Next Up with Mark Halperin
Waltz OUT as NSA... Could Witkoff Be Next Up? Plus, Gavin Newsom on Why He's Not a "Crazy Liberal"
01 May 2025
Mark Halperin discusses his breaking news reporting that Mike Waltz is out as NSA, why there were rumblings about his role there even before Signalgate, how Steve Witkoff might be next up for the job, how a recent hit piece against Witkoff relates to this news today, what it actually takes to run for and become president, the need for that person to part of the national conversation, why Barack Obama was the gold standard, Gretchen Whitmer's shaky COVID history, Trump's interest in helping select both the GOP and Dem nominee, and more. Then California Governor Gavin Newsom joins to discuss why he’s not a “crazy liberal,” talks bucking his own party when he thinks Democrats go too far, and his thoughts on young men increasingly leaning conservative. Plus, is a run in 2028 Next Up for the California Governor? Then Jessica Reed Kraus and Jessica Millan Patterson join to discuss the successes of HHS Secretary RFK Jr. so far, the overall rise of MAHA as a common sense bipartisan movement, which Trump admin official they'd like to have dinner with, advice to the admin about Signal and other issues, and more.
Full Episode
Welcome in, everybody. This is season one, episode two of NextUp. Thank you for watching. We are doing quite well on the Apple podcast ratings. Very grateful to folks for listening to us on your favorite podcast network and platform and for watching on YouTube. Thank you for being part of helping us launch NextUp. We couldn't be. more grateful.
Today on the program, some breaking news that we broke earlier today on Two Way, where I am editor-in-chief about President Trump's plans to replace his national security advisor. I'll have more details on that. And Gavin Newsom will be here as our guest, a California governor, to talk about what he thinks are the myths related to Gavin Newsom.
I think there's some myths that are pretty important that I want to see what he thinks.
And with us to have a roundtable conversation, my two favorite Jessicas from California, Jessica Blahn-Patterson, who until recently was the chair of the California Republican Party, and the great Jessica Reed Krause, sub-stacker and Instagrammer extraordinaire, will talk about the state of the Golden State and what they think of what's happened so far in the Trump administration.
I'm also going to talk about running for president and what I think is important to think about if you want to be a pro handicapper, particularly for the Democrats in 2028. So thank you for being here. Let's get started. First news I broke earlier today.
what we like to call a worldwide exclusive, President Trump, after a long period of consideration, is getting rid of his national security advisor, Mike Waltz, who came in to the job with an incredible reputation. When President Trump named him national security advisor, many people said this was a great sign that Trump 2.0 was picking adults and pros.
Well, the decision to get rid of Waltz has been percolating for a long time. You'll recall that he led that signal chat group that caused so much controversy and raised questions about his competence.
Ironically, I think that controversy helped keep Waltz in his job for longer because President Trump didn't want to give a scalp to those like Jeffrey Goldberg of the Atlantic who were saying that what Waltz did violated all sensible procedures.
What's been going on behind the scenes, and I've been reporting on this for several weeks, is that people in the national security part of the administration at the State Department, Elsewhere in the White House at the National Economic Council, people connected to the highest levels of the West Wing. It wasn't about ideology.
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