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To The Contrary with Charlie Sykes
David French: Trump’s Expanding Power
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Charlie Sykes is joined by David French to unpack a week of alarming developments — from Trump’s threatened invocation of the Insurrection Act and deployment of troops to Chicago, to the stunning announcement of a Qatari military base on U.S. soil. Together, they explore how rhetoric, legality, and raw power collide in a presidency that continually tests constitutional limits. Amid escalating tensions at home and abroad, what happens when extraordinary powers become the new normal?
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“The Military Has Been a Little Bit Confused”
40:34|Retired Lieutenant General Mark Hertling served as commanding general of the U.S. Army in Europe during the Obama administration. In this episode, he tells Charlie that it's very difficult for the military to draft a campaign plan for Iran when the end state goal is unclear. He also discusses his new book: “If I Don’t Return: A Father’s Wartime Journal.”It’s Time to Admit It: We Have a Psychotic Government
45:49|Jonathan Rauch is a Brookings Institution Senior Fellow and a contributing writer at The Atlantic. In this episode, he makes the case that the Trump administration is, as a whole, psychotic, erratic, and unpredictable.“There’s No National Interest With Trump, Just Personal”
45:42|Phillips O'Brien is a historian and Professor of Strategic Studies at the University of St Andrews, Scotland. In this episode, he joins Charlie to discuss the different ways Trump could operate in Iran right now and the biggest obstacle to it all — the fact that Trump is only motivated by personal gain and that many people have given up.Is Trump TACOing on Iran?
41:07|Former Congressman and Substack superstar, Adam Kinzinger, joins Charlie to discuss the economic implications of the Iran war, Trump's response to the death of Robert Mueller, and ICE deployment at airports.The "Wing Nut" Rise to Power
51:06|On today’s episode, Charlie welcomes author, journalist, political commentator and former Congressional candidate, John Avlon. The two discuss the stark contrast between the decorum of past presidents and Trump, along with the broken incentive structures at the heart of the American political system, and how all this has brought political extremists to the forefront of American politics.“I Phoned Donald Trump. He Answered...”
47:12|Ed Luce from the Financial Times joins Charlie to discuss his recent phone call with the president, Trump's obsession with the British Prime Minister, and whether the US is opening another front in Cuba.Trumpology and the Iran Quagmire
48:58|Trying to make sense of Trump's incoherent approach to war and peace with the New Yorker's Susan Glasser, one of the nation's foremost Trumpologists.Iran War: It’s Not Just the Economy, Stupid
44:08|Economist Justin Wolfers joins Charlie to explain the impact of rising oil prices but also to remind us that there are much deeper questions that need to be asked.Trump’s Iran FUBAR
29:15|Molly Jong-Fast, host of the Fast Politics podcast and a contributing NYT Opinion writer, joins Charlie to discuss the miscalculations of the Iran war, the newly-streamable docu-bribe Melania, and Trump's troubles in Texas.