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Conditions of buy offer includes 1% loyalty rate reduction for qualifying customers. Visit HyundaiCanda.com or your local deal for details. This Sunday, the Trump Doctrine the US Will take over the Gaza Strip. President Trump stuns the world with his proposal to take over Gaza.
I do see a long term ownership position and I see it bringing great stability to that part of the Middle East. After expressing plans to take control of Greenland, the Panama Canal and Canada, what is America's new foreign policy vision? I'll talk to National Security Advisor Mike Waltz. Plus Musk Elon Musk is seizing power from the American people.
He's done a great job. Look at all the fraud that he's found. Elon Musk's sweeping agenda to reshape the federal government is raising alarms and testing the limits of the law. I'll speak with Democratic Senator Andy Kim of New Jersey.
And away with Words or Meet the Moment conversation with poet Amanda Gorman. And why do you think poetry is so critical to who we are as a nation? We are trying as a people to speak to our best share of common humanity. Typically, poetry is the rhetoric that encapsulates that.
The best Joining me for insight and analysis are NBC News chief Washington correspondent Andrea Mitchell, NBC News senior White House correspondent Gabe Gutierrez, Simone Sanders Townsend, former chief spokeswoman for Vice President Kamala Harris, and Republican strategist Sarah Fagan. Welcome. Welcome to Sunday It's Meet the Press from NBC News in Washington, the longest running show in television history. This is Meet the PRESS with Kristen Welken.
Good Sunday morning. We begin with President Trump's historic overhaul of the federal government that is proceeding at an unprecedented pace and scale. The president has tasked Elon Musk, the world's richest man, with carrying out his mission. And now Musk and his team of young tech engineers have inserted themselves into at least 17 federal agencies, according to the New York Times, accessing sensitive federal data like Social Security numbers and bank accounts for millions of Americans.
On Friday, President Trump defended Musk's role. Is there anything you've told Elon Musk he cannot touch? Well, we haven't discussed that much. I'll tell him to go Here, go there.
He does it. He's got a very capable group of people. Very, very, very, very cap, you know what they're doing now. President Trump says he has directed Musk to turn his sights toward the Pentagon.
The Defense Department has billions of dollars in contracts with Musk through SpaceX and his other companies. If there was a con. No, no, I haven't seen that. And he would know not to do it.
So we haven't had that yet. But if there was a conflict, we would let it work in that area. The President's agenda is facing serious challenges in the courts. With more than two dozen lawsuits to date, federal judges temporarily blocking Musk's team from accessing those sensitive Treasury Department records.
Pausing at the Trump administration's buyout offer for federal workers, and for now, blocking a plan that would have put thousands of USAID workers on administrative leave. The agency largely focuses on disease prevention, disaster relief and food programs in famine stricken areas. First Lady Melania Trump praised the agency during her husband's first term. We want to show the world that we care and I partnered and I'm working with the usaid.
Also this week, President Trump stunned world leaders by floating an American takeover of Gaza. The US Will take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it, too. You are talking tonight about the United States taking over a sovereign territory. What authority would allow you to do that?
Are you talking about a permanent occupation there? Redevelopment? I do see a long term ownership position and I see it bringing great stability to that part of the Middle east and maybe the entire Middle East. And everybody I've spoken to, this was not a decision made lightly.
Everybody I've spoken to loves the idea of the United States owning that piece of land. President Trump's words prompting swift condemnation from Arab nations like Egypt and Jordan and raising doubts even among some Republicans. I'm not supportive of having the American people pay to rebuild Gaza. I don't think that's our responsibility.
Probably need some clarification what exactly that means. He's a developer of resorts. I think he sees a good opportunity, but we need it. Obviously, Gaza is not ours.
It's sovereign. It's part of another country. And joining me now is National Security Advisor Mike Waltz. Colonel Waltz, welcome to Meet the Press.
Yeah, thank you. Good to be with you. It's great to have you. Let's start with President Trump's attempts to scale back usaid, essentially stepping back from countries that have long relied on American support.
The former administrator of US Under George W. Bush called it a huge Mistake adding, quote, this assistance is one of the most powerful tools Washington has to push back against Chinese and Russian influence and to prevent transnational threats such as disease and terrorism from reaching US Soil. Is America basically handing China and Russia an opportunity to expand their influence on the world stage? No, absolutely not.
And in fact, Kirsten, this is, excuse me, Kristen. This is exactly what President Trump, Secretary of State Rubio, Elon Musk, myself and many others who have worked with USAID are talking about. All too often. These missions and these programs, number one, are not in line with strategic US Interests, like pushing back on China.
They're doing all kinds of other things that frankly aren't in line with strategic interest or the president's vision, number one. Number two, often, all too often, only cents on the dollar actually makes to people in need. Between the big contractors, the subcontractors, the local contractors, the dollars aren't being used wisely. We need to take a hard look at it.
We need to move quickly. And that's exactly what's being done. And personally, I can tell you I've worked out in the Middle east, we saw a radio station with a big built by America, usaid. We go inside and there's literally a black turban MOA backed by Iran preaching anti American hate.
And yet the USA ID officer in charge told me as a Green Beret, well, we're just building radio stations. We're just handing out food. That's our job, to just be humanitarian? No, we need to realign their mission and line it up with the president's foreign policy vision.
Well, let me ask you this, Raymond. The Trump administration effectively is trying to gut the entire agency. USAID has fought AIDS globally, work to eradicate polio, served as the world's largest provider of famine relief. Why didn't the administration look at individual programs and take the time to figure out what your priorities are, what could be saved?
Well, it's perfectly reasonable to say let's pause and then let's let those key programs bubble up and come through. And that's exactly what we're doing. Through a waiver process, we have issued dozens and dozens of those waivers to let, for example, things like Ebola, screeners and others and other programs get through. So Secretary Rubio, as the acting administrator, I think that's perfectly appropriate for USAID to be kind of tucked into the State Department and better align with their mission.
Rather than just spreading money around, you know, kind of peanut butter spreading all around the world. Let's line it with key objectives, key goals, and as those waivers go through, those payments are going through. So this is a pause, but I got to tell the President is ready to move quickly, he's ready to move boldly, and that's what his team is doing. But I mean, Colonel, it's a pause because the court stopped it.
You had, the administration had slashed a staff of more than 10,000 down to about 600 people. How many people are currently working for USAID? Look, USAID, and you have seen hearing after hearing after hearing on this, and the current chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the past in the House completely support an overhaul of usaid. It has become incredibly bloated.
It's become incredibly top heavy, and it's essentially a series of contracts. If you think the big defense contractors have too much power and too much influence, wait until you dig into the USAID contractors and the subcontractors and the subcontractors and the local contractors. Case in point, I don't think the American people support 3 billion plus dollars going over the Taliban through a series of UN contractors that only allow the Taliban to then play winners and losers with who supports them and who gets punished with them on the ground. And we have documented evidence after documented evidence that that's the case.
And yet we want just kind of. We don't want studies and commissions. The President wants action, and that's what he's dealing. You know, Colonel, you used to support parts of USAID's mission as a member of Congress.
You sponsored legislation for USAID to expand girls access to education worldwide, which you said was, quote, essential to our national security. Is foreign aid vital to the nation's national security? When foreign aid is aligned with U.S. objectives and U.S.
objectives meet the President's objectives as commander in chief, then it is. But that is not the case. Many of these senior aid officials have their own agend in their own direction. And these programs, many of which are no longer authorized by Congress, just seem to continue in perpetuity.
So we can talk the entire time about usaid. I have a lot of experience about it on the ground. But in these first two weeks, we've had major foreign leaders. We had the Mexicans putting thousands of their troops on the border, the Canadians putting their assets on the border, Panama moving away from Belton Road, Colombia first refusing to take deportation and then now taking it.
And we can go on and on with the successes of the hostages that the previous administration couldn't get out. President Trump says there's all hell to pay. And now we have not only hostages from Hamas reuniting from their family, from Venezuela and from the Taliban too. So we've had an amazing two weeks.
We can, we can get into the details of foreign assistance, but it badly needs reform. All right, let's move on to Elon Musk. President Trump says he's directing him to now find cuts in the Pentagon. It's worth noting the Defense Department has billions of dollars with contracts with Elon Musk's companies.
Do you believe that is a conflict of interest for Elon Musk to be finding cuts at the Pentagon? Elon is the head of the Department of Government Efficiency. And if there is any agency which I have a ton of experience with in the Department of defense with 800 billion plus budget, it's DOD. Everything there seems to cost too much, take too long, and deliver too little to the soldiers.
I, as a member of the House Armed Services Committee, held up a bag of bolts that would cost 100 bucks in a hardware store that cost $90,000 to the United States Air Force. And the American people have said, enough, enough with the bloat and the waste and the debt. And when we have a trillion dollars of interest in our debt that's exceeded our entire defense budget, we do need great minds and we do need business leaders to go in there and absolutely reform the Pentagon's acquisition process. My question is, is Elon Musk the right person for that job given his millions of dollars in contracts with the Defense Department, how can he cut an agency where he has billions of dollars at stake?
Well, look, with all of the appropriate firewalls will be in place. But I'll tell you, as someone used to have Cape Canaveral in my district, the President created the Space force, and in 2018, the Chinese launched more than us in the rest of the world combined. Now, in just this last year, SpaceX has launched more than the rest of the world combined, has transformed, along with the President's directive to transform space. But if you want side, that's fine because there's plenty to look into in shipbuilding, which is an absolute mess to look into in contracting, into procurement, and in many of these cases where you pay people right up front and then they don't deliver for years and years and years where maintenance and costs overrun, where facilities have literally feces and mold and cockroaches in them for our barracks and our soldiers.
We need all the efficiency we can get in the Pentagon. And I think the American people and the soldiers will welcome it. We have a fair amount more to get to. Let's go to Gaza now.
President Trump suggesting the US Would take over Gaza. And then he walked back saying US Troops are not going to be on the ground. Let me ask you, Colonel, what is the White House's plan for who will control Gaza once the war is over? Well, right now the IDF is.
The Israeli Defense Forces have had to go in and will continue to destroy Hamas if they do not honor the terms of this ceasefire. So that's point one. Point two, President Trump looks at this in very practical terms in the sense of, are we going to repeat the definition of insanity here and pour billions in, rebuild and just have another October 7th again and another war years from now? Let's look at the reality of having 1.8 million people sitting in piles of rubble with no sewage, with unexploded ordinance.
And he's asking in a humane way what is going to happen to these people? And everyone around the region says their heart breaks for the Palestinians. Rightly so. But then come to the table with your plan if you don't like his plan.
And interestingly, we are seeing all kinds of outreach since the President made that statement of saying, let's help you take this on. And so those conversations are ongoing right now. Okay, so having conversations with other world leaders about potentially being a part of that post construction effort once the world war is over. Let me ask you this, does it.
But the key, but the key piece is you can't get to post construction, you can't make this the Paris of the Mediterranean like Beirut was back in the 70s, and give these people a better life. If you've got 1.8 million people living in absolute squalor in mountains and mountains, amounts of debris, it's just President Trump is a builder, he's a deal maker in chief and he understands that this is just, it just doesn't make sense. So for anyone, the media included, that doesn't like what he is proposing, come to us with a better plan. Rapid fire, final round, if I could.
Let's talk about Canada. In a closed door meeting with business leaders, outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warned that President Trump is serious about annexing Canada to make it the 51st state. Is he right? Is President Trump serious about planning to annex Canada?
Look, I think the Canadian people would, many of them would love to join the United States with no tariffs, with lower taxes. And we have all kinds of neighbors down in Florida that are Canadians that are escaping many of the liberal policies and have moved in. But look what we're talking about, what we're talking about, yes or no? I Think some Canadians would disagree with the Western Hemisphere.
I think some Canadians would disagree with you. But yes or no, does he planning to anesthesia? Well, I don't think there's any plans to invade Canada, if that's what you're talking about. But there is a lot of people that like what we have in the United States and do not like the last 10 years of Liberal progressive governance in Trudeau.
But really what you're seeing is a reassertion of American leadership in the Western Hemisphere from the Arctic all the way down to the Panama Canal. And, and that's what we're talking about. From Greenland to Arctic security to the Panama Canal coming back under the United States, America has avoided our own hemisphere where we have the energy, the food and the critical minerals for way too long. And you're seeing a reassertion of President Trump's leadership.
The New York Post is reporting that President Trump says that he spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Colonel, when did that phone call take place? Was it after the president was elected? What was his message to Putin?
Well, I'm not going to get ahead of the president, and there are certainly a lot of sensitive conversations going on. We will have our secretary of State, our secretary of defense, our vice president, our special envoy in Europe this week talking through the details of how to end this war. And that means getting both sides of the table. What he has said is Russia's economy is not doing well.
He is prepared to tax, to tariff, to sanction. We need to get all sides of the table and end this war. And it has come up in conversations with President Xi, with Prime Minister Modi, with leaders across the Middle East. Everybody is ready to help President Trump in this war.
Let's get all sides of the table and negotiate. Colonel, you've talked about every other world leader the White House has. Can you just say yes or no? Has he spoken to Putin and are those sanctions coming potentially this week?
I'm not going to get into, I'm not going to get into details, but the president is prepared to put all of those issues on the table this week, including the future of US Aid to Ukraine. We need to recoup those costs. And that is going to be a partnership with the Ukrainians in terms of their rare earths, their natural resources and their oil and gas, and also buying ours. Those conversations are going to happen this week.
And I think an underlying principle here is that the Europeans have to own this conflict going forward. President Trump is going to end it. And then in terms of security guarantees, that is squarely going to be with the Europeans. We're way out of time.
But who do you like for the super bowl tonight, Colonel? The Jacksonville Jaguars. But we had a really tough year. All right, well, maybe next year.
National Security Advisor Michael, thank you so much for joining us with a couple of Browns. Really appreciate it. And when we come back, Democratic Senator Andy Kim of New Jersey joins me next. Drive off in a new Hyundai Launcher today with $0 down during the Hyundai Advantage sales event.
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Offer includes 1% loyalty rate reduction for qualifying customers. Visit honeycanda.com or your local delivery details. Welcome back. And joining me now is Democratic Senator Andy Kim of New Jersey.
Senator Kim, welcome to MEET the press. Thanks for having me. Thank you so much for being here. I want to start with usaid.
You just heard my conversation with Colonel Waltz about it. You actually started your career in public service at usaid. If you zoom out and look at the recent polling, it shows that 6 in 10Americans actually support cuts to foreign aid. President Donald Trump says this is exactly what he campaigned on.
How do you respond to that argument by President Trump, by Colonel Waltz, that this is what the American people voted for? Well, when you look at the polling that's out there, the American people actually see diplomacy and development is critical to our foreign policy. Over 80% of Americans would agree that strong diplomacy and development is essential. In pairing with our military, we have three pillars when it comes to our foreign policy.
We have defense, diplomacy and development. And each of those plays an integral role. I hope the American people see that usaid, this is not charity, this is about our national security. In fact, someone who said that exact line is Marco Rubio when he was a senator.
There's a reason why USAID is that the Ronald Reagan building is because Ronald Reagan was a strong supporter of this. What we're seeing right now with the Trump administration last week is just very clearly an American retreat when it comes to the rest of the world handing all this over. Like China doesn't even need to fight for their influence around the world. Now because of our own effort, we're doing China's work for them.
And I hope that the American people understand just how dire a situation is. This is going to be something that makes it more likely that we see conflicts, they have to use our own troops. And also this is something that affects our ability to be able to access other markets, to grow our economy. So this has very tangible impacts.
And this is going to be devastating to our nation's national security. Let me ask you about some of the questions that have also been raised about this agency. According to the inspector general of the agency, there have been significant shortcomings in transparency, embedding organizations that USAID works with, as well as limitations in obtaining data about agencies that partner with usaid. Should USAID have addressed some of these concerns sooner?
And these are the types of efforts that should be ongoing. You know, I've worked in four different departments of agencies. I've seen challenges and concerns across the board, certainly more than we can do to make things efficient, make things more effective. But when you hear National Security Advisor Waltz just now, he tries to use words like realignment, whereas what they're doing is dismantling.
There is a more effective approach in going through USAID and trying to figure out what are the types of actions that we support, what are ones that maybe we stop, we fix, but instead what they did is just demonize. This wasn't about efficiency. The way that they demonize. The way that Musk talked about it as a criminal organization and basically said the public servants there are tantamount to that kind of criminal operation is just wrong and frankly insulting.
And you know, for instance, Waltz talked about having a waiver for programs like pepfar. It's not true. You know, I talked with people at USAID currently, and the penal system is shut down. There's no way to actually get food out there with PEPFAR trying to support 20 million people on antiretroviral medication.
And we're talking about putting millions of lives at risk. And this is something where even if they say they will allow it to go for, you don't have staff. You know, you've cut the staff working on the continent of Africa down to about a dozen people. And that is something that is damaging.
One thing I'll just say on this front, you know, just to hit it home for the American people. You know, this is something where, when you look at why it is that we want to engage in Africa, for instance, right now, continent Africa is 1.5 billion people. That's going to go to 2.5 billion in 25 years. By year 2050, that's half of the world's population growth in the continent of Africa over the next 25 years.
I'm always a big fan of Wayne Wretchesky, saying, you know, we skate to where the puck is going. You know, this is about the workforce of the future, building that relationship. And China is now going around the world, you know, saying that they're going to take over the programs that USAID has stopped. You know, they're just, you know, gleefully taking that leadership mantle and we're giving it up.
It's interesting because some top Democrats are saying that now is the time to really be careful about choosing battles that you're going to engage in. David Azara this week said, quote, my heart is with the people out on the street outside usaid, but my head tells me, man, Trump will be well satisfied to have this fight. Is he right, Senator? No, no, he's not right.
Because what we know is that this is just the beginning. You know, this is the playbook that they're going to run. And if the Trump administration gets away with this with usaid, they're going to move on to the Department of Education, they're going to move on to FEMA and other aspects of this. And we have to show that this is illegal.
This is not an action that executives can do on their own, and that this is something that the American people deserve. Very clearly. I just talked. We had a one on one meeting with the nominee for Department of Education, Lynn McMahon, and she told me that there are going to be very significant cuts of staff at the Department of Education, transfer of staff to departments.
This is their plan. I know that the battles are playing out in the court. They're also playing out in protests and rallies. Senator Chuck Schumer, the minority leader in the Senate, held a news conference that was a lot like a rally outside the Treasury Department to counter some of the actions by Elon Musk.
Take a look. I am going to stand with you in this fight and we will win. We will win. We will win.
We will win. Are you satisfied with how your party is pushing back in this moment? Have Democrats found their footing? I want to make sure that the American people see it across the board in terms of all the different problems.
What's happening there is the litigation side legislation, the oversight, the communication, and I'll also add the mobilization that you saw there when it comes to litigation. What we've seen so far, dozens of lawsuits. This is something that the senators, we have been in touch with the state's attorney General ever since November, talking about what comes and you see so far. Right now, the state's attorney generals are three for three in terms of they'll move that forward.
Now, we're also proceeding with the legislation side. We have the continuing resolution basically in a few weeks. You know, the Republicans are going to try to figure out how they move forward. And they have for the last two years needed Democratic votes for every single continuing resolution, and they should not count on that this time around.
Okay, you take me to my next question because your colleague Jeff Merkley basically said he's prepared to try to shut down the government over some of these sledgehammer actions that he's seen by Elon Musk. Are you prepared to shut down the government to join Democratic colleagues who want to stand in the way of keeping government? You have to look at what the Trump administration is doing right now. They are simply trying to.
They are. They are simply trying to dismantle the government. So, yes, look, if we have to take steps to be able to hold that accountable, use the leverage that we have, force it, I cannot support efforts that will continue this lawlessness that we're seeing when it comes to this administration's actions. And for us to be able to support government finding that way, only for them to turn around to dismantle the government, that is not something that should be allowed.
So just to be clear, Senator, you are open to voting. You have to shut down the government to make this point. This is on them. This is about whether or not they can get the votes.
They are the majority. And if they cannot govern, then, you know, that's for the American people. See, but I've worked in government. I've worked through multiple government shutdowns.
I would be the last person to want to get to that stage. But we are at a point where we are basically on the cusp of a constitutional crisis, seeing this administration taking steps that are so clearly illegal. And until we see a change in that behavior, we should not allow and condone that, nor should we assist in that. Senator, of course, the other big news today is the Super Bowl.
I know that you are an Eagles fan, as am I, of course. The Chiefs have won the last two years. What do you think? Do you think Eagles can pull it off?
Yeah, look, I'm just happy to be alive in the time of Saquon Barkley to share the plan with such an incredible man. So I just want to see him happy. I think he deserves. I think Eagles deserve it.
So I can't wait to watch with my kids. That's great. I'm glad to get to watch with your kids center. Thanks so much for being here.
Hope you'll come back real soon. Thank you. Thank you. All right.
When we come back, the world's richest man is testing the limits of the law and presidential powers as he moves quickly to gut the federal government. The panel is next. Hey guys, Willie Geist here reminding you to check out the Sunday Sit down podcast. On this week's episode, I sit down with one of the biggest bands in the world, Mumford and Sons, as we get the boys together to talk about their new number one album, Prize Fighter and the evolution of that irresistible foot stomping sound.
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Welcome back. The panel is here. NBC News chief Washington correspondent and chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell, who on Friday marked the end of her show. Andrea Mitchell reports after 17 years on the air.
NBC News senior White House correspondent Kate Gutierrez, Simone Sanders Townsend, former chief spokesperson for Vice President Harris and co host of the weekend and Republican strategist Sarah Fagan. Thanks to all of you for being here. Andrea, we looked it up. You are the panelist who has been on Meet the Press the most in history.
240 appearances marked today. And here's to many, many, many more. That's wonderful. This is the show I love so much.
Well, we love having you here, Andrea. It's still to have you here on a big Sunday. So break this down. And we just talked to the Trump national security advisor amid questions about Gaza, whether he plans to try to make Canada the 51st state and of course, all these cuts that we're seeing.
How do you see the Trump doctrine right now, Andrea? It appears to the world as might makes right in Gaza, in Panama, Canada. And you can argue that this is an opening bid. But we've seen for instance in Panama, where I was last week, that there was an opening bid take back the canal.
And then they opted to US Navy ships have to sail for free. The Panamanian president pushing back furiously and saying, you know, eventually saying that China's belt and road initiatives, other construction projects he would cancel, but he can't cancel the ports of the canal and then upping it as well. In Canada, the 51st state issue is I talked to people in Canada. This is helping the liberals who are behind the conservatives in the election to replace Trudeau.
So it is a real backlash there. People are taking it seriously. In Gaza, the food aid that was part of the cease fire deal is being halted. That's a critical part, the surge in food aid.
The president has floated the idea of owning Gaza. Within 45 minutes, Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi leader at 4 in the morning issued a statement flatly rejecting that. That is basically would kill. What is the plan that the US and Netanyahu have for the Saudis to recognize Israel?
Long term it's just a no starter. And so in Gaza as well. This could really hurt, you know, not only the ceasefire deal, but the USA all over the world. 26 million people were saved by US aid in Africa alone.
And those HIV retroviral drugs in Mozambique affect 2 million people. Career of them after saying that there are risks of mutation and other real health issues. Well, Gabe, I mean Andrea takes me to you, which is that Elon Musk is behind these massive cuts that we are seeing. A lot of people are fascinated by the Trump relationship.
How do you see it playing? How do you characterize it right now? Of course, I think it's mutually beneficial. You know, Elon Musk has more power than any other richest man in the world has ever had before.
And for President Trump, he gets to have somebody that takes incoming fire. You know, Democrats are now training, you know, their fire on Elon Musk. And I've been speaking with officials at the White House president and they say that Musk checks in with Donald Trump several times a day. Mutual, mutual respect.
And Trump really likes the fact that he just doesn't seem to care about the Washington establishment. You remember just a few years ago he was together using an exploitative. When he was asked what he would tell advertisers, he just doesn't seem to mind to care about that. Absolutely.
And For Donald Trump, the question becomes, you know, how long this relationship last. In your interview with Mike Walls, you brought up the idea that, okay, Elon Musk is now looking at the department of fanciest billions of contracts there. You know, it's a great point. Gabon, Sarah, let's take a look at the COVID of Time magazine.
This is so fascinating. Here's a split screen. Here's a cover this week. That's the COVID in February during Trump's first year in office, first administration, Steven appeared on the COVID Not soon afterwards was he out with the administration.
The relationship started to fight. A lot of people think this won't last forever. Well, first you have in one man, the greatest technologist and entrepreneur of our time and the other is simply gabbly. So I think comparing them is, this is not, it's not even a fair comparison.
I think Musk has some real room and the reason is because he's actually doing things and he's making incredible moves to transform the government. I mean many people say this is a very needed transformation. We are spending 6 trillion, we're taking in roughly 4 trillion. We have a trillion of interest.
It's unsustainable. Something has to give. And Trump sort of force of nature, Musk's force of nature will I think ultimately do a lot of good for the United States long term. Guess my point is that the biggest line item talk about the Department of Defense, if you are really trying to cut the budget a little bit, bring the numbers down, you have to look at the Department of Defense.
You have to take on Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, things that the Trump image that Donald Trump himself said he's not going to touch. But Elon Musk just today between the congressman saying or senator saying guy, look, it's so scary. A lot of what if you follow Elon on Twitter, I mean a lot of what he's talking about and this is all transparent and open, which we should acknowledge a lot of it is, you know, they believe very strongly from initial, their initial look that there's 10% of the spend is fraud, waste and abuse. And the thing is that USA is like a half of 1% of the budget.
It's low hanging fruit because people stressed out in America think coronade is turbulence, let's get it. But it's so little. That's not deficit reduction. Real deficit reduction is as you were just saying, it's in the really big programs.
It's not just USAID that they're going transform. And I agree that USA does some very important work. And clearly the State Department is going to have to look at that and figure out how to advance the nation's interests. But that doesn't mean that everything they're doing makes sense.
And so a lot of those cuts are in programs that aren't advancing our interests. And no American should want that. You know, White House officials do say this. You talk about low hanging fruit.
Yes, it is low hanging fruit. But this is how they get the ball rolling. And you know, back to the point I was making before, Donald Trump really does seem to have at this point of mutual respect for Elon Musk because he doesn't see him as a donor. 1 Russia and China propaganda is an overdrive and China is moving to these packages.
And who was unthriled here is Congress because we just still have this political corporation government. And I think there's 90 days to make break habit. Congress has about. We're well up to the 90 days here.
Congress needs to search their authority here before it's too late. That's why that was so fascinating what Senator Kim was saying that yeah, he might move to shut down the government. Even as Republicans, they're trying to figure out what their strategy is to get the tripod in the past for just 30 seconds. Yeah.
I mean Democrats for 30 years have called for clean debt limit extensions and so it looks like they're going to abandon that. Republicans have to get this done. If they don't have an action, the real damage could be the CIA buyouts. It takes decades to train CIA agents overseas and you could lose all that brain power.
So the idea is there could be a relational security as well. Yeah. All right, guys, fantastic conversation. Thank you.
When we come back on this Super Bowl Sunday, a look back at a Super bowl bet that didn't quite work out well for one moderator. Our be the press minute is next. Welcome back. The super bowl is tonight and for me, the press.
It's an opportunity to remember Buffalo Bills superfan Tim Russer who moderated this broadcast for more than 16 years. In 1993, Tim raised the super bowl stakes with this friendly wager. Ahead of the Bills Cowboys face off another dole super bowl today. What do you like?
What do you like? I like the Chiefs, but they didn't make it. So my second choice is Dallas, Dallas, Dallas. Senator, would you like to trade an all expense paid weekend in Buffalo against an all expense paid weekend in Russell, Kansas?
That might be a deal. Yeah. Oh, can I Russell be great for me. Will you go to Russell?
I go to Buffalo. That's the deal. Oh, okay. I'll go with me.
I'll go. Yep. I'll call you in the morning all about that Super Bowl. One thing about growing up in Buffalo, you know when you get whipped, and boy, do we get whipped.
Congratulations to the super bowl champion Dallas Cowboys, a great football team and yes, Senator Dull, I'll be making my Coke image to Russell, Kansas. And yes, Treasury Secretary Benson, your bucket of Buffalo chicken wings. They're on the way. Our Day one welcome.
So great to look back on that moment. When we come back, I'll read the Moment conversation with Amanda Gorman on the power of poetry. Meet the Moment is sponsored by Progressive Insurance. Save when you bundle auto, home and motorcycle insurance.
Welcome back. Amanda Gorman captured the world's attention when she became the youngest inaugural poet, delivering a powerful message of President Biden's inauguration in 2021. At the age of 22, we will not march back to what was, but move to what shall be, a country that is bruised but whole, benevolent but bold, fierce and free. In the four years since, Gorman has become an advocate speaking out against racial inequality and the banning of books.
She is out with a new book, girls on the Rise, where she speaks to young women about empowerment, inclusivity and facing their fears. I sat down with Amanda Gorman for a Meet the Moment conversation where we discussed her journey and how poetry can speak to all Americans. Amanda Gorman, welcome to MEET the press. Thank you.
I'm so excited to be here. It is an honor to have you here. What do you hope young girls, young boys, young people take away from the message in this new book? I'm so excited about this children's book because for me, it originated around this idea of having a children's book that underscores the importance of community and allyship.
So often in children's books, we follow an individual character, which I love. I live for that. But I was kind of like, what if we turned it on its head a little bit in? The book is about the village.
It's about the wave, it's about the movement. It's about what it means to be a young person in the generation that is going to and is currently changing the world. And that's what I hope is the heartbeat of the book. Why was it important for you to celebrate young women and young girls in this moment?
I love that question because this book has been in the works for several years. I kind of came into being a few years ago when Dr. Christine Blasey Ford was testifying in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee and I, like so many other people, was just watching that testimony in Ratch. I think, especially as a woman, I really connected with that sensation of being the person in the room speaking your truth and not being heard.
And I wrote that poem that night. And then as the years went on, I started thinking to myself, this would also be a message that I think particularly young girls and allies need to hear now more than ever. You have used your art and your poetry practice. You've spoken out about racial inequality, climate change.
You've spoken out about book banning, particularly after your poem that you delivered at the 2021 inauguration was banned in a Florida school. What was your reaction when you learned that your poem had been banned? To be honest, it was a bit like a gut punch. It was.
It felt surreal. I had understood that book bans have been happening, but I think this hit me so incredibly hard because not just that it was something I had written, which is besides the point that it was a moment in history that if a child at the school wanted to hear words that were spoken on a presidential inauguration for their country, it had kind of been softly restricted in that way. But I think as I started to kind of open my eyes to the broader environment of what's happening in now, there are so many book bands happening right now that are very terrifying if you pay attention to what that means for children's right to read and learn and what it means for teachers in libraries. There's been reports of over 10,000 book bans just in the school year alone.
That's over 200% increase from last school year. And so I would say, if anyone cares beyond just my own work being banned, it's so important to be awake to what's happening on a local level. When did you know you wanted to be a poet? Did you know?
Or are you just. Is it just a part of you? Is it something you've always known? I think it's.
It is a bit part of me. Almost like in my blood. I felt this kind of will of writing even when I was like 4 or 5, my mom would have to give me quarters for every morning I stayed in bed instead of getting up at like 6am writing because that poor woman would have to get up with me and turn on the lights. And so even then, I was writing as if I was a commissioned poet.
I didn't know that writing was a job at that point. I didn't know that it was something that I could do, let alone as a girl, let alone as a black person. But as I grew and saw examples of that. I knew I would give my whole life to just have this as my craft.
Why do you think poetry is so critical to who we are as a nation? Poetry has consistently been the language of a people. I think it's the reason why when there's protest, you will hear metaphor. You will hear, they buried us, but they didn't know we were seeds.
The reason that there's a poem and not a 36 page essay at the bottom of the Statue of Liberty. When we are trying as a people to speak to or best share common humanity, typically poetry is the rhetoric that encapsulates that the best. I think there's something magical about it that is humble, that is hopeful, but that's also wounded enough to remind us of the past that we stepped from and the future we want to move to. I'm usually interviewing politicians who don't want to say that they want to run for this office or that office or run for president one day.
You have proudly and confidently said that you want to run for president in 2036. When you are able to do that, when did you first get that bug? When did you first think, I'm going to be president of the United States one day? Ooh, that's a good question.
I think I was probably 11, sixth grade, very early. I have delusions of grandeur, as you would say. But at that age, I was just starting to become an activist and I was getting interested in local issues particularly. I had a friend whose mother was doing work around sex trafficking and I was finding out about that, I was just overwhelmed with the amount of policy that was not.
And I started thinking to myself, someone has to do something about these issues. And they kind of looked around and I said, why not me? Why not now, why not here? And so I think from a young age, it just felt like a responsibility and opportunity to step up.
And Amanda, poets are a part of the history of this country. From Robert Frost, Maya Angelou, what do you hope your mark will be? I hope my mark is being a wordsmith and a change maker who speaks in a language that allows her country to return to love, legacy and connection. Our thanks to Amanda Gordon for a great conversation.
And to see my full interview with Amanda Gorman, go to Meet the Press dot com. That is all for today. Thank you so much for watching. Enjoy the Super Bowl.
No birds. We'll be back next week because if it's Sunday, it's Meet the Press. Hey, everyone, I'm Dylan Dryer, co host of the third hour of Today and mom to three wild boys. I've learned a lot my years as a parent.
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