I Have The Proof that Trump is Drowning in Failure | The Daily Beast Podcast

Buckle up everybody. The next 90 days are going to be a weird and wild ride. Iran is going to interfere in our elections for the next 90 days. Russia is going to interfere in our elections for the next 90. days, and Trump is going to try to use that to his advantage. Did you see the poll results he's getting in the past few days? The worst poll ratings, not just of his career, but of any president of the modern era. Nothing he says or does is working anymore. Donald Trump is drowning in failure, and we are going to pay the price.

as he tries to keep his head above water. I'm Joanna Coles, this is the Daily Beast podcast. If it's Monday, it must be David Rothkopf. And we have well, we have almost an entire UFC lineup for you today, as the fighting in the Republican Party just gets worse and worse. We've got Max Miller and Bernie Moreno, son in law and senator.

father with a strange media circus in his own background going on. We've got Mitch McConnell versus Andy Beshear. We've got Dana Bash versus RFK Jr. And we've got Todd Blanche versus John Cornyn and Thom Tillis. Before we get into it, just a reminder, please subscribe to The Daily Beast. You can just press the button below. the program description and hop aboard the beast community.

David Rothkopf, you've interrupted me. I'm just writing a check for $100,000. a month to Donald Trump's Truth Social. That's a great investment, Joanna, because he will tell you when he's going to move markets. Do you know, this is an interesting fact that the United States government, since Trump has taken over this second time around, has bought shares in. or gotten shares in 30 different companies.

I mean, this is communism writ large. And so, you know, we are all now invested in these Trumpy companies. And meanwhile, Trump is on a regular basis. buying and selling stocks that have to do with the policies he's making. So the best way to cash in on this, you go to true social. You pay 100,000 bucks a month, you'll get a month, a month. Well, but for the upside for what you're going to make,

think of the house in the Hamptons. You're going to be able to buy off of the insider information. you're going to get from Donald Trump. You know what? I'm not going to enable him monetizing the presidency, David. I'm ripping the check up. I'm ripping it up. You just I was so hoping you would, like, pass along some tips to me. It's just astonishing, isn't it, that he's actually monetizing. the presidential statements, but he's doing it five different ways. You know, he's like, first you can buy this,

then you can buy the stocks, then you can buy the crypto, then. invest in my, my, my kids companies. that then, you know, and if you if you like do. like the multi play parlay like the trump factor. You know. the trump factor is very good. You can make money ten different ways on on on Trump corruption. I wish he'd bring back Trump steaks and Trump champagne and Trump water.

And we could just all live on a diet of of Trump. More Trump. But Joanna, he doesn't care about water anymore, as we know, because the Iranians tracked attacked water supplies or somebody. But we think it may be the Iranians in ten different states. And Trump, who's currently at war with Iran, which he seems to have forgotten, said it's probably not the Iranians. I think it's the Democrats. They're doing it. Minnesota. It's the it's the people in Minnesota who are to blade.

It's it's mind blowing. But, you know, here is the reason he's not in Trump water because, you know, he's. he's he's carved that off and said Iran you can do Trump water from now on. That is an amazing story isn't it? We should just dwell on it for a moment. Ten states have had part of their water systems interfered with. Do you think Tim Waltz rule rues the day. that he agreed to be Kamala's vice presidential candidate?

Because ever since then, a man that we barely heard from. has really just become the target of of so much. I mean, well, first of all, he's he's, you know, once he became the vice presidential candidate and some of those. geniuses around Kamala who were actually ex Biden geniuses said, hey, Tim, you know, all that straight talk that we love from you lay off. I mean, it was a mistake to go in, but I don't think Tim Waltz.

is the sole reason Trump has got Minnesota on the brain. I think another big reason is Ilhan Omar. He he hates Ilhan Omar. He hates the Somalis. He he thinks it's a great place to go and target his message. that, you know, foreigners are coming and destroying this country. And so it's not just Tim Walz, isn't he also somehow, I mean, we have the two ice killings there of Alex Preti and Rene Nicole.

Good. That must also play into it too, isn't it? Almost like, as we're often saying, he doubles down. Yeah, I think that that's true. But you know, I do think the bigger story is this over the course of the past. 18 months, Donald Trump has dismantled the parts of the US government. that protect us from foreign election interference, that protect us. from foreign spying, whether it's in the FBI, where we've moved. people out of those things into, you know, you know,

editing the Epstein documents or doing whatever vindictive prosecutions. or flying around with cash Patel. to make sure he gets to his girlfriend's concerts on time. But. Right. Or, you know, Bill Pulte at the as the director of national intelligence. Why is he still doing that job, by the way? You know, they confirmed his successor and Bill Pulte has said, no, I want to stay around for a while. Well, what do you think? He's doing something good for America? No he's not.

You know, he's doing Trump's dirty work. And, you know, they shut down in the Department of Homeland Security, the the the group that tracked Russian interference. Why do I bring all this up? Because Iran is going to interfere in our elections for the next 90 days. Russia is going to interfere in our elections for the next 90. days, and Trump is going to try to use that to his advantage. So, you know, buffel up everybody. The next 90 days are going to be a weird and wild ride because the president.

and I think this is really important and tied to all of these stories. Did you see the poll results he's getting in the past few days? Donald Trump has on inflation, on his war, on his overall approval, on his approval with independence, the worst poll ratings, not just of his career, but of any president of the modern era. Donald Trump is drowning in failure. Nothing he says or does is working anymore.

And so he's got to try these wild schemes. to distract from it, to get attention, to hope it disrupts something. But the main headline of the week for me was when I look at these polls. and when I look at thing after thing, whether it's failures in the courts. or failures in Iran or failures, you know, overseas or problems. in the economy is Donald Trump is drowning in failure. and we are going to pay the price as he tries to keep his head above water.

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Event contract trading involves risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Kalsi products are not available in all jurisdictions. Prices, values and available markets may differ from those mentioned. For more information, see Kalki. Com. Forward. Goodness. All right, so we got to it much quicker than I was expecting. And I was planning to ask you if you'd had a nice weekend. because we're recording this on Monday morning.

And I was going to ask you if you managed to get to fancy farms in Kentucky. Well, first of all, I wish I had because, Joanna, you know, we talk about everything that's important here. And I want to tell you, it was a shitty weekend in Washington. It was rainy and disgusting. Now, I did send, by the way. Everybody was listening. I said a note to Joanna, and I said, the weekend is awful here. She said, no, it's fine. She said, I'm happy. Good. That was really cruel. But in any event, I could have gone to Kentucky where on the 1st August of every month.

they have this big political barbecue where they have roast pork and beef. And for the past, I don't know, 150 years since the Civil War, the main attraction has been Mitch McConnell. Right. Because he's he's been going since, you know, Robert E Lee. or whoever started this dinner and he wasn't there. And the big subject of attention was that he wasn't there. But I thought the weirdest thing was that the Republicans started making jokes.

You know, they would say, well, Andy Beshear, the governor is not here. Maybe we need a proof of life from him. And I was reading some Kentucky newspaper and somebody else was like, well, I don't care about the proof of life. I just hope that Mitch is good with God. You know that he's good with Jesus because we know he's going to be in heaven soon. And I just want him to have a good afterlife. And I was like, well, I think he's going to that Mar. a Lago in the sky, perhaps to join his friend Lindsey Graham.

with Lindsey Graham and soon enough, with his big orange friend. Actually, he hates him. If Mitch McConnell died and opened up his eyes. and he looked across the room. and there was a bed for a roommate and they said, oh, that's for Trump. He's going to be your roommate for eternity. He would know he was in hell because McConnell hates Trump. Remember how quickly his wife, Elaine Chao,

ditched the Trump administration after January 6th? She was the first one out the door. All right, well, I want to read Andy Bashir's posts. in response to the teasing that he missed Fancy Farm. He said, sorry to Miss Fancy Farm today, but let me get in on the fun. Rand Paul apparently said I'd be neutered by my legislature. Rich, coming from a guy. who's never had a pair of balls, and if he did, they'd be held by Trump.

This isn't the kind of language I was expecting from Andy Beshear, who looks, well, he just looks like a choirboy, really, doesn't he? And then. No, but this is great for Andy Beshear. They don't realize what they're doing. They're taking a guy who on paper is a great Democratic. presidential candidate, but who has one problem. What's Andy Beshear problem? He's boring. And they are Debo him there. You know what I'm saying? There they are making him interesting.

They've got him using the word balls in a tweet. You know, that's all of a sudden it's like, oh my god who woke up Andy Beshear. That's problems for the Republican okay. So we've then got two more that I'm going to reach out. I'm told Andy Barr also spoke. We aren't the same. Yes, same first name, hometown and high school. But I don't run racist ads. Yes, Steve's my dad. His dad was also a politician, but Trump's his daddy thought that was very good.

And then he comes in with the kicker. Funny how the Republicans were all mad. I missed one political event watch my son play baseball. But no outrage that Mitch McConnell has been nowhere to be seen for 50 days. Oh, oh, what is there? He's been great on the Mitch McConnell thing. He's like the one who started the proof of life thing. He's been pushing on it. He's been challenging McConnell because I think they know the game.

They're playing the game that everybody at least fears McConnell is playing. is that he drags this out a little longer to the point where he can't be, you know, replaced prior to the election. And, you know, he was he was he was not going to run again anyway. And so this this is a ploy. to allow the seat to remain open. and not to let you know, Beshear or anybody else put put in place.

a replacement and then, you know, then what do they do? Then they say, oh, well, Mitch can't come back. That's too bad. But sorry, you can't replace him. And so it is. It is a kind of a weird high stakes game. You would think in the United States there would be a law, right, if you were in the Congress and you don't show up for work. for a month or two, then you lose your seat. because you really need to show up because that's what you're being hired to do.

But there's no such law. So you could be dead, or you could be like Tom Kane, the representative. from new Jersey who just disappeared, Judge Crater style. And, you know, he he he remained he remained in office. And then he popped back up when he wanted to and said, hey, I'm bad. Or you could be like Kay Granger, the congresswoman in Texas. who moved into a residential home because she was suffering from dementia. But she didn't give up her seat. In fact, today I saw the news that she had died.

All right, next year, let's go together. Oh, don't you think we should do that? It would be so much fun. I wish there were more events like that in New York City. Actually, if they keep Bashir, you know, as interesting. as they're making him, it's going to be a big deal. It does sound funny. It sounds like a very good family event, but of course, not a good family event for the Millers. Can we just discuss the Millers? Because they turn out to be kind of, possibly.

the least happy, most dysfunctional family in America right now. Can you just fill us in? Because I know you've been following this story. Well, I have been following this story. I mean, this guy, Max Miller, is a congressman, and he is, you know, running for reelection as congressman always do. He is super Trumpy. He was a Trump aide. He was there on January 6th. He is the most odious kind of policies. And he was in a plus five district for Republicans. So it looked like he was going to win reelection.

But he has this problem. He has a history of abusing women, including his wife who wants a divorce. And, you know, she has been going after him. And so he all of a sudden came out the other day and said, this is untrue. My, you know, I didn't beat my wife. If I had beaten my wife, why would she have cooked me dinner six days later? Why would she, you know, let me see my kids. Why would you know? And it was it was one of those things, you know, there's some adviser he's got who's like, no, you've got to go on TV now.

You've got to make your case. And the advisor doesn't realize that if you are a disgusting asshole. and you appear on television, you will be reminding everybody what a disgusting asshole you are. And that's what Max Miller did. Now there are two weird twists in this story. One is the inevitable Trump twist where over the weekend, Trump said, well, we have to see how this plays out, you know, you know. And in other words, he minimized the fact that this guy.

was a spouse, alleged spouse abuser and had a bad history with women. Well, and an allegation that he'd actually broken his daughter's shoulder, his two year old daughter. Shoulder. Right. Right. I mean, you know, he's I mean, he's as bad as they come. He should be out, of course. Well, the shades of gray and Plattner here, which, you know, Graham Platner. was pretty much in and out of that main faster than you can say lobster roll. Well, but that's the thing. When Mike Johnson, the alleged speaker of the House,

was asked about this, he says, well, we're investigating. That's how it works in the Congress for Republicans and Democrats. Let's not out work for Graham Plattner. And it's not how it worked for Eric Swalwell, and it's not how it worked for a lot of other Democrats. It's how it works for Republicans, because you have a president. who's been accused many times of this, and I don't know. Did you see this poll over the weekend. where somebody asked MAGA supporters.

if they would be willing to support Trump or their candidate. if they were like guilt accused of sex abuse, or they were accused of corruption, or they were accused of some other crime, and all of these mega voters said, yeah, I don't care. I mean, by all of them. I mean, the majority of them said they don't particularly care about this. And proof of that is that the person that Miller is married to.

is the daughter. of the US senator from Ohio, Bernie Morena and Moreno, until this blew up over the weekend, had been quiet. As a church mouse on this, he didn't push for the guy. who his daughter is saying abused her to get out of the Congress. until this weekend, when he had no choice because he had to do it. But that's the Republican Party for you. A father ignoring the alleged abuse of his daughter.

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that Bernie Moreno has finally come out and said something this weekend. Miller responded to him by saying, you know, this isn't true, and the only reason you are speaking out now is to hide. from your own media circus. Miller didn't specify what the media. circus was, but happily, we can. You will. Yeah we will, we will. So Miller won't specify. But at the Daily Beast, we are unafraid to specify.

that Moreno was himself embroiled, natch, in a politically career. threatening scandal during his run for his Senate seat in Ohio. And, of course, he staunchly. And you know, where this is going. He is staunchly anti-LGBTQ. And yet he was linked to a 2008 online profile seeking Men. for one on one sex on the Hook up website,

adult friend finder. Adult friend finder. That's beautiful. There's nothing. There's not that there's not that. There's anything wrong with that except when you're anti-LGBTQ. and you're a hypocrite and, you know, but it goes back to this poll. why does mega why do mega voters. apparently show willingness to support people committed all sorts of crimes?

Because if they didn't, there would be no mega politicians. to support every single one of them. Where do you look? Where do you find a mega politician who does not have something in his? Some kind of luggage, some kind of baggage, some kind of bad. story in his past? Well, the profile that was created looking for men on men's. sex on adult friend Finder said that the user was looking.

for young guys to have fun with while traveling. I'm sure Mrs. Moreno would be thrilled to find that, And it was. The account was created incredibly by someone with access to Moreno's work. email. No one could confirm if he actually created it. A former intern for him later claimed that he'd created it as an aborted prank. As a prank, because that's the kind of thing that's the kind of prank. you pull because it's a felony and you could end up going to jail for it.

But all I can say is Thanksgiving dinner is going to be fantastic. Imagine being at the Middle East. Can you imagine being at the Millers for for Thanksgiving dinner? I mean, almost as much fun as being at Mitch McConnell's for dinner. Well, yeah, but that's going to be awake. The thing about the Miller. I mean, yeah, it's inappropriate, somehow inappropriate, and yet. And somehow yet so appropriate.

Thanks for days missing. And when the Daily Beast called up to find out if Mitch had actually signed. a document this week, his his team. were were evasive. Well, right. Because there was some talk that it was auto pen, which we hate. I do know at the, at the, at the at the Fancy Farm event, I think Andy Barr said he had just spoken to Mitch. Well, they all say they've just spoken to him.

What they don't say is whether or not Mitch has spoken back. Well, they don't say that. They used a Ouija board to speak to him. You know. Oh, dear. Too much fun. Too much fun on a Monday. David, it's not good. Okay, so you know who wasn't having fun yesterday? Who looked almost as desperate as I thought Trump looked when he. broadcast his press conference from Camp David on Friday. was RFK junior yesterday. Under the withering, the withering look of Dana Bash on CNN.

We've got some clips here, actually. Let's play the first one. We're being. vilified. And because because again, I really want to move on. But you were saying you were part of the problem. No, I wasn't part of the problem. It was absolutely press malpractice. You weren't allowing your Mr. Secretary your job. Your job is a fierce skepticism. Word of 40. And you weren't doing that. You.

My job is also dissenting. No. Okay. Are you going to. You want to sit here and attack me, or do you want to have conversations. about attacking me? I'm not attacking you. I'm asking questions about how to prevent the next question. I'll tell you. That's what I'm trying to do. I mean, that's our Secretary of Health and Human. Services, under whom measles is now. We've got as many cases of measles in the first six months of this year. as we have in the first 24 years of this, of this millennium.

I guess we have to remind everybody that this guy who is in charge of America's. health system is a former heroin addict with a worm that is eaten as brain. Who said that he's not afraid of germs because he snorted so much cocaine off. of toilet seat? It's okay. You know, and so, you know. And he picks up roadkill, brings it home with his family. You know, he's he's, I think in the roadkill included.

Not just a little baby dead bear, but a raccoon penis at one point. And this guy is in charge of our health care system. And the problem was yesterday on CNN, whenever he was challenged, he would just do that Trumpian thing of going back after the person. asking the questions and accused her of not being a scientist, to which she responded, I thought pretty sharply, well, you're not a scientist. I had the opposite of a scientist, right? That's right. But I frankly think, to be honest with you.

She should have just said, okay, this interview is over. because he was not being responsive and he was being purely combative, and he was playing to that audience of one in the white House. And, you know, it obscures something. This these attacks on Fauci obscure something more Americans died per. capita of Covid than the inhabitants of any other developed country. in almost any other country in the world under Trump, according to medical scientists who studied the numbers,

several hundred thousand people died who needn't have died. But Trump suppressed responses, didn't respond. because he was concerned about things like how it would make him look. Remember when he kept that boat out at sea because he didn't want any more people. coming into the country because it would make the numbers go up? And, you know, remember when he said you should maybe consider. injecting Clorox into your veins and when his appointees.

after Fauci came in and then they quit because they knew. the numbers were being suppressed. This is a scandal of a scale that I don't think. we've ever seen in the United States. A million Americans died of Covid. Hundreds of thousands of them died needlessly. Many of them died as a direct result of policies initiated by Donald Trump. It had nothing to do with Fauci.

And you have these crackpots like RFK Junior and Rand Paul, who are too closely associated. with the policies that caused the deaths, saying, no, let's go after Doctor Fauci, one of the most distinguished. medical scientists, doctors in our history as a country. And, you know, I know Tony Fauci. This is a very good man who at age 85, 86, 80, whatever he is, is being forced to defend himself.

against baseless attacks because these people. have no shame whatsoever. and continue to promote ideas that became. obsolescent in the 18th. century when we actually started using vaccines. And it's it's just it's just, you know, the heroin addict, cocaine snorting with.

the brain worm is in charge and the doctors are running for the hills. And so, you know, God help us if there's ever a pandemic in this country. Another one, I mean, you know, while these people are in charge, because it won't be just like measles, it'll be hundreds of thousands of people dying because of the policies. that caused hundreds of thousands of people to die before. Okay. We have another clip from that interview. Let's let's play it now. I'm not triggered enough. No, this is very good.

And you are talking about things that, that. that lead to vaccine hesitancy in this country. And, and it is something that. causes problems for people when there is not anything. Let me ask you something. Do you see your job as ending vaccine. hesitancy, or do you see your job as telling the truth to the American people? I see my job as telling the truth, and the truth is. that there is is study after study after study.

It's one of the most studied things out there in science, and it is different. So are you like a parrot? So you actually read the science. You you don't want to. You don't want to hear this. So I'm not debating this. Of course. You know, because I'm not saying you do. is repeat things that people told you and say, trust the experts. That's what you covered. One of the problems also is that his own voice, which I know.

is due to, I think it's a hereditary or a genetic illness, also just makes him sound even crazier than. Than what? But so does being a fucking idiot. Yeah. You know, and I mean, you know, we we got to cut through this, right? If you were to go and say, well, there's 350 million. or so many Americans, and I'd like to make a list. of who should be in charge of our health care system. And when you got down to the bottom of the list of the least qualified people,

and you were down at number 349,000,999. That's where you get Robert F Kennedy Jr. This guy has no business a guy who was peddling supplements. A guy who has was famously swimming in a Washington River full of sewage. A guy who, you know, is is is an absolute crackpot in charge of this. And why? Because Trump decided he was going to run on this anti-vax position,

because somebody told him that MAGA had a lot of people in it. that were anti-vax, and they didn't like the government. telling them that their kids had to stay home from school. because they would actually have to take care of their fucking kids. But guess what? Donald Trump has taken the Covid vaccination. and boosters every six months. because Donald Trump actually believes in vaccines. Yep. And his grandchildren have all been vaccinated too.

The thing I don't really understand is that actually, one of the good things. that Donald Trump did was speed up the vaccine or, or allow, you know, Operation Warp Speed seemed like a very smart thing to do. And then the minute it starts working, he starts distancing himself from it. It's exactly right. There are very, very few positive stories in the Trump. history of both terms or, frankly, of his entire life. That's one of them. And because he thinks that.

it makes him look bad when people study. the rest of the science, he's decided to throw out all science everywhere. And that, by the way, it's not just RFK Jr, it's Pete and so forth. Although, you know, when I watched this RFK Jr thing, I thought, he's making a case. again, that he is the least competent member of this cabinet. And I was thinking, Pete Higgs, that, you know, must be breathing. a sigh of relief because he's like mismanaging a war.

or mismanaging the Department of Defense, making America at greater risk than ever, you know, is a mockery because of his whole testosterone obsession. And yet RFK Jr is actually worse than him. And I don't I don't I don't know. Do you think R.K. gender is in the lead now? Well, it's a good question because it's sort of depends. what happens with the attorney general, doesn't it? Yeah, that's a really good point.

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rescinding of the $1.8 billion slash fund. You know, as we know, two Republican senators, both of whom are leaving. the Senate, have have said that they won't vote to confirm him, which means he won't get. through the confirmation process because he won't officially rescind it. Now, he appears to have done. Will this have any impact whatsoever? Does this mean that Todd Blanche will be confirmed? It probably does mean that he'll be confirmed. It will have a huge impact.

And I have a huge negative impact on the United States. And I'll get to that one second. But I do think, you know, by framing it this way, you raise. something really interesting, which is when you look. at the Trump cabinet and ask yourself, who is the worst? Who are the most dangerous? You have a choice between the incompetent people. like hedge Seth and RFK junior. and the secretary of education, secretary of energy, or. or Secretary of Transportation, or you have the ones who are kind of,

you know, more competent, have functioning brains, but doing really evil, terrible shit like Todd Blanche, like Pam Bondi, like Scott Best, like Marco Rubio. So which are the worst, you know, the incompetence or the competent ones who are doing bad things? I don't know. You don't want to have anything like this. In the case of this Todd Blanche thing, though. Yeah. What the deal says is not that he's. not going to award US government money.

to people who have committed crimes against the country. You know, people that Trump wants to prop up. He said he's just going to rescind the statement. saying that that that we are going to create this fund. It doesn't mean it can't be reinstated. And as many people have pointed out, including here in Daily Beast podcast, they're already giving out money. in individual cases and they can go on giving out money, an individual case.

They don't need a slush fund. They could give out $10 billion case. by case, and it's the equivalent of a slush fund. They just won't call it a fund. But and this is what's really important here. He has not addressed Trump's craven. plea for tax immunity, which was one of the things. that Cornyn objected to and sought some narrowing of. And, you know, that's the most corrupt single act by US president ever.

And by the way, the top 1000 most corrupt acts are all by Trump. But this idea that somehow he could say, I'm going to instruct the US government, which works for me to enter into an agreement to me. never to audit my taxes now or in the future, or my family's taxes or. my company's taxes so I can be a tax cheat with impunity forever.

And that's also staying. Now, the next president, that'll ain't right. That'll end that. If the Democrats take over the House and the Senate and they have any spa, then what they'll do is they will stop funding the IRS. until they renounce this deal. But it'll end sooner or later. But for now, you've got Todd Blanche likely to get confirmed. by a bunch of spineless Republicans, and he will.

then do what he is doing attack the president's enemies. Use this Justice Department as an obstruction of justice tool. to protect Trump from Epstein accusations. and other accusations and, you know, debase the entire justice system of the United States. And and that's what we're going to end up with. And this sort of kabuki theater of Cornyn is is going to, you know, be.

apparent to historians for what it was, which is just a sham, just a fig leaf. So Cornyn can feel like he had one last moment. of character and masculinity before he left the Senate. But in the end, the result will be that Todd. Blanche will become attorney general, and he will do innumerable. bad things on the part of the president of the United States. It does feel.

I mean, that was a brilliant summation of what's going on, and it does feel a bit. like one of those questions that you imagine. you might get at law school where someone says, okay, the deal is you get to be attorney general. If you give the president and it's a hypothetical situation, complete tax immunity in his past, in his future, and that of all his family, would you take the job and you feel like it's one of those jobs, that it's.

one of those questions that a law student would immediately say, no, of course not. And the law professor would say, well, sometimes you get, you know, you get put in positions where you have to check your own values. And this is one where Todd Blanche, Todd Blanche makes Macbeth look unambitious. I mean, he's so craven for that, that brass ring. and you're right, is to the detriment of of America.

The person you left out, of course, when you were going through your list. of, of of cabinet ministers is JD Vance. Now, JD Vance this weekend was warned. by Laura Luma, Trump's special adviser, who's just changed her mind on Ukraine, one of one of Trump's many work wives. This is possibly a chance for you to promote your work wife. Yes that's true. In in August. Thank you for that opportunity, David. In August, we're going to spend a series of podcasts looking at Trump's women.

This is work that Nell Scovell and I have been working on, and we've. got a four part series on Trump's women, which you are going to be contributing. to when we talk about political work, wives and their roles in it. But. Tucker Carlson this. weekend announced there was going to be a new party. Marjorie Taylor Greene linked arms with him, and Laura Loomer is warning. JD Vance that he has to dump his friend Tucker Carlson. Otherwise he won't stand.

any chance of of replacing Donald Trump. And I get along very well with the vice president of the United States. But I think his biggest political liability and the biggest detriment. to social cohesion within the MAGA movement and cohesion. within the GOP as we head into these perilous midterm elections, is is making sure that you don't have this albatross around the party's neck. And I'm talking about Tucker Carlson.

I think that JD Vance has a bright political future, but he, you know, is allowing his friendship with Tucker Carlson to drag him down. And we need to have moral clarity, and we need to reject certain people. from our party who are, you know, hell bent on destroying. You know, what what it means. to be an American and what it means to be a member of the MAGA movement. Qatar, there. What did you think of that? Yeah, because Donald Trump isn't compromised. by any of his international ties, including to Qatar.

Well, including the, you know, $400 million grift force, one that he's now. Well, exactly. Except it's more than that, because we'd probably spent more. than that upgrading it, and it's still not safe. Yeah. Now, when Fran Drescher plays her in the Armando Iannucci movie, it's going to be, you know, it'll just capture the degree to which I can barely listen to this woman. But, you know, she has gotten to the point. If you follow Laura Loomer and, you know, we do.

So you don't have to. Everything is personal with her. And and it's all, do I like this person? Do I not like this person? Are they on my team? Are they on the other team? And it's it's a it's a very kind of. vindictive, low grade kind of politics. That's then followed by factual generalizations. like, well, he's ruining what it is to be an American. Like, what does that mean?

And how is Donald Trump not doing that now? Is MAGA movement not doing that? And, you know, maybe you should be talking about the fact that right. now, for the first time ever, we're starting to see people. defect from MAGA saying Trump is letting me down. Trump has hurt my family. Trump has hurt my bank account. Companies destroyed my community. You know, she's she's trying to, you know, I don't know, set the last table on the Titanic before it disappears underneath the water.

And if she wants to do the seating arrangements for that table, good luck to her. I got bad news for you, JD. Laura doesn't hold the secret here. You don't stand any chance of replacing Donald Trump. Nobody likes you. You're one of the least liked people in this administration. Nobody trusts you. You've taken issues on either side or every side of every issue. I'm possibly at some level, I don't think your wife likes you. that much since you're an incredible,

you know, white supremacist, racist. And she comes from immigrant origins. I suspect your kids, as they get to know you a little better, won't like you that much. The people of Appalachia who you lifted up in your Hillbilly Elegy. book, hate you because you have betrayed them and fucked them over. 16 Ways to Sunday, because you're actually a Yale guy who's. a Peter Thiel guy, who's a Wall Street guy who's just another scam artist.

who's looking for some kind of patter to get into power. But the reality is this, JD, not only does everybody hate you and do. large factions emerging across the Republican Party. to defeat you, but Donald Trump is tanking. You hitched your wagon to the wrong star. You're just too closely associated with it. It is Trump Vance you cannot get beyond Trump Vance.

I think Marco Rubio is going to suffer the same kind of problem. So, you know, take Laura Lumbers advice. Don't take Laura Lumieres. if you think Tucker Carlson's going to have a big movement, you know, here, I don't think the only way Tucker Carl is going to Carlson's. going to have a big moment is if he eats a lot of lettuce because. Sorry. I'm sorry. Well, 10,000 cases, 10,000 cases. in Michigan of the explosive food poisoning.

Well, I was going to say explosive food poisoning. I mean, 10,000 cases. No. Yeah. No, thanks. By the way, Department of Agriculture for not having inspectors out there, but getting back to different kind of movement, although also one that smells the same, which is Tucker Carlson's movement. The reality is what he is doing is fragmenting the right, fragmenting the Republican Party, Democrats here, this kind of stuff.

And it sounds like Mozart to them. It's like, this is fantastic. More of it. Why don't you. Why don't you attack each other and tear each other apart? So, David, what are you hearing from your sources. in the intelligence community about what's actually happening with Iran right now? I mean, JD. Vance is supposed to be the man in charge of sorting out diplomatic relations. Are we are we actually talking to them? Who are we talking to? What's happened?

I mean, we're told that the Iranians, it's not just the intelligence community. You know, people that I talk to, whether I talk to diplomats. or I talk to people in the military. or I talk to journalists who are covering this, the reality is that the single defining feature of the conflict in Iran. right now is that they don't know what the hell to do. And, you know, you saw that there was CNN story today. that the commanding officer of Centcom, which is the Regional Combat. Command there, sent out a memo to a bunch of people saying, hey, if you've got any ideas of things we could do to.

hurt Iran, send them up the chain. You know, I mean, it was the most public plea. or most public confession that you could have. that they don't know what to do, that you can imagine. Meanwhile, Trump is doing this, you know, this Groundhog Day thing where it's like we're we're going to attack. We're not going to attack. The markets are going to open again. Everything's going to be great. We have a new deal. And over the weekend and yesterday said, okay, you know, or Friday or Saturday we're going to do the biggest attack ever.

They've never seen this. There's never been an attack like this in history. It's going to be huge. And then yesterday okay, we've got, you know, movement. We're going to have an agreement oddly just before the markets reopen. But the Iranians, as they do every time, came out. and said, no, there's no agreement. We're not making progress on this. And so, you know, this is when I talk about Trump drowning and failure. This is the place where it's most obvious he started this. He doesn't know how to get out of it.

It is slowly spreading across the region. It is making the world a more dangerous place. We are losing the control that we had over the free flow of goods and services and. and cargo through the Strait of Hormuz, maybe through the Red sea. The United States, in a desperate attempt to keep everybody on. site, is doing things like offering nuclear deals to the Saudis, which may trigger more nuclear ambition among the Iranians and in any case,

will be destabilizing, given the terms that Trump's Department of Energy offer. At the Saudis, you've got the Houthi involvement. leading to a spread of this into a new part of the of the. that part of the world, but possibly a spread into the Horn of Africa. You had these Ukrainians attacking an Iranian ship. in the Caspian Sea, which is a spread of it in that respect. So this, this,

this thing that he shouldn't have started, where everything was actually fine. with Obama's deal, which he pulled out of a long time ago. But ever since then, he's just made it worse with every move. It's like quicksand. Every time he's moved, he sinks more deeply into the mess that he's in. And and now we're in this situation where literally nobody in the Trump. administration has any idea of how to get out of this, even though.

it's obvious how. you get out of it, which is you get out of it, you just pull out. You want to issue a press release saying it was successful? Fine. But what you've got to do is you've just got to get out of this thing. because it's not doing anybody any good. And, you know, again, I talked about the polls earlier, two thirds to three. quarters of Americans think this war is a terrible idea. It is the least popular war in American history.

But, David, you say you just have to pull out and you can say, you know, we won or whatever, but actually, isn't it also up to the Iranians and the. the Iranians won't let Donald Trump pull out. because they're going to control the Strait of Hormuz. They are. But there are other, you know, there are other countries that have border on the Strait of Hormuz, and there will ultimately be an international. Discussion of how that gets resolved. And there are other options, by the way, with regard.

to getting all out of the Strait of Hormuz that are actively being explored right. now, getting whale into the Gulf of Oman directly. by a pipeline, getting all into the Red sea and so forth. And so I'm not saying that it would be easy to do that, but. what I'm saying is it's the only option, because if we continue to fight, we deplete our munitions resources in ways that over the weekend,

we've started hearing from military leaders who are saying, hey, look, if you start saying, oh, they're attacking Israel, we have to help defend Israel. I'm going to tell you we can't because we are so low. in munitions that we have to keep these to protect ourselves. So what's what's also happening with munitions support for the Ukraine? Because that's also been up for debate this weekend. Well, that's right. And the reality is that the United States has not. I mean, first of all, Trump stopped getting the kind of support Ukraine.

was getting from the Biden administration as soon as he got in. He has been leaving them out to dry, you know, saying, oh, Steve Wycoff will take care of this. And, and and really squeezing the Ukrainians. Then, you know, a couple weeks ago he said, well, you know, we're going to do. we're going to give you Crane a license. to produce its own Patriot missiles, because we're running out. So that was his big idea on that.

But last week, at the end of the week, he said, you know, I don't know if we can do that. First of all, he doesn't have the power to give the license. That's Raytheon and Lockheed. Secondly, he said, well, what if we give them the license. and they use them in a way that we don't want to use them? I'm not so sure we can do that. Thirdly, even if he did give them the license, which he's not going to do. because it was yet another, you know, sort of bullshit offer from him, it would take years for it to have any benefit for Ukraine.

The observers I know who are looking at Ukraine are saying the following. First of all, they praise the Ukrainians for their industry and courage. and ingenuity, and Zelensky for the way he's worked, the international system. And the fact is, Ukrainians are actually gaining ground. But as far as the US relationship with Ukraine goes, Trump has hung them out to dry. He has not helping them, nothing that he has said.

or even his newfound admiration for Zelensky is, or Laura Lumieres. Admiration for Zelensky is helping Ukraine. Probably the only thing the United States is doing for Ukraine that's. actually of some value, which doesn't get discussed, is providing. intelligence to the Ukrainians to help them target the Russians. But, you know, as Zelensky pointed out, you know, that's a two way street because he believes the Russians. are providing intelligence to the Iranians.

to target American facilities in the Middle East. So, you know, these wars are connected. The lack of munitions has an effect. There are connections between the the the Ukrainians. and the Iranians, as we've seen in conflict, when the price of oil goes up, one of the reasons it's going up, particularly when it comes to diesel, is the conflict between. Ukraine and Russia and Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries.

And when the price of food goes up, when you look at Ukraine and Russia. as principal providers of things like grain to the world, and you combine that with the costs. of fuel and fertilizer going up as a result of what's going on in Iran. These things connect in ways that squeeze the entire global economy. And I think that's the point. And and other people have said this, but I think we have to keep it in mind. The consequences of Trump's idiotic and illegal.

entry into this war with. Iran are getting worse every day, and that's why he's got to stop it, because he depletes the munitions, he makes the global economy worse. He makes our position in multiple geostrategic situations worse. And and there is no path where he can suddenly make that better. because the Iranians have a different point of view.

I talked on one of our podcast. We have a podcast called Need to Know, and I talked last week to a tour body. who's the New York Times Iran correspondent. And she said, you know, the Iranians can wait this out. They don't have elections. They can wait till fall elections. They can squeeze Trump every single day. And they know it. Right. And they know it. Yes, that that seems clear. They know the midterms are looming. They understand this war is incredibly unpopular. with the American population, and that this is very bad for Donald Trump.

And they're enjoying their enjoying playing with him. and they are toying with them. I don't know if you have been watching all the Lego videos, which are. they're fantastic. And, you know, I mean, I mean, this is a there will be. I don't know. You know, in some propaganda show at the Museum of Modern Art, someday they will have screens showing these things.

But but here's the weird thing. There are these people making propaganda videos on behalf. of one of the most brutal and awful governments that the world. has known in the modern era. And those videos regularly contain. more truth than a white House press release. And, you know, and we have, you know, this is another area. where we've lost this war. When Trump says, I have a deal with Iran. People respond by saying, we got to go talk to the Iranians.

That was never the case. They're huge liars. They're awful people. It's an awful government. And yet, Donald Trump's credibility is so low. that he makes the Iranians look. relatively more credible, even via Lego videos. I've got some social media posts that he put out to counteract the Lego videos. Here is one. So we have.

George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and oh, Donald Trump. And then I'm not quite sure what this is supposed to represent. I mean, obviously he's trying to this is himself as Elvis Presley. Yeah. But I think he made a mistake because that's definitely a fat Elvis costume. And I think Trump is definitely in his fat Elvis state, where everybody is waiting for him to die on the toilet. as a result of whatever is getting pumped into his hand.

But, you know, I mean, he's he's got a weird. fascination with appearing sort of virile and manly, you know, a part of his. AI slop gallery from the weekend was picture of him. staring lovingly at himself in his military academy uniform. with, you know, and then the headline was, he has even more energy today, even as stories are coming out of the white House about how, you know,

they can't let him do more than a couple of hours a day. because he can't stay awake for it, which we've all seen. And, you know, he he also had a picture in the AI slop gallery. of this weekend of him holding a golden. statuette of Jesus and kissing it. Oh, I missed that one. Yeah. No, it's it's it's. And secretly paying $100,000 to get your true socials ahead of me.

A month, a month. I, as I said at the beginning, I think it's an excellent investment. It's a great just, you know, look, you can either fight the corruption. or you can go with the corrupt. David, how is that possible? But but what I'm you know, I mean, if corruption is running the US government and therefore the US economy, then you've got to figure out how to stay ahead of the corruption. And there is no way to stay ahead of the corruption. Then by getting the word of the most corrupt guy on the planet via social.

So you may have had a bit of a miserable weekend because the weather wasn't great. Donald Trump had a great weekend because he got the winning shot. in the Bedminster club championship. I'm just going to read you is Truth Social. For those who haven't started paying your $100,000. a month yet, I'm just going to read this Truth Social post for you. The winning shot in the Bedminster club championship.

Exclamation point. Goodness, I sound like RFK junior this morning. Actually, you always sound like Helen Mirren do I love Helen Mirren, so I'll take it. Thank you very much to all of those who participated. I won with a score of 70. and am so honored in that, unlike the rest of the field, I'm. given very little time to practice because I'm focused on many other things. It's called talent, and I have it and they don't. President Donald J. Trump.

even asshole. I mean, seriously, we cannot on this podcast. doing an hour a week, even if we did it live in real time, which I sometimes think we almost have to do these days, convey. as often as it needs to be conveyed, that as corrupt as Donald Trump is, as evil as Donald Trump is, as stupid as Donald Trump is, he's. also the biggest asshole in the history of the world, and the idea.

that he thinks he can go out and that anybody believes that he won this. And there immediately a million stories about how he cheated to. to to win this thing. It's it's literally puts him in the same category as, like Kim Jong un. of North Korea who, like apparently went on a golf course once and they said, oh, he hit, oh, holes in one or some kind of insane made up nonsense. And and that's what Trump is doing. But and here's the point. Not only is he doing it the way Kim Jong un did it,

but do you think Kim Jong UN then went and insulted everybody? He competed against and had to say that he was better them and had more talent. Even Kim Jong UN, compared to Donald. Trump, has more dignity and more decency than you know, this guy. who cheats to win a local golf tournament at his own golf club, brags about it, and then uses it to kick.

the people he supposedly beat down. You know, and it's just how how weird is it? But the other question is, who else was in this term? Who who was putting up with this shit? I mean, if Mitch McConnell was in this tournament, I could understand possibly. Trump could win. But what about the dignity of all these other people? Are they just so thrilled. that they're on the same golf course with Donald Trump, that they're willing.

to let him make a mockery of the sport and of them? I mean, it's are they just all members of the US Senate. and House who are Republicans, who have had their spines removed? Who goes along? Who goes along with this? Don't you think it's odd. when you look back over history and you think, how did people get away with this? How did Stalin get away with it? How did it? And going back over over time, and then you sort of see in real time how Donald Trump is getting away with,

with so much of this and that his obsequious cabinet. sitting like little dogs around him at Camp David. on Friday, where they went for their off site, their corporate off site, you just saw him looking ever more desperate. And it really did seem like that movie, The Death of Stalin, where they're all just sitting around him, nodding it everything he says. And you just think, no one, no one understands politics better than Armando. Iannucci, the guy who produced that, who created Veep, who did In the Loop,

all great, one of my favorite films, but also the brilliant. The Thick of It, which is a British comedy about politics. There, but is a is so transferable, highly recommended. The thick of It is so, and you'll get more insight into politics from looking at the work of Raimundo. and then getting a political science degree from Harvard. Guaranteed, for sure. And you know, the other show. that we should recommend about politics, which is also I mean,

the great thing about YouTube and Netflix and everything is you can now. find the issues is yes, minister and yes, Prime Minister, which were the precursors to Veep in the thick of it, and again, about the British system, but utterly reflective of how people use power, no question about it. And watch Borgen, the Danish, the Danish series. Yes. Who's got a female prime minister? Which is nice for a change. Nice. And. And who faces a Greenland crisis anyway?

We're getting. Yeah, but it's always fun to recommend. things because sometimes you learn as much from fiction. Well, and and the reality is this. I don't know. if this were presented to me as fiction, as if I would find it believable. And and part of it is, you know, when you go back to your question about, well, how did you know, you know, what? Stalin and Hitler did the same kind of thing. Well, you know, Stalin, Hitler, Kim Jong un, they do some similar things. But here's the difference. When Kim Jong UN had an uncle or a cousin who spoke out against him,

he allegedly targeted him. He made him stand. in front of an anti-aircraft gun and he blew a big hole in him. Stalin killed tens of millions of people. Hitler killed tens of millions of people. The way they got people to do stuff was at the point of a gun. Somehow, Donald Trump, aging, decrepit, lame duck, declining in power, declining in the polls.

Somehow Donald Trump has all of these people in his party, in the Senate, in. the House, in districts across America kissing his ass. Even. I don't get it. There is there is an act of complicity. with Trump within the MAGA movement and within the Republican Party. that makes this particular kind of dysfunctional government.

different from almost any other kind that we've seen. It's more like, I don't know, you know, some outbreak of, of, of dancing disease that occurred in France in the 18th century when everybody ran. in the street and had to compulsively dance or, or, you know, it's disease. Yeah. No, that's that's one of those things that that happened they go through in France.

They went through a lot of weird stuff. They remember they were at one point they decided that cat's channeled witches. And so they put a bunch of cats on an island, and they killed the cats. They, you know, these things happen, but. but periodically, they're bursts of communal madness that happen. in societies and, and and take them in, in these weird directions. And somehow in the United States, I think our burst of communal madness.

came from the fact that from, you know, for for much of our history, but certainly for the past 40 or 50 years, the single guiding. principle for so many Americans became greed. that they were like, okay, look, if this guy puts a dollar. more in my wallet, I'll take all the bad stuff. And that's our madness. Our madness is the degree to which American greed has led.

to this outbreak of corruption and hate. and nationalism and destruction of democracy, because people just want a few dollars more in their war. And I'm not talking about poor people. I could get it from them. It's billionaires who just want more. billions that I find just. repugnant. And I frankly, I look forward to read. I hope Armando Iannucci right now is listening to this podcast.

and it's going, you know, I got to do something new on this because nothing I've ever done captures this. I talked to a billionaire over the weekend, actually, who said he thought Trump should be in jail. I was asking him if he was going to pay the $100,000 a month for true. access to Truth Social, and he said Donald Trump should be in jail. But of course, he won't say that publicly. David Rothkopf, what better way to start the week than to talk to you at a. Same with you, Joanna.

I love starting the week this way. It is. It's a little bit like purging yourself after a big meal. Well, I hope that we will be back next Monday. Who knows, the world will have turned on its axis and who knows what we'll be discussing then? Probably an entirely new roster of subjects, David. But I suspect the Miller family, the Miller family will still be. at odds with each other, and the Trump family.

will still be fascinating, despite their vacuous. And I'm sure they'll be. I'm sure they'll be considerably richer by the time we talk to them this time. next week. Mitch McConnell, that's Chevy Chase used to say on Saturday Night Live about general. General Francisco Franco will still be dead. David. See you next Monday by. American greed.

Well, that's David Rothkopf. Analysis of what's going on right now. I, I think he's probably right, but what do you think? Leave us a comment and tell us what you think. We love to read your comments. And as you know, we frequently incorporate them into the podcast. If you have been. Thank you for joining us and a big thank you to our production team, John. Romero, Ryan Murray, Rachel Passa, Heather Sauro, Neil Rosenhaus, and I'll be back. tomorrow with Michael Wolff, where we'll be going inside Trump's head.

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.