The Bulwark Podcast

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey says ICE descended on his city with hopes of rounding up undocumented Somalis. When agents couldn't find any, they started driving around terrorizing people. And now with the killing of Renee Good, they are clearly making the city less safe. But federal officials are also lying about Good's actions before the shooting and her character—and with their bold claims of absolute immunity for ICE agents. More broadly, the administration is trying to intimidate ordinary citizens from documenting the masked agents deployed around the country. Plus, Trump is acting like a conqueror from the Middle Ag...

Most law enforcement departments train officers not to stand in front of vehicles—or shoot at moving ones—but masked ICE agents in Minneapolis did just that after descending on Renee Good's Honda Pilot and spitting out conflicting instructions to her. Not only did the president of the United States lie about the condition of the officer who shot her, Vance and Noem disparaged the deceased 37-year-old mother of three. Meanwhile, Americans are not down with the idea of the US running Venezuela. And the manosphere podcast world, which helped Trump win the election, is now feeling disillusioned and emba...

Biden and Merrick Garland thought Trump would just go away, but malignant narcissists must be made to leave. And with Congress not fulfilling its constitutional obligation to hold Trump accountable for running the country like a mob boss, newly minted congressional candidate George hopes to join those Democrats on the Hill who aren't afraid to investigate—and impeach—the president and his miscreants. Meanwhile, Trump is rambling about postponing the midterms as he orders the military to commit piracy at sea.

George Conway joins Tim Miller to discuss his congressional race, his return to New York, Yimbyism, and...

Trump wanted to alpha male and take some oil, Hegseth wanted to bomb something, Rubio wanted Maduro gone, and aggrieved Stephen Miller wanted to bully the weak. The White House eventually settled on Venezuela as the best place to take out its aggressions and drive home its anti-immigration message. And now the administration finds itself depending on an acting Venezuelan president who has a long history of being extremely anti-American. Jonathan and Tim take a deep dive into the back story of our latest international intervention. Plus, the State Department is trying to deport an activist against online hate...

Toppling the leader of Venezuela looks to be about greed and Trump's vanity. It's not about national security, and is likely to produce bad outcomes—including more repression of ordinary Venezuelans and more refugees fleeing the country. And even the monetary value of plundering a sovereign country's oil is vastly overstated. Meanwhile, fake imagery of Venezuelans celebrating in response to the US intervention are being shared across social media, and a polymarket bet before the strike smacks of insider trading. Plus, the idiocy of the Donroe Doctrine, JD Vance should shut up, Tim Walz was not ready for national politics, He...

Only six months ago, the wheels felt like they were coming off of America, and our democracy experiment. But since the Epstein case broke wide open, the wheels started to come off Trump instead. And he's not just lost his way in politics but in the broader culture too—with his despicable words about Rob Reiner, his trying to get Jimmy Kimmel fired, and his pedophile cover-up. At the same time, we are likely stuck with his family grift, which will last for generations. Over on the Democratic side, the left has the momentum but there is room for a Mc...

The DOJ is releasing random Epstein documents to distract the public, while also intentionally covering the faces of men in images. It's also pulling docs that reveal Trump's name. Epstein's victims think the government's messy release is all designed to protect their not publicly-known perpetrators. Meanwhile, more victims are coming forward to Julie, THE reporter who got the Epstein matter reopened after her investigation of his 2008 deal that no other modern pedophile would ever have received. Ghislaine Maxwell is key to understanding the whole case, Republican donors may be named in the files, and Trump flew on the Epstein plane...

After a campaign built on the promise that Trump was going to look out for his voters, he started his administration getting sidetracked by DOGE and Musk's phony ideas about saving money. After that petered out, he got distracted by his need to put his name all over the place. In the process, he's totally forgotten to help his people—or even fake trying to help them. Meanwhile, Trump is trapped in a Groundhog Day of his own making on Ukraine-Russia. Plus, his bruising has now moved to his left hand, Melania can't speak English, the DOJ is still working to...

The year started with America's tech overlords kissing the ring at Trump's inauguration, and it's ending with the public fed up with the ostentatiously rich—and more distrustful of Silicon Valley than ever, particularly on AI. Plus, Kara's key role in the revelations about the relationship between RFK, Jr. and Olivia Nuzzi, Trump is giving away the store to China and setting back university research and innovation by a generation, the AI advances in healthcare are mind-blowing, media companies are going to accelerate their consolidation, much of the tech oligarchy has daddy issues, JD is like a Cybertruck, "Pluribus" is gr...

Six months ago, MAGA world was strutting around with their chests puffed out. But now, many of them are having a blue Christmas over the infighting, the economy, the DOJ's inability to deliver revenge, and Trump's cover-up of child sex traffickers—one of the key things they really cared about. All Trump can think to do is plaster his name on another large object, including most recently a new fleet of warships. Plus, the bourbon shutdown, Bari's getting burned by Canada also airing "60 Minutes," the president could move Ghislaine out of her cushy prison, and Epstein in his alleged letter to...

On the Epstein matter, the current DOJ is not just putting its thumb on the scale for Trump. It's his defense team. Make no mistake: The top two officials at the Justice Department are executing Trump's wishes to cover-up the victims' statements and the details about Epstein's 2008 sweetheart deal. It's the president's cover-up, and the mainstream media needs to call it for what it is. And over at CBS's "60 Minutes," Bari Weiss wants Trump to know she's on the administration's side as well. Meanwhile, Vance made clear at AmericaFest that he's cool with literal Nazis in the MAGA coalition as...

Of all the images of Trump, the only times he seemed to be authentically smiling in the presence of another person was when he was with Jeffrey Epstein. The two of them had the same interests, and other people in the 80s and 90s assumed they were best friends. Over in MAGA land, a proxy war has broken out among rightwing influencers—like Ben Shapiro, Tucker, and Candace—because the economy and the party are in trouble. Plus, SCOTUS rulings and cryptocurrency have created a public corruption free-for-all, the failed tariffs are masking the shortage of immigrant-built new housing, Trump has...

Trump's power of persuasion is failing him on the affordability issue. He even broke MAGA creed on live TV by calling on Americans to trust the word of foreign leaders—who supposedly claim the U.S. economy is golden—over the pain they're feeling at the supermarket and at the pump. Meanwhile, NYC's mayor-elect seems to be understand the zeitgeist: We are not living in a right v. left political moment, but an insider v. outsider one. Plus, what Dems can learn from Mamdani, why the party needs to move on from its Obama and Bernie factions, and how aid prog...

POTUS is firing or censoring the statisticians who collect data on health and climate, as well as the kind of experts who could verify his lofty claims of an A++++ economy. And while Vance says that Trump is really turning things around, job losses are rising from his destructive tariff and immigration policies. Plus, the back story on Palantir and how it's helping to facilitate the administration's authoritarian ambitions.

Author Mike Steinberger and Catherine Rampell join Tim Miller.

show notes

Tim's 'Bulwark Take' on current China policy Catherine's newsletter, "Receipts" Mike's new book, "The...

The people running the Republican grassroots are nativist populists, and it’s a space where opposition to Israel thrives, along with a heaping serving of antisemitism. Candace’s wild theories about the Charlie Kirk assassination has had a big impact among the young who get their news from TikTok and Instagram. And JD—who is the top-billed speaker at this year’s AmericaFest—is sending signals that he’s absorbing the nativist and anti-Zionist views among right-wing influencers like Tucker. Plus, Susie Wiles dishes on Trump and other top figures, and Stephen Miller’s wife is running a North Korea-style podcast with s...

From the shooting at Brown University, to the Oct. 7-style slaughter in Australia, and the shocking murder of Rob Reiner and his wife—it’s been one blow after another. But leave it to Trump to seize the moment to remind Americans what a disgusting human being he is. Meanwhile, social media algorithms keep pushing people to antisemitic content, and Kash is going to have to quit with the live-tweeting during FBI investigations. Plus, the MAGA crackup continues, Trump sounds like he’s losing his fight fight fight spirit, DOGE cuts hit red America, Dems should invest in campaigns in Iowa a...

Despite death threats and harassment, Republicans in Indiana delivered the biggest political setback to Trump since officials in Georgia wouldn’t help him find 11,780 votes in 2020. Turns out, some conservatives at the state level still have enough principles to not gerrymander on demand. Meanwhile, antisemitism, white nationalism, and neo-Nazism are flourishing among the very online right, including among people who used to be showcased by Fox. And they’re chewing on and mainstreaming some of the deepest, darkest conspiracies out there. But now those voices are more influential than the cable channel—even our vice president, ever mindful of 2028, won’t distan...

Republican disunity is being obscured by affection for Trump, but just below the surface, MAGA is being pulled apart at the seams. At the same time, the administration is busy committing war crimes while conducting an illegal, nonsensical war, and the FBI is investing progressive groups for their views. The state of free speech protections may be worse than during the Red Scare. Meanwhile, SCOTUS keeps shaping the power of the presidency, Tucker and Candace’s conspiracies and Israel fear-mongering are way past an act, and the Andrew Tates of the manosphere are giving cover to men who just want to...

Big Boss Trump, who claims the power to run the whole government via executive order and pushes all our allies around, is a man suddenly with no agency when it comes to the economy. He says the high cost of living is a Democratic hoax, or in true Christmas spirit, he’s back to blaming parents for spoiling their daughters with too many dolls. And while his approval rating slips into the the 30s, voters keep rewarding Democrats at the ballot box. On the healthcare front, Republicans have been promising an alternative to Obamacare for 15 years with nothing to show fo...

Heaping scorn and disdain on Europe, Trump called its countries decaying and its leaders weak, but the U.S. likely needs Europe more than they need us. And while POTUS is whining that Zelensky won't consider his rigged deal with Putin, the corruption of Trump's negotiating team is off the charts, with Witkoff and Kushner trying to work a land deal rather than a peace treaty. Meanwhile, the boat bombings seem to be about performative politics, Hegseth is pushing out another high-ranking black officer—for voicing concerns about the strikes on alleged drug-runners in the Caribbean—and where is the vide...

ICE and Border Patrol are kidnapping people in the suburbs near New Orleans based on racial profiling—it’s like the South of 70 years ago. Mini Greg Bovino cares far more about his video team capturing him menacing and harassing people going about their lives than he does about due process and the Fourth Amendment. But despite her own pinup-style social media spreads, Trump may be readying to dump Kristi Noem from DHS. Meanwhile, the administration keeps creating new excuses for why it killed the two shipwrecked men near Venezuela, while also withholding key information. Plus, Trump is handing out more...

Trump is overseeing extrajudicial killings off the coast of Venezuela but nothing was going to stop him from getting a peace prize—even if it’s a fake one from super highly reputable FIFA. He also helped himself to a federal agency that used to work on peace initiatives, but which Elon DOGE’d. Democrats should embrace the spirit of McCain and focus on the massive corruption in the administration around crypto, the ballroom, the pardons, and more. At the same time, the Dems have a disconnect between leaders and the base over Israel, Netanyahu, and AIPAC. Plus, Candace may be les...

Trump’s use of his pardon power is downright crazy, and that’s not even counting his rescue of a convicted drug kingpin. He’s also sabotaging his own redistricting plans in Texas by pardoning Rep. Henry Cuellar, and wasting taxpayer money absolving a sports executive who was indicted by his own Justice Department earlier this year. Meanwhile, down in NOLA, two men with a Napoleon complex are unleashing misery of the psychic and economic kind on the city through its ICE and Border Patrol operation. Plus, someone needs to scour the immigration history of Phil Mickelson’s family, and why is T...

Trump’s rallies have been his signature event, but since he returned to the White House, he has stopped doing them. And his allies are worried he’s losing touch with voters, as well as his political antenna. Instead of traveling the country, he’s dining with billionaires, playing golf, and going abroad in search of his elusive peace prize. Meanwhile, he can’t stay awake in own Cabinet meetings. Plus, the heat is on Hegseth, the ex-Honduran president Trump pardoned bragged about stuffing drugs up the noses of Americans, and the results of the Tennessee special election are a good sig...

There are no shortage of scandals plaguing Washington D.C. right now.

One that has captivated much of the political and media professions involves Olivia Nuzzi, a political writer formerly of the magazine New York, and now an editor with Vanity Fair, who was involved in a relationship with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. during the 2024 campaign.

Nuzzi’s relationship has provided incredible fodder for the press, not least because her ex-fiance, Ryan Lizza, has penned a multi-part series on the matter where he has unspooled numerous accusations against her and RFK Jr., in anticipation of the pu...

As a candidate, Trump knew to steer clear of Project 2025. But as president, he embraced its deeply unpopular policy goals and it has been driving down his poll numbers. Meanwhile, what are we doing with Venezuela? No one in the administration has made a remotely convincing case for the intimidation campaign against President Maduro. And the boat bombings are putting members of our military in legal danger under the guidance of Hegseth. Plus, the threats against legislators in Indiana who aren't going along with redistricting, and the broad-based coalition standing up to ICE—including people in costumes and grannies on sc...

Not only are the opportunities for personal financial gain for Trump and his White House cronies driving the administration’s foreign policy decisions, his tariffs look more and more about grift. Trump also inexplicably granted clemency to a private equity exec who ripped off ordinary Americans in a Ponzi scheme, while he plans a pardon for a former Honduran president who trafficked cocaine to America—even as he orders the bombings of suspected drug smugglers in the Caribbean. Meanwhile, on the immigration front, Border Patrol is moving into NOLA, and the administration is exploiting the heinous and tragic DC Guard shoo...

Americans were already losing touch with basic decency before Trump came along—and he exploited that indecency, distrust, and division to win power. In his new novel, George Packer spins a story of an imaginary country that just collapses, and how ordinary people have to learn to live together again. Fiction has a way of making the real world more clear. Plus, Charlie Kirk’s influence on our political climate before his death, JD’s phoniness and lust for power, Trump may be flailing but he’s still amassed immense power, and how AI moving us away from the written word thr...

Trump needs to quit the games and his defamatory accusations about who's in the Epstein files, and just release the 300 gigabytes of data from the Epstein case—even if he has an army of elves trying to redact or whitewash any references or images of Trump himself. Meanwhile, the dismissal of charges against Comey and Tish James show how bad Team Trump is at political retribution. Plus, the commander-in-chief doesn't want members of the military hearing the truth, spies are listening in to Steve Witkoff, and is Weissmann going to sue Trump for defamation?

Andrew Weissmann joins Tim Mi...

A troika of foreign policy amateurs—Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, and JD Vance—are trying to impose a Russia-drafted peace plan on Ukraine. While Trump was in the loop, other senior officials in the administration were in the dark, even as Kushner was using backchannels to work with a Putin ally. Vance eagerly got on board because he’s desperate to stab Ukraine in the back and declare himself MAGA’s heir apparent for 2028. But rival Marco Rubio—who sees that Russia doesn’t really want peace—is working on an alternative deal.

Michael Weiss joins Tim Miller to break all t...

Unrest has broken out in MAGA, and Mike Johnson looks like he’s losing control of the House—which means that Trump could be losing control of the party. And the fear of Trump is morphing into loathing because Republicans are not winning. Meanwhile, DOGE has ended in another total Elon failure: Not only was no money saved, the program’s biggest success was cutting assistance to the world’s most vulnerable people. Trump has only been ‘fixing’ the government to work for his grift. Plus, Mamdani showed real political skill in meeting Trump, but the left needs to cool it with its...

As a man who’s not used to losing, Trump is going through a bit of a rough patch since his party turned against him over the Epstein case. He’s flailing, lashing out, and acting afraid. After all, he knows how many times his name comes up in the Epstein files, and Ghislaine Maxwell continues to enjoy a bevy of special perks at her cushy prison for some reason. At the same time, the economy isn’t helping him, the stench of a lame duck is growing, and the threat of oversight by Dems after the midterms feels real. Plus...

Tim Cook and the other tech titans who dined with bone saw murderer MBS—and who’ve given millions to Trump to knock down our history for his gilded ballroom—expect the people who use their products every day to protect American democracy, while they reap its benefits to freely act against the public’s interest. Meanwhile, Trump’s special envoy is acting like an agent of the Russian government, and POTUS shows yet again that he is not a tough negotiator. Plus, Stephen Miller is spreading fear by design, Trump’s Epstein capitulation is still worth savoring, and Tim shares his p...

Before a live audience in Nashville Tuesday, Kamala Harris discussed what it takes to fight back against Trump. But she also threw punches—against the corrupt and callous administration that's trying to gaslight Americans about Jeffrey Epstein, and the tech titans who are bending the knee to a tyrant. Also noteworthy: Both MTG and Mamdani come in for some praise. Plus, the power of a consumer boycott, the challenges of being No. 2 on the job, and the still stinging emotions around her 107-day campaign.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris joins Tim Miller.

show notes

"107 Da...

The White House leaks may be more contained in Trump 2.0, but the slavish loyalists who POTUS has surrounded himself with do nothing to keep him within the bounds of the law, ethics, or decorum. So in this round, the chaos is more consequential for the country. Meanwhile, the administration may be prepping to bury the Epstein files. Plus, the bitterness and resentment that drives Trump, the war on truth is winning, and the Bidens' animosity toward Obama.

ABC's Jon Karl joins Tim Miller.

show notes:

Jon's new book, "Retribution: Donald Trump and the Campaign...

Not a lot of people predicted that Trump would fold and let Congress vote on the release of the Epstein files. But his retreat shows that Democrats have more leverage than conventional wisdom has suggested, and they should not rule out long shots in the fight against Trump’s authoritarian project. Meanwhile, MAGA looks to be fracturing in real time and Trump looks more and more vulnerable—on his ballroom, falling asleep in meetings, and his constant reminders that he’s only out for himself. Plus, MTG’s possible Saul to Damascus moment, Border Patrol’s invasion of Charlotte, bombing Venezuela...

Our commander-in-chief and breaker of mores can only muster the energy to beg Republicans to stop talking about Epstein. Where is the blustery guy who's declared that only suckers pay taxes and that he could shoot anyone on 5th Avenue? Because of the lame duck smell he's giving off—and the economic problems Trump himself brought on—he's not getting the support he needs from the outer MAGA media world that's obsessed with Epstein. Meanwhile, he's getting ready to have taxpayers pay off his cronies for trying to help steal the 2020 election. Plus, the four kinds of corruption in the Trum...

Trump's involvement with Epstein is simultaneously a "hoax," but he was also a "perfect gentleman" when he spent hours with one of Epstein's underage victims, Virgina Giuffre, at Epstein's pad. And Trump was an FBI informant on Epstein's sex trafficking, but again, it's all a hoax. The White House and Fox's defense is not working, and Trump may be in the worst political shape he's been in since the aftermath of January 6. Meanwhile, the wealthy and powerful old men needing teenage girls raises huge questions about manhood and virility. Plus, the shutdown fight was a stress test for how far...

New Jersey’s governor-elect credits her big win last week to an affordability message—and ignoring the pundits. But Sherrill also tied rising costs and declining economic opportunity to Trump’s laser-like focus on the worldwide extortion racket he’s running out of the Oval Office. Plus, former D.C. cop Michael Fanone says the current FBI won’t follow up on the threats against him and his family, the Justice Department doesn’t seem too concerned about pedophilia, and “snowflake” border patrol boss Greg Bovino has small-man complex.

Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill and Michael Fanone join Tim Miller.
show...

While Trump won the first time as an anti-status-quo hero, the low-trust podcast cranks like Rogan and Tim Dillon who put him back in the White House now see him as the establishment. And they’re making Trump own the economy, the security state of masked marauders and bombing campaigns—and his close ties to the tech companies. The Democrats have not had a better moment to run against the status quo since 2008. Meanwhile, the insidious anti-semitism from Candace and Tucker has reached insane levels. Plus, the accusations that Schumer was behind the cavers, the filibuster already favors Republicans, and the...

The very online crowd is very upset, but Dems did fight like Republicans. This was a longer shutdown than anything the Tea Party pulled and real pain was being caused. And Democrats have now made the cost of healthcare front and center—while Republicans keep showing that they are the party of billionaires, Mar-a-Lago soirées, and golden ballrooms. Plus, President Al Capone pardoned all the people who tried to help him steal the 2020 election, pro-democracy Americans must stay united against the evil of the administration’s deportation policy, and the effort to keep POTUS in a bubble backfired big time...

Our economy may be in the early days of stagflation, Democrats are winning the shutdown fight, and Republicans aren't getting help from the tariff king—who is just sticking his fingers in his ears and lying about the price of Thanksgiving dinner going down. Maybe it's time for the Dems to declare victory and let them reopen the government. Plus, Jeanine Pirro's complete humiliation over the sandwich guy case, and Rep. Jared Golden's retirement is a bracing reminder that Democrats must keep recruiting moderate candidates who can win in red districts.

Jessica Tarlov joins Tim Miller for the we...

Trump took it on the chin in Tuesday's elections, SCOTUS sounds skeptical about his tariffs, and his plan to 'gerry-rig' the midterms looks like it is slipping away—but he is still the most powerful president since FDR. And murmurs about a lame duck may prompt him to take even more extreme actions. Plus, the still infuriating inability to hold Trump accountable for trying to steal the 2020 election, and the long-term damage he has done to the DOJ.

Carol Leonnig and JVL join Tim Miller.

show notes Carol's new book, "Injustice" on the DOJ, Merrick Garland, an...

The huge Democratic wins in Virginia, New Jersey, NYC, and California spoke loud and clear—and make Trump’s 2024 supposed ‘landslide’ margin of 1.5% look even more wimpy. Trump is not delivering on his economic promises and the backlash was across the board. Voters are also rejecting the overreach of Stephen Miller’s nativist immigration policy, particularly Latino voters. One of the biggest impacts from Tuesday’s elections is that redistricting suddenly looks like it favors the Dems. Plus, what Mamdani could teach Democrats, and the bad place the Republicans put the party in by focusing on Trump’s random obsessions instead of tal...

With Trump slashing SNAP benefits, Gov. Beshear is asking the people of Kentucky to look out for their neighbors so they don't go hungry—since the administration won't. Meanwhile, Trump's tariffs are hammering farmers in the Bluegrass State at the same time Republicans are sabotaging rural healthcare. And reporting from Chicago, Moran finds his hometown still full of tough, independent people who won't be pushed around. True to form: Moms, bystanders, and priests are standing up to immigration agents while Trump tries to flex the full force of his authoritarian ambitions. Plus, Norah O'Donnell did not stand up for the tr...

CBS News heavily edited its ‘60 Minutes’ interview with Trump, not only removing his lies about 2020, but also conveniently cutting the part about how the news show paid him off for his bogus lawsuit over a Kamala interview last year. That payoff may well have been how the one-time legendary news network landed a 90-minute interview with Trump to begin with. Meanwhile, the ‘peace’ president is conducting an illegal war in the Caribbean, and also happens to know nothing about the crypto magnate he just pardoned—even though he’s funneling billions to the Trump family’s crypto venture. Plus, Dems are definitely...

It’s hard to find a better example of seizing the means of production than our government seizing an equity stake in a company—which Trump keeps doing over and over again. And what do the diehard Republican capitalists have to say about all this socializing of the private sector? Nothing, of course. But they definitely were up in arms over Bill Kristol saying he’d probably vote for Mamdani if he still lived in NYC, and that voting for Cuomo was ridiculous. Plus, the crypto-based bribery of Trump and his family is flourishing, SNAP cuts and Head Start closures will h...

President Trump meets with Xi Jinping and agrees to an embarrassingly one-sided trade deal, as the “China Hawks” in the administration cower. Meantime, the government shutdown moves to a more painful phase, with funding for SNAP expiring on Nov. 1. Former Sen. Heidi Heitkamp joins Tim to discuss how the chaos from Trump’s trade wars has already hurt farmers, how Democrats should play their next moves on the shutdown, and her surprising support for Mamdani/Platner style candidates.

show notes:

The One Country Project’s Hot Dish Podcast

From the jump, the administration has been all about the memes, owning the libs, and pissing people off. But Abby says she wants Trump’s supporters to have a chance to share their points of view on her show—and be challenged in real time. Meanwhile, during the weirdest shutdown ever, Republicans are at risk on SNAP and Obamacare subsidies. And policing the Caribbean and the Pacific to commit summary executions is not America First. Plus, the roots of Bernie Sanders’s populist campaigns were planted by Jesse Jackson’s runs for the presidency in ‘84 and ‘88. But Trump too also echoes Jacks...

While the inhumane and aggressive tactics unfolding in Chicago are repelling many Americans, they are having the opposite effect among Trump's top aides. The Kristi Noem clique wants more— much more— of the Border Patrol's "Midway Blitz" around the country, and they're busy purging local ICE leadership in a number of cities in an attempt to dramatically ramp up the pace of deportations. Meanwhile, Trump keeps talking like he's all for regime change in Venezuela. Plus, how conspiracy and our phones helped fuel the rise of global populism, why the left and right yearn for a struggle in an age of p...

Trump was so embarrassed by Canada using Reagan’s warnings about tariffs that he had a little hissy fit and decided to punish Americans for buying Canadian goods. And by the way, stuffed shirt Scott Bessent: Real American soybean farmers are being hurt by tariffs while you bail out Argentina and pretend that your dainty hands are tilling the soil on the farmland you bought as an investment. Meanwhile, the White House isn’t even pretending that it’s going after corrupt moneyed interests, as the Trump family rolls in dough from the most entrenched swampy types in DC. Plus, Dems g...

Members of the administration, like Stephen Miller, who spend hours every day kissing Trump’s ass look so pathetic—but since the time of the ancients, courtiers have gone to great lengths to degrade themselves before the vain and vindictive. And one lesson for the ages is to not compromise with an extortionist: it will only lead to more extortion and more pressure because the extortionist wants everything. Meanwhile, Elon’s brain is broken, Peter Thiel spends too much time at dinner parties, Trump’s media diet allows no time for presidential reflection, and authoritarians can be seductive. Plus, Tim sees the...

The convicted felon was legitimately prosecuted for hoarding classified docs at Mar-a-Lago. And he was justifiably investigated over the numerous contacts he and his associates had with Russian nationals during 2016. But Trump feels he has endured so much pain and suffering from all the probing that he's owed a quarter of a billion dollars in damages from hard-working American taxpayers. Meanwhile, his hired tool of revenge, Lindsey Halligan, is hard at work pursuing really weak cases against Comey and Tish James when she's not sending mean girl texts.
 
Lawfare's Anna Bower and Ben Wittes join Tim Miller.
Duration: 00:46:28

One of the promises of this country has been the freedom to walk down the street without being harassed by the government. But even being an American citizen isn't stopping ICE agents from grabbing people with passports or IDs—and detaining them for hours. At the same time, many of the thugs and sadists who want to do the grabbing and snatching are pathetically failing basic physical fitness tests. Plus, JD is painfully unfunny, Republicans calling Democrats 'terrorists' has real world consequences, and Dems need more normal people running for office—but they should save the wild card candidates for long...

Putin’s friend in the White House may be back in his safe space with his kindred spirit in Moscow, but Trump is finding that he has limited leverage on Ukraine to end the war on Putin’s terms. He wants so badly to be crowned the ‘Prince of Peace,’ but he has no vim and vigor to get there—and Zelensky actually said “No” to Trump. Meanwhile, the Gaza ceasefire looks precarious. Plus, former press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on stepping away from the two-party system, the lingering anger over how Trump was allowed to win, and the fallout from emphasizing Bi...

Nearly seven million Americans peacefully took to the streets out of their love for this country, and Trump in response acted out like a toddler obsessed with his own poop. Indeed, our commander-in-chief really does have more affinity for the Sharia law dictators in the sand kingdoms than he does for Saturday’s true patriots. This may be the moment when the Dems and its allies take the patriotism banner back from Republicans. Plus, the lengths the administration went to imprison immigrants in El Salvador, the Dem base wants a fight over the shutdown, and Trump keeps serving up reasons wh...

The administration under sticky fingers Trump is now pretending it cares about the sanctity of classified documents, while it seems that Marco Rubio is the one pushing for regime change in Venezuela. In California, the redistricting ballot measure has been seen as one of the most significant battles in the November election, but the Supreme Court may end up disrupting the Dem’s effort to retake the House next year. Plus, Democrats are winning the under-covered shutdown fight, but why is Schumer meddling in the Maine and Michigan Senate primary fights? And the right-wingers complaining about Bad Bunny are such ne...

The U.S. has been a model for other aspiring democracies since 1776. At the same time, the idea of America as the leader of the democratic world has also had a unifying effect at home. It’s what has kept this diverse country of many faiths and ethnicities together, and it has been our national identity. But with Trump actively undermining those ideals, what will we be unified around? Plus, the potential new whites-favored refugee policy, Trump’s psychological comfort to the Russian war effort, Hegseth got himself a state media press room at the Pentagon, JD is totally cool with...

Republicans in Congress know that what they’re doing is deeply unpopular—on healthcare, supporting troops in the streets, and on redistricting. That’s why they’re basically in hiding, plotting new ways to try to shift the narrative. But because they’ve given their Constitutional power away to Trump & company, unelected officials in the administration are now making the taxing and spending decisions. Meanwhile, Trump has another monument in the works. Plus, Democrats and the Senate race in Maine, another military strike in the Caribbean, and MTG may be a bellwether of MAGA’s future.

Heather Cox Richardson j...

After a court temporarily blocked the deployment of Guard troops in Illinois, ICE agents began ramping up their operations around Chicagoland. They are now demanding that residents produce their papers—particularly if they have brown skin. Officers stand outside churches holding Spanish-language Mass or they go into tourist areas to confront people, including U.S. Citizens. If someone doesn’t have an ID with them, they’ll be detained. The power-hungry officials around Trump, including Stephen Miller, are likely behind the enhanced menacing. Meanwhile in Israel, the resilience of the surviving hostages—after a sustained campaign of deprivation—is worthy of celebra...

Peaceful protesters in Chicago and Portland have been so clever and effective at ridiculing the masked Stasi agents in their cities that the political momentum for putting troops on the street feels like it’s petering out. And while Republicans keep smearing this weekend’s No Kings day as about hating America, the real ‘Hate America’ side is the one calling patriots ‘terrorists’ because they intend to exercise their First Amendment rights. Meanwhile, the Comey and Tish James indictments are all about Trump’s mental illness and narcissism. Plus, the joy and the sadness around the release of the hostages, the Dems look...

The administration may be trying to lay the groundwork for Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act by invading Chicago, but the real human stories are breaking through: ordinary Chicagoans are outraged that good, decent immigrants are being snatched off the street and their families’ lives ruined. And while Kristi Noem keeps promoting the bad guys that are being rounded up, ICE is also treating American citizens abhorrently. Plus, from our live show in D.C., Rep. Sarah McBride talks with Sarah Longwell about the need for a big tent coalition without purity tests, and how the Dem demands for a re...

ICE and other armed federal agents are doing their best to incite violence in blue cities so they can help Trump realize his unfulfilled dream from 2020 to impose a military crackdown. At the same time, Trump can only point to what happened in Portland five years ago during Black Lives Matter protests to try to bolster his case. Meanwhile, Comey has a pretty good shot to get his case dismissed—thanks in part to a Truth Social post that was supposed to be a DM to Bondi directing her to go after his enemies. Plus, doubts around the longterm sustainability of...

Trump's TikTok deal looks like classic crony capitalism as well as open theft. But China has bigger fish to fry with trade than its TikTok algorithm—which led Congress last year to ban the app in the U.S. Meanwhile, Silicon Valley thinks they're building a machine god with AI, but we really may be heading into catastrophe. Plus, the armed invasion of Chicago, Sam Altman seems disconnected from reality, and Tim Cook's pathetic bending over for backwards for Trump.

Casey Newton joins Tim Miller.

show notes

Casey's Platformer newsletter Casey's "Hard Fork" podcast JV...

A new kind of McCarthyism has settled in at the Justice Department, where career prosecutors—including those handling tough national security cases—are getting canned for voicing any opposition to politically-motivated demands from top DOJ officials. And those who survive the ongoing purge are literally working in fear that they are being surveilled by the FBI. Meanwhile, MTG may play a role in resolving the shutdown. Plus, Tapper’s timely new book, his maybe/maybe not text interview with Trump, and the heat he’s still taking over his earlier Biden book.

Jake Tapper joins Tim Miller.

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ICE is intentionally provoking violence in the nation’s cities and then glorifying it with their crack video team. Meanwhile, the rhetoric coming from Trump true believers about their desire for a ‘benevolent’ authoritarian strongman is truly alarming. But governors and members of the judiciary are behaving like we still have a republic —and that the insurrectionist president can’t just deploy Guard troops in whatever state he wants. Plus, the Dems should consider broadening their aims with the shutdown, and Jane Fonda is reviving her father’s McCarthy-Era free expression group.

Jane Fonda and Bill Kristol join Tim Miller.<...

President Trump’s loyalty purges continue. Prosecutors are fired from the U.S. attorney’s office in Eastern Virginia, including people who had nothing to do with the Comey case. And Kash Patel pushes out an FBI agent in training for displaying a rainbow flag in his workspace. Meanwhile, reports surface that Marco Rubio is leading a push among Trump’s top aides to topple Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela. The Atlantic’s Tom Nichols joins Tim Miller to discuss.

Bulwark Live in DC (10/8) with Sarah, Tim and JVL. Tickets on sale now at TheBulwark.com/events. Tim's playlist

The Trump administration is turning up the heat now that the government has shut down, cancelling billions for green projects, targeting funding for infrastructure in New York and threatening mass firings of federal workers. Democrats, meanwhile, are trying to hold the line in the Senate with their demands about health care. Elsewhere, the White House is asking a group of top universities to join a compact supporting the president’s political agenda so that they can get federal funds. MSNBC’s Symone Sanders-Townsend joins Tim Miller to talk about the shut down fight and whether the president has overplayed his hand...

A government shutdown begins, as a standoff over spending enters what could be a painful phase. And President Trump kicks off the week warning his military leaders about facing an invasion from within. Ken Burns joins Tim Miller to talk about his new documentary, “The American Revolution,” what lessons from history he tries to apply our current politics and how the country has navigated unrest in the past.

Show Notes:

Bulwark Live in DC (10/8) and NYC (10/11) with Sarah, Tim and JVL are on sale now at TheBulwark.com/events.

Pete Hegseth convenes the military’s top leaders to complain about fat troops and generals and plug his book. Meanwhile, Charlie Kirk’s assassination continues to drive debate about how to confront MAGA as a cultural and political movement. David Jolly, a Democratic gubernatorial candidate in Florida, joins Tim to talk about his campaign, why he switched parties and how he thinks he can reverse his state’s political trajectory. Then, The Ringer’s Van Lathan talks with Tim about our recent interview with Ezra Klein and what political conversations about beating MAGA are missing.

Show Notes:

Bu...

President Trump orders the National Guard to be deployed to Portland, Ore., after declaring it a war-ravaged city. And reports surface that the administration is considering strikes in Venezuela. Meanwhile, the military’s top generals are on their way to Quantico for a mysterious meeting called by Pete Hegseth that the president now wants to crash. Congressional leaders meet with the White House with the clock running out on the window to avert a government shutdown. And the nation reels after a weekend of violence in Michigan and North Carolina.

Bill Kristol joins Tim Miller.

Show No...

President Trump’s quest for revenge escalates, as a grand jury indicts former FBI Director James Comey days after Trump forced out a prosecutor who refused to bring charges against his political enemies. Trump, meanwhile, is cheerleading the indictment and publicly encouraging prosecutors to go after more Democrats and left-leaning organizations. Adam Kinzinger joins Tim Miller to talk about the merits of the indictment, why we can’t afford to be intimidated by it and what comes next. They also discuss why Pete Hegseth called generals to a mysterious meeting, how the administration released the military record of New Jersey’s Demo...

The White House readies plans for mass firings in the federal government as Democrats weigh the stakes of forcing a government shutdown. The Justice Department prepares to seek an indictment for former FBI Director James Comey as President Trump hunts for revenge against his political enemies. Ezra Klein of The New York Times joins Tim to discuss what a fight about a shutdown should really be about, how Democrats can find a message that can meet the moment and what it will take to pull our politics out of a violent moment.

Show Notes:

Ezra Klein: “Ch...

A government shutdown creeps closer as President Trump cancels a meeting with Democratic leaders. Former Vice President Kamala Harris embarks on a press tour to promote a score settling book about her campaign. Plus, Trump taps one of his former personal lawyers to replace a U.S. attorney he dismissed for not targeting his political enemies after publicly calling on the Justice Department to move against people he thinks wronged him. In a two-part episode, U.S. Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.) joins Tim Miller to talk about her race for the Senate and how Democrats can dig themselves out of...

The injecting-bleach president is getting some super-strong pseudoscientific information to scare mothers and blame them for autism while conveniently ignoring the role geriatric sperm may play in neurodivergence. Meanwhile, Kimmel may be coming back, but confusion remains about why his show was pulled to begin with—given the jokes Trump, his son, and other high-profile people made about the attempted murder of Paul Pelosi. Plus, the strength of Dems out in the field vs the leadership in DC, and how overly focusing on race and identity in this majority-white country can make everybody focus on it.

Bakari Sellers jo...

We thought Tom Homan was just an extreme border hawk and ideologue. Now we know this powerful law enforcement official, who's depriving immigrants of their freedom, may also be a corrupt law-breaker—after he was reportedly recorded taking a $50,000 cash bribe during an FBI sting operation. And MAGA die-hards, like Megyn Kelly, have made clear they don't care. Meanwhile, Kash is having FBI agents pursue QAnon leads in the Kirk assassination. Plus, Tucker is a very sick person, Trump is demanding that Bondi file trumped-up charges against his enemies, and Democrats should absolutely not vote to fund this administration.
Duration: 00:40:27

Cancel culture lives on, but it's taken new turns, especially among some of the loudest opponents of woke culture who simply can not abide one word of criticism about Charlie Kirk or Israel. Meanwhile, the vice president of the United States is actively encouraging his kind of Americans to rat out their neighbors. Plus, how authoritarianism and corruption go together, the challenge for academics who don't adhere to views on race they're 'supposed' to have, and Trump's talent for exploiting grievance will be studied for years.

The Atlantic's Thomas Chatterton Williams joins Tim Miller for the weekend pod.<...

The administration wants people to believe that Jimmy Kimmel was pulled off the air because he supposedly crossed a red line when it came to Charlie Kirk—yet at the same time, somehow totally ignore that this is naked government coercion of critics who embrace the time-honored tradition of skewering presidents. And because this is the Trump administration, there's also a corruption angle, namely a local TV station conglomerate trying to curry favor with Trump and FCC Chair Brendan Carr to get a $6.2 billion merger approved. Meanwhile, Vance is openly manufacturing a new, broader conspiracy behind the Kirk assassination, continuing hi...

This country has been dealing with an increase in political violence for nearly a decade, and leaders from across the spectrum need to do everything they can to get us off this terrible path. Declaring 'free speech for me and not for thee,' or getting random people fired for not saying nice things about Charlie Kirk isn't helping to tamp things down. Meanwhile, it looks like Trump is sacrificing U.S. national security interests with his corrupt TikTok and UAE deals, and Russia remains one of the only countries in the world Trump hasn't tariffed. Plus, Democrats must not...

The former senator and former Dem has some not-very-nice things to say about Schumer and Obama—as well as progressives—who he blames for hounding Biden to move left and diminishing his will to fight. And while he's proud he helped protect the filibuster while he was in the Senate, Republicans just invoked the nuclear option to get Trump's nominees approved. Plus, what's with all the Confederate flags in West Virginia? And why aren't West Virginians more angry that conditions in the state have not improved since flipping red under Trump?

Sen. Joe Manchin joins Tim Miller.

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The administration is threatening to take away money and power—and maybe even freedom—from some vague Trump opponents because of the Kirk assassination. It doesn't seem to matter that elected Democrats have roundly condemned his murder. And it doesn't matter that Trump himself largely ignored the recent political assassination of Minnesota Democratic legislator Melissa Hortman and her husband. But anyone who is pro-assassination is a foe of The Bulwark. Full stop. A free country by definition must protect the right to self-expression. Plus, the giant nationalist march in London over the weekend, the latest stalling tactic on Russia sanctions, and...

Trump and the people around him want to use the Kirk assassination to suppress their political opposition. And Trump is clearly laying the groundwork for cracking down on people he doesn't like—peaceful protesters, Dem fundraisers—while also offering rhetorical comfort to potential vigilantes on the right. Meanwhile, we are witnessing the danger of having an incompetent person atop the FBI, who alternates his time between posting for clicks and purging the bureau of highly qualified personnel for political cred. Plus, Vance is running for the 2028 nomination every day, the raid on the Georgia Hyundai plant shows the incoherence and stup...

This country has too many guns and too many crazy people. And the social media oligarchs are fanning the flames of violence by constantly trying to piss people off. The Kirk assassination highlights just how dangerous a moment we are living in. America is not free if people are too afraid to speak their minds. Plus, parenting and the surprising gap in what Gen Z women and men think are the highest priorities in life.

Crooked Media's Erin Ryan joins Tim Miller.

show notes

Tim's latest FYPod episode JVL on Charlie Kirk Andrew on...

If Zohran Mamdani, as NYC mayor-elect, held a dinner with finance bros and threatened them with a huge wealth tax if they didn't sweet-talk him and say how much they agreed with his political vision, the Wall Street community would freak out. Yet, this version of a shakedown is *really* happening at the White House all the time and in response, the country's most powerful and wealthy business leaders can only trip over each other as they jostle for the chance to cut up Trump's well-done steak. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is tripping over its own rulings to green-light ICE's...

More than 10 years in, journalists still have not figured out how to cover Trump. He understands the media environment better than a lot of reporters, and knows his outrageous acts and statements command attention—and that people will not be able to finish processing one outrage before the next one comes down the pike. But now he's laying down the terms of how he expects to be covered, and media orgs are complying by hiring or giving airtime to MAGA avatars. In the process, journalists are failing to hold the powerful to account. Plus, Dems actually went on offense and go...

In seven months, Trump has accumulated an astonishing amount of unchecked power. No one inside his administration is challenging his will, and Trump is assuming war powers with barely any explanation—while blacklisting Tom Hanks from West Point. At the same time, in the business world, only one MAGA-friendly hedge fund billionaire has raised mild concerns about the Fed, but top-shelf tech leaders can't thank Trump enough just for existing. But, the resistance is showing up in Chicago and the Dems have a chance to throw their weight around with a potential government shutdown. Plus, Vance is an amazingly succinct li...

Last month, Trump fired the "woke" job numbers person after she released weak employment data. Now, we have even worse jobs numbers—and burgeoning signs of a tariffs-triggered manufacturing recession. Meanwhile, the administration may be working on a de facto military policy that would fulfill one of Trump's biggest longtime wishes: summarily executing drug dealers. Plus, a trans gun ban would be grotesquely unconstitutional, the blood-and-soil types at NatCon are missing what the Founding Fathers intended, Tucker can't quit his Putin obsession, and why Gen X enthusiastically embraced helicopter parenting.

David French joins Tim Miller for the weekend po...

The lethal U.S. military strike on a speedboat in the Caribbean was more about putting on a show than countering the drug trade out of South America. And it's not even clear that the people killed on the boat were running drugs, or that any contraband was bound for America. Meanwhile, if senators are truly concerned that local police departments are insufficiently staffed, then they should pass a bill to fund more officers instead of pushing the charade that Guard troops can legally do police work. Plus, Russia is running out of ammunition, Ashli Babbitt was no hero, and...

The economic populists at the Nat Con conference may be talking a lot about elites screwing over the little guy, but the Trump administration itself has been catastrophic for working people—its policies are all about doing special favors for elite interests. And while many loud voices in Silicon Valley cursed the Biden administration for blocking some deals, other start-ups appreciated the efforts to try to level the playing field against the tech giants. Plus, a response to Jason Calacanis, how Dems can shake off their elite vibes, and resisting the temptation to run for office.

Former FTC ch...

Democrats need to learn to fight like Republicans. So when senators with serious foreign policy chops vote to confirm a middling weekend talk show host as secretary of defense, Dems need to call them out for being unpatriotic. And when they allow an ex-junkie to sabotage vaccines that have saved millions of American lives, say they're destroying the legacy of what the Greatest Generation built. The party of Putin-philes is no longer a normal political party with whom Dems can hammer out a compromise.

Stuart Stevens joins Tim Miller—and pulls no punches.

show notes Lincoln Sq...

Red States are flexing their muscles and imposing their will on the other states through their coordinated redistricting efforts. And if they deploy their Guard troops to other blue cities beyond D.C., the only real precedent would be the era before the Civil War when the South tried to force more slave states on the union. Meanwhile, the infighting at the CDC over the Covid vaccine seems to be upsetting Trump, but what can he do about it? He's only the president. And in China, a new axis of authoritarians is creating a post-American world order, thanks to voters...

Trump is like a dysfunctional 8-year-old whose parents are always in the principal's office arguing that their son is a good boy. The media, CEOs, and Wall Street keep giving him a pass for his behavior while his supporters and apologists explain why he just had to set the school on fire. At the same time, he's empowering ideologues behind the scenes who are dismantling the government and executing their policy wet dreams. Plus, Joni Ernst's Senate tenure has been a sham, Vance tries Mickey Mouse Stalinism on for size, and what's going on with the bruising on Trump's right...

The resignations of senior leaders at the CDC is a calamity. People with decades of expertise in infectious disease are leaving the agency because the new director—who Trump just appointed—refused to get on board with RFK's anti-vax crusade, including limiting access to Covid boosters. And Wednesday's violence in Minneapolis may be a sign that the FBI should be keeping its eye on the threats from domestic terror instead of arresting day laborers at Home Depot. Meanwhile, Trump's threat to the Fed's independence could pose a real risk to the stability of the U.S. Plus, more on the shif...

A year ago, China was globally isolated and its economy was struggling. But once Trump was back in office pursuing his own personal and political gain, the U.S. brand got tossed in the toilet and the view from Beijing got pretty sweet. Trump has allowed China to buy American microchips that could be used against our own national security interests, he caved on his own trade war with the country, and the divisions he's creating with allies in the West have made China's propaganda job a whole lot easier. Plus, the tragedy in Gaza, the evolving U.S.-Israel...

Some rando far-right social media suck-up, who Trump rewarded with an appointment to his administration, is pushing mortgage fraud investigations of Adam Schiff, Tish James, and now Fed governor Lisa Cook. Trump claims he's fired Cook based on a tweet—but will any institution stand up to these McCarthy-like campaigns against his political foes? Meanwhile, Bolton is being investigated because he went on TV and called out Trump's lies about his embarrassing Alaska summit. Plus, the administration is abusing official resources by having Guard troops just stand around in D.C., Putin wants to devour Ukraine by any means necessary, an...

Trump and his people have used the summer months to up the despot game—sending armed troops into the streets, taking over the police in D.C., and promising to export the same tactics to even more blue cities. And the attempted deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Uganda shows the lengths the administration will go for not submitting to its coercion. At the same time, Vance sounds downright Orwellian on the John Bolton matter, while the White House eyes other major corporations to extort. Plus, Wes Moore punches back, the injustice of the trans military ban, and the emerging si...

The fears of jack-booted thugs and the military in the streets that filled the fever dreams of numerous people on the right since the 90s have come to pass. Not to mention that these are boom times for private prisons, deportation camps, and huge data centers driving up electricity bills. (We're building things, Marc Andreessen!) Meanwhile, The Bulwark was live on the scene for the FBI raid at John Bolton's house—just the latest installment from Team Trump's pursuit of his enemies. Plus, Alex Jones is worried about Trump's cankles, and Gavin is proving to be a good fighter, but ot...

While Trump keeps working hard on his own monetization and glorification—and delivers a Watergate practically every hour—the pro-democracy coalition must stay focused on winning next year's midterm elections. Trump is at the point of no return, Congress is becoming the only institution that can stop him, and holding onto that lever of power is his top priority. Meanwhile, not only did Trump look weak in Alaska, he also looked unpresidential. Plus, a new publication focused on the threats from the post-liberal right and left.

Jerusalem Demsas and Garry Kasparov join Tim Miller.

show notes
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Russia is losing the war in Ukraine. More than 1 million Russian troops have been killed or injured, and it's been estimated that it would take another four years and 2 million more soldiers for Putin to conquer the Donbas region. So no, Ben Shapiro, getting Ukraine to sacrifice the region in return for some kind of security guarantee would not be a "masterstroke" for Trump. Meanwhile, red state governors sending National Guard troops to D.C. are disrupting the lives and families of those troops at back-to-school time—just to please Daddy Trump. Plus, the MAGA socialism around Intel, Dems should ad...

Back in the day, Trump used to puff up his wealth to get on the Forbes list. Lately though, he doesn't talk about how much money he has, especially now that he and his family have pocketed an estimated $3.4 billion off his time in the White House. The bulk of those billions comes from various crypto-related ventures—and money from foreign nationals and some adjustments at the S.E.C. have helped grease the wheel. At the same time, the Trump Org is making development deals directly with dictators in the Middle East. Meanwhile, his supporters may think they're helping MA...