By Ben Meiselas
Hi all, Ben here.
Before I dive into the news, I have an important announcement just for you: Tomorrow we are recording a special town hall with some of the nation’s top attorneys general — and we want them to answer YOUR questions!
The town hall will feature:
California Attorney General Rob Bonta
Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul
Record your question on video (a quick phone or computer recording is perfect) and upload it HERE for a chance to be featured.
Please keep your question under one minute, and feel free to address it to a specific attorney general or to the group as a whole.
Additionally, I want to thank everyone again who has reached out with words of support for our on-the-ground coverage of the ICE protests in Minneapolis with our partners at Status Coup. Yesterday, the team documented ICE agents throwing flash-bang grenades at peaceful protesters and launching chemical gas into residential neighborhoods. Your support is the only reason we can be out there witnessing and reporting what is really happening on the ground. We do not take that for granted.
Now to the news.
This Wednesday afternoon brings yet another cascade of destabilizing decisions and deranged threats from Donald Trump. No nation is safe from the chaos happening in the United States right now. The chaos is global, it is domestic, and it is accelerating.
On the eve of a critical diplomatic meeting with Danish and Greenlandic officials, Trump’s chosen nominee for U.S. Ambassador to Iceland, former Representative Billy Long, “joked” on the House floor that Iceland will become the 52nd state and he will become the governor. That was how it was described by reporters last night. There is nothing about that statement that signals a joke. It’s a threat, delivered by the very person Trump wants representing the United States in Reykjavik. And it comes on top of Trump’s public insistence that the United States must seize Greenland for “national security.”
When I say this is unhinged conduct, it is not hyperbole. Here is what Trump posted this morning about Greenland:
“The United States needs Greenland for the purpose of National Security. It is vital for the Golden Dome that we are building. NATO should be leading the way for us to get it. IF WE DON’T, RUSSIA OR CHINA WILL, AND THAT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN! Militarily, without the vast power of the United States, much of which I built during my first term, and am now bringing to a new and even higher level, NATO would not be an effective force or deterrent - Not even close! They know that, and so do I. NATO becomes far more formidable and effective with Greenland in the hands of the UNITED STATES.
Anything less than that is unacceptable. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DJT”
None of it resembles actual policy, but rather a dictator’s impulse to seize territory.
For anyone who needs a reminder: Greenland is already defended by NATO. The United States already has a military air base there with full cooperation from Denmark. If China or Russia attacked Greenland, the United States would automatically defend it. That is what Article 5 means. That is how alliances work. Trump either does not know this or does not care. And both possibilities are equally dangerous.
The consequences of Trump’s fantasies are not theoretical. France has already announced it will open a new consulate in Greenland to counter what it calls “the expansionist ambitions expressed by the United States president.” France is preparing diplomatic and military contingencies to defend Greenland from the United States. There is now a bill moving through Congress called the Save NATO Act, designed to prevent Trump from ordering an invasion of a NATO ally. That is where we are.
And while Trump indulges in fascist fantasies about conquering the Arctic, the American people are struggling. Foreclosures are up between 23 and 25 percent year over year. Credit card delinquencies are near record highs. Grocery prices in the U.S. just saw the largest one-month spike in more than three years. Millions are living paycheck to paycheck, if they are lucky enough to have a paycheck. Trump’s priorities are explicit: he wants endless conflict abroad and endless cruelty at home.
Canada, which Trump has repeatedly threatened, is now realigning its trade strategy. Prime Minister Carney is on a four-day visit to China strengthening economic ties. China may now expand its electric vehicle exports into Canada and remove trade barriers on Canadian agricultural goods. Canada is preparing for a world in which the United States is no longer a partner.
This has real consequences for American workers. If Canada floods its market with Chinese EVs, American automakers will get crushed. Trump is already insulting and flipping off auto workers, as he did in Detroit yesterday when a factory worker yelled “pedophile protector” from 60 feet away. Trump responded by cursing him out and giving him the middle finger. Imagine the coverage if a Democratic president flipped off and cursed out an autoworker! The United Auto Workers union released a statement today, saying it will ensure the worker receives full contractual protections and condemned Trump’s behavior.
Corporate media continues to fail in spectacular fashion. CBS News published a “breaking news” alert this morning claiming that the ICE agent who killed Renee Good suffered “internal bleeding to the torso” because that’s what two anonymous Trump regime officials told them. The video we all witnessed shows no such thing. It is pure stenography of regime propaganda. It’s why we need independent media now more than ever.
Meanwhile, the administration is now so debilitated in the Middle East that European officials say Trump has been begging allies for intelligence to conduct strikes against Iran, because U.S. military assets were redeployed to the Caribbean to support Trump’s ongoing operations in Venezuela. All while Trump is threatening to invade Greenland. And we’re now learning that United States has begun the process of evacuating hundreds of troops from Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, the largest air base in the Middle East, ahead of potential military action against Iran. It’s endless chaos.
And the assault on democratic institutions continues at home. The FBI executed a search warrant at the home of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson, whose reporting has been indispensable for exposing the purge inside federal agencies. Agents seized her phone, her laptops, and even her smartwatch. They claim she is “not a target” but admit she communicated with a government contractor who provided classified information. That is reporting. Searching a journalist’s home is an attack on the free press. This is simply not done in democratic countries.
Finally, MAGA Mike Johnson went on television today to defend ICE’s conduct in Minnesota, claiming they are simply “doing immigration and customs enforcement.” That is a lie. What they are doing is terrorizing neighborhoods, firing munitions at peaceful protesters, and attacking schools, hospitals, and community centers. This is state violence, not law enforcement. And this is the same Mike Johnson who has lied about everything, led the cover-up over the Epstein Files, and recently claimed there’s no evidence the U.S. Department of Justice is being weaponized against Trump’s political opponents.
Thank you again for supporting this work and making sure the truth is documented.
Here are some other stories we’re tracking:
THE WAR ON LEGAL IMMIGRATION CONTINUES: The Trump regime has indefinitely suspended all visa processing for 75 countries — 38% of the world — including major nations like Brazil, claiming migrants from those countries “take welfare from the American people.”
The GoFundMe for the Ford autoworker who called Trump a “pedophile protector” has already exceeded $300,000.
The Supreme Court released several decisions today but has still not ruled on Trump’s tariff case.
Senator Elissa Slotkin says she is now under federal criminal investigation for appearing in a video urging service members to remember their oath and refuse illegal orders.
Drop your thoughts in the comments, and remember to submit your video for our town hall with the AGs!
