Why Trump's Slimy Humiliation Is Driving Him Mad | Inside Trump's Head

The discussion that I'm having with with people is that 60, 70, 80% of his time is devoted to the reflecting pool. This is against the background of a peace deal, which is very precarious. Polling numbers which are continue to drop looking at the midterms calamity. But he is focused on the reflecting pool. This clearly has become in his mind.

and hence in the white House, an obsession. and the fact that this too is not within. his control is making him crazier and crazier. by the moment. Michael. Joanna. Still in can I? I'm still in Cannes. And guess what? This is actually a wine glass full of water. But I have, in defiance of your instructions, been drinking rosé.

I would count on nothing less. The great middlebrow experience. Rosé middlebrow experience. But the news from the cross set. The news from the Cossette is. You know, we live in complicated times. No one knows what to do. It couldn't be a better example of the first line of William Goldman's memoir. Nobody Knows anything. It feels like that moment right now.

Just for some background here, the Jelena is in Cannes at the Cans. Lions Festival, which is about the advertising business. So which is fundamentally about the media business, the business we obviously work in, but. and always a harbinger of what's going to happen. or of what of of people who have no idea what is happening.

Right. So I would and it's a celebration of the creative side too. So there's a lot of hustling going on, but then there's a kind of layer. But since there hasn't been a creative thought in the advertising business. for two generations, it's it's an equivocal experience, to say the least. Well, what I would say right now is everybody's chasing YouTube. It's all about YouTube. What's YouTube doing? How can we do what YouTube is doing? Do you think we're as good as YouTube? So there's a lot of that going on. But also. everybody is still very much talking about,

is this war over what is Donald Trump happening? Everybody who I've spoken to, who's European here is. what is America doing with Trump? How did this happen? Is it as bad as it seems? So I'm very curious to know what's happening. We have so much to discuss today, Michael. It's ten years since Brexit. So I want to talk about how did Trump know that. Keir Starmer was leaving before Keir Starmer did.

I want to talk about I have I have a good story about Trump and Brexit. So let's let's remind me, okay, I will remind you, I want to talk about Ukraine because we know that there's been. an increase in attacks on Moscow from the Ukraine with drones, I mean, biggest drone attacks for some time. But really, I want to know what's happening with the reflecting pool. I mean, when I left, it was American flag blue.

It was all going to be absolutely marvelous. And now it appears to be a fetid pool of algae. and anybody or algae, as you say, LJ, whatever. Yeah. If you pronounce it algae and whoever goes near it, whoever tries to pick up a piece of the floating paint that separated itself. from the bottom of the 2000 long foot pool gets arrested, you know. Well, I've been talking to people.

close to Trump about this. And then there is kind of a level of clear concern. because Trump is devoting almost all of his time. to the reflecting pool, all of his anger, all of his rage, all of his demands, all. And now and now his need for vengeance. Someone must be responsible. Someone is responsible for this. It's clearly not Trump. Let's get them and let's let's punish them.

Let's arrest them. This is a it's an insult to the country. and a and a challenge to him personally. And and I'm really not exaggerating this. The discussion that I'm having with, with people is that, you know, 60, 70, 80% of his time. And and remember, he doesn't work that much.

There's not that much time he's working anyway. Right. Is devoted to the reflecting pool. that somehow this has gotten into his head. as the thing that stands for everybody else. And let's remember, this is against the background of a peace. deal, which is very precarious. His polling numbers, which. are continue to drop looking at the midterms calamity. But he is focused on the reflecting pool.

Now, we can obviously make a make a little nod. here to Narcissus and his reflecting pool. But it is this is this is. you know, I, I think it has. they're there they in these conversations that I have, you can tell. that they kind of stop in a way. to suggest they don't quite know what to make of this. I mean, that it is even for them, even for people who work.

with Donald Trump on every day. A weird moment. And it's a weird moment because he's so thoroughly obsessed. Is this because he thinks of himself as a sort of hotelier. slash builder, and this is actually something he should be able to do? I think that that probably is involved with this. And but, you know, and and I think. I, you know,

I've said, I've said before that I'm against I'm against diagnosing people. But you know, Jesus, for anybody who has seen this before. and I have seen this before and so many people have, this is one of those, those dementia things. You close out the rest of the world and you just. and you focus on these problems which are, which are really minor, and you turn them into obsessions.

I mean, in this clearly has become in his mind. and hence in the white House, an obsession. What is the largest problem in the world today? It is apparently the reflecting pool. And why can't he just delegate the reflecting pool. to Doug Burgum, the Secretary of the interior? There is the question, and the fact that he has not is.

an indication of, of. of of something extraordinary and yes, possibly, possibly dementia, possibly. just a just a sense on his part. that everything else is beyond has become beyond his control. And this is or at least ought to be within his control. And the fact that this too, is not within his control.

is making him crazier and crazier by the moment. That's interesting, because I know we have discussed at length. your refusal to believe that he has signs of dementia. Well, no, I mean, I think he obviously has signs of dementia. I'm just not comfortable with with moving that to a diagnosis. I mean, you have that guy on Doctor John Gartner. He says that because Trump's been in plain sight for so many years,

you can actually diagnose the decline of his language, which is key to understanding someone's mental state. That's what all television doctors say. Okay. Well, this is the first time. I've heard you say that this is a potential symptom of dementia. There is. I mean, there is. What are these we can say here something is unusual. Something is not as it should be. Something is weird. The president of the United States of America.

in, in, in all kinds of crises, which again, larger and larger has chosen for the past week and a half at least, to focus. almost exclusively on the reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial. That's odd, is it? Because this is a July the 4th deadline, 250 years since the beginning of America, and it now looks like it's going to be more theoretically.

But I think and that's that's how this began. I mean, he had this idea, I'm going to I'm going to make the reflecting pool. I'm going to paint it a bright blue for, for the 4th of July, good enough. And then and then painting this bright blue seemed to somehow, somehow. create, create the algae problem, I don't know.

And that then became, in his mind, this, this, this obsession. And again, I think it is, you know, this ought to be everything's out of control. This ought to be within my control. But even this is not in my control. But one of the reasons it's not in. his control is because of the sloppy contract process. If he'd actually bothered to go through a proper bidding process, and they'd actually had a group of people who've done. this kind of monument before, I think that's the that's the issue at all.

I think that the issue at all is the president of the United States. should not be engaged in the the minutia. of the reflecting pool, of course, of the exclusion of everything else. Don't worry. I mean, this is somebody else's job. And the fact that he has made it his job is an indication. of of something not good. And it may be, but Michael, he does that with everything.

Yes, he does do this with everything. But this goes to an extreme which actually goes. to the goes to the dementia consideration. That's what happens in dementia. The kinds of things, the kinds of things that you might otherwise. do become, become, crowd out everything else. So I mean, that's what that's what surfaces in a dementia symptoms. Yes. That was a trait you might have. Now it is the only trait you have. And this this is.

I mean, again, the people around him, the people that I am talking to say, whoa, this is a this is a little. this moment is a little unusual, even for Donald Trump, even for Donald Trump, because you would think that he might want to focus more on the war. But we know he doesn't want to do that because of the memo of understanding, which really doesn't have. any understanding in it, possibly the memo of misunderstandings.

and of a worse situation than we were in before we went to war. Yeah. Let's step back. It his he he can't usually the Trump response. in situations in which in which he's not looking good. or he can't control or things are not going going his way. He changes the stories, creates another, another narrative.

This is what he's been so good at even or he creates another crisis. But this is different at this. At this point, he's not out in front of this. He's retreating from it and he's retreating into this small thing. So effectively, he is so in his own head. that he has lost sight of the bigger picture. You know, the algae becomes the most pressing and existential problem facing.

Well, then, of course, Mary Trump, the president's niece, with whom he's just finally settled their. long, long legal dispute, says that. she sees in him exactly the same look she saw in her grandfather. at the age of 80, when he started displaying dementia symptoms. So who knows whether or not that's what's going on here. But clearly an over focus on something which, amid everything else he has to deal with, is not as important.

I think the thing, the thing to note here is that so much. else has gotten out of his, out of his control. He's not in a good place politically. He's not in a good place. And this is in contrast. Remember, we've had we've had 16 months of this, of this, this term, when for most of that time, or at least a year of that time, he was the dominant guy. You know,

I mean, I mean, I saw some Felicity for the. You know, the. this new book about about the Trump presidency, the Maggie Haberman book, you know, talking about him. as the most powerful president. of the modern age. And I think it's it's already that that. that thesis seems already out of date. He is clearly a president. who is arguably, like all other presidents.

at at some point is. doesn't know what to do, is is kind of standing there. in some amount of nakedness and, and so and I think we should mark. this as a, as a certain turn in this presidency. He's kind of lost. You know, one of the things in thinking about the reflecting pool. has what's what I have reflected on. is that there was a moment in Trump's New York history,

a pivotal moment when there was an ice skating rink, Wollman Rink in New York, and Wollman Rink was the the the city of New York had been. had made many promises about about the upkeep of the rink and. and they didn't deliver on and Donald Trump still quite a young man. at this at this point stepped forward and said he would do it. He would pay for, for.

for the renovation of the rink. And, and he would do it within, within a very short period of time. And he actually managed to do this. And this was the moment that kind of gave him the, the, the can do. I can cut through the red tape, I can accomplish anything. I'm a I'm a I'm a guy with his feet on the ground and. and God damn it, get government out of the way and let me do it.

And then he put up signs calling it the Trump Wollman Rink, although its name had never been changed to the Trump Woman rink. But I think that this that this may be again. Again, it's a kind of a dementia thing. that he's returned to this moment in his life, a moment, a moment. of great success, a moment in which.

in which part of the Trump mythology was born. The only problem is, of course, it's not quite working out as it did once long ago. So you have a Substack later today, dropping today. We're recording this on Tuesday. about the nature of politicians and whether or not politicians, the demands on them have changed and they have to pivot to meet that. But one of the things I found curious was that Donald Trump, for all his potential dementia symptoms, managed.

to truth social out on Sunday night that the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, was resigning before anybody else knew. Keir Starmer hadn't even resigned at this point. He would come out later in the morning on Monday and make a. a rather moving speech saying that he was leaving. And then as he got to the end of it, as so many politicians do, standing outside that familiar black door at number ten Downing Street,

their voices begin to quaver at the end of of the speech, and his did. as he thanked his kids and he thanked his his wife for their support. A how did he know? How did Trump know that that was happening and be. And then I want to talk a little bit about the changing nature of politicians. and whether or not anybody can now do this job, these jobs, these big jobs. Well, I mean, it didn't take a genius to know.

that this was going to happen, but this was well, actually, a ton of people said it wasn't going to happen. I mean, your friend Alastair Campbell on The Rest Is Politics UK. said it wouldn't happen for several weeks. I think a lot of people. were taken aback by it and I would say that that Alastair who. who I saw a couple of months ago in in. the UK, said it would never happen then. So he's. but but no, I mean, I think by Sunday night it was pretty, it was pretty clear that this was, that this would would happen in the short term.

But Trump's information, precise information on this comes. came from Nigel Farage, who was, you know, who's a. You know, I mean I don't. I don't Nigel I don't I yeah I don't. This is Trump said this. on the basis of what Farage told him. Whether it was true or not is irrelevant to Donald Trump.

So he just happened. This is just a, you know, a broken clock is right twice a day. But but don't you think it's possible that you don't think it's possible. that the Brits had told the Americans and told an American intelligence had said. to Trump, Keir Starmer is going to resign tomorrow, do not say anything. And he couldn't stop himself and he blurted it out on Truth Social. That to me had more of a ring of truth than than Nigel Farage telling you. Well, I know the Nigel Farage thing has, has happened,

that Nigel Farage has been in almost constant touch with, with Trump. in the last couple of weeks of, of the, of the Brits having a having a meltdown. I mean, first thing because Trump enjoys the gossip, he enjoys the fact that that that Keir Starmer, who he has not been fond of recently because of the war, was in jeopardy. So in Nigel's and Nigel is always looking for ways to.

to get close to Trump, supplying. Trump with this kind of gossip about his enemies works for them both. So, okay. And we should just remind people that Nigel Farage. is the head of the Reform Party, which is the far right party in the UK. But before we do, Trumper, whose career has been has been supported. by Trump since for the past ten years, really, and whose appeal to the popular voter is that he's frequently,

if not always, photographed with a pint of beer in his hand. And when accused of being an alcoholic, he simply says, I am a boozer, which is different to being an alcoholic, and it's just such a wonderful word, boozer. And again, it's that thing of he's the guy that people think. they want to hang out with down at the pub, but. and I have spent in our or. more in a room with Nigel Farage and Steve Bannon. in which Nigel Farage was so drunk he couldn't sit on the seat.

Wow, that is quite drunk. That is almost as drunk as you once describing you saw. who is the Washington who's the DC attorney general, Jeanine Pirro. Oh yeah. Judge Jeanine totally. Man. That was yes, that was even more of concern. because I thought, oh my God, I'm going to have to deal with this. Okay, well, happily you didn't.

All right. I want to read I want to read the beginning of your Substack. Here we go. A problem with politics. is obviously that it allowed Donald Trump to become president. But it's hard not to conclude, too, that the problem with politics is politicians. Any politician. Okay, can you explain what you mean? You know, I think that the demands of the of the job, the demands of leadership. have so expanded that it might not be that there is anybody.

who has all of the talents required to achieve office, stay in office, be successful in office. So, so Keir Starmer is, is out. as, as the last four prime ministers. before him were quickly out. He will be likely replaced by Andy Burnham, who had been the mayor of Manchester.

Now is a, you know, Labor Party, a Labor Party celebrity hero. and will probably replace Keir Starmer and become the prime minister. But and this was you know, I began to think about this. There was a Substack piece by a writer by the name of. of Ian Leslie, a terrific a terrific writer who wrote, wrote the book, last year's book about John Lennon.

and Paul McCartney and their relationship, a fantastic book, and kind of one of those, I mean, moving to the extent that that that relationship, you know, you suddenly start to think, well, the 20th century was not all bad, but he's also a good political writer. And he wrote about Andy Burnham. He said that there was no logical reason to believe that Andy Burnham,

if and when he becomes the Prime Minister of the UK, will be. any more successful than than Keir Starmer. or the four prime ministers before that. The issue is not any one of these people at this. this point, but the issue is that that the job, the demands of the job are so myriad and complex. and almost in some sense contradictory. that it goes awry for anybody.

And then I began to think, well, that's probably also true about Donald Trump, you know, and we see him we see right now, or at least many people are seeing. as as this as things go south for Donald Trump, they're going south for him because because he's a monster, because he's preposterous, because he's unfit in, in, in any way. And I think that that is probably true. That is certainly true.

But it is also equally as true. that this would probably go awry for anyone. I mean, it went awry for Joe Biden, the exact opposite person. of, of of Donald Trump. And it went awry for Donald Trump the last time he was president. So even in, in in this country, we have had. you know, this is this is probably the third presidency in a row. that's going down the tubes and is this is this what is this?

Is this a social media phenomenon? Why now? Because surely this is something that's been true of of the presidency. Certainly because it is such a big job, because probably it becomes. harder and harder that the expectations. for leadership grow ever bigger. The resources to be a leader, ever slimmer. in a, in a in a period of low economic growth,

you just the expectations. You just don't have the skill set to manage these kind of expectations. In order to get to be president, you have to be a kind of media star. But to succeed as the as a president, you have to be a, you know, a keen. backroom bureaucratic player. And and and not not even these things.

There are a whole, a whole set of other demands. You got to be a you got to be a sympathetic figure. You've got to be a killer. At the same time, you have to you have to be a brand manager, you know, which you know of kind of Maga or Maha. or Mamdani right now is the. is the is doing an extraordinary job. of being the brand manager for democratic socialism.

But these are all skill sets. that, that that all of these skill sets. have to be present at the same time and in the same person. But but isn't this the point of delegation? Isn't this the point of having a cabinet? Wasn't that the genius of Barack Obama hiring. Hillary Clinton to be a secretary of State? That actually, you don't need to be all these things and any leader, any good leader, knows they can't possibly fulfill everything.

Well, that's just that's actually another job that you have to have. You have to have the ability to hire good people. So you have to be an exceptional manager. And most people actually are not. So I mean, Donald Trump has hired exceptional boobs, but most what most people, most presidents. hire relative mediocrity fare. Well. I was talking to I was talking this week to a big Democratic donor who said that.

he thought, you know, I was pestering him for who do you think is is going to run? Who who should the next leader of the Democratic Party be? And he said he thought it couldn't. be a professional politician that good, though, you know, J.B. Pritzker or Gavin Newsom or Gretchen Whitmer or Josh Shapiro. might be actually at this point, that's not going to work.

And what the Democratic Party should do is look for someone outside of politics. who's been extremely successful in another line of business. And he proffered two people. One was Peyton Manning, and the other was Doug McMillan, who was the CEO of Walmart. Not a well-known figure, but someone who has got extreme. managerial experience as Walmart's the biggest or certainly. was the biggest employer of of people anywhere in the country,

which prompted someone else to say, yeah, Doug McMillan's social media. game is really, really rivaling Mamdani right now. And I couldn't tell if this was a preposterous idea. or actually a rather good idea. This is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. And in my in the in my experience, Democratic donors are some of the. have some of the dumbest ideas I have ever heard. And it's an interesting thing. You know, Republican big Republican donors are are.

almost always focused on their self-interest. And, and it's really about. who can get elected, who's going to give them what they want. Democratic donors. I always find it's all about their cocktail party game. What does that mean, that cocktail party game? Do you mean like, they can say I'm hanging out with. So yes, I'm hanging out. And they like to sound like they know that. They know what they're talking about. And it's all you know, and they are the authorities.

because they know so and so because they've given such and such, they know so and so, and therefore they have the, the authority to spout off and to say ridiculous things. And that is really not that true among, among among Republicans. It's always it's much more surgical, much more strategic because it's for them. It's it's about how can we make more money. So I mean, that may be more corrupt, but it is often.

more effective than the Democrats, blah, blah, blah. I can tell you, Doug McMillan and Peyton Manning. not only will never, ever, ever become the president of the United States. or hold any elective office, but no one will ever regard them as serious. possibilities to do so other than this single person you spoke to. Okay. And then in which case, how does someone like Graham Plattner, who I actually quite like, despite the fact.

that he's got all sorts of controversy around him, but I think he's a sort of breath of fresh air. How does someone like that get chosen then? I mean, if Peyton Manning, you don't think can make it. Admittedly, Graham Platanus running for Senate, he's not running for president. But if Peyton Manning can't get a he hasn't made it yet. We should. We should actually take a bet on whether or not Graham Plattner. brings Susan Collins to the end of her political career.

Okay. What do you think? You think he's not going to make it? I think he's not going to make it. I think he might make it. But by a very slim, slim majority, I think then we're both saying the same thing. No, we're not saying the same thing because that seat is important. enough to swing it one way or the other, potentially for the no. But but you can't say he might make it. I'm saying no, I don't think he'll make it. I'll think he'll I think he makes it, but with a very slim majority.

But I think he makes it less. Well, obviously it will be a slim majority, but. But you think he will be elected? I think he could be elected over. Quite. You can't say. Could be. He could be. Yeah he could. I think he would. I think he would. I think he will get elected over Susan Collins okay. And I think he won't. Okay. Well that's I'm going to drop this down as our. Yeah. Okay. Come November we'll remember this. But I also think that this is an this is a pretty good example.

Graeme Plattner possesses some of those things which Susan Collins. which. the the former governor whose name I cannot even now. remember who ran against him in the John Mills did not which. which is an extraordinary media game. And you know that that kind. that kind of candidate that that that bursts through the clutter precisely.

because he is all of those things that he's now getting, getting. Well, how much better? Yes, that are now causing him a great deal of problems. So so again, you know, you have those things. This is what you have to do to be nominated. And this as we're talking about in a in a primary. But those are the things that might not get you elected.

So all right I'm going to whip through the list of things that you think. are now essential for every politician to have, because you actually list them in this substate. So one high quality media performance and a sharp social media game. So perfect example someone like Mamdani two personable, relatable presents. I would say that's Graham Plattner. Authenticity means you've made mistakes, but you cop to them. And I get that. His mistakes are kind of pretty mistake. Why they are as Dennis Potter, the British playwright,

would say, the mistakes of mistakes, but nonetheless he's owned up to them. Three superior executive function very hard to find. Clearly, Donald Trump doesn't have it. Clearly, Keir Starmer actually voted in as a technocrat. and someone who had completely cleared out his party of the unelectable, so finally got labor elected after, I think, 14 years of conservative rule, but to be bounced by his own. very ungrateful party two years later,

but superior executive function almost impossible to to find. I would say at this point, managerial excellence and the ability to hire and shepherd a talented team. not dissimilar to. the previous point old fashioned political instinct. and ability to count heads and achieve something greater than 50%. Nancy Pelosi is great talent, brand guru, flair for whatever particular new politics you're selling.

So Trumpism, Maher ism, democratic. socialism seven bureaucratic savviness. Isn't that the same as superior executive function? No no no no. I think bureaucracies in dealing with government bureaucracies. are is a special learned talent. I mean, and I think you could say that was Biden's singular talent. Oh, interesting. Okay, fair. I'll let you have that. All right. Eight A personal countenance that in genders great loyalty.

Joe Biden definitely had that too much of it. Probably. Right. Right. Because people should have said, Joe, we love you. It's time to go. And at the same time, number nine, final point, a killer instinct, which is what Obama had, the ability to see the right timing, to go up against the Clintons and to see this as his his chance. And that may be what Platini has going up first. against Janet Mills and secondly against Susan Collins.

Yeah, but a killer instinct, that's not really I mean, I mean, Plattner. in that instance is taking a, you know, I mean, he's a risk taker in that, I suppose you could say. But a killer instinct is the ability to say, to say. to your friends and people who have helped elect you and people. who have, who have close to you and say you're fired. I mean, that actually is a Trump thing. Trump.

Trump created that sense. because he had a television show that he could do that, but has never shown. any indication that he could, that that's that that is actually what what he does. Well and still remarkable that the only people that have been fired. from the cabinet, despite the presence of Pete. Hegseth, is a woman. He's able to fire women, but he can't farm in, you know. Well, he's he's fired. I don't even think that's the problem. I mean, the, the, his his problem is that he's always doing things.

for what he needs instead of for what he needs to accomplish. So that brings us to someone. we haven't talked about for a bit, who turns out to be a remarkable leader. And that's flooded me as Zelenskyy. I mean, last two weeks hammering drones on Moscow. for years after the war began for an almost a half. I mean, this thing has gone on longer than the First World War.

Well, let's compare these these. these two wars that have now occurred, at least in the last number of months simultaneously. The were the war in Ukraine, in the war in Iran, and the war in Ukraine, which is experiencing in yet. another extraordinary turnaround. And this would be probably, I guess, I guess.

the second extraordinary turnaround in this in this war. The first turnaround is the expectation that that. that Russia would, would sweep in and overwhelm the Ukrainians. They stood up and for. For an. extended period, the first real year and a half of the war. fought the. not not only fought the Russians to a standstill, but but.

but clearly were fought the Russians to. to an incredible Ukrainian advantage. And then the war kind of plateaued and it was at a standstill. And now recently, within the past. six months, seven months, the Ukrainians have come back, have mastered drone technology, really. at a at a level that no one has.

had had foreseen them capable of. And no one had foreseen that drones itself, that technology would be capable. of and and. is now has I mean, Russia is in a, in an extraordinary disadvantage. versus the Iranian war in which. the United States, the most powerful military. might in the world in the history of the world has been,

dare I say, defeated? Well, it's surrendered. The president surrendered, essentially with worse terms than we had before we went to war. I mean, how can we see that, sadly, as anything. other than as a defeat for the US? Yes. So but to go back to I mean, I mean, there's the Lynskey thing. and, and the Zelensky thing, I think there's another I mean, I mean clear element here. This Zelensky and the Ukrainians had the support.

of the US and Europe through the Biden administration. Trump. Trump was returned to office, and one of one of his pledges. is that he would solve the problem in the first, in his first night in office. When he put it like that, it sounds even more ridiculous than it did. when he said it always sounded ridiculous. But yes. And and he has backed off from this. He has, you know, he has.

I mean, remember that that Oval Office meeting where he dressed down. a dressed down Zelensky and, and we have pulled back our support incrementally ever since. I mean, although we have never entirely pulled it back. So Trump was always, always a kind of a weird thing in in the middle here. I mean, he never abandoned Ukraine, but he never supported it either.

So in the forcing Ukraine to basically stand on its own. for a basically to to to focus on its own. weapons game and which has allowed it to, to not not only survive, but relatively speaking prosper and. and and put the. Russians in an extremely difficult situation.

Yeah. It's interesting. because the British defense minister just resigned with his number two. This was last week before Keir Starmer resigned, saying that Russia would likely invade. the UK and Europe in the next few years. and that they didn't have the resources to withstand that invasion. And yet that seems highly unlikely, given the stalemate. that's gone on with Ukraine and the fact that they can't get that finished. Yeah.

No, you know, there's a mean let's let's clock this, you know, upwards of a million Russian casualties. at this, at this, this point I mean it. Well, and they're empty jails and sending prisoners to the front. You know, how Vladimir Putin remains in power. isn't is a is another mystery. And I mean, I'm I'm, you know, just just through the the the means of despotism.

I, I would say. but but even that probably. cannot go on forever and ever and. and especially as if the Ukrainians are able. to turn their present advantage into yet a further advantage, attacking Russia itself on a constant and continual basis. I'm which which brings up all kinds of other scary.

and existential questions. it does. Well, that brings me on to a book that I would like to recommend, actually, not least because it's about dictators, but every single one of them has now left office. And of course, when they were in office, it felt like they were in insurmountable that they would never leave office. But of course, regimes do change. And this is an old book. It's been out for some time.

It was actually suggested by one of our viewers, and it's called. How to Feed a Dictator, at least not suggested by a big Democratic donor, not suggested by a big Democratic donor, suggested. by a fan, a Daily Beast fan. It's by Witold. And actually, what's. interesting about it is it's that domestic insight. into what people like in their downtime and the things they found soothing.

and how they behaved to people who turned out to be very important to them. because they were feeding them and they didn't. want to be poisoned by these people, and they also wanted to be fed well. And it has all sorts of interesting details in it, like. Saddam Hussein, for example. Having a group of friends for dinner, saying that he had cooked the meal and then packing the meat that he'd cooked. for everybody with very, very, very hot sauce so that when they ate it,

they immediately started weeping and breaking out in hives. And they all had to pretend that they liked it. because he was that kind of a guy. So he was having a joke with himself. Then, of course, he feeds it to his chef, and his chef has to say, this is completely inedible. It's impossible. What an earth have you done with this? And Saddam realizes that his chef is one of the few honest people around him, so it's actually filled with fascinating little details.

Pol pot, it turns out, used to just love smiling over a bowl of soup, presumably smiling over the extreme damage he was doing to to his country. But I really recommend it for those who want a different kind of a history. It's a really it gives wonderful domestic insight into people's habits. And of course, it feels very relevant to Donald Trump's own eating habits, which you have chronicled, where he's lying in bed with his slimy. burger dripping off the edge of his plate, and then he's tossing the wrappings.

on the floor or or reaching for a carton of ice cream, which he eats in one. It's the wrappings of the candy. Candy bars. Well, I'm sure he throws the wrappings of the burgers on the floor, too, right? I can't believe that he puts those in the bin and doesn't. worry about the candy wrappers that comes on a plate. In other words, they they they get the burgers, the the, in the white House, the. You know, this is all through. It doesn't he doesn't get takeout at his door.

The the white House. waiters bring up the, the the hamburger. But it's in the hotel rooms that that aides always remark on. that the floor is littered with candy bar wrappers. Well, either way, it's just it's just. But I wonder I think I mentioned this to you before, having spent a lot of time in the fashion world where people would. frequently be flying back and forth to Europe and taking Ambien.

Ambien would sometimes trigger them raiding the minibar. And there were many stories of models and fashion editors. who would wake up in the morning. smeared with chocolate wrappers because they had, in their sleep, eaten. everything they could get their hands on. Yes, to make that more vivid, the idea of. of waking up in the morning and smeared with brown stuff is the.

the point, I know, smeared with Mars bars and Snickers. I think it's also reflection on people who've got disordered eating. And when you take a night time sleeping aid, it sometimes triggers. strange behaviors. Anyway, it was every fashion editors fear that they would wake up and discover. that they had added an unnecessary 12,000 calories by eating their way. through the minibar, and they couldn't remember anything about it.

I would be more disturbed to wake up smeared with brown, but. okay, so Michael, we will be talking again on Thursday. All being well, by which point I should be in Paris, which is experiencing the hottest days ever, ever in the history. Europe is going through an incredible heatwave. I will say, even in camp, which is set up for very hot weather, it is unbelievably. stifling here well into the 90s and you can't really get a break from it.

There's no there's no breeze. It's incredibly still and slightly humid, and everybody's going around with a sheen. of sweat upon them, which would make you repulsed. You would be like, oh no, stay away. I'm not going to embrace you. But I know in the Hamptons you have a delicious breeze off the. of the Atlantic. Delicious. And today we're waiting. We're waiting for a storm. At this very moment. The sky is.

The sky is darkening by the minute. Oh, a lightning storm. Yeah, well, some kind of storm. Yeah. Okay, well, I hope you don't get washed away or blown away back to Kansas, Michael. Yeah, that would be or washed. I think it would be to be washed out to sea. Yeah. Not a great way to to go. All right, if you have been. Thank you for joining us. Don't forget to subscribe to The Daily Beast. We rely on your support. And the only reason we can bring you conversations as independent as this one.

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