Donald Trump’s Endgame | The Tim Dillon Show #501

Maggie Haberman states that Trump's current term is 'unrecognizable' compared to his first, marked by an unprecedented reliance on gut instinct. He is now surrounded by loyalists who endured his time out of power, making him more emboldened and less responsive to domestic political considerations. His focus has shifted to a 'bigger stage,' aiming for an indelible place in history.

Maggie Haberman: 'This presidency, Tim, is this term is really unrecognizable so far for the first 14 months or so to the last one. Like he is flying on gut instinct in a way that we've really never seen.' She adds he's 'surrounded by people who many of whom were with him for the four years he was out of power... all of that has made him much more emboldened and he's so much less attuned to domestic policy and excuse me domestic politics than he was be in term one.'

Jonathan Swan reveals that Trump explicitly wants to be a 'Napoleonic type of figure,' a 'capital G man of history.' This ambition drives him to undertake 'big things' on the global stage. Trump even presented a document comparing himself to historical figures like Mao, Stalin, and Hitler, with the metric being power, not morality, indicating his focus on impact over ethical considerations.

Jonathan Swan: 'I think he wants to be a sort of Napoleonic type of figure. I think he wants to be a capital G man of history. And I think that he believes that the way to do that is to do quote unquote big things on the global stage.' He describes Trump showing a document that 'compares him to what he describes to us are the top 10. And it's Mao Stalin, Hitler, Alexander the Great, the Caesars, Genghask Khan, Attila, the Han, Tamilain, you know, essentially some of the most uh notorious.'

Contrary to the narrative that Netanyahu 'puppeteered' Trump into the Iran war, Maggie Haberman clarifies that Trump was personally more hawkish on Iran than many of his own advisors. His experience with a quick regime change operation in Caracas led him to overestimate the American military's ability to swiftly shape events in a country like Iran, believing it would be a fast success.

Maggie Haberman: 'Netanyahu made a case, but Trump really wanted to do this and he believed it would be quick. He's much more hogish on Iran than a lot of his own advisers.' Jonathan Swan adds that Trump's 'experience of going in authorizing Delta force to go into Kacus and snatching a foreign sovereign head of state out of his bedroom... and doing regime change in that country and installing a pliant puppet I think made him feel that he could control events around the world when he really can't.'

The Trump administration's handling of the Epstein documents became a significant turning point, causing him to lose political altitude with his base. Despite key figures like Cash Patel advocating for transparency, Trump himself was uncomfortable with the issue and wanted it to disappear, largely due to his past association with Epstein. White House aides underestimated the public's interest, leading to a PR crisis focused on managing the fallout rather than addressing the victims or the truth.

Jonathan Swan: 'Patel was so bombastic about it... but the problem one of the biggest problems was the president himself just didn't he want the whole thing to disappear and didn't want to go down that path.' Maggie Haberman: 'Trump had been close friends with Jeffrey Epstein for years... he has been trying to distance himself from Epstein for quite some time.' She notes that meetings 'were almost exclusively about how to handle a PR crisis around a president who didn't want any of this out.'

Jonathan Swan highlights that the death of Charlie Kirk had a profound effect on Trump's inner circle. Kirk was a unique political organizer with Trump's ear, often willing to push back on certain issues, particularly against the Iran war. His loss removed an important voice that served as a counterbalance to the more hawkish advisors surrounding Trump.

Jonathan Swan: 'The way Trump learned about the shooting of Charlie Kirk, his son Baron called him... Charlie Kirk was almost a family member to everyone in the West Wing.' He adds, 'Charlie Kirk was arguably more in tune with that group of people than anyone in Trump's close orbit. And so I think that loss had a really profound effect on Trump's circle. And it just removed a person who I think was an important voice in Trump's ear as a counterbalance to some of the more hawkish voices that he hears from.'