Friday on the RealClearPolitics radio show — weeknights at 6:00 p.m. on SiriusXM’s POTUS Channel 124 and then on Apple, Spotify, and here on our website — Andrew Walworth, Carl Cannon, and RCP White House reporter Phil Wegmann discuss President Trump’s new budget, which proposes significant budget cuts and setting up a battle in Congress. “Russ Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, looked at Elon Musk and said, ‘Hold my beer!’ I mean, he is going after a lot of spending here,” Phil Wegmann said about the $ 163 billion in cuts. “These are real budget cuts. Usually in Washington, ‘budget cuts’ means slowing the rate of increase,” Carl Cannon added. “This shows that no matter how efficient Elon Musk is, to get this federal budget in balance, you need to either raise taxes or slow the rate of growth of entitlements, or both.” *** In the next segment, starting at minute 12, a week of “musical chairs” in the White House as Trump makes the first major staffing changes of his second term. The group looks at what the future may hold for Secretary of State (and now acting National Security Advisor) Marco Rubio, former National Security Advisor and now U.N. ambassador nominee Mike Waltz, and embattled Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth. “He probably would have been the Republican nominee in 2016 if Trump had decided not to run,” Cannon commented about Rubio. “Nine years later, he was considered by Trump as a vice presidential nominee, named secretary of state – the most prestigious job in the cabinet – and now he’s also national security advisor. Nobody has held both jobs since Henry Kissinger.” “Liddle Marco is now the most trusted man in Trump’s White House,” Wegmann reported. “What did Marco Rubio do after he lost the nomination in 2016? He did the reading. He’s been on this project for the better part of a decade, trying to understand why the old Republican orthodoxy on things like trade and foreign policy wasn’t persuasive to the Republican base.” “His reputation can only improve after this disaster at NSC,” Cannon said about Mike Waltz. “But sending him to the U.N. sends the signal that Trump doesn’t really care about the United Nations.” “The president has not abandoned Pete Hegseth yet,” Wegmann added. “Unlike Waltz, there’s no landing spot for him. All the other positions have been filled. There is no way for him to ride off into the sunset.” *** After that, starting at minute 24, the gang looks at the consequences of President Trump’s latest executive order directing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to end federal funding for Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and National Public Radio (NPR). “This is going to be challenged in court, as all of these things have been,” Cannon explained. “The right way to do this would have been to go through the budget process in Congress.” “The majority of the country is of the opinion that these are just liberal institutions, and they don’t want their tax dollars going to it,” Wegmann said. “The average American sees coverage that is outside of the mainstream. NPR and PBS, their style guide does not comport with what most Americans think about biological sex… They may have sown the seeds of their own destruction.” At minute 31, the gang reviews some of the silliest and most ironic stories of the week in the “You Can Not Be Serious!” segment. *** Finally, at timestamp 32:20 RCP “Unknowns” contributor Charlie Stone and journalist Jack Ford talk to Jocelyn Benson, Michigan’s secretary of state, author, and a Democratic candidate for Michigan governor in 2026. Read more about this episode of “The Unknowns” here. *** Don’t miss a single episode of the RealClearPolitics weeknight radio show – subscribe at Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
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