Bill Kristol: Trump Has Lost the Plot

Trump wanted to alpha male and take some oil, Hegseth wanted to bomb something, Rubio wanted Maduro gone, and aggrieved Stephen Miller wanted to bully the weak. The White House eventually settled on Venezuela as the best place to take out its aggressions and drive home its anti-immigration message. And now the administration finds itself depending on an acting Venezuelan president who has a long history of being extremely anti-American. Jonathan and Tim take a deep dive into the back story of our latest international intervention. Plus, the State Department is trying to deport an activist against online hate as a favor to Elon Musk.Imran Ahmed and The New Yorker's Jon Blitzer join Tim Miller.show notes Jon's reporting on Venezuela's acting president Jon on the administration's chaos in the Caribbean  Imran's Center for Countering Digital Hate  "Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here," Jon's book— recommended by a number of Tim's guests  Bill and Tom Joscelyn's retrospective on the fifth annivesary of Jan 6

6 Jan 1h 16min

Toppling the leader of Venezuela looks to be about greed and Trump's vanity. It's not about national security, and is likely to produce bad outcomes—including more repression of ordinary Venezuelans and more refugees fleeing the country. And even the monetary value of plundering a sovereign country's oil is vastly overstated. Meanwhile, fake imagery of Venezuelans celebrating in response to the US intervention are being shared across social media, and a polymarket bet before the strike smacks of insider trading. Plus, the idiocy of the Donroe Doctrine, JD Vance should shut up, Tim Walz was not ready for national politics, Hegseth looks like a total dork over the censure of Mark Kelly, and Tim reads from the Monday Mailbag. Bill Kristol joins Tim Miller. show notes Will Saletan's guide on the other countries Trump could target Monday's "Morning Shots," including Mark Hertling on the "belly-button rule"  Tim’s 2025 Music Year in Review  Smalls New Year’s Special - get 60% off your first order, plus free shipping, when you head to Smalls.com/THEBULWARK. Start your new morning ritual & get up to 43% off your @MUDWTR with code THEBULWARK at mudwtr.com/THEBULWARK! #mudwtrpod

5 Jan 1h 3min

Only six months ago, the wheels felt like they were coming off of America, and our democracy experiment. But since the Epstein case broke wide open, the wheels started to come off Trump instead. And he's not just lost his way in politics but in the broader culture too—with his despicable words about Rob Reiner, his trying to get Jimmy Kimmel fired, and his pedophile cover-up. At the same time, we are likely stuck with his family grift, which will last for generations. Over on the Democratic side, the left has the momentum but there is room for a McCain-style reform candidate. Meanwhile, JD may be too repellant to win the presidency and the expectations for Mamdani are likely unrealistic. Plus, some love for Oasis, Geese, and Cameron Winter—and some hope that people are longing for something tangible in their music again. People need a rock star. John Heilemann joins Tim Miller for the year-end pod.show notes: John's "Impolitic" podcast John's columns at Puck Tim's 2025 Music Year in Review Filmmaker Charles Curran's recut of the Melania trailer with Miss Piggy Shane Gillis on how we got Trump Tim's playlist

31 Des 20251h 12min

The DOJ is releasing random Epstein documents to distract the public, while also intentionally covering the faces of men in images. It's also pulling docs that reveal Trump's name. Epstein's victims think the government's messy release is all designed to protect their not publicly-known perpetrators. Meanwhile, more victims are coming forward to Julie, THE reporter who got the Epstein matter reopened after her investigation of his 2008 deal that no other modern pedophile would ever have received. Ghislaine Maxwell is key to understanding the whole case, Republican donors may be named in the files, and Trump flew on the Epstein plane eight times. Julie K. Brown joins Tim Miller. show notes: Julie's Substack Julie's reporting at the Miami Herald "Perversion of Justice," Julie's investigation into Epstein The NYT on Epstein's wealth Robert Draper on MTG's break with Trump, referenced by Tim

30 Des 202547min

The year started with America's tech overlords kissing the ring at Trump's inauguration, and it's ending with the public fed up with the ostentatiously rich—and more distrustful of Silicon Valley than ever, particularly on AI. Plus, Kara's key role in the revelations about the relationship between RFK, Jr. and Olivia Nuzzi, Trump is giving away the store to China and setting back university research and innovation by a generation, the AI advances in healthcare are mind-blowing, media companies are going to accelerate their consolidation, much of the tech oligarchy has daddy issues, JD is like a Cybertruck, "Pluribus" is great, and "KPop Demon Hunters" is golden. Kara Swisher joins Tim Miller for the holiday weekend pod. show notes Kara’s podcasts: "Pivot," with Scott Galloway" and "On with Kara Swisher" Tim's playlist Tim's Ulimate Christmas Mix "Pluribus" "KPop Demon Hunters"

26 Des 202554min

Six months ago, MAGA world was strutting around with their chests puffed out. But now, many of them are having a blue Christmas over the infighting, the economy, the DOJ's inability to deliver revenge, and Trump's cover-up of child sex traffickers—one of the key things they really cared about. All Trump can think to do is plaster his name on another large object, including most recently a new fleet of warships. Plus, the bourbon shutdown, Bari's getting burned by Canada also airing "60 Minutes," the president could move Ghislaine out of her cushy prison, and Epstein in his alleged letter to Larry Nassar really sounds like "Access Hollywood" Trump.  Tom Nichols joins Tim Miller. Show Notes: Tom on Trump’s new ‘golden fleet’ of warships Navy Secretary John Phelan Get 15% off OneSkin with the code BULWARK at https://www.oneskin.co/BULWARK #oneskinpod

23 Des 202554min

On the Epstein matter, the current DOJ is not just putting its thumb on the scale for Trump. It's his defense team. Make no mistake: The top two officials at the Justice Department are executing Trump's wishes to cover-up the victims' statements and the details about Epstein's 2008 sweetheart deal. It's the president's cover-up, and the mainstream media needs to call it for what it is. And over at CBS's "60 Minutes," Bari Weiss wants Trump to know she's on the administration's side as well. Meanwhile, Vance made clear at AmericaFest that he's cool with literal Nazis in the MAGA coalition as he readies for his 2028 run. Plus, Kushner and Witkoff are still doing Putin's bidding, the governor of Louisiana is adding the (pretend) invasion of Greenland to his portfolio, and Tim reads from the Monday Mailbag. Bill Kristol joins Tim Miller. show notes Bill's "Bulwark on Sunday" with Rep. Ro Khanna on the Epstein files Tim on Gavin Newsom's podcast Lauren on the DNC burying its 2024 autopsy report The LIVE 'Bulwark Take' on the Stefanik crash and burn Part of Bob Dole's '96 Republican convention speech that Tim referenced  Monday Mailbag email: BulwarkPodcast@Thebulwark.com

22 Des 20251h 2min