Why Trump Thinks He Can Get Away With Epstein Ties | The Daily Beast Podcast
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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.
00:00 – Trump, Iran, and the Epstein Distraction
04:29 – The “Epstein Class” and Elite Power Networks
09:03 – Inside the Social Operating System of the Ultra-Wealthy
14:44 – The Global “Dock” Figures Who Open Doors for Elites
19:33 – Elite Solidarity and Why Powerful People Protect Each Other
24:55 – America’s Reversal on Equality Before the Law
29:23 – What Real Accountability for the Epstein Network Would Look Like
34:02 – Virginia Giuffre, Corruption, and the Fight Against Elite Impunity
39:01 – Transparency, Political Power, and the Future of the Epstein Story
#trump #epsteinfiles #news #podcast
📖 Title: Why Trump Thinks He Can Get Away With Epstein Ties
👂 Podcast: The Daily Beast Podcast
📺 Episode: 695
🎧 Format: Full Podcast
📅 Date: May 10, 2026
👨💼 Guest: Anand Giridharadas
🎙️ Host: Joanna Coles
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Comments
Latest news
@corakearney8333
May 11, 2026 at 12:38 am
👍
@rjwusher
May 11, 2026 at 12:38 am
Let's not pretend that there weren't signals about the Epstein Circle before Epstein's demise and the partial release of the files. There were many Cassandras in the sphere of media and academia. A good example is Rebecca Watson, aka Skepchick, who is actually mentioned in the Epstein Files. The following videos from her channel illustrate Anand's point in detail:
watch?v=5wI_kS3lrYs
watch?v=VNLdyWPAz18
@eileenmurieltasca9343
May 11, 2026 at 12:38 am
Terrible really but Washington is moving further and further from rule of law and Donald Trump..
@arch.blender1178
May 11, 2026 at 12:38 am
war is over – Epstein Files are BACK!
@handlenotavail
May 11, 2026 at 12:38 am
Accountability??? Epstein’s dead, Wexner will die….no accountability. Woody Allen will be dead. It will all be too late. These men have gotten away with it. Trump will be dead before facing it.
@pearlpolanski
May 11, 2026 at 12:38 am
What an insightful interview.
@lesleyghostdragon3149
May 11, 2026 at 12:38 am
JOANNA, I love your snowy blonde wispy locks!!!
(May I say I notice you're very shiny today and I think that's a new thing – "Glass Skin" – but, I think that new fad is a bit creepy looking… Sorry. Obviously people like it. Just my humble opinion.) 🙏
@rjwusher
May 11, 2026 at 12:38 am
Wishing the very best for you and your family, dear Joanna. As many commenters have written, you are not alone in this situation. My dear mother will be 88 years of age by the end of May and her physical and cognitive health is in decline. I am an only child and thus her primary informal caregiver. Thank you for continuing the podcast on such a regular basis, which helps us all keep sane. Also the richness of your language is a delight. ("Another scalp collected by the ghost of Jeffrey Epstein.") And your Melania impression of course. ("Ooh-nee-fie-arr.") You should read a children's book in that voice.
Love from The Netherlands.
PS: I am trying my hand at writing a limerick and perhaps some other literary experiment. What's going on? Who knows? Stay tuned.
@trippyittybittybetty
May 11, 2026 at 12:38 am
The fact that Hollywood Movies are concentrated on individuals, not systems, is a deliberate choice.
@baronepam
May 11, 2026 at 12:38 am
All this talk that boils down to criminal assault, human trafficking and law enforcement that refuses to enforce the law. So one pe do and a madame go to jail? That's it?
@Breakfastburritos35
May 11, 2026 at 12:38 am
I don’t trust this guys hair I’m sorry
@jonhigdon5592
May 11, 2026 at 12:38 am
Awesome
@bdodson5
May 11, 2026 at 12:38 am
He’s so right: in this country if you have enough billions you can rape 12 year old girls and it’s ok. I don’t know about others, but I am not in the mood to celebrate our big 250th. We’re a pretty sad country these days.
@louisekoepfler1319
May 11, 2026 at 12:38 am
Part of the perception problem is that the charges were so watered down as to sound like accidental solicitation of a minor. It is still not clear why he got such a sweetheart deal in Florida.
@lesleyghostdragon3149
May 11, 2026 at 12:38 am
Extortion??? Blackmail???
Did I miss it or was there NO discussion of extortion/blackmail being the reason for the "loyalty" to the system, what binds/bound the people to the JE class or such networks or "Docks"???
@dispatchdebbie
May 11, 2026 at 12:38 am
Just marvelously explained because terribly on point!!! ❤
@craig3916
May 11, 2026 at 12:38 am
24:10 to 28.00 …… wow, just WOW
so well said, and so soooooo true,
of the fall of the USA as it has been known
and BY those elite simply for the sole benifit n pleasure of those elite.
the crimes against those girls were coomitted by the powerful, simply because the feel they are better n deserving of anything n the defencelsees should be used, fleesed, forced n abused – for the priliged, any way that they want.
@MoniqueCot
May 11, 2026 at 12:38 am
Good evening Joanna ❤🇨🇦
@maryvasilakakos7387
May 11, 2026 at 12:38 am
Power elites? Power scumbags 😢
@MargotBackus-w8k
May 11, 2026 at 12:38 am
PS I love your work!!!!!
@MargotBackus-w8k
May 11, 2026 at 12:38 am
Concerning the idea that normal people are less dependent on corrupt networks — I think that is less true than you are estimating — consider why Christine Blasey Ford never told her parents what happened at that high school party, where she was afraid another student was going to kill her as he sexually assaulted her. The same reasons lots of daughters of privileged families keep the same kinds of secrets, regarding other males in their elite networks, including male relatives — because those girls are valuable to the network so long as they put the success of the network's sons ahead of their own wellbeing.
@rjwusher
May 11, 2026 at 12:38 am
I was reminded of the following lyrics…
'Now you can say that I've grown bitter but of this you may be sure
The rich have got their channels in the bedrooms of the poor
And there's a mighty judgment coming, but I may be wrong
You see, you hear these funny voices in the tower of song'
From: Tower of Song (1988) by Leonard Cohen
@minuitmaya
May 11, 2026 at 12:38 am
Always appreciate your conversations with Anand Giridharadas! Thank you…😊
@SNahr-420
May 11, 2026 at 12:38 am
Trump IS getting away with it! He's accomplishing it.
@brendawheeler1543
May 11, 2026 at 12:38 am
The Iranian Lego meme music is keeping it alive , hopefully informing another faction not paying attention.
I listened to Virginia alleged death audio again
What I heard this time without the shock of her doing the unthinkable when her life was going to the positive
What I heard this time I would of bought it except for the focus of saying, trump was just around occasionally, it was Obama who she seen all the time
I burst out laughing realizing change the voice it sounded exactly like how trump would frame himself innocent and it was Obama being the bad guy
None of the survivors have mentioned Obama
Thank-you for keeping the Epstein crimes files alive
@heftyjay1
May 11, 2026 at 12:38 am
“A dark, shining moment…”? Huh?
@mnhsty
May 11, 2026 at 12:38 am
Which American political or government official is getting away with something connected to Epstein that he should be charged with or fired for? There’s Howard Luttnick and his fib about shunning Epstein maybe, but other than that, who?
@barbiegirl12340
May 11, 2026 at 12:38 am
we need stronger laws against abuse of power and corruption at the presidential level
@MalcolmMcKay-g3z
May 11, 2026 at 12:38 am
Interesting observation regarding the reversal of the revolutionary principles. I would suggest that this began not in the present but in the period known as the Gilded Age when hyper wealth became a moral justification in itself. It is noteworthy that Trump himself looks back to that period as the ideal for America.
@brendawheeler1543
May 11, 2026 at 12:38 am
What happened to your head , your barber did you wrong
@BaldwinBay
May 11, 2026 at 12:38 am
Never Forget. Never Forgive.
@eshel1954
May 11, 2026 at 12:38 am
I'm always curious about Joanna's ability to carry on a serious interview about the Epstein files with everyone except Michael Wolff.
Imo you should either hold Mr. Wolff's feet to the fire or denounce him as an Epstein enabler. He has 100 hours of Epstein interview tapes which he is not releasing. It's almost like you're covering for him. Am I wrong?
@BaldwinBay
May 11, 2026 at 12:38 am
Epstein Trump
@Chris-q8s3u
May 11, 2026 at 12:38 am
Thank you for this interview. We've all known, since the beginning of time, that there has always been an elite class who had more privileges and rights than the majority of society. What we never imagined is that the most powerful class would be capable of leading debauched, vile, evil lives that defy even the most perverted imaginations. And can do it with impunity in the 21st Century.
@xxjones
May 11, 2026 at 12:38 am
Anand ist such a thoughtful and articulate guest author! Thank you!
@LeonaElchuk
May 11, 2026 at 12:38 am
You can call them the 'Epstein class' or you can call them 'Bilderbergers'; by any name, they are the self-serving, 'monied' elite and above-the-law power brokers.
@cherylmccloud8709
May 11, 2026 at 12:38 am
*More an elite "secret society" with a diabolical New World plan to rule American working class & change World Order.
@LindaBray-o8l
May 11, 2026 at 12:38 am
They need to reopen the investigation and prosecute anyone involved, including anyone involved in the cover up!
@VivamosVisual
May 11, 2026 at 12:38 am
Consider the possibility that the entire Trump political coup cult conspiracy was engineered by the Epstein class with major cyberwar support from the Kremlin to coverup & neutralize the Epstein corruption being exposed, using DOJ insiders to seize the evidence, then rub out the main kingpin in jail, shred files, even witnesses like Ivana
@duranamoescapist6969
May 11, 2026 at 12:38 am
trump accused obama of wanting to start war with iran to cover up for something. so he has had this idea for decades. it is the smallest possible stretch to think that he would then use that same idea to cover things up for himself.
@Pugnose38
May 11, 2026 at 12:38 am
Pedophilia is a heinous crime. There is no cure. Put them in general population and let nature take its course.Most incarcerated men are fathers.😡
@BoldJewels-c2n
May 11, 2026 at 12:38 am
Michael Wolff seems to have been one of these “docks” for Epstein and vice versa ..correct me if I’m wrong but did he not conspire with Epstein to gain access to informational power and money?!
@lisacordaro8950
May 11, 2026 at 12:38 am
We don't need files
Nurmberg 2.0 EXECUTE ALL OF THEM
ANYONE HARMING BABIES OR WILDLIFE EXECUTE
@LaraSea-y7p
May 11, 2026 at 12:38 am
Brilliant interview. Anand Giridharadas, thank you so very much! So insightful and well spoken.