How Serious Is Trump's Threat To 'Nationalize' Elections

President Trump has recently made comments about the integrity of the election system, and floated the idea to 'nationalize' the process.On Today's Show:David Graham, staff writer at The Atlantic and an author of the Atlantic daily newsletter, plus author of The Project: How Project 2025 Is Reshaping America (Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2025), talks about actions and statements by the president that are raising alarms over election integrity with midterms months away.

How have President Trump's policies shaped the nation's economic outlook after the first year of his second term?On Today's Show:Paul Krugman, Nobel laureate in economics, former New York Times columnist now on Substack, distinguished professor at the City University of New York Graduate Center, and the author of Arguing with Zombies: Economics, Politics, and the Fight for a Better Future (W. W. Norton & Company, 2020), talks about how President Trump's economic policies are affecting investors, and what that could mean for the overall economy.  

One of the Senate Democrats' demands for resuming DHS funding is a ban on the use of masks by ICE agents.On Today's Show:Atlantic staff writer Adam Serwer talks about his essay, "The Real Reason ICE Agents Wear Masks" in which he argues that masking is dangerous "because people who are assured that they won’t face consequences for abusing power almost inevitably do so."

According to government data, at least 3,800 children were detained by U.S. federal immigration forces in 2025 alone, including 20 infants. On today's show: Elora Mukherjee, professor at Columbia Law School and director of its Immigrants’ Rights Clinic, talks about what these children and families are experiencing right now.

Across a number of ongoing stories, the Trump administration has taken actions in the name of enforcing certain laws, while seemingly skirting around others. On Today's Show:Andrew Weissmann, professor of practice at NYU School of Law, co-host of the podcast Main Justice and and the co-author of The Trump Indictments: The Historic Charging Documents with Commentary (W. W. Norton & Company, 2024), offers legal analysis of the news of the day, including the DOJ's release of the rest of the Epstein files, the DOJ's civil rights investigation into the Pretti killing and more.  

The federal budget us under negotiations again, with funding for Trump's controversial DHS playing a key role in negotiations. On Today's Show:Siobhan Hughes, a reporter covering Congress from The Wall Street Journal's Washington bureau, talks about the latest from Congress, and whether a deal or a partial shutdown of the federal government is more likely.

Some members of the GOP are worried about how the Trump administration's actions in Minneapolis could impact the midterm elections later this year. On Today's Show:Russell Berman, a staff writer at The Atlantic, talks about how Republicans in Congress are speaking out against the deportation operation (and the fatal shootings), in a rare intra-party rebuke to President Trump. 

Journalists have spoken to forty-five current and former FBI employees. Many say that leadership is  undermining the agency and making America less safe. On Today's Show:Emily Bazelon, staff writer for The New York Times Magazine, co-host of Slate's "Political Gabfest" podcast and Truman Capote fellow for creative writing and law at Yale Law School, and Rachel Poser, features editor at The New York Times Magazine, discuss their reporting on the The Federal Bureau of Investigation under the directorship of Kash Patel.  

As tensions continue in Minneapolis between federal agents and locals, what does the law say about how ICE or CBP are allowed to act?On Today's Show:Michelle Hackman, Wall Street Journal reporter covering U.S. immigration policy, talks about the legality of the tactics ICE agents are using in Minneapolis and elsewhere, including entering people's homes without warrants, and the ways they are dealing with bystanders in the wake of the two recent fatal shootings in Minnesota.

ICE agents shot and killed Alex Pretti during a protest in Minneapolis, and the Trump administration is pushing a version of events that clashes with video evidence. On Today's Show:Reid Forgrave, state and regional reporter for the Minnesota Star Tribune, reports on the latest and the community response.