Trump Panics in AM and Starts Deleting Files

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3:31Ben Meiselas:Frantic and desperate Donald Trump is losing it this morning. He is furiously trying to have his Department of Justice delete Epstein files, which contain his name on it. We're aware of at least two additional files referring to Donald Trump having parties at Mar-a-Lago called Calendar Girl Parties, but we've downloaded these documents. Let me remind you what some of these documents say. There is a slide in a PowerPoint presentation from the FBI that's called Prominent Names, and here's what it says. Donald Trump, Weinstein, Glenn Dubin, Prince Andrew, Leon Black, Dershowitz, Clinton, Lutnick, William Barr, Leon Black.

4:17Ben Meiselas:Here's what it says about Donald Trump. Jane Doe stated Epstein introduced her to Trump, who subsequently forced her head down to his exposed penis, which is subsequently bit. In response, Trump punched her in the head and kicked her out, according to this allegation. Then there is another allegation here. Jane Doe remembers Epstein introduced her to Trump saying, this is a good one, huh? And Trump responded, yes. And that second allegation was actually in a lawsuit that I've previously reviewed against Epstein. And remember, there was a 14-year-old Jane Doe who testified at the Ghislaine Maxwell trial, but all of it was done in secret and under seal.

5:01Ben Meiselas:And there was reference to being introduced to Donald Trump by Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell with a similar statement being made. Now, as Donald Trump is frantic in having the DOJ delete some documents from the Epstein files that reference his name, one of the individuals who we've seen have a lot of communications with Epstein in those files, Steve Bannon. And Steve Bannon was telling Epstein that he was advising former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, who then Epstein was having lots of conversations with about having meetings with Vladimir Putin and other world leaders as part of Epstein's cabal.

5:45Ben Meiselas:You had Steve Bannon talking about hoisting up people like Bolsonaro in Brazil and toppling governments across the world. And he and Epstein were talking about all of that. And Bannon would talk about when he was with Donald Trump, where they were at. So Bannon and Epstein's communications, text messages all over those files. And I found it notable that this morning, as Donald Trump is having the DOJ frantically remove Epstein files, Donald Trump is posting photos of Steve Bannon. Here, right here, Donald Trump posts two very good guys who were treated so unfairly by sleepy Joe Biden, but now they are bigger than ever.

6:27Ben Meiselas:And you see the photo right there of Steve Bannon. I mean, just to remind you what some of the posts are right here, you have this text message over here, Bannon and Epstein. We are set for Noam on Saturday. Have you told him what we are preparing for? Nope. He would be on board, correct? Or should I ask? Easy for me. Ask and yes, I could, of course. I'm dealing with Ehud in Israel. Makes me crazy. Ehud, massive. Can we announce I'm his strategic advisor, Bannon writes? This will be a long campaign, elections in September. Lots to talk about. This is a brilliant move. They were talking all about the 2016 elections.

7:05Ben Meiselas:They were talking about the 2018 elections in Brazil. They were talking about Brexit. They were talking about all of these topics. Now, as Donald Trump wants to distract from the fact that there were 38 ,000 references to Donald Trump in the 3 million Epstein files that were produced on Friday. That was only a partial production. There are still 3 million more documents, which may be as many as 50 million more pages that the Department of Justice is still withholding. I want to be clear about this because I think there may have been some confusion in the other video. Trump is on 5 ,000 files, but there are 38 ,000 references to Donald Trump's names so far in the files, about 38 ,000, okay?

7:57Ben Meiselas:What else is Donald Trump doing this morning? He's posting about arches in India while the American people are psychologically tortured, living paycheck to paycheck in Donald Trump's disastrous economy, where we have a government that is a cabal covering up a child sex trafficking ring right now. And with the most despicable stuff I could ever possibly have read in those files that were released on Friday. This is what Donald Trump is posting. India's beautiful triumphal arch. Ours will be the greatest of them all. Then Donald Trump posts this magazine cover from India Today, and it says, Newsmakers of the Year 2025, The Mover and the Shaker.

8:42Ben Meiselas:And it's actually an article that is very critical and is very much against what Donald Trump is doing. You can actually read this. It says, Bolstered by electoral wins, Modi pushed full steam ahead with his reform expressed in 2025, even as he countered the disruption unleashed by Donald Trump. That's why Trump is called the shaker, the disruptor, the destroyer. And Donald Trump posts that up like it's a good thing that now the European Union and India entered into what the European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen calls the mother of all trade deals and America's being excluded from all these international trade deals.

9:21Ben Meiselas:You think that's a good thing, Donald? Oh, And then Donald Trump was ranting and raving like a lunatic last night with posts like this. The Grammy Awards are the worst, virtually unwatchable. CBS is lucky not to have this garbage litter their airwaves. The host Trevor Noah, whoever he may be, is almost as bad as Jimmy Kimmel at the low ratings Academy Awards. Noah said incorrectly about me that Donald Trump and Bill Clinton spent time on Epstein Island. Wrong. I can't speak for Bill, but I have never been to Epstein Island. Pause. Epstein Island came to you at Mar-a-Lago and you brought the Mar-a-Lago spa to Epstein's home in Palm Beach, a few miles from where you lived.

10:05Ben Meiselas:Y 'all were like best friends. What was in those files is disgusting. The island was at Mar-a-Lago, essentially. Let's keep on reading. It goes on to say, I can't speak for Bill, but I've never been to Epstein Island nor anywhere are close. And until tonight's false and defamatory statements have never been accused of being there, not even by the fake news media. Noah, a total loser, better get his facts straight and get them straight fast. It looks like I'll be sending my lawyers to sue this poor, pathetic, talentless dope of an emcee and suing him for plenty of money. It should also be noted that Donald Trump is suing the IRS.

10:42Ben Meiselas:He's suing his own government, as you know, for$10 billion, saying that when his tax returns were leaked like 10 years ago, that has harmed his reputation so much today that he now wants the taxpayers, he wants us, to pay him$10 billion when he settles with the government, when he settles with himself and then steals$10 billion of our taxpayer dollars, when every other president released their tax returns. But Donald Trump, remember when his were released, by the way, Congress released them as well. And it showed that he was paying no taxes. Like there were many years where he paid$0 in taxes.

11:22Ben Meiselas:And there were some years when he paid $750 in taxes because he claimed he made no money at all and just lost money during those years. I think that's just what pisses people off. Like there were so many hardworking people, psychologically tortured, living paycheck to paycheck, can't afford rent, can't afford homes, getting their healthcare ripped away by this regime, can't get a good education, their kids have no hope, no future, and Donald Trump's out there suing the United States government right now for$10 billion and taking our taxpayer money while he's not paying taxes? While he's talking about building arches and whining about the Grammys and talking about how he wants to build golden ballrooms and shutting down the Kennedy Center?

12:05Ben Meiselas:Like, what the hell is happening?

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14:09Ben Meiselas:adults. It should also be noted as we talk about the Epstein files that were released on Friday, The Epstein files released exposed the names of at least 53 victims, a Wall Street Journal review found. Also in our review, I talked about this in another video, there was an entire file that contained the photos with the faces of underage girls that the Department of Justice produced. and I didn't even want to give the Bates number for that, but that was up there. We actually alerted the Department of Justice, although I wanted nothing to do with them. I said, you got to take this down. You have the minors out there.

14:45Ben Meiselas:How do you not find that in your review when you produce these documents? So what they produced re-traumatized victims, and they're still withholding documents, but there were definitely still bombshells in there. But it's cover up after cover up with this regime. The Wall Street Journal reports this morning in an exclusive that a U.S. official has alleged wrongdoing by U.S. spy chief Tulsi Gabbard, who many suspected was a spy chief for other governments against the United States. But a U.S. official has alleged wrongdoing by Gabbard in a complaint that is so highly classified, it has sparked months of wrangling over how to share it with Congress, according to people familiar with the matter.

15:27Ben Meiselas:A whistleblower complaint is said to be locked in a safe that it is so classified and no one knows how to deal with it. A U.S. intelligence official has alleged wrongdoing by DNI Tulsi Gabbard in a whistleblower complaint. The filing of the complaint has prompted a continuing behind the scenes struggle of how to assess and handle it. With the whistleblower's lawyer accusing Gabbard of stonewalling the complaint, Gabbard's office rejects the characterization, contending it is navigating a unique set of circumstances and working to resolve the issue. They cover up everything, this regime, this cabal.

16:03Ben Meiselas:They are truly the worst. By the way, you even have MAGA Florida Republican Congress member Carlos Jimenez admitting that the Republicans are absolutely screwed right now. He said what the regime, he calls it an administration, I call it a regime, has done to immigrants, the immigrant population. And Jimenez is Cuban, he says, is now turned the Latino community against us. And it's going to haunt us in the midterms. Jimenez says that they will be haunted. Here, play this clip. Unfortunately, you know, we've been warning the administration

16:38Donald Trump:about the enforcement that that's been going on. We thought that there should have been a course correction a long time ago. And now I guess it's going to be forced on us by the Democrats. So unfortunately, we could have done it ourselves. We should have done it ourselves. When you say course correction, what specifically do you want to see happen? What should have happened? We should have been focusing on criminals and gang members and people with active deportation orders. I don't think we should have been focusing on people that have been here for a long time, grandmothers, et cetera, that happen to be in a neighborhood when you're doing an enforcement action.

17:11Ben Meiselas:I think that that was a mistake. And I think it's coming back to haunt us. But then you've got MAGA Republican Congress member Pete Sessions, who sings a different tune. And MAGA Republican Congress member Sessions on Republicans having that massive loss in Texas over the weekend in that special election runoff, Texas State Senate District 9, where Taylor Remit flipped that district. And it was a plus 31 overperformance in a plus 17 Trump district. Remit won by plus 14. Here's what Sessions has to say, play this clip.

17:46Donald Trump:Congressman Sessions, you know, Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida, you know, a conservative, no shrinking violence, said special elections are quirky and not necessarily projectable. That said, a swing of this magnitude is not something that can be dismissed. Republicans should be clear eyed about the political environment heading into the midterms. Why did this happen? What does it tell you? Well, John, first of all, the success for Raindance has a lot to do with timing. And what happened is there was a huge snowstorm, ice storm, really, that hit North Texas and Central Texas. But let's go back to Governor DeSantis' point.

18:24Donald Trump:Special elections are special. And what happened is there was, as I understand it, one Democrat and two Republicans that were running against each other. And it was a battle between the two Republicans and a group of people simply decided they were not going to come participate because in the still this Democrat received more than 50 percent of the vote. So it is it is listening to the music and waking up and finding out we need to be better. We need to understand what we're doing. But this was a miscalculation by the people on the ground. And I don't know any of them. But But what I will say is you should not lose any election in North Texas like this.

19:08Ben Meiselas:Oh, so he says it was a the success of a rain dance depends on timing. It was the cold weather. Well, Donald Trump endorsed the MAGA Republican candidate three times in the 12 hours before the election. But Donald Trump claims he doesn't know the MAGA Republican candidate. Her name was Lee Whamgans, and Trump posted post after post after post about Lee Whamgans. But Trump claims, I never even knew her, don't know who she is. This, I think, is foreshadowing what we're going to see in the midterms. Now, finally, as you know by now, Donald Trump has shut down the Kennedy Center. It had almost no attendance.

19:48Ben Meiselas:All of the performers and musical acts were canceling. The staff was quitting. and so Donald Trump just shut it down, bankrupted the Kennedy Center, which I want to point out as well, it is a nonprofit. So the purpose of it as a cultural treasure and as a memorial to former President John F. Kennedy was not to make a profit. It's quite literally a nonprofit, but it had net income of about$41 million. I had revenue of about 300 or so million and it had expenses around the 260 mark. So it had net income. It was a cultural treasure. It was a nonprofit. And then Trump destroyed it. So I'm sure you've seen this interview by now, but I spoke to Ben Folds, who used to be the artistic director back last year.

20:40Ben Meiselas:He was for quite some time at the Kennedy Center. And he quit back in February of 2025. Here's what he told me three weeks ago. he predicted this was all going to go down. Watch this. It's really sad.

20:53Donald Trump:The Kennedy Center had so many great missions and it is a memorial as well. It's as close to sacred stuff as you can get for our federal government. But aside from that, it really is playing out roughly the way that it felt it would for me a year ago. And I'm not saying that I understood how events would unfold exactly, but it was clearly the first step of it was an authoritarian move. It was an authoritarian first first step. And like, obviously, they weren't going to start by trying to steamroller late night comedians. They thought they would run over us first. And that's that's much easier because it's close to home and they know what they're you know, how to do it.

21:41Donald Trump:But now the things that are happening are no surprise because that's you know, it wasn't just him. I think people misunderstand it. It's not just him going in wanting to book bands or something. You know, it's it's commandeering, you know, the the governments, the arts. And then from there, that's expression, that's freedom of expression. And from there, you move on to the networks and to Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel and 60 Minutes and you just keep steamrolling. So I was sick on my stomach when I quit because one, I knew they were going to run in the ground. No one that they were appointing had any experience in arts administration, but that was never the point.

22:23Donald Trump:The point was to take that, run over it and move on. So it's rotting over, you know, next to the Potomac in the moment. And it's like, it's just sad, you know.

22:33Ben Meiselas:Finally, earlier today, Disney warned of a hit to its U.S. theme parks as foreign tourist numbers fall. The company posts forecast beating earnings ahead of meeting to decide Bob Iger's successor. But it says that in the future, it appears that now in the foreseeable future, we're seeing a 6 % drop in foreign visitors overall to the US in the past year. There you have it, folks. Let me know what you think. Hit subscribe. Help us get to 6 million. We appreciate you so much. And thanks for watching. Want to stay plugged in? Become a subscriber to our sub stack at MidasPlus.com.

23:09Donald Trump:You'll get daily recaps from Ron Filipkowski, ad-free episodes of our podcast, and more exclusive content only available at MidasPlus.com.