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Trump Addresses Investor Forum in Saudi Arabia; Trump Focused on Economic Dealmaking in First Big Foreign Trip; Some MAGA Allies Criticize Trump's Plan to Accept Qatari Jet; GOP Deficit Hawks Signal Opposition to Trump Bill; Trump Defending Accepting Super-Luxury Plane from Qatar. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired May 13, 2025 - 12:00   ET

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

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MANU RAJU, CNN HOST: Today in "Inside Politics", a regal return. President Trump is soaking up all of the pomp and circumstance on the first major international trip of his second term. In Saudi Arabia, signing multiple deals he says will bring hundreds of billions of dollars into the United States.

But criticism is ramping up within his own party over a jet he says he will accept as a gift from the Government of Qatar. Plus, jaw dropping reporting a new book from CNN's Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson of "AXIOS" reveals Joe Biden's inner circle floated the idea of getting him a wheelchair if re-elected as president.

This at the same time the former president's team was publicly highlighting his vigor. And the star witness in Sean Diddy Combs criminal trials on the stand right now. CNN is inside the courtroom, so we can bring you all the breaking developments from Cassie Ventura's testimony.

I'm Manu Raju in for Dana Bash. Let's go behind the headlines and "Inside Politics". We start in Riyadh, where President Trump is spending the day basking in a royal welcome and signing deals with the Saudi Crown Prince that he claims will bring an economic Bonanza to the United States, that remains to be seen.

But right now, he's speaking to a group that includes not just Saudi leaders, but also the CEOs of dozens of the biggest companies in the United States. It comes after hours of over-the-top pageantry that President Trump loves. Saudi Arabia rolled out the rich lavender color carpet.

There were Arabian horses escorting the president's motorcade. The president, though, insists his focus is on the deal making. So, here's what the president said to the Saudi Prince today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: You're purchasing a lot of different things, and I appreciate it. And you said, if you think 600 million, but the 600 million will be a trillion dollars. You'll try and get us there. That would be great.

MOHAMMED BIN SALMAN, PRIME MINISTER OF SAUDI ARABIA: You're welcome --

TRUMP: I very much appreciate -- I very much appreciate it --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: CNN's Jeff Zeleny is live for us in Riyadh. So, Jeff, what else are you hearing from the president?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Manu, President Trump is delivering a speech at this very moment to the Saudi, U.S. investment forum, addressing, as you said, U.S. business leaders who have traveled here with the president, not only as a sign of support, but also as a sign of you know, the investment that has come with all of this.

But the president is talking about the long history with Saudi Arabia, waxing nostalgic a bit about his own election, also looking ahead to his second term.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: The U.S., Saudi relationship has been a bedrock of security and prosperity. Today we reaffirmed this important bond, and we take the next steps to make our relationship closer, stronger and more powerful than ever before. It is more powerful than ever before. And by the way, it will remain that way. We don't go in and out like other people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: So, the president perhaps giving a bit of a nod to previous administration to he suggests, have not been had as strong of a relationship with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. But even though this trip, Manu, is focused on deals, that is exactly what the White House wants it to be, as a way to sort of shine the light on that, as opposed to the geopolitical challenges of the reason.

The president, just a few moments ago, talked about the Abraham Accords, that, of course, was one of the foreign policy hallmarks of his first administration, and he hopes to extend that. Of course, he -- that has been complicated by the conflict in Gaza, and he said that Saudi Arabia can do this on their own time.

So, giving Saudi Arabia a bit more time here, that certainly will be one of the most significant moments of this speech that is still underway, also talking about Iran talks underway as well. So even though deal making is at the center of this -- the focus for the White House, there is no mistaking the fact that the outcomes of the geopolitical challenges here will determine much of the success or not of this second Trump Administration in the region, Manu.

RAJU: Jeff Zeleny live for us in Riyadh on the president's first big foreign trip of his second term. Thank you for that. And I'm joined here in the room with the -- by terrific group of reporters, CNN's Kylie Atwood, Dave Weigel of Semafor, CNN's Eva McKend and Susan Glasser of the New Yorker.

Nice to see you all. Thank you for being here. You know this is remarkable about the merging of the business interests and the official interests and the like in the business community really coming out. I mean, just look at your screen about the number of business leaders from major corporations all in Saudi Arabia.

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Everyone from Elon Musk to the CEO of Halliburton, Citicorp, IBM. And the light just going down the list. Susan, what is your takeaway from the president's trip here the objective and just the merging of the business community with Trump's official work?

SUSAN GLASSER, STAFF WRITER OF THE NEW YORKER: Yeah, no, that's right. I mean, look, this is the kind of set piece drama Trump is sort of the salesman in chief here, right? He's talking numbers, you know, are these numbers really? Are they not? Well, they are a distraction from the economic turmoil in the globe that Trump himself has unleashed over the last six weeks.

And so, in a way, it's getting the narrative back into kind of what you would call the photo op economics, rather than, you know, the real-world economics of the consequences of these tariffs that Trump has unleashed. And I would point out, even with the you know, sort of deep sigh of relief, the markets took after the initial climb down because of the talks between the United States and China.

We're still looking at 30 percent tariff on goods from China, which would have had economists and the markets in hysteria, if it had not been for that. But I thought, Jeff made an important point about the lack of actual meaningful national security deals on the table right now because of conditions in the Middle East.

A lot of this is to obscure the fact that Trump is unlikely to come away with the big political and security deals that he is in search of in his second term.

RAJU: Yeah, when you cover foreign policy for us, why make this the focus of his big first foreign trip?

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN U.S. SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: It's what he's able to deliver on, and he's able to deliver on it quickly. I think we heard a lot of commitments that Trump made about foreign policy throughout the course of his campaign. Most of those have not come to fruition yet, but he was able to come out of the gates very quickly and deliver on these investment deals.

-- shoring up foreign investment in the United States is a priority for him. But I do think that, Jeff made that good point, which is that although he has the wind at his sails when it comes to the release of this final Israeli-American out of Gaza yesterday, while there are the talks with Iran happening.

There are questions looming in the background about what's going to happen with these Ukraine war talks. They're scheduled to happen on Thursday. President Putin doesn't seem like he's going to come, even though Trump has said he should go. And so, there are real questions about how these conversations in the Middle East are going to actually impact his other major foreign policy priorities, I think.

RAJU: And part of overshadowing, or maybe part of this narrative of what's happening on the ground is the Trump family business deals itself with some of these interests in the Middle East, is what a CNN report just had out about some of the business ties to the Middle East.

Said the president's the families, Trump's family business ties to the Middle East have more than tripled since the president's first term in office. In recent years, Saudi Arabia sovereign wealth fund led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, widely known as MBS, invested $2 billion in a private equity firm launched by Trump's son in law, Jared Kushner.

In the neighboring nation of Oman, the government's tourism arm in 2022 partnered on plans to build a Trump-branded resort, along with villas in a golf club, near the capital city of Muscat. You know, in the first term, there was this pretense, at least, of trying to divest from perhaps companies that could conflict with Trump's business dealings. That doesn't seem to be a concern at law -- even the appearance of a conflict.

DAVID WEIGEL, POLITICS REPORTER OF SEMAFOR: We didn't have a Supreme Court ruling saying that actions taken in the official capacity are fine. You can't prosecute them. You can raise objections to them. And these are overlapping interests Trump has when he succeeded the Middle East, it's been by using personal relationships and treating things like business deals, which have enriched his family.

But he did get a UAE normalization with Israel. He does want what Biden couldn't get, which Saudi Arabia hasn't done yet, which is Saudi normalization with Israel because they're business deals, and if the family happens to make some money as a result of this. That's great. They make money.

He gets closer to the Nobel Peace Prize than he has said many, many, many times he wants. I'm not saying this is the strategy everyone should support. I'm saying you understand, you can understand the strategy. It's why should he turn down a plane or potential business deals or potential hotel deals, or whatever happens to Gaza if it's in the service of trying to get deals with these leaders.

RAJU: Speaking of the plane, which has gotten, of course, a lot of attention the last couple of days is, of course, the leader of Qatar suggesting that Trump would begin a gift the Trump Administration, roughly $400, $450 million plane, a gift from the government. Unclear if this is actually constitutional or legal.

A lot of questions there, but there's also been some pushback, including from some on the right who are traditional Trump analyze.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BEN SHAPIRO, HOST OF "THE BEN SHAPIRO SHOW": If we switch the names to

Hunter Biden and Joe Biden, we'd all be freaking out on the right, President Trump promised to drain the swamp. This is not, in fact, draining the swamp.

BATYA UNGAR-SARGON, AUTHOR OF "SECOND CLASS": This is not a gift. This is Qatar, a state sponsor of terror that has Hamas in the palm of its hand giving a bribe.

ERICK ERICKSON, HOST OF "THE ERICK ERICKSON SHOW": I do not think the President of the United States of America should sit and fly on a plane purchased with the same money used to murder American citizens, and that's what Qatar does.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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RAJU: Some of the Trump allies pushing back.

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: And he should be concerned. But whether it's the plane or the Trump family crypto venture, they can't outrun the optics of this. They think that they can, and that's why they are pursuing this strategy. But I will tell you, there is a constituency on the left that believes that they have a strong argument to make that regardless of party affiliation.

The Trump Administration, others are more concerned about the preservation of extreme wealth than they are about everyday Americans, and so this gives them an avenue to continue to make that argument, even as Democrats are on life support this argument about taxing the rich, about wealth inequality in this country, that argument is still strong.

RAJU: Yeah.

MCKEND: And this president, by engaging in this, just continues to allow the left to hammer home on this.

RAJU: Yeah. And the Senate Majority Leader John Thune told our colleague Ted Barrett this morning, there are a lot of issues with that Qatari offer of a gift, but there also some on the right who are supporting what Donald Trump said and said, well, they're just sort of shrugging it off.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TOMMY TUBERVILLE (R-AL): He's good. You know, we don't have a lot of money right now to buy things like that. It will save us money. I don't think it's a gift. I think they basically said, listen, we want to help you out in this scenario.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: But there are national security concerns here. ATWOOD: National security concerns, ethics concerns. And of course,

you have to consider what people are thinking here, that this is another country buying influence with the President of the United States by personally giving him something that he wants, right? And so that's the major concern here.

What you know, what does this implicate for the relationship between the U.S. and the Qatar going forward? And Americans are wondering, he was elected to drain the swamp, and yet he's doing this. And obviously that's what these conservative voices are saying right now. You know, he should be the one who should be getting the influence out of politics, and yet he's enabling it to come to the fore even more.

RAJU: And, of course, retrofitting it could take quite a bit of time.

ATWOOD: Yeah.

RAJU: Maybe he won't get that in a timely manner, even though that's what he's ideally, what he's saying, can get this quicker, but maybe won't come to him till much later in his term. All right, when we come back, it's President Trump's bill, but it will his own party have the votes to pass it, I'll talk to a key Congressman next.

Plus, a New York -- new book takes us inside the Biden White House and the growing concerns about his health ahead of the election, there was even talk about a wheelchair.

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RAJU: On Capitol Hill today, three key House committees will begin voting on President Trump's massive domestic policy bill. It is a huge package with lots of parts near just some of it on taxes, extends the 2017 Trump's tax cuts has no taxes on tips, on overtime and car loans, a Trump campaign promise, and tax-free savings accounts for children, known as MAGA accounts.

Also, for the first time, it would require Medicaid recipients between the ages of 19 and 64 to work at least 80 hours a month to retain their benefits and require more food stamp recipients to work to qualify for benefits. The price tag could be enormous, and it raises the national debt ceiling by $4 trillion. And there is now pushback among Republicans over key aspects of the plan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RON JOHNSON (R-WI): I don't think people who voted for President Trump thought that we would continue spending at President Biden's levels. I don't see any way I could support more tax cuts and more deficit spending. We should not be increasing deficit.

SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY): I do fear that all the really large ticket items reducing spending have sort of been excluded. So, I have a feeling it's going to be wimpy on the spending cuts, and it's going to be maybe a little wimpy on the taxes too. (END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Joining me now to discuss is Congressman Dusty Johnson. He's a Republican from South Dakota. Congressman Johnson, thanks for being here. Let's start the conversation from what the criticism that you're hearing from the right about the deficit and debt. You know, the U.S. debt is more than $36 trillion and there was an analysis by one group, the Center for Responsible Federal Budget.

That said, the bare bones tax proposal that came on Friday before more provisions were added to it would add $5 trillion to annual deficits. So, you heard the conservative criticism right there. So, how can the Republicans claim to be the party fiscal responsibility and vote for this bill?

REP. DUSTY JOHNSON (R-SD): Well, you can put me in the camp of those who would like us to cut more I do think there's a possibility that this bill could get more conservative. It goes along. Here's how we get out of this debt problem, because we are in a real four alarm fire debt problem.

We have to grow the American economy at 3 percent or more, and we have to reduce the rate of increased spending by 1 percent or less. You cannot grow the economy at 3 percent if you do -- if you don't extend these tax cuts, if you increase taxes on 80 percent of American families, we're going to be in trouble. So, the bill is not perfect as it is. I'd like to see some more cuts.

RAJU: But if you add more cuts, I could add other problems along the way, but I want to listen to see what. Show you what Chip Roy said about this. He's one of the hardliners who has opposed this bill. He says the bill does not mean we reduce the deficit. He said it leaves more than $20 trillion in additional debt in 10 years.

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He said, does the bill offer any transformative changes on Medicaid or otherwise he said, currently, no. So, the bill fully repealed the Inflation Reduction Act to stop the devastatingly bad projects being implemented in my district. He says, no. He wants major changes. Should the party make these changes to win over Chip Roy?

JOHNSON: First off, I would say Chip Roy is a true fiscal conservative like myself. I -- He makes a lot of good points. I do feel like he is selling short some of the real reforms in Medicaid, getting able bodied young people without dependence at home into the workplace, is a major reform.

We have lots of literature over the course of the last 40 years on how well they work in SNAP and on TANF. We don't have that kind of literature in Medicaid. And I think we've got a real opportunity here to help grow American prosperity and make it so that more people can realize the American dream.

But the other thing we're doing major firm reform is we're putting a stop. We're not going to allow states to continue to play games with these provider taxes and these state direct payments. That is a big saver, and it's just all a gimmick, and we really need to hold the line on those gimmicks.

RAJU: But speaking of Medicaid, and you have roughly 130,000 South Dakotans on Medicaid. The Democrats asked the Congressional Budget Office, nonpartisan scorekeeper, to analyze what they believe was going to be in the bill. Based on that analysis, the CBO said nearly 14 million Americans could lose their health insurance.

JOHNSON: Well --

RAJU: Now I know Republicans say that there's been some changes to it, but people could lose their health insurance, including in your state. Could you support a bill that kicked some people off of Medicaid?

JOHNSON: Manu, you have fallen for the trap.

RAJU: No, this could impact because --

JOHNSON: -- They asked specifically about not renewing the premium tax credit on the ACA exchanges. And so, when -- yeah, when you ask CBO a ridiculous question, you're going to get a ridiculous answer. But let's pare that down. Let's just say, OK, Dusty, maybe it's not 13 million. Maybe the Democrats cook the books on that.

But what about if there are 3 million? That means to the extent that the Medicaid reforms are about making sure that illegal immigrants aren't on the program, and that able-bodied people who refuse to work are kicked off. That means we've got millions of able-bodied folks who refuse to work.

RAJU: So, how many people in South Dakota would lose their Medicaid benefits from this bill?

JOHNSON: We know in South Dakota that we have work requirements for able-bodied young people who aren't pregnant, who don't have any disabilities, who don't have young people at home. We have those work requirements today in place on SNAP, on TANF, and we know they work.

And we know that very few people get kicked off those programs because state government knows they have to have skin in the game. They have to help these folks find jobs or volunteer or be in a training program or go to school. You cannot escape poverty without some combination of work and education.

RAJU: Part of this bill too. There's a big dispute between New York Republicans and the folks on the right about how to deal with state and local tax deductions. It increased the amount you can deduct in so called SALT to $30,000 that was the cap. It was $10,000 on the 2017 tax law.

This is what Mike Lawler, who's a New York Republican in a swing district, said. He said, I have said repeatedly, I will not support any bill that does not adequately lift the cap on SALT. He says bill will not have my report as it's written. Niki Lauda told me he's still a quote, hell no. Mike Johnson can only afford to lose three Republican votes. You're

getting pushback from the left and the right on this issue, should the speaker accommodate what these New York Republicans are demanding?

JOHNSON: First off, I would tell you, I've seen this movie again and again. We get some hardliners, and then the media says, Mike Johnson, can't get elected speaker. Oh, Republicans won't be able to pass the rules package. Oh --

RAJU: Do you think -- threats are not serious?

JOHNSON: We -- listen. They are trying to get the best deal they can. I think subsidizing high tax states is terrible policy. It was up to me, SALT would be set at a lower number, a lot lower than $10,000. But I get it, I don't get everything that I want. Politics is the art of the possible.

The SALT number is going to come up a little bit, but my friends, Lauda and Lawler, they shouldn't push too hard, or else they could cause the whole package to suffer as a result.

RAJU: Do you think that they could, if they dig in, this bill could collapse?

JOHNSON: These are very smart guys. They're playing a real good game of poker. They're going to get some concessions about this, and we're going to pass the package.

RAJU: OK, so let me ask you about one other controversy that has come up over the last couple of days. Is President Trump accepting this, saying that he would accept this gift from the Qatari government for this luxury jet, roughly $400 million or so. Are you comfortable with that?

JOHNSON: I don't like it. There's a reason that people can't even buy me a steak dinner. It's not necessarily that you can prove that I've got an ethical problem. It's at the appearance of it doesn't look great. I don't know how much I trust the Qatari government, and I think there are some pretty legitimate questions being asked about national security and about ethics. Now, that being said, here's where the president is right.

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It is ridiculous that we have a flying a White House that is 40 years old. I don't even love the idea of a 13-year-old plane, the Qatari plane, serving, if we feel like the current infrastructure is not serving the president's needs, let's go get the guy, the flying White House that does meet America needs.

RAJU: Somebody -- he should turn down this gift.

JOHNSON: I'm not a fan of the Qatari airplane.

RAJU: Do you think it's legal, it's constitutional?

JOHNSON: I don't know. I'm not. I haven't looked through exactly what the Constitution says. I would tell you I don't like it.

RAJU: OK, all right. Congressman Dusty Johnson, thank you. You know you have a late night tonight in the House Agriculture Committee. You guys are taking up a key aspect of this bill. So, appreciate you coming in. Thanks so much.

JOHNSON: Yep.

RAJU: Coming up. A Biden bombshell, the then president did not recognize one of the world's most famous actors who we knew personally at a major fundraiser just months before the election. Stunning details from a new book, that's next.

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