345: Trump Flips The Bird With Franklin Foer
Politics War Room with James Carville & Al Hunt
Politicon
4.6 • 3.8K Ratings
🗓️ 15 January 2026
⏱️ 84 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
James and Al sound the alarm over Trump’s authoritarian tendencies, explore the repercussions of his war on the Federal Reserve and the DOJ, and break down the political dynamics in the Senate and at the state level while investigating whether Democratic candidates are ready to meet the moment. Then, they welcome The Atlantic’s Franklin Foer to discuss the massive reductions in the federal workforce under Trump, the effects of losing their experience and expertise, the need for a functioning bureaucracy, and whether we are on the cusp of a resurgence of true patriotism.
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Get More From This Week’s Guest:
Frank Foer: Twitter | The Atlantic | NewAmerica.org | The Purged | Author
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to politics war room with James Carvel and I'm Al Hunt. |
| 0:14.7 | This week, our guest is the staff writer for the Atlantic behind the excellent story of Donald Trump's purging of essential government |
| 0:23.5 | employees, Franklin Ford. Now, remember, we love taking your questions, so write to |
| 0:28.9 | PoliticsWorRum at gmail.com for next week's show. We'll get to as many as we can, but don't |
| 0:34.7 | forget to tell us where you're from. You also can get text updates about what's next Politicon and politics world run by signing up at |
| 0:43.0 | Politicon.com. |
| 0:44.5 | So tell your friends about us and remind them to subscribe on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever |
| 0:50.2 | you get your podcast. |
| 0:52.1 | And please check out the links to our sponsors, Green Chef, Delete Me, Three Day Blinds, and Miracle Made, and our episode show notes. |
| 1:02.0 | We thank you for supporting these sponsors because it helps make this podcast happen. |
| 1:07.3 | Hey, James, you know, at one point in President Trump's in terminally long New York Times interview, he said he could do anything he wanted. And the only thing that could stop him was his morality. Now, I wonder if he really meant mortality, because morality and Donald Trump are total strangers. He is on a high. He feels he's on a high now. |
| 1:28.6 | That's dangerous. |
| 1:29.7 | He thinks his toughness is paying off in Venezuela, ice brutality in Minneapolis, |
| 1:34.9 | threats to take over Greenland, bomb, Iran, and going after the chairman of the Federal Reserve. |
| 1:41.0 | I think he could be proven wrong on all counts. Resistance is building, not enough |
| 1:47.2 | with Republicans, but it's still building. Close to half a dozen, excuse me, close to a dozen |
| 1:52.5 | top federal prosecutors in Minneapolis or in Washington, Virginia, are resigning. That doesn't |
| 1:58.2 | happen very often, unwilling to accept lawless orders for prosecuting |
| 2:02.6 | Trump's enemies or partisan investigations in Minnesota. Now, the courts won't let him get away |
| 2:08.5 | with ignoring their order about not retaining the legally challenged prosecutor in Virginia. |
| 2:13.7 | They said, I'm sorry, she cannot serve there. And he came back and said, oh, yes, she can't. |
| 2:19.8 | He can't get a reputable prosecutor to do his political bidding. In addition to Mark Kelly now, |
... |
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