Podcast · ms.now
The Briefing with Jen Psaki
MS NOW, Jen Psaki
Jen Psaki tackles the biggest issues of the week and features one-on-one interviews with newsmakers.
90 claims
True70% confidence5 sourcesSep 24, 2026The Washington Post obtained early ballroom designs for a project involving Donald Trump.Said by AThe Washington Post reported on September 23, 2026 that it obtained early White House ballroom designs with Trump's handwritten Sharpie markups, and several outlets reprinted or summarized that reporting. The claim matches the passage, which refers to the same Post report. Coverage traces back to the Post itself, so confidence is capped.True65% confidence9 sourcesSep 24, 2026Donald Trump's first ballroom architect left the project after warning that design demands created safety hazards.Said by AThe Washington Post reported that James McCrery II, the first ballroom architect, left the project after repeatedly warning that Trump's designs lacked adequate emergency exits and fire containment, and the other outlets trace back to that reporting. The White House disputes that the code concerns were the reason he left, and the claim drops the 'according to The Post' attribution, but no independent source contradicts the core assertion.Reported in the post, not stated as its own.True65% confidence7 sourcesSep 24, 2026Donald Trump claimed 'I am the code' in response to an architect's concerns about building safety codes.Said by AMultiple outlets (Mother Jones, The Independent, The Real Deal, Political Wire, Yahoo, Daily Kos) report that Trump told architect James McCrery II 'I am the code' when McCrery raised fire and safety code concerns, all citing a Washington Post investigation. The claim's wording matches the passage, but the attribution rests on the Post's anonymous sources, and the White House denies that the concerns were the reason McCrery left.Reported in the post, not stated as its own.True88% confidence7 sourcesSep 24, 2026Donald Trump planned a vanity arch that would double as a military complex housing drones, ammunition, staff, and snipers.Said by ATrump's September 20, 2026 Truth Social post said he had agreed, at the military's request, to convert the triumphal arch into a 'top grade Military Complex' to house and store drones and sniper ammunition and to host snipers, and multiple tier1 outlets (PolitiFact, Reuters, Military Times, AP) report it, so the claim was true as of 2026-09-24. The sources do not mention 'staff', a peripheral detail that the post itself includes and that no source contradicts. Later Interior Department documents (October 19) omit the military complex from the plans, but that is a later change and does not make the September claim false.True92% confidence6 sourcesSep 24, 2026Jamie Raskin served as a constitutional law professor for over two decades.Said by AMultiple primary and institutional sources state Raskin taught constitutional law for more than 25 years at American University's Washington College of Law, which matches the claim's 'over two decades.' The extraction is faithful to the passage, and the claim is supported.True85% confidence5 sourcesSep 24, 2026Virginia Congressman Don Beyer called Donald Trump's plan for a vanity arch stupid, dangerous, and unworkable.Said by AReuters, a tier1 source, reports that Rep. Don Beyer called Trump's plan to base military drones and snipers at the proposed triumphal arch "stupid, dangerous, and unworkable," and the Alexandria Brief and The Independent quote him using the same words. The claim's "vanity arch" wording describes the arch project itself, which Beyer also called a vanity project, so it does not change the verdict; the quoted criticism is aimed at the drone plan for the arch.Reported in the post, not stated as its own.True90% confidence7 sourcesSep 24, 2026The Constitution of the United States does not contain a martial law provision.Said by 3CThe claim matches the post's own wording and is supported: multiple sources state the Constitution does not mention or define martial law, including a quoted 1946 Supreme Court statement. The Congress.gov annotation notes courts have recognized wartime martial law as an implied power, which is a matter of interpretation rather than a constitutional provision.True80% confidence6 sourcesSep 24, 2026Only Congress has the authority to suspend habeas corpus in an emergency.Said by 3CMultiple sources state that only Congress can suspend habeas corpus, including a primary Cornell Law text, a Fordham law review, and the Brennan Center, and the claim's "in an emergency" wording tracks the Suspension Clause's rebellion-or-invasion condition. The Library of Congress notes the Clause does not expressly name the suspending body, and Lincoln's 1861 unilateral suspension is a historical exception that courts did not uphold, so these are context rather than contradiction.True68% confidence6 sourcesSep 24, 2026A group of Donald Trump's outside advisors have been pushing him to declare martial law to take over the midterm elections.Said by AThe Atlantic's September 23, 2026 report, which the claim attributes, states that outside advisers such as attorney Peter Ticktin were urging Trump to seize control of the midterm elections, with martial law as a stated scenario. Secondary outlets repeat the report, and a September 27 article notes no official step toward martial law had followed, but the claim's central assertion is supported as of 2026-09-24.Reported in the post, not stated as its own.True68% confidence7 sourcesSep 24, 2026Congress has not suspended habeas corpus.Said by 3CAs of 2026-09-24, sources show Congress had not suspended habeas corpus in the current situation: Lawfare (Sept 2026) says Trump 'has yet to suspend habeas,' and reporting on the Stephen Miller proposal says the idea was nixed and never enacted. The claim's extraction is faithful to the post's 'Congress hasn't done it,' but the Fordham source notes Grant's 1871 suspension was made under congressional authorization, so the claim holds only for the present period, not as an unqualified historical statement.True60% confidence4 sourcesSep 24, 2026Donald Trump previously banned a member of the news media from the White House following a midterm election.The claim's referent is Trump's first-term attempt to ban CNN's Jim Acosta by revoking his credentials after a contentious news conference about the 2018 midterm elections, which the sources place after that midterm. Only two sources (the same article syndicated by The Conversation and the Daily Gazette) address this, so confidence is moderate, and the sources describe it as an attempt to ban rather than a completed ban.True85% confidence7 sourcesSep 24, 2026Republicans in Congress have repeatedly voted against War Powers resolutions regarding the war in Iran.Said by 3CMultiple reliable sources show Republicans, as a majority, repeatedly voted against Iran war powers resolutions: the Senate has held 14 votes and passed only twice, mostly on party lines, and the House has held six. Some Republicans (Collins, Murkowski, Paul, Tillis, and in the House seven GOP members in one vote) broke with the party, so the claim holds as a majority pattern rather than a unanimous one.