Donald Trump has sweeping plans for a second administration. Here’s what he’s proposed

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TACO Trump Plots Humiliating U-Turn on Beloved Policy

The White House says it’s just being “nimble” and “nuanced.”

Donald Trump’s import tariffs—a central plank of his economic agenda—may soon no longer apply to certain types of food as the administration tries to push down grocery bills.

Amid rising consumer anxiety, the administration is preparing to make exemptions that will likely include beef and citrus fruit imports, The New York Times reported on Thursday, citing three people briefed on the plans.

The exemptions will also likely apply to countries that haven’t even made trade deals with the U.S. In that way, they would go beyond a September executive order in which Trump directed Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to determine exemptions for a wide variety of foods and other products from countries that had negotiated a more favorable trade rate with the U.S.

Lutnick, 64, has been advocating for food exemptions due to their current cost, according to the Times.

Neither the White House nor the Commerce Department immediately responded to a request for comment from the Daily Beast.

White House spokesperson Kush Desai told the Times in a statement that “the Trump administration is committed to pursuing a nimble, nuanced, and multifaceted strategy on trade and tariffs.”

A “critical mass” of trade agreements have been made since April, allowing for the exemptions, a Trump administration official added. New agreements with Argentina, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Ecuador were announced Thursday.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, 63, revealed to Fox News Wednesday that coffee and bananas would also be exempt.

“That will bring the prices down very quickly,” he claimed, adding that the Trump administration “inherited this affordability mess.”

Trump, who has insisted that prices are “way down,” has been pressed about affordability, especially after he tried to claim that Walmart’s Thanksgiving Dinner was cheaper this year—without mentioning that the package contains fewer items.

Fox News host Laura Ingraham also pointed out the issue of affordability during an interview aired Tuesday. And Trump, 79, was forced to respond on Fox last week to a longtime supporter’s dissatisfied message.

The administration’s exemption plans come after Democrats won gubernatorial races last week in New Jersey and Virginia—as well as the mayoral race in New York—after campaigning heavily on the issue of affordability.

Consumer confidence fell to a six-month low at the end of October.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/taco-trump-already-crumbling-on-his-sweeping-tariffs/?

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FBI Director Kash Patel Waived Polygraph Security Screening for Dan Bongino, Two Other Senior Staff

FBI Director Kash Patel granted waivers to Deputy Director Dan Bongino and two other newly hired senior FBI staff members, exempting them from passing polygraph exams normally required to gain access to America’s most sensitive classified information, according to a former senior FBI official and several other government officials.

https://www.propublica.org/article/fbi-kash-patel-dan-bongino-waived-polygraph?

ps:Of course he did!!

1. ⚖️ Attorney General Pam Bondi assigned the U.S. attorney in Manhattan to investigate Jeffrey Epstein's ties to prominent Democrats, including former President Clinton. President Trump ordered the investigation on Truth Social. Go deeper.
2. 🪖 The Trump administration will deploy Border Patrol agents to Charlotte as early as this weekend, as part of its immigration crackdown. Go deeper.
3. ✈️ The Trump administration killed a Biden-era proposal to require airlines to compensate passengers for flight delays or cancellations. The Transportation Department said airlines already have incentives to reimburse passengers voluntarily. Go deeper.

 

Trump scraps tariffs on beef, coffee and tropical fruit in a push to lower grocery store prices

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump announced Friday that he was scrapping U.S. tariffs on beef, coffee, tropical fruits and a broad swath of other commodities — a dramatic move that comes amid mounting pressure on his administration to better combat high consumer prices.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariffs-coffee-beef-fruit-4fe084c2724ec6d92096efa263fdcf76?

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Trump, 79, Melts Down at His Own Party Over Epstein ‘Hoax’

The president ranted about “soft and foolish” Republicans on social media.

President Donald Trump raged against members of his own party on Friday as a growing number of Republicans have indicated they will vote to release the Jeffrey Epstein files.

Trump, 79, has been desperately trying to stop more documents from going public after the House released a series of damaging emails from the Epstein estate on Wednesday in which he was mentioned.

That same day, the bipartisan discharge petition reached enough signatures to force a vote in the House to release the full Epstein files despite the GOP leadership’s wishes.

After months of pushing back, House Speaker Mike Johnson said that the vote would take place next week.

But the president took aim at members of both parties on Friday.

Trump accused Democrats of doing everything they can to “push the Epstein Hoax again” and claimed in his Truth Social post that it was to deflect from the “SHUTDOWN EMBARRASSMENT, where their party is in total disarray.”

However, several Republicans signed onto the discharge petition, and a significant number of GOP members are expected to buck Trump and support the release of the full files related to the convicted sex offender when the vote takes place.

“Some Weak Republicans have fallen into their clutches because they are soft and foolish,” Trump wrote in his post. “Epstein was a Democrat, and he is the Democrat’s problem, not the Republican’s problem!”

GOP Reps. Thomas Massie, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Nancy Mace and Lauren Boebert signed the discharge petition in September and refused to back down despite pressure.

Reps. Don Bacon, Rob Bresnahan, Tim Burchett, Warren Davidson and Eli Crane have all said either publicly or to a publication including CNN and Politico that they would vote for the bill when it comes to the floor.

Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna, who introduced it with Massie, said he expects 40 to 50 Republicans to back it.

Trump has ignored questions from reporters about the Epstein files since the latest documents were released on Wednesday despite being in settings where he usually engages with the media.

The president on Friday ranted on Truth Social that “Bill Clinton, Reid Hoffman, and Larry Summers about Epstein, they know all about him, don’t waste your time with Trump.”

The three, like Trump, are known associates of Epstein. None have been accused of any criminal wrongdoing.

In a separate post, the president then said he was directing the Justice Department and FBI to investigate their relationships.

“I will be asking A.G. Pam Bondi, and the Department of Justice, together with our great patriots at the FBI, to investigate Jeffrey Epstein’s involvement and relationship with Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, Reid Hoffman, J.P. Morgan, Chase, and many other people and institutions, to determine what was going on with them, and him,” he wrote.

The documents released on Wednesday showed that Epstein wrote in an email that Trump knew about the girls and had spent hours with one of the victims.

The name was redacted when Democrats released it, but Republicans on the House Oversight Committee said it was Virginia Giuffre and accused Democrats redacting her name to try and create a “fake narrative.”

The committee Republicans released 20,000 pages of documents on Wednesday. Trump was mentioned numerous times in the emails released.

Epstein referred to Trump as “dirty,” “mad,” “f---ing crazy” and “borderline insane” in emails provided by his estate. In a 2018 one he wrote “I am the one able to take him down.”

Trump has never been accused of engaging in criminal activity in connection with Epstein. The White House this week attempted to downplay the released emails.

Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt accused Democrats in a statement of “selectively leaked emails to the liberal media to create a fake narrative to smear President Trump.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-79-melts-down-at-his-own-party-over-epstein-hoax/?

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Trump Demands New Epstein Probe With One Glaring Loophole

The move came as the president struggles to contain the firestorm over Epstein’s bombshell emails.

President Donald Trump has ordered Pam Bondi to investigate Jeffrey Epstein’s links to Bill Clinton and other Democratic enemies as he struggles to contain the fallout over the convicted sex offender.

But there is one prominent name he has missed off his list of DOJ targets—himself.

After avoiding questions about Epstein for the third consecutive day, Trump took to social media on Friday to direct his Attorney General to investigate the disgraced financier’s connection to the former president, as well as former Harvard president Larry Summers, mega-donor Reid Hoffman and JP Morgan Chase.“Now that the Democrats are using the Epstein Hoax, involving Democrats, not Republicans, to try and deflect from their disastrous SHUTDOWN, and all of their other failures, I will be asking A.G. Pam Bondi, and the Department of Justice, together with our great patriots at the FBI, to investigate Jeffrey Epstein’s involvement and relationship with Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, Reid Hoffman, J.P. Morgan, Chase, and many other people and institutions, to determine what was going on with them, and him,” he wrote.

“This is another Russia, Russia, Russia Scam, with all arrows pointing to the Democrats. Records show that these men, and many others, spent large portions of their life with Epstein, and on his “Island.” Stay tuned!!!”

Trump’s Friday morning post is not the first time he has ordered Bondi to go after his enemies.

So far this year, his retribution campaign has targeted former FBI director James Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia James, former Trump National Security Adviser John Bolton, and Democrat Senator Adam Schiff.

And once again, Bondi - who had promised to release the Epstein files but has since come come under fire for her handling of the issue - quickly adhered to his demand.

Within hours she had appointed Jay Clayton, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, to take the lead.

“As with all matters, the Department will pursue this with urgency and integrity to deliver answers to the American people,” Bondi said.

The push to probe Clinton and other high-profile figures in Epstein’s orbit comes as the president braces for several Republicans to break ranks next week and support a bipartisan bill calling for the Justice Department to release the Epstein files.

The issue exploded to the fore again on Wednesday when explosive emails released revealed Trump may have known more about Epstein’s conduct than he has acknowledged.

One email claimed Trump “spent hours” at Epstein’s house with one of his victims, who has since been identified as the late Virginia Giuffre.

In another, Epstein explicitly stated Trump “knew about the girls as he asked Ghislaine to stop”—a reference to Epstein’s accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, who recruited victims as part of his sex trafficking operation.

But as the president’s frustration over the Epstein files grows, he has now sought to turn the blowtorch on others, declaring earlier on Friday: “Epstein was a Democrat, and he is the Democrat’s problem, not the Republican’s problem!”

Epstein and Clinton moved in overlapping social and political circles, but the former president has long insisted he knew nothing about the child sex trafficker’s crimes.

According to flight records, Clinton flew on Epstein’s private jet—sometimes referred to as the Lolita Express—for what he has said were trips related to his charitable foundation.

As reported earlier this year, Clinton also contributed to a 50th birthday book for Epstein decades ago, just as Trump did, in which he described the “childlike curiosity” of the then-financier.

A spokesperson for Clinton told the Daily Beast: “These emails prove Bill Clinton did nothing and knew nothing. The rest is noise meant to distract from election losses, backfiring shutdowns, and who knows what else.”

Epstein’s emails also feature correspondence with Summers, a former Treasury Secretary and a prominent economist who served in the Clinton and Obama administrations.

In one email, Summers tells Epstein about a 2017 trip to Saudi Arabia, including a quip that the “general view” among Saudi officials was that “Donald is a clown, increasingly dangerous on foreign policy.”

In another email, Epstein describes himself as a “good wing man” as they discuss Summers’ attempts to attract women.

Hoffman was also linked to Epstein, but has previously said his “few interactions” involved fundraising for the MIT Media Lab.

The venture capitalist and LinkedIn founder once invited Epstein to an August 2015 dinner in Palo Alto with Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and JD Vance’s top donor, Peter Thiel.

In a statement on X, Hoffman called for all the files to be released.

“I refuse to bend the knee to Donald Trump and is slanderous lies,” he added.

The men, along with JB Chase, who was one of Epstein’s former clients, are among many people named in the latest trove of emails.

The emails, released by the House Oversight Committee, also name Trump multiple times over 15 years as well as allies such as Steve Bannon and U.S. Ambassador to Turkey, Tom Barrack.

But Trump has ordered Bondi to probe the group anyway, while at the same time describing the Epstein files as a “hoax” designed to distract from his achievements.

“Epstein was a Democrat, and he is the Democrat’s problem, not the Republican’s problem!” he said.

The Daily Beast has reached out to Summers.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-demands-new-epstein-probe-with-one-glaring-loophole/?

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Trump Rages About Affordability ‘Con’ as Living Costs Rise

The president insists goods are cheaper despite evidence to the contrary.

President Donald Trump has blasted Democrats for lying about affordability as he struggles to keep his promise to bring down costs.

A series of recent economic and political indicators has put the Trump administration on the defensive, even as the record-long government shutdown comes to an end.

“Affordability is a lie when used by the Dems. It is a complete CON JOB,” Trump wrote in a post on Friday.

He argued that costs under his administration are tumbling down, but data suggest otherwise.

While inflation has dramatically eased over the past few years since it dramatically peaked under President Joe Biden as the U.S. came out of the pandemic in 2022, the cost of living has continued to go up.

The most recent data has not been released and may never come out due to the government shutdown, but inflation was up three percent year over year in September while the price of food was up 3.1 percent.

Trump has repeatedly claimed the cost of energy is down, including in his post on Friday, and while Americans are paying somewhat less at the gas pump, energy prices are still up from a year ago. Electricity costs were up more than five percent, and service costs were up more than six percent.

U.S. consumer confidence hit a six-month low, according to the latest survey released this week.

“We are the Party of Affordability!” the president declared in his post on Friday. However, that claim does not appear to be sticking with voters.

Last week, Democrats swept a series of off-year elections while running largely on the issue of affordability and the cost of living, signaling the administration and Republicans’ discussion around the topic have not been landing or believed.

Voters who said the economy was a top concern helped deliver victories for both the Democratic gubernatorial candidates in Virginia and New Jersey as well as the New York mayoral race for Zohran Mamdani in New York.

And while a group of Democrats caved and voted for the GOP bill to end the shutdown this week, millions of Americans are still waiting to see how the president and congressional Republicans in power address the cost of health care as premiums are set to spike with the expiration of enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies at the end of the year.

The president and GOP members have not revealed how they plan to prevent costs from skyrocketing while Democrats have demanded the ACA tax credits be extended and will try to force a vote.

At the same time, the president’s widespread tariffs have muddled Trump’s own messaging on lowering prices as the administration has contradicted itself repeatedly over whether tariffs are a tax on American consumers.

Economists have warned for months that Trump’s sweeping tariffs would drive up prices as the cost is passed on to American consumers and it has started to show up in the economic data.

This week, the president claimed in a Fox News interview that the administration was going to “lower some tariffs” in response to the rising price of coffee.

It was an apparent acknowledgement that he knew his trade policies were impacting costs for Americans. The price of coffee is up nearly 20 percent from a year ago.

One week ago, Trump also accused foreign-owned meat packers of driving up the price of beef in the U.S. and called for the Justice Department to investigate.

However, economists have also warned his tariffs were driving up the cost of beef as Brazil is the largest exporter of beef in the world while the U.S. remains a major buyer.

The New York Times reported on Friday that the administration is preparing broad exemptions to some tariffs to help ease food prices.

If implemented, it would be the latest backtrack on one of the president’s main economic policies as the administration faces affordability concerns.

“The Trump administration is committed to pursuing a nimble, nuanced, and multi-faceted strategy on trade and tariffs, said White House spokesperson Kush Desai in response to Daily Beast’s question about the report. ”President Trump’s September 5th executive order specifically laid out various natural resources and agricultural products not produced in the United States that could be eligible for tariff-free treatment."

He said that exemptions are set “to be granted following a spate of new trade deals being inked with some of our biggest allies in the western hemisphere.”

However, Democrats immediately seized on the report as an admission.

“After lying for months, Donald Trump has finally admitted that his tariffs are forcing Americans to pay more for groceries and making the affordability crisis worse,” Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden said in a memo. “Even if he lifts his taxes on a few products this week, American consumers, farmers, and small businesses will be paying more for essential goods for as long as he’s in office and Republicans refuse to do their job and end the tariffs.”

Meanwhile, the the White House has continued to argue that it inherited a mess from Biden when Trump took office eleven months ago.

With affordability in mind, they sent out a release on Friday insisting they’ve made progress and touting the GOP tax bill passed over the summer that extended provisions of the 2017 law while throwing in some new ones aimed at working Americans such as allowing them to temporarily deduct overtime and tips.

Trump blasting affordability as a “con job” by Democrats comes more than a week after he said while responding to a Fox News reporter’s question “I don’t want to hear about the affordability.”

The comment echoed across cable news and the internet turning heads even among his base which urged him to do something to address rising costs.

Since then, the president has continued to argue he has done better than former President Joe Biden while repeating false claims about falling prices despite being called out.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-rages-about-affordability-con-as-living-costs-rise/?

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Marjorie Taylor Greene Tears Into Trump’s ‘Gaslighting’ in Escalating Feud

The Georgia Republican isn’t quitting in her fight with her own party.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is accusing the Trump administration and MAGA Republicans of “gaslighting” Americans about the cost of living.

The Georgia Republican, who has been butting heads with President Donald Trump over spending and foreign policy, rejected his claim that groceries are “at the lowest prices they have ever been.” Polling has repeatedly shown that voters do not believe inflation has eased enough to improve their daily costs, and Greene suggested the administration is pretending otherwise.

Speaking on The Sean Spicer Show on Thursday, the congresswoman told former White House press secretary Sean Spicer that the line coming from Trumpworld is not just tone-deaf—it is politically dangerous.

“President Trump and his administration [do] deserve a lot of credit for lowering inflation and holding it steady, but that doesn’t bring prices down,” she said, adding, “And so gaslighting the people and trying to tell them that prices have come down is not helping.”

Greene warned that the messaging is already enraging voters. “It’s actually infuriating people because people know what they’re paying at the grocery store. They know what they’re paying for their kid’s clothes and school supplies. They know what they’re paying for their electricity bills,” she said. She argued Republicans should “show that we are in the trenches with them” rather than deny voters’ reality.

“That’s first and foremost,” Greene continued. “You don’t gaslight them. You don’t lecture them, and you don’t deny what’s happening.”

She did not spare her own party’s record, pointing to government spending as the long-term accelerant of rising prices. Greene cited both Trump-era COVID stimulus packages and later Democratic bills as culprits. “Government spending drives inflation,” she said, arguing that the CARES Act and subsequent Democratic legislation “dump money into the economy” in ways that sent prices soaring.

Her broadside comes as Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent have spent the past week dismissing the idea of a cost-of-living crisis as a media-driven hoax. Both have insisted that prices are down and accused Democrats and their allies of pushing a “con job.”

Trump, meanwhile, has said his one-time MAGA ally has “lost her way” and is now “catering” to Democrats. “I don’t know what happened to Marjorie. She’s a nice woman, but I don’t know what happened. She’s lost her way, I think,” Trump said when asked by CNN’s Kaitlan Collins to respond to Greene’s criticism that he is too focused on foreign policy rather than domestic issues such as rising healthcare and food costs.

Greene said in an appearance on The View last week that she loves the president, despite their current disagreements.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/marjorie-taylor-greene-tears-into-trumps-gaslighting-in-escalating-feud/?

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Trump ends support for Marjorie Taylor Greene amid growing Epstein feud

Donald Trump announced Friday that he is withdrawing his support for and endorsement of Republican lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene, a longtime ally and previously fierce defender of the president and the Maga movement.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/14/trump-marjorie-taylor-greene-support?

ps:Good for her, but we'll see how long that goes!!!!!

Trump says he will take legal action against BBC, despite its apology

Donald Trump has said he still plans to sue the BBC despite receiving the apology he demanded over a misleading edit of one of his speeches.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/15/trump-says-he-will-take-legal-action-against-bbc-despite-its-apology?

ps:Of course he will, because he's not interested in anything but money!!

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Shutdown ends, but more federal chaos looms for states

Though Congress ended the record-setting federal government shutdown, many questions remain for states that were already wading through seismic federal changes.

https://floridaphoenix.com/2025/11/15/repub/shutdown-ends-but-more-federal-chaos-looms-for-states/?

Lobbying Trump: gifts, gold and gab

Forget retaliation: To cut tariffs President Trump imposed on their country, the Swiss sent a delegation of industry tycoons bearing gifts — a special Rolex desktop clock, a 1-kilogram personalized gold bar, and loads of flattery.

• Why it matters: Trump loves such pampering, and the word's out among nations and companies seeking his favor. Tributes fit for a king — especially gold — catch his eyes and his heart, Axios' Marc Caputo reports.

🧈 The Swiss bar, given to Trump during the delegation's visit on Nov. 4, was stamped with 45 and 47 in homage to his presidential terms. It's worth a little more than $130,000.

• Trump accepted the gifts on behalf of his presidential library, making them legal, White House officials say.

Catch up quick: Apple set the tone for such gestures — and raised the bar for them — in August, when CEO Tim Cook gave Trump an engraved glass disc with a 24-karat gold base, to commemorate the company's new $100 billion investment in the U.S. to avoid tariffs.

• In a separate White House meeting, the LA Olympics committee gave Trump a set of commemorative 1984 Olympic medals, a nod to the Summer Games he'll preside over in Los Angeles in 2028.
• Months before, the government of Qatar gifted a $400 million 747 jet to Trump's library.
• A bevy of corporations and supplicants have donated about $300 million to help the president build a giant ballroom connected to the White House, which he plans to gild like Midas.

✨ The Swiss charm offensive worked. "It was tough to beat Apple, but the Swiss did it," an administration official told Axios.

• Yesterday, the White House announced it was cutting the tariff rate on Swiss goods from 39% to 15%. In return, the Swiss agreed to reduce trade barriers Trump had bristled at, and Swiss companies agreed to invest more in the U.S.

Between the lines: Trump's tariffs had caused major damage to the Swiss economy since he imposed them in August. Switzerland's prime minister, Karin Keller-Sutter, had been unable to talk Trump out of them.

• With leader-to-leader talks stalled, the Swiss changed gears and sent a delegation of national business leaders to the White House, knowing that Trump loves captains of industry.

"Trump is a businessman and likes to talk business with businessmen," the administration official said.

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👀 Trump ditches MTG

Via Truth Social President Trump pulled his support for Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) yesterday, ending a years-long alliance after weeks of Greene publicly breaking with her party, Axios' Kate Santaliz and Alex Isenstadt write. Why it matters: Greene was once considered one of Trump's fiercest allies and a MAGA brand ambassador. But Trump accused her of veering "too far to the left" and said he'd back a primary challenger "if the right person runs." 🥊 The big picture: Greene has taken positions in recent weeks that have puzzled Republicans, and irritated Trump. She's said her party has "no plan" when it comes to health care. She was one of four Republicans to sign a discharge petition to release the Epstein files, against Trump's wishes. In an interview with Axios last month, she slammed Trump's second-term agenda as "America Last." Greene fired back on X: "It's astonishing really how hard he's fighting to stop the Epstein files from coming out that he actually goes to this level." ⚖️ P.S. President Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, re BBC and that bad edit of his Jan. 6 speech: "We'll sue them for anywhere between $1 billion and $5 billion, probably sometime next week." (Reuters) ps:What a piece of work!!

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Trump's Truth Social AI chatbot disputes his false claims

Claim:

Truth Social, U.S. President Donald Trump's social media platform, features an artificial-intelligence chatbot named Truth Search AI that provides answers disputing his false and misleading claims on numerous subjects.

Rating:

True

In November 2025, online users claimed Truth Social, U.S. President Donald Trump's social media platform, featured an artificial-intelligence chatbot named Truth Search AI that provided answers disputing his false and misleading claims on numerous subjects.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trump-truth-social-ai/?

Government funding bill cuts food safety regulations. See the provisions for yourself

The bill prohibited the FDA from enforcing regulations aimed at increasing traceability of the supply chain, among other rules.

Claim:

In November 2025, the U.S. Senate cut food safety regulations in a funding bill to reopen the government.

Rating:

True

After lawmakers passed a bill to fund the U.S. government on Nov. 12, 2025, ending a weeks-long shutdown, a rumor spread online that the act included major cuts to food safety laws.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/government-shutdown-food-safety-cuts/?

ps:I guess this administration doesn't care about food safety either??

 

[phkrause]

Naturalized US citizens thought they were safe. Trump’s immigration policies are shaking that belief

As President Donald Trump reshapes immigration and the nation’s relationship with immigrants, some naturalized citizens are wondering if the country they made a commitment to when they took the oath of citizenship is still making one to them. There’s now fear that the push to drastically increase deportations and shift who can claim America as home is having a ripple effect. Read more.

[phkrause]

Trump says US may have discussions with Maduro as aircraft carrier arrives in Caribbean

WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (AP) — President Donald Trump said Sunday that the U.S. “may be having some discussions” with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, a potential diplomatic avenue as the U.S. further builds up its military presence near the South American country with the arrival of its most advanced aircraft carrier.

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/11/16/trump-says-us-may-have-discussions-with-maduro-as-aircraft-carrier-arrives-in-caribbean/

ps:Wow a major build up at a Country that can't fight its way out of a paper bag!! But now I understand why SecOfState Rubio has been kissing up to trump!!

[phkrause]

Marco Rubio Wants to Imprison You on Terror Charges for Supporting Nazi Punchers

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government launched a continentwide manhunt when a group of European antifascists attacked a neo-Nazi rally three years ago.

https://theintercept.com/2025/11/15/antifa-terrorist-rubio-nazi-material-support/?

In reversal, Trump says House Republicans should vote to release Epstein files

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said House Republicans should vote to release the files in the Jeffrey Epstein case, a startling reversal after previously fighting the proposal as a growing number of those in his own party supported it.

https://apnews.com/article/epstein-files-house-sex-trafficking-investigation-c46716743f6f65f2f3b74906365da58b?

[phkrause]

🚨 Trump's Epstein U-turn

Photo illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photos: Getty Images

In a major reversal last night, President Trump said in a Truth Social post that House Republicans "should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide, and it's time to move on from this Democrat Hoax." Why it matters: It's one of the few moments in Trump's second term where internal GOP pushback has forced his hand. 🖼️ The big picture: Trump's apparent change of heart indicates that the vote on releasing the Epstein files would likely pass, though it's unclear if it would come up for a vote in the Senate, Axios' Rebecca Falconer and Avery Lotz write. He has faced backlash from some in the MAGA movement and publicly split with former loyalist Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.). 📺 Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), a leader of the quest to force a House vote on the files, predicted a "deluge of Republicans" could vote alongside him and Greene in defiance of the White House. "There could be 100 or more," he told ABC's Jonathan Karl on "This Week" yesterday. Trump announced his political divorce from Greene, whom he called "Wacky," a "ranting" lunatic and a "Traitor." Greene was one of a handful of Republicans who signed the discharge petition led by Massie and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) despite the president's opposition. Share this story. ⚡ Trump defended Tucker Carlson last night for his friendly interview with white nationalist Nick Fuentes last week. Speaking to reporters planeside in West Palm Beach, Trump said: "We've had some great interviews with Tucker Carlson. But you can't tell him who to interview. I mean, if he wants to interview Nick Fuentes — I don't know much about him, but if he wants to do it, get the word out! Let him — you know, people have to decide. Ultimately, people have to decide." "Meeting people, talking to people — like for somebody like Tucker, that's what they do. Y'know, people are controversial — some are, some aren't." 👀 Steve Bannon, one of MAGA's most powerful online voices, texted me after the video posted on X: "POTUS buried lede — 'Get the Word Out' — he chose a side, watch the meltdown." Fuentes tweeted: "Thank you Mr. President!" Watch the video of Trump on Carlson-Fuentes.

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🍔 Exclusive: Trump to talk affordability at McDonald's summit

President Trump will dial up his affordability message for an audience of McDonald's owners, operators and suppliers this evening, as part of an escalating White House push to take on Americans' economic worries.

• "The Biden administration started the affordability crisis, but President Trump will end it so all Americans can achieve economic prosperity," a White House official told me.

Why it matters: The cost of living was a winning message for Democrats in off-year elections earlier this month. And Republicans see new urgency on the issue as they turn to next year's midterms.

During remarks at an Impact Summit hosted in Washington by McDonald's, Trump is expected to tout steps he has taken to support small businesses and job creators.

• He'll talk about the tax cuts in his One Big Beautiful Bill, which includes "No Tax on Tips ... No Tax on Overtime ... No Tax on Social Security."

Context: Trump has floated a variety of ideas for lowering the cost of living, while insisting he's taming "Biden's inflation crisis." The prices of some staples are up and polls show worry about the economy.

🍟 The backdrop: A key message at the McDonald's summit will be that value and affordability are "so important to consumers and elected officials [that] our franchisees and company are co-investing to bring extra value and affordability to our customers," an official told me.

• Go deeper.

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In a reversal, Trump says House Republicans should vote to release Epstein files President Donald Trump said House Republicans should vote to release the files in the Jeffrey Epstein case, a startling reversal after previously fighting the proposal as a growing number of those in his own party supported it. Read more.

What to know: “We have nothing to hide, and it’s time to move on from this Democrat Hoax perpetrated by Radical Left Lunatics in order to deflect from the Great Success of the Republican Party,” Trump wrote on social media late Sunday. Trump’s statement followed a fierce fight within his party over the files. “I DON’T CARE!” Trump wrote. “All I do care about is that Republicans get BACK ON POINT.”   The president’s shift is an implicit acknowledgement that supporters of the measure have enough votes to pass it in the House, although it has an unclear future in the Senate. It is a rare example of Trump backtracking because of opposition within the Republican Party. In his return to office and in his second term as president, Trump has largely consolidated power in the party.   Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif. said he was hoping for 40 or more Republicans to join the effort. “I don’t even know how involved Trump was,” Khanna said. “There are a lot of other people involved who have to be held accountable.” Khanna also asked Trump to meet with those who were abused. Some will be at the Capitol on Tuesday for a news conference, he said.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Trump defends Tucker Carlson after interview with activist known for his antisemitic views   Trump plans to meet with Mamdani, says he’ll ‘work something out’ with New York City’s mayor-elect   Justice Department quietly replaced ‘identical’ Trump signatures on recent pardons   Mike Pompeo becomes adviser to scrutinized Ukraine defense company that’s looking to boost missiles   MAGA rift grows as Trump feuds with Marjorie Taylor Greene   Indiana lawmaker who opposed Trump’s redistricting push is victim of a swatting   Headwinds for Trump in persuading the Saudi crown prince to agree to normalize ties with Israel   Foreign enrollment at US colleges holds steady, for now, despite Trump’s visa crackdown   Immigration crackdown inspires uniquely Chicago pushback that’s now a model for other cities   Trump, like Biden before him, finds there’s no quick fix on inflation   Fetterman says he’s back home after a fall put the Pennsylvania senator in the hospital

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US may have discussions with Maduro as aircraft carrier arrives in Caribbean, Trump says President Donald Trump said Sunday the U.S. “may be having some discussions” with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, a potential diplomatic avenue as the U.S. further builds up its military presence near the South American country with the arrival of its most advanced aircraft carrier. Read more.

What to know: The U.S. military has been carrying out a series of strikes against vessels suspected of transporting drugs. The arrival of the USS Gerald R. Ford and other warships, announced by the Navy in a statement, marks a major moment in what the administration insists is a counterdrug operation but has been seen as an escalating pressure tactic against Maduro.   Venezuela’s government didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment. Maduro, who faces charges of narcoterrorism in the U.S., has said the U.S. government is “fabricating” a war against him.   The Ford rounds off the largest buildup of U.S. firepower in the region in generations, and coincided with the military announcing its latest deadly strike on a small boat it claims was ferrying illegal drugs.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Trump says stopping suspected drug boats doesn’t work. But the US reports record cocaine seizures   WATCH: Venezuela’s Maduro sings John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ as he talks about US tensions

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Trump, 79, Launches Late-Night Pity Party After Humiliating Epstein Reversal

The president has finally stopped trying to fight his own caucus on the Epstein files, but he doesn’t seem too happy about it.

President Donald Trump spent Sunday night throwing himself a virtual pep rally on his Truth Social platform after making an abrupt U-turn on whether Republicans should vote to release the Jeffrey Epstein files. For months, the president has been fighting members of his own caucus to block the release of the Department of Justice’s investigative files on the late sex offender, branding the scandal a “Democrat hoax.” On Sunday night, the 79-year-old finally gave his half-hearted blessing for House Republicans to vote for the release of the files in a bid to “move on,” after many of them announced plans to defy the president anyway.

That concession, however, didn’t end his spiraling feud with MAGA diehard Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, which is still going strong according to an hours-long posting spree in which Trump alternated between attacking his perceived enemies and defending his policies.

“Wacky Marjorie “Traitor” Brown (Remember, Green turns to Brown where there is ROT involved!) is working overtime to try and portray herself as a victim when, in actuality, she is the cause of all of her own problems. The fact is, nobody cares about this Traitor to our Country!” he wrote.

About two dozen posts later, at 12:25 a.m. Washington time, he shared an image of himself wearing a MAGA hat with “GOLDEN AGE” written at the top in 3D all-caps.

“Since President Trump took office, companies have invested trillions of dollars into their U.S.-backed operations — onshoring and creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs for Americans.”

In fact, some companies like Apple have promised to invest in U.S. manufacturing in a bid to receive carve-outs on the sweeping tariffs the president has imposed on products from dozens of U.S. trading partners.

Those investments are not in the trillions, though, and so far they’re just pledges. The U.S. economy has shed more than 1.1 million jobs this year, and in October, lay-offs reached a 20-year high.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom was quick to troll the post, writing “GOLDEN AGE” above a photo of Trump and Epstein, who were close friends for more than a decade. The disgraced financier died in 2019 in jail while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

Trump, however, insisted during his maelstrom of social media posts that unnamed Democrats had broken unspecified laws in connection with Epstein.

“It’s a Democrat Hoax for purposes of deflection, just like the Russia, Russia, Russia Scam!!! They had the sleazy relationships with Epstein, and should be prosecuted!!!” he wrote.

The president also shared posts from the Trump War Room and White House Rapid Response accounts on X defending his tariff policy—according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, inflation will finally start going down sometime in the first half of 2026—and mass deportation effort.

And then there were various posts from MAGA influencers attacking Democrats, applauding Secretary of State Marco Rubio for “crushing it,” and praising the president in broken English.

“He is best president in History of America” said one.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-launches-late-night-posting-spree-after-humiliating-jeffrey-epstein-reversal/?

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‘60 Minutes’ Exposes Trump’s ‘Nuts’ $2 Billion Crypto Pardon

The details of the Chinese billionaire’s pardon have been put on blast by the CBS show.

Donald Trump’s pardon for a billionaire Chinese felon with financial links to his family has been called out as “corruption” on 60 Minutes.

Trump pardoned Changpeng Zhao, founder of cryptocurrency firm Binance, last month. He had pleaded guilty to money-laundering violations that allowed criminal groups to move money connected to drug trafficking and child abuse. Zhao resigned in November 2023 before spending four months in prison from April to September 2024.

The October 2025 pardon came just months after Binance struck a $2 billion deal in partnership with the Trump family’s crypto venture, World Liberty Financial.

Asked about the pardon last month on 60 Minutes, Trump said he had “no idea” who Zhao was and did not remember him, and previously told reporters at the White House “he had a lot of support... so I gave him a pardon at the request of a lot of very good people.”

But on Sunday 60 Minutes braved Trump’s fresh wrath—after its then-ultimate owners forked over $16 million to the president to end a lawsuit over a claim the show had deceptively edited a Kamala Harris interview, and in the wake of it gaining new MAGA-curious owners, including a boss praised by Trump himself.

On the show, former U.S. Pardon Attorney Elizabeth Oyer, who worked for the Justice Department, said Zhao’s case was “unusual.”

“The influence that money played in securing this pardon is unprecedented,” Oyer said on Sunday’s 60 Minutes. “The self-dealing aspect of the pardon in terms of the benefit that it conferred on President Trump, and his family, and people in his inner circle is also unprecedented.”

“This is absolutely not justice,“ she added. “This is corruption.”

Oyer was fired in March when she refused to reinstate Mel Gibson’s gun rights, which he lost after a domestic violence conviction. She was replaced by a Trump loyalist.

60 Minutes said Binance had also donated software to World Liberty Financial to help Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump launch their cryptocurrency, with the program quoting a source who said without Zhao “the technology doesn’t exist.”

In May, around the same time that Zhao applied for a pardon, an Emirati fund made a $2 billion investment in Binance, with the deal done in World Liberty crypto, a currency that had only been on the market for five weeks.

A source told 60 Minutes that “it wasn’t strange, it was nuts.”

Harvard legal scholar and political activist Lawrence Lessig told the program of the currency selection: “The only reason it makes sense is to ingratiate with the president.”

“There’s no clear evidence of quid pro quo,” Lessig added. “But there wouldn’t be. Nobody is so stupid as to conduct themselves with that explicit structure. Instead, it’s the culture of giving and exchanging in a much more informal way that we clearly know is happening right now.”

Lessig added “Zhao’s Binance left the $2 billion deposited in World Liberty Financial. That money could be earning interest for the Trump’s and their partners of $80 million a year. Also, $2 billion represents most of World Liberty’s deposits.”

In a statement to the Daily Beast, World Liberty Financial spokesman David Wachsman said, “It’s disappointing that a once-respected news program like 60 Minutes would conduct such disgraceful and false reporting."

Wachsman stated there were no conflicts of interest between World Liberty Financial and the U.S. administration. “The independent actions of the President of the United States have nothing to do with the enterprising business of a private DeFi company like WLFI. There has never been any sort of political quid pro quo — nor could there ever be, as there is no connection."

Wachsman said Binance is not an investor in World Liberty Financial.

“The WLFI governance token and USD1, World Liberty Financial’s GENIUS Act-compliant stablecoin, are traded on Binance, but so too are hundreds of competitor tokens. 60 Minutes failed to make clear a simple fact: when MGX selected USD1 as its stablecoin of choice for their historic investment in Binance, they did so because it was the best technology available."

An attorney for Zhao and Binance told 60 Minutes that neither provided “…technical support, personnel, or any other resources...” The Daily Beast has reached out to Binance and Zhao’s attorney for comment.

In a statement to the Daily Beast, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump had exercised his “constitutional authority” by pardoning Zhoa, claiming he had been prosecuted by the Biden administration in their “war on cryptocurrency”.

“In their desire to punish the cryptocurrency industry, the Biden Administration pursued Mr. Zhao despite no allegations of fraud or identifiable victims,” Leavitt said. “The Biden Administration sought to imprison Mr. Zhao for three years, a sentence so outside Sentencing Guidelines that the even the Judge said he had never heard of this in his 30-year career."

“These actions by the Biden Administration severely damaged the United States’ reputation as a global leader in technology and innovation,” she added. “The Biden Administration’s war on crypto is over.”

Zhao, according to a 60 Minutes source, “now controls whether [World Liberty] dies or lives. He has a sword over their head.”

Constitutional scholar Michael Gerhardt, who teaches at the University of North Carolina, said Donald Trump does not have to be involved in his family’s financial deals to know he benefits from them.

“They do not benefit the people of the United States so that makes it a classic example of a conflict of interest the Constitution is designed to prevent,” Gerhardt said.

“He has divided loyalties, he’s got people who have invested in his business he wants to keep happy. But there’s also the additional problem that the president is using his office and the resources of his office in other words our money, federal tax dollars to help promote that business.”

Earlier this month, 60 Minutes interviewed Trump for the first time since CBS’ parent company Paramount agreed to pay the president $16 million to settle a lawsuit. The company has since installed MAGA-curious Bari Weiss as editor in chief of CBS News.

Anchor Norah O’Donnell asked the president if he was “concerned about the appearance of corruption” after pardoning Zhao. The second time O’Donnell asked, along with Trump’s answer, was cut from the final edit, but made available in an online transcript.

“I can’t say, because—I can’t say—I’m not concerned. I don’t—I’d rather not have you ask the question. But I let you ask it. You just came to me and you said, ‘Can I ask another question?’ And I said, yeah. This is the question..." Trump answered.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/60-minutes-exposes-trumps-controversial-changpeng-zhao-pardon/?

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Trump said most Americans would get $2K payments from tariffs revenue. Here's what we know

Trump said “high income” people would not be getting those purported dividends.

On Nov. 9, 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that he would be sending $2,000 to each American except for "high income" earners, through funds obtained from "trillions" of dollars the U.S. has made in tariffs. 

Numerous Snopes readers asked us whether they would be receiving checks soon, including one claim stating such funds would arrive in November 2025. Per screenshots shared with us by a number of readers, Trump said:

People that are against Tariffs are FOOLS! We are now the Richest, Most Respected Country In the World, With Almost No Inflation, and A Record Stock Market Price. 401k's are Highest EVER. We are taking in Trillions of Dollars and will soon begin paying down our ENORMOUS DEBT, $37 Trillion. Record Investment in the USA, plants and factories going up all over the place. A dividend of at least $2000 a person (not including high income people!) will be paid to everyone

https://www.snopes.com/news/2025/11/10/trump-payments-tariffs-revenue/?

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New International Student Enrollment Tanks Under Trump

The government has adopted a stringent policy on student visa revocation.

The number of international students enrolling at American universities has fallen off a cliff amid President Donald Trump’s sprawling immigration crackdown. Nationwide, there were 17 percent fewer new international students matriculating. It comes against a backdrop of mass visa revocations, with the Trump administration rescinding some 8,000 since January 20, The Pie reports. The new data comes from the Institute of International Education, which surveyed 825 colleges nationwide. Overall international enrollment remained steady with a 1 percent drop, but the plummet in new arrivals suggests trouble is on the horizon. The downturn in students arriving in the U.S. for the first time is the biggest seen since COVID, ABC News reports. “Approximately 29 percent of institutions report an increase in new international enrollment, 14 percent indicate stable numbers, and 57 percent note a decrease,” the report said. Despite the worrying outlook and government rhetoric, the report added, “84 percent of U.S. colleges and universities consider international student recruitment a priority.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/new-international-student-enrollment-tanks-under-trump/?

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Judge scolds Justice Department for 'profound investigative missteps' in Comey case

The Justice Department engaged in a “disturbing pattern of profound investigative missteps” in the process of securing an indictment against former FBI Director James Comey, a federal judge ruled Monday in directing prosecutors to produce to defense lawyers all grand jury materials from the case. Read more.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

Supreme Court will review an old policy used to turn away asylum seekers at the US border Hundreds of National Guard troops deployed to Portland and Chicago are being sent home Trump pardons Jan. 6 rioter for gun offense and woman convicted of threatening to shoot FBI agents How chummy is too chummy? Epstein emails shine light on relationships between journalists, sources   🚔 U.S. Border Patrol agents have arrested more than 130 people as their expanded crackdown in Charlotte entered its third day, Axios Charlotte's Alexandria Sands reports. Go deeper.

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Tariff pain goes global

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios There's new evidence of global pain stemming from President Trump's trade policies, Axios' Courtenay Brown reports. 🤕 From Asia to Europe, the economic readjustment to Trump's double-digit tariffs has been bumpy. 🇯🇵 Japan's economy shrank by almost 2% on an annualized basis in the third quarter, its first contraction in over a year. 🇨🇭 Switzerland's GDP in the same period fell by 0.5%, its first quarterly drop since 2023. 🇺🇸 A slowdown in exports to the U.S. was a key drag on both economies. 🇨🇳 A string of bleak readings in China show its economy is on weaker footing than previously known, even as it ramped up trade tensions with Washington. Chinese shipments to the U.S. fell 25% compared to a year ago, and October data suggests Beijing might be struggling to find other markets for its goods. ✂️ What's next: Recent trade agreements have cut tariffs, though they remain notably higher than before Trump took office — a sign that the levies might continue to weigh on the global economy. Go deeper.

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UN approves the Trump administration’s plan for the future of Gaza

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The Trump administration’s blueprint to secure and govern Gaza won strong approval at the United Nations on Monday, a crucial step that provides international support for U.S. efforts to move the devastated territory toward peace following two years of war.

https://apnews.com/article/united-nations-gaza-ceasefire-us-resolution-russia-107e44e276fe04a5365ff6d914545718?

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An About-Face

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Donald Trump is not worried about the Jeffrey Epstein files. Please don’t put in the newspaper that he is worried. In a post yesterday evening, the president wrote: “House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide, and it’s time to move on from this Democrat Hoax perpetrated by Radical Left Lunatics.” He added that “the House Oversight Committee can have whatever they are legally entitled to, I DON’T CARE! All I do care about is that Republicans get BACK ON POINT.”

Which point is that, exactly? Rather than any focused political message, Trump offered a meandering, repetitive list of 11 things, including the economy and affordability (“where we are winning BIG!” Trump wrote). Not long ago, this guy was considered one of the most gifted sloganeers in American political history.

Endorsing the House vote is strange, given that Trump could simply release the files himself, but despite his attempts to downplay it, this is a big concession. Trump has given in only after his repeated attempts to derail the release have failed. In changing course, however, Trump opens himself up to new political risks—and shows why he’s such a terrible political ally for House Republicans.

Until this weekend, the White House had spent the past few months doing everything it could to stifle conversation about the files. In February, it dramatically delivered huge binders of info to several influencers, which turned out to just be information that was previously public. When that didn’t quiet interest, the Justice Department announced in July that there was nothing to see here. Later that month, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche interviewed Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s convicted accomplice in sex crimes, who also assured him that there was nothing to see here. Shortly after that, she was inexplicably moved to a cushier federal prison. (Trump declined on Friday to rule out a pardon for Maxwell.)

As recently as last week, the Trump administration was reportedly convening high-level meetings in the White House Situation Room—including with Blanche, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and FBI Director Kash Patel—to discuss the files. They reportedly summoned Republican Representative Lauren Boebert of Colorado, who supports the files’ release, to discuss her position. The president also instructed the Justice Department to investigate Epstein’s ties to prominent Democrats, but this weak deflection only underscored his own close connections.

Trump’s attempts to twist the arms of Republican representatives flopped—not just with his confirmed GOP frenemy Thomas Massie of Kentucky, but with those whose political identity is almost entirely derived from the MAGA movement and closeness to Trump, such as Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Trump attacked Greene on Friday, calling her “wacky” and promising to support a 2026 primary challenge in Georgia “if the right person runs.” Greene was once considered a possible Trump 2024 running mate; now she’s speaking out about how his rhetoric has inspired bomb and death threats against her. (To be fair, he’s reportedly done worse to an actual running mate.)

Until evidence of Trump’s connections to Epstein became harder to avoid, some people in the administration viewed the Epstein files as a useful political attack—something to wink at but not take seriously. Like the long-awaited GOP replacement to the Affordable Care Act, juicy Epstein revelations were most politically beneficial if they never actually emerged. Thus, Bondi could say that she had the Epstein client list on her desk and then, months later, say that it never existed. Vice President J. D. Vance tweeted in 2021, “Remember when we learned that our wealthiest and most powerful people were connected to a guy who ran a literal child sex trafficking ring? And then that guy died mysteriously in a jail? And now we just don’t talk about it.” Now he just doesn’t talk about it.

When Massie and Democratic Representative Ro Khanna started collecting signatures to force a vote on releasing the files, the White House may have assumed that its political allies didn’t really believe their own talking points about the Epstein files either. But Boebert, Greene, and Nancy Mace signed the petition and couldn’t be bullied to back down. Perhaps Greene, who once dabbled in QAnon, really did believe in a massive conspiracy of pedophiles in power; the Epstein emails don’t exactly quell those concerns. Maybe those who broke with Trump believe that their constituents want the files released. (Poll data show Americans as a whole do.) Whatever their motivations, Republicans who disobey Trump are taking a real political risk.

Then again, so are Republicans who stick with him. Trump asked most rank-and-file Republicans to do him a favor by opposing the release. Massie pointed out last week that this could be an enduring black mark, telling CNN: “What are you gonna do in 2028 and 2030 when you’re in a debate either with a Republican or a Democrat and they say, ‘How can we trust you? You covered up for a pedophile back in 2025.’” Yet by changing his own position, Trump has now hung them out to dry.

Trump being Trump, and politics being politics, this is likely not the last word. Rhetorical support and actual compliance are not the same thing, and Trump left himself some wiggle room by stipulating that he supports the Oversight Committee receiving “whatever they are legally entitled to.” But he does seem to be in a quandary. If he tries to prevent some information from being released, he will lend more credence to claims of a cover-up and extend a story he wishes to cut short. Yet Trump has presumably been so eager to block the release up until now for some reason, even if we can only speculate about what it is; what’s become public so far is already damaging for him, among others. Trump is a bad ally to members of Congress, but he may be hurting himself too.

Related:

• Epstein returns at the worst time for Trump.
• The president who cried hoax