5️⃣ Europe Stands Up, Trump Backs Down
Trump wanted Greenland and threatened to take it by force. The European Union told him to back off, and according to Washington Post analysis published today, pushback actually works. When the EU threatened retaliatory tariffs over Trump’s military threats, Trump ruled out using force within hours. The pattern is clear, as Zev explained: when confronted by equals with actual leverage, Trump folds, then immediately retaliates against weaker targets he controls. After backing down to Europe, Trump withdrew Canada’s invitation to the Board of Peace in petty retaliation for Prime Minister Mark Carney stealing the limelight at Davos. Dean compared the situation to a camp talent show where someone who lost got violent until given a participation trophy, calling it exactly what happened in Davos. They pulled Trump into a room and told him you can have all the stuff you already have, or you can go to war with the rest of the European Union, because we’re filling it up with ammunition, soldiers, cutters, and everything. No one’s backing down. Dean’s assessment: stand up to bullies and they fold, appease them and they escalate.
4️⃣ Minnesota Rises Against ICE Terror
Hundreds of businesses across the Twin Cities closed today in sub-zero temperatures for a general strike against ICE operations, with their message clear: history is on our side. The strike centers on 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, who was used as bait by ICE agents. Dean described the heartbreaking scene: this little boy wearing a cute blue toque with bear ears and carrying his Spider-Man backpack, was made to knock on his own door to lure adults out so agents could arrest them. The photo shows an officer’s hand jammed down the boy’s backpack, holding him in place in front of an ICE vehicle. They told him he’d get a treat if he did it, Dean explained, treating him like a dog. Then when the family did come out, they just led him back to the car and made him stand with his face in front of the car and arrested him and his entire family. Interfaith services, labor unions, and business leaders united for the strike, with a march planned for 2 PM despite minus-50 degree wind chill. One protester captured the community’s resolve: we’re being invaded at all levels of society from kids to old people, but it’s not working. If anything it’s making our community tighter.
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3️⃣ WHO Exit Hands China Health Control
Trump’s second withdrawal from the World Health Organization was finalized this week, with the United States refusing to pay $270 million owed to the organization. Dean revealed the stark truth about why Trump pulled out of 66 global organizations: the United States simply doesn’t have the money to pay those organizations for their entry, submission, subscription fees. They don’t have the money. Where’s the money going? Tax cuts to the wealthy and funding massive federal operations. Zev pointed out they’re giving themselves that money, dude. They are giving that money. They’re stealing that money is what’s going on. The WHO withdrawal hands Beijing control of global health infrastructure by default, gutting pandemic surveillance. Dean noted the suspicious pattern: Trump is doing the same steps again, the same moves that he did back before COVID. Let’s withdraw from the WHO. Let’s give China all this control. His conclusion: he doesn’t want to be accountable to anybody. He wants to steal all the fucking money.
2️⃣ Ukraine Talks Test Territorial Surrender
The first trilateral meeting between Ukraine, Russia, and the United States took place today in Abu Dhabi, with Russia demanding Ukraine withdraws from Donbas entirely. Trump keeps claiming he’s getting close to a deal, though Zev noted that yesterday’s meeting with Zelensky was reportedly frosty, and judging by Zelensky’s speech afterwards, could not have been very friendly. The show acknowledged the inevitable: U.S. allies are watching to see if America just abandons Ukraine, which of course they have, and completely sides with Putin, which of course they have too. Meanwhile, Ukrainians have no electricity in the worst winter conditions. But Dean highlighted the Ukrainian resolve that continues to inspire: they continue to give the rest of us hope, showing how to stand up to tyranny. He described watching Zelensky’s speech at Davos: he simply said, but we will fight with all the confidence in the world and we will win. And this hasn’t dampened their resolve. Dean’s takeaway: if there is a lesson here for everybody, it’s the Ukrainian stoic way.
1️⃣ Patel Purges FBI Trump Investigators
Six senior FBI agents were forced out today, every single one connected to Mar-a-Lago or January 6 investigations. Miami field office lost six agents who executed the search warrant at Mar-a-Lago, Atlanta’s Special Agent in Charge is gone, New York’s acting assistant director is out, and the former New Orleans SAC who oversaw January 6 investigations was terminated. The purge came one day after Jack Smith’s largely sealed public testimony at a congressional hearing. Dean delivered a scorching assessment of FBI Director Kash Patel: he was a podcaster that liked to play dress up, literally liked to play dress up. He was a cosplayer. He’d LARP like he’s LARPing to be an FBI director right now. He larped as a wizard in a series of children’s books, participated in backyard wrestling parties with his friends. That guy just fired six career FBI employees for doing an excellent job in a very difficult set of circumstances to protect the United States from Donald Trump. Zev connected it to the show’s central pattern: Trump backs down to the EU in story five because they have power. Then he retaliates against FBI agents who have none. Greenland showed the strategy. Patel’s purge proves it. Appease the strong. Crush the vulnerable. Governing principle.
The FiveStack is available as an audio podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. The FiveStack is a co-production of deanblundell.substack.com and narativ.org.
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