Washington Week with the Atlantic full episode, 2/21/25

Moving at breakneck speed, Donald Trump is pushing revolutionary and destabilizing ideas while trying to bend Washington, and the world, to his will. Join moderator Jeffrey Goldberg, Kaitlan Collins of CNN, Stephen Hayes of The Dispatch, Asma Khalid of NPR and Ashley Parker of The Atlantic to take stock of the president’s first 100 days, his most important decisions and what else he's planning.

President Trump is taking extraordinary steps to exert power and influence over what he thinks of as the country’s “elite” institutions, and we are seeing that defiance has a price for fellow Republicans. Join moderator Jeffrey Goldberg, Peter Baker of the New York Times, Laura Barrón-López of PBS News Hour, Eugene Daniels of MSNBC and Mark Leibovich of The Atlantic to discuss this and more.

President Trump’s trade war unleashes global economic uncertainty and there's a brewing constitutional crisis over deportations. Join moderator Jeffrey Goldberg, Zolan Kanno-Youngs of The New York Times, Jonathan Karl of ABC News, Ashley Parker of The Atlantic and Tarini Parti of The Wall Street Journal to discuss this and more.

Financial markets tank, angry allies and adversaries alike are retaliating against America after President Trump announced his dramatic new tariffs. Join moderator Jeffrey Goldberg, Stephen Hayes of The Dispatch, David Leonhardt of The New York Times, Kayla Tausche of CNN and Nancy Youssef of The Wall Street Journal to discuss this and more.

The fallout continues following Jeffrey Goldberg’s report that top members of President Trump’s national security team discussed military attack plans in a Signal group chat that inadvertently included Goldberg. Joining Goldberg to discuss this and more are Peter Baker of The New York Times, Susan Glasser of The New Yorker, Laura Barrón-López of PBS News Hour and Shane Harris of the Atlantic.

The Trump administration’s standoff with the judicial branch raises new fears of a possible constitutional crisis, as the president moves to shut down the Department of Education. Join moderator Jeffrey Goldberg, Eugene Daniels of MSNBC, David Ignatius of The Washington Post, Michael Scherer of The Atlantic and Nancy Youssef of The Wall Street Journal to discuss this and more.

Two months into his second term, President Trump is destabilizing world order. As Trump’s unpredictability is causing economic turmoil that threatens his popularity, the Democrats struggle to find ways to challenge him. Join moderator Jeffrey Goldberg, Laura Barrón-López of the PBS News Hour, Stephen Hayes of The Dispatch and David Sanger of The New York Times to discuss this and more.

President Trump's erratic approach to running the country may need finessing, as evidenced this week by the trade war he started, and just as abruptly ended, and by a confrontation with his Cabinet and Elon Musk. Join guest moderator Franklin Foer, Dan Balz of The Washington Post, Eugene Daniels of MSNBC, Michelle Price of the Associated Press and Kayla Tausche of CNN to discuss this and more.

President Trump abandoned Ukraine and its president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in an Oval Office meeting that devolved into a display of raw anger. The fallout has been swift and intense. Join guest moderator Franklin Foer, Peter Baker of The New York Times, Jonathan Karl of ABC News, Ashley Parker of The Atlantic and Nancy Youssef of The Wall Street Journal to discuss this and more.

This week, America switched sides. Ukraine is out, Russia is in. President Trump has blamed Ukraine for starting the war that was started by Russia, and America’s traditional European allies are in a state of shock. Join moderator Jeffrey Goldberg, Peter Baker of The New York Times, Susan Glasser of The New Yorker and Jonathan Lemire of The Atlantic to discuss this and more.