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President Trump’s Fox News interviewers are sometimes so promotional and deferential that little gets challenged, and almost no news is ever made. However, Laura Ingraham was more strategic than that. On Monday, she sat down with Trump and scrutinized several of his policy proposals, channeling dissension within the pro-Trump ranks — and seemingly catching the president off guard. Sounding skeptical of Trump’s “costs are way down” defensiveness, the conservative Fox host asked, “Are you saying voters are misperceiving how they feel?” Ingraham also asked about his stance on the government shutdown, his demolition of the East Wing, and his understanding of Christianity. After she brought up two issues of particular concern to her MAGA media allies, Trump said, “Don’t forget, MAGA was my idea. MAGA was nobody else’s idea. I know what MAGA wants better than anybody else, and MAGA wants to see our country thrive.” Ingraham’s approach was in keeping with the tone of her nightly Fox show: She often tries to steer Trump in what she believes is a more productive, ultimately politically successful direction. When Trump was elected in 2016, Ingraham held talks about becoming his press secretary, but she insisted on having a seat at the policymaking table as well. The transition team couldn’t agree on how to make room for her, and Sean Spicer was hired as press secretary instead. During Monday’s interview, when Trump tried to downplay the impacts of recent air travel chaos, she interjected: “There are a lot of delays now, sir.” Ingraham has arguably been more influential on the outside, nudging Trump via the television, and occasionally in person. She generally framed her questions in a positive light for the president, while still conveying the concerns of Republican voters. For instance, Ingraham brought up voter anxiety about affordability, as seen in last week’s off-year election results. “I know you’ve been all over” the issue, she said, and some prices are “way down,” but “other things, as you noted, have gone up.” “Is this a voter perception issue of the economy,” she asked, “or is there more that needs to be done by Republicans on Capitol Hill or done in terms of policy?” Trump suggested a perception problem, saying, “More than anything else, it’s a con job by the Democrats.” But Ingraham wasn’t buying it. She said Joe Biden was criticized — including by Trump — for “saying things were great, and things weren’t great.” A little bit later on, she directly asked, “Why are people saying they’re anxious about the economy? Why are they saying that?” Trump rejected the premise of the question. “I don’t know that they are” saying that, the president claimed. “I think polls are fake. We have the greatest economy we’ve ever had.” Trump also waved off Ingraham’s critical question about a recent proposal by Federal Housing Finance Agency director Bill Pulte for 50-year mortgages. This idea “has enraged your MAGA friends,” Ingraham pointed out, describing the “significant MAGA backlash” from people who are “calling it a giveaway to the banks and simply prolonging the time it would take for Americans to own a home outright.” Trump didn’t want to hear it. Of the 50-year mortgage proposal, he said, “it’s not even a big deal. I mean, you know, you go from 40 to 50 years and—” Ingraham corrected him: From “30 to 50” years. “All it means is, you pay less per month, you pay it over a longer period of time,” Trump said. “It’s not like a big factor. It might help a little bit, but the problem was that Biden did this.” Then Trump went on to bash Biden some more. However, Ingraham was more interested in hearing the current president’s views about contentious topics. She broached conservative disdain for American colleges and universities and said “a lot of MAGA folks, um, are not thrilled about this idea of hundreds of thousands of foreign students in the United States.” The Fox host specifically raised Trump’s plan to grant student visas for 600,000 Chinese college students, which Trump has justified as a business transaction. “I know you and I disagree” on this, he said to Ingraham. “We’re never gonna agree on it.”
