What A Day - Trump, GOP Shouting Match

Episode Date: June 24, 2026

President Trump has one clear talent: pissing off his purported allies, like when he was supposed to sign a big bipartisan housing bill. Republicans were hoping to campaign on the legislation and show that they care about the number one concern of American voters: the high cost of living. But Donald Trump doesn't care. Wednesday morning, he abruptly canceled the signing ceremony without telling Republican members of Congress, declaring he won't sign the bill until Congress passes the SAVE America Act. This massive federal elections bill would require Americans to show their passport or birth certificate to vote. To talk more about how Trump seems determined to derail Congress, even when it hurts his own party, we spoke with Maryland Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen.And in headlines, the U.S. military reinstates flu shot requirements for recruits after an outbreak at a Texas Air Force base, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani won big in Tuesday’s primary, and a federal judge permanently bars the Trump administration from implementing most of Trump’s first executive order on elections.Show Notes: Call Congress – 202-224-3121 Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/y4y2e9jy What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcast Follow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/ For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

Senate Republican leaders are not only scratching their heads, they're, you know, probably willing to jump out of the balconies around here. Because every time they think maybe there'll be something positive coming out of the White House, like the plan today to sign the Road to Housing Act, the president blows it up. I'm Jane Koston, and this is what a day. Look, today has already been a complete mess in a lot of ways. So I'd like to introduce you to Mexican national team supporter Merlin the Duck. He has custom duck socks and a mini Mexico soccer jersey.

Merlin the Duck has been declared Mexico's World Cup ambassador. On Monday, he even got to meet Mexican President Claudia Scheinbaum. This is, I regret to inform you, the high point of today's news. On today's show, we talked to Maryland Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen about how President Donald Trump has become the Republican lawmakers' biggest. problem. Before we get into all that, here's what we're following today, Wednesday, June 24th. The war is going very well. As you know, we're winning by a lot. Iran is making very big concessions. We'll see what happens, but it's been very, very, very powerful. It's going very, very well.

Sure. President Trump spoke to reporters of the Capitol today ahead of his lunch with Senate Republicans. and he was quite optimistic about that war he started. But I wonder if the American people feel the same way. Well, according to a new Reuters-Ipsos poll, only one in four Americans think that the war with Iran was worth its costs. Yikes. The poll also found that the war is dragging down Trump's approval rating, which is back at 34%.

And that's not all. Around 63% of respondents said they don't think Trump's interim peace deal with Iran will last. Our new policy is simple. If you, an American warrior, entrusted to defend this nation, believe that the flu vaccine is in your best interest, then you are free to take it. You shouldn't. But we will not force you because your body, your faith, and your convictions are not negotiable. Your health. Yep, that Secretary of Defense slash little boy, Pete Heggseth, back in April, arguing your body, your choice by ending mandatory flu vaccines for service members.

Well, it's now June, and the U.S. military has reinstated flu shot requirements. requirements for recruits. That's according to ABC News, which says more than 200 Air Force members at a base in Texas have been diagnosed with the flu, something a mandatory vaccine might have prevented. It's unacceptable that one and four are living in poverty. It's unacceptable that too many New Yorkers are spending all of their day trying to figure out how they're going to make their rent check or pay for their groceries or pay their Con Ed bill. And what we saw last night was a hunger for leaders who will be there on the front lines looking to make it easier for working to people to afford life in the greatest city in the world. New York City Mayor Zara Mamdani held a press briefing today following great success in Tuesday's primary elections.

Momdani had waited into Democratic U.S. House primaries to boost three progressives over establishment-backed candidates. And guess what? All of them won. They defeated two incumbents all but ensuring that two self-described Democratic Socialists will be elected to Congress in their deep blue districts. Elsewhere, President Trump was also looking for a win, and I figured out how to get one. Trump endorsed both candidates in the South Carolina Republican runoff for governor. Thus, it was no surprise when Trump backed South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson won, defeating Trump-backed Lieutenant Governor Pamela Vett in the runoff. A win as a win, I guess. But Trump can't win them all. While our dear president tries to push through his new proof of citizenship requirements, a federal judge said,

No. Okay, maybe those weren't the exact sentiments, but a federal judge today did permanently borrow the Trump administration from implementing most of his first executive order on elections, part of which sought to require people to show documentary proof of citizenship, like a passport or birth certificate when they register to vote. The ruling effectively converts a preliminary injunction issued a year ago, in which the judge temporarily blocked many of Trump's efforts to overhaul elections into a permanent ban. And that's the news. President Trump has one clear talent. It's not real estate and it's not monogamy.

It's managing to piss off his purported allies. 30 years ago, it was casino investors. Now it's the Republican Party. Case in point. Trump was supposed to sign a big housing bill today. A bipartisan housing bill. The 21st century Road to Housing Act. Republicans were hoping to campaign on the legislation

and show that they care about the number one concern of American voters. voters, the high cost of living. White House press secretary Caroline Lovett even tweeted support for the bill last night. But Donald Trump doesn't care. This morning, he abruptly canceled the signing ceremony without telling Republican members of Congress. Why? Well, according to his true social post, he won't sign the bill until Congress passes the Save America Act, that massive federal elections bill that would require Americans to show their passport or birth certificate in order to vote. There's only one issue. The GOP doesn't have. the votes to pass the Save America Act.

A fact, Senate Republicans probably told Trump at their lunch today. But again, Trump doesn't care about anything Congress says or does, which includes the Iran-war powers resolution that finally passed the Senate yesterday, which he called, quote, poorly timed and meaningless. So to talk more about how Trump seems determined to derail Congress, even when it hurts his own party, I spoke to Maryland Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen. Senator Van Hollen, welcome back.

to what a day. It's great to be with you, Jane. So today, we were just talking about this. President Trump canceled the signing of a bipartisan housing bill because he wants to pass the Save America Act. Can you tell us about this housing bill? Because it seems like the one thing Democrats and Republicans could agree on right now. You're absolutely right. It has a number of provisions to address the issue of housing affordability. It's not everything at once, but it is a step forward. It will increase the supply of housing. It will also make sure that hedge funds can't buy up certain current housing stock and therefore jack up housing prices on everybody else. It includes provisions that I had worked on with respect to affordable housing for our veterans. So you can see why this

was a bipartisan product. In fact, it's one of the very few bipartisan initiatives since Donald Trump came to the White House, and he decided to just to throw a stick of dynamite into the whole thing today. Yeah, I was really struck by how even last night the White House was saying, this is so great. You have Republicans who want a campaign on it. You know, you could see all of Trump's allies talking about how great this bill was. But as you said, he just threw a stick of dynamite in it, because in the words of House Speaker Mike Johnson, President Trump is, quote, laser-focused on the Save America Act. Can you remind us what the Save America Act is and why it's having trouble getting support even from Republicans? Yes, despite its name, the Save America Act, this would undermine the ability of millions of American citizens to exercise their right to vote by putting more obstacles in their way.

This has been sold with a complete lie, which is that we have all these people who are here illegally voting in our elections. Not true, but the bill requires is not just any ID, but certain forms of ID. So, for example, a passport or birth certificate. Well, we know that tens of millions of American citizens don't have those documents, and so we would put more obstacles in their ability to vote. Donald Trump has said very plainly. He said this in public, that this is his effort to, quote, guarantee the midterm elections. And his former Secretary of Homeland Security said the same thing. He said, this will make sure that the right people get elected. Their calculation is that there will be, you know, more Democrats who are somehow prevented from accessing the polls than Republicans.

And so that's what it's all about right now. Donald Trump's fixation on trying to fix the midterm elections in favor of Republicans. Which all stems from his belief that he won the 2020 election. Like all of this stems from election denialism. It all goes back to that. And I will say this is not going to pass the United States Senate. It's just not going to pass. And so when the president says that he's not going to sign the housing bill,

until he gets the Save America Act. If he sticks to that, then he's not signing the housing bill because the so-called Save America Act will not pass the United States Senate. And of course, this is the president who just said like a week ago that the affordability crisis was something made up by the Democrats.

He said inflation is good. He likes inflation. I think the American people who remember candidate Trump saying he was going to focus on bringing down prices and ending wars are very confused at the moment since he started a war and prices are going up. Yeah, and this isn't the first time. Trump has thrown a stick of dynamite into his own

party's legislative goals for the Save America Act. Earlier this month, he said he won't support Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act unless the Save America Act passes with it, even though FISA has nothing to do with voting. And we saw this even with that like mega slush fund for election denials, why is Trump becoming the Republican Party's worst enemy? Well, I really can't read his mind here. But your conclusion is right. I know Senate Republican leaders are not only scratching their heads, they're, you know, probably willing to jump out of the balconies around here, because every time they think maybe, there'll be something positive coming out of the White House,

like the plan today to sign the Road to Housing Act. The president blows it up. I think it is because he is ultimately driven by this desire to seek revenge for what he claims, and of course he's made it up, was the 2020 election results. And he wants that slush fund to reward, people who at his orders essentially, you know, rioted to the Capitol, assaulted police officers. And with the Save America Act, as we were saying, it sort of goes back to the same fraud that he's

perpetrating on the American people. So those are clearly his priorities, political revenge. I mean, if you think about the FISA issue, it's because he's determined to put Bill Pulte, who knows nothing about national security or nothing about intelligence in place. at the DNI, which, of course, oversees our most, most sensitive secrets. And his claim to fame is that he was a political hitman for Donald Trump. And he's already gone about, you know, firing people who have experience and expertise when it comes to our intelligence and our security and making us all less safe as a result. So something that interests me is that because the housing bill has bipartisan support, there's a way that it can get passed without Trump.

So if Trump continues to try to hold this legislation hostage to force his political priorities, Congress on this issue, I think, can kind of just work past him. Is that correct? Well, I think so long as the president doesn't veto the bill, and of course if he vetoes it, We have an override option, and based on the numbers, the healthy bipartisan numbers it passed with, we would be able to, I think, override the veto. I think the numbers are there. And if the president sits on it, then after a period of time, that also the law would go into effect. The president doesn't have forever to not to sign a bill passed by the Congress.

We'll get back to my conversation with Senator Van Hollen in a moment to talk about Congress actually making some history yesterday. But if you like the show, make sure to subscribe, leave a five-star review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, watch us on YouTube, and share with your friends. More to come after some ads. What a Day is brought to you by Zbiotics. Let's face it, after a night with drinks, I don't bounce back the next day like I used to. I have to make a choice. I can either have a great night or a great next day. That is, until I found pre-alcohol.

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www.Jew.com.com slash wad and enter code Watt at checkout. That's www. www.Jew.J.D.E.com.com slash Wad. Code Waw. Let's get back to my conversation with Maryland Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen. Now, I want to turn to the Iran War. Yesterday, the Senate finally passed a war powers resolution to limit Trump's future actions and Iran. Of course, the U.S. and Iran are currently in peace talks as of this second. So what does a war powers resolution do at this point? Well, it makes it clear that there's a bipartisan majority

in Congress to end the war. This is the first time in history that a concurrent warpowers resolution has passed the Congress, the first time in history. And it directs the press. The press, to begin to reduce, take forces out of the conflict area. So I know the president claims that this doesn't have an impact, but part of their argument all along for why they're able to sort of have free reign has been that Congress did not weigh in. Congress clearly has weighed in now. Now, of course, we're in a ceasefire, but it's a fragile ceasefire.

And I think what this does is send a very strong, reinforcing message that this war has to come to an end, that this ceasefire has to hold, and that we should get out of this war that should never have been started in the first place. I'm glad you said that, Senator, because I think you and I agree that this war was bad from the very start, and it is good for it to end. I think Democrats, some of your colleagues, actually on both sides of the aisle, have said that the U.S. is getting a bad deal in this memorandum of understanding. Do you think that this memorandum of understanding is good enough to end the war?

The short answer is yes, and let me just say this. There's no good way to end a bad war. We should never have gotten into this mess in the first place. We are worse off. Iran was able to demonstrate its ability to shut down the strait of Hormuz, which, as you well know, was open before the war started. And shutting down the strait was imposing shorthy's. huge economic harm on the United States, on consumers, gas prices going up, food prices going up, inflation now at a three-year high, and on the world economy. And so we did by attacking Iran,

together with Prime Minister Netanyahu, we actually gave Iran leverage that it did not previously have or did not previously use. Yes, they suffered a lot of destruction, but from a complete strategic perspective, they have shown that they're able to use their geographic position to really inflict huge economic pain on the United States and the world. And so the short answer to your question is, I think that we should move forward with this memorandum of understanding. I do think some Democrats are treading into potentially territorial. where there could be misinterpreted to suggest that the war should go on because there are only two options here. One is to go forward with the MOU. The other is to engage in war. And

restarting this war, a full-blown war would be a huge mistake. So as you've mentioned, Trump will probably try to pretend this didn't happen. He doesn't like listening to Congress. But to your point, this war powers resolution has passed both the House and the Senate. So what, what comes next? Where do we go from here? Well, if they continue to proceed with the ceasefire, then the next step would also include, you know, the withdrawal of some U.S. forces from the region, and that would be complying with the war powers resolution. If the president decides not to begin to redeploy troops out of the region, then you have a constitutional crisis, a situation. then the issue is do the courts get involved and how do they get involved?

And so I think it does largely depend on exactly what actions the president takes. As I said, I do think that this concurrent resolution, both houses of Congress, does reinforce the need for the president to follow through on the ceasefire and finally ending this war permanently. Senator Van Hollen, as always, thank you so much for joining me. It's great to be with you. Thanks. That was my conversation with Maryland Democratic Senator, Chris Van Hollen. Before we go, are you proud to be an American? I am, actually. We have free coffee refills and massive college football stadiums.

But it's not always that simple. In case you missed it, last Saturday on offline, John Favreau and journalist Jerusalem Demsis discussed patriotism on the internet and why they believe liberals would benefit from authentically reclux. naming patriotism. Offline offers deeper intellectual conversations about the impact of tech on politics. New episodes drop every Saturday, wherever you get your podcasts, and on YouTube. That's all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, celebrate the one good thing we have. Members of the Trump administration hating other members of the Trump administration and tell your friends to listen.

And if you're into reading, and not just about how according to New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan's new book, regime change, Treasury Secretary Scott Bassent called Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnik a, quote, idiot in front of Trump, adding that he'd, quote, fucked up a minerals deal. Like me, Water Day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at crooked.com slash subscribe. I'm Jane Koston. And finally, Scott Bassett and I have two things in common. We're gay, and we both think Howard Lutnik is an idiot. Waterday is a production of Crooked Media. Our show is produced by Caitlin Plummer, Emily 4, Erica Morrison, and Angel. Our team includes Haley Jones, Greg Walters, Matt Berg, Joseph Dutra, Johanna Case, and Desmond Taylor.

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