10 unhinged Donald Trump moments as new Epstein recordsdata present him partying with unidentified girls
It will take time for the context of the pictures to become apparent, but they have the potential to be hugely damaging for the US President – and others in the orbit of both Epstein and Trump
(Image: House oversight)
Another bombshell release of Jeffrey Epstein documents threatens to shake Donald Trump’s administration – as he’s pictured with the notorious paedophile, and with unidentified women. It will take time for the context of the pictures to become apparent, but they have the potential to be hugely damaging for the US President – and others in the orbit of both Epstein and Trump. Steve Bannon, who was Trump’s top aide in his first administration and remains a huge figure in the MAGA movement, appears in several of the pictures, as do Bill Gates, Bill Clinton, Sir Richard Branson and Andrew Mountbatten Windsor.
Meanwhile in Trumpworld
- Going to Disneyland? We’ll just need you to wee into this cup
- Inflation is still going up, despite what they say
- The most ‘wait, what?’ story since Signalgate
- The White House Schwarze Liste
- India-nah
- Kristi’s kerfuffle
Here’s everything you need to know
1. Epstein files show Trump partying with unidentified women
Donald Trump appears several times with Jeffrey Epstein and unidentified women in newly released photos from the notorious paedophile’s estate.
In one picture, The US President is seen with his shirt partially unbuttoned, posing with his arm around five young women with their faces obscured.
The black and white photo appears to have been taken at a party or event, with the women all wearing garlands.
Another photo shows Trump sitting on a private jet with another woman. Again, her identity has been obscured.
Read more below.
READ MORE: Donald Trump pictured with unidentified women in newly published Jeffrey Epstein photos
2. Trump wants a sample of your DNA before you go on holiday
There were raised eyebrows yesterday when the US issued new guidance demanding anyone visiting the country on an ESTA (the visa waiver you have to get if you want to go to the States on holiday), to hand over all the social media handles they’ve used over the last five years.
Further inspection, however, reveals the guidance is even more demanding than that. As well as your Twitter and Insta, Trump wants your biometrics – including face, fingerprint, Iris and DNA – before you can go to Disneyland. It’s unclear whether they’ll want blood or pee in a bottle or whether a simple strand of your hair will do.
He also wants all your personal and business phone numbers from the last five years, and email addresses for the last 10 years. On top of that you’ll be expected to provide names of family members, including parents, spouses, siblings and children, plus their phone numbers from the last five years.
The tourism industry is already seeing the kind of slowdown one normally only sees after a major terror incident. I can’t imagine this will help with that.
3. The I word
Karoline Leavitt read the Press Room the riot act last night, complaining they keep saying inflation is up under Trump when it’s down.
Thing is though, it’s up. Leavitt kept saying inflation is 2.5%, which is down from the 3% it was in January, when Trump took office.
But that 2.5% figure is the average of all of the months since January – which includes the months before Trump slapped his mad tariffs on the world, when inflation was in fact coming down.
The actual figure for September is 3%, the same as it was when he took office. It’s not going down, it’s risen for five straight months.
4. The most ‘wait…what?’ story you’ll read all day
Hats off to Mother Jones’ Dan Friedman, for delivering one of the wildest stories I’ve read since Trump retuned to office – it’s Truly up there with Signalgate on the ‘whaaaaat is happening’ meter.
You should really read the whole thing, but Friedman got in touch with the Pentagon for comment on a story he was writing. He’d come across an email address apparently belonging to Eric Geressy, a senior advisor and “mentor” to “Secretary Of War” Pete Hegseth. And that email address was attached to a Goodreads account, in which there was a “currently reading” list that included books about “Asian wife sharing”, including one under the title: “Asian Wife Went With Her Dad’s Friend: A Cuckold Story”.
Somehow the story doesn’t end there. The day after approaching the Pentagon, Friedman says he got an email from Jack Posobiec, a far right conspiracy theorist and influencer. You might remember him as the guy who most prominently pushed the “Pizzagate” conspiracy theory that a DC pizzeria was operating a child trafficking ring out of its basement. It was entirely fictional, something deliciously illustrated when a man turned up at the pizzeria with an assault rifle, fired a few shots and demanded staff set free the kids in the basement, only to be told the pizzeria doesn’t even have a basement.
Anyway, Posobiec, according to Friedman, sent him a threatening email, making wildly personal false allegations against him and saying he planned to publish them in a “story that I’m writing about you.” The false claims seemed to mirror the questions he put to the Pentagon press team.
The Pentagon and Posibiec have both denied coordination. But Friedman wrote: “This was either an incredible coincidence or a deliberate message: Publish your article and get smeared.”
Posobiec is now part of Hegseth’s new Pentagon “press corps” – who have been given press passes to replace the actual Pentagon reporters who walked out en masse, in protest at restrictions Hegseth made them promise not to commit any acts of journalism on the premises.
A Pentagon spokesman said: “Geressy has served for 38 years in the government, has been vetted numerous times by the relevant agencies, and has never posed a security risk or engaged in improper behavior as this piece tries to suggest. Mother Jones has stooped to a new low with this shoddy hit piece and should be ashamed of itself.”
You can, and should, read the whole thing below.
5. Trump says European nations want him to be their leader too
Donald Trump addressed a Congressional Ball last night, and made a fairly alarming claim during his rambling speech.
After a few days of branding European leaders weak, and indicating he’d back far-right parties in European elections, Trump said: “The European nations are reporting that your president might as well be the leader of the European nations also. They respect us like they’ve never respected us before.”
6. Trump ‘pardons’ a woman in jail for election interference. There’s just one problem
Regular readers will be familiar with the sorry tale of Colorado elections clerk Tina Peters – and Trump’s frustration at there still being one crook he can’t break out of the slammer.
Peters, a former election official, who last August was convicted of tampering with voting machines in the 2020 election, is serving nine years in prison. Republican Peters, 70, helped breach the election computer systems in Mesa County, Colorado, and allowed a man affiliated with Mike Lindell, the pillow magnate, election denier and serial conspiracy theorist, to access them. Despite her being tried by a grand jury, and convicted by a jury of her peers, Trump has repeatedly called for her to be released. He claimed on Truth Social last night that Peters “simply wanted to make sure that our Elections were Fair and Honest”.
What she actually did, according to court documents, was ordered security cameras in the secure area storing Mesa County’s voting machines be turned off. She then allowed former pro surfer Conan Hayes into that secure area to copy sensitive, election-related data. In doing so, she facilitated the copying and publication of sensitive system information as part of a scheme motivated by unsubstantiated allegations of fraud.
Well, last night, Trump said he had issued a “full pardon” to Peters, hailing her as a “patriot” for her felonious actions.
Unfortunately for Trump, and for Peters, he can pardon her all he likes, it won’t get her out of prison. The president’s pardon power only applies to federal offeces and Peters was convicted on the state level. The only person who can issue a pardon for Peters would be Jared Polis, the Democrat Governor of Colorado, who has shown absolutely no inclination to doing so.
7. He’s making a liste
The White House last night published an AI slop video showing Santa Claus unveiling his “naughty list”, which entirely consists of journalists who published things Donald Trump doesn’t like.
It will probably be seen as a badge of honour for those added to it.
But critics pointed out it’s not entirely dissimilar to the Nazis’ ‘Schwarze Liste’ – a blacklist of journalists and writers they didn’t like.
The video has since been deleted.
8. Indiana says nah
Indiana’s Republican-led Senate voted down a redrawn congressional map that would have favoured their party, defying months of pressure from Trump – and delivering a stark setback to the White House ahead of next year’s midterm elections.
The vote on Thursday was overwhelmingly against the proposed redistricting, with more Republicans opposing than supporting the measure, signalling the limits of Trump’s influence even in one of the country’s most conservative states.
Trump has been urging Republicans nationwide to redraw their congressional maps in an unusual campaign to help the party maintain its thin majority in the House of Representatives. Although Texas, Missouri, Ohio and North Carolina went along, Indiana did not — despite cajoling and insults from the president and the possibility of primary challenges.
Last night, in a very “don’t write in the newspaper that I was mad” moment, Trump said he wasn’t really working on it very hard. Before issuing a threat to the Rodric Bray, the President pro temporare of the Indiana Senate. “There’s a man named Bray, I guess head of the Senate. Was that Bray? Was that the name, Bray? I’m sure that whenever his primary is, I’m sure he’ll go down. He’ll go down. I’ll certainly support anybody that wants to go against him.”
9. Be unified, like China
During an event to sign an executive order on AI, Trump suggested America should be more like China in a specific and troubling way.
He said: “We have to be unified. China is unified because they have one vote — that’s President Xi. He says ‘do it’ and that’s the end of that. We have a different system.”
10. And finally…
In all the kerfuffle with her being hounded out of the congressional committee by angry protesters, we neglected to include this absolutely incredible moment from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s evidence yesterday.
It is perfect in every way.
