Why Trump Thinks He Can Get Away With Epstein Ties

The Daily Beast Podcast

The Daily Beast

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4.6 • 8.4K Ratings

🗓️ 11 May 2026

⏱️ 50 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Head to https://biologica.com/BEAST to take the Quick Hormonal Life Stage Quiz and get up to 32% off your first subscription order. #ad Joanna Coles speaks with journalist and author Anand Giridharadas about Donald Trump, the Epstein files, and the powerful network he calls the “Epstein class” — a web of billionaires, politicians, professors, royals, financiers, and cultural elites who protected each other while ordinary people paid the price. Giridharadas argues that Trump’s Iran escalation may have conveniently shifted attention away from explosive revelations tying the president and other influential figures to Jeffrey Epstein’s orbit, while exposing what he describes as a deeper culture of elite impunity in America. From Prince Andrew’s downfall to Jeffrey Epstein’s enduring influence over Wall Street, academia, and global power brokers, the conversation digs into why so many people stayed silent, how the rich shield each other from accountability, and what real justice would actually look like for the survivors at the center of the scandal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I wore Donald Trump presented with the options he was presented with,
0:04.0	and I saw my enmeshment in this Epstein story
0:09.0	that truly got to the heart of why Donald Trump is so unpopular,
0:14.0	even among many of his voters, why his coalition was starting to crack.
0:18.0	You have to wonder if the only person who got anything out of that whole war beyond Bebe
0:25.1	was Donald Trump for changing the subject away from the Epstein files, which cut to the heart
0:30.9	of the corruption and impunity, of which he is, of course, one of our greatest living embodiments.
0:40.1	I'm Joanna Coles. This is the Daily Beast podcast,
0:44.1	and there are three words that have been put on the back burner with the war in Iran.
0:50.5	Regular listeners and viewers will know the words.
0:53.9	I'm talking about Epstein, Epstein.
0:57.6	Well, today, the writer and the chronicler of elites,
1:01.5	multi-book author Anand Gerdas,
1:04.8	has just dropped his fifth and I think final chapter
1:09.6	in his series on the Epstein class. He has spent more time than most
1:15.2	digging around in the Epstein files and what he's found is, well, it's remarkable and it gives
1:21.3	us insight into power elites and the collateral human damage that still hasn't really been addressed.
1:30.6	But before we get into it, just a reminder, we are independent media.
1:34.4	We love to bring you conversations.
1:36.0	You can't find anywhere else, but we really appreciate your support, which you can give us
1:40.0	by joining the Bee Beast tier membership here on YouTube or by smashing the subscription button
1:47.1	so we can include you in our increasing number of subscribers.
	...

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