In a recent episode of “This Past Weekend” podcast Number 526, comedian Theo Von sat down with former President Donald Trump for a candid conversation that veered far from political discourse into a profoundly personal realm—addiction and family trauma. What emerged was an honest, sometimes heart-wrenching discussion that underscored the importance of vulnerability and open dialogue in addressing societal issues like substance abuse and mental health.
@theovon talkin recovery w/ @President Donald J Trump ♬ original sound – Theo Von
Theo Von’s Journey to Recovery
Theo Von, known for his unique comedic perspective and candidness, did not shy away from discussing his battles with addiction. “I’ve been sober for over two years recently after multiple stints in recovery,” he shared, illustrating the ongoing struggle many face when fighting addiction. His openness about relapses and the constant battle to stay sober painted a deeply human picture of addiction. “It gets bad when you think you’ve got control, but then things spiral down… Go-kart racing with hookers? It’s wild,” he quipped, using humor to relay a painful truth.
His story resonates with many young adults who might find themselves grappling with similar issues. By sharing his journey, Theo normalized these struggles and offered hope that recovery is possible. It’s a crucial reminder that reaching out for help can lead to transformative change.
Donald Trump’s Family History
Equally compelling was Trump’s revelation about his older brother Fred, who struggled with alcoholism until his death. “My brother Fred struggled with alcoholism—he got addicted to it,” Trump recounted somberly. “Fred’s body held out for an amazingly long time even under those tough conditions… But watching your loved one go through this… It’s heartbreaking.”
Trump’s personal experience provided a poignant backdrop to the conversation. Despite their often contentious public personas, both men displayed remarkable vulnerability. This openness is rarely seen in media discussions about addiction but is so desperately needed.
The Impact of Family Trauma and Mental Health
One common thread between Theo’s journey and Trump’s family history is how trauma within families can significantly impact mental health. Growing up in environments where substance abuse looms large can leave lasting scars—internal wounds that affect one’s emotional well-being and decision-making processes.
For those who might be listening to or reading about this interview, it serves as a reminder that you’re not alone in facing family-related challenges or mental health struggles. Conversations like these are crucial because they help break down taboos that often surround these topics.
The Role of Big Pharma and Government Efforts
The discussion naturally shifted towards systemic issues like the role of big pharma in perpetuating addiction problems. The Sackler family’s infamous involvement with pushing opioids like OxyContin has had devastating effects on communities across America. According to CDC data, nearly 500,000 people died from opioid overdoses between 1999 and 2019—a staggering statistic highlighting the enormity of the crisis (CDC).
Trump touched on efforts during his presidency to combat such issues: “We set up committees; we tackled fentanyl—it’s a huge problem,” he noted. Fentanyl—a synthetic opioid up to 100 times more potent than morphine—has exacerbated the existing opioid epidemic significantly (NIDA).
However, while government initiatives are essential, grassroots conversations are equally vital. People need platforms to share their stories without fear of judgment or politicization.
The Power of Open Conversations
The magic happens when influential figures like Theo Von and Donald Trump open up about their personal experiences—they foster an environment where talking about these issues becomes normalized rather than stigmatized. Such honesty can be comforting and inspiring for young adults navigating their own paths through life’s complexities.
In conclusion, combating addiction requires multi-faceted approaches—strong policy measures against pharmaceutical malpractices must go hand-in-hand with fostering open discussions about substance abuse’s real-life impacts. Because at its core lies human connection—the magic healing power when people come together vulnerably to support each other through life’s most brutal battles.
So let’s keep talking and sharing our stories—because you never know whose life you might change or save just by being open about yours.
By Jace A.
Theo Von with Donald Trump Podcast on Addiction and Recovery Transcription (16:52 – 32:22)
“and I said that is perfect he said I’ll do it again I said don’t do it again because you’ll never be able to hit a shot that good and it was really amazing he’s a he’s great and and Bob really do it again he’s really having an amazing family Bob is great I love I’ve been a party at his house you know one thing that’s really nice about him is I’ll go do something with him and then like a few days later he’ll send a nice note or he’ll send like a photo like a frame photo just say hey man I had a nice time yeah um yeah yeah notice that the events you don’t drink and you don’t drink or smoke right I don’t drink or smoke you never have no I never have I had a great brother who taught me a lesson Don’t drink don’t drink and he said don’t smoke he smoked and he drank and he was great guy he was a handsome very handsome guy he’s the older he was older quite a bit older yeah and he would he had a problem with alcohol and smoke a lot but you know I tell people no drugs no drinking no cigarettes yeah
I tell that my kids all the time I’d say no drugs no drinking as well and it was he had well he’d always tell me it’s a never so he was you know really old enough that you would look up to somebody and I’d look up to him anyway you admire him yeah I admired a lot so much about him he had so much going had to look he was unbelievable personality like an incredible Person he was his name Donald his name was Fred Fred Trump and he had a problem with alcohol he got addicted to it because it’s and you know they say alcohol is tougher than drugs to get off of I’ve I don’t know if you’ve ever heard that I wasn’t recovery actually I’ve been in I’ve been in recovery so like most of the last 10 years from alcohol from drugs and alcohol drug which is worse for me drugs is the problem but if I have a drink then I it’s tougher for me to prevent myself from getting it sets off a change yeah but is which is hard at quit I’ve heard alcohol is hard to quit then drugs if that makes sense I don’t know oh yeah I mean I can only imagine because it’s probably more readily available or readily when it’s social and you sit and everyone’s drinking and all yes everybody’s eating like you know Xanax is or something you know you see people are having like a mint you know a mint julep or something a little fancier Negroni I just learned about right but yeah so you have a problem with that yeah oh that it’s been in my family my family it’s like yeah can you
away from it yeah I’ve done a good job I mean how long have you been off I go to recovery meetings I’ve been off most recently to a little over two years do you ever go back on yeah I’ve had stents where I go back on and and and you don’t control it it’s it gets it goes down here so you think it’s gonna be easy to control and then you’re damn yeah go-kart and racing with hookers and stuff gets bad it’s not to do it right so then in the end you’re like after not do it did you see like with your brother did you could you see it or anything like oh yeah man I was amazed because
he had so much going at everything going I think he probably it happened in
college a fraternity maybe or I don’t know somewhere along the line that happened and all of us in you know this is not unique this is a very common story unfortunately but and then the family would see it and start to notice it and it didn’t get better it didn’t get better I was amazed you know he lived for so long in bad conditions you know and in terms of I was amazed at his body could hold that it held out
and it had bad moments
and but his body was unbelievably strong that it could that it could withstand this it’s a body Rochester resilient yeah do you remember the last time that you saw him or spent with him I do and I’m sorry to ask about it all right well you know
the reason it’s good talking about it is it might help other people if it helps one other person it’s worth the conversation for talk about that stuff a lot on our on our podcast yeah a lot of our audience struggles or has struggled with alcoholism addiction intimacy disorders all types of stuff you know so it’s like a it’s pretty kind of normal conversation but you know the interesting thing is and I tell people so I never had a cigarette and I’ve never had a glass of alcohol and my brother was incredible he would tell me because you had a problem
and it’s they don’t ever drink don’t ever smoke he’d always add smoking because he did smoke a lot
which is you know not very healthy but he said don’t ever drink don’t ever drink he’d tell me every time I said don’t ever drink because he had this yeah addiction and I never had a glass of alcohol never ever did I have a glass of alcohol because of him and I would say that if I did drink I could you know conceivably be the type of Personality that would have yeah like you that would have a problem but I never had and the only thing I said to people is if too late for the people that you’re talking about but if you don’t drink you don’t miss it I mean I I don’t even think about alcohol or right it’s not a part of your world I don’t think about cigarettes I don’t think about any of that if you if you don’t take drugs or if you don’t have alcohol
it’s really easy not to drink it it’s one I had a friend who went to the Wharton School of Finance with me he was a very smart guy where is it Wharton School that’s in Philadelphia that’s it yeah Rocky right and it’s a great great school great business school
and it’s part of the University of Pennsylvania the business school it’s a nice down there yeah my friends brother went there or something well he was smart because it’s a great school and but this this person that I met he hated the taste of scotch hey hated it couldn’t stand it but he insisted on having it because he wanted he felt it was important to be able to drink I said no just don’t drink he said you know to be successful in business you have to sort of interact and you have to drink and I said don’t do it anyway he became an unbelievable alcoholic
uncontrollable alcohol I think like he does yeah and he died he was a you know he but he hated the taste of scotch
and he said he couldn’t live without it literally well I think I noticed a lot of like in the recovery rooms and stuff it’s a lot of people that have their missing something inside of them and so they could be they take on like you know so they want to try and fill it up with something else yeah do you remember the last time you spent with your brother
I do and
he had periods where to get sick very sick and we thought would lose him or we lost him
he get better
and that happened five or six times I mean were you thought you lost them
and then he got better
and it was amazing I mean he was you know certainly very strong in that sense
and I just tell people it’s it’s so tragic don’t drink just don’t drink yeah and you’re not gonna have a problem like even you if you didn’t drink you would never but you probably maybe wouldn’t be successful like you are you know as part of your story helped me a lot yeah yeah because I don’t know what would happen probably I think it’s just too risky it is what’s something that you miss about him or like that they yeah like what’s something that you miss about him Fred well he was wise and sense I mean think of it he’s got this problem and it was very important for him to convey to me not to have this problem
and I couldn’t have been successful if I had that problem yeah if I had that problem and I think maybe I’m a personality type where it could have had the problem if I drank
but if you don’t drink you’re never going to have it I mean I don’t miss when I see somebody light up a cigarette and just
they’re in heaven
I don’t miss that at all it’s weird it’s so Nate it’s very native American isn’t it crazy bizarre and you know I think sometimes our older brothers they kind of like
they take the speed bumps for us like as younger brother so that we don’t have to you don’t say into that you don’t talk about my brother went to a lot of stuff so that I didn’t have to go through it and then I get to see him and learn is he okay now yeah he’s doing great now yeah he’s doing great now but it’s just it’s like yeah that’s one of the blessings I think of having an older brother well you can learn through history too whether even if it’s not a brother it’s by watching other people I mean you can see if you have a friend who’s an alcoholic or even just by reading about people you can learn oh yeah it doesn’t necessarily have to be a brother but in this case it was very personal it was a brother and I learned not to drink and I learned not to smoke cigarettes now I don’t know that I would have smoked cigarettes I probably would have drank and I think you know there’s no reason not to drink but I had a reason because he told me you know just that was it yeah that’s kind of a blessing then huh yeah and where did you did they um
did you guys ever do anything fun together like one nice memory that you have with him
he had a great talent for flying he was a pilot oh sweet and he loved it and he never fly with him I did I flow with him he was a great pilot and a very talented other Pilots would come to his house to
study with him watch him fly and he was really talented that but ultimately had to give that because of the alcohol he had to give that up which was a hard thing for him to do but he had to give all
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yeah it’s crazy that’s a wildest thing to watch as people losing everything you know they lose everything and many many people and you and those days it was a drugs it wasn’t like Don’t drink don’t take drugs
I don’t think drugs I don’t even know where they’re even a factor they happened
pretty long time ago but I think in those days I don’t think we’re drugs a factor you go back 25 years ago like it is now well certainly not like now and yeah and that actually takes me into something else I wanted to talk about like um alcoholism and addiction is something that’s really ramped up even like you’re saying like in the past 20 30 years in our country right and during the opioid epidemic they estimate that like almost 600,000 people died yeah and and that isn’t even include the broken hearts and the deaths of families and Circles of trust you know just people that lost a brother didn’t include that actual the siblings right you know and so the ripple effect of that is huge and and there’s that there’s that Sackler family that pretty much got away with it you know they had a financial slap on the wrist but we’re one of the only countries that allows drugs advertisements and farm pharmaceutical companies to advertise on television like what do you think is or
things that you can do to help curtail that when you get in office so well we did a great job we had to make sense or not yes it does make sense and we had
committees Blue Ribbon committees in certain cases but committees that would meet the big problem we have is you know fentanyl is probably the biggest opioid is bad opioids bad too yeah I think that’s bad because everyone thinks you know many cases they think they’re going to do away with pain
and literally the time is so short if you take it for like two weeks here almost addicted to it it’s incredible when you oh the whole yeah all of that is horrible but why do we allow it to get addicted how to know I would just do cocaine I was really yeah so not just yeah and it was Darren that’s down and dirty right yeah and this is yeah this I mean it was yeah but you don’t anymore I don’t do it anymore man and I’m not doing is it too much too much to handle some of the stuff started to get a real rattle in it too I don’t know where it we were even getting it from in this country but yes started to make me feel like I was on Mechanic or so the thing you go back to then it’s alcohol for the most part right yeah but well what I want probably is cocaine but I know that if I have a drink and it’ll give me it’ll like be like okay well I had a drink and I can do this is cocaine a stronger oh yeah yeah yeah you weigh up with cocoa and more than anything else you can think of Hamilton homie you know what I’m saying it’ll be
you’ll be out on your own porch you know yeah you’ll you’ll be your own Street Lamp you’re freaking and is that a good feeling well it’s a miserable feeling but you do it anyway just like the guy you’re saying with the scotch
like you did you didn’t you knew it was bad but you still it’s not even good during what would be normally the good time in other words oh wow so why would you do it I wouldn’t that’s why I don’t yeah that’s but it’s crazy because that’s what alcoholism is I think it’s that it trumps the why yeah like it doesn’t and it just you don’t and you just go to it’s like so that’s why they say that it’s um cunning baffling and Powerful that’s what they say about alcoholism and it is it’s it’s um which is a bigger problem in our country would you say oh you always
like bigger than alcohol oh for sure I think it’s that’s one of the biggest problems like compare that to fentanyl oh yeah well that’s the problem is people are making fake opioids because they can’t afford real Windsor they’re just getting them off the street and then they put fentanyl in them fentanyl like laced into everything now it’s horrible it’s horrible yeah they found someone a baby rattle somewhere I think I don’t even know where that was but one of the things I was wanted to ask about was like so there’s like the big Pharma lobbyists like there’s 1800 big Pharma lobbyists in Washington DC right there’s only 535 total Representatives or Senators total so just the fact that there’s this whole other almost drug government that’s their kind of pushing the you know pushing agendas and influencing things like how do we stop that man it just seems like it’s obviously killing people like people are dying you know it’s like what do we have to do that our own government won’t help us
well you have to stop listening to lobbyists you know I was not a big person for lobbyists and if they have even a little access to like a president or Senator or Congressman or woman or snake eat a lot of money yeah and in some cases they just take the money they don’t do anything but you have a lot of lobbyists in Washington pushing
and certainly a lot for the all of the things that we’re talking about the winning alcohol the lobbyists are winning it yeah they’re winning they’re making a lot of money okay can you stop that can a president stop that like how do we stop that well one way you could stop but is to say if you’re going to go into government you can never be a lobbyist in many cases they have rules and regulations where you can’t do it for four years three years five years whatever you may be a after you were elected official I mean you could you could say that you if you’re an elected official or if you work in government you can never be a lobbyist you have people that work in government and they give out contracts to the military
and then they leave and they work for them for the people that they’re giving out country that’s exactly what happened with the Sackler family with the drug companies they hired people that were on the FDA to work for them so they could loophole the laws or you know but it drives me outlaw lobbyists or we can’t do that well
it is a whole constitutional thing there I mean can you make somebody never ever go into the business if you’re if you work for government and if you are giving out contracts in other words you’re powerful person right in some industry the Navy the Army any you know any thing it could be military procurement Etc there’s a whole thing like Zoe question is to you give out a contract and then all of a sudden you’re working for the person you gave out the contract to or the company that you gave out the contract too right it’s like you’re playing both sides in the net well it’s and it’s obviously a problem and it’s a big problem and we were doing things about it but then we had to get down to other businesses we had to solve some we had a lot of problems it’s pretty clear that the establishment doesn’t like you I would say what do you think well I think the people like me oh yeah the people will eating now all the polls were leading and recipes and just came out a little recipe is a very highly regarded Paula we’re leaving by like leading by Five Points recipe in poll and
others also and we’re doing well but I think the people like me a lot you know I won and then we did No Doubt”
