Graham: "Not that informed on national security"

He does. He's laying it on the line for her. He has put his weight behind this candidate for sure. He endorsed her right away, and he wants her. And it does reflect on him how well she does or how well she does--

Challenged by Ralph Norman-- Exactly.

--sitting member of Congress. And to whether or it's a gaffe, it also raises questions about whether or not she got briefed. I mean, anyone who's going into a debate no doubt would have some kind of briefing and preparation on both domestic and foreign policy. That doesn't mean that, to some voters, it might come off positively when you say, I'm not a politician. And yet when you answer a pretty straightforward foreign-policy question like that-- And it wasn't a gotcha. It was not. This wasn't about three layers of Pakistan versus India. This is Taiwan-China, which is right next to Iran in terms of priorities for the Pentagon and ongoing concerns of any administration, Republican or Democrat. Absolutely. It's something that you would want to be prepared for at a debate.

You wrote about Trump time. Which, having you and I both covered this White House, you know what it means, super accelerated, always pushing, always aggressive. Get it done yesterday. But now that's getting dialed back a little bit.

It's getting dialed back on a couple issues. What I wrote about was the first year and a half of this second term, he has just powered through, especially that first year, everything from recasting tariffs and trade policy to international relationships to tearing down the East Wing. But when you look now at one of his biggest foreign-policy challenges, which is the war, he's basically put it on pause. He did the same thing with the tariffs on Canada just a couple of days ago. So it's an interesting shift in dynamic for him and for somebody who likes to get things done. And it deals on the legislative side-- because his only priority is the SAVE Act and doesn't essentially engage with Congress on anything else. That is slowing things down there as well. Well, much to the frustration of congressional Republicans behind closed doors, as we consistently hear. They are very focused on trying to connect with voters out on the campaign trail this month of August recess. They're very focused on trying to promote that we hear you, we see you when it comes to the economy and other issues.

And we're doing things about issues. Yes. But with the president's attention focused on transformation of Washington, DC, through certain monuments and projects like the ballroom or the war in Iran, his focus is elsewhere, and he's not interested in promoting what could be done on a lot of issues like the economy, and that's been a great frustration for some congressional Republicans and aides. You two know this White House and the Hill very well. A lot of focus on Karoline Leavitt leaving. I think it's as important, if not more important, that James Braid is leaving, head of legislative affairs, the number-one White House outreach to Capitol Hill. He's leaving. It's not a scandal. A lot of people leave about this time, but that's going to leave this White House down a person of significance. For sure. I mean, it's also beginning to look like a trend. You've got high-profile people leaving the White House, leaving Trump's administration before the midterms, not waiting it out until after the midterms.

Not waiting until after. Usually it happens after. That's right.

But they sense the verdict coming. But there's almost always an exodus after, so that would not be unusual. This is unusual, and they are both heavyweights. I mean, I would argue that Karoline Leavitt-- again, sometimes talking about a press secretary seems sort of silly for a bunch of reporters, but she was more than that in this White House. She was absolutely an advisor, and she was in the room, and so was he. Matt, you've got 25 seconds on this. I think that it's notable for characters like Karoline, who were very close to the president's demeanor, personality, and just understand him, for them to be out of the room, especially at a moment when he's dealing with something like the war in Iran, where a lot of people don't have an ability to read him. So that's going to be very important for both the Hill and even just inside the White House itself. Yeah, and whatever comes of the elections, there will be a lame-duck Congress, and they will have to get it done at the White House without this person who knows the Hill better than anyone in the West Wing. Jeff Mason, Matt Brown, always appreciate it. Thanks so very--