-President Trump is now fighting
with members of his own party
who think he's dangerous,
unstable,
and a threat
to national security,
and on top of that,
he's threatening media outlets
that report on him.
For more on this,
it's time for "A Closer Look."
[ Cheers and applause ]
-Trump has fallen short
repeatedly
on his signature initiatives,
from the border wall
to repealing Obamacare,
so now he's trying to convince
people he's succeeding
by reciting random numbers
about the economy --
numbers he himself derided
as a candidate.
Trump told Forbes
in an interview...
"Your" stock market?
"Your" jobs?
He sounds like
a terrible Russian spy
who forgot he was undercover.
[ Laughter ]
[ Russian accent ]
"Your flag is very beautiful.
I mean our flag."
[ Laughter ]
"The flag of the Uniting States.
Scars and spripes."
[ Laughter ]
But Trump's obsession with
stock market numbers
hasn't helped him much,
so now
he's trying to bounce back
with what he thinks is
a sure-fire crowd pleaser,
tax cuts.
Now, even the most positive
polls have found public opinion
very split with at most
48% of respondents saying
they approve of
Trump's tax plan.
But when you're as desperate
for good news as Trump is,
you'll take 48%.
And on Tuesday,
he tried to claim the plan
was a massive hit.
-The people of this country
want tax cuts.
They want lower taxes.
We're the highest taxed nation
in the world.
People want to see tax cuts,
they want to see major
reductions in their taxes,
and they want to see tax reform.
I will tell you that
it's become very, very popular.
-I'm sorry, but something cannot
be very popular
if it only has 48% approval
unless it stars
Johnny Knoxville.
[ Laughter ]
Now, incidentally,
the Rotten Tomatoes critics'
consensus for "Jackass"
somehow perfectly describes
the Trump administration.
[ Cheers and applause ]
Now, you might have noticed
in that clip
that Trump repeated his lie
that we have the highest taxed
nation in the world,
which isn't even close to true.
The U.S. has a highest corporate
tax rate than other countries,
but when it comes to
overall taxes,
we rank 32nd.
And "overall" is an important
distinction.
As in the stock market under
Trump is doing well,
but overall, we're still [bleep]
A reporter tried to fact check
Trump's highest taxed nation
claim
with White House Press Secretary
Sarah Huckabee Sanders
on Tuesday
but predictably got nowhere.
-The president repeated this
claim in the Oval Office today
saying we're the highest taxed
nation in the world.
Why does the president
keep saying this?
It's not true overall.
-We are the highest taxed
corporate tax
in the developed economy.
That's a fact.
-But that's not what
the president said.
-That's what he's talking about.
We're the highest
corporate taxed country
in the developed economies
across the globe.
-That's accurate,
but the president keeps
repeating this claim that
we're the highest taxed nation.
-We are the highest taxed
corporate nation.
-That's not what he said.
He said we're the highest taxed
nation in the world.
-The highest taxed
corporate nation
seems pretty consistent to me.
-Trying to get the truth
out of Sarah Huckabee Sanders
is like trying to get blood
from Mike Pence.
[ Laughter ]
You know his veins are
just full of whiteout.
But while he continues to push
a tax cut plan
that would disproportionately
benefit the wealthy,
Trump also continues to insist,
despite reality,
that he is providing voters
what he repeatedly promised
on the campaign trail --
great health care that would be
much cheaper than
what we currently have.
On Tuesday, he claimed he was
preparing a new executive order
that would solve many of
the problems in health care.
And as has been the case
so often before,
he refused to provide
any actual details.
-I'll also be signing something
probably this week
which is going to go a long way
to take care of
many of the people
that have been so badly hurt
on health care
and they'll be able to buy,
they'll be able to
cross state lines,
and they will get great
competitive health care,
and it will cost
the United States nothing.
-When someone tells you
their product will cost nothing,
that's a good sign
to steer clear.
When you see a bucket
that says free clams,
you don't eat those clams.
[ Cheers and applause ]
While Trump struggles to advance
his domestic agenda,
he's also been locked in a feud
with members of his own party,
in particular Tennessee Senator
Bob Corker,
a Republican
who warned on Sunday
that Trump's reckless threats
toward other countries
could lead the nation
on the path to World War III.
Trump hit back at Corker
yesterday
not with a cogent argument but
with a new nickname, tweeting...
"That's what I'm dealing with"?
Hey, man, you're the leader
of the free world.
Stop talking like a stressed-out
Burger King manager.
[ Laughter ]
"I got two guys out today,
I'm working
the drive-through myself,
plus the mouse is back
so, yeah, that's what
I'm dealing with."
[ Cheers and applause ]
Now, Corker's warning about
Trump is urgent and necessary
but the most revealing thing
he said was not about Trump.
It was actually about the
Republican Party as a whole.
Corker told The New York Times
that the people around Trump,
as well as his fellow
Republican Senators,
know and agree that Trump is
unfit for office.
Corker told the Times...
That sounds less like
he's talking about a president
and more like the safety talk
to the workers
who got Kong into
that Broadway theater.
[ Laughter ]
And of course,
it's not just Corker
who's questioned
Trump's fitness for office.
Last week, it was reported that
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson
had privately
called Trump a moron,
and yesterday, Trump shot back
in an interview.
When asked about the Tillerson
report, Trump said...
Ohhh.
That is a bummer, though.
because the first question is,
"Who would win an IQ test,"
and the answer is Tillerson.
[ Laughter ]
In fact, I'm willing to bet
any Rex would beat you
in an IQ test,
and most Rexes are dogs.
[ Laughter ]
And if you're wondering --
[ Cheers and applause ]
If you're wondering what
happened in that meeting
that led to Tillerson
calling Trump a moron,
NBC reported today that...
You don't need 10 times
the nuclear weapons.
What we have is enough.
Trump is the kind of guy
that would get two orders
of all-you-can-eat pancakes.
[ Laughter ]
"All right,
that's all I can eat.
I'll take my next order."
And this will not shock you.
Trump was furious at the report
about his nuke comments
and even threatened to revoke
NBC's broadcast license
on Twitter.
Later in the Oval Office,
he lamented the fact that the
United States has a free press.
-General Mattis
put out a statement,
or is putting out a statement
saying that that was fake news,
that it was just
mentioned that way.
And it's disgusting the way
the press is able to write
whatever they want to write.
And people should look into it.
-"People should look into it"?
Not only is he
a wannabe dictator,
he's a lazy wannabe dictator.
It's not that hard
to look into it.
It's literally
the First Amendment.
Even Rex the dog is like,
"It's one sentence, dude."
[ Laughter ]
But IQ tests aside,
let's step back
and think about this --
a Republican Senator
is admitting that
virtually his entire party knows
the president is unstable
and dangerous
and has essentially done nothing
about it.
If this is what Republicans
really believe,
then at the very least
they have to
exercise some restraint
over Trump
and reign him in
if not remove him from office.
And yet many Republicans are
doing the opposite.
Congressman Mark Meadows,
chairman of the hard-line
Freedom Caucus,
seemed to accidently admit
that he and his colleagues
were being cowardly
when he was asked about
those comments from Corker,
who plans to retire at the end
of his term.
Meadows said of Corker...
So you all know he's a bad guy
but you don't want to
tell the rest of us.
Do you work in Congress
or on the board of
The Weinstein Company?
[ Audience ohhs ]
[ Scattered laughter ]
[ Scattered applause ]
Trump's White House, meanwhile,
has been struggling
to mount a convincing defense
of Trump's behavior
and in particular his reckless
threats toward North Korea.
Sanders shot back at Corker,
although I'm not sure
her argument
was all that persuasive.
-Senator Corker is certainly
entitled to his own opinion.
But he's not entitled to
his own facts.
The fact is this president has
been an incredibly strong leader
on foreign policy
and national security.
-That's not a fact.
That's an opinion.
You're entitled to
your own opinions,
but not your own dictionaries.
[ Laughter ]
If Republicans genuinely,
genuinely believe
that the president is unstable
and dangerous,
then giving interviews
isn't enough.
They have to actually
do something about it
by exercising some oversight
or removing him from office,
and if you don't know
how that works...
-People should look into it.
-This has been "A Closer Look."
[ Cheers and applause ]
