Retribution: Donald Trump, and the Campaign That Changed America. With ABC News' Jonathan Karl.
The Bill Press Pod
BP Pods
4.7 • 601 Ratings
🗓️ 4 November 2025
⏱️ 35 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this episode Bill sits down with Jonathan Karl, Chief Washington Correspondent for ABC News, to discuss Karl's latest book 'Retribution: Donald Trump, and the Campaign That Changed America.' The conversation covers Karl's unique relationship with Trump, including a personal call on the morning after the election, and a detailed discussion on Hunter Biden's significant yet tumultuous role in Joe Biden's political circle. They delve into Trump's comeback, the shocking revelations from January 6th, and the key moments leading up to Trump's re-election. The episode also examines Joe Biden and Kamala Harris' reflections on their political futures, an extraordinary account of Trump supporter Pamela Hemphill's journey, and current polling data revealing significant dissatisfaction with Trump's second term. Karl provides substantial insights through newly uncovered documents and personal anecdotes, making for a compelling discussion on current American political dynamics.
You can order your copy of Jon's latest book here.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Your first great love story is free when you sign up for a free 30-day trial at audible.co. |
| 0:05.5 | U.K. slash Wondery. That's audible.com.uk slash Wondery. |
| 0:16.1 | Good day, good friends. Good to see you again here on the Bill Press Pod. Well, on this Tuesday, |
| 0:24.8 | November 4, while votes are being counted in off-year elections in Virginia, New Jersey, California, |
| 0:30.2 | and New York City, we decided to take another look at last year's wild presidential election |
| 0:36.8 | through the lens of a great new political book |
| 0:40.6 | by ABC's chief Washington correspondent, Jonathan Carl. The book's called Retribution. It's John's |
| 0:48.9 | latest book published just last week, his fifth book on the Trump presidency, and it has a lot of explosive material |
| 0:56.2 | never reported before, including details surrounding the disastrous Biden-Trump debate, |
| 1:02.4 | the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, and Trump's determination to prosecute his |
| 1:08.1 | political enemies. I admit, I've read the book. |
| 1:12.3 | I loved every page of it. |
| 1:14.1 | I encourage you to go out and buy it and read it yourself. |
| 1:18.0 | And I'm delighted today to welcome Jonathan Carl back to the Bill Press Pod to share a few of the book's highlights. |
| 1:25.5 | Jonathan Carl, welcome back to the Bill Press Pod. It's good to talk to you again. Hey, it's great to talk to you, Bill. We've been friends for a long time, and I'm one of your biggest fans. I've read the four other books that you wrote about Donald Trump, Jonathan. This, I have to tell you, I believe, is the best one yet. Congratulations. Wow. That's really good. Retribution. Thank you, Bill. Just out last week. Just out, just out one week ago. Yes, thank you. I really appreciate it. This definitely, this was the heaviest lift of them all. As you noticed, it's the longest, and there was a lot of ground to cover. So I really appreciate the cost. |
| 2:01.4 | And a lot of great new stuff in it, too, which I want to talk to you about. |
| 2:04.1 | But first, I have to tell you, you and Donald Trump have this curious relationship, right? |
| 2:10.0 | You've got his cell phone number. |
| 2:11.5 | He's got yours. |
| 2:12.6 | You start out the book by talking about making a call to Donald Trump on his personal cell phone the morning |
| 2:19.0 | after the election last November. Tell us about that. It's so crazy. First of all, I should |
| 2:26.9 | stipulate none of this as normal. I've covered a lot of presidential campaigns, not as many |
... |
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