Trump leaves ice cream cartons, potato chip bags, and candy wrappers all over his personal space at the White House. His diet aside, his aides are working overtime to keep the state of his health a secret. And it turns out that his loss in 2020 made him more powerful: He didn't have to deal with post-Covid inflation and the withdrawal from Afghanistan. Trump also wouldn't have been prosecuted, which ultimately led to him getting his get-out-of-jail free card to break all the laws, courtesy of the Supreme Court. Maggie joins Tim to discuss some of the revelations in her new book, including the pardons Trump is promising and the relationship between POTUS and a young aide who writes him "raw" and "emotional" love notes. Oh, and Marco—who's having the time of his life—was the guy who set up the deal to send people to the gulag at CECOT. Plus: Cam Kasky on why DSA candidates are resonating with voters and how things feel on the ground around Platner in Maine and Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan.

Cameron Kasky and Maggie Haberman join Tim Miller.

Show notes:

• Maggie's and Jonathan Swan's book, "Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump"
• This week only, a full Bulwark membership for everything we offer on our website is $86 a year. That's 14 percent off at http://thebulwark.com/july4

Not only did Trump pocket $2.2 billion last year—vastly increasing his pre-presidency wealth—he shamelessly showed off his new hand-me-down plane from Qatar which Americans paid hundreds of millions of dollars to upgrade. Not to mention, there's a massive conflict of interest involved in Trump taking a gift from a country that is directly impacted by his administration's foreign policy decisions. Plus: Vance can't tell a joke to save his life, Trump is the polar opposite of Teddy Roosevelt in almost every way, the Russian casualty count from the war in Ukraine has been catastrophic for the country and potentially destabilizing, and the challenge of celebrating 250 when Trump has inverted the American dream.

Susan Glasser joins Tim Miller.

Show notes:

• Susan's 'Political Scene' podcast
• Tim's July 4th playlist
• This week only, a full Bulwark membership for everything we offer on our website is $86 a year. That's 14 percent off at http://thebulwark.com/july4

It's hard to be in a celebratory mood about America 250. The administration only wants to tell a narrow story of the country without all the contradictions and complexities of its history. And for the past 18 months, it has also been a particularly challenging time for black members of the military under Hegseth, who brazenly disregards their service, blocks promotions of black officers, or expunges them from the ranks. But the aspiration of America as a multiracial, multiethnic, multi-faith democracy is a noble one, and our job is to keep trying to build the country we want it to be. Plus: the man who's trying to stop the magafication of the Smithsonian, advice for how to talk to kids about the country's history, and the simple joys of a July 4th cookout.

The Atlantic's Clint Smith joins Tim Miller for the holiday weekend pod.

show notes

• Clint’s piece on being black in Hegseth’s military
• Clint on the man who’s put himself between Trump and the Smithsonian
• Clint's "How the Word Is Passed"
• Thursday’s “Morning Shots” on the words of Gerald Ford
• Tim’s July 4th playlist
• This week only, a full Bulwark membership for everything we offer on our website is $86 a year. That's 14 percent off at http://thebulwark.com/july4