Daniel Estrin

Please stay with us.

We've got the news you need to start your weekend.

2026 is just days away, so it may be a good time to look both backward at the year that was and forward to the year to come.

And peer senior contributor Ron Elving has been thinking about the state of U.S.

politics, both past and present.

Ron, thank you for being with us.

Good to be with you, Scott.

I asked you last year what you were watching for in 2025, and you advised buckle up.

You some kind of psychic?

But there are cracks in what had been the president's support in his own party over Ukraine, the economy, the Epstein files.

Do you see those divisions widening?

One of the defining features of the second Trump administration is how it regards or disregards the rule of law.

What are your thoughts?

NPR senior contributor Ron Elfing, thanks so much, my friend.

Happy New Year.

Thank you, Scott.

Happy New Year to you.

It is a political and ideological shift, and it comes as the Trump administration has increased military power and political pressure in the region.

Here's Secretary of State Marco Rubio right before Christmas defending U.S.

Sports writer Howard Bryant joins us.