Bulwark Takes

Andrew Egger and Will Saletan give their takes on the attack at an Ilhan Omar town hall in Minnesota, where a man rushed the podium and sprayed her with an unknown substance before being arrested. Donald Trump’s response was to dismiss the attack and blame Omar. Andrew and Will break down the Republican reactions to the attack, including Rep. Randy Fine’s attempt to condemn the violence while just...

Sam Stein and Will Sommer give their takes on the right wing media fallout from the killing of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis after the White House quietly tried to distance themselves from Greg Bovino. Megyn Kelly was grossly indifferent and didn't "feel sorry" about Pretti's death while Tim Pool remains unapologetic and is pushing for the crackdowns to continue.

Adrian Carrasquillo spent several days on the ground in Minneapolis as immigration operations intensified across the city. Drawing on firsthand reporting and eyewitness testimony, the conversation documents how immigration enforcement tactics have reshaped daily life for residents, workers, and small business owners. Segundo Balboa, co-owner of Galapagos Bar & Grill: A small-business describes...

The Trump White House says Americans can eat healthy meals for about $3 a serving. To test that claim, Jared Poland tried living on the administration’s guidance for three days. He also speaks with Colleen Heflin, a professor at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University who studies food and nutrition policy and social welfare policy.

Tim Miller takes on the Trump administration’s effort to defuse outrage over Minneapolis with PR tweaks and cosmetic changes, arguing that softer language and shuffled personnel don’t address the abuse of power.

Tim Miller is joined by New York magazine Washington correspondent Ben Terris to talk about his reporting on Trump’s health and the increasingly surreal way the White House talks about it. From mysterious MRIs and constantly bruised hands to doctors reading from talking points and Stephen Miller insisting Trump is “superhuman,” Tim and Ben dive into what we actually know about the president’s heal...

Sam Stein and Andrew Egger give their takes on the fallout from the White House after top officials like Stephen Miller, Kristi Noem, and Greg Bovino called Alex Pretti a “would‑be assassin” and “domestic terrorist” in the minutes after federal agents shot and killed him in Minneapolis even as video evidence and witness accounts contradicted them. As the Trump team scrambles to change the narrativ...

Fresh off MSNOW's The Weekend with Catherine Rampell, Sarah Longwell explains why the killing of Alex Pretti is breaking through with voters—and why government lies and Second Amendment hypocrisy aren’t holding up. Watch The Weekend on MSNOW: https://www.ms.now/the-weekend

Will Saletan gives his take on why Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem cannot be trusted to oversee the investigation into her own department. In just three weeks, ICE and Border Patrol agents killed two Americans. In both cases, Noem publicly described the victims as violent “domestic terrorists.” And in both cases, video evidence flatly contradicts her claims.

Sam Stein speaks with Dr. Aasma Shaukat, Alex Pretti’s former boss, about the moment she learned he’d been killed, and what kind of coworker and caregiver he was.

Sam Stein, The Bulwark's managing editor, takes on Border Patrol Commander-at-Large Greg Bovino’s Orwellian inversion of reality in the aftermath of the killing of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen and intensive care nurse. Sam digs into Bovino’s Sunday interview with CNN’s Dana Bash, where Bovino reframes the victim as the aggressor and dismisses what videos of the killing show.

Bill Kristol, Sam Stein and Adrian Carrasquillo have a live discussion of the killing of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.

Over the past week, there’s been a surge of ICE activity in Maine and one incident in particular has captured national attention. A corrections officer recruit was detained by ICE in the middle of the street and his car was left running in the cold. Tim Miller spoke to witness Ben Bozeman, who captured the shocking footage and stepped in to help return the officer’s car. Cumberland County Sheriff...

Sarah Longwell is joined by Andrew Weissmann for his reaction to the second killing of a civilian in Minnesota by federal agents. Andrew is professor of practice at the NYU School of Law who served as lead prosecutor in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office from 2017 to 2019, and was General Counsel for the FBI from 2011 to 2013. They discuss the roles of the First and Second Amendments in the c...

Tim, Sarah and Andrew react live.

Tim and JVL are live reacting to the second fatal shooting in Minneapolis.

Tim Miller gives his take on one of the most morally disgraceful moments of the Trump presidency. Trump told protesters in Iran that America had their back. He encouraged them to stay in the streets and keep fighting a brutal theocratic regime. Then the Iranian government began executing them by the thousands and the United States walked away. Now, in the middle of that crackdown, the Trump admini...

Will Saletan carefully dissects Jack Smith’s congressional testimony and shows how House Republicans used the hearing to distort the investigation and shield Donald Trump.

Tim Miller and Pod Saves America’s Jon Favreau give their takes on JD Vance’s latest performance defending ICE raids, child detentions, warrantless home entries, and racial profiling allegations. We walk through the facts JD Vance ignored, the lies he told calmly and confidently, and why this version of Trumpism that’s cooler, smoother, and more deliberate may be even more dangerous. Jon Favreau i...

Tim Miller gives his take on the latest New York Times/Siena poll and the results should worry Trump and the Republican Party. Trump's much-touted 2024 coalition is unraveling, especially among young voters and non-white voters who helped power his return to office. The MAGA realignment didn’t stick with 56% of Americans disapproving of Trump's job as president.

Lt. General Mark Hertling (Ret.) is joined by Ben Parker for a Command Post edition of Bulwark Takes, breaking down the national security fallout from Trump’s chaotic Davos remarks and growing global instability. As Russia escalates its war on Ukraine, Hertling explains why Putin’s threats keep working on Trump and why allies are alarmed about his recent Greenland rhetoric. We also examine the dan...

Sam Stein and Catherine Rampell give their takes on Trump backing off his threat to occupy Greenland after the markets flinched, calling the "concept of a deal" a victory, when it's really just the status quo being restored.

Tim Miller and Will Sommer give their takes on the disturbing viral night out that brought together the worst corners of the manosphere and the alt-right. From Andrew Tate and Nick Fuentes to Clavicular and a new crop of livestreamers, the group’s Miami club crawl featured Nazi salutes, extremist chants, and nonstop “aura farming” all broadcast straight into people’s social media feeds.

JVL, Sam Stein and Andrew Egger react live to Trump’s rambling and combative speech at Davos on January 21, 2026.

Tim Miller is joined by journalist Caolan Robertson, reporting from Davos, to explain how Russia is escalating its war by targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, why this winter is becoming a humanitarian catastrophe, and how Moscow’s economy is finally starting to crack under the cost of war.