Rachel Maddow

And to have somebody in a country as powerful as ours realign us so that we're an ally of Russia and the rest of the world, the rest of the free world, now still allied with Ukraine, gets to adapt to that and gets to adjust to that and gets to build their own strength and capability with essentially seeing us as an adversary rather than an ally, let alone a protector.

And to have somebody in a country as powerful as ours realign us so that we're an ally of Russia and the rest of the world, the rest of the free world, now still allied with Ukraine, gets to adapt to that and gets to adjust to that and gets to build their own strength and capability with essentially seeing us as an adversary rather than an ally, let alone a protector.

I just feel like, God, the world is so unpredictable now with us absenting ourselves from our traditional leadership role. And it makes me what I think I was thinking about this in your show, because you're so good at finding the smart people, the best people, the people who have the most expertise to bring to bear in any given subject. Do you feel like the sort of

I just feel like, God, the world is so unpredictable now with us absenting ourselves from our traditional leadership role. And it makes me what I think I was thinking about this in your show, because you're so good at finding the smart people, the best people, the people who have the most expertise to bring to bear in any given subject. Do you feel like the sort of

expert universe of American know-how on national security issues is off the table forever because of the way our government's behaving? Or do you think in future the United States can ever sort of regain any of our trusted position on issues like this?

expert universe of American know-how on national security issues is off the table forever because of the way our government's behaving? Or do you think in future the United States can ever sort of regain any of our trusted position on issues like this?

Yes, that's exactly right. Nicole, I just have to ask you, congratulations on being number one podcast, not just in the country, number one podcast in the world with your new podcast. Is it fun? Have you been enjoying it? I mean, it's tons more work on top of, you know, you're doing two hours a day already. Have you been enjoying doing it?

Yes, that's exactly right. Nicole, I just have to ask you, congratulations on being number one podcast, not just in the country, number one podcast in the world with your new podcast. Is it fun? Have you been enjoying it? I mean, it's tons more work on top of, you know, you're doing two hours a day already. Have you been enjoying doing it?

I'm sure we can rig something up so that the voice you hear in your ears that is technically what you're saying is somebody else's voice that you like better. I'm sure that that can be rigged up. We can work on that for you. Nicole Wallace, congratulations again on The Best People. Again, Nicole's new podcast is called The Best People.

I'm sure we can rig something up so that the voice you hear in your ears that is technically what you're saying is somebody else's voice that you like better. I'm sure that that can be rigged up. We can work on that for you. Nicole Wallace, congratulations again on The Best People. Again, Nicole's new podcast is called The Best People.

It's number one, not just in the country, but in the whole world right now on Apple Podcasts. It's up right now. It's fantastic. Nicole, you're amazing. Thank you so much, my friend. Good to see you. Thank you. All right, stay with us. We'll be right back.

It's number one, not just in the country, but in the whole world right now on Apple Podcasts. It's up right now. It's fantastic. Nicole, you're amazing. Thank you so much, my friend. Good to see you. Thank you. All right, stay with us. We'll be right back.

So you've probably all seen the photos of President Trump's top campaign donor, Elon Musk, in the Oval Office on Friday with a big old shiner with his black eye. He claimed to have gotten that by being punched by his five-year-old son. OK, maybe.

So you've probably all seen the photos of President Trump's top campaign donor, Elon Musk, in the Oval Office on Friday with a big old shiner with his black eye. He claimed to have gotten that by being punched by his five-year-old son. OK, maybe.

But with this Oval Office appearance ostensibly being his farewell after several months in Washington gutting the American government, everybody sort of had the same idea at the same time, right? The metaphors practically wrote themselves. You know, Musk has literal black eye and figurative black eye as he leaves.

But with this Oval Office appearance ostensibly being his farewell after several months in Washington gutting the American government, everybody sort of had the same idea at the same time, right? The metaphors practically wrote themselves. You know, Musk has literal black eye and figurative black eye as he leaves.

May I suggest an even better metaphor for what Elon Musk did in these last few months in Washington? Starting in March, we pretty closely covered the story of one little agency, an independent nonprofit called the U.S. Institute of Peace. Elon Musk's operatives at Doge literally forced their way into the Institute of Peace in an operation that reportedly involved the FBI, the D.C.

May I suggest an even better metaphor for what Elon Musk did in these last few months in Washington? Starting in March, we pretty closely covered the story of one little agency, an independent nonprofit called the U.S. Institute of Peace. Elon Musk's operatives at Doge literally forced their way into the Institute of Peace in an operation that reportedly involved the FBI, the D.C.

Metropolitan Police, the D.C. U.S. Attorney's Office and a private security firm. Musk and Doge literally used armed force to get into the headquarters of this little institute. They then used that armed force to physically throw out the staff. They then purported to fire all the staff, even though they legally don't have the power to do that.

Metropolitan Police, the D.C. U.S. Attorney's Office and a private security firm. Musk and Doge literally used armed force to get into the headquarters of this little institute. They then used that armed force to physically throw out the staff. They then purported to fire all the staff, even though they legally don't have the power to do that.