2026 Predictions: Superbowl Winner, Price of Bitcoin, Elon Musk's Robots, Trump Firings & More

3 Jan 2026 · 11 min · 5 chapters

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In short

Dan Harris delivers end-of-2025, end-of-2026 revisited predictions spanning politics, economy, culture, celebrity/media, and tech—plus a brief ad for GameTime tickets and a “Reset” series promo for 10% Happier.

Guests

No guests appear; Dan Harris speaks alone.

Key claims/predictions

Gavin Newsom won’t announce a presidential run in 2026; Russia-Ukraine war will largely end by summer 2026; the Fed will cut rates in 2026; Bitcoin will do well; Tesla Optimus will be available for purchase in 2026; Trump will fire someone in his cabinet; White Lotus Season 4 will release; Dave Rubin will hit 4M YouTube subscribers; Jasmine Crockett won’t win Texas Senate; Dan won’t get sick at ARC 2026; U.S. won’t sweep Winter Olympics.

Notable examples

Seahawks to win the Super Bowl; Rumble Wallet enabling crypto payments to creators.

Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.

Chapters

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2026 Predictions Overview

1:00 to 1:52

The host outlines the structure and purpose of predicting key events for 2026.

“And then, of course, most of them will pretend they were right no matter what happens.”

Predictions on Politics and War

1:52 to 3:58

The host discusses predictions regarding Gavin Newsom's campaign and the Russia-Ukraine war.

“No moving goalposts, no rewriting history.”

Sports Predictions

3:58 to 6:06

The host makes predictions about winners of the NBA Finals and the Super Bowl.

“Well, there are several rumors there that Michelle is actually Michael, that Barack Obama's been dating Jennifer Aniston.”

Tech and Economy Predictions

6:06 to 7:09

Discussion about the Federal Reserve's actions and predictions on Tesla's products.

“It feels like for a little bit of drama, that sort of thing.”

Cultural Predictions and Wrap-Up

7:09 to 13:20

Final predictions on various cultural topics and a recap of the discussion.

“Hey, I'm Dan Harris, host of the 10 % Happier podcast.”
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Transcript

Automatic transcript. May contain errors.

0:00We have the tech to get food delivered in 15 minutes, but we all have horror stories about buying tickets. The GameTime app gives fans the advantage. Get amazing tickets in just a few taps. Fees are included, so what you see is what you pay. And the GameTime guarantee means authentic tickets at the best price every time. Take the guesswork out of buying tickets to concerts, sports, comedy, and more with GameTime. Download the GameTime app and create an account for$20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Hey, I'm Dan Harris, host of the 10 % Happier podcast. With summer winding down, now is the perfect time to hit the reset button.

0:37So many of us get stuck in ruts at work, in our relationships, in our nervous system. We've got a special series where I'm going to be talking to psychologists, meditation teachers, even some comedians about how to get out of that rut, how to reset your life in lots of different super practical ways. 10 % Happier with Dan Harris. Join the party wherever you get your podcasts. All right, guys. Happy New Year, everybody. Yes, it is that time of the year. The calendar flips. The diets begin. The experts make their guesses. And then, of course, most of them will pretend they were right no matter what happens.

1:14Well, I'm not going to do that. I am recording this at the end of December of 2025 before any of these things actually happen. And in this video that we are putting out on January 3rd, 2026, I will lay out all of my 2026 predictions. What's coming in politics, economy, culture, celebrity, and the media narratives that they'll be pushing, whether they're true or not. Some of this stuff, I suppose, will sound obvious. Some of it will make you uncomfortable. And a few of these predictions are probably going to age pretty well. I've got a decent track record. But here's the key part. We're going to revisit this at the end of 2026 and see how I did.

1:56No moving goalposts, no rewriting history. We're going to put it all on the record. Oh, and for the record, my team put all these questions in, so I have no idea what I'm about to make predictions on other than the broad topics that I just mentioned. So without further ado, here are my predictions for 2026. Here we go. Will Gavin Newsom announce his presidential campaign? That's how we're starting this thing. Will he do it in 2026? That seems very early to me. And with the midterms a-coming, he won't do it before then. And then that really only leaves the rest of November and December. I'm going to say no.

2:41Gavin Newsom will not announce a presidential run in 2026. Who will win? The NBA Finals, Oklahoma City Thunder, Denver Nuggets, New York Knicks, Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers, or San Antonio Spurs. In that, I have not watched a minute of the NBA this year. And I suppose you could have picked any of the teams in that entire thing. I'm going to pick, you know, and the Heat were not on that list even. I was going to try to pull for my own Miami Heat. I'm going to say the San Antonio Spurs because they've got the tall guy, Wemba Wacko, who doesn't have to dribble and can dunk from the three-point line.

3:18Will Russia-Ukraine war end? Okay. I will predict this. It's something that I said towards the latter half of 25, which is that Trump is going to need major wins before the midterms. I think there's going to be a bunch of economic wins. But I think doing something on the Russia-Ukraine thing before the midterms will bode really, really well. I'm thinking like summer of 26, June, July of 26. That's what I would look at. I think, yes, it will mostly be wrapped up. Maybe not like the perfect peace. You know, it may end up sort of like an Israel Hamas thing. It's not like peace, peace, but at least the temporary stoppage of the killing.

3:57Yes, I will say that. Will Barack Obama divorce Michael?

4:06Well, there are several rumors there that Michelle is actually Michael, that Barack Obama's been dating Jennifer Aniston. No, I think the Obama thing has to continue and they have to keep going with that. So no, the Obamas will remain married because otherwise you'd have to split up all that Netflix money and nobody wants to lose their half of that. But who will win the Super Bowl? The Los Angeles Rams, the Buffalo Bills, the Seattle Seahawks, the Denver Broncos, or the Philadelphia Eagles? Again, I'm just getting no love for Florida here. Sorry, Dolphins. I'm going to say the Seattle Seahawks.

4:48Haven't watched the game all year. You know, is, yeah, okay. Will the Fed cut rates in 2026? 2026. Yes, I think the Fed will cut rates in 2026. Again, I think the economy is going to start turning. I think Trump realizes the severity of the hour that if he doesn't do major, major stuff before the midterms that the bloodbath will be a coming. So yes, I do think that the Fed will somehow get involved in this. And if the rates come down and people start seeing they can buy houses again and it just loosens up that liquidity in the economy, that will be real good. Will Tesla's Optimus robot be available for purchase?

5:29I think Elon said, well, didn't he originally say end of 25, if I'm not mistaken? Now they're probably looking at end of 26. Yeah, I'm going to say yes. I feel like he's got something big coming this year. It's probably not going to be the colony on Mars just yet. You know, people, we've had a sort of joke in the house about, like, whether we're going to get the Optimus robot or not. And it's like, in some sense, you can't fight City Hall. These things are always coming. Now, do we want more devices that are listening to everybody and spying on you? and is the robot just going to attack me in the middle of the night?

5:57Like all of those things. But to me, I think I'm going to get it when that thing comes out. And it's going to sit right there and it's going to be staring at you guys throughout the show. Will Trump fire anyone in his cabinet? That's a good one. So will anyone get fired this year? Well, look, what do we know? We know that Bongino just left. He hasn't fired anyone yet, right? It feels like for a little bit of drama, that sort of thing. All right. All right. I'm going to say Trump will fire somebody. I don't know who it's going to be, but it will be somebody. Will Elon come on the Rubin Report? You know, for two years, you know, I've met with him several times.

6:36And for two years, me and him have been going back and forth on when we could do it. And we wanted to do it on location at the Tesla factory and some other things. Then we were going to try to pull it off here in Miami. And then there were a lot of other things that went on. We were going to do it right when I came back on the grid. And then Charlie was killed. Yes. Elon 2026 Rubin Report. It will finally happen. Will the Tesla Roadster? Well, this is very Elon related. Will the Tesla Roadster come out in 26? I don't know what the roadmap is on that thing. I know there's a new Model X right now.

7:05Yeah, I'm bullish on Elon. The Roadster will come out. Will 2026 be the year of the midget? Hey, I'm Dan Harris, host of the 10 % Happier podcast. When life gets a little rough, sometimes we feel this overwhelming urge to fix everything, which really is impossible. So I've got a new series coming up called Reset, where we're going to help you find simple, practical, surgical ways to reset key areas of your life. The lineup is incredible. We've got people like Gretchen Rubin, Laurie Santos, Atul Gawande, and The Daily Show's Josh Johnson. 10 % Happier with Dan Harris. Join the party wherever you get your podcasts.

8:09massively spiked, then went down a little bit. I think it's going to be a very good year for Bitcoin. I think there's going to be a continued decentralization of the internet. One of the things I'm very excited about this year is Rumble has Rumble Wallet now. So you'll be able to pay creators using various cryptocurrencies and exchange them all within the wallet, which is super cool. Obviously, we're not going to be the only company to do that, but that should be pretty awesome. So I'm bullish on the Bitcoin. Will Dave Rubin hit 4 million subscribers? If I'm not mistaken, we're around 3.2. Our goal was we wanted to hit three mil by, uh, on YouTube by the time I went off the grid.

8:44So end of July of last year, which we hit that 4 million. So another 800 ,000 this year. Yeah. Yeah. This is the year of sanity. This is the year of normal people. And you know, that's, that's where I shine. Thanks to these lunatics. Will Jasmine Crockett win her Senate race. Oh God.

9:09Well, Jasmine Crockett win her Senate race. I can't see Texas doing it. I'm probably going to be wrong about this one, right? Like that's just, they got Mondami in New York, but like, will, will they do it in Texas? I hope not. I, you know, she's a Houston area person. It's a very specific thing. Her attitude, the dumb commentary, like, no, I don't think so. Will Dave get sick again at ARC 2026? That's a very specific question. I was extremely ill during all of ARC last time. I get sick maybe once a year. I ended 25 a little under the weather, but there's been some major flu-like thing going out all over Florida, and it's been all over the country.

9:54But Florida, we don't get sick this time of year. This is when the weather is the best. Had that at the end of the year. Will I get? No, I will be completely fine. ARC is in June this time. ARC, actually, if I'm not mistaken, it's like the 22nd to 25th of June, something like that. And my big 50th birthday is June 26th. Five-oh, people. Will Cory Booker come out of the closet? Well, Mr. Booker just got married to a woman, which to me is like the biggest sign that he's gay. So who knows? Will Trump's tariffs be shut down by the Supreme Court? That's an interesting one. I don't think so. But it seems like some of it will get fought in the Supreme Court.

10:34But I don't think so. I think they would ultimately, especially the more conservative members of the Supreme Court, would view that as that would be a pretty big bridge to have to say that the The judiciary branch is allowed to stop the economic branch as it comes to trade deals and economic policy. So I don't think so. Will White Lotus Season 4 come out? I hope so. Are they definitely doing a White Lotus Season 4? I hope it does. It's a great show. I don't watch too many shows. I really like Season 3. I know a lot of people thought it wasn't as great. I really enjoyed it. It's beautifully shot.

11:11If you haven't watched it, the music's great. The acting's great. It's funny and dark and twisted and weird and all that stuff. Will Zorhan and Trump have a public clash similar to Zelensky's meeting this year? You know, that's interesting because Trump definitely did a keep your friends close and your enemies closer with him at the White House. And that whole moment with Trump sitting at the Oval Office at the desk and Zorhan standing there. There's going to be something. There's going to be something. I mean, what would be the obvious one is that it's going to come down to ICE because if ICE continues the raids, which they damn well better, they're going to be up against it in New York where they're going to actively.

11:49It's not just that they're not going to work with ICE, but he's making it clear the city is going to use its resources against ICE and gin up the people against ICE. So, yeah, a clash is a common there. Will the USA sweep the Winter Olympics in February? Where are the Olympics this year? They're in. Where are they? Anyone know? Anyone know? Olympics. We're in the Olympics this year. In February, I'm told the Olympics are coming. They're going to be in Cortina. Milano-Cortina. Will the U.S. sweep them? No, we're not going to sweep them. You know, we're a world superpower. We do rake in most of the medals, but a clean sweep, it's impossible.

12:26It's impossible. Oh, and I see this is the final question and perhaps the most interesting of all. Will anyone be fired at the Rubin Report in 2026?

12:41Thank you for watching, everybody. We'll recap this at the end of the year.

12:50Hey, I'm Dan Harris, host of the 10 % Happier podcast. With summer winding down, now is the perfect time to hit the reset button. So many of us get stuck in ruts at work, in our relationships, in our nervous system. We've got a special series where I'm going to be talking to psychologists, meditation teachers, even some comedians. about how to get out of that rut, how to reset your life in lots of different super practical ways. 10 % Happier with Dan Harris. Join the party wherever you get your podcasts.

From the publisher

Dave Rubin of "The Rubin Report" shares his 2026 predictions on Gavin Newsom's possible presidential run; who'll win the NBA finals; if Trump will finally be able to bring an end to Russia's war with Ukraine; if Barack Obama will divorce Michelle Obama; who will win the Super Bowl; if Tesla will roll out its Optimus robots; if Trump will fire a prominent cabinet member; if Elon Musk will appear on the Rubin Report; the price of Bitcoin; if there will be a major showdown between Zohran Mamdani and Donald Trump; if Jasmine Crockett will win her senate race; if Trump's tariffs will get shut down by the Supreme Court and much more.

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