Episode overview

Trump is 'not well' — and it's getting worse | David Cay Johnston

The Trump Report · 6 July 2026 · 25m · 2 Egleze moments

What happened in this episode?

Host Maddie Hail interviews Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and Trump biographer David Cay Johnston on The Trump Report to discuss Trump's conduct following America's 250th birthday celebrations and emerging corruption scandals. Johnston makes the striking claim that Trump is suffering from frontal lobe dementia, citing agreement from a leading expert and pointing to Trump's posting 105 times on social media in 11 hours as evidence of deteriorating mental state. The conversation covers Trump's July 4th speech, which critics say was divisive rather than unifying, and his failure to condemn white supremacist Patriot Front members who marched through Washington during the celebrations. Johnston argues Trump is a lifelong racist whose MAGA slogan really means making America white again. A major focus is Trump's alleged interference with FIFA to reverse a red card for US player Folarin Balogun, which UEFA called unprecedented and incomprehensible. Johnston characterizes this as Trump believing he is all-powerful and compares his governing style to Louis XIV's absolute monarchy. The episode also examines Trump's racist attacks on the Obamas through doctored images and reports on at least 14 mining deals where the Trump family and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick's family are personally profiting using taxpayer money. Johnston compares this to Putin-style kleptocracy and notes Trump has already made $1.4 billion in 2025 from family cryptocurrency and other business ventures. The discussion touches on Trump's 90-minute call with Putin about Ukraine, with Johnston suggesting the Kremlin may be growing desperate as Ukraine gains ground. Throughout, Johnston portrays Trump as fundamentally corrupt, racist, and mentally deteriorating while consolidating unprecedented power.

What are the key points?

Pulitzer-winning journalist David Cay Johnston claims Trump suffers from frontal lobe dementia based on expert confirmation and observable behavior including manic social media posting
Trump allegedly called FIFA president to reverse US player's red card suspension, with FIFA taking unprecedented action that UEFA condemned as incomprehensible
Trump family and Commerce Secretary Lutnick's family personally profiting from at least 14 mining deals funded by US taxpayers, not private investment
Trump earned $1.4 billion in 2025 from family business deals including cryptocurrency ventures while serving as president, unprecedented self-enrichment for sitting president
Trump failed to condemn white supremacist Patriot Front members who marched through Washington during July 4th celebrations, reinforcing pattern of racist behavior
Johnston argues Trump's corruption mirrors Putin-style kleptocracy, with former governor Chris Christie making same comparison about Trump's self-enrichment
Trump held 90-minute call with Putin about Ukraine peace deal, with Kremlin possibly showing desperation as Ukraine makes battlefield gains

Which topics are covered?

Politics

How is this page sourced?

Programme: The Trump Report
Published: 6 July 2026
Duration: 25m
Original episode: Open the original source ↗

Egleze verifies the speaker, source and timestamp for each linked moment. Unless a moment is explicitly marked independently verified, statements remain attributed claims by the named speaker rather than established facts.

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2 moments from this episode

Source-linked · editorially selected

Politics

Trump Allegedly Intervened with FIFA to Reverse Red Card for US Player

at 17:32 · Attributed speaker claim

Donald thinks he's all powerful. So here he calls up an official at this corrupt organization FIFA that gave him the FIFA peace prize and says, 'Hey, I want you to remove the red card on this player and they do it. They do it. They bow down to him.' And so to Donald, this is just further proof that in fact he alone is qualified to be president and uh he is the state.

Trump reportedly called FIFA president Gianni Infantino to request a review of US striker Folarin Balogun's red card suspension, and FIFA took the unprecedented step of reversing the one-match ban. UEFA called the decision incomprehensible and unjustifiable, while Belgium's football association appealed. Johnston argues this demonstrates Trump's belief in his unlimited power and represents corruption at the international level.

Read this moment → Check original at 17:32 ↗

Politics

Trump Using Taxpayer Money for Personal Mining Deals Worth Billions, Investigation Reveals

at 23:41 · Attributed speaker claim

There have been at least 14 mining deals around the world according to an remarkable New York Times investigation a few days ago uh in which the Trump family and the Lutnik family, Howard Lutnik is the commerce secretary, are personally benefiting. US taxpayers are putting up the money, not uh Trump and uh Lutnik families. He's doing business deals where he uses the power of the presidency to enrich himself and his family and then he uses taxpayer money to fund or subsidize these businesses.

Johnston reveals that Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick's families are personally profiting from at least 14 international mining deals funded by US taxpayers rather than their own money. This adds to Trump's reported $1.4 billion earnings in 2025 from family business deals including cryptocurrency ventures. Johnston compares this to Putin-style kleptocracy and says no previous president has engaged in such self-enrichment while in office.

Read this moment → Check original at 23:41 ↗