The president denied a report that he once sent Epstein a racy birthday letter, and directed his attorney general to release additional documents related to the convicted sex offender.

A Wall Street Journal report late Thursday added new scrutiny to President Donald Trump’s relationship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The controversy over President Donald Trump’s handling of records from the Jeffrey Epstein investigation entered a new dimension Thursday as his administration struggles to make good on its promises to release details on the sex trafficking case involving a one-time friend of the now-president.

Trump knew Epstein socially in the 1990s and early 2000s. During the 2021 trial of Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, the financier's longtime pilot, Lawrence Visoski, testified that Trump flew on Epstein's private plane multiple times. Trump has denied being on the plane.

Republicans are evenly split as the White House copes with MAGA demands for more disclosures from the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking case.

New York Times columnist David Brooks and Washington Post associate editor Jonathan Capehart join John Yang to discuss the week in politics, including the MAGA debate over releasing the Epstein files intensifies and congressional Republicans deliver Trump a win by clawing back $9 billion in foreign aid and public media funding.

Trump is facing mounting pressure from his MAGA base to publicly release Justice Department files from the Epstein case.