Global humiliation spreads like wildfire as dementia goes mainstream
The David Pakman Show - January 22, 2026
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What happened to five-year-old Liam Ramos in a Minneapolis suburb is not a border story, it is a moral one. ICE agents stopped Liam and his father in their driveway, detained the father, and then allegedly used the child to draw other adults out of the home. Adults pleaded with agents not to take him. School officials say multiple children in the district have been detained this month, directly contradicting claims that enforcement targets only violent criminals.
On the economy, Trump once again threatened massive tariffs on Europe, spooked markets, then abruptly backed off. Wall Street calls this the TACO trade, Trump Always Chickens Out. After weeks of bluster, Trump claimed a vague framework deal after a NATO meeting and used it to justify abandoning the tariffs. Markets surged not because of leadership, but because investors were relieved the worst case scenario was avoided.
That retreat exposed another collapse, the Greenland gambit. Trump claimed the tariffs were meant to pressure Europe into letting the U.S. buy Greenland. After backing off, he could not say whether Greenland was even part of the deal, leaning on meaningless phrases like long term agreement. NATO officials later confirmed Greenland was never discussed.
Karoline Leavitt has been tasked with selling these moments as triumphs. After Trump’s Davos speech was widely mocked and met with discomfort, Leavitt went on Fox News portraying it as inspirational and well received. She defended false claims about deals that never happened and ignored declining credibility abroad and worsening polling at home.
That dynamic was clear when Trump repeatedly referred to Greenland as Iceland during the speech. Leavitt denied the error and attacked reporters instead. The choice was simple. Either Trump mixed up two countries, or he could not read what was in front of him. The White House chose denial, even as the mistake was on tape.
Concerns about Trump’s cognitive state are now out in the open. Democratic lawmakers including Alexandria Ocasio Cortez are publicly calling his behavior alarming and dangerous, citing erratic speeches and confusion. Gavin Newsom dismissed Trump’s Davos speech as boring and insignificant, striking at Trump’s core insecurity.
And in a soft interview with Maria Bartiromo, Trump still appeared confused, contradicted himself on basic economics, and rambled incoherently. When decline shows up even in the safest setting, it can no longer be ignored.
On today’s bonus show:
US has net negative migration for the first time in 50 years, Gavin Newsom gets denied entry at a Davos event, a jury acquits a former Uvalde school officer, and much more...
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In 1974 Barry Goldwater, a hardcore rock-ribbed Republican, confronted Richard Nixon and told him that he had to resign. Goldwater put nation ahead of party and put doing what was right ahead of his own political future.
Today there is not one Republican (if that word still has any meaning to it) who has the courage and patriotism to confront this obviously demented president. Not one who is willing to put doing what is right for the people who elected them ahead of their own desires to be re-elected. We can not rely on Congress or the Supreme Court to fulfill their oaths of office and abide by their constitutional duties. We need to prod the nation's health professionals to take a stand.
As I wrote in my latest substack post, it is past time for the American Medical Association, American Psychiatric Association, and every other health professions association to speak truth to power about the catastrophic damage Trump is doing to our nation's health and to speak truth to the American people about the physical and mental decline of this demented creature. They may be our only hope.
https://joetye.substack.com/p/calling-on-our-healthcare-leaders
Sleep deprivation can make cognitive function much more difficult. Trump probably spends most of his time sitting on the toilet sending out his crazy talk.
Creatures like Trump do not experience humiliation. Narcissists have such giant egos That they rationalize any criticism of them as being wrong always because they think they are smarter than everybody else and better than everybody else. Like a lot of Republicans male and female, Trump is a malignant narcissist.
In order for a person to feel humiliation they have to have some level of humility and humanity. People like Trump have neither humility or humanity. The only thing people like that can feel is physical pain and they should be required to feel that a lot. I am a big fan of a therapy called Testicular impact therapy for men.