The dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development continued Thursday. Multiple news outlets reported the Trump administration plans to retain fewer than 300 agency staffers — out of more than 10,000 worldwide. Millions of the world’s poorest people rely on on the foreign aid agency for basic needs like food, medication and water. But that hasn’t stopped Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, from trying to feed USAID “into the wood chipper.” Lindsay Branhum, a humanitarian filmmaker who’s worked on USAID-funded conflict resolution programs all over the world, explains what the cuts mean for people on the ground.

And in headlines: DOGE turns to A.I. in its quest to dismantle the federal government, the Justice Department sues the state of Illinois and Chicago over sanctuary city laws, and rapper Kendrick Lamar prepares to headline the Super Bowl Halftime Show.

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Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, has seemingly been waging a personal war on the federal government via his Department of Government Efficiency. In the last few weeks, he and his team have urged millions of federal workers to resign, fed the U.S. Agency for International Development 'into the wood chipper,' and gotten access the Treasury Department’s secure payment system. And on Wednesday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced Musk's DOGE team would soon ‘plug in’ to the air traffic control system. Charlie Warzel, a staff writer at The Atlantic covering tech and media, says Musk's actions amount to 'an administrative coup.'

Later in the show, Crooked Media’s news editor, Greg Walters, shares stories from federal workers dealing with the fallout.

And in headlines: The White House does damage control over Trump’s plans for the U.S. to ‘take over the Gaza Strip,’ the president signed yet another executive order targeting trans kids, and Scotland says it’s not banning cats.

Show Notes:

• Check out Charlie's piece – https://tinyurl.com/2dmjvnhu
• Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8
• Support victims of the fire – votesaveamerica.com/relief
• What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcast
• Follow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/
• For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

We’re a little over two weeks into President Donald Trump’s second term, and already his foreign policy doctrine could be generously described as “all over the place.” From threatening to levy huge tariffs on our close allies only to delay them at the last minute to dismantling foreign aid efforts alongside the world’s richest man to now volunteering the U.S. to take control of Gaza, it’s all been a bit hard to keep up with. Ben Rhodes, former deputy national security advisor to President Obama and co-host of Crooked’s ‘Pod Save the World,’ stopped by the studio to talk about the ripple effects of Trump’s early foreign policy decisions.

And in headlines: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard inched closer to Senate confirmation, The Trump administration is preparing an executive order to dismantle the Department of Education, and a D.C. Superior Court judge handed over The Proud Boys’ trademark to a Black church that had been vandalized by members of the far-right group.

Show Notes:

• Check out Pod Save The World – https://tinyurl.com/mrapf4a4
• Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8
• Support victims of the fire – votesaveamerica.com/relief
• What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcast
• Follow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/
• For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday