Start a free 14-day trial to unlock unlimited access to Puck.

Welcome back to The Best & The Brightest. I’m Tara Palmeri. I hope you’re enjoying the day after Christmas, or Boxing Day, as it’s known in Canada—a future 51st state, if Trump has his way…

In tonight’s issue, my conversation with conservative legal scholar John Yoo, who is known for taking an expansive view of presidential power. We talk about what Trump can and cannot do—including when it comes to building the wall, pulling out of NATO, and targeting people on his “enemies list.” Yoo, who has advised Trump, warned that some of his ambitions, like unilaterally withdrawing from NATO, could cause a “constitutional earthquake.” (Alas, we didn’t get to annexing Canada.)

Also, in case you missed it, my partner John Heilemann talked to Democratic Senator Chris Murphy on Friday’s episode of Impolitic. Murphy has been very critical of how his party (and the media) has responded to—or rather, has abstained from engaging with—some of the more alarming aspects of Trump’s recent legal maneuvers. Here’s his view on how the early innings of the new administration might unfold… 

John Heilemann: During Trump’s campaign, there were some people who couldn’t believe he was serious when he suggested using the National Guard or the military to deal with his political opponents—and now here we are. I saw you basically make the point last week where you were kind of like, I guess he was serious…

Chris Murphy: Yeah, he’s serious. He was serious in...

A MESSAGE FROM META

Open Source AI: Available to all, not just the few

Meta’s open source AI enables small businesses, start-ups, students, researchers and more to download and build with our models at no cost.

When AI models are open source, they’re available to all. And when AI models are available to all, everyone benefits.

Learn more about open source AI.

Can’t see the full story? You’re receiving the free version of The Best & The Brightest at . For full access to Puck, and to each of my colleagues, subscribe today.

A sobering conversation with conservative legal scholar John Yoo about what the president-elect can and cannot do on his first day in office, from imposing tariffs to pulling out of NATO, pardoning insurrectionists, targeting people on his “enemies list,” and finally building that wall. 

Donald Trump has promised to do many things on Day One: launch the biggest mass deportation in American history; tariff the daylights out of Canadian and Mexican imports; end birthright citizenship and all foreign wars; etcetera. Clearly, he can’t do this all by himself, and during his first term, we saw how his executive orders—for instance “closing the border” or the so-called Muslim ban—got tied up in the courts. Congress, meanwhile, can barely pass a budget these days, let alone amend the Constitution’s plain guarantee of...

Puck senior political correspondent Tara Palmeri grapples with the aftermath of what may be the most chaotic and consequential presidential election cycle of our lifetime. With 15 years covering politics, Tara speaks with the smartest political minds to discuss what’s happening behind the scenes in Washington, D.C., from the campaign trail to the Capitol.

Ace media reporter Dylan Byers lets readers into his notebook as he reports on the biggest stories (and egos) in the industry.

MATTHEW BELLONI

PETER HAMBY

JOHN OURAND

Need help? Review our FAQ page or contact us for assistance. For brand partnerships, email ads@puck.news.

You received this email because you signed up to receive emails from Puck, or as part of your Puck account associated with . To stop receiving this newsletter and/or manage all your email preferences, click here.

Puck is published by Heat Media LLC. 107 Greenwich St, New York, NY 10006