A (57:38)
Melania Trump seems to just deeply despise Donald Trump. And I don't mean this as like some deep psychological claim or what. I'm just saying you look at her around Trump and she seems to find him unbearable to be next to. We have this video from the state dinner yesterday for King Charles. Yes. And Melania Trump visibly is trying to pull her hand away from the embrace of Donald Trump. And Trump sort of tries to get it back. And then you will see that she just is like, no. Now there's a reason I'm bringing this up. I don't see this as idle gossip. Take a look at this. She's pulling, pulling, pulling. Trump tries to get it back and she's just like, no, it's not going to happen. And the look on Melania's face, I mean, just, dear God, that is a look that is of, oh boy, what did I do now in terms of the humiliating moments before I get back to what I believe is the sort of like importance of this. Trump's behavior was just completely whacked out during this entire thing. And you see Donald Trump just cut in front of Queen Camilla to shake hands, barging through like it's a rally rope line. And this is not like, oh, he broke protocol with the, it's just Trump doesn't give a damn about anybody but himself. Here is that. And he just, the King is trying to shake people's hands and Trump could not care less about anybody around him. Dear God. So, okay, what is, what do I think is like the deeper, the deeper story here? There's a few layers to this. One of the things that I do, when I think about the character of people, I do consider how they treat others and how self centered and obsessed with themselves they are. And one of the things that you could say about, I'm going to include Republicans in this. Ok? One of the things that you could say about George W. Bush and Barack Obama and Joe Biden, just to pick the more recent presidents other than Trump, is that you sometimes agreed with their policies and sometimes you didn't. You oftentimes united major, major ethical disagreements with the entire premise of the Iraq war, for example. And I found the entire thing immoral and Unethical at a deep level. But there was no sense to me that on some fundamental level, George W. Bush, nor Barack Obama, nor Joe Biden just have this self centered mentality around friends, around family, of I am the most important thing person all the time. I don't give a damn about anybody else. It's me, me, me. And Trump has that, and he has it in a way that leads to him having these moments of clarity in the sense of what he truly believes. Like, for example, I've always wanted a Purple Heart. Give me a Purple Heart. And a veteran, you know, gives Trump their Purple Heart. And there's no recognition of the fact that like, hey, what is the Purple Heart for? The Purple Heart is for people who have actually been hurt doing something. You got a doctor's note to not have to do, serve in the military. And there is some deep level on which he just seems like a really horrible person. Now, at the same time, I know a bunch of people who have met Trump. In fact, in D.C. over the weekend, I spoke to some of the people that were recently invited to a thing at the White House with Trump. And I have other friends who have met with Trump in different circumstances. And they all kind of came away like, yeah, in some superficial way, he was just kind of laid back and forth, funny to be around, but not in a way that undercuts this deeply self centered nature. And the relevance to policy is the following. I've said for years, there is one prism through which you can understand everything Trump does. And let me explain why that's relevant. Sometimes you try to analyze why did Trump do this particular thing when it came to abortion, which seems to maybe not completely line up with what I thought was his perspective. Why did Trump behave in this particular way when it came to this foreign policy decision? And we try to analyze, well, it fits, but it doesn't. The prism that makes everything fit is what is good for Trump. And sometimes what's good for Trump is what's good for his perceived allies at that time. Not necessarily him per say, but how will he be affected if his friends get angry with him? And once you think about that prism, you can understand everything that Donald Trump has pushed for and the cutting the rope line and all that highly relevant to that, the Melania stuff. I just think it's important to consider that we have been sold a bill of goods about what it means to be a family man. It used to mean one thing and it came to be okay when you have multiple, multiple children with a bunch of different wives. Now, I don't personally care about that, but Trump is part of a movement that claimed to. And there was an incredible contrast in Barack Obama and Michelle Obama's clearly good relationship. They like each other. It really was emblematic of what the evangelical right would say is the best type of relationship. But they hated them both because it wasn't really about that. And then in comes Donald Trump, who contradicts every aspect of that sort of relationship that they told us is important and they don't give a damn. And they go, Trump's great and Melania's great and he's a good guy and he's a family guy when he violates every single premise of that. And so you just have to remember, like I have a chapter in my book about don't waste time arguing about principles with these people because they don't give a damn about their principles. As soon as it's politically inconvenient, those principles get abandoned. This is a reminder. Now, meanwhile, just as a quick note, Donald Trump, thick makeup yesterday during this event, caked on both hands. If this is the result of shaking hands, why on earth is he having this problem on his left hand? It doesn't make sense. It never made sense and it's not going to make any more sense if they keep repeating it. Donald Trump had a middle of the night meltdown during which he posted unhinged threats to Iran. At 4am he is up all night. Who the hell is running the country if he is up all night sitting on his bed or toilet or wherever putting out unhinged threats like this? Trump in the middle of an ongoing conflict with Iran, which by the way, gas prices up again now at their highest point in years today for 23 a gallon, Trump posts and says, Iran can't get their act together. They don't know how to sign a non nuclear deal. They better get smart soon. With an image that shows Trump wearing a black suit, holding a firearm with all sorts of explosions in the background in what I think is supposed to be a sort of stylized image of Iran. No more Mr. Nice Guy Trump threatening Iran with more violence. Now look at the timing. Conflict is escalating again because all of the things Trump told us are all set, aren't all set. Strikes, tensions, multiple countries are getting sucked in. Reports of this new peace proposal that we simply can't get over the line. And the messaging really matters here. What does Trump do? He posts an AI image of himself with a gun like he's an action star at 4:05 in the morning. What is going on? And the I'm reminded of the breathless Joe Biden can't do it anymore. Joe Biden shouldn't have run for reelection. Joe Biden has declined over the last 10 years. But Joe Biden knew what was going on in his administration. He knew the status of negotiations. He wasn't up at 4am posting a slop threats to foreign nations on any platform, never mind Truth, social or Twitter. Trump turns a geopolitical crisis into something that looks more like a campaign ad or a meme. And there is a difference between hey, we want to signal strength. We don't want to. We don't want to seem to be pushovers. And even pacifists would understand that it is not a good negotiating position to appear to be a pushover, to appear to be weak. Sure, that's fine. But there's a difference between that and this performative nonsense. The way that serious leaders signal strength strength is measured language, coordination, competence. The thing that projects strength the most is when other countries look in at the United States and go, wow, they're really operating competently. They really seem to know every one of our moves and they are soberly and rationally prepared. Seeing an unhinged orange guy posting AI threats at 4:05am does not communicate in any way that you are a serious administration. And unfortunately, this is not a serious administration. We have a phenomenal bonus show for you today. Australia moving to Tax matter, Google and TikTok. We'll talk about how they're going to do it. We will talk about the continued Homeland Security shutdown. And Trump's American Flag Blue Reflecting pool project is not thrilling people in Washington, D.C. all of those stories on today's bonus show. Two quick things. Sign up at join pacman.com get on my free substack@davidpakman.com substack.