Why Is Trump Less Risk-Averse in His Second Term?

**SPEAKER_1** (0:01)
Get ready to vote on today's daily poll question at smerconish.com.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:05)
But first, Michael explains it for you right here.

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Welcome to The Smerconish Podcast from SiriusXM.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:11)
For Independent Minds.

**Michael Smerconish** (0:13)
Hello, hello, hello. Today is Monday, it's the 27th of July, 2026 We are recording. We are ready for air. Gang, let me look over some recent poll results from the weekend, see how we're doing. We had light voting on Saturday, which was a bit of a surprise to me.
Let's just see. There's Saturday, there's Sunday, there's Friday, there's Thursday. New Jersey mistakenly registered 6,600 non-citizens to vote and about 400 did so. Is that an aberration or the norm? Every one of these is a tick under or just at 30,000.
81% and Change said it's an aberration. 18.67% said it's the norm. Friday, is it ever appropriate for federal prosecutors to subpoena journalists to reveal their confidential sources? Is it ever appropriate? 81.01% said no, it's never appropriate. I disagree. If there's a federal crime that's been committed and a national security threat, I can see a scenario where it is warranted. Now, was it warranted for the Trump administration to subpoena New York Times reporters to find out where was the leak pertaining to Air Force One's modifications? I don't think so. Somebody could say, well, that was a national security threat, he couldn't fly back from Turkey in that plane.
It's not as black and white as an 81% vote would suggest.
Saturday, should Democrats hold their first 2028 primary in a general election battleground state? 82% said yes. Yes, it should be a battleground. 18% said no. Well, I asked this question because on Friday, they decided that South Carolina would go first, and South Carolina is not a battleground state. I don't know what Democrats learn from South Carolina. My idea was make it a battleground state and make it North Carolina, and not because I'm carrying water for the Democrats, but because I just think it's a really interesting question in terms of how, you know, how do you immediately get on the path toward nominating the strongest candidate you have, not to win a nomination, but to win a general election?
And then yesterday, Sunday, should presidents attend the White House Correspondent Association dinner? 61.62% said yes, 38.38% said no. Stu Baikowski, the long-time columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News, reached out for me yesterday by text and said, a better question would have been, should they invite a president? Not should presidents attend, because that puts it in the hands, I think he was saying, of a president's deliberation, but rather, should a president be invited? And of course, there's a reason why I ask all these questions based on what's in the news. And in this instance, I asked because the president spoke on Friday night at the sort of reconfigured White House Correspondent Association dinner. His jokes all fell flat. They all fell flat. The most remarkable part of the evening was when Wall Street Journal reporters were recognized for their investigative journalism pertaining to him and his connection to Epstein, and he stood, shrugged his hands, smiled and shook their hands. And one of those whose hands he shook, in fact, the final one, and he whispered in his ear, and we're going to find out what he said, was Josh Dawsey, and he'll be on today's program, which I'm really looking forward to. Today's poll question at smerconish.com. Why is President Trump so much less risk averse in his second term compared to his first? He's brazen. Why? And I give you five choices, and I'll talk about that in a moment.

**SPEAKER_1** (4:12)
The Smerconish Podcast from SiriusXM.

**Michael Smerconish** (4:16)
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