Welcome to the latest edition of Washington Secrets. Today, we have an exclusive look at Lara Trump’s new single, an artificial intelligence truce breaks down, and we find out just why President Donald Trump suddenly has an interest in a speck of rock in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Plus, we have the winners of my Nuuk game.
Lara Trump is dropping a new EP of songs in April, followed by an album later in the year. Secrets got a sneak peek of her next single, “Sah-Sah,” which features Egyptian rapper Mohamed Ramadan.
It comes out on Friday, and you can listen to a sneak peek right here.
And it shows where her priorities lie right now after passing up the chance last year to dive back into politics and run for the vacant Senate seat in North Carolina, where she was born and raised.
“With how crazy my life is between my Fox News show, my podcast, being a mom, being a crazy dog lady, and more, I have really enjoyed the escape that comes from music and have truly been having fun with different genres and meeting artists,” she told Secrets.
“I was excited to collaborate with Mohamed and love how light and upbeat our new song turned out,” she added. “I hope people enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed collaborating on it.”
For those trying to read the runes of her political future, Secrets suggests looking at the way the single was recorded.
Ramadan flew to Miami and then drove to President Donald Trump’s golf club in Jupiter, Florida.
The main lobby was turned into a recording studio. The video was filmed right there once the track was laid down.
The whole thing was kept not just close to home, but at home, given that Lara Trump, Eric Trump, and their two children have lived in a five-bedroom home in the gated Trump National Golf Club community for the past five years.
A Secrets source said Lara Trump ruled out running in North Carolina because it would have taken her away from home and her young family. If she does dive deeper into politics — her huge fundraising haul for the Republican National Committee during the 2024 election suggested big things could follow — expect it to come no more than a wedge shot away from her base, somewhere in the Sunshine State.
It was new territory for her collaborator, Ramadan. He is a regular on television and sits at the top of the charts in the Middle East.
He told Secrets that the whole thing was Lara Trump’s idea, and he contributed lyrics in the style of an Egyptian romantic song, but with a melody that would crossover to a Western audience.
The haters have already had their say. A clip of Ramadan teaching Lara Trump his signature “Tiger” dance move went viral over the weekend, with a slew of insulting comments.
And they will no doubt have more to add about the single’s heavy use of autotune (even though Secrets, an aficionado of Middle Eastern and North African pop, where it is treated as an extra instrument, is all in favor).
But Mohamed said he never had any worries about teaming up with such a visible member of MAGA’s first family.
“I had absolutely no reservations at all, and I don’t get involved in politics. I’m an artist, and I genuinely admire Lara’s art and her voice,” he said. “We were brought together by the song — and even if she weren’t from the Trump family, I still would have made this song with her.”
The single was produced by LJ Fino and his First Class Label Group. He believes much of the mainstream music industry has overlooked the “America First” audience.
“Lara has a big year ahead with a collaborative EP featuring major global artists, including her record with Mohamed, and released in conjunction with Warner Music Group, followed by her debut album “Just Lara” arriving in late 2026,” he said.
Davos man
Trump looked and sounded exhausted when he addressed the audience at the World Economic Forum on Wednesday morning. But then, who wouldn’t be after a plane malfunction delayed an overnight flight by three hours? Even so, he couldn’t resist ad-libbing and cracking jokes.
“Would you like me to say a few words about Greenland?” he deadpanned. It’s fair to say the ensuing laughter could be described as “nervous.”
Read more about his Davos speech HERE.
AI chief breaks Trump truce
It’s been barely a month since Dario Amodei, the chief executive of artificial intelligence giant Anthropic, embarked on a relationship-rebuilding tour of Washington.
It came after David Sacks, the president’s AI czar, attacked Anthropic for its left-wing, anti-Trump bias.
He pointed to a now-deleted 2024 X post that compared the president with a “feudal warlord” and to Amodei’s support for former Vice President Kamala Harris.
As a result, Amodei went into damage limitation mode. He met with Trump officials and senators to assure them that they were very much on the same side, wanting the United States to win the race to dominate AI, even if he would like tighter regulation.
So maybe the thin, mountain air at the World Economic Forum in Davos got to him yesterday. The president launched an attack on his officials’ decision to allow U.S. firms such as Nvidia to sell advanced chips to China.
“I think this is crazy,” he said. “It’s a bit like selling nuclear weapons to North Korea.”
His truce went about as well as Secrets‘s dry January.
The whiff of cigarettes
A year ago, the president and his administration were relaxed about the United Kingdom’s decision to give up the Chagos Islands, which are home to a U.S. military base, and sign them over to Mauritius. In fact, the president frequently sounded as if he had never heard of the specks of rock in the middle of the Indian Ocean when the subject came up.
So why did he suddenly unload on his pal, Sir Keir Starmer, U.K. prime minister, on Monday night, calling it an “act of great stupidity?”
It marked a huge U-turn. American officials backed the deal, which included a 99-year lease for the base on Diego Garcia.
Secrets immediately detected the whiff of stale cigarettes. The problem is a hobby horse of Nigel Farage, the British populist, president’s ally, and noted tobacco enthusiast.
And the Telegraph got the goods, pointing out that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) was a guest on Farage’s TV show hours earlier when the subject came up. “Why was the U.S. not up in arms?” he was asked.
In the hours that followed, Johnson is understood to have spoken to his boss on the phone, the outlet reported. Cue angry Truth Social post.
Nuuk winners
Congratulations to Kevin Miller, Mohamed Bushry Basheer, and Sean Maxwell for getting the other four capitals with letters that cannot be colored in. Did you work it out? The four are: Kyiv, Vilnius, Minsk, and Tunis. Now go and amaze your friends around the watercooler.
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