Trump avoids press and questions over Epstein fallout as Melania joins him for order signing: Live updates
President Donald Trump didn’t take any questions from the press Thursday as he faces fallout from a new round of Epstein emails.
The president held a public event alongside First Lady Melania at the White House to sign a new executive order related to foster care. The president, who often boasts about how frequently he takes questions from the press compared to his predecessor, didn’t stop to answer any reporters’ questions on Thursday.
Trump made a similar move Wednesday when he didn’t take questions after signing into law a funding package that ended the government shutdown.
The president and his team are dealing with reactions after a new batch of emails from Jeffrey Epstein was released Wednesday. The emails mention Trump – who has not been accused of any wrongdoing and referred to Epstein as a “creep” – and his earlier relationship with the pedophile. In one email, Epstein told Ghislaine Maxwell that Trump “spent hours” at his house with one of the disgraced financier’s victims.
The president and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt have both called the latest tranche a “hoax.”
MAGA firebrand and rape survivor Nancy Mace holds firm that Epstein files must be released
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) pushed back on allegations that President Donald Trump had attempted to pressure her against signing a discharge petition in the House of Representatives to force a vote to release files related to Jeffrey Epstein.
Mace spoke to The Independent exclusively as she headed to the House floor after a discharge petition proposed by Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) reached the requisite 218 signatures Wednesday after Speaker Mike Johnson swore in Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.).
Mace said she had not spoken to Trump since Friday.
“I’ve been traveling, and I had a big press conference yesterday, so he and I’ve been on the road, but he and I’ve been playing phone tag,” she said.
Eric Garcia has the story.
Statue of Trump-Epstein holding hands reappears in DC after being torn down by federal agents
A 12-foot-tall statue of President Donald Trump and late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein holding hands has reappeared once again in Washington D.C., after being torn down by federal authorities twice already.
The statue, which drew national attention after being removed from the National Mall, has popped up yet again, this time outside the Busboys and Poets restaurant in the U Street Corridor.
It comes as the White House has scrambled to deal with the release of tens of thousands of messages from Epstein’s estate by lawmakers, including emails between the financier and his partner-in-crime, Ghislaine Maxwell, mentioning the president by name.
Trump did not send or receive any of the emails and has not been accused of any wrongdoing.
“Much like Trump’s name in an Epstein email dump, we have popped our head out to say an unannounced hello,” the group behind the piece, The Secret Handshake, told The Daily Beast Thursday.
Mike Bedigan and John Bowden have the story.
‘Not a good GOP strategy’: White House officials slam Mace’s support for discharge petition
Trump officials say Republican Rep. Nancy Mace’s decision to stand by her discharge petition signature may cost her President Donald Trump’s support as she runs for governor of South Carolina.
“Helping Democrats deflect from Republican success is not a good GOP primary election strategy,” a White House official told NOTUS.
A source close to the White House told the outlet they “couldn’t imagine a dumber strategy to get Trump’s endorsement than doing what she did this week.”
Mace, a sexual assault survivor, wrote on X that stood by her signature on the discharge petition: “The Epstein petition is deeply personal.”
The petition reached the necessary 218 signatures Wednesday to compel lawmakers to vote on whether to release the Epstein files. House Speaker Mike Johnson said the vote will take place next week.
“As a survivor I will defend every last attack on President Trump to the death, everywhere,” she added. “And all this fake news, well, it’s just noise. I will NEVER abandon other survivors.”
‘He’ll address it when the time is needed,’ GOP senator explains why Trump hasn’t taken Epstein questions
Ohio Republican Senator Jon Husted explained why he believed Trump hasn’t taken any questions after the latest tranche of Epstein emails were released.
The president didn’t take questions on Wednesday or Thursday.
“Oh, I mean, I think he’s been focused on trying to get the government reopened and trade deals and all of the things that will help make Americans’ lives better by reducing the cost of products and giving people jobs. That’s where his focus is,” Husted told NewsNation.
“This has been an ongoing story. I’m sure he’ll address it when the time is needed.”
ANALYSIS: Are the latest Epstein revelations the beginning of Maga’s end?
What do the latest releases from the Epstein files tell us about Donald Trump?
The text of one email, as released, sent in April 2011 by Jeffrey Epstein to Ghislaine Maxwell, alleges: “I want you to realize that that dog that hasn’t barked is Trump. [Name redacted] spent hours at my house with him”. The name, according to the White House, is Virginia Giuffre Roberts, who of course can no longer speak for herself.
In another, Epstein alleges that “of course [Trump] knew about the girls”, perhaps meaning those procured by Epstein and/or Maxwell for sexual purposes – but with no great sense of direct and detailed knowledge.
The White House says: “These emails prove absolutely nothing other than the fact that President Trump did nothing wrong.” On a narrow reading, in that the texts as presented aren’t a “smoking gun”, that’s probably correct. They don’t, however, “prove” Trump did nothing wrong at all, ever, because we don’t know what the rest of the relevant evidence, if any, looks like.
Read more from Sean O’Grady.
WATCH: Donald and Melania Trump sign executive order on foster care
Donald and Melania Trump sign executive order on foster care system
Donald Trump thanked Melania and told her she did a great job as first lady today and every day.
“As we make America great again, we’re going to protect American children in foster care and ensure these children will never, ever be forgotten,” the president said.
Both the president and first lady signed the executive order Thursday afternoon.
Trump then made a dig at Biden, telling the crowd: “No autopen.”
In photos: Donald and Melania Trump speak before president signs executive order on foster care
Trump speaks ahead of signing foster care executive order
President Donald Trump took a moment to discuss the ballroom, which was under construction behind him, joking that the new room would seat “few more people.”
The order would provide vital new resources for young people to transition out of the foster care system and live a very happy and successful life, he said.
He called it an “amazing day” at the White House.
First Lady gives speech ahead of executive order signing
First Lady Melania Trump thanked her husband, the president, for prioritizing America’s foster care children.
Through her Fostering the Future program, students are “prepared to enter the workforce and ultimately to become leading executives,” she said.
The executive order is strategic, empathetic and impactful, the first lady said.
She predicted “this small spark today will spark a profound and lasting nationwide movement.”
“Together we will illuminate the pathway for today’s foster children to become tomorrow’s builders. And tomorrow’s builders will foster the future of America’s legacy,” she concluded.
Source: independent.co.uk
