The World and Everything in It: January 29, 2026

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MARY REICHARD, HOST: Good morning!

Can the Board of Peace stabilize Gaza?

DAOUD: You can stay there for 20 years and you can still fail, because ultimately, people will choose their own values.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Also, pro-life groups adjust their messaging for the digital age.

And a new take on alcohol consumption.

And a transatlantic folk duo uses universal longings to point listeners to Christ.

TABITHA: Things maybe aren't always going to work out but the hope that we have is so much greater than that.

And WORLD Commentator Cal Thomas on the power of a gentle answer.

REICHARD: It’s Thursday, January 29th. This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Mary Reichard.

BROWN: And I’m Myrna Brown. Good morning!

REICHARD: Up next, Kent Covington with today’s news.

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Rubio on Venezuela » On Capitol Hill:

AUDIO: The United States Senate  Foreign Relations Committee will come to order.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the Trump administration’s military operation in Venezuela during a sometimes tense hearing.

The top Democrat on the committee, Sen. Jean Shaheen, criticized the cost of the operation. And questioned what removing dictator Nicolas Maduro from power actually accomplished.

SHAHEEN:  Maduro's Vice President. Now, the interim president has taken no steps to diminish Iran, China, or Russia's considerable influence in Venezuela. One of the reasons that has been given for the mission.

Rubio said the problems in Venezuela were never going to be solved overnight.

RUBIO:   But I think we're making good and decent progress. It is the best plan, and we are certainly better off today in Venezuela than we were four weeks ago.

He stressed the administration does not expect further military action, unless a new and immediate threat emerges.

Rubio also said U.S. sanctions on Venezuelan oil could be eased under strict conditions. Revenue would be placed in a U.S.-controlled account and used for basic services like health care and policing.

The secretary also said the goal remains a stable Venezuela that ultimately holds free and fair elections.

Iran update » President Trump is sharply escalating pressure on Iran, warning that U.S. military action is possible if Iranian leaders refuse to negotiate a new nuclear deal. WORLD’s Benjamin Eicher has more.

BENJAMIN EICHER: Trump said American naval forces are moving toward the region and are prepared to strike if talks fail.

He said his goal is a deal that blocks Iran from ever developing nuclear weapons and called on Tehran to engage without delay.

Iran’s mission to the United Nations responded by saying the country is open to dialogue, but only under conditions of mutual respect. Iranian officials warned that if the US forces strike, Iran will respond like never before.

The US military carried out a targeted strike against Iranian nuclear facilities last year. The White House says that operation set Iran’s nuclear weapons program back considerably.

For WORLD, I’m Benjamin Eicher.

Trump accounts » The Trump administration is rolling out a new savings program aimed at helping families build long-term wealth for their children. The president touted the program at an event on Wednesday.

TRUMP:  Trump accounts will help bring the hope and prosperity to every community that every community wants to see.

Under the plan, parents who open an account for a newborn will receive a one-time $1,000 deposit from the U.S. Treasury. The money is invested in the stock market through low-fee index funds and can’t be used until the child turns 18.

At that point, it can go toward things like college, starting a business, or buying a home.

 TRUMP: For the first time ever, we're going to give every newborn American child a financial stake in the future. Head start life and a fair shot at the American Dream.

Parents can also add their own money over time, and employers, relatives, or charities can contribute as well. Annual contributions are capped.

The White House estimates that with no added contributions, each child will have nearly $6,000 in an account when they reach adulthood. But with added contributions, it could reach tens of thousands of dollars or more.

Minnesota latest » Democrats are turning up pressure on Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem after two fatal shootings in Minnesota involving federal immigration agents.

Sen. Peter Welch:

WELCH:  Noem has to answer some questions. How is it that her, her people were so poorly trained that when a man who was on the ground and totally under control was shot 10 times?

Sen. Alex Padilla says he’s freezing cooperation on some DHS priorities until the department provides a full public accounting of what happened and what rules agents followed.

And many Democrats in both chambers are calling for Noem to be fired or impeached.

GOP Sen. Majority Leader John Thune offered a fairly muted response:

THUNE:  I will, you know, allow, uh, the president to, to make determinations about the people, uh, that serve on his team.

It comes as Democrats are holding up funding the government ahead of a Friday deadline because they don't support funding for D-H-S. But Republicans argue the DHS funding doesn't affect ICE, because that was already funded.

Russia » A new report warns that combined military casualties from the war in Ukraine — those killed, wounded, or missing could reach two million as early as this spring.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies estimates that between Russian and Ukrainian forces there have been roughly 1.8 million casualties. And that number doesn’t even include civilian victims.

The group estimates as many as 325,000 Russian troops have been killed, and as many as 140,000 Ukrainian troops.

Moscow dismissed the figures, while Ukraine has not commented.

I'm Kent Covington.

Still ahead, can the Board of Peace really stabilize Gaza? Plus, pro-life groups adjust their messaging for the digital age.

This is The World and Everything in It.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: It’s Thursday the 29th of January.

Glad to have you along for today’s edition of The World and Everything in It. Good morning, I’m Myrna Brown.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard.

First up: Rebuilding the Gaza Strip.

With the final hostage returned to Israel, President Donald Trump’s new Board of Peace is about to be put to the test. President Trump chartered the board last week at the World Economic Forum.

BROWN: The organization has been in the works for months as part of the Gaza peace plan, but some worry it still doesn’t have the structure to have a lasting impact.

WORLD’s Mary Muncy reports.

MARY MUNCY: In mid-January, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff announced the beginning of Phase Two in the Israel-Gaza ceasefire plan. This phase includes demilitarization, the creation of a government in Gaza, and the beginning of reconstruction. Progress in this phase was slow, but leaders are hopeful the return of the last hostage’s remains will speed the process.

The job of implementing this new phase falls to Trump’s Board of Peace.

TRUMP: Together, we are in a position to have an incredible chance. I don't even call it a chance. I think it's going to happen to end decades of suffering, stop generations of hatred and bloodshed, and forge a beautiful, everlasting and glorious peace for that region and for the whole region of the world.

Last week, President Donald Trump and leaders from Argentina, Hungary, Qatar, and about 15 other nations made the Board of Peace an official international organization.

Right now, the board itself is controversial, much less any upcoming decisions.

Its charter stipulates that founding members will be on the board for three years, then there’s a one billion dollar buy-in to permanently secure a seat.

The United Nations Security Council originally authorized the board through 2027 as a means of rebuilding Gaza. But the board’s charter doesn’t mention Gaza, and says its mission is to promote peace and stability in “areas affected or threatened by conflict.” Not just Gaza.

Weeks ago, Trump said the board “might” replace the United Nations, but later at the World Economic Forum, he said he wants the Board of Peace to act in conjunction with the international body.

TRUMP: I've always said the United Nations has got tremendous potential. Has not used it, but there's tremendous potential in the United Nations.

Trump also sees ‘tremendous potential’ for the Gaza Strip.

During the forum, his team revealed its plans for developing what is right now, rubble. The $25 billion plans include building critical infrastructure like hospitals, schools, and roads… as well as plans for the ‘Middle East Riviera.’ That includes ports and skyscrapers along the coast. It’s not clear who will fund the project.

But some worry the Board of Peace doesn’t have the right structure or members to create lasting peace in Gaza.

LOB: There's no one from the Palestinian side on the Board of Peace.

Eric Lob is an associate professor of politics and international relations at Florida International University.

Right now, the board is structured with Trump at the top as the permanent chairperson, followed by a general Executive Board made up of security and banking experts, and a separate Gaza Executive Board.

LOB: Countries are concerned about the hierarchy that it's so top down and centralized around President Trump and his administration, they're also concerned, particularly Western European countries, that the invitation has been extended to Vladimir Putin, and while there is a war going on in Ukraine.

Several European countries have rejected their invitations or delayed signing.

France says it won’t sign because the charter does not reflect the original purpose of the board, rebuilding Gaza.

Italy and Germany say joining under the current structure would violate their constitutions.

Canada has also said it won’t join.

The hesitation comes partly because it’s not clear what will be required of the signatories. And that is particularly relevant as the Gaza ceasefire enters stage two, where both Hamas and Israel are supposed to disarm. The original 20-point peace plan authorizes countries to dispatch stabilization forces if necessary.

LOB: Hamas is still there with 1000s of troops, even if it's been or foot soldiers, even if it's been weakened or degraded, there are clashes between Hamas militants and militias and gangs backed by Israel.

Lob thinks Trump and his team need to work closely with US allies and Palestinians to determine exactly what the Board of Peace should look like.

On the other side, Foundation for the Defense of Democracies senior fellow David Daoud thinks the structure is workable. But he worries even the best-possible oversight won’t bring peace in Gaza.

DAOUD: You can pour trillions of dollars. You can occupy, you can use overwhelming military force. You can stay there for 20 years, and you can still fail, because ultimately, people will choose, you know, their own, their own values.

Daoud thinks the US is offering something better than the current Hamas rule, but unknowns remain. Gazans will decide which leaders to vote for, what to do if a leader is corrupt, and even just how to treat their neighbor.

DAOUD: We can do all the right things, and we can put on all the structures. And the fact of the matter is. People are unpredictable.

But Daoud believes it’s still worth trying. Palestinians are suffering, and what happens in Gaza tends to reverberate around the world.

DAOUD: Will it lead to a different outcome than Iraq or Afghanistan, that'll depend on Gazans.

The next steps are still precarious. Israel re-opening the Rafah Crossing will likely increase aid flow from Egypt to Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says they will not begin rebuilding until Hamas disarms. But so far, neither Israel nor Hamas want to leave themselves exposed. It will be up to the Board of Peace to ensure the terms of the ceasefire are met on both sides.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Mary Muncy.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: reaching vulnerable women online.

Increased online access to abortion pills is compelling pro-life groups to be proactive in finding the women performing those searches.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: From advertising to artificial intelligence, pregnancy centers and other organizations are exploring new ways to serve a digital generation. WORLD’s Lauren Canterberry has the story.

LAUREN CANTERBERRY: Last fall, researchers with the pro-abortion group Campaign for Accountability asked five AI chatbots this question.

AUDIO: *Ping* Hey Google, can I reverse the effects of an abortion pill?

According to the organization, all five provided information about abortion pill reversal, known by the shorthand A-P-R. Three included the phone number for Heartbeat International’s APR Helpline. Responses also carried disclaimers saying the treatment is not approved by some mainstream medical groups.

Campaign for Accountability and other abortion activists called the responses proof that pro-life groups have infiltrated online searches to spread misinformation. But Heartbeat International’s Andrea Trudden said the results simply reflect how chatbots work.

TRUDDEN: A lot of pregnancy health organizations actually have been adding the services so they’re including it on their website.

That’s where they were pulling a lot of information.

In 2021, Google blocked Heartbeat from advertising its hotline. Trudden said her group tried unsuccessfully to challenge the decision—one she says is based on claims by abortion advocates that APR is unproven and deceptive.

Earlier this month, I asked the same questions of the same chatbots. Only Google’s AI feature provided the hotline in its response, and Meta’s program refused to give an answer at all. None of the tech companies responded to questions seeking an explanation.

TRUDDEN: This is suppressing first amendment rights. It's forcing the AI companies to fall in line to certain ideologies, and it actually takes away information and shows the influence that these AI personal assistants actually do have.

Pro-abortion groups have created their own AI tools for years. In 2019, Planned Parenthood launched its chatbot, Roo. Another, called Charley, directs women to abortion services and drugs.

Meanwhile, many pregnancy resource centers still rely on Google advertising to reach younger generations. In Delaware, A Door of Hope pregnancy center spends about $60,000 a year on Google ads alone. Executive Director Rachel Metzger says the expense is well worth it.

METZGER: If you want to reach that at-risk client, you have to purchase Google ads.

Since I started doing it in 2023, I have seen a 156% increase in our at-risk clientele.

Abortion advocates have often claimed the ads deceive women searching for abortions by offering consultations and ultrasounds. Google now includes a disclaimer with ads for pregnancy centers and abortion groups to clarify whether they offer abortions, though Metzger said the women calling her center often do not read them.

METZGER: We get phone calls all the time thinking that we’re an abortion clinic, and the first words out of our mouth are, ‘We do not offer that service here, but here are the services that we do offer,’ and I’d say 90% of the time, the client still makes an appointment.

Other pregnancy centers take a different approach. A coalition of pregnancy centers across eight states that can’t afford to compete with the marketing budgets of abortion groups joined forces to promote a single pro-life website. The website called itsthepill.com competes with a similarly named site that sells abortion pills to women. The site provides accurate information on the dangers of abortion pills and connects women to local pregnancy centers. Heather Lawless is the founder and CEO of Reliance Ministries in Idaho and helped create the site:

LAWLESS: We have to be creative when we want to show up first in that Google search.

We can’t just sit back and wait for them to walk into our clinics, because they’re not. They’re sitting at home on their couch, on their phone, ordering the abortion pills. So we have to be able to reach them at home.

But the demand for constant access to information leaves a new challenge: many women find pregnancy centers after hours, when no one is available to answer their questions. Centers now have to consider how to serve a generation that expects instant responses.

Last spring, Choose Life Marketing launched an AI chatbot called Olive. Olive operates directly on a center’s website and helps book appointments. Nelly Roach is CEO of Choose Life.

ROACH: Olive is an AI scheduler.

Olive does not minister to anybody. Olive does not do consultations. Olive schedules.

Soon after the chatbot debuted, abortion supporters raised questions about data security, the replacement of human interaction, and the tool’s potential influence on women’s decisions. Roach says Olive complies with health and safety requirements.

ROACH: We do what everyone else does, it’s just that we have a movement that has fierce opposition.

Some centers still want a real person on the line. In 2022, Rachel Owen founded a 24/7 nurse hotline called Infinite Worth.

OWEN: This generation has grown up with abortion as health care their whole lives. They see it as health care and so they want to talk to a health care professional.

Her team of 40 nurses now engages with about 17,000 women per month across more than 600 centers.

Owen said the service gives women a chance to speak with someone before they ever leave home or walk into a resource center.

OWEN: We need to start a relationship with them where they’re comfortable, and they’re comfortable on their phones.

If we’re not there, someone else is going to be.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Lauren Canterberry.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Coming up next: alcohol.

The Trump Administration revised decades old alcohol guidelines with a newer take on the topic. Experts seem less eager to accept the change … while some Americans are ahead of the curve.

WORLD’s Emma Eicher has the story.

EMMA EICHER: Drink less alcohol. That’s the gist of the Trump Administration’s new dietary guidelines.

MEHMET OZ: Small amounts, taken very judiciously …

In early January, Dr. Mehmet Oz announced the revised approach. He’s the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

OZ: There is alcohol on these dietary guidelines, but the implication is, don’t have it for breakfast.

Since the ‘80s, the U.S. alcohol guidelines instructed no more than one drink a day for women, two drinks for men. In the January press conference, Oz said there’s not enough evidence to back up those recommendations.

So for now, the guidelines don’t quantify how much to drink. It’s just, drink less. Oz called it a tactic for better socializing.

OZ: Alcohol is a social lubricant that brings people together. In the best case scenario, I don’t think you should drink alcohol, but it does allow people an excuse to bond and socialize, and there’s probably nothing healthier than having a good time with friends in a safe way.

But some substance abuse experts criticize the idea that healthy socializing includes drinking.

Dr. John Kelly is a Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School specializing in substance abuse.

JOHN KELLY: That's a line right from the alcohol industry. We can socialize and have fun and talk with our friends and confide in our loved ones without alcohol.

And these days, more and more people agree.

At Maggie’s Farm bar in downtown Pittsburgh, people chat with one hand on a cocktail glass.

But the drink isn’t always filled with booze. Many are swapping pale ales for nonalcoholic beers, or pricey cocktails for juicy mocktails. Here’s Maggie’s Farm bartender Sarah:

MAGGIE’S FARM SARAH: The Rumless Runner is gonna be based on the cocktail Rum Runner …

They’re more popular in Dry January, when a quarter of American adults choose sobriety for the month.

MIKE ONOFRAY: We were the first brewery in Pennsylvania to make non alcoholic beer …

Mike Onofray owns Two Frays Brewery in Pittsburgh.

He started brewing nonalcoholic beers back in 2022, right around when many Gen Zers were turning 21.

ONOFRAY: A lot of people, Gen Z, just didn't drink at all.

Studies show that since 2000, young adults turn to nonalcoholic beverages more often than their predecessors. For them, alcohol is a health risk they’re not willing to take.

Dawson Kaiser is 26, and a high school logic teacher in Sewickley, Pennsylvania.

DAWSON KAISER: I don't have an inherent problem with alcohol itself. But for me, I don't drink.

Growing up, his family, church and friends influenced his decision to stay away from alcohol.

KAISER: Since I was a teenager, all of my friends that I hung around, we, most of us, didn't drink. And then when I turned 21, I just kept not drinking.

Many of Kaiser’s friends don’t drink for health reasons, following a Gen Z pattern of valuing wellness. He has another reason for staying sober.

KAISER: I am someone who really values being in control of my mind and my body, and so anything that could lend itself to me lacking some level of control … I'm just not interested.

Kaiser is one example of many Americans who were already “drinking less,” years before it was an official guideline.

And that trend doesn’t just include people in their 20s. Older generations are also cutting back. Here’s Onofray again.

ONOFRAY: Their doctors have told them, as they get older, to slow down on the beer drinking. So they're mixing in some non alcoholic beers with their alcoholic beers. Or maybe they listen to their doctor completely, and they've completely switched.

Still, Professor John Kelly wonders whether the Administration couldn’t have brought more clarity when it had the chance.

KELLY: The vagueness is the problem, and people just don't know now what to do when they say less. Can I drink five, if I used to drink seven, is five okay? We're kind of asking for it by not providing these thresholds, which we know to be sensible thresholds and useful. So people at least have some guidance. Now we've taken those away.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Emma Eicher in Pittsburgh.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: A certain sector of racing fans will head to Indianapolis this May to see who can cut the mustard, but not in the Indy 500, the Weinie 500:

AUDIO: New York dog with a massive jump out to the lead!

Audio from last year’s inaugural race, maybe one of the meatiest marketing gimmicks in the sport.

Six oversized Oscar Mayer Weinermobiles taking the turns at up to a scorching 29 miles per hour at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Chicago Dog, New York Dog, Chili Dog all found themselves in a bit of a pickle as they made their way down the final stretch:

AUDIO: And over the line! It looks like it's gonna be the Slaw Dog by a nose! Slaw Dog win!

They’ll head back to the track again this year to see which dog can, well, ketchup.

It’s The World and Everything in It.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Today is Thursday, January 29th.

Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Myrna Brown.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard.

Coming next on The World and Everything in It: a musical marriage.

The Foreign Landers are a husband-wife bluegrass and folk music group based in South Carolina. Their lyrics draw on the shared experiences of life and marriage, and reflect themes of longing, faith, and hope

BROWN: Their second full-length recording—Made to Wonder— dropped last Friday.

WORLD’s Steve West recently talked with David and Tabitha Benedict about their life and music.

MUSIC: [Shoes Off by The Foreign Landers]

STEVE WEST: There’s a song on the recently released album by The Foreign Landers titled “Shoes Off.” At one point, Tabitha Benedict sings, “You’re pretty great but sometimes hard to stand.” I asked her, “Is that about David?”

TABITHA: Yeah, that was a very comedic song when we started to write that, it just kind of spiraled. It snowballed into what it was and became, but maybe just a little bit…. But in that song as well, it says … but I still can't live without you, you know. So there's an element of both there.

David and Tabitha formed an unlikely union. She grew up in a musical family in Northern Ireland, where her dad is a pastor. David’s from South Carolina and played in the only Celtic band in town.

MUSIC: [I Am a Youth Inclined to Ramble by The Foreign Landers]

They met at an international bluegrass festival in Raleigh, North Carolina where Tabitha appeared in a band with her brothers. It was love at first sight. Well, for David, at least, who said he knew then he wanted to marry Tabitha someday.

TABITHA: I don't know if I can ever believe that story. He tells me that.

DAVID: It's funny. Tabitha gave me a CD of theirs in Raleigh when we first met, and I saw a Bible verse on the back. It's like, wow. These folks are not only amazing musicians, but they must be believers as well. And then we realized we have all these other things in common that are so strange, especially growing up on other sides of the Atlantic, like we were both home schooled for our entire school career.

A shared love of bluegrass, folk, and celtic music—and the Lord—brought them together after years in which they each honed their musical gifts. While multi-instrumentalists, Tabitha majors on the five-string banjo, which she picked up at the age of 12. For David, it’s the mandolin. But it’s their shared experience of marriage and parenting their toddler that makes these songs both musically and lyrically rich.

TABITHA: We have this kind of deeper point where we're thinking about that far country that is coming, even that groaning that is made so clear in Scripture, and we try to encapsulate that as kind of the root, and whether that's moving to somewhere and trying to find your feet, or whether that's, you know, just raising your children to know that promise and that longing, there's kind of this expectancy that we want to get across.

MUSIC: [When the Morning Comes by The Foreign Landers]

That longing comes through both in the intricately arranged and often surprising music, and lyrics rooted in everyday life. But the songs also suggest things more universal–like joy and hope.

Biblical allusions crop up regularly in the songs on Made to Wonder. The song “Smell the Rose” calls to mind the C.S. Lewis quote about how our longings are “the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have never yet visited.” When Tabitha sings, “Will you catch me if I fall/ When the road gets rough ahead?,” she echoes Ecclesiastes 4:10, which says, “If either of them falls down, one can help the other up.” The album’s title cut echoes the construction of a psalm, moving from lament over time’s passing to hope in the moment.

DAVID: We have so many friends in the music scene who come from different backgrounds who aren't believers, and I feel like even in the past few years God has been really pressing upon us, there's this deep desire for them to come to know the same hope and the joy that we have in Jesus, and using these universal longings that we all have as a way of bridging that gap C.S. Lewis talks about, you know, if you feel in yourself a desire that can't be met or fulfilled in this world, the most obvious answer is we were created for something else.

MUSIC: [Is It a Dream? by The Foreign Landers]

TABITHA: A lot of the songs are about looking back and seeing how God has worked in ways that we couldn't ever have orchestrated ourselves. There's oftentimes this desire, I think, for a lot of us, to just have this ideal, this is the way it's gonna work out. And, you know, if I do these things, this is, this is it's gonna be good, right? But the promise in that song, even to Joanna, is…things maybe aren't always going to work out, you know, but the hope that we have is so much greater than that.

And that’s where Made to Wonder leaves us—with questions and with great hope.

I’m Steve West.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Mary Reichard.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown. The fight over immigration enforcement in Minnesota has produced far more heat than light—and most of what’s been said has only made matters worse.

REICHARD: WORLD commentator Cal Thomas says that before anyone can fix public policy, the way we use words to describe it—and one another—needs fixing first.

CAL THOMAS: Ancient proverbs last because they work.

Here’s one that still does:

“A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”

Try it sometime in an argument.

Say, “I see how you feel. May I share how I see it?”

The words we choose can heal. Or wound.

That lesson has been playing out again in Minnesota, in the clash over immigration enforcement and the rhetoric surrounding it.

From President Donald Trump’s assessment of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz

AUDIO: Look, I think the man is a grossly incompetent man.

To Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey’s “message” to federal immigration officers.

AUDIO: To ICE, get the _____ out of Minneapolis.

To the governor making Holocaust comparisons.

AUDIO: Many of us grew up reading that story of Anne Frank. Somebody’s going to write that children’s story about Minnesota.

Administration officials accused Walz and Frey of “inciting insurrection.” Some compared ICE agents to the Gestapo. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem labeled protesters “domestic terrorists.”

None of that helped.

But then came a shift.

AUDIO: President Trump looks to ease tensions between the state and the White House. … So much has changed in 24 hours.

Video evidence contradicted early official claims about a fatal ICE shooting. Public anger grew.

Allies warned the White House the rhetoric was backfiring.

According to The New York Times, the administration has adjusted course. A senior field commander was removed. Two agents were placed on leave. Officials who had spoken with certainty began acknowledging that protocol may not have been followed.

The president softened his tone, slightly. He distanced himself from earlier remarks. And after days of insults, he picked up the phone and called Governor Walz.

AUDIO: They met with the governor, the mayor, everybody else, and we'll, we're going to de-escalate a little bit …

That was not a reversal of immigration policy, nor should it be.

But it was an admission: escalation was making things worse.

Of course, harsh language has its uses—otherwise it wouldn’t be used so much.

I once heard a Florida pastor describe sending out a positive fundraising letter. The result? “No one sent any money.”

A veteran conservative fundraiser once put it this way: “You can’t raise money on a positive.”

Some may call it profitable cynicism—but it’s cynicism all the same.

You can denounce. You can demean. You can use foul language and energize supporters. But the cost is a deeper divide—and a growing contempt for fellow Americans.

Let’s consider another model.

President Ronald Reagan. I mentioned him last week. But President Reagan was famous for lowering the temperature. He spoke of “our friends on the other side.” He criticized ideas without attacking people. He wanted to win arguments—not humiliate opponents.

And because of that, he often persuaded Democrats to work with him.

As federal officials now talk about “de-escalation” in Minneapolis, some on the left have already declared victory. But the real issues remain: immigration enforcement, public safety, and unresolved fraud involving taxpayer money.

But if there is any hope of addressing those problems, the ancient proverb still applies.

A gentle answer does not guarantee agreement.

But a harsh one almost guarantees failure.

Better language would still be a very good place to start.

For WORLD, I’m Cal Thomas.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Tomorrow: John Stonestreet will be here for Culture Friday. And, Collin Garbarino has a review of the new Marvel offering Wonder Man. That, and more, tomorrow.

I’m Myrna Brown.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard.

The World and Everything in It comes to you from WORLD Radio. WORLD’s mission is biblically objective journalism that informs, educates, and inspires.

The Bible says: “Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, ‘I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.’ When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, ‘Moses, Moses!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ Then he said, ‘Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.’ And he said, ‘I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.” — Exodus 3:1-6

Go now in grace and peace.

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