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An infuriated Donald Trump threatened a US network’s broadcast license Tuesday after its reporter asked questions about his family’s business and the Jeffrey Epstein scandal at a high-profile White House event.ABC News reporter Mary Bruce posed the questions as Trump hosted Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who was linked by the CIA to the 2018 murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.Bruce asked about allegations of inappropriate Middle East deal-making by Trump’s family business.Media reports have highlighted deals being discussed between the Trump Organization and Saudi partners, including a luxury resort development in the Maldives.Bruce also quizzed Prince Mohammed, saying “US intelligence concluded that you orchestrated the brutal murder of a journalist, 9/11 families are furious that you’re here in the Oval Office. Why should Americans trust you?””ABC fake news. One of the worst in the business,” Trump cut in angrily.The president said he has “nothing to do with the family business,” currently run by his two eldest sons.- ‘Piggy’ insult -He also backed Prince Mohammed’s denial of involvement in the Khashoggi murder, despite US intelligence suggesting he approved the operation.”You don’t have to embarrass our guest by asking a question like that,” Trump snapped.Bruce later asked about the flashpoint issue of late sex offender Epstein.Trump’s links to the financier have dogged him for months after his supporters previously fanned flames of conspiracies over Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking.”It’s not the question that I mind. It’s your attitude. I think you are a terrible reporter,” Trump shot back at Bruce.”I have nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein,” the president said, repeating his claim that the scandal is a “hoax.”And “your crappy company is one of the perpetrators,” he told her.”I’ll tell you something. I think the license should be taken away from ABC, because your news is so fake and it’s so wrong,” he added.He urged the head of the US broadcast regulator — who has previously threatened ABC over its content — to “look at that.”He then pointed at Bruce: “No more questions from you.”The latest clash comes after the president called another female reporter “piggy” last week when she asked about Epstein.

US President Donald Trump defended Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Tuesday over the 2018 killing of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi as he wooed the key ally with a lavish welcome to the White House.Trump insisted the de facto Saudi leader “knew nothing” about the killing of the Washington Post columnist, after greeting the prince with a flypast of F-35 stealth fighters which he has promised to sell to Riyadh.The Saudi royal, who came bearing a pledge of a $1 trillion investment in the United States on his first US visit since the killing, said Khashoggi’s murder was “painful” and a “huge mistake.”A US intelligence assessment in 2021 concluded that Prince Mohammed had ordered the operation to kill Khashoggi, who was murdered and dismembered inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.Saudi officials blamed rogue agents.The killing during Trump’s first term caused a diplomatic crisis at the time, but the US president made it clear he now wanted to brush over it as he boosts his relationship with the Saudis.Trump raged at a journalist who asked the prince about the murder in the Oval Office. He called Khashoggi “extremely controversial” and accused the reporter who asked the question of embarrassing the Saudi visitor.”Things happened, but he knew nothing about it,” Trump said of the Saudi prince. “You don’t have to embarrass our guest by asking a question like that.”- ‘No justification’ -The journalist’s widow, Hanan Elatr Khashoggi, said in response to Trump’s comments that there was “no justification to murder my husband.”She also urged the Saudi prince in a post on social media to “meet me, apologize and compensate me” for the killing of her spouse.Trump, 79, pulled out all the stops to impress Prince Mohammed, 40, giving him a parade of soldiers on horseback and thundering cannon fire on his arrival at the White House.The Republican then showed the prince a new gallery of presidential portraits by the Rose Garden — including one portraying his Democratic predecessor Joe Biden as an autopen.The flattery continued inside the Oval Office, as Trump called the Saudi a “very good friend” and hailed him as being “incredible, in terms of human rights, and everything else.” The heir to the throne then delighted Trump by announcing that he was increasing the $600 billion Saudi investment he promised Trump when the US president visited the country in May.”We can announce that we are going to increase that $600 billion to almost $1 trillion for investment,” he said.The two countries were also set to seal a host of deals on defense, energy and AI, the White House said, including a deal on a framework for civilian nuclear cooperation.- Abraham Accords -Trump said he had also pushed Prince Mohammed to normalize relations with Israel through the Abraham Accords, as he seeks to turn the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza into a longer-lasting regional peace.The Saudi said he wanted to join the accords — Trump’s signature diplomatic achievement during his first term — but first needed a “clear path” to Palestinian statehood.Trump meanwhile reiterated his intention to sell Saudi Arabia coveted F-35 stealth fighters, despite concerns from Israel and warnings from US officials that China could steal the technology.The pomp was set to continue later in the day as First Lady Melania Trump hosts a gala dinner for the Saudi leader. Portugal soccer legend Cristiano Ronaldo, who plays in Saudi Arabia, will also be at the White House, a US official told AFP.Prince Mohammed has fostered close ties with Trump and his family over the years, including through investment pledges to the property billionaire-turned-US president.Trump denied any conflicts of interest, a day after a Saudi developer announced a new hotel partnership in the Maldives with the Trump Organization, which is run by his sons.”I have nothing to do with the family business. I have left,” Trump said.

A US judge dismissed the federal government’s antitrust lawsuit against Meta on Tuesday, ruling that the tech giant’s acquisition of Instagram and Whatsapp did not constitute an illegal monopoly in social media.The ruling delivered a major victory to Meta after a five-year battle that began when the US agency filed suit claiming the company illegally maintained its monopoly by acquiring Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014 to eliminate competitive threats.Judge James Boasberg of the federal district court in Washington concluded that Meta faces sufficient competition from rivals TikTok and YouTube, preventing the company from exercising monopoly power in the social media market.The FTC had argued that Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and minor player MeWe competed in a distinct market of connecting friends and family that was separate from video entertainment platforms like TikTok and YouTube.The US government argued that this hold on friends and family offered a unique ability to build out Meta products and rake in billions of dollars in profits every quarter.But Boasberg found that distinction no longer holds in today’s social media landscape.”Meta holds no monopoly in the relevant market,” the judge declared, noting that Facebook and Instagram have transformed in recent years to primarily show users short videos recommended by algorithms — nearly identical to TikTok’s core offering.The court cited data that Americans now spend only 17 percent of their time on Facebook viewing content from friends, with that figure dropping to just seven percent on Instagram.Instead, users predominantly watch “Reels” — short videos from strangers recommended by AI.”Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube have thus evolved to have nearly identical main features,” Boasberg wrote, citing evidence showing that users treat these platforms as substitutes.Meta welcomed the judge’s recognition that the company “faces fierce competition” and said it looked forward to working with the Trump administration “and to invest in America.”Ahead of the trial that began in April, Meta CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg had made repeated visits to the White House as he tried to persuade President Donald Trump against allowing the FTC to fight the trial.The trial did take place, with Zuckerberg and several top Meta executives brought to the stand.- ‘Intense competition’ -The ruling represents a setback for US antitrust enforcers who have pursued aggressive action against Big Tech companies, with mixed results in court.As part of that push, the US government has launched five major cases against tech giants, including two against Google and suits against Apple and Amazon.A different US judge in September rejected a government bid to break up Google, after the search engine juggernaut was found to have acted as an illegal monopoly.The judge in that case was swayed by similar arguments that Google’s hold on the search engine market was under threat by new actors — ChatGPT and other AI upstarts in Google’s case.”Judge Boasberg correctly grasps how dynamic digital markets are,” said Vidushi Dyall of the Chamber of Progress, a big tech lobby.”Even large tech companies still face intense competition and…new players have disrupted the position of incumbents,” Dyall wrote on X.

Donald Trump defended Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over the murder of a journalist and hailed a $1 trillion investment pledge Tuesday as the US president laid on a lavish welcome at the White House.Trump moved to consolidate his growing bromance with the de facto Saudi leader, giving him a parade of soldiers on horseback and a military flypast featuring F-35 jets that he said Washington would soon sell to Riyadh.Opening their White House meeting with praise for the prince’s “incredible” human rights record, Trump dismissed the 2018 killing of Jamal Khashoggi, saying “things happened” and calling the dead journalist “extremely controversial.”Trump also raged at a reporter, accusing her of “embarrassing” Prince Mohammed with her questions over the murder — which US intelligence has suggested the prince approved — and saying the visiting royal knew “nothing about it.” The Saudi prince responded by saying the murder and dismemberment of Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul was a “huge mistake,” while insisting it had been fully investigated.The heir to the throne then delighted Trump by announcing that he was increasing the $600 billion Saudi investment he promised Trump when the US president visited the country in May.”We can announce that we are going to increase that $600 billion to almost $1 trillion for investment,” Prince Mohammed said in the Oval Office.A grinning Trump asked him to confirm the figure, to which the Saudi royal replied: “Definitely.”- Rose Garden tour -Trump pulled out all the stops for the Saudi prince, giving him treatment normally reserved for a state visit to the White House, despite the fact that he is not a head of state.He welcomed bin Salman — who is widely known as MBS — on the South Lawn of the White House as cannon fire boomed out, before they watched the noisy flypast by US military jets.The 79-year-old Republican then showed the prince a new gallery of presidential portraits by the Rose Garden — including one portraying his Democratic predecessor Joe Biden as an autopen.Trump has accused an ageing Biden of using the automated device to sign presidential pardons, and questioned their legality.Later in the day First Lady Melania Trump will hold a gala dinner.Portugal soccer legend Cristiano Ronaldo, who plays in Saudi Arabia, will also be at the White House for the gala day of events, a White House official told AFP.The president has made a priority of boosting ties with the oil-rich Gulf kingdom, particularly as he seeks to turn the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza into a longer-lasting regional peace.Trump said he had pushed the prince to normalize relations with Israel as part of the Abraham Accords that he launched in his first term.Prince Mohammed said he was working to do so “as soon as possible” but insisted on securing a “clear path of two-state solution” for a Palestinian state first.- ‘Destroyed my life’ -Trump meanwhile reiterated his intention to sell Saudi Arabia coveted F-35 stealth fighters, despite concerns from Israel and warnings from US officials that China could steal technological knowledge about the jets. In another area of past contention, Trump will sign a deal on a framework for civilian nuclear cooperation, a US official and a source familiar with the negotiations said.The 40-year-old prince has fostered close ties with Trump and his family over the years, including through investment pledges to the property billionaire-turned-US president.But the shadow of Khashoggi’s murder during Trump’s first term, which sparked global outrage and chilled relations between Washington and Riyadh for years, hung over the meeting.Khashoggi’s widow, Hanan Elatr Khashoggi, told CNN that her husband’s killing had “destroyed my life.””I hope they look at the American values of human rights and (democracy)” besides any deal and selling weapons, she said.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron vowed Tuesday to help Europe catch up in the AI race and unshackle the continent from a heavy reliance on US tech titans.Speaking at a Berlin summit attended by regional tech firms and investors, the leaders of Europe’s biggest economies also backed the EU’s expected rollback of digital rules that many firms complain are holding them back.European companies pledged more than 12 billion euros ($13.9 billion euros) investment in the digital sector at the event, according to Merz, as the continent seeks to catch up with the United States and China in the AI race.”Europe doesn’t want to be the client of the big entrepreneurs or the big solutions being provided either from the US or from China, we clearly want to design our own solutions,” Macron said, adding that this stance represented “a refusal of being a vassal”.Merz called for Europe to “join forces and forge its own digital path — and this path must lead to digital sovereignty”.”Digital sovereignty has costs, but the costs of digital dependence are even higher,” said the chancellor. – Uneasy US ties -Europe is responding to calls to blaze its own digital path as concerns escalate about US tech dominance at a time of increasingly uneasy ties with Washington under the “America First” administration of Donald Trump.Despite the US-Europe tensions, a senior official from the French presidency earlier said the summit was not about “confrontation” with the United States or even China, but rather protecting “our core sovereignty”.Amid concerns that onerous rules are hobbling European tech firms, France and Germany said they are pushing for a “simple, innovation-friendly and competitive EU regulatory framework”, according to a statement from Berlin after the summit.They are calling specifically for a 12-month postponement for parts of the EU’s AI law, and simplifications of the bloc’s flagship data protection rules, it said. The EU is expected to propose a rollback in these areas Wednesday — a move welcomed by businesses, but criticised by privacy advocates.Macron also urged preference to be given to European tech companies when handing out contracts, in particular from the public sector. “Because guess what? The Chinese have a Chinese exclusivity … and the Americans have a very strong American preference,” he said.- Sensitive data -Calls have been growing for European firms to be more often given the job of handling sensitive data of the region’s citizens, rather than handing it to foreign cloud computing giants.Earlier at the summit, the EU’s digital chief announced that Amazon and Microsoft cloud services could face stricter competition rules in the bloc as Brussels probes their market power.Digital ministers from across Europe, as well as CEOs of tech firms like France’s Mistral and Germany’s SAP, took part in the summit.A total of 18 new partnerships between companies and the AI sector were unveiled at the summit, according to an EU initiative for promoting the technology.This ranged from a tie-up between SAP and Mistral on a providing “sovereign” services, to deals involving carmaker Mercedes-Benz and insurer Allianz, it said.As well as worrying about US dependence, Europe has long-standing concerns about reliance on firms in China and other parts of Asia for hardware, from semiconductors to laptop components.But the continent faces an uphill battle to switch supply chains from foreign companies in the digital realm.The region is struggling after a period of prolonged economic weakness and its tech firms remain far smaller than their US rivals.As of last year, the continent’s data centres — crucial for AI — had computing capacity of just 16 gigawatts, compared with 48 in the US and 38 in China, according to a recent study by German digital business association Bitkom.But SAP CEO Christian Klein struck an upbeat note.”We have our own industries that we are good at,” he said during a panel at the summit. “Let’s apply AI in these battlegrounds, then Europe has a bright future.”

With US warships deployed within striking distance of Venezuela, the country’s opposition leader Maria Corina Machado spoke Tuesday of her vision for “a new era” without President Nicolas Maduro.Maduro, whose last two re-elections were rejected as fraudulent by the United States and other countries, fears the naval deployment is a regime-change plot under the guise of an anti-drug operation.Nobel laureate Machado has welcomed the military presence — which has seen strikes on alleged drug boats claim at least 83 lives in the Caribbean and Pacific — and backed Washington’s claim that Maduro heads a drug cartel.US President Donald Trump said recently that he believed Maduro’s days were numbered and on Monday refused to rule out boots on the ground — though he was open to talks with the leftist South American leader.”We are on the threshold of a new era,” Machado, the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner, said in a video posted on social media Tuesday.She has been in hiding since accusing Maduro of stealing last year’s presidential election — a claim backed by much of the international community.”The long and violent abuse of power by this regime is coming to an end,” she said.Machado vowed that in a post-Maduro period, elections will be held “with security and without any manipulation.”And she said Maduro’s “criminal regime must be held accountable” for its “brutality,” including holding thousands of “political prisoners” behind bars.”Venezuela will only fully rise when those who committed crimes against humanity are judged by the law and by history,” said Machado.

Polish troops on Tuesday launched a drone from the back of a pick-up truck as they trained some 100 kilometres (60 miles) from the Ukrainian border to use a new US-made system designed to counter the threat from Russia.Guided by a pilot, the unmanned craft swooped through the winter sky on the hunt to destroy its target: a simulated version of one of the attack drones Moscow regularly uses to terrorise Ukraine.  The deployment of the Merops system is part of NATO’s hurried efforts to shore up its eastern flank after the alliance in September scrambled jets to shoot down Russian drones over Poland.That incident — followed by a string of unexplained drone flights that rattled other European countries — served as a wake-up call of the continent’s vulnerabilities almost four years after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.  In response, NATO has bolstered its forces nearest Russia and the European Union has hastily drawn up plans to build a system of anti-drone defences.On NATO’s recommendation, Poland and fellow eastern flank country Romania have quickly acquired a handful of the Merops systems to help plug the gaps in the short-term.The technology, produced by a firm backed by ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt, has already proved its worth downing Russian drones in Ukraine.”The system is one of the most effective killers of Russia’s Shahed drones,” US General Curtis King told journalists invited to view the training at a Polish military base, referring to Iranian-designed drones Russia is using massively.”We estimate it is responsible for 40 percent of those drones killed in Ukraine.”Crucially, it is also relatively cheap.Back in September NATO was forced to use its latest F-35 fighter jets firing missiles worth a million dollars each to down Russian drones costing tens of thousands of dollars.That was clearly unsustainable given that the Kremlin has regularly sent swarms of hundreds of such drones into Ukraine.In comparison the drones fired by the Merops system only cost some $15,000 each.”The system is roughly a tenth of the cost of what it’s costing Russia to build and employ a Shahed-type drone system,” King said.The Merops — which can use artificial intelligence to target enemy drones — is just one of numerous similar systems that NATO countries are testing as they seek to rush more capabilities into use.- ‘Gap-filler’ -Polish, Romanian and US troops underwent some 20 days of training to be able to handle it.”Once you get your hands on, it’s pretty simple to catch on,” said US sergeant Corey Myers. “For our younger kids, as long as you’re good with an Xbox controller, it’s very intuitive.”Given the limited number of such anti-drone systems in NATO hands and the huge areas it has to defend, there is little chance of making the alliance’s eastern flank airtight against Russian incursions.”To defend such a vast area effectively, I think it might almost be impossible,” said Robert Tollast, a military expert at the UK’s RUSI think tank.Instead officials and analysts say the systems could be best used deployed around key sites like power stations, airports and military bases.That means they could help serve to deter the sort of drone disruptions seen recently in countries such as Denmark, Germany and Brussels.With the EU’s push to develop it’s own capacities likely to take time, Polish commanders said they see the US system as  a stepping stone.”This system is now battle-tested in Ukraine, and the results there are very encouraging — so we decided to get it as a gap-filler,” said General Stanislaw Czosnek, deputy commander of the Polish armed forces. “Then eventually we want to replace them with Polish products.”

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman received a red carpet welcome from President Donald Trump on Tuesday, on his first visit to the United States since the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.Trump laid on a noisy military flypast featuring F-35 stealth fighters that Washington will sell to Riyadh as the de facto Saudi ruler arrived at the White House.Cannon fire and a parade of horses also greeted the Saudi prince as Trump doubles down on Washington’s burgeoning alliance — and his own personal bond — with the key Middle Eastern ally.Portugal soccer legend Cristiano Ronaldo, who plays in Saudi Arabia, will also be at the White House for the gala day of events, a White House official told AFP.Trump has made a priority of boosting ties with the oil-rich Gulf kingdom, and said on Monday he would sell coveted F-35 stealth fighters to Saudi Arabia, calling it a “great ally.”The move comes despite concerns from Israel and warnings from US officials that China could steal technological knowledge about the jets. In another area of past contention, Trump will sign a deal on a framework for civilian nuclear cooperation, a US official and a source familiar with the negotiations said.- ‘Honoring Saudi Arabia’ -The 40-year-old prince has fostered close ties with Trump and his family over the years — a relationship burnished by a lavish welcome and $600 billion in investment pledges when the president visited Saudi Arabia in May.Saudi Arabia is also expected to announce a “multi-billion dollar investment” in AI infrastructure in the United States on Tuesday, the US official added.Trump will meanwhile push Prince Mohammed to normalize relations with Israel as he seeks a wider Middle East peace deal after the war in Gaza.”We’re more than meeting,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Friday when asked about the visit. “We’re honoring Saudi Arabia, the Crown Prince.”Trump will host the prince in the Oval Office, while later in the day First Lady Melania will hold a gala dinner.The Saudi heir to the throne is looking forward to a fresh start on his first US trip since the murder and dismembering of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents sparked global outrage.The killing also chilled relations with Washington, as US intelligence suggested that Prince Mohammed approved the operation inside the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul, an allegation which Saudi authorities deny.Khashoggi’s widow, Hanan Elatr Khashoggi, told CNN that her husband’s killing had “destroyed my life” and she hoped Washington would remember that as it seeks ties with Riyadh.”I hope they look at the American values of human rights and (democracy)” besides any deal and selling weapons, she said.- Security guarantees -Prince Mohammed will have his own agenda, seeking firmer US security guarantees after Israeli strikes in September on Qatar, an iron-clad US ally, rattled the wealthy Gulf region.Along with the F-35 jets, Riyadh is seeking to buy advanced air and missile defense systems. It will also push hard for access to the high-tech chips it needs to fuel its AI ambitions, experts said.But Saudi Arabia is unlikely to agree to normalization with Israel at this stage, despite Trump’s aim for the grand prize of Riyadh joining the Abraham Accords that he launched in his first term.Potential Saudi moves towards normalization in return for security and energy guarantees were put on hold after the outbreak of Israel’s devastating war in Gaza in October 2023.Riyadh appears in no mood to budge without any progress on its international push for a Palestinian state.

A US federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit Donald Trump filed against CNN for describing his claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen as the “Big Lie.”District Court Judge Raag Singhal, who was appointed by Trump during his first term in the White House, tossed out his $475 million suit against the Cable News Network in July 2023.Trump, in the suit filed in a district court in Florida, alleged that the use of the phrase the “Big Lie” by CNN associated him with tactics used by Adolf Hitler.The network’s use of “Big Lie,” he said, was a “deliberate effort by CNN to propagate to its audience an association between the plaintiff and one of the most repugnant figures in modern history.”Singhal, in her ruling, said “the complained of statements are opinion, not factually false statements, and therefore are not actionable.”A three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed.”Trump has not adequately alleged the falsity of CNN’s statements,” the panel, which included two judges appointed by Trump, said. “Therefore, he has failed to state a defamation claim.”Trump, who returned to the White House in January after winning the November 2024 election, continues to insist falsely that he won the 2020 presidential vote against Democrat Joe Biden.The Republican president has had a caustic relationship with CNN and other major news organizations, branding them “fake news” and repeatedly raging against them on social media.He has filed a number of lawsuits against media outlets and has reached monetary settlements in a number of cases.He threatened last week to sue the BBC for up to $5 billion over a misleading edit to the speech he delivered before the January 6, 2021 assault by his supporters on the US Capitol.Trump was accused of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election results but the case was dropped after the November 2024 election under a Justice Department policy of not indicting or prosecuting a sitting president.

US lawmakers are expected to vote Tuesday for the release of government records on sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, in defiance of President Donald Trump’s attempts to keep a lid on one of the country’s most notorious scandals.After months of resistance, behind-the-scenes pressure and frenzied lobbying against making the material public, Trump threw in the towel on Sunday as it became clear that much of the Republican Party in Congress was poised to defy him.The House of Representatives now looks all but certain to approve — perhaps even unanimously — the Epstein Files Transparency Act compelling publication of unclassified documents detailing the investigation into the disgraced financier’s operations and 2019 death in custody, ruled a suicide.Lawmakers say the public deserves answers in a case with over 1,000 alleged victims.Trump says the files will expose powerful Democrats’ connections to Epstein, but the Republican president himself faces uncomfortable scrutiny over his years-long friendship with the man alleged to have supplied rich and influential men with underaged women.Killing the bill in the Senate after a lopsided House vote would be awkward to defend, and Trump has pledged not to veto the legislation if it reaches his desk. But expectations of damning new revelations could prove premature.The Justice Department has wide latitude hold back any information if release “would jeopardize an active federal investigation” and Trump ordered officials in a widely criticized intervention last week to probe Epstein’s ties with high-profile Democrats.The saga has exposed rare fissures in support for the Republican leader, who campaigned on releasing the files but changed course after taking office, accusing Democrats of pushing a “hoax.”After multiple attempts by Republican leaders to block the vote, all Democrats and four Republicans signed a “discharge petition” — an extraordinary procedure forcing the bill to the House floor.Trump said on social media late Sunday that Republicans should vote to release the files “because we have nothing to hide.”- ‘I am not stupid’ -The U-turn marks a rare occasion when a revolt from Trump’s allies has forced his hand, and Epstein survivors at a news conference ahead of the vote questioned the president ‘s motives.”I can’t help to be skeptical of what the agenda is,” said Haley Robson, who was recruited to massage Epstein when she was 16.”So with that being said, I want to relay this message to you: I am traumatized — I am not stupid.”At the time of his death, Epstein was facing federal trial over an alleged sex trafficking operation said to have exploited underage girls and young women, following a 2008 conviction for procuring a minor for prostitution.Trump’s Justice Department said in July officials had completed an “exhaustive review” of the case file that threw up “no basis to revisit the disclosure” of any Epstein materials — sparking uproar among the president’s support base.The White House escalated efforts last week to avoid the vote, with Trump and his allies making last-minute appeals to two of Republican signers of the discharge petition.The rupture widened when Trump pulled his endorsement of loyalist Marjorie Taylor Greene in a stunning break that she said “has all come down to the Epstein files.””Today you are going to see probably a unanimous vote in the House to release the Epstein files, but the fight — the real fight — will happen after that,” Greene said at the news conference.”The real test will be, will the Department of Justice release the files? Or will it all remain tied up in investigations?” she added.Trump, who has denied wrongdoing and says he cut ties with Epstein years before the financier’s arrest, has tried to redirect attention toward Epstein’s connections with Democrats, including Bill Clinton.But fresh disclosures — such as newly surfaced emails from Epstein suggesting Trump “knew about the girls” — have revived scrutiny of the pair’s long association.