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Growing pressure on the Trump administration has prompted the US president to direct his attorney general, Pam Bondi, to seek the release of grand jury testimony related to Jeffrey Epstein’s sex-trafficking case.
The announcement came as Trump seeks to tamp down controversy over a story published in the Wall Street Journal that alleges the US president contributed a sketch of a naked woman to Epstein’s 50th birthday album. The president has said the letter is a fake, and that he will sue the publication over the story.
The fallout over the Epstein case has also complicated House Republicans’ plans to vote on Thursday on legislation demanded by Trump to slash government spending.
Here are the key stories at a glance:
Trump denies the Epstein birthday message was his
The president said on Truth Social he had authorized the justice department to seek the public release of the materials, which are under seal, citing “the ridiculous amount of publicity given to Jeffrey Epstein”.
Bondi, who has weathered days of accusations by Trump’s far-right supporters that she had mismanaged and failed to deliver on promises to release previously secret documents about the Epstein case, responded to Trump’s post with a post of her own that vowed to comply with the directive.
The flurry of activity followed the Wall Street Journal report alleging that Trump had contributed the letter – described as “bawdy” and featuring a drawing of a naked woman’s silhouette around a typewritten personal message to Epstein – to an album compiled by Ghislane Maxwell for Epstein’s 50th birthday. Trump denied to the Journal that he was the author of the tribute and, hours after the story was published, announced he intended to file a lawsuit against the publication.
Epstein tensions thwart House plan to vote on cuts bill
The House of Representatives faces a Friday deadline to pass the rescissions package demanded by Trump and approved by the Senate.
But before the House can vote on the package, it must be approved by the rules committee, where the Democratic minority has sought to capitalize on a growing furor among Republicans and their supporters over the Trump administration’s handling of documents related to the Epstein case. The committee announced it would hold a hearing into the package on Thursday evening.
Trump supporters burn Maga hats over Epstein case
Donald Trump’s efforts to dismiss the criticism over his administration’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files as a “hoax” showed no sign of working on Thursday as more prominent figures from across the political spectrum emerged to attack the US president and some of his supporters recorded videos burning their signature Make America Great Again hats.
Ice given access to sensitive Medicaid data
Medicaid officials have reportedly made an agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) to allow agents to examine a database of Americans’ personal information – including home addresses, social security numbers and ethnicities.
The data sharing agreement will allow Ice to find “the location of aliens”, according to an agreement obtained by the Associated Press.
What is chronic venous insufficiency, the condition Trump was diagnosed with?
Donald Trump was diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency, the White House said on Thursday, after he noticed swelling in his legs. It is a fairly common condition among older adults, but requires a thorough checkup to rule out more serious causes of swelling in the legs.
DeSantis under fire over ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ funding
Officials in Florida diverted crucial disaster preparedness and response resources to support the hasty construction of the so-called Alligator Alcatraz migrant detention jail by the Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, a newly published report has claimed.
Trump officials tour Alcatraz in bid to reopen prison
A delegation of US officials toured Alcatraz on Thursday as part of Donald Trump’s pledge to reopen the shuttered federal prison and tourist attraction in the San Francisco Bay, amid an outcry from California leaders who have called the plan “lunacy”.
Tens of thousands join ‘Good Trouble’ protests
Tens of thousands of people joined marches and rallies at more than 1,500 sites across all 50 US states on Thursday to protest against the Trump administration and honor the legacy of the late congressman John Lewis, an advocate for voting rights and civil disobedience.
Trump’s $1tn for Pentagon adds huge planet-heating emissions
Exclusive: Donald Trump’s huge spending boost for the Pentagon will produce an additional 26 megatons (Mt) of planet-heating gases – on a par with the annual carbon equivalent emissions generated by 68 gas power plants or the entire country of Croatia, new research reveals.
Migrants deported by US to Eswatini being held in solitary confinement
Five migrants deported by the US to the small southern African country of Eswatini, under the Trump administration’s third-country program, will be held in solitary confinement for an undetermined time, an Eswatini government spokesperson says.
Thabile Mdluli, the spokesperson, told the Associated Press that Eswatini planned to ultimately repatriate the five to their home countries with the help of a UN agency.
Catching up? Here’s what happened on 16 July 2025.
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