WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.740 Welcome back to the deep dive. It is Tuesday, 00:00:02.839 --> 00:00:07.080 January 20th, 2026. And honestly, when you look 00:00:07.080 --> 00:00:10.060 at the sheer volume of reports and data we have 00:00:10.060 --> 00:00:12.619 on the desk today, it really feels like we're 00:00:12.619 --> 00:00:14.359 reading a history chapter as it's being written. 00:00:14.419 --> 00:00:16.699 Oh, absolutely. The ink is still wet on this 00:00:16.699 --> 00:00:18.800 one. And if I had to give this chapter a title 00:00:18.800 --> 00:00:21.019 based on our sources, it would have to be something 00:00:21.019 --> 00:00:24.269 like. the era of unintended consequences. That's 00:00:24.269 --> 00:00:26.149 the exact theme that kept jumping out at me. 00:00:26.429 --> 00:00:28.530 We usually focus on the big action, right? The 00:00:28.530 --> 00:00:31.370 executive order, the big speech. But today, our 00:00:31.370 --> 00:00:33.210 mission is, well, it's a little different. We're 00:00:33.210 --> 00:00:35.490 not looking at the actions so much as the reactions. 00:00:35.729 --> 00:00:38.409 Exactly. We are looking at a massive realignment. 00:00:38.630 --> 00:00:41.030 The sources cover this huge shift in global trade 00:00:41.030 --> 00:00:44.299 with the EU and China. Some... frankly startling 00:00:44.299 --> 00:00:47.259 data from Leiden University of American Innovation. 00:00:47.600 --> 00:00:50.259 Startling is the right word. And a domestic political 00:00:50.259 --> 00:00:52.060 landscape that's shifting in ways we haven't 00:00:52.060 --> 00:00:54.679 seen in, what, almost two decades. It's a lot 00:00:54.679 --> 00:00:58.020 to unpack. We have trade wars that seem to be 00:00:58.020 --> 00:01:01.079 backfiring, a war on universities that might 00:01:01.079 --> 00:01:03.600 be a war on our own economy, and this strange 00:01:03.600 --> 00:01:06.340 implosion of the digital town square. So the 00:01:06.340 --> 00:01:08.859 goal here is to connect those dots, to understand 00:01:08.859 --> 00:01:11.400 how these aggressive moves, whether it's a tariff 00:01:11.400 --> 00:01:14.099 or a funding cut, are triggering chain reactions 00:01:14.099 --> 00:01:16.959 that might just leave the U .S., well, standing 00:01:16.959 --> 00:01:20.500 alone. And based on the hard data, that room's 00:01:20.500 --> 00:01:22.879 getting quieter by the day. So let's start with 00:01:22.879 --> 00:01:25.760 the big headline grabber, the one that sounds 00:01:25.760 --> 00:01:28.040 like it was ripped from a 19th century diary, 00:01:28.439 --> 00:01:30.659 but is happening right now, Greenland. Right. 00:01:30.840 --> 00:01:33.439 The Greenland ultimatum. I still can't quite 00:01:33.439 --> 00:01:35.260 wrap my head around this. The sources are clear. 00:01:35.319 --> 00:01:37.219 President Trump is back on the Buy Greenland 00:01:37.219 --> 00:01:39.840 idea. But this isn't just an offer anymore, is 00:01:39.840 --> 00:01:42.620 it? No, and that's the crucial shift. The analysis 00:01:42.620 --> 00:01:45.400 points out it's moves from, let's say, a transactional 00:01:45.400 --> 00:01:48.319 offer to a full -blown pressure campaign because 00:01:48.319 --> 00:01:50.719 Denmark and the local Greenland government pushed 00:01:50.719 --> 00:01:53.760 back, which under international law is their 00:01:53.760 --> 00:01:56.159 absolute right. Of course. Trump has reverted 00:01:56.159 --> 00:01:58.700 to his standard playbook. Financial punishment? 00:01:58.909 --> 00:02:02.129 Precisely. We're talking about a unilateral 10 00:02:02.129 --> 00:02:06.290 % tariff on eight specific allies. Eight allies. 00:02:06.629 --> 00:02:09.449 As of February 1st, exports from Denmark, Finland, 00:02:09.629 --> 00:02:11.849 France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, 00:02:11.930 --> 00:02:16.069 and the UK, a 10 % levy. And the threat is that 00:02:16.069 --> 00:02:19.150 it climbs to 25 % in June if the U .S. doesn't 00:02:19.150 --> 00:02:21.860 own Greenland. Which is just wild, and you can 00:02:21.860 --> 00:02:24.379 see the immediate reaction in the reports. Protests 00:02:24.379 --> 00:02:26.939 in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, people chanting 00:02:26.939 --> 00:02:30.080 Kalalatnet. Land of the Greenlanders. Right? 00:02:30.180 --> 00:02:33.139 Shouting, Yankee, go home! It's a very visceral 00:02:33.139 --> 00:02:35.759 reaction. But here's the thing. In the past, 00:02:36.080 --> 00:02:38.860 allies would grumble, maybe file a WTO complaint, 00:02:39.060 --> 00:02:40.960 and then kind of fall in line because, you know, 00:02:40.960 --> 00:02:42.840 where else would they go? That's the only game 00:02:42.840 --> 00:02:44.879 -in -town theory, and it held up for about 70 00:02:44.879 --> 00:02:47.280 years. I don't know anymore. But our sources 00:02:47.280 --> 00:02:49.400 today show that this era is effectively over. 00:02:49.580 --> 00:02:51.919 European leaders aren't just protesting, they're 00:02:51.919 --> 00:02:54.259 pivoting. They are playing what analysts are 00:02:54.259 --> 00:02:56.819 calling the China card. This part of the reading 00:02:56.819 --> 00:02:58.699 really stood out. It's not just talk. We're seeing 00:02:58.699 --> 00:03:01.319 European leaders literally booking flights to 00:03:01.319 --> 00:03:04.039 Beijing. It's a literal cue. Macron from France 00:03:04.039 --> 00:03:06.039 has already been. Ireland's Michael Martin was 00:03:06.039 --> 00:03:09.319 just there. The UK's Keir Starmer and Germany's 00:03:09.319 --> 00:03:12.680 Friedrich Merz are scheduled. They are explicitly 00:03:12.680 --> 00:03:15.500 looking for trade deals to get out from under 00:03:15.500 --> 00:03:17.560 the thumb of the US. So let me get this straight. 00:03:17.710 --> 00:03:21.250 By trying to bully them into selling Greenland, 00:03:21.310 --> 00:03:24.110 we're actually pushing our closest NATO allies 00:03:24.110 --> 00:03:26.930 into an economic embrace with our biggest strategic 00:03:26.930 --> 00:03:29.569 rival. That is the textbook definition of an 00:03:29.569 --> 00:03:31.610 unintended consequence. And the scale of this 00:03:31.610 --> 00:03:33.650 is what's alarming. Just look at the deal the 00:03:33.650 --> 00:03:36.110 EU just finalized with Mercosur. The South American 00:03:36.110 --> 00:03:40.030 trade bloc. Yes. Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, 00:03:40.069 --> 00:03:42.710 the whole group. The EU just signed a treaty. 00:03:42.909 --> 00:03:44.729 creating a free trade zone of several hundred 00:03:44.729 --> 00:03:47.330 million people. Wow. It helps European industrial 00:03:47.330 --> 00:03:50.870 exports, cars and machinery in exchange for South 00:03:50.870 --> 00:03:53.169 American food. And the U .S. is? Completely on 00:03:53.169 --> 00:03:55.189 the outside looking at. So that's 700 million 00:03:55.189 --> 00:03:57.430 people trading freely and we're not invited because 00:03:57.430 --> 00:03:59.490 we're busy putting tariffs on Danish butter. 00:04:00.389 --> 00:04:02.710 And it's not just true. I saw a note about Canada 00:04:02.710 --> 00:04:04.990 that was really surprising. Prime Minister Mark 00:04:04.990 --> 00:04:09.259 Carney. Now. He's a pragmatist, a former central 00:04:09.259 --> 00:04:12.020 banker. He sees the writing on the wall. He's 00:04:12.020 --> 00:04:15.680 cut a specific deal with Xi Jinping. Canada lowers 00:04:15.680 --> 00:04:18.660 tariffs on Chinese electric cars. Which the US 00:04:18.660 --> 00:04:21.040 is trying desperately to block. Right. And in 00:04:21.040 --> 00:04:24.180 exchange, China slashes tariffs on Canadian canola 00:04:24.180 --> 00:04:27.819 oil. Canola for cars. So specific. It's transactional, 00:04:28.040 --> 00:04:30.639 it's pragmatic, and it completely bypasses the 00:04:30.639 --> 00:04:32.800 United States. Yeah. Carney even described his 00:04:32.800 --> 00:04:35.600 relationship with Chinese officials as realistic 00:04:35.600 --> 00:04:38.949 and respectful. A clear contrast. It feels like 00:04:38.949 --> 00:04:41.089 the world is building a workaround for the U 00:04:41.089 --> 00:04:44.230 .S. But the EU is also building defenses. The 00:04:44.230 --> 00:04:46.610 report mentioned something called the anti -coercion 00:04:46.610 --> 00:04:49.230 instrument. What is that? Think of it less like 00:04:49.230 --> 00:04:51.970 a lawsuit and more like a trade bazooka. A bazooka. 00:04:51.990 --> 00:04:53.910 OK. It's a legal mechanism they developed for 00:04:53.910 --> 00:04:56.910 this exact moment. If Trump pushes too hard, 00:04:57.170 --> 00:04:59.449 the EU can trigger this instrument. It allows 00:04:59.449 --> 00:05:01.810 them to restrict U .S. investments. But here's 00:05:01.810 --> 00:05:04.410 the nuclear option. It lets them suspend intellectual 00:05:04.410 --> 00:05:07.060 property protections for U .S. companies. Whoa, 00:05:07.100 --> 00:05:10.360 hang on. Suspend IP protections. So if a U .S. 00:05:10.480 --> 00:05:12.680 drug company have a patent or a tech company, 00:05:13.139 --> 00:05:15.100 Europe could just say, no, that's open source 00:05:15.100 --> 00:05:18.360 now. In theory, yes. In response to economic 00:05:18.360 --> 00:05:20.540 coercion, they could just stop enforcing those 00:05:20.540 --> 00:05:23.360 patents. For an economy like ours, built on tech 00:05:23.360 --> 00:05:26.139 and pharma, that is terrifying. OK, so that's 00:05:26.139 --> 00:05:28.660 the global stage. We're seeing isolation. But 00:05:28.660 --> 00:05:31.120 let's pivot to the domestic front because this 00:05:31.120 --> 00:05:33.680 isolation isn't just geographic, it's intellectual. 00:05:34.060 --> 00:05:36.860 The so -called brain drain. And this is arguably 00:05:36.860 --> 00:05:39.399 more damaging in the long run than any tariff. 00:05:39.740 --> 00:05:42.800 We are looking at a systematic dismantling of 00:05:42.800 --> 00:05:45.600 the American university system's edge. The report 00:05:45.600 --> 00:05:48.560 calls it a war on universities. Now, most people 00:05:48.560 --> 00:05:50.819 hear that and they think, you know, culture wars, 00:05:51.379 --> 00:05:53.839 DEI statements, campus debates. And that's a 00:05:53.839 --> 00:05:56.040 surface level fight for sure. The administration 00:05:56.040 --> 00:05:58.459 is cutting funding. We saw Johns Hopkins lose 00:05:58.459 --> 00:06:01.779 $800 million in layoff 2000 staff. That's a huge 00:06:01.779 --> 00:06:04.639 hit. But the source argues we need to look past 00:06:04.639 --> 00:06:06.699 those headlines to the historical reality. Which 00:06:06.699 --> 00:06:08.879 is what? The argument is that U .S. dominance. 00:06:09.540 --> 00:06:12.819 The Civil War industrial base, the WWII war machine, 00:06:13.000 --> 00:06:14.920 the internet. The internet, right. That didn't 00:06:14.920 --> 00:06:17.439 come from a phone company. Exactly. AT &T turned 00:06:17.439 --> 00:06:20.420 it down. It was ARPANET developed at universities 00:06:20.420 --> 00:06:23.759 like MIT and UCLA with government grants. The 00:06:23.759 --> 00:06:26.399 point is, by attacking these institutions, you 00:06:26.399 --> 00:06:29.000 aren't owning the libs. You're destroying the 00:06:29.000 --> 00:06:31.699 engine of American superiority. And we have data 00:06:31.699 --> 00:06:33.879 that shows this is happening right now. The Leiden 00:06:33.879 --> 00:06:36.220 University rankings. I'm looking at the chart 00:06:36.220 --> 00:06:39.240 and the difference between 2012 and 2025 is, 00:06:39.240 --> 00:06:42.579 it's shocking. It is a complete inversion. Just 00:06:42.579 --> 00:06:45.639 over a decade ago, 2012, the top spots for scientific 00:06:45.639 --> 00:06:50.920 impact were MIT, Princeton, Harvard, Rice, Stanford, 00:06:51.939 --> 00:06:55.339 all American. And now 2025. The top two are Zhejiang 00:06:55.339 --> 00:06:57.740 University and Shanghai Jiao Tong University. 00:06:57.779 --> 00:07:00.519 Both Chinese. Both. Harvard has slipped to number 00:07:00.519 --> 00:07:02.740 three. The rest of the top ten is almost all 00:07:02.740 --> 00:07:04.819 Chinese universities. The only other American 00:07:04.819 --> 00:07:07.259 school hanging on is UC San Francisco at number 00:07:07.259 --> 00:07:10.120 ten. That is a staggering shift. How did we lose 00:07:10.120 --> 00:07:12.779 that lead so fast? It's a pincer movement. On 00:07:12.779 --> 00:07:15.000 one side, China is pouring billions into research. 00:07:15.300 --> 00:07:17.480 On the other, the U .S. is cutting funding and, 00:07:17.540 --> 00:07:20.160 just as importantly, blocking visas. The visa 00:07:20.160 --> 00:07:22.939 issue seems huge. If you're the smartest student 00:07:22.939 --> 00:07:25.519 in Bangalore or Berlin, why would you come here 00:07:25.519 --> 00:07:28.259 if you might get kicked out? You don't. That's 00:07:28.259 --> 00:07:31.100 the simple answer. You go to London or Toronto. 00:07:32.079 --> 00:07:34.519 The source mentions a specific innovation from 00:07:34.519 --> 00:07:36.860 the Tianjin Institute to illustrate what we're 00:07:36.860 --> 00:07:39.279 missing out on. They've figured out how to create 00:07:39.279 --> 00:07:41.939 starch from carbon dioxide. Wait, say that again? 00:07:41.980 --> 00:07:44.360 They're turning air into food? Essentially, yes. 00:07:44.379 --> 00:07:46.839 It bypasses photosynthesis. That is the kind 00:07:46.839 --> 00:07:49.199 of moonshot breakthrough solving food security 00:07:49.199 --> 00:07:51.420 and carbon capture at once. That happens when 00:07:51.420 --> 00:07:54.079 you fund basic science. Yeah. And right now, 00:07:54.279 --> 00:07:56.879 it's happening there. Not here. There was a personal 00:07:56.879 --> 00:07:58.800 story in the source material that really drove 00:07:58.800 --> 00:08:01.660 home the soft power loss. The expert just called 00:08:01.660 --> 00:08:04.259 V talked about his time in the Netherlands. Yes, 00:08:04.540 --> 00:08:06.699 he helped set up programs for Eastern European 00:08:06.699 --> 00:08:09.259 students to come to Dutch universities after 00:08:09.259 --> 00:08:11.899 the Berlin Wall fell. Those students didn't just 00:08:11.899 --> 00:08:14.540 learn engineering, they learned to like the West. 00:08:15.180 --> 00:08:17.660 They went home and became diplomats and business 00:08:17.660 --> 00:08:20.519 leaders with a real personal connection. That 00:08:20.519 --> 00:08:22.819 is soft power. It's building relationships on 00:08:22.819 --> 00:08:26.139 a generational scale. Exactly. And when we block 00:08:26.139 --> 00:08:28.220 foreign students or make them feel unwelcome, 00:08:28.839 --> 00:08:32.320 we are just losing their tuition. We're burning 00:08:32.320 --> 00:08:35.379 the diplomatic bridges of the year 2040. It's 00:08:35.379 --> 00:08:37.980 cutting off your nose to spite your face. OK, 00:08:38.039 --> 00:08:41.679 so we have global trade chaos and an innovation 00:08:41.679 --> 00:08:44.779 drain. Let's look at the mood here at home. You'd 00:08:44.779 --> 00:08:47.220 think a strongman approach might energize the 00:08:47.220 --> 00:08:50.559 base, right? Play well domestically. The data 00:08:50.559 --> 00:08:52.639 says the opposite. We have the latest Gallup 00:08:52.639 --> 00:08:55.399 numbers on party ID, and they show a historic 00:08:55.399 --> 00:08:58.100 shift. Unpack those for us. Well, American politics 00:08:58.100 --> 00:09:01.539 is usually a game of inches. But right now, the 00:09:01.539 --> 00:09:03.220 Democrats have opened up an eight point lead 00:09:03.220 --> 00:09:06.360 in party identification, 48 percent to 40 percent. 00:09:06.539 --> 00:09:09.320 That's the largest gap since 2009. Eight points. 00:09:09.460 --> 00:09:11.480 That's a landslide in modern politics. What's 00:09:11.480 --> 00:09:13.940 driving it? The analysis suggests a severe case 00:09:13.940 --> 00:09:16.840 of buyer's remorse. The argument is that Trump's 00:09:16.840 --> 00:09:19.559 2024 win was personal. It was about him, about 00:09:19.559 --> 00:09:22.159 voters disliking the alternative, and about believing 00:09:22.159 --> 00:09:24.399 his promises on prices. And now that prices aren't 00:09:24.399 --> 00:09:26.019 falling, partly because of those tariffs you 00:09:26.019 --> 00:09:28.519 just talked about, the bill is coming due. Exactly. 00:09:29.360 --> 00:09:32.440 The economic pain is real and the blame is landing 00:09:32.440 --> 00:09:35.039 on the party and power. But it's not just the 00:09:35.039 --> 00:09:36.840 voters. It's the politicians who tried to play 00:09:36.840 --> 00:09:40.590 the game. This brings us to the the bully parable 00:09:40.590 --> 00:09:43.570 of Senator Bill Cassidy. This story is just, 00:09:43.610 --> 00:09:45.830 it's a tragedy. It is a classic tragedy, yes. 00:09:46.110 --> 00:09:48.529 Bill Cassidy is a medical doctor. He knows vaccines 00:09:48.529 --> 00:09:51.370 work. Yet when the vote came to confirm RFK Jr. 00:09:51.490 --> 00:09:54.690 a known vaccine skeptic to HHS, Cassidy voted 00:09:54.690 --> 00:09:57.190 yes. He compromised his professional ethics to 00:09:57.190 --> 00:09:59.409 please the president, bent the knee. He thought 00:09:59.409 --> 00:10:01.990 if he appeased the bully, he'd be safe. But that's 00:10:01.990 --> 00:10:04.610 not how it works. Despite his vote, Trump still 00:10:04.610 --> 00:10:07.370 endorsed Julia Letlo to run against Cassidy in 00:10:07.370 --> 00:10:09.490 the primary. And the kicker? The kicker is that 00:10:09.490 --> 00:10:11.929 because Louisiana shifted to a closed primary, 00:10:12.549 --> 00:10:14.450 Cassidy, the incumbent, is almost certainly going 00:10:14.450 --> 00:10:16.649 to lose his seat. So he's sold out his principles 00:10:16.649 --> 00:10:18.909 and lost his job anyway. It's a stark lesson. 00:10:19.389 --> 00:10:21.690 You can't negotiate for safety when the other 00:10:21.690 --> 00:10:24.169 side demands total submission. And speaking of 00:10:24.169 --> 00:10:26.389 fighting for jobs, let's talk about the raw mechanics 00:10:26.389 --> 00:10:28.690 of power. We've got some map games in Virginia 00:10:28.690 --> 00:10:31.230 that might just flip the house. Redistricting. 00:10:32.250 --> 00:10:35.610 The dark art of American politics. Virginia's 00:10:35.610 --> 00:10:38.669 new map, well, The analysis suggests three Republican 00:10:38.669 --> 00:10:40.809 incumbents are in very serious trouble. Who are 00:10:40.809 --> 00:10:43.450 we talking about? Jen Kiggins, Rob Whitman, and 00:10:43.450 --> 00:10:46.309 John McGuire. The new lines are very likely to 00:10:46.309 --> 00:10:48.710 flip those seats blue. But it's not just about 00:10:48.710 --> 00:10:50.929 map lines. It's about timing. We're seeing this 00:10:50.929 --> 00:10:53.190 tit for tat on special elections. The Abbott 00:10:53.190 --> 00:10:55.970 versus Newsom standoff. Right. So previously, 00:10:56.470 --> 00:10:58.690 Texas Governor Greg Abbott delayed filling a 00:10:58.690 --> 00:11:00.549 Democratic seat for months to keep their numbers 00:11:00.549 --> 00:11:03.629 down. Now the shoe is on the other foot. A Republican 00:11:03.629 --> 00:11:06.440 seat in California opened up Doug LaMalfa's seat, 00:11:07.059 --> 00:11:08.940 and Governor Gavin Newsom is playing hardball. 00:11:09.340 --> 00:11:11.299 He's delaying the special election until August 00:11:11.299 --> 00:11:14.379 of 2026. August. That's almost the entire term. 00:11:14.600 --> 00:11:16.720 It denies Speaker Mike Johnson that vote for 00:11:16.720 --> 00:11:19.259 seven months. And when the House margin is this 00:11:19.259 --> 00:11:22.740 thin, we're talking 218 Republicans to 214 Democrats. 00:11:23.360 --> 00:11:26.360 Every single seat matters. A delay like that 00:11:26.360 --> 00:11:28.399 can freeze the entire legislative agenda. It 00:11:28.399 --> 00:11:30.100 sounds like the gears of government are being 00:11:30.100 --> 00:11:32.580 deliberately jammed with sand. And while that's 00:11:32.580 --> 00:11:35.840 happening, the digital square X seems to be imploding. 00:11:36.039 --> 00:11:38.019 Yeah, the promise was that it would be a haven 00:11:38.019 --> 00:11:41.039 for conservative speech. But the report details 00:11:41.039 --> 00:11:43.919 a massive exodus of high -profile conservatives. 00:11:44.379 --> 00:11:47.179 The Vic Ramaswamy leaving really surprised me. 00:11:47.179 --> 00:11:50.139 He was all in. He said it was a warped reality. 00:11:50.860 --> 00:11:52.919 And Rahim Kassam, a former Breitbart editor, 00:11:53.120 --> 00:11:55.559 called it a cesspool. The problem seems to be 00:11:55.559 --> 00:11:57.659 that the algorithm has been tweaked to promote 00:11:57.659 --> 00:12:00.519 outrage over actual policy discussion. The source 00:12:00.519 --> 00:12:02.360 mentioned Christopher Ruffo clashing with Candice 00:12:02.360 --> 00:12:04.539 Owens as a perfect example of this. Exactly. 00:12:04.899 --> 00:12:06.899 Ruffo is a policy guy. He wants to win elections, 00:12:07.399 --> 00:12:10.100 change laws. Owens is a media personality who 00:12:10.100 --> 00:12:13.940 wants clicks. The algorithm overwhelmingly favors, 00:12:14.320 --> 00:12:17.399 to use Ruffo's term, the lunatics over the strategists. 00:12:17.879 --> 00:12:20.440 It's fracturing them, right? Not uniting it. 00:12:20.659 --> 00:12:23.120 And then there's the bot issue, location tags. 00:12:23.279 --> 00:12:26.039 Oh, that backfired spectacularly. When X enabled 00:12:26.039 --> 00:12:28.000 location visibility, it revealed that a huge 00:12:28.000 --> 00:12:30.100 number of the most aggressive MAGA accounts were 00:12:30.100 --> 00:12:32.080 actually operating out of Russia. So the voice 00:12:32.080 --> 00:12:34.659 of the people was a server farm in St. Petersburg. 00:12:35.220 --> 00:12:37.379 Basically, yes. And that creates that warped 00:12:37.379 --> 00:12:39.600 reality Ramaswami was talking about. You think 00:12:39.600 --> 00:12:41.519 you're arguing with your neighbor, but you're 00:12:41.519 --> 00:12:43.919 actually arguing with a Russian script designed 00:12:43.919 --> 00:12:47.600 to make you angry. So if we step back. Let's 00:12:47.600 --> 00:12:50.620 try to summarize this. We have trade allies leaving 00:12:50.620 --> 00:12:53.539 us for China. We have our top universities sliding 00:12:53.539 --> 00:12:56.019 down the rankings. We have a political party 00:12:56.019 --> 00:12:59.580 shrinking and eating its own. And our main communication 00:12:59.580 --> 00:13:03.279 platform is overrun with bots and infighting. 00:13:03.480 --> 00:13:06.600 It paints a clear picture of isolation and internal 00:13:06.600 --> 00:13:11.059 fracture. The aggressive America first approach 00:13:11.059 --> 00:13:14.000 is resulting in an America that is increasingly 00:13:14.899 --> 00:13:17.220 It brings us right back to unintended consequences. 00:13:17.440 --> 00:13:19.100 You play the tough guy, you flip over the table, 00:13:19.159 --> 00:13:21.000 and eventually people just go find another table 00:13:21.000 --> 00:13:23.159 to sit at. Precisely. They adapt, they find new 00:13:23.159 --> 00:13:24.840 partners, they build their own starch -from -air 00:13:24.840 --> 00:13:26.639 technology. And that leads to the final question 00:13:26.639 --> 00:13:28.460 I think you need to sit with today. Because this 00:13:28.460 --> 00:13:30.379 isn't just about politics, it's about survival. 00:13:30.799 --> 00:13:33.820 It is. And the question is this. If the United 00:13:33.820 --> 00:13:36.799 States continues to push away its military allies, 00:13:37.120 --> 00:13:39.779 its economic partners, its smartest foreign students, 00:13:39.980 --> 00:13:43.899 and its own moderate politicians, when the next 00:13:43.899 --> 00:13:47.899 true global crisis hits, a pandemic, a war, an 00:13:47.899 --> 00:13:50.980 economic collapse, who exactly is left in the 00:13:50.980 --> 00:13:52.960 room with us? That is a chilling thought. It's 00:13:52.960 --> 00:13:55.340 easy to break things, much harder to build them 00:13:55.340 --> 00:13:57.080 back when you really need them. And right now, 00:13:57.100 --> 00:13:59.039 that room is getting very empty. We're going 00:13:59.039 --> 00:14:01.470 to leave it there. A lot to think about. Thanks 00:14:01.470 --> 00:14:03.570 for listening to this deep dive. Stay curious. 00:14:03.669 --> 00:14:04.250 See you next time.