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 from some profound weaknesses, from the economy to healthcare to criminal justice to immigration.

Rachel Maddow talks with Jonathan Mahler, staff writer for the New York Times Magazine, about his reporting on the concerted effort by the Trump administration to destroy America's global leadership in cancer research. What constituency supports Donald Trump sabotaging work that not only saves lives but supports countless American jobs?

Former CDC director Susan Monarez is set to testify before the Senate this week as HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy is stacking the vaccine advisory board with vaccine skeptics.

And the Trump administration claimed to have burned a massive quanitity of contraceptives meant to be distributed in developing countries, with the false explanation that the contraceptives are abortifacients, only for it to be discovered that the contraceptives are still sitting in storage.

Follow Rachel Maddow on BlueSky at https://bsky.app/profile/maddow.msnbc.com

Want more of Rachel? Check out the "Rachel Maddow Presents" feed to listen to all of her chart-topping original podcasts.

To listen to all of your favorite MS podcasts without ads, sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

SCOTUS: Don't Give US Your Huddled Masse...