Eisenkot’s coalition bid runs into opposition divisions

Iran (5)

• Donald Trump acknowledged that voters disliked the Iran war and rising gas prices, then argued the war would be vindicated because it stopped Iran getting a nuclear weapon. Krystal countered that Iran may now be closer to a weapon and that Trump abandoned the JCPOA, which Iran had been following.
• Donald Trump publicly said JD Vance was right to question the Iran decisions, then faulted Vance for not saying Trump should make the same choice again. Saagar read the exchange as a warning about Vance’s prospects as a future Republican leader.
• Donald Trump said Pete Hegseth could stay, crediting him as part of victories in Iran and Venezuela. Krystal and Saagar expected Hegseth to be safe because firing him would undermine Trump’s claim that the Iran war was a success and replacement confirmation would be difficult.
• Iran’s foreign minister said a two-day proposal remained available if the United States ended the war on all fronts, while warning of further retaliation. Saagar said gas had fallen below $4 a gallon on hopes of a deal; Krystal warned the price could rise again if diplomacy failed.
• Krystal said Iran diplomacy remained fragile because Trump would have to accept a deal that could look like a retreat, while hawkish commentators pressed for escalation. She also noted Netanyahu’s political future was uncertain and said that could give him an incentive to resume conflict.

Elections (3)

• Saagar argued the Iran war helped Democrats win in South Carolina, Mississippi, and Kansas, while Krystal said immigration enforcement also hurt Republicans in Texas. Saagar said James Talarico won Texas by 12 points, including without its most populous counties; Annie Andrews won South Carolina by five points.
• Saagar said Stephen Miller’s appointment was driven partly by Trump’s fear of investigations after Democrats gained Senate seats. Saagar described Miller as experienced in executive power and legal defense, citing America First Action, which prepared to defend Trump and MAGA allies against investigations.
• Krystal said Republicans face a harsher political calculation after the midterms: they must now worry about general-election losses as well as Trump-backed primary challenges. She said the 2028 Senate map favors Democrats and makes a Senate supermajority easier to imagine than it had been before this cycle.

Immigration (1)

• Donald Trump floated a possible immigration deal for long-term workers facing deportation, but Krystal doubted he would follow through. She argued that elevating Stephen Miller to chief of staff mattered more than Trump’s conciliatory interview, given Miller’s influence over immigration policy.

Corruption (3)

• Donald Trump rejected Ross Douthat’s claim that his net worth rose by $3 billion, saying he did not track his wealth and had long held substantial cash. Krystal called Trump’s defense of his crypto holdings and foreign-government ties corrupt, not comparable to earlier presidents’ assets.
• Calley Means accused Susie Wiles of benefiting from lobbying ties and said her daughter’s firm gained White House access. Means said Continental Strategies’ revenue rose to about $30 million a year, while Ballard Partners became the highest-revenue lobbying firm in history.
• Saagar and Krystal rejected Calley Means’s claim that Trump was kept uninformed and treated like a baby, arguing Trump had agency and knew about choices such as glyphosate policy. They said Trump used MAHA to win votes but did not prioritize its goals over corporate interests.

Media (1)

• Donald Trump announced Dana White as a possible press secretary, then said the offer was a joke; White declined the job. Krystal thought the mix-up may have begun with a recommendation of Dana W. White, a Defense Department public-affairs official.

Health (1)

• The hosts cited fruit-flavored vapes, kratom, glyphosate, cannabis, and ultra-processed food as examples of conflicts between MAHA goals and administration choices. Saagar argued food restrictions could raise prices; Krystal said stronger school-food standards would face a fight from companies profiting from school sales.

War (1)

• Thomas Massie’s Hegseth impeachment resolution could attract Republican defections, including from lawmakers who lost elections and blame the Iran war. Hakeem Jeffries said he would vote yes; Don Bacon and French Hill were undecided, and Hill said the commander in chief bears responsibility for war strategy.

Elections (9)

• Jonathan Swan says Stephen Miller’s promotion signals that Trump has abandoned any serious effort at bipartisanship. Miller is expected to pursue an aggressive base-rebuilding strategy through immigration enforcement and culture-war issues.
• Maggie Haberman says Susie Wiles’s departure followed Trump’s anger over the midterm losses and reports involving people close to Wiles. Trump blamed her publicly, though Wiles had no role in his decision to go to war with Iran.
• Jonathan Swan says Trump’s chief of staff cannot function as a conventional gatekeeper: Trump gives people direct access and issues orders himself. Wiles had no say in hiring a press secretary who lasted five days.
• Miller argued he could restore the MAGA coalition after voters across its core groups defected or stayed home. Haberman says some 2024 Trump voters were never MAGA loyalists, and Miller’s hardline immigration agenda has limited national appeal.
• Trump’s team saw warning signs well before the election: private polling showed weakening support on immigration and the economy by the previous December, then growing alarm over the war and a possible Republican wipeout during the summer.
• Trump answered the looming losses with rallies and attention-grabbing projects, including the Lincoln reflecting pool, a White House ballroom, an arch, and a National Garden of American Heroes. His aides knew the ballroom fundraising and the time Trump spent on it were politically damaging.
• Trump privately blamed wasted campaign spending after Republicans lost. Haberman says he treated roughly $400 million in his super PAC as his own money and resisted spending it on other Republicans before his team persuaded him.
• JD Vance faces a difficult path to a 2028 presidential run: he must rebuild a coalition alienated by the administration while serving as vice president and relying on Trump’s endorsement. Vance’s public blame of the Iran war risked Trump’s support, though Trump also acknowledged political and gas-price effects.
• Haberman cautions against treating the midterm result as a forecast of the next presidential election: neither party is popular, and voters want government to improve their lives. Nominee quality and what Democrats accomplish over the next two years will also matter.

Health (1)

• Miller’s pitch also included the MAHA agenda: skepticism of vaccines, pharmaceutical companies, and large agricultural firms. His allies said the White House would be less open to lobbyists and industry interests.

Iran (2)

• The Iran war was a major source of Republican losses, and private polling found that defecting 2024 Trump voters most wanted it ended. Miller had promoted the war publicly but was not part of its planning; Jonathan Swan says only JD Vance forcefully raised doubts before it began.
• Miller’s reported message is that ending the Iran war could help rebuild the Republican base, but Haberman says Trump’s appointment of Miller does not prove he intends to wind the war down. Trump’s next move on Iran remains unclear.

Trade (1)

• Trump’s tariff policy was another source of political damage. Haberman says Wiles tried to carry out Trump’s broad trade confrontation, but the policy became calamitous on the terms Trump chose.

Politics (1)

• Haberman says Trump is driven by personal legacy, wealth, and attention rather than the Republican Party’s future. She reported that Trump and his family made $2.2 billion in crypto during the previous year; Swan says Trump wants to be remembered alongside history’s most powerful rulers.

Immigration (1)

• Trump said his immigration crackdown both helped and hurt Republicans, acknowledged that some workers were being removed from jobs, and expressed interest in a deal with Democrats granting legal status to undocumented migrants without violent criminal records.

Big Tech (1)

• NVIDIA opened an investigation into CEO Jensen Huang after he told the board he had been intimate with a business executive whom US intelligence identified as a Chinese spy. The New York Times reported that Marco Rubio had drafted a secret warning memo for senior officials the previous spring.

Israel (1)

• Anshul Pfeffer says US support for Israel is weakening among Democrats, including support for arms sales without conditions, while Donald Trump and J.D. Vance have also blamed Israel for Republican losses. Netanyahu’s close personal ties to Trump may carry less influence in Washington than Netanyahu has claimed.

War (6)

• Sonjo Solstad says NASA satellite data repurposed from a forest-fire monitoring system show more front-line activity in the past three months than in any comparable period of the war. Ukraine gained ground while Russia’s positions contracted.
• Sonjo Solstad says Ukraine’s Operation Vivaldi used a four-stage counter-offensive, from May into October, to disrupt Russia’s northern push toward three key Ukrainian cities. The operation trapped Russian forces and stopped that part of the attack.
• Sonjo Solstad’s combined estimate puts Russian fatalities at 370,000 to 780,000 and total casualties, including severely wounded troops, at 1.4 million to 2.1 million. The cited Ukrainian count lists 116,000 dead and 106,000 missing.
• Sonjo Solstad says Russia has expanded its attacks beyond the front, striking Ukrainian cities, infrastructure, railways, and industry. Russia hit 290 civilian infrastructure targets in the past month, while more than 500 trains have been hit since the invasion began.
• Sonjo Solstad says Trump’s proposed energy ceasefire never took effect, and the week it was announced was among the war’s worst for attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure. Ukraine launched more than 100 long-range attacks in the past month, while blackouts and power cuts threaten a difficult winter.
• The host says Ukraine’s air defenses weakened after Starlink satellite service was withdrawn, while Donald Trump eased sanctions on Russia and agreed to buy Russian diesel exports. The transcript presents these as part of the changing conditions around Ukraine’s defense and Russia’s war effort.

History (2)

• Who’s Who, first published in 1849, grew from a directory of notable Britons into a record of the English elite, with entries spanning public figures, hobbies, addresses, and changing personal details. Bloomsbury is selling the title, and its future publication is uncertain.
• Who’s Who records shifts in elite tastes as well as status: hunting was a common listed pastime in the 1850s, while contemporary entries mention pets and social media handles. The 1938 edition listed Hitler, Stalin, and Churchill before the outcome of the war was known.

Society (1)

• Who’s Who’s listed elite differs sharply from Britain’s population: 80% of entrants are men and 97% are white. Nearly 36% live in London, 47% attended private schools, and the directory’s entries are far more likely to include Oxbridge education.