Thanksgiving holiday. Monday they will be returning. The house will be working on 2018 federal spending which you can watch live on cspan. The senates continuing work on judicial nominations. Later in the week senators are expected to vote on the Senate Tax Reform plan. [applause] now to the main event. Its now my pleasure to introduce todays key note speaker, americas most listened to woman in political talk radio, laura ingram. She can be heard between 10 and 12 on am 850. Laura is a former white floor is the former whitecollar defense attorney and Supreme Court law clerk. For nationally syndicated talk show, the lord ingram show, is ranked in the nations top ten n rated shows and heard coasttocoast in nearly 250 250 markets. She is the editor in chief and cofounder and author of several New York Times bestsellers including the obama diaries, power to the people, shut up and saying, and the hillary trap. Lore has been a guest host on many of Fox News Channel programs as well as a contributors to abcs this wee. X news new prime time tv show which will debut in the 10 00 hour one week from today. [applause] fox news has said that laura aims to cut through the washington chatter to speak directly with unexpected voices and the actual people who are impacted by the news of the day. During todays speech we look forward to her bringing this same candor as she details how President Trump remade the reagan revolution in his own imaeg, attracting a new coalition of voters. Previously unreported Details Behind the president s victory and the possible pitfalls that lay ahead for his ambitious agenda. Topics found in her new book, billionaire at the barricades, which is on sale in the Library Thanks to our partnership with the palm beach bookstore. So without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, laura ingram. Laura ingraham. [applause] thank you, everybody, i really appreciate it. [applause] i want to thank everybody here at the forum. Amazing group. Its great to sell out, and i just want to say its good to be with the Little People in palm beach area. [laughter] the regular people. Apparently this just came in, you guys are busy, so maybe you didnt see this. Apparently, my kids are looking for halloween costumes. I have a 12yearold, a 9yearold and a 7yearold at home. And apparently, theres been a run on Rhinestone Cowboy hats, have you seen that . [laughter] i dont know what theyre talking about. Apparently, theyve different colors theyre different colors, green, blue, red. Its kind of like that Homeland Security code system. [laughter] but those rhinestones fall off easily, so be careful about those. You know its bad for the American Media and for politics, i guess you could say both, when former president of the United States jimmy carter gives an interview, and the title of the piece after his interview it was in the New York Times with maureen dowd the title of the piece in the Business Insider today is jimmy carter defends trump in wideranging interview. [laughter] i thought literally, i was, like, did i wake up on april fools . How can this possibly be the title of a piece today when i was getting ready for radio this morning over at wftl. And, indeed, president carter at age 93 has an enormous amount of perspective and wisdom, and i would say, you know, he has, he has some pragmatism in how hes looking at the United States now and the rest of the world. I dont agree with president carter probably on a lot, but i thought it was so heartening to have him give an interview to the New York Times and say that, and im paraphrasing, but in his lifetime he hasnt seen an american president treated in the way that donald trump has been treated. Hadnt seen it. I he went on to burst the New York Times bubble by saying he didnt think russia changed the outcome of the election, nor did he see any evidence of any type of collusion with russia. And he went on to say that china and russia and japan are on the rise and that the United States is being challenged, really challenged. He said that our standing in the world had taken a hit, had been diminished, and that decline had preceded donald trump. Now, i guess the New York Times and the lame stream media [laughter] i guess they could just say this is part of the rightwing, the vast rightwing conspiracy that hillary is still talking about. By the way, will that book tour of hers ever end . [laughter] oh, my god. She was giving an interview to a ham radio host in berlin yesterday. I was like [laughter] i mean, look, my book was by the way, my book is now officially a New York Times bestseller. I just found out. [applause] but to quote hillary, what difference does it make . Youre all here. [laughter] but hillarys the kind of shes on this book tour, and it reminds me of those oriental rug stores, you know, theyre always going out of business. Lost our lease, going out of business. Real, final sale. That or the cher farewell tour, it never ends. Lo and behold, 500 for a ticket in vegas to see her. So she was out there, hillary, yesterday. And she said in an interview with a radio host in the united kingdom, she said that she was on the platform at the inaugural. And, remember, it was kind of a misty day in washington. I was up on the riser on the platform, so i was maybe 25 yards, 30 yards. I was up here on the side, and they were here, obviously, the president , President Trump is giving his address. Hes sworn into office, hand up, then he speaks. Hillary said that she was sitting there, and donald trump was talking about what had happened to the country and how things had, you know, flatlined, Median Income had actually declined in real dollar terms and that people wanted a new approach to the border, to these trade deals, etc. And hillary says that george w. Bush looked at her and said, this is the craziest, weirdest bunch of horse hockey that ive ever heard. Like that, laughing to hillary. And, you know, the media loved that. You know, they love when a republican like george w. Bush or pick your republican, john mccain, lindsey graham, jeff flake, go on and on. They love it when a republican trashes a conservative populist, especially a republican president in office like donald trump. And i thought to myself that kind of really does, that little vignette of bush snickering with hillary, laughing at donald trump, that explains this. Trump didnt come out of nowhere. He didnt kind of just pop out of, you know, a vacuum, and he didnt win, by the way, because of jim comey or the russians. He didnt win because hes a celebrity, because he was selffinanced, he didnt win because of facebook ads. Donald trump won this election because americans in the critical states that make up our Electoral College were kind of sick of being snickered at. They were tired of being laughed at. They were tired of being told one thing in the Campaign Season and having governance as another thing. [applause] and the bipartisan establishment that i write about in billionaire at the barricades had for about 25 years or so kicked the people that i come from to curb. Where do i come from . I come from a middle class town, i grew up in a middle class neighborhood in connecticut. Not in greenwich, not in, you know, one of the fancier areas of connecticut. I had a dont get me wrong, i loved my public school, loved my community. But i come from working people. And i dont like calling them ordinary americans, by the way. I have to stop myself. Reagan never liked that either. Or average americans. Because my mother waited tables until she couldnt carry the trays any longer. She couldnt carry a tray any longer at age 74 because her hand had such terrible arthritis. She was someone who didnt take a penny from the government because she didnt believe that people who had two hands and two feet and a mind should do anything but work. She taught me that there is dignity in every job, there is respect for everybody who puts in the effort to work every day. At every level of society. My father ran a car wash. He worked for a time at a pratt and whitney aircraft engine in east hartford. It was a really important manufacturing firm. Still is, smaller, in connecticut. My mom didnt go to college. She was very smart, very street smart. She would have loved trump, because she had kind of a twinkle in her eye and a lot of fight. She was about five feet tall. Parents were polish immigrants. Man, she didnt take a lot of guff from people. I think thats where i got it from, my mother. But she is with me today. She animates what i do on a daily basis. Like i was a lawyer, i was working at a big law firm, and it was a good life. Dont get me wrong, it was great. I enjoyed it. Im glad i had that experience clerking for Justice Thomas on the Circuit Court of appeals in manhattan and then at a big litigation firm. It taught me a lot. Big, working for a big law firm taught me a lot, what i wanted to do, what i didnt want to do. But i think in the end i ended up making my way in kind of a circuitous path to what im doing now because i tried to hold on to where i came from. My mother, when she was really sick back in 1999, she had lung cancer, she said never, ever forget where you came from. It was when i just started in the media. I just began my Television Show back then, believe it or not, for msnbc in the morning. [laughter] yeah. My show was called watch it. Apparently, not enough people did. [laughter] well, learned a lot since then. I learned a lot from being fired. You learn a lot from being fired, dont you . I learned a lot from losing a couple of jobs, and what i was good at, what i wasnt so good at. But she really never let me forget that. Like, i worked in a shes like i worked in a thread factory, we grew up with a stove in the kitchen, and we all had to sleep in there. You grew up in a rambler house with six people and one little bathroom. Three boys slept in one room, you slept in the den. Thats what you grew up in, and thats what you need to take with you every day. Not that she didnt want me to be successful, you bet she did. Shes watching us right now. She wanted me to be successful. But you know what she wanted me to remember and what i try to do every day i dont always succeed, but i really try that this country is such a blessing to us. Our freedom [applause] our liberty, our independence, the ability of a man or a woman regardless of where you came from, what your Political Party is, your race to make a decent living even if you didnt get to go to a good school or a college, but you could actually support a family. I mean, we could support a family in the 19, you know, i was a little kid in the 1960s, 1970s. You could support a family by being a waitress jobs that americans will do, by the way being a waitress, owning a little, small business, putting your nose to the grindstone. Your kids will mow lawns, thats what we did. Theyll pick fruit. Thats what i did. We deliver newspapers, thats what all my brothers did. We babysat. Anything we needed to do to make money to save to have a better life. We did it not thinking we were middle class or poor or lower middle we just did it. Thats what you do. This is america. You dont wait for someone else to do the job, you do it. Kind of pragmatic thinking. Not even all that political, but pragmatic. So when i hear people talk about, well, you know, trump is like he tweets too much, or hes, he takes things too personally or he fights with everybody, i say to myself what the heck did both Political Parties do to this country over the last 25 years . What happened to america as the sole military superpower unrivaledded after world war ii . What gradually happened since about 1988 onward . How did china develop the largest Standing Military in the world . People understand that . They have 2. 3 million standing army, china. How does it that china has a 360 billion, with a b, trade surplus with the United States last year . How did that happen . How did it happen that china has a plan called the made in china 2025 plan . Do you know what that is . Its not as exciting as what Frederica Wilson overheard on the phone, i realize [laughter] not as exciting as that, but its really important. Because guess what china is planning to do . Dominate every major industry in the world. Wall street journal piece today, china pushes domestic electric car batteries. Seems like, well, so big deal. Last month beijing began requiring all automakers, foreign and domestic, to begin making electric and other alternative Energy Vehicles by 2019. While china hopes to clear its polluted skies, its primary objective is to help its domestic industry leapfrog foreign rivals by creating a large, captive market for their products, analysts say. Electric Vehicle Production is one of the ten Hightech Industries that beijing is prioritizing through its flagship made in china 2025 strategy. Trade and other Economic Experts in the United States are saying this is protectionist, its blatant, their rules are blatantly favoring chinese domestic companies. Thats shocking. [laughter] that a country would try to protect its manufacturing base. Laura, this is a free market, this is great. This is all the free market. Chinas well, right . Okay. Guess what donald trump is doing . You know, he doesnt get the, doesnt get the publicity. Going back to this piece for a moment. U. S. Trade representative this is Donald Trumps cabinet bob lite heiser launched an information into chinese investigation into Chinese Companies forcing American Companies to risk their hes expected to examine chinese rules requiring many Foreign Companies including Auto Companies to form local joint ventures to be allowed, in order to be allowed to operate in china potentially, what . Jeopardizing their intellectual property. Boeing, one of the most important American Companies, in a joint venture well, in china on commercial aviation. Donald trump, bob lighthizer, they think its important to actually look at these deals really carefully. What happens if america is eclipsed in commercial Aviation Manufacturing . What do you think happens to seattle . Do we care . Do we care what happens to american manufacturing, or do we think everybody can write code . [laughter] your alternative is to, like, work at dsw i shoe warehouse or be some type of Hedge Fund Guy or write code . Is that really it may be working whatever shopping malls are left in the United States. That cant be. So when people say, laura, youre a protectionist, no, no, no, no. There is a trade war being waged right now, and were losing it. Were losing it because until donald trump came along we had, we had a number of president s who, frankly, were asleep at the switch, who were not examining the key question. The key question for me is what type of country do we want to live in. Do we want a country where we have super rich and is everybody else . And everybody else . I think weve seen how thats worked out in south america. Its been thats a pretty tough deal. Doesnt work too well for too long. Our middle class, the socalled ordinary americans, had been ignored and derided and kicked to the curb year after year after year from 2000 to 2008, our last twoterm republican president who had a lot on his plate and had a lot to deal with, it was difficult. But you cant expect things to go well for your party when you start off with 53,000 Median Income in the United States, 57,000, um, excuse me, and ed at 53,000 when you finish. Is that sustainable . I mean, last time i checked our incomes are supposed to be going like this. But, of course, there are a lot of Big Companies and big corporations who, you know, they dont lose sleep over flatlining becames. But i can tell you wages. But i can tell you the people i come from do. Cant put a kid through college today, cant do it with any sense of ease without huge anxiety if you have wages that in real terms are actually going down. So donald trump comes along in 2016 not out of a vacuum or, you know, not because hes brash. Yeah, he can be brash, sure. But i think for the first time in a long time people thought, well, maybe we need kind of a bully to beat back the bullies. Were not deplorable, were not irredeemable, we dont cling to our guns and our religion well, maybe we do cling to the guns. [laughter] sometimes thats okay. But this is america. Were proud of who we are. And its okay to conserve what is good about america. Im a conservative. Conserving is good. The philosophy of conservativism taken to its, in its purist form, libertarians will say we just want open borders, open markets. They keep repeating. Hillary said in this that private speech she gave to goldman sachs, open borders, open markets. To what end is that . An open border in the age of alqaeda and isis, ms13, human trafficking, really . Open markets. Well, i guess. Hows that working out for us . We have special trade status right now with mexico and canada. Its great, theyre great allies, but its come at a huge price. The vast rust belt of the United States rose up in 2016, and and i had i think i dont other than adopting my first child i dont think, i think its probably i think other than adopting maria in guatemala nine years ago, i think the most fun ive had was on Election Night. [laughter] [applause] because all of these people who are paid to know whats going to happen [laughter] who were, like, two hours earlier they were in the fox hallway, the pollsters who were telling me doesnt look good for your guy, doesnt look good. Id say about 410 electoral votes for hillary. 399, 400. I said, ooh, thats bad. Thats bad for trump. Well then they just start repeating the old, well, pennsylvanias going to be his waterloo. How many times did you hear that . Leading up to Election Night . And let me tell you when i for sure knew that donald trump was going to win. I mean, i had a pretty good sense just because on the radio you get an instant focus group every day. The radio is so valuable. I could hear what, you know, what was on peoples minds. They were discounting all the chatter, all the side issues that were keeping the press busy. It was sunday night right, you know, sunday before the election, and i get a call at about this must have been 5 00 in the afternoon. I was sitting down for late we have a sunday dinner at my house with my surrogate parents, and we were sitting, laughing, having a good time. And i get a phone call. And it was someone from the campaign. They said, what are you doing . I said, having dipper, what are you doing dinner, what are you doing . They were like, do you want to come to lees burg, virginia . Whats going on there . Well, Donald Trumps going to make a final stop in virginia, and hes in five states today, and hes going to wind up in virginia at 9 00. And im like, okay, its like an hour and a half or so drive. I said, definitely im going, hello, yeah. You want to speak . Of course ill speak. Pile a bunch of friends in the car, grab my daughter. School night, who cares, this is history. [laughter] put on an extra jacket, maria, well be fine. We all pile in the car, we drive up there, and im thinking this is a last minute thing which could be a total disaster in politics, right . You just never know whats going to happen. So we pull up and im, like, why am i doing this . Im already exhausted, its late, it was one of those really cold november nights. And so im like what is this backup . Im looking, oh, my god, there must be an accident. We rolled down our window, and the Police Officer said who are you, where are you going . I said, well, im supposed to speak tonight. Hes like, theres like a 14,000 people trying to get into a place that holds 1900 people. [laughter] [applause] so i dont know if youre going to get in. I dont even know if youre going to get in. So we find this back road through the woods, and we drive, and i am not kidding you, people with kids on their shoulders, blankets, coolers, american flags, little, you know, down coats, babies had blankets, plaid blankets, veterans with their caps on, korean war, vietnam war. And i got out of the car and i felt so bad because i knew these people wouldnt get in to the event. And i said i jumped out of the car and a bunch of people came up to me and i said, guys, you guys, its freezing. Go back, youre not going to get in. The events already full. It was an amphitheater, a covered area. And one after the other said we dont care. We want to be there. One after the other. Finally make it to the venue, and the line, just the individual line is snaking in the dark, mind you snaking, snaking, snaking all the way up this hillside. So i went up with my producer, and i was talking to people. This is where you get the real story. And we walked and walked and walked. People quiet, people seemed so patient. And pitch black. And i finally, there was an older gentleman, maybe he was in his, i dont know, late 70s, early 80s, and he was in a wheelchair. And he had a usa cap on. And i asked his, looked like his daughter, i said do you do you e to bring you guys to the front . Ill get you in, but he shouldnt be out here in the cold. I cant stand it when people let elderly women wait in line, ill bring you to the front. And he looked at me and without skipping a beat he said, maam, where i come from people dont cut in line. [laughter] like that. [applause] and i said, okay, how are those redskins . [laughter] he had cut me to the quick. And that kind of summed it up. That little vignette about the goodness of america. I think a lot of people last night thought it was the last stand for the country. The traditions that they loved, belief in America First that our policies from domestic to trade to spending, immigration, Foreign Policy, the policies are for the peoplement the government the people. The Government Works for us, not the other way around. Were not the servants. [applause] and so no one left. The venue was full, and they all stayed. And they werent complaining like i probably would have been complaining. They werent. I thought, wow, this is incredible. Trump was supposed to show up at nine, okay . Jerry falwell jr. Was speaking, we were all theyre like stretching, stretching as long as possible. Hes not here. At about midnight were in the back of this pavilion, and im getting updates. Hes not going to make it. Hes been in minnesota, pennsylvania, ohio, you know, hopscotch across the country. Then you see the line of the suvs rolling up the hill, right . So they let me stand out in back with my daughter. Somehow i thought a little girl from an orphanage in guatemala meeting who i thought was going to be the future president of the United States, like, i know its selfish, but i wanted to see that. Because ive known donald trump for a long time. I know whats in his heart. Stood there, he hopped out of the suv. Hes exhausted. I mean, 70 years old, five states. He gets out and he looks at me, hes like, ingraham, youre really late. [laughter] i said, nice try. Really funny. And then he said you didnt think i was going to win until tonight, isnt that right . He said you he said you see that crowd . Because he likes the crowd. You see that crowd . I said, its unbelievable. I said, you are going to win. And hes like, lets go. He hops out on stage. And there was, and before he jumps on the stage he said, and he sees maria and a few other kids that were back there, and secret service is like lets go, lets go, lets go. They have handlers, theyve got to keep him on schedule, i understand that. And he stopped everything, walked over to where the kids were, and i got a photo of my daughter which i wish i had, i would have put it up on the screen which i think goes down as one, i dont think ive ever seen him look happier, and i dont think ive ever seen her look happier. And it was i awesome. It was just a great moment, loved it. [applause] the country was waiting for someone unconventional, someone who would hold up a mirror to the failures both parties and someone who would put the interests of, quote, ordinary americans first. Donald trump has done that. [applause] in ten months without republicans passing obamacare repeal, voting accept times to do it seven times to do it when it didnt matter, and when they finally could do it, they couldnt. Unbelievable. Unbelievable. I mean, i think he was truly shocked by that. They cant pass obamacare repeal. He does keystone pipeline, he gets neil gorsuch on the Supreme Court, hes nominated dozens and dozens of phenomenal Appellate Court and District Court judges. Hes already begun to untangle unnecessary federal regulation from small and mediumsized businesses. Of course theyre on their way to passing tax reform. We have growth that is stunning right now. In the market we finally have more than 3 gdp, just revised upward. We have the lowest Unemployment Rate in 17 years. If this were a democrat president and those were the statistics in october of his first year, what do you think the media would be saying about that president . What do you think the media would be saying today after maxine waters, congresswoman, said over the weekend that she was going to, quote, take trump out . This after barack obama, george w. Bush, Hillary Clinton and pretty much everyone else who was in the resist Trump Movement said that words matter. This is after las vegas, horrific shooting, this is after steve scalise. People forget about what happened to steve scalise. Horrific. Words do matter. We all can do better. I certainly can, always. The but the country, people say, well, we want the country united. You know when the country was united . For a short time after 9 11, we were united. And for about two years after pearl harbor, we were united. America is a place where people argue. Big debates should happen. We should really lock horns not on the personalities so much, but on the substance. I think what happens and what has happened until trump is that the media and the political powers that be, they loved having these side disputes because it allowed them to go behind closed doors and cut deals with each other without the American People really being clued in at all. For that we got, like, transpacific partnership, remember they couldnt reveal what was in that until the last minute . We got the stimulus bill, we have obamacare, all these things behind closed doors. We had the gang of eight amnesty bill behind closed doors. And then suddenly they announce these things, and it turns out theyre not very popular, are they . Turns out that americans want policies that actually redound to their benefit. Real growth, real accountability, real borders, a Foreign Policy that puts americas interests first while respecting, of course, our allies, military interventionism . I dont know, you know, we talk about exporting democracy abroad, but the same people who talk about exporting democracy aced broad never seem to mention china. Theres a lot that donald trump has to overcome. Some of his wounds can be selfinflicted. Hes not perfect. Some of all of our wounds are selfinflicted, arent they . Over the course of our lives. But the barricades that i write about in this book are some of the same barricades that my old boss, ron reagan, had to clear. A big media apparatus that was almost, i think almost all of it was aligned against him. They called him stupid, they said he slept during the or day, they said he was just an actor. They called him ronnie raygun. They ridiculed him at every turn. I know because i was there. He had to clear that, and he did. He had to clear a Democrat Party that to that occasional hi would work with him but often times didnt. And Ronald Reagan had to clear the other barricade from 1976ing of course of course, until 1980 which was called the old gop establishment. More globalist than he was and more big spending than he was. Now, how did reagan do that . He did that by keeping his eye trained on the American People. If i could give donald trump any advice and im sure on my new fox show occasionally i will it would be to remember that. That long after hes gone, these issues and these debates will continue. This movement, this conservative populist movement that wants to return more power to the people at every level, this movement continues. They could get rid of trump tomorrow. They could do something, they could try to impeach him, maybe they beat him in 2020, i dont know. Well see how it goes. But these issues are big issues. What will the world look like if china is a dominant superpower . What will the world be like if we lose another major Manufacturing Sector to asia or beyond . What will the world look like if we decide that maybe its time to really change the way we think of citizenship in the United States . Maybe noncitizens should vote. Is that what we want in the country . Is that the kind of country we want . The its up to the people to decide. But these issues that he first raised when he started to discuss his running for president , these are the big issues of the day. Weve got north korea, we have still a challenge from russia, china on the rise, we have unbelievable problems in the african continent which, again, in todays press obsessed with Frederica Wilson theyre not going to really talk about those issues. But it will go on. So i would say to donald trump focus on the fact that youre a temporary occupant of this white house. Always keep it focused on the American People. Ronald reagan famously said in 1980 when he was running, he was reminded that, you know, he kind of had a thin budget early on in the campaign, and John Connolly who was running against him, one of his advisers said connollys got tons of money from new york and manhattan, and, you know, hes got a lot of dough. And reagan famously said, im not worried about that. Id much rather have main street on my side than wall street. [applause] trump said the same thing. [applause] so trump or clears all these barricades in front of him, and he returns on his promise to drain the swamp, returns power back to the people, we continue to see this economy doing as well as it is and better which i think its going to do after this tax reform passes, and i think this conservative populist movement will have just started. I think this is other than reagan in 1980, i havent seen anything like this. And it is no wonder that the obamas, the clintons, the bushes sorry to chamber of commerce all the big media outlets, theyre all aligned against us. Ask yourself why. A lot of them have gotten fat and happy off the status quo. I was on my way to law school. I didnt even know he knew my name. This is a very short ride we all have in this country. Were going to be gone in the blink of an eye. What kind of country do we want to leave behind . Im going to try to make it matter on fox every night. Im going to, i hope, make you laugh at the end of the night. We want to make you laugh, we want to surprise you. We want to tell you whats going on, the story behind the story. Not just the headlines, not just the shiny object that the rest of the media wants you to Pay Attention to. But im really looking forward to it. Its a new chapter for me. I hope youll all tune in, and i hope this book puts a historical frame from reagan to buchanan to ross perot all the way to the Tea Party Movement and donald trump. I hope you understand after reading this what happened and why it happened and why it will continue long, long past donald trump. Thank you so much, everybody. I really appreciate it. [applause] our first question for you is having words for the Reagan Administration as a speechwriter wert how would you advise the president to stay on message . Considerably often speaks without a teleprompter. What was the last part about the teleprompter . He often speaks without one. Well, i find that refreshing, frankly. [applause] i write in the end of the book about message discipline and thehe Reagan Administratione had almost like a message a day. If the focus of the week was, lets say a tax cut, early on the Reagan Administration pushed make a tax reform. Then every Cabinet Department that had anything to do with taxcutting was on board. Everybody in the own way was amplifying the message. That really worked well. Ea it was really well coordinated. This is a different world. Its like saying what people say could you tell them to stop tweeting . I say tell the son not to come up in the morning. Its just ridiculous. Hes going to tweet. Everyone should just talked about willie stop tweeting because he got when to stop tweeting. And i think in his own way which again is unconventional but he won unconventionally remember. He manages to hold up the mirror to where we are in the culture of politics at any given time. And theres value in that. At times its a bit of a roller coaster, and its true, they can be a little like however, i think when you think about him down in alabama a couple weeks ago, remember whenow he went don there for the rally for Luther Strange it was the establishment pick. He wentin with the establishment guy against roy moore. He stand on stage. I guess he had a teleprompter for some of his h remarks, but then i really, no idea whether this is just my supposition. I think he pretty much knew that Luther Strange wasnt going to win because he saw a lot of roy moore supporters in the crowd. Half of thehe crowd was roy moo. They love trump. Hes ann odd situation. Keys and, therefore, Luther Strange. The crowd, have been probably the roy moore, he got advice to go down there by bob corker. Hes now gone, right . Said trump is up there and he had such good politicalhe instinct. Hes like what about that nfl . What about these players who cant stand for the National Anthem . I started getting all these tweets, tax, excuse me. Trump is off on a separate topic. This doesnt make any sense. Why is he talked about the nfl . I think it was unplanned, but it was showing his political instincts. Thesest values issues that he races, media unfairness, standing for the National Anthem. I i think those are actually really important issues, and i think weve seen all the people that they come back a look at what twitter was saying but donald trump that day. Hess off message. He lost his train of thought. No, we didnt. He saw what was happening. He wants to be popular. And he knew that if you brought this issue up of the nfl, that the country would rally to the flag and to patriotism, to civic pride, and what happened . Again yesterday the nfl has among its lowest ratings. Im glad. [applause] so i mean, is that, is it traditional messagege disciplin . No, its not there is a trump . Yeah. He did that on the campaign trail. Its the way people speak its the way people are. When you have obama on a teleprompter, the president , president t obama, i dont find him particularly toth be an enthralling speaker. Hes magnetic. He has an magnetic present on stage but when hes on a teleprompter, is i it exciting . I dont know. Reagan was phenomenal on a teleprompter. Believe me, i can read a teleprompter. Its hard for it take some practice. Its kind of an art. But speaking offthecuff is much more compelling i think that i think obama can if youre a democrat, obama was great offthecuff. So trump is a different cat, a different kind of cat pic is going to do it his own way. I dont think the old rules, the old rules of welcome here to spend a certain amount of money in pennsylvania doing. You cant win florida lsu media buys up and down the state. I think those old rules are gone. I think there, and i say good riddance, frankly. Youre going to do trump like i viewed reagan. You might not think it now, watch. You are going to view the next, the next four years, the next eight years if i do guess right now, he people are going to look back, youre going to look back 20, 30 years and you are going to say, youre going to say trump republican. You not say you are a bush republican i can tell you that. You say you are a trump republican. I sit on the reagan republican. Trump continues the conservative populist position. But, i mean, i i do see anyone else on the horizon fighting for the American People like he is. Thank you, heidi. Thank you for being here. At the second student from the cat isdy ready, please introduce itself. The adults get no play. Isnt that great . Its in their future. Nre my name is patrick rooney, im a junior at the academy, transitionro program. My question is, who is one of your contemporaries who hold opposing viewpoints from your own that you truly admire and respect, and why . Let me buy a vowel. Ive actually address this before. Its a great question. Ive actually reached out to her on a few occasions and suggested that we do a little, somethings across the country for, just for good, like good mojoo and feeling, maybe some stuffy. For charity. And dont any of you gasp when i say this, but rachel maddow. Now, why do i say that . Why do i say that . I think youve asked a really good question. Why do i say that . Number one, she puts on a nightly show that she writes. She believes it. Shes pushing the agenda for america that she thinks is the right agenda, and shes fighting every night. I know a lot of you guys dont want to. Iee like to see what other peope are doing but i think thats what its all about. I liked mixing it up with people. Its a big country. I think its good for us to listen to different angles, you sharpen your own arguments by talking to others and listening to others. I think when i was younger i didnt try to listen enough to other people. This is always going to be right. Ii get in my view, i improve my own delivery in my own approach by watching and listening other people. Understanding where they come from. Its interesting people t come from at different points of views same issues, completely went 80 different point of view. Why . Sometimes its good to doet tha. I respect her. I respect the fact she is out there fighting, doing a nightly show is, it seems kind of glamorous. Its a great opportunity, great privilege but its a lot of work and shes a woman doing it in prime time and totally opposite me. I guess most vicious but i hope i do kind of a backandforth thing with her at some point. Maybe we can do it from one of our mutual Favorite Charities oe something. Hope that answers it. [applause] do you see President Trump emulating reagans model for working with tip oneill as a legislative model for moving the peoples agenda forward . I think donald trump is going to work with anyone who will dance his agenda. And i think thats what the country wants. I was happy to see him work with the democrats under on the temy debt ceiling. I thought that was a really smart thing to do a special after republicans could getam their act together on obamacare. The compass looking ugly i tried to work on this for months and months of most educated expert. Im going to g work with these guys because i wantt to put pressure on republicans to get this tax reform done before the interview. Suddenly he cut and paste attention. He cut everybodys attention with that. The reagan tip oneill analogy is a little worn, and historically it sounds better as we describe it now than it was. Reagan was a warrior for conservatism. He was a warrior against the Old Washington way. And it didnt happen overnight that he was able to transform america, and he was ridiculed and reviled by all the elites until they really realized this guy won in a landslide and then he went in in 1984. And by the way, speaking to someone close to the presidency of the date and they say what is your goal . Whats your goal . My goal is this conservative populist movement continue, and that the trump agenda is advanced and passed in large part, and my goal, to make that come to fruition. Michael has to be a landslide for trump in 2020. Like a landslide. Like he should go everywhereve n the country andou self conservatism populace. If i were him id go to california, upstate new, massachusetts. Id go everywhere. Go to the parts of the country where republicans and conservatives are not popular. Reagan did that. He was in the bronx two weeks before the 1980 elections in the bronx. Does go everywhere, spread the gospel. Some unsavory characters, but i think there is an enormous amount of running room for this agenda of, better trade deals, smart immigration, law and order, power to the people, get america back on track. American businesses first. I just think there is a huge upside and beyond identity politics, too. Everybody would like an opportunity to perhaps get a picture with you so we will wrap up the q a. We thanknk you very much for coming to see us. Ict have a cardboard cutout f rachel metafiction will be stand in for me for that photo. Thank everybody. [applause] is a look at some authors recently featured on booktvs after words. He was exactly the same, extremely likable. He lit up the room wherever he went. Theres a story thats interesting i was asked on a campaign trail the girls who do make up for tv, thats a discipline where no one can see. Theres no cameras, no campaign staff. You can be as nice or as rude as you want to be, and those wonderful women well. Out anyway. Slice it who was the most meat . This surprised me with the answer and i said who was at the nicest . They said it was donald trump. One girl said we will get in trouble. I thought that was interesting. When i met him on the campaign trail he was so different from other politicians. He was genuinely nice, authentic and unlike these are the people who had run everything to make sure to make sure work he did have that. He didnt hire pollsters as he bragged at one point, that came out. The book is foxtrot in kandahar. What is the story about . The story is about my experience in afghanistan, after the 9 11 attacks. I led a team into southern afghanistan. Who the First Americans in kandahar and that happened on seven december 2001. The story the story is about my experiences i had from the time of 9 11 through that time. What are some of those experiences . Im sorry . What are some of those experiences . One comments hard getting on a team. Initially when i was mostly going to the fbi as a Liaison Officer but when the attacks happen i said i want to be part of whatever were doing, and so a new officers formed up and that office primarily was attending formal what we call paramilitary officers. They are officers, most of them come out of mr. Kirk i was not a paramilitary officer. I was an Operations Officer or a case officer although i had militates breeds. I spent secures in the army. Most of those teams are made up of paramilitary officers who took me a while to finally get on a team that was going. I ended up most of the teams, 17 sup went. Five teams what to the north and what with the northern alliance. Two teams went to the south. Echo team and foxtrot. I initially was on the team for a short time. Then i was, i left the team and i for another team call foxtrot that worked with the former governor of kandahar who would been chased out of office by the taliban. Working with his forces on the ground in southern afghanistan and with echo team working with hamed karzai. We did a combined campaign to capture the city of kandahar. So what are some of things you would like readers to take away from this book after they read it . One, that there was no invasion of afghanistan. People talk about u. S. Invasion of afghanistan. Theres never been an invasion of afghanistan. What we did, small teams, a handful of men, only seven teams made up of cia and special forces, not many people scattered across the country of afghanistan working with afghans who were at the taliban, antialqaeda working with them, circuit Ground Forces to smash alqaeda and then in so doing also the taliban regime. It wasnt conventional military operations. In fact, cia wrote the operation plan for the initial part. Thats one take way. The other thing id like that by book talks about is given the nature of the warfare, the fact that these teams were almost nearly autonomous we operated, we called on shots, made her own decisions. It wasnt like directions coming out of washington, out of our headquarters that were specifically basically our mission was to destroy alqaeda. We figured out on the ground how best to do that. Not having a lot of bureaucracy, encumbered by a lot of bureaucracy, but the people on the ground call the shots, be flexible, the dynamic and what we did, thats how can we are so successful in those initial months in afghanistan