Jen Psaki shares her first reaction and offers some corrections and clarifications to Donald Trump's address to the nation. MS NOW's Catherine Rampell and senior White House correspondent Vaughn Hillyard join with further fact-checking an analysis. Senator Mark Kelly shares his reaction to Donald Trump's address to the nation, describing Trump as "angry and desperate and defensive," and mocking the ridiculous intersection of math and Trump's dishonest exaggerations. Kelly also discusses Trump's ...
Dec 18, 2025•32 min•Ep. 202512179
Jen Psaki shares highlights and insights from a new Vanity Fair article based on interviews with Donald Trump's chief of staff, Susie Wiles. The article not only shows that there are no "adults in the room" at Trump's White House, but shows Wiles to be so incompetent that agreeing to interviews with a reporter looks like a really bad idea. Rep. Adam Smith, top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee talks with Jen Psaki about the lack of information and evasiveness by the Trump administra...
Dec 17, 2025•42 min•Ep. 202512169
Donald Trump's prosecutors tried and failed a third time to indict New York Attorney General Letitia James, who has repeatedly humiliated Donald Trump by exposing fraud in his organizations. Abbe Lowell, attorney for James, talks with Jen Psaki about the egregiousness of the politically motivated case, and the possibility of a counter suit over the DOJ's abuse of power. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries talks with Jen about the upcoming midterms, Donald Trump's unpopularity, and Indiana Republicans rejecting...
Dec 12, 2025•43 min•Ep. 202512119
Jen Psaki introduces viewers to Rachel Maddow's new podcast, "Burn Order," about Japanese internment in the U.S. during World War II, and points out that unlike Americans of that era, Americans now are being much more outspoken in support of immigrants and in condemnation of Donald Trump's anti-immigrant policies. Rachel Maddow joins to discuss Trump's use of anti-immigrant scapegoating as a means of giving himself more power. Rachel Maddow talks with Jen Psaki about Donald Trump's cluelessness ...
Dec 11, 2025•42 min•Ep. 202512109
Jen Psaki reviews the myriad scandals, disgraces, and bad news stories that are plaguing Donald Trump and his administration, and the familiar playbook of gaslighting, distraction, and lies that Trump is deploying with decreasing effectiveness. Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear talks with Jen Psaki about the factual gap between Donald Trump's bizarre economic boasts and the reality that Americans are living with in an economy burdened and distorted by Trump's tariff policy. Even as Donald Trump tri...
Dec 10, 2025•41 min•Ep. 202512099
Jen Psaki looks at the myriad ways Donald Trump and members of his administration are indulging reckless, juvenile ideas with no one pushing back to force a re-thinking. Miles Taylor, former chief of staff at the Department of Homeland Security during Donald Trump's first term, joins to share his experience of why it's so bad that there are no grown-ups in the White House in Trump's second term. Rep. Adelita Grijalva talks with Jen Psaki about being confronted with aggression from border agents ...
Dec 06, 2025•42 min•Ep. 202512059
Rep. Jim Himes, ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee was one of only a few legislators in a classified briefing on the September 2nd bombing of a boat in the Caribbean Ocean. Himes was able to watch the full, unedited video of the attack and hear testimony from Admiral Frank M. Bradley, the Navy commander who oversaw the operation. Himes spoke with Jen Psaki about the shocking details of the video and what he learned that contradicts some of the key elements of the Trump administra...
Dec 05, 2025•42 min•Ep. 202512049
Jen Psaki rounds up reporting and developments from just the past 24 hours that paint Donald Trump's secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, into an even tighter corner, not the least of which is a newly uncovered video from 2016 in which Hegseth talks about war crimes and troops not following illegal orders, the same message he has been criticizing Democrats for delivering in a recent PSA video. Newly released photos and videos of Jeffrey Epstein's island estate have made Donald Trump's nightmarish...
Dec 04, 2025•42 min•Ep. 202512039
Tennessee State Rep. Aftyn Behn shocked the political world with a disproportionately strong showing in a special election in a congressional district that Republicans would expect to win by a large margin, as Donald Trump did just a year ago. Senator Mark Warner, ranking Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, reiterates his call for Donald Trump secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, to step down as scrutiny of whether he ordered a war crime intensifies over the U.S. blowing up boats in the Carib...
Dec 03, 2025•40 min•Ep. 202512029
Rachel Maddow’s new series lays bare one of the most shocking decisions in American history. It’s story that reveals how an executive order authorizing the mass roundup of innocent Japanese Americans came to be, the powerful players who engineered it, and the burn order that tried to erase it from history. Stay right here to listen to a special preview of “Rachel Maddow Presents: Burn Order.” And for the full episode, search for “Burn Order” and follow the show. To listen to this show and other ...
Dec 01, 2025•10 min
Jen Psaki rounds up the latest reporting in the investigation of a shooting in Washington, D.C. that has left two members of the West Virginia National Guard in critical condition. Ken Dilanian, MS NOW justice correspondent, shares new reporting on Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the 29-year-old Afghan national who came to the U.S. through a program for Afghan citizens after the United States ended involvement in Afghanistan. Hakeem Jeffries, top Democrat in the House, reacts to the shooting of two member...
Nov 27, 2025•41 min•Ep. 202511269
Jen Psaki checks in on "some of the most incompetent people this country has ever seen," some of the higher profile members of Donald Trump's administration, and finds they have not grown to fill their positions and remain a source of humiliation for Trump. Glenn Kirschner, former federal prosecutor and former Army JAG prosecutor, talks with Jen Psaki about why Donald Trump's secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, is wrong for how he is treating Senator Mark Kelly, and why "you must obey lawful ord...
Nov 26, 2025•41 min•Ep. 202511259
Right-wing, Trump-supporting media had so thoroughly demonized New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani that it seemed all but a certainty that Donald Trump would play his part and make a show of his disdain for the young upstart upon their meeting at the White House. Instead, Trump was nothing short of fawning and even affectionate. How were Trump supporters (and political observers) so wrong in their expectations of the historically fickle Trump? Ali Velshi discusses with Rev. Al Sharpton and ...
Nov 22, 2025•42 min•Ep. 202511219
Donald Trump has made flouting the law and daring anyone to challenge his ability to do so a hallmark of his second term, but a new video reminding Americans of the limits of Trump's power has him in a red-faced tantrum. The video consists of several members of Congress who are veterans of the military and intelligence services pointing out the fact that members of the military are not required to follow illegal orders. Donald Trump called for the deaths of Democratic members of Congress who are...
Nov 21, 2025•41 min•Ep. 202511209
Jen Psaki reports on breaking news that Donald Trump has signed the Epstein Transparency Act after House Speaker (and Trump sycophant) Mike Johnson failed to keep Congress inert against Trump's deepening political unpopularity. Even devoted lackey Pam Bondi may not be able to keep the Epstein files from the public any longer. Jen Psaki points out Donald Trump's over-the-top treatment of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, as well as Trump's passionate defense of the Saudi leader agai...
Nov 20, 2025•41 min•Ep. 202511199
Epstein survivor Sharlene Rochard tells Jen Psaki in an exclusive interview tonight that the people to whom she was trafficked include well-known names and some names that "have not been out there yet." Rochard explains how she was brought to "model parties" at Mar-a-Lago as a girl in her early teens, and discusses working with Sky and Amanda Roberts and survivors of Epstein's abuse to bring his associates to justice. Epstein survivor Sharlene Rochard and Sky and Amanda Roberts, brother and sist...
Nov 19, 2025•40 min•Ep. 202511189
Trump struggles to find excuses and distractions in the face of unrelenting questions about his association with Jeffrety Epstein, leaving his Republican sycophants uncertain of what talking points to mimic. Jen Psaki shares new bombshell reporting from Pro Publica on the unseemly ties between Department of Homeland Security insiders and companies paid hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars to create video advertisements, including one that thanks Donald Trump for his immigration crackdown. Te...
Nov 15, 2025•41 min•Ep. 202511149
Donald Trump and his defenders have responded to the newly released tranche of Jeffrey Epstein documents by seeking to discredit any references to Trump that they contain, including by exposing the redacted name of Epstein victim Virginia Roberts Giuffre and treating her cherry-picked remarks as if they exonerate Trump of any wrongdoing. Sky and Amanda Roberts, Giuffre's brother and sister-in-law, talk with Jen Psaki about their outrage at Trump defenders trying to hijack her story for their pol...
Nov 14, 2025•40 min•Ep. 202511139
Rep. Adelita Grijalva, now official a member of Congress after waiting 50 days for Republican House Speaker to agree to swear her into office, talks with Jen Psaki about how Johnson's obstruction "has highlighted the corruption," and the need for a law that requires new members be seated promptly without relying on the good faith of the House speaker. Jess Michaels, a survivor of Jeffrey Epstein's abuse, talks with Jen Psaki and Rep. Adelita Grijalva about what it means that there are now enough...
Nov 13, 2025•41 min•Ep. 202511129
Jen Psaki reacts to the collapse of Democratic resistance in the shutdown fight and the fact that no Democratic Senate candidates support the deal, while Republicans remain in abject disarray. The angry reaction to the Trump administration's poorly conceived economic ideas, including a 50-year mortgage that is seen as a gift to big banks, has Donald Trump scrambling even with his own base. Stephanie Ruhle joins Jen Psaki to talk about why the Trump administration's ideas are impractical. Jen Psa...
Nov 12, 2025•41 min•Ep. 202511119
Jen Psaki looks at Donald Trump's callous disregard for Americans who are struggling to cover living costs while he learns that "affordability" is an important political buzzword but all of his policies only make things more expensive. Senator Ruben Gallego talks with Jen Psaki about the Republicans' cruel leverage tactics in the fight to manipulate Democrats into supporting a budget that will hurt tens of millions of people. Republicans have set up the argument to pit people who need food assis...
Nov 08, 2025•41 min•Ep. 202511079
Jen Psaki looks at some bizarre Republican hot takes explaining their poor performance in this week's elections, with addressing the cost of living in America coming almost as an afterthought. Jen Psaki reports on the lengths Donald Trump's weaponized Justice Department went to in order to try to make an example of Sean Dunn, a Washington, D.C. resident who threw a sandwich at a Border Patrol officer. But in the end the jury would not play along and found Dunn not guilty. Morris Katz, a senior a...
Nov 07, 2025•41 min•Ep. 202511069
In the aftermath of an Election Day disaster, Donald Trump struggled to accept the reality of the fallout from his painful policies, though he did at least acknowledge that the shutdown of the federal government weighed against Republicans. Senator Chris Murphy joins Jen Psaki to discuss whether the clear message from voters is enough to motivate Republicans to re-open the government. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro talks with Jen Psaki about the Democrats' resounding victories in the first e...
Nov 06, 2025•42 min•Ep. 202511059
Jen Psaki offers a special preview of Tuesday's elections, including the important race for governor of Virginia with Jen Palmieri, former communications director for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, Larry Sabato, director fo the University of Virginia Center for Politics, and political analyst Anthony Coley. Jim DeBoo, senior advisor to Governor Gavin Newsom, joins for a special focus on Prop 50 redistricting in California. New York City Comptroller Brad Lander discusses the energy and appeal ...
Nov 03, 2025•42 min•Ep. 202511029
Jen Psaki shows Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson and Vice President JD Vance explaining out loud that the reason they don't want to fund food assistance to millions of Americans is because if they do, Democrats will have even less incentive to vote for the Republicans' budget bill, in effect admitting that they're deliberately causing pain to people they know Democrats care about as leverage to get their way on a bad budget bill. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries talks with Jen Psaki ...
Oct 31, 2025•42 min•Ep. 202510309
Jen Psaki shares reporting on the suspension of two federal prosecutors after they submitted a sentencing recommendation for January 6 rioter Taylor Taranto after his conviction on charges unrelated to the insurrection. The recommendation was refiled with alterations made in the references to January 6 and Donald Trump. Jen Psaki relays reporting from "Retribution," the new book from Jonathan Karl, ABC News chief White House correspondent, which offers a look behind the scenes at how Donald Trum...
Oct 30, 2025•41 min•Ep. 202510299
The Maine Senate race was rocked this month when revelations about the Democratic frontrunner Graham Platner threatened to completely upend the Democratic primary to select a candidate to try to unseat Susan Collins. Jen Psaki had Platner back on The Briefing to ask him directly about past offensive internet comments, a tattoo identified as being associated with Nazism and the state of his campaign in the wake of a tumultuous month. Graham Platner, an upstart outsider who appears to still be lea...
Oct 29, 2025•40 min•Ep. 202510289
In a move seen as a test run for intimidation tactics during the midterm elections, Donald Trump is reportedly sending poll watchers to a few polling places around the United States. Rick Hasen, professor of law and political science at UCLA, explains why the steps Trump is taking this year may only be a dress rehearsal for how he intends to disrupt the 2026 election which could cost him control of Congress. Even though incompetence and corruption are endemic in the Trump administration and can ...
Oct 25, 2025•41 min•Ep. 202510249
Jen Psaki observes that as Donald Trump gets more comfortable with his autocrat persona, the traits that made him a societal laughing stock all his life are coming to define his leadership style. And the mockery he has become has so diminished him that his opponents are emboldened to get in the way of his demolition of the United States. Donald Trump's lackeys in Congress are trying to support his effort to exact revenge on the public servants who tried to hold him to account. Former special cou...
Oct 24, 2025•42 min•Ep. 202510239
Jen Psaki reacts to Donald Trump's demolition of the White House's East Wing to make room for his vanity project ballroom, and takes heart in the increasing, and increasingly creative, ways that Americans are pushing back against Trump's authoritarian overreach. Rep. Jamie Raskin explains the maneuver Donald Trump is trying to pull off by getting the lawyers he installed at the top of the DOJ to agree to have the Justice Department pay him $230 million, the laws Trump is trampling, as well as wh...
Oct 23, 2025•41 min•Ep. 202510229
