The Glenn Beck Program

Episode: Checkmate? The Hidden Genius of Trump's ICE Pullback
Date: January 27, 2026
Host: Glenn Beck
Guest: DataRepublican
Producer/Co-host: Stu Brigham

Episode Overview

This episode centers on two intertwined themes:

1. Exposing the complex, coordinated activist networks fueling unrest in Minnesota, with a particular focus on anti-ICE actions, their foreign ties, and their revolutionary ideology.
2. A nuanced analysis of President Trump’s recent ICE policy shift in Minnesota, exploring whether this move is a capitulation or a strategic, “Art of the Deal”-style masterstroke, with Glenn Beck urging listeners to view it through a counterinsurgency and political optics lens.

The episode also features an in-depth interview with data journalist and activist “DataRepublican,” who provides further investigative insights into the funding and organization behind the Minnesota protests. The conversation culminates in a broader philosophical discussion about how everyday Americans might counter societal division—drawing inspiration from the nonviolent resistance of Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Unmasking the Network Behind Minnesota's Unrest

• Glenn introduces the theme: Unrest in Minnesota is not spontaneous protest but part of an “insurgency”—a revolutionary movement seeking not reform but abolition, including the United States as currently constituted.
  • “This is not a protest. This is an insurgency. ...It's about a movement that doesn't believe that America even has a right to exist.” (09:15)
• Key exposés from partners and independent journalism:
  • The Sunrise Movement, other leftist groups, and direct funding from big-figure donors like Soros’ Tides Foundation.
  • Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC): Central to anti-ICE organizing, training activists for “immigration raid response,” with a radical abolitionist ideology (“no borders, no deportation, no enforcement, and the abolition of the United States as it is presently constituted”).
    • Glenn cites evidence of collective belief in Turtle Island “liberation,” solidarity with anti-Israel and anti-American action worldwide, and open support for violence and foreign adversaries (e.g., Iran, Cuba, Russia, China).
• Rhetoric and tactics:
  • MIRAC and allies use coded but explicit language borrowed from geopolitical liberation movements, equating ICE with “occupying militaries.”
    • “They said, from Turtle Island to Palestine, occupation is a crime.” (12:35)
  • Materials and training encourage rapid “resistance,” adopt violent slogans (“bash the fash”), celebrate militant organization, form human chains to impede federal officers, reject distinction between protest and destruction.

2. How Protesters Are “Boiled” and Used

• Organizers vs. everyday protesters: The majority of demonstrators don’t subscribe to revolutionary aims, but serve as cover or “camouflage” for those advancing radical, abolitionist objectives.
  • “Most protesters don't wake up believing in Turtle Island ...But the people who are organizing you do believe those things.” (23:05)
  • Participation in “community defense” becomes an ideological “on ramp”—language and beliefs escalate as protest engagement deepens, capturing unwitting participants.

3. Trump's ICE Policy Move—Cave or Checkmate?

• Public reactions: Many on the right, including Glenn at first, saw Trump’s de-escalation (narrowing ICE enforcement focus, removing a “lightning rod” Border Patrol commander) as surrender.
  • “When I first saw this story... I thought, is he waving the white flag? What is he doing?” (31:11)
• Strategic reframing analysis: Glenn argues this is not retreat but reframing:
  • By limiting ICE to targeting criminal illegals in custody (not street roundups), political heat and optics are reduced and the onus shifts to blue state/local leaders:
    • Cooperate and quietly hand over violent criminals (Trump wins quietly)
    • Refuse and refuse to remove rapists/murderers—now explicit, public, and politically indefensible (Trump wins loudly)
  • “If Minnesota complies, Trump wins quietly. If Minnesota refuses, Trump wins loudly. ...That's not blinking. That's checkmate positioning.” (38:44)
  • Removal of the controversial Border Patrol agent makes it harder for media/Senate Democrats to claim narrative of federal overreach; reassigning Tom Homan as lead signals no softening.
• “Never die on a hill someone else chose ...only die on the hill you choose.” (34:51)
• Goals: Dissolve the staged optics crisis, starve activists of viral confrontations, re-align public attention on crime and cooperation.

4. Breaking the “Spell”—Nonviolent, Third Road Resistance

• Glenn’s philosophical reflection:
  • The ideological “spell” dividing Americans cannot be countered with more force or anger—doing so would validate the activists’ escalation strategy and further divide the nation.
  • Draws on MLK and Gandhi’s legacy: the only way to disrupt the cycle is to insert a visible, disciplined, nonviolent third presence:
    • Not “angrier or more righteous, but higher” (56:00)
      • “What if there were men and women who would step forward not to confront, not to shout, not to accuse, just to stand? ...bearing their own bodies as witnesses to a simple truth: that no worker ...should ever have to fear for their life in doing their job.” (57:20)
    • This mediation “breaks the spell” by exposing who the true aggressors are; nonviolent resistance forces public reflection and can move the silent majority.
    • “The only answer is we have to reconcile with people who are under this spell … this is saving Western civilization … you must demonstrate love for those who hate you.” (65:10)

5. Interview with DataRepublican – The Investigation Deepens

(92:30+)

Who is DataRepublican?

• Data-driven activist, deaf and mute (interviewed via interpreter), known for investigative reporting on election data and activist funding.

Revelations

• Exposes the "Tending the Soil" network:
  • Foreign influence—direct involvement of a Canadian unionist (Donny Soppotiuk) in funding Minnesota protests via the Chuffed platform (a far-left, low-processing fee fundraising platform).
  • Vast, leaderless network smuggling money to activists without transparency—“no processing, no way to follow it.”
• Signal chats and real-time surveillance:
  • Activists use tools like “Sign Up Genius” and encrypted “Signal” chats to coordinate.
  • Evidence of activists obtaining car license plate info from the state in real time—a likely criminal misuse of sensitive government systems.
  • Several high-level Minnesota Democrats connected or present in these activist chat channels.
• Government response and network scale:
  • Data handed to authorities; ongoing investigations but difficult to target groups piecemeal due to the interwoven network structure.
  • “It’s huge. ...Almost every institution is captured by it.” (101:40)
  • Solution is in the works, to be presented publicly in two weeks (at Old State Saloon, broadcast on X), with a future follow-up promised.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

(Quotes followed by attribution and timestamp)

• “This is not a protest. This is an insurgency. ...It's about a movement that doesn't believe that America even has a right to exist.”
  – Glenn Beck (09:15)

• “They're not about seeking reform. ...They are seeking abolition. Abolition of borders, any deportation, no enforcement in the US, and the abolition of the United States as it is presently constituted.”
  – Glenn Beck (11:10)

• “When organization says North America is occupied territory, ...calls for ‘liberation’ from Minnesota to Palestine, ...that’s not activism.”
  – Glenn Beck (22:41)

• “Most protesters don't wake up believing in Turtle Island ...But the people who are organizing you do believe those things.”
  – Glenn Beck (23:10)

• “If Minnesota complies, Trump wins quietly. If Minnesota refuses, Trump wins loudly. ...That's not blinking. That's checkmate positioning.”
  – Glenn Beck (38:44)

• On activists and optics:

  • “Never die on a hill someone else chose ...only die on the hill you choose.”
    – Glenn Beck (34:51)

• On nonviolence:

  • “What if there were men and women who would step forward not to confront, not to shout, not to accuse, just to stand? ...bearing their own bodies as witnesses to a simple truth: that no worker ...should ever have to fear for their life in doing their job.”
    – Glenn Beck (57:20)

• “The only answer is we have to reconcile with people who are under this spell … this is saving Western civilization … you must demonstrate love for those who hate you.”
  – Glenn Beck (65:10)

• “It’s huge. ...Almost every institution is captured by it.”
  – DataRepublican (101:40)

• On uncovering foreign influence:

  • “That man Donnie ...the first person who donated ...he’s controlling the finance for these protesters ...it’s proof that outside nations have been influencing these ...organizations.”
    – DataRepublican (95:56)

Key Timestamps

• 09:15: Glenn sets up the episode’s main theme: exposure of revolutionary networks in Minnesota.
• 14:56 – 24:30: MIRAC’s ideology, ties to violent/foreign actors, and techniques are exposed.
• 23:05: Discussion of how moderate protesters are used as cover.
• 31:11 – 40:00: Glenn’s ICE pullback analysis, relaunches Trump’s move as strategic reframing.
• 56:00 – 66:00: Philosophical turn—breaking the spell via nonviolent, “third presence” resistance.
• 92:30 – 105:00: DataRepublican interview: funding channels, foreign influence, state data misuse, government investigation.

Tone and Style

• Candid, urgent, and analytical, blending Glenn's signature storytelling with moments of levity (banter with Stu), righteous outrage, and sincere appeals for reasoned, compassionate action.
• Language is direct yet often reflective, appealing to audience’s sense of participation in a wider movement.

Conclusion

This episode combines data-driven investigation, urgent warnings about coordinated anti-American activism, and strategic analysis of current political maneuvering. It calls on listeners to recognize sophisticated subversion and respond—not with equal fury, but with a disciplined, higher moral courage inspired by history’s greatest movements for nonviolent change. Listeners are invited to stay vigilant, look deeper, and “break the spell”—in Minneapolis and across a nation at a crossroads.