I'm Greg Jarrett filling in for Sean today and tomorrow.
You may have noticed the president's Oval Office address to the nation last night, in which he essentially said, I inherited a mess from Joe Biden, and I'm fixing it.
And he basically gave a report card of his first 11 months in office.
Inflation down.
Gas prices way down.
The deficit is down.
And wages are up.
Real wages are up by over $1,000 on average.
$1,300 for factory workers, $1,800 for construction workers, $3,300 for miners.
And the gas prices in some states under $2 per gallon.
Mortgage costs are down by almost $3,000 on the year.
And core inflation is the lowest in five years.
So, you know, it was a pretty good report card.
And in fact, it's a resume of a first year that most American presidents would prize.
Let's talk about it with Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House, author of the New York Times bestseller, Trump's Triumph, America's Greatest Comeback.
And the speaker discusses the president's outreach to the American people on the issues that matter most to them.
And Mr. Speaker, it's always an honor and a pleasure to get to spend a little time with you talking about these things.
And, you know, people vote their wallets, right?
They're self-interested.
I get it.
And so when they step into the voting booth, they say to themselves, good Lord, 9% inflation under Joe Biden.
It was pretty good in Trump's first term.
I'm going to cast my ballot for Donald Trump, and he won.
And so, you know, the economy is always first and foremost, it seems to me.
So is this a good idea for the president, not just to address the nation from the White House, but to go out on the road?
I spoke with him a couple of weeks ago, and he said, I need to get the message out that things are improving.
What do you think?
Well, I thought, first of all, that it was a very good speech to the country.
I've sat through many Ronald Reagan Oval Office addresses, and I thought this was certainly in that tradition.
It was 20 minutes, which was exactly right.
It was filled with facts.
It used charts and illustrations to drive home the key points.
And I thought, on balance, it was one of President Trump's more effective speeches.
And it set the stage for what the 2026 election is going to be all about.
So you can sort of tell how effective and how important it was from the degree to which the propaganda media is trying to avoid covering it.
I mean, this was a very important speech.
And frankly, I hope it is a forerunner, unlike the 90-minute speech, which I thought was not helpful that he gave in Pennsylvania.
If this 20-minute speech could be the beginning of very directed, very focused, this is where we're going, and this is why it matters, and this is what the choice is, I think the Republicans will gain seats in both the House and the Senate.
I think it's all about messaging, getting the word out, As you say, with the facts, as he did last night, because, you know, look, he sees the poll numbers that reflect an anxiety that afflict Americans over affordability in the economy.
And I think, do you think that this is sort of a, you know, Joe Biden economic hangover that, you know, people are still suffering from, you know, four years in which the economy largely tanked under Joe Biden?
And, you know, the economy is like an aircraft carrier.
It doesn't turn on a dime.
It takes a while for Trump's new policies to really settle in and make a difference.
Well, I think that's right, but I also think Republicans need to understand that we have to have, with the State of the Union and with the Congress early next year, a series of powerful reform proposals to keep moving in the right direction.
I mean, the fact is, when you talk about affordability, food and gasoline are less important than health care.
An average family of four now pays $27,000 a year for health insurance.
Think about that.
$27,000 for a family of four.
That's buying a small car every year.
And there are things we can do, such as passing a transparency law to require that people list price and quality, which would overnight bring down the cost of health care dramatically.
And that would bring down the cost of health insurance.
But that's just one example.
There are a number of areas on electricity, for example, on housing for young people.
There are a number of places where we need to be the party of solutions and then let the Democrats be the party of negativity and weird ideas.
You know, I follow you on social media and I noticed a recent posting in the context of the upcoming celebration of our 250th anniversary.
And you said we should spend the entire year on three large questions.
What are they?
Well, I think, first of all, who are we?
How do we come together as a people?
You know, we cannot keep going down this road that we've been on.
Second, how do we really fundamentally re-educate the country?
I mean, the disaster in public education is so great, and we're still not addressing it.
And then, third, I think that we have got to get control of corruption and crime.
And when you realize, and the president referred to this last night, which I thought was encouraging, when you realize that in one city in Minneapolis, a billion dollars has been stolen, that's a level of corruption that's just unsustainable.
In California, during COVID, the criminal serving time in the California prison system stole $20 billion from the California COVID fund, using, ironically, the state of California's own prison and computer systems to engage in identity theft.
So I think people would be stunned if they knew how deep the problem of corruption is.
You pose an interesting question on social media, and I'll simply repeat it here and let you respond.
Can we achieve a golden age in which technology and entrepreneurship create new opportunities and solve old problems on a scale none of us could have imagined?
I think that's a great question.
And, you know, I sort of search for answers myself.
What's your answer?
Well, look, the history of America, going back to Benjamin Franklin, who was a world-class scientist who discovered practical use of electricity, and going back to George Washington, who, by the way, was a very good farmer and was engaged in what we would now think of as scientific agriculture.
This country has had a deep passion for inventing a better future and for recognizing that science and technology and engineering and entrepreneurship are the keys to raising the standard of wealth for everybody.
And I think that we really are right at the edge of a golden age.
And I think that this isn't just political language, but we do a lot of work at Gamers 360 on longevity.
And there are now serious scientists at places like the Cleveland Clinic who believe that people who are 20 years old today are going to live to be about 120, and they're going to have the health of a 60-year-old when they're 120.
These are serious people.
These are not just guys that are trying to do TV ads.
And every time I turn around, I just talked two nights ago to one of the people at SpaceX about their plan in February to have the next trial launch of their large rocket, which will take people to both the moon and Mars.
These are breakouts on a scale you and I can't imagine.
I met last night with somebody who has a serious plan for developing a solar power system based on a satellite that gets sunlight 24 hours a day and beams it down to Earth at a cost that's about competitive with natural gas.
I mean, all of these things are so many inventions, so many new ideas, so many breakthroughs that I'm very encouraged.
I worry about nuclear war because it would end everything as we've known it.
And I worry about the left managing to destroy the system in the same way that, for example, Peron crippled Argentina for about 80 years.
And it's just now, Argentina is just now beginning to recover from a disaster that occurred in the 1940s.
You know, it's funny you mentioned the 20-year-olds now will live to be 120 and feel like 60.
My daughter is in the healthcare industry last night over dinner told me that.
And it's the first I'd heard of it.
It's funny that you would mention it again.
But your concerns about, I think, national security are important.
And to that point, the White House just released their national security strategies, the NSS.
It's a document that's generally released once per presidential term.
And it serves as a formal explanation of the administration's foreign policy worldview.
I know you've read it.
What did you think of it?
Well, I think it's overdue.
It recognizes that the world of the Cold War is over, that the world where the Europeans could hide behind us and lean on us and drain our economic strength is over, and that we have to face a whole series of challenges.
And we have to recognize that there's no single center of power around which you could organize the whole planet.
And therefore, we have to start by being concerned about safety for the United States, safety for the American people, trade policies that favor America.
And there's nothing wrong with this.
I mean, as Trump has said in several speeches, he fully expects everybody else to also try to get policies that favor their country.
He's not saying that everybody else should automatically give us what we want, but at least we should negotiate for what we want.
Yeah, absolutely.
It's worth reading.
You can find it online, the White House National Security Strategy, the president's document, and it makes for an interesting reading.
New Ginkrich, many thanks again.
And by the way, your book, Trump's Triumph, is also something that is really worth reading and enlightening.
And thank you for taking a few moments to speak with us.
Appreciate it.
I'm always glad to talk to you.
And I wish you a very Merry Christmas.
And you too.
Thank you.
We're going to pause, take a break.
We have a bunch of people on the line right now, and we'll be going to your phone calls in just a minute.
Give us a call.
It's 1-800-941-7326.
1-800-941 Sean, love to hear from you.
You can tell me I'm doing a great job, or you can yell at me for being an idiot.
I don't care.
Thank you very much.
We'll be right back in just a moment.
Welcome back to the Sean Hennedy show on Greg Jarrett substituting for Sean, who's off today and tomorrow.
I'll be here tomorrow as well.
Let's go to our phone lines.
Greg in Florida is standing by.
Greg, how are you?
Oh, I'm doing great.
I'm actually on the road, so I've been listening to you, and I've found your comments on the show about the conspiracy to be extremely interesting.
But y'all missed one thing about the conspiracy theory, that one of the main entities involved in this conspiracy theory is the media.
I cannot believe that the media accidentally published a lot of what they were saying about all this stuff, about Hillary and Comey and whatnot.
They knew that what they were reporting was false and reported it anyway.
In fact, they got awards for reporting what they knew to be false information.
And they need to be considered as part of this conspiracy because they were part and parcel with trying to do a change at the White House.
Well, I agree with you that they are complicit.
And in fact, I devoted an entire chapter to the journalistic malpractice of the media in my book, Witch Hunt.
And I think that was the longest chapter of all.
They're complicit.
Yes, they lied to the American public.
They were lazy.
They wanted to believe that Trump had conspired with Vladimir Putin in the bowels of the Kremlin to steal the election.
They didn't bother to investigate the dossier, which was totally phony.
They simply took it at face value.
I mean, the first time I read the dossier, I laughed out loud.
I walked into Sean's office next to mine and said, you got to read this thing.
It's the dumbest thing you've ever read.
It looks like it was written by a junior high school wannabe fiction writer bereft of any talent.
And, you know, so the media ran with it because they hated Trump.
But, you know, they have First Amendment protections.
I'm not sure that there's any proof that they were involved in any illegal activity associated with it.
But you're right.
They ought to be condemned, particularly since they didn't give back their Pillitzer prizes for getting the story fundamentally wrong.
More of your phone calls on the other side.
Give us a call, 1-800-941-7326.
And welcome back to the Sean Hannity Show.
Sean's taking a couple of days off.
I'm filling in today and tomorrow.
I'm Greg Jarrett.
You can follow me on X at GregJarrett or at foxnews.com, where I write columns and, of course, appear on television shows as their legal analyst.
Want to go to our phone lines now?
We have some people standing by.
And if you haven't called yet, please do.
1-800-941-7326-1-800-941.
Sean, we welcome your phone calls.
All right, Duke joins us now from Texas.
Duke, you've been hanging on for a while.
Thanks so much for your patience.
How are you?
I am doing well.
Thank you.
First of all, Merry Christmas.
You too.
She asked me to be succinct, so my question, but I do want to say that the last three people you've had on as guests are some of my favorite people in the world.
But anyway, my question is, you mentioned like $35 million that President Trump has probably spent on his defense of all these charges brought against him.
Now, he's a billionaire, and he can possibly afford it.
But I want to know, does he get any of that money back when he's found not guilty, innocent, whatever?
And if he doesn't, how does a normal everyday American citizen protect himself against something like that?
Yeah, it's pretty hard, isn't it?
He is trying to recoup some of it in some of the cases.
He's filed a petition for reimbursement.
You know, the Florida case was dismissed by the judge because Jack Smith had not been Senate confirmed as the law requires.
Of course, the government was back then under Biden appealing that.
And then Jack Smith, after the immunity ruling, threw in the towel as he did in the Washington, D.C. case, both of which should never have been brought.
Of course, you've got the Alvin Bragg conviction, which is on appeal, which was probably the most ludicrous mangling of the law by a prosecutor that I have ever seen.
And that must surely be overturned on appeal.
And of course, Fonnie Willis and her lover imploded, and the case was taken away from her.
They couldn't find another prosecutor who thought the charges were worth a damn.
And that was dismissed by a prosecutor who took it over and said this was never a racketeering case.
It shouldn't have been brought.
And so, you know, there were a lot of costs associated with that case.
There may be an attempt by Trump and his legal team to recover their attorney's fees and other expenses associated with it.
But, you know, you're right.
Trump can afford it.
Other people cannot.
And, you know, it's truly a problem.
But thanks, Duke, for your question.
I appreciate it.
Let's go to our next caller.
Jay is in New Orleans.
Hi, Jay.
How are you?
Hey, Greg.
Really appreciate you taking my call, and I think you're doing a great job.
Thank you.
I got a question.
Well, I guess it's a question and a statement.
You know, I think Trump's doing a great job on the affordability thing, and I think he's doing his part.
But I don't see the Republicans putting out surveys and information showing how from state to state, people have more, I guess, spendable money because the state's not taking it and using it for crazy things and corruption and illegal health care and all that stuff.
So if somebody did a comparison to people in, let's say, Florida or Texas compared to California and New York, the people that are complaining the most,
and show that they're not doing their part because they keep electing in these Democrats that are taking, you know, probably 20% more of their money than they would be if they lived in Florida or Texas or Alaska or some other good state that has very low to no state income tax and low real estate tax and tax on gasoline.
I think in California, it's like 80 cents a gallon now.
So quit you complaining and do something about it.
Let Trump take care of the Fed stuff, but let the Republicans get out this other information because Trump can't do it because they'll just sound like he's whining.
But we've got to win these midterms and people are making bad decisions.
And I don't see him changing.
Yeah, no, you make a valid point and a good argument.
You know, inflation is down, gas prices are down, deficits down, wages are up.
The problem is that it's not necessarily true in blue states, where, you know, experts say the affordability crisis in America is caused in large part by the policies of liberal Democrats in blue cities and blue states.
For example, they often price homes out of the reach of everyday Americans with their onerous zoning regulations.
And they have kept thousands, for example, of victims of the Palisades fires from ever building again on the property they own.
And you mentioned gas prices.
Well, look, in California, you know, Gavin Newsom and Democrats that control the government there have been for so long hostile to petroleum companies.
And in fact, two of the largest refineries in California are shutting down and leaving because they've said, Gavin Newsom, we've had enough of you.
You make it impossible for us to produce here and to refine.
And so they're leaving.
So what's going to happen?
Well, California buys most of its gasoline and natural gas from foreign countries, for example, Brazil.
And of course, the cost is enormous.
And then on top of the extra costs of importing that, which is stupid because America is energy rich, they add on taxes, Green New Deal taxes.
They tax every gallon of gasoline through the roof.
And so whereas in some places in the United States and in red cities and red states, it's under $2 a gallon.
You know, in California, it's double that.
And so is it any wonder that in polling data, people are still fretting about affordability?
I think, you know, Trump can't control California and what they do there, but voters can.
And, you know, there's an election coming up for a new governor.
And we'll wait and see whether voters have finally had enough.
Let's go to our next caller.
Dean has been standing by from the great state of Florida.
Hi, Dean.
How are you?
Hey, Dean.
Hey, Greg, big fan of yours.
One thing I want to really thank you and John Solomon for is that information about Trump and the AG going after all those people that took his civil rights away.
I mean, if he doesn't go after these people, the next time a Democrat's in office, they're going to do the same thing to the next person, and we've got to put a stop to it.
And then number two, these district judges that keep putting injunctions against Trump's orders.
I mean, Congress needs to go to work and start impeaching these guys because he'll never get anything done.
And number three, the filibuster actually needs to go away because Trump's going to be, you know, his hands are going to be tied and nothing's going to get done.
And that's all I can tell you.
I appreciate you taking my time.
Well, thanks, Dean.
And listen, I agree with you on all those points.
The filibuster, which is not in the Constitution, is simply a rule enacted by the United States Senate.
And it has been so destructive in preventing a lot of good policies from moving forward into law.
You know, you're going to have 60 votes.
And that means with the current makeup, you've got to get seven Democrats to join with you.
And the other corollary to that is the idiotic blue slips in which the president cannot appoint his U.S. attorney or a federal judge without permission from the senators in that state.
So for Trump, if he wants to appoint somebody in a liberal state who's actually a conservative, he's prevented from doing that.
Totally undermines the power of appointment of the president in the Constitution.
And that needs to be getting rid of.
As for the nationwide injunctions, I was happy to see the United States Supreme Court finally and belatedly ending the abusive practice by federal district court judges of handing out like lollipops nationwide injunctions that had blocked Trump's policies.
They have no authority for that.
Their sole jurisdiction is within their tiny district.
But, you know, you got 300-plus judges who decide they're de facto presidents that they can overrule the duly elected president of the United States on anything and everything.
And they were doing it increasingly in the age of Trump.
And, you know, it's the kind of thing that absolutely needed to stop.
And finally, the Supreme Court, after bitching and moaning about it for decades, finally decided to take action.
And it was only because the Supreme Court had been inundated with so many of the shadow docket emergency appeals over these nationwide injunctions that they finally took a look at it and said among themselves, we've got to stop this.
And they only did it for their own self-interest to reduce the shadow docket.
But they finally did the right thing.
Let me go to the next caller.
Gene is standing by out in my home state of California.
Hi, Gene.
How are you?
Hi, Greg.
Thanks for taking my call.
Sure.
I got one question for you.
Well, real quick, thank you for having John on.
I got to hear both of you today, and that's fantastic.
I love what you guys share with me.
Thank you.
The other question is: can or will there be a way to sue my favorite governor here, Slick Willie, against for allowing all the illegal aliens with driver's license in those trucks, or will it just be those who got injured by the ones that crashed and brought it to everybody's attention?
Because he put everybody's life in jeopardy in the state of California, and he also put all the lives of the rest of Americans, you know, with these truckers on the roads that can't even read our signs.
Right.
So, whatever.
Right.
And people have lost their lives, been killed, were horrifically injured by people who should never have been given driver's license, causing these massive trucker accidents.
And I think a creative case could be made that the government was complicit and instrumental in knowingly giving people who are not qualified, who are not, you know, residents, who are here illegally giving them driver's license.
And yeah, I mean, I think you could, I'd have to study a little bit and come up with some causes of action.
And of course, you've already, you've always got to get around the immunity that governments have, but, you know, there are ways to get around it under the Torque Claims Act and other legal devices.
So, yeah, I mean, I think it's a good idea.
And maybe somebody will do that.
There are a lot of creative lawyers out there who could probably come up with a pretty formidable case against the governor of California and those people who have been handing out these driver's licenses to people who are not qualified and who are in the state illegally.
Let's go to our next caller.
Frank joins us from New York.
I'm told we've got to take a break.
So, Frank, standby.
We'll be getting to you shortly.
I'm Greg Jarrett, filling in for Sean Hannity on the Sean Hannity Radio Show.
Welcome back to the Sean Hannity Show.
I'm Greg Jarrett filling in for Sean.
Want to invite you to give us a call.
We're going to take a lot of your phone calls in the next hour.
And our number is 1-800-941-7326, 1-800-941.
Sean, give a call.
Tell us what you're thinking, your comments, your questions.
We've been talking a lot about the president's speech last night on the economy and so-called affordability.
We also talked about the ongoing criminal conspiracy that may result in criminal charges in the new year against people who engaged in lawfare against Trump.
And in just a moment, Jason Chaffetz, former member of Congress and Fox News political analyst, will be joining us to talk about the appalling number of anti-Semitic attacks around the nation and the world.