Trump Watch

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Amy Wilentz reviews recent reports that Ivanka has checked her father’s worst impulses, especially on LGBTQ rights, and maybe on the National Endowments of the Arts and Humanities. Amy’s cover story about Ivanka appeared in The Nation last week.

And John Nichols reviews Trump’s first month — and answers the question, ‘What is Trump’s biggest achievement thus far?’  His answer: creating the biggest opposition movement in 100 years.

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John Nichols comments on Trump’s first press conference as president.  Paul Ryan must have been tearing his hair out: he waited eight years to get a Republican in the White House, and now Trump has squandered his “honeymoon period” and is spending more time talking about CNN than about GOP plans on taxes, trade, immigration, and Obamacare.

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Matt Taibbi says “Trump made idiots of us all.” He covered the campaign for Rolling Stone—and his new book is “Insane Clown President.”

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Today in Trump World: For that we turn to HAROLD MEYERSON, with the story of Trump’s efforts to recruit leaders of the construction trades.  Harold ouf course is executive editor of The American Prospect and a regular contributor to the LA Times op-ed page and other publications.

Plus: JANE MAYER of the New Yorker reports on Dark Money and Donald Trump – the big money donors, especially the Koch brothers, didn’t want him, but he won anyway – what does that tell us?  Her book Dark Money is out now in paperback.

And AMY WILENTZ will talk about Ivanka, our de-facto First Lady — what can she possibly do for women who work?  Amy has the cover story in The Nation, about Ivanka.

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KATHA POLLITT talks about the Women’s March last Saturday, and why it was so great — starting with the Pussy Hats.

And Harold Meyerson reviews the situation in Washington –Trump’s first week has been a lively one.  Harold of course is Executive Editor of The American Prospect.

Also, Alan Minsky explains what’s happening with Trump and Trade after the TPP and with NAFTA after the blow-up with the Mexican president.

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Trump is vicious, but vulnerable: that’s what GARY YOUNGE says—he writes for The Guardian and The Nation.

Also:  what’s wrong with the Democrats—a big topic!  HAROLD MEYERSON of The American Prospect talks about what the party needs to do to regain power.

And we’re still thinking about Obama – today we want to talk about what happened with his hopes to transform America’s relationship with the rest of the world – for that we turn to ADAM SHATZ, he’s a contributing editor at the London Review of Books.  He writes for the New York Review and the New York Times magazine.

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Today in Washington: the Jeff Sessions confirmation hearings for Attorney General, the Rex Tillerson confirmation hearings for Secretary of State, and then Trump’s wild press conference: John Nichols comments–John of course is National Affairs Correspondent for The Nation magazine.

Also: Black life and death in the Age of Obama: Kai Wright of The Nation talks about what might have been–if Obama had been willing to address the racial divide in America directly.

Plus: The case for a pardon for Edward Snowden: Ben Wizner of the ACLU argues that Obama ought to bring Snowden home.

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The Republicans started out their new era not by abolishing Obamacare but by trying to abolish the House ethics office.  JOHN NICHOLS comments–he says the popular response showed how mobilization outside of Washington can have a powerful effect.

Also: Legendary trial attorney MARTIN GARBUS makes the case for clemency for Leonard Peltier, the Native American activist who has been in federal prison for 41 years.

And David Cole assesses Obama’s achievements on civil rights and his failures on civil liberties — David’s new job is National Legal Director of the ACLU.

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Michelle Obama‘s greatest political moment came in October, when she spoke about Donald Trump’s Access Hollywood groping tape.  During the preceding eight years, she limited herself to campaigning against childhood obesity — but even on that seemingly innocuous feminine topic, she was defeated — by Big Food and agribusiness.  Amy Wilentz wrote about Michelle in 2008 for the Washington Post.

Also: Andrew Bacevich reviews eight years of Barack Obama’s wars and foreign policies, starting with Iran and Afghanistan and including cyberwar.  Bacevich wrote about the topic for The Nation’s special issue on “The Obama Years.”

And Harold Meyerson talks about Trump’s choice for secretary of labor — fast food exec Andy Puzder (or is it “Pudzer”?), who wants to replace workers with robots — and about what mainstream economists learned –too late — about the effects of free trade on the once-industrial midwest.  Harold wrote about it for The American Prospect, where he is executive editor.

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For America’s working class,both minority and white workers suffer, but in different ways: white employment has fallen, while people of color face low-wage work for years to come.  HAROLD MEYERSON of The American Prospect reviews the grim evidence about changes in the labor market over the last decade — and talks about what we need to do to change things.