Emmer cheers on tariffs, Trump's second term during first telephone town hall

Rep. Tom Emmer, the No. 3 Republican in the U.S. House, held his first town hall of the year Wednesday night.

The town hall came as activists across the state and in his district have been urging Emmer and Minnesota’s three other Republicans in Congress to hold an in-person town hall to discuss President Donald Trump’s agenda and tech billionaire Elon Musk’s influence in the administration.

All four Republicans have now held town halls this year, however, all of them have been conducted virtually. It’s unclear if Emmer or the others will hold any in-person town halls in the near future.

Emmer’s town hall began just hours after Trump unveiled sweeping tariffs on dozens of countries. Emmer applauded the tariffs and other aspects of Trump’s agenda.

Here are the biggest takeaways from the event.

Emmer said he thinks any disruptions Trump’s tariffs have caused the markets will eventually be straighten itself out.

“Yeah, it’s thrown the markets into a bit of a tizzy over the last few weeks,” he said of the tariffs. “But you know what? I think it’s going to straighten out rather quick. I think these people are going to be outed for how they’ve mistreated Americans and American businesses. And I think that’s going to be corrected.”

So far, the tariffs have sent shock waves to the markets, with the S&P 500 down 3.7% during afternoon trading.

“These tariffs are going to protect American manufacturing, blue collar jobs, and safeguard our economy from our foreign adversaries, like China,” he said. “We’re no longer going to be exploited by other countries. Americans have been getting ripped off for more than 50 years now, foreign nations, now, are going to pay for the privilege of accessing our markets.”

Emmer, whose relationship with Trump has come full circle since the president played a role in blocking his chances at becoming House speaker, said Trump is now always willing to take his calls.

“This president, by the way, is a freak of nature, at 78-years-old ... he probably sleeps three hours a day or a night, at most, constantly working all the time,” he said. “I can call him and he picks up the phone, he’s always on.”

Emmer also defended Trump’s first months in office.

He championed Republicans for having “rolled back the failed energy policies [of] the previous administration” and cracking down on immigration.

“President Trump’s border security initiatives have been so effective that migrants are choosing to return to their home countries while en route to the United States, after realizing they won’t make it into the United States,” Emmer said.

Emmer applauded Trump for bringing back investment to the country and working to end the war in Ukraine and Gaza, saying the president has “prioritized peace through strength around the world.”

Emmer also shouted out Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) for “rooting out waste, fraud and abuse.” Emmer said DOGE has identified $130 billion in savings.

Emmer said he anticipates the Department of Justice under newly sworn in Attorney General Pam Bondi will follow through on any investigations.

Emmer’s prediction came as Bondi warned Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison that the Department of Justice is prepared to sue states that do not comply with Trump’s executive order banning transgender athletes from participating in girls’ and women’s sports.

Minnesota Republicans have also written to Bondi asking her to investigate fraud in the state.

“There’s a new sheriff in town. Pam Bondi is our Attorney General, and she’s already starting to put Minnesota on notice that these types of activities will be investigated and we will identify where the problems are,” Emmer said. “And if people are involved and complicit, they will be found out, and they will be charged and prosecuted.”

“I’m very confident that Pam Bondi and our U.S. Justice Department are going to get back to the business of working for the American people instead of the administration against their political enemies, like the Biden administration did to Donald Trump,” he continued.

Emmer said he anticipates community funding project requests will be included in the fiscal 2026 budget after they were not included in the continuing resolution (CR) Congress recently passed. Emmer and the vast majority of Republicans in Congress supported the CR but Democrats objected to it after they said Republicans did not work with them on the spending plan.

“I expect that as we get to the summer, because we’re just now ... formulating the criteria for projects for this coming budget, 2026, it’s going to be no different. In fact, I expect it to be better, maybe not in terms of the amount of money, but the fact that we’re going to continue to bring resources home for these really important projects.”

Emmer spent much of his town hall attacking the media Wednesday night. “This corrupt media, be a theme I’m going to give you all night,” he said.

“Keep in mind the media, and I hope if you’re on the line, you listen to me, the media in this country is corrupt,” he said in response to a question about what Congress is doing to get Trump’s agenda accomplished. “The media does not report from a nonpartisan perspective. In fact, I would argue that much of the national news media, the 24/7 sound bite or entertainment driven soundbite. News media is a communications arm of the radical left in this country”

His staff also took the time to ask listeners to conduct a survey on: “Where do you get your news? What is your primary news source?”

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