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Ron Johnson: “I've been voicing my skepticism about the trade war since…”

Featuring: Ron Johnson, Republican | U.S. Senate, Wisconsin

Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns

Published July 14, 2025 | Video Starts at 31:00

So how are you going to help us to get rid of these tariffs and stop this trade war? Please. Thank you so much. If you've listened to me on the media, I've been voicing my skepticism about the trade war since pretty much day one. What I do do is I collect and listen to businesses and we provide the information to Representative Greer and Secretary Besant and President Trump's trade representative so they know … (31:00–31:06)

CLAIM

Asserts that he has been skeptical of the trade war from the beginning.

This is an excerpt from a raw transcript. The assertions have not been audited or verified. Tap the video to view the source footage and understand the context.

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Ron Johnson

“We've gone from 4.4 trillion spending 2019 to over 7 trillion today.”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 03:41-03:47
“Obama's crisis was about 2,000 people a day.”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 19:07-19:17
“Biden had more than 12,000 [migrants] average for some periods there.”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 19:12-19:17
“Had we allowed the Tax Cut and Jobs act to expire, there would have been a $4 trillion tax increase on virtually every American that pays…”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 22:00-22:08
“For every dollar the state spends on that Medicaid patient, the federal government kicks in $9 for every disabled child.”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 22:50-22:58
“A dollar you held in 1998 is now worth 51 cents.”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 27:05-27:09
“For every dollar the state kicks in, the federal government puts in $1.33 [for disabled children].”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 47:22-47:28
“Democrats had the same situation, the presidency, the House and Senate in 2021, 22, as much as they complained about we were cutting taxes…”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 02:25-02:39
“They could have rescinded any part of the Tax Cut and Jobs Act. They didn't do that.”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 02:39-02:45
“They just kept massively spending and incurring on average about $1.9 trillion in deficit.”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 02:44-02:50
“When you have over 2,600 programs in the federal budget, my belief is that we could eliminate hundreds of billions of dollars and hundreds…”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 03:46-04:05
“If you take, for example, Clinton in 1998, I think he spent some at $1.7 trillion. If you increase that based on population inflation, spend…”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 04:34-04:57
“If you do the same thing for Obama 2014, that'll be about 6.2 trillion.”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 04:58-05:03
“If you do Trump's 2019 spending, it'd be about 6.5.”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 05:03-05:07
“No matter how you slice it, that's you're saving somewhere between a half a trillion to 1.5 trillion over current expenditures.”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 05:07-05:14
“We reduce Medicaid, the growth in Medicaid spending by $10 or 300 billion, we're still going to be accused of the same lies that we were…”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 07:53-08:07
“What we're trying to do is fix the Obamacare extension or expansion called Medicaid expansion.”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 08:12-08:19
“The $9 to $1 match which has completely distorted Medicaid and is actually crowding the vulnerable out of the dollars as well as the…”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 08:19-08:32
“They were on a 10 year waiting list because they're being crowded out by single, childless working age able body adults.”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 08:45-08:54
“One of the reasons ICE goes to courthouses to arrest people who are in this country illegally and committing an illegal act is it's the…”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 10:31-10:42
“Media doesn't cover the horrific rapes and murders perpetrated by people that were welcomed to this country by the Biden administration.”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 11:06-11:15
“Preventing a massive $4 trillion automatic increase.”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 11:46-11:50
“We reduced the deficit by about $400 billion.”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 13:21-13:24
“When you increase spending by 2.1 trillion in just one year, it's meager.”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 13:25-13:31
“Social Security is a legal Ponzi scheme.”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 14:53-14:55
“When the trust fund runs out, benefits will be reduced to match the revenue coming in to be somewhere between 75 and 80% in 20, I think now…”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 15:33-15:42
“The average deficit projected is about well over $2 trillion a year.”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 16:38-16:45
“There were dozens of workers supporting one beneficiary and the retirement age was set at 65 back then when life expectancy was a little bit…”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 17:08-17:19
“Now there's a retirement scheme that's going to work, but now that life expectancy, thank God, is closer to 80 and we haven't done much in…”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 17:19-17:28
“We have less than three workers supporting every person on Social Security.”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 17:29-17:34
“Democrats calling that kids in cages.”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 20:07-20:10
“I've got faith in Customs, Border Patrol and ICE.”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 20:36-20:40
“We went from $4.4 trillion over $7 trillion in six years. We are wasting all kinds of money.”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 22:31-22:38
“Wisconsin did not expand Medicaid.”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 25:15-25:18
“We have Medicaid based on where you are in terms of the federal poverty line.”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 25:18-25:25
“We're not cutting spending on these programs. We're just trying to fix the problem of Medicaid's, of Obamacare's addition to Medicaid.”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 26:27-26:36
“Obamacare's addition to [Medicaid] incentivize states to sign up single, able-bodied, working-age, childless adults.”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 26:33-47:51
“A dollar you held in 2014 is worth 74 cents.”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 27:08-27:13
“A dollar you held recently in 2019 is worth 80 cents.”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 27:12-27:16
“I've been fighting for 95% of American businesses that are organized as a C Corp.”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 28:23-28:33
“One of the things I'm talking about all the time is the capture of federal agencies by the very businesses they're set up to regulate.”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 28:46-28:56
“Government seems to only grow in one direction, just ratchets up and we're finding out ratcheting it down is incredibly difficult.”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 29:44-29:52
“Our trading partners have definitely taken advantage of America.”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 31:30-31:34
“The generalized 10% tariff, the impact on inflation is pretty imperceptible and a one-time thing.”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 31:36-31:51
“I don't want to undermine [President Trump's] leverage so that he can conclude these trade deals as quickly as possible.”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 32:16-32:21
“The Biden administration opened up our borders completely unvetted and let millions and millions of people, including members of incredibly…”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 35:19-35:36
“The administration does have deportation orders on these people. They know they're criminals.”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 35:57-36:03
“I think of any president in my lifetime, President Trump is least likely to, to get us involved in any kind of long term engagement.”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 38:53-39:01
“He simply will not tolerate, for example, the largest state sponsor of terror having a nuclear weapon.”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 39:00-39:13
“We're trying to reduce the growth in Medicaid. We're trying to protect Medicaid for the vulnerable.”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 41:14-41:21
“We try and encourage working age, single, able bodied, childless adults to go in the workplace and get their insurance there.”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 41:22-41:31
“States are basing their budgets based on [Medicaid expansion] graft or that grift.”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 42:44-42:49
“The Biden administration allowed health care providers to charge commercial rates for Medicaid services.”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 42:52-42:58
“We're paying two or three times what we pay for Medicare services [for Medicaid services].”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 42:57-43:01
“For every dollar the state spends for [able-bodied adults], the federal government kicks in $9.”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 47:51-47:51
“The Biden administration allowed providers to charge commercial rates for Medicaid procedures.”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 48:23-48:31
“We're paying two or three times Medicare rates for Medicaid procedures.”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 48:31-48:37
“Third party payer systems take consumerism out of [health care], takes the benefits of free market competition.”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 49:03-49:09
“A third payer system just doesn't work. It hasn't worked. It's not working.”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 49:24-49:30
“My Senate office has a three word mission statement to help people.”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 50:00-50:04
“We do an excellent job of what we call casework, but helping people with visas and passports and veterans benefits and Medicare, Medicaid.”
Senator Ron Johnson's Wisconsin Town Hall: Addressing Federal Spending, Medicaid, and Immigration Concerns | Uploaded July 14, 2025 | 50:06-50:16