man in his 20s early 30s now maybe just how the actor's playing it but it struck me that it was a a different feeling for the man that we see today do you do you think that's right that there was no

no that was not at all my experience of him i had some issues that movie particularly they got a lot of the details especially as pertaining to my dad completely wrong which wasn't necessary because there was plenty of information out there that could have set them straight but donald As described in that movie, that was probably him when he was three, perhaps.

So I don't think he had ever experienced that kind of, at least consciously, that kind of insecurity and bumbling and humility or whatever it was in the movie since he was a toddler.

And that's where the problems all started, of course, which is true for most of us, actually.

But he had a particularly difficult childhood.

childhood, because my grandmother, who, by the way, was advised not to have any children after my Aunt Elizabeth.

So if they had followed the doctor's advice, guess who never would have been born? But, you know, my grandfather wanted to have five children.

But what strengths do you see in him?

And this is coming closer and closer.

Absolutely.

The midterm elections in America in less than three weeks now look to be a massive defeat for Republicans.

I don't want to say for sure that that's what's going to happen, but that's what it looks like.

And that will be a massive defeat for Donald because it will expose him to accountability and accountability.

investigations in the way he has not been, because the Republicans have been in charge of everything.

So, it's sort of a perfect storm of his deterioration cognitively, emotionally, and psychologically.

So how do you think other countries, other Western nations in particular, should react to it?

man in his 20s early 30s now maybe just how the actor's playing it but it struck me that it was a a different feeling for the man that we see today do you do you think that's right that there was no

no that was not at all my experience of him I had some issues that movie particularly they got a lot of the details especially as pertaining to my dad completely wrong which wasn't necessary because there was plenty of information out there that could have set them straight but Donald's As described in that movie, that was probably him when he was three, perhaps.

So I don't think he had ever experienced that kind of, at least consciously, that kind of insecurity and bumbling and humility or whatever it was in the movie since he was a toddler.

And that's where the problems all started, of course, which is true for most of us, actually.

But he had a particularly difficult childhood.

childhood, because my grandmother, who, by the way, was advised not to have any children after my Aunt Elizabeth.

So if they had followed the doctor's advice, guess who never would have been born? But, you know, my grandfather wanted to have five children.

That's the moment where you can see what's quite difficult to see in public, but maybe in private people experience differently.

Mm-hmm.

Right? Uh, they, they don't admire him, they don't, uh, they probably don't even wanna hang out with him.

But they are making more money than they could ever possibly have dreamed of because he's so corrupt and so willing to, uh, dismantle any kinds of regulations that might have reined these people in.

Um, I think part of it too is, is that he is, he is making this statement, "I can command these people to be here.

You know, I, I, not only do I deserve to be among the smartest people on the planet, but I'm even smarter than they are.

I'm more powerful than they are because I commanded them to be here, they're here." So I think, again, it's another way of assuaging his very, very fragile ego, and it's displays like that, that I think underscore how fragile his ego is and how insecure he is.

And it's also a demonstration, um, that he needs more and more and more.

Why them specifically, and, and what is he trying to do there?

I'm just wondering, what can we learn from that bizarre relationship?

Yeah, I just...

Separately, I have a problem with it.

I don't...

I get that Mamdani has his motives that are probably good ones, but...

The idea of normalizing this person, of inviting him into your home, of shaking his hand, you know, my stance on this is pretty black and white.

You do not make common cause with fascists.

Can you tell us a little bit about that?

And I'm 100% certain, folks, that as this meeting takes place, what you'll see is Donald Trump kissing Xi Jinping's ass, demanding and getting nothing for the United States, talking tough and being taken to the cleaners by the president of China.

I think that that is inevitable.

He's been doing that for Putin.

He's been doing that for Kim Jong-un.

He tried to do it with Orban.

Thankfully, the people of Hungary were able to turn that around.

But, you know, I think when this all shakes out, China will be the sole remaining superpower.

And so, you know, I don't know if that's a psychological disorder because we talk about a lot of other kinds of psychological disorders, but that's the one I want to cure, Mary.

And I'm 100% certain, folks, that as this meeting takes place, what you'll see is Donald Trump kissing Xi Jinping's ass, demanding and getting nothing for the United States, talking tough and being taken to the cleaners by the president of China.

I think that that is inevitable.

He's been doing that for Putin.

He's been doing that for Kim Jong-un.

He tried to do it with Orban.

Thankfully, the people of Hungary were able to turn that around.

But, you know, I think when this all shakes out, China will be the sole remaining superpower.

And so, you know, I don't know if that's a psychological disorder because we talk about a lot of other kinds of psychological disorders, but that's the one I want to cure, Mary.

Yeah.

[laughs]

Why is that so meaningful to you? Why do you do a podcast when you're, you know, doing all this other stuff?" Can you articulate why Star Trek is so important to you, and why you think it's so valuable, and it continues to be today?

Such a great question, um, because I think if we allow ourselves to believe that the arts, creativity, aspiring for something better is frivolous, then what the hell are we even doing here, truly? Because [audience applause] You know, I believe, yeah, we're, we are in very dark times.

We, we are in the midst of a existential crisis, and we have a long road ahead of us.

But if, if we put everything that makes, uh, that is the best of humanity on hold in order to fight those fights, what are we fighting for, right? And, you know, I grew up watching Star Trek on WPIX Channel 11 in reruns.

Hooray.

[audience applause] And I was very young, and I certainly didn't understand the, uh, implications of what Star Trek would come to mean for me.

I began by asking her what her uncle was worried about in these midterm elections.

First of all, Andrew, it's, it's great to be back with you, uh, especially now, because we are at a, at an incredibly crucial point in this election season.

Uh, and I don't think we can overstate the importance of this election in terms of the future of America and, quite frankly, the planet.

Um, I think Donald is desperately worried because he, even he has to see the writing on the wall.

Now, all of this is sort of based on, uh, Donald's belief that he should win everything, and because he deserves to win, he should be able to cheat.

And of course, he can only win by cheating, hence the bribes to the American people, which, by the way, are illegal.

And also, his, his narcissism is all tied up in this because if he were smart, if he were, uh, politically savvy, he would know that the best thing he could do is stay quiet and let the Republicans run their races without him.

Um, so do you think this is payback in a, in a sense? Is he swiping back at the British government saying, 'I don't mind the United Kingdom being broken up, by the way'?

[laughs] It, it, it-

Because I mean, it, it doesn't change anything, but it should make us feel a little better, uh, because it would be so much worse if he were enjoying this, you know? Um, the fascinating thing about where we find ourselves now is that this is where his entire life has been trending, and this is what he's been trying to avoid for his entire life.

I...

Like, all of Donald's psychic energy has been spent for his whole life to protect himself from the kinds of massive humiliation, massive and unavoidable humiliations he has now set himself up for.

And that is kind of glorious.

It's a sort of poetic justice, uh, we don't often see.

Now, it's not accountability, and it's not enough, but this is going to accelerate, uh, his metaphorical end, if you will.

It's, it, it's like Donald Trump is declining, but the poison from his body is spreading out through the Republican Party and, and it doesn't make me very encouraged about the future, Mary, with, you know, what I hear JD Vance or others who might- Pick up the baton

But what do you make of this whole Natalie Harp fiasco? We haven't had a chance to talk about it.

Well, I mean, obviously, Melania only shows up if she's handsomely paid.

And that's probably where most of the money went to get her there.

But I think the Natalie Harp situation is of a piece with Donald's general decline.

It makes him look like such a pathetic, frail, needy old man that he has to have a woman young enough to be his granddaughter constantly with him, protecting him, making sure that he sees positive press clippings about him positive articles uh most of which are probably fictional um it's a very bad look for him and it also shows you that you know probably not in the not too distant past somebody like that would have been too much even for him but because he's so in so much trouble And he is really lashing out and is really desperate to change the narrative.

And his his ego is being threatened at every turn.

He needs somebody constantly filling his head with compliments and positive messages.

Your thoughts on this?

Yeah

... writing has been on the wall for a very long time, and especially since 2020 with the Big Lie and the insurrection.

I, you know, how, how much more evidence do we need that Donald Trump is capable of doing whatever it takes in order to stay in power? Uh, and you know, the thing about the mail-in voting that's particularly concerning is because it affects all elections.

Now, gerrymandering, partisan gerrymandering, racist gerrymandering, those are all very bad things, but they can affect statewide or federal elections.

Mail-in voting can, and it's just an indicature, an indication that Donald knows that without this assist, this, this fraudulent assist, he will, his party will lose, and that is not gonna end well for him.

So of course he's gonna pull out all the stops, and of course the corrupt, illegitimate Supreme Court is gonna help him.

Yeah.

Because, you know, I think, I think the, the, the deal with the devil has been as long as Donald has power and as long as he's able to steal as much money from the American people as he wants and, uh, grift as much as he wants, the Nazis like Stephen Miller can come up with whatever cruel policies they want, and Donald will sign off on them.

And what might he do out of that desperation?

Yeah, it is... really really all going south for him and we're seeing increasingly he's flailing he's desperate because as much as he's surrounded by the most sycophantic sycophants like natalie harp stephen miller well they're all of them at this point like we don't have to single anybody out although of course natalie harp has more access than anybody which as you point out is deeply troubling um so He is in some regards being protected from the worst information there is out there.

But it's so bad that he even he who has spent his entire life protecting his fragile ego from the truth of the fact that he's a loser and an incompetent.

he knows that he's losing control of the narrative.

And he's one, trying to change the subject, two, trying to regain the upper hand by using his unfathomable power against those countries and individuals weaker than he is, and again, protect himself from what we can have to say at this point, or mistakes of his own making.

Every bad thing that's happening to him right now is down to him.

How do we best respond to this, both as a country and individually? And how do we discuss this with our friends and neighbors who may not be paying careful attention to the news?

Well, I'll answer the second part first to the extent I can, because that is a very difficult question.

T- uh, Mary, your response.

Uh, basically, it, it should be so simple.

We are fighting fascism.

Progressives, Democratic socialists, mainstream Democrats, Blue Dog Democrats believe in the Constitution of the United States of America.

They believe in the American experiment.

They believe in strengthening and rehabilitating and, uh, rebuilding our institutions.

They believe in individual liberties and civil rights.

That's right.

But is there a lesson there for you from, do you hope that Democratic leaders, some of the more corporate Democrats take from this?

Yeah.

First of all, the people of Michigan made their decision, right? And it is the job of established Democrats to, to get behind the Democratic candidate, period, end of story.

You know, again, unless, like, Graham Platner, something comes to light, in which case, then no.

But to object to a candidate simply because... you disagree with his or her platform or policy visions, that's not good enough.

And I think El-Sayed ran a really good campaign.

It was very close, which means that, you know, the voters in Michigan...

for him he feels badly for max miller not the ex-wife who was abused or the grandchild who was abused he feels badly for him and this is consistent with the vileness that has been donald from day one always standing up for the man over the women who have been hurt injured what's your i know it's not surprised but what's your reaction to this

They don't care about anything.

No, and look at the, uh, vehemence with which they went out a, a, after Graham Plattner and tried to paint the whole Democratic Party as enabling this guy, when I think as soon as...

I, I think it should've happened sooner, obviously.

I think Nazi tattoo is a deal breaker for me.

But, uh, when the very credible allegations against him came out, every Democrat immediately called on him to step down, and the Republicans, because they're only interested in their own power, will, will not do that.

Um, and I think one of the reasons it, it took longer, um, than it certainly should have is because he's Donald's guy.

Donald is not demanding he step down, and Donald, in fact, said publicly that he feels bad for the abused wife and child.

[laughs]

They don't care about anything.

No, and look at the, uh, vehemence with which they went out a, uh, after Graham Plattner and tried to paint the whole Democratic Party as enabling this guy, when I think as soon as...

Uh, I think it should've happened sooner, obviously.

I think Nazi tattoo is a deal breaker for me.

But, uh, when the very credible allegations against him came out, every Democrat immediately called on him to step down, and the Republicans, because they're only interested in their own power, will, will not do that.

Um, and I think one of the reasons it, it took longer, um, than it certainly should have is because he's Donald's guy.

Donald is not demanding he step down, and Donald in fact said publicly that he feels bad for the abused wife and child.

[laughs]

To what extent do you believe that there are other people like Jeanine Pirro that are standing up to the president? Is there anybody in his own family that is doing this at this point?

I highly doubt it, and that's because all of Donald's relationships are transactional.

So as long as somebody is getting something from him, or conversely, as long as he's getting something from them, they will continue to do whatever they have to do to get the benefit of the relationship.

What's interesting, uh, what we're seeing with Pirro is a new twist because we've seen a long line of people over the years who've been 100% loyal to Donald, and he has turned around and destroyed them or cut them off.

Loyalty is a one-way street.

But Pirro has reached this point because what Donald is asking her to do is risk disbarment by bringing fraudul- fraudulent prosecutions against completely innocent people.

So the reflecting pool may seem like a minor issue, and in some ways I guess you could say that it's just representative of the malignant incompetence of the Trump regime.

What do you mean by that?

This is a strange analogy for him to be voicing right now.

Yeah, well, I mean, listen, I don't mean to sound like him, but I think that we do inherit certain traits from our parents, and some people are more long-lived than others.

Sorry to break it to everybody, but a lot of people in my family lived for a really long time.

My grandfather was almost 93 when he died.

Although again, for at least the last 10 years of his life, he had very serious Alzheimer's.

I didn't really remember most people.

My grandmother lived to be 89.

What's Tell us about those relationships and then what does it mean for them to engage in this kind of mercenary behavior? What's the psychological value to them of this?

And did that reflect, um, certainly a lack of empathy, but also l- and, and caring for your, for your father, but also a, um, fear, underlying fear?

Yeah, I think it was more, uh, just he didn't have the patience.

He wasn't interested.

Because it's important to remember that for many people in my family, especially my grandfather and Donald, relationships are transactional, and if somebody isn't of use to you, you're not going to spend... waste your time on them.

Uh, so my grandfather had served his purpose, and he was no longer viable or relevant, and I think, again, another big part of it, and we see this with how, uh, Donald deals with illness and, um, disability, he just i- he, he is contemptuous of those things because they make him uncomfortable, and he can't deal with it.

So mostly with my grandfather, he just ignored him.

Um, but could also be quite contemptuous of him and just, uh, did not wanna be around him, especially when he was doing something that the family perceived to be embarrassing.

He's said, yeah.

But the pièce de résistance, the main guest, was Mary Trump, and we are going to hear, we're gonna see, her talk.

[audience applauding] You are so very kind, and I am so honored to be here.

Um, I'm so happy that, uh, you mentioned 2 Corinthians.

Donald has a joke about that.

[audience laughing] 2 Corinthians walk into a bar.

[audience laughing] It's the end of the joke 'cause he hasn't read it.

Uh- [audience laughing] He has not read the Bible or the Constitution.

[laughs]

And we are going to hear, we're going to see her talk.

You are so very kind, and I am so honored to be here.

I'm so happy that you mentioned 2 Corinthians.

Donald has a joke about that.

2 Corinthians walk into a bar.

It's the end of the joke because he hasn't read it.

He has not read the Bible or the Constitution.

know,

Right.

It paints a picture of his, his weirdness, his inappropriateness, hi- the fact that it's all just a total sham, and, uh, you know, I saw somebody say recently or r- on Twitter say, you know, "Nobody gives a shit about the Reflecting Pool.

It's, in this grand scheme of things, it's not even the list of top 100 d- terrible things Donald has done." It's like, well, guess what, though? It's not just about his incompetence and his corruption and giving a no-bid contract.

Like, people are getting arrested.

American citizens are getting arrested for that kind of thing.

I don't think that is the kind of thing we can turn a blind eye to.

You know?

Mm-hmm.

As a therapist, what would you say to that? Where is that coming from? I

completely understand it.

It's a defense mechanism, right? Because it does feel masochistic sometimes to subject yourself to the aforementioned horrors.

However, as members of a society, we have to find a way to stay connected to what's going on so we can do something about it.

And numbing out is never a solution, you know, because numbing out doesn't... doesn't um help it doesn't it's numbing out is not healing right it's just postponing the inevitable uh horrible feelings we're gonna feel if we ever allow ourselves to so Well, on the one hand, I completely understand it.

And it's it is a perfectly reasonable response.

And I think it's completely fair once in a while to say I need to tap out for a bit because we do.

What kind of influence did your uncle's mother, Donald Trump's mother, have on him, if at all? What was that relationship like?

Let everybody know what that's all about.

First of all, Katie, it's so good to be with you.

And yes, I just kind of want to hang out and have some coffee with you because it's earlier in the day.

But if it were later in the day, we'd be drinking something other than coffee, most likely.

But I really appreciate the opportunity because as you all may be aware, our political system is really corrupted by massive amounts of dark money.

And we... you know we're we're in a situation where many elections are literally determined by rich people just dumping millions of dollars into races and that sometimes attracts the wrong kind of candidate you know but that's the that's the situation we're living in that's that's our reality and of course the supreme court keeps making it worse and worse and worse so we started trendsetpack to make sure that we identify, support, endorse, and fund candidates who, one, understand what's at stake right now in America, Two, have the courage to meet the moment we're in.

And three, understand what civil service is, which is something that has sort of gone by the wayside for a lot of our politicians.

It's how have we been treating each other? How have we as members of this democracy been treating each other? And so I'm glad to see that transcends looking for candidates and causes that reflect that not a rebuild, but a reform like we're doing something totally new.