Donald Trump Archives - Public Seminar

Higher Ed

Paying for College Was Already Stressful. Then Came Trump and DOGE.

A Q and A on today’s higher ed money worries

April 16, 2025 • by Center for New York City Affairs and Kim Nauer

Urban Matters: Kim, there’s certainly a lot of confusion about the future of the US Department of Education right now. I know you were in Washington earlier this month looking for some answers. But first: For those who haven’t gone through the process—or who have blissfully forgotten what it can be ...

Paying for College Was Already Stressful. Then Came Trump and DOGE.

North America

Trump’s Charm Offensive

“You guys are the same as me”

November 1, 2024 • by Adam Koehler Brown

A #1 with a large fry, made and served by the forty-fifth president of the United States: Donald Trump was working a drive-through at a McDonald’s last weekend in Pennsylvania. He salted fries and greeted customers, a stunt meant to mock Kamala Harris and her repeated claim to have worked ...

Past Present

The Trump Indictment

Past Present Podcast, Episode 379

June 20, 2023 • by Nicole Hemmer, Natalia Mehlman Petrzela and Neil J. Young

In this episode, Natalia, Neil, and Niki discuss the indictment of former President Donald Trump. ...

Activism

Trump Protests in Lower Manhattan: Pro and Con

A photo essay

April 10, 2023 • by Jo Freeman

Trump was taken out a side entrance before all that press even knew he was out of the building...

Trump Protests in Lower Manhattan: Pro and Con

Past Present

Antisemitism’s Resurgence

Past Present Podcast, Episode 353

December 6, 2022 • by Nicole Hemmer, Natalia Mehlman Petrzela and Neil J. Young

In this episode, Niki, Neil, and Natalia discuss the resurgence of antisemitism in the United States. ...

Democracy

Donald Trump Must Face Federal Charges

A look back at the Weimar Republic should teach us a lesson about bringing insurrectionists to justice

July 19, 2022 • by Claudia Koonz

Before writing off the theatrics of the GOP as a mere sideshow, we should pause to remember how Adolf Hitler snatched victory from a catastrophic attempted putsch in 1923. ...

Columnists

‘There Was Nothing There’

Barr calls BS as the ground gives way under the Big Lie

June 28, 2021 • by Heather Cox Richardson

_____ The big news this week was a series of interviews that former attorney general William Barr did with Jonathan D. Karl of The Atlantic: Barr emphasized that former president Donald Trump’s claims that he had won the 2020 election were “bullshit.” What is interesting about this is not the idea that ...

Columnists

Justice Moves Slowly–But It Moves

Will George Floyd’s murder lead to police reform–and can Donald Trump stay out of jail?

May 26, 2021 • by Heather Cox Richardson

_____ A year ago this week, 46-year-old George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis as then–police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds. While bystanders begged Chauvin to get up, a teenage girl walking by had the presence of mind to video what was happening. Thanks ...

Democracy

On Treason: A Citizen’s Guide to the Law

An excerpt exploring the meaning of treason and the present-day prevalence of alleging treason

February 25, 2021 • by Carlton F.W. Larson

As a professor of American constitutional law and legal history, I regularly answer questions for the media about legal issues. But for the most part, those calls tended to focus on constitutional law more generally and on other subjects I have written about, such as the Second Amendment or the ...

On Treason: A Citizen’s Guide to the Law

Democracy

Embracing Democracy: The Storming of the US Capitol and the Mixed Lessons of Weimar Germany

An assassination that took place almost one hundred years ago echoes today

January 21, 2021 • by Andrew I. Port

——— For the past four years, many have wondered when Donald Trump would finally have his “Have-you-no-sense-of-decency?” moment. That was, of course, the memorable rebuke uttered by attorney Joseph Welch on June 9, 1954, just after Joseph McCarthy’s insinuation that one of Welch’s colleagues had ties to a Communist organization. The ...

Embracing Democracy: The Storming of the US Capitol and the Mixed Lessons of Weimar Germany

Past Present

The Biden-Harris Inauguration

Past Present Podcast, Episode 263

January 19, 2021 • by Nicole Hemmer, Natalia Mehlman Petrzela and Neil J. Young

Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: On January 20, President-Elect Joe Biden will be inaugurated to the office of the President. Niki referred to the book Before the Oath. Neil and Natalia referred to Rebecca Onion’s Slate piece on transitions. In our regular closing feature, What’s Making ...

Past Present

The January 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol

Past Present Podcast, Episode 262

January 13, 2021 • by Nicole Hemmer, Natalia Mehlman Petrzela and Neil J. Young

Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: On January 6, armed rioters interrupted the joint session of Congress convened to certify the vote count of the Electoral College. Natalia referred to this Axios article rounding up conservative media response to the insurrection. Niki mentioned David Blight’s book, ...