Morning Wire - Trump’s Red Line & WNBA Race Controversy | 5.30.25

Episode Date: May 30, 2025

President Trump imposes a deadline on Putin and faces a setback on tariffs, the Democratic party loses ground with young people and men, and controversy continues to swirl around WNBA stars Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. Get the facts first with Morning Wire. Chevron: Build a brighter future right here at home. Visit https://Chevron.com/America to discover more. Lumen: Head to http://lumen.me/WIRE for 15% off your purchase. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Trouvee de petitions like one other. On Amazon.com President Trump faces setbacks on tariffs and Harvard and sets a peace deadline for Putin. This isn't my war. This is Biden's war,

Zelensky's war, and Putin's war. This isn't Trump's war. I'm only here for one thing to see if I can end it. Has President Trump on a red line with Russia. I'm Daily Wire, Executive Editor John Bickley, with Georgia Howe. It's Friday, May 30th, and this is Morning Wire.

After their sweeping election defeat, Democrats continue to struggle, losing ground among their most reliable voting blocks. The party that sees itself as the party of working people came to be seen by so many working people as a party of the elites. And Caitlin Clark continues to score big ratings for the WNBA, but the league is being rocked by racial controversy. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned.

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Visit chevron.com slash America to discover more. In a flurry of activity, the president appeared to give Vladimir Putin an ultimatum this week and vowed to push ahead with tariffs despite a roadblock in the courts. Daily Wire, senior editor Cabot Phillips is here to get us up to speed. Hey, Caput. So the Trump-P Putin showdown really escalating over the course of this week continues to, what's the latest year? Yeah, it seems clear President Trump is done taking the good cop approach with Vladimir Putin.

after those unprecedented Russian airstrikes against Ukrainian cities, the president has become far more critical of his counterpart in Moscow, accusing them of intentionally stalling on peace negotiations. To that point, Putin promised last week to deliver a peace proposal to get formal talks going, but we've yet to see anything come out. The Kremlin will only say that their proposal is in its, quote, final stages, and now Trump appears to be giving Putin an ultimatum. We're going to find out whether or not he's tapping us along,

or not. And if he is, we'll respond a little bit differently, but it'll take about a week and a half, two weeks. But look, it's worth noting, President Trump multiple times in the last few months, has given Putin two weeks to come forward with the deal, and it hasn't happened. Now, last weekend, he said he was strongly considering new sanctions against Moscow, but in recent days, he has walked back that idea, saying he did not want to hinder potential peace talks. If I think I'm close to getting a deal, I don't want to screw it up by doing that. Let me tell you, I'm a little. I'm a little. I'm a lot tougher than the people you're talking about, but you have to know when to use that. All right. Now, on the economic front, the Trump administration was dealt some potentially significant

blows in court this week. What's going on there? So two parts here. First, on Wednesday night, a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of International Trade struck down dozens of President Trump's tariffs on countries worldwide. Remember, Trump invoked the Emergency Economic Powers Act to implement those tariffs. He argued that fentanyl trafficking and trade deficits constituted a national emergency and therefore he had power to act. But the court ruled that Trump, quote, exceeded any authority granted to the president by that emergency powers act. So then Thursday morning, a second federal court in D.C. issued a similar ruling, again saying Trump's tariffs were unlawful. Now, that first ruling was put on hold Thursday afternoon by a federal appeals court. They ruled in

Trump's favor, saying that all tariffs can remain in place while the court reviews the case. Regardless of how they ruled, though, the Trump administration says they are not slowing down. They called the rulings a hiccup. Here's White House Economic Advisor, Kevin Hassett, making that case. If there are little hiccups here or there because of decisions that activists judge make, then it shouldn't just concern you at all. And it's certainly not going to affect the negotiations. I said the administration's still pushing ahead on terrorists, feel very confident about that still.

They're also very confident about revoking student visas. Tell us more about that. Yeah, big move here, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announcing this week that the administration will work to, quote, aggressively revoke the visas of Chinese exchange students who they deem to have ties with the Communist Party, as well as those studying in, quote, critical fields. Keep in mind, Chinese students account for about 20% of all student visas. The State Department has been warning for years now that many of those students work with the CCP

to smuggle sensitive research data and other intellectual property back to Beijing. In response, China said, quote, this political and discriminatory practice of the U.S. has exposed the lies of the so-called freedom and openness that the U.S. has always advertised. Rubio, though, says we will also create a new process to enhance scrutiny on all future applications on Chinese students. So they're really cracking down on the CCP. Yeah, they clearly are.

Now, one big piece of news before you go from the administration, a major departure. What's happening there? Yeah, Elon Musk announcing that he will be leaving his role at the Department of Government Efficiency to focus on his many, many business endeavors. Musk helped carry out Trump's campaign pledge to cut back the bureaucracy

see in Washington, he slashed tens of thousands of government jobs during his short tenure. And while at times he certainly clashed with some cabinet members and other officials, by all accounts, he leaves in very good standing with President Trump. And sort of a bittersweet moment there. Kevin, thanks so much for reporting. Absolutely. When your metabolism is working correctly, you feel the benefits in every aspect of life. With Lumen, the world's first handheld metabolic coach, you can gain insight and stay on track

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slash wire to get 15% off your Lumen. That's L-U-M-E-N. dot me slash wire for 15% off your purchase. Thank you, Lumen, for sponsoring this episode. The party itself has increasingly become a smarty-pants, suburban college-educated party. And it lends itself to the kind of backlash that we've seen.

That was Democrat strategist David Axelrod discussing the Democrats' struggle to connect with American men, a demographic that played a crucial role in putting Trump in the White House. A recent report leaked to the New York Times highlights the party's $20 million plan to win them back. Daily Wire Culture reporter, Megan Basham, joins us now with the details. So, Megan, the New York Times article paints a pretty grim picture for Democrats. And then there's other data out now showing they've lost 20 points among black adults and about the same with Hispanics. So just how bad is the Democrats' relationship with young men specifically?

Well, you know, Georgia, what I would say is that the Democrats are facing a problem of both perception and policy. And overall, the party's approval rating has now plummeted to 27%. That's the lowest that it's been since 1990. Young men in particular are shifting rightward, with many feeling alienated by the Democrat party's current messaging. This was something that Jake Tapper captured recently. I went on a left-leaning podcast, and they asked me about my son, and I said he was, you know, he's a football player and he wants to be a policeman.

And their joke was about my 15-year-old son, oh, how does he feel about minorities? Like the idea that he wants to be a policeman, therefore he's racist, my son. And like, you know, that was the big laugh. So a focus group cited in that Times report found that these voters, specifically young men, tend to see Democrats as sloths or tortoises, whereas they see Republicans as, quote-unquote, apex predators. And that's something that's particularly drawing them to Donald Trump, that perception gap. It's the GOP's bold, unapologetic style, and of course it is exemplified by the head of the GOP, Donald Trump himself.

So that's perception, but what about specific policies that are pushing young men away from the Democratic Party? So a few issues stand out. First, there's the economic angle. Working class counties with lower median incomes have seen young men gravitate toward the GOP, which they perceive as better addressing their economic concerns like job security, cost of living, some important things like that. And then second, there's also this cultural component. So young white men, particularly those who do not have college degrees, feel that the Democrats focus on progressive social issues, things like generally. identity and DEI, something that was heavily pushed by the last Biden administration, demonizes them. Meanwhile, you have the GOP's presence on platforms like Joe Rogan and other popular podcasters with young men, and that has really created a poll that the Democrats are struggling to counter. This was what pollster Carly Cooperman told me. There are groups of voters who just really feel like they have been ignored and left behind. I think you see with Hispanics in particular, the issue of immigration was something that was huge. I mean, these are people who feel like there has been

too much immigration into the country and it is impacting their day-to-day life in terms of jobs and cost of living and the like. Okay, so let's talk about the $20 million plan that Dems hope are going to bring these men back. What is that plan? So they have a multifaceted strategy, but I would say it's being met with just a little bit of skepticism. So a key initiative here starts with this $20 million plan that you mentioned. That's led by, activist David Hoggs organization. So it's called the American Men a strategic plan. And it will study, I'm quoting here, the syntax, language, and content that gains attention and virality in these spaces of male voters. So the focus is on digital outreach, emphasizing platforms like TikTok,

YouTube, also X to some degree, and also on podcasts like Joe Rogan, which were so prominent and influential in that last election. That was a huge shift in the way the media landscape worked. You know, I think we saw Democrats wary of going on some of these podcasts that lean, you know, culturally conservative or where Republicans were going on. But that is the shifting landscape and that is where people are reaching men and particularly younger men. So beyond the digital campaigns, they're also amplifying younger voices, people like Pete Buttigieg

and Kentucky Governor Andy Bashir. So really hoping that these will be the leaders of 2008. Well, you know, if they don't diagnose the root issue, it's going to be very hard to fix it. Megan, thanks for reporting. Yeah, absolutely. My pleasure. Caitlin Clark continues to draw strong ratings for the WNBA, while the league finds itself engulfed in racial controversy. The league has just completed an investigation into racial discrimination.

Here to tell us more is David Cohn from Crane and Company. Hey, David. So tell us about this situation with Caitlin Clark. Yes, the WNBA. season is only two weeks in so far to 2025, but it only took one game for accusations of racism to be investigated by the league. By now, many of our listeners know that Caitlin Clark and her team, the Indiana fever, took on the Chicago Sky on May 17th to kick off this year. And Clark was called for a flagrant foul against Angel Reese of the Chicago Sky. Angel Reese came after Caitlin Clark,

had to be restrained by her teammates. Now, neither team mentioned any accusations of fan remarks in the postgame conference, but allegations of hateful remarks began to surface on social media afterwards, and those remarks were directed towards Angel Reese, who is black. And Reese and the WNBA announced within a few hours that it would investigate those claims. And Reese commented on the supposedly racist behavior against her here. Basically, there's no place in this league for that. I think the WNBA and our team and our organization has been a great job supporting me. But the league has now wrapped up this investigation. And the story doesn't quite hold up, correct? Correct. So after an investigation that lasted about a week long,

the WMBA says they found no evidence to support this. I'll read their quote here verbatim, based on information gathered to date, including from relevant fans, team and arena staff, as well as audio and video of the game, we have not substantiated it. How is the conclusion of this investigation being responded to so far? Well, many across the country are calling out the league for having a full-blown investigation based off social media comments. It is unclear whether Reese herself notified the WMBA to prompt this investigation. Many observers of the WMBA have said the real racism is being directed against Caitlin Clark for being one of the few standout white stars in the league.

Now, Caitlin Clark, for her part, has spoken out against racial discrimination multiple times. She said last week there is no place for that in our game or in our society. I appreciate the league doing that. I appreciate, you know, the fever organization has been at the forefront of that since, you know, really day one. and what they're doing. They're pretty gracious response there. And I assume social media a little bit less gracious

about this whole situation. Tell us about that. Certainly. So one notable example is Dave Portnoy, the Barstool Sports founder who is an avid Caitlin Clark fan and who was at the game in question on May 17th.

He posted a fiery message following the inquiry and he told Indiana Fever, Clark's team, that it's okay to have a spine and defend its fans. He also slammed the league's investigation as BS. So a very portnoy response there. Just stepping back a little bit, how is the WNBA doing, especially with all these controversies? Here's some context for you.

The top five most watch regular season WNBA games over the past two years feature Caitlin Clark and the Indiana fever. And two of those have come so far in this initial 2025 season. That's 2.7 million people tuned in to watch the fever take on the sky. That's where this whole situation began. and then 2.2 million watched the fever take on the New York Liberty just a few days ago. And that game against the Liberty, Caitlin Clark suffered a quad injury that will likely keep her sideline for two weeks, which means she will miss her first game action since high school. But many in the sport insist that the league's ratings have nothing to do with Clark whatsoever.

So it'll be very telling to check those ratings if Caitlin Clark is indeed sidelined for multiple weeks. Yeah, Will, and meanwhile, this controversy is getting a lot of buzz. talking about it now, a lot of other outlets, talking about the WNBA because of it. Dave, thanks so much for reporting. Thank you for having me. Before you go, we're on YouTube now. Watch and subscribe to the video version on our Morning Wire channel. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back tomorrow with the news you need to know.