AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
An extreme heat warning, followed by a severe thunderstorm, created some chaos and delayed the planned Fourth of July celebrations in several cities, as well as right here in Washington, D.C. But the show did go on, and President Trump gave a late speech.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Our warriors did not fight communism on battlefields across the world, only to have that menace rear its ugly head right back here in America.
RASCOE: We're joined now by NPR senior national political correspondent Mara Liasson. Good morning, Mara.
MARA LIASSON, BYLINE: Good morning, Ayesha.
RASCOE: OK. So the weather was wild. I mean, the thunder, the lightning - it was crazy. But, Mara, what stood out to you about last night's event?
LIASSON: Well, the weather was crazy, and Donald Trump had to actually cancel the parade earlier in the day because of excessive heat, which consensus of scientists say could only be because of global warming, something that Trump has said in the past was a fabrication or a Chinese hoax - although later, he said that was a joke. And thunderstorms caused people to evacuate briefly from the mall, but the show did go on, and Donald Trump gave a kind of combination traditional July Fourth speech with a lot of partisan attacks.
RASCOE: What were some of those kind of poignantly political things that he did say?
LIASSON: Well, just like his Friday speech at Mount Rushmore, he excoriated Democrats. You just heard him talk about communists. That's his new epithet for Democrats. He said they don't believe in the United States of America. And he's taking advantage of the fact that in a handful of primaries, members of the Democratic Socialists of America won some Democratic primaries, which in deep blue districts might not matter much since those districts would have elected a Democrat anyway. But there are many Democrats who do worry that in swing states and districts, they could be nominating candidates that are too far left to win a general election, and that's something that Republicans and particularly President Trump think they can use to their advantage.
RASCOE: Well, President Trump released his mandatory financial disclosures last week, and it showed that he's added well over a billion dollars to his wealth so far during his presidency, and as much as $1.4 billion comes from his family's cryptocurrency businesses. I mean, those are really eye-popping numbers.
LIASSON: Those are eye-popping numbers. It's an unprecedented amount of money made by a sitting president. A lot of his income comes from industries or foreign natives that have business before him. And the Republican Congress does not seem to object to this, although in the past, they have objected very strenuously to any self-dealing by Democratic presidents or their families.
RASCOE: Well, and at the same time, President Trump is refusing to sign the bipartisan housing bill, which is aimed at making housing more affordable. Is affordability entirely off the president's agenda now?
LIASSON: Well, that's a good question. He didn't sign the housing bill. Even though the White House had praised the bill, it was passed by big majorities. It was Congress doing exactly what the public wants it to do, which is work across the aisle on a problem that people feel is very important right now. Big majorities of Americans say they just can't afford to buy a home. And he refused to sign the bill because he wanted Congress to pass a different bill, a Republican elections bill that Republican leaders in Congress tell him they just don't have the votes to pass. Now, he might end up allowing the housing bill to become law without his signature, but he doesn't seem to mind that he's giving up political credit for signing a bill that's extremely popular.
RASCOE: The Supreme Court ended its term last week with several decisions on high-profile cases. What's your takeaway from this past term's score card?
LIASSON: This was a historic term for the court. The justices changed the structure of American government. We no longer have three coequal branches. We have a very empowered executive branch. There were some exceptions. Donald Trump lost rulings on tariffs and birthright citizenship. But the bottom line is that the court weakened the Article I branch of government, Congress. It ruled that Congress can no longer protect independent regulators and agencies from political pressure, and over and over again in rulings, it empowered the executive branch.
RASCOE: Well, we're going to hear more about Iran in a minute. But when speaking on Friday night at Mount Rushmore, President Trump repeated what he's been saying since the start of the war - that Iran is, quote, "dying" to settle for a deal. He also said this.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
TRUMP: We gave them a week off for a funeral because we're nice. It's true.
RASCOE: I mean, he's referring to the funeral of Iran's supreme leader.
LIASSON: That's right. Iran's supreme leader was killed alongside several of his family members, including his 14-month-old granddaughter, and the funeral was for all of them. And Trump's critics say that he has not been able to achieve any of his military objectives in Iran. He's - all he's left with is a war of words and mocking the Iranian people. He's been trying, without much success, to spin the war as a win for the United States and the memorandum of understanding that started the latest ceasefire as a win. But polls show the majority of American voters do not think the U.S. won the war, do not think the deal that he's made so far to start talks has been a win for the United States.
RASCOE: That's NPR's Mara Liasson. Thank you so much.
LIASSON: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
