April 29, 2025 • 7 mins
Rich Lowry talks to Mendte in the Morning about the first 100 days of Donald Trump and the one mistake he believes that Trump has made so far in his second term.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let's get to Rich Lowry, editor in chief of the
National Review. And you know, Rich, I have been reading
your stuff a lot recently. Can I don't know where
you stand on Donald Trump? Sometimes?
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Are you.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Against Donald Trump? Are you not a fan? Explain your
position on Donald Trump?
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Pro Donald Trump when he does good things, and I'm
a critical courage him to do better as I see
it when I think he's gone on the wrong path.
So basically, for first hundred days, I mean it is
it has set a new standard. For one hundred days,
I mean the amount of activity has been incredible, and
this is what future presidents will try to replicate in
(00:44):
their one hundred days. The border has been fantastic, The
anti DEI and race conscious stuff has been tremendous, energy great.
I think just that the biggest question mark is around
the tariff policy and what becomes of that could really
determine not as just a one hundred days, but the
whole second term.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
But are you willing to agree that, especially when it
comes to the tariff policies, you have to wait and see.
We seem to be overreacting to something that really hasn't
happened yet.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Yeah, I take that point I'm just I think it's
very unlikely to work because about fifty percent of US
imports go into manufacturing stuff, so we're making that more expensive,
so that's going to hurt manufacturer. So if the goal
is to help manufacturing, yeah, we're going to get some
some plants rebuilt in the United States, But I think
(01:38):
net net, probably manufacturing will be hurt by this. If
the goal is just to have new free trade deals,
I'm all for that. I think that probably would have
been easier way to go about it. But if they're
great deals with Japan and India, the UK, all that's all.
That's fantastic. But I think we're looking at major economic
disruption that he didn't prepare people for in the campaign,
(02:02):
and it's he's already paying a political price for it
and could pay more of one.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Yeah, it is strange, and I think you're right that
he is paying a political price when you look at
the polls, because the polls show that they're down on him,
way down on him about the economy. But if you
look at the economic figures right now, all the fundamentals
are really good. They're they're they're excellent, So they're not
going to change unless these tariffs actually take effect. But
(02:30):
I'm holding out hope or at least I'm willing to
give him some rope and some time to see if
he can come with the trade deals, and then would
all have to admit that that worked. It was a
good thing to do. Many presidents have talked about doing this.
Nobody's really had the guts or the political capital to
do this. He's trying.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Yeah, new deals would be good again. I think he
just could have behind closed doors made threats. Everyone would
have believed him or just been worried enough that they
wouldn't want to see it. And you could have done
it without the economic disruption and what we'll see. I
was talking to you met Donald Trump an economist yesterday.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
What's that when you say he could have done it
another way without all of this? I said, did you
have you met Donald Trump?
Speaker 2 (03:16):
I mean, there's there are various times he's threatened things
behind closed doors and he's gotten leverage. But I was
talking to someone yesterday follows the economymotional closely than I
do that thinks that the first quarter GDP number is
going to be negative and that that will If that's true,
I hope it isn't but that will be a product
of just the disruption that's happened your company that uh,
(03:37):
you know, manufacture stuff and you dependent on some overseas
supply chains, not not for all that you do. You know,
you manufacture this stuff. Ultimately here what what's the what's
the terror policy that you can rely on? It is
what we what was announced, is what we have now,
is what we might have in the future. You don't
know that that just that alone is an economic harm
(03:58):
that I think would have been best to avoid. But
you know, we'll see. I take your point. We've got
to see how it turns out.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
Yeah, And it's my point. On a lot of these things,
he seems to constantly get attacked. And I understand most
of this comes from the Democrats, and of course, what
else are they going to do. They have to take
a position opposing the president on many of these things.
But the media follows through and then we get these
poll numbers that come out. But on all the things
he's trying to do, trying to bring peace to Ukraine,
(04:27):
because he hasn't succeeded, he's getting knocked in the media
when the tariffs. Other presidents have said they were going
to do this, No one ever has he's doing it.
He gets knocked in the media in time after time
after time, the deportations. Other people have talked about doing
this help. President Obama did it and didn't get the
pushback that Donald Trump is getting. So I do believe
(04:49):
there has to be a little bit of a wait
and see. But with the media attacking him and taking
the lead from the Democrats, I don't know if he's
going to be given that chance. Do you see the
same thing or am I off on that?
Speaker 2 (05:05):
No, the media is unremittingly hostile. It was a little
warmer right after the election when there was the so
called vibe shift. The vibe shift's kind of given way now,
I think, and the Democrats have worked themselves into a
frothing frenzy again. So there are two things that bolster
Trump no matter what the absolute grip on the Republican Party.
(05:28):
Everyone feels very loyal to him and wants to give
him every benefit of the doubt and just the idiocy
of the opposition, you know, like one of the main
initiatives of the left the first hundred days has been
waging a low level terrorist campaign against Elon Musk's car company,
which is insane. So that's that kind of reaction Trump's
(05:51):
always benefited from.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
I guess I started with this line of questioning because
of the mediaite headline that says National Reviews Rich Lowry
ruthlessly mocks Trump in the Golden Age is coming, but
in the meantime stock up on toilet paper.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Oh. I sometimes ruthlessly mock people, but I haven't seen
that headline. I don't think that's ruthless mockery. I can
be more more ruthless than my mockery. Yeah, I was
just making the point I was making earlier, just that
he didn't. It's one thing to say there's gonna be
pain and we're gonna come out better. That's not what
(06:28):
he said in the campaign, right, He said a Golden
Age is coming instantly. And I think the Golden Aide
policies would have been, you know, tax reform, deregulation, all
the rest of the good stuff we've discussed, without this
this massive disruption and effect tax in tries, I mean,
tariffs are are a tax intriest that could lead to
shortages of certain goods. You know that no one's been
(06:51):
to like that, and I would have gone about it differently.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
Yeah, well, thank god, thank you for clarifying your position
because I.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
Thought, to my great, thanks a lot media. Now Trump's
going to see that headline and it's going to take
me like a couple of years.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
You should make that phone call right now. Thanks so much.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Yeah, exactly exactly. Don't believe the fake media what the
fake media says that.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Rich Lowry, editor in chief of the National Review. Thanks
a lot, Rich,
Let's get to Rich Lowry, editor in chief of the
National Review. And you know, Rich, I have been reading
your stuff a lot recently. Can I don't know where
you stand on Donald Trump? Sometimes?
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Are you.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Against Donald Trump? Are you not a fan? Explain your
position on Donald Trump?
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Pro Donald Trump when he does good things, and I'm
a critical courage him to do better as I see
it when I think he's gone on the wrong path.
So basically, for first hundred days, I mean it is
it has set a new standard. For one hundred days,
I mean the amount of activity has been incredible, and
this is what future presidents will try to replicate in
(00:44):
their one hundred days. The border has been fantastic, The
anti DEI and race conscious stuff has been tremendous, energy great.
I think just that the biggest question mark is around
the tariff policy and what becomes of that could really
determine not as just a one hundred days, but the
whole second term.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
But are you willing to agree that, especially when it
comes to the tariff policies, you have to wait and see.
We seem to be overreacting to something that really hasn't
happened yet.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Yeah, I take that point I'm just I think it's
very unlikely to work because about fifty percent of US
imports go into manufacturing stuff, so we're making that more expensive,
so that's going to hurt manufacturer. So if the goal
is to help manufacturing, yeah, we're going to get some
some plants rebuilt in the United States, But I think
(01:38):
net net, probably manufacturing will be hurt by this. If
the goal is just to have new free trade deals,
I'm all for that. I think that probably would have
been easier way to go about it. But if they're
great deals with Japan and India, the UK, all that's all.
That's fantastic. But I think we're looking at major economic
disruption that he didn't prepare people for in the campaign,
(02:02):
and it's he's already paying a political price for it
and could pay more of one.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Yeah, it is strange, and I think you're right that
he is paying a political price when you look at
the polls, because the polls show that they're down on him,
way down on him about the economy. But if you
look at the economic figures right now, all the fundamentals
are really good. They're they're they're excellent, So they're not
going to change unless these tariffs actually take effect. But
(02:30):
I'm holding out hope or at least I'm willing to
give him some rope and some time to see if
he can come with the trade deals, and then would
all have to admit that that worked. It was a
good thing to do. Many presidents have talked about doing this.
Nobody's really had the guts or the political capital to
do this. He's trying.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Yeah, new deals would be good again. I think he
just could have behind closed doors made threats. Everyone would
have believed him or just been worried enough that they
wouldn't want to see it. And you could have done
it without the economic disruption and what we'll see. I
was talking to you met Donald Trump an economist yesterday.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
What's that when you say he could have done it
another way without all of this? I said, did you
have you met Donald Trump?
Speaker 2 (03:16):
I mean, there's there are various times he's threatened things
behind closed doors and he's gotten leverage. But I was
talking to someone yesterday follows the economymotional closely than I
do that thinks that the first quarter GDP number is
going to be negative and that that will If that's true,
I hope it isn't but that will be a product
of just the disruption that's happened your company that uh,
(03:37):
you know, manufacture stuff and you dependent on some overseas
supply chains, not not for all that you do. You know,
you manufacture this stuff. Ultimately here what what's the what's
the terror policy that you can rely on? It is
what we what was announced, is what we have now,
is what we might have in the future. You don't
know that that just that alone is an economic harm
(03:58):
that I think would have been best to avoid. But
you know, we'll see. I take your point. We've got
to see how it turns out.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
Yeah, And it's my point. On a lot of these things,
he seems to constantly get attacked. And I understand most
of this comes from the Democrats, and of course, what
else are they going to do. They have to take
a position opposing the president on many of these things.
But the media follows through and then we get these
poll numbers that come out. But on all the things
he's trying to do, trying to bring peace to Ukraine,
(04:27):
because he hasn't succeeded, he's getting knocked in the media
when the tariffs. Other presidents have said they were going
to do this, No one ever has he's doing it.
He gets knocked in the media in time after time
after time, the deportations. Other people have talked about doing
this help. President Obama did it and didn't get the
pushback that Donald Trump is getting. So I do believe
(04:49):
there has to be a little bit of a wait
and see. But with the media attacking him and taking
the lead from the Democrats, I don't know if he's
going to be given that chance. Do you see the
same thing or am I off on that?
Speaker 2 (05:05):
No, the media is unremittingly hostile. It was a little
warmer right after the election when there was the so
called vibe shift. The vibe shift's kind of given way now,
I think, and the Democrats have worked themselves into a
frothing frenzy again. So there are two things that bolster
Trump no matter what the absolute grip on the Republican Party.
(05:28):
Everyone feels very loyal to him and wants to give
him every benefit of the doubt and just the idiocy
of the opposition, you know, like one of the main
initiatives of the left the first hundred days has been
waging a low level terrorist campaign against Elon Musk's car company,
which is insane. So that's that kind of reaction Trump's
(05:51):
always benefited from.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
I guess I started with this line of questioning because
of the mediaite headline that says National Reviews Rich Lowry
ruthlessly mocks Trump in the Golden Age is coming, but
in the meantime stock up on toilet paper.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Oh. I sometimes ruthlessly mock people, but I haven't seen
that headline. I don't think that's ruthless mockery. I can
be more more ruthless than my mockery. Yeah, I was
just making the point I was making earlier, just that
he didn't. It's one thing to say there's gonna be
pain and we're gonna come out better. That's not what
(06:28):
he said in the campaign, right, He said a Golden
Age is coming instantly. And I think the Golden Aide
policies would have been, you know, tax reform, deregulation, all
the rest of the good stuff we've discussed, without this
this massive disruption and effect tax in tries, I mean,
tariffs are are a tax intriest that could lead to
shortages of certain goods. You know that no one's been
(06:51):
to like that, and I would have gone about it differently.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
Yeah, well, thank god, thank you for clarifying your position
because I.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
Thought, to my great, thanks a lot media. Now Trump's
going to see that headline and it's going to take
me like a couple of years.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
You should make that phone call right now. Thanks so much.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Yeah, exactly exactly. Don't believe the fake media what the
fake media says that.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Rich Lowry, editor in chief of the National Review. Thanks
a lot, Rich,
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