PBD Podcast #736 – “Epstein's Co-Conspirators Named + Trump's $100K Dow Prediction”
Date: February 11, 2026
Host: Patrick Bet-David (Patrick aka “PBD”)
Guests: Peter Schiff, Luke Gromen, Tom, Brandon
Main Theme:
A sprawling discussion covering Trump’s economic projections, recent market moves, jobs data, fallout from the release of Epstein files, gold/bitcoin/Economy debates, U.S. safety, and the social-political dynamics shaping the 2026 landscape.
Episode Overview
Patrick Bet-David hosts a panel featuring economist Peter Schiff and macro analyst Luke Gromen, with Tom and Brandon rounding out the Home Team. The conversation covers breaking economic data, Trump’s bold economic predictions, rising gold prices, the fallout from newly released Epstein documents, and shifting job and labor market trends. Key stories include soaring inflation, major layoffs, airport security news, job market desperation, nuclear energy, and the continued societal ripples from the Epstein case.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Jobs Report and Market Sentiment
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[05:35] Tom: January jobs report “just broke: 130,000+ jobs created—more than double the consensus estimate of 55,000.”
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The panel analyzes the role of politicization and data revision in jobs numbers, questioning their accuracy as a measure of real economic strength.
"You gotta take these government jobs numbers with a grain of salt. They're highly politicized and almost always revised down... The market reacts as if they're real." – Peter Schiff [06:43]
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Inflation Update: "Announced that inflation was a tick lower, 4.3 vs 4.4," yet skepticism reigns.
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Market Reaction: Markets jump on the news, but Schiff warns it’s a mirage of true fundamentals.
2. The Economy's Structure and Looming AI Disruption
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AI vs. Traditional Labor: Luke Gromen draws a parallel to the "China Shock," predicting that AI will disrupt white-collar jobs similar to the way globalization devastated blue-collar employment.
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[09:57] Luke Gromen:
“The machine is now the cheap Chinese laborer. And so when they lose their jobs, how do they pay their mortgage, their car, their credit card?”
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Debt-Based System Vulnerability:
“The U.S. is completely dependent on the rest of the world to produce the goods we don’t make and loan us the money we don’t save. The world is pulling the rug out from under that phony economy.” – Peter Schiff [12:27]
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“Sovereign Debt and U.S. Dollar Crisis Looms”: Schiff foresees crisis much deeper than 2008, driven by reckless policy and artificial consumer credit.
3. Trump’s Economic Playbook: 15% GDP Growth and 100,000 Dow?
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[16:34] Trump claims new Fed appointee can deliver “15% or 20%” GDP growth—far beyond historical precedent.
“If he does the job he's capable, we can grow at 15%. I think more than that.” – Trump, via clip [17:36]
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Luke Gromen’s Interpretation: Sees this as a (dangerous) return to the WWII era “financial repression/yield curve control” playbook—nominal growth high, but real returns devastated by inflation.
“You either default on the debt or you devalue the currency. What I think Trump’s telling us is: we’re going to run the economy extremely hot...” – Luke Gromen [18:22]
4. Winners and Losers in a High-Inflation, Hot Economy
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As policies move to benefit "Main Street," the panel notes:
“The winner over the last 50 years has been bondholders, Wall Street… The loser has been the middle and working class. What the Trump administration appears to be doing is trying to reverse that.” – Luke Gromen [21:15]
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Schiff remains deeply skeptical:
“The rich are going to get poorer and the poor are going to get poorer too... The biggest problem for the average American is going to be the complete unaffordability of just about everything.” – Peter Schiff [28:59]
5. Financial Markets: Gold’s Ascent, the Dow at 50K/100K, and Bitcoin Debate
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Gold’s Surge:
“Gold broke out from $2,000 (2024) to over $5,000 now… That is a major warning.” – Schiff [15:04]
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Dow at 50,000—and 100,000 soon?
“If the Dow hits 100,000, what if gold is 20,000? Now the Dow’s only worth five ounces of gold… A 75% decline in the real value of U.S. stocks.” – Schiff [36:59]
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Bitcoin’s Volatility & Purpose:
“Bitcoin has been a bubble for a long time. Wall Street got involved… not because they believed in it, but because they believed other people were dumb enough to believe in it.” – Schiff [36:59]
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Luke Gromen’s counter:
“To me, bitcoin is the last functioning smoke alarm of liquidity… A neutral reserve asset.” – Gromen [40:33]
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Tom’s take:
“There is a limited supply. Whenever you have a limited supply, you’re not going to have the situation like the Fed, which keeps printing.” – Tom [41:38]
6. El Paso Airport Shutdown: Security or Distraction?
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[49:18] Panel discusses the peculiar shutdown of El Paso airport for 10 days (longer than 9/11’s closure).
“Whenever you see something like this, ask: are they training us to get used to the government closing down airports as a means of control?” – Tom [50:24]
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Multiple speculative takes: cartel drone threats, military testing/ruse for other operations, or attention diversion amid other breaking news.
7. Epstein Files: New Revelations, Political Fallout, and Dam Break?
- Trump cited as one of the first to alert Palm Beach police about Epstein (“She is evil. Focus on her.”) Panel debates why Trump didn’t publicize this earlier.
- Cindy McCain clip: “We all knew what he was doing… but we had no one, no legal aspect that would go after him.” – Cindy McCain [59:14]
- Ro Khanna names six powerful men in the released documents, with details of disturbing emails between Epstein and Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayam exposed ([65:00]–[67:43]).
- Schiff on the scramble to distance from Epstein:
“Everyone wants to claim, ‘Oh, I knew he was a creep, I stayed away’—but... there were a lot of cozy relationships… the instinct is just to lie about anything, any connection they had.” – Schiff [61:40]
- Tom predicts the “dam has to break” à la Watergate tapes, with mass mutual-assured-destruction keeping the full story suppressed.
8. U.S. Social Trends: Job Hunter Desperation & Shifting Economic Power
- Increasing reports of jobseekers paying recruiters just to get interviews demonstrate a “broken” labor market ([80:46]–[84:47]).
“This is like saying women are paying men to go on a date with them—something’s broken here.” – PBD [82:23]
- Massive rise in bots/spam during recruiting, relentless H1B/immigration debate, and crippling student debt for unnecessary degrees.
9. Tax Policy & Geographic Shifts
- “Jock tax” discussion: professional athletes taxed for days spent playing in high-tax states ([122:02]–[127:12]).
- “California billionaire tax will be disastrous and cause wealthy to flee,” plus nuclear power’s return with a major IPO announcement.
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
On Government Data and Policy:
“The government takes credit. The Fed takes credit… Markets react as if these numbers are real, but they’re not.” – Peter Schiff [06:43]
On Wealth Inequality & Inflation:
“The rich are going to get poorer and the poor are going to get poorer too, but the rich are going to get poorer faster than the poor.” – Schiff [28:59]
On Gold & Bitcoin:
“The Dow at 50,000, when gold's at 5,000, the Dow is ten ounces of gold. It was over forty ounces of gold 25 years ago… this is a major bear market.” – Schiff [36:59]
“Bitcoin is the last functioning smoke alarm of liquidity… an interesting technology in the long run.” – Luke Gromen [40:33]
On New Economic Nationalism:
“Trump came out and said the old deal’s off… Globalism is dead as it’s been defined.” – Luke Gromen [111:38]
On the Epstein Files:
“Everyone wants to distance themselves from him… the instinct is just to lie. Then if caught in a lie, they want to lie some more to minimize it.” – Peter Schiff [61:40]
On Political Sentiment:
“Trump is almost like a modern day folk hero at this point… people who like the president just really like him.” – Peter Schiff [92:56]
“You may be a little butthurt because some things didn’t go your way… sometimes you play the contrarian, that’s kind of your shtick.” – PBD to Schiff [97:57]
Important Timestamps
- 05:35 – Jobs Report Analysis
- 06:43 – Schiff deconstructs jobs data
- 09:57 – Gromen on AI's effect on labor
- 16:34 – Trump/Fed pick and GDP prediction
- 18:22 – WWII financial repression parallel
- 21:15 – Main Street vs. Wall Street focus
- 28:59 – Schiff on real cost of inflation
- 36:59 – Gold, Dow, and Bitcoin analysis
- 49:18 – El Paso airport shutdown discussion
- 55:52 – Epstein phone call revelations
- 61:40 – Schiff on Epstein distancing
- 80:46 – Paying recruiters, job market woes
- 122:02 – Jock tax and athlete taxation discussion
- 134:20 – Nuclear energy IPO and U.S. energy future
Episode Tone & Language
The tone is robustly candid, often combative but informative, with lively back-and-forth and strong, sometimes biting wit (Schiff and Patrick joust over Trump, inflation, and economic threats).
- Language is direct, technical at times but regularly brought down to street-level by PBD and Tom.
- Quotes are cited verbatim, maintaining the original tenor of debate.
For Listeners: Core Takeaways
- Beware of official numbers: “Always wait for the revisions,” says Schiff. Markets can be misled.
- Inflation is the great equalizer (and destroyer): Even high nominal stock and GDP numbers can mask real losses.
- U.S. at an economic crossroads: The current playbook is running out of time, and new strategies come with immense risks.
- Political & social scandals continue to erupt: From Epstein’s files to job market turmoil, much of the old guard and old models are fracturing.
- Gold shines, bitcoin’s role debated: Both are “exit strategies” for those fearing what comes next, but consensus on their relative value is absent.
- America’s “safe” feeling is back—for now: The administration’s focus on crime and border security resonates, but lasting economic security is in doubt.
This summary preserves the dynamic, unscripted nature of the conversation and the sometimes confrontational but always substantive insights of the guests and host. Advertisements and off-topic banter have been omitted.