Trump Has Disaster in Oval as Presser Goes Off the Rails

7 Aug 2025 · 19 min · 6 chapters

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In short

The episode recaps a chaotic Oval Office press conference involving Donald Trump, focusing on his responses to questions about Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, his Putin call, and a series of contentious or inaccurate claims. It highlights Trump’s profanity and dismissals (“hoax,” “bullshit”) when asked about Epstein-related briefings and Maxwell’s DOJ-related handling, and his vague answers about Putin’s intentions. It also notes attacks on late-night hosts (Colbert, Kimmel, Fallon), Howard Stern, and claims about Operation Warp Speed and mRNA vaccine funding.

Guests

none mentioned; the transcript centers on Trump and Apple CEO Tim Cook, plus officials like Scott Bessent and Howard Lutnick. Notable examples include Maxwell’s immunity/waiver claims, “no sanctions” reversal, and “100% tariff” on chips.

Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.

Chapters

Tap a time to open that second in VO

Analysis of Trump's Disastrous Press Conference

0:30 to 0:55

A deep dive into Donald Trump's controversial press conference and key moments.

“In business, the best days are when priorities stay on track.”

Analysis of Trump's Disastrous Press Conference

1:30 to 8:05

A deep dive into Donald Trump's controversial press conference and key moments.

“Donald Trump just had a disastrous press conference in the Oval Office.”

Trump's Contradictory Statements on Health and Governance

8:15 to 14:00

Discussing Trump's conflicting remarks on health initiatives and governance.

“When Donald Trump is asked, hey, your regime, your health department is now canceling funding to the mRNA vaccine, isn't that Operation Warp Speed that developed mRNA vaccine?”

Discussion on Trump's Blame Game

14:00 to 15:00

Analyzing Trump's rhetoric and shifting blame to past presidents.

“And there's a very good chance that we could be ending the ending the round, ending the end of that road.”

Trump's Tariff Proposal on Semiconductors

15:00 to 16:08

Exploring Trump's proposed 100% tariff on semiconductor imports and its implications.

“So 100 percent tariff on all chips and semiconductors coming into the United States.”

Trump's Envoy Meeting with Putin

16:08 to 16:28

Discussing the implications of Trump's envoy meeting with Putin.

“By the way, doesn't Putin's office look a whole lot like the way Donald Trump decorates his stuff and the way Epstein decorates his stuff?”
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Transcript

Automatic transcript. May contain errors.

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1:30Ben Meiselas:Donald Trump just had a disastrous press conference in the Oval Office. Apple CEO Tim Cook was by Donald Trump's side. Trump was asked questions about Jeffrey Epstein, and then he just started cursing and saying, that's bullshit. That's bullshit. Here, watch this. And that's just a way of trying to divert attention to something that's total bullshit. Okay. Donald Trump was then asked if he's been briefed about any of the meetings between his former criminal defense attorney turned number two at the Department of Justice, Todd Blanche and Ghislaine Maxwell. And then, as you know, Ghislaine Maxwell was moved from the prison she was in in Tallahassee to a minimum security facility in Texas and got a special waiver from Trump's Department of Justice since she's a convicted sex trafficker.

2:16Ben Meiselas:And Donald Trump lies and claims, no, I haven't been briefed at all about this. Here, play this clip. Mr. President, have you been briefed on what Ghislaine Maxwell told Todd Blanche? No, I haven't. So you don't know whether you came up in the conversation or not? I know Todd is a very respected person all over the country, all over the world legally, so I don't know. Mr. President. Again, he's a total liar. Then Donald Trump, again on the Epstein issue, says the whole thing is a hoax. Well, what aspect of it is a hoax? And then why are you having your number two at the DOJ meet with her and grant her immunity?

2:51Ben Meiselas:Tell that to the victims who suffered as a result of Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell's sex trafficking and sex assault. Here, play this clip. Mr. President. The two Kevins. Very good. Mr. President, is Vice President of Vance hosting a gathering this evening to talk about how to respond to the Epstein situation? Is he working on what? Is he hosting some kind of gathering of top advisors this evening to talk about how to respond to the Epstein situation? I don't know. I could ask you that question. I don't know of it, but I think here's the man, right? I saw a reporter today, and it's completely fake news.

3:25We're not meeting to talk about the Epstein situation. And I think the reporter who reported it needs to get better sources. Look, the whole thing is a hoax. It's put out by the Democrats because we've had the most successful six months in the history of our country. And that's just a way of trying to divert attention to something that's total bullshit. it. Okay.

3:47Ben Meiselas:Then Donald Trump is asked about his call with Putin earlier in the day. You may have heard the news that Donald Trump said he will not be sanctioning Putin anymore. Remember before he said two weeks, then he said 60 days or 50 days, then he said 10 days or 14 days. Well, now he says no sanctions because he said there was a good conversation between his regime and Putin's regime with Whitcoff, Donald Trump's liaison. And so Donald Trump here is asked, well, how do you know Putin is not just playing you again. And Donald Trump's like, well, we'll find out in a few weeks. I don't really know. Here, play this clip.

4:24Has in the past you said you would know if Putin was happening wrong? What gives you any confidence that he is or isn't doing that this time around? Can't answer the question yet.

4:33Ben Meiselas:I'll tell you in a matter of weeks, maybe less. And Donald Trump posted earlier today, my special envoy, Steve Whitkoff, just had a highly productive meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Great progress was made. Afterwards, I updated some of our European allies. Everyone agrees this war must come to a close and we will work towards that in days and weeks to come. Thank you for your attention to this matter. In other words, Donald Trump caved to Putin again. Here, a reporter asked Donald Trump, did Putin make some sort of concessions? How are you going to meet with him? When are you going to meet with him?

5:05Ben Meiselas:And then Donald Trump's like, uh, I don't know. Here, play this clip. Mr. President, what was the breakthrough today? Did Vladimir Putin make some kind of concession that he hasn't been willing to make before? I don't call it a breakthrough. I mean, we've been working on this a long time. There are thousands of young people dying, mostly soldiers, but also, you know, missiles being hit into Kiev and other places. But in terms of soldiers, I think Russia's lost over 20 ,000 since the beginning of the year, 20 ,000. And I guess the estimate for Ukraine is about 9 ,000. It's a terrible situation.

5:42We want to get it subbed, you know?

5:44Ben Meiselas:Then Donald Trump starts attacking Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon. Let's play it. Colbert has no talent. I mean, I could take anybody here. I could go outside on the beautiful streets and pick up a couple of people that do just as well or better. They get higher ratings than he did. He's got no talent. Fallon has no talent. Kimmel has no talent. They're next. They're going to be going. I hear they're going to be going. I don't know, but I would imagine because they get, you know, Colbert has better ratings than Kimmel or Fallon. You know that. Then we've seen Donald Trump do this before.

6:15Ben Meiselas:His Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is standing right behind him. He doesn't realize that the person he's talking about is literally standing right there. Here play this clip. Thanks as well to Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick for being here, wherever you may be. There you are. Hello, fellas. I missed you. Then Donald Trump starts attacking Howard Stern. Let's play it. Howard Stern is the name I haven't heard. I used to do a show, used to have fun, but I haven't heard that name in a long time. What happened? He got terminated. Yeah, they're in a separate way because I think what they're offering salary wise is real low than what he's getting.

6:54You know when he went down? Whenever you want. You know when he went down? No, before when he endorsed Hillary Clinton, he lost his audience. People said, give me a break. He went down when he endorsed Hillary Clinton.

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7:41Ben Meiselas:I even set a savings goal, and Rocket Money automatically found the best time each month to put money aside. Rocket Money's 5 million members have saved a total of$500 million in canceled subscriptions, with members saving up to$740 a year when they use all of the app's premium features. Cancel your unwanted subscriptions and reach your financial goals faster with Rocket Money. Go to rocketmoney.com slash MidasTouch today. That's rocketmoney.com slash MidasTouch. Rocketmoney.com slash MidasTouch. M-E-I-D-A-S-T-O-U-C-H. When Donald Trump is asked, hey, your regime, your health department is now canceling funding to the mRNA vaccine, isn't that Operation Warp Speed that developed mRNA vaccine?

8:29Ben Meiselas:that you did during your first administration? Donald Trump responds with a bunch of word salad. Play this clip. You were the driving force behind Operation Warp Speed, these mRNA vaccines that are the gold standard. Now your health secretary is pulling back all the funding for research. He's saying that the risks outweigh the benefits, which puts him at odds with the entire medical community and with you. What is going on? Research on what? Into mRNA vaccines. Well, we're going to look at that. We're talking about it. and they're doing a very good job. And, you know, that is a pass with Operation Warp Speed was whether you're Republican or Democrat, considered one of the most incredible things ever done in this country.

9:11The efficiency, the the way it was done, the distribution, everything about it was has been amazing. But, you know, that was now a long time ago. and we're on to other things, but we are speaking about it. We have meetings about it in tomorrow, actually tomorrow at 12 o 'clock and we'll determine we're looking for other answers to other problems, to other sicknesses and diseases. And I think we're doing really well. Yes.

9:41Ben Meiselas:Then Apple CEO Tim Cook gives Donald Trump a golden engraving, more gifts to Donald Trump. That's how you, I guess, get on Donald Trump's good side by giving him golden things. Here, play this clip.

10:22comes from Utah and is 24 karat gold and it sits I'll take the liberty of setting it up well

10:40there we go

10:45congratulations thank you so much

10:48Ben Meiselas:the great people of Kentucky Donald Trump is then asked if he's considering taking over the D.C. police. He says, yep, play it. President Trump, I'm federalizing D.C. Are you considering taking over the D.C. police? Is that an option on the table? We're considering it, yeah, because the crime is ridiculous. I could show you a chart comparing D.C. to other locations and you're not going to want to see what it looks like. Donald Trump is asked if the Federal Reserve chairman candidates he's looking at are from Wall Street. He goes, we're all from Wall Street. Well, at least he's being, I guess, somewhat candid there.

11:23Ben Meiselas:This is a regime that cares about Wall Street, not Main Street. Here, play this clip. I'll take it. I really don't think you'd take it, actually. Are there any candidates from Wall Street, Mr. President? Yeah. Essentially, we're all from Wall Street, aren't we? You know when you get right down to it? The term Wall Street. Yeah, please. Donald Trump then lies and says all costs are going down. Let's play it. down costs are down i just hope when they watch these shows i watch this uh i won't use names because i just make them better known that nobody knows who they are but i watch this group of people on uh on cnn and msdnc too the same thing where they say well costs have gone up costs haven't gone up they've gone down the i'm telling you the thing that's gone up is stock stock prices and success of our country.

12:10Our country is really, really doing well, successful.

12:14Ben Meiselas:Yes, ma 'am. Donald Trump then lies and says Japan and other countries are giving us billions of dollars in signing bonuses. That's a lie. Let's play it. I won't be so specific other than to say, because we don't even know what the final number is. We just made a deal, as you know, with the EU, where they're paying hundreds of billions of dollars, Japan paying hundreds of billions of dollars, and numerous other countries paying hundreds of billions of dollars. And we're not even completed there. And as you know, they found$25 billion three weeks ago. They said, we have a surplus of$25 billion.

12:48And they said, where did this come from? They said, check the tariffs. And they checked. They said, you're right. That's where it came from. And we've really just started. This is just in its infancy.

12:58Ben Meiselas:So we have a... Donald Trump talks about sending the National Guard into Washington, D.C. Let's play it. much of it. We're going to we're going to do something about it. So whether you call it federalized or what, and that also includes the graffiti that you see, the papers all over the place, the roads that are in bad shape, the medians that are falling down, the median in between roads that's falling down. We're going to beautify the city. We're going to make it beautiful. And what a shame. The rate of crime, the rate of muggings, killings and everything else. We're not going to let it. And that includes bringing in the National Guard, maybe very quickly, too.

13:36Do you want Congress to look at overturning the D.C. Home Rule Act? We're going to look at that. In fact, the lawyers are already studying it.

13:45Ben Meiselas:Donald Trump gives a bunch of word salad about Putin and Zelensky. Let's play it. Yes, President, have Putin and Zelensky agreed to a summit yet? And where and when would that be? Well, there's a very good prospect that they will. And we haven't determined where, but we had some very good talks with President Putin today. And there's a very good chance that we could be ending the ending the round, ending the end of that road. That road was long and continues to be long. But there's a good chance that there will be a meeting very soon. Then Donald Trump starts to blame former President Biden. Here, let's play this clip.

14:24Ben Meiselas:This was was on his watch. And, you know, it's funny. We had no land was taken from Trump. It was taken from Bush. It was taken from Biden. The whole thing that would take from Biden weren't for us. But it was and it was taken by Obama. Take a look at what was taken with all of the land that was taken. Nothing was taken by Russia from us. Not one ounce of land was taken. Then Donald Trump talks about putting tariffs on semiconductors. In other words, Taiwan, one of our allies, is going to be targeted by Donald Trump. Let's play that clip. So it's a big factor. So 100 percent tariff on all chips and semiconductors coming into the United States.

15:08But if you've made a commitment to build or if you're in the process of building, as many are, there is no tariff. OK, if for some reason you say you're building and you don't build, then we go back and get we edit up. It accumulates and we charge you at a later date. You have to pay. And that's a guarantee. So that's a big statement. And I think the chip companies are all coming back home. They're all coming back. You know, we started with Intel and gradually Intel was just taken over the over the calls. They were taken to the cleaners, frankly, and moved to other places, in particular Taiwan.

15:49But I think a lot of those a lot of those companies are coming back and they're coming back very rapidly. So that's a big statement, 100 percent tariff.

15:58Ben Meiselas:And then here is Donald Trump's envoy, Whitcoff, a real estate investor with zero diplomatic experience or foreign policy experience, meeting with his good friend Putin once again. Here, let's play it.

16:16Ben Meiselas:By the way, doesn't Putin's office look a whole lot like the way Donald Trump decorates his stuff and the way Epstein decorates his stuff? Well, there you have it, folks. Let me know what you think. Hit subscribe. Let's get to 6 million subscribers. Thank you for watching. Can't get enough Midas? Check out the Midas Plus sub stack for ad-free articles, reports, podcasts, daily recaps from Ron Filipkowski, and more. Sign up for free now at MidasPlus.com.

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From the publisher

MeidasTouch host Ben Meiselas reports on Donald Trump’s disastrous press conference in the Oval Office with Tim Cook where Trump became unhinged in an instant when his dark past came up.

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