Inside Trump’s National Security Dumpster Fire (w/ Julie Curlee)

Inside Trump’s National Security Dumpster Fire (w/ Julie Curlee)

From The Mona Charen Show by The Bulwark

August 29, 2026 · 47 min

About this episode

Mona Charen interviews former CIA officer Julie Curlee about her experiences in intelligence and the implications of expertise erosion in national security.

Mona Charen speaks with former CIA officer Julie Curlee about her two decades in intelligence, her removal from the Trump White House, and what she describes as the dangerous erosion of expertise and nonpartisan analysis across the national security apparatus. They examine intelligence politicization, Iran and Venezuela, and why Curlee believes the loss of experienced public servants could take a generation to repair. Make laundry day the best day of the week! Get 20% off your entire order @LaundrySauce with code MONA at https://laundrysauce.com/MONA #laundrysaucepod If you value long-form interviews that resist the rush to the next topic and give deeply knowledgeable guests room to explain not just what is happening but why it matters, consider becoming a paid member of The Bulwark. Your support gives us the freedom to keep making conversations with this kind of depth.

People in this episode

Host: Mona Charen

Guest: Julie Curlee

Topics covered

Keywords

Sponsors

LaundrySauce

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: CIA, The Bulwark

Products: LaundrySauce

Places: Trump White House, Iran, Venezuela

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