Gov. Josh Shapiro: Trump's goal, from Minneapolis to Venezuela, is to 'dictate' in a 'facade of strength'

Samantha Melamed, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Jan 25, 2026

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Gov. Josh Shapiro revealed new details of what he described as childhood trauma, weighed in on President Donald Trump’s “facade of strength” in U.S. and foreign policy, and promised to work to “bring down the temperature” of political violence in a wide-ranging interview with CBS Sunday Morning .

Shapiro told CBS News’ Norah O’Donnell that Trump’s actions are making Americans less safe, and said he has plans in place should the Trump administration attempt a surge of federal agents here.

“I think what the president is trying to do is show that he can be the dominant figure, that he can dictate behavior, whether we’re talking about Minneapolis or Greenland or Venezuela,” Shapiro said. “This president wants to try and show what he believes to be strength — that I think is a facade of strength and ultimately a veneer of strength.”

Shapiro, who has been promoting his new memoir, Where We Keep the Light, brought a CBS News producer to the synagogue he’s attended since childhood, Beth Shalom in Elkins Park, to discuss his personal journey.

He said he has never received therapy for harrowing experiences as a young boy, namely the fallout of his mother’s unspecified mental health struggles, that shaped his path well into adulthood.

“There were moments where a switch could be flipped and there’d be a lot of yelling and a lot of chaos and a lot of tumult in the house, and you would just want to retreat to your room and try and escape it all,” he said.

He added that the experience led him to public service: “That constant desire to find a solution to someone else’s problem, that’s driven by childhood trauma.”

The interview also touched on Shapiro’s vice presidential vetting, in which Kamala Harris’ campaign asked him if he had been an Israeli agent. “I thought some of the commentary about my wife was not OK,” he said, “and I thought asking me if I was a double agent for the Israeli government was offensive.”

He said he called Harris’ campaign staffers after the interview to take himself out of the running.

And, he addressed the issue of political violence, including the arson attack on the governor’s mansion and the “strange conversation” with President Trump that followed. “[Trump] said, you know, being president’s a really dangerous job. And he rattled off other jobs that have a lower fatality rate than presidents. And he said it’s very, very dangerous. Just be careful.”

Shapiro said the incident underscored the need for bipartisanship to “bring down the temperature” on all sides.

Neither Shapiro nor his interviewers made mention of his 2026 gubernatorial opponent, Republican state Treasurer Stacy Garrity. Instead, the conversation appeared to look ahead to 2028, and Shapiro’s potential as a presidential contender.

Still, Shapiro remains noncommittal about running. “That’s a conversation for another day,” he said.