Pod Save America · karen Bautista

Empire State of Mind

January 6, 2026·1 hr 50 min·5 clips
Trump's Venezuela raid wasn't about democracy—it was a brazen grab for oil, exposing his imperial ambitions.
The hosts analyze Trump's military raid in Venezuela, arguing it's driven by oil interests and imperial ambitions rather than democracy, while critiquing Republican rhetoric like Stephen Miller's defense of colonialism. They also discuss the political fallout, Democratic responses, and a major fraud scandal in Minnesota that MAGA is using to attack immigrants and social programs.

As heard by us

A skeptical look at how Venezuela could turn into a wider escalation trap.

Pod Save America treats Trump's Venezuela approach as the kind of move that can slip from hardline posturing into a broader mess. The discussion keeps returning to the same pressure points: airstrikes, reluctance to use troops, coups, migration, rogue generals, and the easy…

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Why you'd press play

You want the smartest fast-take on a Venezuela escalation gone wrong.

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