WSJ Opinion: Free Expression

Donald Trump has been working at a breakneck speed during his first three weeks in office, prompting alarms from his critics that he is plunging the nation into a constitutional crisis. Many of the administration’s executive actions, including abolishing birthright citizenship, and the initiatives launched by Elon Musk and DOGE, have already faced judicial challenges. So is Donald Trump just testing the limits of his power, or is the criticism of his approach warranted? On this episode of Free Expression, constitutional law professor John Yoo tells Gerry Baker why a more active Congress would prevent Donald Trump from taking such drastic action to get things done, how the Supreme Court will factor into many of these executive orders, and which of those orders might ultimately fail.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With Donald Trump making the elimination of diversity, equality, and inclusion programs in the federal government a high priority, there is no doubt the effort will extend to other aspects of society as well. And there are no institutions that are in need of an overhaul from these policies more than American universities. Will years of cancel culture and the obstruction of alternate views on campuses be coming to an end? On this episode of Free Expression, University of Chicago president Paul Alivisatos tells Gerry Baker about the shift he is seeing towards the Chicago principles of free speech, and the incredible advances being developed in the field of artificial intelligence.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With strong enforcement on immigration, executive orders ending DEI initiatives in the federal government, and confirmations of many members of his cabinet, Donald Trump spent most of his first two weeks in office showing the world he’s everything Joe Biden wasn’t. But what about the politics of what the administration is doing? On this episode of Free Expression, veteran pollster Mark Penn and Gerry Baker discuss the fallout after the pardons issued to the Jan. 6 defendants, what could happen if Donald Trump drifts too far to the right, the role tech CEOs will have over the next four years, and how the world at large will work alongside Donald Trump on foreign policy and tariffs.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, the second Trump administration began with a flurry of executive orders and comments from the President about how he plans to approach Vladimir Putin and the ongoing conflict with Ukraine, threatening possible sanctions on Russia if a deal can’t be reached. So what are the prospects for peace, and what is the future for military aid for Ukraine with a Republican majority in both the House and Senate? On this episode of the Free Expression podcast, investor Bill Browder tells Gerry Baker the desperate lengths Vladimir Putin will go to stay in power and conquer Ukraine, what the mood in Europe is like now that Donald Trump has taken office and has tariffs on his agenda, and how the destruction of NATO's credibility could be Putin’s “ultimate prize” to shake up the world order.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Donald Trump has big plans for the economy. His Treasury Secretary nominee Scott Bessent has set an ambitious triple goal of 3-3-3 - three percent growth; a three percent fiscal deficit and a three million a day increase in US oil production. But as Trump prepares to take office clouds are forming over the economic outlook with market interest rates up sharply on growing fears about lingering inflation and the federal deficit.  On this episode of the Free Expression podcast, economist and former dean of Columbia Business School Glenn Hubbard and Gerry Baker discuss whether Trump can achieve his goals, whether the Fed will be cutting or raising rates this year, and how Trump’s police’s may help or hinder growth and price stability. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Free Expression's final episode of 2024 features some of Wall Street Journal editor at large Gerry Baker's best interviews of the year, including conversations with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., former Trump National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien, Republican Majority Leader Rep. Steve Scalise and Richard Fontaine and Robert Blackwill, foreign policy commentators and co-authors of “Lost Decade: The US Pivot to Asia and the Rise of Chinese Power.”  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join John Podhoretz, Editor of Commentary Magazine and a sharp political analyst, as he unravels the complexities of 2024. He highlights Donald Trump’s surprising comeback and the implosion of Joe Biden’s presidency. Podhoretz draws fascinating parallels to the upheavals of 1968, exploring how issues like crime and inflation could reshape political party dynamics. He also scrutinizes the evolved role of media in this climate and examines how recent Middle Eastern events are influencing American foreign policy. A compelling journey through historical and cultural shifts!

Has the law become the ultimate political weapon to be wielded by Republicans and Democrats? To the surprise of almost no one, Joe Biden issued a pardon to his son Hunter, the scope of which was far more sweeping than most legal experts expected. The move comes after four years in which Democratic prosecutors and Biden's Justice Department have been pursuing Donald Trump through the courts. Now President-Elect Trump has promised a major overhaul of the FBI and the Department of Justice. His choice of Kash Patel to lead the FBI suggests this will be a top priority, but Patel has also unnerved people with his calls for retribution against some of Trump's opponents. On this episode of the Free Expression podcast, conservative attorney Mike Davis tells Gerry Baker why Kash Patel and Pam Bondi are the right people for the respective jobs they’ve been chosen for, what Hunter Biden’s pardon means for the legal future for the entire Biden family, and what kind of reforms will be part of a second Donald Trump administration. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Donald Trump has been quickly filling his cabinet and senior administration positions with a flurry of nominations to his cabinet. The key members of his economics team are still unclear, however. On Tuesday we learned Howard Lutnick will be nominated for Commerce Secretary, taking him out of the contest for Treasury, where the names of Scott Besent, Kevin Warsh, and Marc Rowan continue to circulate. Who will get the top jobs and what will they mean for economic policy in the second Trump term?  On this episode of the Free Expression podcast, Fox Business host and former chairman of the National Economic Council Larry Kudlow discusses with Gerry Baker the Trump economic policy team, and explains why he decided not to pursue being Treasury Secretary himself after meeting with Donald Trump, why extending the Trump tax cuts will be the “first order of business” when the new administration takes over, and why tariffs are the way to fix a broken global trading system.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President - Elect Trump is rapidly rolling out his team for his second administration.  Controversy swirls around some of his picks, most notably his selection of Congressman Matt Gaetz for attorney general and Robert F. Kennedy Jr for health and human services secretary. But he plans some of his biggest changes for the national security apparatus. On this episode of Free Expression, The Wall Street Journal's Editor at Large, Gerry Baker sits down for a conversation with former Secretary of Veterans Affairs under the previous Trump administration, Robert Wilkie. Sec. Wilkie is heading up the Pentagon transition team and tells us about some of the new administration’s radical plans including removing some of the top military officers and overhauling the culture of the Pentagon.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices