Morning Joe - Trump warns Kennedy Center could be 'ripped down'

Episode Date: September 17, 2026

September 17, 2026 – 6am:Trump lashes out after Fed raises rates for the first time since 2023Steve Rattner breaks down economics behind interest rate hikeJD Vance pleads with voters: “Give us another chance”Trump on fuel prices: Very inexpensive price to payTrump hammers midterm message of crime in North CarolinaTrump: Kennedy Center could be ‘ripped down’Jon Meacham: Celebrating Constitution Day 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.

My opinion, I'm very good at this stuff. Interest rates are too high. We should have the lowest interest rate anywhere in the world because we're the best credit. They're raising the rates to make Trump do as bad as they can possibly do. The problem they have is that we have the greatest economy in history. So they're raising that only for political reasons, and that's a raise against Trump. Yeah, God actually brought the clouds over Washington. often on this year to make Trump look bad.

That's what God said. No, the rates are actually going up to help Trump and help every other American as we move forward in an age where the economy is still too hot. And you look, Willie, I could go to Ratner, but you know this stuff better than Ratner. Yeah, let's be honest.

You're like me. Let's be on it. You've heard me tell about my studies in econ, right? I've lost control. Sports Illustrated, back row. One minute in it. University of Alabama. Look at me now. All right.

I owned. Oh, they got some pumpkins here. The Sports Illustrated. What's that? There's some pumpkins here. Oh, that's very exciting. So anyway, there's so many things. There's so much pressure going on.

That seemed like a very hostile move. I see if he was. Workforce hostility. That's a good catch there. So, yeah, you've not only got the fact that inflation remains too hot. They can't get it down to 2%. You've got a $40 trillion. plus debt that the world's finally starting to pay attention to. And you've got the real concerns

about the AI boom going bust. I mean, there are a lot of reasons why we have long-term rates going up higher than they've been since 2007. Since 2007, and he's still sitting there with his new Fed chair saying this is about making Trump look back. No, this is actually, you can't change the law of physics and you really can't change the law of economics unless you want to go bankrupt 16, 17, 18, 19 times. Well, President Trump was the only one surprised by the rate hike. He wasn't really surprised. He's saying he was surprised.

He knew that this was coming. But every economist and even the Fed hinted that they were going to raise rates. And by the way, may raise rates again in a month or so at their next meeting. Yeah. It was an unanimous vote. And the chair installed by President Trump, the guy that he installed and all the rest. So he said he called the Fed chairman and said, you know what? Just vote with the rest of them.

It's inevitable anyway. give you permission to vote. Whatever, Trevor. But this is, but this is fundamental economics that even you and I can understand, which is that inflation is through the roof. The Fed's job is to cool the inflation a bit, and they're going to keep doing it. This isn't the end. Yeah, and we are very macro, macro, economic. So whatever. Big picture guy. But, you know, even Stephen Moore, who has always been an economic apologist for Donald Trump. Before that, he actually was a conservative guy. But even Stephen Moore said, if he was on the board, he would have voted for the rate hike because, you know, people remember. Stephen Moore remembers what it was like in 1979 and 1980.

The last couple of years is Jimmy Carter's presidency. Don't let inflation out of the barn. Well, first of all, you don't need me anymore as the economic analyst. You got Willie. Willie next week, you can get up with the big board. Can I do the charts? Yeah, you can do the charts with the big board. Wow. Sir Willie. And I'm just going to sit here and watch. The big shoes to do.

Look, it's awfully condescending for 603 in the morning. Oh, no. It was a compliment. I was trying to make a compliment. Okay. Go ahead. Look, this is the rate cut that Trump brought you, ironically. So he's talking about how, I mean, the rate increase.

He's talking about how rates should be lower. He actually created this rate increase. Remember, let's just rewind quickly to history. We had COVID. We had inflation. The Fed raised rates to deal with it. We got inflation on its way down, back toward the 2% target. And then what happened?

Trump took office. He started talking about tariffs, which are inflationary. So the Fed stopped cutting rates. Then he started a war. Oil went over $100 a barrel. Inflation started back up again to mid-threes, let's call it. And so what does the Fed have to do? It has to raise rates.

It had no choice. And it was all because of Trump. And you can see it up, well, you can see up there of the inflation. And particularly what you can see is goods inflation, which is what's driven by high oil prices and tariffs running way ahead of way hot, way ahead of what it's supposed to do. Well, you know, Jim, there are a lot of economic issues that sometimes are a little too convoluted. It is very easy for a worker in Ohio or Maine or Alaska or Texas to go, wait a second. He started this endless war and now gas is over. you know, $4, $450 a gallon, and then diesel is six.

And then these tariffs, these tariffs are making everything more expensive. I mean, those are so easy for voters to figure out, especially when you've had economists and people in the Fed warning Donald Trump from the beginning, don't raise tariffs. Don't go to war. They're both inflationary. And it's exactly what he did. Yeah, that's right. And even the Fed chairman yesterday pointed out the tariffs and the war, the as he called the geopolitics.

We all know what that means. Voters are sitting there looking at this saying gas is 439 this morning. Diesel's over six bucks. Our rates are, every time we go to the grocery store, it's more expensive. Sometimes people make politics way too complicated. It really is pretty simple. Talk about that $6.6 diesel. I think some of us may not understand the real bite that has with a lot of.

voters who are going to be deciding where Congress goes over the next couple of years. You look at the big Senate races that we're talking about, Iowa, Texas, Ohio. People are looking at that rate and they're paying it everyday farmers are as angry as I've ever seen them. Ranchers are voting Democratic in numbers we haven't seen in 20 years. They're feeling the bite at all the points. They're feeling it, the energy at the grocery store and at the gas tank. Those are the places that people understand. you look at where vote goes.

And Steve and I, sometimes the political guy and the smart economics guy agree on one thing. Right now, gas prices are moving votes. If you look at the numbers that are moving people, it's gas prices. And they look at the diesel and everything gets more expensive. Your Amazon delivery gets more expensive because of diesel. And so that's the number of people look at. Farmers, ranchers, workers are angry out there. $4,200 more expensive for the average vote.

since Donald Trump took office. People don't have $4,200. And that leads me to grocery prices going up. Grocery prices just keep going up. And people, there's something I hear all the time. People talking about going to the grocery store, getting a couple items and coming out with a $200 bill. Depending on where you are, yeah, it's incredible. Along with Steve Ratner and Jim Messina, we have presidential historian, Paul's surprise-winning author. John Meacham is with us as well.

So we go through this? Do you want to hear more about what the president had to say about the Fed? We have that sound bite. I would much rather John Meacham about the French Indian War. The ongoing consequences for us in 2026. Don't tempt him with a good time. The gold standard, Joe, back in the day. I want to say this is a very impressive. The SEC economics departments of both Alabama and Vanderbilt are very, very, actually they're having

a crisis meeting right now, I think. Yeah, exactly. About looking at the curriculum. Yeah. I think so. All right. We'll move on to more politics now. Vice President J.D. Vans is making a new direct appeal to voters ahead of the November

midterms. Take a look at what he said on the All In podcast this week. There is a lot of good that we've done over the past 18 months. We cut taxes bigly. We cut taxes on overtime, Social Security and tips. Those are tax cuts for. middle American workers, not just for the elites in Washington and New York City. We've had an amazing success with the border with immigration. We've pursued H-1B reform that prioritizes American

workers over foreign nationals. There's a lot of good that's been done, but there's a lot of work left to do. Don't give power to the people who cause the problems that we're fixing. Give us another chance or give us another couple of years to continue to work on the amazing things that we've been doing for the past two years. And the second argument I'd make is, even if you don't agree with us on every issue, the other party is consumed by craziness. They're consumed by people who want to steal everything,

who want to give the country over to illegal aliens and criminals. They actively brag about it. Who want to steal everything? You work for a guy that has made more trades in the stock market than every member of the House and Senate combined. work for a guy whose family has made billions and billions of dollars off of so-called public service. We could go down the list, but we don't have over three hours in such a disingenuous thing for you to say. And make things better, J.D., I thought it was you that was on the campaign trail.

I, you know, I know I wake up early and sometimes I forget things, but I think it was you in 24, promising us. Oh, if you'll only vote for Donald Trump, we'll end those forever wars. He won't take us to war with Iran, but Kamala will, right? Promise that. No more wars, no more stupidity, no more inflation. The Ukraine war would end on the first day. Willie, how's that working out on every one of those, every promise made? Fixed immigration?

They've lied about even the promise. about only going after the worst of the worst. We now, thanks to JD's administration, have Americans being gunned down in the street, shot execution style. It certainly looked like Alex Prattie got shot execution style. You had young guys that were going to enlist in the Marines. American citizens being stopped, dragged out of their cars,

kicked, beaten. The worst of the worth, they just they just lie when telling the truth would be easier for them. They just keep lying. And if you listen to his argument there, you're right about everything you said, it's don't put in power the people who got us into this mess.

You've been there for two years. You control the White House. You control the House. You control the Senate. You effectively control the Supreme Court from what we've seen lately. You have all the levers of power. And inflation is higher today than it was when Joe Biden. Biden left office.

Yes, it is. But there's this helplessness that they're conveying. Biden dug us this whole, we have to dig our way out of it. It's been two years. American people are not buying the argument. It's all of what we're watching right now is Biden's fault. And also, John, this drain the swamp argument that we got to give, we're not going to give tax cuts to the elites in Washington. That's exclusively who got the tax cuts, except for this tax on tips, which has been good for a lot of people.

The rich are getting richer. The rich are getting the tax cuts. president is profiting, his family is profiting, members of the administration is profiting, kind of the opposite of draining the swamp. Yeah, there are one signature piece of legislation, as you say, help the rich. It is such a contrast as you Americans are out, whether they live in the Midwest, West Coast, Northeast, and they're hurting, they're struggling to pay their bills, and they see the president and his family and his top advisor's families profiting in this corrupt way.

That's an easy contrast to make there. and JD Vance saying, give us another chance, I've rarely seen Democrats act quicker with the quote tweak that says no. Because, I mean, that is the issue here. And Jim, okay, Jim Messina, let me ask you about this, because it does feel like both parties

are sometimes guilty of fighting the last campaign. Boy, this seems like the most, biggest example I've ever seen of that, where Republicans are still talking about Joe Biden, and they're still trying to talk about these sort of culture woke issues that were effective for them in 2024, but that is simply not what poll after poll

suggests voters care about right now. They care about affordability. That's exactly right. Give us another chance. Might be the worst political messaging I've heard in a very long time. This is what your ex says after they cheat. Just give us another chance. It's not going to work. Voters want to know what you're going to do to make their lives better. They are out there hurting and trying to blame Willie has it exactly right. They have controlled everything in Washington and people know it and their life have materially gotten worse. The old Ronald Reagan thing of, are you better off? than you were two years ago. Every voter out there is saying, absolutely not.

And what they want is Trump to stop doing these crazy things. And to get that done, they're going to vote for the Democrats in November to put a break on what they see as a guy out of control. So let me ask you, Jim, on the cultural issues, what they're going to say is, and Republicans have always done this, 2004, it was gay marriage. They had all of the votes and all the states to try to, you know, run against gay marriage. they run against, you know, this last several years, trans athletes. They're running against all of these other cultural issues.

The Democrats were flat-footed when they had the political trinity of convicts, taxpayer dollars, and trans issues. Put it all together, Democrats didn't respond. It seems to me if you look at Tala Rico in Texas, like France. I was about to do the same thing. Tala Rico says, no, I'm not for trans athletes competing in girls' sports if it's unfair and if it's unsafe. No, I don't support children transitioning. They've got to be at least 18 years old. It seems that Tala RICO and other people have gotten past what AOC called Woke 1.

Still don't know what Woke 1 is, but I sure don't want to see Woke 2. You're exactly. I tell Rico is the example I was going to give. He moved very quickly to get that issue off the table. And then what did he do, Joe? He went right back to economics. He went right back to the gas prices. The next day, he held an event in front of a gas pump and said,

this is too expensive, and I'm going to make your life better. Democrats are finally starting to get it on let's just stay on the economy. The number I tracked the closest is who do you trust more in the economy? Democrats lost that in the last election. That's why Donald Trump is president of. the United States. Right now, we have a lead on the economy, albeit pretty small. If we stay on this issue for the next 47 days, Democrats will have a very good November. Tala Rico had a great turn of Fries, Mika, when, you know, he wrote a lot of loopy things in 21 and 22, and one of them was,

I think he thought there were six sexes or something like that. I'd like to see that chart sometime, but anyway, he said, no, no, no, I said some really stupid things back then. But here was the turn a phrase. Yeah. Republicans want to talk about six sexes because they don't want to talk about $6 diesel. Boom. There's just a shift. Yeah.

I just the question is, or other candidates going to stick with the, you know, stay on the focus of affordability and changing people's lives for the better. Here's Donald Trump's take on the high gas prices. He says that it's worth it. Take a look. I said, we've got to make a little journey down to the. Middle East because we can't let this crazy nation have a nuclear weapon and we stopped them. And it's going to end soon, but because they can't go on. They can't go on. The nation's destroyed.

But I have to say, you have a little higher, you have a higher game. It's a very inexpensive price to pay for what we've done. Remember that it's a little more. It's even if it was, frankly, even it was a lot more. But that's going to come tumbling down. That's going to be like a rocket ship in reverse. First of all, it's not over. Right. Right. And they said it was going to be over very quickly. And it is very expensive right now.

I mean, to fill a truck with diesel, $400? I mean, it's an incredible amount of money for people. I don't know if that's going to translate. And by the way, this little wars cost, what, $500 billion? Well, it's causing a lot of... The rest of us up to $1 trillion. American deaths. I mean, you know, you just never good political months.

move to understate the pain of war on those families that are enduring it. And also, they're good to underestimate the pain that Americans are feeling at the gas pump. Did you see that Trump blamed Ukraine for the diesel prices? Yeah, they're sick. It's unbelievable. It's really unbelievable. But look, in all seriousness, the oil thing is scary because the war is not ending. World oil stocks are being depleted.

So there's more and more pressure on supply. the Houthis are now controlling the Red Sea. They have disabled part of the Saudi pipeline across Saudi Arabia to avoid the Strait of Hormuz, and there's no strategy for dealing with the Strait of Hormuz. Other than that, it's going very well. Other than that, it's going very well. And oil prices, any commodity can move really sharply with just a small change in the supply demand balance.

And so you could see oil prices shoot up a good bit from here. It's not out of the question. And by the way, we've also drawn down our strategic reserve to the lowest level. been, I think, since the early 1980s. Yeah, CBO says the wars cost up for $38 billion. You take that, though, across the Middle East and how much it's costing the world, what's happening with Saudi Arabia, what's happening with oil. The $38 billion is just out of pocket costs.

Out of pocket. Out of pocket. Then you've got to deal with the costs of military pensions and health care and rebuilding all these facilities and all this other stuff. Yeah, you also have to talk about the economic, all the down. the downwind effects. You've got to talk about what it's costing as far as gas prices going, fuel prices, fertilizer, food, delivery, Amazon, what's happening with Saudi Arabia now, what's happening to the Emirates, what's happening to our allies who we depend on for

cheap energy. Yeah, and we're seeing the administration consider because of these costs, maybe abandoning some of those bases in the Middle East. There's been discussions in the Pentagon about not trying to repair some of this, shrinking our footprint there. So this is changing our sort of strategic strength here as well. But yes, in terms of the economy, I mean, this is only going to get worse. And the Republicans know that. And they're, that's what they're scrounging for anything to say. They're scrounging for any sort of issue, Willie, that they can run, because the White House has left them nothing. And frankly, every time Trump gets up and says something like we just heard, it's making matters worse. And that there's no lifeline at all

being given from 1,600 pounds of a minute. He's dismissed again and again and again, this idea of affordability and the costs are too high. It's going to go away. It's a hoax, whatever the moment requires. And by the way, he was on the campaign trail in North Carolina for the Republican running against Roy Cooper. Some Republicans in North Carolina sort of wish he hadn't come maybe because he's standing there. Now those quotes all go down on Watley, the Republican candidate as well. So John Meacham, everything that's in this stew now, 47 days ahead of the midterm elections, obviously looks like if you believe trend lines, believe history favors Democrats in the House and potentially now some people are saying even in

the Senate. What are you seeing there and also just in the performance of this president as he tries to ignore what is a crisis for millions of Americans? Yeah. The one thing President Trump can't do is repeal the clock. And as every day that goes by, his political and self-interest becomes separated from that of any other Republican who's ever going to be on a ballot again. whether it's in 47 days or two years in 47 days going forward. And so I think the thing to watch is the passion with which people like Vice President Bance and others offer the defense of whatever is coming out of the Oval Office on a given morning, afternoon, and evening.

And I think to some extent, now we've been wrong about, we broadly put, I've been wrong about President Trump for 11 years, right? Folks like us have said forever, well, after this, surely it's done. He has defied that again and again. The question, I think, fundamentally, is, for all of us right now, is three letters. We know we've been living in the age of Trump since 2015. That's just an intellectually responsible way to call what called this era, right, to name this era, because everything has been either because of him or in reaction to him.

The question is, after 2028, will the age of Trump end or are we in an age of Trumpism? And what are those three letters mean, right? What is Trumpism without Trump in the chair? And I think to me, what happens in 47 days is going to tell us a lot about how Republicans will define that ism, because if it's brutally pro-democratic, they're going to be wanting to move on from Uncle Donald, I think, pretty quickly. If he defies as ever conventional wisdom, and it's not as bad, then they've got to heed him more in the ensuing 24 months. And so I think not only the literal legislative process and the House and the Senate hang on this, but also

the direction and the passion with which Republicans support him over the next two years. Yeah, you know, over the past decade, what Trumpism without Trump on the ballot has meant has been big Democratic victories. There is no Trumpism without Trump on the ballot. Maybe this year will be different, but I haven't seen it. Jim Messina, I haven't seen it. You know, a lot of people were shocked in 1980 at the Democrats, the working class Democrats that came out and voted for Ronald Reagan. Just shocked. But they did, because it was Ronald Reagan, and he was different.

Indiana went for Barack Obama in 2008. I sat there going, what, what, what? Indy what? Right? But it was Barack Obama in 2008. Donald Trump did it in 16, and he, you know, did it again in 24, did what nobody thought he could do. Hardly anybody thought he. But if Trump's not on the beach.

ballot, those Republicans don't do well. And these low propensity voters don't come out, which is why I think Donald Trump's thinking, maybe I just keep this money. I'm not going to waste it on these other guys that never win without me anyway. That's exactly right. In the over 100 elections since Donald Trump retook office, Republicans have underperformed by 12.5 points. Democrats have done 12 and a half points better than Kamala Harris did. And when you look at why, Joe, you're exactly on it. There's big Democratic turnout, especially driven by women, but also there's reduced Republican turnout by about three or four points. In some of these races we're talking about, Texas, Ohio, Alaska, three or four points is the end of the Republican chances in those states. So his inability to turn his own

vote out when he isn't on the ballot is the problem. I couldn't believe, to Willie's point, why they took him to North Carolina yesterday. But wait, by the way, think about Ronald Reagan. This isn't just about Donald Trump. Reagan, the great communicator, massive landslides in 1980, 1984. Republicans got pounded in 82 and got pounded in 86. Same as Barack Obama. Same as Barack Obama.

And I were in the White House in 2010 when we lost 61 seats. It happens. It is not transferable. Your voters do not think they necessarily have to vote for your party in the next election. These are economic voters who are these swing voters. And right now they're getting hurt and they're looking at Donald Trump. Problem with Donald Trump right now is people no longer believe when he says we're almost done here. Oh, yeah.

It's all going to get better. Two weeks, two weeks, two weeks. Yes, when you ask voters to say, what is the one thing they think about Donald Trump right now? Broken promises is the number one thing. That's the problem that their main messenger continues to say crazy stuff in swing states like North Carolina. this is a disaster. I would tell you also, Steve, you'll remember this with Ronald Reagan. You know, Reagan was a great communicator and he would get on TV and he just moved a nation when he was on TV. I told this story a couple weeks ago. You know, Donald Trump is about six years into his time as president.

I remember watching Ronald Reagan in 1986. He was giving a speech. I think it was on the Contras, supporting the Contras. And I said, okay, I can't wait to hear what this. guy says, you know, he's going to move him and da-da-da. Get through three-quarters of the speech, and I realize I'm just sitting on my couch watching the TV screen, but not hearing a word he said. And I thought in that moment, six years in, he's lost the magic. We know the trick. We've grown immune to it. We've grown numb to it. Six years in, boom, even Reagan stopped being able to convince the American people of what he wanted. Donald Trump, it's almost like six years in. Like people are asking, what's happening with Donald Trump? I tell him, like, we've seen this act now as John

Meacham said for 10 years. We've seen the shock and the awe. We're no longer shocked and awe. You can go out with your hat. You can have explosions and firecrackers distracting and you pull the rabbit out. Now everybody's going to like, yeah, we've, we've seen the act that he pulls the rabbit out from behind his back when we're looking at the sparklers. Like, we're all to him. Everybody's on to Donald Trump now. Well, if we're going back in history... The act. If we're going back in history, we could go back to the famous Lloyd Benson line about how I knew Jack Kennedy and you're no Jack Kennedy.

You know, we didn't know Ronald Reagan, but Donald Trump is no Ronald Reagan. And so he's not only not able to convince people anymore, but he's saying stuff. You know, he's basically putting himself forward as the reason to vote for Republicans in the midterm election, which is insane given his popularity ratings. he's running this as the next Trump, as a Trump presidential race, and it's not going to go well. Things change fails. All right. We'll watch for that. Still ahead on Morning Joe, long-time Republican strategist Carl Rove explains why he's voting for a Texas Democrat this November.

We'll read from his new piece for the Wall Street Journal. Plus, federal officials are moving ahead with plans for the president's proposed 250-foot arch in Washington, D.C., even as they acknowledge it will harm historic sites nearby. How quickly will that be torn down after the next president's elected? You think by the time the inaugural speech is getting, you'll hear the jack cameras. They'll have to turn the next presidents. And as we go to break, a look at the travelers' forecast this morning from

afterwethers. I am grateful all over Washington, D.C. Let's go to the weather with Bernie Rayno. Bernie, how's it looking? Mickey, it's warm and humid today across northeast, mid-Atlantic. Shower thunderstorm this afternoon, Burlington, anytime in Pittsburgh. Not until late today, tonight, Boston, New York City, Philadelphia. Some morning rain and delays in Chicago, thunderstorms Florida, Texas Coast.

Other than that, the southeast is hot and dry. As far as travel delays, I'd watch Miami. If you're traveling tonight in New York City, Philadelphia, and Boston, there can be some minor delays. They help you make the best decisions and be more in the know. Download the acueather app today. Come back to morning, Joe. A lot of cranes. Some cranes.

Some monuments, the White House. A lot of beauty there. A lot of cranes. Before we get to this next door, I just want to shout out, Versant Security. I had a bit of a jacket wardrobe mouth function. A kerfuffle. Wow.

At about 555 this morning. Oh, no. This is a Versant Security blazer badge that I am sporting this morning. So thank you very much. You look good at people who keep us saying. Look, as Sharp is Bobby Darren. It fits, but. Thanks.

Perfect. Thank you very much. What we did yesterday after that. Oh, we went and saw a beautiful Broadway show. Just in Time? Oh, yeah. Wow. Bobby Darren.

Wait a minute. I'm telling you, man. It was great from very beginning. I was so concerned for the lead actor because it's so intense from beginning to end. And he's singing and dancing and it's so athletic. And I don't know how he does that twice in a day or even. One's a week. No.

I can't believe. leave it. I was exhausted. Jeremy Jordan extraordinary. And poor Mika was like, I feel so bad for him. Like his mother. Because afterwards, she stomped, I just, wait, he has to do that again. I don't agree. I don't agree. It's not, it's too much. It's incredible. It was incredible. And I will tell you, it just, you walk in, you sit down, you're like, okay, yeah, yeah. I think I have the like we all are. Like all got, like most guys are than a, yeah. Yeah, we were like tired. Boom. Comes out. Oh my gosh, it was incredible. It just takes it. Yeah. Yeah. This, this gentleman.

Yeah. Yeah. But he has lost a lot of weight since the show began because he's exhausted. And it's like he's doing, I mean, it's like athletic what he does. Every single second he's on stage for the whole thing, full outperforming. He's very concerned. Yeah, it's too much. Eat your weedies, okay? Eat your witties. It's always no joke. Eight times a week. Eight times. It's almost like three hours of a morning jail. We're going to be doing the dancing routine right after weather. Yes, Bernie Rainer. Bernie Rainer. He's going to join us. All right, let's get back to the news.

President Trump says the Kennedy Center in Washington, in his words, could be ripped down. He made that comment while speaking of reporters after landing in North Carolina last night. The Kennedy Center for many years has lost tens of millions of dollars, even hundreds of millions of dollars. It's a loser. I'm the one capable of fixing it and then have to subsidize it for years to come. I think that the Trump administration should certainly have recognition

because frankly, if we don't do that, it's going to close. It'll end up being ripped down. President Trump threatened not to carry out new renovations to the building unless his name is added to the facade. It's a move the center's board composed mostly of Trump loyalists has approved, but one that a few.

federal judge blocked earlier this week. That same board also voted this week to close the center indefinitely pending renovations citing alleged safety concerns. Following the vote, workers began to put up fencing now around the Kennedy Center's main building yesterday. Again, John Meacham, this is the sole federal national memorial to President John F. Kennedy. He doesn't have the Lincoln Memorial out on the mall, all that stuff. This is a memorial to a president as approved by Congress in 1964, What that federal judge said is, if you want to change the name on the Kennedy Center, go through Congress to do that too. Yeah, and the history of the center goes back even farther. The idea of a national cultural center came about in the Eisenhower administration.

And it was, in that sense, a product of a remarkable period of not always one. not always sweetness and light, but a kind of mid-century consensus that the government that had projected power to defeat fascism and totalitarianism around the world, the government that had basically managed to put a floor under the American people through the New Deal, which was essentially ratified by the moderate Republicans of the 1950s, that we could do things together, that it was not impossible for Democrats and Republicans to see a need and to meet it. I'm not being nostalgic here. This isn't, you know, Mr. Rogers. This is just what happened. And then, of course, it was named in the aftermath of Dallas for President Kennedy.

I think this is, you know, not that anyone needs to psychoanalyze President Trump anymore, but his obsession with that building, with the ballroom, with the arch, is, I think, a fairly transparent need to make sure he's remembered. Yeah. Well, this is, all of this will last for 15 minutes. Yeah. After he leaves, if this is the way, it's done. This is a good, this is a monument version of executive order. Sign your executive order.

The next president gets rid of it in 15 seconds. Go through Congress, pass laws. You have a legacy. Same thing here with these monuments. Put my name on monuments or I'm going to tear down the cultural landmark of Washington, D.C. Boy, that's a great message to send to American voters right before an election. And, I mean, he's actually, it's whole. to believe. It's literally hard to believe that the American president would ever do something

like this, but there's photographic evidence. This is, so yesterday when President Trump returned from that trip to North Carolina, an Air Force one landed on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews. An AFP photographer took a photo. You see up through the windows of Trump looking at a placard that says on it, Kennedy Center demolition. So they are actively, this is clearly in the works here, that he will knock that building down. If they don't put his name on it. If they don't put his name on it. This is extortion.

He's saying. So put his name on the building or he knocks down the premier cultural institution in America's capital named after its slain martyred leader. That's right. And a beloved institution that means a lot to Washington, people who live there, but also to the country. And they're gambling, as they did with the administration is gambling, as they did with the ballroom.

that if they move fast enough, they get ahead of the courts, nothing can stop them. And again, with the ballroom... Well, the Supreme Court hasn't helped, have they? Because the Supreme Court has said, yeah, it's illegal. What he's doing is illegal. Go ahead. We're not going to let the lower court stop this action that the Chief Justice Supreme Court said is illegal. Illegal.

But then it had to say, well, but it's so far enough along. It's sort of inevitable that we have to let this continue. And the people in the Trump administration, Mika, have said, in terms of the ballroom anyway, that they feel like, once it's completed, it will be almost impossible to knock down without damaging the rest of the building so much. So they think they'll be able to keep it. The arch, that's a different matter. We'll see. We'll get to that in a second. But yeah, the idea that the Kennedy Center, I mean, I think right now there's someone just looking, someone's keeping vigil at the Kennedy Center.

It was at 5 o'clock this morning to make sure there were no bulldozers coming because it feels that imminent. Trump had been on the arch. Trump administration officials admit the president's proposed controversial triumphal arch in the nation's capital will harm historical sites nearby. I mean seriously? Same officials say. You're going to put that in the way, the line of sight of Arlington? The Lincoln, you're really thinking you're going to do that? And it's not going to get torn down.

The same officials say the structure will be built. January 20th, 2020. down. Gone. Gone. Gone. As the former White House Deputy Chief of Staff for operations, there's processes you have to go through. It takes years to do anything if you go through an actual process. But Jonathan's exactly right. They don't care. They're just moving as quickly as they can. But what they're going to see, Steve and I were talking about this on the break, I don't think this arch ever gets built because when the Democrats take over the House and maybe the Senate, they're going to freeze the money for this quicker than you can say boo. And it doesn't

matter who the next president of the United States is, a bunch of this stuff is coming down, like the first hour of that new presidents, even if it's a Republican. This stuff is so goddy, so awful. The city really is horrified. The Kennedy Center unites both parties together, had 365 days of events every year for 40 years. It really is something that brings us all together. And it's been a sterling success, or at least it was, until Donald Trump's people got in there, and then the money started falling off. They never had financial trouble until this administration. Exactly.

So everything he's saying is exactly wrong. And do voters care about it? Yeah. And so, so Steve, yeah, you look at this and, you know, you just wonder what voters are thinking about the fact that their gas prices are costing more and Donald Trump's worried about the reflecting pool. Diesel is up to $6 a gallon. Donald Trump wants to build a grand arch. Grocery prices are just out of control.

out of control. All the Trump voters that were like, buttercats too much, Joe Buttercup. Oh, really? Yeah. Well, how much does everything cost now? Gas prices, I mean, gas prices, health care crisis, grocery prices, diesel prices. They're all going up and he wants to tear down the Kennedy Center because they won't put his name on it. Well, we know something about what voters think because you guys have been showing polls day after day with Trump's approval ratings, being where they are, his handling of every issue being where it is. Jim and I are also, we're also talking about the midterms. And when you look at the polls, can we show some of the polls here, T.J. Wally's talking about this? When you look at the polls,

yeah. So, I mean, look at that. Do you think the economy is better off than last year? 10%. You talked about that the other day. Independence, that's horrible. Among independence, worst, 60%. And when you look at his own approval ratings down in the mid-30 somewhere, economic conditions today, excellent 2%. Good 14%, 4, 53%. But it's all tied together because they see the economy being what it is and they see Trump off worrying about ballrooms and arches and all the rest of this stuff. And I think it is penetrating through into how voters feel about it. And I started to say when you look at how some of these candidates without knowing that we have want, the election hasn't happened yet, but when you look at the polling in states like Texas of somebody like James Tala Rico and you look at polling in Alaska and you look at polling in Iowa and you look at polling in a bunch of these in Ohio where Sherrod Brown, I think, is a very strong favorite now to take that seat back.

You know, I think the voters get all this. You know, the thing is, when's the last time you've seen Democrats up by seven points on the economy? The Obama re-election. The Obama re-elections. That's exactly right. Other than that, it just doesn't happen. Look at these numbers.

What can happen between now and election days. Immigration or issue. Yes. I've got to say the number, the sneaky number, and I've said this before when I was reading Maggie and Jonathan. song, a book regime change. You know, there were so many shocking things that came out, but the only thing that I read that made me say, moms, I never sworn on the show before, but I'm going to this time.

So cover your sons or daughters' ears that made me when I read it go, holy shit, was the number that Republicans cut on health care in their so-called big, beautiful bill. And I gasped, because I had forgotten it was that high. and they're thinking, yeah, but working Americans are living with that reality every single day. And you look at that number, plus 24 on health care. It's a massive issue this year because people are going bankrupt. You get doctors like Marshall. It's like getting them thrown in jail, debtor's prison by going after them and trying to stick them with these huge bills.

Especially in Iowa, right? Rural hospitals shutting down all over the place. Iowa, no Democrats won Iowa since Barack Obama in 2012. By the way, by the way, we warned in real time. We said you make these cuts in the big beautiful bill. We even told Lawler when he came on the show, you make these cuts, you vote for these cuts. You're going to have hospitals shutting down. We also said it was going to impact rural America more than urban America, that it was going to impact. Iowa, that it was going to impact Kansas, that it was going to impact Nebraska. It's happening now because of what Republicans, you did it, and you knew it was going to further increase this crisis that we've had in world health care for well over a decade. They took a bad situation in Iowa, in Kansas, in Nebraska, and they made it a thousand times worse. And they're wondering why these

States are suddenly in play. These voters are livid. If you're a rural Iowa voter, Maine, if you're a rural Iowa voter, you're paying more diesel, you're paying more for gas, your local hospitals shutting down, you can't get your Obamacare subsidies. Your life has materially gotten worse. You got to drive 150 miles to get to a clinic for your child because the one in your community shut down. That's exactly right. I have to drive two hours to have a baby. That doesn't really work. John Machen, you're in Washington, D.C., for Constitution Day, which marks the anniversary of the founding documents signing in 1787. And you are the National Constitution Center's semi-Quincentennial scholar.

Do you know that? It really rolls off the testimony. That's what you were. Semi-Quintention. I knew. I knew. I knew. You are the sixth.

I knew this was not going to go well. The semi-quincentennial. scholar. Put that one on a bumper sicker. I mean, what are you going to do with that? You know, I really thought very hard when I got up this morning about whether this was a good idea. I knew it was not. So that's actually somewhat reassuring. But the National Constitution Center, let's just move on. More perfect union. This is a hugely important day. This is the day that, you know, after French, Benjamin Franklin looked at the rising or setting sun on the back of George Washington's chair and said he wondered as he listened to the deliberations, whether it was rising or setting,

he now believed it was rising. He also said, this isn't perfect, but I think it's the best we can do right now, and it has the capacity to be amended. And I think the Declaration of Independence is our mission statement, the Constitution, our users guide, the great folks at the National Constitution Center are working on a whole decade of civic renewal, which Lord knows we need. You know, we have the 250th of the signing of the Declaration. But as we know, that's the beginning of the journey. And it heads into, I'm sorry, Joe, it heads into the Articles of Confederation. It heads into, yes, Shea's Rebellion. Oh, here we are again.

I know. And the chaos, the chaos of that decade. And then the recognition. that we needed to do something about it. And one of the great things about the American people is often, when we confront facts that need to be fixed, we manage, usually at the last possible moment, to fix it. And maybe we're doing that now. We certainly did that in 1787. All right, John Meacham.

Steve Ratner. Jim Mazina, thank you all. Great group. We appreciate your coming on this morning. And coming up, on Morning Joe, President Trump is set to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping next week amid growing concerns over artificial intelligence and also China's relationship with Iran. How was President Xi feeling?

I don't know. There were brumblings yesterday. There were reports that he took ill at a summit in India. But, you know, no official word just yet. The question is, will Trump confront Xi on these issues? We'll discuss that with former national security advisor, Jake Sullivan. That's straight ahead on Morning Joe. Can you check this real quick here?

Okay. We have a, I just had somebody from a campaign sending me a poll. Texas governor's race, Sienna. Is he no hosa ahead of Greg Abbott and the Sienna poll? Is it a Times? It's not on the home page. That's right. 49.

All right. Coming up. I don't know, but regardless, we will be able to ask her tomorrow. Yeah, that's exciting. morning, she's going to be on Morning Joe tomorrow morning, Mika. That's a good teasing head, Joe. Actually, yes, here we go. Hold on. Breaking news. Thanks to our friends of the New York Times, Sinapult. Indeed, Abbott down four in that pool.

Down four. Again, polls and polls. And we got a lot of time between now and election day. All right, Buzz Kill, Mika. Everybody simmer. No, I'm just saying, I mean, if you don't want to hear the news, we don't have to read the news. I know. I just have a lot of hearings about. Again, close. These are all close, but up in Iowa. Yeah. Up in Ohio. Yeah. And it's Iowa Senate, too.

Do they have Florida? Do they have Florida on there? I'm not sure they even did Florida. Yeah, you know, that Iowa governor's poll actually is not really close right now. But no Florida. But Greg Abbott down by four points. And even if it's not for, the idea that it's neck and neck by the same governor. I always consider it all to be sort of gooped around there. but if you have a Democrat that is like close to Greg Abbott this late in the state of Texas,

that tells you something's going on. Something, something's going on out there. Coming up, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney addressed the European Parliament this morning. That doesn't look like Mark Carney. As President Trump threatens a new action against Europe, should Canada do a trade deal with the EU. We'll get a live report from London, plus editor-in-chief of the Atlanta. The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg joins the table. Oh, my God.

We're back and I know. Mr. Happy. He is happy. He is happy.