What we covered here
• Epstein files: President Donald Trump tonight again denied that the Jeffrey Epstein birthday letter bearing his name came from him, instead blaming congressional Democrats for trying to shift attention from administration accomplishments. Earlier today, he called it a “dead issue.”
• Virginia projection: Democrat James Walkinshaw will win a special election in Virginia’s 11th Congressional District, CNN’s Decision Desk projects, bolstering Democratic numbers in the House and cutting down on an already slim Republican majority.
• Supreme Court news: The high court has allowed the administration to temporarily freeze billions in foreign aid payments for now. The court also agreed to hear arguments over Trump’s sweeping global tariffs, taking up a fast-moving appeal that deals with the centerpiece of his economic agenda.
Our coverage of President Donald Trump has ended for the day. Get the latest here.
AG Pam Bondi says administration will take federal crime crackdown to "a city who wants us there"
As the Trump administration looks to expand its crackdown on crime outside Washington, DC, Attorney General Pam Bondi suggested Tuesday that the Trump administration will be going into cities that welcome such efforts.
Asked by Fox News why Chicago and New York — two cities that President Donald Trump has said he might target — don’t want the administration’s help, Bondi said, “They are a progressive city, and they don’t want the president’s help. That’s on them. It’s horrific that they don’t want President Trump’s help.”
Bondi’s comments comes after Trump has repeatedly suggested he would send federal troops to blue cities over the objection of Democratic mayors and governors.
However, on Tuesday night, Trump said the next operation could be in a city where the mayor and governor are willing to cooperate.
“We’ll be announcing another city that we’re going to very shortly — we’re working it out,” Trump said, speaking to reporters outside a DC restaurant. “The governor of a certain state would love us to be there, and the mayor of a certain city in that same state would love us to be there. We’ll announce it probably tomorrow, and it’s going to be something where we’ll do like we did here.”
Protesters yell "Free DC" and “Free Palestine” at Trump as he dines at DC restaurant
As President Donald Trump was sitting down to dine at Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab in Washington, DC, Tuesday evening, he was approached by protesters chanting “Free DC” and “Free Palestine.”
In video obtained by CNN, a handful of protesters begin chanting “Free DC, free Palestine, Trump is the Hitler of our time” as the president makes his way through the dining room.
The protesters are booed by others dining in the restaurant. The president ultimately comes within a few feet of the protesters before the video ends.
CNN witnessed the protesters being removed from the venue as they continued to chant.
Trump is being accompanied by several of his Cabinet secretaries for Tuesday’s night’s dinner including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Vice President JD Vance.
Upon entering the restaurant, the president was met with applause from the diners. The president remarked to the group gathered in the dining room that DC is “a safe city” and that they should “enjoy” themselves.
“We have a safe city, so that’s good. Enjoy yourself. You won’t be mugged going home,” the president remarked to diners.
Trump again says Epstein birthday letter didn't come from him
President Donald Trump again denied that the Jeffrey Epstein birthday letter bearing his name came from him, instead blaming congressional Democrats for trying to shift attention from what he said are his administration’s accomplishments.
“It’s not my signature, and it’s not the way I speak, and anybody that’s covered me for a long time, no, that’s not my language, it’s nonsense,” Trump said while going out to dinner in Washington, DC.
The president declined to say if he’d consider meeting with Epstein’s victims.
“I don’t know about — nobody’s suggested that,” he said. “Certainly, certainly, I don’t like that whole situation, with respect to anybody being abused or — but I haven’t, I haven’t even thought about that.”
Trump dines at ritzy seafood and steak restaurant near White House, crediting crime crackdown
President Donald Trump is attending dinner at Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab in Washington, DC, Tuesday evening, his first foray to an outside eatery in the district since taking office in January.
He was joined by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Vice President JD Vance, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Trump has eschewed the capital’s restaurant scene since returning to Washington, choosing instead to dine at the White House or occasionally at his nearby golf club in Sterling, Virginia.
Speaking to reporters outside the restaurant, Trump said his administration’s crackdown on crime was instrumental in his decision to dine out— and teased similar operations in cities across the country.
“We’ll be announcing another city that we’re going to very shortly — we’re working it out,” Trump said. “The governor of a certain state would love us to be there, and the mayor of a certain city in that same state would love us to be there. We’ll announce it probably tomorrow, and it’s going to be something where we’ll do like we did here.”
Erika Polmar, Executive Director of the Independent Restaurant Coalition, praised Trump’s decision to dine out in DC and said it “shouldn’t be his last.”
“It’s never been more important for the Administration to recognize the important role restaurants and bars play in communities across the country,” she said in a statement. “The reality on the ground is tough. Reservations are down nationwide, costs remain high, and too many independent restaurants are operating on razor-thin margins.”
Privately, Trump has said Joe’s has the best stone crabs, and he’s on occasion sourced crabs from the establishment for his Mar-a-Lago club, according to a source familiar.
CNN’s Betsy Klein contributed to this report.
GOP Rep. Massie questions credibility of opponents of his Epstein files effort
GOP Rep. Thomas Massie questioned the “credibility” of those opposed to his effort to force a vote on releasing the Jeffrey Epstein case files, as many Republicans doubt the veracity of a note bearing Donald Trump’s name in a trove of documents from Epstein’s estate.
Asked by CNN’s Manu Raju whether he thinks it’s feasible to send a fake document to Congress, Massie called the birthday note to Epstein, which the White House has repeatedly said is not real, a “distraction,” adding, “I do think that it does bear on the credibility of the people who are trying to keep these documents from being released.”
Though Massie’s press conference with some of Epstein’s victims didn’t encourage more Republicans to sign on to his petition as he had predicted, he said the effort to win support from more of his colleagues was “much less urgent” now that special elections this month to fill seats vacated by Democrats could yield enough signatures without more Republicans.
Rep. Lauren Boebert, one of the four House Republicans who has signed on to Massie’s petition, also brushed off concerns about not winning over more in her party, telling Raju, “I stand with the president. I don’t want to continue this to eat up all of the news and cause such a distraction for the amazing things that he’s doing.”
Pressed on whether she believes Trump’s denial that the Epstein birthday note was not really his, Boebert responded, “I can’t speak for the president.”
Trump announces release of Israeli Russian researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov, who was held by Iran-backed militia
President Donald Trump announced today the release of Israeli Russian researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov, who was held for years by the Iran-backed militia in Iraq, Kataib Hezbollah.
He said that she is now “safely in the American Embassy in Iraq after being tortured for many months.”
“I am pleased to report that Elizabeth Tsurkov, a Princeton Student, whose sister is an American Citizen, was just released by Kata’ib Hezbollah (MILITANT Hezbollah), and is now safely in the American Embassy in Iraq after being tortured for many months,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Tsurkov was reportedly kidnapped in Iraq when she traveled there on a research trip in March 2023. According to a source familiar, Tsurkov was released as a humanitarian gesture and no payment was involved. She has spoken with her family, the source said.
A Trump administration official said while US government had been working on her release, it came as a surprise Tuesday when the American Embassy in Iraq called asking for authorization to accept her. The official credited a Trump executive order creating a “state sponsor of wrongful detention” designation with helping push the matter.
One of Elizabeth’s sisters, Emma, said in a statement obtained by CNN that she was “thankful” to the president and his hostage envoy, Adam Boehler, for helping to bring Elizabeth home.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia called Elizabeth Tsurkov’s release the “culmination of extensive efforts exerted by our security services over the course of many months.”
“We reaffirm, once again, that we will not tolerate any compromise in enforcing the law and upholding the authority of the state, nor will we allow anyone to undermine the reputation of Iraq and its people,” he posted on X.
This post has been updated with additional information.
Trump says Israel's strike in Qatar was "not a decision made by me"
President Donald Trump sought to further distance himself from Israel’s attack in Qatar on Tuesday, posting an addendum to an earlier statement from the White House that specified the decision was made by Israel’s leader and that the US learned of it too late to intervene.
“This was a decision made by Prime Minister Netanyahu, it was not a decision made by me,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, inserting the line into a statement read earlier from the White House briefing room by his press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Trump also added that by the time his administration learned of the attack and told the Qataris, there was little he could do to stop it.
“I immediately directed Special Envoy Steve Witkoff to inform the Qataris of the impending attack, which he did, however, unfortunately, too late to stop the attack,” Trump wrote.
The president also said he’d directed Secretary of State Marco Rubio to finalize a defense cooperation agreement with Qatar, though the two countries have an existing pact that Trump amended when he visited Qatar in May.
Supreme Court to hear arguments over Trump’s sweeping tariffs
The Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to hear arguments over President Donald Trump’s sweeping global tariffs, taking up a fast-moving appeal that deals with the centerpiece of the administration’s economic agenda.
In the meantime, the tariffs will remain in place while the court hears the case.
Trump is pressing the justices to overturn a lower court ruling that found his administration acted unlawfully by imposing many of his import taxes, including the “Liberation Day” tariffs the White House announced in April and tariffs placed this year against China, Mexico and Canada that were designed to combat fentanyl entering the United States.
The case puts a major component of the American economy on the conservative court’s docket. And it raises a fundamental question about the power of the president to levy emergency tariffs absent explicit approval from Congress.
Supreme Court allows Trump to pause billions in foreign aid for now
Chief Justice John Roberts on Tuesday allowed the Trump administration to freeze billions in foreign aid payments for now, putting on hold a lower court ruling that required officials to spend $4 billion of that money by the end of the month.
Roberts, who handles emergency appeals from federal courts in Washington, DC, issued what’s known as an administrative stay — a temporary order intended to give the justices more time to review the case.
The order does not necessarily indicate how the court will ultimately resolve the appeal, though it could make it harder for the groups that sued over the cuts to recover the money approved by Congress.
Roberts ordered the groups challenging the move to respond to the Trump administration by Friday afternoon.
At issue is $4 billion in foreign aid, including for global health and HIV programs, that was approved by Congress but that President Donald Trump has deemed wasteful. Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office attempting to curtail foreign aid spending, and his administration has for months been fighting lower court orders that blocked his effort.
The groups that sued over the cuts argued that an administrative stay could effectively decide the case in the government’s favor, allowing the administration to run out the clock and never spend the money at issue.
“The government’s theory that the agencies need not comply with enacted legislation mandating that they spend funds, because the president has unilaterally proposed legislation to rescind those statutory mandates, would fundamentally upend our constitutional structure,” the groups told the court.
Read more here.
"We are an essential part of the fight": DC college students protest federal law enforcement surge
Students at four colleges in Washington, DC, gathered on their campuses Tuesday to protest President Donald Trump’s surge in federal law enforcement in the nation’s capital.
Several hundred students gathered on the campus of American University holding signs saying “No ICE on Campus” and “DC Says Freedom, not Fascism.” They marched across the campus while chanting, “When DC is under attack, what do we do? We fight back!”
Undergraduate Lizzie Graff called on the crowd to organize and mobilize against “the occupation of DC,” telling students, “We are an essential part of the fight.”
After students at George Washington University demonstrated by chanting and holding signs, one of DC’s shadow senators, a non-voting position created by the local government, spoke to students.
“They are using DC as a testing ground … to pilot their far-right agenda for cities because we are not a state and we don’t have statehood, but if they succeed here they are coming next for all major cities across this country,” Ankit Jain said.
Sofia Bari, a junior at George Washington, told CNN she attended the walkout because “there’s no reason for the National Guard … to be deployed here. This isn’t the best use of our money. You wouldn’t put the police in a combat field.”
Freshman Abby Rosen told CNN she attended “to show people that, especially the young people, we really care, we want to make a difference and that we don’t support the actions of the Trump administration.”
Meanwhile, a crowd of students turned out on the main quad of Howard University, a historically Black university, to protest the DC surge and immigration enforcement activity.
A recurring chant during the protest: “No ICE in DC! No ICE on campus!”
Students at Georgetown University also held a protest, attended by Democratic Sen. Ed Markey and Rep. Pramila Jayapal. Sofia Calabretta, co-president of Hoyas for Immigrant Rights, one of the groups participating in the demonstration, told CNN the point of the protest was to show “we have mobilized students to fight the occupation and the militarization of DC, to fight for our community.”
Reporting roundup: Catch up on the day's news you might have missed
Much of the day has been dominated by news of Israel’s strike targeting Hamas leadership in Qatar, which the White House described as counter to the president’s goal of peace in Gaza, as well as the reverberations after a House committee released Jeffrey Epstein records.
Here are some other headlines you might have missed:
- Classified report recalled: Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard directed the National Security Agency in recent months to recall a classified report about Venezuela — despite agency staff affirming it was accurate — in a move that has raised major questions inside the intelligence community, according to people familiar with the matter.
- Michigan fake electors: A state judge dismissed charges against the fake electors who signed certificates falsely claiming President Donald Trump won Michigan in the 2020 election, saying that the state failed to prove the 15 people were knowingly trying to break the law.
- Weaker job growth through March: The US economy added about 911,000 fewer jobs than initially estimated for the year ending in March, a Bureau of Labor Statistics report suggests. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday’s preliminary revision shows that Trump “was right” in his claims that “Biden’s economy was a disaster and the BLS is broken.”
- “Make America Healthy Again”: US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. unveiled the MAHA strategy, which includes investigating vaccine injuries and pharmaceutical practices but stops short of new regulatory action, for now.
- 22nd Amendment: Two Supreme Court justices — Amy Coney Barrett, a conservative, and Sonia Sotomayor, the court’s senior liberal — appeared to shut down talk of a third term for Trump in separate appearances this week, with both suggesting that the two-term language included in the 22nd Amendment is clear.
White House seeks January 31 funding stopgap, at odds with Hill spending leaders
The White House has formally communicated to House Republican leaders that it wants Congress to pass a stopgap bill that funds the government through January 31, according to a person familiar with the request.
That puts the White House budget office at odds with congressional spending leaders from both parties, who want a bill that funds the government through November, while keeping pressure on appropriators to pass full-year bills.
The date will be a key part of the upcoming battle to fund the government, as the current stopgap is set to expire on September 30.
Some appropriators in both parties have privately expressed fears the White House budget office is pushing for another full-year “continuing resolution,” which gives the administration more power and flexibility to alter Congress’ funding plans.
White House declines to preview potential additional action against drug cartels after boat strike
The White House declined to say today whether the administration was considering further military action targeting drug cartels after it carried out a strike on an alleged Venezuelan drug boat in the Caribbean last week, telling reporters during a press briefing it would be “unwise” to telegraph future plans.
Over the weekend, President Donald Trump suggested there would be additional action to stem the flow of drugs, telling a reporter who asked whether he planned to directly attack cartels within Venezuela: “You’re going to find out.”
“And it is unacceptable to this president and this administration to traffic illegal deadly drugs into the United States of America, and that’s why the president and the administration took very strong action against a boat and 11 narco-terrorists in international waters,” she added.
White House places some blame for Charlotte rail attack on cashless bail policies
The White House is placing some blame for the fatal stabbing of a Ukrainian refugee on a Charlotte light rail train on North Carolina’s cashless bail policy.
“Instead of aggressively prosecuting and locking up violent criminals, the Democrat-backed cashless bail approach let these criminals roam free in our country to offend again and again,” she added.
Leavitt’s comments come just hours after the White House posted a direct-to-camera video from the president where he connected the fatal stabbing to his crackdown on crime in Washington, DC, and across the country.
“We have to respond with force and strength. We have to be vicious, just like they are,” the president said. “The people of our country need to insist on protection, safety, law and order.”
Some context: “Cashless bail” is a term for criminal justice reform policies that have upended the traditional practice of making people pay to be released from jail before trial.
Critics have called to replace that money-based system with one that focuses on public safety, defendants’ rights and ensuring people accused of crimes return to court.
The suspect in the stabbing incident has a lengthy criminal history, including convictions for armed robbery, felony larceny and breaking and entering. He spent more than five years behind bars for robbery with a dangerous weapon, state records show.
CNN’s Eric Levenson contributed to this report.
White House accuses Democrats of "trying to concoct a hoax" on Epstein
The White House slammed Democrats in Congress, saying they were “desperately trying to concoct a hoax” by attempting to tie President Donald Trump to Jeffrey Epstein.
“Why are the Democrats all of a sudden caring about this? It’s because they are desperately trying to concoct a hoax to smear the president of the United States,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters during Tuesday’s press briefing.
The administration has opposed an effort from GOP Rep. Thomas Massie and Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna to bypass leadership and force a floor vote to compel the full release of the Epstein files.
“We have seen this time and time again — Ro Khanna and all of these other Democrats, they could have cared about those victims four years ago when Joe Biden was in office. They could have pushed for transparency then,” Leavitt added.
Later pressed if Trump planned to meet with Epstein’s victims, Leavitt said: “I don’t have any meetings for you to read out on that.”
She said the administration would support a professional handwriting expert review after the House Oversight Committee released new Epstein documents, including a birthday letter to Epstein bearing Trump’s name and a lewd drawing. (The president has denied authoring the letter and sued the Wall Street Journal over its initial report about it.)
“Sure, we would support that,” Leavitt said Tuesday. “The president did not write this letter, he did not sign this letter, and that’s why the president’s external legal team is aggressively pursuing litigation against the Wall Street Journal, and they will continue to.”
Trump was not an FBI informant in Epstein case, White House says
The White House affirmed today that President Donald Trump was not an FBI informant in the Jeffrey Epstein case.
Last week, House Speaker Mike Johnson suggested that Trump “was an FBI informant” in the case, comments he later walked back, saying Monday that Trump was “willing to help law enforcement go after” Epstein.
Asked today whether Trump was an FBI informant in the case, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters, “I can affirm that is not true. I think the speaker was referring to the fact that President Trump kicked Jeffrey Epstein out of his Mar-a-Lago property for reasons the president has already discussed.”
Some had seized on Johnson’s comments on social media, seeking to paint Trump as a hero in a sex offenses case that has gotten outsized national attention.
CNN’s Ellis Kim and Manu Raju contributed to this report.
White House denies Trump's involvement in Epstein photo joking about "fully depreciated" woman
The White House said Tuesday that President Donald Trump did not a sign an oversized check featured in a photo showing Jeffrey Epstein joking about selling him a “fully depreciated” woman.
“Did you see the signature on that check? It is not Donald Trump’s signature,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. “It is absolutely not the president.”
The photo was published Monday by the House Oversight Committee as part of its release of materials turned over from Epstein’s estate.
The partially redacted photo shows Epstein standing next to several other people holding an oversized check written to appear that it had been made out from Trump to Epstein for $22,500. The committee did not identify the other people in the photo. Below the photo, a handwritten caption states, “Jeffrey showing early talents with money and women! Sells ‘fully depreciated’ [readacted] to Donald Trump for $22,500.”
Israeli strike in Qatar runs counter to Trump's objectives, White House says
The White House described Israel’s strike in Qatar as counter to President Donald Trump’s goal of achieving peace in Gaza.
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the site of Tuesday’s attack, in a residential neighborhood in the Qatari capital Doha, was “unfortunate.”
“This morning, the Trump administration was notified by the United States military that Israel was attacking Hamas, which very unfortunately was located in a section of Doha, the capital of Qatar,” she told reporters at Tuesday’s White House briefing.
“Unilaterally bombing inside Qatar, a sovereign nation and close ally of the United States that is working very hard in bravely taking risks with us to broker peace, does not advance Israel or America’s goals,” she said.
Still, Leavitt’s carefully worded statement made clear that “eliminating Hamas” was a “worthy goal,” and stopped short of condemning Israel’s actions.
She said Trump had spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following the attack, along with the Emir and prime minister of Qatar.
Netanyahu “told President Trump that he wants to make peace and quickly, President Trump believes this unfortunate incident could serve as an opportunity for peace,” Leavitt said.
In his conversation with the Qataris, Trump “assured them that such a thing will not happen again on their soil,” Leavitt said.
Top Republicans on Armed Services committees urge movement on long-awaited Russia sanctions bill
House Armed Services Chairman Mike Rogers said today he hopes Donald Trump will move ahead with Russia sanctions, adding that the US president has “about had it” with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I got a feeling that he’s about had it with Vladimir Putin’s games, and he’s about ready to do something,” said Rogers.
Asked what will happen if Trump doesn’t move forward with sanctions, Rogers said, “If he doesn’t, then it won’t happen,” though he noted, “I hope he will.”
His counterpart in the Senate, meanwhile, demanded action on Russia sanctions in a speech from the chamber floor.
Wicker was careful not to show any daylight between his push and the president’s position, even though GOP leadership have said they’re holding off from voting on the resolution until the White House gives the green light.
The Senate, Wicker said, has “shown broad support for increasing Russian sanctions. Eighty-four senators have signed onto a tough sanctions bill that can help us bankrupt Putin’s war machine. I am ready to work with my colleagues and the president to put real costs on Putin for these war crimes.”
Some context: The Russia sanctions resolution has strong bipartisan support in both chambers, but Republican leadership in the House and Senate have not moved on it as Trump has waited for Moscow to comply with US demands. The legislation would allow the president to levy a 500% tariff on imports from countries that purchase Russian uranium, gas and oil.
Trump signaled Sunday that his administration is ready to move to the second phase of sanctions against Russia.
This post has been updated with additional information.
