Podcast Summary: To The Contrary with Charlie Sykes

Episode: 2025 in Review: Susan Glasser

Date: December 27, 2025
Host: Charlie Sykes
Guest: Susan Glasser (The New Yorker)

Overview

This episode launches a series of 2025 year-in-review conversations, focusing on the state of American democracy, its institutions, and civil society during the first year of Donald Trump’s second administration. Charlie Sykes and Susan Glasser reflect on how 2025 differed from Trump’s first term and previous years, analyze the breakdown of long-standing norms and governmental guardrails, and discuss both the shocks and the (few) glimmers of hope encountered by the American public amid political upheaval.

Major Themes and Structure

• Comparing 2025 to 2017: How Trump's second administration has fundamentally changed the political landscape
• Institutional Breakdown: The cascade of capitulations and erosion of rule-of-law
• Unchecked Executive Power: How Trump consolidated authority and overrode guardrails
• Foreign Policy Shifts: America’s realignment on the world stage
• Domestic Policy and Civil Liberties: Escalation of internal crackdowns and militarization
• Immigration Backlash: Political consequences of harsh mass-deportation policies
• Signs of Resistance and Hope: Green shoots amid institutional failure
• Looking Ahead: Lessons learned and renewed commitments to democracy

Key Discussion Points, Insights & Moments

1. Comparing 2025 to Trump's First Term (02:46–06:03)

• Difference in the Political Landscape:
  Susan Glasser underscores that people "forgetten that this is not year one of the Trump era... but, you know, essentially year 10" ([03:25] C).
  • 2017: Trump faced resistance from the Republican establishment and hadn’t consolidated total power over the party.
  • 2025: The Republican Party has fully accepted Trump’s leadership; institutional functioning has significantly deteriorated.
  • **Quote:**

    "The big story of Trump’s first term—especially the beginning—was the unfinished business of fully taking over and consolidating his power over the Republican Party... In 2025, Republicans have long since fully rolled over for Donald Trump."
    — Susan Glasser ([04:17] C)

2. From Shock and Awe to Anger and Disbelief (06:03–07:26)

• Arc of the Year:
  The year began with "shock and awe," characterized by rapid, sweeping executive activity, but closed amid widespread "anger and disbelief" at the lasting damage and at the president’s own sinking popularity.
  • Widespread anger spanned both Trump’s opponents and within his own coalition.
  • Trump’s approval ratings have cratered, with "disapproval pushing 60% or even more" ([06:52] C).
  • The economy is suffering persistent inflation that Trump blames on Democrats, simultaneously denying it exists.
  • **Quote:**

    "From shock and awe to anger and disbelief. And you know that that's where the year is ending... There's a lot of angry people, frankly, across the political spectrum."
    — Susan Glasser ([06:03] C)

3. Institutional Collapse: Hangovers from 2024 (09:13–17:56)

• Democratic Unpreparedness and Institutional Weakness:
  Shock of 2025 is not just Trump’s actions, but the "collapse of all of those institutions and all of the guardrails that we thought might restrain him" ([09:54] A).
  • “A hell of a lot of opponents of Donald Trump actually weren't really prepared to do anything about Donald Trump.” ([11:52] C)
• Congressional Surrender:
  Congress failed to defend its basic constitutional powers:

  “Was it actually shocking that Congress decided not even to stand up for itself when it came to … the power of the purse?”
  — Susan Glasser ([12:47] C)

• Illegality and Impotence:
  The administration’s illegal shutdown of longstanding agencies, enabled by complacent courts and Congress ("You say illegal as if it means anything anymore"—[13:46] A), signals the collapse of rule-of-law.

4. Executive Power and Personalization of the Presidency (17:56–25:07)

• Illusion of Guardrails:
  The belief that "guardrails" would hold was always a delusion; instead, the “story … was the story of individuals, a few individuals... who were both enablers ... and in the end, resistors to him" ([18:31] C).
• Failures of Opposition and Governance:
  Democrats and civil society failed to prepare institutions for a Trump return; leadership was complacent or naive.
• The Personalization of Power:
  Trump's first-day pardon of January 6th defendants as a “prologue” to unchecked executive power:

  “If there was any doubt that this was going to be an administration of retribution... we got the answer the first day.”
  — Charlie Sykes ([24:22] A)

5. Imperial Presidency: Accumulation of Power

• Trump is ruling with more authority than any modern monarch:

  "Donald Trump is ruling with more power than King Charles could ever aspire to in the system that exists in Great Britain today."
  — Glasser ([25:25] C)

• The expected checks from other branches of government have dissolved, aided by the Supreme Court’s 2024 "immunity" decision.

6. Signature Moments: Foreign Policy Upheaval (27:43–37:45)

• A New American Orientation:
  The episode highlights a key February moment: Trump and J.D. Vance “beat up on Volodymyr Zelensky,” marking America’s pivot away from traditional alliances ([28:15] A).
  • The administration codified a “great power, spheres of influence” worldview, mirroring adversaries’ outlook.
  • U.S. support for Ukraine was abandoned; Trump greeted Vladimir Putin “at an American air base in Alaska on a red carpet” ([36:06] C).
  • **Quote:**

    “What Donald Trump is doing is saying that … other Americans are his enemies. He wants to use the full powers of the national security state and the Pentagon to go after fellow Americans and people within our borders. … That is a Joseph McCarthy, Roy Cohn vision of national security.”
    — Susan Glasser ([31:36] C)

7. Escalating Repression and Domestic "Enemies" (32:37–37:45)

• Redefining Dissent as Domestic Extremism:
  Policies now use the machinery of the state against “domestic extremists”—progressives, academic institutions, and dissenters.

  • New memos and pressure campaigns redefine “domestic extremism” to include criticizing traditional family views, immigration policy, etc.
  • Pam Bondi's Justice Department using legal levers against liberal organizations.
  • **Quote:**

    “If you create a war department, then the next thing is you need a war to fight. … The war that he wants to fight is the war here at home and in our hemisphere.”
    — Susan Glasser ([34:08] C)

• Militarization of Immigration Enforcement:
  "10,000 extra ICE agents" and "pumping $150B ... into this sort of private police force" ([33:51] A).

8. Immigration Policy and Political Backlash (37:45–44:27)

• Harsh Crackdown Produces Political Shockwaves:
  Trump’s mass deportations and militarized enforcement, once thought a political winner, may now be fueling backlash—especially as images and stories of ICE raids circulate nationwide:

  “These horror images that we now are kind of inflicted on almost a daily basis … I was surprised that at least initially, that didn’t really happen. Now that it is happening ... that’s fueling some of the political backlash.”
  — Susan Glasser ([39:56] C)

• Changing Public Perception:
  Even some supporters are disturbed by the scale and spectacle of the crackdowns.

  “It’s antithetical to what many people believe about what this country stands for. … It’s not that hard for Americans, whatever their policy views, to imagine this being done to their own families at the point in which they began their American story.”
  — Susan Glasser ([42:22] C)

9. Trump’s Arc: Unchecked and Uninhibited (44:27–48:13)

• Trump, "pushing 80," is less disciplined, more unrestrained, shows "late-stage incontinence, dictator, basically. Verbal incontinence, increasing grandiosity."
  • Length and incoherence of his public addresses has increased.
  • Dangerous mix of aging, frustration, narcissism as power ebbs and adversity grows.
  • **Quote:**

    “He’s much older. He’s much less structured and disciplined. … This is a dangerous combination of aging and narcissism.”
    — Susan Glasser ([46:24] C)

10. Green Shoots: Resistance and Relearning Democracy (49:14–56:51)

• Signs of Hope and Resistance:

  • 2025 midterm elections spell bad news for Republicans, some GOP figures break with Trump.
  • The public and institutions are beginning, albeit belatedly, to stand up for democratic values (e.g., Harvard sustaining financial damage to resist, local communities protecting vulnerable immigrants).
  • Crackup within MAGA coalition (Ben Shapiro vs. Steve Bannon and Tucker Carlson).
  • **Quote:**

    “More importantly, I hope—and I see the evidence—that people are figuring out about the need to defend their own institutions and the need to live their values. … If ICE comes to your community … give props to the people in Chicago who decided they're going to have a relay system at their school….”
    — Susan Glasser ([53:38] C)

• A Year of Clarification:

  • The crisis has forced a countrywide re-examination of core democratic principles.

    “A lot of the things that we had taken for granted, like why is due process an important thing? Why do we have checks and balances? … we have to relearn and recommit to some of those things.”
    — Charlie Sykes ([55:38] A)

11. Closing Thoughts (56:51–57:28)

• Hope for 2026:
  • Sykes and Glasser express hope that the trials of 2025 will rekindle commitment to democracy and perhaps mark a turning point for resistance and renewal.

    “Let's stick with that more hopeful message going into 2026.”
    — Charlie Sykes ([56:51] A)

  • Glasser echoes, “Here’s to that, Charlie. And thank you so much for everything that you do every day. We’re really grateful.” ([56:58] C)

Notable Quotes (with Timestamps)

• “The big story of Trump’s first term...was the unfinished business of fully taking over and consolidating his power over the Republican Party. … In 2025, Republicans have long since fully rolled over for Donald Trump."
  — Susan Glasser ([04:17] C)

• “From shock and awe to anger and disbelief. … There's a lot of angry people, frankly, across the political spectrum.”
  — Susan Glasser ([06:03] C)

• “A hell of a lot of opponents of Donald Trump actually weren't really prepared to do anything about Donald Trump.”
  — Susan Glasser ([11:52] C)

• “You say illegal as if it means something anymore.”
  — Charlie Sykes ([13:46] A)

• “Donald Trump is ruling with more power than King Charles could ever aspire to in the system that exists in Great Britain today.”
  — Susan Glasser ([25:25] C)

• “It’s not illegal if the president does it—that might as well be a motto for our time, unfortunately.”
  — Susan Glasser ([27:22] C)

• “He wants to use the full powers of the national security state and the Pentagon to go after fellow Americans and people within our borders.”
  — Susan Glasser ([31:36] C)

• “If you create a war department, then the next thing is you need a war to fight.”
  — Susan Glasser ([34:08] C)

• “He’s much older. He’s much less structured and disciplined. … This is a dangerous combination of aging and narcissism.”
  — Susan Glasser ([46:24] C)

• “More importantly, I hope—and I see the evidence—that people are figuring out about the need to defend their own institutions and the need to live their values.”
  — Susan Glasser ([53:38] C)

• “A lot of the things that we had taken for granted...now we have to relearn and recommit to some of those things.”
  — Charlie Sykes ([55:38] A)

Timeline/Key Segments

| Timestamp | Topic/Segment | | --------- | --------------------- | | 02:01 | Introduction to Year-in-Review, theme-setting | | 02:46 | Comparing 2017 and 2025: Trump’s second term evolves | | 06:03 | The year’s arc: Shock and awe → anger and disbelief | | 09:13 | Institutional collapse, 2024 hangover, lack of resistance | | 13:01 | Illegal acts, Congress’s impotence, erosion of rule-of-law | | 17:56 | Delusions of guardrails, personalization of power | | 22:14 | Missed opportunities, failures in opposition preparedness | | 25:07 | The unchecked, imperial presidency | | 27:43 | Foreign policy: pivot from allies, embrace of adversaries | | 32:37 | Domestic repression: defining dissent as extremism | | 37:45 | Immigration crackdowns and public backlash | | 44:27 | Trump’s decline: more unrestrained, less disciplined | | 49:14 | Signs of resistance, midterms, and green shoots | | 55:38 | Closing optimism: American values rediscovered | | 56:51 | Farewells, hope for 2026 |

Conclusion

Tone: Sober, concerned, sometimes incredulous but not despairing. Both Sykes and Glasser stress that, despite a year marked by institutional collapse, abuses of power, and insufficient opposition, there are signs that society is beginning to learn hard lessons and fight back—albeit later than hoped. Their final note is one of cautious optimism that 2026 may begin to see a shift in response to the crises of 2025, provided Americans recommit to the values and vigilance that democracy requires.

Memorable Sign-off:

“At the end of the year it is more important than ever to remind ourselves that we are not the crazy ones.”
— Charlie Sykes ([56:58] A)