What A Day - Dems Ditch Trump’s Yap Flap

Episode Date: March 4, 2025

Tonight, President Trump will give his first major address to the nation since the inauguration of his second term. He’ll probably talk about how great of a job he's doing, the Gulf of America and deporting undocumented immigrants. Who knows, he might even rant about the Russian influence investigation some more. Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut tells us why he won’t be attending Trump's address — and why the president is vying to become Russian President Vladimir Putin’s new best friend. And later in the show, California Democratic Representative Lateefah Simon is set to deliver the Working Families Party response to the president. She previews her speech for us.In headlines: Trump’s 25-percent tariffs on Mexican and Canadian imports are set to take effect today, First Lady Melania Trump made her first public appearance since Inauguration Day, and the Senate confirmed Linda McMahon as Education Secretary.Show Notes:Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8Support victims of the fire – votesaveamerica.com/reliefWhat A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcastFollow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

It's Tuesday, March 4th. I'm Jane Coaston. And this is What a Day, the show that loves to hear fun, easy suggestions from the Trump administration on how to lower the cost of living for everyday Americans just trying to get by. People are sort of looking around thinking, wow, well, maybe I could get a chicken in my backyard and it's awesome. Fun and funny.

I'll put the chickens in my non-existent yard next to my forge, you know, to get ahead of those steel tariffs. On today's show, First Lady Melania Trump made her first appearance on Capitol Hill since President Donald Trump took office. And President Trump's cabinet is almost complete with the confirmation of Linda McMahon as Education Secretary.

Tonight, President Trump will be giving his first major address to the nation since the inauguration of a second term. He will probably praise his new tariffs, which are scheduled to go into effect today. He will probably talk about how he's deporting undocumented immigrants. Who knows, he might even rant about

the Russian influence investigation some more. In fact, it'll be just a few days since his bonkers Oval Office meeting with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky. And I've been thinking a lot about the aftermath of that meeting, because a lot of the aftermath, especially from Republicans, has been odd. Here's an example. If you recall, Vice President J.D. Vance spent a part of that meeting demanding that Zelensky, whose nation is in the midst of a titanic war against Russia that has killed thousands of Ukrainians and displaced millions more, say thank you more

often. And unsurprisingly, that's become a big talking point in the right. That Vladimir Zelensky basically needs to smile more. Here's Donald Trump himself on Monday, arguing that Zelensky needs to show more appreciation for the United States. What do you need to see from President Zelensky to restart these negotiations? Well, I just think he should be more appreciative because this country has stuck with them through thick and thin. We've given them much more than Europe and Europe should have given more than us because as you know, that's right there. That's the border. This country really was like the fence on the border. It was very important to Europe. And I'm not knocking Europe. I'm saying that they were a lot smarter than Joe Biden because Joe Biden didn't have a clue. He just gave money hand over fist.

We have, for the record, not given more than Europe. And here's National Security Advisor Mike Waltz on Fox News Monday, toeing the party line and saying that the disastrous meeting was Zelensky's fault for not being nicer. What we need to hear from President Zelensky is that he has regret for what happened. He's ready to sign this mineral deal and that he's ready to engage in peace talks. I don't think that's too much to ask. I think that's what's best for the American people, for the Ukrainian people, for Russia, and for the world to restore stability.

Friday's meeting was supposed to be about a deal that would give the U.S. access to Ukraine's rare earth minerals in exchange for military support. According to some within the GOP, that deal is still possible, despite the fact that on Monday evening, Bloomberg and CNN reported that the United States has paused military aid to Ukraine until the Trump administration determines whether Ukraine is ready for peace talks. I guess more smiling. But it's worth saying that the general consensus within the Republican Party right now is that

Ukraine, not Russia, is the problem. Despite the fact that Russia invaded a sovereign country, despite the fact that Russia has worked to destabilize the United States and European countries over and over again, apparently the GOP says, eh, that's cool. Now, some on the right will say they just want an end to the war. Bring peace. Be realists. But is it realistic to think that Vladimir Putin will be satisfied with, say, all of eastern Ukraine? Even all of Ukraine? Another person who has been thinking about Ukraine

and what Trump's actions against Ukraine mean for everyday Americans is Connecticut Democratic Senator Chris Murphy. He joined us to talk about the war in Ukraine and why Trump has decided to become Vladimir Putin's new best friend. Senator Murphy, welcome to What a Day. Thanks for having me.

President Trump is speaking before Congress tonight during the joint session. You have decided not to attend. How did you come to your decision? I remember Trump's last State of the Union speech, and it just wasn't a State of the Union speech. It was a MAGA pep rally. It was full of unending lies. It wasn't a sincere attempt to try to engage the country in a conversation about what was right and

what was wrong with America. I don't need to be an extra in a Donald Trump political event. And I think there have to be some people engaging in real time fact checking when you have somebody like this in the White House who is so unapologetic about not telling the truth. Some Democrats say that skipping the session is the wrong thing to do and members of the party should be there to show strength. What's your response to that? I just ultimately think that the old tactics don't work right now. I don't know that we can sort of run back the same plays that we've been running for the last five to 10 years.

We have to understand that we are in a fight, and a fight that is unlike any fight that we've ever been a part of. And that means that you have to signal to the American people that we're gonna do things differently, because the threat is different. We have never ever seen, in our political lifetimes, people that we're going to do things differently, because the threat is different. We have never ever seen, in our political lifetimes at least, a president so brazenly

try to deconstruct the rule of law, try to essentially turn our government into a machine of corruption for himself and his billionaire friends. And so we have to use tactics. We have to use words that convey the gravity of the moment. So to me, it just doesn't make sense for to be part of that event. I think I can better convey to the people I represent how urgent this moment is by being outside of that room. Let's talk about Ukraine and that disastrous meeting last week between Trump, Vance, and Zelensky.

You said on CNN Sunday that the White House has become an arm of the Kremlin. What would it mean for the US to abandon Ukraine right now? Well, Europe cannot ultimately support Ukraine in the way that is necessary to prevent Russia's takeover. So if the United States abandons Ukraine, Ukraine will either be wholly owned by Russia or a vassal state of Russia.

That probably means that Putin doesn't stop. If after two and a half years he gets to control a European state, then he will likely move on to Moldova or perhaps to a NATO nation. China moves up its timeline to take Taiwan and maybe go beyond Taiwan. We're back sort of into a 1700s world where big states expand their border by force. That's a really bad world for a country that has come to rely on the free flow of global commerce on relative global stability. It also is confirmation that Donald Trump is gonna do anything and everything possible

to convert our own democracy to a sort of kleptocratic oligarchy in which the billionaires rule and steal from us. That's really why he is taking sides with Russia because he wants to make it look normal what the Kremlin does. I think you've got to understand the Ukraine story, not just as a foreign policy story, but as a domestic policy story as well. As a member of the Senate, what have you made of some of your Republican colleagues and

former colleagues apparent flips on Ukraine? I'm thinking about Senator Lindsey Graham, who has a reputation as a foreign policy hawk, but on Friday said he was proud of President Trump. Also Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who in the past called Putin a war criminal, but is now defending Trump's actions. How are you making sense of their positions now? I think it's pretty easy to make sense of it. Their party is a cult of personality. There is no room for disagreement with the leader. I mean, Marco Rubio took that job understanding that he was going to have to throw out much of what he had believed previously.

Lindsey Graham will never ever be publicly crosswise with the leader. That's the modern Republican party. What would it mean for US foreign policy if the Republican party fully abandons positions it's held and been very proud of since the Cold War. Well, that China rules the world, you know, within the next several decades. We are in a contest with China when it comes to who controls the pipes of the international economy. That's the port infrastructure, the high speed data infrastructure, the flow of critical minerals.

China wants to control all of that. The Republican Party right now is rolling up American influence and power around the world, which means it'll be Chinese product safety standards that will rule the day. It will be Chinese food safety standards. It will be Chinese food safety standards. It will be Chinese data safety standards. America will be a inferior nation. Conversely, do you think Republicans have a point that this war isn't a stalemate and it's time to negotiate some sort of ceasefire here, even if it means giving Putin some of

the things he wants, like control of eastern Ukraine? Well, there's certainly no doubt that there's going to eventually have to be a diplomatic solution, but this isn't a negotiation that they're talking about. It's a capitulation. If you were going to engage in a good faith negotiation, you would negotiate from a position of strength, right? You'd come to Congress and ask for an authorization of new military funding. You might even signal to the Russians that you're willing to increase the kind of weapons

that you're going to give Ukraine if Russia doesn't come to the table. That's the exact opposite of what Donald Trump has done. Donald Trump has parroted Russian talking points over the course of the last two weeks. They essentially telegraphed publicly their bottom lines, for instance, that Ukraine would never become part of NATO, would never get a security guarantee. And Zelensky knows it, which is why he asked at the White House, why would you ever trust Russia? Because what he's being asked to do is to agree to a ceasefire in which Ukraine would

withdraw its troops from the front lines. Russia would not. And as soon as Ukraine was gone, Russia would move into the rest of Ukraine. That's a surrender. That's not a negotiation. I know you and I both spend, regrettably, a lot of time online. And I was so weirded out to see this false claim spread

very quickly that Democrats convinced or pressured Zelensky to reject a deal over minerals that Trump wanted in exchange for USAID. It was a complete invention. You wrote on Twitter that these kinds of claims are a quote means toward an end and that end is the destruction of democracy and the rule of law in order to install the Trump family and power permanently. Can you flesh that out for us? So the ultimate

claim was that Democrats had met with Zelensky in a number of different forums and told him that he shouldn't sign the minerals deal. Like totally made up. I was in one of those supposed meetings and not a single person in that meeting, and it was Republicans and Democrats, by the way, in that meeting with Zelensky, told him that he should reject the deal. Everybody said that he should sign it. The other meeting, which was apparently a conference call with Tony Blinken, Susan Rice

and Victoria Nuland literally never happened. Right. It was just made up by some MAGA person and it just spread virally in a matter of hours. And you know, it ended up being parroted by Trump administration officials, by the US attorney in DC who threatened to lock up the people that were on the conference call that never happened. Like, none of them went and tried to lock up the people that were on the conference call that never happened. Like, none of them went and tried to find the source of that rumor.

I went to go find it and within five minutes, I discovered that it was just some MAGA troll in her basement that posted her speculation that of course there must have been a conference call with Barack Obama and Tony Blinken and Zelensky. But they don't care about truth. They don't. The propaganda is the point because they're just trying to create a world in which people come to the conclusion that Democrats are evil, that they are an existential threat to the republic, and thus any means is necessary, any means, including violence, is necessary

and justified in order to destroy the left, in order to destroy Democrats, and in order to allow Donald Trump and Donald Trump Jr. and whomever else in the Trump family to rule forever. Senator, I was really struck by something. You've mentioned it a couple of times, that this isn't just about foreign policy. This is about domestic policy. There are millions of Americans who, to be honest, don't care about foreign policy. They are worried about what's going on at home.

And on the subject of Ukraine, well, very few Americans outside of the internet support Russia. Many Americans are pulling back from supporting Ukraine. And there are a lot of voters who seem to believe Trump and his allies when they say they want to focus on America first and on keeping Americans safe and that pulling back from the world is the right way to do so. What do you say to them? We live in a globally connected world today and America has become the most powerful economic and political power in the world because over the last 75 to 85 years,

we have not had big nation on big nation conflict. If Ukraine is gobbled up by Russia. Big powers will invade smaller nations and that's a world in which a the US loses and that is also a world in which the United States probably gets dragged into a conflict in which there is a risk that a nuclear weapon goes off. That's why we have been so careful after World War II in not allowing a country like Russia to do what it's doing to Ukraine. What's happening between Trump and Russia is also about the domestic crisis. The reason why he is hugging dictators like Putin is because he wants to normalize dictatorships

where he decides what the law is on any given day. He literally calls himself a king sometimes. So the affection for people like Putin, it's dangerous to American national security. It may get a lot of Americans killed, but it is also very much connected to what he is trying to do domestically, and that's just keep everybody asleep as all of a sudden the right to dissent gets destroyed.

Senator Murphy, thank you so much for joining me. Thank you. That was my conversation with Connecticut Democratic Senator Chris Murphy. We'll get to more of the news in a moment, but if you like the show, make sure to subscribe, leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts, watch us on YouTube, and share with your friends. More to come after some ads. This episode was brought to you by BetterHelp. Think about your favorite leaders, the people you look up to.

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Headlines. Tariffs, 25% on Canada and 25% on Mexico and that'll start. So they're going to have to have a tariff. So what they have to do is build their car plants, frankly, and other things in the United States. President Trump said Monday that 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada will go into effect starting today. Trump initially agreed to a one month delay on the tariffs in February.

But when asked by reporters at a White House press conference Monday if Canada or Mexico still had a chance to avoid them, Trump said no deal. Trump partly blamed the tariffs on the quote, vast amounts of fentanyl that's coming to the U.S. for Mexico and China. He also pushed for car manufacturers to build plants in the US to avoid being hit by the tariffs. According to anonymous sources that spoke with Reuters, Honda has already decided to make its next generation Honda Civic Hybrid in the US instead of

Mexico in an effort to sidestep potential tariffs. After Trump's announcement Monday, Wall Street took a hit. The tariffs put the US at risk of a trade war with its closest neighbors. Defense Secretary Pete Hagsteth ordered Pentagon officials to stop any operations against Russian cybersecurity attacks over the weekend. The news outlet The Record was the first to report the news on Friday, citing anonymous sources. National Security Advisor Mike Walz told CNN Sunday that he was not aware of the directive. Former Pentagon officials told the New York Times that it's not uncommon for the U.S. to pause some military operations amid diplomatic efforts, such as the effort to end the years-long

war in Ukraine. But Hegs's order seems aimed at pleasing the Kremlin as the Trump administration moves further away from Ukraine. We saw that in full force during last week's disastrous Oval Office meeting between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer commented on Hegcess' order Sunday, tweeting that Trump is, quote, "...so desperate to earn the affection of a thug like Vladimir Putin, he appears to

be giving him a free pass." Anonymous sources told the record that Hegcess's directive will remain in effect until further notice. It's heartbreaking to witness young teens, especially girls, grappling with the overwhelming challenges posed by malicious online content, like deepfates. First Lady Melania Trump lobbied for a bill that would make it a federal crime to post non-consensual intimate images,

real or fake, online Monday. This is the first time we've heard from the First Lady since her husband's inauguration. During a roundtable discussion with lawmakers on Capitol Hill, the First Lady discussed the Take It Down Act. The widespread presence of abusive behavior in the digital domain affects the daily lives of our children, families, and communities.

Addressing this issue is essential for fostering a safe and supportive environment for our young people. The legislation would make it a federal crime to knowingly post or threaten to publish pornographic images of someone without their consent, including realistic computer-generated images and videos that attempt to show real people who can be identified. The bill has bipartisan support with sponsors like Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota. It passed the Senate last month and now heads to the GOP-controlled House.

The days are 51, the days are 45, the nomination is confirmed. It's official. Linda McMahon is the new Education Secretary. On Monday, the Senate confirmed yet another Trump nominee with little to no experience for a cabinet job. The former wrestling executive is tasked with running the Education Department, while the Trump administration works to get the agency dismantled. Trump has repeatedly said he wants to defund the department and let states run their schools. During her Senate confirmation hearings, McMahon claimed that all she wants to do is make the Education Department, quote,

The man claimed that all she wants to do is make the Education Department, quote, operate more efficiently. But if her definition of efficiency is anything like Elon Musk's, it's not looking good. Only two of Trump's cabinet picks have yet to be confirmed by the Senate. Labor Secretary nominee Lori Chavez de Rimmer, and United Nations Ambassador nominee Elise Stefanik. And that's the news. One more thing. Tonight, Donald Trump is giving a joint address to Congress. No, it's not a State of the Union, because believe it or not, he's just been sworn into

office. Yes, just. But in any case, Trump's going to speak to the country, and Democrats are trying to decide how to respond. Should they go and be a visible opposition? Or should they just do literally anything else? A handful of Democrats in both the House and Senate aren't going. Oregon Democratic Senator Ron Wyden is choosing instead to talk to constituents. Here he is on CNN on Monday. That's what my constituents want. That's what Oregonians,

many of them, told me that they were interested in. They said, we want to hear about Social Security. We want to hear about Medicaid. We want to hear about fighting fires. We want to hear about our veterans. We're not interested in hearing about the Donald Trump alternate reality. So that's why we're doing it. We spoke to Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy earlier in the show. He's not going either. But I want to know, it's not just about go or not go. What will Democrats say to respond to Trump? Because Trump's going to say Trump stuff to America. He'll be racist and offensive while also being factually wrong and also weird?

A combination I did not think I would have to keep seeing for another four years of my valuable lifespan. What can Democrats tell Americans? California Democratic Representative Latifah Simon will be giving the Working Families Party response to the joint address. She joined me to give me a preview of her speech. Representative Simon, welcome to What a Day! Thank you so much for having me.

You have only been in office a few weeks, but you've been very busy speaking out against the Trump administration and Doge's firings of every federal worker they can find. Why have you been showing up these rallies day after day? I came from a background of organizing and being on the ground. I've been doing this work for 30 years, and when I say this work, it's standing in the gap when government is failing us, being a voice, but also moving with my feet to support people that I care about.

Those are veterans, those are disabled workers. Those are folks who are working right now in a social security office, delivering death benefits to little children. Like my daughter, Leila, when her father passed away from cancer, he was on social security for the last year of his life. We have created in the last 30 years a pretty significant safety structure for poor people.

And we're seeing day after day, literally minute after minute, hour after hour, these structures being forcefully attacked, literally, with a chainsaw by this administration. And so, for me, the job here is to represent. The job here is not to just wait on what we should say. It's to talk about what we deserve, what we need, and really how this administration is violating the American promise, which is very basic. You're giving the working families response to Trump's address to Congress tonight.

Can you give us a preview? I already know what the president is going to say. He's been saying it every day during his campaign, and that was to do everything that he possibly can to go back to a 1950s America, a segregationist America, where only a small few got the benefit of government. I'm going to be talking about the real stories of real folks, both rural and urban and red and blue states, who deserve basic health care, who deserve federal services, who are counting on the Department of Education because that mother has a child who is autistic and who deserves an aid in their classroom. We're going to be talking about seniors who are living in care facilities right now,

who are at risk of not only having their social security ripped away, but the reality, not hyperbole, of their care being disrupted. You have farmers, you have low-income white families in rural America who don't know what next month is going to look like. They did not sign up for this. You are going to be speaking to millions of Americans, millions of Americans who voted for Trump, millions of Americans who voted for Vice President Kamala Harris, millions of Americans who may not have voted at all. What do you think is most important for Americans to hear right now? I will be delivering a conversation that I believe that we all deserve in this moment,

red or blue, that we have a nation that promised that we would have a separation in government and that there would be checks and balances. We are seeing those checks and balances collapse before our very eyes in real time. And folks need to know that they have the power to reset. We can take back the Congress, which means we can actually start working and getting things done on behalf of real folks, real working folks.

Representative Simon, thank you so much for being here. Thank you so much. I appreciate you. That was my conversation with California Democratic Representative Latifah Simon. Before we go, Trump's speech is tonight and we're sure it'll be super normal. We already know what to expect. Flagrant lies, scare tactics, self-congratulation, and at least one nod to colonizing Canada and or Greenland. The good news? You don't have to endure it alone.

Join John, John, Tommy, and Dan today at 5pm Pacific, 8pm Eastern on the Pod Save America YouTube channel for a livestream preview of the speech. They'll break down what to expect and take questions from Friends of the Pod subscribers. Then at 6pm Pacific, 9pm Eastern, head over to the Friends of the Pod Discord for a subscriber only live chat, where you can process this freak show in real time

with people who truly get it. No deranged Facebook uncles, no screaming into the void, just a space to vent, fact check, and remind each other that reality still matters. Let's get through this together. Sign up for Friends of the Pod now at crooked.com slash friends. It's the best way to support Crooked and everything we do. That's all for today.

If you liked the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, contemplate your choices and decisions if you decide to pay for ads on Twitter to promote your own tweets and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading and not just about how seriously, there is no level of down bad worse than paying to have your stupid tweets shown to innocent people who don't need to know what you think about stuff like me. What a Day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at crooked.com slash subscribe. I'm Jane Coaston and don't give Elon more money. Don't do it. He's got enough. What a Day is a production of Crooked Media. It's recorded and mixed by Desmond Taylor.

Our associate producers are Raven Yamamoto and Emily Four. Our producer is Michelle Alloy. We had production help today from Johanna Case, Joseph Dutra, Craig Walters, and Julia Clare. Our senior producer is Erica Morrison, and our executive producer is Adrian Hill. Our theme music is by Colin Giliard and Kashaka. Our production staff is proudly unionized with the Writers Guild of America East.