Has Trump Peaked? (with Douglas Brinkley)

Stay Tuned with Preet

Vox Media Podcast Network

News, Society & Culture, Politics, Government

4.8 • 32.4K Ratings

🗓️ 12 February 2026

⏱️ 69 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What does it mean that we're living in the era of "peak presidential power"—and did Minneapolis finally reveal its limits? This week, presidential historian, Rice University professor, and CNN contributor Douglas Brinkley joins Preet Bharara to discuss the long arc of executive authority from Washington to Trump, why Minneapolis may have been Trump's "Rubicon," and why Trump is, in Brinkley's words, "the only truly unthoughtful president we've had." Plus, Brinkley—who sits on the board of the Bruce Springsteen Archives—talks Springsteen's new protest song 'Streets of Minneapolis,' and what it means to see the Boss in resistance mode. Then, Preet speaks about the news that DOJ has failed to indict six Democratic members of Congress over a video reminding military service members to refuse illegal orders, and he answers your questions about why assistant U.S. attorneys are quitting in droves, and whether the president has the right to sue other people. In the bonus for Insiders, Doug and Preet discuss the "pendulum swing" in American politics—how Trump pieced together his unlikely coalition, and why the next Democrat president will have to pass what Brinkley calls an "authenticity test." Join the CAFE Insider community to stay informed without hysteria, fear-mongering, or rage-baiting. Head to cafe.com/insider to sign up. Thank you for supporting our work. Show notes and a transcript of the episode are available on our website. You can now watch this episode! Head to CAFE’s Youtube channel and subscribe. Shop Stay Tuned merch and featured books by our guests in our Amazon storefront. Have a question for Preet? Ask @PreetBharara on BlueSky, or Twitter with the hashtag #AskPreet. Email us at staytuned@cafe.com, or call 833-997-7338 to leave a voicemail. Stay Tuned with Preet is brought to you by CAFE and the Vox Media Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	From Cafe and the Vox Media Podcast Network, welcome to stay tuned.
0:05.5	I'm Preet Bharara.
0:07.6	He is the only truly unthoughtful president we've had.
0:13.1	He does not read. He doesn't care.
0:16.1	He has no pets. He has no empathy.
0:19.3	He is only about himself.
0:25.0	That's Douglas Brinkley. He's a professor of history at Rice University, a CNN presidential
0:30.1	historian and one of the most trusted chroniclers of the presidency and the American experience.
0:35.3	He's written more than 20 books on subjects ranging from
0:38.2	Theodore Roosevelt's conservation legacy to Hurricane Katrina to Walter Cronkite. Rinkley has been
0:43.9	one of the most visible historians pushing back against the Trump administration's efforts
0:47.6	to reshape how federal museums and historic sites present the American past. We talk about why
0:53.6	he believes we're living in the era of
0:55.2	peak presidential power, what Minneapolis revealed about the limits of executive authority,
0:59.9	and why Trump's series of miscalculations may be catching up to him now. Then I'll answer
1:04.7	your questions about what actually counts as a file in the so-called Epstein files, and whether
1:09.5	the president has the right to sue other people.
1:12.2	That's coming up. Stay tuned.
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	...

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