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Inside Politics

Jordan's King Abdullah Arrives At White House For Trump Meeting; Trump Demands Jordan, Egypt Take In Palestinian Refugees; Trump Pushes For Gaza "Takeover" As He Meets With Jordan's King; Trump: "Hell Is Going To Break Out" If Hostages Not Freed Saturday; Judges Temporarily Blocking Multiple Early Trump Actions; Trump: Judges Shouldn't Be "Dictating" What I Can Do; Musk Calls Judges Ruling Against Trump A "Judicial Coup". Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired February 11, 2025 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[12:00:00]

DANA BASH, CNN HOST, INSIDE POLITICS: Today on Inside Politics, a pressure campaign on Pennsylvania Avenue. Donald Trump is about to meet inside the Oval Office with the king of Jordan, trying to convince the key U.S. ally to open up his country to a massive influx of Palestinian refugees who, by the way, don't want to go anywhere. We'll bring you breaking details from their White House meeting.

Plus, the president versus the courts. He's publicly daring to defy the co-equal judicial branch of government as multiple federal judges push pause on his plans to dismantle the federal government.

And the constitution is clear. Congress has the power of the purse. So why do many Republicans appear willing to hand it over to the richest man in the world? We'll hear from a key GOP lawmaker this hour.

I'm Dana Bash. Let's go behind the headlines at Inside Politics.

You're looking at live pictures from the White House where Donald Trump is about to welcome Jordan's King Abdullah. That's the Eisenhower Executive Office Building that you see there. It is the president's first face-to-face meeting with an Arab leader since he took office.

And it comes just hours after he refused to rule out cutting aid to Jordan unless the king agrees to take in hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians who would need a home if Trump carries out his farfetched push to take over Gaza. And we are seeing -- the king arrived right now. Let's pause and watch.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President are you confident the king will back your plan for the Palestinian people. Will you cut off aid to Jordan if he's not on board, Mr. President?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President is Saturday still your deadline for Hamas, Sir? Sir, is Saturday still your deadline for Hamas?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You think they'll listen to you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you confident you can get the king on board with your plan for the Palestinian people?

TRUMP: He is a great man.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Will you cut off aid to Jordan if he doesn't, Sir?

BASH: OK. I'm going to bring in Alayna Treene, who was at the White House. Alayna, we heard some of our fellow journalists asking all the right questions. We didn't hear any answer from the president other than pointing to the king, saying, he is a great man.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's exactly right. And I think, of course, Dana, the key question that's going to be at the center of these conversations today between King Abdullah of Jordan and President Donald Trump, is going to be about how the president has, not only doubled but tripled down repeatedly in the last few days about his plans to, in his words, take over Gaza to own it, to turn it into the Riviera of the Middle East.

But also, even more importantly, for Jordan and Egypt and other Arab nations is, you know, the question of whether or not the president is going to try to force their hand in having them accept some displaced Gazans if his plan actually moves forward.

Now we did hear that president yesterday in the Oval Office. A reporter asked him, if he would consider, you know, refusing aid, or -- excuse me, withholding aid from Jordan and Egypt if they do not accept Gazans. Listen to what the president said.

We lost that sound. But essentially, the president said that they -- he was considering, you know, leaving open the possibility of not giving aid to Jordan and Egypt if they were not to move forward with accepting more Gazans into their country.

As you mentioned, Dana, this is something we know that the king of Jordan and his counterparts in the region have flatly rejected, saying that is a non-starter for them. Hopefully, we'll get more answers today, after they meet behind closed doors around whether or not there's any more clarity on what that could look like going forward. Dana?

BASH: OK. Alayna, thank you so much. You mentioned that President Trump did talk yesterday. We do have the sound bite. Let's listen.

[12:05:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: No, they wouldn't because they're going to have much better housing, much better -- you know. In other words, I'm talking about building a permanent place for them because if they have to return now, it will be years before you could ever -- it's not habitable. It will be years before it could happen.

I'm talking about starting to build and I think I could make a deal with Jordan. I think I could make a deal with Egypt.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Would you withhold aid to these countries if they don't agree to take in the Palestinians?

TRUMP: Yeah, maybe, sure. I mean, if they don't agree --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's right. I already mentioned.

TRUMP: If they don't agree, I would -- I would conceivably withhold them, yeah.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Here with me is a very talented group of reporters, CNN's Jeff Zeleny, Jackie Kucinich of The Boston Globe, and Laura Barron-Lopez of the PBS NewsHour. I mean, if you kind of take a step back, the president has not only made this audacious proposal last week about just not allowing Palestinians back in their land.

But now he's meeting with the king of the country next door, which has its own history, very complicated history with Palestinian refugees, not to mention the fact that it is taken in Syrian refugees and others. And it comes on the heels of the threats getting more and more defiant, including and especially what we heard last night, not ruling out saying, OK, I'm going to cut off your aid with Jordan, which Jordan relies on.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT.: They totally rely on it, but we rely on some of that as well. I mean, there's an intelligence sharing agreement, so it's much more complicated than saying, we're going to cut off their aid. I mean, that is a, when you unpack that statement, it is, you know, a significantly more involved.

But look, this is a very -- the timing of this meeting had been set up a bit in advance, and now it's coming on a time where the president has put the king into bind a little bit here, but the King Abdullah has been at this a very long time. He's the longest serving leader in the Middle East. So, he is not new at this.

So, I think if there's anyone who can sort of stand up to the president, it might be him, but we shall see. I mean, this is unchartered territory. But a central question hanging over all this is the White House last week, kind of walked back the president's assertion that Palestinians would be permanently removed, and they said, no, temporarily removed. Will the president double down on that again? So that is a very open question, and a huge difference. I'm guessing that comes up as well.

JACKIE KUCINICH, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, THE BOSTON GLOBE: I just -- I can't help but look at this and hearken back to the campaign and wonder what this has to do with the America first push that the president has made his brand, right, the expansion. Talking about trying to acquire Canada, talking about Greenland, talking about building in Gaza.

It just -- it really, when you're talking about, you know, on the other hand, withdrawing on all of these workers from U.S.A. Id from all of these countries. You know, I know that none of this can be put in a neat box, but it does seem incongruent to what we heard throughout the campaign about focusing on interests here rather than abroad.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, PBS NEWSHOUR: Yeah. I think that that's a good point, Jackie, and also because -- I mean, this also reminds me of during the campaign, when the president said the U.S. was not going to take any Palestinian refugees, was not going to take any Gazan refugees. And instead, he's pushing the Palestinians out of their home and attempting to corner Egypt and Jordan to take them.

I expect that King Abdullah is going to repeat what the Egyptian leaders have said, and that they are, you know, they so far have remained united on this front, which is that they are not up for this at all. They do not want this to happen. And they have reiterated, you know, support for the two-state deal.

BASH: And let me just read something from a king can called the Atlantic Council. According to former Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher, Jordan's strong opposition to accepting Gazans is not an economic security issue, but an identity issue. Jordanians of Palestinian origin, who constitute a majority of Jordan's population, are weary of the kingdom transforming into an alternative Palestinian homeland.

Nevermind that actually the law of the land in Jordan, as of last week, according to the Parliament, is that -- actually I shouldn't say the law of the land. It's a draft law of the law that they want to be in place in Jordan that would say that Jordan's official and popular rejection of any plan to displace Palestinians.

So, he's going to -- the king right now behind closed doors, is trying to explain to the president what his own -- not only sort of reality of the numbers are, but also his political reality is. And then at the same time, we can't forget what is happening across the border with regard to Israel and Gaza, and the fact that Hamas has now said that they are not going to abide by the next phase or the next round of the deal, still phase one returning some hostages.

[12:10:00]

Here's what the president said about that yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: All of the hostages are returned by Saturday at 12 o'clock. I think it's an appropriate time. I would say, cancel it and all bets are off and let hell break out. I'd say they ought to be returned by 12 o'clock on Saturday. And if they're not return, all of them, not in drips and drabs, not two and one and three and four and two, Saturday at 12 o'clock and after that, I would say, all hell is going to break out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: So, I get what he's trying to do here, but that is not just drawing a line in the sand. That is like, you know, digging a hole 100 miles deep in the sand. And it's hard to imagine that Hamas is going to go, OK, sure, Mr. President, here all the hostages back. It would be great.

ZELENY: It sure it is. I mean, high noon on Saturday, sounds like the OK corral or something. I mean, that's not what this is, obviously, and then he did go on to say, it's Israel's choice, of course, you know, in terms of the -- of going ahead with the cease fire deal.

But talking about all hell will break loose, so reporters in the Oval Office asked him what that means, is like, what is retaliation mean? And he didn't really put more meat on the bone there. But all of this makes this meeting today, which is underway right now, even much more fraught and complicated.

BASH: Yeah. I also just if and when he doesn't go through with that, it doesn't -- he look like a paper tiger. I'm not entirely clear about that. Again, I'll have egg in my face if he actually successful with a comment like that.

KUCINICH: Some of this -- again, we don't know what's happening behind the scenes, or I don't know what's happening behind the scenes. But how much of this is Trump saying something and then policy working to catch up with him? There seems to be a little bit of that on several other fronts as well.

BASH: Everybody standby. With the stroke of a pen, comes the clash with the courts. Some judges are swiping left on President Trump's sweeping executive actions. We'll bring you the latest on the legal battles after a short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BASH: President Trump's executive actions are sparking a litany of legal challenges and legal losses. Here's what judges have already put on ice, ending birth right citizenship, DOGE access to some sensitive treasury data, freezing federal grants, loans, cutting NIH funding, buyout offer for federal employees, putting USAID employees on leave, transferring transgender prisoners, firing government ethics watchdog, publicly disclosing FBI staff involved in January six probes.

Now the disruptor in chief, Elon Musk, who apparently has adopted the alias, at least he changed his social media handle to Harry Baals, tweeted this morning. Democracy in America is being destroyed by judicial coup. An activist judge is not a real judge. And as for the Commander in Chief, President Trump, made his stance known yesterday. Take a listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I think judges will have to do the right thing, really, otherwise you're going to have a whole big problem with the country.

TRUMP (voiceover): You got some very bad rulings, and it's a shame to see it, frankly. They want to sort of tell everybody how to run the country.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your reaction to a judge today continuing a pause in the buyout program for federal workers?

TRUMP: Well, I don't know how you can lose a case like that.

TRUMP (voiceover): Judges should be ruling. They shouldn't be dictating what you're supposed to be doing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: The panel is back. And Laura, I want you to listen to what Mike Johnson, who is the constitutional leader of the House of Representatives, and effectively -- the House of Representatives and effectively the entire Congress. What he said this morning about this question.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): What they're doing in the executive branch? I've been asked so many times. Aren't you uncomfortable with this? No, I'm not. I think the courts should take a step back and allow these processes to play out. What we're doing is good and right for the American people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Laura?

BARRON-LOPEZ: Yeah. Its frankly, studying the silence from Republicans or comments like that from Republicans, given the fact that the job of the courts, the job of judges is to determine whether or not the other branches of government are violating the law.

And so far, there are a number of judges, including Republican appointed judges, who have said that this administration is either violating the pauses that they've put, the blocks that they've put on some of these funding freezes, or they're violating different elements of the law, including the impoundment act, which is that the president doesn't have the ability to claw back spending, that has already been congressionally allocated.

[12:20:00]

And they -- a number of judges have said that they believe that this president's actions are potentially unconstitutional. Now it's going to take a while for all that to play out, but there is a big question right now about whether or not this White House is even complying with multiple judges' orders, whether it's in regard to USAID or in regard to the funding frees.

And are we headed, I guess, towards a constitutional crisis because of the fact that if this president is not complying with judges' orders, what comes next? There are only a few mechanisms that the courts actually have at their disposal. And there are questions about even if they use those, would the administration abide by the law?

BASH: Yeah. I mean, when the speaker says, we should let the courts take a step back and let them pause -- play out what we're doing is good and right for the American people. It's not what he's doing. He's a bystander. It's what people in the executive branch are doing, and in many cases, dismantling what Mike Johnson did, and or, at least what the people who had the majority votes in the United States Congress did with statutes.

And so, look, I mean, that's the thing that I don't quite understand, which is people like Mike Johnson. He's a lawyer. He knows the law very well. He knows the basics of checks and balances and the role of the judicial branch in our system, which has worked relatively well for almost 250 years.

KUCINICH: Well, suing the federal government is not new. I mean, Stephen Miller, who is a top White House adviser, had a group that was dedicated to -- that was a conservative check to the ACLU, is how they described it, that would sue the Biden administration over various decisions.

It's the fact that the legislative branch has basically abdicated their role here. They've decided that the executive branch can kind of do its thing, and even though some of this money was appropriated that the Republicans okayed it and voted for it. They're fine to do that.

When you have the judicial branch actually doing what they're supposed to be doing, and they don't like it, I guess it's not surprising that Mike Johnson is staying silent because of the role he's taken. But that doesn't mean that these judges are going to. And Laura is right. The fact that if they decide not to follow what these judges have ruled. That is -- that is uncharted territory.

BASH: And I think that we also -- we've said this many times on the show, but we'll say it again, that this is part of the strategy to just barrel through everything that they want to do. Certainly, complain about the courts, and maybe even in some cases, defy the courts and just do it as quickly as they possibly can.

Just want to show you a couple of quotes from the Senate side of the Capitol. John Thune, the Senate Majority Leader, the courts obviously are in -- are sort of the branch of our government that calls balls and strikes and referees. Chuck Grassley, the Chair of the Judiciary Committee, I just expect the process to work its way out. Senator Eric Schmitt, who was attorney general of Missouri, judges can rule, but it doesn't mean judges are right all the time. John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, the constitution is the law of the land, but I share his frustration at some of these judges.

ZELENY: I mean, frustration is one thing. There is always frustration with an administration, but what comes next will define the Trump presidency. This showdown, and how the president reacts to it, and the advice that he gets will define at least the early part of it. And we do not know how this is going to end, but the -- if there was a different president, we could -- you know, be assured that the speaker and all of those Republican senators would have an entirely different viewpoint.

But the reality here is that some of those -- the list of things like birth right to citizenship. Some of those things were designed to go to the Supreme Court. That's what they want to happen, and they still will. But I think the other immediate funding questions about the NIH and other funding for ease programs.

To your point, they're already defying, potentially some of the judges' orders. But my question here is, every one of the members of Congress, Republicans and Democrats, are hearing an ear full of constituents. And this is not just an academic exercise in Washington. In red states, in blue states, there are programs out there that are not being funded. Soybean farmers, for example, are not getting the funding that was promised to them some health centers and other things.

So, I think once this sort of trickles down and it becomes a real fight, we'll see if it actually changes some minds on there. But as of now, this president can't run again, and this is his fight, and we will see which choice he makes. But this will define his presidency.

[12:25:00]

BASH: All right. Everybody standby. Coming up. Donald Trump promised the biggest tax cuts in history. I'll talk to the top tax writer in the House of Representatives to see if he can pull it off. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BASH: My next guest is one of the Republicans in-charge of getting President Trump's signature tax cut proposal through Congress. He's the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee Representative Jason Smith of Missouri. Thank you so much for being here. I want to talk about the tax plan in one minute.

[12:30:00]