Don Bacon
Appearances
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
The.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
Also, I advised our mayor candidate. She's been the mayor for 12 years. Said, Mayor, all you got to say is this. Forbes races the number one city in America to live in. Two, we're the fastest growing economy in America at 9%. 9% GDP growth right here. And we're one of the few big cities where crime has gone down. It's a great place to live. So the economy is very diverse.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
It's got an ag business component to it. We have Weston Foods. We have 85% of the world's irrigation sales come out of here. I can go on and on. So it's an agribusiness haven. But we're also a transportation hub. You have Union Pacific. You have Burlington Northern has another division headquarters here. We have a lot of the largest trucking companies here. in Omaha.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
But third, it's the third largest financial sector in America. Insurance is the big driver of that. We also have the largest private bank in Omaha, right? But you have AFLAC, Mutual of Omaha, Pacific Life, New York Life. I just go on and on. So the insurance financial industry is just taking off in Omaha. And you put all that together, we have a dynamic economy and low unemployment.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
And the standard of living here, or the cost of living, is very competitive.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
But we are an export state. We're the world, we're the America's largest beef exporter for starters. And we're top five when it comes to pork, corn, soybeans, popcorn, ethanol. So we're an export state. State, export city. And I don't have a crystal ball. I mean, I hope it turns out well, so I have no idea. But I see a lot of risk.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
When you lose $6 trillion in the stock market in two days, that says a lot. We've already seen a loss in customers when it comes to beef and popcorn. I've talked to the big exporters. And so these European markets have already shut themselves down. I don't think anybody wins in a trade war. And I don't know why we want to take on the entire world at once.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
You know, I would have done this for surgically. I would have probably focused on China up front, maybe Russia with their behavior. I would have negotiated with Europe. Now, Europe doesn't have high tariffs. But they have a lot of rules. We can't find a way to get our beef, for example, in the European market because they put a lot of restrictions that make it very hard to get in.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
So we should have these negotiations. But I know who our allies are and who our adversaries are. And so taking on the whole world seems very risky. Right. It's not wise to me. I like, if somebody's going to terrify us, I think we should have a level playing field. Sure. I think we've done enough analysis. A lot of the numbers that the White House used were not, actual tariff numbers.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
They were fudged in a lot of ways. And so therefore, you can't just say it's a reciprocal tariff. They're not.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
They have some pretty good legislative liaisons. There's three that I know of that we could call. I don't think they give us a heads up a whole lot, but the president himself told me when I was in the Oval Office, and we had two others of us in there, that he wanted to do reciprocal tariffs, that if somebody's putting a 5% tariff on us, we should do 5% back. Really, that's a hard one to attack.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
Because I think we like having a level playing field. But I think we went way beyond that. I don't think we're doing, well, for example, Israel took off all their tariffs two weeks ago. And we put a hefty tariff on them after the fact. This is one example. Why are we doing tariffs on Canada when we have a trade deal with them and they're abiding by the trade deal?
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
These are the kind of questions I have. And I don't think they're really reciprocal tariffs. If they were, they would look a lot different.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
I was listening to the Treasury Secretary today on one of the talk shows in the morning. And he made it clear his goal is to bring back industry back to our country. So he laid it out pretty clearly. I've talked to the president and hear him talk. He often talks about level playing field. These guys are blocking our products. And so we don't have a fair deal.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
So you hear a little bit of both, depending on who you're talking to. I believe... I'll give you an example. I've already mentioned that Europe has lots of rules that block our exports. We should try to knock those down and talk to them about it.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
And I wouldn't go to tariffs right away, but I would, you know, form some meetings and say, hey, it's not fair that you get to sell anything you want in our country, and we can't get corn and beef and pork into your guys' countries. And we should have that dialogue. Well, looking at the Treasury Secretary today, it sure sounded like their goal is to bring back manufacturing.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
And there was a lot of questions in my mind on that. We have two workers for every retiree now. It's not like we were 30 years ago where we had 10 workers for every retiree. I'm not sure we have that kind of workforce anymore, but I think it's a high-risk move what they're doing here.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
Yeah, we would be—you'd see a depression in the beef market here, the beef industry. And we have a great market because people like Nebraska beef. It's world-renowned. That is the one area that you do find some buyers in Europe. If you say Nebraska beef, they'll buy it, and they put it on their menu as such. Omaha Steaks.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
I mean, you know, many a holiday, we've all gotten our Omaha Steaks box, right? So we would probably— still has some markets in Asia, but even then we're putting tariffs on them and they're going to reciprocate that. And so it's going to, the ag industry suffers in a trade war because this is the low-hanging fruit for other countries to go after when it comes to America.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
Nobody can produce beef, pork, corn, soybeans at a price that we can in the Midwest because we do it at a scale that nobody else can do it at. You know, we have one rancher here in Nebraska that has 200,000 head of cattle. Our governor does like 1,500 piglets every day born. It takes 1,500 to the market.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
But we do it at a scale that most people can't think of, which gives us a great price and it makes us very competitive. But if we don't have trade, it would really hurt the Midwest economy. It's not just Nebraska, Iowa as well.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
You know, it's a good question. First of all, I love the history of I'm a history guy. So, you know, the Republicans are very protectionist, particularly in the late 1800s. We wanted high tariffs. Was the smooth... The – I can't think of the last name.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
Smoot-Hawley. They were both Republicans, and they passed this high tariffs in 1930. And that really put us in a deep depression. And the Republicans have ever since said, you know, we learned our lesson. Free trade is the right way to go. In fact, that's how you provide the best merchandise, you know, the best – product, if you will, at the lowest cost in the most efficient manner.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
And it keeps our manufacturers short because you've got to compete. We've bought into this. Now we're going back to our roots. It's funny. The Democrats were more protectionist, you know, 1970s and 80s.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
I think you're right because we're following the president's lead. But, you know, I'm philosophically a Milton Friedman guy. I read I read the Smith on free trade in the invisible hand. Yeah. All the kind of stuff that I buy into it. But it's funny that the Democrats sound like Republicans. The Republicans sound like dumb crap. And that's sort of, yeah. And also on Ukraine and Russia, same thing.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
So I call a lot of my peers who are so-called right-wing Republicans, I call them their George McGovern Republicans. And they go, who's that? I go, well, that guy ran for president in 1972, and he sounds just like him. On all these same policies, yeah. Let's make a deal with the Russians. Let's have protection, yeah. Yeah. But this is how I see this happening. We're going to...
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
We submit this bill from Monday and already Sir Grassley and his Democrat colleague, they've already submitted the Senate. They got Southern Republicans already are co-sponsors. You could see a pathway to 60 here, depending on how the market goes, inflation, unemployment based off what happens with these tariffs. I think it's going to be a lot longer for the House to get there. I get that.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
But if the Senate ends up passing it and we're not seeing good traction in the economy, you're going to see people say, okay, this isn't working. And We've got to restore our authorities. In the Constitution, it says Congress has the authority for tariffs and taxes. And by the way, some Republicans are in denial. Tariffs are a tax on consumers. There's no other way around it.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
That's just what it is. We have that power, but we gave it away approximately a century ago, an emergency. If it was an emergency, then the president could do it. So the Congress sees, OK, this is being abused. It's not an emergency. This is a sole policy being written. Or is it possible the courts will intervene here? I was just going to ask you about the courts.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
The courts may take a look at it, too.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
And so I think they're interpreting the Constitution the way I read it. And so I think our court's done a great job, despite all the criticism that you hear from time to time. But this is how I see this bill. This bill will probably take a little longer in the House. And I think if... We don't see traction in the economy, and we continue to see a slide in the market.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
We may see some inflation come out of this when people have to raise prices. People may say, you know what, this is the Congress role. So I think I have this down as something that I believe, okay, it's very possible that it could pick up steam in a couple months, and we'll have it ready to go.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
I welcome the president trying to bring peace and a ceasefire there, but it's got to be a just peace. It's got to be one that respects Ukraine's sovereignty and also their ability to align themselves with the West, have altruism. I mean, these are kind of things that are, I would say, red lines in my world for Ukraine. I believe it's our national security interest that Ukraine remain independent.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
If they don't and they fall under the Russian thumb, like Moldova will be next. likely Georgia and some other countries on the periphery. Worst case scenario, maybe the Baltics or part of NATO, and they're very vulnerable. And so I just think we should have moral clarity. Russia is the invader. Putin's the dictator. He's killed all of his opponents, political opponents. Ukraine is the democracy.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
Zelensky was elected by a free election, and the president at times has muddled those waters, and he's had, I would just call it moral ambiguity on how this war started and who's the bad guy, who's the good guy. And I say it's American, but I think this is maybe a traditional Republican. I believe in peace through strength. I believe in standing up for freedom, free markets, rule of law.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
Doesn't mean we have to fight every war. Don't want to fight every war. But we help out countries who are trying to do this in their own borders and defend themselves against an invader. I can't think of a more righteous fight than Ukraine right now. It's beyond me how some of our party does not see this with moral clarity. Putin's the bad guy. Zelensky's the good guy. Russia's the invader.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
Ukraine's the defender. And I just want to have that moral clarity. And I want us to provide the weapons and economic support to Ukraine and also the economic punishment to Russia. We should try to choke them of every penny. Well, they were spared tariffs. How do you feel about that? That's a little ridiculous. I don't understand it. And it's indefensible.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
It's hard to judge motives. I've been careful in my life to be... Very fair. It's very fair.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
There's two or three possibilities. I think one I've read too, like you say, they see Xi, Putin, and him as the three big spheres of influence. Mm-hmm. People will fall within one or the other. I think he sees us as North America, which is a shame if you're a European and you want to be under the sphere of Putin. But I don't know that that's really true.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
That's what some people think that other people see strictly as transactionalist, like you already mentioned. It's clearly a total realist. and that he doesn't have an idealism DNA in there.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
I think 100% realism is not good, though, I don't think. I'm the guy that you have to have realism because you've got to defend your country, know your interests. But I also want to make country. stands for good. You know, the free markets, democracy, freedom, rule of law, those are things that we believe in, and we have been the largest proponents of in the world after World War II.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
We've built, you know, roughly 80 years of this international rules, and they've worked. And it's what we like.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
This is Chuck. It's been America's century. It's been our century. And we should not feel ashamed at all about it. God's been good to us. And so I totally agree with what you're saying. Even this balance of trade, I mean, you could dig into that, that The fact is, we're the wealthiest nation in the world. We have the ability to buy things we want. We like scotch. We like Bordeaux wine.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
We like Central American cigars.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
Probably a 15%... increases the cost of coffee, which is a shame. But, you know, that's your point. This is America's country, and I don't want to walk away from it. I'd like to see America remain the leader of the free world, a humble leader of the free world, where we work with NATO, Japan, Australia, to counter Russia and China, Iran.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
We can't do it by ourselves, but we can do it with Japan and NATO. And I see us right now sort of walking away from that, that we're going to be isolationists. We're just going to worry about ourselves. And it's going to be us against the world when it comes to the economy and tariffs. That's the more dangerous world. And I don't see that as a positive direction at all.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
Well, it's increasingly more and more that Turkey can't call themselves a democracy. Erdogan has become the big man, just sort of like, you know, Putin and Xi's done, but they never had a democracy. You know, it's Putin or Xi, but you see Turkey... walking away from its democracy roots that allows it to become a NATO ally. And we should rethink the future of Turkey when it comes to NATO.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
And we've had these issues with the F-35 and other things. But Turkey has also been not a good friend of Israel and been very assertive in that area. They were a bit of a malign influence in Syria when we were there, too. So it's hard. Turkey's... an off and on friend and very unpredictable. Friend's a tough word to use there, but OK.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
I would say, though, they've been a little more bold in support of Ukraine against Russia. So I would say it's hard to say they're not always on the wrong side. So it's like I say, they're they're a little bit on and off again on this stuff. But I appreciate how they spoke up.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
When it comes to Ukraine's sovereignty and pushing back on our president, some of the peace or some of the negotiations where Turkey feared that Trump was forcing Ukraine to make too many concessions, it was Turkey that spoke up.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
Absolutely. I think we're an alliance of free democracies that have a value system that we don't always have to, you know, you can have a parliament or a Congress or it could be different forms of democracy, but it should be where the governments reflect the will of the people.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
You know, I met with him early on, and I was sitting with him privately in his office. He reminded me of my uncle, very kind, warm-hearted, gregarious. His dad was the congressman from Omaha in the 1940s. He was a very conservative, anti-Roosevelt Republican. So I did ask him, I said, hey, Warren, what happened?
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
happened and became a free trader right no it was fun to fun to talk to him about his dad his dad started the nebraska breakfast which we do every wednesday in washington dc we took it about 200 nebraskans every wednesday and we and all the delegation gets about 12 minutes to see what they're working on and it's a tradition going back to 1943 which is incredible i you know
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
Warren has helped bring a good economy into Omaha, so we've got to give him credit for that. But truth for me, he doesn't get too involved politically. He's pretty nonpolitical, apolitical. He was a verbal supporter of Hillary Clinton. But beyond that, he hasn't got too involved. His son, Howard, I've developed a pretty good— Well, a great relationship with him.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
Him and I share concerns about Ukraine. I visited a military unit on the front line. Boy, he's done a whole bunch of stuff on his own with Ukraine. I mean, just amazing work. I visited a business one unit in Kharkiv last September. I was on the front lines. First American congressman. I was with two others to really get that close on the front lines.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
It was the unit that he's helped close and give weapons to. So he reached out to me, and we talk about every week now. And so I have a good rapport with them. Warren's daughter is a little more on the Democrat side, but we still have a good relationship.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
I have more of a rapport with... Susie and Howard. That's who I talk to more. I really talk to Howard about every week. And I enjoy it. You know, the guy has invested in Ukraine significantly. And I appreciate, you know, he puts his money where his heart's at and his mouth. He's walking the talk.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
I think we'll actually be growing the military. We're going to have a significant plus up in the military spending. I don't mind cutting some. We should review an audit. No, but we're going to actually grow our budget. We're going to try to get our military spending up to 4% GDP. So I don't think we're going to be going backwards on that. What I'm a little more worried about is the
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
Just rapid firing of some of our top generals without explanation.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
There you go. She's crazy. And I'll leave it at that. Now, the president denies that she had a part of this firing, but the fact that she was there that day or the day prior and recommended that Gerald Hawke and four or five others get fired, and they did get fired. And there's no other explanation for it. I know Gerald Hawke. Gerald Hawke, he was a colonel when I was a one-star officer.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
He spent 34 years in the Air Force, and every assignment other than schools, he served either in signals intelligence or cyber operations. There was nobody more prepared to run Cyber Command and National Security Agency than him. He was the best that we had in our military, and he was good. And he got fired for no apparent reason.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
Other than they said he was treasonous, which is baloney, total baloney. This guy was an American patriot. And it set us back. It set us back in cyber operations and our signals intelligence. We're not as good today as we were last week. The top three people are fired.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
Well, we're going to in this because I'm the chairman of the Cyber Subcommittee. So I have a say. And we're going to ask, you know, we're going to bring in the leaders and the Democrats can ask whatever they want. And I get to ask whatever I want. You're going to have some of our party may not go down this path, but you're going to bring in the Secretary of Defense. We're going to bring in
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
You know, the chair, the future chairman of the Joint Chiefs. And we're going and they're going to get these questions, even if it's not the purpose of that committee hearing. People don't get to ask whatever they want. So we're going to get some oversight of this. But here's my point. And I made it today publicly. Yeah, the president has the constitutional authority to do this.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
It doesn't make it right. And, OK, I was going to cuss, but I won't cuss. It hurt us. This move hurt America. We're not as good today. And I guarantee you, Russia and China are like laughing at us because we did something so stupid.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
Yeah, I just think there's a conspiracy or I don't know what you want to call it. The populism. There's probably a very we said the know nothing party, you know, back in the 1840s. Yeah, the know nothings.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
So there is this element that believes the stuff that anybody that's an incumbent is bad. All these generals were bad. Russia, not so bad. Ukraine, they're taking our money. There's a whole ecosystem out here that are living on certain social media and cable, and that's what they hear. And I see them. I got, like, folks with 2 million followers that don't like me because I believe in them.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
But they all feed off each other, and they believe that Gerald Hawk was bad. For no reason. They had a reason. Because General Milley was the chairman when he became the commander of Cyber Command. So guilt by association in their mind because General Milley was not elected.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
And I would say the same thing to General Brown, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs. He got fired for no reason. They did offer a reason. I don't know of a reason to fire him. And all that does is hurt us. It puts us on our heels. And it creates a lack of trust at the very top. I know some of these generals, and they're like, Don, I could be next. And you know what?
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
I don't mind getting fired if I did something wrong. But in this case, these are just guys that are getting fired for the whims of whoever
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
That's how we got the Republican Party to begin with. They broke off the Whigs. And we have Fremont as our first nominee, then Abraham Lincoln. Not a bad run. Yeah, it was a pretty good run. You're right. We have the populist wing. We have the Reagan wing. And I am clearly on the Reagan wing of this party. The Democrat Party, I would say, too, has their populists.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
You know, you have AOC gunning after Schumer right now because he dared to keep the government open. And so it's... And I do think – I used to think of politics as a linear thing, but it really is a horseshoe that closes at the top. And you have our populist wing. They're now voting with AOC on a whole variety of national security measures, Ukraine, FISA, the defense budget, you name it.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
They've gone all the way over, and they're together. And – I think we started off our show this way. When I talk to Democrats today, the traditional ones, they sound like Ronald Reagan. When I talk to our populists, they sound like George McGovern. Well, we're in the middle of a political realignment.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
Yeah, my main goal is not to win. My main goal is to be on the right side and try to make a case and try to pull people over. With that attitude, you can't get hurt because if a door shuts, another door is going to open. That's how I look at it. God's in charge.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
Well, up until now, it's been love of country. I mean, I really believe my mission, serve God, serve my country. Being a Republican is not, you know, I'm that way because that's what I believe. But it's more about my beliefs than being part of a team. That's my compass. But you must be exhausted. But it's about serving our country. I love Abraham Lincoln. I love Ike Eisenhower.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
I love Ronald Reagan. I love people who... I love Winston Churchill. I love people who've made a difference and stood... You know, if I think about my favorite leaders, they were unpopular... At a time, but then world events show that they were the ones that were right. I mean, Churchill was very unpopular in the 1930s.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
Suddenly by 1940, they go, that's the only guy that knows what's going on here. And he became unpopular again, by the way, by the late 40s. But those are the people I admire that they follow a compass. And I want to get things done. The 118th Congress, of all 435 congressmen, I got the most bills passed and signed into law, nine laws. In the 117th Congress, I was number two of 435 congressmen.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
I've been able to repair two military bases in my district. We're going to have an international airport because of some of the work, myself and Doug Fisher. I feel like I'm having an impact, and that's brought me back. Now, two years ago, I debated about running again, and I couldn't let... One of my Democratic opponents was going to get back in the ring, and I felt like I had to...
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
But also, the Republican Party in Nebraska endorsed against me and censored me, and I felt like I needed to show them that they did not reflect the majority of the people. So I felt like if I came back this last election... One, I'm getting results, but two, I felt like I couldn't let the far left or the far right chase me out. I needed to show them I can win and defeat both of them.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
And that's what we did this last election. You know, I was still debating about the upcoming election. My wife has a vote. I have eight grandkids. And I do think this is not the healthiest lifestyle. No. So there's some soul-searching and praying going on for what I should do in the future. But I do know this God has a plan, and I'm just going to do the best I can.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
Thank you. And I always, I feel like you're a fair person. You asked tough questions, but they were fair. I've had a few interviews where, let's talk about Ukraine. And also they tell you, I spend 95% of my time talking about the Georgia Senate race. I go, I'm from Nebraska. I don't get why you asked me this. I thought we were talking about Ukraine. I always felt like you were fair.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
Good questions.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
It's a great event. Forbes rated Omaha the number one city in America for a reason. We're good. There you go. We've done the Chamber of Commerce duty.
The Chuck ToddCast
Trump Won’t Recover From Disastrous Tariffs + Will Congress Take Tariff Power From Trump?
Thank you.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Republicans Stunned by Shock Loss…in Nebraska?!
We were the leader of the free world, but it appears to many leaders and people all over, to include Republicans in Nebraska, that this administration is walking away from that legacy that was built by Ike Eisenhower and all these presidents and really a capstone of Ronald Reagan, peace through strength and building these close alliances. And we are undermining that legacy right now.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Republicans Stunned by Shock Loss…in Nebraska?!
I'm not interested in a foreign policy that is totally built on realism or transactionalism, where it's just, what do we have in it for us? I believe in having a foreign policy that's a mix of realism, protecting our country, and idealism, where we're the leaders standing for freedom, free markets, rule of law. And we got to be clear-eyed, but also have moral clarity. Putin invaded Ukraine.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Republicans Stunned by Shock Loss…in Nebraska?!
He's murdered all of us of political opponents. He tried to kill a previous Ukrainian prime minister. He's bombing cities. He's ramped up the bombing of cities.
Up First from NPR
GOP Stopgap Bill Fails, Battle For Ukrainian Town, Syria's Interim Government
What we took away from the president is the debt ceiling is his number one priority. We've been hopeful to know that two or three, four weeks ago.