I Know Exactly Who Is Plotting to Take Trump's Job
4/22/20261 hr 3 min
INCOGNI Deal: To get an exclusive 60% off an annual Incogni plan, go to https://incogni.com/beast #ad Michael Wolff and Joanna Coles examine the looming post-Trump power vacuum, mapping out a chaotic and deeply personal succession battle as Donald Trump edges toward lame-duck status and a Republican party already turning on itself. From a flailing JD Vance to an ill-fitting Marco Rubio, a wildcard Tucker Carlson, and the unpredictable rise of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., they unpack a Republican field defined less by ideology than by ego, media power, and proximity to Trump himself. As rival factions circle, alliances fracture, and even loyalists like Marjorie Taylor Greene begin to reposition, Wolff reveals a darker dynamic driving it all: Trump may ultimately sabotage any successor to preserve his own dominance, setting the stage for a brutal, zero-sum fight for the MAGA base where loyalty is fleeting, ambition is naked, and the future of the party hinges on who can survive Trump—while still needing him. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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First 90 secondsMichael Wolff· Guest0:00
He often says terrible things about his children, including Don Jr. And one of his frequent riffs, um, i-in the past has, has been, has been, "I really regret giving him my name."
Joanna Coles· Host0:11
No.
Michael Wolff· Guest0:12
Oh, yes.
Joanna Coles· Host0:12
That's fairly damning.
Michael Wolff· Guest0:14
All of these, these, you know, his children in their own way are kind of ... I mean, c-certainly the son's kind of broken by their relationship with him.
Joanna Coles· Host0:24
Is Don Jr. competent?
Michael Wolff· Guest0:27
Of course not. He has spent his life as his father's lackey. Um, he's spent his life in a, in a, a, a business that is of, of, of, you know, very little consequence except to support his father. Huh. Gives me the shivers.
Joanna Coles· Host0:44
Michael.
Michael Wolff· Guest0:48
Joanna.
Joanna Coles· Host0:49
[laughs] So we're going to do a special episode today because one of the things that we've been thinking about a lot is what does succession look like after Trump? I mean, we had the Viktor Orbán election last week. He conceded quickly. Trump is coming to the end of certainly his cognitive stage. Um- Well, let's also put in terms of in s- in strictly a political timeline, he is shortly to be in a, in a, in a very formal sense