Trump hits back against ‘bawdy' Epstein birthday message report
This denial is contradicted by evidence showing at least five sketches attributed to Trump have been sold at auction over the past decade.
These auctioned works include drawings of the Empire State Building, a "Money Tree," and various city skylines, created between the mid-1990s and mid-2000s.
The sketches have fetched considerable prices, with one minimalist New York City skyline piece selling for as much as $29,000 in 2017.
Trump himself previously acknowledged donating "autographed doodles" and said "art may not be my strong point" in his 2010 book, Trump Never Give Up.
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The Sun
15 minutes ago
- The Sun
I saved my 1st kiss for marriage -I got tempted, but my man said it'd get in the way of us getting to know each other
A WOMAN has revealed that she and her husband saved their first kiss until they were married. Lydia Plath, 21, became besotted with Zac Wyse as soon as they met, but the couple didn't lock lips until they wed six months later. 2 2 Appearing on series seven of TLC reality series Welcome To Plathville, which follows Lydia and her family and was filmed before the couple wed, a producer on the show asked her what her first kiss was like. "It hasn't happened yet", she responded. "He has committed, and I guess now I have committed to saving our first kiss for our wedding day." Zac revealed that he had wanted to save the kiss as he didn't want it to "get in the way of really getting to know someone." He explained that he had shared his reasoning with Lydia, who then revealed that she too had "always wanted that." "There are moments where it can be tempting, but I think self-control is just a way that we can represent to Lord together", Zac said. He added that instead of kissing, the couple do other stuff like "climbing trees", and "skipping" and "dancing". "It's better than kissing really". However, Lydia then shot back: "I think it's safe to say that we're both looking forward to our first kiss." The lovebirds, from Georgia, USA, got engaged in December 2024, after three months of dating, and then tied the knot three months after that. Welcome to Plathville's Barry Plath requests custody of three minor kids and child support from ex Kim in nasty divorce The pair, who met at a church in Colorado, said that they don't believe that the purpose of dating is to mess around and "pursue our hearts desire". Instead, they dated with the purpose of marriage, and said that their promise not to kiss until marriage made things "exciting". Following their wedding day, Zac told People: "The discipline it has taken to save our first kiss for the wedding day is an example of the commitment we have for each other going into our marriage." And the couple aren't the only ones who have chosen to save their first kiss for their big day. Celebs that waited until marriage to have sex Celebrities tend to keep the details of their sex life private, but when it comes to their choice to wait until marriage, some stars are actually willing to open up. Jessica Simpson - Before marrying Nick Lachey, Jessica was very open about her decision to remain a virgin. She said she was nervous about discussing the topic with Nick for the first time, but he "stayed patient" until they tied the knot in 2002. Justin and Hailey Bieber - Justin may have been with other people before his wife Hailey, but when they reconnected in 2019, he was more than a year into a self-imposed tenure of celibacy. Together, the couple decided to continue to refrain from having sex until they were married. Adriana Lima - Victoria's Secret model Adriana's Catholic faith influenced her decision to save herself for marriage. She explained potential suitors would have to respect her decision — and if they weren't willing to wait, then they weren't the right person for her. Miranda Kerr and Evan Spiegel - When Miranda started dating Snapchat founder Evan, the couple decided to wait until marriage to have sex because of Evan's traditional beliefs. In an interview, Miranda was asked about the possibility of having children before their wedding and she said it wouldn't be possible: "Not until after we get married. My partner is very traditional. We can't...I mean we're she told The Times. Kevin Jonas - All the Jonas brothers famously wore purity rings for much of their adolescence, in part due to their religious upbringing. While Nick and Joe ended up taking their rings off, Kevin saw things through until he tied the knot with his wife Danielle in 2009. Kaytlin O'Neall and Drew Brown, both 21, are also holding off on kissing until after they've tied the knot. The young couple have been together for four years and got engaged last October. Posting a TikTok video of the proposal, Kaytlin (@ referenced their plans to avoid locking lips until they say their vows. "Disclaimer!!! You don't have to kiss to get a ring," she captioned the clip. She explained that they were inspired by their religious beliefs to abstain from any form of physical intimacy. "It is truly because we have felt this conviction from the Lord," Kaytlin explained. "Your flesh is always going to want to make the wrong choice."
The Sun
15 minutes ago
- The Sun
Taylor Swift shoots ‘top secret music video in Los Angeles so covert even staff on set were not allowed to hear song'
TAYLOR Swift may be set to surprise fans with new music as she was filming in secret in Los Angeles this week despite her reported break from performing, The U.S. Sun can exclusively reveal. The singer has been enjoying some much-needed time off with boyfriend Travis Kelce after her record-breaking Eras Tour wrapped. 6 6 6 But fans have been hoping she could be set to release a new album in the coming weeks, noting that she has not gone a calendar year without dropping fresh tracks since 2016. The Instagram Taylor Nation, run by her social team, also fueled speculation they're counting down using her albums, which fans believe could conclude at the beginning of August. Now, an insider has claimed Taylor is definitely gearing up for her next chapter after more than 500 days. "Taylor was in Los Angeles on Thursday filming a new music video," an insider exclusively told The U.S. Sun. "It was so top secret that those working on set were not even allowed to hear the song, only the beat. "Even though she's been taking time off from touring and working a lot to spend time with Travis, there are still projects she's working on, which will no doubt please fans." The U.S. Sun has reached out to Taylor's rep for comment. Taylor's last release was The Tortured Poets Department, her eleventh studio album, which dropped on April 19, 2024, by Republic Records. SOCIAL COUNTDOWN Fans have been following Taylor's social posts desperate for information on the next era. One on X posted this week, "i absolutely NEED the feeling of pressing play on a new taylor album at midnight soon." A second wrote on the site, "i need a new taylor swift album right now i'm so parched." "I am so excited to see what this Taylor Swift countdown (or I guess count up?) leads to!!!" a third added. Taylor's next era comes after she bought back the rights to her first six albums, including music videos, concert films, artwork, and unreleased songs. This acquisition, reportedly costing $360 million, reportedly ended a long-standing battle for control of her master recordings when her former label, Big Machine Label Group, sold them to Scooter Braun's Ithaca Holdings. She alleged the deal went through without offering her the chance to purchase them. Scooter then sold the masters and all the rights to Taylor's tracks to Shamrock Holdings in 2020. Taylor, 35, confirmed in a statement that she now owns her back catalog once more. In a long letter, Taylor said, "All of the music I've ever made now belongs to me. All of my music videos. All the concert films. "The album art and the photography. The unreleased songs. The memories. The magic and the madness. Every single era. My entire life's work. MASTERS BATTLE "To say this is my greatest dream come true is actually being pretty reserved about it. "All I ever wanted was the opportunity to work hard enough to be able to one day purchase my music outright with no strings attached. "No partnership, with full autonomy. I will be forever grateful to everyone at Shamrock Capital for being the first people to ever offer this to me." In a post to Tumblr in June 2019, Taylor told fans that bosses refused to sell her masters to her unless she agreed to be locked into a new recording contract with them. Taylor wrote, "For years I asked, pleaded for a chance to own my work. Instead I was given an opportunity to sign back up to Big Machine Records and 'earn' one album back at a time, one for every new one I turned in. "I walked away because I knew once I signed that contract, Scott Borchetta would sell the label, thereby selling me and my future." Taylor vowed to take on the system and announced she would re-record her first six albums; Taylor Swift, Fearless, Speak Now, Red, 1989, and Reputation. Her last re-release was 1989, but she now doesn't need to re-record her album Reputation. During Taylor's work break, she has been spending quality time with her boyfriend Travis, 35. He shared a series of photos this week of their summer adventures, giving fans a rare glimpse into their relationship. Travis is now back in training camp with the Kansas City Chiefs ahead of the 2025 season. 6 6 6
The Guardian
15 minutes ago
- The Guardian
From Krispy Kreme to GoPro, has meme-stock trading frenzy returned?
Shares in struggling retailers and ageing consumer brands surged, as amateur traders cast aside Wall Street's skepticism and mobilized online. It's like 2021 all over again. But the latest meme-stock rally could be even bigger than its predecessor four years ago, when investors piled into recognizable but unloved stocks, such as the video games retailer GameStop and the movie theatre chain AMC, according to the founder of the Reddit forum that helped whip up the frenzy. Retailer Kohl's, camera firm GoPro, fast-food chain Wendy's and doughnut chain Krispy Kreme each staged rapid rallies this week, driven by abrupt surges in trading volume reminiscent of the the meme-stock craze of 2021, when social media memes boosted a collection of struggling stocks, triggering extraordinary and volatile leaps in value. Actress Sydney Sweeney helped bring clothing retailer American Eagle Outfitters into the mania after it was announced the Euphoria and White Lotus star would front the brand's latest marketing campaign. The company's shares surged about 10% in trading on Thursday. Meme stocks are 'about to leap-frog in size and scope and scale, so that retail traders are going to redefine what matters', according to Jaime Rogozinski, founder of the wallstreetbets Reddit forum behind many of the volatile rallies. 'The world of finance is clearly changing, with blockchain technologies encroaching, and AI agents that trade on their own,' he said. 'And the collective of retail traders is adapting along with it.' Rogozinski founded wallstreetbets in 2012, but said Reddit ousted him as a moderator in 2020. His bid to sue the social media company for trademark infringement was dismissed by the US court of appeals for the ninth circuit last month. The forum's users home in on stocks and share their own research. 'It's a decentralization of power of who can be financial analyst,' said Noor Al, a moderator on wallstreetbets. 'Great ideas can now come from anyone, anywhere. 'We're seeing the power of retail push stocks, sometimes to the tune of billions of dollars, through the power of ideas, the power of community and the power of the people,' he added. The meme-stock craze of 2021, which produced stars such as Roaring Kitty, was a product of the Covid era, when many amateur traders were stuck at home and flush with pandemic stimulus cash. Whether this latest frenzy produces similar winners is not yet clear. Kohl's finished the week up 32%, GoPro was up 66% and Krispy Kreme was up 41%. The rallies show some investors are willing to take on more risk, as stocks scale record highs and the market, dominated by big tech, becomes harder to beat. Often, meme-stock bets are unbound from economic fundamentals, as investors move to support a brand for romantic or ideological reasons. Donald Trump's Trump Media & Technology Group, home to Truth Social, is valued at more than $5bn on quarterly revenue of about $1m. The wallstreetbets ethos 'has always to some extent been about flaunting and exploiting the ironies, relevance or irrelevance' of the stock market, said Rogozinski, who pointed to Wendy's, the hamburger chain, as a good example. 'Wendy's has always been a meme that goes back a decade. It brings a smile to my face, because on Reddit there's always been this thing where they say: 'Sir, this is a Wendy's.' 'It's an inside joke, and I don't even get where it started. It's just a meme,' he added. The stock's fleeting rise – it rallied 10% in two days, but finished the week broadly flat – shows some retail investors do not necessarily care about the typical factors that drive the market, such as tariffs and war in the Middle East. 'It's this ability for us to almost make fun of the financial system.' Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion Long-term institutional players will always get the last laugh, Rogozinski conceded, because prices will return to normal valuations. 'But in the short term there's lot of money to be had with this volatility, and the fact that stocks are able to move up and down with such ease is but a mere showcase for how the financial system needs a facelift in relevancy.' While current market conditions do not replicate the low interest rates and retail investor buoyancy of the Covid era, market records and a robust economy have made meme stocks attractive once again for some. 'You see all these indications where this is full-blown meme mania,' Brent Kochuba, founder of derivatives-data firm SpotGamma, told Bloomberg. 'The macro economic environment really favors the retail and speculative plays,' agreed Al. 'I think were only going to see more speculation and excitement. It's a good time to tune in, because retail players can react and provide insight faster.' Days traders are not necessarily bothered by a company's financial performance, said Rogozinski. 'You have this activist, elective investor who is saying, 'I don't care what the financial statements look like, I don't care what the discounted cashflow is, I like the food, I like the video-game store, I like the meme. So dude, you can go back to Excel spreadsheets if you want, but I really like the chicken tenders,'' he said. There is now a 'third component' to investment, beyond supply and demand, he claimed, 'which is, 'dude, I don't care if you think it's going to go up or not, or if they have assets or liabilities. I care about this company and I'm going to help it out. I'm going to go buy my jeans from American Eagle.''
