here is how I did it:
click the following items
control center
desktop
behavior
under general tab, click on "show icons on desktop". I usually have this disabled myself, because I dislike icons on the desktop. However, for the case of removable media like usb drives, it makes sense to enable them
device icons
enable the "show device icons" if it is currently disabled
enable "mounted removable medium" if it is currently disabled.
I imagine you can toggle anything from this point up, and then hit "apply", then toggle back and hit "apply" and it should work.
I also disabled essentially everything except the "mounted removable medium"