Morning Joe - House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries joins Morning Joe

Episode Date: June 12, 2026

June 12, 2026: 9am — House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries joins Morning Joe To listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads, sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Ooh, pretty live shot there of Chicago, truly one of the great American cities, about five minutes before eight o'clock there in the central time zone. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that President Trump and his allies have discussed a plan to try to void his two impeachments. According to people familiar with the matter, they want to push lawmakers to pass a resolution to expunge the pair of impeachments that Trump endured in his first term in office. and a phone call with the paper this week, Trump said, it should be done because I did nothing wrong. It was a rig deal. It was a whole rig situation. House Speaker Mike Johnson said he's discussed the resolution with Trump.

He told the journal, I think it makes a lot of sense. The more the evidence comes out, the more we know they really were sham impeachments. Johnson added that the effort was not a, quote, first priority, but said it was on his list. A Democratic-led House of Representatives first passed articles of impeachment against Trump in December of 2019 for his efforts to press Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden. And then, of course, in January of 2021, the House passed another impeachment article for incitement of insurrection related to the January 6th Capitol attack. Elsewhere, oil and gas executives have reportedly warned the White House that gasoline prices, could really surge in the coming months. According to the Washington Post, the warning comes as commercial and government fuel inventories

fall to critically low levels. Industry officials tell the paper that inventories that have helped cushion price spikes are rapidly depleting and could be wiped out within weeks, which, of course, coincides with the peak summer travel season. This warning comes as the GOP has grappled with the issue of affordability. though Trump has, for his part, long-dismissed concerns, saying just this week he loves the inflation and has insisted that oil prices will fall like Iraq once the war with Iran ends. And as for the latest with that conflict, the president once again threatened new military strikes on Tehran

before, once again, announcing he had called off the attacks. Since the U.S. and Israel launched the war in Iran back at the end of February, Trump has publicly delayed or canceled planned military action at least eight times. The president claimed progress in negotiations as the reason for backing off the strikes yesterday. We just made a great settlement of the war with the red, and we're going to be subject to finalization of, documents we should get done over the next few days. We probably have a signing maybe in Europe and it's a great thing.

The president offered few details and claimed he has previously claimed a deal could be imminent several times in recent weeks. Later last night, Trump put it like this, saying, we ended the war with Iran today. However, Tehran is at least publicly telling a very very important. every different story. Iran's foreign ministry spokesman told the state TV that the country has not reached a filed decision regarding any agreement and no signing date is set. Israel also suggested they were not aware of any peace deal. With us to help us sort it out, we have MS now, senior Washington reporter and co-host of the weekend. Oh, actually, we've got this wrong load in the property.

Eugene Robinson is there, who of course is a contributing writer at the Atlantic, Eugene. so much. We need a little prompt or mistake. Also with us, MS now, senior national security reporter, David Rode. Our thanks to you both. Eugene, let's start with you. We have heard this story before many times, and it has never come true. President Trump, we know, is desperate to get this war over with. He is seeking for some sort of off-ramp. He can read the polls. He can see how high gas prices are. But this is yet, though, a reminder that this isn't just up to him. And there have been a number of times where Iran has called his bluff on his strikes, claimed the negotiations would resume in earnest, and yet no deal.

Yeah, that's absolutely right. I mean, maybe at some point one of these times, I guess, it will prove to be true. But there's no reason really, objectively, I think, or no reason I know of to believe that this is necessarily the time, as opposed to some time in the future, since it's never been true in the past. Remember, just yesterday, we were about to seize Karg Island, the Iranian oil depot, and we were going to launch these fearsome strikes across the country, and then he called that off. Trump called that off. And meanwhile, he's saying that there's a deal. There are differing reports about the nature of the deal, but even the administrations version or the version that's being cited to people on the American side is essentially a deal

with much worse than the JCPOA than the Iranian deal, the Obama administration negotiated. So he's going to have to try to explain this if indeed there is a pending agreement. Yeah, we'll come back to in a moment this idea of how could he possibly sell this as a win. But David Roe, tell us your latest reporting in terms of what we know is even actually in this agreement at all. Both sides are spinning to make a long story short. And I know you folks talked about it earlier. I talked to a diplomat in the region who's got knowledge of some of the negotiations. They pointed to sort of the American version of the deal.

This is a diplomat very close to the U.S., which is largely what was reported by Barack Ravid and Axios, which talks about some sort of deal in the nuclear things. The important thing here, though, is that there's a completely different version that's come out from the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Key issues that remain and resolves that the Iranians are claiming that there's an agreement that at least half of the 24 billion in frozen assets that Iran wants are going to go back to Iran. That is politically deadly for President Trump. The Iranian version says they're going to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and it says here, with Iranian arrangements, does that mean the Iranians still control the Strait of Hormuz? And then on the, actually on the uranium that the president says it's so important for the U.S. to get hold of, the enriched uranium, it's amazing that the axiocerian, the American version says the president has agreed that it can be downblended to a lower enrichment level and stay in Iran. That is what was offered to the United States.

If you believe the Omani foreign minister and other sources who were there, that's what we were offered before the war. And for Iran to maintain to have that stockpile in its country is a huge concession. by Trump, and another reason hell of a hard time selling all this. And just lastly, if there is a deal, again, one side says it could be this weekend. It sounds like they're far away according to the Iranians. It has to be made public. There's fears of like a secret agreement where there's billions released to Iran that we don't even make public. So I'm just saying that as some of us as journalists. A quick follow up here. I mean, this even from what's outlined feels less like an actual deal and more just like an extension of the cease fire to then just keep talking towards a deal. Look, based on what I know right now, the Iranians are

winning these negotiations. Trump is more desperate for a deal than they are, period. And I think that's a fair assessment. So, Eugene, let's talk about how this could possibly be sold as a win. We know I've reported, others too, that, you know, President Trump is consumed with a fear that he will be perceived as taking a deal that's worse than what President Obama struck. Uh, a decade. decade ago. But yet, that suddenly seems sort of likely, but more than that, that deal would come after months of war, billions of dollars spent, and the end result would seem to be hardliners in Tehran more empowered. They know they can close the straight-at-form moves any time they want, and the United States looks far weaker today than we did back in late February.

That's hard to sell, isn't it? I assume the president will be. do what he always does, which is yell and scream. He will, and repeat, he will say over and over again, this is the best deal in the history of deals. We have, you know, we've devastated Iran, we have gotten everything we wanted. Now, that, I think, will very clearly not be true, but that never stopped him in the past. So he will continue to insist that that, true and this is the end of it and there is certainly a constituency in the in the in the in the in the MAGA base just for the war to be over for the war not to have happened right the and so so I think he feels he'll get away with it with the

base because they didn't want the war in the first place and then the hawkish right will be angry but what are they going to do we will of course keep following any developments as they come from the Middle East. Back here at home, President Trump has nominated Jay Cleet, the current U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and the former SEC chairman to take on the role of Director of National Intelligence. It comes as Democratic Congress members have put pressure on Trump to replace outgoing D&I, Tulsi Gabbard, with someone more appropriate than the director of U.S. federal housing, Bill Pulte. Despite that pushback, Trump says he's still intends to keep Pulte in the acting role of D&I, and he continues to defend his choice.

Do you intend to have Bill Pulte continue to serve as the acting director of national intelligence? And do you think it's unreasonable that some Republicans have concerns that he has no intelligence experience, even if he's serving in this acting role? But he's intelligent, unlike a lot of other people. But do you think that's a fair, no intelligence? He's only there for a little while. He's running it for a short while where we get a very talented person, Jake Layton, as you know, Jay Clinton's an incredible talent, head of Sullivan and Gromwell.

He was head of the SEC. He was now Southern District. I mean, nobody has better credentials. Do you want Clayton to Shrek? Well, he's done a fantastic job, but Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac created tremendous. It's probably worth a trillion dollars now, trillion. He's done a great job. He's a smart guy.

Meanwhile, the Senate Intelligence Committee is scheduled to hold Clayton's confirmation hearing next Wednesday. Trump has said he intends for his DNI to look into cases of alleged election fraud. And Clayton has already spoken out about this as it pertains to the Los Angeles mayor's race where there's been no evidence of fraud. Do you think that it helps, given where you sit in the world, to speculate about a fraud or potential fraud without any direct? evidence of said fraud? Because typically, if you were to bring a case, you historically wouldn't want to speculate about the case. I am not speculating about fraud. I'm not saying there is fraud. I am saying that the opportunity for fraud makes no sense to me when we can have on a much better system.

Eugene Robinson, there are some in Washington, both sides of the aisle, who wonder if the post of DNI is even truly necessary anymore. The very least it should be, it should be diminished. But it's very clear what President Trump thinks that Post should be about because Tulsi Gabbard was largely sidelined from a lot of important intel decisions, but she tried to make herself useful by investigating alleged cases of voter fraud back in the 2020 election. No evidence there. And now both Bill Pulte and potentially Jay Clayton are signaling, yeah, they're going to pursue that too. Right. Remember, there didn't used to be a DNI. and I'm sure the heads of the various intelligence agencies, the CIA, the NSA, would, many of them at least, prefer to run their own shops and not report to a DNI.

And so that job really is what the holder of that job makes it. And you could envision a director of national intelligence who was very constructive. we could envision a DNI who streamlined and modernized our intelligence gathering apparatus. We've got all these agencies. You could coordinate them better, I'm sure. I'm sure there are savings and efficiencies that you could have. But that's not what Tulsi Gabbard did or was allowed to do. And something tells me that that's not going to be what Jay Clinton is able to do either.

So I guess you'll spend his time investigating the California election system, which is not what a DNI really ought to do. No, they count votes slowly there, but there's certainly no evidence of fraud. David Rode, your thoughts on the Clayton pick, but also just I think there's a growing concern that it's about investigating 2020, but also setting up potentially plays for 26 and 28.

There's no question in my mind that Donald Trump is going to pressure Jay Clayton if he gets the job to look into these conspiracy allegations, which are all false. Like we are seeing the plan. The president is going to try to influence and then question the results of the midterm elections, influence them properly. Just two quick things. Trump does seem weaker and weaker to me. The Democrats stood up. They said, no, we're not going to renew this intelligence authority to continue this very important surveillance program. and he's sort of weak compared to the Iranians.

And so it's a win, but I spoke to a source last night who knows people who've worked for Clayton in the past. He's not a strong leader. He's not, he didn't stand up. And then this point was made yesterday. But when all these resignations happened when Eric Adams case was dropped by the Southern District of New York,

he was running the Southern District of New York, or he was close, he hadn't been appointed yet. But other people resigned and spoke out and said how outrageous it was that the Trump administration dropped these, this investigation of the mayor of New York for political reasons, and people stood up and civil, you know, career people resigned. He has didn't say a peep about it. So I, I wish I could say that I had lots of faith in Clayton, but he's not a strong leader and the president wants

him there, I think, to undermine the elections. Well, a theme of the second term is Trump is only appointing people who he believes will be completely loyal to him and will do his bidding. That may be the case here with Clayton as well. now senior national security reporter, David Rode, David, thank you so very much. Coming up on Morning Joe, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is standing by. We've got a lot to talk to him about, including the midterms, the state of the Democratic Party, and of course, yes, the NBA finals. As we go to the break, it's going to be a historic day on Wall Street.

Elon Musk's SpaceX will start trading on the NASDAQ. The company raised about $75 billion in its initial public offering yesterday. 75 billion. That's a record-setting number. Morning Joe. We'll be right back. Pretty live shot there of Cincinnati, Ohio. And in the 2024 election, President Trump won the Buckeye state by 11 points, in large part because of repeated promises to boost the economy and bring back manufacturing jobs. But in January, several Ohio factories announced plans to close, including a Conselmer instrument plant in East Lake, which is near Cleveland. The plant's billionaire owner, John Paulson, a close ally of President Trump, is sending all those

jobs to China. Annette DeBrowski is a three-time Trump voter and a janitor at that East Lake plant. At the end of this month, she will now be out of a job. MS Now reporter Alex Tavitt sat down with her at her home last week, asked her about being laid off, and whether she thinks President Trump understand. what she is going through. I actually have panic attacks. I've had a couple this past week. And I get very emotional over it.

I don't want to work anymore, but I can't afford to retire. Obviously, President Trump is immensely wealthy. Has been wealthy since he was born. Yeah. Do you think he understands? No. No. He hasn't lived it to understand it.

He sees it, he has not lived it. He needs to live it. Wear the clothes. Wear the shoes. Wear your Walmart clothes. Wear your Walmart shoes. Do your thrift store shopping. Don't eat steaks.

I don't get to go out to dinner. It's not an overnight thing. But it's been two years now. You said you'd bring down the grocery prices. Literally, I must be the most angry person when a grocery shop. Because I buy the same things ever. every week. And I see it jump every week. It is not every couple months. It's literally every week. Alex also spoke with another three-time Trump voter, a man named Chris Tackett, a trucker from Ohio,

who said he's fed up with the president's broken promises. When President Trump said he wasn't going to start foreign wars, when he said he was going to bring down prices, did you believe him? Yeah. Yeah, I mean, his first term, he, I think he, he held true to everything that he said he was going to do. I think he fought for everything he said he was going to fight for. This time around, I haven't seen it. It's, he's literally, he's backtracked on every, every single, um, pitch point he had during his election. He's backtracking on. All we heard was drill, drill, drill, drill during the election. And now all we're getting is drilled into the dirt with these prices. So I'm not a fan of them. Uh, I voted for Trump all three terms.

To be honest with you, I'm, I'm not a big supporter of him at the time. this point. If you could talk directly to President Trump, what would you tell him right now? Get it together, man. The average American is struggling to make ends meet right now. And nobody wants to hear the war is almost over. Nobody wants to hear it's going to get better. You've had a year to make it better at this point. Make it better. Our thanks to Alex Tabett for that report. And joining us now, House Minority Leader, Democratic Congressman Hakeem Jeffries of New York. Mr. Leader, thank you for joining us this morning. And let's start with what we just saw there from those Trump supporters in Ohio.

It seems to me that that is, we see the president's approval rating, and that's the biggest reason why. People who backed him last time said, look, he made these economic promises. He hasn't delivered. So how do you then make that message for Democrats this fall, and what solutions do you offer? Well, there are far too many people in this country, including the two that were just interviewed, who are working hard, they're playing by the rules, but they're struggling to make meet, they can't thrive and they can barely survive. And this is all unfolding in the wealthiest country in the history of the world. And it's not the type of America that we should be living in.

And as Democrats, we're going to work hard to drive down the high cost of living to address the affordability crisis. It's real. It's not a hoax, as the president has indicated. We actually do care about the financial situation of the American people. And we know that we need to make progress in terms of grocery costs. We need to lower housing prices. We need to lower the cost of health care. We need to push back against Donald Trump's tariffs, which have increased costs for everyday Americans by thousands of dollars per year. And of course, we need to end this reckless war of choice, which has driven up gas prices. So let's go to that right now. The president, once again yesterday, suggesting that a deal to end this war is near. Has the Congress could

received any sort of briefings as to what might be happening in these negotiations? We haven't received any briefings, and there's no reason to believe the president at this particular point in time. He's now said, and the war has gone on for over 100 days, he's now said 38 different times that a deal was close or that the war was ending or that it was effectively of 38 different times. There's no reason to believe him at this point. He's divorced from reality. The reality that the American people are seeing is that we've lost the lives of over a dozen patriotic servicemen and women. Hundreds have been injured. Over a hundred billion dollars in taxpayer money has been spent. And Iran is actually stronger now relative to

their position in the Middle East than they were prior to this war. So one more on this. I mean, obviously, your opposition to the war is well known. But that can't be changed now. We're in this conflict. So what does the president need to get out of these negotiations? Well, we do think can be changed, the House was able to successfully pass a war powers resolution to end this conflict. We sent it over to the Senate, and Senate Republicans need to get their act together and actually stand up for the American people. That is one way that this conflict can end. I do think that we need hyper-aggressive diplomacy, and Donald Trump needs to bring our traditional allies back to the negotiating table because it's clear he can't get a deal done on his own.

What President Obama was able to successfully do with the Iranian nuclear agreement was bring together Great Britain and France and Germany, Japan, India, and China and Russia at the same period of time. And what Donald Trump now has done is broke up that agreement, detonated it because Donald Trump has Obama derangement syndrome. And now Iran is stronger than it had ever been. We certainly are not in a position to send ground troops and create another quagmire in the Middle East. So he's got to try to get back to a negotiated resolution. But of course, as he himself indicated, Iran is operating with a stronger hand right now. And so our ability to arrive at a diplomatic resolution of the situation has been greatly weakened. You mentioned the need for Senate Republicans to stand up to the president.

There were a few moments where they've shown a little bit of independence in recent weeks. They were objected to the slush run, for instance, the anti-weaponization, reconcent. compensation fund, but they didn't put it into law. And colleagues at the Atlantic this week reporting that the president has not entirely abandoned this idea. This might be something that's revisited. What can the Congress do? What should those Senate Republicans do to prevent this from happening?

Because as we've noted, some of those payments could theoretically go to those convicted of the January 6th insurrection. Which would be such an unacceptable, un-American, un-American, unpatriotic thing to do. and we've called upon the Congress to legislatively pull the plug on the $1.8 billion corrupt slush fund. Because under no circumstances, should we see taxpayer dollars being spent to reward people who brutally and violently beat police officers on January 6th. This has been the through line of the Trump administration. We believe that taxpayer dollars should actually be spent to make life more affordable for the American people. That's what as House Democrats were committed to doing, and that's what Republicans have failed to accomplish now in the 18 months where they've had complete control of government in Washington.

Leader Jeffries, Eugene Robinson's in Washington, and he has the next question. Mr. Leader, I want to get back to those Ohio voters that we just heard from. I just saw a Fox News poll, high-quality poll of Ohio voters that showed Democrat Jared Brown quite common. comfortably leading his Republican opponent. This isn't a state that has really trended Republican in recent elections. But it showed Sherrod Brown had it showed the Democrat tied with, essentially, with the Republican in the governor's race. Is this a trend that you are seeing?

I'm not asking you to go too far out on a limb, but what are you seeing politically across the country as people react to the fact that inflation is not down and the war is not over. Well, not only is it a polling trend line, I think most importantly, perhaps, Eugene, what we've seen since the first special election of Donald Trump's term, his presidency in January of 2025, which is when Democrats flipped in Iowa State Senate district, that for 18 consecutive months, we've been winning elections. up and down the ballot across the country. Voters have been rejecting Republicans

and elevating Democratic candidates because they know we're relentlessly focused on confronting the affordability crisis and driving down the high cost of living. So we've seen this in places like New York and New Jersey and Virginia, but also in places like Mississippi and Georgia and Pennsylvania, all across the country. We've been winning races.

We've won races, including in Donald Trump's own neighborhood in Mara Lago. We've won races in deep, red parts of Texas. We've won races in Louisiana. And so I think the trend line is positive. And so this polling numbers don't surprise me. But we're going to keep our foot on the gas pedal because we know we have to run through the finish line to get it done in November. But I am confident that Democrats are going to take back control of the House. And we have a real shot of doing the same in the Senate. So Leader Jeffries, in the last couple weeks, it is impossible for two people sitting in New York City having a conversation to not speak about the Nix.

So let's do that now. I know you're a Nix fan. You were saying you almost brought Nix gear to the table this morning, which would have been welcome. Just tell us how you're feeling about the series, but also what you're seeing, frankly, in the streets. Yeah, it's been an incredibly exciting run in terms of, you know, this team. The city is falling in love with the team.

We love the NICs, generally, as we were talking about. Basketball is the city game, and the NICs are the city team. And many of us have been loyal, but long-suffering Knicks fans. They've been good, but there have been a lot of moments of agony. And what's been so exciting, and this is why game four in particular was incredible, it was the agony of the first half, but just the thrill and the ecstasy of a historic comeback that was accomplished with heart, soul, and grit. And so I'm excited for game five.

I think we're going to finish it off, hopefully in San Antonio, but definitely if it comes back to the garden in game six. Yeah, we're seeing the highlight here of the OG and Obie's already legendary tip-in to win game four at the buzzer. And yes, game five, Tamarite in San Antonio. And I know there are some Knicks fans who would say, oh, we'd really love to win it on our home court, which would be Tuesday game six back at the garden. I would just caution on that. Like, you know, you let the spurs win a game.

Sure, you're still favored to win this series and even win it in six. But you leave the door open. And there are 53 years of ghosts that could sneak through. Absolutely. Get it. done. And, you know, that was one of the exciting parts of game four, because we've been in games like that before, but our heart was broken. And in game four, not only did they come roaring back, they finish the job, and I think we need to just finish the job in San Antonio tomorrow.

Nick's fans, simply not used to how to handle wins like that. House Minority Leader, Democrat and Congressman Hakeem Jeffries of New York, thank you for joining us this morning. Thank you. Up next, we're going to take a look at some of the other making headlines this morning. And as we go to break, the FIFA World Cup kicked off yesterday in Mexico City, where the Mexican national team celebrated the competitions return to the iconic Azteca Stadium with a 2-0 win over South Africa in the group stage in a match that featured three red cards. The other two host countries opened their World Cup campaigns today. The action starts this afternoon on the pitch in Toronto, where Canada is set to take on Bosnia,

before the U.S. men's national team. Yes, they're on the field tonight at SoFi Stadium near Los Angeles, taking on Paraguay. 9 p.m. Eastern for that one, we will be watching. Go team, go USA. And we're right back with more Morning Joe. Welcome back. Time now for look at some of the other stories being headlines this morning. Right now, officials are investigating after someone allegedly wrote 8-647 in large numbers

on the ground at the National Mall. U.S. Park Police, the National Guard, responded to the scene, and officials are referring to the writing as deranged vandalism. The phrase 8647 has been used by critics of President Trump. It's also to 86 something is a restaurant phrase

saying, you know, we've done with that, strike that from the menu. But the Department of Justice has said that phrase, 8647, could be considered a call to violence against the president. Let's remember, former FBI director, James Comey was indicted because he took a picture of those numbers

that were written on a beach in seashells. So we'll keep you posted if they catch the culprit here. Meanwhile, just down the mall, sanitation workers were called out to the newly renovated Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool yesterday and were seen skimming green algae from the surface of the water. The landmark had reopened just one day before. after a weeks long, much-hyped $14 million renovation overseen by President Trump himself.

A spokesperson for the Department of the Interior said the new growth was actually, quote, residual algae from the supply lines. The White House says it is being removed and technology within the pool will keep any future blooms at bay. We shall see. And music superstar Taylor Swift knows all too well

about breaking records, and now the singer is adding yet another title to her long list of achievements. Swift is now the youngest woman ever inducted into the songwriter's Hall of Fame. She was officially added to the storied list of musicians last night at just 36 years old. Her appearance there, of course, came one day after she sat courtside for that historic Nick's comeback win. Coming up on Morning Joe, why America doesn't work without immigrants. That's the new cover story for Forbes magazine. We'll dig into that and talk about why the United States remains a beacon of opportunity for many.

Morning Joe is coming right back. Welcome back. Ahead of America's 250th anniversary next month, Forbes is taking a closer look at the people who help make this country what it is. A new feature story titled Why America Doesn't Work Without Immigrants Outlines their impact on the nation over its history. With some of the people Forbes calling the greatest, living immigrants, telling the magazine that despite any current challenges, the American dream is alive and well. Joining us now, Chief Content Officer of Forbes, Randall Lane, and the owner of the NFL Jacksonville Jaguars, Shad Khan. He hails from Pakistan and is number 11 on the Forbes list of America's most successful immigrants.

Our thanks to you both for being here, Randall, I'll start with you, clearly a happy Knicks fan. I get it. So talk to us about the... I haven't been the biggest 30 years, but me, right? No, I understand. Well, they could finish this tomorrow. Let's talk about the list and why the magazine felt like this was the right moment to tell this story. We're doing, John, we're doing the American dream across this whole year and the tenants of the American dream. And we've done innovation as a tenant. The idea of being a self-made American as a tenant. But pluralism is also a tenant of the American dream. And at the heart of pluralism is immigration. We're a country of immigration. It's part of being the American dream.

It's a reminder that immigration helps drive the American economy. Immigrants are net job creators and not yet net job takers. I think it's a very auspicious day for us to talk. It is a historical day in that Elon Musk, we're tracking this minute to minute, but Forbes believes that Elon Musk today will become the world's first trillionaire. And Elon Musk is an immigrant from South Africa. So, Shah Khan, tell us a little bit about your, a story and also at this moment where, look, in this political climate, there's sort of almost

an anti-immigration zeal in some quarters of this country, and frankly in other countries, too. Why do you think right now you still think America is where immigrants should try to make their home? Absolutely. And I think, you know, one person or a bunch of persons can't screw up the American dream. It is so deep-rooted, and I mean, kudos to Forbes for really shining a light on it. Obviously, Forbes is about money, but I mean, there are billions of really immigrants who came before me who've lived the dream. And the American dream is about money, but because money gives you choices. But more than that, it's also about freedom of thought, freedom of speech. and freedom of the life you choose and the freedom to be the person you want to be.

So, and I mean, America might not be perfect, but it's about close to perfection what we've seen in history. And yes, if you have the energy to drive, you want to make yourself better. I don't care where you are on the planet. You want to be in America. Yeah. Shad, I want to stick with you for a second. In 2018, I believe it was, held a huge naturalization ceremony at a Jacksonville Jaguars game, right? And, you know, a sort of mass naturalization in celebration of this idea and this tradition.

You know, in reality, at the moment, we are in, we're, I guess, being led into kind of an anti-immigration stance by the current administration. Let's be honest. President Trump and his chief advisor, Stephen Miller, have expressed a, not just a skepticism, but an outright hostility toward not just illegal immigration, but immigration in, general. Is it possible? Would it be possible to have another big naturalization ceremony like that at an NFL game today? Absolutely. And we've done it every year, by the way. And I think I know what it meant to me. And the hundreds of people who are getting naturalized in Jacksonville, our federal judge, you know, her origin is Cuban. She had talked to me about it, and, you know, I thought this is so amazing.

We do it at a half time. And it's such an important moment becoming an American and really to be do that on a football, which is about as American as you can get, a uniquely American experience, and combining them. So we're going to be doing it. I'm proud of it. And I think, you know, it's more about policies, quite frankly. And I think over time, this thing is, you know, you're going to get it right.

But historically, there have been ups and downs on immigration. I think what happened in 1920s and today it has a different color, maybe different religion. In the past, it was ethnicity, even east. European or Italian or Jewish. So, I mean, we can't get beat down about on, maybe on a current environment or two. I think America is the greatest thing going on. And I think historically, this is going to be recognized as a movement of the ages, really. Randall, quick final word to you. Even right now, it shouldn't be political in that if you look at who the top 10 are on the fourth list, Elon Musk is an immigrant.

Rupert Murdoch is an immigrant from Australia. Peter Thiel is an immigrant from Germany. These are all people on the Forbes top 10 immigrants list. So whether, you know, are Schwarzenegger's number one, and albeit he's now moved to the center, he governed as a Republican in California. So there is no politics, you know, we are a nation of immigrants,

President Trump's wife's an immigrant, and President Trump's parents were immigrants. So it's just a reminder that historically, like Shad said, there are ebbs and flows, but we are a country of immigrants. And if you look at Google, Navidia, you know, so many of the great innovations that make America, America, they came from immigrants. The Forbes 250 Immigrants List and Feature Story is available to read online right now. Chief Content Officer of Forbes, Randall Lane, and Jacksonville Jaguars owner, Shod Khan.

Thanks to both. Next time, Randall will be sporting Jaguars gear for his hit. We'll be right back with more, Morning Joe. An update just now from President Trump on truth's social. Perhaps a deal with Iran is not quite done yet. Stunning, I know. In the post, the president is deeply critical of how Iran is framing negotiations, say their statements are weak and pathetic.

He also was critical of a drone strike. Apparently last night in the Strait of Hormuz against some Indian ships. He says this is totally unacceptable. They, meaning the Iranians, better get their act together and fast. So there's certainly still work to do to bring this war to a close. And starting this coming Monday, our colleague Stephanie Ruhl returns to mornings. She will take over the 9am hour here on MS Now with her new show, Money, Power, Politics with Stephanie Ruhl. We look forward to that.

That does it for us this morning. We'll be back at it at 6 a.m. Eastern Monday for another edition of Morning, Joe. You get three hours worth. Anna Cabrera picks up MS Now's coverage after a short final break. Have a great weekend, everybody. Thank you.