Where this was said
Regime Change Interview: Epstein Files, JD Vance vs. Rubio, and Witkoff's Ukraine Diplomacy
At 1:24:55 · chapter starts 1:20:40
Tommy asks about the Epstein file crisis, and Swan unpacks it methodically: the files contained over 38,000 references to Trump and his family, Trump himself didn't want any transparency, and his top aides held crisis management sessions in the Situation Room — a national security command center repurposed as an Epstein PR strategy room. Private focus groups conducted almost a full year later still showed Epstein cutting through to Trump's base at an alarming level. Swan compares the political damage to Biden's Afghanistan withdrawal as a turning point [1] — Jonathan Swan "Trump document compared him to top 10 historical rulers: Trump handed Haberman and Swan a 2-page document in the Oval Office, reportedly wr…" 1:04:55 . The hosts then get the extraordinary Witkoff scene: he asked Putin to sign a '3+2' territorial framework drawing, had it framed at home in black with taupe mats, and told Putin that Russia's main problem is bad PR. Trump himself, in an Oval Office Russia-Ukraine session, interrupted a Keith Kellogg presentation to say the only good thing about Ukraine is the women winning Miss Universe and that Zelensky has destroyed his country. The conversation closes with the Rupert Murdoch dinner anecdote — Trump asked Murdoch to grade Vance and Rubio at the same table, with Murdoch rating Rubio 'brilliant' and Vance merely having 'potential' [2] — Jonathan Swan "Witkoff, Trump's real-estate-buddy-turned-diplomat, asked Putin to sign a piece of paper reading '3+2' — the territorial framework ceding t…" 1:23:40 .
Trump's name appeared over 38,000 times in the Epstein files. His staff held crisis meetings in the Situation Room — a national security command center repurposed as an Epstein PR crisis response center. Private focus groups conducted nearly a year later still showed Epstein cutting through to an alarming extent.
The New York Times found more than 38,000 references to Trump, his family, and Mar-a-Lago in the Epstein files.
At a White House dinner, Trump sat JD Vance and Marco Rubio at the same table as Rupert Murdoch, then asked Murdoch to assess each of them. Murdoch gave Rubio a much stronger endorsement — calling him 'brilliant' versus Vance's 'potential to be great' — while both VP candidates had to sit there and hear it.
Witkoff, Trump's real-estate-buddy-turned-diplomat, asked Putin to sign a piece of paper reading '3+2' — the territorial framework ceding three Ukrainian oblasts to Russia. Putin signed it, and Witkoff had it framed at home in black with taupe mats. His colleagues describe him as treating Putin and Zelensky as moral equals.
