Jonathan V. Last: Trump's Decadence Is Rubbing off on Americans

What It Covers

Tim Miller and Jonathan V. Last cover five interconnected political crises: FBI Director Kash Patel's conduct at the World Junior Hockey Championship, Trump's preparations for an Iran strike, the Supreme Court's tariff ruling and Trump's 15% global tariff response, USAID humanitarian funding cuts across 16 countries, and the ongoing immigration enforcement occupation in Minneapolis affecting undocumented residents.

Key Questions Answered

• •Kash Patel's FBI priorities: While Patel celebrated at the World Junior Hockey Championship in Milan, the FBI faced simultaneous active crises: potential Iran conflict requiring counterterrorism coordination, the unresolved Nancy Guthrie kidnapping, a Mar-a-Lago security breach, and ongoing inaction on the murders of Renee Goode and Alex Prady. The FBI spokesperson initially denied the trip was recreational, then video of Patel shotgunning beer emerged.
• •Iran strike indicators: Trump's likelihood of following through on military action against Iran can be assessed by whether military assets are pre-positioned in the region. In Venezuela and the first Iran strike, asset deployment preceded action; no such deployment preceded the Greenland rhetoric. Steve Witkoff, Trump's envoy, stated Iran is approximately one week from nuclear capability — roughly 30 weeks after Trump declared the program "completely and totally obliterated."
• •Trump's foreign policy inversion: Traditional U.S. foreign policy prioritized national interests over personal relationships. Trump has reversed this: governments that are politically or financially useful to Trump receive favorable treatment regardless of strategic value. Israel's Netanyahu government operationalized this by actively undermining Biden — who was substantively more favorable to Israel than Reagan — to secure better positioning under a Republican administration.
• •Tariff instability freezes economic planning: After the Supreme Court overturned IEEPA-based tariffs, Trump announced a 10% global tariff, then increased it 50% to 15% within 48 hours using 1974 Trade Act authority, valid for 150 days. Businesses dependent on international supply chains cannot make capital investment decisions with a 50% rate variance in play. The 150-day window expires near the midterm election cycle, creating sustained economic uncertainty through a politically critical period.
• •USAID humanitarian funding elimination: The State Department is ending all remaining humanitarian funding across 16 countries as part of what it calls a "responsible exit." In Somalia specifically, Doctors Without Borders reports deaths among malnourished children under five increased 44% after hundreds of health and nutrition centers closed. Foreign aid represents approximately 1-1.5% of total federal spending while generating intelligence networks, geopolitical influence, and deterrence against Chinese expansion — a high return-on-investment program being eliminated.
• •Minneapolis immigration enforcement severity: On-the-ground conditions in Minneapolis are more severe than national media coverage suggests. Hospitals function as effective surveillance points for DHS agents, prompting a network of doulas to organize secret home births for undocumented residents. Children born outside hospitals face unresolved citizenship documentation challenges, particularly given the administration's simultaneous effort to eliminate birthright citizenship. Media bandwidth constraints — finite daily segments, finite front-page slots — structurally prevent sustained national coverage of this situation.