Trump’s economic promises collide with higher costs and weaker stability

The brief

Tim Miller and Josh Barro begin with Trump’s weakening approval, arguing that voters feel persistent price increases and borrowing costs more directly than macroeconomic headlines.

Barro explains why inflation remains above the Federal Reserve’s target, while deficits, long-term yields, tariff threats, and political pressure complicate the path to lower rates.

A bipartisan permitting deal offers a rare policy overlap, as environmentalists, abundance advocates, and Republicans see different reasons to expand infrastructure and energy development.

Jonathan V. Last joins to connect oil markets and geopolitical risk to a weakening American-led order, where markets may discount instability until it becomes unavoidable.

The hosts argue that Pete Hegseth’s patriotic-cowboy masculinity and anti-transgender rhetoric distract from drones, technological change, and the danger of hollowing out the military.

The closing debate over John Roberts asks whether liberal democracy needs social shame and exclusion, not just formal law, to impose consequences on powerful actors.