Why Trump’s 80th Birthday Bash Is So Fully Corrupt
6/13/202639 min
David Rothkopf and Joanna Coles recap a week in which Donald Trump stumbled from one self-inflicted crisis to the next, from mounting questions over his handling of Iran and another controversial intelligence pick to renewed scrutiny of the Epstein files and a White House increasingly consumed by political damage control. They also unpack Trump's plan to stage a UFC fight on the South Lawn of the White House as part of the celebration for his 80th birthday, examining the ethics, symbolism, and political fallout of turning the People's House into the backdrop for one of his biggest spectacles yet. Along the way, they explain why Trump's allies are growing nervous, why Democrats see momentum shifting ahead of the midterms, and why the controversies he keeps trying to outrun may finally be catching up with him. Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial today at https://shopify.com/dailybeast #ad Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsDavid Rothkopf· Guest0:00
Somebody is making money on this. This is for profit. The UFC is controlling the PR for this, not the White House Press Office. Uh, the, the Paramount, the broadcasting company owned by the Ellisons, who are his buddies, are controlling the TV rights of this. This is as corrupt a MAGA event as there could possibly be. It's not just his birthday, but of course it's also Flag Day, and touted as part of the celebration for the 250th of the United States. What Trump is giving the United States for its 250th birthday is humiliation.
Joanna Coles· Host0:36
[upbeat music] I'm Joanna Coles, this is The Daily Beast Podcast, and we are wrapping up the week, a week in which Bill Pulte was finally dispatched, where Epstein was suddenly back on the front boiler, and of course we have the UFC fight and the 92-foot claw on the South Lawn of the White House to look forward to seeing in full monster energy action on Sunday to celebrate the president as he goes into his ninth decade. Ninth decade. Who better to talk to about all of this? Who, like Tiresias, has foreseen all of it? David Rothkopf. David Rothkopf, who's worked in previous administrations, Democrat administrations, was the editor of Foreign Affairs, and is the founder of Deep