DMZ America Podcast Ep 197: “Trump’s Iron Fist: ICE Nabs Khalil, Tourist”

Live at 12 noon Eastern/11 am Central time, and Streaming 24-7 Thereafter:

In this important episode of the DMZ America Podcast, hosts Ted Rall and Scott Stantis dive into the escalating fears of authoritarianism under Trump, spotlighting the chilling ICE arrests of Mahmoud Khalil, a green card-holding Palestinian activist, and a German tourist along with his American girlfriend. Khalil, a Columbia grad targeted for his pro-Palestinian advocacy, and the tourist couple, caught in a murky immigration sweep, highlight a disturbing trend: even legal status offers no shield. Rall, the fiery leftist, argues this signals a deliberate erosion of rights, while Stantis, the libertarian conservative, questions the government’s overreach. They wrestle with the core issue—if a green card isn’t enough, does citizenship truly protect anyone? With sharp debate and dark humor, the duo unpacks the implications for liberty, immigration, and America’s democratic facade in an increasingly authoritarian climate.


TMI Show Ep 97: “Russia-Ukraine Ceasefire: Putin’s Demands”

Live at 10 am Eastern/9 am Central time, and Streaming 24-7 Thereafter:

On The TMI Show, hosts Ted Rall and Manila Chan tackle the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, zeroing in on Vladimir Putin’s stated demands for a ceasefire. The pair dissects Putin’s reaction to a U.S.-proposed 30-day truce, which he conditionally backs but ties to tough stipulations. Putin insists the ceasefire must resolve the conflict’s “root causes,” demanding Ukraine cede Crimea and four southeastern regions, agree not to join NATO, cap its military strength, and ensure rights for Russian speakers. He also calls for elections to oust President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Putin’s leverage stems from recent battlefield successes

They explore Ukraine’s dismissal of these terms as “manipulative” and the U.S.’s delicate balancing act under Trump’s envoy. With their trademark blend of sharp analysis and bold takes, Ted and Manila debate Putin’s demands, offering listeners a front-row seat to the high-stakes geopolitical chess match and its uncertain endgame.

TMI Show Ep 96: “Arrests, Tariffs, and Ceasefires: Lee Camp Unloads on TMI”

Live at 10 am Eastern/9 am Central time, and Streaming 24-7 Thereafter:

In this episode of “The TMI Show,” hosts Ted Rall and Manila Chan welcome guest Lee Camp, a sharp-witted comedian, writer, and political commentator known for his incisive takes on corporate media and government overreach. Lee, formerly the host of RT America’s Redacted Tonight, brings his unfiltered perspective to dissect the week’s biggest stories. The trio dives into the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a case sparking debate over free speech and security, unpacking its implications with their signature skepticism. They also tackle Trump’s escalating trade wars, analyzing how his tariff threats are shaking up global markets and rattling allies. Finally, they explore the latest in Ukraine ceasefire negotiations, questioning the motives behind the talks and what peace might actually mean. Expect Ted’s biting historical insight, Manila’s no-nonsense clarity, and Lee’s darkly humorous edge as they cut through the noise.

TMI Show Ep 95: “Rodrigo Duterte’s Arrest – Political Implications for Philippines & U.S.”

Live at 10 am Eastern/9 am Central time, and Streaming 24-7 Thereafter:

In this episode of “The TMI Show,” hosts Ted Rall and Manila Chan dive into the arrest of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, as he faces an ICC warrant for crimes against humanity tied to his brutal “war on drugs.” Joined by Lucio Blanco Pitlo III, president of the Philippines Association for Chinese Studies and a research fellow at Asia-Pacific Pathways to Progress, the discussion unpacks the seismic political implications for the Philippines and the U.S.

Within the Philippines, Duterte’s arrest marks a stunning reversal for a once-dominant figure whose family allied with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to secure power in 2022. The arrest highlights the unraveling Duterte-Marcos pact, as well as Sara Duterte’s recent impeachment as vice president and the escalating feud between the pro-China Dutertes and pro-U.S. Marcoses. This power struggle could destabilize Manila’s political landscape, especially with midterm elections looming, testing Marcos’s grip and exposing fissures in a nation still grappling with Duterte’s legacy of extrajudicial killings.

For the U.S., the episode explores a geopolitical tightrope. Duterte’s downfall shifts Philippine foreign policy away from China-friendly ties toward a U.S.-aligned Marcos administration. With expanded U.S. military access via the EDCA, this arrest could solidify Washington’s influence in the Indo-Pacific, countering Beijing’s regional sway. Yet, it risks inflaming Duterte’s base. Let’s decode a pivotal moment in global politics.

When Presidents Clashed with Allies: Trump, Zelensky, Roosevelt, and de Gaulle in Historical Context

      Echoing other analysts, New York Times opinion columnist Thomas L. Friedman wrote: “What happened in the Oval Office on Friday…was something that had never happened in the nearly 250-year history of this country: In a major war in Europe, our president clearly sided with the aggressor, the dictator and the invader against the democrat, the freedom fighter and the invaded.”

      The public display in the Oval Office was unprecedented and bizarre. “But there’s nothing unique about an American president disrespecting and distancing himself from a close European ally suffering a brutal invasion and years-long occupation during ‘a major war in Europe.’”

      My senior thesis advisor at Columbia University, where I was a history major, was Robert O. Paxton, a leading expert on European fascism and the collaborationist government of Vichy France. Paxton suggested that I explore America’s plans to treat France after D-Day not as a liberated country but as a defeated enemy, receiving the same status (“Allied Military Government of Occupied Territories,” or AMGOT) as Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy.

What I uncovered from my research at the FDR Presidential Library and the National Archives was an obscure and fascinating episode in the history of World War II.

      There are startling parallels between the way that President Trump dressed down Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and how President Franklin Delano Roosevelt showered General Charles De Gaulle of France with contempt and opprobrium.

      Roosevelt had long believed that France was unstable and unreliable. France’s quick defeat in six weeks in 1940, followed by its signing an armistice with Germany, territorial partition and establishment of a collaborationist puppet state in the southern spa city of Vichy confirmed his worst views of the country as weak and louche. After the war, FDR decided, the U.S. would seize France’s vast colonial empire. France would certainly not revert to its prewar status as a “great power.”

      Representing the opposing view was General De Gaulle, who rejected entreaties to join Vichy. Instead, he fled to London after the fall of France. There he formed the Free French and took to BBC radio to urge Frenchmen to join him in England with a view toward someday reconquering their homeland alongside the Allies. Conservative, a devout Catholic and fiercely nationalistic, De Gaulle dedicated himself to restoring France’s greatness and wiping away the humiliation of defeat and collaboration. De Gaulle toured and raised funds across the United States, where he was popular with the press and a public sympathetic to French suffering under Nazi and Vichy rule.

      A clash between these two personalities was inevitable.

      Roosevelt viewed De Gaulle as an ingrate and illegitimate colonialist who didn’t deserve support. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who admired De Gaulle’s patriotism and whose government provided material support to the Free French, vainly tried to steer a middle course, asking Roosevelt to recognize the Free French as a government in exile and De Gaulle as de facto head of state after liberation. Instead, the Roosevelt Administration maintained full diplomatic relations with the Vichy regime until Vichy Prime Minister Pierre Laval severed them in late 1942.

If not De Gaulle, Churchill asked, who would govern France after the Germans were vanquished? FDR didn’t have an answer. But he knew who he didn’t support. Perhaps like Trump vis-à-vis Zelensky, Roosevelt viewed De Gaulle as an arrogant pipsqueak without portfolio. It didn’t help that, far from playing the obeisant supplicant, an imperious De Gaulle was constantly making demands for information, money and weapons. Churchill found him amusing­—”[De Gaulle] had to be rude to the British to prove to French eyes that he was not a British puppet. He certainly carried out this policy with perseverance”—but Roosevelt couldn’t stand him. “De Gaulle is out to achieve one-man government in France,” FDR’s son Elliot recalled him saying. “I can’t imagine a man I would distrust more.”

And, in another echo of Trump, Roosevelt obsessed over De Gaulle’s democratic bona fides. Who had elected this annoyingly prideful man, this dictator-in-training? No one.

Matters came to a head in late 1943 and early 1944, when the Allies were preparing for the Normandy invasion scheduled for June 1944. By then, Roosevelt had more withering contempt for De Gaulle than ever. De Gaulle had launched several freelance military operations against French colonies that had fallen under Vichy control, including Syria, Senegal and a pair of tiny islands adjacent to Canada’s maritime provinces, without bothering to consult with both of his Allied patrons (who would have refused permission).

Despite Churchill’s entreaties, Roosevelt was livid. He was determined to impose harsh AMGOT terms on France. As Le Monde Diplomatique reported in 2003, “AMGOT would have abolished [France’s] national sovereignty, including its right to issue currency.”

General Dwight Eisenhower, in charge of D-Day planning, expected France to resume its top-tier status as an economic and military power after the war. Moreover, he believed that Roosevelt’s stubbornness was blinding him to the fact that there was no practical alternative to installing De Gaulle and the Free French as the first postwar French government. The only other option was a communist takeover. The Free French could provide intelligence about the landing site and order the Resistance to attack and distract German forces behind enemy lines. A frustrated Ike slipped classified invasion plans to the Free French and promised them he would sabotage Roosevelt’s AMGOT plans.

The heroic assault on Omaha Beach is seared in our national memory as a straightforward, noble liberation of a beleaguered European ally. Behind the scenes, however, things were complicated.

In the same way that Trump hopes the U.S. will be compensated for the American investment in the defense of Ukraine with that country’s mineral wealth, Roosevelt wanted France to pay the U.S. for its own liberation. FDR ordered the U.S. Mint to print and distribute sheaves of English-language “flag-ticket francs” to Allied troops sent to Normandy. French shopkeepers who accepted them would be directed to look to the postwar French government, not the United States, to back them. When De Gaulle found out about the scheme, he declaimed the Allied scrip as fausse monnaie (fake money) and advised his radio listeners not to accept them.

Ignoring Roosevelt, Eisenhower embedded Free French forces into Operation Overlord. In the days following the June 6th landing, a wild scrum ensued as rival governments competed to seize mairies in each Norman village and city that fell under Allied control. AMGOT military governors were ordered to subject the populace to martial law; Vichy mayors refused to leave; Free French mayors declared themselves the lawful Provisional Government of the Republic of France; and, in some cases, communists and socialists hoping for a revolution shouted at one another and came to blows in local government offices.

 In at least one instance, rival mayors and their forces occupied different floors in the same building and sporadically exchanged gunfire in stairwells. Allied forces under orders from Eisenhower persuaded the non-Free French wannabes to yield. AMGOT’s harsh plans for France were ignored and never put into effect.

By July, FDR was resigned to the facts on the ground. Newspapers reported that De Gaulle and his Free French were popular and greeted by enthusiastic crowds wherever they appeared. The conflict between the United States and its European ally was papered over by the liberation of Paris on August 25th, where De Gaulle famously stood tall the next day as bullets presumably fired by a residual Nazi sniper nearly struck him and everyone around him hit the ground. Finally, in October, the U.S. government formally recognized De Gaulle as president of the provisional government pending elections.

Anti-Americanism in France was partly fueled by this episode, which was well-known in postwar France thanks in part to Gaullists’ lingering resentments.

Whatever you think of Donald Trump’s attitude toward a beleaguered European ally, it was not unprecedented.

TMI Show Ep 94: “ICE Unleashed: Pro-Palestine Voices in the Crosshairs”

Live at 10 am Eastern/9 am Central time, and Streaming 24-7 Thereafter:

Ted Rall and Robby West take the helm for Manila Chan, diving headfirst into ICE’s stunning crackdown on pro-Palestine advocates! Today, they’re unpacking two jaw-dropping cases: the March 8 arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian Columbia University grad student and protest leader, and the March 9 detention of a British cartoonist at the Canadian border. With President Trump proclaiming Khalil’s arrest as “the first of many” on Truth Social, this episode promises a no-holds-barred look at the escalating clash between free speech and immigration enforcement.

Khalil, a green card holder, was nabbed at his Columbia apartment by ICE agents claiming a State Department order to revoke his status, citing vague “Hamas-aligned activities.” Just a day later, a British cartoonist—visiting as a tourist—was stopped at the border, with ICE disappearing her into its gulags. Trump’s January executive order targeting “Hamas sympathizers” on campuses and his $400 million funding cut to Columbia set the stage, and now ICE is flexing its muscle.

Ted and Robby break it all down: the 300,000-signature petition for Khalil’s release, Columbia’s weak response to ICE campus access, and Trump’s vow to purge “pro-terrorist” voices.

We’ll explore the ripple effects—will this silence dissent or ignite more resistance? With Ted’s sharp wit and Robby’s incisive takes, this episode is your front-row seat to a defining moment in the battle for expression and immigrant rights. When ICE comes knocking, “The TMI Show” answers back!

DMZ America Podcast Ep 196: Dem Dum Dems

Streaming LIVE at 12 noon Eastern time/24-7 Streaming Afterward

In this episode of the DMZ America Podcast, hosts Ted Rall and Scott Stantis dive into the Democrats’ alarming ineffectiveness and inability to push back against President Trump, a weakness laid bare by Congressional Democrats’ limp reaction to his commanding speech before a joint session of Congress.

Rall, a passionate progressive cartoonist, and Stantis, a razor-sharp conservative illustrator, bring their ideological clash to the table, dissecting the party’s half-hearted gestures—symbolic votes, vague statements, and little else—that crumble under Trump’s relentless drive.

The duo debates whether Democrats need to escalate their efforts to reclaim relevance. Rall demands a fiercer approach: nationwide protests, targeted filibusters, and a cohesive message to rally their base. Stantis, skeptical of their spine, questions if they’ve got the stomach for such a fight or if they’re too fractured to unite. Is this just a fleeting stumble after a bruising election, or a chilling omen of the party’s decline into irrelevance? With wit and grit, Rall and Stantis explore whether the Democrats can adapt and rise—or if this signals a deeper, existential crisis foreshadowing political doom in an era dominated by Trump’s unyielding force.

 

TMI Show Ep 93: “”That’s History!”

Live at 10 am Eastern/9 am Central time, and Streaming 24-7 Thereafter:

In this engaging episode of The TMI Show, host Ted Rall teams up with guest cohost Robby West, filling in for Manila Chan, who’s off enjoying a sun-soaked vacation.

Steering clear of today’s divisive political minefield, the pair invites Ted’s DMZ America cohost, Scott Stantis of The Chicago Tribune, for a spirited romp through history’s most unforgettable moments. The trio swaps tales with gusto: Ted dives into the chaotic brilliance of the French Revolution, painting vivid scenes of guillotines and rebellion, while Scott counters with the gritty, transformative power of the Industrial Age, marveling at steam engines and steel. Robby shakes things up with a ode to the Roaring Twenties—flappers, jazz, and Prohibition-fueled revelry—sparking laughter and debate.

Or maybe not.

Let’s talk about what history reveal about humanity’s quirks, resilience, and penchant for drama. Free of partisan sniping, the episode blends sharp insights, wry humor, and a touch of nostalgia, proving The TMI Show thrives on bold ideas, not just politics.

TMI Show Ep 91: “Trump’s Congressional Comeback: Breaking Down the Speech”

Live at 10 am Eastern/9 am Central time, and Streaming 24-7 Thereafter:

“The TMI Show,” hosted by Ted Rall and Manila Chan, with guest Jamarl Thomas, delivers a sharp, unfiltered breakdown of President Donald Trump’s speech to a joint session of Congress on March 4, 2025. Airing live weekdays at 10 AM ET on YouTube and Rumble, this episode dissects Trump’s agenda—touted as a “historic transformation”—focusing on his push for mass deportations, military cuts, and DOGE-led reforms. Rall, a leftist cartoonist, and Chan, a politically homeless journalist, alongside Thomas, a seasoned commentator, explore the speech’s bold promises and chaotic undertones. They highlight Democrats’ mixed reactions—outrage from figures like Chuck Schumer over federal job losses, yet tepid resistance in Congress—questioning if this signals a faltering opposition. Will Trump’s momentum hold, or will Democrats muster a counterstrike? Too much info, never enough answers.

TMI Show Ep 90: “Trump’s Ukraine Weapons Pause: Peace Push or Power Play?

Live at 10 am Eastern/9 am Central time, and Streaming 24-7 Thereafter:

In this episode of “The TMI Show,” hosts Ted Rall and Manila Chan tackle the Trump administration’s audacious decision to halt weapons shipments to Ukraine until Kyiv signals readiness for peace with Russia. The duo dissects Trump’s heated Oval Office showdown with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, debating if this pause is a diplomatic masterstroke or a concession to Moscow. They explore the global ripple effects, from Kremlin approval to European frustration. Breaking news from the past 24 hours fuels the conversation: Russia welcomes the move as a peace gesture, Ukraine grapples with the aid cutoff, and European allies rush to fill the gap. Ted and Manila deliver raw, unscripted takes on this game-changing development, blending sharp analysis with their signature wit. Don’t miss this deep dive into the evolving Russia-Ukraine saga.

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