Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio news Bloomberg's Julie Fines both with Congressman Jake Lz of Texas. They discussed the latest on Trump administration, tariff's decisions at the border, and the aftermath of the DC air crash.
Everything Donald Trump does about one subject is the opening of a negotiation, and that's exactly what this is. I liken it to a bottle of diet coke that you throw mentos in. It gets everybody upset, but it gets them to the table talking. So that's the opening gamut on what we're going to talk about on trade.
Okay, so that's the opening gambit. But let's say there are tariffs again. Are you concerned it's going to hurt the economy.
Well, of course everybody is going to be concerned about that, But the short term hurt for America is going to be a long term gain. That's the going in position of the Trump administration.
In your opinion, our tariff's a good idea.
I think in the past that in in this particular case, the idea of getting them to the table will lead to no tariff center renegotiation for our country.
So you viewed this as a deterrent.
Absolutely, And remember he already did this with Columbia. He said, we're gonna slap twenty five percent on you today because you didn't take these flights of illegal immigrants. And they said, wait a minute, we'll take them now. Okay, Tariff's gone, you know. So that's the opening gambit.
But Colombia is a much different trading partner than Mexico or camp Absolutely, it is I want to move to something that has been is just so difficult?
Is this plane crash? And you have some insight into this.
Because you were a fighter pilot for the Navy, you flew helicopters. You were also a commercial air pilot for Southwest Airlines. I mean, first of all, you look at this and you think, how does this even happen?
How does this happen?
Nighttime brings a lot of uncertainty to aircraft operations around any airport. Reagan National Airport has operated concurrently with military aircraft specific helicopters in B twenty two's in the Washington Basin for many, many years. Something went terribly wrong. I do think that you'll see some changes coming out of this with concurrent commercial airline traffic and helicopter operations in the Washington Basin, and this is a terrible tragedy. And
I will say this as a pilot. I flew sixties, uh, the one like the one that was involved in the mishap. Every pilot on the planet has an opinion of what happened on that tragic day, none of which are helpful to the investigation. The investigation, they got both data recorders and we'll get to I'm sure everybody is going to be working on getting to a determination on what happened
as quickly as possible. And when that determination comes back and the NTSB, which is the lead agency on this, comes out with a report, I'd be happy to come back and talk about it.
Then, right after this happens, President Trump said, quote DEI policies quote could have been to blame for the crash. When asked how he came to that conclusion, he added, quote because I have common sense. He says this during a news conference that is right after the crash the next morning, as the investigation obviously is still going on.
Do you agree with that.
I think that every American in twenty twenty five is upset that this could possibly happen in our nation's capital with such a large loss of life, that doesn't make any sense to anybody. So I think he was merely showing the emotion that all of us have on an incident that is as tragic as this, And I think that's probably what's reflected there. And I'd go on to say that that sectif Hegseth did a video talking about this, this mishap, and I think that everybody's just upset at this.
Point, but upset he's pointing to DEI is that the right place to point here?
I think everybody's just looking.
For answers, and do you think that's an answer.
I think that he's looking for answers for why such a tragedy that hadn't occurred in the United States in fifteen years could possibly happen today, possibly happen in downtown Washington, d C. Possibly happened with all loss of life on board. And that's pure emotion talking there.
You sit on the Appropriations committee.
I want to turn to the border right now, because we are in a border state.
Borders.
Are Tom homans that it could be eighty six billion dollars for border plans?
Do you think that amount is likely? Do you think he'll get it from the committee.
Absolutely. Here's what's going on now. So we have the House, we have the Senate, and we have the White House. We're not going to put anything on the floor that
Donald Trump doesn't want. So if Donald Trump wants eighty six billion dollars for border security, and Tom Holman, his his closest advisor, as well as Christy Nolans, the Secretary of Homeland Security, says that's the number, that's going to be the number because we check within District six, that's the number one issue to taxpayers in District six is border security and Republican voters and most of the country,
and I think the election showed that. So yeah, we're going to do everything we can because we got to play some ketchup talking.
About mass deportations, which is part of this eighty six billion dollars. I've heard many people say that should be the criminals first, that should be the first priority. I mean, the presidents said that, Tom Homan has said that. Do you think, though, after that, that people that have built their lives here, children that are born here birthright citizenship, do you think they should be deported as well?
If they're here illegally they've got to go back and get in line.
So you think that anybody that's here illegally should be deported.
I think that the administration has taken the tack that if they're here illegally, they can self identify and come up with another means of getting registered. I don't know what the plan is. The administration has been in power for two weeks. But if you're here illegally, you're here illegally, you are breaking the law. And I think that that is the tac that the Trump administration and his cabinet has taken, and that's what they are executing as the executive branch.
That was Texas Congressman Jake Elsie speaking with Bloomberg's Julie Fine