Trump's next 100 days will make the first 100 look tranquil
'I miss Joe Biden,' declares a speaker to the surprise of some attendees. He goes on: 'I miss having to watch him struggle up the steps.' The crowd laughs. Pamphlets are scattered around the event — hosted by the conservative Heritage
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
37 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Trump news at a glance: president dismisses continued Epstein and Maxwell furore as ‘not a big thing'
Donald Trump continued to face questions about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein as he landed in Scotland ahead of meeting British prime minister Keir Starmer and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen. The US president denied reports that he was briefed about his name appearing in the Epstein files after landing on Friday evening local time. He was also asked about the justice department's questioning of Ghislaine Maxwell and suggestions he might offer her clemency. Trump: 'I don't know anything about the conversation, I haven't really been following it.' 'A lot of people have been asking me about pardons [for Maxwell]. Obviously, this is no time to be talking about pardons' he went on. 'You're making a very big thing over something that's not a big thing.' Here are the key US politics stories today: The furore over Donald Trump's ties with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein continued on Friday as new revelations about the pair's relationship threatened to mire the president's golfing trip to Scotland, where he arrived late on Friday. After landing at Glasgow Prestwick airport at about 8.30pm local time, the US president denied reports that he had been briefed about his name appearing in files pertaining to the case against the late Epstein. He also said he had not 'really been following' the justice department's interview with Epstein's convicted associate, Ghislaine Maxwell. Read the full story The EU appears to be on the verge of signing a trade deal with Donald Trump after the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, announced she would meet the US president on Sunday during his four-day trip to Scotland. Trump landed in Scotland on Friday evening before the opening of his new golf course in Aberdeenshire. He said he was also planning to meet the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, on Saturday. Read the full story The deputy US attorney general, Todd Blanche, held a second in-person meeting on Friday with Ghislaine Maxwell, the convicted sex trafficker and longtime associate of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Blanche had confirmed the two met behind closed doors in Tallahassee, Florida, on Thursday, at the federal prosecutor's office within the federal courthouse in the state capital, and they met again on Friday. Read the full story Kenny Laynez-Ambrosio was driving to his landscaping job with his mother and two male friends when they were pulled over by the Florida highway patrol. In one swift moment, a traffic stop turned into a violent arrest. Video of the incident captured by Laynez-Ambrosio, an 18-year-old US citizen, appears to show a group of officers in tactical gear working together to violently detain the three men. The video has put fresh scrutiny on the harsh tactics used by US law enforcement officials as the Trump administration sets ambitious enforcement targets to detain thousands of immigrants every day. Read the full story The White House has announced that it will release $5.5bn in frozen education funds back to US states. That announcement came on Friday after Donald Trump's administration decided to abruptly withhold the congressionally approved funds a day before their 1 July release for the 2025-26 school year. South Park co-creator Trey Parker had the briefest response to anger from the White House over this season's premiere, which showed a naked Trump in bed with Satan. Two high-ranking officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration were placed on administrative leave on Friday, fueling speculation that the Trump administration was retaliating against them for actions taken during the president's first term. Catching up? Here's what happened on 24 July 2025.
Daily Mail
37 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
JD Vance breaks ranks with Trump and admits he has 'no idea' if president's letter to Epstein is real
Vice President JD Vance publicly broke ranks with Donald Trump on Friday, distancing himself from the president's unequivocal denial of a report that he once wrote a 'bawdy' birthday letter to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Vance had initially slammed the Wall Street Journal's article as 'complete and utter bulls***,' but he has since admitted in a sharply worded tweet that he has 'no idea' whether the letter exists. Vance's back peddle was seen as suspicious by many - and his stance contradicts the president's repeated claims that the letter is entirely made up and does not exist. The vice president said: 'I have no idea if the book exists - WSJ won't show it to us. I have no idea if the letter exists - WSJ won't show it to us.' His remarks came after MSNBC host Chris Hayes pressed him on social media for clarity, asking if Vance was claiming the entire book of birthday letters to Epstein was fake, or just the contribution attributed to Trump. Vance doubled down on his issue not with the content itself, but with what he described as irresponsible journalism. 'What I find absurd is the idea that Donald Trump was writing poems to Epstein, and I find it equally absurd that a major American paper would attack the President of the United States without revealing the basis for the attack.' He then accused the Wall Street Journal of running a partisan smear campaign. Vance's stance stands apart from the president's repeated claims that the letter is entirely made up 'They're going to dribble little details out for days or weeks in an effort to assassinate the president's character… The WSJ is acting like a Democrat SuperPAC. It's disgraceful, and it's why the president sued.' Indeed, Trump's legal team has filed a $10 billion lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal, calling the report 'fake news' and a 'sick fabrication.' Trump, for his part, has flatly denied ever writing such a letter - or ever writing anything like it. 'This is not me. This is a fake thing. It's a fake Wall Street Journal story,' Trump told the paper in response to the report. 'I never wrote a picture in my life. I don't draw pictures of women. It's not my language. It's not my words.' But Vance's open-ended comments mark a rare public departure from the president, who is known to demand complete loyalty from his political allies, especially in matters concerning the explosive Epstein narrative. Following Vance's post on X, many chimed in that his stance showed weakness between him and and the president. One person wrote: 'This is really weak s**t from Vance.' Another highlighted the irony: 'Lawyers representing the Epstein estate: "We have the birthday book, including Trump's letter" JD Vance two days later: "Nobody even knows if the book exists!"' A third said: ' Is it me, or is it weird that Vance has 'no idea if the letter exists' (that Trump wrote to Epstein) instead of taking Trump's word for it?' While a fourth added: 'So you're backtracking now that there's proof it's real? Got it.' The rift comes at a time of escalating political pressure over the Trump administration's handling of the Epstein files, which have become a lightning rod on the American right. Supporters of Trump have been demanding the release of classified records, believing Epstein's death was part of a broader conspiracy to shield powerful pedophiles with many suspicious of the president's previous friendship with the disgraced financier. On Friday, Trump again denied having written anything for Epstein's birthday and reiterated his skepticism when asked if the letter existed at all. 'I don't even know what they're talking about,' Trump said. 'Now, somebody could have written a letter and used my name. That's happened a lot… Everything is fake with the Democrats. Take a look what they just found about the dossiers. Everything is fake. They're a bunch of sick people.' Despite the denials, the issue continues to dog the White House, as Trump's trip to Scotland was overshadowed by renewed questions about Epstein and his imprisoned associate Ghislaine Maxwell. 'People should really focus on how well the country is doing,' Trump told reporters, brushing off the questions. 'I don't want to talk about that.' The birthday letter controversy is just the latest flare-up in an increasingly volatile administration battling internal divisions and external conspiracies. Despite having stacked the Justice Department with loyalists like Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel, Trump has found himself boxed in by rising demands for transparency from his own supporters. Bondi previously suggested on Fox News that she had an Epstein 'client list' on her desk. Patel, along with Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino, has long trafficked in Epstein conspiracy theories, demanding the public exposure of alleged abusers. But when the Justice Department recently released a letter denying the existence of a client list and declaring the case effectively closed, the backlash was immediate and furious, particularly among Trump's base. 'Put on your big boy pants and let us know who the pedophiles are,' Patel had said in a 2023 podcast- a sentiment still echoed by large swaths of MAGA supporters online. Now, those same supporters are increasingly doubtful of the administration's willingness to reveal the truth, especially as Trump attempts to shift focus back to his legislative agenda and away from the growing scandal. Behind the scenes, tensions are said to be boiling over. According to insiders, a contentious meeting earlier this month between Bondi and Bongino erupted into a shouting match, as the two clashed over how to manage the fallout from the Justice Department's abrupt about-face. Faced with a restive base and a deeply skeptical media, Trump has once again turned to his favorite fallback: the 'Russia hoax.' 'They have gone absolutely CRAZY,' Trump wrote Thursday on Truth Social, 'and are playing another Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax but, this time, under the guise of what we will call the Jeffrey Epstein SCAM.' Trump has also relied on familiar figures to shift the narrative. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who recently appeared to split with Trump on foreign policy, returned to his good graces this week after pushing the release of old intelligence documents from the Russia probe in an apparent attempt to reignite grievances and distract from the present crisis.
The Guardian
37 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Ukraine war briefing: Ending Russia's war in Ukraine key issue in Trump talks with EU, UK, sources say
British and US sources say key issues on the agenda for US president Donald Trump's visit to Scotland to meet with British prime minister Keir Starmer and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen include ending Russia's war in Ukraine. Before he left Washington, Trump said on Friday that he is looking at secondary sanctions on Russia amid the war in Ukraine. Von der Leyen said later she would meet Trump in Scotland on Sunday. British officials have been heartened by what they see as a clear shift in Trump's rhetoric on Ukraine and Russia in recent weeks. The United States told China at the United Nations on Friday it should 'stop fuelling Russia's aggression' in Ukraine, as China accused Washington of trying to shift blame and spark confrontation. Acting US Ambassador to the UN Dorothy Shea urged all countries, specifically naming China, to stop exports to Russia of dual-use goods that Washington says contribute to Russia's war industrial base and enable its drone and missile attacks on Ukraine. China's deputy UN Ambassador Geng Shuang responded it is not a party to the conflict, has never provided lethal weapons, and has always 'strictly controlled dual-use materials, including the export of drones'. The Kremlin said on Friday that a summit between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy could only happen as a final step to seal a peace deal. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that it was unlikely that such a meeting could occur by the end of August, as Ukraine has proposed. Ukraine says a leaders' meeting is required in order to achieve a breakthrough in the slow-moving process, which has seen the two sides hold three brief sessions of peace talks in Turkey since mid-May. In comments to journalists, Zelenskyy said Russia had begun to engage over the possibility of such a meeting. Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday toured a factory producing interceptor drones, increasingly seen as a solution to protecting Ukrainian cities from Russian air attacks, and said a goal had been set to make up to 1,000 of the weapons each day. Zelenskyy, speaking in his nightly video address, said newly appointed defence minister Denys Shmyhal had reported on foreign assistance that would enable Ukraine to 'ensure a reliable flow of weapons for Ukrainian soldiers.' Civilian casualties in Ukraine are on rise as Moscow has deployed a nightly blitz of drones, decoys, cruise and ballistic missiles – increasingly aimed at a single city or location. 'A plan has been approved to reach production of 500-1,000 interceptor drones per day. The deadline has been set,' said Zelenskyy. Ukraine has received confirmation from partners that they will provide funding for three Patriot missile defence systems and discussions are under way to finance seven more, Zelenskyy said: 'I have officially received confirmation from Germany for two systems, and from Norway for one. We are currently working with Dutch partners.' Ukraine's top anti-corruption investigator said on Friday that he did not expect attempts to derail his agency's work to end, despite an abrupt U-turn by Zelenskyy on curbing their independence that fuelled rare protests. Semen Kryvonos said he was taken aback by attempts this week to curtail his agency's fight against graft. He spoke a day after Zelenskyy sought to defuse tensions by submitting legislation restoring the independence of NABU and its sister agency, the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO). Thousands of protesters took part in protests in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities this week after lawmakers fast-tracked a bill granting a Zelenskyy-appointed general prosecutor power over the two bodies. Kryvonos applauded Zelenskiy's reversal, but said NABU and SAPO remain a high-priority target for vested interests aiming to stymie their closely watched efforts to clean up. Zelenskyy says Ukrainian forces are facing fierce fighting around the city of Pokrovsk in the east, a logistics hub near which Russia has been announcing the capture of villages on an almost daily basis. Russia's defence ministry on Thursday announced the capture of two villages on either side of Pokrovsk – Zvirove to the west and Novoekonomichne to the east. A third village near the city – Novotoretske – was declared by Moscow to be 'liberated' earlier in the week. Ukrainian officials have made no acknowledgment that the villages have changed hands. Zelenskyy also said Ukrainian forces were also 'continuing to act' in border areas in the northern Sumy region, where Russian troops have gained a foothold in recent weeks. In Sumy, where Russian troops are trying to establish what Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin calls a 'buffer zone', the popular Ukrainian military blog DeepState said Kyiv's forces had retaken a previously lost village. DeepState said Ukrainian troops had restored control over the village of Kindrativka. There was no official comment from either side. SpaceX's Starlink satellite network was back up and running on Friday as engineers hunted for the root cause of one of its biggest international outages the night before, a rare disruption for the powerful internet system set off by an internal software failure. In Ukraine, where troops rely heavily on Starlink for battlefield communications, the outage affected combat operations as service was 'down across the entire front,' said Robert Brovdi, the commander of Ukraine's drone forces.
