Trump Looks DEEPLY UNWELL In DISASTER Press Conference

[0:00] Dan, we got some breaking news out of the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey about a scary new war [0:04] for the US. Here's President Trump speaking earlier today. Two months ago, we had 100, [0:09] I told this story yesterday, we had 111 missiles shot by the Islamic Republic of Japan. [0:16] Pearl Harbor 2.0, Dan, but I guess this time, Japan is a Muslim country. I don't know what [0:21] to make of that one. I do know what to make of it. Japan is taking the loss to Brazil in the [0:24] round of 32 quite hard, I guess. Yeah, it was a tough, tough World Cup for Japan. Obviously, [0:31] we're not actually at war with Japan. Our president is just an idiot and doesn't know how to talk. [0:36] However, the US and Iran have been exchanging fire over the last 24 hours, and it seems like what is [0:42] left of the ceasefire deal between the US and Iran is falling apart as we speak. So here's the [0:46] sequence of events. On Tuesday, Iran fired at three commercial vessels near the Strait of Hormuz. [0:51] They hit a Qatari liquefied natural gas tanker. I can't think of anywhere I'd rather be less [0:57] when I get hit with an airstrike than an LNG tanker. In response, the Pentagon said it bombed [1:03] more than 80 Iranian sites near the Strait of Hormuz, and the Treasury Department revoked a [1:07] temporary license allowing Iran to sell oil and gas. Remember, that was a key part of that 14-point [1:11] ceasefire agreement. Then on Wednesday, Iranian state media reported that Iran fired at 85 US [1:18] military targets in the region, including in Bahrain and Kuwait. So wonderful. By the way, [1:23] if you guys want to listen to a podcast that will never confuse Iran and Japan, please subscribe to [1:28] Pod Save America here on YouTube. We are trying to build a progressive counterweight to all the [1:32] right-wing crap from Fox News and others that you find on YouTube. When you subscribe to Pod Save [1:36] America, you help us get good information into the YouTube algorithm and reach more people. [1:40] And so please, it's free. Here's President Trump talking about Iran with NATO reporters at NATO. [1:47] Is the ceasefire over? Is the ceasefire done? Is the MOU dead? [1:52] It's a very interesting question. To me, I think it's over. I don't want to deal with them anymore. [2:00] They're scum. You know what scum is? They're scum. They're sick people. They're led by sick people. [2:07] And they're vicious, violent people. And if they had a nuclear weapon, they'd use it. As far as I'm [2:13] concerned, it's over. Dan, feels pretty ominous, no? Yeah, I'm glad I have you here because I got [2:18] a lot of questions about this and you have more interest than I do. But I saw this clip this [2:24] morning and I've seen the cover since then. And I know we've sort of decided that we don't take, [2:28] which is like we as a collective political body don't take what Trump says seriously. But he did, [2:32] I mean, especially the United States declaring the ceasefire over. It seems like a big deal. [2:37] It does seem like a big deal. I mean, I saw oil, I think Brent crude or one of the oils is up like [2:42] 5%. So the markets are reacting to this one. For a while, they didn't really react to anything [2:48] he said because they assumed he just wanted to end the war at all costs. But this time, [2:54] their ears are perking up. Why did Iran shoot at these ships? [2:59] So I assume that what this was is Iran, they're trying to assert control over the Strait of Hormuz. [3:05] That entails charging fees on ships that transit the Strait. But also, they are seemingly firing at [3:13] ships that transit the Strait through a passage that goes closer to the Omani coast. I think the [3:19] ships were in Omani territorial waters. And they're trying to dictate that all ships that go through [3:24] the Strait go through their designated channel. So they just, they clearly feel emboldened. [3:30] And they are more willing to test Trump and do things that they know will piss him off and get [3:37] a response. And I think the question is, like, what is Trump's appetite for a renewed conflict? [3:42] And how worried do you think he is about oil and gas prices going up as we get closer and closer to [3:48] the midterms? I mean, he should be quite worried about it. I mean, he has no short term strategy, [3:53] no medium term strategy. So no long term strategy. It seems a little bit like the Iranians have [3:57] concluded, had concluded that Trump has no appetite for conflict because he cares about gas prices. [4:03] Does it will he does it will he ultimately care about it when the time comes? He doesn't seem to [4:06] care a lot of care about a lot of other things that would impact the midterm. So I don't it all [4:10] seems quite bad. Yeah. And like the so the IMF had a report out today, they are projecting that global [4:17] economic growth will go from 3.5% in 2025 to 3% this year, which is a pretty steep drop. They also [4:24] projected inflation will rise to 4.7% in 2026, from 4.1% in 2025 because of higher commodity prices, [4:31] a lot of it oil and gas. So the impact of the closure of the strait was not spread equally, [4:35] like in the US, we all had to pay higher gas prices. But in terms of like the macro economy [4:40] that was offset by other stuff, you know, like data center expansion, you know, AI, etc. But countries [4:45] like India and China, they took a big hit on their GDP. And so the reopening of the strait was [4:51] hopefully going to ease those economic problems, it was hopefully going to prevent [4:55] a really bad global famine, because fertilizer couldn't get the straight through the strait [4:59] or moves. And you know, you know, track people couldn't run tractors with diesel [5:02] in parts of Africa. But now it's like, I don't know, no one knows. And I think the challenge here [5:09] is like, again, that the strait or moves is not like a, it's on a nozzle, you turn on and off, [5:13] it's shipping companies deciding whether they're going to send like $150 million tanker [5:20] back into this body of water, and risk it getting shot at and, you know, sunk the worst case, but [5:26] also just like, stuck there again, like the ships that got stuck in the strait or moves for like 100 [5:31] days. And that's a huge economic hit to these shipping companies. So it wasn't all around at [5:36] the summit, Dan, there was some good news for Ukraine, Trump reportedly told Volodymyr Zelenskyy [5:42] of Ukraine that the United States is going to let the Ukrainians manufacture Patriot air defense [5:47] systems to protect them from missile strikes. Here's a quote I want to read to you out. Where [5:52] does this rank on the empathy meter for Mr. Trump? This way, you can't complain that we're not giving [5:56] them enough, he said. [5:59] Who's the who's the you in this? [6:00] I think Zelenskyy. Yeah, he's telling the press. Yeah, no, he's on the Ukrainians. You got to stop [6:05] bitching. Because you know, the Russians are firing hundreds of ballistic missiles and drones at [6:10] them every week. [6:10] I mean, it is bad. It's a bad thing to say it betrays a lack of empathy. On the scale of the [6:18] of things Trump could have said in a meeting with Zelensky, it's like pretty low on the list of bad. Like, [6:22] yeah, it's he's doing, he's doing a good thing, but being a dick about it, which is better than being [6:28] a dick about doing the wrong thing, which happened when they were in DC. So you know what, I'm going [6:32] to take that half glass full. I appreciate that. All right, let's pivot to some domestic items. So [6:36] there's been all these rumors swirling about the health of Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell. We [6:41] know that McConnell was admitted to a hospital on June 14. But his office won't say why. Oddly, [6:47] his wife, Elaine Chao, was on a trip to China when this occurred and didn't come back early. Dan, [6:52] have you seen these photos of her over there just like taking these meetings? I have. It's so weird. So [6:59] right wing nut Laura Loomer tweeted that McConnell is brain dead. Obviously, like Loomer is a horrible [7:04] person. She's not at all trustworthy, but she's close to Donald Trump and close to the White House. [7:08] So we have to take her claim seriously. She says McConnell was found unconscious. He was in cardiac [7:12] arrest. He was resuscitated. That would be a big deal for an 84 year old man who is very frail. [7:18] So to the politics of this, under Kentucky law, there's a Senate vacancy before August 3rd. [7:23] The state would have to hold a special election to fill the seat. I think, Dan, that the Kentucky [7:27] Republicans are worried about like Thomas Massey winning this seat. Well, as I read it, [7:34] there is the party gets to decide how they pick their nominees. And I think they can do it by [7:39] convention, right? They're not gonna hold a primary, which Massey could theoretically win a [7:42] primary. So I've heard different theories on this. I mean, obviously, like they stripped the Kentucky [7:48] Republicans stripped to this power away from the governor, right? Because they didn't want Andy [7:53] Beshear to be able to name a replacement. I had thought that there would have to be a special election [7:57] if it happened before August 3rd. Maybe they can change that, though. I mean, a lot. This is up to [8:03] them, right? But even if they had the special election, the question is who gets to be on the [8:07] ballot and the Republicans and the Democrats get to pick their nominees and they will do that not [8:14] through a primary. So Massey could, I guess, run as an independent. I don't know that they know what [8:19] ballot access is, but he couldn't be the Republican. The Republican Party of Kentucky would ensure through [8:23] whatever process they adopt that Massey can't be their nominee is what I understand. But it seems like [8:28] these laws were not written with a lot of detail. Yeah. And like, clearly, they're worried about [8:33] shenanigans, for lack of a better word, and Thomas Massey messing with them, because I'm sure he's [8:38] probably in a mood to mess with the Republican Party right now. But this would only be to be senator [8:43] till the end of January, because there's another election happening now for McConnell's seat. [8:50] Yes. McConnell's political career is over at the end of this year. Either way, there's just some [8:55] questions about whether he's going to make it to the finish line there. So there's all these rules, [9:00] like rumors swirling. And then out of the blue this week, we had a bunch of people like tweet us [9:07] some updates. So we had CNN, you know, like professional asshole, Scott Jennings, Senator [9:13] John Thune, Senator John Barrasso, all tweet, like I think within five minutes of each other, [9:19] that they had just spoken to Mitch McConnell for 20 minutes, very specific. And I think Jennings [9:23] suggested they had talked about Iran, NATO, and the main Senate race, which is like, I don't know, [9:28] if I had a friend who was in the hospital for like two months, would you call them and be like, [9:33] what do you make of like, what's happening in Ankara? [9:35] Is that friend Jon Favreau? [9:37] No, I probably wouldn't call him. [9:38] He'll talk about the main Senate race. [9:41] I don't think Jon would like to talk about either of those things at the moment. Maybe Ben, [9:44] if Ben was in the hospital, I could call him about like Ankara. So either way, [9:49] this this next clip will give you a sense of the kind of range of reaction with the [9:54] Republican Party. So we got Marjorie Taylor Greene and then Scott Jennings himself. [9:56] Shame on the Republican Party for just basically staying silent while such a powerful Republican [10:04] senator is basically laying in a hospital like a vegetable. And his wife flew to China and met with [10:12] the vice president of China just days after he basically died. And they brought him back with [10:16] CPR and took him to the hospital. I think it's a fair question about transparency. I think it's a [10:21] fair question about whether they've done enough. But ultimately, these office holders, you know, [10:27] they're they're in charge of their own operations. And and, you know, it may be somebody around him [10:32] says, let's put out a picture and he doesn't want to do it. I think I think that's a that's a fair [10:36] observation from Al. But all I can tell you today is all the rumors about him being dead or brain [10:42] dead or, you know, being his body's being hidden somewhere. I've seen all kinds of crazy things on the [10:46] internet. That's obviously not true because he picked up the phone and called me. And that was [10:50] that was a good thing. Dan, does there exist technology where one could take a visual presentation [10:57] of this phone call or an image of Mitch McConnell and then put it on the internet or something so [11:02] we could see him? Yeah. You know, I guess they could use a phone, which would do that. That's an [11:08] option. Yeah. Like, look, the the secret call, like, I'm assuming I don't know whether he called Scott [11:14] Jennings or not. It seems like a big sort of a crazy, boldface lie. If he if Mitch McConnell [11:19] really is brain dead, like Laura Loomer said that, like that would blow up in his face. [11:23] I assume he's calling people. The fact that he's that there is no picture of him, like somewhere [11:29] says, like what he must look like or where he is or, you know, or did the whole situation like [11:35] they made a decision that photo evidence would not help their case. And I think that says something. [11:41] Yeah, I mean, look, on the Jennings piece, I mean, the tweet was so weirdly specific, [11:46] all of these tweets saying it was like 20 minutes. They did it like it was a head of state readout. [11:52] You know, it's like we touched on the following policy areas. I'm sure you see all the people [11:57] tweeting the like it became a meme. Mitch McConnell called me like Massey did it and went through like [12:03] Mitch McConnell. They saw like all this is Mitch McConnell. Not before Hassan Piker didn't say [12:07] Mitch McConnell called me and we had fun sex. Yes, I did see that. And that's why we should [12:13] campaign with him. I'm sure Scott Jennings was just as generous about all the conversations [12:19] about Joe Biden's health and fitness for office. Right. It is. But it's really interesting, like [12:23] watching Marjorie Taylor Greene there. It's a reminder how much the kind of nag a base of the party [12:28] hates Mitch McConnell, despite him doing Trump's bidding for years and years and years now. [12:34] Well, they've they've never really liked him. But obviously, what happened after January six, [12:38] when he let it be known that he would he was considering voting to convict Trump sort of [12:45] became like a betrayal moment that they'll never get over. But they've hated him for 20 years. Like [12:51] he's been low, even even though he's done a lot for their for obviously gave Trump his Supreme Court [12:58] majority. They've they've long hated him as an establishment. You know, [13:01] Trump tried to run Rick Scott against him at least once. Yeah. Like it just he's obviously [13:07] like a corporate Republican. But like, by God, the number of gifts he's given Donald Trump, [13:12] I mean, right, he stole the Supreme Court seat. Pretty big deal. He used to help systematically [13:18] strip away, you know, campaign finance law. He has raised ungodly amounts of money. He's [13:23] rammed through the Trump agenda. He's rammed through like all of Trump's totally unqualified nominees. [13:30] You know, it's like this guy. He's just such a like I'm assuming he's alive. So we're not speaking [13:35] ill of the dead right now. Like I do think like the story of Mitch McConnell will be one of just [13:40] staggering political cowardice in the face of the Trump administration. Like he probably could have [13:46] had Trump impeached and removed. He is the person most singularly responsible for where we are right [13:51] now, because if he had followed through in his original threat, Trump would have been impeached, [13:55] convicted and therefore banned from running for office ever again. Yep. Yep. The other person [14:00] looking for information here is Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear. He sent McConnell's office a letter [14:06] like a month ago asking for just like basic information like, hey, can I get an update [14:11] on his health status? And he apparently just got no answer back. So real functional system there. [14:17] All right, last thing here. So let's talk about the latest out of the main Senate race. [14:21] On Monday, Lovett and I covered the latest extremely troubling allegations about main [14:27] Senate candidate Graham Plattner. Dan, I know that you wrote about it in your message box newsletter [14:32] that you're going to talk about all of this again with Alex Wagner on Friday's Pod Save America. [14:38] But I wanted to get your take specifically on this fight we're seeing kind of explode onto the internet [14:43] about how to replace Plattner. Let's watch this video from Devin Murphy Anderson, [14:49] the executive director of the main Democratic Party and talk about it. [14:52] Hi, everyone. I wanted to provide you all an update on the US Senate race here in Maine. [14:57] As you know, the main Democratic Party has been working around the clock to develop a process to [15:02] replace our US Senate nominee that is open, inclusive, transparent and fair. The integrity of this process [15:10] is just as important as the outcome. And we are committed to ensuring that Democrats across our state [15:16] can have confidence in both. Unfortunately, Graham Plattner's team has repeatedly reached out to us [15:23] in an attempt to put their thumb on the scale of what this process looks like. We have repeatedly [15:28] reiterated to Graham Plattner's team that they have no role in determining our next Democratic nominee [15:35] for the US Senate, nor in determining what this process looks like. We have also reiterated that [15:40] Graham Plattner must drop out of this race so that Democrats in Maine can focus on defeating Susan [15:45] Collins this November. We look forward to making this process public as soon as Graham Plattner formally [15:51] withdraws from this race. So Dan, what do you make of this dispute and, you know, kind of the names [15:56] getting floated to replace Plattner? Yeah, so there are reports this morning that Plattner may drop out [16:02] as soon as today and that he's going to do it via video. The report I saw I think from CNN this [16:06] morning said that video was not yet filmed. So between us saying this and you seeing it, [16:11] it's possible we will have formally dropped out. We're recording this at like 9.45 a.m. Pacific time. [16:15] So a couple of things here. One, the Plattner campaign denies that they were trying to apply [16:22] leverage or dictate the process. They say that they're just trying to find out what the process is. [16:28] Not sure how much credibility they have at this exact moment in time. [16:30] Um, but my take is Plattner really has no leverage here unless he's going to [16:38] stay in the race and ensure that Susan Collins wins, which if he did that, the people, the people [16:44] around him would never work in democratic politics again. And every, like his campaign is over. [16:48] It's done. He would have no support, no money. He has to get out of this race. Um, [16:54] and it seems like, but what Plattner seems to want in the people around and some of the, [16:58] not the people around him on his campaign, but, but you know, I do his ideological fellow travelers [17:03] believe that whoever is picked should be someone who is ideologically consistent with Plattner on a [17:10] wide range of issues, but, but primarily Israel and Medicare for all. And it's hard to say, you know, [17:17] and the argument being that more people vote, more people voted for Plattner than any democratic Senate [17:22] nominee in history, whoever you pick should be consistent with that. I understand that argument. I also don't [17:28] believe that Plattner that he's doing a disservice to the next person to make it look like grand [17:33] plan or handpick that person that would, that would, that's a burden on the new nominee, making [17:37] it harder to defeat Susan Collins. So the best thing they can do is drop out of the race, [17:41] stop talking and let the process play itself out. Um, there are three people who are sort of at the [17:46] front of potential, um, nominees. One is Troy Jackson, who's a former Senate president. He is a progressive. [17:54] He has introduced Bernie Sanders at a rally before there is Nirav Shah. He, and Troy Jackson ran for [18:00] governor, came in third. There's Nirav Shah, who was the main health director during COVID. He sort [18:05] of became a folk hero in Maine for how he responded to COVID and sort of his public presentation. [18:10] He ran for governor. He came in second, but he actually made his ranked choice voting. So he [18:15] actually got the most votes in the first round, but then lost to Hannah Pingree in the second round [18:20] when Troy Jackson was eliminated. And then the third candidate is Shanna Bellows, who is the [18:24] secretary of state. She actually ran against Susan Collins in 2014 and lost by an ungodly sum. I [18:31] don't know whether that is, should, uh, what that tells us about how she would do in 2026, but that [18:35] is something here. There's a, uh, Jared Golden said he was not running. There were some other names [18:39] floating around, including Heather Cox Richardson and Patrick Dempsey. So yeah. Heather said she's not [18:44] running. Patrick Dempsey would be an odd choice. The outsider candidates are a guy named Dan [18:48] Cleban is a brewery owner. Uh, Patrick Dempsey, the actor, was he McDreamy or McSteamy? I think [18:53] McDreamy. I think he's dreamy. Thank you. Uh, and then Heather Cox Richardson, who writes a very [18:57] popular Stub Sack, uh, you know, and it has a huge YouTube page is like very, like a massive following [19:05] in the kind of resist lib space. And I say that as a compliment, but, um, she's shown no indication [19:10] that she wants to run for public office. She said, she said on Instagram, she's not running. Yeah. [19:13] Yeah. Yeah. So, um, yeah, that, that list is interesting. So on the platter point, like I said [19:17] on Monday that, um, he obviously needs to drop out of the race. I interpreted his video as [19:23] him basically saying he was going to, it did seem like they were trying to sequence that process to [19:27] retain some leverage. Um, and my advice to him and to the campaign is that, that I just don't think [19:34] that's a good idea. I don't think that's a reasonable expectation. Um, the way I interpreted [19:40] it yesterday was kind of like a phases of grief thing, uh, and that he was feeling like I was so [19:45] close to being a U S Senator potentially, and now it's all ripped away. And he was sort of at the [19:49] bargaining phase. And like, like you said, Dan, the absolute worst case scenario would be some sort of [19:55] big messy fight about this. That signals to the people who voted for Plattner that they're getting [20:01] screwed here once again, by the establishment, by the main democratic party, whatever. And that's just [20:06] not what happened. What's happening here. The person who let Plattner's voters down is Graham [20:11] Plattner. Um, and I think like he just needs to get out and then the party needs to figure out a way [20:18] to create a process that takes into account the feelings of his voters. And it sounds like [20:24] they're trying to do that. I mean, what it's like Biden again, they don't have a lot of time. [20:28] They can do a, they can do a convention, the state, the, they have a number of mechanisms for them. [20:32] The state party delegates could just vote on this person. They could do a convention and they could [20:36] do, uh, something similar, but the, there will not be another primary. So it'll be, it will be [20:42] party people making the decision and they, and I assume and believe the people are making a decision. [20:49] Their number one focus is how to beat Susan Collins. And if you pick someone that anger, that totally [20:55] seems like a thumb in the eye of the 15,000 volunteers for grandpa, the people who truly believed [21:01] in him and what he stood for and worked so hard for that campaign, you're going to hurt your [21:06] chances that help your chances of beating Susan Collins. So they have to be, there are no great [21:09] options here. There's no easy way to do this. There is no perfect solution, but though you want [21:14] to make sure that you do it in a way that gives us the best chance possible. Yeah. I like we're in [21:20] dangerous place. The worst thing that could possibly happen to our prospects of winning this seat [21:24] that hasn't already happened would be an intra democratic party split, uh, and a bunch of angry [21:30] progressives. Uh, Plattner needs to drop by July 13th. He has to be replaced by July 27th at 5 PM. [21:36] I think that's Eastern time, very specific. So, uh, time is running short. Dan, it's just worth like [21:41] reminding people of the political history in Maine here, because there's a lot of fighting now about [21:46] what, like the establishment, are they better or insurgent candidates better? And I was just thinking [21:51] back to 2020, right? We had a Senate race against Susan Collins, the DSCC cleared the field for a [21:58] candidate named Sarah Gideon, who was like an establishment favored elected official. Uh, and [22:02] I think she lost by what? Eight points. She lost by eight points on the same day that Joe Biden won, [22:06] uh, Maine by nearly nine points. Yes. And, and so that was a terrible outcome and infuriating to a [22:14] lot of people. And also I think that race particularly antagonized a lot of folks because I think Gideon [22:19] ended the race with what $15 million cash on hand, uh, that she just hadn't spent, [22:24] right? So that resources could have gone somewhere else. And so there wasn't a lot of faith in the [22:27] DSCC or like traditional DC based power bases, uh, to begin with. And then you fast forward to last [22:34] year, I think Plattner got into the race in August of 2025. There was one other candidate in the field. [22:40] He, uh, immediately got a bunch of traction. Janet Mills was the Chuck Schumer DSCC pick. She waited until [22:47] October to get in, which prevented anybody else really from getting into the race. And then shortly [22:52] after Mills gets into the race, like the Reddit stories about Plattner drop, like the tattoos thing [22:56] comes out, the oppo file kind of gets unloaded on him. But despite that, Mills still can't get any [23:01] traction. She ultimately suspends her campaign. And then the primary happens in June. There's all these [23:06] bad stories out there about Plattner, like a lot of genuinely disconcerting reporting in the New York [23:12] Times and other places. And he still wins the primary with 72% of the vote. So that that backdrop, [23:18] I think is just what makes us all so complicated and so fraught. And what sort of animating these [23:23] fights between kind of insurgents and the establishment in the DC. Yeah, that's right. It's [23:28] the the specter of 2020. And frankly, a number of attempts to beat Susan Collins that went quite [23:34] poorly hangs over this. And like there were, we ended up with this situation because you ended up with [23:40] Janet Mills, who was a very flawed and bad candidate. And Graham Plattner was a very [23:44] flawed and bad candidate. And those were the only candidates because the DSCC told everyone else [23:51] not to run because they were waiting for Janet Mills. So Hannah Pingree, Nirav Shah, all these [23:57] people were just talking about who could run for Senate. John Baldacci ended up running for governor [24:00] and running for house in the second district and losing the primary. They all could have run for [24:04] Senate. None of them did because they were waiting for Janet Mills and Plattner gained strength, [24:09] gained traction while everyone was waiting for Janet Mills. Right. So it has been a big Motley mess [24:15] and one that is unresolved. All right. Well, that's it for us for today. Hopefully sometime later [24:20] today or soon we will figure out an answer to what's happening in Maine. But thank you for [24:24] watching this episode of Pod Save America on YouTube and please subscribe. We'll talk to you soon. [24:28] Bye, everyone.