Bulwark Takes

From the Trump–Elon Musk Twitter war that briefly melted everyone’s brain, to the election of the Bulwark Pope, and the moments of real tragedy and moral collapse, the year of 2025 delivered a nonstop barrage of chaos, absurdity, and consequence. The Bulwark team looks back at the craziest, most astonishing moments of the year to give their takes on the stories that dominated headlines and the events of the last 12 months that will matter long after the news cycle moves on.

Mark Cuban joins Jonathan Cohn to give his take on why America’s healthcare system is broken and what it would take to fix it. Cuban breaks down prescription drug pricing, the role of PBMs, and how his Cost Plus Drug Company is making medications affordable for millions. Cuban also weighs in on system reforms, transparency, and whether U.S. healthcare can ever work for everyone.

Tim Miller and Sam Stein give their takes on the Trump cabinet after a full year of chaos, incompetence, and outright danger. From “livable” appointments to the "worst of the worst" category, they rank every cabinet member and argue over who did the most damage in 2025. Note: this video was recorded on December 22, 2025. Any horrible acts committed after that have not been factored into the rankings. 

DHS is using Norman Rockwell’s art to sell an anti-immigrant message and his family is furious. Catherine Rampell sits down with Daisy Rockwell, Norman Rockwell’s granddaughter and a writer and artist herself, to talk about why these images are being misused, what Rockwell actually believed, and get her take on how nostalgia and Americana are being weaponized to promote white nationalist ideas.

Bill Kristol sits down with Ryan Goodman to discuss new and upcoming Epstein document releases. They’ll cover which records to watch for next, what the disclosures do—and don’t—tell us so far, and whether the U.S. Department of Justice is dragging its feet, playing procedural games, or protecting powerful interests.

Ben Parker is joined by Derek Owen and R.M Schneiderman to discuss their deeply reported investigation into how the FBI rebuilt its counterintelligence capabilities after decades of failure—and how Trump-world politics, Kash Patel, and shifting priorities could put America at risk. Read more from Owen and Schneiderman here: https://www.thebulwark.com/p/fbi-spent-generation-relearning-catch-spies-kash-patel-counter-intelligence-espionage-tulsi-gabbard-china

Sam Stein and Jared Poland give their takes on a curious White House claim. After repeated questions about Donald Trump’s bruised hand, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said it was caused by constant handshaking and aspirin use. So we decided to test it.

A holiday classic, Bulwark-style. From foreign jets to fake honors, we rewrote The 12 Days of Christmas to keep track of Trump’s greatest hits in 2025. The 12 Days of Grift-mas, annotated: 1 giant Qatari jet: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwy5lp4v594o 2 peace awards: FIFA Peace Prize (https://www.thebulwark.com/p/screw-it-lets-rename-the-moon-trump-institute-of-peace-kennedy-center-coin-epsitein-files) and the Nixon Foundation Architect of Peace Award (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-architect-of-peace-award-nixon-foundation/) 3 Olympic medals: from the LA Olympic Committee (https://www.whitehouse.gov/videos/president-trump-has-been-awarded-a-full-set-of-1984-olympic-medals-%F0%9F%8F%85%F0%9F%87%BA%F0%9F%87%B8/) 4 Four Rush-Hour films:  Recently promised by Paramount, which wants Trump to approve a merger with Warner Bros. Discovery (https://www.thebulwark.com/p/jackie-chan-sequel-rush-hour-4-says-whole-lot-trump-economy) 5 golden trophies: A golden plaque from Apple (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/08/07/tim-cook-trump-gift/85555805007/), a golden pager from Netanyahu (https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/06/middleeast/netanyahu-trump-golden-pager-intl/index.html), the FIFA Club World Cup trophy (https://people.com/trump-pockets-fifa-medal-club-world-cup-11774149), World Boxing Council BC boxing belt from Ukraine (https://www.si.com/fannation/boxing/ukraine-president-zelensky-boxing-gift-that-didnt-land-with-trump), and a golden crown from South Korea (https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/29/world/asia/trump-south-korea-crown-gyeongju.html) 6 golfing wins: At his own clubs, naturally (https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/sports/2025/08/05/donald-trump-golf-tournament-championship/85516763007) 7 pretty portraits: Saudi (https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-insane-gifts-saudi-arabia-gave-president-trump/), El Salvador (https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/21/world/americas/trump-painting-missing.html), 2 from Russia (https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/22/style/russian-artist-trump-portrait-putin-intl and https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/22/us/politics/trump-putin-photo.html), Australia (https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-gifted-least-3-portraits-himself-foreign-leaders-2019-1616322), Egypt (https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-gifted-least-3-portraits-himself-foreign-leaders-2019-1616322), Vietnam (https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-gifted-least-3-portraits-himself-foreign-leaders-2019-1616322?utm_source) 8 foreign honors: Georgia, Saudi Arabia, Kosovo, Morocco, UAE, Egypt, Israel, South Korea (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_awards_and_honors_received_by_Donald_Trump#International) 9 postage stamps: From Poland (https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/democrats-oversight.house.gov/files/Foreign%20Gifts%20Appendix%20I%20-%20Trump.pdf) 10 Epstein years: “I was Donald’s closest friend for 10 years” - Jeffrey Epstein (https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU08/20250227/117951/HHRG-119-JU08-20250227-SD006-U6.pdf) 11 Nobel noms – Argentinian President Javier Millei, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, U.S. Representative Buddy Carter, U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, Malta foreign minister, U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, Pakistan, U.S. Rep Claudia Tenney, U.S. Rep. Bernie Moreno, Rwanda’s foreign minister 12 diet cokes: Trump reportedly drinks about a dozen per day (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/09/us/politics/donald-trump-president.html) Merry Christmas!

Donald Trump’s first year back in office is in the books, but how accurate were The Bulwark predictions from this past year? Sam Stein is joined by “Judge” Mona Charen to put our 2025 forecasts under the gavel. From Trump’s health and pardons to government shutdowns, MAGA infighting, and political chaos, we revisit what we got right, what we got wrong, and what only deserved half a point.

While most Americans were with family, Trump spent the night before Christmas Eve rage-posting threats at TV networks he doesn’t like. Tim Miller was on MS NOW Reports to disuss. Watch MS NOW Reports: https://www.ms.now

Sam Stein and Sarah Longwell made a mistake. They decided to take on their haters and read mean comments from the internet about each other. What followed was a mix of roasting, self-reflection, interruptions, hair discourse, Seinfeld heresy, and the comment section doing what it does best.

Tim Miller and JVL take on a Manhattan Institute focus group that exposed open praise for grotesque “strongman” politics, overt antisemitism, and casual acceptance of extremist figures like Nick Fuentes. Read JVL's Triad newsletter on the focus group: https://www.thebulwark.com/p/behold-the-focus-group-from-hell-city-journal-young-republicans Read the original article on the focus group: https://www.city-journal.org/article/manhattan-institute-focus-group-gen-z-republicans Get 30% off your entire order with Soul at https://GetSoul.com, promo code BULWARKTAKES.

Bari Weiss just spiked a "60 Minutes" story on the CECOT scandal, sparking outrage inside CBS and across the media world. Sam Stein and JVL are joined by Semafor’s Max Tani to break down what happened, why Weiss made the call, and how Trump’s shadow looms over CBS News. Read more in Morning Shots: https://www.thebulwark.com/p/trump-and-co-cant-keep-their-lies-straight-epstein-files-bondie-doj-weiss-cecot-cbs

Sam Stein, Catherine Rampell and Sonny Bunch take on Trump’s trade wars, the bourbon bust in Kentucky, and how tariffs, retaliation, and broken alliances are hammering an iconic American industry.

Sam Stein and Jack Cocchiarella take on US Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’ struggling through his appearance on Meet the Press as he stumbles through excuses for the heavily redacted Epstein files.

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) joins Bill Kristol to discuss the Trump administration’s attempts to slow the release of the Epstein files.

Tim Miller takes on the MAGA conspiracies that falsely accused a Brown University student of murder. After the Brown University shooting, right-wing influencers like Laura Loomer, Benny Johnson, and even a DOJ official spread baseless accusations targeting a student. The real killer was later identified on Thursday, a 48-year-old Portuguese national with no connection to the student. Tim breaks down how MAGA media and politicians fueled this dangerous lie. Exclusive $35 off Carver Mat at https://on.auraframes.com/BULWARKTAKES. Promo Code BULWARKTAKES

JVL and Catherine Rampell take on the re-naming of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to the Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, as Donald Trump continues to put his name on anything he can, congress approval or not. Exclusive $35 off Carver Mat at https://on.auraframes.com/BULWARKTAKES. Promo Code BULWARKTAKES

Sarah, JVL, and Tim Miller are going live to discuss the HUGE news day. Exclusive $35 off Carver Mat at https://on.auraframes.com/BULWARKTAKES. Promo Code BULWARKTAKES

Ben Shapiro slammed Candace Owens at TPUSA's AmericaFest and exposed a growing civil war inside conservative media. Sam Stein and Will Sommer give their takes on the backlash, Tucker Carlson’s response, Megyn Kelly’s role, and why no one seems capable of stopping the chaos. Exclusive $35 off Carver Mat at https://on.auraframes.com/BULWARKTAKES. Promo Code BULWARKTAKES