BULLETIN: TRUMP DENIALS OF WSJ EPSTEIN BOMBSHELL COLLAPSE - 7.17.25

Countdown with Keith Olbermann

iHeartPodcasts

Politics, News, Sports

4.7 • 4.7K Ratings

🗓️ 18 July 2025

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

SEASON 3 EPISODE 146: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN BULLETIN

"I never wrote a picture in my life," Trump told The Wall Street Journal, with his typical cognitive confusion, as he denied its bombshell report tonight that he contributed a bawdy letter and drawing of a naked woman to a special bound '50th Birthday Book' for Jeffrey Epstein in 2003.

Within minutes, literally dozens of pictures wrote (or as we'd call it, "drawn") by Trump appeared online - most of them auctioned for charity. Trump was immediately defended by others like JD Vance who said was written in the book (compiled by Ghislaine Maxwell) didn't sound like him. Which him? The "Grab 'Em" him or the "I never wrote a picture in my life" him? Vance also asks why WSJ hasn't produced the letter. And Laura Loomer says Trump never types letters, he writes notes. I have a fan letter from Trump - from 2014 - typed by him or somebody for him.

The denials aren't relevant to the existence of the letter or what it says about Trump's relationship with Epstein at this perilous moment in Trump's presidency. And the denials didn't survive an hour. And they didn't deal with the most ominous part, the content of the letter, which includes Epstein and Trump "talking" to each other and concludes with Trump "saying" "Happy birthday - and may every day be another wonderful secret."

Another wonderful secret? What in the HELL could that mean?

ALSO: in addition to the Trump Epstein cover-up there is the Trump Health cover-up and parts of the story about his acutely swollen ankles don't hold up. And the only thing swollen about Stephen Colbert is his ego. CBS has tonight cancelled his show, effective next May. The man is untrustworthy and rarely funny but his platform was consistently anti-dictatorship so the forum will be missed even if he will not.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	This is an I-Heart podcast.
0:04.5	I knew I wanted to obey and submit, but I didn't fully grasp for the rest of my life what that
0:12.2	meant.
0:13.2	For my heart podcasts and Rococo Punch, this is the Turning, River Road.
0:17.7	In the woods of Minnesota, a cult leader married himself to 10 girls and forced them into a secret life of abuse.
0:24.6	But in 2014, the youngest escaped.
0:28.3	Listen to the Turning River Road on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
0:34.9	Just like great shoes, great books take you places.
0:38.3	Through unforgettable love stories and into conversations with characters you'll never forget.
0:43.4	I think any good romance, it gives me this feeling of like butterflies.
0:47.9	I'm Danielle Robeye, and this is bookmarked by Reese's Book Club.
0:51.3	The new podcast from Hello Sunshine and IHeart Podcasts, where we dive
0:55.2	into the stories that shape us on the page and off.
0:58.8	Each week, I'm joined by authors, celebs, book talk stars, and more for conversations that
1:04.0	will make you laugh, cry, and add way too many books to your TBR pile.
1:08.9	Listen to Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club on the IHeart Radio app.
1:12.6	Apple Podcasts are wherever you get your podcasts.
1:16.5	So what happened to Chappaquiddick?
1:18.5	Well, it really depends on who you talk to.
1:20.6	There are many versions of what happened in 1969 when a young Ted Kennedy drove a car
1:25.5	into a pond.
1:26.2	And left a woman behind to drown.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from iHeartPodcasts, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of iHeartPodcasts and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.