
About this episode
Try QUO for free and get 20% off your first 6 months at https://www.quo.com/BEAST
David Rothkopf joins Joanna Coles for a breakdown of a surreal and unsettling weekend in Washington, where what should have been a glittering White House Correspondents’ Dinner spiraled into something far darker—and far more revealing about Donald Trump. As details emerge about the attempted attack and the security lapses surrounding it, Rothkopf argues the real “lone wolf” isn’t the would-be assailant but Trump himself, a president who thrives on chaos, weaponizes crisis, and immediately turned the moment into political theater—complete with a self-mythologizing press conference and renewed distractions from mounting crises abroad, including a deadly and destabilizing conflict in the Middle East. With insiders rattled, conspiracy theories spreading, and Trump’s poll numbers slipping, is this just another fleeting spectacle—or a revealing prism into a presidency defined by performance, paranoia, and power at any cost?
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Get every episode summarized
Each time The Daily Beast Podcast publishes, we email you a written briefing from the transcript — the topics, who appeared, and any specific claims, with the ad reads skipped.
Email me new episodesFree for 3 shows. No card needed.
Hosts & guests
No transcript yet
This episode has not been transcribed. Request it and it moves to the front of the queue.
More episodes
More from The Daily Beast Podcast

Why Trump's Got Reasons to Slip Natalie Harp Cash
The Daily Beast Podcast
Sep 11, 20261:02:01completed

Why Trump's Appalling 9/11 Lie Is Just The Start
The Daily Beast Podcast
Sep 10, 202658:34failed

This Is Why Trump is Addicted to Unhinged AI Slop
The Daily Beast Podcast
Sep 9, 20261:01:06failed

Diva Trump’s Hair Secrets Exposed: Wolff
The Daily Beast Podcast
Sep 8, 20261:05:52failed