The Briefing with Jen Psaki

Jen Psaki looks at why Donald Trump is likely regretting staffing his administration based on culture war credibility rather than competence as FBI director Kash Patel's antics appear to have reached critical mass, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is spending energy being upset about beards while being unable to end the war with Iran, and Vice President JD Vance is buying himself a multi-million dol...

Maggie Haberman, White House correspondent for the New York Times and co-author of "Regime Change," shares some of the inside perspective she has gleaned from her reporting, including Donald Trump's fixation on his own power and how the war he started with Iran has shown him the limits of that power. As a new Washington Post report finds Donald Trump's vanity projects consuming an ever-increasing...

Jen Psaki rounds up what has been a terrible day for Donald Trump, with a string of court losses and a humiliating collection of mental lapses while speaking in public at the NATO gathering in Turkey. Jen Psaki reports on the collapse of Graham Platner's campaign for senator from Maine after another sexual assault allegation became too much for his campaign to bear. Molly Jong-Fast, host of the Fa...

Texas Attorney General and Republican candidate for Senate, Ken Paxton's marriage fell apart two years ago when his wife accused him of having an affair and she moved out of the house they shared. According to new reporting from the Texas Tribune and ProPublica, the address of that house is still on Paxton's voting registration even though he hasn't lived there for years and does not appear to be...

A special celebration of America’s 250th anniversary with Rachel Maddow, Jen Psaki, and Ali Velshi from MS NOW’s live community event in Philadelphia. In this hour, Rachel Maddow interviews civil rights legal stalwart Sherrilyn Ifill, and the panel takes questions from the live audience. To listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads, sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts. Hosted...

A special celebration of America’s 250th anniversary with Rachel Maddow, Jen Psaki, and Ali Velshi from MS NOW’s live community event in Philadelphia. In this hour Ali Velshi presents his acclaimed retracing of 250 years of American history. And Jen Psaki interviews Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro. To listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads, sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Pod...

Eric Lipton, New York Times investigative reporter, talks with Jen Psaki about the unprecedented amounts of money Donald Trump and his family is making while he is in office, and Trump's shamelessness about the conflicts of interest earning huge windfalls for his sons. Joyce Vance and Janai Nelson discuss how far the Supreme Court has strayed from the Constitution and American principles. Rep. Chr...

Vaughn Hillyard, Eugene Daniels, and Scott MacFarlane talk with Jen Psaki about Donald Trump appointing a hatchet man to run amok in the U.S. intelligence community, making cuts based on “deep state” paranoid conspiracy theories. Rep. Ro Khanna joins the discuss the rise of progressive politics within the Democratic Party. Liz Oyer, former Justice Department pardon attorney, discusses Donald Trump...

Jen Psaki makes the case that Donald Trump's failed "state fair" and his other calamitous projects at the seat of American government is an encapsulation of his entire presidency, from overblown vanity projects to sketchy budgets to utter incompetence to weaponizing his Justice Department to help feed his cover story. Jonathan Swan, reporter for the New York Times and co-author of "Regime Change:...

Jen Psaki takes a closer look at the dubious timing and thin excuses for the billions of dollars financial disclosure forms show Donald Trump made when he returned to the White House. After financial disclosure forms show Donald Trump taking in billions of dollars while president, Rep. Robert Garcia talks with Jen Psaki about the accountability Democrats intend to bring to the Trump family and his...

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez talks with Jen Psaki about the significance of primary victories by Democratic Socialist congressional candidates in New York City and why sitting Democrats would be smart to meet these new potential members as colleagues and not buy into the fear-mongering frenzy the right-wing is stirring up. JD Vance tried to downplay the significance of the Watergate scandal by de...

After years of political party power players like Senator Mitch McConnell trying to take control of national party purse strings to which candidates to help and how to shape the party, all it took was one ruling by the Supreme Court to change the way campaign politics is funded. Jen Psaki talks with Jim Messina, former campaign manager for President Barack Obama about how the Supreme Court's rulin...

Michael Steele shares a jaw-dropping exchange between Senator Gary Peters and Postmaster General David Steiner in which Steiner admits that a new proposed Trump administration rule would withhold mail ballots from states that do not comply with Trump's voter database demands. Senate Peters joins to discuss. Mychael Schnell, MS Now congressional reporter, and Scott MacFarlane, chief Washington corr...

Jen Psaki looks at how Donald Trump failed at what should have been the easiest assignment of his presidency, celebrating the 250th birthday of the United States. And Trump even managed to blow up the signing ceremony for what should have been a no-brainer, bipartisan, American-helping housing bill. But it was in his unhinged tweets that it became clear what was really on his mind. House Democrati...

Jen Psaki talks with Senator Raphael Warnock about how voters in Georgia are standing up against Republican redistricting and Donald Trump's immigrant prison camp plans as Americans are increasingly aware that the only way to stop Trump is to stand up to him. Nancy Lacore was serving as a vice admiral in the U.S. Navy when she was fired as part of former weekend cable news host Pete Hegseth's anti...

MS NOW's Michele Norris interviews former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama about their time in the White House and opening of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago. To listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads, sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection an...

MS NOW's Michele Norris interviews former President Barack Obama about his time in office and the opening of his new presidential center in Chicago. To listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads, sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Jen Psaki talks with former speech writers for President Barack Obama, Jon Favreau and Cody Keenan, about the significance of the Obama Presidential Center and how the messaging of hope and hard work contrasts with the bleak mood as Americans endure Donald Trump's corruption and mismanagement. Former President Barack Obama, in his remarks upon the opening of the Obama Presidential Center, tells th...

Former President Barack Obama has made permanent residence in Donald Trump's head for most of Trump's political life, and now, in the shadow of his failed war on Iran, the contrast between Trump's shortcomings and Obama's accomplishments only add to Trump's burden. Jen Psaki traces the roots of Trump's insecurity about Obama, and talks with House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi. Senator Jon Ossoff la...

Donald Trump's sycophantic FBI director, Kash Patel, has reportedly caused a rift between the FBI and the Secret Service for impulsively posting to social media about an investigation that was still ongoing, part of a pattern of Patel being unable to restrain himself. Patel's embarrassment comes as he is newly accused of making payouts to his inner circle from a taxpayer funded slush fund. Senator...

People gathered in person and online to witness the removal of Donald Trump's name from the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.. The Trump administration made last-ditch efforts to delay the removal. Ultimately, the courts pushed back. Former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirshner joins Jen to discuss. Following SpaceX's debut trading on the NASDAQ, Jen Psaki breaks down why you may end up boosting Elon...

Jen Psaki looks at catastrophic polling data about how Americans feel about Donald Trump and his handling of issues like the economy and his war with Iran Jen also shares interviews from MS NOW reporter Alex Tabet with frustrated Trump voters who turning away from Trump. "They thought he was going to lower costs. They thought he was going to end the wars. They thought he was going to drain the swa...

A new report from the New York Times exposes the frantic response from Donald Trump's White House to protect Trump from fallout from the revelations in the Jeffrey Epstein files and his association with the notorious sex predator. Rep. Robert Garcia talks with Jen Psaki about what the report's revelations mean for the ongoing congressional investigation. In addition to bizarrely declaring his love...

Graham Platner, Democratic candidate for Senate from Maine, addresses his supporters in declaring victory in the Democratic primary, thanking them for his support, laying out his vision for the issues he hopes to champion on their behalf in Washington, D.C., and presenting a blistering criticism of Senator Susan Collins, his Republican opponent in the general election. Ali Velshi, MS NOW chief dat...

A report from the non-profit watchdog group Public Citizen points out that while Donald Trump insists that donations are paying for his vanity project ballroom, those donors are being granted federal contracts totaling more than $50 billion. Ruth Ben Ghiat, author of "Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present,” and Timothy L. O'Brien, senior executive editor of Bloomberg Opinion, discuss Donald Trump's...