March 16, 2025 • 40 mins
With the 2024 election behind us and a second Trump presidency here, there's a lot of uncertainty about what America could look like moving forward. In this episode, we are joined by Tia Mitchell, a political journalist, to break down what a second Trump term might actually mean — for policy, culture, and the everyday lives of Americans. We get into:
This is a conversation you don’t want to miss — no matter where you stand politically. Because love him or hate him, the possibility of another four years of Trump would bring undeniable changes. Tune in, share your thoughts, and let us know where you stand after hearing this discussion.
Meet Our Guest:
Tia Mitchell
X: https://x.com/ajconwashington
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TiaReports/
Stay Connected:
- The possible economic shifts and who they’d benefit (or hurt)
- What a more emboldened Trump administration could look like in terms of immigration, healthcare, and education
- The social and cultural changes that could emerge — and why communities of color could be especially impacted
- How everyday people can prepare, protect themselves, and stay informed
This is a conversation you don’t want to miss — no matter where you stand politically. Because love him or hate him, the possibility of another four years of Trump would bring undeniable changes. Tune in, share your thoughts, and let us know where you stand after hearing this discussion.
Meet Our Guest:
Tia Mitchell
X: https://x.com/ajconwashington
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TiaReports/
Stay Connected:
- Email your thoughts and feedback to us at allisonscornerpod@gmail.com
- Follow us on Instagram for updates: https://instagram.com/allisonscornerpod
- Check out our YouTube for more insight: https://www.youtube.com/@AllisonsCornerPod
- Join the conversation with our book club: https://www.instagram.com/allisonandfriendsbookclub/
- Subscribe to my newsletter on Substack for more reflections and resources: https://allisonscornerpod.substack.com/
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Hey, and welcome to Alison's Corner. This is my little
corner of the Internet where we dive into wellness, personal growth, relationships,
and just other topics best suited for you. I'm your host, Alison,
bringing you fresh perspectives, inspiring conversations, and a little something.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
To spark your day.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Be sure to follow along with Alison's Corner on Instagram,
subscribe to our newsletter, and watch us on YouTube at
Allison's Corner Pod. Here you'll find more insights in community
updates of what we have going on on Allison's Corner. Now,
without further ado, here is today's episode. Hello everyone, and
(00:57):
welcome or welcome back to another episode of Allison's Corner
with me. I have a second time guest. Guest, can
you go ahead and introduce yourself to the people?
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Please? Hello?
Speaker 3 (01:11):
I am Tia Mitchell. I am the Washington bureau chief
for the Atlanta Journal Constitution. I think I had a
different title when I spoke to you last time, so yes,
but I'm back and it's great to be back. Yay,
and I want to thank you for accepting our offer
to come back. When we initially met, we were talking
(01:32):
more so about the candidates of the twenty twenty four
presidential election of.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. Now that the results of
the election are over and we officially have Donald Trump
as president for a second time, we had a lot
of questions about what's going on. They loved your first
interview when you were on, and I was like, man,
I really want to see how Donald Trump's second term
(01:58):
in office will play out or what has been happening
so far. So I'm like, Tia, she knows, so let's
get her back on.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
So I appreciate you.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
Yeah, so I think it's so hilarious. I'm wearing the
same sweatshirt that just shows how how much I love
fam you. I'm always wearing my family stuff. But I
promise it's a new interview and a lot has transpired.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
I know.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
Initially when you first reached out Alison about having a
follow up conversation, I asked for some time to see
if I could get my head around what to make
of Trump two point zero, and I said, let's let's
let's wait for a few weeks after inauguration just to
see how things are going. Quite frankly, there's still a
(02:47):
lot of uncertainty, even among people like me, who do
this for a living. So I can only imagine what
folks who are you know, at home trying to make
sense of the national news, how confused and overwhelming this
all may seem, because again, for journalists like me, it's
very confusing and overwhelming.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
Yeah, yeah, and again we're just trying to make sense
of everything this time in our lives, and a lot
has happened since he's taken office on January twentieth. So
I have a couple questions here, are you ready to
go into it and explore? What truce lets you go?
Is perfect? Okay? So his first well, this first question
(03:27):
deals more so with policy and governance. What are the
most significant policy shifts we've seen in President Trump's second
term compared to his first?
Speaker 3 (03:40):
So it's so significant, it's like where to start. So
in broad terms, President Trump has started remaking the federal government.
And I know that sounds, you know, very you know,
wide ranging to say, but that's really what's happening. He
(04:02):
is remaking the federal government, or at least trying. So
the question is how far does he ultimately go? We
don't know that answer yet, but what he's trying to
do is number one downsize the federal workforce by laying
off workers, by putting workers on leave, by eliminating positions.
(04:28):
So that's one way he's remaking in federal government. The
second way he's attempting to remake the federal government is
installing political loyalists. We've seen this in some of the
in the cabinet level appointees, which to an extent, that's
always been the case that people have installed, you know,
their folks that their new team. Every president brings in
(04:49):
his own team, but Trump has taken it to a
new level by installing people that didn't have the types
of credentials, background, professional experience that previous folks who had
similar jobs had. You know, RFK Junior being Secretary of
(05:09):
Health and Human Services. He's not a medical doctor. He's
not someone who has a career in public health. He's
not someone who has studied these issues. He's a vaccine skeptic.
He's someone who's talked about conspiracy theories when it comes
to how we eat and what we eat. And now
he's the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Pete Hegseth
(05:31):
is Secretary of Defense. Usually that's a high ranking military official.
He's a relatively low ranking military official. He hasn't risen
the ranks in the you know, in the armed forces
the ways other secretaries of Defense have.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
So those are just two examples.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
So that's another thing Trump has tried to do also,
of course, with the Department of Governmental Efficiency Commission also
known as DOZE, with Elon Musk, he is going in
and trying to reduce federal spending in ways that include
eliminating federal agencies like USA. He says he wants to
(06:09):
close the Department of Education, and so again those are underway.
He's tried to eliminate widely federal grants in certain federal programs. Again,
a lot of this is being challenged in the court
and say, we don't know where it'll end up. But
these are all things that Trump is trying to do broadly.
(06:29):
And then on a I'll say, so that's number one,
and that's broad Number two, of course, is crack down
on immigration. And so what Trump has done is there
always have been immigration arrests ongoing in numbers that I
think most people don't see because it doesn't get a
lot of media attention. Well it's getting more media attention now.
(06:52):
But what has changed under President Trump is that the
immigration arrests have targeted people that in the past, even
when Trump was president, the first time, we're not targeted
by immigration enforcement. For example, people who cross the border
illegally or without documentation, without you know, immigration paperwork or
(07:14):
visas or a green card or what have you, crossed
the border illegally, but then claimed asylum. They said, Hey,
I left my home because I don't feel safe. There's
political strife, or there's violence, or there's crime, or there's
you know, some type of crisis there, and I would
like to have asylum in the United States. That creates
(07:37):
a process where people in the past have been allowed
to come. They're registered, they have monitors where inkle monitors
where the government knows where they are at all times.
They have check ins, but it can take years for
the asylum process because there's such a backlog. It can
be years when someone claims asylum to win their case
(07:59):
is actually determined whether that asylum is granted. In the meantime,
they're often given work permits so they can legally work
in the US well.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Under Trump.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
Recently, since his inauguration, he has started to arrest some
of those folks. The posture of the Trump administration has
been that anyone who entered the United States without documentation,
even if they later claimed asylum, by entering illegally, they
(08:28):
are therefore breaking the law and are eligible for deportation.
And so we've seen those types of arrests increase. Also,
there had been agreements that you don't arrest people at
schools and churches. Those should be places that were off limits,
that people could feel safe, shouldn't feel afraid to go
to church or send their kids to school. That has
(08:51):
also changed under the recent administration, where we've seen arrests
at churches and schools are concerned that they could see
arrest there too. We also know that Republicans are trying
to increase funding for a border wall. Donald Trump has
asked for funding to build up Guantanamo Bay in Cuba
(09:15):
so that some of the undocumented immigrants who've been arrested
can be shipped to Cuba pending deportation. So, I will
say immigration, and that's something that quite frankly, both of
these things, reshaping the federal government cracked down on immigration
are both things that Trump campaigned on. And then I'll say,
(09:38):
I mean, there's so much, but the final thing before
I'll let you get to another question is in I'll
put it all in one basket. The rollback of diversity,
equity and inclusion. Included in that basket is rollback of
protections for transgender people. In fact, Trump has said, you know,
he has wanted to implement laws to make it clear
(10:01):
that transgender people should not be recognized in ways they
had in the past, for example, allowing for gender or
affirming care, allowing the federal government to pay for gender
affirming care if you're in the military, allowing transgender children
to compete in the sport that aligns with their gender
(10:22):
identity versus their gender at birth. Trump has made steps
to outlaw that or or make it difficult for places
that allow it to continue to also receive federal support.
If you're a school, for example, that receives federal grants,
but you elect that you allow transgender athletes to compete
(10:42):
with their gender identity, you could no longer be eligible
for federal funding. And again rolling back DEEI programs. And
I like to say diversity, equity and inclusion because sometimes
the acronym allows people to forget what we're talking about.
So we're talking about not just diversity programs, but equity inclusion,
making sure that people who are disabled or who have
(11:06):
medical issues still can access government programs, government resources, but
also that if they choose to work for the federal
government have the proper accommodations. Those are all being rolled back.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
Yeah, yeah, I mean you pretty much touched on the
main points that I've seen played out in the media.
And I guess a follow up question I have to
that with the laying off of the federal workforce that
has been happening, with the implications of immigration taking place,
what do you feel like in the next few months
(11:39):
or maybe in the next year, will what are the
consequences of those things?
Speaker 3 (11:46):
And that some of that is to be determined because
again we don't know how far Trump is going to
be able to go. But let's say the courts ultimately
let him fire all the people he wants to fire,
close all the agencies he wants to close, make the
federal government look the way he wants to look. The
risks are that service could go down. Now, what Trump
(12:10):
and his supporters are saying is that you know, these
positions weren't always needed, that government can still run more efficiently,
use artificial intelligence, use technology, pay people well and create
maximum efficiency from them. In any that there won't be
(12:30):
changes in service level, But we don't know, because again
we're talking about fewer people to do work, and quite frankly,
the federal government were already facing complaints you know about
you know, long wait times at the IRS and long
wait times to get appointments for veterans who want healthcare
(12:50):
through the VA, and waiting lists for Medicaid and Medicare.
So Trump says there won't be an effect and service level,
but that's to be determined. That's the concern is that
there will literally be fewer people to do the work.
You know, air traffic controllers. We saw you know, a
(13:12):
devastating tragedy in Washington, DC when a helicopter hit a
passenger jet in nearly seventy people died as a result,
and there are concerns that you know, the air traffic
controller industry, which is heavily federally regulated for obvious reasons. Yeah,
they need more people, not less in that Any cuts
(13:34):
not just with air traffic controllers, but in related you know,
services that support operations at airports could again lead to
you know, safety concerns. So that's just another example, Yeah, no,
I definitely agree. I wanted to take another turn into
(13:54):
some of Trump's economic.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
Strategies that we've seen played out as well. What economic
policies has the administration implemented to address the current challenges.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
So when it comes to the economy, you know, Trump
really campaigned to say on day one, I'm going to
improve the economy. Gas is too high, groceries are too high,
and I'm going to make sure that that comes down.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
On day one.
Speaker 3 (14:22):
I'm also going to extend the tax cuts. And it's
Republicans are struggling right now with how to carry out
Trump's wishes with the current political climate and with their
concerns about crashing the economy. So a lot of that
is stuff that what you just asked. Republicans in Congress
(14:44):
are literally trying to figure it out right now. So
Trump wants to make permanent the tax cuts that were
passed during his first term in office. But we know
that if you extend tax cuts, that's going to lead to,
you know, further reductions and income to the federal government.
(15:06):
That's going to increase the national deficit. So there are
many Republicans who are concerned about that, but they do
want to give Trump what he wants. So how do
they do that? They don't know. There are concerns that prices,
some of Donald Trump's promises aren't happening right now. Prices
aren't coming down quite frankly, Inflation is ticking up.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Now.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
He's just gotten office, you know, roughly a month ago,
so it's not necessarily his fault that inflation's going up.
But so far there's no indication that what he's doing
will address the cost of goods, will address the cost
of things, and address therefore inflation. And so there's no
(15:51):
evidence of what the Trump administration. And again Republicans now
control both houses of Congress, so what they plan to
do about that. This conversations also happening. On March fifteenth,
government funding runs out, so they've got to figure out
not just the extra stuff Trump wants to do, like
the tax cuts, like immigration dollars, like boosting national defense spending.
(16:17):
That's extra stuff. They got to figure out how to
just fund the government at the current level beyond March fifteenth.
And that's why you see them saying, well, we've laid
off all these people, so that's funding that we can
now distribute to other places. But all the layoffs in
the world will not pay for the tax cuts in
(16:38):
the increased spending that Donald Trump wants. And so now
they're talking about things like, should we adjust Medicaid, which
is health care for poor people, make it harder to
get Medicaid or reduce make yeah, make it harder by
maybe having a work requirement, making the standard it's harder,
(17:00):
so fewer people are eligible for Medicaid. Again, there are
even Republicans who say, hey, we don't want to. I
don't want my constituents saying I made it harder for
them to get health care. They Republicans have repeatedly said
they don't want to touch Medicare, which is health care
for older people and disabled people. But again, Medicare is
(17:22):
a huge amount of government spending. There talks about food stamps.
It's technically called SNAP Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, but we
know it is food stamps again that's helping poor people
afford food and groceries. Some Republicans say it's time to
make it harder to be eligible for food stamps by again,
(17:44):
maybe there should be a work requirement. Are you working?
Speaker 2 (17:47):
If you're not.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
Working, you shouldn't get food stamps. If you're able bodied,
which they consider, if you're not disabled or have or sick,
or there's a reason why you shouldn't work. If you're
just not working because you can't find a job, or
you say you're unable to find a job, or you
just have decided not to look for work, maybe you
shouldn't be eligible for food stamps. Some Republicans say, well, again,
(18:09):
there are some Republicans and many Democrats who say that's
not the way to do it, because if you're poor,
whether you're working or not, you gotta eat. And then
social Security. Again, social Security is a big one because
it's a big chunk of federal spending. No one wants
to cut Social Security, but there are some Republicans who
(18:29):
are saying, maybe we need to figure out a way
to make it more solvent. Should we raise the age
where people are eligible to start reaping the benefits of
Social Security. That's very unpopular, but it's something that Republicans
are saying, Hey, maybe we have to do it if
we're gonna give Trump what he wants, because we got
to find the money somewhere. These are all conversations that
(18:50):
are happening right now, far from being settled. And they
may take some time to figure out. But in the meantime, again,
government funding, just current government operations runs out March fifteenth,
and if there's not an agreement, and it will require
Democrats to be on board. Yeah, because in the Senate
you have the filibuster. Even though Republicans have the majority,
(19:14):
they don't have a filibuster proof majority. So they've got
to figure out something that Democrats can support. They've got
to do it by March fifteenth. Time is running out.
If there is a government shut down, you know, it's
not just the laidoff workers that go home, it's all
it's most workers, all non essential workers would go home,
and it would be you know, it happened during the
(19:38):
first Trump administration, but it hasn't happened in several years,
and there was at least one government shut down that
lasted several days. And it does really affect the US economy.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
Yeah, I guess another question with that is how are
all of these tax reforms and economic challenges going to
imp the middle class?
Speaker 3 (20:03):
So the question is the answer depends on what they
ultimately do. So let's again go to if kind of
if Trump gets his way, he would like to extend
the tax cuts. He would like to fund more immigration enforcement,
he would like to fund more national security, and he
(20:26):
hasn't said how to do it. He's just said this
is what I would like to do. There are some
Republicans who think the way to do it is a
by reducing the size of the federal government, cutting, you know,
laying off federal workers and then cutting Medicaid and food
stamps mainly. And so if that happens, a these federal
(20:50):
workers that are being laid off are members of the
middle class. You know, federal jobs are considered good paying jobs,
good careers. But these folks, for the most part, are
not rich. They're just regular folks, you know, answering calls
at the IRS or social workers, at your local medicaid
(21:11):
provider or their government. They're actually private programs funded with
government grants, researchers at the CDC, researchers at the National
Institutes of Health, food banks in Namibia that are financed
(21:32):
through USAID. And if these people get laid off, that's automatically,
you know, middle class families that may see themselves struggling
to make ends meet, perhaps quite frankly now needing government resources.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
In another way, so that's one risk.
Speaker 3 (21:52):
The other risk again, where you're talking about custom Medicaid
and food stamps, you're literally talking about how people eat
and how people get health care. So hospitals will tell
you they have to treat people who show up no
matter what. So if they're not covered by Medicaid, now
hospitals are providing more care. That's what they call uncompensated care,
(22:14):
where they're basically treating people without getting any money for
the services they provide. So a lot of hospitals say,
that's just going to tax us. Most hospitals are nonprofits,
and they say they don't have the resources to provide
that care. So it's going to tax local hospital systems,
especially your safety net hospitals, the hospitals where you know
(22:38):
folks who are poor or live.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
In underprivileged communities.
Speaker 3 (22:42):
Every city knows there's that one or two hospital where
all the poor folks go to.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
That's your safety net hospital.
Speaker 3 (22:50):
And again we're talking about people saying this is going
to make it harder for me to live day to day.
This is going to make it harder for me to
feed my Family's going to make it harder are from
my family to survive. We don't know what that looks like.
But that's the risk again. But we don't know if
that's going to happen because there are plenty of Democrats
and even some Republicans who are worried about the effects
(23:13):
of cutting these programs that people rely on. They're worried
about the optics of extending a tax cut that benefits
businesses and richer Americans and turning around in limiting programs
that benefit poor Americans. So so much of this is uncertain.
We don't know where it's gonna end up.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
Yeah, another question that I have, and I wanted to
go a different route a little bit. You were talking
about us AID, which helps with if you can just
give us a brief synopsis of what USA does, because
I just want everybody to be sure.
Speaker 2 (23:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (23:51):
So, USAID is a program that was started by President
John F. Kennedy, and what it does is it basically
funds programs around the globe. It could be nutrition programs,
health programs, HIV prevention programs, HIV treatment programs, and it's
(24:15):
almost like a way to not only help other nations
with their crises, whether it's again with public health or
food and nutrition famine places in famine, US might pay
to help them provide food. So it was seen as
a way to help people in other nations. But also
(24:38):
it was like a diplomatic thing where the US could
be seen as someone doing good around the world. And
so it was part of the Cold War. You know,
the Cold War was all about US in Russia, two
world powers duking it out, but instead of there being
an actual war with gun battle, there were doing it
(24:58):
and kind of you know, so to speak, ways, They
were doing it in ways that weren't direct conflict. So
part of the Cold War wars was the US saying
we're gonna beat Russia because we're gonna make all these
other countries like us, because we're gonna give them nice things,
we're gonna help them feed their families, and they're gonna
say the US did this, so God, usay America's good.
(25:22):
And so that was why John F. Kennedy did it,
because he said, this is a better return on our investment.
War costs a lot of money. Relatively little less than
one percent of the federal budget is usaid, and so
we're not spending a lot of money, but we're doing
a lot of good. And as a result, people like US,
(25:43):
and there's they don't they're not worried about Russia. They're
saying USA is good.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (25:48):
So over the years, presidents both parties, Congress both parties
have said this is a program worth continuing to put
money into because it pays off and dividends, you know,
in a country where US is helpful. Now, you know,
it's less likely that someone can get some insurgent teenagers
(26:11):
to rise up against the US troops in the base nearby,
because they're like, no, no, no, we like the US.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
We're not gonna attack American soldiers.
Speaker 3 (26:19):
You're not gonna be able to turn US against America
because they're good with US. And so there's a lot
of concern that again without USA, Russia in China, which
China is now a new you know, adversary. It's a
communist regime that China will now and Russia are going
to step in and say, see the US abandoned you,
(26:41):
we were stepping in. Now they're gonna get all the goodwill.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
And now if.
Speaker 3 (26:45):
There's conflict in Russia in China need folks on their side,
they'll get it. And people will now say, well, USA,
you abandon us, So don't think we're gonna come to
your aid. So that's why you US say dismantling the program.
And what the Trump administration has said is that ultimately
(27:06):
they want to move it under the Department of State.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is the new Secretary of State.
They're going to move it under the Department of State,
is what they said, and that some of the programs
funded by USA could be restarted. They just don't want
it to be a separate, little agency. But none of
that has been worked out. There's all this uncertainty. There's
(27:30):
literally food and warehouses rotting. There are clinical trials that
the US was doing in other nations to try to
help eradicate diseases and come up with new treatments for diseases.
Those trials were ended abruptly and people were kind of
left hanging that were in the middle of treatment. And
(27:52):
there are USAID workers that were told to just they
were out of a job and if they were US citizens,
they needed to just turned to the US. But remember
they had put down roots. If you're if you're an
AID worker in Namibia and you've been there for five
years and you know your kids were in school or
or again, you have a house, you have a home.
(28:14):
You can't just say move back to the US. I mean,
especially if you're working in a foreign you know, continents away.
That's not something you just get up and move. So
there's so much uncertainty. And the Trump administration hasn't said how,
what programs will be restarted when, how, So there's still
(28:37):
a lot of uncertainty.
Speaker 1 (28:38):
Yeah, and with that, I do have a question as
it relates to foreign policy, how has the administration's foreign
policy strategy evolved this second time around? Cool another question
where we're still figuring things out. So the two biggest
(28:59):
things foreign policy wise that are on President Trump's shoulders
are the Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza, which in
the final like really I think on his final day
or close to his final day, President Joe Biden announced
a truce between Israel and Hamas. It included the release
(29:24):
of some hostages, but an end to you know, the
the violence, and it envisioned a rebuilding in Gaza. But
it's on President Trump to a ensure the truth stands
and that both sides adhere to the agreements they made
as part of the truce, and government President Trump's folks
(29:49):
were involved in those talks. So you know, Biden and
Trump both were can claim credit to an extent for
this truth, but it's on again President Trump to see
it through. And so that's just always a precarious situation,
you know, because there's not a lot of trust between
Israel and Hamas. But President Trump has also kind of
(30:14):
made things more interesting by saying things like he thinks
the US or US companies, US businesses should invest in
rebuilding Gaza, and he's even said things like the Palestinians
should be removed from Gaza, and he kind of envisions
this this almost like a development like gentrification of Gaza
(30:41):
into this brand new, shining riviera of the Middle East
where new things are built by US companies or perhaps
by the US government and Palestinians are relocated elsewhere. Now,
again we don't know if that's going to come to fruition.
(31:02):
There's been a lot of concern about that, mainly because
you're literally just coming in and moving people out to
again gentrify their area in a way that is very problematic,
but also where would the people go?
Speaker 2 (31:17):
Also who would pay for it?
Speaker 3 (31:19):
Also, you know, again a lot of Republicans under the
Maga America first kind of iteration of the party under
Trump have been very nationalists, so they're not too keen
on spending US dollars to rebuild a foreign country. So
what Trump has proposed is way outside of I think
(31:40):
where a lot of Republicans would like to see Trump go,
but they don't necessarily want to defy him or disagree
with him publicly. So that's kind of something he put
out there that we have no idea if he's serious,
or how that would look. But that's now part of
the conversation about what happens. Because Gaza is a war
(32:00):
torn area right now. There are displaced Palestinians, but there
are Palestinians living in Gaza who are surrounded by destruction
and devastation, and there does have to be rebuilding there.
What will be the US role, that's a question mark.
So separate from the war Israel war with Hamas and Gaza,
(32:20):
there's also Russia's war with Ukraine. Russia invaded Ukraine, has
taken certain Ukrainian territories in parts of Ukraine and said
this is now not Ukraine, it's part of Russia. Literally
just went into their country and said, you know, now
you're with us, and that battle has been ongoing for years.
(32:43):
Trump has said he's gonna end that war. Marco Rubio
is in Saudi Arabia right as we record meeting trying
to bring everyone together. And again other nations are involved
in the talks. But how do they bring to a
closed Russia's war in the Ukraine and what can be
(33:06):
done so it doesn't look like Russia got everything, because
that would not that would look like capitulation to Russia,
which basically, again just walked into a country and took
parts of the country for itself. But Trump, again, there
have been comments from members of the Trump administration that
(33:28):
have been considered not helpful to these conversations. For example,
Pete Hegseth said, you know, well we should take off
the table Ukraine joining NATO. Well, that's something that NATO
is an alliance that Ukraine has asked for to say,
I need the I need to join y'all because I
(33:49):
need y'all to help me because Russia keeps trying to
take our country. So to take that off the table
takes away something that Ukraine has already been asking for.
So it's like, well, you already even before we get
to the table to negotiate you saying I can't get
something I've been asking for. So there's concern that these
negotiations are going to be too friendly to Russia. We
(34:11):
know that Putin. Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President
Donald Trump speak highly of each other. Trump has said
Putin is a friend. There's always been that concern that
Trump is going to be too friendly to Russia. We'll
see how those talks unfold. Again, everyone agrees there should
(34:32):
be an end to the conflict. There is a concern
that the US is going to negotiate an end, that
it's too friendly to Russia and screws over Ukraine. Those
talks are starting even in Europe. European leaders are so
worried about it they're having an emergency meeting as well,
just among themselves to say, listen, we don't trust what
(34:53):
the US is doing. Let's go ahead and get ourselves together.
So these things are still ongoing. It's this conflict has
been going on for years. There has been a lot
of US money sent to Ukraine to help Ukraine defend itself.
There are a lot of Republicans again America first nationalists.
(35:14):
Republicans say I'm tired of sending money to Ukraine. We
need to spend money on US soil Ukraine needs to
figure it out for themselves or let Europe handle it.
Let go to your European allies. Quit coming to the
US and asking the US to send you money. So
there's a Again, there's not a lot of energy among
Republicans in Congress to continue to send money to help
(35:38):
Ukraine defend itself. But I think there still are Republicans
and a lot of Democrats who believe that coming across
as soft towards Russia ultimately weakens the US beyond just Ukraine,
because again, Russia is that superpower, that dictatorship, that authoritarian
(36:00):
regime that many US elected officials in Congress and historically
our presidents have said, is you know, the antithesis, the
antithesis of American democracy and and for generations, America has
quite frankly, our foreign policy has been focused on promoting
(36:23):
democracy and trying to weaken authoritarian states. So under Trump,
maybe that's not as much of a priority.
Speaker 2 (36:32):
We will see.
Speaker 1 (36:33):
Yeah, And my last question for you is how has
this administration's relationship with the media changed the second time around.
Speaker 3 (36:47):
I wouldn't say it changed because Trump was kind of
always attacking the media even during this first term, and
those attacks have ramped up again. But there definitely is
a contrast coming from the Biden administration. Now, some of
it's good. Donald Trump talks to the media all the time.
He has a signing of executive actions, he signs those papers,
(37:09):
and then he's answering questions from the media. He's walking
to the back of Air Force one and he's talking
to the media while he's flying two different stops. You know,
he's out and about having a public appearance or having
a meeting with foreign heads of states. He's going to
have a time to answer questions from the media. That
(37:30):
did not happen with President Biden. A President Biden literally
you could count, probably on one hand the amount of
press conferences he's done. Donald Trump, you could probably need
your hands and your toes to count the number of
press conferences he's done in a month. So there's definitely
(37:50):
a contrast toward as far as accessibility, Donald Trump is
way more accessible to the media. However, Donald Trump has
been way more combative with the media in other ways.
He's attempted to restrict associated press access to White House
events because the Associated press is not unilaterally using Gulf
(38:13):
of America instead of Golf of Mexico. That's an infringement
of free speech. Donald Trump has tried to install more
conservative media at White House briefings, which is fine. You know,
the media is the media, and access is access. Free
speech is free speech. But I think there is a
(38:34):
perception that Donald Trump is trying to sideline legacy media,
traditional media media that he considers less friendly media that's
more objective, and that again is a concern about the
First Amendment and access for folks who are just trying
to tell the story. The Associated press does not have
an agenda. People like me, I don't have agenda. I
(38:57):
just want to tell the truth and tell the story.
But if you limit access in certain ways, you limit
our ability to tell the story. And that's very concerning
coming from the Trump administration.
Speaker 1 (39:08):
Yeah, there's always going to be three sides to the truth, yours, mine,
and somewhere in the middle.
Speaker 2 (39:13):
So for sure.
Speaker 1 (39:15):
Well, Tia, I want to thank you for coming back
on today. I feel like you gave us so much
information as always about what is currently happening in Trump's
second term in office. Definitely definitely filled me in on
some things that I wasn't even aware of before you go,
If you can, just let the people remind them where
(39:37):
we can find you, girl.
Speaker 3 (39:40):
Yes, I'm Tia Mitchell. I'm on Twitter. If you're still
on Twitter at AJC on Washington, I'm on Blue Sky.
Speaker 2 (39:48):
You can look me up Tia Mitchell.
Speaker 3 (39:51):
I'm on Facebook, Facebook dot com, slash Tia Reports. And
we also also have our own podcast called Politically Georgia.
Speaker 2 (39:59):
Yeah, I love it.
Speaker 1 (40:01):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (40:01):
We have to check it out.
Speaker 1 (40:03):
And for everyone else listening, of course, God bless have
an amazing day and thank you for listening to Alison's Corner.
Thanks for tuning in to Alison's Corner. If you enjoy
today's episode, don't forget to subscribe, leave a review, and
share it with a friend who'd love to.
Speaker 2 (40:24):
Join the conversation.
Speaker 1 (40:26):
For more context and updates, follow us on Instagram and
YouTube at Allison's Corner Pod. Until next time, be blessed,
Hey, and welcome to Alison's Corner. This is my little
corner of the Internet where we dive into wellness, personal growth, relationships,
and just other topics best suited for you. I'm your host, Alison,
bringing you fresh perspectives, inspiring conversations, and a little something.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
To spark your day.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Be sure to follow along with Alison's Corner on Instagram,
subscribe to our newsletter, and watch us on YouTube at
Allison's Corner Pod. Here you'll find more insights in community
updates of what we have going on on Allison's Corner. Now,
without further ado, here is today's episode. Hello everyone, and
(00:57):
welcome or welcome back to another episode of Allison's Corner
with me. I have a second time guest. Guest, can
you go ahead and introduce yourself to the people?
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Please? Hello?
Speaker 3 (01:11):
I am Tia Mitchell. I am the Washington bureau chief
for the Atlanta Journal Constitution. I think I had a
different title when I spoke to you last time, so yes,
but I'm back and it's great to be back. Yay,
and I want to thank you for accepting our offer
to come back. When we initially met, we were talking
(01:32):
more so about the candidates of the twenty twenty four
presidential election of.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. Now that the results of
the election are over and we officially have Donald Trump
as president for a second time, we had a lot
of questions about what's going on. They loved your first
interview when you were on, and I was like, man,
I really want to see how Donald Trump's second term
(01:58):
in office will play out or what has been happening
so far. So I'm like, Tia, she knows, so let's
get her back on.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
So I appreciate you.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
Yeah, so I think it's so hilarious. I'm wearing the
same sweatshirt that just shows how how much I love
fam you. I'm always wearing my family stuff. But I
promise it's a new interview and a lot has transpired.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
I know.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
Initially when you first reached out Alison about having a
follow up conversation, I asked for some time to see
if I could get my head around what to make
of Trump two point zero, and I said, let's let's
let's wait for a few weeks after inauguration just to
see how things are going. Quite frankly, there's still a
(02:47):
lot of uncertainty, even among people like me, who do
this for a living. So I can only imagine what
folks who are you know, at home trying to make
sense of the national news, how confused and overwhelming this
all may seem, because again, for journalists like me, it's
very confusing and overwhelming.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
Yeah, yeah, and again we're just trying to make sense
of everything this time in our lives, and a lot
has happened since he's taken office on January twentieth. So
I have a couple questions here, are you ready to
go into it and explore? What truce lets you go?
Is perfect? Okay? So his first well, this first question
(03:27):
deals more so with policy and governance. What are the
most significant policy shifts we've seen in President Trump's second
term compared to his first?
Speaker 3 (03:40):
So it's so significant, it's like where to start. So
in broad terms, President Trump has started remaking the federal government.
And I know that sounds, you know, very you know,
wide ranging to say, but that's really what's happening. He
(04:02):
is remaking the federal government, or at least trying. So
the question is how far does he ultimately go? We
don't know that answer yet, but what he's trying to
do is number one downsize the federal workforce by laying
off workers, by putting workers on leave, by eliminating positions.
(04:28):
So that's one way he's remaking in federal government. The
second way he's attempting to remake the federal government is
installing political loyalists. We've seen this in some of the
in the cabinet level appointees, which to an extent, that's
always been the case that people have installed, you know,
their folks that their new team. Every president brings in
(04:49):
his own team, but Trump has taken it to a
new level by installing people that didn't have the types
of credentials, background, professional experience that previous folks who had
similar jobs had. You know, RFK Junior being Secretary of
(05:09):
Health and Human Services. He's not a medical doctor. He's
not someone who has a career in public health. He's
not someone who has studied these issues. He's a vaccine skeptic.
He's someone who's talked about conspiracy theories when it comes
to how we eat and what we eat. And now
he's the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Pete Hegseth
(05:31):
is Secretary of Defense. Usually that's a high ranking military official.
He's a relatively low ranking military official. He hasn't risen
the ranks in the you know, in the armed forces
the ways other secretaries of Defense have.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
So those are just two examples.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
So that's another thing Trump has tried to do also,
of course, with the Department of Governmental Efficiency Commission also
known as DOZE, with Elon Musk, he is going in
and trying to reduce federal spending in ways that include
eliminating federal agencies like USA. He says he wants to
(06:09):
close the Department of Education, and so again those are underway.
He's tried to eliminate widely federal grants in certain federal programs. Again,
a lot of this is being challenged in the court
and say, we don't know where it'll end up. But
these are all things that Trump is trying to do broadly.
(06:29):
And then on a I'll say, so that's number one,
and that's broad Number two, of course, is crack down
on immigration. And so what Trump has done is there
always have been immigration arrests ongoing in numbers that I
think most people don't see because it doesn't get a
lot of media attention. Well it's getting more media attention now.
(06:52):
But what has changed under President Trump is that the
immigration arrests have targeted people that in the past, even
when Trump was president, the first time, we're not targeted
by immigration enforcement. For example, people who cross the border
illegally or without documentation, without you know, immigration paperwork or
(07:14):
visas or a green card or what have you, crossed
the border illegally, but then claimed asylum. They said, Hey,
I left my home because I don't feel safe. There's
political strife, or there's violence, or there's crime, or there's
you know, some type of crisis there, and I would
like to have asylum in the United States. That creates
(07:37):
a process where people in the past have been allowed
to come. They're registered, they have monitors where inkle monitors
where the government knows where they are at all times.
They have check ins, but it can take years for
the asylum process because there's such a backlog. It can
be years when someone claims asylum to win their case
(07:59):
is actually determined whether that asylum is granted. In the meantime,
they're often given work permits so they can legally work
in the US well.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Under Trump.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
Recently, since his inauguration, he has started to arrest some
of those folks. The posture of the Trump administration has
been that anyone who entered the United States without documentation,
even if they later claimed asylum, by entering illegally, they
(08:28):
are therefore breaking the law and are eligible for deportation.
And so we've seen those types of arrests increase. Also,
there had been agreements that you don't arrest people at
schools and churches. Those should be places that were off limits,
that people could feel safe, shouldn't feel afraid to go
to church or send their kids to school. That has
(08:51):
also changed under the recent administration, where we've seen arrests
at churches and schools are concerned that they could see
arrest there too. We also know that Republicans are trying
to increase funding for a border wall. Donald Trump has
asked for funding to build up Guantanamo Bay in Cuba
(09:15):
so that some of the undocumented immigrants who've been arrested
can be shipped to Cuba pending deportation. So, I will
say immigration, and that's something that quite frankly, both of
these things, reshaping the federal government cracked down on immigration
are both things that Trump campaigned on. And then I'll say,
(09:38):
I mean, there's so much, but the final thing before
I'll let you get to another question is in I'll
put it all in one basket. The rollback of diversity,
equity and inclusion. Included in that basket is rollback of
protections for transgender people. In fact, Trump has said, you know,
he has wanted to implement laws to make it clear
(10:01):
that transgender people should not be recognized in ways they
had in the past, for example, allowing for gender or
affirming care, allowing the federal government to pay for gender
affirming care if you're in the military, allowing transgender children
to compete in the sport that aligns with their gender
(10:22):
identity versus their gender at birth. Trump has made steps
to outlaw that or or make it difficult for places
that allow it to continue to also receive federal support.
If you're a school, for example, that receives federal grants,
but you elect that you allow transgender athletes to compete
(10:42):
with their gender identity, you could no longer be eligible
for federal funding. And again rolling back DEEI programs. And
I like to say diversity, equity and inclusion because sometimes
the acronym allows people to forget what we're talking about.
So we're talking about not just diversity programs, but equity inclusion,
making sure that people who are disabled or who have
(11:06):
medical issues still can access government programs, government resources, but
also that if they choose to work for the federal
government have the proper accommodations. Those are all being rolled back.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
Yeah, yeah, I mean you pretty much touched on the
main points that I've seen played out in the media.
And I guess a follow up question I have to
that with the laying off of the federal workforce that
has been happening, with the implications of immigration taking place,
what do you feel like in the next few months
(11:39):
or maybe in the next year, will what are the
consequences of those things?
Speaker 3 (11:46):
And that some of that is to be determined because
again we don't know how far Trump is going to
be able to go. But let's say the courts ultimately
let him fire all the people he wants to fire,
close all the agencies he wants to close, make the
federal government look the way he wants to look. The
risks are that service could go down. Now, what Trump
(12:10):
and his supporters are saying is that you know, these
positions weren't always needed, that government can still run more efficiently,
use artificial intelligence, use technology, pay people well and create
maximum efficiency from them. In any that there won't be
(12:30):
changes in service level, But we don't know, because again
we're talking about fewer people to do work, and quite frankly,
the federal government were already facing complaints you know about
you know, long wait times at the IRS and long
wait times to get appointments for veterans who want healthcare
(12:50):
through the VA, and waiting lists for Medicaid and Medicare.
So Trump says there won't be an effect and service level,
but that's to be determined. That's the concern is that
there will literally be fewer people to do the work.
You know, air traffic controllers. We saw you know, a
(13:12):
devastating tragedy in Washington, DC when a helicopter hit a
passenger jet in nearly seventy people died as a result,
and there are concerns that you know, the air traffic
controller industry, which is heavily federally regulated for obvious reasons. Yeah,
they need more people, not less in that Any cuts
(13:34):
not just with air traffic controllers, but in related you know,
services that support operations at airports could again lead to
you know, safety concerns. So that's just another example, Yeah, no,
I definitely agree. I wanted to take another turn into
(13:54):
some of Trump's economic.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
Strategies that we've seen played out as well. What economic
policies has the administration implemented to address the current challenges.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
So when it comes to the economy, you know, Trump
really campaigned to say on day one, I'm going to
improve the economy. Gas is too high, groceries are too high,
and I'm going to make sure that that comes down.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
On day one.
Speaker 3 (14:22):
I'm also going to extend the tax cuts. And it's
Republicans are struggling right now with how to carry out
Trump's wishes with the current political climate and with their
concerns about crashing the economy. So a lot of that
is stuff that what you just asked. Republicans in Congress
(14:44):
are literally trying to figure it out right now. So
Trump wants to make permanent the tax cuts that were
passed during his first term in office. But we know
that if you extend tax cuts, that's going to lead to,
you know, further reductions and income to the federal government.
(15:06):
That's going to increase the national deficit. So there are
many Republicans who are concerned about that, but they do
want to give Trump what he wants. So how do
they do that? They don't know. There are concerns that prices,
some of Donald Trump's promises aren't happening right now. Prices
aren't coming down quite frankly, Inflation is ticking up.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Now.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
He's just gotten office, you know, roughly a month ago,
so it's not necessarily his fault that inflation's going up.
But so far there's no indication that what he's doing
will address the cost of goods, will address the cost
of things, and address therefore inflation. And so there's no
(15:51):
evidence of what the Trump administration. And again Republicans now
control both houses of Congress, so what they plan to
do about that. This conversations also happening. On March fifteenth,
government funding runs out, so they've got to figure out
not just the extra stuff Trump wants to do, like
the tax cuts, like immigration dollars, like boosting national defense spending.
(16:17):
That's extra stuff. They got to figure out how to
just fund the government at the current level beyond March fifteenth.
And that's why you see them saying, well, we've laid
off all these people, so that's funding that we can
now distribute to other places. But all the layoffs in
the world will not pay for the tax cuts in
(16:38):
the increased spending that Donald Trump wants. And so now
they're talking about things like, should we adjust Medicaid, which
is health care for poor people, make it harder to
get Medicaid or reduce make yeah, make it harder by
maybe having a work requirement, making the standard it's harder,
(17:00):
so fewer people are eligible for Medicaid. Again, there are
even Republicans who say, hey, we don't want to. I
don't want my constituents saying I made it harder for
them to get health care. They Republicans have repeatedly said
they don't want to touch Medicare, which is health care
for older people and disabled people. But again, Medicare is
(17:22):
a huge amount of government spending. There talks about food stamps.
It's technically called SNAP Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, but we
know it is food stamps again that's helping poor people
afford food and groceries. Some Republicans say it's time to
make it harder to be eligible for food stamps by again,
(17:44):
maybe there should be a work requirement. Are you working?
Speaker 2 (17:47):
If you're not.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
Working, you shouldn't get food stamps. If you're able bodied,
which they consider, if you're not disabled or have or sick,
or there's a reason why you shouldn't work. If you're
just not working because you can't find a job, or
you say you're unable to find a job, or you
just have decided not to look for work, maybe you
shouldn't be eligible for food stamps. Some Republicans say, well, again,
(18:09):
there are some Republicans and many Democrats who say that's
not the way to do it, because if you're poor,
whether you're working or not, you gotta eat. And then
social Security. Again, social Security is a big one because
it's a big chunk of federal spending. No one wants
to cut Social Security, but there are some Republicans who
(18:29):
are saying, maybe we need to figure out a way
to make it more solvent. Should we raise the age
where people are eligible to start reaping the benefits of
Social Security. That's very unpopular, but it's something that Republicans
are saying, Hey, maybe we have to do it if
we're gonna give Trump what he wants, because we got
to find the money somewhere. These are all conversations that
(18:50):
are happening right now, far from being settled. And they
may take some time to figure out. But in the meantime, again,
government funding, just current government operations runs out March fifteenth,
and if there's not an agreement, and it will require
Democrats to be on board. Yeah, because in the Senate
you have the filibuster. Even though Republicans have the majority,
(19:14):
they don't have a filibuster proof majority. So they've got
to figure out something that Democrats can support. They've got
to do it by March fifteenth. Time is running out.
If there is a government shut down, you know, it's
not just the laidoff workers that go home, it's all
it's most workers, all non essential workers would go home,
and it would be you know, it happened during the
(19:38):
first Trump administration, but it hasn't happened in several years,
and there was at least one government shut down that
lasted several days. And it does really affect the US economy.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
Yeah, I guess another question with that is how are
all of these tax reforms and economic challenges going to
imp the middle class?
Speaker 3 (20:03):
So the question is the answer depends on what they
ultimately do. So let's again go to if kind of
if Trump gets his way, he would like to extend
the tax cuts. He would like to fund more immigration enforcement,
he would like to fund more national security, and he
(20:26):
hasn't said how to do it. He's just said this
is what I would like to do. There are some
Republicans who think the way to do it is a
by reducing the size of the federal government, cutting, you know,
laying off federal workers and then cutting Medicaid and food
stamps mainly. And so if that happens, a these federal
(20:50):
workers that are being laid off are members of the
middle class. You know, federal jobs are considered good paying jobs,
good careers. But these folks, for the most part, are
not rich. They're just regular folks, you know, answering calls
at the IRS or social workers, at your local medicaid
(21:11):
provider or their government. They're actually private programs funded with
government grants, researchers at the CDC, researchers at the National
Institutes of Health, food banks in Namibia that are financed
(21:32):
through USAID. And if these people get laid off, that's automatically,
you know, middle class families that may see themselves struggling
to make ends meet, perhaps quite frankly now needing government resources.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
In another way, so that's one risk.
Speaker 3 (21:52):
The other risk again, where you're talking about custom Medicaid
and food stamps, you're literally talking about how people eat
and how people get health care. So hospitals will tell
you they have to treat people who show up no
matter what. So if they're not covered by Medicaid, now
hospitals are providing more care. That's what they call uncompensated care,
(22:14):
where they're basically treating people without getting any money for
the services they provide. So a lot of hospitals say,
that's just going to tax us. Most hospitals are nonprofits,
and they say they don't have the resources to provide
that care. So it's going to tax local hospital systems,
especially your safety net hospitals, the hospitals where you know
(22:38):
folks who are poor or live.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
In underprivileged communities.
Speaker 3 (22:42):
Every city knows there's that one or two hospital where
all the poor folks go to.
Speaker 2 (22:46):
That's your safety net hospital.
Speaker 3 (22:50):
And again we're talking about people saying this is going
to make it harder for me to live day to day.
This is going to make it harder for me to
feed my Family's going to make it harder are from
my family to survive. We don't know what that looks like.
But that's the risk again. But we don't know if
that's going to happen because there are plenty of Democrats
and even some Republicans who are worried about the effects
(23:13):
of cutting these programs that people rely on. They're worried
about the optics of extending a tax cut that benefits
businesses and richer Americans and turning around in limiting programs
that benefit poor Americans. So so much of this is uncertain.
We don't know where it's gonna end up.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
Yeah, another question that I have, and I wanted to
go a different route a little bit. You were talking
about us AID, which helps with if you can just
give us a brief synopsis of what USA does, because
I just want everybody to be sure.
Speaker 2 (23:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (23:51):
So, USAID is a program that was started by President
John F. Kennedy, and what it does is it basically
funds programs around the globe. It could be nutrition programs,
health programs, HIV prevention programs, HIV treatment programs, and it's
(24:15):
almost like a way to not only help other nations
with their crises, whether it's again with public health or
food and nutrition famine places in famine, US might pay
to help them provide food. So it was seen as
a way to help people in other nations. But also
(24:38):
it was like a diplomatic thing where the US could
be seen as someone doing good around the world. And
so it was part of the Cold War. You know,
the Cold War was all about US in Russia, two
world powers duking it out, but instead of there being
an actual war with gun battle, there were doing it
(24:58):
and kind of you know, so to speak, ways, They
were doing it in ways that weren't direct conflict. So
part of the Cold War wars was the US saying
we're gonna beat Russia because we're gonna make all these
other countries like us, because we're gonna give them nice things,
we're gonna help them feed their families, and they're gonna
say the US did this, so God, usay America's good.
(25:22):
And so that was why John F. Kennedy did it,
because he said, this is a better return on our investment.
War costs a lot of money. Relatively little less than
one percent of the federal budget is usaid, and so
we're not spending a lot of money, but we're doing
a lot of good. And as a result, people like US,
(25:43):
and there's they don't they're not worried about Russia. They're
saying USA is good.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (25:48):
So over the years, presidents both parties, Congress both parties
have said this is a program worth continuing to put
money into because it pays off and dividends, you know,
in a country where US is helpful. Now, you know,
it's less likely that someone can get some insurgent teenagers
(26:11):
to rise up against the US troops in the base nearby,
because they're like, no, no, no, we like the US.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
We're not gonna attack American soldiers.
Speaker 3 (26:19):
You're not gonna be able to turn US against America
because they're good with US. And so there's a lot
of concern that again without USA, Russia in China, which
China is now a new you know, adversary. It's a
communist regime that China will now and Russia are going
to step in and say, see the US abandoned you,
(26:41):
we were stepping in. Now they're gonna get all the goodwill.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
And now if.
Speaker 3 (26:45):
There's conflict in Russia in China need folks on their side,
they'll get it. And people will now say, well, USA,
you abandon us, So don't think we're gonna come to
your aid. So that's why you US say dismantling the program.
And what the Trump administration has said is that ultimately
(27:06):
they want to move it under the Department of State.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is the new Secretary of State.
They're going to move it under the Department of State,
is what they said, and that some of the programs
funded by USA could be restarted. They just don't want
it to be a separate, little agency. But none of
that has been worked out. There's all this uncertainty. There's
(27:30):
literally food and warehouses rotting. There are clinical trials that
the US was doing in other nations to try to
help eradicate diseases and come up with new treatments for diseases.
Those trials were ended abruptly and people were kind of
left hanging that were in the middle of treatment. And
(27:52):
there are USAID workers that were told to just they
were out of a job and if they were US citizens,
they needed to just turned to the US. But remember
they had put down roots. If you're if you're an
AID worker in Namibia and you've been there for five
years and you know your kids were in school or
or again, you have a house, you have a home.
(28:14):
You can't just say move back to the US. I mean,
especially if you're working in a foreign you know, continents away.
That's not something you just get up and move. So
there's so much uncertainty. And the Trump administration hasn't said how,
what programs will be restarted when, how, So there's still
(28:37):
a lot of uncertainty.
Speaker 1 (28:38):
Yeah, and with that, I do have a question as
it relates to foreign policy, how has the administration's foreign
policy strategy evolved this second time around? Cool another question
where we're still figuring things out. So the two biggest
(28:59):
things foreign policy wise that are on President Trump's shoulders
are the Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza, which in
the final like really I think on his final day
or close to his final day, President Joe Biden announced
a truce between Israel and Hamas. It included the release
(29:24):
of some hostages, but an end to you know, the
the violence, and it envisioned a rebuilding in Gaza. But
it's on President Trump to a ensure the truth stands
and that both sides adhere to the agreements they made
as part of the truce, and government President Trump's folks
(29:49):
were involved in those talks. So you know, Biden and
Trump both were can claim credit to an extent for
this truth, but it's on again President Trump to see
it through. And so that's just always a precarious situation,
you know, because there's not a lot of trust between
Israel and Hamas. But President Trump has also kind of
(30:14):
made things more interesting by saying things like he thinks
the US or US companies, US businesses should invest in
rebuilding Gaza, and he's even said things like the Palestinians
should be removed from Gaza, and he kind of envisions
this this almost like a development like gentrification of Gaza
(30:41):
into this brand new, shining riviera of the Middle East
where new things are built by US companies or perhaps
by the US government and Palestinians are relocated elsewhere. Now,
again we don't know if that's going to come to fruition.
(31:02):
There's been a lot of concern about that, mainly because
you're literally just coming in and moving people out to
again gentrify their area in a way that is very problematic,
but also where would the people go?
Speaker 2 (31:17):
Also who would pay for it?
Speaker 3 (31:19):
Also, you know, again a lot of Republicans under the
Maga America first kind of iteration of the party under
Trump have been very nationalists, so they're not too keen
on spending US dollars to rebuild a foreign country. So
what Trump has proposed is way outside of I think
(31:40):
where a lot of Republicans would like to see Trump go,
but they don't necessarily want to defy him or disagree
with him publicly. So that's kind of something he put
out there that we have no idea if he's serious,
or how that would look. But that's now part of
the conversation about what happens. Because Gaza is a war
(32:00):
torn area right now. There are displaced Palestinians, but there
are Palestinians living in Gaza who are surrounded by destruction
and devastation, and there does have to be rebuilding there.
What will be the US role, that's a question mark.
So separate from the war Israel war with Hamas and Gaza,
(32:20):
there's also Russia's war with Ukraine. Russia invaded Ukraine, has
taken certain Ukrainian territories in parts of Ukraine and said
this is now not Ukraine, it's part of Russia. Literally
just went into their country and said, you know, now
you're with us, and that battle has been ongoing for years.
(32:43):
Trump has said he's gonna end that war. Marco Rubio
is in Saudi Arabia right as we record meeting trying
to bring everyone together. And again other nations are involved
in the talks. But how do they bring to a
closed Russia's war in the Ukraine and what can be
(33:06):
done so it doesn't look like Russia got everything, because
that would not that would look like capitulation to Russia,
which basically, again just walked into a country and took
parts of the country for itself. But Trump, again, there
have been comments from members of the Trump administration that
(33:28):
have been considered not helpful to these conversations. For example,
Pete Hegseth said, you know, well we should take off
the table Ukraine joining NATO. Well, that's something that NATO
is an alliance that Ukraine has asked for to say,
I need the I need to join y'all because I
(33:49):
need y'all to help me because Russia keeps trying to
take our country. So to take that off the table
takes away something that Ukraine has already been asking for.
So it's like, well, you already even before we get
to the table to negotiate you saying I can't get
something I've been asking for. So there's concern that these
negotiations are going to be too friendly to Russia. We
(34:11):
know that Putin. Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President
Donald Trump speak highly of each other. Trump has said
Putin is a friend. There's always been that concern that
Trump is going to be too friendly to Russia. We'll
see how those talks unfold. Again, everyone agrees there should
(34:32):
be an end to the conflict. There is a concern
that the US is going to negotiate an end, that
it's too friendly to Russia and screws over Ukraine. Those
talks are starting even in Europe. European leaders are so
worried about it they're having an emergency meeting as well,
just among themselves to say, listen, we don't trust what
(34:53):
the US is doing. Let's go ahead and get ourselves together.
So these things are still ongoing. It's this conflict has
been going on for years. There has been a lot
of US money sent to Ukraine to help Ukraine defend itself.
There are a lot of Republicans again America first nationalists.
(35:14):
Republicans say I'm tired of sending money to Ukraine. We
need to spend money on US soil Ukraine needs to
figure it out for themselves or let Europe handle it.
Let go to your European allies. Quit coming to the
US and asking the US to send you money. So
there's a Again, there's not a lot of energy among
Republicans in Congress to continue to send money to help
(35:38):
Ukraine defend itself. But I think there still are Republicans
and a lot of Democrats who believe that coming across
as soft towards Russia ultimately weakens the US beyond just Ukraine,
because again, Russia is that superpower, that dictatorship, that authoritarian
(36:00):
regime that many US elected officials in Congress and historically
our presidents have said, is you know, the antithesis, the
antithesis of American democracy and and for generations, America has
quite frankly, our foreign policy has been focused on promoting
(36:23):
democracy and trying to weaken authoritarian states. So under Trump,
maybe that's not as much of a priority.
Speaker 2 (36:32):
We will see.
Speaker 1 (36:33):
Yeah, And my last question for you is how has
this administration's relationship with the media changed the second time around.
Speaker 3 (36:47):
I wouldn't say it changed because Trump was kind of
always attacking the media even during this first term, and
those attacks have ramped up again. But there definitely is
a contrast coming from the Biden administration. Now, some of
it's good. Donald Trump talks to the media all the time.
He has a signing of executive actions, he signs those papers,
(37:09):
and then he's answering questions from the media. He's walking
to the back of Air Force one and he's talking
to the media while he's flying two different stops. You know,
he's out and about having a public appearance or having
a meeting with foreign heads of states. He's going to
have a time to answer questions from the media. That
(37:30):
did not happen with President Biden. A President Biden literally
you could count, probably on one hand the amount of
press conferences he's done. Donald Trump, you could probably need
your hands and your toes to count the number of
press conferences he's done in a month. So there's definitely
(37:50):
a contrast toward as far as accessibility, Donald Trump is
way more accessible to the media. However, Donald Trump has
been way more combative with the media in other ways.
He's attempted to restrict associated press access to White House
events because the Associated press is not unilaterally using Gulf
(38:13):
of America instead of Golf of Mexico. That's an infringement
of free speech. Donald Trump has tried to install more
conservative media at White House briefings, which is fine. You know,
the media is the media, and access is access. Free
speech is free speech. But I think there is a
(38:34):
perception that Donald Trump is trying to sideline legacy media,
traditional media media that he considers less friendly media that's
more objective, and that again is a concern about the
First Amendment and access for folks who are just trying
to tell the story. The Associated press does not have
an agenda. People like me, I don't have agenda. I
(38:57):
just want to tell the truth and tell the story.
But if you limit access in certain ways, you limit
our ability to tell the story. And that's very concerning
coming from the Trump administration.
Speaker 1 (39:08):
Yeah, there's always going to be three sides to the truth, yours, mine,
and somewhere in the middle.
Speaker 2 (39:13):
So for sure.
Speaker 1 (39:15):
Well, Tia, I want to thank you for coming back
on today. I feel like you gave us so much
information as always about what is currently happening in Trump's
second term in office. Definitely definitely filled me in on
some things that I wasn't even aware of before you go,
If you can, just let the people remind them where
(39:37):
we can find you, girl.
Speaker 3 (39:40):
Yes, I'm Tia Mitchell. I'm on Twitter. If you're still
on Twitter at AJC on Washington, I'm on Blue Sky.
Speaker 2 (39:48):
You can look me up Tia Mitchell.
Speaker 3 (39:51):
I'm on Facebook, Facebook dot com, slash Tia Reports. And
we also also have our own podcast called Politically Georgia.
Speaker 2 (39:59):
Yeah, I love it.
Speaker 1 (40:01):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (40:01):
We have to check it out.
Speaker 1 (40:03):
And for everyone else listening, of course, God bless have
an amazing day and thank you for listening to Alison's Corner.
Thanks for tuning in to Alison's Corner. If you enjoy
today's episode, don't forget to subscribe, leave a review, and
share it with a friend who'd love to.
Speaker 2 (40:24):
Join the conversation.
Speaker 1 (40:26):
For more context and updates, follow us on Instagram and
YouTube at Allison's Corner Pod. Until next time, be blessed,
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.