Jonathan Swan

still holding his interests in his private companies, still his companies doing billions of dollars of business with the federal government, still with his companies being regulated by the federal government. You have a level of conflict of interest that we've just never seen in the modern era.

Thanks for having me.

Thanks for having me.

Predicted.

Predicted.

Well, I don't want to sound obnoxious, but pretty much everything that we wrote is coming to bear.

Well, I don't want to sound obnoxious, but pretty much everything that we wrote is coming to bear.

Thank you. So our first piece in the series was about the expansion of power. This idea of scouring the executive branch, looking for any pockets of independence and removing them. And we're now seeing early examples of Donald Trump doing that, firing officials who might be checks on him. ridding the executive branch of people who may be disloyal to him.

Thank you. So our first piece in the series was about the expansion of power. This idea of scouring the executive branch, looking for any pockets of independence and removing them. And we're now seeing early examples of Donald Trump doing that, firing officials who might be checks on him. ridding the executive branch of people who may be disloyal to him.

You have retribution as a theme that we came back to again and again and again, and you're seeing that play out in many different ways. Some we didn't even imagine, actually. I suppose he defied our capacity for imagination when he decided to pull security details from people he doesn't like who are under active death threats from Iran.

You have retribution as a theme that we came back to again and again and again, and you're seeing that play out in many different ways. Some we didn't even imagine, actually. I suppose he defied our capacity for imagination when he decided to pull security details from people he doesn't like who are under active death threats from Iran.

Besides that, pretty much everything from his immigration agenda to his plans for the Justice Department, introducing figures like Kash Patel, go down the list and immodestly copy-paste our series and you're basically getting what you're getting in the last eight to 10 days.

Besides that, pretty much everything from his immigration agenda to his plans for the Justice Department, introducing figures like Kash Patel, go down the list and immodestly copy-paste our series and you're basically getting what you're getting in the last eight to 10 days.

No, no, I agree with all that. The court pretty clearly directionally is on the path of expanding executive power and having a broad interpretation of Article II power. So they feel confident that this court will in many cases rule in their favor, that these efforts by Congress to restrain the president, to put these checks within the executive branch are unconstitutional. And by the way,

No, no, I agree with all that. The court pretty clearly directionally is on the path of expanding executive power and having a broad interpretation of Article II power. So they feel confident that this court will in many cases rule in their favor, that these efforts by Congress to restrain the president, to put these checks within the executive branch are unconstitutional. And by the way,

They've telegraphed this. This is not new. For months before the election, his people were saying, when we were talking to them, that this was kind of the point, was let it go through the court system. We like our chances. This is a different Supreme Court than existed in 2017. It's a different federal judiciary because Donald Trump himself transformed it.

They've telegraphed this. This is not new. For months before the election, his people were saying, when we were talking to them, that this was kind of the point, was let it go through the court system. We like our chances. This is a different Supreme Court than existed in 2017. It's a different federal judiciary because Donald Trump himself transformed it.

It's not that Donald Trump has profoundly changed. It's that the Washington he returns to has changed and the institutional guardrails have eroded. The court system is different. Congress is hardly a co-equal branch anymore.

It's not that Donald Trump has profoundly changed. It's that the Washington he returns to has changed and the institutional guardrails have eroded. The court system is different. Congress is hardly a co-equal branch anymore.

I mean, when you talk to these Republican lawmakers privately, they all understand a vote against something that Donald Trump really cares about is a vote to end your career. I mean, there's not that many people who are willing to end their career.