I Know Why Desperate Trump Is in Free Fall

The Daily Beast Podcast

The Daily Beast

News

4.6 • 8.4K Ratings

🗓️ 19 May 2026

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

David Rothkopf and Daily Beast executive editor Hugh Dougherty break down the growing signs of political and personal collapse surrounding Donald Trump, from brutal new polling numbers and deepening economic anxiety to accusations of corruption, authoritarianism, and a White House increasingly lashing out at critics. The conversation moves from Trump’s legal maneuvers and mounting scrutiny over his finances to the administration’s attacks on the press, evangelical power plays in Washington, and what Rothkopf describes as Trump’s simultaneous political and physical “free fall.” Along the way, they unpack the GOP’s loyalty to a weakening president, the culture of grievance and grift driving MAGA politics, and the fears inside Washington that Trump’s behavior is becoming more erratic as pressure closes in from every direction. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Some follow the noise.
0:03.0	Bloomberg follows the money, whether it's the funds fueling AI or crypto's trillion
0:07.7	dollar swings. There's a money side to every story. Get the money side of the story.
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0:42.5	The word for this in politics is free fall. This guy is in uncharted territory. The price of
0:50.7	energy is up. The price of food is up. Job production in the United States is in a lousy place.
0:57.0	Trump and his billionaire buddies are saying to the key parts of their base, we'll set up an autocracy.
1:05.2	You'll get to keep your jobs and will advance your racist, white nationalist agenda agenda if you just allow us to keep stealing money
1:16.2	and enrich ourselves and pass tax bills that help billionaires and screw everybody else.
1:24.8	And that's the deal.
1:26.4	Racism for Grip.
1:31.0	Welcome to Daily Beast podcast. I'm Hugh Docty. I'm executive editor of The Daily Beast.
1:35.4	I am privileged to be in the chair for Joanna Coles. We have got a great guest coming up.
1:40.2	It is the indispensable and inimitable global affairs columnist for the Daily Beast, David Rothkopf.
1:46.4	Before we get into the show, please take a moment, share this podcast with your friends, and invite
1:51.5	them to subscribe to our YouTube channel. We are closing in on 700,000 followers with your help. We can get
1:57.5	to a million. And it's thanks to everyone who has subscribed and been part of the Daily Beast family that we have such amazing guests. So please help us spread the word. Now, David Rothkoff is our chief global affairs columnist. And we've got so much to talk about with him. But one thing I will just tease, he has a new nickname or a new insult from the White House.
2:20.3	David, thank you for joining us.
	...

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