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It’s been four days since the diplomatic earthquake went down in the Oval Office between President Trump, Vice President Vance, and Ukrainian president Zelensky. The world is still feeling the aftershocks.
In Europe, leaders have been jolted into action. Ukraine’s European allies, including British prime minister Keir Starmer and French president Emmanuel Macron, met in London on Sunday to forge their own peace plan and agree on additional support for Kyiv.
In Moscow, officials are celebrating Trump’s approach to the conflict—and his foreign policy more generally. “The new administration is rapidly changing all foreign policy configurations. This largely coincides with our vision,” said a Kremlin spokesman. Russian state TV described a new world order with Trump in the White House.
In Washington, administration officials have made it clear that it is up to Zelensky to apologize and patch things up if there is any chance of a U.S.-Ukraine mineral deal. “The president believes Zelensky has to come back to the table and he has to be the one to come and make it right,” one official told NBC News.
The Zelensky-Trump bust-up—and the war in Ukraine in general—is one of those important subjects where people we respect (including inside The Free Press newsroom) passionately disagree. There are plenty of other outlets that will give you only one strongly expressed view. But it is our conviction that the only way we can get to the truth is by seriously considering multiple perspectives.
The differences of opinion start with the question of what, exactly, we all watched on Friday.
Were Trump and Vance bullying a besieged ally in public? Or were we watching the White House finally stand up for American taxpayers?
Then there are the bigger questions: Is Trump’s Ukraine policy a long-overdue acknowledgment of the limits of American power? Or an unforced error that endangers not just America’s allies but America itself? And what are the chances of peace with honor for Ukraine?
Today we’ve brought together a group of people who answer those questions quite differently: Free Press columnist Batya Ungar-Sargon, Democratic fundraiser and strategist Brianna Wu, and special guest Christopher Caldwell, author of multiple books, including The Age of Entitlement.
Both Batya and Christopher have pieces up in The Free Press right now:
Located in the Indonesian Archipelago, it is one of the newest countries in the world, Timor-Leste, or, as it's sometimes known in English, East Timor.
While geographically very close, and pretty much surrounded by Indonesia, Timor-Leste has had a history very different from Indonesia.
Their histories diverged when they became colonized by different countries and came to a head in the late 20th century.
Learn more about Timor-Leste and its long painful path to independence on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
One hundred years ago, Gabriel Wells, a New York bookseller, committed a crime against history. He broke up the world’s greatest book, the Gutenberg Bible, and sold it off in individual pages. In 1921, Wells’ audacity scandalized the rare-book world. The Gutenberg was the first substantial book in Europe to have been printed on a printing press. It represented the democratization of knowledge and was the Holy Grail of rare books. In Noble Fragments: The Gripping Story of the Antiquarian Bookseller Who Broke Up a Gutenberg Bible (Scribe, 2024), Michael Visontay describes how Wells’s gamble set off a chain of events that changed his family’s destiny.
Interviewee: Michael Visontay is the Commissioning Editor of The Jewish Independent, and has worked as a journalist and senior editor at The Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian.
Host: Schneur Zalman Newfield is an Associate Professor of Sociology and Jewish Studies at Hunter College, City University of New York, and the author of Degrees of Separation: Identity Formation While Leaving Ultra-Orthodox Judaism (Temple University Press). Visit him online at ZalmanNewfield.com.
Tonight, President Trump will give his first major address to the nation since the inauguration of his second term. He’ll probably talk about how great of a job he's doing, the Gulf of America and deporting undocumented immigrants. Who knows, he might even rant about the Russian influence investigation some more. Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut tells us why he won’t be attending Trump's address — and why the president is vying to become Russian President Vladimir Putin’s new best friend.
And later in the show, California Democratic Representative Lateefah Simon is set to deliver the Working Families Party response to the president. She previews her speech for us.
In headlines: Trump’s 25-percent tariffs on Mexican and Canadian imports are set to take effect today, First Lady Melania Trump made her first public appearance since Inauguration Day, and the Senate confirmed Linda McMahon as Education Secretary.
We’re talking about President Trump pulling the plug on military aid for Ukraine and adding new tariffs against America’s largest trading partners. We’ll cover how Americans are expected to be impacted.
Also, a major storm system could bring severe weather to the South as partiers celebrate Mardi Gras today.
Plus, RFK Junior’s response to a growing measles outbreak, the newest cabinet member with an unusual job ahead of her, and what’s next for Serena Williams in the world of women’s sports.
Those stories and even more news to know in about 10 minutes!
Join us every Mon-Fri for more daily news roundups!
The fallout continues from Friday's trainwreck of an Oval Office meeting between Trump, JD Vance, and Volodymyr Zelensky. Jon, Lovett, and Tommy break down whether things have improved or spiraled further since Friday's meeting—and whether we're witnessing the collapse of the postwar order. Plus, Trump vows that his tariffs on Mexico and Canada will go into effect, Elon Musk calls Social Security a "Ponzi scheme," and the White House announces a "Crypto Strategic Reserve" to stockpile five cryptocurrencies. Hmm, could it possibly be grift?
For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.
Dude Wipes hit $200M in sales… because they saw an opportunity in 1 stat about toilet paper.
Trump is launching America’s 1st crypto fund… but markets hated the details (lost #Bromentum)
Sponsored Breakups are the new trend in marketing… because passion points = loyalty points.
Plus, we got the details on the latest IBO… Jack’s Initial Baby Offering.
$BTC $ETH $PG
Want more business storytelling from us? Check out the latest episode of our new weekly deepdive show: The untold origin story of Sesame Street: The Trojan Horse of TV. Subscribe to The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinks to listen.
“The Best Idea Yet”: The untold origin stories of the products you’re obsessed with — From the McDonald’s Happy Meal to Birkenstock’s sandal to Nintendo’s Susper Mario Brothers to Sriracha. New 45-minute episodes drop weekly.
Kelsey McKinney has built her career on gossip. The co-creator and former host of the popular podcast Normal Gossip has been interested in the topic since her upbringing in the Evangelical church, where she was taught that talking about others is a sin. Now, she's out with a new book, You Didn't Hear This From Me, which argues that gossip is a natural, morally-neutral social tool. In today's episode, McKinney joins NPR's Juana Summers for a conversation that touches on the author's religious upbringing, the relationship between gossip and misinformation, and reality TV as an opportunity for social learning.
To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday
