] I think if you said to Americans, would you like to give 70 billion for ICE or do you want to build 700,000 more homes? [7:37] We know what they would say. [7:38] Or we could say, do you want to put 70 billion more into ICE or do you want to provide childcare for 3.5 million American children? [7:49] So that's the question. [7:50] Those are the value judgments. [7:52] Those are the cost judgments. [7:54] And they're the ones that are not focused on bringing costs down for the American people. [7:59] And with that, Jeff. [8:01] Jeff. [8:04] Gold-plated, billion-dollar ballroom boondoggle. [8:07] Try saying that fast. [8:08] Gold-plated, billion-dollar ballroom boondoggle. [8:11] It's hard to say. [8:13] It's even harder to swallow. [8:18] A Louis XIV massive building that turns the White House into a little auxiliary dwelling unit. [8:27] A ballroom, symbolic of an authoritarian in a strongman state, destroying the East Wing, the people's house. [8:42] In reconciliation, we won a round. [8:47] We pursued all the arguments under the birdbath. [8:50] And the ballroom for the moment is out. [8:53] But we understand our Republican friends are trying to do exactly what Trump wants and find new language to put in. [9:03] So stay tuned. [9:05] And then we're looking at this extraordinary impact on the American families in costs that my colleague from Minnesota has so well expressed. [9:18] So much of those costs we're seeing being driven by the war in Iran. [9:23] We're seeing the cost at the pump. [9:26] We're seeing the cost of the fertilizer that can't get through. [9:29] We're seeing the 3.8 percent inflation rate. [9:32] These are factors from the war. [9:35] Project epic fury has become project epic failure. [9:40] We will see where the next rounds of the birdbath go. [9:45] But not one penny, not one penny in this reconciliation bill goes to address the challenges that American families are facing on health care, on housing, [9:58] on education, or invest in American infrastructure. [10:03] Not one penny for families, but a massive amount of money for ICE and CBP. [10:11] And realize none of it's needed. [10:14] Why do I say that? [10:16] Because they're already sitting on $103 billion of unobligated funds. [10:23] The normal budget for those two agencies is about $20 billion a year. [10:27] They're sitting on five years plus unobligated funds from last year's bill. [10:31] What we saw last year in the big, ugly betrayal of a bill was billionaires win and families lose. [10:41] Americans hate that bill. [10:43] And what do we get this year? [10:45] Billionaires win, families lose. [10:49] How about, instead, families thrive? [10:52] And the affluent? [10:53] They pay their fair share. [10:59] Look, Texas is a huge mess for the Republicans. [11:08] And I believe that we're in much better shape taking back Texas than we were a few days ago. [11:16] And I think we're going to win Texas. [11:17] But you know how expensive Texas is. [11:20] It costs hundreds of millions of dollars. [11:22] Is the DSCC and the SMP willing to spend as much as it takes to win in Texas? [11:27] Let me just say, Tallarico is talking to people about their real needs. [11:31] Paxson and Cornyn, both of those people, are talking about things that Texans don't care about. [11:39] And so we are going to win Texas. [11:42] And we are going to win Texas, whether it's Cornyn or Paxson. [11:45] Yes. [11:46] Look, we need a good housing bill. [11:52] The best way, quickest way to get a housing bill done is for the House to pass the Senate bill. [11:58] Plain and simple. [11:59] China. [12:03] Or as Trump calls it, China. [12:05] Do you think we're – are we in a dangerous potential? [12:11] I think that Trump's trip to China was a fiasco. [12:27] The United States is in a worse position in many, many ways than we were before he left. [12:33] He got a red carpet. [12:35] He got a photo op. [12:37] And then he got nothing that helps us and conceded many things that hurt us, including what he did on Taiwan. [12:44] I am so deeply disappointed in what the Supreme Court has done, and it certainly needs real reform. [12:59] Thank you, everybody.