I'm Charlie Sykes. Welcome to the To the Contrary Podcast. So Donald Trump has now opened a new front in his war on everyone. He has gone to war with the Pope. How is that going to work out?

He lost his BFF in Hungary, despite going all in and sending J.D. Vans, who deployed all of his negligible term to get Victor Orban reelected. And that didn't work out.

Meanwhile, President Trump is putting out memes comparing himself.

You've probably heard this.

You have to see it, though.

Comparing himself to Jesus Christ.

And he's threatening to placade the Strait of Hormuz, which is either open or closed.

And it's not quite clear how us blockading the Strait of Hormuz, which is either open or closed, and it's not quite clear how us blockading the

Strait of Hormuz is going to make anything better.

And the week is just beginning.

Let's go.

And joining us on our podcast is our good friend, Ian Bassin.

Ian, good to see you again.

Good to be here, Charlie.

Ian is the co-founder and executive director of Protect Democracy, and in 2023 was the winner

of the coveted MacArthur Genius Fellowship and is still humble, which is amazing.

Wouldn't you say that that's your greatest achievement in life is to win the MacArthur

and still be like a guy?

You know what I'm saying?

I mean, look, if you live in a household where everyone mocks you when you forget to put

the wash in the dryer and it's like, is that a genius move, it's kind of...

Okay, so you've had two years of that going, yeah. Real man of genius.

...