Robert Siegel

You've heard the news.

Here's what to make of it.

Hi, I'm Robert Siegel in conversation about politics with two of the smartest guys I know when it comes to politics.

E.J.

Dionne, longtime columnist, author of a great many books, and now an opinion contributor to The New York Times.

Good to see you, E.J.

Always good to be with you.

And the equally prolific David Brooks, who joins us for the last time.

As of this hour, are you still a New York Times columnist?

Well, we'll hear more about that later.

I don't think either of you will be surprised to know that we're starting with Donald Trump.

We're almost a month into the second year of his second term as president.

And both of you in recent weeks have written columns in which you have found some important change or some important landmark that this presidency has passed.

And in a little while, I'd like to hear from you, David, about that.

the coming Trump crack-up that you've written.

But we're going to begin with E.J., with you, and what you've called, when we look at all of the attempts to expand executive authority and other abuses, you call it regime change.

Regime change has a very permanent ring to it, don't you think?

David, you wrote a couple of weeks ago that we are in the midst of multiple unravelings and heading for a coming Trump crackup, which means?

You know, to hear the two of you talk about an insatiable lust for power and regime change, it makes me feel obliged to ask you both a short answer question, which is, are you confident there will be elections in November and that the elections will go on as elections typically do?

One more go around about Donald Trump.