Trump’s Epstein Reversal

Epstein follow-up: “House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide, and it’s time to move on from this Democrat Hoax perpetrated by Radical Left Lunatics in order to deflect from the Great Success of the Republican Party,” President Donald Trump posted yesterday on Truth Social. “The House Oversight Committee can have whatever they are legally entitled to, I DON’T CARE!”

“All I do care about is that Republicans get BACK ON POINT, which is the Economy, ‘Affordability’ (where we are winning BIG!),” he added (debatable), “our Victory on reducing Inflation from the highest level in History to practically nothing, bringing down prices for the American People, delivering Historic Tax Cuts, gaining Trillions of Dollars of Investment into America (A RECORD!), the rebuilding of our Military, securing our Border, deporting Criminal Illegal Aliens, ending Men in Women’s Sports, stopping Transgender for Everyone, and so much more!”

Then he goes in for the kill: “Nobody cared about Jeffrey Epstein when he was alive and, if the Democrats had anything, they would have released it before our Landslide Election Victory.” Not a bad point, and presidents should always be on the side of transparency.

Of course, it’s kind of a sudden reversal given what a political problem this had become. “The U-turn came after months of drama inside the House GOP over a bill that would compel the Justice Department to release its entire Epstein file,” reports Politico. Both the president and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R–La.) had been trying to prevent a floor vote on the matter, with prominent Republicans threatening to break ranks and vote in favor of releasing the files. “The situation worsened over the weekend, as Trump lashed out in deeply personal terms at Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who is leading the effort to force a House vote on Epstein, and publicly spurned Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), a one-time close ally who has recently broken with Trump on Epstein and other matters.”

All the Epstein matters aside, there’s something rather insane about the tack Trump is taking with regard to “affordability” not being a problem right now. Inflation has been mostly brought under control, down from peak Joe Biden–era carnage. But tariffs are imposing significant damage on the standard American consumer, and Trump seems to be implicitly recognizing this as he makes more and more carve-outs.

Naturally, his rhetoric must stay rather detached from reality. Trump said earlier this month that the cost of a Thanksgiving dinner this year will be down 25 percent (referring to Walmart’s prepackaged holiday offering) but that’s just not true. Grocery prices overall are about 2.7 percent higher than they were this time last year. Technically, Walmart’s specific prepackaged meal for this year costs about 25 percent less than the one from 2024, but that’s because it actually offers fewer items and different products this time around—possibly a direct consequence of tariffs driving up certain prices! Trump continues to have an affordability problem on his hands and at least some political instinct that this is a problem, but continues to flap around, with his team coming up with the least satisfying answers as to why this is the case, instead of leveling with Americans about what’s actually going on: tariffs.

Scenes from New York: “Mamdani’s mental-health plan is a well-worn flop,” writes Carolyn D. Gorman for City Journal. “The mayor-elect is recycling failed ideas from the de Blasio administration.”

QUICK HITS

• “A theory of dumb,” from The Intelligencer: “It’s not just screens or COVID or too-strong weed. Maybe the culprit of our cognitive decline is unfettered access to each other.”
• “To cut tariffs President Trump imposed on their country, the Swiss sent a delegation of industry tycoons bearing gifts—a special Rolex desktop clock, a 1-kilogram personalized gold bar, and loads of flattery” that Trump accepted on behalf of his presidential library, making them legal, reports Axios. “The Swiss charm offensive worked. On Friday, the U.S. government announced it was cutting its tariff rate on Swiss goods from 39% to 15%. In return, the Swiss agreed to reduce trade barriers Trump had bristled at, and Swiss companies agreed to invest more in the U.S.”
• Trump administration tries to deport least deportable person ever.
• Really interesting culture observations on platforms and marriage messaging. “There is such a huge difference between Instagram and X on marital content. My Insta algorithm is chock full of both marriage successes and failures (hey, my demo is in its divorce era), but the vast majority of people are offering practical tips for how to move forward in a positive way from where they are. There’s also a ton of marriage-positive man content,” writes Mary Katharine Ham. “The self-help style commentary on Instagram seems far more geared for bringing men and women together instead of pushing them further apart, and frankly, so much more rich and nuanced than much of it here. The political arena discussion on marital trends and relationships is so much darker and polarized.”
• “In far western Xinjiang, satellite imagery and expert analysis show that China is rapidly expanding a historic nuclear test site, where it conducted its first atomic bomb test in 1964,” reports The Washington Post. “The country’s military has quietly carved new tunnels, hollowed out explosive chambers and built support facilities that researchers say suggest preparations for nuclear testing.”
• Agree:

This porno-as-monocause-for-our-ills stuff is so unbelievably tiresome https://t.co/jxBF00xieI

— Inez Stepman ⚪️????⚪️ (@InezFeltscher) November 16, 2025