Is Donald Trump Dying? JD Vance Seems to Think So
Is Donald Trump dying, or just decomposing in real time? He’s slurring words, disappearing for days, and bragging that he “aced” an IQ test that was actually a dementia screening. Florida Man may be wilding out destroying our White House, but his VP seems to be circling.
It looks like JD Vance is wasting no time trying to lock down the Christian nationalist vote by publicly humiliating his Hindu wife Usha and cuddling up to Charlie Kirk’s leather-clad widow. He’s moving fast, which means he probably knows Trump’s losing it even more than usual. Meanwhile, the Epstein cover-up continues with Vance’s help, and Trump’s cutting troops in Eastern Europe just as Putin ramps up his aggression across Europe.
Here to tell us how to win the global war against fascism is Zarina Zabrisky, a Ukrainian-American investigative journalist sanctioned by Russia, and director of the new chilling film Kherson: Human Safari.
It’s Election Day in America. Don’t miss Thursday’s Gaslit Nation Election Special breaking down what the results mean for democracy and why we might still have nice things if we fight like hell.
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Show Notes:
Watch Zerina Zabrisky’s powerful film for free and spread the word about Russia’s human safaris in Ukraine https://khersonhumansafari.com/
United Nations report: Russian army committing murder in Ukraine: Independent rights commission https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/10/1166189
Epstein, Trump, and Russia [TEASER] https://gaslitnation.libsyn.com/epstein-trump-and-russia-teaser
Trump and Epstein Super Special https://gaslitnation.libsyn.com/trump-epstein-super-specialteaser
'Everyone wants him out': How Musk helped boot Ramaswamy from DOGE: Ramaswamy is leaving the so-called Department of Government Efficiency and plans to run for Ohio governor. https://www.politico.com/news/2025/01/20/doge-musk-helped-eject-ramaswamy-00199487
JD Vance repeats comments he wants wife Usha to convert to Christianity US: vice-president announces to 10,000 attenders of Turning Point USA that he prefers wife, who is Hindu, to be Christian https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/01/jd-vance-usha-christianity
JD Vance and Erika Kirk's Warm Hug at Turning Point Event Goes Viral: The vice president joined Charlie Kirk's widow at a Turning Point USA event on Wednesday night, leading to an emotional embrace on the stage https://people.com/jd-vance-erika-kirk-hug-11841052
Donald Trump Confuses Dementia Screening for 'Very Hard' IQ Test as He Brags About Results: The president predicted that Democratic Reps. Jasmine Crockett and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez could not perform as well as he did in a cognitive exam https://people.com/donald-trump-mistakes-dementia-screening-for-iq-test-11837935
Trump’s MRI scan raises specter of secrecy in presidential health https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5584101-trump-mri-raises-questions/
Trump says he received an MRI during trip to Walter Reed medical center https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/27/politics/donald-trump-mri-health-walter-reed
Trump, 79, Veers From Left to Right in Walk Across Red Carpet https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-79-veers-from-left-to-right-in-walk-across-red-carpet/
New conspiracies over Trump’s health swirl after text interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper: The president famously does not use email and is not known to frequently use text messages https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-health-cnn-interview-b2840195.html
Donald Trump Photographed on Labor Day Amid Baseless Death Rumors https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-photographed-labor-day-amid-baseless-death-rumors-2122752
Maxwell stole 'distressed' girl's passport and tried to make her have sex, billionaire's chef said: Second tranche of documents released on Thursday largely focused on legal squabbles over Virginia Giuffre's lawsuit https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2024/01/05/epstein-documents-dubin-chef-evidence-maxwell-girl-sex/
JPMorgan Alerted U.S. to Epstein Transfers Involving Wall St. Figures: After Jeffrey Epstein’s 2019 death, the bank reported more than $1 billion in potentially suspicious transactions. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/30/business/jpmorgan-jeffrey-epstein.html?unlocked_article_code=1.x08.UJOB.xraoIWQOBZmq&smid=url-share
Pentagon cuts troops in Eastern Europe: Prompting rare pushback by GOP lawmakers Top Republicans say the move sends the 'wrong signal' to Vladimir Putin. https://abcnews.go.com/amp/Politics/pentagon-cuts-troops-eastern-europe-prompting-rare-pushback/story?id=126987334
Ukraine’s Abandoned Zoo Animals Urgently Need Our Help https://www.thedodo.com/ukraines-animals-urgently-need-768023636.html
Pentagon considering proposal to cut thousands of troops from Europe, officials say: Experts warn that the timing of the potential drawdown could alarm NATO allies and embolden Russian President Vladimir Putin. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/pentagon-considering-proposal-cut-thousands-troops-europe-officials-sa-rcna199603
As Russia Grows Reckless, Europe Gets Serious: https://www.legion.org/information-center/news/landing-zone/2025/november/as-russia-grows-reckless-europe-gets-serious
Pentagon cuts troops in Eastern Europe, prompting rare pushback by GOP lawmakers https://abcnews.go.com/amp/Politics/pentagon-cuts-troops-eastern-europe-prompting-rare-pushback/story?id=126987334
Vivek DESTROYED by the monsters HE CREATED https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4liErm6uEFk&t=51s
Thomas Massie’s voting record with Republicans in Congress is 83-percent: https://heritageaction.com/scorecard/members/m001184
JD Vance//Massie clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqyocMoiTbQ
NKY Rep. Thomas Massie only one of two Republican votes against 'Big Beautiful Bill' in House https://www.wlwt.com/article/massie-one-of-2-republican-votes-against-big-beautiful-bill/65300423
Election Day Clip: https://bsky.app/profile/terilg.bsky.social/post/3m4tjwfupg22j
Epstein, Trump, and Russia [TEASER] https://gaslitnation.libsyn.com/epstein-trump-and-russia-teaser
Trump and Epstein Super Special https://gaslitnation.libsyn.com/trump-epstein-super-specialteaser
Saturday Night Live Skit (00:01):
All right, Mr. Mamdani, your message to undecided voters.
(00:03):
My message is this. Hey girl, I know you got a little white guilt for gentrifying that Spanish neighborhood, don't you? Why don't you vote for me? You feel a little less bad about that chicken and rice shop getting turned into a sweet green. So why don't you hit me up with the ballot box girl.
(00:30):
Mr. Mamdani, you were warmed that this is not the forum for your TikTok rate. And finally, Mr. Sliwa, why should New Yorkers vote for you?
(00:41):
It's simple. I'm the only candidate here who has been dangled by my testicles off the Verrazzano Bridge by a little known gang called the Lords of Flatbush. I was also poured into the foundation of Giant Stadium and crawled my way out and just on my way here I was ejaculated upon at the great Stardust Diner by a Times Square Spiderman.
(01:06):
Just on your way here? All right, let's move on. From congestion pricing to homelessness to ICE raids, there are many issues facing our city. What do you think is the biggest problem you have to confront as mayor?
(01:20):
It's me. Yes, they can pretend this election is about housing and taxes, but we all know it's about mayor, right? Because I'm going to be very involved, very hands-on. This guy knows about hands-on, right Cuomo?
(01:33):
Hey y'all, you got me.
(01:36):
Look at these candidates we got. Look at Curtis Sliwa. I love them, but we got to do something about that Emily in Paris looking hat, right? She's my Rushmore Max. And here we have the front runners, Zohram Mamdani. Looks like the subway takes guy went to go work at McKenzie. He's too young to lead folks. He's too young. He doesn't have the wobbly walk or frankly the mind. I have good brain. I took a cognitive test. I did so well on my cognitive test that they immediately gave me an MRI. They said we've never seen anything like it.
Andrea Chalupa (02:22):
Our opening clip was of course, Saturday Night Live.
(02:26):
Welcome to Gas Nation, a show about corruption in America and rising autocracy worldwide. I am your host, Andrea Chalupa, a journalist and filmmaker and writer and producer of Mr. Jones, the journalistic thriller that Kremlin doesn't want you to see. So be sure to watch it.
(02:43):
I voted today for Democratic Socialists, Zohran Mamdani, who says he would arrest war criminals, Netanyahu and Putin. I felt that that was the only way to celebrate, finally, the death of Dick Cheney, another war criminal. So that's what I did. That's how I honored that. Now here's the clip from CNN.
Erin Burnett (CNN) (03:10):
The UN General Assembly here just a few days ago in New York. Now the International criminal court has a warrant out for his address. They say that they accused him of crimes against humanity. You have called, as I mentioned, Netanyahu's actions in Gaza genocide. It's going to become not just a rhetorical, but a question rooted in reality if you are mayor. As mayor of New York, you will oversee the next UN general assembly if you're mayor. Will you abide by the International Criminal court? Will you have Prime Minister Netanyahu arrested if he's here?
Zohran Mamdani (03:41):
Look, I've said time and time again that this is a city that believes international law. This is a city whose values are ones that deserve to actually be reflected in our commitments. And I think that our city should uphold the warrants, the international criminal court issues, whether it be for Benjamin Netanyahu or Vladimir Putin, and also I'm not Donald Trump. I will follow the laws as they are as opposed to bend them to my own will. So we will pursue every legal avenue to ensure that that accountability is present. And the reason for that is that the context we are speaking about, this is a man who has orchestrated a genocide that has killed one Palestinian child every hour for close to two years. This is someone whose conduct I hear about from New Yorkers across the five boroughs, and they come to me with a horror at what they have witnessed. And for some New Yorkers a horror as to what they have lost. There was a Palestinian New Yorker who spoke to me about losing 85 members of her family who were all killed by the Israeli military and Gaza. It's unconscionable and a mayor's responsibility to the people of this city, but it's also an opportunity to show your values as the leader of this city.
Andrea Chalupa (04:48):
Mamdani knows the way to a girl's heart. We are recording this on election day. It's the afternoon. America is waiting to see if we are still in it. As the Ukrainian national anthem says, we are not dead yet. So we're going to find out with these election results, do we have a fighting chance? And I'm going to predict yes, I think we do. A big thank you and that's because a big, big thank you to everyone out in the field getting out the vote. That is how we win. Close elections are easier to steal, but if you have a candidate that people actually care about, who, a candidate who excites people, a quality candidate that comes first, not a bunch of consultants speaking out of one Lego human being put together with different pieces, mouth, that's not what's going to rebuild and take back our democracy.
(05:44):
You need to have quality candidates first and foremost, and that is what excites a ground game. The Democratic Party establishment, which has their own billionaire class, their own mega war chest of funders, they need to stop pumping that money into text messages that blow up our phones and instead invest that money into building a ground game and ensuring candidates that really speak to the issues which are creating a livable, safe future for all, a sustainable future. That is what MA wants. He is just your run of the mill politician over in the European Union, which has strong social safety nets, strong regulation, especially against big tech, strong privacy laws and so on. The list goes so people in America stop losing your mind over this election and should, again, I'm recording this on Tuesday. I don't know if maam Donny's going to win. My prediction is that he will because Stephen Miller, Elon Musk, Donald Trump all endorsed Andrew Cuomo, which is a big thank you from the Democrats small D Democrats.
(06:51):
Thank you for doing that. So I predict he wins. You're probably listening to this after election day and smiling and thinking hopefully. Yeah, he did because we need, this is what's going to happen. A new generation's going to rise out of the ashes, whether sell out Hakeem Jeffries wants them to or not. The problem, the crises we have from Republican driven greed that literally fought for fascism so that they can deregulate and save, buy an extra yacht, buy an extra homes for their mistresses so they can be compete on a global stage with Putin's oligarchs and the complacent democratic party that was feeding from the same trough of super donors. Your time has come. Reality is going to steamroll you. People are fighting for their lives right now. All of the Gaslit Nation listeners who've been sending you messages telling me all the amazing work they're doing to fight for every vote, that is our future moving forward because people are waking up.
(07:54):
I've always said for years in the show, reality is going to catch up with people and force them to wake up and fight for their lives and get real with the crisis at hand, right? I warned early I paid a price with hit pieces and now everyone believes their eyes and ears of how bad things are and they're fighting back, and that is the story of Zohran Mamdani. Again, we are recording this on election day, so if you want a big breakdown of the election and what it means and what it can tell us about the future of our country, come back to Gas Nation on Thursday. We'll be running our election special then for our Patreon supporters, thank you for keeping Gaslit Nation going. If you want to support and join our community, you can do so at patreon.com/gaslit. That's patreon.com/gaslit discount. An annual memberships are available and you can give the gift of membership at an exchange.
(08:48):
You get our shows ad free invites to exclusive events, bonus shows so much more. And of course, our Monday salons at 4:00 PM which are lively, free for all, and I learned so much from all of you. Thank you, thank you. And in this week's bonus show, we'll also celebrate the death of Dick Cheney, the longtime war criminal shadow president under George Shelby Bush. They lied to the American people and claiming Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, lied to the United Nations and dragged us into a disastrous Iraq war for oil. Their disastrous Iraq war gave rise to ISIS and Obama had to not only rebuild the global economy here in the US and Wall Street after Bush and Cheney tanked it. Remember the 2008 global economic crash I got laid off? I'm sure you did too. Obama had to not only bring back the American economy after Bush, Cheney crashed the global economy with their deregulation of Wall Street.
(09:49):
Obama had to then fight ISIS, which was emboldened in the vacuum of power and war crimes and proxy wars that Bush Cheney's illegal war in Iraq unleashed. And so when Obama and his team are fighting ISIS, that stretches them very thin and that allows Putin to rise and take advantage and also pressure Obama basically to work with them on trying to fight ISIS together. The Kremlin was relying heavily on that like, we're not your enemy. We need to join together to fight isis. Nevermind that. There are reports that the Russians were actually arming ISIS fighters because ISIS was serving their purpose of stretching their enemies, the US and the Western alliance, the Democratic alliance thin in their war. And so Russia was taking advantage because chaos is a ladder, as they said in Game of Thrones, and that very much sums up Russia's strategy there.
(10:46):
Anyway, so Dick Cheney is now with Henry Kissinger in hell and may they stay there forever for all of their horrible sins and the countless people that their wars murdered and all the destruction and the authoritarianism that they laid the groundwork for here in the us, including with the Patriot Act. Remember that the Patriot Act, it doesn't get more gaslighting than that. The Patriot Act was just a cozy way of saying that yes, the US government is spying on you and looking at all the library books you're checking out and so on. Bush Cheney paved the road for Trump, and also it was the utter lack of accountability for what they did that also paved the road for Trump. Trump is just a flashier version of their crimes against humanity. We got through that, we'll get through Trump and we'll rebuild, but we need to finally learn our lesson and force accountability and force a democratic party that responds to the people, that puts forward quality candidates, that allows primary processes to go forward where people get excited and feel part of the process and not just serve the same corporate overlords.
(11:55):
Alright, time to play America's favorite game. What is going on with Donald Trump? Is he dying? If you want to know, is Donald Trump dying? Just look to JD Vance and his weird behavior that has set the internet on fire.
(12:10):
Here is what we know first about Donald Trump. For months, Trump's been slurring his speech more than usual. He's been disappearing for long stretches of time, showing up, looking dazed, bruised hands, swollen ankles, missed interviews. He even skipped Jake Tapper's show on CNN, which is wild for someone who lives for cable news. During his war criminal summit with Putin in Alaska, Trump could barely walk down the red carpet. In October, he went to Walter Reed Hospital where he got a very mysterious MRI and also claimed he got a perfect IQ score, mistaking a dementia test for an IQ test and challenged AOC and Jasmine Crockett to take it too.
(13:00):
So Trump is obviously in decline, which brings us to JD Vance. The internet lost its mind when Charlie Kirk's widow introduced Vance on stage in her leather pants running her fingers through his hair in a very affectionate hug. Everyone agreed like, I mean, are they hooking up? Meanwhile, Vance came out and publicly said he wants his Hindu wife, Usha Vance to convert to Christianity. And when people were like, what a horrible thing to say, he doubled down and was like, yeah, I said, what I said. I want my Hindu wife to be a Christian. Why humiliate his wife and cozy up to a Christian nationalist so publicly? Because Vance clearly saw what happened to fellow MAGA hanger on Vivek Ramaswami who was ganged up on at a turning point USA event in Ohio for being Hindu.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
Jesus Christ is God and there is no other God. He's a part of the Holy Trinity and any other God is a demon and it's false. How can you represent the constituents of Ohio who are 64% Christian? If you are not a part of that faith, if you are an Indian, a Hindu coming from a different culture, different religion, then those who founded this country, those who grew this country, built this country, made this country the beautiful thing that it is today. What are you conserving? You are bringing change. I'll be a hundred percent honest with you. Christianity is the one truth.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
Christian voices should be the main voice of America. And I want to know basically why you seem to be, and I don't mean to be horribly offensive, but why you seem to be masquerading as a Christian.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
Call yourself a Hindu, but you also call yourself Christian.
Vivek Ramaswamy (14:45):
I don't call myself Christian. I call myself a Hindu. I'm not running to be pastor of Ohio. I'm running to be governor of Ohio and I didn't run to be pastor of America. I ran to be president of the United States of America.
Andrea Chalupa (14:56):
Side note, Vivek also got kicked out of DOGE by Elon Musk who did two Nazi salutes at Trump's inauguration. It is hilarious to see him Vivek so desperately try to get into the white supremacy club and they don't want him. They will never want him.
(15:15):
Back to Vance. Vance knows Usha Vance is baggage, so he needs to get rid of her. How else is he going to get the Christian nationalist base to crown him heir once Trump's gone? Here's where it gets really interesting. Vance is moving now fast, which tells me he knows something about Trump's health. Trump's been leaning on him more and more. Now JD Vance is desperately trying to throw his Hindu wife under the MAGA bus. We have three years before the next presidential election. At this rate, do you think Trump is going to make it all three years if he's already breaking down?
(15:58):
Vance needs to secure the Christian national's vote for the 2028 election, even if he's sworn in as president, if Trump should get called back to hell before his term runs out, Vance knows the 2028 election is going to be a tough fight and the base that he needs to overwhelm the polls. Our Christian nationalists, and they have said repeatedly, they have a problem with you if you are not a Christian nationalist, that is their entire agenda. Usha isn't the only person JD Vance is throwing under the bus at the same University of Mississippi event where he and Eric, a Kirk had that high raising hug. Vance was asked about Trump's attempt to primary Thomas Massey out of power. The question didn't raise this, but we all know why Massey is a target. He's been pushing for a vote on the Epstein files, which is just a tip of the iceberg of alleged pedophile Trump's 15 year friendship with confirmed serial pedophile, Jeffrey Epstein.
(17:05):
Listen carefully because this question sounds planted. It's a way to cover the Trump administration's tracks in trying to push Massey out. I spent three months as an intern for Senator Barbara Boxer in California. I remember when Dick Cheney testified to the Senate. Barbara Boxer ripped into him. I witnessed that and when there was a moment for us to go up to the microphone and ask Dick Cheney questions, I was in line. But because I looked like a hippie intern from Northern California, which I was, they cut me off. They wouldn't let me go to the mic. Anyone who survived the Bush Cheney years remembers they had protest zones or they would try to cage you in and basically unconstitutionally deny you your rights for freedom of speech and assembly, your first amendment rights. I was blocked from asking Cheney a question in Congress.
(18:04):
And so what I'm saying is, that's how controlled access to even the vice president is. So at this Turning Point USA in Mississippi with the question you're about to hear being given to a young woman, the last question, it's very interesting how controlled that is. It's conveniently the last question to wrap up the night. She goes up there and she asks a question about Thomas Massey. Nowhere does she bring up the Epstein files, which is his big thing, right? So this feels very staged to try to distract their own base. Believe them when Trump was like the Democrats have a satanic sex cult children locked up in a pizza parlor, Q Anon, we're the ones that are going to release the Epstein files, right? Their own base got excited over that. Their own MAGA influencers like Dan Bongino, who's now number two at the FBI. They were riled up about that. Their whole disinformation machine was Epstein, Epstein, Epstein, and now Trump and Vance, funded by Christian nationalism, because they're using Turning Point USA to launch this disinformation coverup, right? They're trying to put that Epstein Genie back in the bottle, but it's not going to work. So when you listen to this question, I'm telling you this is a staged question. This is all part of MAGA's desperate Epstein coverup.
Speaker 4 (19:33):
This will be the last question:
JD Vance (19:34):
Ricky Bobby, 2048. That's who I'm voting for. This is the last, oh wow. We've been here over an hour. That's amazing. Okay, I'm sorry, those of you didn't get to answer a question. I tried to be as quick as I could. Go ahead.
Speaker 6 (19:50):
Mr. Vice President. I'm humbles and honored to be here. Recently, president Trump endorsed a candidate to run against Republican representative Thomas Massey, who has opposed and criticized some of the Trump administration's aims. How would you address those who fear that principal disagreement or independent thinking is just a courage within the party because of how it can be framed as a betrayal instead of as internal accountability or an opportunity for debate or negotiation?
JD Vance (20:16):
So it's a very good question. Let me say this one is hard for me, and the reason it's hard for me is because Thomas Massey and I, he's one of the first people that ever reached out to me about my book or about political office. I've known Thomas Massey well before I ever got involved in politics. Thomas' wife died, well, maybe it was a year and a half ago, two years ago. It was a little while ago. She died very unexpectedly, was a very sweet and kind woman, and I was probably one of the first people that called Thomas to offer my condolences. I think the problem with Thomas, and I've told him this in private and now I guess I'll say it in public, is it's one thing to disagree with the party on a particular issue. It's one thing to have your independent stand on a number of questions.
(21:01):
And by the way, some of the stuff where Thomas Massey has been independent against the Republican Party, I've agreed with him with. Thomas and I worked together during 2023 where I was trying to stop the limitless flow of American money to Ukraine. And Thomas was one of the people I was working closest with it. But that's one thing, being independent, having your own opinions is one thing. Voting against the party on every single issue, you're eventually going to make too many enemies. And that is the problem that Thomas has had. It's not one issue, it's not three or four issues. It's that every time that we've needed Thomas for a vote, he has been completely unwilling to provide it. That is why the president of the United States has trained his ire on Thomas Massey. It's because we can never count on him for some of the most difficult votes. I wish that that weren't the case. I say that as somebody who's known Thomas well before I got into politics, but politics is politics. And when you always vote against the party, you can't expect the party to actually back you. That's the reality.
Andrea Chalupa (22:03):
Vance is lying. The Heritage Foundation, architects of Project 2025, the 900 page blueprint to turn our democracy into a Christian national dictatorship. That Heritage Foundation, they give Massey an 83% score for voting with Republicans in Congress 83% of the time. Yes, Thomas Massey is a libertarian, and so he takes big no votes against tax cuts for the super rich agenda like voting against Trump's big ugly bill. But he votes 83% of the time with Republicans. That's an extremely reliable Republican voter that Trump Vance, their whole MAGA movement is trying to push out of Congress. And it comes down to the Epstein files that Thomas Massey is demanding.
(23:04):
The New York Times just reported, after Jeffrey Epstein's 2019 death in federal custody, JP Morgan Chase quietly filed a report to US regulators flagging over a billion dollars across 4,700 transactions linked to Epstein, including dealings with major Wall Street names like Leon Black, Glenn Dubin, longtime Trump lawyer, Alan Dershowitz and Leslie Wexner.
(23:34):
All of those powerful men listed were all accused by Epstein's survivors of rape. The bank noted possible ties to human trafficking, large cash withdrawals, and even Epstein's relationships with two US presidents, Donald Trump and Bill Clinton. Some transfers also went to Russian banks. If you want the full context of that, I will link to two super specials we have done recently. One on Epstein, Trump and Russia and the other, the Epstein Trump super special.
(24:06):
Despite the warnings, JP Morgan kept Epstein as a client for years, loaning him money, moving funds overseas, and even processing payments to his trafficking victims. So I'll link to that, the gift article to that New York Times reporting in the show notes, it's another shoe to drop. The Epstein story is not going away ever. No matter what MAGA Trump Vance, Christian Nationalist tries to do to cover up the fact that MAGA is part of the real life Q-Anon.
(24:43):
So Vance is coming out swinging against Massey, continuing the coverup of Trump and Epstein, and they're using Christian nationalism to do it. Everyone funding Turning Point USA is also funding a coverup of an elite pedophile network. Now let's move on to fact check more gaslighting. Trump passed big Russian oral sanctions, but guess what? Sanctions only matter if they're enforced. Trump has also been busy giving Putin his wishlist as Trump has been coming back to power. Moscow has been ramping up its aggression all across Europe. Moscow launched attack drones in Poland, warned that Poland's Eastern lands were a gift from Stalin, violated the airspace of Denmark, Estonia and Romania with drones and fighter jets, stationed nuclear weapons in Belarus, which borders four NATO countries, invaded nato, hopefuls, Ukraine and Georgia, and unleashed a wave of sabotage against transportation and other networks across Europe's NATO nations, including military bases and critical infrastructure.
(25:51):
Russia also fired intermediate range missiles, used banned chemical weapons in Ukraine, staged cyber attacks, and NATO systems. And in 2025, upped military spending by 35%. What does Trump do in response to all that? He removed around a thousand troops from Eastern Europe in April, Trump's White House announced they might move up to 10,000 troops. All of that is music to Putin's ears. To help us make sense of all this and what to do about it is this week's guest, who is sanctioned by Russia. Zarina Zabrisky is a Ukrainian American investigative reporter for byline times based in Ukraine. Her reporting has also appeared in BBC, news, voice of America, the Sunday Post and other outlets. She co-produced the award-winning documentary Under the Deadly Skies and directed and produced Kherson: Human Safari. Kherson is a beautiful region right above Crimea.
(27:01):
Back in 2014, I was part of an international team of volunteers who found each other online. I was doing all this from my apartment in Brooklyn at the time. We got together just out of desperation and we crowdfunded over $40,000 to turn an oligarch's abandoned private zoo in Kherson, Ukraine, into an animal refuge that took place again, Inan a region in Ukraine that's now under threat of becoming the next bucha Russian citizens. Yes, citizens not military are crowdfunding over telegram to buy cheap drones for Russian soldiers who can then rig them with explosives and use those over the counter drones to hunt down civilians in Kherson. It's an evil genocidal game of human safari and it's a reminder to us here at home that what the Russians do in Ukraine eventually comes to America. So tell us what is happening in Kherson, Ukraine, and why it matters not just to Ukraine, but to our listeners anywhere in America.
Zarina Zabrisky (28:13):
Kherson, even if you've never heard about it, is of and paramount significance to the humankind right now, I should say for two reasons. One of them, it's a fortress. It's a fortress on the way to the Russian invasion in Europe. Kherson is a city which used to have about 360 depending on how you define the city of the suburbs. But in this area where they had 360,000 people before the war, currently only about 60,000 are left, and it's separated by the Dnieper River from the occupied territories. So the Russian troops are right there, and they're only about one kilometer, one mile away from the residents of Kherson. And Kherson was the first and the only large regional capital large city, which was occupied by the Russians for nine months. And then it was liberated by the Ukrainian troops. So the Russians were pushed back to the other side.
(29:29):
And from there for the last three years, since November 2022, they have been pummeling the city with everything in their arsenal. And we're talking anything from artillery which can reach through this distance to tanks mortar. So something that you would imagine when you talk about World War I and World War II, but also, and here comes the second point, why it's important with small short range drones. And it's important to make a distinction here because we say drones and it's like saying a bird. A bird could be a sparrow, and a bird could be an eagle. So we are not talking about the eagles here, the big Shahed type drones attack other cities that allocated further away from the Russians and from the frontline. But the cities, towns, and villages on the frontline are attacked by the small drones that you might see in your local Target or in Walmart or buy on Amazon to film your wedding.
(30:40):
They're small, but they're deadly because they carry explosives. And what they do, they drop these deadly loads, sort of like Molotov of cocktails on civilians walking down the street. What they also can do, they can work as kamikaze and they explode on impact. So they attack you as you're walking down the street. Apart from them, that, they also drop incendiary devices, which set the whole blocks on fire and also do remote mining, drop-in anti-infantry mines and people step on them and lose their limbs. That has been going on since July, 2024. When I first broke the story, the locals called it human safari, and it has been used since then. It has become known, but unfortunately not enough as a new war crime. And in May, 2025, the United Nations issued and published the first report concluding that the drone attacks on civilians constitute or can be recognized as a war crime and also a crime against humanity.
(32:01):
Then the Human Rights Watch proceeded with the same independent report and conclusion. Now, yesterday a new report was issued by the United Nations and presented by their independent inquiry committee on Ukraine to the United Nations. And it's a big report and it confirms these statements and it goes further. They have actually researched Stripe about 300 kilometers along the Dneiper river. And it's not just Kherson and Kherson region, but also Dnipropetrovsk region and Zaporizhzhia region. Basically the whole south of Ukraine where not just the drone attacks are happening and growing, but also deportations from the occupied areas are happening and they're brutal. And the goal for those operations is the depopulation of this part of Ukraine. And this is very important and this report hasn't been yet covered enough. I'm covering it. Some other journalists working in Ukraine and outside of Ukraine are covering it, but this needs to be known.
(33:17):
You can Google it. You'll see at this point Reuters reported on that CNN, the New York Times, but we need more coverage. This is a new, brand new, chilling indeed, war crime of this century, of this war. And it pertains to drone warfare and this is the future of every war from now on. So why is it important to everybody else, not just because Kherson holds the border, holds the front and basically protects Europe. But for us in America, and I know I speak with the accent, you might think that I'm Ukrainian, but I'm not. I'm from California, I'm from San Francisco and I'm an American journalist, and I have been covering Ukraine and the war in Ukraine for the last three years. So for us in America, it matters because it's our future too. If we do not pay attention. And if we do not change the international law accordingly, we are facing the human safari everywhere around the world.
Andrea Chalupa (34:26):
So chilling about this. Everything you're describing, it's just a matter of time. Before terrorists, let's say the white supremacist terrorists, the MAGA terrorists that have been carrying out mass shootings in the name of Donald Trump and Hitler for years, for years, they can easily do that in America because of our self-destructive cruel gun laws. But what's stopping them from doing what you are describing, going to their local Walmart and getting a drone and putting some devices on it and fucking up their school that way. This is terrifying what you're describing, the human safari, because we already have our own human safari problem in America with the mass shooters competing with each other and trying to get body counts and posting their manifestos online before they go shoot up their school and then kill themselves. So I want everyone to really pay attention to what Zarina is saying, and also the fact that she doesn't need to be in Ukraine.
(35:37):
She's got her American citizenship, she's got San Francisco, but she's there now and her building got hit last night, so she hasn't slept. She's part of the sleeplessness epidemic that all Ukrainians live with when you have the Russians with their Iranian drones terrorizing Ukrainians all night long. So we're having this conversation to wake the rest of the world up and remind you again, as we've been saying on Gaslit Nation since the very start of the show, Ukraine is a laboratory for Kremlin aggression. The Kremlin is a terrorist state like North Korea, like Iran, the Kremlin refuses to lose the Cold War. So they are still waging it against the world, they're KGB through when through. They refuse to accept the defeat, which I think the defeat of the Cold War is just an illusion. I don't think the Cold War ever ended. Everyone's like, oh, the Cold War is back.
(36:39):
It never ended. The KGB never went away. And so everything that the Kremlin does in Ukraine eventually reaches us in America. And of course, no country is immune from this. Canada pay attention, France, London, UK, Germany, everyone pay attention. But as we've seen in the United States, Donald Trump came to power in 2016 with the Kremlin's extremely illegal help. There was a bipartisan Republican-led Russian and Trump intelligence investigation that was like, yeah, Russian intelligence illegally brought Trump to power in 2016. They were doing that first in Ukraine. The Kremlin was using longtime operative Paul Manafort, a Republican to bring Ukrainian Trump Viktor Yanukovych to power. He got ran out of town in a popular uprising that united Ukrainians across society. And that's where America's now headed today as we see in these protests. So yes, so thank you for risking your life, for bringing in the world this story and trying to wake people up about why this horrifying innovation of technology, of warfare is just a matter of time before it comes to where our listeners live in some way, shape, or form. So please continue.
Zarina Zabrisky (38:03):
Everything you saying is right. And I know it might sound like, oh, my building was hit and I'm still sitting and talking, but that's what's happening in Ukraine every day. And you get up and you go to work. And I've been in Kherson for the last two years basically living there occasionally leaving and going to report from other parts of Ukraine. And the reason I'm doing it because Kherson is not covered enough. It's very hard to get there. It's very dangerous. For those who do not speak the language, it's much harder to obtain the information. There are a lot of logistics reasons why it is not being covered. So I made a documentary about Kherson and I'm making a new documentary now. It's actually going to be a trilogy because there's so much that was happening in Kherson that it needs continuous coverage.
(39:02):
All these years the war was raging, but the full scale invasion started on the 24th of February, 2022. And Kherson was basically captured in about a week. It wasn't ready. The Russians presence was overwhelming. There was not enough resources for the Ukrainians to push back. And so for nine months that Russians were in Kherson, they were committing daily crimes of kidnapping children and adults, of torturing children and adults, of killing not just Ukrainians, but also their own Russian troops and burying them in a city dump. I mean, it's an endless list. And what's unique here is that after the city was liberated, we got an access and we could see and report on the crimes that were committed. The same happened in the other liberated areas in the Kyiv region and in the Kharkiv region, some in Chernihiv. And that's what I've been doing. Then after they have left, they started immediately, as I have mentioned, to try and destroy the city with artillery, aerial bombs, carpet bombing, trying and experimenting, like you said, pretty much everything.
(40:32):
And then when that wasn't working efficiently enough, they set up an explosion on a dam, which was located right down the river. And so they engineered this massive biblical flood, which took thousands of lives. And in my film, I report on that and interview people who have not spoken before from the occupied areas, and were yet to discover the damage and discover the number of deaths because right now Russians are still there and we don't have access to this information. And so once Ukrainians recovered from them from the flood and started to rebuild it again, human safaris started along with the aerial bombs. And it continues until now. And so you might want to ask, and I understand, why would I inflict such a horror of a movie on myself? Why would I do that? Well, I understand that. So we made the film with our crew, Ukrainian crew.
(41:47):
We had a different approach. We know that watching something like this inflicts a moral injury on a person. So we were showing life as is in Kherson. And we were shown the beauty of the city, the strengths of the local people, the love for music, art. We have a lot of dance, we have beautiful music, we have art paintings, embroidery, theater, and it came up uplifting. That's what I hear now because the film was released in June and since then it has been playing all over the world with the screenings, France, Australia, Germany, Latvia, the United States, you name it. And people want to see it. They want to show it to others because they find it uplifting, because there no circumstances that would stop these people from enjoying life. And I personally find it not just remarkable, but inspiring and it keeps me going and it keeps me wanting to protect the city and bring the truth about it to the world.
(43:05):
So the film is now, we made it available for free with no registration on the website. It's called Human Safari, khersonhumansafari.com. The main goal of this film is to educate the global community about the war crimes committed by Russians, about the fight of Kherson, the city which still can be saved. It still has a chance not to turn into chais, all these terrible ruins you see sometimes on your television screens. It's still standing, but day by day it's crumbling. Just today, my street, probably 10 billions were destroyed or damaged and turned into the rubble. Just today, children's hospital was hit, and nine people were injured. And every day it continues. Every day it does not stop. And we can make this change. I believe in that very strongly. And I hope that every talk, every podcast is helping us to make this crime known. And to help stop it.
Andrea Chalupa (44:17):
If you want to watch Zarina Zabrisky's powerful film for free, and spread the word about Russia's human safaris in Ukraine, go to Kherson Human Safari dot com. I will link to it at the top of the show notes.
(44:30):
Happy Election Eve everyone. We'll see you at the Gaslit Nation election super special this Friday.
MSNBC Reporter (44:37):
So I've had just as many voters honest say to me that they feel that this is a moment where they can register concern and frustration with the Trump administration. I will tell you also, as we've been out here all day, you've of course got Democratic canvassers, got Republican canvassers across from them. A lot of foot traffic here. Actually just got an update from one of the election officials inside who say that at around this time, just a year ago, so in a presidential general election year, they saw slightly less traffic than they're seeing today. This traffic greater than what it was in a presidential year.
Andrea Chalupa (45:11):
Our discussion continues, and you can get access to that by signing up at the truth color level or higher on Patreon. Discounted annual memberships are available, and you can give the gift of membership. Bonus shows, invites to exclusive events. Get all shows ad free and more at patreon.com/gaslit. That's patreon.com/gaslit. Thank you to everyone who supports the show.
(45:34):
To help Ukraine with urgently needed humanitarian aid. Join me in donating to Razom for ukraine@razomforukraine.org. To support refugees in conflict zones donate to Doctors Without borders@doctorswithoutborders.org. And to protect critically endangered orangutans already under pressure from the palm oil industry donate to the Orangutan project@theorangutanproject.org.
(46:01):
Gaslit Nation is produced by Andrea Chalupa. Our associate producer is Karlyn Daigle, and our founding production manager is Nicholas Torres. If you like what we do, leave us a review on iTunes. It helps us reach more listeners. Original music on Gaslit Nation is composed by David Whitehead, Martin Berg, Nick Barr, Damian Ariaga, and Karlyn Daigle. Our logo design was generously donated to us by Hamish Smyth of the design firm Order. Thank you so much, Hamish.
(46:30):
Gaslit Nation would like to thank our supporters at the producer level on Patreon and Higher Ice Bear is Defiant. Li Wichowski, Ruth Ann Harnish, Todd Dan Milo, and Cubby Ann Bertino. David East, Diana Gallagher, DL Kingfield, Jan Ra Rasmusson, James D. Leonard, j Bardo, Joe Darcy, John Scholer, Katie Maura, Kevin Gannon, Kristen Custer, Larry Gusan. Leah Campbell. Marcus j Trent. Mark. Mark, Nicole Spear. Randall Brewer, Sherry Escobar, Ellen McGirt, Carol Goad. Tanya Chalupa. Work for Better Prep for Trouble. Thank you all for your support of the show. We could not make Gaslit Nation without you.