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Host
We're looking to get to the campground.
Donald Trump
Well, you're gonna take a left at the old oak tree end of this here road.
Political Commentator
No, I'm just kidding.
Donald Trump
Let me get my phone out.
Host
How are you getting a signal out here?
Donald Trump
T Mobile and US Cellular decided to merge.
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So the network out here is huge.
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We're getting the same great signal as the city and saving a boatload with all the benefits.
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Oh, and a five year price guarantee. Okay, here's those directions.
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America's best network just got bigger.
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Political Commentator
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Political Commentator
Donald Trump just made numerous incriminating admissions during a disastrous press conference in the Oval Office when he was talking about the partial release of Epstein files from last Friday. Three million documents were released. We believe there's at least 3 million more documents still missing, perhaps 50 million pages that are missing. Let's take a look at what Donald Trump said here. He says the Department of Justice needs to move on. He claims that he is vindicated. And he says, you know, there's no references to me. It's just Bill Clinton in there and other people, which is 100% false. Let's watch this, play this clip that.
Donald Trump
Have nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein. And in fact, if you look at the DOJ, they announced, you know, they released 3 million pages. It's like this is all they're supposed to be doing. And frankly, the doj, I think should just say we have other things to do because that whole thing has turned out, I mean, other than Bill Clinton and, you know, Bill Gates and lots of people that have, there are a lot of questions about it, but nothing on me. But it was even sort of better than that because they found that Jeffrey Epstein and this Leesbag writer named Michael Wolf were conspiring against Donald Trump to lose the election. So Epstein was conspiring with a writer for me to lose the election. So right there, you know, that I had nothing to do with this guy. And but yeah, it's a terrible thing, the amount of time that's being wasted. You know, when Epstein was alive like 10 years ago, nobody cared about it, but they're only doing it. But now it's really hitting back on them because Bill Clinton is such a big part of it. The Democrats are pushing it and the problem is that it's turning out to be the Democrats that were with and conspired with Epstein. So I think you're probably going to see a little pullback from them. But. But think of it. They were working together to try and help me lose the election. But this is the Oval Office, so I guess that didn't work out too well. Okay, one more.
Political Commentator
And then Donald Trump talks about suing Trevor Noah, who hosted the Grammys, because Noah did a joke about Donald Trump in the Epstein island. And Donald Trump here refers to Epstein's island as Jeffries. What do I know about Jeffries? I wasn't there. The whole point, though, is Epstein brought his island to you in Mar a Lago and you in return brought your spa to Epstein's home, and Epstein sex trafficked at Mar a Lago. There are 38,000 references to Donald Trump in 5,000 documents within the Epstein files. And you sure seem to pretty quickly call him Jeffrey. Sounds like someone who knew him really well, what they would say. Here, play this clip.
Donald Trump
They want to see a shutdown.
Host
Mr. President, are you going to sue Trevor Noah?
Donald Trump
Last night in a post, you alluded.
Host
That something could be coming.
Donald Trump
Yeah, well, he said that. He said that I spent time on Jeffrey's. Jeffrey Epstein's island. I didn't. I mean, he's a lightweight. This guy is a terrible.
Political Commentator
I thought.
Donald Trump
I think he's terrible. I thought he did a terrible job at the Grammys. I thought the whole Grammys was terrible. I watched part of it. It's not watchable. But he was a lousy host. I'd say not as bad as Jimmy Kimmel, but pretty close. And no, he made a statement about me and Jeffrey Epstein. I have nothing to do with that. I have nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein. And in fact, if you look at the DOJ, they announced, you know, they released 3 million pages. It's like this is all they're supposed to be doing.
Political Commentator
And then throughout the whole day, Donald Trump's been panic posting about Epstein. Donald Trump posted the following on his social media platforms. Not only wasn't I friendly with Jeffrey Epstein, but based upon information that has just been released by the Department of Justice, Epstein and a sleaze bag lying author named Michael Wolf conspired in order to damage me and or my presidency. So much for the radical left's hope against hope, some of whom I'll be suing. Additionally, unlike so many people that like to talk trash, I never went to the infested Epstein Island. But almost all of the crooked Democrats and their donors did. Not so much, Donald. And also 38,000 references to you with some of the most disgusting and grotesque allegations and FBI 302 and informant reports about you that were in the files that were produced, you've got a lot of explaining to do. And if your excuse is that you weren't friends with Epstein, you were Epstein's best friend, objectively, you were his best friend. You flew with him on his plane, and he flew on your plane over and over again. So don't be like, oh, we didn't even know each other. Also notable this morning, Donald Trump's been posting photos of Steve Bannon, which is interesting because Donald Trump hasn't talked about Steve Bannon a lot lately. So why would he be mentioning Steve Bannon? Oh, yeah, Steve Bannon is mentioned all over the Epstein files. Steve Bannon was communicating with Epstein about every aspect of Donald Trump from the presidency to the election, to interfering in foreign government elections, to being a strategic advisor for the former Prime Minister of Israel, Ehud Barak, who was then working with Epstein in order to have communications with foreign leaders as part of Epstein's cabal. Let's take a look at this one right here. Steve Bannon to Jeffrey Epstein in April of 2019, three months before Epstein's arrest. And this is who Donald Trump is saying. Very good guys who were treated very unfairly. You see, Donald Trump is terrified. So he's saying, steve, we're still good, right? Steve, you're my friend, right? Be quiet, Steve. Don't say anything. Steve Bannon to Jeffrey Epstein in April 2019, three months before his arrest. Quote, we need to work around your 38 first. We need to push back on the lies, then crush the pedo trafficking narrative, then rebuild your image as a philanthropist. Or how about this right here? An email from Epstein in 2015. One more week till birthday. Where are you? I hope David Koch got your message. Donald's financial disclosures are his Achilles heel. It should also be noted that Donald Trump and his DOJ have been deleting files that include Donald Trump's name on them throughout the day. I did a video on this this morning. Uh, and there are files that talk about Donald Trump and Epstein together. And Epstein says, I brought this one for you. Uh, and accusations about Donald Trump and young girls. And they deleted those. They put it back up. They deleted it. Also. They leaked the names of so many victims and survivors, which was like, the one task was to protect the survivor's identity, that the survivor's attorney just filed an emergency motion before the federal judges, Judge Berman and Judge Engelmeier in New York, saying, please, Judge, you've gotta do something. Claw back what's been put out there. Because our survivors, the survivors have been re traumatized. Our clients, the survivors have been re traumatized. Judge Berman just responded responded moments ago to Attorney Henderson and U.S. attorney Clayton. Thank you for your recent letters dated January 30th and January 31st, 2026 and February 1st, 2026 and February 2nd. I recognize your concern and the urgency of the issues you have presented. I will set aside a conference on Wednesday, February 4th at 11:30am if that is convenient for you. You are invited to bring your clients. I am not certain how helpful I can be and I encourage you to continue to resolve open issues in good faith and Federal Judge Berman because you'll note the Trump regime took the position that federal judges can't appoint independent monitors and don't have an independent ability to enforce the Epstein Transparency act or compliance because it doesn't contain a private cause of action. Remember when Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie tried to get an independent monitor to precisely protect against what just happened and they were rejected for doing it and the DOJ opposed it? Well, they seem awfully prescient right now. Also, you have Donald Trump attacking Thomas, Thomas Massie, one of the co sponsors behind the Epstein Transparency Act. And here's what Donald Trump says. People are saying that Thomas Massie became a liberal because of his new wife. Blessed be their marriage is supposedly a radical left flamethrower. This new union all went so fast that maybe he didn't know what he was getting into, but nevertheless, he is an absolutely terrible and unreliable Republican, perhaps a rhino or maybe even worse. And Donald Trump's attacking him because he co sponsored the Epstein Transparency Act. So Trump is attacking Massey right now because again, 38,000 references to Donald Trump and 5,000 documents. Not very good, Donald. And people aren't buying what you're selling. Also, reporters were asking Donald Trump at this press conference about whether Janine Pirro, the Fox host who's now the top United States attorney in Washington, D.C. will be dropping the criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell because Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina said that he won't support any approval of Trump's new Federal Reserve chairman nominees until the criminal case or investigation against Powell is closed. And Donald Trump says, I don't care, she's going to take it to the end and go after Powell. So Donald Trump, referenced 38,000 times in the Epstein files, thinks he's vindicated while he goes after Jerome Powell, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, for just trying to preserve his independence. Play this clip Questions Speaking of the.
Host
Fed, would you like to see Jeanine.
Donald Trump
Pirro drop the investigation into Chairman Powell to help.
Host
Senator Tillis has basically said that, you know, he's not going to really be.
Donald Trump
Working Senator, very soon.
Host
Would you like to see the investigation?
Donald Trump
No, she's going to take it to the end and see like you're doing a small renovation and they've spent almost $4 billion doing a small renovation. I'm doing buildings. I built a hotel. The Waldorf is called and I did it for around $200 million is a much bigger job. They're spending almost. It could be $4 billion. I tell you what, I don't even see an end and say I feel badly for the new Fed chairman because he may not have an office for four years. I don't know what these people are doing. So it's either gross incompetence or, or it's theft of some kind or kickbacks. I don't know what it is. But Jeanine Pirro is incredible and she'll figure it out. But now you want to take it and just find out what happened. Because we can't go around doing a renovation of a small, little complex, very small couple of little buildings and spend billions and billions of dollars on it. Something went wrong. We have to find out what it was. Yeah, please.
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Political Commentator
Donald Trump was asked that that dis press conference about tearing down the Kennedy center because Trump said he's shutting it down for two years. Here's what Donald Trump said. Play this clip now what it was.
Donald Trump
Yeah.
Host
Mr. President, thank you. Speaking of renovations, you announced you wanted to build a new and spectacular entertainment complex at the Kennedy Center.
Donald Trump
Do you plan on tearing it down? And how much will all of the renovations cost? Probably around $200 million. And you know, it's funny, in real estate and building, I've done so much of it, I've done so well with it. You want to sit with something for a little while before you decide on what you want to do. And you know, we sat with it, we ran it. It's in very bad shape. It's run down, it's dilapidated, sort of dangerous. People, things fall out, fall out of ceilings. You've seen it. And we had some big events there. We had a lot of great events here over the last year, but you can't do any work because people are coming in and out and you have the workman. We have a marble man over there the other day, he said, you know, every time I put down a piece of marble, people are stepping on the marble. They don't even have time to dry. And you can't do the same quality job if you close it. And, you know, we're fully financed. And so we're going to close it and we're going to make it unbelievable, far better than it ever was and we'll be able to do it properly. I was thinking maybe there's a way of doing it simultaneously, but there really isn't. And we're going to have something that when it opens, it's going to be brand new, beautiful. I'm not ripping it out. I'll be using the steel. So we're using the structure, we're using some of the marble, and some of the marble comes down. But when it's open, it'll be brand new and really beautiful. It'll be at the highest level.
Political Commentator
And yet again, who's paying for this? And we all know the real reason Donald Trump shut down the Kennedy Center. The staff were quitting, people weren't showing up, and the performers and artists and musical acts were canceling their shows. And it was embarrassing. Finally, Donald Trump is asked about the Wall Street Journal report about the royal family from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates giving Donald Trump hundreds of millions of dollars to invest in Trump's company that didn't have a product. So it was being funneled directly to Trump. And then in return, the United Arab Emirates got access to our most highly classified semiconductor chips, which every prior administration protected because it destroys our national security interests. And Donald Trump says he knows nothing about it. Play this clip. Mr. President of Wall Street Journal reported.
Donald Trump
That the royal family of Abu Dhabi invested hundreds of millions of dollars. In your world of the financial.
Political Commentator
Can you explain why you decided to take that investment? Was that a transaction?
Donald Trump
Well, I don't know about it. I know that crypto is a big thing and they like it. A lot of people like it. The people behind me like it. My sons are handling that. My family is handling it. And I guess they get investments from different people. But I'm not. I have all I can handle right now with Iran and with Russia and Ukraine and with all the things we're doing. So I don't know. I don't know exactly, other than, you know, I'm a big crypto person. I'm the one that probably helped crypto more than anybody because I believe in it. And the reason I believe in it is because if we don't do it, Scott, I think we can say then China is going to do it. If we don't do crypto, then China's going to do it. And it's just like AI we're leading AI by a lot. And if we weren't leading, China would have led. You know, they're very capable, they're very good.
Political Commentator
Really, you know nothing about that. Because as Rebecca Ballhaus in the Wall Street Journal reports, four days before Trump's inauguration, lieutenants to an Abu Dhabi royal secretly signed a deal with the Trump family to buy a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial for $500 million. The buyer paid half upfront, steering $170 $87 million to Trump family entities and $31 million to Witkoff entities. The investment was backed by the UAE National Security Advisor, Tanoon bin Zaid. The deal put two executives at his company on the board with Eric Trump and Witkoff's kid. At the time Abu Dhabi Royal invested in World Liberty, the company had no products at all, so it was just basically money going to Trump. And then Trump gave him access to our classified semiconductor chips. Judge for yourself. Form your own opinions. Let me know what you think. Hit subscribe let's get to 6 million subscribers and thanks for watching.
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Donald Trump
What do you have to lose?
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Episode: Trump Visibly Panics at Press Conference over Epstein Files
Date: February 3, 2026
Hosts: Ben, Brett, and Jordy Meiselas
In this episode, the Meiselas brothers dive into Donald Trump’s chaotic and revealing press conference following the partial release of the Jeffrey Epstein files. They analyze Trump’s panicked responses, his repeated false claims of vindication, and the broader fallout, including Trump’s attacks on political opponents and involvement of key figures like Steve Bannon. The brothers also discuss the murkiness surrounding financial deals with UAE royals and the Trump Organization, as well as controversies over the Kennedy Center closure and further investigations into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
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This episode unpacks an extraordinary moment in Trump’s post-presidency: a press conference that backfires, drawing more attention to his deep entanglements with Jeffrey Epstein, Steve Bannon, and powerful foreign actors. The hosts argue the panicked rhetoric and contradictory statements signal Trump’s mounting fears over legal consequences, growing political isolation, and exposure of corrupt dealings. For listeners, the episode offers a detailed, irreverent, and insightful breakdown of the week’s most consequential scandals from the MeidasTouch perspective.