Trump news at a glance: Fallout from Epstein case widens as Trump threatens to sue WSJ
The announcement came as Trump seeks to tamp down controversy over a story published in the Wall Street Journal that alleges the US president contributed a sketch of a naked woman to Epstein's 50th birthday album. The president has said the letter is a fake, and that he will sue the publication over the story.
The fallout over the Epstein case has also complicated House Republicans' plans to vote on Thursday on legislation demanded by Trump to slash government spending.
Here are the key stories at a glance:
The president said on Truth Social he had authorized the justice department to seek the public release of the materials, which are under seal, citing 'the ridiculous amount of publicity given to Jeffrey Epstein'.
Bondi, who has weathered days of accusations by Trump's far-right supporters that she had mismanaged and failed to deliver on promises to release previously secret documents about the Epstein case, responded to Trump's post with a post of her own that vowed to comply with the directive.
The flurry of activity followed the Wall Street Journal report alleging that Trump had contributed the letter – described as 'bawdy' and featuring a drawing of a naked woman's silhouette around a typewritten personal message to Epstein – to an album compiled by Ghislane Maxwell for Epstein's 50th birthday. Trump denied to the Journal that he was the author of the tribute and, hours after the story was published, announced he intended to file a lawsuit against the publication.
Read the full story
The House of Representatives faces a Friday deadline to pass the rescissions package demanded by Trump and approved by the Senate.
But before the House can vote on the package, it must be approved by the rules committee, where the Democratic minority has sought to capitalize on a growing furor among Republicans and their supporters over the Trump administration's handling of documents related to the Epstein case. The committee announced it would hold a hearing into the package on Thursday evening.
Read the full story
Donald Trump's efforts to dismiss the criticism over his administration's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files as a 'hoax' showed no sign of working on Thursday as more prominent figures from across the political spectrum emerged to attack the US president and some of his supporters recorded videos burning their signature Make America Great Again hats.
Read the full story
Medicaid officials have reportedly made an agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) to allow agents to examine a database of Americans' personal information – including home addresses, social security numbers and ethnicities.
The data sharing agreement will allow Ice to find 'the location of aliens', according to an agreement obtained by the Associated Press.
Read the full story
Donald Trump was diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, the White House said on Thursday, after he noticed swelling in his legs. It is a fairly common condition among older adults, but requires a thorough checkup to rule out more serious causes of swelling in the legs.
Read the full story
Officials in Florida diverted crucial disaster preparedness and response resources to support the hasty construction of the so-called Alligator Alcatraz migrant detention jail by the Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, a newly published report has claimed.
Read the full story
A delegation of US officials toured Alcatraz on Thursday as part of Donald Trump's pledge to reopen the shuttered federal prison and tourist attraction in the San Francisco Bay, amid an outcry from California leaders who have called the plan 'lunacy'.
Read the full story
Tens of thousands of people joined marches and rallies at more than 1,500 sites across all 50 US states on Thursday to protest against the Trump administration and honor the legacy of the late congressman John Lewis, an advocate for voting rights and civil disobedience.
Read the full story
Exclusive: Donald Trump's huge spending boost for the Pentagon will produce an additional 26 megatons (Mt) of planet-heating gases – on a par with the annual carbon equivalent emissions generated by 68 gas power plants or the entire country of Croatia, new research reveals.
Read the full story
Five migrants deported by the US to the small southern African country of Eswatini, under the Trump administration's third-country program, will be held in solitary confinement for an undetermined time, an Eswatini government spokesperson says.
Thabile Mdluli, the spokesperson, told the Associated Press that Eswatini planned to ultimately repatriate the five to their home countries with the help of a UN agency.
Read the full story
Republican senators advanced Emil Bove's nomination to serve as a judge on a federal appeals court even as Democrats walked out in protest.
The Coca-Cola company defended its use of corn syrup after Trump's claim that he had apparently convinced the brand to switch to using sugar cane in its US drinks.
An Oregon father was arrested by Ice and taken into custody while dropping off his child at a preschool in the Portland-area, the agency confirmed.
California governor Gavin Newsom threatens to redraw California House maps in protest over a Republican plan to pick up congressional seats in Texas.
Catching up? Here's what happened on 16 July 2025.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
28 minutes ago
- The Independent
Request to unseal Epstein grand jury transcripts likely to disappoint, ex-prosecutors say
A Justice Department request to unseal grand jury transcripts in the prosecution of chronic sexual abuser Jeffrey Epstein and his former girlfriend is unlikely to produce much, if anything, to satisfy the public's appetite for new revelations about the financier's crimes, former federal prosecutors say. Attorney Sarah Krissoff, an assistant U.S. attorney in Manhattan from from 2008 to 2021, called the request in the prosecutions of Epstein and imprisoned British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell 'a distraction.' ' The president is trying to present himself as if he's doing something here and it really is nothing,' Krissoff told The Associated Press in a weekend interview. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche made the request Friday, asking judges to unseal transcripts from grand jury proceedings that resulted in indictments against Epstein and Maxwell, saying 'transparency to the American public is of the utmost importance to this Administration.' The request came as the administration sought to contain the firestorm that followed its announcement that it would not be releasing additional files from the Epstein probe despite previously promising that it would. Epstein is dead while Maxwell serves a 20-year prison sentence Epstein killed himself at age 66 in his federal jail cell in August 2019, a month after his arrest on sex trafficking charges, while Maxwell, 63, is serving a 20-year prison sentence imposed after her December 2021 sex trafficking conviction for luring girls to be sexually abused by Epstein. Krissoff and Joshua Naftalis, a Manhattan federal prosecutor for 11 years before entering private practice in 2023, said grand jury presentations are purposely brief. Naftalis said Southern District prosecutors present just enough to a grand jury to get an indictment but 'it's not going to be everything the FBI and investigators have figured out about Maxwell and Epstein.' 'People want the entire file from however long. That's just not what this is,' he said, estimating that the transcripts, at most, probably amount to a few hundred pages. 'It's not going to be much,' Krissoff said, estimating the length at as little as 60 pages 'because the Southern District of New York 's practice is to put as little information as possible into the grand jury.' 'They basically spoon feed the indictment to the grand jury. That's what we're going to see,' she said. 'I just think it's not going to be that interesting. ... I don't think it's going to be anything new.' Ex-prosecutors say grand jury transcript unlikely to be long Both ex-prosecutors said that grand jury witnesses in Manhattan are usually federal agents summarizing their witness interviews. That practice might conflict with the public perception of some state and federal grand jury proceedings, where witnesses likely to testify at a trial are brought before grand juries during lengthy proceedings prior to indictments or when grand juries are used as an investigatory tool. In Manhattan, federal prosecutors 'are trying to get a particular result so they present the case very narrowly and inform the grand jury what they want them to do,' Krissoff said. Krissoff predicted that judges who presided over the Epstein and Maxwell cases will reject the government's request. With Maxwell, a petition is before the U.S. Supreme Court so appeals have not been exhausted. With Epstein, the charges are related to the Maxwell case and the anonymity of scores of victims who have not gone public is at stake, although Blanche requested that victim identities be protected. 'This is not a 50-, 60-, 80-year-old case,' Krissoff noted. 'There's still someone in custody.' Appeals court's 1997 ruling might matter She said citing 'public intrigue, interest and excitement' about a case was likely not enough to convince a judge to release the transcripts despite a 1997 ruling by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that said judges have wide discretion and that public interest alone can justify releasing grand jury information. Krissoff called it 'mind-blowingly strange' that Washington Justice Department officials are increasingly directly filing requests and arguments in the Southern District of New York, where the prosecutor's office has long been labeled the "Sovereign District of New York" for its independence from outside influence. 'To have the attorney general and deputy attorney general meddling in an SDNY case is unheard of,' she said. Cheryl Bader, a former federal prosecutor and Fordham Law School criminal law professor, said judges who presided over the Epstein and Maxwell cases may take weeks or months to rule. 'Especially here where the case involved witnesses or victims of sexual abuse, many of which are underage, the judge is going to be very cautious about what the judge releases,' she said. Tradition of grand jury secrecy might block release of transcripts Bader said she didn't see the government's quest aimed at satisfying the public's desire to explore conspiracy theories 'trumping — pardon the pun — the well-established notions of protecting the secrecy of the grand jury process.' 'I'm sure that all the line prosecutors who really sort of appreciate the secrecy and special relationship they have with the grand jury are not happy that DOJ is asking the court to release these transcripts,' she added. Mitchell Epner, a former federal prosecutor now in private practice, called Trump's comments and influence in the Epstein matter 'unprecedented' and 'extraordinarily unusual' because he is a sitting president. He said it was not surprising that some former prosecutors are alarmed that the request to unseal the grand jury materials came two days after the firing of Manhattan Assistant U.S. Attorney Maurene Comey, who worked on the Epstein and Maxwell cases. 'If federal prosecutors have to worry about the professional consequences of refusing to go along with the political or personal agenda of powerful people, then we are in a very different place than I've understood the federal Department of Justice to be in over the last 30 years of my career,' he said. Krissoff said the uncertain environment that has current prosecutors feeling unsettled is shared by government employees she speaks with at other agencies as part of her work in private practice. 'The thing I hear most often is this is a strange time. Things aren't working the way we're used to them working,' she said. ___
The Independent
28 minutes ago
- The Independent
Trump's latest demand: Washington football and Cleveland baseball teams should change names back
President Donald Trump wants Washington 's football franchise and Cleveland 's baseball team to revert to their former names. Trump said on Truth Social on Sunday morning that 'The Washington 'Whatever's' should IMMEDIATELY change their name back to the Washington Redskins Football Team. There is a big clamoring for this. Likewise, the Cleveland Indians, one of the six original baseball teams, with a storied past. Our great Indian people, in massive numbers, want this to happen. Their heritage and prestige is systematically being taken away from them. Times are different now than they were three or four years ago. We are a Country of passion and common sense. OWNERS, GET IT DONE!!!' Josh Harris, whose group bought the Commanders from former owner Dan Snyder in 2023, said earlier this year the name was here to say. Not long after taking over, Harris quieted speculation about going back to Redskins, saying that would not happen. Guardians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti indicated before Sunday's game against the Athletics that there weren't any plans to revisit the name change. 'We understand there are different perspectives on the decision we made a few years ago but obviously it's a decision we made. We've got the opportunity to build a brand as the Guardians over the last four years and are excited about the future that's in front of us," he said. Both teams have had their new names since the 2022 seasons. Washington dropped Redskins after the 2019 season and was known as the Washington Football Team for two years before moving to Commanders. Cleveland announced in December 2020 they would drop Indians. It announced the switch to Guardians in July 2021. In 2018, the team phased out 'Chief Wahoo' as its primary logo. The name changes had their share of supporters and critics as part of national discussions about institutions and teams to drop logos and names considered racist. The Guardians are the fifth name for Cleveland's baseball franchise. It joined the American League in 1901 as one of the eight charter franchises as the Blues. It switched to Bronchos a year later and used the Naps from 1903 through 1914 before moving to Indians in 1915. Washington started in Boston as the Redskins in 1933 before moving to the nation's capital four years later. Washington and Cleveland share another thing in common. David Blitzer is a member of Harris' ownership group with the Commanders and holds a minority stake in the Guardians. ___
Daily Mail
29 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Trump's Epstein problem just won't go away... as MAGA's biggest stars are set to cast deciding vote
Despite the typical partisan battle lines being drawn on most issues in Washington, D.C. these days, one matter in particular has created an unlikely set of bedfellows. Progressive Democrat Ro Khanna and libertarian-minded Republican Thomas Massie of Kentucky teamed up last week to introduce the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which would compel Attorney General Pam Bondi to publicly release all unclassified materials relating to Jeffery Epstein. The duo's resolution is receiving the the backing of a diverse set of members, including New York socialist Democrat darling Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Michigan 'Squad" member Rashida Tlaib on the left, as well as Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Nancy Mace of South Carolina, and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia on the right. Khanna noted during a Thursday media appearance that his resolution had the backing of all 212 of his Democratic colleagues in the House. Even if only the 10 GOP co-sponsors of the resolution were to support it, it would easily pass the House. Trump has faced a furious rebellion from his MAGA base over the botched handling of the Epstein files - and while he claims 'nobody cares' about the late financier - the furor isn't dying down. The president last week sued the Wall Street Journal over a report that he wrote Epstein a birthday card with the message: 'May every day be another wonderful secret.' If the vote makes it through the House in the next several weeks, then Trump's Epstein crisis will only deepen. Senator Ron Wyden, D- Ore., is among lawmakers on the other side of the Capitol who are adamant that the president and DOJ make all the Epstein documents public. Wyden, the lead Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee is taking a particular look at the money trail Epstein surely left. 'This horrific sex-trafficking operation cost Epstein a lot of money, and he had to get that money from somewhere," Wyden told the New York Times. The late financier was charged in 2008 for soliciting prostitution with an underaged girl and received a modest jail sentence in Florida. He was later charged with federal sex trafficking crimes in 2019. He hanged himself in prison awaiting his trial, feds say. The DOJ and FBI recently leaked an unsigned memo concluding that Epstein died by suicide in prison that August and did not possess a 'client list' of VIP co-conspirators. The memo said that no more people would be arrested, charged or convicted in the Epstein child sex trafficking case which angered some of members of Congress most in tune with the MAGA base. Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, one of the most MAGA-aligned voices on the right said during an appearance on Real America's Voice (RAV) earlier this month that she for one wasn't buying that there wasn't more to the Epstein story. 'I think the Department of Justice and the FBI has more explaining to do. This is Jeffrey Epstein; this is the most famous pedophile in modern-day history,' Taylor Greene told RAV at the time. Progressive Democrat Ocasio-Cortez seemingly came after Trump this week when she wrote sarcastically on X, 'Wow who would have thought that electing a rapist would have complicated the release of the Epstein Files?' Trump was found liable of sexually abusing author E. Jean Carroll in a 2023 civil trial. He was not, however, found liable of rape - a distinction the New York Democrat did not make in her post. 'AOC — look, I think she's very nice but she's very Low IQ and we really don't need low IQ,' Trump told members of the media at the White House on Tuesday, firing back at the Congresswoman's jab. Conservative X users were quick to jump to the president's defense comparing AOC's comments to remarks made by ABC host George Stephanopoulos, which led to Trump suing for defamation and eventually winning $15 million. South Carolina GOP Congresswoman Nancy Mace called AOC's remarks a 'smear campaign.' 'She should lawyer up. Truth still matters, even if the Left's forgotten. We're not done fighting. Not even close,' Mace added. Yet, now Mace and Ocasio-Cortez both find themselves on the same side of the fight to force Trump's DOJ to release the files pertaining to Epstein. Trump has also urged Attorney General Pam Bondi to release additional documents, though the push from Capitol Hill could obtain documents the AG or Trump does not want released.
