Trump, Noem, Powell and Democrats: 5 takeaways from the Hill Nation Summit

Wednesday’s Hill Nation Summit was packed with lawmakers and major figures on both sides of the aisle, and made clear that President Trump has an iron grip on the Republican Party.

Republican speakers were notably deferential to and confident in Trump, while Democrats struggling to coalesce around a strategy to come back from their crushing 2024 defeat outlined their own ideas.

Here are five takeaways from the summit.

Trump is king for GOP

Six months into Trump’s second term, it is clear that his grip on other Republicans is the strongest it’s ever been.

Republicans at the Hill Nation Summit gave the president high marks for his term so far — and resisted any hint at criticism. 

Rep. John James (R-Mich.), who is running for governor, declined to criticize President Trump’s tariffs despite representing an area heavily dependent on auto manufacturing.

“I have every reason to believe, when I talk to people in my district who are saying, ‘We’re getting more business than we’ve ever gotten before’ … that’s a result of President Trump, a businessman who knows what he’s doing,” James said.

House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said there was a “huge distinction” between former President Biden’s policies around social media and Trump’s pressure campaign on major law firms.

“It’s not censorship,” Jordan said, arguing that the firms were not directed to take down particular posts or speech from their websites.

House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) said that the pressure Trump exerts on members is actually helpful to help unify Republicans in Congress.

“I think too often we’re all carrot and no stick. And I think in life in general, and in business, to many audience members, I think you have to have equal parts carrot and stick, and that’s generally the best way to incentivize the outcomes and the behavior we want,” Arrington said.

Trump is winning, and his first six months back in office have underscored his willingness to hit back hard at his opponents in either party.

The remarks from Republicans on Wednesday suggested they like the winning. But Republicans also aren’t interested, for the most part, in getting on the president’s bad side.

Powell’s future hangs over event

Did we just say something about staying on Trump’s good side?

One person who isn’t on his good side is Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who is under a severe pressure campaign from the president.

In the first hour of the confab, Peter Navarro, the White House senior counselor for trade and manufacturing, unloaded on Powell at the summit, labeling him the “worst Fed chair in history” — without, notably, calling for his ouster.

"All I want is a Fed chair who understands how economies work, and Powell ain’t that,” he said. “We’re in the endgame now for Powell.”

During the event, reports surfaced that Trump, during an Oval Office meeting with House Republicans on Tuesday, indicated that he would likely fire Powell “soon,” according to a senior White House official. Trump later said it was “not true” and “highly unlikely,” but noted “I don’t rule out anything.”

One of the GOP lawmakers in the meeting, Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), sat down for an interview at the Hill Nation Summit shortly after. Donalds refused to disclose details from the gathering — “I’m not going to get into the details of that conversation” — but notably said he was not, and likely would never be, in favor of pushing out Powell.

“I’m not there yet, but I’ll tell you that the president doesn’t rule anything out,” Donalds said. “It’s pretty clear the president is frustrated about where short-term interest rates are.”

“I think the greater issue is Congress being smart with the people’s money,” he added.

Asked if he would ever get to a place where he believes Powell should be fired, Donalds responded: “For me, probably won’t get to that point.”

Democrats debate how to make comeback

Democrats attending the Hill Nation Summit all had something to say about how their party can make a comeback and regain power in Washington.

But there were some differences over how to do so.

Activist David Hogg, 25, who has sought to pressure his party into shifting toward the left and allowing a new generation of leaders to take hold, said it is vital for his party to make big changes.

He joked that he was confident he’d eventually win out since he’d “outlive” many of those on the other side of the debate, and more seriously compared the Democratic Party to the Soviet Union when it came to aging leaders holding on.

Other speakers, such as Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-Md.), said they thought age was overrated, even as they said the party needed to rethink some things.

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said that one of the problems Democrats are facing is that “we were way too judgmental” of people who voted for President Trump in the 2024 presidential election.

Khanna, a prominent House progressive, recently visited South Carolina, a crucial stop on the road to the Democratic presidential nomination, but said he hadn’t made a decision on running for president in 2028.

“Whether I run or whether I get behind someone and have a network that can then support them, I haven’t decided,” Khanna said. “But I do know this: The Democratic Party has not had a compelling economic vision for years. I have a compelling economic vision.”

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) said his state’s governor, Gavin Newsom, would be a great 2028 candidate. He also predicted Republicans would pay for their “big, beautiful” bill’s cuts to Medicaid, noting Sen. Josh Hawley’s (R-Mo.) bill seeking to undo parts of the legislation’s Medicaid provisions.

“One thing the bill does is for any Republican that’s been saying, ‘Oh, these weren’t actually cuts to Medicaid,’ it shows a lie to that,” Lieu said at the Hill Nation Summit. “Our messaging is, if you want to elect the same person who voted for the cuts, you can do that, or you can elect a Democrat that’s going to stop the cuts.”

And while Hogg was pushed out of his unpaid role at the Democratic National Committee (DNC) earlier this year, he said he is still interested in working with the committee in the future, adding that he still has a “good” relationship with the DNC Chair Ken Martin.

“There’s obviously disagreements that we have at the end of the day, but I think that we all still have good relationships. I still have, you know, enormous respect for all my fellow vice chairs, for the other officers of the DNC,” Hogg said.

McCarthy opens door to return to politics

Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who has joined the speech-giving circuit since he was ousted from the Speakership and left Congress, had previously ruled out taking a role in the Trump administration — but he cracked that door back open at the Hill Nation Summit.

Asked if he would be open to serving in the Trump administration or another governmental role, McCarthy said: "Oh, yeah. I talk to the president often. I will do whatever I can to help this president, I will do whatever I can to help this country be successful.”

But McCarthy indicated he is happy, at least for now, with being outside the government.

“I think there's things I do now that do that in a way that I don't have to take a paycheck from the government, I think that's more helpful to the taxpayer,” McCarthy said. "I don't have to go back into government — but I will always help individuals."

Noem defends, attacks and surprises

The Department of Homeland Security is a large enterprise that gives its secretary, Kristi Noem, power and influence over a host of issues.

At Wednesday’s summit, that was underlined as Noem defended the administration’s record, went on offense on immigration and surprised, at least a bit, with some news on security at airports.

Noem, commenting on the immigration raid on a California marijuana farm where protesters clashed with federal officers, said, “We will go places where we know there are known criminals, where we’ve built a case to go get those individuals.”

That signaled Noem and the administration have no intention of backing down on an issue that has been a huge strength of Trump’s, though the "known criminals" part of Trump’s wording could also suggest the administration will be less focused on migrants without criminal records who may be working on farms.

Noem separately said the Trump administration might not spend all of the money allocated to it to build a wall on the southern border. That funding was included in the tax and spending megabill earlier this month. She said the funding might not need to be spent given the significant drop in border-crossing numbers since President Trump came into office.

“Maybe you don’t need all that money for the wall because we’ve done such a great job securing the border. We’ll look at all of that,” Noem told NewsNation’s Blake Burman.

Noem separately suggested changes could be coming to the size of liquid containers allowed for passengers boarding flights in the United States.

Noem said such changes were one of the things the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which reports to Noem, is weighing.

“But I will tell you — I mean the liquids — I’m questioning. So that may be the next big announcement is what size your liquids need to be,” Noem told NewsNation’s host Blake Burman at the Hill Nation Summit. “We’re looking at, you know, our scanners.” 

Noem’s comments came about a week after the DHS, which oversees the TSA, announced travelers flying domestically will be allowed to keep their shoes on while passing through TSA screening. 

Currently, liquids like juices, bottled water and coffee as well as aerosols, creams, gels and pastes all under 3.4 ounces are allowed in carry-on bags.

Noem spoke about streamlining the experience for domestic travelers at airports, revealing that the DHS is in discussions with “several” companies about making it happen

“Well, hopefully the future of an airport where I’m looking to go is that you walk in the door with your carry-on suitcase, you walk through a scanner and go right to your flight,” Noem said Wednesday, adding that it could take just “one” minute to get to the gate.