Measles goes viral as world moves on from Trump

Jan 23, 2026

They discuss a fast-growing measles outbreak driven by unvaccinated populations and the public health fallout. They examine confrontations that expose contradictions in a leading politician's foreign policy, including Greenland and Russia. They explore how perceptions of chaos feed authoritarian politics and how allied countries are quietly hedging against U.S. unpredictability.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Books

Transcript

Episode notes

INSIGHT

Cult-Level Spin Masks Cognitive Fears

Lara Trump’s extreme praise reveals panic about Donald Trump’s cognitive decline and fuels cult-style leader worship.
David Pakman argues exaggerating greatness is a psychological offset for visible weakness in authoritarian fandom.

ANECDOTE

CNN Reporter Traps Trump On Putin Invite

Caitlin Collins of CNN asked Trump why he'd invite Vladimir Putin to a 'peace' board despite Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
Trump replied incoherently, reframing warmongers as people who 'get the job done.'

INSIGHT

Greenland Rhetoric, No Policy Substance

Trump repeatedly fails to answer simple yes/no questions about Greenland, offering vague, grandiose claims like 'infinite' and 'forever.'
Pakman calls this performative geopolitics with no real policy content or feasibility.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

-- On the Show

-- Lara Trump and allies aggressively spin Donald Trump's rambling Davos appearance as brilliance to preempt and smother growing public concern about his cognitive decline

-- A reporter exposes Donald Trump's incoherent foreign policy by forcing him to confront contradictions he cannot explain about Vladimir Putin, Greenland, and his so-called peace initiatives

-- A fast-growing measles outbreak driven overwhelmingly by unvaccinated populations highlights the real-world consequences of Donald Trump's long-standing flirtation with anti-vaccine rhetoric

-- Polling shows most Americans feel the country is out of control, but the meaning of that chaos diverges in ways that ultimately reinforce authoritarian politics

-- As Donald Trump escalates tariffs and territorial threats, U.S. allies quietly hedge, sign new trade deals, and build long-term strategies designed to function without American reliability

-- A Fox News guest accidentally concedes that markets would benefit if courts restrained Donald Trump's tariff powers, revealing how unpredictability rather than policy substance drives economic damage

-- The Friday Feedback segment

-- On the Bonus Show: Sean Hannity says paying Greenlanders $100K each for the territory is a "no-brainer," a Minnesota economic blackout takes place to protest ICE, and much more...

🤖 Sponsored by Venice: Use code PAKMAN for 20% off a Pro Account at https://venice.ai/pakman

🧠 Try Brain.fm totally free for a month at https://brain.fm/pakman

👂 MDHearing: Use code PAKMAN to get a pair for just $297 at https://shopmdhearing.com/

✉️ StartMail: Get 50% OFF for a year subscription at https://startmail.com/pakman

-- Become a Member: https://davidpakman.com/membership

-- Subscribe to our (FREE) Substack newsletter: https://davidpakman.substack.com

-- Get David's Books: https://davidpakman.com/echo

-- TDPS Subreddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/thedavidpakmanshow

-- David on Bluesky: https://davidpakman.com/bluesky

-- David on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/davidpakmanshow

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices