Fergus Finlay: The ghost of presidents past could give Trump some tips
But as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes, he became aware of a shadowy figure in a chair in the corner of the bedroom. He reached for the bedside button that would bring the Secret Service running into the room, but the sepulchral voice stopped him in his tracks.
'It's me Donald. It's Dick, your old friend. And your former president. We need to talk, because the bastards are trying to do you in, the way they destroyed me.' Nixon? Was it really Richard Nixon, sitting there in the corner of the room?
Yes, they had been friends, sort of, for a couple of years after Nixon's resignation Trump had supported him in his disgrace, and they even wrote to each other quite a bit (Donald was really regretting right now his habit of writing witty letters, as he called them, to his friends). But Nixon had died more than 30 years ago. What was he doing here now?
'Listen,' Nixon said, as if anticipating Trump's questions. 'I don't know why, and from everything I do know it's not in your character, but you were kind to me for a little while when I needed friends and recognition. So I want to help you now. You're in more trouble than you know, and I need to give you some advice.'
'If you're talking about the Epstein stuff,' Trump said, 'I've got it covered. With all the dirt I've got on the Democrats, there's no way they can get me.' Nixon laughed, and it wasn't a pretty sound.
'The Democrats,' he said scornfully. 'Do you think it was the Democrats that got me? They never laid a glove on me. It was three things. I made a few mistakes along the way, and you ought to remember what they were.
"But it was the media, the damn media, and most of all it was my own people who abandoned me in the end. And that's always the way it is, Donald.
The opposition always do their best to punish you, but if you're looking for your real enemies they will always – always – appear on your own side.
Realising he had Trump's rapt attention, the ghost went on.
'I'm surprised they haven't given the issue a name yet. But they will, they'll make it something that people can remember. And they'll probably name it after me, or that bloody building that's always associated with my name. Epsteingate, they'll call it, and when you see that name appear in the media you'll know they really have their claws into it, and into you.'
'You've already made my first mistake,' the ghost of Nixon told him. 'Being in the afterlife gives you certain insights, along with a lot of other stuff I don't want to talk about. But it doesn't enable me to see everything in those bloody files.
"I do know there's something in there, maybe just one thing or maybe a few, that you are terrified of. And from everything the world already knows about your private life it must be pretty bad – it's certainly not something you and I ever talked about over drinks, or when you were trying to persuade me to buy an apartment in Trump Tower."
'It's never going to come out,' Trump told him. 'My people have promised me they'll never let that happen.' Nixon laughed his deathly laugh again.
'You're forgetting the prime lesson of Watergate – and you're not the only one who's done that. That fool in London Boris Johnson forgot it too and look what happened to him. The crime is one thing, but in politics the cover-up becomes the real crime. And you're up to your neck in a cover-up right now.'
'That's the way it has to be,' Trump said.
'No,' Nixon retorted. 'The pressure will build and build, and soon you'll have to appoint a Special Prosecutor. And you won't get away with hand-picking one of those fools from Fox News that you seem to love. It will have to be someone who at least looks independent.
"And the first thing they will ask for is the files. All the files. And suddenly they won't be under your lock and key anymore. They'll come after what they always called the smoking gun in my day.'
'Have you forgotten?' Nixon demanded. 'They looked for all my tapes, and I knew if they got them, I was finished. By the way I hope you haven't been taping your private conversations …' Trump didn't reply.
'That probably tells me everything I need to know,' Nixon pressed on.
'Remember that night in 1973 – the Saturday night massacre they called it. I told the Attorney General to fire the prosecutor, and he resigned rather than follow my orders. Then his deputy walked away.
"Then when I finally got rid of that stuffed shirt Archibald Cox as Special Prosecutor I was forced to accept an even tougher bastard in his place. And they got the files, and their smoking gun, in the end.'
'My people aren't quitters,' Trump said. 'They knew what they were getting into. They'd be prepared to go down fighting rather than betray the MAGA movement.' Nixon laughed out loud, and for the first time the president felt fear.
'If you believe that,' Nixon said, 'you're a bigger fool than I think you are. Do you remember how many went down fighting with me? Not one, not bloody one. The hypocrite Kissinger, even him, offering to pray with me as if I was facing execution. In the end I was entirely alone.'
'So what are you telling me to do?' Trump wanted to know.
'Let it out,' Nixon said. 'Whatever is there, make a virtue of openness. They'll comb through it for all the dirt. Tell them you're going to publish the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Then you can start denying it afresh.
Your base would rather believe you – or at least forgive you. And you won't be the only one who has denials to issue. But for God's sake don't make the terrible mistake I did when I said I wasn't a crook. Don't make a speech saying, 'your president is not a paedophile' – there'd be no coming back from that.
There was silence then, enough for the president to think. Of all the advice he had hoped for from Richard Nixon, telling the truth wasn't it. And he knew he couldn't. He'd built a movement, and two terms in the Oval Office, without ever once telling the truth. He knew it couldn't be that way. Nixon had to do better.
But when he opened his mouth to speak, he realised the other man was silent too. And the shadowy figure in the corner was gone, had faded into nothing. Donald Trump was alone. He was perspiring heavily, and deathly afraid.
What had that vision been? A voice foretelling the future, or just a bad dream? Yes, he decided. It must have been something I ate. Just a bad dream. That was all. Maybe.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Examiner
an hour ago
- Irish Examiner
Trump's global tariff agenda puts Ireland's pharmaceutical industry at serious risk
The whole world is in thrall to the whims of Donald Trump's tariff agenda, as it has been since the 47th president of the United States' swearing-in last January. We've learned a few uncomfortable truths along the way. Much of the early outcry from America's allies and trading partners surrounded the lack of economic logic to the imposition of tariffs – which are effectively a tax for Americans on foreign products, in theory making them less attractive to US consumers and heightening the allure of their own domestic suppliers. Critics said that the new regime would disrupt the world economy needlessly and perhaps bring about a global recession. That may well come to pass. The problem is that in this stand-off America has the greater wherewithal in terms of raw economic power. It holds the cards as Trump himself might say. And nations worldwide are beginning to fall into line, the EU just the latest after agreeing to a blanket 15% tariff on goods and services going forward. After President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and US President Donald Trump agreed the trade deal, the spin is that the pain of those tariffs is worth it in order to avoid a global trade war. Also, 15% is better than 30% or worse, is the thinking. Photo:The spin is that the pain of those tariffs is worth it in order to avoid a global trade war. Also, 15% is better than 30% or worse, is the thinking. Whether that represents capitulation in the face of bullyboy tactics, given that little or nothing has been asked of the US in return, is a separate conversation. Ireland's pharmaceutical industry Here in Ireland we have a bigger problem though, and that problem is the pharmaceutical industry. That industry contributes massively to the economy here via billions of euro in corporation tax contributions, with about 90 companies employing 50,000 people in highly-paid roles. A total 30,000 of those jobs are with American firms. Should foreign pharmaceutical concerns exit Ireland the impact on the country would be catastrophic. The industry globally had pleaded with Trump for it to be exempted from any tariff regime, ostensibly for altruistic reasons – that lifesaving medicines shouldn't be subject to capricious taxation. At an EU level, the industry asked that the bloc not apply reciprocal tariffs, one wish that has at least been granted. Pfizer is one of the massive American pharmaceutical companies holding bases in Ireland, in this case Cork. File picture: Dan Linehan Oddly enough, in Trump's world of permanent grievance where everyone has been making a sucker of the United States for decades, the outsize presence the US pharmaceutical industry holds in Ireland is one situation on which he indisputably has a legitimate point. Drug prices in the US can retail for as much as five times what an EU citizen would pay. Meanwhile, American pharma firms make a pretty penny avoiding American tax by basing themselves here. Trump's protectionist agenda demands that those jobs and companies should return home. The Government has been worrying about and planning for a worst-case scenario in terms of tariffs on pharmaceuticals for months. Reaction from the pharma companies But what of the pharma industry itself? The official line from the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association (IPHA), the industry's lobby group here, is that it is reviewing the announcements coming out of Washington as and when they happen 'as key implications for the pharmaceutical sector remain uncertain'. A stance it's hard to argue with given the whole world has grown used to the haphazard nature of the Trump administration's demands. The European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) notes that tariffs are 'a blunt instrument that will disrupt supply chains, impact on investment in research and development, and ultimately harm patient access to medicines on both sides of the Atlantic'. It added that if the goal is to rebalance trade and ensure a 'fairer distribution' of how pharmaceutical innovation is financed, then 'there are more effective means than tariffs that would help'. Impact on pharma in Ireland The IDA, the body with prime responsibility for attracting foreign investment to Irish shores, says of the pharma implications that it 'welcomes' the deal made between Europe and the US, arguing it provides 'much-needed certainty for Irish, European and American businesses who together represent the most integrated trading relationship in the world'. 'We are very much reliant (on the US market), there's no arguing with that,' says one industry insider. Last year a massive €44bn in pharmaceutical products were exported directly from Ireland to the US. 'But when you stand back €100bn was exported globally. So half went to America, but it's not like all business went there, though it is certainly the biggest partner,' says the source. That doesn't mean that those massive American companies holding bases here – MSD, Pfizer, ELI Lilly, Johnson and Johnson etc – are about to up sticks on the back of the new tariff regime. 'They are not going to leave today or tomorrow, no. But it could definitely impact future investment decisions,' the source says. One of the problems is that a great deal of uncertainty still surrounds the 15% tariff agreement, particularly with regard to pharma. One of the Eli Lilly production buildings at its state-of-the-art facility in Dunderrow, Kinsale, Co Cork. For starters, most people concerned thought that the pharmaceutical industry wasn't to be included in the deal. Then about two hours after the deal was agreed European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said it would be included, a point Trump appeared to back up. The following day the White House produced a 'fact sheet' describing how the new regime would work, and affirming the 15% rate for pharma. Except that the same sheet stated that the European Union would pay the tariff – which isn't how tariffs work. Then there is the Section 232 investigation which the US Department of Commerce initiated into the pharma industry in April – aiming to establish if how the pharmaceutical system worldwide currently functions impacts negatively on the US from a national security standpoint. Should the answer arrived at be a 'yes', then additional tariffs on pharma may well follow (such investigations typically take a minimum of six months to conclude, so we'll probably get an answer sometime towards the end of the year). 'Pharma plans in the long-term,' says Aidan Meagher, tax partner specialising in life sciences with consultants EY, noting that most pharma manufacturers will have been planning for this scenario for months and will have frontloaded stock into the American market, thus negating immediate impacts in the near term. He says that companies will be likely looking at 'dual sourcing' initiatives, supplying the American market from within the US itself and using Irish operations for its trade around the rest of the globe. 'Ireland needs to up its game' But Meagher says that it would be 'remiss' of Ireland, and the pharma industry here, to take a 'wait and see' approach, perhaps with the supposition that Trump's policies will last for the remaining three-and-a-half years of his term, and no longer. 'It is all about the next investment. A lot of these drugs only have patent protection for a certain life or longevity. Ireland needs to maintain investment and to incentivise the right kind of activity in terms of attracting that innovation,' he says. That means thinking outside the box in terms of tax credits for research and development, and improvements to infrastructure, particularly housing, Meagher says, areas in which we are notably lagging behind in terms of international competition. But he argues that the situation is far from a doomsday scenario. 'It's not as simple as that, it's a whole range of business factors that need to be considered – it's all about impacts for specific companies,' he says. 'It's not all necessarily doom and gloom. Companies have had plenty of time to consider this. And pharma companies are long-term thinkers. Ireland has had just two issues with the FDA (the US food and drug administration, responsible for approving new drugs) in its history. "The country has a strong reputation. These countries have invested significantly and Ireland is the owner of a lot of valuable intellectual property.' But it's certainly not a time to be complacent, Meagher argues. 'We have dropped down the competitiveness radar, and our competitors now aren't in the EU – they're in Switzerland, Singapore and the US itself. We need to be a top competitor for inward investment, and R&D and infrastructure will be critical. That is where Ireland needs to up its game.'
The Journal
3 hours ago
- The Journal
US to deploy two nuclear submarines in response to 'highly provocative' comments from Russia
LAST UPDATE | 3 hrs ago US PRESIDENT DONALD Trump has said he ordered that two nuclear submarines be deployed in response to 'highly provocative' comments by a senior Russian official. Trump did not say whether he meant nuclear-powered or nuclear-armed submarines. He also did not elaborate on the locations, which are kept secret by the US military. The United States and Russia control the vast majority of the world's nuclear weaponry, and Washington keeps nuclear-armed submarines on patrol as part of its so-called nuclear triad of land, sea and air-launched weapons. 'Based on the highly provocative statements of the Former President of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev…, I have ordered two Nuclear Submarines to be positioned in the appropriate regions, just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that,' Trump posted on his Truth Social platform. 'Words are very important, and can often lead to unintended consequences, I hope this will not be one of those instances.' Trump did not refer specifically to what Medvedev had said to prompt the highly unusual public display of nuclear sabre-rattling. On Monday, Medvedev harshly criticised Trump's threat of new sanctions against Russia over the continuing invasion of Ukraine. Advertisement Accusing Trump of 'playing the ultimatum game,' he posted on X that Trump 'should remember' that Russia is a formidable force. 'Each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war. Not between Russia and Ukraine, but with his own country,' the Russian official said. Medvedev is currently deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council and a vocal proponent of President Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine – and generally antagonistic relations with the West. He served one term as president between 2008-2012, effectively acting as a placeholder for Putin, who was able to circumvent constitutional term limits and remain in de facto power. - © AFP 2025 Want to know more about what's happening in Ukraine and why? Check out our FactCheck Knowledge Bank for essential reads and guides to finding good information online. Visit Knowledge Bank
The Journal
3 hours ago
- The Journal
Ghislaine Maxwell moved from federal jail to minimum-security prison camp
GHISLAINE MAXWELL, THE longtime associate and former girlfriend of notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, has been moved from a federal prison in Florida to a minimum-security prison in Texas following a meeting she had with a high-ranking US Department of Justice official. The US Bureau of Prisons said that 'Ghislaine Maxwell is in the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons at the Federal Prison Camp (FPC) Bryan in Bryan, Texas', without giving a reason for the transfer. The story was first reported by the New York Sun . Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence for sexually exploiting and abusing teenage girls, had been interviewed over the course of two days by Todd Blanche, the second-highest ranking official in the Department of Justice, and one of President Donald Trump's former lawyers. Advertisement Maxwell's transfer is the latest development in a now weeks-long period of intense pressure being put on Trump about his attorney general's reneging on a promise to release documents related to the case against Epstein, often called the 'Epstein files'. Epstein died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while he was awaiting trial for sex trafficking offences. A medical examiner ruled his death a suicide. The Trump administrations U-turn on the president's campaign promise to release the files has been met with the sharpest rebukes from within his own MAGA base, many of whom had hoped the documents would reveal links between Epstein and prominent Democrats. Trump has been on the back foot and has failed to make the story go away. Virginia Roberts Giuffre, with a photo of herself as a teen, when she said she was abused by Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell and Prince Andrew, among others. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo Trump had a close personal relationship with Epstein for years but the two fell out after the convicted sex offender 'stole' one of Epstein's victims, Virginia Guifree, from his Mar-a-Lago golf resort. Related Reads US Justice Department seeking to interview Jeffrey Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell Wall Street Journal barred from covering Trump's Scotland visit after Epstein letter report Virginia Giuffre alleged she was sex-trafficked to two 'respected politicians' and Prince Andrew 'People were taken out of the (Mar-a-Lago) spa, hired by him, in other words gone,' Trump said. 'When I heard about it, I told him, I said, 'Listen, we don't want you taking our people.' 'And then not too long after that, he did it again. And I said, 'Out of here.'' Giuffre, who said she was abused by Maxwell, Epstein and Britain's Prince Andrews, among others, died by suicide in April this year. If you have been affected by any of the issues mentioned in this article, you can reach out for support through the following helplines. These organisations also put people in touch with long-term supports: Samaritans - 116 123 or email jo@ (suicide, crisis support) Text About It - text HELLO to 50808 (mental health issues) Pieta House – 1800 247 247 or text HELP to 51444 – (suicide, self-harm) Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
