NICK SCHIFRIN: What a political year it has# been.

President Trump returned to the White## House and used the office to expand# presidential power in unprecedented## ways.

And members of both parties in# Congress have scrambled to adjust.

Our Lisa Desjardins is here with more.

LISA DESJARDINS: 2025 certainly brought# Trump back into our daily political lives,## but what did it reveal about him and# what did he reveal about the country?

Perfect questions and timing for Politics Monday,## our duo of Amy Walter of The Cook Political# Report With Amy Walter and Tamara Keith of NPR.

Tamara, let me start with you.# You're right there at the White## House.

What did this year reveal# about Trump and our balance of power?

TAMARA KEITH, National Public Radio:# Well, the balance of power isn't what## it used to be.

And President Trump# was revealed to have -- we knew this,## but now we really know it.

He has a very# expansive view of his executive authority.

And there are fewer people around him who see# themselves as guardrails.

So he has done -- he's## signed more than 200 executive actions.# He has sort of barreled into Washington,## done what he wanted to do and waited for people## to stop him.

And then there haven't# been that many things to stop him.

The White House and the president have claimed# expansive Article 2 powers.

And Congress has sort## of shrugged and has done very little to push back.# And I think the jury is still out on the courts.

LISA DESJARDINS: Amy?

AMY WALTER, The Cook Political# Report: I agree with those.

And the courts are going to be very important.# Some of the issues in wh.. authority beyond the norms of anything# that we have seen sort of in this modern## era include tariffs and trade.

And the court# is going to weigh in on that.

And it may be## the one place, at least in 2026, where the# court does deliver a loss to the president.

That is the assumption from many who# watched that case being debated.

But## it's also remarkable the degree to which# the president has been able not just to## reassess the relationship between the# executive and the legislative branch,## but also the role that the executive branch# is playing in pretty much every aspect of## American life, the pressure campaign that# the Trump administration has put onto,## and in many cases successfully done, with academic# institutions, law firms, cultural institutions.

Obviously, we know the Kennedy institution and# the Kennedy Center being a prime example of that,## but being able to really push many of# these institutions to, for example,## cancel or curtail their DEI programs.# This is not something that we normally## think of as executive authority, but I think# it speaks to the point Tam brought up earlier,## that this is a president who believes# that the executive has power that goes## beyond just what sorts of laws are# being determined out of Washington.

LISA DESJARDINS: Amy, his supporters, of course,## like a lot of the things that Trump# has been doing, as you're saying here.

But, to Democrats, they see a barrage of a## president who has shut down agencies# that they thought were independent,## sent in a billionaire and his proteges# to literally traumatize federal workers,## a very aggressive, the most aggressive tactics# I think we have seen in generations by ICE.

Amy, what have Democrats done in reacting# and what have they not done and why?

AMY WALTER: So I think what's really# interesting about all of this, Lisa,## you have a president who came into office# with pretty decent approval ratings,## not great, but pretty decent approval ratings.

And for the first time, Democrats really had to# reassess the way in which they looked at and the## way that -- the sorts of tactics they were taking# in opposition to Donald Trump.

In his first term,## they sort of consoled themselves with# this idea that he was deeply unpopular,## he didn't win the popular vote, and# that he was something of an anomaly.

By the end of 2024 and into the beginning of# 2025, those assumptions were no longer true.## This is a president who won the popular vote# and came into office with the public being## somewhat optimistic about what he would# be able to do, especially on the economy.

Well, now here we are a year later.

His approval# rating, even as he's accomplished so many of## the things he set out to accomplish, his# approval rating very deeply underwater,## specifically on the economy.

And I think# what Democrats are recognizing right now,## which is very different from where# they were, say, at this point in 2017,## is that a campaign going into the midterms# about, like they did in 2017, that focuses## on all the norms that Trump is breaking, is not# going to have the salience that it did back then.

Instead, they're focusing on this# issue of affordability.

Really,## the broken promise they argue that Trump# made in his campaign to lower prices,## that's where they're going to be spending most# of their time.

So it took them much of the year## to get to this point, but I think that's what# we're going to see the 2026 campaign center on.

LISA DESJARDINS: In this conversation# about Democrats, former Labor Secretary## Robert Reich today had an op-ed in The# Guardian, where -- the headline there is:## "Americans Are Waking Up."

He says a reckoning# is coming.

That's from the Democratic side.

We have been talking about President Trump,# but yesterday in The Wall Street Journal,## we saw an op-ed from Speaker Mike Johnson,# who claims there that Republicans had a## great year.

And, certainly, he has,# I think, exceeded expectations.

But, Tam, I want to ask you.

The speaker# wants to talk about Republican tax cuts,## but what's at risk for him# politically from this past year?

TAMARA KEITH: Yes, so the speaker absolutely# wants to talk about that One Big Beautiful## Bill that is the one thing that they really were# able to get done.

And it was a Christmas tree,## to borrow from the season.

It had a lot# of things piled onto it that were part## of the Republican wish list, part of# President Trump's campaign promises.

So that includes a lot of funding for ICE# and also these tax cuts.

I think the real## risk for Speaker Johnson is just that his# own members are not happy with him.

They## are vocally not happy with the way he's# managed the House of Representatives,## from taking the House out of session for# the entirety of the government shutdown,## when they could have been doing other things,# to not letting members who are at risk of losing## in the midterms push forward legislation# that they believe their constituents need.

And the evidence of this are# these discharge petitions, which,## when I was first covering Congress back in 2010... LISA DESJARDINS: When we first met, yes.

TAMARA KEITH: When we .. those discharge petitions were a joke.# It was a thing the minority did because## they couldn't do anything else.

So, they'd# say, oh, I have got a discharge petition.

Well, now members of the majority# are using a discharge petition to## express their displeasure with the speaker.# However, he's pretty safe because President## Trump likes him and there's almost# no one else who could do that job.

LISA DESJARDINS: So much to# talk about in the last year.

On Tuesdays, I put out a political newsletter# called Here's the Deal.

And at the end of the## year, we have a tradition where we kind# of come with the political word of the## year.

Our readers vote on it.

They had to# choose from four, dismantle, affordability,## shutdown, and immigrant.

We will announce# the winner in the newsletter tomorrow.

But I want to ask you what you think the political## word of this year might be in our# last minute or so, Amy.

No pressure.

AMY WALTER: Well, affordability# clearly -- yes, exactly.

(LAUGHTER) AMY WALTER: Affordability is up there, but I would put another one in# there, which is re-r.. This was a year in which we saw more# districts be redrawn mid-decade than## in any time in political history.

And# what we're -- what's not clear, Lisa,## is whether this was a one-time thing or whether# this is now going to be something of a norm,## and, as such, it will be in your# dictionary for years to come.

LISA DESJARDINS: Tam, you get the# last political word of the year.

TAMARA KEITH: I was going to say gerrymander,## but that's basically the same word as Amy.# So let's go with affordability, be.. think that is the word that, at the beginning# of the year, people weren't using that word.## President Trump likes to say this, and then# this new word affordability came around.

Well, in fact, it is a word that has sort of# shot up in the lexicon in terms of the amount## that people are discussing it.

And it really# speaks to the points of pain for voters and## what they're expressing in the polls.

The reason# the president's underwater on the economy... LISA DESJARDINS: Why people# are pessimistic, right.

TAMARA KEITH: .... LISA DESJARDINS: Tamara Keith, Amy# Walter, thank you both so much.

TAMARA KEITH: You're welcome.

AMY WALTER: You're welcome.