Deny and Deflect: Will Anyone Be Held Responsible for Signalgate? | Pivot
Scott Galloway (host), Kara Swisher (host), Narrator, Narrator, Narrator, Narrator, Narrator
In this episode of Pivot, featuring Scott Galloway and Kara Swisher, Deny and Deflect: Will Anyone Be Held Responsible for Signalgate? | Pivot explores signalgate Fallout, Trump Tariffs, Crypto Grift, And Podcast Power Plays Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway dissect the "Signalgate" leak, where senior Trump defense officials shared sensitive Yemen war plans over an unsecured Signal chat that mistakenly included Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg. They highlight the hypocrisy of officials who once demanded harsh punishment for far lesser classified‑info issues, and criticize the White House’s deny-and-deflect crisis response while praising Goldberg and The Atlantic for standing firm. The conversation then shifts to Trump’s new auto tariffs and a family-linked stablecoin venture as evidence of economically illiterate policy and escalating grift that erodes U.S. moral authority. They close by examining Trump-world’s targeted attacks on companies like Disney, the rise of ideologically driven podcast networks such as Megyn Kelly’s, and why podcasting is becoming a dominant, highly monetizable media format.
Signalgate Fallout, Trump Tariffs, Crypto Grift, And Podcast Power Plays
Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway dissect the "Signalgate" leak, where senior Trump defense officials shared sensitive Yemen war plans over an unsecured Signal chat that mistakenly included Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg. They highlight the hypocrisy of officials who once demanded harsh punishment for far lesser classified‑info issues, and criticize the White House’s deny-and-deflect crisis response while praising Goldberg and The Atlantic for standing firm. The conversation then shifts to Trump’s new auto tariffs and a family-linked stablecoin venture as evidence of economically illiterate policy and escalating grift that erodes U.S. moral authority. They close by examining Trump-world’s targeted attacks on companies like Disney, the rise of ideologically driven podcast networks such as Megyn Kelly’s, and why podcasting is becoming a dominant, highly monetizable media format.
Key Takeaways
Signalgate reveals both serious security lapses and deep hypocrisy among senior officials.
Top Trump defense figures shared operational details of a Yemen strike over Signal on likely personal phones, then denied it was classified—despite having previously demanded criminal punishment for far less egregious conduct by Hillary Clinton and others.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
The administration’s crisis playbook is worsening the damage.
Instead of classic crisis management—clearly acknowledging the problem, having a top official take responsibility, and overcorrecting—the White House is parsing definitions of “war plans,” lying, and attacking Jeffrey Goldberg, which prolongs the story and undermines credibility.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Trust and effectiveness in the U.S. military and intelligence community are at stake.
When operators in the field can’t trust leaders to safeguard operational security, it harms morale, recruitment, allied cooperation, and long‑term deterrence; much of that damage is invisible, like an iceberg beneath the surface.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Trump’s tariffs are strategically naive and economically harmful.
A 25% auto tariff may play well rhetorically, but Galloway argues it reliably raises prices, prompts reciprocal tariffs targeted at red states, and reflects a basic failure to understand that other countries and firms will respond, not sit still.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
The Trump orbit’s crypto push exemplifies normalized grift.
A Trump‑linked stablecoin and related crypto products blur public and private interests in a lightly regulated domain; the hosts argue that if Obama’s family had tried anything similar, it would have sparked bipartisan outrage, underscoring how far standards have fallen.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Selective government targeting of firms and institutions accelerates corruption.
From DEI investigations at Disney to pressure on specific law firms and universities, Swisher and Galloway say Trump is running a revenge‑and‑shakedown playbook that encourages corporations to curry favor instead of follow neutral, system‑wide rules.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Podcasting is becoming a central battleground for political influence and ad dollars.
Galloway notes that podcasts skew toward 30‑something men—key swing voters—and advertising is shifting rapidly toward a small number of scaled shows and networks (from Megyn Kelly’s venture to Netflix’s entry), making podcasting a “media of the year” with winner‑take‑most dynamics.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Notable Quotes
““When you put peewee, little leaguer, incompetent assclowns in positions of this importance, there are going to be unforced errors.””
— Scott Galloway
““They’re morons and liars, and then they’re hypocrites because of what those things you just read.””
— Kara Swisher
““This is a crisis, and there’s only three things you have to remember in crisis management… acknowledge the problem, the top guy or gal takes responsibility, and then you over‑correct. They’re doing none of these things.””
— Scott Galloway
““If there’s a winner here, it’s journalism and it’s Jeffrey Goldberg… he has handled this perfectly.””
— Scott Galloway
““The whole basis of an elected official… you’re supposed to prevent a tragedy of the commons over the medium and the long term. These people don’t think long‑term—they’re morons.””
— Scott Galloway
Questions Answered in This Episode
What concrete reforms could realistically prevent future incidents like Signalgate without crippling day‑to‑day government communication?
Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway dissect the "Signalgate" leak, where senior Trump defense officials shared sensitive Yemen war plans over an unsecured Signal chat that mistakenly included Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg. ...
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
How can military and intelligence professionals maintain operational security when political appointees at the top disregard established protocols?
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
At what point do corporate leaders decide that resisting Trump‑era pressure and shakedowns is worth the financial and legal risks?
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
How might the rapid rise of podcasting as a political medium reshape voter persuasion compared with traditional TV and radio over the next two election cycles?
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
What kinds of crypto and financial‑ethics rules are needed to clearly separate the personal business of political families from the policymaking power they hold?
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Transcript Preview
If you want to know what you looked like when you were 17 and you got caught masturbating, that is literally the facial expression of these people. (upbeat music)
Hi, everyone. This is Pivot from New York Magazine, the Vox Media Podcast Network. I'm Kara Swisher.
And Kara, if you're-
Yes.
... texting and you see the emoji of a Maker's and Ginger, a guy dancing, and a limp dick, I am in the chat.
(laughs)
That means I am in the chat.
Oh my God. Scott-
I am here.
I can't believe this happened like right after we taped the last show. Uh, w- let's get right into the fallout from SignalGate. Uh, w- some people are calling it WhiskeyLeaks.
Just... Hold on. Just-
Do you like WhiskeyLeaks? Do you like whiskey?
WhiskeyLeaks, just before we get into the serious stuff-
Okay.
... I think people want to hear more about me.
Yeah. Okay. All right. (laughs)
I'm a little slow today. Um, so, uh, I think as you know, for the first time in my life, I had something resembling a non-outstanding physical where he said, "You're-
What?
... borderline hypertensive." I didn't tell you this?
Ooh, statin time. Okay.
Yeah, 140 over 80 and I'm like, "What?"
Oh.
"Take it again." I made him take it like eight times. I'm like, "Sorry. We're not doing a ninth time."
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
And so, immediately had my urine, my blood drawn, my fecal matter.
Yeah.
Like everything uploaded to ChatGPT and they all-
Yeah.
... came back with the same fucking thing, drink less-
Mm-hmm.
... when it started asking me questions. So-
Right.
Anyways, I-
What's happening? What are we gonna do? Are we going to dry out clinic with you? What are we doing? What fun thing can we do together?
Dry out clinics as a sober person?
I don't know, something we... (laughs) I don't know what it is.
By the way, just a quick side note, I think the sound-
Yeah.
... tight alcohol movement is-
Yeah.
... the second worst thing behind remote work to happen to young people. Your 25-year-old liver, the damage or inability to process or ability to process alcohol at 25 is dwarfed by the risk of social isolation and anxiety in that relation.
Okay. All right.
That's just me.
I- I understand you're looking for, uh, a- an excuse.
So anyways... Yeah, well, no. It makes sense for me to drink less because-
Tell it, tell it to Pete Hegseth, WhiskeyLeaks, the head of WhiskeyLeaks.
So I took my blood pressure over the weekend. I hadn't taken it in a while. I was becoming obsessed with it. It's 127 over 72. It's dropped dramatically. And I'm like, "Oh, I must be mistaken."
Install uListen to search the full transcript and get AI-powered insights
Get Full TranscriptGet more from every podcast
AI summaries, searchable transcripts, and fact-checking. Free forever.
Add to Chrome