Aaron Parnas reports on a turbulent news day in which Vice President JD Vance reportedly weighs skipping a presidential run after clashing with Trump's allies over the Iran war. The episode also covers Democratic gains in governor races, including Alaska's first Democratic governor in two decades, and a leadership challenge to Chuck Schumer from Senator Chris Van Hallen.
Finally, it looks at a Nvidia spy scandal in which Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick appear to be at odds. Listeners will hear how the reporting frames these stories, and many claims come from unnamed allies and officials.
In this episode Aaron Parnas, Scott Bessent
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Boy, oh boy, the knives are out this morning for JD Vance, for Howard Lutnick, and others. JD Vance was supposed to be Donald Trump's heir apparent; now people close to him say he's seriously thinking about not even running for president at all, after Donald Trump and his allies completely sidelined him on the war in Iran. The blue tsunami has just reached Alaska, and now, this morning, Trump's own Treasury Secretary threw the Commerce Secretary under the bus over the massive Nvidia spy scandal.
A lot's happening; I have it all for you, including Schumer's challenge in the United States Senate, as Senator Chris Van Hallen has announced his big challenge to Schumer to be the next majority leader of the United States Senate. If you can, make sure to subscribe, support this work. We're going to have some interviews with senators to talk about that soon, and we are growing, and I need your help. Like, comment, share, get the word out, and let's start with the vice president, because the ground is shifting under him fast. JD Vance is now giving serious thought to not even running for president at all, after Republicans got wiped out in the midterms.
According to CNN, he hasn't made a final decision just yet, and some of his allies still insist he's more likely than not to run. But privately, people around him describe a vice president who's wrestling whether he should be the one to lead this movement after all. One person close to Vance put it this way: they said, quote, "He wouldn't be surprised by any decision he makes." He's only 42. And then this line: "It just may not be his time." Think about that. A year ago, he was the clear front-runner. Today, his own allies are preparing for the possibility that he walks away.
So what happened? One word: Iran. Trump's allies turned on him after Vance tried to publicly distance himself but wasn't able to on the war in Iran.
Speaking of no longer playing that role, President Trump putting out this Truth Social about Vice President Vance, saying he wants the vice president to focus his complete and total attention on the massive corruption and crime taking place in Democrat-run cities and states. We don't need a deal with Iran. Those days have long since passed. We've got their money. We've got their straight. Vice President Vance was going to be running point, Annie, on these negotiations, and even considering talking to top officials in Iran.
That's right, Brett, and I do think there was, you know, the president was also, and some of his allies were quite upset with Vance for failing to sort of adequately support what they felt, adequately support the president and his state, support for the president's war in Iran. The vice president has sought to distance himself from the president's war in Iran, and it is quite awkward to be a chief negotiator for peace if you're also sort of distancing yourself from the actual war.
And my sense here is that tension is what came to head with this tweet.
Yeah. There is tension, and the tension is growing. Publicly, Trump is shrugging it off, but privately, he was pissed off that Vance didn't stand by Trump's decision to go to war with Iran. Here's the problem for Vance, and it's a big one. He can't credibly run away from a war that started while he was vice president. Remember the whole situation with Vice President Kamala Harris and the Joe Biden legacy? Well, Vance defended this war in public. Now he says he's opposed it all along. So the obvious question is, if he was against it, why didn't anyone in the administration just listen to him?
But it's also not just the war. Polls show that nearly every group that elected Trump in 2024 swung hard away from Republicans. Men, young people, Latinos, white voters without college degrees. Vance's post-election message said nothing about the corruption, even though voters ranked it among their top choices. He's trying to be Trump's heir and break from Trump's failures at the same time. It's a nearly impossible needle to thread. While Republicans fight over this wreckage, though, Democrats keep winning. Overnight, CNN projected that Democrat Jonathan "Christ" Tompkins has won the governorship in Alaska, the first Democrat elected to lead the state of Alaska in two decades.
He ran on affordability, health care, and protecting Alaska's fisheries. He also picked up a key late endorsement from Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski. That comes right on top of the recent win in Kansas from Democrat Cindy Houlscher. But here's the bigger picture: Democrats will now hold 30 governorships, just to Republicans 20. Once everyone is sworn in, 75 percent of Americans in all 50 states will have a Democratic governor. Three out of every four Americans. It's not a wave; it's a tsunami, and it's still growing.
Now, winning big brings big; winning big brings its own fights. And Democrats right now are having one in the United States Senate. Senator Chris Van Hallen of Maryland has announced a challenge to Chuck Schumer to lead the Democratic Senate majority, saying voters didn't just reject Trump, saying that voters rejected the, quote, "status quo that isn't working for people." Schumer responded within seconds, saying he has 55 seats and counting. It's an amazing result, and that he had the votes to continue serving as Democratic leader. And right now, and today, and over the next several days, you're going to have senators come out on either side of Schumer or Van Hallen.
Here's what Schumer had to say to Jen Psaki overnight.
And I will also say, and I think it's important, Jen, on the political side of the equation, we shouldn't have a Democratic leader who is getting involved in picking sides in open Democratic primaries. And we should be focused on defeating Republicans, not getting involved. We have two senators right now in the United States Senate who wouldn't be there if the current majority leader had his way. He supported establishment candidates in the primaries.
You're talking about Maine and Michigan.
We're talking about Michigan and Minnesota.
Okay.
And you're also right about Maine.
You said a lot of things there, so let's dig into a couple of them. So you think, as the majority leader, you would not take sides in primaries?
I not certainly not in open primaries.
Okay. You wouldn't be recruiting your preferred candidates for primaries. You would let the people pick in those states.
I think the Democratic primary voters, the voters in the states, should pick, not Washington, D.C.
You've also mentioned in the past you've been very critical of Leader Schumer and the DSCC, frankly, for taking money from APAC, from the crypto industry. If you were the Democratic leader, would you also not take money? Would the DSCC not take money from APAC or from the crypto industry? Are there other red lines you have on that front?
So the two races that we talked about, you're right. Leader Schumer sided with the candidate who is backed by APAC and crypto. So my view is we should not have a Democratic leader who's weighing in in that way in any of these races.
So that's from Senator Van Hallen. Now, this morning, there is trouble, and it's blowing up inside the administration. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent just threw Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick under the bus over the Nvidia spy scandal. Take a listen to what Bessent just said on CNBC.
That is what's happening with Jensen Wang and Nvidia. There have been reports that there was some tension between you and Secretary Lutnick about why MegaSpeed was not placed on the entity list. And I'm just wondering about the interagency coordination. Could Treasury have done that? Was it only, you know, Lutnick that could have, Commerce that could have done that? What about the coordination?
Yes. Well, I can tell you there was coordination. Treasury, Warren, USTR, and State were in favor of putting MegaSpeed on the entity list for months. But Commerce has the pen. Commerce BIS has the pen, and you will have to ask them about their internal processes.
Wow. Commerce has the pen. You got to ask Lutnick about the internal processes. When the president's own Treasury Secretary is saying, "Don't look at me," you know Commerce is in trouble. Here's the bottom line: a vice president is losing his grip on his own political future. Democrats are winning in places they have not won in decades. Inside the Trump administration, Cabinet Secretaries are turning on each other over a national security scandal and more. Make sure to subscribe if you can, spread the word, and I'll see you soon.
Aaron Parnas reports on the major news of the day.
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