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July 18, 2025 79 mins

This week on Breaking Battlegrounds, Sam is joined by guest host Michelle Ugenti-Rita, and they first welcome Henry Olsen of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, who explains what European leaders misunderstand about Trump’s stance on Ukraine and what his transactional approach to foreign policy really means. Then, RealClearPolitics’ Susan Crabtree breaks down Donald Trump’s alleged Epstein birthday letter, raising serious questions about media credibility, source verification, and political motives. Finally, Dominic Pino of National Review explores Governor Glenn Youngkin’s ambitious deregulatory successes in Virginia, the failure of massive K–12 education spending to improve student outcomes, and why FDR was right to oppose public sector unions. Plus, in Kiley’s Corner, Kiley covers two shocking criminal cases: the arrest of 17-year-old Sarah Grace Patrick for allegedly murdering her mother and stepfather while they slept, and an attempted honor killing in Washington state, where two parents are charged with trying to strangle their daughter after she refused an arranged marriage and fled to avoid being sent to Iraq. It’s an episode you won’t want to miss—tune in now!

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About our guest:

Henry Olsen, a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, studies and provides commentary on American politics. His work focuses on how America’s political order is being upended by populist challenges, from the left and the right. He also studies populism’s impact in other democracies in the developed world. You can follow him on X @henryolsenEPPC.

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Susan Crabtree is a political correspondent for RealClearPolitics. She previously served as a senior writer for the Washington Free Beacon, and spent five years as a White House Correspondent for the Washington Examiner. You can follow her on X @susancrabtree.

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Dominic Pino is the economics editor and Thomas L. Rhodes Fellow at National Review and the host of the American Institute for Economic Research podcast Econception. You can follow him on X @DominicJPino.



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