The Daily Beast Podcast - Trump Rocked By New McConnell Health Bombshell

Episode Date: July 11, 2026

Joanna Coles and Daily Beast executive editor Hugh Dougherty examine the mystery surrounding Mitch McConnell's sudden disappearance from public view after reports of a medical emergency, and why the unanswered questions extend far beyond one senator's health. They explore how McConnell's absence could throw the balance of power in Washington into chaos, why even Donald Trump appears trapped by the political fallout, and what an information vacuum has done to fuel speculation across the MAGA movement. The conversation also turns to Trump's controversial Qatari jet, the security concerns that reportedly forced him off the aircraft during the Iran crisis, and what his increasingly volatile behavior may reveal about the pressure building inside the White House. Presented in partnership with PMI U.S., US Businesses of Philip Morris International. Share your prediction for America's future with #America250 or fill out this form for a chance to be featured on the podcast. By posting with #America250, you agree that The Daily Beast may include your comment in PMI U.S.-sponsored segments on The Daily Beast Podcast and to other potential PMI U.S. uses. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Scotia Bank. You're richer than you think. Donald Trump's big existential fear of the Democratic Senate is they impeach him. That's what is motivating him. He is desperate, desperate for the Republican Senate to blow up the filibuster and pass legislation, which they will never pass. The crisis that is created by the departure in whatever way, Mitch McConnell from the Senate, he doesn't need. So I think we can see why he's been incredibly quiet about this.

It's really difficult for him to work out. He's in a box here. He can't afford to lose the Senate. He would love to see the back of Mitch McConnell, but Mitch McConnell could be replaced by something worse. he doesn't want this. I'm Joanna Coles. This is the Daily Beast podcast.

What has happened to Mitch McConnell? Stay tuned because we're going to give you the very latest as we have it. Why did Trump fly back in old Air Force One? Well, we have got the inside story on that. And what happened to J.D. Vance when he went to Milwaukee and he pointed to a poster and nobody could see what was on the poster. Just three things that happened this week. in Trump land? Well, I'll be unpacking it with Hugh Dockedy, our executive editor, and literally

nobody knows more than Hugh about the crazy that's going on right now. But before we do that, I want to ask you to subscribe to the Daily Beast podcast. We have various layers of membership. You can become a Be Beast member. You can be a friend of the Beast. We are independent media. We rely on your support. So smash the subscription button. Thank you. And a quick message before we get into today's show. America, as you know, just turned 250, but we don't look back, we look forward. So starting next week, the Daily Beast podcast is kicking off a four-part series about what the next 250 years of America will look like. Each Friday, I'll be joined by an expert to discuss topics like manufacturing, sports, tech and the internet, but we won't be alone. Our conversations

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Terms apply. Hugh, unexpectedly, Mitch McConnell, a retiring senator, has completely dominated the news. If you have videos, if you have seen him, please send them to us. Huey, I'm calming down, but when was the last time we know that Mitch McConnell was spotted alive? Well, amazingly, we now have a bombshell sighting, and it is almost a month ago. It, in fact, is the sighting of him being loaded into an ambulance on June the 14th outside his DC home. And that's where this all begins, because before that, he had been seen on Capitol Hill. We all know he was frail.

We've all seen... He's 84, right? He's 84. So four years older than the president. He's four years older than the president. And am I right in thinking, if it was June the 14th, he went into hospital on the president's 80th birthday? Yes, what a way to celebrate.

What a way to celebrate. And it was before all the celebrations. So he missed. He's missed his opportunity to say, you know, give him well wishes... Happy birthday, Mr. President. At the UFC cage match. You can just see Mitch at a cage match, can't you? Anyway, June the 14th...

I think Mitch's life has been a cage match, hasn't it? Both with Republicans and Democrats. Well, quite. And that is one of the key things about this story, is that both sides are saying what is going on. But June the 14th, a neighbour this morning released footage to CNN, and I have to give him a lot of credit for that,

of him being taken into the ambulance. And you can see the scale of the medical response. This is not what happens when you sprain your foot. There is an ambulance, obviously, with paramedics. There's a fire truck.

There are multiple capital police officers. This is a really serious and intense. It's a fire truck. Yes. What's the fire truck for? They just don't like to miss out, firemen, do they? They just roll up.

Whenever they see an ambulance, there they are. I think probably because there was a question mark about whether he was conscious and maybe they might need equipment. Clearly, they were able to get in and they found him. But in this sort of circumstance, nobody was taking any risks here.

The 911 dispatch call, which we have now heard, makes clear that this was somebody who was very vulnerable, who was unconscious, who had possibly been in cardiac arrest. So the scale of the response matches that. I thought that the recording that we heard said CPR in progress. Exactly. And that's really significant. that the idea of CPR on an 84-year-old man

who already has health problems. And let's just rewind the clock here. Mitch McConnell is one of the people who are now, you know, a vanishing group of people who have post-polio syndrome. He survived polio as a child, which was not uncommon given his age. He predates, of course, the polio vaccine.

And he has had health challenges, which he has overcome in life as a result. he has clearly been deteriorating and he was then given CPR. CPR is intense. It is bad for your ribcage. At that age, it is not even recommended. Many people with elderly relatives will know

that they are given a talk basically about what the consequences of full-quote attempts at revival would be. But if you find someone unconscious, surely you would give them CPR, even knowing that you might fracture a rare doing it because it's the only solution. It's the only solution. And that's exactly how we know how serious this is.

Clearly, when you dial 911, the intention is to try to do everything to save that person's life. That's what happened here. That's the last time we saw him. That's the last time we know that Mitch McConnell, we know where he was and what state he was in. So he's in hospital now and various Republicans have said that they've spoken to him. Do we know if Mitch McConnell has spoken back? Well, I think we have to very carefully parse the words here. The only person who has spoken on the record to camera in a way that we can all see is Scott Jennings. Now, to most of us right now, Scott Jennings is that MAGA guy you hate on CNN. I don't hate Scott Jennings.

I find him very entertaining and also he's lost a lot of weight. We've all seen him on his GLP ones. I've been on shows with him and he's always very friendly before and after. and you get round the table and he does his thing and, you know, everybody else does their thing. He's an amazing performer. He's an entertainer and a performer and he used to work for... And he used to work for Mitch McConnell. And this is something that he has never denied it.

But it's not really part of his public persona. But in recent days, his close connection to Mitch McConnell has become very, very important to him. He has rushed on to CNN twice to give updates about what he says Mitch McConnell's state of being is. So let's just rewind the timeline slightly here. At the end of, towards the end of last week, we got this bombshell 911 call. Now, at the Daily Beast, we had been asking questions, where is Mitch McConnell?

Where is Mitch McConnell? What is happening with Mitch McConnell's health? And there was a wall of silence from his very well-paid staff. We couldn't find out. And we obviously didn't know. And when you say very well-paid, actually his senior aid is paid a quarter of a million dollars. Yep.

Terry Carmock has been. Chief of Staff since 2020, but he's been with Mitch McConnell from the 80s onwards. It's kind of a well-paid job. And, you know, that's just how it is. Mitch McConnell obviously has put a huge amount of trust in him. But now, as Chief of Staff, he is the critical person here. He is the person who is accountable for Mitch McConnell to the governor of Kentucky, Andy Bashir, who's been asking questions, to the public, to the Senate, to other senators, to other. To other members of Congress who say, we don't know what's going on. OK, so let's remind people why this is not a macabre interest in his health.

It's bigger than that. Yeah. Mitch McConnell, at 84, is still a United States senator. And every United States senator wields huge power. That is a fact of how the Senate is constituted. Every one of them has the potential to stop proceedings. Every one of them is given access to the most valuable secrets that the country has. That's what they do. Many things go through the Senate on unanimous consent.

That can't happen. And Mitch McConnell, you'll remember, was the Senate Majority Leader. He then became, when he stepped down from that, he was then given the chairmanship of the Rules Committee. And that sets the rules for what happens in the Senate. So that's incredibly powerful. He's not there. How do these things happen? Well, and also, isn't there the possibility that there would be a special election?

Obviously, we're coming up to the midterms. My understanding is that if he has to step aside or something happens before August the 3rd, there is a special election. And it's not guaranteed that Mitch McConnell would be replaced by a Trumpian Republican. I mean, it's possible that Thomas Massey, who got primaried by Trump and his congressman's role. and so we'll be out in November. It's very possible that he could run and get elected because people like Thomas Massey, they like his independence.

He's not as suck up to Trump as he's just learned. So what is the actual political significance of Mitch McConnell having to step away from his seat? Well, it might even be messier than that, Joanna. You're right that that's the procedure that's in the law in Kentucky. But there's a wrinkle here. Kentucky has a Democratic governor.

Andy Bashir. And clearly an ambitious, ambitious potential democratic star. You were talking to Michael Wolf about him, yes, inside Trump's head. So this law setting up a timeline for a special election was passed when Andy Bashir became governor. And the Republicans hold a super majority in the Kentucky legislature.

They forced through this law to make sure that the traditional thing that would have happened would have been that the governor appoints an interim senator until the next available special election date. They don't want a democratic governor appointing someone because obviously he would appoint a Democrat. My understanding is, or at least according to Michael Wolfe when we were discussing this on inside Trump's head, the law was actually created specifically because people understood Mitch McConnell was getting older. But the thing about a law that's been specifically created

is it's never been used. And at the time, Andy Bashir said, I don't recognize this as constitutional. So we don't know. Andy Bashir has not said what he would do if Mitch McConnell were to step down and they force a special election. But it is a very plausible scenario

that this all gets tied up in court because Andy Bashir could say, well, I don't recognize that and I'm appointing somebody or I'm not going to you know, I'm not going to recognize them and I'm going to court. And the Republicans would have to go to court and then it all goes to court and it's all tied up in a mess. So that keeps one Senate seat. So you could have a vacant Senate seat for, we don't know, right? Nobody knows because it's never been done before. We have a 4852 Senate. We have, that shouldn't really matter, right?

49, you know, okay, the Democrats get won for a while and it doesn't really matter. But here's all of this is happening. in a wider environment where the Democrats have a prospect, at the very least, of taking the Senate. They also have significant governor's races and Senate races elsewhere. And the Republicans have to spend a fortune on these. Look at the amount of money that has been flooded into Texas to prop up a very, very difficult race for the Republicans, a very flawed candidate against James Talarico. And this is Ken Paxton, who has endorsed over longstanding, much more, I mean, he's still pretty right wing, but much more normal candidate, John Corny.

Yes. So you've got Ken Paxton being supported by all this money flooding in. You've got an exciting new candidate for the Democrats in James Tala Rico, who won over Congresswoman Jasmine Crocker. We're just talking about Texas. We could talk about Ohio. We could obviously talk about Maine. And maybe let's not talk about Maine because, I don't know, do we have a three-hour, it would be Joe Rogan-Lend. then, but here's the reality. The Republicans don't need and can't afford distractions. Right. They do not need a mess in Kentucky. Sure, this is safe Republican territory. But what if Thomas Massey runs? Everybody loves him there and he wins. That's a plausible scenario. What if Andy Bashir wins a court case? That's another plausible scenario. None of this is what they need. So Mitch McConnell, in his hospital bed, they need Mitch McConnell to be alive, to be

conscious and to be able to function. And that's what they're telling us. And let's be honest about this, we don't know. And there is huge public skepticism that what we've been told on the record by Scott Jennings and through the spokespeople for John Thun, Senate Majority Leader, John Barroso, his number two. They've also said they've spoken to him. Yes, but they have not gone in front of a camera to say that. And they haven't said, what we haven't heard is anybody saying Mitch McConnell said to me because it's highly plausible that he could be in a vegetative state as Laura Luma, one of the president's advisors, has widely disseminated, as has Marjorie Taylor Green, former congresswoman, and they could be talking to him, which you're advised to do if someone is

not conscious, to keep them engaged. We have three on the record sets of quotes from Scott Jennings, And one of them, just as an example, he told Laura Coates on CNN on Monday, he was pretty chatty about world affairs. Now, let's be honest, that sounds like he's talking. No, it sounds absolutely like he's talking. He was pretty chatty about world affairs. He clearly had been tracking the news on Iran, on the NATO meetings, and what was going on, possibly with these talks involving Ukraine and Russia.

I mean, go on, give us the proof. So I'll just say at The Daily Beast, we have asked CNN to provide proof that Scott Jennings spoke to Mitch McConnell, and we will update you. Scott Jennings obviously has a more personal relationship with Mitch McConnell than other people have had. So if he's going to chat to anybody, sure. What has happened is that Scott Jennings says that he spoke to Mitch McConnell once for 20 minutes. and that was early this week and that he was chatty and he appeared to be

he'd been tracking the news on Iran he'd been tracking the news on NATO this was during the NATO summit that Donald Trump was at and he was tracking what had been going on in Ukraine and Russia that's essentially what we know from Scott Jennings

through spokespeople not directly to cameras themselves John Thun the most powerful of the Senate majority leader Right who took over from Mitch Who succeeded Mitch McConnell and pretty much I think was handpicked for that as well by Mitch McConnell, certainly supported by him. John Barroso, who's the number two, the second most powerful Republican,

both of them through spokespeople, not on camera, said that they had had conversations too. And all of these conversations were about 20 minutes. All we can do is take Scott Jennings at his word. All we can do is take the anonymous spokespeople for John Thune and John Barroso at their word. But many people, and this is a critical point inside the MAGA movement, it is people inside the MAGA movement who have mocked these claims who have made, I spoke to Sensor McConnell

for 20 minutes into a meme and made it some of them are actually funny, I have to say. And have made this a real serious question about what the hell is happening. Well, the other thing that I think people find strange and also has been turned into a meme

is that the senator's wife was not, didn't come rushing back from a trip to China when she heard that her husband had been admitted to hospital in a state of CPR and, you know, emergency? Yeah, I mean, this is maybe the most extraordinary element of this is the human story. Elaine Chow is Chinese American of a proud Chinese American immigrant. Her father is a billionaire, a shipping tycoon. And she, of course, was Donald Trump's first transportation secretary. She and Trump have had a bitter, bitter. falling out. She resigned after January the 6th and was very clear that she could not support the

president as he was then because of what had happened on Capitol Hill. Her husband's life had been put at risk. I mean, are you surprised? And that led to this really intense Trump hurled racist insults Saturday, called her husband, the old crow. And Elaine Chao kind of slipped out of the public eye. She had done a couple of TV appearances. to talk about transportation issues and trade. She is very against tariffs. She's very in favour of free markets, free movement. She's classic conservative.

And really, you know, she popped up like she did a commencement speech up in Maine. But this is not somebody that's a high-profile public figure. June the 12th, two days before her husband suffered this cardiac arrest, a pardoned cardiac arrest. She was at a university in Shanghai, which her family has inducted. with money. And, you know, she's a philanthropist. She's personally wealthy. Her family is hugely wealthy. And the university in Shanghai proudly presented her on their website as somebody who was visiting, and this was, you know, a great moment for them. The next thing we know about her movements is June 14th, he had this apparent heart attack. Three days later, and given time differences,

two and a half days later, she was in Beijing meeting. the vice president of China. And that's, it's pretty extraordinary. She, nobody initially knew had she phoned back, had she, we don't know. She then made clear that she, in fact, had never returned until three days ago from this Chinese philanthropy. Hey, y'all, it's Kelly Clarkson with Wayfair. Ever order furniture online and wonder, what if? Like, what if it doesn't hold up? That sofa was four days old. You should have ordered from Wayfair. With Wayfair, there's no what if. Just style you love and quality you can trust. Wayfair.ca. Wayfair, every style, every home.

So, is it possible that everybody's getting this completely out of proportion, that Mitch McConnell is sitting up in his bed, having a hospital jello like all the other patients. His wife was assured that he was absolutely fine. He spoke to her. He's spoken to Scott Jennings. He's spoken to John Thune. And the media is just making a mountain out of a molehill. Um, sure. Yeah, that's totally possible. Um, but in the absence of any information, and let's be honest, it's not just us saying this, this is not the media. Donald Trump was asked and he said, I don't know, I haven't spoken to him. Right, the governor asked, the governor of the state asked, he doesn't know. He has had no cooperation

from these highly paid AIDS. And MAGA itself is saying this is a conspiracy. Yes. So in another environment, we could maybe possibly say he's just, very private, and that's what Scott Jennings tried to push. Oh, he's an 84-year-old man and he believes in his privacy. That would be understandable. But just as a point about civics, what degree of privacy do senators really have? And also Mitch McConnell, you know, to some extent is such a traditionalist. I mean, you would think that he would understand his responsibility was to reassure people that the seat itself was still in effect active. Yes. So is it possible that he's sitting up in bed having jello?

I'm sure it's possible. I'm sure it's possible. But why would... But why would... But why would... Laura Luma, who we know whispers loudly to the president? Why would she say, oh, he's in a vegetative state? And why would Marjorie Taylor Green, admittedly no longer in the house and longing for a platform?

But why would she start saying, you know, Mitch is... wife is clearly a Chinese spy. We need to look into this. Right. Well, these are people who have hated Mitch McConnell because they saw him as a rhino, a Republican in name only, somebody who stood in the way of President Trump, whose wife attacked Donald Trump on January the 6th. So we can postulate that there is motive here for them to attack. But what is the advantage and what is the motive of them revealing if that is what they are doing, his medical condition, that's kind of harder to parse. It's kind of harder to say, well, they would want him to be that, clearly. No matter how twisted somebody is, nobody is wishing that this 84-year-old man

is medically suffering. Nobody would want that, I hope. And the motive really would be unclear. I think the problem you have here is that a powerful Republican and his powerful aides, and this is absolutely part of this story, I've created an information vacuum, into which other information has flown. They have not addressed truthfully, transparently, clearly what is going on. They have used a CNN contributor and a political commentator as a conduit to the outside world, his testimony is not backed by a phone log, a video, a proof of life, and therefore people have reacted to it skeptically. So what do you think Donald Trump is thinking about all this?

Well, because they hate each other. They hate each other. They hate each other. And it was very clear when he was asked on Air Force One about it that he did not want to dwell on this topic. I think Donald Trump is aware that a dangerous distraction from the Senate is really bad. and Donald Trump's big existential fear of a Democratic Senate is they impeach him. That's what is motivating him. He is desperate, desperate for the Republican Senate to blow up the filibuster and pass legislation, which they will never pass. Impossible to pass legislation about voter ID and...

This is his Save America. Save America. So he is desperate for this to happen. Mitch is absolutely an obstacle to this. Whatever state Mitch is in, Mitch is an obstacle to this. But equally, the distraction, the difficulty, the crisis that is created by the departure in whatever way of Mitch McConnell from the Senate, he doesn't need. So I think we can see why he's been incredibly quiet about this. It's really difficult for him to work out.

He's in a box here. He can't afford to lose the Senate. He would love to see the back of Mitch McConnell. But Mitch McConnell could be replaced by something worse. He doesn't want this. Well, and the irony would be if Thomas Massey were to replace Mitch McConnell in the Senate, he would be even more powerful than he was in Congress when he led with Roe Conner the demand for the release of the Epstein files, which obviously Donald Trump was furious about.

Trump had him primaried. It looked like he would be leaving office, but now there may be a vacancy for Thomas Massey. As you say, very popular in Kentucky to step into. This whole mess, this whole Mishigas is... Mitchie gas. This whole Mitchie gas. It's a Mitchie gas. It's a Mitchie gas. It's a Mitchie Gass. Apologies to our Yiddish viewers. Well, I was going to say, it's actually...

It sounds more like something from Harry Potter, a Mitchell McConeman gas, doesn't it? It just sounds like a relative of... You're better at this than I am. Well, I have read them. I have read them. I did many years ago. I'm very much looking forward to the HBO remake to the television show. Well, I think if there's anything that HBO might want to remake here, it's a to steal House of Cards off Netflix because you couldn't make it up.

You couldn't make this up. You couldn't script this. All right, so that's Mitch McConnell. I mean, oh, I've gone right down the Harry Pottering of the Senate. Actually, J.K. Rowling should just rewrite the Senate. She should do another version of Harry Potter, which is all based on the US Senate because she wouldn't believe it. All right. So another really fascinating thing this week, which again you couldn't make up, the president and his entourage.

So Scott Besson, Pete Higgs, the Secretary of State and the National Security Advisor, all rolled into Mini Marco, all set off on Gryft Force One, your phrase, Griffith Force One. and I love it so much. The $400 million free plane from Qatar, they set off, and you can imagine what the fund they must have been having on their way to the NATO summit in Turkey, kind of, oh my God, I love this plane so much better than the old plane. I love this sofa look at this gold. It's the biggest, this 747-800 is.

That might be an unfortunate reality, Joanna. I don't want it, obviously, I don't want it to crash. But in terms of the QM2 of planes, it's huge, it's got four big bathrooms, it's got nine half bathrooms, it's got two big bedrooms, I'm sure it's got a fabulous equipped kitchen. And I just want to point out one element which people might, you know, might make, you know, Freudian note of is it's longer than any other plane. In the world? Well, any other commercial plane, yes. and if you roll up in your 747800, which is this is a converted 747800,

it's known as VC25B to the Air Force, but 747800, it's longer than anyone else's plane. Oh, it's longer than anyone else's plane. Make that what you will. But the one thing it doesn't appear to have is quite enough security. And this plane has been kitted out by, who kitted it out? Was it Boeing?

Well, Boeing and the Air Force jointly. Okay, so Boeing and the Air Force took the gift and then, you know, I'm sure swept it for every kind of bug you can possibly imagine. Because why would you give an American president a plane if not to track him? But they swept everything. They then put in all sorts of new forms of communication. But what they didn't do was make it up to the secret services standards for security to have the president fly back from Turkey once hostilities had been re-enelytes. engaged with Iran. Now, the big theme I think of this week, psychologically, and I'm not inside Trump's head. You have another companion with a hit podcast. I think you might be. Only by

following you and Michael Wolf arounds, right? He's got as, you know, he's like Virgil with his torch. But the big, I think, psychological, like Virgil with his torch. What a great. That Trump is angry. He's angry. He's angry. He's angry. He's angry. The tantrums are getting bigger and wilder. And this Air Force One issue, he has been clearly very angry about. He wanted to fly in his giant plane bedecked with gold, with the fake library books, with the life, you know, the lie flat seats, with the leather, with everything. Thank goodness they're fake, so he's not under pressure to read them. Well, I mean, I would like a bookshelf full of fake books and they'd be like, oh, at least I'd have to read those. Instead, I'm surrounded by books. This will never happen to Donald

Trump. But he wanted to land, be given the hero's welcome. And we saw that the hero's welcome didn't happen. We then saw that he bombed Iran. And here's, you know, some basic facts here. A new plane, and I'm saying new, it was second hand. It was ripped out of the hands of the Qataris. But it only had a thousand flying miles on it. So relatively, I mean, as new as it gets for a planet. As new as you get was rushed into service in less than a year. Two other 747s have been worked on now for years by Boeing to get them up to the same standard and higher than the existing fleet of 747200s. And this was one of Trump's issues, right, that he was furious that he couldn't just snap his fingers and get a new Air Force one. And the old one, which was up to the standard, security standards they needed, but had, well, I think it's fair to say it was a bit tattie around the edges.

Right. I mean, who wouldn't want a flying 747 for themselves? I'm sure it's better than C-25D on United. But he was absolutely right. He was angry, angry, angry. He wanted this new plane. It gave him this, they got this plane turned round. Now, you don't, if you are refitting, if you're fitting up to 747s and it's taken you years to get the missile, this is the crucial thing, the anti-missile technology. And you can't just put it in an existing one. Like, that, but he wanted it. He flew it into this danger zone. He created this danger himself by then ordering the bombing of Iran. And what do we know about Iran? First of all, it's next door to Turkey. Kind of a crucial fact here. Right. Literally addressing. Literally neighboring borders.

A long land border. Yeah. Secondly, that they have taken out United States Air Force planes on the runway during this conflict. So we know that they can do it. And what not? incredible PR coup that would be internally in Iran. Right. And you know, you don't have to be close to wits to see that this is the sort of thing that turns around conflict psychologically. So the Secret Service and other, you know, I'd imagine the CIA and, you know, the whole national security apparatus were clearly as spooked as it is possible to be and ordered that plane out of there as fast as it could go. Because it is not protected as the other one is from missiles. And we don't actually know what anti-missile

defence is Air Force ones, the two traditional Air Force ones have, but we know, we know that they are formidable. You can see there are bulges on them. We don't know what those do. We know that it has countermeasures for radar, for, you know, for being locked onto by heat-seeking missiles. In broad terms, we don't know precisely. But these things take a lot of work to fit. That appears not to have happened. And there has been vehement denials from Stephen Chung, the White House spokesman, that the security is not up to it, but there has not been any confirmation that the security is as high. And there have been persistent leaks from inside other parts of government that security was not up to scratch. Now, I wanted to talk

about the tantrums. And we saw a real insight when he was challenged on Air Force One about this by a female reporter. Oh, female reporters at this stage know that the minute they ask a question, they're going to be, you know, some kind of abuse is going to be held their way. Reporters are on Air Force One with Donald Trump, and they're back in the traditional Air Force One. When they took off from Anchor, they were told to close the blinds on the windows. And I, and you, Joanna, will know many people who have been on Air Force One. I know a lot have been on it repeatedly as reporters. I have never been on it. I've never been on it either. I long to go on Air Force One. I know. I know. But I want to go on the security.

pure one, not the insecure one. I was going to say, yes. But this is, you know, this is actually a really worrying thing. These reporters got on, but told to put the blinds down. And all of them had to, we've never been asked to put the blinds down. It's just not a thing. They immediately sensed, they knew that they'd swapped the plane. They knew they'd been asked to take the blinds down. And they sensed that there was something going on. As female reporter, asked Donald Trump, are we in danger? And his response was, psychological I think very insightful. I'm number one target. You go down with me. And it shows the sort of the depth of callousness and anger that is existing there. Well, and perhaps fear. And I mean, not unsurprisingly,

given that he's been the target of some very near misses. Yes. But this, he knows that the Iranians have had, you know, and they sent people to the states to try and take him out. Right. There are, you know, allegations of plots or confirmations of attempts at harm. And there was, you know, there's no way to get around this. The Iranians were successful in the Middle East at targeting United States assets in a way that surprises many people. Well, and Donald Trump has taken out with Bibi Netanyahu the entire Iranian leadership, over 40 members of the top leadership. And I think, you know, the classic thing is means motive and opportunity. Mm-hmm.

We can see that they have the means to take out United States Air Force planes, at least some of them. We can see that they have a motive, particularly when you restart missile and bomb attacks on Iran. The critical thing is opportunity. Trump gave them an opportunity by insisting on flying this new, less protected plane into Ankara. and that appears to be a very serious question mark over security. I would not have wanted to be the head of the Secret Service who had to deliver the message that he had to ride back on the old plane. No, I don't think anybody would have wanted to be that.

And we can see that, you know, the response that he gave about, oh, we're sending it off so the troops can look at it. Right, we're sending it to Germany so that troop station there can look and admire it. And you're like, well, that's weird. Yes. And also incredibly cost in a few. effective because they've had to send more Air Force ones to pick him up. Right. I mean, the cost of this is immense. And he then got on the,

he got back on the new plane to fly across the Atlantic. So it's, it's been very costly. But I think what it speaks to is the anger, the tantrums. The chaos. And the chaos and the unwillingness or the inability of people to say no to him until he, he didn't, just, just remember, he certainly appears to put, his own life at risk with this move. But there are probably a couple hundred people on Air Force One. Well, his entire leadership team. Much of his leadership team, a load of reporters. And normal Air Force, members of the Air Force, whose service has taken them on to Air Force One, it seems, I mean, again, I am not inside Trump's head, but it certainly seems reckless and unfair.

Repless and unfair. I'll just say it's part of a whole tantrum. This week has been tantrum after tantrum. So J.D. Vance was not at the NATO summit. Right. That is in line with convention that if the president leaves, the vice president stays on the United States soil. If the vice president is off on foreign travels,

presidents get them back before they get on the plane themselves. But he was dispatched to Millwall. batch to Milwaukee. It's not quite as, it's not quite the same as, no disrespect the people of Milwaukee. No, we love Milwaukee. Actually, I do love Milwaukee. But I wonder if J.D. Vance thought, oh, they're all hanging out and having fun without me in Turkey. And I'm having to do a bit of work. Yes, I think maybe. That's quite possible. He was sent to Milwaukee and he actually did this speech on a military base in Milwaukee. So he didn't kind of get up. out there too much. But he was sent to Milwaukee as part of this White House attempt to crack down, they say, on fraud. And... Benefits fraud. And specifically, yeah, fraud against, fraud against, you know, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security frauds, the sort of frauds that get

people angry. And that's one of the tactics they want people to be angry. They want to be seen as the protectors of the public purse. And, you know, politicians for years have done this. There's no politician that hasn't at some point said they're going to crack down on fraud. Clearly some politicians then go and commit fraud and many mayors and governors that are known for this, but... We're not suggesting that J.D. Vance has gotten out. No, J.D. Vance has got his own money. This is not he, but... Although having your own money never stops people from fraudulent behavior. Well, that's true. But no, J.D. Vance sees this as an opportunity to establish him as a strong figure, a figure about law and order, a figure about protecting the taxpayer. So he went to Milwaukee and he put up a poster

of somebody who had been convicted of a very big Medicare fraud and was walking, the picture showed, picture showed her walking out of court when Louis Vuitton bag. And I say the picture showed this, but unfortunately, when J.D. Vans put the poster up, nobody could see it because the lights were glaring on it. And he obviously didn't realize. He did his speech. And one of the many people on Twitter pointed out the absurdity of he's pointing to it saying, you can see this and nobody can see it. But look at this woman in the front with the smug look in the Louis Vuitton bag. He's a sort of hapless figure at the moment. There is a hapless element to, I mean, I have huge sympathy because who has not done a presentation and it's gone wrong, right? You know, you

But if you're the vice president. You're pressing the button on your computer and it doesn't work. And it doesn't work. This is the vice president. The vice president. It's a little bit. This is his big push. Right.

And it's a little bit like when Trump was addressing the UN and the teleprompter didn't work. And he immediately blamed it and said there was a conspiracy and the UN had actually done this on purpose. And in fact, it turned out to be his own team, the president's own team who'd failed to equip him with a working teleprompter. Yes. Well, J.D. Vans, own. has himself to blame here. He put that poster on and he put it at quite obvious. It was not at the right angle and therefore the lights didn't show. Anyway, people mock this on Twitter. And that's, that would be, that would be the end of it, wouldn't it? But unfortunately,

um, the White House decided that they had to respond to. Of course they did. It was this their quick response to you. This is their rapid response. And their rapid response, we can see on screen, was to attack. I think you say his name Aachen Torabi. He posts these clips on Twitter, very successful. And they said it was his dumb ass. Now, unfortunately, people immediately realized that by attacking the dumbass who was obscuring the picture, Whitehouse were actually attacking J.D. Vann.

Sorry, J.D. It's been a bad week for J.D. Vance. And also the president outstripped him on his own wife's podcast, story time with the second lady, because when we read, we grow. J.D. didn't get very good numbers. The president kind of crushed him in the numbers on his own wife's podcast, even though he didn't read a story the president. J.D. Vance read A.A. Milne, one of my favorites, Winnie the Pooh, which he overcomplicated.

Who can overcomplicate Winnie the Pooh, but he did overcomplicate it. We are talking about somebody that tried to mansplain Catholicism to the Pope. So anybody can complicate Winnie the Pooh. And then when the Pope wasn't listening, he, and then sadly the Pope died. Well, sorry, I'm mixing up my... Different popes. He was the last known person, he was the last foreign visitor to the previous Pope, the day before his death.

And then he mansplained, he's a Catholic convert. He mansplained Catholicism to the first American Pope. There's some very funny memes of Mitch McConnell sitting or bolt up right in bed when he hears that J.D. Vance is in the hospital come to see him. So, final subject, which I know has exercised. I'm good to say, I know this subject, but we do have a coda as well, but we are going to come to you talking about finality. There's a final big subject, but then there's a final day of something that we want to mark. Okay. I just tease that.

Okay. Well, I was going to say that we've talked a lot at The Daily Beast and written a lot and talked on our podcasts about the scale of the griff, the $2.2 billion that Trump has made since he's been in this current presidency. But one of his sons had a bit of a blow this week. I think it's fair to say. A $600 million blow. This is the most relatable story I've heard in weeks, I have to say. Who among us has not put the family fortune in crypto? Oh, actually, that would be anybody, right? Pretty much anybody. And who among us hasn't gone, oh dear, I picked the wrong one? Eric Trump, as we know, is the main driver now of the Trump organization, the Trump family business.

And he and his brother, Don Jr., have been very, very aggressive in their pursuit of crypto. and I am not going to pretend that I can explain exactly how this works because that is the nature of crypto, isn't it? It's very hard to get your head round it, but here is a very, very simple fact. They launched a thing called American Bitcoin, and in the course of the last year, its value on the NASDAQ has gone down by 95%.

95%? American Bitcoin has fallen. on by 95%. So I often appear with you, Joanna. It's a great privilege. And I believe I've said before that I'm not an investment tipster. I do think I probably have a tip here.

Probably don't now invest in American Bitcoin. Well, except surely the only way it can go up is now. I've always heard that, yes. Are you supposed to buy the dip? Buy the dip. Yes. Yeah, Eric, we're going to buy the dip. And if this gets clipped and we go to prison,

that's bad. That would be very bad. So don't buy the dip. Don't buy the dip. We're lacing this with heavy degrees of sarcasm. Don't buy the dip in American Bitcoin. A note to the Securities Exchange Commission there. But yeah, American Bitcoin down 95%,

which means that the amount of money the Trumps were going to make out of it has gone down by $600 million. So how does Eric explain that to his father? Hey, dad, have you got a minute? I know things aren't going so well in Iran right now. How's it going on the straight of Hormuz? Yeah, yeah, yeah. How does he even have that conversation?

Well, it's a very good question. Perhaps Scott Jennings was there. He's a conversation witnesser. And he does talk to Donald Trump. And he does talk to Donald Trump. I wonder if Donald Trump complains to when his son loses $600 million. Who does he call? Well, is he called Melania?

Hart. Natalie Hart, Natalie Hart, the ever-present Natalie Hart. The ever-present Natalie Hart. Who leaves little love notes for him in his private places? Yes. And maybe... Where are Donald Trump's private places? Well, that's a very good question.

His bedroom, his bathroom, the White House residence is considered a private area. And certainly, Molyne has not around there much, so high degree of privacy. We don't know what Eric Trump said to his father, but we do know that this on Wednesday, this was when this real wipeout became a part because American Bitcoin had to do a very, very unusual maneuver. It's traded on the NASDAQ. And when you fall in value, eventually you fall off the NASDAQ

because the NASDAQ says you have to have a minimum amount of value. And that minimum amount of value changes, you know, is a variable, but it had fallen or was about to fall below its floor. It did what I think you might call financial engineering they bundled 15 shares into one so that the share price looks like it's gone back up, but the total number of shares issued is much fewer. And this happened on Wednesday. So that's in effect to not be delisted.

Exactly. To remain listed, they bundled 15 shares into one share. And that's a measure that companies can make when things are really going wrong for them on the share price. So they did that in Wedden State. There's no way that Donald Trump does not know about this. On Thursday morning, Eric Trump became the very first passenger to land at the newly named Donald Trump Airport. It's a landing code, as DJT.

It used to be Pam Beach International. PBI. And it's gone from PBI to DJT. He was the first passenger. He took up Trump Force One, as it's called, that elderly Boeing 757, the family. have. And on it were a load of MAGA figures. And they timed this flight. These people were got out of their bed. I imagine it like three in the morning to get on the 7-5-7. And therefore,

they were the very first people to land the moment that it became DJT. And he produced a lot of social media content out of this. He did a hit on Fox and Friends, which we know Donald Trump is addicted to watching. So we don't quite know. what he said about the Bitcoin problem. But we do know that he spent Thursday really publicly praising his father. And it's very hard not to think there might be a linkage here. I think we have a clip.

We do. We do. We do. Talking about the very exciting news that Palm Beach Airport has been renamed after his father. It has. It was a beautiful day. I don't think there's anybody more synonymous

with Palm Beach, the Donald Trump, and maybe all of Florida. And it's his home. He absolutely loves the state. Won the state by a major market. You know, and this is a plane that carried him to victory. A lot of people will argue three times, but certainly two. It was the backdrop of so many of the presidential campaign stops.

There's so many stops with us as a family. So it was an incredibly special moment for us this morning. You can hear the sycophancy there. I'll just say that rival networks have sent reporters and camera crews to Palm Beach International Airport. And they've heard some other opinions from people who fly in and out there. Because one thing that's worth pointing out is that Marlaiag, Marlaigo, which is down the road from the airport, sits in pretty safe democratic territory.

Donald Trump's neighbours are not actually big Trump voters. And he's also, don't you drive from the airport on the Donald J. Trump highway, so that you never ever, if you're going to Maralgo, you never need to leave the Trump universe. You never need to leave the universe. I wonder if they're going to do a kind of six flags. You could do a Donald Trump series of roller coasters and rides,

and it's like, well, we're a war with Iran. No, we're not around. Oh, buy American Bitcoin, do it, by, buy the dip. I mean, you could do an entire kind of amusement park. A Trump Tower of Terror. Exactly, exactly. I can't believe you've used the words amusement park because, Joanna, this is now a time of mourning. It's a time of mourning because as we go to air, the great American state fair.

has closed. Do you know, we miss such an opportunity not to do the podcast from there. We should have gone down with our roving mics, talk to people, although there wasn't anybody there to do. Well, there is a problem. And I have to say, I don't believe that our corporate insurers would have been happy

if you'd gone near that ferris wheel because we all have the same thought. Right. But it's over. I'm sorry. Why has no one done, and Donald Trump, I'm giving you this idea free, the great American state. fair as an amusement part. We've already got the ferris wheel. We've got some ideas. You could

have a reflecting pool that you could row boats on. I mean, it sort of tells itself. Through the slime. Yes, through the slime. So that's, you know, and you could come wishing down into the slime, a bit like those log flumes, right, where you get sprayed with stuff. I mean, there's so much opportunity. After dark, obviously, there'd be an only fan's version with the Uncle Sam that was arrested for alleged sex crimes. Right. You could have fireworks that stop. the air from circulating properly. The breathing challenge. I mean, it's so obvious someone should do the Donald Trump amusement part.

Come on, guy. It's six flags. Come on, it's just one flag. It's the American flag. Yeah, or six Trump flags. Right. And you have your own coins to get in there. Obviously.

pay with American Bitcoin. Right, exactly. This could be, Joanna, you may have solved their problems. This could be their saviour. Buy the dip. Yeah, buy the dip. And of course, I don't eat the dips, I imagine.

Don't eat the dip. And also there would always be Lee Greenwood music playing. Endless. God bless the USA. God bless the USA. On repeat as you go through the slime, someone needs to open this.

Someone needs to be on the case. I still think the best trial of the week came from the Belgian soccer team overturn this after Donald Trump insisted that the red card that had been given to Balagan after he tackled one of the Bosnian players. He insisted it was overturned.

And then, of course, Belgium won against the US on Monday night, four to one, four to one. I recuse myself from all matters of soccer. I'm sorry that Scotland got knocked out so quickly. Go Harry Kane. Come on, Harry. You can do it. Big game tomorrow, England versus Norway.

again, I'm recusing myself. I was sad to see the US men's team knocked out. Of course. I was too. And I think many people were sad that it had been slightly tainted by an angry tantrum. Again, to go back to the theme of angry tantrums. Right. And I can't help wondering if there is a curse of Trump when he supports sports. I was at the next game when he was there and it was the only one in the playoffs they lost. So it's you or it's him?

Very possibly. Except I wasn't at the US game. I'd like to have been in Seattle. I can't be blamed for the state fair because Donald Trump was at the state fair. He opened it. You have not been at the state fair, as we know. I think it's Donald Trump's fault.

And I think that's probably... Come on, why has nobody come up with the Trump amusement park? Let's do it. And we'll be live from there at the moment. The moment it opens. With respirators. And hazmat.

With hazmat gear. case that slime is out of control. And we haven't even mentioned the Olympian who has been arrested and charged for touching the reflecting pool and getting a bit of the weird, rubbery base on his hands. Yes. He indeed has entered an not guilty plea. He's been represented by Norm Eisen, who is a very high-profile attorney for what seems like a fairly minor case. This is not a minor case. It's been prosecuted by Judge Janina Torney. And I say, in quote marks because that was her nickname on Fox News, where she came from. The US judge Janine Piro, the US attorney.

His own husband went to jail for tax evasion. And got pardoned by Donald Trump. Oh, it's good to have Trump as your friend. And that's the other thing you could probably get at the amusement park. What, a pardon? A pardon. You leave with a pardon? Oh, Hugh, what fun, Hugh.

It's time to get back to work. Because other things will have happened. Other things will have happened since we've been talking. since we've been talking. Has Mitch McConnell made an appearance since we've been talking? We have no Mitch McConnell sightings. No Mitch McConnell's sightings. But I think that one bombshell sighting of him in the ambience,

I think is going to reverberate around the news, around the media for a very, very long time. This story is not going away. And I just want to say one thing, actually, Joanna. As I said, we at the Daily Beast kept asking questions about Mitch McConnell, and I want to say thank you to our subscribers who make that possible. Every day we do our best to ask difficult questions and we've asked difficult questions about the president's health

and we've asked difficult questions about Mitch McConnell's health and that's because of our subscribers. So I don't often get a chance to say this but thank you to everybody who subscribed. You are helping us do journalism. And what do you think is going on with Mitch McConnell's health? You can write it in the comments. You can go to the Daily Beast site and write in the comments

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