Donald Trump's corruption and greed have reached a tipping point with the American public to become a campaign focus for many Democratic candidates. Ben Rhodes, former deputy national security advisor to President Obama, talks with Jen Psaki about the politics and also how Democrats can ensure justice is served as Trump's protective power slips. Donald Trump using his position in the White House to enrich himself and cut deals with taxpayer money for countries and corporations that do him favors...
May 02, 2026•41 min•Ep. 202605019
Jen Psaki looks at polling in key midterm Senate races that shows Democrats ahead, tied or within striking distance as Donald Trump's popularity continues to sag to new lows. Graham Platner, who essentially clinched the Democratic nomination for Senate from Maine when his opponent dropped out today, joins to discuss the grassroots energy behind his campaign and the significance of his race to eventual Democratic control of the Senate. "Any road to a Democratic Senate goes through the state of Ma...
May 01, 2026•41 min•Ep. 202604309
Jen Psaki explains the map at the center of the new Supreme Court ruling that is likely to weaken Black representation in Congress and talks with Sen. Rev. Raphael Warnock about what the ruling's real world effects will likely be. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries talks with Jen Psaki about how Democrats plan to address Donald Trump's disasters. Jen Psaki shares highlights of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth being challenged by Democrats in a hearing of the House Armed Services Committee, and ...
Apr 30, 2026•42 min•Ep. 202604299
Jen Psaki shares part of King Charles' speech to Congress in which he explains the importance of checks and balances in a functioning democracy to the very people who have abdicated their responsibility to be a check on Donald Trump. Senator Mark Kelly joins to discuss Donald Trump's misguided reaction to the security breach over the weekend, and also shares his thoughts on a report that JD Vance is concerned that Donald Trump's war on Iran is expending too much of the U.S. weapons stockpile and...
Apr 29, 2026•41 min•Ep. 202604289
With a new Fox News poll showing that most American think Donald Trump does not have the mental soundness to serve effectively as president, Jen Psaki looks at the trouble Trump is having even staying awake, and his bad habit of making poor decisions based on the incorrect assumption that everyone will give him what he wants. White Donald Trump's Justice Department wages a bizarre political prosecution of the Southern Poverty Law Center, Trump seems to be confusing that attack with other politic...
Apr 25, 2026•42 min•Ep. 202604249
Jen Psaki looks at the conflicts of interest behind the business deals Donald Trump's sons (and son-in-law) have made with companies that are making millions of dollars from government contracts and the demands of Trump's war on Iran. Rep. Jamie Raskin talks with Jen Psaki about holding Trump's family members accountable. Adm. John Kirby (ret.), former Pentagon press secretary, talks with Jen Psaki about what Donald Trump is communicating between the lines while he acts like he feels no pressure...
Apr 24, 2026•42 min•Ep. 202604239
As Donald Trump becomes ever more brazenly corrupt, finding ways to use his power over the federal government to enrich himself and his cronies, Americans are realizing the "checks and balances" they learned about in school are not happening because the Republicans controlling both chambers of Congress are doing everything in their power to make sure nothing gets in Trump's way. The result is that giving Congress the ability to hold Donald Trump accountable has become a campaign issue for Democr...
Apr 23, 2026•42 min•Ep. 202604229
Virginia voters agreed to a redistricting plan that could increase the number of Democratic members of the House after this year's midterm elections, helping to balance the rigging Donald Trump tried to push Republican states to do. Jen Psaki points out that the bad news for Trump in Virginia comes in the context of bad news from Iran, bad news on gas prices, bad news on consumer prices, bad news on his tariff plan and more that has Trump on a disastrous political trajectory. Donald Trump's dete...
Apr 22, 2026•42 min•Ep. 202604219
Sarah Fitzpatrick, staff writer for The Atlantic, talks with Jen Psaki about her new reporting about a bizarre freak-out by FBI director Kash Patel when he thought being unable to log into his work computer meant he'd been fired by Donald Trump, and episodes of excessive drinking that alarmed his FBI colleagues. Rep. Greg Casar discusses Congressional Democrats taking a new interest Jared Kushner's potential conflicts of interest while he negotiates with Iran on behalf of the United States. Jen ...
Apr 18, 2026•41 min•Ep. 202604179
Jen Psaki looks at the political signs, from special elections to fundraising totals, that Donald Trump's political favor is fading fast and he has buried himself in messes he doesn't know how to fix. Jim Messina, former campaign manager for Barack Obama, talks with Jen about the strategy Democrats should be pursuing to maximize their advantage while Donald Trump's unpopularity weighs down Republican candidates. Rep. Pat Ryan and Rep. Chris Deluzio talk with Jen Psaki about Donald Trump's misman...
Apr 17, 2026•41 min•Ep. 202604169
Jen Psaki looks at the complicated financial entanglements Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and fellow real estate developer Steve Witkoff have in the Middle East where the interests of the United States may diverge from those of countries like Saudi Arabia which wields significant financial influence over the two top U.S. negotiators assign to resolve Trump's war with Iran. Donald Trump is learning the hard way that Iran is not interested in unconditional surrender, which is forcing Tr...
Apr 16, 2026•41 min•Ep. 202604159
Jen Psaki looks at how Donald Trump and his team of apologists have run out of answers and excuses for high consumer prices and high gas prices in particular, and the burden that is putting on other Republicans. And then, as if he hadn't lost enough support for his anti-immigrant campaign of terror, starting an unnecessary war, and causing a huge spike in gas prices, Trump compared himself to Jesus. Donald Trump's sharing of an image depicting himself as Jesus Christ healing the sick has turned ...
Apr 15, 2026•42 min•Ep. 202604149
Former NASA astronauts Jim Bagian and Dr. Mae Carol Jemison are joined by Ali Velshi, Moses Small and Josh Einiger to talk with Jen Psaki about the concusion of the Artemis II mission as the astronauts emerge from their Orion spacecraft. With the global economy in upheaval and his domestic approval dropping like a rock, Donald Trump is sending his number 2, JD Vance to Pakistan to try to make a deal with the Iranians that allows Trump to get out of the war he started with Iran with as few embarr...
Apr 11, 2026•51 min•Ep. 202604109
Jen Psaki wonders at the motivation of First Lady Melania Trump to make a sudden, surprise speech denying any past relationship with notorious sex trafficking pedophile and Donald Trump's long-time friend, Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell. The first lady even went so far as to make denials that are directly contradicted by evidence in the public domain. Why? And why now? Rep. Robert Garcia joins to discuss the strangeness of Melania Trump's sudden interest in the plight of Ep...
Apr 10, 2026•42 min•Ep. 202604099
Jen Psaki looks at the discrepancy between Iran's view of the ceasefire agreement with the U.S. and Israel, and the Trump administration's boasts, as well as how much the agreement illustrates that many of Trump's goals for the war remain unfulfilled. Journalist Bob Woodward shares his insights about Donald Trump and his administration Jen Psaki helps Donald Trump's press secretary Karoline Leavitt answer some of the tough questions about the Iran ceasefire deal from today's White House briefing...
Apr 09, 2026•41 min•Ep. 202604089
Donald Trump managed to avoid having to follow through on his ghastly threat to commit genocide in the war he started with Iran by agreeing to a tentative deal that opens the Strait of Hormuz, albeit with costs and conditions. Senator Mark Kelly joins Jen Psaki to discuss how profoundly Trump has messed up with his war of choice against Iran. Donald Trump was able to head off his own foolhardy threat of apocalypse with a temporary deal that leaves the United States worse off than when he started...
Apr 08, 2026•41 min•Ep. 202604079
Donald Trump has put a lot of energy into boasting about U.S. military dominance over Iran, including eliminating Iran's ability to shoot down planes. As is the case with so much of Trump's talk, reality has shown him to be ill-informed, lying, or both. Donald Trump's fixation on the sensational aspects of warfare and his shallow understanding of setting goals are keeping his mission in Iran directionless and confusing. Veteran Pentagon journalist Barbara Starr, David Noriega, MS NOW national re...
Apr 04, 2026•42 min•Ep. 202604039
Even though she was unfailingly loyal to Donald Trump, a quality that would be thought to keep her job secure, Pam Bondi reportedly did not sufficiently protect Donald Trump from public awareness of his involvement with notorious pedophile and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, so Trump has fired her. So despite disgracing herself by shielding Trump and other Epstein associates and turning her back on Epstein's victims, it was Bondi who suffered public disgrace and lost her job because of her own r...
Apr 03, 2026•42 min•Ep. 202604029
Donald Trump is so enamored of his White House ballroom pet project that he talks about it every chance he gets, regardless of the setting. Sometimes it seems like he wishes Americans would be as distracted by it as he is. But now a judge has put a halt to the project, reminding Trump that he is a steward of the White House, not the owner, and requiring him to get approval from Congress first. Donald Trump has no idea how to fix the mess he has made with his attack on Iran, and now it seems he m...
Apr 01, 2026•42 min•Ep. 202603319
Despite Donald Trump expressing shock and surprise at how Iran has responded to being attacked by the United States and Israel, Jen Psaki shares reporting that Trump was warned about everything from attacks on regional U.S. allies to the closing of the Strait of Hormuz, and Trump's struggle with these challenges is due to a lack of preparation, not a lack of prediction. Former CIA director John Brennan and former Pentagon press secretary John Kirby talk with Jen about the realities Donald Trump ...
Mar 28, 2026•43 min•Ep. 202603279
Even as the war in Iran tests Donald Trump's attention span and the patience of American voters, it's not like other problems that Trump has created that he can reverse by changing his mind and making an announcement. Jen Psaki looks at the sticking points of Trump's war in Iran. Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of the Atlantic, talks with Jen about how decisions are being made behind closed doors in the Trump administration. Jen Psaki shares news that Donald Trump says he will sign an executiv...
Mar 27, 2026•42 min•Ep. 202603269
Jen Psaki shares new reporting from NBC News about Donald Trump being fed a daily sizzle reel of Iran war explosions, and growing concerns that even the most basic information about the war in Iran is eluding Trump's understanding regardless of the briefing format. And a classified Pentagon briefing of lawmakers on the plan for Iran was apparently so unacceptable that even Republicans were willing to risk Trump's ire to speak out against how the war is being run. Rep. Pat Ryan and Rep. Chris Del...
Mar 26, 2026•41 min•Ep. 202603259
Emily Gregory talks with Jen Psaki after being projected the winner to represent Florida's state House District 87, which covers part of Palm Beach County, including Mar-a-Lago, making Donald Trump one of her new constituents. Jen Psaki tries to make sense of the latest round of answers and explanations from Donald Trump and his Cabinet on how the war in Iran is progressing and what the end of the conflict might look like, even as those answers and explanations only seem to show that the Trump a...
Mar 25, 2026•42 min•Ep. 202603249
Jen Psaki shares breaking news that a judge has ruled against Pete Hegseth's effort to restrict the press at the Pentagon from trying to obtain information that isn't explicitly authorized, even if it isn't classified, and talks about the importance of an free news media, particularly in a time of war and with a president who is "lying every time he speaks or is completely out of touch with reality." As Donald Trump keeps the U.S. military engaged in Iran without a clear goal, new crises, like t...
Mar 21, 2026•43 min•Ep. 202603209
Jen Psaki looks at some of the happy talk the Trump administration is offering about Donald Trump's war on Iran while outward signs suggest things are not going as well as they would have hoped. Senator Jon Ossoff talks with Jen about Donald Trump's handling of the war and how constituents are reacting to the economic fallout. Rep. Robert Garcia talks with Jen Psaki about questions Democrats in Congress want answered about Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner's role representing the United States in n...
Mar 20, 2026•41 min•Ep. 202603190
Jen Psaki reports on the confirmation hearing for Donald Trump's pick to replace Kristi Noem to lead the Department of Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullin. Mullin is already a dubious choice to lead DHS, but a long-running feud between Mullin and committee chair, Rand Paul added a whole new dimension to why he might not be a good choice. Jen Psaki reports on director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard's testimony at the Senate Intelligence Committee's worldwide threats hearing, Gabbard was ...
Mar 19, 2026•41 min•Ep. 202603189
Jen Psaki shares a remarkable litany of instances in which Donald Trump's confident assertions on his war against Iran are directly contradicted by news reports, many of which are sourced to members of Trump's own administration. Rep. Jim Himes, member of the House Intelligence Committee, joins Jen to discuss the resignation of a top Trump counterintelligence official who objected to Trump's mischaracterization of Iran's threat to the United States. With less than glowing news coming out of Dona...
Mar 18, 2026•41 min•Ep. 202603179
Jen Psaki looks at press conferences by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, as well as media appearances by Donald Trump and finds that the former TV show hosts are not living up to the seriousness of the positions they hold and are more fixated on creating a successful image for their war on Iran than they are on the details and strategy that would help secure actual success. Barbara Starr, former CNN Pentagon correspondent, and Brig. Gen. Steven M. Anderson (Ret.) join to discuss how Donald Trump'...
Mar 14, 2026•42 min•Ep. 202603130
Donald Trump has trained his acolytes in politics and media to echo his reassuring buzz phrases about weathering the short term effects of his war on Iran on the energy markets and global economy, but catchy slogans aren't changing the facts of the situation in the Strait of Hormuz and the sudden energy crisis that everyone in the world can see happening in front of their own eyes. James Talarico is already running against one of two very flawed Republican opponents to represent Texas in the U.S...
Mar 13, 2026•41 min•Ep. 202603129
As Donald Trump continues to offer contradictory answers and explanations, his war on Iran is running into some foreseeable problems that were among the reasons attacking Iran was ill-advised in the first place. Ben Rhodes, former deputy national security advisor, and Michael McFaul, former U.S. ambassador to Russia, talk with Jen Psaki about the deadly, expensive mess Donald Trump and his defense secretary, former weekend cable news host Pete Hegseth, are making. Jen Psaki points out Defense Se...
Mar 12, 2026•42 min•Ep. 202603119
