On the Media – “Trump’s Plan to Tank America”

Date: January 24, 2026
Hosts: Brooke Gladstone, Michael Loewinger
Featured Guests: Garrett M. Graff, Joseph Cox, Drew Harwell

Episode Overview

This episode examines the dramatic shifts in American governance, foreign policy, and immigration enforcement during the Trump administration's second term. The hosts, alongside historian Garrett M. Graff and journalists Joseph Cox and Drew Harwell, explore how Trump's policies are unraveling longstanding pillars of American power and influence, reshaping global alliances, weaponizing immigration enforcement, and utilizing surveillance technology and recruitment propaganda in unprecedented ways. The episode provides historical context, investigative insights, and a critical look at the far-reaching consequences for democracy, civil liberties, and global order.

1. The Collapse of American Global Leadership

[00:00–19:25]

Key Points & Insights

The Greenland Incident and NATO Rupture

• Trump abruptly backs off threats around Greenland after incoherent and aggressive rhetoric at Davos, destabilizing US-European relations.
• Denmark responds by militarizing Greenland; European leaders declare a permanent shift away from reliance on the US.
  • “This change is permanent.” – Ursula von der Leyen, European Commission President [03:09]

The Six Pillars of American Power (Garrett M. Graff, author and historian)

Graff explains that Trump is systematically dismantling what he views as six foundational pillars of US strength:

1. Welcoming Immigration/Education: Easy access for immigrants and appeal to international students [04:33]
2. Support for Research/Education: Government funding for research and higher education [04:56]
3. Open Trade: Broad trade engagement; low barriers with global markets [05:30]
4. Rule of Law: Unquestioned adherence domestically, now eroding under politicized justice [05:39]

   “The idea of a fascist government secret police, that a president would be using the Justice Department to punish political enemies… even just a year ago, seemed unthinkable.” – Garrett M. Graff [05:39]

5. Global Alliances: Bedrock security alliances, now under intentional strain [06:18]
6. Monetary/Financial Stability: Independent, prudent monetary policy and dollar hegemony [07:16]

Historical Parallels and Irreversible Damage

• There are precedents for empires falling due to strategic blunders, but “no country in modern history… has chosen to commit suicide by its own choice.” – Graff [08:00]
• Even if future presidents attempt to rebuild, the world has fundamentally changed; US trust is permanently shaken.

  “The United States is only one election away from a Donald Trump again.” – Graff [12:24] “Someday we will tell our children about this month… and they will not be able to fathom what we chose to do as a country to ourselves.” – Graff [00:00 / 14:52]

Can Europe Step In?

• Europe could build its own security and economic order, but, “Europe on its own will never be as powerful as Europe and the United States and North America was together.” – Graff [16:18]
• Rising risks: potential Europe-China alignment, US left on the sidelines.

Stakes and Legacy

• The episode draws a somber historical analogy to the end of Britain’s imperial era, suggesting 2026 is the American equivalent.

2. The ICE Expansion: Surveillance, Overreach, and Civil Liberties

[20:51–38:16]

Key Points & Insights

Escalation of Immigration Enforcement

• ICE’s raids and detentions surge, including widely publicized cases of US citizens and children being swept up.
  • Example: A five-year-old used as bait during a Minnesota raid [22:11]
  • US citizens stopped and profiled: “What legal observers call a Kavanaugh stop…” – Michael Loewinger [22:36]
• Fourth Amendment Violations: An internal memo reveals ICE may enter homes without judicial warrants [23:54]

Technology and Surveillance Tools (Joseph Cox, 404 Media)

• WeBlock: Warrants not required; ICE buys mobile geolocation data originally harvested from commercial app advertising.

  “With WeBlock, they don't need a warrant at all. They're just buying the data.” – Joseph Cox [25:05]

  • Data from sources like Candy Crush and Tinder, enabling ICE to trace devices’ routes across the city.
• Mobile Fortify: Facial recognition app used in the field, overrides traditional forms of ID.

  “ICE believes a result from this app is definitive proof… and can override a birth certificate.” – Cox [30:13]

  • Notably misidentifies people, sometimes producing multiple, incorrect names.
• Elite (Palantir): Government-built tool integrating vast data sources (Health & Human Services, USCIS, Thomson Reuters ‘Clear’) to target and track potential deportation subjects.

Legal and Political Context

• The US lacks federal privacy laws to protect against government purchase of personal data.

  “The US just does not have that. Which is why… the country and agencies can just buy information on its citizens and residents.” – Cox [36:50]

• Congressional efforts to check these powers exist but are stalled and piecemeal.

Media Coverage and Public Reaction

• The technical and decentralized nature of surveillance tools hinders widespread journalistic coverage and public awareness.
  • “You have to show how this tech is impacting people… on the ground.” – Cox [37:08]

3. Propaganda and Radicalization: ICE’s Wartime Recruitment Blitz

[40:17–53:05]

Key Points & Insights

Ballooning ICE Budget and Recruitment Strategy (Drew Harwell, Washington Post)

• ICE’s budget tripled in 2025 via the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” dramatically expanding tech and recruitment funds.
• $100 million directed to “wartime recruitment,” leading to nationwide, omnipresent advertising.

Extreme Advertisement Tactics

• Campaign styles mimic military propaganda and video games (“Halo”), deploying patriotic, action-movie, and meme aesthetics.
  • Ads cast non-citizens as alien invaders (“destroy the flood” [in Halo]).
• Targeted digital, TV, social media, and geofenced billboard ads at events (rodeos, UFC, NASCAR) [47:56]

Edgelord and Far-Right Influences

• Recruitment messaging features deliberate provocation, even appropriating pop songs and neo-Nazi-coded phrases (“We’ll have our home again”).
• Direct trolling of celebrities who denounce ICE content, amplifying virality—ICE officials see backlash as a feature, not a bug.

  “They like trolling the libs… smashing people in the face every day… to go viral.” – Drew Harwell [44:27]

Lowering Recruitment Standards and Oversight

• Aggressive incentives: $50,000 signing bonuses and student loan reimbursements.
• Reports of lax vetting: viral case of hiring an anti-ICE journalist by mistake [49:59]

  “If the agency would not look into the most superficial information about this potential recruit, what are they missing from everybody else?” – Harwell [50:48]

• ICE claims massive application surges (220,000 in 5 months) but faces quality issues—many recruits not passing fitness or background checks.

Broader Cultural Impact

• The normalization of violent, nativist, and hyper-online “4chan culture” tropes in government recruitment signals a dark shift in public discourse.

  “These are policies… life or death issues that one would hope would be discussed seriously… Maybe that's too much to ask… How much the 4chan culture and the edginess of the Internet… has consumed media and politics in this country.” – Harwell [52:10]

4. Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On self-inflicted decline:
  “No country in modern history… has chosen to commit suicide by its own choice, undermining its core sources of national strength.” – Garrett Graff [08:00]
• On alliances as trust:
  "That's all an alliance really is, Brooke. It's the promise that when you need me, I will be there." – Graff [15:22]
• On digital surveillance:
  “With WeBlock, they don't need a warrant at all. They're just buying the data.” – Joseph Cox [25:05]
• On the tone of policy discourse:
  “How much the 4chan culture… has bled into public affairs and… consumed media and politics in this country.” – Drew Harwell [52:10]
• Dark reflection on legacy:
  “Someday we will tell our children about this month… and they will not be able to fathom what we chose to do as a country to ourselves.” – Graff [14:52 / 00:00]

5. Segment Timestamps

• [00:00-03:59] – US-European break over Greenland and Davos speech
• [04:00–08:34] – The six pillars of American power and Trump’s assault on them
• [08:35–19:25] – Irreversible foreign policy consequences, historical analogies, questions of repair
• [20:51–24:22] – ICE raids, domestic impacts, legal overreach
• [24:23–29:17] – Surveillance tech tools, WeBlock and Mobile Fortify explained
• [32:19–36:50] – Data collection, Palantir’s Elite, and lack of privacy law
• [40:17–47:56] – ICE recruitment campaign tactics and cultural implications
• [48:03–51:07] – ICE’s recruitment standards and impact
• [52:03–53:07] – Societal consequences and closing reflections

Conclusion

This episode provides an in-depth, context-rich analysis of how drastic shifts in US policy under Trump are fragmenting international alliances, empowering domestic surveillance and deportation apparatuses, and eroding democratic norms. The show underscores the historical magnitude of these changes and raises urgent questions about the future direction of both American domestic governance and global influence.