The Briefing with Jen Psaki

Expectations for the outcome of Donald Trump's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin were low, but few people anticipated that in addition to producing no agreement, the meeting would be followed by a low-energy 12 minute press presentation with no details given and no questions taken.

Despite efforts to lower expectations for his big meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump still managed to underperform with nothing to show for the meeting, which was followed by a "press conference" with no details and no questions taken. Jen Psaki is joined by her MSNBC colleague Nicolle Wallace, former U.S. ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, and former deputy national security advisor, Ben Rhodes discuss what happened and what it all means.

Donald Trump's use of federal forces to crack down on residents of Washington, D.C. is not well received. Neither is the crackdown by federal immigration authorities on immigrant school children. Gavin Newsom has presented his counter to Donald Trump's gerrymandering scheme by offering to voters a new district map that would only be triggered if Texas changes their map first. Jen Psaki takes a closer look at the Christian nationalist extremists who have a concerning amount of influence on members of the Trump administration. Michael McFaul offers a preview of Trump's Friday meeting in Alaska with Vladimir Putin. And Alex Jones has lost another court case and it another stop closer to losing all of his business assets to pay for the Sandy Hook Elementary judgment against him.

Donald Trump cements his dictator identity by rewriting U.S. history to his liking, tampering with museum exhibits, and deploying the U.S. military against Americans in the name of crime fighting. Democratic members of Congress try to hold ICE accountable for terrible conditions at its internment prisons, but HHS is getting better at hiding its tracks and its abuses. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s deranged ideas about vaccines are not only hurting the preparedness of the United States to address new diseases, but are making MAGA followers hostile to a scientific community that is only dedicated to helping people. And Ivanka Trump is organizing a cage fight at the White House for the nation's 250th anniversary.

The truth of Donald Trump's deployment of the National Guard to police Washington, D.C. is evident in the demographics of other cities he claims to want to target. Governor Wes Moore makes it clear that he is not interested in playing along with Trump's stunt if Trump tries to move on to Baltimore. Moore also says that redistricting in his state is possible if Donald Trump persists in trying to rig the 2026 election with red state gerrymandering. Plus, Jen Psaki answers White House press briefing questions, minus the Trump White House spin, and the best outcome to hope for from Trump's Friday meeting with Vladimir Putin is that Trump doesn't do too much damage. Follow us on Bluesky at @briefingwithpsaki.bsky.social‬ ...and on Threads at @thebriefingwithpsaki

August 8, 2025; 9pm: The Trump administration continues to dance around their promise to release the Jeffrey Epstein files, but now Democracy Forward is filing a lawsuit for access to internal communications regarding the handling of the case, which could expose whatever it is that Donald Trump does not want known. Trump has announced an upcoming meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at which Trump is expected to make concessions for peace in Ukraine despite have earlier issued an ultimatum. Activists against ICE's cruel brutality against immigrants grow in number, particularly among young people afraid for their families. And Donald Trump has fired the unqualified crony he installed at the IRS and is inexplicably moving him to be ambassador the Iceland.

Jen Psaki points out that, contrary to initial denials, JD Vance, Pam Bondi, and Kash Patel met to discuss messaging strategy around Donald Trump's Jeffrey Epstein scandal. It furthermore appears that the group worked out a list of FBI officials who had a role in some aspect of Donald Trump's legal disgrace, and fired them. Texas Democrats remain in a fight to preserve American democracy, and Georgia's former lieutenant governor has decided to switch to the Democratic Party.

August 7, 2025; 9pm: Jen Psaki looks at how Donald Trump distorts the justice system to benefit himself, with the White House machinations around his Jeffrey Epstein scandal being the latest example. Survivors of Epstein's abuse are outraged that they are being excluded again. The Department of Homeland Security has been given a massive infusion of taxpayer dollars to pump into ICE for immigration enforcement, so they're putting new effort into recruiting more agents. And Texas Democrats are still fighting to prevent state Republicans from further distorting the state map with gerrymandering to preserve Trump's hold on Congress after the 2026 midterms.

August 5, 2025, 9pm: Donald Trump's acolytes, including Attorney General Pam Bondi attempt to minimize Trump's connection to notorious pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and his sex trafficker accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, while hoping that a re-boot of the investigation into the investigation into Russia's support of Trump's candidacy in 2016 will be a further distraction. Texas Governor Greg Abbott tries to get heavy with Democrats who are denying state Republicans a quorum so they can't further gerrymander the state to try to help Trump hold onto his majority in Congress. And meanwhile, Republicans who are returning to their home districts are facing outrage from constituents for their blind support of Trump's wildly unpopular policies.

Donald Trump's reckless manhandling of the levers of the U.S. economy, from tariff chaos to cruel anti-immigrant policy is reflected in poor numbers in the latest jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Unsurprisingly, though no less shockingly, Trump fired the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, following a pattern of attacking data whenever it doesn't serve his preferred narrative.

Despite Donald Trump's claim of king-like powers to apply trade tariffs by his own whims, a lawsuit being heard in federal appeals court argues that he is asserting a power no president has, and his claims of emergency powers are contradicted by his myriad non-emergency excuses. Neal Katyal, who argued the case against Trump in court today, talks with Jen Psaki.

Jen Psaki points to the rare sight of Republicans daring to defy Donald Trump. And while it's only a few, that defiance is exposing the weakness behind Trump's bluster and threatens to spread at Trump's popularity with voters continues to fall.

With the confirmation of Donald Trump's criminal defense attorney to a lifetime appointment as a federal judge, Donald Trump took another step in his quest to fill the legal system with loyalists, all with the help of pliant congressional Republicans.

Jen Psaki reports on Donald Trump's unresolved and worsening Jeffrey Epstein scandal is giving Republicans a headache at home as they've left Washington for their home districts for the rest of the summer. Trump, meanwhile, went all the way to Scotland, only to find the Epstein scandal waiting there for his arrival.

Maria Farmer, one of the first women to speak out about the abuses of Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, and her attorney, Jennifer Freeman, talk with Jen Psaki about why she told investigators about Donald Trump, and her desire to testify to Congress and gain access to her own records in the Epstein files.

Jen Psaki relays breaking news from the Wall Street Journal that Attorney General Pam Bondi told Donald Trump in May that that his name is in the Epstein files, suggesting the reason the Trump administration has been so energized to prevent the release of material related to the investigation of Jeffrey Epstein.

Texas State Rep. James Talarico talks with Jen Psaki about applying his Christian faith to modern American politics, the scourge of Christian nationalism, countering the influence of billionaires in politics, and what Texas Democrats can do to block Donald Trump's plan to rig the 2026 election by gerrymandering Texas so it produces more Republican members of Congress to maintain his control.

Donald Trump's desperate desire to make everyone stop talking about his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein has run contrary to his petulance as his lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and Rupert Murdoch for publishing his creepy birthday message to Epstein guarantees new news and developments in the story for the public to discuss for months to come. Former U.S. attorney Harry Litman, and MSNBC senior reporter Brandy Zadrozny discuss Trump's disastrous damage control.

New reporting from the Wall Street Journal says that Donald Trump's message to Jeffrey Epstein on his 50th birthday suggested common interests and "wonderful" secrets between Trump and Epstein. Donald Trump has reacted with threats and outrage, and Republicans are scrambling for a place to hide.

Jen Psaki reports on Donald Trump's spiraling freak-out over the public interest in the investigation files on notorious pedophile and close friend of Trump, Jeffrey Epstein, with Trump going so far as to condemn his own followers as "stupid," and attempting to somehow blame his involvement with Epstein on Democrats.