"Since his return to office, President Donald Trump has missed few chances to flex the power he wields over the nation's most formidable institutions and its wealthiest people. So when the White House announced that Trump would host the latest in a series of dinners with top business executives, this time including JPMorgan Chase head Jamie Dimon and the chief executive of Nasdaq, reporters in the White House press pool prepared to watch Trump show off."
"Nope. Last night's dinner was closed to the press. No reporter was even given a glance. And later, when the White House held a signing ceremony for the president to officially end the longest federal-government shutdown in history, the reporters present were quickly whisked out of the Oval Office. Today, too, he didn't talk to the press after signing an executive order alongside the first lady in the East Room."
"Jeffrey Epstein is dead. But the disgraced financier and sex offender continues to shadow Trump. The storyline's reemergence yesterday-with the release of thousands of Epstein's emails, some of which highlight his relationship with Trump-delivered another blow to a president already at the weakest moment of his second term. Trump's party got wiped out in last week's elections as voters assigned it the greater portion of blame for the shutdown."
President Donald Trump has been using closed-door meetings and ceremonies to limit reporters' access, including a private dinner with business leaders and moving reporters out of a shutdown-signing event. He declined to answer questions after an East Room executive order signing to avoid inquiries about Jeffrey Epstein. Epstein's death has not ended his influence, as the release of thousands of emails, some linking Epstein and Trump, renewed scrutiny. The revelations coincide with major setbacks: heavy electoral losses, responsibility for the federal shutdown, threatened reversal of tariffs by the Supreme Court, falling poll numbers, and growing unease among Republican allies.
Read at The Atlantic
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