The Briefing with Jen Psaki

Jen Psaki talks with David Plouffe, Barack Obama's 2008 campaign manager, about the balance of the congressional elections just a few months away from midterm elections, and the challenge Republicans face carrying the burden of Donald Trump's unpopularity when Trump's only campaign idea is to promote himself.

Taken separately, Donald Trump's bad policies are problematic enough, his petulant tariffs, his foolhardy trade wars, his inexplicable war in Iran, his assault on immigrants, etc. But taken together they are a crippling burden hurting both supply and demand as well as resources and materials for operating farms and businesses. Jen Psaki discusses with Senator Amy Klobuchar, Democratic candidate for governor of Minnesota.

Senator Mark Kelly joins to discuss the crisis Pete Hegseth has created in the American military.

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 relays breaking news that Darline Graham, sister of former Senator Lindsey Graham, is projected to win the South Carolina Republican primary for Seante, overcoming some embarrassing gaffes and apparently benefitting from a strong endorsement from Donald Trump.

Tim Miller, host of the Bulwark podcast, and Jim Messina, former Obama campaign manager, talk about the stakes of the South Carolina Senate race, Trump's extraordinary effort to see his candidate to victory and whether Darline Graham is damaged enough as a candidate to be vulnerable to the very compelling Democratic candidate Annie Andrews.

Jen Psaki talks with former Governor Roy Cooper, Democratic candidate for Senate from North Carolina about the contradiction in Donald Trump paying lip service to affordability while at the same time starting a trade war with Canada that will be a further burden on American consumers.

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 reports on the firing by Pete Hegseth's Pentagon of the editor-in-chief of the Stars and Stripes military newspaper, as well as one of its reporters, and considers the broader context of the Trump administration's attacks on the free press and Hegseth's particular battle against independent media. Erik Slavin, now former editor-in-chief of Stars and Stripes, and Lara Korte, former Middle East reporter for Stars and Stripes join to discuss with Jen Psaki.

A report from the Center for American Progress shows that despite costing a huge amount of money and making huge human resource demands, Donald Trump's National Guard deployment to U.S. citites like Washington, D.C. has not done what Trump promised. Neera Tanden, president and C.E.O. of the Center for American Progress talks with Jen Psaki about the the evidence that Donald Trump's deployment of the National Guard to fight crime in U.S. cities has been a giant waste of taxpayer money that has not reduced the rate of violent crime in those cities.

Rob Flaherty and Jesse Lehrich , co-hosts of the "Nobody Knows Anything” show, discuss the week's news in politics with Jen Psaki.

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 takes a closer look at the bizarre devotion Natalie Harp shows to Donald Trump and her reported behavior that is not at all normal for a presidential aide. And the similarly abnormal role of Jennifer Hegseth, Pete Hegseth's wife, former Fox News producer and awkward shadow in the Trump administration.

Chris Meagher, former chief Pentagon spokesman, and Ned Price, former CIA spokesman, talk with Jen Psaki about the glaring security problems with Donald Trump's aide, Natalie Harp, and Pete Hegseth taking his wife to work with him, and how the relationships undermine the trust of our allies and hurt U.S. national security.  

Abdul El-Sayed joins Jen to talk about his Senate race in Michigan and trying to get his Republican opponent to agree to a debate.

Brandon Dukes, a Democrat who won a special election in Pennsylvania county that Donald Trump won by 18 points, talks with Jen about the keys to his successful campaign. 

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 terrible performance of some of the candidates endorsed by Donald Trump, and the lack of help struggling Republicans candidates are getting from Trump, who may be too unpopular to help them even if he was inclined to do so.

Maggie Haberman, White House correspondent for The New York Times and co-author of "Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump," and Dan Pfeiffer, co-host of Pod Save America, join to discuss Donald Trump's waning influence in the Republican Party and his fixation on vanity projects instead of midterm elections, as well as new MS NOW reporting on questions about Trump aide Natalie Harp's security clearance.

Jen Psaki shares highlights from a weird, newly released reality-style show from Donald Trump's transportation secretary, former reality show performer and Fox host, Sean Duffy, featuring Duffy's family and products from the corporations that paid for the production.

Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost discusses his objections to a new crypto bill supported by 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.