Signalgate, Tariffs, Election EO, Greenland

Mike and Jay open with a discussion of ‘Signalgate’, the text chain with top Trump administration officials on the Signal app in which Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffery Goldberg was inexplicably included. Jay has big concerns about the competence of the administration as well as the overall tone of the Signal communication. Both Mike and Jay agree with the Wall Street Journal’s editorial board that the Trump administration can’t bully its way through everything crying Fake News and that at times like this the best thing to do is admit a screwup, fire those responsible, and move on – not that any of that is remotely likely to happen in an administration known for doubling down, not backing down. Next is a look at the most recent development in President Trump’s new tariff regime: 25% tariffs on imported vehicles and auto parts. Not surprisingly, neither Jay nor Mike sees this as a good idea. Mike makes an argument for restoring more control over tariffs to Congress, and significantly curtailing presidential ‘emergency’ tariff powers. Then, they consider President Trump’s Executive Order on federal elections. Mike doesn’t think what Trump is doing is constitutional, and Jay largely agrees, seeing this EO more as politics than serious policy. Mike adds that the penalty for states that don’t comply – potential loss of federal election assistance funds – isn’t all that significant. They close by wondering why Donald Trump is so obsessed with Greenland and how his ham-handed efforts to ‘get’ it may end up backfiring. The Politics Guys on Facebook | X Mike’s Substack: What Fresh Hell is This? Listener support helps make The Politics Guys possible. You can support us or change your level of support at patreon.com/politicsguys or politicsguys.com/support. On Venmo we’re @PoliticsGuys. The Politics Guys is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what's broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesThe Politics Guys on Facebook | XListener support helps make The Politics Guys possible. You can support us or change your level of support at patreon.com/politicsguys or politicsguys.com/support. On Venmo, we’re @PoliticsGuys.The Politics Guys is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what's broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.