JD Vance and Nixon Comparisons

I wrote a little song to remind you Choice Hotels get you more of the experiences you value. The Cambria Hotels got it all. a rooftop bar, have a ball. Bring a date, your squad or even your mom. Book direct at choiceots. com. Everything that he reads is funneled through Nathalie Harp because she's the human printer. She prints out this stuff. thingsings that cause her ire that the president will also cause the president ire goes to him. She's also frequently includes personal notes to him. You're the the Alpha and the Omega, the be all and end all. What would I be without you? The Natalie Harp notes were passed to me by other aides of the president who were equally as appalled by this. This is a person who the president has has allowed to become really his closest confidant Michael. so hot, I may be delirious with hot You didn't let me say Joanna You just stepp on you stepped on it I stepped on you, Michael. Yes, but I'm interested to hear how hardot it is because you are in the middle now of experiencing the leading news story in the world Is it really the leading news story insolutely The meltdown of Europe. I mean, this is this is this is this is a significant event. The Europeans coming to terms with the fact that their world is utterly changing. It is now they now live, at least will live partart of the year in Houston, basically Houston or Phoenix? I mean O Phoenix. I think Phoenix is officially the Americans. hottest city, which frequently gets up to one hundred and fifteen degrees. and of course, how do Phoenicians live? They live with air conditioning. No conditioning. This is the thing which I mean, so the Europeans are not only only being confronted by by an ecological event, but it's also an aesthetic and taste event. You know, the Europeans always say, o Americans air conditioning. Oh I could never live in that in that sterile world And the answer now is you can't live outside of that world It's so hot that people aren't actually going down to the edge of the river. I went down to I went down to the river, I went down to the River Seinene today to sort of poke around the rehabilitation of Notre Dame. And I thought, o, there'll be lots of people walking along the rivers. It's too hot even for that. Yesterday there was a brief breeze. And briefly, I thought it was going to be cooler today than yesterday. but it's not, and it's very humid So you just like taking showers. I'm a bath person. This may be TMI for watching. But I actually find showers kind of kind of horrifying to know. Thank you. And that would also by the way be a European thing because which of course, you are a European because showers are so terrible in Europe Well, that might be why. so you're always cold, but I always find showers a bit sort of violent and I like a bath Anway, which doesn't mean I don't take shares all the time, but my point is I've literally been taking also good to know But I have had four or five showers a day here because there is no way to survive without doing that. and we actually have air conditioning in my oldest son's apartment But I'll bet it's bad air conditioning because even when the Europeans get air conditioning and then then they're very proud of this. And you say, no, this is not air conditioning Air conditioning is when you are cold It's terrible air conditioning. I would say that it takes the temperature down by about three degrees and it's a mobile one so you can move it around. And then we have a series of fans, which are unbelievably noisy. So the apartment sounds like a tractor blowing hot air at you sometimes very hot air. Exactly. so we've got esssentially we've got hair dryers on at all time. It's very noisy and we've got hopeless air conditioning. but it does make you think how do people live in Phoenix or Houston or Palm Springs without making any complaint whatsoever? And bureaus are going to have No, it's a tot of the H vac industry. It's Um, if you're in the I mean, I can't I can't believe that people in the H vAac business are not looking at Europe and thinking, oh my God, there's our future next big opportunity And I think they've had four times the regular number of deaths at this time of year because people are just keeling over Frying, of course. They off. I mean, it's extraordinary I mean, I have been in Europe in these in these last years of of heat and it really is extraordinary. It is extraordinary. And of course Paris is so the streets are so narrow, so it's as if you're sort of baking as you're walking along. Anyway, I'm leaving for air conditioned comfort back to the States tomorrow, all being well So u So I belie this you've been. You've been gone now three months Seven months. twelve months. I've been gone for two years. Someone reminded me yesterday, I actually have a life in America and I've sort of forgotten about it. I'm very excited to come back. Um But I guess before we get cracking with all the things we have to talk about, which is Stephen Miller's victory in the Supreme Court and Donald Trump clearly lying about his height. and the state fair, and actually, I thought perhaps we should have our own state fair. You could represent New Jersey. I'll represent New York I think you would have to represent Yorkshire I could represent Yorkshire, We used have the greatreat Yorkshire showh is an absolutely wonderful thing You be the highlight of my summer when I was at school largely because you've got free paper hats, which I really loved. and they're often cut in spirals. Anyway, I digress. We've got We've got to talk about the church and state, whether or not Donald Trump is trying to squeeze them closer together. and of course, it reminds me of your friend Heggers saying lots of prayers all the time. very in public moments praying and JD writing a book about his his conversion just one more of the many conversions in his opportunistic conversions in his life Yeah. I'm looking forward to him reading that on Story Time with the second lady because when we read we grow just to remind you anyway. Be we do that, quick reminder, please subscribe to the Daily Bees podcast, We're independent media. That's why we can bring you these conversations. But before we actually get started, we wanted to bring you a message from a friend of Donald Trump's L the way the clouds are lining up tonight and they look L real clouds. What do we know? G gotot to keep praying for that because God knows we're doing everything else to Make sure we have real skies and clean air but just want to say hello and I've had the most incredible time with my grandson. and now just took off for a day and a half with a couple of girlfriends who said, Isn't it time we just have fun? So I may still be working, but I'm gonna have fun in the process. So just want to sense some love your way Just sending just sending some love your way To all our viewers and all our readers. in case you hadn't seen Marla Mapels, Donald Trump's second wife, mother of Tiffany Trump Yeah She's sending love our way, M. It's a nice thought the real real clouds behind her in the sky It always good to know they're real What do you think motivates people to do these to to suddenly think they have to have a social media Instagram life I mean, I suppose I suppose I should I suppose I should talk, but um Um, I I I know Donald Trump motivates me. Maybe he motivates Marla too Biden has just started an Instagram account too. so we're going to keep an We're going to keep a watchful eye on Dr. Jill was think Do you think people they think somebody comes along, they get some young people in their life who say, you know, you need an Instagram, you need a social media strategy. What's your social media strategy? And they go, I don't know And they said, okay, this is what you have to do. You have to to just be yourself since that's what everyone says your social media strategy should be I think it's a way for people to try and stay relevant, right? So Mla Maples Why do we care about Marla Aelles? She was married to the president, but only briefly and then seemed to warn her friends against letting their daughters work at Mar a Lago. I guess she's doing it to sort of say, look over here Here I am But I don't know why she would do that. Why wouldn't you just want to stay quiet? And likewise the Bidens. I mean, one of the things let's say about about the bushes is that they don't have a social media strategy Um Nor actually do the Clintons really have a social media strategy? So So u dor Jill stop it Yeah, D't even. Don't even try. We don't need to see Dr. Jill. in her kitchen Terrible kitchen too It's a strangely dated kitchen Um feeding her dogs in the morning. Why is she doing that? I guess she's doing it to promote her book, right? That's why people really do it. They've got something to promote. So I don't know why Ttally. That is actually, you hate it because all publishers who are incapable of promoting anything then say their answer to this is, oh, you need a social media strategy And so they just put their life on it. Yeah, since we can offer you nothing, because we're hopeless Now you have to do this because you have social media. You can do it for yourself. Okay, I get it. te So that's why they're doing, I think, to sell something or to stay relevant anyway I tell you who is staying relevant, even if his wife's podcast seems to have disappeared Stephen Miller Stephen Miller had a win this week Donald Trump had a win this week. I mean, Stephven Miller is is I'm sure this is He's very pleased about this, but this is again all about Donald Trump. And we're talking about the Supreme Court win about a ruling that gives the gives Donald Trump and the Trump administration significantly more power in its efforts to deport A lot of brown people. Well, but specifically Haitians and Syrians it's removing their temporary protected status. Yes, but this goes on this this this essentially essentially radiates out into creating a precedent in which in which it basically says in which the Supreme Court basically says, the Pident of the United States has a has a near open field to make immigration policy um, and to and his in the in and the way in which he enforces immigration laws. And so this is a this is a new power this is an expanded power which will you know, if a affect Tens, hundreds of thousands of families actually, families who thought that they were secure in there in their lives in the United States are now no longer secure Well, and the idea that they might be picked up and shipped back to countries where they have no connection anymore and broken countries like Syria and Haiti in particular. Do you think this is actually Donald Trump? or is this Stephen Miller? There are two ways to look at this. Obviously, this is Stehen Miller's initiatives pushing this The Supreme Court in the way they are in their favorable ruling, that's all about Donald Trump And the interesting thing in this is to, I mean, to expand this a little wider, you know, Donald Trump The truth of the Trump administration is that it has met roadblock after roadblock after roadblock in in federal courts in local authorities foreign powers its own incompetence setback after setback after setback is the truth of this administration. But the really reliable place, the reliable piece of the power grid He's been able to count on over and over and over again is the Supreme Court. Um And and in fact, the the Trump administration And what we've seen over the last almost year and a half of this of this term is is a set of actions that have been releliably bolstered backed up by the court You know, and And you you look at this, I mean, it's an I think it's totally fascinating because because in and what it is is is kind of extra constitutional Court. I think for Our assumptions about the court is that noatter no matter its ideological direction, it is underpinned by by Constitutional analysis, whether you agree with it or not it has a kind of, I mean, it has it reverts to a logic And I think that has that has passed. That is no longer true I think in Donald Trump's court, you have you have T justice justices, Alito and Thomas, who are just as old as racist as and as on the take as Donald Trump himself. U That's it. They're in the bag for him. It's, you know, their their interests are aligned with his And then you have the three other justices Kavanaugh Barrett and Roberts who are not reading the Constitution as much as they are reading the room So I think they're very attentive at all times to what they have to give Donald Trump. And you really you really think that they're that attentive. And are you putting Gor such as a kind of maverick? No, no, no G such No, no, I'm putting him in that. And that reading the Rom group too. Y. Yes, absolutely Um, And I think that the issue is is, yeah, I mean, the issue is frankly, they're afraid of Donald Trump So I think that they feel that they are somehow ain the establishment that they don't know what Donald Trump will do or what he is capable of So it's a very Kill us parsing of how to keep him Again, Nothing to do with the Constitution And I am reminded of a story from the first Um campaign the twenty sixteen campaign, when it looked like it began to look like he actually might be the president of the United States, shocking everyone, including the people around him, but they hurriedly his aides. hurriedly convened a meeting with Donald Trump to explain to him Constitution Um and Um, He last he lasted in the room for ten minutes and then was gone. So what he knows about the Constitution was information was ten minutes worth of information Well, and I'm sure he doesn't care, right? Whatever, he doesn't care if it's in the Constitution or not, he just wants to add to the Constitution. Well, I guess that leads us on then to the subject of religion and the separation of church and state, which is also come under scrutiny this week with this report from his religious Commission I mean, the Religious Liberty Commission is what it's called, and it comprises one Orthodox Jew and everybody else is a conservative Christian And yes, and it would seem an evangelical Christian. Yes. so that is, I mean, I mean, from Donald Trump's point of view, and remember, Donald Trump is probably the least the most eer religious president we have ever had Um I mean the only times he has ever even made a nod toward religion is when that has been forced upon him in the in the the presidency. He is you know, The idea that Donald Trump would acknowledge a higher power is a Um is a very funny idea. Well, and he's too frequently AIyed out this Yeah pictures of himself as Christ saying, he's a healer. He's a healer. Donald's the healer. You know, he has no interest in the pope. He says that the only reason the pope's got his job is because of Donald Trump. That's why they needed an American pope. I mean, he holds religion in such low regard apart from when he needs its voters Yeah, no. and I would add to this, I myself hold religion in low regard. So this is perhaps a This is where maybe the two of you are common. Exactly. And he is, you know, Donald Trump is is a New Yorker like I am in New Yorker and Um, and you, you know, sees sees sees the world through through that lens and it's a lens of of how how would we disco back It's the lens of we're in, you know, a proudly atheist city. U He's just proudly expedient though. He'll pretend he believes in God if he needs to Yeah, but I mean, he doesn't pretend very hard. That's also the interesting thing So it's Well, well, and I wonder again, I've been thinking about the point you made last week that actually culturally you know with UFC and things He's actually Um People are relieved They're relieved by the lack of pretention, they say, he's just like me. when he picks up the Bible and he holds it upside down, which he may have done on purpose actually. It's a way of indicating to people that he doesn't take this stuff terribly seriously. And I think although there are lots of people out there who do, the majority of people know they can't live up to it and it's there if they need it But most people don't feel they need it all the time Yeahah, I mean, I feel you're being, u accommodating on this. I think I you' a bit more sympathetic to people who feel that they want some kind of religion or faith. having just literally last week buried my mother, I've felt very glad for the rituals of a Christian funeral service to go to the church where she was a member of that community and sing hymns that I'd grown up singing. It felt like there was a rite of passage here and the formality of the service helped. But but you don't and you won't and you will be Um I assume putting an ururn and lefts in a closet somewhere and I will be sprinkled in the hudson, Michael Or possibly off off East Hampton Beach. Yeah, possibly, but I find mostly that people don't get around to doing that. Well I don't want to sit in I don't want to sit in a plastic bag in an n. Actually, I should say she was cremated and then put in an eco box, which is now in the ground and then it goes back to goes back to the earth The point is not the burial or the cremation. The point is the service for the people who are left Yes. Well, the point for Donald Trump is a is a very specific constituency and that constituency, which he has He has made a deal with at some point and he has consistently delivered for and that deal did not did not include that he had to be a believer. was what that was what the interesting thing, the historically interesting thing about that deal. I don't believe in any of this. You can't even I don't even No one even has the pretense here that I believe in any of this. I am as as as openly blasphemous as I as any president has ever been in thought and action, but that doesn't make any difference because I am going to give you what you want. is one of those instances. Right. And he's enjoyed the blasphemy, right? I mean, the other thing is he looks like he enjoys himself. I think it is it is true that he he's had this both ways and I think whereas Whas JD Vance, who is couring this proud and just wrote a book about his his conversion to Catholicism seems like like a like just like a suck up in a dweber and And I, you know, and I don't think anyone takes this seriously because we know he's a cynical guy and we know why he's doing this, but he is trying to He's trying to fool everybody. and Donald Trump isn't trying to fool anybody. But he doesn't make it look fun, either, does he J Dvant? It looks like it's a struggle, his rooute back to his faith. Well, in all fairness, it should be a struggle Religion is a struggle And that's why Donald Trump doesn't like it. And that's why people know and with him. it's it's his power to connect over stuff like that because you know that he's he's winking even as he's Well he's a cynical. He's a cynical guy and and I think cynicism is probably has been underrated in politics. This is a nod to It's a nod to the evangelicals because he wants them in his court come the mid terms, right Yes. very much. I mean, I mean, this is I mean that is he's just delivering this. And to some great extent, it's also it's completely meaningless. The fact that and let's say this document argues that the that the division of of church in that church and state is a constitutional misunderstanding Um So it's I mean, it's kind of like u You know, everything that you have ever thought about the way this country operates is not true Right And of course, in fact, we know lots of people came to this country fleeing organized religion. So their insistence on the originalist's point of view doesn't quite make sense of. anyyway,'s politically expedient, but it's still interesting nonetheless. And as you say, he got ten minutes into the Constitution and then left the room. So maybe this was a bit he didn't understand. But it appears that we are back at war with Iran or at least They bombed a tanker or they sent a drone over and it exploded on a tanker. So now we've gone and bombed them. So I'm not quite sure what happened to the ceasefire or the memo of misunderstanding at this point Well, I think that this is we're still at the face saving stage of this Donald Trump, we're still in this moment of Donald Trump figuring out to get out of this situation with the least amount of damage. and he is being accused pretty much everywhere of complete capitulation. giving up everything of of surrendering And I so I think this instance and this instance could of course spiral out of control at any minute. but this instance is is him being able to say, no, we're firm, we're standing. We' we' we will we will push back Um, and we have to biggest, mightiest military, et ccetera, etceter real message, I want you to forget about this as quickly as possible Right. And so which prompts the question Will people forget about this before the midterms And uh and I I mean, this is kind of fundamental premise of modern politics, certainly of Trump politics, is that people do forget about seemingly everything They really do. But if this escalates They're not going to forget And Iran has, I mean, Iran does this obviously, but they have made very threatening. statements after this latest contranton saying, you know, we're going to go after your allies. We're going to Essentially reign holy hell if you provoke us again be very bad for Donald Trump Um, So I think that that would indicate that he will give them again, whatever they want It'll give them more so that this doesn't happen on Donald Trump has to get out of this war, has to do it essentially now order for this not to be an overriding issue in the midtermss U So you know, I mean It looks like prices, at least the price of oil is coming down at the pump a bit. so he may get the benefit from that. Consumer sentiment appeared to be slightly on the up. firstirst time this year No, I mean, I think that this is that this is the I mean mean, we now have this peace deal is doing it is giving everyone the opportunity to to to smooth this over. And um, And So so that's the question. We all know what this war has been about. We all know that this war has been it been a disaster. We all know that in order to stop this war, he has had to essentially gain nothing from u from from the the four months we've been fighting this this war. Nothing is Nothing is materially improved for the interests of the United States now more than it was before the war started. But it's to the dirty worse It's significantly worificant Yes. And the deal that he has that he has cut is less than the deal that Obama cut, which he then ran against m made that a prime issue of his of his um of his political life So we all know that. that's there. It's all laid out, could not be clearer. will that Will we remember any of that comeome November and the answered Strangely, I mean, it's perplexing to me is no, we probably won't Well, there'll be other things to think about then, but Well, that's the point. There are other things, yes, there are other things that come that there are other distractions. there are other things that pile on top of this. but this is and I mean, mean now is the leading issue of defines Donald Trump and the fact The fact that By the time November comes around, he may actually get away with this is astounding to me. Well he gets away with so many things. One of the things I'm slightly fascinated that he gets away with is clearly lying about his height. I saw a photo this week which I wanted to bring to your attention because it involves my friend, John Thune who I think look so much more presidential than Trump. Well, well wait a minute, wait a minute. Let's stop there. The idea that anyone That Trump any way looks presidential. Yes, fair. I mean, he's a grotesque clownish I mean, the only way that he looks presidential is in the context that in order to be president, you have to people have to have to be just canan't take your eyes off of you. Well, and that's certainly true. but can we totally agree? Okay, now can we look at the height differential here of these two guys because John The is six foot four. Donald Trump insists he's six foot two. but He's shrinking He's shrinking into the giant shrimp that Steve Bannon said that he was. I think he looks more like Vice because he's so sort of big around the shoulders. But he's definitely not six foot two. I mean, John Thune looks like he's got fourour inches on him there. I know that size isn't supposed to matter, I think it does in this situation. Well, we do shrink I'm shrinking I'm shr I'm shrinking as we u as we sit here. U Can I just tell you the benefit of having I've had in the last year, regular viewers and listeners will know. I've had not one but two hip replacements in the last year and I have grown an inch hugely grateful to my doctor for giving me an extra extra inra my height Anyway, I don't think that's what John Thune is doing. I think that Donald Trump is literally shrinking as we see him. How old is John Foon born sixty one. so he's sixty five Well, Donald Trump is as we know eighty and as we should repeat on a regular basis, Donald Trump is eighty. and, you know You shrink There it is. You drrink. Well we're watching it. But maybe he's got accelerated drrinking, which could be a new form of syndrome Accelerate A S. ass. I think he's got accelerated shhrinking syndrome, Michael. andm diagnosing him, which I know you don't like it when people do. Okay, so the New York Times appears to have frankly caught up with something that we have been talking about since we started this podcast, which is that Donald Trump basically has a series of obsessions and he rules by obsession That's what That's what no careful At tot. I think it's extraordinary that the times has taken so long to get to this. I mean, they have so assiduously tried to see Trump in in a relatively normal political context. cause and effect. This is he does this pursue this goal. And so this week in this the times in this timees story, they basically threw that out. I mean, after ten years. they basically saying, Oh, yeah, yeah, that's not true. He does things for no reason whatsoever except that they live in his head Which if you came here and we would tell you Well hello Trump's head that su He would have of us doing this. Yes. you know, his policy is based on whoever annoyed him on television that morning. I mean, I have, you know, criticized the times again and again and again, but but this was kind of kind of stunning, a stunning admission on their part that they literally do not know how to report about President Their way of reporting about a president is is is as we report about politics It's a process business. And this story is the identifies the exact opposite situation. There's no process at all. It is pure obsession, whatever comes into his head godamn reflecting pool. The reflecting pool Literally that exists outside of politics. There's no cause and effect. This is not going to be good for him in any way. He is not going g from this only and the only reason it is happening is that it he can't he can't get it out of his mind U It is something it literally and and I've spoken to people in the White House who are kind of agog at this too. You know, it's all he talks about So So all that the New York Times The next logical headline for the New York Times is President of the United States Crazy as a fruit cake They will not get there, of course, but this is effectively what they are saying now. finally finally. I find the New York Times compelling for all sorts of reasons and it's a huge resource, but at the same time, they've also really struggled to or they were really, really late on understanding the importance of the Epstein files. Well they can't even get that story. I mean, I mean, they did of a story of Jeffrey Epstein's Jeffrey Epstein as a as a as a child, was this the one on your childhood? Growing up in which they manage to spend, they speent a lot of words saying, Jeffrey Epstein appears to have been absolutely normal No one noticed as a child that he was going to grow into one of the most diabolical people of the century But I'm trying to think that. I would say that that would be a New York Times line in clearly an overstatement in any in any reasonable context of the history, Um, can I say? So there's lots of Natalie Harp stuff in Reime Tange, the newew Maggie Habermman and Jonathan Swan book I feel like you had all this in your book and we've been talking about Natalie Harp, AKA the Human printer for some time now.gain, the New York Times. what I mean, how I mean I mean, they're running years behind at this point. I mean Natalie Harp is a good story and in a kind of important story because she spends so much time she is the person who spends noody spends more time with the president of the United States than Natalie Harp. And this is a relationship that that yeah, I described at great length in Um in my bin or nothing. Ab the campaign. Yeah. So the fact that the New York Times suddenly wakes up to this,, you know, Again, and I think that part the part of the history of understanding the Trump presidency will be understanding how poorly the news media, the New York Times, particularly, has covered this guy. and they have and this has happened because they just don't understand them He exists outside of politics and all of their political reporters exist inside of politics Right But but I would go back to say that Natalie Harp's story is a piece of work. and in my in my book in All or Nothing, I You know, I produced a set of a set of notes that she had written the president. I mean, love letters, in which everybody during everybody was in a major kfuffle over this, including the Secret Service warning the president of the United States or warning aides to the president whose job it was then to bring to the president whether they did or not that they saw her as a as a danger to herself and to him And is the implication that she's in love with him in these notes? Be she writes in notes you know No one is more important to me. Yeah I mean, these are love love notes, mash notes. Yeahah, completely. And she leaves them in his private spaces. What are his private spaces? No, she leaves them. so Natalie Harp is everything that he reads is is funneled through Natalie Harp because she's the human printer. She prints out this stuff U And so and the stuff that she prints out is is this laudatory stuff, any anything laudatory. She has she's searching for at all times and then giving to the president other things that will that will cause him Iire. So in in actually that that would be that would be her agenda. So things that cause her ire that the president will also cause the president hire That goes to him. But in this pile of papers, she's also frequently includes personal notes to him Um, and notes that, you know, you're the The alpha and the Omega, the be all in E all. What would I be without you Um I and then and then weird kind of kind of language of which kind of suggests him punishing her I don't I'm not even gonna go there H punishing her, that sounds very strange. Well, they're sort of motivational love notes, aren't they? That's what I thought when I read them They're sort of supposed to be motivating for him and No, I don't I don't think that that's true at all. I think that they're they're straight up Um Um, you know, I want to, um You know, I want to climb into bed with you She doesn't say this, but I think that is she say That's the tone of this. I love you. I am I am I exist because of you I exist only in your shadow. I' And how do they compare with the love notes that RFK junior still junior at seventy two? The love texts that he sent to Olivia Nutzi I want to put a baby in you I need you to. There was some very strange language around those texts Yeah. well, I think most most u mostost love notes should not be read by outsiders, but that all probably most of of notes should not be written, I think is is the conclusion from this or certainly not left around for public consumption. And those notes that the Natalie Harp notes were passed to me by other aides of the president who were equally as appalled by this. And that's one of the things that exists in currently in the Trump White House, this tension she has that this is a person who the president has has allowed become really his closest confidant And she looks like Melania with blonde hair. I mean, to your point, we've talked extensively on this podcast about how the women around Trump all look the same. They wear boots, they wear skirts, they have long hair, Marco Martin, Melania, Hope Hicks And I remember Hope Hicks telling me that she used to get up at three in the morning So that she was always at her desk by five AM because we know that he doesn't sleep and It sounds like Natalie Harp is is sort of twenty four seven at the White House at this point. Yeah, no. and she was I mean during during the campaign, there was a concerted effort to to u to get her away from the president, to get in her way to do anything to impede her access And and when they moved during the summer of twenty twenty four when they when they moved up to Bedminster Um Um actuallyct this was probably the summer of twenty twenty three because they And then they stayed in pumped anyway Um, they mo they moved up there and they did not give her any housing accommodations. Um And then she, u She arranged it her on her own that she would that she would get she would be able to stay in the in a maid's quarter at Bedminster. But that was far from the main house where Trump was. So instead she moved herself into the women's locker room spent the summer there Was there a bed in the women's locker room That I don't know she didn't have ton have been it cannot have been very comfortable. I hope she didn't have to squeeze herself into a locker and sleep there. Perhaps she had to lock herself into a locker at night so no one could find her. Well, the mystery of Natalie Harp continues, but I remember those love notes and I remember talking about them with you. when we first started doing inside Trump's head, which is ten months ago at this point. We promised that we would talk about Lee Greenwood. loveovely Greenwood. bless the USA. This was always, you know, the the um The thing that I looked for when I had to go to these when I did go to these Trump events, always the moment I looked forward to is Lee Greenwood Pottering out on stage the oldest, u the oldest country music star in the world There W that be true? He's only eighty three. I feel like there are lots of them that are probably older than that. Well you know, I said that as I said that, I realize the country music probably attracts a lot of oldsters Yeah. And of course, you know, he had his He had as many stars might have been slowing down twenty five years ago at his age because he's eighty three now so he would have been sort of sixty then. He got a whole new surge of popularity post nine eleven, didn't he? I mean, our producer, Ryan, was saying that that they were always playing, God bless the USA in school And it was a sort of it's like a sort of shadow star spangled banner Yeah, no, And again, there's that thing about, you know, Trump in his idea of American taste So I mean, I find it hard to imagine that actually this has this has resoundingly scored with We're going to just stop a minute as you get the That's Paris That's Paris, the church bells in Paris. and it's rather wonderful, isn't it to hear the bells? You have the Amagan sit horn at noon It's so so Lee Greenwood, you know, I mean, Trump is in the middle of of this of having to stage this This's two hundred and fiftieth Um, birthday of the United States of America, which is apparently going is a total fiasco Um And the only basic star he's been able to produce is is Lee. of course Uh particularly thrown into contrast because Barack Obama had Stevie Wonder and Who must actually be around the same age as Lee Greenwood is. Yeah No, I have to I take back this. everybody every not a country now is now in their in their eighties. Totally Paul McCartney is my amagst neighbor is Yeah, every in their eighties, everybody's in their eighties at this point Yeah, all the musicians, but certainly, I mean the boss isn't quite eighty micans all of the politicians, everybody We've over here. No, I think it's, I mean, all this criticism of Donald Trump for being eighty It may just be that the world is eighty, that the only people who really matter are eighty Yeah, NATO's eighty I mean, think of it in that way. So Lee Greenwall, Jesus, why am I making him Jewish He is the least Jewish person on earth Um But at any rate, Lee Greenwood is is not might be the only star at the at the Trump fair at the Trump two hundred and fiftieth birthday fair And he actually may be the only person or among the few people who show up. so Joanna, you have a PV report from the Americas What is this thing called America's Fair? America Aicas America State Fair Okay, the Pf report. I heard from report, Well, it was simply that U, A MAGA live streamer called Manny who was dressed up as Uncle Sam, you know completely Stars and stripes absolutely everywhere. It turned out because there weren't very many people there. he was easy to spot pllus he was live streaming and there was an acrobatic group of sort of circ deillet light and Manny was reported to be enjoying himself rather too much and his hands apparently were down the front of his pants and not once, not twice but three times He had to be approached by police and finally, they took him away and arrested him, which must have been tough because that must have brought the numbers of the crowd down significantly I think we're going to show some pictures of just how few people have turned up for this thing. And it was one of these Uncle Sam caricatures on stilts. He was on stilts. I thought he was onts He wasn't on stilts. I thought he was on stilts. How was not on stilts. How disappointing? Do you want to make any remarks on JD Vant's embracing the mantle of Richard Nixon. I do. I's extraordinary. What could have motivated that Ecept that there is a thing and this is a Trump thing So everything, and I think you have to understand see it in this light, everything that JD Vance says, every single word out of his mouth. has some ulterior modotive with regard to Donald Trump So Donald Trump has a Nixon fixation offtten comes up, Nixon got a bum deal, Nixon was screwed or The favorite thing, Nixon should have burned the tapes. if Nixon had only burned the tapes I would have saying this burn the tapes Um So much so within within the Trump circle, it's the burn they go burn the tapes rolling their eyes, having heard this so so often Right So I think this is JD Vance is sending that message back to Donald Trump I agree with you. I'm on I'm on the same plane. The Nixon thing. Nixon got a bum deal So is he saying that because he's projecting because he thinks he got a bum deal last time aroundound or What is the What is the contrast gainer here as you would say J JD JD Vance is just saying this just to please Donald Trump. Everything he's saying a way to please Donald Trump everythingvery a his campaign to ultimately get Donald Trump's approval. There is going to be a moment Donald Trump is going to have to say, I endorse JD Vance, or I endorse someone else, or I endorse nobody where I endorse all of them. I mean, we just had a race candidates. Exactly, exactly. But JD Vance, JD Vance's life at this point is is is is hooked on one event. That event, Donald Trump saying, I endorse you We've got a new contributor to our limerics. This one is from Nicholas Rchford New Blue pool Now, not so cool Our press flies off the handle, can't afford another scandal, go to find and jail a Andal. Very apropo Then this is one from someone called Haveatherink. There once was a king with a pool When he looked at it, he saw a fool So he Huffony puffed, ordered help to be snuffed and succeeded in ending his rule. And then we have one from Garfried There was once a man in a funk. pond with green algae quite sunk. the Wars raged abroad and his polls took a plot, he still brooded on slime in the bump. very creative Very creative. We get lots of them and I'm not very good at collating them, but very good news. we have an intern starting on Monday who's going to start going through the comments And being really methodical about how we respond to them and how we collect your comments and take themes from them and actually answer some of your questions specifically. And someone made a very good point last week, which I hadn't noticed, and Michael, you didn't notice either, which that I constantly refer to Ukraine as the Ukraine because when I grew up in school That's how it was referred to. But in fact, in nineteen ninety one, when Ukraine became its own country you're supposed to drop definite objects. So I've corrected you on this before and I've g yes, and I've given up Puzz it. You can only correct someone so often. Well, turns out that We have a very knowledgeable Ukrainologist, I think listening to the show and they every it's one no They a long Literally everybody has learned this lesson over the past four years. Okay. well, never having talked about Ukraine We do now talk about Ukraine regularly and I've got to drop theer So duly corrected, duly noted, than you. and if you have been, thank you for watching and thank you for listening. And I will see you in person believe Very ex over quest If you if you indeed do come back Which I still have my doubts about from the hottest placees on earth. Thank you Ryan Heather Neil John There's one more don't tell me, Rachel God's sake, Rachel Thank you 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