Scaramucci: “Trump loves me…like a 9.5/10”

Welcome to the first episode of my new video/podcast Q&A series: Failing Up!

If you are wondering about the title, it’s not because I’m interested in interviewing “losers” – to use Trump parlance – on the contrary, I will be interviewing “winners.” But people are so much more thoughtful and interesting when discussing overcoming adversity than when discussing smooth-sailing. Smooth-sailing is actually pretty boring.

I can’t think of anyone in my rolodex better to kick this off than my friend, Anthony Scaramucci (aka The Mooch), the financier, podcaster – and not least, the notorious Trump White House Press Secretary of just 11 days.

I met Anthony in 2016 before he went into the Trump White House. We clicked right from the start. He’s impossible not to like. (Even Trump – he believes, and I suspect he’s right – still loves him. That’s why he bothered to post on Truth Social a couple of days ago that Anthony is a “major loser.”)

I talked to Anthony often during that messy 11-day period. And I talked to him in the days and weeks right after. It’s extraordinary to watch someone you know and admire blow themselves up like that so publicly – but what’s even more extraordinary is the way he coped and recovered, bouncing back better and stronger than before.

I was looking through my notes before doing this interview to remind myself of what we talked about during that time. I wrote down that just 24 hours after he lost his job, Anthony hadn’t lost his sense of humor.

He answered his phone to me, “White House Communications Department.  Oh, excuse me, I’m sorry. Is this not the White House Communications Department?”

Ask yourself if you’d be capable of that when you are a punch-line on Late-Night TV.

I certainly wouldn’t be.

These days Anthony is hosting a podcast – The Rest is Politics (US) with Katty Kay, the former BBC anchor – on top of running his alternative asset management firm, Skybridge Capital.

He’s as irrepressible and honest as ever.

He begins, typically, by discussing our hair color: “you don’t want to go to Rudy Giuliani’s colorist,” but we move on to cover a lot of substantial ground: the reason he got into politics (to meet people who’d be helpful to his business); his experience one-on-one with Trump (as part of the 2016 transition team, he used to be able to give him his honest opinions – but that changed once Trump was actually in the White House); his thoughts about the longevity or brevity of the Trump/Musk bromance (he predicts Musk will be a Democrat by 2028); the next Treasury Secretary (it depends on Trump’s insecurity levels; if he feels aggrieved, he’ll appoint a “loyalty lackey”); the enormous cultural shift in this country; the worry that no one is talking honestly to Trump right now; the hope that Trump may govern moderately. And, lastly, I asked him if he’d ever return to the Trump White House…

There’s also some talk equating Elon Musk’s rockets to flying penises and a quip about the contest Trump had with Marco Rubio in 2016 (see a snippet below) that I probably should cut, but what the heck…after all, this is The Mooch. He was fired from the White House for saying worse things.

As I wrote last week, this series is for my paid subscribers. Your support is what allows me to bring you candid, independent political analysis and discussions like this one. So if it is within your means, please do sign up! I promise it will be worth your while…

Enjoy.

Watch the full interview at Vicky Ward Investigates

You’re Hired!

You have to hand it to Donald Trump: only he could turn a boring, snoring transition into a gripping, fresh season of reality TV.

Just like season one on The Apprentice there are shock winners (Matt Gaetz, Peter Hegseth and Tulsi Gabbard), shock “you’re fired” losers (Ric Grenell, Mike Pompeo), a couple of boardroom side-kick judges (Elon Musk, Linda McMahon) and sporadic, sharp reminders, in case anyone forgets, about who is ultimately calling the shots: The Big Guy.

He’s even cast the caricature role that made the show’s first season a standout. Co-Transition head, and self-publicized candidate for Treasury Secretary, Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick seems to have stepped into the shoes of Omarosa Manigault Newman, who famously played the truculent attention-grabber who irritated everyone around her, but became a household name in the process.

And, just in case the audience was starting to nod off, there’s now a showstopper of a finale, keeping us on the edge of our seats as Trump rips up the original two-man race for Treasury Secretary and widens the field to include a whole new cast of characters….

Who knew that the search for America’s Next Top Banker could be so exciting?

It’s hard to concentrate.

So, instead of spending the time on a higher cause, I’ve bought in and spent a couple hours phoning my contacts on Wall Street to find out how they would handicap the race.

Read on at Vicky Ward Investigates

“It’s Not a Joke!”

In the nick of time, Tom Barrack is back!

Just as journalists, anchors, and most everyone else was having a collective coronary attack at the news of Matt Gaetz’s nomination as Attorney General, Trump’s long-time friend, the billionaire investor Tom Barrack, no stranger to these pages, sauntered back into the public arena after too long an absence. In his inimitable way, he somehow calmed the roiling water and brought people’s temperatures down.

I’d forgotten until I watched him give a command performance on both CNBC’s Squawk Box and with Erik Schatzker on Bloomberg, that Barrack’s unique gift is that when he talks, time seems to stand still. He has a gift for making the preposterous sound reasonable. You can understand why, my sources tell me, he’s pretty much the only person who was welcome in both the UAE and Qatar, when the former was blockading the latter. You can quickly see why it’s useful even for Trump, who, as we know, doesn’t like to be upstaged, to have him out there.

You may recall that back in the fall of 2022, I spent day after day in a courtroom in Brooklyn, covering Barrack’s criminal trial. Barrack was charged by the Eastern District of New York on 9 counts of espionage for the UAE. He took the stand in his own defense – usually considered a risky move by defense lawyers – but in this case, he had the jury at “Hello”. As he told his life story, I’ve never seen a jury so visibly charmed. He was acquitted of all charges.

But the experience, understandably took a toll. How could it not?

Read on at Vicky Ward Investigates

Why I’m Not Leaving Twitter

Yesterday afternoon, right after Trump announced he planned to nominate Matt Gaetz as Attorney General, my phone rang endlessly, as yours probably did too.

One particularly funny friend in DC, who I will refrain from naming because sometimes he tells me important things in confidence, asked “So, how old are your kids now?” “21” I replied. “Oh, good,” he said, “So they, too, are qualified to serve as Attorney General.”

Of course it’s funny precisely because it isn’t.

Read on at Vicky Ward Investigates

Why I’m Not Leaving Twitter

Yesterday afternoon, right after Trump announced he planned to nominate Matt Gaetz as Attorney General, my phone rang endlessly, as yours probably did too.

One particularly funny friend in DC, who I will refrain from naming because sometimes he tells me important things in confidence, asked “So, how old are your kids now?” “21” I replied. “Oh, good,” he said, “So they, too, are qualified to serve as Attorney General.”

Of course it’s funny precisely because it isn’t.

I belong, by accident, to a group chat of right-wing guys, mercenaries who operate in the Middle East. A source added me by mistake, and for probably a year now, I’ve sat on it quietly, eavesdropping, hoping no one notices me. Mostly the conversation is predictable (Iran must be destroyed; long live Tucker and Trump; Tulsi is fabulous…) BUT even this group was thrown into disarray by the news: “Matt Gates (sic) as Attorney General? All right I think That’s retarded,” somebody wrote. (I’m guessing from his language and spelling this is not a person who goes in for pronouns).

I was almost tempted to blow my cover and post a thumbs-up. But self-preservation kicked in. I didn’t.

Which brings me the point I want to make today: as I see it, my job is to lurk on group chats that I belong to by mistake.

Read on at Vicky Ward Investigates 

It’s Two Years Since The Idaho Four Were Murdered

Today is November 13th.

It’s the two year anniversary of the brutal murders of four students at the University of Idaho, a case that captured the nation’s attention and about which many questions remain.

Kaylee Goncalves, Maddie Mogen, Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle, pictured above, were found stabbed to death in their bedrooms, in the house they lived in at 1122 King Road, in the small college town of Moscow, Idaho. The house has controversially been demolished but it was in the middle of college housing and you could see it from the classrooms. Two of the roommates, Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke (also pictured above) survived.

Next summer you will read their story and the seismic impact of the murders on the the small town of Moscow, Idaho in my upcoming book co-authored with James Patterson.

It’s not appropriate for me to share the details now, but, as I did last year, I do want to take a moment on this day to remember the four beautiful souls who should be still among us.

Read on at Vicky Ward Investigates

Elon rides, Trump golfs…

I love golfing and talking.

Some in my circle would say I’m OK at the former and that I excel at the latter.

And yet even I do not love to play golf with a chattering non-golfer sitting in the cart beside me. I don’t even want to play golf with a chattering golfer sitting in the cart beside me. The only thing I want to discuss when I am playing golf is…my golf. And on that topic I am voluble, particularly when I reach the green and my putt is not worth describing.

I am not the only golfer who feels this way. Very few people who truly love the sport want to spend a round learning about how their companion’s kids are doing in fifth grade, who they are sleeping with, who their spouse is sleeping with, and so on. But there are people who feel that a round of golf is the moment to unload their personal problems. Not only is the chat distracting, typically, the chatterers are the ones who stand over their ball for hours, taking 9 practice swings…meanwhile I am already wondering how quickly we can finish and what’s for dinner.

Donald Trump is a very good golfer. And by reputation he is also a very fast golfer. (I am still waiting for my invitation to experience this first-hand but I do know many people who have played with him.)

So, when I heard from the disgruntled Trump groupies down at Mar-a-Lago that Elon Musk is NOT actually golfing with Trump (per the headlines), no he is now riding around in Trump’s golf cart, chatting with Trump while Trump golfs…I thought…

Read on at Vicky Ward Investigates

It’s MBS’s World…

They say a picture can be worth a 1000 words, and so today I bring you two, which, together show the diametrically opposed world view which Donald Trump is going to have to adjudicate.

I am told by multiple well-placed sources, Trump already has “people” on the ground in the Middle East – never mind that’s not supposed to happen before he’s president. This isn’t that sort of government. Trump wants peace and he wants it sorted asap.

Above is the official AP photograph from today’s Arab summit in Riyadh, convened by the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) to discuss Israel’s “continued aggression” towards the Palestinians in Gaza and Lebanon. (The prince amped up his position, called on Israel to respect Iran’s sovereignty and accused Jerusalem of genocide.)

So, you want to look carefully at everyone’s positions to ascertain the new hierarchy in the region. It’s doubtful that MBS said to his guests, “Just find a mark and stand there…”

Read on at Vicky Ward Investigates

The Democrats’ Disastrous Disconnect

Yesterday, Sam Nunberg and I chewed over Trump’s victory.

The biggest take-aways to me are :

1 – Trump’s off-the-wall behavior like “the weave”, and the dancing at rallies, may well be part of a strategy taught to him by his mentor, the late Roy Cohn. “Drive Your Enemies Crazy and they’ll end up making mistakes and it will help you.” It worked.

2 – Trump overrode his advisers to go to rallies in places like New York, New Jersey, California and New Mexico, where he knew he wouldn’t win, because he wanted to win the popular vote.

3 – The majority of Americans have moved on from January 6th and are tired of hearing about it.

4 – If the Democrats and the media don’t find a different way to frame Trump, they are on a path to irrelevance.

The transcript, edited for clarity, and the audio are below:

Read on at Vicky Ward Investigates

Who’s Gonna Win?

It’s here. The phone is ringing off the hook. No rumor is too off-the-wall not to take seriously, especially after David Plouffe’s pronouncement last night on CNN that Kamala Harris is well positioned to take all seven swing states

So in the Trump universe, the operatives yawned and said, “That’s just David doing his job, to keep hope alive.” But in the New York Times newsroom, they want to believe him.

I’ve even heard this morning that the Harris campaign believes Indiana is in play. And that if Trump loses North Carolina (which he may, courtesy of the disastrous recent remarks of Governor Mark Robinson, who looks likely to be defeated), then what?

I spoke today, as my readers know I do most days, to Trump’s first campaign adviser Sam Nunberg, who has been plugged in since the early hours. (At the end he has to hop off to take one more campaign call).

Here’s his take on where we are. I think he sounds less confident than he was a couple weeks ago but he says the Trump campaign thinks Pennsylvania is “doable” and, says they are optimistic.

And yet the Harris team says the same thing.

You can read the transcript below or listen to it here:

Read on at Vicky Ward Investigates