‘Make No Mistake, We All Feel It, Eventually’

MSNBC’s Ali Velshi isn’t buying Donald Trump’s suggestion that hitting nearly every country on Earth with tariffs—even those occupied only by penguins—will supercharge the American economy. “I’ll eat my hat if this nonsense results in an economic boost,” he told me.

“Despite what Donald Trump keeps saying, tariffs aren’t paid by other countries. They’re paid by us—the consumers,” Velshi told me. “Now, sure, it doesn’t hit your wallet right at the border. First, the cost is paid by whoever’s bringing the goods in—maybe it’s a shipper, a restaurant, a grocery store. Then they figure out how to pass that cost along to you.”

Velshi, a chief correspondent for MSNBC and host of Velshi on Saturday and Sunday mornings, knows that over the last six weeks, Americans have become unusually aware of subjects that usually just don’t break through, like what it means to global supply chains when massive cargo ships start leaving ports without a full load—or, when those ships don’t arrive in port at all.

“Here’s the thing: not every consumer feels it the same way,” Velshi said of the tariffs and their inevitable impact on Americans’ finances. “But make no mistake—we all feel it, eventually. And not just through higher prices.”

When tariffs lead to higher prices on imports, the entire economy feels the ripple effect. “The U.S. economy runs on stuff we import,” Velshi explained. “That stuff comes in through ports, gets loaded onto trucks, stored in warehouses, and ends up in stores—or on your doorstep. So when trade slows down, it affects a lot of people: dockworkers, truckers, warehouse staff, even retail employees.”

‘The news is coming at them fast, it’s relentless, and it’s complicated’

“People are overwhelmed,” Velshi said of Americans after Trump’s first 100 days. “The news is coming at them fast, it’s relentless, and it’s complicated.” In a matter of weeks, the Trump administration has aggressively carried out the president’s policy of deporting undocumented immigrants—and some American citizens—while also moving at breakneck speed to cut the size of the federal government, firing federal workers and gutting the agencies they worked for.

“The job right now—my job—is to meet this moment with clarity,” Velshi told me. “So my work begins with a simple question: ‘how can I be useful?’ Not by adding noise, not with another hot take, but by helping people understand what’s actually going on—plainly, accessibly, and honestly.”

That means putting Velshi’s years of experience covering business to work explaining concepts like tariffs and trade deficits. “Those aren’t everyday terms for most people,” he said. “But they matter. They shape our economy, our politics, our daily lives. And so, if I can break that down—if I can give people the tools to grasp these concepts, to talk about them, to challenge them, and ultimately to make informed decisions—then I’m doing the work I believe in. That’s the mission.”

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Explaining tariffs is, of course, a lot harder than merely saying, as Trump does, that tariffs will make America rich, that with tariffs, we’re “making them pay,” which Velshi explains is not how tariffs work. “What he’s peddling isn’t just disinformation—it’s conceptually wrong.”

“It’s a lot easier for him to force a message when he wraps it in simplicity,” Velshi said. “He’s masterful at it. He once said ‘tariff’ is the most beautiful word in the English language. It’s neither beautiful nor ugly—it’s a tool. A tariff is a precision instrument, meant to be used carefully to achieve a specific policy goal.”

‘I’ll be doing my best not to drink any water or coffee before or during the show’

Starting Saturday, Velshi expands to three hours on Saturdays and Sundays, part of a network-wide programming shift that comes as MSNBC has seen a ratings surge since Trump’s inauguration in January, with double-digit ratings growth across daytime and prime time. Last week, the network’s prime time lineup was up 106% compared to the months between Election Day and January 20.

Velshi beat its competition at CNN for the second straight year in 2024, and beat the network for the fifth consecutive quarter in Q1 2025.

Having three hours presents a challenge—and an opportunity. For Velshi, the new hours mean a chance to experiment a bit, and even to slow down the pace at times. “We’re going to treat the first few weeks as an experiment,” he says. “I know my audience is generous—they put up with my deep dives and long explanations—but even I’m not sure I’d want to listen to myself play professor for three straight hours.”

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Hosts like Velshi and his MSNBC colleague Rachel Maddow have proven that viewers will not run from long, detailed segments on complicated topics—if they’re done well. “The core of Velshi has always been about making complex issues understandable—without dumbing them down—and that’s a standard I won’t compromise. I want every segment to be accessible, whether you’re a policy wonk or just tuning in to make sense of the headlines, and no matter your politics.”

What Velshi will do differently—at times—in his new 3-hour format is to take a breath and add “a more conversational format for parts of the show.”

‘I didn’t get it until I heard you explain it’

“One of the big shifts I’ve seen in this business is that it’s no longer just about whether viewers trust the person delivering the news—it’s about whether they understand who that person is. What they believe. Why they believe it,” Velshi said. “That’s part of what makes Velshi resonate.”

“I don’t deliver conclusions—I show my work,” Velshi told me. “I walk viewers through the logic, the evidence, the context. I bring them along for the journey. I never forget that even though my audience is smart, curious, politically engaged—they’re not necessarily experts in the topics we’re unpacking. So success, for me, is when someone says: ‘I didn’t get it until I heard you explain it.’”

‘A guilty pleasure’

Outside of covering the nonstop powerwash of news from Washington and the impact decisions made there affect the economy, Velshi takes time to “step back from the chaos” and devote time to “something essential—our freedom to read, to think, to express ourselves.”

His “Velshi Banned Book Club” highlights titles that have been pulled from shelves in schools and public libraries, and includes interviews with the authors, “conversations with some of the most thoughtful, fearless writers out there,” Velshi said. In recent weeks, those conversations have included Judy Blume and Maulik Pancholy.

“Honestly, it’s a bit of a guilty pleasure. But it’s also a reminder of why this work matters.”