Trump Sucked Back Into Epstein Scandal By King’s Visit | The Daily Beast Podcast LIVESTREAM

My name is Nico Hines. I am global editorial director and we are talking today. about the royal visit to the United States. Obviously, these are the huge set piece occasions that Donald Trump loves. What he would. have seen in the newspapers this morning, however, is not what he loves to see. What we saw on the New York Times headline, for example, this morning. was Epstein looms over official visit. What's going on, Tom? And why can't Trump get rid of Epstein? Yeah, I mean, it's funny, isn't it, Nikko?

Because the Jeffrey Epstein scandal is like. It's like the black hole of scandals. It just keeps growing. It just keeps sucking more people in. Now, of course, King Charles brother Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, named by Andrew Loney as one of the Three Amigos, along. with Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein, is heavily involved in the scandal. He's being prosecuted well, he's being investigated by the British police. We expect that he probably will ultimately be prosecuted.

So their King Charles has given statement saying, our first thoughts are with the victims, etc.. So the victim's understanding of said, well, maybe you'd like to meet us. Well, while we're here, if your first thought. really is with the victims, why don't you come and shake our hands? You're shaking Donald Trump, Donald Trump's hand. Why not come and shake our hands? Ro Khanna of course, the congressman. who's been so influential in this investigation, leading that charge, requesting to Buckingham Palace that Charles come and meet the victims.

I have to say it's been met with a steely great British response. Unfortunately, rules were not permitted on this occasion, saying that basically they wouldn't want to jeopardize the investigation. Clearly. Rubbish. Clearly it could be done in a way that didn't jeopardize the investigation. Racan himself has made this point, but I think ultimately we all know that. the last thing that anyone wants to do is irritate Donald Trump. by meeting these victims and is this. But it's just this is just a case of King Charles not wanting to get involved.

in this as well. I mean, can we blame him for any of this Epstein Epstein scandal? Was is he and somehow implicated by it? Well, I think where he clearly is implicated. is that in that he personally contributed 1.5 million pounds, about $2 million, to the settlement with Virginia Giuffre, which was fundamentally a gagging deal to stop her speaking out? The King's office have made. a lot of effort to try and push the blame onto the late Queen, Elizabeth said.

It was all done by her under her watch. The reality is that. the Queen was not in a top mental form for the last few months of her life. When this deal signed, Charles was all over it. It was plumbed through the finance, the royal financial accounts. It's ridiculous to pretend that Charles didn't sign off on it. Absurd but understandable. Why would they? They would say that it's, you know, like in a in an ancient movie. Protect the king. Protect the king. Everyone has to come around and protect the king. So if that means throwing, throwing mother dearest under the bus, well, so be it.

I'm sure she'd understand. And so protect the King is obviously coming from the UK side of this, but of course there's also a huge protect. the president operation going on over here at the white House. So how much do you think that when these kind of visits happen, how much is the visiting royalty or the visiting dignitaries? How much is the white House. kind of leaning on them to do and say certain things or controls? Basically do whatever he wants. What? He's here. So Charles is here at the request of the British government.

He didn't wake up one day and think, I want to go over to America and visit. Donald Trump. He has been requested to do it at the request of the British government. He doesn't have any choice constitutionally and officially. Whether he accepts that everything will have been proscribed down. to the minute, this visit will have been months and months in the planning. I would think that it's been planned ever since we saw Keir Starmer produced. that invitation in the white House, so nothing will be left to chance.

And this is this is not king. King. So fundamentally, King Charles can't just go off and meet the Epstein victims. He can't go off and meet Meghan and Harry. You know, you can't go to his favorite diner on West 43rd Street. I mean, it's just I mean, one of our Substack followers here is just. been has just written to say poor Charles, but this is the King of England. Surely he can do whatever he wants or he can off with their head. I mean, this is like one of the most powerful men in the world, isn't it?

Listen, Charles is. I think he's doing a brilliant job. We saw him yesterday. The garden party. I, poor Charles, I've suggested very wide of the mark. This is what he's born to do. He is doing a fantastic job, you know. God bless the man if he can, if he can come here and pour on his. troubled water, like, let's not forget, you know, the US and the UK, we are friends, we are chums, we're on the same side, you know, and we've got to get through the current difficulties. And, you know, that's what this visit is about. It's about common bonds.

Common, you know, the ties that do binders. We speak the same language. We more or less believe in roughly the same thing. We are generally aligned, you know, the Second World War, for goodness sake. Come on. Like, we've got to get through this moment. And I think people saying that Charles shouldn't come or this or that, it's just ridiculous kind of snowflake virtue signaling, you know, of course you should come. Of course you should come. If anything can be done. to, to to mend or salvage this relationship, it has to be done. And I think he's doing a brilliant job.

I think he looks like he's really enjoying himself. You know, he's struggling, he's fighting cancer. But the man has never been more energized. than when he's doing his job and being king. Now he's making an address. to Congress in about two hours time. We've been leaked some excerpts of the speech. This always happens on the day before. And I was telling you earlier, I spoke to a colleague. on the television show and he said what was going to happen? I said, what they'll do is they'll sneak a word into the speech,

and then they'll furiously brief people. that this is him standing up to Donald Trump. And of course, there'll be simultaneously, they'll be telling the white House. What are you talking about? Absolute plausible deniability. The word. And this. appears to be reconciliation, which doesn't. sound really like fighting talk, but how carefully would. that have been kind of stage managed behind the scenes? Well, it's interesting because we're told that Charles has had a more. than usual hand in the crafting of this speech.

I mean, there is no more King Charles word than reconciliation, right? We have seen his endless desire to to try. and rehabilitate Prince Andrew, to try and rehabilitate Prince Harry, to try and reconcile, you know, but it's so interesting, I think, because Charles, Donald Trump are not people who would normally mix. You know, Trump is the sort of great Bulgarian of the 21st century, isn't he? And Charles is this kind of very refined culture chap who loves his,

you know, art and multi-faith and, you know, you know, it's all about. Yeah. Whereas I mean, reconciliation, I mean, there's no less Donald Trump. I mean, Donald Trump would be more like, I'll bomb the hell out of you. And then we can then we can talk, you know. Yeah. I should point out in the Substack. that written by Hugh Doty, our executive editor, this morning, which is on the new Daily Beast Substack, which I recommend to everybody, pointing out the differences between them and that Charles, who is King of England and, of course, Scotland and many other places,

is also the head of a branch of the Christian faith. Right? You know, he's head of the Church of England. By contrast, Donald Trump has spent the Easter period. with a kind of orgy of blasphemy, culminating in that bonkers. praise be to our Christmas Easter Day announcement. And then, of course, he went for a round of golf. rather than repairing to the church on Easter Sunday. It did seem that the Queen and Trump.

managed to sort of have some sort of a relationship. How can King Charles actually. pretend to get on with with someone like Donald Trump? Like, how does that work? What will they do? Well, I think it's his job. You know, I think his job and I think it's a job he takes very seriously. Charles is a charming man. I mean, when you meet him, he's very charming. You know, he's he's extremely intelligent. And he has this patina, right? He's the king of England.

So, you know, what he says is, is has that extra sheen, the extra. imprimatur of authority that we know that Trump loves. And, you know, Charles is very clear what his job is here. His job is for us all to play. nice and get, you know, the special relationship. I've said the dreaded words, Nick. I've said them. But let you know, get the special relationship back on track, man. And like, if he can do it, if he can do it,

he he he will he will have our thanks and our praise. It's interesting because Christine calmly on the on the. YouTube comments is saying the world is done with the US. But in a sense, this whole week of festivity. shows that the world can never be done with the US, right? No, absolutely. Of course we can't. I mean, it's, you know, I mean, with much as much as we love. our viewers, I would dispute that there were if, you know, if you think the world's done with the US,

you might find that the US ain't done with you. So, you know, I think Christine made another comment, which I think I definitely do agree with, which is imagine the laughs. between Charles and Camilla as soon as they've left the events. Yeah. To be a fly on the wall would be great. Look, they're very different people. Charles and Trump are very different people. They come from entirely different. traditions, entirely different backgrounds. They are. you know, Donald. Trump is not the kind of person that King Charles would normally hang out with.

The kind of people he normally hangs out with are poets and mystics and, you know, alternative healers and, you know, so it is a complete collision of two different ones. But I do think that they are both, in their own respects, fascinating people. And I think that they probably are both fascinated with each other. And I, you know, I don't know why would Charles ask for a selfie with Donald? With Donald, us for a selfie with Charles? Who knows?

One thing that. surprises me, I think, when you look at these two men, is that Prince Charles is actually two years younger than Donald Trump. Some of the images coming out of the events. that they've held together are, you could use the word alarming. I would say Prince Charles fingers. Look, look, he's always had sausage fingers, right? This is just a genetic predisposition. Predisposition for this guy.

However, they look angry and red and alarming. And you see the two men standing side by side. Trump's obviously got his hands slathered in makeup. to conceal whatever it is that's going on with Trump. The white House, I should add here, the white House. claim it's because he shakes so many hands. I'm not sure that's entirely true. So the two men will be shaking these giant paws. It's it's. kind of like a kind of old men's day out at the seaside.

It's crazy that these people can basically look like. they should be in a nursing home. And yet two of the most powerful people on Earth. It does seem unfair that the diet of Diet Coke and McDonald's has left. Donald Trump looking hale and hearty compared to King Charles, who's been out eating mushrooms and cider vinegar for the last 50 years. But there we go. Charles has always had bad health. You know, there was the polo accidents in his youth that have caused him pain. His health actually has never been absolutely brilliant.

And of course, two years ago he announced that he had cancer. He's had a lot of treatment for the cancer. I'm told that the treatment has gone very, very well. He was getting the British media. can't talk about this, but but we can in of course we tried to do so respectfully. But just make that clear to, to people who are watching. So we actually broke some of this news right on The Daily Beast, which I recommend to our viewers, where Tom Sykes has been a long time.

critic, but also just an honest reporter on the Royal Family. And just explain a little bit to our particularly. to maybe to our American viewers. Why don't the British newspapers surely their obsessed with the rules? Why don't they cover all of the actual truth of what's. going on behind the scenes? Well, the King has a very. powerful and effective. press office, and they have managed to basically bully. the British media into not reporting anything that they don't like.

And if they do, they get their access cut off within this thing called the royal rotor. And it's, you know, at the end of the day, if you're a British newspaper. and you don't have access to the King, you ain't going to sell many copies of your newspapers. They don't have any choice. But the problem that I have with it is that the King's. press office is paid for by the British taxpayer. It's not like the King's paying for it personally. So this argument that the King can do what he likes, the stress. I think is, is a bit ridiculous. But yeah, so I was kicked out of the International Royal Writer.

because I wrote a number of stories about the king's health, culminating in one saying that his cancer was incurable, which. the King's press officer objected to on grounds of taste, not accuracy. You know, he does have incurable cancer, but the treatment has been very, very successful. And I think that the king, he was basically he was having these incredibly expensive immunotherapy shots, or at £10,000 a shot, he was having them in the London clinic. in Harley Street, absolutely cutting edge stuff.

And it does appear to have worked and held it at bay. And I think that the King is a tremendous example, not just to people who are living with cancer, but to people. whose parents or grandparents living with cancer that, you know, this is not the death sentence that it was once. And the proof of this is that you can carry on being the king of England. You know, in this situation he does it tired at times. I thought he looked great yesterday.

I thought he looked Philippines yesterday. But he does go up and down. And I'm sure you know, I think that the Prince Harry. made some very unhelpful interventions last week, which I thought were cruel. I was going to come on to that. So I just want to bring in some of what the commenters. are saying at the same time. So not everyone who's watching this live stream is buying your Charles's. a nice man. He's doing his best. He has to be here line. And they're saying that he could have gone to meet the Epstein victims.

He's also in the middle of a kind of massive. falling out with members of his own family. Right. So will he be visiting Prince Harry while he's over here? No, he won't be visiting Prince Harry. Well, he's here, and it would not be appropriate to. tack a side visit on to your renegade son in the middle of a state visit. Especially one who Donald Trump has been rather scathing about, most recently because Harry was criticizing Trump's leadership in Ukraine,

saying that there wasn't enough American involvement in Ukraine and Trump. in the style that only Trump can give very withering response and said, oh yeah, well, you know, Prince Harry doesn't speak for the United Kingdom. How's his wife, by the way? Sending my regards. It was very scathing, but I did find it rather odd. that it was left to Donald Trump to point out that Harry doesn't. speak for the United Kingdom, and there were a lot of voices in the UK. that think that the King needs to speak up and say, look, Harry did leave.

the royal family. He's not a member of the royal family. He doesn't speak for the UK and just make that crystal clear, especially now. that there seems to be some energy, perhaps behind a project to for Harry. to spend more time in the UK, perhaps even live part of the year in the UK, which is going to be incredibly difficult if Charles just maintains this policy of. like, oh, I won't say anything because it might make it worse. I mean, it's just it's not really working for the British people at the moment. Opinion polls are not bad for Charles at the moment,

kind of 60% better than they've traditionally been. I think people compared to Harry, Harry's about 30. So Harry's had the most cataclysmic decline of any member of the royal family. I mean, he used to be more popular than Queen Elizabeth II at one stage. So he was up in the 80s and he's now 30. So, Harry, people are really disgusted with his behavior. And I think I think that, like me, they think, Jo, what have your argument with you? Have your argument have your problems, but don't throw.

your father under the bus three days before the biggest gig of his career. It's just it's a really mean, horrible, nasty thing to do. I thought I thought it was really uncool of Harry. Okay, well, look, on that dramatic note I think we need to. say to people watching that. Tom Sykes is going to be here in the US for the next few days. Well, the Royal family are here. We will be hearing lots more from him. Specifically, if you follow the Daily Beast podcast, where he will be talking to Joanna Coles, I believe.

that's being recorded tomorrow, and you can wrap up. all of the glorious details of this royal trip. So far there haven't been any absolute disasters, but I say that the clock is ticking and it's only a matter of time. Tom Sykes, thank you so much. Please join us on Substack, The Daily Beast, Substack, and our YouTube channel. Thank you so much.