The Philip DeFranco Show - The Secret Trump Civil War You Didn’t Know About & The Trump ICE Discord Problem is Really Bad

Episode Date: February 16, 2026

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So you beautiful bastards. Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco show. You daily dive into the news. It is Monday. I hope you're having a fantastic president's day. Actually, if you are a president who happens to be watching the show and you're not in the Epstein Files, I hope you're having a fantastic one. I know that sounds like a pretty low bar not being in the Epstein files, but it is 2026. And the bar is not just low.

It is not just underground. The bar is in hell. But on that cheery note, I do have some good news for you. While other, dare I say, lesser daily news shows are taking the holiday off, the Philip DeFranco show, it's doubling down. You can get filled in twice today. I think your mom calls it DPEC. And that's because right after he finishes full, Philip DeFranco Show, you can watch or listen to my brand new podcast

and interview with Adam Friedland. Some know him as one of the most interesting interviewers over the past few years. Others know him as a bug. And even if you don't know them, I think you're gonna love it. So I got a link in the description down below. But with all that said,

we've got a lot to talk about today. Starting with this. The Department of Homeland Security is subpoena in Google, meta, Reddit, and Discord to docs people who criticized ICE online and the tech companies are complying. According to the New York Times, DHS has been quietly issuing subpoenas to tech platforms

demanding names, emails, phone numbers, and other personal user data for accounts at either pointed ICE agent locations or just criticized ICE online. And again, the platform's targeted were Google, Reddit, Discord, and Meta, which is Facebook and Instagram. In every platform, except Discord, has complied with at least some of the requests.

And this is happening while ICE is simultaneously using facial recognition technology on protesters in Minneapolis and Chicago, using a Palantir-built database to identify real-time locations for people that they're pursuing and using tools that potentially allow them to hack into phones. You even had Borders R. Tom Holman telling Fox News last month what the end game is. We're going to create a database.

Those people that are arrested for interference and penal assault, we're going to make them famous. We're going to put their face on TV. We're going to let their employers in their neighborhoods, in their schools, know who these people are. Now, with this, you've got the Times reporting that some companies notified targeted users and gave them 10 to 14 days to fight the subpoenas in court, and you have DHS saying that it's only doing this to keep agents safe.

And while you have many calling BS on that, we also need to talk about the type of subpoena being used here because historically it's been deployed very rarely, mainly for cases like catching child traffickers, Because these are administrative subpoenas. Unlike arrest warrants, they don't require a judge's signature and DHS can just issue them directly. Trump's DHS, they love using them. They always have. Back in 2017, DHS tried to expose anonymous Twitter users critical of Trump's first administration. Then in Trump 2.0 last year, they used them against meta accounts posting updates about ice raids in California and accounts documenting ice sightings outside of Philadelphia. Now, each case eventually made it to court, but DHS withdrew all of them before any rulings were made.

And while that might sound confusing, you had the ACLU explaining why, right? A judge's order stopping the practice could the tactic entirely. Right, but if DHS pulls a subpoena before that happens, they can just keep going. And as one ACLU lawyer explained, not everyone who gets subpoenaed will sue saying the pressure is on the end user, the private individual, to go to court. Obviously with this whole situation there's been pushback, and one of the ways we've seen that play out is you had Representative Roecona who represents Silicon Valley saying, tech must not bend the knee to a surveillance state, Google, meta, and other companies should refuse to comply with administrative subpoenas that target anonymous speech critical of ICE as a blatant violation of the First Amendment. But the problem

with that is, as we've seen, tech now loves bending the knee to Macca. One of the big examples we've seen is Meta's CEO Mark Zuckerberg. He's been cozying up to Trump. He killed fact-checking on his platforms, and he justified it by echoing Trump's talking points, saying that meta's content moderation resulted in censorship. He also famously donated to Trump's second inauguration. Amazon and Google did as well. And combined, they donated more than double what they donated during Biden and Trump's

first inauguration. Then of course, you've got TikTok, which is owned by Oracle, run by Larry Ellison, a Trump ally. And then Twitter, you know, Trump and Elon, they might fight here and there, but Elon is still very much aligned with the MAGA camp. Also, with this whole situation, we need to go back to Discord because you have people connecting these anti-isopinas to Discord's announcement last week that it's rolling out new age verification features beginning in March,

right? Because those features include using a government-issued ID. Now, Discord, they try to assure users that uploading IDs is actually optional and that they only look at age and then immediately delete the information. But whether you deep dive or you just skim, you see people are not buying that. And that's including tons of notable creators sounding the alarms. You know, there was a time where all this like surveillance state talk felt like, outlandish conspiracy theories, but like I said, it's hard to ignore it when it's so in our face these days. And it's so obvious because everyone is shitting on this.

Instead of like defending their users, like the people that put them in this position to begin with, it's like they're turning in their surveillance state homework early. This is despicable. And getting everyone more and more comfortable with mass surveillance and no privacy turning over your information and data is something that tons of companies are doing everything in their power to do. They just found a convenient excuse to try and paint it as something good like protecting kids from bad people on Discord. And this is valuable information to tie to your ID and your online presence. We're attaching IDs to everything bears with it. We think serious risks

of one exposure, as in just vulnerabilities to different types of attacks, extortion, blackmail, but also future suppression of speech such as via corporations and or governments. Right now, we are at a pivotal point that unless you speak against this shit, and if you let it happen, if you don't raise awareness to it now, the world will look very different in the next five, maybe 10 years. Right, and reports actually indicate that in the UK, some users have been alerted that they're part of an experiment with persona, an age verification vendor whose investors include Peter Thiel, the co-founder of Palantir, the company building the database to surveil people that ICE is pursuing. Discord's own tweet announcing the feature got community notes, with a note saying, while initially Discord may have never sent your data, to their vendor after failure of the system being shown, e.g. face scan bypasses, they are swapping vendors to persona who does in fact receive and retain your data. Persona is also funded by Peter

Teal, Discord Live. Now, there's been no official confirmation that Discord's coordinating with DHS to spy on users, but people are understandably cautious. Right, because while Trump's DHS, they will go to hell and back to keep their agent's identities protected. The average American, you might be shit out of luck, especially if you're not on their side. Though also we have to talk about on the note of DHS, they officially shut down Saturday morning after Congress failed to pass. a funding deal, though I will say the agency isn't going dark. Rather, the shutdown is more selective than that. Right, because Senate Democrats blocked a spending bill that would have funded DHS through the fiscal year, with them arguing that it didn't include new restrictions on federal immigration agents.

You've got Democrats calling for what they say are simple common sense reforms, mandating search warrants requiring agents to wear identification, prohibiting officers from wearing masks and establishing universal use of force standards, with party leadership also rejecting a last-minute White House counteroffer that wasn't made public. With Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer condemning it as not serious, plain and simple, Now, Republicans have blamed Democrats for the funding lapse, accusing them of making unreasonable demands and failing to provide enough time for negotiations. But you've also had others countering that it was pretty obvious that this was needed after the killing of Alex Preddy. But that was a key pivotal moment that changed things.

Now again, this shutdown it only affects DHS, right? The rest of the government, it's already been funded through the end of the fiscal year. And really, this partial shutdown became inevitable after the Senate failed to break the 60-vote filibuster on Thursday with every single Democrat voting vote, except John Fetterman, who's basically become a dino, Democrat name only. And actually, unlike with other funding showdowns, there was no last-minute rush to find a solution on Friday with senators on both sides, packing their bags, and leaving DC. Now, with that, both Schumer and Senate Majority Leader John Thune said that senators will return from their week-long recess early if a deal is struck, but it's also unclear when that'll happen.

On Thursday, you had Thune telling reporters that negotiations between the White House and Democrats were making progress, and he believed that a deal was still possible with more time, but he also maintained that Democrats would have to make concession. Saying Democrats are never going to get their full wish list. That's not the way this works. As far as what Republicans want or are willing to give up, there remains unclear since the White House's counteroffer hasn't been made public.

But you did have Thune saying that he expects that the White House's demands will include new protections for federal immigration agents and restrictions on sanctuary cities. But then with that, you have some Democrats saying that they don't want to offer concessions that could undermine the guard rails that they're trying to impose. And so right now, it looks like this partial shutdown could drag on, which is why we need to talk about the impact.

And with that, you've got DHS leaders saying that essential missions and functions will continue. And actually, despite this being the whole reason for the shutdown, ICE and CVP will hardly be affected because Republicans gave the agency billions of dollars in the big beautiful bill. Their operations will barely be impacted. It's actually the other agencies under DHS that are going to be hit the hardest, TSA, FEMA, and the Coast Guard. So this is affecting 13% of the federal workforce directly. And while DHS hasn't publicly released an updated shutdown plan, its last plan, which is from September, it indicates that 91% of employees would continue working without paying. Also, you've got the DHS inspector general warning that the shutdown could endanger immigration enforcement oversight because the independent watchdog currently has eight active probes under the Trump administration's

immigration crackdown. But the office says that it's going to be forced to suspend 85% of its audits, evaluations, and inspections. Right. And also the American people, they could be directly affected as well, while 95% of TSA employees are required to work during a shutdown. You still have experts warning that there is a risk of airport delays if this drags on. And the acting TSA administrator warned that the public could start seeing impacts in as little as two weeks. And so, you know, with all of that, there's a lot that we're going to have to keep our eyes on for at least the coming days and weeks. And then there's more we're going to dive into in just a minute. But first, let me thank a sponsor and say, you know, there are things that I'll put off forever,

if given the chance. Doctor appointments, definitely high on that list. Right, and not because, you know, I don't care about my health. It's more the process is annoying and it's slow and it feels way harder than it should be. But that is also why today's sponsor, Zock Doc is now my move. Right, Zock Doc is a free app and website that helps you find and book high quality in-network doctors so you can find someone that you love. I'm talking primary care, dentist, dermatologists, eye doctors, therapists, basically over 200 specialties all in one place. You can also filter by insurance, location, specialty, and whether you want an in-person or video visit, so you're not rolling the dice on your You also get access to verified patient reviews, so you're not rolling the dice on someone who makes you feel rushed or weird.

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we've got to talk about how there is a secret civil war happening inside of the Department of Homeland Security. It involves an alleged affair, a fired pilot over a missing blanket, a guy dodging federal ethics rules by not swiping his badge, and a cabinet secretary apparently more focused on our TV airtime than running the department. It was according to a bombshell Wall Street Journal report based on two dozen current and former officials, there's a deep and very real internal conflict.

between two factions. One side you apparently have border czar, Tom Homan, an acting ice director, Todd Lyons, who favor a more traditional Targeted enforcement approach focused on actual criminals. And on the other side, you have DHS Secretary Kristy Noem and her top advisor, Corey Lewandowski, who refer flashy attention-grabbing operations, the kind of made for great TV, but the critics argued terrorized migrants indiscriminately and ultimately undermine the mission. And you had multiple officials telling the journal that Noam has repeatedly been warned that these tactics would discredit the department, but she didn't listen. And White House officials have reportedly grown frustrated that Nome and Lewandowski have rejected guidance on events, messaging, and basic agency management. You had several senior officials describing DHS as the single biggest headache of Trump's second term. But also to understand how we got here, you need to understand these two.

Lewandowski is reportedly part of the reason that Nome became DHS secretary in the first place, despite having minimal experience in immigration enforcement. He quietly lobbied for her to get the post, took her to events with Republican power brokers, introduced her as a rising star, tried to get her picked as Trump's VP, and when that didn't work, he pushed for Homeland Security instead. He reportedly saw DHS as a launchpad for a potential Nome-28 presidential run. And then also, there is the personal side of this. With the Daily Mail, they published photos of Lewandowski carrying a duffel bag and going back and forth between his apartment and

Nome's apartment across the street. When people started asking questions, Nome moved into a government-owned waterfront house on a military base in Washington, citing security concerns. But reportedly, wouldn't you know it, Lewandowski spends time there too. Also, you got sources saying they've been traveling together on a luxury 737 max jet with a private cabin, and within the department, it's widely considered an open secret that they're in a relationship. Now with that, to be clear, both Noam and Lewandowski are married and they both denied that there is an affair. Apparently even Trump doesn't buy that denial. Or when Lewandowski asked to formally serve as Noam's chief of staff, Trump said no, reportedly citing the alleged romance.

And he's apparently continued to bring it up, and so instead at chief of staff, Lewandowski took the title of special government employee, essentially a federal ethics loophole designed to allow private sector experts to work on specific government projects without giving up their outside salaries and business interests. And if that sounds familiar, you recognize the title, it's the same one that Elon Musk held at Doge. And so with that, you might remember that the catch is, you can, you can, you can. You can only use that designation for 130 days per year. But Lewandowski reportedly got around that limit by just not swiping in at the DHS building and reporting fewer days work than he actually logged to the White House Counsel's Office. And so he's in the building influencing decisions, but technically not there. And actually with all this, we should talk about the moment that perfectly encapsulate how these two operate because it's genuinely unbelievable. And when Nome's plane had a maintenance issue, she had to switch to a backup aircraft.

And her blanket, yes, her personal blanket was not transferred to the new plane. I know, horrified. So Luendowski's response was to fire the pilot on the spot and then tell them to take a commercial fly home when they landed. But then, Nomen Lewandowski realized they had no one to fly them back, and so they reinstated the pilot. But then also beyond the drama, the journal's reporting on actual governance failures, it's significant. George's Republican governor, Brian Kemp's office, had to personally call top DHS aids just to get disaster aid money approved because it was inexplicably held up. Right, and even for some of Trump's favorite things, there have been mess-ups.

Florida officials have struggled to get federal funding for alligator alcatraz, and on Trump's border wall, reportedly, a contract for bulk steel sat on Nome's desk waiting for her her signature for so long that by the time that she finally signed it, the price of steel had gone up by more than $100 million. Meanwhile, multiple officials told the journal that contracts and grants under Lewandowski's influence are being awarded in an opaque and arbitrary manner. Some are also being held up without explanation, and high-level staff have reportedly been instructed to meet with specific companies for services that other contractors

has previously handled. Remember, as a special government employee, Lewandowski still has private sector ties while also being involved in handing out those contracts. Right. And then through all of this, Noam's apparently been waging an internal war against Tom Homan for TV airtime and public visibility. You had sources saying that she would berate staff if she saw Homan on TV. She kept track of his screen time to make sure that she was appearing more than him. And on at least one occasion, she asked aides to ensure that she drew a bigger crowd than

Homan at a conference. And then when the Minnesota situation blew up and there was pressure mounting for her firing, Lewandowski reportedly messaged Trump's pollster Tony Fabricio asking him to cut an ad in Nome's defense. Well, Fabrizio apparently just ignored him and Trump resisted calls to fire her. He did replace Nome and Lewandowski's ally Greg Babino with Homan. Right. Gnom's long-term rival, essentially inserting her biggest internal op into a more prominent role.

In case you need a reminder of why this matters, DHS is one of the most powerful departments in the federal government, and it sits at the center of Trump's entire second-term agenda. Right, the idea that it's being run by two people, allegedly circumventing ethics laws, managing by intimidation, holding up disaster funding, costing, costing taxpayers over $100 million just through negligence and measuring success by TD screen time rather than actual outcomes. That's not just gossip. That has real-world consequences for real-world people. And the fact that this is reporting is coming from two dozen current and former officials, not anonymous political opponents

that suggests that the dysfunction is so severe that people inside of the administration are feeling compelled to speak out. But then next up today, this sounds fake, but it is real. The Trump administration has spent at least 40 million of your taxpayer dollars to deport around 300 people to countries they're not even from. And that includes those run by some of the world's most corrupt and dangerous regimes. Because we've talked a lot about the nearly 250 Venezuelans that were sent to El Salvador and held in a brutal prison known for human rights abuses. But did you also know that the White House paid nearly $5 million for that? Right, and they also paid Equatorial Guinea $7.5 million dollars in amount that reportedly exceeds all US assistance provided to the country over the previous eight years combined to accept 29 people. They've also paid Eswatini $5.1 million to take in 15 people.

It paid Rwanda $7.5 million plus an estimated $600,000 in flight costs to accept just seven people. And to just do the math for you, that works out to about $1.1 million per person. And also, notably, some countries have apparently been paid in more creative way. South Sudan, for example, they reportedly requested sanctions relief on government officials as well as American investment in oil and gas and exchange for accepting just eight deportees. Right, as far as how we even know about this, it's all based on that new report released by Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Though also, a lot of this information is supported by outside reporting and investigations. And this whole dumpster fire raises a lot of practical and moral questions about the administration's practice of deporting immigrants to so-called third countries. Where with one key point being that more than 80% of the migrants sent to these third countries, they've already returned to their home nations or they're in their process of doing so. And so one of the questions that pops up is, well, why weren't they

deported there in the first place? And well, it turns out, first off, there's just sheer fucking incompetence. Right, the administration has defended third country removals in the past by saying that, you know, they have no choice when the people they're deporting are quote, so uniquely barbaric that their own countries won't take them back. But the report found multiple instances in which home governments were willing to accept their citizens or were never even properly contacted. You had court filings, for example, showing that ICE either didn't request travel documents from home countries in the first place or they failed to give governments enough time to process the paperwork. Also as far as the implication that these people are

barbaric and dangerous animals, but we don't have a lot of information, but public records have reportedly shown that at least some were never convicted of crimes in the United States. That includes most of the Venezuelans sent to El Salvador. Then moving on to the second reason for all this, besides the incompetence, it may just be sheer fucking inhumanity, because in some cases, the administration actually isn't allowed to send people home, so it seemingly just sends them to one of these other countries to get around the law. And actually, since September of 2025, most migrants flown to third countries had court-ordered protections. So that means that the, The administration was legally barred from sending them back to their home countries because there was a good chance they'd face persecution, torture, or death.

But when they send them to a third country, many just end up being sent to their home countries anyways within days. So you had a federal district judge arguing in September. These actions also appear to be part of a pattern and widespread effort to evade the government's legal obligations by doing indirectly what it cannot do directly. Of course, if it can do it directly, it will do it directly, no matter how fucked up it is. So for example, you're seeing things like the administration striking a deal with Iran to deport 400 Iranian nationals, including Christian converts, ethnic minorities, and political dissidents. And at least eight people on the first flight reportedly begged not to be sent because they feared for their lives. And one reportedly said he attempted suicide at a U.S. detention facility in an attempt to avoid being sent back to Iran but was still

deported. Also with this, right, it's not like these third countries that they're sending people to are always safe either. Now the El Salvador case, that might be the best example of that, right? People were sent to a prison where rights groups had before and since documented credible reports of torture and abuse. Migrants from countries including Mexico and Vietnam, for example, they were temporarily held and converted shipping containers in Djibouti before being sent to South Sudan, where which is a country that our own State Department currently has a level four travel warning for saying that you shouldn't go there for any reason due to risk of unrest, crime, kidnapping, landmines, and health threats. So with all that, you had one committee member telling the Guardian,

this is a scare tactic for them to be able to tell people here in the US. If you don't self-deport, you could get sent to South Sudan. You could get sent to Eswatinian going on to say. We spent so much a last year hearing how we have to cut waste, we have to cut spending. We're not spending millions of dollars on foreign assistance on health saving dollars for childcare and maternity health and diseases and epidemics and famine around the world, but we are spending it on this. Despite how little fiscal sense this seems to make, with studies showing immigrants or a net benefit to the economy, this practice may only continue to grow. The Trump administration is now reportedly pursuing third-country deportation agreements

with at least 47 other countries. And they're also negotiating agreements with countries that will accept U.S. asylum seekers while their asylum claims are processed. Now also with this, while we could soon see more people detained outside of the country, there are also obviously many still being detained inside of the country. And one of the things it stands out is that in addition to the overall numbers, the number of kids in federal custody, it is skyrocketed since Trump became president. And of course, it really shouldn't be that surprising since he brought back the practice of detaining entire immigrant families.

But it's also we're talking about because it may be as bad as many fears. But the detentions that are almost all of the hundreds of kids who have been locked up have passed through as the massive facility in Texas, which is about 70 miles south of San Antonio, surrounded by barbed wire, most families sleep and room shared with other families. and they've complained about inadequate medical care, insufficient drinking water, and a lack of schooling for their kids. Some kids have also become suicidal and had panic attacks, according to families and their lawyers. And in total, about 3,500 adults and kids, they've passed through this place since Trump reopened it last year. And many of these children who were sent there, they've reportedly been living in the United States and attending American schools sometimes for years.

And while with that, you know, technically they go to schools at the detention facility, apparently the education's lacking. Or for example, a 16-year-old student telling the New York Times that they have high school students coloring in the American flag. You've got a lawyer representing detained children saying you can make all sorts of improvements, but it's still going to be a prison You can improve education and they should, but it will still be a place with sick, sad children Now with all that you've also had the DHS defending conditions and the quality of the education at the facility while also saying being in detention is a choice And there you have the agency referring to the fact that the administration is reportedly offering $2,600 in a free flight to people who leave voluntarily But also for people who've been living here for years or fear going home, it might not feel like much of a choice And similarly, you've had officials claiming that parents can choose whether to be

be detained with their kids. Right, but many families have said they've been given no option but to bring their kids with them. But also, you know, with everything going on and on the subject of immigration, another big piece of news that we didn't get to cover was a federal judge saying last week that the government may have kept thousands of immigrants detained in Minnesota from accessing legal assistance. Right, so with that, this judge, she ordered the Trump administration to make sure that detainees have adequate access to lawyers. And that including by being allowed access to a phone within one hour of their detention and before they're being transferred out of the center as well as by requiring that they be kept in the state for at least three days before being transferred out. so they have a chance to get local legal representation. Or with a judge writing in her order, the government failed to plan for the constitutional rights of its civil detainees.

The government suggests with minimal explanation and even less evidence that doing so would result in chaos. And of course, you know, in addition to the judge slamming ICE for violating the Constitution, you've seen these judges also widely criticizing the agency for defying court orders. But of course, in the meantime, words or words and what's happening on the ground is actual action.

And actually on the note of action and what's happening on the ground, even though ICE is ending its surge of agents in Minnesota, I mean, we should talk about how they're still dealing with the fallout. First of all, you had border czar, Tom Homan telling reporters yesterday that a small number of security forces will still remain in Minnesota to respond to protests and what he described as agitators. But also, Homan didn't say how big the remaining force will be or how long they'll stay, raising serious concerns that the operations are actually winding down. And that's especially alarming given some recent information we just learned. Because it turns out that

immigration agents there may have shot someone in the street while the administration then lied about what happened and wrote false accusations at the victim. And I'm not even talking about Alex Pretti or Renee Good. I'm talking about this other officer related shooting that happened last month with Julio Cesar Sosa-Cellis, who was shot in the leg by an officer. And you had the DOJ bringing charges against him and another guy accusing them of assault. With the official narrative being that ICE agents had tried to pull them over, but the two men drove off, crashed the car and fled on foot. Then saying that the men violently resisted arrest when a third guy came out to help,

including by attacking the agents with a snow shovel and a broom handle. But very notably, this incident wasn't on video, and the cracks in this case started to appear as soon as it got to court. Where with officials changing their original account of what happened, and their new testimony still being different from testimony given by the two defendants and three other witnesses, And actually last week, you had the prosecutors moving to get those charges dropped with a filing from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota saying Newly discovered evidence is materially inconsistent with the allegations against them made in a criminal complaint and a court hearing last month. Now, it's not clear what the newly discovered evidence was, but the judge accepted the motion to have the charges dropped.

And while that matter is on its own, the bitter thing is that this makes it just the latest of dozens of felony cases against people who were accused of of assaulting or impeding federal officers that have just crumbled. And that includes several where agents fired their weapons. And I think it's important we talk about every aspect of what we've just talked about over. the last minutes because not only, you know, is it your tax money that is making all of this possible. Just being burnt and wasted on unneeded horrors, but also because it's important to go into the details and see how different reality is from what the administration is saying that it's doing. But that, my friends, you beautiful bastards, is where your Monday, Philip DeFranco show is going to end.

But you've got more to watch that's just a click away. Because my new interview and podcast with Adam Friedland came out. It is the first episode of 2026 for In Good Faith. And I think you'll love it. I definitely want you to check it out and subscribe to the channel. I went kind of old school with it, deeper, longer conversation with someone I'm just very fascinated by. But hey, no matter what you do, let me just say, I love your face. I hope you have a great rest of your day, and I'll see you right back here tomorrow. I'm going to ask you a question here in a second, you can tell me to go fuck myself and cut it.

I'm just going to preface that. That's a great one. How did you find that? What kind of research are you doing? You won't get used to, you'll never, the pain will never go away. Nick gave me a really good piece of advice. I was horrible. It's the one time I've been fired from a job.