Did Trump blow Clinton?

Who is “Bubba,” and what is behind the rumors that have taken the internet by storm?

Yes, you read that title right. Did Trump blow Clinton? is an actual question people are asking right now after bombshell emails were released by the House Oversight Committee this week.

The source of the rumor is a March 2018 email exchange between Jeffrey Epstein and his brother Mark.

The released email chain starts with Mark Epstein asking Jeffrey:

How are you doing?

A while back you mentioned that you were prediabetic. Has anything changed with that?

What is your boy Donald up to now?

Jeffrey Epstein replied:

All good. Bannon with me

He is seemingly referencing Trump ally and former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon.

Mark Epstein replied:

Ask him if Putin has the photos of Trump blowing Bubba?

Jeffrey’s response:

and i thought- I had tsuris

For context, tsuris is a Yiddish word that means “problems.” So Jeffrey Epstein was essentially saying, and I thought I had problems.

Mark then responded:

You and your boy Donnie can make a remake of the movie Get Hard.

Sent via tin can and string.

The “Sent via tin can and string.” remark is likely just a play on the common default phone setting that puts “Sent from my mobile phone.” at the end of emails.

Jeffrey replied:

you mean DONNI TEE

Then Mark’s final reply:

I’d rather be in Donni Dee’s shoes

---

So what does this all mean, and where does former President Bill Clinton come into play?

“Bubba” is a well-cited nickname of Bill Clinton. It seems to trace back to his Southern roots, having spent most of his life in Arkansas before becoming President of the United States.

That is why people immediately jumped to the “Trump blowing Clinton” interpretation when this email surfaced.

At the same time, Newsweek has reported that Mark Epstein, the very person who wrote the email, now says that “Bubba” is not Bill Clinton. He has not, however, clarified who this mysterious “Bubba” is or what exactly he meant by the line about Putin having photos of Trump “blowing Bubba.”

So we are left with a handful of possibilities:

• Mark Epstein was joking about Bill Clinton, then later tried to walk it back.

• “Bubba” is someone else entirely, but Mark is declining to say who.

• This was some kind of inside joke that plays off Clinton’s nickname without literally referring to him.

We do not know which of these is true. What we do know is that this is an email between Jeffrey Epstein and his brother, referencing Trump, Putin, kompromat-style photos, and someone called “Bubba,” sent right in the middle of Trump’s first term as president.

---

For more updates from The David Pakman Show, including our daily newsletter, subscribe to our Substack today!

---

Regardless of who “Bubba” actually is, this is a disaster for Trump.

Even if the comment was intended as a joke, it lives forever in writing. It connects Trump, Epstein, Putin, and alleged compromising photos in a single sentence. For a president who is already drowning in scandals, legal cases, and questions about his relationship with Epstein, this is not the kind of thing you want circulating as people dig through the newly released material.

And Trump does not really have a clean way out of this. If he says nothing, the rumor mill keeps spinning. If he denies it, he draws even more attention to an email that most people had never read. If he tries to brush it off as “just a joke,” that still leaves Epstein, Putin, and supposed kompromat all in the same breath.

So from a political and reputational standpoint, this is terrible for Trump whether the line is serious, sarcastic, or something in between, and whether “Bubba” is Clinton or not.

What do you think this email actually means? Do you take Mark Epstein’s “it’s not Clinton” explanation at face value, or do you think he is scrambling to clean up a mess? Let me know in the comments.

---

We’re reaching over 150 million people every month across YouTube, podcasts, Substack, and beyond. But algorithms can change. Platforms can fold. And when that happens, this newsletter is how we stay connected.

If you’re not yet a paid subscriber, please consider joining.
If you’re already paid on one platform, consider supporting us on both Substack and our website.

You can subscribe on our website and right here on Substack.

And if you’re really on fire, consider gifting a subscription—we’ve got thousands on our waiting list ready to read, watch, and fight back.

Let’s keep building.

—David

PS: Can’t contribute right now? No problem. You can support us for free by subscribing on YouTube, listening to our audio podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, or become a free subscriber to this very Substack. Every bit counts.