The Telos News Podcast with Ryan Lizza

In our conversation today, G. Elliott Morris takes us through his comprehensive analysis of Tuesday’s election results.Some key highlights:* So much for the Trump realignment. The 2025 results reflect a typical anti‑incumbent reaction to the party in power after it failed to deliver on promises to address inflation and affordability. As Morris puts it, “The 2024 Trump ‘realignment’ is already over.”* The economy dominated (as it almost always does). Exit polling revealed that the economy and cost of living were the top issues. Voters who prioritized these issues flipped hard to Democrats compared to 2024. * The swing came from 2024’s Trump‑leaning groups. The biggest shifts in 2025 back to Democrats were among young voters, lower-income voters, Hispanic, Black, and Asian voters.* The polling “miss” had a cause. Off‑year polls that re‑weighted to 2024’s presidential electorate overestimated GOP strength.* Candidate quality mattered, but modestly. Weak GOP nominees were plausibly worth perhaps 1–2 points, but the dominant force was the anti-incumbent mood tied to affordability concerns. * Looking to 2026: Expect a normal (and possibly amplified) backlash against the presidential party if economic perceptions don’t improve.* Ideological lessons? The results don’t validate sweeping ideological narratives pushed by Democratic groups. Voters rewarded anyone who credibly addressed affordability—from a left-wing NYC mayoral candidate to the pragmatic governors in Virginia and New Jersey.* What about democracy? The swing against Trump has some important lessons for the anti-Trump coalition. For me, at least, it is sobering, if not totally surprising, that it was mostly the economy—and not Trump’s attacks on the rule of law and democracy—that fueled Tuesday’s blue wave.Some data points that Elliott and I dig into:* What voting groups moved?* Young voters: 22‑point swing back to Democrats.* Voters with income of less than $50,000 per year: 18‑point Democratic swing.* Black voters: 11‑point move back to Dems.* Asian voters (VA): 42‑point swing back to Dems.* Issue salience:* Economy cited by 48% of Virginia voters and some 4 in 10 voters in New Jersey. These voters shifted from supporting Trump by 65 points in 2024 to supporting the Democrats by 30–40 points in 2025.* A key local example: Union City, New Jersey (82% Hispanic) shifted from a 17‑point Democratic margin in 2024 to a 69‑point Democratic margin in 2025 (with higher turnout). * Don’t overinterpret the results. These big shifts are caused by unattached, relatively non-ideological swing voters who quickly desert the party in power if it fails to deliver on its promises. That really has been the core story of the last 10 or so national elections in the U.S., and it vastly complicates both the right’s Trump realignment narrative and the left’s narrative about a natural anti-Trump majority. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.telos.news/subscribe

Thank you Lev Parnas, Mark McInerney, Dianne Mize, Susan DRENNAN GABRIEL, Sandra Tuttle, and many others for tuning into my live video with Steve Schmidt! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.telos.news/subscribe

Thank you Mark McInerney, Kelli Pryor, Leah Anderson, carolyn strawn, Stuart Cohen, and many others for tuning into my live video with Steve Schmidt!You can join me and Steve on Substack Live every Monday at noon.Telos subscribers: Please use this link to get 20% off a paid subscription to The Warning with Steve Schmidt. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.telos.news/subscribe

In our weekly chat, Steve Schmidt and I discuss:* The growing pains in the coalition that has formed against Trump, including why clear-eyed Trump critics such as Andrew Sullivan refused to join the protests on Saturday* Gavin Newsom’s wise decision to close a stretch of I-5 before the Marines, at the insistence of the Trump administration, fired live artillery over the highway, including one shell that detonated prematurely in mid-air and scattered shrapnel onto two California Highway Patrol vehicles that were part of JD Vance’s security detail* Kristi Noem’s Gulfstreams* Why I was driving around downtown Washington during the No Kings protests in a red pickup truck with a “Fire Pelosi” bumper sticker on the back (it’s not what it sounds like!)* And, of course, the Toronto Blue JaysThank you Nadine Smith, Dianne Mize, Angie T, joe alter, Jacqueline Dorinda Maddox, and many others for tuning into our chat. You can join me and Steve on Substack Live every Monday at noon.Telos subscribers: Please use this link to get 20% off a paid subscription to The Warning with Steve Schmidt. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.telos.news/subscribe

This was a delightful conversation that went in many unexpected directions—everything from the wisdom to be gained from reading Moby Dick in 2025 to the pleasures of raising a puppy to wellness advice to the lessons learned from Ian Kershaw’s biography of Hitler.Miles and I are going to discuss the possibility of a regular Substack-based book club so please let us know if that might appeal to you. At the very least, Miles and I will be doing more of these conversations, which have turned out to be pretty popular with readers of both Telos and Treason.Please consider a paid subscription to both!Thank you Cat, Richard Hogan, MD, PhD(2), DBA, joe alter, Janet Carter, Maureen Drews, and many others for tuning in! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.telos.news/subscribe

Thank you Mark McInerney, Dianne Mize, An Mcgreevy, Sandra Tuttle, joe alter, Marina, and many others for tuning into my live video with Steve Schmidt!You can join me and Steve on Substack Live every Monday at noon.Telos subscribers: Please use this link to get 20% off a paid subscription to The Warning with Steve Schmidt! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.telos.news/subscribe

Thank you Dianne Mize, Cat, Iulia Huiu, Leah Anderson, John H, and many others for tuning into my live video with Steve Schmidt!You can join me and Steve on Substack Live every Monday at noon.Telos subscribers: Please use this link to get 20% off a paid subscription to The Warning with Steve Schmidt! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.telos.news/subscribe

Steve and I discuss the fascist—sorry, no other word—rhetoric from Trump at today’s address to military leaders in Quantico.I have more to say about the speech in my latest column here. Thank you Cat, Steve Lubetkin, Leah Anderson, Nancy McAllister, Pamela, and many others for tuning into my live video with Steve Schmidt.You can join me and Steve live every Monday at noon. Telos subscribers: Please use this link to get 20% off a paid subscription to The Warning with Steve Schmidt! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.telos.news/subscribe

I really enjoyed this conversation with Ben, one of the breakout stars of independent media. I appreciate his optimism about the future that he expressed at the end—and I hope he’s right!Thanks to everyone who tuned in! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.telos.news/subscribe

Former Rep. Joe Walsh was a victorious Tea Party candidate in the Republican wave year of 2010 who later broke with the GOP over Trump. He has deep insights into something I wrote about recently: the tranformation of the libertarian Tea Party into the authoritarian MAGA movement. Joe was also a mentor to Charlie Kirk back in the slain activist’s formative years. We discussed all of this and much more earlier this evening. (We didn’t get to it, but Joe is also reportedly considering running for Congress again—as a Democrat.) Thanks to everyone who tuned in and make sure you subscribe to Joe’s Substack. Telos News is marking Constitution Day by offering a 20% discount on all tiers of paid subscriptions, including Founding Memberships, which allow you access to monthly virtual town halls, including one this Friday at 4 PM with Judge J. Michael Luttig. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.telos.news/subscribe

Thank you Iulia Huiu, John H, P. J. Schuster, Sandra Tuttle, Mike Harkreader, and many others for tuning into my weekly chat with Steve Schmidt! We’ll be on a break next Monday, but back again in two weeks. If you value these weekly conversations with Steve—and all the work we do at Telos News—please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Supporting independent media has never been more important. — Ryan This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.telos.news/subscribe

In our weekly chat, Steve Schmidt and I break down the latest federal court decisions on tariffs and the Posse Comitatus Act, discuss which Democrats are best positioned for 2028, pick over the latest absurdities out of Trump’s Oval Office comments, and talk about Steve’s budding interest in gardening and birding. Thanks to Mark McInerney, Dianne Mize, Iulia Huiu, J.J. Loughran, Julie, and many others for tuning in.Steve and I will be back on Monday at noon!Telos subscribers: Please use this link to get 20% off a paid subscription to The Warning with Steve Schmidt! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.telos.news/subscribe

I always learn something when I talk to Miles, and today was no different. His inside knowledge of how Trump wanted to abuse DHS in his first term continues to be enormously relevant to understanding Trump this time around. Thanks to everyone who tuned in, including Sue Gordon, eric, MissGuided Kris, Janet Carter, Ms. H, and many others! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.telos.news/subscribe

Paul Krugman on Trump's Attempt to Take Over the FedThanks to the nearly four thousand of you who joined Paul Krugman and me for this excellent conversation, including G. Elliott Morris, Cat, Wesley Neff, H. Pike Oliver, Leah Anderson, and many more. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.telos.news/subscribe

Thank you Stephanie G Wilson, PhD, Bernadette Beach, Arnaud Mittempergher, John H, P. J. Schuster, and many others for tuning into my weekly Substack Live with Steve Schmidt!We had a huge audience this week, and this one is well worth watching if you missed it. Steve and I plowed through a lot of material, including the truly ridiculous spectacle at the White House today.Please note I somehow neglected to post our last chat, which occurred the day Trump sent troops to D.C., but it’s up now and you can find it here. Steve and I will be off on Monday for Labor Day, so we’ll record our weekly chat next Tuesday at noon instead.In the meantime, you can catch me and Miles Taylor tomorrow at 11 AM on Substack Live. Miles has unfortunately been correct in predicting many of Trump’s worst actions, including his obssession with sending troops to Democratic cities.Telos subscribers: Please use this link to get 20% off a paid subscription to The Warning with Steve Schmidt! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.telos.news/subscribe

In our weekly chat from August 11, Steve Schmidt and I discuss the beginning of Trump's occupation of D.C. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.telos.news/subscribe

In our weekly chat Steve and I discuss wjether Gavin Newsom is the 2028 Dem frontrunner and break down the 2028 field.Also: the pitfalls of constitutional hardball, gerrymandering and the midterms, and whether Democrats should commit to impeaching Emil Bove and purging the federal government of MAGA operatives.Join Steve and me on Substack Live every Monday at noon! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.telos.news/subscribe

Thank you Iulia Huiu, Sandra Tuttle, J.J. Loughran, Meidas_hj, Jason Dyer, and many others for tuning into my live video with Steve Schmidt! Join Steve and me on Substack Live every Monday at noon!Telos subscribers: Please use this link to get 20% off a paid subscription to The Warning with Steve Schmidt! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.telos.news/subscribe

Steve and I break down the dangers of an unrestrained Trump controlling a super-funded ICE.Thank you Iulia Huiu, John H, eric, bruce beckman, Sandra Tuttle, and many others for tuning into my live video with Steve Schmidt!Steve and I will be back next Monday at noon. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.telos.news/subscribe

I sat down yesterday with Judge Luttig to discuss the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Paine, King George, Donald Trump, and what the 1770s have in common with the 2020s, all of which are addressed in his new piece for Telos News marking the July Fourth holiday. You can read Judge Luttig’s piece, “The Self-Evident Truths of Freedom—and of Tyranny,” here.You can listen to an audio version of Judge Luttig’s piece here.You can also watch Luttig’s recent interviews with Steve Schmidt, Jim Acosta, Charlie Sykes, and Anand Giridharadas.I was enormously proud to publish Judge Luttig’s modern-day statement of self-evident truths, and I want Telos News to be an outlet for this sort of original writing from people of Luttig’s stature.But I can’t do it without you. If you haven’t done so already, please consider becoming a paid subscriber to support this work. Thank you! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.telos.news/subscribe

Thank you Dianne Mize, Cathy R. Payne, Nick P, Leah Anderson, Susan McGraw-Keber, and many others for tuning into the live video with Anand Giridharadas and Judge J. Michael Luttig!Read “The Self-Evident Truths of Freedom—and of Tyranny,” J. Michael Luttig here at Telos News. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.telos.news/subscribe

Thank you Waking Up Energy, Cathy R. Payne, Theresa Lease, Leah Anderson, CO, and many others for tuning into this live video with Judge J. Michael Luttig and Jim Acosta! This was a great conversation with my old friend Jim Acosta. Highly recommended!Read “The Self-Evident Truths of Freedom—and of Tyranny,” J. Michael Luttig here at Telos News. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.telos.news/subscribe

Thank you Marc C. Johnson, Iulia Huiu, Leah Anderson, John H, P. J. Schuster, and many others for tuning into my live video with Judge J. Michael Luttig and Steve Schmidt!Read “The Self-Evident Truths of Freedom—and of Tyranny,” J. Michael Luttig here at Telos News. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.telos.news/subscribe

Happy Fourth of July!We have something special for you today, on this 249th anniversary of America's birth: an audio version of the remarkable piece that my friend Judge J. Michael Luttig wrote for Telos News this week: “The Self-Evident Truths of Freedom—and of Tyranny.”The response to Judge Luttig’s piece has been incredible, and I asked him to record it in his own voice so that it could be shared even more widely.Many American families read the Declaration of Independence aloud on this day, and it’s my hope that this year, some of you might also listen to Judge Luttig’s piece, an ambitious attempt to connect the words of our Founders from 1776 to what is happening here in America today.— Ryan LizzaPS: The music in the intro and outro of this podcast is composed and performed by my son Dylan and his jazz band. That’s Dylan on guitar.Happy Fourth! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.telos.news/subscribe

Thank you Dean Blundell, Jeanne Elbe, Sandra Tuttle, Meidas_hj, Jason Dyer, and many others for tuning into my live video with Steve Schmidt! Join Steve and me on Substack Live every Monday at noon!Telos subscribers: Please use this link to get 20% off a paid subscription to The Warning with Steve Schmidt! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.telos.news/subscribe

Thank you Waking Up Energy, Dorothy A Collins, A. Hofferkamp, Reba, Marner 🇨🇦🍁, and many others for tuning into my live video with Steve Schmidt! Join Steve and me on Substack Live every Monday at noon!Telos subscribers: Please use this link to get 20% off a paid subscription to The Warning with Steve Schmidt! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.telos.news/subscribe

Thank you Leah Anderson, An Mcgreevy, Janet Carter, Phullipia, Robin monahan, and many others for tuning into my live video with G. Elliott Morris! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.telos.news/subscribe

Thank you J.J. Loughran, An Mcgreevy, Janet Carter, Kevin Paquette, Paola Palazzo, and many others for tuning into my live video with Steve Schmidt!Telos subscribers: Please use this link to get 20% off a paid subscription to The Warning with Steve Schmidt! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.telos.news/subscribe

Miles Taylor is best known as the Trump administration official who, in 2018, wrote an anonymous op-ed in the New York Times criticizing the president. Taylor later revealed his identity and wrote a book warning about the dangers of a second Trump term.Top on his list of concerns: Trump deploying the military into American cities.Taylor told me that he saw up close how Trump was itching to do it in his first term:There was one specific episode where this really came to a head in 2019. We'd spent the better part of a year in the lead up to this incident trying to persuade the president not to invoke what's called the Insurrection Act. This is the presidential authority to basically deploy the U.S. military on U.S. soil to enforce domestic law, which, you know, you can't get too much closer to a police state than that.And there were a lot of circumstances where Trump wanted to do that, either, you know, if there were protests or riots. Usually, it was about immigration. And there was one particular instance. In 2019, there was a migrant caravan headed towards the U.S. border. And I'm telling you, nothing made Donald Trump more apoplectic than if he turned on the news and he saw hundreds or thousands of people marching towards the U.S. border to claim asylum.We got a heads-up from the White House. We got a phone call over at the Department of Homeland Security, and a senior aide to the president said, “Hey, I think you guys need to get over here. The president is talking about invoking the Insurrection Act. He wants to deploy the military and fully seal the U.S. border.”I'll tell you why, even if you believe we need to crack down on illegal immigration, I'll tell you why that's wrong. Because the Insurrection Act is only supposed to be invoked in cases of invasion or rebellion. And we neither thought this was an armed foreign invasion of a foreign country nor a domestic rebellion in the United States. And therefore, our lawyers felt like, yes, it would be unlawful for the president to go send thousands of U.S. troops down thereSo we rush over to the White House. The president is in the Map Room preparing for the State of the Union address. And he wants to insert language in there, basically announcing that he's going to go do this troop deployment. …Suffice to say we spent hours going back and forth between the White House counsel's office and the president and finally got him to understand that this would be an extraordinary escalation and that he would probably lose in the courts. But more importantly, it would set a really dangerous precedent for him to be personally directing U.S. law enforcement around the country. So we talked him out of it.But after that I had a lot of fear that in a second Trump administration, there wouldn't be people that would advise Donald Trump not to do that. And he would get his way to go deploy troops and that it wouldn't stop at immigration enforcement at the border. That he would go into U.S. cities with U.S. troops. And it wouldn’t stop at immigration enforcement in those cities. That he would potentially have the opportunity to intimidate protesters and try to enforce other U.S. laws personally, and that it would be a slippery slope into quasi-autocracy….And this seems to be precisely what Donald Trump is now doing. He's executing the playbook that he was prevented from executing last time.In our conversation, Taylor also had this chilling account of what it was like to be called out by Trump personally after Taylor revealed himself as Anonymous:The blast zone is big. … Doing that cost me my home, my job, the marriage I was in at the time, my personal security, and my savings. I mean, it detonated everything. And so much so that on election night 2020, I was in a safe house in Northern Virginia under armed guard and with a pistol under my pillow. None of that is an exaggeration. The death threats were so serious that I had to have an armed security detail.On April 9, Trump targeted Taylor with an Executive Order, throwing his life into a new round of chaos, which we also discussed at length.I highly recommend this one — it was a riveting and important conversation. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.telos.news/subscribe

My weekly chat with Steve Schmidt (June 9). In this episode, we break down Trump's escalation in L.A. Steve and I will be back together on Monday at noon. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.telos.news/subscribe

My weekly Monday chat with Steve Schmidt (June 2). We discuss Donald Trump, Elon Musk, the media, and more. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.telos.news/subscribe

Thank you P. J. Schuster, joe alter, Dean Blundell, Kelly Eggers, retrofocus80, and many others for tuning into my live video with Laura Bassett and Sam Stein! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.telos.news/subscribe

FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez is a rare voice inside the Trump administration. For one, she’s actually speaking out against Trump’s abuses of power. Stranger still is that the Democratic appointee hasn’t been fired. (She explains why in our conversation.)From her perch at the Federal Communications Commission, she has seen up close how the agency is being used for political purposes to attack Trump’s critics in the media. But during our interview, she also spoke about a wider set of abuses:I have been very alarmed about what I see as this administration's campaign of censorship and control. And we've seen this throughout the administration. It is not just at the FCC, although weaponizing the FCC's licensing authority is certainly an important part of that.It is using the FCC to go after broadcasters for their editorial decisions.It is investigating public broadcasters, also because of the content of their news coverage, although they say they're investigating them because of their sponsorship announcements. But it's a sham investigation.It is going after law firms.It is going after universities for their curricula.It is arresting protesters.It is retaliating against critics of the administration.It is going after content at the Smithsonian with which it disagrees.It is going after diversity, equity, and inclusion at private companies….It is attempting to shutter the Voice of America and Radio Martí.It is harassing tech companies into not moderating content or providing fact-checking that consumers want.So we are seeing this campaign, which is, to me, a threat to our democracy. The First Amendment is a pillar of our democracy, and we must protect it because democracy is fragile. And freedom isn't free. And we must speak up when we see our government violating such an important tenet of our freedom.If you appreciate these conversations, please consider becoming a paid subscriber to Telos News. Thanks! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.telos.news/subscribe

In my recent conversation with Judge Luttig, we covered a great deal of legal news that’s worth flagging:* Luttig on the Supreme Court’s use of the so-called shadow docket:“The Supreme Court, in taking these cases that it has, is accommodating Donald Trump in a way that it would never accommodate any other person or litigant.”* Luttig on Trump’s attacks on Harvard:“When Harvard first refused to bow before Donald Trump, the next thing he said is that I'll withdraw your tax-exempt status under Section 501c3. Well, not only does the president have no authority to do that, when he said that he was in violation of a federal statute that specifically prevents the president of the United States from even suggesting an IRS audit for purposes of rescinding the exemption from any organization. That statute…is punishable by a fine and imprisonment.”* Luttig on Trump’s tariffs:“[He] said that he was invoking the [International Emergency Economic Powers Act], on the basis of the emergency that existed by the trade deficits. Well, that's laughable, okay? We will always have trade deficits. … This goes back and forth like a seesaw and always will. There's no one in the world who thinks that that's an emergency. … And that's what the International Court held.”We got deep into the weeds on all of these legal issues and several more.But I wanted to highlight Luttig’s fiery response when we discussed the Republican Party — his longtime home — and how it has failed to express any concern about Trump’s actions:The Republican Party and almost every Republican official in the country has sold their soul to the devil. They literally have acted and so conducted themselves as if they had no morals, no convictions, no principles, no beliefs whatsoever. And especially none of those in America itself and in our past and our future. It’s as if they are vessels for the corruption of America that’s occurred over the past few years.You can watch the entire interview on Substack or YouTube or download it as a podcast.If you appreciate these conversations, please consider becoming a paid subscriber to Telos News. Thanks! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.telos.news/subscribe

Gabe Fleisher and I discuss the Supreme Court, Reconciliation, Polling, the Future of Journalism, and more.More from Telos News: http://www.telos.news This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.telos.news/subscribe

Steven Levitsky, co-author of How Democracies Die, assesses Trump's first four months in office and explains why America has tipped into "competitive authoritarianism."More from Telos News: http://www.telos.news/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.telos.news/subscribe

Part 2 of our Telos master class with Paul Krugman. In our conversation, Krugman reviewed the last hundred years of tariff policy—crucial context for understanding the full absurdity of Trump’s recent recklessness—and warned that America’s trade wars, and their risks to the economy, are not close to being over despite last week’s partial climbdown on Chinese tariff rates.More from Telos News: http://www.telos.news/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.telos.news/subscribe

Paul Krugman joined me for our latest Telos master class.In our conversation, Krugman reviewed the last hundred years of tariff policy—crucial context for understanding the full absurdity of Trump’s recent recklessness—and warned that America’s trade wars, and their risks to the economy, are not close to being over despite last week’s partial climbdown on Chinese tariff rates.More from Telos News: http://www.telos.news/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.telos.news/subscribe

Elizabeth “Liza” Goitein is the senior director of the Brennan Center’s Liberty and National Security Program, and she is an expert on the use of presidential emergency powers. Long before recent concerns arose about whether Trump might use an emergency for some authoritarian purpose, Goitein had been warning that the laws governing presidential powers during a declared emergency needed to be revised.Under the National Emergencies Act, a president can legally invoke approximately 150 powers after declaring an emergency. Theoretically, an unchecked president could use the military domestically, seize the bank accounts of American citizens, and take control of the internet.Presidents have been pushing the envelope on emergency powers for years. Frustrated with congressional deadlock, Joe Biden used a dubious emergency declaration to suspend some student debt. In his first term, Trump tried to secure funding for his border wall through an emergency declaration.However, in his second term, Trump has demonstrated a willingness to declare emergencies far beyond that of any recent president. In their 12 years in office, Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden declared a total of 21 emergencies. Trump has declared 19 emergencies in under four years and four months as president. He has made eight emergency declarations this year alone.In our conversation, Goitein explains the history of emergency powers, reviews how presidents have used and abused them in the past, details the frightening array of powers on the books, offers her thoughts on some nightmare scenarios under Trump, and explains whether Congress or the courts could stop him.If you watched or listened to our recent conversation with Damon Linker about MAGA’s obsession with theorists who worship an all-powerful executive willing to use emergencies to enact sweeping change, you will want to hear Goitein explain exactly how it could be done.More from Telos News: http://www.telos.news/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.telos.news/subscribe

Georgetown law professor Steve Vladeck guides us through the history of habeas, explains how previous presidents, Congresses, and federal courts have interpreted the Suspension Clause, and outlines why we should all be deeply concerned if the Trump administration actually attempts to suspend habeas for certain categories of immigrants.For more from Vladeck, check out his excellent work on Substack at One First. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.telos.news/subscribe

Simon Rosenberg has long been one of the most interesting and original thinkers in the Democratic Party’s strategist class. I’ve been talking with him about politics on and off for over twenty years, and he is frequently ahead of the curve.During an hour-long conversation yesterday, we dicussed why he thinks Trump’s polling drop may be irreversible, the contagious effects of what he calls the “circle of defiance” against Trump, what the media gets wrong in its coverage of MAGA, his advice for Democrats eager to take advantage of Trump’s recent vulnerabilities, why he thinks the 2028 Democratic presidential primary field will include 15-20 candidates—and why that’s a good thing. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.telos.news/subscribe

Longtime journalist Tom LoBianco and I discuss media coverage of Trump and delve into the details of my recent article about the "Laptop of MAGA Secrets." But don't miss Tom's story about what he did when a Republican member of Congress once called him "fake news."More from Telos News: https://www.telos.news/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.telos.news/subscribe

Veteran journalist—and pilot!—James Fallows tells us everything we need to know about what’s going on with aviation safety right now—and how much the Trump administration is to blame. He warns that "the Golden Age of phenomenally safe flying may be nearing its end."For more, check out Fallows’s new piece on the subject: “Pay Attention to What Happened in Newark.”More from Telos News: http://www.telos.news/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.telos.news/subscribe

Steve Schmidt and I kibitz about politics in the first of our now-weekly chats.More from Telos News: https://www.telos.news/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.telos.news/subscribe

A very sobering conversation with Judge Luttig . More here, including an edited transcript.More from Telos News: https://www.telos.news/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.telos.news/subscribe

Lauren Harper of the Freedom of the Press Foundation obtained an extraordinary memo through the Freedom of Information Act that undermines the administration's argument for using the Alien Enemies Act. Harper shares the weird backstory of how this secret document was declassified and turned over to her by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. We also discuss the more mysterious question of WHY the document was released.More here: https://www.telos.news/p/the-secret-document-that-undercutsMore from Telos News: https://www.telos.news/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.telos.news/subscribe

Author Damon Linker explains the influence of Carl Schmitt, Leo Strauss, the Claremont Institute, and Adrian Vermeule on Trump's conception of an all-powerful executive, one that was never contemplated by the U.S. Constitution.More from Telos News: https://www.telos.news This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.telos.news/subscribe

Adam Klasfeld Discusses His New Project, All Rise News This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.telos.news/subscribe

My old friend Chris Cillizza and I discuss why all the excitement in political media these days is happening on Substack.More from Telos News: https://www.telos.news/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.telos.news/subscribe

Jennifer Rubin Discusses the Success of The ContrarianMore from Telos News: http://www.telos.news/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.telos.news/subscribe