The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 3.24 The Trump Team Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plan Situation is Crazy, AOC Will Win Dem Civil War, &

Episode Date: March 24, 2025

This one of the craziest group chat leaks ever… Go to http://vessi.com/pds  for 15% off your first order. JUST DROPPED 5 NEW TEES FOR YOU @ https://BeautifulBastard.com Use Code “PDS15” for 15% OFF! Subscribe for New shows every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday @ 6pm ET/3pm PST & watch more here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zhohbHTONY&list=PLHcsGizlfLMWpSg7i0b9wnUyEZWI-25N3&index=1   – ✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩ – 00:00 - Trump Admin. Accidentally Included Reporter in Group Chat with War Plans 4:27 - Schumer Refuses to Step Down Amid Pressure, Some Want AOC to Replace Him 10:35 - Washington Post Reports IRS Expects People to Skip Paying Taxes This Year 12:24 - Sponsored by Vessi 13:23 - The Trump Admin Is Revoking Protection for 530,000 Immigrants 21:31 - Canada’s New Prime Minister Calls Snap Election as Liberal’s Popularity Rebounds 23:50 - Report Shows Kindness Makes People Happier than a Higher Salary 26:57 - Comment Commentary  Legal Eagle Venezuela Deportation Video: https://youtu.be/Vvv0_aVTzlI?si=rtpKeMV_m2ZKj0Sq&list=PLHcsGizlfLMWpSg7i0b9wnUyEZWI-25N3&index=1 World Happiness Report:  https://worldhappiness.report/ ——————————   Produced by: Cory Ray Edited by: James Girardier, Maxwell Enright, Julie Goldberg, Christian Meeks, Matthew Henry Art Department: William Crespo Writing/Research: Philip DeFranco, Brian Espinoza, Lili Stenn, Maddie Crichton, Chris Tolve, Star Pralle, Jared Paolino  ———————————— For more Philip DeFranco: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-philip-defranco-show/id1278424954 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6ESemquRbz6f8XLVywdZ2V Twitter:   https://x.com/PhillyD Instagram:   https://instagram.com/PhillyDeFranco Newsletter: https://www.dailydip.co TikTok:   https://www.tiktok.com/@philipdefranco?lang=en ———————————— #DeFranco #AOC #DonaldTrump ———————————— Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What's better than a well-marbled ribeye sizzling on the barbecue? A well-marbled ribeye sizzling on the barbecue that was carefully selected by an Instacart shopper and delivered to your door. A well-marbled ribeye you ordered without even leaving the kiddie pool. Whatever groceries your summer calls for, Instacart has you covered. Download the Instacart app and enjoy $0 delivery fees on your first three orders. Service fees, exclusions, and terms apply. Instacart. Grocer $0 delivery fees on your first three orders. Service fees, exclusions, and terms apply. Instacart, groceries that over-deliver. Donald Trump's top team, including Pete Hegseth, J.D. Vance, Mike Waltz, and Marco Rubio, accidentally added a journalist to a secret

military strike group chat detailing targets, weapons, and attack sequencing for an attack hours before it happened in what has been described as one of the most egregious failures of operational security and common sense ever seen. You've got three huge pieces of immigration news, including Trump to strip legal status from 532,000 migrants living in the United States and the impact we're already seeing from his crackdown. AOC is already out there

and could be the biggest winner of a Democrat civil war we're seeing just start. And then a positive news story to keep you sane. We're talking about all that and much more on today's brand new Philip DeFranco show. You daily dive into the news, how it's being covered, and how people are reacting to it. But first, I've got a quick announcement for you,

and that is we have a brand new drop for you over at beautifulbastard.com right now. Starting with the brand new Beautiful Bastards Club tees and hoodies. Been a lot of requests from people just wanting to rep the brand, so boom, here you go. And light and dark colorways. Along with our new emotionally exhausted floral gear,

as well as the unfolding of the are you taking care of yourself tease from like three years ago. And finally, over the last two weeks, there's been a lot of yelling at me to release a we are stronger together line, and so we did it. So go snag anything and everything you want,

including our best sellers this year over at beautifulbastard.com, and just use code PDS15 to get 15% off. But like I said, there is a lot to talk about today, starting with this. This news story we're seeing right now is absolutely insane. For instance, the Trump administration, and to be clear, reportedly we are not talking staffers,

we are talking J.D. Vance, Hegseth, Waltz, Rubio, and Ratcliffe. They accidentally added the editor of The Atlantic to a signal group and then actively debated striking the Houthis and then put America's war plans in the chat. And on this text chain, they reportedly revealed the identity of CIA agents

and shared classified information on the U.S. military. With it appearing that J.D. Vance criticized Trump's foreign policy in the group chat, not on the grounds that isolationism is a mistake, but that we're not isolationist enough. Then, Hegseth reportedly posted operational details on forthcoming strikes on Yemen, including information about targets,

weapons the U.S. would be deploying, and attack sequencing. To which Vance replied, "'I will say a prayer for victory,' and then two other officials adding prayer emojis." And after the strikes ended, they all hit up the group chat congratulating Pete on a job well done, including Marco Rubio,

who is apparently a double exclamation point guy. With the editor then leaving the chat, and the White House has confirmed that the text chain is real and that the editor was not added on purpose. But also trying to downplay the impact, adding that the ongoing success of the Houthi operation demonstrates that there were no threats

to our service members or our national security. But notably, The Atlantic says that Waltz, the national security advisor, may have still violated the Espionage Act by doing this. And lawyers for the publication say that officials are not authorized to discuss classified information on Signal and are only supposed to use skiffs for this.

With the main reason being, what if their phones were stolen or if they had lost it, right? What if their phones were hacked? And this is the other crime Waltz may have violated is the Federal Records Act, right? Because he set the messages in Signal to disappear after a week. With the law calling for text messages about official acts to be considered records that should be preserved, which is unsurprisingly why we saw reporters grilling Trump on this today. Though, according to Trump, he did not know about the chat or the situation at all until this line of questioning.

I don't know anything about it. I'm not a big fan of the Atlantic. It's to me, it's a magazine that's going out of business. I think it's not much of a magazine, but I know nothing about it. You're saying that they had what they were using signal to coordinate on sensitive materials and having to do with what? Having to do with what? What were they talking about? The Houthis. The Houthis? You mean the attack on the Houthis? Well, it couldn't have been very effective

because the attack was very effective. I can tell you that. I don't know anything about it. Meanwhile, you had a spokesperson for Vance trying to clear up any rumor that the vice president is at odds with Trump, saying, Vice President Vance unequivocally supports

this administration's foreign policy. The president and the vice president have had subsequent conversations about this matter and are in complete agreement. And then, you know, with all this craziness, the story's been blowing up online. We've seen people condemning Rubio because he previously called Hillary Clinton irresponsible for using a private email server. The likes of Tim Wall is just saying Pete Hegseth texting out war plans like invites to a frat party.

And Elizabeth Warren asking what other highly sensitive national security conversations are happening over group chat? Any other random people accidentally added to those too? You then also had Senate Armed Service ranking member Jack Reed calling the breach of true one of the most egregious failures of operational security and common sense I have ever seen. And while all of this is still developing

and reactions are still coming in, I mean, we've even seen some GOP members kind of concerned with, for example, Senator John Cornyn saying the whole incident sounds like a huge screw up. I mean, is there any other way to describe it? But then also telling reporters that he hoped that the intelligence community would look into this. And on top of all that, he added a journalist to a chat

with classified information. So one, yikes. Two, we'll keep our eyes open to see what happens next. And three, I'd love to know your thoughts here. Then from that, we gotta talk about how there is a war going on inside of the Democratic Party right now. And both sides think of the fate of our country as at stake. Or with one of the things we're seeing being Senate Minority Leader Chuck

Schumer coming under attack from both progressives and moderates over the weekend for what they say was his surrender to the GOP. And that, of course, because he cleared the way for a short-term spending measure known as a continuing resolution to pass last week, keeping the government funded through the end of September. A move which provoked uproar and outrage from some within his own party who thought he should have used the filibuster to demand concessions from the other party. With even former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi still backing Schumer as Senate leader, but also criticizing his decision. I myself don't give away anything for nothing. And I think that's what happened the other day. We could have, in my view, perhaps gotten them to agree to a third way. They may not have agreed to it,

but at least the public would have seen they're not agreeing to it. And although Schumer still enjoys public backing in the Senate, some House Democrats, as well as outside groups, have reportedly been pushing for a new leader, arguing that eight years is enough. Schumer needs to step down, just like Biden did

when voters lost confidence in him, and pass the torch to someone more aggressive. But with that, you had Schumer defending himself over the weekend, claiming that the Democrats had no leverage to negotiate any concessions and telling NBC's meet the press. Look, I'm not stepping down. The CR was certainly bad, you know,

the continuing resolution, but a shutdown would be 15 or 20 times worse. And the courts have ruled it's solely up to the executive what to shut down. With Musk and Doge and Trump and this guy vote, they would eviscerate the federal government. On day two, they could say, oh, snap, feeding hungry children, not essential. On day four, mass transit, all transit to aid to the states, not essential. We're cutting it. On day six, Medicaid, we'll cut that by 20, 30,

50, 80 percent. We'll go after Social Security. We'll go after the veterans. And one senator, Republican, told a Democratic senator, colleague of mine, and this guy is close, this Republican senator is close to the Doge Musk people. They would keep the government shut down for six months, nine months, a year, till everyone was furloughed and gone and quit, and there'd be no way to stop it. With Schumer then going on to say that he and the party are working to expose how bad Trump's policies are through oversight hearings,

the courts, legislation, and organizing across the country so that by 2026, congressional Republicans will realize that they're rats on a sinking ship. But notably, you have critics arguing that the actual merits of Schumer's vote are irrelevant because he's not just the leader of his Senate colleagues, he's also a leader for Democrats across the country. In saying that, if he can't stir up the kind of feeling

that people need to mobilize against the Republicans, then the party needs someone else who can rise to the needs of this moment. Or maybe someone younger, more progressive, more inspiring, basically someone like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. With AOC's name reportedly getting tossed around behind closed doors as well as in public. With the scene, for example,

progressive representative Ro Khanna being asked during CNN State of the Union on Sunday, whether AOC should primary Schumer when his seat's up for reelection in 2028. I haven't talked to her directly, but I think it's for her. But here's what I will say. The American people are fed up with the old guard.

There needs to be a renewal. You know, in Silicon Valley, when a company isn't doing well, you don't keep the old guard. There needs to be a renewal. You know, in Silicon Valley, when a company isn't doing well, you don't keep the same team. And I think there's going to be a new generation in this country. They wanna see a more compelling economic message. And while, you know, AOC herself

hasn't revealed her own feelings about a Senate run, she notably just concluded a fighting oligarchy tour across Nevada, Colorado, and Arizona. But they're delivering viral, electric speeches alongside Bernie Sanders, who's now 83 years old and still breathing fire at these rallies. We don't want a king in the United States. We overthrow a king. No, you're not going to destroy Social Security. You're not going to destroy Medicaid. You're not going to destroy the Veterans Administration.

And I'll tell you what else you're not going to do. We're not going to destroy the Veterans Administration. And I'll tell you what else you're not going to do. We're not going to let you undermine the democracy that men and women in this country have fought and died for. This isn't just about Republicans either. We need a Democratic Party that fights harder for us too. Sanders notably saying there's stop in Denver drew a crowd of 32,000 people, bigger than he's ever seen before. And it's not even an election year. But also with this, Sanders told ABC that this tour

wasn't just about whipping up excitement. It also had a strategic objective. With him explaining that they deliberately targeted states where Republican lawmakers won by thin margins in an attempt to put pressure on those congressional districts. Right, and adding there that if just two or three Republicans feel the heat

and revoke their support for the GOP budget plan, then that could sink the whole thing. With Bernie then also sharply criticizing the Democrats, Chuck Schumer, and his decision to support the spending measure last week, but stopping short of endorsing a primary challenge against him. And in fact, when he was asked about it,

first he cut off the interviewer right in the middle of his question. Do you see her as a future of the progressive? We have one of the untold stories. And then after getting pressed a second time, he just walked out of his question. Do you see her as a future of the progressive? We have one of the untold stories. And then after getting pressed a second time, he just walked out of the interview. Would you like to see her join in the Senate? Right now we have, as I said,

just a whole lot of people in the Congress. Okay, Jonathan, thanks. Wait, I got one more. I got one more. This is important. Well, I asked you, okay, you know, you want to do nonsense, do nonsense. No, I don't want to talk about inside the beltway stuff.

I got 32,000 people. I was just asking you about AOC. You know, with all this, while of course the Democrats still have a few years before the next presidential election to figure out, you know, how or whether they want to shake up the party leadership, we're already seeing the waters getting tested with, for example, a new morning consult poll of Democrats and Democrat-leaning independents eligible to vote in the 2028 primaries happening. The number one pick by far was Kamala Harris with support from 36% of respondents, Pete Buttigieg coming in second at just 10%, followed by AOC, Tim Walz, and Gavin Newsom,

all of whom got 5%. Again, you know, that's one poll. There's so much time, even just before the midterms, and then obviously even further, the presidential race. So new leaders could rise, old ones could fall. Everything's up in the air right now. And what I will say here, that was the news. This part's my opinion.

If the goal for the Democrats is to lose in 2026 and 28, they should just do more of the same. You know, against the people going Chuck Schumer, baby. Also, when I say go, and I mean probably leaving the party. I mean, there was a recent opinion poll you might've seen from NBC. Only 27% of voters had a positive view of Democrats. That's reportedly the lowest it's been

since they began that polling in 1990. You know, call me crazy for this, but it feels like there's a message there. Then shifting gears from that, we start with the question, can you get away with not paying your taxes this season? That'll be incredibly clear. I am not suggesting you break the law. I am a paranoid rule follower

who pays his taxes four times a year. But today that question is a relevant one because many people apparently think they can. With us now seeing the Washington Post reporting that the IRS has noticed an uptick in online chatter about individuals declaring their intent not to pay taxes this year, as well as intent to skip paying outstanding balances

and to aggressively claim credits and deductions that they're not eligible for. Right in all of this, according to three people with knowledge of tax projections who say the taxpayers are gambling that they won't get caught by auditors. And the most obvious reason they think this is because of Doge,

or because Donald Trump's IRS has already dismissed more than 11,000 workers and has moved to fire nearly 20,000 in total. And this is two agency commissioners have quit so far under his leadership as well as the head of compliance. And then also in Congress recently, Republicans repealed over $20 billion

in resources for the agency. And so according to several of the post sources, the IRS has dropped investigations of high value corporations and taxpayers because it's had to triage resources to keep internal systems operating. And of course, if they can't enforce it, then the law becomes more of a suggestion

than an obligation. And so reportedly, Treasury Department and IRS officials are projecting tax revenue to plummet more than 10% by the April 15th deadline, leaving a more than $500 billion hole in the balance sheet. Which you know is shocking on its own, but even more so considering that officials reportedly entered the filing season

expecting to collect more revenue than last year. And it's also ironic because if the government ends up collecting less tax revenue, then it has to make up the difference by borrowing more money, which increases the deficit, something that Republicans claim to oppose. Though technically they could also bridge the gap by cutting spending even more,

but even with the huge cuts in their current budget plan, the deficit's still projected to increase, not decrease. You know, ultimately, we're gonna have to wait for the receipts to finish coming in this year before we see what actually happens, right? Before there is a verdict on tax compliance under the second Trump term. And then I've got more news for you in just a moment. But first, you know, life's unpredictable. Whether it's a coffee spill, a surprise storm, or a puddle in your path, you need a shoe that won't slow you down. And so with that, let me ask, do you have a pair of Vessi's weekend sneakers yet? Because thanks to our sponsor, Vessi, they offer shoes and apparel designed to bring more yes into your life. You know,

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to Vessi.com slash PDS and get an automatic 15% off your first order at checkout. It's Vessi.com slash PDS. Get them now while they still have your size. But then next up today, we got to talk about this immigration news. Starting with one, the Trump administration's latest efforts to undermine legal and rights-based challenges to his agenda. Two, some of the latest ways in which it's aiming to get rid of both undocumented and documented immigrants in the country, and three, some of the side effects that we may end up seeing as a result of the administration's actions on immigration. But starting with number one, Trump has signed a memo threatening new actions against lawyers and law firms that, in his view, unfairly challenges administration's immigration and other policies. And with that, I will also say that he's already targeted individual law firms

by suspending security clearances and ending federal contracts. But then also, this new memo seemingly threatens similar punishments for any lawyer or firm who gets on his bad side, with him seeking to justify this directive by claiming, quote, misconduct by lawyers and law firms threatens the country's national security, homeland security, public safety, or election integrity. And notably, above all else,

emphasizing the issue of immigration, claiming that the immigration system is, quote, "'replete with examples of unscrupulous behavior by attorneys and law firms.'" With Trump also baselessly arguing that rampant fraud and meritless claims have kept him from exercising his lawful presidential power in this domain. And with that, the memo directs the heads of the DOJ and DHS

to seek sanctions against attorneys and law firms who engage in, quote, frivolous, unreasonable, and vexatious litigation against the United States, with the possible punitive measures, including but not limited to reassessing security clearances and terminating any contract for which the relevant attorney or law firm has been hired to perform services. So in response to that,

you have the likes of one senior ACLU lawyer claiming the new directive aims to chill and intimidate lawyers who challenge the president's agenda and going on to say, courts have been the only institution so far that have stood up to Trump's onslaught. But noting courts can't play that role without lawyers bringing cases in front of them. And then adding to that, you have another civil rights lawyer and former DOJ official arguing that Trump's memo attacks the very foundations of our legal system by threatening and intimidating litigants who aim to hold our government accountable

to the law and the constitution. And a key thing with that is it's not the only action that the Trump administration has taken to remove obstacles to the implementation of its immigration agenda. Right in there, what I'm talking about is it recently gutted three watchdog agencies within the Department of Homeland Security,

including the Civil Rights Branch, an office overseeing immigration detention, and an office investigating the administration's legal immigration policies with a DHS spokesperson claiming, these offices have obstructed immigration enforcement by adding bureaucratic hurdles and undermining DHS's mission. Rather than supporting law enforcement efforts, they often function as internal adversaries that slow down operations. But there, with that, we've seen a former civil rights office worker and ICE chief of staff under

Biden claiming that the move is actually a demonstration of the administration's total contempt of any checks on their power. And adding that it is a clear message that civil rights, civil liberties, and privacy do not matter to this administration. But with that said, moving on to part two, to start, the Trump administration may soon have a whole new way to find

and deport undocumented immigrants. And that is because the IRS is reportedly nearing a deal with DHS to help locate migrants suspected of being in the U.S. illegally. Because you see, more than half of the roughly 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S., they file tax returns. But normally, all that information,

including even names and addresses, that's considered highly confidential. But it can only be shared with other federal law enforcement outside the agency under certain limited conditions, and typically with approval from a court. With the idea that this sensitive information would be shared for the purpose

of immigration enforcement being described as unusual, if not unprecedented. And in fact, with that, the proposed deal has reportedly alarmed career officials at the IRS with one former official telling the Washington Post, "'It is a complete betrayal of 30 years "'of the government telling immigrants "'to file their taxes.'" Now with that, I will say it's reportedly not the case

that ICE would have free reign with this data. Right, its access would reportedly be limited to confirming information about immigrants with final removal orders. You know what I'm saying? That basically ICE could hand over names and addresses of suspected undocumented immigrants to the IRS, which would then cross-reference the information

with its confidential taxpayer databases to let them know if it was right. But even with that, right, if this deal goes through, it's a massive shift from even just a few weeks ago, because that is when the agency's then leadership first rejected a DHS request for the names and contact information of 700,000 people suspected of being in the country illegally.

But of course, since then, the agency's leadership has changed. The acting commissioner resigned and his successor quickly showed an interest in working with DHS. And then you had the administration kicking out the agency's top lawyer who had voiced opposition to attempts

to share taxpayer data across agencies. And then of course the new guy, he's on board. You know, with all that, that's a move aimed at finding people in the country who aren't technically allowed to be here. But as we've been seeing more and more, even those who are maybe a target of the Trump administration.

Or with some of the big news there being that the Trump administration is moving ahead with plans to revoke the temporary legal status of more than a half a million migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. You know, in doing so, ending Biden era parole programs designed to reduce unauthorized immigration by offering a legal immigration pathway.

Now to be clear with that, these were temporary programs with migrants required to apply online, go through background checks, and have a financial sponsor. And if accepted, they were told they'd be allowed to stay in the US for up to two years, and they would also be allowed to work in the country. But now, no matter when they arrive, they'll lose their legal status on April 24th,

with the seeing officials urging them to use the newly repurposed CBP Home smartphone app to register for self deportation. And this is UFDHS claiming it'll seek their arrest and deportation if they fail to leave in the next 30 days. So this is a big thing is that you have the department also noting that those who have quote, obtained a lawful immigration status or other basis

that permits them to remain in the United States are not required to depart. But in any case, with that, the move is just making good on past promises and a day one executive order. We've already seen Trump follow through by moving to end other legal pathways, allowing in migrants from countries,

including Ukraine and Afghanistan. In fact, with that, we saw the administration reportedly still considering whether to cancel the temporary legal status of some 240,000 Ukrainians who fled to the US following Russia's invasion. And really beyond that in general, we're seemingly seeing the focus of Trump's immigration crackdown expanding

to include other legal immigrants as well as even tourists. There's the ongoing case of Mahmoud Khalil, a permanent resident detained in connection with his pro-Palestinian activism. With the latest update there being that the Trump administration is now accusing him of having withheld information when he applied for his green card.

There's also been cases involving academics with valid visas working at Brown University and Georgetown, and then there's been German, British, and Canadian citizens who have been detained for days or even weeks on end, as well as a German green card holder still detained who was allegedly violently interrogated by border officials.

But then, connected to that, you have the UK now following Germany in updating its guidelines for traveling to the US, emphasizing the risk of detention and deportation, with Canada, Finland, and Denmark also revising their guidance, though in the case of the Scandinavian countries, the updates are focused on the potential issues

faced by transgender, intersex, and non-binary people due to the administration's refusal to recognize those identities on passports and IDs. And then, because of all that, you have experts saying that recent events are likely to cause a major drop-off in tourism to the US, with the latest figures already showing that the industry may be taking a hit.

You know that, it's just one of the possible side effects of Trump's efforts to curb immigration, at least partially, in the name of cutting crime. With another one being that this may all actually lead to more crime. And that, because according to reporting by Reuters, thousands of federal law enforcement officials from multiple agencies are being made to take on new work

as immigration officers. We're pulling crime-fighting resources away from efforts to combat everything from drug trafficking and terrorism to child sexual abuse and fraud. So like the ATF, for example, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Before this year, it played almost no role in immigration enforcement, but since Trump's inauguration,

about 80% of its roughly 2,500 agents have been ordered to take on at least some immigration enforcement tests. And similarly, some law enforcement officers working at the State Department, DEA and IRS have also reportedly been redirected as well as DHS officers previously working on issues other than immigration. With some, for example, reportedly receiving training on topics including how to lure immigrants out of their homes for interrogation and so-called knock-and-talk visits, conduct stop-and-frisk operations, or carry out warrantless arrests. Now, with all that said, of course, it's going to take time to see if and how this hyper-focus on immigration enforcement affects other areas. I mean, the Deputy Attorney General for his part has said he completely rejects the idea

that because they're prioritizing immigration, they're not simultaneously full force going after violent crime. Though on the other hand, for example, you have people like Matthew Allen, a former senior official with Homeland Security Investigation saying, "'There's a good argument that these changes will lead

"'to some child victims continuing to be exploited.'" You know, with all of that said, while we wait to see this play out, of course, I wanna pass the question off to you. What are your thoughts here? Because as I often say at least one time per show, yes, this is a news show, but I also want it to be a conversation.

I wanna hear your opinions, your reasoning. And then on the next show, you might actually be in comment commentary where we talk about that. So whether it be on this or any news that stands out to you, I'd love to hear from you in those comments. But then next up from that, y'all, all this talk about making Canada the 51st state,

it's got the people of Canada largely all riled up. It's already affected travel and buying behavior, and they're gonna be heading to the polls soon. In all of this, it could be game-changing, right? Because the elections were originally scheduled for October, but new Prime Minister Mark Carney called for snap elections to be held on April 28th, with him in a speech yesterday justifying an election

by telling Canadians, We are facing the most significant crisis of our lifetimes because of President Trump's unjustified trade actions and his threats to our sovereignty. He wants to break us so America can own us. We will not let that happen. We're over the shock of the betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons. So essentially Carney wants snap election soon in order to get a mandate in opposing Trump, though it also helps that his party has had a massive, massive resurgence in the polls and voters are attracted to his experience, including his experience of not being Justin Trudeau. Because as we've talked about before,

the liberal party was looking doomed in this year's elections until Trump started talking. With the Liberals there getting the benefit of not only being openly anti-Trump in general, but also they're currently in charge of the government and thus officially opposed on behalf of all Canadians. Now, technically the opposition conservatives are also opposed to annexation,

but the Liberals seem to have had some success portraying the conservative leader there as Trump-lite, which is something that he's been trying to shake off recently, including when he said yesterday, what we need to do is put Canada first for a change. When I say I want to cut taxes, unleash our resources, bring back jobs, that's bad news for President Trump. Now, with all that said, something I'll add is that there are very few people that are actually shocked that Carney has called for an election, as there are practical reasons outside of the liberals' current popularity. Like, for example, the reality is he doesn't actually have a seat in parliament currently. And then on top of that, the liberals don't have a

majority and they haven't been able to maintain a coalition government. Meaning, really, as early as today, we could have seen a successful no-confidence vote if snap elections weren't called. So with that, I'll say, you know, polls are polls, and at this moment, it's unclear exactly how the elections would go. But currently, the conservatives and liberals are neck and neck in the polls, and that's not even considering a third major block that's dedicated to Quebec nationalism. But since Canada uses first past the post, it means that a candidate just needs to win the most votes, not an outright majority.

So it is possible that a majority government could be formed after the April elections, but for now, we're gonna have to wait to see. Do the polls stay where they are? Do the liberals continue to grow? Or are the conservatives able to claw back some of that vote? Then from that next step today,

this may come as a surprise to you, but a new report is making the argument that people are generally good and kind. I don't believe you. So the International Day of Happiness, it just passed. And with it came this year's World Happiness Report, which was this global analysis on happiness and wellbeing done by Gallup,

the University of Oxford Wellbeing Research Center and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. And this year, while unfortunately, the United States has dropped to a new low on the list of happiest countries for seemingly obvious reasons, the report showed that there is a lot of kindness in the world as a whole. With researchers this year focusing on acts of benevolence and their impact on both parties involved, right, the ones actually doing the act of kindness and the ones receiving it, as well as people's perception of kindness within their own communities. And the report found that people are generally

pretty pessimistic about how kind and benevolent those around them are. So for example, when researchers dropped wallets on the street, the rate at which those wallets were returned was much higher than people expected. Because you see in the US, roughly one third of people reportedly expected that a lost wallet would be returned, when in reality about two thirds of such wallets actually weren't. And this negative perception of others,

it can in turn have a negative impact on our own happiness. With Dr. Laura Ackman, professor of social psychology at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, and the editor of this report saying, if we assume the worst of others, it shapes how we interact with the world. If we expect the worst of others, we walk around the world fearful

and that matters for our own wellbeing. And as it turns out, the majority of people do good things based on the data that they collected, with researchers finding that around 70% of the world's population has done at least one kind thing in the last month. The report's co-author and an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Toronto saying,

that's a really, really high number. We should just look at that number and feel really good. And Dr. Atnan adding, even though the world feels like it's a pretty difficult place right now, it is nice to know that people are engaging in kind and generous acts. Now with that, I'll note that the number of those kind acts have dropped a little bit since the spike during COVID,

but it is still higher than pre-pandemic numbers. With the report saying that benevolent acts are 10% more frequent than in the years 2017 to 2019 in all generations and almost all global regions, which then ties into the report's other findings that being kind feels good. The managing director at Gallup saying that while things like making a donation or volunteering may seem very small,

they can have a substantial impact in adding. Acts of generosity predict happiness even more than earning a higher salary. And actually in one experiment that researchers conducted, they gave a sample of participants on university campuses, a small amount of money between $2 and $5 and told them to spend it on themselves or someone else. With an Aknan saying, by and large,

we find in almost all of our studies "'that people randomly assigned to spend generously "'report feeling higher levels of happiness "'than people who spend on themselves,' and adding, "'We're a super social species, "'and we argue that acts of generosity "'help build and sustain those connections.'" Because you know, in the world, it may feel dark and hopeless for some,

remember, to both look for the kindness around you and to be the spot of kindness for someone else. You know, there's a whole lot of other very interesting findings in the World happiness report. I'll link to it in the description as well, but I will say it. It's a little bit of patting myself on the back. I was very happy to learn today that there is actually research that backed up what I was saying, what, one or two weeks ago, that being selfless is one of the best ways to be selfish. Doing good for others has a self-serving good for you. Now don't let that turn into something toxic where everyone

just gets to walk all over you and count on you and there's nothing reciprocal. But yeah, just remember that. It benefits you to benefit others. But then, finally today, let's talk about y'all's comments on the last show and some comment commentary. Right, and understandably, there were a lot of comments and conversation around people getting detained, people getting deported. Now, some had to deal with people that were already here, people who were being accused of being in a gang, other people, right, tourists trying to come into the country. Or with many people agreeing with Jazz saying, detaining and deporting tourists is wild. I feel like I'm on a bad South Park episode right now, like this cannot be real life right now. With others replying there, this is definitely not news I wanted to hear days before

I have a layover in the U.S. You also had Maggie chubbing in, something to note about detained people being denied access to meds is that it's not that you just become depressed and anxious, it's that the withdrawals of suddenly stopping psych meds are brutal and, in many cases, legitimately dangerous beyond the effects of the mental issue they're treating. You also had others sharing their own stories and situations, saying, my mom works as a travel nurse and often travels back and forth from the U.S. and Canada. And then with that, claiming she has canceled her recent contract after hearing one of her friends from Windsor, who travels to Detroit to work, regularly being detained.

It's no longer profitable or worth it to travel to the U.S. for work. Though there, we also saw some Canadians happy, saying, glad your mom stopped going, elbows up. Though regarding the news, which, again, it covered so many different aspects and stories, you would name Nameless saying, the story about the French scientist that got denied entry for not liking Trump should be a huge red flag. Now with that, while I've still seen those claims coming from French authorities, I also wanted to provide an update,

and that is that a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security has denied the accusation. With Tricia McLaughlin claiming the French researcher in question was in possession of confidential information on his electronic device from Los Alamos National Laboratory in violation of a non-disclosure agreement, something he admitted to taking without permission and attempted to conceal. The New York Times reporting that Ms. McLaughlin rejected the assessment that the scientist was not allowed to enter the United States because his phone contained messages with his colleagues and friends in which he gave his personal opinion on Mr. Trump's scientific and research policies. But they're saying, quote, any claim that his removal was based on political beliefs is blatantly false. With that, you had the Times reporting that she did not provide further details and it was

unclear when or how the scientists might have worked at or interacted with the laboratory at Los Alamos. Still after that, Mr. Baptiste, the French minister for higher education, repeated the claim about the French scientist. With all that, while we wait to see any evidence or any more exact information, you can judge for yourself, but I wanted to make sure that I provided an update there. Though obviously given all the different stories, especially the ones where it seems like people aren't getting due process, you have people concerned. For example, Bully saying, reminder that every time the government has taken away rights from citizens, they first tested the waters on non-citizens and the marginalized first. Right in there, you had many focused on the alleged Venezuelan migrants

who were deported to El Salvador without due process. With some even recommending people watch the dedicated Legal Legal video on it. Which, you know, along with everything else I've got for you, I'll link in the description so you can watch it after today's show. But that, my friends, is the end of your Monday night, Tuesday morning dive into the news.

And I've just got two friendly reminders to end on. One, make sure you get in on that brand new Beautiful Bastard drop over at beautifulbastard.com. Use code PDS15 for 15% off. And two, remember I've got a brand new show for you here every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 p.m. Pacific. Thank you for watching. I love your faces and I'll see you right back here tomorrow.