Podbit · The Rest Is Politics: US
Behind the buddy-buddy photo ops, Trump privately hates Netanyahu. According to 'Regime Change,' Trump browbeat Netanyahu into submission to secure the release of 20 living hostages from Gaza. The real relationship between these two 'allies' is nothing like what is publicly portrayed.
Where this was said
At 20:15 · chapter starts 18:22
The second half opens with the hosts marvelling at the sourcing in Haberman and Swan's 'Regime Change' — a book that managed to get inside the Situation Room despite this White House being harder to leak from than Trump's first term. [1] — Katty Kay "Haberman and Swan's book 'Regime Change' reveals a White House where decisions are made by one person on gut instinct, nobody else's input …" 15:45 Scaramucci frames four main takeaways: first, this is an instinct-over-information presidency, a decision-making-of-one operation where whoever spoke to Trump last has shaped policy; second, Trump privately hates Netanyahu and the book documents how he browbeat him into releasing 20 living hostages; third, the pardon perimeter — Trump's stated plan to pardon everyone within 200-250 feet of the Capitol — is 'the most nutso thing' that is nonetheless 'totally on brand' according to a senior aide; and fourth, a forensic portrait of Stephen Miller as a fashion-conscious, superstitious Machiavellian who has never once ended up on the wrong side of Trump in 11 years. Katty Kay adds her own highlights: [2] — Katty Kay "According to 'Regime Change,' Trump gets a literal psychological high from issuing pardons. The combination of instant results, no constrai…" 20:48 the psychological portrait of Trump getting a literal high from issuing pardons — the intoxicating mix of instant results, no constraints, and total indebtedness of recipients — is one of the book's most compelling passages. She also recounts the extraordinary scene where Trump berated JD Vance for not using the word 'obliterated' when describing Iran's nuclear program on Sunday shows, demanding that everyone simply copy his Truth Social post verbatim. The hosts agree: this book chronicles the dramatic arc from Trump's seemingly unstoppable first few months to the turning point around the Epstein files, and the contrast with where things stand now — losing, losing, losing — is striking.
Haberman and Swan sourced accounts of a secret Situation Room meeting about Epstein from one of only 6 people present, and Trump himself did not deny the accounts when interviewed.
The Haberman-Swan book 'Regime Change' reveals Trump privately hates Netanyahu and they were fighting at the end of the first term before a brief reconciliation.
According to 'Regime Change,' Trump hates Netanyahu and browbeat him into submission to secure the release of 20 living hostages from Gaza.
According to 'Regime Change,' Trump declared he would pardon everyone within 200 to 250 feet of the Capitol on January 6th, which one senior aide called 'totally on brand.'
According to 'Regime Change,' Trump gets a literal psychological high from issuing pardons. The combination of instant results, no constraints, and the feeling of people being completely indebted to him is intoxicating. And he wants to pardon everyone within 250 feet of the Capitol on January 6th.
Stephen Miller is a fashionista who switched from a comb-over to a shaved head out of vanity, is deeply superstitious about keeping his old White House office, and has never once ended up on the wrong side of Trump in 11 years. Scaramucci calls it revolting Manichean court calculation. Haberman and Swan made it unforgettable.
Fei-Fei Li went back to Stanford from Google in 2018 specifically to build a multi-stakeholder governance framework for AI. Her argument: market forces are not societal norms. Just as biology uses IRBs and cars have safety laws, AI needs layered oversight from educators, governments, and the public — not just a few industry titans.
Andrew Santino's personal MCU of political villains is collapsing. He and Bobby speculated that a circulating photo of Mitch McConnell with a Chinese official was AI-generated compositing two separate images.
Mass surveillance is here to stay. The real battle isn't stopping cameras — it's ensuring judges and laws keep that data out of family court and civil disputes, admitting it only for violent crimes and national security. The surveillance economy currently yields more upside than downside, but only if we build the legal guardrails now.
When people cite Scandinavia as proof socialism works, Galloway says they've got it backwards. Northern Europe runs highly competitive free-market economies with more competition in many sectors than the US — they just make sure taxes are actually paid and redistributed. Billionaires and universal healthcare can coexist.
Two percent adjustments to income tax and stamp duty tweaks are deck-chair rearrangements. The UK's competitiveness hinges on four structural levers: currency valuation, energy costs, regulatory burden, and tax rates. Devalue the pound, build 56 nuclear plants, slash red tape, introduce a flat tax — and the country transforms.
Lisbon had one of Europe's worst heroin crises. Then Portugal legalised drugs and redirected all enforcement money into rehabilitation and housing. Crime collapsed. Addiction fell. Then politics moved the money elsewhere, and the problem started creeping back. Chesterton's Fence: you forget why you were spending that money.
Congress passed the Boland Amendment 411 to 0, explicitly banning CIA and Defense Department funds for the Contras. Reagan signed it — then immediately moved the operation deeper underground, essentially responding to a bipartisan prohibition by going more illegal.
The CIA planted mines in Nicaraguan commercial harbors, wrote the Contras' press releases taking credit, and promptly blew up ships from four allied nations. The Wall Street Journal broke the story, Congress erupted, and the Boland Amendments multiplied.
Oliver North was a decorated Marine and devout Catholic with zero covert operations experience. He ran the entire shadow war against Congress — planes, airstrips, arms shipments, shell companies — learning on the job. And by every operational measure, he crushed it.
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