On this episode of News World. President elect Donald J. Trump just won the election with three hundred and twelve electoral votes and almost five million more votes than Harris in the national popular vote, and Republicans will control the Senate and the House. The election outcome gives him a mandate to govern. What will President elect Trump do in the first hundred days in office. I've been working over the last couple of years with the America First Policy Institute and its astonishing leader of Brooke Rollins. The work they do, the quality they do is amazing. So I'm delighted to have her here to talk about the second term that she really has done as much as any one person to organize a network together the people who are designing a really profound opening several months. She is the president and chief executive Officer of America First Policy Institute. She was formerly Director of the Domestic Policy cam Counsel and Assistant to the President for Strategic Initiatives in the White House under President Donald Trump, where she also previously served as Director of the Office of American Innovation. I worked with her in those roles, and she is one of the most innovative, optimistic, energetic, and frankly affective people that I've ever had the privilege to work with. Brook, Welcome and thank you for joining me the news world.

On this episode of News World. President elect Donald J. Trump just won the election with three hundred and twelve electoral votes and almost five million more votes than Harris in the national popular vote, and Republicans will control the Senate and the House. The election outcome gives him a mandate to govern. What will President elect Trump do in the first hundred days in office. I've been working over the last couple of years with the America First Policy Institute and its astonishing leader of Brooke Rollins. The work they do, the quality they do is amazing. So I'm delighted to have her here to talk about the second term that she really has done as much as any one person to organize a network together the people who are designing a really profound opening several months. She is the president and chief executive Officer of America First Policy Institute. She was formerly Director of the Domestic Policy cam Counsel and Assistant to the President for Strategic Initiatives in the White House under President Donald Trump, where she also previously served as Director of the Office of American Innovation. I worked with her in those roles, and she is one of the most innovative, optimistic, energetic, and frankly affective people that I've ever had the privilege to work with. Brook, Welcome and thank you for joining me the news world.

Well nude as always over our twenty year friendship. Anytime Newt calls, I say when, what time, and how quickly can I get there? You are a hero to so many, including me, and I've never ever walked away from one of our at this point, thousands of conversations over twenty years, inspired and more convicted than ever on our battle to say of America. So great to be with you.

Well nude as always over our twenty year friendship. Anytime Newt calls, I say when, what time, and how quickly can I get there? You are a hero to so many, including me, and I've never ever walked away from one of our at this point, thousands of conversations over twenty years, inspired and more convicted than ever on our battle to say of America. So great to be with you.

That includes I think you founded the Texas Public Policy Foundation, which is the most robust and I think most impactful state level of public policy group in the country. You led that for years until you were drawn to Washington by Donald Trump.

That includes I think you founded the Texas Public Policy Foundation, which is the most robust and I think most impactful state level of public policy group in the country. You led that for years until you were drawn to Washington by Donald Trump.

Well, it's funny. I never planned to go to Washington. I didn't want to go to Washington, but yes, over a course of fifteen years, built a state base think tank which at the time I got the call, I'd been Rick Perry's policy director when his first began his run a very long run as governor. I will say I was at the beginning and I got a call to run the Texas Public Policy Foundation and I didn't know about it. I'd never heard of it, and I was the governor's policy director. So there's nowhere to go but up. So over the next fifteen years we built a massive policy operation that ended up moving Texas. I believe driving Texas more to the right and towards freedom over that core of fifteen years. But more importantly newt I believe that in Texas we proved what ultimately Donald Trump stood for, which was that less government and less taxes and less regulation helped all people in our founder's vision, but it helped those living on the margins, those with the least among us the most. And at the time I didn't realize that we were moving Texas in that direction. Of course, Florida now has done such a great job in other states, but at the time we were building in Texas, we had California, New York, Illinois, other big states that were going the opposite direction in their poverty rates for skyrocketing jobs were leaving. But what we did in Texas became the model for the country, and in many ways became the model for my time in the West Wing and working with President Trump.

Well, it's funny. I never planned to go to Washington. I didn't want to go to Washington, but yes, over a course of fifteen years, built a state base think tank which at the time I got the call, I'd been Rick Perry's policy director when his first began his run a very long run as governor. I will say I was at the beginning and I got a call to run the Texas Public Policy Foundation and I didn't know about it. I'd never heard of it, and I was the governor's policy director. So there's nowhere to go but up. So over the next fifteen years we built a massive policy operation that ended up moving Texas. I believe driving Texas more to the right and towards freedom over that core of fifteen years. But more importantly newt I believe that in Texas we proved what ultimately Donald Trump stood for, which was that less government and less taxes and less regulation helped all people in our founder's vision, but it helped those living on the margins, those with the least among us the most. And at the time I didn't realize that we were moving Texas in that direction. Of course, Florida now has done such a great job in other states, but at the time we were building in Texas, we had California, New York, Illinois, other big states that were going the opposite direction in their poverty rates for skyrocketing jobs were leaving. But what we did in Texas became the model for the country, and in many ways became the model for my time in the West Wing and working with President Trump.

What was it like to work with President Trump and I remember I would come into your various offices and you'd have all these people running around doing things, and you always seemed kind of totally engaged.

What was it like to work with President Trump and I remember I would come into your various offices and you'd have all these people running around doing things, and you always seemed kind of totally engaged.

I think my four teenagers would probably agree with that statement and be not as excited about how engaged I always am with everyone in the room. But no, that's a really nice thing to say. It's easy to do when you work with the very best people. It's funny. I was on President Trump, the candidate Trump's twenty sixteen economic team. I think you may have been on there too, Newt. And at that point President Trump was supposed to lose to Hillary by twenty points, but I believe so strongly in watching his rallies that he had a shot and that if he had the right policy around him, whether that was deregulation or taxes or immigration or whatever it was, that we could change the country. And that was in twenty sixteen. But when he won, I started getting the phone calls, which now it's funny, we're taping this podcast at exactly the moment eight years ago when I started getting the phone calls, Well, what do you want to do? Well, where do you want to go? Well, you know, you were helpful on the campaign, I said, oh no, no, no, no no. My place is in Texas with Texas public Policy. I'll keep helping from here. I've got four kiddos, and I did that first year of President Trump's first term. I flew up to d C once a week, worked very closely with a lot of the people in the West Wing. A lot of them had not moved policy the way that you have, and in a much smaller degree, the way I have over my time and my career, and so I think that a lot of the people in the West Wing, a lot of our mutual friends, like, wait a minute, what'd you do in Texas and how did you do it? And you've got the policy and you draft the legislation, but then you have the communications plan, and then you take the plan out to the people, and then you get the people engaged and you bring them back around to help you get the plan moving forward. A few months into those meetings, I started getting heavily recruited to actually join the team in the West Wing, And after a lot of prayer by my family. Of course, I would have done in a second if I didn't have four kids in school in Texas. So it was a bigger decision for us as a family. But ultimately, as we all know, agreed and moved up with the kids, homeschooled the kids while we were in Washington, and it became part of that incredible game changing team. In the first term, working with President Trump was from my perspective, amazing. I love the speed at which he moves. You know, a lot of people said, oh, your soul is going to get crushed, and he's very difficult to work for, and you're going to get fired at any minute. And what I realized after the first few weeks of the beginning to directly interact with him, was that if you were competent and he trusts you and he thinks you are going to be a real asset to his fight to save America, he gives you the keys to the kingdom. What I mean by that is, not only was I never worried about getting fired, and not only did I ever think for a second that he wasn't a great boss, it was actually the exact opposite of everything I had been told and warned against, And so working for him was one of the most amazing three years of my life because he was willing to swing for the fences every single day, and every time I brought him a new project, he said, yes, do it, and do it times ten. And every time I had a new idea, wanted to build a new team, or had a new direction, he was all in. He was an extraordinary leader, a boss. He was resolute in his conviction to save America and he wanted the best people around him to do it. So it was an incredible couple of years with him.

I think my four teenagers would probably agree with that statement and be not as excited about how engaged I always am with everyone in the room. But no, that's a really nice thing to say. It's easy to do when you work with the very best people. It's funny. I was on President Trump, the candidate Trump's twenty sixteen economic team. I think you may have been on there too, Newt. And at that point President Trump was supposed to lose to Hillary by twenty points, but I believe so strongly in watching his rallies that he had a shot and that if he had the right policy around him, whether that was deregulation or taxes or immigration or whatever it was, that we could change the country. And that was in twenty sixteen. But when he won, I started getting the phone calls, which now it's funny, we're taping this podcast at exactly the moment eight years ago when I started getting the phone calls, Well, what do you want to do? Well, where do you want to go? Well, you know, you were helpful on the campaign, I said, oh no, no, no, no no. My place is in Texas with Texas public Policy. I'll keep helping from here. I've got four kiddos, and I did that first year of President Trump's first term. I flew up to d C once a week, worked very closely with a lot of the people in the West Wing. A lot of them had not moved policy the way that you have, and in a much smaller degree, the way I have over my time and my career, and so I think that a lot of the people in the West Wing, a lot of our mutual friends, like, wait a minute, what'd you do in Texas and how did you do it? And you've got the policy and you draft the legislation, but then you have the communications plan, and then you take the plan out to the people, and then you get the people engaged and you bring them back around to help you get the plan moving forward. A few months into those meetings, I started getting heavily recruited to actually join the team in the West Wing, And after a lot of prayer by my family. Of course, I would have done in a second if I didn't have four kids in school in Texas. So it was a bigger decision for us as a family. But ultimately, as we all know, agreed and moved up with the kids, homeschooled the kids while we were in Washington, and it became part of that incredible game changing team. In the first term, working with President Trump was from my perspective, amazing. I love the speed at which he moves. You know, a lot of people said, oh, your soul is going to get crushed, and he's very difficult to work for, and you're going to get fired at any minute. And what I realized after the first few weeks of the beginning to directly interact with him, was that if you were competent and he trusts you and he thinks you are going to be a real asset to his fight to save America, he gives you the keys to the kingdom. What I mean by that is, not only was I never worried about getting fired, and not only did I ever think for a second that he wasn't a great boss, it was actually the exact opposite of everything I had been told and warned against, And so working for him was one of the most amazing three years of my life because he was willing to swing for the fences every single day, and every time I brought him a new project, he said, yes, do it, and do it times ten. And every time I had a new idea, wanted to build a new team, or had a new direction, he was all in. He was an extraordinary leader, a boss. He was resolute in his conviction to save America and he wanted the best people around him to do it. So it was an incredible couple of years with him.

One of the things that I was most impressed with was as it became obvious that the election of twenty twenty had been rigged, you turn positive almost immediately, thinking about the future and then deciding that we needed a place for serious thought when inevitably we would win, and you created America First policies tod It was truly one of the most amazing moves back on offense by anybody on our team after that shocking outcome.

One of the things that I was most impressed with was as it became obvious that the election of twenty twenty had been rigged, you turn positive almost immediately, thinking about the future and then deciding that we needed a place for serious thought when inevitably we would win, and you created America First policies tod It was truly one of the most amazing moves back on offense by anybody on our team after that shocking outcome.

That's a really nice thing to say. November third, twenty two, we're winning. We've won. November fourth, twenty twenty early morning it begins to slip away. November fifth, they begin calling States in a direction that's not helpful to us. And it's right around then new that I start thinking about Plan B. I was all in with the president in trying to ensure that we're not having an election stolen from us. I think now it's a different podcast at a different time, But now I think you see Joe Biden's eighty million votes he got, which was about twenty million more than anyone else this time, perhaps didn't make any sense. But I also knew in my heart that the work that we had done in that first term, in his leadership and his ability to get things done, and his ability to connect with conservatives that don't yet know their conservative right, inner city Black Americans, South Texas, Hispanic Americans, New York Jewish Americans, that was a formula to save America. And if it's slipped away in the dead of night under an election with interesting circumstances, were with COVID that if it slipped away, that in the long run, we would never be able to win America back. We just wouldn't that the old guard, that the establishment, if you will, way of doing things that wasn't for the necessarily American work, or probably a very high level they were, but they were never perceived as such and didn't necessarily govern as such. That those four years under President Trump were game changers, and I saw the darkness descend across the country. In the West Wing people were leaving, and that was even before January sixth. Then January sixth happened, and then people were really leaving, and the America First Movement was quote dead. I began to map this out in November of twenty twenty. I became very serious about it in December of twenty twenty. Keep in mind, I had such an advantage because I had built something over fifteen years similar in Texas. So the fifteen years of lessons that I had and how you build an organization and bring in the best people, and what the back office looks like, and what the development looks like, and how you need a comm's team and who leads this I had been learning by error for fifteen years in Texas. And I'm guessing a lot of people that listen to your podcasts may agree with this statement. I think that God puts us on a path and creates opportunities that we never expect, never planned for, never thought would happen to us. And when I landed in the White House in that first term, very unexpectedly, my prayer and praise at that moment was God. I understand now, I understand those fifteen years at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, and I understand now how we move Texas towards freedom and the founder's vision. Now you've called me to do that here in Washington with the most unexpected leader, Donald Trump, whom I'd never really met until he ran president. Now I understand, but you know now it's changed even more for me. That time in the White House. That was not the culmination, that was not the pinnacle. That was not necessarily God's plan for me. It was I believe what I'm doing now, which is building a one hundred year infrastructure based on what I learned under President Trump. My time didn't end there in saving America. It actually just began there as we built out the America First Policy Institute. So I had it pretty much mapped out. I had, I think at that time, twelve former Cabinet members, fifty former White House senior officials. January sixth happens. Lots of people leave, they move, they quit, they say we're out, We're done. A lot of people back in Texas said Brook, you're destroying your future by staying involved with the brand I had never had a second guess. I just knew that was where I needed to be. I knew that the legacy of President Trump was real. I knew that we had to elevate what he was and who he was and what he did to ensure that people understood that sometimes it takes transformative, game changing leadership, which is sometimes unconventional and difficult. So that we were ready for the next Donald Trump, and that we were ready for the next movement to move in, and that the Black Americans, Hispanic, all these people that had never given us a shop before, we're now part of our movement. How do we build that for the long term. So that's where we are, and to watch it come full circle on Tuesday night, November fifth of twenty twenty four was pretty special.

That's a really nice thing to say. November third, twenty two, we're winning. We've won. November fourth, twenty twenty early morning it begins to slip away. November fifth, they begin calling States in a direction that's not helpful to us. And it's right around then new that I start thinking about Plan B. I was all in with the president in trying to ensure that we're not having an election stolen from us. I think now it's a different podcast at a different time, But now I think you see Joe Biden's eighty million votes he got, which was about twenty million more than anyone else this time, perhaps didn't make any sense. But I also knew in my heart that the work that we had done in that first term, in his leadership and his ability to get things done, and his ability to connect with conservatives that don't yet know their conservative right, inner city Black Americans, South Texas, Hispanic Americans, New York Jewish Americans, that was a formula to save America. And if it's slipped away in the dead of night under an election with interesting circumstances, were with COVID that if it slipped away, that in the long run, we would never be able to win America back. We just wouldn't that the old guard, that the establishment, if you will, way of doing things that wasn't for the necessarily American work, or probably a very high level they were, but they were never perceived as such and didn't necessarily govern as such. That those four years under President Trump were game changers, and I saw the darkness descend across the country. In the West Wing people were leaving, and that was even before January sixth. Then January sixth happened, and then people were really leaving, and the America First Movement was quote dead. I began to map this out in November of twenty twenty. I became very serious about it in December of twenty twenty. Keep in mind, I had such an advantage because I had built something over fifteen years similar in Texas. So the fifteen years of lessons that I had and how you build an organization and bring in the best people, and what the back office looks like, and what the development looks like, and how you need a comm's team and who leads this I had been learning by error for fifteen years in Texas. And I'm guessing a lot of people that listen to your podcasts may agree with this statement. I think that God puts us on a path and creates opportunities that we never expect, never planned for, never thought would happen to us. And when I landed in the White House in that first term, very unexpectedly, my prayer and praise at that moment was God. I understand now, I understand those fifteen years at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, and I understand now how we move Texas towards freedom and the founder's vision. Now you've called me to do that here in Washington with the most unexpected leader, Donald Trump, whom I'd never really met until he ran president. Now I understand, but you know now it's changed even more for me. That time in the White House. That was not the culmination, that was not the pinnacle. That was not necessarily God's plan for me. It was I believe what I'm doing now, which is building a one hundred year infrastructure based on what I learned under President Trump. My time didn't end there in saving America. It actually just began there as we built out the America First Policy Institute. So I had it pretty much mapped out. I had, I think at that time, twelve former Cabinet members, fifty former White House senior officials. January sixth happens. Lots of people leave, they move, they quit, they say we're out, We're done. A lot of people back in Texas said Brook, you're destroying your future by staying involved with the brand I had never had a second guess. I just knew that was where I needed to be. I knew that the legacy of President Trump was real. I knew that we had to elevate what he was and who he was and what he did to ensure that people understood that sometimes it takes transformative, game changing leadership, which is sometimes unconventional and difficult. So that we were ready for the next Donald Trump, and that we were ready for the next movement to move in, and that the Black Americans, Hispanic, all these people that had never given us a shop before, we're now part of our movement. How do we build that for the long term. So that's where we are, and to watch it come full circle on Tuesday night, November fifth of twenty twenty four was pretty special.

I think it's interesting for both you and for President Trump. I said to the other day that I actually thought, having the four year in elude to think about what he had learned, that he will now come back in what has effect a new first term. You know, second terms are very often tired and slow and worn down. He's going to enter totally energized. And you built parallel to that an extraordinary intellectual think tank of practical people who had done the jobs. So there's a certain degree to which had twenty twenty worked out differently, we wouldn't have AFBI, and Trump would not ever have been able to back all the way out because you're just too busy as president. But it seems to me what you did over the four year period, and I say this having worked pretty closely with you and come to the events and listen to people and served on the board. AFPI gathered up an astonishing range of people who were both smart and had practical experience. They'd actually done this, and so it's not like a Washington think tank. This is much closer to an action tank. And I think that it's going to have a huge impact in the first one hundred days. My son says that you all have put together, even just for the first day, an astonishing level of activity.

I think it's interesting for both you and for President Trump. I said to the other day that I actually thought, having the four year in elude to think about what he had learned, that he will now come back in what has effect a new first term. You know, second terms are very often tired and slow and worn down. He's going to enter totally energized. And you built parallel to that an extraordinary intellectual think tank of practical people who had done the jobs. So there's a certain degree to which had twenty twenty worked out differently, we wouldn't have AFBI, and Trump would not ever have been able to back all the way out because you're just too busy as president. But it seems to me what you did over the four year period, and I say this having worked pretty closely with you and come to the events and listen to people and served on the board. AFPI gathered up an astonishing range of people who were both smart and had practical experience. They'd actually done this, and so it's not like a Washington think tank. This is much closer to an action tank. And I think that it's going to have a huge impact in the first one hundred days. My son says that you all have put together, even just for the first day, an astonishing level of activity.

Yeah. I appreciate you saying that. That was actually one of the main drivers in launching America First policy in January, you know, obviously preserving the legacy, giving President Trump a platform to continue his fight for America, even though I know it's going to be ugly with all the litigation, the accusations against him, But I also knew to your point, and thank you for reminding me to say this, because I think it's important that when we were leaving the White House the first time that it occurred to me that our side is really good at going on Fox News, making our case to other people who watched Fox News, writing white papers, going and talking to ourselves at events. But what we weren't always good at was governing and governing as a conservative because you know, Nude, I mean, really, you were the godfather of this with your Contract with America, and arguably that is the last time that we were able, until Trump, we were able to really get our arms around the bmth that is the government and try to direct it back towards the people and serving the people rather than the people serve the government, which is the true underlying foundation of our whole system. So when I was leaving, I thought, my goodness, we finally have a team of people that know not only how to talk about it on TV, which we know is important to President Trump, but also know how to execute in practice what it is that we believe. And so that's right. So nine former cabinet members launched with us on day one fifty former White House senior officials. In the last four years, we have had our head down preparing for a second America first term, whether that was pent Trump or someone else. We had hoped to be President Trump, and when he threw his hat in the ring, I'll put my political hat on for a minute. We knew he was unbeatable in a primary and therefore would be winning the country and leading again. But in those four years we worked with over a thousand former administration officials. Think about that newt not one leak. We didn't talk to the press. There was no outward communication. But with one hundred and ninety agency plans ready for day one, with three hundred executive orders drafted, I knew it needed to be a quiet effort for a lot of reasons. But I also knew that we would never not ever again have the opportunity of that four year pause to reorganize, get ourselves ready, put the American people first, figure out how to solve these problems for the long term. And that's what this four years has given us.

Yeah. I appreciate you saying that. That was actually one of the main drivers in launching America First policy in January, you know, obviously preserving the legacy, giving President Trump a platform to continue his fight for America, even though I know it's going to be ugly with all the litigation, the accusations against him, But I also knew to your point, and thank you for reminding me to say this, because I think it's important that when we were leaving the White House the first time that it occurred to me that our side is really good at going on Fox News, making our case to other people who watched Fox News, writing white papers, going and talking to ourselves at events. But what we weren't always good at was governing and governing as a conservative because you know, Nude, I mean, really, you were the godfather of this with your Contract with America, and arguably that is the last time that we were able, until Trump, we were able to really get our arms around the bmth that is the government and try to direct it back towards the people and serving the people rather than the people serve the government, which is the true underlying foundation of our whole system. So when I was leaving, I thought, my goodness, we finally have a team of people that know not only how to talk about it on TV, which we know is important to President Trump, but also know how to execute in practice what it is that we believe. And so that's right. So nine former cabinet members launched with us on day one fifty former White House senior officials. In the last four years, we have had our head down preparing for a second America first term, whether that was pent Trump or someone else. We had hoped to be President Trump, and when he threw his hat in the ring, I'll put my political hat on for a minute. We knew he was unbeatable in a primary and therefore would be winning the country and leading again. But in those four years we worked with over a thousand former administration officials. Think about that newt not one leak. We didn't talk to the press. There was no outward communication. But with one hundred and ninety agency plans ready for day one, with three hundred executive orders drafted, I knew it needed to be a quiet effort for a lot of reasons. But I also knew that we would never not ever again have the opportunity of that four year pause to reorganize, get ourselves ready, put the American people first, figure out how to solve these problems for the long term. And that's what this four years has given us.

You were able to put all of this together basically such a low profile that the political press could never figure out why they'd pay attention Meanwhile, Heritage, which had at one time been the central think tank for Reagan. I mean Reagan had actually appointed Ed Mees to be the liaison in nineteen eighty. I was already there as a congressman. They created Mandate for Change, which that year involved about two hundred and seventy experts, most of whom ended up going into the administration, and they wrote a book that stepped by step. You can still get it. It's remarkable work, but it showed you how Reagan would reorganize the entire federal government. For some reason, that spirit of collaborating closely, being careful collapsed and Heritage went often a totally different model created this twenty twenty five project, which was immediately repudicated by Trump and is in some ways sort of has crashed and burned as spectacularly as any major think tank project I can remember. I just think it speaks remarkably well, not just of view, but of the entire team you assembled. That everything you did, which was much more substantive and much more experience based than the Heritage project, all that was occurring privately, and the press couldn't figure out why they would cover it.

You were able to put all of this together basically such a low profile that the political press could never figure out why they'd pay attention Meanwhile, Heritage, which had at one time been the central think tank for Reagan. I mean Reagan had actually appointed Ed Mees to be the liaison in nineteen eighty. I was already there as a congressman. They created Mandate for Change, which that year involved about two hundred and seventy experts, most of whom ended up going into the administration, and they wrote a book that stepped by step. You can still get it. It's remarkable work, but it showed you how Reagan would reorganize the entire federal government. For some reason, that spirit of collaborating closely, being careful collapsed and Heritage went often a totally different model created this twenty twenty five project, which was immediately repudicated by Trump and is in some ways sort of has crashed and burned as spectacularly as any major think tank project I can remember. I just think it speaks remarkably well, not just of view, but of the entire team you assembled. That everything you did, which was much more substantive and much more experience based than the Heritage project, all that was occurring privately, and the press couldn't figure out why they would cover it.

I'll first say that The Heritage Foundation is the legacy organization that we all have to be our best to fight the bad guys. We need every player on the field, and we need even ten times more players on the fields. We need five more Heritage Foundations. And I appreciated the aggressiveness that I think the new leadership there, my old partner in Texas, Kevin Roberts, has brought. I just have a little bit of a different approach. My approach is that the left will do everything they can to crush us everything, and they have every tool at their disposal to do so. They have big tech and X things to elon. But they have big tech, they have big government, they have big media, they have big corporations. They've got it all, and so it requires us to be so intentional in every step that we make. That and my style has never been to be, you know, outfront, outspoken. I've always been and much more happier behind the scenes, putting the right people in the right places to make a difference. I am really encouraged at the opportunity that lies ahead for all the organizations to come back together and work together. Listen, the president has ten key things I think that he is really focused on for this first month, first year, first eighteen months, and to even have a chance to get those done, we have to work together, not only on the inside, not only what Susie is going to build. Susie Wiles, our new chief of staff, who will do remarkable job, not only what she is going to build as far as the inside game, but the outside game that our side has never had before. And knew this is one other real impetus in me launching AFPI almost four years ago, thinking about it four years ago to this day, almost was that we did not have an outside game in our White House. For five, six, seven, eight years ago. We were kind of on our own, and we had some great organizations like mine back in Texas trying to help, but there was no unified, organized effort to help the first President Trump get his agenda Inact in from a policy perspective, and so I knew that we had to build this deal if there was any shot. And this is again my Texas Public Policy Foundation experience, working first for Rick Perry, then alongside Governor Perry, then alongside Greg Abbott. You can't get done what you need to get done if you're working all alone in a silo inside a Capitol building. It just doesn't happen. You've got to have the grassroots. You've got to be organized, you've got to have the comms plan, you've got to have all of it. So having an America First Policy Institute for the next White House to help move those top ten day one promises through. We're going to, I think, be very impactful and we'll probably drive a lot of it. But we can't do it by ourselves. It's an impossible task. And I realized that, and we'll plan to have a hopefully a lot of other partners along the way.

I'll first say that The Heritage Foundation is the legacy organization that we all have to be our best to fight the bad guys. We need every player on the field, and we need even ten times more players on the fields. We need five more Heritage Foundations. And I appreciated the aggressiveness that I think the new leadership there, my old partner in Texas, Kevin Roberts, has brought. I just have a little bit of a different approach. My approach is that the left will do everything they can to crush us everything, and they have every tool at their disposal to do so. They have big tech and X things to elon. But they have big tech, they have big government, they have big media, they have big corporations. They've got it all, and so it requires us to be so intentional in every step that we make. That and my style has never been to be, you know, outfront, outspoken. I've always been and much more happier behind the scenes, putting the right people in the right places to make a difference. I am really encouraged at the opportunity that lies ahead for all the organizations to come back together and work together. Listen, the president has ten key things I think that he is really focused on for this first month, first year, first eighteen months, and to even have a chance to get those done, we have to work together, not only on the inside, not only what Susie is going to build. Susie Wiles, our new chief of staff, who will do remarkable job, not only what she is going to build as far as the inside game, but the outside game that our side has never had before. And knew this is one other real impetus in me launching AFPI almost four years ago, thinking about it four years ago to this day, almost was that we did not have an outside game in our White House. For five, six, seven, eight years ago. We were kind of on our own, and we had some great organizations like mine back in Texas trying to help, but there was no unified, organized effort to help the first President Trump get his agenda Inact in from a policy perspective, and so I knew that we had to build this deal if there was any shot. And this is again my Texas Public Policy Foundation experience, working first for Rick Perry, then alongside Governor Perry, then alongside Greg Abbott. You can't get done what you need to get done if you're working all alone in a silo inside a Capitol building. It just doesn't happen. You've got to have the grassroots. You've got to be organized, you've got to have the comms plan, you've got to have all of it. So having an America First Policy Institute for the next White House to help move those top ten day one promises through. We're going to, I think, be very impactful and we'll probably drive a lot of it. But we can't do it by ourselves. It's an impossible task. And I realized that, and we'll plan to have a hopefully a lot of other partners along the way.

One other thing you did that I thought at the time was very daring and turned out, I think to be very powerful. Under our federal election law, you have a C three, which is really a think tank, but you're allowed to have a C four which is a nonpartisan advocacy group. And you really went to work in a very practical way helping shape the political environmental Just a little bit about what you did in the C four because I thought I would sit through some of these board meetings and think, wow, this is really quite an achievement.

One other thing you did that I thought at the time was very daring and turned out, I think to be very powerful. Under our federal election law, you have a C three, which is really a think tank, but you're allowed to have a C four which is a nonpartisan advocacy group. And you really went to work in a very practical way helping shape the political environmental Just a little bit about what you did in the C four because I thought I would sit through some of these board meetings and think, wow, this is really quite an achievement.

Well, again, back to my original thought, I had never been involved on the political side. My heart has always been in policy. Actually never even worked for a candidate until the Donald Trump campaign called. Even my good friends Rick Perry, Ted Cruz, all my Texas friends who'd asked me, well, will you be on this campaign team? Will you do this? I'd always declined because my heart and my calling was always in moving massive policy forward for the people of Texas and ultimately the people for America. So I obviously changed that slightly in being very tangentially involved with the twenty twenty Trump campaign. And I say that because I was the President's head of domestic policy, but I was in my personal capacity. I would go over to the campaign headquarters or to the RNC to talk policy with them, like, what are the key issues that the president should be talking about on the Campaig Pain trail in twenty twenty? How do we relate that to the American people? Should we do an event in Charlotte, North Carolina? And if we do, should we talk about education or housing or That was kind of my experience. But what I realized in just leaning in just slightly to that campaign and then seeing what happened in twenty twenty in terms of losing, you know, again, there's some voting irregularities there, but losing some of these states that should have been closer, all the states that the President won. On Tuesday night, it occurred to me that our side relies so heavily on a particular individual's campaign and the party infrastructure, that there's not a game out there that works all day, every day, every year. Doesn't just show up, you know, the year of an election that never stops knocking on doors, talking to people, text messaging them, getting them involved in the election cycle. And so I began to really map about, well, what could that look like. And when you have a policy machine like America First policy and you marry that to a political a C four operation, America First works that's driven by policy, but is taking that policy out into every corner of America to convince them that the best vote they could make for their own self interests, for their American dream for their children is a vote for the conservative candidate, the America First candidate. Forget Republican and Democrats forget it. But just look at the policy. And we spend a lot of time new You've been a big part of this pulling, focus grouping, value laddering, and What we found is that eighty five percent of Americans agree with the America First agenda. They want a secure border, they want education, opportunity for their children, they want peace through strength, they want everything. Almost everything we stand for. Eighty five percent of Americans agree with us. And so if that's the case, we should win every single election. Why aren't we winning every election? And I thought, you know, we'll build this new machine, Ashley Hyak and Liezelden run it for US. America First works. We spent the last year knocking on doors promoting not a certain candidate, but promoting the America First policies in Dearborn, Michigan, with Arab Americans, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with Black Americans. And what we did we also built coalitions to go alongside those. So Athletes for America is part of AFPI, but it's led by and driven by African American NFL athletes that can go into those communities and make the case to our Black Americans why our policies are better. We had an amazing partnership with Michael Harris. Harrio, who founded Death Row Records, helped him set up an organization called Community First to have those same conversations had Babu Nonway lead our Hispanic Leadership Coalition to go into Phoenix to knock on the doors in Maricopa County speaking Spanish to Spanish speakers who no one had ever really reached out to them before. And that's the machine that we're setting up for the long haul. On the C four side, the other thing that was a game changer KNW that I think is really important. In March of this year, the FBC, the Federal Election Commission, made a decision for the first time that C four's could coordinate directly with campaigns and with the RNC and the other side, the DNC on canvassing. So for the first time we were able to align and talk to the campaign as we're moving out. So you'll read a lot of articles about how the Trump campaign made such a huge mistake by basically delegating their ground game to organizations like America First Works and Turning Point Action, and you know, they got James and Susie got a lot of flack about that, but they were right. So groups like ours took that on and moved with it. And the final thing I'll say, and again this even goes back to AFPI and working with other organizations. I knew there were so many great sea fours out there, Ralph Reid's group, Faith and Freedom, the Susan b Anthony, Marjorie Turning Point, Charlie Kirk. These groups don't always work together, and if I have learned anything in my twenty plus years, we're not going to beat the radical left unless we work together. So on April third, we had about eighty Conservative C four's meet in Washington, d C. At the Willard Hotel and we all began to data share and work together for the first time, and I think that made a huge difference too.

Well, again, back to my original thought, I had never been involved on the political side. My heart has always been in policy. Actually never even worked for a candidate until the Donald Trump campaign called. Even my good friends Rick Perry, Ted Cruz, all my Texas friends who'd asked me, well, will you be on this campaign team? Will you do this? I'd always declined because my heart and my calling was always in moving massive policy forward for the people of Texas and ultimately the people for America. So I obviously changed that slightly in being very tangentially involved with the twenty twenty Trump campaign. And I say that because I was the President's head of domestic policy, but I was in my personal capacity. I would go over to the campaign headquarters or to the RNC to talk policy with them, like, what are the key issues that the president should be talking about on the Campaig Pain trail in twenty twenty? How do we relate that to the American people? Should we do an event in Charlotte, North Carolina? And if we do, should we talk about education or housing or That was kind of my experience. But what I realized in just leaning in just slightly to that campaign and then seeing what happened in twenty twenty in terms of losing, you know, again, there's some voting irregularities there, but losing some of these states that should have been closer, all the states that the President won. On Tuesday night, it occurred to me that our side relies so heavily on a particular individual's campaign and the party infrastructure, that there's not a game out there that works all day, every day, every year. Doesn't just show up, you know, the year of an election that never stops knocking on doors, talking to people, text messaging them, getting them involved in the election cycle. And so I began to really map about, well, what could that look like. And when you have a policy machine like America First policy and you marry that to a political a C four operation, America First works that's driven by policy, but is taking that policy out into every corner of America to convince them that the best vote they could make for their own self interests, for their American dream for their children is a vote for the conservative candidate, the America First candidate. Forget Republican and Democrats forget it. But just look at the policy. And we spend a lot of time new You've been a big part of this pulling, focus grouping, value laddering, and What we found is that eighty five percent of Americans agree with the America First agenda. They want a secure border, they want education, opportunity for their children, they want peace through strength, they want everything. Almost everything we stand for. Eighty five percent of Americans agree with us. And so if that's the case, we should win every single election. Why aren't we winning every election? And I thought, you know, we'll build this new machine, Ashley Hyak and Liezelden run it for US. America First works. We spent the last year knocking on doors promoting not a certain candidate, but promoting the America First policies in Dearborn, Michigan, with Arab Americans, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with Black Americans. And what we did we also built coalitions to go alongside those. So Athletes for America is part of AFPI, but it's led by and driven by African American NFL athletes that can go into those communities and make the case to our Black Americans why our policies are better. We had an amazing partnership with Michael Harris. Harrio, who founded Death Row Records, helped him set up an organization called Community First to have those same conversations had Babu Nonway lead our Hispanic Leadership Coalition to go into Phoenix to knock on the doors in Maricopa County speaking Spanish to Spanish speakers who no one had ever really reached out to them before. And that's the machine that we're setting up for the long haul. On the C four side, the other thing that was a game changer KNW that I think is really important. In March of this year, the FBC, the Federal Election Commission, made a decision for the first time that C four's could coordinate directly with campaigns and with the RNC and the other side, the DNC on canvassing. So for the first time we were able to align and talk to the campaign as we're moving out. So you'll read a lot of articles about how the Trump campaign made such a huge mistake by basically delegating their ground game to organizations like America First Works and Turning Point Action, and you know, they got James and Susie got a lot of flack about that, but they were right. So groups like ours took that on and moved with it. And the final thing I'll say, and again this even goes back to AFPI and working with other organizations. I knew there were so many great sea fours out there, Ralph Reid's group, Faith and Freedom, the Susan b Anthony, Marjorie Turning Point, Charlie Kirk. These groups don't always work together, and if I have learned anything in my twenty plus years, we're not going to beat the radical left unless we work together. So on April third, we had about eighty Conservative C four's meet in Washington, d C. At the Willard Hotel and we all began to data share and work together for the first time, and I think that made a huge difference too.

One of the things that I was struck with was how parallel the very short platform was in some ways with what we did with the contract with America. It dropped all of the hundreds of pages of special interest language, got down to twenty big ideas and said this is what we're going to focus on. I actually was surprised that there wasn't more resistance and more opposition.

One of the things that I was struck with was how parallel the very short platform was in some ways with what we did with the contract with America. It dropped all of the hundreds of pages of special interest language, got down to twenty big ideas and said this is what we're going to focus on. I actually was surprised that there wasn't more resistance and more opposition.

Well, I was surprised too, and the reason is because we had started did the same process in year four. In about January of twenty twenty, a group of us got together in the West wing and started talking about how we needed to shorten and make easier to understand and digest for the average American and listen, we love all of our delegates to the RNC. I was one this year. These are all of our people, but they're unusual. They're willing to spend their hard earned money and take time off of work to go to Milwaukee, Wisconsin and sit through four days of speeches. The average voter isn't really willing to do that, and so how do we communicate to the average voter? But COVID hit, we didn't move that forward. But the conversations in even thinking about that were that this was going to be an impossible task and that there's too much history there. Even Donald Trump, who can do anything, could not make that happen. So the fact that it happened and happened fairly seamlessly. There were a couple of upset folks, as we know, but it was remarkable. I know you had a hand in that. I think the president's vision of and his branding and his marketing genius of how do we market our ideas was pretty amassing.

Well, I was surprised too, and the reason is because we had started did the same process in year four. In about January of twenty twenty, a group of us got together in the West wing and started talking about how we needed to shorten and make easier to understand and digest for the average American and listen, we love all of our delegates to the RNC. I was one this year. These are all of our people, but they're unusual. They're willing to spend their hard earned money and take time off of work to go to Milwaukee, Wisconsin and sit through four days of speeches. The average voter isn't really willing to do that, and so how do we communicate to the average voter? But COVID hit, we didn't move that forward. But the conversations in even thinking about that were that this was going to be an impossible task and that there's too much history there. Even Donald Trump, who can do anything, could not make that happen. So the fact that it happened and happened fairly seamlessly. There were a couple of upset folks, as we know, but it was remarkable. I know you had a hand in that. I think the president's vision of and his branding and his marketing genius of how do we market our ideas was pretty amassing.

Now it's an amazing achievement. I was on platform committees as early as the rigan years, and I know that every little faction has that one thing they have to have, and it became seamless, and I think a hopeful sign of what the next four years will be like. I have to ask you one last thing, and you look at all the results, and you look at what happened, Why do you think it's so hard for either the news media or the Democrats and they're sort of the same, to come to grips with that. The reason they have such problems is that people really don't want left wing, radical ideas, and yet it's extraordinarily hard for the Democrats to come to grips with that.

Now it's an amazing achievement. I was on platform committees as early as the rigan years, and I know that every little faction has that one thing they have to have, and it became seamless, and I think a hopeful sign of what the next four years will be like. I have to ask you one last thing, and you look at all the results, and you look at what happened, Why do you think it's so hard for either the news media or the Democrats and they're sort of the same, to come to grips with that. The reason they have such problems is that people really don't want left wing, radical ideas, and yet it's extraordinarily hard for the Democrats to come to grips with that.

Newde I think that the Democrats have moved so far away from what we know made this country rate, and I think that underneath it all, one of the best things I ever read was, you know, the people that are putting forth a climate change disaster right that the world is going to end and going to blow up from overheating in twelve years, that many of those same people were part of the movement in the seventies that said the world is going to end because it's going to freeze over. We've got a major freezing problem. And at the end of the day, there is a human nature that wants to accumulate power right and make the decisions. Have the elites make the decisions for all of us, you know, poor dumb people that live out in America and that we're not smart enough to figure it out. And it's the education class. It's those that honestly may come from the two coasts right, the two left coasts, and they've just completely lost touch with the fact that our country was built the greatest kind in the history of mankind, more prosperity, more opportunity. Even those with the least among us, they're not starving to death like those with the least among us in other parts of the world they starve to death. And that doesn't happen here. But that all is based on self governance and not being ruled by a group of elites. And the founders of our country. You know, George Washington was a businessman. Thomas Jefferson was an academic. James Madison was a student and then a businessman. These guys are normal guys, had families, they had business debt, they were trying to pay their bills. They were just like us. But they were in a moment in time with courage and resoluteness and under tyranny that they didn't believe was right and were called by God to do bigger things and God's hand was on that work. But just average guys, and that's what built our country. That's our country was founded on. So the current regime of the radical left just doesn't get that, and they don't unders stand that the guy who has a plumbing business in Texas just trying to make ends meet, he doesn't want to be told what to do. It's that same strength of courage that we had two hundred and fifty years ago and at our almost two hundred and fiftieth anniversary to see that revolution almost come full circle. We don't wear white powdered wigs and nude. I don't know how good you look in breeches in hunting boots.

Newde I think that the Democrats have moved so far away from what we know made this country rate, and I think that underneath it all, one of the best things I ever read was, you know, the people that are putting forth a climate change disaster right that the world is going to end and going to blow up from overheating in twelve years, that many of those same people were part of the movement in the seventies that said the world is going to end because it's going to freeze over. We've got a major freezing problem. And at the end of the day, there is a human nature that wants to accumulate power right and make the decisions. Have the elites make the decisions for all of us, you know, poor dumb people that live out in America and that we're not smart enough to figure it out. And it's the education class. It's those that honestly may come from the two coasts right, the two left coasts, and they've just completely lost touch with the fact that our country was built the greatest kind in the history of mankind, more prosperity, more opportunity. Even those with the least among us, they're not starving to death like those with the least among us in other parts of the world they starve to death. And that doesn't happen here. But that all is based on self governance and not being ruled by a group of elites. And the founders of our country. You know, George Washington was a businessman. Thomas Jefferson was an academic. James Madison was a student and then a businessman. These guys are normal guys, had families, they had business debt, they were trying to pay their bills. They were just like us. But they were in a moment in time with courage and resoluteness and under tyranny that they didn't believe was right and were called by God to do bigger things and God's hand was on that work. But just average guys, and that's what built our country. That's our country was founded on. So the current regime of the radical left just doesn't get that, and they don't unders stand that the guy who has a plumbing business in Texas just trying to make ends meet, he doesn't want to be told what to do. It's that same strength of courage that we had two hundred and fifty years ago and at our almost two hundred and fiftieth anniversary to see that revolution almost come full circle. We don't wear white powdered wigs and nude. I don't know how good you look in breeches in hunting boots.

Yes, yes you do. You know I look ridiculous.

Yes, yes you do. You know I look ridiculous.

Yeah. Times have slightly changed, but we are where we were then and with a small committed group that are willing to fight for freedom at every time.

Yeah. Times have slightly changed, but we are where we were then and with a small committed group that are willing to fight for freedom at every time.

You're sort of the James Madison of this operation. So it's a great thing.

You're sort of the James Madison of this operation. So it's a great thing.

I'll take it. Well.

I'll take it. Well.

I want to thank you for joining me and sharing with our listeners President lac Trump's plans, how it evolved where we are today, the role of America First Policy Institute, and they can visit your website at America First policy dot com and really get a sense of how dynamic and powerful it is, and Brook you are despite yourself, you are going to become a historic figure. You can't avoid it. It's amazing what you've done, and I'm just so grateful to have you as a friend and as a colleague in this effort to move America to an even better and more exciting future. So thank you for joining me.

I want to thank you for joining me and sharing with our listeners President lac Trump's plans, how it evolved where we are today, the role of America First Policy Institute, and they can visit your website at America First policy dot com and really get a sense of how dynamic and powerful it is, and Brook you are despite yourself, you are going to become a historic figure. You can't avoid it. It's amazing what you've done, and I'm just so grateful to have you as a friend and as a colleague in this effort to move America to an even better and more exciting future. So thank you for joining me.

Well, thank you for letting me be on listen when I have a podcast, which I don't know when that's going to be, that you are going to be my first guest because we've talked way too much about me. You're the historic figure. You're the one that literally has fundamentally changed the course of history for America. Donald Trump now takes up your banner, Nut Gingrich and God bless you. You are an absolute national treasure. So it's an honor to be on. Thank you.

Well, thank you for letting me be on listen when I have a podcast, which I don't know when that's going to be, that you are going to be my first guest because we've talked way too much about me. You're the historic figure. You're the one that literally has fundamentally changed the course of history for America. Donald Trump now takes up your banner, Nut Gingrich and God bless you. You are an absolute national treasure. So it's an honor to be on. Thank you.

Thank you to my guest, Brooke Rowlins. You can learn more about America First Policy Institute on our show page at newsworld dot com. Newsworld is produced by English three sixty and iHeartMedia. Our executive producers Guarnsey Sloan. Our researcher is Rachel Peterson. The artwork for the show Who's created by Steve Penley. Special thanks to the team at gingridh three sixty. If you've been enjoying Newtsworld, I hope you'll go to Apple Podcast and both rate us with five stars and give us a review so others can learn what it's all about. Right now, listeners of Newtsworld can sign up for my three free weekly columns at gingrishtree sixty dot com slash newsletter. I'm Newt Gingrich. This is Newsworld

Thank you to my guest, Brooke Rowlins. You can learn more about America First Policy Institute on our show page at newsworld dot com. Newsworld is produced by English three sixty and iHeartMedia. Our executive producers Guarnsey Sloan. Our researcher is Rachel Peterson. The artwork for the show Who's created by Steve Penley. Special thanks to the team at gingridh three sixty. If you've been enjoying Newtsworld, I hope you'll go to Apple Podcast and both rate us with five stars and give us a review so others can learn what it's all about. Right now, listeners of Newtsworld can sign up for my three free weekly columns at gingrishtree sixty dot com slash newsletter. I'm Newt Gingrich. This is Newsworld