Who?
Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA)
LISTEN: Laslo & Padilla
Ask a Pol asks:
President Donald Trump’s tripling down on threats to takeover American cities like Washington, DC and New York City — do you fear his rhetoric will be transformed into reality soon?
Key Padilla:
“Yeah. That’s one of the cruel outcomes of the budget reconciliation [“one big beautiful”] bill. No change in policy, with a huge infusion in the budget for immigration enforcement,” Sen. Alex Padilla exclusively tells Ask a Pol.
ICYMI — MAGA pushing Trump to take over DC?
Caught our ear:
“We see the cruelty and the extreme actions in Los Angeles,” Padilla tells us, “so expecting to see more of the same, if not worse.”
Below find a rough transcript of Ask a Pol’s exclusive interview with Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA), slightly edited for clarity.
TRANSCRIPT: Sen. Alex Padilla (7-9-2025)
SCENE: Ask a Pol’s Matt Laslo grabs Sen. Alex Padilla as he’s exiting a Senate tram and rushes to catch an elevator up to the Senate floor.
Matt Laslo: “Hey, how are you, Senator?”
Alex Padilla: “How you doing?”
Padilla rides escalator as Laslo walks up stairs next to it.
ML: “One day at a time.”
Padilla chuckles.
ML: “What do you make of the Trump administration tripling down on what they’re saying? Trump, yesterday, was teasing taking over Washington, New York. You know that’s coming, what they’re trying to do in LA, but now it seems like he’s ratcheting it up even more.”
AP: “Yeah. That’s one of the cruel outcomes of the budget reconciliation bill. No change in policy, with a huge infusion in the budget for immigration enforcement.”
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ML: (INAUDIBLE)
AP: “Expect more of the same, if not worse.”
Padilla and aide enter Senators Only elevator.
ML: “What do you think of…”
Padilla waves Laslo off from entering elevator.
ML: “What do you think that’s going to look like once that hundreds of billions of dollars is infused into the system?”
AP: “We see the cruelty and the extreme actions in Los Angeles, so expecting to see more of the same, if not worse.”
ML: “Yeah? Thank you.”
Aide: “Can I have your name?”
ML: “Laslo.”
Candace Taggart contributed to this report.
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