-President Trump is turning on some of his closest allies
while standing by the one that pays him, Saudi Arabia.
For more on this, it's time for "A Closer Look."
[ Cheers and applause ]
Trump did a sit-down interview with Fox News over the weekend,
and in that interview, he said some things
that might technically qualify as news.
But one thing he said that was news to nobody
was when he described his decision-making process
and made clear he doesn't really have one.
-When you're sitting at the desk, how do you make decisions?
I mean, do you agonize over them?
Do you second-guess yourself?
-I don't think about it.
I don't think about how I make them.
-Yeah, yeah, we know. [ Laughter ]
It's one of the symptoms.
I imagine Trump makes decisions the same way Netflix's algorithm
suggests something totally random for you to watch.
"Did you enjoy the migrant caravan?
Then you might also like raking in Finland."
[ Laughter ]
So while there's no process to Donald Trump's decision,
there is one central operating principle, and that's loyalty.
Doesn't matter who you are or how decorated you are,
all Trump cares about
is whether you are nice to him or mean to him.
That's why Trump attacked retired Admiral William McRaven,
a Navy S.E.A.L. who oversaw the operation
to kill Osama bin Laden.
McRaven has criticized Trump's attacks on the press,
calling him a threat to democracy,
but when Trump was asked about McRaven
he falsely accused him of being a Hillary Clinton supporter
just because Hillary had reportedly considered him
as a possible running mate in 2016.
-Bill McRaven, retired admiral, Navy S.E.A.L., 37 years,
former head of U.S. Special Operations --
-Hillary Clinton fan. -Special Operations --
-Excuse me -- Hillary Clinton fan.
-I'm so happy we have a president who blurts stuff out
like a "Price is Right" audience member.
"Hillary Clinton! $1!"
[ Laughter ]
Trump has also tried to weaponize
the criminal justice system against his political opponents.
For the same reason he attacked McRaven,
he wants to punish them for their disloyalty,
and he's being egged on by Fox News.
Yesterday, "The New York Times" reported
that Trump wanted to order the Justice Department
to prosecute James Comey and Hillary Clinton.
Some of his more vocal supporters stirred his anger,
including the Fox News commentator Jeanine Pirro,
who has railed repeatedly on her weekly show
that the President is being ill-served
by the Justice Department.
So not only is the President a wannabe dictator
who thinks he can jail whoever he wants,
he also genuinely believes
all the insane stuff he sees on Fox News.
Trump probably sits there all day,
watching Fox and shouting to his aides,
"Prosecute Hillary! Stop the caravan!
And ask my doctor is Otezla is right for me!"
[ Laughter ]
"Why can't I have Otezla?"
[ Laughter ]
Trump doesn't care that Hillary didn't actually break any laws
or that McRaven is Navy S.E.A.L. and decorated military hero
who led a mission to kill the world's most wanted terrorist.
All that matters to Trump is whether you're loyal.
And sure enough, Trump is now questioning
the loyalty of the man who was, constitutionally speaking,
closer to him than anyone else in the federal government.
-In recent weeks, with his electoral prospects
two years from now much on his mind,
Mr. Trump has focused on the person
who has most publicly tethered his fortunes to him.
In one conversation after another,
he has asked aides and advisers a pointed question --
"Is Mike Pence loyal?"
-Damn. Now he's questioning Mike Pence?
How paranoid can you be?
Mike Pence has spent two years
doing everything he can to suck up to Trump.
I mean, he literally copies Trump's physical mannerisms.
Remember that time Trump put his water bottle
on the ground during a meeting
and then Pence immediately did the same thing?
[ Laughter ]
I mean, look at that -- Pence is like a pageant mom
who's doing his daughter's routine
along with her from the audience.
"And clap, then spin, then step, step, step,
then jazz hands, jazz hands, jazz hands.
For Trump, loyalty only goes one way,
and there's no better example of that
than the man who's arguably closer to Trump
than anyone else in the world, Fox News host Sean Hannity.
Just to give you an idea of how loyal Hannity is to Trump,
it was reported a few months ago
that Hannity has Trump's direct phone line
and they talk multiple times a day,
including after the Fox News host
wraps up taping his show most weeknights.
Can you imagine that conversation?
It's probably the phone call version
of two dogs sniffing each other's butts.
[ Laughter ]
And everyone in the White House knows it's happening,
because Trump will walk around, flaunting the fact
that Hannity calls him every day.
White House staff are aware that the calls happen
entering a room and announcing, "I just hung up with Hannity."
[ Laughter ]
No one has parlayed the President
into less impressive celebrity friends.
I mean, JFK used the presidency to hang out with Marilyn Monroe.
Trump plays phone a friend
with the human embodiment of a Christmas ham.
[ Laughter ]
[ Cheers and applause ]
Sean Ham-ity. So that's how close --
[ Laughter ]
That's how -- [ Laughter ]
That's how close those two are,
or at least, that's how close Hannity thought they were
until last week, when "The Daily Beast" reported
that Trump calls Hannity a suck-up behind his back.
Trump has repeatedly made fun of Hannity's interviewing skills
and called Hannity's softball questions dumb.
Now, I think I know what Hannity did to anger Trump.
You see, Hannity has spent hours on his show defending Trump
from one especially salacious rumor
about a certain sex act in a Moscow hotel room,
a rumor so salacious that we will not stoop
to repeat the details of it here on this show.
But as we pointed out before, Sean Hannity often repeats
all the embarrassing details of that specific rumor
on his TV show, which is watched by millions of people,
and I feel like it might have started to annoy Trump,
because Hannity -- Hannity just won't let it go.
-Remember, that's the dossier that talked about Trump
at a Ritz-Carlton in Moscow
with two prostitutes urinating on his bed.
The fake document about President Trump,
and that goes to the Ritz-Carlton,
and that goes to hookers.
Russians and the Ritz-Carlton and hookers.
You know, talking about hookers and urinating in beds.
Hookers, Ritz-Carlton, urinating on a bed.
The Ritz-Carlton and hookers.
Russian hookers.
Trump, hookers, hookers, hookers, hookers, hookers,
hookers, hookers, hookers urinating in his bed.
Peeing, urinating, urinating,
urinating, urinating, urinating, urinating.
Hookers at a Ritz-Carlton in Moscow urinating in the bed.
Employing a number of prostitutes
to perform golden showers, in other words, urination.
-So, Hannity thought it was a good idea to go on his show
and read in detail the single most embarrassing rumor
about his friend, the president.
I mean, now I know why Trump is mad at him.
Or should I say pissed?
[ Laughter, cheers, applause ]
Whether it's Hannity or Pence, anyone who gets close to Trump
eventually learns his loyalty has a limit.
There's really only one way to ensure that Trump
will stand by you, no matter what,
and that's simple -- to pay him off.
That's the lesson Saudi Arabia's learning this week
amid a firestorm over the murder of "Washington Post" columnist
and U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi.
We know for a fact that Trump has financial ties
to Saudi Arabia because he told us.
-I love the Saudis. Many are in this building.
Saudi Arabia, and I get along great with all of them.
They buy apartments from me.
They spend $40 million, $50 million.
Am I supposed to dislike them? I like them very much.
-Saudi Arabia -- I like the Saudis.
They're very nice. I make a lot of money with them.
They buy all sorts of my stuff, all kinds of toys from Trump.
-Toys?
He sounds like a guy on the street selling knockoff LEGOs.
"They don't snap together. You got to use duct tape."
[ Laughter ]
Trump's financial ties to Saudi Arabia
might explain why he's been so reluctant
to condemn the kingdom
for murdering a journalist and U.S. Resident.
Yesterday, Trump was asked why
he was siding with the oppressive regime
over his own intelligence agencies,
and he gave an answer that made no sense whatsoever.
-Why are you siding with the Saudis
over your own intelligence agencies?
-Because it's America first, to me.
It's all about America first.
-No, that's not America first.
That's Saudi Arabia first.
This guy is George Orwell's worst nightmare,
including the fact that his brain
stopped developing in 1984.
[ Laughter ]
The President is an authoritarian
who demands loyalty and punishes his enemies.
He'll turn on even the people closest to him,
but he'll stand by you
as long as you shower him with gold,
also known as...
-Golden showers.
-This has been "A Closer Look."
[ Cheers and applause ]
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