Bulwark Takes

Trump’s midterm shellacking has changed the political equation at home and abroad. Former CIA officer Marc Polymeropoulos and journalist Michael Weiss discuss the celebrations among America’s allies, what the results mean for Ukraine and the war in Iran, Netanyahu’s costly bet on MAGA, and the congressional scrutiny awaiting Trump’s inner circle. Plus, why JD Vance and Elon Musk may be among the election’s biggest losers.
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After a historic Democratic midterm victory, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker joins Sam Stein to explain why Democrats can’t afford to waste their newfound power. He lays out his aggressive agenda for Congress, calls out corporate leaders and fellow Democrats who caved to Trump, and unloads on JD Vance for suddenly distancing himself from the Iran war. Plus, why Pritzker thinks the election could finally loosen Trump’s grip on Republicans.
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Trump and Vance threw everything they had at Abdul El-Sayed, but Michigan voters elected him to the U.S. Senate by seven points. In an exclusive interview with Jonathan Cohn, El-Sayed reflects on the anti-Muslim attacks against him, why he believes Republicans’ strategy failed, and his plans to challenge Trump and shake up Democratic leadership.
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Sam Stein and Will Sommer break down Donald Trump’s bizarre response to Republicans’ crushing midterm defeat. While Republicans are scrambling to explain what went wrong, Trump headed to the White House ballroom construction site to celebrate chandeliers, kitchen layouts and the final steel beam, seemingly more interested in his vanity project than the political disaster unfolding around him. The spectacle was especially surreal as MAGA turns on itself, with Laura Loomer, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Mark Levin, Nancy Mace and other right-wing personalities trading insults and pointing fingers over the losses. The knives are out, and Trump is nowhere to be found.
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Andrew Egger and Will Sommer discuss Trump DOJ’s sweeping Election Day deployment of federal monitors, the questions surrounding where they’re being sent, and the growing concerns over federal interference in the midterms.
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