The Briefing with Jen Psaki

Senator Jon Ossoff, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, talks with Jen Psaki about the importance of his Senate race in Georgia to the Democrats' goal of retaking the majority, and shares his heated reaction to the news that Donald Trump is appointing Bill Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, to replace Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence.

Transcribed - Published: 3 June 2026

Jen Psaki reviews the fresh string of legal failures Donald Trump has suffered, including a federal judge dropping the hammer on Trump's sketchy IRS "settlement" trick to give himself a $1.8 billion slush fund.

Transcribed - Published: 30 May 2026

Jen Psaki shares reporting from Pro Publica that the White House played a direct role in helping a company in which Donald Trump Jr. is an investor.

Transcribed - Published: 29 May 2026

Donald Trump successfully lured the U.S. media into publishing headlines about another imminent peace deal with Iran over Memorial Day weekend, only for the deal to fall apart yet again and the days later the U.S. is firing more missiles despite the ongoing so-called ceasefire. Robert Malley, former special envoy to Iran, talks with Jen Psaki about the cycle of failure Trump is stuck in and what steps could realistically make progress toward re-opening the Strait of Hormuz and ending U.S. military action in Iran.

Transcribed - Published: 28 May 2026

As Texas Republicans follow Donald Trump's direction and give a primary victory to deeply flawed candidate, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, Jim Messina, campaign manager for Barack Obama's 2012 reelection campaign, and Chuck Rocha, former senior advisor to the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign, talk with Jen Psaki about how the Republican Party's inability to break away from unpopular Trump is setting them up for and even more difficult midterm election.

Transcribed - Published: 27 May 2026

Donald Trump's avalanche of unpopular ideas and failures has Republican senators livid and turning against him. Even senators who have distinguished themselves as enthusiastic suck-ups to Trump are voicing concerns about Trump's slush fund and the hardships Trump's economy is imposing on the American people.

Transcribed - Published: 22 May 2026

Jen Psaki points out that Republicans in Congress are increasingly losing their motivation to follow Donald Trump through his wildly unpopular vanity projects and destructive policies that are hurting Americans. On top of that are the number of lame duck legislators who ran afoul of Trump and lost primaries because of him and not have the rest of their term to exact payback as members of the "Yolo Caucus."

Transcribed - Published: 21 May 2026

Acting Attorney General and former Donald Trump criminal defense attorney Todd Blanche tried to convince the Senate Appropriations Committee that giving Donald Trump $1.8 billion to distribute to his legally aggrieved political allies is a reasonable thing to do. Senator Chris Van Hollen talks with Jen Psaki about why he wasn't fooled.

Transcribed - Published: 20 May 2026

Jen Psaki looks at the boasts and promises Donald Trump made on the campaign trail about how he would handle China and President Xi, and compares that to Trump's performance on an actual trip to China.

Transcribed - Published: 16 May 2026

Former FBI Director James Comey talks with Jen Psaki about the state of the FBI in the second Trump administration, the effect of Kash Patel's leadership on morale and the resilience of the FBI's culture to survive the deleterious conditions of the Trump administration.

Transcribed - Published: 15 May 2026

Jen Psaki looks at the political convenience of JD Vance's new anti-fraud talking points as he struggles to demonstrate some relevance while the rest of the Trump administration goes to China. But too much attention on fraud is a particularly awkward thing for Trump, who is trying to find a way to force the IRS to give him billions of taxpayer dollars, and while he his own son, Eric, with business interests in China, has joined him in traveling to Beijing.

Transcribed - Published: 14 May 2026

Donald Trump's FBI directory, Kash Patel, testified before the Senator Appropriations Committee and faced more questions about reports of excessive drinking. Jen Psaki points out that despite Patel's umbridge in the face of questioning, before he became FBI director, he did not exactly keep his drinking a secret. Michael Feinberg, former FBI assistant special agent in charge, and award-winning journalist Tim Weiner join Jen Psaki to discuss the corrosive effects of Patel's leadership at the FBI.

Transcribed - Published: 13 May 2026

The Supreme Court's gutting of the Voting Rights Act followed closely by Virginia's supreme court rejecting their new redistricting has taken the wind out of Democratic sails, but the actual math and other political factors still favor Democrats re-taking the House in this year's elections. Dan Pfieffer, co-host of "Pod Save America," and Quentin Fulks, former Harris principal deputy campaign manager talk with Jen Psaki about why Democrats are in good shape to take the House and why the party's focus needs to shift to state legislatures.

Transcribed - Published: 9 May 2026

Jen Psaki shows members of the Trump administration failing desperately to address questions about the price of gas as polling shows an absolutely livid voting public.

Transcribed - Published: 8 May 2026

Jen Psaki reviews the shocking litany of political targeting by Donald Trump's Justice Department, from investigations and indictments to raids of political opponents led by disgraced FBI Director Kash Patel.

Transcribed - Published: 7 May 2026

Pete Buttigieg, former secretary of transportation and former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, talks with Jen Psaki about the burden of Donald Trump on Republican candidates, even in red states, and how politicians are recalibrating their approach to voters as Donald Trump loses both relevance and any popularity he once enjoyed.

Transcribed - Published: 6 May 2026

Donald Trump's corruption and greed have reached a tipping point with the American public to become a campaign focus for many Democratic candidates. Ben Rhodes, former deputy national security advisor to President Obama, talks with Jen Psaki about the politics and also how Democrats can ensure justice is served as Trump's protective power slips.

Transcribed - Published: 2 May 2026

Graham Platner, Democratic candidate for Senate from Maine, talks with Jen Psaki about the role Donald Trump plays in his race and with the voters he hopes to make his constituents, and discusses the posture Democrats should take to make the most of any political power they are able to attain in the midterm elections.

Transcribed - Published: 1 May 2026

Jen Psaki explains the map at the center of the new Supreme Court ruling that is likely to weaken Black representation in Congress and talks with Sen. Rev. Raphael Warnock about what the ruling's real world effects will likely be.

Transcribed - Published: 30 April 2026

Jen Psaki shares part of King Charles' speech to Congress in which he explains the importance of checks and balances in a functioning democracy to the very people who have abdicated their responsibility to be a check on Donald Trump.

Transcribed - Published: 29 April 2026

With a new Fox News poll showing that most American think Donald Trump does not have the mental soundness to serve effectively as president, Jen Psaki looks at the trouble Trump is having even staying awake, and his bad habit of making poor decisions based on the incorrect assumption that everyone will give him what he wants.

Transcribed - Published: 25 April 2026

Jen Psaki looks at the conflicts of interest behind the business deals Donald Trump's sons (and son-in-law) have made with companies that are making millions of dollars from government contracts and the demands of Trump's war on Iran.

Transcribed - Published: 24 April 2026

As Donald Trump becomes ever more brazenly corrupt, finding ways to use his power over the federal government to enrich himself and his cronies, Americans are realizing the "checks and balances" they learned about in school are not happening because the Republicans controlling both chambers of Congress are doing everything in their power to make sure nothing gets in Trump's way. The result is that giving Congress the ability to hold Donald Trump accountable has become a campaign issue for Democrats. Jen Psaki explains.

Transcribed - Published: 23 April 2026

Virginia voters agreed to a redistricting plan that could increase the number of Democratic members of the House after this year's midterm elections, helping to balance the rigging Donald Trump tried to push Republican states to do. Jen Psaki points out that the bad news for Trump in Virginia comes in the context of bad news from Iran, bad news on gas prices, bad news on consumer prices, bad news on his tariff plan and more that has Trump on a disastrous political trajectory.

Transcribed - Published: 22 April 2026

Sarah Fitzpatrick, staff writer for The Atlantic, talks with Jen Psaki about her new reporting about a bizarre freak-out by FBI director Kash Patel when he thought being unable to log into his work computer meant he'd been fired by Donald Trump, and episodes of excessive drinking that alarmed his FBI colleagues.

Transcribed - Published: 18 April 2026

Jen Psaki looks at the political signs, from special elections to fundraising totals, that Donald Trump's political favor is fading fast and he has buried himself in messes he doesn't know how to fix.

Transcribed - Published: 17 April 2026

Donald Trump is learning the hard way that Iran is not interested in unconditional surrender, which is forcing Trump to accept that the only way he's getting out of his disastrous war with Iran is to find a compromise. Former national security advisory Jake Sullivan discusses with Jen Psaki.

Transcribed - Published: 16 April 2026

Jen Psaki looks at how Donald Trump and his team of apologists have run out of answers and excuses for high consumer prices and high gas prices in particular, and the burden that is putting on other Republicans. And then, as if he hadn't lost enough support for his anti-immigrant campaign of terror, starting an unnecessary war, and causing a huge spike in gas prices, Trump compared himself to Jesus.

Transcribed - Published: 15 April 2026

With the global economy in upheaval and his domestic approval dropping like a rock, Donald Trump is sending his number 2, JD Vance to Pakistan to try to make a deal with the Iranians that allows Trump to get out of the war he started with Iran with as few embarrassing concessions as possible. Adm. John Kirby (ret.), former Pentagon press secretary, and Robert Malley, former special envoy for Iran, talk with Jen Psaki about the challenges Vance will face.

Transcribed - Published: 11 April 2026

Jen Psaki wonders at the motivation of First Lady Melania Trump to make a sudden, surprise speech denying any past relationship with notorious sex trafficking pedophile and Donald Trump's long-time friend, Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell. The first lady even went so far as to make denials that are directly contradicted by evidence in the public domain. Why? And why now?

Transcribed - Published: 10 April 2026

Jen Psaki helps Donald Trump's press secretary Karoline Leavitt answer some of the tough questions about the Iran ceasefire deal from today's White House briefing, and Rep. Jim Himes, ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, talks about the consequences of Trump war on Iran for America's interests around the world.

Transcribed - Published: 9 April 2026

Donald Trump managed to avoid having to follow through on his ghastly threat to commit genocide in the war he started with Iran by agreeing to a tentative deal that opens the Strait of Hormuz, albeit with costs and conditions. Senator Mark Kelly joins Jen Psaki to discuss how profoundly Trump has messed up with his war of choice against Iran.

Transcribed - Published: 8 April 2026

Donald Trump has put a lot of energy into boasting about U.S. military dominance over Iran, including eliminating Iran's ability to shoot down planes. As is the case with so much of Trump's talk, reality has shown him to be ill-informed, lying, or both.

Transcribed - Published: 4 April 2026

Even though she was unfailingly loyal to Donald Trump, a quality that would be thought to keep her job secure, Pam Bondi reportedly did not sufficiently protect Donald Trump from public awareness of his involvement with notorious pedophile and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, so Trump has fired her. So despite disgracing herself by shielding Trump and other Epstein associates and turning her back on Epstein's victims, it was Bondi who suffered public disgrace and lost her job because of her own release of the Epstein files.

Transcribed - Published: 3 April 2026

Donald Trump is so enamored of his White House ballroom pet project that he talks about it every chance he gets, regardless of the setting. Sometimes it seems like he wishes Americans would be as distracted by it as he is. But now a judge has put a halt to the project, reminding Trump that he is a steward of the White House, not the owner, and requiring him to get approval from Congress first.

Transcribed - Published: 1 April 2026

Despite Donald Trump expressing shock and surprise at how Iran has responded to being attacked by the United States and Israel, Jen Psaki shares reporting that Trump was warned about everything from attacks on regional U.S. allies to the closing of the Strait of Hormuz, and Trump's struggle with these challenges is due to a lack of preparation, not a lack of prediction.

Transcribed - Published: 28 March 2026

Even as the war in Iran tests Donald Trump's attention span and the patience of American voters, it's not like other problems that Trump has created that he can reverse by changing his mind and making an announcement. Jen Psaki looks at the sticking points of Trump's war in Iran.

Transcribed - Published: 27 March 2026

Jen Psaki shares new reporting from NBC News about Donald Trump being fed a daily sizzle reel of Iran war explosions, and growing concerns that even the most basic information about the war in Iran is eluding Trump's understanding regardless of the briefing format. And a classified Pentagon briefing of lawmakers on the plan for Iran was apparently so unacceptable that even Republicans were willing to risk Trump's ire to speak out against how the war is being run.

Transcribed - Published: 26 March 2026

Jen Psaki tries to make sense of the latest round of answers and explanations from Donald Trump and his Cabinet on how the war in Iran is progressing and what the end of the conflict might look like, even as those answers and explanations only seem to show that the Trump administration doesn't have any answers or explanations.

Transcribed - Published: 25 March 2026

Jen Psaki shares breaking news that a judge has ruled against Pete Hegseth's effort to restrict the press at the Pentagon from trying to obtain information that isn't explicitly authorized, even if it isn't classified, and talks about the importance of an free news media, particularly in a time of war and with a president who is "lying every time he speaks or is completely out of touch with reality."

Transcribed - Published: 21 March 2026

Jen Psaki looks at some of the happy talk the Trump administration is offering about Donald Trump's war on Iran while outward signs suggest things are not going as well as they would have hoped.

Transcribed - Published: 20 March 2026

Jen Psaki reports on the confirmation hearing for Donald Trump's pick to replace Kristi Noem to lead the Department of Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullin. Mullin is already a dubious choice to lead DHS, but a long-running feud between Mullin and committee chair, Rand Paul added a whole new dimension to why he might not be a good choice.

Transcribed - Published: 19 March 2026

Jen Psaki shares a remarkable litany of instances in which Donald Trump's confident assertions on his war against Iran are directly contradicted by news reports, many of which are sourced to members of Trump's own administration.

Transcribed - Published: 18 March 2026

Jen Psaki looks at press conferences by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, as well as media appearances by Donald Trump and finds that the former TV show hosts are not living up to the seriousness of the positions they hold and are more fixated on creating a successful image for their war on Iran than they are on the details and strategy that would help secure actual success.

Transcribed - Published: 14 March 2026

Donald Trump has trained his acolytes in politics and media to echo his reassuring buzz phrases about weathering the short term effects of his war on Iran on the energy markets and global economy, but catchy slogans aren't changing the facts of the situation in the Strait of Hormuz and the sudden energy crisis that everyone in the world can see happening in front of their own eyes.

Transcribed - Published: 13 March 2026

As Donald Trump continues to offer contradictory answers and explanations, his war on Iran is running into some foreseeable problems that were among the reasons attacking Iran was ill-advised in the first place. Ben Rhodes, former deputy national security advisor, and Michael McFaul, former U.S. ambassador to Russia, talk with Jen Psaki about the deadly, expensive mess Donald Trump and his defense secretary, former weekend cable news host Pete Hegseth, are making.

Transcribed - Published: 12 March 2026

Jen Psaki points out the weird and wild inconsistencies in the messaging and explanations from the Trump administration about the war of choice Donald Trump started with Iran, why they did it, what they call it, what they're trying to accomplish and how they're going to keep the world economy from crashing while they do it.

Transcribed - Published: 11 March 2026

Jen Psaki looks at Donald Trump's oddly casual answers to questions about the hardships his war on Iran is imposing on Americans, as well as Defense secretary Pete Hegseth's embarrassing chest pounding and the juvenile propaganda being released on government social media accounts, and questions whether Trump understands or is even capable of being a wartime president.

Transcribed - Published: 7 March 2026

Now-former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem managed to keep her job despite a constant stream of scandals and outrages, but as soon as she suggested that Donald Trump, as president of the United States, and therefore her boss, knew about the corruption highlighted in Congressional hearings, that was too much for Trump to tolerate.

Transcribed - Published: 6 March 2026

Jen Psaki shares a dizzying collection of contradictions and nonsense from the Trump administration and its allies trying to explain the reason for attacking Iran, the goals of doing so, or even whether it's ok to call it a war.

Transcribed - Published: 5 March 2026