Lemon LIVE at 5 | NEW EPSTEIN SCANDAL: Michael Wolff Sues Melania Trump - October 23rd, 2025
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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for 15% off of your first order. It is backed by a 100% money-back guarantee. That's zbiotics.com slash lemon. The code is lemon for 15% off. So let's get started. Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Don Lemon Show. You see that face right there. I love. One of my dear friends, Ms. Stephanie Rule, joins us. Steph, we're going to talk about what's happening with the economy. But also, the government is shut down. The economy is tanking. Negative job numbers, the last report that we got. And today, Donald Trump announced that his new White House ballroom now costs, it was $200 million. Then he said $300 million yesterday. Now he's saying $350 million today. And he's not checking with anyone, not getting any approval from anybody at all.
So Stephanie Rule, the host of MSNBC's The 11th Hour, an NBC News senior business analyst. Let's talk about the ballroom and then get to the economy. What is going on with this ballroom?
All right, let's talk about the ballroom, because to me, demolishing the East Wing to create this ballroom is sort of the physical manifestation of everything Donald Trump has done for the last 277 days. And by that, I mean he's doing whatever the heck he wants. There is no checks and balance. We have seen previous presidents, of course, do different projects at the White House, do renovations. But the money has come through. Congress, right? Approved money, approved projects. And in this case, just like what you're seeing the president do in so many different facets of this administration, he's doing whatever he wants. Now, some Republicans can say, why are people complaining? They're not using taxpayer money.
Well, here's why it's important. Just because it's not taxpayer money doesn't mean it doesn't matter. He's getting, whether it's 250 million or 300 million, he is getting it from private donors and and corporations. And so you could say, well, isn't that good? It's not my money. It is because no corporation, no big donor is writing a big check for their health, right? Nothing comes for free. So the question is, what are any of these companies getting in return? And the problem is, Don, we don't know. So yet again, there's a complete lack of transparency. And when there is no transparency in what the highest levels of government are doing, then it begs the question, are we really putting America first?
Are we putting the American voter first? We don't know. We don't know where the money's coming from and why.
Well, we know where some of the money is coming from. Yes. But I also want to know, Stephanie, as you look at these pictures, you see the Politico report, tech, crypto, tobacco and other companies of Trump's White House ballroom fund, Trump's White House ballroom. We know that. But when you saw these images of backhoes in the East Wing being torn down, what did you what went through your head?
Again, it's like, so what has happened over the last eight months, right? We've torn up trade agreements with our allies around the world. We are basically telling NATO, take a hike. We want to go at this alone. So think about all the institutions, all the partnerships that have existed in the United States, much of which has made us exceptional.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:13–5:42
2
What's the controversy over Trump's White House ballroom demolition and cost increases?
5:42–15:53
3
Which corporations and donors are funding the White House ballroom and why does that matter?
15:53–28:12
4
How could corporate donations to the ballroom create conflicts of interest or regulatory risks?
28:12–53:30
5
What do recent economic indicators (CPI, hiring, stock market) say about the U.S. economy?
53:30–1:29:13