August 27, 2025 • 14 mins
In this Briefing, Jon Decker breaks down President Trump’s latest moves, including the removal of Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, new crime control measures in Washington D.C., and fresh updates on the war in Ukraine. Decker also touches on a lighter pop culture moment, getting the President's reaction to the Taylor Swift/Travis Kelce engagement, & examines the broader political implications and the president’s evolving strategy. The White House Briefing Room can be heard daily on the iHeartRadio App, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the White House Briefing Room for Wednesday, August
the twenty seventh. I'm John Dekker. Less than twenty four
hours after President Trump announced on social media that he's
removing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, the President says the
quiet part out loud, indicating that he's focused on getting
(00:22):
a majority of his people on the Federal Reserve.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Once we have a majority, housing is going to swing
and it's going to be great. People are paying too
high an interest rate. That's the only problem with housing.
We have to get the rates down a little bit.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
In other news, the President acknowledged that his crackdown on
crime and the nation's capital is also, in his view,
a winning political issue for Republicans.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
I think that crime is going to be a big thing,
and we are the party, the Republicans of the party
that wants to stop crime. We're against crime.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
The Democrats like And with Labor Day just around the corner,
Secretary of State Mark or Rubio, who also serves as
the President's National Security Advisor and the head of the
US Agency for International Development, is giving a big thanks
for this national holiday.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
For me personally, this is the most meaningful labor day
of my life with someone with four jobs.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
And so, but we begin this Wednesday with the President's
very very long cabinet meeting on Tuesday, how long three
hours and fifteen minutes, And the President extended the meeting
that long because he began with the preamble in terms
(01:41):
of the accomplishments that he says his administration has had
since January. Then after that, the President went around the
cabinet room table, hearing from every cabinet secretary, listening to
them as they recounted the accomplishments just since their last
cabinet meeting. And then it was time for questions. About
(02:03):
forty five minutes of questions posed to the president from
the reporters in the pool on Tuesday, and they covered
a variety of subjects. They covered the president's decision to
fire Lisa Cook as a member of the Federal Reserve
Open Market Committee. They covered the war in Ukraine, also
(02:25):
spoke about the president's plans that he's enacted as it
relates to federalizing the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, d C.
The President even touched upon some news that's making news
in People magazine. But we'll get to that a little
bit later. As for Lisa Cook, she is digging in
her heels. She has indicated she has no intention of
(02:49):
walking away from her job as a member of the
Federal Reserve as a Federal Reserve governor. Now, the President,
in moving to Alice Cook, has cited alligation from Bill Poulti.
He's the leader of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and
the allegations that he's put forward are that Cook in
(03:09):
twenty twenty one sought mortgages on two properties, one in Michigan,
the other in Atlanta, and describe both of those properties
as her primary residence in mortgage loan papers that she's
submitted fourteen days apart. Now, those are the allegations. She
(03:31):
has not been convicted of any crime. There has not
been a court proceeding involving these allegations. But based upon
those allegations, the President has moved to remove her as
simoner on the Federal Reserve Board. Now, on Tuesday, at
that Cabinet meeting, the President spelled out the reasons why
(03:53):
he says Lisa Cook can no longer serve as a
member of the Federal Reserve. Let's listen to what the
President said during the Q and a portion with reporters
of this cabinet meeting.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Now she seems to have had an infraction, and she
can't have an infraction, especially that infraction, because she's in
charge of, if you think about it, mortgages, and we
need people that are one hundred percent above board, and
it doesn't seem like she was here.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
The President said he's prepared for a legal fight and
would respect any decision by the courts. The FED put
out a statement on Tuesday that said it would abide
by any court decision related to Lisa Cook. It reaffirmed
its independence in that very same statement, and a FED
spokeswoman said the Cook was coming back to Washington after
(04:43):
a work trip and that the Central Bank will defer
any decision on Cook's ability to continue serving as a
FED governor until there's clarification from the courts. Cook was
named as a governor on the Federal Reserve Board by
President Trump's predecessor, Joe Biden, and she has vowed to
(05:04):
fight this action by President Trump. She put out a
statement on Tuesday. It said President Trump purported to fire
me for cause when no cause exists under the law,
and he has no authority to do so. And then
she continued in this statement, I will not resign. I
will continue to carry out my duties to help the
(05:26):
American economy as I have been doing since twenty twenty two.
She's also hired an attorney be law. He says that
he's going to file a lawsuit, and that of course,
sets up a case that is likely to reach all
the way to the US Supreme Court. Now, at this stage,
even as a lawyer, I'm not going to forecast or
(05:49):
predict what will happen if it gets to the highest
court in the land, if it gets to the US
Supreme Court. But let me lay out for you what
the precedent is, what the procedures are, what the laws are.
As it relates to trying to remove an individual serving
on the Federal Reserve Board. The Federal Reserve Act was
(06:12):
first adopted all the way back in nineteen thirteen, and
it establishes fourteen year terms for Fed governors unless they're
removed for cause by the President. And the statute doesn't
define cause, but laws establishing other independent agencies typically refer
(06:34):
to issues like neglective duty, in efficiency, or malfeasance as
a grounds for removal. Now, in this particular case, Bill
POULTI he's that Trump appointee who leads the Federal Housing
Finance Agency. He's the one who's publicized these mortgage allegations,
(06:56):
and he's the one who has referred them to the
Justice Department. But again, it must be stressed Lisa Cook
has not been charged with any civil or criminal violation,
and as a result, I am going to put my
lawyers at here. I believe it's premature to talk about
removing an individual who hasn't had any type of due
(07:20):
process associated with the allegations that have been leveled against her,
and that certainly will be the argument that will be
made by her attorney, a criminal defense lawyer named Abby Lowell,
who again has said that he will file a lawsuit,
and that lawsuit will be filed in federal court. So
(07:40):
who could be a possible replacement for Lisa Cook? The
President took that question in the cabinet room on Tuesday.
Let's listen to the president right here.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
Well, we have some very good people for that position,
and I think we have some very good people were
down to I mean, I think I maybe in my
own mind have somebody that I like, But I deal
with Scott and I deal with Howard, and we're dealing
with a lot of people actually that are going to
be involved in that decision. Often it's a very important decision.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
Tuesday marked eight full days since the President met in
the Oval Office with Ukrainian President Voladimir Zelenski, and during
his meeting in the Cabinet room with his cabinet secretaries,
the President was asked essentially to weigh in where things
stand on the war in Ukraine, and the President gave
(08:28):
an answer to that question that was posed by a
reporter in the cabinet room. Let's listen to what the
President had to say.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
I want to see that deal end. It's very very
serious what I have in mind if I have to
do it, but I want to see it end. I
think that in many ways he's there. Sometimes he'll be
there and Zelenski won't be there. You know, it's like,
who do we have today? I got to get him
both at the same time.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
Since the president's meeting a few fridays ago in Anchorage
allowed with President Putin, and since that meeting last Monday
in the Oval Off was with President Zelensky, Russia's Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov has done a number of television interviews,
including one that aired on NBC's Meet the Press over
(09:17):
the weekend, and he said a number of things in
that interview which certainly indicates that there will likely be
no meeting between President Putin of Russia and President Zelensky
of Ukraine anytime soon. In fact, in one of those interviews,
he's indicated that Russia does not even view President Zelensky
(09:39):
as a legitimate leader of Ukraine. And the President was
asked about some of the things that Sergei Lavrov has
said just over the course of the past week, and
the President had a very succinct answer to that question.
Let's listen to the president right here.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
Doesn't matter what they say. Everybody's pasturing. It's all bullshit, Okay,
everybody's prostrating. Steve, you have a different answer. I agree
with you, sir.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
The President, to a certain extent is exactly right. The
President Zelenski will certainly say certain things. He's not going
to make concessions before sitting down at a table with
his counterpart from Russia. Russia is not going to make
any concessions before having that initial meeting with President Zelenski.
And so you do say things ahead of those first
(10:30):
meetings that could potentially lead to a peace deal. So
the President, I think reads this very well. He's been
in countless negotiations over the course of his professional life,
mostly in the business world, but he understands how negotiations
were as it relates to what he's done over the
course of the past two weeks in the district of Columbia,
(10:52):
federalizing the Metropolitan Police Department and bringing in the National Guard.
The President was out about how long he intends to
keep the National Guard in place in the nation's capital,
as it means for trying to lower the crime rates
in Washington, d C. Let's listen to what the President
(11:14):
had to say in response to that question.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
We want to say there for longer than thirty days.
As you know, we have an absolute mandate and I
can extend it, but I'd rather not have to declare
a national emergency because by that time, I mean, right now,
there's not an emergency. We've done. As you sort of
said yourself, it feels like a different world.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
The clock is clearly ticking as it relates to the
President's actions, and the President is well aware of that.
Congress is coming back from its August recess in just
a few weeks in September, and the President will likely
ask Congress to weigh in on this particular issue, perhaps
giving an extension to that thirty days that the President
(11:53):
has already put in place in terms of federalizing the
Metropolitan Police Department. That's certainly an issue that will follow
in the days and weeks ahead. One other thing came
up during that very long cabinet meeting. The President was
asked a pop culture question because I think one of
the big stories of the day on Tuesday was the
(12:14):
news that Taylor Swift and Travis Kelcey of the Kansas
City Chiefs, they are going to tie the knot. It
was announced through Taylor Swift's Instagram that she is now engaged,
and the President was asked to weigh in on their
new engagement.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
Well, I wish him a lot a love. Yeah, I
think it's I think he said a great player. I
think he's a great guy, and I think that she's
a terrific person. So I wish them a lot alone.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
So a lot of brown was covered during that very
long cabinet meeting that took place on Tuesday, and after
that Cabinet meeting, I had an opportunity to interview two
Cabinet secretaries, Doug Bergham, the Interior Secretary Brooke Rollins, she's
the second Ary of Agriculture. Obviously I focused on issues
(13:03):
related to their respective departments, but I also asked them
did you prepare for a meeting that would last three
hours and fifteen minutes? And Secretary Rawins told me she
had not, and by the time she came out for
her interview with me, she was famished. So I kept
my interview relatively short, allowing her to get some lunch.
(13:27):
So after a very busy Tuesday in terms of hearing
a lot from the President weighing on many different issues.
As far as the schedule is for Wednesday, there are
no public events with President Trump, which disappoints me. I'm
in the pool Wednesday, so I perhaps will not have
(13:47):
any opportunities to ask the President any questions. But things change.
They change often and almost on a daily basis with
the Trump White House. That's it for the White House
Briefing Room for Wednesday to day, August the twenty seventh.
I'm John Decker. Have a good one
Welcome to the White House Briefing Room for Wednesday, August
the twenty seventh. I'm John Dekker. Less than twenty four
hours after President Trump announced on social media that he's
removing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, the President says the
quiet part out loud, indicating that he's focused on getting
(00:22):
a majority of his people on the Federal Reserve.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Once we have a majority, housing is going to swing
and it's going to be great. People are paying too
high an interest rate. That's the only problem with housing.
We have to get the rates down a little bit.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
In other news, the President acknowledged that his crackdown on
crime and the nation's capital is also, in his view,
a winning political issue for Republicans.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
I think that crime is going to be a big thing,
and we are the party, the Republicans of the party
that wants to stop crime. We're against crime.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
The Democrats like And with Labor Day just around the corner,
Secretary of State Mark or Rubio, who also serves as
the President's National Security Advisor and the head of the
US Agency for International Development, is giving a big thanks
for this national holiday.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
For me personally, this is the most meaningful labor day
of my life with someone with four jobs.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
And so, but we begin this Wednesday with the President's
very very long cabinet meeting on Tuesday, how long three
hours and fifteen minutes, And the President extended the meeting
that long because he began with the preamble in terms
(01:41):
of the accomplishments that he says his administration has had
since January. Then after that, the President went around the
cabinet room table, hearing from every cabinet secretary, listening to
them as they recounted the accomplishments just since their last
cabinet meeting. And then it was time for questions. About
(02:03):
forty five minutes of questions posed to the president from
the reporters in the pool on Tuesday, and they covered
a variety of subjects. They covered the president's decision to
fire Lisa Cook as a member of the Federal Reserve
Open Market Committee. They covered the war in Ukraine, also
(02:25):
spoke about the president's plans that he's enacted as it
relates to federalizing the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, d C.
The President even touched upon some news that's making news
in People magazine. But we'll get to that a little
bit later. As for Lisa Cook, she is digging in
her heels. She has indicated she has no intention of
(02:49):
walking away from her job as a member of the
Federal Reserve as a Federal Reserve governor. Now, the President,
in moving to Alice Cook, has cited alligation from Bill Poulti.
He's the leader of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and
the allegations that he's put forward are that Cook in
(03:09):
twenty twenty one sought mortgages on two properties, one in Michigan,
the other in Atlanta, and describe both of those properties
as her primary residence in mortgage loan papers that she's
submitted fourteen days apart. Now, those are the allegations. She
(03:31):
has not been convicted of any crime. There has not
been a court proceeding involving these allegations. But based upon
those allegations, the President has moved to remove her as
simoner on the Federal Reserve Board. Now, on Tuesday, at
that Cabinet meeting, the President spelled out the reasons why
(03:53):
he says Lisa Cook can no longer serve as a
member of the Federal Reserve. Let's listen to what the
President said during the Q and a portion with reporters
of this cabinet meeting.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Now she seems to have had an infraction, and she
can't have an infraction, especially that infraction, because she's in
charge of, if you think about it, mortgages, and we
need people that are one hundred percent above board, and
it doesn't seem like she was here.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
The President said he's prepared for a legal fight and
would respect any decision by the courts. The FED put
out a statement on Tuesday that said it would abide
by any court decision related to Lisa Cook. It reaffirmed
its independence in that very same statement, and a FED
spokeswoman said the Cook was coming back to Washington after
(04:43):
a work trip and that the Central Bank will defer
any decision on Cook's ability to continue serving as a
FED governor until there's clarification from the courts. Cook was
named as a governor on the Federal Reserve Board by
President Trump's predecessor, Joe Biden, and she has vowed to
(05:04):
fight this action by President Trump. She put out a
statement on Tuesday. It said President Trump purported to fire
me for cause when no cause exists under the law,
and he has no authority to do so. And then
she continued in this statement, I will not resign. I
will continue to carry out my duties to help the
(05:26):
American economy as I have been doing since twenty twenty two.
She's also hired an attorney be law. He says that
he's going to file a lawsuit, and that of course,
sets up a case that is likely to reach all
the way to the US Supreme Court. Now, at this stage,
even as a lawyer, I'm not going to forecast or
(05:49):
predict what will happen if it gets to the highest
court in the land, if it gets to the US
Supreme Court. But let me lay out for you what
the precedent is, what the procedures are, what the laws are.
As it relates to trying to remove an individual serving
on the Federal Reserve Board. The Federal Reserve Act was
(06:12):
first adopted all the way back in nineteen thirteen, and
it establishes fourteen year terms for Fed governors unless they're
removed for cause by the President. And the statute doesn't
define cause, but laws establishing other independent agencies typically refer
(06:34):
to issues like neglective duty, in efficiency, or malfeasance as
a grounds for removal. Now, in this particular case, Bill
POULTI he's that Trump appointee who leads the Federal Housing
Finance Agency. He's the one who's publicized these mortgage allegations,
(06:56):
and he's the one who has referred them to the
Justice Department. But again, it must be stressed Lisa Cook
has not been charged with any civil or criminal violation,
and as a result, I am going to put my
lawyers at here. I believe it's premature to talk about
removing an individual who hasn't had any type of due
(07:20):
process associated with the allegations that have been leveled against her,
and that certainly will be the argument that will be
made by her attorney, a criminal defense lawyer named Abby Lowell,
who again has said that he will file a lawsuit,
and that lawsuit will be filed in federal court. So
(07:40):
who could be a possible replacement for Lisa Cook? The
President took that question in the cabinet room on Tuesday.
Let's listen to the president right here.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
Well, we have some very good people for that position,
and I think we have some very good people were
down to I mean, I think I maybe in my
own mind have somebody that I like, But I deal
with Scott and I deal with Howard, and we're dealing
with a lot of people actually that are going to
be involved in that decision. Often it's a very important decision.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
Tuesday marked eight full days since the President met in
the Oval Office with Ukrainian President Voladimir Zelenski, and during
his meeting in the Cabinet room with his cabinet secretaries,
the President was asked essentially to weigh in where things
stand on the war in Ukraine, and the President gave
(08:28):
an answer to that question that was posed by a
reporter in the cabinet room. Let's listen to what the
President had to say.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
I want to see that deal end. It's very very
serious what I have in mind if I have to
do it, but I want to see it end. I
think that in many ways he's there. Sometimes he'll be
there and Zelenski won't be there. You know, it's like,
who do we have today? I got to get him
both at the same time.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
Since the president's meeting a few fridays ago in Anchorage
allowed with President Putin, and since that meeting last Monday
in the Oval Off was with President Zelensky, Russia's Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov has done a number of television interviews,
including one that aired on NBC's Meet the Press over
(09:17):
the weekend, and he said a number of things in
that interview which certainly indicates that there will likely be
no meeting between President Putin of Russia and President Zelensky
of Ukraine anytime soon. In fact, in one of those interviews,
he's indicated that Russia does not even view President Zelensky
(09:39):
as a legitimate leader of Ukraine. And the President was
asked about some of the things that Sergei Lavrov has
said just over the course of the past week, and
the President had a very succinct answer to that question.
Let's listen to the president right here.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
Doesn't matter what they say. Everybody's pasturing. It's all bullshit, Okay,
everybody's prostrating. Steve, you have a different answer. I agree
with you, sir.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
The President, to a certain extent is exactly right. The
President Zelenski will certainly say certain things. He's not going
to make concessions before sitting down at a table with
his counterpart from Russia. Russia is not going to make
any concessions before having that initial meeting with President Zelenski.
And so you do say things ahead of those first
(10:30):
meetings that could potentially lead to a peace deal. So
the President, I think reads this very well. He's been
in countless negotiations over the course of his professional life,
mostly in the business world, but he understands how negotiations
were as it relates to what he's done over the
course of the past two weeks in the district of Columbia,
(10:52):
federalizing the Metropolitan Police Department and bringing in the National Guard.
The President was out about how long he intends to
keep the National Guard in place in the nation's capital,
as it means for trying to lower the crime rates
in Washington, d C. Let's listen to what the President
(11:14):
had to say in response to that question.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
We want to say there for longer than thirty days.
As you know, we have an absolute mandate and I
can extend it, but I'd rather not have to declare
a national emergency because by that time, I mean, right now,
there's not an emergency. We've done. As you sort of
said yourself, it feels like a different world.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
The clock is clearly ticking as it relates to the
President's actions, and the President is well aware of that.
Congress is coming back from its August recess in just
a few weeks in September, and the President will likely
ask Congress to weigh in on this particular issue, perhaps
giving an extension to that thirty days that the President
(11:53):
has already put in place in terms of federalizing the
Metropolitan Police Department. That's certainly an issue that will follow
in the days and weeks ahead. One other thing came
up during that very long cabinet meeting. The President was
asked a pop culture question because I think one of
the big stories of the day on Tuesday was the
(12:14):
news that Taylor Swift and Travis Kelcey of the Kansas
City Chiefs, they are going to tie the knot. It
was announced through Taylor Swift's Instagram that she is now engaged,
and the President was asked to weigh in on their
new engagement.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
Well, I wish him a lot a love. Yeah, I
think it's I think he said a great player. I
think he's a great guy, and I think that she's
a terrific person. So I wish them a lot alone.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
So a lot of brown was covered during that very
long cabinet meeting that took place on Tuesday, and after
that Cabinet meeting, I had an opportunity to interview two
Cabinet secretaries, Doug Bergham, the Interior Secretary Brooke Rollins, she's
the second Ary of Agriculture. Obviously I focused on issues
(13:03):
related to their respective departments, but I also asked them
did you prepare for a meeting that would last three
hours and fifteen minutes? And Secretary Rawins told me she
had not, and by the time she came out for
her interview with me, she was famished. So I kept
my interview relatively short, allowing her to get some lunch.
(13:27):
So after a very busy Tuesday in terms of hearing
a lot from the President weighing on many different issues.
As far as the schedule is for Wednesday, there are
no public events with President Trump, which disappoints me. I'm
in the pool Wednesday, so I perhaps will not have
(13:47):
any opportunities to ask the President any questions. But things change.
They change often and almost on a daily basis with
the Trump White House. That's it for the White House
Briefing Room for Wednesday to day, August the twenty seventh.
I'm John Decker. Have a good one
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