Niall Stanage
speaker
120 appearances
2 recordings
1 series
first heard Apr 2026
last heard 4d ago
Niall Stanage’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
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recordings per month · last 12 monthsRecordings per month over the last 12 months — 2 in all, peaking in Sep 2026 with 1.
Appearances
to deflect, as you say, to perhaps intimidate other people in the room who would be less inclined to ask those kinds of questions, but also to create a kind of performative animus with the media around
which, of course, appalls some people, but also delights a certain proportion of the Trump MAGA base.
So in any situation like that, the journalist and the president or the journalist and the press secretary are each heroes to half the country and villains to the other half.
And the White House thinks that that's, I think, a fine way to go.
The security around Trump in general, Pat, as you would well imagine, is very tight.
I think that what might change is security around this annual dinner if it continues, because in past years I have attended.
And one thing that's very notable is the hotel itself.
It's a massive hotel.
It's not like it closes down for the events.
So people who are going to the ballroom, which is actually an underground, pass through places where hotel guests can often come out and
look to see if they can spot any political or media celebrities or admire the style.
And so there is an inherent security vulnerability in that respect, in that event.
I think in relation to Trump in a broader sense, there's already very tight security around him in most circumstances.
Yes, I can actually tell you from the way to see Brighton bombing that was directed at Margaret Thatcher that she would have to be lucky forever.
Yes, that's right.
And of course, there is a general balance, Pat, that often strikes me when I'm in Washington about the balance between security and the balance between a free society.
And this applies to political figures beyond the president.
Often lower-ranking but well-known political figures do want some kind of interaction with the public because they don't want to be in a bubble, and they do see, I think, some political advantage in still being accessible.
But, of course, accessibility...
is vulnerability in a sense when people have nefarious intent so you know i mean for example president obama used to complain about the fact that he just can't really couldn't really go for a walkabout or do anything unexpected because it's an entire security operation that moves every time the president moves and so those dynamics i think are by their nature almost impossible to resolve the more security you have the less freedom you have the more freedom you have the less security you have
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