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Trump Targets Obama, Deflects From Epstein
00:22:56
While pressure mounts on the White House to release documents related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, President Donald Trump is doing his damndest to turn the public’s attention to his latest conspiracy (which is really just a remix of an old one). The president is alleging, despite zero evidence, that former President Barack Obama and members of his administration lied about Russian efforts to swing the 2016 election for Trump and made up intelligence to support those claims. This time, though, Trump’s wild allegations are being fueled by his own Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard. She’s been releasing documents she says contradict the intelligence community’s well-established conclusions about Russia’s interference in the 2016 election, claiming they’re proof of a ‘coup’ to undermine Trump during his first term in office. Atlantic Staff Writer David Frum, host of the new podcast ‘The David Frum Show,’ joins us to talk about the return of ‘Russia,...
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- [00:02]
Jane Coston
It's Thursday, July 24th. I'm Jane Coston, and this is. What a day. Another place where Vice President J.D. vance can never go on vacation. The Vice President went to Nantucket for a break and instead found a whole bunch of angry protesters. Buddy, if you thought you could go to a wailing museum in peace right now, you were clearly incorrect. You were on a winning presidential ticket. You did not win the right to be liked. On today's show, a federal judge rules that Kilmar Abrego Garcia can be released from a Tennessee jail. And the Environmental Protection Agency wants to argue that greenhouse gases are completely fine. But let's start with former President Barack obama. Remember obama two term president left office in 2017. Rang a bell. Well, according to President Donald Trump, who is definitely not trying to distract from the Ballooning Epstein debacle engulfing his administration, Obama is at the center of a massive conspiracy centered on Russian involvement in the 2016 presidential election. If you're thinking that was nine years ago, I thought this whole thing was settled. Why are we talking about this again? Look, I get it. But here's the TLDR on the latest version of Trump's Russia, Russia, Russia hoax. He's alleging President Obama and members of his administration lied about Russian efforts to swing the 2016 election for Trump and they made up intelligence to back up their claims. Now, Russia's meddling in the 2016 election is well established, as was its preferred outcome, that Trump beat Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. It was all laid out in a 2020 bipartisan report from the Senate Intelligence Committee, which at the time included now Secretary of State Marco Rubio. He signed off on the report. But now, according to Trump, Obama has committed treason and obviously everyone involved has to go to jail. Here's Trump speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday.
- [01:53]
Donald Trump
What they did to me and whether it's right or wrong, it's time to go after people.
- [02:00]
Jane Coston
Great. But what makes this all really scary is that Trump's wild claims are being fueled by his own Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard. She's been releasing documents targeting the Obama administration, alleging they contradict the intelligence community's well established conclusion that Russia was trying to help Trump. She also says she's referred the documents to the FBI for investigation. Gabbard spoke Wednesday during the White House press briefing. President Obama directed an intelligence community assessment to be created to further this contrived false narrative that ultimately led to a years long coup to try to undermine President Trump's presidency. Point of order. I Remember Trump's inauguration in 2017, which Obama attended? I do not think that's how coups traditionally work. It's fair to say that right now, Trump could really use a distraction because things are not going great for his administration. On Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times reported that the Justice Department alerted Trump back in May that his name appears in the Epstein files. We'll talk more about that in the headlines. But for more on the return of Russia, Russia, Russia, conspiracy theories and what Trump's willingness to go after his opposition, including a former president, says about this presidency, I spoke to David Frum. He's a staff writer at the Atlantic and host of the David Frum Show. David, welcome to what a Day.
- [03:20]
David Frum
Thank you.
- [03:21]
Jane Coston
I want to start with the latest conspiracy theory Trump is trying to peddle. It goes something like this. Former President Barack Obama and others in his administration committed, quote, treason by forcing the intelligence community to alter its conclusions that Russia tried to influence the 2016 election to help Trump in order to undermine his first term in office. Now, to be clear, there is no evidence to support this claim. The claim doesn't actually make any sense, and it contradicts multiple previous assessments, including a bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee report that Marco Rubio signed off on. Rubio is now obviously Trump's Secretary of State. But how seriously do we need to take this?
- [03:57]
David Frum
Well, one of the remarkable things about Trump's scandals is the way they take place in public. So you don't have to look at assessments. You don't have to know much about the intelligence community. You just have to have a memory. Or even if you don't have a memory, you just look it up. So here's what happened in 2016. The Russians hacked Hillary Clinton's communications, or they got lucky. People in the Hillary Clinton campaign or around the campaign, some people made mistakes. They got fished anyway. The Russians got their hands on a trove of documents. They released these documents to WikiLeaks. WikiLeaks posted them in October. The documents really hurt the Hillary Clinton campaign and knocked it off balance. And in a very close election where Hillary Clinton won the popular vote but not the Electoral College, all of this made a difference. Now, there are a lot of question marks. Why did the Russians do this? There are a lot of question marks as exactly what was the connection between Trump and the Russians. Much. Again, it's memory. You saw it happen in plain sight. You saw Donald Trump's son take a meeting when he was offered dirt by the Russians. You saw Donald Trump himself in A press conference, say Russia, if you're listening, and ask for the release of documents. So that's what we know. That's what we've always known. It's not a complicated story. Russia helped the Trump campaign. Trump welcomed the help, and the help probably made some difference to the outcome. That's the story. Those are the things we know. And Trump is using the one scandal that we know about from 2016 to sort of protect himself from the other scandal that we're just remembering in plain sight in 2025.
- [05:26]
Jane Coston
But how seriously do you think we need to take Trump's threats? Because clearly, yes, the timing of this is bananas suspect. Trump is definitely trying to distract from mounting pressure he and his administration are under over the Epstein files, which is, again, their own fault. But in a way, does that make this moment more dangerous? Because Trump feels real pressure. He feels there are real stakes. He feels backed in a corner. And we've seen what happens when he's backed into a corner. You get January 6th. How worried should we actually be?
- [05:55]
David Frum
I think when Trump says things, they're indicators of direction. When he says, I'm going to invade Greenland and conquer Danish territory and annex it to the United States, he's probably not actually going to do that, but it tells you what he's thinking about and what he's planning and the direction in which his mind is going. So when he threatens to use the power of the state against political opponents, you should take that seriously. One of the things about this that is especially bonkers is Trump went to court to get the Supreme Court to say, you know what, former president, Almost, almost no aspect of criminal law applies to you. You have this vast domain of big, if fuzzy immunity, unless you're Obama, then you have no immunity. Then the president can throw you in jail.
- [06:36]
Jane Coston
Right. And I think that goes to Trump's Director of National Intelligence. Tulsi Gabbard said she'd be making a criminal referral to the Justice Department. We don't have a ton of specifics about that. And she was even asked in a press conference about that Supreme Court ruling. And that was something she was saying, oh, Pam Bondi will explain. Yeah, but what are the risks of having the top US Intelligence official trying to rewrite history to serve the president's narrative, to get him out of a jam he got himself in? What does it signify about how far this administration is willing to go to protect Donald Trump and serve its own ends?
- [07:09]
David Frum
Look, the list of things that are wrong with Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence doesn't end with what you just said. You have a list of people with very extreme views who have often showed their enthusiasm for foreign dictators. Tulsi Gabbard is a huge enthusiast of the Assad regime in Syria, now mercifully gone. You have other people who have been very hostile to Ukraine. Other people have other kinds of enthusiasms. And they have all these crucial points in the national bureaucracy. And so whether they do this thing they say or not, the whole government of the United States is spinning in these crazy directions at a time when the United States has fewer friends than it used to do, at a time when we're facing these global pressures, and at a time when, in the United States itself, police power is being used in all kinds of astonishing new ways. I mean, I personally don't fear that I will have a masked man in a tactical outfit playing dress up, seize me and put a rifle up my nose, but it's happening to dozens, hundreds of people. And if this continues, one of the things I think about a lot is how do you conduct the 2026 elections in situations where ICE, which is going to be on its way by then to being bigger than the United States Marine Corps, is doing these random raids, harassing people and intimidating people. There are a lot of people who are American citizens entitled to vote, who have spouses who may not be American citizens entitled to vote? Do they go into the line? Are they afraid for their relatives? And can you create enough chaos that Trump can selectively seize this part of America, that part of America, and say, we're having a state of emerg here during the 2026 elections?
- [08:46]
Jane Coston
It's interesting also because members of Trump's MAGA base have been demanding for years to see former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Obama imprisoned. Like, I remember, lock her up. I was alive in 2016. Those people have long bought into Trump's narrative that the investigations around Russian meddling were all a hoax and everyone they don't like should go to jail. So the base is primed for this. What is actually stopping the administration from acting on these threats?
- [09:09]
David Frum
Yeah, well, in the past, you would have said the integrity of the federal Justice Department. You would have said the character of the Attorney General. You would have said the threat of resignations throughout the Attorney General's office and the Department of Justice. But those things are less real. The Trump base also has for a long time been fed a story that the Jeffrey Epstein scandals conceal a vast morass of of elite wrongdoing and that only Trump can bring them truth. And the question, I think the question of all the things you're asking is to what extent can he pivot his base, or at least the parts of the base that he most needs, into agreeing with him? Yeah. Suddenly we've spent all these years being promised a huge revelation about a global conspiracy behind Jeffrey Epstein, and now we're told forget about it.
- [09:56]
Jane Coston
So you've started a podcast in the last few months where you're talking to a wide range of guests in politics and business. And for your most recent episode, you talked with former FBI official Peter Strzok. He was fired from the Bureau during Trump's first term after a disparaging text he made about Trump were made public. And you talked about how Trump is destroying US Counterintelligence apparatus. So how does what we're seeing right now with Epstein, with these conspiracies about Obama, fit into that conversation?
- [10:23]
David Frum
Well, two points. The first is, you know, if you follow the news, a lot of these names become very familiar, but they become familiar as names and causes. And I've had the privilege and the pleasure of getting to know Peter Strzok not intimately, but well, and having a chance to see this is someone who went into public service for exactly the reasons you would wish, who turned down more lucrative opportunities. He loves the country. He wants to protect it. He's not that political. But the thing that I had in mind when we talked about this is the Trump administration struck Iran with a series of bomb attacks. By the way, that's a decision I, I think was probably right. I supported that action. But when you do something like that, you're opening a door to a very complicated chain of events. And one of the obvious things the Iranians might do, that they have done in the past, is strike back in a terrorist way against targets inside the United States and US Linked targets all over the world. They have a long history of doing this. You need every counterterrorism resource in the FBI and other agencies to be deployed to protect Americans against the Iraq Iranian retaliation that may be to come. And instead, they are turning off the counterintelligence systems. They're turning off counterterrorism, they're letting people go, they're forcing people into early retirement, and they're moving resources from all of those things that are probably, in most people's opinion, the first line job of the United States government domestic security operation, and putting them all into putting guns up the noses of gardeners and roofers.
- [11:50]
Jane Coston
What kind of advice did Strzok have, if any, for current career government officials, especially in his former department, who are now being pressed to toe the line for the administration or be fired.
- [12:00]
David Frum
Well, we didn't talk about that advice. I've talked about that kind of advice with other people and many times over the years, 2016. And I think the advice that I would give is always, you have to be very clear in your own mind about where your red lines are and your own ability to execute your red lines. And I wrote something at the very beginning of the first Trump administration where I said, you know, just imagine the Oval Office. It is an awe inspiring place. It's designed to be awe inspiring. And there's the President of the United States and he's asking you to do something wrong. If you're going to take the job, you need to know that you will be able to say no. And you need to be sure that you actually, you may walk into that room intending to say no, but when you're there, your mouth may say something different. So you need to know yourself and you need to keep one more thing in mind. If Trump thought you would say no, you wouldn't be in the room in the first place.
- [12:53]
Jane Coston
David, thank you so much for your time.
- [12:55]
David Frum
Thank you for having me. Bye bye.
- [12:57]
Jane Coston
That was my conversation with David Frum, staff writer at the Atlantic and host of the David Frum Show. We'll link to his work in our show Notes. We'll get to more of the news in a moment, but if you like the show, make sure to subscribe, leave a five star review on Apple Podcasts, watch us on YouTube and share with your friends. More to come after some ads. Whataday is brought to you by Zebiotics Pre Alcohol. Let's face it, after a night of drinks, I do not bounce back the next day like I used to. I have to make a choice. I can either have a great night or a great next day. That is until I found Pre Alcohol zbiotics Pre Alcohol Probiotic Drink is the world's first genetically engineered probiotic. It was invented by PhD scientists to tackle rough mornings after drinking. Here's how it when you drink, alcohol gets converted into a toxic byproduct in the gut. It's a buildup of this byproduct, not dehydration, that's to blame for rough days after drinking. Pre alcohol produces an enzyme to break this byproduct down. Just remember to make pre alcohol your first drink of the night. Drink responsibly and you'll feel your best tomorrow. Every time I have pre alcohol before I have drinks, I notice a difference the next day. Even after a night out, I can confidently plan on working out without worry. Summer is here, which means more opportunities to celebrate the warm weather. But before you have that backyard barbecue brew, glass of Pinot, watching the sunset at the beach, or a cocktail by the campfire, don't forget your Zebiotics Pre alcohol. Drink one before drinking and wake up feeling great and ready to take on the next day and all that summer has to offer. Go to ZBiotics.com wad to learn more and get 15% off your first order when you use code WAD at checkout. ZBiotics is backed with a 100% money back guarantee, so if you're unsatisfied for any reason, they'll refund your money, no questions asked. Remember to head to zbiotics.com wad and use the code WAD at checkout for 15% off.
- [14:53]
Kristi Noem
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- [15:52]
Jane Coston
Here's what else we're following today.
- [15:54]
Kristi Noem
Head of Lines.
- [15:58]
Donald Trump
I just signed the largest trade deal in history, I think maybe the largest deal in history with Japan.
- [16:07]
Jane Coston
I don't think it's the largest trade deal in history, but President Trump announced that Japan and the US Reached a tariff deal. Trump elaborated on the terms of the deal in a true social post late Tuesday evening, saying all imports from Japan would be subject to a 15% tariff, notably lower than the 25% he had threatened to enact on August 1. In exchange, Japan will open its market to American cars and agricultural products like rice. Trump also claimed Japan agreed to invest $550 billion in the U.S. japan's top tariff negotiator Ryosei Akazawa told reporters that the money would largely take the form of loans to Japanese businesses investing in the U.S. akazawa also confirmed that this deal does not include new terms for Japanese aluminum or steel, which is still subject to a 50% tariff, but that discussions there would continue. After facing massive backlash from his party for failing to release the so called Epstein files, the Trump administration asked federal judges in Florida and New York City to release grand jury testimony related to Epstein on Wednesday. The judge in Florida denied that request. The Wall Street Journal was first to report on Wednesday that President Trump's name appeared multiple times in documents related to Epstein and that Attorney General Pam Bondi told Trump so in May, which is interesting since just last week President Trump claimed that Bondi never told him that his name appeared in Epstein related documentation reviewed by the Department of Justice. Did she tell you at all that your name appeared in the.
- [17:35]
Donald Trump
No, no. She's, she's given us just a very quick briefing. And in terms of the credibility of the different things that they've seen, and I would say that, you know, these files were made up by Comey, they were made up by Obama, they were made up by the Biden, you know.
- [17:53]
Jane Coston
Sure. According to the officials who spoke with the Journal, Bondi also told Trump during the May briefing that the DOJ wouldn't release any further documents related to Epstein because they contained child pornography and personal information about Epstein's victims. The officials say that Trump agreed to defer to the DOJ's decision despite claiming repeatedly over, over the course of his presidential campaign that he would declassify the Epstein files. Like this time on Fox and friends in 2024. Would you declassify the Epstein files?
- [18:22]
Donald Trump
Yeah, Yeah, I would.
- [18:23]
Jane Coston
All right.
- [18:24]
Donald Trump
I guess I would. I think that less so because, you know, you don't know, you don't want to affect people's lives if it's phony stuff in there, because there's a lot of phony stuff with that whole world, but I think I would.
- [18:36]
Jane Coston
Phony stuff with that whole world, eh? Yes. It's so unfortunate when there are consequences for your actions. Really hate to see it. A federal judge has ruled that Kilmar Abrega Garcia should be freed from custody at the Tennessee jail where he's currently being held awaiting trial for smuggling charges. At the same time, on Wednesday, another judge in Maryland officially blocked ICE from taking him into custody again if he's released before said trial, meaning he could potentially be reunited with his family soon. He Here's a little refresher on the situation in case you've been distracted by the many, many other insanely horrific things happening in America over the last few months. In March, Garcia, who had protected legal status in the US Was arrested by ICE in Baltimore and sent to a notorious detention center in El Salvador. The Trump administration was like, oopsie, that was a mistake. But like we can't really do anything about it. Sorry, not sorry. And then after multiple court battles, Garcia was allowed to come back to the US and is now facing charges for a years long conspiracy to smuggle immigrants across the border for MS.13, the Salvadoran gang, which he and his lawyers vehemently deny. The federal judge in Maryland had a few additional demands for the Trump administration give at least three days notice if ICE plans to detain him again and restore the federal supervision he was under before being wrongfully deported in the first place. Meanwhile, Trump's team is really pushing hard for Garcia to lose that trial. Here's Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem sharing her extremely subtle and unbiased take on the issue. He's standing trial now and I hope he faces consequences for his crimes and that that will be something that we will be able to deliver for the people that have been victimized by him and his actions over the years. And then when that is done and that process is over, he should never be allowed to be free in the United States of America. Remember, the trial has not even happened yet and in the United States of America, you are innocent until proven guilty. US Officials also say they could potentially skirt the rules by simply deporting Garcia to a totally different country like Mexico or South Sudan. Cool. The Environmental Protection Agency is working on a plan to reverse a 2009 legal decision that greenhouse gases endanger public health by driving global warming. That legal decision, known as the Endangerment Finding, has served as the basis for the EPA's ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from cars, power plants, factories, and more. In March, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced that the agency would reevaluate the endangerment finding, saying that the EPA would, quote, follow the science, the law, and common sense wherever it leads. It's hard to imagine common sense leading to the conclusion that actually greenhouse gases are truly no biggie and regulating them is for chumps who hate freedom. But Lee, I can't wait to see what you have in store for the future of our planet, two anonymous sources with knowledge of the plan told the New York Times. The proposal argues that it's not really the greenhouse gases that hurt us what we're actually suffering from is the, quote, reduced consumer choice that climate regulations create. On Wednesday afternoon, Zeldin confirmed in an interview with Newsmax that he'd sent the proposal to reverse the endangerment finding to the Office of Management and Budget. And that's the news. Before we go what's it really like to be a lawyer in the White House Counsel's office? On the latest episode of Inside 2025, Strict Scrutiny host Kate Shaw and Protect Democracy's Ian Bassin pull back the curtain on the challenges government lawyers face, including inheriting legal and ethical messes from prior administrations. They also unpack how Trump shattered long standing DOJ norms and what it'll take to rebuild the department's independence. To hear the full conversation, get bonus content and support progressive media, head to crooked.com friends that's all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, contemplate how Donald Trump's polling has pretty much cratered, and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading and not just about how Trump's polling on pretty much every issue, including immigration, is very bad. Like me, what a Day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe@cricket.com subscribe I'm Jayden Coston, and I'm sure one more weird press conference yelling about how no one cares about Jeffrey Epstein will help. Whataday is a production of Christ Media. It's recorded and mixed by Desmond Taylor. Our associate producer is Emily Foer. Our producer is Michelle Aloy. Our video editor is Joseph Dutra. Our video producer is Johanna Case. We had production help today from Greg Walters, Matt Berg, Tyler Hill and Laura Newcombe. Our senior producer is Erica Morrison and our senior vice president of news and politics is Adrienne Hill. Our theme music is by Colin Gilliard and Kashaka. We had help with the headlines today from the Associated Press. Our production staff is proudly unionized with the Writers Guild of America east.
- [23:54]
Kristi Noem
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