What's Really Behind Trump’s Greenland and Iran Strategy, and the Truth About the Economy, with Doug Sosnik

Next Up with Mark Halperin

MK Media

News, Daily News, Politics

4.6 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 20 January 2026

⏱️ 67 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Mark Halperin kicks off today’s episode with a sweeping reported monologue on Donald Trump’s escalating pressure campaign over Greenland and what it reveals about his broader foreign policy theory of the case and about his unique decision making style. Mark lays out five fundamentals about the president and this international controversy, from Europe’s dependence on U.S. power and Trump’s obsession with leverage to the idea that markets, not Congress or NATO allies, may be the only real constraint on how far he goes. Mark then turns to Iran and the aftermath of the mass protests, breaking down why Trump’s decision not to strike was not a sign of weakness, but a calculated bet. He walks through the internal and allied pressure that shaped the decision, the risks of retaliation and regime consolidation, and why the story of Iran’s uprising may be closer to the beginning of the end than the end itself. Finally, Democratic strategist Doug Sosnik joins the show to explain what will actually matter in the 2026 midterms, why Trump’s standing on the economy is the central metric, and how structural realities in the House map could limit the implications of even a wave election. Sosnik also outlines what Democrats need to do to rebuild with working-class voters, why candidates define party brands more than messaging, and what traits the 2028 electorate may be looking for when the next presidential fight begins. Masa Chips: Ready to give MASA or Vandy a try? Get 25% off your first order by going to http://masachips.com/MARK and using code MARK. Bank On Yourself: Discover the retirement plan banks Don't want you to know about—get your free report at https://BankOnYourself.com/Mark Beam: Visit https://shopbeam.com/MARK and use code MARK to get our exclusive discount of up to 40% off.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, everybody. Welcome back to Next Up. I am Mark Halper. Thanks for joining. We'd love to having all the nexters back convened as we roll through January. I'm editor-in-chief of the live interactive video platform Two-way. And your host here to a guide to pretty much everything that's interesting me. That's often politics. If you like politics, you're in the right place. If you don't like politics, you're in the right place too because we're going to
0:24.0	talk about interesting stuff today and throughout the new year. I'm grateful to have you here.
0:29.5	Our guest is Doug Sosnik, a long-time political advisor to President Clinton. He's one of the
0:34.3	rare people who actually understand American politics. Clearly, he knows the history, the data.
0:39.3	We're going to preview the midterms and talk about what the Democratic Party needs to do.
0:43.3	And Doug will also talk about where President Trump stands politically in terms of polling with the American people now.
0:50.3	All of that to look forward to the midterms and then into 2028.
0:56.0	Doug is as smart as they come.
0:58.1	Really looking forward to having him back here.
1:03.2	And then my reported monologue, I'm going to talk about President Trump and how to understand what's going on with Greenland.
1:04.9	I've seen a lot of reporting and doesn't match necessarily the full portrait that I'm going
1:10.0	to present to you.
1:10.9	All of that coming here next up, don't go away.
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1:59.5	tastes good. Personally, I like the blue ones, but they're all very good.
	...

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