Summary
Overview
Pod Save America hosts John Favreau and Dan Pfeiffer discuss Trump's chaotic approach to the 2026 midterms, including his bizarre Lake Ontario renaming, his strategy to make the election about himself, and his planned two-night convention. They cover RFK Jr.'s dangerous anti-vaccine rhetoric amid a measles outbreak, the Georgia Senate race's latest Nazi scandal, and Trump's attempts to restrict mail-in voting. The episode concludes with an interview with Dr. Annie Andrews, the Democratic Senate candidate challenging Darlene Graham in South Carolina.
Trump's Lake Ontario Stunt and Foreign Policy Disasters
Trump held an Oval Office signing ceremony to rename Lake Ontario to Lake America, explaining the change would happen with just 'a good pen and some intelligence.' Meanwhile, he continues to struggle with his Iran war strategy, posting an AI-generated image claiming 'mission accomplished' by 2026, deliberately evoking George W. Bush's Iraq war disaster. The hosts mock Trump's inability to focus on actual governance while he obsesses over symbolic gestures and increasingly desperate attempts to control the narrative.
- Trump officially renamed Lake Ontario to 'Lake America without the of' in an Oval Office ceremony
- Trump posted an AI image about Iran saying 'mission accomplished 2026,' deliberately evoking Bush's Iraq war failure
- Trump previewed plans to potentially rename the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean next
- The AP was previously banned from the White House for refusing to call it the Gulf of America
" So Lake Ontario, that's gone. Lake America. So now we have a lake. And now we have a gulf. Because we have the Gulf of America. Now we have Lake America without the of. "
" Donald Trump is not even good at trolling anymore. Like this is like he is he's I mean, we've said this where he's lost his fastball, but he's just there's like this. You can almost feel the relevance just declining with every passing moment that people don't care. "
Trump's Narcissistic Midterm Strategy: Making It All About Himself
With 67 days until the midterms and his approval rating underwater by about 20 points, Trump has devised a brilliant strategy: asking voters to 'pretend I'm on the ballot.' His advisors told him his bad polling is simply because people don't know about his accomplishments, leading to plans for more Trump-focused ads. The Atlantic reports Trump is planning to buy midterm ads about his own record rather than supporting individual Republican candidates, a strategy that would likely help Democrats win substantial majorities.
- Trump's approval is underwater by 20 points, worse than he was before the 2018 midterms when Republicans lost badly
- Trump's strategy is to tell voters to 'pretend I'm on the ballot' and run ads about his own accomplishments
- GOP strategists prefer focusing on local races and individual candidates, but Trump rejected this approach
- If every Trump disapprover voted Democratic, it would create a 20-point generic ballot advantage for Democrats
" There's a theory that I get the vote. I see it all the time that when Trump's on the ballot they win, when he's not on the ballot the people don't go to vote. And I'm asking the people through your brilliant show, number one show, I'm asking the people to get out and vote. Pretend I'm on the ballot. "
" I couldn't ask for any. Like, great. Go for it. Run more. Run more ads. Make sure that everyone understands that Mike Rogers, Susan Collins, John Husted, all these people are completely associated with Donald Trump. A man whose approval rating is underwater in every state in this country. "
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