Foreign Policy and Midterm Predictions

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Essentially, they are moving to sanction my lawyers for doing nothing more than bringing the lawsuit against Melania Trump This is preposterous on its face And it is just one of those things that comes with all of Trump style just style Trump's own litigation. is you do everything no matter howy, sordid and not respectable and and bound to be thrown out of court. You do this stuff to cost your opponents more money and to cause delay Michael. Ran. How are you dealing with the heat I am in the Hamptons and the weather is Perfect, actually Breeze, an incredible breeze. Ulying temperature yet to break eighty today Um Small point, but you don't look very tanned Well, tanning is not good for you, Joanna. I know. but normally in the summer people get a different shat. You're by the beach That's called unhealthy. Do you ever actually go to the beach? I don't think you do. Oh if I go to the beach, not only do I go to the beach, I go to the beach every day, Joanna. Really? I'm sure you don't. Of course I don't go to the beach. I'm in the city working. And I swim in the ocean in the Not not that cold, but it is U it doesn't really get a peak moment until uh until the third week of July. Oh my God, which is coming even know the sea temperatures at this point. This is I mean, when I met you, I remember we had an argument with the author, the thriller author, Philip Kerr over what was the most beautiful place in the world to live And you insisted it was the upper East side And Philip was like, No, it's Venice, and you were like, it's the upper West side. It's whatever the postcode there is. You know, the thing about these having these conversations in which you were a participant in is that you remember them it's not that just you remember them wrong. you get them wrong. None of that is what happened. It's totally what happened And in fact, it was the other thing because I was the one arguing that Venice was the most perfect place. and Philip who this is Philip Kerr is a writer who we both knew very well. and and who died several years ago. So we can say and we can credit anything to Philip because he's no longer here. But Um He was the one who was He was I'm trying to think actually, where was Philips's ideal place it was in the south of France. So this is so every detail about that conversation, you have. Okay, I just want to say that you were the most urban Manhattan man and you vociferously argued that the zip code one zero zero two one was the most beautiful place to live. And now I just find it incredible that you're swimming in the ocean every day Something's happened Something' happened. I'm not sure how to respond to because as I say, it is you have a version of my life which is entirely It is not entirely inaccurate, but it is in most of its particulars often inaccurate. Okay, but that's not inaccurate. Anyway, we are not at the state Fair, but then neither is anybody else so that's okay. And you've been talking to your lawyers, I hear yeah, I've been talking to my lawyers and curiously to the other side's lawyers, although that was inadvertent So at any rate To bring you up to date on Michael Wth Michael Wolf versus Melania Trump, as it is formally known. Wow. Michael Wolf versus Melania Trump. and we will come on to what Melania earned last year, and we should at least spend some time during today's podcast Breaking out the different earnings. two hundred eight thousand for Trump by extraordinary earnings Let's go back to your lawyer. So we're going I want to talk to you about the Grift. I want to talk to you about Scotus and the impacts of their decisions and the fact that Trump can basically fire anybody he wants now apart from Scotus, oddly. 's they're elevating their own power as well as elevating his power. Let's start then with your with Michael Wolf versus Melania Trump My lawyers were in court yesterday and we were in court to answer the other side, Melania Trump's lawyers have done something They have moved under something called section eleven to sanction my lawyers. Now essentially sentially, they are moving to sanction my lawyers for doing nothing more than bringing the lawsuit against Melania Trump This is preposterous on its face And it is just one of those things, another another kind of kind of u thing that comes with all of Trump stle Trump just style Trump's own litigation is you do everything no matter how st sorded and not respectable and bound to be thrown out of court do this stuff to cost your opponents more money and to cause delay. Hold on a minute. Can I just ask? What does sanctioning your lawyers mean? Is it like a In other words professional yeah, it's a procedure. you're asking the court to say to make an evaluation that you have done something Um, frivolous or capricious or there's a whole kind of kind of litany of these of these kind of descriptive words that you've done something that really should not have been done and you are really abusing the court And in that in and if the court finds you abusing the court, you know they can they can they can findine you, they can hold you in contempt, they can do a variety of things. U this Very, very, very rarely happens, of course, because because this is what you're you're in a you're in a proceedings in which everybody is doing something that the other side side does not want them to do. So the idea of this that you have abused the court because you you are suing someone is by its nature what the whole system is about Anyway, it is therefore just the thing that you do to cause the other side inconvenience and cost and delay, always delay. Always delay And in fact judge in this case said addressed everything to the other side and said and said basically, hey, you know, I can't stop you from continuing this action all likelihood, I'm going to rule against it And what you are doing is so Um so ridiculous effectively that The other side could sue you for ask for sanctions against you for doing this. So essentially it was a reprimand too Melania Trump's lawyers Inside Trump's head is brought to you by the Freedom From Religion Foundation. You know what's wild about American history? We literally fought a revolution against a king who claimed divine authority and then turned around and wrote a constitution with no mention of God None. no religious test, no state, religion, separation of church and state That was intentional because the founders understood something important. Freedom works best when government doesn't play favorites with religion But right now, we're seeing more and more attempts to blur that line in politics, in schools and in public life. And when that happens, it's not just symbolic, it affects laws, rights, and who gets treated like a full citizen. The Freedom From Religion Foundation is working to protect the First Amendment because it protects everybody's freedom of conscience Visit FFrF dot US slash Trump or text Trump to five eleven, five eleven to learn more and join As America approaches its two hundred fiftieth anniversary, this is about what kind of country we become next. Go to FF R F . US slash Trump. or text Trump to five eleven, five eleven. Remember to text to five eleven, five eleven, message and data rates may apply Okay, and who are her lawyers, Michael Well, I mean there're, okay, let's let's step back because this is this is the really interesting point. on january twenty sixth of this year, I got a from aent from the president's personal lawyer, a man by the name of Boris Epstein Um And the text said Hey Team. What's our timing on the section eleven filing Um So and I'm assuming that you weren't part of the team. I was not part of the team and now I know I am in Boris Epstein's address book because he's in, you know, a frequent off the record chatterer U And and to me, along with, I assume, many other people And as can happen He was thinking about me and writing a text about me It wasn't supposed to go to me, but in that way that things happen, it did go to me. So We were at that point alerted that they were doing, that they were going through a section eleven filing. Okaykay, you know, typical Trump stuff. But the more important thing and the larger thing is that it meant that this lawsuit, my Melania Trump lawsuit was being coordinated at the highest levels of Trump law Boris Aboris Epstein is I mean, is a fascinating figure elemental to understanding. Trump White House. And I think he was on the inaugural flight of Grift Force One yesterday. He was always trying to get on on these flights, always wanting to be seen. I mean, this is a big thing. It's a big real estate play here. Who can be on the Air Force one or on Trump force one during the campaign, which proves proximity to the president and which which which proves that that you are you have the approval of Donald Trump because he's invited you onto his plane. Well, and also get you get very specific time with him if you're on the plane with him, right? Be you're all sort of captive. So given that Donald Trump often believes the last person he's spoken to. I imagine that's quite a useful place to I think it's more symbolic because he doesn't have to pay. I mean, these these planes are extremely large as you know. and And it's never clear who's going to get time. So it's more of a perceptual thing. You are seen on the plane therefore, That's the goal really to be seen on the plane And and then it's an but it also serves as an internal thing. Um and Boris this interesting aspect of this is Boris Epstein is widely and deeply hated within the closest Trump circle. Oh how come? why is that? So he is he now at this point the sort of person the president's personal lawyer, Boris that? Y And he is more than the president's personal lawyer. is he is the He is the lawyer that essentially essentially stands between Trump and all other lawyers within the within the White House and executive branch circle So Um, and in clear about this and to be clear about the level that he's working at He is the person who introduced Todd Blanche who is now the acting attorney general and has been nominated to become the attorney general is he was introduced into the Trump circle by Boris Epstein, a matter of fact, Todd Blanche was Boris's lawyer before he became became Trump's lawyer So they those those two have a have an integral and profound our ship in essence U And so nothing happens within the Trump legal world, the in terms of in terms of what Trump is is thinking. in terms of how Trump's interests are being reflected cour in lawsuits in Um in any of the of the of the kinds of procedural m procedural, I'm trying to look for the words to indicate how important Boris is. And I would say He he runs he runs the legal show He runs the legal strategy. But more importantly, in understanding is Boris doesn't work in the White House Boris is outside of the White House directly for Donald Trump in a personal capacity. So this is kind of extraordinary that this person who doesn't work for the people which is to say us in the White House is running the entire Um, essentially the Jice Department in the United States of America. Wow. And where is he based? Is he based in DC? Is he based at Mar a Laga? Where is he actually sort of He's in DC But he's can't he can't be. I mean, I hope we can flash up a picture of him. He's he's quite young to be in this role too, right? He's in his mid forties. I think he's forty three. for he's forty three, a Russian Emma Greay. only practiced law for a couple of years. then became a a kind of, you know GOP political operative really came into his own when he Donald Trump. and um, in He became a Trump surrogate, one of the first Trump surrogates in twenty fifteen when few people were willing to do this, go on television and say Donald Trump was a was a great guy and a plausible candidate. U Even then disliked by the staff disliked by the staff because he was always trying to go around them to Trump. Yeah, I was going to say, how does Boris Epstein get on with or Epstein get on with Suusie Wiles? Hate She hates him. Has always been at odds with with with him. Matter of fact, my um My book about the campaign, All or notothing opens with a with a scene on a Zoom call of Boris comes on the Zoom Zoom call. He thinks his screen is is he thinks his camera is not on, but the camera is on and he comes on. He's a big hairy chested guy and he's he's he comes on without a shirt. and And Susie Wiles has a flip out over this. So he he's not who Trump was referring to when he said, I may not have the best lawyers, but I've got the hottest lawyers. ising to Boris actually I No. absolutely not. And Boris he has a there's a funny thing about because I mean, Boris is and he's also hated because because he's regarded as a sycophan, as a suck up, as willing to say anything Donald Trump wants to hear, therefore catering to Donald Trump's worst instincts. And this is even something that makes fun of him for. So during the during the campaign and in when one of Trump's set upp things Trump He always repeats these things constantly, gets a little joke, repeats it. But one of his jokes whenever Boris would call And Boris would call You know, speak to Trump at least ten times a day, sometimes twenty times in a day. twentyenty times in a day Yes. and And he would call and then also here this was another something that his name was always spelled wrong on Trump's phone But anyway, he would call would hold up the phone to whoever he was with and Um, and then he would say he would say, Ohh, it's my it's my Boris on the phone calling to tell me I've been indicted again and what good news that is So Trump had some self awareness of the fact that Boris was just a suck up. But that doesn't really matter to Trump. That is actually becomes finally a recommendation and Trump and and u Boris has progressively moved forward, more and more into that central position He is the presidident' guide Okay. so so what I'm hearing from this is that It actually, diversion Is Boris Epstein the new Roy Cohn Absolutely Ttally. Okay Okay so I mean that right and that's good that's I mean, that's a good understanding of this always look toward toward a lawyer who will do anything Um who will facilitate anything, who will who The thing about lawyers is that basasically they currency is their own respectability. So whatever client they have, they're always protecting themselves they they do. they' let's say, is what is ultimately being traded for other cl among other clients. so they can't They can't risk that too much. They can't compromise that or they seek not to compromise that Their respectability exists independently of their clients, the disreputable clients that they might have Trumps lawyers' function Re in exactly the opposite fashion. They are willing to do this. That's what that's the cost of working for Donald Trump You must work entirely for him. You do what he wants to do, even if that compromises your reputation. Right, orr even if you end up in jail like Michael Coh Yeah, no and it's it's a I mean, it is that that kind of that kind of thing that that's that's the The legal principle is that the system can be can be been to anyone's advantage if they are willing to u to to suffer that kind of pro of the community of the other community of lawyers. Yes. The system is malleable. R. And and obviously all lawyers know that, but this is in the Trump world that's pushed to an extreme. And in order to push it to an extreme, you have to have lawyers and there are not too many who are willing to push it to an extreme And that is that's the Roy Cohn position. and now it is certainly the Boris Epstein position. So from what you're saying Boris Epstein is now in charge of the Trump legal strategy in Michael Wolf versus Melania Trump. I think he's in charge of the legal strategy in any of the legal proceedings that Donald Trump has a particular interest in Um, So that runs that that that runs the gamut of of of really Trump interest. Boris is so you can say safely, Boris is everywhere Boris is everywhere and he was certainly on Griff Force One on its inaugural trip yesterday. They released photos and there was Margot Martin and there was Stephven Chung, who we're always hearing from. Yeah. And let me there's some interesting other background about Boris that I think sheds some light on Trump U firstirst thing, Boris was one of the first people after the twenty twenty election. Um When very few people were around Trump were willing to pick up this mantle of, you know, the election was stolen. Boris on his own because he wasn't working in the White House at this at at this this point on his own flew into Arizona to begin to coordinate the Um, the The challenge to the election to stop the steal Yes, and Boris was ultimately indicted for that. that after Trump became the president, again, that inded indictment was thrown out. But Boris was, there was a criminal indictment for Boris about what he did visa vis electoral manipulation in Arizona There was another another thing. this is this this is This really goes to show how Trump's relationship to the people who are abjectly loyal to him in the middle of the campaign video surfaces. because Boris had been arrested in Arizona in a in a bar called Wait for the bottled blonde bottled blonde. And So this this video goes goes out. It's obviously, you know, getting wide pickup and you would think that this would have finished off his his, um his career as a significant aid to someone running for the presidency So his boss grabs women by the pse. Yeah, Trump just brushed it off. Right, off course he did because in fact, their fellow fellow abusers or at least fellow alleged abusers if the case got against Boris, but as we saw from the Supreme Court decision this week, Trump is a sexual abuser in they as their throughout. his effort to have them overrule the verdict in the Egene Carroll case, the five million dollars case So your lawyers Uh Do they immediately appeal this sanctioning this section eleven? What's their response? How long does it take This was just a conference on this. So the judges, they The other side filed notice that they are going to file this on this section eleven. So they go the judge calls all parties into court and the judge basically said, donon't do this. This is not a smart thing to do. Can't stop you from doing it but it's not a smart thing to do. Now this goes back to the other thing that lawyers, I'm sure they will do it anyway because it doesn't their own reputational damage, their own standing in the court doesn't matter. You do what is, you do what you have to do for Donald Trump create and in this instance course me more money or cost my lawyers My side of this more money and and you cause delay. So that's for them is a is a win and it doesn't matter if they're going to lose this and it doesn't matter if the judge is going to think lesser of them for doing this. Okay, so for now They are using Section eleven to sanction your lawyers as a delaying technique. Right. And then meanwhile, just in the broader sense of this of this lawsuit, this judge who's a um who's a Trump judge in a complicated ruling in which she decided not to rule on the merits of the case but accepted the fact that the Trump argument that Melania Trump lives in Florida. att any rate, she has dismissed the case so that now we are dismissed the case in federal court. and that is now being appealed in which in which actually she acknowledged yesterday that we had gone to the second circuit and it would probably not look so good for the seconde circuit if they, if the Trump if Melania Trump's lawyers and the president's lawyers continued this section eleven Bna. Hey,'s Ran Reynold here from Mit Mobile Now, I was looking for fun ways to tell you that Mint's offer of unlimited premium wireless for fifteen dollars a month is back. So I thought it would be fun if we made fifteen dollars bills, but it turns out that's very illegal. So there goes my big idea for the commercial. Give it a try at midmobile d. com slash switch Upront pay forty dollars for months ninety dollars for six mons are one hundredy dollars for twelveth, reired fifteen dollars for month equalent to taxes extra. initial term only greater than fifty gigabytes slow netork is busy term Okay, so it's a delaying technique. and do you know when you hear back from it? I mean, I remember that you got the decision on the judge essentially saying we're not going to hear this in federal court the day before Memorial Day weekend, clearly trying to bury the story, what they didn't realize was we had an episode of Inside Trump's head coming up the very next day so we could immediately talk about it. But do you have any sense of timing here or is this another endndless. it could be any time that they then come back to us. I mean, that's one of the this kind of fascinating exposure to this process m the courts themselves are Um, I for all kinds of reasons, because they're overburdened and because and because because justice is slow take forever, but then add to that the fact that this is a fundamental tactic in all Trump in Trump laws, Trump litigation 's fascinating. So we had some insight Uh Into Trump's earnings this week, his two point two billion dollars, much of which was made from crypto, something that in twenty nineteen he'd said was nonsense and really didn't make any sense whatsoever. But we also had some insight into Melania's finances too, and she had managed to monetize being first lady to the tune of seventeen million I mean that's which is extraordinary. I mean, It's extraordinary, beyond extraordinary that Trump gets makes two billion dollars on less than eighteen months in the White House But then the first lady who literally, not only literally does nothing She doesn't even show up Um, makes seventeen million dollars. But to be fair, she showed up at the Easter Egg roll I saw her at the Easter egg roll. She turned up deliver her very strange I didn't know Jeffrey Epstein. speech that threw everybody into a Iizzy, very, very strange. So she turns up she's turned up at least twice this year So seventeen million dollars for a handful of appearances. And what is the seventeen million doll from? wasas the payment for the Amazon film Melania the documentary, was that countounted the previous year? I'm sure that that's spread out over a bunch of years should probably makeventeen probably seventeen million dollars every year This is, you know, but the the the interesting thing to focus on here is that, you know, of all the thing they're you know, forty million from Amazon, this and that. that's that's That's money yet in the ether What we do know is that she literally took in the space of twelve months seventeen million dollars into her pocket Um U and and actually I think some of that is from a from a meme coin. She has her own crypto action If I were Melania Trump and I had seventeen million from one year, I would demand a divorce? Well, I guess once you have seventeen million, then you look at your next seventeen million and your next seventeen and your next seventeen. I know, it's never enough, I suppose, isn't it? I mean, it's never enough. And then since the president has made two billion U I suppose you look at pects forgetting your own at least half of that Mhm You know, there's the thing. I do want to there was a moment during the campaign, the twenty twenty four campaign Trump was u He was annoyed with everybody for making for taking him to fundraisers. It just was a particular tense moment in the campaign and there were many tense moments And he was like, I don't want to do this anymore. I don't want to go to fundraisers. I don't have to go to fundraisers cause Gu will give me everything I need What did that mean? meaneaning that as long as he relaxed regulation on crypto, he would be fine. They would just finance him. yeah, I think that that's That's absolutely what what They had aligned their interest at that point. And and the crypto guys had unlimited money and and could use the presidency to make even vly vastly more money of which Donald Trump is is um, is Sharian and it's not only that they're financing his campaign, they have they have cut Donald Trump into And also his licensing deals have gone up. So during the time he was at Mar aago, they were sort of know, sort of eight million, nine million in terms of international licensing deals. rapidly rose in twenty five and I think the figure I saw was forty eight million do from the UAE for licensing deals to put his name on you know, Trump casinos, Trump hotels, whatever else he's doing. I was amused to see that the actual Trump things that he's producing otwithstanding the meme coins and the crypto, but his Trump Bibles had only raised two hundred eight thousand for the Trump family coffers. and his gold sneakers and his fragrance, Trump fragrance. what can that smell like? What is the ingredients in the Trump fragrance had only raised sixty seven thousand I think post presidency, he shouldn't think of becoming a perfumer. I think he should stick to the crypto grift and the licensing of his name and perhaps, you know pererhaps Ivanka will be able to do a chain of Albanian restaurants and hotels once she's got her foothold on her island. I mean, maybe as fascinating as the level of money he is taking in is the fact that this has not appeared to inspired a universal revulsion. You know, I I mean, any other presidency this would have well it just would have not it couldn't have happened. I mean, can you imagine, can you imagine if Joe Biden had come up with some rule on crypto, brought out a Biden coin and made two point two billion dollars? Look at the fuss that was made over Hnton. Maybe that's not true though. Maybe you would look at the other way that if Joe Biden had done this done this in such an egregious way, in such a blatant way, in such a shameless way, in such a proud way, maybe people would have said, oh my God, you know, Joe is really good to Joe. Yeah. I mean, I don't know because I can't understand any other reason why this has not redounded to Trump's imprisonment is and Does anyone seem to care You know, I mean, yeah, I think people care, but in general Not very much. This is not This is not going to the top of the issues that people have against Donald Trump. Well, I wonder th I wonder if that's true. I mean, it's difficult to know Um First of all, Republicans are much better at negative messaging against the DemMs than the DemMs are against Trump. I mean, if I were the Dems, I would have hadamp a national campaign by now attacking Donald Trump on this extraordinary level of money that he's made in the last eighteen months Not even over a period. Not even eighteen months. Right. Okay, so not even eighteen months neearly eighteen months but they should have had a message that came out from every Democratic mouth across the country And instead, I guess maybe this is what's behind the democratic socialists sudden rise in Colorado. I mean, you saw Michael Bennet just getting pushed to the side by Phil Weiser, you saw the incumbent in Colorado getting kicked out by The Democratic socialist new candidate who was born the same year as the incumbent actually went into Congress. So there's clearly change going on, but the messaging around it just seems missing Well, I mean, the messaging partly is that I mean that's that's that's, I mean, the messaging there is interesine within the Democratic Party. and it is either you're too old or you haven't done enough to stand up to Donald Trump Um which is clearly they haven't, but they haven't because because Donald Trump is is becausecause nobody quite knows how to stand up to Donald Trump because the fact that Donald Trump has made two billion dollars in a very short time in the White House does not seem to have the effect that everyone would assume it should have I mean, why hasn't every Democratic governor been out there with talking points about this? This is a moment where the Democratic Party could entirely unite around this message of corruption and connecting it to taxpayer dollars. connecting it to this is not what he's supposed to be in the presidency for I think probably the answer is because they don't think it has all it has the traction that We would ordinarily think that it should have, that there is something that this is built into U,m into the Donald Trump personality. It's Donald Trump. Of course he's going to make money on this. He's a businessman. He's you know that Donald Trump is not only shameless but proud of this appears to have this other this confounding affect And it's not just in terms of his of his grift and corruption, obviously, it's in terms of almost anything else anythingthing else he does that one would have thought would cost would would would an extreme political cost Um the women, the u Um, the the ballroom, the Kennedy center. all of this kind of thing that you would say this should cost him and it may and maybe it will cost him and that's That's what we're looking toward the midterms to see But so far, given the fact that he's been elected to the presidency twice It's a it's a is I mean, there is a there this is a complicated thing that American politics has not been able to digest and process. Okay, well, in our last conversations about the midterms, I was slightly sloppy in describing the California Vote counting as sloppy and we heard from someone who's worked in the elections in California for thirty years who was irritated by that comment. And I don't blame her really. What I was trying to point out was I thought it was odd that California seems to take so long to bring back a verdict on who's won because so many people in California use mail in voting. they seem to take forever to count But I didn't mean to say the process was sloppy. She assured me that the process is in fact meticulous. Even Steve Hilton, the Republican gubernatorial candidate who's now crept in as number two, has said there's no indication of election fraud whatsoever in California, but I wanted to point out that I shouldn't have used the word sloppy because I don't think it probably is sloppy. No, but the word you should have used was inefficient. and it certainly is inefficient. It certainly is. I mean, I think the Californians acknowledge this and I think they've just they've just authorized a new expenditure to deal with this. This is a procedural process that if not if not u if not sloppy, certainly not something that anybody has has u Certainly not urgent And and I think that's a problem. I mean, it has it creates creates Doubt where there should not be doubt. Right. And and that's a u That's a bureaucratic responsibility that clearly nobody has taken their own Maybe there's no way round it. I mean, we saw the Supreme Court at least uphold the fact that in Mississippi, you know votes can be counted if they've been postmarked on the day of the election, even if they arrive a bit late Well yeah, but there is a way around it. You get more people, better systems. you know, California is a standout in among fifty states in taking its sweet time Well and also it does have Silicon Valley and you would think if you can do online banking, why can't you vote online? There must be some way of doing this, surely. Well but that's a different subject. Now Right But the world has sped up. We now have technology since people started voting. sureurely they must be able to do it Well, yeah, yeah, but okay voting online is is somewhat. We don't vote online and for good or not so good reasons. But right now we vote the way we vote and California takes much longer than anyone else. Right. And all I'm saying is if we voted online, it would be instant. The results would be very easy to tally. We do everything else online. I don't even know, but that's not that is not related to California and California is a major issue U and California has got to solve its problem should solve its problem has got to solve its problem and has nothing to do with voting online. This is this is how people vote right now. This is the moon This is the this is how how it works and you got to you got to perform within that And and they don't. So whether you want to call it sloppy or inefficient, it's you could call it certainly broken Okay All right, well I don't think we well I certainly wasn't trying to suggest it was, however, fraudulent, which is what I was anxious that I'd inadvertently suggested. So Sotus, a lot of comments on the fact that no one can believe Sotus takes three months off for such for a holiday. I mean, it's crazy. Why do they get a three months vacation Who else gets three months vacation They've got a job for life They're allowed to do a side hustle and write books and pull in a million dollars here for an advance or you know do something else. They're allowed to take RVs in the case of Clarence Thomas. So why is it that they get to have a three month vacation anyway? I'm all for longer vacations for more people and the case of the Supreme Court means three months without u Um, without Trump favoring decisions. So I think we come out ahead on this. burst ppe A dead water heater? the AC calling it quits. Who do you call? Home Serve is an easy way to handle unexpected home repairs, with plans covering stuff basic homeowners's insurance usually won't. Instead of scrambling for a contractor, you make one call to get the repair process started. Join the millions of customers who trust HomeServe right now Go to Homeserve dot com slash podcast for fifty percent less your first year. That's Homeserve dot com slash podcast. Savings compared to renewal price, void in Florida. OkayK, well that's a good repost. I actually don't agree. I think that they could get a month off. I think a month will be absolutely fine. I don't see why they can't do what the French do and just refuse to return calls in August And you take a lot of vacations. I don't I never go to I'm never I'm always working. Michael Wolf, I was not on vacation. I was looking after my mum and then I was on a work trip to France. I had three days at the end with my older son which was heaven. a work trip in in in the south of France in Cannees. justust point this out, Rose, rememember that conversation? Of course, Roseet all day. A lot of people were very upset that you attacked Rose, and one person wrote in to say that the queen liked Rose. The queen liked Rosese, even if it is a mid drink Queen likes for Rose the Qeen, those notable tastesemakers, but Just can The queen catching astray there. You went to an event that I have been to many times and a pure boondogle just to point this out in defense of the Supreme Court. Nothing gets done. everyverybody says something gets done. I've never seen any business get done in Can Actually, I did some business in Canca there go Okay, let's see. you know, people think they do business. They have a conversation. they go to a meeting Well actually, what you do is you meet people for breakfast, you meet people for lunch, you meet people for coffee. I know. I And that gets you absolutely nothing Okay, well ready Breakfast. breakfast. Okay. Well, it's a good way to catch up with people, find out what's going on. In fact, I did do some business. So there you go, Michael Wolf. All right, let's talk about Scotus decisions We've had this discussion before that I in My view The majority of the justices on the Supreme Court are threading the needle. It's not it is all about what they have to give Donald Trump and what they can hold back from him and all about How to measure It's all about power, essentially. It's all about politics So the Supreme Court, which is supposed to be above politics, which is supposed to be a all about the application of the law a, you know, a nation of laws and not men has flipped that on its head. It's all about Donald Trump, everything that goes through their head. is about Donald Trump how Donald Trump is going to react how they need to react to Donald Trump Um how they function within the political system. And of course, he actually appeared at the Supreme Court, which was a first U during the birthright citizenship arguments That didn't seem to have had an effect, or maybe it did because it was a six three decision against him maybe the three that were in favor dissented from the decision were intimidated by him. We were wrong about our characterization of that the other day. I mean, when we were talking about the decision had just just that second. Yeah, we literally got a newash as we were talking about it. But it's a significantly more equivocal decision then we had portrayed that. So in a decision which should have been, You would have said, okay, well this is, you know This is an obvious one. This is nine to zero U or or at least seven and two because you have two We've got Alito and Clarence Thomas that are always going to vote Trump who are who are you know, gone in some strange world Oh Um But it wasn't, you know, and it was and it was much closer to God. you know, essentially they were saying, well, this is open to debate Um, and You know, and the You know, I think the danger now is that it is that they have opened it to debate and that this will go on in a, you know, Roe v Wade sense and become a political issue. So so and again, so I think that was the gift that to Donald Trump. Okaykay, you know, we don't We really can't We really can't rule out birthright citizenship Hello. But you know, it's something Donald Trump wants How can we go? Is there a is there a kind of a middle ground here? And again, it's always that kind of thing in everything they do is what do we have to give to Caesar To your point about whether or not that debate just keeps going on, it does seem as if the skirmishes with Iran again to keep going on now. And then Donald Trump was calling for Syria to get involved The head of ISIS now in charge of Syria, now president of Syria. He was like, well, what the Syrians should be involved. No they should be involved. That was I think that that was extraordinary. I mean, you know, the Syrians, I mean, essentially they were saying that well, the Syrians should go and They should go to go fight of experience who have had who have had now years and years of war and who have basically said, oh my God, you know, we got to, you know, we have to rebuild we have a nation to rebuild here. We're not going to get involved in this. I mean this is so so and Donald Trump is in that way he has of just aking just comes, where does it come from? I mean, it comes from the fact that he has and This is the This is the point. No idea what he's talking about So much of what he says is not only uninformed not thought out in which he has gotten no advice about just comes off the top of his head Where does that come from? It comes from nowhere. Right. I mean, H he just looked at a map and thought, Well, Syria's near Iran. Why don't they just get involved? Let's get them involved I mean, that sense of Um Well, as you say, just creating foreign policy on the fly with no with no understanding You know, but it's even more than that. And again, that that thing that can't get their heads around like the two billion dollars. Here is a man who has no idea what he's talking about for a good part of the time And we kind of go, U yeah, okay okay Well, D we don't do that. We're trying to point it out. There are lots of people pointing it out that he has no idea what he's talking about half the time. More than half the time. Okay, and where's my headline in the New York Times Donald Trump has no idea what he's talking about. You see, we are forced into a situation because we lack the language. We lack the affect to say here the President of the United States is Um, We As I say, we lack the language. The President of the United States is crazy. The president of the United States is the stupidest man, obviously to ever ever occupy this office. The presresident of the United States has no grasp of the issues that he's charged with U making decisions about And yet, he's managed to make two point two billion dollars in his first year Well, we'll be back on Saturday with we've actually got an election. episode on Saturday, haven't we? We've not exactly predicted the midterms, but yeah, we've been talking about the midterms whichich is essential for july the fourth. Speaking of the New York Times, the New York Times had two competing articles, O in which says control of the Senate was up for grabs Um U the other one by u U Nate what's his name? What's that guy's names? Nate Silver. Nate Silver. a pollster. there there the Times pollster who is who is invariably wrong and then invariably authoritative about why he was right. E if he was wrong, this is why he was right. But anyway, his he has his piece today was, I think today or yesterday was that um, that they It was highly unlikely that the Democrats would take the Senate. Well, Michigan is an interesting one. Have you been following that AOC came out and endorsed one of the candidates, The primary is actually august the fourth. And I have one or two friends in Michigan who called just saying this will be an absolute disaster if they go for a progressive in Michigan. This is a state that Donald Trump won and that if they go non moderate in Michigan, they will lose Lose, lose Well that's, you know, from one side, I mean, that's That is the discussion within the Democratic Party and um, Um and it is between between the moderate faction and this new younger Um Really energgetic significantly energetic, significantly more left u Um, peopleople who seem to be winning election after election R right, well, let's talk about the midterms on Saturday. In the meantime, I know you have to you've got an appointment with the Beach I just got an appointment with the office. thought I thought you were coming out here. donon't I have to entertain you I think you might have to entertain me. I'm not coming out till tomorrow. I'm coming out for thirty six hours, Michael. That's the only time off I allow myself. I'm coming out for thirty six hours and I'm looking forward to seeing you out there On on a helicopter, I'm sure. I'm actually not coming out on the helicopter. I'm coming out on the Jitney. The helicopter was booked I see, well, the Jitney is running at five hours to get out of here to get out here now, I understand. Yeah, I heard that, but I'm coming on Friday lunchtim. so I'm thinking that the Gitney will actually be fine by. I think the roads will be fine by then. Most people will be coming out tonight Okay, well in a measure. We'll take the measure. We'll take meure here. All right, I'm looking forward to seeing you out there. I'm looking forward to a slightly I'm looking forward to lesser temperatures than a sea breeze. And I'm really looking forward to a lot of Rose Um, I don't know what to say You don't have to say anything. You just have to thank people. Our enduring thanks to John Rachel Matt Heather and u deal And I think there's one more person I've forgotten. Doug. You just made that up. You just made that up and it's not Matt, it's Max. You've just made Doug up. but if there's anyone called Doug out there who wants to come and work on the podcast and you've got the right qualifications, let us know If you can handle Michael's tech requirements, then for you and don't forget to subscribe to the Daily Beast, Michael, we're two thousand off seven hundred thousand. And you know, we haven't even been going a year. Inside Trump's head has not been going a year yet. We're going to have to think of how we celebrate our annual anniversary, which isn ut tntil the end of August actually. So we've got some time to think about it We can talk about it this weekend. We can talk about it this weekend. Okay, and how we're going to think about the midterms and where we go And we got various invites from people across the country, actually, which is very exciting I'm still up for Mount Rushmore, though a couple of people wrote in and said, abbsolutely not, it's really trashy, which I find hard to believe. Ited presidents, the faces of presidents carved into a mountainside. You don't think that's going to be trashy? No, I think it's going to be inspiring and sort of awe inspiring. And I'm going to make you run across the top like in that scene from It's north by North by Northwest. Yeah. greatreat, great movie and they're running across those faces. I can see you doing that Also a lot of a lot of people appreciated the photo of you with her I'm not even going to respond to that., I'll see you in the Hamptons and we'll see everybody back here on Saturday for our next episode of Inside Trump's head. Thank you, if you have been for joining us Big thanks to our production team, Ryan Murray, John Romero, Rachel Paser, Heather Posaro, and Neil Rosenhouse. So the good news is we have so many be Beast tier members now. There are too many names to read out, and we really appreciate your support