June 5, 2025 • 6 mins
Jon Decker joins Mendte in the Morning to talk about the latest from the Oval Office as Donald Trump meets with the new chancellor of Germany.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let's get to John Decker, w O R. White House
correspondent and also Washington corresponded. Hey John.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Here, Larry, how are you doing it?
Speaker 1 (00:10):
I'm doing good. You're gonna be in the Oval Office today, Huh?
Speaker 2 (00:15):
I will. The reason being is because Germany's Chancellor is
visiting the President today and they'll have a bilateral meeting
in the Oval Office. I'm part of the pool, and
I'll have an opportunity to ask the President a question
or two, and I look forward to that a little
bit later this morning. Uh. These opportunities come around every
few weeks when I'm in the rotation, and I'm happy
(00:36):
to be in the rotation today.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Larry, No, that's great. I can't wait to hear what
you ask. I'm sure you prepared this ahead of time, right,
I mean you have to have something prepared, but that
could change depending on what happens. What can you tell
us what you're thinking about asking?
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Well, there's so many issues. You know. The President hasn't
weighed in on Elon muskeet, so I think everybody that
will be in the Oval Office wants to hear the
President's reaction to what Elon Musk has been posting to
x over the past few days about the so called
big beautiful bill. He does not like it, that's for sure.
And you know, this is someone who is who was
(01:14):
at every presidential cabinet meeting, travel with the President of
the Middle East, travel with the president countless times tomorrow lago,
and now he's very critical of the president's key legislation
of his second term in office.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
You know, it seemed to me, and maybe I'm wrong
about this, but it seemed to me because it was
so odd. It was such a departure when he left,
that he was taking so much criticism, and he was
in trouble for a while. They were talking about trying
to replace him at TESLA because it was hurting the
brand so much that when he's left, he wanted to
distance himself a little bit from Donald Trump. And boy,
(01:51):
what a way to distance yourself than to blast his
keynote legislation. Maybe he really thinks the bill is that bad,
but the fact that he went so far in criticizing
the bill was curious to me.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
What do you think, Well, it's curious, you know, given
how close Elon Musk and the President were over the
course of the first one hundred days of the Trump
White House in his second term, given how close they've been.
I mean, I can't think of another individual, Larry, who's
ever been invited to a presidential cabinet meeting a seat
(02:26):
at the table who was not a member of the cabinet.
And that describes Elon Musk. So you can't get any
closer than that to the president. But now with more
than a dozen posts that he's made to X critical
of the legislation, A critical primarily because he believes that
it will increase the already massively large debt that we
(02:47):
have federal budget deficit. That's the primary reason for his criticism,
according to everything he's posted so far.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Yeah, he's taking away the electric car credit to income credit,
so tax credit. So I would imagine that has a
little bit to do with it as well, because that
will affect Tesla down the line. Also absolutely.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
Yeah, I mean I can't get inside Elon Musk's head,
but you have to figure that is a factor as
to why he doesn't like this legislation. Tesla has spent
countless millions of dollars in terms of lobbying to keep
that federal tax credit alive. And you know that's how
important it is to the company. How important it has
(03:28):
been to the company over the course of the past
few years with that tax credit available to Americans who
wish to purchase an electric vehicle.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
Yeah, it's been fascinating. Also, how the Republicans kind of
pussy foot around criticizing him. It's almost like they got
a memo from the White House. They always start by saying, well,
I really appreciate what Elon Musk did, and we're saying
of Elon Musk, but I disagree with him on this
one issue. So it's almost too cozy, as if they
(03:57):
kind of expected this to happen. Let's talk about last
night the travel band that came as a bit of
a surprise to what countries are included and how long
will this last? Do we know?
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Some of the same countries are included that were included
in the President's travel band that he instituted in his
first term in office. Cuba is on that list, Chad
is on that list, Iran is on that list. These
are countries that generally do not have a lot of
travelers coming to America legally in the first place. But
this certainly did catch me by surprise. It's a focus
(04:35):
on a signature issue of the president, that's border security,
and it comes in the wake of that anti Semitic
terrorist attack that happened out in Bowler of Colorado on Sunday,
the President recognizing the fact that that individual overstayed his visa,
was in the country illegally. And I think that that
is the primary reason that you see this reaction coming
(04:57):
from the Trump White House. Just a few days.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
Later, John, there's going to be an investigation into what
the Republicans are calling the cover up of the mental
decline of Joe Biden.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
What did you.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Notice when you were at the White House with did
you notice?
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Yeah, I've spoken this with you and others before, you know,
over the past few years. So it's not you know,
since a book came out. You know, it goes all
the way back from me to twenty twenty three when
I asked a question in the press briefing room to
Koreine Jean Pierre, the White House Press Secretary, about whether
the White House is essentially protecting Joe Biden from the media,
(05:38):
limiting his media availabilities, limiting his interactions with the press,
and Karan Jean Pierre got very defensive in the briefing
room when I asked that particular question, but I reminded
her that this is not the norm. You know, I've
covered the presidency and the White House going all the
way back to Bill Clinton's first term, and I had
never seen anything like it. So that is something that
(06:01):
I can attest to it. And then, you know, there
were various episodes that I can remember during the course
of Joe Biden's tenure as president that raised my eyebrows,
to say the least, you know, in terms of whether
the president was all there in terms of his mental faculties.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
Jake Tapper beat you to the book.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Well, look, I think that good for him. But you know,
I think that it's ironic in the sense that Jake
Tapper was one of those individuals who was defending Joe
Biden during the course of the four years that he
was in the White House when anybody questioned whether or
not Joe Biden had it all up there in terms
of his mental abilities.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
Absolutely very well, said John Decker w R. White House
in Washington Correspondent. Thanks so much.
Let's get to John Decker, w O R. White House
correspondent and also Washington corresponded. Hey John.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Here, Larry, how are you doing it?
Speaker 1 (00:10):
I'm doing good. You're gonna be in the Oval Office today, Huh?
Speaker 2 (00:15):
I will. The reason being is because Germany's Chancellor is
visiting the President today and they'll have a bilateral meeting
in the Oval Office. I'm part of the pool, and
I'll have an opportunity to ask the President a question
or two, and I look forward to that a little
bit later this morning. Uh. These opportunities come around every
few weeks when I'm in the rotation, and I'm happy
(00:36):
to be in the rotation today.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Larry, No, that's great. I can't wait to hear what
you ask. I'm sure you prepared this ahead of time, right,
I mean you have to have something prepared, but that
could change depending on what happens. What can you tell
us what you're thinking about asking?
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Well, there's so many issues. You know. The President hasn't
weighed in on Elon muskeet, so I think everybody that
will be in the Oval Office wants to hear the
President's reaction to what Elon Musk has been posting to
x over the past few days about the so called
big beautiful bill. He does not like it, that's for sure.
And you know, this is someone who is who was
(01:14):
at every presidential cabinet meeting, travel with the President of
the Middle East, travel with the president countless times tomorrow lago,
and now he's very critical of the president's key legislation
of his second term in office.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
You know, it seemed to me, and maybe I'm wrong
about this, but it seemed to me because it was
so odd. It was such a departure when he left,
that he was taking so much criticism, and he was
in trouble for a while. They were talking about trying
to replace him at TESLA because it was hurting the
brand so much that when he's left, he wanted to
distance himself a little bit from Donald Trump. And boy,
(01:51):
what a way to distance yourself than to blast his
keynote legislation. Maybe he really thinks the bill is that bad,
but the fact that he went so far in criticizing
the bill was curious to me.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
What do you think, Well, it's curious, you know, given
how close Elon Musk and the President were over the
course of the first one hundred days of the Trump
White House in his second term, given how close they've been.
I mean, I can't think of another individual, Larry, who's
ever been invited to a presidential cabinet meeting a seat
(02:26):
at the table who was not a member of the cabinet.
And that describes Elon Musk. So you can't get any
closer than that to the president. But now with more
than a dozen posts that he's made to X critical
of the legislation, A critical primarily because he believes that
it will increase the already massively large debt that we
(02:47):
have federal budget deficit. That's the primary reason for his criticism,
according to everything he's posted so far.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Yeah, he's taking away the electric car credit to income credit,
so tax credit. So I would imagine that has a
little bit to do with it as well, because that
will affect Tesla down the line. Also absolutely.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
Yeah, I mean I can't get inside Elon Musk's head,
but you have to figure that is a factor as
to why he doesn't like this legislation. Tesla has spent
countless millions of dollars in terms of lobbying to keep
that federal tax credit alive. And you know that's how
important it is to the company. How important it has
(03:28):
been to the company over the course of the past
few years with that tax credit available to Americans who
wish to purchase an electric vehicle.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
Yeah, it's been fascinating. Also, how the Republicans kind of
pussy foot around criticizing him. It's almost like they got
a memo from the White House. They always start by saying, well,
I really appreciate what Elon Musk did, and we're saying
of Elon Musk, but I disagree with him on this
one issue. So it's almost too cozy, as if they
(03:57):
kind of expected this to happen. Let's talk about last
night the travel band that came as a bit of
a surprise to what countries are included and how long
will this last? Do we know?
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Some of the same countries are included that were included
in the President's travel band that he instituted in his
first term in office. Cuba is on that list, Chad
is on that list, Iran is on that list. These
are countries that generally do not have a lot of
travelers coming to America legally in the first place. But
this certainly did catch me by surprise. It's a focus
(04:35):
on a signature issue of the president, that's border security,
and it comes in the wake of that anti Semitic
terrorist attack that happened out in Bowler of Colorado on Sunday,
the President recognizing the fact that that individual overstayed his visa,
was in the country illegally. And I think that that
is the primary reason that you see this reaction coming
(04:57):
from the Trump White House. Just a few days.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
Later, John, there's going to be an investigation into what
the Republicans are calling the cover up of the mental
decline of Joe Biden.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
What did you.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Notice when you were at the White House with did
you notice?
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Yeah, I've spoken this with you and others before, you know,
over the past few years. So it's not you know,
since a book came out. You know, it goes all
the way back from me to twenty twenty three when
I asked a question in the press briefing room to
Koreine Jean Pierre, the White House Press Secretary, about whether
the White House is essentially protecting Joe Biden from the media,
(05:38):
limiting his media availabilities, limiting his interactions with the press,
and Karan Jean Pierre got very defensive in the briefing
room when I asked that particular question, but I reminded
her that this is not the norm. You know, I've
covered the presidency and the White House going all the
way back to Bill Clinton's first term, and I had
never seen anything like it. So that is something that
(06:01):
I can attest to it. And then, you know, there
were various episodes that I can remember during the course
of Joe Biden's tenure as president that raised my eyebrows,
to say the least, you know, in terms of whether
the president was all there in terms of his mental faculties.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
Jake Tapper beat you to the book.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Well, look, I think that good for him. But you know,
I think that it's ironic in the sense that Jake
Tapper was one of those individuals who was defending Joe
Biden during the course of the four years that he
was in the White House when anybody questioned whether or
not Joe Biden had it all up there in terms
of his mental abilities.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
Absolutely very well, said John Decker w R. White House
in Washington Correspondent. Thanks so much.
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