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On Politics

Thu Jul 24 2025

Rebecca Morin | Newsletter Writer

@RebeccaMorin_

Hi! Rebecca Morin here. Hulk Hogan, an influential (and controversial) figure in professional wrestling and an ally of President Donald Trump who spoke at the 2024 Republican National Convention, has died.

DOJ to speak with Epstein associate

President Donald Trump can't escape the Jeffrey Epstein saga. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche plans to meet with convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell on Thursday to find out what more she can say about her dealings with disgraced financier and former Trump friend Jeffrey Epstein. Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence for trafficking a minor to Epstein for sexual abuse. The meeting comes as backlash continues to grow over Trump and his administration's recent decision not to release Epstein investigative files in the custody of the Justice Department. DOJ officials would not comment on the meeting.

Who is Ghislaine Maxwell? Maxwell, a British socialite who dated Epstein in the 1990s, was convicted in 2021 of trafficking a minor to Epstein for sexual abuse. Maxwell was charged by a federal grand jury in 2021 with helping Epstein recruit, groom, and abuse minor girls from about 1994 to about 2004, including girls as young as 14 years old. She currently has an appeal pending at the U.S. Supreme Court for her case.

Trump's name in Epstein files: Attorney General Pam Bondi told President Donald Trump in May that he was named multiple times in the government's files on Jeffrey Epstein, according to reports from the Wall Street Journal and CNN. A White House official told USA TODAY that briefing binders Bondi prepared for MAGA influencers in February included the president's name. But the official rejected any suggestion that Trump engaged in wrongdoing in connection with Epstein. The reports offer potential additional context for the Justice Department's decision not to make the Epstein files public.

A billboard in Times Square calls for the release of the Epstein files on July 23, 2025 in New York City.

Adam Gray, Getty Images

A politics pit stop

•	Trump administration kills Obama-era speed limit plan.
•	Immigrants forced to eat 'like a dog' in detention centers.
•	Ukraine and Russia attack each other's Black Sea coasts after peace talks.
•	Video shows red sculpture of Trump emerge from NYC manhole.
•	Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth sent classified info on Houthi strikes in Signal chat.

Trump's war with universities

President Donald Trump's pressure campaign on prestigious colleges continues. Columbia University struck a $220 million deal with the Trump administration to restore federal funding. The Ivy League school in New York City will pay a $200 million fine over three years to the government to settle allegations it violated federal civil rights laws and failed to protect members of its Jewish community from discrimination, and will pay an additional $21 million fine to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Trump wrote on his social media platform that similar agreements are "upcoming" with other higher education institutions that "have hurt so many, and been so unfair and unjust, and have wrongly spent federal money." What to know about the settlement.

•	Trump illegally held up Head Start funding, watchdog says.

Trump still wants Musk to thrive

Even after their very public falling out, President Donald Trump said he doesn't want to ruin billionaire Elon Musk's businesses. Trump on Thursday said he would not take away federal subsidies after recently threatening his former ally to have the Department of Government Efficiency review the billions of dollars' worth of contracts that Musk's companies receive. Trump in a post on Truth Social said that he wants "Elon, and all businesses within our Country, to THRIVE." What Trump has said about Musk.

Got a burning question, or comment, for On Politics? You can submit them here or send me an email at rdmorin@usatoday.com.