How Trump, 79, Is Being Exploited By His 'Friend'

The Daily Beast Podcast

The Daily Beast

News & Politics

4.6 • 7.9K Ratings

🗓️ 11 December 2025

⏱️ 24 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Ambassador John Bolton joins Hugh Dougherty to chart the growing dangers of Trump’s foreign policy, driven by impulse rather than strategy. Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser, describes a president who ignores formal briefings, takes cues from Mar-a-Lago guests, and makes decisions by “neuron flash,” leaving Venezuela, Europe, and Ukraine trapped in contradiction and drift. As Trump chases a Nobel Prize and treats strongmen like personal allies, Bolton presses a defining question: How long can America’s security withstand a leader who refuses to plan?

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Trump in the first term came to understand that when people said,
0:04.0	but Mr. President, have you thought about this factor, that factor, the other factor?
0:07.0	Mr. President, have you considered alternatives A, B, C, have you done the cost-benefit analysis,
0:13.0	that he thought that myself, others, were trying to prevent him from making the decision he wanted?
0:20.0	All I can say is we all understood he was president and he would make the final decision.
0:25.5	The question is, is he going to make a well-informed decision or is he going to do it via
0:30.0	neuron flash, which is his typical style?
0:34.2	Welcome to the Daily Beast podcast.
0:36.1	I'm Hugh Doherty, executive editor of The Daily Beast. I am filling in for Joanna, who is, as I've said before, communing with the powerful of the world and also reading your comments from afar. Thank you to everyone who commented on our last interview with David Rothkoff, our brilliant columnist, one of the best informed people in DC.
0:57.0	I have to agree with Marla, S.Y.8Q.
1:00.0	Great insights, intelligence and a killer sense of humor.
1:04.0	And also in the comments, yeah, but is it art, said,
1:07.8	this must be the first time I agree with everything a guest is saying.
1:10.2	I don't think you get higher praise than that.
1:15.4	I have been in the comments. And just one note from a personal point of view.
1:18.5	Thank you for everyone who's mentioned my Scottish accent, good or bad.
1:22.1	I just want to clear up a minor debate about where I'm from in Scotland.
1:24.7	Sorry to Mr Rappanui, 9H.
1:26.0	You're very slightly out.
1:28.9	I am not from Edinburgh or from Sterling, but Betcha Wolf, 9, and a number of others are right. I am from Glasgow, very proudly so,
1:34.0	and very happily sitting in the Daily Beast studios in Manhattan, where we are very
1:39.3	grateful for everyone who subscribes and comments and especially our members.
	...

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