Bulwark Takes: Trump Holds North Korea–Style Cabinet Meeting, But with Naps

Date: December 2, 2025
Host(s): Sam Stein, Andrew Egger (with notable clips featuring President Donald Trump and Secretary Pete Hegseth)

Episode Overview

In this episode, Sam Stein and Andrew Egger unpack a surreal day in Washington: Trump’s highly orchestrated, North Korea-style Cabinet meeting—replete with praise, deflection, and even apparent presidential dozing—along with the first Pentagon briefing given only to MAGA-aligned correspondents after mainstream media was effectively barred. The duo navigate the serious concerns about expanding military action in Venezuela, the administration’s attempts at muddying responsibility for a controversial double-tap strike, and the farcical moments that betray the exhausting, bizarre normalcy of this administration.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The North Korea-Style Cabinet Meeting

• Cult-like Praising and Stagecraft

  • Cabinet members heap effusive praise on Trump in a highly orchestrated manner, echoing autocratic pageantry ([02:16]).
  • Noted for both its 'serious' policy pronouncements and its unintentionally comical moments, including what appeared to be President Trump drifting off during monotonous praise sessions.

• Memorable Quote:

  "It's going to be a remarkable performance. People will talk about this for ages."
  —Sam Stein ([02:14])

2. The Caribbean Double-Tap Strike Controversy

• Accountability Fog

  • The episode dives into Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s insistence that he did not order—nor directly authorize—the second, fatal strike on a drug-smuggling boat in the Caribbean (the infamous September 2 “double tap”).
  • Hegseth claims he made the initial call, then left, and the subsequent strike was handled by a subordinate, Admiral Bradley ([04:02]–[05:08]).
  • The hosts scrutinize this "plausible deniability" and the dangerous gray area between what’s legal and what’s a war crime.

• Notable Exchange:

  "We have his back. And the American people are safer because narco terrorists know you can't bring drugs through the water. And eventually on land, if necessary, to the American people, we will eliminate that threat, and we're proud to do it."
  —Pete Hegseth ([04:40])

  • Andrew Egger points out:

    "The narrative he is painting is not necessarily implausible ... but we should not forget, [it is] still taking place in this environment of bizarre, extra legal, extrajudicial attacks on these boats in the first place." ([05:49])

  • Stein notes the critical gap that, per Hegseth, he wasn't informed in real time that the additional strike was carried out:

    "It certainly doesn't look good from the perspective of, hey, we trust that the Secretary of Defense should be looped in on incredibly important strategic matters." ([08:25])

3. March Toward War with Venezuela

• Presidential Escalation – Open Announcement of Strikes

  • Trump bluntly announces intention to expand military strikes onto Venezuelan territory:

    "And we're going to start doing those strikes on land too. ... We know everything about them. We know where they live, we know where the bad ones live. And we're going to start that very soon too."
    —Donald Trump ([10:31])

  • Stein summarizes the moment:

    "No equivocation. We are going to start strikes on land. We're just marching in effect to some sort of low-grade war." ([10:45])

4. MAGA-Only Pentagon Press Briefing

• Media Purge and New Dynamics

  • Hegseth removed mainstream and defense reporters from the Pentagon pool, replacing them with MAGA influencers who agreed to certain loyalty conditions ([12:29]).

  • Egger notes that while question quality was mixed, some isolationist MAGA reporters actually pressed the administration hard on possible military escalation in Venezuela.

  • Notable moment:

    "53% in a recent ... poll said they support the strikes on these drug boats, but 70% said no military operations within Venezuela." ([13:52])
    —Bradley Devlin (Daily Signal), pressing Kingsley Wilson (DOD Press Secretary)

  • Wilson offers a blank check response:

    "The Department of War stands behind the president 100%. And we will execute on the orders that our Commander in Chief gives us, and we're proud to do so." ([14:09])

5. Press Secretary Critique and Comic Relief

• Ineptitude at the Podium
  • Egger and Stein mock Kingsley Wilson's evasive style and mishaps, like mistakenly calling Hegseth "Secretary of Defense" even though the administration rebranded it "Secretary of War" ([15:44]).
  • They fantasize about hosting their own press briefing sketch:

    "I want to do a video where I pretend to be the press secretary and you throw like insane questions at me..."
    —Sam Stein ([15:44])

6. Presidential Napping – A Viral Side Show

• Trump Nods Off

  • Several moments when Trump appears to doze during the “Gold Star for the Boss” testimonial section.

  • Stein relates:

    "I've been there in high holiday services... I do the little head jerk thing. That, to me, is like—" ([17:41])

  • Egger:

    "That is the most relatable he has ever been. ... This is Trump's thing. Like, he gets all his favorite people around and they just butter him up ... but before you know it, he's nodding off, he's gone, man." ([18:04])

  • The hosts also discuss Trump’s all-night social media bender preceding the cabinet nap:

    "Of course the man is going to be tired. I don't begrudge him."
    —Sam Stein ([18:38])

7. Airport Rant – Trump on Dulles

• Unexpected Local Riff

  • Trump calls Dulles Airport “not a good airport ... a terrible airport” and vows to rebuild it, lavishing praise on the architecture but deriding its function ([19:39]).

  • Stein and Egger banter about the DC airport hierarchy—Reagan (DCA) vs. Dulles—injecting relatable DC-region flavor.

    • Stein:

      "I'm not anti Dulles. I'm not even anti the people movers. Honestly, it's kind of enjoyable. Unless they crash, then that's ... not enjoyable." ([21:04])

    • Egger:

      "They could make Dulles the most majestic ... in America; I still would never want to go there. It's just way too fucking far. … I have brand loyalty for Reagan until I die." ([21:04])

Memorable Quotes & Notable Moments

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote/Highlight | |-----------|---------|-----------------| | 02:14 | Sam Stein | "This is like the Michael Jordan flu game of Bulwark Takes." | | 04:40 | Pete Hegseth | "Admiral Bradley made the correct decision to ultimately sink the boat and eliminate the threat ... And the American people are safer because narco terrorists know you can't bring drugs through the water." | | 05:49 | Andrew Egger | "The narrative he is painting is not necessarily implausible ... but we should not forget, [it is] still taking place in this environment of bizarre, extra legal, extrajudicial attacks ..." | | 10:31 | Donald Trump | "We're going to start doing those strikes on land too ... We know where they live, we know where the bad ones live." | | 14:09 | Kingsley Wilson | "The Department of War stands behind the president 100%. And we will execute on the orders that our Commander in Chief gives us..." | | 17:41 | Sam Stein | "I've been there in like, you know, high holiday services ... and I do the little head jerk thing..." | | 18:04 | Andrew Egger | "It's very relatable ... he gets all his favorite people around ... but before you know it, he's nodding off, he's gone, man." | | 19:39 | Donald Trump | "We're also going to rebuild Dulles Airport because it's not a good airport ... It's a terrible airport." | | 21:04 | Andrew Egger | "I have brand loyalty for Reagan until I die. All you guys can do what you want with Dulles." |

Timestamps for Major Segments

• [02:16] — Cabinet meeting setup; praise for Trump
• [04:02] — Hegseth's explanation on the Caribbean strike
• [10:31] — Trump’s comments about strikes on Venezuelan land
• [12:29] — MAGA-only Pentagon briefing explained
• [13:52]–[14:09] — Tensions about Venezuela escalation and public opinion polls
• [17:14]–[18:04] — Trump’s nodding off during Cabinet meeting
• [19:39] — Trump’s rant on Dulles Airport

Tone and Speaker Dynamics

• Dry wit and campaign war-weariness infuse the dialogue, with both Stein and Egger balancing deep concern with gallows humor and knowing asides.
• The language is informal, irreverent, and conversational, while still sharply focused on the disturbing trends in government accountability and democratic norms.

Summary Takeaway

This episode peels back the layers of both absurdity and seriousness surrounding Trump’s third-term administration: the dangerous march toward a low-grade war with Venezuela under a veneer of tough talk and cultish ceremony; the deliberate obscuring of military accountability; the transformation of Pentagon press access to a loyalty test; and, through it all, the surreal moments of human frailty and mundane concern (presidential napping, airport gripes) that co-exist with geopolitically grim developments. Stein and Egger keep the focus on both the “forest” and the “trees,” never letting dark humor detract from the alarming substance of the day’s news.