Folks, Labor Day celebrates Amerians who built this country. Hint: It wasn’t greedy billionaires. To celebrate workers we’ve increased our discount rate to 25% off all Paid Subscriptions through Labor Day!
Amped Up Rundown: Guest Olivia Troye, Frmr Mike Pence National Security Advisor, Quit in Protes
Today’s show was a reminder of just how fragile democracy and national security are under Trump 2.0.
I was joined by Olivia Troye, former homeland security and counterterrorism adviser to Mike Pence, who left the GOP after refusing to go along with Trump’s Putin-fondling agenda. And my always intrepid co-host, former-Emmy-Award-winning MSNBC and CNN news anchor, David Shuster.
Both brilliant with keen senses of humor, so we were able to talk about deadly serious issues while also finding time to enjoy our conversation. Together, we walked through the chaos unraveling around us in real time.
Trump & Putin in Alaska: The Theatrics of Capitulation
We opened with the so-called “summit” in Alaska. Olivia was blunt: it was pure theater. Putin dictated the terms, Trump played along like the ding-dong he is and Ukraine once again came out the loser.
Were these theatrics designed to distract from the Epstein files? Quite possibly. What’s clear is that Trump is in over his head — or worse, working in cahoots. And yes, he once again confused Alaska for Russia, which would be funny if the stakes weren’t so deadly serious.
Domestic Terror, Guns, and Russia’s Shadow
We then turned to the latest mass shooting. Cliff pointed out the grotesque irony: the children killed were literally praying — making a mockery of the “thoughts and prayers” crowd. The shooter had Russian inscriptions on his gun.
Olivia reminded us that adversaries like Russia and China thrive on our dysfunction, and with Tulsi Gabbard now running U.S. intelligence, the Five Eyes allies are rightly alarmed. Cutting off intel sharing before a Putin summit? That’s not just Trumpian incompetence, it feels a lot like betrayal—because it is.
Greenland Obsession & Rogue Ops
Yes, Greenland is back. Trump’s obsession—part real estate delusion, part resource grab—has now metastasized into covert ops against an ally. Olivia explained how Gabbard ramped up intel collection on Greenland’s independence movement, while Trump loyalists are reportedly running amok on the ground.
Denmark, a NATO ally, is furious. Imagine if Denmark encouraged Texas to secede. We’d call it an act of war. Yet Trump is doing this to an ally, weakening NATO, handing an opening to Putin and turning the U.S. into the rogue actor we used to condemn.
FEMA Gutted Ahead of Hurricane Season
From there, we dug into FEMA. More than 180 employees of the agency wrote a warning letter to Congress that the agency’s being gutted. And…as Trump is a fascist, instead of learning from this, instead they’ve been sidelined, even suspended, for speaking up. Real lives don’t matter to Trump. Just optics.
FEMA staff compared what’s coming to another Katrina-level disaster. Two of the whistleblowers were literally in the middle of flood response in Texas when Trump’s hacks fired them. As Olivia put it: these aren’t partisans. These are Americans begging for help so they can save lives. And yet, FEMA is being dismantled in real time.
The Bigger Picture: Authoritarian Control
Cliff raised the looming danger: Trump’s push to deploy the National Guard in 19 states isn’t just about “crime.” It’s about creating fear, militarizing polling places, and setting the stage for martial law. Olivia confirmed this was a live discussion in 2020 — Trump wanted the Insurrection Act then, and his cronies like Stephen Miller still want it now. The danger is normalization: if people get used to seeing troops in the streets, they won’t notice when martial law becomes permanent.
Bottom line:
Trump’s chaos isn’t random. It’s strategy. Wreck FEMA, side with Putin, undermine NATO, send troops into American cities — all of it points in one direction: authoritarian control.
Olivia Troye’s insider perspective made one thing clear: the guardrails are gone. What used to be unthinkable now occurs daily. And unless we fight back, it’s only going to get worse. So fight back, and fight back ferociously, we must!
Stay Amped,
Cliff
VIDEO ON DEMAND
Folks, Labor Day celebrates Amerians who built this country. Hint: It wasn’t greedy billionaires. To celebrate workers we’ve increased our discount rate to 25% off all Paid Subscriptions through Labor Day!
Thank you
, , , , , and many others for tuning into my live video with and ! Join me for my next live video in the app.
Share this post