Pivot - Trump vs. Canada, Paramount Settlement Saga, and Melania's Return

Episode Date: August 25, 2026

Kara is joined by comedian and “Have I Got News for You” host Roy Wood Jr., as Scott-Free August rolls on! They unpack Trump’s escalating trade war with Canada, his stock-trading spree, and his reunion with Michael Cohen. Then, the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger saga takes another twist as California AG Rob Bonta calls off settlement talks. Plus, the Pentagon targets Stars and Stripes, and Melania returns from... wherever she's been. Watch this episode on the ⁠⁠Pivot YouTube channel⁠⁠.Follow us on Instagram and Threads at ⁠⁠@pivotpodcastofficial⁠⁠.Follow us on Bluesky at ⁠⁠@pivotpod.bsky.social⁠⁠Follow us on TikTok at ⁠⁠@pivotpodcast⁠⁠.Send us your questions by calling us at 855-51-PIVOT, or email [e-mail] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Megan Rapino here. This week on Why Are You Like This, I am talking with W Kamau Bell, and he is no stranger to creating his own lane. We dig into the whys behind some of his biggest decisions, like holding space for Ted Danson to talk about his blackface scandal, Kamau's approach to dealing with trolls, and what he would have changed when interviewing the KKK. We also wonder if Megan Kelly is flirt. with us. Check out the latest episode of Why Are You Like This, wherever you get your podcast, and on YouTube. Stop getting excited about that Trump health news. I had this evil-ass teacher in the fifth grade. She's still alive. Hi, everyone. This is Pivot from New York Magazine in the Vox Media Podcast Network. I'm Kara Swisher, and I'm kicking off yet another week of God-3 August.

I literally, I would play that all year if I could. Scott is still away missing me terribly. Of course, he hasn't been in touch at all. He, of course, fancies himself a comedian. But for today's episode, I brought in the real deal, Roy Wood Jr., Emmy-winning comedian, actor, and producer, and host of CNN's satirical news quiz, which I've been on and will be on very soon, actually. Have I gotten news for you?

Welcome, Roy. Thank you for having me. You know, and I know that Scott is listening to us in Meta-Jail in the waitroom right now, And I just want to say to him, you only do two days, the day in and day out, you know. Tell the truth, that's why he's gone this year for a month. He has to go pay penance. Well, he's allegedly he's on vacation. But I don't know.

I think he's posting a lot more recently. So he's obviously has to weigh in on the news. Like he's dying because Natalie Hark is happening right now, which is a problem. How do you think I feel CNN's had me dark for three months? I know. That's true. You got Trump tapping dead people. people's caskets.

Yeah. Yeah. It's been a lot. It's been a lot. Explain the show. I love your show. I've been on it several times. I'll be on it really soon in a couple of weeks, I think.

For the people I haven't watched it, for 30 years, this show is running Britain, where the way they disseminate the news is they ask panelists. It's a fake quiz show about current events, and you don't have the no shit. In fact, it's funnier if you don't. And by the end of the hour, you, me, Amber Ruffin and Michael Ian Black, we have figured out everything this week. The way I try to differentiate where have I got news sits in the Oliver Daily Show verse of political satire is that we are here to simply tell you what happened. We don't have the time to get into why and who and what is the solution and the deep dive. We just don't have time because we like to be the show where you need to know what's happening politically with Trump. But then you also need to know that a dude got himself kicked out of a WNBA game.

And there was a green dildo. Like we want to cover the gamut. Explain the green dildo. I don't think as a man I can explain. I don't know. Why green? I don't know. Well, no, you know what, as a man, probably.

It is my responsibility. Yeah, it is. It ain't the women throwing them. Like, everyone's like men and trans people in the WMBA. There's no trans people in W&. There's just straight men throwing dildos. So that's the problem. And then running.

Stand on it. Yeah, stand on it. You don't throw a dildo. Just, hey, it was me. Yeah, yeah. I'd like to have a conversation about politics down. Yeah. Would you ever throw a dildo?

I don't know if I'd ever touch a dildo. Like, they just, they all. they all look used. Yeah. It's just, it's a hygiene thing. It's like if you saw a naked straw. I just assume it's been in somebody's mouth.

Okay. But question, why would a man do that? I mean, it's just like the ladies are having a good time. Lots of people are having a good time. Have you been to a WNBA game, they're fun.

Yeah, I've gone to a couple of Liberty games with my son, and it's always a great time. It's packed. They're chanting. They're yelling. I mean, I was going back when they were still

at Madison Square, before they even made the move out to Barclays. It's a great time. It's great basketball. It's great competition. I don't understand why people are trying to use that sport at its rise. They're going to get the new CBA. Caitlin Clark just put up 37 early this week.

Angel Reese's doubling, doubling her ass off. You got the young woman up in Minnesota, the spectacle, which one of the dopest nicknames right now, Madam Miles, much respect to the spectacle. up there with the links. I just think that it's just dudes trying to get attention. Yeah. And just bringing attention.

What can get people riled up? Can I ask a question, though? Why is it that liberals, and I'll include myself in this bucket. Why have we not learned that not reacting is probably a more effective? No, Dildo is a totally separate thing. Dill-Dill-Drow it. But in the sense of a lot of people that are trying to make a name for themselves by bathing themselves in liberal outrage, we supplied the outrage in which they bathe themselves, which makes themselves a right-wing martyr, and then they're able to build whole media

empires off at that. Yeah, I think that's nearing an end. I have to say, because I think what's interesting is I was just thinking about this. It's the right that winges all the time now and is very, like, what's the, they're like anti-woke, if that makes sense. And I think the dildos and the throwing is, you know, this is a successful group of women, and there's some controversy, like in all sports, right? Men's basketball has had all kinds of controversy.

They just can't stand it. And so they have to say, look at me. This issue feels like one that you could kind of, you could kind of starve the people who are star for it. Yeah, just kick them out of the arena if they throw. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

And that's the end of it. I'm not talking about it. Go back to your show. So this is what, your third season, fourth season? This is, this will be number five. When we come back in September, this will be the fifth cycle of the show. Yeah, so I'm excited. It's doing really well.

If they wouldn't bring it back if it wasn't, but how do you, what do you attribute that to? I think that we, number one, I think CNN is the right network for the show. because we get to exist on a Saturday night and they pair us with Bill Maher or there's usually like a special interest story or something else going on on that day. I think that we are light, we are fun, we are fast through the topics,

so you don't necessarily feel like you're consuming an entire meal. I do think comedy has been a lot more pointed, whether it's Oliver or the Daily Show or you guys, than news programs to get to the point of the, I mean, surrounding people. Yeah, because I think comedians are given a little bit more leeway than the average news anchor. You know, God forbid you call a spade of spade and you just work for a Sinclair outlet or something,

you know, you're working in Market 12 or Market 20. They're not going to give you that leeway. And I think also it's understood that it's comedy because, you know, what's really funny is that I have said stuff on Friday night on Abby Phillip that gets me stared at. Oh. And then I'll do the same joke on Saturday and have I got news and it gets an applause break. So I think it's also the comedic expectation. You know when Abby, they do the show down at the cooking.

Yeah, the cooking thing. Food network. I want to be respectful to the place. And when we're there, the audience. And also you're with four people who are dead-ass, And they've written notes down all day. And he's a real journalist. And I'm sitting here looking goofy in a Cubs hat.

I'm trying to crack a joke. Yeah. And they're not with it. No, some of them are not journalists. And they just say things off the top of their fucking head. You know this. They have nice suits, though. Nice suits.

All right, one last question about your show. Who do you like better, Amber or Michael? Don't turn this into a race war. Because you know I'm going to pick the black woman. You're going to set me up and then they're going to clip this little section in there. Roy Wood hates black women and never. No, Michael, I've always known from the stand-up circuit. Amber, I've known.

I've had a longer, deeper relationship with Amber than I have Michael. So there's definitely like a synergy. What's funny on the show is that a guest will say something. We had Tim Burchett on, right-wing Tennessee, Tennessee, man. And Burchett says something over to this side of me. And in my peripheral, on the other side, I see Amberger's move. It's the slightest scosh of a move. And I go, oh, no, she's going to get him.

Oh, no. And she did? Just stay out of the way, Roy. Just stay out of it. And I just literally lean back so her words could fly across the desk. Oh, my God. You're Tim Burchard. Good for you.

My hope this year is to have you and Beaumani Jones on the same episode. Oh, great. That's dream episode number one. Dream episode number two is you with any sitting Republican elected official. Please, please. Why? Why? Am I good with that?

And Mom Donnie, because you're just supposed to say that because New York. Maybe I should tweet. That's how it shows up. Yeah. He won't do an interview with me. He doesn't interview with everybody. He won't do an interview with me. I don't know.

Really? You got a tweet about it. You got to go, Mum, Don't know. You're right. I know. You know, you know. Yeah, show up to the pothole. I called him months and months and months before he won, like six, seven, before he was a thing. And I just thought he was so interesting.

And I'm just telling you crickets. I don't know what it is. Do you think that you, of all the people that have ignored your request for interviews, do you think they are, is there any common theme? Do you think they're intimidated by you? Do you think, like, what is it? I don't know. Some people, like, yes, I think some, like Tim Scott. like, tear me down a hundred million times.

And I get it. I get it. I also have not a huge amount of regard for how he behaves. But, and I say it, I guess I've said it. But I would have been fair. I had Tom Tillis on. I thought he was great and we disagreed completely. But he had the guts to come on and he was actually made some very good points and it was a very good,

I thought it was a great discussion, even though we didn't agree. I think the commonality is they think I'm going to get them when, in fact, I end up having much more substantive discussions with people. And I'm not a gotcha person. I just, what I do is I say things out loud. And I suppose with Mom Dani, I won't slather him with idolatry, I guess. A lot of, I find a lot of interviews do that.

Or, and then even the right-wing ones when he goes on those shows sometimes, they sort of are like Trump, they find him charming, right? He's super charming and super, has got a lot of star power. So maybe he thinks I'm, I'm, I'm maybe it's Scott Galloway. He doesn't like Scott Galloway. I don't know. I don't. Yeah, it's hard. I'll blame Scott for everything. Anyway, let's go. We've got a lot to get you. It's a great show. Your show is great. I'm excited to come on and put me on with whoever you like.

Mom Donna would be great. And pardon the bicycles in the background. There's any. I'm in Amsterdam. Oh, nice. Oh, nice. I love Amsterdam. There's a lot of bicycles there. They're very aggressive with the bicycles, actually, when you ride. I got to the airport. And like, at the airport, they have, like, literally, is you headed to customs. There's just, a black dude and a black woman on a bike. Like, as you come down to escalators, like, welcome to Amsterdam, and it's black people riding tandem. Are you riding bicycles?

Not yet. No one has on a helmet. So I'm like, I'm American, and I'm just like, you'll die. But then I looked at the fatality rates here. It's like super low. It's all respected. Well, they ride very aggressively. I had a great time doing, but they're super aggressive.

But let's get to the things. Speaking of other countries, Donald Trump is lashing out at Canada, saying they're among the worst nations in the world to deal with, and will no longer be treated like, will be treated like a state no longer. They are not a state. This outburst comes after U.S. Canada trade talks collapsed late last week when Canada walked away, and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney says the U.S. introduced last-minute demands that were unfair and un-economic, and he would know he's a banker, he's run treasuries,

everything else. With no deal, Trump's 50 percent tariffs went into effect on a range of Canadian goods, including dairy products, alcohol, and hockey equipment. Trump is also now threatening to increase tariffs on all cars, car parts and steal from Canada to 50% starting January 1st. Mark Carney says Canada will retaliate dollar for dollar with tariffs of its own and spoke Canada about where the relationship between the two countries stand. Let's listen. Why does it feel like today Mark Carney is going to war? Trade war.

The tone. Because we're attacked. Like you're at war when you get attacked. we got attacked. Is, can a really country we want to be going to war with right now or trade war, war, trade war? No, they aren't. And I think the U.S. has really established themselves as, you know, we're the country without a country. Like, do we have any allies left that aren't begrudging and, like, have no choice but to be with us because it's an economic disadvantage to not rock with us?

I like Crown Royal. I hate that it's more expensive. I know there's bigger issues at stake here when we're talking about. Oh, but it's part of the same. It's part of them. Yeah. Kind of sucks. But I think that I think we live in a time now where just Trump is just a like our government is

going to bully other nations for no reason, even if they don't, even if it doesn't make any sense. And so it does not help us. It also decimate small businesses that do. do a lot of business across the border. So both ways. You know what I'm saying? So I just, I don't know. But I think if you're candidate at this point, there's no sense in bending the knee.

You may as well just ride this out for the next two years if you're really going to be serious about it. Right. Well, maybe just a few months. He may not have the power to do much of anything in November after. Yeah, come November. I also love that he's rescinded the thing that they didn't even want in the first place, which was statehood. You were no longer invited to my park.

All right. You know, they would deal. They do have a conservative movement there, but they do not, they have not yet won elections. They have first in certain areas, but it's not Trump conservatism. One or two people are like that. But even with the conservative movement,

even with the way that American conservative politics have influenced international conservatism, I don't think that anyone in any of these other nations has a desire to be America. Like, they're still prideful people, Canadians, regardless. So they're not dying to run with us and do everything. Like, even if you got a full-blown conservative, you know, parliament or whatever in Canada,

I don't know if that fixes Trump's desire to want to, like, still kind of, you know, put his pinky on the scale of foreign trade with Canada. Why is he doing it? Why do you think he's doing it this time? I need wins. And if you're not going to do what I want you to do, then I'm just going to take my ball. And you know what? I'll show you.

And then more importantly, this is somehow rolled up into a ball and PR and sold to American voters as a win for America. Because America first. Yeah, but they're not like that anymore, which is interesting. One of the things that's really interesting is Canada is one of the few neighbors of countries that hasn't gotten into a big, wars with their neighbors, right? They've been excellent neighbors for a long, long, long time. Anyway, let's move on. The Paramount Warner Brothers merger saga continues. California, AG, Rob Bonta just called off settlement talks with Paramount, accusing Paramount of acting in bad faith, leaking details of a meeting and misrepresenting discussions. Bonta is leading the 12th

state group that sued to block the merger. There's also a separate suit by WGA. Both cases are set to go to trial in March. Paramount agreed to pause the deal until the cases play out or until June when the costs are going to start piling up. They're going to really start piling up in September with these ticking fees, but it doesn't come to fruition by June. It's another almost $8 billion they have to pay, and the deal would probably be over. Though Paramount is now asking a judge to make the states and the WGA put up $1.88 billion bond that cover those delay costs, which is unprecedented. Well, you probably thought you were free and Paramount when you left the Daily Show, but now you're at CNN they're pulling you. But you're not, your show is licensed, correct? It's license, but

But nothing's, none of this is guaranteed. They shoot whole movies and then don't release them. As the cast of Batgirl. It's like me and this Paramount merger, you know that movie? It follows where that, no matter where you go, it's coming for you. And then before that, it was the CBS Viacom Comedy Central. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I can't escape it.

I'm just a merger magnet, baby. I don't know what this means for CNN as a whole, because I've also heard within this merger talk that there's kind of two scenarios. There were scenario one where CNN wasn't going to be part of it. Then Ellison came out and said, no, no, no, we want CNN, I want it to be run right. We promise to keep it neutral, and we're not going to box 2.0.

But then there's also a world where CNN still gets sold off, you know, somewhere else. I think that if we're speaking frankly, I think that's probably the inevitability of the network in terms of Time Warner, not just seeing them talking Time Warner as a whole being sold in some capacity. What the new regime wants, that becomes the thing that becomes odd. You know, I had a show, I had a sitcom on a hookover at HBO Max that was on the inside track to get a series pickup. And then the Showtime Max merger thing, like McGiggy happened.

And then they cleared the slate. You know, I was at TBS when Michael Wright took over, I believe in 2013, I believe is when he came in. And when he came into the network, he essentially canceled everything but Conan O'Brien. And so having been a part of these different entities where I've been on a show saying with TBS, a show that did well and the show was very safe and the show was really loved, I don't know how much all of that really counts. You know, you look at Wonder Man that was canceled by, I think, was it Disney Plus? Yeah, it's a Marvel show.

And then they put out the viewing numbers two weeks later. And it's like these numbers clearly billions of hours, this show should have gotten another season. So, you know, I don't know. I definitely, the thing that I hate the most about all of this is what it does in terms of uncertainty for staff. you know, as talent, I'm afforded a lot more leeway. I can go travel and do shows and figure out other audibles for myself. But when you are, like, these aren't just balance sheet conversations.

Right, right. You have a big staff. Have I got news for you? Yeah, it's very similar to daily show. It's almost, it's almost 100. I think we're at like probably 70 because we're not a day, we're not on every day. But I know a daily show, it was over 100 people that work in a building. and you're trying to decide what to do next.

And then you get a job offer, God forbid, to go join another show. And then you don't know when that show, whether or not you go do that show, if this show isn't going to happen. What would be your solution to this? I mean, besides not merger after merger, because everyone has to, you know, pee on everything.

They said, cancel all the shows, even if they're good. Cancel them if they're doing well. It doesn't really, it has no rhyme or reason, is what you're saying. Yeah, it definitely has no rhyme or reason. I think that a lot of this is if you want me to, God, I guess I kind of am like, Scott, I'm a bit of a fatalist in a way, and that the world is rotten

and these corporations run most everything. And even if you have a hit show, they're not going to let you go past three seasons, maybe five, because they have to pay you more. And it's easier to just start a new show. For this, I personally would rather see this resolve sooner than later. If the merger does not happen and we're at this same spot next June, I think it gets stripped down and sold for parts, you know, piecemeal, you know, all over the

sphere, but you're still going to be sold into the hands of people that are being counting and cutting corners and trying to do as much as possible with as much less as possible. I think that part is. I think that's their threat, of course. We'll move out of California. They have all these sort of boneheaded threats. But that's the inevitability. Okay, you're going to move it to, we're going to move Parabount to Nashville. Okay. And then you're still going to make 20% less shows. I forget what the number is. What are we? 50% less scripted content than eight years ago or something. So it's not like you're guaranteeing jobs on the other side of this. You're just punishing people who you are already, half of whom you are already going to be trying to figure out a way to fire,

even if you didn't leave the state. That's right. That's right. Yeah. Yeah. So it's easier to be independent. Hence why I'm independent, Roy. But it's really, you know, I'm not loving these boneheaded moves and threats. I think, you know, when billionaires threaten you, it's not the most attractive. They look villainous, actually, in that regard. And it's not going to get any better because when you look at what YouTube has done, and I haven't had a chance to look at the exact specifics of it, but I know that they're changing the terms of service with their, creators in terms of what the what the floor the bar to achieve monetization at YouTube is going high shot up to something a little I'm not going to say astronomically but you're going to have to be really all in to try and go independent now so a lot of these networks are going to move the bar when it comes to monetization and making money the same thing with analytics on Facebook and Instagram and Reels or whatever so you're eventually going to be

in a space where there's just going to be a chasm between, like, this mid-major media, the vice and the boxes of the world, like you're going to see. The complex has had a lot of shrinkage as well. And those were the companies where you used to be able to go if Huffington Post didn't hire you or CNN, didn't run with you this year. And I think that the idea of even being self-made is going to get even more competitive. Yeah. It is.

No question. No question. I mean, I think the issue is that they, the way they're playing this seems so juvenile. I just am like, there's ways to fix this. You know, it's interesting that Bonta just dumped it after leaking. Because everybody, at least I will say Paramount leaks a lot, Bonta does not, having tried to get leaks out of Bonta. But I, and I'm good at getting leaks out of people. Paramount doesn't stop different people who represent them, who purport to represent them, are very, They're big leakers and they think they're very clever about it. And so I don't know if dumping a settlement talks over this is, you know, it's interesting. It's definitely a power play by Bonta, who I think is probably, you know, he's doing the meta trial. He's doing this. And he's winning here in this case, at least, because he got the trial moved. So why should he put up with this shit, I guess?

I think the leak shows that Paramount is for sure concerned. And they definitely, you don't make a play like that if you're, if you're, if you're, you're winning. Yeah, you don't. You keep your mouth shut. Well, if you think you're in control of the board. What do you think about, like, the different unions, the WGA is against it, certain writers against it. The directors were for it with a certain amount of demands that were pretty heavy. Karen Bass went for it or just went for a settlement. She's worried about Los Angeles. Gavin Newsom always plays the medal, essentially. Where would you like this to end up as a someone who's a writer and a performer? In a perfect world, no merger with production staying in Los Angeles to some degree. I do think that Los Angeles has just infrastructure and weather advantages with production.

And I say that as someone who fought to shoot a sitcom in Atlanta and Alabama, like having known what the challenges are, you know, in some other places, I do think that if Hollywood is strong, I think entertainment across the board is strong, which then spills out to all of these other markets. it's be it your Louisiana with their incentives, which are starting to tweak theirs as well. You know, I think that's always been the dangerous thing about tax incentives in other states outside of Los Angeles. I feel like LA has always had the most consistent relationship with the entertainment industry. When you look at what Detroit had 20 years ago where they were making television and movies in Detroit, left and right, left and right, Detroit called a new governor. And he was like, yeah, No, no more incentive. Sorry.

And that happens often. Same thing happened in North Carolina. So this idea of decentralizing television production, I think, would just make it just blobulous. Blobulus. Every 10 years, is it amalgam? I don't know. No, I like blopulous. It works for me.

It's blobulous. Where every 10 years, this region's going to be the hot region. I'm old enough and been in entertainment long enough to remember. remember when North Carolina was the place to shoot in the late night was the Dawson's Creek and a couple Martin Lawrence movies. So it moves around. Atlanta has seen a regression and production because the big dog Marvel took everything to Europe. So there's just not as much stuff happening. And that's where I do think the indie market is going to be able to help some of the smaller cities outside of L.A. But in a perfect world for me, I think L.A. I think L.A. and New York carrying a ton of production is ultimately healthier for the entertainment industry coast to coast. I think you're 100% right. And it's not me hating on Texas and New Mexico. It's all great stuff.

But those are all states that are very like, which way the wind blows this election, you might lose your incentive. Or they're there because the governors are friendly. to them. And then that's not always good. You're right, it switches. Also, just go look at some of the state laws in Tennessee, everybody who's thinking of moving to Nashville. It's not great for women. It's not thrilling for people of color. As an Alabamian, I will abstain from these criticisms. Okay, all right. In any case. No, you're right, though. It's just like California should get it together and they should settle this thing. But I'm not so sure this deal is going to happen. We'll see. Hopefully, hopefully they'll figure something out that's fair. And the

The only thing that drives me crazy, the Ellison's complaining about politics when they used politics to get where they are so far with the government, with the federal government. It's like, stop, stop, stop, stop. Anyway, let's go on a quick break. When we come back, Trump's stock trading grift. Hey, what's up, guys? It's Babish, host of In the Booth with Babish. On this week's episode, I sit down with Dominic Sessa, who plays Anthony Bourdain in the new A-24 film, Tony. We talk about getting into character as one of food scriments.

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Donald Trump made more than a thousand stock trades in June with transactions totaling between $78 million and $263 million, according to his latest financial disclosure. Notably, Trump bought between $15,000 and $50,000 worth of SpaceX stock just 11 days after the company's IPO. And the Iran war continues. Trump is buying and selling shares of defense contractor, Pallantir. But nothing to worry about here. The White House says there's no conflicts of interest because Trump's investments are

independently managed. Now, he has other graphs like cryptocurrency, as you know. So this is the second, this is the second shoot-a-drop in that regard. He made billions in cryptocurrency already. So how do you rank them, rank them among his grips? Well, the interesting thing about this whole stock thing was that the White House said that, oh, it's a computer algorithm that runs the trading based on the traditional trading trends and the data, data. but they can't tell you who greenlit the particular trades. They go, oh, it's a computer, but somebody has to go, yes, computer, I approve, do that.

Did that person have insider information? I think that's the thing that at this point, nothing would surprise me. And they were so beaten down with political scandals that the scandals just feel like, yeah, all right. Yeah, he made more money. All right. Oddly, the one trade that he made President Trump that I was curious about was Home Depot. I'm like, what do you know? You know, like, okay, Gifting SpaceX, AI. All right. What's going on with Home Depot, man? What do you know? Well, you know, the guy who was the chairman was super conservative. That might just be it. It's a conservative company. Yeah. Yeah, you're right. What's going on? What do you think is happening with him?

I don't know. And where are we building these houses? Or would there be some destruction that you're planning? Like, I don't know. I don't want to get into my conspiracy land with you. Oh, I like it. That was the one that was a bigger red flag. Oh, wow.

I hadn't noticed that one. Do you think he's ever been in a Home Depot? No. No. Because he would have told you. If Trump ever built some shit in his life, he would have said it nonstop. He builds everything. Right.

He was a builder. He just said that. Do you, are you offended by his scripts or just exhausted by them? I'm past offended. Like, it doesn't, like, I feel bad that I am not, that I'm desensitized in a way that speaks to just how exhausting so much of the scandals are. That is a really good point. Would there be a grift he could do that you'd be like, okay, that's the end of it, that is it. That is it.

I think sports betting would be one that would, like, lose him favor with his base. Uh-huh. Which sounds crazy, but there's something about the understood purity and sanctity of sport that if you, if he threw a, like, if you found out that he knew the lineup card for a particular and this guy wasn't going to start and, you know, like the weird fantasy football thing. Black Sox. Yeah, Black Sox type. Throw the games, please strike out. Like the scandals that MLB is dealing with right now where the pitchers are betting on themselves

to not throw a strike on the first pitch. And then they deliberately don't throw a strike. Like, if Trump was in on something like that, maybe that would be one. Because sports is so American and it's pure and you're supposed to be honest. And you're supposed to do it the right way. And that, that,

Maybe. Now you're giving him an idea of where to go next. That's the thing. Go buy some stock and fan duel right now. I go Home Depot. Go to Home Depot. So speaking of things that they're doing that exhaust me as a journalist, Pentagon has fired three top staffers at Stars and Stripes.

The government-funded news outlet, the reports in the U.S. military. The Pentagon cited insubordination as the reason for the firings. Two of the staffers had recently spoken publicly about protecting the paper's editorial independence, which it has had forever. pointing to the legal right to be free from news management and censorship. The third has already announced his retirement, citing fundamental disagreements over the paper's values and mission. The fireings come as Defense Secretary Pete Hags S pushes to reshape the paper

with more focus on war fighting and less on woke distractions. If Hags S is making editorial decisions here, what kind of stories will we see now? I don't know what we're going to see. What war stories, what propaganda do you want? Like, they won't print what we need to print the right way. And good for those journalists. having a little bit of backbone and some teeth about themselves. Yeah, Sargent Stripes has a pretty good reputation among the military.

I have a lot of family and military, and it actually is considered not, I mean, no defense department officials tried to do this. Like, it is run relatively independently. Obviously, it's funded by the Pentagon, but they've never tried to meddle in it before. I mean, and what they were writing about was the conditions on the USS Lincoln, and they didn't like that. They didn't like the Stars and Stripes pointing out that. It's a mess.

Which it is. The carrier's been out way too long. They're under supplied. Everything's backing up. And they're expected to. So, yeah, you have, it's probably one of the best ways you could ever honor the military. I think the problem now is for the journalists that are going to be hired and put in there now. Like, this is, this is one of those cases where you almost support AI reporting.

Like, just, just print up. Just just print up what you want, bro. Just print up what you want. Oh, just just have AI report. Just conjure up whatever it is. Don't involve me and my integrity in this. I think that the Stars and Stripes issue is that that one is a little more effed up to me, simply because this is a piece of journalism that goes to the people who serve this country.

And so when you're telling them what is going on within their world like that and, you know, like the, was it AFN, like the Air Force's Network where you're showing them and, you know, here's the content we have decided to expose you to, how much of that then becomes mental manipulation. Or they don't believe it or they don't trust it. I mean, that's, I think, the point is to hollow out trust, right? If it's done a pretty good job covering your life. And it's not going to do like Washington Post like investigative pieces necessarily, but it's accurate about your life and not able to talk about a ship that is in trouble.

And you would think the rank and file aren't going to realize that, HECF? At some point, then you start having morale issues. Yeah, well, I think he's having them. I think he's having them. I it's terrible. You know, I understand lying to the American people, but lying to the people that protect the American people, that's just even more egregious.

Don't you want more war fighting, right? More war fighting and not woke distractions. Because, you know, wars win elections, they say, right? No, not this one. Not this one. All right, let's go on a quick break. We come back. We'll check on Trump's personal relationships. Have you ever wondered who invented rock and roll

or why Fleetwood Mac fell apart or what it was like at Motown in the early years, well, do I have a podcast for you? My name is Will Anderson. I'm a songwriter, a musician, and a huge music history buff. And I'm so excited to announce my new podcast, The Monday Music Club. I teamed up to make this podcast with the Vox Media Podcast Network, because ever since I was a kid, I loved hearing and reading stories about classic artists, recording sessions, and music history.

And I wanted to have a place to be able to take what I've learned and share some of those favorites with you. Every Monday, I'll be releasing a new episode and deep diving into my own. a new story with experts and special guests and it's going to be a blast. So if you're a music history geek like me or even just a casual music fan, jump in because I promise the Monday Music Club is going to be the podcast for you. Roy, we're back with more news. Now is it time to talk about some updates in Trump's personal relationships. Admits ongoing speculation about Trump and his aide, Natalie Hart, Melania Trump,

made her first public appearance in more than a month. Let's listen to the entrance she made. Good afternoon. I heard you missed me. Here I am. Roy, did you miss Melania? And then moving on, let me just say the president and his former fixer, Michael Cohen, of publicly reconciled sitting down for their first interview together since Cohen became a key witness in Trump's hush money trial. The reunion is quite a reversal after years of public attacks. Cohen is called Trump a con man and a predator and Trump called Cohen a rat. In definitely totally unrelated news, Cohen has submitted a pardon application to the Trump

administration. And, of course, amid questions about his health from bruising his hands to the trouble staying awake, doctors are also raising concern about his weight since he gained about 20 pounds. This is his relationship with his self. Since the 2024 campaign, doctors told the Washington vote that Trump's weight is a strong risk factor for premature disability in death. So so many things. And then, of course, Natalie Harp, who more and more comes out, the more and more disturbing. It seems seems to be, including old tweets. She seems to have a real strange obsession on them. A lot of the writers trying to argue that she's the true feminist,

but I don't think that's the definition of a feminist. So any of these things you'd like to weigh in on, Roy? First off, first and foremost, just to everybody, just stop getting excited about bad Trump health news. Yeah. It's just not. I had this evil-ass teacher in the fifth grade. She's still alive.

Yeah. Like, you don't understand. Like, when you make move, when you make all the wrong moves in life, it, like, it gives you vibrance. Yeah. Yeah. And you can just defy sickness and death and bad luck because you just got to put, you just got to put bad decisions on top of bad decisions.

Yeah. That's what the president's shown in the ability to do. My grandmother used to say, let me tell you, when she was, when someone who was bad wouldn't die, she'd always go, God doesn't want them. Well, check with the devil. Why? Is it all about God? I just, the hand pictures are just funny to me because just the camera, the quality of cameras now, you can get in and see the literal makeup line around the knuckle.

Right. And the liver spots, yeah. Okay. All right. The Cohen interview is very funny. Tell me about that. It's very funny. And it's, it's softcore porn level of glazing.

I will just leave it at that. That Cohen is juggling him. Yeah, he's juggling him. Yeah, yeah. And he calls him, we don't have to get into any specific thing that they talked about because it's all just lobbing softballs for Trump to say. Like the first two minutes is, why won't the left media report

on how good you're doing. And then he goes to bash the left and polls. Why are they still, now, actually, I did agree with Cohen on this. Why are we still focusing on presidential approval ratings for a man who cannot run again? I understand approval ratings being common chit-chat or whatever, but just in a bigger scheme of what I need to know today, I don't need to know how many people love or hate them.

The people who love them. Well, it could be because how Republicans are going to fare, because he's a drag on them, possibly. That's fair. Okay. So if you use them polls as, you know, to prognosticate for November, okay, cool. But there's a matter of fact, I marked it. It's at 1230 for the people who want to go check out the interview. At 1230, Cohen says, along the lines. And I loosely quote, hey boss, do you remember that time we were working together and I was sitting alongside you? And like just that sentence, it just sounds like a child reconnecting with his father. And he just wants to be liked and approved by this man so bad that he does not care that he called him a rat. Like, called you a rat. That's like, that's up there. Yeah, yeah, a rat is a big move.

Yeah, the whole, the whole interview is like 15, 20 minutes of just kiss ass and Trump just hitting softballs out the park like he always does. Didn't even have the decency to turn the camera on. Yeah, they, I didn't have, you know, when Cohen was on a lot of cable, and I was always like, I think he's a rat. Like, I don't know why we're listening to him and insult him. So I thought he was lying then. I think he's lying now. I think ultimately he was the person you saw in that interview, was Msequious Tody, who is desperate to get a pardon. That's, that kind of fills it out for me.

May I ask you a question? Sure. About Melania? Mm-hmm. Who do you think misses her more or draws attention to her absence? What cares more about, who do you think cares more about her absence? Liberals are conservatives. Liberals.

I wonder what are the expectations, and we have the expectations of a first lady to be active and work in conjunction with the president's agenda. You know, they're the more forward-facing customer service arm of the White House to go out and touch the people on a regular basis. Do you, does anybody want Melania showing up? No. I don't really care. I agree with you.

That's what I mean. She's a strange mannequin. I find her to be mannequin-like, you know, high fashion kind of, that sort of sharp mannequin-like look. Yeah, but high fashion's not Americana. No, it's not. Barbara Bush looked like she baked cookies. So you're like, yeah.

And she did not. Come on by the house, Barbara. Yeah. I don't, I think the first lady thing, like, people are all mad. She's not there. I don't think we should be paying for her. I don't really care if we have a first lady or not. I don't, I think that's an anachronism, honestly, in this day and age, like, ultimately.

So I don't really care that she's not there. I think she's charmless. I think she's unpleasant for the most part. The more you see of her, the less you want to see of her, right? So I'm glad she's gone kind of stuff. Charmless. Charmless. You know what I mean?

She's charmless. I had a conversation with Trevor Noah years ago about. how we always felt like Melania missed the mark in that she could have played the being absent to be on some pro-feminism tip where you just go, I don't, that's his job, it's not my job to do stuff that helps his job as a woman. I am allowed to be woman over here.

Why don't I have to be woman right here? Yeah. But she just never played it like that. Yeah, she didn't play like that. She also doesn't really have a job, does she? Like, I don't really feel. a plus with her and I think it's a minus for her to be around. So in Melania's defense, Melania didn't want none of this shit?

She doesn't. Melania thought she was going to marry a rich dude who was sitting in a corner and eat McDonald's while she goes spends his money and bang yacht bros in Monaco aside. And then you come home and he's talking about I'm going to be president because Seth Myers pissed me off. What? Yeah. That wasn't the deal, Donald.

No, Donald. I just find her to be charmless. I'm happy she's gone. I do think this, I think she gets paid every time she shows up. It looks like it because she pops up. I think she's not unfunny and everything. And the less of her, the better. That's my feeling.

But this Natalie Harp thing adds an entirely interesting wrinkle to it. And I think it's completely appropriate to talk about that. I think a lot of people don't think that, but I do. Because she's right next to the president doing his tweets all night long. So to me, she's completely fine to talk about it. I don't know how you feel about her. Have you never written a long-ass apology to your boss?

You've never apologized to your boss. Oh my God, I hope I didn't embarrass you by walking around too much on the golf course while you were walking because you were the greatest. And I, you know. I can't imagine Roy Wood Jr. has ever done that. There are some women in media who if I worked for, I would absolutely be like, I am so sorry, but it would not be from some trying to holler.

Yeah. Can I ask a nasty question? Sure, please, go ahead. When are you even going to bang him? He sleeps all the time. I don't think they're doing that. I know, but like. It's something else.

It's like a daddy thing. I think it's a daddy thing. It's a... It's odd. It's vaguely sexual, but it's not. It's something else. I don't know. It all eventually turns sexual at some point, I think.

Probably true. But here's what I feel like. Years ago, Elon Musk was insisting we live in a simulation, you know, this idea that this isn't, none of this. You and I aren't real. Everything is fake. I think we're in a simulation at this point. After the Natalie Harp thing, after I read that letter, I'm like, there is a alien teenager playing this fucking video game of Earth. Earth is the video game.

Some advanced civilization, and they just inserted Natalie Harp into it. I just decided. Now, I agree with Elon Musk. Just a random troll character. Yeah, just like, this person. I'm like, it has to be. Come on. Come on.

You couldn't write this. Would you be able to write this? It's weird. I mean, there's tropes like from Fatal Attraction. There's tropes from none of them end well. None of these stalkery tropes end well for the man usually. Well, or his adjacent people around. I mean, but at least Trump's got secret service.

So you can just, yeah, get her out here. Yeah, yeah. No, he seems to like her a lot. I like, there was one part of, they had the cars on the mall, or down in Washington. Again, again, I didn't mind the car thing, fine, if he wants to have a race course. But Melani was there for four seconds,

gets up, and the minute Melania moved out of the picture, Natalie came in the back. It was really interesting. And a real first lady would have cared. That's how you know that marriage is vapid. Because Melania would have been like, y'all better get her the hell out of here. She'd have been down on the track changing tires,

messing around with a real first lady. Hillary would have taken her apart, Hillary. She would be an aide for a city council person in Paduca, Kentucky. And that's with respect to Paducah. I swear, you're right, she would have been gone. She would be gone. I think she would get her a job. She'd have been in Guam.

Y'all, I'm not going to say the show, but there are a couple of your favorite shows that you watch where if there's an employee that they don't like, they give them a glowing recommendation to another show, usually in another city. And then they get the job offer. And they go, hey, I got to quit. Man, I'm happy for you, though. We're going to hate to see you go. I have done that. I haven't done that exactly. Like, I've done a version of that.

I had, I had someone who I really wanted to fire. And, and he goes, he comes in and I was, and he goes on, he goes, what I really think I need is a raise. And I said, oh, God, see, I wanted to fire you. So it's kind of interesting that I, well, I think I deserve a raise. And I said, I think you deserve to be fired. It's so hard for me to, like, decide which one of these things to do. And I've done a version of that with many different employees, like said, when they have a job. I'm like, you should, that's fantastic.

That what a good, good, good, excellent, excellent. Yeah, I actually, when I mean it ever leaves my employer, I'm happy that they're doing something. If people want to go, they should go. If they don't, that's always been my part. I never get mad or anything else. I don't know. I just like, good for you. I'm fine with the Indy cars too.

I was fine with the UFC. Just take the cage down. I hear it's still up. Like it's just sitting there. Like, it was not. It was up for a while. No, I'm not sure. I think they put the helipad there now.

Oh, thank goodness. This really ugly helipad that he signed. Yeah, I know. He's putting his name on me. There's also the gold horses, which I have to see every time I come back from the airport. Anyway, we'll see what happens. All right, Roy, one more quick break. We'll be back for wins and fails.

Okay, Roy, let's hear some wins and fails. You go first. Shout out to Karen Atia, the Washington Post. Oh. That was going to be one of mine, but I have several. Go ahead. Say why. That's my only one.

Like this woman unjustly fired for giving her opinion about, you know, part of, it wasn't even about what happened to Charlie Kirk. It was about whether or not we should honor Charlie Kirk. And was fired immediately from the Washington, but you know, the whole op-ed section there. They've been trying to kind of, hey, everybody, quiet down those opinions. You're making Bezos Matt. And she fought.

She fought. She took it to arbitration. And this week, they gave her her job back. The arbitrator decided, hey, you were not, that's not how you fire. Go back to work immediately. And here's your back pay. I love Karen. I think Karen's a bad.

She also does, like, I love all her photos. I love how she puts it. What's really fantastic, ironically, the guy who fired her is gone. That young moron they hired in her place. I love Karen. You're right, 100%. I don't know if she'll stay, but good for her. You're right, 100.

I personally, and this is speaking to someone who does not know her, based on the readings of her work, she strikes me as someone who would stay, just if nothing else, to throw a last couple of real-ass articles in that publication. that's suppressing a lot of the type of work that she does so well. Yeah, I would agree. Yeah, I'm going to talk to her today. I'll find out. I was going to reach out to her because I'm sure she's celebrating.

She's been doing actually interesting courses herself. She's a bit of an entrepreneur and has been doing sort of a bunch of interesting things. But that was just ridiculous. And I love that she fought. She almost took the buyout and then didn't, which was interesting, you know. and she's like, no, I'm going to stay here. I'm going to stay here and do my work. And they immediately, and I said,

Garen, I think they're going to fire you then. And that's what they did. And the way they did it was so fucking ridiculous. But she stood her ground. You're right. All right. What is your fail? My fail is me.

No one told me that you needed a friend to take your home for a colonoscopy. And I scheduled a colonoscopy. And I'm trying to be all. reverent about my health and the heart and the blood sugar. And I set the date and then they call me two weeks before. And they go, yeah, you need a friend. And I don't like, when you start thinking about like, like now we're getting into emergency contact level friendship.

And I just, and I realize with the people that I have, with the, the alliances and the associates that I've made in 11 years in New York, city. I don't really have anyone to the level few comedians. Colonoscopy. Yeah. I don't have colonoscopy. Will you take me home after a camera? Right. Pro level friends. And I had to reschedule my colonization. I found a person, but I have to reschedule the colonoscopy. They're not, there's no other availability until November. Oh, no. So I got to wait two months to go back because, I just, I don't know, I was in a big health kick.

I go through like, I call it like health week, like every August or September. I do everything. Yeah. And schedule the first colonoscopy. You never had one? You never had one. And I'm sure I should have had it sooner. I'm 47.

So I probably is overdue. I don't know. I've done the prostate. And apparently that's now blood. It is. It's amazing. Okay. Okay, well, I was in their demanding the finger.

That odd. Well, you'll enjoy the colonoscopy. I can tell you. I've had many. I love them. I just say I enjoy them. Katie Couric, who is the big colonoscopy pusher among people, I know, because her husband did die of colon cancer.

I love it because, one, it cleans you out. You feel great. Like, you take, you used to have to drink all these milkshakes. But now you don't. Water. They're like water, kind of jelly water. Now it's just a pill. Now it's just a pill.

And that's great because the drinking stuff is awful. But I feel great. That was the other thing that they named me scared. They were like, yeah, you've got to take a dump for a day and a half. It is. Stay home. Stay close to home. This is all I have to say to.

It's shocking. You're like, how bad could it be? And then you're like, wow, I have a lot of shit in there, so to speak. Yeah. Yeah. So I feel myself trying to take care of my health and realize I need better friends. But you need a bit. I will come to pick you up at your colonoscopy anytime.

Thank you. I will come to New York to pick you up because I'll get Kirk to do it. Katie Kirk will do it. She'll pick you up. She loves people getting colonoscopies. Well, good for you. Well, that's good for you to admit. All right, I'm going to do mine.

I have to, you know, you're a comic. Rosie O'Donnell guest hosting Jimmy Come Alive. She did a fantastic job. I know you've done different guest hosting things, but I thought she has come back in a really nice way. obviously was always right about Trump, but the fact that she underplayed Trump quite a bit, except that last bit, was fantastic. She did a whole different kind of show than Kimmel, which I thought was a good idea. She did the show that fit her. It wasn't really a light night show.

It was sort of more of an afternoon show, but I really appreciated that she landed and did very well. The ratings did really well. I've always had a lot of respect for Rosie O'Donnell, you know, and people forget that, you know, she was a beast of a stand-up and actress and improv and, you know, did daytime, did the view. So she literally has the duality of the chops needed to do exactly everything that you just said. And still just damn likable. Likeable. She really has.

I think going to Ireland's been good first. She's a great singer. I had an interview with her. She sang on my show. I thought it was just what people needed in terms of feeling. And again, I would say she deserved all the kudos she's gotten. The negative is this guy. I don't even, the tall guy who like has to,

to call attention to him so about with the dildos and everything else, all these men that do this. The problem with women's basketball is asshole straight men just can't just stop attacking these women. I think it's misogynist. I think it's racist for sure. I think it's, you know, I don't really care if Sophie Cunningham says things about trans people. Fine. Like, fine. She has her opinions. But the fact that these men are coming in there and ruining the game for everybody, just they, should be tossed out of the stadiums, and that's the end of it. Well, it's not, I think it's more important to say specifically, it's right-wing men in the media.

Yes, exactly. They're doing it to bring attention. And it's not just the person that I don't feel like naming. There's a couple of them. And it's one of the same ones that, like, declare themselves eligible for the WNBA draft next year. Yes, that's Ennis, right? Ennis is that his name?

Yeah. Yeah, and who's the same one who was escorted out of a game the other night for Jaw Jack and with a Chicago Sky player during the game. I thought she could have killed him. I thought she could have killed him if she had a chance myself. There's something wild to showing up to a game to deliberately get kicked, to start mess, so that you can then go talk about it so you can then monetize the clicks. Yep, agree. That's what it's all.

I would agree. He's grotesque. He's a grotesque, and he's a washed up player at this point from on. I can tell this is all these guys. Even if you feel that way about this issue in the WNBA, go to the commissioner's office. Yeah, exactly. That's where you really want to change the policy. Go there.

Yeah, I agree. Anyway, we want to hear from you. Send us your questions about business tech or whatever's on your mind. Go to nymag.com slash pivot to submit a question for the show or call 85551 Pivot and elsewhere in the Karen Scott universe this week on on with Kara Swisher. I'm talking one of the newest members of the Vox Media Podcast Network family, Ina Garten. Her show, Happy Hour with Ina Garten, launches next month.

Let's listen to a clip. When I think about my brand, I always think the first thing is fun. If it's fun, people will be really attracted to it from the store. Like, when you walked into the store, all of your senses were engaged. And I love that when people walked in, they felt good. And they would say, I just came in to see what was going on. and then they walk out with three bags of groceries. And I would think, yeah, did my job today.

And I feel that way about the television. If it's fun, people will really be attracted to it. So that's kind of where I'm always looking. Anyway, I love I know. I think she's great. She has a great time. You should go on that show and have cocktails with her. I'm happy to.

That would be a really interesting conversation. Anyway, she's great. Okay, that's the show. Thanks so much. Roy, you've been amazing. And I'm very excited to come on your. your show. Season 5 of Have I Got News for You premieres on September 12th on CNN. I forget which one in it, but I'm pretty early in the season. Put me on with whoever you want. I'm happy to spark with them.

Where else can people find you, Roy? What else are you up to? Let me get you online. I'm going to get you on there with Mom Donnie. Mom Donnie, perfect. All right. So where else can people find you? What else do you up to? My name is Roy Wood Jr. put a dot com behind it, put an at symbol in front that's everywhere. outside of CNN, I'll be on a new Amazon sitcom Barbershop based on the hit movie franchise. That's not out until later this year or top of next year. They haven't given us a premiere date yet,

but that'll be the next thing after seeing. How many are there? There's three or four, right? There's three barbershops, and then there's the beauty shop spinoff with Queen. Beauty Shop. I love the beauty shop. Oh, my God.

That is my merger insurance. So you make sure you want. Watch that when it comes out. Are you kidding? I'm a big barbershop fan. I didn't know. I had no idea. I'm so excited.

Who are you playing? It's a good time. I play like a younger set the entertainer type, if you will. Not Seth's character. Nobody can do that. But I represent the, I'm the most senior person in the shop. So it's definitely a more youthful series that just follows the continuation of how Chicago has evolved and how barbershop culture has changed with the modernization and appointment culture and

all of that stuff. I'm so excited. I love beauty shop, but be honest with you guys. I love it too. I like all the shops. Anyway, thanks for listening to Pivot and be sure to like and subscribe to our YouTube channel. We'll be back on Friday. Again, Roy, thank you very much and I can't wait to see you. Thank you, Fred. Good to see you. Today's show was produced by Lara Naiman, Zoe Marcus, Taylor Griffin, and Todd Wiseman. Ernie Enderdot engineered this episode. Thanks also to Kate Gallagher, Karwa is Vox Media's executive producer of podcast. Make sure to follow Pivot on your favorite podcast platform. Thanks for listening to Pivot from Box Media.

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