Summary
That’s all for our live coverage for the day. Thanks for following along. Here are some of the big stories from the day.
House Republicans late this evening proposed a healthcare plan with no extension of tax credits, as insurance premiums set to rise sharply for at least 22 million Americans.
House Democrats published a new tranche of what they called “disturbing” photographs from the estate of the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, featuring Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, the British former royal Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and others.
Trump is facing a federal lawsuit seeking to halt construction on his $300m White House ballroom, with historic preservationists accusing the president of violating multiple federal laws by tearing down part of the iconic building without required reviews or congressional approval.
Trump declared he “should be listened to” by the Federal Reserve, as he weighs candidates to lead the central bank amid an extraordinary campaign by the White House to exert greater control over its decisions.
The US is ending temporary legal status for citizens of Ethiopia in the United States, as the Trump administration continues its crackdown on immigration.
Immigration agents appear to be increasingly arresting and detaining Afghan asylum seekers, especially men, who have arrived in the US recently and are awaiting court hearings to decide their cases.
The New York Times reported that the Transportation Security Administration is providing the names of all air travelers to immigration officials, dramatically expanding the Trump administration’s use of data sharing for deportations.
The mother of White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s nephew – who was detained by US immigration authorities last month – has spoken out in a CNN interview this evening.
Bruna-Caroline Ferreira was detained in Massachusetts, her home state, and sent to immigration detention in Louisiana. She was recently released from custody on bond. She was born in Brazil and has been living in the US since 1998. Ferreira told CNN she had not spoken to Leavitt, who she had chosen to be her son’s godmother.
“What I would have to say to Karoline is just because you went to a Catholic school doesn’t make you a good Catholic. You’re a mother … How would you feel if you were in my shoes? How would you feel if somebody did this to you?” Ferreira said. “I can’t wrap my mind around it.”
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is defending its collaboration with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) following a New York Times report revealing TSA has been providing the names of air travelers to ICE to support deportation efforts.
The report said TSA provides a list multiple times a week of people coming through its airports, which ICE then crosschecks with its own database of people facing deportation so it can send immigration to airports to make arrests.
“This is nothing new,” a TSA spokesperson said in an email to the Guardian. The statement noted that in February, Kristi Noem, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary, reversed a Biden-era policy that allowed undocumented people to “jet around our country and do so without identification”. “TSA and DHS will no longer tolerate this,” the spokesperson continued. It’s unclear which specific policy the spokesperson was referencing, but the New York Times report said ICE has historically avoided interfering with domestic travel.
“This administration is working diligently to ensure that aliens in our country illegally can no longer fly unless it is out of our country to self-deport,” TSA added.
Immigrants’ rights advocates decried the collaboration, with Murad Awawdeh, president and CEO of the New York Immigration Coalition, saying in a statement,
“The Trump administration is turning airports into hunting grounds for ICE – using passengers’ personal travel information to target and detain immigrant New Yorkers. This practice does nothing but terrorize communities and punish people for simply living their lives. No one should have to worry that an airline trip to visit family or take a vacation could lead to being handcuffed and deported.”
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More delays for Trump's new Air Force One jet
The US air force said today that the delivery of the first of two new Air Force One jets from Boeing has been delayed again by another year to mid-2028, Reuters reports.
Trump criticized delays earlier this year, and the latest setback risks further angering the president, who wants to fly in the new planes before his term ends. The cost to build the two new jets is over $5bn.
The president faced criticisms in May when it was revealed that he would accept a Boeing 747-8 jet as a free gift from the Qatari royal family, with taxpayers footing the bill for the work to secure the plane for his use.
Boeing told Reuters in a statement it is making progress on the program: “Our focus is on delivering two exceptional Air Force One airplanes for the country.”
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Trump demands Fed listen to him: ‘I’m a smart voice’
Donald Trump declared he “should be listened to” by the Federal Reserve, as he weighs candidates to lead the central bank amid an extraordinary campaign by the White House to exert greater control over its decisions.
The US president told the Wall Street Journal that former Fed governor Kevin Warsh is currently top of his list to chair the central bank. Jerome Powell, the current Fed chairperson, is scheduled to finish an eight-year stint in the role next May. Powell has repeatedly defied Trump’s demands for drastic cuts to interest rates, prompting the president to launch a string of public attacks.
Trump is also considering his adviser Kevin Hassett, who leads the National Economic Council, as a potential chair of the Fed.
“I think you have Kevin and Kevin. They’re both – I think the two Kevins are great,” Trump told the Journal in an interview published today. “I think there are a couple of other people that are great.” He argued the next Fed chair should listen to him on the future direction of rates: “I don’t think he should do exactly what we say. But … I’m a smart voice and should be listened to.”
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DoJ sues more states in effort to obtain voter data
The US Department of Justice has sued Colorado, Hawaii, Massachusetts and Nevada as part of its ongoing efforts to collect detailed voting data, the AP reports.
The federal lawsuits accuse the states of “failing to produce statewide voter registration lists upon request” and follow similar suits against 14 other states and Fulton county in Georgia.
Critics have raised alarms about potential policy violations, as some of the data the federal government is seeking includes names, dates of birth, addresses, driver’s license numbers and partial social security numbers, the AP said. The department has sought data from at least 26 states, according to a tally by the AP, which notes that some election officials have expressed concerns, as federal law protects the sharing of individual data with the government.
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House Republicans release last-minute healthcare proposal
Mike Johnson, Republican speaker of the House, released a healthcare proposal late Friday night after the Senate failed this week to pass legislation to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies.
The subsidies are expiring at the end of the month, impacting 21.8 million enrollees, who could face skyrocketing premiums.
The 111-page proposal from House Republicans focuses on proposals to expand access to employer-sponsored health insurance plans and clamp down on so-called pharmacy benefit managers, according to an Associated Press summary.
The GOP plan aims to allow more small businesses and self-employed individuals to band together and purchase health coverage, the AP explained: “Proponents say such plans increase the leverage businesses have to negotiate a lower rate. But critics say the plans provide skimpier coverage than what is required under the Affordable Care Act.”
“House Republicans are tackling the real drivers of health care costs to provide affordable care,” Johnson said in a statement.
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Republican representative says Clintons could face contempt of Congress
James Comer, a Republican representative from Kentucky and chair of the House committee on oversight and government reform, said Bill and Hillary Clinton “must appear for depositions or face contempt of Congress”.
Comer’s new statement came after House Democrats released new photos from Jeffrey Epstein’s estate, which included images with Bill Clinton and Donald Trump.
Comer said it had been more than four months since the former president and former secretary of state and US senator were subpoenaed to sit for depositions related to the ongoing Epstein investigation, saying the couple “have delayed, obstructed, and largely ignored the Committee staff’s efforts to schedule their testimony”.
“If the Clintons fail to appear for their depositions next week or schedule a date for early January,” Comer continued, “the Oversight Committee will begin contempt of Congress proceedings to hold them accountable.”
No former presidents have been compelled to testify before Congress, the AP noted. A spokesperson for Bill Clinton has previously said the former president cut off ties more than a decade before Epstein was arrested in 2019 and was unaware of his crimes.
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Trump takes questions on Ukraine, Obamacare and Epstein
At an Oval Office event honoring a 1980 Olympic team, Trump briefly took questions from reporters, addressing the new Epstein estate photos, Venezuela and other subjects. Some highlights:
Trump said the new Epstein photos, which included images of him, were “no big deal”.
He reiterated his calls warning about potential land strikes against Venezuela and saying strikes could extend beyond Venezuela.
Asked about Ukraine, he declined to provide details about a key provision in the US peace proposal, saying: “It’s a very complex situation, but it would work. And a lot of people want to see it work.”
A reporter asked about the imminent expiration of subsidies for Affordable Care Act health insurance plans, saying: “What’s your message to the 24 million Americans who will see their insurance premiums go up?” Trump responded, “Don’t make it sound so bad, because obviously you’re a sycophant for Democrats.” The president said he was leaving it to Republicans in Congress to advance legislation.
The president also revived his attacks on Somalia and Ilhan Omar, the Minnesota congresswoman, saying: “She’s very bad for our country … All she does is complain, complain, complain … There’s nothing worse than a person who comes in and does nothing but bitch.”
He also criticized Yamiche Alcindor, an NBC correspondent trying to ask a question, saying, “She’s very aggressive.”
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Trump criticizes NBC reporter: 'She's very aggressive'
The president criticized NBC News correspondent, Yamiche Alcindor, as she tried to ask a question at the Oval Office: “Wait, wait,” he said. “She’s very aggressive.” He then called on another reporter.
He later called on Alcindor, who asked the president about the newly released photos from Jeffrey Epstein’s estate.
The president has a history of criticizing Alcindor. In 2018, he told her a question she asked about his support from white nationalists was “such a racist question”.
Trump has repeatedly made headlines recently for insulting female reporters, including calling a Bloomberg reporter “piggy” and labeling a New York Times reporter “ugly”.
Trump on new Epstein estate photos: 'No big deal'
Donald Trump downplayed the new photos from Jeffrey Epstein’s estate, released by House Democrats today, when asked about the disclosures by a reporter at the Oval Office.
“I haven’t seen them. Everybody knew this man. He was all over Palm Beach. He has photos with everybody. There are hundreds … That’s no big deal. I know nothing about it.”
Our earlier coverage of the released photos, which included images of the president.
Trump says potential land strikes could extend beyond Venezuela
Asked by a reporter at the Oval Office about his repeated threats to escalate his attacks on Venezuela with land strikes, Donald Trump responded: “It’s not only land strikes on Venezuela, it’s land strikes on horrible people that are bringing in drugs.”
He continued: “It doesn’t necessarily have to be in Venezuela. People bringing in drugs to our country are targets.”
His comments came as Democrats continue to call for the release of footage of his administration’s strikes against a vessel off the coast of Venezuela in September.
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Donald Trump is at the Oval Office providing congressional gold medals to members of the 1980 US Olympic hockey team, which defeated the Soviet Union team in a major upset.
The president put on a white cowboy hat, surrounded by honorees who also arrived in cowboy hats.
The event comes as Trump is facing scrutiny over House Democrats’ release of new photos from the estate of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which included images of Trump, Bill Clinton and and the British former royal Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. The White House responded that the controversy was a “Democratic hoax”.
Democratic leaders call for release of boat strike video
Top Democratic leaders have urged Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary, to release the “complete, unedited video” of the Venezuelan boat attacks on 2 September, which involved a second hit that killed two survivors of an initial strike.
Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries, the leaders of the congressional chambers, along with Mark Warner, the vice-chair of the Senate intelligence committee, sent a letter to Hegseth today reiterating the request that the full footage be disclosed to all members of the House and Senate before the end of the legislative session this month.
The letter also called for a public release, saying:
We also urge you to expedite the public release of the video, taking into account appropriate precautions to protect sources and methods, so that the American people can judge for themselves the legality and necessity of their government engaging in such activities that potentially put our men and women in uniform at risk.
TSA is providing names of all air travelers to US immigration officials, report says
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is providing the names of all air travelers to immigration officials, dramatically expanding the Trump administration’s use of data sharing for deportations, according to a new New York Times report.
TSA provides a list multiple times a week to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) of people coming through airports, the report says. ICE allegedly uses the list to match it with its own database of people facing deportation and then sends immigration agents to the airport to make arrests.
The report, based on documents obtained by the New York Times, says it’s unclear how many arrests have been made due to this data sharing, but said the collaboration led to the arrest of Any Lucia López Belloza, a 19-year-old college student detained at the Boston airport, leading to her deportation.
Tricia McLaughlin, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson, said in a statement to the New York Times: “The message to those in the country illegally is clear: The only reason you should be flying is to self-deport home.”
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US lifts sanctions on Brazilian judge in Bolsonaro case
The US Department of the Treasury has lifted sanctions imposed on the Brazilian supreme court justice who oversaw the conviction of the former president Jair Bolsonaro.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes had been under Global Magnitsky sanctions, which target individuals accused of human rights abuses, since July. His wife Viviane Barci de Moraes – who was added the sanctions list in September – was also removed from the register on Friday.
The move had been repeatedly requested by Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, in negotiations with Donald Trump to roll back the 50% tariffs on Brazilian imports.
House Democrats release more Epstein photos
The House oversight Democrats have released more than 70 additional photos from Jeffrey Epstein’s estate:
In the interest of transparency, we will continue to release photos from the Epstein estate. We have released an additional 70+ photos sent to our Committee. More to come. See them using the link below. ⬇️https://t.co/rHf1gLgP4N
— Oversight Dems (@OversightDems) December 12, 2025
The continuing disclosure comes after a latest batch that featured notable figures, including Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, Woody Allen and Bill Gates. Our earlier coverage:
Arizona senator Ruben Gallego joined striking Starbucks baristas on the picket line in Gilbert on Friday.
“This is the stuff that happens when corporate power does not want to give way to worker power,” the Arizona Democrat told a group of employees, some of whom carried signs that said “Stop Corporate Greed” and “No CEO is worth 6,666x its average workers.”
Gallego, according to videos from his office, encouraged the workers to “keep up the fight”.
“The only way we have any type of real power – any type of real chance for working class people to have any type of leverage against the rich and the powerful is when they unionize and they organize and they fight back together,” he said, before leading a “si se puede” chant.
Earlier this month, Senator Bernie Sanders appeared on the picket line with workers in New York, alongside the city’s mayor-elect, Zohran Mamdani.
The Red Cup Rebellion began last month with thousands of workers walking off the job in a bid to ramp up pressure on the world’s largest coffee chain following months of stalled contract negotiations. The strike has grown, with thousands of baristas in more than 130 cities bracing for the “longest” industrial action in company history.
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The death of former US senator Mitt Romney’s sister-in-law in October has been ruled a suicide, the Los Angeles county medical examiner’s office said recently.
Carrie Romney, 64, was found dead next to a suburban Los Angeles parking garage. The medical examiner’s office didn’t immediately rule on a cause of death at the time, saying it needed to investigate further. But on Tuesday the agency said it had concluded Carrie Romney died as a result of suicide – and from blunt traumatic injuries after falling off the rooftop of the garage, as the Los Angeles news outlet KABC reported.
Carrie married Mitt Romney’s older brother, George “Scott” Romney, a prominent attorney in Michigan who is also the father of the former Republican National Committee chair Ronna Romney McDaniel. Scott Romney had reportedly filed to divorce Carrie – his third wife – in June.
Mitt Romney was Massachusetts governor from 2003 to 2007, and US senator for Utah for six years beginning in 2019. He unsuccessfully ran for the US presidency twice, losing the Republican nomination to the late John McCain in 2008 before clinching it four years later. Barack Obama, the last Democratic candidate to win consecutive presidential terms, ultimately won both of those elections.
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We’re due to hear from Donald Trump at a bill signing ceremony in the Oval Office. That was meant to start at 3pm ET, but we’ll bring you the latest lines as soon as that begins.
After a hugely busy week of news, it was only days ago that Donald Trump described Europe as “weak” and “decaying” and warned of “civilizational collapse” on the continent due to immigration.
His administration also published its blueprint for national security, which suggests that democracy might not be as important to the Trump White House as it has been for previous administrations.
Jonathan Freedland speaks to the US military scholar Joseph Stieb about the Trump administration’s national security strategy in the latest episode of Politics Weekly America.
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Donald Trump is facing a federal lawsuit seeking to halt construction on his $300m White House ballroom, with historic preservationists accusing the president of violating multiple federal laws by tearing down part of the iconic building without required reviews or congressional approval.
The legal challenge, filed on Friday by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in the US district court for the District of Columbia, represents the most significant attempt yet to stop Trump’s 90,000-sq-ft addition to the White House complex. The organization is seeking a temporary restraining order to freeze all construction activities until proper federal oversight procedures are completed.
“No president is legally allowed to tear down portions of the White House without any review whatsoever – not President Trump, not President Joe Biden, and not anyone else,” the complaint reads. “And no president is legally allowed to construct a ballroom on public property without giving the public the opportunity to weigh in.”
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Here's a recap of the day so far
Democrats on the House oversight committee have published 19 new photos from the 95,000 they have received from Jeffrey Epstein’s estate today. In the latest drop, there are pictures of Bill Clinton alongside the late sex-offender and his accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell. There are also pictures of Donald Trump and Epstein at social events, pictures of billionaires like Richard Branson and Bill Gates, as well as several photographs of former Trump adviser Steve Bannon and film director Woody Allen.
Also included in this latest batch of pictures from the Epstein estate are explicit photos of sex toys. One appears to show a black latex glove with ridges on the fingers, and another features ropes, restraints and a book on “shibari” – a type of Japanese bondage. Another picture features a bowl of “Trump condoms” selling for $4.50. On the parody packaging it makes fun of the president’s style of speech, reading: “I’m HUUUUGE!”
Upon releasing the most recent trove of photos from the Epstein estate, the oversight committee’s top Democrat – Robert Garcia – said “it is time to end this White House cover-up and bring justice to the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and his powerful friends”. Meanwhile, Republicans on the committee, along with the White House, accused Democrats of “selectively releasing cherry-picked photos with random redactions to try and create a false narrative”.
In other news today, Donald Trump said today that the leaders of Thailand and Cambodia have agreed to a cease fire in their ongoing border conflict. In a post on Truth Social, the president said he spoke to Thailand’s Anutin Charnvirakul and Cambodia’s Hun Manet this morning. “They have agreed to CEASE all shooting effective this evening, and go back to the original Peace Accord made with me, and them, with the help of the Great Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim,” Trump wrote.
Today, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced it would terminate all family reunification parole (FRP) programs for immigrants from Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti and Honduras, and their immediate family members. A reminder that FRP is a program whereby a citizen or green card holder could, with authorization, keep their family together in the US while members who are foreign nationals apply for permanent residency. They would have temporary parole in the US – allowing them to live and, in some cases, work while waiting for their case to be assessed.
The navy has sent a report to the Pentagon about Senator Mark Kelly’s role in a video published to social media last month, where six Democratic members of Congress urged active service members to “refuse illegal orders”, according to multiple outlets. According to the New York Times, the Pentagon’s office of general counsel is “providing a legal review and input” of the navy’s report, per a Department of Defense official, who spoke to the Times on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the investigation.
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Democrats on the House judiciary committee on Friday will ask Aileen Cannon, the judge who presided over the case against Donald Trump for allegedly hiding classified documents, to release the portion of special counsel Jack Smith’s report concerning his prosecution.
Smith is scheduled to appear next week for a behind-closed-door deposition with the Republican-led committee, where he may discuss his investigation into allegations that Trump took classified materials to his properties and then hid them from federal authorities. The special counsel dropped that case against Trump, as well as another concerning his meddling in the 2020 election, in the aftermath of his re-election victory last year.
Cannon earlier this year ruled that the classified documents portion of Smith’s report stay unreleased, citing ongoing proceedings against two co-defendants in the case. However attorney general Pam Bondi dropped charges against those co-defendants earlier this year, and in a motion to Cannon shared with the Guardian, the Democrats will argue that there is now no reason to keep the second portion of Smith’s report from being released.
White House responds to latest Epstein estate photos from oversight Democrats
In response to the latest trove of photos from the Epstein estate, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said that oversight Democrats are “selectively releasing cherry-picked photos with random redactions to try and create a false narrative”.
“Here’s the reality: Democrats like Stacey Plaskett and Hakeem Jeffries were soliciting money and meetings from Epstein AFTER he was a convicted sex offender,” she added in a statement. “The Democrat hoax against President Trump has been repeatedly debunked.”
Co-sponsor of legislation to release Epstein files says photo release shows late sex-offender's 'elite and powerful circle'
Congressman Ro Khanna, the California Democrat who co-led the legislation for the full release of all justice department files related to Jeffrey Epstein, said that today’s photos “document Epstein’s elite and powerful circle”.
Khanna added that the latest trove of photographs are “why we must push for more information”.
Donald Trump signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act into law last month, and it requires the Department of Justice (DoJ) to release the files by 19 December in a searchable format.
“Any redactions must be accompanied by a written justification published in the Federal Register and submitted to Congress,” Khanna said. “I will be watching closely for any attempts to delay or prevent the full release of the files.”
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DHS ends family reunification program for immigrants from several countries
Today, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced it would terminate all family reunification parole (FRP) programs for immigrants from Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti and Honduras, and their immediate family members.
A reminder that FRP is a program whereby a US citizen or green card holder could, with authorization, keep their family together while members who are foreign nationals apply for permanent residency. They would have temporary parole in the US – allowing them to live and, in some cases, work while waiting for their case to be assessed.
“This administration is ending the abuse of humanitarian parole which allowed poorly vetted aliens to circumvent the traditional parole process,” US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said in a statement today. “The desire to reunite families does not overcome the government’s responsibility to prevent fraud and abuse and to uphold national security and public safety. The FRP programs had security gaps caused by insufficient vetting that malicious and fraudulent actors could exploit to enter the United States, which posed an unacceptable level of risk to the United States.”
USCIS added that parole would expire for any immigrant from the countries listed today by 14 January 2026, if it doesn’t expire sooner.
The exception would be for those who have filed for their change of residence and their case is pending. They would be able to stay in the US until a decision is made or their parole expires, whichever comes first.
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Trump says Thailand and Cambodia have agreed to a ceasefire
Donald Trump said today that the leaders of Thailand and Cambodia have agreed to a cease fire in their ongoing border conflict.
In a post on Truth Social, the president said he spoke to Thailand’s Anutin Charnvirakul and Cambodia’s Hun Manet this morning. “They have agreed to CEASE all shooting effective this evening, and go back to the original Peace Accord made with me, and them, with the help of the Great Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim,” Trump wrote.
A reminder that fighting erupted again on Sunday in the longstanding border dispute between the two countries. As my colleague Rebecca Ratcliffe notes, Thailand and Cambodia initially agreed to a ceasefire in July, and signed a formal agreement six weeks ago in Trump’s presence. However, the ceasefire arrangements have been precarious, and both sides have accused the other of violations. Since the fighting broke out last week, at least 20 people have been killed and almost 200 injured.
“Both Countries are ready for PEACE and continued Trade with the United States of America,” Trump added on social media today.
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My colleagues have collated the 19 photographs from the Epstein estate, released today by Democrats on the House oversight committee.
You can see them all below. A warning that some contain sensitive material.
Inventor of Segway pictured with Branson and Epstein in latest tranche of Epstein estate photographs
Earlier, I reported that Richard Branson and an unidentified man were pictured in a photograph with Epstein. That man is Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway.
According to the Boston Globe, Kamen did not respond to a request for comment after today’s pictures were published. The Globe reports that Kamen – a New Hampshire-based entrepreneur – is connected to Nadia Marcinko, a fashion model turned pilot, who was close with Epstein.
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A quick note that the Trump condom appears to be part of the Smithsonian Institution’s collection, where it is described as “political satire”.
The packaging was designed by Fishs Eddy, a housewares and novelty shop in New York, and launched in 2015. “It’s been a runaway hit, that’s for sure,” shop owner Julie Gaines said in November 2016, a few days before the presidential election that Trump went on to win. “People get the joke and that’s why they buy it. They don’t buy it because it’s an homage to him.”
She said the inspiration for the package design came after Trump “started mouthing off [the word] ‘huge’ every five minutes”. “We’ve always been political, but it’s at a whole new level this year,” Gaines said. “We are very, very much for Hillary [Clinton] and we make that very clear. The only time we do Trump products is when we’re trying to get our two cents in, not to promote him.”
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More Epstein photos will be released 'in days and weeks ahead', says top Democrat
In comments to reporters earlier, Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House oversight committee, said that just under 25,000 images had been examined out of the 95,000 photographs from the estate, and said that more photos from the Epstein estate would be released “in the days and weeks ahead”.
“Some of the other photos we did not put out today are incredibly disturbing,” he added.
So there’s an enormous amount of photos that we have not gone through. It’ll take days and weeks to make sure we have those photos and redaction is done in the appropriate way.
We will continue to put out more photos in the days and weeks ahead, but I caution folks at the redaction process, and ensuring we protect survivors and women abused by Epstein.
He accused the White House of a cover-up and implored the Trump administration to “release the files immediately”.
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'All we want is full transparency': Jeffries calls on DoJ to 'comply with the law' and release full Epstein files
House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries has called on the Trump administration to “comply with the law” and release the full Epstein files, adding that his party would continue to pressure the justice department to release the files by the congressionally mandated 19 December deadline.
A reminder that the 19 images shared by the House oversight committee in today’s drop are separate to the archive that the DoJ has been ordered to release, but they do add to the political momentum and pressure mounting on the Trump administration over the issue.
Jeffries told reporters earlier:
The so-called Department of Justice under the Trump administration needs to comply with the law.
These people who are part of the Trump administration, including Donald Trump and JD Vance himself, all said for years that they wanted to release the Epstein files.
Didn’t they come into office and do the exact opposite, obstruct and obfuscate, hide stuff from the American people?
All we want is full transparency so that the American people can get the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. That’s what the Epstein survivors deserve and have demanded and we are going to make sure that the Department of Justice complies.
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GOP-led oversight committee accuses Democrats of releasing 'cherry-picked' photos
Republicans who lead the House oversight committee lambasted Democrats for the images they released from the Epstein estate today, accusing them of “chasing headlines by releasing a handful of selectively censored and cherry-picked photos”.
They added:
Democrats’ hoax against President Trump has been completely debunked. Nothing in the documents we’ve received shows any wrongdoing. Ranking Member Robert Garcia and Oversight Democrats should be ashamed of this disgusting behavior of putting politics above justice for the survivors.
Photos include a picture of British billionaire Richard Branson
Also included in today’s trove of pictures is British billionaire and co-founder of Virgin group, Richard Branson.
Branson is seen smiling on a beach, sitting next to an unidentified man and holding up a pad of paper with indiscernible writing, as Epstein walks behind them.
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Top Democrat says latest photos 'raise even more questions' about Epstein's relationship with high profile figures
Upon releasing the most recent trove of photos from the Epstein estate, the oversight committee’s top Democrat – Robert Garcia – said “it is time to end this White House cover-up and bring justice to the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and his powerful friends”.
The California congressman added that the 19 photos published today “raise even more questions about Epstein and his relationships with some of the most powerful men in the world. We will not rest until the American people get the truth. The Department of Justice must release all the files, NOW.”
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Bannon appears frequently throughout latest Epstein picture drop
Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon appears in several of the pictures released by House Democrats on the oversight committee.
As I reported earlier, in one of the photos Bannon is seen having a conversation while sitting across a desk from Epstein.
In another, Epstein is taking a selfie of the pair in front of a full-length mirror. Bannon, who was Donald Trump’s top White House strategist until he was fired less than a year into the president’s first term in office, is also pictured speaking with film director Woody Allen in one photograph.
Several explicit pictures as part of new tranche of photos from Epstein estate
Included in this latest batch of pictures from the Epstein estate are explicit photos of sex toys. One appears to show a black latex glove with ridges on the fingers, and another features ropes, restraints and a book on “shibari” – a type of Japanese bondage.
Another picture features a bowl of “Trump condoms” selling for $4.50. On the parody packaging it makes fun of the president’s style of speech, reading: “I’m HUUUUGE!”
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Included in the latest batch of photos from House oversight Democrats today, are several pictures of high profile individuals at public events.
The picture of former prince Andrew and Microsoft founder Bill Gates appears to be from at a summit in London, where the former’s brother – King Charles III – was in attendance. The image in the House oversight batch appears to be a cropped version of a picture available on the photo agency Getty.
Here’s the image from the news wires:
Similarly, a picture of Epstein and his former lawyer Alan Dershowitz is included in the drop of photos, but appears to be an older photo of the pair back in 2004 that was already published.
Here is the news wire image:
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In the new batch of photos released by House oversight Democrats, there is also a picture of Donald Trump surrounded by women, some of whom are wearing leis around their necks. All of their faces have been obscured, but the president appears in the middle holding the waists of two of the women.
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Oversight Democrats publish new tranche of Epstein estate photos featuring Trump, Clinton and former prince Andrew
Democrats on the House oversight committee have published 19 new photos from the 95,000 they have received from Jeffrey Epstein’s estate today. In the latest drop, there are pictures of Bill Clinton alongside the late sex-offender and his accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell. There are also pictures of Donald Trump and Epstein at social events, and even a picture of the president onboard a plane, sitting beside a woman whose face has been redacted.
There are several pictures in the drop which include billionaire Bill Gates.
Another notable face is former Trump adviser and noted ally, Steve Bannon, who appears in one picture sitting across a desk, engaged in conversation with Epstein.
It’s worth noting that appearing in pictures from the estate doesn’t imply any wrongdoing.
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Navy sends report to Pentagon about senator Kelly's participation in video to troops – reports
According to multiple outlets, the navy has sent a report to the Pentagon about Senator Mark Kelly’s role in a video published to social media last month, where six Democratic members of Congress urged active service members to “refuse illegal orders”.
The video sparked fury from the president, who said the lawmakers were guilty of “seditious behavior” that was “punishable by death”. Defense secretary Pete Hegseth said he would launch an investigation into Kelly – a decorated former navy captain – for possible breaches of military law. This included a memorandum to John Phelan asking the navy secretary to review Kelly and a group of fellow Democrats’ comments in the video.
According to the New York Times, the Pentagon’s office of general counsel is “providing a legal review and input” of the navy’s report, per a Department of Defense official, who spoke to the Times on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the investigation.
In response, a spokesperson for Kelly told the Hill that “it defies belief that with all of the threats facing our country, Pete Hegseth initiated this ridiculous process to try to intimidate senator Kelly for saying something Pete Hegseth himself has said repeatedly.”
A reminder that footage from 2016, of the defense secretary repeatedly saying that service members should refuse “unlawful” orders from a potential president Trump on Fox News, was unearthed by CNN earlier this month.
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Judge issues temporary order to block officials from detaining Kilmar Ábrego García
Per our earlier post, a federal judge on Friday morning issued a temporary restraining order to prohibit immigration officials from detaining Kilmar Ábrego García just hours before he was scheduled to appear at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) field office in Baltimore.
His lawyers asked the judge to block authorities from detaining him again. The judge says officials cannot re-detain him until the court conducts a hearing on the motion for the temporary restraining order.
Ábrego had been freed from an immigration detention facility in Pennsylvania early on Thursday evening not long after a federal judge in Maryland ordered his release.
On Friday morning, Paula Xinis, a US district judge in Maryland, said that Ábrego cannot be re-detained and in her ruling she wrote that he was likely to succeed in further requests of “relief” from ICE detention, citing the merits of his case.
Trump announces pardon for jailed election clerk, despite convictions on state charges
Donald Trump announced he would pardon former Colorado election clerk Tina Peters. In a post on Truth Social the president wrote that Peters – who is currently serving a nine-year state sentence for her attempts to overturn the 2020 election results – is a “Patriot who simply wanted to make sure that our Elections were Fair and Honest”.
Trump added that “Democrats have been relentless in their targeting” of Peters, who served as the clerk for Mesa county. She was found guilty on state charges of election interference, including four felony counts.
In response to Trump’s announcement, several Democratic officials decried his efforts to overturn a state conviction. A reminder that the constitution grants the president pardon power for federal, not state, crimes.
“Tina Peters is rightfully in Colorado state prison,” said senator Michael Bennet. “Trump’s corrupt and political attempts at a pardon won’t work here. Once again, if you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime.”
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Donald Trump is in Washington today. We’ll see him at 3pm ET for a bill signing in the Oval Office. We’ll make sure to bring you the latest lines.
Earlier, he’ll take part in a swearing-in ceremony for Ben Black, the CEO of the US International Development Finance Corporation, and John Jovanovic, who serves as the chair of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM).
A reminder that Jovanovic is married to the daughter of Trump’s administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Mehmet Oz.
That ceremony is currently closed to the press, but we’ll let you know if that changes.
US admiral leading US troops in Latin America to step down
The admiral in charge of US military forces in Latin America will retire two years early, AP reports, amid rising tensions with Venezuela that include Wednesday’s seizure of an oil tanker and more than 20 deadly strikes on suspected drug-smuggling boats.
Three US officials and two people familiar with the matter told Reuters that Admiral Alvin Holsey was pushed out by defense secretary Pete Hegseth. Two officials said Hegseth had grown frustrated with Southern Command as he sought to flex US military operations and planning in the region.
One official confirmed that discussion of whether Hegseth would dismiss Holsey surfaced roughly two weeks before the surprise announcement of his departure.
Holsey has not publicly explained his early retirement. Some officials have privately speculated he opposed recent US strikes on suspected drug vessels in the Caribbean. However, in a closed-door meeting on Tuesday, Holsey insisted his decision had nothing to do with the operations in his command, according to comments by Republican lawmaker Mike Rogers published in Politico.
One source familiar with the matter said president Donald Trump is expected to nominate Lieutenant General Frank Donovan, vice commander of US Special Operations Command, as Holsey’s permanent successor. The source cautioned that the nomination has not yet been formalised and could change.
US envoy John Coale held talks with Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko during a visit to Minsk, a Telegram channel linked to the Belarusian presidential administration said.
Coale has been tasked by president Donald Trump with negotiating the release of political prisoners in Belarus. Trump has urged Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin, to free up to 1,400 people that Trump has called “hostages”.
Belarus released 52 prisoners of various nationalities in September.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia is due to check-in with immigration authorities less than 14 hours after he was released from detention on a judge’s orders.
Abrego Garcia became a flashpoint of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown earlier this year when he was wrongly deported to a notorious prison in El Salvador. He was last taken into custody in August during a similar check-in. He’s scheduled to appear at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Baltimore.
A judge ordered him released yesterday, saying federal authorities detained him after he returned to the U.S. without any legal basis.
Americans are deeply skeptical of president Donald Trump’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, though he is shoring up support among his core Republican followers who have long focused on the case, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll found.
The poll, completed on Monday, found that most Americans believe Trump’s administration is covering up information about the late sex offender, including his 2019 death and his ties to rich and powerful people, and do not believe Trump’s claim that he was unaware of Epstein’s alleged trafficking of teenage girls when the two were friends decades ago.
Only 23% of Americans approve of the way Trump is handling the ongoing scandal, the poll found, while 52% disapprove. However, the poll found he appears to be easing the concerns of his supporters: 53% of Republicans said they approved of the way he was handling the issue, up from 44% last month. That is still well below the 85% approval rating Trump enjoys overall among Republicans.
Shares of cannabis companies have jumped after reports that Donald Trump is expected to push the government to dramatically loosen federal restrictions on marijuana, Reuters reports.
US-listed shares of cannabis-pharmaceutical company Tilray Brands gained 28%, while other cannabis-focused companies SNDL, Canopy Growth and ETF AdvisorShares Pure US Cannabis were up between 13.5% and 32.5% in premarket trading.
According to a report in the Washington Post, Trump plans to direct agencies to reclassify marijuana as a Schedule III drug, reducing oversight of the plant and its derivatives to the same level as some common prescription painkillers and other drugs.
“We believe this would open the door for pharmaceutical companies to seek approval for more cannabis products, which could then be dispensed the same as other prescription drugs,” TD Cowen analyst Jaret Seiberg said in a note.
Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates has spoken about US aid cuts that he says have led to “lots of deaths” in developing countries.
Speaking to Politico, Gates said: “Nobody wants to take responsibility for the tragedy that’s going on here. In my dialogue with President Trump, he clearly cares about these issues and wants to find a generous level for the spending so that the US won’t be responsible for these big increases.
“So I’m hopeful that what we’ve seen this year, where there were sudden and massive cuts — you just can’t deny that’s led to lots of deaths.”
The wide-ranging interview also took in Gates and US health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr agreeing that they would not share a “common view” over vaccines, as well as comments on the rise of AI: “We should all be in a state of wonder. Even this last month, the improvements are amazing to me. I spend a significant amount of time looking at how we should use it,” Gates said.
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With Democrats just a few seats shy of reclaiming the House majority, Republicans are watching developments with a growing sense of unease and frustration that the dynamics of Donald Trump’s first midterm — when Democrats scored a net gain of 40 seats in 2018 — are at risk of repeating, AP reports.
“If you’re not concerned, then you’re living in a cave,” Republican senator Jim Justice told reporters. “If you’re not watching the elections that are happening all the time, then you’re living in a cave. We’re not good at our messaging a lot of times as Republicans. The Democrats are professionals at it. We’re not good at it.”
The latest setbacks came this week when a Democrat won the Miami mayor’s race for the first time in three decades. Democrats also won a special election in a historically Republican district in Georgia. Latest polling shows Trump’s approval ratings are down since March (see 10.52).
Susie Wiles, Trump’s chief of staff, recently told a podcast that Trump will campaign aggressively next year and the party will effectively “put him on the ballot.” But the challenge of that strategy was on display this week when a trip to Pennsylvania intended to focus on combating inflation was instead overshadowed by grievances about immigrants from “filthy” countries.
“We have a lot of work to do and a lot of it’s going to depend at the national level in particular on what Republicans do to affect the affordability issues,” said Republican state senator John Braun. “People are interested in many things, a wide range of issues. But top of mind right now is how do I support myself, my family in the current environment? We’re going to have to do the right things over the next 11 months.”
Kosovo has started accepting migrants deported from the US and who are not originally from Kosovo, caretaker prime minister Albin Kurti said late on Thursday, Reuters reports.
Kosovo agreed to a request from Donald Trump’s administration to initially take in 50 deportees.
“We are accepting those that the US did not want on their territory,” Kurti told Kanal10 television.
He gave no details on which countries they were from, and said only one or two have arrived so far.
Washington is looking for partners to receive third-party nationals as it seeks to deliver on Trump’s promise of record-level deportations.
Kosovo, a Balkan country of 1.6 million people, already has a deal in place to receive 300 foreign prisoners from Denmark from 2027 in return for €210m (£184m) over the next decade, and has expressed interest in receiving deportees from the UK.
Approval ratings of Donald Trump’s handling of the economy and immigration are down about 10 points since March, according to the latest polling by AP-NORC.
In March 2025, a few months into Trump’s second term, his overall job approval was 42%. Similar shares approved of how he was handling of the economy (40%) and immigration (49%). Since then, fewer adults have a positive view of how Trump is handling his job overall (36%), the economy (31%), and immigration (38%).
There continue to be stark partisan divisions in how Trump’s job performance is viewed by the public, the pollsters found. Overall, 6 in 10 have a negative opinion, including about 9 in 10 Democrats and 7 in 10 independents. Conversely, 8 in 10 Republicans approve of Trump’s handling of the presidency.
Border security remains his best issue on the poll with 50% approval, including getting positive marks from nearly all Republicans, 19% of Democrats, and 36% of independents.
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Trump says that bipartisan cooperation on healthcare is possible, as Obamacare subsidies inch closer to expiring
Striking an uncharacteristically bipartisan tone, the US president, Donald Trump, said that Republicans and Democrats could work together on healthcare, as insurance premiums look likely to soar in January.
Speaking at last night’s Congressional ball, Trump said: “I really believe we can work on healthcare together and come up with something that’s going to be much better, much less expensive for the people, less expensive for our nation. But really, most importantly, better and less expensive for the people.”
Earlier on Thursday, the Senate rejected competing proposals by Republicans and Democrats to address a looming healthcare crisis, which could leave 24 million Americans vulnerable to significantly higher costs from 1 January, when insurance premiums through the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, are on course to more than double.
Congress will begin an end-of-year holiday recess next week and not return until 5 January, which leaves it looking like new premiums will be locked in for those who had relied on the ACA enhanced subsidy.
“So tonight, we’re going to set aside all political differences. We’re not going to criticise each other,” Trump said. “We’re going to love each other. And we’re going to come together, not as Democrats and Republicans, but as fellow Americans, to give thanks for this nation, which is so great indeed.”
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