WSJ’s Joel Schectman joins Ryan Knutson and Molly Ball to explore the dismantling of USAID and what it means for America’s future as a global leader. Plus, Trump's tariffs, a Gaza proposal and remaking the CIA. Further Listening: - Inside USAID as Elon Musk and DOGE Ripped It Apart - Trump’s Tariff Whiplash Further Reading: - How Trump Gutted America’s $40 Billion Aid Agency in Two Weeks - CIA Offers Buyout to Entire Workforce as Part of Trump Makeover - Democrats Have a New Leader but Haven’t Come to Grips With Failure Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Full Episode
Hey, Molly.
Hey, Ryan.
So it's the third week of Donald Trump's presidency. And again, it has been another week of what feels like nonstop news. We had tariffs. We had the dismantling of a $40 billion government agency, USAID. And we had Trump saying that the U.S. should take over Gaza.
Never a dull moment.
So what is it like being a reporter right now in Washington?
Well, it's very busy. A lot of people liken it to trying to drink from a fire hose. There's so much happening that it's difficult for any one person to keep track of it all.
How long do you think the Trump administration can keep up this pace?
There's a lot of speculation about that, and we don't know. On the one hand, they clearly want to make an early splash that they can then either dial back or modulate in some ways. On the other hand, they do want to take this approach to vast swaths of the government, so it could continue in this way for quite some time.
And as someone who covered the first Trump administration, that was pretty intense pretty much throughout.
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