The ransacking of the United States

It’s been a long year.

People involved in this podcast have had the long experience living in authoritarian states one way or another. But what we are witnessing about Trump’s 2nd presidency is something else.

In this episode Peter and I try to make sense of Trump's first three months. What's at risk in the US, and how it's already impacted many abroad. And we talk about what kind of response is needed.

As ever, music and sound production by Tarek.

Useful links

• DOGE.

• DOGE website offers error-filled window into Musk's government overhaul.

• US federal agencies targeted by DOGE.

• National Institutes of Health has fired 1,300 employees.

• How Gutting the EPA's Research Team Could Impact Clean Air and Water Rules.

• The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau terminated the positions of 1,400 of the agency’s 1,700 employees; medical debt and student loans will now be deprioritized.

• 3 More Major Biglaw Firms Are Looking To Bow To Trump.

• Harvard won’t comply with demands from Trump administration.

• U.S. sent 238 migrants to Salvadoran mega-prison; documents indicate most have no apparent criminal records. .

• Wisconsin judge arrested by FBI, charged with obstructing immigrant arrest.

• Three US citizen children, one with cancer, deported to Honduras, lawyers say.

• Litigation Tracker: Legal Challenges to Trump Administration Actions.

• Immigration Policy Tracking Project.

• Trump blasts Fed Chair Powell, saying his ‘termination cannot come fast enough’.

• Why Trump keeps attacking the US central bank.

• Trump pardons Nevada politician who paid for cosmetic surgery with funds to honor a slain officer.

• Indivisible.org.

• ACLU.

• How Trump Gutted America’s $40 Billion Aid Agency in Two Weeks.

• Greenland not a piece of property, says PM after Trump threats.

• Trump’s Threat to Take Over Canada Is a Scandal.

• President Trump’s mindless tariffs will cause economic havoc.

• Trump tariffs prompt slump in shipments to US ports.

• CDC ordered to stop working with WHO immediately, upending expectations of an extended withdrawal.

• HHI Humanitarian Update: Impacts of U.S. Foreign Aid Cuts on Global Crises.

• In tears, USAID staff get '15 minutes to pack up a lifetime's work'.

• 'Trump and Vance were so rude': Ukrainians react to disastrous White House meeting.

• Gazans fear Israel is enacting Donald Trump’s ‘Riviera’ plan.