Next Up with Mark Halperin
Why Stephen Miller and JD Vance Have All the Power, Plus Rand Paul's Favorite Trump Admin Disruptors
06 May 2025
Mark Halperin begins the show discussing the two most powerful people in the Trump administration - Stephen Miller and JD Vance. Then Senator Rand Paul joins to discuss the negative comments he's hearing from his constituents about tariffs, the fallacies he says the need for tariffs are based on, why the trade deficit is "meaningless accounting," his efforts to fight "risky research," his favorite Trump admin disruptors, and more. Then Democratic veterans Steve Elmendorf and Karen Skelton join to discuss the state of the Democratic party, what they can learn from Trump, and what 2028 Democratic hopefuls need to change to win back voters.
Full Episode
Welcome in, everybody. Mark Halperin here, ready to tell you what's next up. I appreciate you joining with this episode. We'll talk to Kentucky Senator Rand Paul. We'll also have a conversation about what the Democratic Party can do and is doing to try to counteract Donald Trump. And, of course, grateful to you for being part of what is our third episode.
I'm going to let you in on a little secret here. I'm going to tell you about the king's ear. Who's got it?
go back to ancient history and anytime there's a king or a leader a ruler or a president there's a lot of palace intrigue around the question of who has the king's ear who gets to influence what the top person does and of course that's a lot about palace intrigue it's a lot about gossip but it's also about policy and what happens and donald trump the court of donald trump is an intriguing place.
There's been a lot of conversation about who is influential right now for this president at this time. Donald Trump is misunderstood in a lot of ways. He's a very curious guy. People, I think, sometimes caricature him as not being curious. He's extremely curious. He's extremely interested in soaking up information. And like Bill Clinton, he wants a range of options.
And he stays up late like Bill Clinton, and he wants to talk to people on the phone or in person to get more information. The question of who gets to influence this president is paramount. It's of interest and Not just Washington lobbyists, members of Congress and the media, but governments around the world want to know who influences this president.
Had a crazy example this past weekend where apparently he's met in Florida with John Voight, the actor, who suggested, well, maybe there should be a tariff on foreign films. And all of a sudden now that president is exploring that as a policy, put it out on Truth Social. To influence Donald Trump most directly, regardless of who you are, you want to be proximate to him.
You want to be in his presence. So you'll see people fighting to get in the Oval Office. You'll see people fighting to get on the patio at Mar-a-Lago. That is the best way to influence Donald Trump, to be in his person. Over time, people rise and fall. That happens in all courts of all kings. But Donald Trump has shown in this term a fair amount of consistency. The people around him
with few exceptions who have influence have stayed the same. There are some changes and we'll talk about those. As I said, being near him is important. What's also important is if you do well on television and if there's good buzz around you. Those are extremely important to Donald Trump in terms of who has influence.
I talked on Two-Way with my colleague, Sean Spicer, about the factor of television. What are the ways to have Trumps here? Because Besson clearly does now. So whether you're Besson or Stephen Miller, what are the keys to getting Trumps here?
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