Donald Trump has had one heck of a 48 hours.
The US President signed a bill that finally ended the record 43-day US government shutdown, defended his good name following fresh allegations in the ongoing Jeffrey Epstein saga whilst also hosting Ahmed al-Sharaa, the Syrian head of state at the White House, who until recently was designated a terrorist by successive US governments.
Let’s kick it off with the reopening of the US federal government.
Trump signed the bill, passed by the House of Representatives in a 222 to 209 vote to finally end the funding deadlock. Importantly, 6 Democrats joined the Republicans to vote yes. Taking aim at the Democrats - who didn’t vote for the bill - he declared that only “people that hate” the US don’t want to see it open.
Speaking of Democrats - those on the House oversight committee launched a fresh attack on Trump and his administration demanding they publish in full the so-called Epstein files. This after they released damning new emails on Wednesday, including one in which Epstein reportedly said Trump knew about the girls procured for his sex-trafficking ring. Another one claims Trump “spent hours” with one victim at Epstein’s house.
In an attempt to kill two birds with one stone, Trump took to posting on Truth Social. In it he declared that the Democrats are trying to bring up the “Jeffrey Epstein Hoax again because they’ll do anything at all to deflect on how badly they’ve done on the Shutdown, and so many other subjects”.
And of course, how can we not talk about the Trump administration’s stunning turnaround on Syria.
Earlier this week, Trump welcomed al-Sharaa at the White House, marking the first visit by a Syrian head of state to Washington since 1946. During the talks, Trump formally announced that Syria will now be the 90th country to join the US-led coalition against the Islamic State group
Furthermore, Trump confirmed plans to reopen the Syrian Embassy in Washington whilst extending a 180-day waiver on Caesar Act sanctions to boost economic cooperation during Syria’s political transition.
