- Let me start with a baseline question. Why did Donald Trump win? - First of all, thank you so much, Jerry and Alan and "The Wall Street Journal," Katherine, Lucy, for inviting me to address your CEO Council.
I'm very happy to be here. So Donald Trump won for a few reasons. First and foremost, if you go back to the primary system, I think that Donald Trump won because, for many reasons, but for the same bias in hiring that we all have and we may not realize.
We all share the same bias in hiring, Jerry, and it's we prefer to hire someone to do a job who's done the job before. So you lateral in someone from a different, the same industry, a different, maybe a competitor. You put together a resume, you ask for someone's references, you ask a current employer for a great recommendation for a future employer.
We all have this bias in hiring and America looked at Donald Trump and said, "He did this job before, I want him to do the job again. " And in that way, he does see his mandate of getting us back to where he had us in 2019. Whether it's a deregulatory agenda, it's a tax cut and jobs act, 2019, before the year of the global pandemic and social unrest after George Floyd's murder, 2019 is when we had the low unemployment rate, low interest rates, certainly, highest wage growth per household in decades, over 70%, I think I read it in "The Wall Street Journal," over 70% of new jobs went to women.
So it was just the salad days, energy independence, no foreign conflicts, obviously, border much more in control. So people want him to get back there. But what they also want, and this led to his win, is for him to fix what they think has been broken in the four years he's been gone.
So 70% of the country had said, "We're off on the wrong track. " It's very difficult for the party in power, Biden or Harris after him, to win when seven in 10 people are admitting they think we're off in the wrong direction. The other ways that President Trump won is, I think Kamala Harris's candidacy was a sign of the times, but I think that Donald Trump's candidacy, him as the candidate was almost a metaphor for where many Americans want America to be and to go right now, which is when he gets up and he's bleeding and he says, "Fight, fight, fight.
" When he survives all these indictments and impeachments and investigations and insults and rip his name off the ballot, rip his name off of his buildings, rip him from his family company, and people say, "You know what, "whatever I feel about him personally, "or even politically the last four to eight years, "this is someone who's tough. " And I will say for all the folks who like to moan and complain and even during the Republican primary, the argument was I want Trump's policies without Trump's personality. - [Jerry] Right, right.
- Many Americans have discovered you don't get Trump's policies without Trump's personality. - [Jerry] Yeah. - And they want someone who's resolute and tough.
Last thing I just wanna say about process, this is key. I think what helped President Trump win and win big was the Republican party and his campaign and a lot of these outside groups got super smart and super bold and did what the Democrats had done for years, particularly in 2020, which is invest in what I call the non-sexy parts of politics. The early vote, the chase the low-propensity, no-propensity voters, becoming a resource to voters as to where to vote and when to vote.
They spent millions and millions of dollars doing that. And him going on TikTok, not banning it, but going on it instead, and him going on podcasts also obviously made a big difference. - Yeah, but in that vein, how important was Elon Musk's contribution?
Because there was, Republicans are very happy with the way they micro targeted their message, but that's not a cheap proposition. How crucial was Elon Musk's money? - Elon Musk, well, Elon Musk himself, I think more than his money, and then and now, is an incredibly essential player in all of this.
Because, you know, Americans, particularly young men, don't look at Elon Musk as a celebrity. So Kamala Harris and other Democrats tend to have celebrities around them. We saw a lot of that this time.
People really tend to tune that out or it's not breaking news to them. Oh, Taylor Swift and Eminem, two artists who I happen to enjoy their music and I've been to their concerts, but it's not breaking news to anyone that they would be endorsing Kamala Harris. People don't look at Elon Musk as a celebrity.
They look at him as a job creator, as an innovator, as a futurist, as someone who launches a space, you know, launches a rocket and if it melts down, just tries again and maybe is going to take us into space to get some cures or discovery. A lot of young people, a lot of conservatives also see Elon Musk as the guy who saved Twitter for them. They don't feel silenced and shadow banned and censored anymore.
They, you know, a lot of the resistance picked up their toys and went to a different sandbox. "I'm leaving Twitter," 'cause they had it all to themselves. They could just sit there all day and tweet at each other about how terrible Donald Trump is.
So that stopped. Elon Musk made his contributions fairly late in the game. And I think most of it is, I understand, maybe after President Trump was shot in Butler, but it's Elon Musk parking himself in Pennsylvania.
That also is helpful because he is a one of a kind asset and he and Vivek Ramaswamy now saying, "We're going to go and lead DOGE as volunteers. " It is a presidential commission. It's executive office of the President project.
It is not congressionally mandated or legislated or created or funded, but I think they're onto something there. And people have a lot of enthusiasm and very high hopes for what they can do in terms of government efficiency. - Well, so let's go there because you said immediately after the election, "Rarely do you get a second chance as big as this one.
" Second chance to do what? - Yes, so I was talking about that in this life, thankfully, we all get second chances. I don't know anybody who gets one as big as the one President Trump has just received to be president again.
And especially after he's overcome so much to get there. The second chance, I believe, is for him to, as I said earlier, get us back, do the things he did the first time. I'd say begin beginning with de-reg and everyday affordability, but also to undo many of the things he sees have caused great, he thinks have caused great harm.
He's learning all these about all these crazy programs in the departments and agencies that had nothing to do with that department and agency. I think this election was also about, it was fairness over wokeness. We all know it was about inflation and migration and those things.
It was about security and everyday affordability. But it was also a fairness election, Jerry. You know, a lot of Americans, if you listen to them in focus groups, if you read the polls as I do, and I do, they, a lot of Americans are saying, "Well, wait a second, this is just not fair.
" What's not fair? It's not fair to have plumbers and pipe fitters pay for student loans of doctors and lawyers. They'll say, it's not fair that 10 million people came here illegally.
And here's what's different from 10 years ago when Donald Trump elevated that into the national consciousness. And it was mired at 3% or 4% in my polling or "The Wall Street Journal" polling, it really wasn't up there. Now migration and border security, which is more inclusive, that, more expansive, that was a number two issue in the seven swing states.
(attendee sneezing) God bless you. In the seven swing states and in national polls, I mentioned God. (audience laughing) - It's a safe space, don't worry.
- There you go, I'm glad. Yes, the new safe space, God, wonderful. This is an improvement.
So in any event, you know, people will say what's different this time is they'll say, "Well, wait a second. "So 10 million, that's a number larger than, "that's a number higher than the population of 39 states. " People know it's a big number, but here's what's different.
They open up their phone and they turn on the TV and they see people who just got here getting cell phones and debit cards and clothing and hotel rooms in New York City, and the greatest affront, your kids' desk in a New York City classroom. And they're saying, "Hold on, that's not fair. " They don't think of themselves as racist.
In fact, many of them are African American, Hispanic parents and grandparents. And then the other part of the unfairness people saw, I think that last ad showing Kamala Harris saying, promising to give surgeries for all transgender prisoners was really, that too, people say, "You know what? "I don't think of myself as a transphobe.
"I think of myself as what are we doing? "Why is she promising to spend our money doing that? " And the last part of that is education.
I think the untold story of this election where how many people were part of the parents' rights renaissance, that started during COVID, but accelerated in Glenn Youngkin's victory in Virginia in 2021. So three years later, parents are still saying, "My kid's in her fourth year of lost learning. "I want more of a say where my kids go to school "and what is taught there and who's teaching them.
" And so I think that was easy to miss because we're talking about inflation, we're talking about the border, we're talking about Ukraine and the Middle East, all of which were important to people. And of course, Donald Trump has benefited two times now by running against women that, I think, did not perform the way that they needed to to win is as politely as I, yeah. - Park that thought for a second 'cause I wanna talk about the women's vote.
But before, let me pick up on the agenda that you just described. I think it's fair to say, in fact, this was articulated earlier today in this room, there are a lot of people who say, "Love to hear the deregulatory message. "That's where we're at.
" But you give me a combination of high tariffs and reductions in the workforce by a big push against immigrants. That's a double whammy to the economy and potentially to my company that's gonna hurt. What's your response to them?
- Well, first of all, Donald Trump has heard all that before. These predictions of World War III. He's the first one to preside over no new wars, that the economy's, these noble laureates telling us all that the economy's going to tank if Donald Trump's in charge of it, oh my goodness.
And of course, we had growth and we had no inflation and we had energy independence. I mean, everybody knows what we had. So in some ways, we, this is the sequel to the original.
We've heard that before. I think there's a lot more optimism and curiosity and maybe a little bit more grace this time for President Trump in terms of let's just see what he and his team can do. Jerry, I would say this, I'm gonna quote Donald Trump.
I'm gonna quote Scott Bessent his incoming treasury secretary, quote, Howard Lutnick, his incoming commerce secretary. They've all weighed in on terrorists very recently and it's a combination of the following, "Tariffs traditionally have been used "for two major purposes, "to raise revenue or to protect important industries "in our country. " I think President Trump has added a third, and that's as a negotiating tool, a tool in and of itself, but also a negotiating tool to compel or incentivize behavior in other areas.
So when he sends out his social media missive about to Mexico and Canada, and he threatens 25% tariffs, what was the message? It wasn't about goods and services, it was about crime and drugs. And he's saying to these two leaders of Mexico and Canada, respectively, "Get your crime and your drugs, "get your criminals and your drugs out of our country "and then you won't have tariffs.
" So Donald Trump, I think, would, President Trump would probably look at tariffs as your choice, not his. Are you going to be a net exporter? Are you gonna do more made in the USA, he's promising a 15% corporate tax rate if you are.
And so I also think Lutnick invests. - [Jerry] It more it, is it worse? - And make good points about tariffs, too.
So let me put a plug in for each of them. They also make point that, look, the tariffs, you know, that existed or that we held off on in trying to help Germany and Japan rebuild their economies, for example, after World War II. Like, why are those still around?
- [Jerry] Yeah. - What are we doing? I think they rebuilt their economies.
We can argue about their economies now, but that's got nothing to do with World War II or tariffs. And also just, I feel that President Trump is, he's consistent and transparent in that he's been the guy from the beginning who has said, "I want reciprocal, fair trade deals "that protect and benefit America, American workers, "and American industries. " - So when he says, as he did over the weekend, that he's prepared to deport the dreamers, does he mean that, or is that a way to occupy a negotiating position for the coming conversation with Democrats in Congress about an immigration?
- No, I think he said he wasn't going to deport the dreamers. You mean make a deal? He said he was going to deport, I believe that, and I'm sorry if I'm mistaken, I think he said he would make a deal with the dreamers or think about it.
But the first and foremost, he and Steven Miller, who was on Maria Bartiroma show this past weekend, was very specific and granular about the deportation plan. It starts with criminals. - [Jerry] Right.
It starts with folks on the watch list who, for very bad and sad reasons, somehow are here and shouldn't be here. And then it starts with folks who should not be here and, you know, people trying to scare folks that it's going to be their grandmother or your landscaper of 30 years, or your, that again is a lot of what they do to scare people. I will just say for the record that President Obama and, I believe, President Biden both had more deportations than President Trump.
So people should not think that this is specific to President Trump or the Republican Party. And, you know, in terms of the workforce, this is a president who has reconstructed, recast the Republican Party as the party of the worker. He did that in his first term.
He did that all through this campaign and he will continue to do that. You know, Jerry, when I look at the election results, if you just look at what President Obama received among which core Democratic constituencies in 2012, and you look at what President Trump received in 2024, there's no mistaking that the Trump, the Obama coalition is now Trump country. The migration of voters, African American, Union households, Hispanic, somewhat Jewish Americans, but non-college-educated households, which I think some people have derided as low information, they're low propensity, they're not low information, and they were high turnout and they, this is the party of the worker.
We did an awful lot for workforce development, for apprentice, for vocational, technical, educational opportunities in the first term. I would tell everyone here, get on that bandwagon because you're going to see that again from President Trump. He believes the workforce can be anyone, anywhere.
We're pushing all these people into colleges, four-year colleges, and we need a lot of skilled labor as well. - I, there's been a lot of discussion about the bro vote, a lot of discussion about young voters. I'm curious why, as somebody who studied this question for a long time, why wasn't there this wave of women voters for Kamala Harris that a lot of people thought would emerge and basically save the day for her?
Why didn't that wave not materialize? - Well, in some ways the answer is two words, Kamala Harris. She did not run a good campaign.
She's not an informative, a particularly informative or inspirational candidate. That is not an insult. I'm telling you the way that public received it.
And if you don't believe me, go back and look at all the election results. They're, I think, tough to digest and not see that this was a sweeping rebuke of, I think, her as a candidate, but also the campaign she ran, which was, this seemed to be like a little bit of a mishmash of identity politics. Some of the Obama people there sprinkled in with all of the Biden folks, the 500 people who were already there when he was at the top of the ticket, maybe a couple of her folks.
Why do I say this? I say this because I think that her campaign proved, Hillary Clinton's campaign sort of suggested it, but Kamala Harris's campaign proved to me that money is not all its cracked up to be in politics. They spent two billion dollars.
They spent so much money on paid political advertising on some things that just don't make any sense in terms of getting voters to come out and turn out for you. As goes women, I am so proud of women, not just because Donald Trump won, but because I think this is the election, Jerry, where people said, "That's it, no more. "Are you going to tell me," whoever the you is, is it the media, is it Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party, is it the establishment, whoever the you is, "you are not going to tell me anymore "who I am, what I believe, "and for whom I should vote based on my gender, my age, "my religion, my sexual orientation, "my socioeconomic status, my zip code, "whether I'm married, whether I have children, "whether I own a dog or a cat.
" Like I'm gonna make my own decisions. And when you look at this, what President Trump and his campaign did so brilliantly is, yes, they turned up, turned out and turned up the vote among people, some of his core supporters. I think when people said base, they're trying to insult him.
He had a base plus from the beginning or he wouldn't have been the nominee, let alone the president. They're turning up the voters among low- and no-propensity voters who otherwise would support him and came out for him. But then they're mitigating the natural deficits that any Republican presidential nominee would have.
Jerry, a generic, a generic Democratic presidential nominee winning as Kamala Harris did, women by eight points, is a shock. It is absolutely stunning. Hillary Clinton beat Donald Trump among women by 13 points, and we beat her for the presidency.
- [Jerry] Yeah. - Joe Biden won by 13 points. President Obama beat Mitt Romney by 11 points among women, did even better in '08 against McCain.
So for the female candidate of color, who's going to make history, come make history with me, while they're pedaling abortion as the top issue, to come to only win by eight points, is, that is a, - [Jerry] Yeah. true devastation to a party. And why do women not come out?
They did come out. We have been the majority of voters in presidential elections since 1964. We just had the 16th consecutive election where we decide who the president is.
But we're not gonna be narrow casted. You are not gonna talk to us from the waist down only and expect us to vote for you. We wanna be talked to from the waist up also where our brains, our eyes, our ears, our hearts, and my big mouth is.
And this is important because we are not, we are not single issue thinkers, we are not single issue voters, we're not single task-doers by day. And so abortion was important, but I think it was actually a bigger issue in the 2022 midterms than it ended up being in the 2024 presidential. And a lot of that was because people see everyday affordability as crushing them.
They're upset about the border, they're upset about our money going to X, Y, Z, A, B, C. And that I think was more important to them. - So I wanna see if there's a quick question from the audience, but before I do, very quickly, you've worked for TikTok.
Will Donald Trump end the attempt to ban TikTok? - So I work for a third-party that supports TikTok. And I will say this, last February and March, I was one of a handful, I don't even know how many others, telling President Trump I thought that he should not ban TikTok, that he should get on TikTok.
Because I noticed, I don't have TikTok on my phone, if somebody sends one to me, I have to ask a teenager to open it for me. So I don't have it, but I felt that a lot of the saber rattling and a lot of the chest thumping by both parties in this town, we're gonna hold China to account, ban TikTok. I would love to hold China to account, but we're starting with TikTok?
Did we get, do we have, we're starting with TikTok and ending with TikTok? That seems to me to be the cheap, easy Washington way of making yourself feel better and check a box. The box of China is too important to me.
And I think this country and President Trump, certainly, to check it by alienating 170 million U. S. users monthly.
So let's get fentanyl the heck out of our country. It's the number one killer of 18 to 45 year olds. Let's stop these forced technology transfers.
Let's get in writing the origins of the coronavirus and China's hand in that. Let's make sure Taiwan is not militarily vulnerable, let alone in the NATO. Let's make sure the religious minority, that Uyghurs, aren't persecuted.
The list goes on and on. So I said to President Trump, "Look at this. "You are 12, 13x over Biden organically on TikTok.
He wasn't even on TikTok. His people weren't on TikTok. Meaning his people were on TikTok, his team wasn't on TikTok.
And so he saw that. And even when Vice President Harris became the nominee, Jerry, all the analytics say that his views on TikTok were 42% higher than hers. "Forbes Magazine" came out with, "Forbes" came out with a study two weeks ago, and it said of the 10 highest performing TikToks of 2024, eight were from President Trump, and five in the last week.
So a majority of the voters in 2024 voted early, but that last week was so critical for so many things, including him in the garbage truck, him at McDonald's. And then "The Joe Rogan Experience" was seen by millions of people as it was happening, but it was seen by even more people on TikTok after the fact. So I think, look, this court case is, you can't spin it as any way other than a loss for TikTok.
They've gotten 'til January 19th. I think that President Trump says he saved TikTok before, he could do it again. That's up to him.
- [Jerry] Yeah. But remember how he did that the first time. In 2019, pre-COVID, there was this threat to strip them from U.
S. app stores and strip their app from U. S.
stores. And instead he had lots of American companies and American individuals saying, "I would like to put in a bid and buy TikTok. " So what he did was he said, "I want American data in American hands on American soil.
" And he had Oracle, you know, Larry Ellison and his Africads developed this program that still exists. - [Jerry] Yeah. This infrastructure still exists.
So that's, you know, that's possible. It's really difficult when you say to America, "I'm going to take something away from you "that you already have. " We all know that.
And that is, you know, it's more than half the country on TikTok. That's no reason to overlook this or underlook that. But I have a feeling that there, we'll see a flurry of activity before January 19th.
