The Briefing with Jen Psaki

The panicked response by Donald Trump and his White House support staff to the backlash against his racist social media post suggest Trump miscalculated how much racism the American people are willing to tolerate, which may be a reflection of the bubble in which he lives. Janai Nelson, president and director-counsel of the Legal Defense Fund, and Eddie Glaude, a professor at Princeton University, talk with Michael Steele about the regressive nature of Trump's brazen racism and the extent to which Trump's racism is reflected in attitudes among the general American public.Michael Feinberg, former FBI official, joins to discuss reports of the FBI inviting state election officials for a meeting.Neal Katyal, former acting solicitor general, discusses taking Donald Trump to court for withholding funding from a vital infrastructure project that will have an effect on the lives of millions of Americans.And Barbara McQuade, former U.S. attorney, discusses how the anti-immigrant zealotry of the Trump administration and the corruption of Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi are driving the Justice Department into the ground. To listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads, sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Jen Psaki rounds up the myriad conspiracy theories and random ideas that Donald Trump has his White House staff chasing down in a desperate effort to make himself feel better about his loss to Joe Biden in 2020, and to justify taking control of the election process going forward under the guise of keeping elections honest.Senator Mark Warner joins to discuss how far out of bounds the Trump administration is going in pursuit of Trump's election conspiracy fantasies.Rep. Jamie Raskin talks with Jen about the galling breaking news that Donald Trump has told Senator Chuck Schumer that he will release  billions in funds for infrastructure projects if Schumer will support naming a train station and an airport after him.Donald Trump is suing the IRS for $10 billion dollars over leaked tax records, essentially asking his White House acolytes to hand over the money. He offers his reassurances that the money, taxpayer dollars, will be donated to charity, a familiar promise to anyone who has paid attention to Trump's past lies and the fact that Trump's charity was shut down over fraud.Former Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson talks about Steve Bannon's threat that Donald Trump will surround polling stations with masked, armed ICE agents. To listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads, sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Jen Psaki looks at Donald Trump's poll numbers sinking to deeper depths as Trump grows more vocal about his intention to interfere in the upcoming midterm elections, and doubles down on his goal of making sure his own narrative is the only one people hear by cutting off access to reliable information about his administration."Donald Trump, that's what happened, really." Marty Baron, former executive editor of the Washington Post, talks with Jen Psaki about what explains the total reversal in Jeff Bezos's attitude about the mission of the Washington Post. Bezos appears to have reconsidered the Washington Post's reporting antagonize Donald Trump when Bezos's other business interests are at the mercy of Trump's fickle favor.Miles Taylor, former DHS chief of staff in the first Trump term, talks about the executive order Tulsi Gabbard is using to confiscate ballots from Fulton County, Georgia in her mission to justify Donald Trump's conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan expresses her outrage at ICE and other DHS agents harassing school children and their families, and threatening teachers. To listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads, sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Jen Psaki shows how an onslaught of bad news and bad polls for Donald Trump is making him more desperate to control voting and the outcomes of elections in the U.S., and he is actively taking steps to do so while his staff struggle to find alternative explanations for what is going on.Marc Elias, founder of Democracy Docket, joins to discuss Donald Trump's growing threat to free and fair elections in the United States.Senator Richard Blumenthal discusses Senate Democrats' demands for holding ICE accountable for their actions, and a shadow hearing today to hear from victims of abuse by overzealous ICE agents.Rep. Dan Goldman, a former federal prosecutor, talks with Jen Psaki about the many investigatory leads presented in what has been released of the Epstein files so far and what would likely be pursued if the United States has a real attorney general instead of a Donald Trump sycophant.  To listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads, sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Abbe Lowell, attorney for journalist Don Lemon, talks with Jen Psaki about Donald Trump's escalating war on the news media, and the pattern he sees among his clients who have been targeted by Donald Trump's Justice Department, including New York Attorney General Letitia James and Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook.Rep. Robert Garcia talks about the Justice Department's release of a new batch of Jeffrey Epstein files.Annie Farmer, Jeffrey Epstein accuser, shares the perspective of survivors of abuse by Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell and their associates as Pam Bondi's Justice Department botches (or maybe sabotages) the job of redacting names as it releases files from the investigations of Epstein.Terry Moran, former senior national correspondent for ABC News, and Eugene Daniels, co-host of The Weekend on MS NOW, talk with Jen Psaki about the dubious accusations in the Trump Justice Department's indictments of journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort for reporting on a protest at a church, and what is really motivating the Trump administration to use such heavy-handed tactic against the news media.  To listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads, sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Senator Warner talks with Jen Psaki about the threat Donald Trump poses to free and fair elections in the United States.Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison discusses the legal fight to liberate the state of Minnesota from the paramilitary occupation of ICE agents terrorizing communities in Minneapolis.Rep. Joaquin Castro visited the immigration prison in Dilley, Texas and met with 5-year-old Liam and his father. He talks with Jen about the poorly maintained conditions in ICE's prison camps.Senator Chris Van Hollen delivers the latest news on negotiations in the Senate where Democrats are refusing to approve any more funding for ICE without new rules to make agents more accountable. To listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads, sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg talks with Jen Psaki about accountability for the abuses committed by members of the Trump administration but also thinking to the future after Trump and how Americans really feel about the issues Trump uses as divisive cultural wedges.  Jen Psaki looks at how even non-political American cultural spaces are reacting to the killing for Alex Pretti and the brutality of ICE actions, and shares other indicators, including new polling, that suggest Trump is in big trouble with voters.Senator Jon Ossoff joins to discuss Donald Trump's corruption of the Justice Department to force the investigation of his conspiracy theory about his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden.Ezra Levin discusses the No Kings Day 3 protests and the expectation that participation will set a new record for protests in the United States. To listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads, sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Rep. Seth Moulton talks with Jen Psaki about why so many Democrats (and even some Republicans) want Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem to resign or be impeached after agencies under her purview have not only terrorized whole communities but left two Americans dead.Senator Alex Padilla, who visited California's largest immigration prison and was shocked at what he heard from detainees, talks with Jen Psaki about how the abuses of ICE don't stop with the terrorizing tactics used to hunt and detail immigrants in the U.S., but extend to what Donald Trump is doing with the tens of thousands of people he is holding at facilities across the country.Jeh Johnson, former secretary of Homeland Security, talks with Jen Psaki about how irregular it is that the DHS would investigate itself for the deadly shootings of protesters in Minneapolis, and how the pre-judging by Kristi Noem and other DHS officials make an impartial investigation extremely unlikely. To listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads, sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

While the Trump administration releases a steady stream of gaslighting statements about ICE arresting "the worst of the worst," Americans are seeing with their own eyes the abuse and cruelty of Trump's anti-immigrant agenda directed at innocent members of close, caring communities. An elderly man, barely clothed, dragged from his house, small children being detained from their parents and used as bait to trap family members. Americans are so thoroughly disgusted and outraged at what Trump and his lackeys are doing that they are braving inhuman cold by the tens of thousands to make their displeasure seen and heard.Mary Moriarty, the county attorney of Hennepin County, Minnesota, talks with Jen Psaki about how distorted the Justice Department has become under Donald Trump and the power the state has to enforce its laws against the abuses of federal agents, including in the case of the shooting of Renee Good. To listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads, sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Jen Psaki reviews the lowlights of Donald Trump's cringey, humiliating  ramble of an address to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland which not only put Trump's ignorance and vanity on full display but he repeatedly said the wrong name of the country at the center of his effort to destroy the western alliance.Donald Trump attempted to bring his signature style of whiney grievance politics to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, but only managed to show off his lack of knowledge of history and world affairs. Rep. Madeleine Dean, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, talks with Jen Psaki about how America's allies in Europe are interpreting Trump's petulance.Senator Richard Blumenthal joins Jen to discuss a secret memo that tells ICE agents they can raid homes without a warrant.   To listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads, sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker talks with Jen Psaki about resisting Donald Trump's power grabs, protecting the people of his state, and holding Trump officials to account once they are not longer under his protection.Donald Trump explained at a press conference that he likes the look of military occupation, perhaps stating the obvious as his actions have shown his enthusiasm for deploying militarized federal forces in U.S. cities. But the American people do not share his fondness for living in a military state, and Trump's overreach has even begun to turn local police against him, Jen Psaki explains.  To listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads, sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

As courts rebuke ICE violence in Minneapolis, and Donald Trump doubles down on corrupting the Justice Department by opening investigations into Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, Americans are watching everything that is taking place and are not liking what they see. Jen Psaki looks at how the tide has turned on Trump after his obnoxious handling of what used to be his strongest issue, immigration. Many Americans don't realize that Donald Trump has sent so many ICE agents to the Twin Cities area that they are literally everywhere, and of course, they are not a benign presence. St. Paul, Minnesota Mayor Kaohly Her talks with Jen Psaki about what life is like in a Donald Trump police state and how neighbors are trying to help and protect each other from the malevolent presence of Trump's federal enforcers. To listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads, sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Donald Trump's ICE force is not only not making life better for the residents of Minneapolis, it seems to be trying to pick a fight. Today, Trump, who is notoriously unable to keep the thoughts in his head from escaping out of his mouth, suggested he would invoke the Insurrection Act to suppress the unrest that he provoked. Miles Taylor, former chief of staff at the Department of Homeland Security during Donald Trump's first term, talks with Jen Psaki about why he is certain Trump will invoke the Insurrection Act, and tells stories from Trump's first term that make sense of Trump's second term behavior.After another incredible (as in, not-credible) White House press briefing, Jen Psaki steps in to address some of the questions that were not handled correctly by Donald Trump's press secretary, Karoline Leavitt.Donald Trump and his Cabinet acolytes continue to insist on the righteousness and professionalism of Trump's ICE enforcers terrorizing Minneapolis, even as Americans see endless accounts and videos of the reckless brutality the residents of Minneapolis are enduring. Elliott Payne, Minneapolis city council president, talks with Jen Psaki about the reality on the streets of his city. To listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads, sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

With Donald Trump already doubling down on the trauma and terror he is inflicting on the Minneapolis community with his federal ICE police force, he took a step further away from American values and the First Amendment with a F.B.I. raid on the home of a journalist, ostensibly to search for evidence in the prosecution of a suspected leaker of federal secrets. Jen Psaki reacts.Senator Elissa Slotkin organized a video of elected officials with military backgrounds reminding serving members of the U.S. military that they are obligated to disobey illegal orders. Donald Trump took the message personally and has been using the federal government to exact a vendetta against the people in the video ever since. Most recently that has meant Trump's weaponized Justice Department conducting "investigations." Senator Slotkin discusses with Jen Psaki.  MS NOW reporter Jillian Frankel reports live from the scene of a chaotic clash between federal agents and protesters in Minneapolis following reports by the city's social media account of "a shooting involving federal law enforcement." To listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads, sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Jen Psaki reports on new polling that shows Americans are very aware of the deadly ICE shooting of a Minnesota mom and are not buying into Donald Trump's tactic of trying to blame the victim of the shooting. At the same time, Trump's DOJ deciding not to investigate has triggered a rash of resignations, and a non-stop flow of videos of ICE agents brutalizing residents of Minneapolis, including Americans, is further souring public opinion on the job Trump has ICE doing.Assistant attorney general for civil rights, Harmeet Dhillon, decided not to investigate the deadly ICE shooting of Minneapolis mom Renee Nicole Good, triggering shocked outrage not only from Americans who watched videos of the shooting, but also from prosecutors within the Justice Department. Stacey Young, former DOJ official, talks with Jen Psaki about why the Justice Department refusing to do its job is extremely uncommon, and also an abdication of the department's role in American governance.Donald Trump's petulance over not being able to manipulate interest rates to his own political advantage risks economic catastrophe for the United States as Trump has deployed his weaponized Justice Department to try to intimidate Fed chair Jerome Powell. Senator Elizabeth Warren joins Jen Psaki to discuss how the situation came to be and what's at stake.And the nation is still outraged over ICE shooting and killing a Minnesota mom, and that outrage is only intensifying as videos of other ICE abuses have been spreading across the internet. Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost talks with Jen Psaki about what Congress can do to take some power away from Kristi Noem's Department of Homeland Security. To listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads, sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Just two days after the deadly ICE shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis, several videos, shot from different perspectives have been released to the public, including video taken by the shooter, which many on the political right claim supports the argument that the ICE agent was defending himself when he shot and killed Good in her car. Jen Psaki synchronizes several videos for a closer analysis of what the shooter's video actually shows, and what the videos tell us about what Good was doing when she was killed.Senator Amy Klobuchar talks with Jen Psaki about the challenges her state has dealt with recently in the national spotlight and how the people of Minneapolis are dealing with the killing of a mother of three by an ICE agent, as well as potential solutions in the Senate to address Donald Trump's abuse of the immigration issue and the ICE agents making residents less safe and more afraid. To listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads, sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Listen to this special invitation from Rachel Maddow and sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts to take advantage of a 3-month free trial!With MS NOW Premium, you can get our entire suite of podcasts – everything from “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell” to “The Best People with Nicolle Wallace” – all ad-free. As a subscriber, you also get early access to select shows, plus exclusive bonus content – like a new episode of “Rachel Maddow Presents: Burn Order,” out Friday. Sign up right here, then search “Burn Order” to listen to that Premium episode.There’s a lot in store for 2026. So to celebrate the new year, we’re giving away 3 months free if you sign up by the end of January! It’s just $2.99/month or $29.99/year after that. Thanks for listening! To listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads, sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani talks with Jen Psaki about the need to hold ICE agents, including the one who shot and killed Minneapolis mother Renee Good, to the same justice as everyone else in America. Mamdani also highlights a new universal childcare initiative in New York, proving that government can still work for good outcomes and doesn't have to be all terror and chaos like the Trump administration produces.Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro talks with Jen Psaki about how a well run government coordinates at all levels, from federal to local, instead of the havoc and terror Donald Trump's federal agents are committing while gaslighting communities and making people less safe. Shapiro criticizes JD Vance for being the embodiment of the "chaos, cruelty and corruption" that defines the Trump administration. To listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads, sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey talks with Jen Psaki about how his city is dealing with the deadly shooting by a federal ICE agent, his vehement opposition to how immigration agents are terrorizing communities, and the distortions the Trump administration is pushing even as Americans have seen multiple videos of the shooting. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer shares his reaction to the deadly shooting by a federal ICE agent of a woman in Minneapolis, condemning the Trump administration's anti-immigrant overreach, and lamenting the corruption of previously stalwart agencies like the FBI, which has been tasked with investigating the shooting.Former national security advisor Jake Sullivan discusses the mess Donald Trump has made in Venezuela and Trump's dubious claims about Venezuela's oil. To listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads, sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Jen Psaki proposes that Donald Trump is motivated by a the rush of making himself feel powerful, which explains why so many of his actions don't appear to have rational, principled justifications, and also why so many of his actions have no follow-up plan for dealing with the messes he makes.House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi talks with Jen Psaki about Democrats keeping their focus on improving Americans' quality of life while Donald Trump spends billions of taxpayer dollars on random schemes in South American countries. Pelosi points out that Vladimir Putin is a common through-line in Trump's international actions that are otherwise hard to explain. To listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads, sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.