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Transcript: Steve Cortes and Mehdi Hasan on Trump’s Broken Promises – Head to Head  

In this Washington DC edition of Al Jazeera’s Head to Head, Mehdi Hasan goes head to head with Trump campaign strategist Steve Cortes at Georgetown University ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. They clash over inflation and the economy, the Iran war, Trump’s age and fitness, corruption, ICE immigration enforcement and Latino voters, and rhetoric about Muslims and immigrants. Joining the debate are former Pence aide Olivia Troye, Democratic strategist Mike Nellis and former Trump campaign chair Rob Arlett, along with questions from the audience.

Introduction

MEHDI HASAN: This November, Americans head to the polls for a crucial midterm election that could reshape the balance of power in Washington and define Donald Trump’s legacy. As your… Both Democrats and Republicans have spent millions in campaigns attempting to capture the votes of the American people.

This fight comes at a deeply contentious time in Trump’s second term. From immigration crackdowns and tariffs to economic turmoil and war with Iran, Trump’s record is now at the heart of the midterm fight.

So how does his second term stack up against the promises he made on the campaign trail? For this series, we’ve taken Head to Head out of London and into the heart of US politics, Washington DC.

My guest tonight is a strong supporter of Donald Trump. He was one of his campaign strategists and was named to Trump’s Hispanic advisory council.

I’m Mehdi Hasan, and tonight, I’ll go head to head with Steve Cortes here at Washington DC’s historic Georgetown University. I’ll challenge him on the economy, on racism, on the Iran war, and on why Donald Trump is losing so many voters ahead of the midterms.

I’ll also be joined by three experts. Olivia Troye, former homeland security adviser to vice president Mike Pence turned Trump critic, Mike Nellis, Democratic strategist who worked for Kamala Harris and host of Endless Urgency, and Rob Arlett, former state Trump campaign chair and political commentator.

Steve Cortes, thank you for joining me on Head to Head.

Backing Ron DeSantis in 2023

MEHDI HASAN: You backed Donald Trump in every presidential election, 2016, 2020, 2024. But in the Republican primaries in 2023, you backed Florida governor Ron DeSantis over Trump because you said you were worried about chaos and social media grandstanding under Trump.

We are now halfway through the second Trump presidency almost. It’s chaos everywhere. Iran, ICE, tariffs, the courts. The president is super unpopular. He posts mad stuff every day. So you were totally right about him back in 2023, weren’t you?

STEVE CORTES: Mehdi, you’re getting me in trouble. Here I am back in Washington DC, you’re bringing up DeSantis with Trump in the White House.

MEHDI HASAN: I’m just saying the Steve Cortes of 2023 seems to be quite prescient.

STEVE CORTES: Well, first, let me say it’s great to be back at Georgetown. I went to school here. I’ve been in this room many times. I’ve never been on stage. So I guess I’ve earned my way out of the stage, which is wonderful.

But to answer your question directly, I was very concerned after the 2022 midterms. Donald Trump was very unpopular at that point, and I thought at that time that Ron DeSantis would be a better candidate. And so I briefly went to work for Ron DeSantis, but I will also tell you that once Trump got indicted four times, I think in completely sham indictments in my view, I think Trump became absolutely unbeatable. And so I then decided to, in fact, reverse myself and support his candidacy in 2024.

Now to answer your question though too regarding chaos, there is more chaos than I would like, particularly regarding the war. And many of us who believe in an America first foreign policy of realism and restraint, we are really disappointed about this decision to go to a war of choice in the Middle East. And in fact, I think it’s going to cost us dearly in the midterms.

Is Trump Lying or Just Missing on Policy?

MEHDI HASAN: Well, we’ll come to that, but just… And we’ll come back to the war in more detail. But just more broadly, he’s unpopular, Steve, right now. He’s very, very unpopular if you look at his approval ratings.

STEVE CORTES: Yes.

MEHDI HASAN: And I would argue that he’s unpopular because he lies. He keeps breaking his promises. He promised to end inflation. He has not. He promised to bring down the national debt. It’s up. He promised no new wars. We’re in a new war with Iran. He hasn’t ended the Ukraine War.

He lied to the American people, Steve, especially on inflation and gas prices. So they’ve turned on him. It’s that simple.

STEVE CORTES: Okay. Well, I’m going to challenge the premise here.

MEHDI HASAN: Okay.

STEVE CORTES: Because stating that you’re going to achieve a goal and then not achieving it does not mean it’s a lie. Right? I mean, a lie involves malice. It involves you knowing that you’re saying something untruthful.

But if Steve Cortes says, hey, I’m going to bring inflation down, and then in fact, I don’t… I’m not able to bring it down, or because we decided to go to war inflation stays elevated, that’s not a lie. So I think we need to be careful with our terms. Okay?

So I don’t see those as lies. Now are they policy misses in some cases? Surely. And listen, I do a lot of polling. I release almost all of my polling publicly. The president is absolutely unpopular right now, clearly.

Now so was the president before him. So was president Trump in the first term. I mean, so in other words, we see a trend now of an unhappy America that is generally displeased with most politicians, including successive presidents, and, yes, including the one currently in office.

Inflation and Grocery Prices

MEHDI HASAN: You said the lie requires kind of intent. It requires malice.