Michael Wolff
Appearances
The MeidasTouch Podcast
MeidasTouch Full Podcast - 3/18/25
But as a candidate, you said you would have this war settled in 24 hours.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
MeidasTouch Full Podcast - 3/18/25
He sat for many, many hours of discussion with me. I mean, certainly 80, 90, probably 100 hours I have of Epstein on tape. And one of the discussions, because this was occurring, Trump became the president In 2017, I began writing about Trump.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
MeidasTouch Full Podcast - 3/18/25
And so we spent a lot of time talking about Donald Trump and Epstein's relationship with Trump, which went on for a good, certainly 15 years and was incredibly close. They were... you know, each other's closest friend for a very long time. And Epstein, you know, I think Epstein is one of those people who truly knew Donald Trump, knew many secrets about Donald Trump, and was
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Michael Wolff on Trump’s Secret Connections
He was enraged by it. And he called me up yelling. And I said, Rupert, just please tell me what's wrong with this. And he kind of sputtered. And he says, it's just so personal. And I said, well, Rupert, it is a biography. And I think that's part of what happens with Trump. It's very difficult for these guys to see themselves in a...
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Michael Wolff on Trump’s Secret Connections
You know, through someone else's eyes and seeing them with some degree of the emperor with no clothes.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Michael Wolff on Trump’s Secret Connections
Robert R. Completely consistent. I mean, Donald Trump I don't think has changed the way he operates or what he wants or how he sees things in decades. And these first weeks of the new administration, which are actually rather like the first weeks of the first administration, all goes back to what does he want. And he wants headlines. Headlines, headlines, headlines. He doesn't care about policy.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Michael Wolff on Trump’s Secret Connections
He doesn't care about a legislative agenda. He cares about dominating the news cycle every day. So you can read the New York Times today, and literally every story is a Trump-related story. That's what he wants. And there's some method to this madness, which is to say that if he gets airtime or headlines, nobody else does. Therefore, he is the only thing that matters.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Michael Wolff on Trump’s Secret Connections
He's the only person on the stage. And that's how he has run his political life. That's how he ran his real estate life. That's how he ran his entertainment business life. And it doesn't matter if he contradicts the headlines the next day, tariffs on, tariffs off, because it just gives him another headline.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Michael Wolff on Trump’s Secret Connections
You know, after every book, I say I certainly hope not, and I swear off any possibility. And that's where I am today in this moment. So we will see.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Michael Wolff on Trump’s Secret Connections
I think we have a snippet from one of the conversations that I recorded with Epstein, and I think this was in a restaurant in 2017.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Michael Wolff on Trump’s Secret Connections
You know, so this book came out, and this is my fourth book, and all of the other books, you know, they come out, and everybody invites you on to talk about Donald Trump because it's Donald Trump, and Donald Trump gets ratings, and my books, and I sell a lot of books, so therefore it seems unnatural for television. And then, so this book came out,
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Michael Wolff on Trump’s Secret Connections
or we began planning for it, and it was crickets out there. Everybody was going, well, no, I know, you know, we'll get back to you. And MSNBC, which of course would book this, want me on to talk about this book, because what else do they talk about besides Donald Trump and disliking Donald Trump? And they had booked me for that first publication week, which was I guess two, three weeks ago.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Michael Wolff on Trump’s Secret Connections
But then just as the White House started to attack me, excerpts began to, leaks began to appear about the book. And then the White House attacked me and they canceled everything. And it was like, well, it's now with, it's with our standards committee or some strange thing, which I've never heard of.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Michael Wolff on Trump’s Secret Connections
And, you know, clearly and then actually somebody from the White House called up to threaten me and said, you know, it's a new climate and and then cited the ABC settlement, this ongoing negotiations with CBS News. to settle over the way they edited the Kamala Harris interview on 60 Minutes.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Michael Wolff on Trump’s Secret Connections
And then actually MSNBC, the people there were fairly straightforward in saying, well, you know, it's a new climate. So I thought it was time for someone to acknowledge that things had changed in this new Trump world order. And that included the media running incredibly scared.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Michael Wolff on Trump’s Secret Connections
Well, I mean, I might say that nothing about television ever surprises me. But I think at this moment in time is a very precarious moment. Virtually, Trump is out there threatening anybody he perceives as an enemy. And the media companies are very vulnerable here.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Michael Wolff on Trump’s Secret Connections
They all have – we're suddenly in this media environment where everybody is looking at some consolidation play, and they're all going to need – regulatory approval from the FCC. And Trump is holding this over their heads. I mean, very clearly and very, you know, this is not even a soft suggestion. It's an outright threat. we can block your business future.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Michael Wolff on Trump’s Secret Connections
Now, all of these media companies – I mean, there are the news channels and news divisions, which I'm talking to, but those are owned by these very large companies, Comcast, Warner Brothers Discovery, Disney, who have many – where the stakes are much higher than just their news division.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Michael Wolff on Trump’s Secret Connections
In 2014, Epstein, who I knew through some New York connections, asked me if I would be interested in writing a book about him. And I was like, well, you know, I don't know. I said I don't know, and I probably wasn't. But he was, there was something about Epstein that, you might even call it his charm.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Michael Wolff on Trump’s Secret Connections
I mean, there is a reason so many people were around him, so many well-regarded, powerful people were around him. And it was partly his expansiveness. And he said to me, well, you decide if you want to write a book about me, but you can come
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Michael Wolff on Trump’s Secret Connections
my house at this dining room table where people came from morning till evening, incredibly famous people, and sat around and just discussed the state of the world, really. And while he fed them and his cooks brought out all kinds of food, I mean, a really kind of incredibly peculiar scene to witness, in which I witnessed over and over again, and ran the tape recorder.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Michael Wolff on Trump’s Secret Connections
And he sat for many, many hours of discussion with me. I mean, certainly 80, 90, probably a hundred hours I have of Epstein on tape. And one of the discussions, because this was occurring, Trump became the president in 2017. I began writing about Trump. And so we spent a lot of time talking about Donald Trump and Epstein's relationship with Trump, which went on for a good, certainly 15 years.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Michael Wolff on Trump’s Secret Connections
and was incredibly close. They were, you know, each other's closest friend for a very long time. And Epstein, you know, I think Epstein is one of those people who truly knew Donald Trump, knew many secrets about Donald Trump, and was threatening to Donald Trump.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Michael Wolff on Trump’s Secret Connections
So actually, so at this moment in the White House, you know, the whole MAGA people think, oh, Epstein, and this is a conspiracy and the, you know, pedophilias, all Democrats are pedophiles or whatever. But at the same time, Trump is totally freaked out about the Epstein thing. And, you know, I mean, they were very close friends.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Michael Wolff on Trump’s Secret Connections
There's a moment in my last book where I talk about Trump talking to his people about what Ghislaine Maxwell might have on him and what she might say and should he pardon her.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Michael Wolff on Trump’s Secret Connections
I mean, Trump weaved in and out of all conversations. And remember, and also there's a lot in these tapes of Steve Bannon, who became very friendly with Epstein. So it's Bannon and Trump, Bannon and Epstein also talking about Trump, which was their kind of bond.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Michael Wolff on Trump’s Secret Connections
I mean, they both they both they're both kind of incredulous about the character of Donald Trump and that this character became the president of the United States.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Michael Wolff on Trump’s Secret Connections
Yeah, you know, this is a funny thing because I have really tried to find venues for this material for quite a number of years now. And everybody kind of gets excited about it because it's kind of riveting stuff. And then everybody goes, oh, but, you know, it's Epstein. We can't do Epstein because he's – And in project after project kind of kind of meets it's it's an untimely end.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Michael Wolff on Trump’s Secret Connections
I mean, this is the campaign. I mean, I started writing this book in – in 2022. So it really is the campaign, the Trump campaign from the beginning right till the election. And, you know, and I think it's interesting, again, because this is just another window into who this guy is. This is the character of Donald Trump. I mean, you you know, and I often point out, I'm not a political reporter.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Michael Wolff on Trump’s Secret Connections
I'm a writer. I'm interested in character. I'm interested in getting the guy on the page. So to be able to see him through this campaign, really day by day, day after day, to be talking on a constant basis to the people around him, I mean, I think offers just this
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Michael Wolff on Trump’s Secret Connections
this vivid window into A, how this happened, how he comes back from total disgrace after January 6th to winning the presidency again, and also the, just the peculiarness of this guy. You know, it's a kind of story in which he veers between this kind of mania and this depressive rage. So this is Donald Trump raw.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Michael Wolff on Trump’s Secret Connections
Yeah, I mean, I think it's because, again, I'm not a political reporter. You know, most other reporters, people covering Donald Trump, are seeing him in a political context. That's not really the way I see him or the way I want to see him. I want to see the guy as real as possible, as personally as possible. You know, when I wrote my biography of Rupert Murdoch, And he called me up.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Can’t Escape His Past as He Tries to Hide Epstein Files
So how do you know this? That was close and straight.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Can’t Escape His Past as He Tries to Hide Epstein Files
And he sat for many, many hours of discussion with me. I mean, certainly 80, 90, probably 100 hours I have of Epstein on tape. And one of the discussions, because this was occurring, Trump became the president In 2017, I began writing about Trump. And so we spent a lot of time talking about Donald Trump.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
Trump Can’t Escape His Past as He Tries to Hide Epstein Files
And Epstein's relationship with Trump, which went on for a good certainly 15 years, and was incredibly close. They were... you know, each other's closest friend for a very long time. And Epstein, you know, I think Epstein is one of those people who truly knew Donald Trump, knew many secrets about Donald Trump, and was threatening to Donald Trump.