White House plays whack-a-mole with Epstein reports
In today's issue:
Trump unveils AI plan
White House responds to latest Epstein story
Administration will answer questions at 1 p.m.
Republican leaders eager to leave town
Democrats disagree on shutdown strategy
🤖️ IN THE WHITE HOUSE
'Hey, look at this shiny thing over here!':
It's all about artificial intelligence (AI) at the White House today. The Trump administration released its AI Action Plan.
President Trump will then give a keynote address later today at an AI summit. 💻 Watch Trump's 5 p.m. remarks
Let me walk you through this 'AI Action Plan': It would scale back regulation of technology to make the U.S. the global leader in AI. The plan has three pillars:
1. Boost American innovation
2. Build out data center infrastructure
3. Promote American technology abroad
This should give the Trump team a welcome distraction from the unrelenting news surrounding the Jeffrey Epstein saga.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has a press briefing scheduled for 1 p.m., when we can expect lots of questions about Epstein. There could be some fireworks. 💻 Watch it live
CNN dug up some new photos of Trump and Epstein together:
CNN's Andrew Kaczynski and Em Steck uncovered more photos and video footage highlighting President Trump 's past relationship with disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
First: The investigative journalists found photos of Epstein attending Trump's 1993 wedding to Marla Maples, noting 'Epstein's attendance at the ceremony at the Plaza Hotel was not widely known until now.'
Second: They found raw footage of Trump and Epstein laughing and talking at a 1999 Victoria's Secret fashion event.
📹📸 See the photos and footage
What did Trump have to say about the reporting?: 'In a brief call with CNN on Tuesday, President Trump, asked about the wedding photos, responded, 'You've got to be kidding me,' before repeatedly calling CNN 'fake news' and hanging up.'
His communications director, Steven Cheung, gave CNN a statement claiming they were 'out-of-context frame grabs.' Cheung also reiterated that Trump 'kicked [Epstein] out of his club for being a creep.'
📹 Watch Kaczynski discuss the new reporting on 'Erin Burnett Out Front'
💡 Why this matters: These are not the first photos of Trump and Epstein together. But the trickle of new reports about Trump and Epstein's past relationship is forcing the White House to spend time explaining the dynamics. Trump sued The Wall Street Journal's parent company last week over the newspaper's reporting of an alleged birthday letter Trump sent Epstein in 2003.
➤ TIDBIT:
We reported Tuesday that top DOJ official Todd Blanche will meet with Epstein's accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell. Well, The Hill's Zach Schonfeld and Ella Lee point out in their newsletter The Gavel that Blanche is friends with Maxwell's lawyer. Sign up for their newsletter
🌻 ON CAPITOL HILL
IMHO, I think everyone could use a breather from D.C.:
Tensions have been high in both the Republican and Democratic caucuses on Capitol Hill — and it sure feels like everyone needs an August recess to cool off.
The House is leaving town early — last votes will happen at 3:30 p.m. Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) is threatening to cut the recess short. I can't remember the last time there was a recess without a threat to make everyone stay in town…
Let's start with Republicans: The Jeffrey Epstein files have caused quite the tension for Republicans on Capitol Hill. Democrats tried pinning them down by forcing uncomfortable votes related to the Epstein files. Republicans wanted nothing to do with it, so Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) shut down all House floor business and is beginning August recess a day early.
Drama: Johnson handpicked his allies to be on the powerful House Rules Committee. Well, those allies rebelled. They want Johnson to bring up a vote to release the Epstein files, even though it would be nonbinding. But it's unclear whether the measure could pass, even though it was crafted by Republicans. The Hill's Emily Brooks and Mychael Schnell wrote a helpful explainer on the drama.
I think it's safe to say that Republican leaders will be happy to leave town amid the Epstein saga.
Now, the Democratic tea: Senate Democrats held a lunch meeting Tuesday to decide how to handle the upcoming government funding fight — it lasted for hours and was quite tense. They debated how to have leverage in the funding battle but are deeply divided.
Keep in mind: Republicans *need* Democrats' help to avoid a shutdown, so they do have some leverage. But as history has shown us, the party that causes a government shutdown almost always gets blamed. Democrats say Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is 'afraid' of getting blamed, but some also warn that caving to Republicans' demands could backfire. Read Alexander Bolton's reporting on Senate Democrats' disagreements.
COMING UP
The House and Senate are in. President Trump is in Washington. (All times EST)
1 p.m.: White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt briefs reporters. 💻 Livestream
2 p.m.: Two Senate votes to end debate. More votes are expected later today. 📆 Today's agenda
2 p.m.: Former Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) spoke with the podcast 'Sources Say' with Juliegrace Brufke before reporting to jail. 💻 Watch
3 p.m.: The U.N. Security Council meets to discuss the war in Gaza. 💻 Livestream
3:30 p.m.: First and last House votes. 📆 Today's agenda
5 p.m.: Trump signs executive orders and delivers remarks at an AI summit.
🍋 An excellent reason to celebrate: Today is National Lemon Day! I stumbled upon The New York Times Cooking's list of its ' 17 most lemony recipes ' and … holy moly. 😍
🚗 Uber will let women request each other for rides: Uber announced it is testing a new feature to let female drivers and riders avoid being paired with men.
🍂 Do you follow the Gregorian calendar or the Starbucks-ian one?: Starbucks's fall menu will debut on Aug. 26 this year, a bit later than last year. I'm intrigued by the new Pecan Oatmilk Cortado.
: Republicans want to name it after first lady Melania Trump.
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