Happy Thursday Everyone! Today’s newsletter: 1,058 words…4 mins
🗞 Today’s Edition: Minneapolis on the brink, Europe Sends Troops To Greenland, Taiwan Bets $250B On U.S. Chips, Machado At The White House, Trump’s Great Healthcare Plan, NASA SpaceX’s Crew 11 Returns To Earth, Mahmoud Khalil Order Reversed, … & much more!
📜THE HIGHLIGHT
One killer insight to stash in your back pocket
🧨 Minneapolis on the Brink — From Protest to Predicted Powder Keg
Minneapolis streets turned volatile after a federal ICE agent shot a Venezuelan man in the leg during a Jan. 14 operation. Gov. Tim Walz’s livestream made the situation worse. Now Trump’s threatening to use the Insurrection Act.
What Happened:
DHS says the man—released into the U.S. in 2022—fled a traffic stop, crashed, ran, resisted arrest.
Then joined two others attacking the officer with a snow shovel and broom handle.
The officer, injured and outnumbered, fired one defensive shot to the suspect’s leg.
💥 This turned an already volatile situation, into sweeping unrest across the city - with tear gas, fireworks, and rocks exchanged between demonstrators and federal forces.
🚗 Looting & Vandalism:
ICE and FBI vehicles were vandalized and looted after agents reportedly abandoned them.
Viral videos show laptops, sensitive documents, gear, even a weapons locker ripped from a vehicle using a tow rope and a pickup truck.
Federal prison guards and state troopers were deployed.
Minneapolis PD took heat for delayed response.
🔥 Walz’s Firebrand Rhetoric: Rather than urging calm, Gov. Tim Walz unleashed a scathing attack on ICE on his livestream, addressing the State of Minnesota.
ICE agents are going door to door ordering people to point out where their neighbors of color live…
They're grabbing Minnesotans and shoving them in unmarked vans, kidnapping innocent people with no warning...
It's a campaign of organized brutality.
💬 Critics argue such language doesn’t just condemn federal agents—it mobilizes resistance and echoes antebellum-era denunciations and even comparisons to Gestapo-style actions.
⚔️ Trump’s Counter-Threat: In response to the chaos and what he dubbed attacks on “Patriots of ICE,” President Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act, potentially sending U.S. military forces into Minneapolis if state leaders can’t rein in protestors.
💡Bottom line: This is a proxy war for 2026 and the real battleground is the narrative itself. Minneapolis isn’t calming down—it’s a live preview of the election year to come.
♟️THE CHESSBOARD
Geopolitics Decoded In 3 Moves
🐶 🛷 Europe “Claps Back” at Trump — With Vibes
Immediately following the failed talks on Greenland at the White House, Europe defiantly promised a troop surge to defend the Arctic nation. They're calling it: "Operation Arctic Endurance."
The roster:
🇬🇧 UK: 1 officer (presumably armed with tea and disappointment)
🇳🇴 Norway: 2 guys (bringing cross-country skis to a gunfight)
🇫🇷 France: 15 soldiers (a full baguette battalion!)
🇩🇪 Germany: 13 reconnaissance (aggressively observing from a safe distance)
🇩🇰 Denmark: Aircraft and vessels…this is on top of the 2 dog sleds they already sent.
Reality check: The U.S. already has 150 troops at Pituffik Space Base. Europe's sending fewer people than a Scandinavian bachelor party.
💡Bottom Line: It’s the thought that counts. And the thought here is, “Don’t make us send a third guy.”
🇳🇱 Explosion Turns Netherlands’ City Center Into a Disaster Zone
A massive blast tore through a residential building in central Utrecht triggering a fire that spread to a nearby bakery and caused multiple structures to partially collapse.
At least four people were injured and hospitalized, with authorities fearing others remain trapped under rubble.
Firefighters battled flames for hours but initially couldn’t enter due to unstable buildings.
Around 50 residents were evacuated, streets locked down.
💡Bottom line: Cause is still unknown. Mayor’s warning: stay away—this isn’t over yet.
🍽 Trump Hosts Venezuela’s Opposition Star
Trump hosted Venezuelan opposition leader and 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado for a private White House lunch—their first face-to-face meeting.
The sit-down was closed to press, but Machado emerged smiling, saying she could “count on President Trump for Venezuela’s freedom.” No announcements followed.
Machado's goals included pushing for a democratic transition led by her coalition rather than relying on Maduro regime remnants.
She also met with bipartisan senators later in the day.
💡Context matters: Maduro is now in U.S. custody, and Trump is balancing deals with interim leader Delcy Rodríguez while keeping Machado close—but not centered. Big symbolism, cautious strategy.
🗽THE EMPIRE FILES
Political Drama From DC To NYC
⚖ Court Greenlights Deportation Fight for Columbia Activist
A federal appeals court reversed a June 2025 order that freed Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia grad student accused of: pro-Hamas activism, being one of the ringleaders of the encampment and the harassment of Jews on campus.
In a 2–1 ruling, judges said the lower court never had jurisdiction—immigration challenges must go through final removal orders, not habeas filings.
Khalil, whose green card was revoked, says he’s being punished for political speech and plans to keep fighting the case.
⚡What’s next: Possible re-detention and deportation as Trump tightens the screws on campus activism (and support for terrorism).
🩺 Trump Drops the “Great Healthcare Plan”
Trump rolled out his “Great Healthcare Plan” via White House video, pitching lower drug prices, cheaper premiums, and radical transparency.
The pitch: Send subsidies straight to patients, not insurers; match global drug prices; force hospitals to show real prices; and fully fund ACA cost-sharing to cut premiums 10–15%.
⚡It’s a framework, not a bill, landing just as ACA subsidies expire and midterms loom.
🤖 CODES & POWER
Tech Wars, Crypto Chaos, and AI’s Black Mirror Moments
SpaceX Dragon and NASA’s Crew 11 return to Earth, Source: X.com/@SpaceX
🧑🚀 SpaceX Crew-11 Makes Early Splashdown—Health First, Drama Minimal
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 splashed down in the Pacific off California at 3:40 a.m. EST, returning early after a medical issue with one crew member (stable, per NASA).
The four-person crew undocked from the ISS a day earlier, ending a five-month science run.
⚡Recovery teams moved fast—health checks, overnight hospital stay, then Houston.
🤖 Taiwan Bets $250B on U.S. Chips—Tariffs Do the Persuading
The U.S. and Taiwan cut a trade deal that pulls $250B in Taiwanese chip investment onto American soil, with Taipei backing it via $250B in credit guarantees.
In return: Tariffs capped at 15%, zero tariffs on key sectors, and generous import carve-outs while fabs are built.
Translation: Build in America—or face 100% tariffs.
⚡Washington wants 40% of Taiwan’s chip supply chain stateside.
📺 FUN FACTS & TRIVIA
Exploding Ants
In Southeast Asia, Colobopsis explodens worker ants can deliberately explode their bodies, spraying sticky, toxic goo to defend their colony—killing themselves but taking down attackers in a heroic, curry-scented sacrifice.
Nature's tiniest kamikazes! 🐜💥