The Briefing with Jen Psaki

Jen Psaki shares highlights and insights from a new Vanity Fair article based on interviews with Donald Trump's chief of staff, Susie Wiles. The article not only shows that there are no "adults in the room" at Trump's White House, but shows Wiles to be so incompetent that agreeing to interviews with a reporter looks like a really bad idea.Rep. Adam Smith, top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee talks with Jen Psaki about the lack of information and evasiveness by the Trump administration in explaining to Congress the reasoning behind Donald Trump's increasing belligerence toward Venezuela and the clear risk of plunging the United States into another forever war.With a new release of Epstein documents set for this Friday, Donald Trump and his supporting Republicans are getting anxious, but Rep. Robert Garcia isn't sure how much Friday's release will contain.Another looming deadline as the year comes to an end is the expiration of health care subsidies. Rep. Brendan Boyle explains that the best hope that Republicans will act to prevent millions of Americans from losing their healthcare is that enough angry voters make Republicans more afraid of them than they are of Donald Trump. To listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads, sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Donald Trump's prosecutors tried and failed a third time to indict New York Attorney General Letitia James, who has repeatedly humiliated Donald Trump by exposing fraud in his organizations. Abbe Lowell, attorney for James, talks with Jen Psaki about the egregiousness of the politically motivated case, and the possibility of a counter suit over the DOJ's abuse of power.Rep. Hakeem Jeffries talks with Jen about the upcoming midterms, Donald Trump's unpopularity, and Indiana Republicans rejecting Trump's push to boost the number of Republican districts to help him preserve power in Congress.Senator Rev. Raphael Warnock talks with Jen Psaki about the looming health care crisis if Republicans continue to be unable to produce a solution to extent Obamacare subsidies, and the factors that are contributing to the housing crisis in the U.S. that Republicans in charge of Congress are also unable to address.Senator Adam Schiff discusses the upcoming release of Epstein investigation documents.   To listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads, sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Jen Psaki introduces viewers to Rachel Maddow's new podcast, "Burn Order," about Japanese internment in the U.S. during World War II, and points out that unlike Americans of that era, Americans now are being much more outspoken in support of immigrants and in condemnation of Donald Trump's anti-immigrant policies. Rachel Maddow joins to discuss Trump's use of anti-immigrant scapegoating as a means of giving himself more power.Rachel Maddow talks with Jen Psaki about Donald Trump's cluelessness regarding U.S. aggression toward Venezuela while the administration's explanations change and don't make sense. Maddow notes that what appears to be happening is a regime-change war to get access to Venezuela's oil.Senator Jon Ossoff joins Jen to discuss the recent string of Democratic candidates outperforming expectations set in 2024.And Senator Ruben Gallego discusses another Democratic upset win, this time for mayor of Miami. To listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads, sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Jen Psaki reviews the myriad scandals, disgraces, and bad news stories that are plaguing Donald Trump and his administration, and the familiar playbook of gaslighting, distraction, and lies that Trump is deploying with decreasing effectiveness. Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear talks with Jen Psaki about the factual gap between Donald Trump's bizarre economic boasts and the reality that Americans are living with in an economy burdened and distorted by Trump's tariff policy.Even as Donald Trump tries to move on to fresher scandals, questions about the new U.S. practice of blowing up boats in the Caribbean Sea and Trump's threats to start a war with Venezuela remain pressing. Rep. Chris Deluzio discusses.And Ben Smith, editor-in-chief of Semafor, talks with Jen about Donald Trump's heavy hand in shaping a new media oligarchy with the help of his son-in-law Jared Kushner.  To listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads, sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Jen Psaki looks at the myriad ways Donald Trump and members of his administration are indulging reckless, juvenile ideas with no one pushing back to force a re-thinking. Miles Taylor, former chief of staff at the Department of Homeland Security during Donald Trump's first term, joins to share his experience of why it's so bad that there are no grown-ups in the White House in Trump's second term.Rep. Adelita Grijalva talks with Jen Psaki about being confronted with aggression from border agents when she tried to get answers about an ICE raid taking place on a beloved local restaurant in her district, despite identifying herself to them as a member of Congress.Also Jeh Johnson, former top lawyer at the Pentagon discusses the U.S. blowing up boats and killing people in the Caribbean Sea.And Michael Feinberg, former FBI field ops section chief talks about the terrible job Kash Patel is doing as director of the FBI. To listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads, sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.