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The Dictatorship

Trump’s Canada threats are a distraction. And Trudeau is calling his bluff.

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Trump’s Canada threats are a distraction. And Trudeau is calling his bluff.

Are Trump’s annexation threats just a distraction?

We’ve seen this movie before. President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly thrown out outrageous, headline-grabbing threats designed to consume the media’s attention — and ours. His latest targets? Greenlandthe Panama Canal and most recently a financial annexation of Canada.

This week, I had the chance to speak with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeauand our conversation got me thinking. Maybe, as my colleague Rachel Maddow has repeatedly warned us, Trump is yanking our chain.

Trudeau confirmed that, yes, Trump had indeed floated the idea of making Canada America’s “51st state” during their recent meeting at Mar-a-Lago. But what Trump didn’t share in his comments was Trudeau’s response: “Maybe there could be a trade for Vermont or California for certain parts.” According to Trudeau, that suggestion “made Trump decide it was not that funny anymore, and we moved on to a different conversation.”

But what really stood out from my conversation with Trudeau is that he’s not focused on Trump’s theatrics. Instead, he’s preparing for what might actually happen. As he put it, “The focus has to be not on something that he’s talking about that will not ever happen, but more on something that might well happen … like if he does choose to go forward with tariffs that raise the cost of just about everything for American citizens.”

This is the thing about Trump’s political playbook: It hasn’t changed. His grandiose, blustery statements often serve as a distraction. In this case, Trump’s expansionist rhetoric is helping mask the bigger threats — punitive tariffs, mass deportations or something else entirely — that are quietly taking shape in the background.

So, the next time you see a headline about Trump’s annexation fantasies, ask yourself: What might he be hoping to distract us from? And where should we actually be looking?


State legislature watch: Idaho moves to ban same-sex marriages

This week, Idaho reminded us that the battle for marriage equality isn’t over. A state House committee advanced a resolution urging the Supreme Court to overturn its 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.

The resolution, proposed by Republican Rep. Heather Scottcalls for a return to the “natural definition of marriage” — one man, one woman. The court’s 2015 decision was just 5-4. And there are now three new conservative justices on the bench — two of whom have already mused about reconsidering Obergefell — marriage equality absolutely cannot be taken for granted.

Idaho’s Democratic leaders called the resolution a “gimmick” aimed at energizing Republican primary voters, not addressing real issues.

But the message is clear: Progress is never guaranteed. We can’t afford to look away.


A story we’re following: Trump Cabinet picks head to the Senate

If you thought this week was busy in Washington, just wait a few days. The Senate is about to start holding a series of confirmation hearings for major Trump Cabinet picks. Next week’s hearings already feature a long list of key names, including Pete Hegsethformer Florida Attorney General Pam BondiFlorida Sen. Marco Rubio and North Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem.

Eat your Wheaties, people! It’s gonna be a week.

Just Psaki

Jen Psaki is the host of “Inside with Jen Psaki”airing Sundays at 12 p.m. ET and Mondays at 8 p.m. EST. She is the former White House press secretary for President Joe Biden.

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The Dictatorship

BREAKING: Delta flight arriving in Toronto from Minneapolis upside down on runway

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BREAKING: Delta flight arriving in Toronto from Minneapolis upside down on runway
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The Dictatorship

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The Dictatorship

Pete Hegseth’s tenure at the Pentagon goes from bad to worse

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Pete Hegseth’s tenure at the Pentagon goes from bad to worse

As last week got underway, it was clear that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s tenure at the Pentagon was off to an unfortunate start. When the former Fox News host arrived at U.S. European Command headquarters in Germany, for example, he faced heckling and protests from military families.

“Protests by military families against a defense secretary are extremely rare,” NBC News reported.

As it turns out, this was among the best moments for Hegseth during his trip abroad.

The day after facing military families’ derision, the hapless Pentagon chief publicly said it was “unrealistic” to think Russia wouldn’t keep portions of Ukraine it took by force. He added that Ukrainian membership in NATO wouldn’t happen. It was a dramatic misstep: Before negotiations on a possible peace plan even began, Hegseth was already giving Russia what it wanted.

The mistake did not go unnoticed. Not only were U.S. allies taken aback, but Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, the Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, chided the defense secretary of making a “rookie mistake.”

Hegseth tried to backpedal a day later, distancing himself from “something that was stated as part of my remarks” — a passive voice phrase for the ages — but around the same time, the Pentagon chief launched into some terribly odd comments about the use of force. “We can talk all we want about values. Values are important,” Hegseth said in widely derided comments. “But you can’t shoot values, you can’t shoot flags, and you can’t shoot strong speeches.”

The unscripted comments appeared to reflect someone who was simply in over his head.

Making matters worse, as my BLN colleague Ja’han Jones noteHegseth apparently thought it’d also be a good idea to bring right-wing influencer and conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec with him on the overseas trip. Politico reported soon after that the activist “was in the room” when Hegseth “greeted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ahead of their private meeting.”

The report added“Posobiec — whose record of far-right activism includes promoting conspiracy theories and associating with white nationalists — has long been a controversial figure, and would have been considered fringe during prior administrations. But now, he’s in position to bear witness to key moments on one of the world’s most consequential issues.”

As the dust settled on the secretary’s trip, The New York Times reported“In all, it was a bruising, 72-hour crash course in the geopolitical realities of a job that critics complain Mr. Hegseth, a 44-year-old former National Guard infantryman and Fox News host, is unqualified to hold.”

It’s important, of course, to hold Hegseth accountable for his own failures, but let’s not forget that Trump bears responsibility for nominating the former television personality; JD Vance bears responsibility for ensuring the secretary’s confirmation; and 50 Senate Republicans bear responsibility overlooking Hegseth’s scandals, inexperience and bizarre ideology.

Steve legs

Steve Benen is a producer for “The Rachel Maddow Show,” the editor of MaddowBlog and an BLN political contributor. He’s also the bestselling author of “Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans’ War on the Recent Past.”

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