Triggered - Donald Trump Jr - Making America Affordable Again, Interview with Economist Steve Moore | TRIGGERED Ep.294

00:06:22.000 Hey guys, and welcome to another huge episode of Triggered.

00:06:26.000 It's great to be with all of you.

00:06:29.000 Today, we're doing a deep dive into something that I know is at the top of your minds.

00:06:34.000 Frankly, it's at the top of everyone's minds, and that's affordability.

00:06:40.000 And here's what the Trump administration is doing to address your concerns and to make sure we keep getting this country back on track.

00:06:49.000 Check this out.

00:06:50.000 President Trump's policies are working to make Americans' Thanksgiving more affordable this year, from their commute to the dinner table.

00:06:58.000 Nearly 100 million Americans are expected to drive next week to spend time with loved ones for the holiday.

00:07:05.000 And thanks to President Trump's drill, baby, drill agenda, the national average price of a gallon of gas on Thanksgiving Day is projected to be at the cheapest price since the COVID pandemic in 2021.

00:07:17.000 President Trump is bringing down gas prices and providing significant savings to American families at the pump.

00:07:24.000 And again, we expect those prices to continue to decline.

00:07:28.000 According to the American Farm Bureau Federation's annual survey, cooking Thanksgiving dinner will also cost less this year than it did last year and is down about 5% overall.

00:07:39.000 The average price for a staple of the meal, a 16-pound frozen turkey, is down more than 16% from last year, which will provide critical savings for families and their budgets.

00:07:51.000 President Trump's entire economic agenda is aimed at putting more money back into the pockets of hardworking Americans.

00:07:59.000 That's why he signed the largest middle tax class tax cuts in history into law, from no tax on overtime, no tax on tips, to no tax on Social Security.

00:08:09.000 And according to a new study from Piper Sandler, which is out this week, tax filers can expect an extra $1,000 bump to their tax refund next year and what could be a record-breaking tax refund season.

00:08:23.000 So there is more good news to come.

00:08:25.000 We know these refunds will make a huge difference for Americans to help pay down their bills and use towards life's expenses.

00:08:32.000 And guys, that's not all.

00:08:34.000 Just look at this latest video that was put out exposing more and all of the Democrats' abject insanity.

00:08:44.000 To satiate, if you want to get done, you are going to need at least some Republicans to come over.

00:08:49.000 Why not start with a one-year extension or potentially even a two-year extension?

00:08:54.000 Olita Schumer offered a one-year extension in the context of trying to end the Trump Republican shutdown.

00:09:02.000 That's different.

00:09:02.000 I'm talking about what you have now.

00:09:04.000 Let's not go back to what's done in the past and what has not been extended.

00:09:07.000 If you want to get something that it has actually done, you need to do something that will have bipartisan.

00:09:11.000 You can ask me the question.

00:09:12.000 You can ask me the question.

00:09:13.000 I'll provide the answer.

00:09:15.000 I'll provide the answer.

00:09:16.000 I'm providing an answer in order to provide context.

00:09:16.000 No, no.

00:09:20.000 Republicans have repeatedly refused to take yes for an answer.

00:09:25.000 It was a very reasonable multi-year extension that was offered.

00:09:29.000 It was a one-year straight extension plus a multi-year process through a bipartisan commission to more permanently resolve the Affordable Care Act issue.

00:09:39.000 So having that context is absolutely important, regardless of what you may think.

00:09:43.000 It's important context to make me realize that I don't think you want to get a deal done.

00:09:47.000 I think this is something where you'd like to see the rates go higher and allow the Republicans to hang themselves with that.

00:09:52.000 Is that the answer? 0.98

00:09:55.000 That's absolutely a ridiculous assertion. 0.99

00:09:57.000 And really shameful. 1.00

00:10:00.000 Shame on you for saying that because we're a fight.

00:10:00.000 What do you do?

00:10:03.000 It's not a partisan issue for us.

00:10:05.000 In fact, the states that are most impacted as it relates to an Affordable Care Act tax credit expiration are all Republican states.

00:10:14.000 We're talking about West Virginia, Wyoming, Alaska.

00:10:17.000 I'm contesting that.

00:10:18.000 Mississippi, right?

00:10:20.000 Tennessee.

00:10:21.000 Over and over and over again, we can't.

00:10:22.000 We probably have some Republicans who would sign on if you guys could come up with something that actually looks like a bipartisan deal.

00:10:28.000 Listen, this is not a partisan fight for us.

00:10:30.000 It's a patriotic fight.

00:10:32.000 But the regime media still doesn't get it, guys.

00:10:35.000 And here they are in their own words.

00:10:39.000 You can't make this stuff up anymore, but I figured we got some time.

00:10:43.000 So we're going to point it out to you, and you can make up your own minds.

00:10:47.000 Because the American people realized how bad it was when Joe Biden was president and they realized that they were being lied to, for example, about the job numbers.

00:10:54.000 I'm old enough to remember when they lied about 818,000 jobs in the job report numbers when we had a lot of people.

00:11:01.000 The job report numbers of the last quarter of last year, they had to refine them back.

00:11:05.000 About a million jobs they lied about.

00:11:05.000 Hold on a second.

00:11:07.000 Hold on, there.

00:11:07.000 Let me just correct you.

00:11:09.000 Please.

00:11:10.000 Because, first of all, you are saying that the Biden administration lied about the jobs numbers.

00:11:14.000 That is false.

00:11:15.000 There are revisions that don't pull out your Google.

00:11:20.000 No, it's our housebudget.gov that literally says you're wrong.

00:11:24.000 118,000 fewer jobs added than the economy previously reported.

00:11:28.000 That is from our government.

00:11:29.000 Those are not, that is not the Biden administration lying about the jobs numbers.

00:11:34.000 There are economic jobs definition of job number revisions that happen every single month.

00:11:42.000 And then annually, there are job number revisions that also happen.

00:11:46.000 A revision of that size was very similar to a revision of the job numbers that also happened in, was it 2009?

00:11:54.000 I believe it was.

00:11:55.000 It's all to do with every job.

00:11:59.000 Ben, stop.

00:12:00.000 Every year, the job numbers are revised.

00:12:03.000 Sometimes they're revised up.

00:12:04.000 Sometimes they are revised down.

00:12:06.000 The president is not responsible for putting out those numbers, good or bad.

00:12:10.000 So the Biden administration did not lie when they said there was 129,000.

00:12:15.000 No, they did not.

00:12:17.000 Stop with the Biden administration.

00:12:17.000 Oh, wow.

00:12:19.000 We are in the Trump administration.

00:12:22.000 I just think, honestly, let's stop for a second because that is very, very dishonest.

00:12:27.000 It's not dishonest.

00:12:28.000 No.

00:12:30.000 So you tell me that.

00:12:31.000 Hold on, hold on.

00:12:32.000 You tell me.

00:12:33.000 Did the Trump administration lie about the job numbers over the summer that have been revised down?

00:12:39.000 Did they lie?

00:12:40.000 Not to the point of 818,000 that you're saying.

00:12:42.000 But that's not what I asked you.

00:12:43.000 Didn't they lie?

00:12:46.000 I'm okay with revisions.

00:12:48.000 These were made-up lies to the American people.

00:12:52.000 I'm sorry.

00:12:53.000 It was on election day.

00:12:56.000 I'm not lying because these were.

00:12:57.000 Where Joe Biden came out and said, We are not.

00:13:00.000 This is exhausting.

00:13:01.000 This is exhausting.

00:13:02.000 This is why you guys lost the election today.

00:13:04.000 I'm sure it is why we lost the election.

00:13:07.000 Now, today, we'll sit down with economist Steve Moore, who's been on the show a bunch before, and he's uncovered a lot of new information about what the media isn't telling you about the economy, housing, and so much more.

00:13:23.000 So, check it out, guys, because there's a lot to get into.

00:13:25.000 There's a lot that's going to be realized next year.

00:13:28.000 You can't simply undo four years of incompetence and inflation and China capitulation overnight.

00:13:36.000 But when you hear what's actually going on and you get into the numbers, it's actually amazing.

00:13:42.000 The opportunities are boundless.

00:13:45.000 So, guys, make sure you're liking, sharing, and subscribing so you never miss one of these major episodes.

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00:14:13.000 For all of the top headlines that we cover here on the show, go over, check out my news app, MXM News, like Mike X-Ray Mike, MXM, where you can get the mainstream news without the mainstream bias.

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00:14:33.000 It's a big deal.

00:14:34.000 That's not easy.

00:14:36.000 Show them some love.

00:14:38.000 Now, the recent anti-ICE riots in Los Angeles were just one of the hatred, one example really of the hatred and violence ICE agents are dealing with every day.

00:14:53.000 They all are out there working hard to enforce our nation's laws.

00:14:58.000 They've been ambushed, received death threats, and have been berated by the failing regime media.

00:15:04.000 And that's, guys, on top of dealing with violence from cartels and pushback from liberals and sanctuary cities.

00:15:13.000 These ICE agents deserve better.

00:15:17.000 The Heritage Foundation has created a survey to gauge Americans' support of ICE agents, and they need your participation now.

00:15:26.000 So go to heritage.org/slash Don Jr., okay, heritage.org/slash D-O-N-J-R to give your opinion on ICE's border enforcement efforts. 0.58

00:15:38.000 Okay, a couple minutes, five minutes at most is all it takes.

00:15:42.000 Complete the survey today at heritage.org/slash Don Jr. and make your voice heard.

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00:17:07.000 Well, guys, joining me now, finder of Unleash Prosperity and former Trump Economic Advisor, Steve Moore.

00:17:13.000 Steve, great to have you back, man.

00:17:14.000 How are you doing?

00:17:15.000 Hey, Don, I'm doing great.

00:17:17.000 And boy, this is one of the great presidencies of my lifetime.

00:17:20.000 I'm just so excited about what is happening with the economy under Donald J. Trump.

00:17:25.000 Amazing.

00:17:26.000 I just, every day, I'm like, what's he going to do next to fix the economy?

00:17:30.000 Really great job.

00:17:32.000 Yeah, listen, I get it.

00:17:33.000 You're an economist.

00:17:35.000 I have a degree in economics, though I'm not much of an economist, more of a regular business guy.

00:17:39.000 So, you know, I see what's going on.

00:17:42.000 I see the moves that they're making.

00:17:43.000 Obviously, you know, I think some people want sort of instant gratification, right?

00:17:47.000 You make a move and like, tomorrow morning, I want to wake up prosperous.

00:17:52.000 Some of this stuff takes a little bit of time to sort of get in there.

00:17:55.000 I mean, I feel really good about next year and, you know, some of the, you know, whether it's the tariffs, whether it's, you know, literally all of the inward investment from other countries.

00:18:06.000 I mean, when you add up the numbers, I mean, if you straightline like the 8 trillion committed or whatever the hell the number is, I mean, you straightline that over 10 years, it's like a point of GDP or two a year, almost in perpetuity.

00:18:21.000 You know, talk about that for a second, because I think people don't get that.

00:18:25.000 And again, it doesn't just happen overnight.

00:18:27.000 It takes a little while for that to get in there.

00:18:29.000 Well, that's right.

00:18:30.000 But I have to say, you know, the president's off to a great start.

00:18:33.000 For example, on this issue of if you look at what's happened to median family income, because there's a disconnect between reality and perception right now, you know, we just ran the numbers.

00:18:44.000 The average median household income after inflation is up $1,200 in the first eight months of the Trump presidency.

00:18:51.000 So there's a kind of a lie that's being told by the media that there's an affordability crisis when, in fact, people have more disposable income.

00:19:01.000 Another statistic that's amazing that has not gotten out there in the media, which we've been reporting at Unleashed Prosperity, and I showed the president these numbers the other day.

00:19:10.000 87% of the inflation since COVID happened under, guess what president that happened under?

00:19:17.000 Yeah.

00:19:19.000 Yeah, of course it did.

00:19:21.000 But okay, so my point is, yes, people should be angry about how much beef costs and how much eggs costs and how much you pay in rent and your utility bill.

00:19:30.000 But that's because Biden had the highest rate of inflation of ever any president since Jimmy Carter.

00:19:37.000 And we're still feeling the effects of it.

00:19:39.000 Yeah.

00:19:40.000 And again, like I said, whether it's the upside doesn't trickle in immediately, although $1,200 is not insignificant as a start in the first nine months of a presidency.

00:19:51.000 You're right.

00:19:52.000 I mean, the media is not talking about that.

00:19:54.000 Frankly, they're painting a very different picture.

00:19:56.000 You and I both know, you know, don't follow everything that you see online because they're sort of the paid outrage that's out there delivering a different message.

00:20:05.000 So when you think about where we were with inflation just a few years ago, that bleeding has stopped.

00:20:11.000 It doesn't mean there's not still pain inflicted because you can't undo four years of garbage immediately, but we do have to sort of remember the full perspective.

00:20:22.000 Can you lay out some of the other details so people start to get that?

00:20:25.000 Because again, I see the media is painting a false narrative.

00:20:28.000 You know, the online outrage machine is doing some of the same, but it doesn't seem to line up with what's really going on.

00:20:36.000 Well, let me give you another example.

00:20:38.000 You know, the one statistic that we've used for 40 years is kind of the best gauge about how people, you know, what people are feeling in inflation is to look at the gas price.

00:20:47.000 You know, what do you pay when you fill up your tank?

00:20:49.000 You know, when you pay more, that makes people angry.

00:20:52.000 And when you pay less, you know, people have more disposable income for other things because people have to drive their car or their truck.

00:20:57.000 Well, guess what?

00:20:58.000 The gas price is now nationally like $2.89 a gallon.

00:21:02.000 And it was up to $5 a gallon under Biden.

00:21:05.000 So these are enormous changes that give Americans more after tax and after-inflation money in their pocketbooks.

00:21:15.000 Let me give you another example.

00:21:17.000 You know, this is something that Larry Kudlow and I talk a lot about, which is the big, beautiful tax bill.

00:21:23.000 A lot of people say, well, I don't really feel the benefit of that.

00:21:25.000 That's because they haven't gotten the tax cut yet.

00:21:27.000 That's going to start in January of 2026 for most people.

00:21:31.000 They're going to start because they're going to have a change in the withholding.

00:21:34.000 People are going to see about $2,000 extra income next year because of the Trump tax cut.

00:21:40.000 It's just that they haven't felt it yet because they haven't received it yet.

00:21:43.000 So those are the kinds of things that the media never seems to report.

00:21:47.000 I mean, I didn't even think about it that way, but you're right.

00:21:49.000 Yeah, that goes into effect January 1.

00:21:51.000 So all of that savings are really next year because that's the way it works, right?

00:21:56.000 Exactly.

00:21:56.000 Well, just there's one exception.

00:21:58.000 That is for most people.

00:22:00.000 If people change their withholding this year, then they've already started to get the tax cut.

00:22:06.000 But most Americans have not.

00:22:08.000 So they'll start feeling this on January 1st of next year.

00:22:12.000 So I guess the other one that you hear a lot about right now is Americans being rightly concerned about costs, in particular home costs.

00:22:21.000 It's as much of a regulatory issue in many states, especially blue states.

00:22:25.000 Places like California, it's nearly impossible to build.

00:22:29.000 How much of this is a blue state versus a red state issue?

00:22:32.000 Because we can try to solve these issues at the federal level, but we're still a federalist society.

00:22:37.000 It's still at the states.

00:22:38.000 And if the states make it very difficult, let's call it half the states are blue states.

00:22:44.000 A huge number of the population live in California.

00:22:47.000 They're going to make those things difficult.

00:22:49.000 How do you see that playing out?

00:22:51.000 That's a big deal.

00:22:53.000 And I just wrote a column on this, Don, which is basically saying if you're upset about the cost of living, move to a red state.

00:23:00.000 Because if you look at the top 10 most expensive states to live in, nine out of those 10 are blue states.

00:23:08.000 And who leads the most expensive, let's see, California, New York, Illinois, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut.

00:23:15.000 What do those states have in common?

00:23:17.000 They're all blue states.

00:23:18.000 Now you look at the states that have the lowest cost of living, and you're talking about states like Arkansas, Oklahoma, the Carolinas, et cetera.

00:23:26.000 So that's a big deal for people that the costs are so much lower in these blue states, I mean, in the red states.

00:23:38.000 Yeah, I mean, you know, I sort of touched on this a little bit, but a lot of the steps that we're taking and the administration is taking won't fully be realized or even seen overnight.

00:23:46.000 The tax relief, the investment, they're trying to build something for the future instead of sort of the immediate sugar high that you got from Obamacare or whatever injection of billions of dollars right before the election cycle because of the Fed and obviously also the subsidies, which were basically used to hide the true costs going on out there.

00:24:10.000 How do you see sort of the difference between real sustainable growth that they're trying to create, a regulatory environment that lets things happen naturally versus this artificially subsidized economy that you see typically under the Democrats?

00:24:27.000 Well, that's a good point you're making.

00:24:29.000 So we did have growth under Biden, not a lot of growth, but we did have some growth, especially in the area of employment.

00:24:35.000 But guess what?

00:24:36.000 Almost all of that increase in the workforce was in government or healthcare.

00:24:43.000 The two areas that are most run by government are the ones that grew.

00:24:48.000 Whereas under Trump, we're seeing the opposite.

00:24:50.000 We're seeing private sector job growth.

00:24:52.000 And thanks to Donald Trump and Elon Musk and Doge, we have 300,000 fewer federal employees.

00:24:59.000 Good.

00:25:00.000 We don't want people working for government.

00:25:02.000 We want people doing productive things outside of government.

00:25:05.000 In other words, under Biden, we were growing employment in all the wrong places.

00:25:09.000 Under Trump, we're seeing rebound in jobs in the private sector, which is where all growth really comes from.

00:25:16.000 That's actually interesting.

00:25:17.000 Yeah.

00:25:17.000 And that's a huge point.

00:25:18.000 I mean, I don't think we need a bigger government.

00:25:21.000 We need bigger industries.

00:25:22.000 And that's why we're going to grow ourselves away from this nonsense.

00:25:25.000 That's never going to happen from a government bureaucrat that's really not creating anything other than probably regulatory hurdles and other nonsense along the way.

00:25:34.000 Well, there's no question.

00:25:36.000 I estimate that Trump is going to reduce the cost of doing business through deregulation by almost $1 trillion.

00:25:45.000 Those are enormous savings.

00:25:46.000 And those savings and costs get passed on to consumers and lower prices that you pay at the grocery store or the hardware store or where you pay for rent.

00:25:55.000 So don't forget about the benefits of Trump's deregulation efforts.

00:26:00.000 The tax bill, we're seeing an investment boom in this country, Don, like we haven't seen in a long, long time.

00:26:07.000 And that's because we have all these incentives in the tax bill that Donald Trump signed into law, I think it was January 4th, I mean, July 4th.

00:26:16.000 Those give incentives for businesses to invest in plant equipment, machinery, research and development, which is critical to growth.

00:26:27.000 And you can't have higher wages if businesses aren't investing.

00:26:30.000 So I'm with you.

00:26:32.000 I'm really super bullish on 2026.

00:26:34.000 I think we're going to see enormous growth, big increases in pay for workers, and a big increase in employment because we're the one country.

00:26:43.000 Think about this.

00:26:44.000 I mean, Canada isn't growing.

00:26:46.000 Japan isn't growing. 0.70

00:26:47.000 China isn't growing.

00:26:49.000 Europe isn't growing.

00:26:50.000 We're the only country that is growing.

00:26:51.000 We have these amazing technology companies that, you know, all our magnificent seven are worth more than all of the European countries combined.

00:27:00.000 So it's a really, you know, United States is flexing its economic muscle right now.

00:27:05.000 And that's thanks to a great president.

00:27:08.000 And actually, I have to say, I love Mike Johnson.

00:27:10.000 I think he's done an amazing job as Speaker of the House.

00:27:12.000 I think Jon Thune has been a great majority leader for the Senate.

00:27:17.000 So good things are coming.

00:27:19.000 Yeah, I mean, so, you know, one of the interesting stats I've been sort of talking about a lot is even just on the tariff side, you know, you have 400 billion plus, you know, year to date.

00:27:30.000 You take that out, you know, to a year.

00:27:33.000 I mean, that kind of just additional income, that's like a point of GDP.

00:27:38.000 I mean, can you explain to the average viewer what just a boost of a point in GDP means for America?

00:27:46.000 And that's before you get into the FDE, the foreign direct investment, which is like, again, something like $8 trillion over the next decade.

00:27:53.000 You straightline that proportionally over 10 years.

00:27:57.000 That's like another point or two.

00:28:00.000 You let these things mature into the market.

00:28:02.000 That's two to three points of GDP growth for America.

00:28:06.000 I mean, that pushes you four or 5% GDP growth.

00:28:09.000 That's insane.

00:28:10.000 I mean, that's the stuff that economic dreams are made of.

00:28:14.000 Do people fully understand that?

00:28:15.000 And do you agree with those numbers?

00:28:16.000 Well, let me give you an example of why this matters, Don.

00:28:19.000 And that is the one thing that everybody is worried about, including me and you and everyone, is the size of our national debt and the size of our deficit.

00:28:27.000 And we're all familiar with these very scary charts that show the debt going up and up and up and up as a share of GDP.

00:28:34.000 And that's the legacy of not fixing a lot of these problems over the last 40 years, and including the problem of the aging of America.

00:28:40.000 But if you look at those standard forecasts, they're estimating the U.S. economy is going to grow at 1.7% per year.

00:28:48.000 And to that, I say, and Donald Trump says, no, we're America.

00:28:54.000 We can grow a lot faster than 1.7.

00:28:56.000 So if you just put 3% growth in, and you were talking about 4 or 5%, but let's say even when we just get 3% growth, then we start to bend the curve down on the debt because the economy is growing faster than the debt and the problem starts to go away.

00:29:12.000 If you put 4% growth in that equation, I mean, you see a huge reduction in the debt impact.

00:29:19.000 So I've always said that the single most important step to bringing the debt down, in addition to putting some caps on government spending, is grow the economy as fast as we can.

00:29:29.000 That's exactly what Donald Trump is doing.

00:29:32.000 Yeah.

00:29:32.000 And I mean, if you compare that to, say, Europe, which is, you know, they're saying 1% growth, but in all fairness, it's probably zero or negative, given the insanity of their regulatory framework, the ESG, DEI type mandates that still exist, their inability or total lack of a desire to do anything as it relates to energy.

00:29:51.000 Then you compare it to some of the other places that may be growing, China.

00:29:53.000 I mean, where would anyone want to actually put their money?

00:29:56.000 And it feels like that's why the foreign direct investment into America right now is so strong, because they still look at it as such a safe haven relative to anywhere else in the world.

00:30:05.000 If we continue on this path that we're on right now, with respect to the increase in the stock market, not only are we going to very soon pass Dow 50,000, but by the end of Trump's presidency, we'll be at Dow 60,000.

00:30:18.000 So these are enormous gains in the wealth of Americans.

00:30:23.000 And I'm tired of people saying, oh, well, that's just the playground of rich people.

00:30:26.000 No, you know, we've got 150 to 175 million Americans who are invested in the American stock market and their 401k plans and their retirement plans are going up and up and up.

00:30:36.000 The average family's wealth has gone up by about $40,000 just since the beginning of the year because of this booming stock market that we're seeing, which is, by the way, Don, this is the envy of the world.

00:30:48.000 I mean, all of the great companies are here in the U.S.

00:30:52.000 And I'm glad, by the way, that Donald Trump is really celebrating America's technological leadership.

00:30:58.000 I mean, we have dominated the internet age.

00:31:03.000 And thanks to a lot of the policies that Donald Trump is putting in place, we are now set to dominate the AI age and the robotics age and the satellite age and the amazing technologies that are coming.

00:31:16.000 I love that, that Trump is saying, look, we should not smash our, you know, our technology companies.

00:31:24.000 We should let them continue to lead the way in the world.

00:31:27.000 And I love that.

00:31:28.000 NVIDIA, Apple, Google, all of these companies are amazing.

00:31:32.000 And the rest of the world is so jealous that we have dominated.

00:31:37.000 Stephen, in your opinion, would it be fair to say that perhaps some of the Americans who could actually benefit the most from the Trump administration's policies are actually younger people, some of whom maybe haven't even reached voting age yet?

00:31:51.000 You know, that's a funny thing that you should ask about that, because I just wrote a column on why are young people so glum and why are they so depressed and negative about the outlook for America? 0.93

00:32:01.000 Now, that's not unusual.

00:32:02.000 Young people tend to be worried about the future.

00:32:06.000 But this generation in particular, I think that's in part because they've been indoctrinated for the last 20 years of their life about how the free market doesn't work and we need more socialism.

00:32:18.000 And what a shame it was what happened to the great city of New York with the election of Mondame, who if he does what he says he's going to do, will destroy that great city.

00:32:27.000 But I have to tell you that young people are inheriting the best economy in the most affluent economy in the history of the world.

00:32:37.000 So why are they so double?

00:32:39.000 Well, I mean, could it be because academia has pushed them into degrees that are meaningless, that will never pay back, that will never, you know, if you go get your doctorate in gender studies, you're probably never going to be a contributing member of society in any real way, shape or form, certainly not economically, probably not intellectually either.

00:32:57.000 And yet, you know, that was the way, right?

00:32:59.000 People were pushed into degrees they didn't need, racking up debt they could never pay back.

00:33:07.000 This is a problem.

00:33:09.000 This is a real problem you've identified here, Don, is that if you get a degree in math or science or engineering or any of the STEM things or just know how to do anything, if you're an electrician, if you're a plumber, if you know how to do anything, there's a lot of jobs out there.

00:33:26.000 But what are our kids graduating with?

00:33:28.000 Political science degrees, ethnic study degrees, sociology degrees.

00:33:33.000 Guess what?

00:33:33.000 There's not a lot of demand for that.

00:33:35.000 So the university, I'm very happy, by the way, that Donald Trump has really gone after the universities because our universities are not what they once were.

00:33:44.000 They are not preparing our kids for the future.

00:33:48.000 They are anti-America.

00:33:50.000 They are sitting on a trillion dollars of endowments.

00:33:53.000 I believe, I think Donald Trump is right.

00:33:55.000 Why should that not be taxed like everything else is?

00:33:58.000 So, you know, it's time for us to really look at what's happening at these universities.

00:34:03.000 They're charging up to $80,000 a year per student.

00:34:06.000 It's the biggest ripoff in America is how much these universities are charging our families.

00:34:10.000 Yeah.

00:34:11.000 Well, and then the alleged elites that have those degrees that can't seem to pay back their student loans because they got degrees in stuff that no one cares about, they want a plumber. 0.70

00:34:20.000 They want an electrician. 0.91

00:34:21.000 They want carpenters who they look down upon, who they frown upon, who they certainly don't consider elite, who are actually making great livings and able to take care of themselves.

00:34:32.000 Plus, they want them to carry their debt. 0.51

00:34:35.000 The whole thing's ludicrous to me.

00:34:36.000 You know what? 0.65

00:34:38.000 You're so right about this.

00:34:39.000 I feel passionately about this issue because Joe Biden's response was, oh, we'll just let people forgive their debts and put the trillion dollars of new debt out of the backs of taxpayers, which was outrageous, especially for families that didn't send their kids to college, have to pay the higher taxes for families that did.

00:34:59.000 But more importantly, if you've got a useless degree from a university and you can't pay your student loan, you know who should have to pay off that student loan debt?

00:35:08.000 The school should, not the taxpayers.

00:35:10.000 I agree.

00:35:11.000 I mean, is that something that's realistic?

00:35:14.000 And again, maybe it'd be the greatest thing for academia to keep them in check because maybe they wouldn't be pushing you into nonsense degrees.

00:35:20.000 And, you know, again, your undergrad gender studies degree, you really need to get a master's in that and then a doctorate. 1.00

00:35:26.000 And then you can go make $30,000 being a gender activist, I guess.

00:35:31.000 But I don't know what else you can do with it, but they certainly should be on the hook for it if they're going to push these things and they're going to get the benefits of the tax advantage status that they have, et cetera, while functioning, frankly, as left-wing propagandists across the board.

00:35:47.000 Well, the one person who I've heard talk a lot about this, Don, is Linda McMahon, who's running the education department, doing an amazing job, by the way.

00:35:55.000 I love Linda.

00:35:56.000 And she's saying that.

00:35:58.000 Why should somebody have to like, I'll think of people like my wife. 1.00

00:36:03.000 You know, she graduated from UCLA back 25 years ago.

00:36:06.000 She, you know, when I met her, she was like not making a whole lot of money, but she was diligently and responsibly paying each month, you know, paying off that student loan debt.

00:36:17.000 And then she finally paid it off like, you know, any upstanding citizen should do.

00:36:22.000 You owe the money, you pay back the loan.

00:36:24.000 And now she's furious that Joe Biden was running around the country saying, oh, you don't have to pay your loan.

00:36:28.000 Somebody else is going to pay it off for you.

00:36:31.000 There's a big fairness issue in that.

00:36:32.000 And so Linda McMahon, I think, is on this, and I think she's going to fix it.

00:36:36.000 Yeah, I mean, that's the other thing.

00:36:38.000 I mean, it's a great case of sort of irony, which shouldn't surprise us anymore with anything that we see.

00:36:43.000 But those who actually did it, who sacrificed, the Saturday night parties or the nicer car or whatever, they're also taking the hit for this because there is no government-funded program.

00:36:54.000 It's all taxpayer-funded.

00:36:56.000 So the people who actually were responsible, even if they took on that debt, are also going to suffer the consequences.

00:37:02.000 It's not just the plumber or the carpenter.

00:37:04.000 It's those who actually altered their life to do the right thing because I guess they don't understand that they want three-year-olds to be able to decide what gender they can be, but they can't have an 18-year-old sign on the bottom line of a loan because they couldn't possibly understand the ramifications of the consequences of doing so.

00:37:21.000 Are you familiar, Don, with the school called College of the Ozarks?

00:37:25.000 I've heard of it, but I'm not all that familiar.

00:37:28.000 Well, it's, you know, I've probably given about 100 college lectures over the years, and I gave one at a school called College of the Ozarks, which is in Missouri.

00:37:36.000 And the most amazing thing about that school is, you know what the tuition is there?

00:37:42.000 Zero.

00:37:43.000 Zero.

00:37:43.000 You know how they do it?

00:37:45.000 No.

00:37:46.000 Every student on campus works 20 hours a week.

00:37:50.000 Wow.

00:37:51.000 You know, what a concept that a 19 or 20 year old should have to work.

00:37:55.000 But I'll tell you, Don, I've been to Northwestern.

00:37:57.000 I've been to Duke.

00:37:58.000 I've been to Yale, Princeton.

00:38:00.000 I've never met more students that I was so proud of that were so interested in their academics than the kids at College of the Ozarks.

00:38:09.000 You know why?

00:38:09.000 Because they were paying for it.

00:38:11.000 Yeah, I mean, there's something about being vested, right?

00:38:13.000 There's something about being.

00:38:14.000 Exactly.

00:38:15.000 No, I mean, it's amazing how you can pay attention.

00:38:17.000 And listen, I went to Penn, which is, you know, I don't know what the hell happened to it since I was there, but, you know, created a lot of guys at the time, great business school, all that stuff.

00:38:27.000 But you're right.

00:38:28.000 I mean, a lot of people just, they're there for it.

00:38:29.000 You took it for granted.

00:38:30.000 I'm sure even me to an extent, whereas, you know, I definitely went out and had too many beers a couple of nights that I could have probably been studying and bettering myself.

00:38:38.000 But if you're actually on the hook for these things and you actually have to deliver and you are vested in your outcomes, I'm sure it makes a big difference.

00:38:48.000 Yeah, it's an old saying, you know, that anything easily attained is lightly regarded.

00:38:53.000 And so if you have to work for it, you're going to make sure you're getting your money's worth.

00:38:57.000 I've got a rundown, but I'll just end with this.

00:38:59.000 I believe that the president has set the table for the great expansions that we've seen in America.

00:39:07.000 I think we're going to continue to dominate.

00:39:08.000 I think 2026 is going to be a monster year for the economy.

00:39:12.000 With you said maybe 4% to 5% growth, boy, that would be amazing.

00:39:15.000 I think it's very possible investment capital is flowing into the United States.

00:39:20.000 Like Donald Trump is some kind of magnet.

00:39:22.000 So I'm proud of your father.

00:39:23.000 I'm proud of this administration.

00:39:25.000 And I'm proud to have played a little, very little part in it.

00:39:28.000 Well, listen, that was a big deal.

00:39:31.000 You did a lot for it, and appreciate that.

00:39:34.000 And we're going to have to have you talk in more detail because, again, I see the machine.

00:39:39.000 I see what's going on out there.

00:39:40.000 They're trying to sell a different message than what's really happening.

00:39:43.000 Thank you, Don.

00:39:44.000 All right.

00:39:45.000 Thanks, Leslie.

00:39:47.000 Guys, thanks so much for tuning in.

00:39:49.000 Don't forget to like, to share, to subscribe.

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00:40:00.000 But get it out there.

00:40:01.000 Text it to your chat groups where you're talking about these kinds of real issues.

00:40:06.000 The media will not do that.

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Triggered - Donald Trump Jr - November 24, 2025

Making America Affordable Again, Interview with Economist Steve Moore | TRIGGERED Ep.294

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