The Megyn Kelly Show - Trump vs. Fed Chair Powell, Clintons Subpoenaed on Epstein, Hulk Hogan Passes Away： AM Update 7⧸25

00:00:00.000 I'm Chris Hadfield, astronaut and citizen of planet Earth.

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00:00:17.520 Good morning, everyone.

00:00:18.880 I'm Megan Kelly.

00:00:19.840 It's Friday, July 25th, 2025, and this is your AM Update.

00:00:24.360 I built a great hotel.

00:00:26.540 It's called the old post office, and it's a much bigger project than this,

00:00:30.600 and I spent $200 million building it.

00:00:32.920 President Trump taking his fight with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to the Fed's front door,

00:00:38.620 literally, as questions grow about a multi-billion dollar renovation project

00:00:43.040 and about the future of interest rates.

00:00:46.200 I never thought that we would be questioning the Clintons and others with respect to the Epstein files.

00:00:52.120 The House Oversight Committee approves a motion to subpoena the Clintons

00:00:56.000 and other prominent former officials in relation to Jeffrey Epstein.

00:01:00.740 Let Trump-a-mania make America great again!

00:01:05.900 And legendary wrestler and Trump fan Hulk Hogan passes away.

00:01:10.680 All that and more coming up in just a moment on your AM Update.

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00:02:28.160 President Trump putting on his hard hat and channeling his past career on Thursday afternoon,

00:02:36.300 taking a field trip to the Federal Reserve headquarters, currently a massive construction site,

00:02:41.380 to inspect the costly renovations running wildly over budget.

00:02:45.480 The tour coming amid dozens of calls by President Trump for Fed Chair Jerome Powell

00:02:49.600 to either lower interest rates or resign.

00:02:52.600 Chairman Powell insisting he will finish out the remainder of his term, which ends in May 2026.

00:02:59.620 On July 1st, Chairman Powell telling reporters his decision to leave interest rates steady

00:03:04.020 is a result of President Trump's new tariffs.

00:03:07.500 Chair, would the Fed have cut more by now if it weren't for the tariffs?

00:03:10.760 So I do think, I think that's right.

00:03:13.400 In effect, we went on hold when we saw the size of the tariffs and where essentially all

00:03:18.860 inflation forecasts for the United States went up materially as a consequence of the tariffs.

00:03:24.460 So we didn't overreact.

00:03:27.040 In fact, we didn't react at all.

00:03:28.480 We're simply taking some time.

00:03:30.720 Trump administration officials contending the new tariffs are not fueling inflation,

00:03:34.840 citing recent data showing the rate remaining within expected ranges.

00:03:38.380 President Trump post-tour on Thursday, reiterating his belief that rates need to come down.

00:03:44.600 We have to get interest rates lowered in our country.

00:03:47.140 Our country is the hottest in the world right now.

00:03:49.560 But the one section, people are pretty much unable to buy housing because the interest rates

00:03:55.320 are too high.

00:03:56.280 We have no inflation.

00:03:57.480 We have a lot of cash coming in.

00:03:59.580 The tariffs have been unbelievable now.

00:04:02.100 People that didn't even believe in tariffs are saying, what a great move that was.

00:04:05.860 We should have the lowest interest rate.

00:04:07.820 And if you took it down three points, not a little bit, but three points, if you got

00:04:13.380 us down to one, we would save more than a trillion dollars, basically with just a paper

00:04:18.760 transfer.

00:04:20.000 You wouldn't be cutting costs of anything.

00:04:22.160 You wouldn't be building anything.

00:04:24.380 Just a move of the hand saying we're going to lower interest rates.

00:04:28.860 You would save a trillion dollars a year.

00:04:32.040 While President Trump may often express displeasure with Powell as head of an independent body,

00:04:37.600 the Fed chair cannot legally be fired without cause.

00:04:41.180 The renovation project, originally approved in 2017, estimated at about $1.7 billion, now

00:04:47.820 running upwards of $2.5 billion, providing a potential line of attack for the Trump administration.

00:04:53.340 On July 10th, Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vogt, writing a letter to Powell,

00:04:58.760 reading, quote,

00:04:59.300 The president is extremely troubled by your management of the Federal Reserve System.

00:05:03.980 Instead of attempting to right the Fed's fiscal ship, you have plowed ahead with an ostentatious

00:05:08.520 overhaul of your D.C. headquarters.

00:05:10.980 Comparable federal building renovations cost many orders of magnitude less than the office

00:05:15.380 you are building for yourself on the taxpayer's dime.

00:05:18.860 Powell defending the renovations as necessary given the scope of the project, renovating two

00:05:23.520 historic buildings more than 90 years old, writing, quote,

00:05:27.480 Both buildings were in need of significant structural repairs and other updates to make

00:05:31.820 the buildings safe, healthy, and effective places to work.

00:05:35.400 President Trump telling reporters last week the $2.5 billion price tag on the renovation to be,

00:05:40.860 quote, sort of a fireable offense, though following up later to say it's unlikely he will fire

00:05:46.080 Powell unless, quote, he has to leave for fraud.

00:05:49.200 On Thursday, President Trump giving his impression of the project following the tour as only he can.

00:05:55.240 Well, I see a very luxurious situation taking place, let's put it that way.

00:06:01.380 And I was given a very nice tour by the head of construction.

00:06:04.480 And, you know, look, if you look over here, they're trying to open up the basement.

00:06:09.220 When you open up a basement, first of all, it's the worst space.

00:06:12.040 Always a basement is the worst space in a building.

00:06:14.520 And it's also the most expensive space to build.

00:06:17.080 It would have been good if they didn't build it.

00:06:18.400 It would have been good if they didn't do certain other things.

00:06:20.940 If you look at the kind of protection in the hall, have you been able to get in the hall?

00:06:26.520 You saw the protection of plywood.

00:06:28.520 I mean, that was a lot of money just to protect it for a period of time.

00:06:32.740 Look, there's always Monday morning quarterbacks.

00:06:34.500 I don't want to be that.

00:06:36.100 I want to help them get it finished.

00:06:37.800 It's been going around for years.

00:06:39.600 And I want to help them get it finished.

00:06:41.200 Emily Jashinsky, host of the MK Media Podcast Network show After Party, which airs Mondays and

00:06:47.180 Wednesdays at 10 p.m. live on YouTube, asking the president whether what he saw at the Fed

00:06:52.400 amounts to a fireable offense.

00:06:55.100 The president's response.

00:06:56.140 I would love to see it completed.

00:06:58.280 I don't want to put that in this category.

00:07:00.780 It's a very complex thing that could have been made simple.

00:07:05.620 I built a great hotel.

00:07:08.480 And the great hotel that everybody in this group knows very well, it's called the old post office.

00:07:13.500 And it's a much bigger project than this.

00:07:15.860 And I spent $200 million building.

00:07:17.700 And it was down, it was taken down to the steel.

00:07:20.680 For the most part, taken down, you know, you've seen it go up.

00:07:23.180 And I built it quickly and I built it for $200 million.

00:07:25.780 It's a much bigger job than this.

00:07:27.660 Spent $200 million.

00:07:28.800 That's got marble bathrooms, the top fixtures, the best of everything.

00:07:32.680 All brand new.

00:07:34.240 So, you know, this is a very expensive job.

00:07:36.360 I don't know.

00:07:36.680 It got out of control.

00:07:37.860 And that happens.

00:07:38.840 That happens.

00:07:39.480 It's a shame.

00:07:40.260 Mr. President, if the rates are hurting families in the country, why let that keep going for another

00:07:44.640 eight months?

00:07:45.260 Why not just fire the parents now?

00:07:46.640 To do that is a big move.

00:07:48.280 And I just don't think it's necessary.

00:07:50.120 And I believe that he's going to do the right thing.

00:07:53.140 The next Federal Reserve conference is set for next Wednesday, when Mr. Powell is expected

00:07:57.620 to announce his latest decision on interest rates.

00:08:02.240 Coming up, the House Oversight Committee votes to subpoena the Clintons in relation to the Jeffrey

00:08:06.920 Epstein case as the DOJ interviews imprisoned associate Ghislaine Maxwell and real American

00:08:13.340 hero Hulk Hogan passes away.

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00:09:40.940 A House Oversight Committee voting on Wednesday to approve subpoenas to former President Bill

00:09:49.460 Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and other high-profile individuals

00:09:53.640 with possible links to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.

00:09:58.340 In addition to the Clintons, the Subcommittee on Federal Law Enforcement approving subpoenas

00:10:02.360 to all former FBI directors from 2001 through 2017, meaning James Comey and Robert Mueller,

00:10:10.100 as well as former Attorneys General Loretta Lynch, Eric Holder, Bill Barr, Jeff Sessions,

00:10:15.140 and Alberto Gonzalez.

00:10:17.000 The Oversight Committee also passing a motion directing Chairman James Comer to subpoena the

00:10:21.680 DOJ to release the Epstein files.

00:10:24.740 That motion, including two amendments, the first requiring the DOJ to include the release

00:10:29.220 of all communications between all Biden administration officials, including President Biden and the

00:10:35.040 DOJ, relating to Jeffrey Epstein.

00:10:37.100 The second requiring the DOJ to redact any personally identifiable information of victims

00:10:42.860 and possible child sex abuse material prior to release.

00:10:47.200 Chairman Comer on Thursday telling reporters the committee will move quickly to serve these

00:10:51.640 subpoenas.

00:10:52.340 The others that happened yesterday, we're going to move quickly on that.

00:10:55.780 All the names that were mentioned are names that have been mentioned in the past with respect

00:11:01.400 to the Epstein saga.

00:11:04.400 So I'm surprised that the Democrats went along with subpoenaing Bill and Hillary Clinton and

00:11:10.420 others that have been involved in that.

00:11:12.720 I think we all know that Maxwell was at the wedding of Chelsea Clinton.

00:11:16.920 So certainly they had a relationship with Maxwell.

00:11:21.640 I don't know what that relationship was.

00:11:23.160 I never thought that we would be questioning the Clintons and others with respect to the

00:11:28.760 Epstein files.

00:11:29.480 But the Democrats voted in a bipartisan manner yesterday to do that.

00:11:33.300 So what I've told people all week, the Republicans on the House Oversight Committee have been very

00:11:38.700 interested in this Epstein ordeal for weeks now.

00:11:43.360 And I told Mike Johnson that our members wanted to pursue that.

00:11:47.420 So it's not like there was any cover up from the Republicans on the House Oversight Committee

00:11:51.940 because our guys really want to know.

00:11:54.900 Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche on Thursday meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell and her legal

00:11:59.780 counsel in Tallahassee, Florida.

00:12:02.440 Maxwell is currently serving a 20 year prison sentence on sex trafficking charges for her role

00:12:07.240 in helping procure underage girls for Jeffrey Epstein's sexual abuse, as well as her own

00:12:12.800 acts of sexual abuse.

00:12:14.200 Details of that meeting are not yet available, and it's unclear if they will be made public.

00:12:19.860 This as the media erupts over a Wall Street Journal report headlined, quote,

00:12:24.500 Justice Department told Trump in May that his name is among many in the Epstein files.

00:12:29.680 A sampling of the coverage from NBC, CNN and MSNBC here.

00:12:34.720 Tonight, the Epstein files bombshell.

00:12:36.840 A new report by the Wall Street Journal revealing the DOJ told President Trump months ago that his

00:12:43.040 name is in the unreleased Epstein files.

00:12:45.580 President Trump was told by the Attorney General that he is in the Jeffrey Epstein files.

00:12:50.640 It comes as Trump, who previously helped stoke Epstein conspiracy theories, suddenly tries

00:12:56.020 to tamp down questions about that guy.

00:12:58.880 Despite the attention grabbing headline, the details proving less scandalous.

00:13:02.560 The article revealing A.G.

00:13:04.300 Bondi, quote, told the president at the meeting that the files contained what officials felt

00:13:08.220 was unverified hearsay about many people, including Trump, who had socialized with Epstein in the

00:13:14.020 past.

00:13:15.300 President Trump and Jeffrey Epstein were once neighbors in Florida, socializing publicly for

00:13:19.800 many years.

00:13:20.940 The two reportedly had a falling out in 2004, before Epstein was indicted for soliciting prostitution

00:13:26.760 in 2006, then ultimately in 2008, pleading guilty to one count of soliciting prostitution

00:13:33.060 and one count of soliciting prostitution from a minor.

00:13:36.780 Hello?

00:13:37.680 That should never have been allowed. 0.99

00:13:39.360 Minors cannot be prostitutes. 1.00

00:13:41.400 That's called statutory rape. 1.00

00:13:43.060 Sorry. 0.50

00:13:43.680 Personal point of privilege always bothers me.

00:13:46.220 In any event, he reached those pleas as part of a highly controversial plea deal.

00:13:51.460 Epstein was sentenced to only 18 months, where he was allowed to leave the jail for 12 hours

00:13:56.200 a day, six days a week, on a work release program.

00:13:59.340 Trump spokesman Stephen Chung responding to the journal's reporting, quote,

00:14:02.600 The fact is that the president kicked him out of the club for being a creep.

00:14:08.560 Iconic wrestler and American patriot Hulk Hogan, real name Terry Bollea, dead at the age of 71.

00:14:16.000 Clearwater police in Florida confirming on Thursday morning cardiac arrest as the cause of death.

00:14:20.760 In June, E! News reporting Hogan had undergone a reportedly successful neck surgery,

00:14:26.720 though in recent weeks, rumors swirling that the legendary Hall of Famer was on his deathbed

00:14:31.920 unable to speak.

00:14:33.660 On Tuesday, former manager Jimmy Hart posting on X, Hulk is doing great, doing phenomenal.

00:14:39.920 Six-time world wrestling entertainment champion, twice inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame,

00:14:45.140 Hulk Hogan is credited with the explosive rise of wrestling's popularity in the mid-1980s.

00:14:51.120 Hulkamania sweeping the nation like wildfire, fans roaring as Hulk Hogan tore his shirt apart,

00:14:56.840 flexing for the cameras his signature move.

00:14:59.580 That bravado later turning political, Hogan embracing President Trump,

00:15:04.120 even delivering a barn burner of a speech at the 2024 Republican National Convention.

00:15:08.960 With the power of Donald J. Trump and all the Trumpites running wild,

00:15:14.920 America is going to get back on track.

00:15:17.620 And like Donald J. Trump said, America is going to be great again.

00:15:21.780 But what happened last week when they took a shot at my hero?

00:15:27.340 And they tried to kill the next president of the United States.

00:15:36.800 Enough was enough. 0.94

00:15:39.600 And I said, let Trumpamania run wild, brother.

00:15:44.680 Let Trumpamania rule again.

00:15:47.540 Let Trumpamania make America great again.

00:15:52.300 He stole the show.

00:15:53.940 President Trump posting Thursday to Truth Social, quote,

00:15:57.800 We lost a great friend today, the Hulkster.

00:16:00.060 Hulk Hogan was MAGA all the way, strong, tough, smart, but with the biggest heart.

00:16:04.860 He gave an absolutely electric speech at the Republican National Convention

00:16:08.460 that was one of the highlights of the entire week.

00:16:11.320 He entertained fans from all over the world, and the cultural impact he had was massive.

00:16:16.620 To his wife, Skye, and family, we give our warmest, best wishes and love.

00:16:20.880 Hulk Hogan will be greatly missed.

00:16:22.580 In the words of his iconic theme song,

00:16:25.740 I am a real American, fight for the rights of every man.

00:16:29.360 I am a real American, fight for what's right.

00:16:32.560 He was, and he did.

00:16:36.800 And that'll do it for your AM Update.

00:16:38.600 I'm Megan Kelly.

00:16:39.520 Join me back here for The Megan Kelly Show,

00:16:41.400 live on SiriusXM Triumph Channel 111 at noon east,

00:16:44.180 on youtube.com slash megankelly,

00:16:46.120 and on all podcast platforms.

00:16:49.000 Happy Friday.

00:16:50.440 Happy Friday.

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The Megyn Kelly Show - July 25, 2025

Trump vs. Fed Chair Powell, Clintons Subpoenaed on Epstein, Hulk Hogan Passes Away： AM Update 7⧸25

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