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Pool Me Twice, Shame On You

Explore episode Jun 23, 2026

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Regime Change Interview: Corruption, the Qatari Jet, and the Trump Library

At 1:13:18 · chapter starts 1:08:20

Tommy focuses the interview on corruption, which he describes as the most shocking aspect of Trump's second term. Maggie Haberman explains that the jet story was the first neon-sign moment: Qatar initially wanted $150–$200 million for the plane, and then suddenly it was a gift, with the idea reportedly generated at the POTUS level. She frames the broader mindset: Trump's family openly says they gave up a lot, there are no laws prohibiting what they're doing, and the scale is unlike anything in modern American presidential history. Jonathan Swan then drops the Howard Lutnick anecdote: Trump told people in the Oval Office that the only reason he put up with Lutnick's bullshit was the $25 million Lutnick donated to the Trump Presidential Library Fund. Swan describes a library conceived as a 100-story tower over Miami with a gold Trump statue, restaurants, and a hotel, with a fundraising target of $2 billion — double Obama's — and with Eric Trump and others approaching Gulf sovereign wealth funds and monarchies for donations, all while the administration is simultaneously selling advanced chips to the Emirates. Swan concludes that he thinks they know only 1–5% of the corruption that's actually taking place.

News
The Oval Office as a Rolling Bull Session

Pool Me Twice, Shame On You · Jun 23, 2026 News

There are no structured meetings in Trump's Oval Office — just a rolling bull session. Maggie Haberman describes NSC officials waiting in a corner for sign-off on classified programs while someone else is on speakerphone from Mar-a-Lago and a decorator walks in with paver samples for the Rose Garden.

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