I Know Why Trump's Slimy Goon Squad is Unravelling | The Daily Beast Podcast

Who is building an arch to honor himself, and who's got banners. of his big ugly face hanging all over downtown D.C.. Now that's what I would call a vandal. And so Donald Trump is the vandal in chief. Grift force. What? This flying bribe that has come here from Qatar. While Americans. can't afford gas, can't afford food, are getting kicked up health care. Though it's the most luxurious plane in the world. Everybody knows that the deal he struck with Qatar.

when he leaves the presidency, the plane goes with him. He gets to keep it. It's beyond. This is corruption at at a scale that we have never seen. And he's bragging about it. I'm Joanna Coles. This is the Daily Beast podcast. It's Monday, so we must be with David Rothkopf. And indeed we are where we're going to talk about. a lonely figure on the international stage, JD.

Vance, as his boss, tries to undermine him on Truth Social. We're going to talk about why did the Trump Organization single out. Eric Trump for Love on Father's Day and forget about his other children? Who knows why. And we're going to talk about the drama unfolding as we have. this conversation in the UK as the British Prime Minister resigns. It's all action. And don't forget.

Grift force. one, the new plane from Qatar that David has very strong opinions about. So let's get into it. David Rothkopf, Joanna Coles, where are you today? I am still in the south of France, my friend. I'm not going to complain. We have record temperatures, record amounts of rose. a in bottles flowing everywhere, champagne everywhere. And everybody is very excited.

about the transformation in the advertising business. That's why I'm here to hustle up dollars. Which reminds me that we would love you to subscribe to The Daily Beast. if you haven't. This is your moment to show your support for independent media, and they don't come. much more independent than David Rothkopf. Yeah. Show your support for independent media. and help pay for Joanna's return flight from Khan. Thank you. Yes, I do not subscribe.

She's not coming back. I'm going to get stuck there. Well, that will encourage people to to not subscribe. David. So so listen we've got you know I know. it was Father's Day in the US yesterday. We have to talk about the diss to Don Jr. who didn't appear in his father's truth social rantings. But Eric Trump did. So lots of love for Eric Trump from the Trump Organization but no love for Don Jr.

We must talk about a lonely day for JD Vance. I'm sure he would rather have been at home with his three children, but instead. he was in Switzerland yodeling for peace with the Omanis and the Pakistanis. And I'm dying to talk about the accusations of vandalism. at the long reflecting pool that Trump says has been slashed. as if it were the Friday the 13th movie and Freddy Krueger appearing at night.

And instead, it turns out a former Olympian has been arrested. for pinching a bit of floating paint. So where do we begin? We've got grift Force One, as Hugh calls. it, the new airplane from Qatar, and we've. Well, last time we talked, we mentioned the UFC because that had happened the day before. We've also had the Obama library, which it's just the juxtaposition of UFC.

fighting the reflecting pool, reflecting nothing, the ballroom. in a demolition crisis, and then all the other ex-presidents. like a sort of band back together in Chicago. But I guess we should start with the Iran deal and what's happening. And poor JD Vance, as I said, yodeling yodel, poor JD Vance. We all we all feel terrible for JD.

I'm sure he's eating a lot of Toblerone. I hope he is. And and cheese and clocks. I mean, what else is he. Well the breathing. There's something else Switzerland is for, and that is to dispose of vice presidency to like very much. And and this is, you know, what Donald Trump is doing. It's like, here's this thing that Donald Trump has not been able to solve. that is really impossible to solve on the terms that Donald Trump.

wants to solve it. And somebody has got to be the fall guy. And he's like, who could I pick from around here? And he goes, well, maybe it's that guy JD Vance or whatever. hid the name he's using these days is, let's send him over there. And then when we have to strike a lousy deal, we'll say, well, that was that was JD. Don't you remember when the Maduro extraction happened. that Trump was everywhere talking about it? He was everywhere.

And of course, he's pushed JD Vance out to negotiate this impossible. peace deal that the Iranians are just frankly, laughing at. And and then he's undermining. JD Vance attempts by his truth social posts. Please explain. Yeah. No, we seem to be hearing in all sorts of stories. and upcoming books and all kinds of other announces that he, like, talk. shit about JD Vance opined us back, and he's always going up to people going, who do you like better, JD or Marco, you know, and he's.

kind of playing them off of each other like his kids, right? Like he did this weekend with Eric and Don Jr. But you know, you talk about something else that's pure Trump, which is he. is first in line to take credit for things he thinks he can get credit for. And he is the first to push it away. And I would expect any minute Don Jr to be named. the head of the committee to fix the reflecting pool, because, you know, because,

like, why not give that thankless job to him since. Of course we know the reason for the problems. with the reflecting pool but but with Iran. The problem is this every single available solution. is less good than where we were the day before the war. started, and less good than where we were the day before Obama. The Obama agreement was torn up by Trump. And so he's going to get an agreement on nukes.

that's less good than the Obama agreement. And we saw this already because JD came out and said, look, we have an agreement and they're going to allow inspectors in. And that's fantastic. And, you know, people need to stop and, you know, just sort of go back. and look at their notes because that was in the Obama agreement. Iran's promise. not to have nuclear weapons was in the Obama agreement. and in the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and all the way back to 1957.

They kept saying that. So he is achieved nothing. Trump knows he will achieve nothing because Trump has a Trump has a secret. that he actually knows in some part of his lizard brain. And and that is he has no cards, all the cards he says he has. I have all the cards, he has no cards. And, you know, he rolled out the Republican Party over the weekend. Lindsey Graham, you know, bunch of other sort of spear.

carriers in the Republican Party all come out and go, if we don't. have a deal, then we are going to go out and we're going to bomb them. And of course, the Iranians know something that Lindsey Graham. doesn't know, which is there's no way Donald Trump's going to go back to war. There's no way. Donald Trump is going to go and try and take over the Strait of Hormuz. This war is despised by 70% of the American people.

It's going to cause economic hardship for everybody through the elections, no matter what they do. And so, you know, Trump's stuck. He knows whoever negotiates the deal is going to end up with egg on his face. And so he goes. How about the guy with the beard? You know, how about the guy who's trying to promote his book, communion, finding my way back to faith? Yeah. I mean, what a guy.

What a guy. This weekend he he was meeting with a Pakistani, and he said, you know, the most important people in my life are an Indian and a Pakistani. My wife and you, they're the only ones I talked, even though his wife is, of course, from Southern California, but his wife is American. Her parents are Indian. Yeah, exactly. But he here's the smarmy guy in the world and and today, you know, when somebody said, well, you know, the Iranians don't like it when Trump threatens them, Vance.

said, well, we told them, you know, this is what we call an America trash talk. And if they talk trash about him, he's going to talk trash about them. And, you know, he was he was trying to kiss ass and defend him. And he sounded like a dork. And and of course, the interesting thing about all this is that the very beginning. of the MOU specifically says. that neither side will threaten the other side. Right, right.

And what does Donald Trump do? We stop himself, David. He cannot stop himself. Well, that's right, because he's never made an agreement that he hasn't broken. And that's that's where we are here. And and so, you know what happened last night. right before markets opened, they said, okay, we but maybe we're making some progress because they don't want, you know, the thing they fear is not the Iranians, it's the stock market. Well, maybe they. fear the Iranians a little bit, too.

Well, I mean, they fear. the Iranians. are going to push harder and harder because the. Iranians are really good at that. And the Iranians know that, you know, there's nothing that Trump can say. no to that they can't overrule. And we saw that because Trump said there will be no tolls. And then the Iranians go, well, there are going to be an administrative fee. And, you know, we're going to go ahead and do this anyway. And Trump's like it. Well, maybe there needs to be an administrative fee. And the Iranians said Trump's like we get rid of missiles.

And the Iranians said no, we need missiles. And so then Trump comes out and goes, well, we can't take away their missiles, can we? And and so forth. And, and they're going to hold his feet to the fire, and he's going to realize, you know, I mean, this is I think we if we stop and we look at Donald Trump's. benighted life and his 5. or 6 bankruptcies and his three failed marriages. and the kids who hate him and the the business partners.

who don't want to do business with him anymore, and all the stupid, fucked up things Donald Trump has done in his life. This is one of the worst. This is going to be one of his signature failures as president, because this war, it is in a Wall Street bank on Friday. estimated that the total cost. to the planet of this war. could be $1 trillion to the global economy.

It and the war itself, probably, probably, they estimate, has cost $130 billion minimally. And, you know, it's there is no. level on which him starting this war is working out for him. Well, nothing about his treatment of Iran has made sense, right? The minute he ripped up the JCPoA, the Obama agreement,

the Iranians immediately started enriching uranium again. They immediately embarked on the nuclear program requiring. the obliteration theory obliteration last summer. And now we're in a worse position. I do not understand why more people are outraged by this. I don't understand why more European leaders aren't outraged by it. I mean, George Maloney gets outraged because he's. put out nonsense about wanting her begging for a selfie.

And she's like, Italians, we're done to beg. We never beg. I love that. Why aren't they more outraged by what has gone on here? Because I think that the European leaders, for the most part, I rational human beings who realize that getting outraged. is not going to get them anything and their whole plan. And I've talked to some European diplomats about this. I think their plan is. ride it out, you know, manage Trump.

You know, they've got the secretary general of NATO, Mark Ruta, the former prime minister of Holland. And and he like, kisses Trump's ass a little bit. And some of the other stroke him and Macron is one day a tough on him. and one day nice. And Keir Starmer, the outgoing prime minister of the UK, one day toughen him and one day nice. And George and Maloney, when she yells at him, she says. but you know, I could have been your ally. I support some of the things that you support, and I think they're just trying to get to the end of this nightmare because.

they know that if he gets pissed off, then he starts tariffs. We're going to have tariffs. We're going to have bad trade deals. I'm pulling my troops out. I'm not you know and they don't they don't want to have to go through that. So there I think I think they're just being sensible. As for Americans being outraged. Joanna the poll this weekend said 70% of the American people don't approve of this. That's as outraged as America gets because 30% of America thinks the Earth is flat.

Right? So the rest of us think that the war in Iran was a bad idea. So, David, on top of the reflecting pool, can we just have a moment. on the reflecting pool because it's supposed to be ready by July the 4th? It appears that the whole thing is going to have to be redone. We know the contract didn't go out to tender. It went to a friend of Donald Trump's. Are we supposed that the reflecting pool. is reflecting nothing but the corruption and the greed.

and the frankly grift of this current administration? I you know, first of all, that's a rhetorical question, because clearly we're not surprised, right? But secondly, let's just break this down a little bit. Did you see the picture of the guy who got the contract? Of course I saw him. He looks like him. He looks like a mafia don. He looks like a mafia don. I mean, when Hugh Docherty, our executive editor,

got that picture, he was beside himself. I mean, the hair, the mustache, the overcoat. He doesn't look like a mafia. Done. He looks like. a kid in high school playing a mafia don in the high school. production of The Sopranos. Okay. You know, you know, he's, like, holding a big cigar, and he's got this cheesy coat on. But the reality is this. Trump screws up things all the time. Trump is the tax person on earth.

But this was a really big I mean let's look at this. The reflecting pool was fine right. And he thought it was a little dirty. And so he said, well okay let's refinish the bottom of the reflecting pool. It wasn't that tough. It didn't take that many days. And yet from every single possible perspective, it's been a debacle. They did it. They did it with the wrong people. They did it in an illegal way. They painted the bottom of it, the wrong color. The bottom color heated it up.

When it heated it up, algae started to grow. There was a picture over the weekend of a dead duck floating around in the algae. It was so sad. So sad. It was horrible. And and it's turned into a tourist attraction. in downtown DC for people to hate on Trump, right? They come down and they reflect on what a bad president they've got. So then Trump sends in the National Guard. and people from Homeland Security to threaten people.

And then he's like, Holy mackerel, this is a mess. What are we going to do? And he's like, well, I have to blame it on somebody. So he comes up with a conspiracy theory and he says, well, it was vandals. And they cut, according to him, a 250ft. gash in the bottom of the materials on the bottom of the pool. And he's like, he says, we're rounding up. these vandals who are behind this whole thing. Lord knows they, you know, if there were a vandal, we'll get to that in a second.

They would not get the pardon that the the vandals who destroyed the Capitol. on January 6th. God. But of course there is beyond all of this. There is this meta thing. And the better thing is who's the vandal. in Washington who's defacing everything in Washington? Who defaced the Oval Office, who destroyed the East wing? Who put a giant claw in the South lawn of the white House, who is building. a gilded ballroom for billionaires to dance in while Americans starve?

Who is building an arch to to honor himself? Who's covering all the horse statues in Washington in in gold leaf. You know somebody and who's got banners of his big. ugly face hanging all over downtown D.C.. Now, that's what I would call a vandal. And so Donald Trump is the vandal in chief. He is. He is the man who is defacing the nation's capital.

And, you know, he's trying to go further. You know, he wants to rename Penn Station after himself. He's trying to rename Dulles Airport after himself. He's renamed West Palm Beach Airport after himself. You know, he didn't do enough damage as the worst, most tasteless developer in America. Now he's taken it to another scale with tack and and and by the way, it ties to something else you've talked about, which is grift force.

What? This flying bribe that has come here. from Qatar that he decides. I mean, this is, like, mind boggling. The president holds a press conference to say, look at the $400 million gift I was given by a foreign government. And to then, while Americans can't afford gas, can't afford food, are getting kicked off health care. Go. It's the most luxurious plane in the world, the most luxurious.

And he's got it in painted in these cheesy trump colors. And everybody knows. that the deal he struck with Qatar was not just. they give him a plane to uses president, but the deal is. that when he leaves the presidency, the plane goes with him. He gets to keep it. I mean, and it cost $1 billion. to upgrade the plane to be suitable to be Air Force One.

So he gets 400 million from the Qatar's. He gets $1 billion from the taxpayers, and he gets to keep the plane. I mean, this is grift, but it's beyond grift. This is corruption at at a scale that we have never seen it. And he's bragging about it. I mean, something's missing. I'm very glad I checked in with you this morning. because we're we're receiving peak Rothkopf this morning. Your outrage is very clear.

Do you think the reflecting pool will be done by July 4th? Is that even possible? And does he? Is it possible there was that that his description. of the dagger and the 250ft slash? I thought they'd just. painted the bottom of the pool, so it's not possible to have slashed it, is it just all made up? Well, of course it's all made up, right? I mean, juleanna their cameras all around. the pool, there's cameras all around Washington.

If somebody did that, it would be on video. No, nobody did that. And what he says, a slash is what he meant. Was that the kind of surface, the what they paint. it with is a kind of a rubberized surface. You know, it's and what's happening is they didn't affix it to the. concrete or whatever the reflecting pool is made out of properly. And so pieces of it are just floating up in the. now for meme makers everywhere.

It's been great because here is the drain, the swamp guy. literally building a swamp in the middle of Washington, right? That's a very good it's an amazing metaphor, isn't it? It is amazing. And so there's thousands of little internet memes. of, you know, Trump covered with algae and. You know, the seaweed. hanging from his face, like the, the, you know, the,

the thing or some horror movie monster crawling out of this swamp. And in fact, one of the great things. that happened over the weekend is that some creative artists. started projecting on different buildings in Washington, images from the Swamp Thing coming up and image. And, you know, they just started projecting all over Washington, mocking images of Trump. So, you know, I think one of the things about the reflecting pool is.

the timing couldn't be worse. because you had the this Iran board debacle. The country is in a mess. The 250th birthday is coming up. You had this UFC hideousness and and and and now there's this thing. and it's such a symbol of his vandalism, his failure, his inability. to take responsibility for anything, his. turning Washington into the grimmest,

slimy swamp of all time that that, you know, it's it's you know, you talk about reflection, you know, upon reflection, this is a metaphor. This is a metaphor for Trump. And it's a it's pretty powerful. And what do you think the most serious of his cabinet members. think as they drive past it in their government cars? Do they have their head in their hands? Well, okay, totally fair question.

But but if you were thinking of, for example, Marco Rubio, who at least had a career as a senator before, or if you thought of Scott Beasant driving past, these are people that you still think have a foot in reality. Do you think they're just head in hands thinking, oh my goodness, we can't just. you're doing this to trigger me, okay? There's no foot in reality. You don't think there's any foot left in reality or. No. Maybe it's in the Maggie Haberman Jonathan Swan book, but apparently.

Scott Beasant referred to Zelensky as Mr. being in a bad suit. I mean, how dare he? This pampered parody of a rich guy, you know, with practically going around with a monocle and a top hat, make fun of this guy who is an actual hero of democracy, who stood up to Russia for four years, and he's comparing him to Mr.

Bean. I mean, Marco Rubio. is kicking people out of the country or keeping them out of the country. for offering views on the internet. that are critical of Trump. He's Marco Rubio is like, I'm Mr. Normie, right. But he is gone 100% total fascist. He's responsible for the millions of people. who are going to die because USAID was shut down.

He has good at the State Department. There are most diplomatic posts, senior diplomatic posts, and the US has around the world are open because he doesn't think he needs them. He's presided. over the shutdown of the of the NSC, and he's presided over the worst U.S. foreign policy ever. Look at the tariffs. Look at the invasion of Venezuela. Look at sinking all of these boats around the world, blowing up NATO, blowing up our allies, kissing up to autocrats from around the world,

the president's grift destroying American soft power. That's the normal guy. Fair point. I totally triggered you. I totally triggered you. But you think there's nobody riding up and down in their hushed, quiet government cars that doesn't look out and think. How can we have messed up the reflecting pool? It's such a peaceful place in Washington. It's supposed to be a peaceful place. It's a sort of sacred place for reflecting.

Maybe Melania when she's escaping the white House. and she's heading off to whatever actual home she lives. in, and whatever actual bed she sleeps in might go. That idiot has done it again. But you could do that in her voice better than I could. Oh, he is unifying. Unifying Washington with what has happened to reflect pool. The pool reflect.

It's not reflecting. And that's a weird accent. I'm thrown because I'm in the south of France. and I've been speaking French all morning, so now I'm very confused. I don't know where I am or what's or what. What's happening? You did see that the final accounting on the Melania movie is coming out. And tell me. Tell me exactly what it is. Well, I don't have the exact numbers, but I do know that it was something like, you know, it made a few million dollars in revenue, but it cost them 40 to make, and then another 635.

Something to produce, to promote, to market and stuff. So they may have spent $100 million on this movie. They probably lost 70 or $80 million on the movie. It was a complete flop. And but but anyway, I don't know who it is. Clearly, somebody must realize what a mess he is making of these things. I mean, in the in the Maggie Haberman Jonathan Swan book,

apparently somebody says they go into the Oval Office and Trump is like, they're putting up this gold film, great stuff. And super glue, right? With super glue, we're super glue. Now, you know, we could talk about Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan. and what an absolute offense to journalism it is for them. to go and collect all this stuff and then keep it until it's a book, right? I mean, there's some of the things that they're writing about here,

which include, you know, you know, his failings as president, bad policy and all this other stuff that is news. And they just hold on to it until they can go and cash in on it as a book. What offends you the most? What are the points that you feel they should have released at the time? There are so many. I am offended by people who are day to day journalists. who are not reporting breaking news when it comes in. I mean, Donald Trump, you know, it was very clear to him that,

you know, people thought that he was not healthy, that people thought that, you know, that you know, that that there was fighting in the white House and there were. tensions between different people in the white House. The white House was dysfunctional in many respects, and they just thought, no, we're going to keep this until we released the book. And, you know, they're good. They're good journalists. They write good stuff. But something has happened in journalism today where it's. perfectly acceptable to go and gather up all this stuff.

and not report it until you get paid, until your payday happens, until it gets you on the New York Times bestseller list. And I just think that's an offense to journalism. But hasn't that always been. the way it hasn't that been the way with Bob Woodward? Yeah. Oh, he's one of the worst offenders. In fact, Bob Woodward. probably owns the patent on this kind of offense to journalism. Well, it's the conflict or the tension, isn't it, between the writer. and the journalist and the nobody's going to buy a book.

if there's nothing new in it when you're writing this kind of nonfiction. So it's it's complicated. And I guess the times thinks that they want to keep them reporting. And so this is the quid pro quo. But no, I guess so. But, you know, it is also possible to wait a couple of years, have some perspective. But one of the problems is that publishers want books on breaking news now.

So you know, they want you know, they want them to write three books. in the course of the presidency in real time that break news. And I think that's where you get the tension. Used to being the olden days, somebody would write a book, it would come out three years after. It would be about perspective, which, by the way, we could use some perspective. Right? I think that's not a bad thing to focus on, but it's an ugly model. And frankly, it doesn't do the American people any service. And I don't know, that's just my opinion, you know.

Well, I'm very curious to read the book. Have you ordered yours? I. was somebody offered to. send me a copy, so I will I will read the free copy I get. Okay. So I do want to talk about Donald Trump as a father. And on Father's Day, the Trump Organization. marks it with a gushing, gushing. I mean, as gushing as the water from the reflecting pool tribute. to Eric Trump with no mention whatsoever of Donald Jr.

Now it says, This Father's Day, we celebrate. not just the man who inspired it all, but the son who showed up. every single day and proved that the greatest gift. a father can give isn't a name or a fortune. It's an example. The empire that Donald J. Trump built did not survive four years of presidential service by accident. It survived because a son put on his hard hat and went to work.

Eric Trump is not merely the beneficiary of his father's legacy. He is its keeper, its engine, and its next great chapter. What can this mean for Don? For Don Jr, whose wedding to socialite Bettina Anderson, whose father was a financial advisor to Jeffrey Epstein. What can this mean for Don Jr? Nothing good. I mean, clearly Don Jr is not in his father's good graces.

I mean, he could have gone to the wedding. Clearly, Bettino really wanted the wedding at the white House. They could have done it. There. Wouldn't have cost Don anything. He probably wouldn't have even, you know, spent any time with them there. He doesn't spend much time with anybody. You know, in fact, is it in the Maggie Haberman book. that he goes into his separate bedrooms with Melania and then his bedroom. ends up being all littered with fast food and ice cream cartons.

Ice cream pardons. And she doesn't want to live with that. So he goes in there and then they have to go in and clean it up every day. Anyway, he don't think that's the reason that Melania doesn't. want to hang out with tunneled. Well, I don't know that he's got ice cream, empty ice cream cartons and wrappers of, of of, you know, hamburger wrappers at the bottom of the but. I think there are probably other reasons she doesn't want to live with them. You're absolutely right. But, Joanna, think about this guy. He's like the president or he's the, you know, the super rich billionaire,

and he's alone. His wife doesn't want to be anywhere near him in his bedroom, spending countless hours texting and tweeting in his jammies. And he's eating a Big Mac, and he throws the carton on the floor and easy. I mean, it's like Howard Hughes or something. I mean, it's one of these billionaires has lost his mind. Except he's the president of the United States. Yeah. I mean, that's the amazing thing.

And his family, I mean, it's not just Don Jr. What about Melania's favorite child? I mean, you just look at Barron and you go, this guy. There are bad headlines in store for this dude not to make, you know, he hangs out with Andrew Tate and he loves, you know, that whole world. But but he's not mentioned, you know, Tiffany, she's never poor Tiffany. You know, she's she's never mentioned.

And, you know, I mean, I think he's still deeply in love with Ivanka, but Ivana has taken a self out of the running, right? She's just said politics is too cruel. I don't want anything to do with it. So Jared is busy out there negotiating. But if anchor's not part of it, well, right. She's not part of it. Just like Jared, you take it the heat, you be out there. I'm be telling you what to do from behind the scenes. Well, and happily,

she's found the Albanian island that they want to they want to live on. And Albania's closer to a revolution over the corruption of the Trumps. than we are, you know, and they could get. I mean, I love what's going on in Albania. I think there's a lot we can learn from that. Yeah, we should remind people. People have literally been I mean, thousands of people. have been protesting in the streets over Ivanka and Jared's hope. Well, in fact, it seems like they've already started work in this. natural, beautiful beach and part of Cezanne Island,

which Ivanka said that she discovered. when she was staying on a friend's yacht and she went swimming. And then they found this island, and then they climbed to the top of the island, and they were barefoot, and it was so intrepid. And then they discovered that they could, by the side of not very much money. and turn it into a fabulous billionaire's resort. And she said it was just the kind of place she'd always wanted to live. They don't live on the same planet as we do.

I think is living in this billionaire's bubble, where she believes. she can arrange her world in such a way that she can influence her father. and have her husband be the front guy who takes all the heat for these things. And he can go and collect money from overseas governments that want to, you know, have a special in with the president, and she can look like she's removed from it. and she's just being a mom. But then, you know, she travels around the world on yachts and things and she says, oh, let that island looks nice. Let's take that one.

And she just it's completely out of touch with the idea that, you know, it, it might belong to somebody else or, you know, that might not have a price. or the country involved might want to have a say in what happens to it. And it's this kind of, you know, that there is this, you know, there's this group, there are 1100. billionaires in the United States. that live in a life on a different planet from the rest of us. And she is, you know, she's just sort of got it down and is,

you know, she thinks she can escape on the other end of the Trump presidency and, and is not going to. bear the burden of the fact that her father is an accused sex offender. and accused fraudster, has been impeached a couple of times, may be impeached. another couple more times, you know, is, as is the worst president in history, she's going to think, no, I, I can escape all that. That's her whole game. And it's it's Melania's game too.

It's kind of interesting that these people are like trying to get close. to Trump, trying to get as much cash out of them as they can, but trying to not be tainted by the fact that they're associated. I just want to go back to Eric Trump because this tribute, it's more than a thousand words long on the Trump Organization. And it says from an early age he was on the job. sites, he made lawns, he laid tiles. But what distinguishes Eric from the caricature. that critics attempt to construct is the texture of the man himself.

He is, by all accounts, someone who genuinely loves the work, the construction, the design, the tangible satisfaction. of standing in front of something he helped build. He has spoken often about his deep love for the outdoors, for skiing, for shooting his, in a word, real. I mean, what is this? It's just super bizarre. And then it says Eric Trump, growing up alongside the greatest.

dealmaker in America and what it means to carry that legacy forward. What can it mean to carry that legacy forward? I don't know, I think they're all going to have to change their names. It's like the Hitler family that used to live in Long Island, right? And after World War two, they, like they changed their names. You know, you don't want to you don't want to have to carry that burden. And by the time Trump is done, a couple more impeachments, a couple more giant scandals, once we learn what's really going on.

in the Epstein files, you know, once, you know, there are 15 more scandals that we're going to hear about by the time. we get to the end of this thing, he's going to be Eric Smith. You know, he's going to be Eric. Smith of the going to be living in an FBI protection program. Right. And it's going to be the worldwide. big building corporation, and it's not going to have any name associated with it. But but, you know, the funny thing is you read all of that. When I think of Don and Eric, I think of Beavis and Butt-Head. And I'm like, you know, that's the image I see.

You know, Eric was always the dope. You know, he was always the one that everybody was making fun of. Maybe Don feels sorry for him in some respect, I don't know. It is clearly a very dysfunctional family. You know, I was thinking about this today, and I know other people have made this comment about Trump. Have you ever seen him. show affection for anybody? Well, apart from grabbing his wife's arm or hand.

because she's always flicking it away, right? She pulls it back. But have you ever seen him? Do you know I was watching the Obama thing and. and and here's Obama and Michelle. and their kids and Obama and Bush and Obama and Clinton. and so forth, Obama and Joe Biden, there's real affection. These people care about their normal. They're not that normal. They want to be president. You're not normal if you want to be president. Right.

But they have some normal traits that they have not completely lost. And, you know, Michelle came out wearing a skirt. that had her mother's face on it, and he got all moved. And, you know, I'm not into this, you know, like, I think Barack. Obama was a pretty good president. I think he was a he's a good guy and a very smart guy, and he's a great orator. And he's he broke, he made history and he deserves a lot of credit. But I think he was kind of a pretty good president.

But watching these people at the Obama library and thinking. they're George Bush. and Laura Bush, they like the Obamas, they're nice to each other. George Bush gives Michelle Obama at a at. a funeral a mint. You think ever Donald Trump ever gave anybody a fucking mint in his life? Did he ever said, oh, you look like you need a miss. He did. That's it. There's no normal there.

Well, there's no normal in the UK right now, David, because Keir Starmer. has just resigned after a mere two years in the job as British prime minister. I mean, depends on what you mean by normal. Well, Britain's turning into Italy. Yeah. You've had seven prime ministers in a decade, right? Yeah. Which is it? Which is very unusual for Britain. And also Keir Starmer is the man who. the party, the Labor Party up so could be reelected after endless years of Tory rule.

I think 14 years of Tory rule. So remarkable exit. for him as he threatened by a mundane type figure. who's been the mayor of Greater Manchester. Well, let's break that down. Okay. First of all, Keir Starmer, prior to being prime. minister, was a pretty respected guy. He was the chief prosecutor, right? He was he was kind of similar to the.

the Colin Firth character in the Bridget Jones movies. You know, that was that was kind of how he was. Right. And. He just he just didn't have. And again, you know, this is a leadership thing. You know, about it from business. But some people just don't want to take the hard decisions. Some some people are just not made. for being the front guy in, in, in this way.

And he just couldn't deliver. And it was it was pathetic. But you know, there there were six other pathetic leaders of, of, of the UK in the course of the past decade as well. You know, when you say a mundane like figure, what do we mean? Well, we mean someone who's leaning into progressive politics. as a way of making people feel better, I think, I mean, and just yeah, I'm going to stop you on the Keir. Starmer thing, because the first decision Keir Starmer's government. did was to cut the benefits for pensioners heating.

I've never come across a worse political decision. than to cut old people's heating benefits. It was a staggering decision. Then they went after the farmers. They've made decision after decision. that was incomprehensible to people. Actually, I don't think it's not that he's. I don't think it's just that he's not a front man. He's not a great orator. As Donald Trump said recently, he's not Winston Churchill.

You don't have to be Winston Churchill. But he has he's definitely not a politician, is what it turns out. Yeah, even Winston Churchill wasn't Winston Churchill. Right. Remember. You know, he for four years he was Winston Churchill. Yeah. During the war. Yeah absolutely. But you're absolutely right. They made some he made some bad decisions. And you know he undermined himself politically as a result of them. And clearly he made those decisions because he was making a behind the scenes.

political calculus with pressure from different people within his party. And it was it was it was the wrong way to go. But but I'm thinking about the mundane thing. from a slightly different perspective, because, you know, when I read about these developments and you see people like Andy Burnham. being compared to mum Dani or Washington has just finished its marrow primary, and and the person who will be the next mayor of Washington is another democratic. socialist, just like there is in New York, just like there is in Seattle.

And or people compare AOC. and Bernie Sanders and subway and they say they're leftists. I was reading The Economist and they refer to them as leftists, and that this is. about their being progressive. And I don't think that's what mom Dani's about. And I don't think that's what this change is about. Mom, Dani is about. lower rent, cheaper busses for traveling,

pre-K for people who need it, a grocery in your neighborhood. These people recognize that the government people don't believe. government serves them, that people believe. government serves powerful people above the government. And it's not delivering the kind of basic needs they've got. And I see it. I see this as kind of a different thing. It's about good governance and nuts and bolts, you know, meeting the needs of average people who feel like.

they're being left out by governments that are controlled by oligarchs. And so it's not I don't think the labels are super helpful. And, you know, clearly, Dani has been thus far. very successful by delivering. small scale but meaningful positive. You know, he filled 100,000 potholes.

That wasn't that wasn't nothing. That was something. And I think that's, you know, I mean, frankly, I wouldn't be surprised. if the there there's more of a focus on mayors. Mayors actually have to do stuff, you know. Well they're accountable aren't they. Hasn't been able to deliver free busses and he hasn't been able to tax. the rich quite as vehemently as he said he was going to, because there were all sorts of. But it's June and he's been in office for six months. And and he he did come up with a tax for piano tears.

And he did it with the governor and the legislature. And he did get something done. And he's checking. I'm not. This is not a. campaign speech. Well, it sounds a little bit like one. And as someone who lives in New York City, which I know, you live in the beautiful part of D.C. that you do as someone who lives in New York City, I will say I haven't noticed any difference. whatsoever to the number of mentally ill people that are on the streets.

He's been incredibly lucky in terms of the overall decline. in crime in the cities, and he's been unbelievably lucky with the Knicks. win, which has put everybody in a fantastically good mood. Well, look, and lucky is better than smart many times, right. Luck helps. And the reality is this that in New York. when he came in and now there are 120,000 people without homes,

which is, you know, vastly more than any other city in the United States. It is a serious problem. I don't I, you know, will he solve it? Will he make a big bet? I don't know, I actually am getting it. Something else. I'm a little tired of the labels of people saying, oh, Trump and the conservatives. There's nothing conservative about Trump or, you know, the the left is got to be destroyed in order for the centrist to win.

But the centrist are really people who are advancing. a corporate agenda, and they're not so much center. They're sort of pulling things the right. And what do you mean by the left? You know, are you talking about health care for everybody in this country? Well, everybody wants that or or common sense gun controls or stuff. That's that's not what the issues are anymore. I just, I just think the labels aren't super useful. And I think people are really sick of government that seems to be.

giving breaks to rich people in power people, powerful people, and doesn't seem to be helping them with their very real problems. of whether they're paying for their lives. or whether it's a crazy guy in the street, or whether it's crime or whatever. And I just think they want government that works. And, you know, the thing about Trump is I did this over the weekend. I thought maybe I thought I would turn it into calm. And I sat down and I made a list of 50 initiatives. You always tell me I'm making lists all the time, probably.

some manifestation of OCD, but. But I made a list of 50. What I thought was sort of the 50 major Trump initiatives, and every single. one of them was bad, and every single one of them had a bad outcome. And I and I put, I went out on the internet and I said, please name for me one thing Trump has done since becoming president. that was actually meaningfully good for most Americans,

and the answer was none. Now I know I'm on blue Sky and I'm a liberal, crazy and whatever, but. the reality is. Trump is is an example of bad governance. We're living at a deer. The British government is not functioning somehow. Our governments are not actually meeting the needs of people to. to deal with their day to day issues, whether it's the cost of living. or getting health care or being made safer.

or or just having decent infrastructure around them. And, and I, I just think we're at a kind of watershed, particularly in the US, where the majority of the of the under 40 population, which is the majority of the electorate going forward. They don't believe there was just a poll. 70% of them don't believe in the American dream anymore. They don't believe they're going to ever own a home.

And and I just think everywhere this is the issue. The issue is could, could, could somebody make my life a little better? Can they make a plausible case? They can make my life a little better. Right. Can guess get cheaper. Can I buy a home for the most part, sort of modest ambitions which. And also, in the light of Elon Musk becoming the world's first trillionaire, the in light of the Ellen Musk being the world's worst trillionaire, I saw somebody on, you know, the internet this morning.

saying, if you have $1, you are closer at wealth to the second wealthiest person. in the world than the second wealthiest person is to Elon Musk. Wow. Wow. That's an interesting that's a fun riddle. You know, the point is that Elon Musk is one of the worst people in the world. He's he's he's a racist. He's got a platform for racists. He's he's he's taken companies that other people have created.

He's been a huckster. He sold the stock and he's fucked up the companies. I mean, Tesla will not be a major factor in electric vehicles. in five years because it's been overtaken by the Chinese X. he destroyed space is a con of the first order. Everything about space is based on. Well, if we go to Mars, this company will be worth a lot. If its rockets don't blow up, this company will be worth a lot. Or if if data centers are based in out of space,

this company will be worth a lot. And it's all on the company. It's all it's all make believe. But he has figured out a way to do that. And and and and to make $1 trillion by doing that. Even though everything he touches turned to look at Doge, every everything Doge did, some of it was illegal. Some of it turned to crap. What they did with USAID will result in 10 million people dying.

You know, the cuts they're making in terms of cancer research or the cuts they made. in terms of, you know, other forms of like veterans services and so forth. People people are dying and suffering from that right now. And, and, and, and and yet. investors are like, yeah, let me write them another check. And it's not because they think you'll create value, it's. because they think there will be demand for what he's selling. and that they can get out of the stock before all the suckers.

who are holding on to it once it and once it collapses in the future. Well, David. David Rothkopf, this demand for what you're selling, which is outrage. and humorous lists. full of contempt for our current government, I start I'm just I just wish it worked better. You know, I just I just wish it worked a little better. I just wish people's needs were taken care of a little more effectively.

And, you know, that's why some of that Obama thing. was pretty moving, because there were people there. who had worked, and they were all deeply flawed people. But Joe Biden and Barack. Obama and George. W Bush and Bill Clinton, all of whom made huge mistakes, they all did something positive.

and, and, and and we looked back on that. You know, they're a little bit decent. They were a little bit effective. And we looked back on that now with urine it because we are. in such a black hole of. malevolent bad governance. I do think that watching the old presidents get back together, get the band back together, as it were, in Chicago, also reminded you of of.

presidents who, when they were doing the job, believed that they were representing all of America, that that was their goal and that was their wish. And you didn't see the divisiveness that you see with our current leadership? Well, there's a fundamental difference between them. And it's really important to remember, because July 4th. is just less than two weeks away, right? Two weeks away. And and it's they all recognized that the president.

of the United States in our system is not the top, it's actually the bottom. He reports to everybody. The president works for everybody. Donald Trump believes that he is the king, that he won the United States in a in some competition. And it's all his to do whatever he wants to do with it. And all the rest of us have to take the consequences. because, as he said, and he said this this weekend with regard to Iran, but it's true with regard to everything he said, I can do anything I want.

Is it that he keeps repeating that it's a meme in his life? I can do anything I want, and the reality is he does not understand public service. And I know that sounds really boring and like out of a civics class, but these people, as you just point out, they did and he doesn't. Okay, David, excellent to see you as ever. We will regroup, I hope, next Monday and we will see what happens in the UK,

whether or not they start the process for labor leadership nominations. I think that will probably open next week. And well, we'll see. whether or not the reflecting pool is reflecting anything at all. We will see. I look forward to where you going to be back here in America. I should be back by next Monday. Yes. All being well, I'm going on to Paris, which is experiencing record temperatures, and I'm warned that the apartment I'm staying in with my older son has no air.

conditioning and it's record temperatures, so I have been. Be careful. No, you know, France, whenever it gets super hot, like people die because there's no air. conditioning, there's no air conditioning, but there is lots of bottled Evian. So I shall be taking that wherever I go. Well, it's the best city in the world, so you should enjoy it. Have a great time. Thank you. And we'll see you when you get back. Safe travels. I will see you next Monday.

I always love talking to David Rothkopf. I think my favorite part of the conversation was him. just talking about how Trump is the chief vandal in America. But right on YouTube. Give us your comments, tell us what you think. We love to read them, and it's good to have a place. to express your feelings about the crazy that's going on right now. So if you have been, thank you very much for joining us at a big. thanks to our production team, John Romero, Ryan Murray,

Rachel Purser, Heather Pissarro and Neil Rosenhaus. So the good news is we have so many beast tier members now. There are too many names to read out and we really appreciate your support.