WH Briefing Room: Trump’s Asia Trip: U.S.-Japan Trade Talks, Government Shutdown Fallout, and Fed Rate Debate

In this episode, Jon Decker breaks down President Donald Trump’s high-stakes Asia trip, spotlighting key meetings in Japan and their impact on U.S.-Japan trade relations. The briefing also examines how the ongoing government shutdown is disrupting food aid programs and SNAP benefits across America. Plus, Decker analyzes the Federal Reserve’s latest interest rate decisions and the growing debate over presidential term limits amid rising economic uncertainty. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to the White House Briefing Room for Wednesday, October
twenty ninth. I'm John Decker. President Trump continues his Asia trip,
thanking Japan for their strong economic and security partnership with
the US.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
You're also very honored to be joined by hundreds of
our incredible Japanese partners, and they are incredible. Thank you
very much.

Speaker 1 (00:25):
The President tells business leaders in Tokyo that the US
has forged strong economic ties with Japan, but Japan is.

Speaker 3 (00:33):
Already America's sixth largest trading partner, and I think as
of today that's gone up probably two notches, and the
number one source of foreign direct investment.

Speaker 1 (00:44):
It's day twenty nine of the federal government shutdown, and
food ay two families could soon be in jeopardy. The
Federal Reserve set to announce another interest rate cut, and
the Speaker of the House pours cold water on the
idea of a third term for President Trump. But we
begin this Wednesday with the President wrapping up the second

(01:06):
leg of his Asia trip in Japan. It was a
busy day for President Trump in Japan, speaking to troops
and nailing down new investments. After a bilateral meeting in
the morning, with Japan's new conservative Prime minister. President Trump
spoke the thousands of sailors stationed in Japan aboard the

(01:27):
US aircraft carrier, the USS George Washington.

Speaker 2 (01:31):
A very special hello to the greatest sailors anywhere in
the seas, the incredible men and women of the United
States Navy, very special people. Thank you very much. It's
great armor, great honor to be.

Speaker 1 (01:44):
The President spoke for nearly an hour aboard that US
Navy aircraft carrier, addressing approximately six thousand US and Japanese
sailors inside the USS George Washington's cavernous hangar at its
home port of the US seventh Fleet on the Tokyo Bay.

Speaker 2 (02:03):
Now we've come this afternoon to celebrate the strength and
the skill and service of everyone on this ship.

Speaker 1 (02:09):
The President was briefly joined on stage by Japan's new
Prime minister, who said Japan would commit to increasing its
defense capabilities. For that pledge to continue purchasing American weaponry,
The President thanked Japan once again.

Speaker 2 (02:25):
Out of the ashes of a terrible war, a bond
has grown over eight decades into the beautiful friendship that
we have. It's a foundation of peace and security in
the Pacific.

Speaker 1 (02:35):
The President told sailors that twenty twenty five marked the
Navy's best recruitment numbers in what he said was many generations.
In fact, the service reached its twenty twenty five recruiting
goals three months ahead of the new fiscal year, when
it contracted with about forty thousand enlistees by June eighteenth.

(02:57):
Those soldiers aboard the USS George Wahts Washington, We're very
excited to see the commander in chief.

Speaker 2 (03:03):
So on behalf of all American sailors stationed in this
beautiful country. Let's hear it for our allies and the
Japanese Self Defense Forces and all of the Japanese people
that we love and respect. And I have such respect
for Japan and the country. And now I have a
really great respect for the new and incredible Prime Minister.

(03:25):
I have to say this, the first female prime minister
in the history of Japan.

Speaker 1 (03:31):
During the President's speech to those sailors, he made no
mention of the government shutdown now in its twenty ninth day,
during which service members may not be paid and many
Defense Department employees have been furloughed. The President on Tuesdays
signed several bilateral agreements outlining economic cooperation with Japan, including

(03:53):
deals on rare earth minerals and natural gas. And the
President concluded his evening speaking to business leaders in Tokyo.

Speaker 3 (04:02):
And then we had a couple of people that just announced,
including Toyota, ten billion going to open new car plants
throughout the United States, a lot of them. And that's
great because of the tariffs and because of the November
fifth election, I think both.

Speaker 1 (04:19):
The President has made trade and economic deals a top
goal of his three nation regional tour of Asia, and
in Japan, the President said the US is the best
place in the world to invest, and I'm.

Speaker 3 (04:33):
Thrilled that so many Japanese investors recognize that people from
all over the planet are now discovering that the United
States is hot and it's also a place where you
could really do business.

Speaker 1 (04:45):
The President also announced that Toyota has promised ten billion
dollars in investments toward new manufacturing plants in the US,
and he told those business leaders that auto manufacturing is
coming back to the United States. Let's listen to the
president right here.

Speaker 3 (05:04):
A lot of car plans opening up because the tariffs.
I don't want to pay tariffs and they come, and frankly,
Japan is sponsoring many of them because that way you
don't have to pay the tariffs.

Speaker 1 (05:15):
Now back at home, it's the twenty ninth day of
the federal government shutdown. It began at the very beginning
of the fiscal year on October the first, and the
US Department of Agriculture has posted a notice on its
website saying federal food aid will not go out November first,
and that raises the stakes for many families in need

(05:36):
as the government shutdown drags on. The new notice comes
after the Trump administration said it would not tap roughly
five billion dollars in contingency funds to keep benefits through
the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly referred to as SNAP,
flowing into November. That program SNAP helps about one in

(06:00):
eight Americans buy groceries. The shutdown is now the second
longest on record, and Republicans have taken steps leading up
to the shutdown to ensure SNAP benefits were paid this month,
but the cutoff would expand the impact of the impasse
to a wider number of American families, some of those

(06:24):
the most in need. The administration blames congressional Democrats who
say they won't agree to reopen the government until Republicans
negotiate with them on extending expiring subsidies under the Affordable
Care Act. Republicans say Democrats must first agree to reopen
the government before any negotiations. Some states have pledged to

(06:48):
keep those SNAP benefits flowing even if the federal program
halts payments. Other states are telling SNAP recipients to be
ready for the benefits to stop. Are In saw and Oklahoma,
for example, they are advising recipients of the SNAP program
to identify food pantries and other groups that help with food.

(07:12):
Wednesday marks an important day for the Federal Reserve. After
their two day meeting, they are poised to cut interest
rates once again by a quarter of a point after
cutting interest rates by a quarter of a point last
month for the Federal Reserve. If the government remains shut
down for another month, the Fed's job gets much harder

(07:34):
with the lack of official data on jobs, on inflation,
and on growth when it meets for the last time
this year in December. Now it's unclear what the Fed
may do when it meets once again in December. A
softening labor market would normally trigger rate cuts to support

(07:54):
hiring and the overall economy. Unemployment roads to four point
three percent in August. It's the highest rate since October
of twenty twenty one, and job growth has stalled. Just
twenty two thousand positions were added to the US economy
in August, far below expectations. But at the same time,

(08:14):
inflation remains elevated at about three percent annually, and that's
above the Fed's two percent target. That's fueled partly by
the president's tariffs policy, and that is expected to tick
up a little bit further over the course of the
next few months. Finally, on Tuesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson

(08:36):
said that he does not see a way for President
Trump to run for a third term. That's an idea
that the President has floated, even though it's prohibited by
the Constitution. Speaker Johnson was speaking at his news conference
that he holds weekly after the House Republican Leadership Meeting,

(08:57):
and he said he's spoken with the President about the matter.
He made reference to the twenty second Amendment of the Constitution,
which states that no person can be elected president more
than twice. Speaker Johnson said it's been a great run.
But I think the President knows, and he and I
have talked about the constrictions of the Constitution, and he

(09:18):
went on to say, I don't see a way to
amend the Constitution because it takes about ten years to
do that. So he said, I don't see a path
for that.

Speaker 3 (09:28):
Now.

Speaker 1 (09:28):
The President, who's seventy nine years old, has for months
openly raised this idea about the possibility of a third term.
Sometimes he says he's joking, other times he insists that
he's very serious. And the President on the flight over
to Asia did not rule out a scenario in which

(09:50):
he would run for vice president, then assume the presidency
again after the head of the ticket resign. That's a
strategy that has been suggested by some of his supporters,
including the former White House Chief strategist Steve Bannett. Now,
speaking as a lawyer, I'm the only lawyer in the
White House Press Corps that would run a foul of

(10:12):
the twelfth Amendment of the Constitution, which states that no
person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be
eligible to that of Vice President of the United States.
In addition to that, two Supreme Court justices, including Brett
Kavanaugh have when asked, ruled out this idea of a

(10:35):
third term for President Trump. As for Wednesday, it's the
third leg of the President's Asia trip, and the President
has already arrived from Tokyo, Japan. In South Korea. That's
for the APEX Summit. The President has already delivered keynote
remarks at the APEX CEO's luncheon. He's participated in a

(10:58):
welcome ceremony by the South Korean government, and he also
participated in a dinner hosted by the President of the
Republic of South Korea. Thursday. Of course, the president's trip
culminates with his one on one meeting with Chinese President Shijingping.
That's the White House briefing room for Wednesday, October twenty ninth.

(11:21):
I'm John Decker. Have a good one.