Dan Driscoll made history earlier this year when, at 38, he was sworn in as the youngest Army secretary in U.S. history.

And he just made news again this week when he became the highest-level Trump administration official to visit Kyiv for the White House’s secret peace talks in effort to end Russia’s war on Ukraine. Driscoll joined high-level talks with Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as news broke about a potential peace deal on the horizon.

Driscoll is a veteran of the Iraq War, and as a result, has felt the effects of Pentagon decisions firsthand. He’s set out to reshape the U.S. Army and the Pentagon into an agile institution that can make better use of existing resources and channel the best practices of the private sector.

“When you are creating defensive and offensive solutions, you have to think even 10 years out when the war really gets to its most catastrophic moment, ‘What are the very basic tools of warfare that can't be impacted by the enemy,” Driscoll said.

In this week’s episode of The Conversation, Driscoll sits down with POLITICO’s Dasha Burns to delve into the future of warfare, his plans for reinvigorating the Army’s technology and the innovation spurred by conflict.

“I think the best guess is if the United States entered a conflict with a peer in a couple of years, it would be a hybrid war where nearly every human being on the battlefield would be empowered and enabled with a digital tool,” Driscoll said. “I think we believe every infantryman in the United States Army will carry a drone with them into battle.”

CNN "NewsNight" host Abby Phillip also joined Dasha to chat about her new book, “A Dream Deferred: Jesse Jackson and the Fight for Black Political Power,” Jackson’s influence on today’s political landscape and Phillip’s approach to her own roundtable show.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rep. Seth Moulton (D–Mass.) is not one to shy away from criticism of his own party. He made waves in the past when he insisted that the Democrats’ approach to dialogue on transgender issues was stifling. Moulton has also been vocal about the need for generational change in an aging Washington. 

This time, the Massachusetts congressman is speaking out about the deal that ended the longest government shutdown in history. And how Senate Democrats missed an opportunity to extend the Affordable Care Act subsidies

“If Republicans were somehow gaining advantage here, if the polling was shifting in their favor, if they had done well in the elections last week, then I might say,’Okay, I get it. It doesn't seem like this strategy is working, so let's give up,’” says Moulton. “But Schumer has just snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.”

Moulton is a veteran who served four tours in Iraq as a Marine Corps infantry officer. He’s also challenging Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey for his seat in the 2026 midterms — a feat that former Rep. Joe Kennedy III attempted and lost in 2020.

“Senator Markey is a good guy,” says Moulton. “He served the country for half a century. I mean, he's been in office longer than I've been alive. He and I agree on many of the issues. He says the right things, he has great press releases, but how much has he actually gotten done?”

In this week’s episode of The Conversation, Moulton talks with POLITICO’s Dasha Burns about how Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is failing his party, why age needs to be a major consideration for lawmakers and how Senate Democrats could have done more to guarantee access to affordable healthcare.

Plus, POLITICO’s Senior Congressional editor Mike DeBonis joins Dasha to discuss how the shutdown finally came to an end, which party ended up better off afterwards and how this event may shape Congress in the year to come.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this podcast misstated that former Rep. Joe Kennedy III is running against Sen. Ed Markey in  2026. Kennedy ran against Markey in 2020 but has not announced plans to run against Markey in 2026.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New Jersey’s governor-elect Mikie Sherrill and James Blair, the political director for the Trump 2024 Campaign and the RNC, break down the lessons learned from this week’s Democratic sweep 

Election Night 2025 was a sweet one for Democrats nationwide. Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani won the New York City mayoral race. Former congresswoman Abigail Spanberger clinched the Virginia gubernatorial contest. California Governor Gavin Newsom’s Prop 50 initiative passed, paving the way for redistricting reform across the country.

And, by a double-digit margin, Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.) is now the Governor-elect of New Jersey. The Navy helicopter pilot-turned federal prosecutor defeated Republican Jack Ciattarelli with a campaign focused on standard issues like capping energy costs and cutting administrative bloat.

In this week’s episode of The Conversation, Governor-elect Sherrill chats with POLITICO’s Dasha Burns about her campaign strategy, navigating New Jersey’s electoral landscape, and the need for Democrats to reclaim their reputation with working-class Americans.

Plus, James Blair, political director for President Trump’s 2024 campaign and the RNC, sits down with Dasha to break down what Tuesday night’s Democratic sweep means for the GOP’s battle plans going into the 2026 midterms. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) hasn’t been in Congress for very long, but she’s transformed the way that Democrats are communicating with voters and energized her colleagues in the party. 

Crockett is known for her willingness to frankly engage with Republican counterparts from Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green all the way to President Donald Trump. And while some critics in the Democratic Party worry that her way of messaging might alienate swing voters, Crockett says her fellow Democrats are recruiting her to stump for them all over the country.

“I think at the end of the day, whether you agree with my style or disagree with my style, I think people respect me for my authenticity,” says Crockett. “They never feel like they're getting someone different. They feel like they know exactly who they're getting.”

In this week’s episode of The Conversation, Rep. Crockett chats with POLITICO’s Dasha Burns about what her colleagues think about her messaging style and the strategies that Democrats need to pursue for victory in the midterms and beyond. She also offers insight into her plans for a possible Senate run.

Plus, Jane Coaston, host of Crooked Media’s “What A Day” podcast, joins Dasha to talk about the nuances of daily news coverage choices and how mixing politics with sports-like fandom can be a recipe for disaster.  

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is known for being a firebrand when it comes to his conservative, small-government principles. He’s also known for being a longtime supporter of President Donald Trump, despite taking issue with some of the president’s policies.

But Paul takes issue with being what he says is the only Republican willing to stand up to Trump and his latest moves which, according to Senator Paul, fly in the face of GOP principles and campaign promises.

Most recently, he was concerned over his Republican colleagues’ hesitation to confront Trump about his now-former nominee to lead Office of the Special Counsel, Paul Ingrassia. Ingrassia withdrew from the Senate confirmation process earlier this week after POLITICO’s reporting on texts that showed him making racist and antisemitic remarks.

“I hear a lot of flack from Republicans and they want me to do it. They say, ‘Oh, well, you're not afraid of the president. You go tell him his nominee can't make it,’ says Paul, who chairs the Senate Homeland Security Committee. “I'm just tired of always being the whipping boy.”

In this week’s episode of The Conversation, Paul joins POLITICO’s Dasha Burns — just hours after he was snubbed from a presidential luncheon — to talk about this GOP fear of confronting Trump, support for House colleague Rep. Thomas Massie, the administration's latest foreign policy moves, the Epstein files and a “farmageddon” that may be on the horizon.

“If I'm given the choice of President Trump versus Harris or versus Biden, without question, I choose President Trump over and over again,” says Paul. But that doesn't mean I'm going to sit back and just say, ‘Oh, I'm leaving all my beliefs on the doorstep. I'm no longer going to be for free trade. I'm no longer going to be for balanced budgets. I'm no longer going to be opposed to killing people without trials, without naming them, without evidence.’ No, I have to remain who I am.”

Later in the show, Dasha speaks to epidemiologist and public health professor Katelyn Jetelina, the founder of the Substack “Your Local Epidemiologist." They discuss what it’s like being a health communicator in the time of MAHA and why she thinks public health is nearing ‘system collapse.’

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nationwide, state and local officials are pushing back against President Trump’s plans to send the National Guard into various Democratic-run cities for crime and immigration enforcement support. One of the top Democrats leading the resistance is Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker. 

Trump has recently said that he believes Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson should be arrested for what he believes is mismanagement of the Windy City.

“Should we have a president who is threatening to jail his political opponents with no evidence of any wrongdoing, just that we oppose what he's trying to do to our country, which is to militarize our cities and turn us into an authoritarian regime?” Pritzker says. “I don't think that any American thinks that we ought to be jailing people just for their views.”

In this week’s episode of The Conversation, Pritzker joins POLITICO’s Dasha Burns to denounce the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement strategy, combat the administration’s narratives surrounding cities like Chicago, and discuss the future of the Democratic Party.

Plus, Fox News Senior White House Correspondent Jacqui Heinrich comes on to talk about the difference between covering the Trump and Biden administrations, her role on the White House Correspondents Association board and the Pentagon’s attempts to impose new restrictions on reporters there.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dan Rayfield is Oregon’s attorney general — and the latest state-level politician to be thrust into the national spotlight by a legal clash with the Trump administration. In this instance, it’s over the federal government ordering troops into Portland, where protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement have been deemed rebellion by the president. 

I would invite anybody to come to Oregon and I think it's pretty clear that there isn't an invasion going on in Oregon,” Rayfield says. “Sometimes I'll joke the only rebellion going on right now is when I tried to feed my son a vegetable.”

The AG explained that his opposition to Trump’s proposed deployment is because, in his view, the president’s stated reasons for doing so aren’t based on the facts — or in the best interest of the people of Oregon.“If you want to deploy the military, if you want to federalize the National Guard, I'm okay with that if you have the right facts for it.,” Rayfield says. “We should give any president some deference, but when you have zero facts to base it on, that's when you've got to draw the line.”

In this week’s episode of The Conversation, Rayfield talks with POLITICO’s Dasha Burns about how he’s trying to defend states rights by fending off the Trump administration’s attempted National Guard incursion in Portland, the reality of what’s happening in the city, freedom of speech and how progressive policies have drawn outside attention to the state in recent years.

Plus, blogger and activist Vani Hari — better known as “The Food Babe” — joins the show to talk about her influence on HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and how she hopes to help the MAHA agenda become reality.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Hassett is the director of the National Economic Council and arguably the economist closest to President Donald Trump. Right now, he’s also one of the top advisers tasked with explaining the economic fallout of the government shutdown and forging a path forward.

Hassett joins POLITICO’s Dasha Burns for this week’s episode of The Conversation, where he talks about the shutdown standoff on Capitol Hill, when Americans should start feeling the benefits of Trump’s big tax bill and how the trade wars may affect the midterms. 

“The really striking thing is that the place where the tariff policy effects should be the worst is the time right now where we have almost 4 percent growth and low inflation,” Hassett says. “We're very, very optimistic about how this policy is working and what it's gonna look like.”

And, Hassett digs into the buzz surrounding whether or not he will be Trump’s pick to replace Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. 

Plus, Shark Tank judge and investor Kevin O’Leary comes on the show to explain why he’s bullish on the TikTok deal news, bearish on the federal government’s investment in Intel and how he’s grading Trump 2.0’s economic performance so far.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

James Talarico is a Texas state representative who’s recently announced his candidacy for US Senate. He’s a Democrat, but not afraid to criticize some aspects of his party. 

“National Democrats have talked about defending democracy or protecting institutions,” he said. “But, this democracy of ours doesn't work for a lot of people in this country. It doesn't work for a lot of people in Texas…. This is a deeply broken political system. And I'm not interested in defending it.” 

Talarico joined POLITICO’s Dasha Burns this week for an episode of The Conversation, in a wide-ranging conversation about his candidacy, his faith and what Democrats can learn from Beyoncé. 

Talarico caught national attention when he flipped a state House district outside Austin in 2018, and has grown in prominence on social media, where he boasts millions of followers on TikTok and Instagram. The former school teacher who’s studying to be a pastor is joining a crowded race to try to turn a Senate seat blue in Texas.

His faith has been one of the central aspects of his campaign. “My faith is why I went into public service. My granddad was a Baptist preacher in South Texas [and he] told me that Jesus gave us these two commandments to love God and love neighbor, which means that your faith is inherently public, right?,” he said. “That means that your faith should impact how you treat people out in the world. And really politics is just another word for how we treat our neighbors at the most fundamental level.”

When it comes to immigration, a Texas issue in the national spotlight, Talarico offered a metaphor to explain his approach. “People have a desire for a sane immigration system, a secure border that can ensure public safety and can ensure that the people coming here are coming to contribute to our communities and not threaten our communities,” he said. “We should treat our southern border like our front porch. We should have a giant welcome mat out front, and we should have the lock on the door.”

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sriram Krishnan is a venture capitalist who once served as general partner at Andreessen Horowitz. Now, he serves as White House Senior Policy Advisor for AI, where he has helped to develop President Trump’s American AI Action Plan. 

In a live interview with The Conversation host Dasha Burns at POLITICO’s AI & Tech Summit, Krishnan discussed what it takes for the United States to win the AI race, how the White House wants to keep “wokeness” out of government-funded AI, and how artificial intelligence will be harnessed, regulated, and contested in the years ahead. 

“We want to make sure that our ecosystem has market share, and if [China’s] Huawei gets market share that means revenue, that means usage, it makes their chips better, it makes them set up to start exporting to other countries,” Krishnan said.

Krishnan explains that the era of artificial intelligence is still very new, and while it closely resembles the early days of the internet, the Trump White House is working to make sure everyday Americans can make good use of the technology.

“What I think about is how do we get more of what people here are seeing, which is AI making your lives better, making your work better and figuring out how to get us to economic prosperity.” 

Plus, Playbook managing editor and in-house UK expert Jack Blanchard breaks down the significance of Trump’s unprecedented second state visit to Great Britain and the president’s close relationship with prime minister Keir Starmer.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices