What Next - Can Congress Stop Trump's Takeover?
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Slate
3.9 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 3 September 2025
⏱️ 30 minutes
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Summary
Donald Trump has been working to expand his presidential influence into places that are supposed to operate independently, like the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Federal Reserve, and even into Congress’s constitutionally appointed “power of the purse.” As Congress returns to Washington, is this nominally co-equal branch of government willing to wrest its power back?
Guest: Luke Broadwater, reporter covering the White House for The New York Times.
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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | If you were hanging out on the internet this weekend, you might have noticed a whole lot of discussion about President Trump's health. |
| 0:12.9 | To be blunt, it was discussion about exactly how alive the president is these days. |
| 0:18.4 | So after the long weekend, I called up someone who would know, Luke Broadwater. |
| 0:23.3 | He covers the White House for the New York Times. |
| 0:25.7 | The pool says they saw him on the weekend playing golf. |
| 0:28.7 | I don't, you know, I know the internet believes that if Trump hasn't had a press conference |
| 0:33.9 | in three days that he's dead, but all indications point to signs of life on our end. |
| 0:45.3 | To be fair, the president has been the subject of speculation for weeks. Some have been commenting |
| 0:51.7 | on what looked like swollen ankles. |
| 0:58.9 | Others have focused on sloppily applied concealer, covering up a bruise on his hand. |
| 1:01.7 | There's something going on with the hand, for sure. |
| 1:06.1 | I mean, some people think it looks like an IV that maybe he's getting medicine through there. |
| 1:07.6 | The White House denies that. |
| 1:09.5 | They say it's from handshaking. |
| 1:13.6 | Nobody I know gets bruises like that from handshaking. |
| 1:18.8 | It's hard to really know exactly what's true coming out of the White House in terms of Trump's health. We do expect to see him today so people can evaluate him for yourself today. |
| 1:28.2 | Well, thank you very much. |
| 1:29.8 | It's a very important day and an important announcement with great friends of mine. |
| 1:34.1 | I think I can say this group is every one of them. |
| 1:38.4 | I rate a 10. |
| 1:39.9 | A few hours after Luke and I spoke, there Trump was, speaking from behind a podium, |
| 1:46.5 | awkwardly placed in the Oval Office. |
... |
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