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We’re looking back at an episode that sheds light on President Trump’s actions as his term ends. Reporter Toluse Olorunippa explores the principles and controversy around presidential pardons after Trump’s clemencies. Original air date: February 20, 2020.

The final episode in the reprisal of our series on President Trump’s legacy focuses on uneven gains in the Trump era. The stock market and the wealthiest Americans have done better, but at the cost of growing inequality. Original air date: Oct. 29, 2020.

We're revisiting our series on the legacy of Trump's administration. Through weakening agencies and shuttering scientific programs, the administration has increased divisions in our trust of science-based guidance. Original air date: Oct. 28, 2020.

Over the holiday break, we're bringing back our series on President Trump's legacy. Trump has been surrounded by race-related controversies. Some hoped he would moderate his tone, but instead, he has inflamed tensions. Original air date: Oct. 27, 2020

President Trump only has one last way to challenge the results of the election-- and he'll need Congress. How long can he hold onto his influence on GOP leaders and voters in his base? And how might his influence affect Georgia's Senate races? Related reading and episodes Does Trump’s refusal to concede put national security at risk? What do Trump’s legal threats actually accomplish? In challengin...

How much did Trump’s efforts effect vaccine development? Has Operation Warp Speed done more to help than our government’s pre-existing pandemic response system? Dr. Nicole Lurie of The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations answers questions. Related reading and episodes What you need to know about the Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines Virus cases are surging in the U.S. Is our gov...

President Trump is reportedly considering pardoning himself and his family for potential future Justice Department charges. Can he do that? And where does recent news of a“bribery-for-pardon” scheme fit into a president's limitations on pardon power? Related reading and episodes The problems with pardon power Trump’s view of a unilaterally powerful president goes unchallenged Giuliani? Manafort? H...

Are Trump's major moves during a lame-duck period unprecedented? Professor Jeremi Suri offers an example from history with lessons for today. Plus, reporter Yasmeen Abutaleb on the implications of Trump's approach to the virus for Biden's incoming team. Related reading and episodes What do Trump’s legal threats actually accomplish? Does Trump’s refusal to concede put national security at risk?

Experts are concerned that the president's unwillingness to start a transition threatens our country’s safety by denying President-elect Joe Biden resources and intelligence. Shane Harris explains the risks when a president blocks a smooth transition.  Related reading and episodes What do Trump’s legal threats actually accomplish? Amid Pentagon upheaval, military officers face a fraught few m...

Election Day 2020 is behind us, but the presidential election is far from over. Because of increased vote-by-mail and early voting, vote counts are taking longer than usual this year. The race is very tight. The winner of the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency is coming down to vote counts with very thin margins in a handful of battleground states. While counts are still trickling in...

As a businessman, candidate Donald Trump said that he was the only person who could deliver major gains for U.S. workers. The stock market and the wealthiest Americans have seen gains during his administration, but at a cost — ever-growing wealth inequalities. Related reading and listening: Will Trump get Americans off of welfare? Jobless claims increase to 898,000, a sign the recovery could be st...

Through his administration’s efforts to weaken agencies, control the flow of information coming out of government and shutter scientific programs, we explore how President Trump has increased divisions in our willingness to accept science-based guidance. Related reading and listening: Does the president have much power to control a viral outbreak? CDC feels pressure from Trump as rift grows over c...

President Trump has been surrounded by controversies over his rhetoric when it comes to race. Some hoped he would moderate his tone in office, but four years later, the president has inflamed racial tensions more — through both rhetoric and policy. Related reading and listening Will courts let the Trump administration put a citizenship question on the Census? All four living ex-presidents draw a s...

In the upcoming 2020 election, 35 U.S. Senate seats and 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives are up for grabs. Plus, 44 states with seats in their state legislative chambers are also on the ballot. Many of these races have an impact on the agenda of the next president and the future of the American political landscape. Yes, the makeup of Congress will, of course, affect the way the next...

The 2020 election and its lead-up have not exactly been your run-of-the-mill election season. American elections often face various challenges, but this year that list of challenges is quite long. First, the world is still in the middle of a pandemic. That’s meant that many states have ramped up mail-in voting, added ballot drop boxes or laid out plans for safety measures around in-person voting....

For months, President Trump avoided the novel coronavirus. He did this even without taking basic steps to prevent the virus’s spread, like wearing masks and staying away from large indoor crowds. But, last week, that changed.  Trump told the American people via tweet very early Friday morning, that he had tested positive for the coronavirus. Later that day, he was hospitalized at Walter Reed...

President Trump is not exactly known for his adherence to Washington norms. And his ongoing rhetoric around perhaps the most significant norm of American democracy — the peaceful transition of power — brushes against centuries-old precedent. Though we’ve faced several electoral challenges in our country’s short history, presidential power has always passed peacefully from one commander in chief to...

The passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg last week, has created a vacancy on the bench. President Trump and the Republicans have since taken steps toward quickly confirming a conservative replacement for Ginsburg, who was a liberal icon. Trump is expected to announce a nominee late this week, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has suggested confirmation he...

Reporter Seung Min Kim on how Trump’s refusal to acknowledge human-caused climate change affects the country’s wildfire management and response plans. Plus, environmental analysis professor Char Miller on who's really responsible for fire mitigation.

The Justice Department on Tuesday intervened in the defamation lawsuit brought by a woman who says President Trump raped her years ago, moving the matter to federal court and signaling it wants to make the U.S. government — rather than Trump himself — the defendant in the case. In this segment from "Post Reports," Matt Zapatosky talks about the unusual move, and where it fits into the larger story...

Jacob Blake was shot seven times in the back by a Kenosha, Wis., police officer in late August. Since that shooting, Kenosha has been the site of unrest, protests, vandalism and violence. Days after the protests and unrest began, 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse traveled a short trip from his home to Kenosha where self-declared militia members and armed counterprotesters had been appearing. Rittenhous...

Faith in the U.S. electoral system is one of the most important fundamentals of this country’s democracy. And this year, it’s being tested in unprecedented ways. Some of those challenges are emerging from the rhetoric of the president himself. President Trump has discredited mail-in voting, suggested rampant voter fraud and said he might not accept the results of the election. Most recently, Trump...

President Trump’s rhetoric about the Postal Service has grown bolder. He’s said that if he stops the Democrats from providing emergency funding to the Postal Service, it’s harder for them to process a surge in mail-in ballots. And according to Trump himself, he wants less mail-in voting, because he thinks too much vote by mail may cost him the election. Meanwhile, a new postmaster general has take...

Usually, in presidential election years of the past, August marks a new phase in election season. Conventions wrap up, rallies and events pick up on the campaign trail and candidates debate in front of large audiences, all leading up to the moment voters go to the polls. But this year, pretty much none of those things will happen in the way that we’re used to. The novel coronavirus fundamentally c...

If you’d never heard of TikTok before the coronavirus pandemic sent us all into our homes for months, you’ve probably heard of it now. With little to do at home, millions of Americans turned to TikTok to create and watch short, fun videos of mostly teenagers mostly dancing, lip syncing or pranking their parents. While this social video app may seem harmless when you’re somehow mindlessly scrolling...