On today’s show: Trump says he wants to buy Greenland — or take it by force. Can he? Politico’s Seb Starcevic explains what could happen next. NBC News’ Ben Goggin explains why Meta shut down its fact-checking program. The United States says a genocide is taking place in Sudan. NPR has been reporting on the famine and displacement there for months. Plus, thousands of residents in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angles were evacuated as a raging fire destroyed homes, Tibet rescuers search for survivors in freezing temperatures after a deadly earthquake; what to know about tomorrow’s National Day of Mourning for President Jimmy Carter; and how the 'Always Sunny' gang ended up at ‘Abbott Elementary.’ Today’s episode was guest-hosted by Gideon Resnick.
Chapter 1: What did Trump propose regarding Greenland?
But first, President-elect Trump talked yesterday about expanding the United States in what seems like an implausible way, seizing control of the Panama Canal and Greenland. And he told reporters he hasn't ruled out using military force or economic coercion to do so.
I can't assure you you're talking about Panama and Greenland. No, I can't assure you on either of those two. But I can say this. We need them for economic security.
During his first term, you might remember that Trump also floated the idea of buying Greenland. That was strongly rejected by Denmark. Greenland is a former colony of Denmark and became a formal territory of the kingdom in the 1950s. So Greenland is subject to the Danish constitution, and any changes to its legal status would require a constitutional amendment.
So purchasing has never really been on the table.
Any military efforts would cause greater backlash. It sounds impossible and ridiculous to even talk about, but if that were to happen, there would obviously be global outrage. That's Politico reporter Seb Starchevich, who's been following these developments from Brussels. Denmark and the U.S. are both members of NATO. It's just not realistic in my personal opinion.
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Chapter 2: Why is Greenland significant to the US?
Chapter 3: What are the implications of Trump's comments on Greenland?
Any military efforts would cause greater backlash. It sounds impossible and ridiculous to even talk about, but if that were to happen, there would obviously be global outrage. That's Politico reporter Seb Starchevich, who's been following these developments from Brussels. Denmark and the U.S. are both members of NATO. It's just not realistic in my personal opinion.
But if that were to happen, there would obviously be global outcry, global outrage, but it would be unprecedented. All of it begs the question, why does Trump want to control Greenland so badly? Greenland occupies a unique geostrategic position between the US and Europe. It's a gateway to the Arctic, and it's also really rich in minerals and rare earths. It also already hosts a US military base.
Trump has repeatedly said that Greenland is vital to American security interests.
Neither Greenland nor Denmark want this to happen, to be clear. And Greenland is not for sale. In fact, there's a growing movement in Greenland for independence. Here's one member of Greenland's parliament talking with CNN.
Chapter 4: How is Meta changing its fact-checking approach?
Greenland should be Greenlanders' decision on what kind of state we would like to be and also who we should cooperate with.
Chapter 5: What criticisms has Meta faced regarding its policies?
As all of this drama has played out, Trump's son, Donald Jr., was on a trip to Greenland. He claimed it was a personal visit with no government business involved. But the president-elect revealed on social media later that his representatives were part of Don Jr. 's entourage. Let's turn now to Meta and its decision to eliminate the company's fact-checking program.
Chapter 6: What can we expect from Meta's content changes?
These changes will affect billions of users on Facebook and Instagram. Here's Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaking on Tuesday, explaining the move.
The recent elections also feel like a cultural tipping point towards once again prioritizing speech. So we're going to get back to our roots and focus on reducing mistakes, simplifying our policies, and restoring free expression on our platforms.
Now, instead of traditional fact-checkers, the company will rely on community notes, similar to those found on X and Wikipedia. That involves users, not trained fact-checkers, adding context and fact-checks to posts, photos, and other content. Zuckerberg attributed the change in Meta's content moderation policies to the shift in the political environment.
Chapter 7: How is Zuckerberg planning to alter content moderation?
And observers have noted the system was never without its issues.
Chapter 8: What is the relationship between Trump and tech CEOs?
Meta's fact-checking system has been controversial for years.
Ben Goggin is a technology editor with NBC News.
In the last several years, Republicans have been highly critical of Meta and how they've fact-checked different news outlets and content creators. Republicans have alleged that Meta's fact-checking system and third-party partners are biased against Republicans.
Users may also expect to see changes to the type of content they see on Meta platforms. The social media giant had previously attempted to limit political posts. That will no longer be the case.
Now, Meta says they don't want to be involved in that decision making. So they are going to be pulling back on their restriction. So people can expect to probably see more political content in their feeds as a result of this.
Here's how Zuckerberg put it. We're going to simplify our content policies and get rid of a bunch of restrictions on topics like immigration and gender that are just out of touch with mainstream discourse. What started as a movement to be more inclusive has increasingly been used to shut down opinions and shut out people with different ideas, and it's gone too far.
Recently, Dana White, the UFC president and Trump ally, also joined Meta's board. Zuckerberg is far from the only big tech CEO to make recent attempts at forging a warmer relationship with President-elect Trump. Leaders from companies like Apple, Meta, Amazon, and OpenAI have pledged a million dollars apiece for Trump's inaugural committee.
Some from their personal checkbooks, others from company coffers.
Meta's announcement comes in the context of CEOs across the spectrum of industry. really coming to Trump and literally offering him money and favor and, you know, kissing the ring, as some people have said. Meta's move has largely been contextualized by this type of business favor towards Trump, or at least trying to earn his favor. So
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