The Briefing with Jen Psaki

Episode: "Trump accidentally confesses why he is antagonizing Minneapolis"

Date: January 16, 2026
Host: Jen Psaki (referred to as “John” in transcript)
Featured Guests: Miles Taylor, Elliot Payne, Ben Rhodes

Episode Overview

In this episode, Jen Psaki examines the Trump administration’s escalating federal presence and heavy-handed tactics in Minneapolis. She dissects Trump’s motivations for antagonizing the city, details the administration’s rampant failures on major issues like healthcare and cost of living, and features key interviews — notably with former DHS Chief of Staff Miles Taylor, Minneapolis City Council President Elliot Payne, and former Obama adviser Ben Rhodes. The episode unpacks the administration’s justifications for deploying ICE, threats to invoke the Insurrection Act, and general disregard for democratic norms.

Main Discussion Points & Insights

1. Trump's Inability to Admit Failure (01:00–05:00)

• Psaki paints Trump as utterly unwilling to accept defeat in any form — election losses or political outcomes.
• The shocking anecdote: Maria Machado, leader of Venezuela’s opposition movement and 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner, "literally gave Trump her Nobel Peace Prize" just to curry favor for her country.
  • Psaki notes: "Trump has been incredibly vocal about the fact that he felt he deserved the Nobel Peace Prize last year... hinting at taking it from Machado for weeks" (03:30).
• Trump's denial of failures extends to domestic policy: rising grocery prices, failed efforts to lower cost of living, and a "great health care plan" that’s essentially two pages.
  • Psaki mocks Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins's claim that "it can cost around $3 a meal": “A thousand simulations spit out a piece of chicken, a piece of broccoli, a corn tortilla and one other thing. Sounds filling. Brooke, have you tried it?” (04:30).

2. Administrative Incompetence and Chaos (05:00–12:30)

• Example of Vice President J.D. Vance seemingly unaware how to break a Senate tie on military oversight, highlighting the administration's unpreparedness (06:39).
  • “The Vice President… was checking on how he was supposed to vote on this thing. To give his boss unchecked power” (07:02).
• Press Secretary Caroline Levitt's meltdown in response to pointed questions about ICE violence, deaths in custody, and the high-profile killing of Renee Goode.
  • Levitt pivots to ad hominem attacks instead of answers: “Oh, okay, so you're a biased reporter with a left wing opinion” (08:14).

3. ICE Expansion and Minneapolis Crackdown (10:00–15:30)

• ICE has ballooned into the highest-funded law enforcement agency, with manpower in Minneapolis equivalent to five times the local police force.
• Recruitment standards plummet, highlighted by Slate writer Laura Jadid’s exposé:
  • "Despite never submitting... paperwork... ICE had apparently offered me a job" (10:53).
  • NBC News reports AI mishaps sending underqualified recruits straight to the field (11:20).
• Psaki: “That's especially concerning when you consider how many ICE agents have flooded into the city of Minneapolis” (11:30).

Notable Quotes

• Elliot Payne, President, Minneapolis City Council:
  “Thousands of poorly trained, aggressive and armed agents of the state of the federal government have rolled into our communities, overwhelmed our local police departments and law enforcement agencies...” (11:43).

• ICE’s hiring strategy allegedly targets: “people who have attended UFC fights, shown an interest in guns, and listeners of conservative radio shows” (10:45).

4. From ICE Tactics to Insurrection Act Threats (12:30–19:45)

• ICE is accused of using excessive force, including against U.S. citizens and protesters. Reports of assaults, teargas injuries, and Council President Payne being shoved while observing ICE activity.
• Trump threatens to invoke the Insurrection Act, allowing active military deployment in Minneapolis — a clear escalation.
• Psaki interviews Miles Taylor (former DHS Chief of Staff) who asserts: “I think he [Trump] will invoke it now. This has been 10 years in the making. He has been searching... for the excuse, the right moment, the pretext, the visuals that would justify him invoking the Insurrection Act” (15:26).
• Taylor shares an earlier instance where White House officials intervened to prevent Trump from invoking the Act over migrant caravans (15:35).

Key Insights

• Taylor reveals the obsession inside Trump’s inner circle with authoritarian "magical authorities":

  • “He started calling it by his own set of words, he called it his magical authorities... if he invoked it, he could do everything he wanted” (17:41).

• Taylor’s advice to Minneapolis leaders: “Do what Illinois did, do what California did, go on legal offense against this administration” — including preemptive legal actions against an Insurrection Act invocation (19:47).

5. On-the-Ground Reality in Minneapolis (23:29–29:47)

• Split-screen segment: DHS Secretary Kristi Noem praises ICE’s discipline, directly contrasted with videos of agent violence.
• Council President Elliot Payne describes the operations as “completely indiscriminate... lawless, reckless, chaotic, anything but targeted” (25:22).
  • “I walk up and I just record them. I introduce myself... I was paying attention to that individual when the other one came from behind and pushed me” (25:57).
• Payne disputes White House claims that protesters are “professional agitators,” saying the crowds are overwhelmingly local neighbors peacefully objecting (27:23).
  • “All I saw were people actually respecting the police line... telling ICE to get out of our city, recording. That’s what I see — our neighbors coming out to bear witness and say, no, we will not tolerate this unlawful occupation” (27:27).
• Community is organizing mutual aid, resisting occupation, withstanding threats of military escalation:
  • “The way that we are organized and caring for each other in Minneapolis is growing stronger every single day that this occupation is happening” (28:57).

6. White House Press Briefing and Erosion of Norms (31:47–37:00)

• Psaki sharply critiques Press Secretary Caroline Levitt’s dodges and personal attacks during the White House briefing:
  • Levitt dismisses Trump’s (repeated) mentions of canceling elections as a "joke" (32:21-32:33).
  • When pressed, Levitt sneers, “Only someone like you would take that so seriously...” (33:24).
• Psaki points out the continued lack of substantive policy, including Trump’s “healthcare plan” and non-existent curbs on ICE’s wrongful detention of U.S. citizens (34:00–35:00).
  • “This is the plan, the whole thing. One page of it is just Trump saying, the great healthcare plan. That’s what they’re calling it, as if that deems it true” (34:30).

7. Venezuela: Democratic Facade & Oil Bargains (37:00–44:46)

• Trump’s priorities in Venezuela center not on democracy but on oil leverage.
• Nobel laureate Maria Machado gives Trump her medal, hoping for U.S. backing, but Ben Rhodes notes:
  • “He’d much rather deal with kind of an autocratic government as long as they give him the oil” (39:17).
• Rhodes argues that appeasing Trump only leads to further humiliation:
  • “If you kind of bend the knee to Trump and flatter him, he kind of doesn’t respect you, and comes back to take more away from you, including your dignity” (40:08).
• Discussion of reports on plans to introduce U.S. private troops (mercenaries) in Venezuela, with echoes of practices by Russia’s Wagner Group and former Blackwater head Erik Prince (43:05–44:46).
  • Rhodes warns: “Donald Trump building a series of private security forces to kind of enforce his imperial writ in the Western Hemisphere should be alarming to people...” (44:27).

Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• “Trump has been incredibly vocal about the fact that he felt he deserved the Nobel Peace Prize last year... been hinting at the idea of taking the prize from Machado for weeks...”
  — Jen Psaki, (03:30)

• “A thousand simulations spit out a piece of chicken, a piece of broccoli, a corn tortilla and one other thing. Sounds filling. Brooke, have you tried it?”
  — Jen Psaki, on Agriculture Sec. Brooke Rollins, (04:30)

• “Oh, okay, so you're a biased reporter with a left wing opinion.”
  — Caroline Levitt, responding to reporter (08:14)

• “Thousands of poorly trained, aggressive and armed agents of the state of the federal government have rolled into our communities...”
  — Elliot Payne (11:43)

• “He started calling it by his own set of words, he called it his magical authorities. On more than two occasions, I heard him reference those powers as his magical authorities, because to him, if he invoked it, he could do everything he wanted.”
  — Miles Taylor (17:41)

• “This is not the operations of a disciplined law enforcement agency... I've personally witnessed use of force training... This is not the work of a well trained police force, no question.”
  — Elliot Payne (26:22)

• “If you kind of bend the knee to Trump and flatter him, he kind of doesn’t respect you, and he kind of comes back to take more away from you, including your dignity.”
  — Ben Rhodes (40:08)

• “Donald Trump building a series of private security forces to kind of enforce his imperial writ in the Western Hemisphere should be alarming to people...”
  — Ben Rhodes (44:27)

Key Timestamps for Segments

• Trump’s failures & Nobel Prize story: 01:00–05:00
• Grocery prices/metaphorical clown car administration: 05:00–05:30
• VP Vance/Senate not knowing procedure: 06:39
• Press Secretary Levitt’s meltdown: 07:41–08:19
• ICE expansion & AI mishaps: 10:00–11:20
• Elliot Payne on Minneapolis situation: 11:43–12:21; 23:29–29:47
• Miles Taylor on Insurrection Act/Trump’s "magical authorities": 15:26–19:47
• White House briefing on election threat and ICE: 31:47–37:00
• Ben Rhodes on Venezuela and U.S. mercenaries: 39:17–44:46

Concluding Tone

Jen Psaki's tone throughout is urgent, incredulous, and biting—mocking official doublespeak, highlighting contradictions, and zeroing in on the stakes for American democracy and the symptomatically authoritarian moves by the Trump administration. The interviews deepen the episode’s gravity, providing both legal/policy context and vivid community reportage. The episode ends with lingering questions on U.S. accountability—at home and abroad.