Us Of Ed

"We have a situation now where the White House is a joke, the President is a joke... So why stay there?" Trump's tariffs have Republicans in a bind, whether to support the president in his latest stab at foreign and economic policy or to stay true to their party's policies. In related news, White House chief economic advisor Gary Cohn has stepped down but is it less about tariff and more about abandoning a sinking ship? Also, Sam Nunberg, Russian threats on nukes, the Mueller investigation, and how Democrats can get out of their own way in the 2018 mid-terms.

"They're coming out [at Trump] from every direction and stinging him every way they can." There's no more Hope for Trump, Hope Hicks at least, with the White House Communications Director and long-time Trump aide on her way out following testimony before the congressional Russia probe. Also, the latest on gun control, the opioid crisis, immigrants to be held without bond hearings and the EPA. And Aussie PM Malcolm Turnbull and Trump have celebrated a hundred years of "mateship" between the United States and Australia, but what's going on behind the photo op smiles and handshakes?

"This reminds me of the Vietnam movement when I was a youngster, where young people say 'we cannot trust the adults, we're going to take this on ourselves'."  Thirteen Russians indicted in the Mueller investigation, will it be an unlucky number for Trump? Florida students are declaring enough is enough when it comes to gun control after yet another deadly mass shooting, is this the beginning of a much bigger movement? And the latest on immigration, a reflection on Billy Graham and looking at the latest special election results, are hopes for a "blue tsunami" in 2018 based in fact or fantasy?

"The more these things stack up the more Republicans, as a party, have to get behind [Trump], and the more they get behind him the more votes they lose in 2018."  The shortest ever US government shutdown, only six hours, took place this week but does it say some big things about Republicans' fiscal responsibilities? Besides debt, another thing Trump and Republicans don't seem concerned about is Russian interference. Looking at these, as well as the Stormy Daniels alleged affair, Florida shooting, the return of Barack Obama, and the run-up to the 2018 mid-terms.

"Trump is no longer president of the United States, the United States is being run by a troika which includes the Secretary of State, the Vice President, and the Secretary of Defence, they're running the country." The Nunes memo that promised to take Washington by storm turned out to be more of a light drizzle yet President Donald Trump claims it vindicates him totally in the Russia investigation. Other Republicans have not been so effusive, so what about the contents of the memo itself and what will the FBI response be? Meanwhile, the stock market takes a plunge, talks of another shutdown, and Trump wants a parade to show off American military might but conjures some unfortunate implications.

"It was the first presidential speech we've heard." Donald Trump has given his State of the Union address this week, sounding a great deal more presidential than the content of his Twitter account. When it comes to substance, Ed and Sean pick through key claims on taxes, immigration, environmental protections and a boost to the US military, including Guantanamo Bay. Not mentioned in the speech, Russia sanctions, the continuing rise of China and FEMA to quit sending food and water supplies to Puerto Rico.

"The long game is this, November 2018, the Republicans want a program they can put before the people, they're stumbling... The Democrats on the other hand better come up with something, because if DACA goes through what else do they have to offer?" As promised last week, Democrats allowed the American government to go into shutdown but has much been accomplished? The Russia probe and Mueller investigation continues but the Republican party seems more concerned with protecting their president than uncovering the truth. Also, Jared Kushner's security concerns, Trump goes after Palestine and the rest of the world continues to think less and less of the Trump agenda.

"We are now seeing the unravelling of the America epoch, where the United States won by force of ideals, and replaced by this kind of repugnant, awful, racist leadership that has corroded the American politic." Another week, another controversy from the Trump White House, but if Trump's base and the rest of the Republican party don't care, should any of us anymore? Plus, the surprising upside of the Hawaiian false missile alert crisis, Steve Bannon subpoenaed by Robert Mueller, and the fate of the 800,000 Dreamers and a government shutdown hanging in the balance.

"Like Nixon, [Trump will] do everything he can do, constitutionally, to prevent this from happening." A new book has taken Washington DC by storm, reigniting the debate of just how fit Trump is for the office of Commander-in-Chief but is there really anything to it that people haven't already been saying since before the 2016 election? Meanwhile, Trump's warnings to North Korea about his bigger, redder and fully functional nuclear button have had a surprising result. Also, not quite the end for 'Sloppy' Steve Bannon, the Russia investigation in 2018 and the shadow of a governmental shutdown next week.

"These people are going to be out, they are spirited... These are now moral votes, and American might find its morality but it seems to be losing its way." 2017 has been massive in the United States and for the final podcast of the year, Ed and Sean try to unpack as much of it as possible. From Trump's inauguration size and early stumbles on Obamacare and travel bans, the start of the Russia investigation, the devastation of Hurricanes Harvey and Maria, the US' deadliest ever mass-shooting in Las Vegas and the #MeToo movement. And who will be U.S. of Ed's Person of the Year for 2017, one who had one of the biggest impacts on the American news cycle? (The answer isn't as obvious as you'd think.)

"The Republicans now are in a very difficult predicament... the notion that Breitbart and the racists have taken over their party is more than they can stomach." Sweet home Alabama, where the Senate race has turned blue. Democrat Doug Jones has come away with a historic win but given the margin was so tight and Roy Moore was so personally unpalatable, how serious are  the implications for Republicans and Trump? Also, Republicans are getting close to getting some pretty massive corporate tax cuts through, the NYC terror attack and latest on the Mueller investigation.

"We have a situation here where the president himself is admitting to obstruction of justice by not telling the truth about what went on and knowing [Michael Flynn] was lying." Robert Mueller is circling with questions about what the president knew and when he knew it in regards to Michael Flynn. Congress also may have grounds to go after Donald Trump Jr for collusion with Russia. But while Trump draws the spotlight, Republicans seem happy to let it go on as they push through an incredibly unpopular tax bill. And is the moving the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem just another attempt at distraction?

"This is a man who might go too far... All bets are off." North Korea has tested a new missile which, according to experts and not just Kim Jong-un, could conceivably land a strike all the way into Washington DC. Far from providing a steady handle at the tiller, however, Donald Trump has been acting more unstable than ever, lying at almost a pathological level, firing off anti-Muslim retweets and clinging to bizarre conspiracy theories both new and old. What does America do if it truly has a madman-in-chief?

"Sooner or later, several of them are going to squeal and it looks like [Michael] Flynn will, and [Mueller will] roll them all up at once. It's not going to be pretty." Republican Senate candidate in Alabama Roy Moore can be thankful for Trump's support in spite of mounting sexual allegations, but other Republicans aren't so sure. America's middle class can be thankful the GOP's tax plan is looking unlikely to pass. And while many thought it was possible Robert Mueller might have Donald Trump served up like a turkey by Thanksgiving, it's not necessarily good news for Trump and those surrounding him with rumours Mueller has a "classic Gambino-style roll-up" in the works to capture all the key players in one fell swoop.

"I think voting 'No' against things for Trump is becoming popular in the Senate, I'm not saying they won't get a tax bill it just won't be this one." President Donald Trump has just wrapped up his extensive tour of Asia with promises of great deals and a death threat from North Korea, so what's really in it for the US? On the domestic front, Republican Senator Ron Johnson has said he won't vote for the GOP's tax plan in it's current form so will we see another protracted battle like the promised repeal of Obamacare? Also, Roy Moore, ageing Zimbabwe dictator Robert Mugabe and the latest on the Russia investigation.

"I think his presidency is over, the question is how much longer he hangs on." Looking at Trump trials and travels in Asia and the 2017 election results, particularly in Virginia. A boon for Democrats but is the "backlash against Trump" being over-hyped? And can Democrats position themselves as more than just the anti-Trump party by the 2018 midterm elections? Meanwhile, Michael Flynn and son are in the sights of the Mueller investigation and some thoughts a year on from Trump's surprise election victory.

"They're going after the little fish, and setting the plate, so they can go after the big fish by saying - here is the evidence against you, what do you have to say?" Former Trump advisors Paul Manafort, Richard Gates and George Papadopoulos have been indicted on charges ranging from money laundering to the dire-sounding "conspiracy against the United States". What is Mueller's strategy and who is likely to be next? Also, the New York terror attack and how Trump's response might have made it more difficult to prosecute.

"You haven't heard anyone in the Republican Party criticising [Bob Corker and Jeff Flake]... They're the people who are saying what other people think." Trump seems to be struggling to find friends, engaging in a running battle of he-said-she-said with Gold Star widow Myeshia Johnson and critics within his party speaking out virtually unopposed. Meanwhile, in spite of the mountain of evidence that Russia interfered with the 2016 election, Russia is reportedly unhappy with the USA as relations reach a low ebb. Also, the Clinton camp's involvement with the Steele Dossier and will Robert Mueller have Donald Trump served up like a turkey before Thanksgiving dinner?

"He has lost the plot entirely, he's only there trying to save his own skin, he is not leading the nation." Donald Trump has been criticised for a slow and indifferent response to the death of four US soldiers in Niger as well as attempting to paint former Presidents Obama and Bush as doing less regarding fallen soldiers, launching yet another war of words with a Gold Star family and the former administrations. George W. Bush has even broken with the tradition of former presidents to criticise Trump in all but name, and Trump seems to be becoming more isolated and unhinged. Plus, Puerto Rico, the latest on Mueller and the Russian probe and after a massive failure on healthcare, what next for the Republicans' tax agenda?

"To save his own skin, to get this Russian thing behind him, he will attack North Korea... No one will have anyone to turn to but him in a situation like that, and he's willing to do that to save himself."​ More of nature's wrath in California and New Orleans, what has the government response looked like? Meanwhile, outgoing Republican Senator for Tennessee Bob Corker has expressed concerns Trump is leading us into World War III and Trump has reportedly asked about the possibility of America's nuclear arsenal tenfold, back to its Cold War peak. Also, the latest on Puerto Rico, ties with Israel and the Russia investigation.