Does Trump’s Economic Vision Match What Americans See?
Left, Right & Center
KCRW
3.9 • 5K Ratings
🗓️ 27 February 2026
⏱️ 52 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
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The way President Trump saw it in his State of the Union address, our nation is getting stronger, safer and more affordable for American families. Polls paint a different picture where far more people think the economy has gotten worse, not better in Trump’s second term.
The president insists he has more levers to pull, including tariffs, despite the fact that the Supreme Court just shot his tariff policy down. We’ll talk about that defeat for Trump in court – what it says about the court’s makeup, and whether we should take this decision as a major check on presidential power.
Speaking of checks – we talk about the outrage over the way the gold medal-winning U.S. men’s hockey team responded in a congratulatory presidential phone call. There’s also outrage over a comment by California’s governor that struck some as racist. We examine when outrage is truly meaningful in this political climate – and who decides – with Mo Elleithee on the left and Sarah Isgur on the right.
Producer: Leo Duran
Host: David Greene
Guests:
- Mo Elleithee, executive director at Georgetown University's Institute of Politics and Public Service - @MoElleithee
- Sarah Isgur, senior editor at The Dispatch - @whignewtons
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I'm Brian Reed, host of Question Everything. |
| 0:02.2 | We've got a story about a journalist covering an anti-ice protest who ends up behind bars for more than 100 days for doing journalism. |
| 0:13.3 | And here's a twist. |
| 0:14.8 | He was a Trump supporter. |
| 0:19.6 | I think he's a very intelligent man. I also think that he's a very intelligent man. I also think that he's a very intelligent man. |
| 0:21.1 | I also think that he's very charismatic. |
| 0:23.5 | I also think that he's very charismatic. |
| 0:26.0 | It's a story of real betrayal. |
| 0:27.9 | Question everything from placement theory and KCRW. |
| 0:32.3 | Hey, everybody. It's David Green, and I want to start left, right, and center this week with a guy who just loves hyperbole. |
| 0:40.2 | Tonight, after just one year, I can say with dignity and pride that we have achieved a transformation like no one has ever seen before and a turnaround for the ages. |
| 0:52.4 | It is indeed a turnaround for the ages. That is indeed a turnaround for the ages. |
| 0:55.8 | That is President Trump giving the first state of the union address of his second term. |
| 1:00.5 | What should have been his third term, he told Americans. Just let that sink in for a moment. |
| 1:05.8 | So here is what our show today is not going to be, a rehash of the longest state of the union speech in modern American history. |
| 1:12.7 | But we are using the messaging and the arguments of this past week as a moment to reflect on where we are as a nation, what promises the president has made, what promises he has kept, and how his framing of this moment stacks up against reality. |
| 1:28.2 | President Trump spoke of a country that is stronger and more united than it was when he |
| 1:33.3 | retook office. |
| 1:34.1 | He spoke of a presidency that is helping working families by driving down prices and keeping |
| 1:39.2 | people safe from dangerous criminals and also as a nation that is promoting strength abroad. But let's look |
| 1:46.0 | between the applause, the rhetoric, and some pretty serious shouting from Democrats to understand |
| 1:51.3 | the truth. Moelethi and Sarah Isgir are both here. And I cannot think of two people who love |
... |
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