Why Trump Is Obsessed with Passing the SAVE America Act

Steve Hayes is joined by Jonah Goldberg, Mike Warren, and John McCormack to discuss Donald Trump’s obsessive push for the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act and his resulting battle with Republican leadership in Congress. The Agenda: —Is the SAVE America Act 4-D chess? —Mike Lee’s suck-up strategy —Trump in the 2028 GOP primaries —Will the SAVE America Act go anywhere? —NWYT: The Odyssey and a return to theater-going Show notes: Steve Hayes is CEO and editor of The Dispatch, based in Annapolis, Maryland. Prior to co-founding the company in 2019, he worked at The Weekly Standard for 18 years, covering Washington, politics, and national security. Steve is the author of two New York Times bestsellers. He also worked as a contributor at CNN and Fox News, and currently serves as a political analyst at NBC News. When Steve is not focused on The Dispatch, he’s probably traveling with his family, grilling, or riding his mountain bike. Jonah Goldberg is editor-in-chief and co-founder of The Dispatch, based in Washington, D.C. Prior to that, enormous lizards roamed the Earth. More immediately prior to that, Jonah spent two decades at National Review, where he was a senior editor, among other things. He is also a bestselling author, longtime columnist for the Los Angeles Times, commentator for CNN, and a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. When he is not writing the G-File or hosting The Remnant podcast, he finds real joy in family time, attending to his dogs and cat, and blaming Steve Hayes for various things. Michael Warren is a politics editor at The Dispatch and is based in Washington, D.C. Prior to joining the company in 2023, he was an on-air reporter at CNN and a senior writer at the Weekly Standard. When Mike is not reporting, writing, editing, and podcasting, he is probably spending time with his wife and three sons. John McCormack is a senior editor at The Dispatch and is based in Washington, D.C. Prior to joining the company in 2023, he was Washington correspondent at National Review and a senior writer at The Weekly Standard. When John is not reporting on politics and policy, he is probably enjoying life with his wife and daughters in northern Virginia or having fun visiting family in Wisconsin. The podcast transcription below was generated using artificial intelligence and may include occasional errors or misspellings. Steve Hayes 0:00 [upbeat music] Welcome to The Dispatch Podcast. I'm Steve Hayes. On today's roundtable, we look at Donald Trump's obsession with passing the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, also known as the SAVE Act. Is this obsession part of some 4D chess play, a multi-step plan to meddle in the 2026 midterms, an attempt to stay in office in 2028, or just a petty legislative tantrum resulting from his loss in 2020? Then we consider how the showdown between Trump and Senate Republicans may play out between now and the midterms. And finally, not worth your time, Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey and the revival of theatergoing. I'm joined today by The Dispatch's editor-in-chief, Jonah Goldberg, politics editor Mike Warren, and senior editor Jon McCormack. Let's dive in. Steve Hayes 0:59 [upbeat music] Steve Hayes 1:08 Gentlemen, I want to spend some time today on the SAVE Act, the Save America Act, or whatever we're calling it now. It's gone through many different iterations. It's included many different provisions. It is now the source of what is really erupting as a major Steve Hayes 1:28 split between Donald Trump and MAGA world on the one hand, and many Senate Republicans on the other, but in particular, Senate Majority Leader John Thune. Donald Trump tweeted on Monday morning Steve Hayes 1:46 saying, or, or truth socialed on Monday morning- Interactive transcripts are available to Premium members. Join to follow along with the audio. Join Now More We Think You’d Like