Meet the Press NOW — May 15

Hi, I'm Angie Hicks, co-founder of Angie, and one thing I've learned is that you buy a house, but you make it a home. Because with every fix, update, and renovation, it becomes a little more your own, so you need all your jobs done well. For nearly 30 years, Angie has helped millions of homeowners hire skilled pros for the projects that matter, from plumbing to electrical, roof repair to deck upgrades. So leave it to the pros who will get your jobs done well. Angie, the one you trust to find the ones you trust. Find a pro for your project at Angie.com. Celebrate America's 250th birthday with a perfect night's sleep. This July 4th, save up to $600 on Serta Perfect Sleeper X mattresses and adjustable base sets

with the Q4 support system that helps relieve aches and back pain. Visit a Serta retailer today. Welcome to Meet the Press Now.

I'm Kristen Welker in Washington. We are following breaking news. A man, authorities say, is a terrorist commander appearing in federal court this afternoon, indicted on terrorism charges and accused of planning three attacks across the United States. Take a look. These are photos exclusive to NBC News of that suspect, Muhammad Al-Sadi. Authorities say he tried to hire someone to carry out the attacks, which were planned for New York City, Los Angeles, and Scottsdale, Arizona.

That person turned out to be an undercover member of law enforcement. Authority say Al-Sadi was part of a group that has ties to the Iranian-backed terror organization Hezbollah. According to the criminal complaint unsealed today, al-Sadi and his associates have planned, coordinated, and claimed responsibility for at least 18 terrorist attacks in Europe as well as two additional attacks in Canada. NBC News National Law Enforcement and Intelligence Correspondent Tom Winter joins me now. Tom, thank you so much for starting us off on this breaking news. So let's talk about who is Muhammad al-Sadi and how significant is this apprehension.

Well, Kristen, for the last couple of months we've been trying to figure out, and apparently so is law enforcement. Who is behind this mysterious group that's been posting, taking credit for, a number of attacks, a firebombings, a stabbing, an incident involving drones at the Israeli embassy in London, H-A-Y-I. And this man that you're now looking at there, Muhammad al-Sadi, they say, is one of the leaders of that group and that really it's just a front, if you will, for Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed terror organization. And so the focus here has been on who's been doing this and how are they

doing it? And one of the things that a number of terror experts have pointed out is that this really speaks to Iran's MO, basically going out and hiring a number of criminal groups. These are criminal organizations, gangs that are active in various parts of Europe to go out and conduct these attacks for money, and then they take the credit for it. And obviously, this has been going on since the start of the Ron War, since the U.S. began their bombing campaign. How significant is it to your question? I think quite significant because it's been 18 events. A number of people have been hurt, including some dual U.S. citizens. And so this has been something that's definitely been a focus of authorities, including that attack and that incident on the U.S. Embassy in Toronto,

So Canada. So this is serious. They've been focused on it. And today, at least one of the people they believe is responsible, or at least they allege is responsible, is now behind bars. It's just extraordinary. The allegations against him go back several years, Tom. How long has he been on the radar of authorities and just what was behind his apprehension? How did they do it? Yeah. So that's a big question that we have is how long he's popped up. You know, this group has been putting itself out there really only since March. But his social media post, by the way, his ex-account. is still live right now online. He's been talking about, and he's been talking about, and the number of photos of him with the former head of the IRGC, Qasem Soleimani.

It was obviously killed in a drone strike during President Trump's first term. He was putting information out about how he wanted to kill. President Trump, here you're looking at those photos that I reference of him in Soleimani. This is included in a criminal complaint. And more recently, they introduced,

or at least there was a discussion with an undercover member of law enforcement and that person was posing as a member of the Mexican cartel who was apparently going to get tens of thousands of dollars some of it in cryptocurrency to carry out a tax in New York, L.A., and Scottsdale, Arizona against prominent Jewish locations there. So this was quite serious, taken into custody by Turkish authorities. I think some of those details have yet to come out and be made public.

I expect we'll hear potentially more about that operation flown to New York last night. So, Tom, what are you going to be watching for next in this case? So I think this case, if you talk to terrorism experts, all the reporting we've been doing on this group with the first U.S. news organization, a report about H.A.Y. It's something that the British authorities have been concerned about is, are we going to see more of this? Basically, what is used as a rapper. They're a rapper around Hezbollah. It's a propaganda rapper. Will they try to reconstitute themselves? Will they continue? And oh, by the way, Kristen, as you well know, we've got America 250, a number of celebrations coming up all across the country. and in less than a month, FIFA World Cup starts. And so really, it's just a gamut of threats that are focused at those events as we still continue our conflict with Iran.

All right, Tom Winter, thank you. As always, on the breaking news. We know you'll continue to track up. Please bring us any developments as they happen throughout the course of the hour. We really appreciate it. We want to turn now to another major story that we are following President Trump's state visit to China. President Trump set to return to the White House in just a few hours. with very few clear wins from this high-stake summit with President Xi Jinping.

Before leaving China, the president hailed the trip as a success, saying he had made some fantastic trade deals. The president telling reporters aboard Air Force one that he got verbal commitments from the Chinese president to buy American jets and more soybeans, saying he expects deals down the line. Take a listen. President Xi Jinping's an incredible guy. got a long made a lot of great trade deals including over 200 planes for Boeing with a promise of 750 planes which will be by far the largest order ever if they do a good job with the 200 which I'm sure they will I did the farmers are going to be very happy they're going to be buying billions of dollars of soy beans but so far there have been no official announcements of any new trade deals or purchases

of American products. President Trump, who had more than a dozen American CEOs with him on the trip, also told reporters, he did not discuss tariffs or computer chips with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The president also has very little to show on the issue of Iran. The White House had hoped to encourage China to use its economic influence to help pressure Iran to reopen the Strait of Formuz. But President Trump, by his own account, not getting any firm commitment from China on that front, despite saying President, And she offered to help. Listen.

We did discuss Iran. We feel very similar in Iran. We want that to end. And we don't want them to have a nuclear weapon. We want the straits open. As President Xi Jinping make any firm commitment to put pressure on the Iranians to reopen the straight of all movements? I'm not asking for any favors.

Because when you ask for favors, you have to do favors in reality. We don't need favors. President Trump did say he secured a commitment from President Xi Jinping not to sell weapons to Tehran. After two sources told NBC News, the Chinese state-controlled companies have discussed plans to secretly sell arms to Iran. The question now is the president returns home, what happens next in the war with Iran, with gas prices showing no signs of dropping? Today, holding steady at $4.53 a gallon, which is up 52 percent. since the war started. The president is offering no clear outlook on the next steps in the war after rejecting Tehran's

latest proposal. We may have to do a little cleanup work because we had a little month-long ceasefire, I guess you'd call it, but we have a blockade that's so effective. That's why we did the ceasefire. Just to be clear, I mean, what's next to you? Is the threat of the bombing starting again? How realistic... Well, I don't want to say that.

I mean, I'd like to tell you. I'd like to say on a certain hour, of a certain day, the bombing is going to send. I don't want to say that. I can only say that Iran, I could say this with very, very strong conviction. Iran will never have a nuclear weapon. Not going to happen. And joining me now from Beijing as NBC News, senior White House correspondent, Gabe Gutierrez, and NBC News, senior national security correspondent Courtney Kubi.

Thanks to both of you for being here, Gabe. You've been talking to your sources there who've been on the trip. How does the administration feel about this summit with President Xi Jinping? Did they think it's been a success? Well, Kristen, the president and White House officials are trying to highlight what you just did. This claim by the president that there were investment deals signed, although we don't have specifics of them, that the president got Xi Jinping to purchase some 200 Boeing jets, although we do not have any official confirmation of that from the Chinese side.

But here, Kristen, there was no grand bargain, but if you take a step back, there was a pretty significant shift in just how the U.S. deals with China. Just think about just the last year with the tariff of up to 145 percent. President Trump deciding to take a much less adversarial approach here on the ground in Beijing, apparently making the calculation the best way to deal with China. and President Xi Jinping is to highlight what he calls a very good relationship. But as you just laid out, a lot of things are up in the air. We are very light on specifics when it comes to any investment deals that were signed.

The president and the White House officials say that they did talk about AI guardrails, that they did talk about China potentially buying billions of dollars in soybeans, that that could be great for American farmers, but we have no specifics on any of it. Now as the president is heading back to Washington, Kristen. Gabe, let's talk about what may be one of the biggest headlines coming out of this trip. What was discussed regarding Taiwan, the Chinese foreign ministry, issuing that sharp statement yesterday in which it said that President Xi Jinping warned of conflicts and clashes if the question of Taiwan were to be, quote, mishandled.

How was the president responding to that? Well, Kristen, the biggest news out of this trip on Taiwan, is the fact that it was even discussed at all. Yes, the Chinese have repeatedly brought it up before, but not only did they bring it up this time, they brought up front and center before the bilateral talks that meeting yesterday, or two days ago at this point, was even wrapped up, and President Trump acknowledged

that he did discuss that issue of arms sales to Taiwan with President Xi Jinping, which would violate the assurances given to Taiwan back in 1982. Listen to more of what the president had to say, earlier today returning to Washington aboard Air Force One. On Taiwan, he does not want to see a fight for independence because that would be a very strong confrontation, and I heard him out. No, I didn't make a comment on it. I heard him out. I have a lot of respect for him.

What about the Orange States? I'll make a determination over the next fairly short period. I don't want to say. I'm not going to say that. There's only one person that knows that. You know who it is me?

So, Chris, and the president, they were saying he'd make a determination on arms sales towards Taiwan, even though Secretary of St. Marco Rubio told our Tom Yamis that U.S. policy towards Taiwan is unchanged. But just the fact, it came up at all. And so soon, pretty significant, Chris. And so forcefully, Gabe, standby. Let me turn to Courtney Kuby. get you to weigh in on this. So, Court, what do you make of what was discussed regarding

Taiwan, particularly against the backdrop of the question looming? Will President Trump, in fact, approve the arms sale that Congress just signed off on to Taiwan? Yeah, so it's concerning that the president didn't have a more declarative statement here. And this is a package that's been waiting for a while, too. This isn't new. Remember, the U.S. passed this huge package back in December, about $11 billion. And that included a lot of defensive things that could specifically been used if, in fact, Taiwan were invaded by China, among the long-range attack of missiles, hundreds of them. But there's been this other one. It's somewhere in the neighborhood of $15 billion, maybe more than that. What this one's important is because it includes some of the

more advanced and long-range air defense systems and systems that could even more specifically defend the island against China. Now, one thing to keep in mind, the president still has not notified Congress about that. So it hasn't even begun that process before, then it becomes a years-long, generally, effort to actually get these systems to Taiwan. So at this point, these systems, if in fact they are approved, aren't going, they're not going to arrive in Taiwan for a matter of years. Well, it's always about the timeline that makes it so complicated. Corda I do want to talk to you about Iran.

Speaking of the timeline, I think one of the big questions looming over the president's return is what happens now. negotiations were stalled when the president departed for China. He did leave the possibility of military operations, resuming them on the table. What are your sources telling you about his mindset as he returns? Well, I mean, even just listening to that gaggle on the plane that you just played some of the sound, at some points he was saying, we've done everything. We've destroyed their conventional military. We've completely taken them out.

And then only moments later, he said, well, we still have some things that we could hit. And if we wanted to take out their infrastructure, we could do so in a matter of, a day or two. So it's really unclear. He is sending so many mixed messages right now. The one thing that is certain at this point, according to his own words, is that the U.S. and Iran are nowhere close to a deal. And especially if, in fact, this really is about what he says the priority, and that is the nuclear program and highly enriched uranium, there is no talk about how, at this point, of how the U.S. could actually ensure that, in fact, Iran never has nuclear weapon if we're talking about the negotiations between the two sides. So it leaves open the possibility.

Trump really only has a couple of options here, and that is resuming combat operations in some form, whether it's large scale or more tailored, a protracted stalemate here with Iran, are turning and walking away and basically giving up on some of these goals that he's laid out. All right, Courtney, really extraordinary. We'll see what happens when he touches down. I want you both to stick with me. We want to have a little reset. I want to turn to another developing story while the president was overseas, NBC News Learning, his Justice Department is seeking to indict the former president of Cuba, 94-year-old Raul Castro. According to U.S. official familiar with the matter, the indictment is related to the 1996 incident where Cuba shot down two humanitarian planes

from an organization known as Brothers to the Rescue. The Trump administration's effort to possibly charge Raul Castro, the brother of Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, comes as the Trump administration has been ramping up pressure against Cuba's communist regime. On Thursday, CIA director John Ratcliffe traveled to Havana to meet with a number of officials, including Raul Castro's grandson, as part of this pressure campaign. Now, in a statement, the CIA said that director John Ratcliffe traveled to, quote, personally deliver President Trump's message that the United States is prepared to seriously engage on economic and security issues, but only if Cuba makes fundamental changes, including stopping

adversaries like China and Russia from operating intelligence posts on the island. Gabe, let me turn back to you on this. What exactly do we know about this indictment and how does it factor into this larger pressure campaign against Cuba, which we've, of course, been talking about for quite some time now? Well, Kristen, the first thing we should understand is that Raoul Castro, even though he did step down as president of Cuba back in 2018. And then his secretary is a communist party on the island back in 2021, I believe, he still wields immense political power on the island. And it is significant that the DOJ is pushing for this indictment, which, by the way, a grand jury would

need to sign off on before these charges went through. But we have learned from those two U.S. officials familiar with the matter that the DOJ is looking at this. And one of those officials says that it is related to that 1996 incident that you mentioned. That incident rock U.S. and Cuba relations. It was huge news in Miami back in the 1990s. And the founder of that group, Brothers to the Rescue, praised a potential indictment just today.

But this all comes to big, that bigger backdrop, Kristen, as you mentioned, the U.S. really has been ramping up pressure on Cuba. And in fact, right now, there are huge blackouts across much of Cuba and protests had erupted in Havana as the country deals with this fuel shortage, not just because of the Iran War, but also following the U.S. capture of Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro, that country, of course, that provided oil to Cuba. But remember, Kristen, and this will be my last point here, it was Maduro who was indicted in the U.S. regarding drug trafficking.

So, raises a lot of questions, could the U.S. be looking to do the same to Raul Castro, if this indictment does happen. NBC had reported several months ago that the DOJ was looking at criminal charges for several top Cuban officials out of the Southern District of Florida, Christ. And it's so fascinating, Gabe, as we're having this conversation, court, President Trump has been saying for quite some time Cuba's next, Cuba's in his crosshairs. He thinks Cuba's going to fall on its own. Big picture, what's the thinking inside the Pentagon about the readiness if there were to be a military action in Cuba, given that there has already been resources used in Venezuela and now obviously Iran. So there is this U.S. assessment that exists that Cuba is likely to fall by the end of this year. Even without some sort of a military intervention, of course,

the U.S. has been applying this pressure sort of behind the scenes and under with, you know, what we call sort of rather than boots on the ground, but sneakers on the ground, right? So potentially intelligence professionals and civilians who try to push a regime. in one way or another. But it hasn't worked at this point, right? Now, the Cuban regime is under huge pressure right now. They just had these enormous protests this week. They're having enormous problems with energy.

But there were two things out of that CIA director John Ratcliffe visit that really stood out to me. One was this claim by the U.S. or this argument by the U.S. that Cuba has to stop working with adversaries in the region. I don't know how they would do that. And especially I sort of decouple them. with a country like China where we believe that there is still the spy base that exists on Cuba, that's Chinese. Russia is actually allegedly trying to help Cuba with some of their

energy issues. So how do they decouple and what does that look like? The second thing was in this readout where they allegedly talked about intelligence sharing between Cuba and the United States. That's astonishing to me that that went into a readout. So it's not really clear. I mean, I remember you spoke with the deputy foreign minister only several weeks ago on Meet the press. It's still no clear right now what the U.S. is doing and whether that's actually having an impact on the ground in Cuba. Absolutely. And Gabe, it does come, of course, against the backdrop of the CIA director visiting Cuba. What do we know about what actually came out of that visit? We see him there meeting with officials. We know he issued a stern message to Cuba. What was the big

takeaway? Well, you laid some of it out with Courtney there, Kristen, but look, the most important, important thing about that meeting, and these that stuck out to me, is the pictures that the CIA released. The CIA wanted everyone to know that the CIA director was down there. They made no secret of it. They went down in a U.S. diplomatic plane. It was parked in Havana for all to see. And the CIA director John Ratcliffe was meeting with top Cuban officials, yes, including the intelligence minister, as Courtney just laid out. So it's our understanding that U.S. and Cuban officials have been talking for some time. It's unclear exactly which intermediaries they've been using, but this is very significant. As you just heard, yesterday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio

was asked about the Cuba issue by Tom Yamas, our colleague, and he is pushing the Cuban government to take this $100 million in humanitarian aid that the U.S. has been offering. Cuba says it's skeptical of it, that there might be strings attached. which the U.S. denies at this point. It's except the only string Marco Rubio says that it requires is for the humanitarian aid to be distributed not by the Cuban government, but by the Catholic Church, perhaps. But this all comes as you laid out, Kristen, the increasing pressure campaign on multiple fronts by the U.S. government on Cuba.

All right, Gabe and Courtney, thank you so very much. Coming up, stock and trade, we're taking a deep dive into newly released financial disclosure. from President Trump revealing purchases of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of stocks this year as he was making market-moving announcements from the White House. Plus, next stops on President Trump's retribution campaign, Louisiana. We've got a preview of the high-stakes race as Republican Senator Bill Cassidy fights for his political life. Stay with us. You're watching Meet the Press now.

Hi, I'm Angie Hicks, co-founder of Angie. When you use Angie for your home projects, you know all your jobs will be done well. Roof repair? Done well. Kitchen sink install? Done well. Deck upgrades? Done well. Electrical upgrade, done well.

Angie's been connecting homeowners with skilled pros for nearly 30 years, so we know the difference between done and done well. Angie, the one you trust to find the ones you trust. Find a pro for your project at Angie.com. Traditional home security only alerts you after a break-in, and that's too late. Simpli-safe is changing that. Stop. This is SimplySafe.

Police are on the way. We don't just alert. We stop crime before it starts. SimplySafe, plan starting around $1 a day. Save 50% on your new system with professional monitoring at Simplysafe.com slash SXM or with promo code SXM. Outdoor deterrence requires a Simpliceave active guard outdoor protection plan

starting at 4999 a month. Visit Simplysave.com for alarm licensed information, Tennessee 2012. Some say O-DU business management software is like fertilizer because of the way it promotes growth. Some say O-DU is like a magic beanstock, scaling with you while being magically affordable. And some say O-DU's programs for manufacturing, accounting, and more are like building blocks for creating a custom software suite. But I say O-D-O is all of it. Fertilizer magic beanstalk building blocks for business. Yeah.

O-D-U, exactly what every business needs. Sign up at O-D-O-D-com. That's O-D-O-O-O-O-com.

Welcome back. Turning now to new scrutiny facing the White House after President Trump revealed in financial disclosure forms hundreds of millions of dollars in stock purchases and financial transactions in the first part of this year involving a range of private companies. Some he personally hyped as president or helped them broker potentially lucrative deals. Now, we should note that in a statement the Trump organization says neither the president, nor his family plays any role in selecting, directing, or approving specific investments. And a White House spokesperson says his assets are in a trust managed by his children and insisting there are no conflicts of interest. Still the volume of the stock purchases and his stake in some of these companies are unprecedented for a sitting president. For example, according to the disclosures, millions of dollars of stock in Boeing were purchased

across several transactions in February and March. It comes as yesterday, the president announced he had secured a deal for Boeing during his China trip. Listen. A lot of great trade deals, including over 200 planes for Boeing with a promise of 750 plans, which will be by far the largest order ever, if they do a good job with the 200, which I'm sure they will. In another trade, hundreds of thousands of dollars of stock in Oracle were purchased on January 12th. Just a few days later, the company finalized a deal brokered by the U.S. for partial ownership of TikTok. The disclosures also show purchases of Doordash stock roughly a dozen times from January through March. In early April, came this DoorDash photo op at the White House with a delivery made directly to the Oval Office.

Nice to me, too. I have your DoorDash order for you, Mr. President. That's right. Look at this. This doesn't look staged. They're all your favorites. That's really good. DoorDash is doing a good job. Now, we mentioned Boeing, Oracle, and DoorDash.

Some other notable transactions include up to a million dollars of Navidia stock purchased on January 6th, which came just days before the president backed a deal for the company to sell chips to China. There were also more than a dozen purchases of Palantir stock. And when the stock slumped in April, the president took to social media to praise the company, specifically noting its stock ticker. And numerous purchases of Coinbase stock were made from January through March when the president sent the company's stock soaring by publicly urging big banks to further embrace crypto. Now, there are thousands of financial transactions in these disclosures,

and we should note they also show the president bought stock in NBC News, parent company, Comcast. NBC News, senior national political reporter Jonathan Allen joins me now. Also with me now is Don Fox. He served as acting director and general counsel for the United States Office of Government Ethics during the George W. Bush and Obama administrations. Thanks so much to both of you. Really appreciate it. John, let me start with you here on set. Just how unprecedented are these types of financial exchanges in the midst of a presidency?

Yeah, it's hard to know exactly what Franklin Roosevelt did, you know, another very wealthy American president. I think one of the things that's unique about Donald Trump is that he is a president who has all of this money and lives in the air. era of disclosures. Still, it's not something we've seen before in terms of all these stock purchases with the timing, you know, very close to the president himself being out there promoting these companies. Of course, American presidents promote American businesses, but the confluence of him promoting businesses that are being invested in on his behalf is an unusual thing at the very least and something I haven't seen before. Well, we are getting this reaction from the Trump organization. Let's dig a little

bit deeper into that. What specifically is the Trump organization saying when pressed about all of this? Well, what they're saying is that the president has a trust that is managed by his children and that nobody in the family is picking stocks. What they didn't say, but is fairly common is that you would have a trust where there is an investment manager that's hired by the trust to make the investments. If he was doing this in a pure and clean way, that's what would happen. That basically they're saying, they're delegating that power from the trust in where, to make investments to avoid conflicts of interest. It is unlikely that the president or his children would be unable to see what the investments are. But we should also keep in mind that

we're talking about an extraordinarily wealthy president with an extraordinarily wealthy family. When you look at these purchases, they're not outsized given how much money he has. I mean, these are relatively small for his portfolio. Big for you or me, and probably for most of the viewers, but not so big for him. The other thing we haven't seen is any indication that they have been sold, which is where you would actually turn a profit off of something. I do want to read the Trump Organization statement before we go to the next question. It says President Trump's investment holdings are maintained exclusively through fully discretionary accounts independently managed by third-party financial institutions with sole and exclusive

authority over all investment decisions. Neither President Trump, his family, nor the Trump organization plays any role in selecting, directing, or approving specific investments, which is what you laid out. So let me ask you, has there been reaction from Capitol Hill? What are lawmakers saying about this, John? Yeah, I mean, we're hearing a lot from Democrats right now. Particularly, yeah, Elizabeth Warren pointed out Nvidia, investments the president made in the chipmaker, NVIDIA, and the promotion of NVIDIA in China this week with the CEO of Vindia joining that White House trip. And she basically said that the president is corrupt.

J.B. Pritzker, the governor of Illinois made a similar comment. I mean, that's the drumbeat you're hearing from the Democrats right now is that the president is corrupt. And they are using this as a data point in a larger argument they're making against him, which is that he has done a lot of things that they believe are benefiting him using his office and certainly believe that members of his administration are doing the same thing. All right, John, thanks for being here to help us understand all of that. it done. Let me turn to you. What stood out to you from the financial disclosure forms that were

released yesterday? Well, there are a couple of things, Kristen. First of all, just the magnitude of these trades is completely unprecedented. We may not know what FDR did in terms of his investments, but in the modern era of government ethics, which really begins post-Watergate with the Jimmy Carter administration, presidents, even though by law they are exempt from conflicts of interest have behaved and managed their finances, in fact, as though they were subject to conflicts of interest. Secondly, I think, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. No, no, please continue. I was going to say that, secondly, it's a kind of a fig leaf to say that the trust has a financial manager. There are a lot of people with retirement accounts who have financial managers and aren't making individual decisions.

that's no excuse, and it doesn't help shore up public trust that the president is in fact acting in our interest as Americans rather than in his own financial interests and those of his family. Well, you heard John Allen make the point. It's certainly something that we haven't seen typically for a commander in chief. How unusual do you think the sheer volume of these transactions are for a sitting president? Oh, it's unprecedented. It really is. Again, from Jimmy Carter forward, presidents have by and large gotten themselves out of common stocks and invested in things that would not cause conflicts of interest for anyone. That's the same, both also other very wealthy executive branch employees. If we go back to the Bush administration and Secretary of the Treasury, Henry Paulson, who was incredibly wealthy, he invested everything and put all his assets as it turned out into

U.S. treasuries. He invested in the United States of America, non-for-profit companies. Are there actual ethical or legal guidelines that say what a president can and cannot trade while in office? Well, there are not. When Congress passed the conflicts of interest statutes and the Ethics and Government Act, there was a conscious decision to exempt certain officials in both the legislative, judicial, and the executive branches from conflicts of interest. And the executive branch, those officials are the president and the vice president. The policy reasons for that, I think, are sound. And that is, those officials should be able to act on anything that crosses their desk and not have to be concerned about conflicts. Because of that, and really the trust that the

Congress and the American people through the Congress placed in those office holders. Again, presidents up until President Trump have acted as though and managed finance their finances as though they were subject to conflicts. There's obviously speaking of Congress a push right now to ban members of Congress from trading stock because of this very issue, because of concerns about potential insider trading, do you anticipate there would be a similar effort to ban trades by the president or vice president? Why do you think we haven't seen that yet? I think that we will.

I think certainly this latest financial disclosure report will get impetus to that movement. And I think make us realize that while Donald Trump may be an anomaly in many respects, that we can no longer just rely upon the norms of presidential behavior to ensure that future presidents conduct themselves like every other member of the executive branch. So I would hope that Congress does take up legislation that while not making the president subject to conflicts of interest would in fact limit the type of investments that they can hold while they bother in the office of the presidency. All right. Well, such an important conversation. Don Fox, thank you for your expertise on it. We really appreciate it. You're welcome. Coming up next, the countdown is on to some of the

most consequential primary elections yet. NBC News speaks to all three Republican candidates vying to take on Georgia's Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff in November. Plus, Kentucky's Republican Congressman Thomas Massie speaks out as he fights against a Trump-backed primary challenger. Don't go anywhere. This is Meet the Press now.

Hi, I'm Angie Hicks, co-founder of Angie. And one thing I've learned is that you buy a house, but you make it a home. Because with every fix, update, and renovation, it becomes a little more your own. So you need all your jobs done well. For nearly 30 years, Angie has helped millions of homeowners hire skilled pros for the projects that matter, from plumbing to electrical, roof repair, to deck upgrades. So leave it to the pros who will get your jobs done well. Angie, the one you trust, to find the ones you trust. Find a pro for your project at Angie.com. In the U.S., there's a break in every 26 seconds. But when intruders step near, Simply Safe home security steps up.

Stop. This is Simply Safe. Police are on the way. Using AI alerts, U.S.-based live agents help deter break ins. SimplySaf, no long-term contracts. Save 50% on your new system with professional monitoring at Simplysafe.com slash SXM or with promo code SXM. Outdoor deterrence requires a Simplysafe Active Guard outdoor protection plan starting at $49.99 a month. Visit Simplysave.com slash licenses for alarm licensed information, Tennessee 2012.

Some say Odu business management software, is like fertilizer because of the way it promotes growth. Some say Odu is like a magic beanstalk, scaling with you while being magically affordable. And some say Odu's programs for manufacturing, accounting, and more are like building blocks for creating a custom software suite. But I say Odu is all of it. Fertilizer magic beanstalk building blocks for business.

Yeah. Odu, exactly what every business needs. Sign up at Odu.com. That's ODO.com.

Welcome back. President Trump's influence over the Republican Party is about to face another set of key tests. Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy and Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massie both face Trump-back primary challengers in the coming days. They're the latest targets in the president's effort this cycle to oust incumbent members of his own party that he's deemed insufficiently supportive of his agenda. Most recently in Indiana, five out of seven Republicans who had opposed. the president's redistricting push were defeated in their primaries. Louisiana Republican Senator Bill Cassidy originally drew President Trump's ire as one of the few Republican senators who voted to convict him during his impeachment trial after the January 6th riot.

Bill Cassidy faces two challengers in tomorrow's primary race, state treasurer John Fleming, and Congresswoman Julia Letlow, who has Donald Trump's endorsement, a fact she's touted heavily in campaign ads. Bill Cassidy and Fleming, never Trumpers, we'll never ever vote for. I'm thrilled to give my complete and total endorsement to your next United States senator from Louisiana, Julia Letlow. While President Trump is backing Letlow, a Trump political advisor recently told NBC News, the president and his advisors are more focused on defeating Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie. That primary is coming up on Tuesday with Thomas Massie facing a chat.

from his Trump-backed opponent, Ed Galrine. Thomas Massie spoke to my colleague, Julie Sirkin, about why he thinks his race is a referendum for his party. I vote with the party 90% of the time, but there's 10% of the time where I think my constituents are better served by a different vote. If more people would speak up, and I think that you're getting to the nub of why they're attacking me and why this is the most expensive race in the history of Congress, congressional primaries, it's because they want everybody else to go along to get along. And if they let one guy come up here and vote his conscience and vote the way he campaigned and vote for his constituents instead of rubber stamping the party menu that day, then there might be others who are encouraged to do that.

And so that's why I'm fighting so hard. This is a fight worth winning. It's a national referendum. There'll be international cameras at my Election Day victory party because it has ramifications. Congressman Thomas Massie's race is just one of several key primary races. We will be watching on Tuesday. Joining me now is the panel, Kadia Goba, politics reporter for notice. Chuck Rocha, Democratic strategist and president of Solidarity Strategies and Republican strategist

Matt Gorman. He is also an NBC news contributor. Thanks to all of you for being here as we are about to head into an exciting series of primary races starting with Saturday night. Kadea, let me start with you on this Bill Cassidy race. How much jeopardy is he in? Could Julia Letlow pull off a winner? Is this going to go to a runoff?

How do you see it? Yeah, you know, polling a month ago suggested that he wasn't doing well. Bill Cassidy was about a few points under Lutlo as well as Fleming. He's doing, he's polling under them. So it'll be interesting, but at the same time, there's about 22% of voters who are undecided. So it'll be interesting to see where that 22% falls, right? Like, has the president's decision around gas prices impacted some of their decision? Are they going, this is obviously going to be a vote for the president or against the president, I think.

And it'll be between his endorsed candidate and whether or not Bill Cassidy has a chance. Yeah, we're seeing a similar dynamic play out with the race for Thomas Massie's seat. he says he's voted with Republicans 90% of the time, but boy, it's hard to think of a Republican congressman who's been more outspoken and broken with President Trump on more issues publicly. The Epstein files voting against the big, beautiful bill. Matt, how do you see that race playing out with Ed Gallerine? Yeah, I mean, I think Thomas Massie's in a lot of trouble. You can't at one minute, say, accuse the Trump administration of being, quote, the Epstein

administration, as Thomas Massie has done. And then the next breath, brag how much you vote with Donald Trump. I think it's a little disingenuous. But look, I think, you know, Thomas Massie had an advantage to start. Galrines come on. I think, you know, especially this will be the only big primary in Kentucky because you don't really have as much of a competitive Senate race driving a ton of turnout, especially in Thomas Massie's district.

So I think, you know, Thomas Massie is going to be in a lot of trouble. Now, what I'm curious about is if he goes down, what does he do for the next, you know, five months or so? they still essentially need his presence in Congress. Yeah, it's a great question. What are you going to be watching for, Chuck? Well, first of all, there's nothing like the smell of Republicans fighting each other in the afternoon here in Washington, D.C.S. Democrats love that. Let me explain what I mean by that is that every dollar that's spent in this primary in Kentucky or in a primary in Louisiana where these folks don't have to be spending money against each other, they could be spending on beating Democrats.

So it's a good thing for the Democrats. The next point is this massive thing has become the most expensive primary in the history of Kentucky. And the last thing in Louisiana, we should remind everybody, is that it's a top two system. There's a chance that the incumbent does not even make the runoff. But there's a lot of craziness going on right now. What about that point about the dollars and cents of this, Matt, and the concern. And I've spoken to some Republicans who say we are having to put money into races that we don't necessarily. Well, Mass-Fury votes are a Democrat, so we're essentially putting money to the defeat.

Only 10% of the time. It's pretty big 10%. You just mentioned it there. I mean, procedural votes, congratulations. So again, I'd want, we can defeat Thomas Massie there. I think the other part is that, you know, Chuck does make a point on this. You know, there is a very good chance that Cassie does not make the runoff. I mean, Fleming has come on strong.

Letlow struggled to start her campaign, but has escalated. And again, Fleming's a former congressman in of itself. He's not a nobody. He actually served in the seat Mike Johnson took over for. So that is something to watch very closely. A Letlow versus Fleming runoff is certainly not out of the question, where Bill Cassidy, again, nowhere to be found. Look, it's really, really important to know that this is a Saturday election. It's a Republican primary. There's one place. Donald Trump is still a superstar, and that's in a

Republican low-turn turnout primary. That means these folks love Donald Trump. That's what's not good for Bill Cassidy. Cadilla, let's talk about Georgia. A lot to talk about there. We've got the Senate race there. Brian Kemp, the governor, supporting Derek Dooley. He's the former football coach who's facing off against two members of Congress. The race to try to unseat John. The Democrat there. What are you going to be watching for? Obviously, who is the next candidate to run against Jon Ossoff? Like, you know, many people have kind of positioned themselves as, you know, sorry, duly, backed by the governor, right? Is a lot of people are favoring duly.

You know, it'll be interesting to see where Susan Collins pulls on. And obviously, you know, a lot of people I talk to want to see a Susan Collins run against Jon Ossoff, clearly. But it doesn't seem like it might. It'll be interesting to see if it goes that way. It's not clear that it will. But I'm hearing a lot of people are starting to look at how this general election might face off. And I think more resources are going to Dooley at this point. And we actually have some sound.

Let's listen to Brian Kemp and Dooley talking about this race. It's time we got send people up to D.C. with some common sense that represent our values. But most importantly, what I'm telling voters is going up there for the right reasons. And that's to work with others to deliver results. That's what has been failing up in Washington, D.C., and that's why we need a political outsider. I have a very strong belief that's going to take a political outsider to beat Jon Ossoff in this race, just like Dave McCormick did in Pennsylvania, Bernie Moreno did in Ohio, Tim Cee, did in Montana. That's why we're working so hard for Derek.

Matt, what do you make of this? I mean, Cadilla's laid out the stakes. I mean, how do you see this playing out? Is this going to go to a runoff? I think it's very likely to go to a runoff. The fight is between, I think, Buddy Carter or Derek Dooley. Derek Dooley struggled for a time. He had the Brian Kemp machine behind him. There is a thought that if he can get to a runoff, That's where it actually can mobilize and overtake Susan Collins a little bit. But I think the question is can he get to that second position? Democrats are pretty confident in Jon Ossoff right now, Chuck. And yet the governor clearly putting all of his political capital behind his candidate.

And once this goes to a general election, you anticipate we'll see the same. The number one grassroots fundraiser in the Democratic Party for the last 18 months have been Jon Ossoff. That means folks have been giving him money $5, $10, $20, $20, at his time. He's raised an incredible amount of money and as an incumbent, that's what you should do. Going back to this Republican runoff, I'll go back to my previous statement of Donald Trump is still very popular in this. And in a Republican primary, you're only going to have these right-of-the-right voters. And in a runoff, if it goes that far, it's just like Texas. It's even more of the right-of-the-right. Regular folks don't vote in a turnout. What's so fascinating about Georgia, Matt, are the dynamics,

between President Trump and some of these Georgia Republicans. And the fact that that is adding this extra layer to so many of these races, including the gubernatorial. Yeah, I mean, look, I think Brian Kemp and Trump have buried a lot of the hackshed over the last six years, especially in the last two years. That she got Brad Raffensperger. Raffinzberger is a different case, I think. And again, again, we'll see, I believe he's running as well, not for Senate, obviously, from other positions.

So we'll see how that goes. You know, again, I think this is a race that Republicans recognize the underdog going to the general election, but are hopeful maybe they can make it a race and see what happens. What's the suburbs around Atlanta? watch the Democrat and Republican turnout. See what the turnout looks like compared to each other. Those suburbs used to be ruby red. They've turned purple and now leaning very much blue. That's where this election is won and lost in November. All right. We're going to watch it all closely. Thank you all for a great Friday conversation,

Kadea, Chuck, and Matt. Tune in tomorrow for special coverage of the Louisiana midterm primaries with the great Steve Kornacki at the big board starting at 9 p.m. Eastern on NBCNews.com. And then you don't want to miss this on Tuesday. I'll be joined by my colleagues, Hallie Jackson, Steve Kornacki, and our team of reporters for special primary coverage. As the results come in, Matt Gorman's going to be there with me. It all kicks off at 6.30 Eastern right here on NBC News Now. Stay with us. We'll be right back.

Welcome back. As we mentioned, President Trump is touting his trip to China as a success, hailing, quote, quote, fantastic trade deals from his meeting with President Xi Jinping, including what he says is a promise from China to buy, quote, billions of dollars of U.S. soybeans, although we should note the exact details of many of these deals remain unclear. Joining me now is Iowa Republican Congressman Zach Nunn. Congressman Nunn, thank you so much for joining me. Really appreciate it. Kristen, hey, great to be with you.

And like you, I'm heartened to hear the president talk about what we can do for trade with China. I'm a counterintelligence officer. I've served in China. I serve on the China Select Committee now. I also serve on ag and financial services. These conversations are important. And, you know, this isn't the first time we've heard, though, from China. Buying 25 million metric tons of soybeans is something they put on the table before is the negotiating tactic. I want this signed and put into place so we really know these trade agreements are worth what they're written on. Well, you bring me to my question, Congressman, and so glad you could join us on this Friday. the president saying soy farmers are going to be very happy with the deal he got on soybeans.

At the same time, he said he didn't discuss tariffs with President Xi Jinping. Iowa, of course, the second largest producer of soybeans in the U.S. China currently levies 13% tariff on U.S. soybeans. Do you think any deal needs to include a reduction of that tariff in addition to being signed, sealed and delivered, as you're saying? Well, here's the reality. Yes. We have asked China to do this multiple times. I just led a trade delegation to the nearest country there, Taiwan. They took their trade tariff down from 94% to zero. They made an agreement to buy soy, corn, as well as beef, and dairy products here. I think that we've seen others in the region do this. We should certainly hold the Chinese to the same standard here for a true free trade agreement to be successful here. I want to really emphasize here. I'm heartened by the fact that the president was able to get a U.S.-China

Ward of Trade put together. I think that does a lot to provide oversight so that when China makes these commitments, we can ensure that they actually follow through on them and don't use them as one-time leverage to try and, you know, buy a commodities market and then never execute on it. Congressman, let me ask you about another big issue that was discussed between President Trump and President Xi Jinping, Taiwan. President, she apparently warned President Trump of clashes and even conflicts over the island. Today, President Trump saying he did hear the Chinese leader out, did not comment on it.

You, of course, just visited Taiwan last month. Does she's warning concern you? How do you hear that? I hear it as a threat to the United States if we take it literally, which is why I'm proud. The Marco Rubio says our commitment to Taiwan remains. unchanged. It's very important to note. Taiwan is now our fourth largest trading partner. We've just signed an agreement for $40 billion in defense mutual spending, including spending that allows them to defend themselves through drone technology and missile defense systems. But the reality is

this, if China is going to continue to be belligerent towards our strongest democratic ally in the region, whether that be through diplomatic pressure, economic embargo, or as President Xi Jinping seem to let loose a potential conflict with the West, China needs to know that the United States is going to stand firm on this issue. And I think this tells us more about China's state of affairs than anything else. They just have the Iranian foreign minister in Beijing. They've got Vladimir Putin coming directly after President Trump is there. They've killed two of their top generals out of fear within the regime of the CCP. And we've seen them actively not only have intellectual property theft, agro-terrorism here in the United States, particularly in the Midwest, as well as trying to

recruit elected members in California to work for the Chinese government. These are partners that need to be held accountable when they act outside of international norms and try to subvert U.S. national security interests. Well, let me ask you to that point. Do you think President Trump should move forward with sending the arms package to Taiwan that has been signed off on by Congress? I do. And that was the will of Congress. It was bipartisan. And when I was there and met with Taiwan's president, President Allied, they have made that commitment as well. And I think this is one of the best ways to keep peace in the area by standing firm and making any type of an invasion plan by China, which they said they want to have by 2027, too costly for either side. Look, the reality is on both sides here. We also have a relationship with Taiwan where nearly 90% of our advanced semiconductors come from. And while we're attempting to onshore that here, the United States, an invasion of Taiwan would be catastrophic, not only in the massive amount of loss of life, but for Americans here at home, that's everything from fighter planes to our iPhone that go offline

if we don't have access to these important semiconductors coming straight from Taipei. I do want to ask you about Iran because President Trump said that he did discuss Iran with President Xi Jinping and said that China had agreed not to give military equipment to Iran. Do you trust China's word on that, Congressman? Well, I think we should look at the facts on the ground, and that'll tell us where China's head. First of all, almost 90% of China's oil comes from Iran. We've got to be able to hold them accountable to make sure that they stick by their commitment. One, it was very rare for both the United States and Beijing to come together and say that they do not want a nuclear-armed Iran.

That is something the U.S. military has provided for us. It's something that both the U.S. and China need to make sure does not move forward. The second here is we do not want the number one sponsor of terrorism using the Strait of Hormuz as a choke point to harm anywhere in the world. And so as we look at energy prices here in the United States, I fully expect that China keep its word. They're far more dependent on Iranian oil than we are. I don't want the U.S. taxpayer or the U.S. military subsidizing China's energy if the United States doesn't feel like they're a trusted partner in making sure that Iran, doesn't abuse the straight-of-form moves. Congressman, before President Trump departed for China,

he was pressed on the extent to which he takes Americans' financial situation right now into account when he's negotiating the war with Iran and trying to bring that war to an end. I want to play a clip for you and get your reaction on the other side. Take a look. When you're negotiating with Iran, Mr. President, to what extent are American financial situations motivating you to make a deal? not even a little bit.

The only thing that matters when I'm talking about Iran, they can't have a nuclear weapon. I don't think about American's financial situation. I don't think about anybody. I think about one thing. We cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon. That's all. Congressman, what was your reaction to hearing those words?

I don't think about Americans' financial situation. Well, look, I don't speak for the president, but I agree with them on the fact we cannot have Iran with a nuclear weapon. But when I'm back in my districts in Iowa, the thing I hear about most is the cost of fuel and the everyday cost and expense that families are impacted by. It's one of the reasons I'm proud. We led passage of this year-round nationwide E-15 bill on the floor to bring gas prices down 50 percent or 50 cents. That certainly helps my home state of Iowa $20 billion in economic growth.

But I'm fully committed to making sure we are passing a domestic focused agenda, everything from affordable housing to what we're doing to make sure that those big, beautiful tax cuts, actually show up in folks' pockets, and they can invest in their family. I'll be very clear on this point. I know this much is true. For every blend of fuel that we do with ethanol based on what we produce in Iowa, that's one less gallon that we have to import from places like Iran. And for every dollar, we get back to Americans in the pump. That's money they can invest in their families.

That's what I'm focused on. I hope the White House can be too. Congressman, we have about 20 seconds left. Do you support the holiday on a federal gas tax? Well, like I've highlighted, that's about 16 cents. That's a start. But what I really think is we need true American energy independence. That concludes our traditional fuels, but it also includes our biofuels right here. That's a 50 cents per gallon reduction. If we can get that, we passed in the House over the Senate. The President said he'd signed that in the law. That's real relief for Americans minivans, as well as our truck and tractor trailers, haul of supplies. All right, Congressman, thank you so much. Congressman, Zach Nunn, appreciate it. We will be back Monday with more Meet the Press now. And if it's Sunday, it's Meet the Press on your local NBC news stations.

I have exclusive interviews with Senators Lindsey Graham, Chris Van Hollen, plus former FBI director James Comey. There's more ahead on NBC News Now. Snoring, gasping for air during sleep, daytime sleepiness. I'm Shaquille O'Neill, and this shouldn't be anybody's experience. As your doctor about Zepbound to her epitide. The first and only FDA approved prescription medicine for moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea in adults with obesity. Zepbound is a prescription medicine used with a reduced calorie diet and increased physical activity

to help adults with moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea, OSA, and obesity to improve their OSA. Zepbound is approved as a 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10, 12.5, or 15 milligram injection. Zepound contains chrezebotide and should not be used with other treseptide-containing products or any GLP1 receptor agonist medicines. It is not known if Zepound is safe and effective for use in children. Don't share needles or pens or reuse needles. Don't take if allergic to it, or if you or someone in your family had medullary thyroid cancer,

or if you've had multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2. Tell your doctor if you get a lump or swelling in your neck. Stop stepbound and call your doctor if you have severe stomach pain or a serious allergic reaction. Severe side effects may include inflamed pancreas or gallbladder problems. Tell your doctor if you experience vision changes before scheduled procedures with anesthesia. If you're nursing, pregnant, plan to be, or taking birth control pills. Taking Zepbound with a sulfonel urea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. Side effects include nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting, which can cause dehydration and worsen kidney problems.

Talk to your doctor. Call 1-800-545-9 or visit Zepbound.lily.com.