
Background Briefing (5am)
5:00 AM PACIFIC TIME: TUESDAYS - FRIDAYS
Allison McManus / Michael Hiltzik / Timothy Shenk
Trump is Selling Out Ukraine to Putin, Who He Is Going to Bat For, to Have the Pariah Readmitted to the G7
Republican Senators Confirm an Anti-Vaxxer and Conspiracy Monger to Head HHS
How the Left Lost Its Political Footing and How to Get it Back
Steven Pifer / Michael Kimmage / Daoud Kuttab
Hegseth Gives Up Ukraine’s Leverage Before Russia/Ukraine Peace Talks Begin
Is the Trump Administration Already Capitulating to Putin?
An Assessment of the Awkward Meeting Between Jordan’s King Abdullah and Trump
Nicholas Grossman / Lucan Way
The Frightening Pace at Which the United States is Embracing Authoritarianism
Why is it Trump’s Priority to Attack Allies Like Canada While Cozying up to Enemies Like Putin?
Jason Stanley / Jacques Berlinerblau / Allison Pugh
Has Fascism Already Arrived in America?
The MAGA Christian Nationalists’ War on the Separation of Church and State
Musk and His Techies Are Purging Workers to Replace Them With Automation and AI, Which is Why He’s Buying OpenAI For $97.4 Billion
David Super / Lisa Graves / Mike German
Government Workers Should Not Fall For the Musk/Trump Buyout Trick
The Moral Authoritarian and Billionaire Worshipping Author of Project 2025 About to Head the OMB
Collusion Between the Far Right and American Policing is About to Get Worse Under Trump, Bondi, and Kash Patel
Jacob Heilbrunn / Leila Hilal / Jeet Heer
Netanyahu Meets With the Christian Zionist “Crusader” at the Pentagon, Where Top Officials Want to Get Out of the Middle East Quagmire
A Palestinian Perspective on Trump’s U.S.-Owned Gaza as a “Riviera of the Middle East”
The Growing Alarm at Musk Having Every American’s Social Security Number, Address, Email, Income, and Personal Details
Robert Kuttner / Ioan Grillo / Van Jackson
The Fatal Combination of a Mentally Ill President and a Mentally Deranged Billionaire Out to Destroy Our Government and Democracy
Stopping the Deadly Fentanyl Trade in Mexico, China, and Now India
The Folly of a Trade War With China and a Saner Way To Ease Tensions
Steve Radelet / Moira Donegan / Adele Stan
Musk Shuts Down USAID After Trump Illegally Freezes Foreign Aid for 90 Days
The Failure of the Democrats and the American Left In Allowing a Disastrous Misanthrope to Be Elected President Not Just Once, But Twice
Do 76 Million Americans Not Want a Functioning Government and Prefer to be Entertained by a Reality TV Star?
Gregory Treverton / Jeff Wise
Republican Senators Who Know Better Appear to Roll Over For Trump, Poised to Confirm the Disastrous Kash Patel and Tulsi Gabbard
Rather Than Fix the FAA, Our Reality TV President Blames DEI For the Potomac Plane Crash
Amesh Adalja / Peter Katona / Mae Ngai
Will Republican Senators Watch the Video Caroline Kennedy Sent Them Describing Her Cousin RFK Jr. as a “Predator?”
RFK Jr. and the Spread of Medical Disinformation and Conspiracy Theories
Trump Has Already Violated His Oath of Office on the 14th Amendment Birthright and the Funding Freeze He Had to Rescind