The Megyn Kelly Show - April 21, 2025


The Case for Abolishing the Department of Education, Truth About Trump's Tariff Plan： AM Update 4⧸21


Episode Stats

Length

17 minutes

Words per Minute

164.01451

Word Count

2,910

Sentence Count

223

Misogynist Sentences

5

Hate Speech Sentences

1


Summary

Trump says it s time to pull the plug on the Department of Education. What does the future of American schooling look like if Washington isn t calling the shots? The U.S. is in the best negotiating position by far. Critics call it chaos. Supporters call it correction. Inside Trump s high stakes tariff strategy, and why the US might just hold all the cards. Coming up in just a moment on this special Easter Monday edition of AM Update.


Transcript

00:00:00.000 Good morning, everyone. I'm Megan Kelly. It's Monday, April 21st, 2025. And this is your
00:00:08.620 AM update. Since 1980, we have data on this. Per student spending has increased by about
00:00:14.380 108% after adjusting for inflation. Have the outcomes gotten 108% better? No, they obviously
00:00:21.860 haven't. President Trump says it's time to pull the plug on the Department of Education.
00:00:25.840 What does the future of American schooling look like if Washington isn't calling the shots?
00:00:31.960 The U.S. is in the best negotiating position by far. Critics call it chaos. Supporters call it
00:00:38.380 correction. Inside Trump's high stakes tariff strategy and why the U.S. might just hold
00:00:43.920 all the cards. Coming up in just a moment on this special Easter Monday edition of AM Update.
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00:01:51.180 IRS makes the next move. And I'm going to close the Department of Education and move education back
00:02:00.420 to the states. I will shut down the Federal Department of Education and we will move everything back to
00:02:06.280 the states. One other thing I'll be doing very early in the administration is closing up the Department
00:02:11.380 of Education in Washington, D.C. After years of pandemic-era remote learning exposing widespread
00:02:18.060 educational failures, FBI scrutiny of outspoken parents at school board meetings, and growing concerns
00:02:24.400 over the politicization of classroom content on race and gender, then-GOP candidate Donald Trump
00:02:30.660 surged to victory in 2024, campaigning on a promise to overhaul the public education system and restore
00:02:37.060 parental rights. In March, President Trump taking the most significant step yet toward fulfilling that
00:02:42.680 promise. In a few moments, I will sign an executive order to begin eliminating the Federal Department of
00:02:49.660 Education once and for all. I told Linda, Linda, I hope you do a great job and put yourself out of a
00:02:56.920 job. I want her to put herself out of a job. The order directing Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to
00:03:03.120 quote, take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return
00:03:09.300 authority over education to the states and local communities. Critics decrying the move, accusing the
00:03:15.240 administration of dismantling public education and abandoning federal support for vulnerable
00:03:20.580 students. They're going to go after food programs for poor kids. They're going to take lunch, breakfast
00:03:27.600 and lunch away from poor kids. Folks who might have a child with a disability are wondering, is this going
00:03:33.320 to impact my family? Is this going to make things even harder? You can lie to parents about a lot of
00:03:38.020 things, but if you start taking away opportunities from their children, you better watch out. We spoke with
00:03:42.600 school choice advocate and executive director of the Educational Freedom Institute, Corey DeAngelis,
00:03:48.000 who says the Department of Education has failed in its mission and it is beyond time to shut it down.
00:03:54.260 Yeah, we should get rid of the Department of Education altogether. Since 1980, we have data on this.
00:03:58.940 Per student spending has increased by about 108 percent after adjusting for inflation. Have the outcomes
00:04:05.640 gotten 108 percent better? No, they obviously haven't. It was created with the explicit purpose of closing
00:04:12.020 achievement gaps and improving student outcomes. It hasn't done either of those things. The proof
00:04:17.880 is in the pudding. We have 45 years of data now and it's time to return education back to the states
00:04:24.720 where it belongs. The DOE operates on an $82 billion budget, funding Pell Grants, Title I aid for low-income
00:04:32.220 schools, special ed under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Title IX Enforcement, and federal
00:04:38.080 student loans. The National Education Association, one of the country's largest unions, criticizing the
00:04:43.580 administration's decision to shutter the department in a statement, quote, the DOE is a critical champion
00:04:49.060 in enforcing federal statutes prohibiting discrimination and ensuring every student has
00:04:54.000 access to an education that will help them reach their full potential. Dismantling it means defunding
00:04:59.120 programs that feed, educate, and protect our most vulnerable and underserved students and leaving many
00:05:04.780 families fearful and anxious and communities reeling. Mr. DeAngelo says that argument doesn't hold up,
00:05:10.980 saying the department is failing the very students it's supposed to protect. Students with special
00:05:15.460 needs are getting the short end of the stick when it comes to education in our country, and it's because
00:05:21.240 they're stuck in a one-size-fits-all system. And the Department of Education, even though they
00:05:25.040 have, you know, they include red tape and regulations around these ideas, doesn't mean that it's actually
00:05:31.540 producing better outcomes for those kids. And then any useful programs like special needs initiatives
00:05:37.140 would move under other departments. Student loans have been announced to be moved under the Small
00:05:42.720 Business Administration. Department of Justice would handle civil rights issues. Head Start, if you like
00:05:48.180 the pre-K programs, those move under the Department of Health and Human Services as well. President
00:05:54.180 Trump's executive orders redirect federal money to the states, where local officials will have greater
00:05:59.240 control over how it's spent. President of the American Federation of Teachers, Randy Weingarten,
00:06:04.800 another huge union, claiming states will funnel the money into private school voucher programs
00:06:09.620 at the expense of public education. They're saying, oh, don't worry, let's block grant it. So we'll give
00:06:16.820 it to a state education department. So and then let the state education department decide what to do.
00:06:22.460 So we know, for example, what Texas would do. They'll use it for vouchers. Mr. DeAngelis responding to that
00:06:28.740 argument. And you have people like Randy Weingarten crying about this. And it's not because she's
00:06:33.420 concerned about the kids. She's concerned about her own gravy train coming to an end.
00:06:38.620 She sees that she can lobby one institution, the department, better than lobbying a lot of
00:06:43.940 different institutions. And so she feels like she can wield more influence in Washington, D.C.
00:06:48.980 than an individual state. When people can vote with their feet, the schools improve in response to
00:06:54.300 competition. We've seen this time and time again. Most recently in Florida, they went all in on
00:06:59.080 school choice. And a couple of decades ago, before they had school choice, they were at the bottom of
00:07:03.860 the pack on the nation's report card. Now you fast forward to today, Florida is number one on education,
00:07:09.560 according to U.S. News and World Report. And it's not a money issue. Money doesn't solve problems,
00:07:14.400 especially when the system is broken. Florida spends 27 percent less than the national average per
00:07:20.420 student in the public schools. And they're knocking it out of the park because they have
00:07:25.380 competition. Fully abolishing the DOE would require an act of Congress, an uphill battle with a slim
00:07:31.440 Republican majority in the Senate and a 60-vote threshold to overcome the filibuster. But Mr.
00:07:36.960 DeAngelis says Democrats' stance on education could cost them seats and predicts Republicans will keep
00:07:42.780 chipping away. They unanimously voted against this protecting girls' sports, which is an 80-20 issue.
00:07:50.000 You got to think they're going to lose some seats over this issue in the midterms. Maybe after
00:07:55.280 2026, Trump and the Republicans will have a better chance at fully eradicating the department. But what
00:08:01.960 I am hopeful about is you only need 51 votes in the budget reconciliation process. So there are things
00:08:09.880 Republicans can do to give this department death by a thousand cuts, including reducing or changing
00:08:17.360 mandatory spending patterns. And Trump's already started this process with his executive order.
00:08:24.140 And Linda has fired at the department. They, oh, we're halfway there. If we could only get 100 percent
00:08:30.640 of the way there. But it does require an act of Congress because it was created by an act of Congress.
00:08:36.860 Coming up, investor Steve Eisman breaks down President Trump's tariff strategy.
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00:09:37.000 Skincare, where modern skincare meets timeless values. Decades before entering the political
00:09:47.600 arena, billionaire businessman Donald Trump sounding the alarm on what he called unfair global
00:09:52.960 trade practices. I'd make our allies, forgetting about the enemies, the enemies you can't talk to
00:09:58.200 so easily. I'd make our allies pay their fair share. We're a debtor nation. Something's going to happen
00:10:03.240 over the next number of years with this country because you can't keep going on losing $200 billion
00:10:07.040 and yet we let Japan come in and dump everything right into our markets and everything. It's not free
00:10:12.300 trade. If you ever go to Japan right now and try to sell something, forget about it, Oprah. Just forget
00:10:16.820 about it. It's almost impossible. They don't have laws against it. They just make it impossible.
00:10:20.420 They come over here, they sell their cars, their VCRs, they knock the hell out of our companies.
00:10:25.360 And hey, I have tremendous respect for the Japanese people. I mean, you can respect somebody
00:10:29.380 that's beating the hell out of you, but they are beating the hell out of this country.
00:10:32.560 That was back in 1988. Under the second Trump administration, the White House seeking to
00:10:37.140 rebalance global trade practices with President Trump's Liberation Day tariff plan. Markets
00:10:42.900 seesawed on the news, plunging at the announcement, then soaring to record highs after the White House
00:10:47.380 declared a 90-day renegotiation window. Supporters calling it a high-stakes 4D chess move. Critics
00:10:54.000 saying President Trump is risking a global trade war and gambling with the economy.
00:10:58.340 The end of another turbulent and volatile day in the financial markets, the sole cause of that
00:11:03.960 volatility, Donald J. Trump. Markets are tumbling as investors are really digesting worse than expected
00:11:10.920 tariffs. You know, this is a bigger shock to the economy than any trade policy in any country's
00:11:17.120 history. If this economy does go into a recession, which is looking more and more likely, maybe that
00:11:21.680 will force the president to course correct. We spoke with Steve Eisman, former senior portfolio
00:11:26.840 manager at Neuberger Berman, who correctly predicted the 2008 financial collapse. Mr. Eisman says the U.S.
00:11:33.140 is well poised to succeed in trade negotiations. I think people need to realize that in terms of
00:11:40.320 the negotiation position that the United States has versus other countries in terms of changing the
00:11:48.380 terms of trade, the U.S. is in the best negotiating position by far. And here's where facts and details
00:11:56.280 matter. The percentage of U.S. GDP that comes from exports is only 11%. That's about the lowest
00:12:04.060 percentage in the world of any significant country. If we go country by country, China officially is at
00:12:12.140 20%. That's if you Google it, but that's really not accurate because China ships so much to countries
00:12:18.800 like Vietnam and Cambodia that skirt U.S. tariffs, it's probably at least 30%. Europe, every major country
00:12:28.240 in Europe is over 30%, with the exception of Germany, which is over 40%. Canada and Mexico are probably in
00:12:36.920 the worst negotiating positions possible. 35% of their GDP, respectively, comes from exports. But of that
00:12:46.680 35 points, 25 points is from just exporting stuff to the U.S. So if, look, if there's a trade war,
00:12:55.700 everybody's going to be hurt. There's no question about that. But the U.S. will be hurt the least
00:13:00.740 because we are, of all developed countries, the most insular economy of any country in the developed
00:13:08.260 world. President Trump betting on this strong position to force America's trading partners
00:13:12.320 back to the table, reshaping trade policy away from the free trade optimism of the 1990s.
00:13:18.900 President Bill Clinton in 1993 celebrating the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA,
00:13:24.200 and opening the doors to globalization.
00:13:26.520 We have made a decision now that will permit us to create an economic order in the world that will
00:13:32.760 promote more growth, more equality, better preservation of the environment,
00:13:37.300 and a greater possibility of world peace. We are on the verge of a global economic expansion that
00:13:44.540 is sparked by the fact that the United States at this critical moment decided that we would compete,
00:13:51.420 not retreat. It will create the world's largest trade zone and create 200,000 jobs in this country
00:13:58.800 by 1995 alone. Mr. Eisman says Mr. Clinton was right about GDP growth, but dead wrong about it would
00:14:06.060 mean for American workers. So with respect to GDP, the U.S. over the last 25 years has become a more
00:14:14.940 and more dynamic economy. I would argue that it's probably the more dynamic than it's ever been maybe
00:14:20.320 in our history, or certainly for a very, very long time. That's all to the good. What Clinton did helped usher
00:14:26.720 in a bull market that has lasted with fits and starts for 25 some odd years now, maybe longer,
00:14:35.200 and all that's for the good. And people have made a lot of money in the stock market partially because
00:14:40.400 of what he did. But if you travel the country in the South, the Midwest, which used to be the industrial
00:14:49.100 heartland of the United States, you come across communities where people didn't just lose their
00:14:55.120 jobs. Their communities got obliterated, obliterated. And we, as a country, did nothing for these people.
00:15:03.160 We basically told them, good luck to you, go learn how to code. And they did learn how to code. So I think
00:15:11.320 part of the motivation for President Trump is to write what really was a serious wrong.
00:15:18.280 Vice President J.D. Vance rising to national prominence after writing Hillbilly Elegy,
00:15:22.560 a memoir of growing up in a town hollowed out by free trade and globalization. At the time, Mr. Vance
00:15:28.540 praised for offering a candid account of NAFTA's failures and for helping explain the political rise of
00:15:34.000 Donald Trump, who campaigned in 2016 on a promise to restore dignity to the nation's forgotten men and
00:15:39.960 women. Many of those same critics now attacking President Trump for demanding a new trade deal with
00:15:45.240 Mexico and Canada. Mr. Eisman argues the backlash stems less from policy disagreements and more from
00:15:51.520 deeply entrenched economic dogma. And I think they get literally borderline hysterical about it
00:15:58.240 because we all went to college and we had drummed into our heads at Econ 101, which everybody took,
00:16:06.380 even if you're not an economist, you took. And one of the things you learned was that
00:16:11.240 free trade is good. Tariffs are bad. Trade wars are terrible. It's something that is so ingrained in
00:16:18.520 your head, you don't even realize anymore that it's there. And here comes President Trump telling
00:16:23.520 everybody, look, the paradigm worked for some people and really badly hurt other people. We need to change
00:16:29.000 the terms of trade. And people find that extremely jarring. But I think there's a lot of merit to what
00:16:36.040 he's arguing. I mean, if you look around, we have the freest markets in the world and everybody else is
00:16:43.100 playing a version of mercantilism. And what I mean by that is they want to basically improve their
00:16:50.200 economies by exporting a lot to the United States. And to do that, we must maintain a deficit forever.
00:16:56.540 And basically, President Trump is saying, um, enough. And for Americans anxious about what
00:17:03.180 comes next, Eisman offering a word of reassurance. I tend not to panic. I can say with a fair degree
00:17:10.000 of confidence that the U.S. financial system is quite safe. I couldn't have made that statement
00:17:14.820 17 years ago at all, but I think I can make that statement today. So if, again, God forbid,
00:17:21.580 there's a trade war, there certainly could be a recession. There could be a global recession.
00:17:25.780 But you're not, you're not going to have another great financial crisis.
00:17:32.820 And that'll do it for your AM update. I'm Megan Kelly. Join me back here for the Megan Kelly Show
00:17:37.420 live on SiriusXM Triumph Channel 111 at noon east on youtube.com slash Megan Kelly and on all podcast
00:17:44.000 platforms.