Bulwark Takes: "We Suffer Through Trump’s Ritual Humiliation of His Cabinet"

Date: August 27, 2025
Hosts: Tim Miller (A), Sam Stein (B)

Overview

In this episode, Tim Miller and Sam Stein dive into Donald Trump's extraordinary three-hour-plus live cabinet meeting—described as equal parts trial balloon for authoritarian power, self-adulation session, and public spectacle. Through curated clips, Tim and Sam react to bizarre statements, ritualistic cabinet loyalist performances, Trump's continuing strongman "soft launch," policy oddities, and moments that are both hilarious and deeply alarming. The episode is rich with side commentary, memorable quotes, and an analysis that mixes sharp critique with comedic exasperation.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Stamina and Spectacle of Trump’s Cabinet Meeting

• Tim acknowledges Trump's surprising energy, despite his age, chaotic schedule, and reported unhealthy habits.
  • “When does this dude fucking sleep? …He does an hour of makeup a day at least, you know, to put the orange face on. He did three press conferences yesterday. By all accounts. He's on the phone a lot, people are calling him.” (A; 01:12)
• Sam agrees, noting Trump’s stamina in the face of a notoriously poor diet.
  • "He's got like the world's worst diet. He's eating McDonald's and shit. Like he should be petering out." (B; 02:04)

2. The "Dictator" Soft Launch

• Hosts express concern over Trump repeatedly flirting with the “dictator” label—a joke, trial balloon, or ominous threat?
  • Clip [03:30]: Trump claims, “So the line is that I'm a dictator, but I stop crime. ... I'm not a dictator. I just had to stop crime.” (C)
• Sam likens Trump’s approach to “Ron Burgundy” antics: pretending reluctance before doing exactly what he claims not to want.
  • "He just thinks people are yearning for a dictator… it's like Ron Burgundy, you know, whipping out the jazz flute..." (B; 03:42)
• Hosts point to a pattern: Trump floats extreme ideas, then often acts on them (e.g., Muslim ban).
  • Tim: "Several times there have been things that he was floated, really extreme things, that then came to fruition..." (A; 05:02)
• The lack of healthy opposition is concerning.
  • Tim: “There’s no one in the whole ecosystem that's like, you know what? Actually this is bad. We shouldn't have a dictator. We shouldn't joke about it. And I think that ... creates an environment where people start to acculturize themselves to it.” (A; 06:20)
• Another alarming Trump quote:
  • Clip [07:45]: “Not that I don't have the right to do anything I want to do. I'm the President of the United States. If I think our country is in danger... I can do it.” (C)
  • Sam: "It's very Nixonian... that one actually struck me as the most alarming... it was the most revealing of his mindset about how he doesn't think there actually are or should be checks on his power.” (B; 08:12)

3. The Ritual Humiliation: Cabinet Praise Sessions

• Tim and Sam deconstruct the routine where Cabinet members effusively praise Trump on camera.
  • Treasury Secretary Besant: “Our country has never been so secure, thanks to you…You're restoring confidence in government...it's an honor to do this under your leadership.” (E; 11:08)
  • Tim describes the vicarious embarrassment this induces, comparing it to children’s sporting events.
    • "He’s like, he’s praising a special needs child and, like, telling them how good they’re doing... but this guy’s the President." (A; 12:10)
  • Sam: "It might be a B, but it's also... it’s humiliating. I mean like, if you had a shred of dignity... it shows how like, I... I’m not built—yeah, you’re right. I don’t. Again, Donald Trump is very different than me." (13:00)
• Sam’s pick: The Nobel Prize fixation.
  • A Cabinet member: “I wish that [the Nobel] Committee finally gets its act together and realizes that you are the single finest candidate…to receive that reward...” (F; 14:09)
  • Sam: “Part of me wants to just call up the Norwegians who handle this thing and be like, just do it. Just do it so we can just end this shit." (B; 15:05)

4. Trump on Russia, Ukraine, and International Affairs

• Trump name-drops Putin in bragging about Operation Warp Speed.
  • “Everybody, including Putin, said that Operation Warp Speed, what you did with that, nobody can believe it.” (C; 16:06)
  • Sam notes the oddity: “Do you think Putin brought it up in Anchorage? Is that what happened?...Why did he mention that? It’s so random.” (B; 17:10)
• Trump repeatedly frames the Ukraine war as if Zelensky is culpable or shares blame.
  • “You don't go into a war that's 15 times your size. Now, I have to also see, because not everybody, you know, Zelensky is not exactly innocent either.” (C; 19:26)
  • Tim: "Trump always sides with the predator." (A; 20:18)
  • Sam: “But he just can’t get over the fact that he just doesn’t like Zelensky. I don’t, I don’t understand it. Why does he think he started the war?” (B; 19:51)

5. The “Nutlick” Clip of the Day: Intel and “Capitalism”

• Cabinet appointee touts extracting equity from Intel in exchange for subsidies, calling it “capitalism.”
  • “...it was like less than five minutes of conversation and intel agreed to give us 10% of their company, which of course was worth $11 billion...This is capitalism.” (G; 22:00)
  • Sam: “We took over a stake of a company...I don’t know if he thought this one through. We took over a stake of a company...Of capitalism.” (B; 22:45)
  • Tim: “This is capitalism, says Nutrich.” (A; 24:10)
  • Hosts note the irony: past conservative orthodoxy would have rejected such government intervention as socialism.

6. Windmills and the Cabinet’s Nantucket Problems

• Trump declares: “We don’t allow windmills. We’re not allowing any windmills to go up.” (C; 24:27)
• Bobby Kennedy, as HHS Secretary, rants on wind power’s alleged environmental harms and impacts on marine life.
  • “There are right now 11 wind farms planned…These towers are twice the size of the Washington Monument…One blade blew up on Nantucket last summer…So it’s dangerous to swim and to close the beaches...” (D; 25:02)
  • Sam: “He [Kennedy] was an environmentalist in his past life...but he's always been pretty anti-windmill. ...He had a big riff about radioactive shrimp during this press conference.” (B; 26:09)
  • Tim and Sam laugh about Kennedy’s past (alleged) decapitation of a whale and see these obsessions as “rich guy shit”—powerful people upset about windmills ruining elite landscapes.

7. Autism, Vaccines, and RFK

• Trump closes with ominous conspiratorial tones on autism rates.
  • “The autism is such a tremendous horror show what's happening in our country. There’s something wrong when you see the kind of numbers that you have today versus 20 years ago…” (C; 28:51)
  • Tim: "Trump has been kind of an autism conspiracy vaccine curious for a while…" (A; 29:10)
  • Sam: “Trump’s totally bought in…it's pretty profoundly scary to think about what's going to happen in September when they make this recommendation…boy, like, I shudder to think about what's going to happen with the anti vax movement.” (B; 29:53)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)

• "When does this dude fucking sleep?... I've got some less than 80 year olds in my life that start to kind of doze off a little bit by hour... whatever. Three." — Tim Miller (A; 01:12 / 02:29)
• “He just thinks people are yearning for a dictator and, you know, he doesn't want to be it. But if they ask, it's like Ron Burgundy...” — Sam Stein (B; 03:42)
• “Several times there have been things that he was floated, really extreme things, that then came to fruition... so that's alarming.” — Tim Miller (A; 05:02)
• "Not that I don't have the right to do anything I want to do. I'm the President of the United States." — Donald Trump (Clip C; 07:45)
• “Your return to the White House marked the return of the American worker. Thank you for reclaiming Labor Day for the American people.” — Sec. Scott Besant (E; 11:08)
• “Part of me wants to just call up the Norwegians who handle this thing and be like, just do it [give Trump the Nobel] so we can just end this shit.” — Sam Stein (B; 15:05)
• “Everybody, including Putin, said that Operation Warp Speed, what you did with that, nobody can believe it.” — Donald Trump (C; 16:06)
• “He just can’t get over the fact that he just doesn’t like Zelensky. I don’t, I don’t understand it.” — Sam Stein (B; 19:51)
• “Trump always sides with the predator in Me Too allegations. You could imagine him saying this...Zelensky falsely accused Putin.” — Tim Miller (A; 20:18) / Sam Stein (B; 20:39)
• “It’s not socialism. This is capitalism.” — Cabinet member (G; 22:00)
• “Dictator, a fiat rule that there’ll be no more windmills. We’ll see how that gets enforced.” — Tim Miller (A; 24:32)
• “Didn't Bobby decapitate a whale?” — Tim Miller (A; 26:55)
• “This is about. Here's what this is. This is rich guy shit. ...I do not want to have to look at the windmills.” — Tim Miller (A; 27:56/28:16)
• “The autism is such a tremendous horror show what's happening in our country.” — Donald Trump (C; 28:51)
• “Trump’s totally bought in. Like, totally bought in. And it’s pretty profoundly scary to think about what's going to happen in September when they make this recommendation...” — Sam Stein (B; 29:53)

Key Segments & Timestamps

• Trump’s stamina: 00:00–02:16
• Dictator soft launch: 03:30–09:49
• Cabinet praise ritual: 10:16–15:39
• Russia/Ukraine commentary: 15:47–21:52
• Nutlick/Intel/capitalism hypocrisy: 22:00–24:10
• Windmills and RFK: 24:21–28:40
• Autism/vaccines/RFK: 28:44–30:48

Tone & Language

The conversation is irreverent, exasperated, and often deeply sarcastic—mixing alarm with gallows humor and mockery, while maintaining a sharp eye on the dangers of Trump’s rhetoric, the performative sycophancy of his cabinet, and the policy and cultural consequences. The hosts bring a potent blend of informed analysis and lived-in Beltway perspective.

Conclusion

If you missed Trump's cabinet marathon, this episode delivers every bizarre, cringe-inducing, and frightening moment, filtered through The Bulwark team’s skeptical, deadpan lens. Whether critiquing authoritarian “soft launches,” breaking down performative boot-licking, or dissecting the latest anti-vax conspiracy signals, Miller and Stein combine sharp political insights with a seasoned sense for Washington absurdity.