Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. As we speak, we know that the nominations for Trump's cabinet is coming false and furious. Let's get perspective. Kevin McCaughey, from a US House speaker, joins me at this time, speakers, thank you for joining us. You know we've had names like Rubio, Walt's, Gates, even I mean, how do you make what do you make off the choices so far?
I think choices are very good except one. Look, Gates won't get confirmed. Everybody knows that. But when you look at a Rubio, just the knowledge that he has being in the Intel Committee, I was on the Gang of Eight, and his understanding even when you listen to the other side of the aisle, they say he'll make a great Secretary of State. So that's strong for me. A Waltz just his background from a Green Beret and others being the but John Radcliffe at CIA, former DNI, that's very strong.
And the difference is to what was eight years ago. Today, President Trump understands job, he knows the people that he needs around him to get there, and I think he's gonna be much better prepared because he only has one term. But he'll he'll hit the ground running this time.
You say Gates will not be confirmed, Why bother with the nomination?
Then you can talk to the president. But it's a good it's it's a good deflection from others. But it also gives I'll let us stand there with that.
No, I mean, just provide us some thinking into you know what Trump had in mind when he made that nomination. Is it a case so if you know you win some looseum it is a negotiating tactic or what's is it?
You'd have to ask President. But Gates couldn't win in a Republican conference, So it doesn't matter when you.
Take a look at the nomination so far. I mean we've seen you know, China hawks for instance. Is that an indication of how he will approach the relationship is in the US and China.
Look, I think for those world leaders they have a relationship with President Trump, and I think they're probably thankful that President Trump won. It brings greater stability around the world, but it also says a very clear message that America won't be pushed around. And also when it comes to economic issues like trade and others, this president wants to negotiate.
This president wants to have a fair deal and he can work with anybody, be it the leader of North Korea and stop testing your missiles unless sit down and talk. He's willing to sit down and talking about that's a different approach that I think is much more successful. And I think the world will approach that Putin never invaded in another country why President Trump was in office, and I think that will those things will stop as well.
So he's open to negotiation. The fact that he's threatening sixty percent tariffs and China, that's a negotiation tool.
No. But the one thing I will say what President Trump is saying is why is America's markets wide open for you? And why don't you have China open for America? If not, that's not fair. And he's going to stand for America first. And I think that's a very smart place to be. And it's a new day, it's a new leader, and I think it will make the world safer, stronger, and a fair negotiations and trade for everybody.
In the world. So, in terms of executive orders, he's talking about how the first day was he sweeping executive orders from day one? What do we expect to see.
Well, that's not unusual for any president. But what he's going to do is exactly what he campaigned on a promise. He's going to secure our border. And he has to put sweeping executives' orders into secure our border because the whole reason why the American border got wide open just because the executive orders of Joe Biden. So he's got to wipe that away. He's going to make to unshackle what holds back America's economy. Okay, so that's from regulation.
How can we make sure we get a better place. He's also going to make sure government for all Americans is more efficient, more accountable in the process, and that's a whole new look that American hasn't had since the forties when we've got to transform and do something big, and he's bringing the best and brightest minds. I was
just texting with Elon was texting me this morning. I mean, think about having the brain of Elon Musk to sacrifice his time away from his businesses to help every single American make government more efficient, more accountable, and actually deliver the job that we're supposed to do.
You talk about Elon, you brought the two together Elon Mosk and President Trum You have a great understanding of how he thinks and what he's able to do. Isn't there though a conflict of interest? This is a man who's benefited in a huge way in terms of billions of government contracts. How is that not a conflict of interest?
Your question's all wrong. Who's benefited America? America didn't have an engine a rocket to go to space. Elon built it. America just had a hurricane and they couldn't get the Internet if it wasn't for Elon Starlink. When you think of the environment and Tesla the number one selling car
in America, Elon doesn't benefit from government. America has benefited from Elon and for Elon to sacrifice his time away from business because he cares about a country that opened up those arms that he immigrated to that we are so proud of. I know it doesn't matter where you stood in the political spectrum, but when you watched in the middle of the campaign that Elon sent a rocket to space reusable came back and grabbed it and nobody else in the world can do it. And that wasn't government,
that was SpaceX. So people who benefit is American from Elon. It's not the other way around.
But some can argue that Elon will benefit from easing regulation intag in cryptocurrencies. I mean, take a look at how deuts coin did when you know his department was called Deutsche as a short form. I mean, it went not more than seven hundred percent. Surely that is a benefit. Surely he stands to gain in terms of policies easing policies in things like technology.
Well, I take it you never met Elon, because you would never You would have never said that. The thing about Elon, he's a Thomas Edison. He doesn't care about wealth. He likes to invent and create the world to be better. So if you ever spent time with him, you would realize that's a whole premise of your question is off. He doesn't put where he invests. He doesn't even think about that. What he's thinking is how does he make the world more sustainable, How does he make the world safer?
How does he put America in a stronger footing? And you know what, the rest of the world helps get benefits from that same place. So no, he won't get a benefit, but Americans are going to get a benefit, and I wish others. I mean, this is a president that's not afraid to go to the best and brightest. You know, in America, we used to have this thing called the Peace Corps where people would volunteer to come back.
We need a peace Corps in executives who shows government how to be more efficient, because you know what that will do. It'll save the taxpayer a lot of money. He'll make government more efficient and effective for those who care the most about it that we need to. And it will also put America on a stronger footing so the next century could be theirs.
We've talked about how Trump has learned from his first time in governments. How would he do it differently this time?
Well, I think it's the whole theory of ten thousand hours. He only has four years. He has an unbelievable work ethic. He also knows where he got stymied and where he got held back. So from this part, he's got a big agenda. He wants to make sure he gets his in a short amount of time. So he's going to engage from the very beginning and just look what he's doing in transitioner days.
What can be expected the first hundred days, how will it look like.
I think you'll be shocked by the first one hundred days. I think you'll kind of be shocked by the first month. And the difference is this president won by such a big majority. Okay, no Republican has won a majority like this in thirty four years where he captured the Senate and he captured the House, and they would not have won the majority without President Trump winning the popular vote and electoral college by more than three hundred when two
seventy is the magic number. That is almost a mandate from the American people to do the things that he said, to curve inflation right, to keep our streets safe again, to have a border, but to make sure our military is prepared for the future. That's turning the DoD around. And he's got the best minds coming in to do that. And he doesn't have to sit around to have people tell him what to do. He knows the job of what needs to happen. He has the relationships around the world.
I will tell you from the day he won, the number of foreign leaders who called me wanting to be able to talk to President Trump. President Trump is an engaging individual and I think you'll see it from every walk of life. And the most interesting thing about him is he doesn't need much sleep and he works almost twenty hours a day.
You talked about relationships and those relations whereas the rest of the world would be front and center, at least for the rest of the world. Ukraine an issue that he says that he can deal with in twenty four hours. I mean, is that even realistic? Is that even conceivable?
I think it's conceivable he can deal with Ukraine, and I think it's a twenty four hours twenty four hours. Look, if you know where President Trump goes, he likes to make a point and he gets people's attention that way. But I mean, the one thing that he's going to say is that Putin invaded another country. Putin never did that under the leadership of President Trump. So the world's going to become a little safer. I think the President has supported the time of Ukraine's ability to protect their
own nation as well. He's already reach out and talked to Zelenski as well. So I think Putin has to have a new belief of understanding. He's got to stop what he's doing, going around the rest of the world doing this and America and the world will be safer for it.
Do you think America on the Trump would be a more powerful America and America that you know is able to influence the rest of the world. Because we've seen how tensions have fled up under the Biden administration. Do you see Trump putting a lid on that? And I mean, how do you see play out in the next four years.
It's easy to say what will happen. Look at what happened before, look at what the world looked like when President Trump was president, and what has happened under President Biden. So I mean that's why President Trump won by such a large margin. America likes his policies, and I think if you win around the world, they'd like the policy too. I think the Middle East will calm down. I think the world will be safer. I think there'll be more
economic growth for everybody. And I think from that perspective, America is very respectful for every other nation. We also understand our values and where we go, and we respect other countries' ability to do that as well, So the world becomes safer. He's not afraid to speak to anybody, and I think communication matters. He's also not afraid to point out when other countries are doing things that aren't proper around the rest of the world and have those discussions.
Unconventional also unpredictable, which is a headache for a lot of government leaders. I just want to bring the point back to where we are at the poclast for him. Lots of investors are keepping an eye on that Treasury post. Who might that be? And do you have a preference?
I don't have a preference. Well I might have a personal preference, but I don't know that that matters in this place. But this is something that the president has really studied a lot. He's got a really good team going behind it. I think it's probably narrowed down to two different people, but the president has the right to pick whoever he wants for whatever position, and then they got to be confirmed. But I will tell you I think he is better prepared in this administration than he
was eight years ago. The team behind it, and a lot of that gets the credit to Howard Ludnik, the work he has done and just the history that he has from Caunter Fitzgerald, just the personal history that Howard has after nine to eleven. The only reason Howard is alive today is because it was the first day of his son's kindergarten class. But his brother, his best friends, his entire firm gets wiped out, and he rebuilds it. But he rebuilds it by everybody donating back to the
families that had lost those loved ones. I mean, that's an American story. And so there's so many people like that that are willing to sacrifice their time to make sure America is better and stronger, and that the Trump administration has the best people.
And we would prefer for you to express your preference, no no names.
I don't want to damage anybody, so I let the president just pick. It's his choice, all right.
Thanks for joining us, Kevin mccafey from my US house. Speak of that with me.