Donald J. Trump | Chris Aldrich

🎧 ‘The Daily’: The Anonymous Senior Administration Official | New York Times

Listened to ‘The Daily’: The Anonymous Senior Administration Official from New York Times

The New York Times published an account by an unnamed member of the Trump administration about resistance figures operating inside the government. “I would know,” the official wrote. “I am one of them.” The story behind an unsigned Op-Ed that describes a secret effort within the Trump administration to protect the country from the president.

🎧 ‘The Daily’: A 30-Year Plan to Transform the Courts | New York Times

Listened to ‘The Daily’: A 30-Year Plan to Transform the Courts from New York Times

Republicans have created a pipeline of conservative lawyers to help carry out a sweeping reconfiguration of the federal judiciary.

🎧 ‘The Daily’: Why Peter Strzok Wanted to Testify | New York Times

Listened to ‘The Daily’: Why Peter Strzok Wanted to Testify from New York Times

We look at what happened when the embattled F.B.I. agent appeared before lawmakers to explain his controversial text messages.

🎧 ‘The Daily’: The (Misunderstood) Story of NATO | New York Times

Listened to ‘The Daily’: The (Misunderstood) Story of NATO from New York Times

President Trump called U.S. allies “delinquent” on military spending and attacked Germany as “captive” to Russia. We examine the source of his frustration.

🎧 ‘The Daily’: Brett Kavanaugh’s Change of Heart | New York Times

Listened to ‘The Daily’: Brett Kavanaugh’s Change of Heart from New York Times

President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee once made the case for impeaching a president. He now says that was a mistake.

There’s some interesting philosophical question here about whether a sitting president should be “distracted” by lawsuits. I can maybe see the case for knucklehead misdemeanors, but for higher level crimes like collusion with foreign countries or crimes that helped get them into office in the first place? Definitely not. If we have to err on the side of caution, then prosecute, prosecute, prosecute. The president is not above the law, they’re bound to execute on it and this doesn’t get them away from prosecuting themselves.

🎧 ‘The Daily’: Trump’s Supreme Court Finalists | New York Times

Listened to ‘The Daily’: Trump’s Supreme Court Finalists from New York Times

With the president expected to announce his choice to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy, we look at the top candidates.

🎧 ‘The Daily’: The U.S. as a Place of Refuge | New York Times

Listened to ‘The Daily’: The U.S. as a Place of Refuge from New York Times

As large groups of Central American migrants approach the U.S. border, the Trump administration is making it more difficult for them to apply for asylum. Is the president undermining the original concept of asylum, or is he restoring it?

🎧 The Daily: Deployed in the U.S., Just Waiting for the Caravan | The New York Times

Listened to The Daily: Deployed in the U.S., Just Waiting for the Caravan by Michael Barbaro from nytimes.com

The midterm elections are over, and President Trump’s talk of the migrant caravan has dwindled. But thousands of troops sent to the southwest border are still there.

At nearly every turn, President Trump’s own generals tried to persuade him not to deploy active-duty troops to the United States border with Mexico. So what are 5,000 troops doing there?

On today’s episode:

Helene Cooper, who covers the Pentagon for The New York Times.

Background reading:

Here’s what life is like for the soldiers deployed to the southwest borderon a mission that is expected to last until Dec. 15.

Since Election Day, President Trump has tweeted about the caravanexactly once.

The president has seemed to relish the spectacle of being commander in chief, but top Defense Department officials say he has struggled with the role.

He’s seriously deployed troops for a political reason and they’re going to be drawn down before the reason they’re supposed to be there happens?!

This is just the height of stupidity and government waste. Government institutions keep being eroded by Trumps ineptitude and fear-mongering. This is money and deployment help that would have been far better spent in Puerto Rico for the hurricane.

🎧 ‘The Daily’: Why U.S. Bombs Are Falling in Yemen | New York Times

Listened to 'The Daily': Why U.S. Bombs Are Falling in Yemen from New York Times

The killing of Jamal Khashoggi has renewed criticism of Saudi Arabia more broadly, including the kingdom’s role in the war in Yemen. It’s a war that has created what has been called the worst humanitarian crisis in the world — and one that the United States has backed from the beginning.

A nice little overview of some of the history behind what’s going on in several portions of the Middle East.