What A Day

National Security Advisor Mike Waltz on Thursday became the first major ouster of President Donald Trump’s second term… kind of. Rumors of Waltz’s imminent firing swirled in the morning, only for Trump to later announce he plans to nominate Waltz to be the next ambassador to the United Nations. Waltz had reportedly been on thin ice with the White House for weeks now, after he included the editor in chief of The Atlantic in a Signal group chat where imminent military plans were discussed among some of the most senior members of the administration. Jake Traylor, White House reporter for Politico, joins us to explain Waltz’s ouster as NSA and the possibility of other “transitions” within Trump’s Cabinet. And in headlines: Former Vice-President Kamala Harris gave her first major public address since leaving office, the Department of Justice sued Hawaii and Michigan over their plans to sue fossil fuel companies for harms caused by climate change, and a federal judge barred the Trump administration from using the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelans in South Texas. Show Notes: https://www.politico.com/staff/jake-traylorhttps://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcasthttps://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/crooked.com/whataday

In his first 100 days in office, President Donald Trump has fundamentally reshaped the federal government’s relationship with many of the nation’s most revered universities. Schools are finding themselves in an unwinnable fight: either capitulate to Trump’s authoritarian-esq demands or lose millions – even billions – in federal funding. Some schools, like Columbia, have already caved. Others, like Harvard, have been more defiant. Either way, the impact is not theoretical, and current students are feeling it acutely. Nathan Elias, editor and chief of the University of Southern California’s student newspaper paper the Daily Trojan, tells us what he’s hearing from his fellow students. And in headlines: The U.S. economy shrunk in the first few months of the year, Trump admitted he ‘could’ bring back a man wrongfully deported to El Salvador, and the Supreme Court appears ready to green light religious public charter schools. Show Notes: https://dailytrojan.com/https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcasthttps://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/crooked.com/whataday

President Trump cruised to victory in the 2024 election largely because voters said they trusted him more on the economy. But 100 days into his second term, that trust has evaporated. Consumer confidence in April plummeted to levels not seen since around the start of the pandemic. And amid rumors that Amazon would add the cost of tariffs to each item on its website, the White House went into full-court press mode to knock them down. Gee.. we wonder why? Stephanie Ruhle, host of MSNBC's ‘The 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle’ and a senior business analyst for NBC News, helps us make sense of Trump’s economic lurching. And in headlines: Canada’s Liberal Party rides national hatred of Trump to an election victory, the president celebrates his first 100 days in office by celebrating himself in Michigan, and the Justice Department sees a mass exodus of civil rights attorneys. Show Notes: https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcasthttps://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/crooked.com/whataday

We made it, ya’ll. One hundred days of President Donald Trump’s second term down. Only 1,362 to go…. not that we’re counting (we're definitely counting). While the White House is pushing the narrative that Trump’s early days have been an unmitigated success, the American public clearly feels otherwise. A bunch of new polls show the president's approval rating hovering around 40 percent. He's also underwater on every issue respondents were asked about, from the economy to immigration. Jon Favreau, co-host of Pod Save America and founder of Crooked Media, stops by to help make sense of the 100-day wreckage and where we go from here. And in headlines: Spain and Portugal entered a second Dark Age amid a massive power outage, Virginia Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly announced his retirement, and Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a unilateral temporary ceasefire in May in honor of the Russian holiday Victory Day. Show Notes: https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcasthttps://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/crooked.com/whataday

The Trump administration's relentless assault on immigrants keeps marching on. Over the weekend, federal officials said they arrested nearly 800 people in Florida during a four-day immigration enforcement operation. ICE also deported three children who are U.S. citizens on Friday, including one who’d been diagnosed with cancer. As the White House widens its brutal crackdown on migrants, some say they’ll do what Trump wants them to do: leave the country and the lives they built here behind. Rebecca Plevin, who covers equity for The Los Angeles Times, tells us why. And in headlines: Pope Francis was laid to rest in Rome, President Trump admits Russian President Vladimir Putin may not want to stop attacking Ukraine, and the White House restored visa registrations for thousands of international students. Show Notes: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-04-18/immigrants-self-deport-rather-than-risk-being-marched-out-like-criminalshttps://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcasthttps://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/crooked.com/whataday

Secretary of State Marco Rubio spent part of his Thursday gilding President Donald Trump's lily, saying during an Oval Office Q&A with reporters that ‘no leader is working harder to prevent wars or end them.’ Rubio’s confident air, however, runs contrary to reports of fear and chaos reigning at the State Department under his leadership. Earlier this week, the agency released plans for a pretty sizable reorganization. They call for the elimination of hundreds of domestic positions and the axing of offices that focus on things like war crimes and global conflict. Nahal Toosi, senior foreign affairs correspondent for Politico, explains what the State Department reorganization will mean for American foreign diplomacy, and what it says about the Trump administration’s worldview. And in headlines: Trump begged Russian President Vladimir Putin to “STOP” bombing Ukraine amid ongoing peace talks, Trump asked the Supreme Court to let his administration enforce its ban on trans troops in the military after a lower court judge put it on hold, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly had Signal installed on a desktop computer at the Pentagon. Show Notes: https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/04/17/trump-us-africa-relationship-column-00293046https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcasthttps://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/crooked.com/whataday

The Trump administration is putting pressure on Ukraine to accept a U.S.-backed peace plan with Russia that closely aligns with Moscow's goals in the three-year war. The deal calls for freezing the battle lines that exist today — essentially forcing Ukraine to cede a vast swath of its eastern territory to Russian control. The U.S. also wants Ukraine to recognize the Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow illegally annexed in 2014, as Russian territory, and give up its goal of joining NATO. Vice President J.D. Vance said Wednesday that the U.S. would 'walk away' from negotiations if the two countries refused to accept the administration's terms. Matt Duss, executive vice president at the Center for International Policy and a former adviser to Vermont Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, breaks down why the Trump administration wants to strong-arm Ukraine over Russia and what it says about President Trump's views on power. And in headlines: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent tried to ease fears over the administration's trade war with China, Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin announced plans to retire at the end of his term, and more Democratic members of Congress traveled to El Salvador to highlight Trump's threats to due process. Show Notes: https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcasthttps://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/crooked.com/whataday

MAGA is in full-on panic mode about the declining birth rate in the U.S., and so the doors of the West Wing are wide open to figuring out how to get more people to have more babies. That's right, Trump administration officials want you to get pregnant and stay pregnant. Nothing creepy about that! Carter Sherman, a reproductive health and justice reporter for The Guardian, explains the right-wing panic around predictions of a coming baby apocalypse. And in headlines: President Donald Trump now says he has 'no intention' to fire Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, the DOJ asked a federal judge to force Google to sell off Chrome, and more migrant children are left to represent themselves in immigration court. Show Notes: www.theguardian.com/profile/carter-shermanhttps://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcasthttps://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/crooked.com/whataday

It's a busy week at the U.S. Supreme Court. On Monday, the justices heard oral arguments in yet another legal attack on Obamacare, this time over requirements that insurers cover some preventative care services at no cost to patients. Today, they'll weigh a parental rights case over LGBTQ-themed children's books in public schools. And tomorrow, they'll hear a challenge to California's ability to set stricter emission standards for new cars. All the while, the court is facing serious questions over whether it's prepared to stand up to the Trump administration's assault on rule of the law. Leah Litman, co-host of Crooked's legal podcast 'Strict Scrutiny,' tells us what we need to know about this week's big cases and the big-picture debate over the court's ability to protect our rights. And in headlines: The Catholic Church began the search for a new leader after Pope Francis' death early Monday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly shared military plans on a second private Signal chat, and U.S. stocks slumped again amid Trump's repeated attacks on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Show Notes: crooked.com/podcast-series/strict-scrutiny/https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcasthttps://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/crooked.com/whataday

President Donald Trump still hasn’t hit the 100-day mark of his second term, but it feels like the country is already hitting some kind of inflection point. On Saturday, we saw a second day of mass protests against the Trump administration’s agenda. Massachusetts Democratic Gov. Maura Healy compared this moment to the start of the Revolutionary War, saying, ‘Our freedoms are once again under attack.’ Even New York Times conservative columnist David Brooks wrote about how it’s ‘time for a comprehensive national civic uprising.’ Amid all these proverbial alarm bells, it might seem a little perverse for some Democrats to advocate for a return to a kind of New Deal-era of politics, where more centralized power allowed the government to do big things. But that’s exactly the argument made in the new book 'Abundance.' Co-author Derek Thompson joins us to talk about how America can go back to building and inventing new things, and how Democrats can get people to trust the government again. And in headlines: The Supreme Court issued an emergency decision blocking more flights of alleged Venezuelan gang members to an El Salvador super prison, Vice President JD Vance got an audience with the Pope, and the Israeli military admitted to several “professional failures” when it killed 14 Gaza rescue workers and a U.N. staffer last month. Show Notes: https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcasthttps://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/crooked.com/whataday

The Trump administration is running through our constitutional rights like a bull unleashed on the streets of Pamplona. For days now, the high-stakes back-and-forth between the administration, the courts and the Constitution over the wrongful deportation of a Maryland man has dominated headlines. But in the background, the administration is working overtime to dismantle regulations, particularly around the environment. Just since Monday, the administration got the ball rolling on gutting a key part of the Endangered Species Act, stopped construction on a major offshore wind farm, axed a $3 billion program to help farmers adopt climate-friendly practices, and kickstarted a bid to end a Biden-era rule to put conservation on par with things like drilling as a valid public land use. Crooked Climate correspondent Anya Zoledziowski looks at the fallout from an earlier anti-environmental decision from the Trump administration, to drop a Biden-era suit against a petrochemical plant in Louisiana’s “Cancer Alley.” And in headlines: President Donald Trump met with Italy’s prime minister to talk trade, the Supreme Court said it would hear arguments over Trump’s bid to limit birthright citizenship, and a federal judge said Google has an illegal monopoly over online advertising technology. Show Notes: https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcasthttps://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/crooked.com/whataday

Maryland Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen traveled to El Salvador Wednesday to push for the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man who the U.S. government wrongfully deported to a Salvadoran super prison last month. While the administration continues to dig in on its allegations the Salvadoran national was a gang member, courts are also showing their willingness to challenge the White House’s claims. On Wednesday, a federal judge found probable cause to find Trump Administration officials in criminal contempt of court over sending Venezuelans to the same maximum security prison in El Salvador where Abrego Garcia is currently being held. New York Congressman Ritchie Torres talks about why it’s important for Democrats to speak up about these cases. And in headlines: California sued the Trump administration over the president’s heavy tariffs, the Department of Justice sued Maine for allowing trans girls to compete in school sports that align with their gender identity, and Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene laughed off some financial scrutiny. Show Notes: https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcasthttps://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/crooked.com/whataday

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is taking his “Make America Healthy Again” agenda on the road this week, stopping in Indiana Tuesday. While Kennedy has only had the job for two months, he’s already made major changes to the American public health system, from firing thousands of agency staff to digging in on debunked theories tying childhood vaccinations to an increase in autism diagnoses. Alice Miranda Ollstein, health care reporter for Politico, breaks down the worrying ripple effects of Kennedy’s healthcare overhaul. And in headlines: A federal judge told the Trump administration she wants to see some receipts detailing the ways it’s working to bring back a wrongly deported Maryland man, President Donald Trump doubled down on his desire to deport U.S. citizens to foreign gulags, and Trump also signed a presidential memorandum aimed at stopping undocumented immigrants from receiving benefits they already can’t get. Show Notes: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/13/abortions-cancer-in-firefighters-and-super-gonorrhea-rfk-jr-s-cuts-halt-data-collection-00284828https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcasthttps://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/crooked.com/whataday

President Donald Trump met with President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador in the Oval Office Monday. Their conversation centered on immigration, and specifically the wrongful deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran man whose removal the White House chalked up to an “administrative error.” Last week, the Supreme Court ordered the administration to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return to the U.S. But Bukele told reporters Monday he won’t send him back, and Trump said no one can make him do it. Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, talks about Trump’s expanding immigration crackdown. And in headlines: Harvard University rebuffed the White House’s list of policy demands to protect billions in federal funding, Trump again threatened CBS’ ’60 Minutes,’ and a man accused of setting fire to the Pennsylvania Governor’s Mansion was charged with attempted homicide and terrorism. Show Notes: https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcasthttps://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/crooked.com/whataday

Congress is out of session this week. Democrats are keeping busy with planned town hall events in red and blue districts nationwide. But a certain progressive duo is taking a different approach. Vermont Independent Senator Bernie Sanders will continue his “Fighting Oligarchy” tour with New York Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez over the next few days to speak out against the Trump administration. The two were just in Los Angeles over the weekend. We stopped by to talk to folks in the crowd about what they want to see from Democrats over the next four years. And in headlines: The Trump administration walked back its statement declaring electronic imports exempt from the president’s tariffs, a judge ruled that the Trump administration can deport Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, and Pennsylvania authorities arrested a man for suspected arson after a fire blew through Governor Josh Shapiro’s residence. Show Notes: berniesanders.com/oligarchy/https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcasthttps://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/crooked.com/whataday

If you’re not feeling better after President Donald Trump paused the largest of his previously planned tariffs on 75 countries on Wednesday, you’re not alone. The stock market is just as confused as you are. Wednesday’s historic gains were essentially wiped out by huge losses on Thursday. And nobody knows what Trump is going to do next on tariffs, if they’ll go into effect, when they’ll go into effect, or how high they’ll be. And with millions of Americans scared about rising prices and losing their jobs, the House GOP adopted a budget that could result in massive cuts to the social safety net, including Medicaid. California Democratic Representative Ro Khanna joins the show to discuss the tariff debate and the House GOP’s budget. And in headlines: The State Department continues to revoke student visas over students’ political beliefs, egg prices reach (another) record high, the Social Security Administration rolls back plans to restrict phone services, and the CEO of UFC…gets credit for a prisoner exchange with Russia? Show Notes: https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcasthttps://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/crooked.com/whataday

When most of us woke up Wednesday morning, President Donald Trump was still very excited about the tariffs he imposed on dozens of countries that had gone into effect just after midnight eastern time. At the National Republican Congressional Committee dinner the night before, he even claimed the scheme would be ‘legendary in a positive way’ and bragged, ‘These countries are calling us up. Kissing my ass.’ But by Wednesday afternoon, Trump had blinked, announcing a 90-day pause on nearly all of the ‘reciprocal’ tariffs he unveiled last week (China was the exception; he boosted tariffs to 125 percent after Beijing retaliated with it’s own reciprocal tariffs). Alex Jacquez, chief of policy and advocacy at the progressive think tank Groundwork Collaborative and a member of former President Biden’s White House National Economic Council, explains why all this volatility leaves America worse off economically. And in headlines: Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer made an uncomfortable guest appearance in the Oval Office, The White House said it’s freezing hundreds of millions in federal funding for Cornell and Northwestern universities, and two federal judges put limits on the Trump administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged foreign gang members. Show Notes: https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcasthttps://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/crooked.com/whataday

The Supreme Court handed the Trump administration three successive wins this week, albeit temporary ones. On Tuesday, the justices halted a lower court’s order to rehire thousands of temporary federal workers. And on Monday, the justices paved the way for the White House to resume deportations of alleged foreign gang members using a wartime statute. That decision came just hours after Chief Justice John Roberts paused a deadline to return a Salvadoran man who was wrongly deported. Leah Litman, co-host of Crooked’s legal podcast ‘Strict Scrutiny,’ tells us everything we need to know about the court’s decisions. And in headlines: Elon Musk and White House Trade Adviser Peter Navarro escalated their public fight over tariffs, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy said he’ll direct the CDC to stop recommending fluoride in drinking water, and a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to restore the Associated Press’ access to the White House. Show Notes: https://tinyurl.com/fz4yshmjhttps://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcasthttps://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/crooked.com/whataday

The stock market continued to have a not very good time Monday as a result of President Donald Trump's tariffs on everyone, even penguins. And counter to the desperate hopes of Wall Street executives, economists, and, really, most Americans, Trump reiterated that he is not, in fact, looking to pause them any time soon. To put it mildly, the whole thing is really freaking people out, and the word 'recession' is getting thrown around a lot. Jessica Roy, personal finance and utility columnist at the San Francisco Chronicle, shares some advice on how all of us should be thinking about our money right now. And in headlines: The Supreme Court handed the Trump administration two temporary wins on its hard-ball immigration policies, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the White House for a second time since Trump returned to office, and the Social Security Administration's website is reportedly having technical issues. Show Notes: https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcasthttps://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/crooked.com/whataday

Hundreds of thousands people across the country spent part of their Saturday at ‘Hands Off’ rallies to protest President Donald Trump and his administration. Organizers say there were more than 1,300 rallies scheduled, from Portland, Maine, to San Diego, California. But while progressives and liberals pretty much agree on what we’re against, we've been struggling to figure out what, exactly, are we for? And if Democrats are the party that believes governance is good, why aren’t the outcomes better? Marc Dunkleman, the author of the new book ‘Why Nothing Works,’ joins us to answer some of those questions. And in headlines: A judge ordered the Trump administration to return a man wrongfully deported to El Salvador, a second unvaccinated child in Texas has died of measles, and TikTok lives to see another day in the U.S. Show Notes: https://tinyurl.com/4mdprz4ahttps://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcasthttps://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/crooked.com/whataday