The Bulwark Daily

In Greenland, the Trump administration has got tech bros and hedge fund guys running an influence operation there. The aim may be to fulfill Trump's territorial ambitions—or to create a sovereign state run by CEOs. In Venezuela, the administration is imperialistically seizing its gold, oil and other assets with no oversight. And in Brazil, the White House is trying to bring the Bolsonaro family back to power—which may or may not have something to do with Elon being angry about the country's tech regulation laws. In Trump 2.0, informal envoys, private companies, and hardened ideologues are turning American dipl...

Republicans are reeling, the vibes are shifting, and the wave is building. Jesse serves up a particularly optimistic view of the Democrats' chances in the midterms, with even stretch districts now in play. And ahead of Saturday's Ole Miss-LSU game, Wright shares how Mississippians are responding to the gutting of the Voting Rights Act and says that conservative farmers in the state are turning on MAGA. Plus, the love of a father and Ole Miss football, some Magnolia Bowl lore, why 1956 is the linchpin year in college sports history, and predicting the hate ratio on Saturday in Oxford.

The Fed raised interest rates to curb inflation, as expected, but mortgage rates are surging and flailing Scott Bessent remains the treasury secretary. Meanwhile, the alarm raised in the AI community is not an op despite the backlash from people like Nvidia's Jensen Huang, who seems to get everything he wants from Donald Trump. Plus, the Europeans who once parked their gold in the US to hide it from the Nazis are now trying to protect it from Trump.

Catherine Rampell and Stephen Witt join Tim Miller.

show notes:

The co-author of the signature book inside Trump 2.0 says the media only knows 5% of what is happening inside the administration—particularly when it comes to national security, the money-making, and the self-dealing. Jonathan does have new reporting about how the administration keeps pretending that our military is not running low on long-range missiles. In reality, the war is costing us a month's worth of Patriots almost every day. Plus: Stephen Miller has become the White House's resident kingmaker, why Trump is turbocharged on AI, and some contentious moments when Tim and Jonathan discuss how to characterize JD's divergent private an...

A Putin bestie who's involved with the kidnapping of Ukrainian children bankrolled Don Jr.'s island wedding for some mysterious reason. Kushner is calling on Ukraine to give in to Putin's territorial demands. And Trump himself is blaming Zelensky for the high cost of diesel even though prices shot up after Trump launched his war of choice. It's the whole Trump family that tends to remind us of their close ties to Russia, Russia, Russia. Meanwhile, POTUS is not troubled by China's involvement with the death of U.S. soldiers in the Mideast. Plus: Adam Hamilton in Kansas was...

Rudy Giuliani and others who purport to represent the families of 9/11 victims ginned up the idea that it would be wrong for the Muslim mayor of NYC to attend Friday's memorial at ground zero. Republican politicians and Laura Loomer keep pushing their trash Islamification conspiracy. And a law-abiding Muslim family has been imprisoned for five months because Rubio declared them a national security threat—and most of the media could care less. At the same time, Tucker has a new, large Muslim fan base because they like what he's saying about Gaza and the Palestinians, even though he's a so...

As Sarah explains in her new book, Trump has been so successful teaching a new generation of Republicans about the political value of vice signaling that Nazi talk and racism has become the norm among young MAGA edgelords. Disdain for women is also a key element. One former true believer, Pedro, says the right sees all of Trump's corruption and abuse of power as justified because he's focused on the country's true enemies: brown people, immigrants, and their white allies. And Vance buddying up to the racists shows that he is the real heir apparent to Trump. Plus, Tucker...

With Republicans in tight races stripping Trump’s name off their campaign websites, the president is in need of some love from Republicans he has summoned to Dallas to celebrate him. The fake convention also conveniently serves as a distraction from the surging price of oil. Plus: Vance may be the source who’s leaking about the missile depletions, Fox is giving more leeway for criticism of Trump, anti-Muslim hysteria is driving the complaints about Mamdani attending the 9/11 memorial in NYC, and Jessica from “The Five” has what she’s calling a “survival manual” for how to talk about politics with...

From politics to sports, business, and tech, the rich are breaking the rules, looking out for their friends, and still getting rewarded in the end—maybe with the help of a little trip to the White House with a POTUS gift in hand. For the midterms and beyond, Adam is bullish in his new book about the Dems' prospects to win on a grand scale and pass the kind of policies that help regular people. Part of the trick is cooling it on the purity tests over fraught issues like Israel. And in this Trump era, when accountability is so...

With just under two months until Election Day, Tim and Bill revisit the run-up to the midterms in 2006 and 1994, two major wave election cycles where the bottom just fell out from under the party in power. The 1994 blowout was more about the end of an era, while 2006 was about an unpopular war in the Middle East, a scandal, and a disappointed base. What do those wave elections suggest about the prospects for a big blue year in 2026? Plus: Do not miss either the war stories from Tim as a young Republican operative on the campaign trail or Clinton blaming...

Marco Rubio is using dubious powers to create a new class of immigrant political prisoners. Meanwhile, DHS officials are bragging about how they're brutally shackling and frog-marching Haitians who came here under protected status. On this American holiday weekend, David takes a "nerd moment" to explain that the Founders always intended our Constitutional liberties to apply to noncitizens as well—including even despicable Milo Yiannopoulos. Plus: How Trump keeps getting away with his illegal ballroom construction, what normie Texas Republicans are thinking about Paxton vs. Talarico, the risks of legal shenanigans after the votes are all counted in November, an...

Thom Tillis was the pivotal vote to confirm a buffoon to run the Department of Defense, and now he’s shocked about Hegseth’s incompetency. JD wants everyone to know he’s a Catholic now, but he doesn’t seem to have absorbed even the basic teachings of Catholicism. And Susan Collins claims she has influence with her Senate colleagues over Trump’s agenda—even though on almost every occasion she has made sure that her vote won’t matter. Meanwhile, Trump did a coup in Venezuela with an associate of Jeffrey Epstein. Plus: Tim reads from the mailbag, Trump is repul...

The Army is currently operating without any Senate-confirmed civilian or military leaders at the top. For Navy secretary, Trump is nominating an election-denying veteran who thinks witches and Wiccans are taking over cities. And when Hegseth is not busy purging the DOD’s leadership, he seems to be under the spell of a Rasputin-like character who failed a polygraph and may have taken the supposedly sober defense secretary out for a bender. Meanwhile, Don Jr. got another Pentagon contract, and the administration keeps ignoring the fact that Russia is helping Iran try to kill American soldiers and sailors. Plus: Ti...

Vaccine skepticism and distrust of pharmaceutical companies long predated RFK, Jr.'s 2024 presidential campaign. But the distrust of mainstream medical authority has now grown so deep that the United States can no longer contain the spread of measles. The country’s measles-vaccination rates have dropped below the threshold for herd immunity. Obviously, Trump’s misleading vax ruminations from the Oval Office have not helped the matter. The New Yorker’s Ruby Cramer discusses her reporting on one family’s frightening medical experience after one parent fell down the MAHA rabbit hole. Plus: The administration has given Big Ag a pass, De...

Trump’s war is far from over, top military leaders are warning Hegseth that prolonged ops in the region are unsustainable, and Americans have been financing Pentagon propagandists who’ve been secretly collecting taxpayer money to try to convince us that things are going great in Iran. This is not the time for congressional Democrats to allow Republicans to easily pass a spending resolution that keeps the government open. At the same time, Trump keeps handing gifts to Democrats—like his sell-out to tech oligarchs and his praise of data centers. Plus: The Venezuelan oil deal is a socialist PR stu...

The wars in Iran and Ukraine are increasingly entangled, CIA Director John Ratcliffe had to personally deliver a message to Moscow, and Trump is driving our Gulf allies into the arms of China. Meanwhile, the U.S.-Israel relationship keeps mucking up our domestic politics, particularly in Abdul El-Sayed’s campaign in Michigan. But it also turns out that podcast host (and senator) Ted Cruz seems to be pocketing money from the state of Israel itself. Plus: Some Democrats have finally figured out how to deliver speeches again, Vance is always trying to turn himself into something he’s not...

We’ve hit the August doldrums, so Tim is taking the daily pod on a little excursion. The Bulwark community delivered some epic mailbag questions, one of which prompted Sam to make one of the nerdiest confessions ever. Also, Tim and Sam adjust their Cabinet member rankings: Marco is an utter catastrophe, RFK Jr. is failing on all fronts, and Kelly Loeffler is proof that aliens exist. Plus, DeSantis is doing some seemingly dirty dealing down in Florida, ICE arrests are soaring—and here’s hoping that Trump’s super PAC spends millions on ads for the midterms extolling what a g...

The only likely way to end the nightmare of Trump—and Republicans supporting him no matter how much he ruins the country—is for Democrats to win in Republican-leaning states and congressional districts. That means giving moderates the grace to compete for people who voted for Trump. Likewise, moderates also need to recognize that the left will be swing voters in key races this election cycle. Plus: the online brawl over Hasan Piker, Scott Jennings’ desperate campaign to be the new White House press secretary, Trump is widening his attack on the First Amendment to research institutions, and Rob Sand i...

Yield curve control has gone mainstream (seriously, just ask the Asheville Beatnik with a message for Scott Bessent), so Tracy Alloway is here to explain the latest economic turmoil to Tim. Bessent’s bond buyback gambit seems to have flopped, but apparently, according to the President, there’s always the option of military intervention to bring the market to heel. In the meantime, consumers are going to pay more interest on everything, and there’s no plan to reduce the federal debt. Then, for some MAGA drama dessert, Will Sommer joins the pod to talk about Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’...

Canada flat-out rejected Trump’s terms in trade talks, so now it looks like we are going to have a trade war with our friends in the Great White North. Sorry, Maine. Sorry, bourbon industry. And in MAGA farm country, ranchers are furious that POTUS is increasing beef imports free of tariffs. Even Tom Cotton has dared to question Trump’s move. And on the other side of the aisle, Democrats should maximize their attacks on ICE, the midterms are looking wave-ish, and Hakeem should explain why he would have a conversation with Kushner that did not involve a subp...

Melania had to come out of hiding and practice her English after days of embarrassing coverage of Trump aide Natalie Harp. And now Harp’s newly released gushing notes to POTUS show unparalleled devotion to him. But they also hint at an abusive relationship built around trying to manage his easily-wounded ego with fantasy-grade good news stories. Meanwhile, Michael Cohen reminded everyone that he is a pathetic little lapdog. Plus: Trump is running the country like a socialist, he’s driving up the debt to dangerous levels, he seems determined to muck with the midterms—and the ‘orange man bad' res...

Mark the summer of 2026 as the moment when an unlikely supermajority of Americans came together on one issue: their opposition to data centers. This new, big, messy coalition spans the political spectrum and is rooted in a fear that the sociopaths of Silicon Valley will determine the future of our lives, our communities, and our economic prospects. And (most) politicians have noticed which way the wind is blowing. Plus: Carbon emissions are getting better but the planet is still getting warmer, the coming El Niño may be the strongest ever, and ICE arrests are dramatically up because Stephen M...

When Trump came back into power, his administration leaned heavily on former CIA analyst Julia Curlee to help safeguard our national security. The first CIA officer to transition openly, Curlee had worked at the highest levels in the White House for years. But once her gender identity became public through a witch hunt, she was hounded out. Curlee talks with Tim about the chaos of Trump’s slash-and-burn firings, the administration’s demonizing of trans people, and how Mike Pence treated her with dignity and respect when she was his personal briefer. Plus: The 19th’s Errin Haines joins to dis...

Trump is flailing so badly on Iran. He dispatched Jared Kushner to negotiate with the regime but then denies that any talks are happening at all. He also threatened to bomb one ally and hammered another for not helping him fight his war. And somehow, in all of this, Kushner—a private businessman and a consultant for the Saudis—is meeting with Hamas officials and Netanyahu while also looking out for his own financial interests. Plus: a primer on why we keep troops in South Korea, Hegseth may be mulling a presidential run, and Gen Alpha may save us all...

Thanks to a shrewdly-timed Jon Ossoff campaign event, a lot more people are suddenly learning about young and blonde Trump confidante Natalie Harp AKA ‘the human printer’—and one of only three aides who accompanied POTUS on his catering truck-secret flight escape. Meanwhile, Trump is lending a hand to white-collar criminals and expanding his extortion and bribery options with his crypto firm. Plus: the flat-out lies about Fauci and miscarriages, Andrew loves the Great Lakes, the tariffs have done so much damage that even Sherrod Brown is against them, and Tim has some choice words about the primary challenge agains...

When Graham Platner’s campaign was imploding, Republicans made sure to hang him around every Democrat's neck. Now, Democrats need to make Republicans own Rep. Max Miller, the alleged violent domestic abuser. That definitely includes Neverland Ranch fan Mike Lawler. Plus: Tim reads from the mailbag, more and more focus group voters are seeing that Trump only cares about his vanity projects, Joe Rogan does not seem to be following the news, Woke 1 got some things wrong but not "Abolish ICE," Sarah is sounding kind of left on healthcare, and Bill K is mayor of The Bulwark.

Sa...

What a way to run a country: ICE thugs will soon have special gloves that deliver an electric shock to people they’re trying to detain; D.C. residents have to contend with National Guard troops on their streets because the president likes fascist theater; and sailors who’ve been at sea for more than 250 days—for a war that no one understands—are trying to kill themselves by jumping overboard. Plus: Most of the media is ignoring that Republicans are running nutso candidates all over the place, Karoline Leavitt has been a pretty talented liar, and what did Trump sm...

Democratic primary voters in Wisconsin didn’t care much for how hard Republicans were working to try to make democratic socialist Francesca Hong the Dems' nominee for governor. That whole strategy helped draw last night’s primary winner, David Crowley, back into the race three weeks ago. Maybe there is not a secret socialist vote in rural America, after all. Plus: the fallout from ICE on key Minnesota races, the Dems are still going to war against their gerontocracy, Nate Silver has some very encouraging polls, and Fetterman could use a Democratic friend. And Tim asks The Bulwark community to h...

Trump may have the pardon power, but all those people making bank off of shady contracts from the administration or doing pay-to-play can lose all that money through forfeiture and seizure laws already on the books. Taxpayers are going to want their money back. And why are Chinese nationals continuing to bribe the president of the United States—and does his soft-on-China policies have anything to do with it? Plus: Trump used a catering cart to sneak out of Turkey, the Dems need to do a better job highlighting the fact that the White House is doing socialist-style company ta...

The party is sticking with Max Miller despite the very credible domestic abuse allegations. Not only is this a gift to his Democratic opponent, Brian Poindexter, in that red district in Ohio, it’s also likely to impact the Senate and governor's races there as well. Meanwhile, Tucker and MTG are talking about creating a third party for 2028. And Trump is losing to Iran so badly he can’t even make a coherent argument about the war for his biggest fans. Plus: the ankle monitoring of Haitian immigrants is very Soviet-era Eastern Bloc, defense contractors don’t want Ukraine making...

Tim got his hopes up that Bill Cassidy was going to come out against Blanche as AG. But of course, the senator showed once again that Republicans will do anything to stay on Team Trump—including turning our government into a corrupt, gangster oligarchy. Never mind that ordinary Americans are still dealing with the stink bombs Trump dumped on our economy with his tariffs and failed war: We’ve got lousy job numbers and higher prices across the board. Plus: The deportation of legal immigrants is a moral stain on our country, Russia’s energy crisis has backed Putin into a...

POTUS has always used lies to great advantage, but his fakery can’t disguise the dangerous reality that the United States is running out of missiles. What a time for Trump to don an SNL-grade wig. Meanwhile, AIPAC may be evolving into a Trump super PAC, Max Miller keeps showing everyone he’s a sociopath, the GOP Islamophobia is looking very 2002, and Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo accidentally admits Trump is looking out for the billionaires. Plus: The new Democratic Senate nominee from Kansas, pastor Adam Hamilton, joins Tim to discuss that sleeper race and how incumbent Roger Marshall is all...

The polling was way off, but suburban Dem voters in Michigan nonetheless showed that they’re sick of the party establishment and enraged by Trump, the war, the lies, and the corruption. AIPAC didn’t read the room. But party leaders are sounding united behind El-Sayed and Jane predicts he’ll bring a Mamdani-like energy to his campaign against Mike Rogers. Meanwhile, Republicans are sticking with sh*tbag Max Miller. Plus: Federal agents are threatening Americans for speaking out against ICE, Vance is always looking for a way to signal that he hates the war, and what other former podcas...

Sam Altman wants a supercomputer to talk to his kid so he doesn’t have to. Elon thinks Grok can make a better Odyssey than Christopher Nolan. And Silicon Valley has been cultishly hyping AI so much that they’ve lost the plot. Regular people are sick of all the synthetic slop, they don’t trust the tech titans, and their opposition to data centers is just the tip of the iceberg of a growing tech backlash. The political winds are shifting just in time for the midterms, so Elon's dumping more than $100 million to try to overcome them.

T...

Both the left and center-left are acting like the other faction within the party is the enemy—and not Donald Trump. Democrats need to keep their eye on the ball: Trump and the corruption, lying, and incompetence across his administration. In the past couple of days, the massive dishonesty has included Doug Burgum’s doubling down on the Reflecting Pool lies and Todd Blanche’s sham document on the IRS and the J6 weaponization fund. And why is Schumer signing off on a deal with Republicans to keep the government open? Plus: Max Miller is finally a national story, and Ti...

At the very least, Hegseth's refusal to acknowledge that it was our Tomahawk missile that killed 120 schoolchildren on the very first day of the war makes him unfit to serve as secretary of defense. Army JAG veteran Margaret Donovan says civilian casualties are a tragic reality in war and the public has the right to know what went wrong. The U.S. military prides itself on its excellence and precision, and that is what separates our fighting forces from those of our enemies. But Hegseth is also dragging this vital institution down because of the munition depletions, the lack...

At a little-noticed conference on political violence a couple of weeks ago, Marco Rubio and Stephen Miller employed the dehumanizing rhetoric of the Soviets and Nazi mastermind Joseph Goebbels to attack the left. And while they might want us to think they were just talking about the DSA, it sure seems that they meant Democrats generally—including those who might be legitimately protesting Trump's efforts to try to steal an election. Plus: Iran is not acting like it fears the United States, Lindsey Graham probably did more harm than good, and the Fauci drama is the latest example of th...

Stephen Miller has a free hand to pump out his racist policies; Trump regularly says blatantly offensive things that are way past a dog whistle; and one-time insurgents at the Heritage Foundation and other MAGA institutions are muscling out people who aren't comfortable with openly embracing bigotry. The groypers are running today's Republican Party. At the same time, Trump's Iran war has opened divisions within the administration, and the leaks are coming fast and furiously. Plus: the gullible people who think their bribes will keep them safe from Trump, Rod Dreher's falling out with JD Vance, the ties between...

Not only has our lousy commander-in-chief allowed the country's missile inventory to be dramatically depleted, Hegseth's politicized hiring and firing of officers has come home to roost and is doing real damage to the military as an institution. Meanwhile, Zelensky says he'll show Trump proof that Russia is helping Iran in the war, and Laura Loomer has done an about-face and now says she's on Ukraine’s side. Plus, the wet, hot DSA summer hits its peak in the Michigan Senate race, Bibi is going to try to save his hide, and Republicans in swing districts have been given the al...

Since we don't have an episode of The Bulwark Podcast for you today, we're sharing something a little different—a preview of The Secret Podcast. This is a show that JVL and Sarah do every week, which is available only for paid members of The Bulwark. 

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