U.S. Presidency

As the first American president to be elected with no prior political or military experience, President Trump has had to adapt quickly to the responsibilities of public office.

Former Obama staffer Alyssa Mastromonaco is well acquainted with the privilege — and sleeplessness — of working in the White House: "I basically ran on adrenaline, almost, for six years," she says.

Journalist Emily Bazelon says the relationship between Bannon and Sessions predates the 2016 campaign, and that their anti-immigration policies come from fears of a growing minority population.

Despite ordering an "influence campaign" to help Donald Trump in last year's election, the Kremlin is scrambling to respond to a win it didn't expect, New Yorker editor David Remnick and staff writer Evan Osnos tell Fresh Air's Terry Gross.

Mark Mazzetti of The New York Times says that when it comes to national security, President Trump "doesn't trust the civilian national security establishment and they don't trust him."

ProPublica senior reporter Andrew Revkin discusses President Trump's possible cuts to the EPA, as well as the potential impact of pulling out of the Paris climate accord.

Historian Bernard Weissberger. He’s the author of “America Afire,” (William Morrow 2000). The book chronicles the political tumult surrounding the Presidential Election of 1800 between Adams and Jefferson. As in this election, a voting glitch caused confusion. Neither candidate was willing to concede. Weissberger compares the events then, at the birth of the Constitution, to the Gore v. Bush controversy now. He has written more than a dozen books and works on documentaries with Bill Moyers and Ken Burns.

Willie Lincoln was only 11 when he died in February 1862 of typhoid fever. The Lincolns' third son was said to be their favorite, and after Willie was interred in a borrowed mausoleum in Oak Hill Cemetery in Georgetown, his father, Abraham Lincoln, returned to that cemetery several times. Newspapers reported that the president visited the crypt to open his son's coffin and hold his body. It's that image, of Lincoln cradling the corpse of his beloved son in a Pietà pose, that inspires George Saunders' first novel, called Lincoln in the Bardo.

President Trump has vowed to repeal the Affordable Care Act, but Sarah Kliff of Vox.com says it's "an overreach" to say that Republicans have a plan for what comes next

Sarah Posner, a reporter with The Nation's Investigative Fund, talks about how the Steve Bannon-Jeff Sessions-Mike Pence nexus is influencing President Trump's policies.

Journalist Luke Harding has an insider's understanding of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Harding served as Moscow bureau chief for the British newspaper The Guardian from 2007 until 2011.

Journalist Evan Osnos, who recently wrote about doomsday prep for the super rich for The New Yorker, tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross that tech survivalists are stockpiling weapons and food, and, in some cases, preparing luxury underground bunkers.

Two ethics lawyers who worked for President Bush and President Obama, respectively, outline their concerns about a Donald Trump presidency.

Author Mat Johnson reflects on how the election of Barack Obama, made him feel like he belonged in America for the first time.

Comic Zahra Noorbakhsh on why she finds herself wanting to connect with her religious traditions. She co-hosts the podcast Good Muslim Bad Muslim.

Brzezinski has reported on the nation's homeland security since Sept. 11, for magazines including Mother Jones and The New York Times Magazine. His new book is Fortress America: An Inside Look at the Coming Surveillance State (out later this fall).

Omar Saif Ghobash was 6 when an assassin killed his father, who was a diplomat from the United Arab Emirates. His new book is a collection of letters to his sons, urging them to reject extremism.

Politico reporter Michael Crowley discusses President-elect Donald Trump's relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. "There's something I think we don't completely understand," Crowley says.

Dean Baquet talks about covering tweets as news, his decision to use the word "lie" in a headline about Trump and why he's not worried about libel suits from the new president.

The FOX newS host talks about her feud with Donald Trump, and her decision to come forward in the sexual harassment case against former FOX new CEO Roger Ailes.