S31·E79 June 22, 2026 - Maggie Haberman & Jonathan Swan

Jon Stewart examines Trump’s knack for breaking what wasn’t broken, from giving a crony $1.7 million in taxpayer money to clean the D.C. reflecting pool—only for it to turn from “American Flag Blue” to Mountain Dew green—to launching an aggressive war on Iran meant to re-obliterate its nuclear program, then landing on a gentle-parenting-style deal that lets Iran keep its nukes and a few hundred billion dollars. New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, authors of “Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump,” join Stewart to discuss revelations about the administration, including Trump being absent when his team discussed the Epstein files, the motives behind the tariff rollout and Iran war, and how he controls the terms when reporters reach him by cell phone. They also compare his first term to his second, describing the latter as a story of hubris, gut instinct, and a cabinet’s belief that he is someone of destiny.