It’s hard to find a better example of seizing the means of production than our government seizing an equity stake in a company—which Trump keeps doing over and over again. And what do the diehard Republican capitalists have to say about all this socializing of the private sector? Nothing, of course. But they definitely were up in arms over Bill Kristol saying he’d probably vote for Mamdani if he still lived in NYC, and that voting for Cuomo was ridiculous. Plus, the crypto-based bribery of Trump and his family is flourishing, SNAP cuts and Head Start closures will have a big impact on rural areas, businesses have been trying to find ways to lower their tariff burden since Trump won last November, and the potential ties between recent layoffs and the AI arms race.

The Bulwark’s Catherine Rampell joins Tim Miller for the Halloween weekend pod. 

Tim's playlist

Tim's Halloween playlist

President Trump meets with Xi Jinping and agrees to an embarrassingly one-sided trade deal, as the “China Hawks” in the administration cower. Meantime, the government shutdown moves to a more painful phase, with funding for SNAP expiring on Nov. 1. Former Sen. Heidi Heitkamp joins Tim to discuss how the chaos from Trump’s trade wars has already hurt farmers, how Democrats should play their next moves on the shutdown, and her surprising support for Mamdani/Platner style candidates.

From the jump, the administration has been all about the memes, owning the libs, and pissing people off. But Abby says she wants Trump’s supporters to have a chance to share their points of view on her show—and be challenged in real time. Meanwhile, during the weirdest shutdown ever, Republicans are at risk on SNAP and Obamacare subsidies. And policing the Caribbean and the Pacific to commit summary executions is not America First. Plus, the roots of Bernie Sanders’s populist campaigns were planted by Jesse Jackson’s runs for the presidency in ‘84 and ‘88. But Trump too also echoes Jackson as a political figure—through their use of celebrity, personality, and similar outsider populist messaging.

Abby Phillip joins Tim Miller.

Abby's book, "A Dream Deferred: Jesse Jackson and the Fight for Black Political Power"

CNN's NewsNight with Abby Phillip

Tim and Bill on Trump creepiest propaganda yet

While the inhumane and aggressive tactics unfolding in Chicago are repelling many Americans, they are having the opposite effect among Trump's top aides. The Kristi Noem clique wants more— much more— of the Border Patrol's "Midway Blitz" around the country, and they're busy purging local ICE leadership in a number of cities in an attempt to dramatically ramp up the pace of deportations. Meanwhile, Trump keeps talking like he's all for regime change in Venezuela. Plus, how conspiracy and our phones helped fuel the rise of global populism, why the left and right yearn for a struggle in an age of peace and prosperity, and the modern effort to reclaim the word 'liberal.'

Frank Fukuyama and Sam Stein join Tim Miller.

Frank's "Liberalism and Its Discontents" and his "The End of History and the Last Man"

Trump was so embarrassed by Canada using Reagan’s warnings about tariffs that he had a little hissy fit and decided to punish Americans for buying Canadian goods. And by the way, stuffed shirt Scott Bessent: Real American soybean farmers are being hurt by tariffs while you bail out Argentina and pretend that your dainty hands are tilling the soil on the farmland you bought as an investment. Meanwhile, the White House isn’t even pretending that it’s going after corrupt moneyed interests, as the Trump family rolls in dough from the most entrenched swampy types in DC. Plus, Dems get pressure on the shutdown and Trump weighs in on the VP gimmick for 2028.

Bill Kristol joins Tim Miller.

Scott Bessent saying he's a soybean farmer

Members of the administration, like Stephen Miller, who spend hours every day kissing Trump’s ass look so pathetic—but since the time of the ancients, courtiers have gone to great lengths to degrade themselves before the vain and vindictive. And one lesson for the ages is to not compromise with an extortionist: it will only lead to more extortion and more pressure because the extortionist wants everything. Meanwhile, Elon’s brain is broken, Peter Thiel spends too much time at dinner parties, Trump’s media diet allows no time for presidential reflection, and authoritarians can be seductive. Plus, Tim sees the redistricting fight looking better for Democrats, and argues that the best way to shut down the talk of a decrepit Trump running in ‘28 is to make sure the Dems win the House in 2026.

Ryan Holiday joins Tim Miller for the weekend pod. 

Tim's playlist

The convicted felon was legitimately prosecuted for hoarding classified docs at Mar-a-Lago. And he was justifiably investigated over the numerous contacts he and his associates had with Russian nationals during 2016. But Trump feels he has endured so much pain and suffering from all the probing that he's owed a quarter of a billion dollars in damages from hard-working American taxpayers. Meanwhile, his hired tool of revenge, Lindsey Halligan, is hard at work pursuing really weak cases against Comey and Tish James when she's not sending mean girl texts.

 

Lawfare's Anna Bower and Ben Wittes join Tim Miller.

One of the promises of this country has been the freedom to walk down the street without being harassed by the government. But even being an American citizen isn't stopping ICE agents from grabbing people with passports or IDs—and detaining them for hours. At the same time, many of the thugs and sadists who want to do the grabbing and snatching are pathetically failing basic physical fitness tests. Plus, JD is painfully unfunny, Republicans calling Democrats 'terrorists' has real world consequences, and Dems need more normal people running for office—but they should save the wild card candidates for long shot races.

Jon Favreau joins Tim Miller.

Putin’s friend in the White House may be back in his safe space with his kindred spirit in Moscow, but Trump is finding that he has limited leverage on Ukraine to end the war on Putin’s terms. He wants so badly to be crowned the ‘Prince of Peace,’ but he has no vim and vigor to get there—and Zelensky actually said “No” to Trump. Meanwhile, the Gaza ceasefire looks precarious. Plus, former press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on stepping away from the two-party system, the lingering anger over how Trump was allowed to win, and the fallout from emphasizing Biden’s legacy at the expense of Kamala’s ‘24 campaign.

Karine Jean-Pierre and Michael Weiss join Tim Miller.

Nearly seven million Americans peacefully took to the streets out of their love for this country, and Trump in response acted out like a toddler obsessed with his own poop. Indeed, our commander-in-chief really does have more affinity for the Sharia law dictators in the sand kingdoms than he does for Saturday’s true patriots. This may be the moment when the Dems and its allies take the patriotism banner back from Republicans. Plus, the lengths the administration went to imprison immigrants in El Salvador, the Dem base wants a fight over the shutdown, and Trump keeps serving up reasons why the Trump/Russia conspiracy has survived for so long.

Bill Kristol joins Tim Miller.

Miles Bruner's Bulwark piece on leaving the GOP

Jon Cohn on the Americans caught in the shutdown vice

The FT on the volatile Trump-Zelensky meeting last week

Bill and Sarah on a successful "No Kings"