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COMMENTARY THE COFFEE KLATCH ... MAY 3RD 2025 with Robert Reich and Heather Lofthouse Will Trump’s Madness Unite America? PLAY YOUTUBE VIDEO Original article: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3WQz_T3LTk Peter Burgess COMMENTARY I enjoy the weekly Coffee Klatch in large part beacuse I am in the same 'state' of serious disappointment regarding where the USA finds itself. I believe that I understand how it is that an ignoramus like Trump can get elected President in the United States ... but I have to be very careful who I share this with. If the American electorate was reasonably well 'brained', there would be no way that an ignoramus like Trump would get elected to be President. The fact that he has now been elected President of the United States twice tells you something about the people in the United States who have a vote! There are some very nice, intelligent people in the United States ... but, sadly, they are in the minority and few and far between! Peter Burgess
Will Trump’s Madness Unite America? \| The Coffee Klatch with Robert Reich Robert Reich 1.21M subscribers ... 204,701 views ... 11K likes Premiered May 3, 2025 The Coffee Klatch with Robert Reich Trump’s “two doll” trade war… His devastating budget proposal… The disastrous impact he’s having on the American economy… And a special Star Wars shoutout… We discuss this (and more) on today’s Coffee Klatch The Coffee Klatch with Robert Reich Transcript 0:03 and it is the Saturday coffee clutch with Heather Loft House and yours truly Robert Rich Uh and uh well we are now in the postundday world Heather 2 three 1023 What what are we doing what are we going to talk about today well let's talk about the post 100 day outlook Okay And I want to know let's discuss is democracy going down the tubes is there light at the end of the tunnel uh well it's a pretty big question a pretty big topic but you know I am feeling today a little bit positive Phew Someone's got to be You're not not so much Well I'll tell you why I'm feeling positive Because I Well Mayday uh was a very very big demonstration across the country And I mean I knew it was going to be big but it was bigger than even I assumed And it was not only the big cities it was also uh towns There were towns even 1:01 communities that were in red states uh that had voted for Donald Trump Uh I I feel that there is a a huge in fact I wrote about this yesterday on Substack a huge uh push back that is starting and what Trump is doing is uniting people against him I mean he's he's actually creating more collaboration more unity and alliances I know And I mean it's it's really amazing to see the development of this counterveiling anti-Trump power in this country and around the world But so what are some more examples so the Mayday demonstrations well the demonstrations and also you know the Republican town halls have been a disaster for the Republicans Uh I mean the few that have countered the advice that they were getting and actually held these town halls uh they they continue to be and it's not Democrats who are going it's 2:00 it's it's constituents in these places in these districts They're angry They're angry about Musk They're angry about the loss of veterans uh benefits They're angry about everything that Trump is doing So that's another way in which people are coming together Uh another thing that I've noticed is that the courts now I've I've been a court watcher Heather forever Yeah And I Who isn't and well I was you know I I used to do that kind of stuff Um the courts are more united on this issue of Trump and violating particularly immigration rights and due process than I've seen the courts being united on almost anything Even the Supreme Court you think of the two decisions they've made so far around immigration nine nothing All Supreme Court justices a unanimous Supreme When was the last time we had a unanimous Supreme Court decision and then a 7 to2 was the other one even though the White 3:04 House is claiming that they were in favor well the the White House can do whatever it wants And we had this past week a Trump just uh judge appointed judge out of Texas out of Texas saying that you can't that Trump cannot use the Aliens Act of 1798 Alien Enemies Act that so what's the significance of that well it's it's important because Trump has based his entire uh deportation strategy uh particularly the Venezuelans uh on this on the power presumably that comes under this act And the judge said no this act is only in wartime It's only to be used in wartime It's the specific language in the act says only for war and there is no war going on Hello You can't create a war with Venezuela and you as president I thought this was actually the most interesting part of the opinion You as 4:04 president cannot decide when the United States is at war Uh I mean I'm hearkening back to the War Powers Act and all of the issues that we've had over the years Um and I was impressed a Trump appointed judge in Texas comes out with this opinion and it had to do with merits right yeah this is on the merits It's not this was not um a uh preliminary injunction uh temporary restraining order This was actually one of the f this was the first judge the first court to decide on the merits that Trump could not do this And then some other things this week So we saw Mosen Madawi who had been um taken at his citizenship interview right by ICE but so he is now free and out and he rallied a bunch of people Very moving Did you find I thought it was very you know that we shall overcome 5:00 Yes And singing with people I know So that was good and I think deserves to be on the list What about when JB Pritsker So we have obviously Bernie and AOC are doing their oligarchy tour but it's nice to see some other Dems speaking fiercely on a microphone And Pritsker the governor of Illinois obviously has his eye on the White House possibly uh in for the next presidential election and he comes out on Sunday and he says uh that he's never been in favor of a national strike or a national mobilization or that kind of large scale but now he's changed his mind He thinks that we do have to have something that is really large and something that expresses the nation's outrage at what's happening Well I think that's important when a a leading Democrat particularly one who is leading or at least thinking about the presidency comes out that strongly Um and then Heather you also 6:00 have all of the universities coming together the university presidents Uh now universities are like hurting cats I mean I've tried to get university presidents to sign on to various things You can't do it but they did They came together and they supported um Harvard and they supported uh not just Harvard but they supported freedom academic freedom They signed on 140 university presidents and on top of that you have 400 law firms right coming um signing the friend of the court brief the amiggas brief for Perkins Koi uh and then 800 law firms uh signing it for uh two other law firms that came under uh Trump's aegis Can I be honest yeah So no let No you can't be I'll just Okay I'll fib a little bit Yeah I'll just fib a little bit But so I like all of these things as a collection I can go on and on and on and together and it's still but I still so I think as soon as you're talking about you know it's great that the all these university presidents came together I think of Trump 24 hours ago 7:05 or whenever it was saying I'm still going after Harvard C3 status I think actually all of this momentum that's being created against him is actually in the short term making him and fueling even a a more furious Trump He doesn't back down He doesn't want to back down but he did have to back down from Harvard initially He did have to back down from China I mean he does when he faces immovable objects right and you know and he senses it and I think he's going to sense it soon when all of these groups start coming together against him and having to back down even a little bit for a narcissist I mean the Mike Walls thing was he we're moving for him from one place to another but it's still it's not great Well he didn't that's right he doesn't talk about it uh but even can I just ex elaborate on my thesis here because because even 8:02 countries I mean Canada uh which is not a country that easily comes together the provinces have much more independent authority uh multiculturalism h has an a force that keeps Canada from being quite as unified but Trump has unified Canada uh and the Canadians got behind uh their new prime minister the Liberal Party and the Liberal Party the Conservatives were doing much better and then this Liberal Party charged up um and um and and I think even Europe is showing signs The European community was always racked by disscent It is showing signs of coming together against Trump Against Trump So I'm trying to hold these seeds of hope Yes At the same time do you want more i mean I can give you more money if you want but then but truly I dread looking at the news I've never dreaded looking at the news Well I understand that And I 9:00 open up the New York Times and I see which ones are you know with the little red live and there's always something new on the homepage Bad thing after bad thing after bad thing after bad thing It is horrible It's going to and it is not going to get better But I think what gives me hope right now post 100 days is that the counterfailing anti-Trump forces inside the United States inside the population inside our institutions uh among our institutions globally uh are feeling their oats are getting stronger right and I think they will continue to get stronger I think this is good It's good for uh a lot of reasons I I think that America was you know couldn't have been staying on the road we were on Heather you know you've heard me rag on rattle on about this inequality but the raging raging inequality the the degree of corruption and money coming in from big corporations into our politics and and 10:02 wealthy people And I mean the road we were on was better than where we are right now obviously but I think the road we were on was not sustainable And if we do have this kind of huge upheaval against Trump um we might actually be have a chance to do to put ourselves back on the road we should have been on Am I being too optimistic i don't think you're too optimistic I just really hope that the timeline is fast on this and not decades to recover and not But I agree I mean of course I mean we're seeing it so starkly There is no denying the corruption and the crypto side games going on I mean it is undeniable And so it helps when the veil is removed The veil is removed That's what's happening And we can see you know the Mark Zuckerberg and and and Jeff Bezos and and Elon Musk The veil is removed We see these people who for whom they really 11:01 are We see the CEOs who have taken Trump's side We see them for you know for the people they really are Um it's like pressing what that reveal code remember on the computers and you can actually see behind everything Uh and I think this is also what's happening We can see it see power But I'm sorry to be such a cynic So you're not a you've never been a No I'm not really But I do think I mean every time you say something positive I think I'm stuck in this loop of but what about this other thing so right now the White House has issued a version of a budget Right now this is about discretionary spending non-defense though we also have some signals about what they're aiming for with defense You've been around a lot of white houses in budgets Many so does this what does this mean i mean does it it doesn't stick as such but what do we take from it no the white when the white house puts out a budget Now remember most of the White House budgets I've been around were 12:03 Congress's Congress would say 'Hello it's very nice you came out with a budget.' But here we have Republicans in control of both chambers and they are Republicans saluting Absolutely Saluting Uh so this budget is not just to be ignored Uh it is important in the sense that it signals that Donald Trump and the Trump regime you know the people around him they want to cut anything from the budget that helps vulnerable people And I'm talking about children uh people who are sick uh people who are minorities uh anything that helps vulnerable people Boom Um and anything that helps defense you know strong strong uh strengthen the America Yes Homeland security Homeland security defense and yes that's all being increased Um but it's not just vulnerable people I mean it's education It's all of these critically important I 13:04 mean PBS we saw Yeah But education is a good example What they're cutting is federal education dollars Now federal dollars in education go mostly to poor schools and poor kids and kids with learning disabilities These are vulnerable people These are the the vulnerable people I'm talking about Um and uh veterans benefits again many of them go to veterans who have understandably uh a lot of problems emotional problems because they are veterans They they have been in combat U so this is and labor it's not good for labor either Yes And it's it's lousy for labor but the programs in labor that they're cutting are programs like um mine safety right uh I mean these are people who are vulnerable uh minors Uh so I I I want to stick to my vulnerability theme because I think it's 14:00 very closely related to the one philosophy if you I want to don't make it want to make it grand grandiose uh but there is an underlying philosophy to the emerging uh Trump regime and that is social Darwinism the survival of the fittest This is what Elon Musk keeps talking about Yeah we're I'm not invited to Mars I don't think I don't think I I know you're not No I'm definitely No they don't want me on Mars And maybe you would qualify There's I'm too associated with you I'm doomed That's true But really you're exactly right And most of you are not going to Mars either To break it to break it Yeah But really so it's this social Darwin It's the strong people It's the survival of the strong as defined by us As defined by the strong And the strong are white and they're male and they are college graduates even though they pay a lot of attention Say they pay attention to working class No Uh the big winners and they will come out from the tax cut Now 15:05 we were talking about the budget a moment ago But the real the cuts in the budget that are designed to give a little bit of room to a huge another huge tax cut for the wealthy and corporations and and big corporations M we've seen this so many times Why have we not learned we haven't learned because the power structure of America is with the wealthy and big corporations and even the Democrats over the years right have been reluctant to take on that And then in Trumping power structure Trump won we saw this with the tech cuts tax cuts and here we go again Here we go again Now he did say he was going to give tax cuts Um many very wealthy people and a lot of big corporations gave him a lot of money during the campaign and for his inauguration because they wanted they expected and they'd still expect these big tax cuts And he's talking about four 16:00 or five trillion dollar of tax cuts on top of the four.5 trillion he's already given again disproportionately to the wealthy and to big corporations I'm sorry to be Debbie Downer and pessimistic Patty and sorry to all Debbies and Patties but again so part of the problem as we watch this and the hundred days and all week having to watch his press tour I mean it's a marketing mission It it's he's marketing mayhem right i mean that's what he is That's what he for his whole life days And we had to watch so many clips of just Oh Mr president I mean your first hundred No one has done a hundred in the history It's incredible The cabinet and then he's doing speeches and everyone's clapping But so all this sickopants around him make me so nervous as all this stuff I mean I keep waiting for a couple to peel off We have a few examples of maybe someone raising their hand and saying you know well I think you can wait a long time No I I don't 17:04 want I'm still in the positive He can switch next week Still a positive camp But um I I think it's going to take a while for Republicans to be um ripped off or peeled off from Trump I mean even Lindsey Graham uh this week you know he he puts together a coalition bipartisan in the Senate Um and it looks like it is veto proof 67 senators on this bill And I think to myself wow that's that's really something It's a bill uh to you know to force Russia uh to sit down at the table with Ukraine and uh and maybe give Trump some backbone in in in his deal But actually the closer I got to looking at it the less it seemed It is really something that um it's mush Yeah Unfortunately so there's no real peeling back of the Republicans I think there were three Republicans who signaled this 18:07 week that they would not go along with Trump Mowski around the tariffs around the tariffs right this Marowski and um Paul Rand Paul and Collins but that's three senators Uh I mean you But I'll take it You'll take it and I'll take it That's on my positive list It's not on your positive list But it's it's it's still we have a long way to go Uh I think the only way to really get Republican senators and Republican House members um is to organize at the state and local level And as the economy tanks constituents will say 'This is really a problem The prices are too high I have no purchasing power.' And that is going to shift some people But that's depressing Yes it's depressing but it's also hopeful that the economy I don't know whose side the economy should be on the the the positive or the negative Mine but both That's the thing about all 19:05 of this But the economy is uh it's not exactly tanking I mean the unemployment report yesterday was pretty good Um but it was done in the middle of the month It was not done at the end of the month So the next one will be telling The next one will be telling And what we know also last week is that the US economy shrank during the first quarter of the year What does that mean it means that the total goods and services produced were less this quarter January to April 15th than they were in the previous quart It's contracting like a it's actually contracting which is amazing because the population is still growing small but is still population growth productivity still is you expect productivity is going up Uh and so to have the the the economy contracting is a very dangerous side and if you have two quarters of contraction you are 20:03 officially in a recession So we this economy is very fragile and if he continues Trump continues to push the well it's Biden's fault though You saw that all week Well there there's a limit to how far Trump can push the Biden's fault uh narrative because when the economy keeps on going down and I think unfortunately it will uh there's I think really a right starting today or maybe starting last week he can no longer say it's Biden's fault The Biden economy the last quarter of the Biden um administration the economy grew 2.4% 4% That's pretty healthy growth Uh the first quarter uh full quarter of this year mostly under Trump uh it shrank uh point uh I think as.3% Doesn't sound like much but it shrank That's a huge difference to go 21:02 from a growing economy to a shrinking economy And what's the difference is there any exogenous outside force is it a you know another sickness uh a a a terrible contagion I know Is it nope What's the difference it is Donald Trump Donald J Trump That's the difference And the tariffs and the decisions and the bond market and the choices and and yes and attacking uh you know Jerome Powell I mean all of that uh continues even now to get investors very nervous Um and I think it's making companies ex exceedingly nervous Nobody's going to hire This is why I'm worried about the next unemployment report And this is why conversely I am uh or you could say perversely um positive because I think this helps organize and generate and mobilize and energize people to get him 22:01 out of office So but the tariffs are starting to hit Consumers are starting to see higher prices There's murmurings about gas is going to go up People are starting to see in their normal lives of purchasing Yeah Right Yeah Yeah And then of course Amazon says 'Well we're going to put on our website we're going to be transparent and we will tell you how much the tariffs are costing you.' Well isn't that amazing i mean but then what happened well in that same day this is a matter of hours uh Amazon says it's going to you know is is thinking about planning to show uh consumers how much the tariffs are going to cost for each item Um and then Trump sees that and explodes and uh his his stoogge chief you know the White House you mean Musk or a different one no the the the White House communications director right um uh she she accuses Amazon of being political and being you know uh being partisan and doing awful things and then Trump gets on the phone with Bezos Now 23:05 this is all within the matter of hours and then Bezos backs off and he says 'Oh we're really we won't plan to do that We're not going to show people uh the effect of the tariffs.' To which Trump says 'Good guy Good guy Just got off the phone He really solved the problem fast He solved the problem fast This is in a microcosm of of everything that really Trump represents and also the corruption uh of Trumpism Uh this is a microcosm of big business u you know kissing his tukus You know what a toucus is of course I know what a tukus is It's your hine Yes Yes Right Exactly Not mine but it's a once glutius maximus So this is um this is I I think one of the most one of the worst examples of how consumers are being screwed by Trump and by big 24:03 business and by uh by high-tech and by this this incredible uh you know just the payoffs right and the marriage between and the anticip business and and the anticipatory surrender right you solved the problem He said there wasn't a problem there There was going to be transparency around what tariffs were charging customers Exactly That the problem was for Trump The problem was that people were going to see that the tariffs were going to cost people a lot And he's been saying no people don't pay the tariffs Consumers don't pay the tariffs And so this was going to this was going to contradict his lie You know another Trump lie So I will have a positive on the list a seed of hope and that is that we hear lot le less about Musk and Doge I mean terrible things are still a foot and he still has you know his hands on the reigns in some regard but he's spending less time in DC But it 25:04 was interesting this past week where he said 'I'm just doing what Clinton did I'm just thinking about you know reinterpreting things I'm going to rethink government I mean this has been done before by a Democrat Same same Can I tell us tell you I was there right hello And just let's remind us a little bit So there was this NPR this committee that came in and said 'Here's 300 and whatever it was 82 recommendations.' This was the reinventing government initiative and Al Gore was in charge and every cabinet member including me We were all you know part of it And the goal was And the goal was to cut unnecessary expenditures without harming the public Efficiency gains right well creating efficiency gains but doing it in a way that didn't harm people even including the civil service I mean I at the Labor Department uh uh we we went from I think it was 16,000 people down to maybe 11,000 but not anybody was laid 26:06 off Everybody was given notice Uh people uh you know it was done in a way that minimized the damage to human beings uh to people who were working in factories and in mines and and every place else uh we made sure that we did not do any damage and that's what efficiency is all about Do as much good as you were doing before and don't do any bad That's the big contrast with what Elon Musk and Trump are doing They are uh creating chaos and they're not economists They don't talk about paro optimization Right Well neither do you Do you normally talk about paro i'm not watching the courts That's what I'm doing a lot of But it it is true Uh the word that's not a tenant of Doge A tenant is not do no harm or do as little harm or humans above all else But this 27:02 this is where the uh doctrine of of social Darwinism comes in because behind Doge behind Musk is this efficiency means survival of the fittest Let's get rid of people who are not strong enough who are not needed Uh and they will and who are not saluting I mean let's be real And who who are not saluting And this is this has absolutely nothing to do with saving money because you're getting rid of people who are in the IRS who are IRS auditors who would audit rich people And you get rid of the IRS auditors You have fewer auditors of rich people So you the rich don't have to pay what they owe uh the government doesn't got get $300 billion owed to them Uh this is um I think historians will look back on Doge and Musk uh and Trump uh as the ring leader and say uh it was one of the most shameful periods of our history 28:02 Uh now you say that Elon Musk is leaving He's still around He says he's going to be there one day a week But you saw that Trump used the past tense for him Yes That was about a week and a half ago Yeah Yeah that was interesting It is interesting Well I think Trump knows that Elon Musk's approval rating is down in the cellar 35% approval That Wisconsin Supreme Court race It it did prove a lot A hit Uh I mean because no longer can Elon Musk uh threaten to put money into a a campaign In fact he becomes a liability for candidates And you're absolutely right Wisconsin you know you're sounding on my side You're sounding positive Yeah Good Touche I don't know I feel like we're doseydoing and going around the other side It is Do you want me to get negative again no I don't want you to get negative I I I think we are in a very complicated period A lot of a lot of people come up to me and they say 29:02 'What are we going to do how are we going to get out of this i'm I can't sleep I don't I you know somebody a lot of people like you they say I I'm even afraid to read the papers in the morning Um and I it it's so important to step back and try to understand the big currents and the big frame the big picture Uh and when I do that at least now Heather honestly I'm feeling better Okay I'm going to remind us of this in the next three minutes where um in terms of what are is there anything you're doing i mean I know you're constantly writing on Substack and those kinds of things but what do you do in your downtime do you do anything to try any downtime no but try to revive your spirit I mean in the evenings do you read a book do you uh Well go for a watching the um the series this masterpiece theater series By the way public broadcasting is is now under the 30:02 gun The executive order just um Well you were at the you were at a KQED event Yes It was it was for public broadcasting basically the whole western part of the United States and the EO came out during that event and they came on stage and talked about it I know I know And it's on the chopping block and uh but it's so people love public television public radio Mr Rogers I mean a lot of kids were brought up on it Oh for sure 321 contact That wasn't your electric company Not your time That was not my time I think it's going to be hard to get rid of it Um but uh I you asked me about what I was doing in my spare time A little bit of um the series It's a wonderful series based upon Hillary Mantel's uh books and the latest part of the series is called The Mirror and the Light and this is all about the life of Henry VIII This is Wolf Hall Yes Yes And 31:02 Thomas Cromwell and uh Henry VIII is played by Damen Lewis and he's fantastic He's fabulous He But you look at Henry VIII and you c you just can't help think we're back to you know this is this is this is Donald Trump This is Donald Trump as if we were in the 16th century with Donald Trump in the 16th century with a court with the obsequious with people you know kissing the tush and people scheming and and not telling him and and him scheming and being paranoid and I mean it's the same thing It's exactly the same thing Uh you heard Trump has a military parade planned for his birthday Read that this week I It makes me nauseous Can you imagine what the founders of this republic including George Washington who were so afraid of centralized power and the monarchy and were so negative about understandably about anything that resembled monarchy and created a 32:03 constitution really to stop the centralization of power If they were here today and saw what Donald Trump is planning for his birthday a military parade Talk about cost savings I feel like we could save I mean it is just What is it going to be 90 million or something It's so obscene It is obscene It really is Now you put me in a bad mood successfully Apologize Just watch Wolf Hall It gets really great at the end No Thomas Cromwell I know meets his I don't want to spoiler don't spoiler alert everybody I think people know that it's historical okay so you're doing that I like my weekends because I spend them with my kiddo and then of course Sunday for those who celebrate is Star Wars day that's tomorrow Star Wars day May the fourth be with you May the fourth be with you also my bestie Marissa's birthday oh says happy birthday Marissa so but thank you for 33:01 that Um so May 4th Star Wars day I have to I love to you know torture you with your past I know you knew it It was 1994 I did my research Yes George Lucas and I we went to a childcare center Well you just had a day with Lucas I mean my friend George and you showed him around the labor department and it was um Yeah these little kids were so cute They were it was in the labor department's child care center and um George came around with me and we said hello to the kids and we put on Star Wars uniforms and I love it It was great Yeah that is good And also we have to thank this table we're using A thank you table It was made by Well thank you for the table I mean I think that's on the gratitude list but also the person who helped craft it for us is Richard Ross Richard Richard Thank you Richard for the So this was a free table on the side of the 34:00 road and he we needed kind of a Is this a lima bean what do you think it is kidney bean What shape oh it's a kind of limema Oh it's lma So and we needed this little shape for in here and drilled holes and it's on casters and he and so it's upcycled It's great I mean so much of this show is because of people who are friends of the show and people who supplied the theme music I know So good And and thank you all I can I thank you again yes And I will thank you and toast you Do you toast coffee we do We do We do And did you see the little coffee clutch mhm I don't know Should we be selling these i don't know if you would you like one Low It'll just be the cost of making them with a small donation We could do it Well also thank you Oh I'm going to turn here Thank you to uh Michael Lahannes Calderon uh who is right over there behind the camera and um and thank you to all of you I mean the 100 days was hard enough It is 35:04 Even though I've tried to be positive and I am feeling basically positive uh there is a lot long and difficult to go through Uh and your um your activism your caring your commitment your dedication to the ideas that have made this country great really great not the magrate but I'm talking about democracy the rule of law uh concern about social justice uh and shall we say it diversity as a good thing Uh thank you for keeping alive all of those flames here here and thank you We'll see you next Saturday I am proud to present George W Lucas with the third annual Working Mother Magazine Family Champion Award George

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