Hello and welcome to Background Briefing, available 24-7 at Background Briefing.org. I'm Ian Masters,

and today we'll look into a number of stories and issues in the news.

We begin with the glaring evidence of the big con as it becomes clear that Donald Trump lied to his maga faithful,

promising to be their champion and savior, only to turn around and take care of his people.

The billionaires he's always admired and aspired to be.

Joining us to discuss Trump's plutocratic government taking shape that emerged from an election largely bought by a few plutocrats is Sarah Anderson, who directs the Global Economy Project

at the Institute for Policy Studies. Sarah is the lead author of over 20 annual executive excess reports and is the co-editor

of Inequality.org.

Her books include field guide to the global economy and alternatives to economic globalization.

And she has an article we will discuss at Inequality.org, the first seven billionaires Trump has tapped

for top jobs. Then we'll examine the secret negotiations the United States, Israel and the UAE

have been conducting with the Assad dictatorship in Syria, hoping to allure the regime away from

Iran, Hezbollah and Russia, which have now been derailed by the

Turkish-backed Sunni-Syrian rebel advances threatening to take Damascus. Joining us is Joshua Landis,

the chair and director of the Center for Middle East Studies and the Pazane family

Center for Iranian and Persian Gulf Studies at the University of Oklahoma.

The former president of the Syrian Studies Association, he is a fellow at the Quincy Institute

and writes Syria comment a daily newsletter and blog on Syrian politics.

Then finally, with Trump's pick for Secretary of Defense

mired in charges of rape and drunkenness, with rumors he might be replaced by Florida

Governor DeSantis, we'll assess the role of Trump's perspective number two at the Department

of Defense, the billionaire Stephen Feinberg, who used to own DynCorp, a more traditional Pentagon contractor,

...