Pethokoukis: President Trump missed the mark on big issues Americans are most concerned about
December 18, 2025 • 4m 22s
? (Anchor)
00:00.110
so
the
president
came
out
saying
he's
trying
to
fix
a
mess
right
now
didn't
really
seem
to
address
two
of
the
big
issues
some
of
the
weakness
in
the
job
market
and
the
concerns
about
AI
while
it's
a
driver
for
the
economy
taking
away
jobs
do
you
think
he
missed
the
mark
here
? (Anchor)
00:13.030
what
do
you
think
the
read
is
when
it
comes
to
voters
James Pethokoukis (Economic Policy Analyst)
00:16.230
right
you
know
there
are
a
lot
of
statistics
and
numbers
that
he
put
forward
in
that
speech
and
yet
he
still
you
know
sort
of
managed
to
miss
a
couple
of
things
people
are
worried
about
which
you
rightly
just
highlighted
people
are
concerned
about
the
impact
of
AI
and
jobs
and
James Pethokoukis (Economic Policy Analyst)
00:31.310
they're
worried
about
jobs
more
broadly
so
and
at
that
point
and
it's
probably
a
good
reason
it's
pretty
tough
to
argue
against
the
the
statistics
but
as
he
said
at
the
beginning
of
that
clip
you
just
played
about
inflation
he's
facing
and
the
administration
is
facing
the
same
James Pethokoukis (Economic Policy Analyst)
00:48.310
problem
that
the
biden
administration
faced
which
is
even
if
you
bring
inflation
way
down
and
you
bring
you
know
back
down
to
the
fed
target
of
two
percent
inflation
has
gone
up
a
tremendous
and
prices
have
gone
up
a
lot
since
twenty
twenty
which
still
isn't
that
long
ago
so
James Pethokoukis (Economic Policy Analyst)
01:05.670
people
remember
what
prices
used
to
be
and
they
look
at
what
they
are
now
so
even
if
prices
have
stopped
going
up
even
if
that
happens
for
a
while
they
remember
that
things
certainly
seem
to
be
a
lot
more
expensive
and
wages
aren't
growing
that
much
faster
than
inflation
so
James Pethokoukis (Economic Policy Analyst)
01:22.710
that's
a
real
problem
and
the
only
thing
that's
going
to
solve
that
problem
is
a
sustained
period
of
strong
economic
growth
where
wages
are
rising
a
lot
faster
than
inflation
and
we
have
yet
to
experience
that
all
right
? (Anchor)
01:34.910
so
the
president
touched
on
healthcare
saying
that
the
money
should
go
to
the
people
alluding
to
the
ACA
subsidies
but
not
addressing
it
directly
of
course
we've
seen
moderate
republicans
try
to
push
a
vote
so
the
fact
that
healthcare
costs
are
more
than
likely
going
to
go
up
if
? (Anchor)
01:48.110
this
doesn't
somehow
pass
and
it
doesn't
look
like
that's
going
to
happen
right
now
what
does
that
mean
for
the
president
next
year
and
also
for
the
midterms
James Pethokoukis (Economic Policy Analyst)
01:55.110
yeah
i
mean
i
think
it
would
be
one
thing
if
the
president
and
republicans
had
a
very
specific
plan
that
they
were
ready
to
implement
that
could
get
the
votes
and
pass
so
you're
saying
that
great
we're
not
going
to
do
this
other
thing
we're
not
going
to
extend
these
subsidies
James Pethokoukis (Economic Policy Analyst)
02:12.070
and
i
know
you're
worried
about
that
but
we
actually
have
a
plan
ready
to
go
pull
it
off
the
shelf
implement
it
and
they
don't
and
they
didn't
last
year
and
they
haven't
had
one
you
know
since
the
ACA
was
passed
public
just
doesn't
have
a
lot
of
confidence
great
you
have
another
James Pethokoukis (Economic Policy Analyst)
02:28.030
plan
wonderful
but
if
you
don't
please
give
us
the
subsidies
so
these
prices
don't
jump
and
that's
the
quandary
is
that
republicans
still
don't
have
a
real
solution
on
healthcare
and
frankly
a
couple
of
these
other
things
housing
that's
mostly
going
to
be
a
local
issue
there's
James Pethokoukis (Economic Policy Analyst)
02:44.190
not
a
lot
that
the
federal
government
can
do
about
that
other
than
sort
of
urge
states
to
do
things
and
you
know
energy
we
need
to
build
a
lot
more
energy
capacity
in
this
country
that
is
something
the
president
working
together
could
handle
but
it's
going
to
? (Anchor)
02:57.350
take
time
alright
it
sounds
like
you
don't
think
voters
received
this
speech
well
i
know
a
lot
of
people
saw
it
as
being
a
bit
dark
i'm
going
to
the
other
side
of
the
coin
there
the
corporate
audience
you
know
it's
no
secret
the
president
has
really
courted
the
favor
and
the
? (Anchor)
03:08.990
donations
of
corporate
america
specifically
big
tech
how
do
you
think
companies
and
CEO
's
and
people
in
the
corporate
world
read
what
he
had
to
say
James Pethokoukis (Economic Policy Analyst)
03:16.700
yeah
you
know
the
president
still
loves
tariffs
still
says
it's
the
most
beautiful
word
hopefully
we
won't
get
any
higher
tariffs
hopefully
that'll
kind
of
work
its
way
through
the
system
but
if
i
you
know
if
i
was
running
a
company
what
i
would
like
to
hear
is
one
some
James Pethokoukis (Economic Policy Analyst)
03:31.460
certainty
on
the
tariff
front
maybe
some
certainty
on
the
national
security
front
you
know
we
we
have
this
you
know
emerging
blockade
in
south
america
and
i
would
like
to
make
sure
that
there
was
some
certainty
on
you
know
you
you
brought
up
AI
i
would
like
to
know
that
like
James Pethokoukis (Economic Policy Analyst)
03:50.710
these
tech
this
technology
i
would
still
be
able
to
implement
it
there's
not
going
to
be
a
lot
of
new
regulation
so
i
think
that
the
the
issue
would
probably
be
certainty
certainty
certainty
from
the
from
the
trump
administration
when
there
are
some
going
to
be
some
good
things
James Pethokoukis (Economic Policy Analyst)
04:04.590
happening
like
on
taxes
starting
next
year
i
mean
so
that's
that's
kind
of
a
tailwind
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