The Campaign Moment

Thank you for listening to “The Campaign Moment” throughout the 2024 election and into the start of the Trump presidency. Stay subscribed to this feed for more updates on our politics coverage in audio. And make sure you’re subscribed to “ Post Reports ” – that’s where you’ll find our politics roundtable conversations for now.

Some House Republicans are getting nervous . They’re worried that passing President Donald Trump’s budget proposal could mean cuts to popular programs like Medicaid . They’ve also gotten an earful from voters angry at Elon Musk who are packing congressional town halls.  Senior politics reporter Aaron Blake unpacks the drama with congressional reporter Marianna Sotomayor and congressional econ...

Senior political reporter Aaron Blake talks with Post congressional reporter Liz Goodwin and Dan Lamothe, who covers the Pentagon and the U.S. military, about the week’s political news. They dig into Trump’s sharp turn against Ukraine and its president, Volodymyr Zelensky, and toward Russian President Vladimir Putin. They also talk about new polling that shows Trump’s sweeping federal policy decis...

Senior political reporter Aaron Blake talks with Supreme Court reporter Justin Jouvenal and Democracy reporter Colby Itkowitz about how President Donald Trump is testing the power of the courts — and trying to expand his own authority in the process. They break down the cases facing the executive branch right now, what Trump and his allies are saying about them, and why some experts say Trump’s ac...

Senior political reporter Aaron Blake talks with senior national political correspondent Naftali Bendavid and national politics reporter Hannah Knowles about President Donald Trump's proposal to “take over” Gaza, displace Palestinians and remake it as the “riviera” of the Middle East. They also dig into Trump's use of tariffs as bargaining chips and the lack of resistance to Trump policies from bo...

Trump’s extraordinary news conference on the plane crash near Reagan National Airport, his administration’s freeze and unfreeze of all federal funds, and the Senate hearings for three more of his controversial Cabinet picks. Senior political reporter Aaron Blake talks through another chaotic week of political news with Congress reporter Liz Goodwin and White House economics reporter Jeff Stein. Th...

Senior political reporter Aaron Blake talks with senior White House reporter Isaac Arnsdorf and national political reporter Marianne LeVine about how Trump’s executive actions are already having a tangible impact . They also talk about how Trump’s pardon of Jan. 6 rioters was met with a muted response from several prominent Republicans.  Today’s show was produced by Laura Benshoff. It was edi...

Aaron Blake, senior political reporter and author of The Campaign Moment newsletter talks with national security reporter Abby Hauslohner and national politics reporter Hannah Knowles about the most heated exchanges that Trump’s picks for defense secretary and attorney general, Pete Hegseth and Pam Bondi, faced during their Senate confirmation hearings. They also talk about what to expect if the h...

Senior political reporter Aaron Blake talks with The Post’s White House editor, Naftali Bendavid, and national political reporter Maeve Reston about the politics of Trump’s sentencing in the New York hush money case. They also dig into how Trump is trying to pin the Los Angeles wildfires on Democrats and look ahead to next week ’s Senate confirmation hearing for Trump’s pick for defense secretary,...

On Friday, Republicans once again selected Rep. Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) to be speaker of the House — but not before there was a little bit of drama. Earlier this week, President-elect Donald Trump took to social media to link the New Year’s Day vehicular attack in New Orleans to weak border policies, even though the attacker was an American citizen born in Texas. In the hours following, the mes...

Aaron Blake, senior political reporter and author of The Campaign Moment newsletter, sits down with senior congressional correspondent Paul Kane and White House reporter Matt Viser to talk about what Biden is trying to do with his last few weeks in office. They also talk about Time magazine’s person of the year interview with Trump and what two GOP Senate appointments could mean for Trump’s abilit...

On Capitol Hill, Hegseth is facing renewed scrutiny over allegations of excessive drinking and sexual misconduct, which he denies. So this week, the veteran and former Fox News host spent time with lawmakers, publicly and privately making the case for his leadership of the Defense Department. But some Republican senators are skeptical, and Trump is reportedly lining up other options. Senior politi...

“Post Reports” co-host Martine Powers and senior political reporter Aaron Blake talk with reporter Leigh Ann Caldwell, who co-authors the Early Brief politics newsletter for The Post, about why Gaetz’s bid for attorney general lasted just eight days. Aaron breaks down why Trump’s electoral mandate is actually weaker than he claims. Plus, answers to listeners’ and readers’ lingering questions about...

When Trump floated the name of Matt Gaetz for attorney general, some Republicans balked. The former Florida congressman has been investigated by both the Justice Department and the House Ethics Committee over allegations of drug use and sexual misconduct with a 17-year-old girl. Gaetz has denied wrongdoing. Trump’s announced choice to lead the Defense Department, Fox News weekend host Pete Hegseth...

There’s Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. Former Republican congressman Matt Gaetz to head up the Justice Department. Former Democratic congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard as the director of national intelligence. Trump has chosen some eyebrow-raising names to staff his Cabinet. But are there any Republicans in the Senate that would choose to block them?  Cong...

President-elect Donald Trump has a lengthy to-do list for his second term in the White House. Among other controversial proposals, it includes conducting large-scale deportations of immigrants in the U.S. without legal status, hiking tariffs on imports, firing career civil servants and granting clemency to people convicted of seditious conspiracy over the events of Jan. 6, 2021.  And while Am...

“Post Reports” co-host Martine Powers, senior political reporter Aaron Blake and White House reporter Cleve Wootson break down the questions many Democrats are asking right now about  why Harris lost: Should Biden have dropped out earlier? Did Harris run a bad campaign? Does America hate women? Today’s show was produced and mixed by Ted Muldoon. It was edited by Lucy Perkins and Mary Jo Murph...

“Post Reports” co-host Martine Powers talks with senior political reporter Aaron Blake and senior national political correspondent Ashley Parker about how Donald Trump won over a broad swath of voters to defeat Vice President Kamala Harris. Plus, how Democrats are reacting to their election losses and what this defeat means for the party’s future. Today’s show was produced by Laura Benshoff and Sa...

If you don’t already listen to Post Reports, we’re bringing you our first rundown of the election results, with some initial thoughts from Aaron Blake.  Very early Wednesday morning, former president Donald Trump stepped on stage in south Florida and claimed victory. Sounding surprised about how the election had gone, the former president promised to “fix everything” and praised his supporters, s...

It’s Election Day; today, what voting sounds like across the country — and a primer on what we could expect tonight as the results start to come in, and which down-ballot races to pay attention to. Aaron Blake, host of The Campaign Moment, makes an appearance on the “Post Reports” podcast. After an unprecedented campaign season, Election Day in America is finally here. Today, host Martine Powers t...

Remembering all the complex details of how the electoral college works is not exactly easy. And just when you’ve mastered how it all adds up, you probably won’t need to think about it again for another four years — hardly a formula for cementing something in your brain. Aaron Blake, host of The Campaign Moment, makes an appearance on the first episode of The Washington Post’s “ Try This ” podcast’...

The election is just four days away. Tens of millions of Americans have already voted. What do the final polls tell us ahead of the election? “Post Reports” co-host Martine Powers and senior political reporter Aaron Blake talk with Amy Gardner, who covers early voting for The Post, about what early voting data can and can’t tell us right now about the election results. They also talk about whether...

Election Day is one week away. As the Harris and Trump campaigns make their final pitch to voters, could racist comments made by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe at a Trump rally on Sunday push Latino voters toward Harris? Senior political reporter Aaron Blake talks with national political columnist Philip Bump about why the Trump campaign and other GOP candidates are distancing themselves from Hinchclif...

Over the past few months, Elon Musk has heavily invested in the Trump campaign. Musk is hosting rallies in swing states, giving out million-dollar checks to registered voters in those states and organizing canvassers. Billionaires donating to presidential campaigns is nothing new, but Musk is putting much more than money into the race.  Elahe Izadi speaks with technology reporter Trisha Thada...

Democrats tend to vote early in droves, but early returns this year show signs that GOP voters are hearing their party’s message to cast votes however they can. As of Monday afternoon, nearly 1.5 million Georgia voters had cast their ballots. In North Carolina, the number is over 1 million. And in Nevada, more Republicans are voting early than Democrats. Senior politics reporter Aaron Blake chats...