Honestly with Bari Weiss

Donald Trump, just sworn in as the 47th president, was reelected to be a wrecking ball, a middle finger, the people’s punch to the Beltway’s mouth. And while this populist moment feels “unprecedented,” it’s not. The rebuke of the ruling class is encoded in our nation’s DNA.  We have seen populist leaders like Donald Trump before. He stands on the shoulders of Texas billionaire H. Ross Perot, Alabama governor George Wallace, and Louisiana legend Huey Long. There have been populist senators, governors, newspaper editors, and radio broadcasters. But only rarely has a populist climbed as high as President Trump. In fact, it has happened only once before.  The last populist to win the presidency was born before the American Revolution. He rose from nothing to become a great general. His adoring troops called him Old Hickory, and his enemies derided him as a bigamist and a tyrant in waiting. His name was Andrew Jackson, and he’s the guy who’s still on the 20 dollar bill.  On today’s debut episode of Breaking History, Eli Lake explains how Andrew Jackson’s presidency is the best guide to what Trump’s second term could look like.  If you liked what you heard from Honestly, the best way to support us is to go to TheFP.com and become a Free Press subscriber today. Go to groundnews.com/Honestly to get 40% off the unlimited access Vantage plan and unlock world-wide perspectives on today’s biggest news stories. Credits: Andrew Jackson: Good, Evil and the Presidency; PBS Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Being the Republican House leader is a little like marrying Henry VIII. At some point, you’re getting your head cut off.  But for now, Mike Johnson remains not just physically intact—but in a position of incredible power. Two weeks ago, Johnson was reelected Speaker of the House on the first ballot. Despite having only the narrowest of House majorities—the Republicans control the House by four votes, 219 vs. 215 Democrats—Mike Johnson was able to unite the Republican Party’s warring factions—moderates, the Freedom Caucus, the Raw Milk caucus, libertarians, hawks, doves, and whatever Lauren Boebert is—behind him.  It was tough to pull off, as it would’ve taken only a couple of No votes to send him off to that Republican Valhalla where John Boehner chain-smokes and chugs merlot, Paul Ryan does push-ups, and Kevin McCarthy throws darts at a photo of Matt Gaetz. Now, Donald Trump will become president of the United States and Mike Johnson will have the task of shepherding his agenda through Congress. And because the Republicans control the House by only four seats, the Speaker might have to get very close to some moderate Democrats—particularly those with constituents itching for a tax cut.  Today on Honestly, Speaker Johnson breaks down this challenge. He talks about how the party moves forward with two different visions for America; why he thinks Biden was “the worst president ever”; he recalls an eerie experience with Biden in the Oval Office; and he even gives us a taste of his uncanny Trump impression. If you liked what you heard from Honestly, the best way to support us is to go to TheFP.com and become a Free Press subscriber today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Very few people have worked closely with President-elect Donald Trump, gotten fired, and walked away with a pretty balanced view of him. But former national security adviser to Trump, Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster is an exception. In his book At War with Ourselves: My Tour of Duty in the Trump White House, he gives an honest account of working in Trump’s first administration: the good, the bad, and the unexpected. Last week, McMaster sat down with Michael Moynihan at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia for an in-person Free Press Book Club event to discuss it all. They talk about his moments of tension with Trump, his understanding of Trump’s foreign policy, and how Trump’s rhetoric toward adversaries was actually good, despite being villainized by the press. And also, as McMaster puts it, Trump can be “so disruptive, he often interrupts his own agenda.” They also get into the president-elect’s current cabinet picks—ones who McMaster sees as good, like Marco Rubio and Mike Waltz, but how good picks do not ensure a harmonious administration. They discuss Trump’s options for handling Russia, Iran, and Hamas in his second term, and why McMaster is surprisingly and cautiously optimistic about Trump 2.0. If you liked what you heard from Honestly, the best way to support us is to go to TheFP.com and become a Free Press subscriber today. The Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit research institute in Washington, D.C. FDD’s experts conduct in-depth research, produce accurate and timely analyses, identify illicit activities, and provide policy options—all with the aim of strengthening U.S. national security and reducing or eliminating threats posed by enemies of the United States and other free nations. Learn more at FDD.org. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Trump’s inauguration is right around the corner, and there is so much to cover about the new White House. In the coming weeks, we’ll have key figures in the Trump administration on Honestly to talk about what they are planning. But, we all know that if Trump 2.0 is anything like Trump 1.0, there are going to be a lot of twists and turns here. And we want to analyze and break down each development that unfolds in Trump’s new administration. Starting today and for the next few months, we’re going to bring you weekly episodes with two of my favorite guests: Batya Ungar-Sargon and Brianna Wu. Batya Ungar-Sargon is a Free Press contributor and the opinion editor at Newsweek. Brianna Wu is a Democratic fundraiser and activist, and in her past life, a video game developer. If you’ve heard them together on Honestly before, you know that these two come from different sides of the political spectrum, but we really value hearing both of their perspectives, even—or especially—when they disagree. We think you will too. Today, we’re going to cover the L.A. fires and their political implications, the civil war inside the MAGA movement between the nationalist populists and the free marketers over H-1B visas, and Mark Zuckerberg’s red pill moment and changes at Meta—and the pair give us their predictions for confirmation hearings beginning this week. If you liked what you heard from Honestly, the best way to support us is to go to TheFP.com and become a Free Press subscriber today. Go to groundnews.com/Honestly to get 50% off the unlimited access Vantage plan and unlock worldwide perspectives on today’s biggest news stories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices