Trump LOSES CONTROL as Republicans join Dems to STOP WAR

What this episode is about

In 2026, bipartisan concern arises as Republicans and Democrats unite to prevent Trump from escalating tensions with NATO, particularly regarding his controversial approach towards Greenland. The proposed "Stop the Funding of the NATO Invasion Act" highlights widespread anxiety about Trump's foreign policy, which many view as damaging to long-standing alliances and detrimental to U.S. interests abroad.

Key takeaways

• Threatening allies undermines NATO; it's like negotiating with a friend by breaking their favorite mug.
• Trump's Greenland gambit showcases 'how not to court allies'; the real estate market has its limits.
• Bipartisan bills are now a shield against Trump’s whims; who knew Congress could actually work together?
• Denmark lost more soldiers per capita in Afghanistan than many allies; their sacrifice shouldn't be taken lightly.
• Spheres of influence are 19th-century thinking; NATO is the modern world's blueprint against global threats.

Who speaks in this episode?

• Unknown Speaker (Host) · 7 min speaking
• Ted Cruz (Guest) · 3 min speaking

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 3:00: Don Bacon, Venezuela
2. 3:00 – 6:00: Donald Trump
3. 6:00 – 9:00: Donald Trump, Verdict with Ted Cruz, Isis, radical Islamic terrorism
4. 9:00 – 10:22: Donald Trump, critical earth and rare earth minerals, Donald Trump Jr.

Notable quotes from "Trump LOSES CONTROL as Republicans join Dems to STOP WAR"

• So much so that there is now congressional legislation, an bill introduced in the House called the Stop the Funding of the NATO Invasion Act.

  about Don Bacon · at 1:32

• Than the bill that's going forward with the Senate. The Senate is trying to come up with a bill to limit any further military action in Venezuela without specific congressional…

  about Venezuela · at 2:23

• As you well know, America's biggest trade partner is Canada, a longtime ally. President-elect Trump keeps talking about making it the 51st state.

  about Donald Trump · at 8:31

• Arctic targeting the United States Greenland is ideally situated to defend America. On top of that, Greenland also has vast resources of critical earth and rare earth minerals…

  about critical earth and rare earth minerals · at 9:34

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• Donald Trump — Person · Core topic (referenced political actor) · 3 mentions · first at 4:34
  The episode centers on allegations that Donald Trump is threatening military action against Greenland and undermining NATO, prompting bipartisan congressional pushback.
• Donald Trump Jr. — Person · Referenced political figure (trip to Greenland) · 1 mention · first at 10:04
  Donald Trump Jr. is cited as traveling to Greenland and meeting people there, used to support the idea that Greenlanders might find U.S. territorial status enticing.
  Suddenly is. Denmark right now controls Greenland. And I have to tell you yesterday Donald Trump Jr. traveled up to Greenland, visited with people there. I got to say, if…

Companies & orgs

• Isis — Company · Referenced adversary (2016 Cruz clip) · 1 mention · first at 8:12
  Mentioned as the terrorist group Ted Cruz says the U.S. should focus on defeating, contrasting with 'circus sideshow' conflicts with allies.
  Will be cleareyed and focused on our enemies, on radical Islamic terrorism and on defeating ISIS. That's what I will do every day. And the American people are not interested in this circus sideshow of insults.

Concepts & topics

• critical earth and rare earth minerals — Concept · Supporting concept (resource motivation) · 1 mention · first at 9:41
  Presented as a major reason Greenland matters geopolitically and economically, tied to electronics, semiconductors, and military equipment.
• radical Islamic terrorism — Concept · Referenced security concept (2016 Cruz clip) · 1 mention · first at 8:07
  Used in the 2016 Ted Cruz quote to contrast Trump's alleged instability with a focus on recognized national security threats.
  Will have the back of our fighting men and women who will have their back and will be cleareyed and focused on our enemies, on radical Islamic terrorism and on defeating ISIS.…

Places & events

• Venezuela — Place · Referenced policy theater (war powers comparison) · 1 mention · first at 2:30
  Venezuela is mentioned as a separate Senate effort to restrict military action without congressional approval, contrasted with the House funding restriction approach for Greenland.

Media & podcasts

• Verdict with Ted Cruz — Media · Referenced media source · 1 mention · first at 8:50
  Cited as the venue where Ted Cruz says he discussed Canada, Panama, and Greenland, positioning his commentary as part of a broader narrative he is advancing.
  Well,, listen,, this, is, actually, a, topic that I discussed at great length in today's podcast, Verdict with Ted Cruz. And I discussed Canada and Panama and Greenland, all of…

Sponsors

• Don Bacon — Person · Referenced legislator (bill sponsor) · 1 mention · first at 1:37
  Don Bacon is named as a Republican who helped introduce House legislation to block funding for military action in Greenland, illustrating bipartisan resistance.

Full transcript with timestamps

0:00 Don't negotiate with your ally by threats of force. It's very troublesome for most of us and these I served in NATO, right? These guys are our friends and it really bothers a lot of us. I think it's a negotiating tool. However the fact that they've said it every day we got to respond to it.

0:15 Republicans, are, now, joining, Democrats, to stop Trump from going to war against NATO. This is where we're at in 2026. And I think it would be the end of his of the administration. It would be I mean I think what right now polls show 9% of the people support that nine if you do the math. The thing with Greenland is appalling. They are in NATO. Uh they they're uh they govern themselves. So they're under the protection of Denmark. Denmark's a NATO ally. We used to have five bases in Greenland. We have one right now.

0:52 Greenland would welcome our friendly requests to have more basing rights there to to do more mining and economic investment in Greenland. They would love that. But threatening Greenland is counterproductive. It's counterproductive to Denmark. And and by the way, all the European countries see it and they hate it. And these are our allies. NATO is the best alliance in the history of mankind. This quote peace president has systematically destroyed our natural alliances step by step this year. The latest NATO, something you would never have thought would happen except under Trump in 2026.

1:32 So much so that there is now congressional legislation, an bill introduced in the House called the Stop the Funding of the NATO Invasion Act. Yes, a real title of a bill. Republican Don Bacon helped introduce this bill along with Democrats. This is how scared people are of Trump trying to take over Greenland militarily. Now, Bacon's district did vote Harris, but he's resigning at the end of this term. So he's not necessarily doing it because he wants to get reelected and he realizes his constituents would vote him out.

2:12 He's perhaps doing it because his constituents actually don't want to go to war with NATO like the rest of America. Now, this is a very interesting way of approaching this and different than the bill that's going forward with the Senate. The Senate is trying to come up with a bill to limit any further military action in Venezuela without specific congressional approval because as we know any president is now allow not allowed to start a war without Congress under the constitution. But this house bill specifically targets the money which under Trump Republicans it is always about following the money. And they are saying that no funds can be used, no federal money, specifically federal money can be used for any military action in Greenland, which basically takes away this idea that Trump has to seek approval. If this passes, it would mean that even if Trump doesn't seek approval, it automatically

3:15 would be illegal for him to use federal funding, which would make it much easier to stop because anybody can try to enforce a new federal law. It wouldn't take the rest of us in America counting on the Republicans to suddenly act which we see they're unable to act. So this novel approach is actually a way of trying to slow down Trump and could very well work. The other thing that this specifically says is that any officer any military officer that follows an order to militarily invade Greenland this would be an unlawful order.

3:53 Interestingly, of course, this coming at a time, as we know, the Pentagon trying to investigate Senator Mark Kelly for his announcement, his public service announcement essentially that he made to officers, saying, "You're not allowed to follow illegal orders. This bill makes it specific that it would be illegal to essentially follow an order to go into Greenland." So, a novel approach that is getting bipartisan support trying to slow this down in this crazy way that Trump is trying to destroy yet another alliance of ours and perhaps the most important alliance that has kept this world safe and secure post World War II.

4:34 Do, you, think, President, Trump's, Greenland threats are part of a broader effort within the administration to dismantle NATO? Something that he has talked openly about? Well, they surely undervalue NATO. Now, I one of the things that stands out at me is there's a lot of talk about you know, United States should control the Western Hemisphere, spheres of influence. Europe and Russia, you guys can fight it out in Europe and China will have, you know, the Asia uh sphere of influence. But that this is 1800's type of thinking. And it it went away in 1939 when Nazi Germany invaded Poland.

5:14 And after World War II, we realize spheres of influence. We're better than that. Uh, America is the leader of the free world. We can't do it by ourselves. We can have good friends. We can't counter Russia, China, Iran on our own. But with our allies, we can. Do you want Steven Miller to lose his job?

5:30 Look,, either, Steven, Miller, needs, to, get into a lane where he knows what he's talking about or get out of his job. Look, I I've been the reason why I thought it was important for me to make a comment on the floor is I've been the Republican leader of the Senate NATO observer group since 2018. There is no more important alliance than the NATO alliance and den and and Denmark has punched above its weight. It came to Afghanistan, lost 43 uh soldiers on the ground, fought in some of the most contested regions, honoring their article 5 commitment to the United States. I think they lost more soldiers than any other country per capita

6:08 per, capita, they, did., And, and, Jake,, they were they were in among the the NATO allies at the time. It was 30 nations. They were among the top six and and think about all the nations bigger than them. So they to have the prime minister suggest that they have to be prepared for some sort of action by the United States suggests to me that Mr. Miller does not know anything about the alliance, the importance of it. And you know, generals, I was on Senate Armed Services for eight years, and generals would always say the same thing. The only thing worse than going to war with allies is going to war without allies.

6:44 This, alliance, is, critically, important. Shaking that alliance sends a signal to Putin that he's winning. And Steven Miller doesn't represent the US government. He represents the Article 2 branch. And I, as a member of the US Senate, get to weigh into this issue. And I know whether they say it out loud or not, most of my colleagues agree with me.

7:04 Now,, Ted, Cruz, back, in, 2016, actually predicted that Trump might do this might try to invade Greenland. This is when he was trying to become president. Of course, we've seen him change his stripes to 360 and now he's a yes man for Trump. This just shows that the Republicans, not only do they not maybe agree with Democrats on basic fundamental policies, but they're so willing to change their values and their principles just to stay in power. Take a listen to what Ted Cruz had to say about what Trump would do back in 2016.

7:44 I, don't, know, anyone, who, would, be comfortable with someone who behaves this way having his finger on the button. I mean, we're liable to wake up one morning and Donald, if he were president, would have nuked Denmark. That's not the temperament of a leader to keep this country safe. We need a president who will have the back of our fighting men and women who will have their back and will be cleareyed and focused on our enemies, on radical Islamic terrorism and on defeating ISIS. That's what I will do every day. And the American people are not interested in this circus sideshow of insults.

8:20 President-elect, Trump, will, be, meeting with Senate Republicans in Washington as your party begins laying out legislative priorities. Of course, uh chief among them, the economy, tackling inflation front and center in those discussions. As you well know, America's biggest trade partner is Canada, a longtime ally. Uh President-elect Trump keeps talking about making it the 51st state. Joke or not. Is there a danger in upsetting allies like Canada who may decide to send their products elsewhere?

8:46 Well,, listen,, this, is, actually, a, topic that I discussed at at great length in in today's podcast, Verdict with Ted Cruz. And I discussed Canada and Panama and Greenland, all of which President Trump have have discussed. And I I view those on a on a continuum. With respect to Canada, I think the president is basically trolling Canada. I I I don't think anyone thinks there that there's a realistic prospect that Canada will become part of the United States, but I will say it it was it was an epic troll and and I actually think on the merits there are very strong reasons why that makes sense for the United States.

9:20 Geopolitically, Greenland's location on the Arctic is incredibly important to contribute to the defense of the United States. If, god forbid, we were ever in a military conflict with Russia or China, any ICBMs would come over the Arctic targeting the United States Greenland is ideally situated to defend America. On top of that, Greenland also has vast resources of critical earth and rare earth minerals that that are essential for semiconductors, for electronics, for military equipment.

9:50 But, Greenland, at, this, point, is, not, for sale. So why uh stake that as such a top priority? Well, because anything can be not for sale until it suddenly is. Denmark right now controls Greenland. And and I have to tell you yesterday Donald Trump Jr. traveled up up up to Greenland, visited with people there. I got to say, if you're a Greenlander, the possibility of becoming an American, of becoming an American territory, of getting the benefits of being an American, that is very enticing.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "Trump LOSES CONTROL as Republicans join Dems to STOP WAR"?

Unknown Speaker (Host), Ted Cruz (Guest).

What is "Trump LOSES CONTROL as Republicans join Dems to STOP WAR" about?

In 2026, bipartisan concern arises as Republicans and Democrats unite to prevent Trump from escalating tensions with NATO, particularly regarding his controversial approach towards Greenland. The proposed "Stop the Funding of the NATO Invasion Act" highlights widespread anxiety about Trump's foreign policy, which many view as damaging to long-standing alliances and detrimental to U.S. interests…

What is mentioned in this MeidasTouch episode?

8 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Donald Trump, critical earth and rare earth minerals, Donald Trump Jr., Venezuela, Verdict with Ted Cruz, radical Islamic terrorism. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Trump LOSES CONTROL as Republicans join Dems to STOP WAR"?

The episode runs 10 min; the transcript is about 1,736 words in 18 timestamped sections.

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