'Crazy post': White House buried in mockery over 'tone deaf' clip of Trump meeting kids

The White House shared a short video clip of President Donald Trump interacting with young children as the Jeffrey Epstein scandal returns to center stage in U.S. politics.

The House will vote on a procedural measure to compel the Department of Justice to release files related to the investigation of Epstein's sex trafficking network, and lawmakers issued a trove of emails obtained from the late financier's estate that show multiple messages relating to the president.

Trump communications advisor Margo Martin recorded and shared a short video clip of the president offering challenge coins to and introducing himself to journalist Salena Zito’s four grandchildren.

“She said yes — she’s smart," Trump says after handing a coin to the younger girl. “She’s so cute.”

The president then offers a coin to the youngest boy, who walks over to him seated at the Resolute Desk.

"You've got a lot of Italian blood in you," he tells the boy.

Trump is told the boy wants to know his name, and he says, "My name is Donald."

The White House then shared Martin's clip on its official X account, with the caption "the best president." Many social media users questioned the timing.

"Crazy work posting this today," said X user Boston Smalls.

"Tone deaf," cringed researcher Shaiel Ben-Ephraim.

"Oh look, it's that pedophile who is currently blocking the release of a list of other pedophiles," posted the X account TakedownMRAs.

"Are these kids in safe hands ????" asked widely followed X user Sardar Shafqat Ali Khan.

"Kinda wild that the whole point of this tweet was to say 'look he’s with kids and he’s not trying to f--- them!!'" said podcaster Kyle Kulinski.

"Whoever is running this account is either an idiot or hates Trump with passion lmao," added streamer Dean Withers.

"Whoever runs this page hates him so bad omg," agreed X user Planet Clarke.


Trump warnings to NYC knocked down by real estate CEOs: 'No one is calling moving trucks'

President Donald Trump claims New Yorkers will flee his hometown after the election of Zohran Mamdani as mayor, but that hasn't happened so far.

Two of the city’s top commercial real estate executives told CNBC that leasing activity and new building investments have not dried up since it became clear the self-described Democratic Socialist would win the Nov. 5 election weeks ago.

“New York City is back,” said Scott Rechler, CEO of RXR Realty. “The people who work here, live here, they feel the energy, they have the conviction, and they have every right. In our business right now, we are seeing CEO after CEO committing to the city. We’re seeing a record level of leasing in office buildings, and it’s not just for next year – it’s for 2028, 2030, 2032."

Bill Rudin, co-executive chairman of Rudin Management, told CNBC his company expects to hit over 40 million square feet in commercial office leases signed by the end of the year, and customers haven't expressed any misgivings about the city's incoming administration.

“Companies are growing here,” Rudin said. “We haven’t seen any diminishment in meetings with brokerage firms. People keep saying, ‘any impact?’ No one has put their pencils down. No one is calling the moving trucks. Companies are expanding and taking space."

Ken Griffin of Citadel Securities, an outspoken conservative hedge fund manager, is partnering with Rudin, Steve Ross and Vornado Realty on construction of a new 2 million square-foot office building at 350 Park Avenue, and while the plans started before Mamdani shot to the lead in the mayor's race, they have no intention of delaying the project and recently filed for a building permit.

“[Griffin] is moving ahead and very excited about it and very much involved in the design and development of the project," Rudin said. "How’s that?”

Both Rudin and Rechler have met personally with Mamdani and came away impressed, and Rechler noted that New York's governor Kathy Hochul has significant authority over the city's finances and would likely cool the mayor-elect's "tax the rich" rhetoric.

“At the end of the day, the governor has the veto pen on taxes,” Rechler said, "and I had breakfast with her yesterday and she said income taxes won’t be raised under her watch.”

'Affordability is a lie!' Trump goes on social media spree as Epstein vote moves forward

President Donald Trump spent Friday morning melting down on social media after White House advisers made clear a House vote on Jeffrey Epstein was "inevitable."

A senior White House official told CNN that "it was made clear to President Trump" a vote on releasing the Epstein files was "an inevitable reality," and he spent the morning insisting the scandal was an attempt by Democrats to distract from his successes.

"Cost, and INFLATION, were far higher under the Sleepy Joe Biden Administration, than they are now," Trump posted at 10:45 a.m. EST. "In fact, costs under the TRUMP ADMINISTRATION are tumbling down, helped greatly by gasoline and ENERGY. Affordability is a lie when used by the Dems. It is a complete CON JOB. Thanksgiving costs are 25% lower this year than last, under Crooked Joe! We are the Party of Affordability!"

Trump made the same claim about Thanksgiving costs last week and was subjected to a community note on X pointing out that the Walmart website he cited offered a highly misleading comparison between prices in 2024 and 2025.

"The 2025 Walmart Thanksgiving meal contains 15 items while the 2024 meal contained 21 items," fact checkers said. "Additionally, most of the brand name items in the 2024 meal were replaced with Great Value items."

The community note linked to a pair of posts on Walmart's corporate website showing that prices for a sample Thanksgiving meal in 2024 for eight people worked out to $7 per person, with 21 menu items listed (although the store claimed 29 items were used), while a sample meal for 10 people in 2025 came out to under $4.00 per person with 15 items on the menu.

The president also posted multiple times about the Epstein case, which has exploded back into public view after the House returned to session and a discharge petition passed, forcing a vote to compel the Department of Justice to release investigation files, and the House Oversight Committee issued thousands of emails obtained through the late sex offender's estate.

"The Democrats are doing everything in their withering power to push the Epstein Hoax again, despite the DOJ releasing 50,000 pages of documents, in order to deflect from all of their bad policies and losses, especially the SHUTDOWN EMBARRASSMENT, where their party is in total disarray, and has no idea what to do," Trump posted at 9:33 a.m. EST. "Some Weak Republicans have fallen into their clutches because they are soft and foolish. Epstein was a Democrat, and he is the Democrat’s problem, not the Republican’s problem! Ask Bill Clinton, Reid Hoffman, and Larry Summers about Epstein, they know all about him, don’t waste your time with Trump. I have a Country to run!"

He followed that post up an hour later with an announcement that Attorney General Pam Bondi and the FBI would investigate Epstein's relationship with Clinton and the others, as well banks that did business with him.

"Now that the Democrats are using the Epstein Hoax, involving Democrats, not Republicans, to try and deflect from their disastrous SHUTDOWN, and all of their other failures," Trump posted at 10:35 a.m. EST, "I will be asking A.G. Pam Bondi, and the Department of Justice, together with our great patriots at the FBI, to investigate Jeffrey Epstein’s involvement and relationship with Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, Reid Hoffman, J.P. Morgan, Chase, and many other people and institutions, to determine what was going on with them, and him. This is another Russia, Russia, Russia Scam, with all arrows pointing to the Democrats. Records show that these men, and many others, spent large portions of their life with Epstein, and on his “Island.” Stay tuned!!!

Taxpayers may fork over tens of millions to Trump ally Mike Flynn who lied to the FBI

The Department of Justice is discussing a massive cash settlement with Michael Flynn over his prosecution for lying to the FBI about his foreign contacts.

The retired U.S. Army general and former national security adviser pleaded guilty Dec. 1, 2017, to one felony count of lying to the FBI about his conversations with Russia's ambassador and President Donald Trump pardoned him in late 2020, but Flynn is now seeking $50 million over what he alleges was a wrongful prosecution, reported Bloomberg.

“Rogue FBI actors orchestrated a politically motivated hoax to attempt to shatter his life, all while staging a soft coup against President Trump, draining millions in lost opportunities and legal fees from Flynn while the government lavished payouts on those very bad-faith saboteurs,” wrote Flynn's attorney, Jesse Binnall, in a court filing.

Binnall also represents former senior White House lawyer Stefan Passantino, who is also negotiating a settlement with the DOJ over his private work representing several witnesses in the congressional investigation into Trump's efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss.

"Passantino 'seeks accountability,'" according to Binnall, saying that his “30-year career of service and integrity was unblemished until zealots on the January 6 Unselect Committee peddled fabricated claims against him to advance a political agenda. Their actions destroyed his reputation, threatened his livelihood, and cost him millions — while protecting their enablers.”

The former deputy White House counsel from 2017 to 2018 represented former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, who eventually changed lawyers and provided bombshell testimony against Trump during the 2022 hearings, and Passantino alleges that panel members and their staff violated his privacy by leaking nonpublic information to suggest he had advised her to provide misleading testimony.

"The negotiations mark a shift from the Justice Department’s position during the Biden administration, when government lawyers successfully fought both cases," Bloomberg reported. "Flynn lost the first round of his civil damages lawsuit last year. The U.S. attorney’s office in Atlanta was defending a judge’s decision to toss out Passantino’s claims as recently as June."

Their lawyers notified courts by September of the settlement talks with DOJ, which Bloomberg noted were another example of the administration working to provide legal legal relief and potentially taxpayer-funded compensation to the president's allies, and those efforts come as the Department of Justice targets perceived Trump enemies for prosecution.

However, the department is currently fighting a lawsuit filed by some Jan. 6 defendants affiliated with the Proud Boys paramilitary group seeking more than $100 million for what they allege was a “malicious” prosecution.

A federal judge has not yet ruled on DOJ's motion to dismiss the case.

Criminal case against Trump allies in swing state revived despite president's pardons

The Nevada Supreme Court unanimously revived a criminal case against President Donald Trump's allies who falsely claimed to be presidential electors to help subvert the results of the 2020 election.

The justices ruled 6-0 that state Attorney General Aaron Ford had properly filed the forgery case in Las Vegas, which overruled a decision by a lower court that found the charges should have been brought in Carson City, where the pro-Trump fake electors signed the phony documents, reported Politico.

The decision came days after the president pardoned dozens of his allies – including all six of the defendants whose charges were brought back to life by the court – for any potential crimes related to the 2020 election, but his pardon power does not cover crimes charged at the state level.

The state’s GOP chairman Michael McDonald, vice chair Jim Hindle and the state’s Republican National Committeeman Jim DeGraffenreid are among the six facing forgery charges, which carry a maximum five-year penalty if convicted.

Dozens of Republican activists in seven swing states signed on to the fake electors scheme pushed by the Trump campaign after his loss to Joe Biden.

The campaign and Republican Party leaders told the fake electors their electoral votes would be counted if Trump won his court challenges in their states, but Trump advisers were planning to use the false certificates to pressure then-Vice President Mike Pence not to certify the results when Congress met Jan. 6, 2021, to count ballots.

'I'm gonna stop you': Host cuts off conservative for justifying MAGA icon's Epstein remark

CNN's Erica Hill shut down a conservative journalist's justification of comments made by Megyn Kelly about Jeffrey Epstein's sexual abuse of teenage girls.

The former Fox News broadcaster claimed on her eponymous podcast "The Megyn Kelly Show" that a friend with an inside view of the Epstein case believed the late financier was "not a pedophile" but was instead "into the barely legal type," and Hill asked The Daily Signal's Bradley Devlin to comment.

"She did add, all of this is 'disgusting,'" Hill said. "I have to be honest, I'm not sure what adding that changes. The thought of it and the thought of this person who she's discussing somehow seeming to make the case that it's okay if a girl is 15 versus 8. Bradley, why even raise that point?"

Devlin stopped short of defending Kelly but attempted to put her remarks into context.

"I don't know, but there is a comedian who has this exact bit where he goes through the different medical distinctions that the experts have determined and says, 'But if you mention any of this, you sound like a creep and you sound like a weirdo, and you probably shouldn't be talking about it.' I understand what Megyn was trying to do there, I just don't think –"

Hill interrupted to make a distinction.

"I'm going to stop you there because I don't," she said. "I'm going to stop you. But in all seriousness, right, this is not a comedy sketch. This is not – what was she trying to do? What is the point that you believe she was trying to make in that moment?"

Devlin struggled to explain what point he believed Kelly was making about Epstein's sex abuse of young girls.

"I think she was trying to say that these these types of of interactions, like the network that Jeffrey Epstein had created, was not the type of child sex trafficking that we had talked, that we talk about when we talk about young children overseas, etc., etc.," Devlin said. "Now, again, distinction without difference, as she pointed out."

Hill moved on to another panelist, Vox podcaster and journalist Noel King, who condemned Kelly's remarks.

"I have a 15-year-old niece, and what I would say is, I don't think Megyn Kelly needs to articulate every single thing that crosses her mind," King said. "It was an appalling thing to say"

'That's a rare thing': JD Vance makes startling claim about Trump's sleep habits

Vice President JD Vance made a startling claim about President Donald Trump's habits during overseas trips.

The vice president and president do not travel together for safety and national security reasons, and the 41-year-old Vance told Fox News host Sean Hannity that other administration officials are jealous of his travel arrangements, reported The Daily Beast.

“They are always like, ‘You’re so lucky because if we go on a 20-hour trip somewhere, he does not sleep the entire time,’” Vance said, "and, of course if he’s not sleeping, if he’s working, he expects everybody else to be working, too.”

Hannity recalled a similar experience when he went on a golfing trip with the president.

“Seventeen hours there, 17 hours back, and he’s awake the whole time,” Hannity said, “and he expects you to be awake."

Katie Miller, the right-wing podcaster and wife of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, made a similar claim about Trump's sleeping habits last month to Fox News host Laura Ingraham.

“The president doesn’t sleep, so why does (Stephen) need to?” she said.

Ingraham agreed, saying that she's heard the same thing about Trump.

"He just stands over him on Air Force One and says, ‘Stephen, are you awake?’" Ingraham said. "‘Why would I be awake, sir? I’m not, it’s the middle of the night.’”

Individuals who worked with Trump on his "Apprentice" reality TV shows have claimed he routinely used stimulants, and a January 2024 Defense Department inspector general report showed the White House Medical Unit during his first term dispensed thousands of doses of the stimulant modafinil, which has long been used by military pilots to stay alert, and a former official told Rolling Stone the White House at that time was “awash in speed.”

However, Vance told Hannity that Trump was "extremely healthy" and insisted his energy is “off the charts.”

“You gotta have that level of energy to do this job successfully,” the vice president said.

“Agree or disagree with President Trump about a given issue, every Democrat and Republican would recognize that this is a guy that has the energy to do the job," Vance added. "That’s a rare thing, but that’s who you should be electing as a president, somebody who has the energy for it.”

'Atta boy': Jeffrey Epstein coached Steve Bannon to defend Trump in newly revealed texts

Jeffrey Epstein apparently coached right-wing influencer Steve Bannon through a media campaign to defend Donald Trump and his agenda during his first term in office, according to newly revealed communications.

The House Oversight Committee released text messages Wednesday that included a six-day exchange in August 2018 between the late sex offender and Bannon, who had been fired as White House chief strategist a year earlier but remained an outside ally, and show Epstein was closely involved in developing messages on tax cuts, immigration and even security clearance revocations, reported The Guardian.

"One side of the conversation is sent from an iMessage account associated with an Epstein email address, and while the name of Epstein’s correspondent is redacted in the documents as released, contextual clues – including references to Fox News appearances, his August 2017 firing from the White House and his work on the documentary Trump @War – make it clear the other participant is Bannon," the publication reported.

The two men discussed an Aug. 23, 2018, report that National Enquirer publisher David Pecker had been granted immunity in the Michael Cohen case, which Bannon described as a "Huge event huge," adding that “More women payoffs coming,” and Epstein offered immediate feedback to Bannon on his media appearances, such as an Aug. 17, 2018, interview with MSNBC's Ari Melber.

“I took off early so I could land in time to watch. all good?” Epstein wrote.

Bannon responded: “They went for an hour instead of 30 minutes--- showing the entire hour over multiple platforms.”

"Atta boy," Epstein replied.

Epstein teased Bannon about his appearance: “You looked so clean cut next to him i thought i turned on the figure skating channel by accident.”

“My ‘come hither’ look,” Bannon retorted.

Epstein joked: “Better than the usual ‘come hitler’ look."

"Ouch," Bannon reacted.

Bannon told Epstein that he had wanted to appear “‘clean’ not sloppy” for his interview on the “‘soy boy’ network,” and the convicted sex offender snapped back: “Closer to toy boy ;)”

Epstein then offered more detailed feedback on his performance in the interview: “Last ten minutes , more the real you,” then adding: “Your eye is the best , so important for you to watch the play reel. Over the shoulder for him , 3/4 for you. ?? lighting. . hot for you . /. chairs . ? too restrictive for you.”

He also helped Bannon develop talking points, especially on economic policies and responses to criticism of Trump's tax cuts, which had gone into effect at the start of that year.

“We can discuss response to tax cut criticism. The 83 percent to rich is misleading by miles . Cash back. Pension funds up,” Epstein wrote. “Corporations are not people. Giving corp breaks , is perceived as giving it to someone else. wage inflation cant be the first focus, the additional money in the system. First goes to hiring new people, only afterwards can wages rise.”

Epstein, who would be found dead in prison just under a year later while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, complained about his former mentor, Steven Hoffenberg, who had been imprisoned in 1998 for his role in a $500 million Ponzi scheme, in which he claimed in legal filings that Epstein had also been involved.

“Fyi, there is a guy , totally nuts , out of jail after 20 years that has been sending letters re me to all agencies , stalking . etc. wants a billion dollars. No real threat , just one more pain," Epstein wrote.

The two men also discussed MAGA world figures like tech billionaire Peter Thiel and short-lived Trump communications director Anthony Scaramucci.

“1. Peter Thiel in town… 4. The mooch [Scaramucci] ( still in contact with Ivanka ) has reached out to me , and asked how he can re engage with you. ?? I ve only met him once. odd," Epstein wrote.

They also set plans to meet in person, but Epstein made clear that he knew his reputation was toxic.

“Btw Im in New York tonite thru sat , if you want to visit under the cover of darkness or breakfast tomorrow if you like," Epstein wrote Aug. 23.

Bannon replied: “Do u have access that’s not the front door-- they have 24/7 surveillance on u.”

After exchanging additional messages, Epstein suggested that Bannon use a rear entrance to an apartment behind his on East 66th Street in Manhattan.

"Super secure," Epstein wrote. “Someone can meet you and take you in.”

Bannon responded: “Just set a time. Ill be in after 430.”

FBI's Dan Bongino rages at GOP's Thomas Massie over whistleblower accusations

FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino harangued Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) for speculating that President Donald Trump's administration was trying to publicly out a whistleblower.

The Kentucky Republican posted a letter he had received from the FBI whistleblower's attorney that said a Thursday morning meeting at the bureau's Washington field office was intended to identify the individual who made a protected disclosure about the ongoing investigation into pipe bombs placed at the Democratic and Republican national headquarters on January 5, 2021.

"I received this troubling letter today from the attorney representing the most recent FBI whistleblower regarding the J6 pipe bomb investigation," Massie posted. "Just a reminder to @FBIDirectorKash, in case this letter is warranted, federal law prevents retaliation against whistleblowers."

Bongino fired back in a lengthy post on X, saying he had offered to brief the congressman over the phone but he did not answer.

“When I spoke with you [Wednesday] a little after 8am ET (screenshots attached), I offered you an in-person brief on our work," Bongino posted on X. "We spoke for ten minutes. I called you back a bit after 7:30pm ET to again make that offer. You didn’t answer and have yet to call me back."

“Despite this, you continue to imply that the Director and I are targeting investigators in the case,” Bongino continued. “This is disgusting, even by the low standards many have for politicians. You know my number, and you’re free to call me anytime. But it’s easier to tweet and throw BS bombs.”

"Yes, our leadership team will be meeting with FBI team members today, and we will avail them of all the whistleblower resources they need to disclose ANY evidence of malfeasance in the prior administration," Bongino added. "And we will ask about threads that may have gone un-pulled under prior leadership, because we are passionate about solving this case. But a week of near 24-hour work on RECENT open source leads in the case has yet to produce a break through, and some of the media reporting regarding prior persons of interest is grossly inaccurate and serves only to mislead the public."

Last month, the FBI released new footage last month of a suspect placing an explosive device at the DNC, renewed public interest in the unsolved case, and the right-wing Blaze outlet published a conspiracy theory pinning the blame on a female former Capitol Police officer who joined the CIA shortly after Jan. 6.

Critics pointed out that flimsily reported story was hyped by other administration officials despite major questions about its accuracy.

"Mr. Bongino, you said some reports about 'persons of interest' in this case are 'grossly inaccurate' and 'mislead the public,'" wrote Lawfare's Anna Bowers. "Are you aware DOJ official Ed Martin boosted an unsubstantiated conspiracy theory claiming the J6 pipe bomber is a former Capitol Police officer? Do you believe he misled the public? Any comment on his conduct?"

Todd Blanche buried for 'huge admission' on Ghislaine Maxwell: 'Charge her if she lied'

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche was buried on social media for his defensive post covering his controversial interview with Ghislaine Maxwell.

House Democrats released emails obtained from the Jeffrey Epstein estate telling an author that President Donald Trump "knew about the girls" he sexually abused, and another sent to Maxwell in 2011 that Trump "spent hours" with one of his teenage victims, which seems to contradict what Blanche said Maxwell told him this summer.

"An important side note about today's Epstein/Trump revelations," noted conservative attorney George Conway on X. "They show that Todd Blanche's questioning of Ghislaine Maxwell was either (a) completely incompetent; or (b) intentionally crafted not to elicit facts incriminating Trump. Either way, he is not fit to serve as Deputy Attorney General of the United States."

Blanche spoke to Maxwell over two days in July at a prison where she's serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking and other charges, and he publicly asserted that she had told him she never saw Trump act inappropriately, and he disputed Conway's criticism.

"George, you’ve never been confused for a trial lawyer, and these kinds of posts explain why," Blanche replied. "When I interviewed Maxwell, law enforcement didn’t have the materials Epstein’s estate hid for years and only just provided to Congress. Stop talking. It’s unbecoming."

The Justice Department official's explanation didn't pass the smell test for many social media users, however.

"Todd, didn't the Justice Department have these emails when they seized Epstein's computers, phones, iPads, and other electronic devices from his homes in Manhattan and the US Virgin Islands?" posted Business Insider's Jacob Shamsian.

"Mr. Blanche - When you questioned Maxwell you simply let her spew a narrative contradicted by evidence already in your possession," said retired attorney Tirah Att. "I'm not sure what the point of the interview was, but we know the result - she was moved to a cushy prison not meant for sexual predators."

"Hey, so why did you transfer a pedophile and child trafficker to a much more comfortable prison?" asked writer and comedian Mike Drucker. "What did she say that made you think, 'This pedophile deserves a break'?"

"Why was a convicted child sexual predator moved to a minimum security 'spa,'" added X user Denison Barb. "Why should a convicted child predator get any special treatment?"

"Todd, you got her a puppy," quipped X user Rose Benson. "Come on, Todd."

"Leaving aside all the other legitimate questions about your interview with her, the question now is: So now that you DO have them, will you re-interview her and charge her if it becomes clear she lied to you originally?" wondered consultant John Olberding.

"Todd Blanche acknowledges that yesterday's email dump undermines his interview with Ghislaine Maxwell," said attorney Aaron Parnas. "Will they move her back to her prior prison?"

"This is a huge admission," agreed the Meidas Touch account.

Conway took a shot of his own at Blanche in response.

"Dude, you didn't even come close to asking a decent follow-up question of Maxwell," Conway posted. "And I saw you at your boss's criminal trial, you know, the one where he was convicted on 34 felony counts: You couldn't cross-examine your way out of a paper bag."

Plane makes emergency landing after woman confronts GOP lawmakers: 'Fascist state'

A plane carrying four congressmen had to make an emergency stop after a passenger confronted them.

The American Airlines flight carrying three Arizona Republicans – Reps. Andy Biggs, Paul Gosar, Eli Crane – and Democratic Rep. Greg Stanton from Phoenix to Washington, D.C., was diverted after a passenger caused a disturbance on board, reported The National Desk.

“Sorry folks," the woman said, as she was removed from the plane. "We live in a fascist state."

The plane landed at Kansas City International Airport after roughly two hours and 41 minutes, according to FlightAware.

No one was harmed in the incident and the woman was escorted peacefully off the plane by police after it landed.

“Law enforcement met the flight and removed the customer, and the flight later re-departed for DCA, where it landed normally,” an airline representative local media. “We thank our customers for their patience and our crew members for their professionalism.”

Stanton jabbed his GOP colleagues after the incident in a post on X, as they returned to Washington to vote on a continuing resolution to end the government shutdown.

“Flying to DC rn to vote no on CR that fails to lower health care costs,” Stanton posted on X. “@RepEliCrane, @RepAndyBiggsAZ & @RepGosar all on this flight. We’re making emergency stop in Kansas City to remove disruptive passenger. None of my colleagues is the disruptor. Freedom Caucus losing its mojo.”

'Worst issue by far': Data expert flags 'dreadful' Trump approval on key topic

CNN's Harry Enten highlighted new polling data that suggested President Donald Trump's handling of one key issue could cut into his overall approval rating.

The president has been unable to turn the page on his longtime association with Jeffrey Epstein, the late sex offender, and the issue exploded into view once again as the House returned to session and the Oversight Committee dumped thousands of emails obtained from the Epstein estate – many of which mention Trump by name and suggest their relationship continued into his first term in office.

"You know, Donald Trump is underwater on basically every single issue he ran on in 2024," Enten said. "But the Epstein files, the Epstein case are especially dreadful for him. What are we talking about here? Let's take a look at Trump's approval rating on the issues. Look, they're all in red, they're all in the negative territory. But on immigration, you know, he's five points underwater, foreign policy, eight points. Trade and tariffs, he's 17 points [underwater], the economy, 18 points."

"But look at the Epstein case – he is 39 points below water on the Epstein case, that approval is 39 points in the negative," Enten added. "My goodness gracious. What Donald Trump has been selling on the Epstein files, the Epstein case, the American people, simply put, have not been buying at all."

A procedural effort to force the House to vote on a measure to force the Justice Department to turn over files on Epstein's sex trafficking network advanced to its next stage, but even Republicans are deeply unsatisfied with Trump's refusal to authorize their release.

"Donald Trump has been trying to make some sort of case saying that, you know, the folks don't necessarily care about it, but take a look here," Enten said. "Approve of the Trump admin on the Epstein case in early July, right, when you had the DOJ droppings, right, it was 17 percent. Look at where we were by late September, the latest poll I can find, it's 20 percent. You know, we often talk about Donald Trump having this floor, right, about about 40 percent on this particular issue. He is less than half the level of the supposed floor. There's just nobody, there is just nobody in the electorate who is buying this. They do not like the way that the Trump administration has been handling this case one iota."

"This is overall, right, and you see 17 percent, you see 20 percent, that is way below the 40 percent floor that Donald Trump supposedly has," Enten added. "How does that possibly happen? It's because of Republicans, because look at this number, okay. Republicans who have approve of Trump's job as president, 87 percent. That is basically in line with the long term average, 85 [percent], 90 [percent], 95 percent. But look at the Trump admin's job on the Epstein case. Just 45 percent of Republicans, less than half of Republicans are even buying what the administration is selling."

Enten guessed that it's only a matter of time that the issue might bleed into Trump's overall approval rating.

"Look, we're not necessarily sure whether or not this case has moved the ball on Trump's overall approval rating yet, but I can tell you that the more that this case is in the news, the worse it is for Donald Trump, because, simply put, it is his worst issue by far," he said.

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CNN host cuts off Republican lawmaker for changing subject from Epstein to Obama

CNN's John Berman cut off a Republican congressman when he tried to change the subject from Jeffrey Epstein to Barack Obama.

The House Oversight Committee released thousands of emails written by the late sex offender, many of which mention President Donald Trump by name, and the "CNN News Central" host asked Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) to comment on the White House response.

"You have been working a long time to get this information released," Berman said. "The White House yesterday held a meeting at the Situation Room with some of the highest officials in the country, with members of your own party to try to get them to vote against the discharge petition, which you're against, too. I want to say, but why do you think the White House is working so hard as you're working to get stuff released? Why is the White House working so hard to keep information from being released?"

Sessions, who serves on the Oversight Committee, suggested the Trump administration was handling the matter the same way as preceding administrations.

"In fairness to the circumstance, I would say probably for the same reason that President Obama's administration, President [Joe] Biden's administration did not release this data," Sessions said. "The information that we get, where it's factually based and comes from official law enforcement about the conclusions that they drew about who was involved, is one matter, to simply take things that are emails and accusations that people make is not a legitimate way for us to approach this. So I assume that just like President Biden and President Obama and their administrative team at the Department of Justice probably concluded that it needed to be done in a different way, I did not ever really approach it. They did not approach it, and we're trying to do that now."

Berman was not persuaded by his explanation and noted one significant difference.

"As far as I know, I will say neither President Obama nor President Biden is mentioned in these trove of documents that have been released so far," Berman said. "Donald Trump is repeatedly."

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'He just gets angry': Trump insiders spill that president is keeping Epstein story alive

President Donald Trump can't move past his longtime association with Jeffrey Epstein, and his allies suggested that he's botching his response.

A huge batch of emails written by the late sex offender got dumped into public view Wednesday by the House Oversight Committee, shedding new light on the president's relationship with Epstein, and members of Trump's inner circle told Axios why they believe the scandal lingers on.

"The minute he thinks it's unfair to him and it's a personal attack, he just goes into fight mode," said one confidant. "No one wants to ask him what's going on here [with Epstein] because he just gets angry."

Trump famously has been able to skate past scandals – Epstein mentions that penchant in one email, marveling that his "strength is remarkable" – but some controversies have clung tighter to him due to his attempts to shut them down.

"Whether it's a question about the current affordability crisis, COVID in 2020 or the Russia probe in 2017, he has a penchant for pushing back against attacks by calling them Democratic hoaxes or con jobs," Axios reported. "He then tries to kill the controversy with such a heavy hand that it helps keep the story alive."

The Epstein files exploded into controversy because Trump and his top officials – including Vice President JD Vance, FBI director Kash Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi – promised to release them during the 2024 campaign, but the president inflamed his MAGA base by locking them down after returning to the White House.

"He told Pam not to release the files," said a Trump insider. "We don't exactly know why."

Trump was first elected to office by hyping the WikiLeaks release of emails that impugned Hillary Clinton in the weeks before the 2016 vote, and Axios noted the similarities between that scandal and the Epstein files.

"As in this case, the emails showed no clear sign of wrongdoing by the intended target," Axios reported. "But the fact that there was such a big volume of behind-the-scenes details ensured the story dominated media coverage and social media, creating the appearance of a scandal. And appearance can be reality in politics."

Epstein spent Thanksgiving with Trump during president's first term in office: emails

President Donald Trump's relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein continued into his first term in the White House, so much so that Epstein spent Thanksgiving with Trump while the president was in office, according to newly released emails written by the late financier.

Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released a new batch of emails Wednesday obtained from Epstein's estate, followed by the Republican-led panel's release of 20,000 additional documents, and one of those exchanges shows that he claims to have spent Thanksgiving 2017 – Trump's first as president – at his private Mar-a-Lago resort.

Epstein exchanged emails on Thanksgiving morning, Nov. 23, 2017, with Manhattan modeling management guru Faith Kates, who asked where he was spending the holiday.

The disgraced financier told her he would spend the day with "eva," likely a reference to his former girlfriend Eva Andersson-Dubin, and Kates mentions Andersson-Dubin’s husband, Glenn Dubin, by name and asks “who else is down there?”

Epstein names Trump, hedge fund founder David Fiszel and someone else he referred to as Hanson.

White House records and contemporaneous media reports show Trump spent Thanksgiving 2017 at Mar-a-Lago, but the White House did not disclose a guest list.

Andersson-Dubin later testified at the 2021 trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted for her role as a co-conspirator in Epstein's sex trafficking network after he was found dead in prison while awaiting new charges two years earlier on similar allegations.

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