The Daily Beast Podcast

Michael Wolff and Joanna Coles ask whether Susie Wiles is running out of time as Trump reportedly calls around to ask what people think of his chief of staff. Wolff explains why that question can be the kiss of death inside Trump’s White House and predicts what could happen after the midterms. They also take on new press secretary Katie Zacharia’s rocky debut and the questions surrounding her claims to be a lawyer. Then Wolff offers a theory about Kimberly Guilfoyle’s abrupt exit as ambassador, her split from Don Jr. and what she might do next. The conversation turns to Elon Musk, Ukraine’s access to Starlink and Trump’s pursuit of a deal with Putin, before Wolff makes his case for what Trump wants from the world’s richest and most powerful men.

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Eric Deters reveals to Joanna Coles how his friendship with Kimberly Guilfoyle unraveled after, he says, she asked him for $100,000 to pay an American Express bill while awaiting confirmation as ambassador to Greece. The longtime Trump supporter describes the texts he released, the moment Guilfoyle warned that the dispute could cost her the job and an awkward day he spent with her and Don Jr. as their relationship was falling apart. Deters also explains why he turned to Trump’s inner circle for help on behalf of hundreds of former patients who allege they received unnecessary spine surgeries. Now he says he plans to sue Guilfoyle, seek Don Jr.’s testimony and take his account to Congress.

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Michael Wolff and Joanna Coles dig into Kimberly Guilfoyle’s abrupt exit as ambassador to Greece and the leaked messages that preceded it. Why was she pushed out, and what does she know about the Trump family? Wolff argues that her fall exposes a familiar pattern in Trump’s circle: people using power to chase money, status and the next job. They also discuss new White House press secretary Katie Zacharia and why Wolff thinks Trump picked her to be the face of his administration. As the midterms approach, they consider what happens if Trump loses control of Congress but refuses to see it as a defeat. They weigh Elon Musk’s enormous spending on Republican races and what he might expect in return. Then Wolff offers his theory of Trump’s renewed interest in Vladimir Putin, from the deal over Russian diesel to the wealth and influence he believes Trump wants after the White House.

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David Rothkopf joins Joanna Coles to sound the alarm on Donald Trump’s jaw-dropping betrayal of America, from pumping money into Putin’s war machine to potentially helping fund attacks on U.S. forces. As Trump’s administration embraces authoritarian tactics and threatens a televised execution, Rothkopf explains how the president is torching America’s global standing. Plus, Marco Rubio’s presidential ambitions collide with the growing scandal engulfing Kimberly Guilfoyle in Greece, while a disastrous Republican debate performance and a suddenly competitive Senate map raise the stakes for the midterms. With Trump’s own party growing nervous and a wave of damaging leaks threatening to bring down one of his most controversial appointees, the cracks in MAGA’s grip on power are getting harder to ignore.

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Kurt Andersen and Joanna Coles revisit the Donald Trump that Spy magazine spotted 40 years ago: a blustering New York celebrity who claimed he could master nuclear missiles in an hour and a half. Andersen explains why Trump was a joke then but became president, and why today’s thin-skinned tech billionaires deserve the same sharp scrutiny. They consider what a midterm defeat could do to a president who craves attention, then size up JD Vance, Marco Rubio, RFK Jr. and the Republican who Andersen says would make a far more formidable candidate. The conversation turns to Pete Hegseth and the Iran war, Andersen’s increasingly plausible vision of an American breakup and the Kimberly Guilfoyle revelations that seem written for the pages of Spy.

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