President Donald Trump's administration has chosen to enforce federal immigration laws in a manner that prioritizes "maximum letahlity" over "tepid legality."

That's what Dakota Rudesill, a professor of law at Ohio State University and a former legislative assistant on national security to Sen. Kent Conrad, said on this episode of Plain Talk. He said that President Trump is usince ICE in Minnesota and elsewhere in the country as a "new federal domestic army."

Rudesill called the U.S. Constitution a "national security document," and argues that the separation of military and civil authority is a core American value found throughout our founding legal documents. With ICE dressing like soldiers, and using military equipment and tactics, and with ICE's leaders, up to and including President Trump and his cabinet, using the rhetoric of war to describe their activities, does that separation still exist?

"The Constitution was forged from national security crisis, and the highest level of government right encroaching on the liberty of the people in the name of national security," he said. "And so the framers wrote in that context, and they gave us the system we have, which is one where we have limited government not unlimited government."

With ICE patrolling American streets as if they were in enemy territory, with their assertion of the right to search homes without warrants, and deport detainees without due process, can we say that we have limited government or unlimited government?

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If North Dakota's oil industry could be represented by a single personality, it would be Continental Resources founder Harold Hamm. So when Hamm says he's laying down his drilling rigs because low oil prices mean there's no margin in operating them, it got a lot of attention from the public.

Oil tax revenues, both directly and indirectly, provide the lion's share of our state's funding. Is it time to panic? Not yet says Justin Kringstad, the executive director of the North Dakota Pipeline Authority.

"No major warning signs to start panicking about, but we'll keep watching it," he said on this episode of Plain Talk. "If the announcement by Continental is the start of something bigger, then absolutely, we certainly need to get on top of that right away and understand what the impacts would be for the state and as a whole."

"We need to watch the rig counts closely," he added.

What prompted Hamm to act, Kringstad said, is a global oversupply of oil. Asked if President Donald Trump's push to bring more Venezuelan oil to the marketplace is a part of that problem, Kringstad said not yet.

"The Venezuelan situation, just stepping back and looking at global oil markets, is not a major impact at all really on any of key markets" for the time being, he said.

Also on this episode, co-host Chad Oban and I discuss the debate over universal school meals at the special session in Bismarck

If you want to participate in Plain Talk, just give us a call or text at 701-587-3141. It's super easy — leave your message, tell us your name and where you're from, and we might feature it on an upcoming episode. To subscribe to Plain Talk, search for the show wherever you get your podcasts or use one of the links below.

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In North Dakota, the 2026 election cycle isn't really going to be about whether our state is governed by Republicans or Democrats. It's going to be about which type of Republicans hold the majority.

So far, the state's traditional Republicans have been successful in holding the line against a rising tide of populists invigorated by the Trump era, but the populists have managed to capture control of key leadership positions within the NDGOP. They hold a slim majority of district chairs, which in turn has allowed them to elect one of their own as state party chair.

The populists will likely endorse their preferred candidates at the party's local and statewide conventions. The tradional, normie Republicans will mostly take their case to the voters on the June primary ballot.

District 3, in Minot, may well be key ground in this battle. The state House incumbents here are Rep. Jeff Hoverson and Rep. Lori VanWinkle, two bible-thumping religious zealots who are notorious for promoting culture war issues and little else. They face a challenge from Tim Mihalick and Blaine DesLauriers, who say they'd like to go to Bismarck to support Gov. Kelly Armstrong's agenda.

"I really like what Governor Armstrong has brought to the table," DesLauriers said on this episode of Plain Talk. "I think he needs more allies that think and act like him and that's what I want to do."

For his part, Mihalick says he'd like to bring a more collaborative approach to the legislature. Reacting to comments Hoverson made declaring people who disagree with him as "enemies," Mihalick says he doesn't see politics that way.

"I don't see [political opponents] as my enemies," he told us. "I spent my life negotiating and recognizing that everybody needs to win when you complete a deal."

We asked the two candidates if Armstrong asked them to run. "Yeah, he did," Mihalick said. DesLauier said that while Armstrong hasn't officially backed their candidacies yet, "we're expecting his endorsement."

Also on this episode, we discussed the ongoing questions about finances at the F5 Project, a high-profile, Fargo-based nonprofit. Me and co-host Chad Oban also discussed the resgination of Nico Rios, and the upcoming special session.

If you want to participate in Plain Talk, just give us a call or text at 701-587-3141. It's super easy — leave your message, tell us your name and where you're from, and we might feature it on an upcoming episode. To subscribe to Plain Talk, search for the show wherever you get your podcasts or use one of the links below.

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