Trump Knows Epstein Could Be His Mortal Threat | Inside Trump's Head

The Epstein files are still dripping out. I mean, the Justice Department again has announced that they've released, what, 2% and 98% continue another 5 million documents to come out, apparently. And I had spoken to people in the white House. about the progression toward Venezuela in Greenland. But it was the recognition on Trump's part that he had these significant problems, including that fact that he has been unable to stem the Epstein disclosures.

and that the demands for ever more information. about what happened with specifically Jeffrey Epstein. and Donald Trump. Michael. Joanna. We have a new Limerick from gov. Read. Although Gottfried has yet to identify. himself, we've got a flurry of comments this this week of flurry. Another flurry, a snowstorm of comments. A lot of people liking our Limerick laureate that once was a rule. And if and if you don't know, by the way, we have a, commenter.

who regularly sends us limericks after each. Each. Each show we get a Limerick about. us, about Donald Trump, about Jeffrey Epstein. It's, the world converges on these limericks. The world converges. And we should remind people, just in case Goff read this in New York. and wants to come to see us live at the 92nd Street Y next Tuesday.

No, next Thursday or the next Wednesday. It's next Wednesday. Wednesday. It's next Wednesday. Good try on every day of the week. Okay. And it's at 8:00. Alarmingly, I mean, we really are like a proper show. Anyway, go for it. If you all that is curtain goes up at 8:00, curtain goes up. And behind the curtain is, us is. It's us. You the besuited Michael Wolff. Anyway, the once was a ruler named Trump who fought every scandal. Must play.

When the numbers looked sour, he'd reach for raw power. Till friends turn to blame. By next day. Thank you. Go for it. Okay. We may now proceed with our extensive agenda for today's podcast. Where should we begin? And if anyone else wants to try their hamlet hand at, limericks, we're here. That's such a Freudian slip. Did you just say hamlet? I did not, but I think you did, actually. Whatever. Anyway, where are we going to begin?

We have a long agenda. But as I'm sure people can probably guess from hearing us, sometimes we veer wildly. from the agenda that we have set ourselves. But I, I tend to think of you. as certainly the best, from my point of view. Media writer or writer about media out there. And of course, now you've turned your attention to Trump. But now Trump is trying to control the media, too.

Yeah. No. And I think maybe we should put that in the context of he's. trying to control Venezuela. He's trying to control Greenland, he's trying to control. the Department of Justice. He's trying to control the Federal Reserve. He's trying to control any number of. of blue cities in America. But we should not forget that maybe the most fundamental to him. is to control the media, which he has been doing. I mean, he's been he's sued, several of the networks.

He's sued the New York Times, he sued the Wall Street Journal. But. in this interesting BBC two. Yes, exactly. In this interesting case with, with CBS, he is actually moving. to kind of take it over, and he's using the stalking horse billionaire. Larry Ellison, who's a Trump supporter, and he has this.

he's inserted himself because Larry Ellison, the billionaire, the second richest man in the world, wanted. to make his son a media mogul. And in order to do this, he had to buy Paramount, which included CBS and MTV and, and, Paramount Pictures. And in order to do that, he needed Trump's approval. And so in order to get Trump's.

approval, he basically said, well, we will we are going to. I don't know, you know, we're going to make we're going. to make CBS news over into something that you like. And that includes 60 minutes. And Trump has been at odds with 60 minutes and CBS news, of course. So they hired a woman by the name of Barry Weiss. And Barry Weiss has had no television experience, but she was.

Let's locate her. She was kind of the most right wing person. in the traditional media. So she's not a she's not a, a mega person in mega mega ville. She's in in the media. community, but the most right wing person she was icon. as she was an iconoclastic, columnist at the New York Times. Right. Well, she iconoclastic. She was there designated Anti-woke columnists.

That was a difficult role because The New York Times is a very woke place. And it didn't she was unhappy. It didn't last long. So then she then she left, and then she started something called the Free Press. Okay, okay. Can we just, let's just remind people that when she resigned, she referred to her resignation letter. as the resignation letter that was heard around the world. Yes. I'm very,

She's. she has a strong sense of self. Is. Yes. Yes. I think she said to save America and to save Israel. And, but at any rate, she signed on to C, and now. now her mission is to save CBS news. And she started a newsletter called the Free Press, which I thought had a lot of good writing in it and reminded me very much, actually, of the British Spectator, sort of condensed into a newsletter.

And she co-founded it with her wife, Nelly. Bo also was also a reporter for The New York Times. Very good writer. And, Nellie Bowles, it's just interesting to point out, is Tucker Carlson's cousin interesting? I did not know that. And a former under former girlfriend of Kara Swisher, because I remember going out for dinner with them once in San Francisco, and we had such a good evening, and I thought they were for the long haul. But I was wrong. I was wrong. I'm curious.

I there's another, girlfriend of Kara swisher, who I thought. was the end for the long haul, but I was wrong. Well, anyway, Kara has, has. Well, Kara's got four children, which I'm so impressed by. She's the only woman I know that's gone from a first marriage. with two kids to a second marriage with two kids. Because women, for the most part, don't do that. Men, of course, do that all the time. You being one of them? I being one of them. Anyway, we've already departed from our.

And but let's come back because I think that this is, this is really interesting. Trump is taking over has has this CBS. and it's the associated properties have, have essentially given Donald Trump a kind of carte blanche. They are going to be, at the very least, nice to Donald Trump. And when you're nice to Donald Trump and when you give him. this kind of thing, he just he just takes more and more.

He will demand more and more. And let's remind everybody that he's canceled or he's canceled. They canceled CBS canceled The Stephen Colbert Show, and now they're remaking the evening news. Barry White spiked a piece about the jail in El Salvador, which was due to run. on 60 minutes, having apparently given it the okay on Thursday. And then on Friday, she decided to to put it to to reschedule it.

because it didn't have enough comment from the government in it. And then of course, it went out in Canada. So it's already out there online. So the whole thing was a dead ball, right. Well, well she's made a, made a, you know, a series of, of rookie missteps in this job. But of course she has no television experience. And it's, and it's one of those jobs that probably looks easier from the outside. And then you get to do the job and you realize it's incredibly complicated. We could talk and perhaps we should talk about the,

interview that Tony. Dokoupil did with President Trump on Tuesday, which also included a rookie mistake, which was you couldn't hear the interview. They were doing it on the factory floor. And I think Ford and you could only hear the noise of the engines. And a lot of CBS, listeners and viewers, older and I'm sure have issues with their hearing. I have no issues with my hearing. I have 20, 20 hearing or whatever the expression is, because I just have my ears tested and I couldn't hear what they were saying.

They were both shouting at each other above the roar of the cars being made. I mean, such a rookie mistake. Mr. president, thank you very much for doing this. I really appreciate it. We're standing here on an active Ford assembly line. A little bit of loud, incredible symbol of American manufacturing power. And I've got a lot of questions about it, but I actually want to start overseas. with Iran. Americans woke up this morning and they saw that you said help is on the way. Yeah. Well, then and then she hired this guy, Tony Dokoupil,

who no one has ever heard of. I'd heard of Tony Dokoupil, an attorney. I was I once met him at a dinner party at your house, but I didn't know who he was then, and I still didn't know who he was. after that. But, she hired him to be the CBS news anchor. And that was an interesting hire, because, I mean, network. news has always had this conceit. that its anchors are above.

politics or separate from politics, or they're objective. So this is the first network anchor who got hired. really precisely for his politics. And his politics is he's been a very, a forward pro-Israel supporter, as is Barry Weiss. As is as are the Ellison's. Well, I so I think what happened was she took him from the morning show. Right. He was on the CBS morning show with Gayle King.

and got into, what turned out. to be a controversial conversation with Tallahassee Coates about Israel. And that elevated him in certain people's eyes and, made him anti. Well, it defined him. And that's why he got this job. I mean I mean it moves directly from, from from one to the other. He's on the, he he proclaimed himself on this agenda.

and now he was put into this spot because of this, because of his agenda. And agenda of of the networks agenda at this, at this point. So this has never really been done before, although you can. certainly argue that, that, that various. network personalities have an agenda. They just kept it secret. His is not secret. But that's the point where we're we've broken through a wall here. Network news now has a political agenda.

It is not that much different from in that respect from Fox. And you could call this the Fox ification of CBS news. I think it's a perfectly the Fox ification of CBS news. Wow. And and he's had a fairly bumpy start. I mean, he, he made the remarkable claim that he was going to be more transparent. than Walter Cronkite. Cronkite I always say Cronkite,

which is a bit of a claim. And it's the sort of claim you might want. make after you've been there a year and your ratings are doing well. It's not. No. And it was I mean, he made a series of claims. like the Fox claims were fair and balanced. So obviously they're not that's, that's that's all wink wink. And he was kind of wink wink to I'm going to give you news in a different way. than you've ever gotten that. And, and a functionally is a cover.

that we're, we're doing this we have a specific agenda here. And the, the most specific agenda is that we have an audience of one. Now, we should also point out the context here is that having that. Larry Ellison having bought his son, a, CBS is now trying to buy his son. Warner Brothers discovery, which will then. include among, among other things, CNN.

So this is a pretty substantial. grab under the Trump umbrella. Well, I know you've written a Substack about it. When is your Substack being published, Michael? Today. Oh, it's been published today. Okay. I was going to read I was going to read one thing, which is just just to reinforce the point you made about, Tony Dokoupil being hired as a dedicated pro-Israel voice.

In other words, Weiss was appointing someone as the evening news. anchor who was defined whether he wanted to be defined. that way or not, which I'm sure he probably didn't by his politics. This defies the most basic conceit of network news that anchors. and correspondents were outside of, or above, or indifferent to, or separate from their politics. And network news. Weiss is De Koppel choice has the political bumper. sticker on his head and it counts for a revolution.

So the Fox ification of CBS news revolution, and Meghan Kelly has now weighed in, and I would have thought Mike and Kelly. would approve of the Fox. ification of CBS news, but she doesn't approve of Tony Dokoupil. Who who somewhat strangely, actually, because I am a Tony Dokoupil fan. But he started crying when they did a show from Miami. because it reminded him of his childhood. and as I've remarked, you occasionally I haven't cried for the last 20 years.

So I find crying slightly odd. But Tony was moved by the fact that he was in Miami. And so Meghan Kelly is now calling him to Oprah. The couple CBS Evening News has officially launched with its new anchor to Oprah. Don't carpool. That's what I call him because he's crying and constantly trying to therapies. us through the Tony Markel like I. I figured it out was like Berry is.

she's an out lesbian and she's in a marriage to another. And this is where you were going, kids and so on. I'm saying this is a lesbians idea of what women want. Like, he's sweet, he's soft. Like, this is what this is going to sell. No no no no no no no. We we want someone with balls with a spine. Someone who will protect us. Somebody who, like when the burglar comes, we'll be the first out the door. They won't be hiding. behind us like that, as we call it in my family first defender.

Whenever Doug and I go on the road, whether it's like a hotel. or like a rental, he he knows he has to be first defender and he's perfectly fine in that role. So it's not only that that, that Tony Dokoupil is a, is a crier. that she objects. She also objects to the fact that Barry Weiss is a lesbian. Now, curiously, I can tell you that Barry Weiss. also had a long term affair with a man with Bret Stephens, the other. kind of. anti-woke conservative, the New York Times.

So I think I think, Barry is, I think she's open. to all experiences, apparently. Well, I don't know how it's going to impact, the ratings of CBS news, and I suspect that, in the end, these things come down to money. and they come down to ratings. Well, I don't I don't know, I mean, I suspect this comes down. to getting CNN, and getting Warner's.

This is, this is a, you know, a, a there there are there are several agendas here in the, in the most forward agenda is the corporate agenda. We want to accomplish this merger. We can only accomplish this merger. And Warner Brothers Discovery has actually agreed to a merger with Netflix. And in order for the Ellison's and,

Paramount, CBS or whatever the company is called now. to get Warner Brothers discovery, they need the favor of Donald Trump. Right? But if you see someone as ambitious and hitherto as successful as Barry Weiss, you are not going to want to sit over the decline of CBS news. It's just not in her personality. I don't think to sit there as a stooge for David Allison until the Paramount. Well, I, you know, but I think something about that. So if I all I think that ship has to, actually sailed.

I mean, CBS news is going to it has declined. for a generation will continue to decline. It will decline faster than the other networks, which are also in decline, which is and. and meanwhile, as they look toward a, toward acquiring CNN, the cable is also in decline. So why Barry Weiss would do this? Leave,

the free press, you know, a growing, a growing business, a new business, a business. I I'm sure she has left it right. Isn't she co-CEO of it still? Right. That that would read to me as a big sign. She has left it. She has to run. She she is doing this this job. A very, very substantial job. Which is, in actually undoable job.

And the thing about undoable jobs is they really require. more time than the doable jobs. So, you know, it's it's a television thing. People are. Yet despite all the evidence, you know, enthralled by television because it's smacks of power. and fame and influence, none of which. all of which is has is, right at this moment, going out the door. No, it's so it's clearly draining away.

But but CBS still has a romance and a grip on, on America as a as an institution to be completely true. It has no grip on America at all. They could care less. They haven't worked, watched CBS Evening News in years and years and years. And the people who do still, the 4 million people or so. who tune in every night are, you know, have, you know, dementia.

Right. I mean, it's just not these are. What do you think? Do you say this? This is from some other era. So, none of David Allison's friends saying to him, jeez, David, what are you doing at CBS news? Are all they. are they all just saying we can't wait for you to take over Warner Brothers. David Ellison does not care about CBS news. He would care what other people think of him. Right? Doesn't even know that. One of the best. I mean, David Ellison cares about making, you know, entertainment products, movies, movie studios.

He wants. Now what? He doesn't really want to buy CNN, but he wants to buy HBO, which comes with, with with CNN. I mean, he wants to be a Hollywood guy. He doesn't not want to be a news guy. Now, you can also say, why would he want to be a Hollywood guy? Because that business is going away, too. But his father is the second richest man in the world. What else is he going to do? I mean, when they get the biggest streaming business in the world, if they want to go up against Netflix, right.

Buying Warner Brothers would allow them to do that. You know, your father is the second richest man. It doesn't matter. Okay. And so we're we're we're in this other phase of the media world. The media is being taken over. I mean, you know, serious money minded business people don't really want. the media. The people who want to own the media are, as they say, non-economic players. So i.e. vanity player. Okay. So inside Trump's head, what's going on here?

He just thinks, great, that's another one. We're going to have the Fox ification of CBS news. They're turning to me. And Barry Weiss is the vehicle for that. Yeah I mean Trump is I want to be the star. I want to be the star of all, all media. How to how am I going to be the star of all media? I'm going to control media. Because the, the alternative. is that they're going to hate on me constantly. So where's where's the pressure point?

He found the pressure point. God knows he always finds the pressure. He always finds the pressure point. This pressure point is you can't do a deal. You, the Ellison family, David Ellison, young Ellison, cannot become a media mogul without, paying homage to Donald Trump. That's it. Okay, so we should track CBS ratings on the news. And it's probably worth pointing out, as I think you actually do. Maybe you told me this, and it was in your Substack.

that CBS has gone through six presidents. of news in six years. Oh, yeah. Well, that's the other thing is that these these, television news organizations are very fraught places. So the the idea that Barry Weiss can survive. CBS news is a, on her part, a, you know, a monumental leap of faith. Well, perhaps Donald Trump will become acting.

president of CBS news as he is acting president of Venezuela. and clearly wants to be acting president of Cuba, Colombia and Greenland, where there is now an armada sailing from Europe. to protect Greenland. I mean, not since Erik the Red sea. in the idea of an invention of a of an invasion like this. It's incredible.

I mean, the the Greenlanders and the, And the Danes showed up in Washington yesterday. Yep. And, and that did not sound like that was a. that was a good meeting for anyone. Well, it might have been a good meeting for Donald Trump, right? I mean, I know it was Marco and, JD Vance who took the meeting, but he's made it very clear he wants Greenland. Well, I yeah, I'm, I'm not sure because the I well, I don't, I don't know I was just going to say the idea of him invading Greenland.

is preposterous but but of course, why not? You know, I mean, essentially, he's. the pattern is he's looking for, he's. looking for instances where he can demonstrate his power. and American dominance in which no one is going to be killed. He I think that is the premise. in each situation and the premise of Iran.

And we should talk about that, that that too. But, and he could you could invade Greenland. and I think you could be reasonably certain. that the whatever security forces exist. in Greenland, they're not going to shoot American soldiers. Well. What do we think about. whether or not I mean, we're recording this on Thursday morning. We have no sense of whether or not America is going to intervene in Iran or not.

At the moment. Donald Trump put out a truth social encouraging people to keep protesting, and it's hard to even imagine how brave the people are protesting that at least. 3000 people dead, possibly up to reports are saying up to 20,000 people dead. I mean, the images of the body bags. with blood seeping out of them are just absolutely. Well, let's go back to the point. His original statement was that if the Iranian authorities,

the mullahs, started to kill protesters, then we were going to do something big. Yeah, he said, help is on the way. Yeah, we were, we were we were going. So he he a encouraged Iranian citizens to continue to protest. and be explicitly said, we will come to your aid. We will protect you. Okay. Obviously that that that did not happen.

Because how would it happen? What was he going to do? He was going to invade. But it was that was completely, unclear. And again, one of those things that I'm sure was off the cuff. Then yesterday, he, he. announced that they weren't killing people anymore. That, well, let me step back then. There was the moment when they had. they arrested someone and they appeared ready to execute.

Right? They said they were going to start executing protesters. And they had one young man, 26 years old, and they said they were going to. give him death by hanging. Right. So then, so Trump objected to that and said there were going to be big consequences. So yesterday, then he announced that they were no longer killing people in Iran. That was over. We solve we solved that problem. What? That seems to mean is that the Iranian authorities.

decided not yesterday, to execute this one person. So there is no evidence that that the widespread. killing of protesters has stopped and for good reason. The the. only thing that is keeping the mullahs in power is. the ability, is their willingness to keep shooting protesters. as soon as that happens that they stop. shooting protesters, the protests will grow and grow and grow.

And until they can, the mullahs can no longer effectively run Iran. And then they're they're out of power, which is exactly what happened in 1979. when the Iranians got rid of the Shah, who came to America. And and they in that have that succeeded, that protest succeeded. because the Shah didn't shoot the protesters. I mean, that's the most basic lesson in in Iranian modern Iranian history.

You got to shoot the protesters or they're going to run you out of office. Well, and interestingly, it was a spokesperson. from the Iranian government or Iranian government who, appeared on Fox News yesterday saying, we're not going to do. we're not going to execute anybody, we're not going to execute anybody. So again, learning that. if you want to communicate directly with Donald Trump, you do it via Fox News. Yeah. You know, and and it's this other thing that we've, we've. now had this pronouncement about what's going on there,

which is wholly a Trump pronouncement. It doesn't really align with reality. Oh, yeah. No, they're not killing anybody. Right. All all problems are, are solved. Now there's some speculation that that he's saying this. and he will invade tomorrow or do something tomorrow. I don't I don't know. And again, because we are in this, it's, it's like the, the Donald Trump thing.

Trust me, I'm going to make up reality. What to whatever I want it to be. We now run Venezuela, although we don't run Venezuela. We run the oil business in Venezuela, although no one wants the Venezuelan oil. I mean, Greenland, you know, and then is we're going to take over Greenland. We need Greenland. We need it. Why? There's no why there.

It's actually. Why not? Because we can. Well, because he thinks it's going to be easy, right? I think that's the other thing that he picks on soft targets here. Yeah, well, I think because it's not only going to be easy, it's not going to be anything. It's just going to be Donald Trump saying that we have. we have done this because he wanted to do it. And then nothing changes. Although it does feel like the Europeans have actually called his bluff. by sending troops from Europe to Greenland to protect Greenland.

But you, you you cannot call cold. You can't. call the bluff if he doesn't want it cold. Those troops are never going to attack American soldiers. I mean, what this means for the future of NATO, not to mention the entire world order. I, no idea. I mean, I think I think that that the Europeans in the Danes. and the people of Greenland will figure out how to make that mean nothing.

And because there will be a recognition that it doesn't mean anything. Right? That the takeover of Greenland is just Donald Trump. posturing, just Donald Trump projecting reality as he wants. But it doesn't really affect anything. It doesn't change anything, except it may change the internal politics of Denmark. There's an election this year and the the premiere of that at Denmark. might get thrown out. I mean, very difficult to know how to negotiate this.

from the Danish point of view. And the Greenlanders love Americans. They don't like Donald Trump, but they love America. And of course, they don't want to go to war with America. Anyway. It's fascinating. And what you see is this sort of 79 year old man just throwing, well, just starting fires absolutely everywhere. Now we've got Minneapolis on fire again. That that seems a a very unfortunate situation. No. And and I think and I think that's one of the things he wants to distract from.

You know, Minneapolis has ground zero. It's been ground zero before. And it's an interesting place. Why Minneapolis? It's a good question because it's unexpected. But, but this is not going to go away for Donald Trump. His internal police force is, you know, shot a woman in cold blood. And it's curious. to hear these people out there because they've sent out this whole,

you know, this whole what do you call these these people, this whole cast of surrogates to say, oh, I mean, it's preposterous. You know, the car, we can all see this. The car. She was going to run over this ice agent. This car is moving at what? You know. You know, three miles an hour, the wheels are tired, and the other. two miles an hour, they're yelling at her. Everybody is, well understood.

There's nothing more nerve wracking than when you're trying to drive a car. You're trying to get out of the way. You know, people get very stressed in cars, and I'm assuming that's. what happened to her. She had everybody shouting at her. She's kind of stuck. It's a snowy road. She's trying to pull out in a Honda Pilot. And then they shoot her just through the window. And three shots. Three shots. Why not shoot the tire? I tire off, it's it's just is is and and so you have this. So the position this puts this puts the country in first thing.

It puts Donald Trump supporters in this terrible position really. which is, which is they're forced to defend. what they can see is not is not is indefensible. Right. I mean, at least Tom. Homan said let the investigation take place. and then everybody else, I mean, the numbers are already reflecting this. because everybody who sees this says, what the fuck? Of course, you know, of course they just shot her.

Of course there was no reason to shoot her. I and this is this this is going to stand. There's no way around this. The Trump people have have. I mean, this is a catastrophic. mess up, not to mention a well under catastrophic cruelty. Right. And the videos can then they get in this position. that they have to double down on their own defense of this. And the videos keep coming because yesterday there was a video.

circulating everywhere of a pregnant woman being pulled out of her car, and there were three Ice officers around as she's clinging on to the car door. and you're like, this is horrifying. It's happening in America, and this is not what people wanted. when they voted to close the borders. I just don't believe that people want these these confrontations. in their streets. No they don't with people, you know, and they've put an enormous number. of people into Minneapolis.

I mean, essentially Minneapolis is is under siege, is occupied. You know, now now there is and I think we spoke about this in the last. the last episode that this fall, Trump. began to see this as a as a substantial liability, that this was going to affect the 2026 midterms. You know, he said, people are seeing these ice. ice videos and crying over them. And he wrecking I mean, that doesn't sound very sympathetic,

but it does sound like he recognized the political problem here. And the political problem is immense, which is why you. then take over Venezuela and Greenland and. Right, destruction and destruction. Destruction. Although there's also Epstein, Epstein, Epstein, which we know. we haven't talked about Epstein for a little bit, but, the Epstein files are still dripping out, and we will circle back to them. What's with this?

I mean, the Justice Department again, has announced that that they've. that they've released, what, 2% and 98% continues. another 5 million documents to come out, apparently. So this is this is, extraordinary. And one of those things that I mean, Trump in that thing. and I had spoken to people in the in, in the white House about about the, the progression toward Venezuela and Greenland. But it was the recognition on Trump's part that he had these significant problems,

including the ice videos, but also including that fact. that he has been unable to stem the Epstein disclosures. and the and the attention and the the demands that, for ever more information about what happened with, with Jeffrey Epstein and specifically Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump. Yes. And you saw someone shouting at him when he was on his tour of the factory,

this week, the car factory in Detroit, pedophile protector. The person has since been suspended, but Donald Trump gave him the finger and shouted, F you. That's not a very presidential moment. And actually, you think no one. And interestingly, when King Charles was heckled by someone. who shouted Epstein at him about his younger brother Andrew,

it actually pushed them to say to Andrew, you're out of Royal Lodge. and you've got to go and live on in some cottage on the Sandringham Estate. Right? Well, they can't, I don't know. I'm trying to think of the parallel here. Well, there may not be a parallel, but it's a realization shelf out of the way. Right? But it's a realization when you're out doing those public tours, which are supposed to be PR tools. And someone shouts at you, they've hijacked the news agenda, however briefly.

And predator, you know, pedophile protector is not something Donald Trump wants shouting. So, I mean, obviously Epstein remains. a, a potentially mortal. threat to Donald Trump, and he knows it, and that's why he is doing his Trumpian best to distract from it. and create an entirely other counter narrative where now, you know, an imperial power taking over the world and sending troops and,

and defending or not defending protesters. who are trying to overthrow their, their, their countries, despotic regimes. Well, he seems to be saying whatever Stephen Miller is whispering in his ear. at this point to. So, we talked about CBS. I don't want to make this episode. all about the media, but we should just also acknowledge. that there was a Washington Post reporter who's,

house got raided, her computers taken, her phone taken. Hopefully Jeff Bezos, the owner of the Washington Post, can call Donald Trump and say, hey, you know, that $40 million of just paid. for your wife's documentary. And, you know, I turned up and supported you in your inauguration, and I bought my new girlfriend, and we stood there. Can you send back my reporters, you know, phone and computer police? You know, I mean, the interesting thing about this.

is that you can't approach Donald Trump that way. So the suggestion that Donald Trump has done. anything wrong is not only going to get not get you anything, but he's going to double down on whatever he has done. Now, you could, if you're Jeff Bezos, the method here would be to call up and say, this this, your wife's documentary is unbelievably good. and everybody is showing up, and, we're going to put, much more money.

into promoting this and somehow carve a better deal. And so if you give Donald Trump something, you might. you might convince him that he would give you back something. But the idea of calling him and confronting him on any level is. absolutely won't work. Well, Jeff Bezos may have to do that because early reports that we're seeing,

and certainly are being written about are the advanced. ticket sales for Melania's film. Not as encouraging as people might have hoped. And sadly, some of the promotional posters have been defaced. Well, I mean, and are and we're surprised by this. Hardly. And it, you know, it doesn't really. I mean, this isn't really something that was, contemplated.

as speaking to the marketplace in the world. of, of Melania lovers. And remember, this is being, released worldwide. This is. Jeff Bezos giving something. to the Trump family. And, and he can only be expected. to keep giving more because that's the only way you deal with the Trumps.

Well, it was an alarming development that the reporters house was raided, apparently because she'd written a piece in the Washington. Post saying that she'd spoken to I think, an enormous. number of unhappy federal employees. She's been doggedly writing the stories of, federal employees fired, rehired, the mess of it all. Remember? Doge. I mean, it wasn't that long ago that everybody was being fired,

then rehired, then the chaos of it. Then Ellen left and they had a spat. Then she said, guess what? Trump is in the Epstein files. Then he was brought back into the family. Then he was going to do his America party. Now he's not. Who knows what was going on. Anyway, an alarming sign. that she had her house raided for her information. I hope you've got your, I hope you've got locks on your doors, Michael. Well, let. I'm not sure this is not something to to.

Well, let me let me just say. that I think everybody who has spent time. covering the Trump administration and who has made themselves. a point of focus, has given this some thought and considered. Considered the things that. that might have to be done to, to protect sources, material, etcetera, etcetera.

Were people to raid your lovely, you know, 300 year old home in the Hamptons? What you're saying is they wouldn't find very much. I am not saying anything traceable. The man who shouted pedophile predator has actually already. raised $800,000 on on a series of Go Fund Me. I think people just started for him because he was suspended from food. So I hope he's re reinstated hitherto and can go on a vacation with his family.

I don't know what t j stands for. Thomas maybe. Tarquin what are t names? No. Well, I think it's I mean obviously from the, the, the GoFundMe I've used for this Melania's suit. I mean, there's enormous I mean, that's one of the interesting things. there is passionate support in opposition to, to all things Trumpian to, and or at least to weird.

All of the Trumpian excesses and everything about Trump is an excess. So, Michael, what has Donald Trump got against London? I mean, the man's had two state visits there. I mean, I suppose he could be reacting to the film about Jeffrey Epstein, which was projected onto the, I think, 200ft tall, old. beautiful stone walls of Windsor Castle, in which I think you featured.

But why. is he constantly saying that London is a shithole and it's so dangerous. and nobody wants to go there because it's patently untrue. You know, I, I think it's a I mean, remember the Trump thing inside Donald Trump's head? He always needs an enemy in one of his consistent. enemies are what he perceives as elite cities. New York, San Francisco, la. London. I mean, these are just just just picking out the cities of the world.

Chicago somewhat. These are these are the cities of the world that represent to him. And I think he believes to the MAGA base elitists and, liberals and leftists and, and whatever kind of, negative things that he can summon at any given moment. And, and, and, and cities. I mean, that is partly true.

So, so, so it becomes a good enemy for him and it becomes a kind of vivid enemy. Yes, we are people. We don't live in those cities. All of the people in those cities are basically anti Donald Trump. So i.e. the people who are not in those cities can can see that as bad as, as not only Donald Trump's enemy, but he can make it into their enemy. Well, it's pretty hard on both King Charles, who,

you know, had him and laid out every single thing they could. in Windsor Castle, a show of support for Donald Trump. And then, of course, Keir Starmer, who's done nothing but fawn over Donald. Trump and is supposed to be, you know, one of Trump's favorite foreign leaders. Anyway, that doesn't last very long. And then, you know, finally, what are the Clintons going to do? They've been summoned by the oversight committee. They've had a subpoena. They've bust through two appointed dates, apparently with, with the oversight committee.

Do you think they just can they just push this off? I think that they probably can push this off. I mean, I mean, think of what what are the options here? We can put the Clintons in jail. That's not a good look. And also one. Well, that's that's not a good look. But by the way, that would be great for the Democrats. It would be great speaking of, of of a rallying cry. But then the other thing and and the more you push this,

the more you raise the obvious question. I mean, perhaps the Clintons could. could tell us something about Jeffrey Epstein, but the couple who could tell us much more. are Donald Trump and Melania Trump. So therefore, let's, let's let's weigh this. Does the white House really want that to be, to be the front and center issue? Well, so this will probably go away.

Or also, I would think that both Clintons will then, I know. that Bill Clinton is is frailer now, but might be very effective. sitting in that chair facing the oversight committee, referring to Trump and just saying, well, I don't know the answer to that. You really need to ask Donald Trump. Donald Trump was much more friendly with Trump. I think that that's that that's. that's absolutely that's true. And why this is at, at a, at a level which so much is in this,

a moment in political time, performative. By the way, I was on Poly Market this morning and I noticed that, the markets are only giving Glenn Maxwell. a 10% chance of being pardoned, certainly for 2026. The lowest bet was $0.07 on it. $0.07 that she's going to be pardoned. And only a 10% likelihood. And what are the numbers for the invasion of Greenland?

I did not check the numbers for the invasion of Greenland. We should. What? We will. We'll do that by next week. But we should also point out that one of the the key figures in these, betting markets. is, Donald Trump Jr, who's an adviser to both, I think Polly Marquette and Kyle, she who the two dominant, companies right now. And certainly 400 K was made, betting on Maduro being extracted from Venezuela over the weekend.

So there's something sort of, you know, you're not supposed to have. any inside information when you go on these sites. But it's not illegal though, right? Having inside, inside information, betting on this is not like the securities market. This is a betting market. Yeah, but I still think that you're not. I mean, actually, weirdly, people in Britain got into trouble for this.

I think 3 or 4 advisers. had to leave the Johnson government after they bet. So, anyway, I can't remember exactly what it was, but you're actually not supposed to do it. If you have any kind of political insider information, I think, anyway, we should we should clarify that. Yeah, but not supposed to do in is is is different. I mean, virtually everything. that's done in the in the Trump administration, you're not supposed to do. Right. And I'm sure if, if Donald Junior, the older son, is an adviser,

or an investor in your company, you can do what the fuck you like. Okay, we've got a few questions for Melania. just to remind people you are suing the first lady after. she threatened you with a slap suit, you immediately threatened her back. with an anti-SLAPP suit, and it's being threatened her. I went, oh, you sued nearly three. She threatened you. You shoot her. I acted and and and unleashing what I think I mean,

certainly there are hundreds of cases against this current government. Mark Kelly now suing Pete Hegseth for trying to reduce his pension. and his title of captain for what Pete Hegseth says was seditious. Comments. All right, ask Melania. This is from Mia Roseman asks Melania, who holds the copyright for her movie, and does she get the. proceeds in her own name, or do they actually line Donald's pocket? Okay, okay.

Question for Mr. Wolff. Why do you think Melania has stayed married to Donald Trump? Somebody in the white House once said to me that, that while they had no idea that this marriage. is completely opaque even to the people closest. to Donald Trump, this person said, but, you know, it is. it is possibly the, the happiest marriage. in America on its terms. So I think that they've worked this out. They're not really.

together. And, I think the money, the money flows in a way to keep everybody happy and, and, and maybe that is on its terms, the way this marriage works. Well, that question was from Robert p5 B9H. and here's a question from dog Walker three question for Wolf. Do you anticipate, accepting a settlement.

in the lawsuit against Melania, or are you going to see this through? Yes, I said that the settlement, the settlement that I would consider is. if the administration agreed not to commence these kinds of lawsuits. against against other people in the media business. Okay. Which seems unlikely. Okay. Here's our question. Here's our question from the cabinet. A question for Melania. Was there ever a moment or moments where she disagreed with anything. her husband has done or said that she felt she had to speak up to him about,

or perhaps to someone else? Okay, well, we know she spoke to Vladimir Putin about releasing. some of the children that Russia took from Ukraine. Maybe she speaks to Vladimir Putin all the time. That would be a good question. I think someone has already suggested that. How often do you speak to Vladimir Putin? All right, Michael, that was a wide ranging, agenda this week. So much going on. We've tried to tackle it.

We've missed out lots of things. But we've tackled some of them. And then we'll be back on Saturday to tackle more and, on the Tuesday after that and the Tuesday after that, and then we'll be like, well, we did live on the Wednesday. at 92nd Street Y, which I'm very excited to. we have to figure out what we're going to talk about. Right. And everybody can you know, we'd love everybody to join us. It's going to be and you can join us virtually. There was some, someone commented on YouTube, what's the difference. between just watching our podcast and watching us live?

I said, well, we just have a live audience. It'll be different energy. But we would just love you to join us. I hope it be fun. And you can submit questions virtually too. Yeah, no, I would, I mean, yes, if you're not, if you're not in New York, it's hard to join us. Well, not if you're if you're virtual. Oh, yes. But join us live. Anyone can join us virtually. And that is not perhaps much different from joining us here. Just more.

Just more. But more of everything. More everything. Yes. But, live could be different. We don't we don't know. Unedited. Someone might. Russia's from the audience. I hope so, if you're if you do, you're going to be the first defender. You'll just Lexington Avenue and 92nd Street. Yeah. Megan Kelly, she's, Yeah, that was an old piece of commentary from. No, but it's not going to make. Why why did they have choose Barry Weiss?

They could have chosen Megan Kelly to run, CBS news. They could have chosen Megan Kelly is and. is not a pro-Israel voice. Well, and also, I'm sure Megan Kelly is making much more money. from her podcast than she would do as president of CBS news. Very good point, but it's television. Remember, Megan Kelly was, was kind of thrown out of television. Maybe she wants back in. Maybe she wants back in. Well,

if you have been. Thank you for joining us. Don't forget to leave us a comment. We've covered a ton of stuff, and I know that you have opinions. and we love your opinions and by the way, someone wrote in to say after we were. enthusing about Billy Bob Thornton, that Billy Bob Thornton was leaving Land Man. So I went down a spiral of what's happening at land. In fact. Spoiler alert. close your ears if you don't want to know what happens at the end of season two, but it looks like Billy might leave the season.

or leave the leave the show, but in fact, he's not leaving the show. His contract has him, I think, for five seasons. So happily, we can expect more of Billy Bob. They just need to write better female characters. They have great female actresses. Just Taylor Sheridan, please write better roles for them. I think Meg and Kelly could work in land man to man. Kelly would be fantastic in land. Man her she she could go up against the lawyer. Megan would have a point of view on that.

The woman lawyer in land man has is, I think now. having a torrid ish affair with a man. Oh, with a man. Okay, well, someone said, oh, the lawyer's a lesbian, but that's Barry. Weiss had a torrid, torrid ish affair with a man. But we don't know. It was torrid. We don't know. I don't think that New York Times columnists have torrid affairs. I think they're going to be well considered and well-articulated and, structured.

I think they're going to be structured. You. I don't think so. I think they're all out of control. You think their life can be. Yes. No. It's, Oh, God help us. All right. I'm just getting the rumors that I hear out of the New York Times are, torrid. I don't have complicated, you know, a lot of a lot of, you know, gender role bending. Well, life is complicated, Michael. You know yourself, onwards, onwards to thank our production team.

Remind people to subscribe to the Daily Beast. Leave us a comment. Join our beast tier of members. You get extra content and you get your name. read out by Michael, and we will sign your books. Andrew Mellow, as you call him. Andrew Miller, as I call him, has sent a big package of books to be signed, which we will do next time you are in the studio. Anyway, we'll be back on Saturday. I'll see you then.

Joanna. Hi. Just a second. I have to tell you about something that we're obsessed with. I'm Kevin Fallon, and I met with Stephen, and we are hosting obsessed, the podcast. about all the TV shows, movies and entertainment newsmakers that we're all obsessed with. So make sure you subscribe to us on YouTube at the YouTube channel. Make sure you follow us wherever you get your podcasts. Just search for obsessed the podcast and we will see you there. Big shout out to our BBC level members if at Johnson, methinks.

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