Episode Details

5️⃣ Trump Backs Down on Greenland—Or Does He?

Trump told world leaders at Davos the U.S. “won’t use force” to take Greenland, sparking celebration in Denmark until the next sentence: “I don’t have to take it militarily or by force.” Jacob Kaarsbo, former Danish intelligence officer, urged caution on today’s show. “He can flip again tomorrow,” Kaarsbo warned, noting Trump’s latest Truth Social post walked back the threatened tariffs after an alleged agreement with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. “I think the risk that we’re ending up in an all-out invasion in Greenland in a couple of days is lower now,” Kaarsbo said. Zev pointed out Europe’s unified front preempted Trump’s plans: “If Europe had just snoozed their way through this, he would have invaded and caught everyone by surprise. But Europe, particularly Denmark, put together a really forceful front.” Dean noted Trump confused Greenland with Iceland for “a solid hour” at Davos.

4️⃣ DOGE Leaked Your Social Security Data

A Justice Department filing revealed Elon Musk’s DOGE team improperly shared Social Security data through an unapproved server, and the agency still can’t determine what was compromised or whether it remains on external servers. DOGE employees used Cloudflare for 10 days in March, with Steve Davis—senior adviser to Musk—copied on emails containing personal Social Security info on about 1,000 people. “We suspected this was going on when it was happening,” Dean said. “Sometimes we’re right. This time we were right.” The filing alleges DOGE employees were contacted by a political group seeking voter roll data to overturn election results, with one employee signing a “Voter Data Agreement” that bypassed official channels. “DOGE looked to us like it was just mining data in order to interfere in elections,” Zev explained. “Now here’s some evidence that that is in fact what happened.” Dean connected it to Zev’s earlier reporting: “If you got one, you got 100. If you think they’ve only taken information from Social Security, they’re going through every avenue.”

3️⃣ Supreme Court Skeptical of Trump’s Fed Takeover

The Supreme Court heard arguments on Trump’s attempt to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook, and justices across the ideological spectrum expressed serious skepticism. Brett Kavanaugh said Trump’s position would “weaken if not shatter the independence of the Federal Reserve,” warning it “incentivizes a president to come up with trivial or inconsequential or old allegations that are very difficult to disprove—sort of the search and destroy, no process, nothing, you’re done.” Even conservative Justice Alito questioned why they’re “rushing such a huge case,” while Sotomayor said Fed independence “is harmed if we decide these issues too quickly.” Dean noted the context: “Trump just launched a criminal probe of Powell himself earlier this month. Over a building renovation. Makes it pretty obvious this is about controlling Fed policy, not about any actual wrongdoing.” Zev added, “It looks like Lisa Cook will keep her job, which is a good thing for the Fed and for everybody, really.”

2️⃣ Trump Calls Minnesotans “Stupid People”

Trump specifically singled out Minnesota at Davos, saying ICE gets beat up by “stupid people” who don’t appreciate federal help, even as ICE presence surged in Minneapolis and the City Council introduced an ordinance banning use of city property for ICE staging. “When you’re calling your own residents and your own citizens stupid, but it’s your federal agents that are shooting people and tear gassing people, it just says everything you need to know about this guy,” Zev said. Dean revealed the numbers: Out of 4,000 detainments and arrests in Minneapolis, only 24 were criminal illegal aliens. “Not 2,400. Twenty-four.” Zev called it engineered reality: “The intention is so clearly to rile people up. It’s all designed for the very wrong purpose.” Dean added that at Davos, Trump “completely gaslit, c