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TRANSCRIPT

Jane Coaston: It’s Friday, May 15th, I’m Jane Coaston, and this is What a Day, the show that says if you ordered a Trump phone last year, it turns out you might be getting it, soon. Maybe. Because, you know, counting on a Trump family promise when you’ve already paid the money seems like a bad idea. [music break] On today’s show, FBI Director Kash Patel allegedly went snorkeling on his not-vacation in Hawaii. And did the Supreme Court just become a feminist? But let’s start with the economy. If you’re someone who, say, buys things, you may have noticed that life is pretty expensive right now, and Americans are not happy about it. A CNN poll this week found that 70% of Americans oppose President Donald Trump’s handling of the economy, and 77%, 77%, think that his policies have increased the cost of living. Not that Trump cares very much, exactly. Here he is Tuesday before boarding Marine One on his way to China. 

[clip of unnamed news journalist] When you’re negotiating with Iran, Mr. President, to what extent are American’s financial situations motivating you to make a deal? 

[clip of President Donald Trump] Not even a little bit. It, the only thing that matters when I’m talking about Iran, they can’t have a nuclear weapon. I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation. 

Jane Coaston: I, for one, am not surprised. Trump came into office claiming he would lower prices, quote, “on day one.” That didn’t happen, and his own policies are partially to blame. To talk more about the economy, inflation, and what we can do when our lives feel way too expensive, I spoke to Stacey Vanek Smith. She is a reporter for Bloomberg Businessweek and co-host of the Bloomberg podcast, Everybody’s Business. Stacey, welcome back to What a Day. 

Stacey Vanek Smith: Thanks, Jane. It’s good to good to see you. Good to be here. 

Jane Coaston: This week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that inflation jumped to its highest level in nearly three years last month. Some of this was, I don’t think, very surprising. Gas prices have skyrocketed since the start of Trump’s Iran war. But what else do these numbers say about the economy? 

Stacey Vanek Smith: I mean, you’re absolutely right. Obviously the first thing everybody thought of when they saw these numbers were gas prices. You know, gas prices are up more than 20%. It’s a lot. I mean in California, I think you guys have the highest gas prices in the country right now. So everybody’s feeling that. And businesses feel it and consumers feel it. And so that part of the report, I think everybody focused on. But food prices are also way up. I mean, things like beef prices are up 14%, tomatoes are up 39%, also rent prices are up quite a bit, utility prices because of all the data centers, our electricity is getting more expensive. So a lot of expenses that we can’t get out of have been going up a lot, even without uh the extra stress of the war in Iran and the effect that’s had on oil prices. 

Jane Coaston: So it sounds like a lot of this uh you know is probably not exactly Trump’s fault. But Trump did campaign on bringing prices down. And many people voted for him because of that promise. Why hasn’t Trump’s, quote, “roaring economy” come to fruition? 

Stacey Vanek Smith: I think there are a bunch of reasons. First of all, even though President Trump definitely came into office promising to bring down prices, especially with eggs, eggs are cheaper, by the way. They’re like 39% cheaper than they were last year, but pretty much everything else was up. 

Jane Coaston: Woo. 

Stacey Vanek Smith: I know. Um. I think it’s a bunch things. I mean, the tariffs, first of all. Right. Tariffs are gonna raise the price of anything that’s imported. So that is putting pressure on making prices go up. Now the war in Iran. I mean, these are what economists will sometimes call unforced errors, right? I mean these are things that didn’t have to happen that were actions that the president took and the consequences of those actions are prices going up. So, you know, I think President Trump is counting on things like interest rates getting cut and the AI boom and you know tax cuts to companies to kind of counteract those things, but if lowering prices was his main goal, he’s he’s been making some strange decisions. 

Jane Coaston: Okay but I keep thinking about how like beef prices are up, not exactly because of Trump’s policies, but because of a bunch of other stuff having to do in the beef industry. Uh. 

Stacey Vanek Smith: Yeah. 

Jane Coaston: There have been issues regarding coffee and chocolate because of weather and diseases. So how much of this current affordability crisis is because of Trump’s economic policies? And how much is left over from say, COVID price surges or other stuff that’s all happening to culminate right now?

Stacey Vanek Smith: Yeah, that is a really that is a really good point. I think I think there is a fair amount of it that predates Trump that has to do with COVID and things like that. You’re totally right. A lot of weather events, but you know those events are always gonna happen. There are always going to be forces that push the price of one product or another up at some point in time. I think the cumulative inflation though that we’re seeing, I think is the result of a lot of choices. Um, I think COVID did obviously create a lot of inflation and push prices up, but they were starting to come back down. We were seeing that trend through the end of the Biden administration and the beginning of Trump’s presidency, but Trump made, has made a lot of decisions that have had a, like have pushed prices up. Have had an impact on inflation. 

Jane Coaston: The Iran war does not appear to be ending anytime soon, which means that a large part of this issue is not going to be fixed anytime soon. So what can consumers expect from the economy in the near coming months? 

Stacey Vanek Smith: It depends. I think you’re right. It does not seem like the conflict with Iran is slowing down or that the Strait of Hormuz is going to reopen any time soon. And as long as that happens, it just puts pressure on everybody, on consumers, on businesses. And I think if this keeps going, it’s going to have a couple of impacts. Number one is that we’re going to keep seeing prices rise, because even if places have tried to keep their gas prices down or companies that have been paying more for their fuel to ship things back and forth have tried to keep prices down. They’re just going to have to start passing those along to customers. But also, I think you know that can bleed into other things because consumers, you know we’re all dealing with high prices everywhere, so we might spend less money and save less money. That means businesses are selling less stuff. That puts stress on them. That means they might hire fewer people or even let some people go. So it has these ripple effects throughout the economy that can take some time that are sometimes slow to ramp up. But when they ramp up, sometimes it can be hard to pull them back. And that is honestly what worries me right now. 

Jane Coaston: What advice do you have for Americans who are feeling the financial squeeze right now? Because I think it’s hitting everybody all the time, everywhere, what should we be thinking about and doing? 

Stacey Vanek Smith: Oh, I mean, that is a great question. I think don’t panic is my main piece of advice. I wish I could take it. Um. I think just maybe prepare for prices to be high for a little while. You know things are really expensive. Jobs are a little harder to get at this moment than they usually are in the economy. So I think overall, there’s a lot of great stuff in our economy. We’re a pretty strong economy and resilient. But we’ve taking a lot of beatings. It’s just a good moment to be a little careful, a little cautious. If it’s possible to save some money, I would save some money because there’s just been a lot happening. It’s hard to keep up.  

Jane Coaston: Stacey, as always.Thank you so much for joining me. 

Stacey Vanek Smith: Thanks, Jane. Great to see you. 

Jane Coaston: That was my conversation with Stacey Vanek Smith, host of Bloomberg Business Week’s podcast Everybody’s Business. The business of this podcast is news, so we’ve got more coming up. If you like the show, make sure to subscribe, leave a five-star review on Spotify and Apple podcasts, watch us on YouTube, and share with your friends. More to come after some ads. [music break]

[AD BREAK]

Jane Coaston: Here’s what else we’re following today. 

[sung] Headlines. 

Jane Coaston: President Trump met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Thursday for their long-awaited summit. The White House said the pair discussed fentanyl flows, economic cooperation, and Iran. Trump spoke with Fox News’ Sean Hannity after the meeting, because of course he did. 

[clip of President Donald Trump] President Xi would like to see a deal made. He would like to see a deal made. And oh he did offer, he said, if I can be of any help at all, I would like to be of help. 

[clip of Sean Hannity] He did say that. 

[clip of President Donald Trump] Yeah, he did say that. And look, anybody that buys that much oil has obviously got some kind of a relationship with him. But he said I would love to be of help. If I can be of any help whatsoever, he’d like to see the Hormuz Strait open. He said if I could be of any help what so ever, I would like to help. 

Jane Coaston: How nice of him. China is the largest buyer of Iranian oil, and Trump has hoped Xi would use that leverage to prod Iran into a deal on U.S. terms. Trump also said Xi assured him that China wouldn’t provide Iran with military equipment. The chief of Border Patrol, Michael Banks, resigned effective immediately on Thursday. In a text to a Fox News reporter confirming his exit, Banks said, quote, “After almost 37 years of public service, now is my time to enjoy family and life.” An investigation by the conservative outlet, the Washington Examiner, revealed that six current and former Border Patrol agents said that Banks bragged about paying for sex in Colombia and Thailand. These allegations resulted in two investigations by Customs and Border Protection. This is the third high-profile exit from the Department of Homeland Security in two months, following former Department of homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Todd Lyons. 

[clip of unnamed speaker] Our nation was conceived by men and women who believed in the power of God, who believe in the providences of God and in prayer. 

Jane Coaston: A non-profit called Freedom 250 is holding a prayer gathering on the National Mall in Washington D.C. this Sunday. The Rededicate 250, a national jubilee of prayer, praise, and thanksgiving list of speakers, includes several top Trump administration officials and a cast of mostly conservative Christian clergy. Some critics call it an effort to hijack U.S. history with a false Christian nationalist narrative. These critics include me. The group will probably be praying for the Supreme Court justices Sunday after they made an unexpected 7-2 decision to preserve access to a drug used in medication abortion. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented. The court rejected lower court restrictions while a lawsuit continues. The order allows patients seeking abortions to continue obtaining the drug, Mifepristone, at pharmacies or through the mail, without an in-person visit to a doctor. Access is likely to remain uninterrupted at least until next year as the case plays out. I wonder if this signals anything for what the court is thinking, or if I’m suddenly putting faith in this court for zero reason. Hmm. And finally, some news from FBI Director Kash Patel’s world of fun. According to emails obtained by the Associated Press, when Patel was on an official trip in Hawaii, he participated in a VIP snorkel experience around the USS Arizona, which was sunk during Pearl Harbor. More like Splash Patel, am I right? Snorkeling at the ship, where about 900 sailors’ remains are entombed is generally off-limits. A Marine veteran who was trained to dive to inspect the ship told the outlet, quote, “It’s like having a bachelor party at a church. It’s hallowed ground.” That sounds like Kash Patel’s whole thing, though. And that’s the news.  [music break]

[AD BREAK]

Jane Coaston: That’s all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, ask, hey, where is Representative Thomas Kean Jr.? And tell your friends to listen. And if you’re into reading, and not just about how the Republican representative from New Jersey hasn’t been seen, even in photographic form, in more than two months despite running in a competitive re-election campaign, like me, What a Day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at Crooked.com/subscribe. I’m Jane Coaston. And two weeks ago, a spokesperson said Kean was dealing with a health issue. When asked why he hasn’t been seen in New Jersey or Washington or anywhere else, that spokesperson said, quote, “there’s no cameras where Tom is.” Now I have more questions. [music break] What a Day is a production of Crooked Media. Our show is produced by Caitlin Plummer, Emily Fohr, Erica Morrison, and Adriene Hilt. Our team includes Hayley Jones, Greg Walters, Matt Berg, Joseph Dutra, Johanna Case, and Desmond Taylor. Our music is by Kyle Murdock and Jordan Cantor. We had help today from the Associated Press. Our production staff is proudly unionized with the Writers Guild of America East. [music break]