The Endymion Edition

Edward Endymion is back to round up the news from the weekend. First, we stop in DC where Trump seems to have parsed back some of Elon's power over at DOGE. We give lurid details of the cabinet meeting where the torch was passed back to the cabinet secretaries, and examine what it could mean for budding friendship between Trump and Musk. Then we're giving background on the recent outbreak of violence in Syria before returning home to discuss the latest poll numbers, gleaming insight into Trump's latest moves and taking the temperature on his tariff policy.

We're recapping what happened last night as Trump addressed a joint session of Congress at his fifth State of the Union address (mind the 4 year gap) - what worked, what was missing, and how the other side of the aisle coped with having to pretend to be adults for a full hour and a half. I had to listen to the whole speech and the Democratic response so now you'll have to suffer my opinions. With his numbers slipping, did Trump manage to reverse the skid? Did Democrats do themselves any favors with their tanking favorables? Spoiler Alert: Maybe and no. We're talking where Trump hit the right chord, what music was missing, and how Democrats can get back on their feet for the first time since November.

What was meant to be a peaceful, friendly press conference turned into a rerun of Real Housewives as President Trump and Vice President Vance went toe to toe with President Zelensky of Ukraine over what they felt was his disrepectful attitude (and his refusal to wear a suit). With the Minerals Deal dead in the water - for now - recriminations are flying over who disrespected who first. We sidestep the drama and examine the unassailable facts: both sides suck at diplomacy. We stay with the story as Zelensky travels to Britain and Europe prepares to make their first move in the diplomatic game. Will they do a better job getting a ceasefire deal together than Team Trump? Who knows. Tune into The Real Presidents of the Potomic next season to find out!

Edward Endymion is back from vacation to try to explain the complicated web of missteps that lead to the opening salvos in a war of words between President Trump of the United States of President Zelensky of Ukraine. Our saga begins in the humble German city of Munich, where Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth dealt his cards hands up by taking Ukraine's ambitions to reclaim it's territory off the table before JD Vance admonished the famously sensitive Europeans for their overly strict speech restrictions and overly lax immigration policies. We then jet set to exotic Ridyadh, where an American delegation met with a Russian delgation to discuss an end to the war. The Ukranians, however, felt left out, as they're the ones fighting the war - and that's where the trouble begin. Some verbal sparrings broke out into open warfare yesterday; but does it signal a realignment of American to Russian interests, or is Trump just applying maximum pressure to get a deal for Ukraine's mineral rights? Even Trump probably doesn't know, but we'll pretend we have the answers. Then, because the show wasn't long enough, we're diving into a YouGov poll breaking down American's approval of DOGE and their opinions on the Ukraine war. The numbers make the show seem very professional.

Today, we here at the Endymion Edition are taking advantage of a slow news day to talk about Trump's Shock and Awe political tactics. Has flooding the zone been a carefully designed strategy to keep the Democrats on their toes and off balance - or is he trying to induce apathy so the American people won't notice what he's up to? Maybe he's just popping off because that's what he does. Probably the last one, but the other two options are more exciting. Next, we try to preview the new administration's approach to the Ukraine war, but close in a much pettier segment as we take America's leading historcal revisionist Tucker Carlson to task for the claim that Winston Churchill didn't do enough to save Western Civilization.

Trump interrupted what was otherwise a nice, quiet news day on Monday with a bombshell proclamation - the United States will be taking control of the Gaza Strip in a "long term ownership position". With the endorsement of Israel's Netanyahu, he painted an image of a Gaza strip revitalized as the Riviera of the Middle East and under American ownership. What does this mean for Trump, America, MAGA, and the promise of no more "forever wars"? Maybe a lot. Or maybe he's just posturing again. We talk about it. Then we're jumping to the Department of Education, which is rumored to be shutting its doors soon, breaking down how Trump's planning to close the long standing conservative target and contrasting that to how Elon brought his axe down on USAID over the weekend. We close with Tulsi and RFK Jr. making it out of their Senate committee hearings with endorsements, putting a bow on what has been an absolute clobbering from the Democrats over the last month. Are they ever going to get their heads in the game? When Joe Biden makes you look slow, something's terribly wrong. Ed even finds time to work in a bad story about old men and fences. It's a big one, folks.

Just as mysteriously as they began, Trump's North American Trade Wars have ended. Following announcements that Mexico and Canada were taking measures to step up border security, the White House retracted their proclimation of tariffs despite earlier claims that there was nothing either country could do to avoid them. Masterful negotiating from Mr. Art of the Deal, or did Trump blink twice in two weeks? We all know our answer to that is going to depend on our previous biases, but lets dig in anyways and try to find an answer. Next, we're coming back home to look at Elon's latest shenanigans as he puts USAID in DOGE's crosshairs. Is foreign aid worth anything? And what exactly is DOGE, anyways? Finally, we check in with the Democratic party following the election of their newest DNC Chair. Spoilers: It's a mess. Plus, we make fun of Tim Walz again. What's not to love?

President Trump shocked the nation and the world on Friday by launching an opening salvo in a trade war against Canada, Mexico, and China, levying a 25% tariff on all goods from the first two countries (save Canadian oil, which will have a 10% tariff) and a similar 10% tariff on all goods from the third. Pointing towards a national security emergency spurred by the ongoing fentanyl crisis, he invoked authority under 1977's International Emergency Economic Powers Act for the President to institute tariffs. But what does that all mean? The Endymion Edition is going in depth, breaking down the executive order announcing the tariff's along with Canada's response. We're also analyzing Trump's stated reasoning for launching the trade war, and other possible motivating factors - as well as different ways the confrontation could end. Finally, we're stopping off in Panama along with Secretary Rubio, contrasting Teddy Roosevelt's old doctrine of "speaking softly and carrying a big stick" with Trump's "speak loudly and them hit them with your stick" approach. Does old TR have a few more tricks to teach?

News comes fast in Washington these days, and Edward Endymion is here to break it all down. First, we examine the ghoulish instinct on both right and left to politicize tragedy while families remain freshly in mourning in the aftermath of the disasterous collision over Reagan National Airport before checking in on new headwinds faced by RFK Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard in their battles to make it out of committee and win a floor vote to be confirmed into Trump's cabinet, while Kash Patel looks to sail through. With the news of the day dispensed of, we're free to take a thousand foot view of the political landscape with a new Quinnipiac Poll released this week, showing Trump's more popular than he's ever been, but more consequentially the Democrats are less popular than they've ever been. They're a party desperately in need of a rebrand - but who has the courage, will, and power to cast the socialists out and drag them back to the center? Finally, we hop across the pond and check in on the state of play for Germany's upcoming election. Should American's be concerned or excited about the rise of the right wing AfD party? We'll give you the angle.

In a rare reversal, Trump issues a memo rescinding his earlier executive order pausing federal spending until reviews of said spending could be conducted. The bureaucracy snapped into chaos and Democrats pushed back hard, notching their first win of the new Trump presidency. But is Trump's revocation a retreat or just a retrenchment; and could Democratic overreach snatch defeat from the jaws of victory? Next, RFK Jr. took to the hill today before the Senate's Finance Committee in his bid to be the next director of Health and Human Services. Democrats learned some from their failure to damage Hegseth, but when your viral clip is Bernie Sanders complaining about baby onesies, you need to take some more notes. We'll talk about it. Finally, Edward takes a look at Trump's executive order aimed at blocking gender affirming care for minors, recapping how Conservative media actually managed to get some points on the board on a civil rights issue but warning that new tactics will be needed if they want to hold their ground on the issue going forward as the battlefield changes.

Trump stuns the federal buearocracy with a memo ordering a spending pause until reviews are conducted in line with his raft of executive orders. Is it a constititutional overreach, as Democrats are saying, or is it necessary in order to bring the federal government in line with his priorities? Edward Endymion's bringing you the angles you haven't heard. Next, China's Deepsink AI challenges America's burgeoning AI dominance. With the markets scrambling, is this AI's Sputnik moment or just a blip on the radar - and could China's innovation in fact help America's AI sector? Finally, we dive deep into the chaos engulfing Minnesota's state house as Democrats refuse to let Republicans reach a quorom and state business grinds to a halt. Will antics there dictate the 2028 electoral map? Probably not, but it's fun to call Tim Walz a clown. All that's inside the episode!

Edward Endymion's back and covering all the breaking news from this weekend - first reporting on Trump's firing of 18 insepector generals late Friday night, explaining what IGs are meant to do, why Trump wanted them gone, and why he may have run afoul of Congress in the progress. Next, a story from Sunday where Colombia blocked a deportation flight before Trump clapped backed with the threat of heavy sanctions and got their government to bend the knee; the new Trump doctrine in action. Finally, we look at the dueling ways Trump and Elon Musk have been interfering with European leaders. With Trump trying to play the statesman, will Elon's trolling and political activism lead to blowback for the United States in the old countries?

On today's episode, Edward Endymion examines the feuds that highlighted cracks between Steve Bannon's old MAGA and Elon Musk's DOGE after Vivek Ramaswamy's comments in praise of H1B visas ingnited a firestorm between the two camps. Which faction has Trump's ear at the end of his first week in office, and what does it mean for how MAGA will end? Next, he recaps the fall of the mainstream media and how 2024 was the year alternative right wing media was ascendent - but how it risks now falling into the same trap that lead mainstream news to irrelevance. Finally, the Democrat's breathless opposition to Pete Hegseth in the Senate and antics over Trump's inauguration augers poorly for their attempts to mount a successful resistance.