Trump Accuses Obama of Treason, and Transgender Youth Clinics Close

Summary

The Headlines
Host: Tracy Mumford
Episode: Trump Accuses Obama of Treason, and Transgender Youth Clinics Close
Release Date: July 23, 2025

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Epstein Scandal and GOP Tactics to Deflect

The episode opens with Tracy Mumford addressing the ongoing Epstein scandal, highlighting the persistent efforts by President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers to deflect attention from the allegations surrounding Jeffrey Epstein. Speaker Mike Johnson emphasized the Republican stance, stating, "What we refuse to do is participate in another one of the Democrats political games. This is a serious matter. We are not going to let them use this as a political battering ramp." (00:55)

Johnson recently announced the early dismissal of lawmakers from a Capitol session that was deliberating legislation related to the Epstein investigation. This move was a strategic effort to prevent votes that might call for the release of more investigative files. Republicans find themselves navigating a tightrope between Trump's directive to move past the Epstein case and pressure from hard-right constituents demanding greater transparency.

Trump Accuses Obama of Treason

In a dramatic turn, President Trump launched a bold accusation against former President Barack Obama, alleging treasonous activities aimed at undermining his administration. An unnamed Republican Speaker echoed these sentiments, declaring, "They caught President Obama absolutely cold" (01:48). Trump intensified the allegations by claiming, "He's guilty. This was treason. This was every word you can think of. They tried to steal the election." (02:04)

The Trump administration has released reports alleging that the Obama administration attempted to sabotage Trump's 2016 campaign. These claims starkly contradict findings from prolonged investigations by U.S. Intelligence agencies and bipartisan Senate committees. In response, a spokesman for President Obama dismissed the accusations as "bizarre and ridiculous," highlighting the baseless nature of Trump's assertions.

Trump's Environmental Policies Under Fire

Shifting focus to environmental policy, the podcast reveals that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Trump administration is drafting a plan to nullify the federal government's fight against climate change. Central to this plan is the elimination of a pivotal 2009 EPA rule that classified greenhouse gases as endangering human health. By dismantling this rule, the administration aims to remove all existing federal limits on greenhouse gas emissions from sources like vehicles and power plants. This move has sparked concern among environmentalists and insiders aware of the administration's long-term strategies.

Trade Deal with Japan and Automotive Sector Impact

On the economic front, President Trump announced the successful negotiation of a trade deal with Japan, retracting some of the highest tariffs previously imposed. This deal is part of a broader strategy where the U.S. is engaging in trade negotiations with numerous countries following the disruption caused by Trump's extensive tariff policies. However, the immediate impact of these tariffs is evident in the automotive industry. General Motors reported losses exceeding a billion dollars, while Stellantis, encompassing brands like Chrysler, Jeep, and Ram, experienced significant revenue declines partly due to the tariff-induced surge in costs.

Transgender Youth Clinics Closure Under Trump

A particularly poignant segment covers the forced closure of one of the nation's oldest transgender youth clinics in Los Angeles. Officials from Children’s Hospital Los Angeles cited insurmountable pressure from the Trump administration, which threatened to withdraw federal funding if the clinic remained operational. Jill Cowan, a New York Times correspondent covering California, elaborates on the widespread repercussions of these closures nationwide. Families are left in distress, scrambling to find alternative medical care for transgender youth. Cowan shares the story of a 16-year-old transgender girl whose critical medical appointments were canceled, leaving her in a state of urgent uncertainty about her physical development and well-being.

Transgender Athletes and the US Olympic Committee

The administration’s policies extend into the realm of sports, where an executive order banning transgender women from participating in female sports has forced the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee to revise its regulations. Previously, decisions regarding transgender athletes were delegated to individual sports' governing bodies. The new stance firmly prohibits transgender women from competing in any Olympic women's events, marking a significant shift in sports governance under the Trump administration’s directives.

Sabotage in Iran: Covert Warfare Escalates

International tensions are also a focal point, with multiple fires erupting across Iran in various facilities, including apartment complexes, oil refineries, and transportation infrastructure. While Iranian officials publicly attribute these incidents to accidents or aging infrastructure, private sources within the government suspect sabotage. Ongoing covert operations between Iran and Israel appear to be escalating, reminiscent of the strained relations following a recent 12-day conflict. Israeli intelligence has reaffirmed its commitment to continued covert actions within Iran, although no concrete evidence has been presented to substantiate these claims.

Passing of Ozzy Osbourne

The episode concludes with a tribute to Ozzy Osbourne, the legendary figure in heavy metal music and reality television, who passed away at the age of 76. Born in Birmingham, England, Osbourne's tumultuous career with Black Sabbath and his subsequent solo ventures left an indelible mark on the music industry. His notorious onstage antics, including biting the head off a bat, became infamous, yet he maintained a beloved family image through his reality show The Osbournes. Osbourne battled numerous health issues, including a variant of Parkinson's disease, but remained a vibrant presence in the music scene until his final concert. His legacy is encapsulated by his own words: "I know exactly how I would be remembered. Together with Black Sabbath, it's whenever I bit the head off a bat."

Teaser for Upcoming Segment

The episode wraps up with a brief mention of an upcoming story featuring a whistleblower from the Justice Department, who alleges that civil servants are caught between allegiance to President Trump and upholding the rule of law. Listeners are encouraged to tune into the New York Times audio app for this forthcoming segment.

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Notable Quotes:

• Mike Johnson: "What we refuse to do is participate in another one of the Democrats political games. This is a serious matter. We are not going to let them use this as a political battering ramp." (00:55)

• Unnamed Republican Speaker: "They caught President Obama absolutely cold." (01:48)

• President Trump: "He's guilty. This was treason. This was every word you can think of. They tried to steal the election." (02:04)

• Unnamed Republican Speaker: "Hard, and it's a great deal for everybody. I always say it has to be great for everybody. It's a great deal." (03:27)

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Timestamp Guide:

• 00:33 - Introduction to Epstein scandal and GOP tactics
• 00:55 - Mike Johnson's statement
• 01:48 - Accusations against Obama
• 02:04 - Trump's treason claims
• 02:13 - Obama spokesman's response
• 03:27 - Trade deal announcement
• 04:36 - Closure of transgender youth clinic
• 05:00 - Impact on families and patients
• 06:34 - US Olympic Committee's new rules
• 07:04 - Sabotage incidents in Iran
• 08:31 - Ozzy Osbourne's life and death
• 10:38 - Teaser for whistleblower segment

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This summary encapsulates the key discussions, insights, and conclusions presented in "The Headlines" podcast episode, providing a comprehensive overview for those who have not listened to the episode.

Transcript

[Robert Vinlowen]

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[Tracy Mumford]

Yes.

[Robert Vinlowen]

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[Tracy Mumford]

Okay.

[Robert Vinlowen]

It's the wordle Archive. Oh, oh. And you can see if I missed it, I can like, go back 100%. Oh, that's sick. So now you can play every wordle that has ever existed. There's like a thousand puzzles. Oh, my God, I love it. Amazing. New York Times game subscribers can now access the entire Wordle archive. Find out [e-mail] Games.

[Tracy Mumford]

From the new York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today's Wednesday, July 23rd. Here's what we're covering in Washington. The Epstein drama is not going away and President Trump and Republican lawmakers are pulling out new tactics to try and shut down the conversation at the Capitol.

[Mike Johnson]

What we refuse to do is participate in another one of the Democrats political games. This is a serious matter. We are not going to let them use this as a political battering ramp.

[Tracy Mumford]

Speaker Mike Johnson announced yesterday that he's sending lawmakers home early, cutting the session short even though they were still considering legislation. He explicitly said he's doing it to avoid votes calling for the release of more files related to the government's investigation of Jeffrey Epstein on sex trafficking allegations. Democrats have been trying to push the issue to a vote, but Johnson's abrupt move spared Republicans from having to take a public stance on the issue. Recently, they've been caught between President Trump, who's been telling people to move on from the Epstein case, and some of their constituents, particularly from the hard right, who've been outraged about what they see as a lack of transparency from the administration. Meanwhile, at the White House, the witch.

[Unnamed Republican Speaker]

Hunt that you should be talking about is they caught President Obama absolutely cold.

[Tracy Mumford]

President Trump made his own new and dramatic push to deflect from the Epstein story by accusing former President Barack Obama of trying to lead a coup with Hillary Clinton.

[Unnamed Republican Speaker]

It's there. He's guilty. They this was treason. This was every word you can think of. They tried to steal the election.

[Tracy Mumford]

The Trump administration has recently rolled out a series of reports reaching back to the 2016 presidential election that claim the Obama administration tried to undermine Trump's campaign. The new reports contradict years long investigations into the election by US Intelligence agencies and bipartisan Senate committees. In a rare statement responding to Trump's allegation, a spokesman for President Obama called the claim bizarre and ridiculous. Now, two other quick updates on the Trump administration. The Times has learned that the Environmental Protection Agency has drafted a plan that would end the federal government's ability to fight climate change. The plan centers on a crucial rule from 2009 in which the EPA officially established that greenhouse gases endanger human lives. That gave the government the authority to regulate emissions from vehicles and power plants and other sources that are dangerously heating the planet, according to two people familiar with the Trump administration's plans. They're now moving to eliminate that rule, which would erase all current federal limits on greenhouse gas emissions. And we worked on it long and.

[Unnamed Republican Speaker]

Hard, and it's a great deal for everybody. I always say it has to be great for everybody. It's a great deal.

[Tracy Mumford]

Yesterday, President Trump announced he struck a trade deal with Japan, backing down from some of the highest tariffs that he'd threatened the country with. The US Is currently negotiating with dozens of countries to try and reach deals after the president upended global trade with his sweeping tariff plan. And in some corners of the economy, the toll of those tariffs is becoming clear. This week, two of the biggest automakers in the U.S. both announced major losses. General Motors said the tariffs cost the company more than a billion dollars. And Stellantis, which owns Chrysler, Jeep and Ram, also said its revenue fell significantly, in part because of the sur. In Los Angeles yesterday, one of the country's oldest and largest clinics providing care to transgender youth shut its doors. In a letter to staff, officials from Children's Hospital Los Angeles had said they didn't want to close the clinic, but they felt they had no choice under pressure from the Trump administration, which had threatened to strip the hospital of its federal funding.

[Jill Cowan]

I've been talking to patients and their parents, as well as a few clinicians here in California, and what I've been hearing is that everyone felt like they were supported. These patients, these kids were happy. And now, even in California, they're afraid that they're no longer going to be able to access essential medical care.

[Tracy Mumford]

Jill Cowan covers California for the Times. She says what happened in LA is happening across the country, as similar clinics From Chicago to D.C. to Pittsburgh limit the care they offer or close altogether. Many families have been caught by surprise. They thought seeking care in blue cities or blue states would shield them from the administration's crackdown on gender care for minors. The White House has said it's trying to prevent children from making potentially irreversible medical decisions, though Jill says that many of the families and medical experts she interviewed see the care as critical for trans kids.

[Jill Cowan]

Families are scrambling to find new doctors, get backup appointments at other institutions where this care is still offered. So much of transition treatment is time based. Puberty blockers have to be administered on the right timeline. Doctors need to be able to carefully monitor how patients are doing and these moves by these hospitals are really throwing people into uncertainty. As one 16 year old transgender girl told me, she has been able to access puberty blocker injections which last for several months. She had an appointment to get an implant which lasts for more than a year and that appointment was canceled. And she feels like right now the prospect of experiencing male puberty, feeling her body changing to be further away from her perception of herself, made her feel like her own body was a ticking time bomb.

[Tracy Mumford]

Meanwhile, an executive order signed by President Trump earlier this year aimed at banning transgender women from sports led the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee to quietly change its rules this week. The organization now says that transgender women will not be able to compete in any Olympic women's sports. For Team usa, that decision had previously been left up to the governing body of each sport.

[Unnamed Republican Speaker]

Foreign.

[Tracy Mumford]

Every day for more than two weeks, fires have been breaking out at apartment complexes, oil refineries, a road outside a major airport, even a shoe factory. In public, Iranian officials have tried to brush off the incidents as accidents or aging infrastructure. But in private, multiple Iranian officials tell the Times they believe these are acts of sabotage. The country has been on edge since its 12 day war with Israel last month, and though there's now a ceasefire, tensions are still high. Officials suspect the fires could be a secret campaign by Israel, though they did not provide any evidence. Israeli officials declined to comment. But the two countries have waged covert attacks on each other for years, and Israel's intelligence agency recently said it would continue with that effort in Iran. Just last month, the head of the agency promised, quote, we will be there just as we have been up to now. And finally, Ozzy Osbourne, who helped invent heavy metal music and transformed reality TV, died yesterday at 76. Born in Birmingham, England, he was he had some false starts. He worked in a slaughterhouse and then had a brief stint as a burglar before he joined the band that would become Black Sabbath in 1968.

[Robert Vinlowen]

Is he alive or dead?

[Tracy Mumford]

The volume was ear splitting, the tempo was grinding, and Osbourne screamed and yowled about doom. Critics hated it. But Black Sabbath's early albums went platinum, unleashing anthem after anthem for young people angry at the world. As he grew famous, Osbourne's behavior reached extremes. He said in his autobiography he did more drugs than he could even list, and he was eventually fired from Black Sabbath for sleeping through a concert. But he went on to become a bigger star than ever as a solo act. On stage, he dialed up the satanic imagery and his behavior was wild, sometimes violent. He pelted audiences with raw meat and bit the head off a dead bat during a concert in Des Moines. He once told the Times, though, that all of that craziness was an act, and he had a very different life at home, saying, quote, I am not the Antichrist. I am a family man.

[Sharon Osbourne]

Go to school right now, okay?

[Tracy Mumford]

Go to school. The world got to see that for itself in 2002, when the reality show the Osbournes premiered, showing the loving but often bleeped out family home life of Ozzy, his wife Sharon, and their teenage kids.

[Sharon Osbourne]

I'm begging of you, Sharon. I'm begging you. No more animals, Please. Boo.

[Tracy Mumford]

It was the most popular TV show MTV had ever aired, and it inspired dozens of other celebrities to open up their homes to cameras and launch their own shows. Over the years, Osbourne dealt with a growing list of health issues, and he was diagnosed with a variant of Parkinson's. But just a few weeks ago, he rallied to perform a final concert. He reunited with Black Sabbath in his hometown of Birmingham, and he sat on stage in a black throne as people screamed and cheered. Before his death, Osbourne said he knew exactly how he would be remembered. Ozzy Osbourne, born 1948, died whenever he bit the head off a bat. Those are the headlines today on the Daily.

[Robert Vinlowen]

I've come forward because the Trump administration has put civil servants in this impossible position of fealty to the president and the agenda or fealty to uphold the rule of law.

[Tracy Mumford]

A former employee at the Justice Department who became a whistleblower explains why he's speaking out. That's next in the New York Times audio app, where you can listen wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Tracy Mumford. We'll be back tomorrow.