'Historic debacle': Trump sets new standard for poor presidential performance; Americans displeased

Rachel Maddow reviews how poorly Donald Trump's policies are being received by the American public as Trump continues to appoint laughably unqualified sycophants to top agency roles, and leadership failures mount. As a result, not only are Trump's poll numbers tanking, but even Republican politicians are recognizing that it's not in their interest to tie their fates to Trump's sinking ship.As Donald Trump fills the leadership roles of the U.S. public health system with quacks and kooks, sane states are taking it upon themselves to employ actual experts with real public health administration experience to make sure the public has credible guidance even if that guidance is not coming from the federal government. Dr. Debra Houry, former CDC official and new senior medical adviser to the California Department of Health, talks with Rachel Maddow about this new shift in public health authority as Donald Trump and his clown show are simply ignored.And the FBI is suffering a similar fate, with Trump lackeys in leadership driving out the agency's qualified staff and leaving behind only incompetent Trump loyalists to run the sadly weakened organization. Want more of Rachel? Check out the "Rachel Maddow Presents" feed to listen to all of her chart-topping original podcasts.To listen to all of your favorite MS podcasts without ads, sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Rachel Maddow hosts a prime time special event with historian Timothy Snyder about the rise of authoritarianism and how we can meet the moment. (Recorded on November 21, 2025 at the Harris Theater in Chicago’s Millennium Park) Want more of Rachel? Check out the "Rachel Maddow Presents" feed to listen to all of her chart-topping original podcasts.To listen to all of your favorite MS podcasts without ads, sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Rachel Maddow looks at a variety of legal tactics and pressure campaigns that are having success against the Trump administration's overreach in immigration enforcement and the Justice Department's vendetta prosecutions. Where people push back, Trump loses, or sometimes doesn't even try to fight, and the more Americans learn that lesson, the stronger the opposition Trump faces.Rachel Maddow explains that as Donald Trump's health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. gives increasing credence and authority to crackpots, the authority and reputation of American medical expertise is suffering such extreme degradation that science-minded state officials are establishing new fact-based health alliances to advise the public on matters like vaccinations. Former CDC chief Dr. Richard Besser joins to discuss the crisis at the CDC under Trump and Kennedy."Iceblock" app developer Joshua Aaron joins to discuss his lawsuit to unblock his app, a community-based ICE raid tracker, from Apple's app store. Want more of Rachel? Check out the "Rachel Maddow Presents" feed to listen to all of her chart-topping original podcasts.To listen to all of your favorite MS podcasts without ads, sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Rachel Maddow relays the details of a new Washington Post report that Donald Trump's secretary of defense, former weekend cable news host Pete Hegseth, gave orders to kill everyone on board a boat he accused of running drugs to the United States, which meant finishing off the survivors of an initial strike that destroyed the boat — the literal textbook definition of an illegal order. Rep. Adam Smith, ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee joins to discuss a new, bipartisan push to investigate Hegseth's orders.Rachel Maddow talks with Nadya Tolokonnikova, founding member of Russian dissident activism group Pussy Riot, about what it means that the Putin administration has declared her a member of an "extremist" organization, and the parallels to Donald Trump using a similar tactic to give himself the tools for targeting people he doesn't like. Want more of Rachel? Check out the "Rachel Maddow Presents" feed to listen to all of her chart-topping original podcasts.To listen to all of your favorite MS podcasts without ads, sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Rachel Maddow’s new series lays bare one of the most shocking decisions in American history. It’s story that reveals how an executive order authorizing the mass roundup of innocent Japanese Americans came to be, the powerful players who engineered it, and the burn order that tried to erase it from history.Stay right here to listen to a special preview of “Rachel Maddow Presents: Burn Order.” And for the full episode, search for “Burn Order” and follow the show. Want more of Rachel? Check out the "Rachel Maddow Presents" feed to listen to all of her chart-topping original podcasts.To listen to all of your favorite MS podcasts without ads, sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Senator Mark Kelly, in an interview with Rachel Maddow, emphasized his view that "it's almost comical" that Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth are calling it a violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice that he cited part of the Uniform Code of Military Justice in a recent video. Kelly explained his participation in the video in the context of protecting members of the military from a president who "doesn't seem to care about the Constitution, the rule of law."Rachel Maddow shares reporting on bizarre behavior by former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro who tampered with his ankle monitor while on house arrest and was sent to jail. Donald Trump subsequently boasted of speaking with Bolsonaro and expecting to see him soon, apparently unaware of Bolsonaro's incarceration. Did Trump accidentally reveal too much about why Bolsonaro was tampering with his ankle monitor?While there were questions at the start of the Trump administration about whether court rulings would be obeyed, it wasn't seen as a certainty that Donald Trump's representatives in court would lie so much to judges. Former federal prosecutor Barbara McQuade talks with Rachel Maddow about what the likely fallout will be for Trump's legal lackeys.  Want more of Rachel? Check out the "Rachel Maddow Presents" feed to listen to all of her chart-topping original podcasts.To listen to all of your favorite MS podcasts without ads, sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

"Rachel Maddow Presents: Burn Order" is the story of one of the most shocking decisions in American history: the executive order to target and round up innocent citizens, Japanese Americans, at the outbreak of World War II. This six-episode narrative podcast will examine and shed new light on how that policy came to be, who was behind it, who attempted to stop it, and the heroism needed to end the policy for good. Listen to the trailer here and search for “Burn Order” to follow the show. The first two episodes drop December 1st.  Want more of Rachel? Check out the "Rachel Maddow Presents" feed to listen to all of her chart-topping original podcasts.To listen to all of your favorite MS podcasts without ads, sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Rachel Maddow relays a series of stories that in any normal administration would be a shattering cascade of scandals, but in the perpetually disgraced Trump administration is merely a string of ordinary headlines of entirely typical waste, corruption and incompetence.As Donald Trump's anti-immigrant operations spread to new cities, residents are learning new lessons in how to resist and help protect their neighbors. MS NOW's Jacob Soboroff reports on a community training event in Charlotte, North Carolina where residents learned protest and resistance tactics to respond to ICE raids and arrests taking place in their city.Rachel Maddow shares the story of the small town of Newport, Oregon figuring out that the Trump administration was planning to install an ICE prison at their airport, turning out residents in droves to protest and demand answers. Oregon State Rep. David Gomberg joins to talk about the effort to find out exactly what is going on. Want more of Rachel? Check out the "Rachel Maddow Presents" feed to listen to all of her chart-topping original podcasts.To listen to all of your favorite MS podcasts without ads, sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Rachel Maddow looks at the powerful political momentum Democrats had built, including massive nationwide protests and a wildly successful election, only to have their unity falter on the shutdown fight with Republicans, resulting in capitulation that leaves many Americans who'd been encouraging Democrats to stand up and fight feeling hopeless and dispirited. Senator Bernie Sanders talks with Maddow about his objections to vote, Democratic plans going forward, and why "the Democratic establishment" should be the target of primarying.Rachel Maddow reports on a new set of dubious pardons from Donald Trump, this time of people involved in his schemes to overturn his 2020 election loss, on top of previous pardons of January 6 insurrectionists, and several with whom he has business conflicts. From these pardons a pattern is emerging that law-breaking is permissible when it's done in the service of Trump. Former DOJ pardon attorney Liz Oyer joins to discuss.  Want more of Rachel? Check out the "Rachel Maddow Presents" feed to listen to all of her chart-topping original podcasts.To listen to all of your favorite MS podcasts without ads, sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Rachel Maddow shares the results of several new polls, all showing the deepening descent of Donald Trump's popularity with the American people. Not only are Trump's actions being met with displeasure, but a remarkable number of people are supportive of the No Kings movement as MAGA's popularity fades.MSNBC's Carol Leonnig joins Rachel to discuss her new book about how the prosecution of Donald Trump in the classified documents case fell apart.And Rachel Maddow salutes the bravery and resourcefulness of people of Evanston, Illinois, who have not only activated to help protect their neighbors against the abuses of Donald Trump's ICE agents, but have rallied to collect food to help struggling neighbors as Trump's Republicans try leverage food assistance to force their budget to pass. Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss talks with Rachel Maddow about his community's activism and pushing back against federal agents going too far. Want more of Rachel? Check out the "Rachel Maddow Presents" feed to listen to all of her chart-topping original podcasts.To listen to all of your favorite MS podcasts without ads, sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.