Hope for the best.

Expect the worst.

Some drink champagne, some die of thirst.

The way of knowing which way it's going.

Hope for the best, expect the worst. oh for the best expect the worst

Welcome to the commentary magazine daily podcast.

Today is Friday, November 14th, 2025.

I am John Podhoritz, the editor of Commentary Magazine.

With me, as always, executive editor, Abe Greenwald.

Hi, Abe. Hi, John. Senior editor, Abe Greenwald. Hi, Abe. Hi, John. Senior editor

Seth Mandel. Hi, Seth. Hi, John. And social commentary columnist Christine Rosen. Hi, Christine.

Hi, John. I noted, and Christine noted a third, that the two leading newspapers of the liberal media, the New York Times and the

Washington Post, have eerily similar stories leading their home pages today. The New York Times

story is America first, some Trump supporters worry that's no longer the case.

President Trump has been dining with billionaires and taking an interest in crises abroad,

leading to fears that he is drifting from his more populist stances.

And the Washington Post's headline is,

Trump faces heat from Maga base on America First Agenda,

comma, Epstein.

Its leaders erupted over his assertion that the U.S. needs foreign workers because it does not have enough talented people.

That rift, among other issues, has raised some GOP concern about enthusiasm ahead of the 2026 midterms.

So what is of interest to me, when you have something like this happening

...