I Know How Melania Found Trump's Creepy BFF: Wolff | Inside Trump's Head

Brett Ratner exiled from Hollywood Melania. the movie revives his career and then Rush Hour four suddenly, after Melania, the movie is picked up by Paramount. So we can say, what has Donald Trump accomplished in office. at the very least rush hour for I wonder if Brett Ratner had a crush on Melania? When I was watching the movie, I thought that's what it felt like. lingering pictures of Melania smoldering,

but it felt like he was sort of enamored of her. And they had that in common. They had Melania in common. I'm not sure that that that Trump would think of it that way, since he hasn't really speak to his wife. Michael. Joanna, it is very nice to see you. Well, it's very nice to see you, too. I. Well, as you know,

regular viewers and listeners will know I've had the last few days off. the last ten days off, actually, because my mom died on Sunday. And huge thanks to Hugh for holding the fort and everybody who's written to me. and also shared their own stories of something that we all go through. And it was remarkably difficult, and I think that I had always been scared I wouldn't be able to step up. to the plate and, and, and help and do enough.

And I'm grateful that I was actually able to. And I'm very grateful for the experience because it was, you know, just really expands your, your heart. But I'm extremely glad to be back. with colleagues and to, to get to work again. So big thanks to the production. team and big thanks to you, Michael, for holding the fort with you. Yeah. No, I mean, we've all been well, we know what you've been going through,

and virtually everyone. in some way will experience it. And. and here we are. Yeah. And and you know, she was 95, so she had the life she wanted to live. And it was three weeks and two days from diagnosis to her dying. So in a sense it was a very fast, dramatic sort of ending for, for us and obviously for her.

But I'm glad that it didn't drag on, because when I've read a lot of messages. from people, people have been dealing with the. the really onerous task of caring for people. with big diseases. And it's so stressful and hard for people so enormous. Thanks to people for sharing their stories. Yeah, I know in my family it went on for the better part of two years. So this is,

in some, some version of this is an experience. which everybody has, and I think probably everybody does. look forward to thinking that they can't handle it, or at. least in some level of high denial about it. But it comes. It does come. It does come. And I'm grateful to my sister, to who.

the two of us have been. There have been some absurd and hilarious moments to until to. to my friends who've been enormous, enormous support and also weirdly, I mean, actually to be in the Yorkshire countryside, which is where my parents live for spring. I mean, the fields are full of lambs there, lilacs everywhere, laburnum, peonies bursting with fat petals. And, you know, someone who lives in the most urban of environments in New York.

It's been great to be in nature, but I'm looking forward to getting back. to New York, where I hope we'll be in the studio next Tuesday. I will see you in New York on Tuesday, but before that. Before that. Well, since we since I've been gone, Donald Trump has created. a $1.8 billion fund for his friends. And he's got a new best friend I got I got a note from yesterday.

I got a note from a producer friend yesterday who's been at the Cannes. Film Festival saying that she was with Brett. Ratner or saw Brett Ratner showing everybody. his photographs of his new best friend, Donald Trump in China. And as you explained on Tuesdays. episode, they've become best buds. The the president has a new best friend, and he too is a sexual harasser. in just to recap that the.

in this has been looked on within the white House. and people around around Trump with some both amusement and trepidation. Which is to say that Donald Trump kind of is at a point. and I think, is this an important moment in the in the. the long political career of Donald Trump, where he really recognizes. things are going very, very badly, as badly as that they can possibly go?

I mean, we may be talking end of the road badly, and one of the. one of the results of that is that he tends to blame everyone around. Things are going badly. He certainly doesn't accept the blame, put the blame on himself. He blames the people around him, which means that he has no friends. So that is the moment in which Brett Ratner, the Hollywood director of the Rush Hour series,

a famous a famous sexual predator. who was essentially exiled from Hollywood for the past ten years. and only arrives back as the director of Melania The Movie. And now he is the. the person who who Donald Trump is on the phone with on a constant basis, who Donald Trump brought with him to China for no reason. that anyone can figure out, except that.

that he's a he's the new security blanket. He's the new right. He's the new security blanket, of course. And I wonder if he's now inspired to make a kind of Chinese version of Russia. Or, you know, maybe he could make an equally. hagiographic movie about Jinping or someone else that he's met there. I mean, it's just it's the whole thing is so bizarre.

And of course, if he's blaming everybody, that means that he drops people or people. leave him, and then he has to keep. adding new friends to his call list. I mean, I'm assuming that. Ratner has now gone on speed dial and someone else has dropped off. Yeah, no. When he was on the when they parted from the China trip, Trump said to Ratner, I have to be able to get in touch with you at all times, not words. I would think many people want to hear from Donald Trump.

Well, and be careful what you wish for, right? You know, the person who held that space in the past number. of certainly certainly for the past number of years has been Steve Wyckoff. But Steve Wyckoff is now in the doghouse. and being blamed for his inability to come up. with a solution in Iran. Well, and he hasn't come up with a solution in Ukraine either.

Remember when him when Wyckoff and Jared were both going to talk to Putin? Of course, of course. And then Wyckoff famously couldn't remember what they talked about. I mean, normally you take in diplomats and, you know, experts. so that everybody can pass the conversation afterwards. But of course, Wyckoff didn't need to do that. because he's a deal guy and he's used to doing deals with downtown. Manhattan real estate, which, of course, prepares you to deal. with one of the world's most diabolical men, Vladimir Putin.

So let's at this, this point again, this inflection point in the Trump political career. And in the second term, when everything is going wrong, he is he's looking at almost you. can you can tick down, down the issues from the economy. to ice in immigration to, of course, the war in Iran to to. the ballroom, to.

everything is giving Trump enormous problems. And he's looking forward and he is at now the nadir in his. in his favorability ratings, which are which are falling down, going down all all of the issues. that are facing him from from the economy to immigration. to health care to, to the. the ballroom, which he's fixated on, that everybody else is horrified.

The entire world is horrified by to. to the war in Iran, to. I again and again just just go down the list. Everything is causing him problems. He is now at, at his polling is. is his polling just says one thing, which is that obviously the midterms are going to be a catastrophe. And he may actually he may lose the Senate as well.

I mean, he we're almost at the point of being able. to say he will lose if things keep going as they are, he will lose the Senate and then he will lose the House. Everything, everything the bottom will fall out of of Trump world. So what is he doing? Let's say he recognizes that in some sense. He recognizes that. What does he do? Well, that is brings us to the one.

point $8,000,000 billion slush slush fund. He is at the point where I think that. he recognizes and maybe very clearly recognizes. that he ought to get when what he can while the getting is still good. So this is like this is like someone anticipating divorce. and looting the joint account. Yeah. No, I think that that's that's that's good.

Pretty good. You know. So I mean let's look at, at putting these two things. as uppermost in on his agenda. How much money can he get for himself at this point, and how much protection. can he get for, for himself when the bottom really does fall out? Remember, he's he's he's been through this before and was pretty exposed. So for criminal indictments let's let's remember.

So what we do know now with this $1.8. billion slush slush fund. Slush fund is that now you're founding like Trump. when he was giving his speech to the Coast Guard, his commencement speech. But together with that that the IRS, we should just, you know, step back. a moment and say and say and acknowledge the.

the fundamental piece. of corruption at the bottom of this, which is he said, he has set up a series of decisions. in which he is the decider. So he has sued the federal government and he has the power to. create a settlement because he basically is the federal government. So he has sued himself and given in.

and arrived at a favorable outcome. And part of that outcome is that the the IRS and the Justice Department. have agreed that not. to pursue him for any tax infraction. that might have occurred in, in, in his accounts. or in the accounts of his family prior to this decision. So essentially, their whole past history is now they have immunity, tax immunity.

Right? He has he has a blank slate. He can start again. I mean, it's so astonishing a decision. And to what extent, Michael, is this Todd Blanche, who we know is acting attorney general, and he was number two. Is this him auditioning for a job? Is this him tap dancing as fast as he could? And. Yeah, no. And I think Trump.

Trump obviously understands this, that this is a moment. when when he is not going to get any pushback whatsoever from Todd Blanch. Quite the quite the contrary, Todd Blanche is going to be willing to go. the extra mile to give Donald Trump what he wants, because Todd. Blanche is desperate to become the official attorney general. I wonder if Pam Bondi is just so glad that she's out of it now, although. goodness knows what she's doing, right?

She we were told that she was leaving to go into the private sector. She got an exciting opportunity in the private sector, and I don't know what it is other than not being the attorney general, which is an exciting opportunity at this, at this moment. Yeah. No, I think if you are the attorney general. there, even if you're Trump's attorney general, there would have been some hesitation, pushback, trying some, some, some way to try to avoid.

being the front person for this kind of decision. Todd Blanche doesn't have any opportunity. I mean, it is literally, literally, I'm either going to take myself out of the running for attorney general. I'm going to say no, take myself out, out of the running here, or. I'm going to say yes and continue. to hope that I might be the actual attorney general. And we saw that there lawyer, I think his name is Brian Morrison, resigned.

You know, I mean this, right. The chief lawyer at the door was just like, I can't handle this. I'm out of here. Appointed by Trump. This is an egregious moment. And I think everybody it's so egregious that everybody's kind of struggling. to find to find the, the language to express this. And. but this is. there's no other language that this is a grab. a, a transparent naked grab.

I'm going to get money and I'm going to get protection. And this is all for me, and I'm going to do this in a way. that almost anyone, not almost everyone, would see as dubious, actually illegal, almost, almost so illegal. that that that no one has has no one, no one. quite has ever thought that anyone might do this, that the. that the logic on its face is not only illegal,

but it is. preposterous. So we're we're over who would who would do this? Who would, who would sue? A situation in which you are both the plaintiff and the judge. Well, and that you would that you would give yourself. a slush fund of $1.8 billion. It's so breathtaking. I mean, it really is like the big that concept of the big lie.

that the bigger the lie people, the more likely it is for people to. believe it because they can't believe that you would make it up. And that's what this feels like to that. It's so breathtaking that you can't quite believe it. So in during Watergate, Richard Nixon got in trouble. for paying off the Watergate coconspirators. There were six of them, I believe, possibly five of them.

This is effectively what Trump has now done. Richard Nixon did that in secret, in quite, quite in public. Donald Trump has set up a fund in which. he will pay the January 6th. Hooligans, terrorists, whatever we call them, the, the, the, the Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol. Well, we've got two policemen, former policemen now.

suing, saying that that's not okay, that they were at the Capitol at the time and that this. is completely unconstitutional. So there is there are various clear pockets of resistance to this. I guess the question is, what on earth is Congress? But but nobody knows. There's actually, you know, and then trying to people. are trying to figure out how what is the means. to resist this, how can it possibly be undone. And it's not clear that it can be undone.

Well, I'm sure Trump thinks he's got, you know, immunity. from Scotus for it to well, he does, but then everyone else, I mean, essentially, there is now a legal agreement in place. that the an agreement made by the IRS and the Justice. Department to with the president of the United States, of course, the president of the United States. is the one who gets to to mandate and approves such an agreement.

It's anyway, we're beyond the officially beyond the pale. I know we really it's quite extraordinary. And now he's talking about possibly. being prime minister of Israel when he leaves. So at least he's got a sort of ending in sight. And perhaps he's got a new job plan for himself because he says he's. got 99% approval rating in Israel. It couldn't be lower in the States, but but.

99% approval rating in Israel. And then, of course, there's Cuba. And do you think and what and in that situation would he convert to Judaism? Well his daughter did to marry Jared Kushner. Right. So you think he would to become the prime minister of Israel? Possibly, yes. I think he probably already thinks he's of all religions. I mean, he's so expedient. I'm sure he would hold up, you know, the Torah upside down, as he did.

with the Bible, and pretend to be more familiar with it than he really is. Still my favorite thing. When he was asked. what was his favorite book in the Bible and he said, all of them. All of them. And then which was his favorite Testament? Both Testaments, I mean. Oh, it's it's insanity, Michael. It's getting worse. It's getting worse. But but it is getting worse. And let's, let's, let's see that in the context of him. seeing that everything is going south for him. So what does he do?

And it's not going to be. And we have discussed this many times before. It is not going to be Donald Trump. Course correcting it is is it is going to be Donald Trump. doubling down number one. And then number two, trying to figure out where his advantage continues to be. And his advantage is you mean he's the president of the United States? You can you can. That's a position from which you can. a lot a lot of grift is possible.

A lot of grift is possible. A lot of damage is possible. And also the other thing that he does is he just creates new dramas. So we now hear from Cuba that they're willing to talk, they want to talk, but they're accusing Trump. of just constantly ramping up the sort of warlike rhetoric. I mean, it's possible that he could open a front in Cuba. No, I mean, I mean, that is the thing. So what what he is doing now, you know, Trump is a is a.

he becomes obsessed with his own successes. And one of those successes, at least in his mind, is Venezuela. And and so everything should function like that in Trump's mind. Everything works like that. Now that was a success. Let's do it again. So they tried that. He tried that along with the Israelis in Iran. And that has been a complete failure. But pay no attention and we will do the same.

We will do what we did in Venezuela, in Cuba. And they have just now, I think, yes, yes, yesterday indicted a Raul Castro. brother. Brother. And and which was the same playbook. in in Venezuela, we indicted Maduro. and then so that we could send in troops to take him out and and.

Yeah, I think it's probably very likely that that is. exactly what is going to happen now in Cuba. And you think that they would do that not having resolved Iran? It's not they can handle more than one at a time. I would think that they would do it precisely because they have not. not resolved. Iran here will be the distraction and here will be the. the proof, both the distraction and proof of concept.

This works. Yes. Pay no attention to the fact that this did not work in Iran. It works. We just proved this. Venezuela. Cuba were. We're on a roll here. Pay no attention to Iran. But it is interesting that this is actually exactly. what they and they, they had hoped to do in Iran. And this has just come out in the in the last few days. that there is a former president of Iran, Ahmadinejad, in.

oh, who everyone has always thought was an absolute crazy person, but who they seemed to have had some, some backchannel discussions with. And he was Almudena John was out of favor with the with with the mullahs. So the both the Israelis and, and the US figured that they could use him. to, to put in place of, of Khomeini once they, once they killed him,

which they did quite expeditiously, they could put in their guy. Ahmadinejad, exactly as they did in Venezuela. Oh, with Dulce Rodriguez. Yeah. So that's the Trump playbook. And the Trump playbook is again and again. It's just repeat it, repeat it, repeat it. Now, this didn't work because. Ahmadinejad. apparently was under some sort of house arrest.

So the Israelis and the and the in the US, they bombed his guards. to be able to free Almudena John. But. They they also appear to have hit him. So nobody has seen Almudena Johnson. Is he still alive or is he, like Khomeini's son, sort of injured, can't be seen in any kind of way. The reports there were. Yes. The reports are that he's still alive and.

and even partly the reports are that he has repented from his, his, his plotting with the US in the Israelis, but no one has seen him. So that that plan went awry from the Israeli and US point of view. So the other thing that I found curious is the. The losing that Thomas Massie. losing and Bill Cassidy losing and Trump throwing his weight.

finally behind Ken Paxton. against John Cornyn in Texas. So this again is another example of Trump. doubling down instead of recalibrating. I'm in trouble. This is not going well. The polls are terrible. We better do something to. to something that. that that makes me look like I am somewhat responsive to my party.

and to voters and with with some amount of hope. that we can we can we can change our fortunes here. But that's not what Trump does. He does the exact opposite. So in this situation he has now, he is now on his revenge tour. And that would include defeating Bill Cassidy in a in a primary. Bill Cassidy of course, as a Republican defeating Thomas.

Massie in a in a primary. Thomas Massie is of course a Republican and. and and supporting Paxton in Texas. So against the sitting incumbent who is a Republican. So what he has done is is not not. only let's assume all Democrats are already alienated. Now we're getting in there.

We're alienating Republicans. To what point? The point is that Trump has this control over his party. And and that's what he is now falling back on. I have this control. I will put these these people who are wholly beholding to me into office. Therefore, I will be even, even, even if we lose, if we lose the House.

of Representatives, maybe we'll still hold on to the Senate. I will put these people into the Senate who will therefore protect me. Without regard for the consequences. of the incredible dissatisfaction that is going on in the Senate. among Republicans, and also in the case of Paxton. I mean, he has done the one thing that might well ensure.

or a one thing that might well ensure the. the defeat of the Republicans in the Senate. So Paxton is in is an enormously flawed candidate. You could hardly come up with a more a more flawed candidate. who is who has faced all kinds of corruption charges, has in fact. been impeached and is now being divorced from a wife who is. who is also a political figure in, in, in Texas and who is gone,

who is quite public with about her. husband's infidelities and his. Well, he's a noisy candidate, isn't he? I mean, I mean, what was interesting when you looked at some of the response. to the polls in Texas was that people knew about Kemp Axton, that John Cornyn. is one of those sort of old style, John Thune type senators. who was pretty right wing but actually was relatively quiet.

And and like Trump, Paxton is noisy. He he's not a typical politician. He doesn't speak like a politician. And people find that appealing in some crazy way. I mean, there's no evidence whatsoever. that he's going to be good or get anything done for the people of Texas. And yet there's something about his larger than life that they respond to. Well, Republicans respond to this. So in if we are in an inflection.

moment again, where there is where. where people are moving away from away from Trump, you have an attractive Democratic candidate and you've you've managed. you have a Republican candidate whose certainly alienated independence, certainly alienated Democrats and. is now in the terror in territory. that may well alienate more moderate Republicans.

You've created a formula in which you could lose in Texas, which is almost impossible, right. And by the Democratic candidate, you mean James Talarico? Yes. Yeah. The young Christian candidate who was a state senator. Trump doubling down. He will do. He I don't care. Yes, I increase I increase the odds significantly increase. the odds that we will lose a Senate, a Senate seat in Texas.

But I don't care. It's just it's a remarkable state of affairs right now. It really is. So. So Michael, inside Trump's head, does he see Bill Cassidy. losing and Thomas Massie losing. And even, you know, Stephen Colbert going off the air tonight. We're recording this on on Thursday morning. Are these does he interpret this as victory for him.

that he is still winning. So yes there's the macro background that everything is going wrong. But the micro right now is that he's got little victories. He can he can tick off the retribution thing. By the way, is James Comey going to apply to the slush fund? We don't know who can apply for the anyway. Yes he can. Yes, James James Comey could certainly apply the the. the the the the decisions in the trust fund. will be made by a group of people appointed by Todd Blanch.

I mean, this is it's more. Where you're speechless. It's the whole thing is I'm trying to figure out. And I don't think anyone can quite express the how blatant. this grab is, that there is nothing about this. There is no cover here. There is no rationale.

I mean, Todd Blanch, who was questioned about this in front of Congress. I mean, he looked hopeless. And I think he recognized this is a hopeless situation. There is no logic that can be applied to this. How do you if you're if you're like us or like anybody. trying to cover this, what is the language for a grab like this. which has no rationale, no cover, no logic, no pretense?

We're at that kind of authoritarian moment. in which you can't you can't put this into the. in the normal language of of politics, there is no process. You can say this is part of. Right. Well, he must think he must see this as winning, surely. Yeah. No, I mean I mean, yes, I mean he has come up. This is the, this is, this is the situation that he he wants. He's the judge. I'm the I can do anything.

I can do anything I want. This is this would be the perfect example. How do you get to do this? Because I can do anything I want. It's such a Putin move, isn't it? Do you think he cares about Putin getting the same treatment in China? I mean, it feels like a rinse and repeat visit. The. the images of them. being greeted seem very similar, them.

clapping and all the people waving flags. The flags were different, but essentially it was exactly the same state visit. It appeared. Yeah. I mean, I think that he I think that he probably calculates. the China visit was a. was was neutral or a success for him. I mean, it's a success for him because it was a distraction. It was X number of days in which Iran was not occupying the headlines. It was.

And then he's in a position to say, I got everything I want, I got everything, we're friends. We're this it's it's, you know, it's back to its back. to North Korea and that and that. and repeating that playbook. We're the best of friends. She great guy. We had great times I mean where where. nothing nothing remotely.

remotely changed in the calculation. between the US and China and certainly pay no attention to the fact. that China was the one issue, the one fundamental issue of Trumpism. And functionally, the MAGA movement that's gone by the by the wayside. China is is our friend in partner. Well, Andy got to have a vacation with his new buddy. I mean, you know, buddy buddy buddy trip.

I mean, what did Tim Cook think? I mean, Tim Cook sitting there alongside Brett Ratner. What is he thinking? Is he just thinking, I can't wait to leave this company behind. I had a great time. Have made a ton of money. I can't wait to hand the keys over. I mean, it's such a bizarre collection of people. And then to throw Brett Ratner in the mix, it's just nuts. No, again, it's that thing. What is the language of this? It is completely transparent.

No pretense. So how do you do this now? It you might think that it is easier. to express a situation without pretense, that the problem with politics is always that there's pretense. So therefore you can't you it's a it's very hard to say what's going on. because because there are feints here and feints there and, and hidden agendas. and all of, all of the kind of things which give politics a bad name.

But suddenly we have this new politics in which there is. there is no hidden agenda because it's out in the open. There is no pretense that it is anything but it is. There is no convoluted logic to justify it. It's there it is. It is sitting in front of your face. A Brett Ratner is sitting next to you, the person. This a predator who is me tude, who is the sleaze.

recognized far and wide as the sleaze ball. One of the one of the sleaze balls, one of the biggest balls. in the in in the industry on earth. And here he is the the the president's best friend. But but but but there's such consistency here because we know. Jeffrey Epstein was his best friend. Right? This is who Donald Trump likes hanging out with. He hung out with Jeffrey Epstein for 15 years.

He's replaced him with Brett Ratner. Yeah. In Brett Ratner is a is a. you know, is a totally straightforward grab them by the pussy guy. So there is yes they are very comfortable I mean this is there's no coincidence. Why they why they why they became friends. Why they instantly bonded. They are. they are the same kind of person, that grabbed them by the pussy guys. Hollywood love the Hollywood thing.

And I wonder if Brett Ratner had a crush on Melania. When I was watching the movie, I thought that's what it felt like. Lingering pictures of Melania smoldering because she doesn't say very much. other than her husband is only fire, and that she was approving the plans. that someone else had already made for for the inauguration. But but it felt like he was sort of enamored of her. And they have that in common.

They have Melania in common. Yeah, yeah. I'm not I'm not exactly sure how you not sure that that that Trump. would think of it that way since he hasn't really speak to his wife. So I think. I mean, I don't I know that's that seems complicated. And actually when this was the background of this was, was. was explained to me, it was very clear that that he had Trump.

had nothing to do with selecting Ratner to, to make Melania the movie. And Trump was completely outside of that. So we need to find out why Melania chose him or why. Amazon chose Brett Ratner to do this. It's very odd. Could she could of as the first lady, frankly, have had a pick of a lot of people who could have done this. Apparently the guy who has become Melania's. sort of main advisor, chief of staff, marketing.

guru, CEO. of Melania Enterprises, a guy by the name of Mark Beckman. who has been involved in fashion things before, was. apparently new Brett Ratner, and that was the connection. But can you imagine any other First Ladies. office approving Brett Ratner? I mean, I'm not saying that Steven Spielberg would have done it,

but there are so many directors that could have done this. Go back to this, this, this point, which is that is that there is no pretense. It doesn't matter. We don't have to think. We don't have to consider what other people will, will think or believe. And we don't have to have a rationalization. We don't have to have to have a reason other than this is what we want to do.

And Brett Ratner, you know, I mean, I mean, Brett Ratner is a is a is a. is a specially for that kind of thing. Melania. The movie, which is all surface. Brett Ratner is a surface director in a very capable, a capable director capable. of producing a very, very slick image.

So I think from Melania's. point of view, what she wanted this probably works. Although having said that, the movie is totally ridiculous. and preposterous, and I can't think of, of of it. having any other audience except Melania herself. Well, I think he I think by the end of it he develops. a sort of fascination with Melania the more I think about it. And now I think that Trump has sort of made him his best friend. I think that's what's going on there.

It's weird. It's just weird. Anyway, what's happening with your own case with Melania? Where are we on that? I think we need an update. I need an update. Yeah, no. And we should probably spend spend some time. It's locked in federal court. I mean, this is what what we're you know, it is the interesting thing is, so. it is before a federal judge who has to make certain key procedural decisions. before anything else can move forward is she's.

now had this case for coming on three months. She is a Trump appointed judge. So if I had to say, what's the rub here? And, you know, federal judges have small staffs. They have a lot to do. Almost all decisions take a long time, but this feels like it's taking longer than than it should.

But and to note, she is a. she's a judge appointed by Donald Trump. So I would say that this is if you're a judge appointed by Donald Trump. This is the last case you want to have to decide. I cannot imagine anything worse for a judge than being presented. with this case. So this is this is a problem, a problem for us. And and it's not that she might decide against us.

That would be fine, because if she decides against us, she's a Trump judge. We just appeal it. And. and, you know, entrust that the process would work out, we have a good case, etc., etc.. But what this is, this is almost could get to the point where. this is almost a pocket veto. She doesn't have to. She literally there is there is nothing. that makes it incumbent upon this judge to make a decision. I was with my lawyers the other the other day.

and I was saying, well, there must be something. How long can this go on? I'm speaking in frustration. And one of my lawyers said, well, you know, I guess the the longest. we've known for a decision to be pending is 27 months. So, so this this could I mean, I mean, this is a kind of constant discussion several times a week. How can we move this along? And there really isn't all that.

There isn't a lot of recourse here. But as they say. But it could come any minute, any minute, any minute you could get the call. And of course, Michael, the thing I've missed actually, somewhat, is. I haven't been very good at reading the comments and I've missed, I think, several limericks, but we found two gaffe read. Obviously our Limerick laureate has one. and also edits C3 x. There's a very good one there.

All right, I'm going to read gaffe reads first in the ballroom. He dreamed of a crown while the pollsters kept dragging him down with Ratner. in tow and Epstein below, he went waltzing through slush as he drowned. Very good girlfriend. And then this is from edits. Well, there Brett was on the China expedition, the 2026 chapter of a slow. walked sedition BFF of Paetus, making his magnum opus, Rush Hour five Whitehouse Edition.

Fantastic. Very good, very good. Rush hour five. Whitehouse edition. Yes. Come on, Brett Ratner, you know you can do it. Rush hour. I don't think. we we we pointed out that the rush hour connection. So Brett Ratner, exiled from Hollywood. can can't get finished, actually. But Melania, the movie revives his career and then rush hour.

for there have been rush hour one rush hour, two rush hour, three Rush hour, for which he has not not been able to get financed. for many years now, in many years of trying. Suddenly, after Melania, the movie is picked up by Paramount. Paramount is the studio that has been acquired. in the last year by the Ellison family.

Larry Ellison, the tech, you know, Mark. multi, multi-billion billionaire. and friend of Donald Trump's not only friend of Donald Trump's, but the person who needed Donald Trump. in order to complete the acquisition of Paramount. And now the forthcoming acquisition of Warner Brothers, all due to Donald Trump and as a as a further reward to Donald Trump.

And there have been already many. But he gives. Donald Trump's friend, BFF Brett Ratner, financing for Rush Hour four so we can say what? What has Donald Trump accomplished in office? Well, at the very least. Rush hour for rush hour, fool. We should perhaps have a marathon showing of all the rush hours. I mean, if I were someone who'd been me to just thoroughly as Brett Ratner,

I would be offering to help the president, I think, and come back. I mean, what's Billy Bush doing now? Billy Bush who who, you know, was quickly excommunicated from NBC. after the grab them by the pussy tape is still somewhat in the wilderness. I think he's doing his own thing now, but, if I were him, I'd put his hand up. And I'm sure Donald Trump will find something for him. Well, it's very good to catch up with you.

For those of you who've joined us today. Thank you. We'll be back on Saturday and we'll be back in the studio on Tuesday. I'm conscious it's Memorial Day. Oh, it's Memorial Weekend, isn't it? There is no such thing in the UK, but I'm looking forward to coming back. and being in the studio and being in the Daily Beast office. Memorial day is officially on Monday. On Monday? Yeah. So you'll have your flag flying. We will, we will. Michael, good to be back and see you on Saturday.

Fantastic. And I'm I'm really glad to see you in. Really glad. that we're back in the swing of it. 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. Thanks to our production team Ryan Murray, Rachel Passer, Heather Pissarro, Neil Rosenhaus.