Can Trump calm MAGA's fury by releasing more Epstein records?

USA Today

2 days ago

On Saturday's episode of The Excerpt podcast: USA TODAY White House Reporter Zac Anderson breaks down some of the latest surrounding President Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein records. Trump sued the Wall Street Journal Friday over the newspaper's report that his name was on a 2003 birthday greeting for Epstein. Americans detained in Venezuela have been released in exchange for Venezuelans detained in El Salvador. USA TODAY Supreme Court Correspondent Maureen Groppe takes a closer look at how the Trump administrations is affecting litigation over gun regulations. Health insurance costs are set to spike again. The Open Championship continues.
Hit play on the player below to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript beneath it. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.
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Taylor Wilson:
Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson, and today is Saturday, July 19th, 2025. This is USA TODAY'S The Excerpt. Today, the latest on Trump and Epstein records. Plus we take a look at a prisoner exchange between the US and Venezuela and how the Trump administration is impacting litigation over gun regulations.
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President Donald Trump sued The Wall Street Journal and its owners, including Rupert Murdoch for at least $10 million yesterday. The suit was filed over the newspaper's report that his name was on a 2003 birthday greeting for Jeffrey Epstein that included a sexually suggestive drawing and a reference to secrets they shared.
The move came after Trump bowed to some of his critics by pushing for the release of certain additional Epstein records. I spoke with USA TODAY White House reporter Zac Anderson for more. Thanks for joining me, Zac.
Zac Anderson:
Good to be here.
Taylor Wilson:
So, President Trump has tapped Attorney General Pam Bondi to seek the release of grand jury testimony from Jeffrey Epstein's legal proceedings. Let's just start there, Zac. What's the latest and how did we get to this point?
Zac Anderson:
So, Trump has really faced a lot of pressure both from Republicans and his party and from Democrats to release more records related to Epstein.
The Justice Department put out a memo last week that was attempting to close the book on this issue and dispel some of the concerns that people had. There's a lot of talk that Epstein had a client list of accomplices who were involved in his alleged sex trafficking scheme and speculation about how he died.
The DOJ put out this memo saying they didn't have any reason to believe that he had this client list, that they affirm that he died by suicide in jail and that they weren't going to put out any more records justice officials said.
And that really set people off, especially some high profile people in Trump's base, MAGA figures who were calling for the release of more records that built until Trump said that he would release certain grand jury records. But it's not all of the records and not everybody is satisfied.
Taylor Wilson:
Well, Zac, he doesn't usually bow to critics. What's different this time?
Zac Anderson:
Yeah, Trump is really known for punching back repeatedly and standing his ground in the face of criticism, but this issue has been different for him. He's feeling it from people on the right.
It's also an issue that some of his top supporters, including people in his administration, really built up the expectations around this. They've talked about the Epstein files for years. They've insinuated that there could be bombshell revelations in them about powerful people complicit in illegal activity.
So, this is really an issue that the right has focused on and the idea that there is nothing to here and that we're not going to release any more documents has upset a lot of people in his base who are saying that there needs to be more.
There's actually a bill that was filed that would call for the release of all Epstein records, so it's become of a huge thorn in Trump's side.
Taylor Wilson:
Well, you mentioned his base. I mean, will this calm some of his biggest MAGA wing critics, at least on this?
Zac Anderson:
I think it remains to be seen. I saw some people who had called for the release of more records were sharing Trump's announcement on social media that he was going to try and unseal some of these grand jury testimony. So they seemed to be happy with that.
But the Republican lawmaker, Thomas Massey, who filed the bill that would release all of the records, said that more needs to be done. Massey is not a Trump favorite. He's an independent Republican who Trump has clashed with.
But again, like I said, Massey's bill is co-sponsored by some of Trump's strongest supporters. So Massey isn't giving up on this legislation. We'll see if the clamor dies down here from some of these MAGA folks.
Taylor Wilson:
This has clearly been an issue on the right. How are Democrats approaching this conversation?
Zac Anderson:
Democrats have really latched onto this as well. Massey's bill is co-sponsored by Ro Khanna, who's a democratic lawmaker from California. Other Democrats have really been pushing this issue. I think they see political opportunity here, but also there are still a lot of questions about what are in some of these records.
This is really a bipartisan issue. You see both Republicans and Democrats really pushing this. Massey's bill is actually co-sponsored by both Marjorie Taylor Greene and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. So you have far left and far right people who have both really latched onto this issue.
Taylor Wilson:
Well, Zac, he's asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to seek this release. What's next as it pertains to these records and the broader conversation around this?
Zac Anderson:
We'll see where this goes. It sounds like Bondi was saying she was prepared to ask the court to unseal some of this grand jury testimony. Courts operate on their own timeline. It's not clear if they would even agree to that or how long that would take.
And also, this is just a fraction of the records in there. So will people be satisfied if the grand jury stuff is released or is this going to continue to be an issue for Trump where people are going to question what other records should be released here and why aren't you releasing more? We'll have to see how that plays out.
Trump has thrown this out there, I think to placate some of his critics and to show that he's listening to them. But he's also, before he did that, he really lashed out at them and said they were weaklings and they were buying into a hoax with the FDA and stuff.
So he tried to hammer them, now he's trying to placate them a little bit. If they continue to grumble, would he go back to just lashing out? We'll see.
Taylor Wilson:
All right. Zac Anderson covers the White House for USA TODAY. Thank you, Zac.
Zac Anderson:
Thank you.
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Taylor Wilson:
Secretary of State Marco Rubio says 10 Americans detained in Venezuela have been released, exchanged for Venezuelans detained in El Salvador. More than 200 Venezuelans who were deported from the US on allegations of gang membership earlier this year arrived home to the South American country yesterday.
The Venezuelans were sent to El Salvador from the US in March after President Trump invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang without going through normal immigration procedures. They were held in El Salvador's notorious CECOT maximum security prison.
The shuttered US Embassy in Caracas shared a photo on social media of 10 men waving American flags alongside US charged affairs, John McNamara, who's based in Colombia.
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The Trump administration is affecting litigation over gun regulations in a number of ways. I spoke with USA TODAY Supreme Court correspondent Maureen Groppe for more. Hello, Maureen?
Maureen Groppe:
Hello.
Taylor Wilson:
All right, let's start by going back to 2022. What did the Supreme Court decide as it relates to who can be armed in public?
Maureen Groppe:
The court struck down a New York law that required the state's residents to have what the law called a proper cause to carry a handgun. In doing so, the court set up a new test for gun regulations. They said a regulation has to be similar to an historical rule about weapons to be constitutional.
Taylor Wilson:
Now, how did some Democrat-led states push back on that and it really just, Maureen, talk us through some of the tensions with the Trump administration that then led to?
Maureen Groppe:
So five states, including New York and Hawaii, changed their laws. If they're going to have less ability to control who can carry a gun in public, they focused instead on where in public someone can bring a gun. So they flipped the presumption.
Instead of guns being allowed in a business or other private property, unless the property owner forbids it, the property owner under these laws has to expressly say it's okay to have a gun on the property. They have to say that either verbally or through a sign or something like that.
A challenge to Hawaii's law is now pending before the Supreme Court and the Trump administration has urged the court to take the case and to declare Hawaii's law unconstitutional. The same would go for the laws in these other states, which at some administration says they all flout this decision that the court made in 2022.
Taylor Wilson:
Well, Maureen, as you're right, that's not the only example of how this administration is impacting litigation over gun regulations. The Justice Department also stopped defending a federal handgun rule. What's this rule in some of the broader context here?
Maureen Groppe:
So, under a decades old federal law, you have to be 21 to buy a handgun. That's being challenged by 18 and 20 olds who say that that rule doesn't meet the Supreme Court's test for gun rules. In one of these challenges, an appeals court agreed and said the law is unconstitutional.
The Justice Department who was defending the law before the change in the administration, and that's what the Justice Department's role is is to defend federal laws. They chose not to appeal that decision to the Supreme Court, so that let's stand in that part of the country. That appeals court decision that restriction is unconstitutional.
But we're waiting to see what the Justice Department says in another challenge. In that case, a different appeals court said that the law is constitutional. So that decision has been appealed to the court by the gun rights groups and the 18 and 20 year olds challenging it in that case.
And it's possible that the Justice Department will say that they disagree with the appeals court decision and they think that the law is unconstitutional. If they do that and that the Supreme Court then wants to take the case, they're going to have to appoint a non-government attorney to defend the federal law.
Taylor Wilson:
Well, here in mid-2025, where do things stand broadly over the right to carry a gun in public?
Maureen Groppe:
Well, we've gotten conflicting opinions from two appeals courts about whether Hawaii's and New York's rules on where you can bring a gun, whether those are constitutional. So we have to wait and see if the Supreme Court wants to get involved to settle that question now, or if they're going to wait for more lower courts to weigh in before deciding whether they want to get involved.
Taylor Wilson:
You know Maureen, AR15s are such a fraught part of the conversation around firearms. How has the Justice Department during Trump's second term approached bans on these weapons?
Maureen Groppe:
Well, they have urged a Chicago-based appeals court to rule that Illinois's ban on AR15 is unconstitutional. No matter which way the appeals courts rule on that, the losing side is likely to bring the issue to the Supreme Court.
The court in June declined to hear a challenge to a similar ban in Maryland, but Justice Kavanaugh said he expects the court will have to take up the issue soon.
Taylor Wilson:
We're talking a lot about the Trump administration-era Justice Department, but what has the president himself said about guns since retaking office earlier this year?
Maureen Groppe:
So, he promised during the campaign that he was going to vigorously defend the Second Amendment, and not long after his inauguration, he signed an executive order directing a review of the firearm rules that had been put in place by the Biden administration. And he also directed the Justice Department to review the positions that the government had taken on gun-related litigation.
So that's why we're now seeing these different positions by the Justice Department through the administration and pending cases across the country.
Taylor Wilson:
All right. Maureen Groppe covers the Supreme Court for USA TODAY. Thank you, Maureen.
Maureen Groppe:
Thank you.
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Taylor Wilson:
Consumers who buy health insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplace will likely face double-digit rate hikes next year. Insurers plan a medium-premium increase of 15% for 2026 plans, which would be the largest ACA insurance price hike since 2018 according to a Peterson KFF Health System Tracker Analysis published yesterday.
And many working-age consumers who get their health insurance through the workplace won't be spared either. Benefits consultant Mercer said, "More than half of big employers expect to shift a larger share of insurance costs to employees and their families next year by raising deductibles, co-pays or out-of-pocket requirements."
KFF said the ACA insurers cited factors including medical cost inflation, the expiration of tax credits instituted during former President Joe Biden's administration that made plans cheaper and tariffs on prescription drugs and medical device imports. You can read more with a link in today's show notes.
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One of golf's biggest weekends of the year is underway. The Open Championship sees American Scottie Scheffler lead by one stroke as he starts play today. You can follow along with USA TODAY Sports.
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And coming up tomorrow, AI is having a transformative impact on today's job market, making both senior and entry-level roles obsolete. But there's still one area where humans have a distinct advantage.
Jim Frawley:
I think the number one advice that you can give anybody today is pick up on that emotional intelligence, emotional quotient focus. In-person social interaction is what's going to save you from AI because if you're looking for a new job, we hire people we like and we hire people we know.
Taylor Wilson:
That was executive coach Jim Frawley, who regularly sits down with CEOs across the country to talk AI strategy. Jim recently joined my colleague Dana Taylor to share his insights into how job seekers and those already employed can adapt to this rapidly changing landscape. You can find that episode right here tomorrow beginning at 5:00 AM Eastern Time.
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And thanks for listening to The Excerpt. You can get the podcast wherever you get your audio, and if you're on a smart speaker, just ask for The Excerpt. I'm Taylor Wilson, and I'll be back Monday with more of The Excerpt from USA TODAY.