Polls Are So Bad for Trump

<p>This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss whether Trump is as unpopular as polls suggest and what this means for the midterms, the causes and consequences of the riots in France with Paris-based journalist <u><a href="https://www.racheldonadio.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Rachel Donadio</a></u>, and how a seemingly trivial courtroom fight over the fate of the East Potomac Golf Links in Washington, D.C. is an important illustration of the lawlessness that defines Trumpism.</p><br><p><strong>Corrections: </strong> France has the highest borrowing cost in the EU and not the highest debt. French President Macron was seen as the best hope against the far right, not the center right.</p><br><p><strong>Here are this week’s chatters:</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>Emily: Owen Dahlkamp for Politico: <u><a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2026/10/16/anthropic-ai-safety-01124654" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Exclusive: Anthropic quietly pitches its own AI safety bill to lawmakers</a></u>; Sophie Hurwitz for Mother Jones: <u><a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/10/anthropics-ai-safety-bill-has-an-alarming-threshold-for-government-action/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Anthropic’s AI Safety Bill Has an Alarming Threshold for Government Action</a></u></p><br><p>John: Erica Pandey for Axios: <u><a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/10/22/russ-sullivan-congressional-adoption-institute" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The dad who gave 22 kids a home</a></u></p><br><p>David: Alex Horton and Dan Lamothe for The Washington Post: <u><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/10/22/hegseth-wanted-eisenhowers-globe-his-office-his-staff-broke-it/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Exclusive: Hegseth wanted Eisenhower’s globe for his office. His staff broke it.</a></u></p><br><p>Listener chatter from Aaron Tax in Washington, D.C.: Jason Fuller, Christopher Intagliata, and Patrick Jarenwattananon for NPR: <u><a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/09/30/nx-s1-5983845/the-101-plays-itself-this-computer-program-treats-the-interstate-into-music" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">&#39;The 101 Plays Itself&#39;: This computer program treats the interstate into music</a></u>; <u><a href="https://jayjudah.com/101/#theremin,glass" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The 101 Plays Itself</a></u></p><br><p>For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily