The Value of Alliances in Washington

As speculation over whom Kamala Harris will name as her running mate continues, Donald Trump is under fire this week for his controversial remarks to the National Association of Black Journalists about the vice president’s race. It’s the latest example of the Trump campaign’s struggle to identify a line of attack against Harris that resonates with voters.

The former president also made comments at the NABJ convention about his plans to pardon January 6 rioters if elected. This is another one of Trump’s attempts to present the image of a malleable rule of law, Anne Applebaum said last night on Washington Week With The Atlantic: “He’s getting people used to the idea that courts are politicized and can be manipulated.”

Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has been released from Russia in a multinational prisoner swap. But despite the celebratory nature of his return, “there’s a dark cloud,” Applebaum said. “There was the moral imperative to release Evan, to release the Russian dissidents, and on the other hand, there’s this moral hazard.” Criminals, including Vadim Krasikov, a Russian colonel serving a life sentence in a German prison after carrying out a Kremlin-ordered hit on a Russian dissident in Berlin, were among those returned to Russia. “In exchange, we really got hostages,” Applebaum continued. “There’s a fundamental unfairness.”

President Joe Biden and Harris greeted Gershkovich upon his arrival to the United States. Their side-by-side appearance is one of many this week, Steve Inkeep said last night. Accordingly, the vice president’s statement following Gershkovich’s return expressed “the importance of having a president who understands diplomacy and the value of alliances,” Inskeep said. “And so, in a way, that was almost a campaign stop for [Harris].”

Joining editor in chief of The Atlantic Jeffrey Goldberg to discuss this and more: Applebaum, a staff writer at The Atlantic; Elisabeth Bumiller, the assistant managing editor and Washington bureau chief for The New York Times; Inskeep, the host of NPR’s Morning Edition; and Vivian Salama, a national-politics reporter for The Wall Street Journal.

Watch the full episode here.