Background Briefing: October 19, 2026
Trump, Without Zelensky, to End Putin’s War on Ukraine
We begin with what appears to be the pathetic lacky Trump taking his marching orders from Putin who suggested in their recent long and lingering birthday call that Trump convene a summit with him, Xi Jinping and Putin, but without Ukraine, to end Russia’s war on Ukraine. Joining us to discuss Zelensky’s options to accept Trump and Putin’s demands to settle the war on Russia’s terms or continue fighting without America’s support is Simon Shuster, a staff writer at The Atlantic. He has reported on armed conflicts and authoritarian regimes for nearly two decades, previously as a correspondent for Time based in New York, Berlin and Moscow. He is the author of The Showman: Inside the Invasion that Shook the World and Made a Leader of Volodymyr Zelensky and his latest articles at The Atlantic are “Trump’s October Surprise” and “Ukraine Finds a New Set of Targets: As Donald Trump intervenes to protect Russia’s oil refineries, Ukraine plays the few cards it has left.”
DHS’s Efforts to Denaturalize Congresswoman Omar and Obama’s Defense of Her
Then we examine DHS’s efforts to denaturalize Congresswoman Ilhan Omar following their raid on her home in Washington DC and discuss President Obama’s statement in her defense with David Schultz, a Professor of Political Science at Hamline University and the University of Minnesota School of Law. He is the author of 30 books and various articles on American politics, ethics, election law, and the media, most recently American Politics in the Age of Ignorance: Why Lawmakers Choose Belief Over Research. His latest book is Generational Politics in the United States From the Silents to Gen Z and Beyond.
If and When Will Republican Senators Stand Up To Trump?
Then finally we explore if and when Republican senators will stand up to Trump and speak with Ira Shapiro, a lawyer, a long-time senior Senate staffer, and a former U.S. trade official. He spent 12 years in the United States Senate as Counsel to the Majority Leader and in other senior positions where he played an important role in implementing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and the Senate Code of Ethics. He is the author of a trilogy of narrative histories about the Senate, starting with The Last Great Senate: Courage and Statesmanship in Times of Crisis, which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, and the co-editor of the new book, just out, Betrayed: America Didn’t Vote for This.