Executive Power Is Now Limited in Trade Battles and Amid Rising Global Tensions

0:00 Speaker 1 Well, like every Sunday morning with us today is Governor David Patterson, who gives us his wisdom for our city, for a state, for our country, and once in a while for the entire world. Well, Governor Patterson, what’s on your mind this morning?

0:16 Speaker 2 Well, I think what’s on my mind is not as important as what is on the administration’s mind. When President Trump’s tariff program, which was expanded, was ruled to be outside the law by the United States Supreme Court. Now, I don’t think the administration, as you get too upset over this. We have a United States Senate, we have

0:42 a House. I’m sure they could pass the legislation to overturn that, but that would mean there would have to be kind of an agreement on what the limits for tariffs would actually be. So it was a kind of stunning decision just in the fact that the court ruled that way. But I don’t think it’s going to be

1:01 a big deal moving forward. Where the administration is The big deal, I think is President Trump’s threat to address the problems caused by Iran within what would now be nine to fourteen days from as we speak, John, over the issue of Iran interfering with the protests there, and also Iran castigating and in many ways eliminating and killing

1:35 opposition leaders to their administration. Whether or not President Trump would launch a full frontal attack on Iran or whether he would try to strike some kind of deal, I actually think that his future and also the future of this country almost mandates that he does something in Iran because years ago, when you know, I was young, and

2:03 every time we went into some other country, I saw that as a high crime. The fact is, it’s a different world now. There is absolute evil in different parts of the world, and none greater than Iran. So if he goes right ahead, he’ll be fine with me.

2:20 Speaker 1 I’ll give you my opinion that I’m not sure the Supreme Court did enough of their homework because during the press conference he had on Friday, is he has so many other alternatives. I mean me, you know, in Trump we go back a long way together, and you know, we think alike. And what I would have done is

2:44 if a country like a pick up country ABC, ABC, Country ABC, and if they said to me we want our money back, I’d say, okay, don’t count on us to protect you when invade you. Well, would they say.

3:02 Speaker 2 That, I think they would start to negotiate and would accept the same proposal that the Supreme Court struck down.

3:12 Speaker 1 So I think we’re going through massinations and ups and downs, and you look, I respect the Supreme Court, but I’m not sure that they thought it out completely.

3:24 Speaker 2 I think it would have been taken far more seriously if they had gone into some depth about what the ramifications of the tariff policy is now. They did not seem to spend too much time from the little that I read, really saying oh, this is terrible, look what you did. It’s gonna kill this one or that one.

3:46 And they didn’t say that. It was more of a, to me, an academic decision, which could of course be reversed by the House and Senate, and the President could sign that and then they’d have to find something else to be academic about.

4:04 Speaker 1 Understood. What else is on your mind on a Sunday morning.

4:08 Speaker 2 Well, John, I was fascinated that you introduced Harol Holzer. He has always been a unique a person who was called on to give the history of what happened in different events at different particular times in New York’s history.

4:26 Speaker 1 He was very.

4:28 Speaker 2 Instrumental during the fiscal crisis in nineteen seventy. I guess it was seventy five seventy seven, you know, trying to create an understanding among the mayor at the time and the council members who were at odds. So it was great to hear that. And then, of course the landmarks and how they existed and the ones that were there

4:54 that are no longer there is always fascinating to me, who was a history major at Columbia, I wouldn’t have minded if they had made me the Manhattan historian, but you know I was beaten out by a better guy.

5:10 Speaker 1 Well, Governor of Patterson, you have many, many big things in store for you. You’re still a young guy. You never know. You may run for president someday.

5:21 Speaker 2 Let me know when I’m running, John.

5:24 Speaker 1 Thank you, Governor Patterson, and we’ll get back to you real soon. Take care