Why Pathological Trump Just Made a Major Blunder | The Daily Beast Podcast

The president decided that he was going to ban what he called. fake news networks, including CNN and MSNOW. He felt he could get away with this. And and apparently Natalie Harp was behind it. Bad idea. Right. He's done this before. White House Correspondent. They finally said enough's enough. This hits Trump where it hurts. He's about to go to New York City for the U.N. General Assembly. He wants to get credit. He wants to be the center of attention. All he wants in life is to be on TV.

It's his obsession. If Trump stopped being covered, he would start wondering about his own existence. I think he doesn't believe he missed unless he reads and sees about himself. on TV. I'm Joanna Coles, this is the Daily Beast podcast. It's Monday, so we must be talking to David Rothkopf about what else? Beastiality What an earth is Kash Patel doing? Letting people who've been well. accused of and prosecuted of bestiality into the FBI?

We're going to be talking about the new triumphal arch. And why is Trump turning it into a military installation. with snipers and drones ready to launch at any moment? And we're going to be talking about the Washington bureau. chief of Fox News coming out and saying, guess what? All the other networks are joining with solidarity. with CNN and MSNOW, and they're not going to cover the president. How is he going to get out of this? What is Natalie Harp going to tell him to do?

Well, let's get into it before we do. Just a reminder to subscribe to the Daily Beast podcast if you haven't done. And also subscribe to The Daily Beast if you want moment to moment updates of. what an Earth is going on in this increasingly crazy world. Smash the subscription button wherever you get your podcasts. Apple. Spotify. YouTube. And don't forget to leave us a comment on YouTube on your favorite part. of the conversation. There are so many favorite parts for me talking with David today.

So no time to waste. Let's get into it. David Rothkopf is back with us. And David, you have a new body part, and I'm not telling you what it is. I'm partially bionic at this point, so people will get the sense I'm improved. Okay, well, you're new and improved. David Rothkopf with a bionic hip. I'm going to tell people in case they are confused between hips and knees.

But congratulations. Just like you, I like I emulate what you do, Joanna. And I think the fact that you're turning the whole crew here at the Daily Beast. and to buy into Bionic Warriors is kind of amazing. I'm making everybody have a hip replacement. It is the most incredible surgery. I do feel like I have two new legs, even though it's a bit of an effort, but I it's amazing that you had it done so fast. He was back with us and we're recording this. on Monday morning, where the Fox News Washington bureau chief.

just announced, effective today, the TV pool will not be covering events. designated as pool coverage of the president. Significant his at Fox news. David, can you explain for people what this actually means and why it came about? And then don't let us forget the Natalie Harp of it all. Yes. Well, that ties to everything these days.

But, you know, the the president decided that he was going to ban what he called. fake news networks, including CNN and MSNBC, and. he felt he could get away with this. It was a fit of pique. And and apparently Natalie Harp was behind it. She was playing for him some coverage and he didn't like the coverage. And somewhere in the conversation cooked up the idea that he would ban them. A bad idea, right?

He's done this before. In the last term. He did it to Jim Acosta of CNN, who went to court and got his past. reinstated because the, you know, there is the First Amendment still. And but nonetheless, Trump has done this, and it finally moved one of the slowest responders, most. sort of pusillanimous organizations in Washington to action, which is to say, white House correspondents, because they have watched week. in and week out as he is abused women, particularly.

Caitlin Collins of CNN and others, and they haven't done anything. But finally, this was a straw too much. CNN is one of the pool reporters, and so. the other pool. networks who are involved with providing coverage of the president. throughout the day, they send camera people around, and then they share the video from that. with the other networks and then with the rest of us. They finally said, enough's enough.

I think it's very interesting that the organization that announced. it was Fox, because of course it's got this long association with Trump. But, you know, the most important thing is. this hits Trump where it hurts. He's about to go to New York City for Unga, the UN General Assembly. He he wants to get credit. He wants to be the center of attention. All he wants in life is to be on TV. It's it's his obsession.

And I think as a result, you know, we're on the taco timer, right? It's how long before Trump folds on all of this? Because they didn't say they're not providing coverage today. They said they're not providing coverage indefinitely, and there is no plan for replacement coverage. So let's just back into this a moment. He and Natalie Hart are sitting there. and she's repeatedly do we think playing him clips. Perhaps she's got a little loop of all the negative things that miss now and CNN,

have people saying about his policies, where do we think his chief of staff is in all this? Because Susie Wiles, she's back. Happily, she's cancer free. I mean, this this was a really bad move. to try and ban CNN and miss now. And we know that the president has or we're told the president. has walls of television wherever he goes, as you say, he lives to be on television.

His his cabinet meetings are televised. Even when he falls asleep, we know he finds them boring. So I'm not sure why he would think they would be good television, but nevertheless, the cameras are there, pursuing him wherever he goes. Do you think there will be internal. fury at Natalie Harp for. for not seeing round the corner of what. banning miss now and CNN would actually do that?

It would. Amazingly, as you say, it's a pusillanimous organization, but actually. prod the white House Correspondents Association into responding in kind. I don't think. the response from the professionals, such as they are. in the white House is going to be good, notably from Susie Wiles, particularly. if she reads the Daily Beast piece on the background on this, on the Natalie Harp. And as we know, the white House reads The Daily Beast all the time.

They're obsessed with the Daily Beast. Possibly because of Natalie Harp, but, you know, I you know, you can just imagine late at night, Natalie Harp is there saying, I am your only true follower. I'm the only one who loves you. Here are some nice AI slop pictures of you with your shirt off. You look very attractive. And these mean people out there coming to get you. And. And they're in the bubble. The Natalie Don bubble.

of how he wants to be perceived, how he wants to be loved. And she just plays to all of his worst impulses. And of course, Susie Wiles and the others, you know, they get phone calls. from members of Congress all the time, and members of Congress are going, oh, folks, there's an election in 40 odd days. You can't be doing this. You can't be making life worse for us. Every way that I saw a story this morning, someplace that was talking about how,

you know, Republicans are starting to say, well, Trump is toxic. because his approval ratings are down in the 30s. They're falling on some issues that are in the 20s. This is bad, bad news coming up to an election. And and Susie Wiles is the shock absorber who gets those calls. And so I'm sure she is super unhappy with this. I can't imagine she and Natalie are besties.

But frankly, the other sycophants in the white House. all want to be, you know, up in Trump's drawers like Natalie is. And and and I think they're jealous. You know, I think everybody's jealous of the fact that this 35 year. old woman has found the inside track, to to to the president. by playing to his absolute obsession. with how he is covered in the media. I think if Trump stopped being covered, you know, if this media blackout,

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at one skin.com/beast that's 15%. off one skin doc Co with code beast, and after you purchase they'll ask you where you heard about them. Please support our show and tell them we sent you. So we. know from previous appearances at the UN. And as you said, it's the UN General Assembly meeting this week. where all the heads of state come in or not all of them,

but most of them come in and discuss issues of world affairs. This is not usually Trump's finest moment. We'll remember from last year the elevator sticking. Then his teleprompter broke down and he blamed the teleprompter. on some kind of conspiracy, when in fact it turned out to be his own team. So is it possible that for the Republicans. out there fighting for their seats, it's better for them.

if Donald Trump isn't on television 24 over seven? You are so right, you know. But who's going to tell him that? You know, they Trump. goes to Unga and gives these speeches that evoke, you know, sort of. late stage Moammar Gadhafi where they sort of go on and on and they, you know, the teleprompter is really that important because he's making stuff. up, and he likes to say things like, I'm the best. And you all know I'm the best, the most. And they laugh at him. Right?

I mean, the audience in the U.N. General Assembly laughed at him. And as far as the teleprompter breaking down over this past weekend, Mark Carney, the prime minister of Canada, had. his teleprompter broke down or something like that, and he made fun of Trump. He, he he Carney does not miss an opportunity to make fun of Trump. But Trump, I think, saw. this week as an opportunity for him, to gain some points like,

you know, he'll he'll he'll meet with it, you know, Netanyahu and. and that'll give him some points or he'll meet with Zelensky and, you know, put more pressure on him to stop attacking. Russian diesel facilities. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I mean, he put out a true social tweet this morning. saying that Ukraine has to stop this because of course, the price of diesel is going to continue to go up. In fact, Russia has now announced that they're going to continue. ceasing shipments of diesel past the end of September,

which will probably take them right up to the election. Very bad news for Trump. Needless to say, the Ukrainians are not super sympathetic to Trump's. peace that they stop on this because they realize they have leverage. But he thought he would have all of these things. And then, of course, later. this week, on the heels of this meeting, are on the fringes of it. He's meeting with XI Jinping, his most important meeting of the year, where he will see the most powerful man in the world.

and hope that that was somehow elevate him. Well, what if that doesn't get covered? So what if it gets less coverage than it normally gets? He's going to hate that. So my guess is, you know, long before the season ping meeting. We're going to. have an accommodation with the white House correspondents. Yes. I would assume that very possibly before this podcast actually goes out, which it does on an 8:00 on Monday night on YouTube.

that it may have already been resolved because, as we know, Taco Trump. Trump always chickens out. The idea of him not being on television is interesting, but it's also one of those things. that many people who comment on YouTube on our podcast often say, why don't the TV correspondents just get together and say, we're not covering you anymore. We're not going to cover you when you lie or when you make things up. on the spur of the moment. So it'll be a very interesting standoff. And I wonder if there are conditions that the white House correspondents.

ask for other than CNN and miss now being allowed back in the pool. now, because, you see, this is a two way street. Yes, it may be pathological. that Trump doesn't think he exists unless he can see himself on TV, but it's a pathology that's shared by all the people on TV. If you're a TV newscaster and you're not covering Trump. and you're the white House correspondent, you don't exist either. You're not relevant.

And so, you know, they all want to come to an accommodation on this thing. because that's their bread and butter. So in the intervening hours. What do we expect? As you said, Trump is coming up to meet Zora Mamdani. at Gracie Mansion, the New York mayor. Do we assume that doesn't get covered, or does it. get covered by citizen journalists with their cell phones? I mean, what are we expecting here? Look, it's all going to get covered, whether it's citizen journalists.

or it's Mike Lindell people Pillow Network or it's, you know, you know, New York 1 or 1 of these things, you know, there are a lot of people out there, a video cameras. There'll be a lot of people covering the stories. The stories will get covered. The question is whether there will be. as much video of the president as they're usually is. And there's another more serious consequence of this, right? The reason that the pool covers the president 24 hours every time. he's out, when he's moving, it's what if something happens?

You know that. You know what. You know this, it sort of creates a public record of the president's events. And if there's an attack on the president or he says something. dramatic or something, it doesn't get covered. So, you know, yet another reason for them. to try to find an accommodation for all of this, and, you know, I suspect all of this will get covered, to be honest with you. I mean, you look ahead at the UN General Assembly.

What's Trump going to do? He's just going up there to thump his chest. You know, he's going up there to say, hey, look, my economy is doing great on Wall Street. And everybody goes, yeah, but not anywhere else. Or hey, I've solved a lot of wars. And he said, well, actually started a lot of wars. And the ones you've solved aren't actually over, you know, or, you know, I'm the greatest president who ever lived. And look, there's a picture of me and George Washington, and they're like, Mr. President, you smell a little funny. Go change your diaper.

I mean, it's this is. it doesn't work for him in the way that he thinks it's going to work. And so, as you say, it may be better for him to less coverage, not more. And do you think at this point, Natalie Harp is his sort of Rasputin. slash Sven Ghali figure? Well. Right. Oh, the idea that Natalie Harp is the Rasputin of. Trump is a beautiful twist on this whole thing.

I think she's more like his binky, you know? He's more like his his comfort blanket. Where, you know, the world is being mean to me. Natalie, say something nice, and she go, well, you know, that. new, darker brown share of shade of Harriet wearing a very manly, Or, you know, and you know, Mr. President, is it true that you won your club. golf trophy for the 17th year in a row? You must be an incredible athlete.

You know, she provides him with sort of confirmation. that the bullshit he is spewing is actually true. And that's essential. She does the work of a spouse, actually. Traditionally, she does the work of a spouse, but the of a triad way of a treadway. Not of his, not of his spouse, who, you know, as far as I know, you know, they communicate, you know, via their staffs, which is a perfectly. I think that's what we do to David isn't that we communicate via our staffs.

We're constant contact. I'm constantly getting emails from you, revealing new insights into the world, texts, David texts. I don't do email anymore. Nobody does email anymore. All right. So the other thing I want to ask you is, does this mean that a. Trump's refusal to. help Saudi Arabia, what is happening with all that? Can I take your foreign affairs lens and focus it on the Middle East?

Because a we're hearing that more people have died in the bombing on Iran. than we're being told. And we know that the Pentagon has new accounting for deaths. associated with Operation Epic Fury, but also now. Saudi Arabia found finds itself. dragged into the margins of this conflict. They've asked America for help. And Trump has said, no way. I'm very curious about what's going to happen to Jared Kushner. in all this with his affinity partners, which is,

as we know, invested in largely by the Saudis. Well, I, I don't know, I think Jared will come out okay. You know, Jared has been a failure. to everything he's done and he's now worth billions of dollars. You know, which, you know, I mean, that's a nice kind of life, right? You don't do well enough to get into college. Your father sends Harvard a check. You go to Harvard, you know, you would come and advisor to the president. You can't even get a security clearance.

None of the things that you. initiate really pan out, and you get to set up a $2 billion edge fund. You say you're not going to work for the president again. You become his principal diplomatic adviser. More money into the hedge fund Jared falls fails upward. Right. That's his thing. As far as the Saudis go, I think it's quite interesting because they thought, you know, the first trip Trump ever made as president was to Saudi Arabia. They feel that they had this super close relationship with Trump.

And I think they thought, well, they can translate that into him. stepping up and helping them. When the Houthis start targeting their own. pipeline that goes to the Red sea, which is kind of their way. around the Strait of Hormuz. And, and Trump has, has decided to. to lean away from that until today. Now, this morning, Trump and this is Monday as we're. recording this, Trump got on the phone with the president of Yemen.

And I think you need to remember that Yemen, very poor country, has been in a civil war for a long time. And the president of Yemen runs a government which is, sort of favored by the Saudis. But the Houthis, which are supported by the Iranians, control a lot of the land and have a lot of power. And the president of Yemen essentially said to Trump, please step in and save us from the Houthis.

Now, why would Trump take this call just to say no? He could just as easily not have taken the call. Taking a call like this gives you the predicate for some kind of action. I don't know if the action is public. Maybe it'll be some kind of covert action against the, But my guess is. he will try to give something to the Saudis. For all the reasons we know, which is they're paying off his his in-laws.

They treat him well, he likes the way they're treating him, etc.. Well, grizzly, your dog seems to think that it's very much in the public interest. for America to go into to help the Yemen, the Yemeni president. That is such a brilliant Segway, because I love my dog, but not in that way. Joanna. Oh, and I know you. I know you want to get to the Beastie ality story, but you're not going to get there through my dog grizzly.

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the people.com/beast. So do you think that Trump will come. to the aid of the Saudis with the you know with the Who. Well give them. I think they will give them something. It is very bad news for Trump, for this pipeline to be shut down for too long. Does that mean Navy Seals.

Does that mean some other kind of support. You know I don't think Trump wants to go with some big public military action. But he might. And again the whole point of this call this morning, it's. usually one of those calls where you say, well, the Yemenis asked me to step in. I could hardly say no. Right. That's you know, that's why I think at the end of the day, he'll do something for the Saudis. Something to strike out against the Houthis.

And look, you know, he has people in his or bit on his cabinet. saying that this war might last throughout. not just the election throughout the rest of his term. You know, the the current thinking is that. this will just fester on possibly for years, as you know, one of those forever wars we were never going to get into again. And you know, at the center of it is fighting Iran and her proxies.

and among her proxies that is most important is the Houthis. And so sooner or later, this will the Saudis will get some satisfaction. Okay. Well, we'll watch this, watch this space. As we were watching. John Kennedy last week, the senator from Louisiana discussing with cash Patel, cash Patel reducing the qualifications to join the FBI.

For those who haven't seen this clip, well, what can I say? It. It's kind of magical. It's what these committees are supposed to be like, I think. And John Kennedy is proving to be. one of these committees best players at this stage. He's a bit of a national treasure. Let's play the clip. What about the. same thing? Because the regs wrote it up in a fashion before I arrived. that addressed prostitution, BCA and trafficking.

They were there before I got there. But tell me what it said before it. It automatically disqualified any individual who participated on either. side of it. Obviously, we are never going to hire the criminal. Of what? The beast? Yes. So you disqualified the animal? Well, I don't think we have great canines, but we're not going to disqualify. And I'm trying to understand why you did this. Where does one go with that? Where does one go? Cash? Patel's eyes, if it's possible, got even wider.

Even even wider. So that I think somewhere their vision sort of crosses over. I don't know how the man sees, but those were big eyes. Well, first of all, you know, I think you captured it perfectly. It is kind of magical. I mean, you know, we're going through a rough time and, you know, here is this southern senator. with his, you know, funding.

draw. Right. And, and and and and he's like, so what about the beastie out. It's like, you know, words you never thought you'd hear and hearing. And then, you know, cast. Patel comes back with his lame excuse. Well, they they used to prohibit people who engaged in bestiality. And we wanted to undo that. And it was like, why? Well, why did you want to undo that? You know, somebody came to cash Patel.

And, you know, while the press is not covering the president, maybe they could spend their time finding out who this is. Somebody came to Patel and said, you know something, boss? I think it'd be a good idea if we allowed people who are involved in. beastly into the FBI and and and cast. Patel said, oh, yeah, that's a good idea. They said, well, they're going to question you, but it's it's okay. We're going to stand up for this. This is a good thing. Now, that's that's a good story. Like who wasn't right. But there's an even better story, which is who went to that guy and said, you know,

we had to. kick Bob out of the eye because of the beast. And that's just not fair. Because I want to know. Because there's always a proximate cause, right? There's somebody who, because of relationship with a chicken. or a duck or a sheep or a donkey or something, you know, didn't get to be a law enforcement officer. And in case Patel's law enforcement operation, if you're in a barnyard, you happen to fall in love with one of your coworkers.

You get to be an FBI agent. I mean, it's so out of its mind. Insane. And and and and and yet inside the FBI. and I think that, you know, there is actually something serious here, right? Normally in a bureaucracy, everything gets vetted by lots of people. So normally when you're, like, changing the regs on what gets to be an FBI agent, something goes through many layers of, of of of approval.

And one by one. these people said, yeah, good idea. Good. We'll get the crowd. Fantastic. Great. But, this is, you know, bad management manifesting itself in a ridiculous way. And who's in who's advising cash? Patel. Why on earth couldn't they have seen this coming? I mean, you would have thought that word would trigger everybody.

I mean, it's pretty fascinating that they're that, you know, they're encouraging agents who frequent prostitutes. They're not hiring the prostitutes, but they're hiring the men that frequent the prostitutes. I mean, that seems pretty crazy, too. But the FBI is now going to stand for the federal investigation. I mean, who who could have advised Cash Patel on this? It's just unbelievable. You're a genius. And if you are not selling federal.

investigation swag on your website by tonight, I know we should be missing a huge. And listen, this is what maybe. Maybe. Actually, Cash Patel is hearing those rumors that he is going to be fired. He was a t shirt salesman. That's what he did. He hawked t shirts before he joined as the director of the FBI. Maybe he's setting himself up for a whole new line of t shirt sales early. Earlier in this process, somebody said, well, why would you do this?

Is it? Well, you know, sometimes people go to countries for sex tourism where the sex is legal. And I'm like, this is who we're opening the FBI, right? And those are the people we want joining the FBI. And of course, he fired. What was it, 1200 agents. with average service of 22 years. So and we've mentioned this before, but and he fired them for following the law. Right. I mean, they just were doing their jobs and enforcing the law as it is written.

And instead of them, he's replacing them with the best patrol. And which is like, Holy shit. But this is what happens all the time. You know, they get rid of. Air traffic controllers. And so first. they bring in this wave of air traffic controllers who are video gamers. But that's where we'll get them. And they hired them all because they were good at video games. Today, if you lived in Washington, DC, and I got to tell you,

my wife was freaking out because she travels so much about this. They announced that they're instituting. a assisted air traffic control in D.C. area airports. So they're just getting people out of the picture altogether. And so one by one. You know DDoS, DDoS got so they're bringing in AI. and animals a and animals. But because those you know they don't. The problem with people is they have their own opinions.

If they have their own opinions they might be opposed to Trump. and they're not loyal. So what do you want? You want people who will be loyal to Trump? Well, if I let you in after your best ality, you're going to be loyal to me because I know about your bestiality. And if you're an AI and I can get you to be written. the right way, you're going to be loyal to Trump. And so we are. I mean, talk about the race to the bottom. We are ending up with a government of bots and beast practitioners, because those are the ones who are most likely to be loyal.

to this rapidly decaying president. You sent me two very funny memes that, for those. who haven't seen them, we should just flash up on here. Inspired by Senator Kennedy and Cash Patel's exchange. Obviously 50 Shades of Hay hilarious. And then reference to the Coldplay concert. The couple that got outed by the by the camera, I mean, again, just hilarious.

And the way they've made the goat look shocked. So clever. So props to AI for for some good memes. Well, there's a lot of good. I mean, we have to admit. I don't know about you, but every once in a while. I'm going through Instagram or TikTok or whatever, and I get some an AI video, Barack Obama beating the shit out of Donald Trump or, you know, world leaders playing tricks on Donald Trump. And it's funny.

It makes my day. And so, you know, AI slop is one thing, but, you know, this is where we living. in a remarkable moment that nobody could possibly have predicted. or even, you know, this one changes one of the big names of the, of the Trump. presidency, because it's always been said that Trump doesn't like pets, but apparently, apparently, he's welcoming in the beast allergy crowd. And of course, the Pentagon brought in Logan and Jake Paul.

The fighting brothers are to talk to the Pentagon to talk to soldiers. this week in giving them, giving them a sort of bracing, a kind of this nothing better you can do than die for your country. Each one of you matters. Take this moment and be proud of yourselves for what you do. This is the greatest country in the world. Truly, we are blessed to be born here. or come here, and we should never take that for granted. That's what God created us for, is to lift each other up in the hard moments,

to be there for each other. in the hard moments, and to come together as a collective and fight for good. That's why this country was formed. We should never forget that. Yeah. And also, you know, this is all part of Pete's, problems with his own masculinity, right? I don't. I don't know what Pete's masculinity problems are, but they're deep, right? And so he wants a super masculine military. And there's some reports that he gets, you know, input on this from his pastor.

who says we don't need to women in this and let's be tougher. And, you know, he wants everybody to work out, nobody to be low T and everybody to be muscular. Do you think? Do you think, David, do you think that's why he doesn't appear. to have been able to replenish America's munitions stash? I mean, we've run out of bombs, but maybe he's so obsessed. with warrior status, he thinks it's just going to be man to man combat.

He hopes it man to man. Come. What? What else? You know, Jake Paul and Logan Paul, these are fake, fake fighters, right? They go into a ring for a few minutes, they fight. This is not what you do in a war where you're there slogging through, where the collective technological genius of nations. is devoted to your destruction, where geopolitical issues are at stake. These these two things have nothing in common with each other. But Pete Hegseth,

like Donald Trump, is play acting at being secretary of defense. And, you know, he thinks he's starring in some, you know, I don't know, hallmark drama about the guy. who brought masculinity to the Department of Defense. And the reality is he's not addressing issues. that you might if you were a real secretary of defense. Like, do we have enough munitions to fight a war? There's a story today in the paper about how costly.

it will be for the military to retool in order. to put in shape, put into place Trump battleships, a technology for fighting wars. which was obsolete a hundred years ago. Okay. I mean, it's insane. in the same way that the beast is insane, that we're going and embracing something that, you know, a missile, a drone, a drone attack, a missile attack, electronic warfare attack.

Any of these things can make a ship like this, incapacitated. That's why we don't do it. Let me just ask you something. Given how long it takes for any of these things to be done. Do you think the military is just. Or the deep state military, I should say, is just waiting for the midterms. to to just push this off, not just the midterms. They're waiting for Trump to be gone. Right.

Because they know these things will not happen. Golden dome will not happen. They will. By the way, they also know that millions, tens of millions of dollars will be spent. on these projects that don't happen, but they don't care so much about that. The military happened to talk to a general over the weekend, and he was talking to me, not about what we're talking about here, but yet. another thing that Trump did over the weekend, which was he announced,

and again, this is up on the scale of lunacy, right? He announced that the triumphal arch that he wants to build in the middle. of a traffic circle in Virginia next to Arlington National Cemetery, at a height of. 250ft in the flight path to national airport. Trump has decided, and he announced this weekend that at the behest of the military, he is going to turn that into a national security triumphal arch,

where there will be sniper positions on the top, drone. launching pads, and it'll be full of ammunition. Now, this is so nutty on so many levels. First of all, what is he expecting, an attack from Virginia? I mean, seriously? Secondly, do you want to take your kids to, you know, view the monument that has the sniper positions on top?

Thirdly, drones on top of the thing. You know, where the drones would be launched. directly into the incoming traffic at National airport. It is directly on the flight path to National Airport. Of course, none of these things are the reason he's doing it. He thinks that he's going to get legal pushback. for forcing through this ridiculous project. at a cost of tens of millions of dollars, to the American people. who can't afford food, can't afford gasoline, don't have health care.

And he wants in order to do that. He wants the power to do it. And where is he going to get the power to do it? If it's a national security project, somebody in the white House is determined. And I think the Supreme Court's giving him a little encouragement in this, that. if something has to do with national security, then he, as chief. executive and commander in chief, can do whatever he wants. And so he's like, yeah, let's turn this ice cream stand into a national security ice cream stand.

And that's why the ballroom all of a sudden. became a national security project, with drone launching stations on the top. And, and with, you know, all sorts of armaments and, and defenses within it. because he felt he had more latitude to act in this way. Well, isn't this also, David, didn't he also say that. he had been advised by a general that this is what they should do with it?

I mean, of course we don't know who the general is. He's just making it up, I'm assuming. Well, he he suggested that he had been advised by people. in the military and this general that I was speaking to of retired general. said nobody had said this, that he was willing to bet. Nobody in the military said this. Nobody in the professional military said it. You know, did did Pete Hex would say, hey, yeah, that's a great idea, boss.

Yeah. But Pete Hex is, you know, civilian. He's not in the military. Is is it possible that some. former military nutjob like Mike Flynn or somebody said this? I don't know, possible, but the from my friend who's, you know, very well respected and been the military is like. said his he he read that and said this is total bullshit. Yeah, yeah, this is total bullshit. No, they that that didn't happen. And and you know, I, I, I think it's very, very hard for people.

to fully appreciate the degree to which the professionals in our government, the you know, I my experience is mostly in the national security side, the professionals in the national security space, the military, the intelligence community, the FBI, people at DHS with national security responsibilities, how much they hate this president, and how much of their day they spend looking at their watch,

counting down the minutes till he is gone. Because he has debased their professions, he has made the country at greater risk. He has made a mockery of what they do. He has fired many of the people they respect the most. And I would say right now that the morale within the US national security. establishment, broadly top to bottom, is at its lowest point since,

I don't know, Valley Forge, you know, when they were freezing. to death in Pennsylvania during the Revolutionary War? It is just it is a point of despair. and discussed and mockery. that runs incredibly deep. And and you've seen it recently, you know, not too long ago, Trump went out and he spoke in front of people, I don't know at NASA or Space Force or one of these places.

And he was like. trying to politicize the whole event and they're not going for it anymore. They're not going to be drawn into it anymore. Because he lies too much and he's hurt them too much. And you brought up something we didn't talk about. really at like a minute ago, which deserves some discussion. because I think of all the things that he's done, the one that has triggered in a, in a serious way, the people I know in the military the most is lying. about the number of people who are killed and injured in this war.

I mean, he lied about the causes of the war. He lied about the benefits of the war. He lied about the costs of this war. He's lied about everything in this war. But the one thing you don't lie about is this human sacrifices. The young Americans who go off and fight, who lose their. lives, the families that are shattered. That's something all presidents throughout our history from both parties.

have always treated with the utmost respect. And they view this as statistics PR. disposable variable. Well, it wasn't a war that day. We weren't calling it a war that day. So he was not a war casualty that day. And these stories outraged them. Even if they don't, even if the country yawns, these stories. outrage the professional military, in a way that I, we don't appreciate. I don't think Trump fully appreciates.

Well, I'm sure Trump doesn't fully appreciate it. I wanted to also ask you, I mean, his obsession with having snipers and drones everywhere. and as you say, the East Wing and now the triumphal arch. I totally get why he's trying to claim that they are national security issues. And and that's giving him some sort of legal, needle to. thread so he can get these built without traditional congressional approval.

I wonder if it's also that he, at 80 years old in his ninth decade. with three visible attempts on his life, is also increasingly paranoid. I mean, this recalls the sort of America of the 50s. and the 60s when everything was about the communist threat, which is an era. in which he still lives, I think, in his head to, to some extent, and his paranoia here.

I mean, who wants, as you say, who wants to take their children to an arch? No one would go and see. the Arctic Triomphe in the center of Paris if there were French snipers on the top. But the idea of these being active military installations. It just to me it speaks of a sort of paranoia. that comes from someone who understands he is a target. Again, I think. his main reason for doing this is that the legal attitude to do it.

I think you're right. I think he is paranoid because in the case of all of these things, what they talk about is for example with regard to the, the ballroom, the east wing of the white House is. this is for the protection of the president. And even the people on the Hill will say, well, you know, we can't put our president at risk. There are many more threats today than there were before. He's at risk on a daily basis. We need to protect him.

So this is not national security. This is sort of presidential security. Because, you know, obviously, you know, if we get to the moment where troops are coming up the George Washington Parkway. and turning on to the Memorial Bridge, we're in deep trouble, right? It's we're not going to be saved by snipers on top of a triumphal arch. that nobody can remember why it was built. But but the the the reality here is, perhaps it is tied. to Trump's own experiences with mortality and,

you know, these assassination attempts. or whatever they were. Perhaps that is an element of it. And and look, you know, I mean, we've seen pictures of him. on golf courses with, you know, armaments all around him. And, there have been just incredible precautions. to keep this man alive. But, you know, having said all that,

they probably would do more. to preserve the life. of Donald Trump by cutting off the Big Macs than they would by putting, you know, snipers on tops of triumph arches. Yeah. We've got another AI picture here that is pretty good with the triumphal arch. Can we show this? This is by Ryan Teague. Beckwith. Pretty funny, which is what essentially Trump is thinking of doing. It's just it's remarkable. It's remarkable David.

He talks about a golden age that, you know, it's it's. the golden age of corruption. It's you know there are a lot of names for it. But I mean, one of the things is we have entered a level of absurdity that, it is unthinkable. I mean, it is murder for satirists, you know, how do you make fun of the best thing? How do you make fun of triumphal arches that are transformers. and turn into weapons?

How do you make fun of a president who's only. listening to a 35 year old who, you know, obviously had a psychotic break. at some point in the past few years and, and, and and, you know, it's now the president's personal stalker. You know, he's hired his personal stalker into his office. Yeah. I was kind of looking for a stalker, right? You know, it's like, what are the traits you're looking for in a partner? Well, I'd like someone was obsessed with me.

Look, you know who sees me delusional. I'm sure he's like, they're on Tinder or Grinder. Wherever he looks for these things. And it's like, is there a category for stalkers? Natalie? She's pretty good. But. But we live in an absolutely ludicrous moment. I know it really. Do you really do? Any one of these things could turn into disaster? And and, you know, in some ways, I feel like we're all like kids. in a family where the father.

is a alcoholic abuser, and we're hiding in our bedroom, and some of the stuff. we hear is him crashing around the living room and knocking stuff over. And we think that's ridiculous. But we also know at any moment he could burn down the house. And and that's the problem with Donald Trump. He is ridiculous. He is clumsy. He is incompetent.

But he's also the president of the United States. And so at any moment, any one of those things could turn into. a world war, a global financial crisis, an economic crisis at home, a pandemic. And and we would all pay the price. And that's this kind of dualities that we have to struggle with every single day. Oh, goodness. And it's only Monday, David. It's only Monday. Well, hopefully by the time this podcast goes out,

the press and the president will have. resolved their difficulties and we'll get to see him. Or maybe we don't want that. We want to see him less. But let's hope. they've resolved their difficulties by the end of the day and that, you know, all those world leaders coming to the UN will get to resolve. some of the what is it, 65 global conflicts going on right now? Yeah.

When the US is you know, he's the peacemaker president, which is why he announced last week that we're going to give more 2,000. pound bombs to Israel than we'd given the country in many years. It's it's going to be something. We'll watch it. super closely and maybe you and I'll talk, you know, when he meets the shipping. Yes. Which in theory is happening this week, though maybe she, Jinping, doesn't want to come. If there aren't going to be cameras, they'd be very interesting. It gives it gives a white House Press Association maximum leverage.

This was not the week to ban everybody. She she's in pain comes with his own media, believe me. But she's in paying knows. that he's going to get a warm up and he's not going to get a Trump. Also ready said this is amazing, right? She's and Ping China is helping Iran attack Americans, target Americans. And Trump has said well I don't blame him for that. That's the way the world works. We do that. It's like what he's like giving him a free pass on this. And I think what will come out of it is Trump and Jinping will meet.

And they say, you know, AI is a big thing. We should get together and talk about AI. And they won't talk about AI, and they won't do anything serious about AI, but they'll announce that they're going to talk about AI, and that'll be the big deliverable. and the hug each other and say, we have great relations. Yeah. Donald Trump just loves to say has a great relationship with all these. tyrannical figures. Well, David, maybe we'll come back and talk about Shin Ping and the China visit later this week. For the meantime, let's watch the space and see if there is coverage.

of Donald Trump coming up to New York today and staying, I'm assuming, at his apartment in Trump Tower. Perhaps he'll see his wife and perhaps. we'll see him at the UN. See, you could just a bet. she was on the last plane out of town last night. Yeah, she was probably. I want to be here. Although she often turns up at the U.N., she has turned up at the UN before. And she once gave a speech at the UN.

Yeah. And she was stuck on the escalator last year with him. That's right. She was. Yeah, she was. So perhaps she will be back. In fact, we should see if. it will be her accompanying him or if it'll be Natalie Harp. Natalie Harp was with him at Camp David over the weekend. Again, a visit that lasted, I think, less than a day. Well, he hates Camp David. Yeah, of course, there's there's no gold. toilet flushes and, you know, all the kind of stuff that he likes. Oh, no. It's the hell of log cabins in a beautiful place a no no here he does not.

He doesn't like nature. He doesn't like history, you know, he doesn't like, you know, moments. of silence where he can think about his life and reflect on the future. So Camp David is not for him. I don't know why he's gone there. So he's gone there a couple of times now. Yeah, well, he goes very briefly and then he leaves, doesn't he? All right. David Rothkopf, let's pay particular attention to what's going on this week. I wonder what on earth will be on CNN and MSNBC and Fox.

They will have nothing to play. They will play all the same things. They will say all the same things. They will have video from different sources. It will have no effect on them whatsoever. David, what is it saying on your t shirt? I can say I can see you're leaning back now. I don't know if you're doing it provocatively, I am I'm a big deal. What does that mean? My wife was had to give a speech in Minneapolis a couple weeks ago,

and she went to the Minnesota State Fair and apparently at the Minnesota state. fairs, like many state fairs, there's a lot of pickles. And she thought that this was a hilarious joke. Big deal. Like big deal, right? And I said, anybody who sees this is going to think. that it's off color and that I'm actually saying something else. And of course, the first moment you saw this, that's what you thought, because that's the way your mind runs. Well, I think that with the best moment,

American sort of pop culture is disintegrated even further. This is just low grade pickle humor, low grade. This is just this is just a pickle. And and and with a little blue ribbon. It's very sweet. I think more visits to the Minnesota State Fair. And. No, that's bad. Everything's bright. I think she came back with a cardiac condition just from visiting. Sounds delicious. Deep fried funnel cake and Mars bars. Yes, please.

David Rothkopf. Enough! Enough already. It's Monday. Good luck with your hip exercises. I hope you're taking your PT very seriously. I'm. Look, I'm doing it. You said do this. My hip was fine, but I thought, well done it. I'm going to. You're leaning to one side. You may not know, but you're listening to one side. So I'm just warning, you know, I've been doing that for a long time. To the left, to the left. I've been shifting, bleeding. Very good, very good.

All right, David, we will see you next Monday. Maybe we'll see you before then. Let's see how the week are. The week pans out. Okay. Have a good week. Thank you very much. Big thanks to our production team Ryan Murray, John Romero, Rachel Passer, Heather Pissarro and Neil Rosenhaus. So the good news is we have so many BBC tier members now. There are too many names to read out and we really appreciate your support.