WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:04.490 align:start ROBERT COSTA: President Trump rattles global markets after threatening China with 00:04.490 --> 00:09.530 align:start billions in new tariffs. I'm Robert Costa. U.S. troops head to the border and the 00:09.530 --> 00:16.820 align:start embattled EPA chief fights to keep his job, tonight on Washington Week. Trade war. 00:16.820 --> 00:21.120 align:start PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: (From video.) You have to go after the people that aren't 00:21.120 --> 00:23.190 align:start treating you right. 00:23.190 --> 00:26.750 align:start ROBERT COSTA: President Trump calls for an additional 100 billion (dollars) in tariffs 00:26.750 --> 00:32.850 align:start on Chinese goods, escalating the dispute between the world's two largest economies. Plus - 00:32.850 --> 00:35.910 align:start EPA ADMINISTRATOR SCOTT PRUITT: (From video.) This president has shown tremendous 00:35.910 --> 00:39.190 align:start courage to say to the American people that America is going to be put first. 00:39.190 --> 00:43.680 align:start ROBERT COSTA: Will EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt's unwavering support for the president 00:43.680 --> 00:47.050 align:start help him weather a storm of ethics controversies? 00:47.050 --> 00:49.500 align:start ED HENRY (Fox News): (From video.) Are you embarrassed? 00:49.500 --> 00:52.870 align:start ROBERT COSTA: Questions keep mounting about his housing arrangement, first-class travel, 00:52.870 --> 00:57.460 align:start and staff management. And President Trump returns to his campaign pledge to crack 00:57.460 --> 01:00.280 align:start down on undocumented immigrants. 01:00.280 --> 01:03.970 align:start PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: (From video.) We cannot let people enter our country we have no 01:03.970 --> 01:08.050 align:start idea who they are, what they do, where they came from. 01:08.050 --> 01:12.590 align:start ROBERT COSTA: And orders the deployment of National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico Border. 01:12.590 --> 01:15.770 align:start PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: (From video.) Until we can have a wall and proper security, 01:15.770 --> 01:19.790 align:start we're going to be guarding our border with the military. That's a big step. 01:19.790 --> 01:24.640 align:start ROBERT COSTA: We discuss it all with Kayla Tausche of CNBC, Michael Scherer of The 01:24.640 --> 01:31.470 align:start Washington Post, Geoff Bennett of NBC News, and Susan Glasser of POLITICO. 01:31.470 --> 01:39.600 align:start ANNOUNCER: This is Washington Week. Once again, from Washington, moderator Robert Costa. 01:39.600 --> 01:44.590 align:start ROBERT COSTA: Good evening. Another volatile day on Wall Street after President Trump 01:44.590 --> 01:50.620 align:start stood by his threat of new tariffs on $100 billion in Chinese imports. 01:50.620 --> 01:55.980 align:start The stock market, it plunged on these trade fears and a weaker-than-expected jobs report. 01:55.980 --> 02:01.700 align:start Despite the unrest, Mr. Trump defended his decision during a radio interview on Friday. 02:01.700 --> 02:05.370 align:start PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: (From recording.) We've already lost the trade war. We don't have a 02:05.370 --> 02:08.910 align:start trade war; we've lost the trade war. But the easiest thing for me to do would be just to 02:08.910 --> 02:14.290 align:start close my eyes and forget it, and if I did that I'm not doing my job. So I'm not saying 02:14.290 --> 02:19.960 align:start there won't be a little pain, but the market's gone up 40 percent, 42 percent. So we might 02:19.960 --> 02:26.020 align:start lose a little bit of it, but we're going to have a much stronger country when we're finished. 02:26.020 --> 02:30.820 align:start ROBERT COSTA: The standoff comes after China proposed 50 billion (dollars) in tariffs on 02:30.820 --> 02:35.680 align:start a variety of U.S. goods, including beef, pork, and soybeans and wheat, as well as 02:35.680 --> 02:41.070 align:start airplanes and cars. Kayla, the administration, in spite of all what happened today 02:41.070 --> 02:43.940 align:start with the market - we watched it all day, watched your reporting - they're still 02:43.940 --> 02:46.310 align:start standing by their position. Why? 02:46.310 --> 02:50.130 align:start KAYLA TAUSCHE: Well, they believe that this is what will bring China to the table. 02:50.130 --> 02:54.710 align:start The president's Cabinet and his economic advisors have defended the president and said 02:54.710 --> 02:59.660 align:start he's the first president to actually stand up to China, to do what no one else has. 02:59.660 --> 03:03.780 align:start But then other people - outside advisors, corporate executives - are saying we don't 03:03.780 --> 03:08.110 align:start really see how there's an endgame here. We don't see how this gets resolved. 03:08.110 --> 03:13.350 align:start And you had - you had a couple people - Larry Kudlow, Steve Mnuchin, the Treasury 03:13.350 --> 03:18.010 align:start secretary - today talking about potential negotiations with China, but saying that 03:18.010 --> 03:23.180 align:start they're not going on right now, that they refuse to actually say when they are happening, 03:23.180 --> 03:26.770 align:start what they are talking about, where things stand. And that's something that the markets 03:26.770 --> 03:29.860 align:start didn't like, because they want this to get resolved behind the scenes. 03:29.860 --> 03:32.170 align:start They don't want these tariffs to come into effect. 03:32.170 --> 03:34.900 align:start ROBERT COSTA: That's a good point, Geoff, because when I talk about the administration I should 03:34.900 --> 03:38.100 align:start probably be careful. The president says one thing, Larry Kudlow, the White House's new economic 03:38.100 --> 03:41.850 align:start director, he says another thing. Who actually is speaking for the administration? Is it Kudlow with 03:41.850 --> 03:46.230 align:start this reassurance to the markets that it's not really tariffs yet, or is it the president? 03:46.230 --> 03:49.550 align:start GEOFF BENNETT: Good question. I mean, there appears to be sort of a good cop/bad cop 03:49.550 --> 03:52.810 align:start strategy here. I was at the North Lawn of the White House when Larry Kudlow this morning 03:52.810 --> 03:56.690 align:start was giving interviews to all the big cable networks, just as the markets were opening, 03:56.690 --> 04:00.940 align:start doing his level best to really - to sort of tamp down fears of a trade war, suggesting 04:00.940 --> 04:03.550 align:start that these tariffs might not ever take place. 04:03.550 --> 04:06.900 align:start But I was talking to somebody who's known the president for a while and says that the 04:06.900 --> 04:10.900 align:start way the president is approaching these negotiations reflect the way he's approached 04:10.900 --> 04:14.940 align:start negotiations his entire adult life. He talks tough, he starts negotiating from an 04:14.940 --> 04:18.700 align:start extreme position, he expects the opponent to ultimately give in. 04:18.700 --> 04:23.180 align:start But in this situation, it's not clear how or whether China will ever give in. 04:23.180 --> 04:25.740 align:start It's not entirely clear what a win looks like. 04:25.740 --> 04:29.080 align:start And in Chinese President Xi Jinping you have someone who's effectively president for 04:29.080 --> 04:32.380 align:start life. So he could continue this rhetorical trade war indefinitely. 04:32.380 --> 04:35.720 align:start ROBERT COSTA: What to make of China's position here? They called the U.S. arrogant 04:35.720 --> 04:39.060 align:start today in a statement from the ministry of commerce. They're not pulling any punches. 04:39.060 --> 04:42.460 align:start SUSAN GLASSER: Well, that's right. I think it's super significant that there are 04:42.460 --> 04:47.270 align:start not actually any negotiations already underway, first of all. Second of all, the Chinese, 04:47.270 --> 04:52.070 align:start it seems to me, are playing this pretty savvy when it comes to American politics, right? 04:52.070 --> 04:58.080 align:start They have tried to - in their response to President Trump's initial round of proposed 04:58.080 --> 05:04.570 align:start tariffs - they've tried to go into the United States and respond with things that are 05:04.570 --> 05:09.770 align:start maximizing pressure on Trump from within his own party. The American farm belt, the 05:09.770 --> 05:14.830 align:start Chinese have, I think smartly calculated, voted overwhelmingly for Donald Trump. 05:14.830 --> 05:20.570 align:start Their hope and calculation is that the potential pain hitting American food producers, 05:20.570 --> 05:25.360 align:start hitting the American farmers will cause them to put pressure on Donald Trump. 05:25.360 --> 05:29.950 align:start You saw that already happening, by the way, with Republican Senator Joni Ernst from 05:29.950 --> 05:35.050 align:start Iowa. Not known as a big opponent of Donald Trump, coming out yesterday saying: I 05:35.050 --> 05:39.750 align:start called up the president. I said: This is not a good idea. And I think it's really 05:39.750 --> 05:43.260 align:start interesting. The Chinese are learning to play American domestic politics. 05:43.260 --> 05:46.410 align:start ROBERT COSTA: Well, you reported on this, Michael, this week. 05:46.410 --> 05:49.730 align:start Are the congressional Republicans actually going to push this administration around? 05:49.730 --> 05:52.790 align:start MICHAEL SCHERER: You know, they're not just going after the farm belt. 05:52.790 --> 05:56.360 align:start They're microtargeting some of these tariffs on specific congressional districts. 05:56.360 --> 05:59.340 align:start You look at the middle of Washington state. They make cherries, pears and apples. 05:59.340 --> 06:03.150 align:start That was on the initial list of tariffs. You look at the central valley, almonds 06:03.150 --> 06:06.970 align:start big business. You know, the prices are going to be set in a few weeks. 06:06.970 --> 06:11.690 align:start They went after almonds. Iowa's huge and the whole Midwest - pork, soybeans. 06:11.690 --> 06:15.500 align:start You know, the politics of this domestically are rather complicated. 06:15.500 --> 06:18.630 align:start You have Chuck Schumer coming out saying: I actually think this is a good thing. 06:18.630 --> 06:22.470 align:start We have to stop being pushed around by China. You had Mitt Romney today, you know, 06:22.470 --> 06:27.180 align:start traditional conservative running for Senate in Utah, say also that he thinks this 06:27.180 --> 06:30.620 align:start is a good thing as an opening gambit. Everybody's just playing this as a bluff 06:30.620 --> 06:33.460 align:start though at this point. No one knows who's going to blink. 06:33.460 --> 06:36.220 align:start The Chinese have two big advantages. One, it's an authoritarian regime. 06:36.220 --> 06:39.190 align:start They don't have to worry about these political factors, whereas Trump does. 06:39.190 --> 06:43.960 align:start And, two, they've - Trump has yet to sort of rally the world around his cause. 06:43.960 --> 06:48.040 align:start The U.S. is sort of acting unilaterally here. And China keeps dressing itself 06:48.040 --> 06:51.890 align:start in the language of the international order, which is going to make it harder. 06:51.890 --> 06:55.270 align:start KAYLA TAUSCHE: I think Congress feels a little powerless as well, because last year they 06:55.270 --> 06:59.120 align:start were able to focus singularly on tax reform, take the president's mind off trade. 06:59.120 --> 07:02.970 align:start They called a truce on the hardline on trade rhetoric during that time so that they could 07:02.970 --> 07:05.740 align:start get everyone rallied around that one issue. 07:05.740 --> 07:11.080 align:start After tax reform got passed, you saw GOP senators and members of the House coming to the 07:11.080 --> 07:15.930 align:start White House in droves to try to lobby the president not to do exactly what he's doing 07:15.930 --> 07:20.090 align:start now. And the president sat there, and he listened. And you had people like 07:20.090 --> 07:24.630 align:start Chuck Grassley, like Joni Ernst, like Pat Roberts of Kansas, saying: Please 07:24.630 --> 07:28.960 align:start don't do this. This will come back in revenge that is exacted on my 07:28.960 --> 07:31.960 align:start district, on my state. And the president did it anyway. 07:31.960 --> 07:35.030 align:start ROBERT COSTA: What's next, though, Kayla? Is it going to be a bilateral 07:35.030 --> 07:37.600 align:start negotiation between the U.S. and China? 07:37.600 --> 07:39.880 align:start Or does the World Trade Organization step in and try to mediate? 07:39.880 --> 07:42.790 align:start KAYLA TAUSCHE: Well, we have a few weeks here. I mean, the Office of the U.S. 07:42.790 --> 07:45.840 align:start Trade Representative has left an open window here. 07:45.840 --> 07:51.080 align:start Ambassador Lighthizer has been very careful to say nothing's in effect and won't go in 07:51.080 --> 07:54.550 align:start effect for at least a couple of months at this point. 07:54.550 --> 07:59.910 align:start So we're looking at late May that the administration has to either meet with China or 07:59.910 --> 08:04.350 align:start figure out a way to resolve this through appropriate global trade channels. 08:04.350 --> 08:09.390 align:start But China has a lot of very powerful tools in its tool chest that it hasn't used yet. 08:09.390 --> 08:13.700 align:start And so if the U.S. continues talking tough, China won't back down. 08:13.700 --> 08:17.080 align:start ROBERT COSTA: It's not just talking tough, in a sense. That's part of it, on the 08:17.080 --> 08:20.120 align:start trade aspect. Politically, though, the president just keeps wanting to go back to 08:20.120 --> 08:22.160 align:start his campaign pledge. 08:22.160 --> 08:24.760 align:start GEOFF BENNETT: It's a great point. And I think Kayla makes a great point, that 08:24.760 --> 08:27.500 align:start we're going to hear the president talk more about trade. I spoke with someone 08:27.500 --> 08:30.360 align:start who's familiar with the president's thinking in this midterm election year. 08:30.360 --> 08:33.600 align:start And this person said: Expect to hear the president talk a lot about the tax cuts, of 08:33.600 --> 08:37.330 align:start course, trade, and immigration - in part, because the omnibus bill that he signed, I 08:37.330 --> 08:40.730 align:start guess two weeks ago now, was the last big legislative item that this Congress will 08:40.730 --> 08:42.980 align:start probably pass in this election year. 08:42.980 --> 08:45.780 align:start And there's no - there's nothing left on the Trump legislative agenda. 08:45.780 --> 08:49.740 align:start So in many ways, there's this vacuum here and he's filling it with talking about the very 08:49.740 --> 08:52.290 align:start same things that made him effective as a presidential candidate. 08:52.290 --> 08:54.740 align:start ROBERT COSTA: There's a lot more filling the vacuum this week. 08:54.740 --> 08:58.020 align:start We have trade, but we also have more turmoil inside of the administration. 08:58.020 --> 09:03.100 align:start President Trump said today on Twitter that EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt is doing a, 09:03.100 --> 09:07.030 align:start quote, "great job but is TOTALLY under siege." 09:07.030 --> 09:11.140 align:start That statement left Pruitt - embattled by a barrage of reports on potential ethics 09:11.140 --> 09:16.450 align:start violations over his housing, travel, and security expenses - hanging on to his Cabinet 09:16.450 --> 09:21.500 align:start post, for now. Pruitt, has been scrutinized daily this week amid a flurry of 09:21.500 --> 09:26.310 align:start headlines about his conduct, from his $50 a night condo deal from an energy 09:26.310 --> 09:30.900 align:start lobbyist spouse, to first-class travel, and unrest on the EPA staff. 09:30.900 --> 09:35.210 align:start As all these stories piled up, Pruitt took to Fox News to defend himself. 09:35.210 --> 09:38.270 align:start ED HENRY: (From video.) President Trump said he would drain the swamp. 09:38.270 --> 09:40.260 align:start SCOTT PRUITT: (From video.) I don't - 09:40.260 --> 09:45.500 align:start ED HENRY: (From video.) Is draining the swamp renting an apartment from the wife of a Washington lobbyist? 09:45.500 --> 09:49.000 align:start SCOTT PRUITT: (From video.) I don't think that that's even remotely fair to ask that question. 09:49.000 --> 09:53.240 align:start ED HENRY: (From video.) OK, so why did you then accept $50 a night to rent a condo from 09:53.240 --> 09:55.490 align:start the wife of a Washington lobbyist? 09:55.490 --> 09:58.310 align:start SCOTT PRUITT: (From video.) Well, let's talk about that. That is something that, 09:58.310 --> 10:01.530 align:start again, has been reviewed by ethics officials here. They've said that it's market rate. 10:01.530 --> 10:03.850 align:start ED HENRY: (From video.) You're renting it from the wife of a lobbyist. 10:03.850 --> 10:06.410 align:start SCOTT PRUITT: (From video.) Yeah, who has no business before this agency. 10:06.410 --> 10:10.420 align:start ROBERT COSTA: Pruitt also reportedly bypassed the White House and used an obscure rule 10:10.420 --> 10:15.210 align:start to secure tens of thousands of dollars in pay raises for two senior advisors, advisors he 10:15.210 --> 10:19.560 align:start has known for years. And The New York Times reported the he asked a security 10:19.560 --> 10:24.000 align:start detail - no joke - to flash the lights last year to get through traffic in 10:24.000 --> 10:27.950 align:start Washington on the way to dinner at Le Diplomate, one of those French 10:27.950 --> 10:32.930 align:start restaurants on 14th Street. Susan, amid all this, he survives. 10:32.930 --> 10:37.090 align:start SUSAN GLASSER: Well, that's right. Listen, if anybody would be immune to firing 10:37.090 --> 10:40.860 align:start somebody because they overly enjoyed the perks of their office, it might be 10:40.860 --> 10:44.530 align:start Donald Trump. But there's a substantive issue as well. 10:44.530 --> 10:49.790 align:start Pruitt has a lot of defenders among Donald Trump's conservative supporters. 10:49.790 --> 10:55.740 align:start He is perceived as really carrying out the ideological agenda of the administration. 10:55.740 --> 11:01.850 align:start He has been a particular favorite of the right, even predating his tenure in Donald 11:01.850 --> 11:07.530 align:start Trump's Cabinet. And so I think Trump is reluctant on substantive grounds to fire him. 11:07.530 --> 11:12.190 align:start He's also - he's got that contrary streak in him. Remember a few weeks ago when 11:12.190 --> 11:15.600 align:start The Washington Post reported that H.R. McMaster was on his way out. 11:15.600 --> 11:19.860 align:start Donald Trump was already planning to fire H.R. McMaster at this period of time. 11:19.860 --> 11:25.060 align:start But he didn't like The Washington Post revealing that before he was ready to do it. 11:25.060 --> 11:28.650 align:start He still did it, right? He went ahead and dumped him anyways. 11:28.650 --> 11:31.600 align:start But he didn't want to do it right away. 11:31.600 --> 11:36.200 align:start So are we looking at a situation where perhaps the coverage of this and the burgeoning 11:36.200 --> 11:40.480 align:start scandals around Pruitt have just extended his life in the Cabinet by a few additional 11:40.480 --> 11:46.120 align:start days? Or is it a situation where Trump really just doesn't want to get rid of him? 11:46.120 --> 11:50.930 align:start Reading the Kremlinology, I actually found it fascinating today, there were not one but 11:50.930 --> 11:55.360 align:start two stories - one in The New York Times and one in The Wall Street Journal - saying that 11:55.360 --> 12:00.630 align:start White House Chief of Staff John Kelly had urged President Trump to dump Pruitt. 12:00.630 --> 12:05.360 align:start And Trump was still resisting. To me, that seemed like really undercutting 12:05.360 --> 12:08.470 align:start John Kelly. So maybe his is the job that's on the line. 12:08.470 --> 12:11.880 align:start ROBERT COSTA: Everyone says their job's on the line in this White House 12:11.880 --> 12:14.210 align:start when you're up at 1600 Penn. 12:14.210 --> 12:18.930 align:start MICHAEL SCHERER: And very often there are reports of your demise multiple times before 12:18.930 --> 12:24.150 align:start your demise finally comes. So I don't think Scott Pruitt's quite sleeping well having 12:24.150 --> 12:27.450 align:start gone through this week. And it's also possible that more stories come out. 12:27.450 --> 12:30.810 align:start You know, there are a lot of reporters working on stories about Scott Pruitt now because 12:30.810 --> 12:34.500 align:start there is obviously so much there to dig into. And I don't think we're done with that. 12:34.500 --> 12:38.840 align:start The other thing, though, the president has to worry about is how do you replace probably 12:38.840 --> 12:45.010 align:start the most controversial head of an agency, the EPA? He got through with 52 votes when 12:45.010 --> 12:47.720 align:start he was first in the Senate, when he was first confirmed. 12:47.720 --> 12:50.820 align:start But you've lost one of those Republican senators. Another Republican senator - 12:50.820 --> 12:53.660 align:start ROBERT COSTA: Do they even have time? Do they even have time in the Senate? 12:53.660 --> 12:56.400 align:start MICHAEL SCHERER: Well, that too. And another Republican senator, John McCain, isn't 12:56.400 --> 12:59.290 align:start voting right now. So they may not be able to confirm somebody, which may be something 12:59.290 --> 13:01.270 align:start that extends his life as well. 13:01.270 --> 13:04.240 align:start ROBERT COSTA: Business likes Pruitt. When you talk to people on Wall Street, 13:04.240 --> 13:07.980 align:start because of all the regulations he's cut away there's not only support among the 13:07.980 --> 13:11.060 align:start movement conservatives, as Susan was talking about, but the business community. 13:11.060 --> 13:14.360 align:start KAYLA TAUSCHE: And the president is in touch with executives from the oil and gas 13:14.360 --> 13:19.850 align:start industry, the mining industry, the companies that are feeling the benefits from the 13:19.850 --> 13:23.790 align:start deregulatory agenda that Pruitt is leading. The president talks to them a lot. 13:23.790 --> 13:27.530 align:start He hears that those companies like what's Pruitt - what Pruitt is doing and that's what 13:27.530 --> 13:29.940 align:start informs his view of Pruitt. 13:29.940 --> 13:35.110 align:start If you look at the White House's own dashboard on how agencies are doing in deregulating 13:35.110 --> 13:42.090 align:start their own industries, the EPA is right up there with some of the highest-volume rollbacks 13:42.090 --> 13:46.120 align:start of any agencies in the government, and that's something that, you know, you hear the 13:46.120 --> 13:50.000 align:start administration talking about quite often. But the White House said they're investigating 13:50.000 --> 13:54.060 align:start this and there could be a situation where whatever they find could be impermissible. 13:54.060 --> 13:56.880 align:start ROBERT COSTA: Geoff, you were at the White House all day. 13:56.880 --> 14:00.970 align:start What did you make of the Pruitt visit to the West Wing for a meeting with the president 14:00.970 --> 14:06.960 align:start and, as Susan mentioned, the advice from General Kelly last week to get rid of Pruitt? 14:06.960 --> 14:10.620 align:start GEOFF BENNETT: That's right, General Kelly and other top White House aides, we're told, 14:10.620 --> 14:14.450 align:start have told the president that it's time for Scott Pruitt to go. The president apparently 14:14.450 --> 14:18.700 align:start thinks otherwise. And I think the implicit and perhaps troubling takeaway is that for 14:18.700 --> 14:23.240 align:start all of these sort of ethical issues, as long as a Cabinet member stays in the 14:23.240 --> 14:27.260 align:start president's personal good graces, a lot seems to be overlooked. 14:27.260 --> 14:29.630 align:start So the president will certainly have to account for that. 14:29.630 --> 14:33.030 align:start ROBERT COSTA: We've seen Ben Carson have trouble, the secretary of housing and urban 14:33.030 --> 14:36.720 align:start development. A lot of these outsiders who come to Washington and they join the Cabinet, 14:36.720 --> 14:40.860 align:start and they don't realize - and reporters realize it because you cover an administration - 14:40.860 --> 14:44.870 align:start everything that's public information gets covered, but a lot of these officials come in at 14:44.870 --> 14:49.260 align:start these - in these big jobs and they don't realize every part of the budget is under scrutiny. 14:49.260 --> 14:52.150 align:start MICHAEL SCHERER: Well, the other interesting thing is that, you know, a lot of times in 14:52.150 --> 14:55.290 align:start government people take their cues from the person above them. 14:55.290 --> 15:00.130 align:start And, you know, President Obama ran a pretty frugal, straightforward operation. 15:00.130 --> 15:03.660 align:start You notice a lot of these scandals - first-class airfare, private planes, redecorating 15:03.660 --> 15:09.090 align:start the office - I mean, those are the kind of things that echo the lifestyle, the life that 15:09.090 --> 15:13.220 align:start the president lives. And so I think a lot of people came in thinking, well, look, I'm 15:13.220 --> 15:16.660 align:start now the head of an agency, I shouldn't have scuffs on my desk, I shouldn't have a torn 15:16.660 --> 15:20.320 align:start carpet; you know, if I have to fly overnight, I should be flying first class. 15:20.320 --> 15:22.670 align:start And that's what's now getting them in trouble. 15:22.670 --> 15:25.600 align:start KAYLA TAUSCHE: But you don't have those headlines from the members of the Cabinet who 15:25.600 --> 15:28.970 align:start are independently wealthy. You don't have those headlines about Betsy DeVos, about 15:28.970 --> 15:32.720 align:start Wilbur Ross, about Steven Mnuchin. You only have it from the people who are either 15:32.720 --> 15:38.630 align:start career government officials or who, you know, had perfectly affluent lives, but perhaps 15:38.630 --> 15:42.310 align:start not to the level of some of the other people that they're sitting around the table with. 15:42.310 --> 15:44.770 align:start GEOFF BENNETT: And don't forget it was just a few weeks ago that Chief of Staff John 15:44.770 --> 15:48.430 align:start Kelly brought together the group of misbehaving Cabinet members and basically told them 15:48.430 --> 15:51.640 align:start to get their acts together and that they should, you know, be more responsible in the 15:51.640 --> 15:54.700 align:start ways they run their agencies and with their travel expenses. 15:54.700 --> 15:58.570 align:start ROBERT COSTA: But the president is digging in on Pruitt, at least - it's Friday night; 15:58.570 --> 16:02.090 align:start we'll check our phones after the show, maybe something has changed. (Laughter.) But 16:02.090 --> 16:05.790 align:start for now he's there. The president's digging in on a lot of things this week - another 16:05.790 --> 16:10.720 align:start front, immigration. Mr. Trump has ordered 2(,000) to 4,000 National Guard troops to 16:10.720 --> 16:15.910 align:start secure the U.S.-Mexico border and beef up customs and border enforcement. The president 16:15.910 --> 16:20.290 align:start literally threw out his prepared remarks at a West Virginia roundtable this week where he 16:20.290 --> 16:25.010 align:start was scheduled to talk about his tax overhaul. Instead, he seized on illegal immigration. 16:25.010 --> 16:29.050 align:start PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: (From video.) And remember my opening remarks at Trump Tower 16:29.050 --> 16:34.390 align:start when I opened? Everybody said, oh, he was so tough, and I used the word "rape." 16:34.390 --> 16:38.240 align:start Women are raped at levels that nobody's ever seen before. 16:38.240 --> 16:43.100 align:start They don't want to mention that. So we have to change our laws. 16:43.100 --> 16:47.810 align:start ROBERT COSTA: Deploying the National Guard along the border is not unprecedented. 16:47.810 --> 16:52.420 align:start President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama both did it in two operations 16:52.420 --> 16:56.830 align:start that cost a total of more than 1.3 billion (dollars). Critics called those deployments 16:56.830 --> 17:00.870 align:start costly and inefficient. Michael, you cover the president on the campaign trail, again 17:00.870 --> 17:04.670 align:start this week coming back not only to the trade issue but to immigration. 17:04.670 --> 17:07.610 align:start What is going on at this presidency at this time? 17:07.610 --> 17:10.870 align:start MICHAEL SCHERER: I think, you know, when the president won election, if you actually go 17:10.870 --> 17:14.040 align:start back and look at that first 60 Minutes interview and he's talking about how he's now 17:14.040 --> 17:17.650 align:start going to be the president, you can almost see in his face that he was nervous about it. 17:17.650 --> 17:20.480 align:start And I think it was very evident in those first few months that he wasn't sure he knew how 17:20.480 --> 17:23.680 align:start to do the job, he was worried about the burden that had been put on him, and he 17:23.680 --> 17:26.600 align:start surrounded himself with a group of advisors he's never been happy with. 17:26.600 --> 17:30.960 align:start And now this latest generation has kind of gone out the door, and I think the president 17:30.960 --> 17:35.470 align:start feels - as he's felt all through his life and career - that in moments like this he 17:35.470 --> 17:39.600 align:start should go back to his gut instinct, and that's what he's doing. And we're, as you said, 17:39.600 --> 17:43.810 align:start entering an election season. Legislating is done. He's trying to get back on message. 17:43.810 --> 17:48.190 align:start He has to get Republicans excited to vote if there's going to be hope in the fall, and 17:48.190 --> 17:50.510 align:start he's taking a gamble here. 17:50.510 --> 17:54.070 align:start ROBERT COSTA: And it's about that core base voter, and when you think about it it's also 17:54.070 --> 17:58.270 align:start about the media that base watches. So much of this was driven by conservative media 17:58.270 --> 18:02.460 align:start this week and the coverage of Central American migrants moving up through Mexico and 18:02.460 --> 18:05.460 align:start the way that was covered on the right, the way the White House watched it. 18:05.460 --> 18:10.180 align:start But it was - it was factually under a lot of the - under the spotlight this week as well. 18:10.180 --> 18:13.120 align:start SUSAN GLASSER: Well, that's a very charitable way of putting it. 18:13.120 --> 18:16.130 align:start I mean, let's be real: Like, there was no crisis. 18:16.130 --> 18:20.860 align:start This is a literally brought to you by Fox News crisis, OK? 18:20.860 --> 18:27.470 align:start This is, you know, they covered a caravan of immigrants that was supposedly on its way to 18:27.470 --> 18:33.090 align:start invade and rampage in the United States. Donald Trump is ordering troops to the border 18:33.090 --> 18:37.220 align:start in response to a manufactured, not real, crisis. 18:37.220 --> 18:41.910 align:start Now, in the past you talked about both President Bush and President Obama have had to at 18:41.910 --> 18:48.370 align:start various points, in response to real events, order National Guard troops to temporarily go 18:48.370 --> 18:54.080 align:start to the border. So this is - it's ersatz in every possible way. So I find that to 18:54.080 --> 18:59.450 align:start be - it's basically a real metaphor for the politics that we're living in right now. 18:59.450 --> 19:03.660 align:start You know, you see President Trump throwing up the papers; to me, that's like the 19:03.660 --> 19:09.130 align:start signature visual of the presidency. Like, ah, this script is boring; OK, I'm going to 19:09.130 --> 19:15.370 align:start offer you a new immigration-related plotline. But I want to go back to this idea that 19:15.370 --> 19:18.260 align:start he's in campaign mode, which I think he really is. 19:18.260 --> 19:23.200 align:start I mean, he feels untethered or he's out there doing what he wants to do, having the 19:23.200 --> 19:26.750 align:start Cabinet I've wanted to have, having the presidency I want to have. 19:26.750 --> 19:31.920 align:start What I'm struck by is that he's still treating it as a reality show or as if 19:31.920 --> 19:36.710 align:start everything is a campaign. Actions do at some point or another have consequences. 19:36.710 --> 19:43.020 align:start In Mexico this week, in response to this manufactured-on-TV crisis, you saw the president 19:43.020 --> 19:48.690 align:start of Mexico, after two years of forbearance, actually give an address to the Mexican people 19:48.690 --> 19:53.530 align:start and say enough is enough, basically: Donald Trump, if you want to talk about American 19:53.530 --> 19:58.200 align:start domestic politics, you should do that and leave Mexico out of it. He may lose his job 19:58.200 --> 20:04.140 align:start in the July 1st Mexican presidential election because of the American politics here. 20:04.140 --> 20:08.650 align:start GEOFF BENNETT: And to Susan's point, the president - this crisis wasn't just brought to 20:08.650 --> 20:11.810 align:start us by Fox News - you're totally right about that - it was also brought to us by the 20:11.810 --> 20:16.560 align:start president's friends and allies who were in his ear at Mar-a-Lago last weekend, folks like 20:16.560 --> 20:21.230 align:start Corey Lewandowski, Judge Jeanine Pirro, Sean Hannity, conveying the message, we're told, 20:21.230 --> 20:25.880 align:start that the base was growing impatient and softening with the president's perceived, I 20:25.880 --> 20:29.510 align:start guess, giving in on immigration. Remember, he signed that omnibus bill that didn't 20:29.510 --> 20:32.980 align:start have the full funding for the - for the border wall, and he was very upset about that. 20:32.980 --> 20:36.410 align:start And so that is what prompted what we've seen this past week in many ways. 20:36.410 --> 20:38.050 align:start MICHAEL SCHERER: You know, he's - 20:38.050 --> 20:40.140 align:start SUSAN GLASSER: By the way, Mexico is not going to pay for the wall. 20:40.140 --> 20:42.350 align:start GEOFF BENNETT: That's right. SUSAN GLASSER: You know that, right? 20:42.350 --> 20:44.900 align:start ROBERT COSTA: Are congressional Republicans going to back up the president here and 20:44.900 --> 20:47.610 align:start change their tune to immigration, immigration ahead of the midterms, or they - were they 20:47.610 --> 20:49.770 align:start - would they rather sell the tax cut? 20:49.770 --> 20:53.460 align:start KAYLA TAUSCHE: I think they'd rather sell the tax cut. I think that there is still 20:53.460 --> 20:58.950 align:start confusion about exactly what type of immigration plan would pass Congress the White 20:58.950 --> 21:03.190 align:start House would sign off on. And at this point there is the absence of a deadline, which 21:03.190 --> 21:07.630 align:start as we know is what really lights a fire under Congress and causes them to act. 21:07.630 --> 21:10.660 align:start MICHAEL SCHERER: The real problem the president has in the midterms is that the people 21:10.660 --> 21:13.870 align:start who elected him in 2016 are not going to decide who controls Congress. These are 21:13.870 --> 21:18.760 align:start different districts that matter in this election. They are moderate House districts 21:18.760 --> 21:23.030 align:start in suburban areas. There are a couple rural red-state areas. But there are like 54, 21:23.030 --> 21:28.130 align:start 50 districts that are not depressed working-class parts of Michigan or Pennsylvania 21:28.130 --> 21:32.550 align:start that were the ones who delivered him the White House. So he has the same playbook, 21:32.550 --> 21:37.710 align:start but he's not playing the same game, and it's not clear whether he won't do more 21:37.710 --> 21:43.460 align:start damage to a lot of - a lot of these candidacies if he pursues this path. 21:43.460 --> 21:47.790 align:start ROBERT COSTA: And he keeps talking about voter fraud as well with immigration, the president. 21:47.790 --> 21:51.200 align:start GEOFF BENNETT: He does, but again, his own commission that was formed to look into voter 21:51.200 --> 21:54.950 align:start fraud disbanded finding no evidence that it ever existed. 21:54.950 --> 21:57.910 align:start ROBERT COSTA: So where do we - where do we see this president going next? 21:57.910 --> 22:00.610 align:start Does this just become more campaign mode the whole time? 22:00.610 --> 22:03.630 align:start SUSAN GLASSER: Well, it's a really good question if there's not really a legislative 22:03.630 --> 22:06.920 align:start agenda. First of all, Michael's point is a really important one. 22:06.920 --> 22:10.980 align:start What districts is Donald Trump going to be welcome in to campaign? 22:10.980 --> 22:14.200 align:start ROBERT COSTA: Well, he went to West Virginia this week, so at least West Virginia. 22:14.200 --> 22:16.200 align:start MICHAEL SCHERER: He can always go back. (Laughter.) 22:16.200 --> 22:19.220 align:start ROBERT COSTA: He can always go back to West Virginia, wild and wonderful West Virginia. 22:19.220 --> 22:22.190 align:start I love it. We're going to have to leave it there tonight. Thanks, everybody. 22:22.190 --> 22:26.220 align:start We'll discuss President Trump's battle with Amazon - another battle - in the webcast. 22:26.220 --> 22:30.990 align:start You can find that later tonight and all week long at PBS.org/WashingtonWeek. 22:30.990 --> 23:22.460 align:start I'm Robert Costa. Thanks for joining us.