Podcast Summary: The Opinions

Episode: Hello, Greenland. Goodbye, Checks and Balances.
Date: January 22, 2026
Host: Katie (New York Times Opinion Moderator)
Guests: Jamelle Bouie, Ross Douthat
Theme: Assessing President Trump’s impact at home and abroad after his first year in office: foreign adventures (notably Greenland), shifting executive power, changes in immigration and Congress, and the looming midterms.

Episode Overview

This live episode, set in Los Angeles, features New York Times opinion columnists Jamelle Bouie and Ross Douthat in conversation with moderator Katie. The panel unpacks President Trump's bold—and unprecedented—turns in his return to the White House, analyzing foreign policy gambits, shifts in executive power, the “hollowing out” of congressional authority, and the highly contentious immigration agenda. The looming 2026 midterms and their implications for both parties round out the discussion, all capped with the critics’ politically-tinged film reviews.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Most Consequential Trump Decision (Domestic & Executive Power)

• Ross Douthat (01:46):
  • Trump’s main move is his “unilateralist style of executive governance,” tripling down on presidential power, reminiscent (but not identical) to FDR’s dominance.
  • This governance style foregoes major legislative changes, raising questions about the permanence of his policies: “It’s possible to imagine a world where Trump has genuinely pioneered a new, more frankly Caesarist form of presidential governance… or where many of these frenetic acts… evaporate.” (03:41)
• Jamelle Bouie (04:08):
  • Trump’s key choice is “abdication and delegation”—passing major decisions to deputies (Stephen Miller, Russ Vought, Elon Musk, Marco Rubio), which has led to political and policy difficulties.
  • “Abdicating, delegating your authority, including political decision making, down to other people robs you of the ability to respond quickly and effectively to changes in the political wind.” (06:22)

2. The Greenland Adventure: The New “DonRoe Doctrine”

• Ross Douthat (07:06):
  • Trump’s Greenland push is longstanding—a personal fixation, partly an outgrowth of online right-wing fascination with territorial expansion.
  • The recent “success” in Venezuela sparked the Greenland move: “If we can do that, why can’t we just get Greenland too?”
• On ‘America First’ Logic (08:59):
  • “America First means good parts of the world should become part of America. Right. Greenland tomorrow, Alberta the next day, Cuba the day after that.”
  • Pre-Greenland, Trump’s foreign policy showed continuity; the Greenland gambit is “indefensible and destructive.”
• Jamelle Bouie, History Lens (11:01):
  • Explains the Monroe Doctrine vs. Trump’s “DonRoe Doctrine”:
    • Monroe emphasized defending Western Hemisphere nations from European colonization.
    • “The DonRoe Doctrine is: we gotta be European colonizers. And that is the difference.” (13:50)
  • Bouie speculates: “I think the Greenland thing is at least 50% Trump doesn't understand that on a Mercator projection, Greenland looks really big.” (11:01)
• Ross, on Continuity (14:32):
  • The new doctrine carries 19th-century imperial undertones, using rival powers (Russia, China) as justification, but shifts from defense to overt expansionism.
• Bouie counters:
  • Trump’s break is fundamental: from respecting others’ independence to “active colonial style management”—no real continuity with Monroe.

3. Immigration, ICE, and Political Fallout

• ICE’s $75 Billion Windfall (17:11):
  • Bouie: The budget influx is enormous—likened to a “blank check”—but even before, ICE struggled to hire/retain staff and may not productively spend the funds:
    • “I kind of feel that's going to end up being the situation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement… their imagination couldn’t meet the amount of money they had.” (17:21)
  • Lowered hiring standards, reduced training, and bonus incentives won’t resolve deep structural problems (19:04).
• Ross Douthat on Risk (20:00):
  • ICE operations can now be sustained, but growing public backlash (especially after the Renée Nicole Goode shooting) may make the scale politically toxic.
  • Notably, voters dislike Trump’s immigration policies, but still—when forced to choose—trust Republicans more. The dilemma for the White House: “They see themselves… as having been elected on a promise to conduct mass deportations.”
• Moderator Katie (22:26):
  • Argues cruelty has become “endemic to the process of ICE today.”
• Bouie—Limits of Humane Enforcement (22:41):
  • “I don't know if there is a feasible way to do like mass deportations that are somehow humane.”
  • Suggests a policy focused on deporting jailed people would align better with voter expectations, but executive focus (Stephen Miller) is on maximalism.
• Ross’s Conservative View (25:01):
  • Behind Miller is a deep conservative fear of the “open borders” moment (Biden years), fueling a desire for a hardline response, beyond just criminal deportations.

4. Congress: Abdication and Eroding Checks and Balances

• Moderator (27:21): Asks Bouie to grade Congress’s performance.
• Bouie (27:41):
  • Institutional perspective: “I see a Congress really abdicating its Article 1 authority to the point that it's rendering itself a nullity… From just the institutional health of Congress… I would grade Congress with an F, because F plus.”
  • Congress’s refusal to vote on—and therefore responsibility for—Trump-backed cuts is both strategic and an abdication of power.
• Ross Douthat (29:57):
  • Even Republican loyalists should be disappointed—little backbone for sustained change, no substantive legislative agenda:
    • “The fact that there’s no congressional agenda for the Trump administration… is just a really striking thing.”

5. The 2026 Midterms: Political Realignment

• Ross Douthat (31:54):
  • Trump’s 2024 coalition was broad, but the administration hasn’t worked to consolidate or maintain those gains.
  • Predicts GOP will struggle to keep new voters, especially swing demographics, in the midterms.
• Bouie (33:03):
  • Democrats are confident about flipping the House (“broad expectation”) but the Senate is the real test.
  • Trump’s falling popularity, catastrophic erosion with Hispanics and young men could spell trouble; control of confirmations at stake if Democrats hit 51 seats.
  • “If the President's political standing continues to decline, then you're looking at a real chance of Democrats being able to…get to 50 Senate seats…catastrophic for the Trump administration because that means no confirmations for…judicial confirmations at the very least.” (34:53)
• Trump & the GOP’s Fate (35:42):
  • Bouie notes: “If I were like, Trump doesn't really care about the health of the Republican Party, and that is like a real problem for dealing with the prospect of an upcoming midterm election.”
  • Ross sums up: “Trump is this incredibly transformative, historically significant figure...also someone who is incapable of achieving the kind of consolidation that we associate with presidents of similar importance.” (35:55)

6. Notable Film Recommendations

• Moderator (36:28): Asks both guests for a movie that helps make sense of today's politics.
• Bouie (36:53):
  • Citizen Kane: “A film about a vain, power hungry man who's ultimately not able to build anything lasting...very appropriate for thinking about Donald Trump.”
• Douthat (37:32):
  • Jokes, “I only watch movies for political edification.”
  • Cites Marty Supreme: “A movie about, like...a quest for greatness...And I think that if you watch it and have that feeling, even as you...loathe and despise Donald Trump, it should give you some appreciation for why some Americans like him as a kind of peculiar representative...of our God help us, national character.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Trump has just genuinely pioneered a new, more frankly Caesarist form of presidential governance...” — Ross Douthat (03:41)
• “Abdicating, delegating your authority...robs you of the ability to respond quickly and effectively.” — Jamelle Bouie (06:22)
• “The DonRoe Doctrine is we gotta be European colonizers. And that is the difference.” — Jamelle Bouie (13:50)
• “I kind of feel that's going to end up being the situation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement in part because...they struggle, right? Even before this big influx of funding.” — Jamelle Bouie (17:21)
• “I would grade Congress with an F, because F plus...” — Jamelle Bouie (27:48)
• “Trump is this incredibly transformative, historically significant figure...also someone who is incapable of achieving the kind of consolidation that we associate with presidents of similar importance.” — Ross Douthat (35:55)
• “Citizen Kane...a film about a vain, power hungry man who's ultimately not able to build anything lasting or sustaining in his life. And that, to me, feels very appropriate for thinking about Donald Trump.” — Jamelle Bouie (37:02)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 01:46: Ross: Unilateral executive power as Trump’s legacy
• 04:08: Bouie: Trump’s abdication & delegation to deputies
• 07:06: Greenland: Analysis of Trump’s motives for expansion
• 10:35: Bouie on Monroe vs. “DonRoe” Doctrine
• 17:11: ICE’s $75B windfall & immigration enforcement strains
• 20:00: Douthat: Political dangers of aggressive immigration enforcement
• 27:21: Congress failing checks and balances—Bouie’s F+ grade
• 31:54: Predicting 2026 midterms—shifting coalitions
• 36:53: Film recommendations and their political analogies

Tone & Language

The conversation moves between analytical and sardonic—often mixing historical reference and policy wonkishness with wry, pointed humor. Both guests are candid, drawing on deep political and historical knowledge without shying away from sharp criticism—or a bit of self-aware comedy.

This episode offers a panoramic yet granular assessment of Trump’s second term—probing the consequences of executive overreach, the limits of “America First” foreign policy, ICE’s uncertain future, Congress’s passivity, and electoral tremors on the horizon. Bouie and Douthat’s film picks provide a final, culture-savvy frame for a chapter where the line between media, politics, and national character blurs more than ever.