Tom Nichols: The Buzz Has Worn Off

The Bulwark Podcast

The Bulwark

Politics, News, News Commentary

4.6 • 8.9K Ratings

🗓️ 23 December 2025

⏱️ 55 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Six months ago, MAGA world was strutting around with their chests puffed out. But now, many of them are having a blue Christmas over the infighting, the economy, the DOJ's inability to deliver revenge, and Trump's cover-up of child sex traffickers—one of the key things they really cared about. All Trump can think to do is plaster his name on another large object, including most recently a new fleet of warships. Plus, the bourbon shutdown, Bari's getting burned by Canada also airing "60 Minutes," the president could move Ghislaine out of her cushy prison, and Epstein in his alleged letter to Larry Nassar really sounds like "Access Hollywood" Trump.

Tom Nichols joins Tim Miller.

Show Notes:

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to the Bullard podcast.
0:14.5	I'm your host, Tim Miller, by popular demand for Christmas, we've brought to you our in-house Ebenezer.
0:21.6	He's a staff writer at the Atlantic and Professor Emeritus at U.S. Naval War College.
0:26.3	His books include The Death of Expertise.
0:28.7	It's Tom Nichols.
0:29.6	How you doing, sir?
0:31.0	You're a powerful speaker, sir.
0:32.4	I wonder you don't go into Parliament.
0:35.4	We need it a little scrooge.
0:37.7	You want my corn, gentlemen.
0:39.2	You have to meet my price.
0:41.4	Other than that, I'm great.
0:43.1	How are you?
0:44.5	I'm doing pretty good.
0:46.0	Things are bad for Trump and all my podcast competitors are feuding.
0:50.4	And I'm well.
0:52.0	So you're like Switzerland in the middle of all this.
0:56.7	I was looking at the rankings as far as like, feuding, feuding, futing, anti-Semite, feuding.
1:01.1	Anyway, we've got a lot to talk about today.
1:04.2	And based on your expertise and my lack of expertise, I figured we would start with the discussion of the new ships.
1:11.0	We're getting some new big fancy ships, apparently.
1:13.5	Donald Trump did a press conference yesterday announcing he had,
	...

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