Closing summary
This brings our live coverage of the second Trump administration to a close for the day, but we will be back on Wednesday. Here are the latest developments:
The US House overwhelmingly approved a bill that would require the attorney general to release all files related to the investigation into the late sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein, who socialized with Donald Trump for over a decade.
The Senate quickly agreed to a call from the Democratic minority leader, Chuck Schumer, to automatically pass the House bill without amendment or a vote when it arrives. The House did not walk the bill to the Senate on Tuesday, but is expected to so so on Wednesday, which would send it to the president’s desk to either sign into law or veto.
Donald Trump welcomed Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader, Mohammed bin Salman to the White House and brushed off questions from a reporter about a US intelligence assessment that the ordered the 2018 murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a US green-card holder and Washington Post columnist. Saying “things happen”, the president added that bin Salman “knew nothing about it, and we can leave it at that”.
Marty Baron, the former executive editor of the Washington Post, called Trump’s remarks “a disgrace”. “‘Things happen,’ he said. Actually, someone made them happen. And that was the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. He had Jamal Khashoggi assassinated, and then he and his government lied about what happened.”
A panel of federal judges ruled that Texas cannot use a Republican gerrymandered 2025 congressional map for the 2026 midterms and must use the 2021 boundaries.
Because California’s new map, favoring Democrats, has already passed into law, the outcome of the Trump-initiated redistricting war could be a net gain for Democrats.
The guest list for Trump’s formal White House dinner in honor of bin Salman included: Elon Musk, whose efforts to stop US funding for health and nutrition projects in developing countries has already led to the deaths of an estimated six hundred thousand people, two-thirds of them children; David Ellison, the new chairman of Paramount who put a Trump-friendly blogger in charge of CBS News and Cristiano Ronaldo, the second-best soccer star of his era who was named in honor of Ronald Reagan by his Portuguese parents and now plays in Saudi Arabia.
Updated
Elon Musk, David Ellison and Cristiano Ronaldo attend White House dinner in honor of Saudi leader who ordered murder of journalist
In his remarks before the White House dinner for Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, on Tuesday, Donald Trump boasted about the rich and powerful guests who accepted his invitation to salute the Saudi leader who, according to US intelligence, ordered the 2018 murder and dismemberment of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
The guest list included: Elon Musk, whose efforts to stop US funding for health and nutrition projects in developing countries has already led to the deaths of an estimated six hundred thousand people, two-thirds of them children; David Ellison, the new chairman of Paramount who put a Trump-friendly blogger in charge of CBS News; Cristiano Ronaldo, the second-best soccer star of his era who now plays in Saudi Arabia; Gianni Infantino, the president of world soccer’s governing body, Fifa; Tim Cook, the Apple chief executive Trump once referred to as “Tim Apple”; Stephen Schwarzman, the Blackstone chief executive and Donald Trump Jr, the president’s son.
As the dinner guests arrived, Elizabeth Warren, the Democratic senator who has called for higher taxes on billionaires, wrote on social media: “Hope everyone enjoys their nice dinner honoring a man who the CIA says ordered the murder of a journalist.”
Updated
