Sen. Elissa Slotkin Talks US Tariffs, Relationship with US

Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio news.

Bloomberg's Oliver Crook now standing by with Senator Elyssa slock In, the Democrat from Michigan, has just arrived in Munich as part of a codell with some very important topics to discuss. Oliver, Thanks for bringing us this conversation over to you.

Great. Thanks.

Absolutely, Yeah, we're very pleased to be joined by Alyssa Slockin, the Democratic Senator from Michigan today joining us from the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. I'd like to talk about foreign policy America standing on the global stage. You know, I've been here for the last twelve months covering Europe. Ever since JD Vance's speech, it has been a conversation completely monopolized by the sort of maga foreign policy that

We I think there's a lot of us who are here, certainly from the Senate and the House, to send the message that not everyone agrees with the approach that this president is taking. Right that my president is taking which is kick your allies and the teeth and cozy up to your adversaries.

It's the opposite of what many of us were being where we're taught and how we lived.

And I think, you know, we wanted to send the message that the United States is going through something.

We know it, you all know it. Europeans know what. Everyone in the world knows that we are having a real.

Crisis in the United States. And I do believe we're going to come through it. But in the meantime, it's only natural that you question what we're doing, why we're doing it, and who it helps.

And so you've had a great deal of meetings already, you will have a great many more over the next couple of days. What are the questions that the Europeans are at.

The minute they get you in the room and close the door, they're just like, what is going on in America?

Right?

I mean, sort of not believing in themselves. And I think, again, I try to explain it's not that anyone's missing it, what is happening and how I think we come out of it, which is like I still believe that the American public does not want an authoritarian leader.

We don't want a king.

Our whole country is based on that, and there are certain barometers we have for authoritarianism, and we're just we're going to come out of it.

It's just going to take a bite.

And on the other side of that fight. You know, obviously Trump will not be a president forever, even if for some of the people in this room that they may feel that way. In what ways do you think that American stature on the global stage has been permanently damaged? Because I can tell you that over the last twelve months of the Europeans really wanted to take a sort of optimistic view of kind of how things could materialize.

Yeah, I think, Look, I think it takes a long time to build trust in an.

Instant to lose it.

You know, I'm someone who my father came on the beaches of Normandy with the American troops, Like I believe deeply.

That America has a good role to play.

That we are, you know, in a long term relationship with Europe and that's to the benefit of all all of us.

But when you start acting erratically.

When you act like a mad and no one knows what you're going to do next, they can't trust to.

Make a deal with you, to sign up for something.

You know, when you insult the soldiers of the countries that have been in coalition with US in Iraq and Afghanistan, places that I have served, you understand why people say, well, wait a minute, what do we do this for?

And the United States needs friends. There's a globalized world.

We need as many friends as we can have, and alienating our friends is actually bad.

For our national security.

There's another side of these Trump foreign policy that has actually been quite effective. And actually, if you speak to some of the people in the room, they said that, yes, it's true Europe has not been paying its way, and we should say that that's something that the United States has put pressure on since Obama, but it has never really delivered a change until this sort of very aggressive policy.

Well, look, I wish it wasn't done in the way it was done, but I used to come here as a Pentagon official and a CIA Officer Cumna Munich and say please do more, Please invest more in your own defense.

The Russians aren't just a threat to us, threat to you. They're your neighbors.

And we got the like, well, it's nice to see you, very diplomatic and unfortunately the lesson that's been taught is if you club your allies over the head, they will eventually give you something more. I don't want that to be the lesson, but I have to admit that's what's happened.

I mean, Putent has helped too.

But I think that that's not the way we want to proceed. We want people to pay their way.

And a place that potentially the Trump administration does need help from the Europeans is on this question of China, potentially a collective approach. There have been some high level meetings with critical raw materials that have been underway at the moment.

Do you see the sort of.

Scope for cooperation with the Europeans on the question of China. Do you think there's more sort of space that they could occupy sort of together with the United States.

I think there's a ton of room for cooperation with the Europeans visa e. China, But we have to have our house in order in the United States on what we want out of China. And as someone who's from a car manufacturing.

State, every day I'm confused.

Right, we have more tariffs right now on Canada than we do on China. One day we're all about by America. The next day Donald Trump's talking about letting in Chinese electric vehicles into the United States.

So we got to get our house in order.

And I understand why Europeans would be hedging on making a deal even though that's absolutely in our best interest for both sides.

And on the question of tariffs, you had this vote in the House, bipartisan basically saying that they are not in favor of these tariffs with Canada. How do you interpret that on as a sort of referendum on Trump economic policy?

And do you think it changes anything? It was a big deal.

I mean, look, bravery sometimes comes in millimeters. We had six Republicans who broke with their party and voted with Democrats to say the president's sloppy tariff policy isn't good and should be repealed and looked at. That opens a door to a bunch more votes on tariffs.

That is a big deal. I'll take it right.

Do I wish people were stronger and spoke up for their local state economies?

Yeah? But will I take this Yes, And it's definitely.

I think people looking ahead to the midterms and saying he's a boat anchor these tariffs certainly are a boat anchor for their reelection.

What do you think it tells us about what we can expect in the midterms. I know we're still some since a way.

Yeah, I think people are upset.

They're upset because he said he was going to do something about the economy. He's focused more, much more on foreign policy.

He said he was going to bring back jobs.

Michigan has lost almost more jobs than any other state in the country. He just hasn't lived up with the things that he campaigned on and has been focused abroad. And I think that people want to know what he's going to do for them and their lives, and he's just not made that his priority.

And I also wanted to talk about the sort of thing it's more squarely on the domestic side, the indictment that was attempted against you and a number of fellow Democrats that they've obviously elected not to move forward on. Just your reaction to that. Do you consider the matter to be closed at this stage.

I don't think anyone considers it closed.

And we're already hearing rumors that they're going to try again to indict us for our guess sedition and just to review the bidding. It's a ninety second video that just restates current military law that you have a responsibility to refuse illegal orders. All of us are service our veteran folks, we all served in some capacity, and I think you know the president is weaponizing the federal government against his perceived adversaries. It's right out of an authoritarian playbook.

Is that where you see the sort of next the next line of that sort of progress. Where is it a flood to zone tactic or do you consider something much sorter?

No?

I think intimidation is the point.

It's physical intimidation, and like a month long threats, you know, to my home, bomb threats my parents or went after and then it's legal intimidation, right, make me pay lots of lots of money.

To have a lawyer and be in this legal legal limbo. You do that to the average person, they say, you know what, I'm just going to go quiet. I'm not going to speak up anymore. I'm not gonna I'm not going to shout from the rooftops.

And I'm just not going to do that because I know that he is trying to intimidate, intimidate people to be quiet.

And you've had some sort of words of support from of Republicans, perhaps not actions of support. How do you interpret that? Is there more do you think that needs to be done?

Yeah?

Again, five or six Republicans said, I think the right thing, which is, look, you can't go after someone out of their freedom of speech, even if they didn't agree with the video. And I would never want that for them. You know, the tide can turn, Democrats could win again. I don't want Democrats saying, oh, we should go after Republican senators for a ninety second video. I don't want that for anybody. So I appreciate those who stood up. I would like there to be more joining them, and.

Just a sort of final question for you. We obviously had the speech twelve months ago from Jadvance that kicked off the sort of maga foreign policy that chrystalize of the year. What do you expect to hear from Marco Rubio tomorrow?

You know, my sense is they have brought in Marco Rubio to kind of smooth the edges. Vance is not here, a lot of the hardcore folks, you know, Pete hagg Seth isn't here. They brought in the diplomat to try and explain what the maga foreign policy is in terms that you know, foreign policy people understand. So I'm not expecting fireworks the way I mean, I remember sitting there listening to j. D Vance's speech last year just with shock, and I don't think.

We're going to hear that.

I just actually one more final question in terms of the sort of U term that we did see on Greenland. Obviously, it's an issue that doesn't have a huge amount of domestic support, does not have a huge amount of support among even in the government of the United States, certainly not among allies. What do you think really prompted that U turn? What was the thing that really made Trump sort of change his mind?

Is kind to say, you know, your guests may be as good as mine. I don't understand what affects him and in the dark of night, how he decides, and that's I think part of it, right. It's really hard to predict what he's going to do and say so being friends with him, being an ally of his, is really really difficult at this moment.

It's why we're here.

Well, listen, Slotkin, thank you so much for your time. Greatly appreciated from the great State of Michigan. The senator there today from the munich Security Conference