Join us as we dissect a week full of political maneuvering and public demonstrations in the latest episode of The Mike Gallagher Show Week in Review. With Joey Hudson stepping in for Mike, the podcast highlights how President Trump’s tariff policies have roiled markets and infuriated detractors, particularly with the administration’s bold stance against China’s burgeoning control over key global infrastructures like the Panama Canal. Tune in to hear about the federal government’s surprising expenditures and the Supreme Court’s rulings that could reshape the workforce. It’s a week of intense decisions, international negotiations, and the unfolding drama of American
Welcome to the Mike Gallagher Show Week in Review podcast. It’s Friday, April 4th, 2025. Mike is on vacation this week. Joey Hudson filled in on the show. I’m Eric Hansen, and this week it’s tariffs, tariffs, tariffs. Who will pay them, who will make a deal, and what it means to you. Plus, Doge uncovers more uncontrolled spending in Washington, and protesters fight against, well, they’re not exactly sure. Let’s begin at the beginning of the week when tariff panic set in.
SPEAKER 08 :
Did you look at your IRA statement? Because that’s exactly what the left wants us to do. They want us to panic. And that’s what happened on Friday. And that’s what some of the stock market analysts are predicting will happen again today. And the whole idea, I think they’re actually hoping that happens. I think they’re encouraging that response to Trump’s tariffs. Because they want you and me to put pressure on Donald Trump and his administration to stop. To stop the tariffs. To drop back and rethink this. It’s almost like we don’t have the stomach to do what we know is necessary to get our country back on track. To bring jobs back to America. to have these companies building manufacturing plants all across our great country. We know that Trump is right. We know that if we stick to this and stay the course, that that will be the outcome, that these companies will bring the American jobs back. But boy, it gets a little bit scary, doesn’t it, when you see your 401k balance dropping literally before your eyes. And that’s what they want. They want us upset. They want us telling the pollsters that we don’t have the confidence in the president anymore. Folks, we’re just over two months into this. Nobody said it was going to be easy. President Trump, reacting to some questions on Air Force One as he was returning to the nation’s capital over weekend, used the analogy that, you know, sometimes you have to take corrective measures. Sometimes you have to take medicine to get better and cut number one.
SPEAKER 14 :
I think your question is so stupid.
SPEAKER 03 :
I think it’s I don’t want anything to go down. But sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something. And we have such a horrible we have been treated so badly by other countries because we had They took our money. They took our jobs. They moved it to Mexico. They moved it to Canada. They moved a lot of it to China. And it’s not sustainable. We’re not going to do it. Now we have hundreds of billions of dollars is pouring into our country on a monthly basis. It’s already started because they put tariffs on it. And eventually it’s going to straighten out and our country will be solid and strong again.
SPEAKER 08 :
And he’s right. Sometimes you do have to take medicine. Sometimes it doesn’t taste very good. But you have to take corrective action to correct a wrong that has happened. And that’s what Donald Trump is doing. And look, he is the author of The Art of the Deal. Go back and read it. If you don’t have a copy, find a copy somewhere on eBay or somewhere. We have to trust the president to do what we elected him to do.
SPEAKER 10 :
Secretary Pete Hegseth announced this week the administration’s plans to make good on its promise to protect the Panama Canal.
SPEAKER 08 :
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth yesterday talked about something that we really need to be focusing on as well, and this has been a topic that has been forefront these past few weeks, and that’s the Panama Canal. and China’s influence over that canal. Now, China wants us to think that they really aren’t controlling it. But you think about the logistics of it. They have the major port on either end of the Panama Canal. They could quickly take control of that canal and control what goes in and comes out if they chose to do so. Jimmy Carter gave it away for, what, $1? In the 70s? Why? I have no idea. This gets back to our leaders sometimes want these other countries to like us. They don’t have to like us. They need to respect us. And this is just another one of those just outrageous things that Carter did and that our government’s capable of doing. They gave it away. Pete Hegseth in cut number nine says, we’re going to take it back.
SPEAKER 12 :
The United States of America will not allow communist China or any other country to threaten the canal’s operation or integrity. To this end, the United States and Panama have done more in recent weeks to strengthen our defense and security cooperation than we have in decades. That includes our meeting today and announcements to come. Our relationship with Panama, especially our security relationship will continue to grow in the months and years ahead. Our relationship is growing in part to meet communist China’s rising challenge. China-based companies continue to control critical infrastructure in the canal area. That gives China the potential to conduct surveillance activities across Panama. This makes Panama and the United States less secure, less prosperous, and less sovereign. I want to be very clear. China did not build this canal. China does not operate this canal. And China will not weaponize this canal. Together, we will take back the Panama Canal from China’s influence. And we will do this along with other capable, like-minded allies and partners. This is what peace through strength looks like.
SPEAKER 08 :
Bingo. Exactly. Peace through strength. We don’t let anybody, China particularly, bully us. Now, Panama has repeatedly rejected the idea that China effectively controls the canal. Again… China operates two major ports on either end of the Panama Canal, so you take from that what you want. Hexa said he laid out a number of joint exercises, operations, just a general beefed-up presence of the U.S. military in and around the canal to try to counter China. He also talked about how China has been increasingly installing additional critical infrastructure in the area, which gives China the potential ability to conduct surveillance. It’s just too close to home. Just too close to home. And kudos to Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump for recognizing that this is something that we can’t ignore. We can’t pretend… that China controls the canal or that they don’t.
SPEAKER 10 :
Doge continued its efforts to root out wasteful spending in Washington. You may need to sit down for this one.
SPEAKER 08 :
This is one of those stories that just drives you insane. We’re going to get back to tariffs in just a minute. This got my attention, though. Open the book, CEO John Hart wrote, spoke to the House Oversight Subcommittee yesterday that is working hand-in-hand with Elon Musk and Doge. And he disclosed that since October of 2020, our federal government – and keep in mind – Most federal workers were not even working in their office, particularly during COVID. Many have not returned. Our federal government, since October 2020, has spent $4.6 billion on new office furniture. $4.6 billion on furniture, in some cases, still hasn’t even been used yet. Who was it? I think it was – I had a chance to interview the agriculture secretary not long ago. And she talked about the first time that she went into her office, Brooks Rollins. She went into her office and just walked through a big empty room, and some of the tags were still on the chairs. They’d never been used. Now, this is the kind of stuff that will just drive you insane. And you know this is happening. And until now, until Donald Trump and Elon Musk, no one seemed to care. John Hart said, since fiscal year 2021, executive agencies have spent more than $4.6 billion on furniture alone. That amount could buy 9.2 million American families a modest $500 kitchen table. opened the books, told the New York Post that the U.S. Agency for International Development spent $4 million on furniture for offices in Ukraine, West Africa, and other African countries, where the CIA front agency decked out the office with $250,000 worth of pricey Herman Miller chairs. This is insane, and this is what has to stop. This has been going on for decades now. And this is the type of thing that Donald Trump and Elon Musk, we have to give Musk credit for starting this whole movement of actually looking at where our money is going.
SPEAKER 02 :
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SPEAKER 10 :
This is the Mike Gallagher Show Week in Review podcast. Joey Hudson, our guest host this week. I’m Eric Hansen. The courts have been pretty kind to President Trump since he took office, but you can’t win them all.
SPEAKER 08 :
President Trump has had a pretty good week this week. when it comes to the U.S. Supreme Court and some of the legal decisions that have been handed down. The Supreme Court yesterday sided with the Trump administration and upheld the mass firings of tens of thousands of federal workers that were terminated as part of Doge’s effort to get the federal workforce down to a more manageable area. We had a district judge impose an injunction trying to stop this. We’ve had some federal judges trying to force the government to reinstate these federal workers. It just blows my mind that these judges, one would think that they’re fairly intelligent people. They work. They pay taxes just like we do. I would hope that they love our country like we do. Why they would want to force the federal government to rehire someone that has already been determined that their job is – the position is not needed and that it’s a waste. We’re never going to decrease the size of the federal government if we don’t have the stomach to do what’s needed. And that’s what has been the problem for decades now. The Biden administration certainly didn’t have the stomach to decrease the federal government. They didn’t want to. They wanted to hire everybody. But even previous Republican administrations haven’t wanted to take the necessary steps to truly cut the federal government, to decrease the size of the government. We hear it all the time from Republican candidates when they’re running for Congress. Oh, we’ve got to decrease the size of the federal government. It’s too big. But when it comes time to actually do something about it, they don’t. Now Donald Trump is. Elon Musk and Doge, they’re finding these positions. People who, in some cases, haven’t been to their office in years. And they’re eliminating them. Yes, there’s some pain involved. And I see a lot of the social media posts of people saying, well, my cousin or my sister or whoever was terminated. Well, I’m sorry. I hate for anybody to lose their job. But there’s another job out there. We need good people, but the American people, the American taxpayer, can’t continue to support people who are doing absolutely nothing. So anyway, the U.S. Supreme Court has said, yes, you do have the authority to terminate these positions. and you don’t have to hire them back. Now, he got some bad news from the Supreme Court, which this one just really, I can’t, I don’t quite understand it. A federal judge ordered the Associated Press be restored to the White House press pool. Now, you may recall that President Trump had them removed from the press pool, and these are the journalists, At least that’s what they call themselves. These are the reporters who travel with the president. They’re in the White House briefing room every day. They’re on Air Force One if the president’s traveling. And the Associated Press, they refused to call the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America when the president signed the executive order to rename it. They refused to do it. President Trump said, okay, you know, it’s a right – I mean, it’s a privilege, not a right for you to be in the press pool. I’m going to remove you. Well, of course, they sued. This ruling yesterday from U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, by the way, he is a Trump appointee. requires that the White House return the AP’s access to the Oval Office, to Air Force One, and other limited spaces whenever those spaces are made available to other journalists in the White House press pool. McFadden wrote under the First Amendment, “…if the government opens its doors to some journalists, be it the Oval Office, the East Room, or elsewhere, it cannot then shut those doors to other journalists because of their viewpoints. The Constitution requires no less.” I get that. I understand the freedom of speech. But it’s not any organization’s right to have a seat at the table in the press pool. The briefing room is a tiny room. It is small. You’d probably be amazed if you were to go in there. I’ve been in there a number of times. It used to be the old swimming pool, the indoor swimming pool. They basically just covered the swimming pool and made a press briefing room out of it. It’s narrow. Seats are limited. And the White House gets to decide who those are. So when this judge says that the White House can’t put limits on journalists… There’s limits every day. I mean, there’s only so many people who can get in that room. Does this judge mean that I could go up and demand a seat in the White House briefing room? That’s kind of what he’s saying, isn’t it? I mean, why should the AP get preference over the Mike Gallagher show? I mean, there has to be limits. There’s just not room for everybody. So this was a disappointing one. I don’t know if this is something that’s – if this is worth the battle of appealing this. I don’t know if the Trump administration plans to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. But otherwise, he’s had a pretty good week when it comes to some of these court cases.
SPEAKER 10 :
We know that President Trump’s tariffs upset many around the country, but his supporters still have his back.
SPEAKER 08 :
And look, we’re already seeing signs that this is working. Yes, there was chaos last week when President Trump made the announcement that it was going to be 10 percent across the board. And then he got specific with some of the individual countries, which if you look at the list, it’s just amazing what some of these countries have been charging us. They have been ripping us off. And when President Trump said that last week, a lot of people just said, that’s the usual Donald Trump. He’s just exasperating the situation. He’s right. He’s dead right on this. But look, today he starts off the conversation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. The prime minister wants to talk about tariffs. I never even realized that Israel charged us tariffs. I mean, think about the support that we have. We have been their number one cheerleader in the world, and they’re charging us tariffs. I didn’t know that. Did you? But that’s probably going to be worked out today as the president meets for the second time with Benjamin Netanyahu. Others as well. The European Commission. just today, has offered us a deal to remove tariffs on all industrial goods as part of their trade negotiations. Ursula von der Leyen has said that while stressing her intention to retaliate against Donald Trump’s policies, should they fail, she’s going to retaliate. Of course, in her case, she’s looking at a 20% across-the-board tariff. Steel, aluminum, and cars are subject to a separate 25% rate. Now, here’s her response. She said, We stand ready to negotiate with the U.S. Indeed, we have offered zero-for-zero tariffs for industrial goods as we have successfully done with many other trading partners. So suddenly they want to do zero-for-zero, which means they don’t charge us anything, we don’t charge them anything. But think about… Think about what it took to get her to this point. Why didn’t they offer zero for zero a year ago, five years ago, ten years ago? When did it suddenly occur to them that their tariffs on U.S. products were ripping us off? When did they finally decide that they want to be friendly trade partners with the U.S.? When Donald Trump… held their feet to the fire. When Donald Trump announced, okay, if you want to charge us a 25% tariff, guess what? We’re going to charge you a 25% tariff. Fair is fair, is it not? But boy, it’s like the Dems and the left, they’re standing on their heads right now because of this. Back to the phones. Let’s start with Todd, who is in Tampa. Welcome, Todd. You’re on the Mike Gallagher Show.
SPEAKER 14 :
Let’s get down to business. Let me hold the floor for 60 seconds. I’m Trump’s number one supporter before he even stepped on the escalator. Donald, we walked through broken glass. We walked over hurricanes. We did everything that you asked us to do to go out there and vote for you early. We want all 40 million illegals out of here, this country. OK, let me explain something to terrorists for you ladies out there who don’t understand terrorists. Your purse that’s hanging on your shoulder, okay? What’s happened is the politicians came and ripped your purse, took your wallet, took your credit cards, and took everything you have and shipped it over to China. Do you understand? You need to hold steady and hold fast because this is terrifying. And, Donald, we’re not settling. You’ve been ripping us off, like Joey just said, for 40 years. You want to talk to us now? Where’s your check for $400, $500 billion? Then we’ll sit down and talk. Push the tariffs on them. Don’t concede anything. Keep moving, Donald, and keep going to North Carolina, South Carolina. Make sure those people are building their houses, they get their permits, and let’s get to work and save the country. God bless you.
SPEAKER 08 :
Peace. Thank you, Todd. And Florida as well, because there’s some rebuilding that needs to be done in Florida as well. And, Todd, that’s right. Todd hit the nail on the head, as we say.
SPEAKER 10 :
Many Americans hit the streets this week to join protests in cities across the country. What were they protesting? I’m not really sure, but neither are they.
SPEAKER 08 :
Let’s start with Rolls in Illinois, Donner’s Grove, Illinois. Is that right? Yes, can you hear me? Loud and clear. How are you, sir?
SPEAKER 11 :
Doing great. Yeah, I wanted to call in. I’ve been acting as Donald Trump recently. for the last three Tesla protests in Chicago area. One was in Lyle, one was in Orland, and one was at Westmont. And it’s amazing. I have to share it. So I’m a pretty good Trump. I know all the moves. I got the hair.
SPEAKER 08 :
Now, let me interrupt for a minute. You sent me a video, I believe, right? Yeah, it’s me. Yeah, okay. All right. Yeah, and you do a good job. All right, continue.
SPEAKER 11 :
Thank you. So, you know, you wouldn’t believe these people. They just… So I walk around there, and all the cops, you know, I talk to all the cops. By the way, all the police cops, the cops out there, they’re all for Trump. I can tell you that right now. So I walk around, and I ask them questions. They don’t have any answers. They run around. I must have saw a thousand people last weekend, and they have schwa stickers. They have dump Trump. They don’t have any sense of what is going on. And that one call I called them earlier, that’s why I’m calling, is they are literally crazy. They don’t have any – I mean, they’re nasty. They’re miserable. They put the signs in my face. The one lady came up to me and goes, hey, can you take it out? I want to see how big it is. Sorry, it’s a bad on there. I mean, just crazy stuff.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah, well, you know, one of the things – and I watched a lot of video. I appreciate your phone call and appreciate what you stand for, their roles – I watched some of the demonstrators, the protesters, over this past weekend. And we’ve got a little montage for you here. This was in Bryant Park in New York City. And listen to what some of these protesters were. were asking for. They are totally unrealistic on some things. And some things that they’re wanting, we already have as free patriotic Americans. Here’s some of the protesters at the hands-off rally in Bryant Park in New York City.
SPEAKER 07 :
I am protesting what is happening with this blessed country. The democracy that was advanced democracy now in transition to dictatorship. And we are almost in a fascist state right now. I’m protesting everything that Trump stands for.
SPEAKER 13 :
I think that our fearless leader, Mr. Trump… has a very negative attitude towards the world and that he is terrifying us and arresting people like they did in early 1940s in Germany.
SPEAKER 06 :
I’m a professor and I’m especially concerned about higher education and cuts to science.
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, I am protesting the fascist regime, the deconstruction of our constitutional rights and our government.
SPEAKER 04 :
We’ve been taken over by a bunch of robber barons who are trying to take away all of our rights, benefits and liberty.
SPEAKER 05 :
We want to make sure that the democracy stands and is not eliminated by this fascist regime.
SPEAKER 07 :
One person I know lost a job as a journalist. Another person I know is in research. I probably have more people that I can’t just think of in a moment, but I do know personally people who lost their jobs.
SPEAKER 05 :
Not directly. I haven’t been affected, but I used to work at the NIH, and a lot of my colleagues have been fired as a result.
SPEAKER 09 :
I have a lot of friends who are teachers. The cuts from the Department of Education are pretty scary.
SPEAKER 13 :
Not me directly.
SPEAKER 05 :
For me, an ideal America is one where people can protest like this and have their voices heard. And they are the ones who are running the country, not somebody who’s taken over the country and no longer allows the First Amendment to be spoken.
SPEAKER 08 :
Let’s stop it right there. I mean, so the guy who was just talking, if you’re watching on the Salem News Channel, you know that that guy who was in there a couple of times was wearing a mask. And these dark glasses, he obviously didn’t want to really be seen. But when they’re talking about that they don’t have the right to protest, what do they think they were doing then?
SPEAKER 10 :
And after all the talk and the debate and the panic about tariffs, by the end of the week, the president put them on pause.
SPEAKER 08 :
The president was asked yesterday, as he was visiting with a group of NASCAR drivers at the White House, he was asked why. Why he suddenly decided to pause the tariffs after saying for about a week that the tariffs were in place for good and that they were non-negotiable. A number of his cabinet secretaries, Treasury secretaries, Scott Bessett, for example, said had been very steadfast that the tariffs were in place and they were going to stay. They did an about-face, though, very quickly, with Trump just posting on Truth Social one sentence saying, I’ve authorized a 90-day pause. And with that, the market surged. Yesterday, we saw a gain in the markets like we have not seen since the end of World War II. It was encouraging. But it was also a bit, I guess people were questioning, well, why? How did this come about? So, of course, the press asked the president, as he was giving the tour of the White House grounds to these NASCAR drivers, why? Why did you decide to change your mind? The president gave an explanation of how that decision came about in cut number one.
SPEAKER 15 :
You started the morning saying, be cool. Just a few hours later, there was a pause put in on the terrace. Can you walk us through your thinking about why you decided to put a 90-day pause?
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, I thought that people were jumping a little bit out of line. They were getting yippy, you know? They were getting a little bit yippy, a little bit afraid, unlike these champions. because we have a big job to do. No other president would have done what I did. No other president. I know the presidents. They wouldn’t have done it. And it had to be done. What was happening to us on trade, not only with, you know, if you look at it, not only with China, but China was by far the biggest abuser in history and others also. But somebody had to do it. They had to stop because it was not sustainable. Last year, China made $1 trillion off trade with the United States. That’s not right. And now I’ve reversed it. It’s for a short period of time. But we made $2 billion. We’re making now $2 billion a day. And somebody had to do it. Roger actually said it. Charles Schwab was here a little while ago, one of the great financial people. And he said he’s been waiting for 40 years for somebody to do what I did over the last month. And if you didn’t do it, you wouldn’t have a country. It wouldn’t be sustainable. So I’m honored to have done it. And, you know, look, nothing’s over yet. But we have a tremendous amount of spirit from other countries, including China. China wants to make a deal. They just don’t know how quite to go about it. You know, it’s one of those things that are not quite the proud people. And President Xi is a proud man. I know him very well. And they don’t know quite how to go about it, but they’ll figure it out in the process of figuring it out. But they want to make a deal. And we have many other countries, as you know, many more than 75. And they all want to come. They want to come here or they’ll go to Commerce or they’ll go to Treasury. We have our great senators here and congressmen. They’ll call John. They’ll do somebody. They’ll go through somebody. But they’re all calling. How do we do this? They all want to make a deal. Somebody had to do what we did. And I did a 90 day pause for the people that didn’t retaliate because I told them, if you retaliate, we’re going to double it. And that’s what I did with China because they did retaliate. So we’ll see how it all works out. I think it’s going to work out amazing. I think that our country is going to be at the end of a year or shorter. But I think we’re going to have something that nobody would have dreamt possible.
SPEAKER 08 :
President Donald Trump yesterday on the grounds of the White House. It’s kind of interesting if you’re joining us on the Salem News Channel, and I hope you are, it’s interesting to watch because the president is standing there answering the reporter’s questions, and you’ve got this group of NASCAR drivers behind him, and they’re just kind of looking around thinking, you know, what’s he talking about here? What’s going on? We’re here to talk about racing. But the president’s right. Somebody had to do it. We have been ripped off for decades now. And literally in a week’s time, I think he has their attention, don’t you? I think he has Vietnam’s attention. I think he has Cambodia’s attention. I think he has the European Union’s attention. He has China’s attention as well. And when he says that China just doesn’t quite know how to make the deal, I suspect that Donald Trump is going to help them navigate that. Don’t you?
SPEAKER 10 :
And that wraps up the Mike Gallagher Show Week in Review podcast for Friday, April 4th, 2025. Special thanks to our guest host, Joey Hudson, who did a great job all week. Hey, be sure to subscribe to all of the podcasts and follow us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And if you like the show, be sure to share it with a friend. I’m Eric Hansen. We’ll see you back here next week on the Mike Gallagher Show Week in Review podcast.
