Trump PANICS and RETREATS after SEVERE BACKLASH in MORNING!!

What this episode is about

Donald Trump faced significant backlash after posting a controversial video that depicted Barack and Michelle Obama in a derogatory manner, prompting criticism from figures including Senator Tim Scott. The White House initially defended the post as a meme but later retracted it, attributing the mistake to a staffer, while accusations of Trump's persistent moral failings were reiterated in light of the incident.

Key takeaways

• When the meme depicts Obama as an ape, it screams more about Trump's character than humor—it's a cringe-worthy reflection.
• Trump’s staffer scapegoat shows his usual playbook: dodge accountability while keeping the chaos machine running.
• A former Trump voter’s apology highlights a growing disillusionment—will the emperor ever truly wear clothes?
• Personal responsibility? Only if it means deflecting blame from Trump; the MAGA crowd seems selectively forgetful.
• Is Trump using racist memes as distraction from bigger scandals? It's like playing chess but losing track of the board.

Who speaks in this episode?

• John (Guest) · 2 min speaking
• Ron Philipowski · 1 min speaking
• Caroline Levit (Guest) · 1 min speaking

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 3:00: Donald Trump, Michelle Obama, Epstein file, Barack Obama
2. 3:00 – 6:00: Donald Trump, Michelle Obama, Barack Obama, Caroline Levit
3. 6:00 – 9:00: Donald Trump, Epstein file, Financial Times
4. 9:00 – 12:00: Donald Trump, Epstein file
5. 12:00 – 15:00: Donald Trump, Ice King
6. 15:00 – 15:37: Ron Philipowski

Notable quotes from "Trump PANICS and RETREATS after SEVERE BACKLASH in MORNING!!"

• Friday morning after he posted a video depicting former President Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as apes. The White House issued a statement saying, This is from an…

  about Michelle Obama · at 0:03

• Before you had Caroline Levit say they did it on purpose and that it's fake outrage to criticize Donald Trump posting photos of Obama and Michelle as apes. At first, the White…

  about Barack Obama · at 1:01

• With his zero character that he has. he has no moral integrity. He's a horrible human being. This is consistent with the person who appears 38,000 times in the Epstein files in…

  about Donald Trump · at 1:51

• As our editor-in chief, Ron Philipsky, writes, So, when Caroline Levit was asked about it, she defended it, said there was nothing wrong with Donald Trump posting images of Barack Obama and Michelle Obama as apes. Now, after a.

  about Caroline Levit · at 5:03

• Enforcement mechanisms for this. Donald, it's all a fugazi. The guy just lies about everything. This from the Financial Time. India hails Donald Trump's deal. And then they put…

  about Financial Times · at 9:14

• Neighbors and to public safety as a whole. We will make it clear once again that ICE will not be able to enter New York City property without a judicial warrant.

  about Ice King · at 12:56

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• Donald Trump — Person · Primary referenced political figure (subject of criticism) · 16 mentions · first at 0:00
  Central figure in the episode’s discussion: criticized for posting/sharing a racist meme depicting the Obamas as apes and for broader alleged misconduct and policy impacts.
• Michelle Obama — Person · Referenced public figure (target of racist depiction) · 4 mentions · first at 0:09
  Discussed as one of the targets of the racist meme; her mention anchors the episode’s condemnation of racism and the White House response.
• Barack Obama — Person · Referenced public figure (target of racist depiction) · 2 mentions · first at 0:42
  Discussed as one of the targets of the racist meme; used as an example in the episode’s critique of Trump/White House conduct and messaging.
• Caroline Levit — Person · Referenced spokesperson/defender in controversy · 2 mentions · first at 1:01
  Cited as publicly defending the post initially and framing criticism as “fake outrage,” before the White House later removed the content and blamed a staffer.
• Ron Philipowski — Person · Referenced commentator/editor (quoted attribution) · 2 mentions · first at 5:03
  Cited as the outlet’s editor-in-chief providing commentary that frames the White House response as deflection and lack of personal responsibility by Trump.
  As our editor-in chief, Ron Philipsky, writes, So, when Caroline Levit was asked about it, she defended it, said there was nothing wrong with Donald Trump posting images of Barack Obama and.
• Tim Scott — Person · Referenced elected official (intra-party critic in moment) · 1 mention · first at 0:32
  Quoted condemning the meme as racist and calling for removal, which is used to show backlash even among Republicans/MAGA-aligned figures.
  That actually matters to the American public. Then Senator Tim Scott, MAGA Republican, writes, Praying it was fake because it's one of the most racist things I've ever seen out of this White House. The president should remove it.

Concepts & topics

• Epstein file — Concept · Core topic · 4 mentions · first at 2:02
  Central to the discussion about Donald Trump's alleged connections and behaviors, mentioned multiple times as evidence of his character.
  With his zero character that he has. he has no moral integrity. He's a horrible human being. This is consistent with the person who appears 38,000 times in the Epstein files in…
• Ice King — Concept · Key argument · 1 mention · first at 13:01
  Discussed in the context of Trump's immigration policies and their impact on communities.

Places & events

• New Mexico — Place · Setting · 1 mention · first at 4:42
  Mentioned in the context of economic conditions and healthcare shortages under Trump's policies.
  More jobs in New Mexico. Things are worse than they were before. You cannot find a primary care physician. Our governor just passed some laws to try to help. If you are a young physician, we want you in New Mexico. Come here.

Media & podcasts

• Financial Times — Media · Referenced work · 1 mention · first at 7:58
  Cited as a source for international reactions to Trump's policies, particularly regarding tourism and trade.

Full transcript with timestamps

0:00 Donald Trump is sinking to new lows on Friday morning after he posted a video depicting former President Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as apes. The White House issued a statement saying, "This is from an internet meme depicting Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King. Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public. Then Senator Tim Scott, MAGA Republican, writes, "Praying it was fake because it's one of the most racist things I've ever seen out of this White House. The president should remove it."

0:45 And then the White House removed it and then blamed it on a staffer. They took down the video depicting uh Barack Obama and Michelle Obama as apes and they said it's a it's a staffer who did it. But before you had Caroline Levit say they did it on purpose and that it's fake outrage to criticize Donald Trump posting photos of Obama and Michelle as apes. At first, the White House said that was perfectly fine and that that should be viewed by them as something that the president just does. A senior White House official is now telling the press it was a White House staffer who erroneously made the post. It has been taken down. Well, it was up for 12 hours. It was made fairly late in the evening. So, what White House staffer is making posts on Donald Trump's behalf that late in the evening? I mean, it's Donald Trump who's posting these horrific things because he's a horrific person. I mean, we hear what he says. We

1:48 we see his speeches. This is consistent with his zero character that he has. I mean, he has no moral integrity. He's a horrible human being. This is consistent with the person who appears 38,000 times in the Epstein files in over 5,000 documents, who's cons continuing to conceal 3 million additional documents, which may be as many as 50 million pages. By the way, this is someone who attacks the survivors, retraumatizes the survivors. This is someone who brags about sexually assaulting women. He says he's rich and you get away with it when you're rich. talks about inspecting girls at his beauty pageantss naked cuz he says when you own the pageantss they let you do it because you're an inspector. This is someone who has unleashed the ICE and Border Patrol Gustapo to torture, terrorize, and kill people in this country. This is who he is. He's he's a he's a horrible horrible human being. We're hearing from a lot of

2:47 former MAGA supporters, former three-time Trump voters who have been making it public, especially recently that they're done with this crap. Trump voter, for example, called C-SPAN and said, "I ap this this caller is like, I apologize to the world. I'm really sorry that I've uh voted for this guy three times. Here, listen to this. This just took place. Let's play it."

3:12 Oh my my word. Uh I am a registered Republican. My dad was the president of American Pipeliners Association. So I came by it rather naturally. Voted for the president. Supported him. But I really want to apologize. I mean I'm looking at this awful picture of the Obamas. What an embarrassment to our country. All this man does is tell lies. He is not worthy of the presidency. He takes bribes blatantly. And now he's being a racist blatantly. They were supposed to deport the dangerous criminals. They were not supposed to go after small children, storm schools, bring terror upon, you know, the little kids and the women and children, not just the immigrants in the school. All the children are scared. Um, this is not a decent man. This is not an honest man.

4:22 He openly takes bribes. He's pathetic as a president. And I just want to apologize to everybody in in the country for supporting this rotten rotten man.

4:36 John, did you did you vote for him in all three elections? I did. I was sucked into the stupidity of creating jobs and and there are no more jobs in New Mexico. Things are worse than they were before. You cannot find a primary care physician. Our governor just passed some laws to try to help. If you are a young physician, we want you in New Mexico. Come here. There's a great need for you.

5:03 All right. As our editor-in chief, Ron Philipsky, writes, "So, when Caroline Levit was asked about it, she defended it, said there was nothing wrong with Donald Trump posting images of Barack Obama and Michelle Obama as apes. Now, after a huge backlash, they took it down and are blaming a staffer because it's always a staffer. It's always an advisor. Never Trump himself. even when it's up on his personal account for 12 hours. Personal responsibility. Didn't the MAGAs always lecture everybody else on personal responsibility? But when it comes to everything that Donald Trump does every day, he has to be treated like a baby. Sure, he said that on day one he would make things more affordable, but he didn't really mean that. And it's the Democrat's fault. And it's Biden's fault. And it's Obama's fault. Sure, Donald Trump said that he would end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours from Russia's invasion, but it's not his

6:04 fault. What What was he supposed to do? It's tricky. And by the way, he solved eight other wars that they're just going to make up that didn't actually get solved. And he's made things much worse over and over again. By the way, we all know one of the reasons why Donald Trump posted the that racist meme. One, because he's horribly racist and he's been horribly racist his entire life. So, that's one. And number two, he wants to distract from the Epstein files with the racist post. He's like, "Oh, how am I going to move the publicity away from because that's how he thinks in publicity. How am I going to move the publicity and PR away from Epstein? Oh, let's make the PR and publicity about the racism. No, we're going to focus on the fact that you're all of the above.

6:50 Okay, you're a pot pare of disgusting. The American people are getting it. Take a look at how independents feel about Donald Trump's handling of the economy right now. Let's play this clip. I guess the question as we get closer and closer to the midterms, which party do people trust knowing how they feel about how Donald Trump has handled things when it comes to the economy,

7:13 right? The economy, right? Affordability. You know, Donald Trump has been dismissing affordability concerns. But when 54% say the top priority should be lowering prices, not much of a surprise, right? Party trusted more in affordability. Overall, it's the Democrats by 14. Look at this among independents. It's I'm laughing. It's 39 points. It's a blowout. This is the entire ball game right here. And when you're having a 39point lead among independents, a 14-point lead overall on affordability, and right now the top priority, the Americans say should be lowering prices for the Trump administration. This is the type of formula that equals major success for the Democrats come the midterms. If it holds

7:50 and we have seen that in the special elections, we'll see if that holds in the midterms.

7:54 We shall see. Sarah, the world gets it. Look at this headline from the Financial Times. Donald Trump's policies dent international travel to US a blow to tourism sector. Foreign vis foreign visitors to the US fell 4.2% in 2025 while international travel worldwide rose 4%. Looks like Disney's warning about fewer foreign tourists to the US was no joke. We know that. I mean the boycott from Canada to the US is at like 50 60%. Europe it's like that as well you know and it's just so fascinating too because you know you see how reactive and weak Donald Trump is right like Donald Trump's been attacking India and uh refusing to you know just acknowledge you know the prior trade relationship between US and India but he's doing this with the rest of the world but then the European Union enters into a trade deal with India that the president of the EU commission calls the mother of all trade deals so Then Donald Trump panics. He's

8:58 like, I got to do a trade deal. So then Trump does a deal with India and then Trump claims that India is not going to be buying any oil from Russia, which is just BS. India is going to continue to buy like the show me on the paper the enforcement mechanisms for this. Donald, it's all a fugazi. The guy just lies about everything. This from the Financial Time. India hails Donald Trump's deal. And then they put deal in quotes because it's all BS. But ducks discussing Russian oil ban. Analysts are deeply skeptical of US president's claim that Prime Minister Modi has promised to stop buying crude from Moscow. And as Carl King says, Modi is giving him a taste of his own medicine. When you break down a rules-based global order and there's no rules, people just go, "Okay, got it. You lie, we lie. None of it exists. Oh, okay, Donald. We're going to give you a trillion dollars. Okay, Donald. Sure. You know, we're not going

9:57 to buy oil from Russia and but you'll drop your tariffs, right, Donald? I mean, again, it's just so completely completely pathetic. We're also learning, we talked about this yesterday, that Donald Trump has been trying to shake down Democratic senators and say, "Okay, I'll give you certain funding like in New York. You want me to help you build some tunnels in New York? But you got to name Penn Station Trump Penn Station. Hey, you want uh me to help get release some funds for airports? You got to name Dulles airport after Donald Trump. So, I love this. You have Governor Nuome's office posted, "Welcome to Washington Trump Epstein International Airport." By the way, I go through those Epstein files over and over and over again. You just see more stuff. This is an email from Gilain Maxwell to Jeffrey Epstein. Take a look right here. Um, they're talking about an individual they met. They said, "Meet

10:55 him. He's interesting." Very much like Joe Roberts. Boring, rich hick. Remember, he is the one who was blackmailed by the girl in Palm Beach from Donald Trump's party. There's so much ref there, as I said, there's 38,000 references to Donald Trump in those files. Um, contrast though what I showed you there with I just want to show you this. New York City Mayor Zoron Mdani's speech this morning and he announces a new executive order protecting New Yorkers from abusive immigration enforcement. And I just want you to watch this because it serves in such stark contrast to the lunatic that is Donald Trump to have a leader actually leading. Play this clip.

11:48 If faith offers us the moral compass to stand alongside the stranger, government can provide the resources. Let us create a new expectation of city hall where power is wielded to love, to embrace, and to protect. We will stand with the stranger today, tomorrow, and all the days that are still to come.

12:15 And that is why this morning, right here in this moment, I shall sign an executive order that will uphold our city's protection, not just of our fellow immigrant New Yorkers, but of all New Yorkers from abusive immigration enforcement.

12:52 This order is a sweeping reaffirmation of our commitment to our immigrant neighbors and to public safety as a whole. We will make it clear once again that ICE will not be able to enter New York City property without a judicial warrant.

13:14 That means our schools, our shelters, and our hospitals. That means we will protect New Yorkers private data from being unlawfully accessed by the federal government and stand firmly against any effort to intrude on our privacy.

13:33 But then again, we have regime media here in the United States. And you've got these weirdo MAGA leaders like Michelle Bachmann who are out there saying, well, I'll just listen. I'll let you listen to what she has to say. Let's play this clip.

13:49 They see Gavin Newsome as this big beauty. But I would say I'd put up Donald Trump against him any day. I mean, here you have Donald Trump who's in his very late 70s. The guy is absolutely handsome, incredible shape. He's married to the most beautiful woman in the world. And I'd put Donald Trump up against Gavin Newsome any day of the week. And Gavin wouldn't even be in the same league as Donald Trump. So, uh, beauty is in the beha eye of the beholder.

14:19 And lastly, I'll leave you with what they said on Fox this morning. Let's play it.

14:23 Don't exaggerate hyperbole. You know, it doesn't work. You can't keep on saying this is the greatest economy that the world has ever seen and the prices are falling and falling and falling.

14:32 People won't believe you if you say that. Well, that's right, Stu. Because when you say that we have the best economy in the world and Americans are not feeling that, then they not only don't believe you, they feel abandoned. They want to know that they've got the guy that's fighting for them.

14:47 There you have it. Let me know what you think. Everybody, hit subscribe. Let's get to 6 million. We're very close to 6 million subscribers. Do you see? We're like 80,000 away. So, you may think you're subscribed, but you may not actually be subscribed. Or if you want to help us get to 6 million subscribers, after this video ends, can you call up or text message, do this after the video ends, text message just two or three people, you know, and ask them if they watch the Midas Touch Network and send them this video or send them some morning videos and and ask them to subscribe. That's that's a great way to help us out this morning. Thanks for watching and have a good one. Want to stay plugged in? Become a subscriber to our Substack at midasplus.com. You'll get daily recaps from Ron Philipowski, add free episodes of our podcast, and more exclusive content only available at midplus.com.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "Trump PANICS and RETREATS after SEVERE BACKLASH in MORNING!!"?

John (Guest), Ron Philipowski, Caroline Levit (Guest).

What is "Trump PANICS and RETREATS after SEVERE BACKLASH in MORNING!!" about?

Donald Trump faced significant backlash after posting a controversial video that depicted Barack and Michelle Obama in a derogatory manner, prompting criticism from figures including Senator Tim Scott. The White House initially defended the post as a meme but later retracted it, attributing the mistake to a staffer, while accusations of Trump's persistent moral failings were reiterated in light…

What is mentioned in this MeidasTouch episode?

10 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Donald Trump, Epstein file, Michelle Obama, Barack Obama, Ice King, Caroline Levit. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Trump PANICS and RETREATS after SEVERE BACKLASH in MORNING!!"?

The episode runs 16 min; the transcript is about 2,465 words in 26 timestamped sections.

More from MeidasTouch

• All analyzed episodes
• Books mentioned on MeidasTouch
• People mentioned on MeidasTouch
• Sponsors mentioned on MeidasTouch
• Topics mentioned on MeidasTouch