US, EU Strike Landmark Trade Deal Setting Tariffs at 15%
The United States and the European Union have reached a sweeping trade agreement that sets a unified tariff rate of 15% on most goods exchanged between the two economic powers.
The announcement came just days before a looming deadline set by U.S. President Donald Trump, who had threatened to double tariffs on EU imports if a deal was not secured.
The agreement, first reported by Politico, covers a wide range of goods, including automotive imports and industrial products. However, pharmaceutical products are notably exempt from the new tariff regime.
'This is a tremendous deal for both the United States and the European Union,' President Trump told reporters following a high-level meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Scotland. 'We've leveled the playing field, and we're entering a new era of fair and reciprocal trade.'
As part of the accord, the EU has pledged to purchase $750 billion worth of American energy exports over the coming years, a move seen as a strategic effort to reduce reliance on Russian energy sources. The deal also includes a European commitment to increase military equipment investment by an additional $600 billion, compared to previous defense spending plans.
In return, U.S. markets will maintain access to European goods under the agreed 15% tariff rate, while the EU has agreed to open its markets to U.S. products without any additional customs duties, marking a significant shift in European trade policy.
Experts say the agreement signals a recalibration of U.S.–EU relations after years of friction over tariffs, digital taxes, and industrial subsidies. It also reflects a shared interest in strengthening economic ties amid growing global uncertainty and rising competition from China.
'This is not just about trade. It's about geopolitical alignment,' said Dr. Lisa Reinhardt, a trade analyst at the Atlantic Policy Institute. 'Energy, defense, and market access, this agreement touches every pillar of the transatlantic alliance.'
While the details of the agreement will require ratification on both sides of the Atlantic, early market reactions have been positive. European auto stocks rose sharply following the news, and energy sector shares in the U.S. also posted gains.
The deal is expected to go into effect later this year, pending legislative approvals.
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Egypt Independent
an hour ago
- Egypt Independent
US used about a quarter of its high-end missile interceptors in Israel-Iran war, exposing supply gap
US forces countered Tehran's barrage of ballistic missiles by firing more than 100 THAADs (short for Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) – and possibly as many as 150 – a significant portion of America's stockpile of the advanced air defense system, the sources said. The US has seven THAAD systems, and used two of them in Israel in the conflict. Using so many THAAD interceptors in such a short period exposed a gap in the US missile defense network and depleted a costly asset at a moment when American public support for Israeli defense has reached historic lows. Former US defense officials and missile experts told CNN that the rapid drawdown has also raised concerns about America's global security posture and ability to regenerate supplies at speed. Last year, the US produced only 11 new THAAD interceptors and is expected to receive just 12 more this fiscal year, according to the 2026 budget estimates from the Department of Defense. A Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptor is launched during a successful test in this undated handout photo provided by the US Department of Defense. THAAD systems are capable of intercepting and countering ballistic missiles. U.S. Department of Defense/Missile Defense Agency/Reuters/FILE In response to questions regarding the US's THAAD stockpile and the expenditure of interceptors during the 12-day conflict, Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson said the US military 'is the strongest it has even been and has everything it needs to conduct any mission anywhere, anytime, all around the world. If you need further proof, look no further than Operation Midnight Hammer and the total obliteration of Iran's nuclear capabilities.' CNN reported that an early intelligence assessment determined the US' strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities last month did not destroy the core components of the country's nuclear program and likely only set it back by months. The US administration dismissed the assessment, and the CIA later said it had evidence Iran's nuclear program was 'severely damaged.' A defense official declined to provide information on the THAAD inventory due to operational security concerns, but said the Defense Department 'remains postured to respond to any threat.' The number of THAADs spent in the 12-day war was first reported by The Wall Street Journal. Despite the heavy use of THAADs during the 12-day war to help fend off Tehran's assault last month, dozens of Iranian missiles still struck Israel. THAAD is a mobile system that can engage and destroy short-, medium-, and intermediate-range ballistic missiles both inside and outside of the Earth's atmosphere during their final phase of flight. Each battery is operated by 95 American soldiers, armed with six launchers, and 48 interceptors. The interceptors are manufactured by Lockheed Martin and cost roughly $12.7 million, according to the 2025 Missile Defense Agency budget. The US plans to acquire 37 THAAD interceptors next year, according to the 2026 Department of defense budget estimates, financed partially by the latest addition to President Donald Trump's so-called 'big, beautiful bill.' A defense official said the 2026 budget 'prioritizes funding in the defense industrial base, a core strategic asset that provides and sustains our military's technology, equipment, and supplies.' 'The budget includes an additional $1.3 billion for industrial based supply chain improvements, and an additional $2.5 billion for missiles and munitions production expansion,' the official said. 'The Department's role is to ensure that the President is armed with the best possible military options for any scenario – and all options remain on the table.' But experts and former defense officials warn that supplies need to be ramped up significantly to deal with the shortfall. 'It is important to recognize the level of commitment and the level of expenditure here in defense of Israel is significant,' said a missile defense expert who has been tracking the US government's expenditure. 'The reports about THAAD expenditure are concerning. This is not the sort of thing that the US can afford to continue to do on and on,' he added. 'It was a major commitment to our Israeli ally, but missile defense interceptor capacity is definitely a concern, and THAAD is a very scarce resource.' A senior retired US army officer who asked not to be named said around 25% of THAAD's total inventory was used by US forces in Israel participating in the war effort. 'The (Department of Defense) is looking at wartime stockage levels of critical munitions and attempting to significantly increase annual production capacity, an effort that is long overdue,' the source said. US Air Force aerial porters load Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) support equipment being sent to Israel onto a C-17 Globemaster III on Oct. 16, 2024. Airman 1st Class Zeeshan Naeem/U.S. Air Force US interceptor stockpile concerns preceded the 12-day war, according to four former senior US defense officials who say that the problem is most acute in inventories of high-end interceptors that are a key part of deterrence against China. 'What I can say without giving any numbers is I was surprised at how low some of the levels of readiness were,' said one former defense official who left his post in the last year. 'Stockpiles are dropping. We need more. We need them faster than they are being built,' said the same ex-official. 'This is a concern. It was a concern during the Biden administration. I'm sure it's a concern now during the Trump administration,' one former senior Biden defense official said. 'Air defense is relevant in all of the major theaters right now. And there's not enough systems. There's not enough interceptors. There's not enough production and there are not enough people working on it,' said Mara Karlin, former US Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy, Plans, and Capabilities under Biden. 'You have the challenge of something being both incredibly relevant and also there's a dearth of them,' she added. There are nine active THAAD batteries globally, according to manufacturer Lockheed Martin. The US military has seven of those and plans to have an eighth active by 2025, according to the Congressional Research Service. Data available in 2019 showed that five of the US' THAADs were stationed at bases in Texas, one in Guam and one in South Korea; by last year, the Pentagon had moved two of those batteries to the Middle East to protect Israel. Two others were delivered to the United Arab Emirates and have been used to intercept Houthi militant ballistic missiles. Missile shortages and damage in Israel While most of Iran's missiles were downed by Israeli and US air defenses, experts, open-source data and video from the ground reviewed by CNN showed that dozens did manage to get through. Tehran's success rate rose as the war raged on, amounting to some of the worst damage Israel has seen in decades. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Iran fired over 500 long-range ballistic missiles, and it was able to intercept around 86% of those – with 36 Iranian missiles striking built-up areas. Major cities like Tel Aviv suffered extensive damage, whole apartment buildings were destroyed, sensitive military sites targeted, parts of the power grid were taken out and 29 people were killed. Israel's tax authority estimated in late June that the war would cost the country at least $1.8 billion in damage, but with claims still yet to be filed that number was expected to rise. Analysis conducted by DC-based think tank Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA) estimated that THAADs – alongside Israel's Arrow-2 and Arrow-3 interceptors – downed 201 of Iran's 574 missiles, with 57 hitting populated areas. The report estimated that the US' THAAD system accounted for almost half of all interceptions, indicating that Israel's Arrow interceptor stockpiles were insufficient. Israel's Iron Dome system was designed to deflect shorter-range rockets than those being fired by Iran. 'After burning through a large portion of their available interceptors, the United States and Israel both face an urgent need to replenish stockpiles and sharply increase production rates,' Ari Cicurel, author of the report, wrote, estimating that it would take three to eight years to replenish at current production rates. According to data compiled by JINSA, interception rates lagged as the war wore on. Only 8% of Iranian missiles penetrated defenses in the first week of the war. That doubled to 16% in the second half of the conflict and eventually culminated at 25% on the final day of the war before the ceasefire. Analysts say there are several possible reasons for the trend, including an Iranian shift of focus from military targets to populated urban areas, where interception is less robust. Iran also fired more sophisticated missiles as the war progressed. Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men inspect the damage at the site of an Iranian missile strike in Bnei Brak, east of Tel Aviv, on June 16, 2025. Iran unleashed a barrage of missile strikes on Israeli cities after Israel struck military targets deep inside Iran. John Wessels/AFP/Getty Images '(Iran) increasingly employed more advanced systems,' said Mora Deitch, head of the data analytics center at Israel's Institute for National Security Studies (INSS). 'These included newer missiles with multiple warheads or decoys, which may individually cause less damage but can overwhelm and saturate air defense systems.' Deitch also suggests that Israel may have deliberately relaxed its interception rate. 'Israel's air defense policy may have evolved over time to accommodate a protracted engagement with Iran,' said Deitch. 'What appears as a decline in interception effectiveness might instead reflect a deliberate shift in strategy rather than a technological shortfall.' Still missile defense analysts say they saw clear signs of air defense depletion. 'The presence of the THAAD battery in the first place suggests that the Israelis don't have a super deep interceptor magazine,' said Sam Lair, research associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS). Lair published analysis of interceptors seen in a series of social media video taken by a Jordanian photographer, Zaid Abbadi, from his rooftop in an Amman suburb as the missiles flew overhead. Lair counted 39 THAAD among 82 advanced interceptors in the sample, which consisted of sporadically recorded night-time recording. CNN was able to verify the THAAD tally from the videos. Over half a dozen experts say the number represents a very conservative baseline. Drawing on calculations about publicly available data on batteries, interceptor reloads, and the number of Iranian ballistic missiles fired, experts believe that the US military fired at least 80 THAAD interceptors. 'The 12-day war in June of this year essentially saw the first significant expenditure of THAAD interceptors,' said Timur Kadyshev, a senior researcher at the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg. 'Israel was relatively successful in defending (with the US assistance) against unsophisticated Iranian missiles – at the cost of depleting available arsenals of interceptors.' US Army soldiers demonstrate how they prepare the THAAD missile defense system at Fort Bliss, Texas, on Sept. 20, 2023. Cpl. David Poleski/U.S. Army The problem for the US is especially acute in the Indo-Pacific where China has tried to keep the US navy at arm's length, experts say. 'From a narrowly military standpoint, the Chinese are absolutely the winners in that these last almost two years in the Middle East have seen the US expend pretty substantial amounts of capabilities that the American defense industrial base will find pretty hard to replace,' said Sidharth Kaushal, senior research fellow at Royal United Services Institute. Ex-defense officials said dwindling defensive capabilities in the Indo-Pacific was a growing concern for the former administration of President Joe Biden as they used the US stockpile to battle Yemen's Houthi rebels. 'God forbid there should be a conflict in the Pacific, for example, then it really will put a huge strain our missile capacity and the ability for our military to have the munitions necessary to keep up,' said one former senior Biden administration defense official with direct knowledge of the US campaign against the Houthis. 'You have to make choices,' said Jennifer Kavanagh, senior fellow and director of military analysis at Defense Priorities. 'The Biden administration also should have thought about these trade-offs, but they were able to shrug them off because it was early in these wars… stockpiles were still deep enough that they could turn a blind eye to it.' 'But the Trump administration now is getting to a point where they're not going to be able to ignore the trade-offs.'
Egypt Independent
an hour ago
- Egypt Independent
Israel is pausing operations in some parts of Gaza amid mounting horror over starvation. Will it be enough?
Israel has announced a daily 'tactical pause in military activity' in three areas of Gaza to enable more aid to reach people, amid growing international outrage over starvation in the territory. The Israeli military said the move would 'refute the false claim of deliberate starvation in the Gaza Strip.' The pause – which will also see the military open up corridors to facilitate aid delivery by the UN and other agencies – has come too late for dozens of Palestinians, with officials in Gaza reporting more deaths from malnutrition and among people desperately trying to get aid from convoys and distribution sites. And while the 'tactical pause' has been welcomed by UN agencies, there are questions over whether it will be enough after months in which far too little aid has reached Gaza. Here's what we know. How did we get here? There's long been a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. In nearly two years of war that followed the Hamas attacks of October 7, the vast majority of the population of Gaza has been displaced multiple times. Tens of thousands are living in the streets or makeshift tents. As Gaza's infrastructure has been destroyed, access to water and power has become more difficult. Above all, the delivery of humanitarian food aid has been interrupted by the fighting, by difficulties in distributing aid and by restrictions ordered by the Israel military. Before the conflict, some 3,000 aid and commercial trucks would enter Gaza every week. Afterwards, numbers have plummeted. During a ceasefire at the beginning of this year, an average of several hundred trucks crossed daily. But that didn't last. The situation dramatically worsened in early March, when Israel imposed a complete blockade on Gaza in an effort to force Hamas to release the hostages it still held. Palestinians gather to receive food from a charity kitchen, amid a hunger crisis, in Gaza City, on Thursday. Dawoud Abu Alkas/Reuters Hunger was already widespread in Gaza and in the following months only grew. Bakeries and community kitchens closed, and prices in markets soared well beyond what most Gazans could afford. The United Nations warned that malnutrition was on the rise while nearly 6,000 aid trucks sat at the border. At the end of May the blockade was partially lifted, and the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) – a private venture backed by the US and Israel – opened food distribution sites in southern Gaza. But the UN and others have criticized the GHF for violating basic humanitarian principles and for not being able to meet Gazans needs. GHF says it have distributed more than 90 million meals and blamed the UN for not coordinating with them. More than 1,000 people have been killed since May in desperate efforts to obtain food for their families, the UN says, almost all of them by the Israeli military. In May, the UN reported that the entire population was facing high levels of acute food insecurity, with 500,000 people facing starvation and more than 70,000 children set to require treatment for acute malnutrition. Malnutrition-related deaths in Gaza spiked in July, the World Health Organization (WHO) said, with 63 deaths recorded. The global health body said the enclave's malnutrition rates reached 'alarming levels' this month. Over 5,000 children under five were admitted for outpatient treatment of malnutrition in just the first two weeks of July, the WHO said. To date, 133 people have died of malnutrition in Gaza since the conflict began, Palestinian health officials say, nearly 90 of them children. The majority of those deaths have occurred since March. Images of children dying of acute malnutrition have provoked global outrage, with the United Kingdom, France and Germany saying last week that the crisis was 'man-made and avoidable.' Two-year-old Yezen Abu Ful continues to lose weight as his condition worsens due to severe food shortages caused by the blockade and Israeli attacks, in Gaza City, Gaza on July 13. Ahmed Jihad Ibrahim Al-arini/Anadolu/Getty Images What has Israel announced? The tactical pauses announced by the Israeli military cover three areas along the Mediterranean coast – Al-Mawasi, Deir al-Balah, and part of Gaza City – much of which were already supposed to be safe areas where the population could flee. The Israeli military published a map showing the areas where the pause would take effect but marked the rest of the Strip in red as a 'dangerous combat zone.' The pause began Sunday and will last ten hours, from 10am to 8pm local time. It will continue every day 'until further notice,' the military said. An important aspect of the Israeli announcement is that designated 'secure routes' will be established from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. local time, to enable UN and humanitarian organization convoys to safely distribute food and medicine. Hundreds of trucks have been looted in recent months, often by desperate people but sometimes by criminal gangs, and getting aid safely to warehouses in Gaza will be a major challenge. Israel carried out an airdrop of aid into Gaza on Saturday night, having previously announced it would permit foreign countries to carry out operations. On Sunday, Israel, Jordan, and the UAE airdropped 28 aid packages. But airdrops are regarded by aid agencies as expensive, inefficient and sometimes dangerous. UNICEF spokesman Joe English told CNN Sunday: 'We do airdrops in places around the world but it works where there are remote communities in big, wide open spaces. That's not the case in the Gaza Strip.' The IDF said it had also connected the power line from Israel to the desalination plant in Gaza, which would supply about 20,000 cubic meters of water per day – 10 times the current amount. Hamas decried the Israeli government's move as 'nothing more than a formal and deceptive step aimed at whitewashing its image before the world.' 'The occupation's plan for airdrops and control of so-called humanitarian corridors represents a blatant policy to manage starvation, not end it,' the militant group's statement read, 'It endangers the lives of civilians and humiliates their dignity, instead of providing them with protection and comprehensive relief.' An airplane drops humanitarian aid over Gaza as seen from northern Gaza Strip on Sunday. Dawoud Abu Alkas/Reuters How quickly could things improve? Trucks have begun to roll towards Gaza, including convoys from Egypt and Jordan. But the volume of aid needed is huge. Thousands of trucks are ready to enter Gaza with food and medical supplies, but the main crossing point at Kerem Shalom is already choked with truckloads of aid waiting to be distributed. There are only two crossing points into Gaza – Kerem Shalom and Zikim in the north. Over 100 truckloads of aid were delivered to Gaza on Sunday, but 'sustained action' is needed to address the crisis, Tom Fletcher, the head of the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said. UN agencies have said that security and a lack of permissions from the Israeli military frequently hold up distribution. The UNICEF spokesman told CNN that the agency 'cannot work miracles' with last-minute windows for getting aid into Gaza, because malnourished children require sustained care. The World Food Programme welcomed the Israeli announcement, saying it has enough food in – or on its way to – the region to feed the entire population of 2.1 million people for almost three months. It said it had received assurances that quicker clearances would be granted by Israel to allow for a surge in food assistance. The decision to enable aid to flow has already sparked dissent within the Israeli government coalition. The far-right National Security minister Itamar Ben Gvir said he had not been consulted and the 'only way to win the war and bring back the hostages is to completely stop the 'humanitarian' aid, conquer the entire strip, and encourage voluntary migration.' The Hostages Families Forum said the tactical pauses should be part of a broader agreement to secure the return of the hostages. 'This is what the failure of the partial deals strategy looks like,' it said, demanding the government reach 'a comprehensive agreement to release all the kidnapped and end the fighting.'
Egypt Independent
an hour ago
- Egypt Independent
Trump lands another big win with EU trade deal, but he can't dodge the Epstein saga
President Donald Trump claimed another win for his campaign to transform the global economy and American life, but he still can't escape intensifying questions over his handling of the Jeffrey Epstein controversy. The United States clinched a framework deal with the European Union on Sunday that averted a damaging trade war. Trump believes such moves will revive US manufacturing. But the resulting 15 percent tariff on EU goods entering the US likely means American consumers will face higher prices in the long term. This is a significant step. So Trump's insistence that it was not simply a bid to distract from the Epstein saga is reasonable. 'Oh, you have got to be kidding with that,' the angry president told a reporter. But his irritation underscored his failure to shrug off weeks of revelations about the case and his own past friendship with the accused sex trafficker, who died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial. Mystery surrounds the administration's motives after Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, Trump's former personal lawyer, met last week with Epstein's imprisoned accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell. Her lawyer implied that Maxwell was open to a presidential pardon. Trump's record of using such power for political purposes has critics warning he may be seeking a deal that would politicize justice. The storm back home isn't abating. Two lawmakers, one Democrat and the other Republican, vowed Sunday to force a vote on the House floor on the release of Epstein case files. Such a vote could embarrass the administration and create a major political showdown. This came on a typically frenetic weekend that Trump spent in Scotland and that served as a metaphor for his turbulent influence on America and the globe. He juggled the highest-level diplomacy — talks with the EU's top official, Ursula von der Leyen — with a trip promoting his business empire, in this case his portfolio of exclusive Scottish golf clubs. His visit was greeted with street protests by caustic Scots and featured outbursts of extreme rhetoric — including his social media call for the prosecution of former Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump will come face-to-face Monday with pressure to force Israel to do more to mitigate a growing famine in Gaza. He'll see British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at his Turnberry resort in southwest Scotland before traveling with Starmer to Aberdeenshire, where Trump will inaugurate a new course at another club. Starmer last week said of the crisis in Gaza that 'we are witnessing a humanitarian catastrophe.' A significant trade deal that comes with many caveats Much is unknown about the scope of the trade deal with the EU, which will see a 15% tariff imposed on most of the bloc's exports and billions of dollars in purchases of US energy. But it extends a winning streak and a record of implementing campaign promises for a president who is imposing personal power and often idiosyncratic beliefs — for instance in the effectiveness of trade tariffs — on the US and the world. 'This was the big one. This is the biggest of them all,' Trump said Sunday after meeting von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission. Von der Leyen followed the accepted wisdom that praising Trump personally can provide political payoffs. 'He is a tough negotiator, but he is also a dealmaker,' she said. Trump has recently announced framework deals on trade with Japan and the Philippines — which both include higher tariffs that represent a fracturing of the 21st-century global free-trade arrangements. Trump believes that this system, which helped make the US a dominant global power, is nevertheless unfair on American workers and industries. And he rejects economists' arguments that raising tariffs increases prices for already-stretched US consumers. Traversing cranes move shipping containers stacked in Hamburg Port in Hamburg, Germany, on April is flexing power everywhere. He is gutting the federal government, dominating Congress, and exerting unprecedented pressure on law firms and universities to impose his right-wing ideology, all while seeking to intimidate media outlets. These are wins for his populist 'Make America Great Again' movement and its program to buckle what supporters see as liberal power. But as with Trump's outlier belief in tariffs, the long-term impacts that his actions could have on American society, the economy and democracy are alarming critics. Trump has politicized the legal system; his government funding cuts have hampered vital scientific research on critical subjects such as cancer; and his expanding of presidential power often tests the Constitution. Still, markets may welcome the EU trade deal framework, assuming it is fully implemented — hardly a given considering Trump's volatile history of threats and reversals. An EU-US trade war would have been a far worse outcome. But the agreement confirms suspicions that Trump's goal is not fairer trade but higher tariffs. Although existing tariffs have so far not harmed the economy as much as some experts feared, Americans will pay more for cars, food, luxuries and consumer goods. The inflationary impact on the economy, and Trump's likely appointment next year of a new Federal Reserve chair who will lower interest rates, could mean greater economic threats to come. There's also an important geopolitical aspect to the EU trade deal. The Europeans committed to buying $880 billion of energy from the US. This could make America's NATO allies less vulnerable to pressure from Russia at a time when the Western alliance is opposing Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. 'We still have too much Russian LNG (liquid natural gas) that is coming through the back door again to our European Union, and some Russian gas and oil still in the European Union, which we do not want anymore,' von der Leyen said. Epstein drama haunts Trump's Scottish golf trip Trump's frustration that a key political achievement has been overshadowed by the Epstein saga is unlikely to dissipate in the coming days. The controversy started because of conspiracy theories among Trump's base that claimed the disgraced financier did not take his own life in prison but was murdered, and that he left behind a client list of rich and powerful Americans who'd taken advantage of his alleged sex trafficking. These claims were promoted by Trump and allies including Pam Bondi and Kash Patel. When all three assumed positions of great power (Bondi is attorney general, and Patel is FBI director), their failure to release the files as promised caused a rupture in Trump's MAGA base, which the administration has failed thus far to repair. The political uproar explains why Blanche's meeting with Maxwell last week caused such consternation. Maxwell's lawyer told reporters after her second day of meetings with Blanche in Tallahassee, Florida, that she had answered every question truthfully and honestly. He also noted that the president has the power to pardon those convicted of crimes. 'We hope he exercises that power in a right and just way,' the attorney, David Oscar Markus, said Friday. Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell attend a benefit concert in New York in 2005. Joe Schildhorn/Blanche has so far not offered a detailed public account of the meetings. There is no evidence of wrongdoing by Trump in his relationship with Epstein, and the president appears to have severed the friendship long before the accused sex trafficker was charged with federal crimes. But the Justice Department's unorthodox approach is raising concerns that it goes beyond a public relations effort to convince MAGA voters the administration is doing something. Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison term, has an incentive for providing information that could ease her situation — and Trump has the power to do so. Questions over the president's motives became even more important when CNN and other outlets reported last week that Trump's name was mentioned in the Epstein files, along with those of some other prominent Americans. This does not mean that he or anyone else is guilty of wrongdoing. In fact, Bondi might have made the correct decision legally in refusing to release information that could harm the reputation of people not accused of crimes. But beyond a joint Justice Department and FBI statement on the rationale for not releasing the files, the administration has rarely attempted to justify a policy that has put it at odds with its own supporters in the MAGA movement. 'I'm concerned that the deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche, is meeting with (Maxwell) supposedly one-on-one,' Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California said on NBC's 'Meet the Press' on Sunday. 'Look, I agree … that she should testify. But she's been indicted twice on perjury. This is why we need the files.' Republican leaders hoped the case might simply disappear over the summer recess. But Kentucky GOP Rep. Thomas Massie, a co-sponsor with Khanna of a House bill demanding the release of the files, isn't giving up. 'This is going to hurt Republicans in the midterms. The voters will be apathetic if we don't hold the rich and powerful accountable,' Massie said on NBC. 'I think when we get back, we can get the signatures required to force this to the floor.' The Trump administration has asked the courts to release grand jury testimony pertinent to the Epstein case. But one federal judge refused last week, in a ruling that may have given the DOJ political cover. 'We want them to release the files. However, we can't make them release it because of separation of power,' Oklahoma GOP Sen. Markwayne Mullin told Jake Tapper on CNN's 'State of the Union.' That may be the case. But grand jury testimony is believed to be only a fraction of the evidence against Epstein that the government holds — and hasn't made public. And the entire controversy has been worsened by the administration's clumsy approach and unwillingness to confront the anger of the MAGA base. 'I think that part of this problem is that there were some false expectations that are created, and that's a political mistake,' Missouri Republican Rep. Eric Burlison told CNN's Manu Raju.
