Future prospects for political reform

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Upront payment forty dollars for months ninety doll for six months one hundred eighty dollars for twel month plan reired fifteen dollars month equalent to taxes extra. initial planerm only greater than fifty gigabytes slow netork is busy ts. This is Trump sitting there going No, I'm a good president. I'm doing all these good things, but almost every single one of them is based on a lie or a misinterpretation of the facts. And that is what is keeping you awake in the middle of the night And his wise sending these sixty seven things. A man Go nuts in front wheelside.. A the mine. Oh my God This guy is the president of the United States and he's pumping out this crazy memes But and and they're all about racism and hate and his personal vendetta against a former president. it's a sign of mental Iillness I'm Jonn Coles, this is the Daily Beast podcast. and is it a red line? Is it a red card Is it red air lingering from the fireworks in DC, that David Rothkop, Monday's guest is struggling to breathe so much to discuss. not least, where is Mitch McConnell? And why is his wife in China if he's unconscious somewhere? It's all very confusing, but we will get to it. We want to know what's happening in the NATO summit. As we record this, Donald Trump is about to get on Grift Force one and zoom his way to meet all his colleagues, NATO colleagues, former colleagues in Turkey. Anyway, don't forget to subscribe to the Daily Beast. We are Tiny, tiny number of subscriptions of seven hundred thousand we would love to get there. and you can become a friend of the beast. Some of you complain about the ads on the podcast. You can have an ad free experience with a subscription. It's up to you, but there are lots of member benefits and we are independent media. That's why we can bring you these conversations. That's why David Rothkop and Michael Wolf are as fearless as they are in critiquing this government. That's why we can have these independent conversations because we are independent media, and that's how you show your support So No more time to waste. Let's get into it. David Rothkop David Rothkopff Chill Anna cole A you? How is the air quality you are in DC and so many fireworks, so little oxygen Well, I'm just outside of DC and none of us are leaving our homes. I know people who are living like three blocks from the fireworks and they were watching it on TV. because it was dangerous It was dangerous because the air qual. It was dangerous because there was lightning And you know, there's a story today that Trump overruled his staff and saidit down, leave him out there. Well, the story isn't I mean, the story is he truth social that. he said, I called everybody back. I overturned it. He's overturning the weather, he's overturning public safety. He's overturning soccer. He doesn't care. He doesn't care what happens to these people And so he was out there and, you know, he didn't start his thing till eleven o'clock and and You could hear the rumbling in the distance and you thought it was cannon fire, but no, we've all survived it despite the Trump administration. U and and I really mean despite it. I mean, you know, Doug Bergham, the Secttor of the Interior was on u TV and he was saying Oh no, free speech is the reason we let all these fascist White supremacists march around Washington. with flags, even as they're like, arresting protesters at the reflecting pool and and so forth. there These guys wanted this to be as as toxic july fourth as possible. and I think they got their way. Okay, well, we've got a lot to get to. I want to know what's happened to Mitch McConnell. I want to know what's going to happen in tonight's soccer. When we play this, America should be playing Belgium. And of course, we've got Donald Trump having several conversations with Infantino, the head of FIFA to try and get him to review in inverted commerce the Rd card decision for Balligan. But we've also got Trump and his save bill. We've got the Smithsonian radical radical archivists. We've got Putin esque levels of grift We've got White House staffers asked to remove pictures and we've got the Cucible meets Wolf Hall, which is basically how the Europeans are thinking of Trump as he arrives on Grift Force one. today for the NATO summit in Turkey. So much to cover, so little time. David, what is where should we begin? Should we begin mean I will say The decision to call the head of FIFA, Gianni and Fantino by the president to ask for a review of the referee' decision and Rd card for Balligan in the America versus Bosn and Herzegvina match. Pretty I mean, it's got the Eururos in a tizzy. I can tell you that But's got everybody at a tizzy. It's horrible. It's corrupt. He shouldn't have done. cheating. No matter what happens It's cheating. Noatter what happens, the result is tainted because if the US wins with this guy playing, it's tainted U if there is a controversy and there is still, as we're recording this, a brewing controversy Maybe there's an appeal process and maybe there's not it's painted. It was corrupt, even sep bladder. Now you know The heads of FIFA are some of the most corrupt people in the world. You can tell Because FIFA has offices in Trump Twower, right Well, they have offices in Trump toown and they gave him a peace prize Right. Well they gave the they, you know, they're the they're the worst of the worst and you'll remember also that the last World Cup was in Cutter home of Grift force. And before that, it was in Russia, home on big boss, Vladimir Putin. Do I have to like connect the dots here? And so you go Russia, Qatar Putin. Okaykay, that'll make some sense Right. E even with all that, the prior had a FIFA sep bladder whichich I mean, where do you make up these names? But anyway, Spp Bladder has come out condemning this decision as crossing a red line. Crossing a red line. If the decision is too corrupt for Spp Bladder, You've reached, you know Mafia high commission levels of corruptness. We've got UFA taking on FIFA and saying this is unprecedented, incomprehensible and un king justifiable. I put the bit I put the rude word in Your wot said it was unfucking just about Look, they should have. It's outrageous. and you want to know something just as a twenty second aside The World Cup has been great. I have watched every single World Cup match. I have it on in the background of my office when I'm going I've watched them. The Cabo Verde almost beating Argentina ears streaming down my face. There have been so many great stories And Trump digs down deep into the reflecting pool or wherever he gets the slime he's producing and he slimes it You know, and that's that's that's what happens. Trump slimes everything Trump, he's sliming's everything. He is he is the slime monster. of the swamp of Washington, D.C. and he has taken one of the most beautiful sporting events we've ever seen. And he's tained it. Well, and he just can't bear not to be center of attention, can he? So you saw the whole Bruhaar the states fair leading up to his two speeches one at Mount Rushmore on Friday, one obviously on the Mall on Saturday at the Lincoln Memorial. He just can't stand it when there's something else out there that's getting attention. You got to believe in divine Providence, right I mean, I don't know, you know, everybody listening to this has made different views of this But he goes to Mount Rushmore because he wants his face on the. O course Of course he does. You know. he's going like go You know, we can get rid of that Lincoln guy. That's just enough room for my head. And he wants to be on M Rusa and he couldn't do the outdoor of anyoneed because there were hailstones. It was like, you know, some biblical storm. it was like God intervening. It was literally God intervening. I mean, biblical No I know but let's just go straight to it. Bibl you say biblical hailstones, I say God was intervening And what happens? He goes back to DC There are fucking lightning boats hitting the Washington Monument I mean, God was doing his best to send a message. Right. You know Keep this guy off the stage and then you know what he finally totters onto the stage for in his like, did you see his like bulletproof booth Well, I don't blame him having a bulletproof booth. I mean, I don't blame him. I mean, today is the day that Tyler Robinson has his first preliminary hearing for shooting Charlie Kirk. mean I get that Trump is much more nervous about being out and about. now I would have a bulletpof if I say No, probably because there's a department somewhere in the White House that does fake assassination attempts and he must worry about them Okay, okay. Maybe they weren't fake, but it was interesting. There's an article in the New Republic today talking about how MGa, let's just leave it the facts aside MGa who you know, are very fact based. They're not gullible at all. but MGa They're believing now that a lot of these assassination attempts were faked Even MAGAas believing that. Wow. Yeah, no, no, this is a story, New Republic. I go read it. But one of the reasons they're believing it is because U has no interest in investigating these things. You know, somebody goes in the reflecting pool like an Olympic metedalist and they immediately get arrested and if it becomes a big deal, there's an investigation theirir assassination attempts on him surrounded by all kinds of weirdness, like he doesn't go to a doctor. There's no doctor's report. There's no wound,'s And he's not interested in talking about it except to put it on a beam coin or whatever And so anyway, Magga M Maga thinks he's theseese are made up, but he sits in this p and it steams up on the inside And you know, pictures can't penetrate it. it looks like he's like in some satanic Layer. And then he comes out and he gives a speech about himself, attacking his enemies, making the whole holiday about himself Midnight The fireworks weren't even until the next day. I know it's crazy isn't it If you've tried to quit vaping or smoking and somehow found yourself right back where you started, You are not the problem. 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Join them today and grab a journey pack plus a free gift with purchase when using my code beast Addiction is really good at saying later donon't let it, head to tryfume. com that's tryfu m dot com and use code Beast for a free gift with your first purchase Thank you, Fume for sponsoring this episode Well, what he was really warning, David, and we must thank him for this warning is the dangers of communism. The dangers of communism coming to America, and that's what he's fighting. So he's laying out his election strategy amid the fireworks Well he thinks he's a genius. You gott to know. He's like sitting in the White House and he's going, o, well, M, Donny, you know, he's a socialist. He's a communist. Let's say that the communists are coming to take us over. And they go, well, a busoss, you know U They're not communists. He goes,, it doesn't matter. We're going to say they're communists. And he goes, Well, you know, boss, you're actually the one that's representing the views of the Kremlin. And you're actually the one that loves the few remaining communist regimes in the world like China and North Korea And so you're going to accuse them of communism. And then he throws a tablet or a ketchup packet or something and And there are more stories of him having I saw I think there was one in the Daily Beast recently. There was definitely one in the Daily Beast. And there was a very good piece this morning in the Wall Street Journal. We're recording this on Monday morning about the preparations for NATO and how the NATO leaders have all been having secret meetings to strategize on how to handle Donald Trump And even how to send their own tweets or their ex posts or their social media posts. And in some cases the Norwegian premier being so anxious about not having given Trump the Nobel Prize that he gets the fininnish guy to put it out there. Instead, I mean, what are your sources saying about The expectations are for the NATO summit this week. I mean, Trump's literally about to fly out The expectations are low The Europeans that I talk to are essentially looking at their watch They're like, TikTok, TikTok, this guy's going to go. We just have to make it through. couple of years if he survives that long and Tlerate it But The real subtext within NATO is how do we get along without the US You know, there was a story that broke a couple of days ago that Pete Hagsetith had this big plan and the big plan was pull all U.S troops out of NATO. And this had to be stopped by the military and, you know, the Congress had already passed a law. they couldn't do it. But Hageth trying to win favor with Trump put this idea for her. And NATO knows this. NATO knows Trump is trying to blow them up at every turn. So They private meetings, their're meetings without Trump. are the most important ones because it's How will they survive without the US? How will they survive with less U S. equipment, they're shifting over from U S. manufactured equipment to European manufactured u equipment And u You know, they're expecting the worst. I mean, y last night, just to give you an example Trum Who attacked the Italian Prime Minister Maloney the last time they got together saying she desperately wanted a picture with him. And then she said, Well, he's lying h he put out an overnight through social posting. U you know, he may need a restraining order to keep her away from them And it's like, oh my God. Well, his crazy truth social pose. I mean we should go through those in a moment. But if you're Georgia Maloney, I mean what's so fascinating is you've got the battle of the two Ms, right? You've got the head of NATO, the Secretary General Mark Rutka, and then you've got Mark Carney, Canadian prrime Minister, he's saying there's over dependence on America, we have to create our own middle state. I think he referred to them in Davos earlier this year. Middle powers. Middle powers, middle powers. Thankk you. And then Rut' saying, you know, Trump's great, we can just flatter him. We just have to scho. I mean, this has been Ruda's whole thing. know former Dutch Pime Minister and He has been the one who's the assigned Trump manager at these things. that he goes in and he flatters Trump and Trump says, oh, Mark's great, I can deal with him. Behind the scenes, I think there's a somewhat different story They're really just killing time Now having said this You know, there was other kind of killing going on. There is a war in Ukraine right now. The Russians launched terrible attacks over the weekend. One of the reasons the Ukrainians are reeling from these attacks is they're not getting the air defense from the United States, Patriot missiles batteries or from the Europeans because the Europeans are not getting theirs replenished from the U.S.. The U.S. is withholding aid from Ukraine. Over the weekend, Trump has talked to Zelensky, talked to Putin But basasically the US. line is the Putin line. which is we should negotiate on Russian terms basically seeking kind of a solution that blocks in place former Russian gains The problerm is Russia iss losing ground now And Crimea's losing ground in eastern parts, easastern provinces of Ukraine, it's losing ground. And the Ukrainians have become so expert. They are the world leaders in drone technology right now They're launching drones that are hitting St. Petersburg Moscow into Siberia Russian oil plants The biggest Russian oil plant may be offline for many months and there are gas shortages in Russia. And so, you know does all this clown show and people don't like Trump and Trump may have a snit. But in the middle of this, there is this major war in the middle of Europe where millions of people have died or what is at stake is Democracy whether the European Union, whether NATO will be able to survive, whether the Russians will be encouraged to continue attacking it. And the reason we're not having productive discussions on it is Trump declared at the outset, I'm on the side of the Kremlin. And and so You know I get it. and I think the NATO summit will be a mess on its surface and there'll be some funny stories Beneath the surface You've got two giant stores One is how the US has turned its back on Ukraine and it's up to NATO to dig it out and how NATO is planning for a future in which the US role is much smaller. Your team just added its sixty seventh AI tool And also your sixty sevenh security blind spot The good news, The Vanta agent works like a GRC engineer in the background, finding every app your team uses, scoring the risk, and drafting fixes for you Avanta is the platform used by over sixteen thousand fast moving companies like Ramp, Cursor, and Harvey who are shaping the future with AI and staying ahead of AI risk Get started at Vanta. com It's just a changing of the guard, isn't it? David, what did you make of the comment from an unknown British intelligence source that really, America right now was like the crucible Next with Wolf Hall Well, I think that's the kind of colorful thing that gets a quote But I don't think it's very meaningful I mean, what does he mean that, you know, Trump has lots of wives and he's beheading some of them or I think didnn't he mean that there is a sort of madness and a pursuit of enemies for the sake of it And there's an overreach of power. I mean, funny enough, when I was back in the UK where I spent a lot of time in the last six months, I was driving past Fountain's Abbey, one of the most beautiful abbeys in in Yorkshire and just thinking it's a ruin of an abbey taken down by Henry VIII this he built his own church. And I thought, why aren't there more comparisons of Trump to Henry VII? multiple wives, but also this sense that he can just do what he wants. He doesn't like the church that the UK has been abiding by, so he's going to create his own church, the Church of England Well, I guess because the comparisons to Caligula are more compelling. You know, I mean, you know, people compare him to Caligul. they compare him to the Eperor Nero. they Well, he compares himself to Napoleon and Stalin and Hitler, right Right, That's the point. The point is he's a mad kig. You know, we've had a long history of people drunk with power behaving in crazy ways and You know, Henry VII is one of them that resonates in the UK and for, you know, fans of acorn TV or Britbox. but the reality is Trump is continuation of a long line of what happens when you get leaders who are drunk with power and who abuse it And and The thing that's different is we have seldom seeing that in the United States You may have seen it a little bit in the presidency of, say, Andrew Jackson, but nothing that has ever risen to this level before And that's what makes it different Because Henry VIIh lived in the middle of the sixteenth century and behaved in a ways that You know, his power was limited to what he could do and comparatively small army and comparatively limited resources Um Donald Trump is the head of the most powerful country in the world At least it was when he started And he has the ability to inflict damage and to affect the lives of every single individual human being on the planet, which he has done. W trade wars with pulling back on fighting global warming, with actual wars all around the planet, with destroying alliances around the planet, with Um attacking U people who deserve to be defended like, you know, the president of Ukraine And and and and and shutting out I mean, think think about his big message of the past week with the help of the Supreme Court of saying no Remember the statue of Liberty Remember, you know, our invitation to say immigrants We're turning them away. We're going to send out of the country. We're going send people who came here as refugees out of the country. We're not going to let refugees in here anymore againain, this's another interesting thing talkal about abuses of power that have unintended consequences Wh is now speaking out against his elimination of temporary protected status for the Haitian Republicans Republican governor of Ohio, Republicans in Dade County, Florida They realize these people are vital to the economic stability and growth of their regions. And And so, you know, yeah, I mean, sure You know, that's an interesting analogy But the point is the real world consequences of the abuse of power of the most powerful man in the world. Okay, so we've seen The resurgence of Tom Keeene Theressman return the return of The return of Tom Keen, who said he'd been depressed, which was why he'd missed, I think one hundred forty six votes. So he's back, but counterbalanced by the disappearance of Mitch McConnell. Do you have any insight into what's going on with Mitch McConnell We heard that he was found unconscious in his home. Three days later, his wife was spotted in China. The mystery continues and nobody's seen him since he was found unconscious Um Look, we've seen Mr. McConnell blackout in the middle of press conferences We've seen him fall over He's just an old man who's dying, right? He's on his last legs The fact that his wife you know, days after and it can have been mean given that it was literally three days after He had a heart attack and was rushed to the hospital, unconscious. She ends up in China. She must have left. You know, hours after this happened to him. Uness she was there all along and decided not to come back. Well, you know, maybe it's interesting There is this sort of other subtext, which is, you know, McConnell could be dead and they'll just keep him in place because they don't want you know, to have a you know, a special election, I suppose a special election in which Thomas Massey will run for the seat Mitch McConnell Um, but it's like the Kan set Like if a Democrat disappeared for this long, the Republicans would go bananas and they would go, where is he replace him, get him out Mike Johnson was like, you know, he's fine. you know, we know everything's fine and he doesn't have to show up and he can miss one hundred and forty votes And it's one of the weirdest stories ever. By the way For those of you who are from the New York area McCain's father was a very well respected Republican governor of New Jersey He comes from a pretty respectable family But he's turned into this just terrible politician. I guess he got depressed and okay, so he should have sought treatment But he should have stepped down from his job And he didn't do it. And they didn't want they they know that elections in New Jersey have been running against them recently So they just kept them in place because they want to maintain their majority which is razor finin And at the end of the day This whole year, the story of this whole year is how Republicans can cling to power when All the forces at play are moving against them. polling is moving against them. U, you know, their their base is aging out U their their policy programs aren't working very well you know, Trump is less popular every day on economic grounds, on foreign policy grrounds and so on and so forth. And so they're like, well, how do we cheat? to maintain power. And so you have the save the same act what Trump is trying to force through the Congress. And you have Mike Johnson doing all this weird shit where're like, He keeps this zombie seat open And earlier, you'll recall He like wouldn't seat to Democrats who won an election or Democrat or won an election. But instantly, when a Republican won an election, he seedated them they cheat. They're just trying to cheat because they know that That's the only way they're going to be able to cling to power. Right. Well, Tom Keen is going to face a very good candidate, a sort of Mikey Sheryl type candidate in New Jersey, former veteran Rebecca Bennett She's called a helelicopter pilot. I'm obsessed with all the numbers of helicopter pilots coming in because I think all these veterans have got understand what it is to lead teams of people. I think they have a sense of public service. and She's going to be a very good candidate to take him on, I think Well, yeah, first of all, Mikey Cheryl, the current goveror New Jersey is excellent. That's helicopter pilot four kids, unbelievable. Right, Navy officer, great career. She's done great things like Abigail Spamberger in Virginia likeike Alyssa Slotkin, who is also CIA oper was a senator from Michigan. There is this movement, national security Democrats who have a really important role to play And u, U Kaine's gonna to lose to this one I'm willing to stick to my m. Maybe that's why he's depressed. Maybe that's why he had to retreat for to miss one hundred forty six votes you a member of his district And your congressman has missed one hundred and forty six seats. you are entitled to have a special election, I think It's quite extraordinary. But Donald Trump knows he's in trouble and Trump put out sixty seven posts on Truth Social, and we'll go through some of them But what perhaps is the most interesting is a list of all the things that he's done that he thinks I guess going to want him reelected. But the first one he started was was launched Operation Epic Fury, destroying Iran's Navy. The very thing that he said he wasn't going to do, which is get involved in stupid stuff abroad. And then he goes, you know, secured the border. It's down ninety nine point nine nine nine percent More than three million illegal aliens have left the United States. under my leadership, I'd like to have that three million check. That's let. I know. I mean I mean yees,. Well, I mean, there's too many to read, but what's sort of fascinating is what he thinks important and how he's prioritized them. And he prioritizes it with Iran. I mean, that's one way to look at it. I think the other way to look at it is like there was a Saturday night live character called Stuart Smalllley It was Al Franken played the character And it was like he would do these affirmations like I'm getting better and better and You know, and to me, this is just neurotic This is Trump sitting there going No, I'm a good president I'm doing all these good things. Here's a list of the good things in case you don't remember them. But as you point out, almost every single one of them on this list and the list is like what fifty sixty seenty. Yeah a, It's a lot of stuff. Yeah. But almost every single one of them is based on a lie or a misinterpretation of the facts This is the thing that is so striking is that Trump thinks he is reaffirming But he is actually undermining becausecause the facts don't add up for him. and that is what is keeping him awake in the middle of the night. And it's whyise sending these sixty seven things. But you know, one thing I love I got a set I love working with the Daily Beast. I love working with you. And one of the reasons is that the daily Beast alone among all the media outlets that I know in the whole world is incapable of outrage overload Every single thing that happens. that is outrageous. You stay outraged. We are st. We are outraged because it's not the norm. It's not the norm. But every the New York Times is bored with it I, can you imagine the New Yorkimes saying oh, there was sixty seven true social, but no, they don't because this is boring, it's beneath. this the man goingo nets in front fieldide. A of mine in front of her, if you had an uncle Who you know, who was eighty years old didn't sleep it who was sitting there on true social posting insane rants against the world that are only making his life more difficult All night long, all night long Maybe with the assistance of Natalie Harp, who like, you know provides him with notes and things so that he can post them I mean, what would you do? Well, can we just show a couple of other posts that he put up? becausecause what's also interesting is actually on trruth social, he doesn't get that much Um React The reaction obviously is when it goes off onto other and that's becausebody Nurue social is complete bullshit, right? I mean Well, it's bullshit as a media platform except the one person you want to hear from is on it, who's the president. But can we show a couple of the other posts that he put up last night What about this one of the Obama's plane? This is him clearly rejoicing in the fact he's got a new plane. Yeah, I've seen it. and it's that one, which shows the Obama' plane covered with graffiti including BLM graffiti is is is part of his I mean, he's got a real mental problem with the Obamas, obviously. Right. and but it's also a racist problem. And he's taking these kind of urban memes, graffiti, BLM, and so forth And he's saying to everybody, lookook, the Obamas are black You know, I mean, that's basically what he's saying with this thing and it's You know, he thinks this plays with his base and it probably does with You know, the white supremacists who are marching through the streets of Washington this weekend carrying American flags and They all mask But to the rest of the world, you've got to say, o my God This guy is the president of the United States and he's pumping out this crazy memes Um, but and and they're all about racism and hate and his personal vendetta. against a former president. it's a sign of mental Right. It's a sign of mental illness. There's another one here which it's as if it's a poster and it goes, if no one goes to jail for election fraud, what incentive is there not to cheat which is such an insight into Donald Trump's mind, Ag, hiding in plain sight. It is and it is crazy And because He thinks what he's saying is we need to prosecute the people who You know, stole the twenty twenty election for me. But we all know the twenty twenty election wasn't stolen and the only one doing elections stealing is him And he's the one who is Pardening people for trying to steal the election for him. You know, one of who be invited to the White House this weeke and from Colorado and Um, you know, he is actively trying to steal the election And he doesn't think he's going to get prosecuted for it. and he has shown you in this U trrue social post exactly why he doesn't think he's going to get prosecuted for it. and it's Fery very twisted. But again, this is I could come back to Where is the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, NBC, CBS. on the fact that what we have here is The mental dissolution of the most powerful man in the world happening in real time in front of all of our That would be a big story, right? Like if some like if Hannibal Lcher were standing in the Oval Office cutting open the head of the president, kneading his brain You'd be going, oh yeah, a that's a story. He's eating the brains the president's brain. Well, something else is eating the president's brain. It's the same story and we're just going, oh yeah J another Sunday at the office, just old crazy Don on his way to the NATO summit unable to sleep I mean but I just I thank God every morning for your lack of outrage overload Well, we're still outraged by almost everything that Donald Trump does, because he's doing it in theory on behalf of Americans, right By the time I hit my fifties, I'd learned a few things Like how family is precious Work can always wait And ninety nine percent of people over fifty already have the virus that causes shingles Not everyone at risk will develop it I did. painful blistering rash disrupted my life for weeks Don't learn about your shingles risk the hard way to your doctor or pharmacist today sponsored by GSK. So I imagine when he arrives at the NATO summit that the America versus Belgian game be ongoing What do you think the reaction of the other leaders are going to be? Obviously, the Norwegian Prime Minister is going to be beside himself at Norwegian's victory? As well it should be, it was a great victory. Yeah no, what a game, what an incredible match. But America versus Belgium with Ballagan back in the game I used to be the editor of a book It was fairly large publication that dealt with international issues. Is this are you talking about foreign policy Okay, yes, foreign policy. I thought I was trying to make it sound bigger than that was, but yes, I was the editor for. for a possy If something like this valid my lap as an editor that the president is going to the NATO summit And at the same time There is a World Cup match between the US and the country that is the host of NATO I mean, you know, NATO is in Belgium. based in Belgium. his headquarters are in Belgium. Right. And it's so this is, you know, the U.S versus NATO football match And the president has already called up the head of FIFA put the fix in You know, to say, oh, yeah, no, we got to get our guy in this game. Let him play in this game And of course, Europe UAFA that you mentioned earlier is in is outraged U just as Europe within NATO is out, I mean, as metaphors go It's a little. be it couldn't be more extraordinary timing, could it? that he's going to a NATO summit They're playing Belgium tonight, the US team. and of course, hard not to root for the US team. They've had a spectacular season. You, I'm going to say something very controversial here M be hard for you not to writ for the US team But when the United States president cheats like this, I can't rot for the US state I wish the players well You know, but the reality is it taints everything It makes a kind of sick taste in our mouths because There is no way that they are under they have Sometimes in sports, when a weird thing like this happens in the record books, there's a little asterisk next to the name of the winner, right No matter what happens with the US, there's an asterisk here And the asterisk is trrump It's like if they win Ccauseuse he intervened Um, and if they if they lose, And it's like game three of the Kicks where he showed up in Madison Square Garden and screwed up every. No, I was at that game and it felt decidedly different to other games. I mean, there he was asleep behind his bulletproof glass And you could just feel the energy in the room. He was resoundingly booed when he was shown on the monitor and people started singing the national anthem Well and by the way, this match tonight, people are listening to this, the match may be over. place in Seattle. And there was some talk that Trump would go, but he won't go because he knows that he will get boooted And and so, you know, he's he's intervening in some other. It's just very It's very, very ugly, but it resonates in a hundred other ways with what's going on now, with NATO, with relations with Europe, with our relations with international organizations, with Corruption. with, you know, the fact that Yeah Whatever Donald touches is slime Starting with the reflecting pool. And now continuing to the U. S. men's National Soccer D. You know what isn't slimed, the reuilding of the gold statues in DC. Have you seen them yet? I'm wearing this shirt because I feel like I'm trying to reflect M those statues valor and sacrifice which have been reguilded. I gotta tell you, this is like a play on your part for the attention and love of Donald Trump. it so is. I'm like, I'm here, I'm in gold. I'm here and I'm in gold. s if the US loses to Belgium Do you think Donald Trump knows Goldfinger was a villain in all those movies? They've got fifty pounds of gold leaf. fifty pounds of gold leaf is going on valor and going on sacrifice those remarkable statues. What happens The U.S loses Does Donald Trump interfere again I don't know that he will, you know, mayaybe there'll be an opportunity for him to do it The US will lose in this round or the next round. It's not in the first tier of teams. U And you know, they will have done a pretty good job. They're a better team than they used to be in the past. They move around. They've got a couple of better players and so forth. And, you know, they got an Argentine coach and he seems to be doing a pretty good job. And so You know, if you're a fan of US soccer, you'll be able to carry this forward, although I must say I get a little aggravated listening to the fox coverage of all of this. First of all, because one of their commentators, Aleexi Lawlis, is super Maga And he's constantly saying, well, this is the big breakthrough US soccer has been waiting for And I was like, whereere were you in nineteen ninety nine? I mean, you know, when the US women the world. The US women have been beating the world for a long time. You mean, if women win, it doesn't count But secondly You know, Fox, even in reporting this story that you're talking about yesterday said, Well, there's a controversy because FIFA has reversed this thing. And at no point Did they mention the Pident of the United States at interved At no point did they mention the political controversy around this kind of thing because it's Fox And so even watching a sporting event, you can't get the facts from Fox Well, they report you decide, David. they report you decide They report some of what the facts are, and then they report some lies And I'm sure that, you know, there'll be a great documentary tonight on how the U. S. National team should win everything posted by Maria Bartaroma. So I mean, last night when we're recording this, England played Mexico City in a great game. It was very dramatic two girls by Bellingh him, and then of course, Harry Kaine stepped up into the box. and got what ended up being the deciding goal on a penalty kick Are you following England? Are you a three liance fan? Of course I am, off course I am. and now you've given me the perfect excuse because obviously they meet Norway on Saturday. so it's going to be Harry Kaine, who I think of as my friend and Erling Halland, who, as we know, is now up there as main goals scorer. El Erling Holland is fantastic. I don't know if you've been following him six foot five blond, hilarious, nice, spent four years of his life growing up in Leeds So because his father played in a British soccer league. I also grew up near there, so we have that in common, but you've given me the perfect opportunity to use my personal photo of me and Harry Kanaine. I picked up what's known as an Order of the British Empire and who should be also picking up his medal from Buckingham Palace alongside me, but Harry Caine, and I have a photo of it, which I am unashamed to show here. It's not often one has a personal connection toion of the English squad. But I'm a huge Harry C Ce fan. And he was so nice. slow your roll there Okay, just slow your. Why are you going produce pictures of you and the Norwegian It No, I'm not. I I'm going take issue with your term picked up in order of the British Empire You at like what at the McDonald's drive through window, you picked one up This is how you are blise Should we refer to you as Dame, Joanna Coles from now A? It's not a dame, but I did get a wonderful medal. It was a really fun day. I took my sons and my parents to Buckingham Palace and the highlight for my sons and me actually was meeting Harry Cane Wow R message Six years ago Seven years ago. Six years ago. Sevenenty years ago. And I haven't known. Well there you go, David. there you go. I feel intimidated. Next I'll get the FIFA Peace prize So David, one of the pieces that we did in the Daily Beast last week was about the fact that Trump rarely does any work in the morning He has he has, you know, executive time is what it's referred to in his calendar. but frequently he doesn't start the day until eleven o'clock or twelve o'clock or even later. Is this common for presidents? You've been a study, you've been a student of presidential politics for years now. what time did when you were working for Bill Clinton? what time did he start This is such a leading question. It's like, is it common for presidents to fly around in planes given to them by foreign leaders? Is it Is un commommon for them to intervene in a game of soccer when their teams had the red card Yeah Well, now that you ask, now that you ask, Joan it, No, it's not common for presidents not to show up for work, you know, and and and, you know, they usually take their jobs pretty seriously And some of them do crappy jobs and some of them do good jobs. and most of them, the vast majority of American presidents, do a mediocre job. They do a mixed job at being president of the United States But Donald Trump is you know there are a bunch of recent polls of historians to raate the presidents And Donald Trump finished dead last in all of them Because this record on foreign policy and domestic policy and corruption on leadership and everything is terrible interestnterestingly and I think this is, you know, maybe it's a triumph for him He's managed to become the very worst there is B doing the very least he could And you know, I saw some interview that was to talk about weird. you said this to me So he does an interview with Usa Vance, where he's supposed to be reading children's book And I'd love to talk about that in a second, but in it He was talking about the sports that different presidents like And he had Dwight Eisenhower playing golf and he said U, you know, there was a putting gre but I don't like to use that because I don't want the people to think I'm playing golf It's like What kind of delusional world do you live in? He's played golf like one hundred and fifty times. He spends a third of his presidency playing golf.. It's not just that he gets up late It's that when he's awake, he gets in a motorcate and he goes to play golf. And then he goes to Mar a Lago for a cocktail party And and and the thing is Like get like take the FIFa thing Why does he have time to do that Why does he have the time to intervene in this thing Does't he have stuff to do? apparently he's had several calls with Jony andes. We have an economic crisis in the U.S. We're not creating jobs. There was a bad job report last week. And I'm Prices are high There's a war going on with Iran that has not been resolved There are deep rifts with some of our critical traditional allies around the world, whether it's the Europeans or the Israelis There are a host of other problems across the country He's not doing anything. There's no agenda It gets up Somebody serves him quarter pounders in bed. G puts on his golf tus He put, you know, if he's and you can tell he's having a lazy day when underneath his white Mga hat that he plays golf in. You've got these long oily strands of hair hanging down. We someomeone asked we had a very good comment this week that I was going to refer to where someone said, does Donald Trump do his hair with an egg whisk And I thought, what a great comment. That was from John Whitefoot I loveved that comment. I mean, just to your point about Donald Trump's hair just looking What does he do? It looks like he does his hair with a dab or two of vinaigarerette in it because I mean, he and it just goes out on the court. his big fat belly is hanging over. There' been recent pictures.'s a picture of him the other day where his butt extended out like an extra six inches clearly because he's wearing some kind of Um depends or something underneath there. and You know, he goes out and he plays golf all the time. No president. I sue me Suee the Daily Beast if this is untrue. Wh? No, don't sue us. don't sue us. I'm taking Pident has ever done less work than Donald Trump who has been conscious. There was a period Woodrow Wilson was in a coma He probably did less But then his wife made up for it. Edith was Edith basically ran ran the show.. When Donald Trump eventually has his physical breakthown Will Melania step in? Of course, I will I will step in E first lady step in for her husband. Yes. Of course she will Will you make the decision? I make for America. Deision for America. For America. Yes I make decision. Yes, of course he'll snep and she'll probably do better shell probably do a better job. Well, she'll probably reverse his stance on birthright citizenship because Otherwise, Baron's gonna be deported He's too tall to deport his What a weird sad sad story. I saw somebody on the internet talking about How Baron used to play outside the oval Office to get his father's attention And he just wouldn't pay any attention to it. U, And, you know, he was raised by like two assistants because his mother was never around Where is his mother You must talk about this on On inside Trump's head, we do talk about it. I mean, she's based in according to Michael Wolf, she's really based in New York. She spends her time in New York. Trump's not working and she's not there. This is absentee Lanth or tenants at the White House It's a it's a it's a bizarre bizarre story. and here's the thing I will also make this prediction here We don't know the half of it We don't know the half of it. we don't know the half of it. That's a very good point. Although we do know that he made two point two billion dollars. that came out last week since we last spoke. and Malania made seventeen million Well, you know, Melannia made that great movie, which is a classic. But and you know, and Trumps was somebody asked him in the midst of all of this, well You made three thousand stock trades in one day and he did all this trading the day before, he reversed the tariff decisions. obbviously, all completely corrupt insider trading And then he goes, Well, somebody handles all that for me. And literally Don Jr and Eric, who are the ones who handle it, were standing six feet behind him. at the time that he was saying all of this kind of stuff But again, you know, we don't, you had a story in the Daily Beast about Ivana Trump and people saying that, you know, Ivana was you know, procuring for Epstein like rings. And I happen to know Not because I was involved, but because I know people It was a well accepted fact for a long time The Divana was procuring girls I mean, she was at least seen in this billo in Europe seeking young girls for parties young girls for parties. And now she's buried in Bedminster because you get a tax benefit. Be she's buried in a fucking golf course. And you get a tax benefit from that after She had a horrible accident in which, like every other person who posed a threat to Vladimir Putin She fell down a stairs or off a balcony Okay, so David, I've been looking at the comments. We get lots of comments when you're on the show. We also get lots of questions and I thought it would be nice they sayice They say Rothkopf is the man. I'm such a big fan. This is Daily Beast podcasting at its peak. That's from Boomer Dragon Cat. U I think that I think A booomer Dragon cat is a very insightful person. and I just want to say, is it mister Boomer Dragon cat or Ms Boomer Dragat? It feels like a woman. I don't know, but I don't know why I'm saying that.s M Ms Boomer Dragon Cat. thank you very much. Okay, but it's a good question here for you. And if you send in questions for David, we'll start asking them. David, will any of these grifting families go to prison Do you think after the midterms, assuming that Democrats get in? and who knows, they may not shouldh they begin to start prosecuting or at least goingoing after people for the Giff, the corruption, the levels of corruption really do seem astonishing They are astonishing. We've never seen anything like it. The president made four hundred million dollars, which is still a lot the year before he became president. He made four five times that following I mean, it was six hundred million and he made four or five times that when he became president because of and all these other kind of things. and it's not to speak of the four hundred million dollars airplane with the four hundred million dollar upgrades, which he's flying around in now that ultimately he'll get to keep or all the deals we'll never see that will never be reported. What happened to all the Venezuelan oil money, what happened to you know, all the side deals where he approved something or there was a pardon Who got what in crypto? I don't know that we'll know I'll tell you this, I think some people will be prosecuted I think there will be a big battle that will ensue over whether the president can pardon people in a blanket way or a bunch of things that were clearly um illegal, whether he actually has immunity for acts taken that are not official acts because in Trump for the U. That's the carve out, right? official acts And I think there what you're likely to get is a lot of illegal battles that would go on for years. Well, Trump's aid Will Trump go to jail for this? I doubt it. Will his sons go to jail for this in the United States? I doubt it. might they go to jail or might they become open to prosecution in Albania or Kazakhstan or some other part of the world Um yeah, that's possible Will the Witkoffs or the Lutnikkss or some of these others find themselves running a foul? Yeah, I think it is Let me tell you something that worries me about this Um, I've been was at a dinner with a bunch of Democrats at a high level. And we started talking about whether Trump should be held to account. And at time I mentioned, James Tellerica said the first thing I do when I get in the Senate is going to be to hold them account for their corruption. And John Ossof has been talking about holding the Epstein class to account and so forth all of these people who are They're like progressives household aes, they would say they send I don't think we should do that. You mentioned this last week and we had lot we had a lot of comments saying, this is terrible. This is absolutely terrible. I do remember that I mentioned last week. I had another conversation about it this weekend with some of the same people And and it's a fight right now. I mean, we're having a debate about this. because There is a substantial percentage of Democrats who think that it's just like moveve on. And And personally I don't agree. Chris Christie made a good point yesterday, I think with George Stefanopoulos actually, saying that this is Putin levels of grift. The problem is that the public think both sides are corrupt. So and it's baked in with Donald Trump. They understand he's corrupt. He so In a sense, it I can see why politicians, some politicians might think, you know what actually what we should be doing to stay in power is to deliver for the American people and not get caught up in this. And I can't tell which side will win out in the Democratic Party. Well, you know, we do have some lessons from history, right? The prior biggest, most scandalous era in U S history was Watergate, right And what happened in the Wgate, which according to JD Vance would now be twelve hours in the news cycle Yeah, well here's a pillar. but I think that that's that's an important point actually becausecause Jadie Vance It lives numb to corruption as a lot of people do Who won in nineteen seventy six a candidate that nobody thought was even going to be a contender a year before. and Dav was Jimmy Carter Wh as a governor? I think more importantly for his winning was a Sunday school teacher and a pino pha. and was completely Yeahah, but it wasn't the peanut farm It was that he was Unbelievably scrupulous and clean And his campaign slogan was we need American leaders as good as the American people And I, you know, I don't know who it is, but, you know, some people say, well, maybe Reverend Raphael Warnock should run or maybe somebody's going I mean, look at Taler Rico in Texas having a good chance. Why does he? Well, he's a seminarian And and and I just think that Sometimes we can't afford it to be subtle. Sometimes candidates emerge And they say, no, I'm I'm the antidote to this corruption And I think this corruption is so pervasive It is unlikely that anybody who's seen as establishment or seen as roughly associated with corporate money or APC money or other kinds of sources is going to win. I think it's going to be somebody from left field who people go Oh no, that person's different notot connected by no means is corrupt And I think that's where and then there will be some bunch of reforms that come out of that But I think that's where you're most likely to see the public expressing their revulsion the cess pool of Mago Washington What algae girl summer ice Not bad.. No,s that's good. That's from someone called Sci Kife who very honestly says not my joke, but it's a good line, hot algae girl summer to finish off your actually hopeful note to end on that Jimmy Carter is a good M is a good analogy in history for what may happen next Well, people look for somebody was People Americans are always looking for And Americans are always kind of disgusted with what's going on in Washington And Donald Trump said, I'm not part of it. That's why he won. Barack Obama said, I'm not part of it. That's why what. O a regular basis, Bill Clinton said, I'm from Arkansas. I'm not part of it. That's why what. On a regular basis, the candidate who's best able present themselves as an outsider And as an optimist and That's what you' got to look for. Outsider optimism Yeah, that's the formula that wins. And we also had a comment from a deaf fan of the podcast saying that our captions weren't always accurate. So we looked at Spotify and Apple and actually there's ninety two percent accuracy. So I hope that reassures you that we really are saying the things that you' reading on the caption. You're probably reading the captions and thinking, they can't possibly be saying these strange things Yes, we are Okay, David Rothkop, as usual, a great way to start the week. some hope in there as well as some cold eyed analysis on On the poor Europeans who are just, as you say, waiting it out, can they get through the next two years? Can Ukraine get through the next two years Can we get through the next three years and As I think you discuss on some of your other podcasts, will Trump get through the next few years? Right Well, I'm sorry to hear the air quality is not good. stay in your home. stay in your home, David. I'm got to stay in my bulletproof box. We all have them. I was going to say you can't get into your portion and roar around this morning. I will say that your white shirt with the black jacket, a look I very much like, makes you look like a kind of Puritan judge It really does. It gives you this sort of Puritan type. You know, do you know that I'm the last? episode or two episodes ago, you said because I was wearing the head things that I looked like like one of the founders you looked sort of Benjamin Franklininess with black. Okay, couldouldn't it have been like one of the handsome founders Not Benjamin Franklin? I think they were all handsome in spirit, David. I want to recommend Wolf Hall if you haven't seen it The best The best smart Ryolance as Thomas Cromwell. one is the best actor in the world Both series of Wolf Yeah are spectacular. and of course, Damen Lewis is Henry V. Yeah Also fantastic But particularly the first season of Wilfall because the second one's a little dark But the first season ofol series of Wolf Hall is F television series ever in my book. Yeahep, totally agree. Mark Rylands is so good. I remember watching six episodes back to back, something I've never Ive never done before. I've never done since it was so good Well also Mark Ryland's just if I may He was in this movie Bridge of Sies With Tom Tom Hanks. Right withith Tonam Hanks, right And he played an East German who was a spy and he was charged with espionage and Tom X was his lawyer and then to get a swap where he gets returned But he's in this trial and he's, you know, he could be sentenced to death And on a regular basis Tom Hanks , you know, they say, well, he did this and he did this and he did this and Tom Eanks is like Why aren't you getting angry But why aren't you upset that they're accusing you of all these things And Mark Ryllands's character and Mark Rylands says this in the best dry Dad pencet Would it help? And to me, I've like taken this for these words of Mark Ryllands. as watchwords throughout life because it was such a useful thing. likeike, if I freak out right now, Would it help And I just canan't get enough Mark Rylands and Wolf. And by the way, the books are also spe. The books are spectacular by Hillary Mantel, who funnily enough, I I edited her I used to edit Hilary Mantel when she wrote book reviews for the Spectator Magazine and it was always a thrill. And she was a very eccentric character. who would occasionally show up at the offices and she was suffering from a terrible disease. and she could not have been more pleasant or charming Um And I was sorry that she died recently J, those books are genius. Theyre really. She also has, and I have it by my bedside, a very good book on writing Hilary Mantalon, writing It's a wonderful book. She was super remely talented author and Mark Ryland brings her characters to life. David Rothkoff, it's always good to see you. You've boosted my week ahead. Can't wait to come back and discuss everything again with you next week. Don't go out as we've said. We know the air quality is not good because you're still fighting through the fug of the fireworks. Best fireworks ever. B Nobbody's ever seen anything like it Nobody's ever seen anything like it fireworks. It did look pretty spectacular, the fireworks, I will say. didn't watch Well, I watched on social media like everybody else And I will talk to you next week I will talk to you next week. I always love talking to you. and if the folks have questions, please send them. we love getting the questions And see so. And you can see more of David on Dep State radio, his own network of podcasts, where he's in charge, where he's in charge. All right, see you next Monday. Thank you, Boss Well, write and tell us what you thought of Donald Trump's communist speech his appearance at Mount Rushmore and the whole two hundred fiftieth anniversary of it all. Leave us your comments on YouTube. Don't forget to subscribe to the Daily Bees podcast and a big shout out to our team, John Romero, Ryan Murray Rachel Pasa, Heather Pissaro. Neil Rosen the House and our intern, Max Shaw So the good news is we have so many bebeast tier members now. There are too many names to read out and we really appreciate your support