How Natalie Harp Keeps Fueling Trump’s Delusions | The Daily Beast Podcast

This question about Natalie Harp is how important is she to Trump? How much is she controlling access to him and access to information? He's getting these printouts from her. which present a distorted version of reality. He is historically the most unpopular president ever, except for Nixon. in his final week in office. Is Donald Trump getting a true version of reality? Is he ignoring that true version of reality? Or is he being presented. with a distorted version of reality that are going to be more departures? We have talked about whether Susie Wiles is on your way out.

It is increasingly a smaller circle, and there is Natalie and she is available round the clock in a medieval court. Just being in the presence of the king was what mattered. And we've all observed that there is a lot in common. between the medieval court and the world of Donald Trump. I'm trying to Kohl's. This is the Daily Beast podcast, and this is very confusing. It's Wednesday, but Hugh Doherty is here because Hugh is about to take. a well-deserved vacation.

So we are going to squeeze all the information out of him before he goes. And you know where we're going to start. Yes, we're going to start with me. asking you to subscribe to the Daily Beast podcast. You get lots of extra content. You can become a beast here. A friend of the beast. We are independent media, which allows us to have conversations. you can't get on other forms of media, and I'm thrilled to share that The Daily Beast is now on Substack. Bringing you the world as it really is.

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Natalie Harp. I bet I'm making a bet here. And I may be wrong with you that our viewers and our listeners. may not have seen Natalie Harp at her peak on One America Network, so we have put a little collection. of clips together for you to enjoy. We can't talk about winning back the House. and Senate in 2022 and the white House in 2024. If we don't act on the fact that we actually did win the white House.

and the Senate in 2020, we shouldn't be afraid to say that because it's true. We the people know America as we know it could be ending in the next. 2 or 4 years, which is exactly what President Trump is warning of. They think if they can get President. Trump, they can get the 75 million people to shut up and stand down. America's ending. She's an election denier. How marvelous that the president is spending so much time with Natalie Harp.

Who would. who would you not want by your side, but somebody who has predicted. the end of America. In fact, America has, by that standard, ended. Joanna, I don't know. I'm going on vacation next week, as you've said. Well, it may not be here. Are we are we all here saying this is. who is is not Sally harp? Well, that is the question that everybody in Washington, D.C., everybody around the white House has been asking. And there are there is so much to discuss.

But, Natalie Harp, I think the first thing we should say is that she is crazy. glued to Donald Trump, said she has no official, you know, title or role that explains exactly what she does. But she is with Donald Trump almost around the clock. People have described presidents as having body. Men might remember that they've become kind of famous. They might remember them in The West Wing.

in the fictional West Wing. I should say that this is a key person who follows the president around and gives. them, gives him his comb, gives him mints, helps him out, working out. who's who's who he's looking at and who he's talking to. Well, it's like a friend, a friend in chief, right? Because it's a lonely job being a president, I totally understand why people need people around them to help them. And also they're going in and out with, you know, they're going in and out with different visitors. I mean, Trump is always surrounded by people. He's an 80 year old man. He's in his ninth decade.

I'm sure he can't remember. exactly who he's talking to half the time, because who among us can, frankly. But it's not uncommon for someone that age to not remember names. But she appears to have an enormous amount. We beyond this. Exactly. And this is this is why everybody is asking who is Natalie Hart? Because she appears to be controlling access to him, and she's controlling the information that he is given. We have learned this week from, of all people, Marjorie Taylor Greene,

that there's a special codeword that you need to get past. Natalie Harp to get information in front of Donald Trump. And you'll remember, of course, that Marjorie Taylor Greene and Donald Trump. spectacularly fell out last year over the Epstein Files. And Marjorie Taylor. Greene has now revealed that if you want to know. if Natalie Harp has helped you get your information. in front of Trump, she will send a one word reply to your texts. Printed.

Printed the code word so that you know that the president. has received and read your message, or at least heard your message. Because we know the president doesn't read. And what we know is that we know with Trump. that, as you say, he is an 80 year old man. The amount of information that goes in front of. presidents has traditionally been huge. And we know that Donald Trump doesn't. consume information in the same way as other presidents have. He is relying on information that's given to him. in the form of printouts by Natalie Harp.

And he is she is giving him weird, crazy stuff from the internet. We know this because he then puts it on Truth Social. or she posted it for or she posts it for him. So Michael Wolff, obviously my co-host. on Inside Trump's Head, has been writing about Natalie Harp. ever since the Secret Service flagged to him that they were concerned. she could be a danger to herself and a danger to the president. because she is clearly, it seems like, obsessed.

And there was a new story from CNN yesterday that she had screamed. and yelled when the president was on his way. one day through one of his various court appearances, and she screamed so loudly and had an absolute meltdown. that she jumped in the back of one of the SUVs trunks. to ensure that she would get to the court and be there. And she insisted that the president said she must accompany him. And this this, you know, Michael Wolff has led the way on this story.

And one of the one of the things I think has been particularly I'm not going to go. as far as scandalous, but let's say questionable about the elite D.C. media is that Natalie Harp has been in front of the eyes of white House reporters. since the day that Trump returned to power, and they did not tell us this. They didn't mention it. They didn't raise it. We at The Daily Beast have been covering Natalie Harp, really, since Michael Wolff. broke this news about her, her closeness, and we've been relentless.

and saying, here is Natalie Hart with Donald Trump. Natalie Harp is accompanying him here and here and here. And others did not do that. And I just want to take a moment to say to our subscribers, thank you. By subscribing. That's the sort of story that you support us doing. But also I like to say we are now there's now a frenzy of interest. because people have realized there is a 35 year old woman. with no apparent qualifications who is the key gatekeeper.

It appears to an 80 year old president. She is feeding him weird, crazy stories, which he is posting on Truth Social. What else is she telling him? We've hints about that this week. We have revelations about the letters that she sent, that. she has sent to him in the past, and we have questions about. what is the nature of this relationship, that he is so close to, somebody who even her brother says is obsessed by presidents.

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father died by suicide, something her brother has talked about. and said Natalie obviously had enormous issues with, and she refused to talk to people about how he died. She said he died asleep in his bed, and she's entitled. to spin whatever story she wants to about how her father died. But it's interesting that the two of them, both Donald Trump and Natalie, seem close, seem so close and and actually, Benji Wilson, our social media person, came up with a new word today, having spent.

a lot of time looking at videos of Natalie Harp and photos of Natalie Harp. that she has increasingly begun to look like. Ivana Trump, Trump's daughter who was around. during the first administration, no longer around she and Jared Kushner. Her husband, Jared, obviously is an envoy for President Trump, trying to sort out peace in Gaza, peace in Ukraine and now peace in Iran. But when he's not doing that, he's he's. hanging out with Ivanka, and she posts a lot on social media.

And I think Benji's point was we're seeing the Ivanka. of Natalie Harp. Well, this this goes to the. the closeness that there is between Trump and Natalie Harp, Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, the other biographers of Donald Trump. In their latest book, Regime Change, they reveal that Trump said ought to. to his aides, you will all leave me, but Natalie never will. Oh, not only will they leave him and they are beginning to leave him,

but his family have left, right? So if anchors not there. She said politics was too cruel and Melania is the least. visible first lady this century. I mean, she hasn't been seen for a month. She was last seen at the final of the FIFA World Cup and before. that she was seen at the UFC fight. But she is not an omnipresent first lady. She's not rushing off to meet military wives. So. Trump. seems particularly isolated and lonely.

Anthony Scaramucci has said on this podcast. He's getting meaner, so she's basically an emotional. chief of staff for him because many of his other aides are leaving. People who've been in there since the beginning of Trump two are now leaving. Yeah. Mikey Hebert again described. described her as an emotional support blanket or a key. I think a binky. This question about Natalie Harp is how important is she to Trump,

how much is she controlling access to him and access to information? What is you know, one of the things that we all wonder about other people is where are they. getting all their news from, where are they getting their information. from? And quite clearly, we know that Donald Trump was watching. the television and he's getting these printouts from her, which present a distorted version of reality. They are presenting polling that he is the most popular president ever. I don't even need to break news here. He's not. He is historically the most unpopular president ever, except for Nixon.

in his final week in office. Apart from that, that's that's the law that he's still to go to. So do you think Donald Trump knows that or do you think he's protected from that? I think I think this is the question that people are going to want to dig into, especially the Democrats, if they get the House. Is Donald Trump getting a true version of reality? Is he ignoring that true version of reality, or is he being presented with a distorted version of reality? Because people, as you say, he's meaner, are too scared to tell him,

and he's turning to his binky to see to give him. a version of reality that works for him well. And I was very struck when he was asked about the complaints. of the military families, about the sailors on board the U.S.S. Lincoln, which is in the Gulf right now. They've been at sea for, I think, 260 days. At this point. They're complaining to families that there isn't enough food, that there are mental. health issues on the plane, that the toilets have been backed up.

And when asked about this and whether or not the deployment. was too long, Donald Trump snapped not long enough. And you think, well, how would you say, why wouldn't you say. something like, we love our military, they're doing an incredible job. Why wouldn't he fly out there and take advantage of the opportunity. to go on one of those enormous aircraft carriers and say, I'm. standing with our troops. The American military is the best in the world. Instead, he's holed up with Natalie Harp or as John Ossoff, who really brought Natalie out into the sunshine, said.

he just wants to travel with Natalie on his luxury plane. And, you know, there are very revealing, insightful photos. of Natalie Harp with Donald Trump, the reporters going back in 2025. They were pictured on Air Force One looking out the window. because he was going to the US open. And he's kind of staring down with. And you can see that on screen if you're watching on on YouTube right now. There is also this video of her at the weekend in Bedminster, where she is right there with him and there's a crowd.

is maybe an exaggeration, but there's a group of people in Bed Minster. who are cheering for Trump. This is his golf club. These are his supporters. This is not real life, but this is the real life. As he understands it. They are cheering for him. And as he walks away, Natalie. turns round, does a thumbs up sign and somebody shouts thank you! Natalie. So she is becoming much more a public figure. This is very obvious. She is as she enjoying this limelight.

We don't know, but she is smiling. She is making gestures. She is giving a thumbs up. She looks like she's kind of fun to hang out with, right? She's not depressed. She doesn't look like she's got the weight of the world on her shoulders. She doesn't look like the president. The man that she is spending all her time with has started a forever war. that he can't get out of. And he's about to lose the midterms. And, you know, I would like to hang out with Natalie if I were the president. She looks like she's a good news bear. And she carries a bag around with her with whatever it is that he needs. People have been speculating wildly about that.

She is this. The sense of offering support is very, very obvious. And and no one else appears to be is. And that's you know, Caroline Leavitt is leaving the the white House counsel is leaving. There's been more departures. We were we were hitting four already this month. And it's only the 19th. Labor day is coming up. There are going to be more departures. We have talked about whether Susie Wiles is on the way out. It is increasingly a smaller circle,

and there is Natalie and she is available around the clock. She has made clear, you know, in her letters to Trump that she will be there for him. And she signed one of them will end this week. All my heart, Natalie. So this is somebody that clearly Trump can reliably turn to to be there. And, you know, in a medieval court, just being in the presence of the king. was what mattered. And we've all observed that there is a lot in common. between the medieval court and the world of Donald Trump.

I wonder how people get their messages to Natalie, because obviously, if she's the gatekeeper, she becomes someone that everybody else. is trying to maneuver either around or get to. Yes. Well, and Marjorie Taylor Greene was very clear that she had a texting relationship. with Natalie and that that was absolutely, you know, really important to her. And I think one of the things that's worth seeing here. about this question of a gatekeeper is.

we are, as I've said, coming up to the midterms, quite possibly. facing a blue wave, quite possibly the Senate flipping as well as the House. And they are going to subpoena people and they're going to subpoena. rather obviously, Natalie Harp. And what we've seen this week with this. unbelievable meltdown that's come from inside MAGA about Natalie. Harp, about John also daring to say four words and traveling with Natalie.

He has been shouted at. He's been called a sexist. He's been accused of attacking a young woman. She's 35. I don't think you know that. Somebody that somebody that needs protection. She is a graduate. She's got an MBA, she's a career as a TV anchor. I think she can speak for herself if she wants to. But Trump's attack machine has gone after join us. as the lowest of the law and vile and a misogynist. The hypocrisy is so obvious, but I don't think we even need to discuss it.

But we're on the dole. Did did Jon Ossoff hurt you, MAGA? It's an incredible response that shows when the. if the Democrats get power and go after a subpoena from Natalie Harp, there's going to be an explosion of rage. in the white House because she knows so much. And this is the white House that does not want scrutiny. Now, if you want to know how Natalie sort of came into this world, I really had you to listen to Inside Trump's Head from yesterday.

Michael Wolff really gets into where she came from, her. background, her Christian universities, her 36 hour MBA, possibly. And he goes into it in great depth. And we have a reading of one of her letters that he has in his book, All or Nothing. So I really enjoy you. If you are interested in Natalie Harp at the end of this podcast, to. to sign up and watch it, because it's it's fun and it's very informative.

And he really has passed on this story since, since the beginning. And it does show you because, you know, President Trump isn't. the only president or prime minister to want to spend time with young women. It shows you how. isolating power can be and how lonely it can be, especially now that Trump is 80 and mean and people don't want to hang out with it. I think it's worth pointing out that recent presidencies,

and I mean the rest of the presidencies of the century, have had. unusually strong marriages. You know, we go back the Clintons, the Kennedys, LBJ, we know a lot about these, about the managers of these presidencies having troubles and difficulties. And, you know, you can go back further and further. But unusually, we have had a series of very present first. ladies or a bush only present in the white House.

Absolutely. George W Bush were absolutely a family unit in the white House. And they had their girls. They had their twins. They had the twins there. And, you know, Jenna Bush Hager frequently talks about her times in the white House. This was a family that was in the white House. That was absolutely together. The Obamas, we all know. I mean, those pictures of this young family, this glamorous couple playing on the South Lawn. This was, you know, Barack Obama went home to dinner. every night and almost every night, I think, I'm sure Michelle Obama would say.

not enough, but, you know, but he was this was absolutely the case. And Joe and Joe Biden, absolutely a family unit. The troubled children around the grandchildren were there. And this is this this white House is a completely different social, familial scene that we haven't really you have to go back in history. and look for other examples where the first lady is not there. So who does Trump turn to? His children are not there. His grandchildren are younger. They're not.

You know, the Biden grandchildren were in their 20s. Kai, the oldest of them, is just starting at college in the Trump family. But this is a completely different setup, one that we haven't seen in recent years. And that's, you know, the backdrop to this is the missing First lady. Well, it also seems like it's a very performative family. So when you think of Trump winning the election and those big photos. where they all stand. around him in a sort of semicircle and then they all disappear, then you just really don't hear about them other than them doing business deals,

which, you know, they've been able to be the beneficiary of him being president. Yes. This is a this is not a family that comes together. out of simple, simple bonds of affection. Well, there was an interesting video. on social media at the weekend from Bedminster. Someone had filmed it and put it out there where he is. sitting with her father, and Melania's father is also at their table. They're playing Y.M.C.A.

and she just looks embarrassed and she's like, she just looks mortified to be there. Victor navs Lani, his father, is on his phone and Trump is. just sort of looking around the room, slightly disengaged. Yes. And Eleanor Harbor right behind, like Melania is sitting right behind him. In fact, I actually initially oh, I think loads of people did a double. take of that Melania because, well, wouldn't you expect Melania to be there? Well you would. And of course, Donald Trump did a double take with Jean Carroll.

and misidentified her as Marla maples. second wife during one of his his some depositions. So, you know, a lot of mistaking going on. Okay, so Natalie Harp, I think that was a good move. for John Ossoff, don't you, Jon Ossoff, you know, young senator in Georgia, tight race to get elected. but got elected and is clearly emerging as a Democratic darling. Well, he he is very favored to win to win a real action in Georgia in November.

The polls are suggesting that he's an advantage of even towards double digits. Jon Ossoff is far and away the best performer that the Democrats. have had in in this election cycle at the moment. But in this in this populist movement, he has done something. that none of the other Democrats who are running, we assume, for president in 2028 have managed to do, which is to break.

through this week with this Natalie I mentioned, it's hiding in plain sight. There she is. There she was on food truck one. Yes. I mean, she was with the president at a point of high security drama. And this, you know, I just think I mentioned earlier, thank you to our subscribers for allowing us to do this. Thank you to Michael Wolff for breaking these stories. There is a DC elite that doesn't want to talk about this. It's it's unseemly. How can you do this? It's not policy.

There is nothing more important than who the president is advised by. and surrounded with. And we are absolutely right to want to know who's in the president's ear. These, you know, and many of the people that are going after John Ossoff. for saying this are people who are very happy to impeach Bill Clinton. for his relationship with Monica Lewinsky, are not giving that a pass. But there is obviously hypocrisy going on here. One of the people that want to join us off to apologize was Gingrich.

And I do think you can get a rich or double standard than that. Newt Gingrich, although it's Newt speaking much at the moment, he is he spends much of his time in Switzerland, where his wife, his third wife, Callista, is the ambassador. And I, just as an aside, say you should check her remarkable social media. She appears to be an aggressive user of that face tuning software, but she does not extend this courtesy to her husband. Oh goodness, Callista, I wonder if she's being passive aggressive there.

Okay, so Natalie Harp, Jon Ossoff, Melania, like Mitch McConnell, is nowhere to be seen. She has not been seen, as you said, Joanna, since the FIFA World Cup. soccer final in over in the Meadowlands in New Jersey. She brought Barron a very rare sighting of Baron, but we haven't seen her. We have asked repeatedly what is doing? Where is she? We even asked there was a sighting and we're going to be breaking that.

We've broken this news today in our swamp. Newsletter must read guides to what's really going on in DC. There was a spotting of one of the executive jets that the white House. used to fly around people, including the vice president, sometimes the secretary of State, and quite often the first lady. One of them was spotted really unusually, in Glasgow. This is my native city, Glasgow, I know. Were they doing in Glasgow? We have asked why was this executive plane in Glasgow?

It was not flying as Air Force One or Air Force Two, so it has a normal cosine. But that is how exactly how people, including. first ladies and secretaries of state, are regularly moved around. Do you think someone was going to play golf in Scotland? Trump has two golf courses in Scotland, right? So it's not that it's not beyond the bounds of possibility. And I just read it because we asked and they said we. and we don't have an answer and we do. We don't have answers. from the first lady's office about what has she been doing?

Where has she been? Is she in Florida? Is she in New York? Is she in DC? We don't know. Well, we know how the story outs that Mar-A-Lago too. So it's very, very strange. So but what we do know and I'm just going to do two things. First thing I should say is what we do know is how little she's been seen. If you're watching on YouTube, you can see a brilliant graphic. that our lives with Brockway has done, which shows. how little we know of for millennia, is she's been seen at once.

every six days this year, on average, nothing in the past 31 days. And you think of how much comfort she might bring to military families. right now, worried about their loved ones on the US. Lincoln. There are so many things right? And one could see it's between July and August. It's summer. It's a kind of time to relax. So we ran the sums. Second term. Michelle Obama was seen 11 times in exactly. that same month, that same time period between June, July the 19th.

and August the 19th, and in the Obama second term. So, you know, other people have been seen, the other. but what I will say is that we also have news on Melania. She's going to be seen tomorrow. if you're watching, if you're watching this, I should say on Wednesday, I'm just going to be seen on Thursday in D.C. we know nothing more. And it is a mysterious appearance. And it's been announced by Mark Beckman, who has, oh,

nice and wiser advice, the man behind the deal that made her a documentary star. We have and we have both seen that documentary, Melania, of course, produced by Amazon. Yes. Or distributed by attributed by Amazon. Yes, it was the 40 million documentary with 35 million more spent on promoting. Yes. Well, it made us watch. Right. And which, so you don't have to said was the world's most successful. documentary, the best documentary, never seen anything like it.

And all I know about what is going to happen is that. she is going to return to popular popular culture and public life. with a pop down on culture, with a plop down on culture. We do not know. I do plop down. We do not know. Down on culture doesn't sound great. We don't know. We will keep you informed. We will be updating millennials. So I wonder if it would be like the Daily Beast unexpected appearance. where she suddenly popped up and said, I don't know. Jeffrey Epstein, who Jeffrey Epstein never met.

Certainly a pop down, wasn't it? That was certainly. And even Donald Trump, her husband, said that he had basically advised against it. Yeah, yeah. And was clearly very surprised by it. Yes. This is all this is all the mystery of of Melania. And I just think we have a duty to say, where is the first lady. and what is she doing? Because I'm First lady is not an official rule. It's not in the legislation, it's not in the Constitution. But she is thrown about by government, yet she is guarded.

by the Secret Service, and she has a staff that we are paying for. And I think it's entirely appropriate for us and for others to ask. where that money is being spent. Well, well, I can't wait for her appearance tomorrow. So I was also watching with great interest the debate that Darlene Graham was in. when she was facing a grilling from Greta Van. Susteren, who was a brilliant interviewer at one point, has sort of gone off.

onto right wing media now, but at one point was on CNN and, well, can we play the claim we have the clip, Senator, are Taiwan and the South China. Sea national security issues for the United States? If so, why? I'm sorry. Could you repeat the question, are Taiwan and the South China Sea national. security issues for the United States, and if so, why or how? I'm just going to be honest here. I'm not on national security, that I'm not that informed.

on national security. So. But I do support the military. My brother was in the Air Force for 33 years. I mean, I'm just going to be honest here. She's just inherited her brother's seat. Yeah, she's just inherited. It seems to know nothing about affairs of state. How is it possible that he died, what, a month ago? At this point, she very quickly said. that she was happy to step in for his seat.

The idea that she wouldn't even have a line to give. during a debate about China, about Taiwan, when it's clearly an issue that's very much top of mind, especially as we pull out the USS Washington to replace the USS Lincoln. Leaving that whole area with no aircraft carrier seems remarkable to me. So I don't know who's advising her, but it feels like she needs a Natalie harp. Natalie, get over to Darlene's side and help the woman. Come on, come on, get in the golf cart.

Head down. 95. You'll be in South Carolina eventually? Yes, with the printer. With the printer. Take your printer, your printer, printer, and maybe print out some of the things. people are saying about Darlene Graham on online, because they're not kind. And a good advisor could help. Darlene. Yeah. There was a bit of sort of groaning and booing. Yes. Said that she didn't really know anything about national security yet. She's trying to have the Senate seat. Well, she's in the Senate. She's in the Senate January. and she has the same committee assignments as her brother.

And they, of course, are focused on national security. As Trump said about her brother, there is no country that he didn't want to. bomb out. I think was roughly what Trump said. in a glowing tribute, and also that he wasn't that good at golf, right? Big and bombing bad on golf. And not many people likes him and not many people like. Yes. I mean, when he broke from his eulogy and said he was obviously reading it. for the first time, well, come on, let's face it, not everybody liked not everybody liked Lindsey.

That's the warm tribute that you want. If you want anybody to do tributes, Donald Trump, invite them over. No. You want Natalie Harp, or maybe you want to hop. I think this whole the Darlene Graham situation is it's kind of. I mean, it's mind boggling. Yeah. She inherited the seat. Then Trump decided she should get it for six years. You know, make a wolf is said there's a sort of sentimental aspect to this. And people in the comments movie. Yes. And people in the comments are like, Trump isn't sentimental.

I think that's true. But I think he recognizes how to exploit sentimentality. and sees it as a marketing tool. Here we have darling. Graham did not win the first round. She got 32.7% of the vote. So she's in a run. And those in this runoff Ralph Norman that's a fifth. As a head to head Ralph Norman, five time congressman. He has a long career. He is ultra maga. There's no you know, there's no doubt about that.

But he says, oh I'm qualified. And you're not know quite how qualified anybody is. I don't know. Just to give you a quote from Ralph Norman last night, he was asked about Doctor. Anthony Fauci and he said he should be an enormous jumpsuit. He killed a million people. So yes. And if they proved an open scientist pardon? I hope they'll retry him and put him in jail. It's all going on there. And, Caroline, I'm sorry about that.

Sounds like you could all do better between a rock and a hard place. Someone who doesn't know anything about where China is. Lee. Sarah Palin knew she could see Russia from her house. And a man who thinks Anthony Fauci killed a million people. and should be in jail. Yes. Despite the pardon as well. But I'm quite surprised that Donald Trump hasn't endorsed Ralph Norman. Well, I think Ralph Norman surprised that Donald Trump didn't endorse. Ralph Norman and everybody in South Carolina.

I think it was pretty surprised that Trump went for the 60 year term. They saw the logic of the sister getting it, but nobody really saw. the logic of a six year term here, and that's why so many of them jumped in. There were nine candidates running in this first round. We're down to two. So you know, Darlene got the highest number of votes. She got almost a third of the votes. So that makes her the frontrunner. But in Norman. But then there were eight other candidates whose votes. We don't know how they'll go. We don't know.

Airway voting starts today I believe. voting days on Tuesday. You could see there's two ways and there's been no polling since then, by the way. So we don't know. You could see there's two ways that she was the frontrunner. and she's got the Trump endorsement. So you know she should win a runoff. Or you could say two thirds of people didn't want to vote for her. That's not a good sign. We don't know. And I don't think we'll know until Tuesday. Well, I'm. sure Lindsey Graham will be urging her on from that voting booth in the sky. I think you when he heard the national security thing,

I imagine he was spinning rather energetically in his grave. Well, I mean, that's what he was known for, right? Well, as you say, Donald Trump said about him, he'd never met a country. he didn't want to bomb. Yes. And of course, Trump. actually endorsed both people running for the governor of South Carolina. When it became clear that his first endorsement wasn't. likely to win the seat, he promptly endorsed both candidates. So an endorsement from Trump at this point in the game doesn't. necessarily mean very much. No. And we just had primaries last night,

among other places, Florida two, Trump and Dorsey's lost there. There's been a series of Trump endorses who have lost in the primaries as well. The Democrats flipped a Trump 19 Senate seat. in the state Senate in Pennsylvania, in Butler County. Sacred ground for for for MAGA because that's the county, of course, with the assassination attempt happened on Trump. when he was running for his third, third attempt to election. So there are bad signs here.

about the grip on power loosening and the grip on endorsements loosening. He is all in on Darlene. He is going to be rallying there. We understand before later this week. And if that doesn't get her across the line, that's pretty. that's pretty embarrassing. It's humiliating. There's a great clip. I don't know if. you've seen it, of John Ossoff talking about JD Vance, his recent visit. And he says, you know, he held a rally. Nobody went, nobody went. Yeah.

The energy that when. energy slips away, when it when it becomes. a less enticing prospect, it can to quote that old Hemingway joke, it can happen. gradually and then all and all at once, all at once. But there is a person who's looking for energy. and wanting it all to happen all once, of course. Joanna, we need to talk about Scott Jennings, Scott. Jennings, Scott Jennings, who's had a makeover in the last year.

I've commented. on always commenting on his vehicle because it's it's a big makeover. And I used to run into Scott behind the scenes occasionally at CNN. Both they're gossip and, well, he's he's lost a ton of weight. He's grown a beard, and he's clearly been working very hard. As CNN's pet Republican Pet Trumper. for this job of white House press spokesperson. Yes.

And I think some people are going to be saying, why are we talking about Scott Jennings? Right. It's a media story. It's a sort of thing that people are obsessed by. It's really it goes back to the Natalie Harp issue. The press secretary. and the Trump White House is always one of the most important people, way more. so than any other white House, because Trump lives to be in the press. He loves it. That's what his existence is about. And and also, Carolyn Leavitt. has actually been a very effective press secretary for him.

Occasionally when I say that, it inspires lots of comments. Yes, she's terrible. She's terrible. Why are you saying that you like her? I'm not saying I like her. What I'm saying is. I think she's been effective at her job, which is dividing the press, bringing it. I mean, they now choose who is in the room, the for the press briefings. It used to be the white House press correspondents that decided that. or the white House Press Association. Now it's the Trump, the Trump administration who decides that.

And so the white House has filled it with Trumpers. and MAGA supporters who ask questions like, please, Mr. President, tell us again how brilliant are you? Which is unhelpful. Well, I was hoping you'd ask me that, Joanna. That's why I came in here today. But. Yeah. Caroline, look. You're right. It's fed up of being screamed, fed up. The president and the people in the comments are right. Her record is not one of truthfulness. It's not one of owners.

It's not one of allowing the president to be held to account. That's what Trump wants. And that's why we are. We have said that she does a good job in those terms, because we're always trying to analyze in those terms. You know what? What does it mean for Trump? So she needs a successor. He needs a successor. He needs somebody to come in. who has got the ability to hold the presence in front of the cameras, who looks the part in some shape or form,

and who will defend him to the hilt. Well, exactly. And who has the ability to spin and to take questions and spin them as if. in a laundry and and take them back out, open the door, take them back out. And they're completely different to the question that was being asked. So sort of master of smoke and Mirrors and over here. and never answering the direct question. I mean, it's what Trump does when he insults. people and shouts quiet, piggy, or be quiet.

or fake news, as he does to Caitlin Collins and her colleagues. Do we think it will be Scott Jennings? I mean, Michael, this is convinced that he wants a young woman doing it. This is this is an amazing race. And I don't mean the old CBS. Sure. This is a full on, you know, it's a brawl. It's I going it's backstabbing, it's knifing. Who are the candidates? Well, first of all, we don't know.

There's an official list of candidates, but we know who they. who wants to those jobs. Scott Jennings is auditioning for it and on CNN as regularly as he can. I do not think there is. any more dangerous place than between Scott Jennings and a CNN camera. If you get in the way, that's bad. Elena Haba went to Bed Minster, where she's a member and sat beside Trump. She is clearly auditioning for this. No, she's one of his lawyers. She was one of his lawyers in one of his, in his many cases, hot lawyer.

Right. Although he often shouted at her and told her that she was a terrible lawyer. Well, you know, legal, you know, getting that legal review website. Donald. Other candidates are more internal ones. And a Kelly who has increasingly has a public profile on television, very good at the insult. She gives them insults. Margot Martin, who's not in television as much but is prolific on the social media.

She does a lot of the the viral and marks videos that you see of Trump. and is sometimes mistaken. at a distance for Melania because she looks very similar to Melania. Yes. Yeah. There's been there's been quite a few mix ups by a number of people, by a number of outliers and fortunately Daily Beast, we have not done that. So there, but for the grace of God. But she is somebody that is regularly confused. Well, I think it's the president. that doesn't want to get them confused by the president. Definitely doesn't. Well, what? Melania isn't there. That's an easy way to tell the difference.

We like Matthew Boyle, who is a bright Bart political journalist. He does not look the part. I don't want to sound disparaging about it, but he is not very Taylor. But for some reason it's been whispered about in D.C.. Elizabeth. People who worked in the campaign who is much more. She's on very marginal channels like she does foreign TV. sometimes she's on the BBC. Very pretty. Yes. And her father is the ambassador to Estonia.

Unusual. Unusual country to be ambassador to. He was born there. 100% confident Donald Trump couldn't pick out Estonia on a globe. Very confident of that. I'm not sure I could either. To be fair, it's really it's an easy one. It's an easy one. Or I would you might have it in your nipple. and button, which was he famously called Nepal and Bhutan. Nepal. And yes. But anyway, there's all these contenders. The prediction markets are the only thing that we've got.

any sort of numbers to deal with. And on those, Arena Harbor has recently rushed ahead. Scott Jennings has fallen behind an Achilles sort of level pegging. But we have new information this morning, which I think if you're on the prediction. markets, you might this might move Scott Jennings, by the way. That's not that's not not a we're not we're not giving tips. We do not give investment tips. But Scott Jennings, it turns out, has been secretly meeting with Susie Wiles. and Susie Wales, her grip maybe slipping, but she is really, really important here.

They have been at Morton's, the steakhouse in D.C., for at least one secret meeting. They've had others. How secret was it if they were at Morton's, which is a restaurant that other people go to? I don't think any restaurant meeting is secret. unless you're in a private room and you take a private entrance. This is a very good point. That sounds to me like it's a dinner that wanted to be seen. Well, there are two types of secrets that are silent there.

There's dinners that are really secret, and then dinners that you see are secrets. Well, there are dinners that are secret that no one ever knows about. That's there are. wing right. That suddenly. But yeah, they were. they were not spotted but this was later leaked after the event. Which makes me think that it's probably to his advantage for this to be out there. Well, the backing of Susie Wiles is clearly important, and the backing of Susie Wells is important. I'm assuming the backing of Natalie Harp is important.

Well, that's that's another thing. And, you know, if you're if you're dining in, if you're dating in Morton's, there's a chance of being seen. And that's not a bad thing to be seen with Susie Wiles. Jennings himself. We've actually we're going to be breaking a story. We have breaking a story today on The Daily Beast, a very intriguing insight into Scott Jennings. after the Queen got Jennings used to work for Mitch McConnell. I'm just reminding people he. we mentioned you mentioned that he comes from Kentucky.

Yes. But he also said that he'd spoken for 20 minutes to Mitch McConnell. We have no idea if Mitch McConnell spoke back. Yes. So Scott Jennings, after the 2020 election, he got an appointment at the Kennedy School in Harvard. to talk about government and the person who got this appointment. the year after him. These are kind of rotating things. They get in big names from either side, and they do some classes. with postgraduates. They're the next year tutor, professor, whatever you want to call.

it was Sean Spicer fresh off Strictly Come. Dancing, and Spicer, who was the first white, first white House press secretary, and of course, had to lie about the size of the crowds. and then hide behind a plan. So to avoid Donald Trump. Yeah. And a lie that he never recovered from, never recovered. because people could see the crowd size wasn't the biggest crowd size for. had never been for an inauguration. They could match it against the size of the Obama inauguration.

And Sean Spicer and his credibility never rebounded. He was mercilessly mocked on SNL. McCarthy say Melissa McCarthy, who would carry the podium around and hit people. It was such an effective shampooing. And Trump also showed a W about his cheap suit, because it was a color that Trump didn't like. It was a kind of greeny brown. Trump was really angry. Anyway, going back to Scott. Jennings, who was always immaculately dressed, was pointing out,

Scott Jennings was doing this course at Harvard, and one of his former students is writing for The Daily Beast. He's called Kevin Schroth, and among the things he learned from. Scott Jennings were that Scott Jennings had decided he wanted to have a television. career after working for Mitch McConnell, and he paid somebody to get him on CNN. This is not improper. He wasn't paying CNN, but he was paying somebody to help him get booked on CNN. And he would pay this person $25 every time he got booked.

So it looks like that investment has paid off. Well done Scott. Good investment, $25 an appearance. Yes. Wow. Obviously he has a contract with CNN. I mean, there's an intriguing ethical dilemma here for CNN. He is openly campaigning to be press secretary on their dime, on their airtime. Interesting question, I think, for CNN there. But Scott Jennings looks to me like he's aging ahead in this race today. But this is the world of Trump. So we'll be looking for the story about Scott Jennings.

We'll be looking to see if he manages to. grab the microphone and. elbow Caroline Leavitt off the stage once and for all. I wonder what Caroline's going to go do. And very well. There's a slot on CNN, the slot on CNN, and could be a one in, one out. Yeah. Very interesting. A slot on CNN or I would think she goes to Fox. She has the look of Fox and of course Natalie Hart. Where will Natalie go next.

And Melania's Melania's announcement tomorrow. And we will be watching very closely. First of all, Melania is her. Is the president going to be with her? We are also expecting Simona on Sunday. There is an IndyCar race taking place around the capital. That's right in DC. And Donald Trump is going to be doing an honorary lap in the beast. Driving his limo around in D.C., of course, has gone a bit wrong in the past. Remember he squashed the reflecting pool after trying to do it up? Yes.

And he left marks on it? Yes. And I do think you want to leave marks on an IndyCar track. It's kind of important that it's very clean. But will Melania be in the beast with Donald Trump? We don't know. She's apparently going to be at this event. And an intriguing question for everybody is if Melania is. there, will Natalie Harp be part of the entourage as well? We are going to be watching really closely to see what happens there. What an exciting week ahead and a shout out to our D.C. team who are behind the Swamp newsletter, which is how you find out what's going on.

in D.C.. Yes, absolutely. And they broke the news that Darlene had made a two donations, both of them. to a pro-choice Republican, something that, again, has roiled that race. And she has had to try to awkwardly answer. And we've got news today on the swamp. I would just recommend going and checking it out of how she's trying. to answer that question, which himself is really, really revealing. Well, you have a fabulous holiday. You deserve every moment of it. Please hurry back.

Big thanks to you if you have been for joining us and for our production. team, Ryan Murray, John Romero, Rachel Passa, Heather Pesaro and Neil Rosenhaus. So the good news is we have so many beast tier members now. There are too many names to read out and we really appreciate your support.