Why Trump Is Fuming About Deranged Speech Fallout | The Daily Beast Podcast

He wanted this speech to be on prime time. There's nothing he loves more than being on prime time. He was boycotted. Effectively, he was switched off by ABC and NBC. and the angriest and honestly, the most alive bit of this speech on Thursday. night was when he demanded that they face revenge for Mort showing their speech. The rest of the speech was, if I'm honest, a bit. low T he was raspy, he was not standing energetically and he went through a hole of grievances.

He's very sort of. But what happened six years ago and he became president again. But he can't get over that. He lost. I'm Joanna Coles, this is the Daily Beast podcast and it's Friday, so it must mean. Hugh Docherty, The Daily Beast executive editor, is here to process the week. You get to hear how the sausage is made. in our brains as we dissect the week's news.

Is it about low tea? Is it about explosive diarrhea? Oh dear. I can't believe I even said that out loud either. Is it about JD Vance taking advantage of Marine Two. to helicopter his son to a golf lesson? And is it about the way President Obama so carefully. and diligently and deliciously sliced up JD Vance on a plate? Well, let's find out before we do.

Smash the subscription button and let's get to it with Hugh Doherty. Hugh Doherty, executive editor of the Daily Beast. Where are you? Joanna I am in Ohio. I'm in JD Vance, home state. I'm just outside Cleveland. I'm on what is known locally as America's North Coast on Lake Erie. And I am also in the smoke, as I think many of us are in this country right now.

Yes, I can assure you, as I cycled in on my city. bike this morning, the air quality was not great. We will be talking about JD Vance and the fact he's been using marine. two to helicopter his children around as a taxi service. on their way to golf lessons. Not very relatable, I'll warrant, but clearly he's going. to try and use his son to curry favor with his boss, the president. But I think it's fair to say, well, I very much hope. I should ask you, did you stop off at a Taco Bell.

at the airport on your way to JD Vance home state? Oh, actually, luckily I did not. Joanna, I was forewarned that that. a visit to the bell is actually not very wise at the moment. because of a reason that I know we've got we've as an unpleasant reason. But there is an explosive diarrhea bug spreading across the US, and it has now. been traced to one of Taco Bell's suppliers and ironically, in Mexico.

And I'm sure that many in MAGA might have something to say about that. I think they will. But what I was going to say is it's an explosive week for news. I barely know where to begin. We've had the JC Layton and the Todd Blanch hearings. We've got Donald Trump's bonkers. speech from the white House, which I've got various thoughts about. And I know you have, and the white House itself has, has just sort of exploded. at the negative reaction that Donald Trump has received from that speech.

We've got Donald Trump's teleprompter operator. being hauled up because he's. been he's been betting on it. And Kalki, about the contents of the president's speech. Yes, because he read them in advance. We've got Donald Trump trying to monetize his truth socials. by selling them to Wall Street in advance. Where to begin? I, I suspect we begin.

I mean, we could begin with Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, saying this is a really serious moment. And it's a it's a 25th amendment moment. After watching the president used the white House to, you know, spin his conspiracy theories about 2020, which he still seems remarkably sore about. But what struck you this morning? Well, all of all of that, Joanna. Luckily, explosive diarrhea did not strike me.

And so far, I've been safe. I'm not a consumer of Taco Bell, actually, but I definitely am not going to be. Now, I'm sure she has in Taco Bell again, we always say we're not stock tipsters on this show. We're definitely not stock. So maybe by the dip, you maybe by the dip. Well, that would certainly be a dip. Wouldn't it. Yes, love don't live mass. I think the biggest thing. Well, I think there are two huge things out of this speech.

First of all, the biggest thing for Trump. Trump spoke for 18 minutes. And many people. who are watching know wouldn't have seen it. And that's the thing that really angered him. He wanted this speech to be on prime time. There's nothing he loves more than being on prime time. There's nothing he loves more than ratings. And he was boycotted. Effectively. He was switched off by ABC and by NBC.

And the angriest and honestly, the most alive bit of this speech on Thursday. night was when he demanded that they face revenge for not showing their speech. The rest of the speech was, if I'm honest, a bit low. T as is now what you know, you know C and MAGA, right? He was raspy. He was not quite swamped, but he was not standing energetically. And he went through a whole lot of grievances that as you just.

said, Joanna, he's very sore. He's very sore about what happened six years ago. And he became president again. But he can't get over that. He lost. And in the course of that 18 minutes, he came out with a whole load of half. facts, half baked claims, weird, you know, sort of. unconnected thoughts, which he, in his mind. appears to think prove that somehow China, the latest target,

interfered in the 2020 election and may have helped Joe Biden get there. And there's an obvious intellectual dissonance in this, not to ones that one often associates with Donald Trump, but. he complains that there was interference by China. He doesn't offer any proof. He didn't even say that they changed votes or that they'd got Joe Biden to win. So he the speech effectively acknowledged that Joe Biden had won. because it didn't say the opposite.

And he talked about China. And yet he has described himself as an admirer. and a friend of Zheng Ping, the Chinese leader. But it seemed to be a sort of incoherent, conspiratorial ramblings. using the Oval Office to validate these frankly. bonkers claims claims that have been taken seriously in the past. I mean, goodness knows, I think there were more than 90 separate. court cases looking at allegations of alleged election fraud.

None was found to be to be true. And this is him basically setting up for the midterms. saying, listen, guys, if I lose, it's nothing to do with me. People love me. They love the Republicans. It's someone else's fault. Yes. Well, I think you're absolutely right. The big word there was seriously, these claims were taken. seriously and they were dealt with by courts and they were dismissed. So we know what the truth is.

The truth is Joe Biden won. It's really simple. But the other thing, the other big takeaway, I think for me out of this. and for many others, is that there is an element here of self owning. He released a whole trunk of documents. which were supposed to prove his case. And the problem is that they did the opposite. They showed that China had access to US electoral records,

and the also showed that those are records that are publicly available. that you can go and download. Some states, make them freely available, some states sell them. These are you can go and get these. No. And at the point for the states that make them available. The point is transparency, right. Exactly. Look at the voter rolls. This is completely transparent material. That's the point of the process. We know that there is nothing wrong with the American electoral process.

We saw what happened when Fox News claimed that the voting. machines owned by Dominion were somehow faulty. Dominion sued and they settled for just under $1 billion. And the head of Tucker Carlson, Tucker Carlson, who was the lead news. presenter on Fox News, was part of the deal. that Fox made in a settlement with Dominion to say, there's absolutely nothing wrong with Dominion voting machines. So this is something the Republicans or the MAGA wing of the Republican Party.

have banged on about, with absolutely no factual underpinning whatsoever. Correct. And it's the noticeable just as a side note, it's very noticeable. that Donald Trump did not name names or name companies or name. people because, well, and he didn't name the elections that he won. How can 1 in 2016, how come he won in 2024? It all seems bonkers. What did you think of Gavin Newsom hopping into his back garden, which looked very nice. I'm assuming it was his back garden or the back. garden of the official residence and saying, time for the 25th amendment, guys.

A tale of a tale of two screens. on one screen Donald Trump, old raspy, let's be honest, didn't sound great, so sounded bored by his own conspiracies. I thought, oh my goodness, he might fall asleep in the middle. of his own speech and goodness knows he's capable of doing that. Well, would anybody have been surprised? It was. It was not energetic.

And then almost instantly, Gavin Newsom. on Instagram, on Twitter, on social media, phone in hand, as you know, people do. Young, energetic, bouncing around outside in the in the in the sunshine. a new a new beginning and an absolute. absolutely virally coherent expression of what this was. The ramblings of a mad king.

Well, the only thing missing tonight in Donald Trump's speech was tinfoil. This was a legitimate 25th amendment moment. The ramblings of a mad king. Don't get me wrong, a foreign interference in our elections, that's a real thing. Nothing about what you watch tonight, though, was real. It's make believed he wants to rig the election in 2026. He knows he's going to lose. He needs to rig the election before one vote was cast.

There's no doubt that Gavin Newsom at the moment is the presumptive. the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination in 2028. Of course, other people may emerge. However, the important thing about this is in the one big moment. that Trump has been hyping and hyping and hyping, Gavin Newsom was right there. He reacted immediately, and he reacted in a way that people are talking. about hours and hours after the speech, when they're not talking about the speech, they're talking about Gavin Newsom and the talking about the 25th amendment.

There was another politician who shot up, I think, the Democratic poll for potential presidential candidate in 2028. And that was, of course, the senator from Georgia, Jon Ossoff, who had a masterful bit of questioning in, frankly, what feels like it's been a pretty a pretty weak showing. from the Democrats at the hearings for both Todd Blanch and Jay Clayton.

Jay Clayton, who's up for the Tulsi. Gabbard vacancy as head of of national Intelligence. Jon Ossoff asked him who'd won the election. You know, did he agree that Joe Biden had won the election? Jay Clayton wasn't really able to say it, and he came in. with an amazing response. You refused to answer a basic question. about who won a presidential election. No. But you asked to lead America's intelligence community.

Isn't it humiliating to be unable to answer this question, to have to indulge the president's delusions? We know, you know, everybody. in this room knows the truthful answer to that question. Why can you not give it? I mean, for me, that was the quote of the week. It was a standout quote of the week. It was calm, it was logical, it wasn't angry. And it made a brilliant, brilliant, emotional point.

at what these guys have to do to prostrate themselves in front of Trump. It was it was absolutely electric. There is no doubt that John Ossoff immediately. tucked in behind Gavin Newsom in the Democratic running here. But it also it demonstrated so much about the weird. world of MAGA, the weird world in which these people live. Just to go back, Jake Litten was a partner at Sullivan and Cromwell.

That's one of the most prestigious law firms, in theory. I'll just say in theory. This is a guy who knows what the law is. This is a guy who at the moment is. is possibly the most the single most powerful prosecutor in the country. He is the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, which is the biggest office of federal prosecutors. It's always been the most powerful. It's one that has made far reaching prosecutions. So he is at the peak of his legal career.

And yet this guy was reduced to mumbling incoherence. And, you know, he looked. Let's not get too into the appearance here. But Jack Layton has always been admired by those who know him for his hair. It's the thing that everybody talks about. Jay Clayton, great hair. Well, and it's the thing that you write and it's the thing that Donald Trump. loves about his cabinet, right? He says. Central casting. Yes.

And yet here was central casting really at work? Young, brilliant. Senator, let's be honest, a bit bit old, bit unshaven, a bit questionable on the hair color guy up against each other. And one was forensic. He was not angry, as you say, Joanna. He was calm and he kept going. and he kept going and he exposed. Whether it's a moral or intellectual vacuum. at the heart of Jay Clayton, historical judge.

But he exposed what happens when people get inside this Trump realm. and have to do this bizarre dance. of not just admitting, not just agreeing. Joe Biden won the 2020 election, but also, it seems such a waste of time to look back for Trump on 2020. Why is he? I mean, if you were a shrink and we should ask Doctor. John Gartner this, but why is he fixed on the moment of losing.

when he won an election on either side of it? There's something that, you know, it's like a dog being drawn back to its own vomit. There's something that he spirals around there, and if he had won it, he wouldn't be in power now, right? He would be former President Trump, and he wouldn't have got the Olympics. and the World Cup and all the things that he was enthusiastic in America. 250 and all the things he's boasted about having. So, yeah, it's a crazy obsession. I know you were going to talk to Michael Wolff about it.

So, Hugh, we've discussed the president. Let's discuss the vice president. using marine two. as a personal taxi for his son to take him to a golf lesson. And then, of course, President Obama picked up on something that JD Vance said. So this is not a good week for JD to be JD Vance. I'll just be honest, I don't. Sure. It's never a good week to be for ever. I know he's kind of he's always in the smoke, isn't he?

I'm so JD Vance. Hillbilly Elegy, humble background. You know, he claims to be from Appalachia. We do know he is actually from the greater Cincinnati suburbs. But, you know, certainly a tough upbringing, a state university, a state college, the Marines, an enlisted marine. You know, there's a lot of, you know, a lot of humble background.

are all of the Secret Service. And this is really bad. This is really, really almost without precedent. Secret service agents from inside his detail have been leaking. about the diva esque royalty or evil demands that are being put on them. It's so bad that they have come up with badges. that they swap with each other, and they use, obviously, Vans and Obama. and Trump and everybody who's protected by the Secret Service have code names.

JD Vance is code name as bobcat. Again, not entirely clear. I don't know if they've bobcats in the greater Cincinnati suburbs, but his his nickname, his code name is bobcat. and their exchanging badges with each other. Seeing Bobcat survivors club and it has. has the motto TBD, TBD. because he and Usha keep changing their arrangements.

That's really bad for security. Changing arrangements is expensive. It's difficult. It's hugely demanding on these agents who do incredibly difficult. and demanding work. And another one has the has a shield. and it says on its car plane commander, because he moves about so much they have to fly his cars around. But as we heard, he's flying to the golf course. with his son to go to learn how to play golf.

He was taking marine two, you know, a helicopter as Trump. You see Trump getting on Marine One. When Vance gets in, it's called marine two. He was taking it from the old Naval Observatory for the family, live across. to another golf course across the other side of the city. I mean, it's not relatable. It's not is that, you know, it's not. Well, it's not what people pay their taxes for, for the Vance's. to fly marine to and their child to his golf lesson. I don't think so. It's not a minivan. JD, we should ask people to put in the comments.

Is this what you're paying your taxes for? Are you are you happy with the idea that JD Vance. is ferrying his son to a golf lesson on marine two? And by the way, he and Usha are also going to lease. a country estate about 40 or 50 miles outside of DC in Virginia. And that means more movement, more travel, more security arrangements. And we know the Secret Service are unhappy with them. because they're leaking and the Secret Service don't leak.

We have wild rumors about difficulties with the Clintons. that emerge 15 years after they had left the white House. I am not aware that we have ever seen such a direct pipeline. of behavior to leak with a Secret Service, protect T. in this sort of form, and especially these internal badges, which are a joke and are funny and we can see on screen. No, but that's not something we're supposed to see.

However, as you said, that wasn't even the only bad news this week for JD. He also got, a cutting put down I think is one way you could put it. I was going to say that a bitch slapped. Yes. Right. Bye bye. President Obama, who appeared on the writer Malcolm Gladwell, he has a podcast. He appeared on that podcast and highlighted.

something that many of us don't understand about JD Vance. Right? So JD Vance, and actually there's a personal element to this as well, I think, and a very, you know, sort of personal element. for, for Obama because JD Vance had been podcasting himself this week. He's a he was supposed to go and meet a Republican. group of members of the Republican House, and instead. he went to Georgian because Georgian bigger than Congress. And he was asked about this appalling moment at the Trump.

UFC cage match when one of the fighters said, Michelle Obama is a man. Horrible. Just, you know, this vile thing has come out of the MAGA fever swamps. And as we know, Georgian was the man holding the microphone when this guy said. he didn't push back and JD was asked about it by Joe Rogan, and he sort of grinned about it and said, that wasn't even the funniest thing.

He just no condemnation, no pushback. If there's one man, this is a new Catholic convert. This is a Yale graduate, this is a marine. He should he's a man who's sworn to uphold the Constitution. You know, he should know this is wrong. He should know this is disgusting. He should know that obviously, Michelle Obama is not a man in seeing it as vile. None of that. Then. Then Barack Obama goes on Malcolm Gladwell's podcast and points out. the glaring hypocrisy of JD Vance that he has spoken about how.

the people who fought the descendants of those who fought in the Civil War. have more right to America than those who did not. And he is married to Usher Vance, who is the daughter of immigrants. Well, the daughter of Indian immigrants, the daughter of Indian immigrants. And Judy Vance had in part and Indian wedding. He has spoken about eating vegetarian food. His children have a mix of names. And he you know, he he's paused.

very happily with his extended Indian, Indian, American family. But Obama was absolutely forensic in. this hypocrisy. He called it too called it to his face hypocrisy. Well, I don't I don't understand how JD Vance. and Stephen Miller can sit around the same cabinet table. I don't understand how they can talk to each other, given how unpleasant. and vile Stephen Miller is about immigrants, about brown people,

about setting ice on people, about the president's comments. about Mexicans and immigrants being racist and the worst of the worst. I don't know how Usher Vance gets into bed with JD Vance. at the end of the evening, assuming they do well, and we know that Usher Vance's family are there inside. You know they're in San Diego. They are embodiment of the American dream, right? The science professor.

They were Democrats. Yes. These are these are clearly and, you know, the immense pride. that they would have had in coming here and making it an American to honor. You and I are both proud to be immigrants. They then, you know, Usher Vance, a brilliant career. clerking for clerking for a Supreme Court justice, a degree. from degrees, from the most distinguished of colleges. And their son in law is saying.

she and they have always right to be to Americanize, right, to be American. At the same time, it is going home. turned into an American wife and children with that heritage. It's the I just I mentioned intellectual dissonance. with Trump and kind of hard to see Trump's intellectual dissonance. It's not his thing. GT vines knows that this is intellectual dissonance. He knows better. Well, he also knows that he's using the platform. of being a vice president to sell copies of his book,

a point Not lost on Kim Strassel in the World Street Journal, who pointed out that actually, the Senate needs his attention. He's the president of the Senate. It needs his attention, and he's spending his time out on The View, as you pointed out, Joe Rogan promoting his book, when actually he should be dealing with all the legislation that needs to. to get passed in the incredibly few working days left before the midterms. I mean, it's shocking how much time congresspeople and senators take off for the summer.

It's shocking how late they come back to start the full the full term. And of course, she points out that, you know, a lot of Republican. senators are concerned that there may be another government. shutdown, that the Democrats will blame the Republicans. And of course, this will happen right before the midterms. This Kim Strassel in the Wall Street Journal. To those who do not know her name, she is not a news reporter in the Wall Street Journal. She writes for the Wall Street.

Journal opinion section, which is dyed in the wool conservative. It has been conservative forever, and she is very, very close to the she is I. I struggled to see an intellect in the in the MAGA movement, but she is certainly. somebody that is looked to for her opinion. and she is scathing about GD Vance. She calls him a wall. She says that he is the glaringly obvious candidate.

to really run the White House's political strategy. And yet he is not there. He he, I think, will be personally very hurt by this. But she points out that. the 2020 election is going to be based on what is done. by the Republican legislatures, the Senate and the House know because they know. And she doesn't admit this, but they know they're not going to get the House. They know the Senate's in play. If they don't get anything through between now.

and January the 3rd, there's nothing to take to the voters in 2028. And as she points out, it will be JD Vance fault. I wonder if JD Vance will be hurt you. I think you're, I think he will be counting the number. of copies of his book that he sold by. talking for three hours on Joe Rogan. I mean, what vice president has got three hours to spend yapping. on the Joe Rogan podcast, but that's why.

he had to put his son in the helicopter because it taken three hours. He couldn't put, you know, he couldn't drive him over to the golf course, had to get there faster because, you know, it's just time management. Joanna. Well, I hear everywhere, that's what I see. Well, someone who's obviously feeling very envious of JD Vance being able. to spend three hours on Joe Rogan's podcast is none other. than the Secretary of Forever Wars, Pete American Dole. Hegseth. My obsession is that he looks like an American doll with his little accessories,

his stars and stripes everywhere, his socks, his sort of weird hairdo. But he is obviously keeping one eye on JD Vance. and of course, Marco Rubio and thinking they're ahead of me in the race, I'm going to give everybody three shots of testosterone. So he's testing people in the military. He's introduced compulsory. tests, claiming that he's very focused on the individual warrior. And the warrior must be made strong.

And he's concerned that people may be low t, which is actually sometimes. a consequence of extreme stress, and that they will be making shots of testosterone available. I think he might want to give one to his boss, Donald Trump. Looks like he's run out of all hormones. All hormones. He's barely producing any natural substance at this point, apart. from a stream of kind of incomprehensible garbage are you planning to get? I've never asked you if you're. And I'm sure that this is breaking some kind of HR rule,

and I'm going to do it in public on a podcast. Who are you? Hi t loti. Should we be testing our staff for testosterone? I suspect the Daily Beast staff, men and women are. Have all got very high testosterone. They come in bouncing every morning ready to take on the world. So I don't think we're short of testosterone, but I think hex might be. Well, I've never been tested for my testosterone, so I don't know.

I've no idea. Our producer, Ryan, pointed out that the end of my name ends in T. So that's it. I don't know, well, on it, if you're English means something. completely different. It's a rather delicious punctuation point. Usually on a Friday or Saturday. It involves very well buttered, delicious sandwiches with the crusts. cut off, some scones with a bit of cream and jam where the only controversial. thing is, do you put the jam on first or the cream on first? And do you add butter?

Answer of course you do. And then some pieces of Kate, usually a bit of Victoria sponge. or some fruitcake, if that's what the troops are going to be getting. Joanna I think that he would be the most popular defense secretary ever. However, he's going to have them, he's going to offer them. And, you know, if you're in the military, you can't just say, oh, it's optional because that's not how the military works. He claims that high testosterone.

is the path to military greatness. Unfortunately, he has already been rather, you know, quickly checked on his facts. by doctors who say that this is not necessarily scientifically proven, not necessarily scientifically wise, and, not really the solution to winning wars. The broad solution to winning wars, I think, is to pick ones that are not. liking in any strategic value Iran and ones that you can win.

Well, it's also behaving QE as if war is. mano a mano and it's it's actually Mortal Kombat. And in fact, as the Ukrainians have shown, it's about drones. It's about it's about using weapons where the person is frequently three, four, 7000 of miles away from the point of impact. Yes. And you know, one thing that until the Haig's era,

the top, the top people in the American military, the generals, admirals. were absolutely trying to, you know, we're encouraging intellects or recruiting people. on the basis of their technical skills and their knowledge. And. this, this whole, the making people look like Gladiator or something. Well, this is what he wants to do, right? He loves nothing better than to post a video of himself doing push ups.

or press ups or running with with the troops or pushing a sled. He's obsessed by posting pictures of himself. And I've said before on the podcast, I think he uses the military as a personal training school. I think he uses it as a very custom gym. You know, one of those gyms that we all long. to be able to afford where they tailor everything to your body type. I long to go to one of those, but I think he's using the military, the American military, for his own personal body improvement. And we know he's struggled with alcohol and of course a much better thing.

to take that addiction. And we've seen this in RFK junior to still junior. at 72 and applied to a ferocity in the gym, which I think somehow channels that addiction energy. And you also said they're using the American military. Michael Wolff made the very prescient point that this looks. very much like using the American military to run for the presidency.

He is trying to. scoop up the brews and the, you know, the sort of looks. Maxine strengthening, protein obsessed podcast world, which jaws hammering, jaw hammering don't they break their drawing? That's what you only asked about testosterone. But actually, after this, I've got to go and do a bit of hammering. But it is a it does appear to be.

the first maneuver from Seth. I think Michael Wolff is absolutely right. And in what is, let's be honest, a very open Republican presidential race. JD Vance not a good week, not good charisma. Question marks over him Marco Rubio, clearly ambitious. Why? If you repeat, why not? Well, because if you're Pete Hegseth, you must be panicking too, that the war which may turn into a forever war, the very thing that MAGA voted.

not to have the very central point of Donald. Trump's foreign policy, is not going well. He'll get blamed for it. Trump always has to find someone to blame. He'll probably fire Seth and say it was the idea to go into Iran. So he's looking to solidify a base. while he still has a job and he still has reach. Yes, I absolutely think that analysis is going to is going to hold up.

And of course, he embraced being Secretary of War. And if you win a war, I'm sure that's great. But if you don't win a war and you're a secretary of war, well, you know who's going to get blamed. And ain't no ships leaving the Strait of Hormuz right now. Everything is back to a sort of weird stalemate. And what's happened to the memo of understanding and fuel prices are back up. Fuel prices are back up.

It was the memo of misunderstanding. So, Hughie, one person that didn't benefit last night. from Trump's speech, who traditionally would have expected to. is Trump's teleprompter operator, who has been frantically rushing to Kalki, one of the betting markets, to bet. on the contents of Donald Trump's speech, of which he had insider knowledge. It's it's just an extraordinary story.

Trump has. often Trump weirdly, Trump's got a thing about teleprompters. He doesn't really follow them that well. And he often goes off them and then he goes back on them. and quite often complains that they're broken. You remember at the United Nations, he couldn't follow it, and it turned out the orders it wrong. And he blamed that on the United Nations, when in fact it was his own people. And now we may have insight into the fact that the guy was probably not paying.

any attention, putting Donald. Trump's UN speech into the teleprompter because he was too busy on his Halsey. app, trying to bet on what was inside the speech. So yes, this is this is. a completely a completely new phenomenon of these prediction markets. This is not your traditional betting. This is a very free, free ability. to make a prediction and then ask people to bet against you.

And now obviously I could predict, I don't know. We're going to the baseball tonight. I could predict that the Cleveland Guardians. are going to win three two for the point of argument. But I got no knowledge. I've got no way of knowing if that's true. I could win, I could lose. Other people couldn't have predicted that England was going to lose. to one to Argentina on Wednesday. That was a memorable match. Oh, I always. recuse myself from soccer on because being from Scotland,

as I have to make sure people are aware, we have complicated feelings. about England playing soccer. Well, I don't have complicated feelings and I was gutted. I think is the phrase gutted in that last six. minutes of the match that was that was shocking. But we should point out that the teleprompter operator, this might sound like it's a trivial thing, has made. $100,000, $100,000.

And the thing is, as I was saying, I don't know what. the result of, you know, the baseball, Matt, the baseball is, but he was on this prediction market because he'd seen the speech. He ordered it into the teleprompter to practice. And these markets move very, very fast. So we don't actually know how long in advance he was making these predictions. But these markets can deal with predictions. in the space of minutes in the space, in theory of seconds. And he had insider knowledge.

about what Trump was going to say among the things. So this is a very intriguing part of this, is that he could, we think, have been prosecuted because clearly was sailing. government secrets or government knowledge or government information. Well, uncertainty, certainly information that could move markets. and particularly information that could move markets. And he was not. Instead, the Department of Justice settled with him.

And that settlement means we don't actually have exact knowledge. of what story, of what secrets he shared, what predictions he made. And the reason that I think this is pretty significant is that the. one of the features of. gossip around DC, of raised eyebrows, of questions about what's going on, is that there are people who make predictions online, on Twitter about words.

that Trump will use, or phrases, or that he's going to say this. or he's going to say that, and they seem quite well informed. No. Are these people also getting this knowledge? We don't know because we don't know what. we don't know what this guy has agreed that he did. But we do know that he's been suspended without pay. And we do know that John Junior is an advisor to both Kalki. and Poly Market, the two leading companies in the prediction market.

So the other thing that we should comment about, because you mentioned how fast. the prediction markets move is the speed. with which Donald Trump crazily puts out his true socials, and he's now trying to create a separate channel to charge for them. so that the markets get access to the policy. observations and rando thoughts that he puts out on Truth Social. It's obviously a way to monetize the platform,

which has had a 77% drop in valuation since last year. Do you think anybody's going to sign up for it? Well, I mean, realistically, yes. And if you, you know, the biggest. the biggest traders, the biggest, the biggest movers of, of shares of bonds, of futures, of shorts, the. they want the every advantage they can possibly get.

You know, there was the, the flash crash. a few years ago. And one of the components of that was that people had set up faster. You know, why are there fiber optic cables. to get information so fractionally faster that they were ahead of others? So if you're a trader, why would you not want to know in advance? I suppose, but you know, ahead of everybody else. what the president is about to do. You can make money on this, it seems.

I mean, it's like it's an offer that you can't refuse, because if you don't do it and others make money, then you've you've lost you. It surely it must be wrong. It's as if he's setting up his own sort of Bloomberg version, right? A sort of own Dram version of it. He's no. One teleprompter operator, right. He's the president of the United States. We've all paid for him already, right? Is this how he should be thinking about his policy statements that he puts.

in through his socials, that he can somehow monetize them for his own company? Well, you know, this this has been the hallmark of this. presidency and is grift. is cashing in is, you know, Don Junior's presence on defense. boards is contracts without bids to people that that live here. So the reflecting pool perfect example a contract. without any bidding process which is completely on.

abnormal for something as important as the reflecting pool. And it goes to someone that has worked on a Bedminster. property of Donald Trump, and they've made a catastrophic, a catastrophic effort to repair the reflecting pool. so that in this in the peak summer of the 250th anniversary. of America's history, the reflecting pool, there's no water in it. It's a concrete hub and it's hidden behind wire fences.

And I know you said to Thomson the other day. that one of the pleasures of going to DC is a walker on there fighting. I always love that. There was something about it. Well, it draws tourists from around the world who turn up and they see that. Washington looks like a dump, that it looks like it's completely unable. to fix its own monuments, despite the fact that Donald Trump. said the guy he'd given the contract to knew exactly what he was doing. He was going to do better than anybody else.

who was going to do it cheaper than anybody else. And of course, it's not true. Well, it was true that he. his company was called Green Water and he at least delivered on that. He at least delivered on that. No more American flag blue. Oh yeah. The Daily Beast are robustly fair. and accurate, so only fair and accurate to point that out. Well, I know that you're about to go off and stroll along the North Coast. I'm sure JD Vance is very pleased that you're in his home state. I am going to be scanning the skies for marine two in case.

he's off the golf course near here, and I can only I can only guess. at the enormity of of news by next Friday when we come back to talk about it. And again, as we said, explosive, explosive news this week. And I'm sure there'll be more explosive news next week. Well, I was hoping the explosiveness of it might end now that we know. the source of that particular, that particular problem.

Joanna. But when it comes to the news, it's not it's not letters from Mexico. that are the issue that are bringing us the news. It's probably mostly the president and he's not going away. Well, he's not going away. Although if he does, let's hope that he's flying in his grift force. one, as you have coined it, and not the old plane. Hugh, great to see you. Have a fabulous weekend and I will look forward to seeing you back. in the office on Monday, and I will be there to thank you, Joanna.

I'm now joined by Stacy Kennedy, CEO of PMI us for our America 250 series produced in partnership. with PMI us, US businesses of Philip Morris international, as part of its year long initiative to celebrate and accelerate. American innovation and reinvention, we're looking ahead. to the next 250 years of America reacting directly to your comments, and Stacy and I are discussing the future of manufacturing and American innovation.

So let's dive right in. So we have Stacy Kennedy, CEO of PMI, U.S.. Stacy, what is it going to take for America to reestablish itself. if this is even the right goal as the center of the manufacturing world? Thanks, Joanna, for having me. I'm delighted to to be here.

And, you know, I think America's got what we need. to reinvent ourselves, okay? Reinvent ourselves. in manufacturing, reinvent ourselves in a whole host of areas. I mean, if we look at the American dream and the core of the American Dream, I think it's not just about an economic prosperity. It's about the fundamental right and the freedom to invent and reinvent. Okay, so how how do we do that? What does that mean for people? Because the American dream for people, I think meant that they would have.

the opportunity, they would have economic opportunities. that would get them past where their parents were. Right. Their life could be aspiring. So what are the ingredients? I think the ingredients are in bringing communities together with business, because these are the people that make the magic happen. If you want manufacturing, states have to create a great economic climate. They have to attract business. There has to be something in it for the community. And I fundamentally believe in the quality of American workforce, hands down.

So we just built our new factory in Aurora, Colorado, 18 months. from ideation to operational. And this was because there was a fundamental need. for us to produce more product, because consumers were demanding it. You look for a great state that's offering opportunity. and a great workforce, and that's what I think it takes. I think it takes all of those. kind of stakeholders working together to just get it going.

What's the product? Product is in America's number one smoke free brand? We're a smoke free company, right? That's our mission. So I know you used to be a smoker and you're still a fan of nicotine, right? So are you a Zinn user? I am okay, and I'm predominantly an ICOs user. ICOs is our smoke free heated tobacco. So it's a similar experience to a cigarette but without the smoke. which is what causes well all the harm right. The.

Yeah. Right. All right. So I've I've read that your favorite thing to do for lunch. because you're always on the go is an espresso and an. how do I pronounce it I yeah, espresso and I cost that can get me through. any lunch or any day, but put me in a meeting or. an airplane and Zen is my go to. Okay. So Colorado. Yes. Up and working. What was it about the energy of Colorado. or the workforce that you felt you could lean into?

Well, first of all, it started with the community. So whenever we are looking for it's for me, not about the state. incentives or the land or these types of things. We went into communities deeply in the communities and talked to. local politicians, the mayor, the business chamber. We met with civic organizations. So we do a lot of work with veterans organizations. So we want to hear from people in the community about what.

they would think about our presence being there. And so I did a listening. tour across America when we first started doing business here. three and a half years ago. And the things that people were saying. about how important manufacturing is to local communities. And so that's where we started, and we started working with the community. And then we say, okay, now we have tangible examples of the type of workforce, what our factory. would mean in this community, how we can partner together. Do we have is there enough affordable housing?

Is there enough, you know, restaurants and businesses around? And that's how we made a decision about the exact location. Okay. So you've talked about tobacco free product. What are the source of as you look out. And obviously 250 years is an insane amount of time to think about. But in terms of breakthrough technologies, do you see anything on the horizon. that you think, oh, this really is going to be breakthrough? Well, I think there are.

plenty to talk about. I mean, AI of course, being the forefront of that, but I think the real breakthrough needs to be. It's critical how humans and machines work together, because there are fundamental things about a human being that we're. never going to replace the cognitive capabilities, the judgment, the empathy, and the ability to have emotions. and to deeply understand the human condition. But AI can deliver, of course, such enormous capability.

And it's the breakthrough needs to be. how that's going to work in a new operating model societally. But I think what I'm hearing from Americans is. we listen, as exciting as that is. And of course, some find it. There's skeptics, some find it a little frightening. Others find it incredibly exciting and energizing. But most Americans just want better. Joanna I just want innovation to serve them in their everyday lives. We all of that. Okay, so what kind of innovation?

I desperately want innovation in my. in my daily life, but I'm not quite sure what it's supposed to do for me. And some innovations feel like, oh, it's too much. I've got to learn how to use yet another thing. So when you're listening to people, what are the kind of innovations. they're talking about? So it usually comes across in four areas. So give me something that I love but better. That's where our Zen fits in, right? People use nicotine for a reason, right? But they don't want the smoke. And the things that the that smoke causes like cancer.

That's a better product, right? Give me something that makes my life easier, easier to navigate. Give me something that makes me and my family, and especially. my children, safer, and give me something that is healthier. So those are usually the core doors that we find most Americans are talking. about very pragmatically about something that's going to make a difference. in their life. Okay. So we have a question here from someone saying, how do we get back to that sense of community.

where the factory, the local factory was actually. at the center of the town and people sort of knew other people, and there was a sort of purpose to the. to the town, to the community. Well, I think that. we can get there through those who are invested. in America like we are, that are building manufacturing facilities. But I think I would broaden the question in the idea. of the variety of things that can unite a community, a town.

It may very well be a factory, but it could also be. a new mission around reinventing education. It could be a civic organization. It could be, you know, power behind first responders and what they're doing in the community. So I think we need to define community pretty broadly, but look for the right mix. in communities of things that are going to pull the community together. Super important.

And that's what I mean, joining by reinvention. I'll give you just a quick example. I'm from Mississippi. You may hear a little magnolia and I love I love your voice. I love your accent. Thank you. My mom is always very upset when she says you're losing the magnolia in your voice. But my state, when I was growing up, we were dead last. or next to dead last in education in the state of Mississippi. Famously. So famously so. Yeah. And what Mississippi has done to reinvent its entire education system, they're now.

above middle of the pack in just a short. decade and plus, which is amazing. Other states are now copying Mississippi's education model. and trying to replicate that. Right. And how did they do that? What was it? The essence of it. So I think it was it was, first of all, curriculum getting back to the basics. And they had a very specific curriculum model based off of phonics, but it was also around putting a performance based system. in schools that the schools got a chance to fix, to write things and selves.

And if that didn't, they got help. And so it was really coming from a place of helpfulness. But it was it was performance culture. And they there was more to that whole story. But I think it's really amazing. And what other what other states are trying to copy, you can look at other states that really been based around economic development. So I look at states like the state I'm that's my home now, Connecticut, and how public private partnerships like advanced CTE. I'm on the board of advanced CT focused with the state.

on economic development and developing the right mix of small, midsize and extra large corporations that are all coming together. to make sure that you've got good dispersion of jobs across the state. You're constantly attracting the right types of businesses that are going to add. to not only the fabric of society, but create jobs and empower. the economy and the small businesses that are so important. I was thrilled last night to hold an event at my home to honor. the the.

recipient winners of the Women's Business Development Council of Connecticut. Yay! These are women entrepreneurs that are getting grants to either. start or expand their small businesses. These women are amazing and you need small businesses as well. to power the community and power, you know, economic development. at the state level. And I think that's what Americans are looking for that falls right in that. give me better, better quality, safe safety, safety for my kids, help. the environment, make my life a little bit easier on a day to day basis.

I it sounds like you're running for office. Are you running for office? Why aren't there more people from business like you running for office? I don't know, Joanna. It this. If we had more business pragmatism. I spent a lot of my time with governors. I think as a as a country, we talk about the federal government a lot, but many of the decisions that affect our lives happen at the state level. Right? So if we have business driven, pragmatic governors and we've got.

some great examples around the country, we just had more of that. I think we would be so much better off. So how do you encourage people to take the risk to do something like that? Because part of leaning into the future is also about. And I wanted to ask you this, and actually we got some questions in about this is. what does it take to be a leader. to to take America forward for the next? I mean, as we've said, 250 years, Beal's like a very long time for.

but for the next 50 years, you know, navigating the challenges of AI, navigating a society which feels more fragmented, where there are fewer places for us all to come together and agree. on, on, on a on an agreed set of facts. What does it take to get, as you say, business leaders. or the leaders of tomorrow to stand for office? I think it takes society in general, being willing to finally get behind.

some of the the those who are serving in office. I definitely believe in accountability for those who are holding public office, but I also believe that they are serving us. and those who serve have they need support. So that's why it's so important for me as a business leader to get behind. organizations like advanced CT and Connecticut that are serving. alongside those in the governor's office and in state office,

because we owe it to them and to our state. and to all of our constituents that we're standing up and supporting them. and helping to, you know, move that policy forward. So I think if we saw more positive examples of that, then we might have more business leaders who would be willing to run for, for office, because right now it's a lot of risk and not much reward. Who's standing up for them when they're trying to do the hard. stuff to tackle the really big problems.

You're a leader of a company you've worked at PMI for over 30 years. Is that possible? Doesn't look possible now. I'm flirting with you. Very strange, very strange. How have you developed as a leader? Because so much of what you talk about depends on good leadership. In America, you have a great reputation. You've become the CEO. How do you think of yourself in terms of showing up as a leader?

I think the answer to that question, Joanna, is fundamentally. in what we were talking about, the American dream and reinvention. So I've moved more than a dozen times in my career. I've lived on three continents, five countries. I look at each new job and each physical move as an opportunity for a do over. Oh, interesting. And I don't want to change fundamentally who I am. I don't believe that you can really do that, nor. should you if you try as a as a human being.

But I definitely believe in the opportunity to pivot and reinvent. how how I show up as a leader. in ways that it's a constant improvement. Right? So each move, each job is an opportunity to step back and assess what do I think? How do I think I showed up as a leader in a way that felt really authentic for me. and really resonated with my stakeholders, be that government, private enterprise, employees, you name it.

And then what would I change if I could, you know, holding the proverbial mirror. up in the face to have a really deep look and asking feedback from other people. And then each move is an opportunity to say, you know what? I'm going to reinvent that aspect of how I show up as a leader. I'm going to be bolder in my decision making. I'm going to I'm generally a very collaborative person, but sometimes. collaboration overused becomes unproductive, whatever it might be. I use that as as an opportunity. each and every time, but it always starts with listening.

You can't you can't make any of those reinventions without listening. Okay, so you also read a lot I do. Do you. think reading continues into the future? And I ask that because I know you read three books. a week, two fiction, one nonfiction. I have two sons in their 20s, so young adults in the workforce, one of whom also reads three books a week, one of whom says, why would I read. when I can watch television? So he gets his stories in a different way.

What do you think the future of reading is? I deeply believe in the future of reading, and I'm hopeful. that this next generation, they you start to see some signs. that they're wanting more tactile, more analog opportunities in life. I think there's an incredible exhaustion with social media. There's an exhaust. with the echo chamber of the news that everybody that we're all hearing.

So I think that reading is going to come back. And the old fashioned paper, I have a Kindle which I travel with, of course, but if I can put a real book in my hands and when I look at. I have 17 year old twins and I look at both of them, it's a hard. hardcover book that's a hardcover, hard hardcover book. Okay. And do they get those from the library? Do they buy them? Are they gifts either public library or Barnes and Noble? My son's meticulous about his points. Whatever this is, he's he's collecting at Barnes and Noble,

and I'm so glad they got back into reading. He was my son particularly, was a phenomenal reader at a very young age. And he had one negative experience where the teacher, new teacher, first day of school, ask all the kids to bring a book that they read in the summer. And he was so excited to show his book. And in front of the whole class, the teacher. said, there's no way you could have read that book. that's not even close to your grade level age range.

He was crushed. He didn't pick up a book. other than it was mandated at school for almost four years. Wow. And then in high school. Terrible. What was the book? What was the book? It was one of our summer reading books. I think it was a Jane Austen book. So we did the classics over the summer, and she said, no way could you be reading. a Jane Austen book and whatever he was, I think it was fifth or sixth grade. And of course we did it together. It was not exactly probably his age range, but a brilliant English teacher. and humanities teacher in high school have now gotten him right back in.

love with a whole series of very reading, postmodern books. He's like all sorts of exciting books that he has to read. And so now he's giving me my reading list as opposed to that's nice. That's a very nice mother son thing. Yeah, yeah, that was actually my Christmas gift. He chose a book a month that the whole family would read. We started with Kurt Vonnegut, so he picked a book. It would be, you know, short enough. that everybody could have time to read it and then to discuss his family.

Well, thank you. So as a family, because also family unit is important as one leans into the future. So you as a family read a book a month. We do. Wow. That's impressive. I wish I'd thought of doing that with my. My kids are out of the house now, but what a great idea. And also having something which focuses your attention span, because I wonder if our attention spans are going to be the thing that. Trips us up.

as we go forward, because it's so easy to get distracted. Now it is. And I tell you, even in my reading, when I start a fiction book, it's hard to put it down. So I just helped myself recently out of the suggestion from. my son and I went to short Stories. Awesome. So he suggested amortize has some great short stories. I always liked short stories, but you can finish a short story in a night. Yeah, and then you get a sense of achievement, right? Exactly like I can. I have a sense of completion.

The story is finished. I can go off to sleep better. But I think it's really important because it also brings in a sense of debate, because when you're discussing a book, your attention span is completely in. a different place. Then as a family, you can debate the book or your views on it, which is great. Another great practice is debate. My daughter is in debate. I saw that and I get to judge high school debate on occasion. What hope and inspiration it brings. for this next generation to the next. 250.

You know, I remember high school being very competitive. And I think as Americans we are very competitive. But after the first debate that I attended with my daughter, I got it. back in the car and I expected her to be talking about the point she scored, who on her team, you know, what were the wins? What were the losses? But Joanna, it wasn't at all. Her conversation centered around how the arguments improved when her team. brought in some of the opposing team's arguments into their logic.

Oh, interesting, if you think about that and put that in a lens of the next 250. for America innovation, listening to consumers at the core of innovation, how we reinvent ourselves, if society could just do that, bring opponents ideas into our own logic of argumentation. Wow. There's so much talked about how much pressure there is on a CEO. these days is just so much coming at you. And yet I think you have a practice.

where it's phones down when you have dinner with your family, and that your husband often suggests a topic for you all to debate. And I love this idea. I love this idea. Is that something that you recommend for people, regardless of what parents do, but just that sense of connection? And again, staying focused on one subject I do. It's been a game changer for our family, and I'm very blessed. because my husband's a journalist by background and trade profession.

So curiosity about the Yang and it was really his idea. this start educating the kids by having. topics that are important to society brought to the dinner table. And it's a great way to just put the phone down, have conversations. So you'd ask everybody to read an article. So this is part of his media literacy training, right? Read an article. Read it from several different points of view left, right, center. And then let's just discuss and debate.

So that's usually where I think good conversations starts with listening starts. with being able to hear others points of view, sharpening your own arguments. by bringing in something that someone else has. That's maybe not where you started with the subject. I think it's really been a great practice for our family. Highly recommend. You've worked in Asia. You've worked in Europe. What are the things you most appreciate. about the American worker or what are the differences? Yeah. So one of the things that I appreciate about the American worker the most, and.

this may sound like an odd thing to say, but Americans can be rule. followers and they can be rule breakers at the right moment. So my husband's German. So this is like rule following culture. Like if it's not written in the manual, this is not happening. Right? Asia also you get some. It's like think the way of education is to think a certain way. And there's. all pros and cons of, of those cultures and the workers in those cultures. But in America, it's ingenuity.

I need to solve a problem, but I can't solve this problem the same way I solve the last problem. thinking outside the box to think, how can I make it happen? How can I make it more efficient? So I think Americans are just great at creating things, and it doesn't have to. be a tangible thing. It can be, you know, small innovations that add up and make a really big difference. I deeply believe that ideas can come from every single one of us, every part of our communities or individuals across the workforce,

and we have tangible evidence that that happens. And that's the great thing about American workers. Yeah, it's so interesting. I've always said to any newsroom that I've been in, there's no hierarchy for a good idea. A good idea comes from where it comes from, and it's either good or. it's bad, or it can be iterated on, but it's not. You don't have to have a certain. set of backgrounds to come up with a good idea. I totally, totally believe that. And I see it every day in my company.

Ideas come from everywhere, from a territory sales manager, someone working on a factory floor, somebody in the finance department. Ideas come from everywhere, and that's what makes America great. Thank you to Stacey for joining me. Next Friday. I'll be talking about the future of the internet with Dick Costello. He's the co-founder and managing partner at O1. advisors and the former CEO of Twitter.

And the following week, I'll be talking about the future of sports and technology. with Vivek Randy, co-owner and chairman of the Sacramento Kings. If you want the chance to have your prediction, read. and responded to Live on Air, leave us a comment with the hashtag. America 250 on this YouTube video or. head to beast dot. America 250. Reminder that by posting with Hashtag America 250, you agree that. The Daily Beast may include your comment in PMI, US sponsored segments.

on the Daily Beast podcast and to other potential PMI US uses. If you have been. Thank you for joining us. Don't forget to leave us your comment about the podcast or about your dreams. for the next 250 years of America and Hashtag America. 250 big thanks to our production team John Romero, Ryan Murray, Rachel Passer, the Pissarro, Max the Intern and Neil Rosen the house.

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