The Briefing with Jen Psaki

Geoff Duncan, former Republican lt. governor of Georgia, talks with Jen Psaki about how the Republican Party is unrecognizable to him now, having become a cult for Donald Trump, and explains why he has not only left the GOP but has switched to the Democratic Party.

Published: 8 August 2025

Jen Psaki pokes holes in JD Vance's denial of a reported meeting of White House officials to discuss messaging strategy on Donald Trump's Jeffrey Epstein scandal. Meanwhile, as questions continue to be raised about why Epstein's accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell was given preferential treatment in a prison transfer, survivors of Epstein and Maxwell are speaking out about Maxwell's depravity and her role in their abuse.

Published: 7 August 2025

Republicans championing Donald Trump's unpopular agenda get an earful from constituents at home.

Published: 6 August 2025

Donald Trump's reckless manhandling of the levers of the U.S. economy, from tariff chaos to cruel anti-immigrant policy is reflected in poor numbers in the latest jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Unsurprisingly, though no less shockingly, Trump fired the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, following a pattern of attacking data whenever it doesn't serve his preferred narrative.

Transcribed - Published: 2 August 2025

Despite Donald Trump's claim of king-like powers to apply trade tariffs by his own whims, a lawsuit being heard in federal appeals court argues that he is asserting a power no president has, and his claims of emergency powers are contradicted by his myriad non-emergency excuses. Neal Katyal, who argued the case against Trump in court today, talks with Jen Psaki.

Transcribed - Published: 1 August 2025

Jen Psaki points to the rare sight of Republicans daring to defy Donald Trump. And while it's only a few, that defiance is exposing the weakness behind Trump's bluster and threatens to spread at Trump's popularity with voters continues to fall.

Transcribed - Published: 31 July 2025

With the confirmation of Donald Trump's criminal defense attorney to a lifetime appointment as a federal judge, Donald Trump took another step in his quest to fill the legal system with loyalists, all with the help of pliant congressional Republicans.

Transcribed - Published: 30 July 2025

Jen Psaki reports on Donald Trump's unresolved and worsening Jeffrey Epstein scandal is giving Republicans a headache at home as they've left Washington for their home districts for the rest of the summer. Trump, meanwhile, went all the way to Scotland, only to find the Epstein scandal waiting there for his arrival.

Transcribed - Published: 26 July 2025

Maria Farmer, one of the first women to speak out about the abuses of Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, and her attorney, Jennifer Freeman, talk with Jen Psaki about why she told investigators about Donald Trump, and her desire to testify to Congress and gain access to her own records in the Epstein files.

Transcribed - Published: 25 July 2025

Jen Psaki relays breaking news from the Wall Street Journal that Attorney General Pam Bondi told Donald Trump in May that that his name is in the Epstein files, suggesting the reason the Trump administration has been so energized to prevent the release of material related to the investigation of Jeffrey Epstein.

Transcribed - Published: 24 July 2025

Texas State Rep. James Talarico talks with Jen Psaki about applying his Christian faith to modern American politics, the scourge of Christian nationalism, countering the influence of billionaires in politics, and what Texas Democrats can do to block Donald Trump's plan to rig the 2026 election by gerrymandering Texas so it produces more Republican members of Congress to maintain his control.

Transcribed - Published: 23 July 2025

Donald Trump's desperate desire to make everyone stop talking about his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein has run contrary to his petulance as his lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and Rupert Murdoch for publishing his creepy birthday message to Epstein guarantees new news and developments in the story for the public to discuss for months to come. Former U.S. attorney Harry Litman, and MSNBC senior reporter Brandy Zadrozny discuss Trump's disastrous damage control.

Transcribed - Published: 19 July 2025

New reporting from the Wall Street Journal says that Donald Trump's message to Jeffrey Epstein on his 50th birthday suggested common interests and "wonderful" secrets between Trump and Epstein. Donald Trump has reacted with threats and outrage, and Republicans are scrambling for a place to hide.

Transcribed - Published: 18 July 2025

Jen Psaki reports on Donald Trump's spiraling freak-out over the public interest in the investigation files on notorious pedophile and close friend of Trump, Jeffrey Epstein, with Trump going so far as to condemn his own followers as "stupid," and attempting to somehow blame his involvement with Epstein on Democrats.

Transcribed - Published: 17 July 2025

A key element of Jeffrey Epstein conspiracy theories is that Epstein's friends and "clients" are wealthy elites who commit horrible crimes against underage girls but never get in trouble for it because of their elite status. And so, key to Donald Trump's support is the idea that he would bring accountability to those elites. Jen Psaki argues, now that Trump is apparently standing in the way of the release of information about the Epstein case, Trump is being recognized as the unaccountable elite he actually is and has always been.

Transcribed - Published: 16 July 2025

Jen Psaki reports on how the Trump administration's insistence that there is no worthwhile information to be released from the files on notorious pedophile Jeffrey Epstein is not sitting well with supporters who believed the many stories spun by now-serving members of the administration. And that discontent is reportedly also seeping into the administration.

Transcribed - Published: 12 July 2025

Jen Psaki points out how much of what we know about what the Trump administration is up to is due to leakers and whistleblowers on the inside exposing the truth about an administration where lying is the norm. Trump has been trying to silence truth tellers since his first day in office, and now he wants to put a loyalist, Paul Ingrassia, in charge of the Office of Special Counsel, the watchdog that deals with whistleblowers.

Transcribed - Published: 11 July 2025

Jen Psaki piles up evidence in a litany of examples of Donald Trump having no idea what he is doing, what is being done in his name, or what is going on in his own administration, and not even doing a very good job faking it. Meanwhile, the scammers are running amok, planting ideas in Trump's head and manipulating him on issues like cryptocurrency regulation.

Transcribed - Published: 10 July 2025

Jen Psaki looks at questions about the preparedness of FEMA to offer its full assistance to Americans struggling through natural disasters while Donald Trump works to phase out the agency. Former FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell joins to discuss how federal assistance can help in emergencies like the deadly flooding in Texas.

Transcribed - Published: 9 July 2025

Jen Psaki remarks on how the devastating removal of health care and food aid to millions of Americans was actually only an afterthought for Republicans, in service of tax cuts for rich people, and reports on protests already spreading nationwide.

Transcribed - Published: 4 July 2025

Jen Psaki looks back at how Democrats made Republicans pay for their efforts to kill Obamacare by making that a central focus of House races that ultimately flipped the House to Democratic control. Donald Trump's budget bill is so wildly unpopular that Democratic candidates are already preparing to run against the bill and anyone who supported it. Republicans, in the meantime, are busy trying to distract Americans from what they're doing.

Transcribed - Published: 3 July 2025

Rep. Maxwell Frost talks with Jen Psaki about the uphill battle Republicans face in the House to pass Donald Trump's budget bill because they're already well short of the votes they need. Democrats hope that by delaying the vote, enough people will learn about the bill to make it too unpopular to pass.

Transcribed - Published: 2 July 2025

Jen Psaki reviews the terrible poll numbers of Donald Trump's budget bill, including among Donald Trump's core constituency, and runs through the diverse array of people and organizations, some of whom would otherwise be aligned with Trump, who utterly reject the bill's content as well as its intentions.

Transcribed - Published: 1 July 2025

Jen Psaki looks at how we arrived at today's Supreme Court ruling on nationwide injunctions, from Donald Trump's unpopular policies, frequently unlawful executive orders, and Republican lemming Congress, to the state attorneys general defending rights and the rule of law, and the millions of Americans who have been organizing against Trump. That organizing is going to be useful as the Supreme Court has left the door open on using class action lawsuits to oppose Trump's orders.

Transcribed - Published: 28 June 2025

Jen Psaki looks at the strenuous lengths to which Pete Hegseth and Tulsi Gabbard are going to support Donald Trump's story that bombing Iran was a work of military genius that obliterated the Iranian nuclear program, even as facts continue to emerge that suggest a different reality.

Transcribed - Published: 27 June 2025

In his first national interview since Tuesday's primary election New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani talks with Jen Psaki about the principles of his campaign and how he reached out to voters who had previously chosen Trump, and how he countered significant opposition spending.

Transcribed - Published: 26 June 2025

Jen Psaki reports on the evolving explanations and contradictory statements from the Trump administration about the U.S. bombing of Iran, and new reports that Iran's nuclear program is not, in fact, "obliterated," as public polling already shows that Trump's decision to bomb Iran is mostly unpopular with Americans.

Transcribed - Published: 25 June 2025

JD Vance came to Los Angeles with the goal of making the case that the fear of unruly protests justifies the continued deployment of military forces of the city (and other cities), completely ignoring the fact that what the people of Los Angeles are actually afraid of is Donald Trump's militarized raids and street snatchings.

Transcribed - Published: 21 June 2025

Jen Psaki points out the mistake some media outlets made in relaying Donald Trump's two-week deadline to make a decision on U.S. action on Iran, without also pointing out that Trump often promises to do things in two weeks, and seldom actually follows through.

Transcribed - Published: 20 June 2025

Jen Psaki looks at the various influences manipulating Donald Trump as he makes decisions on the war between Israel and Iran without having any personal principles mooring his thinking, and how his lack of leadership is leaving his supporters to fight with each other.

Transcribed - Published: 19 June 2025

Jen Psaki reports on yet another public official being arrested by ICE in the course of their heavy-handed tactics in rounding up immigrants. But each new instance of abuse of power by ICE is met with more vocal outrage and louder public protests.

Transcribed - Published: 18 June 2025

Jen Psaki looks at the effort Donald Trump is putting into trying to make himself look like a third world tough guy even as the tough guy world leaders he admires keep making it clear they don't respect him.

Transcribed - Published: 14 June 2025

Jen Psaki covers breaking news of an attack by Israel on Iran, while at the same time a federal judge issued a temporary stay on Donald Trump's use of the National Guard in Los Angeles and California Governor Gavin Newsom addresses the press.

Transcribed - Published: 13 June 2025

Jen Psaki reports on the absurdity of Donald Trump's military deployment to Los Angeles, and the expectation that similarly militarized actions are expected in other major cities across the United States as Trump's deportation frenzy intensifies.

Transcribed - Published: 12 June 2025

Donald Trump needs the protests in L.A. to be violent and chaotic so he can justify the power grab he desperately wants. His allies in Congress and right-wing media are only too happy to oblige by encouraging his exaggerations and distortions. Jen Psaki takes a closer look at how the protests in L.A. are being mischaracterized as Trump edges toward invoking the Insurrection Act.

Transcribed - Published: 11 June 2025

Even as the feud between Donald Trump and Elon Musk threatens untold chaos, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of DOGE in granting access to Americans' personal Social Security data. Jen Psaki, Ronan Farrow, Senator Elissa Slotkin, and Rep. Melanie Stansbury discuss the dangers and the level of concern among American voters.

Transcribed - Published: 7 June 2025

In the midst of Donald Trump and Elon Musk throwing insults and threats at each other on their respective social media platforms, Musk accused Donald Trump of being ungrateful to Musk for purchasing the election for him, an admission of sorts that his support for Trump was transactional. Jen Psaki takes a closer look.

Transcribed - Published: 6 June 2025

Jen Psaki reports on the tantrum Elon Musk is throwing over the Republican budget as his business interests are not well represented, and Republican support for their own bill seems to be splintering as details emerge about what the bill contains.

Transcribed - Published: 5 June 2025

Jen Psaki looks at a startling number of Trump Cabinet members whose lack of fitness for the jobs they serve is glaringly apparent, all while career public servants who make the government work regardless of the competence of the people in charge are struggling to adjust to crippling DOGE cuts and burdensome new red tape.

Transcribed - Published: 4 June 2025

Listen to an excerpt from Nicolle Wallace’s interview with Jason Bateman for her new podcast, “The Best People.”

Transcribed - Published: 2 June 2025

After ranting endlessly about Hunter Biden's drug use and addition issues, Donald Trump and his cohort were oddly quiet about a New York Times report on Elon Musk abusing of drugs.

Transcribed - Published: 31 May 2025

Donald Trump and his cast of supporting characters are learning the hard way that actually governing is much more difficult than shooting hot takes from the hip and spinning up conspiracy theories about how the world works. Jen Psaki reviews the struggle Trumpworld is having with real world governing.

Transcribed - Published: 30 May 2025

An invitation inside Nicolle Wallace’s short list of the most inspiring people she knows.

Transcribed - Published: 29 May 2025

A three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled that Donald Trump lacks the authority to enact his sweeping tariffs under the emergency powers law. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes who co-led the lawsuit against Trump's tariffs discusses the ruling and next steps with Jen Psaki.

Transcribed - Published: 29 May 2025

Jen Psaki pairs Donald Trump's political rhetoric about crimes like fraud against his abusive use of the presidency's pardon power to absolve criminals convicted of those very same crimes.

Transcribed - Published: 28 May 2025

Jen Psaki reports on how Donald Trump still used the trappings of the presidency during his "personal time" at a dinner for big-money purchasers of his cryptocurrency, and shares dramatic new visuals of how much the new Republican budget bill benefits wealthy Americans over the poor.

Transcribed - Published: 24 May 2025

The Republican budget bill still has a lot of time and processing to undergo before it heads to Donald Trump's desk for his signature. And now Republicans face their worst fear and biggest obstacle, their own constituents, who are quickly finding out what their elected representatives have voted for and aren't going to be happy about it. Jen Psaki shows that there is still time for American voters to make themselves heard in the budget process.

Transcribed - Published: 23 May 2025

Georgia and Arkansas have both tried to implement work requirements for Medicaid, with both producing disastrous results. Now Republicans in Congress want to impose those work requirements on a national level and seem oblivious to the idea's previous failure and the regret expressed by fellow Republicans for their role in it.

Transcribed - Published: 22 May 2025

Rep. LaMonica McIver talks with Jen Psaki about what really happened at the ICE detention center in Newark, New Jersey, where she and other members of Congress arrived for an inspection and were met with a confrontation that resulted in federal charges against McIver and a corresponding false narrative being spun up by the Trump administration.

Transcribed - Published: 21 May 2025

The budget bill Donald Trump was hoping to come home to following his trip to the Middle East has not come to fruition and the longer it takes to work out, the more skittish Republicans will be about attaching their name to a bill that is so full of unpopular policies with an election on the horizon.

Transcribed - Published: 17 May 2025