Senator Elissa Slotkin and Retired Major General Paul Eaton join the Daily Beast’s Executive Editor Hugh Dougherty to chart the growing alarm inside the national-security world over Trump’s increasingly cult-like demands for loyalty. Slotkin, a former CIA officer and Pentagon veteran, lays out how flattery, grievance, and improvisation have replaced strategy in Trump’s orbit—leaving the military to navigate chaos, not command. Eaton, one of the Army’s most outspoken former generals, explains why Trump’s impulses and misinformation pose what he bluntly calls a threat to U.S. readiness. From battlefield myths to political pressure on the ranks, Hugh presses both guests: What happens if Trump once again tries to run the military like it’s his personal force? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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55:58
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55:58
Why Trump Is Using a Moron to Run His 'War': Wolff
Michael Wolff joins Joanna Coles to dissect a president who never asks the hard questions, leaving aides scrambling to explain what he refuses to understand. They dig into the Venezuela-bombed boats debacle and Pete Hegseth’s role, tracing how the story spiraled into Hegseth’s emerging SignalGate scandal. Wolff charts the frustration, chaos, and quiet panic inside Trumpworld, while Joanna presses on the larger pattern: a leader whose curiosity stops at the surface, imperiling both policy and loyalty. The two ask: What happens when those closest to Trump can’t keep up with—or contain—his blind spots? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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55:35
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55:35
How Trump Secretly Knifes Cabinet Suck-Ups: Wolff
Michael Wolff joins Joanna Coles to discuss a president oscillating between boredom and sudden, theatrical fury; a man who now demands ever-greater flattery from aides who are running out of new ways to praise him. Joanna presses into the Hegseth Venezuela debacle that Trump is suddenly trying to disown, the strange Kushner–Witkoff Moscow overture supposed to “solve” Ukraine, and the inner-circle panic over Trump’s fixation with who is—and isn’t—sufficiently servile. Along the way, they track the “moronocracy” shaping U.S. policy and ask: if flattery no longer works, what happens next? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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46:42
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46:42
Why Andrew's Epstein Shame Will Never End: Author
Andrew Lownie joins Joanna Coles with a bracing account of a royal family in complete public meltdown. Lownie, an author and British historian, lays out why Prince Andrew’s downfall is no longer a contained scandal but a widening corruption crisis—one that now stretches from sex-trafficking allegations to financial misconduct, secret meetings with Bahrain, and the Queen and Prince Philip’s decades-long blind spot for their “favorite” son. As King Charles battles cancer and Prince William quietly takes the reins, Joanna presses Lownie on whether Andrew will flee Britain, what Sarah Ferguson might reveal, and whether this is the most perilous moment for the monarchy since the abdication. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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31:48
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31:48
Epstein's Warning About Trump is Coming True: Wolff
Michael Wolff joins Joanna Coles to unpack the widening sense inside Trumpworld that the operation is slipping into pure incompetence. From Pete Hegseth’s troubling battlefield lore to Keystone Kash Patel’s chaos, Wolff charts a mood shift that even Murdoch-world can’t quite hide. Wolff outlines how Jeffrey Epstein once warned that Trump would misuse his pardon power, as evinced by Trump’s pardon of Honduran ex-president and cocaine trafficker Juan Orlando Hernández. Joanna presses the central question of the hour: Is this the moment when Trump’s own allies decide the circus has finally become a liability? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Daily Beast Podcast is as wildly exciting, energizing, and entertaining as the topics it covers. Hosted by Joanna Coles, Chief Content Officer of the Daily Beast, every episode brings you more of the people, politics, and pop culture coverage you need straight from the Daily Beast newsroom. Amazing conversations have included Amber Ruffin, Tiffany Haddish, Mika Brzezinski, Don Lemon, John Oliver and more!New episodes every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday; early drops on YouTube.If you’re not already a subscriber to The Daily Beast, it’s easy! Just go to thedailybeast.com to sign up. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.