Every weekday, The New Republic’s Greg Sargent brings you a fresh way of thinking about the biggest political stories of the moment, offered up in an entertaining, information-packed conversation with a leading lawmaker, journalist, or newsmaker. We go deep into the stories behind the headlines leading TNR and other news outlets—while making it fun and fast.
“Full-Blown Meltdown”: Don Jr. and MAGA Rage as GOPers Turn on Hegseth
19:50
President Trump’s defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, is imploding again. We just learned that he shared still more highly sensitive data on a private signal chat. A GOP Congressman just basically called for his resignation. And a former chief Pentagon o...
Trump’s Ugly New MS-13 Ramblings Wreck His Case Against Abrego Garcia
18:04
President Donald Trump’s case for leaving Kilmar Abrego Garcia to rot in an El Salvadoran prison continues to collapse. In bizarre, rambling remarks to reporters in which Trump talked about Abrego Garcia’s alleged ties to MS-13, Trump revealed the profound weakness ...
Trump’s Fury at Harvard Darkens as GOPer Openly Admits: “We’re Afraid”
24:58
In an extraordinary escalation of President Trump’s rage at Harvard University, the administration just threatened to block Harvard from receiving foreign students if the university doesn’t provide extensive information on students to the government. Trump also erup...
Fiasco for Trump as Judge Threatens Contempt amid New Warning in Polls
22:53
Donald Trump’s illegal deportations are running into more trouble. A federal judge just declared there’s probable cause to find the administration in criminal contempt over the removal of Venezuelans to El Salvador. Meanwhile, a Democratic Senator went to El Salvado...
Trump’s Unhinged Eruption at Harvard Actually Reveals Big MAGA Weakness
21:12
Harvard University has declared that enough is enough, and it’s now openly refusing to buckle to Trump’s command for subservience on multiple fronts. In response, Trump erupted on Truth Social like a petty tinpot dictator, raging that Harvard should lose i...
“Horrifying”: Trump’s Angry New Rants to Media Openly Defy SCOTUS
21:35
On Monday, Donald Trump met with El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele, and in an act of true infamy, the two authoritarian leaders collectively agreed that wrongfully deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia will not be returned to the United States. And in a series of vile&nb...
“Terrifying”: Trump’s Fury at Foes Darkens amid New Alina Habba Threat
24:18
After President Trump raged for weeks at law firms he regards as personal enemies, a number of them just surrendered to him like falling dominoes. That Trump boasted about this on social media so conspicuously represents a dark turn: He’s warning anyo...
Fox News Accidentally Wrecks Trump’s Tariff Spin as MAGA Panic Worsens
24:24
After President Trump’s supposed tariff “pause,” we still have a 10 percent tariff on most global imports, the trade war with China is intensifying, and markets have plunged again. Fox News figures are aggressively spinning the “pause” as sheer brilliance, propping ...
“Trump Is Backing Down Again”: Hakeem Jeffries Mocks Tariff Flip Flop
28:33
President Donald Trump’s tariff chaos continues. He just announced a big reversal: For 90 days, the reciprocal tariffs will come down, but a universal 10 percent tariff will remain, and he’s hiking tariffs on China into the stratosphere. Meanwhile, House Speake...
Sotomayor’s Harsh Dissent on Trump Arrests Offers a Terrifying Warning
22:19
The fate of dozens of Venezuelans deported by the Trump administration to a maximum security prison in El Salvador remains in doubt. So does the fate of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who administration officials admit was removed in error, even as they refuse to return him to the Uni...
Unwell Trump Rages Wildly at Many Targets as GOP Starts Turning on Him
23:58
As the chaos grows around President Trump’s tariffs, the Mad King is now raging wildly in many directions. He erupted over China’s reciprocal tariffs, threatening dark retribution. He exploded at Republicans, because a handful of them are now moving to rei...
“Disaster”: Trump Voters Suddenly Realize How Badly He Screwed Them
22:14
President Donald Trump has more support in rural America than any U.S. politician in decades, and farmers remain overwhelmingly loyal to him. Yet with Trump’s tariffs unleashing a trade war and China striking back with retaliatory tariffs, farmers and their represen...
“Horrifying”: Trump’s Weird, Confused Rant to Media as Markets Tanked
22:14
After President Trump imposed sweeping tariffs on imports from all over the globe, prompting the markets to implode, he took a question about it on Thursday. He ranted and rambled delusionally about how everything is just great, bizarrely likened the country to...
Trump Suddenly Set to Cut Musk Loose as Knives Come Out Over WI Fiasco
23:13
After Democrats scored a huge victory in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race, a contest that revolved heavily around Elon Musk’s involvement, Trumpworld is turning on their favorite billionaire. In a striking turn of events, Politico reports that Trump has informe...
Trump’s Arrests Take Dark, Unnerving Turn, and MAGA Rage Melts Down
23:42
By now you may have heard that the Trump administration deported a Maryland man to a Salvadoran prison in “error.” The administration is refusing to bring him back, and this case has extremely dark implications. JD Vance and press secretary Karoline L...
Trump Hit by Two Brutal Polls on Econ as GOP Tariff Panic Goes Nuclear
20:21
President Donald Trump is set to announce that he’ll impose sweeping new global tariffs on imports, and Congressional Republicans are already scrambling wildly to try to shield their states and districts from the fallout. Meanwhile, a Fox News poll fi...
Trump Text Fiasco Suddenly Worsens as MAGA Knives Come Out for Hegseth
28:18
President Donald Trump’s own allies are beginning to turn on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Politico reports. White House and Pentagon insiders are increasingly questioning Hegseth’s judgment, and see him as the culprit in the disastrous news that Trump’s top advisers d...
Trump’s ICE Removals Take Darker Turn after Unnerving Rubio Admission
18:13
By now you may have heard that President Trump’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained a foreign student at Tufts under shocking circumstances, for an unnervingly thin rationale. This is only the latest in an escalating trend, in which numerous student...
Trump Privately Seethes at Text Fiasco as Hegseth’s Dumb Spin Implodes
25:35
It’s day three of the scandal in which President Trump’s top advisers accidentally allowed a journalist for The Atlantic onto a highly sensitive discussion of a military operation. The latest: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth offered an incredibly weak defen...
Trump Text Fiasco Worsens as Tulsi Gabbard Implodes and Fox Melts Down
25:04
As the scandal worsens around the news that President Trump’s top national security officials allowed a journalist onto a highly sensitive text chat about war plans, Fox News figures are wildly denying that anything is amiss. Yet under questioning from Senate Democr...
Trump’s Angry Rant about Stunning Leak of War Plan Makes Scandal Worse
21:08
By now you may have heard that President Trump’s top officials discussed war plans on Signal, and that the group chat actually included Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic. After Goldberg published his explosive findings, Democrats called for an investigation, and even...
Trump Blurts Out Revealing Aim of Law Firm Shakedown Right to Media
24:43
Faced with President Trump’s shakedown, the Paul Weiss law firm agreed to a “deal” with Trump that sure looks like a ransom payment. Trump then told reporters that firms like these have the option to make similar “deals” to avoid getting targeted—a st...
“Terrifying”: Trump’s Rage at Judge Unnerves GOPers as Crisis Worsens
19:49
President Trump is furious with a federal judge who is trying to block his ludicrous deportations of migrants under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act. Trump and his allies are demanding the judge’s impeachment. But this has Republicans privately in a bi...
Trump’s Fury at Canada Boils Over on Fox—and Polls Now Show a Backlash
25:55
It’s growing harder to shrug off President Trump’s deranged threats toward Canada. In a new Fox News interview, Trump snarled angrily that Canada is “meant” to be a 51st state, explicitly speaking the language of imperialism. Meanwhile, Trump is adopting a ...
Fox Anchor Suddenly Panics About Trump Economy as Brutal New Poll Hits
26:42
Fox News’s Maria Bartiromo has suddenly emerged as a leading voice sounding loud alarms about President Trump’s tariffs and the devastating impact they could have on the economy—even though she works for a MAGA propaganda network. On Tuesday, Bartiromo lost patience with...
“Chilling”: Trump Press Sec Hints Darkly at More Lawlessness to Come
25:59
President Trump’s lawlessness is escalating. First he angrily tweeted that his predecessor’s pardons of January 6 committee members are invalid, while threatening to prosecute them. Meanwhile, the Trump administration appears to have violated a court order...
Trump’s Rage at Canada Darkens, and Even GOPers Suddenly Seem Unnerved
24:07
President Trump’s anger at Canada has darkened: He’s kept up the menacing threats even after it’s become clear Canadians take them seriously. Indeed, Canada’s foreign minister just openly declared that Canadians are “anxious.” Meanwhile, even some Republic...
Musk Craters in Two New Polls as DOGE Cuts Hit by Brutal Loss in Court
24:17
Elon Musk is suddenly facing lots of bad news. A judge just ordered the Trump administration to reinstate thousands of federal workers in their jobs, a big blow to Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency. Meanwhile, two new polls show app...
Trump’s Anger Spins Out of Control at Presser as Another Bad Poll Hits
24:36
At a presser on Wednesday, President Donald Trump seemed unusually angry. He ripped into Chuck Schumer, calling him Palestinian. He seethed with anger at Canada, and taunted the Canadians over his tariff threats. And he snapped at three ...
“Terrifying”: Trump Press Sec Drops Dark Hint about Coming Crackdowns
25:34
The Trump administration just arrested and is moving to deport Mahmoud Khalil for being a suspected terrorist sympathizer, even though he has a green card and a U.S. citizen wife. And at Tuesday’s media briefing, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt dro...
