The Chris Cuomo Project - Lara Trump, James Carville, and America’s Breaking Points

Episode Date: January 25, 2026

Chris Cuomo curates key moments from the past week of Cuomo Mornings in this YouTube edition, pulling together the conversations that defined the show as debates over power, policy, and real-world consequences continued to collide on his SiriusXM program. Lara Trump addresses questions about tariffs, health care costs, and why she argues President Trump’s economic strategy is delivering results even as institutions push back. James Carville offers a stark counterpoint, criticizing Democratic leadership, warning that the political system is failing everyday voters, and weighing in on Greenland, ICE enforcement, and the dangers of governing through provocation instead of problem-solving. Listeners add their own blunt perspectives, pressing Cuomo on affordability, trust in the media, political independence, and whether either party still speaks for the American middle. Throughout the discussions, Cuomo keeps returning to the same pressure point: outrage and loyalty tests may dominate the political conversation, but they don’t lower costs, restore trust, or improve people’s lives—and voters are the ones paying the price. Join The Chris Cuomo Project on YouTube for ad-free episodes, early releases, exclusive access to Chris, and more: https://www.youtube.com/@chriscuomo/join Support our sponsors: Protect your family with life insurance from Ethos—get up to $3 million in coverage in as little as 10 minutes at https://ethos.com/CUOMO. Application times and rates may vary. Reverse hair loss with @iRestorelaser and get exclusive savings on the iRestore Elite, use code CUOMO at https://irestore.com/cuomo! #irestorepod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Lara Trump has very generously given me a slice of her morning. She's very busy. She's a mom. She's a business lady. She's a political influence. She's got her own show. And she joins us now. Lara, thank you for taking the opportunity.

Appreciate you being here. Good morning. Good morning. And congratulations. I heard that I may be your first guest ever. And I'm truly honored. So thank you, my friend. Very nice of you to have me.

That is a pretty big honor. We'll always have that bond, LT. Let me ask you, one year of the administration. what do you think works for you and what do you believe is the challenge going into year two to do better? Well, it's always going to be a challenge with President Trump because unfortunately, Chris, he triggers a lot of people. And it's sad to me that there are so many who overlook the true successes that he's had. And you would be hard pressed to look overall at the world, at life in America, at your general state in the United States of America, right now and not say that things have improved, not say that things are moving in the right

direction or significantly have moved in the right direction in the past year, but because of who he is, because of his name, and because he's been a very polarizing figure politically, there are many people who will never give him that credit and almost can't admit it to themselves. Look, whenever you talk about bringing peace around the world, whenever you talk about securing our border, ensuring safety and security here at home, you know, making sure that Americans have more money in their pocket that we're moving the economy in the right direction. Is it perfect? Has it happened overnight? No, but this is like turning around an aircraft carrier that takes one mile to turn around. The groundwork has been laid, and I think people will start

to feel the positive impact of what this president has done economically for this country. You know, a little over a year ago, a little less than a year ago, we heard about the tariffs and everybody panicked about the tariffs. The tariffs have been very powerful. Not only have they brought so much money into this country, but it's allowed the leverage to bring peace around the world. So there is a knee-jerk reaction. I heard your intro to all of this, and I agree with you. I think there's always going to be a reaction on either side to anything that happens because that's how we're wired. That's what gets clicks. That's what people tune into. But if you take a step back and you take the name Trump out of it and you really look at so much of what has happened in this country and around the

world in the past year, you would be hard pressed to not acknowledge how significantly better so much is. Also, I think that, look, we're fighting the instinct that you can't say anything is good if it's not your side. You can't do it. There is no fairness. There is no self-criticism. Let me ask you this. Healthcare, the costs. The president said, I'm going to call in the big shots and I'm going to sit them down in the White House and I'm going to tell them. Things are going to change. You're making too much money

and we're going to do it with you or without you. Do you believe that will happen that meeting and do you believe health care will be a top domestic agenda item going into this second year? Well, I think it's something the American people are demanding. I think that you know, you look at the shutdown in the fall.

That was the premise of all of it, right? That was the reason that the Democrats would not vote to reopen the government. They wanted to focus on health care. Obviously, they wanted to extend the Obamacare subsidies, and we know that portion of it. But that's also not working for a lot of people. And this president is taking it very, very seriously. Look, the most favorite nation status on the low prescription drug prices, that is so, so impactful to so many people. I remember the first term whenever we went out in campaign for my father-in-law before I knew anything.

truly about politics. That's the one thing that I continue to hear from people is I can't afford to get my medication. We're talking Chris all the way back in 2016 during the campaign. Yeah, I believe he's taking it seriously. I think the Republicans are taking it seriously. I recently interviewed leader soon for my Fox show, and I asked him about that specifically. And they absolutely want to come up with a great plan for America and something that is affordable to every American citizen. where would you put my chances of having the administration come after me and put me in some kind of reporter jail in the next year, by the way? I'm just trying to plan a fishing season.

It's a pretty good chance I stay on the outside. I think you're in good shape. I think if you go back to the campaign of 2024, there were a lot of people who were told they were going to end up in actual jail. People were told that if you're a gay couple or an interracial couple, well, you were going to be put in internment camps by some in the mainstream media. And yet, of course, that is absurd and didn't happen. The one thing I'll say about this White House that I think is really powerful is that if you look at that press briefing room, they've made room for independent journalists and significant room for independent journalists.

And I think that's important because the landscape is changing. You know, you come from a place of mainstream media. We all remember you, you know, from your CNN show, I think, for so many years. Obviously, I have a show on Fox News. And I also have a podcast. And I think that that is really the future. And I think that a lot of people are very happy to see that space made for independent journalists. Now, what happens with you?

I like the way you shoot, Chris. I'll be really honest with you. You are a person who I have such great respect for because, while you and I may not align politically on a lot of things, you give space for everyone and you allow the audience. It's an amazing concept to come to their own conclusions. and we lost that a long time ago. So I think you're going to be in fine shape with this administration. I wouldn't worry at all.

I never worry. I'm too old, Lara, too old. But I will tell you one thing. Lara and I have a very good working relationship because each of us has always done whatever we said we were going to do. That's right. And that is something that's in very short supply in our politics today. So thank you. I know you got a million things to do.

Thank you for making time. for the show and giving us your take. I appreciate it, and I'm always a call away. Best to you in the family. Well, I thank you. I look forward to coming back. I got kids. I got to drop off at school. I'm also playing the role of mom all the time, which is the most important role I'll ever have. So congrats on the show, wishing you great success. I think you'll have it immediately. And I look forward to coming back. So thanks for having me. All right. Appreciate you, Lara. Take care. You like that taste of Cuomo mornings? That's my new show on Sirius X-N.

the Potish channel 124, every weekday morning, 7 to 9 Eastern. But if you want to just join here on my YouTube channel, you'll be getting a steady diet of selects. And depending on your subscription level, you can have priority call in on that show. You can have more access to me to ask questions, smaller groups, individual conversations about what matters to you. It's all about your level of subscriber. So, on the regular basis, We'll be putting excerpts of the show that resonate right here. And how much access you get is up to you. So check out the menu and make the choice that works best for your appetite.

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effective and powerful presidencies in modern history. His name is James Carville, and he joins us right now. Brother Jimmy Jam, thank you for getting up early and talking to me. Well, good morning. And it's a beautiful morning here in South Mississippi, and I'm glad to be on here. One year into the administration, what has you thought about how well or how not well the president has done? Well, there's one overriding really story here, one year in the administration. And that here simply is the man crazy. Now, United States Senator Ruben Gallego, just publicly said he is. Dr. Jonathan Reiner,

who's one of the best positions in the United States, who kept Dick Tanya life to his 84 years old, said the man needs serious, serious evaluation. I mean, what we're looking at, Chris, and between the two of us, we've seen a lot, just to put it bluntly, we ain't seen nothing like this. I mean, there is, to me,

but you would expect, I don't like him. I didn't like him from the start. I didn't vote for him. I didn't support him. I thought he should have been impeached. I thought he should be convicted. So my voice is not very, very good here. But I can't believe that anybody is looking at this and saying this is remotely normal. So when they look at it, what's the spin? The spin is, that's right, baby, Captain Chaos, busting down all the norms, the institutions and the insiders, making them all crazy. Disruption is the new progress. Well,

The idea that this is spin, okay? And I believe in spend. I have done spending. We all spend, people spend you. This is not spent. This is a guy going against one of the most historic and successful alliances that ever existed in an North American treaty organization that every president, Republican Democrats, supported. And we're talking about literally invading Greenland. I mean, digest that for a second.

I mean, just digest the whole thing. What does it mean? And he keeps doubling down and firing people. And there's nothing I can do. I mean, I said, look, I've done my party. It wasn't very much in it. Wasn't very effective. But as Ann Akelbaum said, we're not in James Carver's hands anymore.

We're not even in Chris Cuomo's hands anymore. We're in the hands of 53 Republican senators. and I don't know when and if they do anything about it, but there's not much more I can do to just sit there and be some flea-bitten dog baying at the moon, but how effective I am now. Well, listen, you know what a dog braying at the moon can do? Wake you up, and that's what I think you're trying to do

is get people to exercise their own conscience and make a change. Now, what does that mean this far out? the Democrats have the leadership and the messaging and the ideas to make the challenges of this administration into an opportunity for them to win elections? All right. I'll give you a frank and quick answer. No. But they are with me. It is not necessary right now that they do because we're not a unified party. We have a disarm. We have a decided our direction. But what we can do in this, and we will do it successfully if we do it smartly, is it come November, we're going to offer people a choice. And if you ask me,

what should the democratic message be? I'm going to use an Italian word that I learned, Basta. Enough. Basta, enough. It's enough. It's enough. You know, with ice, it's enough with Greenland. It's enough with corruption. it's enough of everything. And to the extent that you can, I think I think our slogan is one word, Basta, because we can't, we don't have, our party is, as a coalition. There are certain members of the coalition, there are certain groups that are part of coalition. The only people that can sought this coalition out are Democratic primary voters,

and they will do that in 2028. So we can't get ahead of ourselves because no one has really been authorized by Democrats to speak for a majority of the party. But the Democratic Party is united around the word buster. It's just enough. It's good to see the Italian influence come back into mainstream, by the way. It's everywhere. It's in our clothes. It's in our music.

It's in our food. It's in our culture. My children tease me about how dad ever wants to do it. go to Italy for good reason. Everybody wants to be Italian. Everybody does. Everybody wants to be Italian on some level. Nobody's ever said, you know, kiss me on Polish. You know what I'm saying? It's kiss me. I'm Italian, man. It's kiss me on Italian. Jimmy, I understand where you're coming from. Yeah, right? I understand where you're coming from. And I understand your desperation in a positive sense to see the party open its eyes and realize that it has to come together for the majority

in this country. It is amazing to me how effective the separators have become. And do you believe that the biggest animal that you and I have ever tried to take on is social media and these algorithms which are literally by design dividing people? I'll say, so courage, I'm bold and I don't, my career is kind of behind me, thanks to people like you and other people, I still have a voice periodically. My advice is you, as your friend, and if you say, to hell with these people. They're a pack of losers. For the most part, I'm sure some of them are talented and patriotic people and have their own view.

But every time that I do something, do people say you should never look at the comments. But you know what? I get bored. I look at the comments. Oh, the guys are a law. No one's listened to a thing you said in the last 35 years. And you just got to, if you let that dictate you or you let that bother you, again, these people individually or even collectively really don't have that much problem. I have expression, trend this, you son of a bitch. That's what I think about. Hey, let me ask you one other things, Jimmy. You know what the gesture is.

I don't have to say. Oh, I know. I know what it is. I know what it is. Believe me, I think I came out of the womb. I think I came out of the womb doing it. Let me ask you one other thing. Voter ID.

Do you think we've reached a critical mass where the American majority will demand this? And what is your concern about it? Well, first of all, there is so little evidence that there is any voter fraud in the United States. The Bush people looked at it. Yes, attorneys look at it. The press is looking at it. The Republicans can expose it any time they want to. The truth of the matter is our elections are about as fair as you can make elections.

I think some of it is the laws we do to try to suppress voters and turnouts can be margin effective on the margins. But we're addressing the problem we don't have. Why don't we talk about opportunity for young people? Why don't we talk about how we can give people tools to deal? with increased cost to live in. Why don't we talk about, which I think is a very good progressive left-wing idea. If it is that, I think it's a good idea, by having universal daycare. So women can work and get the kind of advantages that people need.

Our problem is not that our elections are all wrong. That's not a problem at all. And that's addressed with the real problems. James Carville, thank you for the wisdom, mentoring, and the friendship. and I'll talk to you soon. Thank you, sir. And remember, trend this. I like trend this and I like Basta.

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Learn more at adobe.com slash do that with Acrobat. 8669676.6.6.6.6.7. Call her, what is your name and what is your game? Hey, Chris, it's Lee from Atlanta. Lee from Hotlanda. After all these years, you know, we still don't call it that. Everybody calls it that. Nobody.

All the problem is that is you. Tom is saying, hey, is that the chubby guy from Atlanta? That's what Tom is. I know Tom is not saying that. He's saying it right now. No, you are. You can't see him, but that's what he said. All of this is, all of this is coming from the fact that you're very jealous in the fact that I can grow a mean beard and you cannot.

This is true. It hurts because it is true. Make your witness, young father. All right. So, it was interesting listening to Laura Trump because I, I know, I know people can sort of like frame this as like, oh, well, you know, you're against the president because blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Well, I don't think anything is significantly better. Like, I now have the equivalent of an extra car payment when it comes to health care because it looks like the dude doesn't like the name Obama in Obamacare.

And, you know, hearing Laura Trump say that everything is better is a bit comical. Like, prices on everything are still up. Like, you go to the grocery store, it's insane. And the thing is, is I know to a certain extent that he does not have control over that, but when you run on that and say, yeah, we're going to lower this. stuff, you know, day one and then a year later, everything's still more expensive is crazy. And, you know, when I hear like, oh, we're rooting out the bad guys in the cities, but then I see him pardon a drug trafficker, that doesn't make sense.

When we have an unchecked military force running through our cities, beating and killing people, like, I'm sorry, under no, like possible rubric you could compare this to, is that any better? Like, two, three years ago, my wife wasn't worried about going outside with papers because she's not white. So yeah, I'm, I'm sorry, man. I hate to have my first call be something that sounds negative, but I don't feel like there's anything. Never apologize. Never apologize for offering the world as you see it as somebody who works, who's a father, who's a husband, and who really cares about his community, enough to have ideas that aren't popular in the moment. But I got to tell you, the people are with you on this one, my brother. Times are hard.

The cost of everything is choking people. people who say anything else are going to be quickly revealed to be deceptive. I appreciate you. I'm glad to have you back. You are always welcome to call in and we'll speak again, my friend. Lee, be well. All right. Take care of yourself.

We have Earl from Maryland. Love that name. More people should be using it. What is your question, sir? Oh, Chris, come on. You just made my morning, man. That's an old man's name. I got to tell you, you don't sound like.

an Earl. I'm going to be honest, Earl. You don't sound like an Earl. I could go with maybe a Brian, maybe you Clarence. I'm not giving you an Earl, but I'll call you Earl just because you used it. What is your question? Hey, hey, buddy. Congrats. I've been following you and CNN. When you left, I was heartbroken. And welcome, welcome, welcome. And I wish you all the best. Here's my take on everything. I need you to promise me you're going to stay in In other words, we need voices like yours out there that can just give guys like us who are independence and opportunity to just hear the middle. And we're not hearing enough of the middle. So I hope as your program go on, that you'll remind yourself you came on to be right in the middle.

I might not like some of the stuff your guest said like Laura Trump, but her voice was heard. and I just want to make sure that the middle is also heard also as your show goal. Well, you're right, Earl, because the middle is the majority. And it's not middle, right? Because you never want to be, you grew up in Jamaica, I grew up in Jamaica, Queens, close enough. You never want to be in the middle of any fight, okay? Because all that's going to happen is we're going to get our ass kick two ways, right? So that's why people pick a side.

But I'm saying you've got to break out of that binary structure because it's artificial. And the majority of this country, you know it wherever you live. I know it where I live, man. The other day we get snow. I go outside. It's like 6.15 in the morning because I'm like, was practicing to be up and like ready to go for this show. People are walking around, jumping out of trucks, shoveling things for people, moving things out of the road. Why? Because it's the right thing to do. Because they made that choice. That's who we are. Are we also the A-holes and all the toxic people and the opportunists. Yeah, we're them too. But we never used to focus on them more than everybody else. We grew up, you and I with the saying, you got nothing nice to say, shut your mouth.

If you don't like something, find a way to make it better. See, we've gotten out of that business. Why? This way's easier. This way gets you paid, Earl. So I'm tapping into that majority, and I don't give a damn if it gets me fired. I did not leave CNN. I got my ass kicked to the curb because they said I lied about what I did to help my brother. And that was a lie. And they know it. And that's why I litigated it. And that's why I'm going to stay on it.

But that is the past. So this guy, Alec from New Jersey, he's been holding on. He says, we've had beef. Alec, we've had beef. Good morning. So what did we have beef about? And what do you want to beef about now? Actually, I'm not going to beef.

I'm going to compliment. menu. I happen to really like, I really like the new Chris Cuomo. And you'd probably get up the new Chris Cuomo. Right. That's right. That's exactly what I said. But you, you are perceived very differently by the public right now. So how do you figure and how do you know what the public thinks by the way? What do you have? What do you have? I'm a member of a member of it. So one member of the public sees me differently. How so? Oh, there's no question. Uh, so. So I called you in about 21 about a comment you made about Aaron Rogers lying about his vaccine status. And I was very angered. And I started the conversation by being very honest and

telling you that I've never agreed with you on anything. But we had a very nice, we had a really good conversation. It was actually quite long. When I listen to you now, I can listen to you. I find that you make sense. I didn't feel that way very often before. And I will shift slightly to say that your conversation with James Carville is a perfect lead into this. Because I think the biggest problem is that I think you'd agree. We all have bias, right? We all have a personal bias based on our beliefs, based on our experiences, whatever we're exposed to, et cetera.

James Carville obviously has a bias. He's a Democrat. He will never. There are things you can say about Donald Trump that are good. There are things that you can say about Donald Trump that are bad. I don't think many people would disagree with the latter part of that. But James Carville will attack Donald Trump on pretty much anything. He has a, you know, I think he touched on the fact that he,

in the beginning of the conversation, he said something about his voice not being heard. I can't remember exactly what he said. But the problem with him is he's so biased. that for anyone with any level of objectivity, it's very hard to listen to him. I know, but, Alex, that's the whole point, is that you have to know what kind of commodity somebody is. See, you are what they call a critical thinker. Most people now are just goblers of whatever they are fed in their particular bubble, not to make metaphors. But that is the problem.

But look, what's the good news? What's the good news? The good news is the fastest growing part of the electorate is independence, people who overtly reject left and right. Why? Because the sides are killing us. And I know people get this. And I know people don't identify that way. Like in your everyday life, right, where I live is a place that absolutely voted for Trump, but it does have a very strong liberal base as well there. So it's a mixed community. And you know what? Nobody ever really talks about that. They talk about what's needed in the community. and who's helping. We just had a record year of volunteers joining the first responders in emergency services where I live. Why? Because people care. That's why you'd never expect that, given what's happening in our politics. But social media is not reality. Reality is reality, and it's becoming overwhelmed by what we see in social media. It allows us to get away from humanity. That's exactly right. And we've got to get back to it. One of the ways we do that, the best way,

is by talking to each other. Give me a last thought, and I'm going to break, and make it short. Okay. I was going to tell you five years ago not to hang up on me and then badmouthed me, and that's exactly what you did. And I'm doing it again right now. Bam, he's gone, and that guy's a chooch. No, I'm kidding.

I appreciate him calling in. I appreciate the good. I appreciate the bad. Why? Because all of it gives you an opportunity to use it, okay? You get to use what you see out there. open your eyes, see the game, and become part of your own fate. 866, 967-6887. If something bothers you, call. I am here for it.

The best measure of where we are as a society is hearing from other members of that society in conversation that has some cogency to it, some intelligence, not just, what do you think about Greenland? It's not about provocation, okay? It's about conversation. That's what we're getting after here on the YouTube channel for the Chris Cuomo project on News Nation, where I'm doing my cable show, and Sirius XM, POTUS channel 124 for Cuomo in the mornings. Bon Appetit.