Trump welcomes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu to the White House on the same day as Lindsey Graham’s funeral, a MAGA nut does a wild U-turn on Ukraine, and the freakout over Chinese Artificial Intelligence intensifies.
This week Tommy and Ben cover…Trump hits pause on the Iran war after two weeks of nightly bombing amid concerns about dwindling stockpiles of US air defense interceptors, while the Pentagon goes to disgraceful new lengths to hide the casualties and costs of the war. Then Lindsey Graham gets the equivalent of a state funeral in Washington but almost no real coverage or accounting of his bloody foreign policy record. MAGA influencer Laura Loomer goes to Ukraine in the middle of a head-spinning shift from Ukraine hater to supporter. China rolls out new, cheaper AI models, while the US government refuses to regulate the industry.
Finally: The Cockroach Movement notches a rare win from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the US extracts money and political concessions in Venezuela, Trump considers starting a new war in Mali, and Europe reels from historic heatwaves and wildfires. Then, Ben speaks to David Remnick, Editor of The New Yorker, about his recent profile of Gadi Eisenkot, Benjamin Netanyahu’s leading challenger for the Israeli premiership and Remnick’s observations of Israel over his decades of reporting there.
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