Trump’s Top Spy Has One Job: Revenge

Trump says he’s bored with peace talks, American right-wingers flock to Moscow, and the new Director of National Intelligence’s claim to fame is owning an HVAC company. Another fun week!

Tommy and Ben discuss why Trump installing Bill Pulte as the new acting Director of National Intelligence should terrify you given his total lack of experience and focus on revenge. Then it's back to Iran, where breathless coverage about a potential peace deal hasn’t changed the reality 3 months into the war. The guys also dig into the growing divergence between Trump and Netanyahu over Lebanon, including a reported phone call in which Trump allegedly told Netanyahu that he’d “be in prison if it weren't for me.” In Gaza, Netanyahu is openly talking about annexing and occupying more territory, while life on the ground for civilians remains hell on earth. Then Russia launches one of its biggest drone and missile barrages of the war on Ukrainian cities, while a parade of American right-wing influencers like Candace Owens and the Tate brothers descend on the country. Colombia heads to a runoff election, with a left-wing Senator facing off against Trump's preferred candidate, “El Tigre,” who wants to copy El Salvador’s approach to cartel violence. And fresh corruption stories will boggle the mind involving Don Jr. and Pentagon loans, and a Trump golf course and graves in Vietnam. Finally, Ben speaks to Aya Ibrahim, Senior Fellow at the AI Now Institute, about Trump’s new Executive Order on AI and what sensible regulation could look like.

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast, episode title, and episode date.

For subscribers, the guys answer questions about the fiction writers they love and Putin’s health.

Buy Ben’s book All We Say: The Battle for American Identity: A History in 15 Speeches and subscribe to his Substack here.