The Briefing with Jen Psaki

Jen Psaki looks at Donald Trump's callous disregard for Americans who are struggling to cover living costs while he learns that "affordability" is an important political buzzword but all of his policies only make things more expensive.

Senator Ruben Gallego talks with Jen Psaki about the Republicans' cruel leverage tactics in the fight to manipulate Democrats into supporting a budget that will hurt tens of millions of people. Republ...

Jen Psaki looks at some bizarre Republican hot takes explaining their poor performance in this week's elections, with addressing the cost of living in America coming almost as an afterthought.

Jen Psaki reports on the lengths Donald Trump's weaponized Justice Department went to in order to try to make an example of Sean Dunn, a Washington, D.C. resident who threw a sandwich at a Border Patrol officer. But in the end the jury would n...

In the aftermath of an Election Day disaster, Donald Trump struggled to accept the reality of the fallout from his painful policies, though he did at least acknowledge that the shutdown of the federal government weighed against Republicans. Senator Chris Murphy joins Jen Psaki to discuss whether the clear message from voters is enough to motivate Republicans to re-open the government. 

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro talks with J...

Jen Psaki offers a special preview of Tuesday's elections, including the important race for governor of Virginia with Jen Palmieri, former communications director for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, Larry Sabato, director fo the University of Virginia Center for Politics, and political analyst Anthony Coley. Jim DeBoo, senior advisor to Governor Gavin Newsom, joins for a special focus on Prop 50 redistricting in California. New Y...

Jen Psaki shows Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson and Vice President JD Vance explaining out loud that the reason they don't want to fund food assistance to millions of Americans is because if they do, Democrats will have even less incentive to vote for the Republicans' budget bill, in effect admitting that they're deliberately causing pain to people they know Democrats care about as leverage to get their way on a bad budget bi...

Jen Psaki shares reporting on the suspension of two federal prosecutors after they submitted a sentencing recommendation for January 6 rioter Taylor Taranto after his conviction on charges unrelated to the insurrection. The recommendation was refiled with alterations made in the references to January 6 and Donald Trump.

Jen Psaki relays reporting from "Retribution," the new book from Jonathan Karl, ABC News chief White House corresp...

The Maine Senate race was rocked this month when revelations about the Democratic frontrunner Graham Platner threatened to completely upend the Democratic primary to select a candidate to try to unseat Susan Collins. Jen Psaki had Platner back on The Briefing to ask him directly about past offensive internet comments, a tattoo identified as being associated with Nazism and the state of his campaign in the wake of a tumultuous month...

In a move seen as a test run for intimidation tactics during the midterm elections, Donald Trump is reportedly sending poll watchers to a few polling places around the United States. Rick Hasen, professor of law and political science at UCLA, explains why the steps Trump is taking this year may only be a dress rehearsal for how he intends to disrupt the 2026 election which could cost him control of Congress.

Even though incompetence...

Jen Psaki observes that as Donald Trump gets more comfortable with his autocrat persona, the traits that made him a societal laughing stock all his life are coming to define his leadership style. And the mockery he has become has so diminished him that his opponents are emboldened to get in the way of his demolition of the United States.

Donald Trump's lackeys in Congress are trying to support his effort to exact revenge on the publ...

Jen Psaki reacts to Donald Trump's demolition of the White House's East Wing to make room for his vanity project ballroom, and takes heart in the increasing, and increasingly creative, ways that Americans are pushing back against Trump's authoritarian overreach. 

Rep. Jamie Raskin explains the maneuver Donald Trump is trying to pull off by getting the lawyers he installed at the top of the DOJ to agree to have the Justice Department...

It has been weeks since Adelita Grijalva was elected to represent Arizona's 7th congressional district in Congress, but because Grijalva would represent the deciding vote to force a vote on the release of the Jeffrey Epstein investigation files, Mike Johnson has found every excuse he can to postpone swearing Grijalva into office so she can officially begin work on behalf of her constituents. Now Arizona is out of patience and has s...

Ahead of the premiere of her new documentary, "Andrew Young: The Dirty Work," Rachel Maddow talks with Jen Psaki about parallels between the activism of the civil rights movement and the anti-Trump "No Kings" protests that are sweeping the nation. 

As Donald Trump continues to push his anti-immigrant agenda, viral videos of ICE agents abusing people have steadily increased in number, prompting a growing public outcry for accountabil...

Jen Psaki looks at ways Republicans are trying to avoid accountability for Donald Trump's failures by rigging the election system to take power away from voters who would reject them.

As the federal government shutdown drags on, House Speaker Mike Johnson does not appear motivated to use his uniquely powerful position to resolve the crisis. Nor does he seem inclined to swear in Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva who recently won a special ...

Jen Psaki is on a mission to show us how the Democratic party can use this political moment to fight and win again. On Season 2 of her podcast, “The Blueprint,” she interviews the people reshaping the party, starting with Texas Congressman Greg Casar, Chair of the Progressive Caucus.

The first two episodes of “The Blueprint with Jen Psaki” are available now, and will continue to drop every Wednesday, from now through mid-November. 

S...

Jen Psaki looks at the myriad conflicts of interest and outright corruption by the Trump administration while taxpayers foot the bill for his self-serving deals and federal workers scramble to live without getting paid because of Trump's government shutdown.

Jen Psaki points out how the combination of Donald Trump's poor sourcing of information and weak comprehension skills suggest he doesn't understand what is happening in his own ...

Jen Psaki shares reporting from ABC News that the indictment of New York Attorney General Lititia James by Donald Trump's former personal lawyer Lindsey Halligan caught Trump's attorney general, Pam Bondi, off guard, raising questions about whether she has fallen from Trump's favor despite her devotion and sycophancy. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse joins to discuss Bondi's job performance and why she may have been left out of the loop ...

With the indictment of New York Attorney General Letitia James by Donald Trump's Justice Department, Trump's pattern of political prosecutions is undeniable. Rep. Dan Goldman, a former federal prosecutor, talks with Jen Psaki about the damage Trump's malicious prosecutions are doing to the U.S. legal system, and why it's more important that ever for members of the legal community to defend the rule of law from Donald Trump's abuses...

Jen Psaki shows House Speaker Mike Johnson's pattern of avoiding having to address any issues that might cast Donald Trump in a poor light by pretending they are "not in his lane," not relevant to his position in Congress and therefore he can't speak on them. But when asked about Bad Bunny performing at the Super Bowl, Johnson wasted no time leaving his lane to speak his mind.

New reporting from the Wall Street Journal says that Don...

Jen Psaki points out Attorney General Pam Bondi's strenuous efforts to avoid having to answer for anything happening within the department she leads, which is a problem throughout the Trump administration and is particularly acute in Trump himself, who not only famously refuses to take responsibility for anything but seems to have no real idea what is going on with the things he's supposed to be in charge of.

Jacob Soboroff, MSNBC s...