Day: February 22, 2026

We begin with Trump imposing global tariffs of 15% in response to a Supreme Court ruling striking down his “Liberation Day” tariffs in a 6 to 3 ruling that prompted a meltdown from our megalomaniacal manchild who accused the court’s 3 conservatives who rebuked him of being “rinos” and its 3 liberals who joined them of being “radical left lunatics.” Joining us to discuss what the ruling does and does not do is Justin Wolfers, a professor of public policy and economics at the University of Michigan and a visiting professor of economics at the University of Sydney. He is also a research associate with the National Bureau of Economic Research; a non-resident senior fellow with the Brookings Institution, a non-resident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, as well as a research fellow with the Institute for the Study of Labor in Bonn; a research affiliate with the Centre for Economic Policy Research in London; an international research fellow with the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, and a fellow of the CESifo in Munich.

Then we assess whether the arrest of former Prince Andrew might involve a plea bargain which could lead to him naming names including Trump’s to avoid a jail sentence. Joining us is David Cay Johnston, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter and bestselling author of The Making of Donald Trump.  A 13 year veteran of The New York Times, his latest book is The Big Cheat: How Donald Trump Fleeced America and Enriched Himself and His Family. He’s also a professor at The Rochester Institute of Technology and the co-founder of DCReport.org where his latest article we discuss is “The Ex-Prince and the President.”

Then finally, we speak with Alexander Cooley, the former Director of Columbia University’s Harriman Institute for the study of Russia, Eurasia and Eastern Europe and the Claire Tow Professor of Political Science at Barnard College of Columbia University. His books include Great Games, Local Rules: The New Great Power Contest in Central Asia, Dictators Without Borders: Power and Money in Central Asia, and Exit from Hegemony: The Unraveling of the American Global Order. He has an article at Foreign Affairs we discuss, “The Age of Kleptocracy: Geopolitical Power, Private Gain.”