Ezra Klein

How does it sense that Trump is a man of destiny? Because I agree with you. And I think understanding... The interpretation of Trump is somehow mystic, is very important to understanding his relationship now with the right. But specifically, how do you think it has changed the way his staff and his allies treat him?

How does it sense that Trump is a man of destiny? Because I agree with you. And I think understanding... The interpretation of Trump is somehow mystic, is very important to understanding his relationship now with the right. But specifically, how do you think it has changed the way his staff and his allies treat him?

But I don't think it's just the external world and its judgment of Donald Trump. And you can tell me if you think this is wrong, but I think one of the biggest differences between Trump 1 and Trump 2 is that in Trump 1,

But I don't think it's just the external world and its judgment of Donald Trump. And you can tell me if you think this is wrong, but I think one of the biggest differences between Trump 1 and Trump 2 is that in Trump 1,

his own staff, the people who surrounded him, were perfectly comfortable thinking President Donald Trump is very wrong about this, that his judgment is bad, his impulses need to be foiled. We are the resistance inside the Trump administration. And in Trump, too, I don't think people around him are comfortable thinking that.

his own staff, the people who surrounded him, were perfectly comfortable thinking President Donald Trump is very wrong about this, that his judgment is bad, his impulses need to be foiled. We are the resistance inside the Trump administration. And in Trump, too, I don't think people around him are comfortable thinking that.

I think there is both a sense that they're there to serve him, but also a sense that there is something in Trump to them, not to me, that exists beyond argumentation. The fact that the tariff policy doesn't make sense on its face. The fact that what he's doing seems like a bad idea. Well, if you knew better, then you'd be in the chair.

I think there is both a sense that they're there to serve him, but also a sense that there is something in Trump to them, not to me, that exists beyond argumentation. The fact that the tariff policy doesn't make sense on its face. The fact that what he's doing seems like a bad idea. Well, if you knew better, then you'd be in the chair.

And so the unwillingness to question him because there's a belief in either a mystic purpose to him or that he has a mystic beyond argumentation intuition about things, I think has really changed the nature of the constraints around him or the absence of constraints around him.

And so the unwillingness to question him because there's a belief in either a mystic purpose to him or that he has a mystic beyond argumentation intuition about things, I think has really changed the nature of the constraints around him or the absence of constraints around him.

Well, we tend to think of fortune as synonymous with luck, but you go back to Greek mythology And when you are touched by fortune, when you get a fortune, when you speak to the oracle, it often doesn't work out that well. You get a clear prophecy that seems like it foretells your success. Right. And laced inside of that is your downfall.

Well, we tend to think of fortune as synonymous with luck, but you go back to Greek mythology And when you are touched by fortune, when you get a fortune, when you speak to the oracle, it often doesn't work out that well. You get a clear prophecy that seems like it foretells your success. Right. And laced inside of that is your downfall.

I think what kind of story, what kind of mystic structure you believe we're in, is it one that is providential or is it one where the gods often laugh at human design? Yeah.

I think what kind of story, what kind of mystic structure you believe we're in, is it one that is providential or is it one where the gods often laugh at human design? Yeah.

How well do you remember Batman Begins?

How well do you remember Batman Begins?

I've had this joke in my head often in the past couple of months as somebody whose mythic analogies tend to come from the Marvel or DC universe more than the Old or the New Testament. They're just like, convince me we're not being governed by the League of Shadows.

I've had this joke in my head often in the past couple of months as somebody whose mythic analogies tend to come from the Marvel or DC universe more than the Old or the New Testament. They're just like, convince me we're not being governed by the League of Shadows.

And I went back and I rewatched the piece where, you know, Ra's al Ghul sort of reveals the whole plan and he says, look, we've infiltrated every layer of Gotham's power structure. We tried to do this through financial engineering and destroy Gotham's economy. It didn't quite work. Now we're back for number two. And the fact that we are here is proof of your decadence.

And I went back and I rewatched the piece where, you know, Ra's al Ghul sort of reveals the whole plan and he says, look, we've infiltrated every layer of Gotham's power structure. We tried to do this through financial engineering and destroy Gotham's economy. It didn't quite work. Now we're back for number two. And the fact that we are here is proof of your decadence.