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Redistricting Wars: Dems Lose Big As GOP Races To Capitalize; Trump's Revenge Tour Faces Key Tests In GOP Primaries This Month. This Week: Trump Heads to China for High-States Meeting with Xi; Trump Hosts LIV Golf Tournament for Eighth Time; Could a Reality TV Star Become Mayor of Los Angeles. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired May 10, 2026 - 08:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[08:00:23]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(MUSIC)

MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Map flap. A pair of losses blunts Democrats' midterm momentum as Republicans rush to redraw maps. Can they stop a blue earthquake?

Michigan Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Dingell joins me live.

Plus, loyalty test. The president knocks out his GOP critics and takes aim at bigger targets.

Are you disloyal to the president of the United States?

SEN. BILL CASSIDY (R-LA): I am loyal to the United States of America.

RAJU: Is there room for dissent in the party of Trump?

And political reality. As TV stars run for office and win, could one become the next mayor of L.A?

SPENCER PRATT, LOS ANGELES MAYORAL CANDIDATE: I blame this person for burning my house and my parents' house and my town, all my neighbors down.

INSIDE POLITICS, the best reporting from inside the corridors of power, starts now.

(MUSIC)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RAJU (on camera): Good morning. And welcome to INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY. And happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there. I'm Manu Raju.

It's been a roller coaster 19 days for Democrats who have gone from a state of euphoria to a state of fear in the battle for the House. This after the Virginia Supreme Court struck down a Democratic back law approved by voters in the state to gerrymander and add four more U.S. House seats for their party through redrawn maps. And all on the heels of a major U.S. Supreme Court ruling gutting the Voting Rights Act and leading to a race by GOP-led states across the south to squeeze out the remaining Democrats there and give their party a huge advantage heading into the midterms.

Republicans now have what could be an eight seat edge in nationwide redistricting wars. So can Republicans defy history in a midterm environment that almost always goes against the party in power?

Let's break this all down with my excellent panel this morning. Alex Isenstadt from "Axios", Margaret Talev, also from "Axios", and "Bloomberg's" Jeff Mason.

Good morning to you all. And happy Mother's Day to the mom at the table.

So I'll ask you the first question about this. Look at the map here that I just showed you on the screen. Just to look at it a little further here about where things stand nationwide amid this gerrymandering that we've been seeing, really in an unprecedented way this cycle.

Republicans, if not every seat may go their way. But if theyre trying to, you know, add five seats in Texas, we'll see if they actually get five seats in Texas. But they have an eight seat advantage.

So let's just give them that. If they have that, and then theyre trying to add several more seats in the aftermath of the Supreme Court ruling here, all across the south, that could be five more, maybe six more seats, five or six or so.

Margaret, is this enough for Republicans to hang on to power?

MARGARET TALEV, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, Republicans hope it is. The problem for Republicans is all these other trends in terms of public opinion this year, frustration over affordability and living costs, the war in Iran, and so on and so forth. So, what we've been seeing in recent weeks and months is much greater Democratic voter enthusiasm than Republican voter enthusiasm in the midterm.

I think even if Democrats can continue the wave enough to flip control of the House this time around, there are real concerns if some of this gets baked in structurally about what it means for Democrats in the next elections. So, I think if Republicans are like, "We're out of the woods, we're cool," that's probably an overreach of the situation. Many Democrats think theyre still in a position to flip control, but by tighter margins.

RAJU: And the Virginia case was such a disaster for Democrats because they spent so much money here, 56 million bucks they spent in Virginia to pass this ballot referendum that was struck down by the courts to add four more seats.

And this is what Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader, told me back in February about how much they would spend to try to add these seats in their column.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: How much money are you guys willing to put in to get this ballot initiative through?

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY), MINORITY LEADER: Whatever it takes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Alex, what are you hearing from your sources about the impact of this Virginia ruling taken with the Supreme Court case?

ALEX ISENSTADT, AXIOS SENIOR POLITICS REPORTER: So here's the emerging dynamics now of the midterms at this point in the election year, you have Republicans who are banking on these structural advantages they have, right? Like they've got -- they've got the White House, they've got all the fundraising. Now, they've got this massive advantage in redistricting.

Democrats are now banking on environmental factors. And so the question is, is do the environmental factors, the fact that Democrats have the winds at their back environmentally, does that overpower the structural advantages that Republicans have compiled, especially here with redistricting?

[08:05:07]

Is that enough?

RAJU: Yeah.

ISENSTADT: We'll have to see as the year progresses.

RAJU: So it's such a good point because you're seeing them trying to add to the structural advantage in a number of states. Now we're talking about possibly South Carolina as well. Jim Clyburn, longtime congressman, been there since 1993, really he himself credits the Voting Rights Act with helping him win in his district in South Carolina. And you know, his seat could be on the table.

It just shows you how Republicans are going seat by seat, one by one, because theyre sensing that this could be a narrowly fought race and maybe a handful of seats could determine the next House majority.

JASON MASON, BLOOMBERG WHITE HOUSE & WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think that's what is the big question in the end. Is it -- is it a handful? Is it 14 or is it 40? I mean, do the president -- do the Democrats have a blue wave? And if they do, then they're going to be fine, even with this redistricting.

If it's not a major blue wave because of the issues that Margaret was referring to about the economy, about general discontent with Trump. If it's really about 14 or 15 seats, just because this country is so divided anyway, then Republicans could absolutely maintain control of the House and take away the Democrats' power to change everything that they wanted to change in the second half of Trump's term.

TALEV: And also, we're only talking about two years here. So let's say after two years, public sentiment modulates and people are, I don't know, angry at Democrats or angry equally at both parties. At that point, Republicans then would have a hugely baked in district advantage. And that's -- it's really the long term implications of that Supreme Court ruling more than the short term implications of what happened in Virginia, that I think bear watching.

MASON: But don't -- we can't ignore the trend so far over the last year and a half, which have been very pro Democratic in terms of the off year elections that have happened, there's still a lot of negative sentiment towards Trump that's going to help them.

RAJU: Yeah, it's such a good point because it's -- is there are there enough districts for the Democrats to win in? That's number one. Number two, the longer term ramifications are so significant because we're going to see in 2028 a whole host of states try to change their lines. And Republicans could have an advantage there.

Democrats are going to try to respond, but that won't be until 2028.

I do want to bring in Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Dingell of Michigan to get her perspective.

Good morning, Congresswoman. Thank you for being here. I appreciate it on this Mother's Day.

And after these huge rulings in Virginia and the U.S. Supreme Court, how much harder will this make your party's chances at retaking the House?

REP. DEBBIE DINGELL (D-MI): So, look, anybody would be lying if they didn't say that it was a disappointment. And a lot of other adjectives to describe what happened, both in Virginia and at the Supreme Court. But I also want to tell you, people are angry. Uh, we had an election state senate seat in Michigan this past week that the candidate won by 19 points in a district that was a one point district. It reflects the anger, the fear that people want aren't happy with what they have. That we've seen in over 200 elections since President Trump was elected.

Democrats can't win on being anti-Trump. But if up at home for a week, I tell you, I don't go anywhere that someone doesn't come up and complain to me. Gasoline in my county is over $5 a gallon. Diesel is at $6, as someone pointed out to me.

People are worried. Theyre scared. Things are more affordable. They're worried about their jobs.

And that is going to be something that is going to turn people out at the polls. You even had a Republican in Michigan that actually did a version of a War Powers Act, because he knows how angry people are about what is happening in the Mideast.

RAJU: So you said Democrats can't win if theyre anti-Trump. Are you concerned of being an anti-Trump party may not be enough to win the House?

DINGELL: We're going to were going to show people were going to deliver for it. That's all I've said. Democrats are going to have very specific ways that we are going to work to make life more affordable. You know, people can't afford their groceries. Utility bills have gone sky high.

First thing Mikie Sherrill did when she became governor was address those high utility costs. Health care is a total broken system.

RAJU: But just --

DINGELL: We're going to have these --

RAJU: But just -- sorry. Sorry to interrupt, but just your -- I just want to pin you down on this. So you're saying that you should not just focus on strictly being an anti-Trump party, is that right?

DINGELL: You can't that's not going to win. You got to show people how you understand how theyre hurting and what were going to do to help you on multiple fronts.

RAJU: I want to ask you a little bit more about what happened in the Virginia case, because there were about 56 million bucks that were spent on the Democrats' behalf to try to add four more seats on your side. Now that that law has been struck down in the court, do you think it was wise to spend that much money there rather than in battleground districts?

DINGELL: Look, you want to look at how much Republicans have spent across the country doing something that many. You know, there are people that are very angry about what President Trump has been doing on these redistricting too.

[08:10:05]

I don't like what I'm watching, but I think you got to fight fire with fire.

So we got to go out and win on issues this year, which I believe we will do, because I don't think the president has issues on his side. I think this China summit is going to be another. He's going to let China manufacture in this country, not going to play well in the state I live in.

But, you know, you fight fire with fire. Democrats can do redistricting in '28 too, and people better strap in because we are going to fight fire with fire.

RAJU: Speaking of which, because, you know, Democrats in a number of states, Congresswoman, they made it harder for themselves to gerrymander when a lot of Republicans did not do that. Now, the GOP has this big advantage heading into November.

So do you think your party over the years has made a strategic blunder in essentially unilaterally disarming and redistricting? DINGELL: I think a lot of people thought and that we should have

nonpartisan redistricting. In Michigan, it was a group of grassroots people that got a nonpartisan commission. But ill tell you, there are people on that nonpartisan commission that even want to look at, should Michigan redistrict next time. I don't think there's any clear idea or consensus about what we should do.

But, I -- look at Texas, they thought they were going to get all these seats. People don't know what's going to happen in Texas. People with really good crystal balls are not sure what to predict.

I think that we've got to see how this year goes. I think the president has disappointed many people. I think people are hurting. If you come out on the road with me, I will spend a day at farmers markets, in union halls and veterans halls and let people tell you how they really feel. And I think that's what's going to matter in November.

RAJU: So, I mean, I wonder, because you've been someone who has raised concerns in the past, your party has missed the real mood of voters. You yourself said in 2016 about this. You warned Democrats about Trump. A lot of Democrats were not listening to you about Trump.

And as we look ahead to the midterms, do you have any similar concerns about your party not being in touch with what's happening with the electorate?

DINGELL: I -- look, people -- I'm very lucky. I'm part of Hakeem's team. He listens to me. I'm working with the AFL-CIO right now and my labor caucus co-chairs to get members in the union halls. I just happened this week to do town halls, five days in a UA -- and, well, UAW halls, other halls, been in a lot of union halls this week.

And, people admit that they voted for Donald Trump, but they are scared about their job this week. People are really worried that he's about to let China come in and take over their jobs. All I hear about is how expensive gasoline is.

And I know this might sound funny to everybody who's lucky enough in Washington, but one of the workers said to me yesterday, I just want to be able to eat steak, afford to buy steak once a month. I mean, I just don't think and, you know, steaks shouldn't be, it's not a -- yeah, you all go to steak houses. I'm talking about buying some steak at Kroger and they can't afford to do it.

So people are hurting. And the -- I listen to people in union halls and I was in the V.A. and people at the -- I was at a VFW, for veterans banquet on Friday night. They're scared.

They aren't getting help they need. They're worried about their health care. People are scared, Manu. And I'm listening.

RAJU: And just very quickly, what percentage chance would you give your party the odds in winning back the House in November?

DINGELL: Right now, we are more than 50/50. If election were held today, we would win the House back.

RAJU: More than 50/50, probably less than some Democrats hope you would be at this point, perhaps.

DINGELL: It's too early.

RAJU: Yeah, it is. We do have a lot of time.

DINGELL: I don't --

RAJU: There's a lifetime left.

DINGELL: I do not make -- when I make them, I'm right. So I don't make them that early. But I do not think the Republicans would win the House today.

RAJU: Okay. We'll see.

All right. Congresswoman Debbie Dingell, thank you so much for joining us. Really appreciate your perspective. And happy Mother's Day.

Coming up, Trump's revenge tour is about to face its biggest test yet. But can the big name Republicans who have defied the president hang on to their seats? New details ahead.

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[08:18:41]

RAJU: President Trump has zero tolerance for disloyalty, and Republicans have time and again paid the ultimate price at the ballot box for defying him. But could some of Trump's biggest targets actually hang on this month?

In primaries beginning this week, there's Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy, who voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial after January 6th.

Then Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massie, who has become a persistent thorn for the president, most notably leading the charge to release the Epstein files.

And then Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, candidate for Georgia governor who refused Trump's demand to find the votes needed to overturn his 2020 election loss in Georgia, all on the heels of Trump getting revenge in Indiana this past week, ousting at least five Republican state senators who voted against his demands to gerrymander and tilt the race for the House to the GOP.

My panel is back.

Let's start talking about Thomas Massie here, because this is the big focus of Trump over the next nine days before his primary. There's been 12 million, more than 13 million bucks on the spent on behalf of the Trump endorsed candidate Ed Gallrein and against Thomas Massie, who spent about 10 million bucks himself. Massie has a unique brand within his state, but can he survive this

anti -- this pro-Trump wave and Trump's focus on knocking him out of his seat?

[08:20:05]

ISENSTADT: White House has put a lot of emphasis into going after Thomas Massie. As you just saw, they put a lot of money in. They went --

RAJU: A lot for a district like that.

ISENSTADT: They put a lot of money in. They went out and they recruited a candidate, Ed Gallrein, to run against Thomas Massie. And so Trump has a lot riding on the line of this race. He comes off of a big win in Indiana this past week. That's a potential warning sign for Thomas Massie. But the stakes are pretty high for the White House in this one.

RAJU: Yeah, no question about it. Here's a look at some of the ads that are in the living rooms of people in that district.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AD NARRATOR: What happened to Thomas Massie? He's flipped. Massie started out as a conservative Republican, but now votes with liberal Democrats.

AD NARRATOR: Who is bankrolling woke Ed Gallrein's campaign? Liberal Democrats, 85 percent of the big donors to woke Eddie have a history of giving to Democrats.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TALEV: The ad.

RAJU: They both are calling each other liberal Democrats here. But you know, Thomas Massie is one of the most conservative members of Congress. He just happens to break with Trump every once in a while, notably on the Epstein files.

TALEV: Yeah, 100 percent break and form bipartisan alliances to break with Trump on it. You know, state polling is like sort of notoriously fickle. But the data that's available suggests that Massie had a baked in lead for quite a while, but that it may be shrinking to sort of dangerously close margins again.

I do think, like with all midterm races, primaries, special elections, those non-presidential general election, it really depends on turnout. And if people come turn out for Massie, it will save him. But the money, the momentum and the -- and the pressure from the president's like core political operation is very intense against Massie.

RAJU: And it's also intense against Bill Cassidy, the senator who faces a primary on Saturday. Now, this is a different system in Louisiana. The top two winners of

the primary who get the top two votes will go into the runoff, which is on June 27th. That runoff -- whoever wins the runoff becomes the party nominee heading into November. And Trump has backed Julia Letlow, who recruited her congresswoman, to come run in the race against Cassidy because Cassidy voted against -- voting against Trump on his impeachment trial, voted to convict Donald Trump back in the aftermath of January 6th.

This is the amount of money that has been spent in that primary so far, 21 million bucks that Cassidy has spent to hang on to his seat. And Julia Letlow, more than eight million bucks so far. And Trump is going after him, Jeff. He's tweeting. He's posting about it.

It's interesting the way he's handled the Bill Cassidy, because he really did not go after him much until recently, perhaps because he wanted his vote for some pretty key people, like getting RFK, Jr. confirmed to HHS.

MASON: And he got it.

RAJU: Yeah, he got it.

MASON: You got it. You have to wonder if Bill Cassidy regrets that vote now. Yeah. President Trump holds a grudge. We all know that.

And we also saw last week, I think the big takeout from the Indiana state elections was he still has a lot of -- a lot of power over the Republican Party at the very granular state level, despite the fact that what we were talking about in the first part of the show, that there's a lot of discontent with president Trump, certainly around the country, with independents, with Democrats, also with some Republicans. But it is -- it is not or it did not trickle down in Indiana to those really important races, after Trump's endorsement.

RAJU: How do you see this race, Alex, actually, before you listen to what Bill Cassidy said to me just a couple of weeks ago, when I asked him about Trump's post, Trump said, calling him a very disloyal person.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: What do you say to the president? Are you disloyal to the president?

CASSIDY: I am loyal to the United States of America, and I'm going to do my darndest to work with the president whenever we're working for the best in the United States of America.

RAJU: Is he going to knock you out of your Senate seat?

CASSIDY: I don't think so.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: How do you see it? MASON: Here's one of the most interesting dynamics in this race,

which is Robert F. Kennedy and his team want Bill Cassidy to lose really badly. They see Cassidy as someone who has been a thorn in their side. And this is going to be the clearest test yet of whether the MAHA movement can take out Bill Cassidy, someone they -- a former physician, someone they see as an avatar for the medical establishment.

RAJU: Even though he voted for RFK.

MASON: Even though he voted for RFK, Jr. But the RFK people in his MAHA movement see him as someone who has challenged them on a number of issues, including most recently, downing his pick for surgeon general.

RAJU: And Cassidy asked him about that. The surgeon general picked. He said that he had made a particular position that the surgeon general nominee did not have the votes because of some other opposition within his committee decided to not move ahead. And Trump got very angry about that.

But whilst Trump has been focused on taking out Cassidy, taking out Massie, he still has not made a decision about Texas.

[08:25:06]

And this could determine the Senate majority because of the amount of money that's being spent in the Republican runoff. Remember John Cornyn, the incumbent senator backed by the establishment, backed by party leaders, have been begging Trump to endorse him over Ken Paxton, the state attorney general, who has a lot of controversy but is backed by a lot of MAGA activists.

And Trump -- and remember, he posted after Cornyn and in -- and Paxton battled it out in the March primary, got into the runoff. He said, I'll be making my endorsement soon, I -- and then he called on the person who doesn't get that endorsement to drop out.

And then he was asked on Thursday about this, and this is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Why haven't you endorsed either John Cornyn or Ken Paxton?

TRUMP: I'll make a decision. Yeah, I'll make a decision.

REPORTER: When will you make your decision?

TRUMP: Maybe relatively soon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Maybe relatively soon. What's going on?

TALEV: Maybe after the primary. MASON: He doesn't -- he doesn't want to weigh in. I mean, he's -- the

problem here or it's -- a problem for some, not for others. Paxton has played him super well. I mean, I think the president has been advised not to go with Paxton because that makes it potentially a little bit easier for the Democrat in the race. He's doing pretty well in a red state.

RAJU: James Talarico, yeah.

MASON: Exactly. Thank you.

But the president has seen Paxton, for example, say shortly after he said he was going to make an endorsement, I'll drop out of the race if the Republicans drop their opposition to the filibuster or to lowering the threshold for the filibuster, getting rid of the filibuster for the Save America Act.

RAJU: Yeah.

MASON: Which is so important to Trump. Trump really, really wants that. He said exactly the right thing. And then the president didn't endorse.

RAJU: Alex, why is Trump been so indecisive about a race that could determine the Senate majority?

ISENSTADT: Well, there was that issue with the Save America Act. Then you have the fact that a lot of people in Trump's inner circle do not want him to endorse Ken Paxton, because they see Ken Paxton as potentially less electable in a general election.

So there's a lot of competing forces here. And then there's the fact that Trump doesn't really dislike either of these candidates. He sees both of them as allies. And so theyre both close to the polls. And so, it's not really clear where he should go on this.

RAJU: Do you think he's going to stay out of it?

ISENSTADT: It sounds like --

RAJU: He seems that way. Maybe relatively soon.

TALEV: He doesn't want to back --

RAJU: Not very -- not what John Thune, the Senate majority leader, wants to hear, who has been begging for that Cornyn endorsement, which has not come yet.

All right. Next, Marco Rubio 2028 chatter -- well, it's getting a little bit louder, but first, SNL gives its take on the war in Iran

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought I read we were -- we were still bombing stuff.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, no. Just like a few. Every now and then we can stop whenever we want to.

Can I be honest with you, man?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sure.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's just that I work so hard on this Iran war, and i\m just worried it's going to end.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:32:29]

MANU RAJU, CNN HOST: An historic meeting is set to take place this week as President Trump heads to Beijing for a face to face with the Chinese premier, Xi Jinping. It harkens back to other high-stakes presidential visits to China, like in 1972, when then-president Richard Nixon became the first sitting U.S. president to visit the country, paving the way for others to do the same, including Trump himself in his first term.

But this time, things are different. With the war looming and tensions escalating between China and the U.S. So is Trump heading to the Chinese capital at a moment of weakness?

My panel is back, including Jeff Mason, who -- you're heading Jeff for Beijing with the president.

JEFF MASON, BLOOMBERG WHITE HOUSE AND WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

RAJU: So how significant is this meeting? What should we expect? And what are you looking for?

MASON: Very significant on lots of levels. Number one, it was delayed because of the Iran war.

Number two, it's still going on right now despite the Iran war. And that's not insignificant because China is a major purchaser of Iranian oil.

And that has been a thorn in the side of the United States. And it's also a thorn in the side of China that this war is happening at all.

So that is almost certainly going to be one of the topics of conversation between President Trump and President Xi.

The president, the U.S. president also has a whole wish list of economic deals that he wants to make. They may agree on a trade truce. They may agree on something with regard to fentanyl. The U.S. is unhappy with China's follow-up on the last fentanyl agreement that they made. So, we'll see about that.

And then the other big looming issue, which is somewhat connected to Iran in some ways, as well is Taiwan.

RAJU: Yes.

MASON: And whether or not the president will soften U.S. language on Taiwan and whether President Xi will sort of obtain any sort of flexibility from President Trump on that issue.

RAJU: And that would be a big deal if the U.S. did soften its language on Taiwan. We'll be looking out for that.

But, you know, on the Iran front, actually we're just getting some news this morning about how Iran has responded to the U.S. proposal that it sent back last week, this is according to Iranian state media, saying that it sent it through Pakistan.

We don't have details yet on that.

No official response from the White House. We'll see what that ultimately leads to.

But this comes, Margaret, as Trump has continued to talk about how the war is about to end. We're talking -- giving really rosy expectations about how things are going.

[08:34:50]

RAJU: Just listen to how Trump has talked about the timing and how long this war will actually last.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have, right from the beginning, we projected four to five weeks.

The war is going to be over in three days, my prediction.

I think it's close to over, yes. I mean, I view it as very close to over.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: I mean, it's his rosy expectations that have not panned out yet.

MARGARET TALEV, AXIOS SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR: Yes. And there are real domestic, political implications -- there are obviously like geopolitical foreign policy implications. I mean, this is impacting the Saudis. It's impacting all of U.S. Partners in the arena.

But also heading into the midterms, people concern about getting into another war led by a president who promised no more forever wars, and the implications on gas prices, and the sort of tertiary effects of when gas prices -- when oil prices go up, every other price goes up. Is inflation going to return?

That's putting downward pressure on the Republicans heading into the midterm season.

The one other thing that ties this back to China, I think the most interesting tension in the China trip is not really the U.S. and China. It's the U.S. and the U.S. Because even inside the Republican Party, China is so unpopular.

And it's a major issue among Democrats who are union members. Debbie Dingell was talking about some of that earlier.

Is Trump going to make a deal, or is Trump going to protect U.S. national security interests? How do you handle these issues around semiconductors and chips? And who's going to sell what to whom?

Like these are incredibly politically divisive issues. So both with Iran and with the China policy, the president really has to thread a needle so that he doesn't hurt his own party going into the midterms.

RAJU: Yes.

And one big reason why the president keeps talking about things in very glowing terms about how things are going is gas prices. I mean, before the war, $2.98 per gallon; now, $4.52. Just that is going to absolutely hammer -- Republicans know that that could really hammer their chances in the midterms.

We'll see how it ultimately looks come November.

Just look at the numbers in the poll about people blaming Trump for higher gas costs. The number among Independents is 63 percent blame -- a great deal blame Trump or a good amount blame Trump for it.

I do want to shift the conversation, though to Marco Rubio, because we have seen him take this high public profile in the last several days -- really, this past week, he was -- Trump had this big row with the Pope over Iran. Here's Marco Rubio going to the Vatican meeting with the Pope.

He did a White House press briefing this week talking about Iran. He tweeted about this image of him and Trump as well.

Alex, how do you see the Rubio moment right now?

ALEX ISENSTADT, AXIO SENIOR POLITICS REPORTER: Well, I think that there's one person who's really enjoying this and that's President Trump. He loves the idea of the apprentice. He loves the idea of two people performing --

RAJU: As in Rubio and Vance.

ISENSTADT: Rubio and Vance, he loves the idea of these two guys performing, competing with one another. He loves the theatrics of that, the tension, the drama.

It was perhaps never going to be so simple as Vance just going to be the heir of the throne. It was always going to be perhaps a little bit more complicated.

This is what Trump wants. And when Trump is behind closed doors, he's asking people, should it be Marco or should it be J.D.? And so this is -- this is -- this is the competition that we have now

behind closed doors in the Republican Party.

RAJU: Very --

TALEV: And behind open doors.

RAJU: Yes. And in real life, too, closed doors in the public.

All right. A lot to dissect there.

All right. This weekend Trump is reading the greens for the eighth time. The controversial LIV Golf tour visits one of Trumps golf properties. Why the president himself was there even though LIV Golf is very much in the rough amid the Saudis' plans to drop out.

[08:38:46]

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RAJU: Many fans view LIV Golf as a nuisance to the PGA Tour. After its inception four years ago, some big-name stars left the PGA Tour to earn eye popping signing bonuses with LIV with several reportedly north of $100 million.

But now the rival league is on a lifeline after Saudi Arabia's public investment fund announced it would pull back its financial support that critics had accused the Saudis of spending to clean up their image in the west.

So why was LIV holding a tournament at President Trumps Virginia golf course this weekend? And why did the president himself decide to attend?

My panel is back.

This is the eighth time Trump has had a LIV event at a golf course, and there's actually going to be this -- throughout the course of his time in office here. Eight events -- there are going to be nine this summer.

Margaret, why is he so -- this is such a controversial league.

TALEV: Yes.

RAJU: And is it just because of his relationship with the Saudis?

TALEV: This is like actually a way more complicated, interesting issue than it seems like it is.

RAJU: Yes.

TALEV: But I think it's sort of all of the above.

Obviously President Trump and now his family have a very, quite entrenched business relationship with the Saudis, as well as politics. And President Trump loves golf. President Trump owns golf courses.

President Trump loves being the host and the convener.

[08:44:47]

TALEV: And President Trump is now trying to figure out how to either -- I think essentially how to reintegrate players who broke away for LIV back into the PGA.

RAJU: The PGA Tour does not want --

TALEV: Right.

RAJU: -- not willing to just accept them right now.

TALEV: And you could hear him talking about it yesterday saying things like, wouldn't it be great? I'd love to see so-and-so play against it. So I think you're seeing deal maker, investor, host, golf course owner -- like all that come into play.

But the Saudis' move is quite interesting because they put like $5 or $6 billion into this and have invested in many other sports, like in the United States and around the world. It's been quite controversial. The practice you're talking about is called sports washing.

And now the Saudis seem to have made a tactical decision, at least in LIV and maybe in some other sports, to kind of pull back out of that and reinvest in other places.

And I do think the precarious economic situation that this war with Iran has exacerbated for the Saudis in terms of oil is part of the calculus on what are the tactically the best bang for the buck investments for the Saudis. So, yes.

RAJU: Jeff, you were there yesterday. What was it like on the ground at this LIV Golf tournament?

MASON: Well, it was a beautiful day. And I mean, you asked why would the president --

RAJU: It was a great day for golf.

MASON: It was a good day -- I think it was a good day for golf. And you asked, why would President Trump go to this? I mean, would President Trump really not go to --

(CROSSTALKING) RAJU: Why would he even host --

MASON: -- a tournament --

RAJU: -- it to begin with, given how controversial it is?

MASON: Well, I think that he likes to stir things up, right. And he loves, as Margaret said, to host things like this at one of his properties. And it's just up the street, essentially from the White House.

So he was -- he was in his element yesterday, for sure, behind bulletproof glass, I might add. He was in his -- he was in his element.

RAJU: You can see him right there on your screen.

But you know, this all kind of raises those questions about how Trump makes money while in offices. Past presidents didn't do things like this, didn't keep one foot in the door of some of their business ventures, while also being president of the United States.

Just a handful of things that we have seen over the years -- over the, you know, past year or so, whether its ranging from cryptocurrencies to the Trump bible, Truth Social, sneakers, coins, you name it.

Alex, do voters care about -- I mean, voters, some voters do. But how -- is this a really an issue that hurts the president's image among most voters?

ISENSTADT: Yes. Politics and business are at this point one and the same for the president's --

RAJU: He's rewritten the norms of --

ISENSTADT: Rewritten the norms. It's all mixed together. Could another president get away with this? I don't know, I mean, he gets away with things. He does things other politicians don't do. And he seems to -- voters seem to accept it at times. Other times they don't.

There's just a lot more on the plate right now that I think voters are considering as they head into the voting booths.

RAJU: Yes.

ISENSTADT: But some may be bothered by it.

RAJU: Yes. Meantime, Trump is so insistent that he's going to redesign the East Potomac golf course, a public golf course here in D.C. that is one that's supposed to be affordable for most average golfers. People who are learning in the game and the like.

And he wants to make it a championship-style golf course. Just look at this rendering that they put out here about how he envisions this looking like. This could cost so much money. Why is he so invested?

TALEV: I live across the channel from it, so I can see the dirt pile of -- fill dirt from my window. And I think one of the big questions is, is it really going to remain a public park? And if so, will the public be able to afford it? Or does he have different designs and plans for it?

One of the best things about Hains Point and East Potomac Park is that working people can go there, and it's not a great golf course, but they can hit balls and look at the Washington Monument. It's a national treasure. RAJU: Beautiful view is going to change completely. And as the head of

the national trust that runs that told me, told me in last -- a few weeks ago, he said that it would cost an enormous amount of money to turn it into a championship style golf course and maybe not have the infrastructure to even do that, which is, of course, what Trump wants.

RAJU: All right. Coming up, could a reality TV star become the mayor of Los Angeles? That's next.

[08:48:49]

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RAJU: Reality TV stars have found a way into our politics. Just look at the current occupant of the Oval Office. So could one now be the next mayor of the nation's second largest city? Well, Spencer Pratt, a former star of the reality show "The Hills, has rocketed to the forefront of the Los Angeles mayoral race after repeatedly taking on the current mayor, Karen Bass, in a debate this past week.

Pratt, a Republican running in the nonpartisan race, and he hit her particularly hard on her response to last year's wildfires.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SPENCER PRATT (R), LOS ANGELES, CA MAYORAL CANDIDATE: I blame this person for burning my house and my parents' house and my town and all my neighbors down. I am not working with Mayor Bass.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Ahead of the June 2nd primary, Bass responded to that criticism on CNN last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR KAREN BASS (D), LOS ANGELES: Let me just say that as the mayor of the city, the buck stops with me. That is very, very clear. What was true of our city, but not just our city, our region, our county, was that we were not prepared.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: And Spencer Pratt is not the only reality TV star trying to gain political traction.

Luke Gulbranson from the show "The Summer House" is running to represent northern Minnesota in the House of Representatives. He's running as a Democrat in a district President Trump won by 14 points in 2024.

[08:54:52]

RAJU: And it's not just current candidates. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who appeared on a pair of MTV reality shows in the 1990s, including "The Real World", said this week that for the past seven months, he and his family have been appearing for a Trump-approved show called "The Great American Road Trip" that is set to air on YouTube.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN DUFFY, U.S. TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: So I want to lean in to America's 250th birthday. Rachel and I actually met on a road trip on a reality TV show.

RACHEL DUFFY, WIFE OF SEAN DUFFY: Right. That's right. S. DUFFY: And so over the course of seven months, we just kind of

found these moments where I might be able to do some work. I could take the kids with me, do a road trip.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: But the project has raised some ethical concerns since its sponsors include several companies whose business interests intersect with the agency that Duffy oversees.

And yesterday, Duffy attacked what he called the, quote, "radical, miserable left" for criticism of the project and said it was fully within ethics rules, as reviewed by federal officials.

But no one can dispute that it's perhaps not the cheapest time to go on a road trip.

That's it for INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY.

Up next, "STATE OF THE UNION WITH JAKE TAPPER AND DANA BASH". Jake's guests include CDC director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya and South Carolina Congressman James Clyburn.

Thanks again for sharing your Sunday morning with us. We'll see you next time.

And Happy Mothers' Day including to my mom and to my wife, Archana.

[08:56:14]

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