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Because behind every headline is a bottom
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line, whether it's the funds fueling AI or crypto's trillion dollar swings.
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There's a money side to every story.
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And when you see the money side,
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you understand what others miss. Get the money side of the story. Subscribe now@bloomberg.com I wonder if he knows how badly things are going for him. And I think that he is beginning to get an inkling of that. So then the question is, how does he respond? What does he do? We know he doesn't course correct. So he doubles down. So I think that things are about to get, if possible, even uglier.
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Michael.
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B
Joanna, how are things in Yorkshire?
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Well, I have to say it's really nice to see you. It's very nice to see you in touch base with my New York life, my American life. And I just listen, I mentioned on our last podcast, I was in Yorkshire in my childhood home actually, because one of my parents is ailing fast. My mom is ailing fast. And I was so moved and grateful for all the messages from, from our regular viewers and listeners, many of whom have either gone through this themselves or are going through it. I was shocked at the number of people who are trying to cobble together care for an elder parent. And so it just felt incredibly moving, actually, to hear from people. And it reminded me of the piece you had written in New York magazine, I want to say, about 15, 20 years ago, which had.
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B
Yeah, no, I think it was. It is 15 years ago and it's a piece. This was a piece about my mother and her final illness. And I still hear from people almost on a weekly basis. A piece that I wrote 15 years ago because it is true, everybody goes through this experience. Nobody is prepared for it. No one tells us that this is gonna happen, but it happens to all of us.
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And you had the added disadvantage of your mum had dementia because I remember the COVID line on New York, which was I love my mother and I wish she were Dead. I don't have that situation happily. My mom is compos mentis, but she has very late stage pancreatic cancer, which is a horrible disease for which there's real. No, there's no real treatment at this stage. Anyway, I just wanted to thank people and also to the production team because as my mother calls the Internet, where. Where my parents live in, in Yorkshire, she calls it the vibes. So she's like, are the vibes working today? How strong are the vibes? And it has to be said the vibes in this particular part of Yorkshire are not that strong. So it's been taking a long time to download things and I think as you watch, as you. You're looking at me, Michael, I. May I. Appearing pixelated. So thank you for the forbearance from the team and other viewers have asked about the yellow books behind me because I'm recording this from my dad's study. And then other cricket lovers have jumped in and said, oh, that's the annual wisdom, which is a cricket almanac that my father has collected ever since he was a little boy. And we have hundreds of them in the House, so that's what they are. Should anybody be interested. I. And of course, don't forget to please click on the subscription button. That's how we can have these conversations with your support. We're independent media, which allows us to say what we feel like saying. Michael. The king. The king pulled a humdinger.
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B
Yes. No, I think we should. It's a pleasant segue from Yorkshire and cricket to the King York.
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My king, my king. He pulled a humdinger.
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B
Actually, I think after this week, everyone would like him to be their king, given the alternative.
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A
Well, given the alternative, yes. And I thought it was a masterclass in diplomacy. The Times of London was all over a bit and they said he played an absolute blinder. But it was amazing. I mean, he got Donald Trump. Afterwards, at the state dinner, a spore of bat often said that the King had managed to get the Democrats to stand, which was something he never managed. But actually, I thought the miracle was that he got as many Republicans to stand for things that are normally traditional American values. But Donald Trump has twisted and distorted. So it was thrilling to see a unified House bouncing up and down, including JG Vance and the speaker of the House, who were behind him. No.
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B
Well, I felt the interesting thing was the clarity of his position and a position that was in opposition frequently to Donald Trump. And the New York Times had a headline about his. They use the word subtle. Subtlety of his digs. And I didn't find it subtle at all. I mean, I think that he set up a very clear contrast between his view of the modern world and Trump's view of the modern world.
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A
Well, he called for the support of Ukraine. I mean, I thought that was incredible.
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B
Yes, I think it was just extraordinary. You know, there's a thing the novelist Saul Bello refers to this idea of a contrast gainer and therefore a contrast loser. And it's two people side by side, both physically, and then two people in their conduct side by side, who wins, who loses. And I think in this instance, very clearly, squarely, you couldn't miss it. The King was articulate, dignified, sober, rational, reasonable against and actually elegant against this other buffoon who physically seemed. Seemed over large, sloppy, and clearly not reasonable, not rational, not dignified. And I don't see how that message will not resonate from here until the midterms.
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A
Well, I thought incredibly important that he talked about the importance of support for Ukraine, how the two countries had fought against dark forces. He mentioned, obviously, the Second World War. It was invigorating to hear someone stand for all the things that a Western country does to stand for. And that Donald Trump seems intent on chipping away at, or indeed not really chipping away, bulldozing at. And the other thing that the King was, was he was funny. He was funny. And that brought the House together. It brought them with him. It made it feel optimistic. I thought he stepped into his power in a way that he had nothing to lose. And also, everybody had low expectations for this visit. People were saying, oh, this is ridiculous, he's a stooge. Keir Starmer has sent him to do his dirty work. And in fact, within the lifespan of the King, these may be the two speeches, but particularly the one to Congress that he was supposed to deliver. It's sort of as if he's at peak king, if you like, a man who spent 74 years in training to do this. And of course, the irony that he could only get the job once his mother had died, which is a very weird premise on which to be a monarch. But tis so. And he delivered. I thought it was the perfect opportunity for him. And he was flawless, actually. Never normally that enthusiastic.
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B
No, I think everybody around the world is responding to this. And again, partly because of this contrast gainer notion. I mean, here are two men, Donald Trump and King Charles. And who is clearly the better model for a world leader? And Charles is, in fact, not a world leader. He's a. He's some other anomalous position, symbolic and in a role that has really nothing to do with leadership, certainly has nothing to do with policy. But I think most people very clearly looked at that and saw, yes, my God, if we had to make a choice, the choice is clear.
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Well, he also emanated sympathy and kindness or empathy, I think, perhaps more than sympathy.
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B
And that's something across the board. Yeah.
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And that's just been missing, I mean, as you say, the contrast gainer and the contrast loser. There was a moment, apparently, according to a lip reader, at the State Dinner, where after Charles had given his speech and made what was a pretty funny joke about having noticed there were changes to the White House, referring to the complete demolition at night of the East Wing. And we can come onto the ballroom in a moment. But he made a funny joke about how the British should also try to make their own alterations to the White House when they, of course, the reference to them trying to burn it down. But when he came off the little podium where he'd done his speech, apparently Donald Trump said to him, do you have your drink? And then apparently, at least according to the lip reader, he said to Charles, are you drunk? And Charles said, I've really enjoyed your hospitality. We're having an absolutely marvelous time here. But it took me back to a lunch I had when I worked at the Spectator magazine years ago, and Prince Charles, as he then was, and very much the sort of playboy of the Western world, though he'd been married to Diana at that stage for about four or five years, came to lunch and it was very clear when he left that he was indeed drunk and he was very red faced and tipsy and he looked like he'd had a very good time. But when I inquired further, I was told he'd had four very good glasses of. Of red wine at lunch. And he, I think the Royal Family, you know, enjoy a tipple.
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B
Well, I have been to many Spectator lunches and never emerged as I went in.
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A
Well, when I first started, I mean,
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B
actually, that's in every lunch I've ever had in London.
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Yeah, London is one of the few places where they still drink at lunchtime. Actually, you can tell I don't have my usual New York hair tools. My hair's suffering a bit here. But you're absolutely right. And actually, I think the third or fourth week I joined the Spectator, Tacky Theodorakopoulos, who was a columnist and wrote a column called High Life, as opposed to a column called Low Life, which was written by the regular drunk, Jeffrey Bernard, who Often didn't hand his copy in because he was too hungover. And then would appear the words where the column was supposed to go. Jeffrey Bernard is unwell. But Taki very quickly got stopped at Heathrow and had a packet of cocaine in his back jeans pocket, which led him to three months in Pentonville Prison.
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B
And I have had many dinners with Taki. And once again, you. You leave them not the way you came into them.
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A
Well, I hope that the King had a good time and clearly Trump enjoyed having it.
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B
I wonder what the King made of the guests at his dinner, because it was really a cross section of the right wing and of the new billionaire class. That was pretty much it. I don't think that there was anyone outside of. Outside of those two categories. I mean, the King had a few paltry guests, but beyond that, it was literally billionaires. It was a, you know, a Bezos Sanchez class dinner. And. And then the Fox people.
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The Fox people. And also obviously the Cabinet. So you had haggers there. You had Stephen Miller, Katie Miller with her big bump because she's expecting baby number four. Yeah. I mean, it was a roundup of scoundrels.
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B
And then you had the Supreme Court justices. And obviously we had a big decision this week from the Supreme Court, but only the conservative justices. So the invitations clearly went out only to six, and excluding three. Right.
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The three liberal judges. But I did think that what was remarkable about the Republicans giving Charles an ovation in the House of Congress was that they know what he's standing for, is what they, I think, stand for, or used to stand for, and that Trump has trampled over them. And here you have, you know, a monarch of another country coming in and actually saying the things that America is supposed to stand for. And this shouldn't be controversial to, you know, admire the American environment, the fabulous.
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B
I think this became a way for. For people to register their. I was going to say discontent, but it really is greater than discontent, their antipathy to Donald Trump, to the Trump White House for everything that's going on. And their sense. And again, this is important because I think we are at this inflection point. Their sense that this is coming apart. And so Charles suddenly became a lifeboat. We can stand up for this guy. And because he's so cool in how he's delivering this, this slap in the face to Donald Trump. Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. I don't know if you knew this, 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 one of your assistant's assistants switch you to Mint Mobile today. I'm told it's super easy to do@mintmobile.com
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A
Switch upfront payment of $45 for 3 month plan equivalent to $15 per month required intro rate first 3 months only, then full price plan options available. Taxes and fees, extra fee full terms@mintmobile.com do you think Trump realized what a slap in the face it was or is he just, does he think he's just sucking the prestige from Charles and somehow it's sticking to him?
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B
The complication there is that he would acknowledge that someone else had a higher status than he does and that he would benefit from it and Trump is not capable of that. So actually I think he's probably thinking this the other way. Charles is here to suck up to Donald Trump. Why else would he be here except on that mission? That's what he was sent to do. Now the question of whether Trump appreciated these not so subtle slaps and I think he doesn't. I mean he may come to because people may tell him, but in the moment, I don't think that he saw that. I don't. First thing, we've talked about this before, that his inability to hear things and take in information, I don't think that was going on at the moment.
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A
And one of the people who was missing from the guest list, who you might have expected to be there normally was of course, Kash Patel. Rumors he was about to be fired at the end of last week, interrupted by the attempted shooting at the White House Correspondent's dinner, but very much missing from the state dinner list. Thoughts?
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B
No, I, I think that he probably will be fired. I mean there, there's, there's an enormous pressure now within, within the White House and coming from Congress to fire as many people now as possible because, because of the fear that the Senate might actually flip to the Democrats, which would mean that it will be very, very hard to get cabinet, cabinet level positions confirmed. So I think, I think, I think that this is probably a correct analysis. And, and you know, in Kash Patel, the press has been so terrible. I mean Trump is, is not ignoring that, never ignores that. It's always about the press you get. So, so I think, I think these two, I mean all of these guys have been protected for the better part of this term by Trump's decision not to do what the media wants him to do, to stand firm. But now looking at a potential Democratic Senate and also because he's, he understands the fix he's in and his natural inclination is to blame someone. And, and we've now had a series of people being fired as essentially with Trump essentially blaming them for what's going wrong. So, yeah, I think Kash Patel is. How long does he last? We should make a little book on this.
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A
Yeah, we should have a sweepstakes. Is that what it's called on Kalshi or polymarket, of which I think both companies. Don Jr. Is an advisor. And then what of the former FBI Director James Comey, who for a strange seashell image that he posted on Instagram, which was of an 86 in seashells and then 47 is, has been indicted.
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B
Well, this is the second indictment. The first effort to indict him by, by the Trump Justice Department was, was thrown out. So now this is the second indictment which seems more tenuous, much more tenuous than even the first indictment. But Todd Blanche, so the, the, the former Attorney General Pam Bondi was of course fired recently. And one of the reasons that she was fired is that she failed to, she failed in her efforts to indict Trump's enemies. So Todd Blanche, who is now the acting Attorney General hoping to become the permanent Attorney General, is desperately trying to indict Trump's enemies and now they have this new indictment against, against, against James Comey. Completely ridiculous and an indictment that will not, that will not survive. But from Todd Blanche's point of view, it really doesn't matter if it doesn't survive. It was just, the imperative was just to get an indictment. And the fact that they got the, the, they indicted him for, I don't even know what you're, I mean, essentially the indictment is, is for threatening the life of the President of the United States. I mean, this is so preposterous, so ridiculous. And I think there are, there are two interesting questions to me, which is why would, why would Donald Trump pursue a course that is going to hurt him? I mean, it's a self destructive course. This is not, this is not, this is not popular. This is transparently vengeful. And most of America can see this. This is, this is not his efforts to exact revenge on his enemies, which he's, which he has sort of played out through this term, through his second, second term, has not, has not, has not endeared him to anyone. This is, what he is doing is self destructive. He is once again shooting himself in the foot. So why would he, why would he be doing this? I mean, at some level he's, he's saying, I would rather, I would rather wreak vengeance, have my revenge than, than, than tend to my political future.
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A
What also, I wonder of the political future of Todd Blanche because it's one thing to be an Attorney general for Donald Trump. I mean, how does Todd Blanche escape from this? Seems a very short term decision by Todd Blanche.
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B
No, and it's not only his political future, but his professional future. I mean, this, this is going to come, this administration is going to come to an end. There's a very good chance it will end in a Democratic, with a Democratic president in 2020. Who knows?
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I mean, I don't want us to bank on that because it's unclear. I mean one would hope looking at it now, but who knows? Who knows?
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B
Of course, of course, who knows? But I would, I would begin to bank on it.
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A
Yeah.
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B
I mean this fascinating thing about Todd Blynch, and I've seen this again and again and again with people in the Trump administration thinking that they can come out of this with some advantage to themselves and it never happens. Now, Todd Blanche I think is an, is a, I mean, I mean the rationale, I think, I think that he would then leave this administration and, and this is what they all do. They say it would be much worse were I not here. So, yes, Comey was indicted and this is what he's going to say when he tries to go and get a job in a high paying job in a law firm. He's going to say, yeah, so we indicted Comey on something that would certainly not, not, not stick. It was the, it was the, the most tenuous indictment we could make and that's what we did because we had to, because Trump was insisting on it. But we undermined Trump by this, the ridiculousness of this indictment.
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A
And Todd Blanche used to be a Democrat and of course we were told that the reason that Pam Bondi was leaving was because she was going to an exciting opportunity in the private sector. But we haven't yet heard what that exciting opportun. Wonder if it will be. Pam Bondi Associates a little shingle from somewhere in southern Florida.
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B
Yeah. No, I mean, I don't know. It's just incomprehensible to me that these people don't see what has happened to all of the other people who have had these positions in the administration and they've been professionally, if not, if, if, if not destroyed, their, their futures have been, you know, very limited by their futures have been rate limited by their participation in Trump's White House.
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A
Well, all, all of this has distracted from the fact that the Strait of whole news, as it's such a wonderful word, Hormuz, isn't it? The Strait of Hormuz is still closed and we have no idea who the Americans are supposed to be negotiating with. In terms of the Iranians, it's unclear. And the war very much continues despite the fact we've had some distractions with the King's visit.
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B
No. And I have a little rump campaign to call this the war of hormones,
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A
which we are definitely I fully in support of the Hormuz war as if it were the Suez war. Yeah, yeah.
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B
And I think people should say that again and again to Donald Trump. Hormuz. Hormuz Epstein or Hormuz, take your pick.
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A
Which would you rather? I mean, they're both a disaster for him. They're both a disaster. And we saw Pete Hegseth getting grilled,
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B
but where we are. Yeah, well, let's get to Haggers in a second. But I think we're at this other stage in the war in which they're just referring to this, that it will be an extended blockade. So that's another way to say a forever war. I mean, we're just going to keep this up. We're going to. The Strait of Hormuz will be closed, the oil will pass through it. The economy, the world economy will be held hostage to this. And who can last longer? I mean, that's the premise. Trump's premise seems to be that. The Iranians fall before we do. And he has some notion that the Iranians can't pump their oil so that their pumps will blow up. And everybody is going, well, where does he get this stuff?
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A
Well, if you're, if you're here in Europe, which I am at the moment, the media is just full of the fact that the price of jet fuel is going to make people's summer holidays completely impossible. Nobody's going to be traveling. It's either going to be far too expensive or airlines are just going to be rationing jet fuel, that certain flight lanes or certain flights are going to be completely cancelled, and that it's really looking to be a summer of massive discontent for people to covis is the
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B
go to for premium handcrafted Western boots. Stop by any store location for a warm welcome, a cold drink in hand, and a truly one of a kind shopping experience. Let our friendly staff help you find your new go to boots, whether your first pair or your 50th. Finish things off with a complimentary boot brand to make them extra special. Come for the boots, stay for the good times. To Covis forever West. Well, oil hit $120 a barrel yesterday. So I mean, there was, so there's a couple of things. So that's where that, we've ratcheted that up. I mean, it was a moment of crisis when it hit $100 a barrel. Now we're, we're, we've taken the next step. So. And that's going to continue on, it's going to continue on to $160 a barrel. So again, there is this thing in this. You know, I want to keep coming back to this theme. Every thing is going wrong for the Trump White House. Everything, it is a disaster.
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A
The other thing that's going wrong is that it turns out nobody likes the plans for the ballroom. Nobody likes the plans for the ballroom. We know that there were over 30,000 comments when the plans first went up and invited public comment. But now the polls are coming in and people have been specifically asked about the ballroom and people are appalled. They're appalled that Donald Trump demolished the East Wing basically in the middle of the night. So people woke up and the shambles was there and they hastily erected a fence so people couldn't see quite how destructive and fast that had been. But nobody likes the plans for a 90,000 foot ballroom which will dwarf the existing White House, the People's House. It's just another thing that he seems to have gotten wrong. And you know, there've been many arguments that actually he's good at listening. He can sort of get the popular, get the popular sort of mood. But on this one, he seems to be completely out of touch.
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B
Well, it's not just on this one. It's on virtually everything. You would be hard pressed at this point to find any initiative of this White House that is scoring, that is popular. I mean, from ice to tariffs to the economy to the war to the ballroom to his wife. I mean, it is all, everything is a liability at this point.
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A
Well, we didn't even mention Epstein.
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B
Let's not forget it.
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A
Right. Epstein, the cloud that hangs over all of it. We didn't even mention Melania's looking well. The Daily Beast said she was sort of shooting him the evil eye as he turned to her and said, honey, I'm afraid we're not gonna make the record. You know, he was referring to his parents long marriage and he said, honey, we're not gonna get it. And then as she, and, and then as Melania and Trump and the Queen and the King were sort of walking down through the White House. He was trying to grab Melania's hand and she was doing that sort of flick thing. And then you saw him eventually grab it because he needs her to walk down the steps. But she looked like she would rather have been anywhere than by his side.
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B
And so what we have. And we've talked about this before, but I think. I think we have to. It's another thing to keep coming back to. She has gone from what they describe in the White House as a net plus. I mean, she's never been a full. You know, never been. You know, often, often first ladies are their favorability. Favorability ratings are incredibly high. They become one of the most popular people in the nation. This has never been true for Melania, but just generally as a net plus to what they now refer to as a net liability. I mean, she's so now connected to this Epstein story and her film, this documentary she made about herself in which she got paid by Jeff Bezos Sanchez class $40 million just puts her right into the center of the family grift. And now the other day, this attack on Jimmy Kimmel that the first lady of the United States should call for a television host to be fired for making a joke about. About the, the inevitable death of her husband, which her husband just made the same joke. So I, Anyway, Melania.
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A
Melania. And then I noticed that there's a new character on the scene, a man called Mark Beckman, who appears to be a lecturer at. At New York University, nyu, who was a producer of her movie, but is now coming out and sort of defending her. And I think he was talking.
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B
He's. Yes, he seems to be the spokesman, and he seems to be a key cog in the new Melania industry.
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A
Right. He's appearing, he's called an advisor.
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B
So Melania is trying to build this branding company, the Melania brand of which then he appears to be a significant figure.
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A
Well, he was on television defending her decision to go after Jimmy Kimmel. And Jimmy Kimmel has doubled down on it. I mean, and the new CEO of ABC doesn't seem to have weighed in at all. I mean, we all remember that Jimmy Kimmel got suspended. And there was a whole back and forth, and it was a bit of an. An own goal for Bob Iger, the then CEO, who of course we remember came back to run Disney, having retired. And there was a sort of. There was a bit of chaos, frankly, at Disney as they tried to figure out what to do. But Kimmel seems on a roll at the moment. And actually, for the number three comedian in late night. This has actually been very good for him.
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B
Yeah. And once, once again, I mean, this is clearly. It didn't play. It worked out very poorly the last time. And so why would they try to repeat this again? Shooting himself in the foot over and over. Comey. The war, the ball rush again and again. That's what we have seen. And so why would he go back to this? Incredibly unpromising.
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A
Yeah. Crazy. And what about Susie Wiles? What's happened to our friend Susie Wiles? Michael, we know that she held an off site at the beginning of the week to reassure panicked Republicans who thought they were gonna lose either their House or their Senate seat.
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B
Here's the issue. Does she leave?
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A
Well, you've always predicted that she probably would leave before the midterms.
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B
That will be a sign that things have not only are not only going south, but they have gone south. There's no recovery.
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A
We had a piece in the Beast on Sunday. I want to say that Susie Wiles is under the spotlight now. Cause technically, the Secret Service report to her. And the feeling was that after Saturday's debacle, where a would be assassin burst through one of the security barriers, that she would come under pressure because that was a, you know, that was a whole insecurity that shouldn't have been there.
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B
I think that that's true. But I think that there are two things here from her point of view. It's to look at, this is going south, and I'm going to get out of this. I got to get out of this first thing. It's an incredibly hard job. So the whole four years is a burden. But then if it begins to go south, you want to get out of it. But also from Trump's point of view, if it goes south, he needs someone to blame. You know, that's an important piece there. The fate of Susie Wiles.
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A
The fate of Susie Wiles. Michael, we mentioned that six of the Supreme Court justices, of course, the conservative ones, were attending the state dinner. Big, big decision in the Voting Rights Act.
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B
You know, I, you know, I, Again, it's, I mean, there are two things going on with the, with the Supreme Court at this point, which is their abject support of Trump. I mean, they have, no, the six justices have very little independence. They show this again and again and again, that they have very little independence. And then there is the sense of incredible disorganization in, within the court itself. So that idea that the court, that the court exists somewhat, that the court exists separate from politics, has been virtually destroyed in the Trump years in the first term and in the second term. And it is again, one of those things that is a terrible look. This is not helping Trump in the least. So again, that theme that everything, this is a kind of be careful what you wish for moment. Trump has wished for all of these things, and they are now coming to bite him in the ass.
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A
So our friend Hegers, appearing before select committee yesterday, thought he got very excited when he was being interrogated by Jason Crow from Colorado.
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B
And that's another example of this is not playing well. You know, essentially his message is the Hager's message was that the war, that the only problem with the war, the war is going tremendously. The only problem with the war is Americans who oppose it. That's like, I mean, I mean, who thought that would be a good idea? Let's turn this on. The, the, the, the general, The discontent with this war, which is broad and deep, is now why the war is continuing on. That's the problem. What is the problem with the war? Not the Iranians. The problem with the war is Americans. So, you know, again, I can only think that Trump is pushing him out there and saying, okay, you know, this is going to be on his head and he's going to. When this goes south, it has gone south. But when it continues to go so far south, Hagers is, is going to, going to take it.
- [42:12]
A
Do you think Hagers knows that is Hager's sort of halfway down the gang plank now and he can't come back. And he.
- [42:21]
B
Nobody has, nobody has an independent life in the Trump White House. You do what he, what you can only do what you think he wants done. That's the. You only have one way of thinking. And this is true for Todd Blanch indicting Comey. It is also, it is now true for Hagers. He is the one that has to go out there and defend this war and demonize any of the critics against this war, because that's what Donald Trump wants him to do.
- [43:01]
A
Right? And anyone who opposes it is to blame.
- [43:05]
B
And the media just remember, really, it is the important point. Nobody has an independent life.
- [43:15]
A
Well, we have an independent life, Michael. We have an independent life. Although it's better when people press.
- [43:23]
B
Remember when you almost went to work for the Trump White House?
- [43:27]
A
Well, let me be clear. I didn't almost go to work for the Trump White House. I was, to my astonishment, contacted by, by Ivanka Trump because she was setting up an office in the first. This is, yeah, Trump won. This is Trump 1 and I, I was astonished. But I spent some time with her in the campaign and we'd covered her in Cosmopolitan and Marie Claire, which I'd edited, and she was looking for someone to run her office, which was going to be in the East Wing, because it didn't look as if, if Melania was going to spend much time as the First Lady. And certainly you remember, for the first nine months, she didn't really move down to Washington because she thought that Baron should, should finish school. So allegedly, by the way, allegedly, that
- [44:18]
B
was the excuse, you know, the.
- [44:20]
A
Did we, did we see Baron at the, at the State dinner? I don't think we did. I didn't see him there and I didn't see him on the guest.
- [44:28]
B
Unmissable.
- [44:30]
A
He is unmissable. But I remember thinking, oh, goodness, goodness. And then I called around a few people and everybody was like, absolutely, you would be mad to do this. He's a bad guy. You never want to work. Ah.
- [44:45]
B
But you considered it? You considered it.
- [44:48]
A
Well, you consider anything. You should consider any. I mean, it was certainly an interesting.
- [44:55]
B
Well, here's a piece of advice for the, for the world at large. Do not consider a job in the Trump White House.
- [45:03]
A
Do not consider. But what I did, you know, I called around a few people, my council of elders, everybody was like, absolutely not. And then that night he came out and said between 3 and 5 million illegals had voted for Hillary Clinton because this was 2016 election he was talking about. And I thought, oh, I can't possibly do this. So I called and just said, thank you so much. This isn't, this isn't the right job for me. And then they called me back a couple of weeks later and asked me if I would be interested, and they thought it would be a very interesting opportunity. And then, then I just said I couldn't afford it. I couldn't have.
- [45:43]
B
You could have been a great source for me.
- [45:47]
A
I don't think I would have lasted very. I'm. It's one of those decisions that I'm so grateful that I didn't. I mean, not that I would have done, but as we know, a lot of people did go to work for them with the best of intentions during the first couple of years of Trump. 1. I missed the bullet, Michael. I missed the bullet. Yeah. Anyway, thank you for reminding me of that. Onwards, onwards. And just to remind people to press the subscription button, please. And we'll be back on Saturday. Back inside Trump's head. Back inside there, Michael, what do we think is going on there? As we close up. Today he's feeling good about the King's visit.
- [46:30]
B
Well, I think he is probably feeling good about the King's visit. I wonder if he knows how badly things are going for him. And I think that he is beginning to get an inkling of that. So then the question is, how does he respond? What does he do? We know he doesn't. Course. Correct. So he doubles down. So I think that things are about to get, if possible, even uglier.
- [47:05]
A
Well, we'll be back on Saturday to figure out what's happened between now and then, because surely something will. The speed with which he works cannot be denied. Perhaps he'll have put up the ballroom by then. But 2 to 1, people don't like what he's suggesting and they don't want him to complete the plans that he's been showing people. So who knows what will happen? Maybe it will just be interminably fought about and will be forever a pile of rubble.
- [47:40]
B
We should check on the futures markets. Do people see the ballroom actually being built or not?
- [47:47]
A
Yep, that's a very good idea. All right, we'll come back with the results on Saturday. Michael, go well and I will talk to you. All being well on Saturday morning.
- [47:56]
B
Joanna,
- [48:00]
A
Michael, do you want to thank our production team?
- [48:02]
B
Thanks to our incredible team. Such an incredible team.
- [48:06]
A
They are an incredible team.
- [48:08]
B
Devin, Rachel, Ryan, Heather and Neil.
- [48:14]
A
Well done.