Trump 'living it up' on taxpayers' dime: GOP strategist

[0:00] your appreciation or lack thereof for what we see unfolding with this UFC fight. We've got a judge [0:06] that, as Jackie mentioned, we're waiting for the judge's ruling. The weigh-in is tomorrow. [0:12] The fight is on Sunday, I believe it is. And the White House law looks like a real tacky fair [0:19] ground with oversized objects outshining everything else that's really important there. [0:26] How do you see this cage match while the president's policies, as we've noted, on the [0:33] economy, on health care, on the war, flounder in the American people are under the weight of those [0:41] things? I had never seen this angle. This is the image, folks. Oh, my God. I was on the last table [0:48] today when they put these out. Oh, my goodness. This is the angle that we get. The White House [0:52] grounds looking like a real tacky fairground. But go ahead, sir. Yeah. Sunday, Sunday, Sunday, [0:58] fight night. Fight night. Big party for the president's birthday. Oh, I mean, flag day, [1:04] right? Sorry, flag day. This is about America. So whatever. Listen, it is America's 250th. And [1:10] regardless of what you feel about the president, you should be incredibly proud of our country. [1:15] But it's not America's 250th yet. Well, the year. It's the president's birthday. [1:19] 100 percent. My only point is we should be high on patriotism. But while the president just [1:25] continues to go out there and party, as you just said, it seems as if the American public [1:30] is getting the hangover. And that's very dangerous for this president to continue to just look like [1:36] he is living it up, sometimes on the public dime. So, you know, listen, Democrats, I think, have been [1:42] wise at times. Even some of their protests have been very patriotic here. The criticism of this event, [1:47] I think he's saying alone here, people are already quite pissy. As you said, farmers, [1:53] you got to empty your wallet to fill your tank right now during this war. So, you know, some of [1:58] this stuff, you know, falls on its own face. And again, it backfires. Right now, if you're across [2:05] America living, eating, breathing, raising a family, it's incredibly painful economically, [2:11] health care, education. And to watch the president just party, I think are the worst optics. [2:17] Now, Democrats probably need some of these voters that look at UFC that, again, I would caution them [2:23] to continue to be patriotic. But in terms of the president just partying on his own, [2:28] very risky. But Matthew, can I just ask a question? I just think, to be clear, I'm very patriotic. I [2:34] was actually out shopping today for my... For the 4th of July. For the 4th of July, but also my [2:40] stepson's birthday. His birthday is right around the time. But I love to decorate. I'm like a little [2:44] black Martha Stewart, okay? And I got all the red, white, and blue stuff. That's an image, folks. [2:50] That's an image. That's an image. But what the president is trying to do is conflate the celebration [2:54] of our semi-quincentennial, our 250th anniversary, a birthday, with himself. He is trying to merge [3:01] himself with the culture. And he is trying to... He and the people around him are trying to suggest [3:06] that if people aren't excited about the UFC fight, if people are not, you know, excited about the [3:10] Freedom 250 events, which are the Trump events, as opposed to the America 250 events, then they are not [3:16] being patriotic. And I think that that conflation, they're doing it on purpose, and we have to call it out. [3:22] You got something, Jackie? You got some news? Well, no, I just... I also think... [3:26] Jackie grabbed that laptop. I'm like, wait. You are spot on. I brought it up because I do want to read [3:31] from the lawsuit, because I think we're also missing a broader point that we've all become [3:36] a bit inured to, which is that the president is an investor in the UFC's parent company. [3:42] The UFC COO in February, before Wall Street investors and analysts said that they viewed this event [3:51] as a once-in-a-lifetime strategic investment to drive subscriber acquisition to Paramount. [3:57] Massive audience sampling for the UFC overall and Super Bowl-like earned media across the globe. [4:03] Paramount? [4:04] I mean, there are major ethical issues here with using federal grounds for private profit [4:10] that, at the end of the day, enriches the president in some way. [4:14] It's never been done before. [4:14] You just summed it up. How do you look at it? [4:16] Well, do you remember 2020? He had the convention on the White House lawn. [4:19] You know, so using the White House for political... [4:22] overtly political purposes, now for, you know, questionable financial and... [4:27] Business. [4:27] Business. Yes. [4:29] It is always a lot of nonsense. You call out that nonsense. [4:32] You reject that nonsense, and you continue to live in a very patriotic reality. [4:36] Like, why not let the Knicks come play on the White House lawn? [4:39] Build a basketball court. There is a reason why... [4:42] He couldn't even stay. Oh, allegedly, he was asleep at the Knicks game in the box. [4:48] Okay, so maybe that's why they're not in the White House lawn. [4:50] And he got booed there, Jackie. He likes to go places. [4:53] Look, I just think this is... [4:55] And Michael still made a really good point about the farmers earlier when we were on our call. [5:00] But this is as much about... [5:02] What a call on the farmers. [5:04] We'll get to that. [5:04] This is as much about all of his illegalities and norm-breaking as it is about... [5:13] He is trying to get a legitimacy that he cannot earn. [5:16] You know, I have an op-ed coming out about this tomorrow. [5:20] You can win power at the ballot box. That can only take you so far. [5:23] He's looking for a cultural legitimacy that has never... [5:26] That he lost decades, like a decade ago. [5:29] All of that, Simone, is lost on everyday folk. [5:33] Yes. [5:34] They could care less about that aspect of it. [5:37] How do we know that? [5:39] Because Trump was doing this before the economy began to collapse. [5:43] And they seemingly were okay. [5:45] It is now that folks are hamped up, and rightly so. [5:50] Not taking away from the moment. [5:51] But I think that's the interesting part of this. [5:55] Because I would say, Matt, if the economy were better for farmers, [6:01] if the economy were better for families, [6:03] if the personal economies were better for folks out there, [6:08] would there really be the same level of... [6:12] I mean, look, we talked about in the last segment that what was UFC on the list? [6:17] It was number six of concern. [6:19] Epstein, yes. [6:20] Epstein, number six on the concern list. [6:24] But to your point about the farmers, to put them in the center of the table... [6:28] Yes, yes. [6:28] Get to the farmers. [6:29] This was good. [6:30] Grain World magazine from the editor, Fuel and Fertilizer. [6:33] Global grain price producers in 2026 are focused on two F-words that aren't obscene, [6:38] but their rising costs are enough to make them curse as they see their profit margins shrink, [6:43] or in some cases completely disappear. [6:46] Fertilizer and fuel, inputs that are central to maximizing agricultural production, [6:51] have become so expensive that many of the world's farmers are either cutting back on applications [6:56] to their crops or not applying them at all. [6:59] And according to a nationwide survey by the American Farm Bureau Federation, [7:03] approximately 70% of U.S. farmers cannot afford all the fertilizer they need for their crops. [7:09] America, if a farmer can't afford a fertilizer for the crops, guess what? [7:13] You may not be eaten in three or four months. [7:17] That's the reality here. [7:18] I didn't think about that. [7:19] Right? [7:20] So, I mean, break it down for us. [7:22] When the economy is going well, the American public got a very high threshold for a lot [7:26] of the nonsense. [7:27] And when it is not going well, like right now, that nonsense compounds. [7:31] And I go back to, you know, his Meet the Press interview, where he faced some challenging [7:35] questions and quit midway through and left. [7:38] Wasn't fighting with the media. [7:39] He does that all the time. [7:40] But when things get tough, he's quitting right now. [7:43] There's no economic agenda right now. [7:45] He has lost control about ending the war with Iran. [7:49] So it's this notion of when you have no vision, he has just gone to pure line of sight. [7:55] Speech after unrelated speech, rambling about fountains, you know, the beautification of D.C. [8:02] He is living in a D.C. bubble while the rest of America is, again, quite upset about the [8:08] state of this economy. [8:09] And lining up election deniers to take jobs. [8:12] So trying to figure out, you know, the [8:38] follow up options.