The new fight for states' rights under Trump
Make Me Smart
Marketplace
4.6 • 5.5K Ratings
🗓️ 5 May 2026
⏱️ 15 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The power struggle between the states and federal government is as old as the U.S. itself. But under the second Trump administration, that struggle has become particularly fraught. Stateline reporter Kevin Hardy joins Kimberly to explain how the president is wielding federal funding as a tool to expand his authority, and how states are fighting back.
Transcript
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| 0:36.7 | Hello everyone. I'm Kimberly Adams. Welcome back to Make Me Smart, where none of us is as smart as all of us. |
| 0:42.5 | The United States, as you've probably heard, celebrates its 250th birthday this year. And one of the major points of debate back when the country was first established was how to balance the power |
| 0:55.0 | of individual states with the power here in Washington. Now ahead of the nation's anniversary, |
| 1:01.1 | the nonprofit newsroom state line has been exploring that foundational principle, particularly |
| 1:06.4 | when it comes to the relationship between the states and the executive branch, aka the president |
| 1:12.6 | of the United States. That relationship has been shifting pretty drastically under President |
| 1:17.5 | Trump, which could have lasting consequences for both our democracy and our economy. The series |
| 1:23.8 | is called The 50 versus the one, and Kevin Hardy is here to tell us more about the project. |
| 1:30.1 | Kevin covers business, labor, and rural issues for state line from the Midwest. |
| 1:34.7 | Kevin, welcome to the show. |
| 1:36.4 | Hi, thanks for having me. |
| 1:38.8 | Kevin, how would you describe the relationship between the states and the executive branch right now? |
| 1:45.1 | I think I would say the relationship is tense, but I would also caveat that by saying that |
| 1:51.5 | the relationship has always been somewhat tense or contested, right? This has been a discussion |
| 1:57.1 | as long as since the country's founding about how to balance state and federal power. |
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