The onslaught of media stories about the Trump family’s stake in cryptocurrency betrays a strange new interest in coverage of the perception of corruption. As Speaker Mike Johnson reminded CNN’s Jake Tapper, things were (D)ifferent back then.
Watch as Tapper ends the interview with the crypto question, and is instead confronted with questions about the timing of his book and the scope of his reporting on President Joe Biden’s physical and cognitive decline (click “expand” to view transcript):
WATCH: Jake Tapper tries to corner Speaker Johnson with a Hunter Biden whatabout, gets hit over the head with his own book pic.twitter.com/AJMq54PYKJ
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) May 25, 2025
TAPPER: I want to ask you about something else. President Trump held a closed-door event Thursday night for top investors in his private cryptocurrency. We do not know who was there. The list has not been released. We do not know how much of the money came from outside the country. The president has, of course, a huge role to play when it comes to regulation, regulating crypto. I really have a difficult time imagining that, if this was a Democratic president doing the exact same thing, you wouldn't be outraged.
JOHNSON: Well, look, I don't know anything about the dinner. I was a little busy this past week, as you know, getting the reconciliation package over the line. And so I'm not going to comment on something I haven't even heard about. I'm not sure who was there, what the purpose was. But I will say this, President Trump is very active. He's very engaged. He's the greatest dealmaker -- one of the greatest dealmakers of all time. He is working on these trade imbalances that we have had and having tremendous success. We have got over 75 countries now renegotiating their trade agreements with America. It's going to make it better for all of us, everybody in the country. And he is encouraging new technologies, crypto, and the advancement of A.I. He's appointed a czar for the first time. We have an A.I. czar in David Sacks who's an expert in the industry from Silicon Valley. There's a lot of exciting things happening. The president is trying to encourage that along as much as he can. And I think the vast majority of the country is applauding those efforts. So I'm one of them. I think the result of all this is going to be extraordinary for all -- everybody in the country.
TAPPER: You oversaw, as Speaker, a congressional investigation into President Biden's ties to his son Hunter's questionable business dealings to enrich him. You seemed to think it was your responsibility to look into this sort of thing then.
JOHNSON: Yes, Jake, the big, important distinction, the Biden Crime Family, as they were named, earned that title. Why? Because they use shell companies, fake LLCs, series of what appeared to be money laundering operations. And Hunter Biden, of course, with his difficult past and his -- the corruption in his past, the family on the public dole -- or on the president's dole. The president lied about his involvement in the business dealings, all of that. The evidence just piled up. And, by the way, at the same time, the evidence of his diminished mental capacity, subject of your book, of course. I wish it had been published a year earlier, because everybody saw it. Everybody saw what was happening. He used the autopen. And, by the way, there's investigations right now going on in the House of Jamie Comer in the Oversight Committee -- or will be investigating the use the autopen, when the president's mental capacity declined and whether all those things are even legally valid now, given the obvious fact that he was not the one making the decisions. It's huge implications from all this. And so I think the American people had a reason to doubt. And we had great reason and I think a responsibility to investigate those things. The difference, of course, is that President Trump does everything out in the open. He's not trying to hide anything. There's no shell companies or fake LLCs or fake family businesses.
TAPPER: Well...
JOHNSON: He's putting it out there, so everybody can evaluate for themselves.
TAPPER: On the book, I wish the more than 200 people that talked to me and Alex Thompson, my co-author, after Election Day, I sure wish that they had talked to us a year ago. I agree with you on that. But on this matter with the crypto, shouldn't we at least just know who was at the dinner? Wouldn't you want to know that list of people?
JOHNSON: I guess. I mean, again, I don't know anything about that dinner. I do know that President Trump is the most transparent president in the most transparent administration probably in history. He has nothing to hide, and he's out there trying to advance America's interests. That's what America first policies are all about. And that's what our big reconciliation bill will deliver for the people. We're really proud of the product.
This is how it’s going to be going forward. At every interview, Tapper is going to be asked “well, why didn’t you talk about this sooner when Biden was doing the same thing?” And if his exchange with Speaker Johnson is any indication, he has no real response beyond “I wish our sources had spoken up sooner.”
The American people didn’t need sources to determine that Joe Biden was severely diminished, both physically and cognitively, and that there was no way he could’ve been in full command of The White House. All it took was for people to see with their own eyes and hear with their own ears. And that should have been enough for the media to ask more questions more often. An uncorrupted media would have certainly done so.
Tapper’s response is all the more galling considering the array of unsourced stories (and hoaxes) the media ran during the first Trump administration. For the time being, the response to these righteous callouts appears to be self-flagellation and mea culpa. But will there be significant reflection and reform after? Time will tell but I’m not holding my breath.
Click “expand” to view the full transcript of the aforementioned interview as aired on CNN State of the Union on Sunday, May 25th, 2025:
JAKE TAPPER: And joining me now is the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson of Louisiana. Speaker Johnson, thanks so much for joining us. Republican senators have made it clear that they want to make some changes to the House bill. Senate Majority Leader John Thune told CNN the Senate is going to write its own bill. Even though they have a larger majority than you do, what is your message to your colleagues in the Senate?
MIKE JOHNSON: Thanks, Jake. Great to be with you. Look, I have been very consistent with our colleagues in the Senate. We worked hand in glove with them all through this process, remembering that the House began this more than a year ago. It was March of last year when we got our committee chairs together and told them to begin to repair for this massive reconciliation package. We believed at that time, more than a year ago, that we would win the White House, the Senate and the House, and have unified government and have this really once-in-a-generation opportunity to do so much in one piece of legislation. So I met with the Senate Republicans, all my colleagues, over there last week on Tuesday at their weekly luncheon. And I encouraged them to do their work, of course, as we all anticipate, but to make as few modifications to this package as possible, because remembering that we have got to pass it one more time to ratify their changes in the House. And I have a very delicate balance here, a very delicate equilibrium that we have reached over a long period of time, and it's best not to meddle with it too much.
TAPPER: Let's talk about what the legislation actually does. I want to play something that you said back in January about the national debt.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNSON: The number one threat to our nation right now is our debt. We take that very seriously. Congress has kicked the can down the road for decades, and we're out of road. And so we understand that it's our responsibility to fix this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: So there are five different independent scores of this legislation. Every one of them says that it will increase the deficit somewhere between $3.3 trillion and $4 trillion over the next 10 years. Now, I get you take issue with the Congressional Budget Office and that they don't have dynamic scoring, all this, but this is the emergency -- emerging consensus among everyone analyzing. They say you're kicking -- not only are you kicking the can down the road, but you're making the problem worse. You're adding to the debt.
JOHNSON: Well, I think that is dramatically overstated. And here's why. Everyone can -- those same groups can objectively see and acknowledge that this is the largest cut in spending in at least 30 years and arguably of all time. We're cutting over $1.5 trillion in federal spending, while we check all the boxes and bring about a pro-growth economy.
And the CBO has been panned because, as you said, they don't do dynamic scoring. What that means is, they don't account for the growth that will be fostered by all the policies that are in this big piece of legislation. This is not theoretical, Jake. Just remember the last Trump administration. After the first two years, we brought about the greatest economy in the history of the world, not just the U.S. The growth was off the charts. It was an average about 3 percent of growth in GDP. Why? Because we cut taxes and we cut regulations. We're doing the same thing this time around, but on steroids. This is a much larger package, a much more robust package with all these features that will really get the economy going, because wages will rise. Job creators, entrepreneurs, risk-takers will have more ability to expand their businesses. U.S. manufacturing onshore is being incentivized. All these things will work together to make the economy grow faster than must have -- many of these projections are putting forth. So we're not buying it. We will see what happens, and we have the evidence to prove it from the past.
TAPPER: So the CBO doesn't get a vote, but my next guest, Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, does. And he wrote in "The Wall Street Journal" -- quote -- "The one big, beautiful bill will almost certainly add to our deficits and debt." And he even called the bill the Titanic. What do you say to him?
JOHNSON: Look, I love Ron Johnson. He's a dear friend. And he and I agree on our philosophy. We're limited government conservatives. We want to limit the size and scope of the government and make it work more efficiently and effectively. My response to him, and we have spoken about this over recent months, is that we're doing the best we can with the vote numbers that we have. In other words, we have got to turn this aircraft carrier. You don't turn an aircraft carrier on a dime. It takes a mile of open ocean to do it. And it took us decades to get in this financial situation. We can't just flip a switch and get out of it overnight. One of the people that my friend Ron Johnson really respects is Russ Vought, who directs the Office of Management and Budget. And Russ is a big champion for this piece of legislation. He calls it historic. And he's a fiscal hawk. And so am I. So we're doing as much as we can. And I just encourage Ron to remember in our -- in the House, we have 220 Republicans, a wide range of perspectives and a wide range of districts represented. And I have got to get to 217 votes to get this thing over the line, so as much as we can, in as big an increment as we can. I think we have achieved that here. And I just want them to remember that. We have got to deal within the realm of what's possible.
TAPPER: So, in addition to people like Senator Johnson, who think this bill doesn't do enough to cut spending, you're going to have to convince people like Susan Collins of Maine and Josh Hawley of Missouri, who are worried about cuts that this bill proposes. President Trump repeatedly insisted he would not touch Medicaid and that Americans would not lose their insurance. Here's what he said just five days ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We're not changing Medicaid, and we're not changing Medicare, and we're not changing Social Security.
(CROSSTALK)
MANU RAJU: Can you guarantee that your voters who supported you in the election, particularly working-class voters, will not lose health insurance under this bill?
TRUMP: Oh, they won't lose health insurance.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: The CBO found that nearly eight million Americans will in fact lose their insurance coverage because of the changes this bill makes to Medicaid. So how do you reconcile that with what President Trump said?
JOHNSON: It's directly in line with what the president said. I have said the same. We are not cutting Medicaid in this package. There's a lot of misinformation out there about this, Jake. The numbers of Americans who are affected are those that are entwined in our work to eliminate fraud, waste and abuse. So, what do I mean by that? You got more than 1.4 million illegal aliens on Medicaid. Medicaid is not intended for non-U.S. citizens. It's intended for the most vulnerable populations of Americans, which is pregnant women and young single mothers, the disabled, the elderly. They are protected in what we're doing, because we're preserving the resources for those who need it most. You're talking about 4.8 million able-bodied workers, young men, for example, who are on Medicaid and not working. They are choosing not to work when they can. That is called fraud. They are cheating the system. When you root out those kinds of abuses, you save the resources that are so desperately needed by the people who deserve it and need it most. That's what we're doing. And that's why this is a -- the morality of what we're doing here is precisely right, and it comports with all the public opinion polls. When people ask whether young men, for example, who are able-bodied and have no dependents should be working, everybody says yes. And that's what our package does. So, these estimates that you're hearing are accurate, but it's dealing with those numbers of people in the population. And that's going to make the -- preserve the program and strengthen it for those who need it most.
TAPPER: So 1.4 million people in your home state of Louisiana are on Medicaid. More than 800,000 receive SNAP benefits, also known as food stamps. Is it your contention that, if any of those Louisianians lose their benefits, it's because they shouldn't have been receiving them, because they were committing waste, fraud or abuse?
JOHNSON: Yes. Look, my district, as every district in America, has people who are on the program who shouldn't. And when you're talking about -- I keep using this example, a young able-bodied man with no dependents, there's no reason he should not be working. We are the party about -- that supports human dignity, and we find purpose and dignity in our work. It's good for the individuals involved. It's good for their community. It's good for society at large. When you're talking about work requirements, by the way, it's very flexible. It just means that you either work or you volunteer, do something meaningful in your community, or you're in a job or work training program, 20 hours a week. I mean, this is not some huge demand. If you're going to be on the public wagon, you have to do something to help pull it if you're able. And, again, Jake, the purpose of this is to preserve these very necessary, very important safety net programs for the people who actually need and deserve them, and not those who are gaming the system. And I think I will go into any town hall anywhere in America, my district, or otherwise, and explain this, and everyone nods in agreement and understands it. So the Democrats are trying to twist the facts. They're trying to put out misinformation because they're going to vote against this, and there's no way to defend it. What it means is, they're going to be voting for more fraud, waste and abuse, instead of the elimination of it, which is what our package does.
TAPPER: It's not just Democrats, though, right? I mean, there are voices in MAGA world sounding the alarm that cuts to Medicaid could really impact Trump's own supporters. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE BANNON: Medicaid, you got to be careful, because a lot of MAGA is on Medicaid. I'm telling you, if you don't think so, you are dead wrong. Just can't take a meat axe to it, although I would love to.
JOSH HAWLEY: This is real Medicaid benefit cuts. I can't support that. No Republican should support that. We're the party of the working class, Manu. We need to act like it.
TAPPER: That was Steve Bannon and Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri. What is your response to them?
JOHNSON: Yes, look, I don't disagree with that. Of course, there's lots of people on Medicaid in our party and in others. But, again, if they look at the final package and the details of what has come through the House, I think we reached the right point. And, Jake, it also brings out the very important point that we're trying to do this on a very aggressive timetable. The reason I tried to get this done and we did get it done before Memorial Day and send it to the Senate is so the president can be signing this into law by Independence Day on July 4. Why is that so important? Because we have got to get relief to the American people and that we also need to, for political purposes, show, give a lot of time, enough time for everyone to see that this package actually is what we say. It's going to help the country. It's going to help the economy. It's going to help all boats to rise, just as we did after the first two years of the first Trump administration. And so we're anxious to get this signed into law so people feel it and see it before that midterm election and they understand it is the Republicans who are doing the best for hardworking Americans, low- income families, and everyone who deserves a better shot.
TAPPER: I want to ask you about something else. President Trump held a closed-door event Thursday night for top investors in his private cryptocurrency. We do not know who was there. The list has not been released. We do not know how much of the money came from outside the country. The president has, of course, a huge role to play when it comes to regulation, regulating crypto. I really have a difficult time imagining that, if this was a Democratic president doing the exact same thing, you wouldn't be outraged.
JOHNSON: Well, look, I don't know anything about the dinner. I was a little busy this past week, as you know, getting the reconciliation package over the line. And so I'm not going to comment on something I haven't even heard about. I'm not sure who was there, what the purpose was. But I will say this, President Trump is very active. He's very engaged. He's the greatest dealmaker -- one of the greatest dealmakers of all time. He is working on these trade imbalances that we have had and having tremendous success. We have got over 75 countries now renegotiating their trade agreements with America. It's going to make it better for all of us, everybody in the country. And he is encouraging new technologies, crypto, and the advancement of A.I. He's appointed a czar for the first time. We have an A.I. czar in David Sacks who's an expert in the industry from Silicon Valley. There's a lot of exciting things happening. The president is trying to encourage that along as much as he can. And I think the vast majority of the country is applauding those efforts. So I'm one of them. I think the result of all this is going to be extraordinary for all -- everybody in the country.
TAPPER: You oversaw, as Speaker, a congressional investigation into President Biden's ties to his son Hunter's questionable business dealings to enrich him. You seemed to think it was your responsibility to look into this sort of thing then.
JOHNSON: Yes, Jake, the big, important distinction, the Biden Crime Family, as they were named, earned that title. Why? Because they use shell companies, fake LLCs, series of what appeared to be money laundering operations. And Hunter Biden, of course, with his difficult past and his -- the corruption in his past, the family on the public dole -- or on the president's dole. The president lied about his involvement in the business dealings, all of that. The evidence just piled up. And, by the way, at the same time, the evidence of his diminished mental capacity, subject of your book, of course. I wish it had been published a year earlier, because everybody saw it. Everybody saw what was happening. He used the autopen. And, by the way, there's investigations right now going on in the House of Jamie Comer in the Oversight Committee -- or will be investigating the use the autopen, when the president's mental capacity declined and whether all those things are even legally valid now, given the obvious fact that he was not the one making the decisions. It's huge implications from all this. And so I think the American people had a reason to doubt. And we had great reason and I think a responsibility to investigate those things. The difference, of course, is that President Trump does everything out in the open. He's not trying to hide anything. There's no shell companies or fake LLCs or fake family businesses.
TAPPER: Well...
JOHNSON: He's putting it out there, so everybody can evaluate for themselves.
TAPPER: On the book, I wish the more than 200 people that talked to me and Alex Thompson, my co-author, after Election Day, I sure wish that they had talked to us a year ago. I agree with you on that. But on this matter with the crypto, shouldn't we at least just know who was at the dinner? Wouldn't you want to know that list of people?
JOHNSON: I guess. I mean, again, I don't know anything about that dinner. I do know that President Trump is the most transparent president in the most transparent administration probably in history. He has nothing to hide, and he's out there trying to advance America's interests. That's what America first policies are all about.And that's what our big reconciliation bill will deliver for the people. We're really proud of the product.
TAPPER: Mr. Speaker, I know you have a lot of military veterans and Gold Star families in your congressional district. I know your son is at Annapolis. I wish you a meaningful and peaceful Memorial Day weekend. Thank you so much for being with us today.
JOHNSON: Same to you, my friend. God bless.
