Podcast / The Time of Monsters / Feb 8, 2026

Trump Is Using Terrorist Charges to Wage Political War

Josh Kovensky on a dangerous politicization of the law.

The Nation Podcasts
The Nation Podcasts

Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.

Trump is Using Terrorist Charges to Wage Political War w/ Josh Kovensky | The Time of Monsters with Jeet Heer
byThe Nation Magazine

Over at Talking Points Memo, Josh Kovensky has written an essay on the Trump

administration’s use of anti-terrorism law to target political groups it doesn’t like.

In that piece, Kovensky notes,

"Across the country, federal prosecutors are upgrading what would have been routine

prosecutions into terrorism cases when they involve people President Trump has cast as his

political enemies.

It represents a dramatic departure from how the Justice Department has historically used the

federal material support for terrorism statute. For decades, counterterrorism prosecutors have

largely reserved the statute — 2339A — for the kinds of audacious plots that wreak real, lasting

damage or whose ambition forms the stuff of movie screenplays."

I spoke to Kovensky about his essay and the history and politics of this dangerous legal

innovation.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Over at Talking Points Memo, Josh Kovensky has written an article on the Trump administration’s use of anti-terrorism law to target political groups it doesn’t like.

In that piece, Kovensky notes, “Across the country, federal prosecutors are upgrading what would have been routine prosecutions into terrorism cases when they involve people President Trump has cast as his political enemies. It represents a dramatic departure from how the Justice Department has historically used the federal material support for terrorism statute. For decades, counterterrorism prosecutors have largely reserved the statute—2339A—for the kinds of audacious plots that wreak real, lasting damage or whose ambition forms the stuff of movie screenplays.”

I spoke to Kovensky about his essay as well as the history and politics of this dangerous legal innovation.

Subscribe to The Nation to support all of our podcasts: thenation.com/podcastsubscribe.

The Nation Podcasts
The Nation Podcasts

Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.

Stopping the Iran War w/ Emma Ashford | The Time of Monsters with Jeet Heer
byThe Nation Magazine

The US/Israel War against Iran is shaping out to be a much bigger mess than expected

even by critics. As it turns into a regional conflict that has embroiled more than a dozen

nations, are there any possible ways Donald Trump can be forced to pull back. I spoke

with international affairs scholar Emma Ashford of the Stimson Center about the war

and paths to peace.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Subscribe to The Nation to Support all of our podcasts

Support independent journalism that does not fall in line

Even before February 28, the reasons for Donald Trump’s imploding approval rating were abundantly clear: untrammeled corruption and personal enrichment to the tune of billions of dollars during an affordability crisis, a foreign policy guided only by his own derelict sense of morality, and the deployment of a murderous campaign of occupation, detention, and deportation on American streets. 

Now an undeclared, unauthorized, unpopular, and unconstitutional war of aggression against Iran has spread like wildfire through the region and into Europe. A new “forever war”—with an ever-increasing likelihood of American troops on the ground—may very well be upon us.  

As we’ve seen over and over, this administration uses lies, misdirection, and attempts to flood the zone to justify its abuses of power at home and abroad. Just as Trump, Marco Rubio, and Pete Hegseth offer erratic and contradictory rationales for the attacks on Iran, the administration is also spreading the lie that the upcoming midterm elections are under threat from noncitizens on voter rolls. When these lies go unchecked, they become the basis for further authoritarian encroachment and war. 

In these dark times, independent journalism is uniquely able to uncover the falsehoods that threaten our republic—and civilians around the world—and shine a bright light on the truth. 

The Nation’s experienced team of writers, editors, and fact-checkers understands the scale of what we’re up against and the urgency with which we have to act. That’s why we’re publishing critical reporting and analysis of the war on Iran, ICE violence at home, new forms of voter suppression emerging in the courts, and much more. 

But this journalism is possible only with your support.

This March, The Nation needs to raise $50,000 to ensure that we have the resources for reporting and analysis that sets the record straight and empowers people of conscience to organize. Will you donate today?

Jeet Heer

Jeet Heer is a national affairs correspondent for The Nation and host of the weekly Nation podcast, The Time of Monsters. He also pens the monthly column “Morbid Symptoms.” The author of In Love with Art: Francoise Mouly’s Adventures in Comics with Art Spiegelman (2013) and Sweet Lechery: Reviews, Essays and Profiles (2014), Heer has written for numerous publications, including The New Yorker, The Paris Review, Virginia Quarterly Review, The American Prospect, The GuardianThe New Republic, and The Boston Globe.

More from The Nation

Senator Martin Heinrich, a Democrat from New Mexico, left, and Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, during a news conference at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, May 15, 2024.

The Left Doesn’t Hate Technology—With Gita Jackson The Left Doesn’t Hate Technology—With Gita Jackson

Paris Marx is joined by Gita Jackson to discuss why the left’s hatred of AI is justified and why a different approach to technology is necessary.

Podcast / Tech Won't Save Us

War in Iran, News in  America

War in Iran, News in America War in Iran, News in America

On this episode of Start Making Sense, Tom Stevenson analyzes the war in Iran, and Tara McGowan explains the new media landscape for young and news-avoidant voters.
 

Jon Wiener

Bill Gates attends a meeting of Bloomberg at the Plaza Hotel on September 23, 2025.

Bill Gates and Jeffrey Epstein—With Tim Schwab Bill Gates and Jeffrey Epstein—With Tim Schwab

Paris Marx is joined by Tim Schwab to discuss the evolving story of Bill Gates and his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.

Paris Marx

Smoke and flames rise at the site of air strikes on an oil depot in Tehran on March 7, 2026.

Stopping the Iran War Stopping the Iran War

Emma Ashford on possible off-ramps from conflict.

Jeet Heer

US President Donald J. Trump sits at a table monitoring military operations during Operation Epic Fury against Iran.

Trump’s Attacks on Voting, and on Iran Trump’s Attacks on Voting, and on Iran

David Cole talks about fighting a coming executive order restricting voting in the midterms, and John Nichols explains a congressional War Powers resolution on Iran.

Jon Wiener

Tehran with smoke visible in the distance after explosions were reported in the city, on March 02, 2026

Iran and the End of Restraint—With Trita Parsi and Akbar Shahid Ahmed Iran and the End of Restraint—With Trita Parsi and Akbar Shahid Ahmed

On the latest American Prestige.

Daniel Bessner and Derek Davison

x