Like All Dictators, Trump Now Controls the Security Services Via His Obedient Flunkies
We begin with the latest twists and turns in the Trump Reality TV presidency, with the press distracted again from what Trump does not want covered. His tariff chaos and his Big Beautiful Bill stalled in the Senate, he now has the focus on L.A., a city he says is being “conquered by a foreign enemy.” We look into Trump’s own private militias at DHS, ICE, and the FBI and the U.S. military, the military being the first tool that all dictators must control, which has his puppet Hegseth in charge if not in control. Joining us is Lincoln Mitchell, who teaches in the School of International and Public Affairs and the Department of Political Science at Columbia University. He has written numerous books and articles about international affairs, American politics, and baseball. His 9th book, just out is, Three Years our Mayor: George Moscone and the Making of Modern San Francisco. He is the author of the popular Substack Kibitzing with Lincoln, where his latest article we will discuss is, “Los Angeles Shows How Trump is Demonstrating Control of the Security Forces.”
A Young Latino Journalist Who Has Covered the LA Protests Since Friday
Then we speak with a young Latino journalist who has covered the Los Angeles protests on the ground since Friday. Gerardo Chagolla, is a multiple award-winning student journalist and the Editor-in-Chief at Fullerton College newspaper The Hornet. He is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of a new publication The Fullerton News Journal. He joins us to describe why young Angelinos and the protesters he has been covering are angry and how they feel their community has been treated by Trump and portrayed by the media.
Is Trump’s Triumphant Announcement of a Trade Deal With China and ‘EXCELLENT’ Relations With Xi Jinping Warranted?
Then finally, we assess how much Trump’s triumphant announcement today of a trade deal with China and his claim that his relationship with Xi Jinping is ‘EXCELLENT’ is warranted. Joining us is Professor Barry Naughton, the Chair in Chinese International Affairs and a scholar with the 21st Century China Program at the University of California San Diego. An authority on the Chinese economy, he has recently focused on Chinese trade and technology — in particular, the relationship between the development of the electronics industry in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, and the growth of trade and investment among those economies. His books include The China Circle: Economics and Technology in the PRC, Taiwan and Hong Kong; The Chinese Economy: Transitions and Growth; and his latest, State Capitalism, Institutional Adaptation, and the Chinese Miracle.