Why Trump Is Putting King Charles in Grave Danger

Summary

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The Daily Beast Podcast: "Why Trump Is Putting King Charles in Grave Danger"

Host: Joanna Coles
Guest: Steve Schmidt
Date: February 9, 2026

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Episode Overview

This provocative episode features Joanna Coles in conversation with political strategist Steve Schmidt, focusing on the extreme transformation of the Republican Party under Donald Trump, the implications for American democracy, and the looming political controversy over King Charles’ proposed 2026 visit to the US. Schmidt, a former GOP “insider” turned prominent Trump critic, discusses his campaign to dissuade King Charles from attending America’s 250th anniversary celebrations, threatening a dramatic media counter-campaign should the monarch accept.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

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1. Steve Schmidt and the "Save America Movement"

• Schmidt’s Warning to King Charles ([01:20], [39:38]):

  • Schmidt warns King Charles not to come to America for its 250th anniversary in 2026 if Donald Trump is President, promising an unprecedented and scandalous advertising campaign targeting the monarchy’s vulnerabilities if the visit proceeds as "MAGA propaganda."
    • "Should he step foot on American soil in service of MAGA, then the crown will be attacked with an advertising campaign that would not be permitted in England." — Steve Schmidt ([01:20])
    • Schmidt references scandals such as Charles’ intimate comments, his relationship with Prince Andrew, and promises to "project images onto buildings in New York City" ([44:00]).
    • Schmidt asserts the King's visit would function as a tool of MAGA propaganda, jeopardizing both the monarchy’s dignity and transatlantic relations.

• Purpose of the Campaign ([39:38], [43:44]):

  • The campaign aims to protect "the crown" from being instrumentalized by American autocracy, emphasizing Washington’s historic humility and contrast with Trump’s ambitions.
  • The Save America Movement aims to raise $100 million, claiming over 800,000 donors and plans a series of domestic and international ad campaigns targeting both American and foreign figures linked with MAGA or perceived as democracy’s enemies ([47:06]).

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2. Transformations in the Republican Party

• Collapse of Republican Principles ([03:20], [13:22], [14:57]):

  • Schmidt critiques the party's abandonment of principle and complicity in Trump’s “cult of personality”; equates the current crisis to the Civil War and WWII in American history.
  • Criticizes the moral collapse of GOP leadership, singling out Lindsey Graham and Marco Rubio for betraying constitutional values for power.
    • "[They] have become apologists for an indecency and in the end, largely have become domestic enemies of the Constitution." — Steve Schmidt ([13:42])
  • Recounts Palin's VP nomination as a pivotal, cautionary moment in letting “the process go off the rails” ([07:19-12:47]), drawing parallels to the party's subsequent dives into extremism and dysfunction.
    • "The biggest mistake in my life… when Sarah Palin shows up at John McCain's ranch… that choice was not an advisor's choice. It was his choice." — Steve Schmidt ([07:19])

• Trump’s Ego and Prospects of Erasure ([03:20]):

  • Schmidt ridicules Trump’s obsession with naming landmarks after himself and predicts that his name and legacy will soon be "scraped off” buildings, erased by public shame ([03:20]).
    • "He cares a lot about this... on January 20, 2029, all of his gilded gold, tacky crapola will be scraped off the wall." — Steve Schmidt

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3. Current Figures Around Trump

• Tulsi Gabbard and Conspiracy Allegations ([17:57]):

  • Gabbard is accused of overstepping legal authority and advancing debunked election “conspiracies” as head of intelligence, allegedly sowing doubt about 2026’s outcome ([18:27-18:54]).
  • Schmidt on Gabbard: “She is as unfit as any person in the country you could pick right to have this job… [she] is involved in a conspiracy theory that is a Trump fantasy.” ([18:56])

• Marco Rubio ([22:36-23:27]):

  • Schmidt paints Rubio as sycophantic and opportunistic, using a sharp analogy: "If little Marco was in Havana in 1958… he would have been carrying Fidel Castro's briefcase" ([22:36]).
  • Accuses Rubio of complicity in humanitarian disaster by championing the end of US foreign aid.

• J.D. Vance ([25:11-26:58]):

  • Labeled a “total fraud,” “dangerous person,” and accused of hypocrisy and extremism, Schmidt confidently asserts Vance will “never be President” due to his unpopularity and dependence on Trump’s shadow ([25:25],[26:40]).
    • "He's a fraud who has discarded every principle… a chameleon. He believes in nothing." — Steve Schmidt ([25:25])

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4. The Broader Climate: Media, Morality, and the Epstein Files

• Media Failure and Depravity ([14:57],[32:17-34:16]):

  • Schmidt indicts the media establishment and public figures like Bari Weiss for lack of ethics, referencing their connections to the Epstein files and a wider “collapse of decency.”
    • Suggests the ongoing release of Epstein material could politically devastate Trump and US elites, noting criminal probes opening abroad.
    • "The sickness that is in those files is an American cancer. It's a cancer of the elites." — Steve Schmidt ([34:23])

• Electoral Agency and Warning Against Despair ([04:33-06:31]):

  • Reminds listeners “the biggest lie” is believing Trump’s regime is inevitable—asserts Americans retain agency, likening Trump’s demagoguery and media manipulation to “Yo Yo Ma plays a cello” ([04:33]).
    • "People have been conditioned to expect the worst. And Donald Trump is an expert demagogue who has certainly learned to play a lot of the American media like Yo Yo Ma plays a cello." — Steve Schmidt

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5. Campaign Tactics and Implications for Politics

• Guerrilla Advertising Tactics ([44:00-46:05]):

  • Schmidt details plans for highly visible, shaming campaigns: TV/radio ads, digital campaigns, and image projections against King Charles, along the lines of previous Trump humiliation campaigns at Windsor Castle.

• International Push ([47:06-50:59]):

  • Save America Movement intends not only to shape US opinion but to “call out” foreign figures connected with what Schmidt describes as MAGA-aligned plots, e.g., US Ambassadors, tech oligarchs, and even Canadian figures.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Republican Decay and Enablers
  “Power corrupts absolutely… The prime example, more so than any other, I think, is Lindsey Graham… Lindsey Graham has abdicated everything that he said he believed in, for convenience, for power, to play golf with Trump.” — Steve Schmidt ([14:57])

• On J.D. Vance
  “He’s a California Yale Billy, not an Ohio hillbilly. He is a fraud who has discarded every principle. He is a chameleon. He believes in nothing.” — Steve Schmidt ([25:25])

• On King Charles’ Potential Visit
  “Should he step foot on American soil in service of MAGA, then the crown will be attacked with an advertising campaign that would not be permitted in England.” — Steve Schmidt ([43:44])

• On Agency and Resistance
  “People have been conditioned to expect the worst. And Donald Trump is an expert demagogue who has certainly learned to play a lot of the American media like Yo Yo Ma plays a cello.” — Steve Schmidt ([04:33])

• On Media and the Epstein Files
  “The sickness that is in those files is an American cancer. It's a cancer of the elites.” — Steve Schmidt ([34:23])

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:20] Schmidt’s warning to King Charles and threat of ad campaign
• [03:20] Schmidt on Trump’s narcissism and ultimate erasure
• [13:22] The GOP’s transformation and abdication of principles
• [18:27] Tulsi Gabbard, FBI allegations, and conspiracies
• [22:36] Marco Rubio’s opportunism and consequences of aid cuts
• [25:25] J.D. Vance’s betrayal and future prospects
• [34:23] Epstein files, media complicity, and international investigations
• [39:38] Plans for ad campaigns targeting King Charles’ visit
• [43:44] The historic symbolism of Washington’s humility vs. Trump’s ego
• [47:06] Scope and structure of Save America Movement campaigns
• [51:04] Upcoming ad campaign schedule and tactics

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Tone & Language

• Steve Schmidt’s tone: Combative, passionate, sharp, infused with personal anecdotes and a sense of historical analogies (e.g., comparing Trump’s media prowess to Yo-Yo Ma, likening modern crisis to WWII/Civil War).
• Joanna Coles: Probing, slightly incredulous at times, maintaining brisk pacing and dry humor (“scold-prophet”; “didn’t expect Steve to be behind a campaign against King Charles”).

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Conclusion

This episode offers a sweeping condemnation of Trumpism’s corrosive effects on the Republican Party, American democracy, and international relations. Schmidt issues a stark warning to Britain’s King Charles, tying the monarchy’s symbolic visit to a pivotal moment in the struggle over US democracy and threatening radical public shaming as a deterrent. He underscores the global dimensions of the current crises—spanning media, morality, and international intrigue—and invites listeners to resist despair, insisting that collective agency and political accountability can prevail.

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Transcript

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[Joanna Cole]

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[Steve Schmidt]

I have a message for the King. I'm involved in a group called the Save America Movement. The King should not come to America in 2026, and should he step foot on American soil in service of maga, then the crown will be attacked with an advertising campaign that would not be permitted in England. And whether it's his desires to have once been a tampon or whether it is his relationship with his brother, it will be no holds or.

[Joanna Cole]

I'm Joanna Cole, this is the Daily Beast podcast, and today we've got a really provocative conversation with Steve Schmidt, who's a sort of scold profit A former Republican, he worked for George W. Bush in the White House. He was, of course, on the campaign trail very prominently with John McCain. He talks about how Trump has just pulled the party into the gutter along with people around him. And he talks about the journey the Republican Party took from the days when John McCain was its candidate to the days when Donald Trump falls asleep in Cabinet meetings. I certainly didn't expect Steve Schmidt to be behind a group that wants to prevent King Charles from coming here to celebrate the 250th anniversary of America in April, as is planned. And he's about to unleash an advertising campaign against all sorts figures in the us you do not want to miss this conversation. Steve Schmidt Doom profit of our Political situation It's excellent to have you with us this morning. Every day we wake up to Donald Trump wanting to name something else after him. The most recent, I think, is Dulles Airport and now Penn Station. What does this say to you about the president?

[Steve Schmidt]

I'm not a psychiatrist and I don't know where the line is between malignant narcissism, which is easy to diagnose, and malignant megalomania. But he is somewhere in that space and he cares a lot about this. And he won't be around, I suspect, given his ill health and dementia, to appreciate that there will not be anything named for Donald Trump in the United States. In the noon hour on January 20, 2029, all of his gilded gold, tacky crapola will be scraped off the wall. It will be taken off of any building he has affixed it to. And more than that, 10 years from now, 15 years from now, we will still be around, I hope, and we won't meet anyone ever who voted for Donald Trump.

[Joanna Cole]

You think it'll be whitewashed out of our past?

[Steve Schmidt]

Who, Maga? What? Not me. And then 25 years from now, 30 years from now, we may not be around to see this, but, but grandkids are going to go into grandpa's closets and into the attic and into the boxes and pull out some MAGA hats and they're, they're going to say, oh, my, I had no idea. And families will have to reconcile that. And grandchildren will be upset at grandparents who are gone. And, but this will end. And what we are dealing with right now is a crisis unequaled since the Second World War at some level or the Civil War at another level. But also we're experiencing an awakening. And one of the things that's so disorienting is the washing over the American people of all of this Trump filth that's peddled out non stop on Fox News in the capitulant media that makes it seem like none of this can be stopped. And that's the biggest lie going out there, even at some level, bigger than the biggest Trump lie, that we don't have any agency, we don't have any control, that he can do away with elections. And it's all fear mongering. But people have been conditioned to expect the worst. And Donald Trump is an expert demagogue who has certainly learned to play a lot of the American media. Like Yo Yo Ma plays a cello.

[Joanna Cole]

Well, and how Yo Yo Ma plays Bach's cello suites, I would say specifically because that is a glorious, incredible sound. So one of the things I really wrestle with Steve. And I want you to help me think through this is just the impact that one man can have, how he can bamboozle and bluster and bloviate and just sort of turn his cabinet into a supine group of people who seem terrified, genuinely terrified of him. How did that come to be? You've been up close with. You worked for George W. Bush. You worked for John McCain. You brought a Sarah Palin. We can come back to that later.

[Steve Schmidt]

As a matter of fact, I never had a paycheck working for John McCain. I was a volunteer all the way through. And when John McCain's campaign collapsed in the summer of 2007, he called me. And that's how that Game Change movie begins. And I helped engineer his comeback from last place. I took over the campaign again in the summer of 2008 when he was 17 points down. By the end of August, that race was even. I think at that time, there were really only three credible vice presidential candidates left. And the whole process was dysfunctional. And I wasn't in charge of it when I took over the campaign. And this is in the media from the time Rick Davis was in charge of the vice presidential selection process. And the finalists were Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, who was the diet vanilla ice cream governor of Minnesota. And there was no one else. What I said at the time, and this is like somebody, I guess, if you're in the UK and you're a big football fan or if you're a baseball fan like myself, you know who all the players, you know, who all the prospects are. Politics was my business, right? She was. She was the most popular governor in the country. She had a 80% approval level, and her issue in Alaska was fighting corruption. And what I said at the time, I said, I don't know anything about her at all. And I don't know if we can vet her completely or in time to Rick, but we should take a look at Sarah Palin, which is. Which is what I said now. Now, the biggest mistake in my life, that, that if I. And I've lingered on it for. For a long time, and I don't know why I did this. I don't know what sensibility I had. I had been a senior aide in the White House. I don't know if between that and watching too much West Wing, I had. I had come to this conclusion. But when Sarah Palin shows up at John McCain's ranch, he's going to interview her. He says to Mark Salter, who was his longtime chief of staff, And John's property had a bunch of small cabins on it. We were standing on the porch of one of the cabins, and we're watching her SUV come down this dirt road. The property is on a riverbank, kind of descending in a canyon, if you're familiar with that part of the country. He says to us, hey, boys, let's go talk to her. And I looked at him and I said, it's completely inappropriate for the two of us to be in this meeting with you. You are the person who will take the 35 word oath, and you have to make the decision about whether she is ready to take it, whether she measures up. I'm not the presidential candidate. You are. And that choice was not an advisor's choice. It was his choice. And so I've talked about this, and this story's been out there for the years, but after that meeting, we all went for a walk down along the riverbank, and there was a hawk in the nest. John was a birder, like the birds, and so kind of underneath the hawk nest. Cindy McCain, Mark Salter, John and I.

[Joanna Cole]

And.

[Steve Schmidt]

John asked me to make the case for Palin, and he asked Mark to make the case for Tim Pawlenty. And I just cut him off. And I said, well, I'm not here to advocate for Sarah Palin or Tim Pawlenty. It's your choice. So I will tell you this. We will lose this election unless something changes the dynamic and we can get ahead coming out of the convention. That Tim Pawlenty is not a candidate who I see us coming out of the convention. Ahead with Palin is a risk. You just met with her. And we all went around and talked. And the last person who said anything was Cindy. She said, john, it's a big gamble. And John looked at Cindy and he said, he goes. Well, he goes, you know how much I love craps. And he pretended he had craps dice in his hand, and he just splayed them out. And he said, fuck it, let's do it. And that's how Sarah Palin got picked. And one of the lessons of Palin in the aftermath was to make sure that everybody who was ever going to have say in a presidential campaign understood how this went off the rails. So it. So it could never happen again. The truth of the matter is that she wasn't any crazier than, say, John Edwards was.

[Joanna Cole]

John Edwards, there's a name you don't hear very much.

[Steve Schmidt]

So you had two deeply flawed vice presidential candidates that made it through the process. And now in J.D. vance, you have another vice president who is just. Who is just profoundly, profoundly unfit.

[Joanna Cole]

Well, I was going to, I was going to ask you about, about. J.D. vance, I want to pull you back with your experience and through those eyes to understanding the people that Donald Trump has around him and why no one is able to say no to him. How has this become a government of one?

[Steve Schmidt]

Well, John Kennedy had a. Had a quote in his inaugural. He said, beware the foolish men who seek power by trying to ride the back of the tiger, only to wind up inside.

[Joanna Cole]

That's a great quote. It's a great quote.

[Steve Schmidt]

I operated for a long time at the highest levels of the Republican party. And in 2015, when Donald Trump came down the escalator, every single person in the Republican Party had the same exact position regarding Donald Trump as me. I just am alone with a handful of others in maintaining that position. Eleven years later, I have not stepped off the line. But everybody else accommodated what they were against. Day by day, hour by hour, they abdicated fully all of their principles for their party over their country, and they've become apologists for an indecency and in the end, largely have become domestic enemies of the Constitution.

[Joanna Cole]

And, Steve, how does that happen?

[Steve Schmidt]

Power corrupts absolutely. There's a hollowness, there's a neediness inside a lot of these people and emptiness. The prime example, more so than any other, I think, is Lindsey Graham, who I spent a year traveling around the country with, with John McCain, who was an American hero and was an American patriot, but was a complicated. Was a complicated man in many ways. And Lindsey Graham has abdicated everything that he said he believed in, for convenience, for power, to play golf with Trump. And we live. And this is the through line. Whether it's the Epstein files, whether it's Donald Trump, we live. Whether it's Barry Weiss, we live. We live in an age of depravity, in an age of selfishness, in an era where morality, decent, ethics, integrity have all substantially collapsed. And that's the price, that's the cost of Donald Trump over 11 years time. But every person that you cover so exquisitely in the Daily Beast, in this Trump Cabinet, all of these senators, all of these congressmen, there is an enduring record that tells us exactly what it is they believed about Donald Trump that makes clear they knew who he was, that makes clear that they understand what happened on January 6th. So we're. I'm sure we're going to talk about the idea of nationalizing the elections.

[Joanna Cole]

Yeah, well, we should talk about that. Yeah.

[Steve Schmidt]

I mean, before before we do, though, I just want to make this point. In September of 2020, I said the following. I said there will be violence, and that violence will happen on January 6. And the violence is going to happen as a result of Donald Trump saying an election that's legitimate is illegitimate in a country that's a revolutionary country. Because the consequence of what it is that he's saying is that power that has been elected is, in fact, illegitimate. And I said that was the final step. That was the river of no return. The Republicans who got online with that lie. This is the cornerstone, not of the Republican Party, but of the American civilization.

[Joanna Cole]

So, Steve, what do you make of Tulsi Gabbard, the allegations that apparently so dark that even Congress isn't allowed to know? What is the center of these recent allegations by a whistleblower in the Intelligence Department about the head of intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard? And what do you make of her going down and overseeing the FBI operation to collect files on the 2000 election from Fulton county in Georgia? How significant is that?

[Steve Schmidt]

It's madness. She should be impeached. She has no statutory authority whatsoever to be involved in an FBI raid with a warrant of the Fulton County Board of Elections. Zero. It's like being pulled over in Kansas by a beat cop from London.

[Joanna Cole]

What a brilliant analogy. Right.

[Steve Schmidt]

So it's just she's no authority whatsoever. So the head of America's intelligence agencies is involved in a conspiracy theory that is a Trump fantasy. There's no evidence around any of this. And you have to go back, you know, oh, she's a cult member. Legitimately, she was in a cult. She is as unfit as any person in the country you could pick right to have this job. And what it is all in service of is sowing doubt about the outcome of the 2026 election and trying to delegitimize it. The idea that, well, it's only a fair election if MAGA and Trump win. And this is what people have to understand. There is no workaround for this. You can get rid of Social Security. You can get rid of food stamps. You can get rid of the army or the Navy. And that will not kill America. But this is the brainstem. Who gets to hold temporary power in a constitutional republic that limits that power, do you think, by the American people, by the politicians?

[Joanna Cole]

Do you think Tulsi is a Russian agent? What do you think is at the center of these allegations that should have been referred by the Intelligence Department to Congress and yet have not been?

[Steve Schmidt]

I can't. I Can't. I have no idea. I know that she is disloyal to the Constitution. I know that when she popped up in Syria, that that alone should have been the disqualification for her to hold any clearance ever, for any reason. Whatever this whistleblower complaint is, we will find out about it, we will know the details of it. And I suspect it's something shocking, it's something horrible. And no matter what, there's always this disconnect between, you know, how terrible it's going to be, but then you see the terribleness. So I know that Trump is a racist, and so was I surprised to see his smear of the Obamas in.

[Joanna Cole]

His true social post intellectually.

[Steve Schmidt]

But when it hits emotionally. Right. You just. It made me physically sick. So when we find out what it is that she did, it's going to be horrendous. It's going to be jarring, but it's not going to be surprising.

[Joanna Cole]

So Tulsi Gabbard seems at the current time to be a sort of complete mystery what she's doing, why she's doing that. Even Todd Blanche, the number two in the Justice Department, came out and said she had no reason to be there, et cetera. What do you think of the other people that are around Donald Trump? What about Marco Rubio, who was, you know, a relatively normal, in inverted commas Republican, but who now appears to, you know, every time he starts sucking up to the president in the Cabinet meetings, the president falls asleep. He's so bored of hearing about Marco's praise for him.

[Steve Schmidt]

If I. Well, he's a sycophant and he's principleless. And I had a Twitter spat, if you will, some years back where I said basically this, and I'm proud of this, and I certainly hit the nail on the head. And it was in 2019ish. And I said, let me tell you who little Marco is. If little Marco was in Havana in 1958 and 1959, he would have been carrying Fidel Castro's briefcase around behind him, looking for. Right, looking for position and looking. Looking for power.

[Joanna Cole]

So he's just an opportunist.

[Steve Schmidt]

Ted Cruz responded to this. He's how dare you? Right on the Twitter. How dare you? And I was 100% correct in my assessment of Marco Rubio's character. This is a bible spouting hypocrite who is going to be directly responsible through the cancellation of usaid, suffering that beggars the imagination and ultimately the deaths of more than 14 million people around the world. 14 million human beings who would be alive in 2029 had Kamala Harris been elected president. It was an affirmative decision by the richest nation in the world to cut for no reason whatsoever, contrary to our national security interest, because the instability that follows famine and disease and hunger always finds its way back to the United States. He is a person who is not just corrupt. He's a person who's not just principleless. He's a person who has crossed the line from being principleless into doing real evil. He is faithless to his oath. He is a domestic enemy of the American Constitution. He's a travesty.

[Joanna Cole]

All right, so what do we think, then of J.D. vance, who, in 2016, as you referred to earlier, referred to Trump as the new Hitler? He's also done a Lindsey Graham or a Marco Rubio and snuggled in beside Donald Trump.

[Steve Schmidt]

He's so. He. He's a total fraud, and he's an extremist. He is. He is a dangerous person. And his funding by Peter Thiel, by the tech oligarchs is something that I don't think most Americans understand. He's somebody who has said things like beaten women should stay married for family values. He's a person who was involved with a fake opioid charity, and the opioids, of course, ravaged the community that he identified himself with. With. You know, he's a California Yale Billy, not an Ohio hillbilly. He is a fraud who has discarded every principle. He's a. He is a chameleon. He believes in nothing. And he will unless Trump dies in office. He will. He will never be the. Be the President of the United States.

[Joanna Cole]

I mean, why do you say that so confidently?

[Steve Schmidt]

Because. Because he's weird and he's reviled and he will never be able to carry Trump's mantle. And he won't be able to stand without leaning on. Without leaning on Donald on his. On his own two feet. People don't like him.

[Joanna Cole]

Do you think Donald Trump likes him?

[Steve Schmidt]

No, I don't. I don't think Donald Trump thinks about him. I think. I think he is a. I don't think that Donald Trump has. Relates to people like that. I don't like him. I like him. I think he serves a function, a utility. He wasn't picked by Donald Trump. He was picked by Donald Trump Jr. No.

[Joanna Cole]

Persuaded his father and Tucker Carlson, I think, too.

[Steve Schmidt]

Right. And Tucker Carlson and, you know, perhaps they'll wind up running against each other. You know, we'll see. But there, by the time we get to the end of this none of these people will ever be elected to office again. They will live their lives in utter shame. Honestly, Carolyn Levitt's got a lot of miles ahead of her in life and it's going to be brutal. What does she suspect life's going to be like for her at age 50?

[Joanna Cole]

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[Joanna Cole]

And we're back with Steve Schmidt discussing, well, how far the Republican Party has come. What is life like going to be for Pam Bondi, who really has hollowed out the Justice Department and appears to be weaponizing it against democracy itself?

[Steve Schmidt]

Actually, she will go to prison, and Pam Bondi will be the spark. Kristi Noem will go to prison. Stephen Miller will go to prison. These crimes will be prosecuted in the States. And as was the case in Germany, there is a record, there is an email of everything that has been done. And it is a conspiracy against the people of the United States. And that's how it'll be prosecuted. All of this as it comes to pass as we, as we find out what she did. But she will be penniless, reviled, broken, imprisoned. I don't have a doubt in my mind, but it's not coming. It's not happening tomorrow.

[Joanna Cole]

Okay, so you are a campaign aide. You've worked, you worked for George W. Bush in the White House. How can you even begin to think about the Epstein files? What, what is the impact you think they're going to have, if at all, on Donald Trump? I mean, we've seen, you know, a dozen senior men at this point who've had to give up, you know, who've been forced to resign. What is the impact on Donald Trump, though?

[Steve Schmidt]

Well, I don't think thus far we've even begun to see the beginning of the measurable political impact. One of the things that I was at a fundraiser in Los Angeles this past week for an organization I'm involved in called the Save America Movement. And people will come up to me all the time and they'll say, but how can it be be why do so many people support him? And, and there is a sense of helplessness with it. And here's the deal with that. Trump's approval numbers are now 38, 37% and they're pushing lower. And by the time we get to March 31, his numbers are going to be at the low end in a poll at about 29% to about 30 to 33%. When you look at the polling right now that says his strongly approval, his strongly approved number is 26%. That's his floor. He will never go below 26% support. And so when you, when you look at a quarter of the population in a country with 330 million people, that's a lot of people. But if you think about it, in a room with four people, three out of those four people are against them. And so the depravity of this. Think about, for example, and just to consider it through another angle, the depravity of Barry Weiss and Peter Attia, what justification could you possibly have as a matter of judgment as a leader of an organization, as a, as a leader of a newsroom?

[Joanna Cole]

Yeah, I'm just pointing out that Bari Weiss is the new head of CBS News, the new editor in chief for people who don't know who she is.

[Steve Schmidt]

And she's going to keep, as a health contributor, a doctor who's in the Epstein file 1700 times. One of the things that's happening, we have, we have such an American centric view of the world in the United States, as if we are alone and everything orbits around us. Prime Minister Tusk in Poland has opened up a criminal investigation, trying to understand the ties between Epstein and Russian intelligence. You have 12 different countries now that have opened their own criminal investigations. When you look at, for example, France and how they have just engaged with Elon Musk and all the child pornography filth that's spewing out of his platforms is that Donald Trump has lost control of this story. He was close friends with this man. And when you go back and you look, a lot of people say, ah, you know, Donald doesn't seem like Donald would be into children. Well, have you ever seen Donald leering at children at one of his beauty pageants? The sickness that is in those files is an American cancer. It's a cancer of the elites. Prince Andrew or Andrew Mountbatten Montbate. The bill will come due. This is not something that people have to debate or think about. They get it. And there's such a disconnect even in the coverage with how this lands with real people. And at the end of the day, you keep getting flares that signal where we're going. When you see a Democrat get elected in Texas, in a district that Trump won by 20 points with a 30.

[Joanna Cole]

Point swing, he got elected. Right.

[Steve Schmidt]

There you go. Right. The tectonic plates are moving and decency will prevail in the end.

[Joanna Cole]

So, Steve, let me ask you something, because I know you're a big watcher of the British royal family. And Andrew, formerly known as Prince Andrew's older brother, the K. King Charles, is coming over. He's due a visit in April to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the founding of America and obviously he be greeted by by Donald Trump. If you were advising King Charles, would you say that's the right thing for him to do?

[Steve Schmidt]

No, I I have a message for the king some free.

[Joanna Cole]

Of course you do. Of course you do. Steve. Let's just take a moment for some advertising.

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[Joanna Cole]

See terms. And I'm back with the scold profit. Steve Schmidt.

[Steve Schmidt]

Like I said, I'm involved in a group called the Save America Movement. We just ran ads in Copenhagen. A message from the American people to the people of Denmark. We have had ads up in Washington calling on Chuck Schumer to stop the appeasement. I will initiate an advertising campaign against his Majesty that will boggle the English mind. Wow. Wow. It will shock the British conscience. And the king should not come to America in 2026.

[Joanna Cole]

What is the ad campaign gonna say? How is it gonna boggle?

[Steve Schmidt]

It will be brutal. But let me. Let me. Let me say this before I. Before I get into the details of it. The first British monarch to set foot on American soil was his grandfather, King George vi. And that trip was choreographed down to every last detail by President Roosevelt. Now, there was not a lot of affection for the British in America in 1938. This was a country filled with Irish. There was no special relationship per se. And one of the things that FDR did that both Queen Mary and His Majesty on film, you can see the first time they ever touched food with their hands in their lives was when FDR gave them hot dogs at Hyde Park. And the American people came to the conclusion on that trip it was effective that these people are like us. These are our kin. That trip began with a trip up the Potomac river, on the Potomac, which was the presidential yacht. And King George went to pay his respects to George Washington. And he descended into Washington's tomb. He laid flowers there. And that king's ancestor, King George iii would ask often of Washington wanted to know, did he intend to be a king, an emperor? Would his empire be bigger than the British emperor? Empire? And when King George III was told, no, Washington will leave power. He'll retire. He'll go home to Mount Vernon. The king said that that makes George Washington the greatest man of this or any age because he became the first person since the Roman emperor Cincinnatus to do that. To walk away. To walk away from power. Washington's humility is at the center of this celebration. When you look at the painting by Turnbull in the Capitol where Washington comes to resign his commission, there's a tremendous symbolism in it. He's laid his military cape over a throne, a chair bigger than the others in the room. Washington will not be a Caesar. Washington's repose is. His head is bowed. He has subordinated himself to the Congress. And Washington will walk away from power twice when he could have been king, when he could have been Tyrant. And so the bonds that exist between the United States and the United Kingdom are bonds that are. Steeped in a shared love of freedom and liberty. Should the king come to Washington, it will be a celebration of Donald Trump in a moment of existential crisis for American democracy.

[Joanna Cole]

So should the king say he just can't come?

[Steve Schmidt]

The king is surrounded by exceptional diplomats, and they should protect the crown. And should he step foot on American soil in service of MAGA as a propaganda tool, then the crown will be attacked with an advertising campaign that would not be permitted in England. And whether it's his desires to have once been a tampon, or whether it's. Or whether it is his relationship with his brother, it will be no holds barred. I will project images onto buildings in New York City. I will run ad campaigns that, again, boggle the British imagination.

[Joanna Cole]

So this could be very embarrassing for the King.

[Steve Schmidt]

It will be mortifying for the entire British government. Right? It will be a.

[Joanna Cole]

The entire British government right now is mortified anyway because of the extent of Peter Mandelson, as you know, the former ambassador to Washington, who, it turns out, when he was business secretary, was actually. Actually being paid, it appears, by Jeffrey Epstein to give him inside information about the government, including even Gordon Brown, the then Prime Minister's resignation. So I'm not sure how much more embarrassed the British government could be at this point.

[Steve Schmidt]

Prince. Prince Andrew. Andrew will be traveling on the King's shoulder like a parrot, like a pedophile parrot for his trip to the United States. He should not come, and it will break affection between the monarchy and the American people. The American people, as a general proposition, esteem the royal family.

[Joanna Cole]

So I'm assuming that you saw the guerrilla tactics used against Donald Trump when he went to Windsor Castle, and they projected images of Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump holding each other and basically hanging out together on the sides of Windsor Castle. So you're envisaging something as impactful as that.

[Steve Schmidt]

It'll be that there'll be TV ads, there'll be radio ads, there'll be digital ads. We'll make full use of the. Of the First Amendment. It will be the most degrading weeks of the. Of the king's reign. And I remember how it will be awful. And he should not come and stand with a pedophile protector, at best, who has insulted the sacrifice of the king's forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, who has threatened to wage war against NATO, who has established himself as an enemy of liberty and one of the most corrupt men in the world.

[Joanna Cole]

And just so I understand Steve, who's financing this campaign?

[Steve Schmidt]

The Save America movement began seven months ago. We have over 800,000 donors. We are a very fast growing organization. And when you, when you think about the size of that, some of these candidates running for president, you know, go out and say, you know, oh, I have 40,000 donors, right? I have, you know, as a measure of their support, we have 800,000 donors from all 50 states in a seven month old organization. You know, our goal is to raise upwards of $100 million for this election cycle. It'll be between I think 75 and 100, but we have all the resources we need to play a major role in shaping public opinion. And next week, ad campaigns will begin against the American ambassadors in Canada, in Denmark and in Poland who have disgraced the American people. Corporate campaigns will begin against Paul Weiss and their Epstein Kane, a chairman who just resigned but is still at the firm. Against Ron Lauder, a Trump billionaire heir of the Estee Lauder fortune and who is the architect of the Trump obscenity of trying to take over Greenland. Ron Lauder is also one of the American billionaires who has his hands into the soil of Ukraine trying to extract his, his money. And we will, we will launch a, we will launch a advertising effort against Tim Cook and Apple and we will begin advertising about the Canadian seditionists in Calgary that came to meet in the White House that are trying to break up in Canada. So we will, we will take eight different advertising actions next week, plus a ad focused on JD Vance in Washington D.C. we will take the fight to these people and we will model for fearlessness. I hope for a lot of people who are intimidated about, about standing up, no one should be afraid. Steve Miller and Kristi Noem.

[Joanna Cole]

And who's doing the creative work for this? I mean, obviously I think everybody remembers your incredibly impactful work for the Lincoln Project, which you were a co founder and I know you then left. But, but is this, are you coming up with a creative work? Who are you working with for this?

[Steve Schmidt]

We have, we have, I mean we have, I have some, we have, we have a great creative team, but we also have a tremendous amount of volunteers right out of the creative community, out of the advertising community, people who can opt in. Do you want to make this ad? Do you want to write this ad? Do you want to produce this ad? We'll put it up on tv. So we'll, we have a group of volunteers. Everybody comes together, we talk about the concepts, we make the ads. And of course those people, you know, everyone who's involved in this has a different risk tolerance. Nobody necessarily needs to be involved at the expense of their privacy, their safety and all of that. You know, there's people like me who are up front and out in public, but we have scores of, of people, including some really famous directors, you know, who are helping out, making some, some really powerful ads and really powerful content that we hope has a real impact in the, in the months ahead.

[Joanna Cole]

Well, when does, when did the first ads go out?

[Steve Schmidt]

We will. So we've put more than 60 out so far. But what I'm talking about, the actions we're going to take next week. Our target date for release is Thursday.

[Joanna Cole]

Thursday. Okay. So, Steve, this conversation took a completely different direction than anything I was expecting, but absolutely fascinating. And of course, we will reach out to Buckingham palace and ask for the king's reaction to the idea that you will be doing this should he decide to, to come to come here. And we would reach out to the British ambassador in Washington, but there isn't one yet. As far as I know, they haven't replaced Peter Mandelson. That's thrown the diplomatic corps into something of a tizzy. It's always great to speak to you and we would love to have you back soon to talk about the impact of the acts.

[Steve Schmidt]

And I just say, I just say how much I love the Daily Beast. I read it every day. It is fearless, it's fun, it's interesting, it's readable. And I just want to say how much I admire it.

[Joanna Cole]

Well, I appreciate that and I'm accepting that on behalf of the team. We have extremely talented editors. I'm the, I'm the least of it. But we have, we have incredible editors, actually, who, who are like you, are concerned about the American Constitution and about the direction of the country. Anyway, Steve, we would love to have you back. Good luck with the ad campaign launching this week. We will reach out to Buckingham palace and get their reaction. And we look forward to seeing you again soon.

[Steve Schmidt]

Thank you, Joanna.

[Joanna Cole]

So there you have it. Steve Schmidt, a former Republican in full flow against what he interprets as the biggest traitors of all and the biggest threats to the American Constitution, the Republican Cabinet. Anyway, he forced foresees a future perhaps like Tiresias, where all these people get their comeuppance legally and as you heard him say, he hopes they end in jail. Well, if you have been, thank you for joining us. Please leave us a comment on what you think about Steve's prognostications and I urge you to take a look at his the warning. If you haven't watched it, it's on YouTube. Don't forget to subscribe. Subscribe to the Daily Beast. I always reinforce that we are independent media, so we appreciate your support and we'll be back with Inside Trump's Head on Tuesday. Have a good week. So the good news is we have so many Beast Tier members now there are too many names to read out. And we really appreciate your support. Thanks to our production team. Devon Rogerino Ryan Murray Rachel Pas, Heather Passaro Neil Rosenhaus.

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[Steve Schmidt]

Want more great listens? Check out our comedy podcast the Last Laugh and our Star Studded the Daily Beast [e-mail] podcasts if you enjoyed this.

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Episode, consider becoming a Daily Beast subscriber.

[Steve Schmidt]

Subscribing is the best way to feed.

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[Steve Schmidt]

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