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NDTV
30-07-2025
- Politics
- NDTV
All The Ways Epstein Continues To Haunt Donald Trump
It is fair to say that most political scandals fade with time. Just like red wine stains gradually scrubbed from white linens, they lose their shock value. But not the Epstein affair, it seems. Not the files filled with prominent names. Not the infamous client list. And certainly not Donald Trump's connection to it. No matter how far President Trump flies - whether to Mar-a-Lago, Manhattan or the manicured golf greens of Scotland (from where he returned on Tuesday) - the ghost of Jeffrey Epstein refuses to part with him. Years after the disgraced financier died under suspicious circumstances in a federal prison, his shadow still lingers. It has become an albatross around Trump's neck - a symbol of growing public cynicism about power, secrecy and selective justice. Just last week, as President Trump landed in Scotland to project an image of calm statesmanship and international poise, there was a nice moment of diplomatic triumph: a favourable EU trade deal. Surely, a feather in his cap. But even as he celebrated, reporters circled like hawks round an old, rotting carcass: the Epstein files. 'Terrific Guy' Questions flew, about trade and foreign policy, but also about the convicted sex offender he once called a "terrific guy". It's hardly the kind of backdrop any president wants on a global stage. But this is not 2016. Trump, once the disruptor-in-chief who thrived on political and personal scandals, now finds himself increasingly cornered by liberals or "the deep state," as well as by the ghosts of his own political base, which has turned strangely inward. The Epstein controversy is no longer about Epstein. It's about hypocrisy, about broken promises, about firebrands-turned-functionaries who once shouted from the rooftops and now hide behind legalese. A Little Recap Let us rewind the tape. According to available records, Trump's association with Epstein dates back to the 1990s, a time when New York's moneyed elite mingled in Mar-a-Lago-style opulence. Trump once praised Epstein's 'taste' in women, noting that "many of them are on the younger side". Later, after Epstein's 2007 conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor, Trump publicly distanced himself. By 2019, when Epstein was arrested again and subsequently died in prison under murky circumstances, Trump was already president and the traditional media as well as social media were ablaze with speculation. The photos, the guest lists, the deposition quotes. They never really disappeared. They simply lingered in online forums, social media threads and the corners of Reddit and Telegram where conspiracy theories ferment. But what started as fringe chatter has taken on a more central role in today's political discourse upon Trump's second coming, especially among the very voters Trump relied on to return to the White House. The Voices That Fell Silent When the infamous Epstein files were partially unsealed earlier this year as part of civil litigation involving Ghislaine Maxwell, media outlets poured over the documents for salacious details and political implications. While many big names appeared, it was Trump's name that lingered in headlines the longest. Not because the documents proved guilt or involvement, but because of the administration's handling of the files now. Trump's handpicked officials - FBI Director Kash Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi - were once warriors in the Epstein-obsessed right-wing media ecosystem. Patel famously hinted at a cover-up involving "the highest levels of government", while Bondi made rounds on cable TV brandishing supposed client lists with grim resolve. But now, as custodians of these same institutions, they are singing a different tune. Nothing more to disclose. Nothing left to see. This abrupt U-turn has enraged large sections of the Make America Great Again (MAGA) base, whose loyalty was forged not just by economic grievances or immigration policy, but by a belief that Trump alone would "drain the swamp". Epstein was the ultimate symbol of that swamp - its depravity, its privilege and its impunity. To see former conspiracy hunters now become gatekeepers of silence is, for many, nothing short of betrayal. Is 'Trumpism' Crumbling What we are witnessing is a kind of slow-motion war within Trumpism. The same base that once trusted Trump to take on "globalist elites" now accuses him - on forums and alt-media channels - of becoming one of them. "The Deep State is now MAGA," reads a popular meme. Fringe influencers like Laura Loomer and Mike Cernovich have openly questioned why Epstein's full files remain sealed, even under Trump's presidency. The implication: if he had nothing to hide, why didn't he order full transparency? To mainstream media, this may sound like more conspiracy-mongering. But politically, it's a potent problem. Trump's appeal always relied on his outsider status, his ability to "say the quiet part out loud". If that image crumbles - if he begins to look like just another manipulative politician with skeletons in his closet - the loyalty that brought him victory in 2016 and again in 2024 could erode. Optics Is Everything Legally, Trump has not been charged with anything related to Epstein. The files, it is widely believed, contain mentions of him, but so far, no smoking gun. But legal risk is not the same as political risk. In a media environment where perception often trumps evidence, it's the optics that matter. Trump's repeated denials, his refusal to unseal the remaining files fully and his attacks on journalists asking about Epstein only deepen public suspicion. Polls show growing scepticism among independents and younger Republican voters. A recent Pew survey indicated that 58% of Americans believe Epstein's death involved foul play, and 46% say they don't trust either party to investigate it fairly. That is not just bad news for Trump, it is a crisis of legitimacy for the institutions he once vowed to reform. There is a deeper philosophical question here: what happens when movements that were built on tearing down opaque institutions inherit those very institutions? Do they reform them? Or do they simply use them for protection? Trump's presidency and the lingering Epstein scandal provide an uncomfortable answer. The very agencies once accused of cover-ups are now run by those who made their name demanding truth. And yet, the files remain locked, redacted, classified. In that sense, the Epstein case has become a serious test for American democracy. For some, it proves that the elite protect their own. For others, it is a cautionary tale about the dangers of populist promises. For all, it is a painful reminder that truth in the age of political tribalism is a slippery thing. Anatomy Of A Scandal So, where does this all go? A few scenarios are possible. One, the Epstein controversy remains a side note in the remaining three-and-a-half years of Trump's administration, fodder for fringe media but not a mainstream concern. or Two, the scandal explodes, perhaps through new leaks or insider whistleblowers. It becomes a central issue in the midterm polls. or Three, the issue festers, neither resolved nor forgotten, casting a long shadow over every press conference, every debate, every international appearance. The very ambiguity of it - what is known, what is suspected, what is denied - becomes its own kind of scandal. Deny, Deflect, Distract If Trump's track record is any guide, he will attempt to bulldoze through the issue with distractions, denials and declarations of victimhood. In fact, his adversaries believe he has already started to use this tactic openly. In classic Trumpian theatre, when the spotlight got too hot over Epstein, the script abruptly changed. Last week, President Trump's camp hurled a fresh grenade. This time aimed at Barack Obama. The charge? That Obama cooked up the intelligence linking Russia to election meddling in 2016. Critics see this as pure deflection, a political sleight of hand. With Epstein files refusing to die and Trump's own name etched too close for comfort, the administration appears to be rummaging through old playbooks: distract, distort and direct outrage elsewhere. But this time, this may not be enough. The public has grown weary of circus acts and sleights of hand. Half Truths, Whole Lies The Epstein scandal is not just about Jeffrey Epstein. It is not even just about Trump. It is about a political culture that thrives on half-truths and unfinished narratives. It is about what happens when you raise the curtain on elite misbehaviour and then abruptly close it again. For Trump, the problem is not just the past. It's the present - his own appointees, his own choices, his own silence or weak denials. In the end, it may not be what's in the files that hurts him, but the fact that those files still exist, untouched, unspoken, festering in the public imagination like an open wound. There's a lesson here, not just for the MAGA faithful or the liberal sceptics, but for anyone watching the great American drama unfold: ghosts don't die just because you stop talking about them. Sometimes, the more you try to bury them, the louder they knock.
Time of India
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Baloch Rebels Launch ‘Operation Baam'; 17 Attacks Rock Pakistan's Balochistan Province
Trump 'Snatches' What He Wants From Marco Rubio; Then Boasts His Cabinet Room 'Heist' On Live TV Donald Trump turned a Cabinet meeting into a comedy sketch after admitting he 'snatched' a clock from Secretary of State Marco Rubio's office all in the name of redecorating. The former president bragged about his Mar-a-Lago-style makeover of the Cabinet Room, casually revealing he took the 'gorgeous' clock without permission, telling Rubio, 'I have the right to do it.' This package breaks down the viral moment, Trump's unapologetic interior design choices, and the laughter-filled exchange that's now making headlines. 273 views | 1 day ago
Time of India
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Trump 'Snatches' What He Wants From Marco Rubio; Then Boasts His Cabinet Room 'Heist' On Live TV
/ Jul 09, 2025, 08:17PM IST Donald Trump turned a Cabinet meeting into a comedy sketch after admitting he 'snatched' a clock from Secretary of State Marco Rubio's office all in the name of redecorating. The former president bragged about his Mar-a-Lago-style makeover of the Cabinet Room, casually revealing he took the 'gorgeous' clock without permission, telling Rubio, 'I have the right to do it.' This package breaks down the viral moment, Trump's unapologetic interior design choices, and the laughter-filled exchange that's now making headlines.
Time of India
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Trump Brings Mar-a-Lago to D.C. — Rose Garden lawn torn up for new patio and towering Presidential flagpole
Donald Trump is making a new mark on the White House lawn, and it's raising questions. The president has begun tearing down the historic Rose Garden to create a more "functional" space that echoes the aesthetic of his private Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago. President Donald Trump is transforming the iconic White House Rose Garden into a Mar-a-Lago-style patio with two towering flagpoles. Critics argue that the historic lawn is being erased in favor of Trump's personal style and agenda. According to a report by the Daily Beast, bulldozers have begun tearing up the grass and laying the groundwork for a new flagpole, fulfilling President Donald Trump's intention to install a patio in the Mar-a-Lago style. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Schlechter Stuhlgang? Diese Methode funktioniert wie "auf Knopfdruck" Darmschutz Ratgeber Undo Why is Donald Trump tearing up the Rose Garden lawn? According to the AP, Trump approached reporters to check the work and informed them that he was erecting two "beautiful" flagpoles that he had "paid for" because the grounds "needed flagpoles for 200 years." The American flag and the POW/MIA flag are already flown daily from the White House's roof. Live Events The president had already declared in mid-February that he would remove the Rose Garden lawn, which frequently serves as the location for press conferences, award presentations, bill-signing ceremonies, and formal dinners. Later, he clarified that it was because women found it difficult to walk in high heels on the wet grass. During a March White House tour, he told Fox News that the grass just doesn't work when they use it for press conferences; people fall into the wet grass. ALSO READ: Pope Leo to speak virtually in Chicago — and it will happen right when Trump military parade rolls out Are Donald Trump's renovations erasing history? There are two rose gardens at the White House, the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden , which is south of the East Terrace Colonnade, and the Rose Garden, which is situated along the West Wing. Former First Lady Edith Roosevelt redesigned both flagpoles for the Kennedys in the early 1960s, following their original design in 1903. According to Rose Garden designer Rachel Lambert Mellon, President John F. Kennedy had the idea to revitalize the Rose Garden and turn the lawn that Trump is razing into a venue for formal events. What changes are being made to the White House grounds? Trump has promised to construct a $100 million ballroom that is comparable to the Grand Ballroom at Mar-a-Lago, the president's private club in Palm Beach, Florida, besides renovating the garden. To honor John F. Kennedy Jr., a big magnolia tree was chopped down and replaced with a smaller one outside the Oval Office window last month. The renovation project was started on Monday by staff from the National Park Service, which looks after the White House grounds. According to the Associated Press, they anticipate wrapping up sometime in the first half of August. FAQs Why is President Trump rebuilding the Rose Garden? Donald Trump claims wet grass made it difficult for women wearing heels and wants a more usable, Mar-a-Lago-inspired space. What else is changing? Along with a new patio and flagpoles, Donald Trump intends to construct a $100 million ballroom and has already replaced a historic magnolia tree .
Daily Maverick
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Maverick
What will the Antichrist look like? According to Western thought, an authoritarian king
In casting himself as supreme leader and pope, Donald Trump inadvertently invoked the Christian understanding of the Antichrist. The US presidency and the papacy came together on May 3 when Donald Trump posted an AI-generated photograph of himself dressed as the pope to Truth Social. The image was then shared by the White House's accounts. Seated in an ornate (Mar-a-Lago-style) golden chair, he was wearing a white cassock and a bishop's hat, with his right forefinger raised. Trump has since told reporters he 'had nothing to do with it […] somebody did it in fun'. — The White House (@WhiteHouse) May 3, 2025 See the full post here: This image of 'Pope Donald I' is of historical significance, for reasons of which, no doubt, the White House and Trump were blissfully unaware. It is the first ever image to combine the two most important understandings of the figure of the Antichrist in Western thought: on the one hand, that of the pope, and on the other, that of the authoritarian, despotic world emperor. On April 22, the day after Pope Francis' death, Trump declared 'I'd like to be pope. That would be my number one choice'. On April 28, Trump told The Atlantic 'I run the country and the world'. So, both pope and world emperor. The Imperial Antichrist In the New Testament, the First Letter of John says, before Christ came again, the Antichrist will appear: the most conspicuous sign that the end of the world was near. The Antichrist would be the archetypal evil human being who would persecute the Christian faithful. He would be finally defeated by the forces of good. As Sir Isaac Newton suggested, 'searching the Prophecies which [God] hath given us to know Antichrist by' is a Christian obligation. The first life of the Antichrist was written by a Benedictine monk, Adso of Montier-en-Der, around 1,100 years ago. According to Adso, the Antichrist would be a tyrannical evil king who would corrupt all those around him with gold and silver. He would be brought up in all forms of wickedness. Evil spirits would be his instructors and his constant companions. Seeking his own glory, as Adso put it, this king 'will call himself Almighty God'. The Antichrist was opposite to everything Christ-like. According to the Christian tradition, Christ was fully human yet absolutely 'sin free'. The Antichrist, too, was fully human, but completely 'sin full'. The Antichrist was not so much a supernatural being who became flesh as a human being who became fully demonised. Influenced by Christian stories of the Antichrist, Islam and Judaism constructed their own Antichrists – al-Dajjal, the Antichrist of the Muslims, and Armilus, the Antichrist of the Jews. Both al-Dajjal and Armilus are king-like messiahs. Over the centuries, many world leaders have been labelled 'the Antichrist' – the Roman emperors Nero and Domitian were Antichrist figures, and the French emperor Napoleon was named the Antichrist in his own time. There have been more recent leaders who have been likened to the Antichrist, among them former president of Iraq Saddam Hussein, King Charles III, former Russian leader Mikhail Gorbachev, al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden, and Trump. The Papal Antichrist In the year 1190, King Richard I of England, on his way to the Holy Land, was informed by the Italian theologian Joachim of Fiore (c.1135–1202) that the next pope would be the Antichrist. In the history of the Antichrist, this was a momentous occasion. From this time on, the tyrannical Antichrist outside of the Church would be juxtaposed with the papal deceiver within it. That the Catholic pope was the Antichrist was the common reading of the pope in the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther (1483–1546), the founder of the Protestant revolution, declared the pope 'is the true […] Antichrist who has raised himself over and set himself against Christ'. Just as all Christians would not worship the Devil as God, he went on to say, 'so we cannot allow his apostle the pope or Antichrist, to govern as our head or lord'. As he was about to be burned by the Catholic Queen Mary for his Protestant beliefs, the Anglican bishop Thomas Cranmer (1489–1556) declared, 'as for the pope, I refuse him, as Christ's enemy and antichrist with all his false doctrine'. Even in 1988, as Pope John Paul II addressed the European Parliament, the Northern Ireland hardline Protestant leader Ian Paisley roared, 'Antichrist! I renounce you and all your cults and creeds' – to which, we are told, the pope gave a slight, bemused smile. Except among the most extreme of Protestant conservatives, the idea of the papal Antichrist no longer has any purchase. The papal Antichrist has vacated the Western stage for the imperial Antichrist. The Antichrist and the end of the world In the history of Christianity, the idea of the Antichrist was a key part of Christian expectations about the return of Christ and the end of the world. In the final battle between the forces of good and evil, the Antichrist would be defeated by the forces of Christ. In short, the rise of the world emperor who was the Antichrist was a sign that the end of the world was at hand. In the light of the Western history of 'the Antichrist', the image of the imperial and papal US president is a powerful sign that the global order, at least as we have known it for the last 80 years, may be at an end. DM
