Ezra Klein

Are you really going to be here and tell me that the way Trump himself works is not individual deal-making with countries, with people, with Eric Adams?

Are you really going to be here and tell me that the way Trump himself works is not individual deal-making with countries, with people, with Eric Adams?

You guys are very confident that your anecdotes are true and everybody else's aren't.

You guys are very confident that your anecdotes are true and everybody else's aren't.

They shook down Eric Adams. That's a direct accusation that happened in public. They shook down Eric Adams because they could put him in his pocket. That's a big deal, y'all. That is the way they are doing business here.

They shook down Eric Adams. That's a direct accusation that happened in public. They shook down Eric Adams because they could put him in his pocket. That's a big deal, y'all. That is the way they are doing business here.

It's an integrated way of doing business. You guys are just making this up. Nobody's making... I like that you're like, who's Eric Adams?

It's an integrated way of doing business. You guys are just making this up. Nobody's making... I like that you're like, who's Eric Adams?

It's a straightforward way that Trump does business at every level at which he operates. And so it is happening at every level of his administration. I know you don't want to hear it, but I don't, it's not that I, it's not that I don't want to hear it. It's not that I don't want to hear it.

It's a straightforward way that Trump does business at every level at which he operates. And so it is happening at every level of his administration. I know you don't want to hear it, but I don't, it's not that I, it's not that I don't want to hear it. It's not that I don't want to hear it.

I think I'm being very clear about what the accusation of the way Donald Trump works is.

I think I'm being very clear about what the accusation of the way Donald Trump works is.

Okay. Do you deny the possibility that your experience with the Trump administration might be different than people who they feel are less allied to them than you are?

Okay. Do you deny the possibility that your experience with the Trump administration might be different than people who they feel are less allied to them than you are?

It's a straightforward question. Are you sure that you're a good sample?

It's a straightforward question. Are you sure that you're a good sample?

Well, there's the problem of the party in the campaign. Let me bracket that because my book Abundance is more about how Democrats govern at both the state and local and federal level and some of the pathologies of governance there. They make it hard for liberals to achieve their goals. There are versions of this on the right, but I'm not really writing about that in this.

Well, there's the problem of the party in the campaign. Let me bracket that because my book Abundance is more about how Democrats govern at both the state and local and federal level and some of the pathologies of governance there. They make it hard for liberals to achieve their goals. There are versions of this on the right, but I'm not really writing about that in this.

So my book, Abundance with Derek Thompson, is about the tendency Democrats have to subsidize things where they are choking off the supply of the thing they want people to have more of. So think about housing in California. You get rental vouchers from the federal government, but we make it incredibly hard to build homes.

So my book, Abundance with Derek Thompson, is about the tendency Democrats have to subsidize things where they are choking off the supply of the thing they want people to have more of. So think about housing in California. You get rental vouchers from the federal government, but we make it incredibly hard to build homes.