What I’d ask Donald Trump and Kamala Harris

At least you can’t say I’d surprise them!

Photo by Panos Sakalakis on Unsplash

“The candidate sit-down interview ain’t what it used to be,” the Associated Press reported recently.

It’s hard to argue with that assertion: Joe Biden has given fewer interviews than any president in decades. His successor as the Democratic presidential candidate, Kamala Harris, hasn’t given a single one since launching her campaign for the White House. Donald Trump has been slightly more accessible — but largely grants interviews only to sympathetic interlocutors, like the hosts on Fox News or, last night, his own megadonor Elon Musk. (Trump’s recent on-stage interview at the National Association of Black Journalists convention stands as an exception.)

Both parties have been creating a permission structure for this inaccessibility for years, with incessant criticism of the media and claims that journalists are biased against them and therefore undeserving of more access.¹ I, however, still think candidate interviews are incredibly important — and there are plenty of examples from the last few days that show the vital, untapped role they play.

Let’s take one: Harris’ recent announcement that she supporting eliminating taxes on tips for service workers. I have several questions stemming from just that one comment: Did her sudden announcement have anything to do with the fact that Trump had unveiled the same policy two months before? Has Harris made any attempt to push for the proposal as vice president? Is she encouraging Chuck Schumer to take up the bipartisan bill sponsored by Ted Cruz to make it a reality? How does she respond to economists who say that the policy would cost as much as $250 billion and potentially hurt more workers than it would help?

Because Harris gives so few (read: no) interviews, there is a lot for reporters to ask and it’s highly possible that none of the questions I just outlined would come up, for reasons of timing alone. But those are important questions about public policy — and before we elect someone to the nation’s highest office, shouldn’t we make sure that their policy proposals stand up to the most rigorous of questioning? Many of those same queries, to be clear, could also be asked of Trump, who similarly had four years as president to push for the proposal, just as Harris has had three-and-a-half years as vice president.

And, trust me, there’s more where that came from here. Here’s what I would ask both candidates for president if given the opportunity:

My (imagined) interviews with Trump and Harris

A good rule of thumb I was once taught was that you should always ease into an interview: the first question should be one to make your subject comfortable, so they’re more likely to open up and answer your tougher questions when you get to them.

“The first question, I don’t really put that much pressure on it to necessarily yield something that interesting, but it is a nice ice-breaker,” David Marchese, one of my favorite interviewers, once said. “It’s almost more for revealing personality than it is about getting a great answer.”

In that spirit, I think a good (and timely) way to start the interview might be by chatting about the Olympics. Maybe I’d ask both candidates which sport they most enjoyed watching, and why. That doesn’t tell us much about their plans as president — but it might tell us something about their personalities, since we’d see what these two shrouded figures gravitate towards in their downtime. Could be interesting!

Then, we’d ease into the real stuff. I have some questions I’d ask both, but first, I’ll take each candidate one at a time. Let’s start with former President Trump:

1. Your running mate, J.D. Vance, recently endorsed a $5,000 Child Tax Credit. Is that your policy as well? If so, why did you only expand it to $2,000 as president?

2. Last night, with Elon Musk, you praised electric vehicles and suggested that the U.S. should have more high-speed rail. Investments in both were signature planks of the bipartisan infrastructure package, which you urged Republicans to vote against. What were the specific provisions of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act you opposed, and were there any you supported?

3. During your administration, you tried to ban TikTok. Now, you’ve said you oppose such efforts. What changed your mind, and do you have any lingering concerns about the Chinese-owned app?

4. One of the main promises of your campaign has been that you will reverse inflation in a second term. But 16 Nobel Prize-winning economists say that your economic plans would lead to even higher prices, largely due to your proposed tariffs. Why are they wrong?

5. Climate change went unmentioned at the Republican convention last month. Is there anything you would do as president to try to curb it?

6. You told an Israeli newspaper in March that “you,” meaning Israel, “have to finish up your war.” Can you elaborate on that? If you were in the Oval Office right now, how would you be handling the conflict differently than President Biden, either in terms of what you’d be telling Israel or how you’d be working on the ceasefire talks?

7. A frequent refrain of yours this cycle has been calling for a “mass deportations” of undocumented immigrants. Walk us through what that would look like. Which government agencies would be involved? How would they go about finding the subjects of deportation? Where would the immigrants be housed during the process?

8. You told Robert Kennedy Jr. in a phone call that babies will often start to “change radically” after being given vaccines. Are there any specific vaccines that children currently take that you don’t believe they should? And, if it’s true that you’ve discussed Kennedy holding a position in your next administration, what job would you envision for him?

9. Back in 2022, you called for the “termination” of certain election “rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution.” Which provisions were you referring to?

10. You promised to hire the “best people” in your first administration, but you’ve split with quite a few of them and many aren’t endorsing you now — you definitely seem to regret a lot of your personnel choices. Why should the American people trust you as a hiring manager again, if you made so many missteps the first time? How would your vetting process be different in a second term?

11. Bonus truth serum question:² What was the result of the 2020 election?

Now it’s Vice President Harris’ turn:

1. In 2019, you supported a ban on fracking. Now, you no longer do. In 2019, you supported Medicare for All. Now, you no longer do. In 2019, you supported a mandatory buy-back program for assault rifles. Now, you no longer do. How do you explain these changes? What led you to taking those positions in the first place?

2. Could you understand the American people having doubt in the sincerity of your positions, considering the sheer number of issues on which you have a different stance compared to the last time you ran for president?

3. Karine Jean-Pierre said yesterday that there’s “no daylight” between you and President Biden. Is that true? Can you think of any times during your partnership where you disagreed with the president, or that he didn’t take your advice?

4. Do you believe that the withdrawal from Afghanistan was an “extraordinary success,” as the president has called it? Would you have done anything to handle it differently, had you been commander-in-chief?

5. You said this week that “now is the time to get a ceasefire deal” in Gaza. But both parties have dragged their feet for months on an agreement. What would be the first thing you’d say as president to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, and to the leaders of Egypt and Qatar, in order to push them towards a deal? Do you think any policy changes are necessary to break the logjam and exert pressure on Israel and/or Hamas?

6. What is your explanation for the inflation that dogged your administration with President Biden? Do you believe there are any executive actions the president implemented or pieces of legislation he signed into law that did anything to exacerbate the rise in prices?

7. The centerpiece of your immigration policy appears to be the bipartisan border security deal, as well as other naturalization efforts that have sputtered in Congress. Let’s say those measures fail to pass again. Would you take any executive actions to change the current status quo on immigration enforcement?

8. Similarly, abortion rights have been at the heart of your campaign. But what makes you confident that Congress would be able to pass a law to codify Roe v. Wade, as you’ve called for? If they can’t, is there anything you would do as president to further that central campaign promise without lawmakers?

9. Twice now, when cancelling student loans and extending an eviction moratorium, President Biden has taken actions despite (either publicly or privately) acknowledging that they might not be constitutional. Do you think it’s ever appropriate for a president to take an action if they are not absolutely certain that it’s legal?

10. Should Ukraine be admitted into NATO?

11. Bonus truth serum question: Have there ever been any moments in your administration where you had concerns about President Biden’s mental acuity?

Finally, some questions for them both!

1. It’s been reported that Iran might launch an attack on Israel any day now. Let’s say you’re president right now, sitting in the Situation Room. Walk me through your next five steps to try to stave off an attack and, at the same time, prepare a response. Who are the foreign leaders that you’d call? Who are the military personnel you’d want to talk to? What would you tell or ask them?

2. What do you see as the greatest potential risk from artificial intelligence and the greatest potential benefit? Could you ever imagine a scenario in which the risks would outweigh the benefits, and you’d seek to slow down AI advancement?

3. Over the years, there have been proposals to add all sorts of agencies to the Cabinet, from the Department of Peace to the Department of Business. If you had to create one new Cabinet department, what would it be?

4. Do you believe the U.S. is best served by a two-party system? Of the following changes to the American political system — term limits for Congress or the Supreme Court, expanding the House or the Supreme Court, making it easier to amend the Constitution, making it easier for bills to receive a vote in Congress, changes to the Electoral College, ranked-choice voting — are there any you support? Is there one I didn’t name that you support?

5. What is one concrete step you would take to address the youth mental health crisis? Do you believe changes are warranted in young peoples’ relationship with technology?

6. Who is one person you would award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to?

7. Which country do you view as America’s closest ally? Which country do you view as our biggest threat?

8. President Biden did not name any Republicans to his Cabinet, breaking with previous presidents who have crossed party lines in their appointments. Would you name a member of the opposite party to your Cabinet? If so, are there any names you have in mind? Tell me about a member of Congress from the other party who you have a relationship with, and a piece of legislation you worked with them on.

9. What is one presidential power you believe should be increased and what’s one presidential power you believe should be reduced?

10. President Trump helped lead to the creation of Covid vaccines with his Operation Warp Speed. Is there any technology, project, or goal you would create an Operation Warp Speed for?

11. Bonus truth serum question: What’s something you know that I don’t?³

Well, there you have it. I’m not sure if putting all that out there would help or hurt my chances of getting a Trump or Harris interview. On one hand, I like to think there was some pretty tough questions in there. On the other, if they agree to an interview with me, neither of them can say I sprang any surprises on them!

I enjoyed that exercise, and I think it’s a useful thought experiment — one I encourage you to join in as well. Let me know in the comments what you would ask President Trump or Vice President Harris if given the chance.

But, here’s a catch: don’t just think of a gotcha you want to ask the candidate you oppose. Try to include a hard question for both candidates, the one you one like and the one you don’t. (Or one that could be asked of either candidate!) I think it’s a good principle that even if you support someone’s candidacy, you should want them held to a high level of scrutiny and you should be able to come up with at least one probing question that might make them stumble.

Fire away!

1. This trend largely started on the right, dating back to Spiro Agnew’s “nattering nabobs of negativism,” but has increasingly drifted over to the left throughout the Biden era. If you don’t believe me, I direct you to this recent X thread from the prominent liberal media critic Jeff Jarvis, which, if you change around a few words, could easily have been produced by a conservative commentator.

2. These are questions that wouldn’t be worth wasting time if I got a sit-down with either candidate — since they wouldn’t answer it honestly — but that I would be curious to ask if I could put the candidate on truth serum. (By the way, on the point of time, you’ll notice that abortion and pardons for January 6th rioters weren’t on my list for Trump. Those are both very important issues, but he’s asked about them in every interview he gives. I’m not sure there’s any new ground to break there.)

3. Give me some of that juicy material from the presidential daily briefing!