Rahm Emanuel on Donald Trump: “In 8 weeks he has destroyed 80 years of reputation that America built”

Rahm Emanuel, the former ambassador to Japan under President Biden, sat down for an, at times tense, interview with Jon Stewart on Monday night. The two discussed the state of the economy under Trump, focusing on the election and the global impact of the Trump administration. Emanuel also served as President Barack Obama’s Chief of Staff and then went on to serve as the mayor of Chicago.

“In eight weeks, he’s destroyed 80 years of reputation,” said Emanuel, noting the swift actions President Donald Trump has taken to reduce the size of the federal government and upend the global trade system. As of Tuesday morning, trading on Wall Street was up slightly after the president’s announcements on tariffs led key indices to drop by ten percent in just a few days. The S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite entered bear market territory, a sign of an economic slowdown. Major banks are warning that the risk of recession has grown considerably, with some leaders in the financial sector, including BlackRock CEO, stating that the US economy could already be in a recession.

Emanuel’s point is that in the eight weeks Donald Trump has been president, he has destroyed the relationships and credibility that the country had fostered since World War II. These sentiments are strikingly similar to those made by critics of the president during his first term, though many see President Biden as successful in unifying allies once again. The former ambassador spoke to this record in his interview, citing the isolation of China as one example. Now, as sweeping tariffs are set to go into effect, China is able to rejoin the world as a more reliable partner than the US. For Emanuel, the fact that representatives from South Korea, Japan, and China have been working together to respond to the tariffs to protect their economies is telling.

While Stewart largely accepted Emanuel’s argument, he pushed back slightly on the role of the Democratic party in leading to this moment. “Democratic policy has led us in some measure to this moment,” said the host of The Daily Show.

“No doubt about it,” replied his guest.

The two proceeded to have a frank conversation about the failures of the Democratic party in preventing Trump from retaking the White House, and the success of the Republican message in defeating Democrats in 2016 and 2024.

“We disappointed this country,” stated Emanuel, continuing to say that the Republicans “will stab you in the back,” but that the Democrats will let their voters down. The better of two evils being the best chance for the public. Stewart pushed back, a smart move considering that it is an admission that the party has, in many ways, failed.

Emanuel concluded that the Democratic party did leave communities behind, particularly in areas that have been deindustrialized and forgotten by the party over the last thirty years. The party has to apologize, and then Emanuel dove into how that would be done, using very traditional Democratic talking points: investing in all communities, education, and standing up to China.

Emanuel on how the Democratic party regains trust

Stewart was frustrated by the response because it didn’t show a lot of growth. He went on to discuss how some of President Biden’s legislative successes ultimately failed. For instance, the program passed as part of the bipartisan infrastructure package to expand broadband in rural areas was seen as too complicated by companies, leading many to pull out, and the infrastructure has not been built. Experts examining the fact that none of the projects got off the ground point to the exclusion of cheaper means of providing internet, through satellites or 5G, which means that more extensive permitting is needed to lay the fiber optic connections that the government wants to fund. The call has grown louder to reform the system to reduce the regulatory burden that inhibits these projects. That is a debate that should be had, and it should consider the risks to health and safety that the regulations were passed to address. Broadband should not come at the expense of environmental mishaps that threaten clean drinking water, for example.

At the same time, with Elon Musk’s DOGE able to move at the speed of light, though now many decisions are moving through the courts, there is a new example of government that could be applied by Democrats if they were willing to act more boldly in their approach to governance. But cutting red tape isn’t easy, and the bureaucracy that now hampers these projects cannot be so easily moved without a serious evaluation of what kind of society the country should be. Because as a democracy, you have to think about how your opponent will use that new system, and whether there are ways it can be exploited for them to reach their own ends.

When Stewart asked if the Democrats should have pushed as hard for their agenda as Donald Trump does for his interests, Emanuel said no, focusing on how members of the Trump administration have exploited their power for personal enrichment. But, in many ways, that evades the question and makes it seem like Democrats would be open to exploiting the same mechanisms of corruption. He ended his comments by saying that the country does better when leaders “play by the rules.” The party must then evaluate whether the hypothetical agenda they would like to enact is possible with those rules.

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