#85 | Trump, Tate and Taming Your Inner Dragon - David Sutcliffe

My guest today is David Sutcliffe, a somatic psychotherapist and former actor who has stepped off the red carpets of Hollywood to venture into the deeper landscapes of the masculine soul.

David is something of an enigma to me. He’s a therapist who champions the necessity of men getting in touch with their feelings and expressing their rage and grief. Yet, he is also an ardent Trump supporter and has interviewed uber-masculine figures like Andrew Tate.

In this conversation, we certainly don’t align on everything, but we remain willing to lean in and see what the friction reveals.

It’s worth saying: this conversation was recorded in September 2025, before the wake of the Epstein files released December 2025. This would have come up in our conversation if we had recorded this afterwards.

A little more about David. For years, he was an archetypal “cute guy” or “bad boyfriend” on television - but behind the scenes he eventually found himself on his own road of ashes - where the trappings of fame and success turned to dust, inviting him into a more rigorous descent.

Together, we explore the cost of the “nice guy” mask and the disorientation of a fatherless upbringing. We speak of the “devouring mother,” the search for authentic masculine role models, and his own views on “masculine leadership” and traditional gender roles.

And finally, David reminds us that maturity demands the courage to face or darkness, tame the flames of our inner dragon, and take up the seat of our own sovereignty.

A brief aside: for men who wish to work with me, you’re invited to my upcoming immersion & online cohorts:

* Awakening the Wild Erotic, Vancouver Island (April 24-26)

* The Deep Masculine, Online (next cohort begins May 3)

As well, don’t miss the inaugural Cascadia Men’s Conference, happening just north of Vancouver Aug 6-9th, 2026.

For those drawn to David’s style and offerings, check out the links below:

SHOW LINKS

* David Sutcliffe School for Kings

* David Sutcliffe on IG

* Poem - How to Tame A Dragon

SHOW NOTES

Here are the show note highlights with the updated timecode format, tightened for impact:

* 03:55 — The Geographic and Spiritual Check-in: David shares his current life in Mexico and how his relationship with God has become the anchor point of his life and marriage.

* 05:40 — The Interviewer’s Tightrope: Reflecting on David’s interviews with polarizing figures like Andrew Tate and the “art of the interview” when navigating high-defense mechanisms.

* 07:18 — From the Red Carpet to the Road of Ashes: David recounts his twenty-year acting career and the mid-life collapse that led him to trade Hollywood fame for the rigors of somatic healing.

* 09:51 — The Alchemy of the Mat: An exploration of Core Energetics and the necessity of physical expression—hitting, kicking, and shouting—to move repressed “sob and rage.”

* 13:10 — The Missing Father and the Devouring Mother: Discussing the psychic consequences of an absent father and how the resulting “devouring mother” energy can lead men to self-abandonment.

* 26:45 — The War of the Sexes: A look at the “bitterness and vitriol” in modern gender relations and the cultural propaganda of the “bumbling father” in media.

* 28:26 — Feminism and the Manosphere: David offers his take on how radicalized social movements can lead to a reactive “manosphere” and the collective struggle to truly see one another.

* 39:15 — The Politics of Polarity: David addresses his shift from Hollywood progressive to a supporter of traditional values and Donald Trump, framing it as a return to “reality.”

* 53:12 — The Strongman Archetype: Exploring the qualities of figures like Trump and Tate, and why men are gravitating toward “strongmen” in a landscape of cultural chaos.

* 1:11:15 — Taming the Inner Dragon: A concluding reminder that our inner shadows are not to be slain, but looked in the eye until they recognize their master.

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