The Bulwark Podcast

Avsnitt

• Bill Kristol: Trump Is All-In on Authoritarianism 01.06.2026 54min

  Another weekend passed without a promised Iran deal. Despite reporting to the contrary, Iran’s negotiators don’t live in caves, and they’re not interested in dealing with the U.S. anymore, at least according to state media. Meanwhile, the president continues to release unhinged midnight bleats on his social media platform, including one targeting not just a judge who ruled against him in the Kennedy Center case but also that judge’s spouse. That’s just one reminder that the authoritarian threat remains, and we should prepare for election meddling if the midterms don’t go Trump’s way.
• Lis Smith: A Very Vengeful President 29.05.2026 1h 1min

  Tim just happened to quote from an official Iranian news agency about how the regime is cleaning up in their negotiations with the Trump administration, and the White House accused him of being a foreign agent. Maybe the administration should take a closer look at all the money the guy sitting behind the Resolute Desk and his family are getting from Mideast dictators if they're really looking for foreign agents. Speaking of massive amounts of corruption, the Dems need to be making the case everywhere just how brazenly corrupt Trump & co. are—and not wait until 2027.
• Kara Swisher: The Tech Bros Should Just Shut Up 28.05.2026 51min

  Bezos, Elon, Andreessen and the whole lot are such terrible, tiny, greedy people. They blow off the public’s concerns about AI while living apart from us in their cashmere prisons; they keep talking about things they know nothing about; and they figured out how cheap it is to buy and manipulate a president. The pitchforks are coming.
• Robert Kagan: A Total and Complete Shutdown of Trump 27.05.2026 55min

  The United States lost the Iran war back in March when Trump chickened out and didn’t retaliate against Tehran once it proved it could inflict economic pain on the Gulf states. While much of the mainstream media keeps hyping the negotiations and the ceasefire, Iran is not making concessions and is focused on shaking Trump down for money. But the biggest loser in this debacle may be Israel, which turned itself from a dominant power in the region to a losing power. And Israel, which the administration is likely to turn against, has been irreparably damaged in the U.S. as well.
• Eddie Glaude: Don't Let MAGA Own America's 250th Anniversary 26.05.2026 51min

  As we barrel towards July 4th, Trump wants the celebration of our country's 250th anniversary to be not only about him but also about America as a white republic. But this diverse nation needs to speak up and speak back loudly to drown out that MAGA messaging. In his new book, Glaude lays out the inherent contradiction of America's milestone anniversaries, starting with the one in 1876.
• Bill Kristol: Trump's Iran Disaster Is Also a Defeat for the U.S. 25.05.2026 29min

  The master negotiator couldn't have been more clear how badly he wants out of his war, and now the Iranians are enjoying twisting the knife over a murky developing deal that will likely deliver sanctions relief and more. Trump keeps trying to shoehorn the Abraham Accords into the negotiations as a face-saving move, but there's no denying that the U.S. has made Iran a stronger power than it was before the war.
• Mike Murphy: The Sh*t Is Sticking to Trump 22.05.2026 56min

  Trump's killing off of John Cornyn's political career was the last straw for Senate Republicans, who magically found the courage—for the moment—to oppose his thug fund and the cool billion dollars he's demanding for his ballroom. And while the DNC autopsy shows a party not focused on winning, Jeffries and Schumer played a very shrewd hand with their anti-ICE DHS shutdown.
• Amanda Carpenter, Sarah Longwell, & Sam Stein: Trump Gives His Family a Free Pass to Crime 21.05.2026 59min

  From the state where Trump claims he’d win if Jesus counted the votes, Sarah and Sam joined Tim live on stage in San Diego to debate who is the most cucked Republican and whether Bill Cassidy should get credit for his late-in-the-game YOLO opposition to Trump. Also, Jeff Bezos has Tim rethinking his opposition to socialism, and how could Bibi and Trump have had such an absurd plan for a new Iranian president?
• Justin Jones: The Assault On Multiracial Democracy in the South 20.05.2026 52min

  Tennessee is on the front lines of the racialized politics that has resurfaced in the South since SCOTUS gutted the Voting Rights Act. Its Jim Crow legislature stripped the people of Memphis of congressional representation for their majority-black city, and Democratic legislators have been punished for protesting the move. The state is looking less like a democracy by the day.
• Sarah Longwell, JVL, and Martha Raddatz: Trump Is Looting Us in Broad Daylight 19.05.2026 1h 2min

  Donald Trump—as a private citizen—sued our government, which he runs, and then "settled" the lawsuit with $1.8 billion that he stole from the U.S. Treasury. See, he needs a secret fund of taxpayer money so he can pay not only reparations to his band of Jan 6 rioters, but also to incentivize future (election) criming on his behalf. In a special emergency TNL, Tim, Sarah, and JVL break it all down.
• Bill Kristol: Voters Are Realizing Trump Doesn’t Care About Them 18.05.2026 58min

  Sadly, it’s taken some time, but voters seem to be figuring out that Trump only cares about himself, his ballroom, his blatant corruption, and his unquenchable desire for revenge. 2026, so far, has been bad for his approval ratings. And his continued weakness on the world stage, especially when it comes to Iran and China, will only drive his numbers down more. At the same time, Trump has done permanent damage to our standing among our allies.
• Andrew Weissmann: Is Trump Going To Raid Fort Knox Next? 15.05.2026 1h

  If the IRS goes ahead and gives in to Donald Trump's demands for a MAGA slush fund, it would be outright theft of the public's money and corruption on a scale that we've never even contemplated in this country. What would stop him from plundering even more from the American people?
• Catherine Rampell and Robert Garcia: China Is Starting to Eclipse the U.S. 14.05.2026 1h 13min

  The Chinese have long envied America's power, influence, and market share. But after Trump's failed trade war, his attacks on allies, and the embarrassment in Iran, the view from Beijing has shifted: It now sees us as a nation in decline. Plus, inflation is creeping back up, the stock market is out of whack, new Fed Chair Kevin Warsh is screwed, and the ag community is feeling the pain of Trump's policies. And for the view from the Democratic resistance, Rep. Garcia tells Tim that Dems are not finished with their own redistricting and that Gavin's greatest strength is his obsession with winning.
• Tom Nichols: There’s Something Wrong with the President 13.05.2026 1h 6min

  Trump’s recent insomnia-induced, Obama-obsessed posting spree showed a level of paranoia and delusion that should be raising real concerns about the mental health of our commander-in-chief. The new blotch on his neck to go with the giant bruises on his hands is not helping matters. Is the DOJ mulling a $10 billion IRS settlement with Trump to try to ease his emotional distress over his seeming loss in Iran?
• James Comey: We Can't Trust the DOJ 12.05.2026 50min

  Because Donald Trump has so thoroughly hijacked the Department of Justice, the public can no longer be confident that a criminal investigation or indictment is legitimate. The default assumption is that official DOJ actions are about servicing Trump's needs for validation, power, or retribution—like the latest seashell-related charges against Comey.
• Bill Kristol: What a Bunch of Jackasses 11.05.2026 54min

  Instead of doing the job Americans have been paying Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy for—like trying to alleviate the high price of gas and air travel—he's been shirking his responsibilities on a seven-month-long family road trip paid for by industry lobbyists. And of course, Trump is also being looked after: His ghastly, 22-foot golden sculpture was unveiled, and Republicans promised a billion taxpayer dollars for what was supposed to be a donor-funded ballroom. POTUS needs a little bit of a psychological boost after his apparent defeat in Iran.
• Adam Serwer: Now, This Is Rigged 08.05.2026 55min

  Tennessee just completely disenfranchised its black voters after the Supreme Court gave red states the green light to rig the midterms by redistricting black majority districts out of existence—as long as lawmakers pretend they don’t see color when they’re doing it. And while partisan gerrymandering is A-OK with Alito & co., it apparently is not alright for Democratic voters in Virginia to do anything like that to Republicans. Sure sounds like the free speech rules of the Trump administration, where people are free to say what Republicans want said.
• Isaac Saul: The Mind-Blowing Self-Dealing in the Oval Office 07.05.2026 1h 4min

  Trump's corruption is so astonishing, extensive, and overwhelming that most people can't keep up with all the ways he's profiting off his presidency every single day. Isaac examined the reporting on the First Family's self-dealing in Trump's second term, and he's compiled the most exhaustive accounting of it so far. Just two examples: Trump's sons are doing business with a criminal syndicate that stole billions from Americans; and Trump last year branded a cellphone, had it certified by the FCC, and never delivered them to buyers who paid $100 for the device.
• Arash Azizi and Jodi Kantor: Iran Has the Leverage 06.05.2026 1h 29min

  The regime in Tehran is not as fractured as is commonly portrayed, and it is also pragmatic enough to see the economic opportunities that would follow from a deal with an eager-to-please-the-markets Donald Trump. But the contours of a potential agreement look like a win for Iran—not for the U.S., which has spent billions a day, lost military personnel and assets, and handed Iran new-found leverage over the global economy. Also, in this season of commencement, Jodi has advice for new college grads on how to navigate the tough employment market and a digitized hiring process.
• Melissa Murray: Reclaim the Constitution 05.05.2026 54min

  Our Constitution is about limited government and restraining the power of the state, but we've got a president asserting powers he lawfully doesn't have, a Supreme Court that largely helps him do so, and a Republican Congress that's just dozing through it all. Americans need a refresher on how our government is supposed to work under the Constitution.