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An aging president faces poor poll numbers and suspicions about his health but insists that America is thriving. Joe Biden? No, it’s Donald Trump.The Republican, back in power for nearly a year, continues to compare himself to his predecessor.Biden would be senile, while Trump brims with energy; the Democrat would have driven the country into bankruptcy, but the Republican presides over an economic “golden age” – so Trump says.At a Pennsylvania rally on Tuesday, Trump uttered his rival’s name more than 20 times and even called him a “sleepy son of a bitch.” Yet for the past few weeks, a strong sense of deja vu has colored the billionaire’s presidency. Some of his statements, in the unabashed style that is his hallmark, echo remarks made by Biden. “America has the best economy in the world,” the Democratic president declared in April 2024, a statement running counter to voters’ perceptions.The US economy deserves “A+++++”, Trump declared in an interview with Politico published on Tuesday.He repeated that prices are falling, even though Americans still complain about the high cost of living. “There will always be a portion of his supporters that are going to be with him regardless. If he says the sky is not blue, then they will agree that the sky is not blue,” said Alex Keena, a political science professor at Virginia Commonwealth University. But “that’s not the majority of the American public,” the researcher told AFP. “At the end of the day, people will go out and they will buy things and their experiences are undeniable.”- 31 percent -According to a poll by the University of Chicago for the Associated Press, published Thursday, only 31 percent of Americans are satisfied with Trump’s economic policy.”When will people understand what is happening? When will Polls reflect the Greatness of America at this point in time, and how bad it was just one year ago?” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social network. While campaigning, Trump accused Biden of ignoring the struggles of low-income households. Like his predecessor, Trump today is trying to steer some of consumers’ discontent toward big corporations suspected of inflating prices.Like Biden, he is also struggling to generate enthusiasm for his plans to bolster purchasing power. And like the former president, Trump is dogged by questions about his health, though not as intensely as concerns about his rival’s decline — which Trump himself has fueled.- Blue on the hand – By portraying Biden as an old man unfit to govern, Trump is “tapping into a very real frustration” over the aging of America’s political class, Keena noted. But this strategy could backfire on Trump, the oldest president ever elected in the United States.The 79-year-old is now the one whose every public appearance is scrutinized, and who is being attacked on social media. On Thursday, for example, a fake photo showing him with a walker circulated. Was that Trump nodding off during this cabinet meeting, or was he resting his eyes for a moment? And was that bandaged bruise on the back of his hand really the result of countless handshakes, as the White House keeps saying?Biden’s team had furiously denied allegations of declining health, but also increasingly shielded the octogenarian president from public view and journalists’ questions.Trump, for his part, remains much more accessible than his predecessor ever was and frequently engages in lengthy impromptu exchanges with the press. But beware, anyone who dares — as the New York Times recently did — to investigate his work pace and vitality.”I actually believe it’s seditious, perhaps even treasonous, for The New York Times, and others, to consistently do FAKE reports in order to libel and demean ‘THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,'” he wrote on Truth Social. 

One recent day at Miami’s international airport, Andy, age 6, was getting ready to fly to Guatemala. He was anxious, this was no year-end vacation to visit his relatives.Andy was moving to his ancestral country to reunite with his father, recently deported as part of President Donald Trump’s aggressive policy to expel undocumented migrants.”They took my brother and I’ve had to take care of the little one,” said Osvaldo, Andy’s uncle who brought him to the airport but was not getting on the plane with him.Andy was making the trip with six other children aged 3 to 15 — three of them US citizens, the others Guatemalans who grew up in Florida. They were all moving to a country where they either had never been, or one which they barely remembered.The sprawling city of Miami on Florida’s east coast is about 70 percent Hispanic, and often called the Gateway to Latin America.Across the United States, cities with large immigrant communities are primary targets of Trump’s virulent anti-immigrant policies and rhetoric.Trump’s administration has deployed heavily armed and masked enforcement agents and onlookers have filmed them in various cities tackling people in the street or dragging them from cars.- ‘I worry about the child’ -Born in the United States, Andy is a US citizen. Until November, he lived with his father Adiner, who had been in Florida for a decade. His mother hasn’t been in his life since the parents separated.One day, when Andy’s father came to pick him up from school, a police officer stopped him. He had neither a visa nor a residency permit.Andy — who wore a backpack and a little cross necklace for the flight to Guatemala City — was happy about being reunited with his father but also “a little nervous” about the trip, said Osvaldo, who did not want his full name published for fear of arrest.”I keep thinking about my brother, about why they nabbed him. And I also worry about the child,” he said.The trip was organized by the Guatemalan-Maya Center, a nonprofit group serving “uprooted children and families” in the Miami area. Mariana Blanco, its director of operations, circulated among the children, checking they had everything needed for the trip.She pointed out Franklin, 3, and his 6-year-old brother Garibaldi, both US citizens. The younger boy wore a Spider Man hoodie, a dinosaur backpack, and an anxious expression.Like Andy, they were travelling to reunite with their deported father, because their mother works long hours in Miami and fears she too will be arrested. – ‘Trampling on children’s rights’ -Two volunteers with the Guatemalan-Maya Center were accompanying the children on the trip.One of them, Diego Serrato, accused the Trump administration of racism and “trampling on children’s rights.” “It’s sad to see worry and fear on their little faces instead of the smiles they should have,” Serrato said.The group also included Mariela, 11, traveling to live with her mother because her father fears arrest; Alexis, 11, who had to stay for a few days with an aunt he’d never met after his father was arrested; and Enrique, 13, about to see his mother for the first time in eight years after his father ended up in an ICE lockup.”No one should go through that, especially not a child,” said Blanco.The children, all of them Mayan, would have to adapt to life in Guatemala, where their families primarily live in impoverished rural areas, Blanco said. Most of the older ones would have to start working because middle school and high school in Guatemala come with expenses that their parents cannot cover, she added. As the group headed towards customs, Andy suddenly turned, hugged his uncle Osvaldo tightly, before rejoining the other children.

As millions of Americans brace for soaring health care costs, President Donald Trump is confronting an open rupture inside his own party that lawmakers fear could haunt Republicans in the 2026 midterm elections.US patients already face among the highest medical bills in the world, spending more than twice as much on average as people in other wealthy nations, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).The latest flashpoint is the year-end expiration of Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies that help cash-strapped families buy health insurance — a deadline that has laid bare a widening gulf between Trump’s blue-collar coalition and establishment Republicans determined to let the aid lapse.Fiercely opposed to anything resembling support for the ACA — a law nicknamed “Obamacare” for its architect, Democratic former president Barack Obama — Republican leaders insist the subsidies must end on December 31.Trump, whose handling of health care is deeply underwater in public polling, sought to project flexibility in remarks late Thursday, offering to work with Democrats on a long-term fix.But the overture sits uneasily alongside his longstanding opposition to Obamacare and his resistance to extending subsidies — which Republicans argue would further entrench a law they have spent more than a decade trying to dismantle.Tensions burst into the open earlier Thursday when four Republican senators crossed party lines to back an ultimately unsuccessful Democratic bill extending the subsidies for three years.- ‘Under pressure’ -“I hope the message is, ‘We need to do something here,'” Missouri Senator Josh Hawley said, according to The Hill, after voting to advance the Democratic proposal. “We’re all under pressure.”If Congress fails to act in the coming days, insurance costs are expected to spike for roughly 22 million Americans receiving enhanced ACA tax credits.KFF, a health policy research group, projects that they could see their monthly payments more than double, while overall marketplace premiums would rise by an average of 26 percent.The anxiety is spilling into the House, where up to two dozen swing‑district Republicans are openly defying Speaker Mike Johnson by joining Democrats on so-called “discharge petitions” to force votes on reviving the government aid.The rebellion reflects growing fear among frontline lawmakers that allowing premiums to spike on Trump’s watch could hand Democrats a potent campaign weapon.Johnson has made clear he opposes rank-and-file maneuvers to bypass leadership, but moderates warn that rigid party orthodoxy could cost them their seats — and ultimately imperil Trump’s already thin House majority.- Open to talks -Republican leaders, long unable to forge consensus on how America should fund treatment for its sick and infirm, released their own health care funding proposals on Friday, limited to measures they believe have broad support in the party.Slated for a vote next week, the text excludes language extending the expiring Obamacare subsidies, though lawmakers will be allowed a vote on an amendment to keep the aid in place — an effort party leaders expect to fail.Democrats say they’re open to talks on any initiative making health care more affordable but skeptical of Republican resolve.For Trump, the fight carries enormous political risk. Polls show health care as his weakest issue, with his approval — even among Republicans — lagging as voters fault Washington for failing to rein in costs.It is a rare policy arena in which the billionaire’s grip on his party appears to be slipping.Back an extension of a law he once vowed to repeal, or allow premiums to soar in an election year? Either path risks alienating voters, and Republicans across Capitol Hill are signaling they want clear leadership from the president.”House Democrats remain ready, willing and able to sit down with our Republican colleagues anytime, anyplace and anywhere in order to enact a bipartisan agreement,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said on Friday. “But Republicans continue to pursue a my-way-or-the-highway approach, which has gotten them nowhere this year.”

A United Airlines Boeing 777 bound for Tokyo had to turn back to Washington’s Dulles International Airport on Saturday after an engine failed and a brush fire ignited near the runway, officials said.  No injuries were reported among the 275 passengers and 15 crew members aboard the wide-bodied jet, which had to make an emergency landing after losing power in one of its twin engines and having to dump fuel.”Shortly after takeoff, United Flight 803 returned to Washington Dulles and landed safely to address a power loss issue with one of its engines,” the airline said.United was arranging to put the passengers on a different flight to Haneda scheduled for later Saturday.The engine failed as the 777-200ER departed for Tokyo’s Haneda Airport at around 12:20 pm (1720 GMT) Saturday, sources told AFP. “United flight 803 ignited some brush around the runway as it was departing Dulles Airport. The fire was extinguished and the flight returned to Dulles, landing safely at about 1:30 pm, when it was checked by airport fire responders,” an airport spokesperson said.According to the official, the affected runway had to be closed for a short time, “but Dulles has multiple runways and other flight operations were not impacted.”The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said the aircraft had to turn back to Dulles after experiencing an engine failure during departure, and that the agency would investigate.   In a message to AFP, the National Transportation Safety Board said it was gathering information about the incident.Aircraft manufacturer Boeing referred questions to United Airlines. According to reports cited by the specialist site AirLive, one of the aircraft’s engines caught fire at the time of takeoff, sparking the flames along the edge of the runway.”Following the incident, the aircraft was observed maneuvering over the Fredericksburg (Virginia) area to dump fuel, a critical safety procedure used to reduce the plane’s weight to a safe level before attempting an emergency landing,” the website said.According to registration information provided by the site, the 777 in Saturday’s incident was delivered in November 1998 to Continental Airlines, which was later absorbed in a corporate takeover by United Airlines. The plane is equipped with two General Electric engines — now known as GE Aerospace.

Two American troops and a civilian interpreter were killed in central Syria on Saturday after an alleged member of the Islamic State (IS) group opened fire on a joint US-Syrian patrol, officials said.”We mourn the loss of three Great American Patriots in Syria,” US President Donald Trump said on his Truth Social platform, vowing “very serious retaliation.”Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the attack took place in Palmyra, home to UNESCO-listed ancient ruins and once controlled by the IS group — also known as ISIS — during the height of its territorial expansion in Syria.The deadly attack had been “an ambush by a lone ISIS gunman,” who was “engaged and killed,” US Central Command said on X.Trump called it “an ISIS attack against the US, and Syria, in a very dangerous part of Syria, that is not fully controlled by them.”Three other wounded US troops were “doing well,” Trump said.The soldiers “were conducting a key leader engagement” in support of counterterrorism operations when the attack occurred, Parnell said, while US envoy to Syria Tom Barrack said the ambush targeted “a joint US–Syrian government patrol”.The incident is the first of its kind reported since Islamist-led forces overthrew longtime Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad in December last year, and rekindled the country’s ties with the United States.Trump said Syria’s new President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who visited the White House last month, was “extremely angry and disturbed by this attack.”Syria’s foreign minister Asaad al-Shaibani said in a post on X that Damascus “strongly condemns the terrorist attack that targeted a joint Syria-US counterterrorism patrol near Palmyra”.”We extend our condolences to the families of the victims, as well as to the American government and people, and wish the wounded a speedy recovery.”- ‘Infiltration’ -A Syrian military official who requested anonymity said the shots were fired “during a meeting between Syrian and American officers” at a Syrian base in Palmyra.A witness, who asked to remain anonymous, said he heard the shots coming from inside the base.However, a Pentagon official speaking on the condition of anonymity told AFP the attack “took place in an area where the Syrian President does not have control.”In an interview on state television, Syrian Interior Ministry spokesman Anwar al-Baba said there had been “prior warnings from the internal security command to allied forces in the desert region” of a potential IS “infiltration”.”The international coalition forces did not take the Syrian warnings of a possible IS infiltration into consideration,” he said.According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor, which has a wide network of sources inside Syria, the meeting came as part of an “American strategy to strengthen its presence and foothold in the Syrian desert”.The official SANA news agency reported that helicopters evacuated the wounded to the Al-Tanf base in southern Syria, where American troops are deployed as part of the Washington-led global coalition against the IS group.Last month, during al-Sharaa’s historic visit to Washington, Damascus formally joined the coalition.IS seized swathes of Syrian and Iraqi territory in 2014 during Syria’s civil war, before being territorially defeated in the country five years later.Its fighters still maintain a presence, however, particularly in Syria’s vast desert.US forces are deployed in Syria’s Kurdish-controlled northeast as well as at Al-Tanf near the border with Jordan.

Two American troops and a civilian interpreter were killed in central Syria on Saturday after an alleged member of the Islamic State (IS) group opened fire on a joint US-Syrian patrol, officials said.”We mourn the loss of three Great American Patriots in Syria,” US President Donald Trump said on his Truth Social platform, vowing “very serious retaliation.”Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the attack took place in Palmyra, home to UNESCO-listed ancient ruins and once controlled by the IS group — also known as ISIS — during the height of its territorial expansion in Syria.The deadly attack had been “an ambush by a lone ISIS gunman,” who was “engaged and killed,” US Central Command said on X.Trump called it “an ISIS attack against the U.S., and Syria, in a very dangerous part of Syria, that is not fully controlled by them.”Three other injured US troops were “doing well,” Trump said.The soldiers “were conducting a key leader engagement” in support of counter-terrorism operations when the attack occurred, Parnell said, while US envoy to Syria Tom Barrack said the ambush targeted “a joint US–Syrian government patrol.”The deceased troops’ identities would be withheld until after their families were notified, CENTCOM said.The incident is the first of its kind reported since Islamist-led forces overthrew longtime Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad in December last year, and rekindled the country’s ties with the United States.Trump said Syria’s new President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who visited the White House last month, was “extremely angry and disturbed by this attack.”- ‘Infiltration’ -A Syrian military official who requested anonymity said that the shots were fired “during a meeting between Syrian and American officers” at a Syrian base in Palmyra.A witness, who asked to remain anonymous, said he heard the shots coming from inside the base.However, a Pentagon official speaking on the condition of anonymity told AFP that the attack “took place in an area where the Syrian President does not have control.”In an interview on state television, Syrian Interior Ministry spokesman Anwar al-Baba said there had been “prior warnings from the internal security command to allied forces in the desert region” of a potential IS “infiltration”.”The international coalition forces did not take the Syrian warnings of a possible IS infiltration into consideration,” he said.According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor, which has a wide network of sources inside Syria, the meeting came as part of an “American strategy to strengthen its presence and foothold in the Syrian desert”.SANA reported that helicopters had evacuated the wounded to the Al-Tanf base in southern Syria, where American troops are deployed as part of the Washington-led global coalition against the IS group.Last month, during al-Sharaa’s historic visit to Washington, Damascus formally joined the coalition.IS seized swathes of Syrian and Iraqi territory in 2014 during Syria’s civil war, before being territorially defeated in the country five years later.Its fighters however still maintain a presence, particularly in Syria’s vast desert.US forces are deployed in Syria’s Kurdish-controlled northeast as well as at Al-Tanf near the border with Jordan.

The M23 pressed onwards in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Saturday, even as Washington vowed action over its Rwandan backers’ violation of a US-brokered peace deal.Top US diplomat Marco Rubio said Saturday that Rwanda had clearly breached the agreement it signed with the DRC in Washington last week, the latest attempt to end the grinding three-decade-long conflict upending the mineral-rich Congolese east.The deal — hailed by US President Donald Trump as a “miracle” — was inked on December 4. Just says later, the Rwandan-backed M23 seized the key frontier city of Uvira along the border with Burundi, raising fears of the conflict breaking out into a regional war.The M23’s capture of Uvira — a city of several hundred thousand people — allows it to control the land border with Burundi and cut the DRC off from military support from its neighbour.”Rwanda’s actions in eastern DRC are a clear violation of the Washington Accords signed by President Trump, and the United States will take action to ensure promises made to the President are kept,” Secretary of State Rubio wrote on X, without elaborating. Trump has frequently touted the DRC conflict as one of several wars he helped end since returning to the White House.But after seizing Uvira on Wednesday, the M23 has continued marching westwards, taking the Itombwe sector’s administrative centre of Kipupu without resistance on Saturday after the withdrawal of Burundian troops.With Uvira lying across Lake Tanganyika from its economic capital Bujumbura, Burundi had long feared the Congolese city’s fall to the M23, deploying thousands of troops to help the DRC government fight the armed group.Their takeover of Uvira was part of an offensive launched at the beginning of December in South Kivu province.It follows its capture earlier this year of Goma and Bukavu, other major cities in the DRC’s resource-rich east.- ‘Incalculable consequences’ -South of Kipupu, the M23 was also locked in clashes on Saturday with local militia loyal to the Congolese government on the plateaus overlooking Fizi and Baraka, around 100 kilometres (60 miles) south of Uvira. Both towns now face the prospect of the M23 joining forces with its allies in the Twirwaneho militia as the armed group continues its advance through South Kivu province. Several thousand Burundian soldiers were trapped on the plateaus after the M23 took Uvira and were ordered on Wednesday to fall back towards the city of Baraka, according to Burundian military sources. Twirwaneho fighters are harassing the Burundian soldiers as they retreat along the region’s poor mountain roads, with no access to ammunition restocks.The latest armed group’s advances came in the wake of stinging criticism on Friday from the US ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz.He accused Rwanda of “leading the region toward more instability and toward war.”The Rwandan defence forces have provided materiel, logistics and training support to M23 as well as fighting alongside M23 in DRC with roughly 5,000 to 7,000 troops,” not including possible reinforcements during the latest offensive, Waltz told the UN Security Council.The Rwandan firepower has included surface-to-air missiles, drones and artillery, he added.- ‘Incalculable consequences’ -UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix also warned that the M23’s advance “has revived the spectre of a regional conflagration with incalculable consequences”, and raised the possibility of the Balkanisation of the vast DRC. “Recent developments pose a serious risk of the progressive fragmentation of the Democratic Republic of Congo, particularly its eastern part,” he said.Since taking up arms again in 2021, the M23 has seized swathes of territory, leading to a spiralling humanitarian crisis.More than 200,000 people, most of them civilians, have been displaced by the fighting, according to the United Nations.Earlier this month, UN experts said Rwanda’s army and the M23 had carried out summary executions and forced mass displacements of people in the region.While denying giving the M23 military support, Rwanda argues it faces an existential threat from the presence across the Congolese border of ethnic Hutu militants with links to the 1994 Rwandan genocide of the Tutsis.

The US government has moved to drop its case against a former Fox broadcasting executive involved in the FIFA corruption scandal that plunged the world’s footballing body into crisis.Prosecutors told the Supreme Court on Tuesday they wanted to end their fight to preserve the convictions of Hernan Lopez and Argentine sports marketing firm Full Play. Both were found guilty in March 2023 of wire fraud and money laundering conspiracies related to bribes to secure lucrative television rights to international football officials. The convictions were overturned on appeal months later, before being reinstated this July.The case was one of several to emerge from a sweeping 2015 corruption probe by the US Department of Justice (DOJ), which ultimately led to the downfall of then-FIFA president Sepp Blatter.In a filing to the Supreme Court, which Lopez had asked to review his conviction, prosecutors said that dismissal of the case is “in the interests of justice,” without giving further details. They asked the case be returned to a lower court for its formal dismissal.”I’m grateful the truth prevailed, and I’m also confident more of that truth will come out,” Lopez, a US and Argentine citizen, wrote on X late Tuesday.While there was no indication of Donald Trump’s involvement, the US president has issued a string of pardons including for corruption related offenses.In February, he ordered the DOJ to pause enforcement of a long-established law that prohibits American companies from bribing officials of foreign governments to gain business.Lopez was facing up to 40 years in prison and millions of dollars in penalties after his conviction for money laundering conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy.During the trial, a US court heard that the main beneficiaries of the kickback scheme were six of the most powerful men in South American football.They included former CONMEBOL president Nicolas Leoz, who died in 2019, former Argentine football executive Julio Grondona, who died in 2014, and former Brazilian football chief Ricardo Teixeira.The United States will host the World Cup alongside Canada and Mexico next year.FIFA president Gianni Infantino has cozied up with Trump ahead of the sporting event, this month awarding him the governing body’s inaugural “peace prize.”

More than 20 years after founding SpaceX, the record-breaking company that transformed the global space industry, Elon Musk is planning to take the enterprise public.Here is a look at what is expected to be the largest IPO in history.- What’s at stake? -SpaceX is owned by Elon Musk alongside several investment funds. Tech giant Alphabet, Google’s parent company, is also among the space company’s shareholders.A public listing would open SpaceX to a broader and more diverse pool of investors, including individual buyers, while giving existing shareholders an easier path to cash out and realize substantial capital gains.”This is a capital intensive business,” Matthew Kennedy of Renaissance Capital investment management firm told AFP. “SpaceX has never had any difficulty raising funds in the private market, but public markets are undoubtedly larger. Liquidity is important as well, it can help with making acquisitions.”According to Bloomberg and the financial data platform PitchBook, the IPO could raise more than $30 billion, an unprecedented sum for a deal of this kind and far more than the $10 billion the company has raised since its inception.This would bring its total valuation to $1.5 trillion.- Why so much money? -The IPO comes amid a boom in the space industry.Worth $630 billion in 2023, the sector is expected to triple in size by 2035, according to the consulting firm McKinsey and the World Economic Forum.And SpaceX, which dominates the space launch market with its reusable rockets and owns the largest satellite constellation through Starlink, has a unique appeal.It’s “kind of a black swan event and unique so that we can’t draw too many parallels across the whole space economy,” Clayton Swope of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) told AFP.Its unique status is also tied to its CEO Musk, the world’s richest person, who is also the CEO of Tesla and xAI. Musk has already pushed Tesla’s valuation far beyond that of Toyota and Volkswagen despite selling five to six times fewer vehicles.- Why now? -This is the question on everyone’s mind, as the billionaire had long dismissed such a possibility. Since its founding in 2002, SpaceX has held a special place for the billionaire, given his ambition to colonize Mars.This goal reflects the company’s priorities, which include developing Starship, the largest rocket ever built for missions to the Moon and Mars, as well as plans to build space-based data centers for artificial intelligence (AI).A stock market listing could provide new liquidity that would support all of these projects.”The answer is pretty straightforward,” said Swope. “He wants to accelerate the flywheel for his vision of humanity on Mars.”- What next? -The influx of capital from an IPO will come at a price: going public will require SpaceX and Elon Musk to maintain greater transparency, particularly about its revenues, and could increase pressure to deliver profits.”I speculate that would ground SpaceX somewhat in the near term,” said Mason Peck, an astronautical engineering professor at Cornell University.The company’s risk-taking approach of experimenting with unproven technologies and frequent prototype launches to learn from mistakes could be constrained by the expectations of new shareholders.”Will they become the same as any other aerospace company and ultimately mired in conservatism and legacy solutions?” Peck said. “That’s entirely possible. I hope it doesn’t happen.”Swope, however, sees such a scenario as unlikely.”I think they are willing to take that risk and willing to let Elon Musk and SpaceX have this vision, because that is integral to what makes SpaceX also a successful business,” he said.

Democratic lawmakers released a new cache of photos on Friday from the estate of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein that includes images of US President Donald Trump and former president Bill Clinton.Other high-profile figures in the published pictures include former Trump advisor Steve Bannon, former Clinton treasury secretary Larry Summers, director Woody Allen and the ex-prince now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.Also pictured are Microsoft’s Bill Gates and the Virgin Group’s Richard Branson.Epstein’s association with the individuals in the pictures was already widely known and the undated photographs do not appear to depict any unlawful conduct.But Democrats on the House Oversight Committee said “these disturbing images raise even more questions about Epstein and his relationships with some of the most powerful men in the world.”The White House accused Democrats of releasing “cherry-picked” photos from the Epstein estate “to try and create a false narrative.””The Democrat hoax against President Trump has been repeatedly debunked,” said Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman.Also among the pictures released on Friday are images of sex toys and a novelty “Trump condom” featuring a likeness of his face and the words “I’m HUUUUGE!”- Three Trump photos -There are three images of Trump in the 19 released on Friday.In one he is standing next to six women who are wearing what appear to be traditional Hawaiian leis around their necks. Their faces have been redacted.Another shows Trump, with Epstein close to him, talking to an unidentified blonde woman.The third shows Trump sitting next to a blonde woman whose face has been blacked out.The president told reporters in the Oval Office on Friday that he had not seen the photos and declared their release “no big deal.””Everybody knew this man, he was all over Palm Beach,” Trump said, referring to the Florida community where his Mar-a-Lago resort is located.”There are hundreds and hundreds of people that have photos with him. So, that’s no big deal,” Trump said. “I know nothing about it.”Former president Clinton is also pictured with Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking a minor and other offenses, and two other unidentified people.Epstein, a successful financier, cultivated rich and powerful friends, and frequently hosted them at his lavish Caribbean home.He was convicted in Florida in 2008 on two sex crime counts, including solicitation of prostitution with a minor.He served about a year in detention with unusually lenient conditions and avoided more serious charges until 2019, when he was arrested in New York and charged with sex trafficking of minors.He died in pre-trial detention the same year and the death was ruled to be a suicide.- Epstein files -The Department of Justice has been ordered by Congress to release its files on the sprawling investigation into Epstein by December 19.Trump fought for months to prevent release of the Epstein files but he caved last month to pressure from Congress, including from lawmakers in his Republican Party, and signed a law compelling release of the materials.It remains to be seen how many of the extensive files will see the light of day, with authorities likely to cite the need to protect ongoing investigations.Trump and his allies spent years pushing theories about powerful Democrats being protected over involvement with Epstein, framing the case as a potent symbol of how rich men can hide behind lawyers, money and connections.But Trump himself was a longtime friend of Epstein, raising questions over what he knew about the notorious figure.After starting his second presidential term in January, Trump switched from having called for publication of the Epstein files to branding the scandal a “hoax” and resisting any release.