President Donald Trump continued to air his grievances with the mainstream media this week. First, he filed a $20 billion defamation suit against The Wall Street Journal. The suit claims that a “bawdy” birthday letter to Jeffry Epstein that the paper attributed to Trump is a fake. The president took to Truth Social to demean the paper and its owner Rupert Murdoch. Amid his social media rant, he celebrated previous victories over ABC News and CBS. Should we be concerned about the stability of press freedoms under the second Trump administration?

Masked ICE agents have become a frequent sight around the United States since Trump’s return to office. Democratic leaders across the country are pushing legislation that would ban federal law enforcement from hiding their identities. Is it a distraction from deeper questions about the standing of immigrants in America?

Plus, KCRW discusses who the president is really speaking for when he calls for the return of some controversial sports team names.

Something you should know, from the team at Left, Right and Center.

Prior to his re-election in 2024, Donald Trump committed to releasing files related to several controversial investigations, including the Jeffrey Epstein case. Epstein was an alleged sex trafficker who died while in prison in 2019. Epstein’s connections to prominent figures and the suspicious circumstances surrounding his death created fodder for conspiracy theorists on the right. Last week, Trump’s DOJ and FBI announced they would not release the files and would no longer be investigating the case. That announcement has led to massive blowback from the president’s MAGA base.

The president is facing similar disdain from the MAGA universe over recent decisions regarding the war in Ukraine. After a massive attack of Russian drone strikes on Kyiv, Trump declared Russian President Vladimir Putin had 50 days to agree to a ceasefire. He also promised to ramp up U.S. military support for Ukraine through a NATO agreement. What finally flipped the switch on Trump’s reverent tone for the Russian leader? Is there any ideological strategy we can glean from this move?

Tourism to the United States is down. Is there any connection to the policies of Donald Trump? Should the tourism industry be a concern of the “America First” crowd?