WSJ Opinion: Potomac Watch

With requests for no audience members, hypothetical mic muting and a contest coming before the RNC and DNC nominating conventions, the debates between Donald Trump and Joe Biden are heading down an unprecedented road.  So why did both candidates agree to such an unorthodox plan and bypass the traditional Commission on Presidential Debates? Plus, the Biden campaign faces the reality of trailing Donald Trump in five out of six battleground states. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joe Biden raises tariffs on Chinese steel, solar cells and electric vehicles, but is this the right way to take on Beijing, or is the President using it as political cover for his green agenda? Plus, after weeks of Donald Trump demanding early presidential debates, Biden agrees to two of them, possibly starting as soon as next month, though he makes some interesting stipulations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The star witness in the New York hush-money trial finally testifies, saying Donald Trump's main concern about the Stormy Daniels story was how voters would react in the days before the 2016 election. But is Cohen a credible witness, and can he testify to the "second crime" that prosecutors need? Plus, voters go to the polls to pick Senate nominees in Maryland and West Virginia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Biden's threat to withhold weapons from Israel if it stages a large operation to clear Hamas from the city of Rafah in Gaza has shocked Israel and is causing a political backlash in the U.S., including among some Democrats. Will Israel go ahead anyway, and should it? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tim Scott, Doug Burgum, J.D. Vance, Marco Rubio and more big names visited Mar-a-Lago recently for a Republican retreat, as Donald Trump fans speculation of whom he might name as his 2024 running mate. What would each bring to the ticket? Plus, one name falling in the veepstakes is Kristi Noem, after she tells a story in her new book about shooting her hunting dog. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The President reverses his policy that Hamas must be destroyed as he threatens Israel with an arms embargo if the Israeli Defense Forces enter Rafah in Gaza. Plus, House Speaker Mike Johnson defeats an effort to depose him. Is this the end of GOP dysfunction, or merely a pause? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Taking the witness stand in New York, she offers a detailed account of their alleged tryst in 2006, but did prosecutors go too far in eliciting salacious details that are irrelevant to this case about business bookkeeping? Plus, Trump is found in contempt again for breaking the court's gag order, as Judge Juan Merchan insists he does not want to order jail time but will do so if needed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After crossing into Hamas's last bastion, Israeli troops take control of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt. Meantime, Hamas says it had accepted a cease-fire deal, but why was that deemed insufficient by Israel, and what is the status of negotiations for the return of hostages? Plus, Joe Biden condemns antisemitism in a Holocaust remembrance address, as campus protests continue. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What will become of Russia after Vladimir Putin, and what is the endgame for the war in Ukraine? Paul Gigot speaks with historian Stephen Kotkin about how the United States would handle Russia once a successor to Putin is in place, the role the Biden administration will continue to play as the war between Ukraine and Russia continues, and how much Russia is dependent on China in order to survive. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The third week of Donald Trump’s hush-money trial in New York included testimony from his former aide Hope Hicks and audio tapes secretly made by Michael Cohen. What are the defense and the prosecution each doing, and what's the atmosphere inside the courtroom? Kyle Peterson shares his experience observing the proceedings and discusses what's yet to come. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joe Biden made remarks that acknowledged the right to protest peacefully, adding that there is no place for violence or the disruption of classes at college campuses. But is there a bigger issue of the radicalization of young people at play? Plus, Jerome Powell says he doesn’t see the ‘stag’ or the ‘flation’ when it comes to the economy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A vote to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson is coming next week, Marjorie Taylor Greene promises. But will it backfire, now that Democrats say they'll help to table her motion? Plus, the New York Police Department takes back the Columbia University building that was occupied by anti-Israel protesters, with Mayor Eric Adams saying outside agitators had infiltrated the campus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Anti-Israel protesters at Columbia University escalate by seizing an academic building in the middle of the night and barricading themselves inside. What should President Minouche Shafik do now, and where are the school's trustees in what has quickly turned into an institutional crisis for Columbia? Plus, New York Judge Juan Merchan holds Donald Trump in contempt and fines him $9,000 for violating a gag order by attacking the jury and witnesses in the New York hush-money trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Donald Trump has increased his criticism of third-party presidential candidate RFK Jr. as a man of the left. Could the heir to the Kennedy name be a bigger threat to Trump than to Joe Biden? Plus, Biden says he's willing to debate Trump as he roasts the former President in front of a friendly press corps, and Trump tries to make peace with Ron DeSantis.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the New York hush-money trial ends its first week of testimony, why are Alvin Bragg's prosecutors talking about "conspiracy" and "election fraud," considering Trump is charged with neither? Plus, the court hears testimony from former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker, and listeners weigh in on the widening anti-Israel protests on college campuses, including Columbia University. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Trump v. United States, the Justices consider if a President has absolute immunity from criminal prosecution, and what constitutes an official action as opposed to a personal one? The implications extend far beyond Trump's fate in 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Grants Pass, Ore., wants to enforce a prohibition on public camping, but a lower court said no, citing the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. What does the Constitution say, and don‘t cities have the right to keep their streets clean and safe? Plus, the Justices also hear a challenge by Starbucks to a power of the National Labor Relations Board.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After New York police cleared an encampment on the Ivy League campus, arresting more than 100 people, the school says it will offer hybrid remote learning for the rest of the semester, while similar protests also engulf Yale, NYU, and other elite colleges. Why are university presidents apparently so reluctant to draw a hard line, especially considering the antisemitism on display? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

House Speaker Mike Johnson put his job on the line in seeking floor votes on bills to provide weapons for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan. It paid off in victory, as bipartisan majorities united to pass the bills and defeat a rump group of GOP opponents. Will the same coalition be willing and able to save Mr. Johnson from a motion to vacate the Speaker's chair? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices