Deep Dive
Shownotes Transcript
Innovation. Competition. Lower cost.
Thanks to IP. Learn more at phrma.org slash IPWorksWonders. Enjoy. I'm Shannon Bream. Donald Trump's America first strategy on full display as his foreign policy team takes Europe by storm.
In Washington, there is a new sheriff in town. From the president's plans for what to do next in Gaza to bringing an end to the war in Ukraine. I think President Putin wants peace and
President Zelensky wants peace, and I want peace. We'll talk with National Security Advisor Mike Waltz about the president's playbook for solving conflicts across the globe. Then... It's not optional for us to reduce the federal expenses. It's essential. Everyone knows there's waste in government and should be cut.
But Doge is using a meat axe. Democrats resist efforts by Elon Musk to cut waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government. Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso and Democrat Senator Tim Kaine join us to talk about Doge and the major legislative battles just ahead. Plus, our Sunday panel on the DOJ's lawsuits targeting sanctuary cities as deportations ramp up. And rev your engines. Run.
on the ground for today's Daytona 500. All right now on Fox News Sunday. Hello from Fox News in Washington. We begin with a look at some of your top headlines. Millions of Americans dealing with severe weather this weekend. Heavy rains bringing flash flooding warnings, power outages and tornado warnings across the South and snow and ice in the Northeast.
And Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel today to talk about the fragile ceasefire in Gaza following the release of more hostages yesterday, including a dual Israeli-American citizen.
And in Munich, Ukraine's president asked for more help from European leaders and the possible creation of a united European military force. As top foreign policy aides in the Trump administration are reportedly set to meet with Russian officials in Saudi Arabia to discuss the framework for ending the war in Ukraine.
In a moment, we will ask National Security Advisor Mike Waltz about those talks and whether Ukraine will have a seat at the table. But first, we've got team coverage today. Greg Palcott in Israel and Dana Marie McNichol in Florida covering the president. Dana Marie, we begin with you.
Good morning, Shannon. European leaders called an emergency meeting to talk about Trump's vision for Ukraine, potentially shutting them out of peace negotiations. No reaction yet from the president as he heads the Daytona 500 this afternoon.
I think we're going to be able to do something. I think we're going to be able to make a deal. National Security Advisor Mike Walz, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Secretary Marco Rubio will meet this week with senior Russian officials in Saudi Arabia. Expected to be absent from discussions, Ukraine and Europe.
Trump officials have also made it clear they expect European allies and NATO to take responsibility for the region, as the U.S. focuses on other priorities, such as securing the border and countering China. Let's be honest. Now we can't rule out the possibility that America might
say no to Europe on issues that threaten it. NATO Secretary General on Saturday calling on member countries to step up spending. On the domestic front, Trump signed an executive order to reduce the federal workforce. About 10,000 have been laid off.
Education, agriculture, energy and veteran affairs among the agencies hit by these layoffs. The latest programs on the chopping block, 32 million for a civil society in Prague and 29 million for strengthening the political landscape in Bangladesh. One of the reasons we have massive inflation in the United States from Joe Biden is because he massively increased the size of the federal government. We need to go back to pre-COVID era politics.
size. Doge, instead of taking a scalpel and a measured approach and looking at fraud, is instead taking a chainsaw to a number of federal departments. And I think they're just getting started.
And despite some Democrats resisting, Doge was actually handed a win. A federal judge ruled that because it is legally defined as an agency, it can still access sensitive records. Shannon. All right, Dana Marie McNichol in Florida, thank you so much. We turn now to the Middle East, where Secretary Rubio is making his first official visit to Israel as Secretary of State. Fox News senior foreign affairs correspondent Greg Palcott has that story. Hello, Greg.
Hi, Shannon. That's right, America's top diplomat here in Israel trying to jumpstart that shaky ceasefire and Hamas hostage release plan between the militant group and Israel. And maybe a bit more. Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived for meetings with Israeli officials, especially Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Here is some of what they had to say today.
The hostages need to come home. They need to be released. That must happen. It's not optional. And I would add that that's a goal we share in common. When the gates of hell will be opened, as they surely will, if all our hostages are not released until the last one of them.
The priority is freeing the remaining hostages in phase one of the deal and then making the move to phase two, which would see the rest of the hostages released, but also force Israel to give up control inside Gaza. Over the weekend, we saw jubilation as three ex-captives, including an Israeli-American, were reunited with their families. Overall, they appeared in better shape than last week's group, but...
have still missed a lot. The latest release had been threatened by Hamas complaining that Israel was not delivering enough aid to Gaza. President Trump's plan to turn the place into a real estate deal still is out there. Nearby countries are scrambling for an alternative. Still, Shannon, the topic that both Rubio and Netanyahu hit on hardest was
Iran. Nothing is more important than Iran, Netanyahu said. Iran cannot have the bomb, said Rubio. Secretary of State goes on to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, Israel, the Mideast, and yes, Iran, no doubt, on the agenda. Back to you. All right, Greg Palcott, live in Israel. Thank you very much. Joining us now, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz. Welcome to Fox News Sunday.
Thanks, Shannon. Good to be with you. OK, so a lot to cover here. Let's talk about this. European leaders putting together what's being called an emergency summit in Paris tomorrow. They've been rattled by some of what they heard from members of the administration in Munich. They reportedly are not going to have a seat at the table for these opening talks with Russia about winding down that war.
That's according to Special Envoy Keith Kellogg, former general. You said last week, though, Europe has to own this conflict moving forward. So why shouldn't the Europeans have a seat at the table at these conversations? Shannon, let me tell you what we heard this week. We heard President Trump engage...
President Putin of Russia immediately engaged President Zelensky. And here's what both leaders had in common. Both of them said in those back to back calls that only President Trump could get them to the table. Only President Trump could drive peace. And, you know, this notion that our
that our European allies haven't been engaged. President Trump also spoke with Macron this week. Uh, we have a visit with, uh, with prime minister Starmer of the United Kingdom, uh, coming up. And we had no less than our vice president, our secretary of state, our secretary of defense, uh, our secretary of treasury who was in Kiev personally, uh,
and our special envoy, Kellogg, all in Europe this week, all engaging our allies. Now, they may not like some of the sequencing that is going on in these negotiations, but
But I have to push back on this any notion that they aren't being consulted. They absolutely are. And, you know, at the end of the day, though, this is going to be under President Trump's leadership that we get this war to an end. OK, so there are talks about, you know, talks starting this week. You are reportedly part of that team that's going to be in Saudi Arabia talking with the Russians. But there are questions about Ukraine's role. Here's what Senator Adam Schiff says.
The president's inability to even identify Ukraine as an equal bargaining power after all the blood Ukraine has shed, it's just a shocking surrender of American values and interests. Now, President Zelensky says he's not going to be bound by any deal that's negotiated between Russia and the U.S. Are the Ukrainians going to have a seat at the table for those talks this week?
Well, what Secretary Besson, our secretary of Treasury, was talking to Zelensky about and then follow on with talks with Secretary Rubio and the vice president was entering into a partnership with the United States. We're talking about growing the pie.
Thank you.
for the billions that they have invested in this war. And then further, Shannon, you know, I can't think of anything that would make the American people more comfortable with future investments than
than if we were able to be in a partnership and have the American people made whole. And I'll point out, much of the European aid is actually in the form of a loan that is repaid. It's repaid with interest on Russian assets. So, you know, President Trump is rethinking the entire dynamic here. That has some people uncomfortable. But I think Zelensky would be very wise to enter into this agreement today
with the United States. There's no better way to secure them going forward. And further,
There was a question of whether Putin would come to the table. He has now done so under President Trump's leadership, and we're going to continue those talks in the coming weeks at President Trump's direction. Okay, but given the cost that the Ukrainian people have paid, why would they not have a direct seat at the table, especially if Zelensky says whatever you come up with, he's not going to feel bound by unless they're actively, directly part of these talks? Look, the Ukrainian people have fought –
uh, valiantly. Uh, they have seen entire cities destroyed. The United States, uh, and Europe has supported this effort, but the United States unquestionably has borne the brunt, uh, of that support, uh, over the years. But now president Trump is clear. It needs to come to an end. And there are, there are key tenants, uh, that will drive, uh, that will drive these negotiations. Number one, it has to be a permanent into the war. Uh,
Not a temporary end to the war. Number two, this can't be ended on the battlefield. This has turned into a World War I style meat grinder of human beings. Number three, I talked about how the structure of our aid has to change. And then number four, we're talking about economic integration going forward as the best strategy.
arbiter of peace. All of those things are key underpinnings. And in terms of long-term military security guarantees, those have to be European-led. And I have to tell you, Shannon, when a third of NATO members still are not contributing, a third are still not contributing the minimum they all committed to a decade ago, I think that leaves a lot of Americans questioning the level of their commitment
to back the rhetoric that we're seeing. OK, I want to try to get to a couple of other hot spots before we leave this, though. Can you confirm those talks are beginning this week in Saudi Arabia between the U.S. and Russia? President Trump initiated those talks personally with President Putin and will carry those talks going forward in the coming weeks. And he is ready to move quickly to end to end this conflict. And we will bring everyone together as appropriate. Absolutely.
Okay, so I want to get to Israel, Iran, obviously the continued instigator in a lot of what comes to the shores of the people of Israel. President Trump told Brett Baier a couple of days ago, a few days back, he says he'd love to make a deal without bombing them. But that stands in contrast to this report coming from The Washington Post. It says Israel is likely to bomb Iranian nuclear facilities in the next few months.
It goes on to say that part of this is based on U.S. intel. It says the military intelligence report in The Washington Post says
spelled out two potential strike options, each involved in the U.S., providing support in the form of aerial refueling, as well as intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, said those familiar with the document. So there are disagreements with about how much a strike could do to actually set this program back, whether it's weeks, months, years. But it would certainly increase tensions in that region. What would the U.S. involvement be in a strike? Can you speak to that report of The Washington Post?
Shannon, I could speak to what the president has repeatedly said, and that is Iran can never have a nuclear weapon. That not only would be existential for Israel, I think it would be existential for the entire world because it could kick off a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. How we get there, I'm not going to get into the details.
of here, but the president has also expressed a willingness to take whatever action is necessary. All options are on the table, but also to, to talk to Iran as well. If they want to give up their entire program and not play games as we've seen Iran do in the past and in prior negotiations. So all options are on the table, but I, but I'll promise you this.
President Trump is absolutely serious, deadly serious when he says Iran can never have a nuke and certainly not on President Trump's watch. They are an irrational actor that we cannot allow to have their finger on the button. Well, I'd like to get to China and so many other things that are on your plate at this moment. So please come back soon. Mike, well, it's great to have you.
All right. Thank you. OK, so Doge ramping up federal cuts with tens of thousands of federal workers already on their way out. We're going to get reaction from senators on both sides of the aisle. Senators Barrasso and Kaine coming up live. Plus, the administration takes its America first message to the world stage. Our Sunday panel breaks down how our allies are now reacting. That's next.
Fox News Sunday is sponsored by Pacific Life, creating financial security for nearly 160 years. I can say to my new Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, hey, find a keto-friendly restaurant nearby and text it to Beth and Steve. And it does without me lifting a finger, so I can get in more squats anywhere I can. One, two, three. Will that be cash or credit? Credit for...
The threat that I worry the most about vis-a-vis Europe is not Russia, it's not China, it's not any other external actor. And what I worry about is the threat from within. The retreat of Europe is
from some of its most fundamental values, values shared with the United States of America. Vice President J.D. Vance making news on the world stage and making some waves this week with his address to the Munich Security Conference as European allies get an early look at the new administration's America First foreign policy agenda. Time now for our Sunday group. Olivia Beavers, Wall Street Journal reporter. Fox News contributor Molly Hemingway.
Juan Williams, Fox News senior political analyst and Bloomberg senior White House reporter, Josh Wingrove. Welcome to all of you. All right. This is the headline from Foreign Policy. Vance leaves Europe gobsmacked. U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance delivered a rebuke on immigration and alleged censorship to a shocked Munich security conference. Josh.
Feathers were ruffled. He wanted to get their attention, I think, the vice president did, and he did indeed do that. And there were a couple of factors. One is, of course, he talked about freedom of speech and went sort of up against or right to the limit of what has been sort of a consensus in Germany around including the AFD, the party that is on the far right.
from being part of these governing groups. And so he's gotten pushback both from the current chancellor as well as the incoming likely chancellor, who think he's sort of going near the third rail on that. And then more broadly, of course, the question of American aid for Ukraine. But if you read between the lines, Secretary Besson's trip in particular, in some ways the Trump administration is
opening a door to ongoing support for Ukraine. It has significant terms attached to it if Zelensky wants to go for it. But that's different than some of the musings we heard on the campaign trail where Trump would really distance himself from the idea of foreign aid. So, you know, I guess European leaders can kind of pick which version they want to look at. But the vice president certainly got their attention. He did. And he got the attention of folks here at home to Democrat Congressman Jerry Connolly, not a fan of the speech. Here's what he said.
It was an embarrassing presentation, maybe one of the most embarrassing moments I can remember at the Munich Security Conference from an American official. He showed condescension and ignorance at the same time. Wally?
Well, it's interesting to hear people react to this. It was definitely a different speech than what we're used to. We're used to people coming in saying the same platitudes and saying things where the leaders of Europe agree with the leaders of the United States, even as things deteriorate globally. And Vance is letting it be known things are different here. He did make a really strong defense of freedom of speech.
freedom of religion, the need to accept election results, things that he said aren't just a problem in Europe, but in our country as well. Government-enabled censorship isn't alleged, as the headline that you showed earlier said. It's quite real, and it has affected many people. And if we claim to be doing all the things we're doing globally in defense of democracy and on behalf of the people, we need to actually care about what the people want. So I'm not surprised people are reacting negatively to it,
But it's because it was such it was almost a Reagan esque speech in terms of the big issues that it covered and the call for freedom that has been sadly waning in Europe and the United States. Here is how Axios summed up the media conference and the weekend. President Trump stunned, strangled and humiliated Europe. No amount of Trump proofing could have prepared Europe for the MAGA shaped hurricane that swept across the continent this week, wreaking torrential havoc on America's closest allies. One.
Well, I mean, to my mind, this was not Reagan-esque. This was, to my mind, let's think about America first, which is Trump.
And in my mind, America first is not served by stirring up right wing nationalism in Europe. And it's not served by signaling weakness to Russia's Vladimir Putin. I mean, to my mind, if you are strengthening a dictator and sparking an outbreak of nationalism, far right nationalism in Europe, you're
You don't have to be a student of history to understand that you are really hearkening back to Nazis and division. I mean, does Trump want to be the Neville Chamberlain of the 21st century, blind to the rise of a dictator who's intent on taking over other countries? I don't think that he wants that. And yet he is risking that. That's what the German Chancellor Schulz had to say yesterday.
He is intervening right before a February 23rd election in Germany and visiting. Vance went to visit with the head of that party. This is unbelievable. Molly, I can see you itching to respond. Well, the issue here, I mean, we've had this foreign policy in Europe where people have enabled a war that's been absolutely catastrophic to the people of Ukraine. We see images of the war in Gaza all the time and how horrific that is.
We haven't really gotten a lot of media coverage. You know, there have been a million casualties in Ukraine with no plan for actual success or ending to that war prior to Trump coming in and saying, we need to stop the carnage. We need to help Ukraine rebuild. And all of this outsized rhetoric, I think, is what people are really...
wanting to move away from caring about america's interests and saying that we cannot be the world's piggy bank anymore in that europe actually has to care about its defense that's not something that just donald trump has said i mean you had you had obama's secretary of defense gates say the same thing during his presidency and things just need to finally happen let me just say the united states had to go into europe in world war two to fight the nazis and the right wing extremists nationalism there
has a real cost for us as Americans. We have to go in and clean up the mess. You can't just say, oh, we're going to not have to pay something. No, we are in NATO. We are the largest military force in the world. Juan, neocon interventionism also has a cost for America. And America is suffering while we are financing every war without any strategy for success. That is what has cost America.
Olivia, I want to bring you into the conversation here. I mean, how this plays abroad and at home, I mean, there are implications. There are. And I think President Trump was praising Vance for his speech. In particular, I also read it. There was some scolding, but I also read it as him sending a warning that they're going to be backing a MAGA populist movement in Europe. And as Vance said, there's a new sheriff in town. So I think that that was a little bit more of also a warning to our allies abroad that
the Trump administration will be trying to carve an area where that sort of belief can expand in Europe. Well, it certainly got a lot of attention. We all agree on that point, if not everything else. All right, panel, don't go far. Up next, the battle over the budget and the Democrats' fight to stop Doge. Democrat Senator Tim Kaine and Senate Majority Whip. John Barrasso on that and what tariffs could mean for your wallet. They're next.
Here's to getting better with age. Every day, thousands of Comcast engineers and technologists like Kunle put people at the heart of everything they create. In the average household, there are dozens of connected devices. Here in the Comcast family, we're building an integrated in-home Wi-Fi solution for millions of families like my own.
It brings people together in meaningful ways. Kunle and his team are building a Wi-Fi experience that connects one billion devices every year. Learn more about how Comcast is redefining the future of connectivity at ComcastCorporation.com slash Wi-Fi. They want a divorce. They want you two to start hating each other. And they try, oh, President Elon Musk, for example.
You do know that they're doing that to you. They're so bad at it. I used to think they were good at it. They're actually bad at it because if they were good at it, I'd never be president.
Because I think nobody in history has ever gotten more bad publicity than me. I could do the greatest things. I get 98% bad publicity. I could do, outside of you and a few of your very good friends, it's like the craziest thing. But you know what I have learned, Elon? The people are smart. They get it. Yeah, they do, actually. They get it. They really see what's happening. Yes.
President Trump and Elon Musk talking about their unconventional partnership with Sean Hannity. You can see that full interview Tuesday night, 9 p.m. Eastern on the Fox News channel. But right now we're joined by Virginia Democrat Senator Tim Kaine. Good to have you back on the show. Thanks, Shannon. So you heard there the discussion about some people want them to get a divorce. Would you put yourself in that category?
No, it's the policy that matters to me, not the bromance. I don't really care about that. And look, the policy is one that is real trouble. I'm all for government efficiency. When I was governor, Virginia was the best managed state in America. But when you come in and the first thing you do is you fire the inspector generals, hmm, those are the people whose job it is to find waste, fraud, and abuse. When you fire them, you send the message that efficiency isn't the goal, basically.
doing things to benefit yourself is the goal. Do you not think all these cuts, though, are sending the message that efficiency is the goal? I mean, Doge has got an up and running website. They've got Twitter feeds that are showing exact contracts, exact things they're finding. And a lot of American people are surprised to find that their tax dollars are going to some of these up
The message in Virginia, Shannon, isn't that the efficiency is the goal. Here's a message that they're waging a war on veterans. They're doing willy-nilly layoffs at the VA. And since 30 percent of the federal workforce is veteran and Virginia is a veteran-heavy state, that's the way it feels at home, cutting research, cutting health clinics, cutting Head Start programs.
the inspector general firing, the message out of the gate is this is a group of people that want to pad their own pocket. They're going to cut things to try to amass a lot of dollars that they're then going to use to do tax cuts for the wealthiest. And that's the playbook we saw in the first Trump term, and I think we're seeing it again. All right, I want to read you the words of newly elected president. The people demand and deserve a government on their side, but they don't want a government that wastes money, a government that costs more and does less. They voted for change. They wanted a literal change.
revolution in the way the government operates and now you and I must deliver. That was Bill Clinton in 1993 talking to his cabinet. One of the first things he called for was a reduction of 100,000 federal employees. And he went way beyond that in his first in his eight years. And you know what he did, Shannon? He worked with Congress to do it. And Donald Trump has two Republican houses.
And he's got a budget discussion that has to have a resolution by March 14. Why isn't he getting the Republican leaders down in the White House and saying, here's what we're going to do? He's making all these cuts without them because he doesn't even think the Republican leadership will go along with him. Bill Clinton...
did things to shrink the size of government, and he did it with Congress. There's a difference between that and ignoring Congress and violating the law. But the executive branch does have a lot of authority and purview over things that are within the executive branch and decisions about money and how it's dispersed. I mean, that is part of the president's authority. The president has authority, but the president also has to follow the law. There's this law that you know, the Impoundment Act, that says once Congress has appropriated dollars for a particular purpose,
The president is not allowed to say, yeah, I don't like that. I'm going to spend this money, but not that money. The president needs to follow the law. And that's why so far there's a whole lot of lawsuits that have been successful. They'll go through appeals courts. But a lot of the president's extreme executive actions that hurt folks are being challenged in court right now. They are some of them on hold and we'll follow those. And we're going to talk about those a little bit later in the show, too. But here's reaction to how Democrats are now pushing back on Doge.
And those efforts. A piece in the Hill says this Democrats relentless attacks on Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency make it clear which side they're on. Spoiler alert. It's not the side of the taxpayer. So do you worry about the optics of so much outrage at Elon Musk and the Doge team versus outrage about some of the stuff that they're uncovering? Yeah, I think the my outrage is about who they're hurting.
Again, I don't care about the bromance. Who cares about the bromance? I don't like letting unelected officials post. Yesterday, the Doge guys post classified information on their Web site and they had to realize, oh, we didn't realize that agency was a classified agency.
You shouldn't let people run rampage through offices that have classified information. And again, I view this in Virginia from the perspective of we're a veteran heavy state. There's a war on veterans when they're slashing in the VA. And when 30 percent of the federal workforce is veterans compared to like two to three percent of the civilian workforce, you do indiscriminate cuts. I'll tell you what hurts. It hurts veterans. Do you take any solace, though, in the fact
that there have been a number of positions at the VA that have been walled off. They are not eligible for cuts or buyouts because the administration was aware that there were concerns about that. I do take some solace in that, but here's an example. There are two veterans clinics waiting to open in Virginia, one in Chesapeake, one in Fredericksburg. They've been built. We've spent them, and they're in areas where there's high percentages of veterans.
Their opening days are now thrown into question. And when they do open, they'll be short staffed rather than full staff because of the actions of the Trump administration. That's no way to treat veterans. OK, let's talk about funding, because all of this gets wrapped in as well. The funding battle that's coming, federal funding runs out on March 14th. A lot of people say, oh, in D.C. time, we've got plenty of time to figure this out. And maybe you do. I don't like it, though. No, I'm not wild about that. We should have done it last year. Well,
Well, here are two recent headlines. New York Times. Two Democratic senators said on Sunday that their party would not rule out forcing the federal government to shut down. The very next day, USA Today has this headline. Dems say they are open to shutting down the government. You've said in the past that shutdowns are not good for the American people. You've talked about Virginia. You've talked about military families that are a big part of the Commonwealth. You said this. It inflicts unnecessary harm on federal employees, government contractors, and millions of Americans who rely on government services. So...
Should a shutdown this time around, now that Republicans are in control, should it be a threat? Should you be guys using it as leverage? I never use it as a threat. I don't like the fact that Donald Trump is shutting government down as we speak. You know, he says, I want to shut down the Department of Education, shrink USAID staff down to 250 people.
that is a shutdown unauthorized by congress against the law i don't like that and i don't think we should be contemplating shutdown look the republicans as you point out shannon they have all three levers they got the white house and they got both houses they got to figure out a budget deal we could have done one last year but after the november election they said well let's wait till 2025 when we have all the levers and we'll do a budget deal ourselves so far you can see there there's a lot of confusion between the house republicans
And the Senate Republicans, we know where this is going. It's tax cuts for the wealthiest is going to come very, very soon. We saw that in the Budget Committee this week. But they're having a hard time getting on the same page. Well, they do say that in extension of the 2017 tax cuts, the IRS itself said in a nonpartisan way it benefited every tax bracket. So that's the argument from Republicans.
Not equally, but there were benefits, but the benefits were overwhelmingly to the wealthiest and big corporations. So it's hard to believe it hasn't been a month of the new administration. There's a lot that's happened. CBS polling out there saying people describe President Trump as tough, energetic, focused and effective. 70 percent say he's doing what he promised and he's got the highest approval rating he's ever had.
with CBS News. So with that in mind, let me read you something from a colleague of yours, Democrat Congressman Ro Khanna, the House side. He says,
These new numbers show people so far, a majority of Americans, are happy with what President Trump's doing. I think the CBS poll said 62% of Americans say Donald Trump isn't doing enough to bring down prices. Eggs are through the roof. There's an article in the New York Times today about construction costs going up. And I just met with my farmers in northwestern Virginia Friday. They're petrified about the tariff effect on agriculture and forestry because they saw what happened when Donald Trump did government by tariffs in his first term.
In Virginia, people are really worried about mismanagement of the economy and tariffs and prices going up. They're worried about these folks who fire the inspector generals and seem to want to pad their own pockets. They're worried about attacks on education and research. There's a lot of concerns out there.
All right. It's good to see you, Senator. I was about to call you governor, but you were governor of Virginia and where I am your constituent. So always good to see you. And we'll try to get to some of those things with Senator Brasso next. Thank you. OK, so joining me now, Senate Majority Whip, Don Brasso of Wyoming. Senator, welcome back to the show. So let's talk about that. You heard your colleague, Senator Kaine, says this is going to be about tax cuts that benefit people who don't really need the help as much as some of your other constituents really do.
Well, what we've seen since President Trump took office are the Democrats running around like chicken little saying the sky is falling and they're filing lawsuit after lawsuit because they want the border to remain open. They want to have boys playing in girls sports and they want to spend money on things that people think are ridiculous. He's transgender, comic books, operas, surgery in foreign countries, all that.
All of these things are wrong. And any time President Trump does anything, they call it a constitutional crisis. Look, that's swamp talk. President Trump ran to drain the swamp. That's what he's doing. He wants to keep money in the American people's pockets. He knows that's the way to keep prices down, to fight inflation. That's what he's committed to do. That's what Republicans are committed to do. And you pointed out, Shannon, that the Democrats have been now screaming shut down.
down the government, not because they want to help the American people, not because they want to help our men and women in uniform or our veterans. They want to do it to obstruct President Trump. All right, Senator, what about what Senator Kaine pointed out? Worries about VA clinics, worry about Head Start programs and about food and assistance. If there's so much slashing going on, he has real concerns that it's being done in a rather indiscriminate manner that is hurting American people.
Well, I think that what we've seen from the Doge is that there is massive waste and fraud in government spending. We need to make sure that the money is spent wisely. And we've seen it's been spent indiscriminately. Government is too big. It spends too much. And when it does that, that drives up prices on American families. So we need to cut through the waste that we see that the Democrats continue to defend. When we talk about research, the pure cancer research,
liberal universities with billions of dollars of endowments, they get money and 70% of that money for research goes to overhead slush funds. That's wrong. And I think that what we're finding with Musk and with Doge is that this waste, fraud and abuse, this may just be the tip of the iceberg.
The people here in Wyoming love what President Trump is doing. They think he's heading in the right direction. They know that we have a smaller government, a more efficient government. It is better for the economy of people at home in America. OK, so let's talk about this USAID. There are concerns about cuts there again being with a sledgehammer rather than a scalpel. Politico says this critical U.S. food and medical assistance to the world's poorest countries isn't getting through.
Organizations that deliver the aid say they aren't getting paid. They're laying off workers and they can't get information from the U.S. Agency for International Development. I brought this up with Speaker Johnson last week. It doesn't sound like whatever the confusion there for critical and lifesaving treatments and aid has been ironed out. I've talked to people in some of these agencies. They're not doing anything to do with cultural wars or any of that kind of stuff.
They're worried about all the staff they're having to lay off, but more importantly, the end consumer, these people who see U.S. diplomacy and goodwill worked through these programs that have now disappeared. I talked to the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, about this last week. The American people, Shannon, and you know this, are the most giving, generous, caring, compassionate people in the world. And for years we have contributed around the world and saved millions of lives.
USAID has gone rogue. They need to be reined in. Anytime we try to look at their funding, what we see is they put up a brick wall to prevent us from doing that. They've been funneling money to things that American people don't want to go, wanted to go to over the years.
Some of their favorite liberal causes skim money off the top. We need massive reform at USAID. I think it needs to be put under the secretary of state's office so we can make sure that the needs, the human needs around the world are met. But these wasteful programs are moved away. And in addition to this, you look at the United Nations and the money we spend there. I mean, that has turned into a a disaster.
gender and a climate organization. It is in everything. I think we have to take a serious look about the money we spend with the United Nations as well. OK, so while Doge is playing all of this out, there are concerns. I want to play something from your colleague, Democrat Senator Maggie Hassan, who who echoed a concern that Senator Kaine brought up. If this committee and President Trump.
though actually wanted to reduce waste and fraud, they would work together to support and bolster inspectors general. Inspectors general are indispensable watchdogs who identify multimillion dollar overpayments to big corporations. Exactly what Elon Musk claims he wants to root out.
So, Inspectors General, are the eyes and ears for you as lawmakers about what's going on inside of these agencies? We talk about the 17 or so who were fired and, you know, their claims that it was not done in accordance with the law that you guys had passed there on Capitol Hill. Are you confident they will be reinstated, that somebody will replace them at least so you do have that accountability in a more neutral fashion from these IGs?
Well, the American people deserve accountability and they're going to get it. The president had a right to do what he has done. And I'm going to continue to support the efforts to have inspector generals there who actually do the work that is needed, not to protect what's happening within some of these agencies. Because when you look about this massive amount of government spending that has gone on and the waste and the fraud and abuse, this has happened with those inspector generals in place. And I think we need to do a better job at that.
OK, I want to make sure a touch on tariffs. LendingTree did this analysis of the states that would be hit hardest by the various tariffs that the president has proposed. And we know many of them. There is a future deadline. So this may be a period of negotiation. But they found that Wyoming ranks number eight when it comes when it comes to how you'd be impacted. How concerned about you are you about the potential impact on your constituents who are already like all Americans struggling with grocery prices, with inflation, that kind of thing? Your reaction to the tariffs with that in mind?
Well, I'm in Wyoming now. I was at the grocery store yesterday and talked to people in Wyoming every single day. President Trump is right in saying he wants to protect American workers and strengthen our economy. In just about every speech he gave while running for election, he mentioned tariffs, so this should surprise Americans.
No one. Tariffs will hold others accountable. They are. This is about putting America first. And tariffs can be used as a tool and as a threat to make sure that we get the kind of a proper treatment from other countries. President Trump also said he was going to use tariffs and he's using them right now to secure the border from the north and the south and to prevent illegal immigrants coming in, as well as to prevent the fentanyl that is killing Americans.
a thousand people a week in the United States. So the people of Wyoming are fully in support of the efforts that President Trump is doing to strengthen our economy, strengthen America and put America first. Senate Majority Whip, John Barrasso, thank you very much for your time. We'll see you soon.
Thank you, Shannon. Okay, the Trump administration taking legal action against sanctuary states as the president now faces dozens of lawsuits over his new policies. Plus, gentlemen, start your engines. We'll take you live to the Daytona 500. Straight ahead.
Life, diabetes. Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. The message for everyone paying big wireless way too much. Please, for the love of everything good in this world, stop. With Mint, you can get premium wireless for just $15 a month. Of course, if you enjoy overpaying, no judgments, but that's weird. Okay, one judgment.
Anyway, give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch.
I don't agree. I think sanctuary is a sanctuary for criminals. I'm strictly against sanctuary city status just because I think sanctuaries are for criminals.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams appearing on Fox & Friends with Border Czar Tom Holman this week. Now, Adams is pledging to cooperate with ICE in efforts to apprehend certain dangerous migrants. But word this weekend that the city is also planning to take legal action and sue the Trump administration about funding that FEMA clawed back from them. Also on Friday, federal prosecutors filed a motion to dismiss corruption charges against Mayor Adams. That has sparked some DOJ resignations.
Well, let's unpack there. We are back now with the panel. OK, so this idea that the Trump administration, this is executive order day one, is going to go after these sanctuary cities. Here's the attorney general, Pam Bondi. If you don't comply with federal law, we will hold you accountable. We did it to Illinois. Strike one. Strike two is New York.
And if you are a state not complying with federal law, you're next. Get ready. So, Olivia, some of this is civil in nature, but there are grumblings and rumblings about possible criminal cases against some of these officials. Certainly. And I think, you know, we saw some of this action in 2017, but all of those cases,
not all those answers have been resolved on some did not reach the supreme court but it looks like pam bondi the attorney general believes that the supreme court will side with them this case it depends how long it takes them and whether they take it up but
We're at a pretty interesting juncture because the Trump administration is showing and optically, even if they don't win a case, they're showing they're going to be very aggressive in going after some of these states like they are with New York. Now, Eric Adams is a very interesting case because they are reserving the right to go back after him after the 2025 mayoral elections. So in that case, it's also leaving questions open to whether he might
be bending even more to their push on immigration in the state than he otherwise previously would. Well, I wonder if the message is getting to California, though, because we have this report from Politico. California Governor Gavin Newsom is vowing to veto a Democrat-led bill that would limit state prison officials' cooperation with federal immigration agents, just as President Donald Trump promises mass deportations. Josh, we always have to think about
where Governor Newsom is thinking. Future, not just the immediate future, but long-term too. But he is sort of trying to walk this fine line on this issue. Yeah, there could be shades of 2028 there for sure. But putting that aside, I mean, this has been telegraphed from even before inauguration. Tom Homan, of course, said that he'd be in Chicago on day one and day two. And he was. This is going to be a...
continued friction point. But I think one thing that remains unclear is simply the scale of deportations that the Trump administration is going to pursue, right? They've really focused the lens in the last couple of weeks on most extreme cases, violent cases, and making sure they have arrangements with other countries to accept migrants. Now, the question
The question is how broad this goes in scope. This is one we've been watching in particular because business groups are watching it. If you start deporting really large numbers of people and curtailing legal migration, it starts to be an economic impact. And so right now, that I think is the jump ball right now that we just don't know how widely it's going to go. I think it's interesting that he's been focusing on more of a targeted approach.
So we're seeing these sort of high profile clashes with prominent Democrats. We, of course, I expect to continue to see that. But how wide Trump will go on these deportations, it seems like the window is shifting a little bit. Well, so on issues from deportation to federal workers to Doge, all of these things, there are numerous court battles. But as Kim Strassel writes in The Wall Street Journal, the team has been preparing for it.
for this. She says the president's forces have spent years analyzing what went wrong and devising plans to avoid a repeat referencing first term. She says, bottom line, the Trump legal team is far better prepared than it was eight years ago to defend itself in court. One, they know some of what they're trying is going to be a legal test case. They're putting it out there. They're flooding the zone. Um,
And it looks like a lot of these court battles are going to take some time. Right. And I think that's to their benefit. But the Constitution is clear. The Constitution says we have separation of powers. And it says that the courts are the ultimate arbiter. The courts will decide what is constitutional.
And I think that what we're seeing from the Trump administration is that they are willing to say, oh, we're going to obey the courts eventually because the concern now in Washington is these people, we heard some words from administration officials about not obeying the courts, but they're saying, no, we'll obey the courts, but we're counting on running out the clock. This is basketball season. Let me use that basketball term. Just run out the clock until the courts have to rule. And until then, his executive orders will hold. Well,
Well, unless they're on hold by some of these nationwide injunctions and other things that judges have entered. Right. And some of these nationwide injunctions are themselves a form of lawfare to constrain the executive from the executive branch from controlling the executive branch. This is a really interesting constitutional issue. In our constitution, we have three branches of government, the legislative, the executive and the judiciary.
But in the last 100 years, we've built up this fourth completely unconstitutional branch of government, an unaccountable permanent bureaucracy that is beholden to no one. What the Trump administration is trying to do here is say, actually, the only way this works constitutionally is if all of these bureaucrats in the executive branch are unaccountable.
have to answer to the executive authority who's elected by the people. So this really is a battle for democracy, whether you will have accountability for these unelected officials who count in the millions, by the way, millions of federal employees, millions of contractors. Aren't Congress people, isn't the Congress elected by the people? And doesn't the Congress, in fact,
have some authority in terms of the spending and how money is spent and what these agents, oversight of these agencies. That's my concern. Of course, the president's elected. We can argue about the mandate or not, but the Congress has legitimate function and he is ignoring them. Well, and I actually agree with this. Congress is the Article 1 authority here. But what's not an authority is this unaccountable deep state bureaucracy that has controlled things regardless of who is elected.
Well, I'm waiting to see which of these get to the Supreme Court and how quickly. And we will be covering it for you once they do. Panel, thank you very much. We'll see you guys next Sunday. OK, up next, we're going to take you south to one of NASCAR's biggest races of the year, the Daytona 500, where President Trump is expected to make an appearance today. We'll take you there live. Have you ever spotted McDonald's hot, crispy fries right as they're being scooped into the carton? And time just stands still.
It is one of the biggest days in racing every year, and this time around the weather forecast for the 67th Daytona 500 means the start's actually been moved up an hour. Fox News contributor Joey Jones is live at the racetrack with an inside look for us before we get to that green flag. Hey, Joey. Hey, listen, it's a great day. We've got the sun coming in every now and then. There are some clouds. But you know, Fox Sports, they know what to do. They moved it up an hour. The television audience, the 100,000 or more people here, they're going to get to see a race tomorrow.
If you can do a rain dance, maybe do it for us. But I think we're in good shape. So, Joey, we understand that there's going to be a special guest there today. What more do we know about that? I'll tell you, I'm not going to say this too loud because we've got a lot of fans here that are waiting to hear it. But word is President Trump's going to be here. We had to come through Secret Service and TSA to get in. So I would say the likelihood, the thermostat is pretty hot right now for President Trump to be here. We're hearing rumors. We're hearing he might take the beast out on the track. He might tell them to start their engines.
We're hearing he might get into one of the race cars and just win the race real quick because all he does is win. But I think ultimately he's going to be right around where we are right now saying hello to some folks. And like I said, he might even get out on the track. Well, listen, I'd love to do that, too. I think that I operate sometimes as sort of a NASCAR driver, but I'm nothing compared to the speeds they're going to hit there. I've been to a number of races, not to Daytona 500, but, man, to be there is really an electric thing.
And it's almost like your eyes can't believe the speed of what you're seeing with these cars. How are folks feeling leading up to the race today?
You know, we've talked to several drivers today, and it's so funny because this is one of the races they call it a restrictor plate race. So basically all the cars go the same speed. So where are you in line and when do you get out of line? They draft. So there's a lot of thought that goes into it, but even the lower funded teams have a chance to win. And every single one of them, they're just basically saying, I hope I don't wreck and I'm there at the end. Every single driver believes if they're there at the end, they have a chance to win. Yeah, I think my car has a restrictor plate on it.
too, sadly. All right, Joey, thank you for giving us some good inside scoop. It's good to see you there. And by the way, be sure to tune in on your local Fox station for the Daytona 500 starting a little bit early again because of weather. 1.30 p.m. Eastern. The president will be dropping in at some point. That is it for us today. Thank you for joining us. I'm Shannon Bream. Have a great week. We'll see you next Fox News Sunday.
Fox News Audio presents the Fox Nation Investigates podcast, Evil Next Door. Exploring the life and crimes of five serial predators from across the United States. Follow and listen starting February 25th at foxtruecrime.com. Listen to Fox News Sunday ad-free on Amazon Music with your Prime membership or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.