1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,320 If you just listen out, you can actually hear them screaming in 2 00:00:02,320 --> 00:00:05,600 the embassy like this couldn't have dropped at a worse time for 3 00:00:05,600 --> 00:00:08,520 him at the very moment that they've rolled out King Charles 4 00:00:08,520 --> 00:00:10,720 to kind of help the special relationship. 5 00:00:10,720 --> 00:00:14,640 And is it true that the American administration holds Israel 6 00:00:14,920 --> 00:00:17,480 dearer to the heart than the UKI think it probably is the. 7 00:00:17,680 --> 00:00:20,480 Only thing that Donald Trump really wants out of us, You 8 00:00:20,480 --> 00:00:21,800 know, it's not even our air bases. 9 00:00:21,880 --> 00:00:25,360 It is royalty. It is sleepovers in Windsor 10 00:00:25,360 --> 00:00:27,200 Castle. Then you have to ask yourself, 11 00:00:27,200 --> 00:00:29,880 Anushka, does any of that actually last? 12 00:00:29,880 --> 00:00:32,680 Is there a half life here that is longer than a week? 13 00:00:36,920 --> 00:00:38,320 Hello and welcome to Trump World. 14 00:00:38,320 --> 00:00:41,280 I'm Matt Fry in London. And I'm Anushka Astana in 15 00:00:41,280 --> 00:00:44,640 Washington, DC Today we are asking the question, is King 16 00:00:44,640 --> 00:00:48,360 Charles our trump card? And if so, should we keep 17 00:00:48,360 --> 00:00:51,160 playing him? Can he smooth over relations 18 00:00:51,520 --> 00:00:55,320 between ourselves and the US? And then also, we've got some 19 00:00:55,320 --> 00:00:58,880 exclusive polling in which we can drill down a little deeper 20 00:00:59,120 --> 00:01:03,000 into what people here in America really make of Donald Trump 21 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:05,600 right now and make of our special relationship. 22 00:01:05,720 --> 00:01:08,000 OK, before we get into all the other stuff we need to discuss, 23 00:01:08,000 --> 00:01:12,000 and there's a lot of it this week, as there always is, The 24 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:16,160 British ambassador, Christian Turner in Washington, relatively 25 00:01:16,160 --> 00:01:20,560 recent to the job after the demise of Peter Mandelson, has 26 00:01:20,560 --> 00:01:23,720 said some things on on the record it seems that are really 27 00:01:23,720 --> 00:01:27,000 quite surprising. And you could say, you know, 28 00:01:27,160 --> 00:01:30,680 bombshells, diplomatic bombshells, especially given the 29 00:01:30,680 --> 00:01:33,720 current visit by the king. Tell us more in Oshka. 30 00:01:33,960 --> 00:01:36,680 I mean, you could say on the record, I don't think he thought 31 00:01:36,680 --> 00:01:39,040 they were on the record. He was doing AQ and A with 32 00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:45,240 students visiting Washington shortly after he arrived here in 33 00:01:45,240 --> 00:01:49,040 Washington, DC And I think he probably thought he was talking 34 00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:51,440 privately, let's be honest. And he certainly didn't expect 35 00:01:51,440 --> 00:01:53,880 the comments to come out in the middle of the special 36 00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:55,480 relationship. Two things are really 37 00:01:55,480 --> 00:01:58,720 embarrassing in what he said. 1 is basically, it's clearly asked 38 00:01:58,720 --> 00:02:03,440 about the special relationship and he's said we're not special 39 00:02:03,480 --> 00:02:05,400 to the US. There's only one country that 40 00:02:05,400 --> 00:02:07,880 the US has a special relationship with and that is 41 00:02:07,880 --> 00:02:09,639 Israel. If you just listen out, you can 42 00:02:09,639 --> 00:02:12,640 actually hear them screaming in the embassy like this couldn't 43 00:02:12,640 --> 00:02:15,600 have dropped at a worse time for him at the very moment that 44 00:02:15,600 --> 00:02:18,600 they've rolled out King Charles to kind of help the special 45 00:02:18,600 --> 00:02:20,400 relationship. The other thing he said, which 46 00:02:20,400 --> 00:02:23,160 is going to be really difficult for him, particularly with 47 00:02:23,160 --> 00:02:25,200 Yvette Cooper on this trip as well, I wonder if they're 48 00:02:25,200 --> 00:02:28,120 discussing it, is that, you know, Keir Starmer had been very 49 00:02:28,120 --> 00:02:31,000 badly damaged by the Peter Mandelson scandal and that he 50 00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:34,000 might be forced out after the, hey, elections. 51 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:36,360 Keir Starmer's probably looking thinking, who was the guy I just 52 00:02:36,360 --> 00:02:38,320 appointed? Look, yeah. 53 00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:42,760 Privately, do I think that they believe that our relationship is 54 00:02:43,160 --> 00:02:45,000 not the special one to the Americans? 55 00:02:45,320 --> 00:02:49,320 And is it true that, you know, the American administration 56 00:02:49,320 --> 00:02:53,080 holds Israel dearer to the heart than the UKI think it probably 57 00:02:53,080 --> 00:02:54,960 is. Although I should say I do think 58 00:02:54,960 --> 00:02:58,200 particularly to Donald Trump, he has viewed the UK as 59 00:02:58,200 --> 00:03:01,160 particularly special. I think on the right here in the 60 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:04,960 US, the UK relationship is almost more important than it is 61 00:03:04,960 --> 00:03:06,880 to the left. And normally it's the Democrats 62 00:03:06,880 --> 00:03:09,400 who you question if there's a special relationship with, which 63 00:03:09,400 --> 00:03:12,160 is why I think Donald Trump is so angry with Keir Starmer 64 00:03:12,160 --> 00:03:14,280 because he's like, how? How could the Brits do this to 65 00:03:14,280 --> 00:03:16,200 me? And it's about soft power versus 66 00:03:16,200 --> 00:03:19,080 hard power as well as it. I mean, on the soft power front, 67 00:03:19,560 --> 00:03:22,240 you know, all the cuddly stuff, I think we definitely win. 68 00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:25,120 Not that it gives us much, but I think we definitely win on the 69 00:03:25,120 --> 00:03:27,560 hard power stuff. You know, Prime Minister 70 00:03:27,560 --> 00:03:30,280 Netanyahu managed to bounce Donald Trump into a war against 71 00:03:30,800 --> 00:03:33,760 his traditional foe, Iran. You know, we begged the 72 00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:37,360 Americans to come on side in Suez in 1956, and they said 73 00:03:37,560 --> 00:03:39,960 we're not interested. So I mean, you know, and you 74 00:03:39,960 --> 00:03:42,040 could argue that this is, this is payback for that. 75 00:03:42,080 --> 00:03:44,800 In reality, Matt, everything I go to, everything behind the 76 00:03:44,800 --> 00:03:47,160 scenes, those of course are the type of conversations you're 77 00:03:47,160 --> 00:03:49,160 hearing. And actually I was messaging, 78 00:03:49,160 --> 00:03:51,720 you know, people get frustrated with journalists using anonymous 79 00:03:51,720 --> 00:03:53,560 quotes. The problem we have is that 80 00:03:53,560 --> 00:03:55,480 people don't want to say things on the record. 81 00:03:55,480 --> 00:03:59,040 So if we want to tell our viewers what's really going on 82 00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:01,920 or our listeners what's really going, we sometimes have to 83 00:04:01,920 --> 00:04:05,080 portray and say what people are saying anonymously. 84 00:04:05,800 --> 00:04:08,480 So that's how we kind of, you know, Christian Turner won't be 85 00:04:08,480 --> 00:04:11,040 the only person who's hung a conversation about Kier Starmer 86 00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:13,840 future behind the scenes. Every single member of the 87 00:04:13,840 --> 00:04:15,880 cabinet is having that conversation. 88 00:04:16,160 --> 00:04:19,279 A problem is putting it out in the public like this in the 89 00:04:19,279 --> 00:04:23,640 middle of of this visit could not be more embarrassing of. 90 00:04:23,640 --> 00:04:25,400 Course. But I mean, I guess it comes 91 00:04:25,520 --> 00:04:27,600 back to what you were saying a few minutes ago. 92 00:04:27,760 --> 00:04:30,480 He was speaking in front of a bunch of visiting school kids. 93 00:04:30,760 --> 00:04:35,120 You know, don't ever say stuff in front of kids or students who 94 00:04:35,120 --> 00:04:36,920 don't know about Chatham House rules. 95 00:04:38,720 --> 00:04:41,920 I'm assuming they didn't. I mean, the German was speaking 96 00:04:41,920 --> 00:04:45,120 in front of students just earlier this week where he let 97 00:04:45,120 --> 00:04:48,400 RIP about Donald Trump and how he, you know, he started an 98 00:04:48,400 --> 00:04:51,480 unnecessary war that the Americans never aren't going to 99 00:04:51,480 --> 00:04:53,640 win and how the Iranians have got the upper hand. 100 00:04:53,840 --> 00:04:56,320 This is the same Mercer at the beginning of the war was 101 00:04:56,320 --> 00:04:59,080 actually quite positive towards what Trump had done. 102 00:04:59,080 --> 00:05:02,400 And then of course, he and the Germans are very careful, you 103 00:05:02,400 --> 00:05:06,520 know, to, to not to cross Israel in public in any shape or form. 104 00:05:06,520 --> 00:05:10,680 So the health warning is don't talk to kids you know, off, you 105 00:05:10,680 --> 00:05:12,960 know, in a when you think it's off the record because it won't 106 00:05:12,960 --> 00:05:14,400 be off the record. What a shame, hey? 107 00:05:14,400 --> 00:05:17,960 But right at this very moment, if I if I got this correctly, 108 00:05:18,120 --> 00:05:20,920 Christian Turner is probably standing on the White House lawn 109 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:24,840 waiting for peace. Ceremonial welcome for the King 110 00:05:24,840 --> 00:05:26,120 and Queen. Awkward. 111 00:05:27,040 --> 00:05:30,600 Ox, as my kids would say. The White House is very excited 112 00:05:30,640 --> 00:05:34,080 about the arrival of the King. So many people have told me how 113 00:05:34,080 --> 00:05:38,720 much Donald Trump loves royalty to the extent that a very, very 114 00:05:38,720 --> 00:05:43,920 senior member of his team told British teams who have been 115 00:05:43,920 --> 00:05:47,240 organising this, that Windsor last year, the state visit was 116 00:05:47,320 --> 00:05:51,200 the high point of his second term in his eyes. 117 00:05:51,320 --> 00:05:53,600 So they're very excited. What senior figures in our 118 00:05:53,600 --> 00:05:56,440 government were saying to me is they genuinely see King Charles 119 00:05:56,880 --> 00:06:01,520 as the best diplomat that they have, that he really is their 120 00:06:01,520 --> 00:06:04,640 secret weapon and that the relationship needs a bit of work 121 00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:06,360 at the moment. You mean better than Yvette 122 00:06:06,360 --> 00:06:10,280 Cooper, for instance, or a wonderful new ambassador in 123 00:06:10,280 --> 00:06:12,120 Washington? I'm being, I'm being facetious 124 00:06:12,120 --> 00:06:13,800 here, I think. I think what's really 125 00:06:13,800 --> 00:06:17,120 interesting about, I mean, there are lots of things which I find 126 00:06:17,160 --> 00:06:19,160 interesting about this strange visit. 127 00:06:19,560 --> 00:06:24,400 First of all, the overarching irony that in a year in which 128 00:06:24,400 --> 00:06:30,240 America is celebrating 250 years from turning its back on the 129 00:06:30,240 --> 00:06:33,960 British monarchy on Mad King George the Third, you have a 130 00:06:33,960 --> 00:06:38,120 president who is about as monarchical as any president has 131 00:06:38,120 --> 00:06:41,640 ever been in terms of his behaviour, trying to ride 132 00:06:41,640 --> 00:06:45,240 roughshod over over, you know, so many parts of the 133 00:06:45,240 --> 00:06:49,080 Constitution, which was designed by the Founding Fathers to 134 00:06:49,080 --> 00:06:52,200 prevent monarchy from resurfacing in the Republic. 135 00:06:52,560 --> 00:06:56,320 It was all about the limitations and the divisions of powers and 136 00:06:56,320 --> 00:06:58,760 his Donald Trump, who, especially in the second term, 137 00:06:58,760 --> 00:07:00,440 doesn't really care too much about all that. 138 00:07:00,440 --> 00:07:04,080 I find that rather ironic. I also find it ironic that in 139 00:07:04,080 --> 00:07:07,360 terms of interior design, he really is channelling a monarchy 140 00:07:07,360 --> 00:07:09,760 from a distant era, possibly a distant Galaxy. 141 00:07:09,760 --> 00:07:12,680 I mean, all that fool's gold in the Oval Office, the big 142 00:07:12,680 --> 00:07:15,320 beautiful ballroom, which of course, has now been given added 143 00:07:15,320 --> 00:07:17,960 significance by the shooting in the other ballroom in the Hilton 144 00:07:17,960 --> 00:07:21,080 Hotel, which has a terrible history when it comes to 145 00:07:21,080 --> 00:07:23,320 political violence because that's where Ronald Reagan 146 00:07:23,440 --> 00:07:28,000 almost died in 1982. But I think this whole thing, 147 00:07:28,320 --> 00:07:31,000 this obsession with the monarchy, and I think for Trump, 148 00:07:31,000 --> 00:07:33,360 it's personal. I think he genuinely believes 149 00:07:33,360 --> 00:07:36,360 that he's best buddies with King Charles and he probably thought 150 00:07:36,360 --> 00:07:40,160 that he was really close to the Queen and to to the late Queen. 151 00:07:40,760 --> 00:07:43,320 And, you know, his mother who came from the island of Lewis 152 00:07:43,320 --> 00:07:44,760 and Scotland was a huge royalist. 153 00:07:44,760 --> 00:07:48,000 And when I interviewed him back in the day, he he he spent quite 154 00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:51,080 a lot of time telling me about how much his mother loved the 155 00:07:51,080 --> 00:07:53,200 royal family and therefore he loved them too. 156 00:07:54,120 --> 00:07:58,400 But for us, I think for the, you know, for us on the island in 157 00:07:58,400 --> 00:08:01,840 Britain, it is yet another example of the relative 158 00:08:01,840 --> 00:08:05,680 limitations of our power. Because we kind of know that the 159 00:08:05,680 --> 00:08:09,160 one thing, perhaps the only thing that Donald Trump really 160 00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:12,240 wants out of us, you know, it's not even our air bases. 161 00:08:12,240 --> 00:08:14,120 I mean, he needs them now, but he doesn't really want them. 162 00:08:14,320 --> 00:08:17,720 It's not access to the NHS for for selling medicine. 163 00:08:17,880 --> 00:08:21,760 It is royalty. It is sleepovers in Windsor 164 00:08:21,760 --> 00:08:24,720 Castle. It is hosting the King and Queen 165 00:08:24,720 --> 00:08:27,640 at the White House. And then you have to ask 166 00:08:27,640 --> 00:08:31,000 yourself, Anushka, does any of that actually last? 167 00:08:31,000 --> 00:08:33,880 Is there a half life here that is longer than a week? 168 00:08:34,200 --> 00:08:38,600 Because the last visit went swimmingly in Windsor Castle, 169 00:08:39,120 --> 00:08:41,320 even though they had to get rid of the ordinary people, the 170 00:08:41,320 --> 00:08:44,200 subjects and have mainly beefeaters and maybe a couple 171 00:08:44,200 --> 00:08:46,280 of, you know, exotic animals in the distance. 172 00:08:46,840 --> 00:08:49,440 But after that it was, it was curtains for the special 173 00:08:49,440 --> 00:08:51,640 relationship as people like to call it. 174 00:08:51,920 --> 00:08:53,480 So do you think this will be any different? 175 00:08:54,400 --> 00:08:57,240 Well, I think there is a inevitable shallowness about it 176 00:08:57,240 --> 00:09:00,800 because just sending in the kind of pomp and ceremony doesn't 177 00:09:00,800 --> 00:09:03,600 overcome the reason that there is a division. 178 00:09:03,600 --> 00:09:06,840 And the reason that there is a division is a really substantive 179 00:09:06,840 --> 00:09:11,160 policy point, which is we didn't agree with the president fully 180 00:09:11,160 --> 00:09:13,440 on the Iran war, although it is worth saying. 181 00:09:13,440 --> 00:09:16,240 And I think this is the frustration for all the hundreds 182 00:09:16,240 --> 00:09:18,080 of people who work in the embassy over here. 183 00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:22,960 Britain is actually doing almost everything that American America 184 00:09:22,960 --> 00:09:25,960 has asked after the beginning of the war itself. 185 00:09:25,960 --> 00:09:30,960 Obviously Keir Starmer for his own political, um, life support, 186 00:09:30,960 --> 00:09:34,800 whatever you might call it, is, is giving out the rhetoric of 187 00:09:34,800 --> 00:09:37,480 being quite anti war, saying we're only there defensively, 188 00:09:37,480 --> 00:09:40,680 we're not there offensively, but essentially has given the 189 00:09:40,680 --> 00:09:42,520 president almost everything he wants. 190 00:09:42,520 --> 00:09:45,600 You know, much more so than, say, the Spanish Prime Minister. 191 00:09:45,640 --> 00:09:48,840 And obviously, Pedro Sanchez has also been attacked by the 192 00:09:48,840 --> 00:09:50,200 president. But I feel like there is a 193 00:09:50,280 --> 00:09:53,680 special kind of ire for Kier Starmer. 194 00:09:54,120 --> 00:09:55,720 Yeah. So I find it quite shallow, the 195 00:09:55,720 --> 00:09:58,800 idea that the king can come here and smooth it over with all the 196 00:09:58,800 --> 00:10:02,400 niceties. But as I say, we're not Privy to 197 00:10:02,400 --> 00:10:04,240 those conversations behind the scenes. 198 00:10:04,240 --> 00:10:07,480 But senior people in government say he really is genuinely an 199 00:10:07,760 --> 00:10:10,920 amazing diplomat. I mean, in this visit, there are 200 00:10:10,920 --> 00:10:14,080 parts of it which are designed to focus in on King Charles's 201 00:10:14,440 --> 00:10:18,080 love of the environment. And I also would love to be a, 202 00:10:18,280 --> 00:10:21,920 you know, be there to listen in, be a family on the wall, to 203 00:10:21,920 --> 00:10:24,160 listen into their conversations about climate change. 204 00:10:24,440 --> 00:10:26,360 Because actually, when you listen to Donald Trump, that's 205 00:10:26,360 --> 00:10:29,360 one of the things that seems to irk him the most about the UK, 206 00:10:29,600 --> 00:10:32,600 that we don't want to, you know, dig down for more oil and gas. 207 00:10:32,600 --> 00:10:36,040 And we've got those windmills everywhere, which he hates. 208 00:10:36,800 --> 00:10:39,360 So, yeah, I think that will be quite interesting. 209 00:10:39,360 --> 00:10:41,880 And I would love to know how far the king actually takes it in 210 00:10:41,880 --> 00:10:44,280 the background. I mean, just worth mentioning 211 00:10:45,120 --> 00:10:48,120 one thing that kind of ties them is they've both been accused of 212 00:10:48,400 --> 00:10:51,040 in different, very, very different ways, associations 213 00:10:51,040 --> 00:10:52,960 with Jeffrey Epstein. For the king, it's obviously 214 00:10:52,960 --> 00:10:56,240 removed and it's his brother, Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. 215 00:10:56,400 --> 00:10:59,320 There has been a push, quite a big push in the run up to this 216 00:10:59,680 --> 00:11:02,160 to try to get the king to meet survivors. 217 00:11:03,800 --> 00:11:06,280 Very clear to me that officials were worried that that would be 218 00:11:06,280 --> 00:11:10,000 the dominant issue this week. Buckingham Palace says they 219 00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:12,640 can't he can't meet survivors because it could actually 220 00:11:12,640 --> 00:11:16,800 prejudice the cases that are being looked at back home. 221 00:11:17,080 --> 00:11:19,200 I mean, when somebody was telling me that, I was kind of 222 00:11:19,200 --> 00:11:21,320 like, can you can you just explain the legal thinking 223 00:11:21,320 --> 00:11:23,240 there? But that is their reasoning. 224 00:11:23,560 --> 00:11:27,560 And on Saturday, there was a memorial for Virginia Geoffrey, 225 00:11:27,560 --> 00:11:32,520 who obviously took her life last year very sadly, but when she 226 00:11:32,520 --> 00:11:35,720 was alive, accused Andrew of sexual assault, something that 227 00:11:35,720 --> 00:11:39,760 he has always denied. And so I was speaking to the 228 00:11:39,760 --> 00:11:41,080 survivors who were gathered there. 229 00:11:41,080 --> 00:11:44,520 And look, I think they would have liked to have met the king 230 00:11:44,520 --> 00:11:46,520 and queen. I think in this visit there will 231 00:11:46,520 --> 00:11:49,800 be a focus on domestic violence in the ways they think they can 232 00:11:49,800 --> 00:11:52,600 do it. But it is very disappointing for 233 00:11:52,600 --> 00:11:54,760 people. I mean, as part of the kind of 234 00:11:54,760 --> 00:11:58,040 planning for this, I think there were conversations with senior 235 00:11:58,040 --> 00:12:00,760 politicians, Ro Khanna in particular, the congressman 236 00:12:00,760 --> 00:12:05,200 who's been really pushing this issue here on the Hill to try 237 00:12:05,200 --> 00:12:09,080 and say the king can't do this basically, can you lay off? 238 00:12:10,080 --> 00:12:12,920 I don't think he will lay off, but I do think it hasn't become 239 00:12:12,920 --> 00:12:15,000 as big and a controversial an issue. 240 00:12:15,560 --> 00:12:18,760 The the excuse that Buckingham Palace seems to have been taken 241 00:12:18,760 --> 00:12:21,400 just about, although the survivors were saying to me they 242 00:12:21,400 --> 00:12:23,680 do think it is a bit of an excuse and they would like the 243 00:12:23,680 --> 00:12:26,000 King to push for a public inquiry in the UK. 244 00:12:26,400 --> 00:12:29,280 One of the things that always struck me in this weird 245 00:12:29,280 --> 00:12:33,240 relationship between Washington and London is that it can go 246 00:12:33,240 --> 00:12:35,080 from one extreme to another quite quickly. 247 00:12:35,080 --> 00:12:37,720 And fundamentally, I don't think this trip, and I may be wrong 248 00:12:37,720 --> 00:12:40,120 here, and it may be the most brilliant speech he'll ever give 249 00:12:40,320 --> 00:12:42,160 when he addresses the joint houses of Congress. 250 00:12:42,160 --> 00:12:43,760 And it's certainly the most important. 251 00:12:44,200 --> 00:12:48,120 I don't think fundamentally, whatever very elegant phrasing 252 00:12:48,120 --> 00:12:52,280 he comes up with, he can really undo the damage of recent 253 00:12:52,280 --> 00:12:54,120 months, which is so much more fundamental. 254 00:12:54,800 --> 00:12:57,240 Yeah, although what people always say here to me is that 255 00:12:57,240 --> 00:13:00,240 it's, you know, you can't deny that there's trouble at the top 256 00:13:00,240 --> 00:13:04,040 between Trump and between Keir Starmer, but that every layer 257 00:13:04,040 --> 00:13:06,760 below it is still kind of functioning as it was before. 258 00:13:06,760 --> 00:13:09,360 Although, and I'll, I'll come to this, I think there is one layer 259 00:13:09,360 --> 00:13:12,920 that is not functioning as well anymore, which is, you know, 260 00:13:12,920 --> 00:13:15,520 Marco Rubio and Yvette Cooper are still talking behind the 261 00:13:15,520 --> 00:13:18,080 scenes. And and you know, I can imagine 262 00:13:18,080 --> 00:13:20,400 from what I've heard, the type of conversations that are taking 263 00:13:20,400 --> 00:13:23,440 place, which is like, please, please just make Donald Trump be 264 00:13:23,440 --> 00:13:25,120 nicer to Keir Starmer. Please. 265 00:13:25,360 --> 00:13:29,600 Could you particularly layoff attacking the Royal Navy clues 266 00:13:29,600 --> 00:13:32,960 in the name type of stuff. But interestingly, I had heard 267 00:13:32,960 --> 00:13:36,720 until recently that the Pete Hegseth, John Healey, the D the 268 00:13:36,840 --> 00:13:39,000 military link was also very strong. 269 00:13:39,320 --> 00:13:42,080 But I've now heard rumblings that Pete Hagseth, and this 270 00:13:42,080 --> 00:13:45,280 doesn't surprise me, from sitting in his press conferences 271 00:13:45,280 --> 00:13:49,000 where he is so political and so angry with the press, and he's 272 00:13:49,200 --> 00:13:53,240 so repeating the president's mantra on all of this, that that 273 00:13:53,240 --> 00:13:55,560 relationship has broken down somewhat. 274 00:13:55,600 --> 00:13:58,640 And that, he, Hagseth, is really buying into the whole naughty 275 00:13:58,640 --> 00:14:00,920 Brits thing that's coming from the White House. 276 00:14:01,240 --> 00:14:04,800 And if you look at 2 characters that you know that are as 277 00:14:04,800 --> 00:14:07,880 diametrically opposed in terms of their body language, their 278 00:14:07,880 --> 00:14:10,440 actual, you know, their verbal language and their attitude to 279 00:14:10,440 --> 00:14:15,160 life, I'm sorry, John Healy and P Texas literally occupy the two 280 00:14:15,160 --> 00:14:17,520 opposite spectrums of human existence, right? 281 00:14:17,720 --> 00:14:21,120 And just on all the niceties there was, there was 1 moment 282 00:14:21,960 --> 00:14:25,320 yesterday where the king and queen were arriving at the White 283 00:14:25,320 --> 00:14:26,560 House. I was standing in the front of 284 00:14:26,560 --> 00:14:29,080 the White House, actually standing on a box ready to go 285 00:14:29,080 --> 00:14:32,000 live on Channel 4 News. And I was reading like, you 286 00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:34,560 know, here's what they're doing 1st and they said they're 287 00:14:34,560 --> 00:14:37,680 visiting the beehives. And I know this was a big story 288 00:14:37,680 --> 00:14:40,120 that clearly has passed me by, but they were. 289 00:14:40,360 --> 00:14:43,240 I didn't realise that Melania, the First Lady, has put a 290 00:14:43,240 --> 00:14:46,760 beehive on the South Lawn shaped. 291 00:14:46,800 --> 00:14:50,960 Like the White House? And as I was, as I was reading 292 00:14:50,960 --> 00:14:53,760 where they were going to start, I saw a picture of it and I 293 00:14:53,760 --> 00:14:57,360 started laughing so hard that I almost fell backwards off my 294 00:14:57,360 --> 00:14:59,320 live spot just as I was about to go on air. 295 00:14:59,400 --> 00:15:02,920 And then look, it's so bizarre working in this country, isn't 296 00:15:02,920 --> 00:15:04,800 it? Like this comes on the backdrop 297 00:15:04,800 --> 00:15:06,960 of a weekend which you couldn't make up. 298 00:15:07,280 --> 00:15:10,720 I mean, the, you know, White House Correspondents Association 299 00:15:10,720 --> 00:15:14,720 dinner, 2 1/2 thousand people, you know, most of the Cabinet 300 00:15:14,720 --> 00:15:16,960 diplomats, loads and loads of journalists. 301 00:15:16,960 --> 00:15:20,000 And obviously there was this shooting incident upstairs in 302 00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:22,360 the Hilton Hotel. And then I find myself in the 303 00:15:22,360 --> 00:15:26,080 White House briefing room watching the president in black 304 00:15:26,080 --> 00:15:30,040 tie with half his cabinet, Caroline Levitt, the press 305 00:15:30,040 --> 00:15:33,680 secretary, giving this press conference like an hour or so 306 00:15:33,680 --> 00:15:36,600 later. It was just kind of so bizarre. 307 00:15:36,600 --> 00:15:39,680 And then at one point he starts making the argument for the 308 00:15:39,680 --> 00:15:42,760 ballroom. As our colleague Gracie Jerome 309 00:15:42,760 --> 00:15:45,200 said to me, doesn't matter if we're talking about Iran, it 310 00:15:45,200 --> 00:15:47,320 doesn't matter if we're talking about an assassination attempt. 311 00:15:47,600 --> 00:15:49,800 He always manages to bring it back to the ballroom. 312 00:15:49,880 --> 00:15:52,160 You know, the other thing he manages to bring it back to is 313 00:15:52,240 --> 00:15:55,360 how attractive all the Secret Service agents looked. 314 00:15:55,600 --> 00:15:57,960 And there was this. I mean, he's, you know, there 315 00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:00,640 was this extraordinary moment. I was watching it, you know, 316 00:16:00,640 --> 00:16:03,920 online. I wish I'd been in the room like 317 00:16:03,920 --> 00:16:06,000 you, but I was watching online. And there was this thing where 318 00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:08,560 he says, you know, these Secret Service agents, they were coming 319 00:16:08,560 --> 00:16:12,360 out of everywhere. And they looked amazing in the 320 00:16:12,360 --> 00:16:15,240 way they do their guns. And they were so attractive. 321 00:16:15,280 --> 00:16:19,560 I mean, it's such a strange thing to focus on when your life 322 00:16:19,560 --> 00:16:22,280 is supposedly in peril for the third time. 323 00:16:22,520 --> 00:16:24,000 You know what really surprises me? 324 00:16:24,280 --> 00:16:27,640 And I've been to, you know, half a dozen of these White House 325 00:16:27,640 --> 00:16:31,480 Correspondents dinners and, you know, it's, it's, it's rubber 326 00:16:31,480 --> 00:16:33,080 chicken and you push it across the plate. 327 00:16:33,080 --> 00:16:34,960 But you do meet lots and lots of people, which is quite 328 00:16:34,960 --> 00:16:36,720 interesting in this massive Boreham. 329 00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:40,560 But what surprises me is that to get in to that event was the 330 00:16:40,560 --> 00:16:43,760 heaviest security I've ever seen for any social event. 331 00:16:43,760 --> 00:16:46,960 It was extraordinary. So how come this guy, the the 332 00:16:46,960 --> 00:16:49,840 suspect you appeared in court on Monday, was able to kind of 333 00:16:49,840 --> 00:16:53,160 check into the hotel a few days earlier with his armoury of 334 00:16:53,160 --> 00:16:57,120 weapons, you know, without getting fleeced or searched? 335 00:16:57,120 --> 00:17:00,160 I mean, you would have thought that, you know, everyone knew 336 00:17:00,160 --> 00:17:02,200 what this hotel was hosting at the end of the week, that 337 00:17:02,200 --> 00:17:04,000 there'll be some kind of check there. 338 00:17:04,440 --> 00:17:08,400 I find it astonishing that this heavily secured country where 339 00:17:08,400 --> 00:17:12,560 everyone, every second person that owns a weapon of war allows 340 00:17:12,560 --> 00:17:15,640 these kind of, and there's so much secret services, you know, 341 00:17:15,640 --> 00:17:18,760 everywhere in Washington, they allow these lapses to take 342 00:17:18,760 --> 00:17:22,040 place. I find it astonishing, but 343 00:17:22,160 --> 00:17:24,800 clearly, you know, the guy had done some of his homework and 344 00:17:24,800 --> 00:17:26,319 realised that he might be able to get away with it. 345 00:17:26,480 --> 00:17:29,920 I mean, big questions for Secret Service for how they operate. 346 00:17:29,920 --> 00:17:35,520 I think probably more of the voices this time suggesting that 347 00:17:35,520 --> 00:17:38,840 things went right in as much as he didn't get through that 348 00:17:38,840 --> 00:17:42,680 barrier, unlike in Butler where, you know, the person had got 349 00:17:42,680 --> 00:17:44,880 onto the roof. That said, talking to people 350 00:17:44,880 --> 00:17:48,240 about the kind of way it was laid out, he didn't get very 351 00:17:48,240 --> 00:17:50,160 far. Somebody, you know, senior 352 00:17:50,160 --> 00:17:53,120 politician was saying to me last night, we were very lucky that 353 00:17:53,120 --> 00:17:55,760 he tripped, um, as he was running through. 354 00:17:56,080 --> 00:17:58,640 Um, so, yeah, serious questions about that, serious questions 355 00:17:58,640 --> 00:18:01,400 about political violence. Um, I think we're going to come 356 00:18:01,400 --> 00:18:06,000 on to talk about some exclusive polling we've got and also focus 357 00:18:06,000 --> 00:18:10,440 group that we've all got done for us by public 1st and we'll 358 00:18:10,440 --> 00:18:12,440 talk about some of the results. But one of the things just to 359 00:18:12,440 --> 00:18:15,800 say, just listening right now to what people were saying, these 360 00:18:15,800 --> 00:18:18,680 Trump voters from 2024, just to put things in perspective, one 361 00:18:18,680 --> 00:18:21,520 of them said, yeah, I've not heard much about that shooting. 362 00:18:22,800 --> 00:18:24,120 Don't think. I think there's only been one or 363 00:18:24,120 --> 00:18:27,160 two stories about it. And it suddenly kind of occurred 364 00:18:27,160 --> 00:18:30,240 to me that, you know, I'm not saying that most people might 365 00:18:30,280 --> 00:18:34,880 will have heard about it quite well, but people consume news in 366 00:18:35,040 --> 00:18:37,320 a kind of different way than they used to. 367 00:18:37,440 --> 00:18:41,760 And some of them in large parts of America, you know, not 368 00:18:41,760 --> 00:18:44,000 voraciously at all from what I was listening to. 369 00:18:44,040 --> 00:18:46,480 From what I can gather, that's all they ran because it was a, 370 00:18:46,920 --> 00:18:48,280 you know, the comics were involved. 371 00:18:48,280 --> 00:18:51,960 I mean, Wolf Blitzer from CNN kind of appeared as the hero 372 00:18:52,280 --> 00:18:54,000 because he, I think he was quite close. 373 00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:56,440 He was closer to the shooting than most other correspondents 374 00:18:56,600 --> 00:18:57,760 because he'd gone to the bathroom. 375 00:18:57,760 --> 00:19:00,280 He'd gone to relieve himself. And on the way back, you know, 376 00:19:00,280 --> 00:19:02,800 he was told to get down by one of the Secret Service agents. 377 00:19:03,320 --> 00:19:05,640 And then I love the fact that in this, every single 378 00:19:05,640 --> 00:19:08,920 correspondent, and there were hundreds of them of our ilk in 379 00:19:08,920 --> 00:19:12,120 that room, immediately started not as filming feelings, but 380 00:19:12,120 --> 00:19:16,640 doing a selfie or doing a little camera under the table. 381 00:19:16,840 --> 00:19:19,920 And of course, we all love the guy, The New Yorker talent agent 382 00:19:20,160 --> 00:19:23,560 who carried on sitting at the desk eating his barada, his 383 00:19:23,560 --> 00:19:25,480 salad, maybe asking for some more salt. 384 00:19:25,480 --> 00:19:27,840 And then there's the woman who was pictured, you know, 385 00:19:27,840 --> 00:19:30,640 minesweeping the wide. I'd say I'm with her. 386 00:19:30,640 --> 00:19:32,800 If you've survived that, you're allowed, you know, you're 387 00:19:32,800 --> 00:19:35,080 allowed to take some of the booze that you've actually paid 388 00:19:35,080 --> 00:19:37,400 for, you know, and these tickets are not cheap as you know. 389 00:19:37,600 --> 00:19:41,200 But I love the fact that the, the the agent, I can't remember 390 00:19:41,200 --> 00:19:43,800 his name, but the agent who sat down having his barrata salad 391 00:19:43,800 --> 00:19:46,400 while everyone else was either climbing over tables or lying 392 00:19:46,400 --> 00:19:50,080 underneath them and said that he couldn't get down because his 393 00:19:50,080 --> 00:19:52,480 back is so bad. And had he got down, it would 394 00:19:52,480 --> 00:19:55,880 have involved several Secret Service agents just to lift them 395 00:19:55,880 --> 00:19:58,160 up to his feet again. So he just stayed there and 396 00:19:58,160 --> 00:20:00,920 watched the whole proceeding, which I thought was I'd rather 397 00:20:00,920 --> 00:20:02,520 cool. Speaking about the special 398 00:20:02,520 --> 00:20:05,640 relationship, I saw someone post that how you reacted to the 399 00:20:05,640 --> 00:20:08,200 woman taking the wine showed whether you're British or 400 00:20:08,200 --> 00:20:11,120 American because British people were basically like legend. 401 00:20:12,200 --> 00:20:15,840 So public first, who are a research company I've done work 402 00:20:15,840 --> 00:20:18,320 with before have done two things for us. 403 00:20:18,320 --> 00:20:22,840 They have run a poll, a kind of cross country poll 404 00:20:23,640 --> 00:20:26,480 representative, but we can break it down by different groups so 405 00:20:26,480 --> 00:20:27,920 we can look at what people are thinking. 406 00:20:28,440 --> 00:20:31,000 Looked a little bit at the special relationship, which I 407 00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:33,640 thought was kind of quite interesting. 408 00:20:33,640 --> 00:20:36,800 You know, although lots of people still think the UK is one 409 00:20:36,800 --> 00:20:39,840 of the America's greatest allies, or at least one of a 410 00:20:39,840 --> 00:20:43,360 number, there are not insignificant minority who think 411 00:20:43,360 --> 00:20:46,680 we're not important at all. And, you know, 1/3 of people 412 00:20:46,680 --> 00:20:50,560 support criticism of Keir Starmer here in the US But the 413 00:20:50,560 --> 00:20:52,800 stuff that I found really interesting was kind of like, 414 00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:55,520 what do you think of the Trump presidency so far? 415 00:20:55,520 --> 00:20:57,960 Now, overall, his approval ratings are pretty poor. 416 00:20:58,320 --> 00:21:02,240 We talk about that quite a lot. 47% of people say their views 417 00:21:02,360 --> 00:21:05,040 about Trump have got worse or much worse over the last year. 418 00:21:05,040 --> 00:21:09,800 Only 25% say better. And 50% think the presidency has 419 00:21:09,800 --> 00:21:14,080 fallen short of expectations. But when you break this down, 420 00:21:14,080 --> 00:21:17,680 what you do see is there's still pretty high approval among 421 00:21:17,680 --> 00:21:20,440 Republican voters. And there's particularly high 422 00:21:20,760 --> 00:21:24,200 approval among people who are call themselves MAGA. 423 00:21:24,640 --> 00:21:29,200 So, you know, for example, 23% of non MAGA Republicans say they 424 00:21:29,200 --> 00:21:33,880 have a negative view of him, while just 4% of MAGA supporters 425 00:21:34,120 --> 00:21:36,560 feel the same. So there is this split. 426 00:21:36,640 --> 00:21:39,640 There are still lots of people who really like what Trump is 427 00:21:39,640 --> 00:21:41,880 doing. And I just couldn't get a good, 428 00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:48,480 couldn't believe this 20%, 20% of people think that he should 429 00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:52,080 be able to run for a third term, even if it means changing the 430 00:21:52,080 --> 00:21:54,720 Constitution. Now, many more say the opposite. 431 00:21:54,720 --> 00:21:58,000 64% say not. But that is one in five people 432 00:21:58,160 --> 00:22:01,120 who would like to see Trump run for a third term. 433 00:22:01,120 --> 00:22:06,360 It rises to 37% if you just look at Trump's 2024 voters. 434 00:22:06,360 --> 00:22:10,840 And the biggest reason they give for wanting that, Matt, is they 435 00:22:10,840 --> 00:22:14,200 think he needs more time to deliver his MAGA vision. 436 00:22:14,480 --> 00:22:16,960 And, you know, I've just been listening to a group, a focus 437 00:22:16,960 --> 00:22:20,520 group of all Trump voters from 24 from around the country. 438 00:22:20,840 --> 00:22:24,000 And it is just fascinating because they are so divided. 439 00:22:24,280 --> 00:22:27,320 They all think that he is treated unfairly. 440 00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:30,840 Some of them really think that actually, time will tell that 441 00:22:30,840 --> 00:22:32,920 he's going to, you know, he's doing a good job here. 442 00:22:33,520 --> 00:22:36,280 That said, I do think they were kind of unified on. 443 00:22:36,280 --> 00:22:40,240 They don't really like his tone, they don't like the way he goes 444 00:22:40,240 --> 00:22:43,960 about communicating things. And some of them were absolutely 445 00:22:43,960 --> 00:22:47,560 furious and thought this second term was nowhere near as 446 00:22:47,560 --> 00:22:51,640 positive as the first term. And the economy was the big 447 00:22:51,640 --> 00:22:53,920 itchy for all of them. You know, it's fascinating what 448 00:22:53,920 --> 00:22:56,040 you say about that, poll, Anushka. 449 00:22:56,040 --> 00:22:58,720 And actually, some of it I think resonates with what I, you know, 450 00:22:59,280 --> 00:23:01,960 discovered in in the first Trump administration, which is that 451 00:23:02,680 --> 00:23:06,680 people, Republicans on the whole, didn't like his abrasive 452 00:23:06,680 --> 00:23:08,600 language. They thought he had bad manners. 453 00:23:08,600 --> 00:23:11,040 They wouldn't want him, you know, at their Thanksgiving 454 00:23:11,040 --> 00:23:13,680 dinner table, You know, there was none of that stuff as, oh, 455 00:23:13,680 --> 00:23:16,640 is he the kind of guy you'd like to deal with, which was always 456 00:23:16,640 --> 00:23:19,120 one of the litmus tests for all previous presidents. 457 00:23:19,120 --> 00:23:22,000 But they did like the fact that he took action, that he, you 458 00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:25,560 know, that he leant forward into a problem, as, you know, you 459 00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:29,480 might put it politely and and if you have to make that omelette 460 00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:32,040 and break a few eggs and so be it. 461 00:23:32,600 --> 00:23:36,640 But I think, I think maybe this time the disillusionment is 462 00:23:36,640 --> 00:23:40,240 different because of the war of choice that he started. 463 00:23:40,240 --> 00:23:43,480 I think that is something that really fundamentally rankled 464 00:23:43,560 --> 00:23:47,560 with the MAGA base, like few things did when he was president 465 00:23:47,920 --> 00:23:50,360 the first time. And by the way, astonishingly, 466 00:23:50,360 --> 00:23:53,600 something like 2/3 of Republicans after the 2020 467 00:23:53,600 --> 00:23:57,240 election agreed with him that the election had been stolen. 468 00:23:57,560 --> 00:24:00,160 So I wondered my question to you is whether you could glean from 469 00:24:00,160 --> 00:24:02,840 this poll or anything else for that matter, whether the base, 470 00:24:03,360 --> 00:24:07,280 the MAGA base of supporters has swelled in number or is it still 471 00:24:07,280 --> 00:24:09,800 that bedrock that we've always been talking about, which is 472 00:24:09,800 --> 00:24:12,280 kind of roughly, you know, 30% or so? 473 00:24:12,440 --> 00:24:16,320 I think it remains A bedrock and some parts of it, who are the 474 00:24:16,320 --> 00:24:19,320 more purest ends of it, obviously are very upset about 475 00:24:19,320 --> 00:24:22,600 the war in Iran because it very much feels like it's different 476 00:24:22,600 --> 00:24:25,680 to what he said he was going to deliver. 477 00:24:26,000 --> 00:24:29,840 But it has always been the case that his brilliance as a 478 00:24:29,840 --> 00:24:33,240 politician, if that's the right word, in, in winning these two 479 00:24:33,560 --> 00:24:36,920 elections was to bring together the rest of the Republicans to 480 00:24:36,920 --> 00:24:38,720 do enough to bring them on board. 481 00:24:38,960 --> 00:24:41,000 And, you know, when you look at the breakdown in the polls, 482 00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:44,200 there are some issues which everyone really likes him for. 483 00:24:44,200 --> 00:24:45,920 And in fact, that was the same when I was listening to the 484 00:24:45,920 --> 00:24:48,280 focus group. I think that he's doing, you 485 00:24:48,280 --> 00:24:51,200 know, good stuff on the southern border and stopping, you know, 486 00:24:51,200 --> 00:24:53,280 illegal immigrants from coming across the border. 487 00:24:53,280 --> 00:24:55,840 The problem he's got, particularly with the Iran war, 488 00:24:56,120 --> 00:25:02,000 is everybody associates rising gas, petrol prices with the Iran 489 00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:05,720 war and therefore with him. Even with Biden, who was blamed 490 00:25:05,720 --> 00:25:09,640 for the economic hardship, you couldn't say Biden caused COVID. 491 00:25:09,800 --> 00:25:12,520 I think you can quite safely say the Iran war wouldn't be 492 00:25:12,520 --> 00:25:15,160 happening if it wasn't for Donald Trump. 493 00:25:15,160 --> 00:25:17,480 And therefore the Strait of Hormuz wouldn't have been closed 494 00:25:17,480 --> 00:25:19,120 in the way that it had been closed. 495 00:25:19,120 --> 00:25:24,360 And that issue, the rising oil prices, was top of the list of 496 00:25:24,360 --> 00:25:28,400 things that were worrying even, you know, MAGA supporters. 497 00:25:28,400 --> 00:25:31,320 And so when I was listening to the focus group and people 498 00:25:31,320 --> 00:25:33,440 really worried about the economy, even those who liked 499 00:25:33,440 --> 00:25:37,280 him were basically saying affordability is such a big 500 00:25:37,280 --> 00:25:39,200 issue right now. One of them who liked him on 501 00:25:39,200 --> 00:25:42,120 everything else said, I just can't believe the tariffs 502 00:25:42,120 --> 00:25:45,240 because they're really hitting me in terms of prices. 503 00:25:45,240 --> 00:25:48,040 Just a couple of other comments. This lady, Judy said. 504 00:25:48,440 --> 00:25:51,160 He's not the same president as he was for four years ago. 505 00:25:51,160 --> 00:25:53,800 Something's changed. She didn't want to say that he 506 00:25:53,800 --> 00:25:57,840 was losing it, but she's sort of leaning that way. 507 00:25:58,200 --> 00:26:00,840 He's angry. I mean, he's dropping F bombs on 508 00:26:00,920 --> 00:26:04,080 on social media, you know, the, the all the Jesus Christ stuff 509 00:26:04,320 --> 00:26:06,400 picking if I were the Pope. I mean, I'm sorry, this is just 510 00:26:06,400 --> 00:26:09,520 not what Americans do fundamentally, although, you 511 00:26:09,520 --> 00:26:11,720 know, you might get shot dead, you know, on the for walking 512 00:26:11,720 --> 00:26:13,360 down the wrong side of the street or whatever. 513 00:26:13,640 --> 00:26:17,200 America remains, in my experience, a polite nation. 514 00:26:17,400 --> 00:26:20,360 They don't like cuss words and he's used a hell of a lot of 515 00:26:20,360 --> 00:26:22,960 them in public, so it's unpresidential. 516 00:26:23,040 --> 00:26:26,160 And then the other thing, just on the issue of the Pope. 517 00:26:26,360 --> 00:26:30,640 So we've put in questions on this, in particular, whether or 518 00:26:30,640 --> 00:26:35,120 not the row with the Pope, Trump calling Pope Leo weak, Trump 519 00:26:35,240 --> 00:26:38,200 portraying himself in that picture where he looked like 520 00:26:38,200 --> 00:26:42,080 Jesus Christ, and then the Pope criticizing Trump over his tweet 521 00:26:42,080 --> 00:26:44,360 where he suggested a civilization would die. 522 00:26:44,360 --> 00:26:46,960 We asked people whether any of those three things had made them 523 00:26:46,960 --> 00:26:49,040 feel more negative about Donald Trump. 524 00:26:49,840 --> 00:26:55,640 Overall, 47 percent, 54% and 45% for each of the three of them 525 00:26:55,640 --> 00:26:58,120 said yes. But even among those who voted 526 00:26:58,120 --> 00:27:03,360 for Trump in 24, between one in five and a third of people found 527 00:27:03,360 --> 00:27:07,320 those things had made them feel less good about the president. 528 00:27:07,320 --> 00:27:12,120 And particular, in particular, that picture that he posted of 529 00:27:12,120 --> 00:27:15,160 himself and then later deleted, saying I was just portraying 530 00:27:15,160 --> 00:27:17,440 myself as a doctor that had gone down. 531 00:27:17,440 --> 00:27:20,040 Very, very Bradley. I had dinner then last week in 532 00:27:20,040 --> 00:27:22,880 London was some senior Republicans and what they all 533 00:27:22,880 --> 00:27:25,600 said, and they wouldn't say this in public, but in private, what 534 00:27:25,600 --> 00:27:29,840 they said is that the really toxic alchemy this time around 535 00:27:29,840 --> 00:27:33,640 for Trump is a combination of the affordability crisis, 536 00:27:33,960 --> 00:27:38,160 inflation, which he is not taking seriously enough, even 537 00:27:38,160 --> 00:27:41,320 though it has been made worse by the war that he started. 538 00:27:41,720 --> 00:27:45,440 In combination with all these vanity projects, which, you 539 00:27:45,440 --> 00:27:50,200 know, just create these symbols of indulgence, you know, and 540 00:27:50,200 --> 00:27:52,920 then the family as well, you know, making money on the side. 541 00:27:52,920 --> 00:27:55,240 And, and then of course, all his rich mates. 542 00:27:55,240 --> 00:27:58,080 And and by the way, while they're paying more of the pump, 543 00:27:58,360 --> 00:28:02,920 his friends in Houston, TX who run oil companies are absolutely 544 00:28:02,920 --> 00:28:05,640 minting it. I'm surprised the Democrats have 545 00:28:05,680 --> 00:28:09,640 made more of a link between those oil executives who went to 546 00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:12,440 see Donald Trump and Mar a Lago before the election and 547 00:28:12,440 --> 00:28:15,960 basically promised him tons of money if he would further 548 00:28:15,960 --> 00:28:20,240 deregulate the oil industry and what's happening at the moment 549 00:28:20,240 --> 00:28:23,040 because of his war. But you take all those elements 550 00:28:23,040 --> 00:28:25,640 together, ordinary guy gets hit at the pump. 551 00:28:26,040 --> 00:28:29,600 Tick, tick, tick. This is this for me, would be 552 00:28:29,720 --> 00:28:31,480 fertile territory for the Democrats. 553 00:28:31,880 --> 00:28:35,400 And this for me, would be the Achilles heel for Trump, you 554 00:28:35,400 --> 00:28:38,040 know, not just in the next year, but maybe in the next two years. 555 00:28:38,360 --> 00:28:40,200 And it's worth saying, Republicans are seriously 556 00:28:40,200 --> 00:28:42,800 worried. At the Garden Party, I was able 557 00:28:42,800 --> 00:28:46,120 to speak to quite a few Republican Congress and 558 00:28:46,360 --> 00:28:49,280 senators, and particularly for the House, they think they're 559 00:28:49,280 --> 00:28:52,520 going to get really badly hit the midterms. 560 00:28:52,640 --> 00:28:55,680 Senate What about the Senate? I think they still are hopeful 561 00:28:55,680 --> 00:28:57,520 that there is a chance to hold on to the Senate. 562 00:28:57,520 --> 00:29:00,600 And actually, it would take a lot for the Democrats to take 563 00:29:00,600 --> 00:29:02,680 control, but they're worried about that as well. 564 00:29:03,480 --> 00:29:06,720 You know, even the kind of most hawkish people on Iran who were 565 00:29:06,720 --> 00:29:08,640 saying to me, we don't think there's any chance of a 566 00:29:08,640 --> 00:29:11,480 negotiation. And we're clearly in his ear as 567 00:29:11,480 --> 00:29:14,320 well and wanted to see more military action there. 568 00:29:14,320 --> 00:29:16,560 We're still saying you kind of want to hit really hard and then 569 00:29:16,560 --> 00:29:19,040 get out. It was also really interesting 570 00:29:19,040 --> 00:29:22,680 to hear some of them talk about Trump's views on Vladimir Putin. 571 00:29:22,680 --> 00:29:25,760 And there's clearly a bit of a push within the party to try and 572 00:29:25,760 --> 00:29:28,840 persuade him that, you know, Putin's the bad guy, not 573 00:29:28,960 --> 00:29:31,120 Zelensky, when it comes to Russia, Ukraine. 574 00:29:31,240 --> 00:29:34,320 Well, Anushka, after all that, we still have, let's face it, a 575 00:29:34,320 --> 00:29:36,720 special relationship. This is the most special special 576 00:29:36,720 --> 00:29:39,600 relationship in the world of podcasts, and there's never 577 00:29:39,600 --> 00:29:42,520 nothing. Whatever you say about me off 578 00:29:42,520 --> 00:29:44,800 the record or on the record, nothing condemned that. 579 00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:47,880 As Donald Trump once said in front of the king, special 580 00:29:47,880 --> 00:29:50,320 doesn't even come. Doesn't even do it justice. 581 00:29:51,320 --> 00:29:54,600 All right, on that note, as ever, from Trump world, from the 582 00:29:54,600 --> 00:29:58,280 labyrinthine Trump world, in the middle of a royal visit, that's 583 00:29:58,280 --> 00:29:59,600 it. See you next week.