It was a busy week in Washington, from international coverage to Congressional redistricting and one other particular election. NPR’s Domenico Montanaro and Tamara Keith break down the massive information of the week.
JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
It was one other busy week in politics. The Supreme Court docket accepted controversial redistricting plans in Texas. Secretary of Protection Pete Hegseth was in scorching water partly due to strikes on alleged Venezuelan drug boats within the Caribbean. Oh, and likewise, there was one other particular election. So we have requested senior White Home correspondent Tamara Keith and senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro to hitch us right now to take a step again and put all of this into context. Hello to each of you.
TAMARA KEITH, BYLINE: Howdy.
DOMENICO MONTANARO, BYLINE: Hey.
SUMMERS: Tam, I wish to begin with you and Secretary Hegseth, who was on the heart of some actually large scrutiny this week. Inform us what occurred.
KEITH: All of it comes again to Hegseth’s management and judgment as secretary of protection. He was clearly within the scorching seat all week. There was concern in regards to the boat strike on September 2, the place there have been survivors who had been then hit a second time and killed. Prime lawmakers on key committees went right into a closed-door listening to this week with bipartisan issues. Throughout that assembly, they noticed a full video of the strikes, they usually got here out divided over how alarmed individuals must be about what occurred. And so they had been divided on partisan political traces.
And that briefing up on the hill occurred on the identical day that an unbiased inspector basic on the Division of Protection launched a report that discovered, again in March, Hegseth had violated coverage and risked the security of U.S. service members by sharing delicate army data in a bunch chat.
MONTANARO: Yeah. And politically, I imply, we have seen Republicans come to Hegseth’s protection clearly right here. You already know, they’re pointing to former President Barack Obama for these double-tap drone missile firings within the battle on terrorism that had been actually controversial. They’re saying that he wrote the playbook on this. The Pentagon spokesman referred to as the inspector basic’s report a, quote, “whole exoneration,” however that is not fairly true. And, you recognize, it is simply one other instance within the Trump period of simply saying one thing is true after which hoping the bottom will echo these speaking factors.
And that is additionally been the case with Trump’s current racist feedback about Somalis and Afghan refugees. You already know, it is a part of the Trump playbook to distract from worse information, like damaging views of his dealing with of the economic system, frankly, and go to xenophobia, immigration and different tradition battle points. And his base has typically gone proper together with that.
SUMMERS: And Hegseth is one a part of all of this. However what are we studying this week about the way in which that the Trump administration is approaching international coverage and nationwide protection?
MONTANARO: Nicely, the White Home put out a 33-page nationwide safety technique doc for the nation. It is fairly notable for a way Trump and his administration see america’ function on the planet. Just a few issues actually jumped out to me. One, there’s actual isolationist tendencies in it, noting, for instance, quote, “the affairs of different nations are our concern provided that their actions instantly threaten our pursuits.” Second, there is a clear retrenchment and concentrate on the Western hemisphere, which we have seen already right here. And thirdly, there’s this very harsh, damaging view of Europe. The doc describes Europe as present process financial decline and, quote, “civilizational erasure” tied to migration.
SUMMERS: However I’ve to say, this isn’t fully shocking given what we have already seen and learn about President Trump.
KEITH: Yeah. It is consistent with how he has ruled. However the doc does lay this out explicitly, and it’s fairly the crack up of the submit World Warfare II order of alliances that largely saved peace and safety for the West for effectively greater than half a century at this level. And the query I’ve with this doc is, will this be a permanent place or will it shift relying on who the president’s speaking to, as insurance policies typically do beneath this president?
SUMMERS: However on the identical time, Republicans are grappling with an entire lot of information that means that voters are souring on Trump. Inform us what we’re seeing.
MONTANARO: Nicely, Trump is basically at his lowest level in his presidency politically. His approval scores are the bottom. He is seen averaging now within the excessive 30s. He is within the 20s in our polling with independents. And a lot of that’s in regards to the economic system. His dealing with of it’s low, as the price of residing has actually been the dominant challenge on individuals’s minds. And but Trump once more this week was dismissing affordability as one thing necessary.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: You already know, there’s this faux narrative that the Democrats speak about – affordability. They only say the phrase. It does not imply something to anyone. They only say it – affordability. I inherited the worst inflation in historical past. There was no affordability. No one may afford something.
MONTANARO: You already know, it actually was the important thing challenge within the particular election we simply noticed this week in Tennessee, the place Democrats once more overperformed. The Republican received there, however Democrats did higher. So clearly, the price of residing does actually matter to individuals.
SUMMERS: What has the White Home been saying about all of this?
KEITH: Nicely, first, they insist that they don’t have their hair on fireplace about what occurred in Tennessee. I did go in and converse with a senior White Home official earlier this week who stated that the president’s journey is basically going to ramp up on the finish of this 12 months. The primary cease, the one one which’s been introduced to date, is subsequent Tuesday in Pennsylvania. The main focus will probably be affordability. However I’ve to say, this identical senior White Home official informed me virtually precisely the identical factor virtually a month in the past. That point, I used to be informed that the message would about empathy on costs, saying, you recognize, I really feel your ache. We have carried out quite a bit, however there’s much more we have to do.
However as we have seen, the president retains steering again to the thought of affordability as a phrase that Democrats made up as some form of con job in opposition to him. That lack of message self-discipline has been arduous to interrupt. And the issue with the price of residing is individuals go to the grocery retailer on a regular basis. They’re out Christmas buying, vacation buying proper now, they usually can see for themselves what issues price.
SUMMERS: Proper. And we have additionally talked an entire lot in regards to the structural benefits that Republicans have in relation to the midterms subsequent 12 months. The place do issues stand now?
KEITH: Nicely, the Supreme Court docket final evening delivered a giant victory to Republicans, saying that the maps drawn in Texas can stand. That mid-decade redrawing of traces was designed to offer Republicans as much as 5 extra seats in an already closely Republican state. President Trump has been a driving drive behind that as a result of he’s very overtly involved about what occurs if Republicans lose management of the Home.
MONTANARO: And nonetheless, although, for Republicans, you recognize, they’re making an attempt to realize extra seats, they usually very effectively could create extra in someplace like Texas, however they might not get as many as they’d have hoped for. And so they’re being offset by locations like California and elsewhere. And in a wave 12 months, redrawing these seats and making a few of them much less Republican may backfire. And it is a part of a cause, that and affordability, why we have seen doubtlessly so many Republicans retiring from Congress, an actual signal that Republicans are taking it very significantly that this could possibly be a wave 12 months developing for Democrats subsequent 12 months.
KEITH: As a result of no person likes to be within the minority.
SUMMERS: NPR’s Tamara Keith and Domenico Montanaro, because of each of you.
KEITH: You are welcome.
MONTANARO: You are welcome.
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