MeidasTouch Full Podcast - 7/29/25

Summary

Podcast Summary: The MeidasTouch Podcast – Episode Released on July 29, 2025

Host: MeidasTouch Network (Ben Miceli, Brett Erlich, Jordy Rosenberg)

In this action-packed episode of The MeidasTouch Podcast, the Meiselas brothers dive deep into pressing political and social issues, emphasizing their unwavering support for democracy while blending insightful analysis with their characteristic humor and brotherly banter. Below is a comprehensive summary of the key topics discussed, enriched with notable quotes and timestamps for reference.

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1. Donald Trump and the Epstein Scandal

The episode opens with a critical examination of former President Donald Trump's entanglement in the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. The brothers dissect Trump's recent statements and actions surrounding the scandal, highlighting his attempts to downplay his association with Epstein.

• Ben Miceli ([07:29]): "Trump's nightmare in Scotland continues. He tried to run away from the Epstein scandal, but he ran right into it even more..."

• Brett Erlich ([05:28]): "It's really upsetting seeing everything the Trump regime is doing here and across the world and understanding that our country is complicit in so many horrific things going on."

The brothers argue that Trump's deflection tactics, such as labeling Epstein-related investigations as a "hoax" and accusing Democrats of tampering with files, only make him appear guiltier.

• Brett Erlich ([09:00]): "If you look at even those right-wing podcasts who a lot of people talk about, none of them are believing any of this stuff."

They also discuss the broader implications of these actions, including the potential release of damaging files and the coordinated efforts to shield Epstein's accomplices, like Ghislaine Maxwell, from prosecution.

2. Ghislaine Maxwell's Legal Battles

A significant portion of the discussion centers on Ghislaine Maxwell's legal strategies and the controversial non-prosecution agreements that have implicated high-profile figures, including Trump.

• Ben Miceli ([08:40]): "Donald Trump owes Christopher Steele about $600,000 after a frivolous claim that he's making there."

• Brett Erlich ([13:42]): "She landed. Is that something you would ever consider?"

The brothers critique Maxwell's recent Supreme Court appeal, which leverages past non-prosecution agreements to seek immunity from further charges. They argue that this move is a direct result of the Trump administration's previous handling of Epstein's case.

• Ben Miceli ([72:18]): "So Trump has no credibility. So no, we don't believe it."

The analysis suggests a systemic attempt to protect powerful individuals through legal loopholes, further undermining public trust in the justice system.

3. Fake Trade Deals with the European Union and Japan

The podcast delves into Trump's purported trade agreements with the European Union and Japan, exposing their lack of substance and the misinformation propagated by mainstream media.

• Ben Miceli ([37:40]): "Donald Trump claims that Japan was going to give America a signing bonus of $550 billion dollars... that's ridiculous from the outset."

• Brett Erlich ([41:50]): "Our first step was, let's see what the Japanese government officials are saying about it. They were saying nothing at this time. We were like, well, that's odd."

The brothers highlight discrepancies between Trump's declarations and the actual responses from international counterparts, underscoring the absence of formal agreements despite Trump's bold claims.

• Ben Miceli ([39:40]): "That means you're taxing your own people. 15%, you're taxing the importers at the point of sale."

4. Trump's Climate Policy and EPA Actions

Addressing environmental concerns, the podcast critiques Trump's stance on climate change, particularly his efforts to dismantle the EPA's endangerment finding.

• Brett Erlich ([25:49]): "Donald Trump is preparing to eliminate the endangerment finding. This was a 2009 scientific determination that greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare."

• Ben Miceli ([28:30]): "It's so incredibly humiliating."

The brothers warn of the long-term repercussions of undermining established environmental protections, emphasizing the global legal obligations to mitigate climate change.

5. Taiwan President's Entry Ban and US-China Relations

The episode addresses the recent geopolitical tension arising from Trump's decision to block Taiwan's president from entering the United States, highlighting its impact on US-China relations.

• Ben Miceli ([60:24]): "China basically said, if you allow Taiwan in, we're not going to meet with you. And Donald Trump called it. Donald Trump capitulated right then and there."

• Brett Erlich ([61:14]): "Tourism is down significantly. Or we'll talk about that reminder."

The discussion underscores the strategic weaknesses exposed by Trump's capitulation to China's demands, questioning the reliability of American leadership in maintaining international alliances.

6. Trump's Cheating in Golf and Personal Integrity

Using anecdotes and external sources, the brothers critique Trump's personal integrity, linking his conduct on the golf course to his broader character issues.

• Ben Miceli ([62:56]): "Donald Trump's behavior that we're seeing is consistent with someone who bankrupts things... and ruins lives."

• Brett Erlich ([63:37]): "I buy that a thousand percent that you could tell someone's how they behave in the real world based off how they're behaving on the golf course."

They draw parallels between Trump's alleged cheating in golf and his manipulative political strategies, painting a picture of a leader lacking in moral fortitude.

7. Climate Change and the Endangerment Finding

Furthering the conversation on environmental policy, the podcast emphasizes the critical nature of maintaining the endangerment finding related to greenhouse gases.

• Brett Erlich ([26:30]): "So he is not able to slip out of this. People know exactly what is happening here."

• Ben Miceli ([25:35]): "Every time he says that, he's that... it means that's a tax increase on you."

The brothers advocate for continued public pressure to retain stringent climate regulations, warning of the dire consequences if these policies are rolled back.

8. AFL-CIO Bus Tour and Union Support

Shifting focus to labor rights, the podcast highlights the MeidasTouch Network’s collaboration with the AFL-CIO during their national bus tour, advocating for workers' rights and union support.

• Ben Miceli ([78:51]): "You have a duty to stand up, to see to it that all Americans retire with dignity, access to good health care, protection on the job."

• Brett Erlich ([80:13]): "We covered a lot. Trump, Epstein, Ghislaine, the Supreme Court, climate issues, Gaza..."

The brothers commend the AFL-CIO's efforts to engage with workers across the country, reinforcing their commitment to grassroots movements and labor advocacy.

9. Closing Remarks and Calls to Action

In their concluding segments, the hosts encourage listeners to support their independent media platform through Patreon and engage with their content on various platforms.

• Brett Erlich ([81:12]): "Sign up for free [e-mail]."

• Jordy Rosenberg ([81:22]): "Shout out to the Midas."

The episode wraps up with a reaffirmation of the podcast’s mission to provide fact-based analysis and support democratic values amidst ongoing political turmoil.

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Notable Quotes:

• Brett Erlich ([05:28]): "It's really upsetting seeing everything the Trump regime is doing here and across the world and understanding that our country is complicit in so many horrific things going on."

• Ben Miceli ([09:00]): "Nobody's buying this crap. Not even most of Donald Trump's supporters are buying this crap."

• Brett Erlich ([13:42]): "She landed. Is that something you would ever consider?"

• Ben Miceli ([37:40]): "Donald Trump claims that Japan was going to give America a signing bonus of $550 billion dollars... that's ridiculous from the outset."

• Ben Miceli ([60:24]): "China basically said, if you allow Taiwan in, we're not going to meet with you. And Donald Trump capitulated right then and there."

• Brett Erlich ([25:49]): "Donald Trump is preparing to eliminate the endangerment finding. This was a 2009 scientific determination that greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare."

• Ben Miceli ([62:56]): "Donald Trump's behavior that we're seeing is consistent with someone who bankrupts things... and ruins lives."

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Conclusion:

This episode of The MeidasTouch Podcast offers a thorough critique of Donald Trump's actions related to the Epstein scandal, international trade, climate policy, and personal conduct. The Meiselas brothers provide a compelling narrative that intertwines factual analysis with passionate commentary, urging listeners to remain vigilant and supportive of democratic institutions. Their collaboration with the AFL-CIO underscores their dedication to promoting workers' rights and broader societal well-being.

For those interested in further discussions and in-depth analyses, the hosts invite listeners to join their Patreon community and engage with their content across various platforms.

Transcript

[Ben Miceli]

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[Ben Miceli]

Trump's nightmare in Scotland continues. He tried to run away from the Epstein scandal, but he ran right into it even more as the COVID up there gets worse. He had a disastrous press conference with the President of the European Union Commission. He had a disastrous press conference with the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Kier Starmer kept on talking about Epstein and said that he did not have the privilege to go to the island. He called it the privilege. Also you have Donald Trump making more fake trade deals. Japan says that they're not investing $500 billion into the United States. If anything it's going to be a loan. Even though Donald Trump announced $600 billion investment from the European Union in a so called trade deal, the European Union really is saying that that's not realistic and they have no way to actually get its member countries to actually go about making such an investment. Meanwhile, Donald Trump continues to bend the knee for China. Donald Trump blocked Taiwan's president from entering into the United States at the request of China's leader, Xi Jinping. Also, Donald Trump continues to do whatever Netanyahu wants him to do, although I think that's what Donald Trump wants to do as well. Netanyahu says that he will be annexing basically all of Gaza phase by phase, and that that's the next step, just getting rid of the Palestinians totally. And Donald Trump's like, well, it's going to be up to Netanyahu, and us Is supporting that. We'll talk about that. Also, Donald Trump, in order to distract from his dark past with Jeffrey Epstein, continues to talk about charging former President Obama with treason. Over the weekend, Donald Trump was posting photos of Obama's face on O.J. simpson in the Ford Bronco chase. And you had Donald Trump, CIA Director and others saying that, yeah, there's no statute of limitations on treason. We're going after Obama from. From what, 2016. What? Donald Trump was involved with Russia. Russia. Russia. Russia's real. Donald Trump says Russia. If you're listening, hack into my opponent's emails. I mean, a bipartisan Senate commission said that Russia tried to interfere with the 2016 election. Why are we talking about 20? What are we talking about 2012, 2008? We're going to talk about 2002. It's so obvious what Donald Trump is doing. Oh, he's also talking about arresting Kamala Harris, Beyonce or Oprah Al Sharpton. We'll talk about that.

[Michael Wolf]

I guess.

[Ben Miceli]

Brett and Jordy or you guys doing Midas Mighty? We've got a lot to discuss on today's show.

[Brett Erlich]

No, I mean, we got a lot to discuss every day. First off, I just want to say how upsetting it is to be the bad guys. Like, it's really upsetting seeing everything the Trump regime is doing here and across the world and understanding that, you know, our country is complicit in so many horrific things going on. And seeing Trump's deflection from the Epstein scandal, I sor. The more this guy speaks, the guiltier he seems. Like if there was a masterclass on how to appear guilty for something that you're not necessarily guilty. I'm sure you have a lot of connections with Jeffrey Epstein. Nobody's saying that you specifically committed any sort of crimes. The way Donald Trump is behaving is certainly, I think, opening a lot of eyes and making people wonder what the hell is in those Epstein files and why is he so afraid to let them see the light of day. I mean, you just got to think about it. Whatever's in There has to be so bad that he called him a hoax, accused Barack Obama of treason, shut down the Epstein investigation entirely, had Mike Johnson recess Congress to prevent a vote on releasing the files. Rushed his criminal attorney to the federal prison to offer Epstein's accomplice an immunity deal. This is just absolutely outrageous, though there's never been a guiltier looking individual, I think in the history of the world. But here we are. This is the United States of America in July 2025. What a shame. We will go through it all. Jordi, what's the latest?

[Jordy Rosenberg]

Brett, well said. Excited to get in. We do have an action packed show. I just remind those watching and listening, if you haven't already, please download the Midas Touch podcast wherever you get your podcast. Benji, where do you want to start off?

[Brett Erlich]

Oh, wait, let me say this also. We're going live on Patreon right after this for a Q and A. So make sure you check it out. Sign up now if you're not [e-mail] Midas Touch. We're looking forward to our Q and A immediately following this live broadcast on YouTube.

[Ben Miceli]

Let's go to Turnberry Scotland, Donald Trump's golf course. He was there to enrich himself and promote his business. And on the side he brought the president of the European Union Commission, Ursula van der Leyen, and he brought in the prime minister of the United Kingdom, Kier Starmer. Let me show you what went down with Keir Starmer earlier in the day. Donald Trump, basically on his own, talks about Epstein's island. And Trump says, I never had the privilege of going there. He calls it a privilege. The privilege. Here, play this clip.

[Michael Wolf]

That was it. I'm glad I did, if you want to know the truth. And by the way, I never went to the island. And Bill Clinton went there supposedly 28 times. I never went to the island. But Larry Summers, I hear, went there. He was the head of Harvard and many other people that are very big people. Nobody ever talks about them. I never had the privilege of going to his island. And I did turn it down. But a lot of people in Palm beach were invited to his island. In one of my very good moments, I turned it down. I didn't want to go to his island.

[Ben Miceli]

The privilege, he says. Then he's asked if he was briefed by his attorney general, Pam Bondi, by the way, who's been very quiet lately regarding his name appearing in the Epstein files, which he was briefed. And then he lies and at first says no, but then he realizes, wait a minute, how am I going to lie about this? And he goes, well, you know, the whole thing is a big hoax and the Democrats had the files. So, like Biden probably did stuff to the files and put my name into it. Play the clip. Juan, you have said that you have not been briefed on the Epstein files or your name has not appeared in the Epstein files.

[Brett Erlich]

But doesn't the AG have to tell you if your name is.

[Michael Wolf]

Well, I haven't been overly interested in it. You know, it's something. It's a hoax that's been built up way beyond proportion. I can say this. Those files were run by the worst scum on earth. They were run by Comey, they were run by Garland, they were run by Biden and all of the people that actually ran the government, including the auto pen. Those files were run for four years by those people. If they had anything, I assume they would have released it. The whole thing is a hoax. They ran the files. I was running against somebody that ran the files. If they had something they would have released. Now, they can easily put something in the files that's a phony. Like as an example, Christopher Steele, a person you know well happens to be from your country. But Christopher Steele as an example, wrote a book at dossier, we call it the fake news dossier. And the whole thing was a fake. The whole thing was a fake. They can put things in the file that are fake.

[Ben Miceli]

By the way, I think Donald Trump owes Christopher Steele About $600,000 after a frivolous claim that he's making there. Christopher Steele won the litigation against Donald Trump and Trump has refused to pay the judgment. Let's just pause there. Brett, your immediate reaction to what I just.

[Brett Erlich]

Not the comments of an innocent man. I will, I will say lightly. And nobody's buying this crap. Not even most of Donald Trump's supporters are buying this crap. If you look at even those right wing podcasts who a lot of people talk about, you know, help Trump in the lead up to this election, none of them are believing any of this stuff. We saw even Joe Rogan in a recent episode say that this is a line in the sand and how Trump's trying to gaslight people. We're seeing folks from this other podcast say how, like what I was saying before, the more Trump acts like this and says it's a hoax and says it was planted by Biden or Comey or whatever other name he wants to throw in there, the guiltier that he seems. And it's very obvious that whatever is in those files as I said before has to be so horrific, like not even just like a little bad, but it needs to be so bad for him to have this sort of reaction to it. I mean, this was Donald Trump's government when Epstein was arrested. The sweetheart deal given to Jeffrey Epstein back in Florida. And we get into this a little later, what's going on with that? The sweetheart deal was given by U.S. attorney Alex Acosta. Alex Acosta was then brought into the Trump administration as a reward after that sweetheart deal. This non prosecution agreement which now Ghislaine Maxwell, well, is using to try to get out of prison, based on that and based on what Donald Trump has been doing. So what we're seeing right now is clearly a coordinated effort by Trump and his allies to actually try to free Epstein's accomplice, to try to actually absolve himself a blame for whatever he may have done in this entire scheme. And now the entire Republican Party has turned into, and there's no real other way to say this, into this pedophile protection racket. And they are now all working together in this real life conspiracy to try to conceal seal the crimes of Epstein and any of Donald Trump's affiliations with them 1000%.

[Jordy Rosenberg]

And can we just pause real quick and go back to that first comment, the clip that we played of Trump saying that he didn't have the privilege of being on Epstein's island. Let's just give him the benefit of the doubt and say he's being sarcastic there. Yeah, he's being sarcastic. Trying to be funny. What are you doing trying to be funny about this? There are real victims, these are real people. And you're trying to make light of it and make a joke saying, oh.

[Ben Miceli]

I didn't have the privilege of showing up there.

[Jordy Rosenberg]

I mean, this guy is such a jag off, Ben.

[Ben Miceli]

Next he's asked, are you considering a pardon of Ghislaine? Max, before you play it though, he's sitting with the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Okay, like, like, I'm like, I just want to reflect on what this is. This is a meeting of two leaders of countries that are supposed to be talking about issues like the war in Ukraine, Russia's unlawful invasion, the humanitarian crisis, and the mass slaughter of innocent people in Gaza right now. And Israel wanting to annex all of Gaza, which by the way, even people in Israel are starting to say to Benjamin Netanyahu, dude, what are you doing right there? And you know, and Netanyahu's support base in Israel is still like 35% of Likud it's not all of Israel, you know, And, I mean, you're supposed to talk about, you know, issues about, you know, trade and bringing the world together. But this is what Donald Trump is not. Because Donald Trump's, like, talking about it, too. I mean, the question wasn't, have you visited the island? Trump, on his own, said, you know, I just didn't have the privilege to go there. Didn't have the privilege. Bill Clinton, former president of Harvard. Why do we care? Bill Clinton, Okay. Bill Clinton did it. Hold him accountable. The former president of Harvard. Okay, sure. You too, you too. You lived. It was worse. You lived down the block from the guy and threw parties with him at Mar a Lago.

[Brett Erlich]

And here's the thing, Ben, that I also try to keep, like, hammering home, like, even going to the island, as screwed up as it is, that's not a crime in and of itself. Even going on Jeffrey Epstein's plane, that's not a crime in and of itself. Writing Jeffrey Epstein's birthday book, not a crime in and of itself. But Donald Trump's reaction to this news coming out now, that raises a lot of eyebrows. And that says, oh, so maybe that isn't actually just an innocent birthday note amongst two friends. Maybe there is something deeper to it because Donald Trump is denying that he even wrote it in the first place. That, to me, is what makes the smoke seem like fire around this entire issue here.

[Ben Miceli]

Donald Trump was asked, are you considering a pardon of Ghislaine Maxwell? Let's play it, Mr. President.

[Brett Erlich]

Rule out a pardon for Ghislaine Maxwell, who landed. Is that something you would ever consider?

[Michael Wolf]

Pardon for who?

[Brett Erlich]

For Ghislaine Maxwell?

[Michael Wolf]

Well, I'm allowed to give her a pardon, but I. Nobody's approached me with it. Nobody's asked me about it. It's in the news about that, that aspect of it. But right now, it would be inappropriate to talk about it.

[Ben Miceli]

So, no, it would be inappropriate to do it. He goes, it would be inappropriate to talk about it, meaning he's considering doing it. He's saying it's inappropriate to talk about it because he has his former criminal defense attorney, the number two now at the Department of Justice, who met with Ghislaine over 10 hours, gave Ghislaine what's called Queen for the day status. That's the name for it, where they gave her a special form of immunity where she can no longer be prosecuted for anything that she said granted. Look, she's already in prison for 20 years for sex trafficking and being Epstein's co conspirator, but she didn't testify at that trial, she didn't cooperate. So arguably, she could have been charged with many more things and been to prison for even longer than what she was sentenced for. But now she can't be charged with the other stuff that she basically talked about, because that's called use immunity. Arguably, the government can say that they found it from other sources, but it's very hard to make that claim. So they basically insulated her from that. And what was the point of that? She's going to name all these other names, but not Donald Trump's. And Trump's plan is let's distract with that and maybe people will forget that what they were asking all along for is not a Ghislaine Maxwell statement or grand jury testimony. We just want the files, the 300, whatever it is, you know, gigabytes of data that exists. That's what we want. That's what we're asking for. Not any of this other stuff.

[Brett Erlich]

You know, they go to Ghislaine Maxwell. You could go to the victims, you could hear from them, and people have done that. And you could go to the files that you are preventing the public from seeing that has all the information. And I should also say Trump's statements that you heard right there, where he says, like, oh, I haven't even thought about that. Not something I really thought about. I don't know. I can do it, but I haven't thought about that. Same exact statements that he made prior to pardoning people like Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, Roger Stone. Donald Trump says the same thing before he pardons people. I'm not saying I have a Magic 8 ball and I can predict what Trump is going to do in this situation, but I will say this is what he has said in the past prior to pardoning people who are controversial to be pardoned, then it's also just.

[Jordy Rosenberg]

An insane thing to say. I could pardon her, like, for that question. That's your response? I could do it. You could do a lot, Don. You could pardon a lot of people.

[Brett Erlich]

Are, you know, yeah.

[Jordy Rosenberg]

How about just a flat out. No, no, I'm not gonna.

[Brett Erlich]

One of the most vile, most despicable sex traffickers known to man, who's committed some of the most heinous crimes.

[Jordy Rosenberg]

I could do it, Bre. I could do it. Are you kidding me, man?

[Brett Erlich]

Unbelievable.

[Ben Miceli]

Then Donald Trump says, though, that everything relating to Epstein is good for him because this is good for his poll numbers Here. Play this club.

[Michael Wolf]

I just don't. When you, you know, when you talk about files, I just keep going back. And other people too. Even the enemy says this thing is not correct because if we had it, we would have used it on the guy. It's a bad issue. They say it's a good issue for Trump. Do you know that my poll numbers are up four and a half points since this ridiculous Epstein stuff? My poll numbers have gone up four and a half points because people don't buy it, okay? People don't buy it. And he's gone. And we want to focus on trade deals. I want to focus on the deal we just made with the European Union, which is the biggest trade deal in history. It's the biggest deal, I think, in history, not just trade deal. So if they would have had something, they would have used it.

[Ben Miceli]

People keep writing stories. And let me be clear too, there's a lot of damaging files that are already out there. That's one of the things too about this whole thing. And go back and watch the videos though, that I've done. I'm not going to repeat it all here. Where you talk about a 14 year old girl going to Mar a Lago with Epstein and Ghislaine and Epstein allegedly saying to her or pointing at Donald Trump and saying, do you like this little one? Or Virginia Giuffre, underage girl, towel girl, working at Mar a Lago after being homeless, somehow got a job at Mar a Lago. And then Ghislaine Maxwell went over to the Mar a Lago spot and said, oh, you're working at this spa. You want to do massages for Epstein. And then Epstein sex trafficked her. Or Donald Trump and Epstein doing like a party together where they brought over 30 girls from like a pageant of like indeterminate age and said they were going to meet VIP in the modeling agency. And it, it was just Trump and Epstein. So there, I mean, look, there's a lot of other stuff that's already out there that I've always told people, let's focus on that as well.

[Brett Erlich]

Also, Ben, like Trump has tried to normalize this idea that it's normal for the Department of Justice to try to go after political opponents. And I've seen even some people take the bait on our side and say, yeah, why didn't Biden release the files? He could have brought down Trump. Because that's not how the Department of Justice is supposed to operate. This was an active investigation until very recently when Donald Trump shut it down. You normally actually don't release things of an active investigation because it could affect the Government's case. When a Ghislaine Maxwell goes to appeal her case, it could affect going after other people who are involved in this scheme. Believe it or not, most presidents, except for, I guess, Richard Nixon and Donald Trump, viewed the Department of Justice as off limits. For the President to interfere with that was like a. That's a big policy that has existed, the separation between the President of the United States and the Department of Justice. They do not view it as a tool to attack their political opponents. Even if Donald Trump believes that to be the case because he was prosecuted for actual crimes over the past few years by the Department of Justice, Donald Trump is the individual who closed down the case. Donald Trump made it his cause to release the Epstein files. Donald Trump is the one who weaponized the Epstein files to try to smear his political opponents. He said he would release everything. And the second he took a look in those documents and saw that his name is apparently all over it, he backtracked and called it a hoax. So he is not able to slip out of this. People know exactly what is happening here.

[Ben Miceli]

I'll show one other clip of Trump talking about Epstein in this meeting with the leader of the United Kingdom, Keir Starmer. Then I'll show you some other things that Donald Trump said. But he starts describing why it was that he stopped being friends with Epstein. And the kind of fake MAGA explanation is that, oh, Donald Trump thought Epstein was a creepy guy and said, look, you're banned from my. You're banned from this locate from Mar A Lago. Get out. And Donald Trump was like the. The hero. He stood up to Epstein. But here Donald Trump says, he goes, epstein did something really inappropriate in my presence. Okay, what is it? And then he goes, he hired help that worked for me. He. Trump goes, he hired the help that worked for me, and he stole the people who worked for me. And Trump calls the people who worked for him help. So that's what Donald Trump says was inappropriate about Epstein's relationship with him, was hiring Trump's help. Here, play this clip.

[Brett Erlich]

People keep writing stories about the time you threw him out of Mar A Lago. Can you settle that?

[Jordy Rosenberg]

What was it about?

[Brett Erlich]

What caused the breach for him?

[Michael Wolf]

That's such old history. Very easy to explain, but I don't want to waste your time by explaining it. But for years, I wouldn't talk to Jeffrey Epstein. I wouldn't talk because he did something that was inappropriate. He hired help. And I said, don't ever do that again. He stole people that worked for me. I said, don't ever do that again. He did it again, and I threw him out of the place. Persona non grata. I threw him out and that was it. I'm glad I did. If you want to know the truth.

[Ben Miceli]

So if you want to know the truth, that's always what people say who are telling the truth. If you want to know the truth. Okay, let's talk about other things.

[Brett Erlich]

That destroys, like, the entire MAGA line about all of this. It just, like, it just. And is he talking about actual, like, help around Mar a Lago or is he speaking. Is he using a euphemism for, like, taking Virginia Giuffre from him? Like, that's what. I don't know either. Is it even darker than even that we are hearing from Donald Trump in that instance? Whatever. Whatever it is, we know that this whole story that MAGA has made up where Donald Trump is some sort of crusader against people who have been sex trafficked in women is completely complete and total. Even, like, Jeffrey Epstein's brother has come out and said that, like, Jeffrey Epstein actually was skeeved out by Donald Trump and said that Donald Trump was a crook. And they got into some. There's also all these reports that they got into some sort of feud about real estate where they were trying to bid on the same property, and Trump was upset that he was trying to get the property. I could tell you right now, from everything we know, it had nothing to do with the fact that Donald Trump knew that he was creeping and sexually abusing and raping young girls. Nothing to do with that. Everything to do with the fact that these other ancillary stories that we keep hearing about.

[Jordy Rosenberg]

I want to emphasize what you just said. Jeffrey Epstein's brother is on record saying that Jeff had to cut ties with Donald Trump because Trump was too big of a crook. Imagine. Imagine how big of a crook you have to be for Jeffrey Epstein to cut ties with you. So when you know that part of the story and then you re. Listen to that clip that we just played. He's a terrible liar. Donald Trump is a terrible liar. And when you. When you watch that clip, knowing that he's lying, I mean, you.

[Ben Miceli]

You.

[Jordy Rosenberg]

You hear it in his voice and you see it in his mannerisms. Terrible.

[Ben Miceli]

It's almost the concept, though, too, of the big lie that he's such a bad liar that all of his MAGA sycophants in Congress, like maga Mike Johnson, they, like, pluck meaning from it and try to, like, act like they've interpreted what he said. But it's like, no, just listen to saying. I mean, this is a liar who is also like, cognitively addled and who is humiliating the United States on the world stage each and every day. And so just shifting gears, he was asked about Russia. Obviously there's not peace in Ukraine in 24 hours, as Donald Trump promised. And Putin continues to escalate, killing innocent Ukrainians using ballistic missiles and shahi drones from Iran. Let me just show you what Donald Trump, Donald Trump's response was. I'm just not interested in talking to Putin anymore. I'm just done, done talking. Here, play this clip.

[Michael Wolf]

But every time I think it's going to end, he kills people.

[Ben Miceli]

Could a meeting help? And are you considering.

[Michael Wolf]

I don't know. I'm not, you know, I'm not so interested in talking anymore. He's, he talks. We have such nice conversations, such respectful and nice conversations. And then people die the following night in a, with a missile going into a town and hitting, I mean, recently, I guess, the nursing home. But they hit other things. Whatever they hit, people die. So I don't know, we'll see what happens.

[Ben Miceli]

And then Donald Trump continued on this trip to talk about how much he hates wind and wind is a disaster, and that Europe shouldn't have windmills and that he's banned windmills in the United States and they're very ugly. And he, he looks out of his golf course window and says, I don't like those windmills. And then there are windmills by Aberdeen and I don't like that. Again, it's just, it's so incredibly humiliating. Here, play this clip.

[Michael Wolf]

Wind is the most expensive form of energy and it destroys the beauty of your fields and your plains and your, and your waterways. And look, look out there. There's no windmills. But if you look in another direction, you see where windmills. When we go to Aberdeen, you'll see some of the ugliest windmills you've ever seen. They're the height of a 50 story building. And you can take a thousand times more energy out of a hole in the ground. This big. This big. It's called oil and gas. And you have it there. The North Sea, this big that nobody would even see. You can take a thousand times more power because the wind is intermittent. It doesn't work. It's extremely expensive.

[Ben Miceli]

He's just making up numbers too. Like, he just, like, just saying random numbers that aren't even accurate. And actually wind is very effective in Scotland and in Europe. And again, it just looks so ridiculous.

[Brett Erlich]

To watch that it looks ridiculous. It is ridiculous. It's incredibly dangerous. And you see people in the Trump administration now going on tv and they also tried, they, like, act stupid, right? They're either stupid, they're acting stupid, they think you're stupid, whatever you want. A combination of all the above. They go, yeah, when the energy actually can't even be captured once it stops. And you see, like Trump saying that there, once it stops, the wind stops blowing, you just run out of energy. As if, like batteries don't exist and other ways of storing energy don't exist. And you just see at every step of the way, this administration is attacking our climate and they are doing just severe damage. You also see how kind of our entire infrastructure was built on having experts at the helm who knew what the hell they were doing, and us putting trust in them and allowing them to do their thing. Trump is dismantling it all. And so I should just mention, also, one of the most dangerous things that the Trump administration is doing right now that isn't getting nearly enough attention is that they are preparing to eliminate the endangerment finding. So what that is, and like, this is probably going to blow a lot of people's mind. That's the 2009 scientific determination by the United States government that greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare. So what Donald Trump is trying to do is he's trying to take away from the United States government the stance that greenhouse gases are bad for the environment and bad for people's health. And you might ask, okay, so why, why do that? Just as an fu. Well, that finding, that proclamation by the US Government actually has legal weight. It's the legal foundation for regulating emissions of greenhouse gases. So that is the first step to dismantling all of our regulations on greenhouse gases and taking away all the safety precautions and guards that we have right now on all of this stuff. Lee Zeld, who runs the Environmental Protection Agency for Trump, that former far right congressman, he's, he calls that determination that greenhouse gases not so good for the environment. He calls it the, quote, holy grail of the climate change religion. That's how these people sort of speak. And that comes, this all comes the same week the United nations top court, the International Court of Justice, issued a unanimous opinion stating that countries have a legal duty under international law to protect the environment from man made greenhouse gas emissions. So you see the United States government here going right against, against that, doing something that's going to damage our health, damage our economy, damage our environment. And so I think there's just That I, people out there think that people don't care about these climate issues. So I'm just going to say keep making noise about all of this stuff and don't let them get away with it. Even like, leave comments in this very video on this podcast, let people know that you care about this issue because we have to continue to make noise.

[Ben Miceli]

Whenever Donald Trump makes one of these fake deals, the American media, whether it's the New York Times or the Washington Post or whatever network, right, they go, a big deal was made. Donald Trump says, whenever you start a sentence with Donald Trump says, you probably should pull back and reflect on what does the counterparty say? And do we have a document, right? What does Japan say? What is European Union actually saying? And can we look at a document? Because it's never existed before, that a trade deal. Deal is just a concept of a deal. They're usually written documents, very meticulously drafted. Every word has a significant meaning. And so the biggest red flag on all of Donald Trump's fake trade deal should be that there's just no piece of paper around it. So basically it is Donald Trump saying one thing and then the other countries going back to their own parliaments or their own commissions or whatever and saying thing a completely different thing. There's no real understanding of, of what it is. And it seems that all these countries are really just waiting to see if the United States trade courts ultimately strike down Donald Trump declaring emergency powers. And so they're willing to give Donald Trump a temporary fake deal because 15% is better than 25%, even though a 15% tariff means America is taxing its own importers and passing it through to consumers. So when we get back, I want to talk about that. I want to talk about Donald Trump's press conference with Ursula van Der Leyen, the president of the European Union Commission. I want to talk about Donald Trump cheating in golf in Scotland. I want to talk about Donald Trump banning the president of Taiwan from entering into the United States. And just the broader implications too, with the World cup and Olympics, you know, eventually coming up as Donald Trump bans bans like baseball teams from Venezuela from showing up, or Donald Trump bans, you know, people from across the world from being here and nobody wants to come to the United States. Donald Trump can brag about there are zero crossings. One, I don't even know if that's true, number one. Number two, you know where there's zero crossings? North Korea. No one wants to go there. People don't want to come to the United States. Why would you take a trip to the United States and end up in alligator concentration camps? Like that's why we're seeing tourism down significantly. Or we'll talk about that reminder. As soon as this show ends, we will be on Patreon and it's ask us anything. We'll do about a 30 to 45 minute lightning round. We'll take as many questions as we can. There's no question that's off limit. If you ever wanted to meet me, Brett and Jordy in a more intimate setting, you'll join us on that. Zoom. There's a secret Zoom [e-mail] Midas Touch and it helps grow this independent media platform. So since we've grown this without any outside investors, it's just a fun way to keep on growing. So we'll see you after the show. But don't worry, we've got a lot of show left. So become a member of patreon.com Midasuch we'll be right back.

[Brett Erlich]

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[Ben Miceli]

Talked about the press conference with Prime Minister Kier Starmer. Let's go to the one with Ursula Vanderlaen, the president of the European Union Commission. This is where Donald Trump announced a purported trade deal, but it seems the trade deal is fake. We'll get into that. But the reporter asked Donald Trump if he thinks Israel should be doing more to allow food into Gaza. And then Donald Trump turns it into himself, makes it about himself and says, why don't I get thank you? People need to be saying thank you to me. I need more thank yous here, Play this clip.

[Brett Erlich]

Should Israel be doing more to allow food into Gaza?

[Ben Miceli]

Say it.

[Brett Erlich]

Should Israel be doing more to allow food into Gaza?

[Michael Wolf]

What did you say? Israel. Should Israel be doing more to allow food into Gaza? Well, you know, we gave $60 million two weeks ago and nobody even acknowledged it for food. And it's terrible. You know, you really at least want to have somebody say thank you. No other country gave anything. We gave $60 million two weeks ago for food for Gaza and nobody acknowledged it. Nobody talks about it. And it makes you feel a little bad when you do that. And you know, you have other countries not giving anything. None of the European countries, by the way, gave. I mean, nobody gave but us.

[Ben Miceli]

That's not even true, number one. And he goes, it makes you feel bad, meaning it hurt his feelings. What? I mean, there are millions of people starving to death in Gaza right now. Innocent children, men, women, starving to death. This is one of the biggest humanitarian crises, an avoidable one as well in human history. And Donald Trump saying that he's upset because he didn't get enough thank yous. And this as we've also learned that Donald Trump has green lit the plan by Israel to just annex and take over, just take it all over, take over all of Gaza and push Palestinians out. According to multiple reporting, Netanyahu has also made a deal with his, his, with the far right members of his coalition government in order to stay in power. And this is what, this is what they're pushing. And, and you heard Donald Trump's response right there. But by the way, did you hear how Donald Trump answered the question at the beginning where he was like say it, say it. And then he needed, he needed somebody next to him to explain what a very clear question was. Does. And by the way, I'll just show you this clip today with Kier Starmer. When Donald Trump was asked if he believes that the interest rates are going to decrease and watch, he struggles to understand what people are saying and he goes, well, cut taxes. Say it. Cut taxes. No, no interest rates. What are you talking about here? Play this clip.

[Michael Wolf]

Yes, a rate cut, meaning a tax cut.

[Ben Miceli]

Know, do you expect the Fed to cut rates?

[Michael Wolf]

Oh, I think he has to. You had 11 cuts. You know, in Europe they had 11 cuts. In other places they had 10 or 11 cuts and we had none. But I'm not going to say anything bad. You know, we're doing so well even without the rate cut. With the rate cut it would be better. It affects our housing a little bit. Look, we should be three points lower.

[Ben Miceli]

And he consistently doesn't realize that Kier Starmer is not part of the European Union. Right. He did that as well at the G7 where he rolled out a fake deal with the United Kingdom and said he's got a deal with the European Union. Then he drops it on the floor and it's just a bunch of blank pieces of paper and one has his signature on it. It. And again, could you imagine if former President Biden was there?

[Brett Erlich]

Say it, say it.

[Michael Wolf]

Huh?

[Ben Miceli]

What are you saying? What, what, what? I mean, he should know also by the question and by what's happening this week that the Fed is looking to. This is when the Fed would determine if there would be a rate cut or not a rate cut. Like the context of the question. Tax cuts. Why would she be asking about tax cuts? What are you talking about? But going back to the meeting with the European Union president, the president of the European Union Commission Ur von der Leyen. Donald Trump talks about what he believes the trade deal is with the European Union. Let's play this clip first.

[Michael Wolf]

Those things are 750 billion, 600 billion opening up the country. We are agreeing that the tariff straight across for automobiles and, and everything else will be a straight across tariff of 15%.

[Ben Miceli]

Okay. That means you're taxing your own people. 15%, you're taxing the importers at the point of sale. 15%, which does get passed on to consumers. What do you mean you're opening up Europe? Europe is open. We sell things to Europe. Europe sells things to us. Like what, what world is it that you're living in where you think that Europe, Europe's trade has been closed to the United States. But then you go 750 billion, 600 billion, 600 billion. What are you talking about? And then shortly after that press conference, this is the pattern that we've seen. The Wall street journal reports, U.S. politico reports EU admits it can't guarantee $600 billion promise to Trump. Trump. The extra investments pledged under the trade deal would come from private companies, which Brussels concedes it has no power to control. So it's basically they would seek to try to do something which is just the normal course of business between the parties. And then within that $600 billion, there was a, one of the language we will also see seek to try to import $250 billion worth of energy from the United States. But there's nothing, it's not binding. It's not like a contract that they're required to do anything at all. And the $250 billion of imported energy just, it makes no sense. The United States just doesn't even export that amount of energy. The numbers literally don't math out to make any sense. Europe doesn't have the capacity to purchase that amount of energy. The United States doesn't have the capacity to export that amount of, of energy. And so again, it's just, it's just all fake. And what was it, Brett and Jordy, like a week ago when they announced the Japan deal and everybody was like reporting on it? What was our report on the Midas Touch network? I was looking at what they were saying in Japanese media because I'm reading the local media and I almost had to like reread it. I'm like, I'm like, guys, am I reading this right?

[Brett Erlich]

Well, I remember just, just so, just to bring people like behind the scenes a little bit into kind of how we approach like this when Donald Trump announced the deal. The first thing that we do not do at the Midas Touch Network is send out a tweet and headlines that say, deal announced between the United States and Japan. You know, CNN might do that, all these other networks might do that. That's not how we do it. We try to say, okay, well, what is this purported deal? And then we quickly start going, okay, well, let's look at what the Japanese are saying about it. Surely their finance minister or prime minister or whoever, somebody over there should be talking about this, right? And when there's a deal, deal, traditionally there are statements that are released in tandem with two countries at the same time that outline the same actual. You know, there's a statement that is prepared by both parties, it's released at the same time detailing the deal. And so our first step was, let's see what the Japanese government officials are saying. They were saying nothing at this time. We were like, well, that's odd, right? You'd say that's odd. It's all coming from Donald Trump and Truth Social and all these reports are coming from Truth Social and we're just accepting this as fact. Weird. Perhaps we should wait till more information develops. Then as the more more and more of it came out, we begin learning through people in the Japanese government that this deal was no deal at all. There was nothing binding about this deal, that they had no intention of going through with any of the things that Donald Trump said, that they were in no rush to make a deal with the United States at all. And suddenly you realize, oh, so what all these other news organizations have been reporting has been complete BS and they've now just done two days of PR for the Trump administration rather than first trying to find the fact. Then when we did our report, it was like, what then? Probably like a 24 hour lag before we started seeing these other, more mainstream publications, I guess if you want to call them that, legacy publications coming out with their stories, basically regurgitating the stuff that we were reporting about on the Midas Touch Network. And it's just like, don't let's not jump to trusting Donald Trump. How have you not learned this yet, that everything he says is a lie and that you need to verify anything before you start reporting on it? I just cannot fathom how editors let that stuff slide.

[Ben Miceli]

Well, a deal exists, so if there's a deal, then we. The same way I could read what's in the United States, Canada, Mexico agreement before Donald Trump reneged on that, I should be able to read the Deal. It should have a lot of points, and, and there should be obligations, and it should be binding, and we should understand. Okay, well, what are the terms? I don't know how you keep reporting on social media posts or concepts of plans that aren't deals. And the thing that alarms me the most is that this is like just a gigantic Ponzi scheme. And what we're going to see is the economic data continue to be bad, and it's going to keep happening, and then one day, hey, the floor is going to break on something, and then the media is going to report it. Like, it's a shock. Oh, my God, how did this happen? Oh, whoa. What's going to. And I'm like, well, it's here in front of our eyes. Y' all kept on reporting about deals that were social media posts. I mean, you know, Donald Trump claims that Japan was going to give America, United States of America, a signing bonus of $550 billion dollars, that the United States would keep 90% of the profits and Japan would keep 10% of the profits. Like, you should look at that as ridiculous from the outset, because Japan's entire GDP is $4 trillion. So. Which is less than California, which Donald Trump attacks. So how is Japan going to invest, like, a lot, almost a huge portion of its GDP and then get. And then get 10% back? I go, they're not gonna do it. Makes no sense. I mean, it would topple the government. That would crush their economy. They already hold $1 trillion of American treasuries. They already do about $783 billion every four or five years in direct foreign investments. They, in terms of employing Americans, they're like the. They're the country that employs the most Americans of, like, any country in the world. Why? It makes. And of course, it makes no sense. And the way Japan is now framing it is the $550 billion could be like a loan, potentially. Maybe less than 1% will actually be direct investment, and the rest of it will be loans. And it's at our discretion to give the loan or not give the loan. In other words, there's literally no difference about what's. What's taking place. So it's just another fake deal, you know? And then Donald Trump will be like, like, all right, Australia is opening up the Amer, opening up their markets to American beef. This is a big win for our ranchers here in the United States. And it's like, you could. You're an ultra MAGA rancher. You. You think Australia is going to be buying Your beef. What are you talking about? Japan's not buying our cars because they don't like American cars. That's why not. Because they're a tower tariffs. Australia is not buying American beef because Australian beef is superior. That's, that's, that's why, like, just the most fundamental basic concepts of this, you know, are completely out of whack. And the media just goes along with this ride. And, and Donald Trump and his regime and Treasury Secretary Scott Besant and, you know, and then Howard Nutlik, the Commerce Secretary, and, oh, no, no, the, the country is eating the tariffs. There's no inflation. We've solved everything. I'm like, there is inflation. It's going up. The countries aren't eating the tariffs. American companies are. And American companies are then passing it on to the consumer. So either the company's going to go out of business or the American consumer is going to buy more. And we've all gone into stores. We all, we've all shopped, we've all bought food recently. We know the prices are going up. And Donald Trump said he would end inflation on day one. But you always have to go back to his character. And his character is he's a sexual abuser, he's a felon, he's a fraud, he's a bankrupter. And so, you know, he bankrupted Atlantic City in the early 90s. Well, Las Vegas, you're next in 2025 as tourism, you know, goes down. His behavior that we're seeing is consistent with someone who bankrupts things. And he somehow, with his companies, got people to go along with some of this stuff and make horrible investments, and then he ruins lives. And so just trying to call it out. And a lot of this stuff isn't, shouldn't be red versus blue or Democrat versus Republican. It should just be facts versus lies and good versus evil. Some basic, basic stuff right here.

[Jordy Rosenberg]

So, Ben, Ben, Ben, Ben, Ben. That's your issue. You're dealing with facts, big bro. When Trump says he has a deal, man, just report the headline. Just go, trump has. Trump said deal, everybody. It's so much easier. The market goes up that way, Ben. It's not built on a house of cards.

[Ben Miceli]

That's all just going to come, you know. And that's the thing, too, Jordy. It's like, you know, the, the Ponzi scheme market right now based on Trump's announcing fake deals. When you actually look at all of the data coming in about the country about job creation, not good, about prices going up, new home construction, you know, you Go through the, you know, you go through the gambit, losing manufacturing jobs. Like all the fundamentals are not strong. Consumer confidence is very, very low. CEO sentiment is at like all time lows. Worker sentiment is at all time lows.

[Brett Erlich]

Is this gaslighting Ben and Jordan, like, you know when you see Lutnick going out there and he's saying like, sorry, slip a slip of the tongue. When you, when you see him going out there and you know, and he says, like you were saying before, inflation's actually coming down. And you see all these various people in the administration, these right wing influencers, influencers who continue to beat the drum of the experts were wrong. There is no inflation. Actually, if you look at any chart, you see that inflation has been on a very steady rise since these tariffs. And by the way, Trump has reversed many of these tariffs, which may have slowed that trend, but the trend continues. And you always have to look what they are doing and at the data and what is happening, not what they are saying. You could even look at this data point that I'll show you right here. Donald Trump says he's bringing in all of this money from tariffs. By the way, anytime he says that he's that, remember that it means that's a tax increase on you. That's money he's taking from you. But anyways, we're bringing all this money in tariffs. We're, we're going to bring down the deficit, right? This is going to make a big difference to the debt. Well then why is the US treasury boosting their July through September borrowing estimate to $1.01 trillion? I thought the tariffs were going to cover all of it. Oh, I guess that was just another round of bullshit. Just like the Doge rebate checks were bullshit. Just like we're going to find gold in Fort Knox was bullshit. Just like what happened to the prison.

[Ben Miceli]

Now they're doing tar checks. They moved on to tariff rebates.

[Brett Erlich]

We got new, new rebate checks now. I got it. So what happened to the Greenland annexation? What happened to the Panama Canal? What happened to all these schemes that Donald Trump keeps throwing out? He says it and then he moves on to the next thing. It's all a scam. It's all dangling a carrot in front of his base. They fall for it and then he acts like it just never even happened. Enjoy those Doge rebate checks, everybody.

[Ben Miceli]

So when we get back, you want to talk about Mr. Tough Guy Donald Trump and who holds holds the cards? Okay, China just got Donald Trump to ban the president of Taiwan from entering into the United States. I mean, talk about utter weakness right there. So if you want to know again, you think China has the cards or Trump has the cards, just even think about the ask. The very fact that Xi Jinping thought that he could ask Donald Trump, hey, I need you to prohibit the president of Taiwan from landing in New York on a trip to Central America should be the most offensive thing to begin with. But Donald Trump was like, sure, I will grant you that, Xi Jinping. So also, you know, you have these people, right, who come into the regime who are like, we're, we're China hawks, right? We are going to decouple from China. Well, then why are you attacking Taiwan on and why are you weakening our relationships with Japan and South Korea and countries in, in Southeast Asia? What, what, what are you doing here? Talk about that. Talk about more. We're going to take our last quick break of the show. A reminder when this show ends, sign on to patreon. Go to patreon.com Midas Touch I know a lot of you have asked for us to hold one of these meetings where you can ask us anything. We'll call it the State of Midas Touch. The State of Midas Touch is strong, our friends, but feel free to ask us any question that's been on your mind. We will.

[Brett Erlich]

By the way, the link to access that Patreon post that has the secret Zoom link in it is in the description of this video. If you're watching this video, sorry, if you're listening on audio, sorry you already missed it. But you could rewatch it and join us next time. But but descriptions link is in the description of this video so just click on it. It'll bring you to the zoom link and you can check it out.

[Ben Miceli]

Let's take our last quick break of the show.

[Jordy Rosenberg]

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Goals.

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And feel like your body just hit the snooze button on life? Yeah, same. Honestly, aging sneaks up on you in some wild ways. Whether it's a night out or a good workout, I I just don't bounce back the way that I used to. One day you're full of energy, the next you're googling how to stretch without pulling a muscle. I believe one of the best aging breakthroughs of the last decade is qualiacinolytic and here's why. It's designed to help your body naturally eliminate something called senescence cells, also known as zombie cells. These are the ones that just hang around after they've stopped doing their job, draining your energy and making you feel, well, old. Think joint discomfort, sluggish recovery, low energy, the whole deal. Qualia Senolytic is a groundbreaking supplement made with nine plant based nutrients and you only take it two days a month.

[Ben Miceli]

That's it.

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[Jordy Rosenberg]

Let's go Shout out to our sponsor Shout out Qualia Shout out Prolon Man. They've been with us for a long time though, especially Qualia. Definitely check them out. Cannot say enough good things about both Those folks, so check them out. Links in description of both YouTube and the audio. Use the links, use the codes, let them know we sent you if there's an exit survey. Benji, where to next?

[Ben Miceli]

It's one of those headlines that I had to reread and say, no, I must be reading it wrong. He could not have possibly done that. We're not allowing the President of Taiwan to enter the United States. Our, our ally. This, this is how we're treating them. But yes, Donald Trump is blocking Taiwan's president lie from a New York stopover. We're not even even talking about a state version visit. Trump is preventing the President of Taiwan from landing in the United States on a trip to Central America after China objected. Now Donald Trump's regime is supposed to meet with Xi Jinping's team in the coming days in a meeting in, in Europe. And China basically said, if you allow Taiwan in, we're not going to meet with you. And Donald Trump called it. Donald Trump capitulated and isn't letting the President of Taiwan in. This was being discussed earlier today and some people commented like, no, that's not going to happen. Yeah, no, it did happen. Senator Andy Kim from New Jersey wrote, denying President La A transit is a deeply concerning break with bipartisan precedent and sends a reckless signal to Beijing that our partnership with Taiwan is on the negotiators table. American leadership is now seen as deeply unreliable with Trump's fits and starts with Ukraine, NATO allies and other key partners. I urge President Trump to reverse course and do what presidents of both parties have done and allow transit and ask my colleagues in Congress to join me in that call. Just one of those issues that MAGA Republicans in their disinformation campaigns would weaponize guys against Democrats for years. Right. You know, the Democrats are selling out Taiwan, the Democrats are weak on China. The Democrats, oh, you're supporting, you know, this and that in China and the Uyghurs you're supporting, you're doing all of these things. Republicans never cared what China was doing to the Uyghurs at all. They didn't care what was happening to Taiwan. It was just another wedge issue issue to use in their disinformation war. And then like with the Epstein files, like with a lot of other things. And then when they're in charge and the bluff gets called, they're doing all of the things that they sowed fear that was actually not happening. They're the ones doing it. They're the gop, the guardians of the pedos. They're the GOC The Guardians of China. No, I got to be more creative with that, you know, over Taiwan. G, O C O, T. Guardians of.

[Brett Erlich]

The People's Republic of China. And just loop that into one.

[Jordy Rosenberg]

Do you know why? Do you know why GOP works, though? And the others go, like, I, I get. I get what you're saying with gop, but I don't fully understand where you're going with the other acronym there.

[Ben Miceli]

Yeah, Guardians of. Of China over Taiwan. But. But P. The People's Republic of China's Republic.

[Brett Erlich]

See, yeah, you could have kept the. You could have have kept it.

[Ben Miceli]

Yeah, so. So, okay, so I, I wanted to cover that because again, that to me, just shows utter weakness to our allies. It show. It was a test by Xi Jinping of Donald Trump, and Donald Trump completely capitulated right then and there. So what do you think China's gonna. How do you think China's gonna deal with Donald Trump at the negotia. The negotiating table? So I want to talk about that.

[Brett Erlich]

I'm just worried about the Olympics, man. Like, I. I just don't know what this country. Country is going to do. Like, I'm certainly not rooting against, you know, our country having the Olympics. I think it'd be great for, you know, it's in Los Angeles. Like, I think it'd be great for the city. I think it's an exciting thing. But, like, now, like, you can't help but worry about what's going to go on. And why would any of these world leaders come here? Why would any of these citizens of other countries come here when they've already said, like, ice has been going through World cup stadiums, they're going to be going through, you know, the Olympics. Like, if you could come here for an event like the Olympics and risk ending up at an alligator concentration camp or risk getting sent to South Sudan or El Salvador, like, is that risk really worth it? And I think there are going to be a lot of athletes and a lot of people in these countries who are really kind of thinking about that before they actually come over here.

[Jordy Rosenberg]

Oh, a thousand percent. And Olympics brev. The World cup in 2026 here in Philly. So that's going to be also an interesting scenario as well.

[Ben Miceli]

It's insane. You know, we talking about sports there. The Midas Touch research team was the team that located that footage which showed Donald Trump cheating in Scotland. Donald Trump's caddy dropping the golf ball to give a better lie, a better position of the ball closer to the hole. And then Donald Trump looking like this is just kind of, I'll use the pun, par for the course for Donald Trump. He then goes and approaches the cheating ball and then goes to hit that ball. Now we, this isn't new data. We know that Donald Trump's cheats. A guy by the name of Rick Riley did an entire book on Donald Trump cheating in golf back in 2019 and showed how Donald Trump's golf cheating related to his cheating in every other aspect of life that you can tell a lot about someone by the way, you know, they play golf and the fact that Donna, I don't know if that's true or not but you know the, but I'm sure, I'm sure there's a lot of truth to it, but.

[Brett Erlich]

There'S probably other ways.

[Jordy Rosenberg]

Well, hey, I'll say this, Ben. So I played basketball growing up. I could tell someone's personality who they are at such a core level within five minutes of stepping on a court with somebody. Are you yelling at the ref? How are you interacting with your teammates? You know, what's your overall? Are you getting back on defense? So I buy that a thousand percent that you could tell someone's how they behave in the real world based off how they're behaving on the golf course. I buy that.

[Ben Miceli]

I agree with you. But I, I guess my point, I wasn't clear on what my point was. The, the bigger tell was probably that you were Jeffrey Epstein's best friend.

[Brett Erlich]

Okay.

[Ben Miceli]

Than how you got.

[Jordy Rosenberg]

Yeah, good point.

[Ben Miceli]

That's fair point. That would probably when you're, when your best friends are Jeffrey Epstein and John Casablancas, you know, and Casablancas cheated on his first wife by sexually assaulting a 15 year old girl, then cheated on his second wife by sexually assaulting a 17 year old. And then his entire modeling agency was filled with predatory conduct of sexually assaulting underage girls. And that's who partnered with the Donald Trump pageants and, and the Donald Trump work, that's a bigger red flag than what Donald Trump does here. But we show our audio listeners, we showed the video of Donald Trump being caught cheating. But let me just remind you what Rick Riley said in 2019 when he released that book Commander and Cheat, I think it was called or something like that. Here, play this clip.

[Brett Erlich]

Which clip is this?

[Ben Miceli]

Oh, of Rick Riley talking about the cheating was. Do we have that one of Rick Riley?

[Brett Erlich]

I don't have this one. I, I, I have Michael Wolf, but I don't have that, the Rick Riley one.

[Ben Miceli]

Oh, got it. No, I mean it just, it's just Rick Riley saying he cheats like a Mafia accountant. He cheats like crazy. He cheats whether you're watching or not. He cheats whether you like it or not. And the book was called Commander and Cheat. Finally, let me talk about Alina Haba. So her term this. Jordy, this is like one of your point too. Like, like you could lose with grace and dignity and you could like bow out like Alina Haba, your term expired as the United States Attorney in New Jersey. Like, you could have, you didn't deserve that position at all, but you could have just tried to prove everybody wrong, right, and act normal. But instead you filed charges, then dismissed them against the Newark, maybe mayor. And you behaved, you know, like, like someone who has very little character and frankly, who shouldn't be a lawyer. You behaved like someone who was indeed sanctioned over a million dollars in other federal courts throughout the country. You behaved like someone who, the judge in the New York sexual assault cases against Trump, the civil cases and the defamation cases were like, do you even know how to cross examine people? Like, do you know, know the rules of evidence? So she's refusing to leave the position right now, even though she's, she's done. And the federal judges in New Jersey could have extended her term, but they voted not to because she's not competent or qualified. So a very competent and qualified, just lifelong Republican who had been working at that office since 2016, became the first assistant United States Attorney and then got gets the job, job as United States Attorney. Because you need a functioning office to go after the bad guys, right? I mean, there's over 1500, 2000 cases in New Jersey against people engaged in terroristic threats and people engaged in serious violence and sexual predators and people engaged in embezzlement and other very serious federal crimes that are prosecuted out of that office in New Jersey, and she refuses to leave. So what are the criminal defendants now doing in those cases? Cases, they're filing motions to dismiss their charges. One by one, they're filing motions and saying, we have an unlawful United States Attorney who refuses to leave and I can't be prosecuted if she's still there because the office is acting criminally. So you can prosecute a criminal if you're the criminals. And those that already delayed a criminal trial and other criminal defendants are going to flood that court now with those types of motions. So that's what it invites. And it's like, just step aside. What are you doing? No one wants you there. You're not qualified to be there. You know, it's Just an overall really, really bad look. Brett, you mentioned the Michael Wolf, you mentioned the Michael Wolf clip. And Michael Wolf was going to be the biographer for Epstein and then never ended up doing it. And then he was a biographer for Donald Trump as well. So he knows them very well. Well, this video that Wolf made about being haunted by this idea of how Epstein was prosecuted after Epstein spoke to Wolf about his relationships with Trump during the first administration, this is very revealing. Watch Michael Wolf's video that he made today.

[E]

2007, Jeffrey Epstein entered into what's called a non prosecution agreement agreement with the federal government. He agreed to plead guilty on sexual abuse charges in the state of Florida with the understanding with the federal government that they would not also prosecute him. This is not that unusual. What is unusual, actually completely unique, is that the federal government in 2019, when Epstein was arrested, reneged on this non prosecution agreement. The federal government has never done this before. I'm a little haunted by an aspect of this because my book Siege, the second book I wrote about the Trump White House, came out in June 2019. And in that book, this was the first time that Epstein had had spoken about his relationship to Donald Trump. Epstein was in Paris at the time and immediately called me with some alarm and said he had thought that he may have said much too much when he returned from Paris. And that was some 10 days or so later. He was immediately arrested, arrested on the tarmac of Teterboro Airport. Epstein immediately and logically wondered if he was being shut up by Donald Trump, by Donald Trump's Justice Department in this arrest. But equally, and this is what Steve Bannon thought at the time, Bannon believed that, that the Southern District, which was the prosecuting department of the Justice Department, the Southern District in New York, in a prosecution team bizarrely headed by the daughter of James Comey, Trump's bitter enemy, hadn't arrested Epstein precisely to get him to talk about Donald Trump. As it happened, Epstein's lawyers, in mid July, late July, actually started to have a discussion with the Southern District, with the Justice Department about Epstein, talking about, about what he knew about various people, including Donald Trump. A week later, 10 days later, Epstein was dead.

[Ben Miceli]

I think that puts it in a whole new light, by the way. Right? That's what Ghisain Maxwell's appeal that she filed with the United States Supreme Court earlier today is about. She says, let's look. Trump, your labor secretary, when he was the United States attorney in Florida, made a deal with Epstein. And because I'm a co conspirator with Me. And it was a non prosecution agreement. It says the United States is bound by this, that Epstein may not be criminally prosecuted and his co conspirators may not be and that this has the force and effect on binding the US Government across the country from prosecuting Epstein, Ghislaine or any other co conspirator. So she goes, how could you prosecute me? You entered a deal. Now people may not like the deal and Epstein's an awful, awful person criminal, but you made the deal so you should honor the deal. The district court in New York, when it agreed to allow the prosecution of Ghislaine to continue, said we will not honor a deal deal from the Southern District of Florida. That, that just relates to the Southern District of Florida. We're the Southern District of New York. So that is a state specific deal. And Ghislaine's argument to the Supreme Court, whether you like, I mean, look, I think that she should personally, I think she should rot in prison for the rest of her life. My view, I think she's a liar, I think she's a sex trafficker, she's convicted of slavery such. I think she's done the most despicable things imaginable. But her argument is why would that make any sense at all? The your, these Republican lawyers, you sure they wanted to protect that? You want to hold anyone accountable, hold those United States prosecutors, they made the deal. So now you're saying the deals don't matter when they're made by the doj. That's basically her argument argument to the Supreme Court.

[Brett Erlich]

Trump's guy, Acosta, Alex Acosta, Trump's guy, who was brought in to Trump's administration immediately after cutting this sweetheart deal her. And like when you hear her argument, you almost can't help but say like, she might get off on this because of what Donald Trump did here. And I think it's also when you look at the, the timing of all this, also how she filed this reply brief today with the specific information about how the Department of Justice prosecuted this case. Immediately after meeting with Department of Justice in the federal prison, immediately after meeting with Donald Trump's a former personal criminal attorney who is now the Deputy Attorney General of the United States. My kind of conspiratorial brain starts running wild and going like, did they discuss this strategy? Did they discuss poking holes in how they made this agreement with her in the first place and saying, look, here's your out. Remember, remember that sweetheart deal we gave Jeffrey Epstein where we said if you take this deal, we won't prosecute you or your co conspirators. Well, that should apply everywhere, shouldn't it, Ghislaine?

[Michael Wolf]

Huh?

[Brett Erlich]

Maybe you should take that now to the Supreme Court, see how your argument works out. I mean, remember, the attorneys here are very good friends. Also the Maxwell's attorney, very good friends with Todd Blanche. And so you could be sure that they're talking about all of this and when they meet up, they're buddies. We've showed the clips of their podcast. Todd Blanch, I think, at least at the time, was the guest who appeared the most on Ghislaine Maxwell's lawyers podcast. They were very chummy with one another on that show. Like, it's hard not to look at what is going on here and be like, this is why I've been saying, like, he doesn't even need to do the pardon. The pardon question to me is like an afterthought. He has given Ghislaine Maxwell the golden ticket to get out on her own in a way where he could claim that he had nothing to do with it, even though we all know exactly what is going on.

[Ben Miceli]

Well, think about what her retrial motion is going to be. It's going to be that Donald Trump has said that the FBI and DOJ tampered with my file and that it was all a hoax. I never had that information. The President of the United States is saying that the lead prosecutor, Maureen Comey's dad was the one who tampered with evidence. Now, the only way the federal court rejects Ghislaine Maxwell's motion is by saying we don't believe what the President of the United States says. So Trump has no credibility. So no, we don't believe it. But if you believe that the presidency is a position that has access to these things, she would absolutely get a retrial just based on that basis. And Brett, you don't have to get conspiratorial because to me, the bigger issue is staring us right in the face. And I think it was an obvious argument for her to make about the non prosecution agreement. She made that argument around originally when she was first being prosecuted. But the fact that they gave her immunity for future prosecution, lots of people go, but why does it even matter? Sure, you give her immunity. She's serving 20 years plus in, in prison anyway. So don't you want to hear what she has to say? Give her immunity. But now you've just given her immunity. Let's say the Supreme Court lets her off, right? And now she's been given Immunity. Think about, you remember the 2007 Sweetheart Deal, non prosecution agreement. They basically just redid it with sex trafficking stuff that she was involved in. Do you get what I'm saying? 2007, 2008 non prosecution agreement. Now they basically gave her a form of a non procession agreement in the form of immunity. So. And this was the deal that I believe her lawyer cut. Hey, look, we'll deal with the pardon issue at the end of the term. Term. We think we have a great argument with the Supreme Court. So Trump doesn't have to worry about that. Let's bring back, let's bring back that up. Give us the deal happened. Like do we get it? Like it happened already. They gave her the immunity. So now what Todd Blanche probably said is, look, I can't give you these guarantees. I'm gonna give you immunity. I can justify that behind the scenes. Go make your argument to the Supreme Court. We think you, the doj, in their brief to the Supreme Court, Brett conceded, conceded that there is a circuit split on this issue such that the Supreme Court should read it here. Do we have her brief? Because on her brief she says in it, the brief she says that the government. Even more remarkable. Where does it say this?

[Brett Erlich]

Even more remarkably, the government advances an interpretation of its non prosecution agreement that flips its plain meaning on its head.

[Michael Wolf]

Probably.

[Ben Miceli]

Most significantly, the government concedes a circuit split on this issue, effectively admitting that defendants rights hinge on the happenstance of geography. That's the key line right there. Right. So the government concedes the circuit split, it goes to the Supreme Court. They give her immunity regarding all of the statements she makes about the sex trafficking and stuff, thus immunizing her from prosecution. There she identifies other people, says what Trump wants to hear and then you hope the Supreme, I mean she hopes and the Supreme Court grants her appeal on that, that that's what happened. You don't have to be conspiratorial. It literally happened in front of our eyes what went down. And so I wanted to bring that up finally. I want to leave the show on a very positive note as well. You know, the Midas Touch network is immediate, embedded with the AFL CIO in their bus tour across the country where they are meeting with union leaders and members of unions and just workers across the country advocating for workers rights. This bus tour has been, you know, I think inspiring. This bus tour is the type of grassroots shaking people's hands, things that are needed, needed in this moment. You know, in the AFL CIO just does an incredible job and we're honored to be embedded with them and everything that they're doing here as well. So I want to show you this clip right here. This is Darren Kelly, one of the union leaders out in Pennsylvania on their stop holding the American flag. Here's what he's got to say. Let's play it. When you take this American flag and you say the you stand behind it, you stand for what this symbol is. It's not that easy to wave it and say you're an American. You have a duty to protect those.

[Brett Erlich]

That can't protect themselves.

[Ben Miceli]

You have a duty to stand up, to see to it that all Americans retire with dignity, access to good health care, protection on the job. This isn't, this isn't something you wave without having to deepen your heart. And there's a lot of people in D.C. that forgot what this symbol is. So I promise you we will remind you every day. You say you stand with veterans and how can you cut like you have at the va?

[Brett Erlich]

You say you stand with worker safety.

[Ben Miceli]

How come Niosh M shot. We go on and on and on. That's so powerful right there. I want to give him and the AFL CIO a special thanks for allowing us to follow them on that tour. Tour Keep checking our socials. We post a lot of clips from that tour and tell the folks at AFL CIO if you see them in your city or state that you saw them on the Midas Touch and feel free to reach out to them on their social media channels. Thank you everybody for watching. We covered a lot of topics. I'm excited to meet all of you now on Patreon. So the secret link is on patreon.com Midas Touch. If you ever wanted to meet Brett, Jordy and myself, go meet us at that Zoom link. It also helps support the growth of this independent media platform. We'd love to see you there and excited for answering your questions. Brett, anything I left out?

[Brett Erlich]

No, I think we covered a lot. Trump, Epstein, Ghislaine, the Supreme Court, climate issues, Gaza, the truth about the so called EU deal, the Japan deal, Russia, Ukraine, Congress, Taiwan, the AFL cio. I think that's a, a pretty action packed episode. I want to thank everybody for listening and please remember to go. Also add the Midas Touch podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you listen to podcasts. If you've already done that, leave us five star review. Send these episodes to friends. It really, really, really helps. So please go ahead and do that. Jordy, take it away.

[Jordy Rosenberg]

Shout out to the Midas.

[Ben Miceli]

My day the.

[Brett Erlich]

Against the fascist we sing our song.

[Jordy Rosenberg]

Can't get enough Midas? Check out the Midas plus substack for ad. Free articles, reports, podcasts, daily recaps from Ron Philipowski and more.

[Ben Miceli]

Sign up for free [e-mail].

[Michael Wolf]

Sam.