Is Trump Committing War Crimes? Lawrence Douglas on Hegseth, Nuremberg, and the Criminal State

Is Trump Committing War Crimes? Lawrence Douglas on Hegseth, Nuremberg, and the Criminal State

From The Oath and The Office by Two Squared Media Productions

April 9, 2026 · 1h 2m

About this episode

The episode discusses the potential for war crimes committed by Trump and others, alongside legal accountability and recent Supreme Court actions.

Can a president commit war crimes? Can a defense secretary? And what would it take to hold either one accountable? Corey Brettschneider and John Fugelsang open with the Supreme Court showdown over Trump’s attack on birthright citizenship. After Trump became the first sitting president to attend oral arguments at the Court, Solicitor General D. John Sauer faced tough questioning from several justices, including Chief Justice John Roberts, who delivered the line of the day: “It’s a new world. It’s the same Constitution.” Corey and John break down why the administration’s argument looked weak, why Wong Kim Ark remains the key precedent, and what the hearing may signal about the fate of Trump’s effort to gut birthright citizenship. They also discuss the latest chaos inside Trump’s Justice Department after Pam Bondi was pushed out as attorney general and replaced, for now, by Todd Blanche, another Trump loyalist. From there, they turn to the Supreme Court’s move that could wipe away Steve Bannon’s contempt conviction, and what it says about accountability in Trump’s Washington. Then Corey and John are joined by Lawrence Douglas of Amherst College, professor of law, jurisprudence, and…

People in this episode

Hosts: Corey Brettschneider, John Fugelsang

Guest: Lawrence Douglas

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: The Criminal State

Places: Nuremberg, Washington, United States

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