Donald Trump has taken to patching his personal lawyer-cum-therapist onto the Oval Office speakerphone without telling anyone else present.
Boris Epshteyn, the 80-year-old president’s 43-year-old personal counsel, has quietly emerged throughout Trump’s second term as one of the capital’s most powerful operators, Axios reported Monday.
“He’s like my psychiatrist,” the president has apparently joked about how often the two speak. But not everyone in Trump’s orbit is sold. “He’s 100 percent hype-man and cheering section for POTUS,” one adviser told Axios of Epshteyn. “It’s sometimes a bit much.”
“He’s the keeper of dog-s--t ideas,” another added, describing the lawyer as “one of the five most powerful people around the president.”
Epshteyn briefly worked in the White House during Trump’s first term and was a key figure in his efforts to challenge the 2020 election results. He then marshaled Trump’s defense across two civil cases and four criminal prosecutions during the 2024 race. That fight produced the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling on presidential immunity, which handed former presidents sweeping protection from prosecution over official acts.
Allies credit Epshteyn’s combativeness with keeping Trump out of prison. “Boris delivered in the crucible of battle,” Steve Bannon, the president’s former adviser and a convicted fraudster in his own right, told Axios. Another operator close to the White House called Epshteyn “the president’s fixer.”
The attorney also helped shape the $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund” the administration abandoned last week after lawmakers in both parties revolted. But his reach runs well past the courtroom, having been installed as Trump Media’s chair in April. Advisers say Epshteyn further carries an increasing amount of weight at the Justice Department, given his ties to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.
Epshteyn’s spending—which reportedly includes custom suits, a Bentley, and regular dinners at a top-end D.C. steakhouse—has long fueled gossip about his finances. A friend was quick to throw cold water on any speculation about the source of that wealth and how it may have increased since Trump retook the White House.
“Boris has lived the exact same lifestyle for the past decade,” they said. “Any suggestion to the contrary is founded on baseless rumors and innuendo.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
