The Briefing with Jen Psaki
Red Scare: Trump Embraces Putin to Justify His Own Dictatorial Impulses
23 Feb 2025
Jen Psaki explains why Donald Trump's embrace of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is an attempt to justify his own behavior and why we should expect people across the country to continue to push back. Former National Security Advisor Susan Rice joins Jen to discuss the concerning implications of Trump turning his back on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Next, Jen is joined by Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich to discuss the chaos caused by Elon Musk emailing a request for federal workers to justify their work or resign while department heads urge their employees not to respond. Then, Jen breaks down NYC Mayor Eric Adams's decade-long ties to Turkey as the saga of his corruption case continues. Former Manhattan DA Cy Vance joins the show to react to the latest in the Adams case, including a federal judge's ruling to adjourn the trial rather than dismiss the case outright. Jen is also joined by attorney Omar Gonzalez-Pagan, as well as a student activist, Niro, and her mother Manija - who are pushing back against Trump's executive order targeting the trans community. Finally, Jen shares a preview of her conversation with longtime journalist Jemele Hill which drops tomorrow in a new episode of her podcast "The Blueprint with Jen Psaki". Check out our social pages below:https://twitter.com/InsideWithPsakihttps://www.instagram.com/InsideWithPsaki/https://www.tiktok.com/@insidewithpsakihttps://www.msnbc.com/jen-psakihttps://bsky.app/profile/insidewithpsaki.msnbc.com
Full Episode
Okay, the president is calling himself a king, firing generals, empowering unelected oligarchs, and trying to silence the free press. And no, I'm not actually talking about Vladimir Putin. The good news is the American people are starting to push back loudly against wannabe dictator Donald Trump.
Former National Security Advisor Susan Rice is gonna join me for an exclusive interview to talk about all of it. But there was chaos across Washington this weekend, as Elon Musk told every federal employee to justify their jobs in an email or resign. Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich joins to talk about this brazen effort to intimidate and threaten the entire federal government.
And later, I'll ask former Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance about the ongoing saga surrounding New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Spoiler alert, it's not over yet. OK, so tomorrow marks three years since Russia launched their full scale invasion of Ukraine. And I remember very clearly where I was that night. I know Ali Velshi was just talking about this, too. And you may remember where you were.
I was sitting in Jake Sullivan's office in the West Wing waiting for an update on whether the war had actually begun. Just weeks earlier, remember, the national security team in the Biden administration had made this decision to declassify information, including Russian plans to attack Ukraine in order for the world to know what to expect and to kind of call them out.
Point being, we knew it was Russia planning to illegally invade Ukraine. The world did, even before it started. But that night in February, it was clear something was happening on the ground, and we were waiting for updates from the military on what they were seeing, not knowing at the time how long Ukraine could hold Kyiv, how long Zelensky and his military could hold back the Russian forces.
But they did hold Kyiv, and they have fought every single day since then. Now, three years later, that war has killed and wounded hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians and displaced far more. Cities have been destroyed. Ukrainian children have been kidnapped and trafficked by Russian authorities. And we've all watched it play out before our eyes.
This is all important to remember, and I wanted to start here because we're all trying to digest what we saw happen this week. I mean, the current president of the United States railed against a man he called a dictator without elections, who he claimed should have never started this war. but he wasn't talking about Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.
He was referring to Ukrainian President Zelensky. It didn't stop there. He also falsely claimed that Zelensky bamboozled the United States into helping him pay for the war, that he had a rock-bottom approval rating, he doesn't, and that he didn't even deserve a seat at the negotiating table to end a war in his own country.
And he said all of that while continuing to praise Putin and parrot Kremlin talking points, as he's been doing for years. Now, obviously, this embrace of Russia is not new for Trump, but it has immense implications for America's moral authority in the world. And I also think it's important to talk about what's motivating all of this praise of Vladimir Putin. There are obviously a lot of theories.
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