The vice president of the United States called a meeting in the Situation Room last year to discuss the administration's cover-up of the Epstein files. Never mind that there were allegations in the files that Trump had had sex with an underage girl in Epstein's child trafficking ring—and which somehow involved Trump's alleged nipple fetish. The Epstein victims and the underlying crimes were not a priority in the meeting; getting Ghislaine or Vance on a friendly podcast was. Plus, the perception of a deal with Iran seems to be more important than an agreement itself, cuck John Cornyn is not worthy of sympathy, Dems have got to stop walking on eggshells, advice for making the most effective campaign contributions for the midterms, POTUS thinks he is the culmination of what America 250 is celebrating, Tim likes the UFC Claw, and the worst Spencer Pratt takes of all.

Jon Favreau joins Tim Miller for the weekend pod.

show notes

• Jon's 'Offline' podcast
• Tim's 'Triad' on the most effective campaign contributions
• Peter Hamby on America 250
• Tim's playlist

Trump shifts his position on the Iran war so often that it sure looks like he is using the same propaganda technique that Putin uses with abandon: Flood people with contradictory stories to confuse and exhaust them so they'll just tune out. That could be helpful for a commander–in-chief running a failed military campaign. At the same time, the only engagement the administration seems to want is from the online world—which they use to create an alternate reality. Plus, Russia is not winning the war in Ukraine and does not know how to, much of Trump's immigration policy is about performative cruelty, political oppression still continues in Venezuela, Kari Lake has a new gig, and new selections for the Anne Applebaum book club.

Anne Applebaum joins Tim Miller.

show notes:

• Anne's latest reporting from Ukraine
• Phillips O'Brien piece on Iran, "War Crimes Seem To Be Official US Policy Now"
• A Venezuela opposition leader on the continuing political oppression there
• Anne's reporting on Kari Lake running Voice of America
• Anne on Lake being nominated as ambassador to Jamaica
• Summer novel rec from Anne, "The Time of Cherries"
• Tim's summer novel rec, "My Tender Matador"

Donald Trump knows he is on target to lose the midterms, so he's busy laying the groundwork now for challenging the outcome in the fall. That's why he seized the 2020 ballots in Fulton County, why he's determined to get hatchet man Bill Pulte in place as director of national intelligence, and why he’s pushing the South to gerrymander back to the dark days of Jim Crow. This is not the time to despair or to outsource the fight for democracy to others. Sen. Warnock also talks about centering ordinary people in politics, the Supreme Court's deeply dishonest Callais ruling, the performative piety of JD Vance and Mike Johnson, the high likelihood that Trump mocks God—and doesn't believe in anything except his own self-enrichment. Plus, Tim on the deliciousness of Nancy Mace's fifth-place showing in the South Carolina governor's race.

Sen. Raphael Warnock joins Tim Miller.

show notes

• Sen. Warnock's new book, "The Crooked Places Made Straight," out next week
  
  

Trump's approval rating may be near record lows, but tech tycoons and powerhouse CEOs are still all-in with bending the knee to Trump and bearing him gifts. If he turned America into an oligarchy, they'd be OK with that too. Anything to gut regulations and keep their taxes low—even if regular Americans might soon be looking for a pitchfork. Jason tries to explain the view from the tech world to the rest of us. Plus, AI job displacement, Elon's IPO grift, and a counterfactual had Kamala been president.

Jason Calacanis joins Tim Miller

show notes

• Jason's "All-In" podcast
• Jason's company, Launch
• Get 20% off when you go to trustandwill.com /BULWARK
  

Todd Blanche did one singular thing that particularly pleased Donald Trump: He organized and executed the Epstein cover-up. Democrats must ruthlessly hang Blanche's dirty work on every Republican senator who's willing to confirm him as AG. That includes his moving Ghislaine Maxwell to a cushier prison, the millions of documents he's not releasing, and his complete disregard for the survivors. Plus, Bill Pulte is the linchpin in Trump's plot to interfere with the midterms, Pratt lost fair and square in LA, Scott Pelley made clear how hard Bari Weiss is working to serve POTUS, and Trump managed to make Iran even stronger over the weekend.

Bill Kristol joins Tim Miller.

Show notes

• Monday's "Morning Shots"
• Tim's 'Take' on Trump's "Meet the Press" interview
• Bill's "Bulwark on Sunday with Tom Joscelyn
• Exclusive $35-off Carver Mat, Aspen, and Walden frames at https://on.auraframes.com/BULWARK. Promo Code THEBULWARK

The corruption in the Trump administration is so shameless and so abundant that neither the media nor regular people can keep up. While Ivanka’s purchase of a private “fixer-upper” island is getting a lot of attention (aside from infuriated Albanians), the private equity deals her husband is making while supposedly negotiating Middle East peace are not. Trump himself has never had so much money—including from the top businesses paying to play—that the corrupt generational wealth he’s creating will even be around for Barron’s great-grandkids to enjoy. Dems need to start connecting the dots now. Plus, Bill Cassidy is putting his future lobbying career ahead of the American people, no one should ever count Pelosi out, and Tim says Platner is looking like a risky choice.

Stephanie Ruhle joins Tim Miller for the weekend pod.

show notes

• Joe on Trump's stock trades
  
  
• Tim on Cassidy protecting Trump's $1.8 fund
  
  
• Tim's playlist
  
  

Most of the multibillionaires are not only hoarding their money and failing to contribute to the public good, they're also using their wealth-based power to manipulate the government, the markets, or our elections. Like Elon, for instance, who just manipulated the Nasdaq so all Americans with a 401(k) can help him become the first trillionaire by the end of the year. At some point, there is such a thing as too many billions for one person, and we need to start applying the pre-Reagan tax rate. Plus, 'vanilla' Dems are doing pretty well, maybe not so fast on Pratt 2028, and Trump will never forgive Vance for being right about the Iran war. And Lawfare's Katherine Pompilio discusses her exclusive reporting on the significant number of pardoned J6ers who went on to commit subsequent crimes.

Katherine Pompilio and JVL join Tim Miller.

show notes

• Katherine's reporting on the scores of pardoned J6ers committing new crimes
• JVL on how Marco beat out JD for the Trump's Favorite Adopted Son spot
• JVL's "Trump Madman Theory’ of . . . the Stock Market"
• Lauren on the 'vanilla' dems
• The Secret Podcast
• Join at functionhealth.com/THEBULWARK or use gift code THEBULWARK25 for a $25 credit toward your membership.
  

After "60 Minutes" veteran Scott Pelley was fired, he said that the new management at CBS News had instructed him to put false information in his political stories. Coupled with the decimation at The Washington Post, it feels like there is a vast rightwing conspiracy to take over the media. Plus, the much-promised ceasefire with Iran is nowhere in sight, Megyn Kelly feels duped by Trump, California's marquee races look like they'll be Dem v. MAGA, and Steve King gets revenge. Also, newly minted Democratic Senate nominee in Iowa, Josh Turek, talks about his prairie populism, how he'll win over Trump voters, the state's farmaggedon, and its growing cancer rate. And three NBA super-fans give their picks for the finals.

Josh Turek and Luke Russert join Tim Miller.

show notes

• Turek's campaign website
• Luke will be a new co-anchor on MS NOW's "The Weeknight" on June 15
• For their buy 1 get 1 50% off deal, head to 3DayBlinds.com/THEBULWARK.