Trump’s year of legal battles, Part 1: Suits and settlements
As this year comes to a close, Post reporter David Fahrenthold helps us unravel the details of the swirling lawsuits and investigations surrounding Trump's charity and business.

As this year comes to a close, Post reporter David Fahrenthold helps us unravel the details of the swirling lawsuits and investigations surrounding Trump's charity and business.
While host Allison Michaels is away this week, we’re bringing you a segment from the Post’s premier daily podcast ‘Post Reports’ on Michael Cohen’s sentencing and what it may mean for Trump.
Amid escalating tensions and stalled talks between the U.S. and China, financial reporter David J. Lynch and Beijing Bureau Chief Anna Fifield explain what's at stake for Trump, the two countries and the global economy.
The revival of American manufacturing is a key part of Trump's economic message. Now that GM faces cuts, he's threatened to impose import penalties, and revoke subsidies. What's within his power? Economic policy reporter Damian Paletta explains.
Amid recounts in Florida, the president has used strong rhetoric to cast doubt on our elections. Can he do that? Amy Gardner, reporting from Broward County, Fla., explains what's at stake for Republicans, Democrats and the president himself.
Will a Democratic House stop President Trump's agenda? Mike DeBonis explains how House Democrats might stall Trump's policies in Congress, and Karoun Demirjian breaks down how far the Democrats might go in investigating the president.
Jeff Sessions and President Trump have had a tense relationship since Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation last year. So why did Trump request his resignation now? And what are the implications for control of Mueller’s ongoing probe?
After time on the trail tracking candidates and talking to voters, David Weigel offers insight on last night's results. Which party can claim the biggest wins? Was last night a referendum on President Trump? And will we see a new era of bipartisanship?
Are midterm elections always a referendum on the sitting president? Reporters Ashley Parker and Michael Scherer explain whom Trump has endorsed, which candidates have embraced Trump's policies and how his presence might play out at the polls.
White House reporter David Nakamura explains which pieces of border operations and immigration law Trump can change or influence. Plus, Kevin Sieff recounts migrant experiences from his time traveling with the caravan in Mexico.
Washington Post contributing columnist Jamal Khashoggis disappeared from a Saudi consulate in Turkey. His editor, Karen Attiah, sheds light on Khashoggi as a person and a writer. Reporter Shane Harris breaks down this pivotal foreign policy moment.
Trump's financial past includes $400 million in cash spending, $300 million in private loans and a $50 million loan to himself. David Fahrenthold and Jonathan O'Connell unravel their investigation into the mysteries of Trump's finances from 2005-2015.
What happens to the public's perceived independence of the Supreme Court when confirmation processes devolve into partisan battles? The Post's Robert Barnes explains the evolving relationship between politics and the judiciary.
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and Dr. Christine Blasey Ford will testify in relation to sexual misconduct allegations that have arisen during Kavanaugh's confirmation process. With much at stake, Trump is standing by his nominee for now.
At odds with the Justice Department, Trump wants some texts, interviews and warrants made public. We explore his exercise of presidential power when it pushes against well-established norms and creates conflicts of interest.
Trump called the handling of Hurricane Maria an "unsung success" and falsely said its high death count was generated to make him look bad. As we face Florence, reporter Joel Achenbach adds insight to Trump's claims and the state of our preparedness.
After a week of revelations about what it's like to work for President Trump, White House bureau chief Philip Rucker offers insight into the state of the administration.
Bob Woodward sought an interview with President Trump as he was writing "Fear," a book about his presidency. Trump called Woodward in early August, after the manuscript had been completed, to say he wanted to participate. This is audio of that call.
Does the administration have power to regulate the information technology companies distribute? Post technology reporter Brian Fung, technology ethicist David Ryan Polgar and law professor Genevieve Lakier explain how far Trump can take his concerns.
Trump’s longtime lawyer and friend, who made a plea implicating Trump this week, has connections to the president’s charity and business. Post reporter Rosalind Helderman explains what we've learned from documents made public by Cohen’s plea.
Within a few minutes on Tuesday afternoon, two people close to Trump are declared guilty. This special break-in episode with Post reporter Devlin Barrett breaks down what these major developments mean for the President of the United States.
A former White House aide is releasing details from her time in the administration. Trump wants to stop her. White House reporter Joshua Dawsey and watchdog director Danielle Brian explain what happens when a president seeks NDAs for government employees.
The ongoing trial of Trump’s former campaign manager can affect the future of the Mueller investigation. National security reporter Devlin Barrett and former federal prosecutor Robert Mintz explain what the jury’s verdict might mean for the president.
What are the legal lines surrounding collusion? Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Carol Leonnig and white-collar defense lawyer Jacob Frenkel analyze the legal and political consequences of President Trump’s latest suggestion that “collusion is not crime.”
In June, national political correspondent Jenna Johnson and producer Anne Li went to a Trump rally in Duluth, Minn. Johnson has been to dozens of Trump rallies, but this time, she and Li focused on something different - the crowd.
Given what we've learned from the 1994, 2006 and 2010 midterms about how partisanship, divisiveness and polarizing presidents all affect affect both midterm elections and the powers of the presidency, we ask if Democrats can flip the House in 2018.
2010 was the year of the Tea Party, the year of backlash against Obama, and the year of the biggest shift of power in the House in a century. But it’s also the year that Republicans executed a little-noticed strategy that cemented their place in power.
To understand the identity crisis within the Democratic Party, you could look to the 2006 midterm election … and the story of a junior congressman named Rahm Emanuel, who needed to win 15 seats in the House to restore his party to greatness.
Since childhood, Bill Paxon was a diehard Republican – a Nixon fanboy who watched House Republicans lose midterm elections for decades. Then he became a member of Congress. And he was finally in a position to help them get the 42 seats they needed to win.
In the last 60 years, the House of Representatives has changed political control just three times: in 1994, 2006, and 2010. What do those midterms tell us about what it takes to flip the House? And about why midterm elections matter?