Tom Nichols

I didn't imagine that Trump would deputize him to do this, that he would be able to pay Doge staffers six figure salaries. which just always proves the point that these folks aren't about getting rid of government waste. They just prefer that it goes to them. And that Congress and the courts would just say, okay, Article I doesn't operate anymore. The Appointments Clause doesn't operate anymore.

I didn't imagine that Trump would deputize him to do this, that he would be able to pay Doge staffers six figure salaries. which just always proves the point that these folks aren't about getting rid of government waste. They just prefer that it goes to them. And that Congress and the courts would just say, okay, Article I doesn't operate anymore. The Appointments Clause doesn't operate anymore.

I didn't imagine that Trump would deputize him to do this, that he would be able to pay Doge staffers six figure salaries. which just always proves the point that these folks aren't about getting rid of government waste. They just prefer that it goes to them. And that Congress and the courts would just say, okay, Article I doesn't operate anymore. The Appointments Clause doesn't operate anymore.

The president can just pull a guy off the street and say, hey, go fire people. And the Constitution and the law just don't operate. That, I guess, surprised me a little bit.

The president can just pull a guy off the street and say, hey, go fire people. And the Constitution and the law just don't operate. That, I guess, surprised me a little bit.

The president can just pull a guy off the street and say, hey, go fire people. And the Constitution and the law just don't operate. That, I guess, surprised me a little bit.

And just to make the point that it's not about some sort of strategic calculation, he's also decided to send home Ukrainian refugees. He wants to take that refugee status away from them. You know, this is basically operating in concert with Putin. Vladimir Putin. My colleague David Frum had a great line.

And just to make the point that it's not about some sort of strategic calculation, he's also decided to send home Ukrainian refugees. He wants to take that refugee status away from them. You know, this is basically operating in concert with Putin. Vladimir Putin. My colleague David Frum had a great line.

And just to make the point that it's not about some sort of strategic calculation, he's also decided to send home Ukrainian refugees. He wants to take that refugee status away from them. You know, this is basically operating in concert with Putin. Vladimir Putin. My colleague David Frum had a great line.

You know, the Trump-Russia theory is like now one of the most durable theories in political science because you're watching it play out in real time. You know, we're getting confirmation of it every day. Was there any... overwhelming strategic or American interest reason to do this? And the answer, of course, is no.

You know, the Trump-Russia theory is like now one of the most durable theories in political science because you're watching it play out in real time. You know, we're getting confirmation of it every day. Was there any... overwhelming strategic or American interest reason to do this? And the answer, of course, is no.

You know, the Trump-Russia theory is like now one of the most durable theories in political science because you're watching it play out in real time. You know, we're getting confirmation of it every day. Was there any... overwhelming strategic or American interest reason to do this? And the answer, of course, is no.

And it's amazing because MAGA World always reacts to this like, well, we have to bring our boys home. Yeah, right. It's like, what boys?

And it's amazing because MAGA World always reacts to this like, well, we have to bring our boys home. Yeah, right. It's like, what boys?

And it's amazing because MAGA World always reacts to this like, well, we have to bring our boys home. Yeah, right. It's like, what boys?

It's not trying to achieve a just peace so that people stop dying. It's trying to achieve an unjust peace on Vladimir Putin's terms so that the people who do the dying are going to be mostly Ukrainians from here on out.

It's not trying to achieve a just peace so that people stop dying. It's trying to achieve an unjust peace on Vladimir Putin's terms so that the people who do the dying are going to be mostly Ukrainians from here on out.

It's not trying to achieve a just peace so that people stop dying. It's trying to achieve an unjust peace on Vladimir Putin's terms so that the people who do the dying are going to be mostly Ukrainians from here on out.

To get across to your listeners just how astonishing this is, I'm going to go into, like, nuclear professor mode for a minute and say, you know, Remember that the French created their own nuclear force because they felt cut out of the U.S.-British kind of nuclear duomvirate, right, back in the 50s.

To get across to your listeners just how astonishing this is, I'm going to go into, like, nuclear professor mode for a minute and say, you know, Remember that the French created their own nuclear force because they felt cut out of the U.S.-British kind of nuclear duomvirate, right, back in the 50s.