Putin puppet Viktor Orbán—whose nepotistic and corrupt government in Hungary has become the model for the far-right in America and Europe—is facing his first serious election challenge in 16 years. It turns out that voters get mad when a president steals from the public and tanks the economy. Vance tried to bolster Orbán with Kremlin-esque fake propaganda, but the energy may be with the grassroots campaign of Peter Magyar. Plus, Vance's arrogance and ignorance about Ukraine, Trump is still coming up short on his Iran war goals, the administration made some weird threats against Pope Leo, and Kari Lake is still a loser.
Anne Applebaum joins Tim Miller.
show notes
Anne's piece on Hungary, "The First Post-Reality Political Campaign"
Thursday's "Morning Shots"
Giselle Donnelly's Bulwark piece on how Trump's war is impacting global navigation
Anne's book, "Twilight of Democracy"
Anne's "Autocracy, Inc." in paperback
Anne's book recommendation, "Furious Minds: The Making of the Maga New Right"
Letters from Leo on Substack
Плейлист
The Bulwark Podcast
No one was really asking about Melania’s ties to Epstein. But after her surprise White House statement to the press on Thursday, the questions are flowing—particularly because a former Brazilian mode...
Putin puppet Viktor Orbán—whose nepotistic and corrupt government in Hungary has become the model for the far-right in America and Europe—is facing his first serious election challenge in 16 years. I...
Trump showed that he is completely unequipped to be a war leader. He threatened crimes against humanity, and not only let a foe prove it could take our punches, but also inflict economic pain on the...
AI poses real existential threats. The global economy is dependent on it, it's being deployed in war zones and used for domestic surveillance, and it's increasingly integrated into our medical and fi...
In threatening to bomb Iran to smithereens, Trump seems to be motivated by a combination of frustration, vengeance, and wanting to look like a tough guy. But he also has a God complex. Destroying the...
The pro-Iran war hawks keep crowing about how U.S. military prowess is supposedly striking fear in Beijing and Moscow. But what’s really happening is that Trump is doing exactly what China and Russia...
Trump fired Pam Bondi, maybe the most destructive AG in the history of the United States, because she wasn't able to magically and lawlessly jail his political enemies. On Wednesday night, he told Am...
The war-induced global oil shock is already pushing consumers and businesses to new pain points because of higher fuel prices. Airlines are cutting back routes and ticket prices have started to spike...
Trump has served up so many rationales for why he had to do this war, but helping Iran project even more power in the region was surely not one of the reasons. And yet, here we are. Iran is in contro...
Thousands of soldiers and Marines have arrived in the Middle East to potentially engage in combat on Iranian soil. Trump has done nothing to make the case for an invasion of Iran, even though he’s go...
In addition to the global energy shock brought on by Trump's war, mortgage rates are surging, and labor costs and prices are rising. And Republicans don't seem to have a plan except to spend more, bl...
For nearly 50 years, since the Ayatollah seized power in Iran and took Americans hostage, the U.S. has known that the regime could single-handedly shut down the Strait of Hormuz. Trump was reportedly...
Trump's shamelessness has been his political superpower, but the regime in Tehran is seeing a desperate and panicked man doing the opposite of what he's said about Iran for the past decade. But his s...
A war of choice may evolve into a war of necessity because the brains at the White House apparently did not anticipate that Iran—in response to the bombing campaign—would shut down the Strait of Horm...
The man in charge is bluffing, blustering, and trying to manipulate the markets by claiming that the administration is in negotiations with Iran and was holding off on further military strikes. Israe...
The U.S. is at war with the leading state sponsor of terror, and Donald Trump appointed Markwayne Mullin—a man with no counter-terrorism experience—to help defend the homeland. At the same time, Hegs...
For Talarico, it doesn't really matter whether Cornyn or Paxton wins their runoff battle. Either way, the Texas Democratic Senate candidate says he is running against the billionaire mega-donors and...
POTUS is pretending the laws of supply and demand don't apply when it comes to the price of oil. And his long list of conflicting statements on the Strait of Hormuz is not providing any clarity on wh...
A former MAGA influencer who saw the underbelly of the immense power and wealth around this administration says never-Trumpers should show compassion for people who are now feeling betrayed by him—an...
As the Iran war enters its third week, the Trump administration looks like it doesn’t know what it’s doing: It did not bother to consult U.S. allies before the military operation began but it now wan...
The Trump administration is preparing to deploy a Marine expeditionary unit to the Middle East along with more warships. But that development was not Hegseth’s highest priority at his Pentagon briefi...
We’re raining hellfire down on Iran and American soldiers have died, but that doesn’t stop Trump from hitting the links, doing a little dancing, or holding a revenge rally. His main preoccupation is...
One of the biggest America First fans tells Tim that he thought Trump 2.0 would be different because like-minded, high-level personnel—including the vice president and top DOD staff—were supposed to...
Before the bombs and the missiles started falling on Iran, Trump sent Jared and Witkoff to try to cut a deal with Tehran. But his two favorite emissaries with no expertise in world affairs fundamenta...
Unless the administration is keeping some closely-guarded secret about why America went to war against Iran, the only thing officialdom is saying out loud is that Netanyahu wanted us to. And now Trum...
Republicans and the Supreme Court have put basically no guardrails on Trump, so he started a global war that is costing taxpayers $1 billion a day. He shrugs about soldiers dying, and he lies about t...
Not only is Trump failing to provide any clarity on why the United States went to war against Iran, the administration is also sticking to its habit of declaring an emergency based on some arcane leg...
The starting kit for a unified Democratic Party with the biggest, broadest tent should be calling out the billionaire class that is sabotaging our political system, our healthcare system, and driving...
The facts on the ground and the ludicrous statements speak for themselves: The administration inadequately planned for the execution of this war. That's likely why six service members were killed in...
Trump cannot enunciate a clear reason for why he's chosen to go to war against Iran, and the administration is not even bothering to coordinate a message that clarifies its objective. While the milit...