How Trump Is Exposing Own Psychotic State: Wolff

Summary

The Daily Beast Podcast – Detailed Episode Summary

Episode Title: How Trump Is Exposing Own Psychotic State: Wolff
Date: May 15, 2026
Host: Daily Beast (Hugh Doherty, filling in for Joanna Coles), Michael Wolff
Main Theme:
This episode dives into Donald Trump’s behavior during a key state visit to China, his declining grip on reality as observed through his late-night social media postings, and the chaotic state of his administration—highlighting everything from the composition of his travel entourage to the influence of billionaire tech donors and allies like RFK Jr. The conversation is rich with cutting, at times darkly humorous, political analysis and media critique.

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1. Trump's China Visit – Context and Interpretation

Timestamp: 02:44–10:49

• Trump’s Obsession with China:

  • China is presented as the “paramount issue” in Trump’s political psyche—he views it “as a zero sum rivalry. If they benefit, we don't.” (Hugh Doherty, 02:53–03:17)
  • Even Steve Bannon, no Trump loyalist otherwise, saw “China” as the singular valid issue. Trump’s recognition of China as a key adversary was seen as his one real achievement by some (03:27–05:29).
  • Despite tough talk, Chinese dominance has only “steamrolled” ahead in Trump’s administrations, economically and militarily. (Michael, 06:11–07:02)

• Failure of Tariff Strategy:

  • Tariffs against China were short-lived: “Trump imposed the tariffs, the Chinese threatened back, he removed the tariffs…That’s essentially where we are.” (Hugh Doherty, 07:41–08:39)

• Trump’s Diminished Persona:

  • Body language and optics now show Trump “physically diminished,” “not the alpha male here” as he appears before Xi Jinping. (Michael, 09:26; Hugh Doherty, 09:56)
  • The Chinese “are inside Trump’s head and…are playing Trump…He does not have advisors…who have a grasp of the issues at hand. And…he’s screwed.” (Hugh Doherty, 09:56–10:49)

Notable Quote:

“If this were a family member of literally anybody…anyone…who stayed up all night and posted…that would be a mental health crisis. What do you do with the clear evidence that the President of the United States is behaving in a way that for anyone else would beg for an intervention?” – Hugh Doherty (00:18–01:07)

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2. The Surreal Trump Entourage

Timestamp: 13:56–18:51

• Celebrity and Oligarch-packed Guest List:

  • Trump brought Elon Musk, Tim Cook, Jane Fraser, Jensen Huang (Nvidia)—but claims of “30” business leaders are fiction (“The maximum anybody’s been able to get to is 14, and that might include Eric Trump”). (Michael, 15:26–15:51)

• The Brett Ratner Factor:

  • Infamous director Ratner’s presence, following his recent documentary about Melania, underscores the “entourage of assholes” (Hugh Doherty, 17:58):

    “In other more traditional and normal administrations, the entourage would consist of policy people…This is an entourage of assholes.” (Hugh Doherty, 17:58–18:30)

• Media Extensions:

  • Sean Hannity tagged along to record an “official interview”—turning diplomacy into a spectacle (18:30–19:00)

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3. Distraction from Domestic Crises – Inflation Denial

Timestamp: 19:05–22:21

• Trump Shrugs Off Inflation:

  • When asked about the domestic financial impact of foreign negotiations (e.g., Iran):

    “Not even a little bit. The only thing that matters…they can’t have a nuclear weapon…I don’t think about American financial situation…I think about one thing.” (Michael quoting Trump, 19:48–20:00)

• Class Contempt:

  • Wolff discusses Trump’s documented contempt for his own base:

    “There’s something about Trump that always reverts to a kind of 1955 mean, but it’s also…a kind of contempt. There is him, he’s a rich guy. And then there are all of these…other people who support him.” (Hugh Doherty, 20:24–21:54)

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4. Psychosis in Plain Sight – Trump’s Online Behavior

Timestamp: 24:41–32:50

• Late-Night Social Media Rants:

  • Trump’s Truth Social feed is full of “out of control, bizarre, unhinged, irrational” posts, often overnight. In April, “80% of nights he is posting during the hours that a normal person you would expect to be asleep.” (Michael, 27:42–28:19)
  • Aids are relieved his posts are less seen by the public due to platform obscurity but worry, “it was there for everyone to see.” (Hugh Doherty, 25:07–27:42)

• Mainstream Media Slow to Respond:

  • Wall Street Journal and CNN only just began to acknowledge the president’s detached behavior.

    “There are no headlines in the New York Times that say the President of the United States has flipped his lid. Which…is the conclusion that you would come to…” (Hugh Doherty, 25:07–26:30)
    “I listened to [CNN]…flabbergasted. Didn’t you know? Everybody knows—you didn’t know, CNN?” (Hugh Doherty, 30:27–30:55)

• Diagnosis Reluctance:

  • Wolff hesitates to diagnose, but:

    “Nothing that he posts would be considered within the normal frame…of literally anybody.” (Hugh Doherty, 29:56–30:06)

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5. Administration of “Crazies” – RFK Jr. and Kash Patel

Timestamp: 32:56–44:12

• RFK Jr.'s Wild Conduct:

  • RFK Jr. interrupts heart surgery at the Cleveland Clinic for political theater. RFK, the White House’s “anti-vax” face, is now awkwardly marginalized without being outright fired.

    “Everyone is quite clear that he is, he is a nutball. And now there are other inexplicable hires and other nut balls, but none that has resounded so much…” (Hugh Doherty, 34:33–37:34)

• Internal Chaos and Firings:

  • The administration quietly fires his hires and distances him, “defenestrating RFK Jr. without firing him.”
  • Even the FDA commissioner departs over disagreements on vaping—another example of clashing personal and political interests trumping expertise. (Hugh Doherty, 37:55–38:55)

• Kash Patel’s Controversial Rise:

  • A “conspiracy theorist” and Trump loyalist made head of the FBI:

    “…during the first administration and 2024 campaign, the ‘normies’ would single out Kash Patel as someone…who would never get a senior appointment. Here we are.” (Hugh Doherty, 41:31–41:32)

  • Under scrutiny for “alcoholism” and misuse of perks, his only real “protection…is that he’s an absolute loyalist controlling the FBI, which Trump has always feared is investigating him… Imagine if Kash were your protector.” (Hugh Doherty, 44:12)

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6. The “Crypto Guys” and Tech Money’s Influence

Timestamp: 46:52–51:16

• Tech Billionaires Drive GOP Midterms:

  • Tech, led by Andreessen Horowitz (“the crypto guys”), is the main source of midterm funding rather than Trump himself. Their donations (“$115 million so far in this cycle”) have resulted in staffers and policies directly aligned with their interests. (Michael, 49:07; Hugh Doherty, 47:21–47:39)
  • Elon Musk courts attention (stepping off Air Force One), in contrast to Andreessen Horowitz’s more muted (but absolutely real) influence. (Michael, 49:07–51:16)

• Billionaires’ Motivation:

  • “What distinguishes billionaires…They want you to know that they are billionaires because they’re really great. And the only way you do this is by making publicity part of your coin…You’re funding your own mythology…” (Hugh Doherty, 50:34–51:16)

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7. Humorous Closure: Limerick on China and Trump

Timestamp: 51:33–52:16

• Poetic recap:
  • Garfried, the show’s resident poet, provides a limerick on Trump’s China dealings, playfully highlighting the theme of American decline:

    “There once was a dawn in Beijing
    who bartered off every darn thing.
    While Marco played Clark,
    she finished the work
    of crowning America’s king.”
    (Read by Michael, 51:33–52:12)

---

Memorable Quotes

• On Trump’s public mental decline:

  “What do you do with the clear evidence that the President of the United States is behaving in a way that for anyone else would beg for an intervention?” – Hugh Doherty (00:18)

• On the China visit optics:

  “He looks bad. He looks like a toady. He looks like a supplicant.” – Hugh Doherty (09:41)

• On Trump’s contempt for his base:

  “His base…he has this kind of unvarnished contempt for them…don’t bother me with your little problems.” – Hugh Doherty (21:00–21:54)

• On RFK Jr. in the White House:

  “He is, he is a nutball…they don’t know what to do inside the White House…defenestrating RFK Jr. without firing him.” – Hugh Doherty (34:33–37:34)

• On tech money’s motives:

  “You’re funding your own mythology, in fact.” – Hugh Doherty (51:13)

---

Episode Flow and Tone

True to the Beast’s signature voice, the episode mixes sharp political dissection with biting humor and an air of exasperation at how surreal and unmoored from precedent American politics—and media—have become. The hosts' rapport makes for a “best dinner party” vibe, as they thread together the instability at the top, the self-serving new oligarchs, a media slow to confront reality, and the bizarre parade of characters circling the White House.

For listeners and non-listeners alike, the episode provides:

• A pointed look into Trump’s China policy and his unraveling public persona
• Candid anecdotes about the most “colorful” players in his orbit
• Critical insights into the structure and psychological state of the administration
• An alarmed, irreverent, and evidently well-sourced perspective on the deepening dysfunction at the heart of American politics

Transcript

[Michael]

Some follow the noise. Bloomberg follows the money. Whether it's the funds fueling AI or crypto's trillion dollar swings, there's a money

[Hugh Doherty]

side to every story.

[Michael]

Get the money side of the story. Subscribe [e-mail]

[Hugh Doherty]

you can look this up and find the President of the United States continuously saying things that are out of control, bizarre, unhinged, irrational that have departed reality. If this were a family member of literally anybody, anybody's who stayed up all night and, and posted sometimes, sometimes In a night, 100 posts, this kind of, this kind of wingnut stuff, that would be a mental health crisis. What do you do of the clear evidence that the President of the United States is behaving in a way that for anyone else would beg for an intervention? Hugh, how are you?

[Michael]

Michael, I'm very pleased to be here. Thank you. Thank you for having me.

[Hugh Doherty]

This is Hugh Doherty, the editor of the Daily Beast is filling in for Joanna Coles who is yet with her family in Yorkshire. So you and I are, are in, in, in position, ready to go.

[Michael]

We are in this together.

[Hugh Doherty]

At least we're not in China and

[Michael]

we are not in China. We could be, we could have been in the, we could have been in the Great hall of the People, but apparently, Michael, you were not invited.

[Hugh Doherty]

Yes, no, no, I don't think I'm on the, on the invite list and, but we should get into who is, who, who is in fact on the invite list because it is quite a cast of characters and I should say

[Michael]

before we dive into this show, as Joanna always says, please take a moment, hit the subscribe button, share it with your friends. And I'll just say as just a personal note, I was privileged to already be on the show earlier this week and some of you sent some very nice notes and particularly notes of support for Joanna, who I know, Michael, you've spoken to her as well, really feels that support.

[Hugh Doherty]

She's in a terrible position. It's a position that we all have or will find ourselves in. So I think that there's a lot of understanding and a lot of sympathy.

[Michael]

So moving to the business of the day though.

[Hugh Doherty]

China, China, China.

[Michael]

What exactly is Donald Trump trying to accomplish in China?

[Hugh Doherty]

You know, this is an interesting moment in the, in the, in the Trump political history because China has always been the paramount issue for him. That is the, the, the solution, in his mind, the solution to the problems in the United States is solving the problem of China. And he has seen this in a very basic way. It's an economic rivalry and it's a zero sum rivalry. If they benefit, we don't. Now you can disagree with that and obviously many have. But at the same time, I think that it's also regarded as in many ways his single accomplishment, the single thing that, that, that many people have said, okay, Trump, Trump is crazy and most of his policies are, are out there and nutty and inconsistent. But the China perception on his part is valid and central. And while he may not get the details right, he has in a way that other politicians before him didn't, didn't appreciate that this was, that China was the, China was the rivalry, the main rivalry in the world. And how we dealt with that was, would affect fundamental issues of the American economy and the American future. So I think there were a lot of people, especially in the first administration, who were willing to say, okay, let's overlook everything else. This is a major issue. And I know I spent a lot of time during the first administration with Steve Bannon, who clearly regarded it this as the singular issue. And he would openly say Trump was a moron. Trump is a, is a beast. Trump is, is, is inexplicable in so many ways. But if he got China right, if he got China half right, that would be a significant accomplishment. And then Bannon would say, and that's why he was on the Trump side team very explicitly, one issue. China. Okay? Now over the course of, of 10 years, and let's, let's note that I think the ban, the, the Biden administration, the ban administrator, the Biden administration kept many of the Trump China policies in place. Nevertheless, over the course now of, of, of 10 years, what we have, what we have seen is, is only increasing, marching, steamrolling Chinese dominance.

[Michael]

Right?

[Hugh Doherty]

They have, if this is a zero sum game, well, they have gotten everything and we have gotten very little.

[Michael]

China's been growing at 5% a year after Covid. The US is not by any measure. It's maybe growing 2%, maybe 3% over that same period. And China's military, we keep seeing displays, and Trump in fact was presented with a display of the Chinese military, but we keep seeing it's a much more serious force than it has ever been. And finally, in this sort of sense of dominance, it is to China that people are that other world, that other countries turn for guidance or investment or whatever as a first choice.

[Hugh Doherty]

What we have seen over and over and over again is that the Trump policies on so much else have worked redounded to the benefit of China. And of course we had, early in this second term we had a clear Face off. And that's what I mean, the tariffs,

[Michael]

remember the tariffs, Liberation Day, who can forget?

[Hugh Doherty]

Were principally. I mean, they were directed against everyone, but principally and most of all, and most onerously against China until they weren't.

[Michael]

Yeah.

[Hugh Doherty]

So there was the imposition of a draconian tariff on China, you know, in which. With the. With the point. You know, the fundamental point. Chinese goods were flooding the American market. Chinese goods were. Had stolen. The America's industrial base, that the Chinese middle class had. Had benefited at the expense of the American middle class. Very. A straightforward argument. And tariffs would be the thing that would. That would make a significant dent in Chinese imports. Okay. Those tariffs lasted for I don't know how many hours. I mean, essentially, essentially, Trump imposed the tariffs, the Chinese threatened back, he removed the tariffs, and. And that's essentially where we are. So he's showing up in. In China trying to accomplish, you know, I don't. Beyond a distraction to the war in Iran and the distraction to so many other issues at home. I don't know what he is trying to accomplish. I don't think he knows what he's trying to accomplish. I think maybe, you know, at best, he's trying to stave off absolute humiliation. I don't know. And I think the effect of this is. I mean, the look is terrible, right? I mean, he looks bad. He looks like a toady. He looks like a supplicant.

[Michael]

We've just got some pictures up on screen at the moment, and the body language is not. This is. You know, Trump is somebody who understands body language in this sort of visceral TV producer way. As you say, he looks physically diminished. If I'm honest, Michael, doesn't he. He doesn't appear to be the same person that we saw in China eight or nine. Nine years ago, but it's pretty obvious he's not the alpha male here.

[Hugh Doherty]

You know, I think the ch. The Chinese have very, in a calculated fashion, have studied Trump. They've come to understand Trump, which is not that hard. They are inside Trump's head and they are playing Trump. I mean, he is in all of these things, and we've discussed this before. I mean, Trump is really not a good negotiator. Trump really doesn't have a grasp of the issues at hand. Trump really does not have advisors around him who. Who have a grasp of the issues at hand. And on top of that, he has so many other issues in the world that China can play to his advantage is that he's screwed.

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[Michael]

I was wanting to talk to you about the way in which Xi Jinping has presented himself to Trump. That first of all, in a state visit, obviously Xi Jinping is the guy doing the welcoming. He's the one that Trump has to walk up to. He clearly had practiced on the handshake front. There was no this theatrical handshake didn't happen. But then he gave this philosophical speech about the. And somebody is going to correct my pronunciation even in Scottish here. But the Thucydides trap. And it's almost like he's trolling Trump. Right. He's using this concept from Greek, classical Greek history, military history. And I think we can safely say Trump hasn't been studying the history of Athens and Sparta in recent years.

[Hugh Doherty]

Jesus. You know, it boggles the mind, even the thought.

[Michael]

I don't know who had to explain it to him. There were these two cities. But it's quite interesting.

[Hugh Doherty]

Let me be perfectly straightforward about this. He would be unclear on both Athens and Sparta, where they fell in history, where they fell geographically, and what their significance is. Just to note the context here.

[Michael]

Glad to put that straight. But this is, I mean this struck me when I was watching it in the kind of odd hours that it happens, which means it's not live on primetime television. But that Trump was presented with a speech, quite a brief speech by Xi that was absolutely nothing like the way that Trump did deals with the world. And it seemed really calculated on the part of the Chinese to do it that way.

[Hugh Doherty]

Now here's mud in your eye. Donald Trump. Yes. Let's also talk about who accompanied him on this trip because it's another one of those Trump Entourage projects and he brings. And I cannot imagine what advantage he sees in bringing all these along. I mean, it's kind of tone deaf. I mean, all of these people, I mean, doesn't he have any sense that the tech overlords, the corporate masters, were at a moment of a serious tipping point in our regard for these people?

[Michael]

Right. Cause he's brought with them just to run through some of the names. We've got Elon Musk, who has brought.

[Hugh Doherty]

Jeez, yeah, there's a popular guy.

[Michael]

There's a man renowned around the world for his popularity. He brought his son with him. So it's kind of like a reunion show. He's brought Jensen Huang, who is the CEO of Nvidia. But it's worth pointing out that Nvidia is very reliant on Taiwan for its manufacturing.

[Hugh Doherty]

Well, actually, and that's interesting because he was not initially invited, and then there was blowback, and then they had to add him at the last minute to the trip.

[Michael]

There was Tim Cook of Apple, there's Jane Fraser from citizen. There's only two women. And interestingly, Trump said, I'm bringing 30 of the biggest business leaders. There was a count of the big. The biggest business leaders in the Great hall of the People where this banquet was held by Xi for Trump. And the maximum number anybody's been able to get to is 14, and that might include Eric Trump.

[Hugh Doherty]

So you think that a lot of the invites. They made a lot of invites and he was snubbed.

[Michael]

It's an interesting question, right?

[Hugh Doherty]

Or it could just be numbers. Remember, 30, 14, 13, 300. It doesn't really matter.

[Michael]

I think we talked last, in the last episode about Trump and numbers, and you predicted he's going to sue you for a trillion. I think 30 sounds like a good number of top business leaders, right?

[Hugh Doherty]

Why not completely? I mean, that has no necessary alignment with reality.

[Michael]

Right. But also in the entourage, Brett Ratner in.

[Hugh Doherty]

I'm just flabbergasted. Now, Brett Ratner is. Brett Ratner is a Hollywood director, the director of the Rush Hour series. He was, Me too, canceled in a significant way. Hasn't worked in the movie business until he was hired by Melania Trump to direct the movie about her. Melania, the movie of which, basically she was really the director because she was calling all of the shots. And this, this was, this was. This is the documentary which was released in late January, I believe, that has been funded, supported, funded by Amazon, in which Amazon paid Melania $40 million to appear in a documentary about herself and Brett Ratner is the director of that documentary. So he is on this trip to China because.

[Michael]

Because it's an intriguing question, right? Is there another Brett Ratner documentary coming? If so, it can't be a bit Melania, because we've talked about who's on the trip. Melania is not on the trip, so he's obviously not making a documentary. If he's there to make a documentary, it's not about her.

[Hugh Doherty]

In other more traditional and normal administrations, the entourage would consist of policy people, China experts, people with significant State Department diplomatic experience. It would be an entourage of professionals. And this is an entourage of assholes

[Michael]

who have still got. Well, we're recording this, we should say, on Thursday morning. Still another 24 hours, and we are waiting for possibly the biggest moment of this state visit, which will be the official interview by Sean Hannity of Donald Trump.

[Hugh Doherty]

There seems to be Sean Hannity. You can add him to the entourage. Yes, yes, brilliant.

[Michael]

It's a cross section of Trump world, all on tour.

[Hugh Doherty]

This is the time we live in.

[Michael]

Yes, but talking of the time we live in.

[Hugh Doherty]

Ah, yes, talking of that subject, you

[Michael]

rightly said there's an element, of course, of all this. It's distraction. And that was. There is something very big to be distracted from. And it's inflation and the dismissal of inflation.

[Hugh Doherty]

No, that was extraordinary. And I think that statement will come back to haunt him, although I also think it is a reflection of his deepest beliefs.

[Michael]

When you're negotiating with Iran, Mr. President, to what extent are American financial situations motivating you to make a deal?

[Hugh Doherty]

Not even a little bit. The only thing that matters that I'm talking about Iran, they can't have a nuclear weapon. I don't think about American financial situation. I don't think about anybody. I think about one thing. You cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon. This is interesting. You know, I mean, it is clearly. I don't think you could read this in any other way except to say that he as, as a sign of a kind of fundamental contempt for, for ordinary people, people who actually who, who, who. Inflation numbers and the, and the, and that. And the ticks downward in the economy are actually mean. Real pain for real people. You know, and, and one of the things that I, I went back to is that, is that there was in, in one of my books in. And, you know, at the, at this, at this point, I have to struggle to remember which book, but I think it's my book Landslide on the, on the 2020 campaign and Trump's defeat and in what happened on January 6th. But there's a moment in which Trump is looking out at his supporters and he starts to diss them. I mean, he starts to talk about them as the great unwashed. And all these people with tattoos and why can't they dress properly and, and have they never heard of leather shoes? I mean, there's something about Trump that always reverts to a kind of 1955 mean, but it's also a kind of, a kind of contempt. There is him, he's a rich guy. And then there are all of these, of these, of these other people who support him. I mean, these people are his base and yet at the same time he has this kind of unvarnished contempt for them. And his statement about the economy that it really was not top of mind for him, it was not his concern, he wasn't thinking about that and has that same kind of feel, you know, don't bother me with your little problems.

[Michael]

Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. I don't know if you knew this,

[Hugh Doherty]

but anyone can get the same Premium Wireless for $15 a month plan that I've been enjoying. It's not just for celebrities. So do like I did and have

[Michael]

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[Hugh Doherty]

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[Michael]

are around them hearing that, what's going through their heads because that's, you're a Republican who realistically thinks we're in a tough time. I mean that must be, that must be when you hear that, when you heard when, when it was held in 20 was, you know, talking about the tattoos and their cheap shoes in 2020. And he's seeing this now on the White House lawn of, I, I don't know.

[Hugh Doherty]

Well, I think the people, I, I mean this, it's a complicated reaction about the people around him when he says this stuff because let's, let's remember he's always saying this stuff. I mean he is always, it's just one of the remarkable, novel, amazing things about Trump that he says things that would have ruined other politicians. What one you can just pick out one of the things that, that, that if it were said by another politician would be their ruination. And he has said thousands of these kinds of, these kinds of things. So I've seen The people standing around, you know, Trump's people standing around him and they all stand around with a kind of, a kind of baited breath. What is he going to say? What, what damage is going to ensue? What problems? And, but they do this with a, it's a double edged thing because they know, because they're all in some sense relatively traditional political people, even if they're working for Donald Trump. And they think this is, this is, this is a problem. But at the same time they recognize that problems for, for Donald Trump, they don't affect him the way they affect other politicians.

[Michael]

Which kind of brings us to a point. You've got an excellent point you make on Instagram related to the problems that Donald Trump doesn't necessarily have. But also he says things, the unseeable thing about Donald Trump and about his, well, the way you put it is clear evidence of mental problems.

[Hugh Doherty]

Well, that's this other thing. And suddenly, I mean, this is an interesting moment because in the last couple of days, I mean, Donald Trump said on Truth Social, Truth Social is his personal social media platform, of course. And, and he said, and this was the, the other evening and most mostly his posts occur, occur, occur overnight. He said that Barack Obama is guilty of treason and should go to jail. And, and suddenly everybody kind of said whoa. And then there was a sort of, sort of recognition of his other posts and of so many of his other posts. And this is interesting because of course this has been going on for years. In fact, during the, during the 2024 campaign AIDS. And this was a conversation that I had, that I had with a, with a, with a, with a, with a bunch of, of, of, of the people close to Trump. It was like, was like, God, we're, we're so grateful that he says this stuff on Truth Social because, you know, he's the only one on Truth Social. So people don't see this. But of course, at the same time it was there for everyone to see. Everybody. You could, you could look this at any point right now, you can look this up and find the President of the United States saying things, regularly saying things, continuously saying things that are out of control, bizarre, unhinged, irrational, that have in every possible way departed reality and that has caused people, I don't know, how do you react to that? Nobody actually has quite reacted to this. There are no headlines in the New York Times that say that say the President of the United States has flipped his lid. Which in any reasonable, fair minded reading of what he posts on social media, you would clearly that's the conclusion that you would come to if this, if this were a family member of literally anybody, anybody's who stayed up all night and, and posted sometimes, sometimes In a night, 100 posts, this kind of wing nut stuff that would be a mental health crisis.

[Michael]

We all know about him posting himself as Jesus and then claiming that in fact he thought that was how a doctor dresses. There's been 8,000 posts since he resumed office. And at the Beast, we analyzed his output for April and we discovered that 80% of nights he is posting during the hours that a normal person you would expect to be asleep, we said between 9pm and 6am now you wouldn't expect anybody to sleep from 9pm to 6am every night. But that seems like a reasonable window.

[Hugh Doherty]

I do. I do.

[Michael]

Well, there you go. In fact, it's a very reasonable window for people to be asleep. And there were five or six nights in the whole month in which he did not post repeatedly in that window. And it's clearly not being spoken about. Right. Which is, I mean, what do you

[Hugh Doherty]

do with a situation in which you have the President of the United States who is openly, without any kind of inhibition whatsoever, in print, in black and white, in his own hand, delivering these statements which are off the beam constantly. So what does that, what do you do with that? What do you do of the clear evidence that the President of the United States is behaving in a way that for anyone else, your own family members, CEOs of other companies would, would, would beg for an intervention?

[Michael]

Right. We do, we don't get. Just to take an example, Jamie Dimon posting on any social media at that time of night that we know of. But you, you described it as clear evidence of psychosis.

[Hugh Doherty]

I always hate to make those kinds of diagnosis. I feel people use this too often. And yet what do you say? Yeah, I mean, there, there it is. Nothing that he posts would be considered within the normal frame of not only any politician, but literally anybody.

[Michael]

But there are. There does seem to be the beginning of hints of a crack in this dam of silence. The Wall Street Journal was, well, this,

[Hugh Doherty]

this beginning to talk. It finally happened. And which is, which is weird. Where has the Wall Street Journal. Where has the New York Times been. Been for the past, for the past now? You know, how long has he been using Truth Social? Four years.

[Michael]

And CNN finally managed to talk about it on Tuesday and they talked about

[Hugh Doherty]

it like, like, I mean, I listened to this with somewhat flabbergasted. Didn't you know? Everybody knows you didn't know, cnn,

[Michael]

the other flip side of this, this was Aaron Burnett and we do have a clip of that. And now he posts pictures of people swimming in sewage and himself on $100 bills. And, and nobody even notices. Right. Okay. That's another weird thing about this. Nobody's even watching all this.

[Hugh Doherty]

Aaron Burnett is like, whoa, yeah, man. You know, as, as though flabbergasted by something that has gone on night after night after night after night.

[Michael]

And something that you've been talking about for months on Inside Trump's Head with Joanna.

[Hugh Doherty]

Yeah. No, and also, you know, in my book, all or Nothing about the, about the 2024 campaign, I spend a time talking about, about this and a lot of time talking about the people around Trump talking about, about this and their worries that other people would start to notice in their, their kind of shock that no one did notice.

[Michael]

And when they do, the reaction is to call, they've called it Aaron Burnett a moron. I mean, we know what they call you. We know what they call people who point this out. But are they beginning to get a bit more worried now? Do you feel?

[Hugh Doherty]

Well, and I, I think on the evidence, Aaron Burnett, Aaron Burnett is a, for not noticing this, for, for all the time that it is going on. And just not, not just her and cnn, but again, every major news organization has overlooked this or I would suspect, just not know that. They just haven't known how to fathom the meaning of this.

[Michael]

Yeah.

[Hugh Doherty]

So they've ignored it.

[Michael]

So Trump aides, are they beginning to get to a point where they're thinking, oh, this is, we're getting rumbled here?

[Hugh Doherty]

No. Well, I don't know. I mean, Trump aides have always been of that, of that view. I mean, literally. And it's hard to express. Trump aides have always felt that it has been remarkable that Trump has survived, but on the very basis that he has survived so many times, they kind of shrug and accept it.

[Michael]

There's kind of a wider picture around Trump as well, though. Of crazy.

[Hugh Doherty]

Oh, a wider picture of Trump around Trump. Of crazy.

[Michael]

Well, I was going to raise, I

[Hugh Doherty]

would say, who can I raise? I mean, I mean, that's an interesting thing. Are the people around Trump crazier than even Trump? And I think in some instances, I mean, I think rfk, you could certainly make a case that he is, in fact, crazier than Donald Trump.

[Michael]

There's one instance that's just happened this week which is kind of jaw dropping. RFK Jr they sent him to Ohio to try to get the MAHA people back on Side and Ohio traditionally had been a swing state. Then it became very, very trumpy. Anyway, they sent him to Northeast Ohio and he went to the Cleveland Clinic, which is renowned as one of the world's best hospital systems consistently. And quite an extraordinary event occurred. He went to look at. It's got a new robot surgeon. It's called Leonardo. And it's help surgeons perform various procedures, including open heart surgery. Somebody was having open heart surgery. RFK Jr. Went in and was at the controls of this robot. And the Cleveland Clinic say no, no, we disabled the controls. So he was just kind of playing with it. But there was literally a patient on the table whose open heart surgery was interrupted for RFK Jr. To have a play with the controls. So it seems like even by the standards of RFK Jr. That does seem kind of crackpot.

[Hugh Doherty]

You know, one of the things that I've been interested in is. The sense, and I get some back channel on this, that RFK is looked at as a big danger in the White House. I mean there is the, you know, RFK Jr. Still Jr. At 72 is, is. Has made himself the face of the anti vaccine movement. And the anti vaccine movement, which the, that the Trump people felt was a, was a, was a significant constituency in the Trump base that turns out to be largely a misperception that the anti Vax movement is incredibly unpopular throughout the country. And so they're stuck with this, they're stuck with RFK Jr. Every time you think you see RFK Jr. You think anti Vax. I mean that has been a very successful branding operation. I am the anti Vax guy. And they, and, and that has, that has spread out that RFK Jr. Has become this, this, this hot button on, in the, in the health world, in, in not just the health world, in the perception of voters about the management of the health world. And the perception is hardly positive. Exactly the opposite, in fact. So, so the, the White House is now kind of stuck with this situation. We hired RFK Jr. Why did we hire RFK Jr. That's almost inexplicable to, to everyone. And everyone is quite clear that he is, he is a nutball. And now there are other inexplicable hires and other nut balls, but none that has resounded so much on a particular issue which is particularly important to the electorate. And they don't know what to do inside of, inside of the White House. And one of the things that they do seem to be doing is, is, is, is kind of defenestrating RFK Jr without firing him.

[Michael]

Right.

[Hugh Doherty]

So they're firing everyone around him. They are putting in far less. They are firing RFK juniors, objectionable hires, and putting in people who are less objectionable. So it's one of the few instances in which they seem to have recognized the craziness in their house and are trying to manage it.

[Michael]

That this week has included the departure and whether he was fired or he resigned. Dr. Marty McCary, who was the FDA commissioner, but this was because he was standing in the way of flavored vapes. That doesn't really sound like a big vote winner that there are parents desperate for their children to be exposed to vaping.

[Hugh Doherty]

Yeah, well, that's, that's an Another. Another thing. I mean, the flavored vapes are coming from the White House because Trump is. Is. Has. Has a. His own personal arrangement with the tobacco industry. They're caught at that. At that moment between. Between rfk, who is against actually the vapes. The flavored vapes.

[Michael]

That's the one. The one bit of health advice you can agree with RFK Jr. On.

[Hugh Doherty]

Yeah. Geez. I mean, it's all. It's all nutso. And. And obviously flavored vapes. Vapes from the White House is nuts. But they've also. They've also gotten rid of one of the people who was against flavored vapes is also an. An anti vaxxer. So they wanted that. That gone. So they actually don't think that flavored vapes is a big issue, but they do think that the anti vax issue is a big issue and it actually

[Michael]

should be a big issue and should be. Absolutely. Because RFK not the only crazy Kash Patel has.

[Hugh Doherty]

Oh, my God. Cash. Cash.

[Michael]

And actually, just on the subject of tobacco, Kash Patel, cigar entrepreneur, among many of the strangers journeys that he's taken. Children's author, cigar entrepreneur.

[Hugh Doherty]

What did Cash. Cash Patel ever do for a living, actually before. Before he became head of the FBI. Do we know this? I don't know.

[Michael]

He. Well, he's had. He's quite a journey in life. He was.

[Hugh Doherty]

He was a podcaster, so we. He was a podcaster of the FBI. Yes, but what else?

[Michael]

I don't feel qualified, but if you're interested, I'm sure he had. He wrote a couple of children's books which were based on Donald Trump and included the Wicked Queen that was supposed to be Hillary.

[Hugh Doherty]

So that was his. When he was. That was agit prop as a Trump supporter.

[Michael]

Yes.

[Hugh Doherty]

What was he before he became. Went into the Trump business?

[Michael]

Strangely, his very first job actually was as a public defender in the federal court system down in Miami. And that seems like a pretty worthy thing to do.

[Hugh Doherty]

But he didn't hold that job for very long.

[Michael]

He did not hold that job for very long. He then went, he flipped sides and he went to work for the Department of Justice. And he was a pretty junior line prosecutor at the Department of Justice. He claimed to be much more senior than he was subsequently. And he kind of parlayed that to working for the House Intelligence Committee under Devin Nunes, who weirdly went on to run Trump's truth Social. It's a very small world in Trump world, as we know. And when he was there, he became the chief conspiracy theorist for taking apart what they called the Russian collusion hoax, and which other people say is.

[Hugh Doherty]

So he's basically spent his time as a Trumper. He's in the Trump industry. He's one of those other people who certainly during the, both during the first administration and during the 2024 campaign, Trump aids the more the normies would single out Kash Patel as someone who, and they would kind of define this as a line which Trump would not go over like cash. Patel would never get a senior appointment.

[Michael]

Here we are.

[Hugh Doherty]

And he got ripped apart before in a congressional hearing earlier, earlier this, this, this week. And, and didn't respond. I mean, I mean, he was, it's like, why. I mean, I guess people are saying that he took, he took a page from the Pam Bondi book, which worked out very well for her, as you recall.

[Michael]

Yes, Pam Bundy, who is, it's unclear. She hasn't surfaced anywhere yet and certainly is not the Attorney general is in some sort of Trumpland exile, and she

[Hugh Doherty]

appeared before Congress was very obstreperous, very oppositional, often profane. And, and in the following, one of her really notable appearances before Congress, Trump fired her. So will he fire. So is he going to fire Cash? I mean, in almost every one of these people in the administration, that's the question. Are they going to be fired? Now, that's been the question from the beginning. But there was for the first year and a half, we had Trump's refusal to fire, fire anyone. He dug in his feet. I'm not going to be pressured. I don't care what you think. I don't care what the Democrats think. I am not doing this. And, and then that has, as, as Trump's numbers have collapsed, so has that resolve. And now we've seen one after another of, of these incompetence of the inexperienced and incompetence being fired. So so the logical question is, is who's next? And in each instance of a crazy person, well, won't they, I mean, why wouldn't they be fired? So the cat in Cash Patel, clearly, I mean, there's nothing that has gone right for this, for this, for this guy. You know, many reports about his, about his alcoholism, about the special favors that his girlfriend gets. The, and on top of the fact that he appears before Congress and, and tries to shout down the people questioning

[Michael]

him, I should say, he, he denies, you know, he denies he's got an alcohol problem. He denies that there's anything up with his relationship, with his, you know, with the perks given to his relationship, his girlfriend. But the denials are part of the problem, right?

[Hugh Doherty]

Yes. We're still talking about political position when you have to deny, deny constantly. But I think that his protection here is, is that, you know, he is an absolute loyalist controlling the FBI, which Trump has always feared is investigating him or given its, given any opportunity, will investigate him. So Cash is his protection, which is a pretty, pretty kind of bleak and precarious position. Imagine if Cash were your protector.

[Michael]

Donald Trump, of course, kind of deals in stereotypes. And his, his, in private life, his bodyguards were always guys from Queens and Long Island. And Cash is in fact, exactly one of those. He's from Garden City. So I don't know, it's like Trump could kind of, Trump could kind of be into it.

[Hugh Doherty]

But, you know, I once, just. So I once interviewed Trump in his, in his house in Beverly Hills. Nobody even knew he had a house in Beverly Hills, but he had this big house in Beverly Hills right across the street from the Beverly Hills Hotel and filled with kind of cast off hotel furniture. And I went there to interview them and I came in and there are guys, four or five guys sitting around a table playing cards. And these are the bodyguards and they look, this was a, this was a good fellas scene,

[Michael]

which we assume Trump, we assume Trump's watched, right? We assume he's got to have maybe, maybe with a different eye to all the other people who watched it.

[Hugh Doherty]

Yeah, no, interesting, interesting question. Yes. I hadn't thought about that. I'm sure Trump would have watched the Godfather. As a matter of fact, I know he has, and I've discussed the Godfather with him. Of course he would have watched the Godfather. Goodfellas, you know, it's a little close to the bone, perhaps.

[Michael]

Yes, you're laughing at me. But on the west coast, it's not just Beverly Hills, it's tech, which is,

[Hugh Doherty]

there's another Mob group completely, I mean,

[Michael]

I think, couldn't possibly comment. But one of the more intriguing things that we found out this week is where the money from the midterms is coming from. And just worth saying, doesn't appear to be coming from Trump, who's sitting on hundreds of millions of dollars of donations in his various political action committees. But it's tech that are throwing money

[Hugh Doherty]

into the midterms, and it is specifically one particular vent from Andreessen Horowitz. And you know, it's interesting that during the, during the 2024 campaign, there was, there was a moment, and I recount this in, in, in my book, all or Nothing, in which, in which Trump is pissed off of having to go to fundraisers, do one fundraiser after another, which is the, you know, what politicians have to have to do. And it is truly the worst part of the, Of a bad business. And Trump was rebelling against this and, and everybody was saying, you know, well, we gotta, you know, you gotta. And he said, I don't have to, I don't have to do any of this because. Because whatever money we need, okay, this is quotes, in quotes. Whatever money we need, we can get from the crypto guys. Quote, unquote. Whatever money we need, we can get from the crypto guys. So what are Andreessen Horowitz, they are the crypto guys. And, and they have managed their, Their, their money has not only bought them access, constant access to Trump, but they have filled the administration with their people. So here we are. That's what you get for your hundreds of millions of dollars.

[Michael]

In their case, literally $115 million so far in this cycle, since the end of the last election, they've outspent elon, not surprisingly, 85 million. But notably, it was Elon that went to China. It's Elon that takes the steps down from Air Force One. What's going on in the Trump world that you want to put this money in, but you don't want the publicity?

[Hugh Doherty]

I can't answer that. I mean, Elon wants publicity. Elon obviously has made himself. He is certain, he has thrived on, On. That has become a figure of great controversy because, because of that. And, you know, I mean, I, I tend to believe. I mean, the Andreessen Horowitz people, I guess, have been somewhat more, more muted, but they haven't been that muted. They're, they're, you know, their people. I mean, all of these tech guys have, have displayed their own fundamental boredom, I think, with, with their own jobs, and they're filled with arrogance and hubris and whatever else you get filled with when you become a billionaire, when you become here. Here's the distinguishing thing about people who are billionaires. They really want to be known for being billionaires. They want to be known. They want you to know that they are billionaires because they're really great. And the only way you do this is by making publicity part of your coin. That's what you're buying. You're buying not only the way to make more money, but you're buying, You're funding your own mythology, in fact, like

[Michael]

Xi Jinping mythology, of course, something that Trump doesn't appear to have any knowledge of.

[Hugh Doherty]

So, Hugh, thank you for filling in for Joanna. You've stepped up. Everybody at the Daily Basis is stepping up. And I appreciate it. Joanna and I appreciate it.

[Michael]

Yes. In fact, we do have a couple of. We have a poem from Garfried, who had a couple of messages saying, we'd like to hear one of the limericks in your Scottish accent. This was clearly not from anybody who knows me who is like, can you just shut up? But the inimitable Garfried has been in touch on the very topic in which we've been talking about China. And he says, there once was a dawn in Beijing who bartered off every darn thing. While Marco played Clark, she finished the work of crowning America's king. Garfried, thank you. And I hope.

[Hugh Doherty]

Fantastic.

[Michael]

I hope that satisfies those who want to delimic in the Scottish accent.

[Hugh Doherty]

I didn't understand a word you said.

[Michael]

I suspected that might be the case. Thank you to YouTube for doing those

[Hugh Doherty]

subtitles and thank you to our amazing team, Ryan, Rachel, Heather and Neil. Thank you so much. Once more.

[Sponsor/Advertiser Voice]

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.

[Michael]

I sold my car in Carvana last night.

[Hugh Doherty]

Well, that's cool.

[Michael]

No, you don't understand. It went perfectly. Real offer down to the penny.

[Hugh Doherty]

They're picking it up tomorrow. Nothing went wrong. So what's the problem?

[Michael]

That is the problem. Nothing in my life goes as smoothly. I'm waiting for the catch.

[Hugh Doherty]

Maybe there's no catch.

[Michael]

That's exactly what a catch would want me to think. Wow.

[Hugh Doherty]

You need to relax.

[Michael]

I need to knock on wood. Do we have wood? Is this table wood?

[Hugh Doherty]

I think it's laminate.

[Michael]

Okay. Yeah, that's good. That's close enough. Car selling without a catch Sell your

[Hugh Doherty]

car today on Carvana.

[Michael]

Pick up fees may apply.