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

[phkrause]

Trump and Powell bicker over Fed building renovations as president ratchets up pressure campaign  After months of criticizing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, President Donald Trump took the fight to the Fed’s front door Thursday, publicly scorning the central bank chief over the ballooning costs of a long-planned building project. Powell pushed back, challenging the president’s latest price tag as incorrect. Read more.

Why this matters: Wearing hard hats and grim faces, standing in the middle of the construction project, Trump and Powell addressed the assembled TV cameras. Trump charged that the renovation would cost $3.1 billion, much higher than the Fed’s $2.5 billion figure. Powell, standing next to him, shook his head. The Fed chair, after looking at a paper presented to him by Trump, said the president was including the cost of renovating a separate Fed building, known as the Martin building, that was finished five years ago.   The visit represented a significant ratcheting up of the president’s pressure on Powell to lower borrowing costs, which Trump says would accelerate economic growth and reduce the government’s interest payments. Presidents rarely visit the Fed’s offices, though they are just a few blocks from the White House, an example of the central bank’s independence from day-to-day politics. Trump is likely to be disappointed next week, however, when Fed officials will meet to decide its next steps on interest rates.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Trump signs bill to cancel $9 billion in foreign aid, public broadcasting funding   Supreme Court blocks North Dakota redistricting ruling that would gut key part of Voting Rights Act   Senate Republicans quash Democratic bid to force release of Epstein files   Justice Dept. official meets with Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s imprisoned former girlfriend   Trump signs order to clarify college athletes’ employment status amid NIL chaos   Trump’s order to block ‘woke’ AI in government encourages tech giants to censor their chatbots   Trump administration appeals to Supreme Court to allow $783 million research-funding cuts   Trump’s USDA to scatter half its Washington staff to field offices. Critics see a ploy to cut jobs   Prosecutor who handled high-profile Capitol riot cases sues government over his firing   The Environmental Protection Agency wants to bring back the weed killer dicamba   Trump administration sues New York City over ‘sanctuary city’ policies   US military enters gray area with expanded role at southern border   The White House wants more states to redraw House maps to help GOP. Democrats are readying a fight   GOP House members want to run in other races. Trump is telling them to stay in their seats   Appeals court says California law requiring background checks for ammunition is unconstitutional   Parents seeking religious exemptions to school vaccines win reprieve in a West Virginia county   Judge sanctions lawyers defending Alabama’s prison system for using fake ChatGPT cases in filings   Democratic Gov. Tony Evers won’t seek third term in battleground Wisconsin   Trump is visiting Scotland to open his new golf course, blurring politics and the family's business   Trump offers support to Musk’s car company in a surprising post as Tesla stock plunges

[phkrause]

Trump’s trip to Scotland highlights his complex relationship with his mother’s homeland

TURNBERRY, Scotland (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump ’s trip to Scotland this week will be a homecoming of sorts, but he’s likely to get a mixed reception.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-scotland-mother-ancestry-golf-d31dadc1ef89591b82efaabfdcb2ddde?

Education Department says it will release billions in remaining withheld grant money for schools

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is releasing billions of dollars in withheld grants for schools, the Education Department said Friday, ending weeks of uncertainty for educators around the country who rely on the money for English language instruction, adult literacy, and other programs.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-education-freeze-school-grants-released-gop-f9ac79dd44595fc9d8a3c72609cb5574?

"Finish the job": Trump says Israel must "get rid" of Hamas

President Trump signaled on Friday that after the breakdown in negotiations for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal, he believes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should escalate the war to "get rid" of Hamas.

https://www.axios.com/2025/07/25/trump-gaza-ceasefire-finish-job-hamas?

Trump floats the possibility of tariff rebate checks

President Trump on Friday suggested the government might consider issuing rebate checks to some Americans from the tariff revenue collected this year.

https://www.axios.com/2025/07/25/trump-rebate-check-tariffs?

Judge blocks Trump’s birthright citizenship restrictions in third ruling since high court decision

BOSTON (AP) — A federal judge on Friday blocked the Trump administration from ending birthright citizenship for the children of parents who are in the U.S. illegally, issuing the third court ruling blocking the birthright order nationwide since a key Supreme Court decision in June.

https://apnews.com/article/immigration-birthright-citizenship-trump-3d94d355e1892baab810c9efddd1fd92?

[phkrause]

Trump Hit by Devastating Proof Epstein Birthday Book Is Real

New evidence is causing another headache for the president.

Donald Trump’s efforts to distance himself from Jeffrey Epstein are crumbling, as new reporting offers compelling evidence of a birthday book containing messages to the sex offender.

The president maintains that a letter he was reported to have written to Epstein for his 50th birthday is “fake,” but new photos and descriptions in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal on Thursday suggest the birthday book exists.

Adding to evidence that he wrote a note, Trump was on a contributor list for the 2003 book that included the names of dozens of Epstein acquaintances, according to reports in the two newspapers on Thursday.

According to sources who spoke to the Journal, Epstein’s accomplice and former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, sought help from a number of people, including assistants, to put together the album.

A handwritten letter from Maxwell that introduced the book was highlighted in the Times piece. The letter says, “The idea behind this book was simply to gather stories and old photographs to jog your memory about places, people and different events.”

.

“Some of the letters will definitely achieve their intended goal—some well… you will have to read them to see for yourself,” it said. “I know you will enjoy looking through the book, and I hope you will derive as much pleasure looking through it as I did putting it together for you.”

In addition, Epstein’s brother, Mark Epstein, told the Journal that he recalls Maxwell putting together the book for his brother’s birthday. Mark also contributed to the book, the newspaper noted.

The Times also published what it said was a previously undisclosed photo of Trump with Epstein and singer James Brown.

Trump blasted out a Truth Social rant mentioning Epstein shortly after the reports published on Thursday night, writing that “Radical Left Democrats are doing everything in their power to distract and obfuscate from our GREAT six months of service to America.”

“They have gone absolutely CRAZY, and are playing another Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax but, this time, under the guise of what we will call the Jeffrey Epstein SCAM,” he wrote.

Trump's Truth Social post on Thursday night. Truth Social

Last week, the Journal published bombshell reporting that Trump contributed a racy letter to the 50th birthday album, written in the drawn outline of a naked woman. Trump said the report was “fake,” and subsequently filed a lawsuit against the newspaper and its owner Rupert Murdoch.

“I never wrote a picture in my life. I don’t draw pictures of women,” he said, even though there’s evidence he’s drawn plenty of sketches. “It’s not my language. It’s not my words.”

In its Thursday report, the Journal wrote that Trump was listed under the “Friends” category in the leather-bound book, along with former President Bill Clinton.

A handwritten message from Clinton in the book, according to the Journal, read: “It’s reassuring isn’t it, to have lasted as long, across all the years of learning and knowing, adventures and [illegible word], and also to have your childlike curiosity, the drive to make a difference and the solace of friends.”

Reached for comment, Clinton’s deputy chief of staff, Angel Ureña, referred the Daily Beast to a July 2019 statement stating that the former president “knows nothing about the terrible crimes Jeffrey Epstein pleaded guilty to in Florida some years ago, or those with which he has been recently charged in New York.”

The statement said Clinton took four trips on Epstein’s plane in 2002 and 2003, accompanied by staff and a Secret Service detail, and that he had not spoken to the disgraced financier in “well over a decade.”

According to The Journal, other contributors to the book included Wall Street billionaire Leon Black, fashion designer Vera Wang, media mogul Mort Zuckerman, former Epstein and Trump attorney Alan Dershowitz, and ex-Victoria’s Secret CEO Leslie Wexner.

A lawyer who has represented over 200 victims of Epstein, Brad Edwards, told MSNBC on Wednesday that “multiple” victims had spoken of the book’s existence, and some even helped to compile it. He said Epstein’s estate possesses the book.

Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, said afterwards he planned to subpoena the estate for the book. An attorney for the estate said it would “comply with all lawful process.”

The White House did not immediately return the Daily Beast’s request for comment on the new reporting.

In a statement to the Times, White House communications director Steven Cheung repeated his previous claims that Trump kicked Epstein out of Mar-a-Lago for “being a creep” and that “this is nothing more than a continuation of the fake news stories concocted by the Democrats and the liberal media.”

Cheung issued the same message on Tuesday after CNN published images of Epstein at Trump’s 1993 wedding to Marla Maples, adding further strain to Trump’s efforts to downplay their ties.

Trump’s White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, texted the Journal that it was “writing yet another defamatory story about the President of the United States about an alleged letter they don’t even have because the President never wrote it.”

Epstein turned 50 in 2003, three years before his first arrest. He pleaded guilty in 2008 to state charges, including soliciting prostitution from a minor, and served a lenient 13-month stint in a Palm Beach County jail.

In 2019, he was arrested again and charged with federal sex trafficking crimes. He died in jail while awaiting trial. It was ruled a suicide but led to substantial speculation and conspiracy theories that were stoked by Trump himself. Maxwell was convicted in 2021 and is serving a 20-year prison sentence for conspiring with Epstein to sexually abuse and traffic underage girls.

The president reposted a tweet in 2019 that suggested Bill and Hillary Clinton were involved in Epstein’s death. Trump has for years suggested that shadowy Democratic elites are part of a “deep state” working to undermine him, which has proven to be red meat for his base.

That rhetoric has come back to bite him recently, after he declined to release the so-called “Epstein files” his supporters have been demanding.

Trump and Epstein’s friendship in the ’80s and ’90s was already well reported, but the renewed media scrutiny and furore from his supporters over the files has shone new light on their relationship.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-hit-by-devastating-proof-epstein-birthday-book-is-real/?

[phkrause]

Listen to Trump Deputy AG Yukking It Up With Ghislaine’s Attorney About Epstein

Todd Blanche is meeting Epstein’s pimp face-to-face—but that was hardly his first encounter with her case.

Two years before Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche met with convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell in connection with a scandal that will not die, he and her defense attorney David O. Markus traded stories about surreal moments visiting clients behind bars.

The exchange took place on a June 27, 2023, episode of For the Defense, a podcast hosted by Markus, a 52-year-old Harvard Law School graduate viewed as one of the top criminal defense lawyers in Florida, an acolyte of the legendary Roy Black, who died at 80 on Wednesday.

Blanche is a 50-year-old Brooklyn Law School grad who was then on his way to becoming President Donald Trump’s lead defense lawyer in the porn-star hush-money case and the classified documents case. He could not have imagined he would soon become No. 2 in the U.S. Department of Justice.

In the podcast, Blanche recounted going to the now-shuttered Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in Lower Manhattan on Sunday, July 7, 2019, to visit a client who would change the arc of his professional career. Republican lobbyist and adviser Paul Manafort was being held in section 9 South on state fraud and tax charges, having already been tried on similar federal violations.

“What happened was a very funny story,” Blanche told Markus in the podcast. “I walked in the visiting area, and there’s three rooms when you walk in that, the attorney conference area at the MCC in Lower Manhattan. Glass windows, so the guards can observe what’s happening and they can’t hear, but they can observe. And I walk in, and I see Mr. Manafort right in the middle waiting for me. They had brought him in before I’d arrived. And to the left, when I’m facing him, is Jeffrey Epstein.”

“Sitting there,” Markus remarked. “My God.”

“And he he had just gotten arrested, and he had a bail argument the very next day in front of Judge Berma,” Blanche continued. “And there were two lawyers there visiting with him, presumably getting ready for that argument. And then I looked to the right, and to the right is El Chapo. “

The lawyers laughed.

Blanche continued, “And he was sitting there with, sitting there with his, a woman who was one of his, you, legal team, I don’t know whether she was a lawyer or paralegal. And so I remember thinking to myself, that, and I thought to myself, hundreds times, that this a crazy life, right?”

There was more laughter.

Blanche added, “I mean, I went to night law school, you know, I worked during the day, you know, [and] here I am, sitting in in this prison on a Sunday morning. My wife went to Little Italy to wait for me so we could have lunch afterwards. And then I see El Chapo. And then I see Mr. Epstein. And then I see Paul Manafort.”

Markus marveled, “What a crazy story. And it’s true. Like, people don’t realize how surreal are our job is and what we do. Just being in the jail with Manafort himself was probably surreal enough, and then you have Epstein and El Chapo booking you. It’s nuts.”

Markus then offered a tale of his own.

“I don’t think I’ve told this story before on the podcast, but, I represented Ghislaine Maxwell on appeal for her bail, and I went and visited her once at MDC (Metropolitan Detention Center) in Brooklyn,” he began. “That jail’s also insane and highly secure and awful for reasons we can discuss it another time. But you know, I went on a weekend also and got in there, and because of what happened with Epstein, there was a crew that followed Ghislaine around wherever she went with a camera, 24/7.”

Epstein committed suicide in his cell at the MCC a month and three days after Blanche saw him. Prison officials were apparently seeking to ensure she did not suffer the same fate.

“They had a handheld camera,” Markus continued. “Even when I was meeting with her in the little room, they sat outside the room with a camera.. I had never experienced anything like it, and it was surreal... These stories are one of the reasons I like doing this podcast, is because I get to speak with people like you who have these incredible, surreal stories.”

The two lawyers had a shared story to top them all on Thursday. Deputy Attorney General Blanche arrived at the U.S. Attorney’s office in Tallahassee, Florida, to meet with Markus and his client, Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year term after her conviction for sex trafficking. She likely knows all the secrets and may be seeking to parlay them into a presidential pardon.

Blanche said nothing to the press as he entered with a security detail. Markus paused for a moment on the sidewalk outside.

“We’re looking forward to a productive day,” he said.

Afterward, Markus said the meeting had indeed been “productive.” He reported that his client “answered all the questions truthfully, honestly and to the best of her ability.” He did not say what the questions were or why anybody should believe her after her many lies.

Markus and Maxwell were expected to be back on Friday for what Blanche posted on X would be a second day of interviews.

“The Department of Justice will share additional information about what we learned at the appropriate time,” Blanche wrote.

Maybe we will hear it on a future podcast.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-deputy-ag-probing-ghislaine-yukked-it-up-with-her-attorney/?

[phkrause]

Republicans Send Bondi a Dire Warning Over Her Epstein Calamity

The attorney general is reportedly running out of time to find a way out of the scandal for President Trump.

President Donald Trump may have gotten himself into the Jeffrey Epstein mess, but Attorney General Pam Bondi needs to get him out of it—and fast, some House Republicans have warned.

The attorney general has become the poster child for MAGA anger over the administration’s failure to produce new revelations in the case of the disgraced financier, who is said to have killed himself in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

But Bondi is stuck between a rock and a hard place, as she tries to satisfy MAGA’s thirst for new Epstein dirt without implicating her boss in the scandal.

Trump and Epstein were good friends for years, and Bondi told Trump in May that his name appears repeatedly in the files that his base is calling for him to release.

Republicans are nevertheless pinning the debacle on her and demanding that she find a way to fix it, according to a new report from Politico.

“She has very little time to turn this around,” a House Republican told the outlet.

A second added, “She is in for a rough September at the very least,” after lawmakers return from the August recess.

The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House and Department of Justice for comment.

The scandal represents something of an existential crisis for MAGA, whose members have long believed the Epstein case ended prematurely due to a “deep state” cover-up designed to protect his rich and powerful associates.

For years, Trump has stoked the deep state conspiracy theory and vowed to root out its members.

He appointed two Epstein truthers—Kash Patel and Dan Bongino—to the lead the FBI, and in February, Bondi said during a Fox News interview that a list of Epstein’s powerful clients was sitting on her desk for her to review.

But instead of releasing the Epstein files, the FBI and the DOJ concluded earlier this month that there was no client list, and that Epstein had died by suicide and not by murder, as many MAGA faithful believe.

Bondi’s Fox News interview has made her an easy scapegoat.

“I think she, from pillar to post, handled this thing so badly and bizarrely,” a senior House GOP aide told Politico. “It was tough to watch the whole thing. We were just like ‘What the f--- are they doing over there.’”

Bondi has tried to save face by asking the courts in Florida and New York—where Epstein was prosecuted—to release the grand jury testimony in the case.

But critics immediately pointed out that effort was likely doomed to fail, and that even if it did succeed, the information revealed would be limited in scope.

The DOJ also sent Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, Trump’s former personal attorney, to meet with Epstein’s accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, 63, who is serving a 20-year jail sentence after being convicted in 2021 of luring and grooming young girls for Epstein.

Despite those efforts, House Speaker Mike Johnson has demanded “transparency,” and told CBS on Thursday that there are “good questions” about how Bondi’s DOJ has handled the situation.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/republicans-send-pam-bondi-a-dire-warning-over-her-jeffrey-epstein-calamity/?

[phkrause]

Schumer Explodes at Trump Sending His Trial Lawyer to Interview Ghislaine Maxwell: ‘Stinks of High Corruption’

Top Democrat torches Todd Blanche’s prison sit-down with Jeffrey Epstein’s accomplice and gloats about an “Epstein Recess.”

Chuck Schumer blasted Donald Trump for sending his “personal lawyer” to interview Ghislaine Maxwell in prison in what he described as a clear “conflict of interest.”

“Sending Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Todd Blanche, to interview Ghislaine Maxwell while she’s in prison, a woman who’s been convicted of abusing people, to offer some kind of corrupt deal so that she can exonerate Donald Trump just stinks of high corruption,” the Senate minority leader said in a video posted on X.

Blanche was appointed deputy attorney general in March, serving under Attorney General Pam Bondi, but he is most famous for having served as Trump’s lead counsel in his criminal case a year earlier.

The 50-year-old lawyer traveled to the Federal Correctional Institution Tallahassee on Thursday and spoke with Maxwell for several hours, in a meeting that was widely criticized on social media.

In his own post on X Thursday, Blanche confirmed the meeting and announced a follow-up session: “Today, I met with Ghislaine Maxwell, and I will continue my interview of her tomorrow. The Department of Justice will share additional information about what we learned at the appropriate time.”

Maxwell, 63, is serving a 20-year sentence for trafficking under-age girls for Jeffrey Epstein. The social links between her and Epstein with Trump continue to dog the president.

Blanche did not disclose what was discussed during the six-hour meeting.

However, Maxwell was said to have “answered every single question” during Thursday’s interview with Blanche, according to her lawyer David Markus. “She answered all questions and did not take the Fifth,” he added.

Amazingly, it appears to be the first time Maxwell—who declined to testify at her trial in 2021—has ever been formaly interviewed about the Epstein case.

Jonathan Turley, a leading legal commentator and professor at the George Washington University Law School, wrote on X that he had recently spoken with Maxwell’s counsel, Leah Saffian, and she “surprisingly maintained that neither state nor federal investigators ever interviewed Maxwell.

He added: “That struck me as curious in a scandal involving a myriad of state and federal investigations. If so, she may have new information.”

Within minutes of Schumer’s first tweet, the 74-year-old fired off a second, aimed at House Republicans, who had just departed Washington for their August break.

“It’s the first day of House Republicans fleeing town for their Epstein Recess. They high-tailed it out of here hoping to hide the story. But the story is growing louder by the hour with Trump and the administration’s lies.”

The House’s early getaway heightened Democratic accusations of a Republican Trump-Epstein cover-up.

The Justice Department declined to comment to the Daily Beast.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/schumer-explodes-at-trump-sending-his-trial-lawyer-to-interview-ghislaine-maxwell-stinks-of-high-corruption/?

[phkrause]

Musk Immediately Throws Trump’s Suck Up Attempt Back in His Face

The president had said he wants the Tesla CEO to “THRIVE.”

Elon Musk rejected a peace offering from Donald Trump after the president revealed he was not planning to “destroy” the Tesla CEO’s empire.

In the midst of an on-again, off-again, explosive public feud that culminated in Musk dropping the bomb that “Donald Trump is in the Epstein files,” the president threw out a surprise olive branch.

“I want Elon, and all businesses within our Country, to THRIVE, in fact, THRIVE like never before!” he wrote on Truth Social on Thursday.

The post was being seen as an effort to find a truce between Trump and one-time close ally Musk, whose relationship has spectacularly broken down.

Trump also spoke about not taking away “the large scale subsidies he [Musk] receives from the U.S. Government.”

Musk, who stepped down from a role in Trump’s administration overseeing the Department of Government Efficiency, wasn’t buying it. He responded to Trump’s post by taking it apart bit by bit.

“The ‘subsidies’ he’s talking about simply do not exist. DJT has already removed or put an expiry date on all sustainable energy support while leaving massive oil & gas subsidies untouched,” he said, referring to Trump by his initials.

That appeared to be a reference to the fact that Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” has scrapped the $7,500 federal EV tax credit that benefited Tesla.

Musk moved on to his other company, SpaceX, which he said “won the NASA contracts by doing a better job for less money.”

“Moving those contracts to other aerospace companies would leave astronauts stranded and taxpayers on the hook for twice as much!” Musk contended.

Musk also sarcastically clapped back against Trump’s promise not to “destroy Elon Musk’s companies.”

In response to a tweet about the news, he wrote: “Phew.”

In June, Trump publicly warned that axing Musk’s contracts would save the country billions of dollars.

“The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts,” he said.

Just weeks earlier, Musk asserted on X that Trump “is in the Epstein files” and said that was “the real reason they have not been made public.” He later deleted the post.

Damning new reports suggest that Attorney General Pam Bondi informed Trump in May that his name appears in the documents—reports the White House has dismissed as “fake news.”

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

https://www.thedailybeast.com/musk-immediately-throws-trumps-suck-up-attempt-back-in-his-face/?

[phkrause]

JD Vance Weighs in With Telling Post on Trump’s Epstein Mess

The vice president traded barbs with MSNBC’s Chris Hayes over damning new reporting.

JD Vance is weaving a tangled web as he attempts to defend Donald Trump over the relentless Jeffrey Epstein saga.

The vice president waded in again on Thursday after The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times published damning reports about a birthday book for Epstein that Trump was said to have contributed to. The Times published the introductory letter of the book from Ghislaine Maxwell and said Trump’s name appeared on a list of names of people who had participated in the collection.

Last week, The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump had signed a cryptic letter to Epstein for the book, written in the outline of a naked woman. At the time, Vance called the story “complete and utter bulls--t” and complained that the newspaper never showed them a copy of the alleged letter.

Following the new reporting on Thursday, MSNBC host Chris Hayes tagged Vance in two posts on X with links to the articles.

 “Ok so circling back here, @JDVance,” Hayes wrote. “The contention is that the book is entirely fake? Or Trump being a contributor is fake, or all that is real but someone created a totally fake Trump letter and stuck it in the real book?”

Vance hit back about an hour and a half later. Notably, he didn’t explicitly deny if the book or letter were real, saying instead he had “no idea” if they exist.

“The contention--which is pretty clear if you just read what I said--is that it’s bogus for the WSJ to publish a hit piece without showing us the letter,” he wrote.“I have no idea if the book exists--WSJ won’t show it to us,” he wrote. “I have no idea if the letter exists--WSJ won’t show it to us. What I find absurd is the idea that Donald Trump was writing poems to Epstein, and I find it equally absurd that a major American paper would attack the President of the United States without revealing the basis for the attack.”

He did not acknowledge that the Times had published a copy of Maxwell’s letter introducing the book—the very sort of evidence he’s complaining has not been produced.

“We all know what’s going to happen. They’re going to dribble little details out for days or weeks in an effort to assassinate the president’s character,” Vance continued. “They won’t show us this book or allow us to refute it until they’ve wrung every bit of fake news out of the story. And everyone will just move on from the fact that the WSJ is acting like a Democrat SuperPAC. It’s disgraceful, and it’s why the president sued.”

Trump has filed a defamation lawsuit against the Journal and its owner, conservative media titan Rupert Murdoch, over last week’s story, which he said was “fake.”

The note reportedly included Trump’s name scribbled to look like pubic hair below the woman’s waist and was signed off: “Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret."

The president lashed out on Truth Social shortly after the two new reports were published on Thursday, claiming Democrats were pushing a “Jeffrey Epstein SCAM” to undermine his presidency.

While Democrats have called for more transparency on Epstein, Trump’s own supporters have been among the most vocal complainants.

The Journal‘s latest reporting includes a message from former President Bill Clinton to Epstein for the same book.

That’s something the president would normally pounce on. He’s amplified plenty of conspiracy theories surrounding Clinton, including a 2019 suggestion that the Democrat, who had known ties to Epstein, was involved in the financier’s death while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

“So this is probably fake too, right @JDVance?” Hayes posted, sharing the report about Clinton’s birthday message. “The whole thing made up? Or maybe just the Trump part? I’m losing the thread a little, I gotta say.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/jd-vance-weighs-in-with-telling-post-on-trumps-epstein-mess/?

[phkrause]

Trump Loses It Over Epstein Drama Moments After New Revelations Surface

The president is not happy that people are speculating about his relationship with a convicted pedophile.

President Donald Trump has called the persistent controversy around his connection to Jeffrey Epstein a “scam.”

In a Truth Social post on Thursday, the president claimed it was the “Radical Left Democrats” who were trying to distract from his political achievements by focusing on the mysterious Epstein files.

Trump has been attempting to distract from links to his one-time friend Epstein, which keep resurfacing. Last week, he raged against a Wall Street Journal report that claimed he had sent a letter to Epstein for his 50th birthday that allegedly included the line “May every day be another wonderful secret.”

An angry Trump fired off a string of Truth Social posts, in which he called the letter “fake” and announced he was filing a $10 billion lawsuit against the publication., which is owned by another sometime friend, Rupert Murdoch.

After a flurry of Truth Social posts about trade deals, AI, and the death of Hulk Hogan on Thursday night, Trump once again waded into the Epstein debate, recycling some of his favorite catchphrases.

He posted, “The Radical Left Democrats are doing everything in their power to distract and obfuscate from our GREAT six months of service to America, results of which many are saying is the BEST six months in Presidential history.”

The president continued, “They have gone absolutely CRAZY, and are playing another Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax but, this time, under the guise of what we will call the Jeffrey Epstein SCAM.”

Trump then addressed Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who visited Epstein’s associate Ghislaine Maxwell in prison on Thursday, where she is serving a 20-year sentence after being convicted in 2021 of recruiting underage girls for the sex trafficker.

Blanche revealed on X that he will meet with Maxwell again on Friday and said, “The Department of Justice will share additional information about what we learned at the appropriate time.”

In his Truth Social post, which followed Blanche’s post, Trump said, “As things are revealed and, I hope will take place quickly, you will see that it is yet another Democrat CON JOB. Hopefully, the Grand Jury Files will put an end to this HOAX. Everyone should see what is there, but people who are innocent should not be hurt. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

Trump has spent the week dodging the topic of Epstein, which has even seen some MAGA supporters turn against him.

On Tuesday, when the president was asked about the Department of Justice meeting with Maxwell, he told reporters, “I don’t really follow that too much.” He then deflected from further Epstein questions by mentioning an alleged plot by Barack Obama to rig the 2016 election.

Later that day, Trump posted on Truth Social, “We had the Greatest Six Months of any President in the History of our Country, and all the Fake News wants to talk about is the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax!”

When the Journal reported on Wednesday that Attorney General Pam Bondi had told Trump back in May that his name featured in the Epstein files several times, the president let White House communications director Steven Cheung respond for him.

“This is another fake news story, just like the previous story by the Wall Street Journal,” Cheung stated.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-loses-it-over-epstein-drama-moments-after-new-revelations-surface/?

[phkrause]

Ghislaine Maxwell Didn’t Plead the Fifth During Six-Hour DOJ Grilling: Lawyer

Deputy AG Todd Blanche grilled Maxwell for six hours on Thursday.

Ghislaine Maxwell met with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche on Thursday, and her lawyer said she answered “every single question” Blanche asked her.

“Productive meeting today with the Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and Ghislaine Maxwell,” Maxwell’s attorney David Markus said outside the U.S. Courthouse in Tallahassee.

Markus went on to say that Maxwell, a British socialite turned Jeffrey Epstein associate and convicted sex offender, “answered all the questions” from the DOJ official.

“She never invoked a privilege. She never declined to answer. She answered all the questions truthfully, honestly, and to the best of her ability,” Markus said.

In a statement to the Daily Beast, Markus confirmed that Maxwell, 63, did not plead the Fifth Amendment during her meeting with Blanche.

“She answered all questions and did not take the 5th. I have no other comment.”

Blanche, who previously served as President Trump’s personal lawyer during his criminal cases, did not answer questions from reporters after the six-hour-long courthouse meeting.

“Today, I met with Ghislaine Maxwell, and I will continue my interview of her tomorrow,” Blanche later posted on X. “The Department of Justice will share additional information about what we learned at the appropriate time.”

The meeting between Blanche and Maxwell comes after a rapid acceleration in action from the Justice Department, which announced earlier this week that the meeting would take place “in the coming days” and followed through on Thursday.

It is unknown what exactly Blanche asked Maxwell. She is currently serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking.

The decision to send Blanche to meet with Maxwell has been widely interpreted as an attempt to appease President Trump’s supporters, who have been calling for the release of the Epstein files.

In the past week, Trump has been buffeted by Epstein-related headlines—from a Wall Street Journal report that he sent Epstein a racy birthday card in 2003 to the emergence of more old photos of the two men together.

Trump’s Naked Girl Gift and ‘Secret’ Epstein Note Revealed‘A PAL IS A WONDERFUL THING’

Cameron Adams

Yesterday, the House Oversight Committee issued a subpoena ordering Maxwell to testify to members of the committee from her prison in Florida. She will be deposed on August 11.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/ghislaine-maxwell-didnt-plead-the-fifth-during-six-hour-doj-meeting-lawyer/?

[phkrause]

Trump Admits He Can Pardon Ghislaine—Risking MAGA Meltdown

The president said he is “allowed” to pardon Jeffrey Epstein’s partner Ghislaine Maxwell, but he hadn’t thought about it.

President Donald Trump signaled he could consider pardoning Jeffrey Epstein’s partner Ghislaine Maxwell, a move that would enrage his MAGA base.

The president said he had not considered pardoning Maxwell, who was convicted for sex-trafficking in connection to Epstein, but he could.

The president made the comments when asked directly about the possibility of a pardon on Friday while departing the White House for Scotland.

“It’s something I haven’t thought about,” Trump said. “I’m allowed to do it, but it’s something I have not thought about.”

Trump’s head-turning response came as his former personal attorney, turned Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche was meeting with Maxwell this week in Florida.

The Justice Department announced he would sit down with the late disgraced financier’s accomplice to find out what she knows as it tried to quell the fallout over not releasing the files.

He indicated that the Justice Department would share what it has learned at an “appropriate time.”

Maxwell’s lawyer David Oscar Markus said that his client answered every questions Blanche asked her and will continue to do so.

“We are grateful that the government is trying to uncover the truth,” Markus said.

The British socialite was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2022 after being found guilty by a jury of child sex-trafficking.

She was accused of facilitating and participating in Epstein’s abuse of teenage girls for a decade.

Maxwell has appealed her case to the Supreme Court as her lawyers have argued her conviction is invalid because of a non-prosecution and plea agreement made with Epstein in 2007.

Even as Trump indicated he does have the ability to pardon Maxwell, the Justice Department has urged the country’s highest court to reject her appeal.

The president was visibly frustrated on Friday with being asked about Epstein as he headed out of town, but members of his own MAGA base have been demanding answers.

Trump insisted he had nothing to do with Epstein and began scapegoating others, despite a series of damaging recent reports on Trump’s relationship with the convicted sex offender before he ran for office.

“You should focus on Bill Clinton, you should focus on… the former president of Harvard,“ the president said. ”You should focus on some of the hedge fund guys - I’ll give you a list.”

“These guys lived with Jeffrey Epstein. I sure as hell didn’t,” Trump added.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-faces-maga-meltdown-over-maxwell-pardon-admission/?

[phkrause]

The Sick Truths Hiding in Plain Sight in Epstein’s Palm Beach Home

Police footage from inside Jeffrey Epstein’s Palm Beach mansion reveals dark secrets—and dubious decor.

As House Republicans flee D.C. to avoid voting to release the FBI’s files on Jeffrey Epstein, let’s revisit evidence from his previous arrest in 2005 which led to a guilty plea on charges of soliciting prostitution from a minor. At that time, Palm Beach police raided Epstein’s home and videotaped the lavish but poorly decorated premises.The tape subsequently found its way into the closing arguments of the trial of Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell. She was found guilty in 2021 of five sex trafficking charges, including the sex trafficking of a minor and the transportation of a minor to participate in illegal sex acts. Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence.

Epstein died by suicide while in jail in 2019. His Palm Beach home, where so many girls were abused and assaulted, no longer stands today. Even its address has been changed. But the almost half-hour recording of the police walkthrough remains viewable courtesy of The Palm Beach Post.

The grainy footage offers a sense of Epstein’s daily life: his taste for Evian bottled water, art featuring the female form and framed photographs of himself and those in his social circle. (Sadly, the faces of his companions in those photos have been blurred.) Many have noted the sex toys and naked photographs found in the residence, but a rewatch offered a few revelations based on recent findings.

1. Shhhhh.

Sticks of ‘Secret’ brand deodorant can be seen peeking out from trays of toiletries in two bathrooms, including one off the master suite. Maybe that’s what Donald Trump meant when he signed a page in Epstein’s 50th birthday book: “And may every day be another wonderful secret.”

2. A page from the birthday book?

Palm Beach Police

The Wall Street Journal has reported that, in 2003, Maxwell pulled together a birthday book for Epstein—filled with celebratory notes from his pals. Trump allegedly contributed a drawing of a naked woman, and used his signature to connote pubic hair.

The framed drawing above hangs in the master suite’s walk-in closet—could it also be a birthday gift? The police video doesn’t include a static shot of the piece as a whole, but the bottom half appears to feature a sketch of a baby on one side and a skull on the other with a slash between them signaling the midpoint of life, which could be a 50th birthday? “Tempus fugit” (time flies) is written below, along with two quotes: “A friend may well be reckoned the masterpiece of nature” by Ralph Waldo Emerson and “Live long and prosper,” attributed to Star Trek character Spoock (sic).

Above the drawing is a long note that is illegible. A few words can be made out, however, including “remember when….” The note appears to be signed, but that signature is also unclear.

3. Another mystery?

Why did Epstein have professional dentist equipment in his home? Well, Prince Andrew reportedly spent weeks at the Palm Beach mansion where he received massages… and perhaps some much-needed dental care?

4. One’s a saint, the other’s in hell.

Despite the blurring, there’s no mistaking who Epstein and Maxwell are greeting in this photo in the blue frame:

It’s Pope John Paul II, who died in 2005 and was sainted in 2014. Later, two priests came forward to claim that when John Paul II was an archbishop in Poland, he concealed the sexual abuse of children by priests. Only Maxwell could spill what these three discussed that day, but will she do so? Cutting a deal with a saint would be even more beneficial than cutting a deal with a president.

5. A tragic guest room tableau.

The saddest still-life on a beside table features a TV remote, a teddy bear, some sort of ornamental obelisk and a box of tissues.

6. And a tragic lack of cake.

On the counter in the pantry off the kitchen stood an empty cake plate.

7. Here’s the view from Epstein’s toilet.

If you were hoping to purchase the piece of art that Jeffrey Epstein stared at when sitting on the toilet in the master bath, well tough luck. It sold last year at auction for $8,500, with no care taken to hide its provenance.

8. And a room with a (fake) view.

A guest room facing the back of the house’s lot still gets a window with an ocean view. Two windows, in fact, courtesy of these twee beachside scenes. Similar pieces can be purchased at Bed, Bath & Beyond.

9. A cute area rug can really cheer up a room.

If this little fish rug in a guest bedroom could talk… it would probably scream.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-damning-video-evidence-which-proved-ghislaines-guilt/?

[phkrause]

DIRTY DOZEN: The 12 Friends of Donald Trump Accused of Sex Crimes

Trump’s tangled ties to a cast of alleged sexual predators—spanning financiers, fixers, musical stars, and politicians—risk detonating anew as his supporters demand answers he can’t or won’t give.

Donald Trump’s long-standing relationship with the late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein has dragged him into a bitter feud with his MAGA base that refuses to go away—and threatens to blow up his second term as president.

His refusal to release the Epstein files, which his supporters believed would be thrown open if he were re-elected, has led to renewed scrutiny of just how close Trump and Epstein were during a friendship that lasted for years.

The details remain murky, but Jeffrey Epstein certainly isn’t the only friend of Trump who faced allegations of sexual offenses. They include those who have received decades-long prison sentences for the most heinous crimes, some against children.

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

1. Jeffrey Epstein

Trump’s links to Epstein go way back, and their friendship continues to haunt and embarrass the president. Trump and the convicted financier socialized for years in New York and at Mar-a-Lago. An infamous video shows the two partying and joking around together at Trump’s home and beach club in 1992.

In 2008, Epstein was jailed for 18 months after pleading guilty to soliciting sex from girls as young as 14. In 2019, he was indicted for child sex trafficking in the early 2000s and was facing 45 years in prison before he killed himself in his jail cell in August that year.

2. Ghislaine Maxwell

Rarely away from Epstein’s side, Maxwell also regularly socialized with Trump, and the trio were pictured together in 2000. Following Maxwell’s 2020 arrest, for which she was subsequently convicted on five counts of child-sex-trafficking and abuse, Trump said: “I wish her well.”

The daughter of deceased fraudster and media proprietor Robert Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence amid talk that she may give evidence about Epstein’s clients.

3. Leon Black

Trump’s long-time New York donor attended the president’s fundraisers and shared advisers tied to his Mar-a-Lago circle. The billionaire’s son, Benjamin, was nominated by Trump to run the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation earlier this year.

This was despite Black having admitted in 2019 that he had maintained a lucrative advisory relationship with Epstein—paying the disgraced financier about $158 million between 2012 and 2017 for tax and estate-planning help that reportedly saved Black more than $1.3 billion.

A settlement agreement reached with the U.S. Virgin Islands revealed that Black bankrolled Epstein. Black paid the territory $62.5 million to end any claims from its three-year sex-trafficking investigation, but he has denied any misconduct in Epstein’s crimes, saying he “deeply regrets” their connection.

Separately, however, Black has faced multiple sexual-misconduct claims—some linked to Epstein’s properties. A July 2023 lawsuit contends Black raped a 16-year-old girl with Down Syndrome in Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse—an allegation Black vehemently denies.

Cheri Pierson accused him of a 2002 rape, also in Epstein’s New York home, but the single mom dropped her case in 2024 after Black’s attorney, Susan Estrich, called her claims “categorically false and part of a scheme to extort money from Mr. Black by threatening to destroy his reputation.”

Model Guzel Ganieva also alleged years of abuse, in a suit later dismissed. The billionaire said Ganieva’s allegations were part of an intricate extortion racket, branded her a Russian spy, and alleged her lawyers schemed to “harm and humiliate him.”

Although the civil actions have produced a flurry of suits and countersuits, none have resulted in a judgment against Black to date. He denies the allegations.

4. John Casablancas

Trump judged talent agent Casablancas’s 1991 Elite “Look of the Year” model contest at the Plaza Hotel. Later renamed Elite Model Look, it promised a $150,000 contract to its winner, but The Guardian alleged in 2020 that the pageant had allowed Casablancas and others involved in the competition to proposition and even rape young contestants.

Casablancas, who died aged 70 in 2013, faced repeated accusations of sexual relationships with 14- and 15-year-old models, and a 2002 civil suit alleging he impregnated a 15-year-old, although the Los Angeles County Superior Court threw this out because Casablancas was not a California resident. His lawyer insisted that the allegation was without merit.

Trump, then dating future wife Marla Maples, was never accused of any such misconduct. But The Guardian said his deep involvement in the pageant continues to prompt awkward questions, including whether he realized Casablancas and others were sleeping with contestants, and why a 40-something real-estate mogul would bankroll a beauty competition for teenage girls in the first place.

Each later downplayed—and, in the case of Trump, denied—any lasting closeness, yet their alliance continues to hamper Trump’s reputation. The president’s representatives told The Guardian in 2020 that Trump, “hardly knew” Casablancas, spent very little time with him, and knew very little about him.

5. George Nader

Trump worked with Nader—his informal Middle East adviser—despite him having a documented history of serious child sexual offenses, which saw him serve six months in a U.S. prison after a 1991 guilty plea in Virginia for transporting child pornography. A Czech court also convicted him in 2003 of sexually abusing boys, leading to a year in jail before his expulsion from the country.

Regardless, according to current and former officials, Nader helped transition Trump’s White House staff into their first term. As a well‑connected regional fixer, he was said to have joined senior Trump aides at a December 2016 New York meeting with Abu Dhabi’s crown prince, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al‑Nahyan.

Four years later, in 2020, Nader pleaded guilty to child sex trafficking and possession of child abuse images.

6. Matt Gaetz

Gaetz was one of Trump’s most loyal House allies as the U.S. representative for Florida’s 1st congressional district from 2017 until his resignation in 2024. Trump picked him to be his Attorney General and hosted him repeatedly at the White House, until he was forced to withdraw amid congressional investigations into allegations against him.

Trump continued to champion him despite a DOJ probe between 2021 and 2023 into Gaetz allegedly paying for sex with a 17-year-old and interstate trafficking. In a report issued in December 2024, the House Ethics Committee said it had uncovered evidence that Gaetz did pay for sex—including with the 17-year-old—and used illegal drugs during his time in Congress, but concluded there was insufficient proof that his conduct met the federal definition of sex trafficking. Gaetz denies the allegations.

7. Robert Morris

The Gateway Church televangelist pastor hosted Trump’s 2020 Dallas roundtable and served on Trump’s faith-advisory team. He resigned from the church in 2024 after being publicly accused of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl in the 1980s.

He admitted the attacks but denied having sex with the child. “When I was in my early twenties, I was involved in inappropriate sexual behavior with a young lady in a home where I was staying,” Morris told The Christian Post.

In a 2014 sermon, Morris admitted to being “sexually immoral” in his youth.

In March this year, the Oklahoma attorney general was reported to have secured a grand-jury indictment charging Morris with five felony counts of lewd or indecent acts to a child, which could see him face as long as 20 years in prison on each count after he surrendered and posted bond.

8. Ted Nugent

The guitarist, singer, songwriter, and political activist dined in the Oval Office with Trump in April 2017 and has campaigned for him at rallies. This is despite Nugent’s 1981 song “Jailbait” describing having sex with a 13-year-old girl, and his admitting in a 1998 VH1 documentary Behind the Music—apparently one of two episodes ever to have a viewer warning—to having sexual relations with underage girls on multiple occasions.

“I was addicted to girls. It was hopeless. It was beautiful,” he said, adding, “I got the stamp of approval of their parents. I guess they figured better Ted Nugent than some drug-infested punk in high school.”

Musician Courtney Love also claimed, on The Howard Stern Show in 2013, that she performed oral sex on Nugent when she was 14, and that there was a line of young girls waiting to engage in sexual acts. Nugent has never responded directly to Love’s allegation.

He did, though, later claim on his YouTube channel, “I wasn’t a sex offender, I’ve never been a sex offender. I’m not all those things that the cancel culture freaks...claim I was. They are just drunk on hate and lies. It’s just hysterical.”

9. Roy Cohn

Trump’s mentor in the 1970s and ‘80s, the deceased lawyer, helped the president beat an infamous DOJ racial discrimination suit. Cohn, played by Jeremy Strong in the movie The Apprentice, described himself as Trump’s best friend.

A 2019 documentary alleged that Cohn procured underage male prostitutes for Studio 54 and private parties. Several of Cohn’s former clients made the extraordinary claim that Cohn had managed to stay out of trouble partly because he possessed compromising photographs of FBI director J. Edgar Hoover.

10. Sean “Diddy” Combs

Combs was acquitted of sex trafficking and racketeering at a federal trial in New York earlier this month, but the jury found the rapper guilty on two counts of “transportation to engage in prostitution” for his infamous “freak-off” parties.

Previously known as P. Diddy, Combs remains in custody while awaiting sentencing, which is set for early October. Each count carries a maximum 10-year sentence. Prior to his arrest, Combs was repeatedly photographed socializing with Donald and Melania Trump on the New York and Palm Beach charity circuits.

11. Vince McMahon

McMahon co-starred with Trump in WWE’s 2007 “Battle of the Billionaires” and has long been a loyal Trump backer. He and estranged wife, Linda, together poured $9 million into the Trump Foundation in 2007 and 2009, and Linda added another $6 million to a pro-Trump super PAC ahead of his first term. Linda now serves as Secretary of Education in Trump’s Cabinet.

But the wrestling svengali resigned from WWE in January 2024 after a lawsuit filed by ex-employee Janel Grant alleged sexual harassment and trafficking. Grant’s 67-page complaint paints a grim picture of her time at the organization. She says McMahon dangled her job in exchange for sex, greeting her in his underwear, groping her, and lingering for “hours” while sharing intimate details of his life.

Once on the payroll, Grant alleges McMahon and then–talent relations chief John Laurinaitis twice assaulted her “while colleagues were busy at their desks,” even locking her in a room at WWE headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut, in June 2021 to take turns assaulting her.

McMahon is also accused of trafficking Grant to other men, forcing her to perform sex acts “on demand,” and circulating nude photos of her. In one 2020 text cited in the suit, McMahon allegedly boasted, “She may scream and try to say NO!! although it would B difficult to say anything with a c--- down her throat.” Another reads: “I’m the only one who owns U and controls who I want to f--- U.”

A McMahon spokesperson called the filing “replete with lies” and vowed he would “vigorously defend himself.” In February this year, Manhattan prosecutors shelved a case for allegedly covering up the various sexual misconduct allegations a day before Linda was due at her Senate confirmation hearing.

12. Roy Moore

Trump nominated Roy Moore as the GOP candidate for Alabama’s 2017 special Senate race to replace Jeff Sessions, but nine women came forward to say that Moore—the former Alabama Supreme Court chief justice—had pursued or assaulted them when they were teenagers or young adults.

Three of the women alleged sexual assault, two of them when they were under 18 and he was in his 30s. Moore denied any misconduct—initially admitting that he recognized two accusers, then later claiming he knew none of the women—and was never prosecuted for any offenses.

He refused to exit the race even after Republican leaders such as John McCain, Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan, and Mitch McConnell urged him to withdraw. Trump, however, accepted his denials and backed Moore, which allowed him to stay in the race, where he lost the deep red state to Democrat Doug Jones.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-dirty-dozen-12-friends-of-donald-trump-accused-of-sex-crimes-including-vince-mcmahon-and-p-diddy/?

[phkrause]

Trump's Gaza crisis

Palestinians crowd around a charity food kitchen in Khan Yunis, Gaza. Photo: Hani Alshaer/Anadolu via Getty Images "We need to do some serious rethinking," a visibly frustrated Secretary of State Marco Rubio told hostage families yesterday after the latest round of Gaza talks broke down, two people who attended the meeting tell Axios' Barak Ravid. Why it matters: Six months into his presidency, President Trump is no closer to ending the war in Gaza. The humanitarian crisis is worse than ever, negotiations are deadlocked, and the U.S. and Israel are increasingly isolated internationally. The big picture: Trump campaigned on ending the war and bringing the hostages home. As the violence drags on — and images of starving Palestinians are shared all over the world — cracks are emerging in the MAGA base over Trump's support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's maximalist war strategy. This week's breakdown in talks — which came after Hamas refused to accept the latest ceasefire terms and Israel withdrew its negotiators in protest — could be a turning point for U.S. policy. Driving the news: Trump signaled yesterday that it's time for Israel to further escalate the war to "get rid" of Hamas and "finish the job." Israeli officials weren't sure whether that was a negotiating tactic or a genuine change of course from Trump — a "green light" for Netanyahu to use even more extreme military measures. "It's terrible what happened with Hamas. Tapping everybody along. We'll see what happens. We'll see what response Israel has to that. But it is getting to be that time," Trump told reporters. State of play: The humanitarian situation in Gaza has reached its worst point since the start of the war, with at least 122 Palestinians dying of starvation in recent weeks, according to the health ministry in Hamas-controlled Gaza. Nearly all Western leaders have been urging Israel with increasing desperation to stop the fighting and allow in more aid — making Trump's "finish the job" message all the more jarring by contrast. "The humanitarian catastrophe that we are witnessing in Gaza must end now," France, Germany and the U.K. said in a joint statement yesterday. "Withholding essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population is unacceptable." Zoom in: Over the past six months, Trump has essentially given Netanyahu a free hand to do whatever he wants in Gaza — from military operations, to hostage negotiations, to the distribution of humanitarian aid. While White House officials say Trump is genuinely disturbed by the killing of Palestinians and wants the war to end, he has applied virtually no pressure on Netanyahu, according to Israeli officials. "In most calls and meetings, Trump told Bibi, 'Do what you have to do in Gaza.' In some cases he even encouraged Netanyahu to go harder on Hamas," one Israeli official told Axios. Keep reading.

[phkrause]

✏️ Trump ignites chain reaction

Data: Axios research. Map: Jacque Schrag/Axios The Trump White House is plowing ahead with an extraordinary effort to redraw congressional maps ahead of the midterms, Axios' Alex Isenstadt and Megan Stringer write. Democrats, led by California Gov. Gavin Newsom, are trying to fight back. Why it matters: Redistricting for partisan advantage is nothing new, but it's usually done after the census every 10 years. Trump is aiming to game the system by doing it well before 2030. "Why the f**k are we responding and reacting to the other side instead of taking offense on these things?" potential Texas Senate candidate Beto O'Rourke asked Democrats this week. But going on offense is easier said than done: Democrats would need a court order or special election in most states where they could try to draw more favorable maps. ?️ The big picture: Republicans are hoping to pick off more than a half-dozen Democratic-held seats in the House — more than enough to decide the majority in the narrowly divided chamber. In Texas, Trump has encouraged Republicans to embark on a redistricting project that he's said could net the party as many as five seats. In Ohio, which is required by law to redraw its House map before 2026, party strategists believe they can gain two or three seats. In Missouri, Republicans believe they can pick up another seat. ? Between the lines: The White House has no bigger priority in the midterms than keeping the House. Should Democrats seize the lower chamber, it could paralyze Trump's legislative agenda for his final two years in office and potentially lead to him getting impeached.

[phkrause]

⚔️ Murdoch's double-edged sword

Rupert Murdoch's media empire is playing both sides of the Trump-Epstein scandal, breaking bombshell news with one hand and largely ignoring it with the other, Axios' Sara Fischer writes.

• Why it matters: The Wall Street Journal's scoop about President Trump's alleged birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein drew massive attention — just not on Fox News.

? The divergence underscores how Murdoch's dual media arms serve different audiences, but the same bottom line.

• Shares of News Corp, the Journal's parent company, have more than doubled in value since Trump first took office in 2017.
• Shares of Fox Corp., the Fox News parent company that began trading independently in 2019 after Disney acquired 21st Century Fox, have surged 39%.

⚡ Between the lines: Trump is suing Murdoch and the Journal over the Epstein report, and he's expressed frustration that the conservative media mogul wasn't able to kill the story.

• But there seems to be little the president can do to stop one of the most unique and successful business strategies in media.

The Trump administration still relies heavily on Fox News to message to its conservative base, and there are few regulatory levers the president can pull to retaliate.

• Keep reading ...

[phkrause]

? Maxwell gets "limited immunity"

Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell was granted "limited immunity" by the Justice Department to answer questions about the child sex trafficking ring that led to her 20-year prison sentence, ABC News reports.

• Proffer agreements are standard practice for cooperators in criminal cases. Maxwell, who is currently appealing her conviction, spoke to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche for about nine hours over two days.

President Trump told reporters before flying to Scotland yesterday that he "hadn't thought" about pardoning Maxwell, but noted that he would be "allowed to do it."

• Trump suggested that the 50th birthday letter he allegedly signed for Epstein was a forgery, and denied reports that Attorney General Pam Bondi briefed him about his name appearing in the Epstein files.

?? European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will meet with Trump during his four-day trip to Scotland in a last-ditch effort to secure a trade deal for the EU, with 30% reciprocal tariffs looming on Aug. 1.

[phkrause]

? New overnight: Trump threatens Harris

Screenshot via Truth Social President Trump lashed out at his political opponents in a series of late-night Truth Social posts, widening his grievance campaign as pressure mounts over his handling of the Epstein files. Trump's newest target: Former Vice President Kamala Harris, whom he baselessly accused of paying for celebrity endorsements from Beyoncé, Oprah and Al Sharpton in 2024. ? Between the lines: Trump's calls to prosecute former Obama officials for "treason" have set off a scramble inside the Justice Department to satisfy the president without committing to a tit-for-tat political investigation, the N.Y. Times reports (gift link). ps:What are we afraid of?? He won the election!! But yet still afraid of VP Harris or just trying to get people off of his back!!!!!

[phkrause]

?️ Meddler-in-chief

Illustration: Maura Losch/Axios

If you're a leader of a major company in the U.S., President Trump may decide to meddle in your business, Axios' Emily Peck and Eleanor Hawkins report. Why it matters: "I've known three generations of CEOs. This is the toughest administration to work with," says Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a professor at the Yale School of Management. ? Zoom in: Trump has made a habit of front-running corporate announcements or forcing the hand of America's largest companies, whether on social media or through sweeping proclamations and executive orders. He declared (but overstated) the arrival of cane-sugar Coca-Cola, demanded the Washington Commanders change their name, and took credit for Apple's re-shoring announcement. Between the lines: There's a growing belief that negotiations with the administration don't hinge on business imperatives, but are instead "all about quid pro quo," said a senior consultant who asked to be anonymous because they represent multiple companies at the White House. ? Here's what works — and what doesn't — when it comes to dealing with the president, according to business leaders. Don't lash out. Companies are a lot more careful about being publicly critical of this administration. Meet privately. The savviest CEOs "don't humiliate Trump, they talk with him privately," says Sonnenfeld. Also helpful: Saying nice things about the president publicly.

[phkrause]

It’s a year of rapid change, except when it comes to Trump’s approval numbers, AP-NORC polling finds

WASHINGTON (AP) — Eric Hildenbrand has noticed prices continue to rise this year, even with President Donald Trump in the White House. He doesn’t blame Trump, his choice for president in 2024, but says Gov. Gavin Newsom and other Democrats who control his home state, California, are at fault.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-approval-polling-favorability-presidential-approval-poll-f7eee34a49d2db7670577f4491e1caf0?

Trump’s demand for Washington NFL team name change ignores years of psychological data, experts say

President Donald Trump is threatening to hold up a new stadium deal if Washington’s NFL team did not restore its name to a racial slur, despite decades of psychological research showing the negative mental health impacts of Native American mascots.

https://apnews.com/article/washington-commanders-trump-73f3f59ad00c34b2ee92cec9b247525c?

[phkrause]

Trump's trade sweep

In the Trump-dominated global economy, the U.S. gets plenty but gives nothing in return, Axios' Courtenay Brown writes.

• Why it matters: This is the reality of the asymmetric trade deals touted by the White House, which show how far foreign leaders will go to safeguard access to the U.S. market.

?️ The big picture: President Trump's deals with Europe — announced yesterday — and Japan include provisions in which they agreed to drop their tariff rates to zero, promised eye-popping investments in the U.S., and opened markets to American producers.

• In return, Japan and the EU countries get some assurance on their tariff rate — both 15% — even if it puts their industries at a disadvantage.
• Trump's announcement of the U.S.-EU deal yesterday afternoon at his golf resort in Scotland came mere days before the White House was set to impose 30% levies on European goods.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the deal would bring the stability and predictability that global businesses need.

• She did not say what the U.S. conceded in the agreement when asked by a reporter.

Between the lines: In return for that balance, Europe "gets no trade war," former U.S. ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland tells Axios.

• It slims the odds of U.S. consumers shunning European goods, which could have been taxed at an even higher rate.
• "Without our market, very few industries would survive," Sondland says. "No one fully valued how much leverage our market creates when it comes to trade negotiations until Trump."

? What to watch: The big unknown is how the asymmetric trade deals ultimately benefit the U.S.

• Opening markets benefits domestic producers only if foreigners are willing to buy — not always a sure thing, as with U.S. cars in Japan.
• Investments promised by the EU and Japan will likely materialize over an extended period.

[phkrause]

Judge blocks Trump administration's efforts to defund Planned Parenthood

A federal judge on Monday ruled Planned Parenthood clinics nationwide must continue to be reimbursed for Medicaid funding as the nation’s largest abortion provider fights President Donald Trump’s administration over efforts to defund the organization in his signature tax legislation. Read More.

Trump says he's shortening the 50-day deadline for Russia to end the war in Ukraine

U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday he is giving Russian President Vladimir Putin 10 to 12 days to stop the killing in Ukraine, shortening a 50-day deadline he had given the Russian leader two weeks ago. Read More.

[phkrause]

?️ Trump's Epstein leads

President Trump made Jeffrey Epstein-related headlines out of a televised meeting with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer today about trade and Gaza.

• Trump said he won't rule out pardoning convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, who was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison in 2022.
• He said he never had "the privilege" of traveling to convicted sex offender Epstein's island, Little St. James, emphasizing he "did turn it down."

?️ The big picture: Even as Trump has tried to distract from the Epstein saga, it's dominated headlines and consumed all three branches of government.

• He's become "increasingly frustrated" with his administration's handling of the anger around the Justice Department's decision not to release the Epstein files, The Washington Post reports.
• "His exasperation follows weeks of missteps and no clear strategy among top officials who underestimated the outrage, especially from the president's base, and hoped the country would forget about the unreleased Epstein files and move on," The Post reports, citing a dozen sources close to the situation.

⚖️ The intrigue: Maxwell pressed ahead with an appeal to the Supreme Court today, seeking to overturn her conviction on the grounds that she was unlawfully prosecuted for sex trafficking minors with Epstein, Axios' Marc Caputo reports.

• The filing by Maxwell comes just three days after she met with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, Trump's former personal attorney tapped to re-examine the Epstein case.

Go deeper: Why Ghislaine Maxwell is suddenly at the center of the Epstein case

 

? President Trump said he'll shorten the 50-day deadline for Russian President Vladimir Putin to agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine or face heavy sanctions. Go deeper.

• Trump also disagreed with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's claim that there is no starvation in Gaza and called for more food aid.

?️ Trump asked a judge to quickly depose billionaire Rupert Murdoch in his defamation lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal over its Epstein report, Reuters reports.

SNAP changes

President Donald Trump’s megabill makes the largest cuts to food stamps in the program’s 86-year history, jeopardizing assistance for more than 42 million people. Large chains like Walmart, Kroger and Dollar General can absorb the impact — but small, independent grocers will be hit hard.

[phkrause]

? Scoop: Heritage's new honcho

Heritage Action has enlisted Tiffany Justice, a co-founder of Moms for Liberty, to serve as executive vice president, we have learned.

Why it matters: Justice is bringing her grassroots organizing skills to unite the conservative movement around the Trump agenda.

• ? It's also a signal that Heritage Action, the political arm of the Heritage Foundation, will be more focused ahead of the 2026 midterms on parental rights and education reform — two issues that GOP strategists are convinced helped Trump expand his coalition and recapture the White House.
• In 2021, Justice co-founded Moms for Liberty, which is "dedicated to empowering parents to advocate effectively for their children at school board meetings and across all levels of government," according to its website.
• "Tiffany Justice is a force of nature, and her leadership comes at a critical moment when effective advocacy is essential," said Kevin Roberts, the president of Heritage Action and the Heritage Foundation.

Zoom out: Heritage Action, founded in 2010 to fight Obama's health care plans, was one of the first groups to run ads boosting Trump's Cabinet nominees.

• In December, it launched a $1 million campaign to persuade potentially wobbly Republicans to back Trump's picks.
• ? The ads targeted Thune's home state of South Dakota in addition to eight other states with GOP senators.

— Hans Nichols

[phkrause]

? Trump's "devil in the details" deals

Illustration: Lindsey Bailey/Axios

Trump's "announce first, details later" approach to trade deals has caught some global leaders off guard and led to contradictions about the billions of dollars the administration says foreign nations have pledged, Axios Macro co-author Courtenay Brown writes. Why it matters: These are not traditional, word-heavy trade deals with text agreed to by all negotiators. Zoom in: News of deals comes via flashy announcements with big numbers and little specificity, leaving global investors wondering about the frameworks' durability. ?? Europe: The White House says aluminum, steel and other metals imported from Europe would be subject to a 50% tariff, not the 15% agreed to in the deal announced Sunday. But European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that metal levies "would be cut." ?? Japan: Trump said the Japanese committed to investing $550 billion in America, with the U.S. keeping 90% of the profits. But Japan's top negotiator Ryosei Akazawa said the nation will invest — at most — 2% of that sum. The rest will come in the form of loans. ?? Vietnam: Trump announced a U.S.-Vietnam trade deal, in which the nation would be subject to a tariff rate of 20%. Vietnamese officials have acknowledged the existence of a deal, though not the specific terms. Reality check: An administration official says the trade frameworks settle what the White House sees as the biggest points of contention. The finer details are being hashed out, the official adds — noting that complete bilateral trade agreements aren't realistic given the short time frame.