Trump’s Greenland Gambit Ends in TACO

The Lincoln Project

News, Government, Politics, News Commentary

4.6 • 9.1K Ratings

🗓️ 23 January 2026

⏱️ 33 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Rick's Elephant in the Room this week is peak TACO — Trump Always Chickens Out. After floating threats against Greenland and saber-rattling his way into another foreign policy meltdown, Donald Trump took the stage at Davos and delivered a speech so erratic it left allies openly alarmed (as he GRIPPED the podium). The World Economic Forum appearance wasn’t just inflammatory — it reinforced how isolated the United States has become under Trump’s chaos-first diplomacy. Within days, Trump backed down on Greenland, proving once again that the bluster is loud but the follow-through is weak. Meanwhile, NATO allies are openly questioning whether the U.S. can still be trusted, global markets are spooked, and America’s credibility keeps sliding. This episode breaks down Trump’s Davos meltdown, the Greenland bluff, and why the world is done taking U.S. threats seriously.
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Rick Wilson is on X at @TheRickWilson, on Bluesky at @TheRickWilson.bsky.social, and you can check out Rick's Substack at therickwilson.substack.com. You can check out more of LP's work at www.lincolnproject.us and on X at @ProjectLincoln.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Your task will not be an easy one.
0:02.5	Your enemy is well trained, well equipped, and battle-hardt.
0:06.2	There is not a liberal America and a conservative America.
0:09.9	There is the United States of America.
0:14.5	Good night and good luck.
0:16.9	Hey folks.
0:18.4	Welcome back to the elephant in the room.
0:20.1	And this week's elephant in the room, it's taco.
0:27.1	Trump always chickens out.
0:29.1	It's a rule.
0:31.7	It's held up pretty well.
0:32.8	Not as well as everything Trump touches dies, which is the ultimate rule of American political physics in this hellish era in which we exist. Thank you. You're very welcome. But what happened this week in Davos showed you really a lot about who we are as a country right now, who Donald Trump is as a president, and the world we're building without knowing it.
0:55.9	So, yes, let's get to the bottom line up front. In the days before Davos, the White House is posting
1:02.4	memes of Trump and Vance and Marco planting an American flag in Greenland, and the Magaverse is all up. We're taking Greenland. We're going to be, it's going to be a territory. U.S. is going to own Greenland. Trump's like, we need the title to Greenland, all these things. Have you made a tangible offer to Greenland yet? Have you made an actual offer to Deadline? I don't know that, but Greenland should make the deal, because Greenland does not want to see Russia or China take over.
1:29.7	They don't go there. It's very far away from Greenland.
1:33.0	And Greenland, basically, their defense is two dog sleds. Do you know that?
1:37.1	Do you know what their defense is? Two dogslets.
1:40.5	In the meantime, you have Russian destroyers and submarines, and China destroyers and submarines all over the place.
1:49.0	We're not going to let that happen.
1:51.0	And it affects NATO and then it affects NATO.
1:54.0	But, you know, they need us much more than we need them.
1:56.0	I will tell you that right now.
	...

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