David Frum: Trump and Epstein Were Best Friends

<div>Of all the images of Trump, the only times he seemed to be authentically smiling in the presence of another person was when he was with Jeffrey Epstein. The two of them had the same interests, and other people in the 80s and 90s assumed they were best friends. Over in MAGA land, a proxy war has broken out among rightwing influencers—like Ben Shapiro, Tucker, and Candace—because the economy and the party are in trouble. Plus, SCOTUS rulings and cryptocurrency have created a public corruption free-for-all, the failed tariffs are masking the shortage of immigrant-built new housing, Trump has illegally added his name to the Kennedy Center, and despite the large military build-up off of Venezuela, the administration seems to be winging it.<br /><br /><strong>David Frum</strong> joins Tim Miller for the weekend pod.<br /><br /><em>show notes<br /></em><br /></div><ul>

<li><a href="https://open.substack.com/pub/thebulwark/p/trump-is-an-idiot-spoiling-for-war?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&amp;utm_medium=web">JVL's 'Triad' on Trump's Venezuela adventure</a></li>

<li><a href="https://open.substack.com/pub/thebulwark/p/trump-is-walloping-construction-businesses?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&amp;utm_medium=web">Catherine's "Receipts" on the impacts of the immigration crackdown on the construction industry</a></li>

<li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/us/jeffrey-epstein-donald-trump.html?unlocked_article_code=1.908.iNlY.Q-LtrdCGDc45&amp;smid=url-share">NYT on the friendship between Epstein and Trump</a></li>

<li><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/11/cryptocurrency-economy-financial-crisis/684960/?gift=AO0MhSsTDaHgiP_RxFGfBwbwK1nJSUNg-3hj9dYe7mM&amp;utm_source=copy-link&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=share">David's most recent podcast episode on crypto</a></li>

<li><a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0dApY6YT48kTh6j9xFDQch">Tim's playlist</a></li>

<li><a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5qPRdDI7BcJI5fAgcGHBli?si=aKFWdCEQQGavOQyJCmuNoQ&amp;pi=0Hlq5AsNToS0_%20--">Tim's Ultimate Christmas Mix</a></li>

</ul><div><br /></div>