The Philip DeFranco Show - Trump’s Epstein Problem Is Getting Worse

Episode Date: July 21, 2025

DistractFromEpstein-itis is a very serious condition. If you notice any symptoms please consult your physician. You’re 30 seconds away from being debt free with PDS Debt. Get your free assessment and find the best option for you at https://PDSDebt.com/defranco ASK ME A QUESTION Got a question? Serious, silly, personal, or newsy — bring the good stuff. Send yours here: https://www.speakpipe.com/PDS  LISTEN TO THE SHOW iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-philip-defranco-show/id1278424954  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6ESemquRbz6f8XLVywdZ2V  JOIN OUR COMMUNITY Instagram: https://instagram.com/PhillyDeFranco  Twitter: https://twitter.com/phillyd  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@philipdefranco   – ✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩ – 00:00 - Epstein Accuser Named Trump to FBI Twice 5:59 - Trump Threatens NFL Team to Change Name Back to Redskins 8:35 - PDS Debt 9:34 - Trump Says “F— You” to Courts 13:15 - Israel Launches Ground Assault on Gaza  ——————————   THE TEAM Produced by: Cory Ray Edited by: James Girardier, Maxwell Enright, Julie Goldberg, Christian Meeks, Matthew Henry Art Department: William Crespo Writing/Research: Philip DeFranco, Brian Espinoza, Lili Stenn, Maddie Crichton, Chris Tolve, Star Pralle, Jared Paolino ———————————— #DeFranco #JeffreyEpstein #DonaldTrump ———————————— Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Trump's Epstein problem just keeps getting worse and Marjorie Taylor Greene of all people's leading the charge where the Trump Wall Street Journal Epstein $10 billion lawsuit is actually so much more important than many people realize. And Trump is now going after NFL and baseball team seemingly in an attempt to distract from his Epstein scandal. We're talking about all that and even more

on today's brand new Philip DeFranco show you daily dive into the news, starting with this. Trump, he made me throw in a million distractions at the wall, but his Epstein problems, they haven't gone anywhere. But with this latest coming from the New York Times with an Epstein accuser telling the outlet that she brought Trump's name to the FBI twice

regarding what she called a troubling encounter. With that accuser being Maria Farmer, a woman who worked for Epstein in 1995 and 1996, while she was in her twenties. She actually first reported Epstein to law enforcement back in 1996, after she said she was sexually assaulted by both him and Ghislaine Maxwell.

And after she learned that Maxwell had massaged her teen sister's bare chest. But they're telling the Times that when she reported this to both the NYPD and FBI, she told officials to take a broader look at those in Epstein's circle, including Donald Trump. And with that, she pointed to an encounter she said she had with him back in 1995,

when Epstein unexpectedly called her to his Manhattan office one night. With her saying that she showed up in running shorts only for Trump to arrive soon after and he began to hover over her. Maria saying she felt scared as she could feel Trump staring at her bare legs. And then when Epstein came into the room,

he reportedly told Trump, no, no, she's not here for you. But then after Epstein and Trump left the room, she claims that she heard Trump comment that he thought she was 16 years old. And on top of bringing this to the authorities in 1996, she apparently told a story again when the FBI interviewed her about Epstein in 2006.

With Farmer telling the Times that she had always wondered how law enforcement handled her complaints. And while the Times said, you know, it wasn't clear or not if her remarks prompted a deeper investigation into Trump, they did claim that her story is among the clearest indications yet of how Mr. Trump might have come to be named in the sought after Epstein

files. But all of this is for his part, Trump's camp has denied the story with a White House representative saying, the president was never in Epstein's office. The fact is is for his part, Trump's camp has denied the story with a White House representative saying, "'The president was never in Epstein's office. "'The fact is that the president "'kicked him out of his club for being a creep.'" And all of this, it's coming as Trump's been playing

Epstein whack-a-mole for a few weeks now, trying to fight constant questions and criticisms about his administration's handling of the files. But also the more that he's been fighting it and attacking his base for even being interested in it, the more public interest has grown. And in fact, we're now seeing reporting that books and media about Epstein

have seen an uptick in sales in recent weeks. And that along with things like a Netflix docu-series on Epstein seeing a 268% jump in viewership in the second week of July compared to the first week. Right, so the interest in the case and the history here, it's growing as the pressure has been as well. Though that is many doubt that we're ever actually gonna get substantial information.

Because while the DOJ did ask a federal judge to unseal grand jury transcripts related to Epstein, you have many thinking that whatever is gonna come out there, it's just gonna disappoint the public. For example, Sarah Khrisov, a former assistant to US attorney in Manhattan, telling the AP, the president is trying to present himself

as if he's doing something here, and it really is nothing. Or with sources saying that grand jury presentations are generally brief because the goal is to just give enough information to land an indictment. So that's why another former federal prosecutor saying, it's not going to be everything the FBI and investigators have figured out about Maxwell and Epstein.

People want the entire file from however long, that's just not what this is. Or I guess just in other words, get your Nathan Fielder, I hope you're hungry for nothing, gifts locked and loaded. But of course, even though that very well could be a dud, we're still gonna have to wait to see what comes. Especially as we're also gonna have to keep our eyes on this lawsuit that Trump just filed against the publisher

of the Wall Street Journal, which in case you missed it, it came out just after the Thursday show with the Wall Street Journal reporting that Trump sent, well, let's call it a super sus birthday card to Epstein back in 2003. Or with a report saying that Ghislaine Maxwell had compiled letters from dozens of Epstein's friends as a birthday gift and one was from Donald Trump.

And they reported that that letter included a drawing of a naked woman with a signature mimicking pubic hair, but then also featuring a sort of imaginary scripted conversation between Trump and Epstein that notably ended, "'A pal is a wonderful thing. "'Happy birthday and may every day "'be another wonderful secret.'" Though there you had Trump denying the authenticity

of the letter saying, "'This is not me. "'This is a fake thing. "'It's a fake Wall Street Journal story. "'I never wrote a picture in my life. "'I don't draw pictures of women. "'It's not my language. It's not my words."

You know, even though there is substantial evidence that Trump, I guess the word we're using is wrote, quite a few pictures in his life, he still followed through on his promise to sue. With Trump accusing Dow Jones and his parent company at News Corp of libel and also listing Rupert Murdoch and two Wall Street Journal reporters. And you have the suit claiming that, quote,

"'Defendants concocted this story to malign President Trump's character and integrity and deceptively portray him in a false light. But there you have the journal standing by its reporting with a spokesperson for Dow Jones saying, we have full confidence in the rigor and accuracy of our reporting and will vigorously defend against any lawsuit.

Now that said, while we wait to see how things play out, there are two big things to be mentioned here. One very interestingly is the reaction from the MAGA base that has actually been demanding answers from Trump. Because this report appears to have actually pushed them back into Trump's corner. It was kind of like muscle memory. A bunch of people that have been criticizing him,

asking more questions, not liking his reaction to things, they quickly rallied around him. For many of them seeing him once again as the victim who's fighting the big machine, rather than the guy who promised to release things and is now part of the big machine, and then attacked people for not doing the thing that he promised.

And so he ended up saying where people like Laura Loomer and Charlie Kirk, who had been pressing on Epstein to burying degrees, dismissing the report as a partisan attack. Without less like Politico saying, you know, this allowed a fractured MAGA base to train their ire on a common enemy, the media. And you even reportedly had unnamed administration sources

telling them, quote, thank God for Dems and media overreach on this. It saves us every time. There's nothing Donald Trump does better than being on offense. It has helped rally the troops because people see this as more bullshit. That said, it doesn't mean the situation around Epstein

is over or that things could go against him again. Especially as you're saying things like just this morning, people like Marjorie Taylor Greene implying that MAGA isn't done asking Epstein questions. Writing quote, if you tell the base of people who support you of deep state treasonous crimes, election interference, blackmailing, rich, powerful elite, evil cabals,

then you must take down every enemy of the people. If not, the base will turn and there's no going back. Dangling bits of red meat no longer satisfies. They want the whole steak dinner and will accept nothing else. Right, and all of that is the second big thing is we have to keep our eyes on this lawsuit. Because it is just one of a number of media lawsuits

that we've seen. With previous ones being settled and experts saying, this is setting up a very dangerous situation for the media and even the integrity of our democracy. And whether or not Murdoch and the Wall Street Journal and everyone involved here, they win, lose or settle. It could set the stage for whatever the hell the next few years are gonna look like.

And then in other big news, Donald Trump, he actually appears to be suffering from a new medical condition called Distract from Epsteinitis. And now the latest symptom is that Trump is threatening to hold up Washington Stadium deal if the commanders don't change their name back to the Washington Redskins. Because if you're not familiar, back in 2020,

the NFL team based in Washington, DC, announced that it was gonna drop its incredibly controversial name, Redskins, during a broader push against racism and police brutality. Right, so they've had the name Commander since the 2022 season, after an especially awkward interim period where they're the Washington football team. Obviously there are a lot of different opinions here.

You had many against the Redskins name. You also had a lot of backlash to ditching that name. But either way, what you had was Josh Harris, whose group bought the commanders from former owner Dan Snyder back in 2023, saying earlier this year that the new name was here to stay. But then sir, Donald Trump, who said yesterday

that he wants the commanders to revert their name back to the original name. With him claiming that the team would be quote, much more valuable if it did. But also he did more than express a preference. With him saying in a post on Truth Social, I may put a restriction on them that if they don't change the name back to the original Washington Redskins

and get rid of the ridiculous moniker Washington commanders, I won't make a deal for them to build a stadium in Washington. And what he's referring to there is the deal struck between the team and the government in DC to build a new home for the commanders at the site of the old RFK stadium. Now it's not exactly clear how much poll Trump's gonna have

over the stadium deal, right? The land was signed over from the federal government to the District of Columbia by Biden back in January. But you also had Axios reporting there is a chance that Trump could influence the project using the power of the White House or through federal design commissions. And so right now we're gonna have to wait to see

how the team and ownership respond to the whole situation. But also as we wait, it's important to know that Trump's ire hasn't just been limited to the commanders because he also took aim at Cleveland's baseball team which until 2020 was called the Cleveland Indians. And they ended up adopting the name the Cleveland Guardians back in 2021 and they've been met with a similar mix of support

and criticism like the commanders. And actually again, like with the commanders, Trump's become a recent and very loud critic saying on Truth Social on Sunday, the owner of the Cleveland baseball team, Matt Dolan, who is very political, has lost three elections in a row because of that ridiculous name change.

What he doesn't understand is that if he changed the name back to the Cleveland Indians, he might actually win an election. Indians are being treated very unfairly. Make Indians great again. Though in this case, the team has already responded, clarifying that there are no plans to revisit the name changer or walk it back.

But the Guardians president of baseball operations saying, "'We understand there are different perspectives "'on the decision we made a few years ago, "'but obviously it's a decision we made. "'We've got the opportunity to build a brand "'as the Guardians over the last four years "'and are excited about the future that's in front of us.' And so now we'll have to wait to see what Trump does,

especially because this does appear to be a situation that he cares about deeply. It's a genuine effort and not some attempt to direct the general conversation away from something like, I don't know, Jeffrey Epstein. But hey, in the meantime, I'd love to know your opinion on this whole situation, especially if you're a fan of football or baseball and or specifically these teams.

And then I've got more news for you in a minute, but first, have you ever felt like debt was designed specifically to make you feel like garbage and broke at the same time? Because that's not a bug in the system, it's the point. Because when you're drowning in interest and light fees, guess who's getting paid? A hint, it's not you.

And that, that's where today's sponsor, PBS Debt comes in. Credit card companies profit off of your panic. Lenders win when you lose. The system is unbroken, it's rigged. But PBS Debt, they're flipping the script. They help people crushed by credit cards, personal loans and medical bills actually get out.

No minimum credit score, no shame, just actual human beings looking at your situation and helping you make a plan. Because we've all seen the horror stories, people going from paycheck to paycheck, stress, just overwhelmed, but also others finally able to breathe again. And these guys are legit.

A plus rated with a better business bureau, thousands of glowing Google and trust pilot reviews. Because they don't just throw you a lifeline, they help you climb out. And I mean, you could be 30 seconds away from being debt free. Just go get your free assessment and find the best option for you right now

at pdsdebt.com slash Defranco or scan that QR code. That's pdsdebt.com slash Defranco or the QR codes on screen. So just scan that thing and take the first step. FanDuel Casino's exclusive live dealer studio has your chance at the number one feeling, winning, which beats even the 27th best feeling saying I do. Who wants this last parachute? I do.

Enjoy the number one feeling. Winning in an exciting live dealer studio, exclusively on FanDuel Casino, where winning is undefeated. 19 plus and physically located in Ontario. Gambling problem? Call 1-866-531-2600 or visit kinexontario.ca. Please play responsibly.

And next up in the news, the Trump administration has defied more than a third of court orders against it. And in at least one case, officials literally joked about telling judges, fuck you. Right, that and part is the finding of a new Washington Post examination of 337 lawsuits that were filed against the White House

since Trump reentered office. With judges ruling against the White House in 165 of those cases, and the White House allegedly defying or frustrating court oversight in 57 of those, almost 35%. Which I mean, it just puts into perspective the sheer scale of this administration's unprecedented standoff with the judicial branch.

And if you believe this whistleblower who filed a complaint with the Senate last month, they know very well what they're doing. And the person is Erez Rouveni, who was a decorated lawyer for 15 years at the Justice Department, including under Trump's first term when he defended the administration's immigration policy.

But in April, he got fired after he told a federal judge that the deportation of Kilmar Obrego Garcia was a mistake, leading him to file this complaint. And in it, he alleges that Emil Bove, a top prosecutor who's taken credit for some of the Trump administration's most aggressive moves, openly suggested breaking the law. And that happening during a meeting on March 14,

just before the White House flew hundreds of Venezuelans, including Obrego Garcia to El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act. And according to Rouvaini, Beauvais stressed to all in attendance that the planes carrying the migrants, quote, need to take off no matter what. With them then allegedly saying

that they may need to consider telling judges, fuck you and ignore possible court orders blocking deportations. Now there, I have to note that Beauvais has denied the allegation, but I'm also getting grilled about it in the Senate recently. Did you suggest, as Mr. Rouveni wrote,

that DOJ would need to consider telling the courts, fuck you and ignore any such court order? I did not suggest that there would be any need to consider ignoring court orders. At the point of that meeting, there were no court orders to discuss. Well, did you suggest telling the courts, fuck you in any manner?

I don't recall. But since then, Senator Dick Durbin has released a cache of messages provided to him by Rouvaini that appears to corroborate his claims. With that, including a text message between Rouvaini and a colleague the day after the meeting in which he apparently lamented, guess we are going to say fuck you to the court, super.

Which his colleague responded, well, Pamela Joe Bondi is not you. With that and another exchange Rouvaini apparently telling a supervisor, guess it'sela Jo Bondi is not you. With then and another exchange, Rouvaini apparently telling a supervisor, guess it's find out time on the fuck you. Which is supervisor who Rouvaini claims was at the meeting replied, yup, it was good working with you.

And then finally, there's another text reading. This doesn't end with anything but a nationwide injunction and a decision point on fuck you. You know, even putting the fuck you to the courts aside, those text messages show career lawyers in the DOJ just being mortified by what their department's doing. With for example, some reacting to a court hearing the day after the meeting in which a lawyer told the judge

he didn't know whether the deportations to El Salvador were imminent. At which point a colleague who had been listening texted Ruvani an expletive followed by, that was just not true. And then adding, he knows there are plans for AEA removals within the next 24 hours to which Ruvani replied, yes he does.

And then a few days later, Rivani texted a colleague, at this point, why don't we just submit an emoji of a middle finger as our filing? Well, that's just one very high profile case as the Washington Post makes clear, this is part of a pattern of behavior by the Trump administration. You've got lawsuits accusing it

of providing false information, failing to turn over evidence, quietly working around court orders and inventing pretext to carry out actions that have been blocked. All while Trump and his allies have just smeared what they call radical left judges, many of whom were appointed by Republican presidents

or Trump himself. And actually, despite Stephen Miller's accusations of judicial tyranny, none of the judges have actually taken steps to force compliance yet, with White House's open defiance going on for weeks or even months without anyone being held in contempt. You know, some of that, it could be due to the courts just traditionally being slow to act,

especially when appeals are ongoing. But also you have legal analysts telling the Post that the judges are also likely to be concerned that the US Marshals Service, whose director is appointed by the president, they might not serve subpoenas or take defiant government officials into custody if ordered to by the courts.

So now it just looks like we're watching this Cold War play out between the executive and the judiciary. And really, only time will tell if it becomes a hot one. And then next up in huge international news, Israel just launched a major assault on essentially the last part of Gaza that hadn't been flattened yet.

And the international backlash is huge. Right now over two dozen Western nations calling out Israel's inhumane killing of civilians and saying the war must end now. But starting with this latest attack, we've seen airstrikes and then tanks and soldiers hitting a city in the middle of Gaza called Darylbala. And importantly, it was one of the few parts of Gaza

where Israel hadn't conducted a major ground operation and it's now a 21 month war against Hamas. And that is reportedly because the country has suspected that the group might be holding at least some of the remaining hostages there. And that possibly including the 20 or so who were believed to be still alive. But either way, the result has been that the city

is basically the last remaining area of Gaza that hasn't suffered absolutely devastating damage. With there being more buildings still standing there than in other parts of the strip, including warehouses, health clinics, and a key desalination plant serving southern Gaza. And all of that leading to tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians taking shelter there

while the UN and other humanitarian agencies have also relocated key parts of their operations to the area. But over the weekend, you had the IDF issuing forced evacuation orders affecting between 50,000 to 80,000 people. There you had the UN warning in a statement that any damage to this infrastructure

will have life-threatening consequences. And also noting that the latest offensive, it brings the total area of Gaza under displacement orders or within Israeli militarized zones to almost 88%, which means that more than 2 million civilians are squeezed into a fragmented 12% of the strip where essential services have collapsed. And what we're seeing is the situation only going from bad to worse.

Even without considering the potential fallout from the new offensive, experts were warning that more than 1.5 million people in Gaza, two-thirds of the pre-war population, are at risk of severe malnutrition or starvation. We've got the UN World Food Program saying, Gaza's hunger crisis has reached new levels of desperation. Malnutrition is surging with 90,000 women and children in urgent need of treatment and nearly one person in three is not eating for days. And to that point, it's been reported today

that at least 19 Palestinians, including children, have recently died from hunger over just one 24 hour period. And that, of course, is there are many who argue that this is not by accident or at least there's more that could have been done. Right, because Israel, they control the flow of aid into Gaza and they currently allow only a limited amount to be distributed at sites run by the US

and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. And at these sites, there have been reports of guards stationed there opening fire on Gaza and seeking aid on an almost daily basis. You've got the total number killed reaching 875 last week and that's before troops killed nearly 100 people trying to access aid just yesterday. And with that incident, you had Israel's military admitting

that their shooting happened, but claiming it had fired warning shots to remove an immediate threat posed to the troops. Which a key thing is similar to what's been said in other cases as well, even as witnesses, rights groups, and even GHF contractors speaking anonymously have said otherwise. And so in response to all this,

you had 25 Western nations, including the UK and more than a dozen countries in the EU, issuing a statement today, condemning the Israeli government's actions and calling for an end to the war, saying, the Israeli government's aid delivery model is dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity.

We condemn the drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians, including children seeking to meet their most basic needs of water and food. And then beyond that, you had them calling the plan to transfer Gaza's population into a so-called humanitarian city, completely unacceptable. As well as condemning increased settlement building

and settler violence in the West Bank. Though of course with this, you had Israel bashing the statement with its foreign ministry saying, quote, it is disconnected from reality and sends the wrong message to Hamas. And that is the US unsurprisingly did not sign that statement, though notably we have seen signs

that the Trump administration is again, frustrated with the Israeli government and especially Netanyahu. And in fact, with that, you had a White House official telling Axios, Bibi acted like a madman. He bombs everything all the time. This could undermine what Trump is trying to do. And then a second official pointing to the shelling

of a church in Gaza this week, which led Trump to call Netanyahu and demand an explanation saying, the feeling is that every day there is something new. What the fuck? But notably a lot of frustration has reportedly been driven by Israel's recent strikes on Syria, with a special envoy to Syria

actually criticizing the intervention in an interview with the Associated Press. Right there, it seems like the US and Israel have had differing goals ever since the overthrowing of Assad. Because according to recent reporting from Reuters, Israel has actually been lobbying the US to keep Syria weak and decentralized,

mainly to counter Turkey's growing influence in the country. But the Trump administration, they've been focused on supporting the new Syrian government. Though of course, a disagreement in theory, a disagreement in words is far different than a disagreement that results in a breakdown of relationship. And there, at least as a recording,

we have not seen a very meaningful split. But then my friend, you beautiful bastard, is where today's show is gonna end. That said, because you made it to the end, let me tease you with a little something. And that is that this week, you're actually getting six videos instead of four. So if you're new here, definitely subscribe.

And if you're already subscribed, make sure you have all notifications turned on. Hey, thank you for watching. Stay safe out there, stay sane out there, and I'll see you right back here tomorrow.