Markey says 2025 will be about ‘fighting back’ against Trump administration policies

Mark Herz: This is GBH’s Morning Edition.

We’re talking to members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation this morning, after last night’s address to a joint session of Congress by President Trump, and ahead of an appearance in the next half hour by Boston Mayor Michelle Wu before a House committee. She’s being called on to talk about the city’s so-called "sanctuary" policies, and she’s expected to face hostile questioning from Republicans on that committee. Joining me now from Washington, D.C., to talk about the president’s address and Mayor Wu’s appearance is Senator Ed Markey. Senator, good morning.

Ed Markey: So great to be with you. Thank you.

Herz: It’s great to have you. Let’s start briefly with your reaction to President Trump’s speech. He was met with, as NPR put it, stony silence or protest from many of your Democratic peers. The president doubled down on some pretty radical parts of his agenda, including wanting to take over Greenland and the Panama Canal, his use of tariffs, his slashing of the size of the federal workforce. How did you feel hearing that address in person last night?

Markey: Well, what he did was avoid the most radical part of what he is trying to accomplish, which is to slash programs for NIH funding to find the cure for cancer and Alzheimer’s and diabetes, and all the diseases running through American families. He did not talk about that slash to NIH funding, which is so central to Massachusetts. He didn’t talk about slashing the funding for education for children in America, for kids with disabilities. He did not talk about that. He did not talk about his goal to cut two thirds of the EPA employees who work on clean air and clean water and clean land all across our country. He did not talk about Medicaid cuts -- 2.1 million people in Massachusetts out of 7 million people are on Medicaid. We call it MassHealth. But people depend upon that for their health care. And the reason he didn’t talk about any of that was that’s where he’s going to get the money for the tax breaks for the millionaires and billionaires in our country. So all of it, for two hours, was just red meat to the MAGA base, while ignoring the key plan, which he and Elon Musk have, which is to hollow out the government, suck out the revenues, and then transfer that funding to millionaires and billionaires in our country.

Herz: You recently referred to President Trump as a, quote, “wannabe king”, and pointed out how our state, 250 years ago threw off the dictates of a king. And you say Massachusetts Democrats will organize and fight. You know, be more specific -- how will they do that?

Markey: Well, we’re already doing it. You can see it in cities and towns all across the Commonwealth. We have an [inaudible] generation of minute men and minute women who are rising up to fight this wannabe king, this dictator. And much as what happened on April 19th, 1775, 250 years later is happening again. And we are going to be the lead state in fighting to make sure that whether it be in the courts, or what our attorney general is doing on the floor of Congress, with delegation fighting every single day, or just asking people to come out and protest, to stand up so that we win this public debate, that these programs, these central programs to the well-being of every family, for the poor, for the sick, for the elderly, for the disabled, for the immigrant community are not slashed in the name of efficiency, DOGE, but only then to benefit the wealthiest in our society. So that’s where 250 years ago, Massachusetts stood up first. And it’s pretty much the same message today. We are a revolutionary idea. We’re going to stand up to King Donald.

Herz: And speaking of programs, the president talked about ending what he called the Green New scam. And of course, he’s referring to the Green New Deal, which you, along with Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez, introduced to tackle climate change. How are you working to continue that effort in this climate?

Markey: Well, he last night was back on his theme of drill, baby, drill -- which is the goal of the oil gas industry. But of course, that’s what is fueling climate change. That’s what caused the $300 billion worth of damage that Hurricane Milton and Hurricane Helene caused last October. That’s what caused the $250 billion worth of damage out in Los Angeles. That’s $550 billion worth of damage just from those three incidents alone. The entire defense budget is only $900 billion. So our youngest generation, it doesn’t say drill, baby, drill. It says plug in, baby, plug in. Move to wind and solar battery storage technologies. Move to all electric vehicles. And what he did last night was to basically say that he wants to kill that entire revolution. And we’re going to fight back, baby, fight back. That’s what this whole year is going to be about, because we think in a battle of ideas that we will win.

Herz: Okay. In our last two minutes, let’s turn to Boston Mayor Michelle Wu. She’ll certainly be walking into the lion’s den in a few when she faces questioning from the Republican side of the House Oversight Committee on so-called sanctuary city policies here in Massachusetts. What do you think Massachusetts residents and others around the country listening to this will be hearing?

Markey: Well, Mayor Wu is going to be here in Washington to stand up for Boston and to stand up for the city’s safety record. And I expect that Mayor Wu will share her plans to keep Boston one of the safest major cities in the nation. And I stand with Mayor Wu. I stand with the Boston leaders who work every day to uphold state and local laws, and to treat all residents with respect. That’s going to come under assault. But I think at the same time, on the committee, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, Congressman Steve Lynch will be there, also making the case for the city of Boston and its strategy to make us the safest city, right at the top of the list of any in the country.

Herz: Well, let me just perhaps unfairly, just very quickly, maybe 30 seconds or so -- the Democratic resistance has been criticized for perhaps telling “I-told-you-so” to a bunch of people who are now having some buyer’s remorse over having voted for Trump. What do you think the right approach is for the Democratic resistance right now, quickly?

Markey: Well, you know, they ran up to Adlai Stevenson in 1956 and they said, “Adlai, Adlai, good news – every thinking voter is with you.” And he said, “that’s great, but I need a majority.” So we need to talk to those people. We need to persuade them that the cuts to health care are their families, the cuts to education are their families, the endangerment of the water, the air, of the land that people live on, are their legacy, their tradition that they should want to pass on to their children. So I think we have to talk to them. We have to move them over to our sides so that we can block the most catastrophic cuts to these programs, this chaos and corruption and confusion. That is the point of this Trump Administration is something, I think, which is causing great concern to many people who voted for him because they wanted a lower price of eggs or immigration to be dealt with, but they didn’t sign up for the slashing of these programs, which are central to the well-being of their families. And if we do it correctly and welcome them into our camp next year, we could have a huge victory to control once again, the House and the Senate. The polling is saying that people are much more inclined to vote for Democrats next year. But nothing Donald Trump said last night showed that he’s working for those working people. We just have to persuade them, move them into our camp and then slow down this Trump attempt to undermine key programs that have been put on the books over the last two generations. The Republicans and MAGA harbor an ancient animosity towards all of these programs, beginning with Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act programs to help disabled children across the country, fighting climate change. If we talk to those voters who voted for him, we have a chance to build a winning majority this year to block him.

Herz: Senator Ed Markey, thank you very much for your time this morning.

Markey: Mark, great to be with you. Thank you.

Herz: This is GBH.