Transcript

1.5.26 · Washington Post

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Speaker 1: Good morning everybody, Happy New Year, and welcome to the
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reading of the Washington Post for this Monday, January fifth.
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And as a reminder, RADIOI is a reading service intended
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for people who are blind or have other disabilities that
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make it difficult to read printed material. Your reader for
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today is Rod Brotherton, and as you know one Monday
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by listener request, we begin by reading Paul Prather's weekly
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column from the Lexington Herald Leader. In his article this
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week is entitled here's a radical you have familiar proposition
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for how we should live in twenty twenty six. During
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the holidays, I happened to cross several newspaper essays that said,
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better than I can, the very things that I've been
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trying to write and preach about forever. I want to
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kick off twenty twenty six by sharing not my New
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Year's resolutions, because I don't have any, but instead a
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couple of these observations by much better writers. Peter Wayner,
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a Presbyterian, a Senior Fellow at the Trinity Forum, and
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a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times, wrote
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about the conversation between Jesus and conscious Pilot shortly before
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Jesus' crucifixion, in which Jesus contrasted the mighty kingdom of
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Rome with the Kingdom of Heaven, which he led and personified.
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Jesus pointed out the pilot that his followers weren't forcefully
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resisting his arrest. My kingdom is not of this world,
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Jesus said. In Wayner's words, Jesus was contrasting earthly kingdoms,
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which prize and monopolized power and control, with God's Kingdom,
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which esteems the opposite humility, mercy, meekness, and purity of heart.
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God's Kingdom is not advanced or maintained by the use
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of violence, intimidation, or coercion. It is not a power paradigm,
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nor his honor accorded on the basis.
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Speaker 2: Of worldly status.
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Speaker 1: For Jesus, true greatness was to find his radical servanthood.
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He continues, this approach was not just surprising, but revolutionary
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in ways we cannot fully appreciate because we have lived
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with the influence of Christianity for more than two thousand years.
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Sad to say, despite claiming Jesus as their lord and example,
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Christians have too often, historically and presently misunderstood his kingdom
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as completely as Pilot did. We keep trying to turn
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the Kingdom of Heaven into another earthly empire with dire
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results for everyone, us and non Christians alike. In a
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separate essay but nearly identical in Vain, the commentator David
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French taught about the upside down Kingdom of Jesus, a
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term he borrowed from another pastor. French is a political
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and theological conservative, but is publicly at odds with Christians
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who want to seize political power and impose their will
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on others. The core truth of Christ's birth is that
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when God became man, he entered the world in a
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posture of extreme humility and extreme vulnerability, and that posture
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never changed. French rights, and if we who call ourselves
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Christians are to truly imitate Christ, then shouldn't we also
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place little regard on our own worldly status. Jesus told
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us to take up our own cross, not to nail
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others to the terrible tree. Some, including Gandhi, have implied
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that people would like Christians better if they simply started
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behaving more like Christ. That's demonstratly wrong, French argues. It's
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true that people want to receive love and compassion, and
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that when they encounter Christians who love them and serve them, they.
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Speaker 2: Tend to like them. Yeah, this is a double edged sword.
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Speaker 1: Many other people do not, however, appreciated when a Christian
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loves and serves their enemies. They absolutely do not like
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it when a Christian refuses to join their political crusade.
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And that's what happened to Jesus. When lived authentically, then
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Christianity is dangerous to Christians, French said, it's dangerous to
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people who refuse to hate those they are told to hate,
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to people who refuse to oppress and conquer to exploit,
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even when they're told to conquer in the name of God.
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To oppress others is to oppress Christ. To hate others
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is to hate Christ. Love your enemies can be the
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most dangerous and revolutionary act.
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Speaker 2: Of them all.
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Speaker 1: I doubt Werner nor French would have a clue who
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I am, nor should they, but they're both preaching a
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message I've been preaching a long time here. I remember
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writing in the nineteen nineties that it's a big problem
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whenever we tied Jesus too closely to any earthly political party, movement,
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or agenda, No matter how seemingly benevolent or worthwhile. If
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the New Testament Jesus were walking the streets of America
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or any other country today, he'd quickly alienate all political factions.
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That's what happened in his own day. In the first century.
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He was equally loathed by the Sadducees, their rivals the Pharisees,
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and their common enemy the Romans. What he preached, as
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he plainly said, is a kingdom not of this world.
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French calls it an upside down kingdom. I always say
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Jesus turned our sacred truths on their heads. Same idea.
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If somebody oppressing you, he asked, don't fight back. Instead
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love him, feed him if he's hungry, Forgive him for
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the harm he's caused. Pray for him, Go carry his
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heavy backpack a couple of miles, simply out of kindness.
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You want to achieve greatness in life, Do you want
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to be rich famous? Then become the lowliest of volunteers,
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wash others smelly feet. Instead of investing in a hedge fund,
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give all your money to the poor. Choose to be
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the least. That's where you'll find true riches. You'll be
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recognized and honored by God Almighty, although probably not by
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your neighbors. Okay, now, friends, let's go make that our
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next place of the Republican Party or the Democratic Party,
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or for any party. See how many votes we get.
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Do what Jesus said, and at best will be branded
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as naive, at worst traders, fools, enemies of the people,
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pie and the sky dreamers. But we just might bring
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Heaven to Earth, or at least to our own souls.
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And as you know, Paul Praythro his pastor of the
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Bethesda Church near Mount Sterling. You can email him at
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prtpd at yahoo dot com. Now let's look at today's headlines.
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Our lead story, US plan to run Venezuela clouded in confusion.
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The Trump administration's bold operation to capture Strongman Nicolas Maduro
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from his home in Venezuela was a startling tactical success,
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But as the smoke clears in Caracas a day after
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President Trump said triumphantly that the United States would now
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run Venezuela, the reality of how Washington will administer that
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country in the weeks and months ahead appears uncertain and
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stubbornly complex. Maduro's allies in Caracas are still in power,
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some defiantly haranguing about US imperialism. The democratically elected opposition
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leaders are effectively exiled, bluntly sidelined by the Trump administration,
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and Washington continues to hint at more military action, not
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only against Venezuela but other perceived in the regions such
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as Cuba and Colombia. Cuba's state news agency reported late
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Sunday that thirty two Cuban security personnel were killed in
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direct combat with US forces who sealed Maduro. Secretary of
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State Marco Rubio, a longtime hawk on Venezuela and now
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publicly the face of the Trump administration's policy there, bristled
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when asked repeatedly Sunday to explain how the US would
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insure control of Venezuela without resorting to the sort of
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invasion and nation building that led to quagmires in Iraq
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and Afghanistan. What we are running is the direction that
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is going to move us forward, Rubio told ABC News
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this week, with George Stephanopolos, adding that the US would
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continue to apply pressure through restrictions on Venezuela's oil trade.
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Speaker 2: The aim, Rubio.
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Speaker 1: Said, would be to stop Venezuela from doing things that
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run contrary to US interests. Do the drug stop coming?
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Are the changes made? Is Iran expelled? Does the migration stop?
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Speaker 2: Rubio said?
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Speaker 1: Speaking on Air Force One Sunday evening, Trump offered a
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different view. What we want to do is fix up
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the oil, fix the country, bring the country back, and
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then have elections, Trump told reporters as they returned to
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Washington from Florida. The president also said that military action
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in Colombia sounded good to him, and then he thought
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Cuba was ready to fall without US intervention. In a statement,
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Cuban President Miguel Diaz Canel said the thirty two dead
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were members of the Cuban military and interior ministry, the
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first apparent confirmation of long standing US assertions that Cuba's
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communist government, which has received oil and other economic support
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from Venezuela, provided personal security for Maduro.
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Speaker 2: The Cubans were the first.
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Speaker 1: Reported non US casualties in the operations. Several US personnel
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suffered non life threatening injuries. US officials have sid it
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is not clear how the US will manage the complex
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diplomacy in Venezuela on a practical level. Trump said Saturday
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that a working group of top advisors was deeply engaged
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in planning for Venezuela's future, but even those roles and
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responsibilities appear unclear. Rubio is personally focused on the program,
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but his expansive portfolio as both Secretary of State and
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National Security Advisor means he is unlikely to have the
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time to steer the day to day policy. Multiple US
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officials Seid having dismantled much of the US foreign policy
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infrastructure since he came to power. Trump depends on a
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small number of trusted personnel and business associates to handle
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core issues, such as his peace plan and god negotiations
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between Ukraine and Russia and now Venezuela. The National Security
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Council staff has been gutted, and the administration has yet
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to nominate an Assistant Secretary of State to handle the
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Western Hemisphere. The White House is weighing giving Stephen Miller,
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Trump's deputy White House Chief of Staff and Homeland Security Advisor,
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a more elevated role in overseeing post Maduro operations in Venezuela.
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According to one person with knowledge of the conversations, who,
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like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss
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sensitive dealings, Miller has been the architect of the administration's
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anti immigration and border policy and took a central role
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in the effort to remove Maduro. He was among the
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handful of top administration officials flanking the president during the
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news conference Saturday at Trump's mar Alago Club in Venezuela.
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Delsi Rodriguez, who served as vice president under Maduro until
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his capture, has been recognized by the Armed forces as
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acting president.
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Speaker 2: Rodriguez spoke to Rubio after.
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Speaker 1: The Delta Force operation to capture the Venezuelan president and
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his wife, in what Trump described as a friendly conversation.
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She offered a cautiously conciliatory statement addressing Trump on this
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Sunday evening, President Donald Trump, our peoples and our region
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deserved peace and dialogue, not war, Rodriguez said, adding that
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she hoped she could work with the US government on
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a cooperation agenda. Other officials had voiced harder sentiments. Venezuelan
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Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez and televised remarks Sunday alongside
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a group of military officers, described Maduro's case apture as
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a cowardly kidnapping and said a large part of Maduro's
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security team was killed in cold blood in the operation.
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He ordered the nation's forces to unify the mission of
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confronting the imperial aggression and to insure the freedom, independence,
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and sovereignty of the nation. Padrino is a powerful figure
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in Venezuela's military, which had been a source of support
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for Maduro. Trump administration officials have warned that Rodriguez could
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face more military action if she did not acquiesce to
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American demands, with the president himself telling The Atlantic magazine
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Sunday that she could pay a bigger price than Maduro,
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who was in detention awaiting trial on drug and gun
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trafficking charges in New York. Trump set on Air Force
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One that he hasn't spoken yet with Rodriguez. Though there
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are no longer US troops on the ground in Venezuela,
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according to multiple US officials, close to a dozen warships
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and scores of fighter jets, drone and surveillance aircraft, along
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with approximately fifteen thousand troops, remain in the Caribbean and
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are standing by in case a second strike is directed
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by the president, according to a US official. One Venezuelan
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business leader argued that the Trump administration was taking a
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pragmatic approach by working toward an orderly political transition. In
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recent months, the person said, US officials appeared particularly interested
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and learning more about Rodriguez. He described Grigez as a
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pragmatic leader, eager to bring a new economic perspective, and
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who has built a team of peaceable to inject fresh
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ideas into the socialist state founded by former President Hugo Chavez.
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Her defiant speech Saturday, the person said, was likely a
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message directed to her own people and should not be
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necessarily read as an unwillingness to collaborate with the Trump
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administration in grabbing just Maduro and his wife and allowing
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most of the Venezuelan government to remain in place. The
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US appears to be choosing a path, at least for
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the time being, that avoids the need for sustained military
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presence in the country and the associated legal ramifications. This
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was not an invasion, This was not an extended military operation.
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This was a very precise operation that involved a couple
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of hours of action, Rubio told NBC's Meet the Press
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with Kirsten Welker on Sunday, the day before, Trump had
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effectively dismissed the prospects of Venezuela's Democratic opposition, including Nobel
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Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado, who stand in candidate
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Muldo Gonzalez one more than two thirds of the vote
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in an election last year, that some Maduro refused to
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leave office. It'd be very tough for her to be
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the leader, Trump said when asked about Maschado on Saturday,
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adding that she doesn't have the support or the respect
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within the country. Associates of Mikado, who covertly escaped Venezuela
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last month with the help of the United States to
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attend the Nobel Prize ceremony in Norway, were caught off
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guard by Trump's comment, according to a person close to
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her team. On Sunday, she and her supporters once again
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urged the Venezuela and diaspora to rally in the streets,
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but with the two most prominent leaders outside the country.
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Gonzalez fled to Spain last year after the election, and
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Mikado's location is not known, there was little they could
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do to mobilize a response inside Venezuela. One Venezuelan opposition
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leader who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss
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internal discussions. Said Trump's remarks were difficult for many in
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the opposition movement to hear, but in every transition, you
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have to swallow some bitter pills. This person said. The
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next forty eight hours could help clarify whether Rodriguez could
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usher in a soft transition by replacing hardline ministers, or
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rather continue Maduro's government with gringo guardianship. Two people close
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to the White House said the president's lack of interest
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in boosting Mikado, despite her recent efforts to flatter Trump,
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stemmed from her decision to accept the Nobel Peace Prize,
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an award the President has openly coveted. Although Mikado ultimately
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said she was dedicating the award to Trump, her acceptance
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of the prize was an ultimate sin, said one of
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the people. If she had turned it down and said
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I can't accept it because it's Donald Trump's, she'd be
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the president of Venezuela today.
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Speaker 2: The person said.
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Speaker 1: US officials have insisted that Venezuela's rich oil fields provide
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both incentive for Rodriguez to work with Washington and leverage
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if she refuses to play ball, but experts have been
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left puzzled by Trump's pledge to take over the Venezuelan
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oil industry, returning assets to US companies whose contracts were
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voided when the industry was nationalized decades ago. A number
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of Western energy companies are already operating in Venezuela, including Chevron,
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Spain's Repsol Francis Morelen Prome, and Italy's Any. Despite this,
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most of Venezuela's oil is purchased at a steep discount China,
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while Chevron e sports to the United States under a
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license issued by the Trump administration, US sanctions constrain how
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other companies pay for and ship oil. According to David Goldwyn,
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chairman of the Energy Advisory Group at the Atlantic Council
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think tank, what Trump is talking about is really new
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entrance into the market, Goldwan said, But what they're going
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to want to know before they invest billions is that
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security and stability will last in Venezuela. Companies will make
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that decision based on whether it's a good investment over
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a timeline of a decade or more.
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Speaker 2: Goldwyn added.
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Speaker 1: The next story, black Flag of ISIS, surfaces again as
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group continues to be tied to attacks. As authority d
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began surveying the carnage and searching for clues after Sunday's
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mass killing in Australia, they found a marker that has
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surfaced repeatedly in recent years at scenes of horrific violence.
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The black flag of the Islamic State, also known as ISIS,
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is no longer associated with the sprawling terroristic caliphate the
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group once controlled in the Syrian desert. It no longer
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serves as a banner beckoning Islamist militant recruits from across
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the globe, or as the symbol of an organization with
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tight operational control over its terrorist plots and media profile.
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But the discovery of Islamic State flags at the scene
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of the shooting attack on the Hanakah celebration in Sydney,
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according to Australian officials and video footage from the scene,
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served as a reminder that the group continues to inspire
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violence on a global scale with more frequency and tenacity
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than other terrorists organisations. According to security officials and terrorist experts,
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the Islamic State has gone from being a governing authority
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that shocked the world to an organization that has reverted
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to its DNA as a terrorist group that controls no territory,
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but still counts thousands of members, said Bruce Hoffman, a
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senior feller for counter terrorism at the Council on Foreign Relations.
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Speaker 2: Since US led forces.
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Speaker 1: Declared the defeat of the isis Caliphate in twenty nineteen,
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the Islamist state has slipped from our minds and our gaze,
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Hoffman said, but has not retreated from its purpose and objective.
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The shooting that killed fifteen people and wounded dozens of
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others at Bondi Beach in Sydney was the latest in
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a string of attacks in recent years where authorities found
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black flags or other symbols of allied allegiance to the
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Islamic State, even as they uncovered use signs of direct
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engagement from the organization's corps in recruiting, radicalizing, or tasking
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suspected followers. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese initially said there
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was no evidence of collusion, suggesting that authorities had yet
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to uncover operational links to Islamic State leaders, but Australian
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and Philippine authorities confirmed Tuesday that the suspects, a fifty
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year old Sahij Akram and his twenty four year old
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son Navidakram had traveled last month to the Philippine island
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of Mindanao, where the local branch of Islamic State fighters
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have operated for years.
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Speaker 2: It would appear that.
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Speaker 1: There is evidence that this was inspired by a terrorist
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organization by ISIS Albanize sid and a news conference Tuesday
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citing the Islamic State flags found in the vehicle registered
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to the younger suspect. The organization also provided a remark
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of its presence in Syria and an attack Saturday that
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killed two U. S Army soldiers and an American civilian interpreter.
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US officials said the killing of Palmyra was carried out
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by a member of Syria's security forces under investigation for
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leeged allegiance to the Islamic State organization. That shooting occurred
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at a meeting involving US forces from the Iowa National
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Guard working with Syrian forces who are being absorbed into
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the country's interior ministry. According to a person familiar with
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the US role in the country, the Islamic State threat
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stems mainly from ISIS affiliated fighters hiding in the civilian population,
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but there are about twenty six thousand people, mostly women
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and children, in refugee camps who could be vulnerable to
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future influence and recruiting. The person speaking that said on
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the condition of anonymity ed additional context on how the
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United States is addressing the Islamic State threat. But in
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many ways, the shooting in Syria was an outlier, a
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rare operation in the Islamic States geographical base amid a
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broader pattern of attacks involving allegedly self radicalized individuals. According
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to officials and experts, The Sydney shooting came just under
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a year after an attacker allegedly inspired by the Islamic
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State killed fourteen people and injured dozens by ramming his
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truck into a New Year's Eve crowd on Bourbon Street
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and New Orleans. The suspect, shamsud Din Jabbar, was a
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forty two year old US Army veteran who had posted
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videos on social media declaring his allegiance to the Islamic State,
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according to US officials, and like the Sydney attackers, he
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left an I flag in the vehicle. Last year, the
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Islamic State claimed credit for an attack on a Moscow
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concert venue in which at least one.
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Speaker 2: Hundred and forty three people were killed.
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Speaker 1: Also in twenty twenty four, the CIA helped disrupt a
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similar plot by alerting authorities in Austria to an alleged
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Islamic State operation aimed at killing hundreds of people at
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a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna. Of their attacks and
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arrests linked to the Islamic State have targeted locations as
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desperate and disparate Stockton, California, and Sri Lanka. The sequence
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has raised concerns of a resurgence by a group that
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had staged spectacular attacks in Paris, Southern France and San Bernardino,
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California a decade ago, but was seen as a spent
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force after being stripped of its territorial caliphate. In seeking
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to re establish its relevance, the Islamic State has exploited
27:04
outrage among Muslims over Israel's campaigns against militant groups has
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Bellah and Hamas, after the latter killed or captured hundreds
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of Israelis and in October seventh, twenty twenty three, murderous massacre
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across border invasion, which is according to European and Arab
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security officials, we have definitely seen an uptick in the
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online presence of ISIS over the course of the war
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in Gaza. Set a senior Arab security official, speaking on
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the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter. They
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are exploiting the emotional outrage of Muslims and used reports
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of Muslim women and children being killed or allegedly starved
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as tools of recruitment. The Islamic State no longer has
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the online presence or media reach it did and Aquatic
27:55
commanded a decade ago when it staged executions of Western
28:00
journalists and taunted world leaders, but officials said that the
28:04
organization continues to foment violence with opportunistic online screeds that
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urge attacks on Western targets using any means available. When
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wildfires broke out in southern California last year, Hoffman said,
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Islamic State chinels quickly began urging copycat cost cases of arson.
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The father son suspects of the Sydney attack were not
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known to have traveled Assyria. The families reported South Asian
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lineage had also raised suspicion among terrorism experts of an
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affiliation with isis h K or Islamic State Khorasan, an
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offshoot based in Pakistan. The elder Akram was killed in
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a shootout with police, according to authorities, while the son
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was wounded and remains hospitalized, and He's acknowledged that the
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younger Afram had come under the influence of Australian security
29:04
officials in twenty nineteen, an apparent reference to an investigation
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triggered by his suspected association with other Islamic State followers.
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According to Australian media reports, an investigation of Akram concluded
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that there was no indication of any ongoing threat of
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him engaging in violence. Albanize said the timing of the
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Akron probe coincides with an Australian investigation of the Sydney
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resident Isaac Elmatari, who was convicted of planning attacks in
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Australia on behalf of the Islamic State. According to Australian
29:46
court records, an Australian citizen, Elmtari had traveled in twenty
29:52
seventeen to Lebanon, where he served a brief jail term
29:55
for attempting to join the Islamic State. According to court records,
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Almatari returned to Australia, where he appears to have been
30:04
under surveillance before he was charged with prodding others to
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help him carry out Islamic State inspired attacks, and took
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preliminary steps, including the purchase of a tactical vest at
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a gun store. According to court records. At Almatari's sentencing
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in twenty twenty one, an Australian judge downplayed the threat
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he posed in dismissive terms that echoed some assessments of
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the Islamic State after it lost its territory, which will
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probably now be revisited. He had no followers, he had
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not persuaded any one to his cause in Australia. The
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judge said there was no direct or indirect threat to
30:45
any one, Although imbued with extremist ideals, the likelihood of
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any terrorist act coming to fruition in Australia was very low. Indeed,
31:00
the next story, MAGA leaders warned Trump, the base is
31:05
checking out.
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Speaker 2: Will he listen.
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Speaker 1: As President Trump ate his crabcake lunch inside the White House?
31:13
Last month, Conservative pollster Mark Mitchell tried to explain that
31:19
there was a disconnect between what the administration seemed to
31:23
be focused on and what Trump's passionate base of supporters
31:27
wanted to see. Sir, you got shot at the butler rally,
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Mitchell said, invoking the really strong optics of Trump raising
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his fist in defiance after the assassination attempted Pennsylvania in
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July twenty twenty four. You said fight, fight, fight, but
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nobody ever clarified what that means, Mitchell continued, and right
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now to or fight fight fighting Marjorie Taylor Green and
31:56
not actually fight fight fighting for Americans head polster Rasmussen
32:02
Reports warned Trump that many of his supporters believed that
32:06
he hadn't drained the swamp in Washington and suggested that
32:10
the president refocus with a plan to embrace pragmatic economic populism.
32:17
To the extent to which we were talking about the
32:19
economic populism message, he wasn't as interested as I would
32:23
have hoped, Mitchell said, adding that it was a long
32:27
ranging conversation. Mitchell's critique echoes a growing chorus of MAGA
32:34
faithful raising concerns over what they see as Trump's second
32:38
term shortcomings. In recent weeks, pockets of his base, known
32:44
for its unwavering dedication to Trump and his MAGA agenda,
32:48
have accused him of focusing too much on foreign affairs,
32:53
failing to address the cost of living issues.
32:55
Speaker 2: He pledged to fix aligning.
32:57
Speaker 1: Himself too closely with billillionaires and tech moguls, and resisting
33:03
the release more investigative files on the deceased sexual predator
33:07
Jeffrey Epstein. Across the conservative spectrum, a steady drum beat
33:14
of commentators has warned that Trump's coalition has weakened and
33:18
that the party is headed for defeating midterm elections in November.
33:23
There are concerns that the base won't show up over
33:27
frustrations that Trump hasn't pursued the MAGA agenda aggressively enough,
33:33
and others worry that economic concerns could threaten his standing
33:38
with independent voters, a key block in the midterms. Trump's
33:43
top advisors have taken note of the criticism from within
33:47
MAGA and see it as part of the cyclical feedback
33:50
the administration will receive throughout his term. As one senior
33:54
White House official put it, Trump's staff members have planned
33:59
for him to begin and holding near weekly rallies to
34:02
tout his accomplishments after spending a little time on the
34:05
stump this year, two officials told The Washington Post, speaking
34:10
on the condition of anonymity to detail internal conversations, but
34:15
on his first stop of that effort at a casino
34:18
in Pennsylvania last week, Trump again mocked the world and
34:22
the word affordability and played down concerns about rising costs
34:27
and inflation, before acknowledging I can't say affordability as a
34:31
hoax because I agree the prices are too high. His
34:36
advisors expect that complaints from the base could become louder
34:41
as the midterms approach, but will subside as more of
34:45
his policies take effect. Eventually, an adviser equipped the cycle
34:50
will restart with a new.
34:52
Speaker 2: Set of criticisms.
34:54
Speaker 1: Chief among the recent critics has been Green, the Republican
34:57
of Georgia, whose complaints led to t I'm disavowing her
35:01
last month. She subsequently decided to resign from Congress. I'm
35:06
an early indicator. I'm like a Bellweather, said Green, who
35:11
stood by Trump during his political exile after the January sixth,
35:15
twenty twenty one attack on the US Capitol, and has
35:18
prided herself on being closely attuned to Trump's base. I
35:23
say it, and then within four to six month, everybody
35:27
saying the same thing. In an interview with The Post,
35:32
Green said most of Trump's longtime supporters still want to
35:35
see him succeed, but the base is jaded. They know
35:39
what they elected him to do, she said, and they're aware.
35:43
Speaker 2: He's not doing it.
35:46
Speaker 1: Public polling has shown mixed signals about how much Trump's
35:50
support has slipped among Republicans. He maintained support from the
35:54
vast majority of the party, though recent pollings has shown
35:58
he has dipped below the usual ninety percent approval mark BUD.
36:03
His approval rating overall has lagged in recent weeks. It
36:07
reached its worst with voters in late November and has
36:11
ticked up slightly since then, though it remains lower than
36:14
at his point at the same point in the first term.
36:18
An economist Yugov poll conducted this month found that forty
36:22
one percent of Americans approve of the job Trump is
36:25
doing and fifty five percent disapproved, and that improvement of
36:31
five percentage points from a week earlier. That appears softness
36:36
has coincided with some Republican pushback against aspects of the
36:40
Trump's agenda, including when GOP state senators in Indiana last
36:45
week blocked a White House led effort to redraw the
36:48
state's congressional maps, and on Thursday twenty Republicans in Congress
36:54
joined Democrats in another rebuke, supporting a bill that would
36:59
overturn trump executive order limiting union rights for federal workers.
37:05
What remains to be seen is whether that brewing dissatisfaction
37:09
will grow, or whether Trump can more aggressively focus on
37:14
issues that quiet the discontent. He said Tuesday that his
37:18
remaining three years in office mount to an eternity in
37:22
Trump time to carry out his agenda. Still, the course
37:28
of supporters willing to speak out has become louder. Mitchell
37:32
was invited to the White House by Vice President J. D. Vance,
37:36
who follows him on x and has communicated with him
37:40
about polling in recent months. Before launch with Trump, Mitchell
37:45
met with Vance, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles,
37:49
and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Mitchell is not part
37:53
of the president's political operation, but Trump advisors were interested
37:58
in hearing his outside perspective, a White House official told
38:02
The Post. Mitchell said in an interview that Trump listened
38:07
to his concerns and asked questions, but eventually pivoted to
38:11
one of his favorite conversation topics, golf. He gushed about
38:17
two of his golf partners Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of
38:20
South Carolina, and Fox News host Brett Bayer, both of
38:24
whom are subjects of magafaction ire. Trump also bragged about
38:31
how much money he had raised during a golf fundraiser
38:33
for Graham the weekend before, a day before he declared
38:37
that he was rescinding his support for Green. Mitchell suggested
38:42
that it would have been better for the administration to
38:45
acknowledge early on that repairing the economy would take significant
38:50
changes and would not occur overnight. The very first thing
38:55
they shouldn't have done is lower gas prices one dollar
38:59
and then save the olden.
39:00
Speaker 2: Age is here, he said.
39:02
Speaker 1: Green also believes that Trump is missing an opportunity to
39:07
connect with his base on affordability.
39:10
Speaker 2: People understand that it.
39:12
Speaker 1: Takes time to stabilize the economy, she said, but they
39:15
take issue with Trump's claims that concerns about affordability are
39:20
part of a democratic hoax. No, it's not, and the
39:25
healthcare situation is serious. It's dire, and Republicans are only
39:31
just now taking it serious, Green said, referring to expiring
39:35
health care subsidies that will cause insurance prices to surge
39:39
for americans enrolled in the Affordable Care Act plans. This
39:45
is a country driving eighty miles an hour in a
39:48
brick wall at January first, when the subsidies expire. Savannah Hernandez,
39:56
a conservative commentator who serves as a turning Point You
40:00
Say contributor, described the second term of Trump so far
40:04
as underwhelming, while crediting Trump with making positive, lasting changes
40:09
to the conservative movement. She was among the influencers the
40:14
White House assembled for an Antifa roundtable with Trump in
40:18
October to discuss how to stop a loosely knit movement
40:21
of far left activists, at times in sided violence during protests.
40:27
But on that and a host of other issues Trump's
40:31
base cares about, including the administration's goal to deport more
40:35
than one million undocumented immigrants this year, which it is
40:39
not expected to reach. Accountability for what it believes were
40:43
government agencies being weaponized against conservatives, and vows to make
40:48
life more affordable, Hernandez said, he's fallen short. We all
40:55
really see our punchy tweets, cool video edits, but really
41:01
no follow through on any of the promises, she said
41:04
of the messaging coming from the White House and if
41:07
he listened to his bass, and he was connected to us.
41:11
Even just through social media, you would see that the
41:15
average person is still struggling to buy groceries, and the
41:19
housing crisis is still on the minds of everybody, that
41:23
inflation is still a really big issue. And when Americans
41:27
see billions of dollars going to any country overseas, it
41:33
really feels like a betrayal when they were struggling here
41:36
at home, Hernandez said. Two senior White House officials said
41:41
Trump has shown a range of feedback from MAGA commentators,
41:45
including criticism about his performance.
41:48
Speaker 2: On a nearly daily basis.
41:50
Speaker 1: In a statement, White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt called
41:54
Trump the proud founder and undisputed leader of MAGA, the
42:00
greatest political movement in American history. President Trump is delivering
42:07
on his core campaign promises across the board, keeping his
42:12
word to the nearly eighty million patriots who elected him
42:16
in a landslide, and fighting every day to make America
42:22
greater than ever before, she said. Other MAGA aligned voices
42:27
downplayed the extent to which criticism within the movement is
42:30
a warning sign. Jack Posabiek, a long time activist and
42:36
conservative media figure, described Trump's second term performance as light
42:41
years beyond his first term.
42:44
Speaker 2: You will always have this sliver of people.
42:47
Speaker 1: It's a very online group of people, a very active
42:51
group of people who would say they want more, they
42:55
want more, they want more posibix sit in an interview
43:00
and I get that. Isabelle Brown, another conservative podcaster, said
43:05
the complaints from within MAGA are a sign of a
43:08
healthy conservative debate in Georgia. Thirty six year old Jesse Meadows,
43:15
a Trump voter who describes herself as MAGA, grew frustrated
43:20
this year as prices remained high and the President responded
43:24
dismissively to the push to release more Epstein files. Her
43:29
disappointment hardened as Trump attacked Green and Representative Thomas Massey,
43:34
Republican of Kentucky, who also pushed for the release of
43:38
the files. Trump's post touted favorable polls and success bringing
43:43
down inflation, seemed like his own version of fake news.
43:48
Meadows said she voted for Democratic candidates and Public Service
43:53
Commission elections in Georgia and November that flipped the seats
43:57
from the GOP, and she said that going forward she
44:01
will back candidates she considers America first, regardless of party.
44:07
If I had known what Trump was going to turn
44:09
into now, I would have stayed home. Meadow said many
44:14
supporters like her have been turned off by seeing what
44:18
was once a full calendar of rallies in Middle America
44:22
replaced with opulent events with business leaders, deal signing with billionaires,
44:27
and travel abroad. While meeting with Trump, Mitchell told him
44:32
that his base wanted to see him smash the oligarchy,
44:36
not be the oligarchy. Building billionaire funded ballrooms and jets
44:42
sitting around the world and trillion dollar investment deals looks
44:47
a lot like oligarchy stuff, Mitchell said. Despite acknowledging Trump's
44:52
departure from his base on such issues as foreign and
44:55
tech policy, some top populous voices in his movement insist
45:00
he is course correcting to win back support ahead of
45:04
the midterms. Trump is pivoting into a much harder populist
45:08
national stance on deportations, drug cartels, third world fraud, and tariffs,
45:16
said Stephen K. Bannon, his former advisor turned influential talk
45:20
show host It's only harder from here to November twenty
45:25
twenty six. Bannon, who has been outspoken against the efforts
45:28
by wealthy tech executives to influence Trump policies. Told the Post,
45:33
broligarchs didn't sign up for the wet work of modern politics,
45:38
they will be the first off the bus. MAGA influencers
45:44
have cringed at some Trump comments they view as out
45:48
of touch with his base, especially his assertion on Fox
45:52
News that the United States needs foreign workers because it
45:57
does not have enough talented people. Not long after, Trump
46:02
acknowledged that his base wasn't happy with his decision to
46:05
welcome foreign tech workers to the country, but said his
46:08
poll numbers would be going up among smart people. Rahem Cassam,
46:14
a British right wing political strategist living in Washington who
46:18
was editor of the conservative National Pulse, set his phone
46:22
lit up with complaints when Trump made the Pole comment.
46:26
I'm just saying, listen to the people that elected you,
46:30
because right now, apart from the deportation stuff, you're not
46:35
really connecting with them, Cassam said in response to a
46:40
request for comment from the White House. In addition to Levitt,
46:43
Vance provided the Washington Post with a statement touting a
46:47
reduction in the number of illegal immorants in the country
46:50
and Trump's work with pharmaceutical companies to lower drug prices
46:54
for some Americans among other accomplishments.
46:58
Speaker 2: Is there more work to do?
46:59
Speaker 1: Of course, the worse there is, van said, and no
47:02
one is more committed to doing it than the President
47:05
of the United States and his team. Other Trump supporters
47:09
said that although not everything has panned out as they hoped,
47:13
they remained confident about the president. He is not a king,
47:18
said Jeffrey Ramsey eighty one from Maryetta, Georgia. He can't
47:23
just say you gotta cut the price of a hamburger.
47:27
Within another year and I thinks will things will be rocking.
47:31
Speaker 2: On pretty good and next.
47:34
Speaker 1: Trump revives an old vision of American power with global implications.
47:41
The night time rade that ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro
47:45
this weekend was the most dramatic demonstration the President Trump's
47:49
vow to focus US might on the Americas. As the
47:53
White House recreates a stance toward the Western Hemisphere that
47:57
more resembles its nineteenth century empire building area then at
48:01
Las a fair attitude of recent generations. Trump and his
48:05
top allies suggested that the Venezuelan operation could be the
48:10
start of efforts to remake the region, warning the governments
48:14
of Cuba and Colombia that they might be next. Trump
48:19
and some backers have also brought up Mexico as a
48:23
potential target, and they are reviving talks of attempting to
48:27
acquire Greenland, the Danish territory. After announcing Maduro's capture, Trump
48:34
boasted of the Donroe Doctrine, a twist on the strategy
48:38
articulated by President James Monroe in eighteen twenty three that
48:43
European powers should stop interfering in the Western Hemisphere. The
48:49
National Security Strategy released by the White House in December
48:53
noted a Trump corollary to the Monroe doctrine that promised
48:58
to protect our homeland and our access to key geographies
49:02
throughout the region.
49:05
Speaker 2: The effort carries significant risks.
49:08
Speaker 1: Washington could get pulled into the nation building invasions that
49:12
Trump has long sworn to avoid if the Venezuelan ministry
49:16
or people are unwilling to go along with his plans.
49:20
It also makes it harder for the United States to
49:23
argue to Russia and China that they should steer clear
49:26
of their neighbors. It may reshape global affairs more broadly.
49:31
Smaller nations that were long dependent on Washington's guarantees for
49:35
global trade and stability, hedge their bets by building ties elsewhere.
49:42
Backers of Trump's strategy downplay the drawbacks and say a
49:47
narrower focus on US regional interests is long overdue. The
49:52
goal of the policy is to see changes in Venezuela
49:56
that are beneficial to the United States first and foremost,
50:00
because that's who we work for, but also we believe
50:04
beneficial for the people of Venezuela who have suffered tremendously.
50:10
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told NBC's Meet the Press
50:14
on Sunday, a day after Trump said US forces were
50:18
ready to re invade Venezuela if Maduro's de facto's successor,
50:24
Delsi Rodriguez, did not comply with his wishes. Rubio, the
50:29
son of Cuban immigrants to the United States, has long
50:33
back efforts to oust Venezuela's leaders, who have presided over
50:37
a decline of their country's economy, ignored election results, and
50:42
built ties to US adversaries, including Russia and China. Deposing
50:47
Venezuela's government would probably weaken the communist leaders of Cuba
50:52
as well, since they have long depended on Caracas for
50:57
energy and other economic support. This emphasis on the Western
51:02
hemisphere should not come as any surprise to anybody. It
51:07
matters more to American security than any other part of
51:10
the world, said Nick Solheim, chief executive of American Movement,
51:16
a group that backs Trump's policies and trains junior staffers.
51:20
But he said advocates of a more robust focus on.
51:23
Speaker 2: The Western hemisphere.
51:25
Speaker 1: We're not saying Washington should abandon global affairs entirely. It's
51:30
making sure that our neighbors are not doing anything that
51:35
is that would greatly affect the United States adversely, and
51:40
then focused on our greatest geopolitical challenge right now, which
51:43
is China.
51:43
Speaker 2: He said, that is not.
51:46
Speaker 1: A retreat from the world a foreign policy, This is
51:50
an accurate prioritization of what actually matters the most and
51:55
what poses the biggest threats to the United States against
52:00
Venezuela drew criticism from both the center and the right,
52:05
as some influential America First advocates said that military conflicts
52:09
and expanded foreign opportunities for US oil companies weren't why
52:15
voters back to Trump. This is the same Washington playbook
52:20
that we are so sick and tired of that doesn't
52:23
serve the American people, but actually serves the big corporations,
52:28
the banks, and the oil executives. Marjorie Taylor Green, a
52:32
longtime Trump ally who was retiring from Congress after breaking
52:36
with the President, said on NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday,
52:41
we don't consider Venezuela our neighbor. Our neighborhood is right
52:46
here in the fifty United States, not.
52:50
Speaker 2: In the southern hemisphere.
52:54
Speaker 1: Washington has a long history of efforts to back friendly
52:56
leaders in Latin America, including at time intervening with forced
53:01
to do so, but it has not so done so
53:04
directly since the nineteen ninety one into the Cold War,
53:08
and Venezuela, with thirty million residents and a territory double
53:12
the size of Iraqs, is an especially large nation to
53:15
take on. I understand how we got there, but there's
53:20
been no forethought as to the difficulties of the plan
53:24
or the ideas that they seem to have adopted as
53:27
the way ahead, and there definitely is no planned level
53:31
of details that's required, said Jennifer Kavanaugh, a senior fellow
53:35
with the Defense Priorities, a think tank that advocates for
53:39
more limited role of the US military in the world.
53:44
She said she wasn't sure that China and Russia would
53:47
be emboldened by Trump's actions, since they already appear to
53:51
feel unconstrained toward their neighbors, but she noted that Trump
53:55
appears to be cautious about tangling with militaries that can
54:00
serious damage to the United States. This sort of spectacular
54:05
operation is very consistent. He likes to hit adversaries that
54:10
can't head back, whether it's small drug smuggling boats, or
54:14
Iran with no air defenses, or Venezuela, which is also weak,
54:18
she said, and me that explains the more accommodating approach
54:23
to Russia and China in the sense that his view
54:27
of military power is kind of go big or go home.
54:32
But that model doesn't work against Russia and China. Some
54:37
of Trump's former advisors warned that the world the president
54:40
is building may turn out to be more dangerous than
54:43
the era of the nineteen nineties and two thousands, when
54:47
the United States was a pre eminent global power and
54:51
back to broad effort to strip barriers to trade. It
54:56
just seems to be back to the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
55:00
In a hall, an expert at Brookings Institution, who was
55:03
Trump's top Russia advisor in his first term. If you
55:08
bought into the idea of competition among the great powers,
55:12
and that Russia is another great power that's inevitably going
55:16
to dominate in its region, just as China is in
55:20
its region, then this is the logical conclusion from this,
55:25
Hill said, countries that have deep ties and allies to
55:29
the United States but are threatened by Trump may seek
55:32
to protect themselves by building trade and security relationships elsewhere,
55:37
a move that will ultimately weaken Washington, not strengthen it.
55:43
The raid has sparked fears elsewhere that Trump could act
55:46
on other threats toward the U. S neighbors, which have
55:49
included demands to take over the Panama Canal, to turn
55:53
Canada into the fifty first state, to annex Greenland, and to.
55:57
Speaker 2: Overthrow Cuba's government.
56:00
Speaker 1: Trump on Sunday said he didn't plan action against Havana,
56:03
but offered tough flanguage else Nevertheless, I think it's just
56:07
gonna fall. I don't think we need any actions, he
56:10
told reporters on.
56:11
Speaker 2: Air Force One.
56:13
Speaker 1: If you ever watch a fight, they go down for
56:15
the count and Cuba looks like it's going down. He
56:20
was sharper toward Greenland. We need Greenland from a national
56:24
security situation. Trump said, it's so strategic. Right now, Greenland
56:30
is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place.
56:33
Denmark is not going to be able to do it.
56:36
On Saturday, an influencial former White House aid Katie Miller,
56:40
posted on social media an image of Greenland within the
56:44
US flag superimposed on top of it. The President's repeated
56:49
statements about Greenland drew a sharp response earlier Sunday from
56:54
Danish Prime Minister Mete Friedrichson. I have to say this
57:00
is very directly to the United States. It makes absolutely
57:04
no sense to talk about the need for the United
57:08
States to take over Greenland, she said.
57:12
Speaker 2: A statement.
57:13
Speaker 1: She said Denmark is a US military ally and that
57:17
the United States has extensive access to Greenland. I would
57:24
therefore strongly urge the United States to stop the threats
57:30
against a historically close ally and against another country and
57:36
another people who have said very clearly that they are
57:42
not for sale, she said. And this concludes the reading
57:48
of the Washington Post for today, Monday, January fifth. Your
57:53
reader for today has been Rod Brotherton. If you have
57:56
any questions, comments, or suggests concerning this program, please feel
58:03
free to call us at eight five nine four two
58:06
two sixty three ninety. Thank you again for listening, and
58:11
now please stay tuned for continued programming right here on
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