Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. Well, this is a
Speaker 1: heck of a way to start a conversation. Joining us
Speaker 1: live from Capitol Hill. Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts again,
Speaker 1: ranking member Senate Banking Committee, Member of the Senate Finance Committee. Senator,
Speaker 1: it's good to see you. Welcome back to Bloomberg TV
Speaker 1: and radio. You sure seem to be top of mind,
Speaker 1: if not top of word, every time the President speaks lately,
Speaker 1: and I want to ask you about your effort to
Speaker 1: quash this bailout as many are calling it for Argentina.
Speaker 1: President said today this is a direct quote, just helping
Speaker 1: a great philosophy take over a great country. We don't
Speaker 1: have to do it, he said, It's not going to
Speaker 1: make a big difference for our country. How many Republicans,
Speaker 1: how many America First Republicans did you get to sign on?
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, you ask exactly the right question. Donald
Speaker 2: Trump ran for office proclaiming he would do America first. Instead,
Speaker 2: he is sending twenty billion American taxpayer dollars to bail
Speaker 2: out his buddy in Argentina. And he's doing this after
Speaker 2: Argentina has just cozied up to China. And cut a
Speaker 2: deal with China that takes the legs out from underneath
Speaker 2: American soybean farmers. So let me get this straight. Argentina
Speaker 2: hurts American farmers, and the President of the United States
Speaker 2: responds by giving twenty billion dollars to Argentina, plus Secretary
Speaker 2: best saying and a blank check if they need more.
Speaker 2: That's pretty appalling.
Speaker 1: Well, Congress, not have a chance to weigh in outside
Speaker 1: of your legislation. Is this money as good as Argentina's.
Speaker 2: Well, that's what I want to do. I just went
Speaker 2: to the floor of the Senate and introduced the bill
Speaker 2: and ask for unanimous consent that we move it forward,
Speaker 2: and there was an objection. So now I'm just saying
Speaker 2: to the Republicans. Look, you guys have criticized this. I've
Speaker 2: heard Chuck Grassley speak out against it, other senators who
Speaker 2: represent farmers in their home state saying this is a
Speaker 2: terrible idea. Well, you know, this is your chance, not
Speaker 2: just talk, you can actually take action here. The United
Speaker 2: States Senate has the power to say no, we're not
Speaker 2: going to do this, So let's just bring it to
Speaker 2: the floor and vote. Because I feel pretty sure that
Speaker 2: if everybody had a chance in the Senate to vote
Speaker 2: on this, that the answer would be no money to Argentina,
Speaker 2: thank you very much. We'd rather support our farmers and
Speaker 2: families here in America.
Speaker 1: So do you know if you're going to get a vote,
Speaker 1: will this go to the floor.
Speaker 2: You know, the person who determines that is the Republican leader,
Speaker 2: not the Democrats. So all I can do is keep
Speaker 2: raising the alarm about this and asking people all over
Speaker 2: this country to let the Republicans know that we want
Speaker 2: to vote on this. We want to put a stock
Speaker 2: to this. You know, the American soybean farmers have really
Speaker 2: been hurt, and American farmers who are growing other crops
Speaker 2: have been hurt as well, because when Donald Trump has
Speaker 2: done this, tariff's on tariffs off one hundred percent tariffs,
Speaker 2: fifty percent tariffs, twenty percent tariffs. Many many buyers of
Speaker 2: those agriculture products who our farmers spent some of them
Speaker 2: have spent decades developing those markets and those relationships. They said, look,
Speaker 2: if your president is going to impose tariffs on my
Speaker 2: home country, I can't buy your product. And that's putting
Speaker 2: our American farmers under a lot of pressure. The soybean
Speaker 2: farmers in particular, got targeted by China and Argentina. Argentina
Speaker 2: doing a deal with China to cut out American soybean farmers.
Speaker 2: That's just not right and we should not be rewarding
Speaker 2: a country that acts against the interests of the American
Speaker 2: people and the American farmer, and that is exactly what
Speaker 2: Donald Trump is doing.
Speaker 3: Senator I want to turn from Argentina now to Capitol Hill.
Speaker 3: I'm curious if you have spoken to the Minority Leader
Speaker 3: Chuck Schumer about his plans next and what's going on
Speaker 3: with the shutdown and when people can expect to feel
Speaker 3: some relief.
Speaker 2: So I don't talk about private conversations, but let me
Speaker 2: put it this way, Democrats are really clear about what
Speaker 2: we're asking for. We want the Republicans just to roll
Speaker 2: back those cuts that are going to knock fifteen million
Speaker 2: Americans off their healthcare coverage and drive up insurance costs
Speaker 2: for tens of millions more Americans. We're just that's all
Speaker 2: we're asking for here in the Republicans right now literally
Speaker 2: will not even sit down and negotiate. The House is
Speaker 2: out for its fourth week of vacation, so they can't
Speaker 2: even be here to vote, and the Senate just says,
Speaker 2: no talking. You know, that's not how it works in
Speaker 2: a democracy. We're fighting to try to help Americans be
Speaker 2: able to afford their health care. And I'm going to
Speaker 2: be clear, I'm not defending the American healthcare system. I
Speaker 2: think it's badly broken. But what Trump is doing to
Speaker 2: that system, along with the Republicans, is they're going to
Speaker 2: take a creaky, barely functioning system and just smash it apart,
Speaker 2: and that ultimately is going to hurt everybody in this country.
Speaker 2: And we're just we're just trying to push back, say,
Speaker 2: just give people back the coverage they had back in June.
Speaker 2: We're not trying to rewrite the whole system. We're not
Speaker 2: spending any additional money. Just give people what they had
Speaker 2: a few months ago before Donald Trump and the Republicans
Speaker 2: passed that one big, beautiful bill.
Speaker 3: Senator, I do want to turn to your home state
Speaker 3: of Massachusetts right now, in the short time that we
Speaker 3: do have left. President Trump saying today he was very
Speaker 3: critical of the Boston mayor in Facts, saying at one
Speaker 3: point that he would consider pulling the World Cup games
Speaker 3: from Boston. Of course, that is something that is up
Speaker 3: to the head of FIFA. However, are you concerned that
Speaker 3: Boston could be the next target for National Guard troops.
Speaker 2: Let me just start with saying what a terrific job
Speaker 2: Michelle Wu, who is mayor of Boston is doing. In fact,
Speaker 2: she just won in the primary for her reelection which
Speaker 2: comes up in November, by forty nine points, so much
Speaker 2: so that her opponent dropped out. So the people of
Speaker 2: Boston really seem to think that she's doing a pretty
Speaker 2: terrific job. And given that Boston has the lowest crime
Speaker 2: rate of any major city in America, that Michelle Wu
Speaker 2: has done more on affordable housing and to put create
Speaker 2: more childcare slots really tells you why she is much
Speaker 2: respected and often much loved in the city of Boston.
Speaker 2: For Donald Trump to attack her, it seems to me,
Speaker 2: is just a way to say he doesn't like people
Speaker 2: who are not bowing the need to Donald Trump, because
Speaker 2: that's the one thing she has pushed back and said
Speaker 2: to the President of the United States, if you want
Speaker 2: to help make Boston safer, then send us some better
Speaker 2: gun safety laws nationally. We're doing a good job here
Speaker 2: in Massachusetts, but help us out nationally so guns don't
Speaker 2: get imported from elsewhere, help us with health care, help
Speaker 2: us with housing. Those are the things that will help
Speaker 2: make Boston an even better city. Donald Trump doesn't like
Speaker 2: anyone who doesn't bend the knee, so frankly, I'm not
Speaker 2: surprised that he's trying to pick some kind of fight
Speaker 2: with Michelle Wou, but I don't think it's going to work.
Speaker 1: You know, he did say a senator that he thought
Speaker 1: that the mayor was in fact intelligent and smarter than
Speaker 1: some of the other mayors. For what it's worth, I
Speaker 1: put that out there. He was being asked about these
Speaker 1: street takeovers that have taken place, the pro Palestinian protests
Speaker 1: that have in some cases been pretty large scale in Boston.
Speaker 1: I'm just wondering what would be your response, and would
Speaker 1: be what should be Governor Healey's response if Donald Trump
Speaker 1: decides that your hometown is next for National Guard troops.
Speaker 2: Well, so, I just want to be clear on what
Speaker 2: you're talking about. Mayor Wou put out a very strong
Speaker 2: statement about this and said we're not going to do this.
Speaker 2: She's also put out a strong statement when a police
Speaker 2: officer got hurt when there's been a protest. Look, everybody
Speaker 2: has problems. Things happen, But that's why we have our
Speaker 2: local police. That's why we have our state police, and
Speaker 2: they are doing an excellent job. We don't need any
Speaker 2: national troops to come in to somehow flatter Donald Trump's ego.
Speaker 1: Certainly wouldn't be the first time. Would you pursue legal
Speaker 1: action if he did, Senator, Oh yes, Look.
Speaker 2: What Donald Trump is trying to do right now in California,
Speaker 2: in Illinois is pretty clearly illegal, and the courts have
Speaker 2: already said so across the board that he does not
Speaker 2: have the authority to engage in this kind of takeover
Speaker 2: of American city. Same thing for Portland. But this is
Speaker 2: about more than just what is legal. This is about
Speaker 2: Donald Trump trying to find as many ways as possible
Speaker 2: to suppress, to shut up, to hush anyone who disagrees
Speaker 2: with Donald Trump. And that's true whether we're talking about
Speaker 2: mayors of big cities, or we're talking about late night comedians,
Speaker 2: or we're talking about elected officials, Donald Trump cares most
Speaker 2: about using the federal government and its power to silence
Speaker 2: dissent rather than to advance the interests of the American people.
Speaker 2: That is the central problem we have, and it just
Speaker 2: keeps cropping up over and over because Donald Trump wants
Speaker 2: government to serve him personally, not the American people.
Speaker 1: Number one to mince Worth's Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren at Massachusetts,
Speaker 1: Thank you, senator for joining us on Bloomberg.
Speaker 2: Thank you for having me