News briefs

Tribune News Service on Jul 28, 2025

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Trump: I never had ‘privilege’ of visiting Jeffrey Epstein’s island

President Donald Trump on Monday said he never had the “privilege” of visiting Jeffrey Epstein’s private island as he shed new details on his split from the notorious pedophile who was once his close friend and neighbor in Palm Beach, Florida.

Brushing off questions about Epstein, Trump again suggested the firestorm over Epstein was overblown and accused political enemies of concocting claims about his ties to Epstein and being closer to the infamous sex trafficker than he ever was.

“I never went to the island and Bill Clinton went there supposedly 28 times,” Trump said during a press conference in Scotland with United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer. “I never had the privilege of going to his island. I did turn it down. ... In one of my of my very good moments, I turned it down. I didn’t want to go.”

He also tweaked his story about how his once-cozy friendship with Epstein ended. He said Epstein irked him by poaching employees from his Mar-a-Lago estate, a different story from his previous claim that he cut ties because Epstein was a “creep.”

—New York Daily News

Some Republicans push more visas despite hard line on immigration

WASHINGTON — Even as the Trump administration pursues a hard-line approach to enforcing immigration law, some congressional Republicans acknowledge the need to expand immigration opportunities for workers in specialized sectors such as agriculture.

As industries that depend on temporary workers like agriculture and tourism say they need greater latitude to hire immigrant workers to address labor shortages, some GOP lawmakers have sought to qualify their party’s tough-on-immigration approach with an exception to employ noncitizens in those sectors legally.

That became apparent last month during the House Appropriations Committee’s markup of the fiscal 2026 Homeland Security spending bill. Republicans adopted an en banc amendment that would expand opportunities for employers to hire immigrants for certain temporary work, including the agricultural, tourism and circus industries.

The amendment, adopted by voice vote, was jointly introduced by Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., with bipartisan support from Reps. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., Chuck Edwards, R-N.C., and Henry Cuellar, D-Texas.

—CQ-Roll Call

Searing heat threatens grids and health over nearly half the US

Nearly half the U.S. will wilt under hot, sticky conditions through the bulk of the week as temperatures and humidity soar from Chicago to New York City and New Orleans, boosting power demand and raising health risks.

Heat advisories and extreme heat warnings stretch from Nebraska to Long Island and from New Hampshire to northeast Texas.

Monday’s high in Central Park is forecast to reach 94F (34C), but with humidity it will feel closer to 100F or more. Chicago will likely reach 91F and feel closer to 102F, the National Weather Service said.

A weather front dropping down from the north will start to bring relief through the week to most areas except the deep South, which will linger with hot, sticky conditions for days to come.

—Bloomberg News

Trump shortens deadline for Putin to talk peace with Ukraine

President Donald Trump on Monday shortened to less than two weeks his deadline for Russia’s Vladimir Putin to talk peace with Ukraine.

After previously giving the Kremlin strongman 50 days, Trump said he has lost patience with Putin’s refusal to come to the table to end the three-year invasion of its smaller neighbor. “I’m going to make a new deadline of about 10 — 10 or 12 days from today,” Trump told reporters in Scotland during a meeting with United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

“There’s no reason they’re waiting,” Trump added. “I want to be generous, but we just don’t see any progress being made.” If Putin doesn’t agree to talk peace, Trump says he will impose hefty tariffs on Russia’s trade partners, which include global economic heavyweights China and India.

Trump had set the 50-day deadline on July 14, saying that all buyers of Russian exports would face tariffs “at about 100%” on imports to the U.S. if Putin does not forge a ceasefire with Kyiv. The president signaled exasperation at Putin, saying he was “disappointed” at his failure to follow through on previous pledges to end the war.

—New York Daily News