Hello and welcome to Background Briefing, available 24-7 at Background Briefing.org.

I'm Ian Masters, and today we'll examine a number of stories and issues in the news.

We'll begin with Trump's budget proposal for 2026, which slashes science, education, research,

foreign aid, environment, health and public assistance while boosting defense spending to

$1.01 trillion.

Joining us is Lindsay Koschgarian, the program director of the National Priorities Project,

where she oversees National Priorities.org.

Her work on the federal budget includes analysis of the federal budget process and politics,

military spending, and specifically how federal budget choices for different spending

priorities and taxation interact. Then we'll look into Trump's war on the media as he follows

the example of dictators he admires like Putin, Erdogan, and Orban, who have taken over their

media and turned their press into a propaganda organ and instrument of praise

and flattery, which our sick, dear leader and insecure strongman craves and demands.

Joining us to discuss Trump's executive order to defund PBS and NPR is Craig Aaron,

President and co-CEO of Free Press Action.

He's the editor of two books, appeal to reason 25 years of in these times,

and changing media, public interest policies for the digital age.

Then finally we'll assess how the worst president in U.S. history

stacks up against Teddy Roosevelt, Jack Kennedy,

and Jimmy Carter when it comes to negotiating the end of wars and the prevention of conflict

as Trump, who craves a Nobel peace prize, confuses real estate dealing with global diplomacy.

Joining us is Timothy Naphtali, senior research scholar at Columbia University School of

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