Thanks for joining us, Mr. Vice President.
Absolutely. Thanks for having me.
Taking out a dictator in Venezuela. How does that help the average American?
Well, a few things, Jesse. First of all, what it means is we're going to be able to control the incredible natural resources of Venezuela, which is good for America in a few ways. Number one, it allows us to put leverage on our enemies. Number two, it makes sure that if Americans need high quality, low cost power, we're always going to have access to it. And the third thing is, it does demonstrate American military excellence, which makes people afraid to cross us in the future.
Some of the best ways that you maintain the peace is to make it clear that you carry a very strong sword if you ever need to use it. So I think it's good for us in a lot of different ways. We also have to remember, Jesse, this is in our neighborhood. This is not Iraq. This is not 7,000 miles away. This is in our neighborhood.
If we cannot follow the basic principle, which has been a cornerstone of American foreign policy for 200 years, that we control our neighborhood, a lot of bad people are going to take advantage of it. What the President United States said is, in our neighborhood, the United States calls the shots. That's the way it's always been.
That's the way it is again, under the President's leadership.
We just seized a Russian oil tanker. Russian submarines were trying to slip it past the Navy. This thing is heating up.
You know, I think people overstate that. First of all, it was a fake Russian oil tanker. They basically tried to pretend to be a Russian oil tanker in an effort to avoid the sanctions regime. But people always ask, how do you control Venezuela? And we're actually seeing it play out in real time. The way that we control Venezuela is we control the purse strings, we control the energy resources, and we tell the regime you're allowed to sell the oil so long as you serve America's national interest.
You're not allowed to sell it if you can't serve America's national interest and that's how we exert incredible pressure on that country without wasting a single American life, without endangering a single American citizen. That is called critical, high quality diplomacy. We've done it. We've done it time and again, but we just did it in Venezuela.
The Democrats say Trump is greedy. He's all about oil and Empire.
He's greedy to serve the American interest, and that's what you want in an American President. You cannot have people taking advantage of the United States in our own hemisphere. The President of the United States said he's done with that. I think it's interesting. The Democrats call the President greedy, but in what sense has any of this enriched him or enriched the administration?
It's enriched the American people, which is what you want out of an American president, somebody who's thinking to themselves, how do I serve the American people's best interest? How do I go and accomplish good things for the American people? That's a good thing to have an American president. You want somebody who's greedy for the American people.
The Democrats are greedy for themselves.
Well, Jasmine Crockett said you guys kidnapped Maduro.
We engaged in a law enforcement action. We had a legitimate indictment for Maduro for narcoterrorism, for weapons smuggling and weapons trafficking, and we went in with the best military in the world. We got our guy. He's going to stand trial. By the way, he's given the full due process rights that are entitled to anybody who's in the United States.
I think he is going to go away. He's going to be found guilty. That's not a kidnapping, that's a law enforcement operation. And Jasmine Crockett, of all people, she has the least amount of room to talk on this stuff. She doesn't know what she's talking about. As the President said, you couldn't have a worse spokesperson, a person with less knowledge about world affairs.
It's telling that she's the person speaking for the Democrats on this issue.
You guys have designated the cartels as terrorist organizations.
Because they are. Yes.
How do you win the war on drugs if Americans love cocaine?
That's the one big pushback I've gotten, is when I criticize the Venezuelans for trafficking cocaine, yet a lot of people say we don't like fentanyl, but some people do like cocaine. Unfortunately, cocaine is a very bad drug, and importantly, Jesse, it is a major profit center for the Venezuelan cartels.
So if they sell a little bit of fentanyl, but a lot of cocaine, and they use that cocaine to spread and further their cartel operations, that means a lot more poison is going to be coming into the United States. So for all the people that love cocaine, I am sorry, the President of the United States does not love cocaine.
We encourage you to go rehab, and we're going to keep on pursuing America's interest.
Greenland, how far are you guys willing to go?
Well, the President is going to make the ultimate determination here, but there's been a lot of belly aching from Europe and Europe has failed to contend with the fundamental argument the President and the entire administration has made. Greenland is critical to not just our national security, but to the world's national security.
People don't realize this. The entire missile defense infrastructure is partially dependent on Greenland. If God forbid, the Russians or the Chinese not saying they're going to but if, God forbid, in the future, somebody launched a nuclear missile into our continent, they launched a nuclear missile at Europe, Greenland is a critical part of that missile defense.
So you ask yourself, have the Europeans, have the Danes done a proper job of securing Greenland and making sure it can continue to serve as an anchor for world security and missile defense? And the answer is, obviously they haven't. They've under invested in their security. They haven't done a good job of securing that area, that land mass.
And what I hear them say is they always make an argument about the past. They'll say, well, we fought together in World War II or we fought together in the war on terrorism, and we're grateful for that. We love having these allies, but just because you did something smart 25 years ago doesn't mean you can't do something dumb now.
And the President of the United States is saying very clearly, you are not doing a good job with respect to Greenland. We're going to make sure we defend America's interests. And I think the President is willing to go as far as he has to, to make sure he does that.
They're saying it's too cold for American soldiers to handle. You've been there.
Who is saying that? Jasmine Crockett?
The Danes. Probably Crockett, too.
I think Americans have done very well in some very cold places. I will say, I wouldn't want to serve there. But luckily, the Vice President's residence is here in Washington, D.C.
Okay. The Democrats have a little bit of a Somali problem. They've let it --
America has a bit of a Somali problem.
-- especially the Democrats in Minnesota. Why'd they just let it happen right under their nose?
Well, a couple of things, Jesse. First of all, if you look at the amount of fraud in the welfare system, according to the statistics, I've seen, 85 percent of Somalians who are in the United States, legal and illegal, are collecting some form of welfare benefits. So that's not to disparage the other 15 percent.
But when you have 85 percent of a population that is collecting welfare, that suggests that we have really done something wrong with regards to vetting, and that's the fundamental issue. Even if there's no fraud, 85 percent collecting welfare is way too many damn people collecting welfare, getting rich off the American taxpayer while a lot of Americans struggle.
That's unacceptable. What's going on in Minneapolis, I think, is actually representative of a broader fraud scheme that we're going to see all over the country. We're going to see it California. We're going to see it in other places too, where people get rich from the American taxpayer. The Somalian fraud, for example, daycare fraud.
You've got Americans, we've got programs set up to make it easier for Americans to get their kids in daycare so they can have proper childcare. You take that money and you siphon it off to Somalian fraudsters, that's a double theft. Number one, that means a lot of American families can't afford their child care.
Number two, that means a lot of American taxpayers are being fleeced. It's totally unacceptable. I believe, Jesse, we're going to have some very big announcements on this stuff in the next couple of days. I don't want to get ahead of the President on anything, but we believe that there is a nationwide fraud ring that is rooted in Americans -- excuse me, rooted in illegal aliens and others taking advantage of the American welfare system.
We're going to get to the root of it and anybody who's involved is going to get prosecuted.
Well, if there's a massive fraud ring. There's a cover-up going on.
Right.
In Minnesota, they were just caught forging documents, trying to cover their tracks. Should Tim Walz resign?
Well, I think Tim Walz should resign, but look, I've beaten up on Tim Walz enough I don't want to do it anymore in your program. I almost feel bad for the guy, except for the fact that he should have seen this and whether there was something criminal, whether he was aware of the fraud, which would be criminal, or whether he simply looked the other way.
It's a massive, massive failure of government. Look, you have to ask yourself, if you're in Minneapolis and you have a person who came to the United States impoverished two months ago, and all of a sudden they're driving a Mercedes or a Lamborghini, it is your job as a public official to ask, how did that person get so rich so quickly when they're also collecting a welfare check?
The fact that that has failed so often in Minnesota, but frankly, it failed in California and other states as well. Means that we have political, I would say, political corruption, welfare corruption at a very massive scale. The Trump administration, by the way, we've already sent hundreds and hundreds of additional people of resources that are starting to investigate this stuff, get to the bottom of it. Stephen Miller sent people who are literally going door-to-door at some of these fraudulent daycare centers and trying to understand just how deep the rabbit hole goes.
But this is going to be a long-term effort from the Trump administration to root out corruption and actually look after Americans for a change and their hard earned money.
You're sending investigators to California.
We are sending investigators to a lot of places to try to get to the root of this welfare fraud. I think what it revealed, Jesse, is something I frankly wasn't aware of until a few weeks ago, which is it's not just that people are getting welfare who shouldn't get welfare. That is true, right? These programs exist to take care of Americans who are down on their luck, not to enrich fraudsters, but it's bigger than that.
It's that people take this money and create whole businesses around siphoning money from the American taxpayer. So again, you've got poor people who can't get what they need. You've also got American taxpayers who getting fleeced. It is the ultimate lose-lose proposition. And I think Minneapolis just really revealed how ridiculous it was.
I mean, Jesse, this is the most low I.Q. fraud scheme imaginable. Like, it's almost shocking that you would have people running a daycare with the quality "learing" center. If you're running a daycare and you can't spell the word learning, or you can't spell the word kids, that suggests that maybe you should not be in early childhood education.
And the fact that it was so obvious and so blatant does suggest a level of political corruption. We're going to get to the bottom of it.
Well, Tim Walz should be worried because you can't misspell learning and take someone's money.
He should be worried for many reasons.
He called you weird. Remember that?
I know, I know. Because I don't like Somali fraudsters. I guess that makes me weird. Guilty as charged.
Gavin Newsom, he says, you guys want to come look at California. Bring it on.
Yes. Well, we will. We appreciate that invitation, Gavin, and we are going to accept that invitation, because, look, California, more than almost any other state, has been so glaring and obvious about the fact that they're giving welfare benefits to illegal aliens, like that's not -- you go to the California Medicaid website, and they will advertise that they are spending American tax dollars to give Medicaid to illegal aliens.
Do you think there's not fraud there? You think there are people who are creating fraudulent doctor's offices, fraudulent payment schemes? There are. They're getting rich off of the generosity of the American taxpayer. The political corruption that enables it has got to stop, and that's what we're focused on.
Your administration had a big year, got a lot done. Now you're in your second year. What would be the one thing economically you want to achieve now?
Yes, so the big thing we did achieve is we cut the trade deficit by over 60 percent in the President's first year in office. That's amazing. What that means is more jobs coming to the United States, more investment come in the United States of America. I want to build on that. You know, we talk about this $18 trillion of new investment that's coming into the United States.
I want to build as many factories as possible, give as many Americans high paying jobs as possible, and make as much of our own stuff. And I think while we do that, we've got to tackle the housing issue. For a lot of young Americans, they feel like they're priced out of the housing market. The President is about to make some really big announcements on that stuff in the next couple of weeks, and what we're going to do is we want to preserve the wealth that a lot of people have accrued in their homes, while also making it possible for young people to afford their first home, make it affordable for young families to raise young families.
And I think we can do that. I think we've actually got some good policies that are going to thread that needle very well, be very good for young Americans and young American families. That's what I'm most focused on economically over the next year, because I think if you really give people a sense of ownership in this country, a sense that they can build something, build a nest egg, build a family that is the trick to reinvigorating the American dream.
That's what the President is most focused on. We're going to do it.
Are young Americans getting married? Are they settling down having babies?
Not like they used to, and that's a big problem, Jesse. I mean, think about it, what really makes life worthwhile? It's not your job, it's not what school you went to. It's falling in love, it's building a family, it's having kids. Those are the things that I think really bring meaning to most people's lives, certainly to mine, I imagine yours too, unless you're a crazy person, but I think you're Republican -- But that is happening less, and part of the reason it's happening less is what happened to housing under Joe Biden?
It literally doubled in four years. Young Americans are telling us they can't afford to buy a home, they can't afford to start a family, they can't afford daycare because Somali fraudsters are ripping off the money that we're trying to put into the system to help people afford childcare. We've got to do a better job of giving young Americans a shot at the American Dream.
I think that we've made so much progress over the past year, but look, we're digging out of a massive hole that Joe Biden left us. There's so much more work to do. We're excited to get it done.
And if you get the immigrants out of the country that came here illegally, that's going to bring prices down. Are we getting these illegals out fast enough?
Exactly. We always want to get them out faster. A lot of the ICE agents that we have hired in the past six months, they're not even done with training. So all of the big investments that we've made in border security, what we've done is actually gotten two-and-a-half million illegal aliens out without any of the really big marquee things that we've been working on. That was just simple willpower and the President of the United States coming in and saying, this is done.
I think we're going to see those deportation numbers ramp up as we get more and more people online working for ICE, going door-to-door and making sure that if you're an illegal alien, you've got to get out of this country and if you want to come back, apply for the proper channels.
If things don't work out for me at Fox, could I work for ICE? You never know.
You could work for ICE. But look, you're a very compelling communications guy. You can be a speechwriter, assistant speech writer in the Vice President's office if you ever find yourself unemployed.
[Commercial break]
Gavin Newsom, obviously running for president. Have you seen this guy cross his legs? Have you ever seen anyone cross their legs like that?
My legs don't cross like that, Jesse. I'll leave -- you can interpret that however you want to.
Gavin and Kamala are on a collision course.
Yes.
Who's going to win?
The dumbest candidate will probably win, that's my guess with the Democratic Party.
It's probably true.
I mean, look, the Democrats have a couple of big issues, and one is that they lean so far into wokeism that they can't see the obviousness of the fact, which is that Kamala Harris is not qualified to be President of the United States. That's why she got the vice presidential nomination. That's why she got the presidential nomination.
This is who Kamala Harris is. Now, the flip side is, I think you have an unbelievably corrupt and incompetent governor and Gavin Newsom. The fact that those are the two front runners just suggest how deeply deranged the Democratic Party is. Let them fight it out. We'll figure it out.
May the dumbest candidate win.
May the dumbest candidate win.
The Democrats are running in the midterms on the cost of living. Are you worried about that?
Pot, meat, kettle. No, I'm not worried about that for the simple reason that the cost of living crisis, and it is real for a lot of American families, was caused by the Democrats. You had the highest inflation in 40 years under Joe Biden's administration. We haven't even been in office for a year, and you've already seen prices start to come down.
You've seen rent start to come down. You've seen groceries leveling off. Is there more work to do? Absolutely. But the people who are going to do that work is the Trump administration. It is the President United States who is solving the Democrats' affordability crisis. You don't give power back to the very people who set the house on fire.
You give more power to the person who put the fire out.
If the Democrats do win the midterms, is Trump getting impeached again?
I'm sure he'll get impeached. Look, they have nothing to actually run on or govern on. The entire obsessive focus of that party is they hate Donald Trump. So if they ever get power, are they going to, you know, lower Americans taxes? No. Are they going to make your life more affordable? No. Are they going to solve the crime crisis?
No. What they're going to do is they're going to spend all their time and all of your money trying to get Donald Trump. I think it's ridiculous. I think it's ridiculous that's what they're running on. But the American people are going to make this determination. I think the American people should vote for the people who want to make their life more affordable and want to make their neighborhoods safer.
That's what we're trying to deliver every single day.
Have you been watching this New York Mayor Mamdani guy?
The guy who wants to take all property away from White people?
Yes.
Yes. He seems pretty out there, huh?
Is he a threat?
I mean, you live in New York, he's a threat to you, I'd say.
He sure is. But politically --
Is he politically a threat?
He has got some traction.
You know, I actually really admired some of his messaging, because he focused not on the woke, crazy stuff. He wasn't running on White people shouldn't own property, he was running on bread and butter issues, which is what I want politicians to focus on. Even if you disagree with their solutions. I would love it if the debate among Democrats and Republicans was, how do we deliver prosperity to the American people?
But he runs on, actually, some pretty common sense, bread and butter issues. He gets in there and he sounds like a total crazy person who wants to take your house away because you have the wrong skin color. That's not a threat to me, politically, I think it's a threat to our country, but it's not a threat politically.
You were almost Paulie P'ed. Someone came to your house, trans guy with a hammer --
I don't know what that means.
Paul Pelosi -- smashed your windows.
Sorry.
Can you believe these people?
Well, I can believe these people. I've never heard Paulie P'ed. I'm steal that one in the future. Thank you, Jesse.
Just a nickname.
But you know, when it happened, I think everybody had the same reaction that we did, which is it's probably a deranged left-wing person who wanted to cause terror, or maybe worse among my family. Look, we're grateful the first responders did their job. The person is in custody, and we're still kind of getting to the bottom of the motive a little bit.
But my guess is the same as yours. And look, left-wing violence is a problem in this country, Jesse. We've said this time and time again. My dear friend, Charlie Kirk was murdered by a left-wing radical. The President of the United States was almost killed a year-and-a-half ago, and then again, a few months after that.
We have a real crisis where there are far too many left-wing people who don't want to debate, who don't want to disagree, who don't want to try to persuade their fellow citizens. They want to try to kill their fellow citizens and that's a real problem.
Do you feel safe?
I do feel safe. And look, Jesse, I signed up for this. My attitude on this stuff is whatever God wills is whatever God wills. I'm going to do the job I think I have to for the American people. And you know, hopefully they're happy with it, and hopefully we do some good. And whatever God has in store, I accept it.
How was your first Christmas here as Vice President? What did Usha get you?
Usha always gives me very practical presents. She got me some sweatpants, some exercise clothes.
Is that a hint?
Probably! But I'll take the hint, some socks, things like that. You know, I actually I got her a surprise party because she turned 40 yesterday, so we went out to California to visit her family.
Nice.
Gavin Newsom did not assault us or send any Somali fraudsters after us, but we did a little surprise party with her parents, and that was really fun. We had a great Christmas, and the kids. Look, they love their life. And that's one of the great things about this, is, yes, it's an important job. And yes, there's a lot of sacrifice that comes along with public service, but our kids are young enough that they're able to just have a normal life as kids, and that's all I could ask for.
That's great. Happy birthday to Usha.
Thank you.
And good to see you.
Good to see you, man. Take care.