Monumental Sign Trump Is Running Scared: Rothkopf

The Daily Beast podcast dives into a state of profound institutional collapse within the Trump administration, arguing that the president is not just erratic but dangerously unfit to serve as commander-in-chief. Host Joanna Coles and guest David Rothkopf paint a picture of a White House in freefall: Trump is so mentally unstable that military leaders barred him from the situation room during a crisis, and his behavior—screaming, improvising on Truth Social, and losing control—has become a national security risk. The episode reveals that key figures like Kash Patel, the FBI director, are not only despised by intelligence professionals but are seen as actively dangerous, having shut down counterintelligence operations and allegedly drinking on the job. Meanwhile, the war in the Middle East is being weaponized to pressure Trump into a quick, humiliating exit, with Iran playing a calculated game of psychological warfare. The administration’s chaos extends to economic policy, with illegal tariffs causing inflation and corporate lawsuits, and to domestic politics, where efforts to manipulate elections and suppress voter rolls are escalating. Yet amid the madness, a single appointment—a woman of color and former deputy surgeon general as CDC head—stands out as a sign of panic: the worst possible nominees are backfiring, forcing a last-minute attempt at credibility.