Trump Loses It as Senate Votes Against Him on War

Summary

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The MeidasTouch Podcast

Episode: Trump Loses It as Senate Votes Against Him on War
Date: January 8, 2026
Hosts: Ben, Brett, and Jordy Meiselas

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Overview

In this charged episode, the Meiselas brothers deliver a passionate and pointed breakdown of two explosive news stories: the U.S. Senate rebuking President Donald Trump’s push for unchecked military action in Venezuela, and the heated aftermath of the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Macklin Good by ICE agents in Minneapolis. With their signature blend of sharp legal insight, activism, and brotherly banter, the hosts examine rising authoritarianism, democratic backsliding, and offer an unflinching look at state violence and accountability in 2026 America.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Senate Rebuke: War Powers Resolution Against Trump (00:01–03:40)

• Senate Vote: The Senate passes a War Powers Resolution (52–47), restricting President Trump from further military action in Venezuela without explicit Congressional authorization. Key Republicans crossing the aisle include Murkowski, Young, Paul, Collins, and Hawley.
• Host Take:
  • “[With] the Senate essentially rebuking Donald Trump… he is threatening to veto it and says he has absolute power to launch invasions wherever he wants in the Western Hemisphere.” (00:17, Host)
• Discussion:
  • Trump’s assertion of “absolute power” is characterized as alarming, even autocratic.
  • The significance of this rare bipartisan opposition is highlighted as a defense of constitutional checks and balances.

2. The Greenland Crisis: Bribery & Coercion Unfold (01:18–03:50)

• Reporting: The Trump administration is planning a hostile economic strategy, allegedly offering Greenlanders between $10,000 and $100,000 to support secession from Denmark and join the U.S.
• Escalation: Military options are reportedly on the table if the financial push fails.
• Quote:
  • “This is an unprecedented hostile, and I would even say an act of potential war at this point to engage in this type of economic coercion against the sovereignty of a country.” (01:37, Host)
• International Fallout:
  • France, Germany, and Denmark are reportedly preparing for possible military confrontation with the U.S. should an invasion occur.

3. The Killing of Renee Nicole Macklin Good by ICE in Minneapolis (03:51–12:00)

• Victim Profile: Renee Nicole Macklin Good, 37, a U.S. citizen, mother of three, and a poet, was shot in the face by an ICE officer after dropping her son off at school.
• Narrative and Visuals:
  • The hosts humanize Macklin Good, sharing her background and social media presence.
  • “Say her name: Renee Nicole Macklin Good. Here are some new photos of her… She was a mother, a poet, and new to the city.” (04:30, Host)
• Alleged Cover-Up:
  • Minneapolis is barred from participating in the investigation; only federal agencies are in charge.
  • Kristi Noem (Secretary of Homeland Security) appears repeatedly, defending the ICE officer and dismissing local/state oversight.
• Kristi Noem Defends ICE Actions:
  • Claims the vehicle was used as a weapon and that the officer’s life was in danger.
  • “When you take an action and use a weapon… to incite violence… then it needs to be labeled exactly what it was.” (06:20, Kristi Noem)
• Exclusion of State Investigators:
  • Minnesota’s state investigative agency is explicitly denied jurisdiction.
  • “They have not been cut out. They don’t have any jurisdiction…” (05:39 & 10:47, Kristi Noem)
  • Kristi Noem pivots blame on Minneapolis and state officials for broader corruption and crime.
• Escalating Authoritarian Rhetoric:
  • MAGA Republican Randy Fine:
    • Threatens similar outcomes for others who “get in the way of the government repelling a foreign invasion.”
    • “If you get in the way of the government repelling a foreign invasion, you’re gonna end up just like that lady did yesterday. America, we kill people.” (12:41, paraphrased via Host quoting)
• Host Reaction:
  • The hosts call the rhetoric and actions “exactly like the Reich,” sounding alarms about historical authoritarian echoes.

4. Trump’s Plans in Venezuela & Ties to Autocracy (13:07–14:18)

• Trump’s Interview:
  • When pressed about support for democratic elections in Venezuela, Trump offers noncommittal answers, appearing to prioritize backing his autocratic ally, Del C. Rodriguez, and U.S. oil interests.
  • Host: “He has absolutely no plans whatsoever other than to have his authoritarian puppet, Del C, lead Venezuela — and then steal the oil for himself and his oligarch friends.” (13:12, Host)

5. Minneapolis Protests: Outrage, Mourning, and Conscience (14:22–15:52)

• On-the-Ground Footage: Protesters confront ICE, expressing grief for Macklin Good and moral outrage at law enforcement actions.
• Memorable Quote:
  • “Every one of us has to look at what choices we make in this world… No amount of money is worth what happens… Emerson does not have a mother today because one of you murdered a woman in cold blood yesterday.” (14:22–15:52, Protester)
• The episode closes with calls to moral conscience and appeals to the humanity of everyone involved—including law enforcement.

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Notable Quotes & Moments by Timestamp

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote / Context | |-----------|-------------|-----------------| | 00:17 | Host | “The Senate has essentially rebuked Donald Trump… [who] is threatening to veto it and says he has absolute power…” | | 01:37 | Host | “Unprecedented hostile… an act of potential war… economic coercion against the sovereignty of a country.” | | 04:30 | Host | “Say her name: Renee Nicole Macklin Good… mother, poet, and new to the city.” | | 06:20 | Kristi Noem | “When you take an action and use a weapon… that it needs to be labeled exactly what it was.” | | 10:47 | Kristi Noem | “They have not been cut out. They don’t have any jurisdiction in this investigation.” | | 12:41 | Host (quoting Randy Fine) | “If you get in the way of the government repelling a foreign invasion, you’re gonna end up just like that lady did yesterday. America, we kill people.” | | 13:12 | Host | “He has absolutely no plans whatsoever… other than to have his authoritarian puppet, Del C, lead Venezuela.” | | 14:22–15:52 | Protester | “Every one of us has to look at what choices we make in this world… Emerson does not have a mother today because one of you murdered a woman…” |

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Flow & Tone

• Tone: Impassioned, urgent, blending legal rigor with activist outrage and familial banter.
• Language: Direct, unfiltered, references to “Gestapo,” “Reich,” and “regime” to accuse the Trump administration of authoritarian, even fascist behavior.
• Structure: Segmented by breaking news—with the hosts shifting between legal analysis, personal storytelling, and political critique.

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Summary Takeaway

This episode of The MeidasTouch Podcast is a searing critique of democracy in crisis: a Senate check on executive war powers, the specter of bribery and invasion in Greenland, the harrowing ICE shooting of Renee Nicole Macklin Good, and an increasingly autocratic U.S. government. Through first-hand reporting, exclusive interviews, and moving community responses, the Meiselas brothers lay out a call to conscience—warning listeners about the erosion of rights and the normalization of state violence, while offering solidarity with victims and protesters standing for democracy.

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Transcript

[Host/Commentator]

The yays are 52. The nays are 47. The motion is agreed to.

[Kristi Noem]

The joint resolution will be placed on.

[Host/Commentator]

The calendar in a massive rebuke against Donald Trump. The United States Senate, in a vote of 52 to 47, which you just saw there, voted to advance a War Powers Resolution aimed at restricting Donald Trump from taking further military action in Venezuela without explicit congressional authorization. You have Republican Senators Murkowski, Young, Paul Collins, and Hawley joining with the Democrats in that 52 to 47 vote. The war Powers Resolution now advances, but Donald Trump is threatening to veto it. And he is saying that he has absolute power to launch invasions wherever he wants to in in the Western Hemisphere. Now, as the Senate has essentially rebuked Donald Trump there, the Trump regime sources are telling Reuters and others that they plan to do a hostile takeover of Greenland by way of paying green lenders between $10,000 and $100,000 each if they support secession. And they basically become traitorous and treasonous to Greenland and sell out their own country to to the United States. This is an unprecedented hostile, and I would even say an act of potential war at this point to engage in this type of economic coercion against the sovereignty of a country. Here's how it's being reported by Reuters. Trump administration considers paying Greenlanders to join us U.S. officials are discussing offering Greenlanders $10,000 to $100,000 each to support secession from Denmark and U.S. affiliation to say that they're now part of the U.S. let me just get this straight. As the Trump regime is taking away health care from tens of millions of Americans, they are trying to subsidize oil companies to the tune of $100 billion. In Venezuela, they've given $40 billion plus to Argentina. The United States is saying they want to or Trump regime is saying they want to raise their military budget to 1.5 trillion DOL, up from $900 billion, then up from $1 trillion that Trump announced via social media post a few weeks back. And now they want to pay the people who live in Greenland $100,000 each to bribe them to become part of the United States. What the hell is going on here? Um, the Reuters article goes on to explain that this plan is part of a broader White House deliberation which also includes military options for an invasion if the people of Greenland do not accept the $10,000 or $100,000 checks. As we previously reported earlier this morning, France has been making plans with Germany and Denmark and others to prepare for a possible war against the United States if The United States invades Greenland. And folks, we're learning more about the identity of Renee Nicole Macklin Good, who she is, what an incredible person she was. She was murdered by the Trump regime in south Minneapolis when the ICE Gestapo shot her in the face. NPR News has been doing an incredible job here. The woman killed by ICE agents murdered by ICE agents was a mother of three, a poet and new to the city. And say her name. Renee Nicole Macklin Good. Here are some more new photos of her as well that we've seen. Some of these photos have not been released before. These are some newer photos. Um, let's talk about who she is. The woman shot and killed by a U.S. immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis on Wednesday was Renee Nicole Macklin Goode, a 37 year old mother of three who had recently moved to Minnesota. She was a US citizen born in Colorado and appears to have never been charged with anything involving law enforcement beyond a traffic ticket and social media accounts. Macklin Good described herself as a poet and writer and wife and mom, she said. She said she was currently experiencing Minneapolis displaying a pride flag emoji on her Instagram account. A profile picture posted to Pinterest shows her smiling and holding a young child against her cheek, along with posts about tattoos, hairstyles and home decorating. Her ex husband, who asked not to be named out of concern for the safety of their children, said Macklin Good had just dropped off her six year old son at school on Wednesday and was driving home with her current partner when they encountered a group of ICE agents on a snowy street in Minneapolis where they had moved last year from Kansas City, Missouri. Video taken by bystanders posted to social media then shows the officer approaching the car and shooting her in the face, which we've showed you that video before. We don't need to show you that video here. Now. The Trump regime is also engaged in a cover up of the murder of Renee Nicole Macklin Goode. They are refusing to allow Minneapolis to take any part of the investigation. This was from Kristi Noem, the the Secretary of Homeland Security earlier today where she says that Minneapolis will not have any jurisdiction over the investigation of a murder by ICE by Trump's Gestapo in Minneapolis. Here, let's play this clip.

[Kristi Noem]

They have not been cut out. They don't have any jurisdiction in this investigation. Yes, go ahead.

[Host/Commentator]

More from Kristi Noem right here. And she has asked, well, how do you respond to people who watch the video with their own eyes and, and see that Renee Nicole Macklingood was not using her vehicle in an act of domestic terrorism. But that this untrained ICE agent, this ICE agent, this terrorist, this Gestapo SS Trump regime terroristic crew that has invaded Minneapolis, that they just went to her car and shot her in the face. How do you respond to people when they see something different than what you're saying? Kristi Noem, you propagandist. Here's what she says. Let's play this clip.

[Kristi Noem]

What I would this vehicle was used to hit this officer. It was used as a weapon and the officer feels as though his life was in jeopardy. It was used to perpetuate a violent act that this officer took action to protect himself and to protect his fellow law enforcement officers. So we'll let this continue to go forward and follow the same policies and procedures that every use of force situation does. But we've had almost over 100 times that these vehicles have been used to ram law enforcement officers and to do damage and to harm them. When you take an action and use a weapon to harm someone and to incite violence against them and try to cause them injury or death, then it needs to be labeled exactly what it was.

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[Host/Commentator]

Then a reporter asks so the state investigation agency says they're being cut out. What's your response to cutting out the state agency from being able to investigate possible crimes by ice and and Kristi Noem says we're not letting them get anywhere near this. So the Trump regime, covering up child sex trafficking rings, covering up war crimes off the coast of Venezuela and in the Pacific, covering up Donald Trump's medical records, covering up the murder of Renee Nicole Macklin. Good. This is a regime of terrorists, a regime of COVID up, a regime of criming. Here. Let's play this clip right here.

[Kristi Noem]

Yes.

[Host/Commentator]

The head of Minnesota State Investigations Agency said that they had been cut out of the investigation into the fatal shooting in Minneapolis. Can you explain that reversal?

[Kristi Noem]

I'd like to know where they've been and why they're not out on the streets investigating all of these people that are harassing and inciting violence on law enforcement officers right now. They're allowing the situation to be volatile. They're not doing their work. They haven't for years. And maybe they should get to work a little bit on the unprecedented fraud that we've seen in Minnesota and in Minneapolis by people that stole from American citizens and diverted funds away from vulnerable people and programs and services that they needed and put it into their own pockets. Minnesota's a train wreck. It is corrupt. And it was under the leadership of Governor Walz and this mayor that they allowed it to happen. And they let criminals and illegals and people abuse programs and steal the money. And now they're allowing violence to go forward on the streets as well.

[Host/Commentator]

Police department, county sheriffs, the federal authorities at this point, they don't want.

[Kristi Noem]

I won't put a blanket statement out like those other individuals will. What I would say is I welcome them to come and help us come, help us make sure that the streets are safe, that laws are enforced, and that we can do the right thing to make sure that American citizens come first. Yes, sir. They have not been cut out. They don't have any jurisdiction in this investigation.

[Host/Commentator]

Next, a reporter asked Kristi Noem, what do you make of Tom Holman saying that we should wait though, for an investigation before we draw conclusions about what took place? And Kristi Noem's like, I don't know about that statement, but now he's saying what we're saying that, that the officer was in the right here. Play this clip.

[Kristi Noem]

Yes.

[Host/Commentator]

What did you make of Tom Homan's comments yesterday? That we should wait for an investigation before determining, as you have, that in this incident it was self defense and that he felt that his life was in danger.

[Kristi Noem]

You know, I didn't see those comments, but from what I understand, he also put out a statement later as well. So I'll let Tom speak to that. But all of us are on the same page in the fact that this law enforcement officer followed his training and that he defended and acted in defense of his life and those around him.

[Host/Commentator]

Then they've lined up all of their MAGA goons, like MAGA Republican Randy Fine, and he's like, it's time for Americans to say, enough. This MAGA Republican Congress member, he's like, this is what happens, Renee Nicole McKin. Good. When you get in the way of a foreign invasion, if you do what she did, we're gonna kill you also. This is what the government does. America, we kill people. If you get in the way of a foreign invasion. What are you even talking about? Like, do you listen to yourself? Do you realize that you sound exactly like the Reich? Like, do you realize that you sound exactly in the same type of language that the most grotesque authority and authoritarian creatures in history have used? Anyway, here, play this clip right here. These ICE agents, the left believes they can do anything they want and we're just supposed to sit down and take it? It's time for Americans to say, enough. And if you get in the way of the government repelling a foreign invasion, you're gonna end up just like that lady did yesterday. All right, Florida Congressman Randy Fine.

[Kristi Noem]

Great to see you this morning.

[Host/Commentator]

I wish it was under better circumstances.

[Kristi Noem]

Me too.

[Host/Commentator]

And then earlier today, Donald Trump gave. Yesterday he did, but it was published earlier today in New York Times. He gave an interview about what his plans were as it relates to Venezuela and when America. Will. Will America support democratic elections? You know, Del C. Rodriguez is an authoritarian. Why are you supporting her over the opposition leader? What's your plan? And it was clear after reviewing this article, this interview that Donald Trump gave that he has absolutely no plans whatsoever other than to have his authoritarian puppet, Del C lead Venezuela. And then I guess Donald Trump's plan is to steal the oil for himself and for his oligarch friends. And as you seen, they're now threatening Greenland with if you don't accept our offer, $10,000 or 100,000, we may invade you as Europe creates these war plans. Let me just share with you this. Our friends from Status Coup news got this video. I'm gonna do a whole other video based on the great work of Status Coup. You know we love working with them. They're on the ground in Minneapolis. Support their work as well and their substack and their YouTube channel. Watch the video footage as protesters are standing in front of the Trump ICE Gestapo out there terrorizing the community. Play this clip murdering a mother of.

[Protester/Activist]

A six year old child. You're in the wrong, wrong place in your soul. God help you. God help you. Every one of us has to look at what the choices we make in this world. We have to look at the decisions we make. No amount of money, no amount of money is worth what happens. No amount of money is worth taking fathers away from their families so they can't work. No amount of money is worth it. It's walk away. You can walk away. You don't have to do this. So can you really don't have to do this. You don't have to do it. Everybody has to follow their own conscience. Everyone has to follow their conscience. Everyone has to do what's right in front of their God, in front of their soul, in front of themselves. That's what you have to do. You have to grapple with the fact that a 37 year old mother was murdered by ICE yesterday in cold blood. She left a 6 year old son. Her son's named Emerson. Emerson does not have a mother today. Emerson doesn't have a mother today because one of you murdered a woman in cold blood yesterday. Emerson does not have a mother today. Don't smirk at me, man. Don't smirk at me. I can see the smirk behind that. Don't smirk. The death of a woman is not smirkable thing.

[Host/Commentator]

Well, there you have it folks. Let me know what you think. Hit subscribe. Let's get to 6 million subscribers. We appreciate you so much.

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[Host/Commentator]

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