Warning: this episode contains strong language.
Over the past few weeks, the resistance of a single Republican senator, Joni Ernst of Iowa, had threatened to derail Donald J. Trump’s choice of Pete Hegseth to run the Department of Defense.
Karoun Demirjian, who covers Congress for The Times, and Jonathan Swan, who covers politics, discuss how Mr. Trump and ... Show More
Sep 2025
Maddow: For a would-be strongman, Trump is profoundly weak
<p>Rachel Maddow points out that Donald Trump is following the "strongman" playbook so closely, and with such a lack of originality, that his behavior in his second term has become entirely predictable. And yet, for all of his aspirations to be a strongman, his leadership suffers ... Show More
43m 27s
Mar 2025
Trump Defends Agenda In Combative Address
In the longest address of its kind before Congress in recent memory, President Trump laid out his policy objectives on the economy, immigration, foreign policy & other topics. He was repeatedly critical of Democrats & his predecessor, Joe Biden. One Democratic congressman was esc ... Show More
20m 50s
Apr 2025
Hegseth in turmoil, Trump’s sinking polls
<p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent;">Senior politics reporter Aaron Blake talks with The Washington Post’s chief correspondent covering national politics, Dan Balz, and national security reporter Abigail Hauslohner about </span><a href="https://www ... Show More
32m 52s
Jan 2025
Friday Roundup: More Hearings And Trump's First Two Weeks In Office
Kash Patel, Trump's pick to lead the FBI, and Tulsi Gabbard, his nominee for intelligence chief, had their hearings on Capitol Hill. Will they be confirmed?Then, a look back at President Trump's first two weeks in office. This episode: White House correspondent Deepa Shivaram, ju ... Show More
26m 38s
Jul 2021
The Desperate Laundering of the Trump Reputations w/ Michael Wolff
“There has been no detail that has come out that has been different than the four years we saw him do in office,” Slade Sohmer, editor in chief of The Recount, says on the latest episode of The New Abnormal. But no one knows image rehabilitation better than Ivanka Trump and Jared ... Show More
1h 7m
Apr 2021
Why Matt Gaetz Was Left Twisting in the Wind
Every day, sometimes multiple times a day, come eye-popping new details in the Matt Gaetz scandal. But perhaps the worst thing of all for the Florida Republican, who is accused of underage sex trafficking, may be that Donald Trump thinks he’s useless. Yes, the congressman spent y ... Show More
1h 3m