The Inside Story: The Trump Transition | 182

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The Inside Story: Trump Transition

Episode 182 – February 6, 2025

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This week connected the Inside Story...President Trump unveils his caller program for Palestinians and Gaza....how caller tariffs could interaction the U.S. and China...plus...Secretary Marco Rubio connected his archetypal overseas tour....NOW....on the Inside Story...The Trump Transition.

The Inside Story:

CARLA BABB, VOA Pentagon Correspondent:

Hello and invited to The Inside Story, I’m Pentagon Correspondent Carla Babb.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Washington this week, the archetypal overseas caput of authorities to conscionable with President Trump astatine the White House successful his 2nd term.

During a associated property conference, President Trump announced the thought that the US would instrumentality implicit power of the Gaza portion and relocate the implicit 2 cardinal radical that telephone it home.

VOA’s Patsy Widakuswara has more.

PATSY WIDAKUSWARA, VOA White House Bureau Chief:

As hundreds of thousands of Gazans instrumentality to their demolished homes pursuing the January 19 ceasefire woody betwixt Israel and Hamas, connected Tuesday U.S. President Donald Trump made a stunning announcement.

President Donald Trump:

The U.S. volition instrumentality implicit the Gaza Strip, and we volition bash a occupation with it, too.

PATSY WIDAKUSWARA:

Trump went beyond the proposition helium made past period to relocate Gazans to different countries, including Jordan and Egypt. He wants to make the country into what helium calls “the Riviera of the Middle East.”

President Donald Trump:

Everybody I've spoken to loves the thought of the United States owning that portion of land, processing and creating thousands of jobs with thing that volition beryllium magnificent, successful a truly magnificent country that cipher would know. Nobody could look due to the fact that each they spot is decease and demolition and rubble.

PATSY WIDAKUSWARA:

Trump made the announcement arsenic helium hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu astatine the White House.

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister:

I've said this before, I'll accidental it again. You are the top person Israel has ever had successful the White House.

PATSY WIDAKUSWARA:

Trump did not stock details connected however helium plans to exert power implicit Gaza, an country ravaged by 15 months of war. He did not regularisation retired sending U.S. troops. And it’s unclear however occupying Gaza would acceptable into Trump’s ain stated extremity of expanding the Abraham Accords to see Riyadh. He brokered the woody that normalized ties betwixt Israel and Arab countries successful 2020.

Saudi Arabia has said it would lone hold to admit Israel if the Gaza warfare ends and Palestinians person a way to statehood.

Mirette Mabrouk, Middle East Institute:

Shuffling them retired of Palestine into neighboring countries is not a peculiarly auspicious start, truthful I deliberation it's going to person rather a pronounced effect. Having said that, we don't know, arsenic with truthful galore things astir President Trump, we conscionable person to hold and see.

PATSY WIDAKUSWARA:

Trump’s announcement connected Gaza is his latest signaling of expansionist ambitions, pursuing his statements to get Greenland from Denmark, instrumentality implicit the Panama Canal and sorb Canada.

Ahead of his gathering with Netanyahu, Trump besides directed the restoration of his "maximum pressure" run connected Iran to forestall it from getting a atomic weapon.

He besides ended enactment for the U.N. bureau that helps Palestinian refugees and withdrew the U.S. from the U.N. Human Rights Council, which helium says is antisemitic.

Patsy Widakuswara, VOA News, Washington.

CARLA BABB:

International absorption to President Trumps thought to instrumentality implicit the Gaza portion and region the Palestinians has prompted swift and astir cosmopolitan choler and condemnation astir the world.

Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary-General:

It is captious to enactment existent to the bedrock of planetary law. It is indispensable to debar immoderate signifier of taste cleansing.

Keir Starmer, British Prime Minister:

“They indispensable beryllium allowed home. They indispensable beryllium allowed to rebuild, and we should beryllium with them successful that rebuild connected the mode to a two-state solution.

Linda Gradstein has more.

LINDA GRADSTEIN, VOA Correspondent:

President Donald Trump dropped his bombshell astir the aboriginal of Gaza astatine a associated quality league with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu astatine the White House Tuesday.

Trump said the 2 cardinal Palestinians volition beryllium resettled elsewhere.

For some, it is simply a imagination travel true.

Bezalel Smotrich, Israeli Finance Minister:

The program presented yesterday by [U.S.] President [Donald] Trump is the existent effect to October 7th. Those who carried retired the worst massacre connected our onshore volition find themselves losing their onshore forever.

LINDA GRADSTEIN:

Israeli analysts said Trump’s thought resonates with hardliners successful Israel.

Amotz Asa-El, Shalom Hartman Institute:

It’s lone earthy for them to beryllium this idea’s cheerleaders due to the fact that they deliberation successful messianic terms, successful presumption of colossal solutions and transitions and transformations, each of which is not the mode the Middle East is structured.

LINDA GRADSTEIN:

He says Israelis and Palestinians request to beryllium patient.

Amotz Asa-El, Shalom Hartman Institute:

You privation change; you person to enactment precise patiently implicit galore years with galore participants oregon each you’ll person is yet much unit and demolition and despair.

LINDA GRADSTEIN:

Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri called Trump's remarks "ridiculous and absurd," adding that immoderate ideas of this benignant are, quote, "a look for creating chaos and hostility successful the region."

In Gaza, Palestinians accidental that contempt the large-scale destruction, they person nary volition of leaving.

Ahmed Halasa, Gaza City Resident:

I americium Gazan, my begetter and gramps were from here. We are existent Gazans. So, they tin bash immoderate they privation to do, and we shall stay steadfast successful our homeland. We volition not permission here. We've got 1 enactment only: unrecorded oregon dice here.

LINDA GRADSTEIN

Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian envoy to the United Nations, offered his ain solution.

Riyad Mansour, Palestinian UN Envoy:

Our state and our location is the Gaza Strip. It's portion of Palestine. We person nary home. For those who privation to nonstop them to a happy, bully place, fto them spell backmost to their archetypal homes wrong Israel. There are bully places there, and they volition beryllium blessed to instrumentality to these places.

LINDA GRADSTEIN:

It is not wide however President Trump’s thought volition power talks connected a imperishable ceasefire successful Gaza acceptable to statesman this week successful Qatar.

Linda Gradstein, VOA News, Jerusalem.

CARLA BABB:

Congressional Democratic enactment warned President Donald Trump this week they would usage upcoming authorities backing talks arsenic leverage to combat the administration's changes stemming from the Department of Government Efficiency led by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk.

I’m joined by our Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson for details. So, Katherine, we conscionable heard a infinitesimal agone Democrat Chris Van Hollen accusing Elon Musk of threatening nationalist security?

KATHERINE GYPSON, VOA Congressional Correspondent:

From protecting Amazon rainforests … to caring for Myanmar refugees … and lodging Ukrainians fleeing the warfare against Russia … the lack of U.S. assistance is being felt astir the world. In Washington this week, Democratic lawmakers protested extracurricular the now-closed office of the pb U.S. assistance bureau and extracurricular the U.S. Capitol.

Sen. Cory Booker, Democrat:

We volition combat their violations of separation of powers. We volition combat their violations of our Constitution of the United States of America. We volition not unopen up. We volition basal up. We volition talk up. We volition emergence up.

KATHERINE GYPSON:

Earlier this week, the U.S. Agency for International Development, oregon USAID, was moved nether the power of Secretary of State Marco Rubio and astir each its employees enactment connected leave, pursuing an enforcement bid from President Donald Trump freezing U.S. overseas assistance pending review.

Rep. Jonathan Jackson, Democrat:

We're seeing the astir almighty antheral successful the world, Donald J. Trump, and we're seeing the richest antheral successful the world, Elon Musk, present instrumentality wealth and nutrient from the poorest pistillate and the poorest antheral connected Earth.

KATHERINE GYPSON:

Congressional Republicans accidental Trump is exercising wide statesmanlike authorization to reevaluate authorities agencies. Trump is accomplishing this done Elon Musk, a multibillionaire whom helium enactment successful complaint of the Department of Government Efficiency, oregon DOGE, whose purpose is to trim national spending.

Sen. John Thune, Majority Leader:

I don't deliberation they're closing an agency, but I bash deliberation they person the close to reappraisal backing and however those decisions are made and what priorities are being funded. I deliberation that's astir apt existent of immoderate administration. When they travel in, determination are tons of programs authorized and funded done that agency, immoderate which I deliberation are operating the mode successful which they were intended. Some which aren't.

KATHERINE GYPSON:

One expert told VOA the concern is unprecedented successful the United States.

Claire Finkelstein, University of Pennsylvania:

Arguably, it's a existent usurpation of separation of powers for the enforcement subdivision to effort to unopen down agencies wholly that Congress has brought into beingness and that Congress endows and appropriates funds for, adjacent if the enforcement subdivision has rather a batch of discretion with respect to however to operationalize those funds and however the bureau is going to function.

KATHERINE GYPSON:

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Tuesday he’s supportive of efforts to destruct fraud and maltreatment but criticized the velocity and secrecy of the process.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, Minority Leader:

Whatever DOGE is doing, it's not democracy. We cognize what ideology is like. It's retired successful the open. It's not secret.

KATHERINE GYPSON:

Democrats person pledged to stall votes connected Trump’s Cabinet nominees and leverage their votes connected a caller authorities spending bill, to protestation the changes astatine USAID.

I deliberation we're going to spot a batch much treatment of this contented connected Capitol Hill. Remember, authorities backing expires successful astir six weeks.

CARLA BABB:

Well, Katherine, fantabulous reporting. There is truthful overmuch to unpack here. What bash Democrats accidental that they privation to bash to effort to support national employees astatine this point?

KATHERINE GYPSON:

Well, we heard from person Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Schumer earlier this week saying that they're going to beryllium introducing authorities called halt the bargain which is simply a throwback to immoderate of the things we heard from the Trump camp. They said that that legislation, if passed, would support the accusation that's been exposed successful that breach, and that's millions of national employees, Medicare and Medicaid recipients. That's millions of Americans who person had their Social Security and different idiosyncratic accusation unfastened and unsecured. So they accidental that authorities volition assistance benignant of seal that spread there.

CARLA BABB:

And truthful what are radical connected Capitol saying astir passing a authorities fund which should person been passed, you know, backmost successful September, and is inactive ongoing, and inactive we're operating successful a continuing solution arsenic we speak?

KATHERINE GYPSON:

That's right, you summed up the concern that we spell done perpetually connected Capitol Hill, which is that we person these continuing resolutions. Are fundamentally similar little, small 3 oregon 4 period chunks of backing that support the authorities open, but past we person to spell done the negotiating process each implicit again.

Now, if you speech to Democrats up connected Capitol Hill close now. They spot that arsenic an opportunity. They bash not person the numbers to artifact Trump's nominees. They don't person the numbers to artifact legislation, but they tin artifact that authorities funding. They tin leverage it and say, We won't walk authorities backing until you reinstate immoderate of this USAID programming, until you supply protections for these national employees, until you bash immoderate of the things we privation to, you know, instrumentality backmost from what Doge is doing close now.

CARLA BABB:

Well, Katherine, earlier you permission america immoderate absorbing developments successful the Cabinet picks for President Trump?

KATHERINE GYPSON:

I mean, it's truly striking however rapidly the Senate Republicans are moving done this process. I heard determination that it was astir doubly arsenic speedy arsenic the archetypal Trump administration. They're truly moving done the nominees, getting those concern meetings connected the calendar truthful that they tin get afloat legislature level votes, and past instantly getting those nominees sworn in, due to the fact that the Trump medication knows you request those furniture appointees astatine the agencies to transportation retired the agenda.

CARLA BABB:

Katherine Gypsum convey you truthful much.

KATHERINE GYPSON:

It's bully to beryllium here.

CARLA BABB:

President Trump’s play announcement of tariffs connected Canada, China and Mexico shook planetary markets connected Monday with the U.S. connected way for a commercialized warfare with its apical 3 trading partners.

But conscionable a fewer days later, Mr. Trump walked backmost tariffs connected Canada and Mexico for astatine slightest the adjacent month. Meanwhile, Beijing struck backmost with its ain tariffs connected Washington. VOA’s Anita Powell reports from the White House.

ANITA POWELL, VOA White House Correspondent:

President Donald Trump’s play tariff announcement is being felt successful Ottawa, successful Mexico City, successful Beijing — and here, successful New York … Hong Kong … Seoul … and Taipei. Around the world, markets fell Monday aft Trump dropped 25 percent tariffs connected Mexico and Canada, and 10 percent connected China.

In Washington, Trump spoke of his statement Monday with Mexico to intermission the tariffs for a period successful speech for concessions from Mexico City meant to halt migration flows and the question of amerciable drugs crossed the confederate border. Markets rapidly made up immoderate losses aft his announcement. He besides announced a akin intermission with Canada later on Monday.

President Donald Trump:

We person to halt radical from pouring in, and we person to halt fentanyl, and that includes China. Fentanyl has killed this twelvemonth astatine slightest 200,000 people. It's pouring successful from China done Mexico and Canada. And they've got to halt it. And if they don't halt it, the tariffs are going to get worse. A batch worse.

ANITA POWELL:

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum sounded a hopeful enactment connected Monday.

Claudia Sheinbaum, President of Mexico:

I'm definite that successful this month, we'll beryllium capable to person results, bully results for your people, bully results for the radical of Mexico, and this was the effect of the agreement. It was a bully conversation, with respect.

ANITA POWELL:

Economic scholars accidental consumers volition commencement to consciousness the pinch soon and pointed to humanities parallels.

Steve Kamin, American Enterprise Institute:

This brings america backmost to the 1930s, you know, when, arsenic you whitethorn recall, a commercialized warfare was 1 of the factors that deepened the Great Depression, arsenic economies each implicit the satellite erected barriers in bid to support imports out.

ANITA POWELL:

China’s ambassador to the United Nations, Fu Cong, connected Monday said Beijing would crook to the World Trade enactment for recourse.

Fu Cong, China's Ambassador to the United Nations:

We bash judge that this is successful usurpation of the WTO rules. So, that's wherefore China is filing a ailment astatine the WTO. And we're besides alert we whitethorn beryllium forced to instrumentality countermeasures. And fto maine besides stress that determination is nary victor successful a commercialized war.

ANITA POWELL

Trump acknowledged that the determination could rise prices but said the higher tariffs would beryllium “worth the price” to bolster U.S. interests. The tariffs instrumentality effect connected Tuesday.

Anita Powell, VOA News, the White House.

CARLA BABB:

Addressing amerciable migration remains a cardinal precedence for Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Trump administration. Rubio continued his archetypal authoritative travel to the Western Hemisphere arsenic the nation’s apical diplomat, arsenic a U.S.-funded formation from Panama returned dozens of undocumented Colombians backmost to their homeland.

The subject flew the archetypal radical of detained migrants to a U.S. naval basal successful Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, this week.

The radical included less than 20 migrants, which the medication has labeled arsenic “high threat.” The detention installation connected basal is known mostly for lodging subject prisoners and panic suspects, including those progressive successful the 9/11 attacks and members of the Taliban. That detention installation is wherever these fist migrants are being held.

President Trump precocious issued a memorandum to hole the U.S. naval basal astatine Guantanamo Bay to location tens of thousands of amerciable migrants.

Some 300 Marines deployed connected those orders to grow a abstracted country of the basal that has housed migrants successful the past. The detentions are overseen by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.

Cuba’s president called it an “act of brutality.”

The Guantanamo enlargement process is expected to past for weeks. And Mr. Trump says it volition location “the worst transgression amerciable immigrants.”

CARLA BABB:

The determination by US President Donald Trump to adjacent USAID and enactment a 90-day frost connected astir overseas assistance is besides affecting the warfare successful Ukraine. And now, Ukrainian humanitarian assistance organizations are scrambling. VOA Eastern Europe Bureau Chief Myroslava Gongadze has the story, with reporting from Anna Chernikova.

MYROSLAVA GONGADZE, VOA Eastern Europe Bureau Chief:

The Veteran Hub provides intelligence and societal enactment to Ukrainian warfare veterans and their families. The radical says the Trump administration’s bid to frost overseas assistance forced it to adjacent its bureau successful the municipality of Vinnytsia.

Their main bureau successful Kyiv is inactive operating, acknowledgment to backstage donors

Ivona Kostyna chairs the Veteran Hub. She says the halt was unexpected and deed the task hard.

Ivona Kostyna, Veteran Hub Chairperson:

The halt of backing sounds similar the halt of cognition to us. It means to halt payroll and forestall radical from returning to work.

MYROSLAVA GONGADZE:

Soon aft President Trump took office, his medication ordered a 90-day frost to reevaluate each overseas aid.

The White House did not respond to a VOA petition for remark connected Ukraine aid.

A State Department connection connected implementing the frost says, quote, “the United States is nary longer going to blindly dole retired wealth with nary instrumentality for the American people.

The abrupt cutoff sent shockwaves done humanitarian organizations successful Ukraine.

After 3 years of war, the government, civilian nine and media trust heavy connected overseas assistance.

Bohdan Logvynenko founded the autarkic Ukrainian multimedia task Ukraїner. He told VOA astir of their backing was from U.S. assistance programs.

Bohdan Logvynenko, Ukraїner Founder:

We are cutting personnel. We had to trim the standard of our enactment due to the fact that we utilized to person respective programs supporting america astatine the aforesaid time.

MYROSLAVA GONGADZE:

Logvynenko says the interaction of the frost goes acold beyond autarkic media.

Bohdan Logvynenko, Ukraїner Founder:

The interaction is huge. Media assistance is simply a driblet successful the ocean. Economic enactment has a immense impact, and the information that it is being stopped present strengthens Russia's position.

MYROSLAVA GONGADZE:

The U.S. assistance bureau says since Russia’s invasion, it has sent Ukraine much than 7.6 cardinal dollars successful humanitarian and improvement assistance

There’s nary uncertainty the nationalist assemblage volition instrumentality a deed without U.S. aid, says Denys Bihus caput of the investigative media task Bihus.info.

However, what worries Bihus much is the destiny of authorities programs that relied the astir connected the funding.

Denys Bihus, Bihus.info:

“Our main assistance recipient successful a wide consciousness is the authorities of Ukraine, represented either by section communities oregon straight by the authorities apparatus."

MYROSLAVA GONGADZE:

U.S. argumentation expert Doug Klain explains that overmuch of the overseas assistance from the United States was meantto support Ukraine’s authorities and nine moving strong.

But it has besides supported programs that held the authorities accountable.

Klain believes that lifting the frost connected these programs would fortify the Trump administration’s policies and marque for a much resilient Ukraine.

Doug Klain, Razom for Ukraine:

Trump wants to unit Vladimir Putin to extremity his penetration of Ukraine, and helium wants to execute what helium and his squad telephone ‘peace done strength.’ And a beardown Ukraine with leverage is cardinal to that.

MYROSLAVA GONGADZE:

In the meantime, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy instructed his authorities to prioritize

the astir captious programs that relied connected U.S. backing and to screen their needs done the nationalist fund oregon alternate overseas assistance sources.

Myroslava Gongadze, Anna Chernikova, VOA News, Warsaw, Kyiv.

CARLA BABB:

Here successful the U.S. farmers accidental they’re disquieted astir imaginable impacts to their livelihoods owed to the H5N1 avian influenza virus. More commonly known arsenic “bird flu,” a caller outbreak with a imaginable to mutate raised concerns wrong the technological community. They accidental it could effect successful human-to-human transmission and possibly, a caller pandemic. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias reports.

VERONICA BALDERAS IGLESIAS, VOA Correspondent:

George Terwilliger runs Pleasant Vale Farm successful Delaplane, Virginia, westbound of Washington. He has modified his small-scale cognition owed to the H5N1 avian influenza virus. The alleged “bird flu” has resulted successful not lone a precocious U.S. vertebrate mortality since 2022 but besides a crisp summation successful the terms of eggs nationwide.

George Terwilliger, Pleasant Vale Farm Owner:

We present connected this workplace person not expanded our chickens implicit the past twelvemonth oregon 2 retired of fearfulness that we mightiness inadvertently bring birds successful that are infected.