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What Next | Donald Trump Vs. Reality Itself

Slate Daily Feed

Slate Podcasts

News, Business, Society & Culture

41.1K Ratings

🗓️ 7 August 2025

⏱️ 25 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Donald Trump’s never been all that committed to the truth. But experts are warning that by firing the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics and appointing loyalists across the judiciary, he’s taken his war on facts to another level. How long can he attempt to remake reality before the truth—someday, eventually, but inevitably—hits back? Guest: David A Graham, staff writer at the Atlantic. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Ethan Oberman, Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

I have three young kids, 10, 8, and 2 years old.

0:10.7

And one of the big things I've learned since becoming a parent is that little kids lie.

0:17.7

Not sometimes, like all the time.

0:23.6

And they're usually not even very smart about it. It's like everyday things.

0:24.6

I'll ask one of them, did you clean your room?

0:26.6

And they'll say, yes, and then I'll walk into the bedroom, and it hasn't been cleaned.

0:31.6

So, okay.

0:33.6

When stuff like that happens, I'm like, do you think I'm dumb? Do you think this is going to work out for you?

0:40.0

And I've been feeling that a lot lately, not just in my personal life, but working on this show, covering the news, especially out of Washington.

0:48.8

If you hadn't been paying attention, last week, there were a lot of these moments where I was just like, really?

0:55.6

I talked to David Graham from the Atlantic about the recent whirlwind of gas lighting coming from the White House.

1:01.8

Last Thursday, we saw this story first on the Washington Post about the Smithsonian removing references to Trump's two impeachments.

1:09.5

The exhibit, which was last updated in 2008,

1:12.6

looks at presidential impeachments over history.

1:15.6

The following day, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting

1:18.6

announced that it would shut down.

1:20.6

The announcement comes less than two weeks after President Donald Trump signed a bill

1:23.6

that will cut $1.1 billion for CPB.

1:32.8

The same day, he fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, simply because he was upset that the numbers were not as good as he wanted them to be, and it called into question

1:37.6

his stewardship of the economy.

1:40.5

Friday's report showed just 73,000 jobs added in July, well below expectations, and included

1:46.9

sharp downward revisions for May and June. The following day, the Senate confirmed Judge

...

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