By Jeff Mason, White House correspondent |
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In the 10 years that Donald Trump has been a politician, there has been at least one constant in his life: an extremely loyal political base. "I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters, OK?" the New York businessman remarked in 2016. So, for a leader accustomed to fealty from his friends, it's been a tough wakeup call to see that even they have limits. The Make America Great Again movement is in an uproar over Jeffrey Epstein that Trump and his administration are struggling mightily, and, so far, unsuccessfully, to contain. |
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Latest U.S. politics headlines |
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Trying to change the subject |
Trump's MAGA base largely cheered the January 6, 2021, storming of the Capitol. They dismissed a history of infidelity and lewd language from their leader. And they disliked but ultimately accepted the U.S. bombing of Iran. So it has not been without a degree of irony to see some of Trump's most loyal supporters draw a line in recent weeks over his administration's handling of the so-called Epstein files related to the former financier and convicted sex offender's alleged crimes before he died by suicide in 2019. But draw a line they have. Six months into his second term, buoyed by a major legislative win, economic policies that have at times goosed the stock market and an immigration crackdown that his supporters craved, Trump simply cannot shake a political crisis stemming from his Justice Department's decision not to release further documents about Epstein despite having promised to do so. MAGA is angry. And Trump, whose advisers fanned the flames of conspiracy theories about Epstein before coming into power and declaring them moot, is unmoored by it. He has tried scolding, creating distractions and placing blame to move the story out of the headlines, to no avail. He even claimed in the Oval Office not to be paying close attention to the matter despite evidence to the contrary. |
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His latest attempt at drawing attention elsewhere landed on a familiar foe: former President Barack Obama. The administration, led by Tulsi Gabbard, Trump's director of national intelligence, falsely accused Obama of undermining Trump's 2016 campaign with his treatment of allegations that Russia sought to influence the election. The word treason was bandied about, and Obama's office offered a rare rebuke, calling the claims ridiculous. Trump takes the distraction train on Thursday to the Federal Reserve, where he is making an unexpected visit after months of criticizing the central bank's chair, Jerome Powell, for not cutting interest rates more aggressively. The trip piles more pressure on the Fed and gives Trump another place to steer his ire, along with the attention of his supporters and financial markets. But Washington's attention remains on Epstein, much to the chagrin of Republican leadership. House Speaker Mike Johnson sent his colleagues home for recess early this week to avoid a sensitive vote on releasing documents. Meanwhile, Trump's DOJ is seeking a meeting with imprisoned Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell to get more information about his crimes. What will she say? Will she seek to get a pardon from Trump in exchange for comments to inoculate him from any connection to his former friend? Those questions don't have answers yet. But conspiracy theories abound. |
Republicans' approval of Trump's handling of 'Epstein files' lags approval of him overall, Reuters/Ipsos poll shows |
Follow Reuters/Ipsos polling on the president's approval ratings here. |
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Another goal Trump has not succeeded in completing is ending the war in Gaza. The ramifications are mounting. The area is suffering man-made mass starvation caused by a blockade on aid into the Palestinian enclave, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday. |
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U.S. President Donald Trump speaks as he hosts a dinner with Republican members of the U.S. Congress in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 22, 2025. REUTERS/Kent Nishimura |
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- July 25: Trump departs Washington for a trip to Scotland
- July 29: Trump returns from Scotland
- Sept 1: House lawmakers return from recess
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