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

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Trump's mortal moment

Photo illustration: Maura Losch/Axios; Photos: Rick Friedman/Corbis via Getty Images, U.S. Department of Justice

It's too early to call President Trump a lame duck. But Congress is ready to clip his wings over the Epstein files, Axios' Marc Caputo reports. Why it matters: Today's expected House vote to release the files — over Trump's initial objections — will mark the first time this term that a GOP-led congressional chamber will so openly defy him. The vote's inevitability led him to change tack, bless the vote — and look the weakest he's been since his inauguration. ? Reality check: Trump isn't a weak president. He wields unprecedented influence in his party, which controls Congress. The GOP base loves him. But today's vote will show that some laws of political physics still apply to the gravity-defying Trump, who's grappling with the karma of setting the mess in motion. "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," Trump posted Sunday on Truth Social, in a rare admission of defeat. Trump said yesterday that "sure" he'll sign the bill if it passes the Senate and reaches his desk: "'I'm all for it." Trump's Sunday statement came only after four Republicans balked at White House pressure and agreed to vote with Democrats to release the Justice Department's investigative files into the convicted sex offender. "We were told it wouldn't make the floor — and then all of a sudden he makes this statement and gives us a hall pass," a House Republican told Axios. "So a lot of us are taking it." The backstory: The Epstein vote, which was preceded by hairline fractures of dissent within the GOP, comes two weeks to the day after Republicans suffered bigger-than-expected election losses in Virginia and New Jersey. The results echoed other elections this year, and reflected polls showing Trump's popularity declining as economic anxiety rises. And the GOP is riven by an internal feud over antisemitism and Israel policy. ? Inside the room: White House staff, veterans of Trump's winning campaign last year, say they're built for the challenges ahead and, like the president, will just power through. But there's a growing recognition in Trump's inner circle that something needs to change. "What we lack is an enemy that unites us and divides them," one Trump adviser said. Said another: "The Trump team has been through worse. We survived. We know we're in this era where everything is accelerated. Just a year ago, we won the presidency, and Congress and Democrats looked finished. Now look where we are. It'll change." A senior administration official said Trump threw in the towel because he realized the Epstein files vote was "a major distraction" that kept Republicans from talking about his tax cuts, immigration policy and peace deals. A top Republican said: "It's more amazing this [Epstein vote] didn't happen sooner ... Only four Republicans defied him at first. If anything, it's like: Wow, this guy has a lot of power still. But he's not all-powerful."

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?️ Mapped: Trump's growing business empire

Data: The Trump Organization. (The Serbia tower project isn't listed on The Trump Organization website, but recently gained political approval.) Map: Erin Davis/Axios Visuals Protests in Serbia last week over a planned Trump Tower in Belgrade were just the latest example of the president's business empire rubbing up against U.S. foreign policy, Axios' Dave Lawler writes. Why it matters: Officially, the president has handed management of his real estate portfolio to his sons. But for some governments around the world, it may be hard to entirely separate President Trump's business from Trump himself. ? Zoom in: Serbia's government passed a law this month to fast-track development of the future Trump Tower Belgrade by an investment firm founded by Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law. The project is backed by strongman President Aleksandar Vučić, who has tried to court Trump while facing mass protests at home. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt denied that Trump or his family engaged "or ever will engage" in conflicts of interest. "The media's continued attempts to fabricate conflicts of interest are irresponsible and reinforce the public's distrust in what they read," she said in response to questions for this story. The Trump Organization did not respond to requests for comment. Zoom out: It's not the first Trump-branded project that's reportedly been expedited by a foreign government during Trump's second term — or the first to face backlash. Work was allowed to begin earlier this year on a massive hotel and golf development outside Hanoi without all the required legal and environmental reviews, while Vietnam was also holding high-stakes trade talks with the Trump administration, according to a New York Times investigation. ? The big picture: Investment funds backed by Gulf states or royals have poured money into Kushner's investment fund and the Trump family's crypto venture, for example. Those countries — the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia — also struck massive deals with the Trump administration for AI chips and arms. Keep reading. ?? Driving the day: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is expected to meet Trump at the White House this morning, Axios' Barak Ravid writes. Trump said yesterday he'll approve the sale of F-35s to Saudi Arabia, making the kingdom the first Middle Eastern country other than Israel to obtain the advanced fighter jets. Go deeper. ps:This is what this person is only interested in! He couldn't really do this as just a citizen of the US, but now that he's potus he can just go against everything the US stands for!! Making our enemies  his friends and our real friends our enemies!!!!!

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⚡ Larry Summers enters Epstein exile

Newly released files on former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers' ties to Jeffrey Epstein prompted him to announce last night that he's "stepping back from public commitments," Axios' Rebecca Falconer writes.

• Why it matters: A trove of emails released by lawmakers last week showed frequent exchanges between Epstein and the former Harvard president — including one in which the late financier called himself Summers' "wing man."

House Republicans released Epstein emails that included back-and-forth messages with Summers from 2013 to 2019, a string of communication that continued until the day before Epstein was arrested, The Harvard Crimson notes.

• The docs — which provided new information on the well-documented relationship between Summers and Epstein — prompted both a senior Trump administration official and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) to demand that businesses and institutions cut ties with Summers.
• Summers is on the board of OpenAI and is still a professor at Harvard.

In a statement first reported by the Financial Times ($), Summers said:

I am deeply ashamed of my actions and recognize the pain they have caused. I take full responsibility for my misguided decision to continue communicating with Mr. Epstein. While continuing to fulfill my teaching obligations, I will be stepping back from public commitments as one part of my broader effort to rebuild trust and repair relationships with the people closest to me.

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?? Scoop: U.S., Russia discuss prisoner swap

Russia and the U.S. have discussed the possibility of conducting another prisoner exchange, Russian special envoy Kirill Dmitriev told Axios' Barak Ravid and Dave Lawler in an interview.

• A U.S. official confirmed that and said the U.S. side was receptive, but cautioned that nothing was imminent.

Why it matters: At least eight Americans are in Russian prisons. Bringing detained Americans home is a priority for President Trump, and a swap could help as the Kremlin seeks to improve relations with his administration despite tensions over Ukraine.

• The potential prisoner swap was one of the issues on the agenda during an Oct. 24-26 visit to the U.S. by Dmitriev, who runs Russia's sovereign wealth fund and has also played a prominent role in diplomacy over Ukraine.

Keep reading.

⚽ Quick visas for World Cup travelers

The Trump administration is announcing a new initiative for foreigners traveling to the U.S. for the World Cup next year that will allow them to get interviews for visas more quickly, AP's Seung Min Kim writes.

• Why it matters: The administration is balancing President Trump's tough-on-migration stance with an influx of global travelers for the soccer tournament.

Dubbed "FIFA Pass," it will allow those who have purchased World Cup tickets through FIFA to get expedited visa appointments.

• Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration has dispatched more than 400 additional consular officers around the world to handle the demand for visas.

Go deeper.

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? Stat du jour: Clinical trial cuts

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

More than 74,000 patients were enrolled in clinical trials interrupted by the Trump administration's termination of federal research grants earlier this year, Axios Vitals co-author Maya Goldman writes from a new study. More than 14% of infectious disease trials had their NIH funding pulled, the highest by far of any focus area, according to the research in JAMA Internal Medicine. About 6% of respiratory illness trials and 5% of cardiovascular trials were also affected. Keep reading.

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Trump, 79, Sends Unhinged Message to Americans Worried About Rising Prices

The president told McDonald’s execs the country would be “bankrupt” without him.

Americans anxious about rising prices have been told by Donald Trump that they are “so damn lucky” he won the 2024 election.

The president used the annual McDonald’s Impact Summit to argue that his administration had tamed the “mess” he inherited from President Joe Biden, and that tariff-driven revenues and White House investment plans had pushed the country toward what he described as “normal inflation.”

“Nobody has done what we’ve done in terms of pricing,” Trump told McDonald’s franchise owners and execs during a rambling speech in Washington, D.C.

“Government jobs were going up. Real jobs were going down. So you would’ve had that catastrophe, and on top of it, instead of 20 trillion coming in, you would’ve had 10 trillion leaving our country.

“In other words, you would’ve had a catastrophe. You probably would’ve had a bankrupt country. You are so damn lucky that I won that election.”

Trump used his appearance at the event to continue his administration’s shift toward affordability messaging after a round of Democratic election wins this month and exit polls showing that voters listed the economy and cost of living among their top concerns.

James Blair, 38, who served as political director for Trump’s 2024 campaign and the RNC, told Politico earlier in November that the president planned to be “very, very focused on prices and cost of living.”

Inflation peaked at 9.1 percent in 2023 under Biden, a four-decade high, before easing to 3 percent by the time of Trump’s second inauguration in January, a level it has now reached again. Trump complained that prices rose so sharply under Biden that Americans “aren’t that happy” even as they ease.

He again boasted that Walmart’s Thanksgiving basket is 25 percent cheaper than last year. An Associated Press fact check says that’s only true because this year’s bundle is smaller and stocked with different products.

Trump also claimed credit for cheaper energy, even though many analysts say the drop in global oil prices can’t be pinned on White House policy.

The president held up stock market gains as “a hell of an indicator,” arguing they prove the economy is strong.

But the speech also came as the administration faces scrutiny over its long-running push to block the release of long-sealed files tied to the late financier Jeffrey Epstein—an effort Trump did not address in his remarks to the McDonalds audience.

Trump has said he would sign a bill to release the files—so long as people stop discussing the disgraced financier and focus on his record as president instead.

The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-79-sends-unhinged-message-to-americans-worried-about-rising-prices-and-the-economy-and-tariffs/?

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Federal immigration agents will expand enforcement action in North Carolina to Raleigh, mayor says Federal immigration authorities will expand their enforcement action in North Carolina to Raleigh as soon as Tuesday, the mayor of the state’s capital city said, while Customs and Border Protection agents continue operating in Charlotte following a weekend that saw arrests of more than 130 people in that city. Read more.

What to know: Mayor Janet Cowell said Monday that she didn’t know how large the operation would be or how long agents would be present. Immigration authorities haven’t spoken about it. The Democrat said in a statement that crime was lower in Raleigh this year compared with last and that public safety was a priority for her and the city council.   The Department of Homeland Security has said it is focusing on North Carolina because of so-called sanctuary policies, which limit cooperation between local authorities and immigration agents.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ FEMA acting chief David Richardson departs after six months on the job   Tennessee judge blocks Trump’s use of National Guard in Memphis but gives time for government appeal   WATCH: Charlotte bakery temporarily closes, owner says immigration agents targeting customers   Granddaughter of ‘Charlotte’s Web’ author upset with use of its title in immigration crackdown   NIH funding cuts have affected over 74,000 people enrolled in experiments, a new report says   EPA moves to limit scope of clean water law to reduce amount of wetlands it covers   Fed’s Cook blasts mortgage fraud allegations against her as ‘baseless’ in letter to AG Bondi   How Trump’s comments about Fuentes and Carlson could prolong a Republican rift over antisemitism   Trump leaves military action against Venezuela on the table but floats possible talks   US has warned others to avoid loans from Chinese state banks. But it’s the biggest recipient of all   Top US admiral says he’s watching China’s rapid naval buildup closely   Critics warn Florida’s new teaching standards rehabilitate aspects of the anti-communist Red Scare   Former Republican lawmaker in Arizona pleads guilty to charges for forging petition signatures   ‘Where did all the staff go?’: Maine restaurant owners blame the housing shortage   Honolulu’s campaign against homelessness is a revolving door of citations and court dismissals   President Donald Trump unveils ‘FIFA Pass’ to help World Cup travelers get their visas faster   Aficionados fret as Trump moves to make pasta great again   White House Historical Association reclaims Rockwell sketches for $7.25 million at auction

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The White House Intervened on Behalf of Accused Sex Trafficker Andrew Tate During a Federal Investigation

Online influencer Andrew Tate, a self-described misogynist who has millions of young male followers, was facing allegations of sex trafficking women in three countries when he and his brother left their home in Romania to visit the United States.

https://www.propublica.org/article/andrew-tate-investigation-dhs-paul-ingrassia?

What the U.S. Government Is Dismissing That Could Seed a Bird Flu Pandemic

Nearly a million chickens packed the barns at Howe’s Hens last Christmas Eve when the first of them tested positive for bird flu. The deadly virus spreads so fast that even if only one hen is infected, farmers are legally obligated to kill all of the others. Massive mounds of carcasses soon appeared outside the Ohio egg farm, covered in compost. 

https://www.propublica.org/article/bird-flu-airborne-usda-pandemic?

A Tale of Two Terms: How Powerful Figures Were Prosecuted in Trump’s First Term, Then Pardoned in His Second

We found that Donald Trump has granted clemency in at least a dozen criminal cases that originated during his first term. No other president has used clemency to erase his own appointees’ actions on such a scale.

https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-pardons-erased-prosecutions-second-term?

What the Trump Administration’s Videos From a Chicago Immigration Raid Don’t Show

The Trump administration’s slick videos of an immigration raid at a Chicago apartment building showed federal agents rappelling from a helicopter, banging down doors and marching out tan-skinned men whose hands were zip-tied behind their backs.

https://www.propublica.org/article/chicago-raid-apartment-building-venezuelans-stories?

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Desperate Trump, 79, Rages at Republican Ruining His Power Grab

The president is pushing the GOP to try to lock in control of the House of the Representatives in next year’s midterms before any votes are cast.

President Donald Trump lashed out at an Indiana lawmaker after the state’s Republican-controlled legislature defied pressure from the White House to redraw the state’s congressional districts. The White House has been pushing Indiana legislators since August to redraw their political maps to favor Republicans in all nine congressional districts, with the goal of helping the GOP pick up two additional House seats in next year’s midterm elections.But Indiana Senate President pro tempore Rodric Bray announced on Friday that the state Senate wouldn’t convene next month to take up the plan because it lacked sufficient support to pass.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he was working with Indiana Gov. Mike Braun to get the maps redrawn, and blamed Bray for the impasse.

“A RINO State Senator, Rodric Bray, who doesn’t care about keeping the Majority in the House in D.C., is the primary problem,” Trump raged. “Soon, he will have a Primary Problem, as will any other politician who supports him in this stupidity.”

Trump and his MAGA movement have long used RINO, or “Republican In Name Only,” as a slur to target old-school conservatives. Bray is not up for re-election until 2028.

The Daily Beast has reached out to his office for comment.

Earlier this week Trump had accused Braun of “not working the way he should to get the necessary Votes.”

Braun called a special session in October to redraw the state maps like Trump asked, and Vice President JD Vance has flown repeatedly to Indiana, which Trump won by 36 points in 2024, to lobby Republican lawmakers.

Eight Indiana state Senate Republicans have nevertheless publicly refused to back the plan.

“The Governor, a good man, must produce on this, or he will be the only Governor, Republican or Democrat, who didn’t,” Trump warned on Tuesday.

So far, Indiana is the only Republican-led state that has refused to join a national redistricting war that Trump started in July, when he called for “just a simple redrawing” of Texas’ already heavily gerrymandered political maps to help the GOP gain five more House seats in 2026.

Earlier this month, California voters approved Prop 50, a measure led by Gov. Gavin Newsom that allows the state to redraw its congressional maps in a bid to offset the five Democratic seat

s now at risk in Texas. Republican lawmakers in Missouri, Ohio, and North Carolina are also trying to redraw their maps, while Democrats are eyeing Illinois, New York, and Maryland as places they could potentially try to make districting gains.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/desperate-donald-trump-79-rages-at-indiana-republican-rodric-bray-ruining-his-power-grab/?

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Testy Trump Lashes Out at Female Reporter Asking About Epstein: ‘Quiet, Piggy!’

The outburst capped several days of testy exchanges over the Epstein files.

President Donald Trump escalated his war with the press, snapping “quiet, piggy” at a female reporter who attempted to ask about the Jeffrey Epstein files during a gaggle aboard Air Force One.

The remark, captured on a White House-released video, shows Trump turning toward an off-camera female reporter and saying, “quiet, quiet, piggy,” while waving a finger in her direction.

CBS News’s Jennifer Jacobs later identified the reporter as being from Bloomberg.

‘Pig’ is sometimes used to imply a woman is unattractive or bothersome. The diminutive “piggy” makes it sound even more infantilizing. It fits in with Trump’s previous gendered insults of women. Trump has variously described television personality Rosie O’Donnell as a “fat pig,” “slob,” and “animal.”

Miss Universe Alicia Machado, who won the title aged 19 while Trump co-owned the organization, has also described how he would aggressively bark at her, sometimes calling her “Miss Piggy.”

“He was overwhelming, I was so scared of him,” Machado said during Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. “He’d yell at me all the time. He’d tell me, ‘You look ugly,’ or ‘You look fat,’ Sometimes he’d play with me and say, ‘Hello, Miss Piggy.’”

The Nov. 14 outburst capped several days of testy exchanges over the Epstein files, a subject Trump has tried—and failed—to dodge as pressure intensifies on his administration to release them. Over the weekend, he repeatedly pushed back on reporters’ questions, even as he publicly shifted positions in real time.

On Sunday, Trump posted on Truth Social that House Republicans should vote to release the files, declaring, “we have nothing to hide” and calling the matter “this Democrat Hoax.” The House is scheduled to vote on Tuesday on whether to release all unclassified documents tied to the Epstein investigation. If the measure clears the Senate, it will land on Trump’s desk.

By Monday, he said he would sign it. Speaking from the Oval Office, he insisted, “We’ll give them everything. Sure. I would let them, let the Senate look at it, let anybody look at it, but don’t talk about it too much, because honestly, I don’t want to take it away from us. It’s really a Democrat problem. The Democrats were Epstein’s friends, all of them, and it’s a hoax.”

On Sunday, at Palm Beach International Airport, a journalist pressed him about Rep. Thomas Massie’s suggestion that a Justice Department probe using the files was merely a White House “smokescreen” to avoid full transparency.

Trump bit back. “Well, I don’t want to talk about it because fake news like you—you’re a terrible reporter—they just keep bringing that up to deflect from the tremendous success of the Trump administration.”

Minutes later, he flared again. Asked about Tucker Carlson’s controversial interview with far-right podcaster Nick Fuentes, Trump snapped at an interrupting reporter. “Will you let me finish my statement? You are the worst—you’re with Bloomberg, right? You are the worst, I don’t even know why they have you.”

The identity of the reporter remains unconfirmed. Mediaite noted it may have been former Bloomberg journalist Jennifer Jacobs, now CBS News’ senior White House reporter.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/testy-trump-lashes-out-at-female-reporter-asking-about-epstein-quiet-piggy/?

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Scathing Poll Reveals What Americans Think Trump Really Knew About Epstein

Despite what he says, Americans don’t seem to agree with the president.

Americans think President Donald Trump knew what convicted child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein was up to, a new poll has revealed.

Trump has long held a position of distance and deference towards the investigative files on Epstein, until November 17, when he finally abandoned his resistance. The disgraced financier died in 2019, and now his former pal has said he would sign a release bill were it to reach his desk. The House of Representatives is expected to vote on the unsealing of the files on Tuesday, November 18.

The new polling data from Morning Consult reveals that most Americans think Trump was in the know about Epstein’s abuses. Only 15 percent of people think the president was totally unaware of his longtime associates’ illegal activities.

It states, “three in five say Trump was at least aware of Epstein’s sexual abuse, including 38 percent who think he participated in it.”

In a tranche of emails released by Democrats in the House Oversight Committee on November 12, various emails between Epstein and his associates referenced Trump directly.

In one, Epstein said, “of course he [Trump] knew about the girls as he asked Ghislaine to stop,” referencing his close ally Ghislaine Maxwell. She is currently serving 20 years in prison for offenses related to aiding and abetting Epstein.

New data from Morning Consult shows Americans’ thoughts on Trump's knowledge. Morning Consult

Conducting the research, Morning Consult said it “summarized the contents” of a key Epstein email, “before asking voters about the extent of Trump’s involvement in the scandal. Just 15 percent of voters say Trump did not know about sexual abuse by Epstein. Another 22 percent percent believe what Epstein’s emails suggest, which is that Trump was aware of what was happening but didn’t participate. Strikingly, a plurality of voters (38 percent) think Trump not only knew about the sexual abuse, but also think he participated.”

Only 29 percent of Republicans surveyed said they thought Trump knew nothing. Meanwhile, 64 percent of Democrats thought he both knew and participated. Overall, 42 percent of Republicans thought he knew to some extent, and 29 percent didn’t know or didn’t have an opinion.

Trump has waged a long and attritional campaign of defense and deflection over the files since taking office. This comes despite calls from all corners of the U.S. and beyond urging him to release them. Doing so also formed an important pillar in his administration’s election campaign.

His resiliency has created fissures in his base and sewn discord among Republican ranks.

In a key break, staunch supporter Marjorie Taylor Greene appears to have split from MAGA ranks for good, in no small part because of his hesitation in releasing the files.

Trump has long denied all wrongdoing in relation to Epstein. The two are known to have been friends but later fell out.

The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.

Agreeing to release the files on November 17, Trump said “Sure, I would,” in response to a question about signing a bill.

“Let the Senate look at it, let anybody look at it,” he continued. “But don’t talk about it too much, because honestly, I don’t want to take it away from us. It’s really a Democrat problem.

“The Democrats were Epstein’s friends and it’s a hoax. The whole thing is a hoax, and I really don’t want it taking away from, really, the greatness of what the Republican Party has accomplished for the last period of time.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/scathing-poll-reveals-what-americans-think-trump-really-knew-about-epstein3/?

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Trump dismisses US intelligence that Saudi prince was likely aware of 2018 killing of journalist

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday dismissed U.S. intelligence findings that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman likely had some culpability in the 2018 killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi as Trump warmly welcomed the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia on his first White House visit in seven years.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-saudi-crown-prince-mbs-505b32527e58d4bd49d5bc917efb4936?

Trump says Christians are being persecuted in Nigeria. The reality is more complicated

President Trump has told defense officials to begin preparing for military action in Nigeria, where he says Christianity faces an “existential threat.” But experts and residents say the violence that has long plagued the West African country isn’t so simply explained. Data shows that while Christians are targeted over faith in some attacks, most victims of overall violence are Muslims. Read more.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

Photos show scenes from Nigeria, where widespread violence affects both Christians and Muslims One of 25 abducted students in Nigeria escapes as the search continues for the missing girls

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Trump says "people didn't like" Khashoggi

President Trump said "a lot of people didn't like" journalist Jamal Khashoggi while answering a reporter's question during a White House meeting today with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), Axios' April Rubin reports.

• Khashoggi's 2018 murder was one reason for tensions between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia during the Biden administration, whose report concluded that MBS approved an order to "capture or kill" the Saudi journalist.

?? Saudi officials rejected that report, calling it a "negative, false and unacceptable assessment."

• Khashoggi became an outspoken critic of MBS after the crown prince began cracking down on dissent.

"You're mentioning somebody that was extremely controversial," Trump said in the Oval Office while responding to a question about Khashoggi from an ABC News reporter.

• "It's really painful to hear anyone losing his life for no real purpose or not in a legal way," MBS said of Khashoggi.
• "And it's been painful for us in Saudi Arabia. We did all the right steps of investigation, et cetera, in Saudi Arabia. And we've improved our system to be sure that nothing happened like that."

Trump said the question "embarrassed" his guest.

• The president called the inquiring reporter a "terrible person," days after he called a female Bloomberg News correspondent a "piggy."

? The Washington Post, where Khashoggi worked, did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.

Go deeper.

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‘Everyone is hunkering down.’ The affordability crisis is rattling mom-and-pop shops

Surging import costs. Mounting payroll and healthcare expenses. A shortage of affordable loans. And a stressed-out workforce. Small businesses are facing mounting pressure from America’s affordability crisis.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/11/18/business/prices-economy-tariff-small-business?

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A Lack of Basic Decency (Roberto Schmidt / Getty)

View in browser “Keep your voice down.” “That’s enough of you.” “Be nice; don’t be threatening.” “There was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever.” “Quiet, piggy.” This is a sampling of what the president of the United States has said to and about female journalists during his time in office—and most recently to Catherine Lucey, a White House correspondent for Bloomberg. On Friday on Air Force One, Lucey asked Donald Trump about the Epstein files. He answered her first question, but when she followed up, the president bent his head down and pointed his finger, the way you might chastise a screaming child or shoo a stray cat. “Quiet. Quiet, piggy,” he said. Lucey had clearly touched a nerve. Two days later, Trump announced that he would endorse the House’s vote on the release of the Epstein files, likely because he knew that the House had the numbers to do so and would go forth with or without his support. But this category of remark is part of a long-running pattern for the president: Trump’s time in American politics has been marked by repeated attempts to insult and demean female journalists. At the start of his first presidential campaign, Megyn Kelly, at the time a Fox News journalist, asked Trump at a primary debate about reports that he had referred to women as “fat pigs,” “dogs,” and “slobs.” Trump didn’t deny the accusation, and instead made a joke about how he said those sorts of things only about Rosie O’Donnell. Later, talking about the debate on CNN, Trump said of Kelly: “There was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever.” And the president has repeatedly insulted Yamiche Alcindor, now a White House correspondent for NBC. At a press briefing about COVID-19 in 2020, Trump replied to her question about his prior statements on governors’ ventilator requests by saying, “That’s why you used to work for the Times and now you work for somebody else … Be nice; don’t be threatening.” The president’s vitriol against those exercising their First Amendment rights is not limited to women. Today, during a White House visit with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the president said of the murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi that “a lot of people didn’t like that gentleman” and that “things happen,” suggesting the journalist may have deserved his killing. (In 2018, Saudi officials lured Khashoggi to Turkey and murdered him, dismembering his body with a bone saw.) At a 2024 campaign rally, he fantasized about shooting journalists. His comments to female reporters, however, have another through line: Why can’t you just be silent like a woman should? Trump has an even longer history of denigrating women more broadly. This is reportedly not the first time that he has used the word piggy to describe a woman. Alicia Machado, the winner of the 1996 Miss Universe pageant, has alleged that Trump once called her “Miss Piggy” and made other demeaning comments about her weight. And the president’s longtime feud with O’Donnell has included much public sexism, including Trump calling her a “big, fat pig” in 2006. (Most recently, the president has floated the prospect of revoking O’Donnell’s American citizenship, a move that legal experts say would be blatantly unconstitutional.) And this is just how Trump talks to women, leaving aside the many credible accusations of sexual abuse and misconduct against him, which he has continued to deny. When asked for comment about Trump’s remarks on Air Force One, a White House official told The Guardian, “This reporter behaved in an inappropriate and unprofessional way towards her colleagues on the plane … If you’re going to give it, you have to be able to take.” The White House did not provide any evidence of inappropriate behavior. “Giving it” is doing one’s job, apparently, and “taking it” is being called a pig by the president for asking him a question. If the president needs a political motive to treat women respectfully in public, he has one. This month’s elections saw high turnout among women supporting Democratic candidates, and evidence suggests that young, highly educated women are becoming more and more disgusted by the MAGA movement. But Americans should also hope that their leaders are guided by basic decency at the very least. “The United States is now a nation run by public servants who behave no better than internet trolls, deflecting criticism with crassness and obscenity,” my colleague Tom Nichols wrote earlier this month. Trump’s sexist comments are an attack on women’s dignity—and by making them, he strips the presidency of its dignity too. Related: Misogyny comes roaring back. Tom Nichols: A confederacy of toddlers

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Trump's secret Ukraine plan

Photo illustration: Maura Kearns/Axios; Photos: Getty Images

The Trump administration has been secretly working in consultation with Russia to draft a new plan to end the war in Ukraine, U.S. and Russian officials tell Axios' Barak Ravid and Dave Lawler. Why it matters: The 28-point U.S. plan is inspired by President Trump's successful push for a deal in Gaza. A top Russian official told Axios he's optimistic about the plan. It's not yet clear how Ukraine and its European backers will feel about it. ? At the same time, Trump has dispatched Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, plus two four-star Army generals, to Kyiv for talks today to revive negotiations on ending the war, The Wall Street Journal reports (gift link). The Pentagon delegation is scheduled to hold discussions with President Volodymyr Zelensky. Driscoll is to meet Russian officials later. "The White House decision to turn to Driscoll and senior military officers is driven in part by the belief that Moscow might be more open to military-brokered negotiations and by frustration that multiple previous attempts have yielded little," The Journal says. A senior administration official said: "The president has been clear that it is time to stop the killing and make a deal to end the war." ?? The draft plan's 28 points fall into four general buckets, sources tell Axios: peace in Ukraine, security guarantees, security in Europe, and future U.S. relations with Russia and Ukraine. It's unclear how the plan approaches contentious issues such as territorial control in eastern Ukraine — where Russian forces have been inching forward, but still control far less land than the Kremlin has demanded. ? Behind the scenes: Trump envoy Steve Witkoff is leading the drafting of the plan and has discussed it extensively with Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev, a U.S. official said. Dmitriev, who runs Russia's sovereign wealth fund and is deeply involved in diplomacy over Ukraine, told Axios on Monday that he spent three days huddled with Witkoff and other members of Trump's team when Dmitriev visited Miami from Oct. 24-26. Dmitriev expressed optimism about the deal's chances of success because, unlike past efforts, "we feel the Russian position is really being heard." ? Zoom in: Dmitriev told Axios the basic idea was to take the principles Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to in Alaska in August and produce a proposal "to address the Ukraine conflict, but also how to restore U.S.-Russia ties [and] address Russia's security concerns." "It's actually a much broader framework, basically saying: How do we really bring, finally, lasting security to Europe, not just Ukraine?" he said. The aim is to produce a written document along those lines before Trump and Putin next meet, according to Dmitriev. What to watch: The White House has started briefing European officials, in addition to the Ukrainians, about the new plan. "We think the timing is good for this plan now," the U.S. official said. "But both parties need to be practical and realistic."

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Deals and pomp as Trump welcomes Saudi crown prince to White House A jovial President Donald Trump held a warm and friendly meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman at the White House, in which he brushed aside questions about Saudi Arabia’s human rights record, praised the prince for his statesmanship and announced hundreds of billions of dollars in new Saudi investment in the U.S. Read more.

What to know: Tuesday’s meeting was the first White House visit for the crown prince since journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed and dismembered at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, in 2018. U.S. intelligence said Prince Mohammad likely approved the slaying. Prince Mohammad was asked about Khashoggi’s slaying along with the role that Saudi citizens played in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the U.S. Trump, however, lashed out at the reporter for the line of questioning. Prince Mohammad, who has denied involvement in Khashoggi’s killing, replied that his government had taken action.   At the dinner Tuesday night, the tuxedo-clad president and first lady Melania Trump welcomed the crown prince on the red carpet again before feting him at a dinner attended by tech titans such as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Tesla founder Elon Musk and Apple CEO Tim Cook, along with golfer Bryson DeChambeau and soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Trump attacks ABC reporter after question about killing of Saudi journalist Khashoggi   What to know about the F-35 fighter jet that Trump is selling to Saudi Arabia   Photos of the crown prince’s White House welcome

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Trump’s congressional gerrymandering push is getting complicated for the GOP Trump broke with more than a century of political tradition in directing the Texas GOP to redraw maps in the middle of the decade to avoid losing control of Congress in next year’s midterms. After a federal court panel struck down Republicans’ new map in Texas on Tuesday, the exercise holds the potential to net Democrats more winnable seats in the House instead. Read more.

What to know: “Trump may have let the genie out of the bottle,” UCLA law professor Rick Hasen said, “but he may not get the wish he’d hoped for.”   When one party moves aggressively to draw lines to help itself win elections, also known as gerrymandering, it runs the risk of pushing its rival party to do the same. That is what Trump ended up doing, spurring California voters to replace their map drawn by a nonpartisan commission with one drawn by Democrats to gain five seats. If a Republican lawsuit fails to block it, that map giving Democrats more winnable seats will remain in effect even if Texas’ effort remains stalled.   Trump’s push has faltered elsewhere. Republicans in Kansas balked at trying to eliminate the state’s lone swing seat, which is held by a Democratic congresswoman. Indiana Republicans also refused to redraw the state map to eliminate two Democratic-leaning congressional seats.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Trump doubles down on redistricting in Indiana even as lawmakers rebuke special session   Democratic state election officials demand answers on Justice Department’s requests for voter data   House reprimands Illinois congressman over succession plan, angering Democrats

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Trump is dismantling the Education Department. Here’s what that means The U.S. Education Department is handing off some of its biggest grant programs to other federal agencies as the Trump administration accelerates its plan to shut down the department. Read more.

What to know: Offices serving the nation’s schools and colleges would go to departments ranging from Labor to Interior. Education officials say the moves won’t affect the money Congress gives states, schools and colleges.   Since taking office, Trump has called for the dismantling of the Education Department, saying it was overrun by liberal thinking. Agency leaders have made plans to parcel out its operations to other departments and in July the Supreme Court upheld mass layoffs that halved the department’s staff.    Opponents have urged against such a shake-up, saying it could disrupt programs supporting some of the nation’s most vulnerable student populations.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Congress acts swiftly to force release of Epstein files, and Trump agrees to sign bill   Who is Clay Higgins, the only House member to vote against releasing the Epstein files?   DHS plans to deploy 250 border agents to Louisiana in major immigration sweep, AP sources say   Pope strongly backs US bishops in blasting Trump immigration crackdown, urges humane treatment   Fear spreads as federal immigration crackdown in North Carolina expands to Raleigh   Judge tosses DOJ lawsuit challenging a New York law barring immigration agents from state courts   NYC’s fiscal chief wants a trial over his immigration protest arrest   For conservative media, New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani quickly becomes attack target   What would have been the most restrictive abortion bill in the US stalls in South Carolina   Florida takes early steps to advance recreational marijuana question to next year’s ballot   Sharp disagreements over economy threaten Federal Reserve interest rate cut   What to know about expanded work requirements about to kick in for SNAP   Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum rejects Trump’s offer of military intervention against cartels   Comey’s lawyers look to persuade judge that prosecution urged by Trump is vindictive, must be tossed   After backlash, Alabama Public Television will keep paying for PBS   Rapper Nicki Minaj calls for protections for Christians in Nigeria at UN event   WATCH: Finland’s president tells the AP that Trump is ‘a pretty good golfer’

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Trump’s Handpicked Epstein Prosecutor Is Tied to Pedo’s Funder

Pam Bondi called Jay Clayton to investigate Epstein for Trump. But is he Epstein-free himself... asks our must-read newsletter The Swamp.

Donald Trump wants to crush The Swamp. The leaks, the sneaks, and the secrets are all there. Our writers, David Gardner, Farrah Tomazin, and Sarah Ewall-Wice, are sifting through the ooze so you don’t have to. Don’t miss out.

Never miss another secret from the D.C. ooze by signing up here to get The Swamp direct to your inbox..

In this week’s news from the ooze: Jamie Dimon, Leon Black, Rudy Giuliani, Jack Smith, Kimberly Guilfoyle, Joan Didion, Allan Kournikova, Jessica Tisch, Isaac Stein, Zohran Mamdani, Larry Summers, Pete Hegseth, Russ Vought, Reid Hoffman, Steven Spielberg, and Olivia Nuzzi.

Black Spot on Epstein Prosecutor’s Resume

If you need another example of why Pam Bondi’s Department of Justice looks less like an independent law enforcement agency and more like a gated cul-de-sac for MAGA allies, fix your gaze on Jay Clayton.

At the behest of a president desperate to deflect the Jeffrey Epstein scandal in any other direction, Bondi handpicked Clayton, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, to investigate Epstein’s links to former President Bill Clinton, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, and former Harvard President Larry Summers.

But Clayton is also the man that Trump and his first-term attorney general Bill Barr tried to shoehorn into the SDNY in 2020, as they sought to push out top prosecutor Geoffrey Berman, who happened to be circling Trump allies like Rudy Giuliani and Steve Bannon at the time.

The mission failed, and Clayton, the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission in Trump’s first term, then found himself luxuriating on the board of Apollo Global Management, courtesy of Apollo founder and Trump ally Leon Black.

Readers of The Swamp might recall that Black was also an Epstein associate who paid the sex offender roughly $170 million, nominally for “tax and estate planning.” While Black has denied knowing anything about Epstein’s industrial-scale sex trafficking, a 2023 settlement with the U.S. Virgin Islands attorney general shows Black admitted that the money he paid Epstein was used, in part, to “fund [Epstein’s] operations.”

The document also shows that Black agreed to pay $62.5 million to the U.S. Virgin Islands in 2023 to be released from any potential claims arising out of the territory’s three-year investigation into those very “operations.”

And just to keep the Trump vibes on brand: in 2018, as Congress probed foreign meddling in the 2016 election, Black testified about traveling with the president to Russia in the “naughty ’90s,” where they hit a concert, a discotheque, and “might have been in a strip club together.”

Now, Bondi has put Clayton, the man Trump desperately wanted to install a few years ago, in charge of “investigating” the Epstein files.

“As with all matters, the Department will pursue this agency with urgency and integrity,” Bondi said this week, four months after issuing a memo insisting there was nothing left to probe.

Mixed Signals for Pentagon Pete

Given the mess they made of the Signalgate chat group debacle, Pete Hegseth and his pals at the Ministry of Bore need to take extra care when using the new app they have selected to avoid inadvertently sending all our military secrets to the North Koreans. Signal’s end-to-end encryption is supposed to keep messages private, and it probably seemed perfect for Hegseth to send his administration buddies (and his wife) details of sensitive military info. Except that The Atlantic’s Editor-in-Chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, was included in the chat. Now we’re told Hegseth has chosen the Convos app for their private conversations. Just as long as they don’t mix up their apps. Also available in the Apple App Store is Couples and Love Games - Convos, which appears to be more about firing up the passions than cosplaying warrior ethos. It is described as a way to “spice up conversations and strengthen relationships.” The Swamp can’t wait to be included in Pentagon Pete’s next chat group.

Kimberly Guilfoyle’s Z Style

The newly-installed U.S. ambassador to Greece is getting right into character in her new job, even if it puts her at odds with her boss. Donald Trump famously wasn’t a fan of Volodymyr Zelensky’s nightclub bouncer garb for their infamous White House meeting. But Ambassador Kimberly Guilfoyle was looking for a more inclusive feel when she mimicked Z’s all black outfit for the Ukrainian leader’s visit to Athens this week. Maybe Kimberly, whose father was raised in Ireland, was going for a different look. Black and tan.

Rolling Stones

It’s been a difficult week for Ryan Lizza. His ex-fiancée,the self-styled modern-day Drone Didion, Olivia Nuzzi, is writing a purple-prose tell-all about her digital fling with RFK Jr. In response, Lizza is setting out his side of the tawdry story on his Telos News substack. (If you’re curious, “telos” is ancient Greek for “purpose.) It’s all quite sordid and sad, but there is some good news for the Lizza family. Ryan’s brother, Frank Lizza, a former owner of the family firm, Intercounty Paving Associates, is coming to the end of a six-month home confinement sentence imposed in July at federal court in Brooklyn for a wage fraud scheme perpetrated on workers for the Lizza construction dynasty.

The Cardboard King’s Back Mar-a-Lago Love-In

Billionaire cardboard king Anthony Pratt is back in Donald Trump’s warm embrace: proof that in Trumpworld, no bridge is too burnt if you’re willing to splash enough cash—and maybe throw a party at Mar-a-Lago. Pratt, who is Australian, held a private shindig at the president’s Florida estate over the weekend, grinning his way through festivities alongside Trump. Perhaps inspired by the YMCA, fellow Australian Keith Urban wowed the crowd with his own rendition of Chappell Roan’s gay anthem, Pink Pony Club. It’s been a while since Pratt, the executive chairman of multinational packaging company Visa, which owns Pratt Industries in the U.S., had been spotted partying at Mar-a-Lago. He used to be an enthusiastic member, who boasted to a Melbourne-based Jewish lobby group in late 2019 that it was a “strategic” play to secure access to Trump. “My membership has given me a seat at the table where the president relaxes socially and mingles with his guests,” he said. “The key thing being a member at Mar-a-Lago has done has been that I see the president a few times a year.” In April 2021, he certainly did see the president—who, according to former Mar-a-Lago employee Ben Butler, told him classified secrets about U.S. and Russian submarines. This indiscretion put Pratt on the radar of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation, which is not exactly the place most billionaires want to find themselves. Trump wasn’t pleased either, calling Pratt a “red-haired weirdo” as he lashed out at the reports about their conversations. Lucky for both men, Smith’s charges against Trump never made it to trial, so the cardboard king avoided being called as a witness and has since bought himself a ticket out of the doghouse with a $5 million pledge to Trump to support American businesses. Consider it the great reconciliation of 2025: Trump gets a rich friend back at Mar-a-Lago, Pratt gets his access restored, and everyone politely pretends Joe Biden’s Department of Justice never asked uncomfortable questions about their chats. In politics as in packaging, it’s all about recycling—especially relationships.

Washington’s Shutdown Side Hustles: From Furloughed to Fired-Up

If there’s one thing a Washington shutdown reliably produces—besides existential dread and unopened emails—it’s a city full of bored, furloughed federal workers discovering their “true passions.” Some re-started their sourdough starter. Others tried their hand at DJing. One worker on Reddit announced he was planning to set up an OnlyFans account. But the breakout star of Shutdown Season was Isaac Stein, an IRS lawyer who turned his unexpected time off into a very different kind of taxing enterprise: hot dogs. While some of his colleagues were waiting to learn their fate from Grim Reaper Russ Vought, Stein was living his side hustle dream: rolling out Shysters Dogs, a hotdog stand on the corner of M and 1st streets in D.C.’s NoMa neighbourhood. The stand, which Stein says “is about bringing the nostalgia of a New York hotdog cart right to downtown D.C.,” quickly drew curious Hill staffers and furloughed feds. Stein’s menu offers two choices: (1) “The Only Choice: Correct Hot Dog and Drink” features a steamed hot dog on a bun served with spicy brown mustard and sauerkraut–no modifications permitted ($10); or (2) “Hot Dog with the Wrong Topping, and Drink which allows modifications ($11). The shutdown may be over, and the IRS lawyer is back at his desk. But the good news is that Stein’s hot dog stand will live on. “I intend to keep the day job and operate Shysters on weekends and some Fridays,” he says. Who knew that career reinvention in Washington would simply require a grill, a permit, a little bureaucratic downtime, and sauerkraut.

Rich Man, Poor Man, Beggar Man, Mayor…

Zohran Mamdani may be looking for a chat with Donald Trump, but he’s not planning to connect with any other rich dudes anytime soon. Jamie Dimon, CEO and chairman of JPMorgan Chase, tried calling Mamdani before the New York mayoral election and left another message after his victory. Nada. Maybe he’ll get a call when New York runs out of cash. Meanwhile, Trump, of course, will talk to anyone. He’s meeting Dimon AND Mamdani.

Police Inquiries

Talking of Mamdani, sources tell The Swamp the mayor is committed to Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch—holder of not one, not two, but three degrees from Harvard and generally reckoned to be doing a bang-up job—but there’s no harm in having a Plan B. Perhaps that’s why his people have reached out quietly to a potential replacement or two to sound them out on their interest…

SPOTTED:

Hollywood heavyweights hit the town in Washington, D.C., over the weekend just as Donald Trump made a short exit for Florida. Producer and director Steven Spielberg made an appearance to receive a 2025 Portrait of a Nation award from the National Portrait Gallery. Among the presenters was actress Claire Danes. Another awardee was Jamie Dimon fresh off a visit to the White House (but not City Hall). He was presented with an award by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

Trump’s Granddaughter, Kournikova’s Brother, and a Difficult Lie

Spare a thought for Kai Trump’s caddy at her disastrous WPGA debut at The ANNIKA in Florida last weekend. The president’s granddaughter, 18, had a tough introduction to big-time golf, coming last in the field. Her caddy was 21-year-old Allan Kournikova, the younger brother of tennis star Anna Kournikova, who is rumored to be Kai’s secret beau. The two grew up together and back in January Allan escorted her to Trump’s inauguration. Kai, daughter of Don Jr. and ex-wife Vanessa (who is now dating golf/sex legend Tiger Woods), put on a brave face after the tournament, but Allan was in a tough position. Did he commiserate with Kai as her boyfriend… or take the blame as her caddy?

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-handpicked-epstein-prosecutors-epstein-ties-and-gay-times-at-m-a-l/?

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Trump’s Anti-Green Agenda Could Lead to 1.3 Million More Climate Deaths. The Poorest Countries Will Be Impacted Most.

New advances in environmental science are providing a detailed understanding of the human costs of the Trump administration’s approach to climate change.

https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-climate-rollbacks-heat-deaths?

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Secret Tape That Could Spin Trump Into Another Cover-Up Scandal

Details of the phone call emerged after Trump defended the Saudi crown prince over the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.

The White House is facing calls to release a “shocking and disturbing” phone call between Donald Trump and the Saudi crown prince at the centre of the gruesome murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

One day after the president insisted Mohammed bin Salman had nothing to do with Khashoggi’s killing, despite U.S. intelligence officials concluding he ordered the hit, a former Trump national security insider has claimed there is explosive evidence to the contrary.

Virginia congressman Eugene Vindman was a National Security Council staffer under the first Trump administration. His work included reviewing certain calls between the president and foreign leaders.

He claims that one phone call he reviewed undercut Trump’s astonishing defense of the crown prince in the Oval Office on Tuesday, when he said of Khashoggi’s murder by Saudi agents: “Things happen.”

“During my tenure on Trump’s White House National Security Council staff, I reviewed many of Trump’s calls with foreign leaders. Of all the calls I reviewed, two stood out as the most problematic,” said Vindman, a retired Army officer who now represents Virginia 7th District. “The first, we all know, was between President Trump and President Zelensky, which resulted in President Trump’s first impeachment. The second was between President Trump and Mohammed bin Salman.

“After the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, I reviewed a call between the president and the Saudi crown prince. The American people and the Khashoggi family deserve to know what was said on that call. If history is any guide, the receipts will be shocking.”

The Daily Beast has asked the White House if it would be prepared to release the transcript, but White House officials have yet to answer.

Seven years after Khashoggi’s murder cast the prince as an international pariah, Trump rolled out the red carpet for Salman on Tuesday, welcoming him with a military flyover, a horse procession, and Saudi flags draped across the White House and South Lawn.

The president also hosted a dinner for the crown prince last night. Guests included Elon Musk, who is back in Trump’s good graces, as well as Saudi-based soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo, Apple chief executive Tim Cook, Nvidia chief Jensen Huang, and billionaire investor Bill Ackman.

But it was Trump’s earlier comments in the Oval Office that stunned Americans, and prompted Vindman to call for the phone call transcript to be released in remarks to the House chamber.

Asked about Khashoggi, who was murdered and dismembered with a bone saw by Saudi agents in 2018, Trump said on Tuesday: “You’re mentioning someone that was extremely controversial. A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about. Whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happen,” he said.

He also said of the prince: “He knew nothing about it and we can leave it at that. You don’t have to embarrass our guest by asking a question like that.”

Khashoggi was longtime Washington Post columnist known for his criticism of the Saudi kingdom. He was assassinated and dismembered at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, 2018, after going there to get paperwork for his upcoming marriage.

But according to veteran reporter Bob Woodward, Trump once bragged about protecting Salman from congressional scrutiny after the killing, which Trump’s own CIA pinned on the crown prince.

“I saved his a--,” Trump is quoted as saying in Woodward’s book, Rage. “I was able to get Congress to leave him alone. I was able to get them to stop.”

The Saudi royal, however, has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and told reporters on Tuesday: “We did all the right steps in terms of investigation, etc. in Saudi Arabia and we’ve improved our system to be sure that nothing happened like that.”

Trump was also forced to defend his family’s business interests in Saudi Arabia, insisting he had no conflicts of interest as president because he had “nothing to do with the family business.”

This week, for instance, the Trump Organization and its Saudi-based development partner, Dar Al Arkan, announced a project allowing cryptocurrency investors to buy into Trump-branded real estate projects.

It also has several Trump-branded projects, while Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, runs a private equity firm that has taken $2 billion from a fund led by the crown prince.

But speaking on CNN on Wednesday morning ahead of Trump and the crown prince attending a Saudi investment forum, Vindman said the call he reviewed was equally disturbing and shocking “in light of the enrichment that the Trump family has received in the ensuing years.”

The call between Trump and the crown prince is believed to have taken place around June 2019. Around the same time, the Trump White House released details of a phone call between the two leaders, in which they discussed escalating tensions between Iran and the U.S.

They also talked about “Saudi Arabia’s critical role in ensuring stability in the Middle East and in the global oil market,” the White House said at the time, but there was no mention of Khashoggi in the readout.

The call is not the only one to come under scrutiny. In a 2019 call, Trump pressed Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, which led to accusations of a quid pro quo—and Trump’s first impeachment.

Vindman’s twin brother Alexander, a decorated combat veteran and former director of European Affairs for the NSC, testified in that impeachment trial.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/secret-tape-that-could-spin-trump-into-another-cover-up-scandal/?

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Fuming Boebert Yells at Fellow Republicans as Bid to Censure Dem Over Epstein Ties Fails

The MAGA loyalist accused her colleagues of cutting a deal with Democrats to spare a member of their own caucus.

Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert was heard yelling at members of her own caucus as they failed to censure a Democratic delegate to the House over her ties to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.Emails released by the House Oversight Committee showed that Stacey Plaskett, a nonvoting delegate representing the U.S. Virgin Islands, had been texting with Epstein while watching the committee’s questioning of Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former attorney and fixer, The Washington Post reported.House Republicans moved to censure Plaskett, whose questions during the 2019 hearing may have been influenced by Epstein, but the effort failed on a 209-214 vote.

Afterward, several Republicans accused their party leadership of cutting a deal with Democrats to stop them from bringing their own measure against Florida GOP Rep. Cory Mills, who has been accused of domestic violence and was the subject of a restraining order last month, according to CNN.

Boebert, 38, could be heard in the chamber lashing out at members of her party for failing to push through the Plaskett censure. “This is why America hates us,” she told them, Wall Street Journal congressional reporter Olivia Beavers wrote on X.

Soon after, Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna tried to raise a question on the floor about “why leadership on both sides, Democrat and Republican, are cutting back-end deals to cover up public corruption in the House of Representatives.”

Boebert called out, “Get it, girl!” as the question was rejected for not following the proper protocols.

Several other Republicans also accused their party leadership of cutting backroom deals.

The censure resolution against Plaskett would have directed the House Ethics Committee to investigate her relationship with Epstein and remove her from the House Intelligence Committee.

It failed after three Republicans joined Democrats in opposing the measure and three registered as “present.”

Boebert had also clashed with Republican leadership last week over her support for a discharge petition that forced a vote on the Epstein files.

House Speaker Mike Johnson refused for months to hold a vote on a bill directing the Department of Justice to release its investigative files on the disgraced financier, who died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

Boebert sided with Democrats and a handful of fellow Republicans and signed a discharge petition that bypassed party leadership and brought the bill to the floor.

This week, it passed both the House and Senate and will now head to President Donald Trump for signing. The president was a close friend of Epstein for more than a decade.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/fuming-lauren-boebert-yells-at-fellow-republicans-as-bid-to-censure-dem-over-epstein-ties-fails/?

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Pope Leo Torches Trump’s ‘Extremely Disrespectful’ Agenda

The Pope stepped up his criticism of the Trump administration’s hardline immigration policies.

Pope Leo XIV has launched a fresh volley at Donald Trump over his administration’s immigration policies.While speaking to reporters at Castel Gandolfo, his papal vacation residence outside Rome, the first American pope doubled down on his criticism of Trump’s mission to root out illegal immigration in the country. He accused the administration of treating foreigners in the U.S. in a way that was “extremely disrespectful.”

Many Catholic advocates have argued that the president’s practices conflict with Christian teaching. The vast majority of those rounded up in the anti-migrant drive—as many as nine out of 10, according to one analysis—have been Catholics from Latin America. America’s Roman Catholic bishops have condemned the Trump administration’s “indiscriminate mass deportation.”

“We have to look for ways of treating people humanely, treating people with the dignity that they have. If people are in the United States illegally, there are ways to treat that. There are courts. There’s a system of justice,” the Pope said.

“No one has said that the United States should have open borders. I think every country has the right to determine who enters, how, and when.”

The Pope added, “when people have lived good lives—many of them for 10, 15, 20 years—treating them in a way that is, to say the least, extremely disrespectful, and with instances of violence, is troubling.”

The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.

Trump has vowed to deport “millions” of immigrants in what he claims will be the largest mass deportation in American history. The Trump administration announced last month it had carried out more than 527,000 deportations so far this year.

“The Trump Administration is on pace to shatter historic records and deport nearly 600,000 illegal aliens by the end of President Donald Trump’s first year since returning to office,” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. “More than 2 million illegal aliens have left the U.S. including 1.6 million who have voluntarily self-deported and over 527,000 deportations.”

The Pope’s latest comments come days after he urged U.S. immigration authorities to allow detained migrants to receive communion.

Responding to reports that migrants held at an Illinois facility were blocked from receiving communion, he called on the Trump administration to respect migrants’ dignity and religious liberty, saying authorities should “allow pastoral workers to assist with the needs of these people.”

Additionally, Trump’s nemesis, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, told NBC Chicago he traveled to the Vatican Wednesday morning for a meeting with the Pope, who is from suburban Chicago where the pair discussed the deportation raids.

“[The Pope] had read about my work in Illinois to stand up for immigrants and he believes strongly that it’s our obligation as human beings to stand up for one another and especially because immigrants are often the most vulnerable,” the governor said.

Trump issued a call last month for Pritzker to be jailed for blocking his administration’s deportation efforts, after which the governor said “I genuinely think there is something wrong with him.”

“I wish that his family would intervene, because I do think he needs mental health help, and I don’t think anybody around him that works for him is going to do that, because they’re benefiting from his failure of mental health, his dementia,” Pritzker said of the 79-year-old. “I wish somebody would help out the president of the United States.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/pope-leo-torches-trumps-extremely-disrespectful-agenda/?

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Migrants thought they were in court for a routine hearing. Instead, it was a deportation trap

The nation's immigration courts have undergone a fundamental change under the administration of President Donald Trump. He pledged to impose hardline immigration policies, an issue that was popular with his voters. In practice, the administration has resorted to unusually aggressive tactics, many of which have played out in immigration courts in the United States. Read more.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

Photos show inside Trump’s takeover of immigration courts Arrests now top 250 in immigration crackdown across North Carolina WATCH: Woman tearfully describes immigration operation in North Carolina   New hurdle in the Comey case as Trump’s Justice Department faces questions about the grand jury process The prosecution of former FBI Director James Comey hit another hurdle Wednesday as the Justice Department acknowledged a possible lapse in how the case was presented to a federal grand jury for indictment. The revelation that the full grand jury did not review a copy of the final indictment in the case is the latest indication of the Justice Department’s seemingly disjointed pursuit of criminal charges against Comey. Read more. RELATED COVERAGE ➤ Harvard opens new probe into ex-president Larry Summers after release of Epstein emails U.S. trade deficit drops 24% in August as Trump’s tariffs reduce imports FACT FOCUS: There’s no proof each strike on alleged drug boats saves 25,000 lives, as Trump claims