The Bulwark Podcast

Our government disappeared hundreds of Venezuelans to a hellish Salvadoran prison for 125 days. When Trump's and Stephen Miller's whole CECOT plan even became too much for the dictator who runs El Salvador, Marco Rubio helped orchestrate a political win for Venezuela's strongman, Nicolas Maduro—who gets to look like a white knight in the hostage exchange. Meanwhile, the administration still has no...

If anyone in America was still thinking that Trump's ties to Epstein were a nothingburger, Trump’s own behavior this week has probably disabused them of that notion. His panicking and flailing around sure seem exactly like how a guilty man would act. And the sudden firing of Jim Comey's daughter, Maurene—who worked on the Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell cases at the DOJ—isn't helping to tamp down th...

While the Trump administration is doubling down on fossil fuels, China is annihilating us in the clean energy space. Right now, 75% of all renewable projects anywhere in the world are being built by a Chinese company. China is dominating the green energy supply chain with solar panels and batteries, and its electric car can charge in five minutes. The U.S. may be betting on AI, but that build-out...

In addition to eviscerating the top leadership at the Bureau, Kash Patel has assigned whole squads of agents to immigration enforcement. Seasoned FBI veterans who used to focus on national security or run RICO investigations are now doing perimeter security during ICE round-ups of kids and grandmas. The administration's purge is draining the Bureau of expertise and apolitical people who did real w...

The majority of elected Democrats would prefer to talk only about policy, but that's not enough for today's freewheeling new media environment. It's way past time for Dems to figure out how to shoot the sh*t—and stop being the kids at the front of the class who don't know how to talk to the ones in the back. And when it comes to Epstein, Trump & co were either lying about the pedophiles back t...

With the Epstein case, the conspirator-in-chief has finally found a hoax that MAGA isn't buying—and he's risking his credibility among his newer supporters in the manosphere by continuing to hawk it. Meanwhile, Trump may have figured out that Putin has not been nice to him. Plus, troops are still in Los Angeles, immigration laws meant for the border are being applied to gardeners and farmworkers i...

Republicans are creating, and celebrating, an immigration police state financed by their megabill. Our cities will be militarized, we'll have prison camps, more masked agents, and more dehumanization—like their sicko alligator hats. And the motivation all seems to be so Trump has a win and the Dems don't. But this is Stephen Miller's administration now. Expect net zero migration, less tourism, les...

Trump has moved public opinion against his own immigration policy platform by sending masked agents out to nab people off the street. So, Democrats should skip the last war, and instead push for laws requiring ICE agents to show their faces and wear their names on their badge. And another no-brainer for the midterms, in light of the Big Ugly Bill: they should also grab the green eyeshades and talk...

Ever the journalist, E. Jean took assiduous notes about her two civil suits against Donald Trump, the only occasions he has been held liable for his lies since he became president. And while the origin story of her cases is situated in an infamous department store dressing room, she managed to find a high comedy in the courtroom—her description of Alina Habba is one for the ages. Plus, as the reco...

Thom Tillis finally showed some backbone and opposed Trump—because of the giant Medicaid cuts in the Big Fugly Bill—but now he has to self-deport from the Senate. Meanwhile, the bill funds a giant internal police force for Trump, and gives a handout to the Dr. Strangeloves of Silicon Valley who don't want AI regulated. It would also cripple wind and solar energy, which even the ex-shadow president...

A miracle food paste that fights malnutrition in children, that taxpayers have already paid for, is collecting dust in warehouses. Donated drugs for parasitic infections remain undistributed and are nearing their expiration dates. American-purchased ambulances sit idle because they have no gas. USAID was shut down in the name of government efficiency, but instead, we've spent at least $6 billion t...

Trump was so awestruck by Israel's intel infiltration and air supremacy over Iran that he just had to give himself an executive producer credit. And he's casting his appointees to help create a Hollywood ending—including using his Val Kilmer-esque SecDef to spike the success of the long-teased, "secret" military operation. At the same time, Trump is having trouble leveraging the intelligence commu...

A DSA candidate winning a Democratic primary in New York City is not an ideal laboratory for other Dems to draw lessons from, but Mamdani sounded authentic, he successfully juggled our fragmented media environment, and he had the right message for this cost-of-living moment—as well as the proper amount of party heresy for this anti-establishment age. Meanwhile, the Republican tax and budget bill i...

While Trump and his administration are the ones politicizing the rule of the law, ignoring due process, and annihilating democratic norms, it's Republicans leaders saying and doing nothing in response that poses a bigger threat to our country and democracy. Meanwhile, when it comes to the Middle East, we don't know who Trump is talking to—or listening to. Plus, when Bush 43, McCain, and Jeb pushed...

Tim and Bill may have different takes on the wisdom of the U.S. bombing of Iran's nuclear sites—and on potential regime change—but they see eye-to-eye on the risks of Trump's ego and his incapable advisers in a dangerous situation. And where is the missing enriched uranium? Meanwhile, Stephen Miller's masked goons violently assaulted an immigrant landscaper and father of three Marines in Southern...

What if it had been a Harris-Cuban ticket in 2024? Well, it turns out the billionaire entrepreneur had been seriously considered for the VP slot—and we can all dream of a potentially different outcome in the election. Meanwhile, the current guy in the Oval Office is failing spectacularly at the number one job of a president: to reduce the stress of the American people, and to communicate trust and...

Because half the country so desperately wanted Trump back, we may now be on the verge of attacking Iran because the fake peacenik president wants some credit for Israel's military accomplishments against Tehran. Meanwhile, decent, hard-working people are being swept up by his anti-American deportation policy, consumers—and home buyers— are continuing to pay for his boondoggle tariffs project, and...

Iran is in a vulnerable spot for a variety of reasons, and Israel sees this as a stars-aligning moment to decapitate the Iranian state. But if the U.S. helps out, we'll face the same questions we did with Iraq and Afghanistan: Who will run the place? As Tucker had to embarrassingly school Ted Cruz, Iran is a giant country. And it could descend into civil war or chaos—and America could be drawn int...

NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani joins Tim and Cam for a special edition of the daily pod to discuss making the city more affordable, building more housing, and ending food deserts—as well as antisemitism and Islamophobia. Plus, the murky picture on Iran with a lunatic in the White House, and New York magazine's Kerry Howley on the paranoia and chaos at the Pentagon under Pete Hegseth. Kerry H...

In contrast to the saddest military junta parade in history, millions of patriotic people took to the streets on Saturday to defend American values and principles against Trump. But the deflated birthday boy now wants to ramp up the militarization of our largest cities on a completely partisan basis to achieve his mass deportation. Meanwhile, folks on the right are showing a vicious irresponsibili...

On Saturday, Trump would like nothing more than images from Los Angeles of tear gas and balaclava-clad anarchists throwing bottles at Marines to complement video of himself in the stands at his military parade, saluting the troops amid a field of flags. That's part of the reason why he chose LA to federalize the Guard—home to numerous adversaries who willingly take his bait. And while tanks are go...

Trump is outright fabricating a justification for sending Guard troops into Los Angeles, and his directive is not limited only to LA. So, if someone acts violent during a 'No Kings' protest on Saturday somewhere in America, would he deploy the National Guard there too? The potential chilling effect on our First Amendment rights to protest is enormous. Plus, masks are liberating ICE agents to act w...

Trump keeps wrapping himself in the American flag while while behaving in a very anti-American way—like threatening to shut down protests at his $45 million birthday parade or giving a highly partisan speech in front of soldiers in violation of military policy. And as the haphazardly deployed Marines join federalized Guard troops in LA, Trump seems hellbent on escalating his feud with Gavin Newsom...

Where is Obama? Where is George W. Bush? A Marine battalion and the National Guard have been deployed in response to a spark Trump set off by sweeping up people who aren't doing anything illegal besides being present here. And the administration may ramp up the tension if it uses the military for domestic law enforcement purposes. At least Gavin is finally angry. Plus, MAGA is built around conspir...

Trump and Stephen Miller wanted a backlash against the immigration raids, because even they know that humans will respond when the federal government is snatching people off the street. But the tenor of modern protests is not going to be like the Civil Rights Movement, because activists back then were trained to suppress their natural inclination to defend themselves. Plus, the key role of culture...