Monday on the RealClearPolitics radio show, Tom Bevan, Andrew Walworth, and Carl Cannon discuss the political impact of President Trump’s meeting with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, and what Trump’s new proposal to address expiring Obamacare subsidies might look like. After that, Institute for World Politics dean James S. Robbins joins the podcast to discuss the new proposal for a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine and the Trump administration’s increasingly aggressive posture toward Venezuela. Plus, the impact of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene announcing her retirement on the future of the MAGA movement, and a deadly “teen takeover” in downtown Chicago that led to hundreds of arrests. You can listen to the show live, weekdays at 11:00 a.m. on SiriusXM’s Megyn Kelly Channel 111, and then on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, and here on our website. *** The show opened with the president’s surprisingly cordial meeting on Friday with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, and Mamdani’s subsequent comment that despite believing Trump is a “fascist,” he’s happy to work with him. Was this a welcome show of bipartisan accommodation or a meaningless photo-op? “It raises the question of why Trump even wanted this meeting,” Cannon said. “Mamdani is there asking for money to fund his socialist program. All along the way, he called Trump a fascist. What did Trump get out of this? Nothing.” “We keep talking about a return to civility, and here are two guys getting together who disagree on everything, but they can talk to one another about the fact that they both want New York to be more affordable,” Walworth said. “Isn’t this just the kind of thing we say we wanted?” Tom Bevan remained skeptical: “Is it civility to have this meeting and then two days later say, ‘Of course, he’s a fascist!’ on national television?” *** After that, starting at minute 10, the group discusses reports that President Trump could offer a new proposal to extend the expiring health insurance subsidies that helped trigger last month’s government shutdown. “Republicans are looking for an off-ramp so they don’t have another shutdown in January,” Cannon said. “Will the Democrats accept that, or do they want to force another shutdown?” “Remember, one of the demands Democrats had at the end of the shutdown was to extend these for one year, and Republicans said that was absurd,” Bevan explained. “So the shutdown ends, and then a week later, now we’re going to extend it for two years? Is that really the plan here, to extend Obamacare subsidies?” “Maybe these are all trial balloons, but I think Republicans will come up with some proposal,” Andrew Walworth said. “But any way you look at it, we’re going to keep subsidizing this Obamacare program for people who make up to 400% of the poverty level. Is this now a third rail of American politics? You can’t cut Obamacare subsidies just like you can’t cut Social Security; this is just an entitlement now? *** In the next segment, around minute 19, the group welcomes James S. Robbins, the dean of the Institute for World Politics, to discuss the latest proposal for a deal to stop the war between Russia and Ukraine that Secretary of State Marco Rubio described as the best shot for an agreement we’ve seen in “a long time.” If Ukraine won’t officially surrender any territory, is a Korea-style armistice the best possible option? “Judging from the reports this morning out of Geneva, the original 28-point document that was heavily slanted toward Russia has been carved down to about 19 points, and some of the more onerous pro-Moscow points may have been dropped,” Robbins explained. “We have this deadly attrition war that’s going on. It doesn’t really show signs of abating. Both sides continue slowly to escalate, but also Russia is slowly making gains,” he said. “So at some point, we have to ask: How much longer can Ukraine keep fighting? And how much appetite is there for the rest of the world to keep supporting the Ukrainians?” “The facts are that Russia hasn’t been expelled, and they’re not likely to be. The front is moving in the wrong direction,” Robbins said. “If the Ukrainians simply acknowledge reality as part of an armistice-as opposed to a formal war termination, in which Russia gets sovereignty recognized by the world-that might be a good step. But officially, from Ukraine’s point of view, they won’t give up anything.” *** Next, at minute 31, Robbins and the RCP podcast crew discuss the Trump administration’s deadly sabre-rattling with Venezuela, as a sizable American fleet prepares to spend Thanksgiving in the Caribbean. Is this a prelude to an actual war? Or just psy-ops to pressure Maduro to step aside? “We see the designation of the Maduro coterie as a terrorist organization, the strikes on drug boats, and a growing task force offshore. Airlines are being warned not to fly into Venezuela. It really makes you think something might happen,” Robbins explained. “The 2024 elections in Venezuela were internationally recognized as rigged, and the main opposition leader won the Nobel Peace Prize. Venezuela has ties to China, Iran, and Russia. They have a border dispute with Guyana. They’re sitting on massive energy reserves-which they’ve destroyed internally through socialism.” “There are a lot of issues at play. It could be that President Trump just wants to clean this one up,” he suggested. “I think it would be short, sharp action to destabilize the regime, kick them out, put in the government people actually want, and then leave. That’s the Trump way.” *** At minute 37, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s feud with the president culminated in an announcement Friday that she’s quitting Congress in January. The group discusses whether she is planning to run for statewide office in Georgia, positioning herself to run for president, or just starting a podcast. “Her evolution has been pretty remarkable, and it happened fairly quickly,” Tom Bevan said. “This falling out with Donald Trump, and then this whole tour where she became a media darling after being their bogeyman. The media used to make fun of her all the time for being a conspiracy theorist, and next thing you know, she’s getting lauded on ‘The View’ by the ladies, and she’s on CNN apologizing for being involved in toxic politics.” “I think Marjorie Taylor Greene took the MAGA stuff literally and found Trump wanting as a purist, and she herself maybe sees herself as the heir apparent to the MAGA movement when Trump leaves the scene. That would put her in conflict with people like JD Vance,” Cannon suggested. *** Finally, at minute 44, the group discusses the disturbing incident in Chicago on Friday night, where multiple youths were shot, one was killed, and 300 were arrested during a “teen takeover” that overwhelmed the police. “It comes down to leadership,” Tom Bevan said. “Mayor Johnson released a statement saying this instills fear and needs to be controlled. But there’s also a clip we resurfaced from a few weeks ago where he called law enforcement a ‘sickness’ he would cure Chicago from.” “You have to wonder how seriously he takes public safety,” Bevan said. “This is the kind of stuff that kills cities. And Chicago is in a downward spiral right now. I’m not sure Brandon Johnson has the political will to do what needs to be done.” *** 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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