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It right now as his invasion of Venezuela did not go as planned. Sure, he captured Nicolas Maduro, but Maduro looks happier than ever. He's given the cameras the thumbs up sign as he is in the federal prison in New York right now. And he was walking into the federal prison wishing people Happy New Year's. And I guess Donald Trump just thought what the people of Venezuela were going to be like, hey, Donald, let us give you our oil. You can run Venezuela. As Democratic Congress member Eric Swalwell said, I'll play this clip in a little bit. He said Donald Trump couldn't even run a casino. You expect him to run a country like Venezuela of 28 million people? The people of Venezuela do not want Donald Trump to run or operate Venezuela or occupy Venezuela. We're hearing from the former vice president, now the interim president of Venezuela, Delsey Rodriguez, and she's saying that she absolutely does not want Donald Trump to be occupying Venezuela. She says there's only one true leader of Venezuela, and that's Maduro. Also, the governors of the various regions loyal to Maduro, at least as of this recording, show no signs of surrendering or just handing over Venezuelan oil to Donald Trump. At the same time, Donald Trump threw the main opposition leader, Maria Corino Machado, under the bus. I mean, people expected that she was going to be the person who would be installed as the new leader of Venezuela. She was the main opposition leader. She won the Nobel Peace Prize. I mean, she's someone who's supported by the Europeans, the Canadians, Australians and others as a pro democracy voice. That's at least. I'm just letting you know how they describe her. There are people who describe her differently, but I think she expected that she would be the new leader of Venezuela. But Donald Trump says the people of Venezuela do not respect Maria Corina Machado. He goes, she's a nice lady, but she doesn't have what it takes to actually rule and lead Venezuela. Trump says that he wants to be the one ruling Venezuela and occupying it for some uncertain period of time in order to take their oil away and give it to the American oil companies. I mean, I just think that Donald Trump probably cut some deal with Putin and Xi Jinping, that he would take the Western Hemisphere and Xi Jinping can have Asia and Putin can take all of Europe and they would just share the spoils of invading all of these nations and extracting resources. What other justification can you have for Donald Trump's? The way Donald Trump is behaving right now, it just seems to make sense if you kind of put those puzzle pieces together right there. Now, Donald Trump's been deranged post after deranged post all night. I'm Talking about like 100 posts, post, post, post. And he's making posts like this again. On a day where the United States invaded a country, Venezuela. Donald Trump says it is an occupation to take their oil and that he's going to run it for an indefinite period of time. Right. While the American people, I guess, want to see, like some semblance of stability here, this is what Donald Trump is actually posting on his social media platform. Donald Trump says the C overthrew the 2020 election and that's why he lost in 2020. This is a real post that Donald Trump made. Donald Trump repost an account that says the Central Intelligence Agency toppled the United states government on Nov. 3, 2020, live on national TV. And Donald Trump says 2.7 million Trump votes were deleted by Dominion in 2026 as Donald Trump invades Venezuela. Donald Trump is saying the CIA overthrew the 2020 election. So what a deranged maniac he is. Donald Trump also says that he is sending yet another warning to Nigeria after invading Venezuela. He says that the Nigerian government better move fast and stop killing the Christians or Donald Trump says he's going to come into your country. Nigeria. Don't. Guns a blazing. That's the video that Donald Trump put out that he's going into Nigeria, guns ablazing. He says, first, let Me be very clear. The Nigerian government is not persecuting Christians the same way Donald Trump claims the South African government is engaged in a genocide of white people in South Africa. Donald Trump is using this as a pretext to try to invade Nigeria. He's already bombed an area of Nigeria and claimed that he was attacking ISIS there, which he previously claimed he totally dismantled, but he said he had to attack it because they're going after the Christians. The terrorism that does exist in Nigeria impacts Muslims more than it does Christians. And Nigeria is more tribal than religious based in any event. But what Donald Trump is doing, let's be clear who has the largest oil reserves right now basically in the world other than Venezuela, which Donald Trump invaded and wants to take that oil for the oil companies. Nigeria. Nigeria also has massive lithium deposits which it has deals with China over. So that's what this is all about. It's about invading and stay and taking the rare earth elements. And that's what Donald Trump is doing. So just think about it. In the past 24 hours, Donald Trump has now also threatened to invade Nigeria, Mexico, Colombia, Cuba. Oh, and Donald Trump has made social media posts from the Trump war room account with a cartoon that says the Don Row Doctrine. And it is a cartoon image of Donald Trump. This is what Trump posted, an image of Donald Trump stepping on South America, Central America, North America, Canada and Alaska with his foot kind of in the area of Northwest Canada, basically saying that he's going to be taking over this territory. He's calling it the Don Row Doctrine. And he repeated that during his speech. He goes, the Don Row doctrine is that he's going to use American power to dominate the Western Hemisphere. And I've talked about spheres of influence before, that Trump is saying his sphere of influence for the United States is the Western hemisphere. It must dominate the Western Hemisphere. That Russia can basically take all of Europe and China can take all of Asia. That's how Donald Trump views the world. It is very, very dangerous. But it's important that you understand what his demented perspective is and how that will move us closer to a world war if we aren't already in a cold or medium heated world war Right now. Donald Trump is also making posts like this. He's accusing Governor Walls, I should say defaming Governor Walls of min. Of assassinating Melissa Hortman, the former speaker of the House who was assassinated by that MAGA guy over the summer. Remember, Melissa Hortman and her husband were murdered brutally by that masked MAGA person. Remember that went down. Donald Trump is Posting a video that said, did Tim Walls have Melissa Hortman assassinated? And this deranged video is like, oh, she was exposing fraud in Minnesota. So Governor Walz was the one who actually had her kill. So what? Donald Trump is posting the CIA overthrow the 2020 election, the Don Row doctrine. He's accusing Governor Walls and defaming Governor Walls of murdering. Of murdering Melissa Hortman. I mean, how utterly despicable. But let's not forget what also was supposed to take place today. What was supposed to take place was that the Epstein files, the DOJ was supposed to prepare a report outlining if they made redactions to the Epstein files. And they were supposed to prepare a report about where they searched and what documents they turned over, what documents they didn't turn over that was due. They blew that deadline as well, the same way they blew the deadline of December 19, which was the Epstein Transparency act deadline. The Epstein Transparency act also called for today being the day where the DOJ had to write a report about its document review, why it made redactions. And so it's just very coincidental that while that takes place, you have this wag the dog moment where Donald Trump invades Venezuela. He's now accusing the CIA of tampering with the 2020 election. He's accusing Governor Walls of assassination. He's threatening to invade every other country. Let's be very clear what this is. This is Donald Trump's effort to distract from the ep and that's obviously what he's trying to do. We're not going to let him do this. As Donald Trump and the DOJ are engaged in a vile coverup of a child sex trafficking ring. To show you some more photos right here of Nicholas Maduro. You see the photo of Maduro here? There he is. Thumbs up again. The Trump Rapid response account, rapid response47 posted this video. They called it Perp Walked and it's Nicolas Maduro walking with FBI agents. And he wishes people a happy new Year. Take a look at this video that they posted on the Rapid Response account. Here, play this clip. We're also getting this data in, folks, as well. This is the latest YouGov poll. Support for the US running Venezuela occupying Venezuela. Currently, right now, significantly more Americans oppose occupying Venezuela than support it. Only 16% of Democrats support. I don't know who these 16% are. Support occupying Venezuela. 26% of independents support occupying Venezuela. 60% of Republicans, though, support occupying Venezuela. That tells you all you need to know right there about all of the, about these various political parties, Notably as well, French President Emmanuel Macron states the following. I spoke with Maria Corina Machado, the opposition leader of Venezuela. I fully support her call for liberation and the protection of political prisoners of Nicolas Maduro's regime. Like all Venezuelans, she can count on France's support to raise her voice in favor of a peaceful democratic transition. Notably as well, Jim Scudo reports. Sources in the Venezuela opposition tell me that the opposition has been in touch with governments across the world following the arrest of Nicolas Maduro. Those countries include France, Argentina, Ecuador, Panama and Paraguay, who the opposition says expressed their support for restoring the will of the people in Venezuela. Note the country not on the list. Donald Trump does not want her to run Venezuela. Trump wants to run Venezuela. He's jealous of her for winning the Nobel Peace Prize. And also, Donald Trump doesn't want there to be democracy in Venezuela. Trump wants there to be authoritarian puppets who give him the oil for the oil companies. Trump doesn't want Europe to have any influence there or Canada to have any influence there. Trump wants it all for himself. Let's just call it out what it is. Want to share this with you as well. You're seeing some of the protests. Massive marches in New York City against Trump's war in Venezuela, massive protest in Chicago, massive protests in many cities across the United States. Let me share with you what was said during a speech by New York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani. He says he called Donald Trump yesterday morning to voice his disagreement with the aggression in Venezuela and capture of Maduro. Here's what Mamdani said. Let's play this clip right here.
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As well as other members of my team, I called the president and spoke with him directly to register my opposition to this act and to make clear that it was an opposition based on being opposed to a pursuit of regime change, to the violation of federal international law, and a desire to see that be consistent each and every day.
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And what was his response to you in that conversation?
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I registered my opposition. I made it clear, and we left it at that.
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And I think this is a great line by Democratic Congressmember Eric Swalwell, who is running for governor of California here. He says that Donald Trump can't run a casino now. He thinks he can run a country in South America with 28 million people. Here's what Congressmember Swalwell says. Let's play this clip right here with.
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The well, I do. And, you know, I talk to Californians all over the state and going into Venezuela and, quote, running that country ranks at about 200th on their priorities. They're not focused on Venezuela, they're focused on the cost and Ventura and Vallejo, the rent in Los Angeles and the grocery prices in Pasadena. And they have no faith that Donald Trump can run a country who couldn't run a casino. And now he's going to run a country in South America while we watch as he fails to run a country in North America. That doesn't add up. And neither does this whole concept that we're going to get the oil from Venezuela and that it will pay for itself. Essentially, we heard that over 20 years ago from George Bush that we'd get the oil from Iraq and that cost us $3 trillion.
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So utterly deranged behavior by Donald Trump. We'll keep you posted every step of the way here on the Midas Touch Network. Hit subscribe. Let's get to 6 million subscribers together and thank you all so much for watching. Love this video, Support independent media and unlock exclusive content, ad free videos and custom emojis by becoming a paid member of our YouTube channel today. You can also gift memberships to others. Let's keep growing together.
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Date: January 4, 2026
Hosts: Ben, Brett, and Jordy Meiselas
Context: The MeidasTouch brothers break down Donald Trump’s explosive actions and statements following the U.S. invasion of Venezuela, public response domestically and internationally, and Trump’s increasing erratic behavior on social media.
This episode centers on former president Donald Trump’s failed invasion of Venezuela and his subsequent attempts to justify and distract from the debacle. The brothers offer their signature blend of deep political analysis, wit, and democracy advocacy, dissecting Trump’s intentions, public reactions, and international implications—particularly focusing on resource-grabbing motives and destabilizing rhetoric.
Quote:
“Donald Trump couldn’t even run a casino. You expect him to run a country like Venezuela of 28 million people?” – (Ben, paraphrasing Rep. Eric Swalwell) [01:53]
Quote:
“Trump is saying his sphere of influence for the United States is the Western Hemisphere... That Russia can take all of Europe and China can take Asia. That’s how Donald Trump views the world. It is very, very dangerous.” – Ben [08:59]
Notable Social Posts:
Quote:
“Let’s be clear who has the largest oil reserves other than Venezuela, which Donald Trump invaded and wants for the oil companies? Nigeria. Also, massive lithium deposits… So that’s what this is all about.” – Ben [10:30]
Quote:
“Let’s be very clear what this is. This is Donald Trump’s effort to distract from the Epstein [files] ... as Donald Trump and the DOJ are engaged in a vile coverup of a child sex trafficking ring.” – Ben [12:08]
Mayor Mamdani:
“It was an opposition based on being opposed to a pursuit of regime change, to the violation of federal international law, and a desire to see that be consistent each and every day.” – [13:13]
French President Macron:
“I fully support her [Maria Corina Machado’s] call for liberation and the protection of political prisoners of Nicolás Maduro’s regime… she can count on France’s support to raise her voice in favor of a peaceful democratic transition.” – (Read by Ben) [13:02]
Congressmember Eric Swalwell, running for California governor, delivers a pointed line:
“They have no faith that Donald Trump can run a country who couldn’t run a casino. And now he’s going to run a country in South America while we watch as he fails to run a country in North America. That doesn’t add up.” – Rep. Eric Swalwell [14:34]
| Timestamp | Segment | |-----------|---------| | 01:12 | Breakdown of Trump’s failed Venezuela invasion and the Maduro perp walk | | 03:05 | Trump dismisses Maria Corina Machado & proclaims intent to rule Venezuela | | 05:23 | Trump’s social media meltdown—election conspiracies, threats, doctrine cartoon | | 06:09 | Nigeria threat—oil and lithium motives exposed | | 08:59 | “Don Row Doctrine”—Trump’s plan for U.S. global domination | | 10:30 | Explanation of rare earth and oil resources as Trump’s true goals | | 11:45 | Epstein files, DOJ cover-up, and distraction claims | | 12:40 | Nationwide protests and global/political reactions | | 13:13 | NYC Mayor Zoran Mamdani confronts Trump | | 13:02 | International support for Machado and opposition perspective | | 14:08 | Rep. Swalwell’s critique of Trump’s leadership/occupation logic | | 14:56 | Closing thoughts and call to action from MeidasTouch |
The episode delivers a fast-paced, insightful deconstruction of Trump’s international blunders, authoritarian ambitions, and feverish attempts to dominate the media narrative. The MeidasTouch brothers underscore how dangerous, distracting, and transparently self-serving Trump’s recent moves are—while amplifying U.S. and global demands for democratic norms, transparency, and accountability.
Tone: Sharp, irreverent, deeply critical of Trump’s motives and methods, with emphasis on defending democracy and exposing authoritarian overreach.