Vance's Munich Speech Rattles European Governments - The Monday AM Quickie 2/17/25
Tens of thousands of probationary employees across the federal government – from the NIH to the Treasury Department to the IRS – got fired over the weekend. For no other reason than to ultimately enrich Elon Musk and his friends. –Jacob
Skip the mattress sales this year and celebrate President's Day like founding fathers—with some well-cured farm-fresh hemp flower. Though, unlike those long-dead aristocrats, you can support a farm that pays a living wage while you do it!
That’s right, Sunset Lake is releasing two new smokable hemp cultivars and marking the occasion with a sale. You can try any and all of their smokable CBD products for 30% off when you checkout with code "NewFlower."
This exclusive offer ends February 23rd at midnight ET. See their site for terms and conditions. Celebrate in style, save big, and support sustainable farming—all in one go.
Subscribe to the AM Quickie's NEW paid newsletters here!
THE BIG NEWS
Vance's Munich Speech Rattles European Governments
Vice President JD Vance delivered a provocative speech on Friday at the Munich Security Conference that, combined with increasing rapprochement between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, has shaken European politicians.
As European leaders discussed ways to develop a Ukraine policy independent of their unreliable American partner, Vance gave his audience more reasons not to trust the new US administration.
"The threat that I worry most about vis-à-vis Europe is not Russia, not China, it’s not any other external actor," said Vance. "What I worry about is the threat from within."
Vance spent part of the speech blasting European governments as censorious authoritarians infringing on their citizens rights and tolerating too much migration. European governments, Vance said, were unsuitably hostile to right-wing political parties. He denounced the "firewall" in German politics in which most political parties refuse to work with far-right parties like the AfD, which Vance, Trump, and Elon Musk vocally support.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz accused Vance of interfering in the country's domestic politics ahead of its Feb. 23 elections. Scholz criticized Vance's decision to visit the Dachau concentration camp and then meet the same day with an AfD leader. "We will not accept outsiders intervening in our democracy, in our elections and in the democratic formation of opinion on behalf of this party," said the German chancellor.
MORE STORIES TO WATCH
DOJ Lawyers Resign But Trump Gets What He Wants
Seven Justice Department officials quit in protest last week over the administration's order to drop criminal corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. They included Danielle Sassoon, the acting US attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Hagan Scotten, who was the lead prosecutor in the case against Adams. Both are well-regarded, well-credentialed mid-career prosecutors who clerked for conservative Supreme Court Justices. Both wrote deeply critical letters to acting deputy attorney general Emil Bove, warning him against dismissing the charges against the flagrantly corrupt Adams.
"If no lawyer within earshot of the President is willing to give him that advice, then I expect you will eventually find someone who is enough of a fool, or enough of a coward, to file your motion," wrote Scotten, according to the Washington Post. "But it was never going to be me."
Bove, naturally, found someone who was enough of a fool, or enough of a coward, to file the motion: himself.
ICE Isn't Making Its New Quotas
Despite a huge show of force involving the military and numerous federal agencies, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was "only" arresting about 600 people per day earlier this month. That's down from a reported high of 1,1179 in late January. The Trump administration reportedly imposed a quota of 1,200 to 1,500 arrests per day. The vulgar use of statistics masks that we are dealing, of course, with real human beings. It also might cause people to forget that "deportations were higher under Biden than in Trump's first term." This brutal regime of incarceration and human trafficking is longstanding and bipartisan.
QUICKEST QUICKIES
- DOGE Goons Fired Nuclear Safety Professionals, Then Backtracked The National Nuclear Security Administration, which safeguards the country's nuclear weapons, was forced to fire hundreds of people last week – only for the powers-that-be in DOGE and the Trump administration to realize this was a really bad idea and those people needed to be brought back. A bit of a wrinkle: the NNSA can't get in touch with some of the fired employees, and others don't want to come back. via NPR and NBC News.
- Maryland National Guard Backs Out of Frederick Douglass Event The Maryland National Guard told organizers of a parade celebrating legendary abolitionist, writer, Marylander, and former slave Frederick Douglass that they could not participate "since this event is organized as part of a Black History month celebration." It's one of many examples of the anti-DEI, anti-identity politics, anti-anything-that-offends-MAGA purge happening across the federal government. via WaPo.
- Trump and Putin Aides Expected To Meet This Week U.S. and Russian officials will likely meet in Saudi Arabia this week to work on a roadmap to pausing, or ending, Russia's war on Ukraine. The Trump administration said that Ukrainian officials were invited, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other Ukrainian officials said that they didn't receive an official invitation and seemed unsupportive of the talks. via NYT and Politico.
- Threatening Ethnic Cleansing of Palestinians, Rubio Lands in Israel Secretary of State Marco Rubio went to Israel to speak with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli officials. Rubio has gently slowplayed Trump's criminal proposal to forcibly remove all Palestinians from Gaza, claiming "it's the only plan out there right now," but "if someone has a better plan... that's great." via NYT.
SOME NUMBER
$3.6 million
That's how much revenue Trump Media & Technology Group – the parent company of Truth Social and one of the president's crypto ventures – made in 2024. Overall, Trump Media lost $400.9 million, as it continues to announce new projects (and trade on public markets) while barely resembling a real going concern. Last year, the company gave employees $107 million in stock compensation.
ON THE SHOW TODAY
2/17: Happy Monday!
DON'T MISS MR CLIPS
The Republican Assault On Social Security
Alex Lawson, executive director of Social Security Works, joined the show to talk about the new threats facing America's most effective and essential government-assistance program.
Hegseth Tries Appealing To Neo-Confederates By Being A Huge Coward
Definitely-not-drinking-on-the-job SecDef Pete Hegseth threw a bone to racists by renaming a military base.
PARTING WORDS
"If he doesn't come through, I'll be back in New York City. And we won't be sitting on the couch. I'll be in his office, up his butt, saying, Where the hell is the agreement we came to?"
-- ICE acting director Tom Homan telling Fox News – while New York City Mayor Eric Adams sits uncomfortably beside him – about the shady quid pro quo he made with hizzoner to drop DoJ charges in exchange for help on deporting migrants. Adams was also interviewed alongside Homan by Dr. Phil in another hostage-like situation.
Anniversary Sale!
It's the 20th anniversary of The Majority Report, and we have the merch to prove it! Buy some swag at shop.majorityreportradio.com and help us keep going for another 20 years. Thanks!
Quickie Discount Code Corner
Hey check it out! Stuff on sale!
Check out Seder's Seeds at sedersseeds.com!
It's growing season, so it's time to get your very own Seder's Seeds! Go to https://sedersseeds.com and get 15% off your entire order when you enter the discount code Majority
IAC Laser Engraving: Visit https://iaclasers.com and use Coupon Code MAJORITY10 at checkout to save 10% on your order. They have also updated their site recently, so if you’ve visited in the past, you’ll want to visit again and check out the new products.
Fast Growing Trees: This Spring Fast Growing Trees has the best deals online, up to half off on select plants and other deals. And listeners to our show get an ADDITIONAL 15% OFF their first purchase when using the code MAJORITY at checkout. That’s an ADDITIONAL 15% OFF at https://FastGrowingTrees.com using the code MAJORITY at checkout. https://FastGrowingTrees.com code MAJORITY. Offer is valid for a limited time, terms and conditions may apply.
Earthbreeze: Right now, my listeners can receive 40% off Earth Breeze just by going to https://earthbreeze.com/majority! That's https://earthbreeze.com/majority to cut out single-use plastic in your laundry room and claim forty percent off your subscription.
Blueland Cleaning Products: Blueland has a special offer for listeners. Right now, get 15% off your first order by going to https://Blueland.com/MAJORITY. You won’t want to miss this! https://Blueland.com/MAJORITY for 15% off.
Prolon: Right now, Prolon is offering The Majority Report with Sam Seder listeners 10% off their 5-day nutrition program. Go to https://ProlonLife.com/MAJORITY.
ExpressVPN: Stop handing over your personal data to the Big Tech monopoly that mines your activity and sells your information. Protect yourself with the VPN I trust to keep me safe online. Visit https://ExpressVPN.com/majority. That’s https://ExpressVPN.com/majority to get three extra months free.
Ritual: Essential for Men is a quality multivitamin from a company you can actually trust. Get 40% off your first month for a limited time at https://ritual.com/MAJORITY. This offer is only available through January 31st. Start Ritual or add Essential For Men to your subscription today.
ZBiotics: Go to https://zbiotics.com/MAJORITY to get 15% off your first order when you use MAJORITY at checkout. You can also sign up for a subscription using my code - so you can stay prepared no matter the time or occasion. ZBiotics is backed with 100% money back guarantee so if you’re unsatisfied for any reason, they’ll refund your money, no questions asked.
Henson Shaving: Henson Shaving is giving my audience a 2-year supply of blades for FREE. Just go to https://HENSONSHAVING.com/MAJORITY, That’s https://HENSONSHAVING.com/MAJORITY. Add a razor and 100-pack of blades to your cart, then enter code MAJORITY to get the blades for free.
Shopify: Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at https://shopify.com/majority. Go to https://shopify.com/majority now to grow your business–no matter what stage you’re in.
LiquidIV: Revive yourself for the New Year. Grab your Liquid I.V. Hydration Multiplier Sugar-Free in bulk nationwide at Costco or get 20% off your first order when you go to https://liquidiv.com/majorityrep at checkout. That’s 20% off your first order when you shop better hydration today using promo code MAJORITYREP at https://liquidiv.com.
Nutrafol: Take the first step to visibly thicker, healthier hair. For a limited time, Nutrafol is offering our listeners ten dollars off your first month’s subscription and free shipping when you go to https://Nutrafol.com/men and enter the promo code TMR. Find out why over 4,000 healthcare professionals recommend Nutrafol for healthier hair.
Sunset Lake CBD: Sunsetlakecbd is a majority employee owned farm in Vermont, producing 100% pesticide free CBD products. Use code Leftisbest and get 20% off at http://www.sunsetlakecbd.com.
CozyEarth: IF you’ve never tried Cozy Earth, I've got awesome news! You can SAVE up to 35% off Cozy Earth right now! But hurry... this offer won't last. Go to https://CozyEarth.com and enter mypromo code MAJORITY REPORT at checkout for up to 35% off on your first order! That's https://CozyEarth.com promo code MAJORITY REPORT.