The Lincoln Project

This week’s Elephant in the Room is simple: Trump is losing—and everyone can see it. Inflation is still squeezing voters where it hurts, and no amount of fear-mongering can spin grocery bills, rent, or gas prices. On immigration, the administration’s answer has been to let U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement run feral—escalating raids, brutality, and spectacle that dominated headlines this week and triggered backlash even among swing voters. The result? A political own-goal: cruelty without control, chaos without results, and optics so toxic they’re pushing the middle further away. In this episode, Rick breaks down why Donald Trump is hemorrhaging trust on the economy, why extreme ICE tactics are backfiring in real time, and how this week made painfully clear that fear politics doesn’t beat inflation—and never has.
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Rick Wilson is on X at @TheRickWilson, on Bluesky at @TheRickWilson.bsky.social, and you can check out Rick's Substack at therickwilson.substack.com. You can check out more of LP's work at www.lincolnproject.us and on X at @ProjectLincoln. 
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This week, the mask comes all the way off. In a chilling double-header, we expose how Stephen Miller’s extremist agenda has metastasized into unchecked power inside Immigration and Customs Enforcement—with deadly consequences. Journalist Greg Sargent joins us first to break down Miller’s ideological grip on ICE and the escalation of federal violence, including the killing of Alex Pretti this past weekend—an event that underscores how cruelty is no longer a byproduct of policy, but the point. Then, former Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Craig Fugate explains how disaster relief money meant to keep Americans alive during a brutal snowstorm was siphoned away—from FEMA to ICE—revealing a federal priorities list where enforcement beats survival and repression beats relief. This is what unchecked power looks like. This is how a government turns DHS funding and disaster relief into opportunity. And this is why it matters right now. 
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You can find Greg Sargent on X @GregTSargent, on Bluesky @gregsargent.bsky.social, and at www.thenewrepublic.com. Also, check out his podcast, ‘The Daily Blast.’
You can find Craig Fugate @WCraigFugate on X.
Rick Wilson is on X at @TheRickWilson, on Bluesky at @TheRickWilson.bsky.social, and you can check out Rick's Substack at therickwilson.substack.com. You can check out more of LP's work at www.lincolnproject.us and on X at @ProjectLincoln. 
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Rick's Elephant in the Room this week is peak TACO — Trump Always Chickens Out. After floating threats against Greenland and saber-rattling his way into another foreign policy meltdown, Donald Trump took the stage at Davos and delivered a speech so erratic it left allies openly alarmed (as he GRIPPED the podium). The World Economic Forum appearance wasn’t just inflammatory — it reinforced how isolated the United States has become under Trump’s chaos-first diplomacy. Within days, Trump backed down on Greenland, proving once again that the bluster is loud but the follow-through is weak. Meanwhile, NATO allies are openly questioning whether the U.S. can still be trusted, global markets are spooked, and America’s credibility keeps sliding. This episode breaks down Trump’s Davos meltdown, the Greenland bluff, and why the world is done taking U.S. threats seriously.
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Rick Wilson is on X at @TheRickWilson, on Bluesky at @TheRickWilson.bsky.social, and you can check out Rick's Substack at therickwilson.substack.com. You can check out more of LP's work at www.lincolnproject.us and on X at @ProjectLincoln.

This week’s double-header episode confronts America’s moral crisis from two sides of the same coin: what happens when leadership becomes corrupt and power-hungry—and what it looks like when leaders choose decency instead. First, journalist Mary Clare Jalonick joins Rick to break down her urgent new book Storm at the Capitol, a chilling account of how ambition, radicalization, and moral cowardice led to January 6 and exposed what happens when power is severed from principle. Then, veteran political voice Chris Matthews offers a stark counterpoint with Letters from Bobby, drawing on Robert F. Kennedy’s words to remind us that leadership is a moral act rooted in restraint, empathy, and responsibility. This conversation couldn’t be more timely as ICE violence and aggressive enforcement tactics come to a head across the country, putting into sharp relief the real-world consequences of unchecked power and moral collapse. One episode. Two books. One unavoidable truth: democracy doesn’t fail all at once—it fails when leaders abandon decency first.
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You can find Mary Clare Jalonick @MCJalonick on X, and you can stay up to date with her congressional reporting at the AP. Also, her new book, 'Storm at the Capitol: An Oral History of January 6th,' is available now, wherever fine books are sold. 
Chris Matthews is on X @HardballChris, and you can check out his Substack at thechrismatthews.substack.com. His new book, 'Lessons from Bobby: Ten Reasons Robert F. Kennedy Still Matters,' is available now, wherever fine books are sold. 
Rick Wilson is on X at @TheRickWilson, on Bluesky at @TheRickWilson.bsky.social, and you can check out Rick's Substack at therickwilson.substack.com. You can check out more of LP's work at www.lincolnproject.us and on X at @ProjectLincoln. 
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Texas is breaking at the seams—divided, bitter, and locked in a political cage match that’s left ordinary Texans stuck in the middle. For decades, the state has been painted bright red, but now the cracks are showing, and a fresh wave of underdog organizers and voters is daring to repaint the map purple. From the San Antonio Spurs to street culture, from BBQ pits to the Capitol floor, Texas' fresh politics is colliding with an old guard terrified of losing power—on fights over voting rights, gerrymandering, abortion bans, gun violence, border and immigration, book bans, school vouchers, property taxes, and the ERCOT power grid. In this episode, James Talarico joins Rick Wilson for a hard look at a changing Purple Texas—how Gen Z, Latino voters, suburban women, and independents are shifting the map; why MAGA extremism and corrupt politicians (like Ken Paxton) keep stoking culture wars; and how fresh leadership can take power back for the people and revive democracy in the Lone Star State.
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You can find James Talarico @jamestalarico on social media, and keep up with his campaign at jamestalarico.com.
Follow Rick Wilson at @TheRickWilson on X and @therickwilson.bsky.social on Bluesky, and subscribe to his Substack at therickwilson.substack.com.
Join the fight with the Lincoln Project at www.lincolnproject.us and follow LP on X at @ProjectLincoln. If you'd like to help us continue our critical work, visit https://action.lincolnproject.us/helplp to make a difference.
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