The Philip DeFranco Show - The El Mencho Killing is Crazy! Dozens Dead, US Tourists Stranded, & Cartel Wars in Mexico Expected

Starting point is 00:00:00 The United States just helped kill Mexico's most wanted cartel boss, El Mentiono, the head of the Halisco New Generation Cartel. Right, and so now you have dozens dead, cartels setting up 250 plus roadblocks across 20 states, tourists stranded and experts fearing that this could trigger total war against the Mexican state. Right, so things could get much worse from here, but where we should start is with El Mensho. His real name is Nemesio Osigura, Sarifantes, I'm gonna call him El Mentioncho. It's just easier on my fat, uncultured tongue. But Almencho was born in Mexico in 1966. He moved to the United States in the 1980s, and he was then convicted for conspiracy to distribute

Starting point is 00:00:30 heroin in 1994. He then spent three years in prison, then returned to Mexico, where he briefly worked as a police officer before then becoming chief of hitmen for the Milaneo cartel, which no longer exists, but was at the time affiliated with the Sinoloa cartel. Or with the Helisco New Generation Cartel or the CJNG emerging from what was left of the Millenio cartel in the 2010s. And under Almencho's leadership, it became one, if not the most powerful cartel in Mexico, likely beating out the Sinolaa cartel for the top spot. You've got the USDA reporting that CJNG is a key supplier of illicit fentanyl, and one of the main suppliers are to the US, but also they have a presence in dozens of other countries. Also adding, they reap

Starting point is 00:01:03 billions of dollars in profit from the manufacturer of illegal synthetic drugs. And as early as 2018, you had Mexican authorities offering $1.7 million or information leading to Almencho's arrest, though the U.S. up the ante in 2024, putting up a $15 million bounty for information leading to his arrest. And that came after Almencho had already been indicted multiple times in the states, including in 2022 when he was charged with conspiracy to manufacture and distribute methamphetamine, cocaine, and fentanyl for importation into the country. And under Trump 2.0, the State Department sanctioned El Mencho and classified him and several other cartel leaders as specially designated global terrorists. And then you also had Trump designating C.G&G and other

Starting point is 00:01:37 cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, which is a move that became part of his justification for lethal strikes against boats in the Caribbean and Pacific that he said without giving evidence were moving drugs. Which also, by the way, those strikes are still happening with more than a dozen killed on the past week alone. Right, and also, all this time, Trump's been pressing Mexican President Claudia Scheinbaum to do more to target drug cartels, including by threatening to impose more tariffs or take unilateral military action. Now with that, shine bombs rejected the idea that the U.S. might carry out strikes in the country. And in the past, she even argued against the idea of strikes in general over concerns that it might just make matters worse. But, you know, stuck between

Starting point is 00:02:08 a rock and a hard place and likely seeing how willing Trump is to take military action, she's taken a more direct approach to going after the cartels and stepping up cooperation with the U.S. I mean, she even gave the U.S. military and the CIA the go-ahead to dramatically increase surveillance flights over Mexico to obtain cartel intelligence. And then, of course, came this weekend. And, you know, I will say the U.S. was not directly involved. Mexican's Special Forces planned and executed the operation according to the country's Defense Department, which also said that the actual aim had been to arrest El Mention. But that said, during the mission, they claimed that Mexican military were attacked and in defense

Starting point is 00:02:37 of their physical integrity, they repelled the aggression. With this, reportedly resulting in the deaths of four suspected cartel members at the scene, three others were also severely wounded and died while being airlifted to a hospital in Mexico City, including El Mentiono, with then also two other cartel members being arrested and various weapons and armored vehicles being seized, including rocket launchers capable of shooting down aircraft and destroying armored vehicles. Right, and that statement also revealed that American authorities provided, quote, complementary information within the, quote, framework of bilateral coordination and cooperation with the United States.

Starting point is 00:03:05 With then also White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt confirming that the U.S. provided intelligence support to the Mexican government in order to assist with the operation and adding, President Trump has been very clear. The United States will ensure narco-terrorists sending deadly drugs to our homeland are forced to face the wrath of justice they have long deserved. And while she didn't say exactly what the intelligence was, you had outlets reporting that it came from a new task force launched last month involving multiple government agencies and led by the U.S. military. And you also had Mexico's Secretary of National Defense,

Starting point is 00:03:30 noting the role of U.S. intelligence while saying El Meno's location was discovered through the romantic partner of one of his most trusted associates. But whatever the case may be, whatever levels of involvement, what we've seen is that it has triggered a wave of violence across the state of Halisco

Starting point is 00:03:42 and several other parts of the country. You had cartels setting buses and businesses on fire, putting up more than 250 roadblocks across 20 of Mexico's 32 states and clashing with security forces. And according to Mexico's Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection, dozens of people were killed in six attacks against authorities, including 25 members of the National Guard, one prison guard, and one from the state attorney general's office.

Starting point is 00:04:01 With them then also reporting that a woman died and that, quote, 30 criminals also lost their lines. Right, a lot of the chaos was concentrated in Guadalajara, Mexico's second largest city and the capital of Halisco. Well, it's not a big deal compared to people dying. You had the Mexico Football Association postponing four games, which is worth noting because Guadalajara is set to host multiple FIFA World Cup matches in just a few months. And now you've got people asking, you know, is that really a good idea? You have tourists, you know, rethinking their decisions to visit as vacations turned into hours spent locked in rooms, hearing gunshots and smelling smoke. And among the things you saw playing out in the coastal resort city of Puerto Vallerta,

Starting point is 00:04:31 one of the most popular destinations in Halisco, all taxis and rideshares were suspended. You also had several airlines, including American, United and Air Canada, suspending flights to the city, leaving some tourists temporarily stranded. Also, you had the U.S. State Department urging Americans not only there, but in much of the country, including several other popular vacation spots to shelter in place until further notice. And with that, you had several other countries issuing similar warnings, but I'm highlighting in the United States because Americans actually actually.

Starting point is 00:04:53 make up the overwhelming majority of international tourists in Mexico. Right, last year, more than 14 million U.S. citizens flew into Mexico with more than 1.2 million visiting Puerto Vallerta alone. Now, with all that said, at least as a recording, the situation is seemingly calmed down, at least a little bit. Most of those blockades have since been dismantled, and about 2,500 additional troops were deployed last night to Helisco in neighboring states. But also, there are fears that this is only going to get worse. And with that, you had a security consultant in the region telling CNN that the operation could trigger a new wave of violence across Mexico and explain it.

Starting point is 00:05:20 This didn't seem to be just an operation to capture El Mentiono, but to exterminate him, to use lethal force to bring him down. In the criminal underworld, such actions are not simply overlooked. With him also claiming they may be getting ready to wage a total war against the Mexican state. And he also went on to argue that the current violence, it's actually meant to paralyze economic activity and impose kind of a national and international image cost on the government. But then also, in addition to that, there is the situation that El Mensho's death that leaves a leadership vacuum that could spark a war of succession.

Starting point is 00:05:45 Right, as one Al Jazeera correspondent in Mexico explained, there is no obvious successor to El Mancho. We can now see different regional bosses in the cartels start disputing for power, saying, We saw this happen before when El Chapo was arrested. It eventually sparked a civil war between the different Sinaloa factions. And you also had that same security consultant telling the New York Times. This is good for Washington, without a doubt, because what they are looking for is weakened cartels and a reduction of drug shipments. But then adding, this is bad news for Mexico because smaller cartels mean more violent cartels

Starting point is 00:06:11 and homicides and other crimes will rise. But then also, in addition to all that, there are concerns that the impact of this is ultimately going to be negligible. You've got people like Mike Vigil, for example, a former chief of international operations at the DEA say, Killing or capturing the head of the cartel is not really going to have a major impact. They have to go after the infrastructure, their logistics, the money laundering, their armed wings, and adding, they have to do it quick and they have to do it efficiently, because if not, there is going to be hell to pay in terms of violence. With Vigil also arguing that the Trump administration has done little to address the U.S. side of the problem.

Starting point is 00:06:39 Because for one, the guns and ammunition fueling cartel violence often come from the United States. And two, he said that the administration has made really no effort to reduce domestic drug demand, saying if there is no demand or consumption, there's not going to be any cartels. It is a big problem, but the Trump administration does nothing in terms of drug education, treatment of drug addiction, none of that. And actually, as far as Trump, he simply responded to the operation by calling on Mexico to, quote, step up their effort on cartels and drugs. And so ultimately, you know, we're in this position where it looks like the United States

Starting point is 00:07:05 definitely helped achieve a tactical win, right? El Meno is dead. But as far as what are the long-term impacts, that remains to be seen. It could be positive, but also it could be catastrophic for Mexico and destabilizing for the region. Only time will tell, we'll hope for the best, and in the meantime, I'd love to know your thoughts. But also, actually, you know, while we're talking about foreign involvement, we need to talk about U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee saying that Israel has a right To claim most of the Middle East, at least according to the Bible. Right, that is what the U.S. ambassador to Israel told Tucker Carlson during this absolutely wild interview. And specifically, you had Huckabee, who's an evangelical Christian telling Carlson that he believes that God has given the land of Israel to the Jewish people.

Starting point is 00:07:39 And then you had Carlson responding by questioning Huckabee about his interpretation of Bible verses from the book of Genesis. So let's go through this. You've appealed to Genesis. Genesis 15 says it's, it's, Abram, it's pre-Abraim, it's Abram, it's Abram, receives from God the news that his descendants will inherit the land, and you tell me as the the theologian, if I'm getting this wrong, but from the Euphrates to the Nile. I think, I think that's right. And that would include, like basically the entire Middle East. That would be the Levant, so that would be Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon. It would also be big parts of Saudi Arabia and Iraq. It would be, I mean, I'm not sure we'd go that far.

Starting point is 00:08:19 I mean, it would be a big piece of land. Does Israel have the right to that land? Because you're appealing to Genesis. You're saying that's the original deed. It would be fine if they took it all. I think you're missing something because they're not asking to go back to take all of that. But they are asking to at least take the land that they now occupy, they now live in. But that could be then going on to repeatedly claim that Israel doesn't want to take over all those countries, at least yet.

Starting point is 00:08:48 If Israel were to say God gave us in Genesis 15 all of Lebanon, all of Syria, all the way up to Iraq, would that be legitimate in your view? I don't think in this particular day and time, they're asking for it. Would it be legitimate? I'm not sure that it would be. Why? Because you just said that God gave it to them. Because I think that there is an understanding that the people of Israel today, now if they end up getting attacked by all these places, and they win that war and they take that land.

Starting point is 00:09:21 And okay, that's a whole nother discussion. But you and I started out, when no, no, no, we started talking. So unsurprisingly, that got a ton of backlash with numerous Arab governing bodies and countries, including the ones that Carlson mentioned, issuing a joint statement condemning Huckabee's remarks, calling those comments dangerous and inflammatory,

Starting point is 00:09:38 claiming that they endangered stability in the region, and arguing that they directly contradict the vision put forward by US President Donald J. Trump, based on containing escalation. You also had numerous countries calling the remarks clear violation of international law, and that, notably including big Trump allies in the region, like Saudi Arabia, which slammed Huckabee's remarks as extremist rhetoric and calling on the State Department to clarify its position. And actually with that, you had the U.S. Embassy in

Starting point is 00:10:00 Jerusalem responding by saying that there hadn't been a change in policy, while also essentially claiming that Huckabee's comments had just been taken out of context arguing. If one listens to the full context, Ambassador Huckabee clearly says that Israel has no desire to change their current boundaries. But then, Huckabee himself, going on the offensive by repeatedly shit posting about Tucker on Twitter, and at one point seemingly accusing him of spreading anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. But then also beyond that, you had many experts noting that Huckabee's inflammatory comments about the region,

Starting point is 00:10:25 it comes as Trump's teetering on the brink of an all-out war with Iran. As we've talked about a number of times before, Trump has repeatedly threatened possible military action against Iran if they don't agree to a nuclear deal by a deadline that's now just days away. That was actually something that Carlson also touched on in the interview with impressing Huckabee on the fact that many Americans, including plenty of Trump supporters,

Starting point is 00:10:42 strongly oppose a U.S. war with Iran. Okay, so what percentage of Americans support a war with Iran? I don't know. Do you know? I do it. I think it's run. I saw the numbers yesterday. I think it was like 21%. Okay. Is that enough to have a war with run? We don't live in a world where you have a poll taken to find out whether our policy should be a particular direction. I thought you just said that we vote. No, we care deeply about it. But on the other hand, do we make the decisions of foreign policy and even domestic policy based on what the law? We care deeply about it in what sense.

Starting point is 00:11:19 So you've got 350 million Americans. They vote, they voted in this last election on the basis in part of the promise no more wars. So now we're about to have a war looks like. You then had Tucker going on to argue that Americans don't think that Iran poses an imminent threat to the United States and that Trump is gearing up to start a war because Israel has been pressuring him to do so. And actually on that note, the same day that the Huckabee interview came out, you had Trump telling reporters that he is actively considering launching a limited strike on Iran. Mr. President, a strike to pressure Iran into a deal.

Starting point is 00:11:48 Thank you for us. Keep moving. Thank you. Are you concerned with me at us? Thank you. Thank you. And then yesterday, you had the New York Times reporting that Trump has told his advisors that he'll consider a much bigger attack in coming months and tended to drive Iranian leaders from power if they fail to agree to his demands after diplomacy or limited strikes. The source is also reportedly telling them that Trump has been leaning toward conducting an initial strike in the coming days

Starting point is 00:12:10 in order to pressure Iran's leaders into making a deal. So that's something we could potentially see in a matter of days because, you know, negotiators from the United States and Iran, they're currently set to meet in in Geneva this Thursday for what's been described as a last-ditch negotiation to avoid a military conflict. I guess in other words, we should know in a few days by the end of the week if missiles are gonna be flying or not. Maybe, kinda. Right, and then there's more we're gonna dive into in just a minute, but first, let me thank a sponsor and say, you know, if your wireless bill is over $15 a month, I need you to sit down

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Starting point is 00:13:34 and killed an armed 21-year-old guy just outside of Trump's place in Mar-a-Lago. Right around 1.30 in the morning on Sunday, 21-year-old Austin Tucker Martin reportedly got through the gate of Mar-a-Lago carrying a fuel can and a shotgun. With Martin then making it about 20 yards before being confronted by law enforcement, a deputy and two Secret Service agents to be specific, and who had the local sheriff saying at a press conference that the agents told Martin to drop what he was holding,

Starting point is 00:13:54 and that is when he raised the shotgun to a shooting position. And so that is when they say they fired on Martin and he was pronounced dead at the scene. And as a now, that's pretty much all we know about the confrontation itself. We don't know yet how many shots were fired or who among the agents actually pulled the trigger. But I will say there is an investigation underway and the officials involved were wearing body cameras.

Starting point is 00:14:10 And while the investigation takes place, you have the Secret Service agents being placed on administrative leave. As far as the insurer himself, what we do know is that he's from North Carolina and he was reported missing on Saturday by his mom. He had the New York Times speaking to some of his former classmates from high school who described him as smart, quiet, a conservative guy. And they also added that while he did talk about his opinions,

Starting point is 00:14:26 he came from a pro-Trump family, and he was even in the ROTC, and he had some saying that he wasn't aggressive, saying he wouldn't go out of his way to bash anybody from the left side or start arguments or anything like that. He had his opinion, and he mostly kept it to himself. Several people also said that it seems out of character and that Martin was probably one of the kinder souls they knew. This guy even reportedly had an artwork business

Starting point is 00:14:42 that focused on, quote, bringing to life the hopeful feeling of being on a golf course by illustrating golf course scenes and providing framed copies of handmade works and various golf course gift shops. And so at least, according to these people, the fact that this happened is shocking. And as far as what drove him to breaching a secure perimeter to Trump's house with a shotgun, that's not really clear at this point. But also with that, I'll say we may know sometime soon because you have the authorities promising a full investigation into Martin's motive. But in the meantime, what I will say is that this does feel like kind of just the latest bit of escalations as far as political

Starting point is 00:15:09 violence. Just over a week ago, an 18-year-old was arrested for running at the U.S. Capitol with a shotgun in hand, and threats against politicians are skyrocketing, with Capitol Police opening nearly 15,000 threat assessment cases last year, which is up nearly 60% from 2024. But also, of course, it's not just threats, and it's not limited to one party. Last summer, Minnesota Democratic House Speaker, Melissa Hortman and her husband were shot and killed in their home. And then, of course, even though he wasn't technically a politician himself, as a major conservative commentator, Charlie Kirk's assassination shocked the world. And then, of course, with Trump, there's a history. There was a moment from the campaign trail in July of 2024. Then there was also the guy who was captured waiting with a rifle on a golf course in West Palm Beach

Starting point is 00:15:42 while Trump was playing around at September of 2024. And that guy has actually been sentenced to life in prison since. And actually, he recently had Trump himself acknowledging the repeated threats and actions against him in a press conference. I don't know how long I'll be around? Got a lot of people gunning for me, don't I? And as far as the reaction from Trump's inner circle, they kind of took the opportunity to hype up law enforcement and go after Democrats. Are you in press secretary Caroline Levitt saying in the middle of the night,

Starting point is 00:16:04 while most Americans were asleep, the United States Secret Service acted quickly and decisively to neutralize a crazy person armed with a gun and a gas canister who intruded President Trump's home. Federal law enforcement are working 24-7 to keep our country safe and protect all Americans. But they're then going on to get in a dig at the Democrats for shutting down DHS over our lack of ICE regulations. You also had Attorney General Pambandi saying that she's working with federal authorities in Trump regarding what she called the intrusion and shooting of Mar-a-Lago. And you had FBI director, Cash Patel, promising to dedicate all necessary resources in the investigation. But that actually then brings us to another thing we need to talk about. Because while all of this was going down, Patel was actually in Italy for the Olympics.

Starting point is 00:16:39 And you had many furious to see him in Milan, accusing him of using taxpayer dollars to do Olympian cosplay. Because Patel was there to watch the U.S. men's hockey team make history as they beat Canada to win the gold medal for the first time since 1980. It was a huge game. There was a ton of fanfare, and not long after Team USA got their medals, you had a source sending a ProPublica reporter a video of Cash Patel throwing beers back with the team in the locker room. He even got to wear one of their gold medals. They all sang Toby Keith's courtesy of the red, white, blue together. And as this video started circular,

Starting point is 00:17:05 you had a lot of people noting that Patel reportedly took an FBI jet to get to Italy. And you had people angry or even outright furious that Patel was choosing to spend his time in our money this way. Saying things like 3 million pages of evidence of a massive child sex trafficking ring, and this is what the FBI director is doing right now? Another saying that head of the top law enforcement agency in the US should not be using taxpayer dollars to jet set across the world and get drunk with athletes. Can't imagine the outrage if a Biden appointee did this. And can someone in Congress please subpoena how much Patel's make a wish trip cost us? And others noting that there are truly a million other things Patel should be doing instead of crushing a cold

Starting point is 00:17:35 one with the boys, whether it be Epstein or focusing on what's happening with Mexico, the search for Nancy Guthrie, or the situation at Mar-a-Lago. Now for his part, you had Patel defending himself by essentially saying it's his right to bro out every now and then, saying for the very concerned media, yes, I love America and was extremely humbled when my friends, the newly minted gold medal winners on Team USA invited me into the locker room to celebrate this historic moment with the boys. Greatest country on earth and greatest sport on earth. And with that you had some questioning if he was actually invited in or he invited himself. He had many angry because the American people don't pay him to watch sports.

Starting point is 00:18:05 saying that they pay him to do a job that should keep him pretty busy and a job that many have said he sucks at. Now with that, you know, to pull back a little, Patel definitely wasn't the only member of Trump's administration going out of their way to celebrate the men's hockey win. Or you had Trump himself posted about it several times, mainly to mock Canada. He also shared an old post from 4 PM Justin Trudeau that said, you can't take our country and you can't take our game. But Trump also posting an AI video of himself playing hockey against Canada, knocking players down and then repeatedly punching one in the face. He also actually personally called the team to congratulate them, laying heavy compliments on the goalie and inviting the whole team to the state of the year. Union this week. We're giving the State of the Union speech on Tuesday night. I could send the military

Starting point is 00:18:40 plan or something. But if you would like to, it's the coolest night. It's the biggest. We're in. Yeah. We're up. Well, you know, some people, they had feelings about the team and Trump and this call in general. But really seemed to upset people about this call was when Trump brought up the U.S. women's hockey team. Because, you know, our women's team, they also got gold in a big win over Canada. But according to outlets like The Athletic, there was no indication that Trump reached out to the women to congratulate them on their win. And when he brought them up to the men, many felt like his remarks were pretty backhanded. And we have to, I must tell you, we're going to have to bring the woman's team. You do know that. Absolutely.

Starting point is 00:19:15 Too much, too. Too much, too. Yeah. To many, that sounded like Trump was saying that they have to include the women, not because they deserve celebration, but just because, you know, he doesn't get into any woke trouble for dissing them. And to many, you had the men's hockey team, seeming to laugh in agreement, and that really rubbed people the wrong way. So you had some saying, so they took pictures with the women's team, went to the game to them on, praise them in the media, and in private they laugh at them? And women in this country deserve so much fucking better. Olympic gold medal is being reduced to the punchline of a joke for everyone in the good old boys club to laugh at. All while, actually, if you look into it,

Starting point is 00:19:48 for the third winter games in a row, U.S. women took home more gold and overall medals than the men did. Then also with this, you've had others pushing back against the backlash, defending the men's hockey players. People like Dave Portnoy saying, talking to the president after winning gold is as American, as apple pie. Though again for many, the main thing here is Patel. Many saying of the former podcaster seems more interested in being an influencer, partying, getting just the connects. And of course, all of it on the taxpayer dime. And sure, you did have a spokesperson for the FBI defending Patel by saying you was there to meet with Italian security officials. As the FBI had a major role in Olympic security. But even then, you had a lot of people

Starting point is 00:20:19 saying it just looked like there was a lot of drinking for a business trip. But with that, what are your thoughts here? Do you think it's a valid concern or this is kind of overblown? Any and all thoughts? But then moving on from that to the final thing that we're going to talk about today, we need to talk about, I just want to unwrap this. You had Trump offering to send a U.S. Navy hospital ship to Greenland to help with, quote, the many people who are sick, but both U.S. hospitalships are under repair in Alabama, and Greenland's prime minister said, no thanks, they have free health care. And you had Trump responding, I don't know who he is, that's going to be a big problem for him.

Starting point is 00:20:48 And then he said, we are going to do something on Greenland, whether they like it or not. Which, yeah, does seem to line up with his stance on consent. But yeah, you know, let's break this down starting on Saturday night where you had Trump posting on Truth Social. Working with a fantastic governor of Louisiana, Jeff Landry, we are going to send a great hospital boat to Greenland to take care of the many people. people who are sick and not being taken care of there. It's on the way.

Starting point is 00:21:07 And that post, it came after Denmark's joint Arctic command evacuated an American submarine crew member in Greenlandic waters, though it's still unclear if that's why Trump wanted to send ships. But on their Facebook page, the Joint Arctic Command said the crew member needed urgent medical treatment and has been transferred to the Greenlandic health authorities and the hospital in Newk.

Starting point is 00:21:22 Then Denmark's Prime Minister met to Fredrickson seemed to respond to Trump's post, writing. I'm happy to live in a country where there is free and equal access to healthcare for everyone. The same approach exists in Greenland. And also Greenland's Prime Minister responded on his Facebook page. It's a no thank you from here.

Starting point is 00:21:36 President Trump's idea of sending an American hospital ship here to Greenland has been noted. But we have a public health care system where treatment is free for citizens. This is a deliberate choice and a fundamental part of our society. That is not how it works in the USA. Please talk to us instead of just making more or less random statements on social media. And well, with all of that, it didn't appear that Trump was happy about it. Well, that's their problem. That's their problem. I disagree with him.

Starting point is 00:21:58 But then you also had Trump saying something rather surprising about the prime minister, given his proposal to help Greenland. I don't know who he is. Don't know anything about him, but that's going to be a big problem for him. Right. Notably, Prime Minister Nielsen's comments also come as Trump's continued to make his intentions for Greenland more clear. Now, we are going to do something on Greenland, whether they like it or not, because if we don't do it, Russia or China will take over Greenland. And we're not going to have Russia or China as a neighbor. For over a year, Trump has pushed for U.S. control over Greenland, citing national security concerns like this.

Starting point is 00:22:30 Right. And Trump has voiced his doubt that Denmark would be able to defend Greenland if Russia or China were to invade. And a thing that Denmark can do about it if Russia or China wants to occupy Greenland, but there's everything we can do. But then also, separate from that, Trump's long questioned how legitimate their stake on Greenland is altogether. The fact that they had a boat land there 500 years ago, doesn't mean that they owned the land. I'm sure we had lots of boats go there also.

Starting point is 00:22:54 But getting back to national security, US control over Greenland, it also gives way to Trump's Golden Dome, right, a missile defense system that would supposedly protect the United States. What if a foreign country launched a missile at the United States of America? We would need control over the Arctic in order to shoot that missile down. Our entire missile defense system defends depends on that Arctic security. Now how effective that dome would actually be? That's been a subject to debate, or there have been a lot of comparisons to Israel's Iron Dome. But as many experts have pointed out, Israel is about the size of New Jersey,

Starting point is 00:23:23 so the logistics of interceptor missiles, it would have to work a bit differently. You know, whatever the case. Trump cited these types of concerns for why he appointed Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry as U.S. Special Envoy to Greenland in December. And then also with all this, there's been speculation that Trump has interest in Greenland's natural minerals, though the president has denied those claims. We need Greenland for national security, not for minerals. But whatever his actual aims may be, Denmark and Greenland's prime ministers,

Starting point is 00:23:46 they've been vocal about demanding respect for Greenland's borders. But really, I wouldn't recommend anyone hold their breath waiting for that, because it does seem like this bulldoze mentality, it's become the president's foreign relations policy, whether it be Venezuela, Mexico, or any of our trade allies. And actually, as Trump continues to bully his way through, foreign affairs, tensions with our NATO allies continue to rise. I mean, just using Denmark, for example, they've been a key NATO allies since 1949, but since Trump's push for Greenland has continued after Denmark rejected even discussing

Starting point is 00:24:11 selling the island, the strain's been clear. Among other things, you're seeing demonstrations play out in Greenland and Denmark with the slogans being, make America go away. Right, many have put that same slogan on very familiar red caps across both countries. And you know, this kind of rift in how America's been operating internationally, it's freaked a lot of allies out and there's very little trust out there. I mean, Trump's even tried to weaponize tariffs against are allies who supported Greenland, and those countries are between Iraq and a hard place.

Starting point is 00:24:35 Or they want to be in a good relationship with the United States, but they also have an obligation to protect Greenland from American pressures. And then at the same time, they have to consider the very real possibility of the United States effectively dissolving that allieship under the Trump administration. But also, that doesn't seem to be a concern for those in power. I think our alliances in NATO ultimately are something that's going to work out. Our partners understand the importance of the U.S. presence in NATO. Without the U.S., there is no NATO. But you know, the questions here, they still lie in whether Trump's foreign relations are more about conquest and financial gain, or the interest of American citizens. Though if it's the latter, he's dropped the ball.

Starting point is 00:25:05 Right, according to a poll conducted just this month, it found that 72% of adults surveyed do not approve of how Trump is handling Greenland. Even Republicans in the study were almost split in half over this. And actually, the poll also found that only 38% of participants approve of what's happening with immigration, and only 36% approve of his foreign policy. And then, as it relates to tariffs,

Starting point is 00:25:21 before the Supreme Court shot down as global tariffs last week, a poll earlier this month found that 64% of Americans disapproved of his tariffs. And so with all this, while there are a number of concerns, one that stands out is, you know, what does it mean for a president to continue to exclusively make decisions at his own behest while his constituents continue to speak against them? Right. And that's why you have Democratic political leaders like AOC sharing the same concerns for what they see as the bigger picture here. They are looking to, to withdraw the

Starting point is 00:25:45 United States from the entire world so that we can turn into an age of authoritarianism, of authoritarianists that can carve out the world where Donald Trump can command the Western Hemisphere and Latin America as his personal sandbox. And is that concern over, you know, just how forceful Trump and his administration has become continues to bleed over into questions around authoritarianism? It seems to be that a chunk of the American population or walk in a tightrope until the dust settles in 2028. But that, my friends, you beautiful bastards, is where your Monday, Philip DeFranco

Starting point is 00:26:17 Show dive into the news is going to end. Thank you for watching. Thank you for hitting that like button. Of course, I'll see you right back here tomorrow for another daily dive into the news. And until then, stay safe, stay sane.

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