A.B. Stoddard on Trump’s Second Term

Conversations with Bill Kristol

News, Society & Culture, Government, Politics

4.7 • 1.7K Ratings

🗓️ 3 April 2025

⏱️ 72 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Where do things stand five months after Election Day? According to veteran reporter and commentator A.B. Stoddard, Trump’s second term has been far more radical than many anticipated. As she puts it: “The more power you give [Trump], the more he’ll take. And the less pushback that he gets, the freer he is. So I think what we’ve seen in the last couple of months is that he’s been given permission and he will take it. That’s the way Trump is…. So people need to not underestimate the fact that things could be much, much worse in three months or a year.” In a wide-ranging assessment of the state of our politics, Stoddard shares her perspective on the Trump agenda, the Republican Party’s acquiescence, and the situation of the Democratic Party opposing Trump. Stoddard and Kristol also consider how opponents of Trump might chart alternative paths forward in the months and years ahead.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, welcome back to Conversations. I'm Bill Crystal.
0:17.9	Very pleased to be joined today.
0:19.5	I think this is our third conversation together
0:21.1	by A.B. Stoddard, a veteran correspondent and analyst of Congress, I suppose, primarily maybe,
0:27.3	but really all things Washington and all things political and an observer of Trump from the beginning
0:33.7	and not a fan of Trump from the beginning, I think it's very fair to say, A.B.,
0:38.5	but also very much on the mark, I think really so much of what you wrote and said over these
0:44.3	last several years I stood up so well in understanding the radicalism of what a Trump's second
0:49.4	term would look like. But I don't want to put words in your mouth so you can tell us about that.
0:53.3	But first, welcome, welcome back, A.B. It's great to be with you, Bill. Thank you. So you were alarmed, you were,
0:59.7	you thought the second term would be different from the first term. We discussed this ourselves.
1:04.5	I remember talking to you right after Election Day, but what are we now in? Since Election Day,
1:09.4	it's been November, December, January, February, March, five months.
1:12.6	What strikes you? What surprised you?
1:15.6	Well, when I was on Fox News panels in 2015 and 2016, and we were talking about the rise of Trump.
1:26.6	First, of course, it wasn't taken seriously.
1:29.3	And our late great friend, Charles Codhammer, I didn't believe, called him a rodeo clown.
1:34.3	So he was dismissed.
1:36.3	But as he made gains, I continued to make the point that he would not ever hold the national interest in his, in regard,
1:46.5	and that he didn't believe in a constitution or the courts or the Congress in separation of powers.
1:54.0	And it was dismissed at the time as, well, this is sort of a style, right? Isn't it fun?
1:58.0	Like the apprentice, he business man. he wants it to be the drunk org.
	...

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