Washington Week with The Atlantic

Democrats are wrestling with fissures between the moderate senators who brokered the deal to end the government shutdown and the progressive wing of the party, which hoped to hold the line.

President Trump enjoys hosting leaders, projecting power and his central role in world affairs. But there’s a different reality outside the Oval Office, one in which polls are showing him unpopular with the majority of Americans. Join Jeffrey Goldberg, Leigh Ann Caldwell of Puck, David Ignatius of The Washington Post, Mark Leibovich of The Atlantic and Jeff Zeleny of CNN to discuss this and more.

airs Friday, Nov. 7, 2025 at 8PM on PBS (check local listings)Trump’s Diplomatic Talks & Tuesday’s Election Takeaways As President Trump prepares to host two high-profile guests at the White House—Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest allies, and Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, who would make history as the first Syrian leader to visit the Capital since 1946—the nation continues to analyze Tuesday’s election results and what they mean for t...

Trade deals in Asia, a threat to resume nuclear weapons testing and a government shutdown that’s set to become the longest in American history. Join guest moderator Vivian Salama, Paul Beckett of The Atlantic, Jeff Mason of Reuters, Seung Min Kim of The Associated Press and Andrea Mitchell of NBC News to discuss this and more.

President Trump returned from his trip to Asia boasting of trade deals with China and South Korea. But he topped off the visit by vowing to resume nuclear weapons testing, breaking a decades-long moratorium respected by most of the world’s nuclear powers.

airs Friday, Oct. 31, 2025 at 8PM on PBS (check local listings) Trump Returns to Shutdown PressureAfter reaching several agreements with leaders in Asia earlier this week, President Trump has returned to Washington, where lawmakers have failed to make progress on re-opening the government, and federal food benefit and childhood education programs that serve millions of Americans are set to run out of money. As pressure mounts on to re-open the government, both sides are dug in, raising the qu...