In the season finale of Master Plan: The Kingmakers, we ask Democratic leaders what the next U.S. president should do with the expanded executive powers that Trump will leave behind. 

Featuring exclusive interviews with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y), Rep. Ro Khanna (Calif.), Sen. Chris Van Hollen (Md.), Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I), Sen. Michael Bennet (Co.), and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.

TRANSCRIPT & BONUS MATERIALS: Click here to read a transcript and to explore bonus archival documents related to the episode.

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A little-known conservative operative spends years figuring out how to bend the machinery of government to a president's will. By the time Donald Trump returns for his second term, a shadow government is ready to seize control.

TRANSCRIPT & BONUS MATERIALS: Click here to read a transcript and to explore archival sources related to the episode.

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Obama vowed to restore the rule of law after the War on Terror. But behind closed doors, his administration created a secret system that allowed the president to decide who lived and who died.

TRANSCRIPT & BONUS MATERIALS: Click here to read a transcript and to explore bonus archival documents related to the episode.

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September 11, 2001 brought chaos and terror to the United States. It also brought an unprecedented opportunity.

After decades of watching what he felt was the erosion of presidential power, Vice President Dick Cheney leveraged a national emergency to shift the balance of power toward the executive branch. We trace Cheney's evolution — from Gerald Ford's chief of staff to George W. Bush's right-hand man — and how his "monarchical" view of the president laid the groundwork for Donald Trump.

TRANSCRIPT & BONUS MATERIALS: Click here to read a transcript and to explore bonus archival documents related to the episode.

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Every crisis creates an opportunity. The final chapters of The Kingmakers reveal the plot to build an all-powerful presidency — and put it in the hands of a man who wants to be king.

Watch the full video trailer on YouTube: [link]. 

Catch up on Episodes 1-4 now. New episodes begin dropping to our premium subscribers in early August. Become a paid member today with this special discount.

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As Trump’s war in Iran approached a critical 60-day deadline, we took a deep dive into the War Powers Resolution, the Nixon-era law designed to limit presidential war-making. But Congress had a little-known weapon to end the war — or any unauthorized war — whenever it wanted. So why had it never used it?

In this special bonus episode of The Kingmakers, David Sirota tells the wild story of how a Kenyan-born immigrant and a Ralph Nader-aligned lawyer unwittingly expanded presidential power — and left Congress believing it was powerless to stop unauthorized wars.

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Rather than retreat from Iran-Contra and other scandals, conservative operatives inside the White House — led by Attorney General Edwin Meese — went on the offensive. Drawing on newly uncovered documents and exclusive interviews, we trace how Meese helped turn a fringe idea into doctrine: that all executive power belongs to the president alone. This is the origin story of the unitary executive theory.

TRANSCRIPT & BONUS MATERIALS: Click here to read a transcript and to explore bonus archival documents related to Episode 4.

🎧 BONUS: Listen to the full Ed Meese interview here.

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Emboldened by a landslide election, the president’s men began to see themselves as 1980s action-movie heroes, willing to break the law to get what they want. The result was the Iran-Contra affair, a secret arms deal that ignited a constitutional crisis. Would Congress roll over and play dead — or actually do something?

TRANSCRIPT & BONUS MATERIALS: Click here to read a transcript and to explore bonus archival documents related to the episode.

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How did Project 2025 take control of the White House? It all began decades ago, when a beer-baron-backed think tank handed President Ronald Reagan an 1,100-page instruction manual for expanding presidential power.

TRANSCRIPT & BONUS MATERIALS: Click here to read a transcript and to explore bonus historical documents related to the episode.

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Before Trump, there was Nixon. His attempts to seize the power of the purse and secretly expand the Vietnam War forged a constitutional crisis, a backlash, and a template for an imperial presidency.

TRANSCRIPT & BONUS MATERIALS: Click here to read a transcript and to explore bonus historical documents related to the episode.

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A new season of Master Plan debuts on March 16.

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