136 Comments
User's avatar
JimmyAnderson's avatar

"If citizens endorse the idea that people named by authorities as "criminals" or "terrorists" have no right to due process, then they are accepting that they themselves have no right to due process. It is due process, and due process alone, that allows you to demonstrate that you are a citizen. Without it, the masked men in the black vans can simply claim that you are a foreign terrorist and disappear you." (Timothy Snyder)

Wake up America !!

Expand full comment
Turgut Tuten's avatar

Due process is also required wrt universities. Like fentanyl is made part of the justification of Canada-Mexico revenge via tariffs, supposed anti-semitism is used as a tool to throw "elite" universities as lunch to the MAGA mob, a group that is the champion of real anti-semitism and other bigotries.

Expand full comment
Michael Mundorff's avatar

Masked men trying to abduct people off the streets into unmarked vehicles pretty much meets my definition for “terrorist”.

Expand full comment
Hugh Robertson's avatar

Most people don't seem to understand the Constitution and what it says. In that document it says that all PEOPLE in this land are endowed with certain inalienalble rights. ALL people. Apparently the Constitution has been repealed.

Expand full comment
Kathryn Wallenstein's avatar

yup, yuCK; gOTta BE SToooooPid : iT’s VeRRrrY FaSCi0NabLe

Expand full comment
James Harold McClure's avatar

The Europeans have no idea what Trump wants. Which is not surprising since Trump has no idea what he is doing.

Expand full comment
Jonathan Morse's avatar

O contraire! Tfump knows EXACTLY what he’s doing. He’s dismantling the govt so that he can install a police state.

Expand full comment
Marcia Linder's avatar

I agree . He himself knows only chaos; however his 2025 guys understand the principal and are winning right now, in the takeover. How do we stand up to them?

Expand full comment
Marliss Desens's avatar

Trump destroying the economy is supposed to keep us from seeing what Stephen Miller is doing to destroy democracy.

Expand full comment
Brad Kay.Goodman's avatar

Stephen Miller is a slug, a fascist, and an unrelenting toad! Who should be condemned for the terrible things that he’s been doing to our country.

Expand full comment
Phil Johnson's avatar

To what end? The man is money-hungry and useless as anything else than a snatcher of opportunity to get one-up on everyone else for his own selfish ends, IMHO.

Who is going to bell the cat, eh? Who is going to sneak up behind him and drop the bell cord over his head? The USSCt?

Expand full comment
Mike Foster's avatar
User was temporarily suspended for this comment. Show
Expand full comment
Phil Johnson's avatar

Now, now. That might get you in trouble with the Trumpsnoops out there monitoring all these messages. Be careful - - a shame I have to say that, but there we are...

Expand full comment
Maryellen Simcoe's avatar

Trump is not that organized or that smart. He’s bad enough without ascribing more evil intentions

Expand full comment
Marlo's avatar

“Malignant Stupidity”

~ Mrs. Paul Krugman

Expand full comment
Lenny Goldberg's avatar

"Idiocracy"--Mike Judge

Expand full comment
Gianetta Murray's avatar

I believe he said it was Mrs. Krugman. ;)

Expand full comment
Stephen Schiff's avatar

As someone who reads the Süddeutsche Zeitung on a daily basis I must disagree. Europe's problem is in finding unanimity in their response. I hope the optimists among them quickly come to their senses.

Expand full comment
Phil Johnson's avatar

Yes, something to think about. But ... how will we find out?

I am surprised Timothy Snyder has not weighed in. Maybe he is not paying attention to what the substacks are saying...

Expand full comment
Orin Hollander's avatar

Is it possible that the chaos and uncertainty is the point? If, as you correctly point out, economies become paralyzed by these gyration then ask who benefits from that.

Every arrow of Trump's behavior points to one person, Vladimir Putin.

Even China would not want to see such paralysis. The CCP would be in serious jeopardy if they cannot grow the economy.

Only Putin and Third World Russia would stand to gain from international economic and political chaos.

Expand full comment
Chris's avatar

It's almost certainly the point.

"Fun" fact; back when the shit hit the fan in 2008, there were reports that the Russians had approached the Chinese to try and convince them to coordinate attacks against the U.S. economy to make the financial crisis even worse, hopefully break the economy beyond repair. The Chinese refused. They're less sane and predictable now than they were then, but I think the "Russia = Chaotic Evil, China = Lawful Evil" principle still holds, for now.

It goes back to the kind of societies they run. China still thinks it can continue growing a healthy and prosperous economy, at least by their own lights, and ride that to the top of the existing world order. (I don't know if they're right, but their chances aren't bad). Russia, on the other hand, is not only a corrupt or autocratic society but a hideously *dysfunctional* one, that probably peaked in the twentieth century, and has no real prospects of remaking itself into a more healthy and functioning society. (Mostly because the people in charge don't really want to - they're happy being the kings of their little scrap piles, and they're not interested in making the kind of changes that would make their kingdoms amount to any more than that). So they have no prospects of overtaking the other great powers, the way China thinks it can. The only way they can be at the top of the world order is if everyone else is brought crashing down to their level. So that's what they're going for. They especially want the West, and the United States above all, to undergo their own versions of the post-Soviet collapse in the nineties, where standards of living cratered, everything worth anything was looted, and the country stopped being a factor in international relations for at least a decade.

(If they get their wish with regards to the West, the Chinese had better watch their backs, because they're absolutely next).

Expand full comment
Jonathan Chen's avatar

Well considered comment, apart from the label of evil. There are differing levels of maleficence and beneficence amongst all governments; some of it is culturally grounded and I don't pretend to understand what other cultures necessarily value. With an egalitarian, democratic, equity-based lens, potentially you are right!

Expand full comment
Craig Butcher's avatar

Due process is what the tyrant absolutely must destroy to survive

Expand full comment
Gemma Zecchini's avatar

America's economic prosperity depends on the preservation of its democracy and rule of law. As a Canadian, I cannot continue to invest in American equities if there is no way to enforce contracts, laws and commitments. But Canadians must thank America in advance for warning us off the authoritarian impulse (hopefully).

Expand full comment
Scott M. Bowles's avatar

As a “businessman,” trump never signed a contract that he intended to honor. The rule of law, like the Ten Commandments and other dictates, is for suckers only.

Expand full comment
Scott M. Bowles's avatar

I don't think most Canadians are as habitually misinformed as Americans are.

Expand full comment
Larry McGinnity's avatar

As much as we want Kilmar Abrego Garcia freed, don't forget there are 260+ others jailed in El Salvador without due process. The abduction of people kidnapped off the street and imprisoned in a foreign land means the end of rights guaranteed since 1215 (i.e., the Magna Carta) and the 4th, 8th and 14th Amendments in our Constitution. The writ of habeas corpus, which allows individuals to challenge the legality of their detention, has a long history tied to the Magna Carta.

The 4th Amendment protects against unreasonable searches and seizures, while the 14th Due Process Clause ensures a person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.

As if those violations of the Constitution were not enough, the cruel and unusual punishment clause of the 8th Amendment prohibits such action inflicted by the government This amendment aims to protect individuals like Kilmar Garcia--and all other residents of the US, to be protected by the Constitution, from punishment that is excessively harsh or inhumane.

Trump has destroyed the Constitution and the Magna Carta in 84 days, with the help of cowed, cowardlyRepublicans in Congress and the SCOTUS. Shades of Nazi Germany 1930s!

Expand full comment
Turgut Tuten's avatar

Nazi Germany had it's Riefenstahls and Goebbels, but time was not ripe yet for a Kristie Noem with a social media pose in front of incarcerated people (political pornography!)

Expand full comment
Carol Wasteneys's avatar

The Democrats have done absolutely nothing that I'm aware of. It's not just the gop.

Expand full comment
Larry McGinnity's avatar

Perhaps you've missed my little list of [not all Dems] fighters, but you are not alone:

The story behind the story, Sat. was a tremendous success in any manner of determination or description: size, geography, enthusiasm, sign cleverness, age range, etc. How did it happen? How did it come about? Of course, there were Indivisible and "Hands Off" doing great work, but there was more. [Here is a quote from the Guardian about the"Hands Off" rallies around the world. "Protesters rallied in Frankfurt, Berlin, Paris, London and Lisbon, all in a united show of opposition against Trump’s policies." ]Much more. Who were some of the people that have been working, fighting, in one manner or another, to bring about this national day of protest--and all the days to follow--needed to win this war against Trump/Musk et al and save our democracy. With the millions of heroic protestors out with signs (or just standing in solidarity) , this April 5th (actually any and all days of protesting Trump/Musk, Tesla or any other issue), here's an updated partial list of those fighting back, foreign and domestic, every day [as of 4-6--25] I'm also adding courageous law firms who haven't caved. Besides upstanding lawyers (e.g. Brenna Trout Frey, and law-abiding honorable (present and former) judges (including James Boasberg, chief judge, D.C. District Ct.), here's a growing list of Profiles in Courage men, women, and advocacy groups who refuse to be cowed or kneel to the force of Trump/Musk/MAGA/Fox "News" intimidation: I'll begin (again) with Missouri's own indomitable Jess[ica] (à la John Lewis's "get in good trouble") Piper/"The View from Rural Missouri," then, in no particular order, Francie Garber Pepper (1940-2025), Heather Cox Richardson/"Letters from an American," Joyce Vance/"Civil Discourse," Bernie Sanders, AOC, Rep. Maxwell Frost,, Gov. Tim walz, Sarah Inama, Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, Rev. William J. Barber II, Jasmine Crockett, Adam Smith, Jamie Raskin, Ken Harbaugh. Ruth Ben-Ghait, Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O'Donnell, Chris Hayes, Ali Velshi, Prof. Lawrence Tribe, Stephanie Miller, Gov. Janet Mills, Gov. Beshear, Gov. JB.Pritzker, Gov. Kathy Hochul, Amb. Susan Rice, Mayor Michelle Wu, Jim Acosta, Jen Rubin And the Contrarians, Dan Rather, Robert Reich, Jay Kou, Steve Brodner, Rachel Cohen, Brian TylerCohen, Jessica Craven, Scott Dworkin, Brett Meiselas, Joy Reid, D. Earl Stevens, Melvin Gurai, Dan Pfeiffer, Anand Giridharadas Anne Applebaum, Lucian Truscott IV, Chris Murphy, Cory Booker, Jeff Merkley, Michael Bennett, Elizabeth Warren, Tammy Duckworth, Sheldon Whitehouse, Adam Schiff, Jon Ossoff, Elyssa Slotkin, Tristan Snell, Delia Ramirez,Tim Snyder, Robert B. Hubbell, Ben Meiseilas, Rich wilson, Ron Filpkowski, Jeremy Seahill, Thom Hartmann, Jonathan Bernstein, Simon Rosenberg, Marianne Williamson, Mark Fiore, Jamie Raskin, Rebecca Solnit, Steve Schmidt, Josh Marshall, Paul Krugman, Andy Borowitz, Jeff Danziger, Ann Telnaes,­͏ ­͏Will Bunch, Jim Hightower, Dan Pfeifer, Dean Obeidallah, Michel Zeitgeist, Liz Cheney, Adam Kimzinger, Cassidy Hutchinson, John Cusack, Judd Legum (Popular Information) Qasim Rachid, Sue Nethercott, Mary L. trump, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, Jonathan V Last, Sarah Longwell, Andrew Egger, Aaron Parnas, Rep.Don Beyer, Greg Olear American Bar Association, 23 blue state Attorney Generals, Indivisible. FiftyFifty one, MoveOn, DemCast, Blue Missouri, Third Act, Democracy Forward, Public Citizen, Democracy Index, Protect Democracy, DemocracyLabs, Fred Wellman/On Democracy, Hands Off, Marc Elias/Democracy Docket, Public Citizen, League of Women Voters, Lambda Legal, CREW, CODEPINK, ACLU, The 19th/Errin Haines, Working Families Party, American Oversight, Every State Blue, Run for Something, Jessica Valenti/Abortion Everyday, The American Manifesto, The Dr. Martin Luther King Center, Bulwark Media, Bill Kristol/all NeverTrumpers, The States Project, Field Team 6, The Union,AICN ( last 4 all from North Carolina) The Lincoln Project,Blue Wave, Blue Future, The Civic Center, Olivia Troy,The Politics Girl, The Dean's List/ Dean Obeidallah, And, as Joyce Vance says, "We're in this together"--or via Jess Piper, from rural Missouri: "Solidarity." FIGHT BACK! WE ARE NOT ALONE! (Latest addition h/t , Robert B. Hubbell: Law firms, see below). All suggestions are welcome. * Perkins Coie and Covington & Burling have resisted Trump, fighting back with the help of other courageous firms like Williams & Connolly. Per The ABA Journal, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, representing fired inspectors general. (Law.com) Hogan Lovells, seeking to block executive orders to end federal funding for gender-affirming medical care. (Law.com) Jenner & Block, also seeking to block the orders on cuts to medical research funding. (Law.com, Reuters) Ropes & Gray, also seeking to block cuts to medical research funding. (Law.com) Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, representing the Amica Center for Immigrants Rights and others seeking to block funding cuts for immigrant legal services. (Law.com) Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer. Wilmer Hale Keker, Van Nest & Peters Southern Poverty Law Center 500 law firms joined a court brief supporting Perkins Coie lawsuit against the Trump Administration. Perhaps I should add our nation's motto--and on our Great Seal--the phrase "E pluribus unum" (out of many, One ). Ii's 13 letters makes its use symbolic of the original 13 Colonies which rebelled against the rule of the Kingdom of George III . . .And now we protest together against King Donald. As my rural MO. indomitable Jess Piper always says: "Solidarity."

Expand full comment
Carol Wasteneys's avatar

That's all well and good, but none of it has anything to do with the Democratic party.

Expand full comment
John's avatar

The man just named dozens of democrats. Question to you...what are YOU doing? We all need to get out and make good trouble for these bastards. So get off line, grab a sign, get out to the next demonstration and yell. We need to be heard too. I mean we, as in WE THE PEOPLE.

Expand full comment
janet sanders's avatar

Who is enforcing the Constitution? Who?

Expand full comment
Ward Martin's avatar

"Last live video" sounds a bit apocalyptic. Perhaps "most recent video" would serve well instead. The other possibility, "most recent live video" is also a tad morbid and wholly nonsensical by implying the existence of not-live videos.

Expand full comment
EchidnaMedia's avatar

Ahem: "Paul Krugman and Jonathan V. Last's live video"

Expand full comment
Julie Burchstead's avatar

Homophones. The delight of pun lovers. Ward Martin describes himself as a curmudgeon. A little word delight might be out of his reach.

Expand full comment
PipandJoe's avatar

"Latest live video" was what I think was intended.

Expand full comment
Julie Burchstead's avatar

When we begin to add "what we think he intended" as commentary, we begin to scarily sound like another group of folks....

Expand full comment
Ann P's avatar

Recorded videos are not “live”. A live video means you are watching it as it is happening. A video that is recorded so you can watch later that day, or the next day, next week, whenever, is not a “live video”. Therefore, “not-live videos” exist.

Expand full comment
Terry's avatar

"Trump is both pathogen and symptom ..."

Exactly.

Expand full comment
andré's avatar

So MAGA has been infected by the TRUMP VIRUS.

So what is the antidote ?

Expand full comment
Terry's avatar

The ballot box.

Expand full comment
Jane D's avatar

he is mutation and its final stages. There is no stage five.

Expand full comment
Joseph McPhillips's avatar

Happy Tax Evasion Day! DOGE is stealing your tax revenue and giving it to rich cheaters.

The “tax gap” is likely to surge due to reduced IRS resources, making tax evasion more likely. This is attributed to DOGE-directed layoffs, which have crippled the agency’s ability to conduct audits and discover fraud. The result is a stealth giveaway to the wealthy, rewarding bad behavior and undermining federal revenue. https://open.substack.com/pub/paulkrugman/p/happy-tax-evasion-day?r=aexlz&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

On another happy MAGA note...Trump: "Home-growns are next". Foreign gulags for US citizens while Trump's lackeys JD Rubio etc laugh at Trump telling Bukele that Trump wants to send American citizens to Bukele's gulag. BTW Rubio's DOS has revoked the visas of Nobel Peace Prize winner & former President of Costa Rica Oscar Arias as well as Costa Rican parliamentarians for daring to establish trade relations with China.

Expand full comment
AnaMaria🌸's avatar

Thank you for this information. “Complete dictatorial power… there is no limiting power”!

Can we even consider having the 2026 Election?! A Dictator/ Autocrat does Not have 🧨 Elections!!!Wake-up America. 🎉 🧨 Maybe start studying what Dictators do around the World!!

‘The never in America 🇺🇸’ theme …and then put our heads in the sand ideology IS no longer viable, and never should have been. Our laziness IS causing this country’s ‘demise’. We handed our lives to Leaders who we thought would guard our country, would fight for our rights, its future and our Democracy. Few, very few have/are willing to take responsibility and Lead! It is up to us NOW!

Protest! Go to Town Halls,

Call your representatives, inundate the phone lines to Congress, and the White House! Let your Voice be Heard!

Expand full comment
Marlo's avatar

And DOGE fired the doctor that saved President Trump’s life when he had Covid and was rushed to the hospital. Their way of showing their “appreciation.”

Expand full comment
Jeffrey Frankel's avatar

Somebody needs to tell Trump that the people who choose the Peace prize are Norwegians, and Norwegians are Europeans and hate the Russians. If Trump gets Russians out of Ukraine then he may get the prize; if he tells Netanyahu no more arms as well then he will get the prize.

Expand full comment
John H's avatar

regarding the last few minutes of the conversation.

Didn't Trump already, succinctly, signal democracy's imminent demise by telling

his followers in the later Trump gatherings, to paraphrase: "Look, I only want(need) your vote, ONE more time... after that there's no more need for voting"

Expand full comment
Jenna's avatar

Of course he did,but many weren’t listening and some made excuses. We are a nation of lazy thinkers.

Expand full comment
Kenneth Almquist's avatar

I think that what he was saying was that he expected to win the 2024 election and then not run again, so his supporters would only have to vote for him once more. That doesn’t make him a dictator, just somebody who has no loyalty to the Republican Party and doesn’t care if the destruction he causes makes the Republican Party a minority party for a generation. Of course, that was just what he was said on that particular day; he’s said contradictory things on other days.

Expand full comment
Craig Butcher's avatar

Why do you keep repeating that this victim was mistakenly sent to the gulag? The particular individual may or may not have been picked by “mistake” but the intent was always to escalate to the point of yes, this can happen to anyone.

Expand full comment
Alcina Horstman's avatar

Because it's so egregious, with so many outrageous elements, it's a good example to try to get the point accross.

Expand full comment
Craig Butcher's avatar

The only difficulty is this attribution implies that there might have been some intentional limit on what the regime intends. But it doesn’t intend this to be about “immigrants”. The actual goal is to extend it to us.

Expand full comment
Jeffrey Frankel's avatar

What I dont understand is why cannot the police (I know the FBI wont do it), maybe State Police, arrest the ICE agents who do this. Then ask them who ordered it, who signed the orders - probably Marco Rubio - and then arrest him for kidnapping people without a trial. Arrest the man who signed the orders and get them all into court. I know they cant take Trump to court but if the people who do the work on the streets go to court, are found guilty and go to prison, well that will make other ICE agents think twice before following these orders.

Expand full comment
Craig Butcher's avatar

Who do you think the police are? The predominant occupations at MAGA rallies are not librarians and civil rights attorneys.

Expand full comment
Jeffrey Frankel's avatar

I am not sure all police are supporters of Trump. Those protecting the Capitol building in 2020 clearly supported the idea of law and the need for the building and the people in it to be protected. I think there are many policemen around the country who have a very strong view about upholding the law.

Expand full comment
Craig Butcher's avatar

Yes of course you are right. Interesting study of what personalities get recruited to police work. New Zealand recruiting appeals emphasize service and caring for others, —rescuing injured people, responding to disasters, snd such. American outreach emphasizes strength, bravado, power, cool weapons and body armor. Guess what personality trait research shows about police in each country.

Expand full comment
Jeffrey Frankel's avatar

I cant guess, although I would guess that Washington DC police who protect the Capitol are different from those in Louisiana or Texas. Give me the reference for whoever did the research.

Expand full comment
Sue Connaughton's avatar

After January 6, how could anyone be confused about who Trump is and the lengths he would go to?

Either trump voters who wanted lower prices on “the groceries” were willfully ignorant or they were actually all in on trump’s authoritarian playbook.

Expand full comment
DL's avatar

Maybe the question isn't whether this is malignant policymaking or whether there's "a plan" or whether instead there's "nothing there." Rather, isn't it possible there is a plan, but it's not about policy at all: It's about grift and favors that states with higher tariffs and affected businesses in the US can shower on the Trump family businesses? Follow the money/bribes--and see Anne Applebaum's article "Kleptocracy, Inc." in the current Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/04/trump-kleptocracy-autocracy-inc/682281/

Expand full comment
Jenna's avatar

Yes, I too think Trump’s plan is all about money, his version of respect and revenge, but Project 2025 is a public, extensive plan that Trump will take use of to meet his personal pathological needs.

If you haven’t read Project 2025, please do.

Expand full comment
Daan Diederiks's avatar

The news for me in this excellent conversation is the hidden feeling of desperation in the voices of Krugman and his host. It is indeed a terrifying time to live.

Keep up, be strong: Fear is the mindkiller.

Expand full comment
Rosa Glenn Reilly's avatar

I love Paul's statement about the failure of the elites!! yes, we must answer that question. Maybe a show focused on that??

Expand full comment
Nell Painter's avatar

As in 2016, when they couldn’t focus on racial resentment, this time they’re trivializing the xenophobia in anti-DEI and anti-“woke.” It’s easier to talk about economics than bigotry.

Expand full comment
Marcia Linder's avatar

I appreciate the communication by two thinkers. Where concerned about our country and are not putting blinders over our eyes. I like the approach of the interview process instead of the discussion process.

Expand full comment